WONDER ( Twisted Forbidden Tales ) Book Three

Another Letter, Another Way Part One

KING KAI

Fifteen minutes were left on the clock before met up. Butter Club was ever the raging scene tonight as well as the rest of Fuchsia Island as my people celebrated their long-awaited freedom. My hand instinctively went to touch my neck, as the shackles I thought I would never get rid of were confirmed in the reality that the spell put on us had been truly broken. I made my way through the Butter Club Down to the lower level where the Butter Bar was housed. I had already reserved a private room for us to settle matters in, there was indeed something important I had to relay to Alissa.

My decision to accept a gift from a friend I had grown up next to only to be betrayed in the end by her greed and obsession with control would be a decision that would press heavily on me in regret for the rest of my life. Though my people did not blame me, there was much I had to mend. My duty as their king was far from over even after capturing Rainbow Rose and receiving a bitter truth from her while she awaited her punishments down in the Hemlock Dungeon.

My thoughts wondered as I walked along, motioning for the bartender to serve up the usual while being handed a special key card to one of the private rooms the Butter Bar was exclusive for. With the shifts, many things on Fuchsia Island had to adapt to the changes making many things that were free and open more closed, warded, and guarded. The shifts never brought the same environments albeit good or bad. But knowing Rainbow Rose and her daughter Tilly had a hand in these changes by helping that person mentioned in the letters I was disgusted.

The abuse we had suffered at her hands without our will to resist being taken away by those collars made my stomach churn. I never thought she would be that type of person when our families had been so close and harmonious. My eyes and those of my parents had been deceived the entire time. We were just their stepping stone, their ticket to access what was on Fuchsia Island. It wasn’t just the Infamous Orchid Sanctuary they were after but the soil of Fuchsia Island itself.

Tilly had become a master cultivator growing up here. A brilliant mind like that should not have been raised by someone so vicious as Rainbow, but none of us could turn back time now. She wasn’t Rainbow Rose’s bio daughter, but she had been with her when she arrived here as an adopted daughter growing up with Anfim and the like becoming a hidden weapon for Rainbow to use with Tilly having complete trust in the woman she known as mother.

Though we had Rainbow Rose, Tilly had found a way to escape. This worried me for my men could not find her or her minions anywhere on Fuchsia Island, but I felt things were not that simple. The letters had been my life-saving grace, revealing truths I would have never believed if I hadn't become a victim myself by Rainbow’s hands. No one knew how vile and dirty I felt inside and out from the many deeds she had forced me to do. The music was a non-existent backdrop as I got lost in the painful nightmare for a moment.

A knock at the door, followed by the waiter carrying a tray of drinks and a waitress with a trolley filled with snacks and treats to compliment. They set up the drinks and treats in a fashionable yet speedy order at the table in the room and left without further ado, the door closing with a click. I looked down at my watch, out of wayward thoughts now, It was almost time. I patted the small jar that held someone's life at stake in my pocket, breathing out a sigh of relief that it was still intact. The man by Alissa’s side sure was special, after all, he was mentioned in the new letter I had received, the day before they arrived. I had doubted the letters before until Anfim paid a visit. Everything it displayed was all true and had given me a message to get to the Orchid Sanctuary that night, so I didn’t hesitate to move only to find myself a second too late. All the orchids that had bloomed including the Euphoria Orchid had been destroyed.

With the infused Orange blossom rain from Orchid Island already met its sporadic forecast. This potion in my pocket was the only way I could help them with the poison in that man named Hank’s body starting to act up again. Just what else was Rainbow after? I knew she hadn't told me everything in the earlier interrogation and with Tilly a ticking time bomb now, Alissa, Hank, and Anfim would have to prepare themselves. Tilly and Rainbow were vengeful, after the day's events Tilly would work to free her mother and come for revenge. However, I was smart, she had to get through the Hemlock Dungeons first, no matter how brilliant she was when she came to the natural order of things, Karma was mighty from all the things they had done.

“This is the door right?” I heard Alissa’s voice from outside.

“I don’t know, they all look similar, what do you think Happy.” Anfim's voice could be heard sounding confused, but it amused me a bit because this place had changed as well from what he remembered.

Who was this Happy though? I wondered as well. Had they met another person on the way?

