Vixen: Alright, who here likes Wonderland? If you don't, too bad. and we say hello to an old friend here. Who is it? Hint: Look at the title!
"All right, Yami, where are we?" I asked her, getting a bit frustrated.
I had no clue where we were; we had fallen down some sort of hole, and had landed in an extremely strange room. There had been a table with two bottles on it: one blue and the other red. "Try the blue bottle," the doorknob had said. So we did. And now we're about six inches high and in some sort of wonderland. Talk about a bad day.
"I don't know, really, but I don't think Maleficent would send us here without a purpose. Alice has to be here somewhere. And please stop pacing; you're making me upset," Yami replied.
"Sorry," I said, stopping. Trying to calm down, I looked around me. We were in a forest of some sort, with this pond on one side. Everything seemed like it was alive; the flowers asked for potions and ethers, while a stump begged to be stepped on. "Where are we?" I asked again, this time to no one in particular.
"Who knows, but you'll find out were you're going if you just keep walking."
Spinning around to see who had said that, I saw a cat with a huge grin on his face, and pink and purple stripes covering his body. "Who are you?" I demanded.
"The question is not, 'Who am I,' but more like, 'Who are you?' If you can answer that, than I'll tell you. But until then, it stays with me!" he called back.
I decided to just give up on this cat. "Lets go Yami," I called, and started to walk away. But that cat said something, so I looked around and said, "Excuse me?"
"Find the boy, and you'll find who you're looking for." And without another word, that crazy cat vanished.
"Wait, what boy...! Man, that was so weird," I said.
At my command, Yami fled, and so did I; I could have sworn I heard something moving towards us.
"Donald, stop shoving me!"
"Shut-up Goofy!"
"Both of you, quiet! We need to find the evidence for the Queen, or Alice is in trouble!" I could have sworn I heard that voice before; I just couldn't quite place were I'd heard it.
After about a minute, from our hiding place, Yami and I could see three people walk into the clearing. There was a duck, something that looked like, I don't know what, and then...
"Sora!" I whispered. I got up to go meet him, but Yami grabbed my hand. "We can't. We just can't Tora." She whispered. I looked at her, wondering if she had taken leave of her senses. "Why not?"
"We can't. If he found out what happened, he'd fight us. He's the denizen of the Light; and we're on the side of the Dark. We just can't talk with him."
I was about to retort, but then I saw Sora walking towards us. Too late I realized we were making one heck of a racket. But luckily, that cat saved us.
Sora spun around. "Who are you?" He asked.
The cat just grinned. "Who, indeed? Poor Alice. Soon to lose her head, and she's not guilty of a thing!" He sang.
Sora was starting to get really irritated. "Hey, if you know who the culprit is, tell us!" He barked.
"The Cheshire Cat has all the answers... but doesn't always tell. The answer, the culprit, the cat, all lie in darkness."
Sora looked confused. "What cat?" He questioned.
The Cheshire Cat grinned. "The cat, or the girl? Are they different critters? Or one in the same? Up, down, all around. Who is she?"
"Wait!" Sora cried; but it was too late, the Cheshire Cat had disappeared.
But his voice called out, "They've already left the forest. 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.
The duck raised an eyebrow. "Should we trust him?"
"I don't know, Donald," said Goofy.
That crazy cat reappeared and said in a sing-song voice, "To trust, or not to trust? I trust you'll decide!"
"Man that was so weird," Sora said, not knowing that those were my exact words just ten minuets ago.
After they had walked off, I got up to follow them, but Yami stopped me... again. "We can't ...," she started but I cut her off.
"We can't talk to them, I know, okay? But they said something about Alice; so if we follow them and stay out of site, we might find out were she's at."
Yami nodded reluctantly. "Fine. Then lets go."
About two hours later, Yami and I were hiding on top of a hedge, watching the events below us. Sora, Donald and Goofy had gathered the evidence, and the Queen of Hearts was about to make her ruling. While Yami and I had been following them, we found out about a trial that was taking place. A young girl named Alice had been accused of stealing the Queen's heart. How such a mean spirited, spiteful woman can have a heart, I don't know. But Sora knew, as did I, that the real culprit were the Heartless; so Sora had been finding evidence to prove that Alice was innocent. I was hopeing for a diversion afterwards, so I could catch her; because she was a Princess of Heart, and that was my mission afterall.
But there had been a nagging, half familiar scent that I just couldn't quite place, and it was starting to drive me crazy.
Sora set down four boxes before the Queen. "I hope this will prove to you that she didn't do it," he said.
The Queen of Hearts snorted. "Well, that's certainly a lot of evidence, but I'm still not impressed. Cards! Bring forth my evidence!"
