AN: If it's not obvious, I don't own Harry Potter or Kingdom Hearts. That's why I post on a Fanfiction website.
Chapter Two
Wonderland
Sora leaned back in his oscillating chair as he stared deep into the starry blackness of the 'Verse.
"So, what are our options?"
Harry turned away from a console.
"Well, I'm no great shakes at technology but the Targeting Computer is pretty simple to read."
Indeed it was, the TC was just a touch screen that showed available paths that used an advanced form of maths -something about Prediction Algorithms that flew over Harry's head- to figure out the level of hostile Heartless at the destination,
"We have two paths, one leads us to a one star world, which I'm guessing means the Heartless are weaker, and another path that leads to a two star world."
Sora grinned,"our destinations are numbered?"
Harry grinned back, "then I guess that we should go in order, yeah?"
At once, the two young heroes selected their destination and slipped into the two weapon platforms on either side of the basic looking yet functional cockpit.
"Three," began Sora.
"Two," continued Harry.
They said the next line together.
"One, blast off!"
The Nautilus groaned and shuddered before it's boosters fired and it shot forward into the horizon.
000 Scene Change/Time Skip 000
The Nautilus blinked into existence orbiting above a rather pink planet.
Harry sat in his seat after disengaging the laser cannons he employed against many Heartless ships.
"That was a wild ride!"
Sora walked over and sat in the seat across from Harry's, he was flushed in the face from the exhilarating experience.
"Better than Quidditch?"
During the trip they had talked more on what they liked to do in their spare time; naturally, this included a detailed explanation of the wizarding world's most popular sport.
"Definitely, don't get me wrong, I'll never turn down a game of Quidditch but that was just so much... More!"
"I know," agreed Sora, "we didn't have anything like that on the Islands so that was a new experience."
They sat in silence as they came down from their respective adrenaline rushes.
"So," said Harry as he grabbed his knees for leverage and stood up before walking over the the Targeting Computer, "let's see what this thing has to say about the planet now that we're closer."
Sora also stood and looked over Harry's shoulder as he muddled through the procedures to send a probe to the surface of the world to gather information. It was a few minutes later that they received even basic intel and the TC printed out a sheet of paper.
"That world's name is Wonderland and it's ruled over by a Queen..."
Harry turned over the paper over trying to find anything else but was dismayed to discover an absence of anything noteworthy.
"What does the ship want us to do; go in blind? I don't wanna' do that-" spoke Harry aloud before finishing his sentence in his mind '-that's what got Cedric killed.'
Sora, oblivious to Harry's inner turmoil, said almost cheerfully: "Oh well, ready to go?"
Harry sighed and set the paper on the 'dash board' of the cockpit.
"Yeah, let's go."
The two walked over to the transporter that would take them down to the surface of the planet.
000 Scene Change/Time Skip 000
Sora and Harry materialized on an expanse of green grass spreading out from an ancient and gnarled looking oak tree, there was nothing in the distance; just bright blue sky and more grass, Harry wondered where the sun was because he couldn't see one to provide the glaring light.
"Is this it? There's nothing here!" Wondered Sora.
"I don't know mayb-"
The ground started shaking and the two had enough time to look down before the patch of shady grass they were standing on opened up and Harry and Sora fell through. The hole was dark, and the only light came from the outside world. Harry tried to grab a root that was jutting out from the dirt but he missed and instead slammed into an old bookcase, dislodging it and making him recoil into Sora who was knocked into a grand piano that had been floating near to the other side of the ever-widening hole.
"What's happening!" Shouted Sora as he rubbed his bruised shoulder.
"I don't know! Just give me a minute!"
Harry pulled his wand and yelled the incantation for the Freezing Charm (Immobulus) that Hermione had taught Ron and him earlier in the school year, making the falling debris stop it's descent as if it slammed into an invisible wall.
"That's great," praised the Keybearer, "but we'll still go splat unless we can slow down."
"I'm trying! I need to see the ground to do this!"
The two did their best to avoid touching the walls and dislodging more furniture. Harry saw the ground approaching and made a motion with his wand similar to a capitalized 'S' "Spongify!"
Harry tucked his wand into his body to protect the thin stick of wood as they hit, and sunk into, what he thought was the ground. Instead of the floor only sinking in about a foot, the two kept going until, at nearly ten feet in, the 'floor' was stretched to it's limits and ripped open and they again started falling, only this time it was but a few feet before they hit the very solid floor.
Dazed, Harry looked up and saw the ceiling knitting itself back together and, in a few moments, it was blemish free as if two teens had not crashed through it scant seconds ago.
"What the hell..." murmured Harry; the first 'ground' they crashed into was actually the ceiling to the room they were in.
Harry shook his head; this was going to be an odd day!
Harry looked over at his companion who had been lying spread eagle but was slowly picking himself up and dusting himself off.
He walked over to Harry and helped him up.
"Spongify?"
Harry shrugged.
"It's a first year Charm that's supposed to be reviewed in second year Defense Class when you're not being taught by an incompetent ninny, the spell is meant to soften an impact, but..."
He pointed to the spotless ceiling and shrugged.
Sora shook a little plaster out of his wildly spiky hair and looked at Harry with a raised eyebrow.
"Incompetent ninny?"
Harry rolled his eyes skyward.
"That wasn't the best year for Defense Against the Dark Arts Class; our 'teacher' was an 'author' and was too busy trying to sell his bloody books to actually teach us anything useful."
Harry shook his head in annoyance as he pocketed his wand.
"Anyway, where are we?"
For the first time the two intrepid teens looked at their surroundings.
The walls were made of red brick and had a few tapestries haphazardly thrown up at odd angles. The floor had differently shaped and sized red and pink tile. Off to one side of the room on floor there was a painting of a couch and end table that was laughable in it's absurdity.
Before Harry could examine anything more in detail the two teens heard a harried, high-pitched voice scrambling to complete it's morning rituals.
"Oh, my fur and whisker's! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!"
A white rabbit dressed in a red velvet waistcoat came scrambling from a little door that, when close, looked no different from any wall panel. He extracted from an inner pocket of his coat a large gold watch on a chain. Looking at it, he squeaked in fright.
"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! I'm here, I should be there!"
Sora and Harry looked at each other with raised eyebrows as the rabbit started scurrying down a crooked hallway.
"I'm late, I'm late, I'm late! The Queen, she'll have my head for sure!"
The rabbit passed out of sight but both Harry and Sora could still hear the creature's frightened ramblings.
