The Journal of a Connecticut Yankee Ch. 02

"Be assured, boy, that I am very real, and know that if you were any other person, you would be dead where you stand." She threatened, her eyes glowing red like Romies did the other day.

"Brave words, your Majesty, but not the words I want to hear. Why. Am. I. Here? "

"...I do not know." She gritted, staring me down.

"And what if I decide to kill you right now, for not knowing?" I spat back, swinging Winona to point directly at her chest.

"Then you would still be asking the same questions. Regardless, you won't kill me."

"What makes you think I won't pull this trigger?" I growled as I tightened my grip on the handle.

"My Eric was a warrior, a soldier, he killed many men during the war. You... You're just a child with a weapon that you think of as toy. You've never killed anyone, and you won't kill me, you don't have the stomach for it."

I badly wanted to prove her wrong. To squeeze the trigger and wipe that smug expression right off her face. I could do it... None of this was real.... was it? I looked over at Romie, she was watching in horror as I was getting ready to kill her mother right in front of her very eyes. I felt a small pang of guilt and shame crawl it's way up from below.

Dream or not... hallucination or not... have I sunk so low in my anger, my rage that I've truly become a monster to the monsters and... even to myself?

"...Who would know?" I asked quietly, looking back at the Queen.

She stared at me in silence for some time, her red eyes burning a hole through my soul. I tried to keep a hold of my rage, let it shield me from the disgust and self-hatred that I felt for myself. Eventually she muttered 2 words at me. The very words I had been terrified that she would say.

"The Maou."

My hand started to shake at the thought of having to go to her for answers.

"Now go, leave here and never return. You will never see my daughter again, you will never be thought of again."

Her words reignited my anger as I squeezed the trigger and heard the explosion of gunpowder as the bullet flew forward to hit her.

I could hear Romie scream, see the blood and flesh explode from her mother as the slug tore apart her chest, making a large hole in it. She flew backwards and landed on the ground, blood pooling about. Romie ran to her crying, cradling her now lifeless body in her arms. I had done it... I proved her wrong and became a monster in this fake, made-up world.

... It was then I woke up for a second time, gasping in a cold sweat, to the sound of thunder. I sat up in the bed I was laying on and looked around. I was back in Romie's room. It was raining as I could hear it hitting the window, there was the occasional thunder and flashes of lightning. Looking down, Romie was naked, sleeping peacefully next to me. There were no tears on her face, just a slight smile. Was it all a dream? A nightmare? Everything? My parents, the hospital, killing Romie's mom, it was so real... it wasn't... was it? My God, what the fuck was wrong with me...

I didn't go back to sleep that night, I was too afraid to. I simply listened to the storm as it raged outside and stared down at Romie, watching her sleep. I wasn't really like that, was I? Maybe... maybe it was because I shot those Order guys? I mean they didn't die but... maybe the whole thing messed me up more than I thought it did. I struggled throughout the night trying to find rhyme or reason of what happened. Did I really see my parents? Was I in a coma? There were more and more questions now than anything else, and I truly feared their answers.

***************************************

December 29th.... Maybe?

I wasn't sure exactly how long I was awake for when Romie opened her eyes. I just knew it was the most beautiful thing in the world when she did and smiled at me saying,

"Good morning."

"Morning." I tried my best to smile back at her.

"What's wrong?" She asked, concerned.

"I uh, had a pretty messed up dream last night. Couldn't get back to sleep."

"What was it about?" She asked as she wrapped her arms around me, squeezing tight. It was comforting, being loved like that, even if in the back of my mind I questioned it for being real.

"I... can't remember it too well." I lied.

I didn't want to tell her. The whole thing in general was too dark and fucked up. Throw in my suspicions that everything around me wasn't real and yeah, breakfast would really be awkward to say the least.

I had to keep quiet about that and treat everything now with some suspicion. Maybe this was a dream, maybe it wasn't. I had to analyze, question, keep myself calm and of course keep myself from going into a murderous rage like in my... Dream... Vision... Alternative reality?

Yeah... No sweat... I got this...

******************************

We were eating together in the 2nd dining hall, I think, as I struggled through a breakfast of eggs, toast and some fruit in the shape of a heart called Prisoner Fruit. Romie was watching me rather intently as I ate it.

"What?" I asked tiredly.

