So here we are again and starting Sora and Luna's journey in earnest. I hope to finish off Wonderland pretty quickly as I don't want the chapters to be spread two far apart but I will also try to make sure the quality of the story isn't harmed in the process. Not to mention school but that's besides the point. Anyway, have fun, R&R and please follow the story if you haven't yet, thanks :)

Chapter 14

Darkness Around Every Corner Pt. 1

"Alice, are you even paying attention?"

A dazed 11 year old girl snapped out of her dreamy state whilst sitting on the grass leaning against the trunk of the tree. Her tutor had taken it upon herself recently to make sure that Alice took in at least half of the information now because for all her worth she had tried so many times to get the girl to focus on her studies and instead found her dozing off and thinking impossible things.

"Oh, I was just thinking about my encounter with the white rabbit." Alice said casually playing with her golden locks. Rested beside her was her faithful cat Dinah who purred into Alice's dress.

Her tutor sighed in a way which seemed to show it was a regular occurrence, "Oh, this nonsense again. I shouldn't expect any more from you, should I child?"

"But I tell you... it's all true, it really is. And I'll have you know I'm also a princess of heart... and this is a single world of many... and many other things which seem impossible but are possible." Alice countered petting her furry feline companion softly.

But the tutor would have none of it, "Nonsense, nonsense and more nonsense. None of which will help you later on in life might I add. This white rabbit of yours for example, can anyone vouch for his existence? Something I can actually relate to? Say a human?"

Alice thought it through carefully, who could possibly recount her experience in the place known as Wonderland? There was the queen though she wasn't exactly delighted to meet with her again. Suddenly it clicked in her head.

"A human? Okay how about a boy with spiky brown hair, a weapon called a Keyblade and the heart of a hero." Alice announced.

"Key- what? Heart of a- You may indeed exceed at poetry Alice but this is hardly the time for tall tales. Please, I would be delighted to know where this boy is. I know no one of that description in our town."

"But of course, you haven't met him. How could you know of someone you haven't met or heard of? It's impossible. And of course that word impossible comes up again, but surely that's in the eye of the beholder and not in general." Alice stated sagaciously.

This left the older woman in shock. Was Alice the one being taught here or was she? Regardless she knew before she could even try to make the blonde study she would have to get this 'twisted' fantasy out of her head. According to Alice's parents, several of her tutors had been fired and she was not about to be the next.

"Well then, where is he? Bring him to me immediately? Or is he just a figment of your dreams? Like 'Wonderland'?" The tutor managed to remain calm in her approach though took on a rather condescending tone.

"Well as I've said before, there are other worlds out there. He can't be in all of them at once can he? It might help to think outside of the box sometimes. Or outside this world for that matter..." Alice petted a bit too hard, causing the cat to shriek in anger though she paid no attention to this.

"Me? Think out of the box? Why dear Alice, it's you that needs to do the thinking, away from your dreams. They are distracting you from what you should actually be dreaming about, an education, your future."

Alice however cut her off quite quickly, "I'm sorry, a job? Future? Yes, while those are all quite nice, that is as you said, in the future. Though in the present, I'm quite capable of 'dreaming' all I want if I have to. But this whole future business sounds quite boring to me."

"Are you saying that you feel like you deserve special treatment over everyone? It's just not going to happen no matter how much you want it. Alice, get it out of your head, all of it. You're growing up and you can't afford to dilly dally all day." The tutor said snapping her book shut loudly in reflection of this.

"How about I show it to you? The rabbit hole I mean."

The tutor shook her head wanting to finish this argument quickly, "Alice, listen to me. There is no such thing as Wonderland. There is no Mad Hatter, or White Rabbit or a boy wielding a key and you're certainly no... Princess of whatever it was that you said. Now grow up and act like the young lady you should be. Now recite the rhyme on page 15. 'How doth the little crocodile...'"

