Kingdom Hearts
by hikaranko
Summary: This is, in all seriousness, a direct novel adaptation of the game Kingdom Hearts. "The Destiny Islands are a beautiful paradise where children's laughter abounds. Day after Day, Sora, Riku, and Kairi talk and dream of new places, new worlds, beyond their islands... Little do they know a great destiny awaits them..."
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts at all. This entire fan fic is really just the game in novel format, so credit for the existence of all of this goes to all the hard workers at Disney and Square-Enix (most especially Tetsuya Nomura). I must also thank the creators of the KH manga (from which I borrowed some dialogue).
Chapter 7
In the Golden Afternoon
Wonderland
"I guess from now on, falling down stairs isn't gonna be such a big deal, huh?"
Sora began to spin around so that his head was once again right side up. He had his arms folded across his chest as the trio began to drift slowly ever downwards. Dim colored lights had appeared farther down the hole that they had fallen through, mostly reds and blues, just enough to light the peculiar objects that decorated the interior.
There were mirrors placed askew on the walls, and end tables with small lights perched on them with the entire set upside down. There seemed to be clocks, since Sora could hear them ticking, but they were nowhere to be seen. There were large, antique world maps and various other random paintings. Nothing made sense in this strange tunnel. Even the large mirror that they had come across was strange, for as Sora fell past it, the mirror showed him falling in the opposite direction. Actually, just the fact that the trio was drifting downwards rather than falling was strange.
"What if we fall right through the middle of the planet?" Goofy wondered aloud as he let himself spin around like a pinwheel.
Donald narrowed his eyes at Goofy as he began to flip forward. "We'll end up on the other side, where people walk upside down," he replied mockingly.
Goofy looked over at Donald, his big eyes gleaming in surprise. "Really?"
"No, Goofy," Sora answered, deciding to interrupt before Donald could even think to continue making fun of him. "That kinda thing can't happen."
"Are ya sure?" Goofy challenged them.
Sora laughed as he watched Goofy continue to spin about. Donald merely grunted impatiently, folding his arms over his chest and settling himself down as though he were on a cushioned chair of some kind. Eventually, Goofy lied down as though he were on a bed or a sofa, propping his head up with his arms and crossing one leg over the other. As for Donald and Sora, they remained right side up, just in case they finally touched ground. They floated downward slowly, and eventually, caught sight of a floor. Sora smiled, as he and Donald set their feet firmly onto the floor with no trouble at all. Sora turned to Goofy.
"Hey, Goofy, you better…"
He was too late. Before he could finish his sentence, Goofy plopped down onto the red tile floor with a loud thud. Donald chuckled to himself as Sora flinched slightly at the sound of impact. He only sighed sympathetically and began to move toward Goofy to help him rise to his feet.
As Goofy peeled his large dog eyes open, he saw the figure of the rabbit dart by, just a few inches away from his nose. The white rabbit seemed to have gotten even more stressed out since before they had entered the rabbit hole. He glanced down at his large golden pocket watch once again, leaping slightly into the air in alarm upon seeing the time written on its face.
"Oh dear, oh dear oh dear!" the rabbit exclaimed between pants and ragged breathing. "I'm here, I should be there!"
Goofy sat up on the floor and blinked in confusion. The trio watched in silent surprise as the white rabbit began to zigzag down the peculiar red hallway and as he finally disappeared around the corner, yelling frantically the whole time.
"I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" came his voice as it echoed down the hallway. "Ooh, the queen, she'll have my head for sure!"
Sora turned to look at the others once the rabbit was out of sight. " 'The queen'?"
Somewhat disappointed, Goofy rose to his feet and sighed. "I guess there's no party then, huh?"
"Looks like that rabbit really does have something important to go to," Donald muttered. "We shouldn't be interfering with his business. That goes against the rules!"
"But aren't you guys curious?" Sora asked.
Donald folded his arms over his chest and raised his beak snobbishly in the air. "No."
Goofy nodded eagerly at Sora. Sora could hardly help but smile. He then began to chase after the rabbit, running down the red and pink hallway. His companions exchanged glances for the second time that day and shrugged. They had no choice but to follow the Key bearer.
Sora raced down the hallway until he reached a large white door that stretched a ways over his head. The doorway was at least as tall as Goofy, if not taller. He peered at it curiously and then turned to check that Donald and Goofy were following him. As soon as he saw the pair turn the corner, Sora smiled at them and pointed at the door.
"He must've gone through here!"
Without waiting for a response, Sora turned back to the door and grabbed onto the handle. He pulled the white door open, only to find a slightly smaller blue door. Confused and even more curious, Sora pulled open the blue door by its golden handle, only to see yet another, even smaller brown door. Getting somewhat disgruntled, Sora pulled open the brown door and smiled when he saw an entry at last.
They ended up in a very peculiarly decorated room. Everything was in the brightest of colors, mostly in shades of pink and violet. There was very little furniture in the room; only a stout green bed with an old, plain white mattress lying on top of it, a small wooden corner table painted a beige-ish pink color with two stout red chairs lined up against the wall right next to it, and a large stone and brick stove that was on the other side of the room, opposite the bed and chairs.
