Welcome To Wonderland
The world of Wonderland is indeed wondrous. Buildings wobble and spin, colors keep changing and patterns being rearranged, the ground can even move!
Briar couldn't take it all at once. Wonderland was said to be cursed by the Evil Queen, no other Wonderlandian was said to be seen outside it! And Grimm blocked off all entrances! How could've they ended up here? “This is– This is–”
“Welcome to Wonderland!” Boomed a fancy Wonderlandian. Briar almost stumbled by the sudden appearance. “Oh, uh, thank you—”
“Welcome to Wonderland!” Greeted a taller Wonderlandian above her with a kind of French accent. “Ahah! Uh, thank you too—”
“The sun sets, the widow calls, none of which seem to fall! The world is at bay, which never seems to have laid!” Said another Wonderlandian who shook the confused Briar's hand and quickly cartwheeled away. She started to mumble. “Dios mio, this is getting confusing—”
“Welcome to Wonderland!” A Wonderlandian with a large top hat grinned at her.
“What a wonderlandiful dress that is!” Commented another Wonderlandian with a frilly umbrella.
A small Wonderlandian appeared on Briar's shoulder. “Oh, pardon me but have you seen my mock turtle, Maybelline? Last saw her with her friend Celine, then she disappeared!”
Briar attempted to speak, still stunned and confused. “Oh, I, uhm, I'm sorry, I don't know—”
“Oh! Maybe she just flew the coop!” A similar small Wonderlandian appeared, then another one suggested, “Or became mock turtle soup!”
“Well, let's all form a focus group!”
“Good idea!”
“This is getting weirder!” Briar stated. She kept on going, passing through the bustling town in search of either bunny ears or pink clothing. But it seems the search has become harder and harder each second.
“What a party that was! Has it started snowing?” Coming from a group of Wonderlandians from nearby. “They say everyone not coming will be going!” They all looked at Briar simultaneously. Unsettling. She walked faster and continued searching.
“Did you hear the Princess of Hearts giving out new orders?” Asked an orange Wonderlandian. “Well, they're the same as always, I say. ‘Close all the borders or it is Off With Your Heads!’” A green Wonderlandian mocked.
Close all the borders? What does that mean? Doesn't matter. Briar thought. She must keep searching. This place keeps getting more puzzling.
“I am starting to think I'm in a dream! Why won't any of this make sense!” Briar let out.
“Well, we don't think at all, we simply feel, dear!” Said a Wonderlandian passing by on a unicycle.
“Then okay, somebody please tell me what's the deal here!”
“Oh, we'll tell you our deal! Caterpillar Line!”
Briar was then pushed, shoved, and into a line that then moved in a rhythm, like a conga line. “What—Hey! I have no time for this! I'm trying to find my brother—”
“Well! That's something new!” A wormy Wonderlandian replied in front of her. “Problems with the old wazoo again?”
“What?—”
“No! There's rumors of a palace coup! You think the Princess is involved?” A winged Wonderlandian behind her spoke. “I think so! It must be terrible!”
“Ugh! Get me out of here!” Briar was shoved again out of the line that kept moving along the road, then around her. “Oh, come on! What is it?”
“You, my dear, you feel so uptight!” The same tall French Wonderlandian bent down at her. “Learn to sit back and relax!”
“You people are nuts! I can't relax! I have to find my brother!”
“We're all a little nuts!” They laughed. “Aren't we, everyone?”
“Ooblee! Ooblah!” Shouted the line around them.
“Look, I can't stay! I am trying to find my brother who I'm sure is around here somewhere and then when I do, we need to get home!” Briar told them. The tall Wonderlandian frowned. “See? This is what I said! Listen dear, Life can be fantastic every minute, for as long as you can just stay in it!”
“What? What does that mean? You know what, nevermind! I'm going—” Briar got pushed back into the line again. “Hey!—”
“We've all got something to tell you first!”
“Fine! Make it quick! Who knows how far my brother is by now!” Briar grumbled. “Oh, Jolly good! Everyone! What is to seek and to not be found by eyes alone?” The Wonderlandian Line began to speak.
“Everywhere you seek,
Is not what it seems to be,
So turn your view upside down,
And let yourself be found,
Only the Eighth Square
Can bring you out beyond!”
Briar took a moment to think, Wonderlandians were always fond of riddles, hence their native language being Riddlish. Unfortunately, they don't even teach these in Ever After. “I'm sorry, I don't seem to understand—”
“It was nice to meet you! Up to the path that knows no end, till our fates are connected once again!” The line was disconnected and all the Wonderlandians lifted Briar up. “It is tea time! So, to you we say, Au revoir!”
“W– Wait!”
Before Briar could retort, she was suddenly launched in the air as the Wonderlandians waved goodbye.
«────── « ⋅ʚ♠ɞ⋅ » ──────»
Falling from the sky this time! Maybe Briar should fall into a hole next… Sorry. Narrator humor.
Briar screamed as she fell into the purple colored forest and landed… safely. Well, almost. She slowly rose up from the ground and dusted herself off from the branches and leaves. Being thrown out of the town and into a forest? That wasn't what she thought the Wonderlandians would be like. They seemed so happy, despite the curse that has drawn over them for a long time. Yet, nothing else seems to have changed.
All of her body hurts, from falling and stumbling to being pushed and shoved, then there's this. Her feet hurt most of all. But that isn't important right now. What's important is to go find her brother and that dastardly bunny.
And speaking of, the white figure appeared through the thick trees, and it's going fast. “Hey!”
Briar made a run for it. Wherever that bunny girl is going, she must know where Honor is. “Hey! Stop! Please!”
“No time! No time! The boy is needed to be with the Princess! Gotta hop! Gotta run!” The bunny girl repeated the last time they met, she hopped faster.
“Ugh! Stop hopping!”
As she's ready to leap and tackle down the speedy bunny, she is immediately greeted with a wall and her body hit against it. Ouch. “What the… Ugh.” She hissed from the pain, rubbing her head as she looked around for the bunny… she disappeared again.
“Oh, come on! I'm not having the best day so it would really help if you would come out and give me my brother back!” Briar said angrily to no one at all. She slumped against the wall. Great. How will she find her brother now?
There has to be another way around this wall, but it seems endless. It even reached an impossible height in the green sky. One flaw is that there was a small crack in it at the bottom. Briar bent down and peeked, revealing a door. A miniature door. This got harder.
She looked around for at least something to help, nothing helpful in her bag. The forest around her had forms of furniture tangled in the roots of the trees. Some of them must have something to help. But apparently she doesn't need to look twice as she spotted something glowing coming from a tangled desk's drawer. Briar went over to it and picked it up, it was a bottle full of some glittery substance. A note was tied to its cap.
“Drink me.” She read and flipped over the note for anything else. “Responsibly. Wow.” Aside from this bottle, nothing else around could help her. It is worth drinking this, right? She opened the cap and gave a sniff.
Rose Honey Milk Tea. Briar recognized this smell from years ago. Perhaps it couldn't hurt to drink after all.
She stood in front of the crack, and looked back at the bottle. “I better not regret this.” Closing her eyes, Briar drank the liquid in one gulp. Suddenly, she felt her muscles closing, her legs getting shorter, and her body shook and vibrated until everything felt normal.
She opened her eyes. The forest that was once tall grew even taller, and the purple grass as well. She shrunk. She looked at the door ahead, labeled with a number Two. It was now the perfect size for a tiny person to enter.
Turning the door knob, she slowly opened the door and entered through whatever awaits.