Title: Crossed Trails ( 7 / ? )
Author name: Ari Powwel
Author email: eight_muses@hotmail.com
Spoilers: Kingdom Hearts (duh! lol)
Summary: Could there be uncharted worlds up
there? My curiosity never ceases to grow. Sora and company failed to mention all the different
people they met on their quest . . .
Random quotes from this chapter:
'Do you know where that boulder was?'
'Welcome to the unbirthday party!'
'Invisible has quite a lot of
purposes . . .'
'I'm going to the bar, if you want
to come.'
'Then it's settled.'
DISCLAIMER: This story is based on
characters and situations created and owned by various publishers including but
not limited to Disney Interactive and Square Co., Ltd. The characters Sara,
Lara, Lia, and Simone are owned by their various creators: Ari, Sue, Kaylee,
and Rocky. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is
intended.
Author's Notes: Chapter started: 10
July, 2003
Chapter finished: 12 July, 2003
There's a bit of a longer OC part in here . . . I'm hoping that by the end of
this chapter you'll see the characters beginning to evolve, but don't worry if
they seem like Mary-Sues **passes out** because I just haven't been able to fit
in their quirks yet. They'll come . . . believe me, they'll come . . .
**snickers**
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Chapter 7: Teatricks
'Where's Alice?!' Sora cried out.
'She must've been kidnapped while we were fighting,' Donald told him.
To their left, the Queen was getting angered (though admittedly, it happened often). 'You fools!' she shouted. 'Find the one behind this! I don't care how!'
'Should we go?' Goofy asked Sora.
Donald responded by grabbing the dog's arm and pulling him in the direction of the Lotus Forest. Sora followed them, wondering. How had Alice been kidnapped? They would have noticed, wouldn't they? After a couple moments Sora stopped thinking. Wonderland was just strange, and all this thinking was hurting his head.
When they stepped into the Forest, the Cheshire Cat appeared, smile still stretched across his furry face. 'Have you seen Alice?' Donald asked him.
'Alice, no. Shadows, yes!' he responded, once again making it sound as if everything was a joke.
'Where did they go?' Goofy asked next.
'This way? That way? Does it matter? Left, right, up, down! All mixed up thanks to the shadows! Step deeper into the forest to the deserted garden. You might find shadows in the upside-down room!' he disappeared, and reappeared a moment later as a flower opened, sending a huge boulder flying through the air. The boulder rolled to a stop next to the pond, and the Cheshire Cat waved cheekily to them from atop it, then disappeared again.
'Do you know where that boulder was?' Sora asked slowly. He didn't really expect them to know, but to his surprise, Goofy nodded.
'I saw it when I fell offa the tree!' he said.
When he didn't offer any further explanation, Donald sighed. 'Where was it, ya great palooka?'
'Oh! Why didn't ya say so?' Goofy stepped forward and led them around the left of the tree, to the back of the forest. 'It was right there!' He pointed to a small clearing, filled with a long table and a group of chairs. 'It was blocking the opening before.'
'Well, let's go in!' Sora pushed past the two dawdlers, looking at a sign that stood next to the table. 'Welcome to the unbirthday party!' he read, then frowned. 'An unbirthday party?'
A strange voice filled the garden. It was laughing the entire time it talked, making it sound rather weird. 'Is today your birthday?'
'No . . .' Sora answered.
'Then it's your unbirthday!'
'But why have a party?'
'Why not?'
Sora shrugged. 'Can't beat that logic . . .' he noticed the sign had changed, and read it again. 'Sit down to receive your gift! Okay . . .' he, Donald, and Goofy sat down, Sora in a stiff wooden one next to the sign, Donald across from him, and Goofy settled himself in an overstuffed pink fluffy one at the head of the table. As soon as they finished sitting, the cake on the table disappeared, and their chairs were thrown backwards. Sora leapt up, drawing his Keyblade, but the green orbs, which he had learned were called HP balls (Health and power? He wasn't sure what it stood for), and a small box fell down out of nowhere. Sora picked up the box, noticing it held an Elixir. He shrugged. 'That was weird . . .'
