Chapter 12

The First Part of Three, Alice!

"If you want to destroy the horse of darkness you need a much powerful spell then true love. It requires three parts and much practice. I only know of one part which lucky for you is the first one." The Queen replied as she twirled her wand in her hands.

"When were you planning to tell us about this stupid horse of darkness thing?" Sebastian yelled before Alice put a hand on his shoulder.

"I did not truly know about it until I started looking up powerful creatures that wizards would ally themselves with in exchange of blood or worse… life." Aaron replied to the group.

"The horse feeds on life years. Ragnarok set himself around humans so the horse could feed, every life he takes from you is another year you lose in life which means the horse is slowly killing you." The Queen explained.

"Can we see him?" Alice asked.

"Sadly no which is why us fairies have feared Ragnarok since the day he stepped into Wonderland. The only people who can see him are people truly as dark as Ragnarok. That is why I see light with Sebastian because he cannot see the horse."

"At one point I saw this shadowy figure behind him but that was just after the curse… It was light he was pure black but inside he had this golden ball of light." Sebastian described.

"That's the life year he took from someone. My guess is he's feeding off of the guards and elves in your palace. If you see people suddenly feel week or ill then most likely the horse has taken a life year away from them."

"So can we kill him right?" Mary Beth asked.

"No but we can break the ties Ragnarok created with him. If we break the ties the horse will return to the underworld where it belongs. Only once in my whole life has one sorcerer ever broken the ties of a wizard and darkness creature. Many times it has failed and the penalty was death but the Red King was able to break the bond one sorcerer shared with a dragon that feed on blood and fear."

"My father used the same spell?"

"Indeed. He was madly in love with your mother and as the story goes your mother was being forced to marry this sorcerer. She loved your father deeply and wanted to escape the arranged marriage but her father was killed by the sorcerer so the marriage couldn't be broken. Your father battled the same sorcerer and showed everyone the darkness dragon that kept the sorcerer strong and broke the ties. The sorcerer fled and your mother and father were married the same night."

"Well we need the first part in order to start looking for the other two." Aaron said impatiently.

"Ah yes! You two come forward and stand in front of me." The Queen said to Sebastian and Aaron. "The first part is giving you spiritual connections to the underworld. In order for you to break the ties you must know which part of the underworld the horse will return to so you can seal it from it ever returning to the mortal world again." She pressed her fingertips on Aaron's forehead first and closed her eyes. "I'm going to open the spiritual world for you. Once it's open you mustn't walk off the part do you understand? If you do your soul will be trapped and you'll never be able to open your eyes again and I can't save you. Once you reach your destination from what I hear someone will be there to say one word to you and you must remember it. That word is a spell that will open the certain underworld passage for the horse to flee to after the ties are broken." Aaron stood there like a statue as she took her fingertips off his forehead and moved over to Sebastian where she then again placed her fingertips on his forehead.

"You will do the exact same thing but the person you meet will tell you a word that is completely different from what Aaron will hear. That word is a spell that will not only close the passage but keep the horse locked in there forever." Sebastian was ice cold and before Alice could touch him the Queen tapped her hand. "One slight movement and he could lose his life. I also have directions for you all as well."

"But we're not sorcerers…" Mary Beth replied slowly. The Queen shook her head.

"Yes but since you three have to training in magic you all are in danger if the spell backfires or is even complete." The Queen said. Goderella sucked in air and whimpered. "It has happened a few times but if the creature is strong enough before it's taken down it could take someone with him."

"As in… take it back to the Underworld…" Alice said.

"Yes and I know those two would want you all to witness the fall of Ragnarok. You must control your auras to be strong enough from the horse attacking any of you. As soon as the ties are broken it will become free which makes him incredibly strong."

"How can we control our auras if we can't even perform a simple spell?" Godfred asked.

"Oh it is very simple. Your auras are most strong when you think of a memory that is very happy. The moment those ties are broken you must think of the happiest memory you can remember."

"A happy moment?" Alice asked. The Queen nodded. Alice didn't have a single happy moment that could ever make her aura strong enough to take on a creature of the dead. She lived her life in total darkness after her father died and the only time she could think of something a little bit happy was her dreams of Wonderland. Hatter… The dream where she went to his tea party and learned about him celebrating his "unbirthday" with all his friends. Was that a happy enough dream? Her thoughts were interrupted with the sound of Aaron breathing heavily and falling to the floor. The fairies gasped as the Queen knelt down and looked at him.

"Doluceina. That's the spell…"

"Ah… he comes from the dream part of the underworld. That is indeed a very gloomy place. Mostly every darkness creature roams there hungry for fear and whenever a person dies all their fear is taken there where the creatures fight for it. The leader there is in fact a fairy." Sebastian also unfroze and fell to the floor panting.

"Goulding."

"Remember those two spells boys. My work here is done."

"But what about Alice?" Goderella asked. Priscilla turned around and smiled at her. "I think she found herself without needing my help. If you would like to stay for the festival I would love you to be the guests of honors then." Aaron accepted the invitation and group stayed for most of the festival, dancing, eating and singing with the others. In truth Alice's mind was somewhere else. She knew the Queen lied to everyone and knew Alice did not find herself. Alice had no clue what she was or what role she played here in Wonderland besides the clumsy girl who happened to make the most handsomest prince fall in love with her. How could a girl with no talent, courage or grace make Sebastian, a powerful sorcerer who indeed had some flaws but was still a courageous knight fall in love with her? She had so many questions that weren't receiving answers brewing in her mind until she was finally answered with a massive headache. Maybe she didn't want to find herself… maybe finding herself could put not only Sebastian but everyone else is danger…

"Hatter did you ever find yourself?" Alice asked him as she stood in his doorway to his room. Hatter was on his balcony twirling his teacup and turned to face her.

"My dear… I'm as mad as a hatter. That is why I'm called the Mad Hatter." He tossed his hat to Alice and she looked inside it. Nothing seemed to be inside it until Alice reached in and pulled out the painting of a raven. "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" Alice asked him. Hatter only smiled. "I haven't but the slightest idea."

Alice's question was answered. Hatter never found himself and most likely never will because to him life was a game and he was the pawn. As fate and time battled the game of chess his life was controlled and the game only ended when the other executed the king or Hatter. He did not choose sides but merely let the two argue for him until one would win and to Hatter it was many years ahead for him to even begin to worry about death.