Chapter Text
“How long has it been since we last met?”
“Couple of years?” Alice held on to the Time Harp with a firm grip.
“Where’s the rest of your crew? The stray?” she mocked.
“You mean Cheshire? He’s doing better than ever. But that’s besides the point, you have to stop what you’re doing, Genevieve.”
“That won’t be as easy as it was before.” Genevieve gestured to the ten seats on display. “They’ve gotten so much more resilient over the years, they’re better than they were in the past years.”
“You shouldn’t be forcing them to follow you.”
“I am not forcing them.” she told her sternly, “I offered them a chance at a better life and they chose to follow me.”
“Because you threatened to kill them!”
“Those are just rumours!” Genevive yelled, “I would never force them to swear their loyalty to me. The Ten Delusions were formed and they always stuck together. Any one of them could have betrayed me or easily ran off, but they didn’t. They stayed with me and got stronger!”
“That’s true,” Alice told her, convinced that the Queen of Hearts wouldn’t change her mind, “but if you look to your right you’ll see Prince Merlin and Nathaniel with Marilyn restrained.”
Genevive’s smile fell as she turned to see exactly what Alice had described, the three of them entering the room. “What…?”
Alice continued, “And to your left you can see Prince Kio, Peter, Arthur and Princess Goldilocks with Stalia, Eliso, Pluto, and Adoro in captivity.”
She quickly turned her head as her voice cracked, “No! It can’t be!”
“And finally, behind you is Audrey, who brought back Sovic.” she said as Audrey, who made it out of the bar, held Sovic bound with water restraints.
Genevive started to panic before she realized something “...Chessure and AbsaLem! Where are they?”
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty…” Chessure’s voice sounded out as he appeared next to Sovic, his ear slightly drooped down in apology as he spoke quietly, “but I’m only interested in the outcome in this battle, and it appears we no longer stand a chance.”
“...I was the only delusion who never swore an oath to you, I’m here for my own reasons.” AbsaLem simply stated lowering herself with her string next to Chessure.
“It’s over Genevieve, we have you.” Alice told her.
The woman let out a laugh before her smile morphed into one of defeat and despair, “Not again…” she muttered, “This can’t be happening…”
Merlin handed Marilyn over to Nathaniel, “You all will receive punishment, but as for the Queen of Hearts, the leader of the Ten Delusions, for terrorizing Wonderland for years and disrupting the peace of Fairy Tale Island, you are hereby to be-”
“Wait!” Mirei shouted, her face filled with concern and a little anger, “Her Majesty is not to be blamed to that point. It should be me who gets the most severe punishment!”
“Nonsense,” Marilyn’s voice shook as she furrowed her brows, “I’m the one who carried out the act of physically corrupting Wonderland with magic. Her Majesty only gave out the order!”
“Stop it will you,” Sovic looked to the two girls and told them in an annoyed voice, “I think what we’re thinking is that even though we’ve been caught, we’re not letting go of our loyalty.”
“...What loyalty?” Genevive whispered, “You have no reason to be involved with a guilty person's affairs…”
“Your Majesty, our stance won’t change.” Chessure gave one last grin at her.
“...You two! You two weren’t caught, you could’ve fled! Why didn’t you?” Genevieve looked at them heartbroken.
“‘Yes, Your Majesty. I cut out my heart for you.’” AbsaLem looked at her with soulless eyes, “I never swore that but they all did. All seven of them. I may be a criminal but I certainly don’t believe in turning back where I’m most...comfortable.” she tried picking out a word.
“Unlike her,” Elisio spoke sincerely to Genevive, “I meant every word of my oath. I’m willing to die for you.”
“Yeah! You made us all hope for a better future where we weren’t discriminated against or treated worse just because of what we were born as or where we came from.” Pluto tilted his head with a smile.
“But I never gave you that future!” she cried out, “I never-”
“Oh gods, it’s still talking,” Adoro complained with a groan.
“Ado-!”
“Don’t you get it, dummy? We’re not leaving this! We may have lost it now but for at least a couple of years, we were finally happy. Though at the expense of others,” he muttered, “we still got a shot at true peace and joy in those few years. When you told me about your crazy-ass plan when we were in the living room, I never thought we’d make it this far.”
“I’m not leaving either, Your Majesty.” Stalia firmly told her, “You and Prince Adoro are too important for me to leave behind, and I’ll be damned if I let them do anything to you!”
