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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟐𝟎
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐌

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"What the bloody h*ll is she doing here?" Will questioned without even attempting to hide the disdain in his voice as he and Indigo stood beside Alice and Cyrus.

"She's here to help us," the genie told them in a tone that didn't even convince himself as the Kingsleigh woman looked over at him and back at the woman in red.

"She's going to help us?" Alice scoffed as she continued to look back and forth between the Red Queen and the genie before taking a step back, "you've got to be joking."

"No time for joking, darling. You see that storm coming?" the blonde woman responded while pointing toward an eerie-looking cloud in the distance, "that is Jafar, and he's coming for us. For all of us."

"She's telling the truth, Alice," Cyrus tried to reassure the love of his life as he took her hand into his.

"Why would he be after you?" Indigo questioned, drawing all attention to her as she continued to glare at the woman who looked her best friend away from her, "you're his partner."

"Was his partner. Yes, it's true, we used to work together, but I am not like him," Anastasia explained while looking everyone but over at Will, "when it became clear that he was no longer playing by the rules of the game-"

"Don't believe a word. She knows how to lie, this one," Will interrupted, making the woman in red look over at him for the first time since she arrived. The Red Queen just stared at the Knave of Hearts for a long moment before her attention turned back to Alice and her genie.

"We can argue all we like when we get out of Wonderland," Anastasia told them as her eyes fell on the White Rabbit, "but for now, dig, bunny!"

"I'm not going anywhere with her," Will whispered to Alice and Indigo, whose attention fell on Kaden as he stood behind the Queen with a black look on his face.

"We may not have a choice," Cyrus told them as he looked up at the clouds that were rapidly approaching them.

"What if Will's right?" Indigo questioned, drawing everyone's attention to her while she continued to stare at the Red Knight, "what if this is an elaborate ruse?"

"Indigo, what more do you want me to do?!" the Red Queen yelled before she gestured toward the Scarlet boy, "I brought you your bloody knight!"

"You took him from me, too!" the Lark girl shouted, completely unaware of her hands glowing blue as anger flowed through every inch of her body, "and, on top of all that, you still have his heart hidden away somewhere!"

The woman in red just stared at the young girl in front of her for a moment longer before her attention went back to the Kingsleigh woman. "Alice, you need to trust me."

"I will never trust you!"

"Alice," Cyrus said in an abnormally calm tone as he took the blonde woman's hand into his.

The Kingsleigh woman just stared at the love of her life for what felt like an eternity before she looked back at the Red Queen. "Tell me why. Why you did all of this. Why you made an alliance with a madman, and I'll go. But I need a reason. I need something."

Anastasia hesitated for a moment as her eyes bore into Alice's. Just when Indigo thought the woman in red wasn't going to tell the Kingsleigh woman her reasoning, the Red Queen opened her mouth to speak. "I thought he could get me what I want."

"And what was that?" Alice asked at the same time Will let out a scoff and said, "you've got everything. What more could you need?"

"You, Will," Anastasia responded as she looked over at the Scarlet man with tears in her eyes before she walked forward to stand directly in front of him, "I wanted you. I want you back."

"More lies," the Knave of Hearts declared without an ounce of hesitation in his voice.

"No. I'm telling the truth now. I'm telling the truth," the blonde woman tried her best to reassure him while failing to hide all the emotions building up inside her.

"You had me. All of me," Will responded as the hatred within him continued to grow, "my heart, my soul, my life, and you tossed me aside like a piece of rubbish, all for a little red crown."

"I made a mistake. I see that now. Don't you see that's why I've done all this? So Jafar could change the laws of magic so we can undo the mistake, change the past," Anastasia told him as she took his hand into hers, only for him to toss it aside and push past her before the emotional woman blocked his path once again, "I would give up my crown. I would give up anything. Everything, just to go back to a time when you loved me. Please, Will. I want you back."

The Scarlet man blankly stared at the woman in front of him for a long moment before he spoke the words that Indigo knew were coming. "You'll never have me."

Thunder cut through the air as Will walked straight past Anastasia and stared up at the oncoming storm. As the clouds continued to approach, terror began to mix with all the emotions bubbling up within Indigo. She may not trust the Red Queen, but she also didn't want to become a victim of the storm. Without thinking, the Lark girl glanced over at Kaden, who was already staring back at her while the woman in red looked up at the clouds with fear in her eyes.

"Listen, you don't have to accept my apologies, but you do have to accept my warning," the blonde woman said as Will walked back to stand beside Indigo. It wasn't long after that when the Red Queen turned around to face them and continued speaking. "The genie's here. The bottle's here. The wish is here. Indigo's here."

"Wait, what does any of this have to do with me?" the curly-haired girl questioned, causing Anastasia's attention to land on her.

"Jafar wants your magic for himself."

"All I've been able to do is make a shield to protect Will. That's it."

"It wasn't always that way," the Red Queen responded before she looked back at everyone else surrounding them, "what do you think Jafar's gonna do when he arrives, huh?"

"We'll go, and you'll have to answer to him," Alice stated without even attempting to hide the hatred in her voice.

