Wow...it's been so long since I updated this story and stepped foot into this fandom. Sorry about that. I've been real busy with life (stupid college...) and other stories (like Smash!). I actually had this chapter kind of ready the past...months...but then I got stuck on the fighting part. And if you don't have the motivation to write the fighting part, then...this story would take a while to finish. But hey, I got some spark back, sort of. Anyways, hope you guys enjoy the continuation of this story. And hopefully, I would actually be able to finish this story. It's actually one of the few that I have an outline for XD.

I also changed a few things. First off, both Seiko and Meradee are sixteen while Aslan's eighteen. I don't remember if I specified Seiko's friends' ages but I know I did for Seiko. Second of all, due to my new inspiration with this story, I changed all the Fire spells that Meradee casted in the previous chapters to either Blizzard or Thunder. Anyways, other than that, I hope you enjoy.

Mind Wonder

"And so that was a Large Body Heartless that we fought. Oh, and the cat's name was Cheshire Cat," Seiko bubbled as the group made their way through the forest. Alice listened to the boy intently. Aslan gave an encouraging yet puzzling smile while Meradee attempted to keep his temper from exploding. His new companion just loved to share the information he gathered from this strange world. Granted the information was useful to them, but the way Seiko blabbed about it made it extremely boring for Meradee. At the very least it demonstrated that the boy opened up a bit more to them. Meradee had noticed how Seiko kept to himself a lot. His quiet nature made the purple-haired boy feel that there was more to his newest companion that they should be aware of. However it seemed as though their newest companion was becoming more comfortable with them. He nodded to himself at the thought of Seiko opening up a bit. The trust between them was extremely important and had to be maintained constantly. If not, the whole universe could be at stake. It would be their fault that the worlds fell to the Darkness with no hopes of returning. Just thinking about it made Meradee shiver.

"What a delightful place!" Alice's voice snapped Meradee out of his thoughts. The boy blinked at the long table before him. Covered in a pink tablecloth, it contained various teapots and teacups of all shapes and sizes. Some of the teapots even had more than one spout for pouring tea. Steam rose from other the teapots. Chairs surrounded the table, welcoming the guests to sit. "Why, it's a tea party!"

Noticing Seiko moving towards the largest chair, Meradee stretched out and grabbed the boy's shirt collar. "Oh, no you don't! I'm not letting you set off another trap this time!"

"What trap did I set off last time?" Seiko asked, curious.

"You might this time!"

Aslan grinned at the two younger boys. He patted Meradee's shoulder, "Come on, Meradee. What can go wrong with a table laid out for tea?" Whatever that is…Aslan thought to himself. Before the purple-haired boy could stop him, the golden head stepped forward. He sat down in the chair Seiko was aiming for. "See? Nothing's happen-." Aslan felt his heart leapt when the chair underneath him lurched backwards. He slid off of it, tumbling to the ground with a cry of surprise. The chairs disappeared as the table flattened. At once Soldiers, Air Soldiers, and a Large Body materialized from darkness.

Meradee slapped his face at the idiocy of his friends. He resisted the temptation to slap them on their heads while shouting, "I told you so!" Instead he summoned his lyre in recognition that this was no time for a much-needed lecture.

Seiko called out his own weapon. He instinctively moved in front of Alice to protect her. He was slightly disappointed that there were no new Heartless for him to gather data, but the boy shook the thoughts away. That wasn't important right now. The Keyblade wielder charged forward, bringing his Keyblade down on a defenseless Soldier. Without responding to the floating heart, Seiko rolled to the side.

