Page 32 of Knot My Wonderland: Part Two
Through our bond, I felt Alice's consciousness react to the discussion—not with fear, but with growing determination. Evenin sleep, her mind was processing the implications, accepting the necessity of what lay ahead.
"How long would the temporal acceleration last?" Chi asked, his form flickering slightly as he considered the possibilities.
"Up to three weeks in accelerated time," Dee answered, his silver eyes calculating temporal equations only we could see. "After that, the strain on the pocket's integrity becomes too great."
Chi's tail twitched with nervous energy. "And in outside time?"
"Three days," I replied, feeling Alice stir slightly beneath my touch. "Enough time for the Queen to believe we've fled to distant territories while actually remaining relatively close."
Heart paced the length of the alcove, his golden patterns pulsing with barely contained protective instinct. "Three weeks might not be enough for Alice to master the pattern's potential."
"It won't be," Seth agreed, shadows shifting thoughtfully. "But it will be enough for her to understand what she's capable of. The foundation of control rather than the full architecture."
I felt Alice's consciousness flutter through our bond, the pattern beneath her skin responded to our discussion, pulsing in complex rhythms that suggested agreement. Through the temporal connection, I glimpsed fragments of her dreams—Alice standing in a meadow of silver and gold flowers, her hands weaving magic with confident precision.
"She's already beginning the process," I murmured, watching the pattern's light dance beneath her skin. "Even unconscious, she's processing what the pattern wants to teach her."
Heart stopped pacing, his ruby eyes softening as he watched Alice's peaceful expression. "She's always been extraordinary," he said quietly. "From the moment she stepped into Wonderland."
"Which is precisely why the Queen won't stop hunting her," Seth reminded us, his shadows stretching toward the sanctuary's entrance as if sensing distant threats. "Alice represents everything Cordelia lost—not just power, but potential."
The room went silent at his words, before Heart broke the silence, "How soon can the Chronos Pocket be established?"
"By morning," Dee replied, his fingers dancing across temporal calculations visible only to us. "We'll need a physical anchor—something with significant emotional resonance for Alice…and it can’t be anyone who would have a bond with her."
Seth’s eyes shifted over to Varik, who had been rather quiet during this whole conversation.
Varik straightened, his chaotic energy sharpening to a fine point as he realized all eyes had turned to him. "Ah," he said, his voice carrying uncharacteristic gravity. "You need someone stable enough to anchor temporal manipulation but disconnected enough not to interfere with Alice's pattern bonds."
"Precisely," I confirmed, feeling Alice's consciousness stir through our new connection. "The Chronos Pocket requires an emotional anchor—someone Alice trusts implicitly but isn't magically bound to."
The Hatter's fingers drummed against his teacup, creating a rhythm that seemed to exist in multiple time signatures simultaneously. "I'm honored by the trust, truly. But anchoring a temporal fold of that magnitude..." He paused, his usually manic expression growing thoughtful. "The psychological strain could drive even me genuinely mad rather than fashionably eccentric."
"We'll monitor the process," Dee assured him, silver eyes tracking temporal equations invisible to the others. "And we can distribute the strain between multiple anchors if necessary."
"Martha could assist," Heart suggested, his ruby eyes flickering with renewed purpose. "She has no magical bond with Alice but has earned her trust through their training sessions."
I nodded, feeling Alice's consciousness ripple with agreement through our bond. On some level, her mind sorting through the implications with remarkable clarity.
"The anchors will need to remain fully conscious throughout the pocket's duration," I explained, my fingers absently stroking Alice's hair as she nestled deeper into healing sleep. "They'll serve as living tethers between accelerated time and normal flow."
Varik's manic energy seemed to settle into something more focused, his usual chaotic movements stilling as he considered the responsibility. "For Alice? I'll do it.”
His eyes met mine with surprising sincerity. "Though I'd appreciate some of my specially brewed temporal stabilizers to keep the more... colorful side effects at bay."
"Of course," Dee agreed, already calculating the necessary formulations. I felt Alice's consciousness shift through our bond, moving closer to wakefulness though still safely cocooned in healing sleep. The pattern beneath her skin had settled into a steady rhythm, opalescent threads of our temporal connection now fully integrated with the gold and silver of her existing bonds.
"She'll wake soon," I murmured, sensing the change in her mental patterns. "Her mind is processing faster than expected."
Heart moved closer, protective instinct radiating from him in almost visible waves. "Will she be... herself? After everything the Queen did, after the temporal bonding..."
"More herself than before," I assured him, feeling the truth of it through our bond, “She will be the same as you saw here before, she just has more knowledge."
Heart gave a small hum in understanding as the room went quiet, all of us just waiting for her to wake.
Chapter
Thirteen
