WELCOME ALL ONCE MORE TO C.J'S WONDERLAND! THINGS ARE GETTING PRETTY CRAZY NOW, HUH? AND ONLY 1 CHAPTER SHY OF 30! AND I'VE HIT THE 60,000 WORD MARK! –CONFETY CANNONS BLAST- AND 39 REVIEWS. TT_TT I'M TOUCHED THAT THIS MANY DECIDED TO GIVE A D***. ANYWAYS, PLEASE READ, REVIEW, AND COMMENT ON THE NEXT STORY PLOT, AS WELL AS ANOTHER SUMMARY FOR THIS STORY.

Ch.29:Filling in some Holes

PREVIOUSLY: "The legend! The legend of Marmund!" Elda smiled sadly and nodded, "Yes, I was beginning to wonder if you would remember." I pointed, "So that means..." She nodded in confirmation, "It does. My home city was the city of Marmund, now nothing but dust and ash."

I pointed to her, then in a random direction, swirls in my eyes. I stuttered, "B-b-but, what about all that love triangle junk from the legend? What happened to all that?" Elda chuckled softly, "Well, as all folk tales are, the story was twisted and changed as it was passed along. Many of the true events were forgotten along the way." She sighed, "But now I shall tell you the entire true story."

"Against what the legend said, Alister and Yuri were in fact not in love with Charlie. They cared for her deeply, but only as deep as a true friend goes. Nor were Charlie and Alistair engaged, though this certainly would have happened eventually, had what happened not occurred. Though, as I was saying, Alistair did indeed gain a role from the Dealer; the role as the Dark Master."

I leaned forward. "What about the others? The Jabberwock and the Bandersnatch?" "They were also given their roles at the same time as Alistair. You see, they were given their roles to…balance, I should say, the energys in Wonderland. The role of the Dark Master is a role of darkness and negativity, but extremely powerful. To oppose that power, the Bandersnatch, positive energy and light, and the Jabberwock, who is neutral." I frowned, struggling to remember as much of that story as I could. To be honest, that all seemed so long ago, I couldn't remember it all. I found a question, "Alright, so then what about-" Elda waved her hand to silence me, and then pulled herself from her rocker. She walked over to me and took my hand in hers.

"C.J, from the moment I saw you, I knew you were special. But in all my years, I never thought I'd live to see the hero who would rise up to stop the curse." My eyes widened, "Wait, what?" Elda smiled, "C.J, you are the hero the legend spoke of, one who will wield the Vorpal blade against Alistair and end this madness once and for all time."

…

I staggered, and then fell into my chair, a little bit dazed by this revelation. The colorful stripes on the tent seemed to swirl and the smoke from the fire seemed to cloud up, suffocating me. Finding me voice, "W-w-what? How is that possible? I'm just one person! I can't save an entire world by myself!" Elda leaned forward and rested her gnarled hand on mine, "Child, I see that you were chosen because you have great courage in your heart. Few can stand on their own two feet at such a young age, fewer still that can face such adversity such as you have and still have the strength to keep living on. And no other, young as you or old as I can look the Jabberwocky in the eye and simply put it out." She smiled at me, "It can only be you, C.J. Please. My friends are trapped by that dark promise from the past, in a world beyond that they belong. Please, if not for me, then in the name of all that is just, free them." I shook my head and clasped my head in my hands, "No! I-I can't do this! You can't trust me to do something like this! I'll fail for sure! I-!" A hand, too large and hard to be Elda's, clasped my shoulder. I looked up to see White smiling at me. "You won't be alone C.J. I won't let you do this alone, and I'm sure none of the others will either." His single, wine red eye seemed to dig into my soul as he stared, waiting for my response. I tore my eyes from his hypnotic gaze and hid my face in my hands again, trying to hide my flushed face and to calm my pumping heart. They want me to save a whole world? A kid or two, a few thousand bucks, that much I can deal. But an entire world? I…I…I "I'll do it."

…..

