“That’s the idea,” Crim readily agreed. “But first, let’s play a little game for old time’s sake, shall we?” Crim held Diamond’s heart up to his lips. “Summon your axe, Diamond,” he ordered.

Diamond was forced to obey the command, and summoned his battle-axe from his pocket dimension. It materialized in his hand. Diamond glared heatedly at Crim the entire time.

“Good. Very good.” Crim nodded, looking pleased. “Now, I want you to cut Spade’s head off.”

The blood started to drain out of Diamond’s face. “You want me to what? No way!”

“Oh, I almost forgot.” Crim strolled over to Diamond, and waved his hand over the axe’s blade so that the enchantment placed upon it was broken. This meant that if the axe was now used to decapitate Spade…Spade’s head would not be able to be reattached with magic, instead Spade would die a bloody, painful death.

Out of shock, Spade let go of his flamingo, and it flew off with an indignant squawk. He raised his hands before him in a surrendering gesture. “Crim, w-wait. Please, don’t kill me. I…I’m sorry. Have mercy…b-brother.” Spade had paled and his body was trembling in fear.

“Mercy?” Crim scoffed. “Like how you had mercy when I begged you to stop ripping my heart out, again and again. This is what bullies deserve - their just desserts. Off with his head!” Crim commanded imperiously, slashing his hand through the air.

“Damn you, Crim…” Diamond said through gritted teeth as he swung his axe at Spade’s head, and decapitated him.

The lords and ladies screamed as blood splattered through the air. Spade’s head hit the grassy ground and rolled towards the nobles who only screamed louder in response. Spade’s body crumpled to the ground where a pool of blood started to form around it.

As Crim watched blood splatter onto the white roses in the garden Crim’s smile widened maniacally. “You know, what? Red roses are much more beautiful than white. I should have the gardeners paint the roses red, post haste. But for that to happen…I need more blood.” His predatory gaze turned upon the nobles. “You all found my despair and heartbreak over the loss of my mother to be quite entertaining, didn’t you? Your laughter is still ringing in my ears.”

“Please…” “Spare us.” “We’re sorry…” “Please, forgive us!” the lords and ladies begged pitifully.

“OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!” Crim yelled out to Diamond.

Diamond gulped and approached the nobles, who backed away from him in fear. Diamond swung his axe and decapitated a lady first. What a waste. Diamond thought to himself. She was kind of cute. The rest of the nobility immediately tried to make a run for it.

With a lazy wave of his hand Diamond was able to freeze them all in place using his dark magic power. Then, one by one he chopped off their heads while Crim watched the carnage with a wide, satisfied smile on his face. Who knew that revenge could be such fun?

After Diamond had decapitated all of the lords and ladies who’d laughed at his plight - Crim started to crush Diamond’s heart. Diamond cried out in pain and sunk to his knees. Crim casually strolled over to regard his brother and former tormentor. “Oh, I’m going to enjoy this.”

“Fuck y-” Diamond snarled.

Crim crushed Diamond’s heart to dust. “You were saying, Brother?” Crim mockingly cupped his ear with his hand. “Oh, well. I doubt you had anything very important to say anyways.” A sinister smile curled Crim’s lips. “I do believe it’s time I paid a little visit to the Queen of Hearts.”

***

With a wave of his hand, the double doors to the throne room opened, and Crim strolled inside. Queen Cordelia was currently seated upon her gilded throne in a relaxed pose. She arched a regal eyebrow at his approach. “Crim…?” That’s when Cordelia noticed the powerful, dark, magical aura that was flaring around Crim. “Your powers have awoken…my son.” She smiled happily. “It’s about time.”

Crim continued stalking forward until he was standing only two feet away from Cordelia. “I’m not your son. You abandoned me because I was born without magic. My true mother was Catara.”

“Was?” Cordelia feigned interest.

“Diamond…” Crim’s shoulders shook with rage. “Crushed her heart.”

“Well, she was just a slave,” Cordelia said dismissively. “An animal. If you miss her terribly I can always get you another-”

“She was my mother!” Crim snapped. “And I’ll never forget how you treated her for all these years. You used to make her mop the floor until her fingers bled!” Lightning fast, Crim’s hand shot out and passed through Cordelia’s chest, breaking past her own protection spell with ease. Then, he gripped her heart.

With incredulity swirling in her dark eyes, Cordelia stared down at the hand inside of her chest. “You…! My shield. Impossible. How?”

