Alyson walked through the mist without looking back, she knew there was no point. There was nothing there to see, just the past, and she needed to move forward. Soon the mist thinned and she found herself walking along a sandy path. Before long, the mist cleared even more, and she came out onto a road, as smooth as an ocean stone, and cool to the bottoms of her bare feet. On the edge of a town. At least a foot ball fields length away, perhaps longer, there was what appeared to be a town. It consisted of a large church, and smaller houses, which also doubled as businesses from the look of the signs. Down the hill from them was the beach she knew ran along the edge of Alekzandor's realm. However this ocean looked different. 

The water was pitch black, the mass of people that were gathered together were praying, mourning the loss of someone. They were having a funeral procession, as they carried the coffin down to the beach side where they planned to set it adrift and ablaze, if the bonfire and raft full of wood and other kindling were any kind of indication. She turned to watch, when a voice spoke from behind her. 

"Don't get closer."

Alyson half turned to see to who spoke. A little girl, not much older than eight was looking up at her. Just as she knew to not get closer to the scene in front of her, she knew not to get closer to this girl. She had a feeling that this girl knew that Alyson felt that, but only spoke up to get Alyson's attention. But the question was why. 

"Why not?" Alyson asked, deciding to play along for now. 

The little girl smiled a bit, the smile belayed and age that was well into adulthood, but the body still looked like that of an innocent child. "You're smart to stay away, not that I could do much anyway. This is my punishment. Unable to do anything else. The only time I can talk is when it's with another person who knows where they're at and why."

Alyson looked back toward the funeral. They did seem oblivious that their reality was fabricated, so the girl was aware. She looked back toward the girl. "You know where you are."

The girl nodded. "I am in the realm of insanity. The place where the wicked are put suffer for what they did. I am among the few who know. Those people won't even see you unless you wander into their punishment, and then you would just be a newcomer, and they aren't nice to newcomers. You can see them, but can't interact them because you're on the road. Curious that's so smooth and pleasant with you, when so many others suffer terrible pain when walking on it."

"How do you mean?" Alyson said after looking down at the road, searching for some meaning in the girls eyes. "A terrible pain?"

The girl giggled. "I mean, usually, there's a broken glass road. Or a road of saw blades. Or a road of needles. Or a road of . . ."

"I get your point." Alyson said holding up a hand to stop her. "I guess the people who come here do deserve it."

The girl sighed and nodded. "Yes, yes they do. Usually the road only circles the punishments, but this one leads right up the temple where the Divine of this realm resides. If you follow it, it will take you to him. Though why you would to see him is beyond me. "

Alyson's eyes followed along the road as the girl spoke. The realm must recognize her as a friend, and the baby inside of her as family, so it knows better than to harm her. Unable to bite back her curiosity anymore, she looked at the girl and asked the question she'd been longing to ask since the conversation started. 

"What did you do to deserve your fate?"

The girl tilted her head back, looking up at the sky. The conversation seemed to pleasing her a great deal, it carried out into her tone as she told her story. 

"My tale was rather tragic, or at least it was painted to look that way. I, personally, think my ending was very tragic, but certain parties would dare to disagree. Anyway, my sins started when I was just a child, the age that this form currently is. I was an only child for so so many years, I got all of the attention, the love, and was spoiled greatly. I loved it. Then my parents had another baby, my little sister. All of the love, attention, and gifts were thus transferred to her. In truth I know that wasn't the case, I was still plenty adored and spoiled, but that's the way I saw it. In my eyes, that baby was getting everything, and if I didn't do something soon, I would be forgotten. So I smothered my baby sister one night with a pillow while my parents were out having their anniversary dinner and my baby sitter was in the living room blowing her middle aged boyfriend."

Alyson knew the story was only just beginning, and hearing about the death of a baby made tears form in her eyes and made her worry about the one she was carrying. 

