AN: Hello everyone! Hope this is an enjoyable chapter. Admittedly it's pretty weird, but I just think it's neat.
Music: "Alice - Extended Version" by Avril Lavigne
NOTES!: "And into the Forest I go. To lose my mind and find my Soul."
Chapter 29: Wonderland
Jim groaned, gently moving his head back and forth to work out the ache in his neck. His eyes slid open and he found himself staring up at a forest of gigantic mushrooms with all different colors.
"What the...?" He mumbled, scrubbing at his eyes to see if he was imagining things. No, the mushrooms were still there. He sat up and slowly took stock of himself and everything he could remember.
He seemed perfectly fine. Nothing hurt and he wasn't missing any limbs. The only concern was the fact he was currently in his Kittroll form, and that made him wonder how long he'd been exposed without his knowledge. Toby and Claire were in the clearing with him, though they were both still unconscious. They looked okay and they were breathing, but Jim got onto all fours and bounded over to check anyways. He shook Toby's shoulder and the other boy snorted twice before coming to and startling to fully awake. He lurched up into a seated position, looking around and then at Jim.
"Jim! What the heck? Why are you in troll form? What's going on? Man, the last thing I remember is us being surrounded in that hideout place!" Toby ranted, getting to his feet and twisting all around to take in their surroundings.
"Same here. Those guards were about to kill us, but I think Emma threw a spell of some kind." Jim shrugged, feeling very confused and uncertain about the whole situation. His eyes drifted over to Claire, and he hesitated.
He looked down at his hands and then rose onto his feet. Closing his eyes and focusing, Jim tried to bring up the transformation spell he knew by heart. There was a familiar surge of magic, but then it faded out for no reason. Jim opened his eyes, looking at his hands and then down at the rest of him.
"Why didn't that work?" He asked, turning to Toby for some kind of answer, but his friend only shrugged. Jim tried again, but it was the same result. Again, same thing. Again... Again... "Ahh! This isn't working!"
The was a quiet groan and Jim and Toby both froze as Claire started coming to. She sat up, rubbing her head, and when she blinked open her eyes, her brow furrowed at the sight before her. She stiffened and then very slowly got to her feet.
"Toby..." She said slowly. "What's going on? Where's Jim?" She wanted to know.
"Oh, this isn't good." Toby muttered, resting his cheek against his propped up fist.
"Uh, H-hi, Claire." Jim gave her a small wave, chuckling nervously. Claire's eyes went wide as she stared at him.
"Holy shish-kabobs! Merlin actually turned you into a troll? How?" Claire exclaimed, coming over to him and looked him up and down.
"Um, well, ahem, uh... Not exactly." Jim hedged the question, fidgeting as he glanced at Toby for help.
"Jim's a troll!" Toby blurted out, throwing his arms up.
"Dude!" Jim hissed.
"I'm sorry, I panicked!" Toby whimpered.
"Uh, yeah, I can see that. What is going on with you two?" Claire demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.
"No, Claire..." Jim sighed, lowering his head as he rubbed the back of his neck. He looked back up at her and took a deep breath. "What Toby means is that, I'm... I've always been like this. I'm a Kittroll, Claire. I can use a spell to take human form because my mother is human."
"You're joking, right? You have to be joking." Claire shook her head, continuing to stare at him. When he shook his head, she turned to look at Toby and found him with just as serious an expression. "You're not joking? So... So you really are a troll? But you were the first Human Trollhunter! What -What is going on?" Claire ran her hands through her hair as she paced back and forth, trying to process what they'd just told her.
"When the remarkable turns bizarre, reason turns rancid."
All three of them jumped and turned around, their eyes searching for the source of the voice. Jim froze when his eyes fell on a familiar skin-and-bones cat. He reached out to smack Toby's arm and get his attention as he and Claire both turned towards the cat too. It's mouth was pulled up into a grin, revealing sharp teeth, and it's green eyes glowed despite it being the middle of the day.
"Uh... Hey, it's Cat!" Toby squeaked from behind Jim, watching the cat as it sat calmly in front of them, it's tail swishing back and forth behind it's head. "You remember us, right? We're friends with Emma, you're a friend of Emma's, so... That makes us friends, right?" Toby laughed nervously.
