Hours later, the Hatter and Elizabeth, their heads bowed in resignation, were marched out of the cell, and down the long walk to the executioner's platform. A crowd was gathered around them, including the White Rabbit and the Tweedles, who stared at them with glum faces. The Queen watched from a high balcony, ignoring the misery on the faces of the crowd.
"I love a morning execution~ Don't you?" The Queen said.
"Yes, your majesty." The courtiers responded together. Sebastian stepped forward first, pushing the blonde Dormouse behind him. The burly executioner loomed over them both, his face hidden by the usual thick executioner's mask. The demon rested his head on the beheading stone. The executioner reached for the Hatter's top-hat, and he leaned away from him.
"I'd like to keep it on.." He mumbled. The executioner shrugged.
"Suit yourself." He said. "As long as I can get to your neck." The executioner moved the hat's ribbons away from Sebastian's neck, as everyone watched with tearful eyes.
"I'm right behind you..." Elizabeth squeaked bravely.
"Off with his head!!" The Red Queen bellowed. The white rabbit covered his eye with his paws.
"I can't watch!!" He moaned. The executioner raised his sword high into the air, the morning sun gleamed off the sharp edge. A frightened hush fell over the crowd, and in the silence, they could hear the zip of the sword as it flashed down, followed by a CLANG as it it the stone, where Sebastian's neck had been. Everyone gasped, including the Queen and Stayne. Sebastian's head...
...Had disappeared...
The sound of the sword hitting the stone was still reverberating through the courtyard. The executioner stepped back, wincing and touching his muscles where the shock had jarred him. The Tweedles stared at each other in disbelief, almost daring one another to disagree about what had just happened. Then, the Rabbit looked up. Before him, was what seemed like a floating head, with no body attached at all.Then it became clear. It was the Cheshire Cat's disembodied head, wearing the Hatter's hat! He hovered there before them all and grinned.
"Good morning, everyone~~!"
"Chess! You dog~" Elizabeth cried in delight. He winked at her. The sound of the demon's familiar laugh drifted through the courtyard, and everyone turned to find him perched on a balustrade near the Queen.
"Madam." The Hatter called cheerfully. "You are being heinously bamboozled by these lickspittle toadies you surround yourself with!" He reached out, and began to pull the fake body parts off of each courtier, leaving the in an out burst. And as he'd also expected, the Red Queen was mightily displeased to find her courtiers were conspiring against her. In fact, she was nearly apoplectic with rage by this point.
"Liars!!! Cheats!!! Falsifiers!!! OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!!!!" Pandemonium broke out, as Sebastian leaped to a high ledge and called to the creatures below.
"To he abused and enslaved of the Red Queen's court, stand and fight! Rise up against the bloody Red Queen!!" The animals, cheered and threw off their tabletops and chair seats, screeching their defiance. Birds, dropped their lamps and rested their exhausted wings, before joining the creatures in a rebellious battle cry. The crow demon smirked, and glanced at Stayne and the Queen, his crimson eyes now brighter than ever, as he faced them, raising his arms with a devious smirk everyone knew and loved.
"DOWNAL WYTH BLUDDY BEGH HID!!!!" They all cried out together. Infuriated, the Red Queen clutched the balcony railing and stamped her feet. "RELEASE THE JUBJUB BIRD!!!!" She screamed. A blood curdling screech filled the air, as the Jubjub bird swooped down from his aerie. He clawed and snapped indiscriminately, sowing death through the panicking crowd. The Red Queen watched with a vengeful smile.
"You're right, Aleister... It is far better to be feared than loved..." She said, through gritted teeth. But what she did not see in the chaos below, was the Hatter, the Dormouse, the White Rabbit and the Tweedles gathering to escape. they darted away from the Jubjub bird's death-dealing talons and made for the drawbridge... and freedom.
"Prepare the Jabberwocky for battle..." Angelina commanded. "We're going to visit my little sister!"
BINABASA MO ANG
