Mike's POV
Hurried footsteps echoed throughout the chambers, chasing after my tail. I stumbled upon a fork in the corridor and glanced back at my pursuers, who hollered for me to stop. It was pointless for them to shout when no one in their right mind would stop. I took a gamble and chose the right side.
I cursed.
Then I winced as I rubbed my left side. I took quite a hit there when I suddenly appeared in someone's bedroom. And to think I would stumble on some unspeakable scene in broad daylight too. I grimaced as I inadvertently recalled it. I really needed some bleach to clean the image off my eyes and brain.
"Dice."
The cube-shaped robot immediately appeared by my side. It flew steadily beside me while keeping pace with me.
"Check where I can hide. I need to throw these guys off."
Dice beeped in response and started mapping out the area. It didn't take a minute for him to finish.
"Right ahead of you, there's an intersection. Turn left and head down the steps. It's an unguarded dungeon."
I saw another intersection before me, just like what Dice had said. Turning my head around, I saw the guards still hot on my heels.
"Tch. Persistent fellas."
Before I turned, I used light magic to blind them. For good measure, I used my dark magic to stall them. The shadows of the guards heeded my call and grabbed their ankles. I smirked in triumph when I heard an enormous clash of metal on metal against the ground.
By the time the blundering guards recovered, they didn't know where the mysterious intruder had gone. I had disappeared like the wind.
I shrank behind the wall as I heard the clanking of metal went past my hiding spot.
I had purposely darkened the dungeon with dark magic so that it would deter the guards away. No one would be willing to investigate a dark place unless they had a screw loose in their head.
When I turned around, I was scared out of my wits that I nearly fell.
Chained to the wall, it was a male prisoner. It was unknown whether he was alive because he made no sound or movements despite my presence.
"What. The. Hell."
Dice had mentioned that it was an unguarded dungeon, so why was there a person right in front of me?!
The prisoner had both his arms chained to the wall. He had enough leeway to lean against the chains while kneeling on the ground. I couldn't see his face since his waist-long dirty, matted hair was in the way.
"Hey," I whispered as I crouched closer. "Hey!"
The figure stirred.
Through the mess of tangled hair that was so dirty that I couldn't decipher what colour it was, I saw a pair of honey gold eyes blinking slowly at me. Despite the prisoner's state, I could see vigour in his eyes.
"A visitor?" The chains rattled and creaked as he moved. The prisoner yawned. "Haven't had one in a long while."
"And... how long is that?" I asked.
The man squinted his eyes as he tried hard to recall. He gave a sheepish smile.
"I have no idea at all. Been here since the Queen's tea party." He squinted his eyes while recalling his memories. "I remembered winning a bet against the Queen, but she was a sore loser. Hence, she trapped me here."
I frowned as I asked some more from him. There wasn't much to gather from him except that he was separated from his twin sister in the forest. Somehow, he was found by the Queen, played her game, and ended up here. He didn't know how long he had been trapped within the dungeon or why no one was guarding him.
His name was Art.
"I can hear your thoughts ticking in my head."
Art suddenly spoke with a smile on his lips. His sparkly honey gold eyes were a huge contrast to his unkempt appearance. Such a reaction raised hairs at the back of my neck.
"I'm alive until now because of this little kitty. Cheshire, why don't you come out and greet him?"
A wide smile appeared from the dark corner of the cell before a pair of slitted eyes opened. The rest of the cat's purple striped body emerged, and it landed daintily on the dusty floor. It stared at me with its unearthly grin before it meowed.
"Cheshire doesn't speak for some reason. He has been helping me with the food and water. Unfortunately, no luck with the keys to these chains. The Queen must have kept them somewhere."
I narrowed my eyes suspiciously.
"If you have offended the Queen, you would have been guarded closely by the Queen's people. Yet, it seemed like no one within the castle knew of your existence except for your cat. Are you sure you are speaking the truth?"
To make a point, I touched the chains. At the barest moment of my touch, the chains shuddered and unlocked, releasing the "prisoner". Art laughed gleefully as he stood up straight while rubbing the bruises on his wrists.
"That's the first time an Alice didn't fall for my tricks."
The background of the prison cell faded away.
It was replaced with a maze of doors. At the place where we were standing, a staircase could lead up or down to a set of doors. Gravity seemed to have written its laws to have the feet stuck to the stairs so that even if a person appeared to be upside down, they were not. Vaguely, I could see silhouettes of people walking up and down the stairs, going through the doors.
"Unfortunately, you triggered a trap."
Art sighed as he sat down. Now, his appearance no longer was that of an unkempt look of a prisoner. Instead, it was the look of a blonde-haired young boy in overalls.
"Now, we are lost."
I was shocked at the changes before me. I could not believe that merely unveiling Art's bluff could have resulted in this.
"What do you mean we are "lost"? Where is this place?"
"The House of Doors." The boy answered. "You know, in a carnival, there are maze attractions like that. This is one of the many places within Wonderland. I had been stuck here for a while until I found an opening to the Queen's castle. I thought of tricking a servant or soldier to take my place, but you found me instead. Now, I'm back to square one."
Art glanced around, searching for his cat, but it was nowhere to be found. With a sigh of defeat, he lay on the stairs. Meanwhile, I walked up the stairs to the door behind Art.
"Don't try that door." I paused just as I was about to grasp the doorknob. "It's filled with nasty stuff that is inappropriate for anyone's eyes."
"Then, what door can I try?" I stared at the young boy impatiently. It was weird that I talked to a full-grown man moments ago, but now, that man was actually a young kid. "I have to get out of here and find the last Alice letter."
Suddenly, Art clapped his hands as though he was applauding me. It was as if he was making light of our situation. I felt anger rising from within me.
"Congratulations! You found half of the letter!" He chuckled.
I was about to hit him when he suddenly raised his right hand. There was a heart symbol on his hand, but only half of it was there. I stared at him in shock.
"How? What? Why? I can see those questions floating around your head. It's not that hard to answer them, but I'm incomplete. Without my twin sister, you won't get the last letter. With no end in sight here, none of us can get out. We are as good as dead."
"... Then, what you said about your sister…."
"It's all true. But out of all the Alices I have seen in here, you have incredible luck if you found me so quickly." The boy paused as he glanced at me. Gears seemed to be moving in his head as he watched me thoughtfully. "Have a seat beside me. Until Cheshire finds his way here again, we are doomed."
"Is the Cheshire the only one who can find a way in here?" I asked as I sent out Dice to look around the place. Art watched him whizzed about.
I looked above me and below. It was an endless flight of stairs with numerous doors peppered everywhere. Meanwhile, the silhouettes of people I see continued to walk up and down the flights of stairs. Some of them went through the doors, others avoided doors like the plague, and some opened the doors despite being phantom-like.
"Yeah," Art answered.
"I tried all the doors that those phantoms have gone through. They lead to doors below or above. I'm not sure how to work them out, but I'm pretty sure we have to go through the right doors in the correct order. One misstep, and we end up right where we are.
But, Cheshire is different. I think he can enter other places in Wonderland however he pleases. So, he doesn't follow the rules. It just takes time for him to find his way to me…."
Art paused before he continued in an unsure tone.
"... Unless he got side-tracked by something outside. Hahaha…"
I tried not to facepalm.
It seemed that I would be stuck here for a while as I observed the place again. Until Dice gave me some data, I would have to settle with following the phantoms' movements and getting more information from Art. With no indication of day or night, I have no way of knowing how long I would spend here.
Hopefully, wherever Omen is in Wonderland, she will be in safe hands.