"What in the world was that?" The Queen of Hearts exclaimed after witnessing Zaria running back into the court scene, hot on the heel of the Knight Heartless as it bounded passed the card guards. "Mannerless!"
Zaria chose to ignore the last comment, fed up with her as it was, as she abruptly took a swing at the Heartless. Unfortunately, she missed it by a few centimeters right before watching it leap into the air. The frustration she had boiled over at that point, and she was not going to let someone like her be another nuisance. She watched briefly as the Knight leaped toward the Queen, preparing to strike at her and claim her heart, before jumping after it.
"There's your evidence, Miss Queen!" She heard Sora call out to her but kept her focus on the Heartless as she raised her Keyblade above her head.
"And watch out!" Zaria shouted moments later before bringing her weapon down onto the Heartless, landing a direct hit before any damage was done.
The Queen cried out in terror, horrified that the creature was about to attack, but it did not take long for her to realize that she had been spared. By then, the Heartless had vanished, and Zaria was back on her feet. Sora, Donald, and Goofy rushed to her side as she stood back up, brushing away the imaginary dust from her clothing. It was evident from the look in her eyes that she was still annoyed over what happened, but she was equally pleased that she did not allow it to escape from her. The Queen may have been annoying, but it was not an excuse to let a Heartless steal her heart.
Before Sora could speak up and make sure she was okay, he suddenly noticed a strange glint of light appear from the corner of his eye, catching his attention instantly. Upon investigating further, he looked down to see Zaria's Keyblade shimmering for just a moment before it vanished completely. He blinked in slight surprise at the sight, but he chose not to talk about it right then and there. He was unsure if that was supposed to happen or if it was something he was not meant to mention when people from another world were surrounding them. Either way, he was genuinely curious about the sight he had witnessed.
Zaria looked back up at the Queen of Hearts, who had taken a moment to relax after the incident and glared at her.
"There you have it," she spoke frustratedly, placing her free hand on her side. "Still think Alice is the culprit now?"
The Queen, despite knowing that her life had been spared by the group, suddenly became enraged. Evidently, she did not appreciate Zaria's tone and was not going to stand for it any longer.
"Silence! I'm the law here!" She roared, slamming her fists into wood.
The group looked at her oddly, confused by the words she spoke.
"I don't like the sound of that," Dimitri muttered as he shrank back, keeping his grip on Zaria's shoulder as his ears fell back nervously.
"Article 29: Anyone who defies the queen is guilty!" The Queen went on to proclaim.
The words shocked the group, though Zaria seemed to be the only one who was left visibly angered.
"Bull!" She snapped at her.
"That's crazy!" Donald agreed, waving his arms and jumping furiously over those words.
"We gave you proof of Alice's innocence and saved your life, you hag!" Zaria shouted at her. "Now, keep your end of the deal and release her at once!"
"Miss Zaria, don't say that!" Dimitri quietly exclaimed. "You're only going to upset her even more than she already is!" Zaria merely glanced at the animal companion, keeping the same angered look she had given to the Queen moments ago. Upon seeing this, Dimitri sighed and crawled into her bag. "I'm not going to like this one bit, am I?" He muttered as he disappeared from sight.
"Seize them at once!" The Queen commanded her guards. "Teach them that defying this 'hag' is going to cost them their heads!"
Before they had a chance to react to what she had said, the group was instantly surrounded by the card guards and quickly prepared for another battle. The area around them seemed to change drastically as well, with the Queen's judge stand dropping closer to the ground while the staircase and jury stand disappeared in a puff of smoke. A short distance away appeared an odd looking tower with three wheels on each side of it. Zaria looked over and watched as one of the guards ran over to it and began turning one of the wheels. A loud clanging sound was heard moments later, causing the group to look over and spot Alice's cage rising high above the ground, still shrouded behind the red curtain and preventing her from seeing what was happening on the outside.
It was going to be an all-out brawl, Zaria realized, and it was not going to be pretty. However, she had a plan in mind upon seeing the tower.
"Guys, listen up," she spoke to the others in a small voice, so the guards did not hear her. They looked over their shoulders at her and listened carefully. "That tower over there is what's keeping Alice out of our reach. The best option we have is to release the mechanism that's keeping her up there and escape into the forest."
"How do we do that?" Sora questioned, returning his attention to the guards that were slowly approaching them with their weapons in hand.
Zaria thought for a moment before looking at Sora.
"You and I will take care of these guards and hold them off for as long as possible," she explained. She, then, looked to Donald and Goofy. "Donald, Goofy, while we're fighting them, you guys can handle the tower and bring Alice back down. Defend yourself if you have to."
