Black Kitten Chara: Finally, we meet the Queen of Hearts in this chapter! We also get to see some Eat-Me Cake, the missing White King, and some special people involve with this kingdom and gets involve with Claude! Please review!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hollow Fields or American McGee's Alice!
Unlike his friends, Claude did not meet near-death when entering the Kingdom of Hearts by simply waking up. Instead, he entered the world by falling for the sky and landing down on stone slide, going from different brokens slides as he went down faster and faster, not being able to stop. Okay, maybe he was going to face death if he didn't stop but at least he didn't wake up to it.
But instead of dying, he landed face-first into a broken pathway that was made out of white stones. He pushed himself up, wiping dirt off his face, as he got a good look around the world he was in. The sky was a light peach color, with broken pathways like the one he was on heading towards a black castle with a heart-shaped structure on the top. A huge black wall surrounded the castle, so Claude could not get a good look at all. So, he looked around a little more to find a broken train track of the Looking Glass Railway near the castle and hearts with black wings flying in the sky.
He was enchanted by this world, but he noticed that he didn't have his Cheshire Sword with him. That made him worry a little as he knew that there would be some monsters around here, especially since he was in the Kingdom of Hearts. There could be monsters twice as dangerous than Ruins, or there could be Ruin here mixed in with these dangerous monsters.
"Wow..." The brunette said as he got up and tried to look aorund more, only to meet an angry redhed behind him. "Oh, hi Lucy. Didn't know you were... Woah." He lost focus as he saw what Lucy was wearing, his boyish hormones getting the better of him at the moment.
Lucy was wearing a long-sleeved, deep V-neck dark red top with the sleeves wider at the wrists and a black mesh sewn into the red fabric. The top was way off her shoulders and only covered her chest to show off her entire stomach, with only a little bit of her breasts showing. She had on a high-waisted, thigh-length dark red skirt with black mesh also sewn into the red fabric. The skirt had a slight slit on the left and a V-shaped, black-lined dip that stopped right below the navel. The thick golden lining at the waist had a black gem at the lowest dip and the slit had a silver disk at the top. She wore black high-heeled sandals that resembles vines and go to her knees with gold, heart-shaped gems at the sides as buttons. She had a thin, black crown that looks like vines with a red gem in the middle and the black mesh of the top and skirt has red hearts designs. Around her neck was a black choker, that has a grim heart-shaped pendant at her throat that was colored in dark grey tones. Its eyes were a red color and seem to glow, with thin black ribbons under the pendant. The ribbons had gold patterns that maned itself around the edges of the bows; the pattern was simply of a golden line which was covered by another line of golden hearts. Her hair was thicker with it being braided down her shoulder. She had on thick black eyeliner and black mascara, with her nails being slightly longer than usual.
As he looked Lucy up and down in a way that was obvious, the redhead felt her eyebrow twitch as she slapped Claude on the head. As he rubbed his head, he yelled "What was that for?"
"For being pervy. By the way, that stupid suit you're wearing is just odd-looking on you." Lucy snapped back.
"What suit?" Claude asked.
Lucy sighed as she waved her hand, causing a mirror to appear out of nowhere. And there, Claude understood what she meant by a suit.
He wore a black military-style shirt. The color of the piping on it was blood red on the front, bottom, collar, and side seams. His pants were dark grey, almost black, with red piping at the seams. Over the uniform, he wore a long, blood red tenchcoat-like jacket with the front flaps open, the piping on the jacket was black, and the large golden buttons on the front going down neatly in a straight line. The red tenchcoat had golden epaulettes on the shoulders with red gems on the sides of the epaulettes. He wore knee-high, black boots and white gloves that has three, red darts on the back. On his waist, there were three black belts sewn together that keep his sword at his side.
"I don't think I look that bad." Claude defended himself, making Lucy giggle as she made the mirror disappear.
"Whatever." The redhead said as she pushed pass the brunette.
Claude rolled his eyes as he followed Lucy, only two steps behind her as she pulled put her Vorpal Blades. But instead of a monster like he thought she was going to attack, a familiar cat appeared on the top of a broken pillar that stood high above the two teenagers.
The Cheshire Cat smiled at Lucy as he asked, "Coming back to admire your handiwork? Returning to the scene of the crime?"