The Air Soldier missed its intended target and flew straight at Aslan. The young man slashed one attack to rid that Heartless before turning to face the Large Body. At the sight of the familiar enemy, he growled loudly. He hated how before he wasn't able to handle the Heartless. Aslan ran towards it, his teeth and weapons bared. As the Large Body attempted to punch him, Aslan slid below the fist. He ended up behind the Heartless, now in the optimal position to attack. And he did so without relenting. Aslan could feel his blood pounding at the excitement of attacking the enemy and winning. Even as the other Heartless dove towards him, Aslan continued to slash at the Large Body. The Large Body tried futilely to catch Aslan back in front where he could barely break through. But the lion was skilled in hunting this prey now. He leaped high in the air over the Large Body, a cruel smirk crossing his lips. The young man landed behind the Heartless. He almost ripped the heart out of the Large Body with his final attack.

Worried for his friend, Meradee casted multiple spells to protect Aslan from the surrounding Heartless. He knew that Aslan wouldn't let up at all and would ignore other signs of danger when attacking that Large Body. Or any Large Body that came after them for that matter. In fact, now they wouldn't really have to worry about the dangers of that Heartless after today. Aslan would take care of them. Until he found a new favorite prey to hunt.

The purple hair felt the wind slice behind his back. Even as he turned, he felt another presence behind him. He nodded his gratitude to Seiko, who had taken out the Air Soldier that was close to slashing his back. Meradee kept his expression cool yet felt his heart pounding the fear of getting hit by the Heartless. He had heard stories of how the Heartless easily multiplied by eating the darkness in the hearts of people. He hated to admit it but he knew that he had plenty of darkness in his heart, plenty enough to make Heartless come after him.

Experienced in eradicating the Heartless by now, the battle lasted less than five minutes. The raging light from Aslan's eyes soon faded when little darkness lingered. The three boys drew breath to replace the ones they lost during the fight. Aslan exhaled loudly as he stretched out his back. "Whoo! Didn't think it would be that exciting!" Seiko nodded silently. His eyes were still a bit wide as he stared at his tall friend. Aslan caught the younger boy's look and grinned. "Didn't think I can fight like that, huh, Seiko?"

"You were so…violent…" Seiko muttered. Aslan chuckled a bit.

"Yeah. I try to hide my battle lust. Deep end of the gene pool," he looked over to Meradee. "How'd I do?"

Meradee crossed his arms and turned away. After a moment's silence, he finally muttered his rating, "…A minus."

"Hehe…" Aslan chuckled sheepishly. "Hey, Alice. You all right-?" A cold hand clutched the young man's heart when no girl was in sight. "Alice?" Seiko straightened up from where he was kneeling. His frantic, black eyes also searched for the girl. A panicking feeling rose in his chest when he could see no signs of her.

"Alice!" Meradee yelled. There was no answer. The boy ran a few feet before stopping to scan the area. Still no sign of her. "Where the Jadov's Triangle did she go?!"

"Seiko, you weren't watching her during the fight?" Aslan asked.

The Keyblade Wielder shook his head no. "She was behind me. I assumed she'll be safe."

"Damn it!" Meradee cursed. "Did the Heartless take her?"

"No, they couldn't have. She would have been screaming," Seiko pointed out. "There's no forward paths, so we better backtrack." Once again he didn't wait for his friends. He started to walk back into the forest. Meradee and Aslan hurried after him. All of them glanced around the area quickly, occasionally shouting out Alice's name and waiting for a possible answer. Other than the sound of their shoes on the ground, the forest answered back with silence. Seiko's eyes scanned the familiar tall grass and flowers. There were no traces of Alice nor were there signs of Heartless. However the dirt underneath did feel a bit softer than what Seiko remembered. He looked downwards, a frown creasing.

"Did you find something?" Aslan asked. Seiko didn't answer. Curious at what enraptured him, both his friends also looked down at Seiko's target.

"I don't see anything," Meradee muttered. "Only grass."

"That's it." Meradee and Aslan looked at Seiko with confusion on their faces. Seiko elaborated, "There's grass now. Before, there was only dirt. Why is there grass here?"

"Um…somebody…planted them?" Aslan asked.

