"Hold on tight. If you fall, I won't catch you... probably." That was the last warning that Draco gave to Alice and me before letting us through.
Alice was sitting behind me, while I sat on the front part of Draco's head. Since the bat's back did not have any safety measures besides its rough and pointed skin, Alice must stay behind. I told her it would be safer to remain at a spot where I could catch her if she ever falls from her seat. Alice gripped my back and pressed her body into mine. She had injured hands and a fragile body that could barely stand on its own. Thanks to the herbs we used to massage her, Alice could fasten her hands around me.
That was the plan.
The gigantic bat expanded his wings that nearly covered the sky and raced onward. A twister of wind formed below ground as the bat discharged himself upward. It was like a rocket ship launching from the heavens, without having someone ticking the time bomb. After we had blasted off, the world zoomed in, as if we were moving faster than the bullet train.
Thousands of birds fluttered behind us, startled at the blaring sound that the bat gave away his emotions. Draco's eyes and lips curled up into a smile as he saw them flying ahead of us. With his words still stuck inside our minds, Alice and I could not help but grin. We remembered Draco's words that inspired our thoughts. There were even monsters below us that raised their heads to watch Draco fly away. All of them wished to escape the island, and some yearned for this place.
The forest had a distance of one thousand miles, which proved us wrong. There were waterfalls on the Southern side, some make-shift huts created by goblins and other monsters on the Eastern side, and hills in the Northern area. It was a magical place that was beyond my imagination.
Wonderland's forest had a sea surrounding the island. The body of water occupied around five hundred miles of the forest, with a depth that would range seven hundred feet as the seafloor. Thanks to Draco for giving us a ride, Alice and I could arrive at the borders in no time. It was one step closer to achieving our goals.
There was a shadow lingering around the water. It was the guardian of Wonderland that defended the place and devoured any intruders. That thing that we saw swam in the waves. We also noticed other marine life wandering inside the waters. But we paid no concern for that as we went on our merry way.
Draco finally decreased his pace as we flew with the cotton clouds. The bat cared not to touch them, since these bats knew clouds would hurt their skins. It contained hail, which was the reason for their injuries. I wish these bats knew them sooner, but that piece of information was useless to their hands.
I did not mind it at all, given that I was not the one flying, anyway.
Alice, who I thought would appreciate the scenery, closed her eyes and wrapped her hands around my hip, made of wool. Her body quivered like an alarm clock, shaking my entire upper body. She gripped my body tight and mumbled to herself a prayer that I did not know.
"Are you, perhaps, scared of heights?" I asked.
It was not an uncommon fear, even back from my previous world. And I found it cute if Alice had this fear of staying at an elevated place. Alice's hands pinched my hips and impaled me with her nails. But no wounds escaped from the hole Alice made. Since I was a puppet, I never felt the pain that should surge through my skin. I doubt her actions were from the fear she was feeling.
"You idiot! Of course, I'm not afraid!" Alice retorted, yet her body said otherwise.
I wrapped my hands around hers and caressed Alice's head. After my hands rubbed her hair, her shivering came to a halt. Alice eased up her hands, but she never unlatched her hands off me. She remained with those fingers wrapped around my body, holding me tight as a baby would do with her blanket.
"I'm not scared. Not anymore," Alice whispered, as she confessed her feelings. "Do you not feel scared? You're a puppet, but you act like a human being... with emotions."
"I felt scared," I answered. "My heart raced when I thought I would lose you from that battle, Alice."
The gothic girl stared at my face and thought of something inside her head. Alice frowned her eyes and mumbled something. She only did this when something bugged her head.
"I remember you saying that you're a different puppet. And that you're a human being, just like me. Although I know all that, it just feels so unreal to me. A puppet that can feel more than a human, which is you."
She peeled her eyes open and witnessed the beauty of our surroundings. Alice, who had stayed far too long on foot, saw the place from above. It was her throne, which was the place Alice rightfully belongs.
That power was her responsibility as a princess.
"I've never thought that looking far beyond my eyes could see would make me feel-,"
"Ecstatic?" I continued the unfinished sentence of Alice's statement.
She let out a faint laugh and nodded. "I was hoping to say the word alive, but ecstatic sounds way better!"
Alice let out a satisfied exhale as she continued browsing the world before her. It was the only time I saw her eyes peeled and brimming with excitement, unlike the cave that locked her inside.
However, that smile changed into something. Alice had her eyes looking downward, with her hands fiddling with each other. 'There must be something troubling her! I know it,' I thought, and opened my mouth.
But before I could even say something, Alice looked at me and smiled. She knew I was about to say something, but I let Alice do the talking. That girl was good at conversations, anyway.
"Will Detroit and the Magical Kingdoms attain peace? Could I achieve that goal? Is that a pipe dream I can never get? Do I still have a chance to get the freedom that all the people wanted?" Alice murmured, but I heard her series of questions crystal to my ears.
"Yes. Believe me or not, our world had two wars that we thought that would never end, but it ended. After the creation of the United Nations, our world attained peace. There are still problems here and there that we need to fix. But, you know, we made it. We got the peace that we wanted. All the officials needed to do is to prolong that peace as long as they could. And I'd bet you could too." I answered.
"How do you know that I'm ready? How do I know if I won't fail? What if I ran away from my responsibilities? What if those people would lose their lives for me? I don't want to trade lives. I want them to live too." Alice was on the verge of crying. But my hand stopped her momentum.
She looked down on our intertwined hands as I spoke to Alice. "You will never know when you're ready. The people cannot promise you anything. Sacrifices would still happen in front of you. And the only thing that you can do with their lives is to move forward. Do not let their deaths be in vain." I replied.
"By how?"
"You will know when you sit on your throne," I answered, and laughed to myself. "How should I know? I'm not a prince, and definitely not a princess. But I can be your friend."
Alice growled at me and pouted. She crossed her arms and averted her gaze from me. That girl refused to look me in the eye.
'Was it something I said?' I wondered.
"No fair!! I wish I was a puppet too!" Alice remarked, and glued her eyes to the horizon.
"I don't mind switching places, Alice." I interjected, and gazed at where Alice directed her eyes.
As soon as we arrived at the cold ground, our journey would begin. We had learned countless things about living in Wonderland's forest. Now that we were outside the woodland, we had a purpose.
Alice and I planned to reclaim her throne. She would rule the magical kingdoms once more and inherit her role as the Queen of Wonderland.
We were up against Detroit, the land with vicious arsenals such as guns and heavy-duty tanks. It was any other teenager's dream to relive life in another world. But it was more than a dream.
It was my life. I finally had a purpose, a loving friend, and a new world that needed me.
A story that I would name "Alice in Wonderland". It was a perfect tale that suited her the most.
And then there was me, a puppet.