'Come on!' Donald quacked at him. Sora realised the HP balls were all gone, and he, Goofy, and Donald stood alone in the clearing with the table. Donald was standing next to a small house, opening the door. Sora followed him and Goofy through, putting the Elixir into his bag.
They found themselves on the ceiling of the Bizarre Room. 'Whoa!' Sora breathed, looking around. That was when he noticed the shadows that were facing him. He let out a startled yell, then produced the Keyblade, dispatching them easily. As soon as Goofy had destroyed the last ones, he started forward again, but a group of Red Nocturnes blocked his way. Sora rolled his eyes and sighed, raising his sword. He noticed Donald froze a few of them; he was using the Blizzard spell. He slashed the last one, then stopped, noticing the Cheshire Cat was laying on one of the lamps.
'They're hiding somewhere,' he told them. 'And the momeraths outgrabe. Want to find the shadows? Try turning on the light.' and he disappeared. Sora jumped up to the lamp, then instinctively held the Keyblade over the lamp. To his surprise, the lamp lit itself. The cat appeared on the next lamp over. 'It's too dim. Make it brighter.' Sora bounded over the gap and lit the second one, noticing the cat had appeared again on the first one. 'All the lights are on. You'll see the shadows soon. They'll arise in this room, but somewhere else. The shadows might go after that doorknob, too.'
After he was fully gone, Sora turned to Donald and Goofy. 'What did he mean, the shadows might go after the doorknob? Why would the shadows go after the doorknob?'
'I don't know, Sora,' said Donald, a bit irritated-sounding. 'But I'd bet if we came back in here right-side-up, we'd find out.'
'Right!' added Goofy.
'Alright,' Sora agreed, 'let's go!' he left the Bizarre Room the same way they'd entered. 'At least, now, we know why it's called the Bizarre Room!'
They walked through the Lotus Forest, through the Queen's Courtyard, and finally back into the Bizarre Room, glad that it was the right way again. The Cheshire Cat appeared, it's large purple and pink striped tail switching lazily back and forth. 'You'll have a better view from higher up,' he said, his grin actually widening, if it was possible. As Sora, Donald, and Goofy climbed from the chair to the table, they couldn't see the cat, and when they climbed over the edge of the table, he was standing in an impossible position. His head was on the ground, and one foot stood on it, his other foot and both his arms out for balance. How does he do that? Sora wondered. Must be a heck of a yoga thing . . . 'The shadows should be here soon. Are you prepared for the worst? If not, too bad!' he said, and a loud thud proved his point. 'The Trickmaster!' he said, sounding pleased, and then he was gone.
A large thing dropped to the ground in front of them. Its legs were almost like a diamond shape, bouncing up and down as he walked. The top half was red, the bottom black, as were its feet. It had extremely long arms, which looked like a black piece of paper folded in a zigzag form. It carried what looked like purple featherdusters in each hand; Sora wondered what they were for. Lastly, five heads sat stacked on top of one another, giving the Trickmaster a look that was a cross between frightening and tremendously funny. 'Oh, boy . . .' said Sora, tensing.
* * *
Excerpt from Lara's chronicles, encrypted, 23:29:03
I'm afraid that in my mission for the Queen Minnie, I've already screwed up twice. Apparently there was a—a person hiding outside of the library, who heard our every word. This person managed to get to the Gummi Garages before I did, and she took the ship I was supposed to take. We were alerted to her presence by Chip, one of the chipmunks that are the mechanics. We rushed to the garage to stop her, but as we entered, she gave us this huge grin and took off. The doors had already started closing, but she made it through anyways.
Which brings me to my second problem. After the girl left, I was forced to wait for over two hours for another ship to be prepared, meaning two things: She's had more time to get away, and my superiours have gotten further ahead of me. I'm supposed to follow them and help out if I need to, but I am NOT TO BE SEEN. Makes me grateful I took it upon to myself to learn Invisible. I don't agree with our teacher, Lord Donald; Invisible has quite a lot of purposes, as I'm demonstrating to myself now.
