25. Chapter Twenty- Four
Chapter Twenty- Four
Alice
" A lice!" The voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere, echoing through the visions flooding my mind. I felt hands on my shoulders, pulling me back, but the stone's connection held me like an anchor in a storm.
"She's not responding," Heart's voice tinged with panic. Through our bond, I felt his fear like ice water in my veins.
"The stone is showing her the past," Varik said, his voice distant beneath the roar of images cascading through my consciousness. "Or possibly the future."
Another set of hands touched me, cooler than Heart's, with a familiar energy that rippled through my awareness. Chi. His touch created a counterpoint to the stone's overwhelming presence, giving me something to focus on beyond the endless stream of visions.
"Alice," Chi murmured, his voice somehow cutting through the chaos in my mind. "Follow my voice back. The stone will show you everything if you let it, but you'll lose yourself in the process."
I tried to focus on his words, using them as a lifeline to pull myself back from the endless cascade of images.
The visions fought against my retreat—showing me the Red Queen as a child, innocent before power corrupted her; Heart leading armies of liberated citizens through Wonderland's restored territories; myself standing in a great hall where all the courts had gathered, not in war but in council.
"I can see... everything," I gasped, my voice sounding strange and distant even to my own ears. "Past, present, future—it's all happening at once."
"That's the nature of the Forgotten Lands," Varik said, his hands joining the others trying to anchor me to the present moment. "The stones remember every possibility that ever existed or could exist. But mortals aren't meant to experience time that way."
I felt the ward consciousness within me stirring, reaching out to interface with the overwhelming flood of temporal information.
Instead of being crushed by the visions, it began to sort them, organizing the chaotic stream into manageable threads.
Through its intervention, I could suddenly distinguish between what was, what is, and what might be.
"The ward," I whispered, feeling my connection to the present moment strengthening. "It's helping me process the information instead of drowning in it."
Chi's relief flooded through our connection as my eyes finally focused on his face. "Clever little consciousness," he murmured, his form more solid than I'd ever seen it. "Using temporal organization to prevent temporal displacement."
I pulled my hand back from the stone, immediately feeling the loss of that vast perspective.
But the ward consciousness retained some of what it had absorbed, maintaining a thread of connection with the ancient monolith.
Through that tenuous link, I could still sense the stone's awareness—curious, patient, and incredibly old.
What did you see?" Heart asked, his ruby eyes intense as he knelt beside me. The Heart Stone pulsed against my chest, our connection vibrating with shared adrenaline.
"Too much," I admitted, pressing my palms to my temples where pressure built like a gathering storm.
"Wonderland before the division. The monarchs when they were young.
Battles that haven't happened yet." I looked up at Varik, whose expression had gone carefully neutral. "I saw you, too. In a different time."
Something flickered behind Varik's wild green eyes—pain or recognition, I couldn't tell which. "The stones remember everyone who passes through the Forgotten Lands.”
“Did you see anything else?” Heart asked, eyes searching mine with concern and curiosity.
I took a shaky breath, trying to organize the visions that were at the forefront of my mind, "I saw the Red Queen's rise, Heart. I saw what she did to claim her throne."
Heart's expression darkened, ruby eyes flashing with old pain. "My mother's ascension is written in blood."
"So much blood," I whispered, the images still fresh in my mind—a younger version of the Red Queen standing amid a field of fallen courtiers, her crown dripping crimson as she declared herself sole ruler of the Heart territories.She killed her own siblings to secure the throne.
Drained their life force to fuel her initial blood magic rituals. "
Heart's jaw tightened, his hands clenching into fists. "I knew she was ruthless, but siblings..." He trailed off, the weight of familial betrayal settling over him like a shroud.
"The stone showed me something else," I continued, my voice barely above a whisper, “It showed me what came before—she wasn't always like this. There was love in her once, before it curdled into obsession."
Heart's jaw tightened, his hands clenching into fists. "Love doesn't excuse what she became."
"No," I agreed, "but it explains it. She lost someone—a daughter who died from a magical plague that swept through the courts. The grief... it broke something fundamental inside her."
