Inverted Sky: KH 358/2 Days
Chapter 15: Wonderland
Xion's Log: Day 170
Still no luck in finding Vexen. I've looked in all the places I figured he wouldn't go to, but I guess even he wouldn't be 'that' predictable. So I've altered my strategy...or more like, I'm just checking in random worlds in the hopes of finding a clue.
On another note, Zack has seen Genesis in Twilight Town. While only for brief moments at a time, it does seem that he's been keeping a close watch on the mansion. Though it doesn't appear as though he's taken notice of the illusions we've set up, it might only be a matter of time.
In addition, Riku and Mickey are seeing more Organization activity there as well. Which means, we'll probably get the two sides noticing one another pretty soon. But it also means the danger of being discovered increases drastically. So even more so than before, we need to tread carefully.
I just hope I can find Vexen before everything starts going down.
As the raven-haired girl glanced around the forested area of Wonderland, she let out a silent breath of exasperation. Yet another dead end in her search for her creator. This made the teen shake her head and cross both arms across her chest. 'I'm starting to run out of places to look. If he's not in any of these worlds...then it's possible he's fled to one I haven't seen or heard about yet.' she mused to herself, glancing to the side briefly.
'Although...thinking about his personality, he would never want to be in a place where he wouldn't be able to conduct his research. And since he's a scientist at heart...he'd at least want a computer, right?' Xion continued while tapping her chin thoughtfully.
'This place has a lot of weird things that seem out of place, so it was my last guess.' she continued, shaking her head as there was no sign of Vexen anywhere.
In an instant however, the girl was brought out of these thoughts as she heard footsteps approaching. With a swift turn and dodging roll behind a tree, she watched as a blond girl came out from behind some of the thickets. She was roughly the same age as Xion, and wore a somewhat fancy blue and white dress. 'Alice...' the raven-haired girl thought to herself.
She soon blinked a few times though, as she hadn't met the other teen before now. This led her to pause for a moment, merely questioning how she knew this other girl. Rubbing her forehead slowly to ease the pain, Xion eventually just let out a breath and glanced around the tree. The blond seeming to be looking around a bit worriedly; "Is someone there?" Alice questioned softly.
"I'm just looking for a way out of the forest...gosh I keep getting lost in here." she continued in a more sheepish tone.
Xion couldn't help but smile lightly before gingerly stepping out from behind the tree, her hood up. Upon being noticed, the blond girl blinked many times in response to her presence. However, there was an immediate recognition in her gaze when seeing the black coat. This instantly let Xion know that this teen had met, or at least seen other members of the Organization in passing. But the other teen merely offered a soft smile and wave of her hand in greeting; "H-Hello there, I hope I didn't disturb you during your work." she said a little shyly and with a small amount of caution.
'She's definitely spoken to one of us before.' Xion thought quickly to herself before waving back to the girl.
"Not at all." she responded aloud, which made Alice blink many more times as a result.
"Hmm? Sora? Is that you?" the blond uttered out in surprise, taking a few steps forward.
'Ah~, another friend I assume? I feel like there has been at least one in every world so far.' Xion said inwardly as a small smile curled her shadow-covered lips.
"Not quite, but I understand your confusion...we sound a lot alike." she spoke in an understanding tone.
"Oh...my apologies." Alice started while giving a quick curtsy to show her regret of this mistake.
"Are you perhaps sisters then?" she continued, curiously arching a brow as she did.
"You could say that...we're basically twins." Xion answered with a nod, actually liking the sound of being called Sora's 'sister'.
"How wonderful~." Alice hummed happily as she gained a smile of her own.
"I have a sister myself, so I know what it's like." she added whilst taking a few more steps forward, now that she was sure Xion was friendly.
"Well, my name is Alice...what's yours?" the blond questioned softly, offering the other girl her hand to shake.
Xion herself blinked briefly from beneath her hood, to which she then clasped Alice's hand gently with hers. "Xion...it's nice to meet you, Alice."
As the pair shook one another's hands, they slowly released their grasp and smiled in near unison. Despite only the blond's expression being visible, Alice seemed to almost feel Xion's smile. "So you're looking for a way out of the forest, huh? I'm afraid I also don't really know my way around all that well either." the raven-haired teen hummed out with a curious tilt of her head.
"Oh, that's quite alright. I'm sure that the Cheshire Cat will appear sometime soon to point me in the right direction." Alice responded, giving a quick glance around the area.
"Hmm? 'Cheshire Cat'?" Xion uttered in a confused manner, her having never met whomever this individual was.
"You don't know him? That's quite the surprise. Most who come here to Wonderland have heard of him...at least in passing." the blond claimed as she simply blinked a few times in astonishment.
"I'm usually not here for too long, so I probably never got the chance." the other teen reasoned with a somewhat sheepish tone and smile.
"Well~, better late than never as they say~." a singsong voice spoke up from between the two teens.
Upon looking down near their feet, both girls saw a purple striped cat with a wide grin that defied all logic. However, this sudden appearance made Xion let out an all too familiar yelp, before she swiftly covered her mouth. As the raven-haired teen flushed from beneath her hood, she immediately cleared her throat and removed this hand. Just like a certain someone, Xion was trying to play off her yelp as though it never happened.
"Th-The Cheshire Cat...I presume?" she questioned in a manner that made it way too obvious that she was trying to keep her voice from cracking.
"Perhaps yes...perhaps no." the purple cat began, his voice sounding calm, yet playful.