"It had to be done, Cat. You even said so yourself; 'You and this Red Queen cannot both survive. She is a cancer in your body. Exorcise her or perish'. " Lucy said in a snarky, rude tone towards the Cat as she placed her hands on her hips.
"Well, she was the face of evil in the Heart of Darkness." Cheshire Cat said, his tone of the last three words directed at Lucy.
"She didn't treat you so well last time. Lost your head as I recall." Lucy added in with a smirk.
Hearing these words adding an unwelcome sting to the Cat's ego just by the look in his eyes. But he shook his head as he said, "She was completely deranged. You picked up her crown, but now you have put it down. You must speak to her, what is left of her anyways." Then he disappeared.
As the Cat disappeared, a path lifted itself from the dead ground for the two teenagers to get through. Lucy was smiling confidently as she used her Butterfly Dodge to get to this new path, pink butterflies with a blue wind and green leaves following her. claude though about it for a moment, an unsure look on his face as he jumped as his golden butterflies, brown leaves, and black hurricane kept him from falling.
He saw Lucy looking at him land on the platform with a smirk, before she walked to the edge and jumped to the next platform easily. Claude sighed as he ran to catch up with the redhead, trying to jump to the next platform with a little more diffculty than Lucy had.
As Lucy kept going and finally got to the area surrounding the castle, Claude was breathing a little hard from trying to catch up. Then he looked to see Lucy leaning against the wall surrounding the castle and he felt better as he tried to take his time jumping to the next platform.
After a few minutes, the brunette finally caught up and landed in front of the castle gates as Lucy stared at him with a mixture of pity and amusment. He glared at her with blazing eyes as the amused look on her face began to turn scared as she whipped her head to the sides, acting like there was something watching them. Claude stared at her with confusion as her eyes towards the right of them.
Even though they were supposed to enter the castle, Lucy walked to where her eyes landed at. Claude felt his blood boil despite the calm look on his face, but he followed her as he saw what she founded; the old grey Victorian door with flames behind the window and the name SNOW written at the top.
Claude felt his boiling blood go cold as Lucy touched the doorknob, not knowing what was behind that door. But it seem like she was confused on what do to as Claude caught up to her and just stared at her, worried on what her choice what would be. Then, his blood froze as she opened the door and entered with him following.
[MEMORY DOOR]
Claude opened his eyes to find himself back at the night of the Snow residentance burning. He felt like his twelve-year-old self again, among a crowd of neighbors looking to see what was happening aolng with police, emergency crew members, and firefighters. He remembered that he was the only one of Lucy's friends that didn't wander into the crowd, but he saw that there was no police for him to talk to.
He saw Lucy being taken to the hospital, his heart dropping into his stomach. His eyes wandered around, looking for a police man or firefighters ro talk to. But instead, his eyes fell on the small forest that gathered around the back of the Snow residentance.
There, he saw someone walk out of the forest. It was hard to tell by the flames from the house hurting his eyes, but Claude could make out that the person was a tall, thin male in with a beard.
As the brunette tried to get closer, his saw the person run back into the forest as soon as a police officer even came near the backyard.
But as the person ran away, Claude caught a glimpse of something golden hitting the light of the flames. It was a key, shaped as the Venus symbol. And it was hanging from the pocket of this mysterious person's pants.
Claude tried to run faster, wanting to know who this person was and why they were running away from the police officers. But as soon as he was near the crowd of adults gathering around the house, an officer grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him away for questioning.
[MEMORY DOOR]
Claude was thrown out of the Memory Door by none other than Lucy herself. He fell on his bottom when hitting the ground, but he looked up to see the angry and hurt look in her eyes as tears streamed down her face. With her fist clenched together, she slammed the Memory Door shut as her whole body began to shake.
"You... You saw the killer... You knew that I wasn't crazy yet you didn't say anything to the police!" Lucy screamed at the top of her lungs, her ear-shattering voice making Claude flinch a little. "I thought you were my friend and you never told the police that you saw someone running from my house! My family's deaths could have been avenged right then and there but you were too much of a coward to say anything!"
Claude felt guilt wrenching through his gut as he stood up and said, "Lucy let me explain. I didn't know who to explain to the cops that I saw someone coming out of the forest and looking at your house. I don't think they would believe a twelve-year-old boy if they heard that."
"I DON'T CARE! YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE FOR ME!" Lucy yelled as she raised her fist.