"No, because you're forgetting something," the woman in red responded before holding up the object in her hand, "I have the bottle and Kaden's heart."

"Which I'll gladly relieve you of," the Kingsleigh woman declared as she took a step forward and started to unsheath her sword, only for Anastasia to hold her hand out in front of her and freeze Alice in her place.

"Alice, there is no time to fight, there's only time to die. We need to leave!" the Red Queen said with terror in her voice before Indigo spotted a single tear fall down her cheek, "now please! I'm telling the truth!"

"I will never trust you," Alice responded while the Lark girl looked over at Kaden.

"Neither will I," Will added at the same time the Red Knight sent the Ace of Spades a small nod.

"I do. I knew you had a secret wish," Cyrus stated as he stared at the woman in red before his attention turned toward the Kingsleigh woman, "she's telling the truth, Alice."

The curious traveler glanced over at the genie before Anastasia released her magical hold on the woman in front of her. "So, please, let's take the bottle and get out of here!"

The only sound that could be heard was the thundering of storm clouds while everyone just stared at each other. That continued for another long moment before Alice let out a long sigh and looked down at the White Rabbit. "Rabbit, dig your hole!"

"Where to?" Percy asked as he looked away from the Red Queen and up at his blonde-haired friend.

"Anywhere but here."

As soon as she finished speaking, the White Rabbit began using his magic to dig a hole in the ground. Everyone watched the creature with hope in their eyes as a blue circle continued to form. However, all their hope faded away when Cyrus' shouts cut through the air. They all looked in the direction he was pointing to see lightning forming in the storm clouds. It wasn't long after that when a bolt shot out of the cloud and headed straight for the Red Queen.

Her instincts took over before she could think as she lifted the genie's bottle to protect herself. Everyone watched as the bolt came straight toward her then bounced off the bottle and hit Will straight in the chest. The impact caused the Knave to fly across the clearing before landing with a loud thud on the grassy floor. Indigo stood frozen in her place as she watched her friend writhing around in pain.

"Will!" Anastasia shouted as she sprinted toward the Knave of Hearts before falling to her knees at his side, "I got you. I got you."

"What happened? Is he..." Alice's question trailed off as her whole body began to glow bright orange before she collapsed into Cyrus' arms.

"What is it? What's happening?" the genie asked in a panicked tone while looking back at everyone behind him.

While the two continued to panic over their injured loved ones, Indigo noticed a look of realization on Kaden's face before he looked over at the Red Queen. "The first wish she made. She was protecting Will and Indigo from Jafar."

"If the Knave or the Spade die, then I die, too," Cyrus whispered while keeping his eyes glued to the woman in his arms, "Alice? Alice! I need you to listen to me, okay? That last wish, you need to use it to save yourself."

Indigo tuned out the rest of their conversation as her attention landed on Will. The Knave's clothes were smoking from the impact of the lightning bolt as he continued to look up at the sky in pain. A million different feelings coursed through her veins as she watched her best friend. She wanted to do something, anything to help him but she knew she was helpless. She would always be helpless.

"Cyrus! I can save her!" Will shouted through his gasps, snapping Indigo out of her thoughts as everyone looked over at the Scarlet man, "that's my bloody wish!"

"What's he talking about?" the genie questioned as he looked up at the Spade, who was staring at Will with tears and realization in her eyes.

"Alice promised that if we helped find you, we'd each get a wish," Indigo explained while keeping her eyes glued to the man she helped escape Wonderland, "the last wish is Will's."

Cyrus just stared at the curly-haired girl for a moment longer before his attention went back to the unconscious woman in his arms. "That's good enough for me," he muttered under his breath as he looked back over at the Scarlet man, "be very careful what you wish for, Will."

As soon as he finished speaking, Will's hand began glowing red. It wasn't long before it stopped and the Knave opened his hand to reveal a wish. A small smile appeared on the Scarlet man's face as he stared at the magical gemstone.

"I wish...to end Alice's suffering," the Knave of Hearts announced, causing a strong pulse of magic to flow throughout the clearing.

A large grin appeared on Indigo's face when she saw Alice coming back around before she looked back over at Will, only for her smile to fade. Instead of finding a healthy Knave on the ground beside the Red Queen, all she saw was a teary-eyed Anastasia. All the emotions the Lark girl was feeling as she looked around the clearing for any sign of Will, only to come up empty. When she finally looked back toward the woman in red, she realized everyone was staring at Anastasia.

"Where is he?" Cyrus questioned, causing the Red Queen to slowly look away from where Will once was to meet his gaze.

"He's gone," Anastasia whispered just loud enough for them to hear her before she looked back down at the grass in front of her, "he was here, and now he's gone."

"What do you mean?" Alice asked with tears in her eyes as she slowly sat up and got to her feet with the help of Cyrus, "what happened to the Knave?"

"Oh, no," the genie muttered under his breath, causing everyone to look over at him.

"'Oh, no' what? Where is he?" Kaden questioned in an eerily calm tone as he slowly turned to face the raven-haired man, "where is my brother?!"

"Where's the bottle?" was all Cyrus said in response, causing everyone to look around the clearing for the magical object, only for it to be nowhere in sight.

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