"So you're saying that you will spare us?" I asked the bat, while helping Alice up from the ground.
"Yes. And why are you asking with a dubious tone?" the bat answered, and asked Alice and me in return. "As I've said, I am not eating you filthy humans, especially a puppet. We want berries, and that's what we will eat from now on."
"It's just that-."
"I have never heard of monsters eating berries instead of meat. Although I believe you, it's still hard to digest those words. But please forgive us for our rude demeanour. We are just not accustomed to this situation." Alice was the one who continued my sentences.
The bat had its eyes widened in surprise as it heard the princess' words. That placental mammal turned to face Alice and lowered its head. Alice and I thought that something was about to happen. But we thought wrong.
"You are a princess, are you not?" The bat addressed Alice as royalty, which I did not expect once again.
"Yes. Thank you for addressing me." Alice returned the favour and bowed her head. She desperately tried to do an elegant pose, but her hands failed to do so. "I was a princess. But not anymore."
The bat tilted its head in confusion. I did the same, knowing that Alice was still a part of the royal council. Although her kingdom turned into dust, there were dozens of magical empires out there that still believed in hope. Those people still had faith in a fresh beginning, where their lives would return to peace.
"I smell the blood of a princess if I sniff one," the bat claimed, and moved towards Alice.
I readied my fists in case of something that was about to happen. Alas, I was wrong yet again. The other bats saw my movements and tried to do the same. But The representing bat gazed in my direction and gave me a nod. All the bats went to their space and shut their mouths from screeching.
And that gesture told me everything. That bat in front of me never wanted a war to happen between us or any creatures. These placental mammals spoke to the truth.
"The king is your people, and you are the leader. King, queen, prince or princess, you still have the responsibility to maintain that equilibrium that nobody could. That's your power as a princess." The bat lowers its head once again. Its wings retracted and shielded the bat's body, but not its face.
"I have failed to introduce myself to you. What you've killed was my father, the king of bats. I inherited his throne the moment you killed him. The moment you used your obsidian beam. That power that you took from us is our special ability. My name is Draco, short for dracogre. The prince of the cauldron. League of bats in the land of Wonderland."
Alice and I couldn't believe our eyes from the sight of a bat that had the etiquette of a royal member. Even in some fictional stories back on Earth, I had never seen such a monster do this thing. It was the moment that reminded me I came from a different planet, beyond my mind could comprehend.
However, there was one thing that we concerned ourselves about with Draco.
"If Mask killed your parents, doesn't that mean you hate us?" Alice asked.
Draco shook his head and retorted, "It is unfortunate for him to leave us from this world, but his generation must come to a stop. We dislike eating meat. And we want berries! But that old man refused to do what we asked, and killed every animal in this forest! It drives me nuts that all the bats wanted him dead!"
The bat paused for a second and looked at the dracogre's corpse. "We realised we became monsters of the animals surrounding us. Those birds could run around outside this place, yet here we are, stuck inside the forest. The king prevented us from escaping this place. And now that he finally took his rest, I promised my kin to let them free outside Wonderland. That was the late wish of my mother, the queen of the cauldron. After witnessing that scene, it would become a destiny fulfilled for me."
"The monsters who we knew as monsters wanted peace…" Alice murmured to herself.
Her eyes glistened as Alice gazed upon Draco, as if a different light paved our road. The bat's words left a mark on Alice's heart. That gothic girl would remember those words until we reach our destination.
It was what Draco had mentioned. The cauldron did not want to become monsters that terrorised the forest. They wanted to become someone else. Like the birds fluttering in the sky, these bats yearned to become free. These bats wished for peace, unlike any other creatures living in this forest.
"Despite other individuals calling us monsters, we too wanted to become someone that can wish for peace," Draco added, and instructed his other fellow bats to withdraw from the site.
The flock of bats heeded Draco's command and turned around towards the other side. With their enormous wings, those bats flew like a speeding bullet heading south from the forest. Draco mentioned bats needed to rest during the day, and sleep during the night. It was thanks to the weather that we defeated the weakened king.
Before Draco could go his merry way, the bat peered into his eyes at Alice's arms. With a brief nod, Draco expanded his wings and suggested for us to have a seat.
"It is partially my fault that you injured yourself, Princess Alice. I believe that you and your puppet wish to go to the boards of Wonderland's forest, don't you?"
"We do," Alice answered.
"If that is the case, let me give you a ride at the borders. Puppet, mend your master's wounds during the trip. With your intellect like a human being, you should know little aids to tend to the injuries," the bat appended, and directed his gaze at the nearby plants.
Alice jolted from the ground in surprise as soon as she noticed the plants at the side. But because of the broken bones that Alice had, the poor girl cried a million tears. After crying her fill, Alice explained we could use the herbs to heal her wounds.
"Although inefficient as it is, these plants are the only thing we have!" Alice said, with a wide grin on her face.
As Draco suggested, Alice and I perched on the stone and instructed me to ointment about her body parts affected by the pain. The gothic girl laid down on the makeshift bed made of gravel and prepared herself for the process.
Alice told me to press the herbs on her back and spread the juice that would come out from the plants. I needed to be as gently as possible if I want to avoid crushing her entire spine. She asked if I could help her remove the sleeves of her clothes, which I agreed to do. It flustered me to do all these things, but we need to do these processes soon before the wounds get infected.
And that was what I did with my pinkish cheeks.
Her smooth and peachy skin had grazes that came from slamming against the boulder. Alice's arms dangled on the sides, which I placed to avoid any objects hitting her arms.
After countless preparations, I spread the extracts on her back and imbued it with arcane, as Alice had proposed. The healers from her kingdom taught her this technique, knowing that Alice could not use any healing magic. Alice did not have the aptitude for mending with the human body. And even if she did, her mage class differed from the healing role.
"Are you sure you're okay with this? Imbuing the fluids with arcane cost would cost a toll to your mana capacity, Mask," Alice said in a worried voice. Her eyes showed anxiousness as they dropped to the sides.
But I pounded my chest and confessed that I had a mana cap like the size of a whale. When I told Alice, she tilted her head and asked what a whale looked like in her eyes. She even questioned me about whales! "Does a whale have a round belly? Is that a person? Ooh, I bet they are! Whales are friendly, right? I wanna meet them someday!" Alice asked, which was a different thing!
"I will explain what whales are on our way, okay," I said. Alice reacted giddily and waited for me to finish massaging her back. She was excited to hear my explanation soon.
It took me fifteen minutes to rub everything on Alice's back. And as soon as we finished, Alice remarked that her body was feeling better already! Although the gothic girl still had problems lifting her arms, Alice could grab some pocket-size object and place it in front of her. She also had the energy to wiggle her arms, but she needed to be careful to do that along our way.
With all that accomplished, we finally hopped onto Draco's back and flew above the ground.