Fan Fiction ❯ Black Orchid ❯ Blade & Turtle ( Chapter 12 )

Wagga: Second to last acid(wonderland) chapter. Yeah…tired(not of this, but physically)…NEXT ONE IS THE CONFRONTATION OF THE BANDERSNATCH!!! You may be asking, "I thought the poem was about the Jabberwock?" Well, lets just say that, right now, the Jabberwock would eat them alive. But it'll make an appearance later. Much later. As in, single digit numbers of chapters before The End of the World later. But I'm getting ahead of myself. None of that happens this chapter. Now, Read on, and most importantly, REVIEW!!! Considering I only have 4 reviewers, I'll now even gladly accept constructive criticism, as it lets me know you read this!!! I won't enjoy flamers, but I think it's stupid to say "no flames, please" since the only people who flame are idiot jerks who wouldn't listen to that anyways.

PS: As of this Chapter 12, 43 pages and 20,630 words not including the crap I right at the beginning. And we're not even out of Wonderland. Abandon all hope all ye who enter.

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Orchid opened her eyes to the drip-dripping sound of water.

"Oh, awake are we?" said a slow voice. She looked up into the face of… something. Whatever it was, it had the head of a calf or some other rodent, she really couldn't decide. It had the body and arms of a turtle, and long, scrawny legs and tail of some mammal. It backed away and she sat up, looking around.

She was in a large, gloomy cavern, and could barely make out piles of…things all around her in the gloom. She could see Arc, almost blending in with his black shirt, and Montblanc, easily spotted by his white fur and red pompom, sitting up in the dark, looking at her and the strange creature.

"Are you…the Turtle?" asked Orchid, hoping he was the one Mr. Carroll had mentioned. The creature looked back at her, then answered slowly.

"I am the Mock Turtle," he said evenly. "Though I'm called that occasionally."

"I've never heard of a Mock Turtle, kupo," said Montblanc.

"Well, what do you think they make Mock Turtle Soup out of?" drawled the Mock Turtle. "I used to be a real turtle once…"

And there the Mock Turtle stopped. In the poor lighting, the three could only make out its vague shape, but from what they heard, they could tell it was sobbing.

"Do you, umm, mind if we turn on a light or something?" asked Arc uncomfortably, looking around for anything that might emit light.

"I have a fireplace…" said the Mock Turtle eventually, waving a fin vaguely at a large shape. "But it's so wet down here, and I can't ever get the wood to light…"

"I can help!" said Orchid cheerfully. She moved to where the Mock Turtle had indicated, and felt around until she found the opening for the fireplace.

"Fire," she uttered softly and a small flame leapt from her hand to the wood inside. It burned there just the way a natural flame wouldn't until the wood caught fire. Soon, they had a cheery blaze going, and the trio drank in their surroundings that were revealed by the light it gave off.

There were piles of papers and books everywhere. They themselves were sitting on a rug near the brick fireplace, and the Mock Turtle had settled into an overstuffed armchair, his shell sinking into the cushion. All of this was on a circular stone platform that stood about a foot or so out of the water. They were in a large cavern like tunnel, and other than the Mock Turtle's ten-foot platform, the only things besides water were a set a stepping stones leading to a ladder that went up into a hole in the low ceiling.

"Why, thank you," said the turtle slowly. He closed his eyes contentedly. "You don't know how long it's been since I had a good light down here…"

"How long?" asked Orchid.

"Two days," he drawled. "I told you, you didn't know."

There was a long silence where no one said anything.

"Um…how did we get here?" asked Orchid, breaking the silence.

"Oh, everything in the water ends up here…" said the Mock Turtle slowly. "You looked interesting, so I pulled you three out…not driftwood, not books, not rocks, not rats, not cards, not treacle…"

He mumbled on like this for a while. While he did, Orchid looked around for the oysters and the teapot. She found the teapot sitting on the floor next to her, and the trench coat of oysters behind Arc. When she checked, the tea was still good and hot, and the oysters had yet to escape from the loose knot they had tied them with. And all of her clothes, from her blue sweater sleeves, to her mostly white shoes, were completely dry. She decided it wasn't worth worrying about and was just glad they hadn't lost their stuff.

"…not scroll, not bear, nor church, so I pulled you out," finished the Mock Turtle.

"Um, thank you, kupo," said Montblanc, snapping back to attention, sending his antenna pompom a-jiggling. Arc yawned loudly, but the strange reptile took no notice.

"Since you brought me a fire…" continued the Mock Turtle, "I should give you something to put it out with."

He stood up and wandered ponderously over to Orchid. He held out his fin and a deep blue sphere of energy appeared above it.

"Of course, there's lots of it all around here," he said, tipping his fin and dropping it into her hands. She looked at it, and, after deciding what it was, she pulled it into her. There was a brief sensation of drowning, followed by a lingering effect that could only be described as "sloshiness". Then it was gone.

"Water?" she asked, looking at Montblanc. The moogle nodded. Not seeing any targets around, she didn't try it out. She turned back to the Mock Turtle. "Um…"

"Yes?" he asked slowly. Arc had fallen asleep.

"Umm…do you know Mr. Carroll?" she asked.

"Oh, Lewis?" replied the Mock Turtle ponderously. "Of course."