Goofy looked around nervously as he raised his shield a bit higher.
"Gawrsh, there sure are a lot of them. Do you think we'll manage?" He asked her.
"Of course we can, Goofy!" Donald chimed in, holding his wand close. "If we could beat that giant Heartless in Traverse Town, then we can handle this, too!"
Zaria could not help but smirk as she focused her attention back on the guards, holding her Keyblade tightly in front of her.
"Took the words right out of my mouth," she commented. "Now, let's go!"
The moment the command left her lips, the plan was in action. Sora and Zaria were quick to face off against the card guards, dodging and blocking their attacks with ease before knocking them out, while Donald and Goofy raced toward the tower as quickly as possible. Since they were not much of a threat, they found no reason to kill them, instead opting to resort to knocking them unconscious temporarily. Oddly enough, the guards were much easier to take down than Zaria had initially believed as she slashed at them and knocked them out with only a few hits. The realization made her pause briefly, seemingly confused at the sight. If they were that easy to defeat, then it was possible that a change of plans was in order. However, before she could think of another plan of attack, Zaria watched as the ones she had defeated suddenly rose to their feet after taking a short time to recover. The sight left Zaria surprised, but she wasted little time in getting back into the action. They may have appeared to be weak on the outside, but if they were able to take hit after hit and still manage to get up time and time again, they were in for a lot more trouble than they thought.
At the tower, Donald and Goofy were fortunate to only deal with one or two of the guards, and they were quick to begin the process of bringing down Alice's cage little by little. It was going smoothly at first, having finished with one lever, before they realized that the guards they had beaten down were right back on their feet and chasing after them once again.
"What?!" Donald exclaimed in shock. "But I clobbered them over the head! How are they getting back up so quickly?!"
"Ahyuk, they must be a lot tougher than we thought, Donald," Goofy pointed out. He looked over at Sora and Zaria briefly, a nervous look on his face. "I sure hope they're okay over there."
Donald shook his head and looked at Goofy again.
"They'll be fine!" He barked at his comrade. "Don't worry about those two and just keep spinning!" He ordered before turning to the guards once more, holding his wand in front of him. "I'll keep these guys busy!"
Without another word, Goofy continued to work on the tower as quickly as possible as Donald shot a few fireballs in the direction of the guards, keeping them occupied and away from the tower for as long as possible. Despite what he had said to Goofy, though, even he was worried about Sora and Zaria's predicament. If these guards were capable of getting up so fast, then there was no telling how long they would last before they became exhausted.
Meanwhile, Sora had beaten down a few more enemies as easily as Zaria had done moments ago, but he did not have the opportunity to go and assist her before more guards began rising to their feet again. He was certain some of them had already been knocked out several times by that point, but it was hard to tell which ones they were with the amount that continued to attack them. Frustrated, the only thing he could do was beat them back again for as long as he possibly could. After all, he had to make sure they were too preoccupied with him and Zaria to give Donald and Goofy just enough time to rescue Alice.
Unfortunately, after some time, Sora started to grow more tired the longer he continued to fight, feeling exhausted from swinging his weapon so much. It had gotten to the point where it was harder to raise his Keyblade to defend himself, feeling like he was carrying a ton of bricks. Much to his dismay, he was forced to dodge the attacks from the guards and leap back, hoping that it would be enough of a distraction to keep the plan going. Eventually, while he was stepping back, his back suddenly collided with Zaria's, causing him to look over his shoulder quickly to see if she was doing okay. However, the moment he laid eyes on her, a mixture of confusion and concern passed over him as he noticed Zaria's eyes appeared to be wider than normal. It was almost as if she had suddenly become anxious over the fact that they were still surrounded, but it was tough to tell. She fidgeted with her grip on her Keyblade, though it was clear that she was doing okay. Still, the look in her eyes worried Sora.
"Are you okay?" He quickly asked her. "You look really nervous about something."
It took Zaria a moment to respond as her eyes darted about the area quickly, almost as if she were searching for something.
"Something doesn't feel right..." She muttered her answer, though it sounded like it was more to herself while keeping her eyes on everything else except for Sora. "Something's wrong..."
Sora's brows furrowed.
"What is it?"
Zaria did not respond this time. Instead, a horrified look crossed her paling features as her head spun toward the cage holding Alice. Sora did the same thing, hoping to see what she was looking at, only to find himself looking at the cage as well. It did not appear as if anything had changed since they last saw it, and Sora was left utterly bewildered because of it. Zaria, on the other hand, did not share his feelings. She still appeared to have a terrified expression on her face as she continued to stare at it.
