Chapter 3: Mirana, The White Queen
Alice took the lead and I followed behind her. Her hand was clasp into mine pulling me forward. Our footsteps clicked on the white marble floors and echoed throughout the castle. It was a faint resemblance of the Emerald City; except it was completely white and more like a fortress than a palace. There were four solid white marble walls taller than my two story house back in Kansas surrounding the white castle. On each of the four corners where the walls met were watch towers. Two of the walls were cracked down the middle by the forces of the collision that brought our two worlds together. The skies were gray and gloomy blocking out the sunset that was hiding behind the clouds, nightfall was drawing closer. And the surrounding trees and shrubbery were bare, brittle and blackened by fire. I could tell it was once a beautiful place before all this had taken place.
"Dorothy! JUMP!" Alice shouted at me.
Quickly, I snapped out of my observing eyes and noticed we had approached a large crack in the marble floors and with an instance I took a leap to the other side. Her hand still holding onto mine. I could feel my heartbeat pounding against my chest as we flew through the air. The gap was about a foot and a half wide. It wasn't too bad of a jump but we made it together. She pulled me towards her body and held onto me. I caught my breath, gazing into her icy blue eyes again. Her lips formed into a grin as I parted her hair away from her face and leaned in closer. She pressed her lips against mine and my heart began to soothe. Even in the darkest time I can find the light within it, because if it wasn't for this horrific occurrence I would not have met Alice.
"Hello...Alice..." a woman's voice echoed behind my dear Alice. I took a quick glance over her shoulder and saw a woman dressed in all white slowly approaching us. Alice turned to look as well.
"Mirana!" she shouted excitedly.
She ran towards Mirana leaving my arms empty and embraced her friend. A heavy feeling sank into the bottom of my stomach and a shock hit my heart. I'm confused as to what this feeling meant. It began to fluster me, but I couldn't reveal this upon meeting Alice's dear friend. The two shared their embrace for what seemed like moments. And then finally Alice released herself. Mirana reached out and placed her hands on Alice's face. And in that moment that feeling seeped back into my stomach and hit my heart once more.
"Alice! it's so good to see you again my dear girl! I thought I would never lay my eyes on you ever again, since you had left Wonderland." she smiled at Alice.
I walked over to where the two stood and as I was approaching, Mirana placed her hands to the sides of herself.
"It is good to see you too, Mirana. It's unfortunate we have to met under these circumstances. But I am glad to see a familiar face in all of this chaos. We need your help; Dorothy and I," she smiled and looked to me, reaching out for my hand. As she did, my hand met with hers and interlocked.
"Hello Mirana, you must be the White Queen of Wonderland. It's a pleasure to meet you." I smiled chocking back that feeling I had experienced earlier. She approached me and wrapped her arms around me, embracing me in a hug. Her embrace was cold and strange, an unfamiliar
"It's wonderful to finally meet you, Dorothy." she said softly into my ear, slowly freeing herself from me. She took a step back and looked into my eyes with a lost stare, yet with a smile on her face. Her eyes were a dark brown that looked black in contrast to her white apparel.
"A friend of Alice is a friend of mine. What can I do for you two lovely girls?"
"Well I was wondering if you had seen or spoken to Cheshire since the collision. Has he informed you of the terrible events that are going to take place if we don't stop the Dark Shadow?" I said in a slight panic, remembering that the Dark Shadow wasn't far behind us.
"Yes, I indeed have spoken to Chess. He's in the castle at the moment waiting for all of us. We must be on our way now." she smiled, it seemed as if that smile was plastered on her face.
Mirana glided her way a couple steps ahead of us. It was finally nightfall in Wonderland and Mirana's moonlight shadow casting on us. Alice turned to look at me and leaned in close to my ear.
She whispered, "Don't worry, Mirana is a great alchemist and a wonderful woman. She and Chess should have some answers for us." she laid a kiss on my cheek and held my hand firmly as we walked behind Mirana.
I noticed Mirana was now further away from us. She did a half twirl as she turned left at the corner and into the castle. Her white dress flowed graciously like the wings of a white dove. It was sheer enough for the moonlight to pierce through the material and I could see the moonlight framing the outline of her body. She was thin and frail, but in the most feminine way like a delicate flower.
The path into the castle was lit by torches and candles. Even the inside of the castle had white marble walls and floors. I couldn't help but think of Emerald City in Oz. Everything there was a deep green, enriched with hidden powers inside it. Not many had the knowledge of it's hidden powers, nor the knowledge to unlock its potential. The few that did either used it for good and kept it hidden in fear of falling into the wrong hands or some used it for dark magic. The Wicked Sister Witches definitely sought out for darkness. There was a time where all Four Witches of Oz were in harmony it wasn't always like this.
"Alice..." Cheshire hissed, "it's good to see you my dear girl. I see you have finally met Dorothy. She's quite the catttchh... isn't she?" Cheshire grinned as he was floating above the island in the middle of the kitchen.
"Chess!" Alice shouted with excitement and smiled, "it's great to see you! What have you been doing as of late? If you didn't already know, we're going to need your help and guidance through all of this." Alice leaned herself over onto the white counter top of the island. Everything was white marble; the counter tops, the cabinets, the windows, the fixtures. The only sources of light were the surrounding candles and the bright moonlight seeping into the windows. The overcast from earlier had subsided.
"Well, we don't have much time for hugs at the moment do we? Seeing as how the Dark Shadow had followed you two girls to the Land of Dreams. It is the land that exists in between the two worlds of Wonderland and Oz. You can say it's the in-between realm. It's landscapes appears accordingly to the traveler's desire. And for you two it had happened to be luscious forestry. I can only imagine that it had followed your magical trace that you left when Dorothy took hold of the Emerald. The only way we can cloak your magic trace is for you two to travel by bubble."
"Bubble?!" Alice shouted in confusion, "how..."
"Glinda..." I interrupted. "she's the Good Witch of the West. I guess we'll have to find her or have her come here. I know that if she leaves the city the Ozian people will be vulnerable, but the protective bubble around Emerald City should keep them safe until then. I'm sure by now Glinda has found a way to sustain the protective bubble. Cheshire, have you spoken to Glinda? Is she on her way over here?"
"Yeesss.. indeeeddd... she's on her way here now. I told her to get here as soon as the Dark Shadow had found you two. She should be here any moment now. She is traveling by bubble."
"So how does this bubble traveling work? Won't the Dark Shadow be able to follow us? Or see us? Trace us?" Alice added.
"The power of the bubble depends on the heart of the traveler, only the goodhearted souls can travel in the bubble and through the protective bubble. The bubble also keeps the traveler invisible." I added as I looked up at everyone around me. Mirana, the White Queen, with her dark browns and blank stare; Cheshire Cat with his big green eyes and wide grin; and my dear Alice with her gracious smile and icy blue eyes. They were all looking back at me as I stood behind Alice. I slowly paced myself closer and stood beside her.
"Now what do we do?" Alice asked quietly.
"We'll have to wait for Glinda to get here," I said with a deep sigh and relief.