Shrugging to each other, the keybearer and wizard followed. The came to a big, light blue door that swung open on it's own to reveal a slightly more normal sized one and Harry felt himself sigh; he was correct in his earlier thought, this was going to be a strange day! Sora could barely content himself with how excited this place was making him; he really liked the abnormal.
Walking through the doorway the two boys saw the white rabbit duck into a door that neither Harry nor Sora would be able to fit through.
If Harry wasn't a wizard he would question how the room he was standing in was built. On the floor was more of those paintings of furniture and each of the pink walls looked like a floor all on their own. The few pieces of real furniture were all sized for a small child. The room gave Harry the feeling of being trapped in a little girl's doll house.
Harry noticed Sora muttering something as he approached the small door the rabbit disappeared behind and Harry followed him.
Both boy's knelt at the tiny door.
"How did he get so small?"
Sora jumped back in surprise and knocked Harry over as the doorknob opened it's eyes and came to life.
"No," said the Doorknob, "you're simply too big."
Harry couldn't hold in a surprised exclamation of, "It talks!"
The Doorknob yawned, stretching it's keyhole-like mouth.
"Must you be so loud? You woke me up."
Sora smiled and waved.
"Good morning."
"Good night!" Retorted the Doorknob, "I need a bit more sleep."
Sora thrust his hand out to grab the doorknob's attention and stall for time.
"Wait," said Sora as he got on his hands and knees to be on the Doorknob's same field of vision, "what do we have to do to grow small?"
The Doorknob yawned again and said, "Why don't you try the bottle... over there?"
As he said the last two words the painting of a white table and chair transformed into an actual table and chair in a poof of white smoke. The table had two bottles sitting on it; a red and orange one and a blue and yellow one. Harry was instantly on edge; he didn't want to drink anything this messed up world supplied.
Sora, apparently, had no compunctions about it and thanked the dozing Doorknob, strode the the table, and drank the dubious concoction.
Harry darted to the table as Sora disappeared in a cloud of sparkly, white smoke. Harry looked around wildly, he couldn't see his newest friend.
"Harry!"
Said boy looked down at the quietly yelled greeting. Sora was tiny, five inches tall, and standing right as rain in the middle of the white table waving excitedly at the ticked off wizard.
"It's fine, take a drink and join me!"
Harry grudgingly complied and waited for the uncomfortable feeling of being miniaturized to go away. Sora walked up to Harry with his hands behind his head and an easygoing grin on his face. Harry frowned at Sora.
"Why the hell did you do that?"
Sora was puzzled, what had he done wrong?
"What?"
"Drink that bloody potion! Does this place look normal to you? That could've been anything, done anything to you! Potions were never my best subject but I know enough to tell if something is really what it's supposed to be. So next time we have to drink or eat something strange to advance let me do my wizardly duties and make sure what you're ingesting won't rot you from the inside out!"
"Sorry..."
To his credit, Sora looked truly abashed and Harry regretted snapping at him.
Harry sighed.
"It's fine..."
Harry broke the awkward silence that followed.
"Speaking of wizardly duties, you hurt your shoulder on the way down that hole, right?"
Sora nodded reluctantly and rolled his shoulder producing a wince.
"Yeah, I was going to take a sip of potion when we got back to the gummyship but until then I was just going to tuff it out."
Harry held up his cane, "Cure!" Three green leaves materialized and swirled around Sora's arm emitting a warm green light.
Sora rolled his arm again and grinned.
"Thanks! You ready to go?"
Harry smiled, his anger leaving as quickly as it came.
"Yeah."
The two walked to the edge of the table that, when they were normal sized, would only go up to their waists, but was now nearly a cliff in their shrunken states.
Sora looked at Harry.
"Know any magic to help get us down?"
Harry chuckled; he'd asked for wizardly duties.
"Yeah, just jump and I'll use the same Softening Charm on the ground, hopefully we don't break through again." He looked to Sora, "you ready?"
Sora nodded and the two took a running leap off the table top. Making the same 'S' shape as earlier he shouted, "Spongify!" The boys landed and sank into the ground absorbing the shock before the charm wore off leaving them standing on the floor no worse for wear facing a very large fireplace.
"That's a useful spell."
Harry nodded, he never thought he'd need it so much.
A swooshing noise sounded from their left and both teens drew their weapons. Neither Harry nor Sora had ever seen these types of Heartless before; along with an assortment of basic Shadow and Soldier Heartless they were accompanied by six, flying, bell type Heartless that had a little yellow witches hat covering it's black face. Three were blue and three were red.
Sora was already in motion.
He lunged forward and stabbed out at the nearest Soldier before turning and whacking at a Shadow that had sneaked behind him. Turning back to his original prey he instead saw a ball of fire heading towards his face. Harry had a Shield Charm on the tip of his tongue when Sora seemed to do a sort of high speed somersault and dodged out of the way, letting the fire ball hit a blue, bell-like Heartless that died in one hit; Harry now understood what Leon meant about the Dodge Roll ability being useful.
Harry decided to take out the magic wielding enemies first. Bringing his wand to bear on another blue bell-like Heartless he said "Incendio!" A swath of fire burst from the tip of his wand and literally melted the blue bell. With only one blue bell-like Heartless left he was determined to find out what it's name was. Harry hefted his cane and waved it in front of his eyes and whispered, "Libra!" Instantly, Harry could tell that the Heartless, Blue Rhapsody and Red Nocturn respectively, had very little by means of vitality and used it's powers of flight to attack opponents from afar using magic that matched it's body color. Harry quickly dispatched the remaining four magic using enemies with one more "Incendio!" and a few spoken Glacuis Charms. Harry turned back to Sora, he had finished the physical, land based Heartless and let Harry use long range abilities to take out the flying enemies.
"You get hurt?"
Sora shook his head.
"Nah, didn't even touch me."
Harry nodded.
The two looked around for even more enemies. Finding none, they started looking around, next to the small door a small green bed jutted from the wall. Curious, Harry motioned for Sora to follow, the trek to the other side of the room was slower going because instead of it being a few feet it was more like a mile with how small they were, more delays came with the appearance of even more Heartless.
Finally they reached the bed and walked under it. Looking around, Sora pointed out a dark hole in the wall behind the headboard. Telling Harry, the two decided to enter and investigate.
The dark hole actually turned out to be a short tunnel that led to an outdoor court lined with high hedges. Eight living playing cards stood sentinel with spears shaped like red upside down hearts and black spades.
