Wondrous Nightmares
by Bloodysword99
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ARCH 2:
Memento Furor
(meaning Remember Madness in Latin.)
Chapter 12: Asylum nonsense
Alice and Pitch got out of that alleyway after a few moments of contemplating. Both were still silent as they walked side by side in London's foul smelling streets. Such harsh times, Pitch had thought to himself seeing what was around him. Alice was born into an unforgiving world of debauchery and cruelty. The Boogeyman wished she was conceived at a more decent time, maybe 50 or a hundred years subsequent, when this wretched planet is more civilized. Less of a mad house.
She never asked for this life. If the fire hadn't occurred, she would still be in Oxford, loved by her family, having all the luxuries and joys in life and attending a fine school for young intelligent girls like herself. Alice Liddell would have been a powerful woman of society. Speaking her mind and breaking the statues queue, she could have been the heroine for equal woman rights. Pitch had perceived such high standards for his little believer yet tragedy struck as if faith wanted to start from scratch by destroying everything Alice loved. He wondered if faith's judgement was really that twisted to let the poor child suffer the way she did.
Pitch stole glances at the silent Liddell as they walked aimlessly.
She doesn't deserve this. She is not guilty. She doesn't deserve this. She has done nothing wrong. She doesn't deserve this kind of life. She is innocent. The Boogeyman thoughts chanted like a mantra.
"…Pitch?"
"Hm?" The Boogeyman jolted from his thoughts and focused on Alice.
"What happened—in that asylum? What happened between those years?"
Pitch stilled. He was faced with an unexpected question and he had hoped he would never have to answer it at least not this soon. The Boogeyman was avoiding the…memories of those 8 unbearable years of Alice's insane coma. He managed to lock all of them in a cold dark place of his heart; and being the Nightmare King, it wasn't too hard. He vowed never to relive any of it ever. You can say Pitch did what Alice had done to the memories of the Fire. Concealed it from the world.
"Nothing, Alice. Boring gaps of day and night." He lied smoothly. In reality, it was a complete a nightmare. Not the good kind.
"So, I think we should head to—" Before Pitch could dismiss the subject, Alice grabbed his wrist and stared long and hard at him. It didn't matter if anyone saw her holding the invisible Boogeyman. It just didn't matter.
"Pitch, this is important. What happened in those 10 years?" She asked sternly with her grip firm on his wrist. She wasn't going to let him go that easily.
His yellow eyes studied the girl and deduced her. Trying to threaten or reason with her wasn't an option; she was way too potent for that. The truth would suffice. Yes, the truth. She was a grown girl. She needed to know. Despite the bitter judgement, Pitch had to give her what she wanted. The Truth.
"Torture." He answered honestly and Alice released his wrist in both shock and confusion. She reeled back from the Nightmare King like she was afraid. Her eyes were oozing with reluctance yet at the same time realization. She still wanted to know despite the fear of it consuming her.
"…What kind of torture?"
"The Monstrous kind, Alice. Even I have difficulty swallowing the disgust and horrors of what they've have done to you, till this very day." He put in simpler and kinder words before leaving Alice behind.
Alice was alone once again as she saw the Nightmare King's shadow trail off. She only wanted to know—she didn't mean to offend him or making him uncomfortable. She just wanted to verify her innocence somehow. Alice wanted to retrace her steps of her past and the asylum seemed a good chapter to start. She remembered nothing from her time in that wretched place; practically comatose. One of the only people she knows were there with her is Pitch, Doctor Wilson, Nurse Pris Witless, occasionally her Nanny Sharpe and Radcliff.
Feeling cold suddenly, she rubbed her arms; depressed and lonely. The little Liddell headed the opposite direction the Nightmare King headed. They both needed to console their frantic psyches. Being together while tired, infuriated and upset will do nothing for them. So, with a heavy heart, she walked through London feeling more lost and lonely than she ever was.
"Alice, my girl, you made it." The girl heard her Nanny's call as a wagon pulled up to her. Alice stared at her bruised face Nanny. I guess the little Liddell had to settle for this. Nan Sharpe might share something about her past.
"C'mon, get up here." Nanny said before reaching out her big hand and getting on the cart.
"What were you thinking, girl? You could have gotten yourself killed!"
