Page 66 of Knot My Wonderland

Alice

"Alice!"The voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere, echoing through the visions flooding my mind. I felt hands on my shoulders, pulling me back, but the stone's connection held me like an anchor in a storm.

"She's not responding," Heart's voice tinged with panic. Through our bond, I felt his fear like ice water in my veins.

"The stone is showing her the past," Varik said, his voice distant beneath the roar of images cascading through my consciousness. "Or possibly the future."

Another set of hands touched me, cooler than Heart's, with a familiar energy that rippled through my awareness. Chi. His touch created a counterpoint to the stone's overwhelming presence, giving me something to focus on beyond the endless stream of visions.

"Alice," Chi murmured, his voice somehow cutting through the chaos in my mind. "Follow my voice back. The stone will show you everything if you let it, but you'll lose yourself in the process."

I tried to focus on his words, using them as a lifeline to pull myself back from the endless cascade of images. The visions fought against my retreat—showing me the Red Queen as a child, innocent before power corrupted her; Heart leading armies of liberated citizens through Wonderland's restored territories; myself standing in a great hall where all the courts had gathered, not in war but in council.

"I can see... everything," I gasped, my voice sounding strange and distant even to my own ears. "Past, present, future—it's all happening at once."

"That's the nature of the Forgotten Lands," Varik said, his hands joining the others trying to anchor me to the present moment. "The stones remember every possibility that ever existed or could exist. But mortals aren't meant to experience time that way."

I felt the ward consciousness within me stirring, reaching out to interface with the overwhelming flood of temporal information. Instead of being crushed by the visions, it began to sort them, organizing the chaotic stream into manageable threads. Through its intervention, I could suddenly distinguish between what was, what is, and what might be.

"The ward," I whispered, feeling my connection to the present moment strengthening. "It's helping me process the information instead of drowning in it."

Chi's relief flooded through our connection as my eyes finally focused on his face. "Clever little consciousness," he murmured, his form more solid than I'd ever seen it. "Using temporal organization to prevent temporal displacement."

I pulled my hand back from the stone, immediately feeling the loss of that vast perspective. But the ward consciousness retained some of what it had absorbed, maintaining a thread of connection with the ancient monolith. Through that tenuous link, I could still sense the stone's awareness—curious, patient, and incredibly old.

What did you see?" Heart asked, his ruby eyes intense as he knelt beside me. The Heart Stone pulsed against my chest, our connection vibrating with shared adrenaline.

"Too much," I admitted, pressing my palms to my temples where pressure built like a gathering storm. "Wonderland before the division. The monarchs when they were young. Battles that haven't happened yet." I looked up at Varik, whose expression had gone carefully neutral. "I saw you, too. In a different time."

Something flickered behind Varik's wild green eyes—pain or recognition, I couldn't tell which. "The stones remember everyone who passes through the Forgotten Lands.”

“Did you see anything else?” Heart asked, eyes searching mine with concern and curiosity.

I took a shaky breath, trying to organize the visions that were at the forefront of my mind, "I saw the Red Queen's rise, Heart. I saw what she did to claim her throne."

Heart's expression darkened, ruby eyes flashing with old pain. "My mother's ascension is written in blood."

"So much blood," I whispered, the images still fresh in my mind—a younger version of the Red Queen standing amid a field of fallen courtiers, her crown dripping crimson as she declared herself sole ruler of the Heart territories.She killed her own siblings to secure the throne. Drained their life force to fuel her initial blood magic rituals."

Heart's jaw tightened, his hands clenching into fists. "I knew she was ruthless, but siblings..." He trailed off, the weight of familial betrayal settling over him like a shroud.

"The stone showed me something else," I continued, my voice barely above a whisper, “It showed me what came before—she wasn't always like this. There was love in her once, before it curdled into obsession."

Heart's jaw tightened, his hands clenching into fists. "Love doesn't excuse what she became."

"No," I agreed, "but it explains it. She lost someone—a daughter who died from a magical plague that swept through the courts. The grief... it broke something fundamental inside her."

Through the Heart Stone, I felt Heart's shock like a physical blow. "A daughter? I never... she never spoke of—"

"Because acknowledging the loss would mean admitting vulnerability," Chi interrupted, his form rippling with agitation. "The Red Queen built her entire reign on the perception of absolute power."

Varik stood abruptly, pacing to the edge of the stone circle. "The stones reveal many truths, but not always the complete picture. The Red Queen's grief may have been her catalyst, but it doesn't explain centuries of tyranny and blood magic."

I struggled to my feet, the silver patterns beneath my skin pulsing with renewed energy. The ward consciousness continued sorting through the flood of information it had absorbed, occasionally sending flashes of insight that made me gasp.

"There's more," I said, my voice steadier now. "The stone showed me what's happening outside the Forgotten Lands. The Red Queen isn't just pursuing us—she's declared open war on all neutral territories. She's convinced herself that anyone not actively helping her capture me is an enemy."

Heart cursed under his breath, ruby eyes darkening to the color of spilled blood. "My resistance fighters in the borderlands—they'll be slaughtered."

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