"Something's wrong with Alice!" She suddenly shouted in a desperate tone, causing Sora to jump in surprise. Zaria spun her head toward the tower where Donald and Goofy resided, catching sight of the two now having difficulties with some of the guards as more of them had begun to realize what was going on. Sora was quick to do the same as she called out, "Donald! Goofy! Get away from the tower! We're out of time!"
"W-wait, what?" Sora exclaimed as he looked at her. "What's wrong? What happened?"
Zaria did not respond at first, waiting patiently as Donald and Goofy, after hearing her command, quickly ran from the tower. Inhaling deeply, Zaria glanced at Sora.
"Stand back," she ordered as she raised her Keyblade above her, pointing at the sky, while her eyes remained focused on the tower itself.
"Get her, you fools!" The Queen shouted an order and pointed to Zaria with her wand, to which the guards were quick to respond. "Don't let her destroy that tower!"
Unfortunately for them, it was already too late to stop what was happening. In a matter of seconds, a quick spark of electricity shot through Zaria's Keyblade, as if charging it for an attack. When he realized what she was about to do, Sora immediately leaped back, ignoring the guards that suddenly ran toward Zaria all at once, and watched as Zaria became surrounded.
Before she could be captured, Zaria shouted her command: "Thundara!"
The moment the command escaped her lips, electricity, once again, shot through the blade and up into the sky. The intensity of the attack was enough to push back the guards and render them powerless against her. Moments later, the bolt reappeared from the sky and landed directly above the tower itself. The impact was just enough for the shock to destroy it in one go, exploding into pieces and turning to dust and ashes. The attack left Sora surprised, staring in awe over what used to be the tower that Donald and Goofy were standing by moments ago. He had seen Donald use his magic during the Heartless battle in Traverse Town, burning and freezing his opponents with ease, but he had never seen him do anything that. It appeared to be rather powerful, stronger than what he had seen thus far, and he was surprised that Zaria was capable of pulling it off so quickly and without breaking a sweat.
Unfortunately, he had spoken a little too soon as he watched Zaria suddenly collapse to her knees, catching herself with her Keyblade before she could hit the ground.
"Zaria!" He called out, preparing to run up to and assist her.
Before he could do that, Zaria quickly turned her head to him, eyes still widened with anxiety.
"Alice!" She shouted at him. Sora blinked, confused by her calling Alice's name. She, then, pointed behind him. "Don't worry about me! Something's wrong with Alice!"
Realization hit him instantly as Sora nodded once, turned on his heel, and ran toward the cage. To his surprise, the destruction of the tower was enough to sever the mechanism and lower the cage to ground level once again. He ran up to it just as the curtain had begun turning away, preparing himself to finally see Alice once again and free her from the Queen's imprisonment for good. However, relief instantly turned into shock as the curtain pulled away to reveal nothing but emptiness. There was no sign of the imprisoned Alice residing in the cage. She had gone missing.
"Alice?" Sora quietly called out, wondering if it was some trick on the eyes. Unfortunately, he heard no reply, and he did not see her walk out of the shade to reveal herself. "She's...gone...?"
"N-no..." Sora looked over to find a weakened Zaria approaching him along with Donald and Goofy, who remained close by just in case she needed assistance. Her arm was around her waist, and she appeared drained from the attack, yet her gaze remained on the empty cage where Alice once stood. "I was...right...?"
"By Jove, she's gone!" The Queen roared with rage over the discovery. "Alice has vanished!"
"But..." Zaria muttered out loud, her face falling in defeat as shock filled her eyes. "But how?"
The Queen quickly turned to the card guards, who were just as surprised to find Alice missing and stood there in shock.
"Stand to attention, men!" She ordered them. Everyone excluding Zaria looked up at her. "The defendant has escaped custody and remains at large!"
Sora could not help but narrow his eyes in confusion over the Queen's choice of words.
"But...we proved her innocence, didn't we?" He asked the others in silence. Donald and Goofy shrugged, seemingly just as baffled as Sora was, while Zaria did not respond. She remained silent and continued to stare at the floor.
"I order that an open bounty be offered for her immediate recapture!" The Queen continued to shout at everyone.
"Fellows look a bit agitated, don't they?" Donald quietly pointed out, only earning an "Ahyuk" from Goofy while Sora and Zaria remained silent.
"Should you fail..." They heard the Queen continue once more before jumping as she slammed her fist onto the wood of the judge's stand. "OFF WITH ALL YOUR HEADS!"
Without even missing a beat, Sora quickly grabbed a frozen Zaria by her hand and pulled her along, followed by Donald and Goofy, as they raced to the woods before the Queen started sending her guards after them again. They had no time to lose, and they were certainly not going to stay there any longer than they had to.