Alice ignored her for moment to re-establish her shaken mind. It seemed Pitch's sudden retaliation caused a little betrayal. She felt he was keeping the truth from her. The Nightmare King would never do such a thing; or at least she thought. Piecing together what she had to say and tasting the blood in her mouth caused by Jack Splatter's brutal slap, she leaned forward to ask.
"Nanny, my memories are in shambles. I'm trying to collect the pieces. Can you talk about—"
"—that damn Fire? It never seemed to help. Alice, you have to let it go."
But she can't.
Nan Sharpe snarls at the distasteful subject. The very experience was practically imprinted into her mind when she visited the poor child. Oh, the unspeakable horror.
"And to think you were cured of madness. Spewing that asylum nonsense and the Boogeyman business."
"Boogeyman business?"
Sharpe's face suddenly froze like she immediately regretted mentioning the subject but she pressed on hesitantly.
"Radcliff thought familiar faces would bring you around, Alice. You'd say the damnest of things like 'my past is dead!' or 'I should have saved them' or 'I should have died' your mind was, indeed, in shambles."
The little Liddell noticed she was treading the story lightly as if Nanny might trigger another psychotic episode but Alice couldn't help but stare, wide eyed; frightened and obviously in mental pain.
"But the ghoulish parts were about the Boogeyman, your imaginary friend, as I recall. You cry for it constantly, sometimes the instant you screech the strangest things happen, lights going out, glasses breaking, medical equipment—all seem to gone mad. Your eyes were like pinwheels wide and empty; constantly staring at the darkness, sleeping under beds and whispering to yourself. And the appalling pictures you drew of the monster. All in black and always near you like a shadow. All the nurses thought you were a devil's child." She chuckles sadly after the last fallowed by a shudder and Alice was sure it wasn't from the cold but fright. Were those years in the asylum were really that horrifying?
"…He tried to protect me? All that time?" She muttered without thinking earning a strange look from her Nanny.
Now, she realized why Pitch was sensitive with the matter. The girl must have triggered some sort of defence mechanism; making the Boogeyman retaliate and flee. Fear. The fear of reliving the days in that asylum, waiting and protecting her 'till days and nights on end; it practically destroyed Pitch. Alice could imagine him watching the things being done to her and despite her calls; he was powerless. She knew well how he hated being passive. She didn't realize his obvious torture until it presented to her.
Alice felt like an absolute monster; an insensitive selfish mad monster.
She rubbed her arms again; hoping she would banish the cold wretched sensation spreading through her whole body.
"Look, Alice, I can't give you what I don't have. Doctor Radcliff might help. He's got your stupid rabbit, you should remember that." Sharpe calmly advised as they came through the gates of London's local Asian residences.
"Yes, but doctor Radcliff is useless."
The Nanny pimp rolled her eyes as the fact.
"Don't I know it."
That was so unlike him. He would never run away from something unless it has a theatrical and tactical exit. But scurrying away from Alice like that was just utterly disgraceful. Pitch would have normally give his answer straight, potent and without prudence and yet he blundered with his response towards Alice. He never wanted to give her grief in any way. The Boogeyman, even if it defies his dark cruel nature, sought her safety first and foremost. And when she had asked about what…happened in Rutledge Asylum, he just couldn't let her remember all those horrible things.
He rubbed his forehead with one hand and dragged it down his frustrated face.
"I'm being ridiculous." or just being selfish. He bitterly admitted.
True, he was being selfish. Obstructing the truth from her wasn't just for her own well being; it was for his as well. He couldn't handle those memories and tried to discard them. Pitch didn't have the slightest clue why he feared them so much. He was indeed the Nightmare King; he is practically the embodiment of fright and yet here he was terrified of the nightmares of the past. He hated the fact Pitch can fall victim to fear as much as anyone. It was completely laughable.
"Hey there cuties. You wanna have a treat?" He noticed a bunch of dazed and docile children surrounded by brutes, at least 3 or 4. Wicked fiends, harassing children for their own leisure, it disgusted Pitch. It was human nature to harm others but there was a limit to it. This was just utterly repulsive. Guardians would deal with them soon. A minute, the Boogeyman shied away from the children once he had an eyeful of their—exploitation. Those children though. Pitch then stole a glance at the miserable children and felt remorse and anger. He could see an Alice every child now a day. As the thugs practically touched the little ones with their dirty big hands, Pitch's jaw clenched. This was cruel. Paedophilia was a heinous yet most ignored crime at this age. Humans are still in the process of their morality.