They heard the tooting of a horn and looked at the white rabbit.
"Court is now in session! Her Majesty, The Queen of Hearts, presiding!"
The Queen was a round faced woman who had a naturally sneering face. She was wearing a red and black dress with a heart-shaped bodice and a large white collar. She had a small crown perched on her head and her black hair was pulled into a severe bun. In her hand she had what looked like a wand topped with a red heart.
In the podium for the accused stood a young blonde haired girl wearing an old fashioned blue dress and a white apron.
The Queen opened her beady black eyes and her sneer grew more pronounced, as if she considered everyone else to be below her. "This girl is the culprit," she started off in a whisper, "there's no doubt about it." The Queen leaned forward and Harry was sure he wouldn't like what came next. "And the reason is... because I say so that's why!" She waved her pudgy hand and Harry growled but before he could say something the blonde girl stood up for herself making Harry smile.
"That is so unfair!"
The Queen, upset that someone would defend themselves from her, leaned back and crossed her fat arms. "Well, have you anything to say in your defense?"
The blonde girl leaned forward. "Of course! I've done absolutely nothing wrong!" The cards and the white rabbit looked at one another nervously while the young girl continued, undaunted. "You may be Queen, but I'm afraid that doesn't give you the right to be so... so mean!"
The Queen's sneer dropped during the girl's speech and was instead replaced by genuine anger. "SILENCE!" The Queen slammed her fists on her judges podium. "You dare defy me?"
Both Harry and Sora moved their hands getting ready to pull their weapons.
"The court findes the defendant," she pointed her heart covered wand at the girl, "guilty as charged! For the crimes of assault and the attempted theft of my heart. Off with her head!"
The defendant's eyes widened with fear.
"Oh no! Please!"
The ax wielding playing cards started moving in on the girl and even though it wasn't planned, both Sora and Harry started moving at the same time.
"Hold it right there!"
Sora and Harry burst through the crowd of cards.
"Who are you?" Demanded the Queen. "How dare you interfere with my court!"
Harry stepped up.
"Excuse me." Said the Brit, working his charming accent for all he could. "But we know who the real culprit is!"
Sora nodded emphatically.
"Yeah, it's the Heartless!"
The Queen raised an eyebrow and leaned back while crossing her arms, curiosity apparent on her unpleasant face.
"Heartless? What is a Heartless?"
Sora and Harry looked at each other nervously.
"Very well. Bring me proof of these Heartless and I'll release the defendant."
The cards grabbed the girl by her arms and pulled her to a golden cage with Harry and Sora following behind. They looked into the frightened face of the little girl and Harry smiled in an attempt to put her at ease.
"Hi, My name's Harry. What's your's?"
She answered in a quiet voice, "I'm Alice."
Sora knelt before the girl that he guessed was ten or eleven years old.
"We're going to find proof that you're innocent. So don't you worry, 'kay."
Alice, upon getting a look at Sora's confident face, blushed.
"O-okay."
Sora and Harry turned and walked away.
"Where should we go?"
Sora shrugged his shoulders.
"All we need to do is catch a Heartless," He looked to Harry, "know any magic to take something alive?"
"I don't know if it'll do any thing to them but I could try the Stunning Charm."
Sora nodded and led the way to the side door partially hidden by a hedge. Exiting the door in the next room, Harry looked around. It seemed to be an indoor forest, blades of grass taller than himself made pockets along the walls. The ground was a rusty red color with a few ponds painted on the floor like the furniture in the room with the little door. To their right was a platform like stump of wood. Lotus flowers lined walls made from tall, stiff, blades of grass. They took a few steps in and were surrounded by Heartless.
Sora, knowing that they were trying to capture the beasts, pulled his weapon out and stayed still, letting Harry do his thing.
"Stupefy!" The familiar red bolt of magic lanced towards a basic Shadow Heartless, hitting it square in the face. The rabbit-like being of darkness slumped to the ground and Harry grinned until the thing sank into a pool of darkness and popped back out right as rain. Growling, he tried the same on a Soldier, only for it to happen again; it seemed as though he couldn't stun them.
"Incarcerous!" Chords burst from the tip of Harry's wand and tightly wound themselves around the body of a Soldier only for the Heartless to cut his way out of the binds with his claws. Frustrated, Harry brandished his wand and fired a Reductor Curse into the nearest Heartless.
Sora, seeing Harry give up, fell upon the Heartless like a terrible storm and, nearly a minute later, the beasts were dead and Harry sat on the ground trying to figure out what to do. Sora approached him and also sat down. They had been thinking on their problem for a while when they heard a voice come from nowhere.
"Poor Alice. Soon to lose her head, and she's not guilty of a thing!"
Harry could practically hear the grin in the voice.
Sora stood and called out to the air.
"Who are you?"
The voice snickered and Harry also stood up.
"Hey, if you know who the culprit is, tell us!"
A pink and purple cat phased into existence on the tree stump, it's mouth in an impossibly wide grin.
"The Cheshire Cat has all the answers -but doesn't always tell. The answer, the culprit, the cat all lie in darkness."
The cat phased into nothingness again.
"Wait!" Called Sora, Stretching his hand up in an attempt to grab the Cheshire Cat's attention.
The Cat's grinning voice sounded from nowhere.
"They've already left the forest. I won't tell which exit. There is one piece of evidence to find and it'll be tricky, big reward for the one who finds it.."
Harry turned to Sora.
"Should we trust him?"
"To trust or not to trust, I'll trust you'll decide..."
Sora turned to Harry.
"Well," he said with a grin, "Shall we go?"
Harry nodded and held his wand flat in the palm of his hand, "Point Me, Evidence!" The wand spun in his hand once before pointing deeper into the woods.
Sora approached and looked over Harry's shoulder.
"What was that?"
Harry gestured for Sora to follow him.
"That was a spell that my friend Hermione modified. The Four-Point Spell normally only points to the North-"
"-Like a compass?"
Harry nodded.
"Yes. Hermione modified the spell so it'll act similar to a dowsing rod. I just use the Incantation and finish it with what I want to find, I have to focus on what I want like a Summoning Charm or else it will fail."
"Sounds useful."
"You'd think. But it's very easy to disrupt, I was actually surprised it worked on the first try."
Sora and Harry walked deeper into the tall grass peering about for Heartless or any evidence of Heartless activity. Harry again cast his modified Four-Point Spell and they altered their course even deeper into the woods.
