AN: Hello! Hope y'all are ready for another chapter, cause here it is! I hope you all enjoy and find this a nice distraction from being stuck inside during quarantine! Stay safe, stay healthy!
REVIEWERS!:
Acecove: Just wait, you haven't seen anything yet! Hiccup is a second brother to her, she loves him the same way she loves Jack, and he does understand her which is why he's trying to help her as much as he can from a distance. Jack would be doing the exact same if he knew what was going on, but he's been busy with his Guardian duties and Emma hasn't made any effort to inform Jack about what's going on. Also, there are more than several people who believe in Emma, but their judgement and view of what's happening is clouded because there's so much confusion over everything. Don't worry though, Emma's story is far from over.
Eris: Thank you! Tragedy is fun to write. Not all of your questions will be answered quickly, but they will be answered eventually. :)
Guest: THAT'S EXACTLY WHERE I WANT YOU! Be prepared, you are right to be terrified. Yeah, I definitely wanted to have multiple points of view on the ball for multiple reasons, and having these two characters work so well as contrast for one another turned out better than I thought. There are some similarities to that night, but Emma is facing a much, much different kind of internal battle. And oooooooooh, yes! No one is prepared for what I'm going to bring upon this story. Thank you, I'm happy that my decision to separate them hasn't frustrated everyone into hating it, and it makes me even happier to know you're enjoying it so much! Me and mine are all well, thankfully, and I hope you and your family are healthy and safe too! :)
Music: "Pity Party" by Melanie Martinez
NOTES: "She is certainly ill. She imagines odd things. And she has a 'hero complex': an inherent desire to help others, being unable to help herself, and a compulsion to make the world right. She's trying to 'unlock' the true meaning of her life. And she doesn't know who has the key."
Chapter 24: Pity Party
Air rushed passed her as she fell into the sky, her hair whipping her face and the world spinning as she turned. The darkness disappeared with a bright flash and then she was surrounded by the endless blue expanse, a brown and barren landscape far below.
She righted herself and as she stretched out her arms she felt power surge outwards in an electrical wave across her body. Her blue gown and wild brown hair disappeared. Instead she found herself clothed in a red dress adorned with golden hearts and black gloves that reached passed her elbow. Her hair was black and shaped in a pristine bob that just brushed the bottom of her ears.
She floated down to the ground, finding herself in a crumbling kingdom. A once grand castle lay in ruin. The very bridge she stood on that had at one time led to the great entrance of the magnificent gardens spread out all around the palace, was now reduced to shambles, only a small piece of what it had been before. What still remained standing was covered in dead vines and the blue sky was blocked by a thick layer of dust. The most center tower of the castle, topped by a massive heart, had somehow stayed intact even after all this time.
"Back to admire your handiwork?" Emma looked up at a piece of bridge railing that hadn't collapsed as far. Cat sat there, looking down at her from his perch, and it seemed his grin had returned once again. "Returning to the scene of the crime."
"It had to be done, Cat, you said so yourself! 'You and this Red Queen cannot both survive. She is a cancer in your body. Excise her or perish.'" Emma quoted him precisely, her hands propped on her hips. She wasn't really in the mood for his smart remarks.
"Emotions cannot be controlled. Hearts are wild creatures, that's why our ribs are cages." Cat growled, his eyes glinting wickedly.
"She didn't treat you too well last time. Lost your head as I recall." Emma pointed out. She was pouting, she knew, but her mind was still a mess from the Ball. Not that it had been particularly clear before... Cat just shook his head slowly.
"She was completely deranged. You picked up her crown, but now you've put it down. You must speak to her: what's left of her, anyway." Cat waved a paw towards the castle and then vanished into small flickers of amber light. Not a moment after he was gone, the piece of bridge he'd been sitting on collapsed down into the dusty-covered depths of the canyon below.
Emma turned towards the castle and started along the path, leaping across the large gaps between each piece of bridge and occasionally using her magic to give her an extra boost. It didn't take her long to get into the beginning courtyards of the abandoned castle, but the whole place gave her the creeps. She could still hear the screams of war from the last time she was here... But that was then. Now the roses were dead, and all that was left in their place were the dead vines covered in sharp thorns.
Emma kept her guard up as she cautiously moved through the courtyards, peering around corners and glancing over her shoulder at every sound. She kept her Vorpal Blade drawn and at the ready. Her footsteps sounded loud in the quiet of the dead and empty pathways of stone and planter boxes filled with nothing but dirt.