Through the Heart Stone, I felt Heart's shock like a physical blow. "A daughter? I never... she never spoke of—"
"Because acknowledging the loss would mean admitting vulnerability," Chi interrupted, his form rippling with agitation. "The Red Queen built her entire reign on the perception of absolute power."
Varik stood abruptly, pacing to the edge of the stone circle. "The stones reveal many truths, but not always the complete picture. The Red Queen's grief may have been her catalyst, but it doesn't explain centuries of tyranny and blood magic."
I struggled to my feet, the silver patterns beneath my skin pulsing with renewed energy. The ward consciousness continued sorting through the flood of information it had absorbed, occasionally sending flashes of insight that made me gasp.
"There's more," I said, my voice steadier now. "The stone showed me what's happening outside the Forgotten Lands. The Red Queen isn't just pursuing us—she's declared open war on all neutral territories. She's convinced herself that anyone not actively helping her capture me is an enemy."
Heart cursed under his breath, ruby eyes darkening to the color of spilled blood. "My resistance fighters in the borderlands—they'll be slaughtered."
"Not just yours," I said, the visions still cascading through my consciousness like a waterfall of terrible possibilities. "All of them. Every safe house, every neutral village that's ever sheltered a refugee from the courts—she's marked them all for destruction."
Through the ward consciousness, I could see the Red Queen's forces spreading across Wonderland like spilled ink, leaving scorched earth in their wake.
Villages burned while their inhabitants fled into forests that offered no real sanctuary.
The other monarchs watched from their territories, calculating whether to intervene or simply wait for the chaos to eliminate potential threats.
"She's forcing everyone to choose sides," Heart said grimly, understanding dawning in his ruby eyes. "Neutrality becomes impossible when remaining neutral means death."
Chi's form flickered with fury. "A clever strategy, if utterly mad. She's gambling the other courts won't unite against her before she can consolidate power."
"She's already making alliances," I said, the images from the stone still flowing through my mind. "The King of Diamonds has offered her access to his crystal technology in exchange for certain territories once the war is over."
Varik's expression darkened. "Predictable. The King of Diamonds always calculates the most advantageous position."
"What about the others?" Heart asked, his voice tight with urgency. "The Queen of Clubs? The King of Spades?"
I closed my eyes, letting the ward consciousness sift through the visions.
"The Queen of Clubs is fortifying her borders, neither joining nor opposing the Red Queen directly.
She's watching, waiting to see which way the tide turns.
" I paused, focusing on the shadowy figure who had visited me that night. "The King of Spades is... harder to read. He moves in multiple directions at once, making arrangements…but I don’t feel him moving like the other monarchs.”
"The King of Spades plays a longer game than the others," Varik said, his wild green eyes distant with memory.
"He always has." There was something in his voice—old pain carefully contained.
"During the First Queen's reign, he was known for his patience.
For seeing patterns that wouldn't manifest for decades. "
Heart's fighters had gathered closer during our conversation, their faces grim as they absorbed the implications of what I'd seen. Martha stepped forward, her scarred features etched with concern.
"Prince Heart," she said quietly, "if what Alice saw is true, then the safe houses in the Crimson Valley are already compromised. My brother leads a cell there—"
"I know," Heart interrupted, his voice heavy with responsibility. Through our connection, I felt his anguish like a physical weight. "The stone showed me possibilities, not certainties. There may still be time."
“There is still time.” A voice spoke, making me blink to see two figures who seemed to come out of nowhere.
“If you leave now…you may make it.” The second voice spoke. I blinked, recognizing them.
“Tweedles. Good to see you.” Heart muttered, eyeing the two wearily.
"Time moves strangely in the Forgotten Lands," Vee observed, adjusting his silver monocle as he studied our group. "But it flows normally in the Crimson Valley."
"For now," Dee added dreamily, his opalescent robes shifting like moonlight on water. "Though war changes all currents eventually."
I stared at the twins, who had appeared with their usual impossible timing. "How did you find us here? I thought the hidden paths couldn't reach into the Forgotten Lands."
"Most paths cannot," Vee confirmed, producing a small device that hummed with temporal energy. "But we are path-keepers. We go where paths are needed."