Alysia in Wonderland by Greg Dragon Page B

too long, and though your actions halted Chaos’s plans, they came with an unfortunate side effect.”
    Alysia furrowed her brows and stared up into his chiseled, dark brown face and asked, “What side effect?”
    “The world as you know it has ceased to exist, and a parallel version has taken its place instead.”
    “What? Is my father still alive at least? Is he okay?”
    “Yes, he is happily at home with his wife and daughter.”
    Alysia thought about what he said for a time and then decided that it wasn’t enough. If there was anything she had learned from her time with Chaos it was that demons spoke in half-truths. Being that Lancert was a demon like the rest, she didn’t trust him to tell her everything.
    She crossed her arms, stood up straight, and cocked her head like a bird on high alert. “Wife and daughter, huh? So, there is another version of me at home being cared for by my mom and dad, right now? Is that what you’re telling me?”
    “Yes, but James’s wife is now Tracy McLeay-Knight, and their daughter’s name is Destiny. Your mother, Kendra, is married to a man named Thomas Ross. They don’t have any children, currently.”
    Alysia felt a painful lump in her throat and she cleared it unconsciously. The thought of James Knight—the father who had loved her, raised her, and trained her in the martial arts—being removed from her life was a painful thing to consider even with the bonus of hearing that her mother was alive.
    “So where am I in this reality?” she asked quietly, her voice barely higher than a whisper.
    “You were never there, Alysia—”
    “CeeCee. Call me CeeCee. The Alysia thing is weird, and I’m not used to people calling me that.”
    “You were never there, CeeCee,” he said matter-of-factly, as if he were merely telling her that it was a little warm outside.
    “So, I saved the world by giving up my life and identity. Would have been nice to have a choice there, but Mom’s alive, so...” She glanced up at Lancert with a look of desperation. “What happened to Isobel and Jasmine? Does this mean that Jaime is alive, and Debdan and Koko?”
    “Your friends are alive and doing well in their respective lives. As to the demon girls—the ones who you rescued from Chaos—they are here in Yalem, living free, and they owe you a debt of gratitude for that opportunity.”
    “So why are you here now, Lancert, since all is well? I seem to be the only one who got screwed in this deal, so what bad news have you come to give me?”
    “Alysia, listen. Since your original deal was made with Chaos, he was the one who got to decide your fate. It was a terrible oversight. We thought that it would be us. We would have given you options, one being the choice of reversing time and wiping your memory of all this.” He gestured with disgust at their surroundings. “You would simply wake up from a nap thinking that it was all a dream.” He sighed loudly before continuing, “But Chaos needs you, Alysia. So instead of accepting defeat, he flipped the worlds and took your soul.”
    “You make it sound as if I have a way out,” Alysia said, not wanting to consider a future where this off-colored world would be her reality.
    “There just might be, but the chances are slim at best. The Erts have a mission for you, and success will break the link between our worlds and set right the things that Chaos caused.”
    Alysia said, “Right itself? What does that even mean?”
    “It means that Chaos will no longer be able to access the gate, and it might reverse itself to a point and time before his attack.”
    “Or a point in time when you used the gate to sleep with my mother,” she said absent-mindedly. “And, I won’t exist, just like the reality that is going on right now. What exactly would I get out of doing that?”
    “It’s a gamble, Alysia, but what else can you do?”
    She thought about his question for a long time and realized he was right. She could accept her fate as a