She stepped into a more open space, spying a larger archway atop the ledge above her, but before she could turn towards the path that led up the ledge, the hairs on her arms raised. The ground began to crack and break a few feet in front of her, and then out of the ground burst a deformed Card Guard. This guard, though, was not as Emma remembered them. He snapped his twisted, broken, body back into place with awful cracking noises, the suit at the center of his body was missing, leaving a giant spade-shaped hole that Emma could see straight through. He was covered in dirt and dried blood, his face was little more than a skull.
The card roared at her, and Emma take time to dwell on the fact that he was already dead as she lunged forwards to kill him. When she sliced through his body it was not only blood that sprayed from the wound, but a mixture of blood and that damned oil that was tearing her mind apart.
More roars of battle alerted her to the fact that there were others closing in behind her, so Emma moved quickly, plunging her blade into the card's neck. It's head fell to the ground and, thankfully, it's body stumbled and then collapsed, unmoving.
Maybe they could survive without hearts, but their heads were another matter.
Emma snapped her head towards the other two cards that had appeared and welcomed the first one's attack with a block, before slipping up close and stabbing it in the side. It didn't react anymore than if it had been lightly pushed, and Emma's eyes went wide before she ducked to avoid it's swinging arm.
She yanked her blade free and swung up, managing to slice through it's neck half way. It's head flopped to the side, and it stumbled around awkwardly, but it was still alive and attacking her alongside the other one which had come up behind her.
Glancing over her shoulder, Emma estimated it's height as it raised it's arms. She used her magic to leap up and flip over the card as it swiped at the spot where she'd been standing. Now behind the bumbling undead, she gripped her blade and took it's head off in one clean strike. As the head bounced across the stone floor, Emma spotted the nearly-headless one continuously walking into a pole and glared at as she marched forward.
After she'd finished the fight, Emma turned back towards the path leading up to the ledge. The archway was blocked by vines tangled with the stone faces of the Chess Soldiers who had fallen during the war all those years ago.
Emma felt a pang in her chest as she looked at those terror-stricken and pain-ridden faces, trapped within the Red Queen's clutches even in their deaths.
"The Red Kingdom's in ruin, but they're no better off." Emma's throat felt tight, stuffed with cotton. She felt Cat appear behind her.
"Protective walls may impede you, but the walls most difficult to penetrate are those that surround our hearts." Cat informed her as she turned partially to look at him. His eyes had a distant look to them, seeing something that she could not. "I know as well as anyone that sacrifices must be made."
"Those who say so usually mean they should be made by others." Emma said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Cynicism is a disease! It can be cured. Cut them loose. They will show you the meaning of sacrifice." Cat nodded towards the pieces that remained of the soldiers and Emma turned towards them as he disappeared.
Her heart aching, Emma took her time in cutting through those vines, taking care not to let the remnants of the soldiers fall to the ground out of fear that they might shatter. She caught each one and laid them out side by side, and once her work was done, she stood before them silently and bowed her head for a long moment.
When she opened her eyes again, it was with a renewed anger at the injustice of life. She moved forward, leaving behind her fallen comrades as she walked deeper into the lair of the Red Queen, intent on facing her once again.
The large archway allowed her access to the first circle of the castle. She moved down a corridor and came to a set of double doors. She gave a push and they gave way just a little. She went in for a second time and managed to shove them open, revealing a small audience room with a dais topped with a cushioned throne. The dais, though, wasn't at the very back of the room, but more towards the center.
Emma knew why. In most castles this would be a place for the reigning monarchy to meet with their people and host audiences with people of lesser class. For the Red Queen, this room was used for nothing more than public humiliation and beheadings. The dais was built close to the center so that the beast could have a front row seat to whatever display she wanted.
Her fists clenched at her sides until they shook and she clenched her teeth together so tight that her jaw started to ache, but then there was a bright flash of light and suddenly she was sitting on that throne on the dais. The entire floor below the two steps of elevation was covered in blood. The room was tilting, this way and that, and she heard a ringing in her ears that left her hearing kind of fuzzy, but at the same time she could hear all of the noise loud and clear.
Tweedledum and Tweedledee, along with a sickly looking White Rabbit and a plucked dodo bird were all dancing around the throne, their legs splashing through the redness as they shouted and jeered. They were mocking her.
"Her royalest majesty of excellence and bravery!" The dodo bird squawked while laughing a full belly laugh.
"Stupid, stupid! Can't be smart when we're smarter than you!" Tweedle Dee cackled.
"Always running late, Emma! Maybe if you'd been on time, none of this would have happened!" The White Rabbit, despite looking direly sick, spoke as if he were drunk, thrilled by the death he danced in.
