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Balloons popped, as did the seraphim-like creatures around you as you aimed and fired as quickly as you possibly could. One by one, they disappeared into clouds of confetti, and one by one, they returned as quickly as they fell. On top of this, the horrific feeling of being whirled around by this strange roller-coaster's tracks to the point you feared you'd fall made everything even more overwhelming.
The clouded, purple sky was hardly visible as you were swarmed by these unholy creatures, wishing to devour you as much as everything else— you swore you'd never make it to the end, until you did.
Just a little longer now, just hold onto the cart and fire at everything you could; that was your best bet to surviving this.
The outrageously large structure of Mr Wonder's face swallowed you whole, and the end was near, one way or another, you'd find yourself leaving this place. The gazes of the winged beasts were burning you, stinging your skin, inspecting your innards for any imperfections, for any sign of sin. And hell, they found a lot of it, so much so their main goal seemed to be purifying you through death. How lovely.
The pain continued, as did you.
Until at last, when your cart had crashed into a place you hadn't seen just yet, the seraphim ceased their circling to make way for Her, one of the creators of this god-forsaken realm, deep blue halos constantly spinning around her body, and a small yellow orb orbiting her head. She was beautiful, and oh-so warm as she brought you from the wreckage, and to a place unknown to you.
Out of all the places you expected to end up when getting on that cart, a tea party with one of the 'main characters' of this realm was not one of them.
Wander was in front of you, legs crossed while she sat drinking tea from a teacup, you swore this was her third cup now. You sat opposite, staring at your cup which was still full of tea and likely lukewarm by now.
"Drink up, it's rude to refuse a cup of tea, don't you know?"
"…What did you put in this?"
Your hostess tilted her head before laughing, it was polite laughter, to hide how hurt she seemed to be by your skepticism. But how could she blame you? After everything you've been through… oh, what a poor, tired soul. Yes, she'd take care of you as long as you'd allow her to.
"Hm? Only chamomile and some herbs, my love."
'My love'; the pet name made your cheeks flush a slight shade of pink, something you hoped she wouldn't notice. You studied her expression, wide eyes, an idle smile on her face, yet she too seemed to be studying you with such intrigue that you couldn't help but look away the moment both of you made eye contact.
"Do you think I poison my guests, lovely?"
After a few moments, she responded, leaning forward in her seat. The table was moderately short, still rather large compared to you, considering how unbearably small you were in comparison to most things here.
"No, no, I just— well, kinda? You've been trying to kill me this entire time so I just assumed…"
"I haven't been trying to kill you, my love, my husband has! I simply enable it!"
"…Isn't that the same thing?"
"I suppose it depends on your perspective… in my case, however, it's not."
Drop the questions. Got it.
The last thing you wanted to do was make her mad.
And so, you drank.
The tea tasted pleasantly herbal and slightly sweet… which was different to what you expected; either overly sweet or a similar taste to gasoline (not that you'd know what that tastes like, I hope). Unfortunately, it was rather cold due to the prolonged exposure to the cool air surrounding you because of you refusing to even pick it up.
"This is… good?"
"I'm glad you like it, my love!"
She immediately took to pouring you another cup, to which you drank as well, it was uncanny how quickly you seemed to recover from the crash through drinking this strange tea. You were sure it wasn't justchamomile and a few measly herbs… it had to be something else, and however malicious that may be you didn't care. It felt good to be so taken care of, to be healed without the price of tickets, or money… yet you still felt the urge to repay her somehow, maybe it was the fact you were used to it or your teensy tiny little crush on Wander.
Surely she wouldn't mind, right?
"Thankyou, so much, Wander… really, I don't know how to repay you.."
"Oh, don't worry about payment dearest, Wonder wants your tickets as a means of bragging, I, however have no need for them!"
"Surely you want something in return, right?"
"Well…"
She turned her head to look away from you for a moment, snapping her gloved fingers, you found yourself free from the ropes binding your waist to the ornate wooden chair you sat upon.
…Whether her gloves were a part of her hand or just a piece of her outfit was something you probably would never find out.
You saw a hint of a smile play on her lips as she turned to face you again.
"I suppose if you're so keen on paying me then, well, I won't stop you…"
You were by her side within a few seconds,
"…Can I?"
"Please do."
As the tension between the two of you broke, you felt her lips against yours for only a few seconds, she was soft, warm… she smelled lovely too, much like lavender. She held onto your face long after you'd drawn apart, a smile on her face, mirroring yours.
Wander cleared her throat, letting go of your face, but not after tucking a small stand of hair out of your face, touch finally leaving you to hold her own hands placidly in her lap.
"Perhaps I should 'invite' you to my tea parties more often… I'm sure Alice and that balloon child won't mind…"
She laughed, leaning back in her seat once more, her stance was much more relaxed.
"It's best you leave now, dear… Wouldn't want Wonder to worry…"
"We'll meet again, won't we?"
You were answered with a nod, and as you headed for the train of carts behind her (now much more skeptical of them), she called from behind you;
"I'll see you very soon, dear."
You had a feeling that the next few levels would be painfully long.