And I'm back.
Well... This is a bit overdue, isn't it? Freaking muses, I swear...
Chapter 1 - http://obsidian179.livejournal.com/101673.html
Chapter 2 - http://obsidian179.livejournal.com/102044.html
Chapter 3 - http://obsidian179.livejournal.com/102772.html
Chapter 4 - http://obsidian179.livejournal.com/103287.html
Title: Choices (5/?)
Pairing: Alice/Mirana (White Queen), implied Dorothy/Ozma
Rating: PG-13, for now
Disclaimer: If you recognize them, chances are they aren't mine.
Summary: It's the choices we make that make us who we are.
It was incredibly frustrating, knowing how close she was to Mirana - dimensionally, if not necessarily geographically - only to be stymied by something like being stuck at the bottom of a lake.
Alice walked to one edge of the bubble, tentatively reaching out to touch it. It felt exactly as if she was touching the surface, with no evidence of whatever force was keeping the bubble intact. She pushed forward, extending her hand into the water. It was water, nothing more, nothing less. Yet when she withdrew her hand, it was completely dry.
It was one of the more peculiar things she'd ever encountered, and in light of recent events, that was really saying something.
It was also not terribly helpful. Oh, it kept them from drowning, and she was certainly grateful for that, but with no real idea where they were in regards to the shore, they could hardly hold their breath and try to walk to dry land. Trying to swim in a dress didn't strike her as something that would end well, and she suspected that the water would wash any fairy dust off of them, making flying to safety impossible.
Assuming, of course, that they had time to think of something at all.
Well, that, at least, was a fairly straightforward problem. "First things first, I suppose," she mused, then walked back to the mirror. Ozma, who'd been watching her experiment with the bubble with interest, looked at her in confusion. Certainly Alice couldn't be thinking of going back...
Her confusion only grew when Alice moved behind the mirror and grasped both sides of it, grunting with satisfaction when she found that it wasn't secured to the ground in any way. It hadn't looked like it was, but then, it didn't look like there was anything keeping the water from crushing them, and there clearly was. "What are you doing?"
"Help me with this," Alice requested. It wasn't that she was ignoring the queen's question - though there was a tiny part in the back of her mind that did somewhat enjoy making someone else wait for answers for a change - she just didn't know how much time they had. The mirror was a little heavier then it looked, and she didn't want to take any chances with it.
Puzzled, Ozma did as she asked, taking hold of one side while Alice took the other. When they began moving it to one side of the bubble, Ozma thought she understood. "Ah, I see. You believe that since this air pocket is likely here because of the looking glass, it may shift and move with it?"
Alice paused. "I didn't even think of that," she admitted. "It would have been a good idea, too. Though it doesn't seem to be working." Indeed, they had reached the boundary of the dry area, and it hadn't altered one inch.
"Then what are we doing?"
Alice, with Ozma's help, turned the mirror around, then moved it so that the glass was nearly touching the water. "We're making it harder for Maleficent to figure out where we went," Alice said finally. "I have no idea how long it'll take her to figure out how to get through the mirror, but if she she sends someone through and they emerge in the water, at the bottom of a lake..."
"...then she'll believe she got the wrong world, or that we're dead," Ozma finished. She beamed at Alice. "Brilliant!"
Alice shrugged, allowing herself a small smile in return. "If nothing else, it should slow them down a bit. I'd put it in the water completely if I wasn't afraid that might puncture our bubble, or some such thing." She shook her head. "Given that her soldiers are undead, they won't drown, no matter where it is. Us, on the other hand..." She sighed. "I must confess, I'm at a loss as to what we're supposed to do now. How far down are we, do you think?"
Ozma frowned up at the surface. "Given the lack of light... If the cloud cover is as thick here as it is in Oz..." She was silent for almost a minute as she thought. "I would say between seventy and ninety feet, perhaps."
Alice grumbled something unrepeatable under her breath. That was just a little too far, especially in such bulky clothing. Or without it, really, which was the only thing stopping her from removing her dress. "We could almost do it, especially if it were closer to seventy, or less. But I think Petunia would have even more trouble then we would." Really, how much air could a fairy hold in her tiny little lungs? She shook her head. "Why in the world would the mirror be in such a place?"
"Perhaps so that, should anyone come through, they would be stopped, but not killed," Ozma guessed.
"Which implies that someone's come through from Oz before," Alice noted.
"Presuming that one can only reach Oz through it."
Alice stopped herself before she could reply again. As interesting as such speculation was, it could wait until they were on the surface. "There's got to be a way," she murmured. "If we could just build up enough speed..." An idea struck her, and she blinked in surprise. It was a trifle mad, but given that they were in Underland, that just made her more convinced that it would work. She turned to Ozma. "I know you said that you don't have all that much magic left," she began. "But do you think you form a bubble similar to this one, on a much smaller scale?"
Ozma hesitated. "I might be able to surround us in a protective sphere," she said slowly. "But it wouldn't last nearly long enough for us to reach shore."
"That's not what I'm suggesting," Alice assured her. "I mean for Petunia, so that we can take her with us."
"Oh." Ozma considered that. "I believe so, yes."
"Good." She turned her gaze to the fairy hovering nearby. "Petunia, I'll need you to dust us, if you wouldn't mind." Petunia nodded excitedly and began showering them both in fairy dust. "I don't know what you know about the fairies of Neverland," she began once Petunia was finished, but Ozma held up a hand to cut her off.
"I know that their dust allows you to fly if you can hold onto a happy thought," she told Alice. "But I daresay that the water will wash it off long before we can get to the surface."
"I agree," Alice replied. "But if we can build up enough speed down here first, we should be able to make it far enough to swim the rest of the way." She sat down and removed her shoes. Torn, dirty, and soon to be waterlogged dress, a number of minor cuts and bruises, and now no shoes... Well, she was certain to present quite the image to Mirana, wasn't she? She didn't even want to think about what else might happen between then and now, half for fear that doing so might somehow make it actually happen.
"That may just work." Ozma followed suit, stepping gracefully out of her shoes without apparent care. "You do certainly seem to have a... unique approach to problems."
Alice smiled. "Wait until you meet my friends."
"I shall look forward to it." Concentrating intensely, Ozma created the promised safety sphere for Petunia, wincing inwardly at how much effort it took to do even that.
"Then let us do this." Alice took to the air - maybe she could get Mirana to bottle some of that dust? - and waited until she was sure Ozma had done the same, then began flying in a circle around the perimeter of the bubble. They continued doing so over and over, building up speed until Alice was certain they could go no faster, then took deep breaths as they altered course and headed straight up.
Hitting the water was a shock, and she nearly gasped in surprise at the sudden, cold slap in the face before remembering exactly why that would be a bad idea. They continued upward for another fifteen to twenty feet, feeling their flight falter until it finally gave out. They quickly began swimming upward before they lost too much momentum, Alice making sure that Petunia's bubble was keeping pace with them, which it was.
Should have taken the dress off first, she decided. Too late for that now, though. Getting out of it was difficult enough on dry land. She'd run out of air and drown getting free from it underwater. Besides which, they were getting closer. Thirty feet... Twenty-five... Twenty...
Her lungs were burning fiercely by this point.
Fifteen feet...
Ten...
Black spots were dancing in front of her eyes.
Five feet...
Don't give up now, Alice, you're almost there! she thought urgently.
Three...
Two...
One...
She burst through the surface of the lake, letting out her captured breath explosively, sucking in fresh air as quickly as she could manage. Petunia zipped by her face, her bubble having vanished once she was out of the water. "We made it," she proclaimed, half-disbelieving.
She received no agreement. Nor, for that matter, did she hear any other splashing nearby.
A bolt of panic ripped through her as she realized that Ozma had yet to surface.
She sucked in a deep breath and dove back under, forcing her eyes to stay open despite the fierce sting. She could only thank the Lord that this wasn't happening in the ocean, or a salt water lake. She never would have been able to keep her eyes open long enough to see anything.
It didn't take her long to spot Ozma. The queen had gotten close, but either she just wasn't quite a good enough swimmer or that spell she'd cast for Petunia had taken more out of her then she'd let on, because she was drifting about ten feet below the surface of the lake. Alice darted over to her as quickly as she was able and grabbed a hold of her, feeling a measure of relief when she was rewarded with a feeble movement. She dragged Ozma to the surface, where she coughed violently, trying to get the water out of her lungs at the same time she tried to get fresh air in. Alice struggled to hold her up while treading water herself.
Finally, Ozma managed to coordinate her movements enough to keep herself above the water, though she was still coughing frequently. "Thank you," she managed to choke out.
"Not a problem," Alice assured her. "Come on, the sooner we get to the shore, the better."
"I concur."
It took them a while, since they had been in the approximate center of a good-sized lake. Alice's muscles were aching by the time they got to the beach, and she had to nearly drag Ozma up onto the sand. She managed to get them halfway up the beach before collapsing in a heap.
She had no idea how long they were laying there, which was aided not at all by the fact that, when she finally scraped up enough presence of mind to check, she found that they were bone dry. Had she fallen asleep for a few hours? No, she decided a moment later. She'd still be damp, and she wouldn't still be so exhausted. She could only assume, then, that the water had decided it wanted to stay in the lake.