The Keyblade Wielder shook his head. "No. We're simply in a different area of Wonderland." Seiko looked up and pointed forward. Meradee and Aslan also looked up. To their surprise, the grass and flowers weren't exactly the same as before. Rather, some of the tall grasses had twined together to form trees with white roses. Tall hedges now snaked the area, creating the Queen's Maze.

"But didn't we retrace our steps?" Aslan asked.

"This doesn't make any sense then," Meradee crossed his arms, tapping his foot in thought. "We didn't make any unfamiliar turns." Seiko looked up at the pale sky.

"…we might have went the wrong way," he suggested. "Nori never sent me to buy groceries."

Meradee just stared at his friend before rubbing his eyes in exhaustion. "…why us…?"

"Because-."

Meradee was unable to hear Seiko's reasoning to his rhetorical question when Aslan grabbed both of their collars. Without noticing that he was choking his friends, the young man jerked them backwards behind a hedge. "Keep quiet!" he whispered as he continued to look from behind the hedge. The two boys landed on the grass with a dull thud.

"What's going on?" Meradee demanded yet he made sure to keep his voice below a whisper. Aslan's brow furrowed as he concentrated on whatever caught his attention.

"Card…soldiers, I think," he whispered despite the obvious confusion and wonderment in his tone. This definitely caught Seiko's attention. He crawled forward to peek from the hedge as well. His eyes gleamed at the odd sight of the red and black cards that seemed to have faces, hands, and feet. They nonchalantly held their spears and halberds as they chatted with each other.

"The Queen's going to start a new croquet game soon," the Ace of Hearts said to its companion.

"Who's challenging the Queen?" the Three of Spades asked.

"A girl," the Ace simply replied.

"That's got to be Alice!" Aslan said excitedly. Meradee nodded.

"That must mean that she was kidnapped while we were fighting. They probably covered her mouth so we couldn't hear."

"Those cards aren't saying anything else," Seiko told his friends as the cards hurried off to see the game. He stood up and started to dash after them.

"Seiko!" Meradee whispered harshly. The boy didn't seem to hear as he followed the cards. "Oh brother…"

"You'll think we'll learn by now to keep Seiko on a leash," Aslan grinned ruefully. His smile disappeared when the sounds of weapons clashing reached his ears. His heart dropped when he looked to where he assume Seiko would be. To his surprise, the boy was gone. In his wake the cards fainted flat on the ground. His eyes scanned the surrounding area for any signs of his friend yet there were none to be found.

"Seiko!" Meradee shouted. No response. He cursed at his new companion's recklessness. As Aslan said before, they should have kept Seiko on a leash. Now they were forced to look for him. Meradee prayed that Seiko wasn't somewhere causing trouble. Although he was used to winding pathways like the Queen's Maze, it didn't appease his irritation as he and Aslan began searching. Now they were calling for both Seiko and Alice. They weren't sure how long they wandered through the maze nor how far they've gotten. It seemed like forever since they were in the tea party area. Fortunately this search soon came to an end. Unfortunately what stopped their pursuit couldn't be considered good at all.

"OOOFFFFFFFFFF WITH THEIR HEADS!" the roar almost shook the whole garden. Both males plugged their ears to stop the awful shouting. Aslan groaned from it, earning a slight look of pity from his friend. Meradee didn't have time to comfort his friend as they were suddenly aware of a thunderous sound. After some seconds of registering it, the magician finally realized:

"It's the Card Soldiers marching! We have to get out of here if we don't want to get caught!"

"But, what about Seiko and Alice?" Aslan asked. "We still have to find them!"

Meradee hesitated. Like Aslan, he didn't want to leave the two lost ones to their own devices, especially Alice. However it could be extremely catastrophic to the world if they continued to meddle in its affairs. As if they haven't meddled in it enough already, Meradee thought bitterly.

His hesitation proved to be fortunate as they soon heard the familiar sounds of combat. Aslan and Meradee shared a look before rushing to the hedge that they were about to turn before hearing the shout. They spotted Seiko engaged in combat with four Card Soldiers. A slightly distressed look was on Seiko's face. Yet, for some reason, the distress was mirrored on the Card Soldiers a lot more than on the boy's. It was odd considering how they clearly outnumbered him.

