Mad Hatter's Guide to Clearing The Game
Chapter 59: Ch57. Hello, Wonderland

Chapter 59: Ch57. Hello, Wonderland

The moment Diego opened his eyes, he wished he hadn’t.

A chill crawled up his spine as he took in the warped, nightmarish expanse before him. Wonderland – if it could even still be called that – stretched out in jagged, unnatural forms, the very land pulsing like a living, breathing entity.

The sky overhead was a sickly tone of green void, swirling with streaks of crimson lightning that crackled and forked across the endless darkness. There was no sun, no moon, just a sickly glow that seemed to radiate from the land itself.

"What... The hell is this?" Diego whispered, his voice barely audible over the eerie silence that clung to the air like a thick fog.

"Welcome to Wonderland." Miles stepped beside him, his previous grin fading, little by little, as the memories of his adventure settled in.

Diego swallowed hard. The ground beneath them was unlike anything he had ever seen. It looked like porcelain, cracked and shattered in places, yet when he shifted his weight, it felt like he was stepping on flesh. In the distance, a forest of towering, gnarled trees stretched toward the sky, their bark twisted into grotesque, grinning faces that watched them without eyes. The leaves were black and brittle, fluttering in a wind that didn’t exist.

"This is..." Diego took a shaky step forward, his heart pounding. "This isn’t how it was in the stories."

"The stories never got it right." Miles chuckled, low and humorless. "And yet, this place wasn’t like this when I last left..."

A sound echoed through the air, distant yet close all at once. A whispering, chattering noise, like the rustling of dead leaves mixed with something alive. Diego stiffened. Shadows flickered at the edges of his vision, moving when he wasn’t looking directly at them.

"We need to keep moving," Miles said, his voice sharp. "We’re heading to the Queen of Hearts’ castle."

"Why there?" Diego turned to him, his stomach twisting. "And... How did you know I would be able to cross the portal?" The question suddenly bubbled up in his mind as he recalled when Miles told him not to worry about finding a farming spot.

Because Miles had a theory.

"Last time, when I fought the White Rabbit, I found some answers there." Miles stepped forward. "Maybe we can find some more, while we level up. Also... I didn’t know." Miles blurted out, monotone. "It was a possibility, though, since I gave you the tea from the [Ether Teapot], and I thought it had some relation with Wonderland. Anyway, I’m glad to know I was right, but I don’t think you should be thinking about it right now. We should focus."

Diego shuddered. He had always thought Miles was fearless, but the way his best friend spoke, calm, measured, detached, it was almost worse than if he had sounded scared.

The two of them moved forward, winding through the fractured landscape. The air was thick with the scent of something burnt and metallic, and Diego could feel the land shifting beneath them as if Wonderland itself was watching, waiting.

They passed through what might have once been a town, though it was impossible to tell. The buildings were hunched over, leaning at odd angles, their walls pulsating as if they were alive. Broken streetlamps flickered erratically, casting long, writhing shadows that didn’t match the shapes of what cast them.

In the distance, a tea party table stretched endlessly into the horizon, chairs tipped over, teacups filled with something black and viscous still steaming.

Diego tore his gaze away, trying not to let his mind slip into the insanity that seemed to seep from every inch of this place.

"How... how long were you here?" He whispered, holding his hands to keep them from shaking.

Miles didn’t answer immediately. When he finally spoke, though, his tone was flat.

"Long enough."

Diego clenched his fists. He wanted to ask more, but the tone of Miles’ voice kept him silent. Instead, he focused on the path ahead. The castle loomed in the distance, a massive, crumbling structure of blood-red stone and jagged spires. It looked like something out of a fever dream, its towers bent at impossible angles, parts of it floating in midair, held together by chains of glowing, pulsating veins.

"That’s it?" Diego breathed, staring at the monstrosity before them.

"It wasn’t like this..." Miles nodded, hesitant. "But yeah, that’s what the Queen’s castle used to be."