That was fine with her, really.
Her arms were shaking as she levered herself onto her feet, at which point her legs also began complaining vigorously. "Get up," she told Ozma, who had yet to move. "Come on, you can't go to sleep here."
"Sure I can," Ozma replied without opening her eyes. "Watch."
Alice smiled despite herself. "You'll regret it later," she promised. "Look, you can rest when we get to Marmoreal, all right?"
Ozma sighed, but opened her eyes and allowed herself to be helped to her feet. "Where is that in relation to here?"
Truthfully, Alice had no idea. "Petunia, fly up a ways, would you? See if you can find any landmarks." The fairy nodded agreeably before zooming straight up and out of sight. While they waited, Alice moved onto more solid ground, taking in their surroundings. The lake seemed to be in the middle of - or at least was surrounded by - a forest, which narrowed things down somewhat, she supposed. Just not enough.
She was fairly certain, though, that Marmoreal was a rather long hike from wherever they were, which meant that they were going to have a lot of trouble getting there on foot. Perhaps once Petunia got back she could dust them again? That would cut travel time down considerably.
When the fairy returned, however, she realized it wouldn't be quite that easy. Petunia was obviously agitated, and began frantically waving Alice forward. "What's wrong?" she asked as she followed her, a wincing Ozma just barely keeping up - though that had more to do with Petunia's hurried pace then anything else.
It wasn't that she'd really expected Petunia to answer her aloud, but Alice could usually figure out what she was trying to say via her charades. This time, though, she didn't even do that, instead flying off into the forest, only waiting long enough to make sure Alice and Ozma were still behind her.
They'd been walking for a few minutes before sounds began to drift to them from up ahead: animal snarls and growls, and, as they got closer, thuds and crashes indicative of a fight. Once she understood what was going on, Alice picked up her pace, leaving Ozma little choice but to do the same. "Is that what I think it is, up ahead?"
Alice didn't even pause. "Most likely, yes."
"And we're heading toward the vicious fight to the death because...?"
"The animals in Underland talk." Or most of them did, at any rate. She wondered, sometimes, why the Bandersnatch didn't seem to have a voice, but even it obviously understood human speech, which she thought was basically the same thing.
"And you believe you can talk them out of trying to kill each other?"
"I have to try." The mere idea of continuing on while two intelligent beings tried to kill each other didn't sit well with her, and that this was her Wonderland made her all the more determined to make them stop. "That's what champions do, right? Protect the people of the land?" she offered.
Ozma huffed a laugh and let the subject drop. They came to a clearing and Alice stopped dead, Ozma nearly crashing into her before she noticed. The lion Alice was only half surprised by, as while she'd never seen one in Underland before, it was at least a real animal.
It was the unicorn that had stunned her into immobility.
It was the size of a large stallion, pure white with a golden mane, tail... and horn. (The lion was very nearly as big, which she realized made it rather large for a lion.) She had no idea why, of everything she'd encountered in Wonderland, this was what would amaze her so, but an actual unicorn... It made her feel like a little girl all over again, little Alice on her first trip to Wonderland.
And it and the lion were trying to kill each other.
"No! Stop it!" she shouted at them, running forward without much in the way of a plan. They had to stop. That two such wonderful and magical beings wanted to kill each other... The thought was simply unbearable.
"Wait!" Ozma hissed, making a grab for her that fell short. She'd been watching the fight - and was no less appalled then Alice, though she knew better then to just charge right into the middle of something like that without any kind of plan - and had noted that, rather then being alert and calculating like most lions, this particular one seemed slow and rather stupid, falling for the same trick again and again - although it was clearly the better fighter. It relied on brute force, while the unicorn utilized strategy and cunning.
Alice's shout had managed to stop the fight - though it took the lion a full second longer to realize that something was happening - and the combatants turned to look at her. She made it halfway to them before the unicorn reared up and proclaimed, "A monster!"
Alice froze, utterly nonplussed. The unique magical being thought that she was... Well. Of all the reactions from all of the inhabitants of Underland, Neverland, and Oz that she'd met... that wasn't one of them. "I am no such thing," she finally managed to protest.
"You don't fool me, monster!" the Unicorn replied. "I can see through your clever disguise!"
"I don't think she is a monster," the Lion interjected, blinking at her in confusion.
"Thank you!" she told him with a nod.
"Ha! As if you would know a monster when you saw one."
"What are you fighting about, anyway?" Ozma asked as she drifted closer. The Unicorn didn't react violently to her, which a small, childish part of Alice thought was patently unfair.
"The Lion and the Unicorn were fighting for the crown," a new voice interjected, and Alice whirled around excitedly. "Which, given that they're both on the side of the White Queen..."
"Chessur!" she burst out, quickly spotting the cat that had materialized near Ozma's right side. She sprinted back and gathered him up into a hug, rubbing her face against his soft fur. "Oh, it's so good to see you!" She was surprised and touched by the purr she could feel rumbling through his frame.
"Alice! Well, this is a pleasant surprise. And who is your new companion?"
Alice let him go and straightened up, not at all embarrassed. "This is Ozma, Queen of the Land of Oz. It's her realm that the evil force attacking Underland is striking from." Her smile faded as she thought of Maleficent. "Ozma, this is Chessur, the Cheshire Cat."
"Pleased to meet you," Ozma said with a gracious nod. "Now... Did you say that these two were fighting for the same side?"
"Yes... No one in Underland knows quite what to do with them, which is why they're out here in the middle of nowhere. They were chased out of town."
"You're the Alice?" the Unicorn interjected.
"Yes, I am." She could hardly be upset about being identified as such anymore, could she?
"The one who slew the Jabberwocky?"
"Yes, I did."
The Lion blinked. "The Jabberwocky's dead?"
"Yes, it is."
"Does the Queen know you're a monster?"
Alice slapped a hand over her face, shaking her head and counting to five before lowering it.
"A monster?" Chessur sounded amused. "I can assure you, my dear Lion, that she is no such thing."
"Oh." The Lion thought that over. "That's good."
"Quite. So glad we've gotten that settled," Alice muttered, then turned to Chessur. "What are you doing out here, then?"
"Checking on the state of the kingdom for our Queen. I dare say she'll be thrilled to hear that you're back."
"Don't tell her," Alice blurted impulsively. At Chessur's inquisitive look, she allowed herself an impish smile and added, "I want to surprise her."
The Cat chuckled. "Only if I get to see the look on her face when she sees you."
"Deal." She turned a speculative look on the Lion and the Unicorn. "Would you two be willing to give us a ride?"
The Unicorn shied back nervously, while the Lion only blinked slowly at them. "Us?"
"Yes. We need to get to Marmoreal, to see the White Queen." She was reasonably certain that would get their attention, if nothing else.
"I'm certain, as loyal servants of the White Queen, you'll want to get her champion to her as quickly as possible," Ozma added, giving them a significant look.
"If she'd become Champion, we would have felt it," the Unicorn protested.
Alice didn't know quite what that meant, but she knew an opening when she heard one. "That's why I have to get to Mirana," she told him. "You must know by now what's going on. She needs a Champion." She thought she detected a slight emphasis on the word when the Unicorn used it, as if it were an official title or an office, rather then just a description. She made a mental note to ask Mirana about it later.
The Unicorn seemed to at last be convinced, but shook his head. "Marmoreal is a fair distance from here, and after slaying that creature - as well as the fight you interrupted - I don't know if I have the energy to carry you both." Alice suspected that might have more to do with a small gash on his right rear leg, but declined from saying so. If he didn't want to show weakness in front of his counterpart, she wouldn't force him to. She didn't know what creature he was referring to, but presumed it had been one of Maleficent's. That he - and quite possibly the Lion as well - had opposed it seemed promising.
"Quite all right," Ozma assured him, walking to the Lion's side. "This noble fellow here reminds me quite a bit of a friend of mind back home, and I would be honored to accept a ride from him."
Which was all well and good, Alice thought, but it unfortunately left her with the one who kept calling her a monster. She'd rather just fly, but she supposed that the two did need supervision until they could get to the palace. Surely someone else could then take care of them. "Very well," she said quietly, slowly and carefully walking up to the Unicorn. Having ridden horses before, she had a fair idea of what to do. (Of course, those had come with saddles...) She held out a hand, palm up, for him to sniff, so he could satisfy himself that she was, in fact, not a monster. Almost reluctantly, he knelt down and allowed her to climb up onto his back. "It's funny," she mused as he stood back up. "I always loved the idea of unicorns when I was growing up, but I never really believed in them."
The Unicorn was silent for a long moment. "Well," he said at last. "If you believe in me... I'll start believing in you."
That surprised a laugh out of her. "All right, you've got a deal." Straightening up, she smiled as she was finally able to issue a command she'd been aching to say for longer then she was really aware of.
"To Marmoreal!"
It was funny, really. Ever since the peculiar invasion had begun, she'd been hoping for a reprieve. And yet, now that she had one, she was even more tense then before.