"Hold on, Seiko!" Aslan raced from their spot. He leaped high into the air, landing on top of a card. The Card Soldier fell forward, flat as a…well, card. The other cards started in surprise at the new threat, almost costing them their lives as the devastating warrior aimed for them next. One was able to shove Seiko off before reaching for the trumpet from nowhere. As he blew a note, he wondered why the Queen's Maze was getting cold. The blare of the trumpet screeched to a stop as ice froze it completely. Meradee rushed to Seiko's side and helped the taller boy up.

"Where were you?!" the purple-haired boy scolded. He didn't have to worry about the other two enemies as Aslan quickly took care of them. He had his newest companion to worry about. Seiko looked crestfallen and shrugged.

"I…got lost," he said simply, not wanting to say that he ran off. Meradee shook his head in disbelief. Honestly, Seiko was just like a little kid. He was impressed before how Seiko was able to discern so quickly that they weren't in the Lotus Forest, but now…

"Don't run off like that next time," Meradee wagged his finger in Seiko's face. He felt like an adult scolding a child for doing something dumb. In a way, he thought bitterly, that was exactly what he was to this group. Sometimes he felt like he was the only responsible one.

Aslan finished knocking out his opponents. He began standing up from his crouched position before freezing for a moment. He turned to his friends. "We have to get out of here! There are a lot more Card Soldiers coming for us!"

Meradee in response pointed to an archway, "This way!"

"Wait! What about Alice? Did you find her?" Aslan asked Seiko. The boy shook his head ruefully. Meradee cursed at that. It was unfortunate that they couldn't find her, but they didn't have a choice anymore. They couldn't afford to be caught by the hundreds of Card Soldiers.

"We don't have time! We have to get going now!" He shoved his two friends towards the exit to prompt them to get moving.

The three males ran towards the archway. The paranoid notion of hearing the many marching feet of the Card Soldiers struck Seiko, causing him to look back to check. To his relief his impression was wrong. Meradee pushed him forward to urge him to keep going and avoid slowing down. However Seiko was then conflicted with them being trapped. As if they just round the corner and the strange beings would be there to capture them. The boy had to shake the idea away, focusing his attention on escaping. They rushed through the archway to be enveloped in darkness. They still didn't slow down until they couldn't hear the mindless march anymore. However there was no use staying in this dark tunnel despite the comfort Seiko took in not having to interact with anything in there. Feeling his way with a hand on the cold wall, he led his small group forward. At once, the scenery changed. Seiko skidded to a stop. Yet he was pushed forward slightly when Meradee bumped into him.

"Why are you stopping?" the shorter boy asked. For a moment, Seiko didn't answer. Then he opened his mouth:

"We're back where we started."

"What?!" Meradee walked past his friend to look at their surroundings. Indeed, they were in the pink checkered room again. The glass table still stood in the middle of the room with its two shrinking and growing bottles. The Doorknob snored away as if the trio never left the room at all. Meradee shook his head in wonder, "How did we get here?"

"Well, I'm guessing that you took the shortcut!" a grin laughed. The three friends searched for the source, finally finding the grin on top of the glass table. Purple stripes suddenly appeared to shape into the Cheshire Cat. "Cat C. Cheshire at your service!" the cat's tail lifted his ears from his head like a hat as he inclined his head in their direction. His wide grin smiled ever so brightly at the group.

"What are you doing here, Cheshire?" Aslan asked. The striped cat grinned evilly.

"The question, Lion, is not what are you doing here. It's what are you going to do here? Especially with him here!" the Cheshire Cat pointed above him, the grin still on his face. The three friends looked upwards. Amidst the two burning lamps that supposed lit the room, a large creature roared at them. It leaped from the ceiling, landing on the floor with a loud crash. Seiko almost lost his balance from the resulting quake. A slight thrill ran down his spine as an enemy he never seen before stood in front of him.

