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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟐𝟓
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐀𝐃𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐒

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After traveling back through the forest unseen by anyone who would give their location away to Jafar, the heroes and Anastasia found themselves back at Alice and Cyrus' hidden tent. Indigo and Kaden sat together on one of the couches with their fingers interlocked while their eyes followed the former genie pacing in front of them. On the other side of the tent, Will watched the young couple with a small smile, overjoyed with them being together again. The only thing that could make his life better was being freed of the genie's curse.

Another long moment passed before the silence that surrounded them was finally broken by the distressed man moving about the room. "The whole time Jafar had me captive, he had my brothers right there. How could I not have noticed?"

"Cyrus, don't punish yourself," Anastasia told him, earning slightly shocked looks from everyone in the room due to how gentle her voice was, "even Jafar didn't know about your relations. If he had, he would have definitely used it against you."

"Either way, we're going to do whatever it takes to free them," Alice added as Cryus turned around to face her.

"And me?" Will questioned, drawing all attention to him before he pointed to the bottle in the raven-haired man's hands, "that's my house he's holding now, and, frankly, I hate it. There's not a lot of elbow room. And you know what else there isn't is? A toilet!"

"Anyway," the Kingsleigh woman said with a hint of irritation in her voice as she got to her feet while Indigo and Kaden rolled their eyes at the Knave, "the first thing we need to do is determine where the bottles are. If Jafar's moved into your palace, do you think he would have moved the bottles with him?"

"Absolutely."

"Well, in that case, we just need to break into the palace and take them."

"Oh, yeah, because it's really that simple," Kaden scoffed, causing Alice to look over at him with a hint of irritation in her eyes before he continued speaking, "even with Indigo and Anastasia, we're no match for Jafar's magic. There's also the fact that he needs Indigo for something that we don't know of yet."

"She's the only one who has the power to reverse the magic of all three genies," Anastasia responded in a tone that made it seem as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Her words caused Indigo's entire body to stiffen as everyone looked down at her. They let the silence surround them once again before the Lark girl found the courage to respond. "Then why didn't he kill me when he destroyed my kingdom and killed my parents?"

"Because he wants your untamed magic. If he managed to convince you to join him, it would add to the power he already has. And even if you think you'll never join him, he'll find a way to force you to," the Red Queen explained before looking back over at Alice and Cyrus, "the only thing that's gonna protect us is an army...my army."

"In case you haven't noticed, your army has deserted you," Cryus retaliated while Kaden tightened his grip around Indigo's shoulders in an attempt to calm her down, "your former subjects are willing to let you get eaten alive by mome raths."

"Yes, I'm quite aware of people's feelings about me. I'm just gonna have to prove them wrong," Anastasia responded with a hint of annoyance in her eyes before snatching the bottle out of Cyrus' hands.

"Why fight Jafar if we can simply disarm him?" the raven-haired man questioned while watching the woman in red shove the bottle into her bag, "my brothers and I weren't born genies. We were cursed. So if I can break that curse, we can free them."

"I'm particularly fond about the bit where you get the genies out of the bottles. That's good," Will stated, earning another pair of eye rolls from the young couple sitting across from him.

"Well, if I can get back to the place where the curse was made, perhaps I can find a way to undo it."

"Well, who was it that cursed you?" Alice asked, drawing Cyrus' attention away from the Knave and back to her.

The two of them just stared at each other while everyone else watched them in anticipation. It wasn't long after that when the raven-haired man let out a long sigh and opened his mouth to respond. "The guardian of the Well of Wonders in Agrabah."

"Oh, Agrabah?" the Scarlet man repeated with a hint of irritation in his voice, completely unaware of Indigo and Kaden exchanging a somewhat hopeful look on the couch across from him, "how the bloody h*ll are we gonna get back there?"

The young couple stared at each other for a moment longer before Kaden sent the girl next to him a small nod. After letting out a long sigh, Indigo turned her attention back to the group in front of her. "Wonderland has its own Well of Wonders," the Lark girl hesitated after watching everyone turn their attention toward her before she continued speaking, "magical waters flow underneath all of the lands, meaning all you have to do is summon the guardian."

