In Obscurum (4/9), an Alice in Wonderland fic
She was not what he had expected.
Perhaps that is why that foolish queen had brought her here, he thought indignantly. To distract, to confound, to throw him off! It wouldn’t work; Hightopp had given up too much, sacrificed too much than to give it away to a woman.
As he watched her step past a hive of fireflies, who blew their often-deadly flame in her direction, he took in her appearance. She wasn’t particularly beautiful; her blonde, wavy hair seemed out of place in his world of darkness. Nevertheless, he couldn’t deny there was something about her that made him regret the task set before him: to behead the Overlander in front of him and personally deliver her head to the pathetic red queen.
He watched her as she looked around the decaying land with a barely disguised snarl on her lips. So far, she had refrained from asking him any more questions about the world around her, but Hightopp could see her curiosity. It impressed him. Lesser people had been so appalled by his land that they had fled to other world a long time ago.
But, Alice was different.
Perhaps, he thought with a wicked grin, she would not need to be his enemy at all. She would be a powerful ally. Anyone who had the ability to slay a Jabberwocky most assuredly had a Muchness that could only help the cause.
Yes, she would be a most welcome addition to the Revolution.
He needed to gain her trust, though. He knew of the Champion’s Oath, that due to her connection to the White Queen in Underland, she would be drawn to protect the monarch of this world. However, if he could convince her that he was the rightful ruler of Otherland, then she could very likely feel the need to protect him.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
He felt her grip tighten around his hand slightly as they walked by the rotting mushroom grove. “I would have thought that things in Underland would have improved now that Mirana is the Queen.”
He suppressed a shudder. How could someone with this magnitude of Muchness possibly speak, let alone speak, any kind word against that foul, unscrupulous excuse for a monarch? “Things are already improving,” he assured her, thinking of the latest blood that had been shed in the name of the Revolution.
They walked for another quarter hour before they approached Ipalm. Hightopp led her into the open field, feeling particularly proud of himself.
It wasn’t just anyone who could have pulled off a feat like he had, creating a Revolution that had grown so strong, so powerful, it was about to completely take over Otherland. He saw the largest griffin, Magtfulde, the Commander of his army, talking with a group of griffins and lions. The surviving Hightopps--he still couldn’t believe his own parents would attempt to side with the white queen!--were scattered throughout the open land.
There were dozens of types creatures here, he noted with a sense of pride. Most of Otherland had come to him, realizing that under the rule of the Royal Family, there would be no hope for the rest of them. It was the Royal family that had turned Otherland into the dark perversion of what it once had been.
Never again, he thought bitterly.
Alice turned to him, her mouth open to ask him a question when a piercing shriek cut through the air.
“What is she doing here?”
At her cry, several of the members of the Revolution, including Magtfulde, drew their weapons, ready to attack.
“She is here at my request,” he answered, his voice dangerously calm. He glared at the creatures around him until they reluctantly sheathed their swords.
“But, I thought--”
“Plans have changed,” he interrupted. He turned to Alice who still had the most confounded look on her face. As he sat Alice down, he looked at Mally who was munching on some rather raw rabbit meat and sighed. “Oh Mally,” he said, slightly disappointed, “You ate our dinner guest again?”
He watched as Alice looked at the rather unkempt rat, who made no effort to wipe the red smudge off the side of her lips. “Mally?” she whispered before looking directly at Hightopp. “Tarrant…what is going on here?”
Hightopp frowned slightly. “I’m afraid I haven’t been completely honest with you, Alice,” he said, taking a seat at the head of the table. “You see, you aren’t in Underland.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
******
This is impossible, Alice thought with more than a dollop of disbelief. Sure, there were unquestionably some differences between the world she had left two years ago and this one, but how could this not be Underland?
“You are in Otherland,” Tarrant--no! Not her Tarrant!--explained. “ I suppose you could consider it a mirror world of sorts.”
Alice looked at the creatures around her who were looking at her suspiciously. She sensed that, whatever was coming, she had best be ready for it. She was unarmed and surrounded. And unwelcome, by the looks on their faces. Her two years spent learning her father’s trade had refined her skills in observation, flattery and negotiation.
She warily allowed that she might have to wield them once more. Here. Now.
