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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟐𝟔
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐔𝐍𝐒𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐆𝐄

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Not long after, Anastasia and the Scarlet brothers left the Rabbit's house and journeyed back into the forest. No one said a word as Kaden led them down a dirt path that would lead them to the Well of Wonders. Ever since they found out about the Jabberwocky's release, all he could think about was Indigo. After years of living in Wonderland and facing strange creatures, only one thing made the Lark girl freeze up. And now that very creature was out in the realm looking for all of them.

What felt like an eternity passed before the silence was finally broken. It took everything within Kaden not to snap at the duo behind him for speaking, knowing it would just draw attention to them.

"Quickly, Will," Anastasia called out to the man trailing a bit behind them before turning her attention back to the trail, "we have to find Alice, Cyrus, and Indigo and warn them."

"About this Jabber person-"

"If the Jabberwocky has been released, it's not safe for any of us to be out in the open," Kaden interrupted with a hint of irritation in his voice while keeping his eyes glued to the trees in front of him.

"I can't help but notice we're still actually out in the open," Will retaliated, earning an eye roll and another annoyed sigh from his brother.

"Don't be so scared, okay?" Anastasia told him before picking up her pace so she was walking directly behind the Red Knight, causing Will to copy her actions.

"Well, both of you stop scaring me then."

"Will, I'm being serious!" the blonde woman exclaimed just as the three of them jumped over a fallen tree that was in the middle of their path, "the Jabberwocky feeds off fear. She can smell it."

"Remind me again why we didn't take the Rabbit's offer to leave Wonderland?" the Knave questioned, making Kaden's annoyance double. But instead of arguing with his brother, he chose to focus on getting them to the Well of Wonders as fast as possible.

"Because Jafar's gonna destroy Wonderland," Anastasia responded in a tone that didn't convince either of the Scarlet brothers.

"The real reason," Will stated, earning a long sigh from the blonde woman as she turned to look at him while keeping pace with Kaden, "the Rabbit might have bought that performance, but he doesn't know you like I do. You don't do anything that's not about making life more comfortable for you."

"Little harsh, Will," Kaden said while looking over his shoulder before turning his attention back to the trail.

"You know I'm right," the Scarlet man responded without a hint of regret in his voice then looked back at Anastasia, "so what's your angle?"

"There is no angle, Will. I...I made a mistake. I tried to rewrite the past and fix things between us, and instead, I just ended up destroying the future," the blonde woman declared while trying her best to hide all of the emotions flowing through her veins, "it's not about making life more comfortable for myself, because I'll never be comfortable again...not without you in my life. But I...I can make everyone else's life more comfortable, and the only way I can do that is by getting rid of Jafar."

"You really think you can do that?" Will asked just as Kaden stopped in the center of a clearing, making his companions stop as well.

Both Will and Anastasia stared at the Scarlet boy in confusion, not understanding why he looked so spooked all of the sudden. They just watched him look up at the trees for a long moment before a wave of realization washed over the blonde woman. It was only moments ago when they heard the sound of birds chirping and animals running across the forest floor. But now, everything was silent. And not the kind of comfortable silence everyone wished for. This was the kind of eerie silence that sent chills up and down your back. The kind of silence that told you something was wrong.

After watching Kaden share a knowing look with Anastasia, Will finally picked up on the fact that something was going on. Something he wasn't going to like. "What is it? You hear something?"

"I hear nothing," Kaden announced after turning his attention back toward the trees that surrounded them, "nothing at all."

The Scarlet boy kept his eyes glued to the world around him as Anastasia began riffling through her bag. Once she found what she was looking for, she pulled the bottle out and turned to face Will. "Get back in your bottle, Will."

"What? I don't bloody think so," the Knave responded, still confused by what had his brother and former lover so spooked.

"No, I'm not asking you! I'm telling you!" the blonde woman shouted before yanking the top off of the bottle, "get back in your bottle, genie!"

Kaden heard the swooshing of the magic that came from the lamp before he turned back around to find only Anastasia standing behind him. The blonde woman just stared at the object in her hands before muttering, "you can thank me later."

All the Scarlet boy could do was watch as the Red Queen hid the bottle behind a pile of rocks. Once the magical object was out of sight, Anastasia ran into the center of the clearing and began calling out to someone neither of them could see. When she didn't get a response, the blonde woman began spinning around in a circle while continuing to yell at the top of her lungs. It wasn't until the powerful woman completely froze that Kaden realized that what he previously thought was true.

Without thinking twice, Kaden reached down for the necklace hanging around his neck. He just stared at it for a moment before letting out a long sigh and bringing it to his lips. "The Jabberwocky found us. But, Didi, I'm begging you, don't be a hero this time. I need you to run. Find Percy and get out of Wonderland."