The first time travelling on the Gummi Ship had been quite the experience, filled with wonder and excitement. The second time was just as good including the training. The third time for Luna, not so much. The Heartless battalion had appeared in large numbers as they headed to their next world. After learning how to use the guns on the side of the ship, Luna jumped on to the left seat and started shooting at the ships as they either tried to shoot back, or just plain ram into the Highwind. Sora however did manage to make things easier with his ability to fly the ship however the lack of mobility was taken huge notice of when it came to this fight. The best way Sora could explain it was as a delay, so he had to pull away slightly earlier then before the Heartless could hit them. The problem however being, that this meant it would be a complete guess as to when the Heartless would try to shoot them and so Sora had to be constantly swerving the ship from left to right and hope for safety. The constant shift in position made it quite hard for Luna to successfully destroy the Heartless ships with the normal gun however this is where the thunder laser blaster came into play. The thunder blaster locked on to enemies and released a laser powerful enough to take out any of the Heartless ships in one hit. Luna found that a constant manoeuvre between regular guns and the blaster seemed the most appropriate option as the normal guns still had its uses, one being that they could take out any of the ships trying to ram them.

"Is it always this exciting?" Luna said admitting that while it wasn't the type of journey she had hoped for, it was still fun.

"Of course, taking out some Heartless and visiting new places only to find more Heartless all in a day's work." Sora replied and he barrel rolled quickly out of the way to dodge an asteroid hurtling towards him.

"An asteroid field? Think we can lose them through this?" Luna quizzed switching back to her normal guns in case she needed to destroy some of the rocks.

"Yeah, might be hard though with this stupid delay!" Sora gritted his teeth as the ship was met with a barrage of huge rocks spinning in their current predicament. The Highwind swerved in multiple directions as Sora either pushed up or pulled down, to the left or right with the control column applying pressure. Luna shot through certain asteroid in their way turning them into smaller chunks of rock and allowing them to hit the side of the Gummi Ship without damage. The Heartless themselves served no match for the field as they found themselves quickly obliterated through the act of trying to follow the Highwind.

"Almost there!" Sora called out seeing the end of the field just beyond and with that the new world. It took a few seconds before the ship emerged out of the belt with minimal damage. Looking at the rear panel screen, Luna observed the lack of Heartless ships behind them.

"We did it!" Luna cheered spinning her chair over to hug Sora.

"Sora, you might want to look where you're going." Jiminy, who was on Sora's right, reminded him.

"Oops, sorry." Sora said quickly separating from Luna and returning to the maintaining control of the Highwind. The world which they were moving ever so close to was one Sora definitely recognised. It was one of the first worlds Sora had ever visited not to mention the fact that one its residents was a Princess of Heart like Kairi.

"You're gonna love this place." Sora told Luna as he braked and slowly hovered above the world.

"I think I could pretty much love any place right about now," Responded Luna smiling. Getting up, she grabbed the rucksack and took out the Hi-potions in it, "so how are we supposed to carry these?"

Sora thought about it for a second before clicking his fingers and disappearing from the room momentarily. He soon returned carrying three small blue plastic bags and handed two of them to Luna.

"Fill those two up with the Hi-Potions and keep them. I'll keep this one if you don't mind." Sora indicated by filling his own plastic with the contents of the Hi-Potion and afterwards placing it in his pants pocket. Luna shook her head and repeated Sora's steps except she placed them in her jacket. Jiminy hopped up onto Sora's shoulder and inserted himself into his hood. Nodding at each other, Sora pressed a button on the panel and the two were beamed down.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

Multiple clocks sprung to life around Sora and Luna as they fell slowly and gracefully down a hole. Furniture also became animate jumping around them as they floated downwards to their destination.

"Watch your landing." Sora called as Luna beamed in awe at the dancing tables and chairs.

"What?" But it was too late; Luna hit the ground groaning in annoyance while Sora safely managed to land on two feet.

"I said watch your-"

"A bit too late for a repeat isn't it?" Luna interrupted shaking her head and then getting off the floor. They were in a small circular room, the same as the one Sora had first landed in when he came here before. There was nothing particularly interesting about the room, except for the only hallway in the room leading to multiple doors. Sora moved to open them one by one but paused because of Luna's breathing on his neck.