A parting in the grass showed a hedged garden set up for afternoon tea and the back door to a thatched cottage. There didn't seem to be any Heartless around so both Sora and Harry put their weapons away in the hopes of resting for a bit. Walking to the head of the table, Harry spied a piece of stationary and picked it up.
Help yourselves to afternoon tea and cake, and a very merry un-birthday to you all.
Harry looked to Sora and shrugged.
"You hungry?"
Sora nodded as his stomach growled.
Both warriors sat and drank from their cups (Harry more warily) and waited from something bad to happen. When all was quiet Harry put a slice of pink, frosted cake onto his plate. Quirking his eyebrow at Sora who shrugged, Harry took a bite and waited. Grinning, Sora and Harry gleefully finished off their cake and tea and made to leave when nearly a dozen Heartless appeared from the great darkness.
Sora summoned his keyblade and struck out at the nearest Soldier before Dodge Rolling out of the way of a Shadow's leaping slash. Harry pulled his wand and summoned that Shadow to him before smacking it into a wall using his cane. Sora, came out of his roll in a crouch and attacked the same Soldier in the back while Harry lit one on fire with a shouted, "Incendio!"
It took nearly five minutes of exhaustive fighting to clear the garden of Heartless and both swordsman and wizard slumped to the floor back to back when they were safe.
"Is it me," panted Sora, "or were those Heartless harder to kill?"
"It's not you," Harry shook his head in an attempt to clear it; he had used more magic than he should have during that fight, "my spells were doing less damage to them too."
Sora made to stand when the ground started shaking which sent him tumbling to the floor with a groan.
Harry was about to help him sit up when the rumbling stopped and a new Heartless appeared; It was large, only the Guard Armor had been bigger, rotund and it seemed to be wearing a maroon vest that was closed in front with yellow rope. It had massive arms and hands, short legs, huge feet and a tiny armored head.
(AN: Can anyone say Midboss?)
"Oh, Shi-"
Sora didn't get to finish his swear because the Heartless reached them with surprising speed.
Harry found strength he didn't know he had left and tumbled to the right and avoided the Heartless' punch. Sora wasn't so lucky because he took the attack in his chest, knocking the breath from his body and throwing him into the wall of the thatched cottage.
Harry, seeing the still body of his friend, furiously brandished his wand in the direction of the Heartless that was in the process of turning around to face him, "Confringo!" The same purple grenade of energy lanced from his wand and impacted the Heartless on the stomach where it deflected into one of the hedges, blowing a gaping hole in the foliage.
Harry fell to one knee blinking black spots from his vision, he was still tired from the last fight and the Explosive Curse put him dangerously close to passing out. Reaching into the pouch Merlin enchanted for him, Harry extracted a small glass bottle who's label simply read, "Ether."
Harry was lucky the beast didn't seem too bright because while it wasted time slowly looking around and scratching its helmeted head, Harry unstoppered the bottle and drank it's contents. The medicine tasted like nothing and had the consistency of vegetable oil, making Harry grimace as it slowly slid down his throat. The young wizard felt energy surge through his veins as his vision sharpened and he grew more alert.
Tightening his grip on his wand, Harry waved his cane over his eyes and whispered, "Libra!" Harry was already moving as the magic fed him information on his powerful adversary, the Large Body. Dashing behind the enemy, Harry transfigured one of the tables splintered chairs into a flock of canary's which he commanded to swoop around and take the Large Body's attention away from him. Kneeling at Sora's barely stirring form, Harry raised his stave and whispered, "Cure!" The three glowing, green, leaves appeared and swirled around his downed ally's head in an unfelt wind.
Sora moaned and put his arm over his eyes in order to shield them from the glaring light.
"Wake up, Sora!"
The Keybearer moved his arm and sat up slowly.
"Wh-What, happened?" Moaned Sora. "Did anyone get the license plate of that gummyship?"
Harry grinned while he helped Sora stand before reaching into his pouch and pulling out another bottle that he handed to his woozy friend.
"A potion?"
Harry shrugged.
"My healing magic must not have been enough to totally heal you. Drink that and you'll be able to fight again."
Sora uncorked the glass vial, downed his medicine, and Harry snickered while Sora made a disgusted face, shuddering through it's horrible consistency.
"Not much better than the ether, then?"
Sora shook his head quickly as if clearing it.
"What is that thing?"
Harry turned back to the Heartless that had just finished smacking the last of the yellow canary's out of the air.
"Scan tells me that it's called a Large Body, and that physical attacks and force spells like Confringo and Expulso are useless when aimed at it's front."
Sora looked to Harry and cocked his eyebrow in question when he saw his friend grin.
"You have a plan?"
Harry nodded.
"I do."
The Large Body looked at Harry and Sora and gave an unmistakable start; it seemed as though, in his effort to catch the birds, it had forgotten about the two biggest threats to it's continued existence.
"I'll distract it with elemental spells while you get behind it and wail on it's back."
Sora grinned.
"Simple and clean, I like it."
(AN: *Snicker*)
The Heartless charged at Sora and Harry and the two broke apart; Harry went left and fired the Fire-Making Charm at it's side. Harry was glad to see that his spell actually hurt the beast. Sora rolled under and behind the Large Body as it was distracted and started attacking in earnest with his keyblade.
It took several variations of the same strategy to finally kill the beast and both Sora and Harry dropped to their hands and knees when the Large Body faded into darkness as it's captured heart simply floated above the canopy of the forest before disappearing in a burst of light.
"That was ridiculous."
Sora nodded stiffly.
"I really hope there aren't anymore of them around."
This time it was Harry's turn to nod stiffly.
The two stood shakily and they each downed another potion and ether. Harry frowned; they only had a few more of each and Harry was certain that they'd need them before leaving this planet.
After conveying his concerns to Sora, who agreed, they both walked forward and, at once, opened the door to the cottage. Harry sighed, the door led to the room that reminded him of a doll house. Only... they were standing on what used to be a ceiling but was now the floor, and the old floor was now the ceiling. On one side of the wall (which Harry assumed was just another floor) was the chimney to the fireplace and parallel to that was a ramp. Between them were two light purple endtables on which sat two unlit oil lamps.
"Whoa..."
Harry turned to his whimsical friend and shook his head, a grin forming on his face.
"Come on, Sora. Let's find the evidence."