The Queen of Hearts looked at the nine of them. Each one she had a personal relationship with. She gave Adoro a chance at the lifestyle they longed for. She gave Marilyn hope after despair took her. Mirei, a chance at being with a family. Sovic, to have something to fight for. Chessure, a chance at finding a reason to live away from boredom. AbsaLem, a second chance to live as herself. Stalia, a reason to love and protect someone. Elisio, someone he could care for again after too many losses. Pluto, the freedom to explore Fairy Tale Island after being enslaved for so long.
Each of these people she gave a spark of hope and meaning of living...she couldn’t let them down again.
“Excuse me!” Alice, her longtime foe, spoke up raising her hand, “We’re not going to kill her.”
“You’re not?” she questioned.
“No...we’ll make each of you do something else individually for years to come, but nothing short of death, dear no!”
“Cowards!” Sovic shouted, once more disappointed, “Why?”
“We’re no better than you if we do so, so no! Not a single one of you is putting your life on the line. That whole speech for your queen wasn’t necessary, but it was enough for me to see that you guys aren’t completely heartless...at least to each other.”
Genevive stared at Alice before chucking to herself, “You’re still stupid and naive, as the day you fell into Wonderland, you know that, right?”
Alice grinned back at her, “I know. But it’s that stupidity that’s keeping you alive.”
---
“Hey,”
Genevive looked up to see Adoro with an arm on his hip, looking down at her kneeling figure.
“What are you gonna do now?” he asked her.
The blue haired woman looked to the rest of the Delusions, “I don’t know, can you imagine this was how things wound up?”
Adoro sighed, “Yeah, I can actually,” Genevive frowned at him, “I can because this was how you always were. When my mom and dad brought in an older adoptive sibling in my home for the first time, I was expecting a nice, polite, girl. Instead, you were...a little creepy. Not gonna lie.”
“Rude.” the woman pouted, which almost made the young man laugh.
“Dude, you used to smile alone in your room with your dolls as you brushed their hair, singing that little melody you always sing. It’s no wonder you had no friends.”
“Harsh!” she pushed his knees as he fell to the floor. But Adoro kept his smug expression.
“But still, creepy or not, blood related or not,” he lightly bumped her arm with his fist, “You’re still my sister.”
Genevive looked at him, a little bit of her childhood innocence returning as her eyes lightly welled up...that is before Adoro grabbed her crown and said, “Even if you were a ruthless dictator.”
On the other end of the room Pluto, Elisio, Sovic, and Stalia looked at the Queen and Prince.
“Look at them, doesn’t it remind you of when we first formed the Ten Delusions?” Sovic chuckled as he watched Genevive tackle Adoro to the ground and held his arm up.
Elisio smiled with his hand behind his back, “They were never like that for years. Not in front of us at least. I must say it’s a little refreshing to see them as siblings again.”
“Speaking of which!” Pluto bent over to look at Stalia with a teasing grin, “His Highness doesn’t need you anymore! Whatcha’ gonna do, Stal?”
The White Rabbit had a small angry frown on her face as her ears dropped, “...What can I do? If His Highness doesn’t need me in his service anymore, then I suppose I’ll have no choice but to-.”
“What are you talking about?”
Adoro had thrown Genevieve over to the ground and walked over to the four, specifically to his right-hand-woman, “You’re not going anywhere. I still need you! You’re still under my command whether the Delusions are gone or not!” he attempted to sound like the Prince of Hearts, but the slight sweat on his forehead and cherry pink hues on his cheeks told them otherwise.
“Oho?” Pluto snuck over and put an arm around the prince’s neck, and with a sly smirk he told him, “I think His Highness is trying to ask you to move in with him, Stal.”
“Wha?! Don’t be ridiculous! We’ve all lived together for the past few years!” Adoro, now exposed, turned a bright red as he yelled at Pluto, “And remember your place!”
“What place?” Sovic grinned devilishly as he flicked his forehead, “Stalia may be with you but you’re no longer our prince.”
“Exactly, you’re back to being the school boy who was too shy to talk to his crush after the 5th period,” Eliso calmly teased him, “Isn’t that right, Addie?”
“Shut up!” Adoro tried pushing his former schoolmates off him, “I-I told you never to call me that again!”
“Addie, Addie, Addie!” the boys started chanting.
Stalia watched them before giggling as she brushed her hair back. Adoro noticed this amongst the riot his friends were causing and tried pushing them off before facing her and clearing his throat.
