Page 36 of Knot My Wonderland

I leaned forward, drawn by the rare seriousness in his voice. "What happened to her?"

Chi's form rippled slightly, the edges of him blurring into transparency before solidifying again. "She faded. Or perhaps ascended. The stories differ." His tail curled thoughtfully around the leg of his chair. "Some say she became Wonderland itself—that her consciousness merged with the realm she ruled until there was no separation between monarch and domain."

"Is that... possible?" I asked, trying to imagine a consciousness expanding to encompass an entire world.

"In Wonderland? Many impossible things happen before breakfast," Chi replied, his grin returning. "But whether it's true or what truly happened, no one knows for certain." He sipped some tea, where he got it I had no clue, the liquid casting strange shadows across his face. "What matters is what came after—the splintering of power, the rise of competing courts, the endless struggle for dominance that has defined Wonderland for centuries."

I considered this, rolling the silver bracelet absently around my wrist. "And where do you fit in all this history? You still haven't told me how you became... whatever you are now."

Chi's eyes gleamed with mischief. "Curious little Alice. Always asking the most dangerous questions." He leaned back, his form becoming slightly more transparent as he relaxed. "I was a courtier who loved secrets too much. I discovered things the new Queens preferred remained hidden—truths about Wonderland's nature, about the source of their power. When they realized what I knew..." He gestured at his own shifting form. "They tried to erase me. But knowledge, once gained, is not so easily destroyed. I became... something else. Neither here nor gone. Neither solid nor spectral."

His tail curled around the leg of his chair, and for a moment, genuine emotion flickered across his face—something ancient and wounded that made him seem suddenly vulnerable.

"So you've been hiding from them ever since?" I asked softly.

Chi's laugh shattered the serious moment, scattering into multiple echoes around the kitchen. "Hiding? Oh no, sweet Alice. I've been tormenting them. Appearing in their private chambers, stealing their secrets, whispering truths they'd rather forget directly into their ears while they sleep." His grin widenedto impossible proportions. "It's much more entertaining than hiding."

"I imagine the Queens aren't too fond of your methods," I said, finding myself warming to Chi's rebellious spirit despite my lingering wariness.

"They've tried to capture me for centuries," Chi replied with obvious pride. "The Red Queen has an entire division of Card Guards dedicated solely to my apprehension. They call themselves the Cat Catchers." His laugh rippled through the air. "Most unimaginative name, but they do try so very hard."

"You're incorrigible," I said, shaking my head but unable to keep the smile from my face.

"A quality that has kept me alive for centuries," Chi pointed out, his tail swishing with self-satisfaction. "The truly predictable rarely survive Wonderland's whims."

I studied him more carefully, noticing how the light seemed to pass through parts of him while other sections remained solid. "Does it hurt? Being... in between like that?"

The question seemed to surprise him. His perpetual grin faltered slightly, something vulnerable flickering in those teal eyes before he masked it again.

"Sometimes," he admitted, his voice softer than I'd ever heard it. "On days when reality feels particularly... stubborn. When I wish to touch something and find my fingers pass through it instead." He flexed his hand, watching as it momentarily became translucent before solidifying again. "

"It's a strange existence," he continued, the usual mischief in his voice subdued. "Not quite living, not quite... anything else. But it has its advantages." His smile returned, though it seemed more genuine than his usual predatory grin. "Few prisons can hold me. Few secrets escape me. And I've witnessed more of Wonderland's history than almost any other being."

I reached out impulsively, my fingers hovering just above his hand where it rested on the table. "May I?"

Chi's eyes widened slightly, genuine surprise replacing his usual calculated expressions. After a moment's hesitation, he nodded once.

I gently lowered my hand to touch his. There was resistance—not solid like human flesh, but something more like pressing against dense fog or thick water. Warmth radiated from the contact, and beneath my fingertips, I could feel a subtle vibration —like a purr made tangible. The silver patterns beneath my skin flared brighter, responding to his strange energy.

"Fascinating," Chi murmured, watching the silver light trace up my veins. "Your magic recognizes mine."

"Is that unusual?" I asked, mesmerized by the way my hand seemed to glow where it touched his semi-solid form.

"Extremely," he replied, his voice uncharacteristically serious. "Most living beings experience my touch as cold, almost painful. But you..." He turned his hand beneath mine, his semi-transparent fingers intertwining with my solid ones. "You're channeling the energy rather than rejecting it."

The sensation was strange—like holding hands with living electricity, warm and tingling and somehow deeply intimate. I felt a connection forming, delicate as spider silk but growing stronger with each heartbeat.

“You always surprise me dear Alice.” Chi purred, I could feel the heat of his eyes on me. I found it difficult to look away from our intertwined hands. The silver glow had spread up my arm, pulsing in time with my quickening heartbeat. Something about this connection felt dangerous yet irresistible.

"What's happening?" I whispered, not pulling away despite the strange intensity building between us.

Chi's eyes had darkened to a deeper teal, his pupils expanding until they nearly swallowed the iris. "A resonance," he murmured, his voice lower and rougher than I'd heard before. "Your magic recognizing mine, reaching for it."

I felt a sharp tug in my chest, like an invisible cord pulling taut. Chi's form seemed to solidify further where our hands connected, becoming more present, more real. The kitchen around us dimmed, as if the house itself was holding its breath.

"Should we stop?" I asked, my voice barely audible even to my own ears.

Chi shook his head slowly, those teal eyes fixed on mine with an intensity that made my heart race. "Not dangerous. Just... unexpected. The magic is creating a channel between us."

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