Then her fist connected to Claude's cheek as he fell to the ground for the second time, to shock to do anything as Lucy ran to the gates. He regained his senses as he noticed that the gate doors were open, watching Lucy run into them without a second thought.
He jumped to his feet as he chased after her, ignoring the pain in his cheek. His hand went down to his belt to find that the Cheshire Sword was back, but he didn't care as he skidded to a stop in front of the gates. And saw the most frightening scene he has ever laid his eyes on ever.
Leading to a pathway that led to the door that would let them enter the castle grounds, there were broken life-sized white chess pieces from the Pale Realm. A statue of what looked like a King stood in the enterance of the castle grounds, almost looking real and alive. And surrounding a violent Lucy were zombie-like Card Guards with skeletal faces and bloody holes where their suits used to be. The Card Guards varied from Clubs, Spades, Diamonds, and Hearts with colors of either red or black.
Lucy was slashing and hacking at the zombie Guards, who were mindlessly slashing at her.
He watched her in amazement, too shocked to even move. She was like a ballerina, moving effortlessly across the ground as if she was gliding on thin air. She had a cold look on her face, but the tears broke that emotionless facade. She was slashing at the monsters like a pro and she didn't even flitch even the zombie Guards were trying to harm her.
She destoryed the last zombie Guard, effortlessly in a calm manner as it collasped into a puddle of black blood. It spattered all over her skin, but she either did not care or did not notice as she flicked her wrists to make her Blades disappear.
Claude's mouth was hanging open, surprised at what he was seeing. The last time they were in a region together was the Land of Fire and Brimstone, but Lucy was reduced to a crying mess when the Jabberwocky told her the truth of what she thought about herself. But now, all he was seeing was a cold, emotional killer.
He walked up to her, but she wiped her head to stare him down with cold eyes. but he didn't even flitch as she huffed and walked away.
Rolling his eyes, he followed her up the path. As they neared the enterance, Claude realized that the statue blocking it was actually real. And alive. And it was the White King.
"The Red Kingdom is in ruins, but you are no better off." Lucy said coldly to the former king.
"When you defeated her, I tried to reclaim the castle, but I was set upon by her monstrosities. The malignant royal bitch still reigns." The White King said in a montone voice.
Lucy placed her hands on her hips and said, "I'm here to petition her. We must get inside."
"The only way in is through me." The White King said sadly. "Sacrifices must be made."
"Those who say so usually mean that they should be made by others." Lucy replied, her tone now snarky once again.
"Cynicism is a disease! It can be cured. Once inside, beware of the outsize killer who patrols her domain. Never confront him; he is invincible." The White King looked sad as his final words were, "Now cut me loose; I'll show you the meaning of 'sacrifice'."
Before Claude could even blink, Lucy grabbed a giant tree log. Blacken with age, she picked it up with almost inhuman strength.
Then, before he could react to what he was thinking she was going to do, the log flew pass his ear and smashed through the White King, shattered him into a million pieces as some remains of his eyes hung loose from the now open enterance.
As he stood there in complete shock of what he saw, Lucy walked up to the enter in an icy manner as she said, "Come on now. I am not waiting all day for you."
He stuck his tongue out at her as they entered the castle grounds together. And the second Claude saw what Queensland was truly like, he felt like he was going to be sick.
The stone structure of the castle was crumbling down, and the plant life had died and dried up. Queensland has become more and more tainted than Claude could ever imagine,with repulsive appendages, mainly tentacles, protruding from every organic wall in the place, and apparently other areas here seem to even contain body parts.
"My, my, Queensland has really gone down the drain since I last recall. It used to be filled with lava streams and beating hearts covering the stone towers." Lucy said in almost a dreamy voice, touching one wall gently as if she was trying to remember the past that was now unreachable.
Claude looked at Lucy with almost a sad look, knowing that she was already having trouble remembering her own mind.
"Lucy..." But as the brunette took a step foward, the ground disappeared from under him.
He fell straight through the hole, leaving Lucy alone as he landed on his backand groane din pain. He looked up to see drops of blood sprinkling on his face and the redhead now above him looking down in shock. But before he could tell her anything, the hole closed up quickly and left the brunette alone in the dark.
At first, all Claude could tell about the room he was trapped in was that is was covered in blood appartently and that it had the rich smell of death roaming the air. Put off by the scent, he covered his nose and stood up in a wobbly manner as he landed on his legs in what seem like a smart move at the time to cushion his fall.