"That queen lady's totally nutzoid!" Sora proclaimed as the four walked through the forest once more, pushing passed the towering blades of grass and large logs along the way. Donald and Goofy were quick to agree with him, while Zaria continued to remain quiet. Her face gave away that she was in an entirely different place, her mind wandering to unknown places, yet the others had yet to pick up on it. Dimitri, however, did catch this, but he decided not to say anything as he continued to listen to the conversation. It was hard to speak to her when she was deep in thought about something, and he was sure she would speak up later.
"I tell ya," Donald chimed in, "the whole kidnapping plot smells of Heartless involvement..."
Sora looked at Donald with a confused look.
"How does that work, though?" He inquired. "We really haven't seen them do anything besides attack people so far. Are they even smart enough to pull off something like this?"
Donald began to scratch his chin in thought while Zaria slowly turned her head to look at them, seemingly listening to what was going on now, yet her expression remained blank.
"I got a hunch that something's afoot," the magician stated. "There's a decent chance that the Heartless aren't simply acting at random. "Seems to me that something might be manipulating them...something evil."
"The question still remains, though," Dimitri spoke up. "Who exactly are they, and what would they want with an innocent girl like Alice?" His ears fell back as a look of worry crossed his features. "I just hope she's all right and nothing serious has happened to her."
Sora nodded in agreement, but instead of making any further comments on the subject, he turned his attention to Zaria, who had turned her head away from the others and merely watched her moving feet. He looked back at the battle that had taken place and suddenly began to wonder about something that had been bugging him the entire time that they had entered the forest.
Before the fight itself, Sora remembered that he could have sworn Zaria's Keyblade was shimmering after she destroyed the Heartless that almost attacked the Queen. It could have been his imagination, his mind playing tricks on him or even the world itself, but Sora was confident that had been the case. To his surprise, Zaria either did not seem to notice it happen or did not appear to care, as she kept her focus on the Queen. For Sora, however, he could not help but wonder why it did that. It had to have been caused by the defeat of the Heartless, but it did not answer the question of why it happened in the first place. He figured that, since they were out of harm's way, now would be a better time than any to inquire about it. After all, there was still a lot about Zaria that he did not know or understand, and he was willing to learn to better the team and make her feel more welcomed within the group.
After a moment, Sora inhaled deeply. It was now or never, he supposed.
"Hey, Zaria?" He finally found his voice and called her.
Upon hearing her name, Zaria slowly glanced at the brown-haired boy, blinking her blue eyes once as she looked at him with nothing but a blank stare.
"Hm?" She responded shortly after. She appeared to be a bit distracted still, but Sora paid no mind to that.
"I wanted to ask you something," he started. "It's about your Keyblade."
Zaria blinked again.
"Okay," she said slowly. "What about it?"
Sora looked away, returning his gaze forward.
"Well, when you destroyed that Heartless back there, the one that attacked the queen lady..." He paused for thought. "Well, I'm not sure if I'm seeing things, but I could have sworn that it was glowing." Zaria blinked again, yet remained silent as Sora looked back at her. She did not seem surprised or shocked that he asked that question. "Maybe it's just me, but...does it do that when you destroy Heartless?"
"Gawrsh, you saw that too, Sora?" Goofy asked, a look of surprise crossing over him. "I thought I was just seeing things, too."
"Huh, I guess we all didn't miss that," Donald chimed in as well, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked at Zaria. "What's that all about? Is it supposed to do that or what?"
It did not take long for Zaria to look forward, taking a moment to think about what she wanted to say, before looking back at them. At first, she appeared to contemplate explaining if what they saw was real or a figment of their imagination, but when she looked back at them, Sora realized that she was going to be honest. The look in her eyes gave it away before she even began to speak.
"Yeah, it does that," she answered simply. The way she spoke sounded like she was a bit distracted by something, but it was hard to tell what it was and why.
"Why?" Donald pressed, keeping a questioning look as he continued to look up at her.
Zaria looked down at him for a moment before looking forward again.
"It's an ability that my Keyblade has," she explained, shoving her hands into her pockets absently. "An ability that...I don't want to explain right now."
Sora raised a curious brow at that.
"You don't wanna explain it?" He inquired, earning a swift nod from Zaria.
Donald turned his chin to the sky suspiciously.
"What? Is it too complicated to explain to us?" He questioned.
Zaria contemplated the thought before shrugging.
"No, not really," she replied coolly. "It's just that..." Her eyes suddenly began shifting in an almost sensitive manner. "I just...don't know if I'm prepared to explain that part just yet." She glanced at them. "After all, I barely know any of you, so I don't think it's best to try and talk about something like that with you three."