"So, do you feel anything?" She asked as I forked a second helping of the fruit into my mouth.

"I feel tired, why?" I mumbled while chewing.

"Nothing." She replied in a disappointed tone.

I vaguely wondered what that was about as I continued to munch on. It was kinda like a kiwis but sweeter. Looking around for something to drink, I spotted some juice, water and, of course, tea.

For the millionth time I wished they had coffee here. A Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, anything at that point. Assuming here was here and not in my head. Just for the hell of it, I concentrated on a cup of tea in the middle of the table. If I was dreaming, then in theory I could change it into a cup of steaming hot dark roast right?

I stared. I concentrated. Hard. Harder. Maximum harder hardest. Use the Force, Luke... I mean Donnie.

Eventually Romie shuffled her chair over next to me and put her head on level with mine to see what I was looking at.

"Whatcha doing?"

"An experiment."

"Oh... Is it working?"

"No," I sighed. Well, score 1 for the I'm actually here hunch. I think.

"You're acting really weird and this is coming from me."

I sighed again, if a Cheshire is saying you're acting strange then that's a really, really bad sign.

"I'm getting turned on by it..."

Shit, yep, bad sign. I was way too tired for her marathon sex sessions, dream or not.

It suddenly dawned on me, tea has caffeine in it, so an argument could be made that if I could get a really strong cup of tea, it should do the same job...

"Yeah, sorry about that. Hey, um is there anywhere I could go to get a really strong cup of tea?" I asked hopefully.

"Hmm," She said, placing a paw on her chin in thought as ideas of sexual assault on me took a detour.

"I think the 3rd kitchen should be able to do that."

"And where might that be, exactly?"

She smiled largely at me.

********************************

I walked past the 4th dining hall, took a left at the armory, u-turned at the orgy room, right at treasury then had to back track past the orgy room again, over the cause way to the 5th dining hall and then down the lower level stairs.

Jesus, Romie really sucks at giving directions...

Once I finally reached, more like found, the kitchen, I saw a lone Kikimora there sweeping the floor. She was older with greyish blonde hair and was humming a wordless tune to herself as she swept. I don't know why but she reminded me of someone I had seen before...

Kikimora's were always known as the maid Mamono. They would always wear old school maid outfits and had feathered wrists, scale-covered feet and, oddly enough, a feathered tail. Still, despite all the weird features, they were the absolute best maids out there, hands down. Or Paws down... Feathers down... Whatever.

"Uh, excuse me, ma'am?"I said to get her attention. Turning, she stared at me a moment before almost dropping her broom.

"P-P-Prince Donnie?! How may I be of service to you?" She squeaked as she curtsied to me.

What the... Prince Donnie? Now I've been called a lot of things in my time, most ending with 'ick' and 'astard', but not Prince...

"I think you're mistaken, I'm not a Prince," I laughed lightly.

"But you are! You're the husband to Princess Romie and the hero that saved Swallowswell village!" She exclaimed.

Huh... so that was the name of the place... word certainly gets around quick... wait a cotton pickin' minute!

Okay, so I know that in Mamono technicality, I was Romies husband, but did that also somehow just auto-add me in as royalty? Frowning to myself, I didn't have any answers to that question. I figured I would just have to talk to Romie about it later .

"Look, um, what's your name miss...?"

"Martha, m'lord." She curtsied again.

"Stewart?"

I finally remembered who she looked like.

"M'lord?"

"Nevermind." I sighed, "Okay, so until I can get some facts straight, could you do me a favor and just call me Donnie?"

"I-It's against manners to call a Prince by his name! I could never be so bold, m'lord!"

"Fine... Then could you help me out with something?" I grumbled as I rubbed my face with my hands. Fuck, I really didn't want to deal with this...

"Anything, m'lord!" She said eagerly.

"Martha, I'm really, really, REALLY, tired and I need a stupidly strong cup of tea to keep my ass going. Like the strongest cup you've ever brewed in your life. Is there anyway you could make that happen for me?"

"But tea is not supposed to be that str-" She began.

"Martha," I interrupted as I gave her a death stare, "I really need you to do me a solid on this one."

"I... I will do my best m'lord." She said uncertainly as she turned and began. First she started the water to boil, then packed the tea leaves, taking a moment to look over her shoulder to me, she added more and more to the pot while cringing.