"It all depends on which of us is asking the question." he continued in a more amused tone while his grin widened even more somehow.
Xion blinked many times to this, but she just nodded slowly in response. "I...I guess so." she uttered out before clearing her throat.
"Are you some kind of magical cat or something?" the raven-haired girl asked curiously, though this was instantly answered as the Cheshire Cat floated up to be at eye level with the teens.
"Magical? What a wonderfully misinterpreted word." he sang out in a chuckle as his head swayed from side to side in a slow and rhythmic manner.
Due to this, neither of the girls noticed that the rest of the cat's body simply walked away from the head. It then began trotting in a circle around them, while still floating in the air. Yet the feline simply continued on, as if nothing was the matter. "Would you consider only the arcane 'magical'? Or what about the wild magics, similar to the one of this world? Or maybe the natural magics that exist in nature? What magic do you consider 'magical'?" he questioned, all as his head continued to tilt from one side to the next.
Without even realizing it, Xion was moving her head in a similar manner. All the while, her mind seemed to be slowly picking up on something. And the moment her eyes shined with realization, the Cheshire Cat's body snapped back into place. "He's in Traverse Town." she uttered out, almost unconsciously as a small grin curled her lips.
"Hmm? Who is where?" Alice questioned in a somewhat confused tone.
Xion turned to the girl with a sheepish smile, scratching the back of her hood. "Sorry...I just had an epiphany." she responded in a soft chuckle.
The blond just continued to gaze in a bewildered manner, yet eventually offered a nod. "Well, I hope it was a good one." she said in clear encouragement.
This made Xion smile happily to the other teen, almost feeling regretful for not meeting this girl sooner. "It definitely was. And hey, now that he's here...he can show-" she started while turning to the Cheshire Cat, only to realize that he was already gone.
"Or not..." she continued in a silent sigh, yet she quickly cleared her throat and looked to the other teen once more.
"Well, I'll try and help guide you out of the forest." the raven-haired girl finished with a shrug.
"I would be most grateful, I'm sure between the two of us...we can find a way through." Alice claimed as she offered a small smile.
With a shared nod in agreement, the pair headed off on their way. During their trek through the woods, Xion asked about the time Alice spent with Sora. Hearing such stories was refreshing for the girl, as the blond was clearly impacted quite a lot by the brown-haired teen. Despite their interaction being brief, Sora changed the way Alice looked at a great many things in life. Though, after hearing about all the issues still remaining with the Queen of Hearts, Xion began contemplating possible solutions.
"So she's still being tyrannical in her rule, despite the whole incident with the Heartless?" the raven-haired girl muttered silently in a sigh.
"Yes...even though so many people have been saying that her actions are the reason for why they keep appearing, she has not changed one bit." Alice said in a bit of a huff, clearly not happy at the ruler of Wonderland.
Xion gave a slow nod in understanding, to which she tapped her chin a few times in thought. "Well...in that case...why not start a rebellion?" she claimed with a small smirk and shrug.
While staring at the hooded teen with a shocked expression, the blond actually took pause as she appeared to actually be considering these words. "I...I don't know if I could do such a thing, but maybe someone should." she said softly, yet quickly received a pat on the shoulder from the other girl.
"You're stronger than you give yourself credit for. But it's up to you." Xion stated with a great deal of encouragement.
Alice just shrugged briefly to these words, before tilting her head and looking back to the raven-haired teen. "So, what about you? You said something about Traverse Town, is that where you're going next?"
Nodding slowly to the blond, Xion took in and let out a deep breath as she was really hoping her guess was right. "Yeah...the Cheshire Cat made me realize just how important that place was to him and his research." she started as a smile curled her lips slightly from beneath her hood.
"Who's 'him'?" Alice uttered out, almost unconsciously as she just stared at the other girl with a blinking gaze.
"A friend...of sorts. He's someone I have some questions for, but I have to find him first." Xion answered in a somewhat more sheepish tone than before.
However, she quickly cleared her throat and continued on; "After the Cheshire Cat mentioned the different types of magics, I realized that the same could be said of the sort of work he does."
"While it's mostly scientific, there are other facets of his research that are very different from what I was assuming he'd be doing. One thing in particular, was the significance of the heart's connection to specific worlds, one of those worlds being Traverse Town." Xion finished, just as the pair finally emerged outside of the forest.
While Alice seemed rather confused by this, she just nodded in response as she could vaguely follow Xion's meaning. "Looks like we made it out after all." the raven-haired girl hummed out with a small smile, glancing around the area as the sun shone down on them.
The blond simply mirroring this expression, despite being unable to see the other teen's face. "Thank you so much." the blond stared happily, giving a quick curtsy to the other girl.
"I hope you find this 'friend of sorts' you mentioned...and get your questions answered." Alice added with a slightly wider smile.
"Thank you too. And again..." Xion started before removing her hood to reveal her smiling features.
Alice blinked many times to this, as she was still a little surprised of how similar she looked to Sora. "...you'd make for a great leader." she finished with a quick wink, just as she vanished in a corridor of darkness.
The blond was left a bit stunned for a moment as she slowly looked down, to which she let out a silent breath. "Well...I guess I can give it some thought." she whispered to herself before heading off on her way.
Xion has been pointed in the right direction by an old friend, and Alice is now pointing in a more interesting direction herself. I hope all of you enjoyed and will let me know what you thought. Until next time.