The floor and walls were the decorations of the room, as they had various furniture painted on them, including several clocks, vases, and books. And painted out on the middle of the floor was a white table with two items that looked like bottles on its surface and a matching chair. They were painted in such a way that it made you feel like you were looking down at them from the ceiling.
The trio gazed around them, somewhat confused and disoriented by the bright shades of pink. Who could want to live in a room like this? That's when Sora saw something move across the floor. At first he thought it was a white rat, but he quickly realized that it was the white rabbit. He had shrunk! Sora's jaw dropped as he watched the shrunken rabbit dash through a small wooden door on the bottom of the wall straight ahead of them, which promptly closed behind him.
Sora moved toward the door and crouched down in front of it. Donald and Goofy followed suit, squatting down on their knees on either side of Sora and peering down at the small wooden door and its large golden doorknob that had an image of a face carved into its surface. Sora tilted his head to the side, his eyebrows coming together, baffled.
"How did he get so small?" Sora wondered aloud as he stared at the tiny doorway.
The eyes of the doorknob snapped open and looked up at Sora. "No, you're simply too big."
Donald leapt back with a loud quack, his blue hat practically flying off his head in the most cartoon like fashion. "It talks!"
Even Sora jumped back slightly, his eyes widening in alarm and his jaw dropping visibly. Only Goofy did not seem as surprised as his companions. He blinked once or twice in shock with a slight "ahyuk". Then all three leaned in slightly to gape at the talking doorknob, one of Sora's eyebrows arched and raised in confusion.
The doorknob shut its eyes and yawned largely, the keyhole of the knob serving as its mouth. It opened its eyes again when it was finished and stared angrily up at the trio.
"Must you be so loud? You woke me up."
Goofy blinked a few times and then smiled, waving slightly in the air. "Good mornin'."
"Good night," the doorknob retorted, its eyes drooping sleepily. "I need a bit more sleep."
"Wait!" Sora yelled out, extending one hand slightly toward the doorknob. He leaned even more forward so that their faces were level. "What do we have to go to grow small?"
The doorknob rolled its eyes slowly. "Why don't you try the bottle? Over there?"
It used his mouth and doorknob nose to point behind Sora. Sora looked quickly over his shoulder and watched in amazement as the table and chair that was imprinted on the pink and red tile floor exploded out of the ground and became three dimensional. Sure enough, on the surface of the table were two bottles; one with a red label and the other with a blue one. Sora was confused.
"What a bizarre room."
He took one last glance at the doorknob. It had already gone back to sleep. The trio rose to their feet and turned to look at the table and the two small bottles on its surface. Sora moved toward it and picked up each bottle in turn, examining their labels. Both bottles appeared to have some sort of liquid in it, but the blue label read, "Drink Me", while the red one had "Eat Me" written on it.
"Now that's just weird," Sora said, showing the one with the red label to Donald and Goofy. "If it's a liquid, why in the world does it say 'eat me' on it?"
Goofy chuckled and Donald gave him a hard elbow to the gut to shut him up. "So which one are you gonna use, Sora?"
"The one that makes sense, of course," Sora said with a smile as he replaced the red labeled bottle on the table. He picked up the blue one and raised it in the air to show his companions, and then removed the cork. He peered into the bottle at the liquid inside. Sora had heard somewhere that it was always good to look first. He shrugged. So much for good advice. He put the bottle to his lips and took a sip.
"How's it taste?" Goofy wanted to know.
"Hmm…" Sora licked his lips as he attempted to place the flavors. "It tastes like… cherry tart."
Donald quacked in surprise as Sora suddenly shrunk down a size. The boy didn't seem to notice as he was still thinking of the flavors.
"…custard…"
It was Goofy's turn to make a loud noise in shock as Sora shrunk down another size.
"…pineapple… roast turkey…"
Both of the King's men jumped back in shock as Sora was downsized again. But this time, Sora had noticed. He could barely hold the bottle anymore as it was almost as big as him. "W-Whoa!"
He dropped down onto his bottom, setting the bottle down as carefully as he could nearby. Sora looked up at Donald and Goofy. From this height, they looked like monsters. Sora's eyes went wide. They knew he had shrunk, right? They could still see him, right? Well, they were staring back down at him. So that meant that they wouldn't step on him… right?
Goofy cupped his hands around his mouth. "Sora!" he shouted. "Are you okay?"
He grabbed his ears with his gloved hands and braced himself against the force of Goofy's yell. It had almost knocked him away. As soon as Sora's ears stopped ringing, he stomped one sneaker on the floor, cupped his hands around his mouth, and yelled back up at his monster sized friends.
"Yeah!" he shouted as loud as he could. "You don't need to yell!"
Donald looked at Goofy and smacked his arm. Goofy chuckled apologetically as he rubbed the spot on his arm that Donald had hit. The duck bent down and carefully picked the bottle up off the floor. He looked around a few times, holding the bottle in one hand and then looked down at Sora.
"So how're you gonna get in?" Donald asked.