Cyrus just stared at the young girl in front of him for a moment before grabbing his supplies and turning back around to face everyone. "Alright, then. Let's go."

Alice was the only one who moved to grab her things before she and Cyrus headed toward the door. They barely made it ten feet when Anastasia called out to them and stopped them in their tracks. "Have you ever considered what happens if you fail? Every moment wasted is another chance for Jafar to get his hands on the last genie. The only thing that is gonna save Will is an army."

The immediate response the Red Queen received was a long sigh from the former genie as he turned around to face her. "If we free my brothers, Jafar doesn't need Will."

A small smirk appeared on the Knaves' face as he slowly sat up and looked over at Cyrus. "Shall we split up?"

"We split up!" Cyrus and Anastasia exclaimed in unison before the former and Alice walked out of the opening of the tent.

"I should go with them," Indigo said with a hint of hesitation in her voice while getting to her feet, "they don't know the way to the Well of Wonders. I do."

"Then I'll go with you," Kaden declared as he stood up, only to see the sadness in the Lark girl's eyes, "you don't want me to go with you, do you?"

"It's not that I don't want you to, I do," the curly-haired girl responded before glancing over at Will. The two of them just stared at each other until Indigo turned her attention back to the Scarlet boy. "But your brother needs you more than I do right now."

"I know," Kaden muttered under his breath before letting out a long sigh, "just be safe."

"You too," Indigo whispered as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the necklace she had kept since the day they were separated, "and take this."

"You kept it?" the Scarlet boy questioned with a large smile on his face after taking the necklace from her.

"Of course, I kept it," she responded as she took his hands into her own, "and you know exactly what to do if you need me."

A small smile formed on the Scarlet boy's face before he placed a gentle kiss on Indigo's lips. His actions caused Will to let out an annoyed groan and playfully mock the young couple, only for the Lark girl to hurl a pillow out his head. As soon as they ended their moment, Indigo grabbed her things and looked over at Kaden one last time before following Alice and Cyrus.

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Indigo walked in front of Cyrus and Alice as she led them through the forest toward the Well of Wonders. No one had said a word since they left the tent, making an ominous feeling settle over the Lark girl. Something didn't feel right and it had nothing to do with Kaden not being by her side. As she thought back to everything that went down in the tent, it felt as though a piece of information was missing. It made sense that the guardian of the Well of Wonders cursed people into genies, the question was why? What did Cyrus and his brothers do to deserve that fate?

The three of them traveled for a bit longer before the silence was starting to become too much to bear. Indigo tried her best to focus on the chirping birds and the other noises of the forest, but it didn't help. Thankfully, Alice decided that it was time to speak, breaking the unwelcome silence that surrounded them. "Are you looking forward to seeing your brothers again?"

"Of course," Cyrus responded with less joy than Indigo had expected, making her curiosity double.

The three of them traveled for another moment before the Lark girl slowed her pace to walk beside the couple. Both of them looked over at the young girl with confusion in their eyes before she opened her mouth to speak. "How did you get cursed into the bottles in the first place?"

"There's not much to tell. We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time," the former genie responded after removing his gaze from Indigo, making her uncertainty grow once more.

"You didn't do anything?" the Spade questioned, earning an irritated look from Alice while Cyrus kept his eyes glued to the path in front of them, "because I doubt a mystical guardian would-"

"It was so long ago, I barely even remember," the raven-haired man interrupted the young girl while trying his best to keep his emotions in check, "besides, there's no point in dwelling on it now. It's all in the past. Come on, if we pick up the pace, we can make it to the Well of Wonders and get back to help Will, Kaden, and the Queen."

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On the other side of Wonderland, Kaden led the way through the forest and toward the trio's destination. Despite knowing he should probably be listening to the conversation happening behind him, the Scarlet boy couldn't bring himself to it. His mind was preoccupied with thoughts of Indigo. If it were up to him, he would still be by her side. Even though he would hate to admit it, he knew splitting up was the better call. After all, Indigo was the only one who knew the way to the Well of Wonders and they couldn't let Will and Anastasia go off on their own. Especially not with all of Wonderland wanting the Red Queen's head.

