Miror Terram

Chapter 5

Hey guys! I'm sorry for not updating, but I was on my Grad trip and left my laptop at home. The next two weeks are crazy for me with exams and dance, so I'll be gone for a little while. Hope you're enjoying my story!

-Lena

Chapter 5

After they had gone to yet another door in the locus, they wound up in a garden. The pair took a couple steps forward and came upon a strange sight. Around 6 humanoid robots with hearts painted on their bodies were rushing madly about with buckets of paint, splashing rose bushes red. All of a sudden they jolted upright as they heard a ding. They lined up in order at attention as they heard a procession coming. As Alex and Alyssa hid behind one of the dripping red rose bushes, they could see high heeled shoes stomping down the path. A high, sharp voice rang out.

"Why are the rose bushes white? I ordered red! Off with the heads of those responsible!" The shoes turned and walked away followed by a number of robots. Some of them remained however. Alex pulled Alyssa up, still behind the bush. He tugged her out from it, just in time to see one of the robots lop the head of one of the others off. The emotionless face on the shell of the head rolled across the ground, ending at the base of Alyssa's feet. She screamed as the remaining body crumpled to the ground, wires still sparking.

"Don't worry, it'll be rebuilt by tomorrow. Her majesty does this all the time. The problem is when she does this with live people." Alex reassured her.

"She..does..that.. with humans?" Alyssa felt faint. Alex dragged her past the robots who went on to perform the next execution. She noticed that all of them had multiple notches on their necks, like this had all happened to them before.

After around 10 minutes of walking, the two arrived at a grand croquet field. Alyssa opened her mouth in shock. All around them were animatronics walking, crawling and jumping. There were metal frogs, rabbits, humans and fish. There were almost zero actual humans, apart from the queen and king. From even a distance, the Queen looked insane. She had garish white powder on her face, blood red lipstick and hideous blush in contrast to her black hair sculpted into a heart. The king, on the other hand, was a short little man. He looked to be about 5 feet tall, dwarfed by his wife.

Alyssa took a couple steps forward, before she fell over. She tripped and rolled, landing at the feet of the queen and gaining the attention of all the creatures in the area.

"Who. Are. You?" Alyssa looked up into the fiery eyes of the queen. She almost choked. The queen was no other than her mother. "I said, who. Are. You?" Alyssa got up quickly.

"I'm sorry, my name is Alyssa, your majesty." she stammered, while trying to curtsey.

"Are you here to play croquet?" Queen Charlotte loomed over her.

"Sure?"

"Grab your mallet and ball. Get to your places!" the queen roared. Before Alyssa's eyes, all the humanoid robots rushed to a location and flipped themselves over. Once they were in position, the metal plating on their bodies shifted, transforming them into robotic arches. One of the frogs ran up to her and handed her a clump of metal, presumably to use as a club. She had never played croquet before, it being a second era sport, and her being on Proserpine. The gist was pretty easy to catch. When it was her turn, she took the stick of metal and swung it at the ball. The stick promptly exploded into another animatronic.

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Alex couldn't believe Alyssa. He carts her around Cordibus, explains what she has to do to save the world, and then she promptly goes and plays croquet. Did she have no respect for him? At the moment she was fighting with her flamingo, while Her Majesty looked on. She was useless. A Queen who would do nothing for her people, who would kill her people and would refuse to help them easily. Alyssa started screaming. Actually, the both of them were useless. Alyssa hadn't proved herself the way he'd been hoping. He wished she had just stayed permanently in limbo in the locus.