Well, my dear friends, the chapter that you may have been expecting (or dreading) is here… the day that death plagued Underland!
Chapter 9: Eyes of Flame
Four years had passed since Mirana had been crowned Queen of Crims. And a lot had happened in four years.
One of the many things Mirana had done was change the attire of the knights into chess pawns. Within the ranks, she had decided on the strongest, most dependable knight and made him a Champion. The Champion was the one that, as legend would have it, would slay the Jabberwocky. Mirana found the legend to be a little odd; she had never seen a Jabberwocky in Underland yet. But, just to be sure, she had kept the Champion ready to go and fight at all times, armed with a weapon that all said could defeat the legendary dragon: the Vorpal Sword. The best blacksmiths in Underland had finely crafted the sword. It had taken them several weeks before it was finished.
So far, everything was running smoothly in Crims. Everyone thought Mirana was a fair and wonderful ruler, and hardly anyone caused any problems. Mirana was now known as the White Queen around Underland, due to her favorite color being white. Mirana often pondered why her favorite color was white: was it just because it was simply a nice, blank color, or was it her favorite because it wasn't dark like her sister's favorite color red?...
Iracebeth grinned wickedly to herself. The twenty-six-year-old bigheaded tyrant had thought about revenge for four long years, and it had finally dawned upon her on what she should do. At first, she was so angry-why hadn't she thought of it earlier? But then she realized that it was fine-four years was enough time to remove her from suspicion from trying to murder her sister.
"You look happy," Stayne commented suddenly. They had been sitting in a pavilion with several other soldiers and talking about tactics on the battlefield. Stayne had changed a lot in four years. His hair had gotten longer, and his face had physically changed. His left eye was gone, lost in a battle with a neighboring land. Now he covered it up with a black eye patch. But the scars still remained.
"Oh, yes, Stayne, I am vewy happy."
"About what?"
"What my sista will have to endure."
Stayne frowned. "What are you going to do, your highness?"
Iracebeth glanced at him. "Well, wemember when you told me that Mirwana wejected you years back?"
Stayne shifted uncomfortably before replying, "Of course."
"Don't you want to get her back for that?"
He thought for a moment. "Yes… I would very much like to do that, your Highness."
Iracebeth's eyes lit up. "Listen here, then. I have an idea…"
Mirana smiled as Tarrant led her horse through the woods to Witzend. She was blindfolded and had no idea what the "surprise" was that he had told her about. Behind her traveled her trusty escorts: her Champion and some pawns.
"Alright, you can take the blindfold off."
Carefully removing the blindfold, Mirana gasped at the sight.
It looked like a carnival of sorts had been set up in Witzend. People began singing, dancing and playing music the moment the Queen had entered the village. Every one of Mirana's closest friends was in attendance. The whole Hightopp clan was there-Tarrant had planned the whole event.
"Wh-wh- Tarrant, what is this for?" Mirana exclaimed with delight at seeing the village looking so happy.
"It's all for you, my dear. Can't a village celebrate the fact that their Queen is amazing? Well, she's not just amazing, I suppose. She's marvelous, magnificent-"
"Tarrant," Mirana said before he launched into a babbling mess. She blushed as she asked, "You did this, didn't you?"
"Yes, but not without some help, you see." Tarrant gestured to where all of her friends were sitting and laughing.
"It's wonderful. Thank you," Mirana said, and without thinking, she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
Realizing what she had done, she blushed again. Tarrant's reaction was slightly different. He stood still for a long moment, and suddenly, he began to do the most splendid futterwacken ever seen at the time. Mirana smiled as several people clapped when he finished.
"Oh, Mirana! I almost forgot! There are some of my relatives who'd like to play you a song." Mirana noticed he was flushing with pride.
"Let's hear it then," smiled Mirana.
About an hour later, the festival was still going on. Children spun around in a circle as the Hatter clapped to a song. Mirana sat on her horse and smiled at the joyfulness of it all.
A shadow suddenly fell over the village. Everyone looked up, forgetting what he or she was doing almost immediately.