"C'mon now, brat, I'll make ya feel nice." One of them said as the brute plucked the lad off the street and tried to carry him away.
But Pitch intervened. He spotted a sleeping stray dog that was just a few feet from them. He saw an opportunity and took it. The Boogeyman managed to seep his black sand and waking the rabid stray with an insane nightmare. The mutt riled, growled and barked under the impression he was still in the dream state. It attacked the first thing it saw; the thugs.
"Oi!" One of them yelled when the feral canine attacked its ankles. The rest of then ran like cockroaches; fearing they might draw unwanted attention. The brute dropped the child on the street like a sack of potatoes and fled. Only the little lads and lasses were left there; still disoriented, docile and practically dulled from their senses. But that wasn't right. Pitch shifted closer to them. It seemed touching physically was not going to since, of course, he is nothing but a ghost. Eyeing them carefully and as if by instinct, the Nightmare King clenched his fist over the children's heads and released grains of black sand. As expected, the children began to wake from their trance. Some were utterly frightened shivering. Some of them even start to cry and ran away from the scene. At least, they weren't in shock anymore and the farther they are from this hell hole the better.
Pitch wasn't necessary proud of what he'd done. He felt neutral after the good deed. He wasn't swelling up with valour or satisfaction; Pitch was not a Guardian. He had no gain from it, so why would he feel gratified? It just didn't seem to add up. He just had an impulse of doing it.
Pitch wasn't aware where he was but upon closer inspection this area was near Radcliff's home, Alice's greedy lying lawyer. And also this place was called the 'black market' for a reason. It's practically the center of all illegal business of all standards; including human trafficking. Purchasing humans like cattle, selling and treating them as if they have no souls. Poor creatures, who knows what they'll do to them after their purchase.
Enslavement. Free manual labour. Prostitution.
It made even the Nightmare king cringe in disgust.
"Pitch." The Boogeyman didn't need to glance behind. He knew it was Alice.
"Doctor Radcliff has my rabbit." He heard her voice. It was emotionless, cold and yet demanding. He couldn't help but chuckle. The Boogeyman turned to the girl and was daunted. Contrary to her cold statement, the girl's eyes were sad, teary but still retained an inner turmoil. Self-hate. He read in her green wide orbs. In an attempt to comfort her, Pitch extended his hand slowly; hesitant to touch the girl as if she would break. He patted her head and smoothes out her dirty hair before whispering an apology.
"I'm…sorry."
"Silly Boogeyman. Why are you apologizing?" And instantly, she returned into her normal self only a little more relieved.
It was a silent understanding; forgiving each other even if they haven't conveyed their proper feelings. And with that, they managed to share and awkward smiles before leaving the market to Radcliff's residence.
"A pyromaniac!?" Pitch roared as she fallowed Alice with 2 cops escorting her. After their encounter with Radcliff, the Boogeyman was practically at the end of his sanity. How dare he accuse her of being a Pyromaniac! He thought she set her own house on fire and burning her family alive! Such an insufferable, stupid human! By Mim, Pitch would have summoned all his Nightmare stallions and smash all his Ming vases if Alice hadn't already smashed one tiny figurine while simultaneously smashing his pride as a doctor and lawyer in the process. It seemed much more effective since it made the Lawyer flush in embarrassment and anger.
And the next thing they knew, they were here!
Alice had been taken away when Dr Radcliff called the local authorities. The cops were 2 big brutes but It was fortunate they knew Alice and escorted her out kindly and courteously. The officers didn't believe she was a public menace or a kind of person to disturb the peace but Radcliff wasn't a man to be trifled with. So, they just took Alice to the station just to get the lawyer off their backs.
"So, what should we do with 'er? I'm pretty sure she isn't charged with anything serious." the kind officer, Fred stated as he walked alongside the silent Alice and another officer by her side. Pitch, of course, was following close behind; making sure they weren't too harsh on the girl.
"No clue. But we better send her back home. Dr Bumby will sort this out."