"Many years passed since that night. My parents didn't bother having another child, out of fear of losing it too. They began to drift apart, and there was talk of divorce, I would have lost everything if that happened. So one night, their brake conveniently quit on the way back from a school play I made sure they both attended. I was taken in by my grandparents after that. My grandmother was already in such poor health, she died of natural causes before she annoyed me too much or got in the way of any of my plans. My grandfather, wasn't so lucky. I was nearly twenty you see, and I was already looking at marriage to a fine man of great stature, but I needed wealth, and something to back my claim that I'd be a good wife, but my grandfather refused, wanted me to hold out for a man who was younger, better for me, and would truly love me. He didn't understand, I could love in many different lovers if I so desired once I was a rich woman and an even richer mans wife. So one night, I poisoned his brandy. He was already clinically depressed and on pills because of the death of my grandmother, so his death was ruled a suicide."

The girl lowered her head and looked Alyson right in the eyes now. "For many years I failed to give my husband a child. Mostly because I refused to have a daughter. I would not give birth to a girl who would turn out to prettier than I was, and would steal my husbands attention from me. So the minute the news came in that the baby was a girl, I conveniently miscarried. I even miscarried a few boys so as to not get my husband suspicious. Finally, after almost a decade, I gave my husband a boy. We hired a nanny to care for him so I could lavish my husband with my attention, but things changed after that little tart's arrival. He started to work more and more, I didn't realize he'd been having the affair until it was too late and he left me. My son was only six at the time. I was forced to leave the mansion I so loved, and I move back into that crappy house my grandparents own. I walked away with only what I came in with. Sadly, due to his moving, and other things, it became impossible to exact any kind of revenge on my husband physically, and because of the scandal, I couldn't even get a love."

"Ten long years passed, and with no lover, nothing to show for my efforts, I started to sleep with son. I slept with him for almost two years before I found a young, handsome man to marry me. He had money, but added to mine, it would just as much as I had before. My son was furious, he threatened to tell everyone what I'd done to him. So I shot him, and took great care to hide his death from the world. Everyone thought he'd ran away so as not to deal with me or his step father to be. This new man was clever, he kept me at arms length until after the wedding, I was looking forward to our wedding night, in fact that was all I could think about, the wedding night. Finally, he got me upstairs, stripped me naked, then threw me into a bathtub full of acid."

The girl sighed, and even teared up a bit. "I thought justice had been served by my death. I suffered most horrifically, but no, that Divine of the insane appears to be a cocky self righteous son of a bitch. He saw to it that I suffer more than I already have. I am now small, insignificant, and not worth wasting time on. That is my punishment."

Alyson couldn't bare to be by the girl a moment longer. She turned and began to walk toward where she knew Alekzandor would be. 

"A warning before you go stranger."

Alyson half turned back, but said nothing. 

"The Divine of Insanity is not without his tricks. Trust nothing here. Not the creatures, and certainly not the people. I know not the sins that brought you here, but take care." The girl looked around with a sigh. "Perhaps someday I shall escape this place and my evil warden."

Alyson laid a hand on her belly, and glared at the girl. "I think not. I think you will be one of the rare ones that is forced to stay here forever. It also seems fitting, since you're chatty with whomever walks by, that you shall be mute. People will look at you, and only see a monster, for your prison and being mute, are simply not enough in my mind. Your body will bear the marks and the pain from when you were thrown in the acid. I know it couldn't have been long, but whatever state your body was in then, this current one will reflect, and you will always feel that pain."

With that, Alyson turned and walked away, she'd been able to make changes to Alekzandor's realm again, and if she was right, then it wasn't Alekzandor making the changes for her, she made them. If she was right, and the change she just made was successful, she didn't need to see that carnage. Her stomach was queasy enough as it was. She walked away, and walked forward, keeping her eyes on her feet and the road. She didn't dare look ahead. She knew the journey would be faster and easier if she didn't look at the punishments that surrounded her. If she focused on foot in front of the other, she knew she would reach Alekzandor before nightfall. She hoped her energy would last until. She may be in a divine realm, but she was still pregnant, and feeling very sick and weak. She hoped she would reach him soon. The baby inside of her gave her strength, hope, as she walked forward. The tugging got stronger with each step. 