"What?!" Donald snapped as he glared at her. "How can you not trust us?"
Zaria's eyes shifted again, unfazed by the magician's outburst, as she muttered, "Reasons."
"That's not an answer!"
"It is for now."
"Why you-!"
"Alas," a soothing voice suddenly appeared from all around them, catching them by surprise, "having found the evidence you sought, you now seek the defendant you lost?" When they looked forward in search of the source, everyone excluding Zaria jumped in surprise after finding the ever-so-mysterious Cheshire Cat hanging by his tail in a tree. His grin remained visible on his face just like before. "Poor Alice..." He went on to say while the others calmed themselves when they realized there was no imminent danger.
Confused, Sora could only respond, "Uh, yeah. You've seen her at all?"
"Alice, no." The cat responded quickly. "Shadows, yes!"
A frown formed on Zaria's lips while Goofy asked, "Where did they go?"
The cat pretended to think for a moment, glancing upward at the ground and keeping his grin present.
"This way? That way? Does it matter?" He answered. Zaria growled at that. There he went again with his riddles. "Left, right, up, down! All mixed up thanks to the shadows!"
"Quit talking in circles!" Zaria finally snapped, frustrated by the cat already. "Can you just answer our question so we can go?"
The cat quickly looked at her, his smile never faltering, as he chuckled.
"The cat, the culprit, and the answer, do all in darkness lie," he said in response. Zaria's eyes narrowed harshly, though she was just as confused by his words as the others. Then, the cat floated out of the tree and stood on the branch, leaning against the tree trunk with one paw. "I shall show what shadows lurk in the heart of the world."
The group exchanged glances, bewildered by the cat's words.
"I don't like the sound of that," Zaria grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.
Sora looked over at her.
"Neither do I," he agreed, "but if it'll help with finding Alice, maybe it's worth following him?" Zaria glanced at him with a disapproving gaze, yet she said nothing as she looked back at the cat. She did not like the idea, but open bounty or not, finding Alice was their first priority. Her silence was her way of allowing him to take the lead, and he seized the opportunity by looking back at the cat as well. "All right, then. Lead the way."
Pleased with the response, the cat gestured for them to follow before floating on ahead. The four silently followed after the creature with Sora taking the lead while Donald and Goofy trailed behind. Zaria was the last to walk after them, a choice that would have been considered odd were they not hunting for the missing Alice. However, she preferred it that way as her mind began to wander once again.
It went back to the battle at the court once more, looking back on the events that lead to the discovery of Alice's disappearance. The incident was seemingly brief, but for Zaria, it felt much longer. In the middle of the fight, she suddenly felt like the world around her was spinning. She felt anxious, worried that there was some danger unlike anything she had ever seen. She fidgeted with her grip on her Keyblade, her widened eyes darted around the area, and she could not help but wonder what was happening and why she was feeling the way she did. Something was very wrong; she felt it in her heart, but she could not put her finger on what it was and where it had come.
That was before she heard a voice speak loud and clear, a voice that she had not heard for a long time yet recognized almost immediately...
"Protect her."
Much to her surprise, Zaria realized it sounded like the voice of that mysterious woman. It was the same woman she had spoken with in her dream back on Destiny Islands. She had not seen or heard from her in far too long, believing it to be one of her many dreams that she was bound to forget about, so hearing that woman's voice again caught her by surprise. Unfortunately, it did not sound like the woman intended to have a conversation with Zaria this time, but rather relay that simple message. It was one that left Zaria even more anxious than before, but that was moments before it dawned on her. The woman was referring to Alice, telling Zaria that Alice was in danger and that she had to "protect her." It was why Zaria suddenly reacted in such a quick and, in her mind, brutish manner, striking and destroying the tower with a powerful thunder attack without batting an eye or taking a moment to rationalize what she was about to do. For some reason, Zaria had the sudden and most unquenchable desire to toss everything else aside and focus on saving the young girl, almost as if her life had depended on it. She worried so little about well-being that she even resorted to using a magic attack that she knew she had yet to handle without collapsing moments later. Unfortunately, despite her best efforts, she was incapable of saving Alice; she had failed to protect someone from the Heartless. It left her feeling terrible.
After a moment, she sighed and ran a hand through her hair, scratching her scalp a bit. Things were starting to become even more strange, though Zaria was certain it was not because of the world they resided in. Instead, it was something else, something that lingered outside the boundaries of Wonderland. What that could have been, however, was unknown, and she feared that the answer would come much sooner than later.