A rather intimidating-looking griffin scowled as he took a seat next to Hightopp. “You shouldn’t have brought her here, Master Hightopp. The Red Queen--”
Alice tensed. Iracebeth was in power here? That would explain the welfare of the land around her.
“The Red Queen is no threat to any of us,” Hightopp said, glaring at the griffin. “I hope you are not questioning my ability to lead, Magtfulde.”
The creature shot Alice a nasty glance, his feathers ruffling slightly, before shaking his head. “Of course not.”
Alice refused to be intimidated by those around her, even if there were a pride of lions approaching the table with a particularly ravenous look in their eyes. “Why have you tricked me here?” she demanded.
To her surprise, Hightopp seemed to enjoy her indignation. He grinned widely. “That would not be my doing, Alice. Iracebeth, it seems, is rather distraught after her sister’s untimely death.”
Alice recoiled at the manic laughter coming from the others at his words. Mirana was dead?
“She thought if she could call on you--a Champion--that she would be protected from the one who shed Mirana’s blood, but I couldn’t let that happen,” continued Tarrant.
“Why?” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
“Because,” he replied with a wicked grin as he leaned close to her, “I am the one she fears.”
Alice pulled back away from his predatory look. Even her sense of self-preservation which was screaming at her- “Fool him, Alice! Just go along with it for the moment!” - could not drown out the betrayal.
“You killed Mirana?” she whispered in disbelief.
“In the name of the Revolution, yes. It was unavoidable, I’m afraid. If one is willing to die for a cause, then they should be willing to kill for it as well,” he continued. He took her hand and squeezed. “You could be a part of this, Alice.”
She pulled her hand away from him. “You. Killed. Mirana.” Yes, the Mirana he had killed was not her friend, not the woman she had fought for on Frabjous Day, but still…!
“For the cause!” he shouted as he pushed the chair from the table. He began pacing around the table, never allowing her gaze to stray from her from her. “‘Conform,’ she said! ‘Serve!’ she demanded! For what? So they could rule over us? So that she could use us as her test subjects? Never!”
He jumped up on the table. “Downal wyth th’ Royal Bludd Line!”
“Kill ‘em all!” the creatures shouted.
He stepped off the table next to her, his red eyes morphing into a slightly less threatening yellow color. “I did what I had to do, Alice. Surely you can see that.”
She shook her head slightly. How could Mirana be responsible for this?
Hightopp knelt to the side of her and took a hold of her hand. “I’m sure the queen you fought for in Underland was a monarch of the utmost character, but the White Queen here was a beast. She turned Otherland into her own personal alchemy project. She wanted to control everything around her: the plants of the land, the beasts of the field, the birds in the air, the people who tended the earth.”
He stood up and faced the forest. “Tweedles! Show yourselves!”
Alice turned as two shadows emerged from the forested area. As they stepped into the moonlight, Alice gasped slightly. The two round, child-like twin boys had been replaced by two identically deformed, disproportionate men. Their arms were unevenly matched; one bicep was enormous while the other was terribly atrophied. One leg was longer than another, forcing them to lean on each other for support. Their other arms, Alice noted, were chained to a huge tree.
Their hair was uncombed, their skin filthy. Drool rolled down their chins as they eyed the raw rabbit meat on the table.
“What happened to you?” whispered Alice, reaching out to them.
To her shock, one of the Tweedles reached out and tried to bite at her hand.
“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you,” Hightopp said, grinning wickedly before turning somber. “This is the work of Mirana. She wanted to create a better soldier. She craved a more powerful fighter than those in her army.” He looked at the Tweedles with a frown. “She experimented on the brothers, hoping they would be a prototype for her new army, but what she created were these…abominations. Disgusted, she threw them out of her castle. But, we in the Resistance saved them and vowed to make sure no one suffered at her hands again.”
“The Revolution needs someone like you, Alice. Someone who would be willing to stand beside me, to bring an end to this bloodshed. Then I will bring in a new era in Otherland!” he declared, his eyes wild.
The wildness - the blood lust - in his eyes unsettled her, but Alice sensed that this was her chance. These creatures would not let her leave - she could plainly see that. But they might believe that this man - Hightopp -- had convinced for of their cause. Of course, she mustn‘t allow herself to seem to easily swayed. She prevaricated, “Tell me, Hightopp, what has the Red Queen done to earn her death sentence?”
