[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/72bEcUi.png[/img][/center] Lily giggled cheerfully as the animals swarmed over Alex. [color=fff200]”Oh, look how they’ve missed you, Alex! They’re so cute!”[/color] She then offered a hand to lift Alex back up. [color=fff200]”Can you believe they’ve been looking for you ever since you went missing?[/color] She exchanged warm smiles with Gaia and Connie as they also reacted to the adorable interaction. [color=fff200]”I’m not sure myself, but I think some of his Beast magic must have rubbed off on them after all the time we’ve kept them in the apartment, tee hee~”[/color] Lily felt truly happy since the past several days since she was separated from Alex. Now, nothing could possibly ruin her sunny mood. Unfortunately, this wasn’t a magical girl show, with the episode ending in everyone laughing. It was about to turn far worse than she thought was possible as Chloe bound Caterpillar down. [color=fff200]”Hey Chloe, what are you doing-"[h3]"AAAAAHHHHHHH!"[/h3][/color] She screamed loudly as she witnessed Chloe perform a bone-chilling ritual: Caterpillar, who was at her wit’s end, sweated profusely as the “metamorphosis” began. She screamed in agony, begging for Chloe to stop. But of course, her pleas came on deaf ears. [color=fff200]”No! Don’t!”[/color] Lily ran over to Chloe, only to be stopped by the raised hand of an ossiarch who stepped between them. She summoned her magical weapon, but it shook in her hand: she only now fully realized the kind of power that Chloe now held. She glanced aside at Mayra, who simply stared. And before anyone realized it, the screams ended inside the shell of bone, and Lily averted her eyes with a disgusted grimace. [color=fff200]”Chloe…She…She could have been mind controlled. We know the Queen has that power. She could have been innocent. And even so, you…”[/color] Her breath shuddered as Chloe proceeded to interrogate her newest addition to her legion of abominations as if she had done nothing wrong. The Caterpillar, of course, answered. “The Queen loves her daughter Alice very much,” she answered in a stilted, emotionless voice, causing Lily to cover her mouth, starting to feel sick. “She has built a room for her at the highest point, enchanted against forced trespassing, normal or magical. That is where the person you know as Mariette has most likely been taken. The castle is enchanted to elude attention by any direction other than the main gate, but if one crosses their eyes, they can proceed toward it from any direction. There is a hidden entrance on the west side of the royal castle: to open the way, one must touch three stones forming an archway on the wall in the following order: yellow, blue, orange. The castle has numerous traps, both mechanical and magical. I helped create some, but some are maintained by other members of the court or the Queen themselves. The Queen has the Gryphon guard the throne room, which has the only stairs that lead to Alice’s room. She also has the Cheshire Cat, who has been assigned the castle maid and Alice’s personal servant. I do not know what magic she possesses, but the Queen has mentioned her to possess nine lives.” Finally, the Caterpillar, or what was now left of her, went quiet. [color=fff200]”Unforgivable…”[/color] Lily gripped her bow with a tight fist, her head cast downwards. [color=fff200]”I should have known you haven’t changed, Chloe. Even if you’ve changed your appearance, you’re still just as evil as ever.”[/color] She cast her eyes up at her, and looked at her with a cold fury, something which was very uncharacteristic for the otherwise cheerful girl. [color=fff200]”I’ll never forgive you for what you’ve done. Once we are done with the Queen…I will bring you to justice, and save everyone. No matter what I must do.”[/color] She said, looking aside at Caterpillar. Though, she wasn’t looking exactly at her. Rather, she seemed to be looking at something else, as if Caterpillar’s gruesome transformation reminded her of something. As Lily confronted Chloe, Gaia could feel a nearly imperceptible shiver in the ground nearby, and realized that the tall tree next to the newly planted sapling seemed to possess sapience, as its branches lightly swayed in the air despite the lack of a strong breeze. “O Blessed Nymph of Spring…” She saw as a face slowly emerged from the bark, and heard the tree speak in an old yet venerable voice. “I have witnessed the wish you granted today, and wish to aid you in your quest as a show of my gratitude for being freed from the puppet’s curse. Mayhaps I can be of use? My seeds have flown across Wonderland, my roots having nourished on waters far and between. I have heard whispers on the wind, and conversed with animals of all sizes. I know much, and have a connection to the nature of Wonderland. Alas, if only I was blessed with legs, then I could accompany you on your journey.” His branch of a nose drooped down. “I suppose I am unusual for my yearning to ambulate. Not many magical trees would be, I assume.” [hr] -Flashback to after the Queen brought Mariette to the castle- Mariette didn't know if she believed what she was saying about these omnipotent beings. She didn't really have evidence against it, but it sounded unbelievable. That said… [color=077ae6]‘So… the goal is to stab this sword into the Nexus… and by doing so, rewrite the story?’