Crim flashed her a cocky smirk. “It appears I’m simply more powerful than you, Queen of Hearts.” He pulled Cordelia’s heart out and inspected it. It was even blacker than Diamond’s had been. Crim clucked his tongue disapprovingly. “Tsk, tsk, tsk. You have been a naughty girl, haven’t you? And naughty girls should be punished.” Crim started to squeeze Cordelia’s heart without mercy.

Cordelia gasped in pain. “W-Wait…” She raised her hand towards Crim. “You can’t…you need me. Who is going to teach you magic? You must learn how to control your new powers.”

Crim gave Cordelia an assessing look and stopped squeezing her heart. “I’m listening.”

Cordelia gasped, and took several deep breaths. “As long as you possess my heart you have nothing to fear from me. You’ll need a teacher if you want to become the most powerful sorcerer in Wonderland. With my guidance you can become even more powerful than your father.”

Crim raised an eyebrow at Cordelia. The Queen of Heart’s husband was shrouded in mystery. “My father?”

“King Maleficent.” A slow smile spread across Cordelia’s face.

 ***

A few hours earlier…

As soon as Alister and Katrina left the hat shop, the smile dropped from Madeline’s face and she stalked over to pick up her sheathed sword that was attached to a brown leather belt that she buckled around her waist.

Now that her contenders were busy trying to complete the ‘impossible task’ of stealing a magic bean from the Dark Fairies this meant that the King of Hearts was no longer in the Red Kingdom. Madeline tapped her lower lip in thought. The only danger she’d have to worry about would be the Red King’s blindly loyal knights.

Madeline exited her house, hopped on her horse that had been tethered to a tree out front, and took off at a gallop into the nearby forest, heading for the Red Kingdom.

Madeline felt bad that she was lying to Alister. She really did love him, but…the ends justified the means. She had to do this. And she had to do this alone. No one could know about this top-secret mission of hers.

Madeline rode swiftly through the forest and in less than an hour had arrived at Crim’s territory. She didn’t need to infiltrate the Royal Palace to accomplish her mission, but only the hedge maze next to the royal garden. The hedge maze, which surrounded the outskirts of the kingdom, was protected by dark magic and dangerous spells.

Luckily, Madeline was currently in possession of the legendary Vorpal Sword that He had given her in order to complete this deadly mission.

Madeline cautiously approached the ten-foot-tall hedge bush wall, and raised her Vorpal Sword in a two-handed grip in front of her before swinging it right at the hedge. A loud clanging sound filled the air when her sword hit an energy shield that flared to life with a golden light.

With just a little more force, however, Madeline was able to break past the energy shield and then slice through the leafy green hedge. Madeline continued to hack away at the hedge until she’d created a suitably sized entrance to the maze. She had to step through quickly though since the broken branches were already regenerating, and as she passed through the opening the branches reached out and tried to ensnare her.

Goosebumps broke out over Madeline’s arms and she shuddered. The last thing she wanted was to end up trapped inside a bush. It would be incredibly embarrassing for Crim to find her that way.

After making it into the maze, Madeline sheathed her sword, reached into her pants pocket, and pulled out a silver, dragon-shaped pendant that had a large emerald clutched in the dragon’s talons. The pendant had been enchanted with a locator spell, and the stone would glow brighter the closer Madeline got to the object she was looking for.

Madeline placed the pendant on the palm of her right hand and held it out in front of her. She held her hand out towards her right and nothing happened. When she held her hand out towards the left path the emerald started to glow dimly. She nodded to herself. “This way then.”

Madeline used the pendant to navigate the maze in this manner, and ended up taking a left, then a right, another left, two rights and lastly another left. Without the pendant to guide her she surely would have become lost in this crazy maze.

A few minutes later, Madeline heard the distinctive clanking sound of heavily armored knights that were on patrol in the maze, and paused to listen carefully in order to pinpoint their general location in order to avoid them.

Finally, she’d somehow managed to make it to the center of the maze, which was a large square-shaped clearing. At the opposite end from where Madeline was currently standing stood a large, Gothic family vault.

Madeline looked down at the pendant sitting on the palm of her hand. Its brightness was almost blinding now. So ‘it’ was inside that tomb. Alright, then. Madeline pocketed the pendant, unsheathed the Vorpal Sword with her right hand, and then added her left hand to the hilt.

There were only two knights standing guard in front of the vault’s door. The Red Knights were dressed in red steel armor with the pattern of black hearts on it. She could take them. Madeline wasn’t known as being Wonderland’s finest swordswoman for nothing after all!