His voice was still somewhat loud, but it wasn't nearly as bad as Goofy's shouting had been. Sora looked over at the doorknob and approached it, but soon realized that it wasn't going to open. The doorknob was fast asleep. He could hear it snoring softly. Not wanting to use his voice, Sora pointed at the doorknob and shook his head from side to side, crossing his arms in front of him to make an 'X'. Even though the message was just beyond Goofy, Donald nodded knowingly.
"So then, how?"
Sora placed one hand thoughtfully under his chin as he looked at his surroundings. He stared at each visible piece of furniture in turn, looking for holes and cracks that he could probably fit through, since the door clearly wouldn't open. Sora's eyes caught on a large opening in the bottom of the stove and took a hesitant step toward it, but then shook his head. It was probably just an opening in the stove. And even if it did lead somewhere, it was on a different wall from the wooden door.
That's when Sora turned around to look at the wall that the door was connected. They needed to get to the other side of this wall. He examined its entire length, from one corner to the next. He snorted at the door as his eyes passed over it. Lot of help that guy had been. And that's when Sora saw a rather large opening in the wall behind one end of the green bed. The bed seemed to blocking the way, but they could move it.
He ran over to the edge of the bed and peered beyond the crack. Yes, this looked quite like a doorway! Sora grinned, and then cupped his hands around his mouth, taking a deep breath before shouting to his companions.
"Guys! Move the bed away from this hole!"
Donald and Goofy nodded in Sora's direction and moved toward the bed, Donald placing the blue bottle back on the table next to the red one before doing so. They grabbed onto its edge and began to try to pull the bed away from the hole so as to make a crack large enough for Sora to fit through. However, the bed wouldn't budge an inch.
"Why won't it budge!" Donald howled, his face turning red with frustration and effort.
"It's like it's part o' the wall," Goofy commented with a smile, somewhat amused.
"This is no time to be amused, Goofy!" Donald hissed.
"No, he's right," Sora said, folding his arms over his chest as he thought out loud. "Everything else in this room can be like a drawing on the wall." He glanced over at the table and chair as examples. "So then, if it can't be pulled away from the wall, you'd probably have to push it into the wall!"
Sora thumped one fist into the open palm of his other hand as the idea struck him. He turned toward Donald and Goofy with a grin, but his face fell when he realized that his voice had been too small for them to hear. They were still trying to pull the bed away, Donald's face growing ever more red.
"Guys!" he shouted with another stomp of his feet.
Both Donald and Goofy stopped and looked over at Sora.
"Ya can't pull it away from the wall!" he yelled. "Try pushing it into the wall!"
Donald narrowed his eyes at Sora. "Push it into the wall?" he snapped. "Are you crazy? Like that's actually going to work!"
As Donald argued with Sora, Goofy moved around the bed into a position from which he could shove the bed into the wall. He placed his gloved hands on each side and gave the bed a small push. The bed almost immediately flew into the wall, making a two dimensional image of a green bed on its surface, painted as it would be seen from the side. Donald dropped onto his belly with a small thud as the bed moved swiftly into the wall. Goofy scratched the side of his head and laughed.
"Wow! Sora was right!"
Sora folded his arms over his chest and stared smugly at Donald, giving him his most condescending I-told-you-so look. Donald raised himself slightly, propping his head up with one arm, his other hand resting on the floor and his fingers drumming the flooring impatiently. Sora grinned, moving closer to Donald so he wouldn't have to yell the instructions.
"Now you guys can shrink down and we'll all get a move on, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah," Donald grumbled as he got to his feet.
The duck flashed a threatening glance at Sora before taking the blue bottle into his hands. Sora narrowed his eyes at Donald. He had been trying to be nice. Sora sighed helplessly as he watched Donald take his sip from the bottle and then hand it over to Goofy.
As soon as both of them had shrunk down to size, they hurried over to the hole where Sora was standing. Sora smiled as they approached and then led the way into the dark tunnel. The first thing they heard as they approached the exit was the sounds of birds chirping.
The moment they exited the tunnel the world exploded with blues and greens, which was a relief to their eyes after being exposed to only shades of bright pink and violet. They had entered a large garden of sorts, with grass hedges that seemed to stretch toward the blue sky, which looked to Sora like it had been painted by a young artist. A large white castle could be seen looming over them in the distance. Sora recognized it as the same one that he had seen when they were approaching and about to land.
But the thing that really caught the attention of the trio was the strange scene that was taking place in the middle of the garden. Standing directly in front of them were six soldiers lined up in formation, facing the trio as they entered. They weren't normal soldiers, however. They were, in fact, man-sized playing cards with limbs and a head. Their eyes were shielded by their colored hoods, and in their hands they each held a weapon, which varied according to the color and suit of each card.
There were two red guards standing in front of the soldiers, holding their red spears that had heart symbols at the tips as a way of preventing entry into the garden. The guards raised their spears to allow the white rabbit through, who had only appeared a few moments earlier than Sora, Donald, and Goofy (amazingly). The two rows of card soldiers folded backwards, allowing the rabbit passage to the front of the garden. As the soldiers opened up, Sora was able to see what exactly was going on.