[/color] Mariette asked, to check if she understood it correctly. “No, my dear, Alice,” the queen responded warmly, as if eager to teach her daughter about the mystery. “You can't stab the Nexus, just as you can’t wound magic itself. But the Grand Magistrate is different, and they are found within. My Storyslayer is capable of killing them, all I need is to reach them in the Nexus. And once I do, their heads will roll before my feet. Then, I can brandish it as a quill, and punctuate my perfect ending with a perfect dot.” [color=077ae6]‘So we invade the Nexus, and slay the Grand Magistrate…’[/color] she said, and she had two questions about that. She started with the first one. [color=077ae6]‘How would one enter the Nexus? Do you simply need to be in Penrose somewhere, or is there an access point?’[/color] Mariette asked, a question that could become relevant to Mariette herself should she survive this ordeal and should the forces of Penrose be victorious. She kept the other question in the back of her head for now. “That is a question I have sought the answer to for a long time, my dearest daughter,” the queen answered. “It is quite elusive, you see. But now I know for certain that it does manifest itself into the reality we know in Penrose, in the form of a door, but only when the Story reaches a critical point.” She paused to let Mariette take in her words before she continued. “You might next ask what would be critical for the Story the Grand Magistrate so loves. My answer: complete chaos. And I know just how to achieve it.” Mariette swallowed a little, as she asked what had to be the most obvious question to ask. [color=077ae6]‘And… how will you achieve it?’[/color] “By introducing something to Penrose that shakes the multiverse to its core. But I believe you already know what that could be,” she added afterwards with a mysterious, if subtly unsettling smile. Mariette, unfortunately didn’t know, and felt forced to ask. [color=077ae6]‘And… what would that be?’[/color] she asked. The Queen smiled with more glee than was appropriate. “Oh, I think you will like the surprise your mother has saved for you, and on your unbirthday, no less. Soon, the Grand Magistrate will know true fear as we write a new ending to their story: the multiverse as our canvas, and the blood of Asengav’s corpse as ink to our quill.” She then gave a warm smile after revealing her ultimate plan: casually mentioning the murder of a Horror, and Mariette’s own Patron at that. “That’s right: I will introduce a catastrophe so unimaginable for the Grand Magistrate that it will cause the reality plenum itself to quake throughout it's every page: the death of a Horror. But for now, I must plan for how to achieve such a thing, though I have an idea of where to start…Anyway, was there something else you’d like to ask, Alice dearest?” Mariette stared blankly at the Queen. She wasn’t able to form her words. But, then, the Queen’s question woke her up, reminding her there was another thing she wanted to ask that she had shelved. Mariette shook her head, it was time to return to the other question before she forgot it. [color=077ae6]‘What can or will the Grand Magistrate do to attempt to prevent this from happening? Do they know you can do this?’[/color] “Of course they know, for they write the Story. But even they cannot oppose me directly, for they are not protagonists or even background actors, merely screenwriters. My villainous role gives me the right to direct the narrative, and my pen the right to oppose their designs. But writers as they are, they have already sent all kinds of nuisances after me, and will continue to send even more with no proper ending. That is why we must make our own.” [color=077ae6]‘Um…’[/color] Mariette felt her next question might be a little stupid. [color=077ae6]‘How does a screenwriter send things after you…?’[/color] she asked, not sure if she understood. The Queen slowly shook her head. “They use the magic of the Story to direct Mahou towards conflict, giving weapons and motivation as if by happenstance. Some might call it twisting the winds of destiny. But the truth is that they write the cycle of hope and despair itself into magic, and as it wells from the Nexus it becomes reality. Feast, followed by famine. Drama, followed by resolution. Was it a mere coincidence that you were freed from Asengav’s will? How the battle between you and Justine ended? It was the Grand Magistrate pulling the strings from the background all this time. And now, they will try to oppose me.” Mariette blinked in surprise. [color=077ae6]‘How did you know about that? The… freed… part?’[/color] She was keeping that very much as quiet as she could, because if Asengav found out, he’d recapture her immediately. [color=077ae6]‘Is that… the Eye of Story Reading, as you called it…?’