Walking forward, the two were attacked by a group of Shadows, Soldiers, and Red Nocturnes that were easy enough to dispatch without leaving the two too winded.
"I don't see anything too suspicious, do you?"
Harry shook his head.
"No, but I think we should find the other entrances to this room, something tells me that we'll need to search the walls as well."
Sora put his hands behind his head.
"Maybe we should split up, meet back at the Queen's palace in an hour?"
"You sure?"
Sora nodded.
"Yeah, you heard the cat, the evidence we need is going to be hard to find, maybe if we split up we can find it quicker and free Alice sooner."
Harry nodded and handed Sora three potions before they each took a different direction.
000 Perspective Shift 000
Yuffie missed her boyfriend terribly, she should've insisted on going with them. Even though she knew Harry could handle himself she was still worried.
The young Ninja turned around sharply and drew her weapon, a large four-point ninja star that could both be used as a thrown weapon or a chakram, as she heard the sound of shifting roof shingles. Yuffie relaxed when, instead of a Heartless, it was Aerith.
Without speaking, the older girl sat next to the dejected ninja and wrapped her arm around Yuffie's shoulders like she used to do when the younger girl was just a child.
"Talk to me."
Yuffie sighed and leaned on Aerith's shoulder.
"I'm just being stupid."
Aerith frowned and Yuffie continued on.
"I know Harry is more than capable but I want to be there with him incase he gets hurt , to protect him."
"That's not stupid," said Aerith softly, "you're a young girl and the boy you deeply care for is putting himself in danger to help Sora save us all."
Yuffie felt her eyes burn as she remembered her and Harry's conversation just a few days ago but she would not let her tears fall; those tears were for Harry to soothe away, and she did not feel comfortable bearing that weakness to anyone else but him, not even to Aerith who had been the one to comfort her through her night terrors in the aftermath of the destruction of their world.
Aerith ran her fingers through Yuffie's dark hair in an attempt to calm the distraught girl. The two girls sat in silence when Yuffie's keen eyes spotted a white speck flying towards them.
The speck was getting closer and closer and getting larger and larger until both girls could make out what it was. It was an owl, a pure white owl that Yuffie would swear was the most beautiful bird she had ever seen as it ghosted through the air, the light from the moon reflecting off it's silvery plumage.
The bird dove at the girls and came to a stop in front of Yuffie's face.
"H-Hello?"
The owl hooted in a clearly dignified way and landed on Yuffie's knee, staring into Yuffie's puzzled eyes with her own amber orbs.
Yuffie cocked her head to the side; for some reason the bird felt like Harry, almost as if he was there with them.
"Aerith," said the young ninja in a daze, "let's get to Cid's shop, we need Merlin."
Aerith was confused but nodded anyway.
000 0000 000
Entering the odd's and end's shop with the bird on Yuffie's shoulder, the girls saw Cid, Leon, and Merlin pouring over a tatty, old storybook.
"Merlin," said Yuffie, "this owl..."
Merlin turned his attention to the young girl his apprentice was so fond of and his eyes widened behind his circular glasses.
"Yuffie," gasped Merlin as he felt a familiar presence on the edge of his mind and in his magic, "that bird. Where did you find it?"
The owl pushed off from her perch on Yuffie's shoulder and glided to the counter top, leaving Cid to pull the priceless tome out of the way of her sharp talons. Yuffie walked over and knelt at eye level with the bird.
Yuffie felt a stirring in her heart and she was overcome with a vision, a series of unconnected pictures and noises, sights and smells assaulted the receptors in her brain as she saw things she shouldn't have been able to see.
A younger Harry , she would place his age at eleven years old, and the same owl sitting in a tiny bedroom. Harry was looking through a thick book.
"Look at this, girl. How do you like the name '_'?"
The scene changed
Harry and the owl walking around the grounds of a large castle. Yuffie could smell the freshly cut grass and the trees in the beginning of springtime.
"I don't know what to do, _, I know Snape's trying to steal the Sorcerer's Stone, I just don't know why."
The scene changed.
The owl flying behind Harry as he rode a blue car through the air with his friends.
"I don't think he could," said Harry. "I told you, every time he got close to letting something slip, he started banging his head against the wall."
The scene changed.
The owl perched on the headboard of Harry's bed as she watched over him as he slept through a nightmare, a silent vigil.
"Ginny, no...Please don't be dead..." Whimpered Harry as he curled into a ball, his eyes clenched shut. "T-Tom Riddle, you're Voldemort!"
Harry woke, breathing heavily as he grasped a wound in on the inside of his right elbow.
The scene changed.
Then it was a slightly older Harry who lay in a hospital stroking the owl's plumage as he stared dejectedly at a pile of wood splinter and twigs.
The scene changed.
The owl was hooting in amusement as her human paced nervously, he was wearing obviously expensive robes of a dark bottle-green.
"I'm going to make an arse of myself, _, you owls are lucky you don't have to do these things..."
The owl hooted in a particularly hard chortle at the slight whine in her human's voice.
The scene changed.
Harry was surrounded by friends and those he considered family on the grounds of the same castle.
"You're going to be brilliant, Harry!"
Harry looked at a girl with bushy brown hair while he stroked his owl with shaking hands.
"Thanks for your confidence..."
A gangly, tall, red-headed boy threw his arm around Harry's shoulders in a brotherly manner.
"Come on, mate. After tonight it'll all be over and we can breathe easily again, just focus on that."
The vision changed.
The owl didn't know what to do. The creatures of darkness kept coming no matter how many spells the wizards and witches threw at them. The owl was more worried than ever for her human, her fledgling.
A Shadow leapt from the ceiling and knocked Hedwig to the floor of a tall tower filled with other owls it advanced on her and then she knew nothing.
The vision faded and Yuffie swayed dangerously on the spot as she struggled to absorb the information and keep from passing out.
Aerith, who had been watching in worry, rushed forward and grasped at her arms.
"H-Hedwig..."
The name stumbled from Yuffie's lips before she knew what was happening.
The owl bobbed her head once.
"What's a Hedwig?"
Yuffie looked at Leon and Cid.
"Her name, Harry's owl... Hedwig."
Slowly, Yuffie extended her hand and waited for the owl to bob her head before stroking the area under her beak where she had seen Harry pat her in the visions.
It was Cid who asked the question they all wanted answered.
"How did she get here if Harry's world was destroyed?"
Merlin shook himself out of his stupor.
"It's remarkable... Harry had told me a little about Hedwig when I reviewed what he knew about Familiars-"
"-Familiar?"