Kaden soon snapped out of his thoughts when his eyes landed on the familiar bright door in the distance. The Scarlet man slowed his pace a bit to allow his allies to catch up before the three of them headed toward the White Rabbits' home. As soon as they reached the tree stump, the Knave knocked on the small red door.

"Nobody's home!" a familiar voice called out, making the Scarlet brothers exchange a look before turning their attention back to the door.

"Now, Rabbit, don't be that way," Will responded while Anastasia stood a few feet away from the brothers.

"No Rabbit here! Just a family enjoying some quality time together...alone."

"This won't take more than a minute," Kaden calmly said in an attempt to lower Percy's emotional state.

"Time is a precious commodity, Knight. One minute is sixty seconds, which is sixty thousand milliseconds," the White Rabbit responded, causing a wave of irritation to wash over those outside the tree stump house, "do you know how much I can accomplish in sixty thousand milliseconds?"

"You wouldn't be enjoying any milliseconds if I hadn't have found your bloody family," the Knave retaliated in a much less patient tone while leaning against the tree stump, "now, open the door."

A long moment of silence passed before the sound of the door unlocking cut through the air. It wasn't long after that when the door finally opened, revealing a defeated-looking Percy. "What is it you want?"

"It's not about what I want. It's about what she wants," Will stated before Anastasia peeked around the Knave's form to stare at the Rabbit.

Percy just stared up at the Red Queen with fear in his eyes before retreating further into his home. The trio outside his home exchanged a look before crouching down and walking inside. The three of them struggled to fit comfortably in the small house as Kaden searched the room for any sign of the Rabbit. It wasn't long after that when they saw Percy hiding behind the stove.

"Please, Rabbit, don't be afraid. I'm not gonna hurt you," Anastasia said in the softest tone Kaden had ever heard leave her mouth as she got down on her knees.

"You've already taken my wife, my children, my honor," Percy responded while staying in his hiding place, "what more could you possibly want from me?"

"You forgiveness," the blonde woman announced, causing the Rabbit's body to stiffen before he peeked out from behind the stove, "what I took from you, I can never give back, and there's nothing I can offer you to make up for what you've already lost, but what I can say is, I'm sorry, Rabbit. Terribly sorry."

Percy just stared at her for a moment longer before clearing his throat and coming out of his hiding spot. "What's done is done. Why do you care if I forgive you?"

"Because I need your help. I need to become the queen that everyone deserves," Anastasia declared, earning a shocked look from the creature in front of her, "I want to defeat Jafar, reclaim Wonderland, but not for me, for the people, and I need you to tell them that they can trust me."

The Rabbit's pink eyes stayed glued to the woman in red for what felt like an eternity before he looked over at the Scarlet brothers. "Has she completely lost her mind?"

"She wants to change," Kaden responded with a small shrug at the same moment a somewhat irritated sigh passed over Will's lips.

"Whether or not she's capable of it, only time will tell," the Knave added, earning a quick elbow in the side from his brother that he did his best to ignore.

"Unfortunately, defeating Jafar has become the least of your problems," Percy told them before Kaden caught fear slowly beginning to form in his eyes, "Jafar has released the Jabberwocky."

"What's a Jabberwocky?" Will questioned after seeing the terror in Kaden and Anastasia's eyes.

"Who told him?" the woman in red asked, ignoring the confused look on the Knave's face.

"I don't know how or why. I just know she's out," the Rabbit responded while waving his hands around in a panicked frenzy.

"Is that bad?" the Scarlet man spoke once more, only to be ignored once again by everyone in the room.

"I suppose now you'll want me to take you out of Wonderland before she finds you."

"That sounds like an excellent-"

"No! We are not leaving. I said that I was gonna save Wonderland, and I meant it," the blonde woman interrupted Will before her attention fell back on the White Rabbit, "if the Jabberwocky has been released, all the more reason to stay and fight. Now, Rabbit, I'm not gonna force you to do anything, but if you care about Wonderland, what it once was and what it can be again, then I'm gonna need you to help me. Portal to every corner of the realm and tell the people that the battle to save Wonderland is about to begin."

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