"Oh, sorry." Luna apologised smiling as innocently as she could as he flashed a quick look towards her. Sora pulled open the door and crawled in. He had to admit his increased height hadn't made this any easier than it was the first time. Emerging out of the last door through much squeezing, Sora arrived at a much bigger room, a rather bizarre room which had a certain trick to it. Sora walked over to the small door on the other side of the room and knocked on it.

"Hey, wake up, nap time's over." Sora said while continuously knocking.

Luna looked at Sora for the first time as if he had grown two heads, "Uh, Sora? Whatever you're trying to do, isn't going to work. Whoever's in there clearly doesn't want to talk to us. I mean, I don't know how anyone could fit through there in the first place but..."

"I'm trying to get the door to wake up." Sora looked back at her before trying to twist the door knob instead.

Luna couldn't help but snort out loud as soon as he finished, "Sorry, what did you say? Doors don't sleep."

"They do when they need a nap."

"Really Sora? Maybe you need to take a bit more of a rest." Luna laughed.

Sora smiled slyly, "I wasn't the one talking."

"But then who- AAHHH!" Luna clapped her hands against her mouth to stop further screaming. Staring right back at her was another set of eyes not belonging to Sora but instead the door knob.

"Glad you finally noticed but can you keep it down? I'm trying to get some sleep." The doorknob yawned, its mouth being represented by a key hole.

"Oh not this time you aren't. We're going through this way this time. Not by the bed." Sora pointed to the bed positioned in the corner of the room.

"Wait, this is a bit too much now. A talking doorknob, really?" Luna twitched her eyes at the doorknob. Was this also another one of her dreams? If so, when would she wake up?

"Really, as in completely yes. How hard is it to believe that I'm a doorknob? Even the young lad next to you when he first came here." The doorknob tutted in disapproval.

"How hard it is... You're a doorknob!" Luna exclaimed ludicrously.

"Luna, doorknobs have feelings too. Don't insult him," Sora mockingly talked down to her causing her to laugh even harder, "sorry 'bout my friend here, she just doesn't appreciate the fine arts of doorknobs."

"Well teach her to, or else I won't let you in." The Doorknob huffed angrily.

"Oh come on, don't be like-"

The doorknob started making loud snores, murmuring "can't hear you" and "have her do it".

Sora turned to Luna who had died down in laughter, though her eyes still had tears in them.

"Right, maybe I should have told you. First thing, I've been to this place before. Second, you definitely can't consider it normal and third, I know it's weird but try to respect his feeling okay?" Sora whispered.

Luna nodded, "I understand. It's just, I've come across talking ducks and dogs and now inanimate objects? It's a lot to take in but I think I can manage from here on out," Luna moved over to the door and bent down, "Mr... uh, Doorknob? I'm so sorry about that, I was just so startled by you."

The doorknob's opened its eyes again and a bright smile spread across his features, "Why I accept your apology my dear."

"Great. Now make sure you stay awake while we go down to size." Sora told him before turning back to the table in the middle of the room. On it were two bottles with red and blue labels on them. Sora grabbed the one with the blue label and showed it to Luna.

"What's that?" Luna asked inspecting the bottle closely. Inside was what Luna could only describe as a black liquid.

"Try it yourself. Just only a little though." Sora handed her the bottle. Luna looked at him before taking a drink of the contents.

Handing it back to Sora she asked, "Okay? So what did that D-O-o-o?" Luna hiccupped and looked around her. Sora's face was no longer there but instead his shoes and legs. The door was also facing right back at her. The same height.

"You can't be serious. I'm so small." Luna rested her hand on the top of her head and looked around at how different things seemed when she was at this height.

It didn't take long before Sora joined her in the height department, "Impressive huh?"

"More than impressive. You know how you said this place wasn't normal? I doubt any other worlds will ever be. There's always something new to find which you can't find in other places right?" Luna stated her thoughts as the two walked back to the door.