"Once and the same; the head and the tail!" Tweedle Dum remarked.
"NO!" Emma shouted as another flash brought her back to where she'd been standing. No blood, no Wonderlandians mocking her. Emma dropped to her hands and knees, breathing hard. There was a piece of broken mirror on the ground, showing her half of her face.
"A reflection sometimes exposes more reality than the object it echoes." Cat's voice cut through her dazed state, making her lift her head to look at him. He sat in front of her, his tail waving back and forth slowly, patiently. "Find the Queen. Ignore her pledge to decapitate intruders, only at your peril."
"If she's going to toy with my mind like that, I'd rather approach cautiously, thanks." Emma huffed back before taking a breath and climbing to her feet.
"It's impolite to keep Royalty waiting, but the price of good manners may be too high. This queen's a real Bitch." Cat said, looking at his claws on one of his paws.
"You can say that again." Emma muttered, as she dusted herself off a little. "But you're right. I can't afford to waste time here. That evil Train will be following us soon enough, no doubt, and I need answers before it catches up to us."
"At this rate, that particular battle is already lost." Cat rumbled and then vanished. Emma shot him a look and hurried towards the door, forcing herself not to react to the chill that ran up her spine as she looked at the throne on her way out the side exit.
The gardens were the largest part of the castle. Not even the main structure could match to sheer acres of shrubbery and twisting paths. The only entrance into the castle was through a giant maze, created to keep the front part of the grounds separate from the inner parts of the castle and the rest of the gardens stretching out on the sides and back.
Emma moved through the back of the courtyard, finding an edge that dropped down into sky and nothingness. Floating debris hung overhead, and just as she stepped up to peer down, the ground began to tremble. The tiny pebbles at her feet shook and jumped, and then she heard that terrible noise of a burning engine and the Train's piercing whistle.
The Train rushed passed her, angled slightly downward as it circled the castle. It left behind a trail of fiery smoke, staining the already brown sky, and Emma cursed, wishing she could see through the thick dust clouds and smoke to the barrier. She couldn't be sure how it was holding up with everything changing and decaying so quickly, but she had to admit it was probably the least of her worries at the moment.
Emma turned and raced along the outdoor picnic areas and gathering places. She had to find the Queen before the Train destroyed everything.
She remembered exactly how to get to the maze, though the path was much more... uneven than it had been. The large, open arch and tall, thick hedges hadn't changed much, except that instead of a deep green the shrubbery had died and turned to different shades of brown and black. It made the sharp thorns all the more noticeable.
Emma entered the maze without a moments hesitation, looking right and left for any undead guards before setting off to the left. She knew this maze too well for her own liking, but it would save her time.
She met two undead cards not far from the entrance and made quick work of them, their blood wetting her blade. A drop of the vital fluid was flicked onto her cheek, but she didn't stop to wipe it away. As the last of the two cards fell, Emma kept walking, moving closer and closer to the center of the castle.
But the further she went, the more cards appeared. She found herself engaging two of them, but just as she leaped backwards to avoid their attack, three more began to drag themselves out of the ground behind her. Emma glanced back and when she turned front again, one of the two was already on top of her, going for her throat.
Emma twisted her blade and managed to nick the card's arm before ducking under the other arm. One of the cards coming up from underground reached out and grabbed her ankle, though, causing Emma to fall forward, landing hard on her side.
She opened her eyes and another card was standing over her, swinging a spear straight at her head. Emma rolled out of the way, but the spear impaled ground only after slicing into her arm. Emma gritted her teeth and kept rolling until she hit her feet. She gave a shout and lunged at the card struggling with his spear, chopping his head off in one movement.
As he collapsed, Emma turned and saw at least half a dozen cards charging towards her with swinging arms or rusted spears. Among them were a couple of Ruins, and Emma felt her anger rushing back to her in full. Her grip on the Vorpal Blade tightened and she raced forward into battle, her cheeks burning and her upper lip curling into a snarl. She fought with a ferocity she hadn't felt in a long time, and she reveled in the feeling of her blade cutting down her enemies one by one.
Their claws and spears bit into her, drawing blood that splattered against the hedges or dripped to the ground. Blunt blows to the stomach or head hurt like hell, but they also made her angrier. For every one she cut down, it seemed, two would pop up in it's place, but she refused to stop moving forward. She kept pushing through the growing masses of cards and Ruins.