Then, he pulled out the Cheshire Sword and held it so he was ready to attack. But it seem with the dead silence that he was the only person in the room.
"Weird..." As he backed up into the wall, a torch flared on and he jumped back a few feet in surprise.
But instead of facing an enemy like he thought, he stood face-to-face with a painting. And it was of him, in the same uniform but with black hair and brown eyes. On the bottom of the painting, engraved in gold, was the name Prince Jack.
Claude felt a lump in his throat as he realzied this was the boy that everyone talked about. Now he understands why the Elder Gnome called him the Knave's double and why sometimes the Cheshire Cat called him Knave; because, now facing this painting, he realized that the Knave was modeled after his appearance.
Claude pulled out the Heart Locket, which somehow managed to survive the trip into Wonderland.
But for now, he stuffed the Locket back into his coat as he realized this is no time for just messing around. He held his sword up and began going foward, hoping that he would see Lucy soon.
~0~
Lucy was too much in shock of Claude's disappearance that she either became careless or dazed when the Zombie Guards attacked her. Luckily, their low growls gave them away and she easily killed them while her eyes gave away the fact she had no idea what she just murdered.
It was only when she wandered into a small, Gothic Victorian-styled room covered in tectacles and completely in ruins in some parts was when the Cheshire Cat shpwed up and snapped her out of her daze.
"Lost, my dear?"
"Shut up, you stupid cat. I know where I'm going."
"Knowing where you are going and just being led has always been a problem of yours, Lucy. Saying you know but instead let someone else take the lead is a sad, tragic issue of yours." Cheshire said in a cruel tone.
"Well, that is your problem. I don't have time to stand here and be insulted when my memories are at stake." Lucy snapped back.
"Time is not the only impediment to vivid memories." Cheshire said before he vanished.
But Lucy did not have enough time, as she said before, to yell at the vanished Cat before four Armored Card Guards appeared. They looked like regular Zombie Guards, but they had bright red glowing eyes, were covered with chainmail armor and carried a poleaxe with the blade in the shape of a heart.
Right away, Lucy began attacking but in a much different manner; instead of her usual straightforward attack, she avoided the poleaxes. As they struck the ground and was stuck in there for a moment being, Lucy jumped over the monsters and began slashing at the heart-shaped weak spots the Armored Guards possessed.
Already kiling half of them, she took care of the other two as she did before but she made sure the poleaxes were stuck in pillars, giving her enough time to go behind the monsters and kill them in their weak spots.
As the last two fell dead and turned into dust, a noise came form behind Lucy as she turned around.
There, coming through the wall, was a scythe taller than a normal human being. It had a curved blade with red tectacles wrapped around its black shaft. And holding the scythe as it came out of the wall, splattering blood everywhere, was the Executioner. The Executioner took on the appearance of an extremely large humanoid made of several different Card Guard parts, each piece of his sewn-together body showing a symbol of a certain suit of a card deck. The top of his head was masked by a large horned hat, and several of the Queen's tentacles were wrapped around the top of his body, even going through his eye sockets.
It roared loudly as Lucy backed up to the stairsd behind her. She tried to throw one of her Vorpal Blades at him, but it delfected off and the weapon returned to her hand.
"I'm an idiot. Don Quisote had a better chance with his windmill. And without the risk of beheading." Lucy murmured under her breath as she ran down the stairs, keeping ahead of the hulking creature behind her.
The Executioner twirled his scythe around as he followed Lucy into one of the chess rooms. Right away, ignoring the trapped Red and White Chess pieces on the board, the redhead ran across the broad as the Executioner destoryed the Chess pieces in one effortlessly motion of his scythe.
Luckily for Lucy, as she reached the end of the broad, the door on that end of the rom she was on opened for her and she ran outside.
And there, as the doors clsoed on the hulking monsters behind her for a moment, the Infernal Train flew across the sky and shocked Lucy to her core. She saw it spread Ruin throughout the entire Queensland and the high-pitched whistle numbed the redhead's cold heart.
But she did not have time to thin kas the Executioner bursted through the doors and gave his signature roar. Lucy returned to running as she entered the Majestic Maze.
She ran through the Maze like she had hundred times before, avoiding the scythe's blade as best as she could. The thrones broke skin on her ankles and legs as she ran through a bush to get farther away.