- - - - - -

Alekzandor arrived in Alyson's room feeling light hearted and hopeful. He couldn't wait to see what kind of reaction she would have at the sight of him again. But she wasn't laying in her bed like she should have been, instead she was walking into her closet, and closing the door behind her. No, that wasn't right, it wasn't her closet she was walking into, it was his realm. Somehow, a portal to his realm had been opened, and she was heading inside. Could the black hole have opened up here too and suck her in? 

Worried, he rushed back to his realm to check and see where she was exactly, what he found was his uncle staring out of his gazing window, the one that looked into the parts of his realms where the souls of the damned were being punished with an amused look on his face. 

"Well it would appear I was right, and you have a slight problem on your hands." He chuckled. 

Alekzandor was frantic as he rushed forward to see where his love was. The mist that circled the edges of his realm surrounded her, like hands guiding her forward. When she came out of the mist and stepped onto the road, he feared it would like the others in his realms, something designed to hurt those who walked on it. But the minute she stepped on it, it became smooth, and nonthreatening. He sighed with relief, but not everything down there was going to accept her so peacefully. She was in the area where the punishments were. He needed to go get her before something bad happened. 

"Whoa there sonny boy, you can't go down there." Balor said grabbing his shoulder as he turned to go get her. 

Alekzandor looked back at him, shock and worry etched across his face. "But I have to! She's not safe down there!"

Balor shrugged and offered a comforting smile. "She's on the road, and the laws are absolute, even if you tried to go to her you wouldn't be able to reach her. She is a Divine on the road to home. All we can do is watch now, maybe lend some assistance if need be." 

They heard voices and both looked back toward the window. Alyson had stopped and was talking to one of his residents. He wanted to strangle that bitch for even trying to get sympathy from his love, but his powers couldn't reach them to stop the conversation. He tried, and it was blocked. Balor was right, he couldn't interfere directly. He watched as Alyson listened, and looked sickened by the whole thing. The way she held her stomach told him she was about to be sick, and he wondered what he could do to help her reach him faster. As he was going over his options, he watched as Alyson spoke back, and as the punishment changed into a new verdict. The one Alyson issued. 

Balor laughed and was grinning when Alekzandor looked back at him. "Well that proves it. She's your other half, and she's on her way home. Congratulations my nephew!"

Alekzandor turned back to the window. Alyson was walking his way, head down, and ignoring everything else around her. He didn't even think she could hear it. She was his other half!? Truly!? She was his, and she was coming home. Tears streamed down his face. Soon she would be in his arms, and everything would be alright. He could wait. He'd waited countless years for her, and he could wait a few more hours. 

- - - - - -

Alyson kept her pace for a long time, till her nausea slowed her down, and the exhaustion began to creep back. It had been late at night when she came through into the realm. She'd been running on pure adrenaline and excitement, she was lucky she got this far without falling apart. The only thing that kept her from doing so now was the knowledge with each step she got closer to Alekzandor, and she could rest in his arms once she was there. 

She passed by several punishments, she didn't look at any of them as she did. Now that her pace had slowed, the noise from some of them crept into her senses. Still she kept her feet on the ground and kept walking. She felt extreme heat coming from her right, but didn't look. There must be a great fire in that punishment to generate that kind of heat. But the smells and sounds from there just reaffirmed that assumption. Unable to help it, she paused and looked. 

It was a vast landscape, and all of it was burning. The tree's, the houses, even the water, all were burning. If there were residents, then they had to be the objects that were on fire, because nothing seemed to be stopping the fire, but at the same time, nothing seemed to be making it worse. The objects stood erect, constantly burning, never falling apart despite the constant fire. Fitting she supposed for people who caused a lot of damage by fire. 