So here we are, in the ship, blasting along to Traverse Town. I say we in the sense that the Royal Guard is with me. And I'm not really included in the we: they don't know I'm here. As Queen Minnie has told me, I can't be seen, and I can't risk that one of the Guard will tell Lord Donald or Sir Goofy that I'm here. I hid in the cargo bay; after all, they aren't going to come down here, are they? What reason would they have to?
One of my friends knows I'm here. He saw me as I left the ship, but he's not going to tell anyone. Not even the other members of the Guard.
I went to the Accessory Shop -- it seemed to be the biggest shop, and it was in the centre of the town, so I assumed I'd learn the most there. The man, Cid, told me that one of his friends, Aerith, had met up with the Mage and the Knight, and if I wanted to find out anything, I should ask her. He pointed me to where I could find her, and as he did, I noticed the girl from the garages running down the alley. She leapt, catlike, onto the roof as the guards ran by under her. I feel a bit bad for Luke: he has to listen to whatever the Guard's leader says, he can't do what he thinks is right. That's part of the reason I decided to become a mage. That, and I've always liked the magic . . .
But I saw the girl, and I managed to corner her. 'You stole that ship,' I hissed at her.
She just shrugged. 'I couldn't stay on that world. Too creepy.'
' . . . are you calling my world creepy?'
She just gave me a look. 'I suppose I am.'
'Name.'
'Palanthourath.'
'Real name.'
She just laughed and leapt over the balcony rail, leaving me quite a bit angered. I watched as she darted across the square, then up the stairs toward the Second District. I climbed down from the balcony, making a note to get a change of clothes before setting off again. A noise from behind made me whirl around.
Another girl was sitting there, dark hair pulled out of her face. She was holding a candle in one hand; her thumb and forefinger were closed over the wick. 'Who're you?' she asked.
I didn't answer her. 'Ow!' she yelped, pulling her fingers away from the wick, which had relit itself. She stuck them (her fingers, I mean) in her mouth. 'Those candles relight themselves,' she said, a bit unnecessarily. When I still didn't reply, she narrowed her eyes. 'I know you can talk. I heard you! Now, talk!'
I laughed. 'I can talk.'
'I know that . . . I'm Lia, since you didn't want to tell me your name.'
'Lara.'
'Pretty name,' she nodded.
'Thank you.'
Lia sat the candle down on the table and hopped off it, swinging a bag onto her shoulder. 'I'm going to the bar, if you want to come.'
'The bar?!'
She nodded. 'Yeah, I know the tender. You don't have to drink!' she laughed. 'She's just a fun person to talk to!'
'Alright,' I agreed. 'I'll come.' And maybe I'll have a chance to catch up to Lord Donald and Sir Goofy . . .
'Let's go!' Lia yelled back at me. I laughed, and now I must stop my writing (for she's yelling again.)
* * *
Sora ducked behind the table, pulling a potion out of his bag. He drained it quickly, feeling its effects curing his wounds and restoring his energy. He looked out at Donald and Goofy, then at the Trickmaster.
They'd learned so far that the Trickmaster wasn't a Heartless to try Fire on. It only set the featherdusters on fire, and when he attacked, the damage dealt hurt far more when it burnt. A quick burst of Blizzard from Donald had ended that, but since then the Trickmaster had continually walked over to the stove to set the sticks ablaze.
They'd also learned that the Trickmaster's arms could reach much further than they seemed. Sora had been balanced precariously on the bookcase, waiting for the Heartless to come closer, then he would leap into the air and attack its head. The thing had been too far away for him to strike when its arm flew towards him. Sora had thought it wouldn't reach him, but it slammed into him and sent him flying into the corner.
So far three—no, four now; Donald and Goofy had just knocked another off—heads had been taken off so far. One was remaining, and would have to be taken care of. Sora climbed up onto the table and launched himself into space, clutching the Trickmaster's arm and slicing at it. He hit it with several three-combos before the Heartless shook him to the floor. 'Ice!' Donald shouted, sending an iceball at the thing. It slammed into the head and forced the Trickmaster to bend down to regain its strength. Sora took advantage of this time to attack the thing with several more combos, trying to finish before it straightened up again.