Instead, she ran right back into another problem she had.
She collided with someone and they both fell to the ground, the random person saying "Ouch..."
"Watch where you are going!" Lucy snapped as she shot straight back up.
"Wasn't my fault! I was running from Card Guards and I bumped straight into you." Claude snapped right back. He got to his feet as the ground shook and tremmbled with only sheer force that one monster could produced.
Lucy looked at the brunette as she grabbed his hand and yelled, "Come on!"
As the Executioner began chasing after them, the teenagers ran through the maze as the monster behind them brought about Armored Guards to help him in his chase. But Lucy quickly killed as she took out her Jacks.
She threw them at the Armored Guards, the Jacks weak spot sensors lighting up as they attacked the heart-shaped weak spots on the monsters' backs. As they fell dead, the Jacks returned to Lucy's hand as her and Claude finally exited the Maze to find something strange awaiting them.
The Executioner finally caught up to the teeangers, believing that their deaths were at hand now. A gruesome smiled appeared on his face and he lifted the scythe over his head, but they were not at the end of the Maze like he hoped.
In fact, they both were near the Eat-Me Cake, which Lucy had so foolishly left there in her happier times in Wonderland. It was a white-icing covered cake with starwberries and the words "Eat Me" written in red, but even that innocent appearance would scare the Executioner. His dead heart began to race a little as Lucy took a slice and ate a huge chuck from it, letting out a small cough as she ate it.
Then, she grew to the size of a skyscraper, smirking down at the once hulking monster below her.
"Mister Executioner..." Claude taunted.
The Executioner looked at the skyscraper-tall girl as he let his scythe dropped, right before Lucy smashed him under her foot. Blood and guts went flying as Claude was covered in them, earning Lucy a murderous glare by him as he wiped the blood off his face.
"Oh, don't look at me like that." Lucy said, her voice rummbling the sky, as she picked Claude up by the hood.
She smiled at him before dropping him on her shoulder, patting his head like he was a child. He stuck his tongue out at her as she began her journey into the main tower at the center of the castle, where the Queen of Hearts were residing in right at this moment.
~0~
Claude held on for dear life as gigantic Lucy was stomping through the castle walls with almost effortlessly power. He was clinging on to her choker, which happened to be the only place he could grab unless he wanted to be placed between her breasts, which Lucy had already threatened.
But he could not helpo but watch, and be a little amazed, at the sheer force Lucy had as they were making their way to the main tower. She was killig Armored Guards with only a stomp of her foot, she was tearing down towers, punching beatig hearts that gave the Queen her power, and surviving blows to the chest like they were nothing.
Yet, he had chills running down his arms and back.
He knew that this Lucy, the one murdering her own fantasy world, was not the Lucy he once knew, a girl who would do anything to be young forever if she could. Yet he understood that she had to grow up fast and take care of herself basically, while he got a much easier life and could act his own age.
"Do you hear them, Claude?" Lucy finally asked, snapping the brunette out of his thoughts.
Claude looked around and even strained his ears a litt,e but he was deaf to whatever Lucy was hearing.
He looked at her with a strange look as he asked, "What?"
"The Queen's words. Do you hear them?" Lucy asked again, her voice slipping into a dreamy-like state.
Claude nodded his head as this time, he relaxed and let his senses take over. Right then, his ears picked up something and he had wished he did not relax for what he had heard struck a cord within him that shook his nerves.
"Off with her head!"
"There is no method in this madness!"
"Authority must be obeyed, or it must be overthrown!"
"A perfect guest does not overstay, a perfect guest stays home!"
The Queen's voice was disembodied and shattered, almost like Lucy's mind herself. Claude looked to see the dreamy look on Lucy's face was gone and they were now at the main tower with a fountain of Drink Me Potion at Lucy's feet.
The redhead smartly plucked Claude off her shoulder and placed him on the other side of the wall that surrounded the main tower. Then, she grabbed the fountain of Drink Me Potion and drank it all, jumping over the wall as she shrank back to her normal size and the fountain shattering into millions of pieces on the other side.
"Here we are. The Dark of Heartness." Lucy whispered under her breath.
