"Midnight melted to morning
A moment faded to memory
All these days, just slip away
Through our fingers
So..."
"Oof!"
Diez landed on his back on the checkered tile floor. He turned over, so that everything was right side up. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to gain his barings as he was busy breaking Abigail and Kira's fall. He groaned. This seemed to be happening a little to often, lately.
Abigail stared at the room upside down. She frowned in disaproval.
"What's up with this room? Those pictures are not straight at all! And you're not supposed to mix those colors! How ghastly!" Above her, Kira also looked around, examining the room they hand landed in. It was a strange color of red mixed with an equally strange color of yellow. Several tilted pictures hung on the wall, and she could see a hallway curving off. That's when Kira realized something.
"Hey, where's Diez?" Abigail, who had continued to complain about the room, suddenly fell quiet, realizing this for the first time as well.
"I'mdwnhr!" Came the muffle cry under them. Quickly, Kira and Abigail scrambled off of him, allowing their friend to sit up. Kira scratched the back of her neck, as Abigail stood up and dusted off her skirt.
"Sorry, Diez." Kira said, smiling slightly. She might as well attempt to make friends with him, if they were going to be stuck on this journey together. Diez shot a glare at her, and stood. Kira resisted the urge to smack him.
"Oh dear, oh dear!" All three teenagers turned their heads towards where the voice had come from. Emerging out of a door in the wall, (which promptly vanished after it had shut itself), was a white rabbit, wearing a waistcoat and staring worriedly at a pocket watch. "I'm late, I'm late! The Queen will have my head for sure!" He cried, hopping away quickly.
Kira, Diez, and Abigail stared after him.
"Did you just...see that?" Abigail asked. Diez and Kira nodded mouths hanging open.
"Perhaps we should follow him?" Kira asked, rather timidly. She had gathered that she was the least knowledgeable about different worlds, (and just about anything at this stage in time), so she was slightly nervous about voicing her opinions. Abigail, however, thought it a wonderful idea. She raced off, Diez not far after her, and Kira not far behind him.
The trio followed the White Rabbit's cries of 'I'm late' and 'Oh dear, the Queen!' down the winding hallway, until they reached a medium-sized door. All three had to crouch at this point, and were forced to crawl on their hands and knees through the door. The room they emerged in was almost to....small. Like it was made for children. As they entered, the Rabbit, (now about ten times as smaller), disapeared through a small, square opening in the wall.
"How'd he get so small?" Abigail asked, kneeling down in front of the opening. She tried to peer in through the darkness, but couldn't see anything. Kira walked up behind her, as Diez looked around the room.
"Better question: How do we get that small?" Diez asked, looking around the room for a clue. Abigail stood and shrugged in Diez's direction not sure either. She turned to Kira, who shrugged as well.
"You need to drink your medicine." All three jumped, and looked towards the middle. Diez, on instinct, summoned his Keyblade. A glass table had appeared in the center, with a purple striped cat lounging on it. It swung its tail lazily back and forth, over the edge, and grinned. Kira had goose bumps.
"Ex-Excuse Me? " Abigail asked, stunned. The Cat merely grinned, yellow eyes flicking back and forth between the three. Slowly, he began to disapear, the darker stripes unraveling.
"The medicine. You'll need it, should you want to get where you're going." All that was left were his grin and eyes by the time he was finished. He stared at Kira, winked at her, and vanished completely. Kira shuddered, thoroughly disturbed.
Diez walked to the table, releasing HighNoon. The Cat had left behind two bottles, each with a diagram on it. The orange one had the picture of an acorn growing into a tree, and the blue bottle had a picture of a tree shrinking into an acorn. The girls joined him as he picked the blue bottle up.
"Looks like this is the 'medicine' he was talking about." Abigail said, seeing the diagrams. She took it from Diez. "Well, bottoms up!"
"Wait!" Diez said, snatching it back. Abigail pouted, rather disapointed. "You shouldn't trust people so easily. This bottle may be filled with poison." Kira nodded, finding herself agreeing to some degree with him.
"He did have yellow eyes." She said, remembering the Heartless Yen Sid had shown them. "Maybe he was just an unnaturally smart Heartless?" Diez shook his head.
"If it was a Heartless, he would have attacked us. It's their nature." He said, matter of factly. Kira blushed, feeling foolish. Abigail smiled, and patted her shoulder.
"He was pretty creepy, though." She said, trying to comfort Kira. Kira smiled, but was mentally kicking herself. Abigail sighed, and turned a glare towards Diez. "Well, since Mr. Bossy won't let me drink the 'poison'," She mocked him. Diez glared. Abigail merely smiled, and summoned her staff. "I'll just have to use my magic." His stare turned incredulous.
"...Why didn't you do that before?" Abigail shrugged.