"Right. It's the atmosphere, I think. Something different about each world." Sora agreed.

"Even though they were so connected long ago." Luna nodded remembering the Ansem Reports in the journal's recount. The two approached the door and Sora stood to the side and slowly reached around the doorknob with the back of his hand.

"So then Luna. I officially welcome you to Wonderland." Sora said in his most official voice and then opened up the door. Luna peered inside but then her smile was replaced instead with a frown.

"This is Wonderland? Doesn't exactly look wonderful." She said much to Sora's astonishment. Sora for a second wondered if Luna had maybe bumped her head a bit too hard when falling.

"What? Wonderland not wonderful? How's that-" Sora stopped talking when he looked through the door himself. He knew he hadn't gone through this way before, but he doubted it would have been much different from going by the bed. Wonderland looked absolutely depressing.

The dark and gloomy sky reached as far as the eye could see as Sora and Luna walked through Wonderland, or what had once been anyway. The supposed atmosphere that Sora had talked about had completely differed from when he last came here. The land seemed completely devoid of life and colour, the only remains being the golden leaves which had fallen off the bare trees. Looking up into the sky, Sora could see no sunlight shining down but instead the sun itself was obscured by thick dark clouds.

"Something is not right here." Sora said shaking his head continuously.

"Maybe we've entered the dark and gloomy season?" Luna suggested staring at the linear path in front of them.

"Huh, you think? I really do hope so." Sora replied but even as he truly wanted to believe, he just couldn't help but shake the feeling that something was very wrong with Wonderland. Sora's shaking of the head continued as they walked down the path, the consistency of the number of trees seeming less and less.

"So where are we going?" Luna asked trying to break the tense atmosphere after what seemed like an everlasting silence.

"I don't know. This place doesn't seem familiar to me." Sora stopped shaking his head; in fact he stopped what he was doing in general and sat on the ground.

"So, what you're saying is, we're lost?" Luna looked at him for clarification.

Sora sat still for a moment before looking back, "Let's go back. Try the bed this time. At least I knew where that led me." Luna nodded and helped Sora up. The two were beginning to walk when a group of Heartless popped up, that being two Large Bodies and three Creeper Plants.

"Luna, those plants shoot seeds. Make sure you block them." Sora advised as the two both summoned their Keyblades.

"Right." Luna acknowledged this by guarding just in time to stop a seed from the Plant closest to her from hitting her. Inching closer she swung her Keyblade upwards knocking it out from the ground and into the air. She finished it off with a fire spell. One of the Large Bodies jumped into the air aiming to possibly pound Sora into the ground. Sora spun his Keyblade like a fan holding it up in the air knocking the Body out of his attacks and sending him on his back. Sora finished up with a full swing leaning his Keyblade back and swinging in for a home run taking out the Heartless. Luna jumped for the ground to avoid another seed. She barely felt it zoom over her head but before she could find relief the other Large Body tried to pound his fist into Luna. Rolling out of the way in time to avoid the blow, she crawled quickly to where the second Plant was and pulled it out from its roots stunning it. Disposing it with her Dream Seeker, she smiled but was once again dragged away from her thoughts, literally this time.

"Sora!" Luna yelled as she was dragged rather slowly by a root which had entangled itself around her leg, probably from the last Creeper Plant. Sora noticing her plea for help, slide dashed into the last plant taking it out quickly and destroying the root around Luna's leg, "Thanks. I owe you one."

Concentrating back on the Large Body, Luna tried to use strike raid however it rebounded of its belly unharmed, "That was how you do it right?"

"Strike raid? Yeah, but it won't work on this thing. Have to attack from the back or with magic," Sora said. The Large Body swung itself towards them on its belly moving at quick speed. Sora jumped in and guarded the attack knocking the Heartless on its stomach. He then proceeded to throw in a series of quick furious jabs with the Kingdom Key defeating it. Luna sighed summoning away her Keyblade starting the walk back. She knew she had screwed up. While they had taken out all of the Heartless, Luna could admit that she had not tried her best and was rather irrational when it came to taking risks such as when she attempted to grab the roots of one of the Creeper Plants. While it had worked, she could have also been hurt in process doing it.

