Wonderland

III - Found

I wouldn't hold it anymore. I just couldn't.

I sobbed and cried, wetting my cheeks. I wiped the tears away continuously, but there was always more trickling down. I let my cries ring out—not that there was anyone that listened.
Ever since I woke up, my hands were always trembling; I couldn't remember who I was, I didn't recognise where I was, or who I journeyed with, yet Mr. Toby, Ms. Ange... even the black cat, and this... so-called 'Sapphire'... I sensed something within them; familiarity. I hadn't met them before, but I had heard the things they said to me once. And losing Mr. Toby and Ms. Ange felt like losing life-long friends—families, even.
I wanted to know more, I wanted answers... I wanted to respect the two kind souls that helped me get through this magically frightening world.

I couldn't stop now.

I had to remember.

For them.

For myself.

I was done crying. I wiped the last tears that dripped, clenched my fists as I got up.
The room I was in now was dark, almost pitch black. Again, there were two rows of candles ahead of me. The candles lit a mysterious green glow, where it also gave light to a roll of dark blue carpet stretching to the dark ahead. I followed the road, accompanied by the lighting candles. Before long, the candles stopped lighting and carpet roll ended; I was left with the black nothingness.

I thought I headed on the wrong direction, yet as I turned to backtrack, behind me was a wooden rocking chair, wooden walls barred me from going back to the candle corridor. Before I had time to think, several colourful lights shone behind me, revealing my shadow. Startled, I shot back to what lay in front of me; a puppet show stage—a large one.
I gulped. There was not much to do; it was a small room surrounded by wooden walls. There wasn't any room to escape either, making the self-rocking chair all the more foreboding.

"You've finally arrived here, 'Missy'." It's the black cat's voice. "Sit down for a while, and enjoy the show." It shuddered me; as if she forced me to sit down. I made sure the chair was okay and sat down, trembling fingers clasped together.
The lights dimmed as the show started.

"Once upon a time, in a world different than ours..." As the black cat narrated the show, a witch puppet popped out; black hair with green eyes, wearing a robe, a pointy hat, and a staff. "There lived a lonely witch, in a lonely mansion, deep within a lonely forest."
"Needless to say, the witch got bored. So, she tried to create another lifeform to accompany her." The puppet seemingly flipped, and the witch was stirring something in her cauldron. "However, creating a living being proved challenging, even for the witch."

"She managed to create the soul—a glimmering soul of impurity, tainted with a bright, chaotic sapphire light... but! Whatever is a soul without a vessel?"

"But that one day was a lucky day for her; a helpless mother came to ask for her help." The witch puppet looked surprised seeing a woman begged in front of her. "She and her two children were strangled with a heavy debt to repay, you see."
"Tragic, indeed." She paused for a while. "'There will be consequences!' said the witch, yet the mother was desperately adamant. And so the witch swung her staff—high and low, side to side, and the mother's debt was lifted!"
"The mother couldn't thank her enough; 'you saved my life!' she jumped for joy." Then the stage flipped backgrounds again. This time, the witch was alone, and she had a demonic grin. "And that was when the witch got an idea."

"The popular saying goes 'an eye for an eye', doesn't it?"

"As consequence, the witch took one of the mother's children; the poor, clueless little daughter! She branded her together with the sapphire soul." The stage lighting flickered blue and white to look like lightning strikes as the puppet witch weaved her staff from afar, seemingly giving life to the sleeping puppet daughter as it glowed.
I was uncomfortable.