As they approached the gates, Diego’s breath hitched. The massive doors were open, revealing a throne room bathed in dim, reddish light. The walls were lined with torn banners, their once-bright colors faded and streaked with something dark. The floor was littered with playing cards, all of them burned and curled at the edges.

"Big bro..." Diego whispered. "You said this place looked different the last time you were here... How come you seem completely unphased by it having changed?" After a moment of silence, he added. "Aren’t you curious? Scared?"

"Who said I’m not?" Miles chuckled quietly. "But Wonderland has a way of getting in your head... The more you let its madness get to you, the more screwed you are. So, hang in there, buddy. I’m with you, okay?"

Diego nodded, silent.

They walked for what seemed like hours, making turns and twists through the corridors of that decadent place. The walls seemed to bleed, a viscous, red fluid dripping from the ceiling, and every time it touched the floor, it looked like rippling.

Almost as if the floor was not made of solid matter.

Everything was eerily silent, and nothing moved toward them, which only added to Diego’s fright. However, he gritted his teeth and followed Miles, no matter what.

After they turned another corner, though, Miles broke the silence, almost making Diego jump.

"Weird." "Miles’ voice sounded devoid of emotion, but Diego could discern a faint glint of wariness. "These portraits weren’t here before..."

Diego looked at the portraits on the wall, some covered in that red goo that dripped from the ceiling and the walls, some clean, as though someone had just cleaned them.

Upon closer inspection, Diego noticed that they were not portraits, but paintings. And each painting seemed to carry a piece of Wonderland’s history. From Alice falling through the rabbit hole, to a tea party with the Mad Hatter.

However, it was not Alice in the paintings.

"Uh... Big bro?" Diego stammered. "Come here real quick..."

"Wha-" Miles was already by his side, and before he could say anything, his eyes landed on the painting. "What in the minor fuck...?"

Each of the paintings moved like they were alive. The one that portrayed Miles falling down the rabbit hole, had him falling endlessly as he fell by bookshelves, tableware, and cutlery, among many other things, never reaching the bottom.

"Was it how it happened?" Diego’s voice sounded hollow, caught up in his throat in somber amusement.

As they walked through the corridor, they saw that many other paintings portrayed Miles and his grim adventures.

"Yes." Miles nodded when they arrived in front of the last painting.

Miles stood in the middle of a ruined greenhouse, shattered glass and dead leaves everywhere while the sick skylight tore through the holes in the shattered walls. Miles was wearing that scary mask, along with the exquisite clothes that he had been wearing when Diego saw him after those long weeks. In his hands, the black scythe that Diego saw him wielding against the [Fallen Puppets].

And in front of him, a gruesome, scary clockwork rabbit with golden cracked skin, and tons of broken gears spilling from within it.

"This is where I fought him." Miles stepped forward, his boots crunching against the brittle remains of play cards. "The White Rabbit."

"What was he always like this?" Diego swallowed hard.

"No..." Miles turned to him, eyes shadowed. "Or yes, I don’t know, actually. He pretended to be an ally, only to betray me and try to kill me for the mad Hatter’s gear."

"Oh..." A shiver ran down Diego’s spine. "I guess I shouldn’t be this surprised..."

As they spent some more time walking, they arrived at the throne room, vast and broken, old. Fragments of armor were scattered all over the place, along with ripped pieces of pay cards the size of human adults, the ceiling stood up high, almost as if it reached hundreds of meters in altitude, giving Diego a sudden wave of vertigo.

Miles walked towards the throne, his fingers grazing over the remnants of a shattered crown that lay discarded on the floor. Everything in this place screamed of violence, of battles long past but never forgotten. The air was thick with something unspoken, evil.

"So, what now?" Diego exhaled, steadying himself.

Before Miles could answer, they heard footsteps coming from behind the throne. And what stepped into the sickly light of the red throne room, made Diego’s hair stand on end, a quiet scream catching in his throat.