"Well…he said he let you borrow a book," Orchid continued. "He'd like it back."

"Just a moment," said the turtle. He stood there.

Orchid stared, waiting patiently. Montblanc did likewise. Arc snored contentedly.

Just as she was about to say something, Orchid was cut off as the Mock turtle suddenly turned and walked off between the hazardous stacks of books. Finally, he came to one and pulled out a dusty volume that was a few books from the top of its pile. For some reason, the things on top fell straight down, not sliding off at all. Then he ponderously wandered back.

"Here you go…" said the turtle, handing the book to Orchid. She looked at it, and then blew the dust off.

"Alice in Wonderland…" she muttered, reading the title. Then she tossed it to Montblanc. "Whatever…you carry it."

"Kupo!" exclaimed as the book hit him. He stumbled back a little, then regained his balance and tucked the book under one arm. "Well, thank you for your hospitality," he said to the Mock Turtle, poking the slumbering Arc with his rod, "but we must be going."

"May your shell never crack," said the Mock Turtle, saying an old turtle parting phrase as the three jumped across the stepping-stones and climbed up the ladder. And then they were gone, and he went back to reading in peace.

*

They climbed up until they came to the top where the tunnel they were in turned sharply forwards. Climbing out, they found themselves back in the Bizarre Room, and they were now standing on the wall opposite the one they had been earlier. Looking back, they discovered they had just climbed out of a faucet. Arc wandered over to the handle.

"Wonder if water comes out if I turn it…" he said, still half asleep.

"Of course not," said Orchid. "We just came out of there and it goes to the Turtle's home."

Despite this, and much like many of the things in Wonderland, logic had no hold. Upon turning the giant handle, water flooded sideways out of the hole, causing Orchid to jump, and down to the floor off to her left. It fell down to the picture of a vase on the floor, which popped up into three dimensions to catch the flow of water, which soon stopped. Looking to her right, Orchid could see Arc grinning widely. She just stuck her tongue out at him.

"Does it go somewhere, kupo?" asked Montblanc, walking over to the vase, which was up against the wall they stood on. He flittered up to its edge and walked a little ways in, then turned back, a quizzical look on his face.

Arc brushed past Orchid, striding purposefully over to the vase, and easily jumping in. "It's a dark hole; this is Wonderland; of course it goes somewhere."

Orchid decided not to argue this time, and just followed the other two in.

*

They came out in the Queen's Court this time. They were on top of one of the hedges near the wall. When they turned around, not only did they see there was no door, only wall, but they also lost their balance. They fell in a heap on the floor in front of the Queen, her cards, and one slightly amused Mr. Carroll.

"Did you bring what I asked?" questioned the old man as he helped Orchid up.

"Take 'em," said Arc gruffly, upending the oysters out of his coat and onto the floor in front of him. He then put his white trench coat on after taking a second to make sure it was relatively clean. Orchid handed Mr. Carroll the pot of tea, and Montblanc returned the book.

"Ah, thank you! You are most lihtmous people for doing this for me," he said, gathering up the items and walking off.

The three stood their waiting. They didn't say anything, but it soon became apparent that Mr. Carroll had no intention of doing anything other than wandering off with his gifts.

"Hey! Old man!" shouted Arc, causing Montblanc to wince. Carroll stopped, but didn't turn around. "You said you'd give us the Vorpal Blade thingy!"

There was an awkward silence. Then Carroll suddenly laughed and turned around, a wide smile on his face.

"Of course, of course," he said cheerfully, wandering back towards them. "I clear forgot."

"Liar," muttered Arc under his breath.

The old man stood in front of them, rummaging in his simple robe, then, finding what he sought, held it up to Orchid.

"A scroll?" she asked. It was a little scroll, about the size of two fingers, tied shut with a long bit of silvery string. On it, in spidery write was the word "Jabberwocky".

"Could you get the Keyblade, kupo?" asked Montblanc, his eyes still on the scroll. Orchid called up Bramblebite and held it out. Montblanc took the scroll, and, using the long length of string hanging off it, tied it to the little loop on the handle end of the Keyblade.

They stared as the Keyblade shuddered, then watched as a glitter of light spiraled around it from handle tip to blade tip. When it was done, Bramblebite was no longer there. The thorny circle of hand guards had been replace with a hexagon of crystal, and the thorns on of the blade had been replaced with jagged shards of translucent shimmering crystal shards jutting out of the living wood of the haft.

"Behold, the Vorpal Sword!" proclaimed Carroll. They stared at it, and Orchid gave it a few experimental swings.

"I feel…energized, somehow…" she mused as she swung it.

"Kupopo…it probably boosts your magic, kupo," said Montblanc as he ducked quickly, saving his pompom and his ears.

"So, where's the Tulgey Wood?" asked Arc, impatient for a fight.

"Over thatish away," mumbled the old man, waving his hand aimlessly towards a wall. As he did, an archway appeared, filled with dark.

"Well, let's go," said Orchid running over to the doorway. She disappeared into it, and soon, so did Montblanc and Arc.

"And hearty adventurers they be," muttered Carroll.

"I daresay I agree," replied the Cheshire Cat.

And they both left, to have oysters, tea, and a good read.