Pitch was suddenly in an erupting panic. They fully intended to send her back to orphanage! Back to that miserable hell they call a haven for lost children! Back to that bastard Bumby! The Boogeyman had to stall. She can't go back now, not when they're close to unveiling the truth. And when Pitch spotted Jack Splatter being jacked against the walls by two other cops, he thought how this played out well. He would conjure up a plan stall them and dealt his revenge on Jack Splatter all the same time.
"That the bitch that done it!"
Pitch then ceased the proper moment. He places a hand on Alice slim shoulder and took over. As planned, she was suddenly bursting with the same dark rage Pitch was feeling. Her teeth clenched like holding back a hellish bark that was threaten to explode. Finally, Pitch fuelled her hate with his malicious force enough to run her mouth.
"You miserable cur!" she roared as she ripped out of the officer's grip on her arms. Balling a fist, she continued to lash out her poisonous words while Pitch's hand was still on her shoulder; conducting her anger like a master orchestra.
"You leach! You maggot! Living off another man's labour! Crawl back to your hell hole whence you came! You are a disgrace to humanity, an idol of monstrous abomination, a filth that all women loath and yet fuck you out of sheer pity!" Pitch snickered at the brilliance of the insults even the coppers seem to admire the flare. The Boogeyman could go on for hours.
But hold on?
Why did he feel all dizzy? There was strong wave of nausea and head ache that hit the Nightmare King. His strength was being sucked out of him and he stumbled away, disoriented, from Alice and his grip was lost. The girl reciprocated the same symptoms after the loss of contact but Alice fainted first before Pitch did.
"What's...happening?" the Boogeyman muttered. After a few moments, he too felt his world shrouded in wonderland lunacy.
"Ung..." Pitch woke up on a stone Mahjong tile floating over an Oriental seascape of pagodas, Ming dynasty relics and kite fishes. It was if all of China's culture exploded in this part of Wonderland. Pitch assumed its new addition to Alice's mind because he was pretty sure he had not seen this place. Alice never really fancied anything Oriental unless it was a tea set. This addition must be because of her experience with the greedy Lawyer Radcliff. The sod had an obsession with Asia and its decorum.
"Do you like the new Wonderland so far, Boogeyman? Is the dark corruption to your liking?" the Cheshire cat appeared next to the disoriented Pitch.
"Why does everyone assume I like it? You think I enjoy this? You think I'm the culprit, don't you?"
"Oh contrary. I never said that. Of course, you were the Nightmare King but you would never subjugate yourself to corrupting your dear beloved—Alice."
"...Excuse me. Were?" He coughed.
Grinning like the foolish tabby he was, the cat purred his articulate reply.
"Tsk tsk tsk, Boogeyman, you lack insight. Take a look around you. It's obvious you have no rule here anymore."
Pitch's hairless brow furrowed as he deduced the shattered Wonderland before him. Black masses of corruption, madness in the heaviest douse, death and hysteria occupied every surface of Alice's once prosperous and wondrous happy place.
"With your arrival to Alice's little world, she thoughtlessly anointed you as a subject; practically equal to a king. Alice's mistake was to share her being with you and you in vice versa. And now when Alice loses her rule over her mind, you lose your place, you lose your power. Making you weak and vulnerable."
Was that actually true? Pitch turned to the tabby; outraged by the theory.
"If this is some kind of joke—"
"No, lies, Boogeyman, just twisted truths."
Getting up, He glared at the insufferable cat and said; exasperated.
"Where is Alice?"
"Causing trouble. But try the temple; I believe Caterpillar might be in hiding." But before he left, the Cheshire had a few words of advice; the best one yet.
"Remembering the truth is worth the suffering, Boogeyman. Accepting it is another story entirely."
Pitch didn't give him a glance and just shifted into a shadowy figure and swept through the Oriental lands locating Alice.
The corrupted creatures were a bit difficult to kill but Pitch handled them none the less. It was astonishing how it all came together. Every time he fell back into Wonderland, Pitch found himself struggling to wake unlike his first visits. Were they getting stronger? Or was the Cheshire cat right? The more Wonderland and Alice reduce into corruption, the more Pitch became weaker. His Nightmare powers were limited; there wasn't much he can do but salvage what he can to pull Alice back together.
He'll gladly fix the once happy little Liddell at cost of his throne.