There was a courtroom setup at the other end of the garden. It was incomplete, as all it consisted of was a jury box that stood off to one side, the Judge's bench with a large yellow cloth bearing a large black and red heart emblem draped over the edge, and a witness stand which was placed in front of the Judge's bench rather than beside it. Not to mention that the stand had no chair, which didn't seem to be very fair for the girl who was in the stand at that moment.
She was a young girl, probably not anyolder than Sora, with long, thick blonde hair that was only held out of her face with a thin black headband with a small ribbon. She wore a light blue dress with puffed sleeves and a large poofy skirt with several layers of white petticoats and long white stockings with a pair of shiny black Mary Jane shoes. She had a white apron on that tied at the back in a neat, almost perfect white ribbon.
As Sora watched, she fidgeted, smoothing the hem of her dress and keeping it neat. The girl turned her head slightly as the white rabbit ran past her, opening her mouth slightly when she caught sight of him as though she has something to say to him. The white rabbit merely ran past her and up a spiral wooden staircase that led to the top of a large wooden tower that made the rabbit level with the Judge's bench. The rabbit paused, keeling over slightly as he attempted to catch his breath. After a moment he lifted a trumpet to his lips and played a brief interlude. He dropped the trumpet quickly and took a deep breath.
"Court is now in session!" he yelled, doing his best to make his voice sound commanding.
The blonde girl looked over at the rabbit, confused, blinking her blue eyes sadly.
"I'm on trial?" she asked, sounding almost horrified. "But why?"
The rabbit didn't even look down at the girl. He only made his voice louder as he straightened himself and took another deep breath. "Her Majesty, the Queen of Hearts, presiding!" He then took a moment to make a deep bow in the direction of the Judge's bench.
Sora looked over to see who the Judge was and flinched in horror.
This "Queen of Hearts" was just about the most frightening looking woman Sora had ever seen in his life. She was a rather large woman, built something like a large mother grizzly. Her face was most certainly not pleasant to look at in any way. She was wearing a dress that reminded Sora of old illustrations that dead European artists had made of the royalty in their time period because of the large white collar that wrapped about and framed her head and face (though it really wasn't something that should be framed). She had jet black hair that was slicked back in a bun, with several tufts of hair sticking out haphazardly around her forehead. The queen had large, intimidating eyes that were currently glaring down at the blonde girl before her as she tapped her red heart-shaped fan on the wooden counter of her Judge's bench.
After a moment of tense silence, the Queen of Hearts narrowed her eyes at the young girl and leaned forward in her seat somewhat threateningly. "This girl is the culprit," she said, her voice calm with just a hint of anger. "There's no doubt about it."
Here the queen leaned back in her seat, fanning herself slightly. The blonde girl looked about her upon hearing the queen's words, her eyes wide in shock, as though looking for someone who would believe and defend her. Her mouth opened and shut as she contemplated shouting out.
"And the reason is…?" the queen continued, looking back down at the girl out of the corner of her eye. She suddenly leaned forward and slammed her fists angrily on the podium, screaming her reasoning straight into the girl's face. "Because I say so, that's why!"
The girl's face twisted slightly in annoyance as she leaned over the bench of the witness stand toward the queen. "That is so unfair!" she yelled back, extending one hand in plea.
The queen leaned back into her seat and began to fan herself. The girl placed her hands stubbornly on her hips, her eyes still wandering about as she searched for someone who might defend her. After another brief moment, the queen stomped the end of her fan gently on the wooden podium twice so as to make a thudding noise.
"Well, have you anything to say in your defense?" she asked with a gesture of her fan toward the girl, her voice lowered.
The girl looked straight into the queen's face without flinching at the sight. "Of course!" she said, folding her arms indignantly over her chest. "I've done absolutely nothing wrong."
The white rabbit looked first at the defendant and then back at the queen, the expression on his rabbit face growing increasingly more anxious as the girl continued to speak. The queen's gaze only hardened as she glared down at the girl, tapping her fan impatiently into the open palm of her other hand.
"You may be queen," the girl went on assertively, "but I'm afraid that doesn't give you the right to be so…" She paused here, searching for the word. "…so mean."
"SILENCE!" the queen screamed loudly. She had opened her mouth so wide that a gust of hot air blew into the girl's face, coming straight out of the queen's colossal windpipe. The girl's blonde hair began to billow behind her and the girl flinched in terror for the first time since she entered the courtroom.
"You dare defy me!" the queen shrieked, slamming her fists angrily on the wooden podium.
Having watched the entire scene so far in complete and utter silence, Sora turned slightly toward his companions without tearing his eyes away from the courtroom.
"Hey, guys, we should help her out."
Donald looked up at Sora, then at Goofy. "Yeah, but the..."
"We're outsiders," Goofy said, interrupting Donald. "So wouldn't that be muddling?"
Donald sighed, exasperated, and waved his right index finger high in the air to make a point, high enough for Goofy to see. "'Meddling'!" he corrected loudly.
"Oh, yeah!" Goofy chuckled to himself. "And that's against the rules."