He scowled. “That weak, pathetic excuse for a queen has no place in Otherland. She did nothing to stop her sister. She stayed hidden in that castle, away from the atrocities that her sister had done. No, Alice,” he said, shaking his head, “she is not fit to be ruler over this land.”
“Surely you can work out some sort of truce with her,” Alice argued.
“No. The royal bloodline must be purged,” he countered, his eyes swirling with a dangerous red color.
Alice frowned. She couldn’t agree to join his revolution; not with knowing that he hadn’t done everything he could to establish peace in the land. “No,” she said resolutely. “I won’t join you.”
The creatures around her shouted in indignation. “I told you, Master Hightopp!” yelled Magtfulde. “If you don’t think you can kill her, I’d be glad to offer to do it.”
“No, let me at the little wench!” cried Mally.
Hightopp held up his hand and everyone went silent. “Just think of it, Alice,” he said, leaning over the table, coming close to her. “The weak will run but they will not be able to hide! Only the strong survive. Only the strong are meant to survive...”
She shuddered. How could this man in front of her be in any way related to the Tarrant she knew? This man was driven by power; his lust for it had clearly distorted him. “No, the strong should help the weak, not exterminate them. If you cared about Otherland at all, you would try to seek peace with Iracebeth.”
He pushed back from the table and snarled. “Does that mean you will not reconsider your answer?”
Now was the time, the moment. Now, Alice must hesitate, make Hightopp think that perhaps he could convince her. Now was the moment when she should claim that she wished to help the citizens of Otherland, that he had not made a strong enough case against Iracebeth to warrant killing her, that there were still questions she needed answered before she could declare herself. Now was the moment to buy time.
However, Alice could not force the vile, repulsive words out of her throat.
“No, I will not.”
“I was afraid you were going to say that,” he said resignedly. He turned to Magtfulde. “You were right, I should have just killed her when I first found her.” With a flick of his wrist, he hurled a throwing knife in Alice’s direction.
Before she could react, Alice found herself pushed to the ground.
“If you want to survive this delightful gathering, I would advise that you keep silent,” came a familiar feline voice, whispering in her ear.
It was Chess! Alice looked down at her hands, which, she was startled to find, were invisible! She felt a furry paw pushing her in the direction opposite of Hightopp. Crawling on her hands and knees quietly, she started to make her escape.
“Where is she?” she heard Tarrant scream from behind her.
“It must have been that blasted cat,” Mally shrieked.
Alice pushed herself to follow Chess’ invisible helping hand until she was far enough away, tucked behind some trees. “Chess?” she whispered.
“Checkers,” the cat corrected, as he came into view.
As he came into view, Alice noticed that his grey and black fur was, in fact, reminiscent of a checkerboard. But, there was no mistaking that the wide smile on his face was certainly like that of Chess.
She looked down at herself, which was thankfully visible. “How did you do that?” she asked him.
“Do what?”
“Make me invisible. Chess isn’t able to do that…or at least I don’t think he can.”
Checkers huffed. “Chess is a scaredy cat who is far too cautious. Just because turning someone invisible runs a high risk of keeping a person in that state, he refuses to do it.”
“Well…thank you,” she replied, looking at her hands gratefully. Being permanently invisible was not how she wanted to spend the rest of her life!
He looked behind her and frowned. “Now, we must hurry. Hightopp will not waste any time looking for you.” He let out a long meow and the Bandersnatch came bounding from behind them.
Instead of seeing the ferocious beast, a rather timid-looking, yet giant creature stepped cautiously from behind the giant trees. Its black fur almost seemed to glisten in the moonlight. “Go!” he instructed. “I will be in Salazen Grum shortly.”
Alice hesitated. Though she inexplicably felt drawn to protect the Red Queen, she wondered if it would be best to find some way back to Underland to gain help from Mirana. “I should go back to Underland--”
“There is no time to visit your old friends,” chided Checkers. “The Resistance is building strength by the minute. Iracebeth must know what you have seen.”
“Where will you be?”
“Making sure Hightopp doesn’t send someone after you to finish the job,” he said as his head suddenly separated from his body.
Alice frowned as the implications of what he had said registered in her mind. Swiftly, she climbed onto the back of the Bandersnatch and rode out of the woods. As she traveled through the moonlit valleys of Otherland, she wondered what kind of person would be waiting for her at Salazen Grum.
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