Another box appeared out of nowhere. By some sort of magic, the quintet of boxes rose into the air, mixed themselves, than landed with a soft 'thud' back on the grassy earth.
"Hmm, checking all five would only be a waste of time. All right, then. Choose the one you wish to present. I'll decide who's guilty based on that evidence," the Queen declared.
Sora looked at her; disbelief etched on his face. "What? After all the trouble of collecting it?" Sora cried.
The Queen bellowed, "You dare object? Then you will lose your head! Now, choose! One box!"
Sora stepped up to the middle box. "This one," he said firmly.
The Queen of Hearts asked, "Are you certain? No second chances!"
"I'm sure," he said simply.
"Now we shall see who the real culprit is," the Queen cried.
Sora opened the box and, sure enough, it revealed a Heartless.
After the soldier disappeared, the Queen asked, "What in the world was that?"
Sora looked at her with that dorky grin plastered on his face. "There's your evidence. Alice is innocent."
I could tell that the Queen of Hearts was a real sore loser. "Rrrrrrrgh... Silence! I'm the law here! Article 29: Anyone who defies the queen is guilty!"
Donald looked at her in amazement. "That's crazy!" He quacked.
But the Queen didn't listen to him. "Seize them at once!" She cried.
Chaos insued. Suites of Spades and Heart cards started attacking Sora left and right. I didn't know if he could handle them all, but I did know one thing: this was my chance to get Alice. Using the magic that the sorceress gave me, I made myself invisible and padded up to the cage she was in. It was kinda hard because of all the battling cards; but someone hit the Queen, which made all of the Hearts stop in stunned disbelief.
When I got to the cage, I saw that it was high up in the air. I concentrated, and then I found myself inside of the cage. Alice looked like she was about to scream.
"Quiet, and I'll get you out of here," I whispered. She just nodded her head and took my hand. Using that magic again, I teleported us out of the cage and back by Yami.
"Take her to Maleficent," I told the lioness; with a single nod, Yami and Alice disappeared into a portal of Darkness. I could see that the fighting had stopped; and upon finding out that Alice was missing, the Queen ordered Sora to find her. I watched his retreating back; than, losing an inner battle, I bolted after him.
I followed Sora back into the forest. "Sora..." I called out.
I was stopped by a searing pain on my right shoulder; it felt like someone had placed a white-hot knife to my brand. I screamed in painfull agony, just as I heard Maleficent's voice. Idiot girl! You are not to speak to Sora! Get back here, this instant!
The pain ebbed, and tears blurring my eyes, I opened a dark portal and stepped backwards through it. The last thing I saw was Sora whipping around, with my name on his lips.
I could see that I was back in my room again; with an extremely vexed Maleficent in front of me. "Imbecile! You are not to speak with him! It will undo everything we are working for!" She cried.
I just couldn't call on my anger. I felt defeated; I could feel the tears rolling down my cheeks unchecked as I said in an uneven, broken tone, "I just wanted to see him again. I only wished to talk to him. I just wanted to know that he was all right."
Maleficent seemed to soften under my pain. "I'm sorry that you had to find out this way, child; but he doesn't need you anymore. You saw that he's already made new friends. But you can still reunite with Riku and Kairi."
"You mean, I get another chance?" I asked her, trying to hide the hope in my voice.
"Yes, but if you try to communicate with him again, you will sorely regret it. This I promise." She said. Then, looking around, she said, "I can see that you are tired; and it has been a long day. You retrieved Alice for me, and for that I am grateful. You may rest for the night. And then tomorrow, I will give you your next mission." With that, she left my chambers.
Once again, I felt like I was going to be sick; but this time, I was sick at heart. I can't believe that he's forgotten about us so soon, I thought.
I changed into a brief midnight blue shift. The room might be dark, but it's still summer, so it was really warm. I collapsed on the bed, and the last thing I thought of was Riku, wondering were he could be, before I slipped into that merciful blackness of slumber.
I can't believe it's happening,
I can't believe it's true.
You've made new friends,
You've forgotten me,
But I didn't forget you.
But then it does seem fair,
As I think of it tonight.
We're on different sides now;
I'm hiding in the Darkness,
While you stay in the Light.
I guess what she says is true,
You now have two new friends.
You've forgotten us, so it seems.
But I'll try to find a way to go on;
I just don't know if my broken heart can mend.
Vixen: I know, that was a bit mean to Tora. But she's a strong girl; she'll bounce back. Everyone else is asleep at the moment, which works out just fine for next time. Tora is having a bad dream about the past, and maybe we'll find out the identity of the mystery girl from chapter one. And an old friend with many disguises comes into this next time. Want to find out who? Just stay tuned...