[/color] She said something about that earlier. The Queen sighed, placing a palm over the heterochromic eye. “It was one of my few visions I had of you, ever since the one where you gifted your friends with such lovely presents at a time of merriment. The Eye only gives sporadic glimpses upon the Pages, and most often on attacks on my person. But that Page was what inspired me to commit to this path. For I wish to share in my daughter’s will for freedom, from the clutches of those who would try to control us, to rob us of choice.” Mariette would realize the irony of those words as she then turned towards the door, preparing to leave Mariette in her lavish prison. Nonetheless, she didn’t seem to realize it, as she nodded to herself. “Yes, Alice…Soon we will make this Our Story. Nobody else’s.” [color=077ae6]‘I… I understand,’[/color] Mariette replied, somewhat taken aback by the information she had gained in this conversation. She understood the queen’s goal. She wasn’t sure if she wanted her to succeed with it. In the circumstances that the Grand Magistrate was real, then so far, they’d kept Penrose alive. No villain had won, as of yet. In addition, who was to say slaying them would result in anything other than a power vacuum that would quickly be filled, probably by the vengeful one that had given her the blade in the first place. That said… If they were real… … were they the reason… … why Mariette’s father had treated her like he had? The reason… … she had to flee… … and then got captured by Asengav? [color=077ae6]‘… Mother…’[/color] Mariette opened her mouth for a final question. [color=077ae6]‘How will you kill Asengav?’[/color] The Queen had placed her hand on the doorknob when Mariette asked one final question. “A good question, dear Alice, and not one I yet have the answer to. However, speaking with you, my mind is becoming clearer.” Her Eye of Story reading glowed. “I think I saw a glimpse of what looked like mirrors in Penrose, placed by your loyal court…Yes, that is the answer: summon him, and he will be within reach. Like baiting the Jabberwocky and snicker-snack goes the Vorpal Blade! You are ever so brilliant, my cleverest daughter.” With that the queen departed, informing Mariette that she would be needed in the immediate future. Mariette stood silent, watching the Queen walk away, standing silent. That… that was her plan for Asengav, wasn’t it. [i]Mariette’s[/i] plan. Except with a different finish. It seemed that Mariette had some things to consider… As she now had spent more time on information gathering, she saw that the Lilliput Princess had successfully managed a retreat of the Green Helms despite the casualties by Chloe’s undead legion. The Mermaid Princess was rapidly moving through the rivers of Wonderland, her forces having split to smaller yet quite sizable detachments across the smaller rivers. Notably, one of these detachments ran through a river that passed by the border of the desert where Mad Hatter’s factory was situated. The dwarves and the forest forces were led by Snow White and the Forest Princess respectively, congregating around the cities near the valley where the royal castle stood. [hr] Rachel raised an eyebrow at Mac's introduction, but didn't say anything. However, she sighed as MDP already started going off on her own before Alicia had even managed to ask whether the group was prepared, though she did nod when the twins expressed their eagerness for what must be a dreadful battle. The group promptly separated, with some heading toward the exit. “How could someone like her let herself be captured? I suppose even the Sinner of Sloth was not untouchable,” she scoffed. “Well, I suppose the timing is convenient, considering the royal castle was my next target. I just didn’t expect to head there so soon. I suppose we won’t have time for a coffee break, Paladin Seraph,” she added afterwards as something of a dry joke. Akhenaten, however, uncharacteristically let out a guffaw as he adjusted the device on his back, causing Rachel to blink. “I-It wasn’t that funny! Stop that, you stupid boulder!” However, Alicia could tell from the way Rachel quickly averted her eyes and the slight blush on her cheeks that she seemed to appreciate the response. On their way, the twins checked the engineer for any suspicious magic: aside from the regular enchantment given by the Queen to all in the Card Army, there was nothing notable. He kept standing there with his arms up, still seemingly having no idea what will happen. The group headed back outside, where they saw the remnants of Mad Hatter’s robotic forces scattered about, either destroyed or turned off by Penny’s hacking of their control system. Magical Dream Princess gathered the rest of the chessbots that remained from the battle, alongside Mister Hatty, the manticores, and the Clock Cop. It was quite a force, evident from the pastel-colored girl’s attunement with Wonderland’s magic. “There’s too many of us to transport at once with the Beacon teleporter,” Rachel noted as she adjusted her glasses and tapped her magicoms. “The larger chessbots and manticores are especially a problem,” she added, having seemingly already accepted that MDP was bringing them along. She was about to continue speaking, when her eyes focused on something in the distance. “Possible hostiles incoming,” Rachel warned the group. In a moment, the group saw small, green creatures bizarrely resembling cacti with blank black eyes shuffle about beyond a couple of the rising dunes, not quite able to make out how many there were. However, one thing was certain: they were being watched.