Mad Hatter's Guide to Clearing The Game
Chapter 102: Ch100. Pain as a teacher (24) - From different worlds

Chapter 102: Ch100. Pain as a teacher (24) - From different worlds

Miles tried to walk toward Kurt, but as soon as he took the first step, his entire body gave up, and Miles felt the weight of the world pushing him against the ground, like a cascade made of flesh, bone, and skin.

Kurt looked at him as Miles fell on his face, shaking his head slowly as he broke the awkward silence that unfolded between them, a slight grin splitting his lips open.

"You okay, kid?"

Miles Huffed, lifting a tiny cloud of dust from beneath his face as he raised his thumb and mumbled something unintelligible.

"What?" Kurt tried not to chuckle, walking toward Miles. "I think you have dust in your mouth, I can’t hear you."

"I said fuck you." Miles turned on his back and took a breath. "What did you see...?"

Miles could not see Kurt from where he fell, looking at the tall ceiling of that hidden chamber, the strange glyphs pulsing with unnatural life as their even more unnatural meaning poured into Miles’ head.

Before he passed out and gave place to the Hatter once more, though, he closed his eyes shut. Then, Kurt broke the silence.

"Well... I saw a lot of things, but I felt a little bit more than I saw."

"What do you mean?" A storm of colorful sparks surrounded Miles’ hand as he summoned the [Ether Teapot].

He drank from the colorful liquid, its kaleidoscopic colors sending weird rainbows over the chamber’s walls as Kurt fell silent for a few seconds. During the moment of quietness, Miles felt the etheric tea replenishing his strength, healing whatever wounds he had acquired during the time he was not... Himself, and after a few more moments, he was finally able to sit up and turn toward Kurt, who watched Miles with a mix of curiosity and... Apprehension?

"How did you come across Wonderland, kid?" Was the only thing Kurt uttered, his voice barely above a whisper before he finally got close enough to Miles.

Miles furrowed his brows, letting out a deep sigh.

"You saw the Hatter, then..." his brows went immediately up as soon as he said it, and then he added. "Wait! How do you-"

Before Miles could finish asking his question, Kurt lunged at him, stopping just a few inches from him, and before Miles could even blink, he felt the cold steel of Kurt’s knife touching his throat.

"Let me ask the questions for now, okay?" There was a glint of cold, calculating anger in his eyes as he spoke, his silver eye glowing with a purple hue. "And I suggest you be entirely honest with me because I can kill you in the blink of an eye, and I do think you have some unfinished business to deal with, or else you wouldn’t be here, so... How did you come across Wonderland, kid?"

Miles did not move.

Even though he had the energy and strength to at least put up a fight, there was something in Kurt’s eyes, in his tone, that made Miles not wantto fight him.

Something deeply hidden underneath his seeming anger and threatening aura. But Miles did not rebuke Kurt’s question with another one. He knew better, after having seen his – companion? Friend? Ally? – fight against that frightening flying Revenant, and against that... Thing, up there...

However, he hesitated for a few seconds, weighing the possibilities before him.

He could tell Kurt everything, but if he let more than the strictly necessary to save his skin, it could put him in more danger than he was now. Even more because he himself did not know the Hatter or anything related to him, other than what he had read when he was a kid.

But what if Kurt knew more than he did?

’What if I say the wrong thing...? Fuck... Why is it never easy...?’

And so, Miles told Kurt everything that transpired in his secret quest, from his journey through the strange forest, to his final, dire battle against the White Rabbit, and to when he completed the quest, earning both the items related to the Mad Hatter, and to whatever that [Ender] being was.

"It’s been a while since you had that... Adventure of yours, then..." Kurt finally said, after what felt like sluggishly long minutes of silence. "And the thing hasn’t killed you yet, but... How come you still haven’t mustered the strength to fight him for the right of his legacy?"

"A while...?" Miles blinked a few times. "Yeah, if you call a month or so ’a while’, then yes. But how can I be able to get strong enough to do that in such a short period of time?"

"A... Month?" It was Kurt’s time to blink. His voice dripped with confusion now. "What do you mean a month? You said you got on this secret quest that even I never heard of almost right after the game started, and it has been running for decades, so-"

"What do you mean decades?" Miles did not resist the urge to retort to Kurt’s words. "Cut the bullshit, will you?" He scoffed. "Decades... Yeah, and I’m Mrs. President."

"You’re no woman from what I can see..." Kurt tilted his head.

"Yeah, thank you for the accurate assessment." Miles shot back. "What do you mean decades? It’s barely been four months since The Glitch descended and made our lives hell, so no. No decades."

Miles was getting tired from the banter, their back-and-forth stretching to a point that almost made him get up and turn to leave.

However, there was something in Kurt’s words that made Miles feel uneasy, his stomach churning ever so slightly at Kurt’s tone when he said the word ’decades’.

Enough so that he had to ask.

"How old are you, Kurt...? And... How old were you when The Glitch descended?"

"You’re making me nervous with this story of glitch... What the hell is this glitch?" Kurt almost stammered. "You’re talking like-"

"Just answer the damn question." Miles looked straight in Kurt’s eyes. "... Please."

Kurt glared back at Miles, but his knife did not move an inch. In fact, Miles felt the coldness of the steel receding a little, as if Kurt had pulled it back ever so slightly before answering.

"I’m thirty-four years-old, and I... Was born in that hellish game."

The words hit like a hammer to the ribs. His breath caught up in his throat, the walls felt closer, the air too thick.

No.

No, that could not be right. It was a mistake, a joke.

But Kurt was not laughing.

Thirty-four years?

Kurt was born in The Glitch?

He fought against the words that formed in the back of his head. But if Kurt was telling the truth – and his tone did not sound like he was lying – then...

"No... I-it can’t be..." Miles stammered.

"What?" Kurt’s voice was not so cold and assertive, or even cocky anymore.

After a moment of somber quietness, in which both Miles and Kurt were almost able to hear the pulsing of the glyphs, Miles finally dared to break the silence.

"I... I don’t think we come from the same world."