The Heartless stood on all four, black-and-red striped legs. Its black tail held a blue teapot swinging by its handle. Random playing cards stuck out from its body, simulating a winding staircase. But the most noticeable feature of it was its head. It had four faces, each in the shape of one of the playing card suits. The head constantly switched faces. All had beady yellow eyes that stared and razor-sharp mouths that watered at the three boys. Its Heartless emblem was, in fact, the face containing the suit of Hearts. To Seiko, the huge Heartless resembled a Sphinx. He surmised that the face of Hearts was its true face.

"What in Jadov's Triangle is that?!" Meradee quickly whipped out his lyre to get ready for battle. Aslan ran his cestus together to further sharpen them in preparation.

"Seiko, your Keyblade would come in handy right now!" the taller boy hinted. Seiko nodded in confirmation. His Keyblade appeared in a flash of white. He pointed the tip at the Heartless, a laser shooting from it. Once it hit, the data was Registered:

Card Sphinx. A large Heartless with faces resembling the four suits of cards. Each face is resistant to a type of magic. It is well-versed in both physical attacking and magic. Watch out for the teapot with contains a large amount of flames that ignite on contact and spews tea. Continually aim for its faces. Hitting the face of Hearts would do the most damage.

"Be careful, Meradee," Seiko informed. "I'm not sure which face is resistant to which magic." The magic-user shrugged.

"That won't matter. I can hold my own."

"If you're not used, then that's too bad!" the Cheshire Cat grinned before disappearing. The Card Sphinx roared loudly. It whipped its tail forward, the teapot flying through the air.

"Scatter!" Seiko yelled. He gripped his Keyblade tightly while Meradee and Aslan leaped out to the sides. Focusing on the incoming teapot, Seiko swung his Keyblade like a bat. His mind went blank briefly at the loud crack of the teapot against his weapon, his ears and arms ringing from the impact. He noticed how a jarring weight suddenly left as he sent the teapot back at the Heartless. Despite the situation, Seiko couldn't help grinning slightly at his homerun. The blue object homed in on the Card Sphinx's face. Immediately the Heart face turned for the Diamond face to roar loudly at them. Even though the pot literally exploded in the Heartless's face, it didn't seem to falter in its movements. The Card Sphinx used its powerful legs to spring forward. Seiko rolled out of the way just in time. His blood pounded in his ears as he quickly ran in another direction in an effort to get away from the Heartless.

The Card Sphinx, feeling nothing underneath its paws, searched the surrounding area for its prey. As its head turned, Meradee skidded in front of it and strum five distinct keys. The screeching sound caused the Heartless to growl in irritation. It pawed at its ears briefly before switching its face again to a Spade. At the start of the exchange, Aslan ran up its leg to reach its face. He gritted his teeth from the effort and finally landed on the Sphinx's back. The face of the Clubs looked at him with dull eyes. Aslan proceeded to slashing the face with all his might. He was too busy focusing on the card that he didn't notice the tail coming for him. His heart skipped a beat at the boiling sensation on his side. The teapot exploded right beside him, knocking Aslan off the Card Sphinx's back.

"W-whoa!" he shouted, feeling the wind whooshing in his ears. He twisted his body in a matter similar to that of a cat before landing on all fours. Another sensation assaulted his side. Aslan let out a whoomp of air at the impact. He was briefly conscious of a rumbling thud behind him. When he cleared his mind, he saw Seiko pushing himself up. A large paw cracked the tiles behind them. Despite the situation, Aslan gave a shaky grin. "Thanks, Seiko."

