It's been a long time, but I'm updating my older fics. UknownHero here and welcome to another chapter of Awaken By Time, which I feel should have a better title but I'm too lazy to. Speaking of being lazy, due to a combination of it and school and me now starting to have a social life, I've been busy especially with the end of the year exams starting in a few months. I doubt I'll update much then but I'll try. Anyway, enough of that. Let's get things started.
Load Game… Start!
Chapter 10: A Wonderful Land (Part 2)
Sora, Aqua, Donald and Goofy followed the White Rabbit down the winding hallway and to a door. Guessing that's where the little bunny went, Donald opened the door and went to run in… only to slam his face into another door, "Owie…" Donald groaned before shaking his head and opening the second door, only for it to happen again, "Oh come on!"
"Maybe we should open all the doors before we run in." Aqua suggested,
"That's a good idea." Sora said as he opened the door this time. Two more doors later, they were inside a pink room with a table, fireplace, bed and kitchen. They looked around to see where the rabbit went, only for Goofy to get everyone to look down and see the now tiny rabbit rush to an equally sized door, which slammed shut when it entered,
"Huh? How did he get so small?" Kairi asked,
'Maybe this is normal? It is another world after all.' Sora thought before chuckling. He was still getting used to the fact that they were exploring different worlds, their dreams of travelling finally coming true. Now, if only Kairi had her body and Riku was here then things would be perfect,
"Who would build a door so small?" Aqua muttered to herself as everyone knelt down to study it,
"It's not small. You're simply too big." The Doorknob said, shocking the group,
"It talks!" Donald exclaimed,
"Well, this is new." Aqua said, surprised as well, having never encountered something like this in her adventures. Or at least unable to remember an event like this. The Doorknob yawned as he looked at the group,
"Must you be so loud? You woke me up." The Doorknob scolded them,
"Good morning." Goofy said awkwardly,
"Good night! I need a bit more sleep." The Doorknob said. He was about to return to his slumber but was interrupted by Sora,
"Wait, what do we have to do to grow small?" Sora asked. The Doorknob mentally sighed before shifting his gaze over to the table behind them, which the others followed,
"Why don't you try the bottle… over there?" The Doorknob suggested before going back to sleep. Aqua walked over to the table and saw two bottles. One with a small tree pointing to a big tree and the other depicting vice-versa. Aqua had a feeling she knew what was going to happen, so she hoped it wouldn't be as much of a disaster before,
"Bottoms up." Aqua muttered to herself before drinking one of them. It tasted like socks before she suddenly felt her size changing. She saw that the table was getting bigger and bigger so she quickly jumped up on it before she stopped shrinking,
"Whoa! Aqua, you're tiny too!" Sora exclaimed in shock before picking up the bottle, "That is so cool!"
"Guys! Hurry up! We need to find the White Rabbit before we lose it!" Aqua called out. Sora downed the Shrinking Potion. Sora quickly jumped up to the table as Goofy downed the bottle as well. When Goofy shrank and met up with the others, it was Donald's turn to drink. Donald grabbed the bottle and drank it…
Only to realize too late that it was the Growth Potion.