Merlin turned to Cid.
"A wizard's or witch's Familiar is an animal that assists their human when practicing magic, they have a strong bond that ties them together. Normally it takes many years for a Familiar Bond to form and I told Harry as much when he asked about Hedwig."
"Then how did she live through the destruction of her world?"
"It's like I said, it's remarkable because the only way she could have survived is if she and Harry had a fully formed Familiar Bond. They were tied together by the strength of that bond and because Harry survived so did Hedwig-"
"-That doesn't explain how she got here."
Merlin sent a disgruntled look at a grinning Cid for his constant interruptions.
"Hedwig was called here because Harry left a small part of his heart here in the bonds of friendship he made with us."
He turned to Yuffie who was still stroking Hedwig's neck.
"You'll notice that it was Yuffie she showed herself too, if it wasn't obvious he cared for you a great deal then you should know it now."
Yuffie's cheeks tinged red and she smiled.
"Hedwig's hungry, she hasn't had anything to eat since before the end of her world."
"Yuffie," said Aerith, "can you speak to Hedwig?"
The younger girl shook her head.
"No, it's more like I can understand her emotions, she showed me her memories a few minutes ago."
Merlin smiled widely.
"Cares for you a great deal, indeed!"
The others looked at him in question.
"Huh..."
"For you to even understand that much shows the strength of your bond with Harry."
"But how," said Squall, "she and Harry only started dating a day before he left?"
"The magic of love -of the heart- is one of the most complicated studies in the universe," said Merlin wisely, "It's not clear how these things happen. Besides, I think the old adage, distance makes the heart grow fonder, applies here."
Aerith turned her attention back to Yuffie and saw that she was beet red and the Hedwig was hooting in what could only be a chortle.
"What's wrong Yuffie?"
The others looked to the young ninja in concern.
"H-Hedwig just asked if I was Harry's m-mate."
That was all it took for Cid to dissolve in loud belly laughs and Leon to get his protective big brother hackles up.
"Oh," giggled Aerith, her hand infront of her mouth and her eyes twinkling in mischief, "and what did you say?"
"Aerith," whined Leon, "Yuffie's too young to be anyone's mate!"
Aerith just giggled harder at Leon's obvious discomfort and Cid turned his laugh on the leather-clad swordsman.
Yuffie, glad the attention was off her, turned back to Hedwig and offered her arm as a perch before leaving the four adults and entering the kitchen on the shops second floor flat. Feeding Hedwig strips of leftover bacon, Yuffie couldn't help but smile at the thought of Harry's face when he finds out Hedwig's alive.
000 Perspective Shift 000
On Wonderland
One Hour Later.
Harry dejectedly entered the Queen's court and spotted Sora talking animatedly to Alice with a grin on his face. As Harry approached, Sora turned his head to greet Harry and hold up a pink box making the black-haired boy grin.
"You found it?"
Sora nodded.
"Yep, the cat was right; it was hard to get too."
Harry leaned against the wall to take a rest.
"Where was it?"
Sora was about to answer when one of the card soldiers came forward.
"If you have your evidence present it to the Queen at once."
He made a sweeping motion with his poleax towards the witness stand. Harry and Sora walked where directed and waited for the Queen's attention.
"Do you have your defense prepared?"
Sora nodded and handed the the pink box to the card soldier who opened it and was promptly attacked and devoured by a Soldier Heartless, startling the Queen and her guards who raised their weapons. Sora was already moving and destroyed the being of darkness with a few strikes of his Keyblade.
"W-what is this?" Screeched the Queen.
"That is what we tried to tell you about!" Implored Harry. "That's a Heartless, when a heart falls to the darkness a Heartless is born. My home was destroyed by these things!"
The Queen was appeared not to have heard the young wizard and was muttering under her breath before her disproportionately small head snapped up and she started screeching for her soldiers.
"They have attempted to steal my heart, they are clearly in league with both the Heartless and Alice! In the name of Wonderland and the Queen of Hearts, OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!"
Card soldiers brandished their poleaxes and rushed Sora and Harry while a separate group surged for Alice.
Harry snapped his wand up and shouted, "Protego!" A purple dome of protective magic formed around Alice's cage before he jabbed his foci and stunned one soldier. Sora, after confirming Alice was safe, struck out at the nearest soldier before knocking him out with a jab to his head.
It was a furious fight and Harry had to heal both himself and Sora several times as they battled against the heavily trained guards of the Queen of Hearts.
Finally, Sora and Harry had the contingent of soldiers unconscious and the spiky-haired Keybearer pointed his Keyblade to the neck of the obnoxious Queen.
"We're taking Alice and we're leaving, unharmed. Understand?"
The Queen gave a glare but nodded grudgingly.
Harry turned to the cage and undid his Shield Charm only to drop his wand in shock: the cage had been ripped open and Alice was missing, a scrap of her white apron hanging from the twisted metal.
"Sora!" Shouted Harry, his eyes wide in alarm.
The Keybearer turned at the sound of his friend's voice and his eyes widened in panic before bringing his attention back to the Queen.
"Where-is-she?" The words slipped from Sora's gritted teeth.
"I-I-I don't know..." The Queen was clearly terrified of the Keyblader.
Harry walked up and placed his hand on Sora's shoulder.
"Come on, mate. Let's go look for her."
Sora was breathing heavy and Harry was concerned that his friend was going to strike the Queen down in his rage before he nodded slowly and banished his weapon. The two powerful young men turned on the spot and walked out of the courtyard.
Entering the bazaar, doll house, room they were greeted by the grinning cat standing on the table near the growth potion, his pink and purple stripes glowing in alternating patterns.
"The person who took Alice lit the lanterns and the Shadows should be here soon. Are you prepared for the worst? If not, too bad!"
The cat phased out of sight with a humorous chuckle.
"You really should look up."
Both Harry and Sora snapped their heads up and saw an incredibly tall Heartless jump from the ceiling to the floor, land in a crouch and then bounce on it's hands over the table to land on it's feet behind the two warriors.
Not wasting time, Sora ran forward in an attempt to stagger the Heartless and relieve his frustrations in one go.
Harry followed at a more sedate pace and cast Libra on himself, reviewing the information it gave him.
Trickmaster: A tall, quick, Heartless with great reach, can resist and shoot fire. Stagger with Ice Magic.
Warning: will gain resistance to Ice when used against it repeatedly.
