Jest thought that perhaps he was not meant to live happily. Perhaps he was not meant to live at all, for this would be yet his second death by beheading.
And so he bowed his head, his dark eyes closed for impact and a bitter expression on his face. Mariah Hatter would win.
But the blade never came.
Looking up he saw Cath, axe overhead but not moving. And then the axe being thrown to the ground in anger.
"God I'm so WEAK!" She yelled, he breaths coming out heavily and he lovely features twisting with frustration.
Suddenly the guards at his side disappeared in a cloud of mist. Jest stood slowly, the last strings of hope clawing at his heart. "You didn't kill me." He said slowly.
Cath whirled to face him, "Obviously." She said rolling her eyes.
"Why?" He asked walking toward her.
"Because I can't." She said throwing her hands up in frustration, "Because I know that no matter how many times my heart is taken, it will only grow back and I'll have to live through the pain of missing you again." She laughed bitterly, "I guess it doesn't matter because I'm going to have to relive the pain of growing another heart back. And then if I remove that one, it'll grow back. Again and again and again. I only ever lose by killing you." She said rubbing her chest. "Twice I've lost my heart." She said dejectedly.
Jest took her hands in his, "Then take mine." He said.
Cath looked up at him surprised, "What?"
"Take my heart and defeat Mariah. Only the Queen of Hearts can end this. Besides, it was only ever yours to begin with." He said gently cupping her face with his hands.
Cath's chest throbbed painfully as she looked into his eyes, "I've already taken so much from you and you still continue to sacrifice for me. I'm standing here with a hole in my chest and I just almost killed you and you want to give me your heart?"
Jest laughed lightly, "Yeah. If it means you won't be in pain anymore. And if it means ending a way." He said stroking her cheek with his thumb, "Like I said, my heart belongs to you no matter what. In a sense, it's your heart. Take it and I know you will be able to defeat Mariah. Only you can." He said.
Just then Mariah's voice sounded."I so hate to break off this sentimental reunion but I am getting bored."
Suddenly ropes began to attach themselves to each of Jest's limbs. He began to move on his own accord as if he were a puppet and someone was pulling the strings.
Cath's eyes widened as she saw Jest begin to run toward her.
Jest screamed in rage as he tried to control his own body. He was horrified as Cath began to run from him in fear. He looked around for anything she could use to defend herself when he spotted a gleam at the corner of his eye.
"Cath! The axe!" He shouted.
Cath nodded and bolted to the axe at the same time Mariah forced Jest to.
Cath quickly scooped it up and held it up to defend herself, her breaths ragged.
Jest launched himself at her unwillingly and Cath faltered back.
"I can't hurt you Jest!" She said backing away as he moved closer, her face full or terror.
"You have to Cath, it's the only way!" He said as he quickly moved to attack her.
Cath kept backing away and tripping on her own feet. She fell to the ground as she tripped on her own skirt.
Jest went to grab her by the throat but Cath rolled away just in time. She got to her feet and began to think of a way to disarm him without hurting him. She looked at the strings attached to his limbs and back at the axe in her hand.
With a battle cry and ran toward him before quickly rolling on the ground and cutting the strings attached to his legs. The strings disappeared in a cloud of mist. Cath smiled victoriously and ran toward him to cut the strings at his arms.
But she stopped as another set of steel ropes appeared at his limbs.
"You are a clever girl aren't you?" Mariah said from above, anger clear in her voice.
"It'll take more than silly games to stop me," Cath said fiercely.
Suddenly the ropes at Jest's arms and legs disappeared. Jest ran over to Cath, "Are you hurt?" He asked, tears in his eyes.
Cath nodded and hugged him tightly, "I'm fine."
"Fine, since you're not a fan of my games, I'll give you a choice." Mariah said.
Suddenly Alice, Hatta, Penelope, and Calum all dropped from the ceiling, each one attached like puppets in the same way Jest was. And then suddenly Jest was a puppet again and pulled beside the others.
"You can either stay here and give me every heart you've had and ever will have and crown me the queen of your kingdom where I will destroy the Black and White kingdoms and let your friends go free, or I kill your friends and family, let you go, without any heart and make sure you never grow a new one and eventually take over all the kingdoms nonetheless. Either way you lose, by the way." She said nonchalantly.
"Go Cath, she'll kill you if you stay much longer and you need to end this war. Besides, there's no way she'd be able to make sure you never grew a new heart." Callum protested.
"Are you so sure about that? Do you think I've just been studying Cath's heart growth all these years for nothing? Do you think that after almost 10 years I wouldn't have discovered a way for her heart to stop growing? You insult me, Your Highness!" Mariah said mockingly.
"This is cheating!" Jest screamed at Mariah.
"Even I'm mad, mother, and I wouldn't ever do such a thing," Hatta said, tears rolling down his face.
"Cheating or no, madness or no, these are her options," Mariah said angrily.
Cath's chest throbbed hard and painfully as she debated her choices.
"Alright, I'll stay and give you my hearts. But I want to say goodbye to my friends." Cath said, tears welling in her eyes.
Mariah sighed, "Very well." She said annoyed.
Cath walked over to Penelope first. "Thank you, Penelope Peter, for all of this. For giving me hope and helping me find Jest." She said bowing her head to Penelope.
Penelope sobbed, "Please know that I never intended for you to get hurt, I just wanted to make things right." She said strained.
Cath nodded, "I know. And I'm so grateful. Please take care." She said before moving on to Alice.
Alice smiled at Cath. Cath smiled back. "Alice, I'll be honest. You are annoying, stubborn, air-headed, and mad. But you have helped a very important friend of mine by taking on half of his burden." She said nodding to Hatta, "But most of all you've stayed loyal to me through the very end and I'm very grateful for your help. Please continue to watch over my friend for he needs someone who is just as mad as he is."
Alice nodded, "I will. Even though you wanted me whipped before all this started." She said with a giggle.
Cath laughed back awkwardly, "Yeah, sorry about that." She said before moving on to Hatta.
She smiled sadly at her old friend. "Oh, Hatta. I wish I could say that this wasn't your fault, but sadly it is your fault that we're here. The way you helped your mother, the whole pumpkin seed fiasco. Almost all of this is because of you. But one thing I've learned on this journey is that the past is not what matters. Your past choices and actions won't change anything. It's what you do with your future. Even though you caused this, you've worked so hard to fix everything to the best of your ability. Mad or not, you are a hero of sorts."
Hatta tipped his top hat at her, "Glad to be of service." He said smiling widely.
Cath shook her head smiling and moved on to Callum. Before she could get a word out, he spoke first. "Say what you will Catherine, but this isn't goodbye. You think we're going to give up on you? You have two kingdoms to run now and I won't stop until-"
"Callum, stop. I'll be fine. The kingdoms will be fine." She insisted.
"No they won't. Only you and your heart can end this war and stop this mass destruction. Without you there is no hope. I will not give up on our kingdoms." He said as tears pricked his eyes.
Cath smiled at his passion and leaned in to whisper in his ear, "Neither will I." She said softly.
Callum frown at her as she patted his cheek and moved on to Jest.
Tears rolled down his face slowly, "I love you Cath." Was all he said.
Cath took his face in her hands and kissed him slowly. The kind of kiss two people would share if they had the time.
She pulled away. "I know Jest. I love you too."
And with one quick movement, she shoved her nails into his chest and pulled his heart out.