Here, is this small yet important section in Queensland, the sky was darker with blood-colored clouds. The Gothic Victorian buildings were black and the tectacles wrapped around the buildings in a gruesome manner. The main tower, which was actually the Heart of Darkness, had a heart-shaped point with a mouth-like opening with the tongue acting as a slide and the teeth all in place. There was even eyes watching the teenagers.
But as Lucy walked up to the opening, she instanly freezed. Claude looked at her with worried eyes as another disembodies voice came echoing through the air; but this time, it also affected the brunette as he finally heard what Lucy had heard last time when she was facing this royal bitch.
"I rule Wonderland alone, your interference will not be tolerated. This realm is for grown ups; raw, well-ordered, ruthless, careening on the jagged edge of reality. Self-pitying dreamers are not wanted here. They cannot survive here. You fear the truth. You live in shadows. Your pathetic attempts to reclaim your sanity have failed. Retreat now to the sterile safety of your self delusions, or risk inevitable annihilation. If you destroy me, you destroy yourself. Leave now and some hollow part of you may survive. Stay, and I will break you down. You will lose yourself forever!"
Lucy fell to her knees as the words once again struck her in her heart. Even though he was not as affected as his friend, Claude felt chills go down his arms and it felt like someone was stabbing his heart repeatly.
But he was too concern about Lucy, who began to cry as the words got to her. He walked ove to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, but he had no idea what to say as he had no idea what happened the last time Lucy entered Wonderland.
"Lucy..."
"She was the first to ruin my mind. I let her take control and that is what drove me mad. I went here last year to kill her and I thought I did... I thought I killed anyone who came into my path. That is why the Card Guards are zombies; that is why nobody trusts me; that is why Caterpillar told me that the Queen could have changed, and why I made fun of Cheshire of getting his head cut off. But now, she is still alive unlike the other Queens and it seems she is still taking over my mind."
Even though it was just her teling him what had happened last year in Wonderland, Claude was actually shocked. This was the most Lucy had opened up since they met at the jail, so a smile crossed his lips.
"Wel, who cares what happened last year? You defeated her once, you can defeat her again!" Claude told her, trying to cheer her up.
"But I barely made it last time."
"But this time, you have four friends who will help you fight her. If you barely made it last time, then having us four around will give you a better chance maybe." Claude continued with a smile, hoping the redhead would come out of her minor depression.
Lucy looked at the ground as she wiped the tears away, then she looked at Claude with a smile as she said, "Maybe you are right."
"Of course I am right. Now, let's go in there and if we get into trouble, just pull the others into Queensland and we can defeat her!"
Lucy was now smiling as she got up, wiped the dirt off her skirt and jumped down the tongue slide with no fear in her anymore. Claude smiled at the girl sliding down on a tongue as he got ready to slide down himself, but something caught him off guard.
It was a child, no more than seven or eight. She had glowing pale skin with bright blue eyes that sent shivers down his back, and messy chocolate brown haie that went to her mid-back. She wore a simple, sleeveless white dress with no shoes and a pair of angel wings on her back. She was carrying a china doll that looked exactly like Fracnine wearing a blue dress in some creepy way, but it had blonde hair and blue eyes like the original Alice was so often shown with.
"Um, hello there..." Claude said nervously as the girl walked up to him.
"I am Angel. To survive my mother's madness, you must prove that you are of her blood. Use the Heart Locket to obtain her trust and maybe she will not kill you later." The young girl said in a deadpan voice as she faced the slide, then looking at Claude like she was waiting for hi mto do something.
It finally got through to his head that she wanted him to go down the slide. He nodded his head as he sat down on the tongue. He looked at the somber girl one last time, only to find she was gone now and only some white feathers were left behind.
Feeling the chills already go down his arms, Claude pushed himself down the slide and further into the madness.
~0~
Lucy had gotten to the throne room first, but she decided to wait at the throne room's opening for a moment or two to wait on for Claude. She needed him here to help her get through what would obivously be a tough challenge, as much as she did not want to admit it that she actually needed him.
But after a few minutes, she relaized that she had to go into the throne room with or without Claude.
She finally walked into the room, a narrow pathway leading to a thronw that had organs and veins collecting together to create it. Veins held the narrow pathway up as the room was black as the night sky. Only the sounds of the hearts that pumped through the castle were heard alng with Lucy's footsteps.
