Deep into the dense, shadowy woods we ventured, Saragona’s unwavering stubbornness a constant presence ever since we bid farewell to Pantaloon’s quaint abode. Despite the passing time, the seething anger coursing through my veins showed no signs of dissipating, lingering like a brooding storm as we pressed on through the snowy expanse towards our next destination – the mysterious KooKoo Kingdom.

However, it was during this tumultuous leg of our journey that unforeseen events began to unfold, sending ripples of unease through our carefully laid plans. Saragona yanked with such force at me that I nearly tumbled off as we plowed through the snow-covered forests, causing a shocked gasp to come out of my mouth.

The palm of his hand lowered swiftly silencing my complaints with a restricted hold as he frantically directed my attention forward, all before a single question could emerge. And what I saw sent a shudder of incredulity down my spine. A determined battalion of—no, a battalion of mice soldiers—marched in our direction. Saragona rushed swiftly and firmly, ushering us behind the cover of a tall oak tree, where we hunkered down in nervous silence, ready for anything.

“What is he doing here?” Saragona spoke angrily under his breath.

The footsteps were getting closer, and my heart was racing. Saragona's hands found their way to my chest, holding me tight. I wasn't expecting him to hold me that tightly, so my face got a beet red as a tomato. However, when his hand rose above the surface...

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

“YOU!!!” The mouse king growled. I quickly loaded up my gun, shooting him in the eye which coerced a giant screech from out of his lips. Saragona held my hand and quickly dashed through the forest as the guards chased us down like dogs chasing intruders of their lawn. Never once did we stop to look back, all the thoughts that were probably on his mind right now were “Run, get out of here and continue our quest.”

We turned a rapid corner to lose track of them; watching as they go the other way, we take a moment to sigh of relief before I was met with a slap on the face. Saragona looked pissed off as he has a valid reason but at the same time he violated shit. He points his finger at me before screaming, “What is your problem?!”

"My problem? It wasn't me who went beyond than he ought to have!" I yanked back.

"What in the world are you talking about?!" He asked; instinctively, his arrogance and incompetence are starting to come through once more!

"You idiot, you touched my boob!"

His look shifted to one of humiliation. His hand cringed up before his face as he looked down, making him bolt to a nearby river and begin frantically washing his hand like a crazy. I watch in disbelief and uncertainty as this nutcracker washes his hand, seeming alarmed even if there isn't an actual threat to the world.

 I just sit down by a tree stump, counting how many bullets I have remaining in hopes that I have enough for when we have to kill that zombie rodent bitch.

“22…” I spoke softly, putting the bullets in a small bag before putting it back with my stuff. I just sit by the tree, my knees curled together and my eyes looking at the beautiful stars the twinkle in the sky. There… I could see them. I could see constellations of my family, Pavlova… Drosselmeier. I then cuddled myself in my night robe before slowly drifting off to sleep, but then my eyes gazed upon another sign. It was a wooden arrow sign that had the words:
KOOKOO KINGDOM THIS WAY.

My enquiring thoughts prompted me to stand up, leaving Saragona to wash away whatever he deemed hazardous on him after when his hand made contact with my breast. As I traversed more thoroughly, I saw that the woodland was growing eerier and more terrifying. Even with my body stiffening from the icy looks that radiated from the shadows, I can't shake the feeling that something else is seeing me. Something that is other-worldly.

After a brief while, I finally found a light at the end of this scary forest background. Dashing faster towards it my heart grew excitedly to finally be out of this dark prison but once I opened my eyes, all I saw was nothing but a ruined demolished kingdom as bricks and rubble were once made up what I believed to be a prosperous kingdom. I approached closer to see some sort of welcome sign: “Welcome to The Fantasy KOOKOO Kingdom” and it really creeped me out as the world “KooKoo” was written entirely out of what seemed to either be red paint or blood.

The entire kingdom looked to be in complete shambles, including the exterior of the castle in the far back that was covered in nothing but moss, vines and rotting demolished pink bricks. Conturning further, I could see the ruined buildings that looked like they once had wonderful gifts to share but where then destroyed.

