Page 21 of Knot My Wonderland, Part Two (Fairytale Omegaverse #2)

Seth declined with a subtle gesture, his dark eyes never leaving Alice's peaceful face. "The Queen will be rebuilding her power network as we speak. My shadows report significant movement throughout her domain—messengers dispatched to every corner of Wonderland."

"Looking for us?" Chi asked, his tail tightening protectively around Alice's wrist.

"Looking for her," Seth corrected, shadows shifting restlessly. "The Queen has declared Alice a stolen royal heir—claiming she was kidnapped during a peaceful diplomatic exchange."

Heart's ruby eyes flashed with fury. "She's twisting the narrative to make us look like the villains."

"A predictable strategy," Dee observed, his temporal devices humming softly as he monitored ripples in the space-time continuum. "The Queen has always excelled at manipulation of public perception."

I felt Alice stir slightly through our bond. The pattern beneath her skin pulsed with renewed strength, opalescent threads of our temporal connection weaving seamlessly with the gold and silver of her existing bonds.

"What matters now is our next move," I said, carefully adjusting Alice's position to ensure her comfort. "The sanctuary will shield us for a few days at most, but we need a more permanent solution."

Heart leaned forward, his ruby eyes reflecting the flickering light of the sanctuary's crystal lamps. "We need to consider Alice's safety above all else. The Queen's declaration changes everything – she's not just hunting Alice anymore, she's claiming her as property."

"As family," Seth corrected, his shadows darkening. "Which is far more dangerous. Many in Wonderland will sympathize with a mother seeking her 'stolen daughter' rather than a queen pursuing a magical vessel."

Chi's tail unwrapped from Alice's wrist only to coil more protectively around her forearm. "We should take her to the Shifting Isles. My territory lies beyond the Queen's influence, and the constantly moving landscapes would make pursuit nearly impossible."

I shook my head, feeling Alice's consciousness ripple with something like disagreement through our new bond. "The Isles would only be a temporary sanctuary. The Queen would eventually find a way to track her there."

I met my brother's eyes briefly, sharing a calculation of temporal probabilities through our silent communication. "Alice needs to learn to defend herself, not just hide."

Heart's jaw tightened. "You're suggesting we train her to fight the Queen directly? After what she's just been through?"

"Not fight," Dee clarified, his silver eyes reflecting something ancient and knowing. "Control. The pattern chose her for a reason, and that reason becomes clearer with each passing day."

Seth's shadows shifted thoughtfully. "The First Queen designed the pattern to be wielded with intention, not just carried. Alice has barely scratched the surface of its potential."

I felt Alice's consciousness stir through our bond,.

the pattern beneath her skin pulsed with growing intensity, as if recognizing the truth in our words.

Through the temporal connection, I caught fragments of her dreams—visions of herself standing before the Red Queen not as a victim, but as equal.

The potential futures swirling through her subconscious mind were breathtaking in their scope.

"The pattern is already showing her possibilities," I murmured, watching silver and gold light dance beneath her skin in increasingly complex configurations. "She's seeing what she could become."

Varik set down his teacup with a delicate clink, his usual manic energy replaced by uncharacteristic seriousness. "Training will take time we may not have. The Queen's network spreads faster than gossip at a tea party, and twice as poisonous."

"Then we make time," Dee said with quiet certainty, his temporal devices humming as if in agreement. "We can create a sanctuary where time flows differently—a day outside might be a week within."

"The Chronos Pocket," Heart murmured, understanding dawning in his ruby eyes. "You've never offered that to anyone outside your inner circle."

I nodded, feeling Alice's consciousness respond to the idea through our new bond. "The temporal manipulation required is... significant. But with our combined strength, it's possible."

"And necessary," Seth added, his shadows coiling thoughtfully. "Alice needs more than just magical training. She needs time to heal from what the Queen did to her. The psychological wounds run deeper than the physical ones."

Chi's tail lashed once, his teal eyes narrowing. "The Chronos Pocket exists outside the Queen's reach?"

"Not entirely," I admitted, stroking Alice's hair as she nestled deeper into sleep. "But it exists in a temporal fold that makes direct magical interference nearly impossible. The Queen would need to physically enter the pocket to reach Alice, and that would require finding us first."

Heart's expression darkened. "Nearly impossible isn't the same as impossible."

"Nothing is absolute when dealing with blood magic of the Queen's caliber," Seth acknowledged, his shadows rippling with unease. "But it's our best option for giving Alice the time she needs to master the pattern's full potential."

Through our bond, I felt Alice's consciousness react to the discussion—not with fear, but with growing determination. Even in 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.