Health: oo
Power: o
Magic: ooo
Speed: oooo
A Trickmaster was a bizarre Heartless with spindly legs resembling scissor jacks, arms that appear and sound like they're made of paper, and a head made of several segments balanced of top of each other. Each of those segments had its own face and all of the faces have the same glowing yellow eyes and jagged mouths, they alternated in color from red to black. Its arms are black and it was juggling two purple clubs. It wore black armor with large, red shoulder pads, a black codpiece, it had a very thin, red body. The upper halves of its legs were red, while their lower halves were black. Its feet were black, flat, and curled at the tips. It's upper body had golden accents.
"Watch out for it's speed and magic!"
Harry saw Sora nod his head before reaching the Heartless, jumping, and attacking at it's lowest face with a vertical slash. Harry, five paces from the beast, launched a Glacius at it's chest that made it roar in pain before crashing to the ground on one knee.
Sora smirked and jumped back to gain some distance from the Heartless before throwing his Keyblade at the stunned creatures face and making it rear back and groan in pain before calling back his weapon in a flash of light.
"What was that?" Asked Harry as he leapt out of the way from the re-attacking monster.
"It's called Strike Raid, that cat taught me as a reward for finding the evidence. It gets stronger when I use it rapidly, back-to-back."
"Protego!"
A shield appeared behind Sora and deflected a fireball that he didn't notice. Sora nodded his thanks and used his Dodge Roll to get under the Trickmaster and strike upwards in a three-hit combo, bringing it back down to the floor.
Rolling behind the stunned Heartless, Sora started wailing on it's back while Harry closed the distance and got in three pulse strikes with his cane, draining what was left of his magical reserves after the fight with the card soldiers.
Retreating as the Heartless stood and lit it's clubs on fire, Harry quickly downed an ether and ducked under a flaming swing hot enough to scorch his back despite his enchanted cloak. Groaning in pain, Harry was forced to put a shield up as the Heartless came back for a second hit that jarred his bones and made pain lance through the burn on his back.
Sora Dodge Rolled under the swing meant for him and closed the distance to the offending appendage, he jumped up and separated the Trickmaster's arm at the elbow with a horizontal slash, the stump dripping the black ichor that seems to be what a Heartless had for blood, and giving Harry enough time to cast a Cure on his back and rejoin the fight.
Brandishing his wand, Harry yelled, "Aqua Eructo!" A powerful burst of water erupted from his wand and twirled in the air before wrapping around the Heartless' many-faced heads. Making a thrusting motion with his wand he yelled,"Glacius!" Sending an Ice Making Charm so overpowered that it froze the orb of water around the Trickmaster's face, damaging the stunned beast and blocking it's fireball attack in one go.
"Hit it with Strike Raid, Sora," yelled Harry who was adding power to his ice attack, "right in the chest while it's distracted."
Sora, who was staring wide-eyed at his friend's spellwork, shook his head and threw his Keyblade with all his might before calling it back. As Sora gained momentum with his throws, the keyblade started glowing and, when the fifth Raid hit, the weapon burst in an explosion of light that depleted whatever stamina the Heartless had left.
As the beast fell and dissolved, Harry sank to his knee, breathing heavily and leaning on his stave.
"The cat never told me it would do that!"
Harry smiled wryly at his companion.
"Are you complaining?"
Sora chuckled and shook his head before wiping the sweat from his brow when he stopped and looked to the ground in front of him, a shiny bauble caught his attention.
"What's this?"
He picked it up and showed it to Harry.
Harry squinted at the little charm and cast Libra on his eyes.
"It's called 'Ifrit's Horn' and it grants the wearer a slight protection to fire damage and raises physical defense."
"Cool," said Sora.
"Put it on," shrugged Harry, "my tournament robes are already spelled to resist the elements and protect me physically."
"you sure?"
"Yeah."
Sora grinned and clasped the charm on one of the chains hanging from his belt.
Harry, who's eyes were still under the effect of Libra, saw a normally invisible layer of protection spring to life around his friend, making Harry nod in satisfaction; happy that his friend had some basic protective enchantments.
"How's a Doorknob supposed to get any sleep with all this noise?"
Both young teens turned to the Doorknob of the small door that had helped them earlier. The Doorknob yawned widely and Harry and Sora spotted the glowing outline of an old fashioned keyhole. The Keyblade appeared in a burst of light and the magic weapon somehow dragged Sora's hand to where it was pointing at the Keyhole. The tip of the blade started glowing and a beam of bright light shot from the blade, hitting the Keyhole. Sora and Harry heard the click of a tumbler turning and the Doorknob spat a green block at them before finally falling into a deep sleep.
"What was that?"
Sora sent a concerned look at his weapon before banishing it and shaking his head.
"I don't know, let's ask Leon and the gang at Traverse Town before going to the next world."
Harry nodded and sheathed his wand before picking up the strange item and stowing it in his enchanted pouch.
"Yeah, I want to get some more healing supplies too and ask Merlin about the green thing."
Sora grinned at Harry slyly, a glint in his eyes.
"Yeah," snickered Sora, "and see Yuffie again."
Harry blushed; seeing his girlfriend had crossed his mind more than once.
"Shut up," muttered the teen, "What about you, huh? I saw Alice blush more than once when talking to you."
Sora's cheeks were also a little red.
"You shut up, she's just a little girl, and besides, we're only friends."
Harry snickered but abandoned his teasing.
"Come on, we need to find a way to grow to our normal sizes and then find a way back to the Nautilus."
Sora nodded and turned back to the white, cliff-like, table.
"Know any magic to get us up there?"
Harry seemed to be mentally measuring the height of the table.
"Yeah... I think so."
Harry and Sora walked close and the young wizard pointed his wand towards the bottle of growth potion. "Carpe Retractum!" A orange rope of magical energy shot from his wand and latched onto the ledge of the table. Harry grabbed Sora by the arm and started retracting the rope, quickly raising them into the air.
000 Perspective Shift 000
Donald and Goofy land their gummyship, the Highwind, after a long flight to the Mysterious Tower. Turning the vessel off, the anthromorphic duck and dog jumped from the cockpit and stretched their legs.
"This is Master Yen Sid's tower?"
Donald nodded his head as he looked around excitedly; it wasn't everyday the court magician met wizards as powerful and well respected as Yen Sid (or Merlin, though he didn't have time to talk to the revered mage).
"Come on," squawked Donald, "Let's go hear our mission."