Mirana allowed herself a wry smile as she walked through the courtyard. Be careful what you wish for, indeed. She was checking on the trees - she wasn't surprised that they were no happier with the constant gloom then she was - while she awaited news.
And there would be news forthcoming, she was certain of it. Something had changed. She couldn't quite say what, but as connected with the land as she was... A balance of some kind had been shifted.
She could only hope it would be in her favor.
"Your Highness!" She turned to see Nivens McTwisp dashing her way. She smoothly altered course to intercept him, hoping the news he bore would be good. He had remained in her employ after the defeat of the Red Queen, but she had allowed him to resume wearing his customary jacket. "A small party is approaching."
"Can you tell who it is?" She allowed only part of her curiosity to reach the surface.
"Oh, I can tell you that." Having had Chessur pop out of nowhere on her like that more times then she could count, she wasn't even phased by it anymore. McTwisp flinched once before he could stop himself. "It's the Lion and the Unicorn. They made some new friends."
It was only the fact that a queen had to regal and composed at all times in front of her subjects that kept her from groaning aloud. Not those two again. Dealing with them was maddening, and thanks to her bloodline, she was already facing an uphill battle in that respect.
McTwisp frowned. "Well, get rid of them! Don't they know the Queen has far more important things to worry about then their silly rivalry?"
Chessur chuckled as he drifted lazily through the air nearby. "Oh, I think she'll want to meet these new arrivals."
She could already hear the distant clatter of hooves getting closer. She restrained a sigh; the sooner she greeted them, the sooner she could get rid of them. She turned to look at the figures bustling down the tree-lined path. The dim light made it hard to make out any details until they'd gotten close enough for the two riders to dismount their respective steeds, one remaining near them while the other...
Wait. Was that...?
Could it be...?
"Alice..." she whispered. She'd known Alice would return - had proof of it - but this soon... Shock had settled in on her face when she'd finally been able to see who she was, but it was swiftly giving way to a giddy delight that she hadn't experienced since... ever.
For her part, Alice had spent much of the ride thinking of just what she should say to her Queen when they finally met, determined to be as respectful and proper as the situation warranted, while also getting across everything she didn't want to say. Now that they were face to face, though, words fled from her mind, and all she could do was walk forward and envelope Mirana in a tight hug.
Oh, God, she even smells good, Alice marveled, holding onto her for much longer then any sense of propriety would allow for. Mirana didn't object in the slightest, and actually took several seconds longer then Alice to let go and step back. "Your Highness," Alice said somewhat belatedly, giving a properly respectful curtsy and somehow still looking dignified, despite her bedraggled appearance.
Mirana clasped her hands together in front of her, a delighted laugh escaping her. "Where are...? How...? When did...?"
Alice smiled - or had she just not stopped? "It is a story of some length, my Queen." Hmm. She found she liked saying that. My Queen. My Queen.
Mine.
First things first, though, she supposed. "This is Ozma, Queen of the Land of Oz," she said, gesturing vaguely behind her without once taking her eyes from Mirana.
The White Queen's smile didn't falter once, but Ozma couldn't quite miss the way it sharpened as a suddenly harder stare shifted to her. "Greetings," she said pleasantly enough, though there was an undercurrent of 'And you are here because why?' that Alice didn't seem to notice.
"Thank you for your hospitality, your Highness," Ozma said with a respectful nod. "I do apologize for my appearance, and for arriving unannounced like this, but I assure you circumstances allowed for nothing else."
"The same evil that threatens Underland - Maleficent - struck at her kingdom first," Alice added, not quite as oblivious as she seemed.
"I have come to offer what little aid I might in combating her."
"You are welcome here," Mirana told her, feeling a measure of her hostility drain away. She was not so far gone that she held no sympathy for the other queen's situation.
"Thank you."
"It is good to see you again, my champion," she said softly... though not so much so that Ozma wouldn't be able to overhear.
"The feeling is entirely mutual, I assure you," Alice replied.
"Your champion does you credit," Ozma offered, while Alice took the opportunity to exchange quiet greetings with McTwisp. Neither queen really noticed. "I would be dead several times over, or at the very least still imprisoned, were it not for her."
"I'm glad she was able to assist you," Mirana said evenly, trying to calm herself even as her blood boiled at the thought of some other queen trying to stake a claim on her champion. Something indefinable caught Alice's attention, and she quickly straightened up, placing a hand on Mirana's arm. Cool serenity seemed to spread out from the point of contact, pushing back the surging madness in her veins. Mirana shot her a look of mixed surprise and wonder, then turned her attention back to the matter at hand. "Come, I'll have rooms prepare for you at once. I'm certain you wish to clean up and rest from your long journey."
"It has been a long day," Alice allowed, inwardly stunned that it had only been a day since this whole mess had begun - for her, anyway.
Mirana sent McTwisp to handle the Lion and the Unicorn - which he did with a look that said plainly he was doing it under protest - and lead her guests inside. She asked a page to escort Ozma and Petunia to a set of guest quarters - which he did after goggling at Alice for a few moments - then took Alice to her own rooms. "I believe I have something of yours," she told Alice as she shut the door behind them... and locked it.
"Do y-" Alice broke off as she spotted her missing frock coat carefully folded up and resting on a chair. "That's impossible," she finally managed.
Mirana smiled. "Is it?"
Alice opened her mouth to answer... and closed it again. Well, no, obviously it wasn't, since it was there. "It's... highly improbable, then."
Mirana laughed again, a sound which sent a rather enjoyable quiver up Alice's spine. "Perhaps so. But I must thank you for your assistance during that encounter. Without it... I shudder to think of what might have happened."
Alice shook her head. "I don't understand," she admitted. "How could that have been real?"
"Does it matter?" Mirana countered. "It is enough that it was. Now, tell me of how you came to return to Underland."
Alice sat down on one of the sitting room's couches. "All right, but it's a long story," she warned. "You might want to get comfortable." In response, Mirana stepped out of her shoes and jumped up onto the couch with her, curling up at the other end.
Alice grinned, thrilled that Mirana was allowing her a glimpse of a side of herself that no one else ever got to see. She took a deep breath and began her story.
It took a while.
It was obvious that Mirana didn't like hearing about the danger she'd been in, but she only interrupted to ask relevant questions, or clarify details. Her eyes never left Alice's face once, and a few times Alice had to consciously keep herself from getting too distracted. "...and then we came right here," she finally finished. She'd caught Mirana reacting more then once during her story, indicating she might just have answers to some of Alice's questions. "What I don't understand is why."
"Why what?"
"Why is Maleficent attacking Underland? Why try and convince me to stay with her, when she had no problem in overcoming and imprisoning even that land's rightful ruler? Why keep Iracebeth alive? Why was I able to affect that one pirate in the first place? Why could I see glimpses of green stormclouds even before all this began? Just... why?"
Mirana's fingers were fluttering. That probably wasn't a good sign.
"I suspect that her attacks on Underland and Iracebeth's imprisonment are directly connected," the Queen said at length. "You were able to see the storm and touch the pirate because you no longer belong to just one world. And I suspect..."
When she didn't continue, Alice prompted, "Yes?"
"Ozma is correct in that the civilization of your world supplanted the magic that had been there previously. However, magic is energy, and as such cannot be destroyed. It can be diluted and suppressed, but not destroyed. You may well carry a bit of magical potential within you. Had you never come to Underland, you likely would have continued on with your life, never suspecting anything."
Alice honestly wasn't certain how to react to that idea, so she settled for a hollow laugh. "And here I thought it might have been that Jabberwocky blood I drank."
Mirana flinched. "I doubt that helped matters at all, for which you have my apologies."
"If that's what let me help you when you needed it, you have nothing to apologize for."
Mirana smiled and inclined her head, though she didn't look entirely convinced. "As for why else she might wish you to stay... You should not underestimate the value of your company, Alice."
Alice blushed. "You're biased," she accused playfully.
"Perhaps." Mirana didn't bother trying to deny it. "Now, I suspect you may wish to clean up. I've had a bath drawn for you."
While she wondered when, exactly, Mirana had done that - they hadn't parted company since Alice had arrived in Marmoreal, and that hadn't been one of the instructions she'd given to the page - Alice was very much willing to just accept that she had. Even if she could somehow forget about the fact that Mirana was the queen, she didn't feel clean enough to be comfortable around much of anyone, just then. "Thank you," she replied, getting to her feet and stifling a wince when they didn't appreciate it. "I dare say I could use one."
Mirana stood as well, and Alice caught a brief glimpse of something in her eyes that she didn't like. She gestured off to the side, managing a smile that didn't seem nearly as strained as it really was. "It's through there. I shall have clean clothing waiting for you when you're done." Alice thanked her again and walked to the door. Mirana turned away, not allowing her shoulders to sag until she'd heard it open and close.
The Jabberwocky blood. Damn it all, how had she missed that?
That she'd had no idea about Alice's magical heritage - indeed, that it was even now only a theory - was suddenly unimportant. She'd placed her champion - her love - in danger. She'd drawn the forces of evil down upon her head and sent her into the arms of another queen. A kinder, far more stable queen.
