by Lotus Rose
“Well...I suppose you are his queen after all, at least for now, so I suppose you have the authority.” He walks to the throne, with Humpty, Malice, and the Cat moving partway behind him. He returns to the group and hands the sword in its scabbard to Malice.
Malice accepts it and curtsies. “We are free to go?”
“Of course, as promised.”
“You won’t have us followed?”
“No, at least not for one day. I know that this is an unfamiliar area for you, so perhaps it’d be best for you to return to Wonderland, and await our attack.”
Hatter and Malice exchange glances, before Malice says, “You’re right that we don’t know the area well. We don’t know where we’d go, but we certainly don’t wish to await attack in Wonderland.”
“Ah, so I’d like to extend you an invitation to stay here in the royal caves.”
Malice gives forth an incredulous laugh at the ridiculous notion. “Stay with you?”
“Do you have good grub?” the Hatter says.
“Of course we do!” shouts Nellie.
“You can be my guests,” the Snark says. “While you stay here, no harm shall befall you. If and when you choose to leave, I shall grant you a few days to leave, in which you shan’t be followed. But I’d really love for you to stay a few days, at least, because I have a ceremony the day after tomorrow that shall rally the jabberwocks behind me and instill in them the confidence in me as a strong ruler, who shall lead them to conquer Wonderland. I’d like to invite you to attend—so long as you behave yourself. I would love you to witness the momentous turning point.”
Malice sighs. “If such a thing occurs, then I have an obligation to see it with my own eyes, I suppose. I must say, I take issue with you wanting to conquer Wonderland. If we stay as your guest, would you be willing to discuss it? Perhaps we could come up with some sort of compromise.”
“Certainly. You’re the leader of Wonderland, after all—you should have some say in the matter of your being conquered. As I’ve said before, I bear no personal grudge against you. My grudge is against the Queen of Hearts, who destroyed Woeland, and drove out all the monsters. Oh, yes! I forgot to mention about her...”
“What of her?”
“My soldiers have delivered her from Wonderland, where I had them steal her away, in case you’ve forgotten. At the ceremony, I shall behead her with my own sword, as a demonstration of my dominance. After that, the jabberwocks shall be sure to follow me.”
Malice tries to hide her dismay. “I accept your invitation to stay as your guests. I have so many things I wish to discuss with you, including why I’m opposed to the death penalty.”
“It’s settled, then,” says Hatter. “When can we eat?”
CHAPTER TWENTY
DURING THE COURSE OF staying with Dorothy, the teammates tell of how they dispelled the kissing curse spell, but how they fear the witch Zenta shall simply cast it again.
It turns out, Dorothy recently visited with the witch in her cave, to consult about summoning the magic tornado. Dorothy uses that fact as leverage to seal her deal—she’ll tell them the witch’s location, and let Sleepy B and Jabby go there, if they agree to help free the Queen of Hearts during the ceremony, and help Dorothy escape the area as well, if the need arises.
They agree. The witch’s cave is not far from their camp, if one flies, so Jabby and Sleepy B head off there—Humpty stays behind with Dorothy, as collateral to ensure their return.
The witch’s home is a cave set into the side of a hill in an area with sparse, sickly looking trees and patches of grass amongst rocky gravel.
Sleepy B and Jabby stand outside the cave entrance. They hear rustling coming from within.
Sleepy B calls into the cave, “Witch Zenta, we’ve come to talk to you about your kissing curse spell, which we recently canceled!”
“Canceled?” a female voice calls from inside. “You lie!” A young adult female jabberwock steps out, wearing a pointed black witch’s hat.
“I’m proud to say I’m not lying. It was a horribly repugnant spell, humiliating for both jabberwocks and little girls alike!”
Zenta says, “I don’t believe you canceled it. Are you witches?”
“No,” Jabby says, “but we are key central figures in these times of prophesy. We traveled to a special mini-realm, where Sleepy B here slew the symbolic representation of the spell, thus canceling it.”
Zenta scowls at Sleepy B, “You slew it? Why, you’re nothing but a puny little girl!”