Entering the crooked, pale yellow, tower, the two saw a spiral staircase ascending to the top of the spire.
"Walking up the stairs Donald couldn't hold his excitement and was hungrily examining his surroundings."
Coming upon the final door Goofy raised a fist and was about to knock when the door sprung open of it's own accord.
Cautiously entering the wizard's study, they were called by an old yet powerful voice that was filled with wisdom.
"Come, Court Guard Captain, Goofy and Court Magician, Donald. I have been expecting you. Your King is on his way."
"King Mickey's comin' here, Master?"
"Yes," rumbled the mage under his beard, "His Majesty has decided, under my council, that you are to be traveling with him. We feel that with my friend Merlin's apprentice accompanying the Keybearer that your talents would better be used supporting your King on his journey investigating the dark influences in many of the worlds."
"You mean that we're going to join the King?"
The wizened wizard nodded and smiled at the little duck's enthusiasm.
"Oh boy!"
Yen Sid looked towards one of the moon-shaped windows lining the wall behind his desk.
"I believe my old student is here."
It was only a minute later that the door opened by itself and His Royal Majesty, King Mickey Mouse strode through the archway.
"Always had a flair for the dramatic, Yen Sid."
The powerful wizard chuckled.
"Your Majesty!"
Both duck and dog bowed to the king.
"Now, now, my friends," said the King in his squeaky voice, "it's just 'Mickey' when we're alone."
"Of course, Mickey."
"Now," began Mickey, "Time is of the essence, we must continue my investigation."
The King bowed respectfully to his old teacher and left, followed by his friends.
000 Perspective Shift 000
Harry and Sora beamed aboard their gummyship, the Nautilus, and made their way to the part of the ship where their bunks were located. Both teenage boys stripped out of their sweaty, dirty, torn clothes and piled them up to be washed and repaired after taking a shower in their private stalls.
Harry sat on his bed wearing his pajama pants, and a loose white shirt he transfigured out of a spare sheet. He had done the same for Sora who had settled into his bunk and was already fast asleep.
He stretched his shoulders and winced, the burn from the Trickmaster was still sensitive. Grabbing his wand, he summoned the book Merlin had given him and opened it. Turning to the section with simple, yet specialized, healing charms he found one to treat burns.
Waving his wand over his back he whispered, "Num Exuro!" Harry sighed in relief when he felt the spell take effect and take the throbbing pain away.
Harry put his wand under his pillow and his book on his nightstand before settling under his covers. Quickly falling asleep, Harry dreamt of the end of his world and the probable deaths of everyone he knew and loved.
000 Perspective Change 000
In a shadowy chamber several figures were gathered around a projection of Harry and Sora's battle against the Trickmaster. The sparse light only lit a few of the figures in stark relief. The Dark Lord absently stroked is familiar, Nagini, and pondered his next move.
"Lord Voldemort?"
The Heir of Slytherin looked up, his crimson eyes meeting the yellow ones of Maleficent before sliding over his female disciple, Bellatrix LeStrange.
"Yes, Lady Maleficent."
"Your plan failed, the Heartless did not kill the Keybearer or Merlin's apprentice."
"I never thought it would."
A tall shadow with a French accent leaned forward.
"What?"
"Harry Potter would not die at the hands of such a simple Heartless. No, I knew Potter would live and that the Keyblade Master would live as well."
"Then why did you send a weak one?"
"I didn't pick the Heartless, I merely designed the plan which has placed a Princess of Heart in our grasp."
There were surprised noises from all of the shadows and Voldemort relished their recognition.
"Yes, I knew that Potter and the Keybearer would kill the Trickmaster so I only intended it as a diversionary tactic while one of my apprentices, Bartemius Crouch, stole Alice from under their noses and made his escape without detection,"
Voldemort raised his pale, bald head.
"And here he is."
Barty Crouch strode into the room with an unconscious girl draped over his shoulders. He wore his leather duster, a black sweater and pants, and his boots. His hair was no longer disheveled and was combed in a part over his left eye.
"Well done Barty."
Bella sauntered over to her fellow disciple, the skirt of her dress sashaying provocatively, and stroked his cheek with her index finger. She leaned up and kissed him on his jaw, making his grip on Alice tighten; she might have been over fifteen years his senior but she had just the right amount of crazy that would drive him wild like any of his previous lovers could never do.
"Barty," said Voldemort, "bring the Princess to Maleficent."
The apprentice did just that, and the Mistress of All Evil made the poor girl disappear in a flash of green fire.
"She has been sent to a private holding cell to await the opening of the final Keyhole, I warn you all now that she must remain unspoiled until then, if anyone here thinks that it is their right to have fun with any of the Princesses I will personally destroy the offender."
There was a moment of silence as the shadows absorbed the knowledge and the threat.
"But still," said a tall, regal shadow, "The boy closed one of the Keyholes and that is a problem."
"Who cares," shrugged a fat shadow, "it'll take him ages to find the rest."
"Both of you are right," interjected Maleficent before another pointless argument could break out, "It is a problem but at the moment it is of little concern. Go about with your plans as if nothing has changed."
There was some grumbling but the meeting broke up shortly after that.
000 Perspective Shift 000
Harry and Sora woke up at roughly the same time orbiting Wonderland. Conversation was sparse as the still groggy teens punched their destination into the TC, Harry and Sora went to their weapon platforms and waited for the Nautilus to engage.
It seemed both teens were too tired to do their countdown and the ship blinked out of existence with little fanfare.
000 Chapter End
Author's Note:
Wonderland:
The way Sora and Harry entered Wonderland was a nod the the 2010 Tim Burton movie.
About Abilities:
In the games, 'Scan' is really just a watered down version of the White Magic 'Libra' and because this is a story instead of a videogame I can't say "and Harry locked on to the Heartless by tapping R1 which activated his Scan..." so I changed it to where the automatic ability 'Scan' is really a spell called 'Scan' that is activated with the incantation 'Libra' which gives more information than the ability 'Scan'.
About the first Large Body:
I can't be the only one who swore out loud when the first Large Body appeared and your attacks just bounced off of his roundness. I felt it deserved something more so I wrote this into the story as a way of saying that it's only going to get tougher from here on out, considering that the Large Body is a normal enemy at most points of the game.
Pacing:
I had a little trouble with the pacing when writing this chapter. Some parts seemed to blink by at light speed and some dragged by over days, it really was annoying.
Next Chapter: Hedwig and the Deep Jungle