"Uh… I think that was the wrong potion Donald!" Goofy called as they stared at the giant Donald, who left a nice dent in the ceiling,
"REALLY!? I DIDN'T NOTICE!" Donald shouted out, his voice causing everyone to cover their ears,
"Ow…" Sora said as he tried to get rid of the ringing in his ear. After Aqua and Sora had to climb Donald in order to give him the Shrinking Potion, they jumped down from the table and made their way over to the door, only for everyone to groan as they saw he was asleep,
"I'd be rude to wake him up, but we do need to enter." Aqua muttered before summoning her Keyblade. She thought about using it before shaking her head, "Come on boys. Let's see if we can find another entrance." Everyone nodded before they started to search the Bizarre Room. They encountered a few groups of Heartless during their search, though there were no types they haven't encountered before. Though they were silently glad they were their size instead of their normal sizes, or else things would've gone pear-shaped fast. Anyway, after checking every nook and cranny, they finally found something,
"Hey, I think there's something behind the bed!" Sora called out. Everyone else went to Sora and saw there was an opening roughly about the size of the door behind the bed, but even with their size they couldn't fit through the space. Since their strength also scaled with their size, they decided to grow back and lift the bed out of the way. After growing back to their normal size, they all tried to only to find out the bed was attached to the wall, "Argh! It's not budging!" Sora said in frustration before they all gave up. Then, Sora had an idea, "Hey, why don't we try pushing it?" Since they didn't have any other ideas, they went with Sora's suggestion and pushed the bed against the wall. To their surprise, it worked. The bed slid forward and became a picture on the wall in a puff of smoke,
"I getting the feeling this is going to get confusing very fast." Aqua muttered to herself,
"Well, at least we're making progress. Let's hurry and find that bunny!" Goofy said. They all nodded before heading back over to the table and shrinking, before going through the opening. They ran as fast as they could as they wasted enough time getting to this point. They finally saw a light at the end of the tunnel and went through. They were met with fake square hedges, a room painted to make it look like it was in the middle of a hedge maze and what seemed to be a court in the middle of it all, with guards that looked like playing cards, a young girl in a blue dress and a rather fat, ugly and slightly foul smelling woman at the highest seat. For a second, they wondered where the White Rabbit was, only to see he was rushing up to a podium near the woman with a trumpet in hand. After he got in position, he blew the trumpet,
"Court is now in session!" The White Rabbit announced,
"Wait, what's happening?" Aqua whispered out. They were hidden and wanted to see what was happening. Aqua narrowed her eyes as she looked at the young girl standing on the podium in front of the Queen, "Hold on, is this girl on trial?" Donald quickly shushed her and mouthed at her to only observe,
"I'm on trial? But why?" Alice asked, surprised. Everything was happening so fast that she almost couldn't tell what up or down was,
"Her Majesty, the Queen of Hearts, presiding!" The White Rabbit called out. The Queen studied the girl for around a nanosecond before nodding to herself,
"The girl is the culprit. There's no doubt about it. And the reason is... because I say so, that's why!" The Queen declared. Aqua and Sora were now gripping the fake leaves tightly now, but held back. They felt that is they interfered now they would make things worse,
"That's so unfair!" Kairi called out, with Alice unintentionally copying what she just said, "Who does she think she is!?"
'The Queen?' Sora pointed out,
"I can think of a lot of other things, but she's definitely no queen." Kairi said, trying to glare at the "Queen" through Sora's eyes,
"Well, you have anything to say in your defense?" The Queen asked, though was going to chop off the little blonde girl's head no matter what she said. She was guilty after all (in her mind),
"Of course! I've done absolutely nothing wrong!" Alice said, annoyed, "You may be the queen, but I'm afraid that doesn't give you the right to be so... so mean!" This managed to flare the Queen's anger,
"Silence! How dare you defy me!?" The Queen shouted out,
"Hey, guys, we should help her out." Sora said, with Aqua quickly nodding her head in response, not caring if they made the situation worse. As long as they got the girl out of there, they could deal with the "Queen",
"Yeah, but the-" Donald started before being interrupted,
"We're outsiders, so wouldn't that be muddling?" Goofy pointed out,
"'Meddling'!" Donald corrected,
"Oh, yeah. And that's against the rules." Goofy continued,
"Really?" Aqua said before chuckling a little, "Because to be honest, I… forgot about that rule." She admitted awkwardly. It was drilled into her head so many times by Master Erauqs… almost to immediately forget about it as soon as she saw her first world. But considering things, she started having second thoughts, "Still, we might make things-"
"The court finds the defendant... guilty as charged!" The Queen declared, "For the crimes of assault and attempted theft of my heart..."
'WHAT!?' Everyone thought before looking at each other with the same thought in mind: Screw the rules, they were doing what's right,
"OFF! WITH! HER! HEAD!" The Queen loudly ordered as the Card Soldiers got ready,
"No! No! Oh, please!" Alice exclaimed as she ducked down,
"Alright! That's enough!" Aqua shouted out as they ran into the middle of the court as Donald pointed a finger at the Queen, "Objection!"
