The party of five continued through the maze, finally halting at a crossroads. Three different paths stood before them, blocked by a wispy figure. It was almost like smoke. The only solid part of it was its face, which looked like the smiling mask often attributed to theatre.
"Welcome, contestants," the smoky being said, smiling widely at all of them. "I am Consonance, the guardian of harmony and peace. I am here to see you to the end of this maze. Before you lie three paths." It gestured to the forks in the road. "Two of us will journey down each. I will join one of you on the middle path, for it is the way that I, at least, must take."
Finished speaking, Consonance backed into the middle path and stopped, waiting. Emmily shrugged and stepped forward. "I will go with you," she said simply. Without another word, they walked off down the centermost path.
Ambrose swiveled around and considered the remaining options. "Corbin, come with me," he finally said, turning again. "Right path!"
"Whatever," grumbled Corbin.
Once they were gone, Jace turned to Mary. He looked at her for a second, then stalked off toward the left path. She hurried after him.
"Where are we going?" Emmily asked warily, looking around.
"To the center," Consonance replied, floating forward without pause. "That is where the Ersatz Marionette resides."
"Uh-huh," Emmily said, unsheathing her Lantern Cleaver. It glowed yellow in the shadows of the hedges. "Who or what is that, exactly?"
"I cannot say," the smoky creature said, sounding sad despite its smile. "It has bound me with its Binding Rhymes."
"Ooo-kay." Emmily turned around and started backing after Consonance. "I suppose I'll find out when we get there."
"If we get there," Consonance replied.
Ambrose and Corbin walked side by side, not saying much. They had reached a shortcut and taken it, and suddenly found themselves somewhere completely identical, when—
DONG
DONG
DONG
Suddenly, their path was blocked by two figures: a tall, thin man and his just as tall and thin companion, both holding three-pronged spears. They both giggled when they saw who they were up against.
"Well, looky here," the girl said, sounding amused.
"A couple of businessmen," the man said, grinning. "What are you peddling, knives?"
The maze melted away, and they were all falling. They landed in the entrance hall of an old castle, empty and dark. Ambrose and Corbin got up. Ambrose set about dusting off his suit, while Corbin jumped at their two tormentors, who had landed on their feet. They easily dodged his attack, and Corbin crashed into the back wall.
"Who are you?" Ambrose asked, not angrily but simply curiously.
"We're Trick and Treat," they replied in unison. "And you're the sweet," the girl, Trick, added.
Corbin had been creeping up behind the two, but Treat whirled around and knocked the Vorpal Blade out of his hand. It skittered across the floor, bouncing off a doorway and into the next room.
Corbin abandoned all pretense and jumped at Treat, clamping his hands around his throat. The castle began to melt again, sending the struggling Corbin and Treat into a different area.
Ambrose looked away from the strange, warped image of the courtyard and turned to Trick. "You're in for a treat," he said, grinning at her.
Jace had been going at a steady pace for a long time now, completely ignoring Mary, who was puffing along behind him. She had already followed in Emmily's footsteps and cast off her formal dress, but her combat uniform wasn't helping much as she tromped tiredly along behind Jace.
"Aren't there any challenges?" she panted. Jace did not respond. Mary persisted. "If I had designed this competition, I would've put in something deadly."
"The contestants are deadly enough," Jace said, speaking for the first time since the five contestants had parted ways. "You're only still alive for the sake of amusement."
Mary decided to shut up. She wasn't feeling very bored anymore.
As Consonance and Emmily rounded a corner, they were suddenly in a long, dark corridor, as that of a ruinous castle. They looked back at the path behind them, but proceeded into the castle, albeit cautiously. Up ahead they could hear some kind of commotion going on.
"Leave me alone!" A girl was screaming, her voice drawing closer to them. "It's not like I tried to kill you!"
"Does it seem that I care?" said a bored voice. It was rather familiar.
"Ambrose?" Emmily's heart was pounding. She rushed around the corner, disregarding Consonance's warning of "could be a trap..."
A door stood in her way. Emmily tried to open it, but it was locked. Apparently the girl on the other side had just found that out too, for the knob was rattling wildly as the girl sobbed and Ambrose's footsteps drew nearer.
All of a sudden there was a thud from the opposite side of the door, as if a body had hit the floor, followed by a slashing noise. Something spattered against the door as the girl shrieked in agony. Blood seeped out from under the door. Emmily shuddered. It seemed that Ambrose had caught up to his prey.
"What the hell are you?!" the girl screamed. There was a bang. Ambrose cursed.
"You wish to see? You wish to know what I AM?"
Emmily swept her Lantern Cleaver out of its hilt and swung it at the door, splitting it in two. Beyond the doorway lay a truly horrific sight.
Ambrose stood, or hovered would be a better term, over Trick, who's left leg was laying a good five yards away from the rest of her. Her left eye was ripped out and had been trampled, making the floor a pulpy mess. She held a three-pronged spear out in front of her, whose blades matched the deep scratches across Ambrose's face. Even as Emmily watched, Ambrose brought his rapier down on the shaft of the pike, splitting the weapon in two. Ambrose's lip curled.