As soon as he finished speaking, a woman with snow-white hair appeared in front of him. The look in her eyes alone was enough for Kaden's entire body to freeze. It was like she was gazing into his soul. A smile soon appeared on her lips before she disappeared, revealing an unconscious Anastasia lying on the ground in front of him. It wasn't long after that when she reappeared right behind the Scarlet, making him feel her breath on the back of his neck.

"You fear for your little girlfriend. How sweet," the Jabberwocky mocked before letting out a laugh that made Kaden's blood run cold, "if only you could save her."

Then the world around the Scarlet boy fell into darkness.

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On the other side of Wonderland, Indigo continued to lead Alice and Cyrus toward their destination. Ever since the dodgy answers from the former genie earlier on their journey, the Lark girl hadn't said a word. She still felt like something was off about the raven-haired man's story but no matter how hard she tried, he just avoided her questions. The couple's laughter and voices kept them from falling into silence and drove Indigo mad. She was beginning to wish she had gone with the other group. At least she would've been with someone she trusted with every bone in her body.

It wasn't long before the path led them to a clearing in the middle of the Wonderlandian forest. But that didn't surprise Indigo in the slightest. What did shock her was seeing two red doors that seemingly led to nowhere with a knight standing between them.

"What in the world?" Alice muttered under her breath after she and Cyrus stopped next to the Lark girl. The Kingsleigh woman exchanged a look with her allies before taking a few steps toward the man. "Excuse me, sir. We need..."

"Two doors appear along a stony path, and travelers always wonder which door will lead them to the well and which will drag them under. Choose poorly and meet certain doom. There is no room for blunder," the knight recited. Once he was finished speaking, the blank look reappeared on his face.

"It's some kind of a riddle," Cyrus declared before he and Alice looked back at the young girl standing behind them.

"Oh, don't look at me. I may be slightly mad but even that riddle doesn't make sense to me," the Lark girl responded, only for the duo to continue to stare at her. After letting out a defeated sigh, Indigo pushed past them so that she was standing directly in front of the knight. "Sir Knight...we have somewhere very important to be. If you could just tell us which door to use, we'd greatly appreciate it."

"Oh, come on, Iggie. You know that's not gonna work," Jefferson's mocking voice rang through Indigo's ears, causing the girl to let out a long sigh.

"I know, Jay, but unless you can solve that riddle, we don't have many options," the Spade muttered under her breath, something Cyrus and Alice chose to ignore.

When all they received in response from the knight was silence, the Kingsleigh woman took a step forward to stand beside the curly-haired girl. "It's not polite to ignore people. You should respond when someone talks to you."

"We don't have time for games. Let's just walk around," the former genie told them without even attempting to hide the irritation in his voice.

The two women watched as he walked past them and toward the open area near the doors, only for him to bounce off an invisible wall and stumble backward. Indigo bit her lips to fight the laughter bubbling up inside her while Alice stared at him with disbelief in her eyes. Cyrus just gaped at the space in front of him for a long moment before reaching out and placing a hand on the unseen shield.

"Well, now we know that's not gonna work. Thanks, Cyrus," Indigo mocked, earning a sharp glare from the man that made the Lark girl want to laugh even harder.

"It's alright. We just need to figure out which door to use," Alice announced, drawing everyone's attention back to her before she turned toward the knight, "could you please give us a hint?"

Indigo felt the irritation radiating off of Cyrus when they were greeted by silence once again. That only made her suspicions about his motives grow. She knew he was hiding something and she knew it had to do with why he and his brothers were cursed into bottles. The question was what could they have done that was so bad to receive that fate?

"Answer us!" the former genie shouted, causing Alice and Indigo to jump while the knight in front of them remained unphased.

"I don't think yelling at him is gonna help," Indigo said before Cyrus let out another long sigh and turned to face them.

"I'm tired of my fate being decided by others, people telling me what I can and cannot do. I thought when I got out of the bottle that things..." the raven-haired man hesitated when he saw the mixed looks from his allies. It wasn't long after that when his attention fully settled on the blonde woman. "I'm sorry, Alice. It's just that this can't be the only way."

"I wish there was another way," the Kingsleigh woman told him before looking over at the emotionless knight, "but sometimes you just have to play the hand you've been dealt."

While Cyrus began pacing around the clearing and Alice pondered over the riddle, Indigo just stared at the knight in front of her. Wonderland rarely ever made sense and there were no true laws in the realm. The land seemed to make its own rules but there were two things the Lark girl learned. The first was that nothing was as it seemed in Wonderland. The other was that every riddle had an answer, no matter how complex. You just had to have the patience to look at the clues from every angle.