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Her stomach heaved, and her head was getting dizzy, it was time to get moving again, but as she turned to start moving again, she heard familiar voices, and not the welcoming home feeling kind. The kind she heard just yesterday, as they made plans to throw away most of her things, and broke all of her candles from Alekzandor. Sure enough, when she dared a glance, there was Rick and his four friends, running at top speed towards her from inside the place of fire. 

If there was a thought to move away, she didn't have enough time or reserved energy to act on it. Rick had nearly plowed her over when he caught up to her, crushing his mouth against her own. Well that certainly hadn't been what she expected. As quickly as the kiss started, he pulled back and hugged her close. 

"Oh my God! I thought I'd never see you again!"

She pushed herself out of his arms, and decided to use some of what she had in her to keep him at a distance. If she was meant to be a Divine, she should at least be able to do that much. It worked to an extent, he could never hug her or kiss her like that again, he could still grab hold of her hands and squeeze them tightly. He looked completely rejected and pissed off at her distance. 

"Don't be so dramatic Rick. I'm not in the mood for it." She didn't keep her eyes on his face to see how he took the scolding because she honestly didn't care. She looked over his friends having got the impression something was wrong, and she was right. There was three, not four. "Where's Jameson?"

All of their faces fell, two of them even looked horrified, Rick was not one of them. 

"He got eaten, by some monster." Ivan said. "How is that possible? Monsters like that aren't real."

Maxy looked at Ivan with a frown. "Apparently they are, because we just saw one of them."

"None of this makes sense." Gavin sniffed. Alyson looked at him and saw he was close to tears. "This can't be real."

"Wonder where we are?" Alyson looked back at Rick as he was looking around. 

Alyson got the strong feeling that if they didn't already know where they were, she probably shouldn't enlighten them at this point. So she kept her mouth firmly shut and just kept walking forward. As expected, the four men followed, Gavin kept muttering things similar to what he had said before, while Ivan and Maxy just followed in line, but she could see the fear on their faces. Rick kept pace with her, his hand kept reaching for her own, but she evaded his touch each and every time. She didn't look at him either. She was done trying to be nice, done trying to just not explain it and get away before he hurt her, which he already did. It was time he got the message, and she didn't care how it was done. 

They kept walking. She kept her eyes on the ground again, but she heard the people from certain punishments, shouts for help and desperate calls for aid. Obviously, these calls weren't normally there, or if they were, no one would be able to hear them. They could only be heard now for the four men traveling with her. Alekzandor must have pulled them through to enact some kind of revenge for what they did to her candles. Disrespecting a Divine was against mortal and Divine law. Though in all of history, she had never heard of a mortal actually committing this crime. She did glance at Rick now, he really was some kind of special stupid if he thought he could break such a serious rule and get away with it. 

The calls kept coming as they walked, she could see all of the men wanted to go help, even Rick despite his demeanor. But she ignored it and kept walking, so reluctantly, they followed. She knew soon there would be a punishment they wouldn't be able to ignore, it was at that point she would be able to make an escape. Till then, she just had to bide her time and play as nice as she was willing to. 

A stream appeared when she could no longer ignore the call for water. She sat down at the stream, noticing a bottle and scooped the water up with it. It was ice cold as she drank, just the way she liked it. The men, apparently have been parched, or close to dehydrated, drank greedily from the water. A couple even jumped in and proceeded to wash up a bit. She noticed the water changed directions so she could have the crisp clean water if she needed more. She managed to drink a whole bottle full before Rick smacked it out of her hands. 

"Don't drink from that! You don't know where it's been!"

The bottle, instead of breaking somewhere off in the distance, came back down the stream for her to use. She looked up at Rick as she picked it up again. "It's cleaner than your mouth on it's best day, so it's safe to drink out of."

The three others laughed, thinking it was a joke until Rick glared at them. Desperate for a change of topic, and not wanting to enrage Rick anymore than he already was, they cleared their throats and said the first thing that came to mind. 

