In my field of paper flowers
And candy clouds of lullaby
I lie inside myself for hours
And watch my purple sky fly over me
Imaginary, Evanescence
I see it.
The Queen's Castle.
It towers over me, like a gigantic devil's head, which laughs at my suffering and what could be my demise. Beautiful gardens where croquet games were played have been replaced by flowing rivers of lava, where tiny demons emerge from to torture me.
As I stare at the domain of the bane of my imagination, I grow more determined. My grip on my knife tightens, and I lick off the blood of a Card Guard I had recently slaughtered. I walk towards the nightmarish castle with thoughts of victory and power.
I know I'm going to win. I have to win.
When the Queen falls, it will all be over. Wonderland will be my domain again. It won't be some horrendous hell-hole of gore and screams. It will be perfect. It will serve it's original purpose once again.
This world will soon be repaired, and when it is , it will be my escape. I want to stay in my Wonderland, not some vicious parody created by a monstrous tyrant, and I definitely do not want to go back to the real world…
…where your loved ones die no matter how much you care for them, and you can be locked away in an asylum with the hellish cacophony of insanity.
I await the Queen's defeat, when the splendour of Wonderland will be restored, and I will be able to play with my friends again, and rest in a lush green field as I stare at the imaginary clouds and…
'You selfish, misbegotten and unnatural child! You smelled the smoke but you were in Dreamland taking tea with your friends…'
No.
Why do I hear that miserable servant of hers slandering in my ear? Surely if I take heed of it, it'll revive him and I will have to go through a rematch…
Or was he speaking the truth? Was it my desire to escape that caused the destruction and made her rise to power?
Part of me wants to escape to my childlike dreamworld and remain there forever, avoiding any torment reality has in store for me. Yet I want to go back and face the real world at the same time. I want to…
'Grow up, Alice. Embrace the truth…'Embrace the truth…
The words of the caterpillar ring through my head like the ticking of a clock, and as I hear them, I grow more determined.
I am fighting this battle not because I can have my little fantastic escape back. Not so I can live through the 'good old days' again. It is so I can put away my childish fantasies of a world where everything's happy and nice. It is so I can deal with the problems of my past. It is so I can live a normal life and my world can be whole again.
The gigantic doors burst open, and two cards, a spade and a diamond, grimace at me.
"Get 'er!"
The spade raises his axe over my head, until…
"Stop!"
The voice of the Queen…
"The girl is mine."
Every word she speaks heightens my fury against her. Her personality hasn't changed, it's only…intensified.
"The battle should be so much fun. A pathetic little child against the most powerful force in this world. I can hardly wait."
I march towards her throne room, disregarding her mockery.
"I am not a child."