I sat at a small table in the corner of the kitchen as she worked. Laying my head down in my arms, I was struggling to keep myself awake. There was no possible way someone could be in a coma or a dream and feel this shitty, right?

"M'lord?"

I looked up to see Martha daintily holding a tea cup on a saucer.

She handed me it with a hesitant smile. Peering down at the dark liquid, I took a taste. It was ridiculously bitter, strong and it slapped me hard in the face.

Perfect.

I smiled as I took another sip, not quite a cup of joe, but better then nothing. The Kikimora paled at seeing my happiness with her abomination and quickly excused herself. Heh, would hate to see her with some espresso, if she thought that was bad.

Realizing that I was alone in the kitchen, I stood up and went over to lean against the counter. Inhaling the tea's aroma deeply as I took another swallow, I pondered my predicament.

I knew I couldn't keep awake forever, that I would have to go to sleep that night or even sooner with the way I was feeling. Maybe I was just acting like a scared, stupid little kid. The dreams though, they were real, they felt real. I could smell the gunpowder as I shot Winona, I could feel my mom hugging me, it all seemed... real. I sighed deeply, god damn this sucks...

I peered around the kitchen once more. The caffeine was doing its job and waking me up. The morning sunlight filtered through various windows about and gave everything a warm, happy glow. I was insanely tired and stressed to all hell but... this little moment of peace... it offered me some relief...

**********************************

"So, uh your mom... How's she doing?" I asked with extreme tact as we exited out of the castle. Romie hovered next to me as I walked down the trailway. We were going to examine the area where Eric, Romie's dad, was originally found in hopes for more clues as to how both he and I came here.

"She's changed since that night, became more mature, it feels like she's another person sometimes, why?"

"Um, no reason. So, she's good? Healthy? Walking around and all that good stuff?"

"Yes... Why?" She asked, turning her head as she narrowed her eyes at me. Her tail waved back in forth in a way that I knew she was getting suspicious of my questions.

"Nothing, just wondering." I said shrugging my shoulders nonchalantly. She flew around to block my way and gave me that look.

All guys know it. It's when their girlfriend, wife, or whatever looks at them like 'I know you're bullshitting me so spill it or I will make your life a living hell.'

"Alright, alright, I had a bad dream. It involved you, her and a few other people, I just wanna make sure everyone is ok. Is that so bad?"

Her expression softened at my explanation, and she embraced in a hug. I could smell a berry scent in her hair, feel her softness and her breath on my neck.

"Of course not. Everyone's just fine, so don't worry okay?" She whispered into my ear.

"Okay," I whispered back. God help me, I wanted this to be real. While I missed home with a passion, I didn't want to give her up and I didn't want this to be all in my head.

She pulled away and smiled at me, "I love you."

"Love you too," I smiled back weakly.

***********************************

It took us an hour or so to reach but finally we found it. There in a ditch, surrounded by an overgrowth of blue and purple ivy, was the great metal beast that the Queen of Hearts mentioned.

Yeah, no doubt about it, that was the remains of a WW2 Sherman tank.

I crawled about the thing, pulling away the ivy so I could get a good view of it. The tank was pretty messed up, I could see bullet marks and shell holes littering its hull like Swiss cheese. Romie's dad must have been in a hell of a fight before he came here. There was a large circular hole cut out in the center. I wondered if it was from momma getting him out.

Romie simply stared at it, spellbound, as I worked.

"What is it?" She said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"That's a Sherman tank from Earth's Second World War." I said as I stood next to her.

"What's it do? Mother said she found father inside it."

"Heavy artillery on treads, designed to make things go boom. It's what helped the Allies win the war."

"The Allies... they were good?"

"Yeah," I said looking at her. I wished I had some history books or something I could give her. Something to do a better explaining things then my dumb ass could.

"There were 2 sides. The Allies and the Axis, lots of countries on each side. It was a bad... bloody war. Lots of death, atrocities..." I didn't want to tell her about the concentration camps or the Japanese internment camps, call me a liar or whatever you want. As advanced as Humans maybe back on Earth, we're still just as bad as the Humans here, maybe even worse...

"But my father... He fought for the good side, right?" She asked, fear and hope in her eyes. She wanted to know if her dad was a good man. She needed to know.

"Yes, your dad fought for the good guys. He made a difference to those oppressed and without hope, he was a hero." I said sincerely, meeting her eyes.

