Chapter 97: Right Time

The Rabbit walked along the road.

Gray clouds stretched endlessly overhead.

The dead forest around him groaned as twisted branches scraped against one another in the stale wind.

His pocket watch ticked.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

Tik.

The sound echoed through the silent woods.

The Rabbit’s long ears twitched.

His smile stretched a little wider.

“Years ago i had been the keeper of order! The guardian of roads! The guide that helped travelers reach their destinations…”

Only now,  he was something else.

Something broken…

Something that is held together by stubbornness, rage, and sheer madness.

Even now he was on his way because he had work to do.

This world wasn’t dead yet.

Not completely at least…

The Rabbit stopped before a massive tree.

At a faraway glance it appeared ordinary.

Until someone noticed its size.

The trunk was wider than a castle.

Its bark resembled wrinkled flesh.

Black sap leaked from countless cracks.

Dozens of enormous cocoons hung from its branches.

The air smelled rotten.

Sweet.

Wrong.

The Rabbit tilted his head.

His smile faded slightly.

“Hello old friend.”

Silence answered him.

The Caterpillar was dead.

The enormous blue creature that once lounged atop a mushroom while dispensing cryptic wisdom had long since rotted away.

The remains still rested beneath the tree.

A mountain of decaying flesh.

Segments collapsed inward.

Thousands of mushrooms sprouted from the corpse.

Purple fungus coated everything.

The giant hookah the Caterpillar once used lay shattered nearby.

The Rabbit sighed.

“You always did know how to make an exit.”

A piece of flesh detached from the corpse and splattered onto the ground.

The smell intensified.

Even the Rabbit winced.

Then something moved.

His smile returned.

“Ah.”

There they were.

The eggs.

Hundreds of them.

Nestled within the decayed remains.

Some were already broken.

Others twitched occasionally.

A few split apart as he watched.

Tiny caterpillars emerged.

Not blue like their parent.

These were dark purple.

So dark they were almost black.

Thin trails of violet mist drifted from their mouths.

The Rabbit crouched.

The tiny creatures immediately turned toward him.

Their bodies writhed.

Tiny eyes blinked.

One crawled onto his hand.

The Rabbit studied it carefully.

“Hm.”

The little caterpillar opened its mouth.

A puff of purple smoke escaped.

The Rabbit laughed.

A dry, broken sound.

“You’ll do for now.”

The creature seemed pleased.

It crawled further up his arm.

The Rabbit grabbed it.

The tiny creature squeaked.

Then stopped moving.

The Rabbit stared at it.

The caterpillar stared back.

Then the Rabbit opened his mouth.

And swallowed it whole.

Silence returned.

For several seconds nothing happened.

Then the Rabbit’s body locked up.

Every muscle tightened.

His spine arched backward.

Cracks echoed through the forest.

The ground beneath him fractured.

Purple veins spread beneath his fur.

The pocket watch in his hand stopped ticking.

The Rabbit’s eyes widened.

Smoke poured from his nostrils.

From his ears.

From his mouth.

Then he exhaled.

A massive cloud of purple fog erupted outward.

The mist spread through the trees.

Flowers wilted.

Grass blackened.

The shadows themselves seemed to twist.

The Rabbit slowly lowered his head.

His breathing became steady again.

Something had changed.

His eyes.

The white sclera vanished.

The pupils disappeared.

Instead swirling darkness filled the sockets.

Purple smoke rotated endlessly within them.

Tiny stars of violet light flashed deep inside.

Looking into them felt wrong.

Like staring into an endless abyss.

Like standing at the edge of a cliff and realizing the darkness below was staring back.

The Rabbit smiled.

His new eyes reflected nothing.

Only swirling purple-black voids.

“Very Interesting.”

His voice echoed strangely.

As if several voices spoke beneath his own.

The remaining caterpillars retreated into the corpse.

The Rabbit stood.

Purple fog rolled among his fur.

The world around him seemed slightly distorted.

Reality bent.

Not by much.

Just enough.

His pocket watch had resumed ticking.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

The sound was slower now.

He glanced down.

The watch’s hands had begun moving backward.

The Rabbit laughed.

A genuine laugh this time.

“Oh, Caterpillar.”

He slipped the watch back into his coat.

“You always did have useful traits .”

The dead forest trembled.

Far away.

Beyond the mountains.

Beyond the ruined kingdoms.

Beyond the gray sky itself.

Something stirred.

The Rabbit looked toward the distant horizon.

Toward Hearts Crossing.

Toward the Queen.

Toward Gene and Selene.

His smile widened.

The swirling darkness inside his eyes spun faster.

“Looks like things are finally getting interesting.”

The purple fog thickened.

His body dissolved into smoke.

The forest stood empty once more.

Only the ticking of a backwards-moving clock remained.

And somewhere in the darkness—

Something laughed alongside him.