"Perhaps." Cat purred, eying them.
"Oh my god, he is talking." Toby was shaking as he cowered behind Jim.
"But you're a cat!" Claire stated, taking a small step forward.
"A Cheshire Cat." He corrected her with his deep rumble of a voice, giving a small bow of his head.
"Right, um, since you're here, maybe you could tell us which way we should go?" Jim suggested hopefully, and the Cat tilted his head.
"Well, that depends on where you want to get to." He replied with a flick of one ear and an extra swish of his tail.
"Oh, uh... I guess it doesn't really matter, as long as we -!" Jim started but was cut off as the Cat stood up.
"Then it doesn't really matter which way you go." He pointed out, leaping up onto one of the lower mushrooms for a higher perch. "However, if I were looking for a way back, I'd ask the Mad Hatter." Cat flicked his tail off to one side, and Jim looked in that direction. There was a path off to the side that look pretty well-worn.
"Mad Hatter?" Toby questioned anxiously. "No, no, no, I don't -"
"Or... There's the March Hare in that direction." Cat purred, twisting into a laying position on his side and belly. He used his tail to point to the other side where another path lay.
"Oh, thank you, I think we'll visit him." Claire nodded to Cat, already taking a step towards that path, but Cat called out to them again.
"Of course... He's mad too."
"But we don't want to go towards crazy people!" Toby cried, extending his arms towards the Cat.
"Oh, you can't help that." The Cheshire's grin widened even more. "We're all mad here."
They all looked at each other with concern as Cat rumbled a deep chuckle. Jim turned and opened his mouth to ask another question, but stopped when he noticed the Cat slowly fading away.
"You may notice, I'm not all there myself." The Cat joked, watching as from his tail up disappeared bit by bit until his bright, glowing eyes faded away at the very last moment.
"Okay. That's it. This is a dream. A really creepy, weird dream, but a dream. And I'm going to wake up any second now. Ow!" Claire said, yelping after she pinched herself.
"I don't think we're that lucky." Jim told her honestly.
"So what do we do now?" Toby wanted to know, and Jim shrugged.
"I guess all we can do is go see this Mad Hatter guy. Maybe he'll give us some answers." Jim tried to sound hopeful, but if Cat was any indication, they were probably going to have to figure this out on their own.
Without any other lead, the trio started off down the path to find the Mad Hatter. They walked for some time, staying mostly quiet because of the fear of a new and unfamiliar place. Eventually they cleared the mushroom forest and a small town came within view. Jim shared a look with the others as they all shared the same thought; surely the entire town couldn't be mad.
They made their way into town, but the closer they got, the more dread filled Jim's chest. There were marks of war across the fields and on some of the outer buildings. Tents were set up all over the place, and the people were working hard at apparently repairing their village after some attack. Jim looked at the others as they walked into the square, but they were staring around at the damage as well.
The people all turned when they saw them, more and more gazes turning to see the newcomers as they walked further into town. When they reached the center square, all of the people had stopped working and were gathering around the square to look at the newcomers. Jim, Toby, and Claire all turned back to back, watching cautiously, but Jim hoped to reach out peacefully.
"Um, we're not here to harm anyone. The... The Cheshire Cat told us to come speak to the Mad Hatter?" Jim's tone turned into more of a question at the end, but he couldn't really help it. Everything was so strange, and he felt silly saying it.
The people didn't find it silly, apparently, because once he mentioned the Cheshire they all began muttering and whispering to each other excitedly. Someone pushed through the crowd to the front, and Jim couldn't explain how he knew, but he just knew that this was the Mad Hatter. True to his name, the man wore a magnificent hat, a coat, breeches, and boots. He had crazy red hair and eyebrows, and a pale complexion.
He approached slowly, tiptoeing closer as he eyed them up and down. "Cheshire showed himself to you?"
"...Yes?" Jim said slowly.
"Then you are friends!" The man beamed, and Jim stared at him for a moment.
"O-Okay, yeah, sure." He shrugged, unsure of what else to say and figuring it's just best to go along with it. Jim decided to take a chance by jumping straight to it. "Um, we're a bit lost. We're trying to find our way back to our friends, but... We don't really know how we got here."