“I have claws,” She causes her claws to extend. “So I slashed the symbolic spell’s symbolic throat.”
Zenta chuckles. “So you came to scare me into not recasting the spell, is that it? I’m a witch! You don’t want to threaten me!”
Sleepy B causes her claws to retract, and her shoulders slump. “My apologies. I wasn’t trying to threaten you, I just like showing off my claws.”
Jabby says, “We were just wondering if there’s any way you might destroy the spell book that has the spell in it, so it can’t be cast again.”
Zenta huffs. “Even if I did such a ridiculous thing, I would tear out the page and destroy that, not the whole book. But right now my thoughts are preoccupied, with you.” (pointing at Sleepy B) “What kind of girl has claws like that? And why do you seem so friendly with a jabberwock?”
“I happen to be the Storyteller’s daughter. And I have claws because, well, Daddy realized how much I liked them, so he gave me magic ones.”
Zenta raises her brow ridge. “And you, daughter of the Storyteller, are his servant?” She nudges her head towards Jabby.
“Of course not,” Sleepy B says. “In fact, he guards me.”
“Outrageous!” Zenta shouts. “Little girls and jabberwocks weren’t meant to be friendly to each other! You should be vying each other for first kiss!”
“First of all,” Jabby says, “we’re from Wonderland, where things are different. And second, as we told you, your spell has been canceled.”
“Oh, I remember your ridiculous story about slicing the throat of a symbolic spell in some magical realm. Sounds like utter rubbish, if you ask me. My spell still reigns strong—I shan’t fall for your trickery.”
“Hey, I don’t know what to tell you.” Sleepy B shrugs her shoulders. “Your spell’s canceled. How can we prove it to you?”
Zenta replies, “You say you’re from Wonderland, but here in the valley, you are both under the influence of my spell. If one of you kisses the other, the effects shall be quite plain...”
The Cat groans. “I don’t like where this is headed. I sense mushiness ahead.”
Of course, Sleepy B realizes Zenta is wrong. Even if the spell was still in effect, since Sleepy B is technically a jabberwock, the spell wouldn’t apply to them anyway. But she isn’t about to reveal that fact.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
JABBY LOOKS DOWN SHYLY, whilst Sleepy B finds herself giggling.
“That’s exactly what I thought,” Zenta says. “You won’t do it—you won’t kiss each other, because you know that shall only prove you’re lying about my spell being canceled.”
Sleepy B and Jabby exchange glances. Sleepy B had previously managed to convince Jabby that she is actually a jabberwock in disguise. She’d even asked him if he would consider anything romantic between them, due to the fact that, since jabberwocks mature faster than humans, Sleepy B is now past the age of consent. Jabby had said he couldn’t get past Sleepy B’s human appearance.
“Seems like we may have to do it,” Sleepy B says. “For the sake of the jabberwocks.”
“I’ve kissed you before, in the same way an owner might kiss his dog.”
Sleepy B scowls playfully. “Are you calling me a dog?”
“Of course not, sweety. I merely meant, I can kiss you, platonically.”
“Oh, platonic!” Zenta exclaims derisively. “All love is a lie, even so-called platonic love.”
“I disagree,” Jabby says. “I platonically lo
ve Sleepy B, here.”
“What about me?” the Cat says, but he’s ignored.
“Then kiss me, you fool,” Sleepy B says in a breathy, pretend-seductive voice.
He kneels, she turns her head to present her cheek to him, which he leans in and kisses, adding an exclamation of, “Mwah!”
“Ew,” the Cat remarks.
Sleepy B makes a show of darting her head about, looking around in all directions. She even swoops her hand through the air as if trying to capture flying insects—of course, there’s nothing there.
“What?” Zenta says. “Where’s the flying lips?”
“Nonexistent,” Sleepy B answers, “because, as we’ve already told you, your spell’s been canceled.”
“No,” Zenta murmurs, while shaking her head.
Sleepy B smirks. “What? Don’t believe me? Here, I’ll even kiss my darling on the mouth!”
