There Once Was A Monster In Wonderland

There's a monster in Wonderland, or at least... There *was* a monster in Wonderland.

It wasn't like the other monsters in Wonderland. It wasn't like a Milwitch, with its big mouth and even bigger appetite; it wasn't like a Kaleidoscope, with its massive wings and lust for blood, it wasn't even like that shadow which pulls people into the murky depths of the Backcover. This monster didn't even look like a monster, you'd look at it and see just another normal person like you. Yes, ok... it had horns wider than the King's shoulders; and sure, two spiked balls of blue magic followed it around; and fine... the way in which it stood, the way in which it stared - that was intimidating, but some people are like that. But this..? This was certainly no normal person.

It appeared one day out of the blue; that's not too unusual in Wonderland, powerful demons and magicians end up here occasionally, no one knows why exactly, but that's just how it is here. After it appeared things went on like normal for a while, it settled into society like it had always been here; doing odd jobs, protecting weak people, it was generally thought to be a good thing to have around - a decent and well meaning demon, if not a little intimidating. It spent a few years living here, even after becoming well known and well liked, it continued to sleep on the streets; laughing in your face should you offer it a place to sleep "Charity is for the weak and worthless, I'm neither!" it was certainly an odd demon, but perhaps to the monster, we looked odd instead.

Eventually, things would begin to change.

Years after it had become a common sight around town, one day - it vanished without a trace. Nobody knew where it had gone exactly, some thought it had been killed while sleeping on the streets, vulnerable, an easy meal; others thought it had found a way out of Wonderland, back home; others simply thought it had grown bored and left for the wilderness. For a few months nobody saw even a glimpse of the demon, many people lamented the loss of a strange yet caring neighbour - on a personal note, I had begun to miss the sight of it sleeping outside the bakery across the street, perhaps it liked the smell? They sell the best palmiers there, I had tried asking once *why* it liked sleeping there but- never mind. The point is, the lack of that demon had a noticeable effect on the town, it was a hot topic of discussion for the whole period it was missing.

Of course, one day it returned; but it was almost like an entirely different person. It no longer wore the rags it had entered Wonderland in, instead, it wore a beautiful blue dress not unlike what members of high society would wear; it had what appeared to be a massive diamond pendant around its neck that shone with the utmost spectacle; and it's hair had been cut short and styled, nicely framing it's face and making the true length of its horns much more obvious. Not just its looks were different - its attitude had completely soured, no longer could you even look in it's direction without it making a snide comment, any conversation would be brushed off with dismissive insults and a general lack of interest; the most annoying part was how it took every opportunity to take a jab at you on a personal level - nothing was off the table.

People had initially welcomed it back with open arms, not too dissuaded by its bad attitude; but soon it became clear that while that may have been the same body, that certainly wasn't the same person. It turns out that the demon had spent its absence working its way up in the detestable high society and had managed to become employed as the King and Queen's personal bodyguard, this little visit was nothing more than just to check if the town was still "worthy" of having the royals visit for their stupid yearly "parade" that does nothing more than inconvenience us poor- never mind... The point is: the demon had completely changed but there was something under the surface, something waiting to come forth; it no longer treated a single person with respect, not even the King and Queen; well, there was one exception, the Queen's daughter.

The monster gave the Queen's daughter nothing but respect and kindness, not too unlike how it used to treat all the people who would pass it on the street while it's hair was still long and it's clothes still greyed and fraying; the dissonance between how it treated the child compared to every other living soul was so obvious, even the braindead royals must have noticed. You see, the Princess was blessed in a way; the royal blood had always been entwined with magic, but she was different - every half decent magician would tell you that the Princess was practically oozing with the kind of magic that only True Gods have, the kind of magic that makes and destroys worlds. Soon it became obvious that the demon was only in it for one thing: Power.

And soon... Wonderland would see that power in full force.

For a few months following that visit, the town had continued to receive orders from the castle like normal; however, one day, they had mysteriously stopped, this was extremely strange, this town had been receiving orders daily for at least eighty years. While it was odd and left a lot of people with nothing to do, nobody really complained - most people saw it as just less pointless busywork; nothing of value was really lost. Most thought this would only be a brief mercy, a day at most really; but it wasn't, one day, two days, three days... nothing. Some people, with their schedule broken, became antsy and decided to leave for Castle Town, mostly to ask *why* the orders stopped, rather than *when* they'd be coming back. A group of twenty or so left - only one came back.

He was just a boy, only a few years younger than I was at the time; his clothes were burnt, his face was bloody and he carried nothing but a warning and a message. He warned that the Castle Town in its entirety had been taken over, the streets were stained as red as the roof of the castle, bodies were hung up like bunting around the town walls - each and every one missing their head. The warning he carried was that this was all the work of the demon, the same one many had trusted and been friends with hardly a year ago; it had slaughtered the rest of the group and left the youngest alive to carry a message: The monster proclaimed itself as the new ruler of Wonderland; anyone who would challenge its reign or ignore its commands would meet a swift end. It called itself a "King of Demons" and that the murder of every living soul in Castle Town was just a demonstration of a fraction of its true power. It also said that it had one order that was effective immediately - "Find the runaway Princess and bring her to the Castle Town, dead or alive; the person who does so will become a God among men!"

The proceeding few years would mostly be spent in fear, the monster would make frequent visits to all of the towns in Wonderland; checking for any progress in finding the missing Princess, should whoever the monster decided to talk to not have any good news, they would be made an example of. While most hid, some would actually try to find the missing royal - whether they wanted the power promised or simply wanted to avoid the monster was usually unclear; but venturing out into the wilderness unprepared would seal their fate to the more traditional monsters that plague Wonderland. So it became a choice of two evils: leave into the wilderness and hope to not die to *a* monster, or stay in town and hope to not die from *the* monster - until, one day, the monster simply vanished once again...

It disappeared without a trace, for a while many believed it to just be a test; but it wasn't, the monster had simply disappeared. Perhaps it was killed by a valiant unknown hero, maybe it had found the Princess all on its own and now had the power to easily leave, potentially it had grown remorseful of its actions and decided to waste away alone. Nobody knows, even a decade after the monster was last seen. The only thing people know now is...

There once was a monster in Wonderland.