Holding the Vorpal Sword out before her in a two-handed grip she whistled loudly to get the knights’ attention. “Whoo-hoo. Hello, boys. I’m bored. Let’s have some fun.”

“It’s the Mad Hatter!” the knight on the left exclaimed as he unsheathed his sword and pointed it at her.

“You crazy bitch!” his comrade added, following suit, and unsheathing his own sword.

“It appears my reputation proceeds me.” Madeline grinned widely. “Wonderful!” She fearlessly and somewhat recklessly charged forward, and the two knights ran forward to meet her. The knight on her right swung his sword first at her in a horizontal sideways slash. Madeline blocked the blow with her sword, and spun to block an attack coming at her from her left - an overhead downward slash.

Madeline appeared undaunted by having to face off against the two knights simultaneously. With deadly grace and wicked speed, Madeline spun and swung her sword at the knight on her right, and severed his head from his shoulders.

“You Mad Hat! You’ll pay for that!” the other knight roared in outrage at his comrade’s apparent demise.

Amusement glittered in Madeline’s green eyes. “There’s no need to get so angry with me, Knight.” Madeline held up the Vorpal Sword and caressed the blade with her hand in an appreciative manner. “This is an enchanted blade, which means your friend there is still alive. His head can simply be reattached to his body later.”

The knight whose severed head was now lying on the ground blinked his eyes open in astonishment. “She’s right! I’m still alive!”

“Truce?” Madeline offered the remaining knight in an amicable manner.

The knight readjusted his grip on his sword’s hilt. “Never! If I fail to protect the vault the Red King will crush my heart. Besides, I’m under orders to protect this place and I cannot disobey him.”

“Pity,” Madeline lamented before she attacked the remaining knight. Their swords clashed, and Madeline deftly snuck past the knight’s defenses before cutting his head off next. The knight’s head toppled off his shoulders, and his body crumpled to the ground in a clatter of armor.

“Now, then.” Madeline sheathed her sword. “I can’t have you boys calling for help, so I’m really sorry about this, but it’s absolutely necessary.” Madeline ripped off two pieces of material from the decorative bustle on the back of her jacket then walked over to the knights’ heads before stuffing the rags into their mouths in order to gag them. Madeline nodded at her handiwork. “There. You boys stay quiet. I have a vault to rob. Toodles!”

The two knights glared fiercely at Madeline as they watched her approach the vault door. The door to the vault was locked, of course, and there was a protection spell on it too. Madeline took out the pendant He had given her and touched the door with it.

The magical shield shattered instantly, and the door unlocked itself before swinging open. “Hmm. Magic can come in pretty handy. It’s a shame I can’t wield it.” Madeline pouted as she stepped inside the vault. In the center sat two large, stone sarcophaguses. Madeline walked over to inspect them curiously. Carved on the stone lid of the coffin on her right was the name: DIAMOND. Below the name a small diamond-shaped symbol had been carved into the stone lid.

Madeline’s attention turned to the coffin on her left. The name ‘SPADE’ had been carved onto the lid of this coffin, and right below the name a spade-shaped symbol had been carved into the lid.

Madeline touched the pendant to Spade’s sarcophagus first, but nothing happened. Then she touched the pendant to Diamond’s sarcophagus and the coffin slid sideways over the floor with a loud scraping sound to reveal a hidden stairway. “Bingo.” Madeline made her way down the steep stone steps to the lower level of the vault.

The room she entered was empty except for the rows of small, square-shaped drawers on all of the surrounding walls. The little compartments resembled miniature tombs. On the surface of each drawer a letter and a number, or two letters had been engraved.

Madeline’s eyes traveled along a row: 8H, 9H, 10H, JH, QH, KH, AH. She reached out and touched the engravings thoughtfully. “Ten of hearts? Jack of hearts? That must be it. If I remember correctly Crim has given his knights designations that correspond with the cards found in a deck of playing cards. And I have a feeling I know what’s inside of these compartments.”

Madeline reached out and opened up one of the drawers. Inside the drawer was a small box. Madeline grabbed the box and opened it. Inside was a glowing, red heart. “These are the hearts Crim has ripped out of his knights’ chests in order to make them completely loyal to him.” Madeline carefully returned the heart to the box and set the box back inside of its drawer. “But, I’m not looking for a knight’s heart. What I’m looking for is…aha! This must be it.” Engraved on one of the compartments was the symbol of a dragon.