Page 17 of Knot My Wonderland, Part Two (Fairytale Omegaverse #2)

Chapter

Ten

SETH

I materialized in the shadow-draped corridor outside the Red Queen's throne room, my essence coalescing from void-black mist as I assessed the situation.

The sounds of battle echoed through the crystalline halls—desperate fighting as Heart and Chi's diversionary force engaged the Queen's defenders.

Through the whisper-thin connection to Alice, I could feel her safely reaching the extraction point, the pattern beneath her skin strengthening with each passing minute now that the collar was removed.

My shadows flowed ahead, scouting the throne room's perimeter.

The Queen's rage radiated through the palace like a physical force, cracking obsidian pillars and making the living flame chandeliers flare crimson with her fury.

Inside, Heart and Chi hung suspended in crimson bonds, their forms wrapped in the Queen's corrupted magic as she paced below them like a predator denied its prey.

"WHERE IS SHE? " the Red Queen's voice cracked like a whip, making the crystalline formations shudder around her. "WHERE HAVE YOU HIDDEN HER?"

Heart's laughter only enraged her further, his ruby eyes gleaming with satisfaction despite the crimson bonds cutting into his flesh. "Did you really think I'd come alone, Mother? That I'd risk everything on a frontal assault when Alice's life was at stake?"

The Queen's perfect features contorted with rage, her composure cracking to reveal the ancient, terrible power beneath. "You're stalling. You know nothing of strategy—you never have. This pathetic rescue attempt proves it."

"Does it?" Chi's voice was calm despite his bound state, his form flickering between solid and translucent as he tested the limits of his magical prison. "Or perhaps you've underestimated Heart. Again. "

I moved closer, my shadows flowing like liquid along the obsidian walls.

The Queen's attention was focused entirely on her captives, her fury blinding her to other threats.

Perfect. My shadows coiled tighter as I prepared to strike, but something made me pause—the way Heart's eyes flicked toward the throne room's eastern alcove, a subtle signal meant for someone watching.

"You always were too emotional, my son," the Queen continued, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper as she circled beneath the suspended prisoners.

"It makes you predictable. Weak." She gestured, and more crimson bonds materialized, wrapping around Heart's throat.

"Tell me where she is, and I might allow your Cheshire to live.”

Chi's form solidified with protective fury, silver patterns blazing beneath his skin despite the magical suppression. "Don't tell her anything, Heart. Alice is safe—that's what matters.”

The Queen's ruby eyes flashed with malevolent satisfaction.

"Safe? How delightfully naive." She raised her hand, crimson energy crackling between her fingers.

"Did you truly believe removing one collar would free her completely?

The corruption has already begun—silver and gold tainted with my essence.

Even now, she carries part of me within her. "

Through the whisper of Void bond, I felt Alice's distant alarm as something dark pulsed beneath her restored pattern. The Queen hadn't been lying—traces of her blood magic remained, dormant but present, waiting to be activated.

"You're bluffing," Heart snarled, though I caught the flicker of uncertainty in his ruby eyes.

"Am I?" The Queen's perfect lips curved into a smile that made my shadows recoil instinctively.

"The tonic doesn't simply suppress—it transforms. Each dose wove my magic deeper into her.

The corruption is subtle, but permanent.

The longer she's separated from me, the more painful it becomes.

" She traced a pattern in the air, crimson light following her fingertips. "Shall I demonstrate?"

My shadows tensed, ready to intervene, when movement in the eastern alcove caught my attention.

Varik, the Hatter, crouched in the shadows, his chaotic collection of devices humming with barely contained energy as he prepared whatever extraction method Heart had arranged.

The Queen, blind in her rage, hadn't detected his presence.

"You forget something fundamental about Alice," Heart said, his voice steady despite the crimson bonds tightening around his throat. "The pattern chose her because she embodies its original purpose—free will over coercion, genuine connection over dominance."

The Queen's laughter echoed through the throne room like shattered glass. "Such sentimentality!” The Queen's hands swept upward, crimson energy swirling around her fingers. "The pattern is nothing but raw potential waiting to be shaped by a stronger will. My will."

