The only thing I could hear was the sound of my own breath as I slowly approached the table and chairs. Then I realized what was odd about all of this, why it wasn’t things that I feared in my dreams.
“I’m inside Malcolm’s mind,” I whispered.
“You are smarter than I give you credit for.” Morpheus appeared in front of me. He looked as cocky as usual. “I didn’t think you would ever figure this out.”
“The spiders were Chase’s fear, he was afraid of what if he didn’t save me in time.”
“Very good,” Morpheus slid his fingers over the moss that covered the table. “Now you must be asking yourself, why is Malcolm afraid of this place? And more importantly, why is he afraid of you finding out?”
“I... I don’t know.”
“The answer is hidden away under all this moss.” He smiled. “All you have to do is take it off and all the answers will be given to you.”
Slowly, I took a step closer and placed my hand on the soft moss. It was appealing to me, knowing everything about Malcolm. He had so many secrets that had been hinted at, that I had asked about, but no one gave away any secrets. I just wanted to know what could have been so bad that even Chase didn’t trust him, things that the original Alice took him out of and helped him through.
The moss would be easy to take away, it wouldn’t take that much effort. I could just pick it up and be able to have all the answers revealed.
But I knew I couldn’t.
I shook my head. “No, he is my friend! I would never do this to him!”
Morpheus appeared next to me and whispered into my ear. “He is hiding such darkness from you. Don’t you want to know, don’t you have the right to know?”
“His past doesn’t matter to me, but who he is today. He is sweet and kind and cares about everyone! He cares about me!” I shut my eyes. “Friends trust each other and I know they feel the same! My friends will always be here for me and I will always be there for them!”
I heard Morpheus scream as something threw him back. I opened my eyes to find myself on a beach. The waves gently came upon the shore.
“Where am I?” I whispered. “What is this?”
“Why, you are me,” a young voice said behind me.
I turned around to find a young girl with long blonde hair smiling.
“Alice?” I questioned.
She laughed. “That’s me!”
“I don’t understand.”
“You realized the truth in yourself that Morpheus can’t defeat. You realized not only how much power friendship has in your heart, but how much power you have within.” she pulled out a clear orb that shined greatly. “And with that, you will be able to save Wonderland.” she handed me the orb. “This is the power of your heart. Use it well.”
As quickly as I appeared, I was pulled back into the Circus.
“You!” Morpheus pointed at me. “You ruined everything!”
He pulled a rapier out and charged at me. I started for my katana but the clash of another sword hitting it distracted me. Malcolm and Chase stood between me and Morpheus.
“We don’t think so,” Chase grinned. “You are finished once and for all.”
“Give up Morpheus,” Malcolm said as Melvin, Davis, and Kenny surrounded Morpheus. “Your reign is over.”
Morpheus shook his head. “No, it will never be over.”
He placed his sword back into his cane and slammed it against the ground. A puff of smoke engulfed him and he was gone.
CHAPTER 30
“He’s gone!” Melvin waved the smoke away. There was no trace of Morpheus. The boys all turned to me, smiling.
Malcolm picked me up and spun me around. “You did it, Alice! You defeated him! He’s running away with his tail between his legs. Ha!”
I blushed. “It was only because of you.” I turned to the others. “Because of all of you. Your friendship led me to believe I could defeat anything. I knew you all would always be there for me, and I for you. Morpheus can control people by their fear and I realized that having faith in not only my friends, but myself, I could defeat anything.”
Chase pointed at the orb. “What’s that?”
“Oh,” I looked down at the strange orb. I had almost forgotten about it. “Alice gave it to me.”
Kenny held out his hand. “Let me see it.”
I handed it to him and he examined it. “If I’m not mistaken, this is the orb that got destroyed during the Red and White war.”
“What?” Melvin exclaimed as he took it from Kenny. “This can’t be it. I saw it get destroyed.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
Malcolm grabbed the orb. “There was a powerful orb that the two kingdoms fought for. It was said to be able to bring all peace, or all destruction, depending on who held it.” He handed it to me. “Make your choice, Alice gave it to you.”
I stared at it, not sure what to do with it. But, as if someone whispered the thought into my mind, I threw it at the ground, shattering it into thousands of little pieces. The moment it hit the ground, a flash brighter than any light I had ever seen, went out into every direction. I jumped back, covering my eyes.
The light dimmed down and once my eyes finally adjusted, I looked around. Chase’s eyes widened as the light came back to normal. Murmurs through the audience echoed in the arena.
“What was that?” Davis squeaked as he stood up.
“I don’t know,” Kenny’s eyes narrowed as he peered around. He smiled. “Oh ho! Will you look at that!”
We all turned to see the audience staring at
