Page 112 of Knot My Wonderland: Part Two
"And for centuries I have watched you poison what was entrusted to your care," the voice replied through me, each word carrying the weight of eons. I raised my hands, no longer feeling like they were entirely my own.
Wonderland flowed through me like a river of creation itself, ancient and wild. The power felt both familiar and utterly alien—like I'd always been meant to channel this force but had never known it existed until now. My feet lifted slightly from the ground as pure pattern energy swirled around me in spirals of silver, gold, and midnight blue.
"You were never meant to rule forever," I heard my voice say, though the words felt like they originated from somewhere deeper than my conscious mind. "No queen was. The pattern must evolve, must change hands when corruption threatens."
The Queen-construct writhed against Seth's shadows, her form destabilizing further as Wonderland's direct intervention severed her connections to the corrupted nexus points one by one. Each separation was visible—crimson threads snapping like overtaut strings, the backlash making her monstrous body convulse.
"I made Wonderland better!" she screamed, her voice cracking as another corrupted nexus connection severed. " I made it stronger!"
"You made it a reflection of your own madness," Wonderland replied through me, the ancient voice carrying infinite sadness. "You turned creation into consumption.”
The Queen-construct's form began to collapse inward, her stolen power unable to maintain cohesion without the corrupted nexus points feeding it. The blood armor cracked and bled, revealing glimpses of the woman she had once been beneath layers of twisted magic.
Now take over and finish her.Wonderland spoke and gave me control of my body, the magic it gave me still pulsingwithin me. I felt Wonderland's vast presence withdraw slightly, leaving me in control but still flooded with its ancient power. The Queen-construct writhed before me, her monstrous form cracking like a broken shell as her stolen connections continued to sever. Through the network, I sensed my mates' awe and concern as they witnessed the transformation I'd undergone.
"End this, Alice," Heart urged, his golden patterns dim with exhaustion. "Before she finds another way to anchor herself."
The Queen-construct's multiple eyes fixed on me with desperate hatred. "You think... you think you've won?" she gasped through her primary mouth, ichor leaking from the cracks in her armor. "Even without the nexus points... I still have power enough... to drag you into death with me!"
Her form pulsed with malevolent energy, drawing not from external sources now but from her own life force. I felt my vision blur as her magic crashed into me, my body hitting the ground with a loud crack.
Alice!Wonderland’s voice was a distant echo now as my magic faltered as I tried to catch my breath. Heart was the fist at my side, his sword drawn as he faced down what remained of his mother. "You will not touch her again," he declared, his golden patterns flaring with protective fury.
The Queen-construct laughed, the sound garbled through her deteriorating mouths. "My own son, choosing a realm-walker over his blood. How disappointing you've always been."
I struggled to my feet, leaning heavily on Heart as my vision cleared. The power Wonderland had channeled through me still hummed beneath my skin, but dimmer now, like a storm momentarily receded.
"It's not about choosing sides," I said, my voice rough from the strain. "It's about choosing life over corruption. Creation over destruction."
Through our bonds, I felt my mates gathering closer—Chi's silver energy, the Tweedles' synchronized calculation, Seth's void darkness all converging to support me as I faced the weakened but still deadly Queen. Heart moved as the Queen snarled, and I used the last of my magic to knock her to her knees. The Queen howled in fury as she crashed to the ground. Heart stepped forward, his golden blade catching the unnatural crimson light as he positioned himself between us.
"Mother," he said, his voice heavy with centuries of grief. "This ends now."
The Queen's eyes—still recognizably hers despite the monstrous transformation—fixed on her son with a mixture of hatred and something that might have been regret.
"You were always... too soft," she rasped, blood magic leaking from the cracks in her armor like wounded stars. "Too much... like your father."
Heart's golden patterns dimmed slightly at the mention of his father, but his resolve remained unshaken. "He would weep to see what you've become."
A strange sound escaped the Queen's—something between a laugh or a sob. "He already wept," she whispered, her voice suddenly fragile beneath the corruption's distortion. "The day I chose power over love. The day I first tasted blood magic." Her form shuddered, more of her monstrous armor cracking away to reveal glimpses of the woman she had been. "He begged me to stop. Said I was losing myself piece by piece."
Heart's sword trembled in his grip, golden patterns flickering with pain. "Then why didn't you listen?"
"Because I was terrified," the Queen confessed, her multiple eyes beginning to merge back into two as her transformation continued to fail. "Terrified of being weak, of losing control, of watching everything I'd built crumble. Loosing another personwho I loved.The blood magic promised strength, promised certainty."
Through our bonds, I felt the complex emotions rippling through the network—Heart's grief, Chi's protective tension, Seth's coldd calculation as he maintained his shadow bindings on the weakening Queen.
"Power without compassion isn't strength," I said quietly, trying to keep myself from letting myself pass out. "It's just another form of fear."
The Queen's gaze shifted to me, and for a moment I saw past the corruption to the woman who had once ruled Wonderland with wisdom instead of blood. "You speak of fear, child, but you don't understand. When you've watched everything you love die, when you've felt the weight of an entire realm's survival on your shoulders..." Her voice cracked. "The darkness whispers that you can prevent it all, if you're just willing to pay the price."
"But the price was everything," Heart said, his sword lowering slightly. "Your soul, your kingdom, your family."
Tears of blood leaked from the Queen's eyes. "I thought I could control it. Thought I could make things better…and I have! Wonderland has been so good under my control.” He voice started to raise as madness crept back into it.
"Mother," Heart said firmly, raising his sword again as the corruption reasserted its hold on her mind. "You've brought nothing but poison and decay. The withering lands, the bleeding trees, the children growing sick from tainted water—that is your legacy."
The Queen's brief moment of clarity shattered like glass, madness blazing in her eyes as her monstrous form pulsed with renewed malevolence. "I made them stronger! I made them perfect!" she shrieked, her voice distorting back into multiple harmonics. "You're all too weak to see the beauty in what I've created!"