“Er...Stalia, I wanted to ask you nicer.” he kept his eyes on the ground, “I know you’ve served me unconditionally and while I treasure those times I would also like to go back...when we were still in school, like um, you know when you always used to eat lunch with me, or how you would watch me in my debate tournaments or-”
A loud groan was heard from Sovic, “Gah, it’s like watching a fish panic out of water. Call me when he asks her-”
“Adoro!” Stalia finally said his real name instead of his title after many years as she held both his hands, “If you’re asking me to stay with you, then I would be honored to. The oath I swore wasn’t just for the Delusions, I meant every single word I said to you personally. So even if the Delusions are gone, I would like it very much if I could stay with you.”
Adoro didn’t speak, as words couldn’t come out of his mouth. But he was very thankful to her nonetheless.
“See, Addie? Even though you got your ass kicked by the F7 over the years, she still likes you.” Pluto told him.
“Heya, hey~” Chessure grinned at the blue haired woman who seemed frustrated that she no longer had her spoke pipe.
“What.”
“I think someone wants to talk to you.” he theatrically gestured to Noki and Kio who looked at her hesitantly, debating if they should approach her or not.
AbsaLem huffed in annoyed and used her arms to crawl over to them. Yep. Still intimidating and scary.
“Listen, nerds,” she glared at them, “If you think I’m sorry for amputating his arm, I’m not.”
“Great start, great start.” Chessure muttered in the background.
Kio looked as if he was going to speak but was interrupted as she put her top left hand over his mouth, “A-up-up! You don’t get to talk. In my day, nerds had the decency to stare at their shoes when someone scary is talking. I don’t wanna hear some sort of explanation over something you don’t even remember doing. I don’t want to see you three ever again. Got it?”
The two could only nod at her.
“Good. Now scram.”
They backed off as Chessure turned to her, “Wow. I was expecting some sort of forgiveness friendship reconciliation thing there.”
“I have no reason to be involved with them anymore. I’m just going to do my own thing.” she sighed tiredly as she looked at him. “You gonna join me?”
Chessure smiled, “Duh.”
Mirei stared at her other Delusions, a disappointed frown as she rested her chin on her palms, “Hmm...so this is what’s come to.”
Marilyn laughed as she looked at her, “That’s the first time I’ve seen you...not smiling. Almost as if you’ve become a moody teenager.”
“I’m much older than you!” Mirei frowned at her although she complained like a child, “Whatever! I’ll get a punishment over with and find something else to do! Just watch! All of you!” she declared to no one in particular.
Marilyn laughed at her complaints before she heard someone approaching her, “Marilyn.”
“Merlin,” she turned to him to see another woman to his left.
“This is Audrey,” she gestured, “She was there in the village...where Adrius had his accident.” he told her carefully, “She was nearby but not close enough to save everyone, but she did help and the relief team and she says-”
“I’m not completely sure but...the last person I rescued was a male, 5’9, purple hair and sapphi-”
“-re eyes.” Marilyn whispered, “You saw Andrius before he...?”
“He told me to tell his family he loved them and that he did everything for them.” she nodded, “Of course I was just a traveller and I had no idea who his family was, but I remember those words as clear as day. I just thought you’d know.” she gave her a polite nod as she smiled before leaving.
Marilyn sighed in slight satisfaction as her closure was slowly getting back together piece by piece.
“One more thing,” Merlin smiled at her, “I have a favor.”
“What is it?” asked Marilyn.
“I have a year old baby, and though he has godparents already I was hoping you could-”
“Ew gross, I hate kids.” she immediately scowled and glared at him, “I’m about to do a series of punishments as a convict, do you really wast that sack of potatoes to grow up with a godmother like that?”
“Yes, because I know you’re the best at taking care of family.” he said confidently.
Marilyn looked at him before letting out a prolonged sigh, “You suck.”
---
“You’re back!” Briar Rose greeted them with open arms at the entrance hall of the White Palace. She went to hug Goldie who fell into her arms with a laugh, clearly exhausted.
“Oh god, it feels good to be home.” she chuckled as Briar ruffled her hair.
“How’s Pino?” Peter asked her.
“He’s fine for now. They’re running a few more tests but he’s stable for now.”
“Oh, Gretel! That great- HAIR. WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR HAIR?” Peter yelled out as she walked towards them.
The redhead no longer had her braids and instead chopped it off to shoulder length, her hair now wavy.
“Does it look bad?” she winced as she held a few strands with her fingers, “I couldn’t just sit and wait for the doctors so I decided to do something to distract myself.”
“You look almost exactly like your teenage years in photos you’ve shown.” Audrey laughed, recalling the time they had a sleepover with the girls and secrets about their former rendezvous were spilled.
“We don’t speak about that now.” she threw a crumpled piece of paper at her, “You guys wanna see him?”
They all agreed and went off to their shared room, in happiness and joy that it was all over.