Page 19 of Knot My Wonderland, Part Two (Fairytale Omegaverse #2)

I saw myself as a child, laughing in a garden that might have been my memories or might have been dreams. I saw myself standing in the Red Queen's throne room, but older, my eyes blazing with power I hadn't yet learned to wield.

I saw the twins as they truly were—ancient beings who had watched civilizations rise and fall, their playful demeanor a carefully constructed mask over depths of wisdom and sorrow that spanned millennia.

The crimson corruption fought back viciously, sending spikes of pain through my nervous system as it tried to maintain its hold.

But the twins' combined temporal magic was relentless, reaching backward through my recent history to unweave the Queen's influence thread by precious thread.

Each pulse of their power rewrote the pattern's memory, replacing corruption with purity, and fear with strength.

"Almost there," Vee's voice echoed across multiple timelines, his grip tightening on my hand as reality shimmered around us. "The corruption is fighting back. Stay with us, Alice."

I gasped as the crimson traces beneath my skin flared with desperate intensity, the Queen's influence making one final attempt to maintain its hold. Pain lanced through me, sharp and burning, as if my veins were filled with liquid fire.

"I can't—" I choked out, my knees buckling beneath me.

"You can," Dee's voice resonated with absolute certainty, his hand steady against mine. "Look at what we see, Alice. Look at who you truly are."

The twins' combined consciousness enveloped me like a protective cocoon, showing me myself through their unique perception—a being of infinite potential existing across multiple timelines simultaneously.

In their vision, the crimson corruption wasn't just being erased—it was being unwritten from existence itself, as if it had never touched me at all.

The Queen's influence made one final, desperate surge, crimson lines blazing beneath my skin like molten wire.

But the twins' temporal magic reached deeper, touching the very foundation of my being and rewriting the pattern's core memory.

Light exploded between us—not just silver and gold now, but opalescent streams that shifted through every color imaginable as time itself bent around our forming bond.

When the light faded, I found myself on my knees between them, gasping as if I'd been underwater.

The crimson traces were gone—not faded, but completely absent, as if they had never existed.

The pattern beneath my skin pulsed with renewed vitality, silver and gold threads now interwoven with streams of temporal energy that made my vision flicker between present and possibility.

"Perfect," Vee breathed, his silver eyes reflecting depths I hadn't noticed before. Through the new bond, I could feel his satisfaction mixed with something deeper—relief that we'd succeeded, wonder at the strength of our connection.

"How do you feel?" Dee asked, helping me to my feet with gentle hands. The temporal energy still crackled between us, making the air shimmer with possibilities.

I flexed my fingers, watching as pure silver and gold light danced beneath my skin, unmarred by any trace of crimson. "Free," I whispered, the word carrying more weight than I'd expected. "Like I can breathe again."

Through the new bond, I felt their combined consciousness—a river of time flowing in both directions, carrying whispers of what had been and what might yet come. It was overwhelming but not painful, like standing at the edge of an infinite ocean and feeling the waves lap at my feet.

Then a wave of exhaustion hit me, “But so tired.”

"That's normal," Vee said, his arm sliding around my waist as my legs threatened to give out completely. "Temporal bonding requires enormous energy expenditure. Your body needs time to adjust to existing partially outside linear time."

Dee moved to my other side, his support steady and warm. "The exhaustion will pass within a few hours. For now, you should rest while the bond stabilizes."

Through our new connection, I could feel their concern—not just for my physical state, but for the way reality seemed to flicker around me.

My vision kept shifting between present moments and glimpses of potential futures: Heart and Chi escaping the Queen's trap with the help of Varik and Seth. Then it flickered to another scene with people I didn’t recognize, before flickering through many other scenarios before slowing down a few seconds later.

"Is that normal too?" I asked, blinking as another vision overlayed my current sight—myself standing in a garden I'd never seen, older and more confident, teaching someone to use magic.

"Completely normal," Dee assured me, though I caught a flicker of something deeper through our bond—fascination mixed with slight concern. "Your consciousness is adjusting to temporal perception. The visions will stabilize as you learn to filter them."

"Most people see fragments for weeks after bonding with time manipulators," Vee added, guiding me toward a flat section of cave wall where I could rest. "But you're processing them remarkably quickly."

I leaned against the cool stone, grateful for its solidity as another vision flickered past—Seth emerging from shadows with an expression of grim satisfaction. The sight filled me with relief, though I wasn't sure if I was seeing the present or a potential future.

"They're safe," I said with sudden certainty, the knowledge flowing through the temporal connection. "Heart, Chi, Seth—they all escaped and went back to the Sanctuary.”

"They did," Vee confirmed, sharing a glance with his brother. "You're seeing true-time, a rare gift in Wonderland."

I closed my eyes, letting my head rest against Vee as exhaustion pulled at me like an undertow.

The new bond hummed with energy, threads of opalescent light weaving through my consciousness.

Unlike the golden warmth of Heart's connection or the silvery clarity of Chi's, this bond felt like standing in the eye of a temporal storm—calm at the center while realities whirled around me.

"How long until we join them?" I asked, fighting to keep my eyes open.

"Soon," Dee promised, his fingers coming to push hair out of my face as I leaned more against his brother. "We need to wait for the temporal wake to settle. The Queen will be scanning for disturbances."

Through the new connection, I caught fragments of their calculations—mathematical equations that described probability cascades and temporal resonance patterns beyond my understanding.

But beneath the complexity, I felt their genuine care for my safety, their determination to protect me from further harm.

"Rest now," Vee murmured, his voice carrying harmonic undertones that seemed to slow time around us. "We'll watch over you."

I let myself sink into the exhaustion, trusting them completely as consciousness faded. The last thing I felt was the steady pulse of our new bond—three hearts beating in temporal synchronization, creating ripples through reality itself.