Page 72 of Knot My Wonderland, Part Two (Fairytale Omegaverse #2)
Her desperate pull on the corrupted nexus points faltered as she felt the weight of Wonderland's direct intervention. The crimson energy swirling between her claws sputtered like candles in a hurricane as the realm's ancient power pressed against her stolen authority.
"No," she whispered, all her mouths speaking in unison for the first time. "You cannot turn against your rightful queen. I am Wonderland's chosen?—"
“You were never my chosen," Wonderland's voice spoke through me, each word resonating with the weight of mountains and the depth of oceans. "You thought you had the right but you never did.”
"You were a caretaker, not an owner," the voice continued through me, power surging like a tidal wave. "You were meant to nurture, not corrupt."
The Queen-construct recoiled as if physically struck.
Her massive form shuddered, cracks widening across her blood armor as Wonderland's essence flowed through me in relentless waves.
I felt myself becoming a conduit for something far beyond my understanding—ancient, primal, the very foundation upon which all of this reality rested.
"I am your Queen!" she shrieked, desperation replacing confidence as her connection to the corrupted nexus points grew increasingly unstable. "I have ruled for centuries!"
"And for centuries I have watched you poison what was entrusted to your care," the voice replied through me, each word carrying the weight of eons. I raised my hands, no longer feeling like they were entirely my own.
Wonderland flowed through me like a river of creation itself, ancient and wild.
The power felt both familiar and utterly alien—like I'd always been meant to channel this force but had never known it existed until now.
My feet lifted slightly from the ground as pure pattern energy swirled around me in spirals of silver, gold, and midnight blue.
"You were never meant to rule forever," I heard my voice say, though the words felt like they originated from somewhere deeper than my conscious mind. "No queen was. The pattern must evolve, must change hands when corruption threatens."
The Queen-construct writhed against Seth's shadows, her form destabilizing further as Wonderland's direct intervention severed her connections to the corrupted nexus points one by one.
Each separation was visible—crimson threads snapping like overtaut strings, the backlash making her monstrous body convulse.
"I made Wonderland better!" she screamed, her voice cracking as another corrupted nexus connection severed. " I made it stronger!"
"You made it a reflection of your own madness," Wonderland replied through me, the ancient voice carrying infinite sadness. "You turned creation into consumption.”
The Queen-construct's form began to collapse inward, her stolen power unable to maintain cohesion without the corrupted nexus points feeding it. The blood armor cracked and bled, revealing glimpses of the woman she had once been beneath layers of twisted magic.
Now take over and finish her. Wonderland spoke and gave me control of my body, the magic it gave me still pulsing within me.
I felt Wonderland's vast presence withdraw slightly, leaving me in control but still flooded with its ancient power.
The Queen-construct writhed before me, her monstrous form cracking like a broken shell as her stolen connections continued to sever.
Through the network, I sensed my mates' awe and concern as they witnessed the transformation I'd undergone.
"End this, Alice," Heart urged, his golden patterns dim with exhaustion. "Before she finds another way to anchor herself."
The Queen-construct's multiple eyes fixed on me with desperate hatred. "You think... you think you've won?" she gasped through her primary mouth, ichor leaking from the cracks in her armor. "Even without the nexus points... I still have power enough... to drag you into death with me!"
Her form pulsed with malevolent energy, drawing not from external sources now but from her own life force. I felt my vision blur as her magic crashed into me, my body hitting the ground with a loud crack.
Alice! Wonderland’s voice was a distant echo now as my magic faltered as I tried to catch my breath. Heart was the fist at my side, his sword drawn as he faced down what remained of his mother. "You will not touch her again," he declared, his golden patterns flaring with protective fury.
The Queen-construct laughed, the sound garbled through her deteriorating mouths. "My own son, choosing a realm-walker over his blood. How disappointing you've always been."
I struggled to my feet, leaning heavily on Heart as my vision cleared. The power Wonderland had channeled through me still hummed beneath my skin, but dimmer now, like a storm momentarily receded.
"It's not about choosing sides," I said, my voice rough from the strain. "It's about choosing life over corruption. Creation over destruction."
Through our bonds, I felt my mates gathering closer—Chi's silver energy, the Tweedles' synchronized calculation, Seth's void darkness all converging to support me as I faced the weakened but still deadly Queen.
Heart moved as the Queen snarled, and I used the last of my magic to knock her to her knees.
The Queen howled in fury as she crashed to the ground.
Heart stepped forward, his golden blade catching the unnatural crimson light as he positioned himself between us.
"Mother," he said, his voice heavy with centuries of grief. "This ends now."
The Queen's eyes—still recognizably hers despite the monstrous transformation—fixed on her son with a mixture of hatred and something that might have been regret.
"You were always... too soft," she rasped, blood magic leaking from the cracks in her armor like wounded stars. "Too much... like your father."