You know Alice wasn't looking at her like that.
Perhaps it was for the best. She would only hurt Alice, after all. That was all she ever did.
That isn't true.
And just who did Ozma think she was, daring to try and lay claim to her champion? She reached down to the surface of the desk she didn't even notice she'd drifted over to and picked up a letter opener. Perhaps she should take this and go pay the intruding queen a little visit. Teach her exactly what she thought of poachers.
(Something was wrong.)
Jab it into her neck, rip and tear, watch the blood flow. She nearly laughed aloud, imagining the look of shock and horror on the aggravating blond's face as she watched her lifeblood drip, drip, drip away.
(Something was very wrong.)
This has to stop.
Blood. That was the source of the problem, she knew. Oh, how she knew. Magic and madness were inextricably linked in her family; they always had been. She could feel it, even then, surging through her veins, screaming at her to forget her vows, forget that Ozma could help, and go make her scream. Make her beg.
Make her die.
She would not give in. She never had, once she'd taken her vows. It had been close, a few times... So very close. But she knew what to do. She had to get it out of her, and since the madness was in her blood...
She pulled back the sleeve on her left arm, then slashed at her own wrist.
She thought she heard something in the background, but was too absorbed in what she was doing to pay it any attention. She'd avoided any veins or arteries - she'd done this enough times to be able to do without even needing to look - which was good in that it wouldn't kill her, but bad in that it meant this was going to take some time. Perhaps another cut would speed things up.
She didn't have a chance to find out. Her right hand, still clutching the letter opener tightly, was abruptly seized and forced upward, away from her wrist, and she found herself looking into the wide eyes of an alarmed Alice.
No... No, no, no! This wasn't supposed to happen, she wasn't supposed to see... It occurred to her that she'd never heard the bathroom door open, and she realized that Alice must not have actually gone inside. She'd just opened and closed the door, and... watched.
"Why?" Alice whispered.
"It's the only way to make it stop," she replied, just as quiet.
"But... your vows..."
"This doesn't qualify as harm," she explained. Alice needed to understand, and she obviously didn't now. "The madness... It's like an infection. It has to be cut out."
Thankfully, Alice didn't bother pointing out that that wasn't the way infections worked. "That isn't the only way."
Mirana sighed. "Believe me, I have tried every-" She abruptly broke off, her words evaporating faster then Chessur as Alice held up her bleeding wrist and lowered her mouth to it.
For a moment, she wondered if Alice planned to kiss it better, somehow. And that may well have been her intention... but it was not what happened. The blood hadn't stopped, after all, and when it began spilling into her mouth, Alice had little choice but to swallow it.
How curious.
Once, during one of her riding lessons, her horse had been spooked by a snake in the brush, and had thrown her off. She'd ended up biting her tongue when her head had struck the ground, and had never quite forgotten the unpleasant metallic taste of her blood.
This... didn't taste anything like that.
She couldn't quite come up with any words to describe what it did taste like, but it wasn't bad. In fact... She swallowed again, and Mirana moaned in pleasure.
She had no idea how to respond to that. She did know that she liked the sound, though. Experimentally, she pulled on the wound, allowing her tongue to sweep over it. Mirana's moan was more guttural this time, and her knees buckled, forcing Alice to help her stay upright. "Do you have a bandage?" she asked without moving her mouth from where it was. Mirana needed to know that she trusted and loved every part of her, and this was the only way she could think of to do it.
Hopefully, she could convince her before she stopped and really thought about what she was doing.
It took Mirana a few moments to answer. "No need. The bleeding should have stopped, by now." Alice tentatively let go and straightened up. Sure enough, the flow of blood had abated. Indeed, the cut itself seemed to be vanishing. Seeing Alice's puzzled look, Mirana explained, "I did take some precautions beforehand. This isn't the first time I've had to do this."
"I hope it will be the last."
She sighed. "I've told you-"
"No, I've told you," Alice interrupted. "That isn't the only way. You've got me, now."
"Alice..."
"When we ran into the Lion and the Unicorn, the latter said something that made me wonder," she said, seemingly out of nowhere. "That if I'd become Champion, they would have felt it. The way he said it... He meant something different from when you named me your champion to slay the Jabberwocky, didn't he?"
"Um..." The Queen looked thrown by the subject change, but rallied admirably. "Well, y-yes. Underland... It is a place of magic. One might even say it is magic. I am connected to it, both by birthright and by station. There is a saying: 'The Queen and her land are one.' Well, a Champion would also be connected to it. He or she would be able to draw strength from it, be able to sense where they might be needed... and be sensed in return by those sensitive to the magic of the land."
Alice needed a moment to process that. Mirana's explanation brought up a whole slew of questions. "Might that have something to do with why Maleficent wanted me?"
"She would have known no such connection existed... but she also might have wanted to keep you there to ensure it remained that way. She would know that I would be strengthened by having a Champion at my side."
"How does one become a Champion?"
"It requires the reciting of an oath, and the genuine, pure desire to do so."
"I daresay you would have had more Champions then you knew what to do with after your sister took power if that was all it took," Alice observed dryly. She frowned. "And if the Queen and her land are one, then how..."
"Despite wearing the crown, she was not the Queen. I was."
"Which is why she couldn't just destroy you," Alice guessed. She rather doubted it had been because of familial affection. After all, even the Red King hadn't been spared.
"Yes. She didn't have the power. As for the oath..." She smiled. "That is only part of it, yes. I must also accept the Champion as such."
"What is this oath, anyway?"
Mirana tilted her head briefly in thought. It had been a while since she'd last heard it, after all. "'I pledge myself to Underland and her Queen. I vow to put no others before them, and I will defend them with my life. I am yours.'"
"That's it?"
She nodded. "Yes. With magic of that level, nothing more is required."
"Why didn't you ever ask me to do that when I was last here?" Alice asked. "Surely it would have helped."
"Because if I had... you would never have been able to leave."
Alice looked disconcerted. "What do you mean by that, exactly?"
"I would not have kept you here against your will," Mirana assured her. "I merely mean that it would have been... difficult to stay away. Uncomfortable. And... you might not have wanted to leave."
"It wasn't all that easy as it was."
"Exactly."
And forcing her to do something against her will was obviously anathema to Mirana. Which meant she'd never ask. Alice smiled. That was all right. She didn't have to. "I pledge myself to Underland and her Queen. I vow to put no others before you, and I will defend you with my life. I am yours."
She'd never seen pure, naked shock on Mirana's face before, but she was certainly looking at it now. Several moments later, Mirana had recovered her faculties enough to realize what Alice was trying to tell her - that she had no intention of leaving her ever again - and her smile was positively beatific. "As we are yours," she replied, and Alice felt the magic rush into her. Her stomach - which had been a little twitchy since she'd... cleaned Mirana's wound, was the most polite way she could think of to phrase it - clenched, and a violent tremor passed through her muscles. After that...
After that, she felt fine. Great, even. She didn't even feel tired, anymore. "That was-"
Mirana closed the already small distance between them and claimed Alice's lips with her own.
Alice may have been considered strange by her peers growing up, but in some respects her mother had no cause for concern about what kind of proper lady she was. She had never really been kissed before, excepting small pecks on the lips. And never by someone who truly felt something for her. As a result, she had only ever been able to imagine what it might have been like.
As Mirana's tongue poked at her lips, begging for entrance Alice was only too happy to grant it, she decided her imagination was woefully inadequate.
She became aware of the desk behind her only when she bumped into it, and she had to quickly throw out her arms behind her to brace herself on it, lest she fall flat on her back. Mirana paused only long enough to shift her lips to Alice's neck, fastening on to a spot just above her jugular. Alice heard herself moan, but didn't care, silly little things like embarrassment utterly unimportant. She knew how Mirana felt about her, now, knew it as well as she did her own feelings, and saw no point in pretending she wasn't enjoying her love's attentions.
It was actually Mirana that pulled back. Alice, for her part, had given in. Given in to her body's demands, given in to Mirana. "You... should go take your bath."
It took a few moments to scrape up enough coherent thought to form a sentence. "R-Right. That would... be a good idea."
Perhaps a cold bath.
It was, perhaps, one of the fastest baths she'd taken in her entire life. Not because of temperature - it was as warm and pleasant as she could have ever asked for - but because she was chafing inside at being away from Mirana. She hated leaving her dirty clothes on the bathroom floor, but didn't know what else to do with them. Lacking anything clean to change into, once she'd dried herself off, she simply wrapped a towel around herself and walked into the bedroom.
And stopped dead in her tracks.
Mirana had taken the opportunity to change as well. Whether because she'd gotten blood on her dress, or because Alice had gotten it dirty, she'd exchanged it for a sheer white garment that was so thin it was all but transparent.
Alice swallowed, trying to get some moisture down a suddenly dry throat.
Without a word, Mirana rose and walked over to Alice, taking hold of her arm and leading her to the bed. She sat Alice down on it, settling in behind her, and began brushing her hair, humming softly as she did so.