"Don't worry Luna. We'll get better with this teamwork thing." Sora caught up with her noticing her sullen disposition. Luna nodded but said nothing more knowing it was better not to let something like that drag her down. He was right of course; they had barely done any training after all and certainly not in co-ordination together yet.

Arriving at the door, Sora twisted the doorknob and tried to push forward.

"It's not working." Sora hissed in annoyance. The doorknob was probably fast asleep yet again.

"Hello Mr Doorknob? Could you let us through please?" Luna shouted through the keyhole however no voice echoed back, "Is it that easy to not get interrupted in your sleep?"

"What? Nah. Remember when I woke you up from that dream a few days ago?" Sora reminded her before clapping both his hands together quickly making Luna jumps away from the keyhole.

Sora said in a most positive voice, "Okay, since the door won't open. I can officially say we're lost."

"Is that really something to be happy about?" Luna gave him a lop-sided smile.

"Well unless you plan on waiting here for him to wake up, then someone has to remain positive about the situation." Sora explained his attentions certainly not seeming to care much about the door.

"Well then, allow me. I'll need a lot of it." Luna responded smiling sweetly.

"Y'know, a wise duck and dog once said 'no frowning, this ship runs on happy faces' and I agree with them." Sora recited.

"A journey full of smiles. I like the sound of that." Luna nodded agreeing with Donald and Goofy's teaching. The two turned around and walked a short way off from the door. Before they could get that far along the path, they came upon a mysterious noise. It was the sound of a waterfall except Sora and Luna had not heard this sound or even seen anything relatively like a water source nearby while heading through the path. Luna's shocked expression as she moved her head upwards alerted Sora to the problem at hand. Giant pellets of raindrops were shooting down from the sky in their thousands.

"Back to the door!" Sora yelled. The two ran back quickly and pounded mercilessly on the door begging for the doorknob to wake up and let them in. The raindrops started hitting down, drenching the two in water as they tugged and pushed at the door.

"Stand back. Let me try something." Luna moved away quickly as Sora pulled out the Kingdom Key, jumped back and aimed it at the keyhole. A bright light shot out of the Keyblade and a click was heard behind the lock. Throwing open the door, Sora rushed through with Luna right behind him. Slamming the door shut, the doorknob woke up rather abruptly and blasted them for their intervention of his sleep.

"Right, right, listen," Sora began interrupting the doorknob in the middle of his rant, "Was that side of Wonderland always like this?"

"What? You're telling me you don't know? This place has gone all topsy turvy. I'm not sure about the details; you'll have to talk to the rabbit. Even so, was it really necessary to pound my poor eardrums?" The doorknob looked on the verge of swooning.

"Yes, yes it was. Now, we just have to visit the rabbit like you said right? Oh, did Alice come through here?" Sora enquired.

"Ah yes, the girl just came through here recently, and by here I mean the door so if you're planning to look for her I would go back through here. I also wouldn't take the entrance by the bed if I were you." Said the doorknob, its eyelids seeming heavy as it struggled to keep them open.

"Why not?"

"The rabbit told me to tell Alice or anyone else going through to stay away. Simply put, this door doesn't lead to the castle. So if you're going this way, you might want to have a map of the area." It replied wearily.

"But where do we find a map?" Sora asked but it was already too late. The doorknob had once again fallen asleep.

"So the Keyblade can also open doors? Why didn't you do that to begin with?" Luna asked.

"I think you missed the "Key" part of the weapon. And I kind of just remembered it." Sora excused himself offering his apologies and smiling timidly.

"So I can do that as well?" Luna asked. She opened the door and stepped back inside to find no evidence that rain had even fallen. The ground was completely dry and the only other indication of more rain incoming would be the dark clouds in the sky.

"Of course you can. Huh? Wasn't it raining just a moment ago?" Sora appeared behind her looking just as mystified. Had it even rained to begin with?