But fate had other ideas for him. The Trickmaster stood up and smashed its fist into the table, destroying it immediately. Sora ran for the bookcase and scrambled up onto it, trying to lure the Heartless over there. Luckily for him, the thing wasn't the smartest, and followed him there, allowing Sora to lunge off of the top of the bookcase, swinging wildly at it. Goofy performed a strange move with his shield, ramming it straight into the thing's head. Donald threw another ball of ice at it as Sora leapt off the bookcase, plunging his Keyblade straight into the Trickmaster's heart—or where it would be if it had a heart. The final head collapsed off and hit the floor; the body of the Heartless shuddered wildly. For a moment it looked as if it were still alive; it had walked with a jaunty bounce. After a moment, though, the body collasped to the ground and dissolved, producing a large, shimmering heart, just like had been there after they'd defeated the Guard Armour, then it flew away. This time, however, Sora noticed something drop to the ground where the Trickmaster had previously been. Sora picked it up and slipped it into his pocket, reminding himself to ask Cid what it was when they went back to Traverse Town.
A yawning startled him, and he spun around, seeing the Doorknob was awake again. 'What a racket,' it said. 'How's a doorknob to get any sleep?' It yawned again, and Sora watched in amazement as the Keyblade in his hand swung upwards to point at the knob's open mouth. A light blueish-white beam emitted from the end of it, shining into the mouth. There was a slight clicking noise, then the Doorknob was asleep and Sora's arm dropped to his side again.
'What was that?' Donald asked.
'You hear that? Sounded like something closed,' Sora answered his question with another.
Donald was cut off from replying when a red . . . thing dropped to the ground. Goofy picked it up, identifying it to them as a Gummi block. 'This gummi ain't like the others. No, sir!'
'Alright,' Sora told him. 'You keep ahold of it, okay?'
Goofy nodded and had just placed it in his pocket when the Cheshire Cat reappeared on the table before them. 'Splendid!' he applauded them. 'You're quite the hero. If you're looking for Alice—' Sora's heart jumped a moment— 'she's not here.' his spirits sank again. 'She's gone! Off with the shadows, into darkness.' then he disappeared again.
'No . . .' Sora whispered. They'd been working so hard to find her, and now she was gone?
'Let's go back to our gummi ship,' suggested Donald. 'We might find her in another world.'
Sora nodded a moment, and Goofy told him, 'We've gotta go to a rest point to return to our ship.'
'There was one in the room we arrived in . . .' thought Sora. Donald and Goofy nodded, and Sora realised that the table had returned, the two medicine bottles sitting on top. Sora climbed on top of the table and took a drink of the second bottle; the one that they hadn't drank yet. He felt the world around him come back to normal size, and sighed in relief. After being tiny for so long, it was wonderful to be big again. He waited until Donald and Goofy had grown to their normal sizes, too, then passed through the door opposite the Doorknob to Wonderland, through the passage, then to the rest point that returned them to their ship.
'So, where to next?' Donald asked, pulling up a map of the nearby worlds. 'We should probably go to Traverse Town, first, to restock on potions, ethers, elixirs, and all those.'
Sora nodded. 'And . . . Cid told me that after his friends' worlds had been destroyed, they all ended up in Traverse Town. Maybe . . . Kairi and Riku just hadn't gotten there yet.' His voice held a hopeful tone to it, as though he really did believe that they'd be there.
'Then it's settled.' Donald hit a button on the console, the map faded into transparency, and the gummi ship rumbled away from the landing pad, on to their next destination: Traverse Town.
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Please remember to review.
. . . well, it seems that there is no interest in this fic, so as a result, there will not be any more new chapters until I feel like putting them up. I don't feel like writing something that's not being read, anyways, and I've found/adopted a new pet plot bunny.
So until the next update **tips hat**