Surrounded as she was by love and warmth, Alice couldn't recall being so happy and content in her entire life.
Chapter 1 - http://obsidian179.livejournal.com/101673.html
Chapter 2 - http://obsidian179.livejournal.com/102044.html
Chapter 3 - http://obsidian179.livejournal.com/102772.html
Chapter 4 - http://obsidian179.livejournal.com/103287.html
Title: Choices (5/?)
Pairing: Alice/Mirana (White Queen), implied Dorothy/Ozma
Rating: PG-13, for now
Disclaimer: If you recognize them, chances are they aren't mine.
Summary: It's the choices we make that make us who we are.
It was incredibly frustrating, knowing how close she was to Mirana - dimensionally, if not necessarily geographically - only to be stymied by something like being stuck at the bottom of a lake.
Alice walked to one edge of the bubble, tentatively reaching out to touch it. It felt exactly as if she was touching the surface, with no evidence of whatever force was keeping the bubble intact. She pushed forward, extending her hand into the water. It was water, nothing more, nothing less. Yet when she withdrew her hand, it was completely dry.
It was one of the more peculiar things she'd ever encountered, and in light of recent events, that was really saying something.
It was also not terribly helpful. Oh, it kept them from drowning, and she was certainly grateful for that, but with no real idea where they were in regards to the shore, they could hardly hold their breath and try to walk to dry land. Trying to swim in a dress didn't strike her as something that would end well, and she suspected that the water would wash any fairy dust off of them, making flying to safety impossible.
Assuming, of course, that they had time to think of something at all.
Well, that, at least, was a fairly straightforward problem. "First things first, I suppose," she mused, then walked back to the mirror. Ozma, who'd been watching her experiment with the bubble with interest, looked at her in confusion. Certainly Alice couldn't be thinking of going back...
Her confusion only grew when Alice moved behind the mirror and grasped both sides of it, grunting with satisfaction when she found that it wasn't secured to the ground in any way. It hadn't looked like it was, but then, it didn't look like there was anything keeping the water from crushing them, and there clearly was. "What are you doing?"
"Help me with this," Alice requested. It wasn't that she was ignoring the queen's question - though there was a tiny part in the back of her mind that did somewhat enjoy making someone else wait for answers for a change - she just didn't know how much time they had. The mirror was a little heavier then it looked, and she didn't want to take any chances with it.
Puzzled, Ozma did as she asked, taking hold of one side while Alice took the other. When they began moving it to one side of the bubble, Ozma thought she understood. "Ah, I see. You believe that since this air pocket is likely here because of the looking glass, it may shift and move with it?"
Alice paused. "I didn't even think of that," she admitted. "It would have been a good idea, too. Though it doesn't seem to be working." Indeed, they had reached the boundary of the dry area, and it hadn't altered one inch.
"Then what are we doing?"
Alice, with Ozma's help, turned the mirror around, then moved it so that the glass was nearly touching the water. "We're making it harder for Maleficent to figure out where we went," Alice said finally. "I have no idea how long it'll take her to figure out how to get through the mirror, but if she she sends someone through and they emerge in the water, at the bottom of a lake..."
"...then she'll believe she got the wrong world, or that we're dead," Ozma finished. She beamed at Alice. "Brilliant!"
Alice shrugged, allowing herself a small smile in return. "If nothing else, it should slow them down a bit. I'd put it in the water completely if I wasn't afraid that might puncture our bubble, or some such thing." She shook her head. "Given that her soldiers are undead, they won't drown, no matter where it is. Us, on the other hand..." She sighed. "I must confess, I'm at a loss as to what we're supposed to do now. How far down are we, do you think?"
Ozma frowned up at the surface. "Given the lack of light... If the cloud cover is as thick here as it is in Oz..." She was silent for almost a minute as she thought. "I would say between seventy and ninety feet, perhaps."
Alice grumbled something unrepeatable under her breath. That was just a little too far, especially in such bulky clothing. Or without it, really, which was the only thing stopping her from removing her dress. "We could almost do it, especially if it were closer to seventy, or less. But I think Petunia would have even more trouble then we would." Really, how much air could a fairy hold in her tiny little lungs? She shook her head. "Why in the world would the mirror be in such a place?"
"Perhaps so that, should anyone come through, they would be stopped, but not killed," Ozma guessed.
"Which implies that someone's come through from Oz before," Alice noted.
"Presuming that one can only reach Oz through it."
Alice stopped herself before she could reply again. As interesting as such speculation was, it could wait until they were on the surface. "There's got to be a way," she murmured. "If we could just build up enough speed..." An idea struck her, and she blinked in surprise. It was a trifle mad, but given that they were in Underland, that just made her more convinced that it would work. She turned to Ozma. "I know you said that you don't have all that much magic left," she began. "But do you think you form a bubble similar to this one, on a much smaller scale?"
Ozma hesitated. "I might be able to surround us in a protective sphere," she said slowly. "But it wouldn't last nearly long enough for us to reach shore."
"That's not what I'm suggesting," Alice assured her. "I mean for Petunia, so that we can take her with us."
"Oh." Ozma considered that. "I believe so, yes."
"Good." She turned her gaze to the fairy hovering nearby. "Petunia, I'll need you to dust us, if you wouldn't mind." Petunia nodded excitedly and began showering them both in fairy dust. "I don't know what you know about the fairies of Neverland," she began once Petunia was finished, but Ozma held up a hand to cut her off.
"I know that their dust allows you to fly if you can hold onto a happy thought," she told Alice. "But I daresay that the water will wash it off long before we can get to the surface."
"I agree," Alice replied. "But if we can build up enough speed down here first, we should be able to make it far enough to swim the rest of the way." She sat down and removed her shoes. Torn, dirty, and soon to be waterlogged dress, a number of minor cuts and bruises, and now no shoes... Well, she was certain to present quite the image to Mirana, wasn't she? She didn't even want to think about what else might happen between then and now, half for fear that doing so might somehow make it actually happen.
"That may just work." Ozma followed suit, stepping gracefully out of her shoes without apparent care. "You do certainly seem to have a... unique approach to problems."
Alice smiled. "Wait until you meet my friends."
"I shall look forward to it." Concentrating intensely, Ozma created the promised safety sphere for Petunia, wincing inwardly at how much effort it took to do even that.
"Then let us do this." Alice took to the air - maybe she could get Mirana to bottle some of that dust? - and waited until she was sure Ozma had done the same, then began flying in a circle around the perimeter of the bubble. They continued doing so over and over, building up speed until Alice was certain they could go no faster, then took deep breaths as they altered course and headed straight up.
Hitting the water was a shock, and she nearly gasped in surprise at the sudden, cold slap in the face before remembering exactly why that would be a bad idea. They continued upward for another fifteen to twenty feet, feeling their flight falter until it finally gave out. They quickly began swimming upward before they lost too much momentum, Alice making sure that Petunia's bubble was keeping pace with them, which it was.
Should have taken the dress off first, she decided. Too late for that now, though. Getting out of it was difficult enough on dry land. She'd run out of air and drown getting free from it underwater. Besides which, they were getting closer. Thirty feet... Twenty-five... Twenty...
Her lungs were burning fiercely by this point.
Fifteen feet...
Ten...
Black spots were dancing in front of her eyes.
Five feet...
Don't give up now, Alice, you're almost there! she thought urgently.
Three...
Two...
One...
She burst through the surface of the lake, letting out her captured breath explosively, sucking in fresh air as quickly as she could manage. Petunia zipped by her face, her bubble having vanished once she was out of the water. "We made it," she proclaimed, half-disbelieving.
She received no agreement. Nor, for that matter, did she hear any other splashing nearby.
A bolt of panic ripped through her as she realized that Ozma had yet to surface.
She sucked in a deep breath and dove back under, forcing her eyes to stay open despite the fierce sting. She could only thank the Lord that this wasn't happening in the ocean, or a salt water lake. She never would have been able to keep her eyes open long enough to see anything.
It didn't take her long to spot Ozma. The queen had gotten close, but either she just wasn't quite a good enough swimmer or that spell she'd cast for Petunia had taken more out of her then she'd let on, because she was drifting about ten feet below the surface of the lake. Alice darted over to her as quickly as she was able and grabbed a hold of her, feeling a measure of relief when she was rewarded with a feeble movement. She dragged Ozma to the surface, where she coughed violently, trying to get the water out of her lungs at the same time she tried to get fresh air in. Alice struggled to hold her up while treading water herself.
Finally, Ozma managed to coordinate her movements enough to keep herself above the water, though she was still coughing frequently. "Thank you," she managed to choke out.
"Not a problem," Alice assured her. "Come on, the sooner we get to the shore, the better."
"I concur."
It took them a while, since they had been in the approximate center of a good-sized lake. Alice's muscles were aching by the time they got to the beach, and she had to nearly drag Ozma up onto the sand. She managed to get them halfway up the beach before collapsing in a heap.
She had no idea how long they were laying there, which was aided not at all by the fact that, when she finally scraped up enough presence of mind to check, she found that they were bone dry. Had she fallen asleep for a few hours? No, she decided a moment later. She'd still be damp, and she wouldn't still be so exhausted. She could only assume, then, that the water had decided it wanted to stay in the lake.
