A Door that Opens Part 17

The sword pierced through Nikk's shoulder, causing her to cry out in pain as she never had before, and causing her face to twist in horrible anguish. The surrealistic knight in celestial, starry armor shined among all of the dark, and red gloom all around them, and his sword struck true. Alys's grin widened as she saw Nikk's blood begin to seep out of her shoulder, and onto the black rock below them. Nikk glared at Alys for a moment, and then back at the strange-looking knight who pulled his sword from her shoulder, drawing another large grunt of pain.

Nikk: Osore...

The knight's sword came back down toward the girl, but the blood that came from her shoulder splattered across the dream warrior's face, and also gushed forward. The blood grew a gigantic hand and grasped the sword's blade and halted it instantly. That was when Nikk let out a loud roar in her high-pitched voice, an act she had not done for years, and thrust her palm forward, causing the blood to turn into several spikes that shot forward, and impaled the knight. His sword fell, and dispersed into nothingness, as did the rest of him after a moment.

Alys: Who are you? Really, who are you?

Nikk stood, looking at her bloody shoulder, along with her beaten and battered, torn and tattered jester's clothing. Her clown makeup had long since rubbed off, and her face was bruised to an extensive rate, and her bottom lip bled all the way down her neck.

Nikk: I am the leaf that hangs from the tree, one that has turned red with determination, instead of green with futile envy.

Alys: No, no I don't think so. You are the tiny, tiny little leaf that has yet to realize that if she had not roosted with such foul naves that she could, instead of a leaf, bloomed into a beautiful flower. A flower atop a tree, high above the clouds in a world of her own, living in a castle, one that no mere mortal could penetrate, no matter the circumstances.

She smiled at Nikk, who said nothing, and did nothing.

Alys: Seal away everything, and come with me. Become a maiden of the Dream World. These powers can be intensified to the power of God-like strength and abilities.

Nikk continued to gaze at her. Her eye pounding with pain and the inside of her mouth tasted of nothing but blood which she spat out every few minutes. She finally wiped the blood from her chin, and gathered up as much blood in her mouth as she could. She spat the blood at Alys's feet, some of it getting onto her white socks through her pristine, beautiful, shining shoes.

This caused Alys's eye to twitch.

Alys: Very well! [She growled, and put her hand to the sides of her] I'll show you how I deal with---

That was when more and more blood began to pump out of Nikk's mouth. She opened up her mouth to the side of a large china plate and gushed it straight at her. As she did this, her features began to shrink in, causing her skin to become flabby, sagging, and wrinkled. Her stomach shrank and her ribcage showed through the many holes in her jester's costume. Alys screamed as it covered her entirely, and she slipped on it as she tried to move out of the way of it.

Alys: STOP ITTTTT!!!! [Her scream echoed for miles around, even above the battle between the Queen and Alice that was happening near them]

That was when the blood did, indeed stop. That was also when a very bony, and pale hand grasped onto Alys's arms, and two dead, pale blue eyes looked deep into hers and smiled. Nikk's hair had fallen out except for black and red fuzzies barely hanging onto her scalp.

Nikk: You know nothing of me... [Her flaps of skin wiggled with her face moved] How much blood does it take to fill that empty castle you wish you live? How many fallen leaves must you witness before you realize that your dream comes with a price that you will never want to pay? [Her teeth were dark red, and grinning through hanging pieces of skin] You go be Queen of your empty little Wonderland. I'll find my own castle.

Alys's eyes gazed into Nikk's and she saw IT. She could not ever tell what she saw, but she saw IT. That underlying message in the chaos, that horrific truth that no one would ever dare speak, and would shutter to even think of. Such a discovery could never be explained, nor would she ever try to.