She finally burst into a large clearing near the center of the maze, her body littered with wounds and covered in blood that both was and wasn't her own. Emma's mind was shrieking with words from the real world, everything that weighed so heavy on her shoulders, and her body trembled with pain. Her vision was blurry around the edges, and slightly cracked like a mirror. She kept seeing images of people; a young Jack smiling brightly, Vanellope and Cupcake grinning at her in class, the Hatter in chains with her other friends, Antonio's triumphant expression at the ball, the storage room full of fish-people corpses, the Guardians pushing her aside, Wasps beating helpless innocents, Jim smiling at her... the throne. There was blood. So much blood...
Emma looked down at her hands, smeared with blood and dirt, littered with cuts and bruises. Her blade was sharp as ever, the fine metal glinting even under all of the red. She was shaking as she looked up and around very slowly. Undead cards surrounded her. Ruins were scattered among them, their blackness having a red tinge from bathing and feasting on the dead.
She couldn't hear clearly, it was as if someone had stuck cotton in her ears. The world was tilting back and forth again. She felt all of her anger boiling up in an uncontrollable rage that made her chest feel like it was going to squeeze in until her heart burst like a balloon. She squeezed her eyes shut, putting the foot of her palms into her ears to try and block out all of the voices, but it didn't help. She shook her head back and forth slowly, but something in her just... snapped.
She Screamed.
Throwing her arms down to her sides and stomping onto her front foot, an energy wave burst from her in a giant ring, knocking back all of the cards and Ruins that had started charging at her. Those closest to her received fatal injuries from the burst alone. Her vision became nothing but black, white, and red. Her dress turned completely white, stained with big splotches of blood. Instead of gloves, her hands and arms were covered in blood all the way up to her biceps. Her hair was long and black.
She rushed forward, blood streaming from her eyes and the corners of her mouth. She cut through her enemies, driven by pure rage and Hysteria. In the midst of the chaos, she lunged forward, passing side by side with Cat, and his voice rang clearly in her ears.
"How fine you look when dressed in rage. Your enemies are fortunate your condition is not permanent. You're lucky, too. Red eyes suit so few." Cat growled, his eyes glowing bright in the shadow of the hedges.
Emma didn't acknowledge him. She just kept fighting, finding satisfaction only in watching her opponents crumbling to the ground at her feet. At some point she became aware of red, fleshy tentacles wriggling their way out of the ground and waving around as though to try and stop her, but her blade slid right through them. She relished the shrieks that came with those particular slashes, and ignored the shouts for her to go away. To not come any closer.
The cards that had been surrounding her were now fallen and blood soaked the battlefield, but the exhaustion was catching up to her, and Emma felt it when all of the energy she'd released came rushing back. Her head flew back as she arched from the pressure, and in a flash she was returned to her red dress, short hair, and long gloves as she dropped to her knees, breathing hard.
Only one of the undead card soldiers remained, and he came charging at her with a growl and his spear raised. Emma glared at him and then shot forward, slicing through his neck in the blink of an eye. She didn't turn around to watch his head and body fall. She stood there panting, trying to slow her breathing and her confused mind.
She kept a tight grip on her blade as she started walking, her body numb and shaking from the effects of Hysteria. Walking through the last stretch of garden was a blur of dried up vines and thorns that warped into foot-long spikes within her tilting vision. Her thoughts were only on the Queen, though.
Her sight returned to mostly normal as she found the exit to the maze and entered the courtyards of the inner palace. She could hear the Queen, projected from an unknown source throughout the castle, yelling at her to go away. Along with other orders; Off with her head, and the like. Emma chose to ignore them and kept moving along the familiar path.
She eventually found the entrance she was looking for. A massive, square entry way that framed fleshy gums and a set of sharpened teeth. A set of stairs made of squishy, raw tissue. The same muscles and tendons made up the walls, wiggly tentacles sliding and pulsing as they weaved in between cracks and openings.
Cat appeared just beside the large stone frame, his glowing eyes piercing her with a sharp look. "You were once two bits of the same psyche. So where does that leave you?"
"I haven't got a clue." Emma said honestly, but she was more concerned about Cat in that moment. "What happened to your side?"
Cat's right side was covered in blood and there was a large hole revealing two of his ribs and the organs within them. Cat glanced at it before replying. "A simple injury. This world has it's own way of translating injuries from the other realm."
"Whatever is happening, I hope you're safe." Emma looked at him, wondering where he was and what he was doing, but Cat didn't offer any response.
As he disappeared, Emma turned to the stairs before her. They stretched so far down they were enveloped by endless darkness, an unknown destination hidden at the bottom. Of course, she remembered what she found there last time, but she wasn't quite sure what to expect this time around.