That was fine with her, really.
Her arms were shaking as she levered herself onto her feet, at which point her legs also began complaining vigorously. "Get up," she told Ozma, who had yet to move. "Come on, you can't go to sleep here."
"Sure I can," Ozma replied without opening her eyes. "Watch."
Alice smiled despite herself. "You'll regret it later," she promised. "Look, you can rest when we get to Marmoreal, all right?"
Ozma sighed, but opened her eyes and allowed herself to be helped to her feet. "Where is that in relation to here?"
Truthfully, Alice had no idea. "Petunia, fly up a ways, would you? See if you can find any landmarks." The fairy nodded agreeably before zooming straight up and out of sight. While they waited, Alice moved onto more solid ground, taking in their surroundings. The lake seemed to be in the middle of - or at least was surrounded by - a forest, which narrowed things down somewhat, she supposed. Just not enough.
She was fairly certain, though, that Marmoreal was a rather long hike from wherever they were, which meant that they were going to have a lot of trouble getting there on foot. Perhaps once Petunia got back she could dust them again? That would cut travel time down considerably.
When the fairy returned, however, she realized it wouldn't be quite that easy. Petunia was obviously agitated, and began frantically waving Alice forward. "What's wrong?" she asked as she followed her, a wincing Ozma just barely keeping up - though that had more to do with Petunia's hurried pace then anything else.
It wasn't that she'd really expected Petunia to answer her aloud, but Alice could usually figure out what she was trying to say via her charades. This time, though, she didn't even do that, instead flying off into the forest, only waiting long enough to make sure Alice and Ozma were still behind her.
They'd been walking for a few minutes before sounds began to drift to them from up ahead: animal snarls and growls, and, as they got closer, thuds and crashes indicative of a fight. Once she understood what was going on, Alice picked up her pace, leaving Ozma little choice but to do the same. "Is that what I think it is, up ahead?"
Alice didn't even pause. "Most likely, yes."
"And we're heading toward the vicious fight to the death because...?"
"The animals in Underland talk." Or most of them did, at any rate. She wondered, sometimes, why the Bandersnatch didn't seem to have a voice, but even it obviously understood human speech, which she thought was basically the same thing.
"And you believe you can talk them out of trying to kill each other?"
"I have to try." The mere idea of continuing on while two intelligent beings tried to kill each other didn't sit well with her, and that this was her Wonderland made her all the more determined to make them stop. "That's what champions do, right? Protect the people of the land?" she offered.
Ozma huffed a laugh and let the subject drop. They came to a clearing and Alice stopped dead, Ozma nearly crashing into her before she noticed. The lion Alice was only half surprised by, as while she'd never seen one in Underland before, it was at least a real animal.
It was the unicorn that had stunned her into immobility.
It was the size of a large stallion, pure white with a golden mane, tail... and horn. (The lion was very nearly as big, which she realized made it rather large for a lion.) She had no idea why, of everything she'd encountered in Wonderland, this was what would amaze her so, but an actual unicorn... It made her feel like a little girl all over again, little Alice on her first trip to Wonderland.
And it and the lion were trying to kill each other.
"No! Stop it!" she shouted at them, running forward without much in the way of a plan. They had to stop. That two such wonderful and magical beings wanted to kill each other... The thought was simply unbearable.
"Wait!" Ozma hissed, making a grab for her that fell short. She'd been watching the fight - and was no less appalled then Alice, though she knew better then to just charge right into the middle of something like that without any kind of plan - and had noted that, rather then being alert and calculating like most lions, this particular one seemed slow and rather stupid, falling for the same trick again and again - although it was clearly the better fighter. It relied on brute force, while the unicorn utilized strategy and cunning.
Alice's shout had managed to stop the fight - though it took the lion a full second longer to realize that something was happening - and the combatants turned to look at her. She made it halfway to them before the unicorn reared up and proclaimed, "A monster!"
Alice froze, utterly nonplussed. The unique magical being thought that she was... Well. Of all the reactions from all of the inhabitants of Underland, Neverland, and Oz that she'd met... that wasn't one of them. "I am no such thing," she finally managed to protest.
"You don't fool me, monster!" the Unicorn replied. "I can see through your clever disguise!"
"I don't think she is a monster," the Lion interjected, blinking at her in confusion.
"Thank you!" she told him with a nod.
"Ha! As if you would know a monster when you saw one."
"What are you fighting about, anyway?" Ozma asked as she drifted closer. The Unicorn didn't react violently to her, which a small, childish part of Alice thought was patently unfair.
"The Lion and the Unicorn were fighting for the crown," a new voice interjected, and Alice whirled around excitedly. "Which, given that they're both on the side of the White Queen..."
"Chessur!" she burst out, quickly spotting the cat that had materialized near Ozma's right side. She sprinted back and gathered him up into a hug, rubbing her face against his soft fur. "Oh, it's so good to see you!" She was surprised and touched by the purr she could feel rumbling through his frame.
"Alice! Well, this is a pleasant surprise. And who is your new companion?"
Alice let him go and straightened up, not at all embarrassed. "This is Ozma, Queen of the Land of Oz. It's her realm that the evil force attacking Underland is striking from." Her smile faded as she thought of Maleficent. "Ozma, this is Chessur, the Cheshire Cat."
"Pleased to meet you," Ozma said with a gracious nod. "Now... Did you say that these two were fighting for the same side?"
"Yes... No one in Underland knows quite what to do with them, which is why they're out here in the middle of nowhere. They were chased out of town."
"You're the Alice?" the Unicorn interjected.
"Yes, I am." She could hardly be upset about being identified as such anymore, could she?
"The one who slew the Jabberwocky?"
"Yes, I did."
The Lion blinked. "The Jabberwocky's dead?"
"Yes, it is."
"Does the Queen know you're a monster?"
Alice slapped a hand over her face, shaking her head and counting to five before lowering it.
"A monster?" Chessur sounded amused. "I can assure you, my dear Lion, that she is no such thing."
"Oh." The Lion thought that over. "That's good."
"Quite. So glad we've gotten that settled," Alice muttered, then turned to Chessur. "What are you doing out here, then?"
"Checking on the state of the kingdom for our Queen. I dare say she'll be thrilled to hear that you're back."
"Don't tell her," Alice blurted impulsively. At Chessur's inquisitive look, she allowed herself an impish smile and added, "I want to surprise her."
The Cat chuckled. "Only if I get to see the look on her face when she sees you."
"Deal." She turned a speculative look on the Lion and the Unicorn. "Would you two be willing to give us a ride?"
The Unicorn shied back nervously, while the Lion only blinked slowly at them. "Us?"
"Yes. We need to get to Marmoreal, to see the White Queen." She was reasonably certain that would get their attention, if nothing else.
"I'm certain, as loyal servants of the White Queen, you'll want to get her champion to her as quickly as possible," Ozma added, giving them a significant look.
"If she'd become Champion, we would have felt it," the Unicorn protested.
Alice didn't know quite what that meant, but she knew an opening when she heard one. "That's why I have to get to Mirana," she told him. "You must know by now what's going on. She needs a Champion." She thought she detected a slight emphasis on the word when the Unicorn used it, as if it were an official title or an office, rather then just a description. She made a mental note to ask Mirana about it later.
The Unicorn seemed to at last be convinced, but shook his head. "Marmoreal is a fair distance from here, and after slaying that creature - as well as the fight you interrupted - I don't know if I have the energy to carry you both." Alice suspected that might have more to do with a small gash on his right rear leg, but declined from saying so. If he didn't want to show weakness in front of his counterpart, she wouldn't force him to. She didn't know what creature he was referring to, but presumed it had been one of Maleficent's. That he - and quite possibly the Lion as well - had opposed it seemed promising.
"Quite all right," Ozma assured him, walking to the Lion's side. "This noble fellow here reminds me quite a bit of a friend of mind back home, and I would be honored to accept a ride from him."
Which was all well and good, Alice thought, but it unfortunately left her with the one who kept calling her a monster. She'd rather just fly, but she supposed that the two did need supervision until they could get to the palace. Surely someone else could then take care of them. "Very well," she said quietly, slowly and carefully walking up to the Unicorn. Having ridden horses before, she had a fair idea of what to do. (Of course, those had come with saddles...) She held out a hand, palm up, for him to sniff, so he could satisfy himself that she was, in fact, not a monster. Almost reluctantly, he knelt down and allowed her to climb up onto his back. "It's funny," she mused as he stood back up. "I always loved the idea of unicorns when I was growing up, but I never really believed in them."
The Unicorn was silent for a long moment. "Well," he said at last. "If you believe in me... I'll start believing in you."
That surprised a laugh out of her. "All right, you've got a deal." Straightening up, she smiled as she was finally able to issue a command she'd been aching to say for longer then she was really aware of.
"To Marmoreal!"
It was funny, really. Ever since the peculiar invasion had begun, she'd been hoping for a reprieve. And yet, now that she had one, she was even more tense then before.
