Disclaimer for the whole story: I don't own KH or Alice in Wonderland.
I awoke one morning to a group of card soldiers singing a song I didn't know at the time, but I would soon learn to dread it.
"We're painting the roses red, we're painting the roses red, we dare not stop or waste a drop, so let the paint be spread, we're painting the roses REEEED!" While I was still groggy and unaware of my surroundings I was rudely slapped in the blossom by a sudden splash of red paint on my beautiful white petals. I mean, come on- RED paint?! I glared at the card soldier who was responsible- Dulor, who stood in front of me with a bucket of red paint and a brush.
"Sorry mate, but I have to do it. Otherwise the Queen will take our heads," he told me apologetically. I was not quick to forgive him.
I watched as the paint slowly dripped on my leaves. The paint felt uncomfortable and unnatural. "And why, may I ask, does the Queen want you to paint us all red?" I asked irritably. I knew just as well as any of them how mentally unstable the Queen was, and that it was likely that she had no logical reason for her orders, but I was still angry at Dulor.
"Well, you see," he started awkwardly, "we were supposed to plant the red roses, but we accidentally planted the white ones. If the Queen finds out she'll take our heads," he finished.
"Well, it's great to know that I was a mistake," I fumed.
"Hey, sorry mate, I'm just trying to keep everyone alive. Besides, I bet the Queen would kill you just for being the wrong color."
"After she kills you for planting the wrong roses," I retorted. The paint was starting to dry and it was chafing my petals. I wanted it off as soon as possible. I hoped beyond hope that it would rain. After my comrades were also painted, Dulor stood back to admire his work. I looked around at the other roses and saw it for what it was- a tragedy. My friends were all moaning and crying from the mutual discomfort. The red paint on our white petals gave an ominous aura, like the blood of a child on a wedding dress. I couldn't help but feel that it might've been a warning of a massacre in the immediate future. I shook it off quickly with no idea of how accurate I was.
We heard the familiar trumpets announcing the arrival of the Queen. Dulor and the other card soldiers fumbled as they tried to hide the paint cans and brushes. When the Queen arrived, the soldiers stood at attention. I only did as much as a flower could do, which was to hold still and try not to think about the paint dripping down my stem. After the Queen addressed her soldiers, something caught her eye. It was a paint can that was sticking out from behind a certain group of roses. And it couldn't be just any group, no, it just had to be mine. She approached us and grabbed the can, shaking it in the air. She didn't seem to notice that some of the paint was splashing her dress as she waved it around.
"Red paint…RED PAINT?!" The Queen shouted as she threw the bucket on the ground. Aw shit, she's gonna have a tantrum…heads are gonna roll, I thought, secretly hoping that Dulor would be on the list. She started examining the flowers, and she stopped at me. She just had to stop at me. I looked at the card soldiers who were shaking with fear behind her, but my attention was immediately focused on the terrifying Queen towering in front of me. She was absolutely horrifying. Not only was there the possibility of dying on the spot due to her sporadic tantrums, but she wasn't exactly easy on the eyes. Not that I had eyes, but still…I trembled at her sight as she loomed over me, blocking out the sun. She ran her fat finger on the underside of my petals, exposing a small portion of the original white. I had never felt so degraded in my life- first the paint, then the touch of the Queen shudders. I don't even want to think about that. I had nightmares for weeks. She stood up to her full height and glared at me, looking ready to squash her large foot down on me and end my life. Instead she spun around to the card soldiers.
"WHO'S BEEN PAINTING MY ROSES RED?!" she shrieked. The card soldiers were shaking with so much fear. I almost felt sorry for them. Key word, almost. They started pointing at each other, then they singled out Dulor. As he was thrust before our unforgiving Queen, she gave a low chuckle, ready to give the word. He trembled as he bowed low before her, preparing for the worst.
"OOOOOOFFFF WITH HIS HEAD!" she yelled. It truly was frightening, seeing her at this climax of her power. That had to have been her favorite expression, as she used it so frequently and with so much excitement I thought she was having an orgasm. Dulor looked up at her with more fear in his eyes than I would've wished on the poor fellow. The Queen looked down on him, and her own personal power almost killed him where he whimpered. The executioner was immediately brought out and was ready to swing the axe down on poor Dulor's head when the Queen was suddenly thrown to the ground.
Holy shit, someone's head will roll! On second thought, we're all gonna die! I realized in a panic. When I looked again, I saw that it was the white rabbit that had run straight into the Queen and accidentally knocked Dulor's head with his giant watch. The timing couldn't have been more perfect, seeing that the white rabbit saved Dulor's life at complete chance. I think that incident resonated with him somehow, the whole luck and time thing, but I wouldn't really know. You'd have to ask him about that.
I didn't exactly have much time to think about Dulor, seeing that the white rabbit had been running from a small army of strange, black creatures. And they had all followed him to where we all were. They were about the size of small cats, but they had glowing, yellow eyes and antennae. They attacked us, killing as many as they could. And then the worst happened. Somehow, they killed the Queen right in front of us! I'll never forget that image, all of those creatures climbing on top of her, smothering her with their numbers. She was like a great beast, a dragon that had been taken down by hundreds of puny knights. I couldn't believe what I was seeing! It was like it happened, but it didn't register with me! I didn't know that there was any force in existence that could even hurt our powerful Queen, let alone kill her!
Before I could even think about the implications of her death, hundreds more of these creatures swarmed in, brutally continuing the carnage. For a second, I thought my world was about to end. I had no idea how close to the truth I was.