"I see." The Hatter hummed, tapping his chin with one finger thoughtfully. "But where precisely did you come from?"
"We were in the Southern Isles territory." Claire supplied, but the Mad Hatter gave her a blank expression. She tried again. "The Southern Isles? A group of islands ruled by thirteen Princes?"
Still nothing.
"Okay, how about this. Where are we right now?" Jim asked him.
"Oh! Well, you're in Wonderland!" The Hatter told them.
"Oh! Right, right, right! What the heck is Wonderland?" Toby smiled and nodded to the Hatter as he turned, but then snapped his head around to hiss at Claire and Jim, both of whom shrugged.
"This guy is crazy at best. I don't think anyone here can help us." Claire sighed doubtfully.
"The dimwitted are not necessarily ignorant." Cat's voice made all of them jump again and he appeared on the ledge of the fountain beside them.
"Would you stop doing that!" Toby shouted, jumping back in surprise. Cat ignored him and turned to Hatter.
"Take them to the Pieces." Cat instructed him.
"Certainly." Hatter nodded, but he gave the Cat a suspicious glare as he held firmly onto his hat. Cat chuckled and swished his tail again before disappearing.
"How does he do that?" Toby wanted to know, but none of them had an answer for him.
Instead they followed Hatter, who insisted on bringing them to see 'the Pieces'. Unsure of what else they could do, they agreed and followed. They walked to the edge of town and were given horses by some men that looked like soldiers. Hatter got on one and Jim was the only one willing to ride with him, so Toby and Claire got on the other. They rode out of town and down a dirt path.
The horses galloped quickly across the hills and through a small collection of trees. As they went the sky became covered with grey clouds, and mist began to roll in around the horses' hooves. Eventually they rode over a rise and ahead Jim could see a large, but very old palace. The towers of white marble reaching high up into the sky. The pristine was were stained and cracked, however, and the once extravagant gardens were overgrown and dead. The horses slowed to a walk inside the palace gates, taking them along a path that was lined with statues. Each one was different, and yet the same...
"These are..." Claire trailed off, but Jim knew exactly what she was going to say.
"Emma." He finished for her, and Hatter startled.
"You know of Emma?" He asked, twisting around to look at Jim, and he nodded. "She is the Champion of Wonderland! She slayed the Jabberwocky and the Red Queen. She has been away for some time now, but her pieces still remain."
"Her pieces?" Claire questioned.
As if in answer to her question, the mist around their feet drew away, clearing the garden. The statues around them glowed and then the stone became flesh. The pedestals all around them presented young girls who, in their faces, looked exactly like Emma, but they were all different in their hair, their dress, and even their eye color.
Hatter smiled at them and dismounted from the horse as the girls began to move about. Some stretched, some eyed them suspiciously, and others walked down from their perches to approach them.
"It's been sooooooo long!" One of them exclaimed, stretching her arms up above her head and then shaking out the blonde curls on her head.
"What are you three doing here?" One stepped up right next to the horse Jim was on, peering up at him. Her black hair was pulled back in a thick braid and her brown dress had bits of leather and metal on it.
"Um, I don't really know?" Jim replied, and she tilted her head.
"Curio." A sharp tone from the one with short black hair and a red dress made the one in front of him roll her eyes.
"What?" She whined, but the one in the red dress gave her a hard look.
"Remember what happened last time you and Spirit weren't careful?" She reminded her, and the one in the brown dress pouted, but moved away.
Jim got down from the horse, and Claire and Toby did the same. The horses trotted off to a nearby trough, and Hatter stepped forward with an eager smile. "Allow me to introduce you all!" He said before turning to the gathered girls. "This is Curio," He pointed to the one in the brown dress who had spoken to Jim. "That is Spirit," He pointed to one in a teal dress with bare feet and loose, bright red hair. "We have Wisdom," Hatter bowed his head as he gestured to a girl in a Kimono-like dress with black hair pulled into a high bun. "This is Heart," He he gave another bow to the girl with the bob haircut and red dress. "And this here is Faith." Finally he pointed to the last one wearing a yellow, patchwork dress and bouncing golden curls on her head. "These are the Pieces."