"Who are you?" The Queen asked, surprised, but quickly turned to anger, "How dare you defy my court!?"
"Excuse me. But we know who the real culprit is!" Sora called out,
"Uh-huh! It's the Heartle-" Goofy started to say but covered his mouth before he could complete the sentence,
"Anyway…" Aqua said as she wiped off some sweat, "She's not the one you're looking for. She's innocent. Let her go!"
"No I will not!" The Queen said before leaning back on her, "Unless you have proof she's innocent, that is."
"Of course we ha-" Sora started before everyone paused in thought.
They definitely weren't prepared for this.
"Uh…" Sora, Aqua, Donald and Goofy tried to figure something out before Sora had an idea,
"Hey, can we call for a recess?"
*SLAM!*
"Sorry…" Aqua apologized meekly to the now imprisoned young girl,
"Bring me evidence of Alice's innocence! Fail and it's off with all of your heads! Gather as much or little evidence as you please. Report back here once you're ready." The Queen said. They all nodded at those terms and were preparing to head out, but they all decided to check on Alice first,
"Hey, uh, sorry for getting you into trouble." Sora apologized,
"It's quite fine. If you four haven't stepped in things would have gone much worse." Alice replied, "I'm Alice."
"Hiya Alice! I'm Goofy." Goofy introduced himself, "And this here's Donald, Aqua and Sora."
"It's nice to meet you all." Alice giggled out before looking at her cage, "Though, it would've been much nicer if we met in better circumstances. But what's done is done."
"Still, if we haven't rushed in here without a plan, you probably wouldn't be in there…" Aqua muttered,
"Don't worry Aqua! We'll find something to proven Alice's innocence." Donald comforted the former Keyblade Master. Aqua nodded at the duck and smiled,
"Okay. Don't worry. We'll be back soon and you'll be free. I promise." Sora said. Then, a Card Soldier stepped in front of them, blocking them from Alice's cage,
"Alright! That's enough! No more congregating with the prisoner!" The Card Soldier said, "I suggest going to the Lotus Forest to the west if you're looking for evidence. But I doubt you'll all find anything. The Queen is never wrong!"
"She's never right either." Kairi mumbled as Sora and the others made their way to the Lotus Forest,
"Alright, let the investigation begin!" Sora called out. Just as he called that out, a smiling cat suddenly appeared on a lotus above them, which Aqua got everyone's attention to,
"Who are you?" Donald asked,
"Who, indeed? Poor Alice. Soon to lose her head, and she's not guilty of a thing!" The Cheshire Cat replied,
"Wait, you know Alice is innocent?" Aqua said, surprised, "If know who the real culprit is, then why don't you help us?"
"Yeah, tell us who the culprit is!" Sora added in,
"The Cheshire Cat has all the answers-but doesn't always tell. The answer, the culprit, the cat all lie in darkness." The Cheshire Cat said cryptically before he started to disappear,
"Hey, wait!" Sora called out, but it was too late. The Cat was gone, "He didn't even tell us a hint…"
"They've already left the forest." The Cat said, his voice being omnipresent, causing everyone to jump a little, "I won't tell which exit. There are four pieces of evidence in all. Three are a cinch to find. The fourth is tricky. Big reward if you find them all."
"Should we trust him?" Donald asked,
"I don't think we have a choice." Aqua answered before the Cat appeared again,
"Everyone has a choice. To trust and not to trust, but I trust you'll decide." The Cat said before disappearing again,
"Did anyone really understand what he just said?" Sora asked. Donald and Goofy just shrugged their shoulders while Aqua looked like she was thinking,
"He said that there's four pieces of evidence and there's four of us. I'd say we split up and find a piece of evidence each and meet up back here." Aqua suggested, "If one of us is having trouble, we'll all help."
