CHAPTER#152

Mike gagged at the sight and turned away. He took a few seconds to compose himself and turned back. As Ratu had predicted, the wound had mostly healed already, the knife now firmly embedded in Oliver's skull. The sharp blade inside his brain had disabled him completely, trapping him in a state of death.

Yuki pinched the pommel and yanked it, causing Oliver's head to lift.

"That's not coming out anytime soon," she said, slamming Oliver's head back on the ground. "If anything, it might go deeper, but he's gonna have a tough time with a dagger floating around in there."

Mike let out a huge sigh. They had done it. "Okay, so what now?"

"First, we get Beth out of here." Yuki sat on the ground and let out a groan. "I think he broke some of my ribs."

"Yeah, well, we'll get you patched up when we get home." He grinned. "Your plan was brilliant, by the way."

"Thank you, I... we needed to do this." She let out a pained breath and stood back up. "Let's get Beth home and then teach the Society that you don't fuck with the Radley House."

Mike laughed. "I'll go find that pool if you'll go get the rats."

--

Yuki stood atop the pavilion, her eyes scanning the garden below. The rats were everywhere, hundreds of them, scouting the ground. Oliver's body had been moved into the pavilion proper where several rodents stood guard in case his body found a way to push the dagger out of his skull.

Mike appeared through the bushes, followed by Tink. When his eyes met Yuki's, he gave her a thumbs up. "She's safe. She just sort of emerged from the pool, so we all dragged her out. Ratu is busy working on the cure right now, so by tomorrow, everyone should be safe."

"Good." Yuki let out a sigh. No matter what happened next, at least that was one debt repaid. Her lungs burned with every breath, her wounds from Oliver more severe than she had let on. They would heal in time, but she would have to live with the pain for now.

"Lord Mike." Reggie appeared from one of the hedges. "I believe we are ready to begin."

"Do you think it will work?"

Reggie took off his plastic glasses and wiped them off on his shirt. Yuki fought the urge to laugh at the absurdity of a rodent pretending that he had actual glasses. What the Rat King was about to accomplish was nothing short of a miracle.

"I do," Reggie said, placing his glasses back on and adjusting his crown. "We have already located and isolated other worlds like this one, so no other creatures will be harmed. Those places, though, will be utterly destroyed once we begin."

"Okay, good." Mike looked at Yuki. "As for you... are you good?"

"Of course." Yuki gazed across the garden. The stone animals were slowly transforming into twisted, macabre versions of their former selves. With Oliver out cold, his mental control over the garden was weakening. Soon, the trap would be laid, and all they could do was wait.

"Then let's begin." Mike nodded at Reggie, who signaled to some rats nearby. Those rats set off, and then the entire garden filled with the sound of chewing.

Mike climbed on top of the pavilion with Yuki's help, his eyes on the work below. It would be a while before any of the portals would open.

"This is so surreal," Mike said, watching them work. "I'm watching magic rats coordinate an interdimensional highway inside of a prison world that looks like the Mad Hatter's tea party. That's what made me think of the raven question, actually. I watched the Alice cartoon as a kid, and wondered if a question like that would confuse him. Pissed him off pretty bad, that was a surprise for me."

Yuki chuckled. "This place has been around since the eighteen hundreds, according to Zel's journal. I'm wondering if Lewis Carroll himself once passed through the looking glass, if you catch my drift."

"Do you really think he was here? I thought he was just a mathematician."

"In some ways, math is just another type of magic." Yuki coughed, wincing. "He may have visited, been trapped here, or even overheard the story about this place from a friend. Maybe even used that question to escape, who knows? You'll find that every story tends to have a kernel of truth, and some truths are far more interesting than others."

"I see." He looked out over the gardens.

"Mike?"

"Yeah?"

"What's a G****e?"

He laughed. "That's a good question! It's easier to show you when we get home." His brow furrowed and he turned to look at her. "Also, I've been meaning to ask you. Once we get everyone back to normal, what were you thinking of doing?"

"What do you mean?" Yuki fought the nauseous feeling rising up in her throat. Whether it was from her busted ribs or anxiety, she couldn't be sure.

"Well, I mean..." Mike cleared his throat. "Where are you going to stay? After this?"

"I thought..." Yuki hung her head. She hadn't really thought that far ahead. In a way, it didn't make a whole lot of sense for her to stick around. After all, she had almost lost the house to a group of witches. Nobody in the house even remembered her, which meant that as far as they were concerned, she was still the enemy.

She had been stupid to think that her hard work would help make up for the trouble she caused. Lost in thought, she realized that Mike was still speaking to her.

"-or you could stay in the tower, if you'd rather. It's just that the current rooms are either a mess or occupied. The rats will probably shift a bit, but I don't want you to be offended because I offered you the servants quarters, that's just the only one that's remotely ready to be a bedroom."