Page 92 of Knot My Wonderland: Part Two
"This isn't possible," I whispered, though even as I said it, I knew I was wrong. In a realm where playing cards could be people and cats could disappear at will, why shouldn't the land itself be able to speak?
Look around you, child. See what she has done to me.
I focused on my surroundings with new understanding. What I had taken for a neglected garden was something far worse—this was Wonderland's heart, the very core of the realm's magic, an ancient nexus point now poisoned by the Queen's corruption. The withered plants weren't simply dying—they were being transformed, their natural magic twisted into something unnatural. Thorny vines with blood-red flowers crept along the ground, pulsing with malevolent energy that made my skin crawl.
"This is one of the nexus points Seth mentioned," I realized aloud. "One the Queen has already corrupted."
Yes. Once this was a place of pure creation—where dreams took form and magic flowed freely. Now it festers with her blood magic, spreading corruption through my roots like a cancer. The first Queen, my favored child, gave her life to sustain me but it is not enough anymore. The corruption is too much now.
I reached out hesitantly, letting my fingers hover above one of the sickly plants. The pattern beneath my skin recoiledinstinctively, silver and gold light dimming as if to protect itself from contamination.
"Why show me this? Why speak to me now?" I didn’t understand. I never knew wonderland was fully sentient.
Because all the dreamers before you either died or have become like your Cheshire. HE was one of the closest with magical possabitiles but he wasn’t the one who would bering me back to what I once was. So I saved him, making hime what he is. He thinks the Red Queen did that to him…..but no I did…to save him.
I staggered back, mind reeling at this revelation. "You... transformed Chi? Not the Queen? He was a dreamer?"
The voice seemed to sigh, a rustling whisper through the dying foliage.
He was dying. His pattern was fracturing under her torture. I... intervened. Reshaped him into something that could survive. The cat essence was already within him—a potential never realized. I merely awakened it.
"Does he know?" I whispered, thinking of Chi's hatred for the Queen, his belief that she had twisted him into his current form as punishment.
No. Some truths are too heavy for those who must carry on fighting. Perhaps someday, when this is over... if there is an after.
I felt a pang of guilt at keeping this secret, but understood the wisdom in it. Learning the source of his transformation now might shatter Chi's resolve when we needed him most…that and who he really was. He always thought Wonderland was his home…never someone who was brought here.
But he was always meant to be here—the pattern recognized him the moment he crossed the threshold between worlds.
"Why me?" I asked, turning slowly to take in the full devastation of the corrupted nexus point. "Why am I different from the other dreamers?"
The pattern you carry is unique. Most dreamers bring fragments of imagination, but you... you brought a complete template. A pattern that can rewrite corruption.
The ground trembled beneath me, and I watched as a small patch of soil directly under my feet began to clear of corruption, tiny shoots of healthy green pushing through the poisoned earth.
"I'm healing you just by being here?" I whispered, amazed as the healthy growth spread outward in a small circle around me.
Only temporarily. Only in dreams. The Queen's corruption runs too deep now for such simple remedies. But it shows what might be possible if you succeed.
I knelt I knelt down, touching one of the tiny green shoots. It responded instantly, growing several inches toward my fingers as if seeking connection. The pattern beneath my skin pulsed with answering warmth, silver and gold light spreading down my arm to meet the plant's natural magic.
"What happens if the Queen completes her ritual?" I asked, watching as the healthy circle around me expanded slightly before stopping, unable to push back the wall of corruption beyond.
Death. Not just for me, but for the very concept of Wonderland. The realm would continue existing, but as a twisted shadow of itself—a nightmare realm where only blood magic and corruption could thrive.
"And everyone in it? Heart, Chi, Seth, the Tweedles..." My voice caught as I thought of my bonded ones, of all the resistance fighters who had risked everything.
They would be consumed or transformed. The choice would be corruption or death.
The weight of this truth settled over me like a physical burden. I watched as the small circle of health I'd created began to shrink, the corruption creeping back in as if sensing my distraction.
"How do I stop it?" I demanded, pressing my palm flat against the ground, willing the pattern within me to push back harder. "Tell me what to do!"
The corrupted vines at the edge of my circle hissed and recoiled, but only momentarily. They seemed stronger here, in this nexus point, than anything I'd faced during my training.
The voice of Wonderland seemed to fade slightly, as if speaking required tremendous effort.
You already know. The death of the Queen so her madness and magic can no longer corrupt.