"Man I'm hungry." Two of them said. 

"This is all so strange." One of them muttered. 

Alyson rested back against the hill they were on, as it provided a natural seat for her. "I could go from some peaches."

Rick looked at her curiously. "Why could you want something you've never had before?"

"Probably because they're coming down stream?" Maxy said. 

Alyson looked and smiled as she saw several several peaches carried by the current of the stream their way. She took three and proceeded to eat. Suddenly ravenous with hunger. She normally ate enough for two people, now she really was eating for two, and there was no telling how much she would be able to eat. The three other men all ate at least two apiece, she ate five before she was satisfied. Rick ate nothing. Merely watched with that weary plotting gaze of this. 

"Nice nightgown." He finally said. 

She smiled at him. "Thank you."

"Where'd you get it?" The question came out low, and his teeth were practically gritting together as he did so. 

"Someone I love very much gave it to me." She answered honestly. 

"Who?"

She didn't answer, she didn't get the chance to. Right as he finished his question, the sound of laughed could be heard. They all gravitated toward the sound till they saw the source. Alyson knew immediately the laughter was from something mad. The came from one of the punishments. The edges surrounded by a thickly packed forest, no person could squeeze through the trees, the clearing was fenced off with a pink gate with hearts carved out in the wood. The soul occupant was the source of the laughter. 

Alyson recognized the scene from one of her favorite stories, she even had one online that was based off of it. Only instead of there being more people inside, there was just one. A cream colored rabbit, with mangy fur, jumping around and laughing wildly. At the sight of the tea and little cakes and cookies laid out on the long table before them, the men, all of them, rushed in so they could partake of the treats. Alyson, however, remained just outside of the gate. 

The rabbit, stopped jumping the moment the men entered. He bowed at them, his face all smiles, but his voice raspy and dark as he spoke. "Welcome welcome dear guests! A very merry unbirthday to you all!"

At that, Rick stayed suspicious, and eyed the rabbit as it moved. Doing his best to stay away from it, Alyson noticed. 

"Are we in Wonderland or something?" Ivan chuckled.

The rabbit laughed then, loud, and wild. "Yes! Yes! Yes this is Wonderland! I hated that story when I was alive! Hated it with a passion! It was not a story for boys! It was not a story for men!"

Alyson saw Rick's face as the Rabbit broke for a moment with laughter. Rick was making a face of agreement, then he zeroed on the meaning of the declaration, and Alyson knew, they were about learn the truth. 

"I wouldn't let my sons read it, I wouldn't let them have anything to do with anything that deal with Wonderland. I didn't want them associating with such a girlish story! Then I caught them! With books upon books! Movies upon movies! They tried to argue with me! They dared to argue with their father! They deserved their fate for that and that alone! Didn't matter that the main characters were focused on a male occupant of Wonderland, didn't matter at all! Didn't matter who made the story either! They had it! And I had forbid it! I grabbed my belt, and whatever else I could get my hands on and proceeded to beat them. One of them died, apparently I was a lot stronger than I had realized, the other was nearly dead when i was stopped. He was permanently disfigured because of that beating. I was punished in life, but the blasted Divines saw fit to punish me in death as well. As if a life in prison with no women, no decent caviar wasn't enough. It was! IT WAS I TELL YOU!!! Now I have to play the Lord of Insanity's games until my soul is redeemed. But I've nothing to redeem for!"

The rabbit was screaming at the end of the his story, jumping about, laughing and screaming as he did so. "I've nothing to redeem for! Nothing! I was right! I was Right! I WAS RIGHT!"

Rick jumped back, and his group followed. 

"Lord of the Insanity? The Divines?"

The rabbit paused, chuckling as it hunched over to look at them through wide eyes. "Yes! We are in the Realm of Insanity, of Madness! Where people are forced to endure punishments and torture!"

