A Door that Opens Part 8

Previous: A Door that Opens Part 7

??: Nikk? Nikk are you alright?

''Such a dream could not be described in words, no matter how great a vocabulary one might have. Nikk could hear a voice that pulled her from her daze, and soon her eyes opened to see Alice, and not Alys. The background was now every single shade of blue, though such a thing could not be explained. She much preferred the red surroundings with the crimson pond, but now it was a slow-moving, soothing shade of navy blue, as if it were night, but the sun up in the sky was dimmed with a blue filter, making a kind of teal colour, with the sky becoming a sapphire colour.''

Nikk: Alice...

Alice: Oh Nikk! [Grabbed hold of Nikk and embraced her, for some reason she started to hurt.] I was so worried!

''Nikk felt bruises and scratches all over her cheeks, neck and upper chest, but that was when she remembered it. Her battle with Alys had not gone as she had hoped. She could remember taking control of her dragon using her own tricks, but after that, only bits and traces. The most up-front image was a horrible grin on Alys's face. Then there was nothing. ''

Alice: What happened to you, Nikk? Why are you so badly bruised?

''Nikk ignored the question and got to her feet, she noticed that her black trench coat was very reddish now, and she looked to see that she was holding a small piece of cloth. She rubbed it with her thumb, but then noticed little letters sewn into the fabric: "Costume Ball".''

Nikk: Where is the costume ball?

Alice: The costume ball? It is in the Kingdom of Clubs [She motioned]. But what about you, Nikk? You're all scratched up, you look like you've been through a bloody porpus race in a razor grass field!

Nikk: I'm sorry.

Alice: Sorry? For what?

''Nikk looked at her, then looked off in the distance, the beautiful blue grass wafting in the breeze as the teal and turqoise leaves blew by. It gave her some time to think in such a place, for some reason, she felt like she could expand her mind freely. Then she turned her eyes back to Alice, who had not even the slightest bit of the look Alys did. They were indeed two different people, but their connection was unmistakeable. ''

Nikk: For what I said. Said before. [She turned and began to walk toward the direction that Alice motioned.]

Alice: Oh... well, water under the bridge, so they say. [She scurried along with Nikk and walked beside her] Isn't it such a wonderful place? All of the dreams of the world can be found in this world, and while they might not all be beautiful, they all have their place in the world.

Nikk: Fifty-five.

Alice: Beg your pardon?

Nikk: There are fifty-five of these worlds. I have already heard them say it in passing. Which would make sense, considering with such a large population, a world this small couldn't possibly hold every single dreamer there is. There are far too few people here.

Alice: Fifty-five worlds? I dare say, that sounds invigorating!

Nikk: Agreed, but there is a problem [She drew Alice's attention again.] Not only do I not know where my crew is, there is a force at work here, one I have no idea how powerful it can be. My devil fruit powers seem to work here like they never could in the real world. They have substance, and I can only guess that your devil fruit works along the same lines here in this world, Wonderland.

Alice: Why, yes, of course! Such a glorious notion to have one such as you join me on an adventure in such a place! Don't you agree?

''Nikk looked over at Alice, and gave a slight nod, along with a very tiny smile that quickly vanished to her default expression, that is to say, none. ''

''In a castle that seemingly has no technology of any kind, not even a simple fan or den den mushi, why would they need air ventilation. Rinji moved through it easily enough, but there was so much muck and scum in those ducts, he could only imagine the 2 of clubs was fired. The only light he had were the very small slits that led into each room that he passed, some of them had no light at all, but some of them had very strange, glowing lights pulsing through the vents. He stopped to see a very strange sight, indeed. ''

''He had heard whispers of such a game, but he had never seen a live Chess game in his entire life. All of the pieces were lined up perfectly, only they seemed to be playing with.... frog men? Yes, that's what they were, frog men dressed in armour, or crowns, or priest outfits for the bishops. He shrugged it off, and was about to keep crawling through, but then he heard something.''

Frogman: Knight takes bishop!