Mirana allowed herself a wry smile as she walked through the courtyard. Be careful what you wish for, indeed. She was checking on the trees - she wasn't surprised that they were no happier with the constant gloom then she was - while she awaited news.
And there would be news forthcoming, she was certain of it. Something had changed. She couldn't quite say what, but as connected with the land as she was... A balance of some kind had been shifted.
She could only hope it would be in her favor.
"Your Highness!" She turned to see Nivens McTwisp dashing her way. She smoothly altered course to intercept him, hoping the news he bore would be good. He had remained in her employ after the defeat of the Red Queen, but she had allowed him to resume wearing his customary jacket. "A small party is approaching."
"Can you tell who it is?" She allowed only part of her curiosity to reach the surface.
"Oh, I can tell you that." Having had Chessur pop out of nowhere on her like that more times then she could count, she wasn't even phased by it anymore. McTwisp flinched once before he could stop himself. "It's the Lion and the Unicorn. They made some new friends."
It was only the fact that a queen had to regal and composed at all times in front of her subjects that kept her from groaning aloud. Not those two again. Dealing with them was maddening, and thanks to her bloodline, she was already facing an uphill battle in that respect.
McTwisp frowned. "Well, get rid of them! Don't they know the Queen has far more important things to worry about then their silly rivalry?"
Chessur chuckled as he drifted lazily through the air nearby. "Oh, I think she'll want to meet these new arrivals."
She could already hear the distant clatter of hooves getting closer. She restrained a sigh; the sooner she greeted them, the sooner she could get rid of them. She turned to look at the figures bustling down the tree-lined path. The dim light made it hard to make out any details until they'd gotten close enough for the two riders to dismount their respective steeds, one remaining near them while the other...
Wait. Was that...?
Could it be...?
"Alice..." she whispered. She'd known Alice would return - had proof of it - but this soon... Shock had settled in on her face when she'd finally been able to see who she was, but it was swiftly giving way to a giddy delight that she hadn't experienced since... ever.
For her part, Alice had spent much of the ride thinking of just what she should say to her Queen when they finally met, determined to be as respectful and proper as the situation warranted, while also getting across everything she didn't want to say. Now that they were face to face, though, words fled from her mind, and all she could do was walk forward and envelope Mirana in a tight hug.
Oh, God, she even smells good, Alice marveled, holding onto her for much longer then any sense of propriety would allow for. Mirana didn't object in the slightest, and actually took several seconds longer then Alice to let go and step back. "Your Highness," Alice said somewhat belatedly, giving a properly respectful curtsy and somehow still looking dignified, despite her bedraggled appearance.
Mirana clasped her hands together in front of her, a delighted laugh escaping her. "Where are...? How...? When did...?"
Alice smiled - or had she just not stopped? "It is a story of some length, my Queen." Hmm. She found she liked saying that. My Queen. My Queen.
Mine.
First things first, though, she supposed. "This is Ozma, Queen of the Land of Oz," she said, gesturing vaguely behind her without once taking her eyes from Mirana.
The White Queen's smile didn't falter once, but Ozma couldn't quite miss the way it sharpened as a suddenly harder stare shifted to her. "Greetings," she said pleasantly enough, though there was an undercurrent of 'And you are here because why?' that Alice didn't seem to notice.
"Thank you for your hospitality, your Highness," Ozma said with a respectful nod. "I do apologize for my appearance, and for arriving unannounced like this, but I assure you circumstances allowed for nothing else."
"The same evil that threatens Underland - Maleficent - struck at her kingdom first," Alice added, not quite as oblivious as she seemed.
"I have come to offer what little aid I might in combating her."
"You are welcome here," Mirana told her, feeling a measure of her hostility drain away. She was not so far gone that she held no sympathy for the other queen's situation.
"Thank you."
"It is good to see you again, my champion," she said softly... though not so much so that Ozma wouldn't be able to overhear.
"The feeling is entirely mutual, I assure you," Alice replied.
"Your champion does you credit," Ozma offered, while Alice took the opportunity to exchange quiet greetings with McTwisp. Neither queen really noticed. "I would be dead several times over, or at the very least still imprisoned, were it not for her."
"I'm glad she was able to assist you," Mirana said evenly, trying to calm herself even as her blood boiled at the thought of some other queen trying to stake a claim on her champion. Something indefinable caught Alice's attention, and she quickly straightened up, placing a hand on Mirana's arm. Cool serenity seemed to spread out from the point of contact, pushing back the surging madness in her veins. Mirana shot her a look of mixed surprise and wonder, then turned her attention back to the matter at hand. "Come, I'll have rooms prepare for you at once. I'm certain you wish to clean up and rest from your long journey."
"It has been a long day," Alice allowed, inwardly stunned that it had only been a day since this whole mess had begun - for her, anyway.
Mirana sent McTwisp to handle the Lion and the Unicorn - which he did with a look that said plainly he was doing it under protest - and lead her guests inside. She asked a page to escort Ozma and Petunia to a set of guest quarters - which he did after goggling at Alice for a few moments - then took Alice to her own rooms. "I believe I have something of yours," she told Alice as she shut the door behind them... and locked it.
"Do y-" Alice broke off as she spotted her missing frock coat carefully folded up and resting on a chair. "That's impossible," she finally managed.
Mirana smiled. "Is it?"
Alice opened her mouth to answer... and closed it again. Well, no, obviously it wasn't, since it was there. "It's... highly improbable, then."
Mirana laughed again, a sound which sent a rather enjoyable quiver up Alice's spine. "Perhaps so. But I must thank you for your assistance during that encounter. Without it... I shudder to think of what might have happened."
Alice shook her head. "I don't understand," she admitted. "How could that have been real?"
"Does it matter?" Mirana countered. "It is enough that it was. Now, tell me of how you came to return to Underland."
Alice sat down on one of the sitting room's couches. "All right, but it's a long story," she warned. "You might want to get comfortable." In response, Mirana stepped out of her shoes and jumped up onto the couch with her, curling up at the other end.
Alice grinned, thrilled that Mirana was allowing her a glimpse of a side of herself that no one else ever got to see. She took a deep breath and began her story.
It took a while.
It was obvious that Mirana didn't like hearing about the danger she'd been in, but she only interrupted to ask relevant questions, or clarify details. Her eyes never left Alice's face once, and a few times Alice had to consciously keep herself from getting too distracted. "...and then we came right here," she finally finished. She'd caught Mirana reacting more then once during her story, indicating she might just have answers to some of Alice's questions. "What I don't understand is why."
"Why what?"
"Why is Maleficent attacking Underland? Why try and convince me to stay with her, when she had no problem in overcoming and imprisoning even that land's rightful ruler? Why keep Iracebeth alive? Why was I able to affect that one pirate in the first place? Why could I see glimpses of green stormclouds even before all this began? Just... why?"
Mirana's fingers were fluttering. That probably wasn't a good sign.
"I suspect that her attacks on Underland and Iracebeth's imprisonment are directly connected," the Queen said at length. "You were able to see the storm and touch the pirate because you no longer belong to just one world. And I suspect..."
When she didn't continue, Alice prompted, "Yes?"
"Ozma is correct in that the civilization of your world supplanted the magic that had been there previously. However, magic is energy, and as such cannot be destroyed. It can be diluted and suppressed, but not destroyed. You may well carry a bit of magical potential within you. Had you never come to Underland, you likely would have continued on with your life, never suspecting anything."
Alice honestly wasn't certain how to react to that idea, so she settled for a hollow laugh. "And here I thought it might have been that Jabberwocky blood I drank."
Mirana flinched. "I doubt that helped matters at all, for which you have my apologies."
"If that's what let me help you when you needed it, you have nothing to apologize for."
Mirana smiled and inclined her head, though she didn't look entirely convinced. "As for why else she might wish you to stay... You should not underestimate the value of your company, Alice."
Alice blushed. "You're biased," she accused playfully.
"Perhaps." Mirana didn't bother trying to deny it. "Now, I suspect you may wish to clean up. I've had a bath drawn for you."
While she wondered when, exactly, Mirana had done that - they hadn't parted company since Alice had arrived in Marmoreal, and that hadn't been one of the instructions she'd given to the page - Alice was very much willing to just accept that she had. Even if she could somehow forget about the fact that Mirana was the queen, she didn't feel clean enough to be comfortable around much of anyone, just then. "Thank you," she replied, getting to her feet and stifling a wince when they didn't appreciate it. "I dare say I could use one."
Mirana stood as well, and Alice caught a brief glimpse of something in her eyes that she didn't like. She gestured off to the side, managing a smile that didn't seem nearly as strained as it really was. "It's through there. I shall have clean clothing waiting for you when you're done." Alice thanked her again and walked to the door. Mirana turned away, not allowing her shoulders to sag until she'd heard it open and close.
The Jabberwocky blood. Damn it all, how had she missed that?
That she'd had no idea about Alice's magical heritage - indeed, that it was even now only a theory - was suddenly unimportant. She'd placed her champion - her love - in danger. She'd drawn the forces of evil down upon her head and sent her into the arms of another queen. A kinder, far more stable queen.