"You're being punished." Alyson finally spoke, drawing all eyes to her. The rabbit's body still hunched over, turned 180 degrees and looked at her furiously. "You sinned in life, committed terrible acts of violence and hurt innocent people. You, and those who are evil like you, are sent here to repent or suffer for eternity. That was the task Alekzandor was charged with by his grandfather Hektor, king of the Divines, and the head of the family. That's just one of the uses of the realm of Madness."

Rick, was suddenly beside her, looked at her furiously for a moment, before looking back at his three friends. "We need to leave, immediately!"

He attempted to pull Alyson into his arms, but the power she had put out prevented that, instead, he tugged on her hand and pulled her as close as the magic would allow. "I'll protect you from him. I swear I will."

"There's nothing to protect me from." Alyson said venomously. 

"You knew." He said, dropping his voice so she alone could hear him. "You know, and you didn't tell me."

"You didn't need to know."

The three others were around them now, so the conversation couldn't continue. At least not in Rick's eyes. He turned and began to pull her behind him, but a hairy hand wrapped around her wrist and pulled her back toward the punishment. The rabbit was on the fencing, his hand around her wrist, his eyes wide and his face contorted with madness and smiling. His head resting on his shoulder as he stared at her. He seemed to be studying her, when he had his answer, his head went right side up again as he threw it back in laughter. 

"You've been played for a fool, my friend." He rasped looking back at Rick. He looked back at Alyson. "Alice will be born in Wonderland again."

With that, the rabbit released his hold on her wrist and hopped back into the punishment. It took a great amount of effort to not reach toward her stomach and caress her baby. Thankfully, the meaning of that last sentence had completely gone over Rick's head. He didn't know that Alyson was pregnant with Alekzandor's child. But he didn't let her go no matter what she did to get him to release her hand. She was very pissed off at that damn rabbit. He was also much too alone in that little clearing and his tea party. He needed some company. The Mad Hatter, the mouse, the White Rabbit, The Tweedles, and the Dodo bird all in that small little clearing, all singing "A Very Merry Unbirthday" at the top of their lungs, over and over and over. As they continued forward, she heard the music, and she heard the screams of the rabbit as he realized his punishment, just got worse. 

Rick tugged her along, causing her to trip and fall to her knees, and it was enough to jar her already nauseous stomach. She retched there at the stop and passed out once the final contents of her stomach had been forcefully evacuated. 

 - - - - - - - - -

Balor was having to hold him back to keep from going down into his realm and ripping Rick to pieces. The others weren't hurting Alyson, but they weren't helping her either, and that more than damned them in his eyes. Balor laughed with each change Alyson made. 

"Oh yeah, she's meant for this realm. Look how it's responding to her! And she can even cast out a little bit of power!" The pride in his uncles tone was unmistakable, Alekzandor could tell even through his rage, that Balor was going to be very fond of Alyson. "It's not much, but it's enough to keep that damned mortal from beating on her like he wants to."

Then the rabbit some something that had both of them standing there frozen. "Alice will be born in Wonderland again." While Rick and the others didn't understand what that meant, Balor and Alekzandor did. He broke, he fell to his knees sobbing. A baby!? A baby!? Alyson was pregnant. It was his, he knew it was. She had only ever been with him. He was going to be a father!?

"You were right." He said through the sobs. "She is on her way home."

"Told you so." Balor chuckled clapping him on the shoulder. "I'll leave so the happy couple can have some time alone. I can fight a dragon another day."

Balor was about out the door when Alekzandor spoke up. "Wait, why not fight a dragon now?"

A plan was forming in his mind, one that would allow Alyson an escape, and the one helping hand he could extend toward her. They only had the one shot, so they had better make the most of it. When Alyson collapsed, he frantically put the plan into motion. 

 - - - - - 

A/N

Sorry for the delay in the last chapter, a lot's been happening and I was reluctant to sit and the computer. Now that the mood has struck me, it appears there will be more chapters posted this week than any in the past. It's very possible I will have this story finished before too long.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and the last one. 

WD