(no subject)

[heartlessknave]

As the Knave carried one last armful of firewood back to the camp site, he had to stop and reflect for a minute. He hadn't really thought they would succeed in getting Cyrus even knowing how determined and capable Alice was - going up against the Red Queen was one thing but going up against her and Jafar was something else. She'd fight to the end, he knew that, and he would be right there with her because he had promised but he knew better than than hope it would turn out well.

Things never turned out well. He knew this from first-hand experience.

But then again, maybe even his luck had to turn all right sometime. Cyrus had broken out, they had found him, held off the Tweedles and Jafar's guards and they now had a bit of breathing room to figure out what to do next.

"Right," he called out loudly as he approached the site. "I'm coming back with the wood so clothes had better be on."

He was probably going to get smacked for that but it was worth it.

Comments

[notinsane]

"But there's no where to go. Jafar won't ever give up looking for us." Alice didn't know where they could go that Jafar wouldn't be able to follow. Even finding the means to jump from one world to another was rare enough these days. They couldn't go back to her world either, that would be the first place Jafar would go looking for them.

"Cyrus, isn't there some way we could...trap Jafar or the Red Queen?" She turned her attention towards the genie sitting beside her. It would be utterly impossible to take them both down, but if they could separate one from another then maybe something could be done.

[mywillisthine]

Cyrus sighed in resignation. As much as the thought of finding someplace safe so they could hatch a plan sounded promising, Alice was right. There was no world they could travel to where Jafar would not be able to find them. "Alice is right. He is too powerful to hide from, even in another world."

Alice question led Cyrus to pause and rack his brain for any means he could think of. "I don't know. If I knew the source of their magic, it would be one thing, especially since they use different kinds. It would be difficult to build a trap without knowing."

[heartlessknave]

As much as he hated to admit it, they both had a point. Anna would stay here, he was sure, but Jafar would keep on chasing them no matter where they want.

This was going to be painful to tell and he wasn't even if sure if this would be the kind of thing that would help Cyrus build a trap but he had no choice now. Chalk it up to Alice's influence or that he had finally gone nutters but he was going to do the right thing.

"The Red Queen," he said then stopped for a moment to pull himself together. "She didn't have magic before she got here. You want to know how she got it? She made a deal with the Queen of Hearts. Me heart in exchange for power."

[notinsane]

If Will wasn't sitting so terribly far away, Alice probably would have put her hand on his shoulder. As it was, she could only give him a terribly complicated look. "Will..." That tone of voice seemed to suggest he didn't have to bring up his past with the Red Queen. She knew how complicated things were between the two of them. Or rather, how simple things were on Will's end because he refused to put his broken heart back inside of him.

"And Jafar. I think that snake staff of his is his main source of power. He's never without it."

[mywillisthine]

Things suddenly grew a lot clearer and Cyrus felt a pang in his heart for the Knave. He knew the reputation of the Queen of Hearts and loosing his heart like that must have been painful, on many levels. "The Queen of Hearts must be the source then," he said, not mentioning the Red Queen at all for the Knave's sake, "And since she is no longer in Wonderland, that could pose a problem."

"And as for Jafar..." Cyrus sighed again and gripped Alice's hand a little tighter, "When I was his prisoner, I saw him work magic without his staff. While it does make him more powerful, I don't believe it's the source of his magic."

[heartlessknave]

"The way I hear it, she's dead," the Knave said, determinedly ignoring Alice's expression. She was only being kind, he knew, it was one of the things he admired about her but as far as he was concerned, that was all in the past and done with. Anna'd made her choice and they both had to live with it.

"Though we all thought that before so who knows what the real story is?"

[notinsane]

"If she's dead, then how can the Red Queen still have her powers?" Alice questioned the circumstances surrounding the Queen of Heart's death. It wouldn't be the first time she had cheated death. She was a tricky one.

"Jafar is our main concern, but I don't think he and the Red Queen get along very well. Maybe there's a way to turn them against one another?"

[mywillisthine]

Cyrus was just as doubtful about hearing of the demise of the Queen of Hearts. "I've heard she's not of Wonderland to begin with. Magic can work differently in different worlds so perhaps her magic lingers beyond the grave or was passed to the Red Queen." He was just reciting everything he knew, in hopes it would spur ideas from the other two.