His friend simply nodded in response, his eyes not leaving the Heartless. He saw how Meradee was on top of the table engaging the Card Sphinx. The shorter boy danced left and right to dodge the lightning bolts the Card Sphinx rained on him. Occasionally he would respond with his own ice magic. His attacks seemed to be effective, until the large being roared and switched its face to that of the Clubs. Meradee quickly stopped his attacks when he saw how the Heartless took them like they were nothing. A giant paw came from above, forcing the short boy to jump from his optimal position. He broke his fall with a roll and was back on his feet in no time. However the Card Sphinx rapidly knocked him off his feet with its tail. Meradee had no time to react as the teapot smashed into him. He shrieked at the searing pain of the fire licking his skin. The solid impact sent him flying in the air for a brief moment before he fell to the ground hard. He flinched as the burns continued to sting, a sensation he was unused to.

The Card Sphinx screeched its victory as it prepared to finish off one of the pests it was sent to deal with. It reared on its hind legs in order to smash a paw on the crumpled figure. Meradee barely registered his demise. He was too focused on keeping his tears in from the burn.

"Meradee!" He could hear somebody calling. The boy felt a strange force before him clashing with another. He looked up with blurry eyes to see a furious Aslan blocking the paw with his crossed cestuses. "Get…AWAY FROM HIM!" Aslan's roar rivaled that of the Heartless. Gathering all his strength he thrusted the paw away and caused the Card Sphinx to lose its balance. The angered warrior ignored his injured friend in favor of eradicating the Heartless in front of him.

Fortunately Seiko hurried over to Meradee's side. He carefully examined his wounded friend. His heart leapt in his throat when Meradee whimpered slightly from the sting of his burns. Seiko's mind raced at what he could do for his friend. If only he knew how to cast magic, perhaps he would be able to use Cure. Unfortunately he barely knew how to make a small spark of fire, let alone heal somebody of their burns. Aslan was too busy keeping the Heartless occupied. However Seiko doubted that the scary warrior knew magic. That was in Meradee's forte.

As he pondered whether Meradee was strong enough to drink a potion, Seiko felt a calming feeling wash over him. Meradee glowed a soft green, the same green that outlined his Keyblade now. Seiko watched in surprise as the burns slowly disappeared from his friend's skin. Soon it seemed like the magician wasn't touched at all. He shook his head to clear his daze.

"Seiko? How…?" the shock was obvious in his voice.

"I think it's ironic, but you think even you should know, right?" the Cheshire Cat grinned. Seiko stared at the purple-striped cat. Did he just bestow the power of Cure on him? He had to admit that he was truly grateful for that. Seiko drove away the panicked feeling that struck him again when he thought back to how helpless he felt at his friend's side.

"Can you still fight?" Seiko asked. Meradee stood up in response. Now that the burning sensation was gone, he could fight like he was supposed to.

"Of course I can," he responded confidently. He nodded his gratitude to Seiko before rushing forward to help out Aslan. Both the Heartless and the warrior were quite exhausted now. Though only one more blow was needed, Aslan couldn't get through the Card Sphinx's defenses. He growled in annoyance at how the monster could stop each and every one of his advances. Whenever he tried to strike the face of the Heart, the Card Sphinx always quickly switched to a different face to protect itself.

Seiko dashed after Meradee towards the Heartless. A thought suddenly struck him as he watched Aslan struggle. He shouted over to Meradee, "Could you lower its defenses somehow?"

"Way ahead of you!" Meradee responded. Once he deemed that he got close enough for his magic to be effective, the magician stopped. He strummed one resounding key on his lyre. At once a dark orb with electricity crackling around it appeared near the Card Sphinx. The Heartless's whole body immediately crashed to the floor under the influence of Meradee's powerful Gravity. Though it attempted to resist the pull, Meradee's anger at the pain it caused him made the spell even more powerful. It saw its initial opponent aim for its face. It quickly changed into the Spade face. However it miscalculated.

Aslan wasn't entirely aiming for the face. Instead he struck the Heartless in such a way that he forced the Card Sphinx's head to spin into that of the Heart face. By that time, Seiko was already in position to slam his Keyblade into the most vulnerable area. The painful roar stopped abruptly as the Card Sphinx's body disappeared in multiple particles. Seiko landed on the ground safely. He was caught off-guard by Aslan's sudden slap of approval.

