blueteamnovel 505. We Are All Mad Here
505. We Are All Mad Here
505. We Are All Mad Here
As expected, the Sleepy Frost was not spared from the carnage. She was thrown into the lion’s pit with nothing but Frost’s burning sleeves as her lifeline. Women crowded around her. They towered over the poor girl as she looked down at her feet with spirals in her eyes and a question mark emoji over her head.
“They’re not pillows. They’re not pillows. They’re not pillows at all.” She repeated as she twiddled with her fingers. “But maybe they’re better than pillows?”
“This one can talk!?” Cer exclaimed. She was the only one who could properly meet the girl’s droopy eyes. “She really does sound like you! Got a name?”
“Dreamer. Because I dream.” She introduced herself in the most uninspired manner possible before she looked up and audibly gulped. “That’s Jury...”
“So cuuuuuuute!” Jury didn’t hold back and embraced the Sleepy Frost, bringing her head between her chest which caused steam to rise from her head. “Is this what having a daughter feels like!? Frost! She’s definitely coming back with us!”
“As long as I get my fair share too.” Frost jokingly said. “Yep. All Alter Frosts belong in the Nexus. No exceptions.”
Jury’s squirmed and rocked the girl side to side. She was overjoyed to finally receive a new Alter Frost to add to the ever-growing collection of Frosts. And speaking of other Frost’s –
The Little and the Big Frost observed how everyone fawned over the Sleepy Frost with understanding eyes. Her initiation was a trial by fire, and the Innocent encouraged her with thumbs up emojis.
“Isn’t that great!?” Jury chirped.
If no one stepped in, then the Sleepy Frost was bound to fall into an eternal sleep. She nearly suffocated in Jury’s bosom as she silently breathed: “It’s better than a pillow. It’s way better than a pillow. I can’t go back to pillows.”
Suddenly, she was snatched and dragged into another pair of soft pillows, this time belonging to a woman who smelt of a strong blend of earthy, but fragrant flowers.
“Jury. Give me a turn already!” Ber staunchly growled. “You have the real deal! What are you, the symbol of gluttony or something?”
“As a matter of fact, I was.” Jury glared at her, competing for the Sleepy Frost.
“I’ve never seen Jury react like that before.” Cer noted, and Frost agreed with a nod. She found it humorous, smiling at the duo who were now close enough to finally banter. Cer walked up to Frost, nudging her with an elbow. “Psst. What are you doing? Have you been letting Jury get all pent up –? OUCH!”
Frost pinched her ear, right before she began patting Cer’s head.
“Mind your own business. If Jury’s happy then I’m happy too. Besides, I’d probably act the same way we started finding Alter Jurys.”
“The White Rabbit doesn’t count?” Res probed. Unfortunately, the White Rabbit was different.
“No. They’re more of an Alter Elysia than an Alter Jury.” Frost explained before she asked how Res was feeling in her new body.
“Does that mean this place traps souls?” Jury asked an important question, but the Cheshire Cat only shook her head.
“That’s part of the madness. Nothing makes sense here. The only reason I exist is because I’m part of someone’s memory. Memories are puppeted in this world. Resurrected to masquerade as people’s trauma. It’s a colorful hell. As up is wherever this place is. When you think about it, it’s not so different from the outside, because we’re all mad in the end.”
“Mad this, mad that. Wanna explain a bit more, Cat?” Cer urged, causing the Cheshire Cat to gulp as she clung close to Alice, still wearing her large, mischievous grin.
“We can’t understand everything. What makes sense may not make sense to everyone else. It’s not a matter of comprehension. It’s a matter of how we view ourselves and the world we live in. Children are victims of illusions. Adults are victims of delusions. The Escape emphasizes this. I couldn’t tell you why, because that White Rabbit is just as mad as anyone else.”
The Cheshire Cat spoke quickly, but her words were filled with wisdom.
“Such is the burden of the wise. No one understands a word we say. Hear this, friends – the Escape is a place southward from your hell. Your gut guides you in this place. It’s your untold tale. Children of this world are trialed to navigate through it.”
“You said you didn’t know the White Rabbit’s intentions.” Frost raised a suspicious brow, right as the Cheshire Cat pointed a claw at her head, her grin widening.
“She’s explaining it to me right now. The ordeal is meant for a person to overcome themselves. To want to change themselves rather than the world. That’s her power. Phantasia. Imagination. Now does that make any sense at all? Judging from those looks, not at all. But who’s to say that we can rationalize compulsion?”
The Cheshire Cat then placed a hand onto Alice’s head, patting her like she was a cat.
“This place is a disguised hell. But it is also here where people are tempered. If not, then they remain blissfully ignorant before they are regurgitated. People don’t stay here forever, because those same people are also the ones that leave their magic carpet ride halfway through their tale.”
The Cat’s stripes suddenly changed from black to a vibrant, neon blue. They glowed in the dark like rings of glowsticks. They were engulfed in the darkness and only her stripes, eyes and her abnormally broad grin could be seen.
“No one likes a protagonist that can’t see through to the end of their own story.”
Frost still couldn’t read the intentions of the White Rabbit. Was it for entertainment? Salvation? A nudge? Something sinister? Understanding a being beyond the Beholders was a futile effort. All she could do was hope that the White Rabbit would be willing to explain herself.
They soon arrived at the mouth of a giant black dome. Within was a garden of pallid flora. Rivers streamed from the center where a pillar of light resided, deeply embedded into the earth as it served as the pillar of the colossal dome.
And floating in the center of the starless void was a single star.
Her presence caused their hearts to hitch as their throats were constricted by an unforeseen pressure. Alice, Revy, Sana, and Stella immediately collapsed; their minds unable to comprehend the existence of the being before them.
The Moon triplets could barely stand on their legs. Only Frost, Jury and the Alter Frosts were largely unaffected. But even so, it felt like they were constantly being gnawed at by an invisible maw.
“You’re finally here.”
It was none other than the White Rabbit.