He paused, hating to think on Jafar but forcing himself anyway. "We'd have to out smart him. He's too powerful to try to strip his magic and while he's very intelligent...his arrogance and need for power blinds him sometimes. The Red Queen isn't as powerful...but she suffers the same weaknesses."

[heartlessknave]

"She might not be as powerful but we shouldn't underestimate her," the Knave said. "You back her in a corner, she'll find some way to come out on top. I'm not saying we can't trip her up - or him too, as it happens but whatever we do, it'd have to be good. Really good."

"That or we could just run off and become pirates." He was joking. Mostly.

[notinsane]

Alice heaved a small sigh and dropped her hand from Cyrus' grasp, looking more then a little distressed at their poor prospects.If they couldn't find a way to trap Jafar or the Red Queen and they couldn't turn them against one another, what was left except to do what they had already been doing; run for their lives.

"What if we gave Jafar what he wanted?" An idea was beginning to form in her head, but she could tell from the looks that Knave and Cyrus were sending her way that they thought she had truly lost her mind. "Cyrus, you said previous masters have wished for your freedom and it's never gone well. What if that's because no one was selfless enough to wish to take your place as a genie? What if I used my last wish to force Jafar to take your place? He'd be bound by the same rules you are, wouldn't he? And most importantly, you'd be free. He'd be stuck in a bottle...

[mywillisthine]

The pirates comment earned a look. Cyrus was hoping the Knave was taking this seriously.

Then the look was turned onto Alice at her suggestion. Lost her mind was an understatement. That idea was down right ridiculous. "Alice, while the idea has merit, what price would you pay for the wish? For all we know, the wish could force you take my place." He sighed heavily, "No...for that idea to work, Jafar would have to make the wish to take my place. Then he would pay the price, no matter what happened."

[heartlessknave]

"It's a barking mad idea," the Knave said. "But I don't know.... isn't it all in how you say the wish? If Alice worded it right, would it work? I just... I don't like it any more than you do, Cyrus, but we're running out of options."

He shook his head and sighed. "It's too bad we can't stuff them both in the damn bottle and drop it in the marshmallow marsh. They both deserve it."

[notinsane]

"If we worded it just the right way, it might work. Knave is right and really, Cyrus, do we have any other options at this point?" Besides, even if the wish went badly and she took his place, they'd be right back where they had started.

Will's words force a small laugh from her. "No one is arguing that they deserve that kind of punishment, but can you imagine the two of them cooped up in a bottle for hundreds of years?"

[mywillisthine]

Cyrus was feeling distinctly outnumbered and not even his pleading look seemed likely to change either of their minds. He did not like this idea, not one bit, and he only hopped he wouldn't be blamed if it went disastrously wrong, as big specific wishes like this tended to go.

"It's your wish. I can only grant it." He said with a sigh of defeat. "But I urge you to think hard. Not even I can predict how a wish will turn out, no matter how it's worded. My magic is...funny like that."

[heartlessknave]

"If Alice doesn't wish then what else can we do?" The Knave asked. "Lack of options, remember? We can't get out of here, the caterpillar's right out and the only other possibility I'm not even going to mention because we're already in enough trouble as it is."

He sighed. "I think it has to be wishing."

[notinsane]

"What if I wished that Jafar became the very thing he craves most? Or if I wished that he would get what he deserved?" Those two wishes did sound awfully selfish to her, but there was no easy way to just come out and wish for Jafar to take Cyrus' place.

"Or-" And she seemed a little more confident in this next choice. "We wish for him to have unlimited power. What can be more powerful then a genie? Even if you are bound by the rules of magic."

[mywillisthine]

Yeah, Cyrus still hated this idea and wasn't going to pretend otherwise.

"Even if unlimited power is awfully vague, I fear it might be the best choice. The others are too specific and more likely to be horribly misinterpreted." He only hoped they got the result Alice and the Knave were hoping for.

[heartlessknave]

It was a risk, a huge risk but the Knave kept coming back to the realization they had no other options. All they had on their side was a wish. Still, he was sure that if anyone could do it, phrase a wish so that Jafar would be screwed over he was sure that it was Alice.

"Unlimited power it is," he said, ignoring the fluttering of anxiety in his stomach. This had to work and he had to believe it would because otherwise... Jafar would make what Cora had done look like a tea party.