“That’s my Happy, he says it's this door. You know you could've just knocked too. That way we wouldn't have stood here for so long and now we are late to meet Uncle Kai.” Alissa said, causing me to smirk at the banter between these two. These two were more like family than Anfim’s cousin. Shaking my head I picked up a drink and downed it before waving the special key card in the air allowing the door to open. Finding two pairs of surprised eyes looking at me and a black-furred, purple-striped cat with green eyes that seemed familiar boring into me as well in Alissa’s arms.

“Oh, this was the room. Let’s hurry and go inside,” said Anfim as she took the lead. He took a seat at the table and started rooting around the snacks and treats. I shook my head in exasperation, for this kid could eat despite everything going on around him. Alissa followed in kind, letting the cat take a place on the tabletop. The cat stayed by her side, its green glowing eyes still on me. Slightly unnerved but I held my ground.

“ Whose is this little fellow? a new friend?” I asked feigning nonchalance.

“No, you’ve met, this is Hank King Kai,” Alissa said and I looked at the cat again in shock.

“Oh and… he’s far from little Uncle, just had to correct you on that point Uncle,” Anfim said his mouth partly stuffed with a few finger sandwiches. He looked toward Alissa and gave her a playful wink.

Alissa’s cheeks instantly stained red as she frowned at Anfim for his shamelessness. I sighed, taking the small jar out of my pocket and setting it on the table. The letters were indeed uncannily accurate as they had me make this potion in advance too with each ingredient written and the amount written out to perfection. I could not help feeling like I was being watched, for every item on the list to make said potion could be found on my Fuchsia Island as if the person knew this place better than I did.

“Shut up and eat your food FiFi, What’s this?” Alissa asked looking at the jar filled with potion.

“Meow.” Hank in cat form responded as well, but I had a feeling he could sense what it was.

“I think you are going to need a drink first before I begin. You are not going to like what I’m about to say next but at least there is a backup plan.” I said pouring myself another drink and then downing that one fast.

“Okay….” Alissa said taking the drink Anfim had slid over to her but not taking a sip. She could sense something was up from me and was in full serious mode as she waited for me to speak. Anfim though he was still eating kept his eyes on me as well. I had no choice but to tell them all I knew and how was tasked to make this from the mysterious letter.

“So, it is like this………” I began telling them, not stopping from beginning to end.

Anfim’s temper got the best of him, bringing shrills of wind whipping through the room as he threw the glass cup filled with liquor toward the wall in his anger, the glass shattering to pieces as the wind picked up around us.

“Fifi! Calm down! Direct that anger you are feeling right now in a better direction aiming toward what matters and that means Tilly and your aunt Rainbow!” Alissa yelled at Anfim. The wind began to ease at the truth of her words. Anfim breathed heavily as he calmed down collected himself and looked around him in a daze as if he was coming from another world just now.

“These letters intend to help us, true enough but, damn it if my heart doesn’t ache from the searing truth of what's revealed in each one we are given,” said Anfim as he held a hand up toward his heart as he looked at Alissa and then Hank the cat in deep sadness.

Anfim and I had a tacit understanding, that things were far from what was on the surface. Rainbow and Tilly wanted to Alissa and Hank from doing something, but what? And why? That woman Christine was dead now, but they were still up to their schemes even with the spell now invalid. Who were they working for? I’m sure now more than anything that it had never been Christine from the very beginning. My mind exploded at the revelation of why the letter had appeared that day and time. Whoever wanted us to know also wanted to show us a connection. It gave me something to go on and where I would be heading next.

“Even so, we should be grateful to them for giving us a way to fight back against the mastermind and get justice for all the injustice being done here in Wonder Kingdom Anfim. Besides just how much does Happy have to drink Kai and what are the pros and cons of this potion.” Alissa asked in all seriousness, putting me and Anfim back on our game as we got sidetracked by his sudden outburst just now.

“Would you believe me if I said, I have no idea,” I answered in embarrassment. I knew the effects of each ingredient, but when put all together this one was a new one even for someone like me. It would be up to Alissa and Hank to trust what was given to them, With the Letter came another way, but would Alissa and Hank be willing to take the risk into the unknown especially with Tilly laying in wait somewhere on Fuchsia Island?