Sitting on the throne was a young girl who had black hair cut in a bob with heavy bangs, dark eyss with bags under them, skin whiter than snow, and a thin guant appearance. She wore a blood red ball gown with a low-cut neckline and a white peplim, cap sleeves, and a petticoat underneath. There was a sleeveless, black corset over the top of the dress and the multi-layered skirt overwhelm her thin frame. She wore a long, flowing black cape and and large, high, white lacy collar shaped as a heart, resembling Elizabethan royal attire. The collar was edged out with cut-outs of hearts and in addition, another somewhat smaller, ruffled white collar was around her neck. The black organza overskirt was drawn back and pinned up to display the white petticoat that was revealed by the frontal opening. The hem of the dress and part of its upper half was decorated with many golden heart, but they were broken in half. Her slippers were black with blood splattered all over them. She wore a three-pointed, gold crown with red heart-shaped jems, a simple black choker tied around her neck and her hands were nothing else but flesh with long, veiny fingers reaching to the bottom of her dress. She wore black lipstick and black eyeshadow.
"Well, I was expecting someone else!" Lucy said in shock, though her tone gave away she was joking.
The Queen laughed in a hoarse voice as she said, "You don't know your own mind!"
"It's nearly a complete stranger." Lucy said sarcastically.
"What you claim not to know is merely what you've denied. You've recaptured your vagrant memories: what are you doing with them?! You once rejected my attempts to control our lives forcefully, but now you've allowed another to succeed in my role!" The Queen said as her tone became childlike.
As deadpan as she could, Lucy stated, "I won't miss your tentacles."
This abgered the Queen of Hearts as her voice was edging towards to an adult's with infuriation. "You'd prefer the hot stinking breath and unyielding attentions of a potent, unreasoning, unfeeling hellraiser?! I don't think so!"
Lucy shook her head in disgust. "Can you give me more than a warning? Caterpillar said you might help!"
"Ha, I'd need a better reason to respond than what's currently on offer!"
Lucy threw her hands up in the air in frustration. "If you don't, we're all doomed!"
But the Queen shook her head as she waved her long, golden stafefd encrusted with rubies around. "Not doomed. Forgotten! I may survive here, but you're finished! You see the pattern of destruction, I know you do! The train is trying to destroy all evidence of your past and especially the fire. Now, who would want that? Who benefits from your madness?!"
For a moment, this shocked Lucy to her core. Her eyes widen and even though she tried to be strong, she whimpered out, "The destruction of Wonderland... is the destruction of me?!"
The Queen nodded her head as she said, "Indeed! And vice versa!"
But then, a spark came into Lucy's eyes as she regained her voice. " I've set it in motion, I can derail it. This is good for me! I'm not insane! I didn't kill my family. I am fine. I'm not mad, I'm innocent - I mean, not guilty!"
The Queen smiled for a moment as she looked pass the redhead. Lucy was confused so she turned around to find Claude finally catching up, with a monotone-loking child following behind him as she played with her creepy-looking china doll. Both looked to see nothing had happened, so they were walking quickly yet in a manenr that would not caused the Queen to do anything rash.
The Queen rested her head on her hand for a moment as she said, "My son..." Then she caught a glimspe of Claude's actual appearance as fury came back into her face. Then she shot her attention back towards Lucy.
The redhead was still distracted by her friend's enterance, so she did not notice the tectacles wrapping themsevles around her ankles. Claude noticed this, but the Queen shut his mouth shut and covered his eyes with tectacles as Lucy finally looked down to see the trap.
"What's happening, what are you doing?!"
The Queen growled as she lifted the redhead high in the air and said simply, "The train must be stopped, but there's more to do. Your view conceals a tragedy. The whole truth you 'claim' to see eludes you because you won't look at what's around you!"
Then her tectacles brought Lucy forward as her mouth dislodged itself, growing three times as big with razor sharp teeth. With that, she consumed the girl in her own memories and disappeared with her final words; "There is no method in this madness!"
The tectacles unwrapped themsevles around Claude as he looked around for Lucy or the Queen. But they were gone, leaving him and Angel alone in the room.
"What happened?"
"My mother ate Lucy to show her the truth." Angel said in a deadpan tone.
At that moment, something snapped in Claude.
Angel watched the brunette slam his fist into the throne, instantly causing them to bled as the throne was still made out of bones and crystals. The Irish boy grabbed his hand in pain, but he did not care as Lucy was gone now and it was all his fault. But he could not help yelling, "Damn it! I came all this way to help her and now that fucking Queen has taken her from me!"