Sora's face took an almost sad expression as he watched the girl stand before the terrifying queen, fidgeting slightly as the queen continued to scream. He tilted his head slightly to one side as he watched, letting out a slow, remorseful sigh. If only he could do something to help her out. There just had to be something…
The queen adjusted herself in her seat as she decided on her verdict, rising slightly and lifting her fan high in the air in order to get everyone's attention.
"The court finds the defendant…" She narrowed her eyes maliciously at the girl before leaning forward again and pointing her fan straight at the girl's face accusingly. "…guilty as charged!"
The girl gasped in horror, putting one hand delicately over her mouth in shock. Her breath began to come in strangled, raspy gasps as she took a single step backwards. Her head reeled in horror and her blue eyes remained fixated on the queen, pleading innocence.
The queen's expression grew only more malevolent as she settled back in her chair, tapping the end of her fan into her open palm. "For the crimes of assault and attempted theft of my heart…"
Sora's eyes went wide in alarm and he took a halting step forward. They had to help now! This wasn't just a domestic matter! This involved the Heartless! Sora turned toward his companions and was about to tell them exactly that, but when he saw them, all he got was a sad shake of the head. The Key bearer took in a deep breath through his nose and looked back at the courtroom. But they had to do something. They couldn't let this girl take the blame.
That's when the Queen of Hearts rose to her feet, her black and red dress swaying as the woman shifted her weight almost completely over the edge of her podium. She pointed one massive finger in the young girl's direction accusingly.
"OFF WITH HER HEAD!" she shrieked.
Sora's mouth went dry and his eyes grew as big and wide as saucers in shock and horror. They were going to execute an innocent girl!
The card soldiers shifted their positions so that they were no longer standing in two straight lines facing each other and were facing the queen. They adjusted the spears and axes that they each held in their grip. They seemed to nod in unison, completely obedient to their Queen of Hearts.
The girl practically jumped onto the wooden bench of the witness stand in protest.
"No, no!" she pleaded. "Oh, please!"
That was the last straw. Sora just couldn't stay quiet anymore. No matter what Donald and Goofy said, he simply had to do something. He charged headlong into the courtroom, pushing through the card soldiers aside. Donald and Goofy's eyes went wide as they watched their companion. Donald slapped his forehead, unable to believe what Sora had just done.
"Hold it right there!" Sora yelled.
The cards that he hadn't pushed aside moved to reveal Sora as he approached the bench. He glared up at the queen, trembling in both anger and fear as the court's attention turned on him. Sora clenched his fists at his sides as he slowed to a stop not far behind the witness stand. The girl spun around on her heel to face Sora, smoothing her apron over her dress. The queen returned Sora's glare as he approached, narrowing her eyes maliciously at him.
"Who are you?" she demanded. "How dare you interfere with my court!"
Sora swallowed hard. It was one thing to want to help someone. It was another thing entirely to actually try to. That's when Sora heard footsteps approach cautiously from behind, and saw Donald and Goofy at either side from out of the corner of his eyes. He took a deep breath, taking comfort in the fact that he was no longer on his own, and took one step forward.
"Excuse me," he said apologetically, not wanting the queen to execute them for interrupting. He swallowed as he sucked up some courage. "But we know who the real culprit is!"
Goofy nodded in agreement. "Uh-huh. It's the Heartle..." He stopped himself before continuing any further, looking over at Sora and Donald apologetically.
Donald seethed silently in Goofy's direction. Sora looked over at Goofy briefly, slightly confused, and then back at the queen. "A-Anyway," he continued, pointing at the blonde girl on the stand, "she's not the one you're looking for."
The queen leaned back into her seat, tapping her heart-shaped fan impatiently against her wooden armrest, leaning on one arm. She rolled her eyes before glaring back down at Sora.
"That's nonsense," she snapped grumpily. "Have you any proof?"
A lump formed in Sora's throat. He withdrew his hand slightly, faltering.
Proof? That's right, this was a courtroom. This was a trial. Evidence was needed. Sora's gaze met with the girl's. Something in her face was almost hopeful. He clenched his teeth as Sora looked at her apologetically and then lowered his eyes. Her face fell almost instantly.
The queen folded her arms over her chest smugly and then gestured to one of the soldiers. One of the black cards grabbed the girl by the arm and threw her into a golden birdcage that was right next to the Judge's bench. He slammed the barred door in her face and locked it. The girl grabbed onto the bars, looking out from between them desperately. Sora clenched his fists as he could nothing more than watch.
"Very well," the queen said. Sora's attention snapped immediately back to the queen. He flinched slightly as he looked straight into her face. She was just so… scary looking…
"I shall humor your claim… Bring me evidence of Alice's innocence! Fail, and it's off with all of your heads!" Her voice began to increase in volume and in rage. "Until you conclude your investigations, the court is adjourned!"
With that, the queen slapped the end of her fan against the wooden podium, dismissing the court. The card soldiers relaxed, moving out of formation and heading to different positions around the garden. Even the white rabbit relaxed somewhat, slumping out of his straight posture slightly and pulling out a small handkerchief to wipe away the beads of sweat that had formed across his furry forehead. The queen settled back into her seat and relaxed.
