Chapter 7

Days went on and the wasteland became brighter and brighter, more Toons came out of their hiding place and most of the blots were relatively passive. Buildings, pathways and, projectors were being repaired at lightning speed and sometimes gremlins got a day off. Skies were blue and rains were gentle, flowers danced in their beds while birds flitted about and sing their songs are gossiped about the day.

Lilly on the other hand was miserable, Lance would not speak to her and Sebastian spent the majority of his days in the library. Oswaldo and Ortensia always kept her busy and told her what to do, she got to visit every part of her kingdom, though she never got to explore it as thoroughly as she would like to. Most of all her nightmares were getting worse the taunting and those dreams got louder as the destruction got more and more great that she couldn't even recognize the ground she stood on.

She tossed and turned in her bed, reaching out for anything that could comfort her.

"Should we tell the boss?"

"Are you kidding he would another hole in the garden if you see this."

"Go away, all of you! The little princess needs sleep."

The bickering voices stirred her from her nocturnal torment yet when she opened her eyes, she didn't see anyone there. In fact, the room that she was and wasn't even in the room in the castle, the wallpaper was a dark green and the furniture looked like it was out of a Gothic storybook.

She set up only to be greeted with a bitter cold. She knew immediately where she was Lonesome Manor, that part of Bog Easy she wasn't allowed to enter without invitation. She had looked at the massive building almost the size of her castle and remembered how the haunted mansion in Disneyland was only inhabited by ghosts!

'How did I end up here?' Her mind whirled her nightmare forgotten for a new danger.

She creeped out of bed wishing she had worn something warmer to bed, a bitter draft swirling around her bare legs as her nightgown moved about. She hoped deeply that there weren't ghosts in this room spying on her right now seeing the state that she was in. She darted quickly to the door and flung it open, only to see something that made her faint.

Another bedroom, just like the one she was standing in.

"How can this be!" She said out loud, haunted houses weren't supposed duplicated rooms like this. Nervously, she investigated the other room and then the one she was in back and forth she tried to find another door or exit to escape.

"No windows and no doors." She said to herself, it was almost humorous she half expected the bedrooms to stretch or bend or for a cadaver to drop out of the ceiling. At that thought something very body like fell out of the closet falling with a heavy side.

Lily screamed and jumped to her feet so high her head could've smacked against the ceiling. When she came to her senses, she realized it was just a simple wooden mannequin dressed in a purple outfit with frilly black gray lace.

"No!" She shouted to the room, she was getting tired of playing dress-up in the outfit looked so complicated and would most likely require her to squeeze herself to death in a corset.

The room did not respond, there wasn't even a draft in the room anymore. For some reason that only made her more nervous that no matter what she did she would never escape the room.

Curious, and wanting to be humorous she went over to the mirrored room and looked inside its closet. In fact, it that closet was another mannequin, dressed in a stereo typical 50s shirt and skirt with the poodle print. She found it odd that this type of outfit would be in Lonesome Manor of all places, but seeing how it would be a less of a hassle to put on compared to in the other. Outfit she put it on, along with pulling her hair back into a ponytail to hide the fact that it probably needed to be washed soon.

There was the sound of whispering, that reminded her of the bickering that had woken her up. Before she could investigate it, the room began to shake as if it was being pulled by a horse, then with a set of clicks a well opened up to reveal a narrow wooden walkway spiraling down where it's into the darkness.

Meanwhile back at the castle, chaos had broken loose.

Bunny children were crying.

Toons were overturning rugs and tearing down paintings.

"Have you found her?" Oswald asked to a gremlin.

The gremlin shook his head in denial before Gus appeared beside them.

"We're looking all over Wasteland, but there is no sign of Lance or Lilly anywhere." Gus looked so disheartened and drooped to the floor with exhaustion.

Sebastian looked on it the chaos with both humor and fear, this is the second time Lily had disappeared and it was looking like the new one was able to find her. No amount of slapstick humor which were only indicators of the Toon struggled to make any progress could bring levity to how serious this was.

Out of curiosity and the desire to find any information that could bring her friend back he snuck into the room of that clingy knight who had destroyed his friendship with Lilly. The room was dark and relatively untouched, besides Lance's sword which lay abandon by his bedside the room was no different than any other bedroom in the castle.

Sebastian reached out and took the discarded sword. Then jumped back as the sword glowed at his touch, then he took the sword in his hand and inspected it carefully as it lit up the room. Deeply confused on why the sword was glowing, it did not look like the sword from The Sword and Stone movie. He wondered, if like everything else in this fantasy kingdom weapons were from forgotten things and not made.

"There it is."

Sebastian turned to the voice of Lance. The dark-haired teen was dressed in a dark cloak hiding in the darkest area of the room.

"My sword. Sebastian give it to me quickly." Lance said in a nervous eagerness.

"Where have you been! Why haven't you been helping us look for Lilly." Sebastian gripped the sword holding it away from Lance.

"I have, and she is in great danger. You see how that sword glows? I need the magic and that sword in order to save her." Lance held out his gloved hands looking frantically at Sebastian.
Sebastian looked at the glowing sword into the night that was supposed to protect Lilly. If the person he cared about more than anything was in danger he should let the Knight help. He relaxed his grip and moved to handle Lance's sword, but stopped when he looked at the other teens face.

His eyes were red.

Sebastian held the sword threatening as much as he hated Lance, the person in front of him was clearly an imposter. "I've changed my mind! Now tell me who you are!"

"Do not be so foolish Sebastian. You do not know how to use that sword, and I only care for the princesses safety!"

Lance continued to shake his head trying to move towards the door "What did you do with Lance!" He shouted violently.
"He was becoming a threat to the wasteland, so I put them somewhere where he currently will not do any harm." The imposter continued to speak in a calming tone to him.

"Liar! I can feel it." The enchanted sword shook in his hand.

There was a brief look of sorrow on the other teens face, just before he pulled out a black and gnarled sword and lunged at him with great speed.

Sebastian was able to defend himself but just barely, never holding a real sword in his life he was ill prepared to take on his opponent.

Hearing the commotion from the battle Oswald hopped into the room "What is going on here!" He shouted at the two boys that seem to plunge themselves into a life or death battle.

"The princess's companion has gone insane, Oswald stop him!" The imposter pointed at said bastion accusingly with one hand.

Sebastian had climbed himself on top of a nearby chest of drawers and pointed at the imposter with the shining blade "This is not Lance, this is not Lilly's bodyguard it's a fake!"

With a growl of the irritation the dark-haired teen swung his sword embedding it in the wood of the Chester drawers. Sebastian who had barely saved himself from losing a foot tumbled to the ground. Winded.

Oswald hopped over to the dark-haired teen and grabbed the boys gloved hands so he would not move. "Now you two stop fighting!" The cartoon rabbit began to scold them both.

With a violent jerk the Lance imposter pulled himself away from Oswald, but consequently also pulled off the gloves that were concealing his hands.

Sebastian and the Lucky rabbit gasped in shock and discussed at what had been revealed to them.

One hand was a normal human hand, while the others was the skeletal remains of one. Blotling use pulsed like veins and wiggled like worms between the bones.

The imposter self-conscious hid the deformed hand within his cloak and smacked his hand against a wall, the door swinging open allowing him to disappear into the darkness within.

Sebastian jumped to his feet enchanted blade in hand and darted for the still opened trapdoor "After him!"

"Careful Sebastian! I know where that passage leads." Oswald called out with great terror.

Sebastian stopped and looked back at the Lucky rabbit, expecting him to say more.

"It goes to the castle dungeon."