I then see a fountain up ahead; for some peculiar reason, it’s still running. I notice the waters show something… images. Images of people who once stared at this fountain, the blood dripping down their heads… I could hear the screams of pain and agony from behind me even though nobody was there. My head lifted up before turning around behind me.

I could hear noises.

“PRETTY PRINCESS, I MAKE PRETTY! BEAUTIFUL DOLLY, I MAKE INTO A CUTIE! CHEE CHEE CHEE! CHEE CHEE CHEE!”

I turn my head around to different locations to see where the voice was coming from but there was no one here in this abandoned kingdom. I back up before hearing a creak as the doors to the castle fall down—

My heart skipped a beat–

A memory flashed before my eyes, 9 year old me on that fateful night with a near death experience. Glass shattered on the floor with that demonic rat monster standing on top of the cabinet.

The memory faded as I saw the destroyed wood but soon I felt a stinging pain on my shoulder. I could see the blood trickle down but as if my life couldn’t get any worse…

“MISS STAHLBAUM!!!” It was Saragona, I couldn’t move. I stayed motionless as the memories flooded back; heavily breathing and images of that rat…
That Monster…
Drosselmeier on the clock…

My heart hurting like hell, grabbing onto it as tears flowed through my eyes. I try standing up before collapsing once again. I heard footsteps, to think that it was presumably that mouse king again! I run inside the castle, holding my breath. Inside my body, I could feel the pain. I feel like my body would soon collapse but then I hear Saragona’s voice again:
“Miss Stahlbaum! Where are you?!”

“G–Go away!”

“Listen, I want to–”

“You want to what?!” I exclaim before stepping out, only to be met with something… monstrous. It wasn’t Saragona—

“I MAKE PRETTY!!!” The monster exclaimed, pouncing on me, biting my shoulder. I scream at the top of my lungs before pointing the pistol at the monster, shooting it in the eye. The screech of the creature prompted me to run far away, hiding in some tower in the abandoned castle. The stairs were long and I began to feel drowsy. I landed on my knees near the final steps, my heart pounding as I felt the same feelings at before. Heavily breathing, hand at chest, the pain almost unbearable to feel. The blood continued to trickle down my shoulder until I backed up before I felt breeze below me.

That monster… looked like a humanoid spider. I don’t know how to describe it more than I have. Soon, I heard a splash and when I open my eyes, I see that I am underwater what seemed like to be an ocean. I swim up to land, breathing heavily. What was going on with me?  I breathed heavily as the blood dripped from my arm. I stood up as I thought I saw something nearby.

Squinting my eyes, I saw a small glass table with what looked like milk and cookies. They didn't look rotten or anything, so I decided to take a bite of one of the cookies with the milk.

Picking up a sugar cookie with pink frosting, I was about to take a bite before it jumped out of my hand, as it grew eyes and a mouth.

It stared at me before squabbling to me like some deranged maniac; I couldn't understand what they were saying so I just grabbed the cookie and ate it. But what was even more peculiar was the fact that the cookie came to life; It sort of felt like I was in wonderland.

But I wasn't, I was in the Land Of Dolls. I began to think that it might've been because of that creature biting my shoulder. I held my head as I slowly walked towards the same fountain in the middle of the kingdom. That's when the area around me began to feel a bit wonky in a sense that I couldn't move properly.

As the world became more distorted than before, I sat down, holding my head in pain. Soon enough, the world I preserved was no longer the Land of Dolls but was some type of tye-dye technicolor acid trip of a world.

I lifted my head up as I wondered what was going on; right when I wondered that, I see three deformed and burned dolls running towards me.

Their faces were all covered with ash along with their mouths melting down to the floor.

Without a second thought, I started to my feet; dashing away from the dolls before running into more dastardly creatures.

I kept running till I felt weightless as I floated off the ground but I was in the grasp of a dragon; smoke puffing out of its mouth as it opened its mouth for me.

I tried to float away from the dragon but I just kept floating upwards, as if I was one of those kids in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. I was lucky enough that I missed the dragon by a near inch towards his mouth.

 I sighed in relief before falling to what felt like my doom; I then screamed as I no longer floated and I fell down towards the floor, only to be saved by something.