Heart's golden patterns dimmed slightly at the mention of his father, but his resolve remained unshaken. "He would weep to see what you've become."
A strange sound escaped the Queen's—something between a laugh or a sob.
"He already wept," she whispered, her voice suddenly fragile beneath the corruption's distortion.
"The day I chose power over love. The day I first tasted blood magic.
" Her form shuddered, more of her monstrous armor cracking away to reveal glimpses of the woman she had been.
"He begged me to stop. Said I was losing myself piece by piece. "
Heart's sword trembled in his grip, golden patterns flickering with pain. "Then why didn't you listen?"
"Because I was terrified," the Queen confessed, her multiple eyes beginning to merge back into two as her transformation continued to fail.
"Terrified of being weak, of losing control, of watching everything I'd built crumble.
Loosing another person who I loved.The blood magic promised strength, promised certainty. "
Through our bonds, I felt the complex emotions rippling through the network—Heart's grief, Chi's protective tension, Seth's coldd calculation as he maintained his shadow bindings on the weakening Queen.
"Power without compassion isn't strength," I said quietly, trying to keep myself from letting myself pass out. "It's just another form of fear."
The Queen's gaze shifted to me, and for a moment I saw past the corruption to the woman who had once ruled Wonderland with wisdom instead of blood.
"You speak of fear, child, but you don't understand.
When you've watched everything you love die, when you've felt the weight of an entire realm's survival on your shoulders.
.." Her voice cracked. "The darkness whispers that you can prevent it all, if you're just willing to pay the price. "
"But the price was everything," Heart said, his sword lowering slightly. "Your soul, your kingdom, your family."
Tears of blood leaked from the Queen's eyes. "I thought I could control it. Thought I could make things better…and I have! Wonderland has been so good under my control.” He voice started to raise as madness crept back into it.
"Mother," Heart said firmly, raising his sword again as the corruption reasserted its hold on her mind. "You've brought nothing but poison and decay. The withering lands, the bleeding trees, the children growing sick from tainted water—that is your legacy."
The Queen's brief moment of clarity shattered like glass, madness blazing in her eyes as her monstrous form pulsed with renewed malevolence.
"I made them stronger! I made them perfect!
" she shrieked, her voice distorting back into multiple harmonics.
"You're all too weak to see the beauty in what I've created! "
Seth's shadows tightened their grip as she struggled against her bindings, void magic straining to contain her resurgent power. "The corruption is fighting back," he warned through gritted teeth. "She's drawing from her own life force now—burning herself up from the inside."
Through our bonds I could feel the horror from some, but Heart…Heart felt pure sorrow and heartbreak as he moved to stand right inront of his mother who looked up at him with such hatred.
"You were never my son," the Queen spat, her voice dripping with venom as she glared up at Heart. "A true heir would have embraced perfection, would have helped me remake this pathetic realm into something worthy of our bloodline."
Heart's golden patterns flared with pain, but his grip on his sword remained steady. "And you were never truly my mother," he replied, his voice breaking slightly. "The woman who raised me died the day she chose corruption over love."
The Queen's laughter was shrill, echoing strangely through her deteriorating form. "Love is weakness!"
Heart gave her a bitter smile, “Love isn’t weakness…but then again you could never love what was infant of you.” He raised his sword and with a sad look in his eyes took a deep breath.
“You always had a saying when others were in this position…..” Heart pushed his emotions down as he gave me a glance a flicker of pain in his eyes as the vision started to spot as I pushed myself to my feet.
"Off with her head." Heart's voice was a whisper, but it carried the weight of centuries.
The golden blade moved in a perfect arc, catching the crimson light as it severed the Queen's head from her corrupted form. There was no blood—only a release of crimson energy that spiraled upward like smoke from a dying fire, dissipating into the air with a sound like a distant sigh.
For a moment, no one moved. The ruins fell utterly silent, as if Wonderland itself held its breath.
Then the Queen's monstrous body began to disintegrate, blood armor crumbling to dust that scattered on the gentle breeze.
All that remained was a small, fragile-looking woman, her features peaceful in death in a way they never had been in life.
Heart dropped to his knees beside his mother's remains, his sword clattering to the ground.
Through ourbond, I felt his anguish—not just grief, but relief too, a complicated tangle of emotions that had no simple name.
Chi moved to his side, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder as Seth's shadows finally released their vigil, darkness retreating now that the threat was gone.
"One battle one…and now to figure out purifying Wonderland," I whispered, the pattern beneath my skin gradually dimming as Wonderland's borrowed power receded. The void bond with Seth pulsed steadily, darkness flowing through our connection to support my depleted reserves.
Heart reached out with trembling fingers to close his mother's eyes. “That can wait for now.” His eyes moved to me as I staggered forward to try to comfort him, but instead I felt myself hit the ground, the sounds of my name being called before I felt all my energy leave me and darkness take me.
…….To be continued in Book Three