"This has to be one of the strangest things I've ever done." Riku was saying as the three of them walked swiftly across the ceiling of the Bizarre Room. "What kind of room IS this? We've already walked across the floor, two different walls and now the ceiling!"
"It's called the Bizarre Room, what did you expect?" Sora replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Where are you trying to get to, anyway?" Riku asked.
"One of these doors is a hidden entrance to the courtyard." Sora answered. "It's just out of sight, so we'll finally have surprise on our side. But I can't remember how to find it…"
"Great."
"Well it has to be around here somewhere…" Alice piped up from behind them. "There aren't very many doors in this room, so we must be close."
They had been moving quietly through Wonderland for a few hours now, and they were finally in some familiar territory. However, since this was Wonderland, 'familiar' did not necessarily mean 'easy to navigate'. Things had changed a little bit since Sora's last visit, and even Alice admitted to getting lost on a regular basis.
But that wasn't the strange thing. The strange thing was that they had made it this far without being attacked. Not once. It was as if the Heartless just disappeared all of a sudden. Either they're afraid of us… Sora thought to himself, or they're up to something. He really doubted that it was the first choice. Even the smallest Heartless would charge any enemy without hesitation, and these Heartless were definitely no weaklings. Something was going on.
They kept a constant eye on their surroundings, always alert for any kind of movement. But there was none. No movement at all. Wonderland had fallen completely silent in the wake of the Heartless.
"It's the most unusual thing…" Alice had observed earlier. "Wonderland is usually teeming with all sorts of curious animals…people…things."
Sora thought that he wouldn't mind coming back to Wonderland sometime, when it wasn't infested with Heartless, just so he could see what the place was really like. If Alice was to be believed, he hadn't seen anything yet.
But right now they had a job to do, and so they found themselves traversing (quite literally) up and down the bizarre room, hunting for the entrance that would take them to the Queen's Courtyard. Things had changed in here too, Sora noticed, and most of the room had been rearranged, meaning that he had to start from square one and find the door the old fashioned way. Already they had tried several doors that led them to completely random and utterly useless places, most of which Sora had no memory of at all.
"There!" Alice shouted, enthusiastically pointing to a small hole in the wall, almost completely hidden from view by several enormous books. The three broke into a run, finally reaching the hole, which was just large enough for a person to walk through.
"Are you sure this is the one?" Riku questioned. The fact that you couldn't see through any of the doors in this world was really beginning to annoy him.
"Yes, I'm positive." Was the response as Alice examined the opening.
"Alice," Sora began, "you had better stay here. This could get really dangerous."
"What are you, crazy?" Riku interrupted. "We can't leave her here!"
"Well she can't go in with us!"
"Oh, so you'll just leave her out here, where it's nice and safe?" Riku's voice practically dripped sarcasm.
"Boys!" Alice cut off whatever Sora's response would have been, and the two of them looked over at her. She now stood in front of the door, looking back at them with an amused expression. "If it isn't too much trouble, we should get going." With that, she stepped through the door and was gone.
Riku and Sora looked at each other for a moment, before following her inside.
As he stepped through the doorway, Sora drew his keyblade and crouched low, his friend following suit as they exited on the other side of the door. Riku tapped him on the shoulder, and Sora turned to look where he was pointing, realizing that the door was gone. He nodded in response, and turned back to survey their surroundings.
At least the door still leads to the same place, he thought with relief. They were on the same overhang as the last time he visited Wonderland, just barely out of the courtyard's view. He turned to his two companions and motioned for them to stay where they were as he crawled forward and peered over the edge. He looked for almost exactly one second and then crawled back, his face blank.
"What?" Riku asked after a few seconds. "What did you see?"
"…I found the Heartless." Sora deadpanned.
"…And? How many are there?" Riku pressed when the other didn't continue.
"A lot." Was Sora's only response.
Great. That was just perfect. "Let me see." Riku said as he crawled up to the ledge to see this for himself. He peeked his head just above the ledge, and froze. That's…that's definitely a lot. Which had to be the biggest understatement of the century. The courtyard was packed with Heartless, almost to the point of there being no room at all. He crawled back to Sora, stunned.
"What are they all doing here?" He demanded, to nobody in particular.
"Your guess is as good as mine. I knew getting here was too easy!"
Riku inched his way back to the ledge once more, to try and get a better look and maybe formulate some kind of plan. The Heartless didn't seem to be doing anything, he noticed. They were just sitting there, with hardly any room to even move around. Were they waiting for something? Were they guarding something? He decided the second choice was the more likely of the two, and scanned the courtyard in an attempt to find anything they may have been guarding.
It was right about then that he noticed a depressingly familiar feeling of imminent danger. And then he noticed a pair of yellow eyes in the midst of the tangle of moving shadows that was glued to him. Part of him hoped the Heartless was just staring into space, but his instinct knew better. He swiftly made his way back to the other two.
"What's wrong?" Sora asked, before being cut off by the other.
"I really think we should move." Riku responded, and then Alice shrieked as a single Heartless vaulted up onto the trio's hiding place, claws bared and eyes blazing.
