The Clockwork Heart

Chapter Thirty-Eight: War

"Jasper, where are you going?"

"I want to leave--I want to go to some place else. I hate this place! I don't want to become the king of this place!"

"You have no other place to go. Your fate is to die for the greater good. You must accept it."

"Never!"

***

It took the King and Alice another month to arrive back at the city.

The Rabbit greeted them.

There was a tense air, but for now everything seemed ok.

"The Kingdom of Hearts has been preparing its army," said the Rabbit. "They'll be here within the next week. I've attempted to send diplomats, but they weren't received. The Hatter has been fortifying the walls with clockwork traps."

"All we can do now is wait," said the King.

Alice crossed her arms and stood by her side. She seemed sad and shifted on her feet.

A few more days passed. And suddenly there came the sound of war drums in the distance!

The army of the Kingdom of Hearts was here.

***

The defenses barely held. Fortunately, a big part of civilians had already evacuated to nearby cities and villages. Meanwhile, people still remaining were able to escape via secret passages created by the March Hare and the Cheshire Cat.

They made money from the passages too. Sometimes a wealthy merchant or someone like that would be so grateful and teary-eyed that they gave the Hare and the Cat a giant bag of golden coins as 'a small token of my gratitude'.

Still, it was hectic...

Alice, of course, wasn't worried. She was immortal in this realm. So after the chaos began, and there was shouting and yelling from beyond the walls, she continued to wander the city streets.

She wanted to go home above everything else. Suddenly she remembered that she brought her backpack with her, when she fell through the hole. She must've left her backpack at the Hatter's cottage. She quickly navigated her way through the forest, all the way to the cottage, with the help of a map.

There was her backpack. It was familiar and comforting sight. She dug around in her bag and pulled out a picture book she was reading.

'Alice in Wonderland', she liked it alot because the protagonist had the same name as her. She nestled down into one of the Hatter's chair and began to read.

Tales of an anxious white rabbit, a strange mad hatter, an evil tyrant, and of course the little girl who was out of her world...

As she read, something strange occurred to her, which hadn't occurred to her before.

This land was also called Wonderland, just like the setting of the story. The characters all had the same names, and similar roles.

She was Alice, the Chosen One... she was told that in this land, the universe revolved around her. She held the key to the kingdom.

What was the key?

Her eyes widened.

"None of this is real," she said out loud. "All of this is fictional. That's why it all revolves around me. It is my place, and I can make it do whatever I want."

She told the teapot to fly, and it flew into the air. She told the table to walk, and it tiptoed around the room like a fourlegged spider. She stood outside the cottage and told the unchanging autumn blue sky, "Let me go home."

But nothing happened.

She sighed. A thoughtful look came into her eyes. If all of this is fictional, didn't that mean that none of it mattered? It would be fine if she killed the King of Roses, right, since he wasn't 'real' in the sense that she would think?

Then, she wouldn't have to wait for twelve years to get out of this strange place.

Yeah, that's right, she wouldn't have to be forced to stay here for that long.

A big grin came onto her face as she looked up with newfound determination.

***

The castle collapsed. The King, the Rabbit, and the Hatter were taken as prisoner. Meanwhile, Alice was traveling back from the Hatter's cottage.

The King of Roses paced the cold dungeon as he tried to stay warm. The Rabbit and the Hatter were shivering but fine, since they were magical. As the King paced, he noticed something strange.

There was a hole in the wall. It was a small hole, about the size of a finger, but he thought it was strange that it was there. He felt around the spot for a little bit, and suddenly one of the bricks came loose.

The Rabbit and the Hatter came closer and peered into the darkness as well. It was a tunnel, leading to who knew where. Memories flooded into the Rabbit's mind. When Jasper was young, he liked to scour blueprints and maps of the castle and apply modifications. He must've secretly constructed this tunnel to help prisoners escape.

An idea struck the Rabbit. He hurried over to the coffin, which was still left in the dungeon untouched, which contained the princess's remains. He lifted the lid.

Inside was a young woman with closed eyes. He pressed two fingers to her throat. There was no pulse. Strangely, however, the skin felt as though she were still alive, rather than flaccid from death. He pulled out a knife.

The King stared in alarm. "What are you doing?"

The Rabbit ignored him. He cut the knife into the skin. There was no flesh underneath. Instead, the entire body deflated.

"W-what the hell is that?!"

"Every royal and high-ranking official has one of these," said the Rabbit. "An inflatable mimic balloon. It helps them get away in dire circumstances--they leave the balloon behind to let their enemies think they're dead."

The king fell silent. He never got one of these life-saving balloons...

Anyway, they escaped through the tunnel without further incident.

The tunnel led to the commercial area of the city. Currently, many shops were abandoned and there were soldiers from the Kingdom of Hearts patrolling the streets. The three were careful as they made their way through the alleys, searching the princess who was probably still alive.