"That's a good idea. It'll be faster that way." Sora said as he pulled his hand out, "Alright, everyone meets back here in 30 minutes, got it?" Everyone else put their hands in and nodded,
"Right!" And with that, they all split up to look for evidence. They all encountered more Heartless but they all helped each other while looking evidence. Donald was the first one to find some evidence, finding it in a cute little pink box. He opened it and saw it had pictures of footprints. There weren't anything distinguishing about them but it was something. Next was Aqua, who went back to the Bizarre Room and found some in the fireplace. She almost threw up her lunch as there was a stench coming from the box. Though, she admitted there was something familiar about it as she went back to the Lotus Forest. When Aqua arrived, she saw Goofy bring his piece of evidence, which were actually a pair of antennas that looked like they were ripped from some Shadow Heartless. It had been half an hour and now they were just waiting on Sora,
"Hey, has anyone seen Sora?" Aqua asked,
"Well, last time I saw him, he grew big and hit a tree before shrinking back and going somewhere else." Goofy answered,
"Maybe he got the hard one." Donald guessed, "I guess we have to help him." Aqua and Goofy nodded as they started their search. Aqua was in the trees when she noticed there was a hole in a trunk near her. She went over to it and only saw darkness. She was wondering if this is where Sora went to, only to be pushed forward, causing her to fall,
"Everyone has a choice, but that doesn't mean someone else can't decide for you!" The Cheshire Cat said before disappearing again. Aqua groaned as she got up and saw Sora looking over the edge of a bookshelf. It looks like they were in the Bizarre Room again,
"Hey, Sora. Did you find your piece?" Aqua asked as she approached the younger Keyblade Wielder. He jumped a little before calming down,
"Er, yeah!" Sora said, "I just need to get it."
"'Get it'?" Aqua repeated. Sora pointed forward. Aqua looked where Sora was pointing at and saw that the last piece of evidence they needed was on a faucet across from them. The only problem was that there was gap and long fall to the bottom between it and them. Aqua suddenly had a sense of vertigo before she shook her head. Gap wasn't that far but she doubted they could jump that far. Then, Aqua had an idea, "Alright, Sora, I'm gonna give you a boost." Aqua said as she knelt down and put her hands together to form a cup. Sora quickly saw what she was doing and walked back to get a bit of a run up, "Ready?"
"Ready!" Sora called out. He took a deep breath before running towards the girl. He jumped and planted his foot on Aqua's hand and with all her might she tossed him across the gap and onto the faucet. Sora landed and made sure he was on before turning back, only to see Aqua starting to stumble backwards. She must've lost her balance when she flung him across. Sora gasped as he saw Aqua's foot go off the edge,
"AQUA!" Sora cried out in worry, but to Aqua it was Ventus who yelled it out. Her eyes widened before she snapped back to reality and realized she was now falling. She quickly grabbed the edge of the bookshelf, saving herself. She looked down before sighing and climbing back up. Maybe the X-Blade's fail safe did something to her head, "Aqua! Are you alright!?" Sora called out,
"I-I'm fine! J-Just a small headache." Aqua groaned as she tried to steady her breathing. Sora didn't look convinced as he tossed her a Potion, "Thanks." She said before she drank it,
"No problem. After we do this, maybe you should get some rest." Sora suggested. Aqua felt like it was a good idea and nodded. She guessed she was still accumulating to the current time and maybe her desire to find her friends was starting to affect her mental state. Anyway, Aqua turned around saw Sora open up his box of evidence. It was a section of wall from the Lotus Forest that had claw marks on it. There was darkness still emitting from it,
"This looks promising…" Sora muttered as he put his evidence as the Cheshire Cat appeared in front of them,
"Well, look what you've all found. Nice going." The Cat complimented,
"Looks like we have all the evidence we need to save Alice." Aqua said, only to frown when the Cheshire Cat chuckled,
"Don't be so sure!" He said, "She may be innocent, but what about you?"
"Wh-What?" Sora asked, wondering why he would say that, "What do you mean?"
"I won't tell." The Cat answered, causing the Keyblade Wielders to groan, "But I'll give you something." Suddenly, he summoned a light blue orb with a snowflake in it in his paws and gave it to Sora. Sora held it in his hands before it floated up and into his chest. He suddenly felt colder as small specks of snow surrounded him before disappearing. He summoned his Keyblade and quickly aimed it up into the sky,
"Deep Freeze!" Sora shouted out before looking at his Keyblade, "Whoa…"
"Looks you just learned Blizzard, Sora." Aqua said with a smile, "Congratulations."