Donald folded his arms over his chest and tapped one webbed foot as he looked at Sora. He cleared his throat, making Sora turn around to face him.
Sora sighed, exasperated. "Well I just had to do something, right?"
He then looked over at the cage in which the girl had been thrown into and approached it slowly, wary of the ace of spades that stood with a large axe in his hand right next to her prison. The girl had her eyes lowered to the ground, her hands still clasped around the bars of her caged prison. Sora walked over and cleared his throat slightly to catch her attention.
Her eyes turned upward. "Who are you?" she asked almost timidly.
Sora gave her his best smile. "I'm Sora."
"I'm Goofy," Goofy said gesturing to himself, "and that there's Donald." Goofy gestured in Donald's direction as he introduced him.
"My name is Alice," the girl said with a slight curtsey and a smile. "Pleased to meet you, though I do wish it were under better circumstances." She lowered her eyes slightly to the ground. "I'm sorry you got mixed up in this nonsense."
"Why are you on trial in the first place?" Sora wanted to know.
Alice's expression hardened as she looked back at Sora. "I should like to know the very same thing! Apparently I was guilty from the moment I took the stand!"
"That's crazy!" Sora replied sympathetically. He was only getting more confused with every moment they spent in Wonderland. Alice sighed somewhat sadly, clutching the gold yellow bars of her prison. Sora then took a deep breath and decided to change the subject. "So, where are you from?"
Donald rolled his eyes as the words came out of Sora's mouth and groaned. Sora glanced back at Donald and shrugged slightly, as though to apologize for the question's randomness. The duck sighed and nodded, dismissing it for the moment. Alice, on the other hand, looked thoughtful for a moment before she answered, rolling the question over a few times in her head.
"Hmm, curious," she murmured. "I can't quite remember. You see, I found this mysterious rabbit hole. When I tried to peek inside, I tumbled head over heels… And I found myself here." Sora nodded. The very same thing had happened to them. Alice sighed remorsefully. "Oh, if only I hadn't peeked into that rabbit hole. I guess I'm a bit too curious for my own good."
Sora's face brightened slightly the realization came to him. "So you're from another world!"
Goofy mulled over the idea briefly in his head and chuckled faintly. "That's funny. Maybe you don't need a ship, then."
Donald shrugged, confused and angry all at once. "I don't get it."
"What do you mean 'another world'?" Alice asked, tilting her head curiously to one side and tucking some of her blonde hair behind one ear.
That's when the ace of spades stomped one foot on the ground, making everyone turn to look at him. He glared at Sora, in particular. "Enough!" he yelled forcefully. "The defendant will be silent!"
The trio then backed away, threatened somewhat by the glimmering of the axe's blade in the guard's hand. With a firm serves-you-right nod, the guard looked away. Donald and Goofy turned around and began to walk away. Sora hesitated, leaning in Alice's direction as he walked away, still facing her. "Don't worry, Alice," he told her reassuringly. "We'll prove to her that you're innocent!"
Alice leaned forward, her face just about squeezed in between two of the bars.
"Listen!" she called after him. Sora stopped in his tracks, straining his ears to hear her. "I asked this Cheshire Cat how to get home." Sora nodded intently. "And he told me to ask the queen." He nodded again. "So I came here to see her, and I was arrested."
Sora's face fell. He didn't like the sound of that. Alice's voice began to get shrill, and her words began to tumble over each other as she spoke. "She simply refuses to listen to me. It's so unfair… I haven't done anything wrong. What shall I do? I should like to keep my head. Why, if my head and body become separated, nothing I eat will reach my stomach!"
Sora took another step backwards. Now she was just starting to ramble. Alice then shook her head as she did her best to focus on what it was she needed to say.
"That Cheshire Cat may be able to help you," she said quickly, casting a wary glance in her guard's direction. "You may be able to find him in the Lotus Forest. That way!"
She pointed off into the distance directly behind Sora, biting down on her lip nervously. Sora looked in the direction she pointed to, committed it to memory, and then turned to Alice and nodded.
"You got it," he said, smiling. "Thanks!"
The guard slammed his foot down on the ground again and looked in Sora's direction, adjusting his hold on his axe, his expression hardening in outrage. "No talking to the defendant!" he yelled.
But Sora had already taken off in a run in the direction that Alice had pointed.
"Why can't we just tell 'em that it was those Heartless guys?" Sora wanted to know.
The trio had entered the alleged Lotus Forest. To them, it truly was like a large forest, filled with dense foliage that stretched up to the sky. Everything was washed in neutral colors of browns and earthy greens. There were giant lotuses that loomed high over their heads, blocking out the sunlight and giving the forest its namesake. Yet the more Sora observed his surroundings, the more he realized what exactly this so-called forest was. Every large strip of thick foliage that reached for the sky was simply a long blade of forest grass. The lotuses were not what were gigantic; it was the trio walking through the forest that was shrunken and small.