White smiled broadly, "Now that's the C.J I know!" Black, who apparently had been listening this whole time, "I was starting to think you'd gone loony on us b****!" I sighed, wanting nothing more than to curl up on the floor and never wake up. "So, what do I have to do?" Elda smiled, "I knew you would say something like that." She pulled herself up and hobbled over to the other side of the tent, to a large, musty looking bookshelf. "Now where did I put it…ah ha!" She pulled a dusty old text down from a shelf near the center, and started turning pages as she approached us. "Ah, here we are!" She handed the book to me carefully, and I took it with equal caution. My arms dipped down noticeably at the unexpected weight; the thing must have weighed at least 50 pounds! I settled it into my lap and observed the page Elda had turned to, White looking over my shoulder. Umm…isn't he a little…close? I shifted away from him, feeling strangely uncomfortable with his closeness. He gave me a strange, unreadable look, almost but not quite calculating, and then turned his attention once more to the page in front of us. I gave myself a mental slap and shake for my awkwardness. What the h*** is wrong with me? I forced my eyes back down to the book, were they belonged.

The text was old, but still legible. Though, not in English. Ruins were scribbled across the page, over and around the faded illustration of a sword. Well, actually the 'sword' looked more like a big a** kitchen knife, with strange engravings of what seemed to be ivy crawling across the blade of the weapon. The sight of the thing sent an icy chill up my spine, a horrid sense of familiarly scratching at the door to my brain.

"This is a drawing of the legendary Vorpal Blade; a sword of insane power. This is the only weapon capable of stopping Alistair now. You must set out and find it." I looked up, "Find it? Where do I even begin to point out the flaws in that plan?" The mask on Whites belt snickered. White looked to Elda, "She has a point. How could we possibly begin to try and locate a sword that disappeared many a year ago?" Elda nodded, "The blade was used by the Bandersnatch to combat the Dark Master and Jabberwocky. The Bandersnatch almost succeeded to. However, at the last moment, Alistair used the last of his power to lay down a spell; a spell that would banish the Bandersnatch into a deep sleep, and to bind the Jabberwocky to the Badlands, to wander the area as a mindless animal until Alistair called upon him. The spell followed through and Alistair was captured by the role holders, but the Bandersnatch fought the curse until he had hidden the sword in a place Alistair wouldn't dare to look." She opened her eyes, "Without a doubt, the sword is hidden somewhere in the Badlands." I groaned and face palmed, "Great, another chore to do while we're in the Badlands. Let's go through the check list, shall we?" Black decided to do the honors. "First, make it there alive. Then, find the Vorpal Blade, who f****** knows where the f*** it is." Whit sighed, "Next, locate the Jabberwocky's lair, supposing it exists. Then save Alister and escape alive." I nodded, "And if we can push it, kill the Jabberwocky while we're at it. How hard can that be?" Elda smiled, "Just follow your instinct C.J, it will guide you to the sword. I know you can do it. And Joker," White looked at her expectantly. Instead of the chew out we all expected, she smiled almost warmly at him, "…be sure to keep her safe." He blinked, and then smiled back, "I intend to." I looked back and forth between the two, confused as h***. Umm…didn't they hate each other like, 15 minutes ago?

Elda smiled at me again, "I think you should go on and leave. Be safe C.J, and may the Dealer watch over you on your journey." Ugg, I just HATE that word…journey. I smiled and waved bye to her, thought twice, and came over and hugged her good bye. "Thank you for everything Elda." She chuckled, "Just promise to come and see me when you come back, O.K?" I pulled back and grinned, "You got it!" I turned around to see White standing at the tents exit, looking at me. "Shall, we take our leave?" I nodded, "Let's get going." White held open the tent flap for me as I turned back for one last wave to Elda, and then stopped as something occurred to me. "Oh, Elda! What exactly is the Badlands anyway?" A sad smile crossed her features, "The heart of the Badlands is Marmund, and it's valley…the scar from the battle between the Dark Master, Jabberwocky, and Bandersnatch."

A MUCH SHORTER CHAPPY THAN MY PREVIOUS TWO, BUT THEN THIS ONE IS MORE OF FILLING IN SOME HOLES OF INFO. ANYWAYS, HOPE YOU ENJOYED ANYWAY! PLEASE REVIEW, OR THE FLUFFY BUNNY OF DOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM (WHO RETURNED FROM HIS VACATION IN THE BAHAMAS) WILL COME FOR YOU! BUAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

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