"Aw yeah!" Sora cheered, with Kairi giggling at his antics, "Alright, let's go save Alice!" Aqua nodded at that.
(Queen's Castle)
"Are you ready to present evidence before the Queen?" A Red Card Guard asked as the group walked back into the Queen's Castle. They all pulled out the pink boxes and nodded, "Very well. Counsel, step up to the podium." Sora and Aqua nodded as they made their way to the podium,
"Now, show me what you have found." The Queen ordered. They frowned a little but they placed their evidence on the ground before the Queen, "Well, that's certainly a lot of evidence, but I'm still not impressed. Cards! Bring forth my evidence." There wasn't a moment too soon as a Card Soldier returned with a pink box as well and placed it next to their pieces of evidence. Now that they noticed, they all looked the same and they couldn't tell which piece of evidence was theirs from the Queen's, "Hmm, checking all five would only be a waste of time." Then the Queen swapped the evidence around, so no one knew which one was Sora, Donald, Goofy and Aqua's evidence and what was the Queen's, "Alright, then. Choose the one you wish to present. I'll decide who's guilty based on that evidence."
"What!?" Sora exclaimed before groaning, "After all the trouble of collecting it?"
"Oh you've gotta be kidding me." Aqua muttered as she face palmed,
"You dare object? Then you will lose your head!" The Queen threatened, "Now, choose! One box!"
"I don't like this lady…" Kairi grumbled in Sora's head as Sora stepped off the podium,
'Me too, Kai. Me too.' Sora thought as he approached the five boxes. There was 1/5 chance that he'd choose the Queen's evidence, and he had the feeling it would "prove" Alice guilty. Still, they had the numbers advantage so unless he was really unlucky he was sure he was going to pick their evidence,
"Choose carefully Sora!" Goofy called out. Sora nodded before picking the first one,
"Are you certain? No second chances!" The Queen said. He looked at his friends one more time before looking at the Queen,
"I'm sure." Sora said,
"Now we shall see who the real culprit is." The Queen announced. Sora nodded, took a deep breath and tapped his Keyblade on the lid of the box. Suddenly, a blue light shot out of it to reveal…
To reveal…!
Donald… and… Goofy…
"Oh you've got to be kidding me." Aqua deadpanned, "Er… overruled…?"
*SLAM!* *SLAM!*
"Donald! Goofy!" Aqua called out as they were stuffed into cages,
"Hey, wait! There has to be mistake!" Sora exclaimed as Aqua joined him to face he Queen, "They aren't ones! It's the Heartl-"
"Silence!" The Queen shouted out, having enough of the group, "I'm the law here! Article 29: Anyone who defies the Queen is guilty!"
"That's crazy!" Donald shouted out from his cage,
"No, she's crazy!" Aqua called out as she and Sora summoned their Keyblades as the Card Soldiers surrounded them. They noticed that there was a yellow plaster tower behind them and Card Soldier used it to lift Alice, Donald and Goofy's cages up and into the air,
"Seize them at once!" The Queen yelled out, "Cards! If they touch the tower, you lose your heads!" Aqua and Sora looked at each other before looking at the tower,
"Thanks for the tip!" Sora called out,
"Huh? What do you mean-" The Queen shouted out, only for Sora to throw his Keyblade into her face, causing to fall off her chair. Sora quickly caught the Kingdom Key while in the air and quickly swatted away a few Card Soldiers away from him,
"So much for being diplomatic!" Aqua said as she and Sora got into their battle stances as they analyzed their situation. Two of the friends were trapped, they were surrounded by Card Soldiers and they had a limited amount of time before the Queen decided to chop one of their friends' head off. Aqua looked at Sora and smirked.
These guys didn't stand a chance.
Save Game… Quit!
Whew! Done! See ya next update!
UknownHero signing off, my friends!