Sora was leading the way through the forest, walking slowly in a straight line through the unknown territory. Goofy walked directly behind him, while Donald trailed a few steps behind the entire party. As the young boy peered over his shoulder toward Donald as he waited for an answer, the duck's face twisted slightly in annoyance. After a moment, he took a long, deep breath, and then spoke.
"Because," Donald explained, his impatience and anger ebbing slightly away as his voice became more hushed. "Every world is defined by its particular boundaries, within which some understanding of reality emerges as truth. Two truths cannot coexist, and so from the introduction of foreign bodies is conflict and chaos spawned. That's why we limit our involvement in local affairs."
Both Sora and Goofy blinked in confusion. "Say that again?"
"Indeed," boomed a tired sounding voice. "Speak again. You speak the truth? I pose that the untruth of this truth upon truths holds truer."
The entire party stopped in their tracks as they began to look around in alarm. There wasn't a single soul to be found anywhere. There was only them; three time bombs of anxiety, waiting for the seconds to wind down. They were silent for a moment, until Sora finally stepped forward, clenching his fists and taking a deep breath to soothe his nerves. He managed to cry out, "Who are you?" though his voice cracked slightly, nervously, as the words escaped his throat.
"Who, indeed," the voice said again, its position shifting from one area of the forest to the next.
The trio spun about in place as they attempted to pinpoint the source of the voice. As they did so, Sora caught sight of something fuchsia colored move out of the corner of his eye. He spun around to find it, but saw nothing. Laughter began to echo about the area, followed by the reciting of what sounded something like a song. It came softly at first, but was slowly getting louder.
'Twas a brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe
All a mimsy were the borrow-groves
And the momeraths out grabe…
The laughter continued when it had finished reciting. Sora looked around, getting frustrated. This was just too weird. Just then, a face popped out of the darkness at Sora, and then vanished just as quickly as it came. Sora's eyes went wide as he took a step backwards.
"What was that?"
"What was what?" Donald asked, turning around to look in Sora's direction.
Sora shook his head side to side and then rubbed his eyes. He looked around again, to be sure. "I thought I saw something..."
That's when it happened again. The mysterious face popped out like the jack of a jack-in-the-box and then retracted and disappeared, only to do it again from somewhere else. The third time, everyone saw it. Donald jumped back with a loud quack of surprise and Goofy dropped onto his bottom in shock.
The face vanished one final time and reappeared hovering slightly over a nearby tree stump of some sort. At first, it was just a large, white, crescent shaped grin, which eventually grew into a whole figure. It was a rather large, chubby, fuchsia colored cat with white stripes running down the entire length of his body, encircling even his arms and belly. He stared down at Sora, Donald and Goofy through wide, mischievous yellow eyes, with his two paws supporting the underside of his jaw as he lay on his side. He was chuckling as he watched the reaction of the trio to his appearance, his bushy tail wagging lazily in the air.
Sora stepped forward, pushing away his surprise. "You must be the Cheshire Cat."
The Cheshire Cat turned his eyes onto Sora in particular, his large grin growing, as though to confirm Sora's suspicions, and then looked at Donald. "You speak the truth?" he asked curiously. His grin grew even more. "The Cheshire Cat knows all truths, and finds as yet no contradiction nor chaos."
Goofy rose back to his feet and joined Donald and Sora in gaping at the mysterious cat. He pointed amusedly at the Cheshire Cat and chuckled, turning to Donald and saying cheerily, "It's a cat!"
While Donald mused over the idea of bonking Goofy on the head, the cat propped himself up into a human-like sitting position. "Poor Alice," he said with a slight shrug of his cat shoulders. "Soon to lose her head, and she's not guilty of a thing!"
"Hey!" Sora cried out, forcing the Cheshire Cat to turn his attention back on him. "If you know who the culprit is, tell us!"
The cat chuckled, rising onto his hind legs. He put both paws on either side of his head and removed his head from his shoulders. Donald's face went pale and Sora's eyes grew as wide as saucers. The Cheshire Cat proceeded to place his head gingerly on the ground before him and stepped on top of it. The cat's yellow eyes then turned to Sora, and he smiled.
"Can you stand on your head?" he asked, a small laugh escaping from him.
Sora swallowed hard as he watched. "Not like that," he muttered under his breath.
Donald had just about lost his last shred of patience. The color flushed back into his face as he stomped his webbed feet on the ground and pointed one finger at the cat angrily. "Tell us!"
"The Cheshire Cat has all the answers," the cat said, stepping off his head and placing it back on his shoulders. And then, turning to the trio and wagging one finger in the air, "but doesn't always tell. The answer, the culprit, the cat all lie in darkness."
Then, just as the Cheshire Cat had first appeared, his figure began to fade away. Sora's eyes went wide. "Wait!" he cried. "That's all you're gonna tell us?"
The white moon shaped smile was the last thing of the Cheshire Cat's to vanish into their surroundings. Sora pressed his lips together as he took a deep breath through his nostrils. So much for asking the Cheshire Cat for help to save Alice. As Sora was about to press further onward into the Lotus Forest, the cat's voice rang out into the stillness, the source of it still shifting positions as he spoke.