"Nice one, Seiko!" the young man grinned almost as widely as the Cheshire Cat. Even Meradee nodded in agreement. He was about to say his own congratulations when he was interrupted by the Cheshire Cat.

"Splendid job! Splendid job all of you! I'm simply amazed that you worked so well together!" he laughed. The trio stared up at the strange being. Meradee stepped forward, waving his lyre at the cat.

"I have half a mind to freeze you right there, Cat!" he growled. "Why did you send that Heartless on us?!"

"…because it's loads of fun!" The Cheshire Cat simply grinned. He continued to stare at them with his wide grin. However, something about the air around him made the trio shiver in unison. The Cheshire Cat continued, "The Darkness hides in the most obvious places. It'll be fascinating to see what you do once you come face-to-face with it, my friends."

"Wha-what are you talking about?"

"'Twas brilig, and the slithy toves. Did gyre and gimble in the wabe!" he sang. "All mimsy were the borogroves…" The Cheshire Cat began to disappear with a wave of his tail. The move startled them, and Seiko was the first to react. He held out a hand to implore the Wonderland denizen.

"Wait!"

The tail paused. It reversed its movement to allow the Cheshire Cat to reappear again. "Oh there you are! But it's the second chorus's turn to find what you can't! So run along now, my friends. We'll sing the third chorus later!" The Cheshire Cat laughed with his tongue wagging out like a tail. Once again, he began to disappear with the parting words, "And the mome raths outgrabe."

"…Let's get out of here," Meradee muttered as he shook his head. He couldn't take anymore of this nonsense. The sooner they left, the better.

"But what about Alice?" Aslan asked. "We can't just leave her alone. What happens if the Heartless find her? We have to find her!"

"Aslan, as much as I want to find her too, we can't," the magician argued. "We don't have enough time and we still have to find the king written in the scrolls. Besides, didn't you hear what that cat said? Somebody else would find what we can't. I think that if we even try our best, we still wouldn't find Alice. So we might as well use our time productively."

"Are you sure that's what the cat meant?"

"Positive."

As his friends continued to argue over what to do, Seiko stared intently at the sleeping Doorknob. For some reason he really wanted to go over there and wake him up. He was about to do so when he heard somebody calling to him.

"Come on, Seiko! We're leaving!" Meradee yelled. "And I want you close to us so you don't run off again!" Seiko turned to see his friends waiting. He noticed how disappointed they both seemed to be but decided not to comment on it. He had heard a bit of Meradee's argument to leave, and he had to agree that the shorter boy was right. It seemed as though the Cheshire Cat was discouraging them from looking, telling them that it would be futile. The cat might have been extremely weird, but something about the strange being told Seiko that he could trust him.

"C-Coming," he replied. Some instinct prompted him to look one last time at the Doorknob before hurrying after his friends to board their Gummi ship. Perhaps if he had stayed a little longer, he would have seen the shining Keyhole when the Doorknob yawned hugely.

And there you have it! That completes our Wonderland segment! Bet you guys can't guess where we're going next!

Meradee: Let me think...Deep Jungle.

No! I already told you it's not a complete rewrite of Sora's adventure!

Aslan: *laughs* We know, we know. We're just teasing you, Blade.

Humph. Anyways, let's get down to the question. Let's see...hello, Seiko.

Seiko: ...

What can you tell us about your sister, hmm?

Seiko: She's very nice and she cares about me a lot and she protects me from a lot of things.

Anything else to add?

Seiko: I hope to find her soon.

And you just might...anyways, that's it for this chapter. Hopefully I'll be able to see you guys soon once again! I still have other stories to work on though...but anyways, how about a preview to the next chapter?

Chapter 5: Joining the Hunt, where they arrive in a world that Aslan is quite comfortable in with his animalistic strength.

See you guys next time!