She smiled at me, tears in her eyes as she started to weep. I grabbed her in a hug as she cried. After a bit, she composed herself and helped me look through the wreckage. There was nothing around I could see that showed signs of some kind weird wormhole travel but then again I had no idea what I was looking for.

"Hey, look at this! It's like a big version of Winona!" Romie said as she pulled out a rifle from a hole in the side of the tank.

"Holy hell, that's a M1 Garland!" I said instantly recognizing it from when I played Call of Duty for a week straight during spring break, back in high school.

"Is that good?" She asked confused, looking the thing over.

"It's an antique for sure, but wow, what a find!" I said excited. We pulled out a bunch of stuff from ammunition to MREs, even an old radio.

"I'm sorry we didn't bring Rudolf along." I said silently trying to figure out how to take some of it back with us.

"Mmm yeah, but the Centaur stable hand has been very taken by him." Romie replied with a mischievous smile.

I grimaced at the thought. I really did NOT want to know about my horses love life...

"I could teleport back to the castle, grab a bag for you," She suggested.

Huh, that could work...

"Yeah, that's actually a really good idea!" I exclaimed

"Try to find the biggest pack you can, ok? I'd like to try to bring some of this stuff to the castle so I can examine it, maybe even salvage some of the parts."

"Okay! I'll be back in 2 shakes of my tail!" She said cheerfully as she kissed my cheek and popped out.

Smiling to myself at her words, I reached up and felt my cheek, the wetness left on it, the feeling of her lips. She really did make me happy...

Maybe I did just have a nightmare and was taking everything way too far.

I regarded the wreckage again. Even with a bag, some of this stuff was gonna be a bitch and a half to haul back...

"Well, well, well... what do we have here?" Came a voice as 7 wolf girls emerged from the thick woods, surrounding me. Each were various colors of brown and grey except the one in front, she was jet black with slight fringes on silver on her fur.

Werewolves? What the fuck were Werewolves doing in Wonderland?!

"Mmm, what's wrong little boy? Lost? We can help you find your way back home." Chuckled the front Werewolf . She looked to be older, maybe in her late 40s, and was most certainly the Alpha of the pack.

The others laughed along side her, all promising they would be gentle, helpful and that in no way should I worry or be concerned.

Yeeeeaaahhhhh....

"Look ladies, I'm sure you're all the very best the Girl Scouts have to offer but you see, I'm already in a relationship and a bit busy with something, so thanks but I'm good."

"But you're all alone out here! What kind of wife would leave such a delectable morsel such as yourself alone?" She asked with mock concern. Her pack all chuckled at their leaders Academy Award winning acting skills.

Nothing quite like Werewolf foreplay, did they all get off on playing 'The Big Bad Wolf'?

Looking around, I estimated I was about 1 minute out from being gang raped if I didn't do something. I had Winona and she was loaded with Demon Realm Silver rounds, but there were 7 of them and she only held 6 bullets. That's also not mentioning the fact that these gals were one of the fastest species of Mamono out there and in close range of me. I had the sinking suspicion I was fucked... literally...

They all slowly converged on me with a smile, drawing out the 'oh shit' moment considerably.

Bitches... figuratively and literally.

Suddenly Romie popped next to me holding a comically large back pack.

"Hey, this is the biggest I could find, it should work for you right?"

"Uh." I said intelligently while staring at her as the wolves paused in confusion at her sudden enterance.

"What? Too small?"

"Uh."

"You're being so weird today, if you wanna have sex just tell me, ok? I'm already horny enough from the way you've been acting." She said conversationally, then she realized we weren't alone.

"Donnie, who are all these... people?" She said slowly as she looked around at all the wolves surrounding us.

"Uh, Romie... sweetie, honey... these nice Girl Scout wolf ladies were just leaving... Right?" I said while looking over to the Alpha.

She stared at me for a moment then looked over to Romie, an evil smile forming on her face.

"No, I don't think so, little boy. You see, it's just 1 of her and 7 of us. We like those odds, don't we girls?"

They all laughed harshly at her brilliant fucking display of math skills. I really didn't want to get raped by these sluts but I also didn't want to see Romie get hurt or worse...

"Get outta here, there's no way we can fight them all," I whispered while grabbing her arm, "They'll kill you if you stay."