I slipped closer through the shadows, positioning myself for optimal intervention.

Heart's eyes caught mine for just a fraction of a second—acknowledgment without betraying my presence.

The Hatter's devices in the eastern alcove began to pulse with increasing frequency, a countdown to whatever extraction plan they'd devised.

"Now," the Queen continued, her perfect features twisting with malice, "I'll ask one final time. Where is Alice?"

"She's beyond your reach," Chi replied, his form flickering with defiance despite the crimson bonds restraining him. "And your corruption won't last. The pattern is already purging it."

The Queen's composure fractured completely. With a scream of rage, she sent a wave of crimson energy toward Chi, the magic designed to cause maximum pain without death. But before it could strike, Varik's devices activated simultaneously.

The throne room exploded into chaos as crystalline smoke bombs detonated throughout the chamber, filling the air with opalescent mist that interfered with magical targeting. The Hatter's voice echoed from multiple directions as his devices created sonic duplicates.

"Your Majesty!" he called mockingly from seemingly everywhere at once. "You seem to have misplaced your prisoners!"

I struck in the same instant, my shadows surging upward to slice through the crimson bonds holding Heart and Chi. The Queen spun toward me, her ruby eyes blazing with recognition and fury.

"The King of Spades," she hissed, crimson energy crackling around her like a storm. "I should have known you'd involve yourself directly. You were the first Queen’s favorite."

"You should have," I agreed, my shadows coiling around Heart and Chi, shielding them as they dropped to the floor. "Your fixation on the past blinds you to the present."

The Queen snarled, crimson energy erupting from her fingertips in deadly arcs.

My shadows deflected the worst of it, though some broke through, searing across my shoulder with burning intensity.

The throne room trembled with her rage, crystalline formations cracking under the pressure of her unleashed power.

"You've always underestimated me, Seth," she hissed, her perfect features contorting with hatred. "Just as you underestimated my daughter's love for me."

"Rosalind would be horrified by what you've become," I replied, my shadows flowing to intercept another blast of crimson energy. "She loved Wonderland as much as she loved you, Cordelia ."

The Queen's face contorted at the sound of her true name, a name she'd long ago discarded. The crimson light around her pulsed violently, sending shockwaves through the crystalline chamber.

"You dare speak her name? You dare speak mine?" Her voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. "You, who stood by and watched as the plague consumed her? You, who did nothing while my Rosalind suffered?"

I kept my shadows flowing between us, protecting Heart and Chi as they regained their strength. Varik's smoke continued to fill the chamber, creating pockets of obscurity that disoriented the Queen's defenders.

"I did everything possible to save her," I replied, memories of those dark days flooding back. "We all did. But some things lie beyond even our power to change."

"Lies!" The Queen's scream shattered several crystalline columns. "You wanted her dead! All of you did! She would have been stronger than all of you combined!"

Heart pulled himself to his feet, golden patterns blazing beneath his skin as his strength returned. "Mother, stop this madness. Rosalind is gone. Alice isn't her replacement."

"She could be," the Queen whispered, her rage momentarily giving way to something more desperate, more human. "With the pattern fully transferred, I could reshape her. Make her perfect. Make her my Rose again."

Chi's form solidified completely, silver patterns rippling as he positioned himself beside Heart. "That's not love. That's possession.”

The Queen's attention snapped to them, her momentary vulnerability vanishing beneath renewed fury. "What would you know of love? You're nothing but a failed dreamer.”

Chi's eyes blazed with fire at her words, his tail lashing as centuries of suppressed fury finally found voice. "A failed dreamer? At least I dream of futures, not resurrections of the dead."

The Queen raised her hand, crimson energy crackling between her fingers, but I moved faster. My shadows surged between them, intercepting the blast meant for Chi. The corrupted magic seared through my essence, leaving wounds that would take days to heal properly.

"Enough," I commanded, my voice carrying the authority of the Void Court. "This ends now."