It was the dragon again who tried to eat me; I escaped the dragon's grasp by shooting off its hand with the pistol, there I continued to run towards the more clear side of this drugged up world.

I saw what looked like my home from a far distance; I smiled as I ran towards home only for the floor to move like a waterbed as it goes up and down with the waves.

As I try to continue forward, the world starts to change as the floor became wetter than ever before. Suddenly, my foot sank deep into the floor causing my body to fall forward and into the water. It was like an ocean here.

I could see coral reefs made of candy and little fishes that looked like they were ragdolls, which they were. The floors were all patterned to different fabrics like some kind of aquatic quilt.

I swam through only a few inches of the ocean, only to be face-to-face with a giant whale. I nearly screamed underwater, but I covered my mouth sense you couldn't breathe underwater.

I proceeded to swim as fast as I could to get to shore in hopes that I could get to safety somewhere. Only to be swallowed up by the whale then launched back out like a firework.

I then bellyflopped back into the ocean and tried swimming to shore again. I was able to swim to what looked like rocks shaped as sewing thimbles, only for me to be pulled back in by what looked like a siren. I gasped for air as I tried to escape the grasp of the siren.

I even kicked them in the face to get away as then I swam upshore to then reach another area to where it looked like a stack of cards from head to toe; but soon enough, they fell on top of me as they were pointing what looked like spears at me.

I ducked as more of them aimed their spears towards me. I screamed out, "Saragona! Where are you!! I need help!!!" The cards that missed me formed some sort of card maze that I tried to maneuver my way towards the exit of the maze.

It felt like an endless labyrinth as I tried to find the exit but to no avail, there wasn't an exit; that was until my feet slipped and I fell down what felt like a large hole; more coinciding like a large void to the center of the earth. But soon enough, I fell into an ocean only for it to spit me out like I was nothing.

I then found myself on what looked like a pirate ship as a bunch of weasels which changed into different patterns pointed rifles at me.

 I dashed away from those rifle shots as I heard them within the distance, but then something that really made me scream was when I saw a type of dragon that I’ve only heard from Celtic/Scottish Mythology: The Beithir. And though it didn’t have wings or feet, it had a really venomous sting if it bit you. That’s when I screamed to myself, “I gotta get out of here!”

My eyes then blinked multiple times as then, I was running through what looked like a rainbow tunnel as each direction was a different object from cuckoo clocks to floating teapots to dolls that are disheveled or blots of oil that would hit my face.

I turned around to see the toys and other odd entities that chased me throughout what felt like a full hour, and I started to feel like I was getting suffocated by everything.

Seeing their angered faces only made me want to get away from them even more before I felt like I got pulled up out of water when I landed on what felt like the same concrete floor.

I could hear the voices going away and soon I was embraced in the arms of someone.

 I purred cutely as I snuggled into the chest of whoever was holding me. This person rubbed my back as they lifted me into their arms as I felt weightless again. I opened my eyes to see Saragona, holding me in his arms. "Ms. Stahlbaum! Are you alright?" He asked worriedly.

Without a second thought, I embraced him tightly. My eyes watered up, sniffles and tears flowing down as he stands there, unknowing of what to do. I shivered in fear, worried that I wouldn’t see him or my family again. I thought I was to be face-to-face with that monster. Then, I could feel his warm embrace as well. His hand rubbing my back and he sits down on the concrete seats of the fountain.

“I thought I was going to die… I thought they would kill me!” I exclaim, holding my embrace.

“It’s okay Miss Stahlbaum,” Saragona sighed, “It’s okay…” He glanced over to see something hidden in the waters.

He sank his hand in as his other arm held onto me; I look to see where he is grabbing and once he brings his hand up from the water, he opens his hand to reveal the second silver key piece. The other piece rose from my bag and soon, in the glowing light, connected together with the second piece to show that we were close. Halfway done. Saragona smiled as he lifts me in his arms, placing the key in my bag. He sighs before saying, “Look, I’m so–” I interrupt him, “When we find out next resting spot, you can tell me later.” He holds a soft smile before leaving this cursed kingdom. Two down…
Two more to go.