After going over the riddle once again in her head, something occurred to Indigo. The knight stated that one of the doors would take them to the Well of Wonders while the other dragged them under but he never specified where. It was a long shot but that may be a clue they needed to solve it. A long sigh passed over the Lark girl's lips as she took a step forward to stand in front of the knight once again.

"Where does the wrong door drag us to?" Indigo questioned, only to receive yet another blank stare from the man, "are you gonna answer any of my questions?"

"Yes," the knight replied, causing a wave of shock to wash over the curly-haired girl and her allies to look at the man.

"You will?"

"No."

"But you just did," the Spade muttered under her breath before realization replaced the shock that was coursing through her veins, "can you only answer yes or no?"

"No."

"Did you just say no?" Indigo asked while Cyrus went back to studying the map he brought along with them in the rare case that they would've gotten lost.

"No."

"This is ridiculous," the former genie scoffed as he spun back around to face the knight, "there has to be another way."

Indigo did her best to suppress an eye roll after hearing the annoyance in the raven-haired man's voice. The Lark girl didn't hesitate to ignore his words as she turned back toward the knight. "Is there another way?"

"Yes."

"Good. Ask him what it is," Cyrus told the young girl, causing her to turn around to face him with an annoyed look in her eyes.

"If you were paying attention, you would know he's lying," the curly-haired girl stated before a small smirk appeared on her face, "you did bounce off an invisible wall a few minutes ago."

"What are you talking about?" the Kingsleigh woman questioned while the former genie continued to stare at the Spade with mixed emotions in his eyes.

"That's the riddle," Indigo stated before turning her attention back toward the knight, "you're a liar, aren't you?"

"No."

"That means yes," the Lark girl declared as the smile on her face grew larger than humanly possible. Without thinking twice, Indigo walked over to the door that sat on the knight's right and placed her hand on the knob. "Does this door lead me to the Well of Wonders?"

"Yes."

"Thank you very much," the Spade said to the knight before her eyes fell on Alice. It wasn't long after that when Indigo used her hand to gesture toward the other door. The Kingsleigh woman hesitated for a moment then walked toward the door and placed her hand on the knob. After letting out a long sigh, Alice pushed the door open, revealing the Well of Wonders. The second the door was all the way open, the knight vanished into thin air.

"You did it!" Alice explained as she looked away from the Well of Wonders and over at Indigo with a large smile on her face.

"I'm good at riddles," the Lark girl responded followed by a small shrug.

"Don't get too arrogant, Iggie," Jefferson told her, causing her grin to falter before she heard his voice once again, "you know what happens when you get arrogant in Wonderland."

It wasn't long after the Mad Hatter said those words that everything changed. The world around Indigo seemed to fade into nothingness as the sound of a familiar panicked voice filled her ears. Or, more specifically, came from the earrings that were magically connected to a necklace. The same necklace that Indigo had given to Kaden before they parted ways. And what she heard was enough to make her accomplishment seem meaningless.

"The Jabberwocky found us. But, Didi, I'm begging you, don't be a hero this time. I need you to run. Find Percy and get out of Wonderland."

Indigo's blood ran cold as soon as Kaden's voice disappeared. Her mind was on overdrive as it created possible scenarios of what could be happening to the other half of their group at that moment. It wasn't until hands were placed on her shoulders that the Lark girl was pulled back into reality. Her attention instantly landed on Alice, who was standing directly in front of her with concern written all over her face. To Indigo's surprise, Cyrus was nowhere in sight.

"What happened, Indigo?" the Kingsleigh woman asked in the most gentle tone the Lark girl had ever heard leave her mouth.

"Kaden, Anastasia, and Will...they're in danger. The Jabberwocky. She found them," Indigo explained, causing a terrified look to form on Alice's features before the former continued speaking, "I need to find them."

Just as Indigo turned back toward the path, the Kingsleigh woman grabbed the girl's wrist and forced her to turn around. "No, Indigo. You can't."

"Kaden was already the Red Queen's prisoner! I won't let him be a prisoner again! Especially not to Jafar and the Jabberwocky! You of all people should understand that, Alice!" the Spade shouted before her eyes began to glow a bright blue, "let go of me or I will make you let go!"

"You can't take them on all on your own. You know that. Going now is exactly what Jafar wants. He still needs you," the Kingsleigh woman responded, causing Indigo's breathing and eyes to return to normal after taking in the woman's words, "I understand what you're feeling, Indigo. Really, I do. But you won't win if you go on your own. We will find another way. I promise."

The curly-haired girl could no longer fight the tears and let them stream down her cheeks. It wasn't long after that when Indigo gave Alice a small nod in response. A wave of defeat washed over Indigo before the Kingsleigh woman pulled the young girl into a tight hug.

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