The end is nearing for this story, my dears. By the way, did anyone catch the reference for the Jabberwocky poem? I'll give whoever finds the reference to the poem an honorable mention in a future story of mine! And without further ado, the last chapter for The Young Queens!

Chapter 10: Discovery and the Beginning

Mirana sat mournfully beneath a tree in the Outlands. It had been scarcely a day since the Jabberwocky's attack, and the whole of Underland had fallen into despair. And Mirana knew all too well who had done it. Anyone could've figured it out: Iracebeth. Who else would do such a thing? She was the most evil person ever to have existed in Underland. Only she would cause such death and destruction. There were quite a few survivors, however. They sat around the former Queen, trying to comfort one another. They shared what they had seen on their way to the Outlands: Iracebeth was now the Queen-the Red Queen, they called her-and those who pledged loyalty were forced to work for her. Those who refused had their heads chopped off.

A small boy tugged at her sleeve. "What're we gonna do now, your Majesty?"

Mirana smiled sadly, and gave him a gentle hug. "I don't know, my dear. I don't know. But I know that someday the Red Queen will fall."

This didn't help the child. He went back sadly over to his mother.

"There he is!" Mallymkun suddenly shouted, pointing at a figure in the distance. Mirana stood up to see her favorite Hatter walking slowly towards the group.

"Tarrant!" she exclaimed, rushing to him. "Oh, thank goodness you're all right, I was-" She stopped, looking at his face. "Tarrant? What's wrong with your eyes?"

Tarrant didn't answer. He stared straight ahead, his yellow eyes glaring. He muttered something under his breath, which sounded faintly like a Scottish brogue.

"Look at me, Tarrant. It's going to be all right. We'll do… something…" Mirana trailed off, watching him nervously. He walked up to the survivors huddled under the tree.

"Citizens of Underland!" he suddenly thundered. "Today I have seen what I hope to never see again. Iracebeth has taken over and become the bloodthirsty Red Queen! But I, for one, will not stand by and let this happen!"

A few let out cheers of agreement; Thackery just let out a mad giggle.

"I ask of you, citizens, to rise up against the Bloody Big Head! We will not let our loved ones die in vain! Is anyone with me?!"

Many let out cheers and roars of defiance; Mirana stood watching in awe.

Tarrant's fury had died down, and his eyes faded to a light green color. "We must have a secret code and organization! I've already thought of some words for a secret language…"

"Hate to interrupt you all," Chessur's voice suddenly said, "But Absalom's back, and he has something to show you."

Nivens glared at the now-materializing cat. "And just what happened to you at Witzend? One minute you were there, the next you were gone! You coward!"

Chessur frowned regretfully. Without saying a word, he disappeared again, leaving Absalom in his place. Absalom had been gone mysteriously for about four years; it had happened after he went into his chrysalis stage. In reality, Absalom was up in Overland-it was simple: he would be a caterpillar, go into the chrysalis stage, and become a butterfly in Overland. Then he would die as a butterfly and reawaken again as a caterpillar in Underland.

"What is it, Absalom?" asked Mirana.

Absalom held out a scroll to her. He deeply regretted not sharing the Oraculum with her earlier, but he couldn't change the visions of the future with her.

"What is this?" Mirana curiously unfolded the Oraculum. Her eyes widened as she took in the moving drawings, and the names of the days. "It's a list of all the days of Underland! And… the future…" She looked ahead several years. On one day, a young blond girl would come to Underland and shake it to its roots-the girl from that recurring dream, Mirana realized. Even more later, she would come back and slay the Jabberwocky with the Vorpal sword, and Mirana would be the White Queen again.

Mirana sighed and felt much more relieved than she had in years. It's just a pity it has to be so long away, she thought.

Iracebeth, now the Red Queen, scanned the line of prisoners from the next village she had destroyed. She began to question the loyalties, starting with the pigs. "Will you be loyal to the Wed Queen?" she asked the first pig.

"Yes, your Majesty," the pig replied tearfully.

"Excellent. You shall be… a footwest!" the Red Queen declared. She moved on to the next three pigs without any trouble, but the fourth one glared at her and declared, "I'll never bow down to you! My loyalties remain with the White Queen!"

Without hesitation, the bloodthirsty Queen said, "Off wiff his head."

Two of the Red Queen's knights, who looked like playing cards from the deck of hearts, escorted the squealing pig away.

This was how it had been for the whole day. About four-fifths of Underland had pledged loyalty to her so far, while others had their heads chopped off. She had made hedgehogs into croquet balls, flamingos into mallets, and monkeys and frogs into servants. The Red Queen knew not all in Underland were present, but it wasn't of too much concern to her. She already had so many people pledging to her, so what did it matter if some weren't there?

Iracebeth of Crims, the Red Queen, had never felt so happy or powerful in her whole life.

It was nearly evening. It had taken the group from the Outlands all day to reach Marmoreal, which everyone had decided the safest place to be-besides the Outlands. It was still as Mirana remembered it, but this time, the ghost of King Caleb lurked there. Since most of the survivors had no place else to stay, Mirana decided to let them stay at the castle until they wanted to leave and find a new place to live.

After a meal prepared by some cooks and Thackery, Mirana sat in her favorite pavilion, studying the Oraculum. The little blond girl should be discovering the rabbit hole very soon, due to her seeing Nivens.

"Mirana?" Tarrant stood in the entrance. "You said you wanted to see me?"

"Yes, I did. I have an important job for you." Mirana showed him the little girl. "This young child is to be the savior of Underland. She shall come to us in a few days. I assign you to be her guardian, Tarrant. Make sure she finds her way around."

Tarrant's eyes glowed happily. "Of course, my Queen."

Mirana smiled sadly. "I'm not the Queen anymore, Tarrant, nor am I Mirana of Crims. I'm Mirana of Marmoreal now, you see. My sister has banished me from Crims; Chessur just told me."

Tarrant's face fell. But he smiled as he said, "You'll always be my White Queen, Mirana."

"You are truly my dearest friend, Tarrant." Mirana embraced him tightly. Tarrant returned the hug.

It had been a bittersweet day for the both of them. But out of the red and bloody ashes of death had come the white, pure flower of hope. It rested now on the shoulders of a blond, curious young girl named Alice Kingsleigh.

They sat for a while in the pavilion, holding hands and gazing into the stars. Everything will be all right, thought the White Queen. Even if it is a long time away, everything will be all right in the end.

Much later, somewhere far away, in a garden in England, a little girl was not paying attention to her sister's reading lesson. Instead, she was more focused on a very late white rabbit. Curious, she followed him into a forest, where she noticed a large hole. As she leaned in closer to get a better view, she lost her footing and fell down the rabbit hole.

And so began Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

The End.

Thank you for reading the story! I shall now be working on some one-shots for Zombieland, which should be published within a few days.

Fairfarren, my lovely readers!

*Becca*