Someone let out a chilling scream: "THE JABBERWOCKY!"
As if the sentence was its cue, the horrible dragon released a huge ball of fire from its mouth, hitting several villagers and lighting a house on fire.
Pandemonium broke. People ran left and right, trying to avoid the balls of fire. Mirana's horse reared up in alarm, and Mirana felt her crown slip off her head and onto the ground.
"Come on!" Tarrant cried, grabbing the reins of her horse. "Mirana! Head to the Outlands! They'll never find you there!"
"No! I have to help the others! Where's my crown?"
"You'll get it back, just go! Now!" Tarrant yelled, trying to control the frightened horse.
Mirana glanced worriedly at him-she couldn't just leave him here!
"I'll be fine! GOOO!" Tarrant yelled, giving her horse a push towards the Outlands. Mirana held on for dear life as the horse fled.
Tarrant panted as he watched her horse gallop off. Turning back, he ran back into the wild inferno, looking for his family.
"Hatter!" Mallymkun shouted at him from under a table. Several other familiar faces were under there, including Nivens, Thackery, the Tweedles, the Dodo, and Bayard. "Where'd the Queen go?"
"The Outlands! The Jabberwocky will never find her there! Follow her! GO!"
The friends took off across the field, followed by several others. Tarrant looked around wildly for his mother and father and siblings. Where were they?
Tarrant looked up just in time to see the Champion lunge towards the Jabberwocky with the Vorpal sword. It was no use; the Champion was fried and gone before he could blink.
Tarrant suddenly felt his world disappear into blackness…
Mirana finally arrived in the Outlands. The Outlands was not much, just mainly trees, fields, some rocks, and a small stream. Slipping off her horse, Mirana buried her face in her hands and sobbed. Was anyone still alive?
"Don't worry yourself, your Majesty, we're here…"
Mirana looked down and saw Mallymkun standing at her foot, tears on her whiskers. The Tweedles held on to each other like they were the only things each other had. Bayard sat with his mate and sadly howled. Nivens blew into a handkerchief of the Dodo's. Thackery, however, stood there in shock. Suddenly, he began to laugh. Everyone stared at him.
"They're gone!" he exclaimed, twirling and hopping. "They're gone! They're all frizzled up and burnt and dead! Oh, they're burnt to a crisp! Ahahaha!"
Nivens stared sadly at him. "His family was killed by a fireblast. As was mine…" He began to cry again. "He's gone mad!"
More survivors-some from Witzend, some from other destroyed villages-began to show up to the Outlands. Everyone was crying. Mirana did the best she could to offer condolences, but she was worried sick about Tarrant…
Tarrant opened his eyes. At first he didn't remember anything, but it all came back to him as he stood up and looked around what was left of his village. Burning bodies were everywhere. Tarrant saw his mother's body clutching on to his father's. His younger siblings' corpses were all holding hands. Not one member of his family had survived. In shock and sadness, he picked up his fallen hat-the only reminder he had of his family now.
Suddenly, Tarrant let out a scream that seemed to shake the ground. In fury, he pulled at his curly hair, ripping it out. His eyes turned a dangerous orange color for the first time. He began to curse in a language he hadn't even heard of. He screamed to the sky unintelligible words.
That was the day Tarrant Hightopp became completely mad. Some have said that being a Hatter had already made him mad, but this was a different kind of mad. The Mad Hatter swore revenge on Horunvendush Day, as it was written in the Oraculum.
Iracebeth smiled as she put the crown on her head. "You did magnificentwy today, Jabber. I welieve you of your duties to me. You may leave if you wish."
The Jabberwocky bowed its head and flew off.
Stayne glanced at Iracebeth. "I have the Vorpal sword," he whispered.
The new Queen of Crims smiled again. "Brilliant, Stayne… wonderful… we must move on to the next part of the plan now…"
That was quite depressing…
But I'd like to thank me readers for sticking with me so far, as well as my reviewers… this will be continued for only a few more chapters, then it's over! Don't worry; I have an idea for a story for Zombieland…
Anyways, Fairfarren until then!
*Becca*