The Given

In the beginning, there was the Word. The same Word that had created the World. Our World. The World that we know and live in, I mean. But besides the World, the Word had created in utter, catastrophic secrecy something else... the Kingdom. God always has a back-up plan, you must realize, and whether or not He decides to speak up about it is His business.

The Kingdom, formed by the Hands of God Themselves, has existed as long as the Word. Although unseen, it was still very real, very palpable. It wasn't until a few millennia later that we of the World were given a chance to glance into the sort of place that the Kingdom was; it was such a long while because the right human had not yet been born, the person with the needed brand of subtle divinity hadn't arrived. But when he did, nothing would be the same again. He would be called Walt Disney.

The citizens of the Kingdom are very recognizable... Mickey Mouse, Pluto, and Donald Duck are among the oldest and the most well-known. They still inhabit the Kingdom with a whole host of other characters, and now can even mingle in the World since Portals... the one most used just happens to be at the heart of Disneyland... have been created.

But it hasn't always been that way. The Kingdom used to be very small, but has now grown vastly, resulting in separate sub-kingdoms called Realms which encompass together every terrain and every culture, most not known to mankind. In adopting characters and places as original creations when the time finally came, Walt distorted somewhat the true interpretation of things through no fault of his own. Many lost their original names and were given new ones. Matthew became Mickey, Mary became Minnie, Gideon became Goofy. When in the Kingdom, characters respond to their original name and act as they did when they were first created. But once they travel through a Portal, their memory leaves them to a certain extent and they behave as Walt has lead us to believe they do. The video game titled 'Kingdom Hearts' is to the closest true interpretation of the Kingdom to date.

However, there was a separate part of the Kingdom, Wonderland, that wasn't made like the rest. This realm is unique because it specifically is tied to the World in ways too numerous to mention now that so many years have passed. In fact, Wonderland
is directly dependant on the World for its very existence... probably since it has the World to thank for its creation.

That is what this story is about, after all. Creation.

Long ago, as you well know how it was in the First Days, turbulent times rocked the World and something arrived that had not been intended... sin. And the wage of sin, death, caused even more despair. God sent one of his primary messenger angels, Bazriel, to keep the Kingdom aware of what was going on. Gradually, things went from bad to worse. The Flood came and went, and for a time it was good. But again things went from bad to worse. However, God surprised everyone through a Jewish carpenter, Jesus of Nazareth, who completely changed the rules of the game.

The Kingdom knew the Son as well, and viewed His resurrection in shock, awe, and gentle fear. A tension grew that they would also fall from what was noble and right, in essence, from the God that had created them. The heads of the Kingdom met and formulated a plan.

They sent Daniel, an outspoken white duck, to put in the Kingdom's request for a savior. A living, breathing sacrifice that had the ability to bleed and think.

God took this prayer with a mere nod. Once Daniel had returned to the Kingdom, God went away for three days. At the end of the three days he returned with a human girl who couldn't have been alive for more than sixteen years. The residents of the Kingdom were dumbfounded by the pure thing kneeling before them with God standing behind. She had liquid brown eyes and wore a simple white dress threaded of Truth. A halo of Wisdom and Soul encircled her head.

'This is your savior,' said God. 'Her name is Virtue.'

Matthew and Mary, the unspoken royalty of most of the Kingdom, stepped forward and lead Virtue into the square of the capital city, so that everyone who wanted to could see her for the first and last time. Gideon and Peter, better known as just Pete, were chosen as executioners; they were given whips and long-handled axes with jagged heads.

And then, Virtue was slaughtered.

She was being sacrificed of her own will, but the silence, the silence was terrible. Virtue made not a single sound as her skin was ripped apart. Eventually, her heart became visible as it beat within her rib cage. And it was still visible when it stopped.

Her blood, then considered holy liquid, and what pieces of her body could be salvaged were collected by Mary and Matthew and given back to God as a further sacrifice. God took these things and smiled.

'Follow me,' He said.

God led them to a part of the Kingdom that had been up until that time just extending, blank white space. It spread out just beyond the southern wall of the capital city.

God bade them, 'Watch,' and then dumped the blood on the ground. The citizens stared at this in mute protest, but again, God smiled.

'Watch.'

As so many pairs of eyes sought out the spreading scarlet, something began to happen.

Wherever her blood touched, plants began to spring up, colored with life. Bushes, trees, and grasses of every shade, shape and size; the more flora that sprouted, the further her blood spread. The new forest kept growing larger and large until it finally stopped out of everyone's sight but God's.

But He wasn't done yet.

Large parts of Virtue's skin were gathered and carefully cut into pieces by God's Left and Right Hands, Gabriel and Michael, who had both been present at the creation of the Kingdom. From these pieces were shaped thousands upon thousands of creatures, every creature that can be imagined. Ones that flew, ones bound to the ground. God dug out rivers and lakes and filled them with tears spilt by the disciples of His Son, and here lived the creatures that swam.

Her bones were used to make the Queen and King of Hearts, along with all the members of the Royal Courts and the endless deck of foot soldier cards. The King and Queen were given the right to rule this land, but Matthew and Mary could still step in when they were needed.

God made the Cheshire Cat from her teeth, and the twins Tweedledum and Tweedledee from her eyes. From her mind was shaped the Caterpillar. Her soul was cleaved in two. From one half came the White Rabbit, from the other, the Jabberwock. From her lungs were shaped the Dodo and his companions and from her spirit came the more human inhabitants of the realm. Her hair was taken up to make none other than the March Hare, and from her silent throat was made the Dormouse.

God looked down upon all these things, naming them as He created them. He declared, 'It is good,' as He had just one other time.

But now, there was still only one thing left... her heart.

God sat for awhile in contemplation as the Kingdom kneeled around Him, wondering what could possibly be done with this last remaining piece. Then, He smiled for a third time.

'From the World was this land created,' He spoke, breaking the heart in two. 'and so to that World shall a piece of this one be bound, but only for a time.'

From the right chunk of the heart was made a new sort of human man, with a wicked smile and a heart streaked with gold. His name did not come from God, but rather, the friends he made later in time. They came to call him the Hatter.

The left was made into an unborn baby, who would grow up to have startlingly blue eyes and locks of gold. God placed her in the womb of a woman in the World for safe keeping, saying to the sad-faced Hatter, 'You will find each other again.' Then He touched the Hatter's forehead, clearing this memory from him. 'But only after much tribulation. Such as the Son triumphed over the World, so shall you both be the triumph here.'

Keep in mind, time does not pass in the Kingdom as it does in the World. The new realm, which Matthew and the King of Hearts together named Wonderland, was settled. More Portals from the Kingdom to the World were opened, and days passed. The Kingdom relaxed once more and those times were times of unspeakable glorious change.

Meanwhile, in England, Alice Liddell had just been born.

The rest, they say, is history.