"RUN!" Riku shouted, lashing out with his sword and striking the Heartless across the face. As it toppled off the platform several others leapt up in its place, and Riku could hear the sound of dozens more clawing their way up.
Sora grabbed onto Alice's hand, and Riku followed behind as they ran to the opposite ledge of their now exposed hiding place. The growls and snarls of the Heartless filled the air now, along with the terrifying sound of their claws scraping against the walls as they groped and clawed their way closer and closer.
"What do we do?" Alice frantically asked as she shrank back from the approaching enemies.
"The only thing we can do." Was Sora's only reply, and he hurled a Firaga spell into the writhing mass of shadows, making a few scatter. His spell created a small gap in their ranks, but it was swiftly filled in as even more of them swarmed the courtyard, closing in on the three companions.
"We won't last long against all of them!" He shouted as he fired off spell after spell in a desperate attempt to keep the Heartless at bay.
"Tell me something I don't know." Riku said, firing off a spell of his own. "Nothing we throw at them is working! There's just too many!"
Sora could feel himself running out of magic. Just a few more spells, and he would be completely drained. He looked over at Riku, who nodded in response. Both of them stood side by side in front of Alice, weapons at the ready.
"Is there an exit?" Riku asked as the Heartless stalked closer and closer.
"Yeah." Sora replied. "Over there, on the other side of the Courtyard."
"Then that's our chance."
"Right." Sora turned to face Alice. "Stay with us, and don't let go of me no matter what."
She nodded to show that she understood, and latched onto Sora's arm. The Heartless were even closer now, their bright eyes leering at him as they prepared to attack.
"Three." Riku began slowly counting down as they drew nearer. The growling was almost too much to take.
"Two." The first reared back, preparing to pounce.
"ONE!" Riku yelled out the last and the three of them charged for the exit, barreling through the Heartless before they could even attack. Riku led the way, slicing through the Heartless ahead of Sora so he could focus his attention on keeping Alice safe. Sora used the last of his magic on a Thundaga spell, buying them just a few more seconds as even more of the shadows closed in.
A quick jump and they were on the ground, the two of them hacking away with their weapons and slowly clearing a path. The shadows poured in from every corner, but they were nearing the exit. Once they hit the Lotus forest, it was just a matter of making their way back to the ship. Somehow, Sora didn't think getting out would be quite as easy as getting in.
Suddenly, the extra weight on his shoulder lightened, and Sora whirled around.
Alice was on the ground, frantically trying to kick off the Heartless that had pulled her away. More were closing in rapidly, eyes shining.
"ALICE!" Sora shouted, slashing his way back through the horde towards the girl. Riku heard his cry and followed closely behind, desperately fending off his attackers. Just as Sora was within arms length of Alice, he hit the ground hard as a Heartless pounced on him from behind. It clawed at him mercilessly, and he screamed out in pain as he felt the claws digging into his back.
The Heartless dissolved into dark cloud of smoke as Riku thrust his blade right between the eyes, and Sora madly fought his way through the sea of shadows, swinging his keyblade left and right until he was standing over Alice. He knelt down to help the wounded girl to her feet, but he knew they had already lost their chance of escape.
They were completely surrounded, and the Heartless were an impenetrable wall of black, pressing in on them from all sides. There was no way to escape.
"Doesn't look like we'll be headed back this time, Sora." Riku said, putting on his best dead-man's grin.
Sora put his arm in front of Alice, determined to protect her to the last.
Just as the Heartless were preparing to lunge at them, they stopped and drew back. This time, however, they didn't vanish; they just stood there…watching and waiting.
"Wha…?" was all Sora could say.
A slow, clapping sound was all that he got in response. The three of them looked around in confusion, trying to locate the source.
"Well done, very well done." A woman's voice sounded. "I have to congratulate you; most ordinary fighters, even the strongest, would have been dead by now." The wall of Heartless parted, forming a pathway that led straight to the throne. "Not that I expected any less from the Keyblade wielders."
Sora stared. The speaker was a beautiful woman, dressed in a flowing robe of red and black. She reclined lazily in the throne, staring them down with piercing amber eyes. Her skin was so pale and pure that it looked almost like polished marble, accented all the more by the thick raven hair, which hung in well-kept curls over her shoulders. If Sora hadn't heard her speak moments before, he would have thought she was a painting, or some flawless work of art.
Riku saw it too. She was unquestionably beautiful. And dangerous; that much you could see in her eyes.
"Oh my, but you look confused." The woman said, her red lips curling upward in a smile. She laughed lightly, the sound reminding Sora of a wind chime. "Allow me to introduce myself."
She stood up, and the Heartless nearest to her backed away, allowing her enough room to take a few steps forward and curtsey gracefully.
"I," she said, spreading her arms wide as if for emphasis. "Am the Red Queen."
Well then, there you have chapter four. And we're finally to something interesting. What a twist.
I hope you're all enjoying this so far, because writing it has sure been a fun experience for me. Feel free to let me know what you think of it, and I will see you next chapter!