''The heavily armoured frogman walked two squares forward, turned left and very quickly struck the bishop down, brutally with his axe! Rinji's eyes widened as the bishop frog fell, and two frog servants hopped up next to him, and dragged his corpse off of the white and black chess board, with a smaller frog coming up behind them to mop up the blood. Rinji was flabbergasted. He quickly turned and kept crawling, only glancing at the room over his shoulder once again. ''

''That was when he heard music. What sounded like a cello thrumming along with a trombone while some guy with a raspy voice sang along. That was when Rinji almost lost his entire lunch. There sat the ugliest, most disgusting looking chef. His chin was misshapen, dripping blood from his mouth, his eyes looked plastic, and ever-open without closing at all. His nose was nothing but two nostrils without the actual nose part, and his mouth had nothing but skinny, erratically pointed teeth. He chopped up huge clods of meat as he sang along with a giant cricket playing the cello, and a cockroach following along on his horn.''

Chef: First you take a bit of steak

bang it down and then you bake

Diversify then make your pie

Take a cow and make it die

''And over and over and over and over again, that's all he sang as he struck huge potfulls of meat. Rinji kept on going, knowing that after a while, these images would stick and cause a grave mental illness. That was when he came to a garden. The ventilation shaft began to show signs of fungus, but then that fungus turned green, like mold only it didn't smell horrible. Then he began to see flowers sprouted along the vent, and then he came to the exit, which was an open passage. ''

''He looked down from the opening, the ground was at least ten feet down, but it was filled with the most magnificent roses he had ever seen. The trees were massive in width, with flowered vines hanging from their extensive branches, which covered the garden from the sky. With such a lack of sunlight, he thought nothing could grow, but yet there were colorful masses of flowers all around, and green bushes that were the most perfect shape. There was a small pond in the middle, and beautiful, bright red swans treaded water without a care in the world. ''

''Rinji smiled, and took in the wonderful, humid smell that came from such a gorgeous place. He jumped out of the small passage and grabbed onto the green-covered wall, his claws tracing down it to slow his descent. His feet touched the bottom and he wandered. In such a horrid castle, he never would have guessed such a magical place existed. ''

''Then he heard someone talking. He looked around, and started to follow the sound. He moved branches out of the way, and his eyes widened to see two roses chatting in the clearing. There was nothing but grass and dirt around them. They were just two lone roses in the middle of a clearing, having a nice little conversation about dew and how a nice bath would feel right about now.''

Rose: I especially love when it washes every tip of my thorns, it feels so refreshing to wash them all, not to mention my pedals.

Rose2: Oh, indeed, not to mention roots.

Rose: Of course, I dare say it tastes better when--

Rinji: Excuse me, could you tell me--

''The roses gasped as Rinji came close to them. ''

Rose: I say! It's him!

Rose2: How could that be possible?

Rinji: Wait, what?

Rose: I thought you were dead! I heard the queen clipped your roots a long time ago!

Rinji: The queen, what queen? I keep hearing about this queen.

Rose2: You are the Cheshire Cat, aren't you?

''Rinji stopped for a moment, and glanced at both of them. ''

Rinji: ...who?

Rose: I dare say, he is the wrong color, but such an unmistakeable resemblance.

Rose2: Indeed! He even has the same fangs!

''Rinji stared at them both, a little speechless. He opened the right side of his lips and rubbed his right fang a little. ''

Rinji: Look, I just need to find a way out of the castle. If you could direct me, I would be very grateful.

Rose: Oh, your best bet would be to find the farthest tree that way [Points her leaf over behind her] Climb it, and you can probably just jump over the wall around the garden.

Rinji: Ah, well thanks much. Adieu. [He began to walk away]

Rose2: Oh and Mr. Cat! [He stopped to look back] If you see the Voxas, follow them!

Rinji: Um... okay. [He kept walking] Voxas... [He whispered to himself]

''Slowly but surely, as he walked deeper and deeper into the garden, it began to look more and more like a forest. This was the largest body of contained plants he had ever seen. The deeper he went, the darker it began to get. The green and beautiful surroundings began to give way to black, and molded tree trunks, and dead, brittle grass. The hairs on the back of his neck began to stand on end, as if his extra sense was going off and he did not like it at all.''

''That was when he looked up, and he saw it. It roared and glared down at him with eyeless sockets.''

A Door that Opens Part 9