Chapter 24

Until the End, Alice.

Alice had to act quickly in order to send Ragnarok's steed back into the depths of Hell where it belonged. Love. It was always love wasn't it? Ragnarok never wanted her here in the first place because she lived on love. He knew all along that she was capable of destroying him, that's why he cursed the princes. If destroying Wonderland meant her not ever returning, then he would do it. She was in his way… Alice stood beside Aaron and looked up at the horse above the war zone. Ragnarok was screaming orders at his soldiers on the other side of what looked like a giant chess table.

"You know don't you?" Aaron asked her. She nodded and Mary Beth stabbed an oncoming red palace guard.

"He brainwashed them!" Mary Beth hissed as she pulled her sword out of the guard's chest.

"Get rid of that horse!" Alice screamed at the two princes. Aaron quickly repeated the spell the Fairy Queen taught him and the horse froze in his spot. Alice took off the locket and wrapped it around the blade of the sword.

"I'm so sorry, Sebastian," Alice whispered. She glared at Ragnarok and stared at her reflection on the blade. This was it, no turning back. The portal opened behind the horse and the force of the wind nearly swallowed her into the portal. Alice felt cold and screams echoed through her head. A flash of light blinded her and suddenly the horse was gone. Ragnarok let out an ear piecing scream and charged at her.

"ALICE!" Sebastian cried out.

"I feel sorry for you," Alice said and for a split second she was covered in darkness. Ragnarok used the last of his powers and she used it to her advantage by wielding the blade in front of her. The darkness was swallowed by light and she saw Ragnarok lying on the ground at her feet.

"Why? How could you feel sorry for someone who has only murdered his whole life?" Ragnarok asked.

"Because everyone is not always evil," Alice replied. She smelled something burning and turned to see Hatter burning the book.

"I have nothing left… Just like I was born, I will leave unloved and alone," Ragnarok said softly.

"You won't, because I'm here. My father always said that love is the greatest weakness of any individual."

Ragnarok smiled and grabbed Alice's hand. "Until the end," He replied and looked up at the sky. Hatter rushed over to Alice and kneeled next to his old friend.

"You put your trust in the wrong creature, friend," Hatter said and Ragnarok coughed.

"Exactly why is a raven like a writing desk, Hatter? Why is that?" Ragnarok replied.

"I haven't had the slightness idea," Hatter answered. With that Ragnarok turned to a smoky gray ash and the wind carried him off into the glistening moon overhead them.

"ALICE THE FULL MOON!" Mary Beth cried out. Alice turned and saw the moon's glow hit the two princes who just started to recover from the spell. Sebastian hands trembled and Aaron cried out in pain. Alice ran over to Sebastian and held onto him.

"You can't die! He's dead! The curse should be broken… please don't leave me." Sebastian smiled and held her face.

"At least I was given the chance to fall in love with you," He replied and fell backwards onto the chess board, lifeless. Alice cried out and his mother rushed over and her son in her arms. Alice placed her head on his chest and cried. She grabbed the locket from the sword and wrapped it around her hand and placed it on his stomach. After everything she been through Ragnarok still won. Aaron was standing up with the help of Mary Beth and his mother. This wasn't right… Sebastian should be alive, not Aaron. Aaron's hair was pure white with not a single black hair in sight.

"How? We did everything right…" Hatter whispered and he glared over at Aaron. "You said if we killed Ragnarok the curse would be broken!"

"It is broken! I… It's been broken for a few days," Aaron replied.

"What?!"

"When both of us found true love it would be broken. That's the loophole in the curse. If Sebastian found true love with a gold heart and I found someone who has lived in the dark, the curse would break. It broke the night we were at the Fairy Hallow. He didn't want to tell you, we couldn't tell you just in case it wasn't true!"

"BRING HIM BACK!" Sebastian's mother screamed at him.

"I don't know why he died! I honestly don't know what went wrong!" Aaron cried. Alice opened the locket and saw that inside was a small vile. It was so small that the potion inside was hardly the size of a teardrop.

"A phoenix tear… It will heal any wound inflicted on you," Nicolas said as he sat down next to Alice. She carefully opened the tiny vile and let the phoenix's tear drop into Sebastian's mouth. Clouds gathered above them and the cold wind nipped at her ears and hands. A tiny snowflake fell onto Sebastian's cheek and melted away as a small patch of red developed. He coughed and breathed in heavily as he looked around.

"Sebastian?" Alice asked.

"What the hell happened? Why is it snowing?" Sebastian asked everyone.

"YOU DIED! YOU LEFT ME BEHIND YOU IDIOT! YOU PROMISED WE WOULD DIE TOGETHER!" Hatter said and tried choking Sebastian. Alice shoved him aside and grabbed Sebastian and kissed him deeply.

"Did I really die?" Sebastian asked her and Alice laughed.

"For a whole two minutes. You frightened us to death!"

"GOOD! IT WOULD'VE BEEN BETTER DYING THEN!" Hatter screamed at them. "Now… what the hell are you still doing alive? You should be the one dying!" Hatter yelled at Nicolas and his wife.

"You burned the wrong book, mate. You can't get rid of us that easy," Nicolas replied and his wife giggled as she took out the real book from her coat.

"God damn you," Hatter hissed and hugged his best friend.

"So does this mean we won?" The Red Queen asked.

"Yes mother, we won," Sebastian said and his mother started to cry.

"I feel so awful! I always choose the wrong men to fall in love with!"

"Oh sister, one day a man will come and sweep you off your feet and that time he'll be a knight in shining armor!" The White Queen said happily. Her sister glared at her.

"I hate men in armor," The Red Queen replied. She looked over at her soldiers and frowned. "No offense."

"None taken, your highness," One of them replied.

"So… who's going to get married first?" Godfred asked.

"I am," Both of them replied and they turned to glare at one another.

"Oh please, if it wasn't for me you would've been dead," Aaron said.

"SAME FOR YOU!"

"At least I don't have to poison my potential wife to fall in love with me!"

"You're one to talk! Whenever a girl falls in love with you they take a swan dive off a cliff!" Sebastian screamed at him.

"SHUT UP!" Hatter shouted over both of them. "Aaron stop causing drama. Whoever is older gets to get married first."

"That's me then," Sebastian gleamed.

"You're wrong," Hatter replied and he walked over to the White Queen. "I'm the eldest."

"YOU'RE NOT MARRYING MY MOTHER!" Aaron shouted.

"Aaron! Please be quiet. I've been living a lie my whole life… For once I would like to make my own decision and I want to marry the Mad Hatter whom I have loved since the day I met him," The White Queen replied and she kissed Hatter. Sebastian grumbled and he grabbed Alice's hand.

"Alice…"

"Yes," Alice replied and she smiled and kissed his cheek. "You don't even have to ask."

"Before I call thirds, does ANYONE ELSE want to get married?!" Aaron shouted. Godfred raised his hand and looked over at Goderella. "What? I thought we can get married too," Godfred replied when everyone stared at him.

"Way too many people are getting married now," Aaron mumbled and Mary Beth giggled.

"Sometimes I really wish this wasn't a dream," Alice said to Sebastian.

"Whoever said it was a dream, Alice? Just because it may seem like a dream doesn't mean it isn't real," Sebastian replied.

"Every time I visit Wonderland I always wake up and find myself back with my mother in Britain. Why is that?"

"Because you didn't want to stay here, Alice. You choose the other side as home. You just entered the looking glass, Alice. Now you have the option to stay here or go home," Someone said. Alice turned around and squinted to get a better look of the person. He walked closer to her with someone hopping next to him. A white rabbit…

"Father?" Alice asked.