Fall of Wonderland!

Five

WHITE QUEEN

They told the others about what they heard, of course. But to come up with an excuse to ask for directions to the Ivory Palace. Things were stiff between the group, and divided between those who agreed with Mali (Jude was in that grouping), and those that agreed with Alice.

Despite this, they were still sitting together in Alice's room at the Inn, trying to come up with some semblance of a plan.

"So, if we get directions to this Ivory Palace, we can ask the White Queen to get us home?" Mali implored.

Alice nodded. "We can't let them know that we're from Dinah City. Of course, not all would react negatively, but I'm sure some would."

There was a long pause.

"What's that noise?" Jude whispered. They all scrambled to the window. Screaming, people running. Alice's mind flashed back to the day that Mali's arm had been broken by Rose.

"Let's go. We can help them." Valentina told the group.

"But they'll see our powers!" Mali protested.

"Doesn't matter." Alice was already chasing Valentina down the stairs. They had to do something. They emerged from the Inn to a scene full of white-wearing guards. They held long spears and spiky weapons. The group glanced at each other. Villagers were hiding, though a few did their best fighting with farming tools and whatever was laying around. A building was on fire.

"They're trying to destroy the village... but why?!" Jude wondered aloud.

"Get back inside!" The Innkeeper was outside, a warm, round woman with a motherly presence.

"We can help!" Alice protested. She demonstrated this by letting Starlight collect in her hands. The Innkeeper's eyes widened. "We're defending the doors so they can't get inside. The White Queen does this sometimes, when things grow too easy for us. Sometimes we need a reminder to step down from our luxury."

Alice's face twisted, but she ignored the comment. Just what kind of person was the White Queen?

"Let's split up. We can cover more ground. There's so many soldiers." Mali suggested.

"Bad idea," Valentina warned. "But let's do it anyway." Alice grabbed Valentina's arm as they darted toward the space between buildings, too small to be considered an alleyway. This is how things would be, for a while. The group was divided.

"I say we just run at them with all we've got. We have magic, they don't." Alice whispered.

Valentina shook her head. "We need some semblance of a strategy if we want to walk out of here unharmed. Suddenly something came to Alice. "Holy crap, I have an idea." She quickly explained. "These troops are from the White Queen. They can take us to her!"

Valentina nodded. "We don't have time to involve ourselves in this village's politics. If they knew where we were from, we would be unwelcome."

"Ruthless, as usual." Alice teased, despite their situation.

"Ruthless is my middle name."

"I thought it was Eloise?"

Valentina rolled her eyes, and shifted her focus onto the matter at hand. Clever, plotting Valentina. "Follow me." She turned around toward the back of the alley. There was a rusty ladder between two dumpsters that lead to the roof of a building. They quickly climbed up, trying their best to be silent.

Once on the roof, they began their attack. One after another, Alice and Valentina took turns sendings balls of fire and Starlight, then, they finally jumped down from the group, right into the middle of a group of guards that had been circling them. Mali and Jude were nearby, both fighting their own guards. Alice watched as one soldier got a hit on Mali, a simple gesture... the illusion of disguise over the girls' hair vanished. Alice saw the pink return to Valentina's hair, the purple to Mali's, and the peach to Jude's. She knew her own hair would be flashing white now.

"It's those missing Knaves! We have to get them!" One guard, who seemed to have some sort of authority, commanded. The group exchanged a look as suddenly, all at once, soldiers charged at them. "You four are heading straight to the White Queen." That same knight swore.

Well, Alice thought. My plan was different, but I guess we're getting the same result.