He looked to see that Angel was smiling at him; but it wasn't a creepy smile like he expected, but one that a normal child would have, soft and sweet. Her cheeks turned pink as her eyes sparkled with tears and she was holding her china doll close to her chest.
"What is it?" Claude asked in a depressed tone.
"Only my brother would do that. Only he would talk back to our mother when it came to Lucy, He loved her enough that he was willing to die for her. He even said on his deathbed that if Lucy ever came back, he wanted her to have the Medalion de Hearts." Angel said as her voice became light and friendly.
"The Medalion de... Oh, you mean this?" Claude pulled out what he has been calling the Heart Locket form his coat.
Angel's eyes instantly lit up at the sight of the necklace. "Yes, yes! That, with the Cristal de Gheață, Amulet Trifoi, and Pedant de Război, can bring Wonderland back to its original state by helping Lucy defeat this terrible monster we are facing." She said as she was tlaking about the Ice Crystal, Clover Amulet, and War Pedant respectively.
Angel grabbed the necklace as she placed it on the throne, the veins and tectacles wrapped themsevles around it as they pulled the necklace into the throne itself. After a few seconds, the veins came apart like a door and Angel grabbed something from the secret compartment.
Then she looked at Claude as she took the Cheshire Sword from his belt and placed a scythe in his hands with the Cheshire Cat being a heavy influence on the design. It had a long, black, staff-like haff. He bend the blade to find out despite being made from sharp and strong metal, it was capable of bending incredibly drastic angles. The sycthe blade was black and purple, with the two colors separated by a zig-zagged line going along the blade. Next to the blade is a prominent decor in the shape of the Cheshire Cat's head, its eyes a glowing yellow as a black line outlined the eyes and extended to the haft. Below the decor is a triangular zig-zagged pattern, split with the colors dark grey and light grey. A slight extension, a bar with three holes punched through it, is seen next to the decor, opposite to the blade. The extension was outlined by a gold frame, which goes around the Cat's decor and then splits into two strands of metal, whic latch themselves onto the edge of the blade. Below the Cat's decor was two black angel-like wings.
Claude looked at the scythe in shock as Angel said, "My brother used this and the Sword, but he prefer this better. Please say you will use it?"
All Claude could do was shake his head, yet nothing came from his lips as the world around him turned into darkness.
~0~
Claude woke up alone in the penthouse on the couch. The Eyestaff finally chagned into a white aura with no colors or life. But Claude did not care as he got off the couch and looked around to see he was actually early in the morning. "Wow, we have been here three days already?" He thought as he looked to see that the rainy, dreary sky did not match the clock that said 7:30 AM
Claude sighed as his eyes caught sight of a slip of paper on the coffee table. He grabbed it and began to read it quickly.
Claude,
Went to go talk to this Dales guy. You can take care of Lucy while we are gone. We went around 6:00 because we all know you hate getting up early. Will be back in a few hours.
Carmen
Instantly, Claude's blood boil as he crummbled the paper in his fist and gritted his teeth. He told them that he would rather not go to Doctor Dales because of all of the stories he has heard about him letting the orphans be around untrustworthy men. He was scared that this creep had done something to Lucy or would do something to Lucy if they go and saw him. And now, his friends disobeyed his wishes and went on ahead.
But he sighed anyways, knowing that he would not be able to stop them now that they are already gone. He dropped the letter to the ground as he somewhat feared the day with Lucy.
"Lucy.." That is when it hit him.
She was consumed by the Queen, so who knows if she made it out there alive? Claude began running to her room, but when he passed the window his heart stopped again for a different reason.
Lucy was standing out in the rain, her eyes and face lifeless and nothing over her except for a white t-shirt, blue jeans and sneakers. The rain slicked her hair to her head as she jst stood there, like she was waiting for something. Even her arms were slack at her sides, but Claude could tell she was at least breathing.
"Thank god..." Claude whispered under his breath. He quickly grabbed a long-sleeved, light grey hoodie shirt and his leather jacket from the fresh laundry and put them on as he watched the still redhead on the streets.
After he grabbed his cellphone form his bag in his bedroom, he came back to the window to see that Lucy was finally moving slowly. Nobody seem to care about her except for the brunette that was rushing out of the hotel to catch up with her.