"They've already left the forest," he was saying. "I won't tell which exit."
A small pink box then fell from overhead, bouncing off Donald's head and straight into Sora's hands. Sora managed to catch the box clumsily, and then stared at the box, one eyebrow raised in suspicion. He then looked upward, trying to catch a glimpse of where the Cheshire Cat had gone.
"What's this?"
"Within the box there lives perhaps the truth you seek," the Cheshire Cat explained. He then chuckled slightly. "Or perhaps there lives not?"
Donald rubbed the top of his head grumpily, muttering several incomprehensible words under his breath as he glared upward. Goofy walked over to Sora and looked first at the box, and then back at Sora.
"Should we trust him?" he asked.
"To trust," the Cheshire Cat interjected, reappearing atop the tree stump, "or not to trust? I trust you'll decide!" And with that, the cat vanished again.
"Doesn't look very trustworthy to me," Donald growled.
Sora looked down at the box. "Say, whaddya suppose is inside?"
All eyes then turned onto the box that Sora held in his hands. It seemed too small to have anything live in it. Sora examined the box from all sides, inspecting it curiously. It was just a simple pink box, not much taller than the hat perched on Goofy's head. Sora shook it up and down. Nothing happened.
"Open it," said Goofy.
Sora turned the box right side up and began to slowly peel the lid open. The lid had barely been opened before a powerful force flew out of the tiny box and into Sora's face, forcing him to hold the box farther away. Donald and Goofy released loud cries of alarm as whatever was inside the box popped out. As Sora looked, his eyes grew wide.
"It's a Heartless!"
The armored Heartless leapt from the box onto the ground just a few feet away from Sora. It looked over its shoulder at the trio, the metal of its helmet and armor clanking loudly and its yellow eyes glowing, before taking off in a run, feet flying, in the direction of the Queen of Hearts' court. Donald pulled out his staff and tilted his hat in a gesture of anger and daring.
"Let's go get it!" he growled before taking off after the Heartless.
The other two nodded in agreement as they pulled out their weapons and chased after the creature of darkness. Sora fiddled slightly with the handle of his Keyblade as they ran, his mind uneasy. Why was it going toward the courtroom? It wasn't like there was anything there, other than Alice, the white rabbit, the strange card soldiers and… That's when Sora realized it.
The Queen of Hearts.
They had even said it during the trial, hadn't they? "For the crimes of assault, and attempted theft of my heart…" Sora gritted his teeth and pushed himself to run faster. They just had to get to that Heartless before it reached the queen. It would be all kinds of hell for them if they didn't stop it in time.
They had almost reached the entryway to the queen's court by the time Sora had almost caught up to the Heartless. Sora adjusted his grip on the Keyblade as he closed the gap between him and the Heartless, passing under a large, grass hedge archway as they entered the courtroom. Several rounds of terrified screams filled the room as the Heartless leapt onto the witness stand, spinning slightly so that it was facing the Queen of Hearts.
"What in the world is that!" the queen shrieked. "MANNERLESS!"
She scrambled to escape from her Judge's bench, without success. Her scream resonated throughout the courtroom as though it were surrounded by walls. Sora gritted his teeth as he moved forward as fast as he could, holding the Keyblade with both hands.
"There's your evidence, Miss Queen!" Sora yelled. "And watch out!"
The Heartless glanced over its shoulder at Sora before it pounced at the queen. The queen recoiled, her deep, enraged voice booming from her throat. Sora jumped onto the witness stand, rebounding off of it toward the Judge's bench. With the Keyblade clutched in both hands, Sora took one large, mid-air swing, chopping down the Heartless before it was even able to lay one shadowy claw on the queen. The Heartless vanished in the one hit, dispersing only inches away from the face of the Queen of Hearts.
Sora planted both feet on the end of the Judge's bench and then turned to look at the queen, pointing the Keyblade at her. "There ya go," Sora said forcefully. "Still think Alice's the one?"
He then turned slightly and looked down from the Judge's bench. There stood Donald and Goofy, who had just entered the courtroom and were currently looking up at Sora proudly. The queen ground her teeth together angrily, clenching her hands into fists. She pounded her fists on the Judge's bench angrily.
"Silence!" she shrieked. "I'm the law here! Article 29: Anyone who defies the queen is guilty!"
Donald slammed one foot on the ground, equally enraged as the queen. "That's crazy!"
"Cards!" the queen screamed as she turned to her troops, pointing angrily at the trio, her eyes burning with unreasonable rage. She was practically spitting as she screamed.
"Seize them at once!"
Author's Note: Ahhh, movie references galore. One of which being the title of this chapter, "In the Golden Afternoon" (the song that the flowers sang to Alice). Apologies if that "Can you stand on your head?" thing was a little bit random. I just reeeeally wanted to include it, because that's my favorite scene with the Cheshire Cat in the movie.
Anyways... I got a lot of stuff off of the manga for this particular chapter. I decided against including a motherlode of Heartless battles for this world the way I had in Traverse Town. It just would've made it unnecessarily long.