You know Alice wasn't looking at her like that.
Perhaps it was for the best. She would only hurt Alice, after all. That was all she ever did.
That isn't true.
And just who did Ozma think she was, daring to try and lay claim to her champion? She reached down to the surface of the desk she didn't even notice she'd drifted over to and picked up a letter opener. Perhaps she should take this and go pay the intruding queen a little visit. Teach her exactly what she thought of poachers.
(Something was wrong.)
Jab it into her neck, rip and tear, watch the blood flow. She nearly laughed aloud, imagining the look of shock and horror on the aggravating blond's face as she watched her lifeblood drip, drip, drip away.
(Something was very wrong.)
This has to stop.
Blood. That was the source of the problem, she knew. Oh, how she knew. Magic and madness were inextricably linked in her family; they always had been. She could feel it, even then, surging through her veins, screaming at her to forget her vows, forget that Ozma could help, and go make her scream. Make her beg.
Make her die.
She would not give in. She never had, once she'd taken her vows. It had been close, a few times... So very close. But she knew what to do. She had to get it out of her, and since the madness was in her blood...
She pulled back the sleeve on her left arm, then slashed at her own wrist.
She thought she heard something in the background, but was too absorbed in what she was doing to pay it any attention. She'd avoided any veins or arteries - she'd done this enough times to be able to do without even needing to look - which was good in that it wouldn't kill her, but bad in that it meant this was going to take some time. Perhaps another cut would speed things up.
She didn't have a chance to find out. Her right hand, still clutching the letter opener tightly, was abruptly seized and forced upward, away from her wrist, and she found herself looking into the wide eyes of an alarmed Alice.
No... No, no, no! This wasn't supposed to happen, she wasn't supposed to see... It occurred to her that she'd never heard the bathroom door open, and she realized that Alice must not have actually gone inside. She'd just opened and closed the door, and... watched.
"Why?" Alice whispered.
"It's the only way to make it stop," she replied, just as quiet.
"But... your vows..."
"This doesn't qualify as harm," she explained. Alice needed to understand, and she obviously didn't now. "The madness... It's like an infection. It has to be cut out."
Thankfully, Alice didn't bother pointing out that that wasn't the way infections worked. "That isn't the only way."
Mirana sighed. "Believe me, I have tried every-" She abruptly broke off, her words evaporating faster then Chessur as Alice held up her bleeding wrist and lowered her mouth to it.
For a moment, she wondered if Alice planned to kiss it better, somehow. And that may well have been her intention... but it was not what happened. The blood hadn't stopped, after all, and when it began spilling into her mouth, Alice had little choice but to swallow it.
How curious.
Once, during one of her riding lessons, her horse had been spooked by a snake in the brush, and had thrown her off. She'd ended up biting her tongue when her head had struck the ground, and had never quite forgotten the unpleasant metallic taste of her blood.
This... didn't taste anything like that.
She couldn't quite come up with any words to describe what it did taste like, but it wasn't bad. In fact... She swallowed again, and Mirana moaned in pleasure.
She had no idea how to respond to that. She did know that she liked the sound, though. Experimentally, she pulled on the wound, allowing her tongue to sweep over it. Mirana's moan was more guttural this time, and her knees buckled, forcing Alice to help her stay upright. "Do you have a bandage?" she asked without moving her mouth from where it was. Mirana needed to know that she trusted and loved every part of her, and this was the only way she could think of to do it.
Hopefully, she could convince her before she stopped and really thought about what she was doing.
It took Mirana a few moments to answer. "No need. The bleeding should have stopped, by now." Alice tentatively let go and straightened up. Sure enough, the flow of blood had abated. Indeed, the cut itself seemed to be vanishing. Seeing Alice's puzzled look, Mirana explained, "I did take some precautions beforehand. This isn't the first time I've had to do this."
"I hope it will be the last."
She sighed. "I've told you-"
"No, I've told you," Alice interrupted. "That isn't the only way. You've got me, now."
"Alice..."
"When we ran into the Lion and the Unicorn, the latter said something that made me wonder," she said, seemingly out of nowhere. "That if I'd become Champion, they would have felt it. The way he said it... He meant something different from when you named me your champion to slay the Jabberwocky, didn't he?"
"Um..." The Queen looked thrown by the subject change, but rallied admirably. "Well, y-yes. Underland... It is a place of magic. One might even say it is magic. I am connected to it, both by birthright and by station. There is a saying: 'The Queen and her land are one.' Well, a Champion would also be connected to it. He or she would be able to draw strength from it, be able to sense where they might be needed... and be sensed in return by those sensitive to the magic of the land."
Alice needed a moment to process that. Mirana's explanation brought up a whole slew of questions. "Might that have something to do with why Maleficent wanted me?"
"She would have known no such connection existed... but she also might have wanted to keep you there to ensure it remained that way. She would know that I would be strengthened by having a Champion at my side."
"How does one become a Champion?"
"It requires the reciting of an oath, and the genuine, pure desire to do so."
"I daresay you would have had more Champions then you knew what to do with after your sister took power if that was all it took," Alice observed dryly. She frowned. "And if the Queen and her land are one, then how..."
"Despite wearing the crown, she was not the Queen. I was."
"Which is why she couldn't just destroy you," Alice guessed. She rather doubted it had been because of familial affection. After all, even the Red King hadn't been spared.
"Yes. She didn't have the power. As for the oath..." She smiled. "That is only part of it, yes. I must also accept the Champion as such."
"What is this oath, anyway?"
Mirana tilted her head briefly in thought. It had been a while since she'd last heard it, after all. "'I pledge myself to Underland and her Queen. I vow to put no others before them, and I will defend them with my life. I am yours.'"
"That's it?"
She nodded. "Yes. With magic of that level, nothing more is required."
"Why didn't you ever ask me to do that when I was last here?" Alice asked. "Surely it would have helped."
"Because if I had... you would never have been able to leave."
Alice looked disconcerted. "What do you mean by that, exactly?"
"I would not have kept you here against your will," Mirana assured her. "I merely mean that it would have been... difficult to stay away. Uncomfortable. And... you might not have wanted to leave."
"It wasn't all that easy as it was."
"Exactly."
And forcing her to do something against her will was obviously anathema to Mirana. Which meant she'd never ask. Alice smiled. That was all right. She didn't have to. "I pledge myself to Underland and her Queen. I vow to put no others before you, and I will defend you with my life. I am yours."
She'd never seen pure, naked shock on Mirana's face before, but she was certainly looking at it now. Several moments later, Mirana had recovered her faculties enough to realize what Alice was trying to tell her - that she had no intention of leaving her ever again - and her smile was positively beatific. "As we are yours," she replied, and Alice felt the magic rush into her. Her stomach - which had been a little twitchy since she'd... cleaned Mirana's wound, was the most polite way she could think of to phrase it - clenched, and a violent tremor passed through her muscles. After that...
After that, she felt fine. Great, even. She didn't even feel tired, anymore. "That was-"
Mirana closed the already small distance between them and claimed Alice's lips with her own.
Alice may have been considered strange by her peers growing up, but in some respects her mother had no cause for concern about what kind of proper lady she was. She had never really been kissed before, excepting small pecks on the lips. And never by someone who truly felt something for her. As a result, she had only ever been able to imagine what it might have been like.
As Mirana's tongue poked at her lips, begging for entrance Alice was only too happy to grant it, she decided her imagination was woefully inadequate.
She became aware of the desk behind her only when she bumped into it, and she had to quickly throw out her arms behind her to brace herself on it, lest she fall flat on her back. Mirana paused only long enough to shift her lips to Alice's neck, fastening on to a spot just above her jugular. Alice heard herself moan, but didn't care, silly little things like embarrassment utterly unimportant. She knew how Mirana felt about her, now, knew it as well as she did her own feelings, and saw no point in pretending she wasn't enjoying her love's attentions.
It was actually Mirana that pulled back. Alice, for her part, had given in. Given in to her body's demands, given in to Mirana. "You... should go take your bath."
It took a few moments to scrape up enough coherent thought to form a sentence. "R-Right. That would... be a good idea."
Perhaps a cold bath.
It was, perhaps, one of the fastest baths she'd taken in her entire life. Not because of temperature - it was as warm and pleasant as she could have ever asked for - but because she was chafing inside at being away from Mirana. She hated leaving her dirty clothes on the bathroom floor, but didn't know what else to do with them. Lacking anything clean to change into, once she'd dried herself off, she simply wrapped a towel around herself and walked into the bedroom.
And stopped dead in her tracks.
Mirana had taken the opportunity to change as well. Whether because she'd gotten blood on her dress, or because Alice had gotten it dirty, she'd exchanged it for a sheer white garment that was so thin it was all but transparent.
Alice swallowed, trying to get some moisture down a suddenly dry throat.
Without a word, Mirana rose and walked over to Alice, taking hold of her arm and leading her to the bed. She sat Alice down on it, settling in behind her, and began brushing her hair, humming softly as she did so.
Surrounded as she was by love and warmth, Alice couldn't recall being so happy and content in her entire life.