"Glass succeeds steel," he said thoughtfully.
"That was a silver-titanium alloy," Trick growled through gritted teeth, tears streaming down one side of her face and blood down the other.
"Whatever." Ambrose shrugged, the slashes on his cheek healing instantly. "Prepare for assimilation."
His form rippled, doubling over and then straightening out, until he was no more than a hulking behemoth made of memory shards, swirling like a living storm. A single eye, piercing blue, shone out of the chaos.
"I am the Crystal god," he said in a booming voice that vibrated like a bellstroke, rattling their ribcages. "I am not a person, not a thing. I am a legacy. Now you will become part of that legacy. Look on the bright side— you will never be forgotten."
And with that, the great monstrosity lurched forward, catching hold of Trick. Her screams died away into echoes as she dissolved into memory crystals, which flew into the storm of ancient memories to be filed away and preserved forever.
Corbin was circling Treat in the castle's desolate courtyard, eyeing him warily. Treat stood opposite him, mirroring his every movement with a smirk on his face. They had been doing this for a while now, and Corbin was getting restless.
"Hey," Corbin said, taking out the Vorpal Blade. "I'd like you to meet a little friend of mine... Stabby." He stepped closer to Treat, who looked wary, but did not back away.
"And why am I supposed to be afraid of a kitchen knife?"
"Do you know what they called Stabby in the ancient legends of Wonderland?"
Treat shook his head.
"The Vorpal Blade," Corbin answered himself easily. Treat's eyes widened.
"I'm out." He turned and started to scramble away. Corbin followed him with his eyes. As Treat began to fade, attempting to escape, Corbin slashed down with the blade. Instantly Treat became solid again. "Wha—?!"
"Useful to have a blade so sharp that it can cut through magic," Corbin said, stepping toward Treat. His huge shadow hid the spill of blood as he hummed at his work.
Jace suddenly stopped, causing Mary to bump into him. He shoved her away and shushed her when she attempted to protest. "Something's happening," he told her.
They silently walked forward into a large clearing in the hedges. Everything was still for about five seconds, until—
BONG
BONG
BONG
Both Emmily and Ambrose dropped out of thin air, closely followed by Consonance. Emmily and Ambrose had apparently gotten bored, because they were getting very personal with one another.
"Oh, come on!" Jace said, sounding slightly exasperated.
Ambrose stood up, looking around and straightening his tie. Half his hair was sticking out at an odd angle. Emmily hurriedly zipped up her suit and scrambled to her feet.
"Why, hello there," Ambrose said awkwardly. "Ah, didn't see you—"
Corbin came trotting into the clearing, holding Treat's severed head by the hair and interrupted with a cheerful, "I came up with a wonderful poem!"
"Oh, dear," Consonance said suddenly.
Mary looked up. A dark fog was descending on the clearing, obscuring the exits from sight and forcing all five of the Alices, along with Consonance, into a tight circle in the middle. A strange, wispy figure was floating down towards them...
"Hello, fools," the thing sneered at them. It was a darker copy of Consonance, its face a grimacing mask instead. "I am Dissonance, the guardian of discord and chaos. I am here to deliver a message from your great adversary."
"Begone!" Consonance shouted angrily. But Dissonance was already beyond hearing him. It had stiffened, its eyes glowing, then relaxed and melted into a shadowy image of the Ersatz Marionette, grinning out at them from its throne of many tongues.
"Hello, Alice and Alice and Alice and Alice and Alice," he said to them. His voice was distorted and echoey due to the vast amount of space between this apparition of him and his actual location. "And, of course, Consonance. Welcome to my own little version of the Unbirthday Massacre. As you know, you are required to make it out of this maze alive before sundown. The rules, however, have been changed. I have planted my own... agents in this labyrinth and you will all compete against them. In other words, all the Alices must work together, at least until the end."
"The end?" Emmily wondered.
The Mimsy continued speaking as if he could not hear her, but something about its speech suggested it had. "At the end of the day, all the surviving contestants will be part of an every-man-for-himself slaughter. Only one member of each team will be able to exit the maze in one piece. I will see to that." Its hair parted and, for a moment, a glowing eye was visible in the center of its forehead.
"The challenge starts now," the Marionette said, his hair flopping back over his face. "Good day to you, and... happy unbirthday."
Dissonance recomposed, changing back into his wispy frowny self. "Well," it said in a voice that indicated finality. "I'm a part of the opposing team, which means I'm supposed to kill you. Come here, bitch!"
He swooped over them and dived, making a grab for Mary, who dodged and pulled out a long staff. Affixed to the top was a broken sword, the top half missing. It was engraved with a pattern that matched the one on the Vorpal Blade.
"Eat pike, smokestack!" Mary swiped the polearm at Dissonance, who screamed in agony. A glowing slash appeared in its chest.
"Curse!" It swooped away through the maze, shouting behind it, "See you again soon!"
The Alices stood in silence. Then, without a word, they all went their own ways. All except for Ambrose and Emmily, who went with each other.