Shooing the thoughts away, Emma started forward, slowly descending the staircase into the deep blackness. Everything was red, thick veins bulging. The squelch of each of her footsteps was enough to make anyone's lip curl in disgust. She pressed onward, however, through the darkness, down the stairs, and across several landings.
When she finally crossed a small hallway between two stairs, she passed an archway to find a more narrow set of stairs with railings on both sides. At the bottom was a red glow that elicited more wariness than it did comfort, but she took satisfaction in knowing she was in the right place.
She walked down the stairs and found a giant cavern in which darkness stretched in every direction. There was a bridge of flesh leading straight from the staircase to the throne and pulsing red lamps on the ceiling offered minimal light. The slightly elevated throne was separated from the bridge by a short distance, leaving a bottomless drop between the end of the bridge and the throne.
Emma walked right up to the edge, locking eyes with the Queen.
"What's this? No Executioner to go for my head?" Emma inquired. "Quite welcoming of you. Though I can't say the same about your soldiers."
"You don't know your own mind!" The Queen leaned forward in her throne, glaring at her. The Queen's dress was similar colors to Emma's, but it was much more grand with long and lace-cuffed sleeves, a high white collar sticking up around the back of her head. Her hands were fleshy and huge with fingernails that were long and sharpened like claws. Instead of legs, her bottom half was fleshy tentacles; some of them moved and slithered around her, others connected her to her throne of Heart Flesh and, by extension, the rest of her palace.
The Queen also shared Emma's face.
"It's nearly a complete stranger." Emma actually agreed with the Queen as she put her hands on her hips.
"What you claim not to know is merely what you've denied. Those weren't even my forces that hindered you from forcing your way in here; simply your own mind trying to destroy you. My soldiers, brought back to life to die by your hand a second time!" The Queen snapped. "You once rejected my attempts to control our lives, forcefully. But now you've allowed another to succeed in my role!" She anguished.
"I won't miss your tentacles." Emma responded plainly.
"You'd prefer the hot, stinking breath and unyielding attention of a potent, unreasoning, unfeeling, hell-raiser? I don't think so!" She hissed, slamming her fist down on the arm of her throne.
"Can you give me more than a warning? Caterpillar said you might help." Emma asked, trying to get to the point of this visit.
"I'd need a better reason to respond than what's currently on offer." The Queen said.
"If you don't, we're all doomed." Emma replied.
"Not doomed. Forgotten. I may survive here, but you're finished." The Queen told her. There was a slight trembling as large tentacles weaved out from behind the throne, slowly approaching the end of the bridge where Emma stood. "You fear your own Madness, but now look at you: Falling to pieces. You see the pattern of destruction, I know you do. The Train is trying to destroy your mind and corrupt your magic. Now, who would want that? Who benefits from your madness?"
"The destruction of Wonderland, is the destruction of me." Emma muttered more to herself than to herself. Though that didn't make much sense, it worked in her head. The decay of Wonderland was simply a physical representation of Emma's deteriorating mind. Something was slowly killing her, but what? What was this poison?
"Indeed! And vice versa." The Queen affirmed her statement.
"I've set it in motion, I can derail it. This is good for me. I'm not insane. I am fine. I'm not mad, I'm innocent, I -I mean... Not guilty..." She rambled as those slimy tentacles grew closer, curling all around her, closing in on her. "What's happening? What are you doing?!" She cried as the tentacles wrapped around her whole body.
"The Train must be stopped. But there's more to do. Your view conceals a tragedy. The whole truth you claim to seek eludes you because you won't look at what's around you!" The Queen scolded, Emma felt her heart lurch in her chest as the tentacles picked her up and carried her towards the Queen. Or, more accurately, her mouth which unhinged and opened wide to reveal sharp and crooked teeth.
Emma squeezed her eyes shut as she was thrust into the darkness.
Slowly blinking her eyes open, Emma couldn't feel anything. It was like a dream. A Vision. She could see a blurry, vaguely heart-shaped thing in front of a red background, but she tell what it was because it was too blurry.
"There is no method in this madness!" The Queen's voice rang loud and clear in her ears. "Authority must be obeyed, or it must be overthrown!" Suddenly the image rushed forward and Emma could clearly see the Queen's face as a drawn cut-out picture and hear the battle cries from when they fought before. The drawing was slowly consumed by fire from below as blood oozed down from the top. As Emma's vision started to fade the shouts and screams echoed in her ears.
And then everything went black.