"Hold on a minute. You're Emma's Pieces?" Claire held out her hands before pointing to each girl again. "Curious, Spirit, Wisdom, Heart, Faith... You're all one Piece of Emma's personality."
They all nodded.
"Whaaaaaaa?" Toby gaped at the Emma look-alikes.
"So, does that mean that Wonderland is actually Emma's mind?" Jim stepped forward, looking at each of the different Emmas as they looked at each other.
"Sort of?" Curio shrugged uncertainly.
"Wonderland is a realm of it's own, but Emma's magic is linked to it. A type of Dreamwalking." Wisdom explained briefly, her hands folded neatly in front of her.
"Well, that's confusing." Toby muttered out the side of his mouth to Jim and Claire. Jim nodded, but his eyes stayed on the different... Pieces in front of him.
"Okay, if you're all part of Emma, then maybe you can tell us how we got here? And maybe how to get out?" Claire directed the conversation back to their main concern.
"It was an accident." Spirit told them with a small smile, speaking up for the first time. Her voice was soft and smooth; melodic.
"An accident?" Jim questioned. Spirit was about to answer him, but a sharp glare from Heart silenced her. She bowed her head and turned away, hiding behind some of her other sisters.
"Oh, don't look so sour, Heart!" The blonde one, Faith, skipped forward, chastising the other girl who sniffed and lifted her chin higher.
"You'll have to excuse, Heart. She thinks Faith, Spirit, and I are reckless." Curio said.
"You are reckless. And careless!" Heart snapped before shooting another glare at them. "And yet, I'm always the one paying the price."
"The Red Queen has been defeated for some time. You could mend if you were willing to try." Wisdom stepped in with some pretty sound logic.
"You can't mend what was never whole." Heart muttered.
"Wait, didn't you say something about Emma slaying the Red Queen or something?" Toby looked over to the Hatter. "And what does she have to do with... 'mending'?"
"Oh, yes! Emma and the Red Queen were engaged in a ferocious battle for some time. But that was long ago. The Cheshire Cat first appeared during that battle and gave Emma the guidance to achieve victory." The Hatter smiled pleasantly as he recounted the events.
"The Red Queen was born out of conflict. She is the other half of Heart." Wisdom said.
"So Curiosity, Spirit, and Faith take all the risks, but then Heart is the one who gets hurt..." Claire murmured quietly from her place next to Jim, and he glanced at her. She was looking at Heart with sympathy in her eyes.
"That does seem to be the case more often than not." Wisdom nodded, her gaze drifting over to Claire. Apparently she'd heard her.
"Let's just get them out of here." Heart growled, turning on her heel and stalking further into the castle grounds.
Before she got very far, there was an ear-piercing screech. Heart and all the others twisted around to look out into the fog surrounding the palace and it's grounds. Jim, Claire, and Toby backed towards the others, and Hatter was shaking as he nervously chewed on his fingernails.
"What was that?" Toby whined. Faith rushed passed him, running for the wall.
She leaped up onto the stone wall, climbing up using off-set bricks and cracks that had become good footholds. She was at the top of the wall within seconds and peering out at their surroundings. Hatter tossed a spyglass up to her and after a moment, Faith twirled around and jumped right off the wall. She landed in a crouch and hurried back towards them.
"Corrupted Roses! About ten of them!" She called.
"Curio, take Faith and get the catapult ready! Spirit, Wisdom, with me!" Heart ordered.
"Whoa, wait, what?!" Toby shouted as the girls all started running.
"Oh, um, terribly sorry." Hatter stuttered as he shuffled between hesitating beside them and rushing off after the Emmas. He decided to stay with them and offer an explanation. "About one year ago, Wonderland was terrorized by darkness and pollution. Emma managed to defeat the source, but there is still much damage and many corrupted creatures..."
"And what exactly do these corrupted creatures do...?" Claire's question was partially cut off as the ground began to rumble.
"Here's a riddle for you; when is a crochet mallet like a billy club?" Cat appeared again, out from behind them and walked over to a bush. He pulled at the branches with his paws revealing several crochet mallets underneath. "I'll tell you: Whenever you want it to be!" He purred wickedly.
Jim, Claire, Toby, and The Hatter all looked at each other just before they rushed forward to grab one of the mallets. Cat leaped up onto a nearby wall and eyed Heart as she came to a stop and met his gaze with an expression of determination. Cat nodded at her.