"Well I don't know about you but I really don't want to stay here for the next downpour." Luna told him cumbersomely allowing Sora to get through and take the lead once more.

"So then all we need is a map of this place. We also have no idea where Alice is but I can take a few guesses once I find something which I've seen before." Sora said starting off into a jogging pace.

"So then Alice is one of the Princesses of Heart?" Luna asked as she jogged along with Sora down the path. Sora grunted 'yes' to confirm Luna's question as the two entered into what seemed like an all too familiar path to both of them.

"Wait a minute. Haven't we already come across this sign?" Luna asked slightly swiftly to halt along the damp tracks. The road here was split off into two directions with Sora and Luna having gone on the path to the right.

"Maybe it's a different sign?" Sora hoped though not really believing of that himself.

"With the same number of birds?" Luna pointed towards the top of the trees where three crows were perched on the branches, their beady eyes staring right back at the two. Sora mentally applauded her for paying such detail to that since apparently she had noticed three crows the last time they came through here as well.

"We could really use a map right now!" Sora shouted at the crows however they paid him no attention, just like he expected.

"A map you say? Oh, I think all you would need is a helping... hand." A chuckle could be heard somewhere nearby.

"Who said that? We kind of do need a hand getting out of here." Sora called out looking around for the source of the voice.

"Okay then, here you go." A cat's paw appeared in front of Luna making her shriek quickly before covering her mouth and backing away. The voice laughed and the rest of the paw's body materialized into existence revealing a madly grinning Cheshire Cat.

"That was not funny cat." Sora laughed nervously barely able to contain himself from jumping out of his shoes.

"Well what's funny to me and what's funny to you can be two completely different things, just like this road here. Or maybe possibly, the same?" The Cheshire cat checked his claws as Sora rolled his eyes.

"So who are you exactly and where are we?" Luna asked still completely creeped out by the strange magic trick the cat had just performed.

"I am the Cheshire Cat, I know much but do not always tell. As for where you are, I can't exactly answer. We could be here, or there, or even there," The feline twisted his arms in all different directions until he was bouncing around on one leg and twisting his tongue in front of Sora and Luna, "couldn't tell you even if I tried. Too much darkness around every corner."

"Darkness? Did something happen to Wonderland? Where's Alice?" Sora asked however he paused when the cat disappeared from where he was and reappeared on Sora's head.

"Ah this place might be useful to take a nap." The cat wiggled its tail backward and forward in Sora's face.

"Hey that's my hair. Get off it." Sora complained pulling the cat off his head only for it to disappear once again in his hands.

"Wonderland just isn't the same anymore. Up is down, left is right. As for Alice, I do recall meeting a girl by a similar name somewhere around here. Can't exactly say for sure if it's the same Alice you're talking about." The Cheshire Cat answered reappearing and curling around Luna's leg.

"So do you know where a map is then?" Luna asked looking at Sora in a cry for help not really sure she wanted to be anywhere near this cat. The vibe emanating off it was terrifying to say the least.

"Map? Why would you need a map? Chances are if you're planning to survive, you'll only need to think crazy. Like me." The cat laughed probably even more insanely than last time (if that were possible) disappearing from Luna's leg. The last remaining remnants of the cat being there was its two yellow eyes, which moved around in different directions until it eventually dissolved away, the echoing laugh trailing along with them.

"I hope we never come across that thing again." Luna thought aloud however Sora's mind was on something different.

"What did he mean by not the same Alice. Who else could it be?" Sora observed the crows for a second, once again hoping for some sort of indication of a direction for them and once again received nothing but a blank stare.

"I honestly wouldn't think about it much. He looked pretty insane to me." Luna fathomed looking at the sign once more. There were two places they could possibly go to however the writing on either of the two posts was not clear at all but instead roughly smudged.

"Well we're not going to find out anything by just sitting here and talking. So let's pick the path to the left this time and see what we can make from it." Sora said. Together the two picked their pace up and hurried through the path leading to what they hoped to be an exit to this barren wasteland.