But the Queen's attention had shifted, her ruby eyes narrowing as she sensed something through her magical surveillance network. Her perfect lips curved into a smile that made my shadows recoil.

"Oh, but it's just beginning," she purred, her rage transforming into something far more dangerous—cold calculation. "My dear Seth, did you really think I wouldn't have contingencies for this exact scenario?"

Her hands swept outward, and the crystalline walls of the throne room shimmered, revealing what had been hidden—dozens of blood golems surrounding us, their cores pulsing with trapped souls.

Card soldiers poured from hidden passages, their weapons gleaming with enchantments designed specifically to counter our abilities.

"I've studied you all for centuries," the Queen continued, her perfect composure returning as she sensed advantage. "The impulsive Heart, the protective Cheshire, the calculating Spade King. So predictable in your patterns."

I exchanged a quick glance with Heart and Chi, communicating without words. We were surrounded, outnumbered, and the Queen's power in her own domain was nearly absolute. But Alice was safe—that was what mattered most.

"Varik," Heart called, his golden patterns blazing beneath his skin as he assessed our increasingly dire situation. "Now would be an excellent time for your final surprise."

The Hatter's laughter echoed from somewhere within the opalescent smoke, a sound of genuine delight that made the Queen's perfect features twist with suspicion.

"With pleasure, Your Highness!" Varik's voice resonated from multiple directions simultaneously, confusing the card soldiers who spun in disorientation. "Might I suggest everyone friendly take a very deep breath?"

I recognized the warning instantly, my shadows coiling protectively around Heart and Chi as we all inhaled deeply. The Queen's ruby eyes widened with realization a moment too late.

"Stop him!" she commanded, but her words were drowned out by the distinctive sound of Varik's reality-splitter activating.

The device—a chaotic fusion of crystalline matrices and temporal gears—released its payload with a sound like reality tearing at the seams. A wave of pure dissolution swept through the throne room, causing every magical construct within its radius to simply.

.. stop existing. The blood golems collapsed into component dust, their trapped souls finally released in streams of silver light that spiraled upward through the crystalline ceiling.

Card soldiers crumpled like discarded paper, their enchanted weapons clattering uselessly to the floor.

The Queen staggered, her perfect composure cracking as the wave of dissolution passed through her magical defenses. For a moment, she looked exactly like what she was—an ancient being whose power had just been temporarily severed from its source.

"Impossible," she whispered, staring at her hands where crimson energy no longer danced between her fingers. "That device shouldn't exist."

"Ah, but it does exist!" Varik's voice bubbled with manic glee as he emerged from the dissipating smoke, his coat tails fluttering behind him. "One of my finest creations, actually. Took me three centuries and approximately fourteen nervous breakdowns to perfect the temporal matrices."

The Queen's ruby eyes blazed with fury as she felt her connection to the blood magic network severed, if only temporarily. "You mad fool! Do you have any idea what you've done? The magical backlash could?—"

"Could create a lovely window of opportunity for our escape, yes," Varik interrupted cheerfully, pulling a pocket watch from his vest. "Approximately four minutes and thirty-seven seconds before your power fully regenerates.” I watched his delight in taunting the Red Queen, then turned to us, a manic smile still on his face. “I do suggest we use them wisely."

My shadows flowed beneath us, preparing for rapid extraction. "Everyone hold tight," I commanded, feeling the Void Court stirring with approval at our success. "This extraction will be less gentle than the last."

The Queen screamed her rage as my shadows enveloped our group, but her voice faded as we dissolved into the spaces between realities.

The last thing I saw was her perfect face contorted with promise of vengeance, her ruby eyes burning with the cold fire of someone who had just lost everything she'd worked centuries to achieve.

We materialized at the sanctuary point in a tangle of limbs and shadow wisps the sudden transition leaving everyone disoriented except Varik, who somehow managed to land on his feet with his coat perfectly arranged.

"Dramatic exits are so much more satisfying when they actually work," he declared, consulting his pocket watch with evident satisfaction making a small snort of amusement leave me.