"Take the high ground then punish these pests!" He said.
Heart jumped up and grabbed the top of the wall, pulling herself up next to Cat. They ran along the wall until they got to the front wall, and then Heart threw herself off with a battle cry. There were more screeches and battle sounds from the other side as Spirit and Wisdom pressed themselves against the wall on either side of the gate.
A moment later, something that looked like a rose bush with eyes and a lot of thorns burst through the gate, breaking it off it's hinges. Jim recognized the black, oily goo that squeezed out of the end of the vines and between the petals of the flower's head. The red rose let out a massive screech, shaking the ground as it's roots dug into the stone path. Spirit and Wisdom closed in, taking it from both sides with slashes of blue and purple light.
Two more of the rose monsters crammed themselves through the gate, slamming into the walls and creating giant cracks. Jim passed his crochet mallet to Toby, giving him a second, and raced forward on all fours. He threw himself into the air and landed on the back of one of the monsters. He clawed at the thick vine that seemed to be the core of it's body, thorns scratching at his arms and legs as the other, small vines thrashed around, trying to pull him off.
Claire, Toby, and the Hatter took their mallets and charged the third one all together, whacking at it as best they could without getting caught up in it's thorns or spiky teeth. The first one collapsed, and Spirit and Wisdom split up to help them with the other two beasts.
"Look out below!" The scream came from Curio, and Jim snapped his head up just in time to see her and Faith yank the lever of a catapult that was placed on top of a tower in the inner wall. The large stone went flying over their heads and passed the wall, striking somewhere beyond.
Jim's attention was snapped back to the beast he was currently clinging to when Wisdom slid underneath it and jumped up, slicing directly where stalk met flower. Jim leaped off, landing on all fours beside Wisdom as she rolled out from below. The flower fell to the ground, bouncing twice, and the stalk went completely limp. They looked at each other, and then turned to look at the progress the others head made. The Hatter, Toby, and Claire were all panting, but looked fine, and Spirit was standing on top of the fallen monster.
It was at that moment that Heart came bounding back through the gate. She seemed okay as well, the only real signs of battle being a bit of dirt and a scratch on her cheek.
"Cat and I managed two, and the catapult took down two more. There's three left, and they're closing in fast." She reported as they all backed away from the gate to regroup.
"It will take time for Faith and Curio to get the second catapult ready." Spirit reminded them.
Before anyone else could speak, all three of the monsters appeared at the wall. Two of them shoved themselves through the gate while the third one, being bigger than the others, simply scaled the wall without any trouble. Heart charged forward without hesitation. Spirit and Wisdom followed right behind her, each going for a different monster. Jim nodded to the others, and they rushed forward to help as best they could.
Jim found himself backing Spirit as she danced around the monster's attacks with ease. She held it's attention, and Jim slid underneath, hoping to find the same success he'd seen with Wisdom. It took him a moment longer of scanning with his eyes, but he found the weak spot where none of the thorns could reach. Lunging toward it, Jim sunk his claws in and tore at the stringy plant stalk as best he could. The beast shrieked and threw back it's head, pulling him up into the air, dangling by one hand. Spirit looked up at him, tilted her head with a smile, and then ran forward to take out some of the monster's roots. As the rose creature started to fall forward, Jim scrambled around onto it's back and launched himself off. He hit the ground hard, but managed to lessen the impact by rolling on his shoulder. The monster dropped to the ground heavily, sending up a large cloud of dust around them, and Spirit stepped up beside him to look at it. They nodded to each other and went to help the others.
Wisdom and the others seemed to be doing plenty well on their own, so Spirit and Jim went to the largest of the rose monsters and Heart. Both were fighting ferociously, but a vine managed to catch Heart's ankle and yank. Heart fell face-first onto the stone path and as she pushed herself back up, trying to shake it off, the vine started pulling her back towards the monster. She twisted and slashed at the vine, trying to free herself, but she didn't have enough time.