“Sleepy, no!” Jabby blurts before Sleepy B kisses him.
He resists a few seconds, before giving in and kissing her back—in the way an owner might kiss his pet dog on the mouth.
“Ugh. That’s just wrong,” the Cat mutters under his breath.
“Okay! Enough!” Zenta shrieks. “I believe you!”
The couple pulls apart, and Jabby says, “Was that really necessary?” with a quirky smile.
She shrugs and smiles. “We had to show her.”
Zenta intentionally intrudes on their moment. “So you canceled my spell. So, I shall simply recast it.”
“Why, though?” Jabby says. He stands and faces her. “You’re a jabberwock yourself. Can’t you see how insulting your spell is for our monsters?”
Zenta crosses her arms. “I don’t care. Because kisses are a symbol of love, and I despise love. Eventually, my spell shall transform kisses into the very tools of death and destruction!”
“Phooey,” Sleepy B says. “We went through a lot of trouble canceling that thing, and now you want to undo all our hard work.”
“You undid mine! The spell had saved up so much kissing energy, and now it has to start all over!”
In a trying-to-reason with her, soothing voice, Jabby says, “Perhaps if you explained to us why you hate love so much.”
Zenta sneers. “I loathe the lie known as love, because I fell in love once, with a monster named Vox, and it only ended up breaking my heart. That is the day I came to despise love—I want to destroy it, and by turning kisses into bringers of death, I shall strike a vital blow.”
Sleepy B says, “But can’t you find another jabberwock guy to love?”
“No! He was my soulmate, the only one I ever wanted to love. At first he cheated on me, but then he stopped when he realized how much he loved me, so he said. It all seemed to be going so well, until one day, he dumped me out of the blue! That was the day love ended for me, and if I can’t have it, I don’t want anyone else to, either!”
“Did he dump you for somemonster else?” Jabby asks.
“I have no idea. I was talking to him, and he said he wanted to recite a poem he wrote for me. You know what that prat did? He wrote a whole breakup poem, just to rub it in. Well, I’m no sap. I only let him get out two lines before I turned and walked away. They weren’t even good lines. They went: We all make mistakes, in all that we do, and that is why I want to break ups with you. And I didn’t misspeak. He actually said ‘I want to break ups with you’. I mean, why did he put an S on the end of ‘up’? But I didn’t stick around to discuss his bad grammar. The next day, I sent him a message telling him to never speak to me again, and he hasn’t spoken to me since!”
“Did you want him to?” Sleepy B says.
“He should have at least tried, if he wanted to get back together. So, obviously he doesn’t, and my heart shall never recover. What happened to me is the reason love should be abolished!”
“What if we were to convince him to unbreak-up with you? Then would you agree to destroy the spell and never cast it again?”
“Well, if you could mend our relationship, my heart would no longer be broken...”
“And you’d have no more reason to be such a sodding bitter git,” Sleepy B says with a smile.
“That’s true,” Zenta says, thinking. “I believe my grievances would be eliminated. Very well, if that’s what you’re suggesting, bring my beloved back to me and I shall gladly do what you’re asking.”
“Brilliant!” Sleepy B says. “Where may we find him?”
“He usually likes to hunt this time of the day. The rest of the day he usually spends making cups. He’s a cup maker. Did I mention that? Anyway, he lives a short distance away. Just travel about the forest and shout his name, Vox.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
JABBY CARRIES SLEEPY B as they fly about, calling out for Vox.
It only takes about fifteen minutes to get a response.
“Vox are you out there?!” Jabby calls out.
“Heidy ho! Who wants to know?”
They all land in the forest, to make talking easier.
Vox looks like a typical young adult, male jabberwock.
Jabby says to him, “We’ve come to speak to you on behalf of Zenta.”
“Oh, my dearest Zenta,” Vox says. “Oh, how I miss her.”
Sleepy B says, “If you miss her so much, why’d you break up with her?”
“I didn’t break up with her! She broke up with me!” Vox says woefully. He sniffles, his face screws up. “Oh, bollocks, I mustn’t cry. That’s so unjabberwockly.”
