Page 84 of Knot My Wonderland

Through our bond, I felt Chi's sharp alarm as he sensed my emotional turmoil. His presence flickered at the second anchor point, torn between his mission and his need to return to my side.

"The bonds you're forming," the King continued, his voice gentler now, “Those will help you anchor the pattern to individual consciousness rather than abstract magical foundation. Five bonds, five points of connection to maintain your sense of self while channeling the realm's restoration."

I felt the silver patterns beneath my skin pulse at his words. Through Chi's bond, his alarm spiked as he sensed the direction of our conversation, but Varik's devices demanded his attention at the third anchor point.

"Five bonds," I repeated, studying the King's shadowed features. "Chi is the first. Heart carries the second through the crystal." I paused, watching his shadows coil with barely contained energy. "Are you meant to be one of the others?"

The King's stillness became absolute, even his shadows freezing mid-motion. "That choice belongs entirely to you, Alice. I can offer what I am, but I cannot—will not—force acceptance."

Vee cleared his throat softly. "The pattern recognizes resonance," Vee said, his voice unusually direct. "It seeks balance across the elements."

"Fire, water, air, earth, and void," Dee added, gesturing toward the King's shadows. "Each bond must anchor a different aspect."

I looked between the Tweedles and the King, understanding dawning. "Chi represents air—constantly shifting, existing between realities. Heart is fire—passion, determination, leadership." My gaze settled on the King's shadows. "And you would be void. The spaces between things."

"Simplistic, but essentially correct," the King acknowledged, his shadows resuming their restless movement. "Each bondstrengthens a different aspect of the pattern, allowing it to reconnect Wonderland's fractured territories without destroying your individual consciousness in the process."

“There are five…who are the last two?” I asked, though I already had a suspicion with how my magic felt around them.

The King's shadows shifted, forming brief images that flickered and dissolved before I could fully process them. "The pattern will reveal them when the time is right," he said, though I caught something evasive in his tone. "Water and earth require different approaches—beings connected to Wonderland's natural foundations rather than its political structures."

Through our bond, I felt Chi complete the placement at the fourth anchor point, his alarm at my conversation with the King creating an undercurrent of tension that made the silver patterns beneath my skin flicker. The Heart Stone pulsed against my chest, Heart's distant concern bleeding through as he sensed my emotional turmoil during his diversionary attacks.

"You're being deliberately vague," I accused, studying the King's carefully neutral expression. "Just like everyone else who claims to be helping me."

"Some knowledge carries its own weight," the King replied, shadows coiling around his shoulders like restless serpents.

"That's not good enough," I said, stepping closer to the King, close enough that his shadows brushed against the silver light emanating from my skin. "People are dying because of what I carry. I deserve to know everything."

The King's shadows reacted to my proximity, reaching toward the silver patterns with something like longing before he pulled them back with visible effort. "You're right," he conceded, his voice softer than I'd heard before. "But some truths must be experienced rather than told. The final bonds must form naturally, through genuine connection."

The Observatory flickered as Chi placed the fifth device, his presence a determined pulse through our bond. I could feel his growing urgency as he sensed my conversation with the King.

"Time grows short," Vee observed, his monocle reflecting the Observatory's shifting energies.

"The Blood Mages approach critical formation," Dee added, his opalescent robes rippling with concern. "Chi must complete the placement before they link their power sources."

I turned back to the Observatory, watching as tiny crimson figures moved across the miniature landscape with terrible purpose. Through our bond, I felt Chi's determination as he approached the sixth anchor point, Varik's device secure in his grip.

"Two more," I murmured, tracking his progress. "Then the devices activate simultaneously?"

"Yes," the King confirmed, his shadows flowing over the Observatory like liquid darkness. "Varik's trigger will collapse all seven anchor points at once, disrupting the Blood Mages' ritual and preventing them from draining any more villages."

Through the Heart Stone, I felt Heart's fierce concentration as he led his fighters in another diversionary attack. The bond with Chi pulsed with increasing urgency as he placed the sixth device, his awareness split between his mission and his connection to me.

The seventh and final anchor point loomed before Chi through our bond—a crystalline formation pulsing with stolen life force from the Blood Mages' victims. I felt his revulsion at the sight, the way the accumulated suffering made his form flicker with instability.

"Something's wrong," I said, pressing my hand to my chest where the silver patterns beneath my skin began to spiral with increasing agitation. "Chi's having trouble maintaining cohesion near the last anchor point."

The King's shadows immediately coiled with tension. "The Blood Mages have concentrated their power at the final location. It's acting as a focal point for all the drained life force."

Through our bond, I felt Chi's determination warring with the destabilizing effects of so much corrupted energy. His form wavered between realities as he struggled to place Varik's final device, the concentrated death magic interfering with his ability to phase properly.

"He needs help," I gasped, feeling Chi's struggle through our bond as if it were my own. The silver patterns beneath my skin flared in response, reaching outward as if trying to stabilize him across the distance.

The King of Spades watched the patterns with narrowed eyes. "The foundational bond is stronger than I anticipated. You're trying to anchor him from here."

"Can I?" I asked, hope flaring through me. "Can I help him stabilize?"

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