Spirit went sprinting at the monster and jumped at it, but she was whacked out of the air by one of the swinging vines. She hit the ground hard, and Jim called out to her before glaring up at the monster. It was drooling and snapping vicious teeth at Heart. Without thinking, Jim darted forward. He ducked and leaped to avoid the swinging vines, but ultimately slid low along the ground to get under the beast. He bit down hard on the vine holding Heart's ankle and it yanked back as the creature snarled and twisted to look at him. Jim dodged to one side to avoid the snapping teeth, and then tackled Heart. They went rolling away from the creature and when they stopped, Jim covered her with his own body.
The creature loomed over the, rearing in it fury as it screamed. As it lunged forward a massive stone dropped on top of it, crushing the monster.
Jim and Heart looked up at the inner wall. Opposite the tower with the first catapult, was a second tower with a second catapult. Faith and Curio were cheering and waving from their spot beside it, and Jim's cheek scrunched with a half-grin of disbelief. He looked back at Heart and she paused in surprise before pursing her lips and turning her face off to the side, but Jim could see a faint pink tone coloring her cheeks.
"Thank you." She muttered just as the others were running over to them.
"Are you two okay?" Claire asked as soon as they were close enough, and Jim assured them all that they were both fine.
"Well, if you're all quite finished playing games, I think it is time to send our visitors off." Cat reappeared, sitting beside Heart and Jim. "The energy it takes to maintain your safety here is too great. You must go now."
"How do we do that?" Toby asked. "We've sort of been trying to figure that out since we got here."
"Follow me." Cat said, turning and walking into the palace.
Cat lead them into the throne room of the once grand palace. Faith and Curio were already waiting for them inside. They stood at the center of the room, beside a floating, glowing rock. A circular platform below the floating stone created a sort of dais for it.
"Is that...?" Claire questioned.
"The Moonstone?!" Toby exclaimed.
"It is currently the only thing maintaining balance in Wonderland. The poison runs deep and until it can be cured, the only option is to defend the core." Cat told them plainly, and even though he heard what he was saying, Jim couldn't take his eyes off the stone.
"That's why Emma took it? She knew she was dying and that the stone could buy her more time?" Jim asked, finally tearing his gaze away to look at the feline. Cat only nodded.
"So what now? That basically means that even if they do find a way to take the stone without killing her, she'll die anyways." Toby worried.
"Then we won't turn her in." Claire said, and both the boys and all the Emmas looked at her in surprise. "If Emma never planned to give up the Moonstone to Pitch, then there's no reason to worry about her having it. What the Royal Council doesn't know won't hurt them."
"Right." Jim smiled at her, relieved and excited that maybe everything would be okay after all.
"A generous offer. Perhaps one day you will be able to see the Champion that Wonderland knows." Cat bowed his head at them and then looked up at the back of the throne room. There above the throne was a stone mural. It was Emma in that blue dress and white apron Jim had seen once or twice before. Her hair was black and loose, and her eyes were a light green. She held a sword that was as elegant as it was deadly with vines and leaves detailing the face of it.
"I'd like to meet her someday." Jim agreed as he dropped his gaze to the rest of the Emmas standing in front of them. "And I'm grateful for getting to meet all of you."
Claire stepped forward, walking over to Heart and raising an eyebrow at her. Heart responded with a hard, dry look. They regarded each other for a moment, but then Claire broke the silence.
"It was you that brought us here. You saved us from the guards back at the club." Claire stated without any question left in her voice. Heart's eyes widened as she pressed her lips together, but then she looked away, another dusting of pink appearing on her cheeks.
"Like Spirit said; it was an accident." She retorted firmly. Refusing to look at them, she added in a mutter. "But I wasn't just going to let you all die."
Claire just smiled and hugged her. Heart stiffened and her face scrunched up as she reluctantly returned the gesture with an awkward pat. Claire pulled back with a bright smile and nodded to Heart before turning and rejoining Toby and Jim.
"I see why you guys like her." Claire whispered to them. Jim and Toby grinned, and then the three of them turned to Cat for further instruction.
Cat rumbled a purr, and then moved off to stand at the back of the room by the throne. The Hatter wished them farewell and then moved off to the side with Cat. All of the Emmas formed a half circle around the dais, holding hands. The circle was open to Jim, Claire, and Toby, and when the Moonstone began to glow brighter and brighter, the light reached out towards them.
They were enveloped in light and soon Jim's vision faded into white...