“You’re obviously upset over your breakup,” Jabby says, “but I must admit to being confused, for Zenta told us you were the breaker upper. She said you broke up to her in a poem...”
“What?” Vox says. “Is she mental? That poem was about my dedication to her and my commitment to our relationship. But she only let me recite the first two lines before she turned around and left in a huff! Everybody’s a critic.” He throws his hands up in exasperation.
Sleepy B says, “Was it opposite day? Because that’s the exact opposite of what Zenta seemed to think the poem was about.”
Jabby says, “She told us your poem specifically contained the phrase, ‘I want to break ups with you’, though she was at a loss to explain why you included the extraneous ‘S’.”
“Gah!” Vox exclaims. “Break cups.”
“I beg your pardon?” Jabby says.
“I want to break cups with you. That was the line.”
“Is there a difference?” Jabby says.
The Cat chuckles. “So punny.”
“Of course there’s a difference! The line was a symbolic, poetical expression of my devotion to her! Aren’t you aware that I’m a cup maker?”
“Yes,” Jabby says. “A cup maker, not a cup breaker.”
“But I am that too. Really, it’s all explained in the rest of the poem, if she had bothered to listen.”
“It’s all a big misunderstanding!” Sleepy B exclaims, while throwing her hands up exuberantly.
Jabby says, “She thought your poem was about you breaking up with her. But now that we know the truth, we believe Zenta will listen to the rest of your poem, if we explain the situation to her.”
“Brilliant!” says Vox. “Can I meet you there at her cave in a few minutes? I must pick something up from my place first.”
“Certainly,” Sleepy B says. “But I’ve been wondering something. Why would you use a phrase in your poem that sounds so much like, ‘I want to break up with you’? It seems like a bit of a poorly choice of words to go with.”
Vox shrugs. “The similarity simply didn’t occur to me, for the notion was the furthest thing from my mind.”
“Ah,” Sleepy B says, and smiles politely.
“Well, I’ll see you in a few,” says Vox.
A few minutes later, they are all standing (the Cat’s floating) with Zenta, outside her cave. Vox holds a cloth sack in his hand, with a small sized object inside.
Vox says to Zenta, “I’d like to recite the full poem to
you, to clear up the misunderstanding.”
Zenta has her arms crossed. “I’m willing to listen. These two told me I’d realize my mistake once I heard the whole thing.”
Vox gives a nod. “I must remind you, that I’d written this poem before our current status, but this is what I was going to say to you at the time.”
Vox intones:
“We all make mistakes, in all that we do,
And that is why I want to break cups with you.
I might make three broke cups, before one that’s grand.
Three go in the trash can, one goes in your hand.
But one must make mistakes to attain something real.
That’s part of the quest when you strive for ideals.
So I shall stay with you, whatever it takes,
To build our love goblet, despite our mistakes.
For we shall work through them. I shan’t leave your side.
We’ll break cups together, and break them with pride!”
Tears roll from Zenta’s eyes. “Oh, Voxy! I was so wrong before! Can you ever forgive me?”
“Of course, babe. I realize now, that I used some ill-chosen phrasing.”
“But I didn’t even listen to the rest of it, before. Oh, I’m so sorry. If only I had listened... Oh, what would’ve happened? What would you have said to me after your poem?”
Vox looks down shyly. “I had intended the poem to be my way of leading up to...me asking you...” He scratches his head nervously.
“Yes, my darling?”
“Me asking you...if you’d like to marry me.”
“Oh, Voxy! I really messed things up! Of course I would’ve said yes!”
“The offer still stands.” He kneels on one knee.
“Oh my god!” Sleepy B exclaims.
Vox continues, “Dearest Zenta, you are the most vicious, majestic jabberwock girl I’ve ever known. Will you make me the happiest monster in the valley, and marry me?” He pulls a black goblet from the bag and places it in her hand.
“Yes, Voxy! Oh yes, my glorious beast, how I’ve missed you so!”
Vox stands, the two betrothed embrace and kiss passionately.