"It never occurred to me." Diez and Kira exchanged a look, and Kira shrugged, smiling slightly. Diez, however, rolled his eyes. Abigail raised her staff, and in a flash of pink smoke and sparkles, (her motif, it seemed), the three stood under the glass table, about three inches tall.
It was a little disorientating at first, but Kira quickly recovered, just in time to be dragged off through the square opening, (which seemed much more ominous now), by Abigail. Diez ran after them, shouting for them to not be so reckless. Abigail merely laughed, and together, the three stumbled into the darkness.
/-/-/-/
In another world, far away from any source of light, a man stood on a high cliff. He wore armor, and a red, tattered cape. The man stared out over his darkened land, without really seeing it. He turned as a second person walked up behind him. They wore a hood, and were considerably smaller. A blonde tendril of hair was coaxed out from under the hood by the wind.
"Why isn't he awake yet?" She asked, referring to the boy that lay on the ground between them. He had short black hair, and his eyes were closed peacefully, completely unaware of where he was. The man chuckled.
"I know you are anxious to leave here, but it is essential to my plan to wait until he has recovered." The girl scoffed, and turned to walk away.
"Whatever." The man watched her go, and then looked down at the boy.
His eyes opened.
/-/-/-/
"Ugh!" Abigail grunted, falling down on her back. Kira sat down crosslegged, leaning against the hedge, while Diez stood, arms folded. "If I walk one more step, my feet'll fall off." Diez rolled his eyes.
"Stop complaining. We've only been walking for an hour." Abigail sat up, and glared at him.
"Only an hour? It feels like an eternity!" The blonde cried. "I'm not used to this kind of exertion!" Kira giggled, while Diez raised an eyebrow.
"Didn't you train in magic for the past seven years?" Abigail's glare increased. If looks could kill. Kira thought.
"Yeah, but Merlin never asked me to walk for an hour!" Abigail whined. "Do we even know where we're going?" Kira sighed, and closed her eyes. The trio had emerged from the darkness into a maze of sorts, composed of high grown, squarely trimmed hedges. Every so often, the group had come across a red rose bush, but encountered no one.
For most of the walk, Diez had led the way, while Abigail told Kira all about her training. She had grown up in a place called Radiant Garden, and ever since she was ten years old was trained by the Wizard Merlin in the magical arts. She had started off easy- lighting candles, blowing them out, summoning small items to her.
"But I wouldn't be able to do anything without my trusty staff!" Abigail said, twirling it in front of her. "It allows me to channel my magic properly. I'm not sure what I would do without it!"
Kira had also learned that Abigail had been requested by someone named King Mickey, (who appeared to be the 'leader', of sorts, against the darkness). It was just before she'd left Radiant Garden for Yen Sid's tower that Merlin had declared her apprenticeship over.
"It was so exciting! Yuffie, she's a friend of mine, gave me this outfit as a graduation present." Abigail twirled, her skirt swishing around her. Kira laughed.
"Radiant Garden sounds like a really nice place." Abigail nodded.
"It is!" She smiled. "We should go there one day. I can introduce you to Leon, and Yuffie, and Cloud, and Aerith...and then there's Yuna and Rikku and Paine, and Cid and..."
As Abigail had continued to list names, Kira felt a twinge of sadness. Abigail seemed to have a lot of friends, whom she spoke highly of. Kira wondered if she'd once had that many friends, or just one close one. This thought led Kira to think about her memories. Were they happy? Sad? What had been her best memory? Who had she shared them with?
"Come on." Diez said, snapping Kira back to the present. She looked up at him. "We need to keep going. Someone's--"
"OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!" The silence of the maze that the three had grown used to was broken by an earsplitting sound of people marching and fighting came from somewhere around the corner. "I SAID, OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!"
Quickly, Diez summoned his Keyblade, and ran off around the corner. Kira followed suit, as did Abigail, who summoned her staff. Rounding the corner, they emerged in a courtyard, where mass chaos had erupted. Full sized cards, carrying spears, were fighting off Heartless. Kira caught sight of the White Rabbit standing next to a screaming lady with a crown on her head. She was waving a flamingo in the air, the poor creature merely flopping like a limp noodle.
"Let's take care of these guys." Diez said, and the jumped into the fray. Kira and Abigail followed him.
Abigail cast spells left and right, setting Heartless on fire or freezing them, whatever seemed to strike her fancy. Diez was an expert fighter, dispatching most Heartless with one or two swings, while Kira, still knew to handling her Keyblade, had a little more difficulty. She would miss, and end up having to drop to the ground or jump to the side to avoid the Heartless' counter attack. After she had destroyed a few, however, Kira began to see patterns in their fighting style, and discern how to respond to their movements. Soon enough, the Heartless were defeated.
"Phew!" Abigail said, walking over to Kira, who was trying to catch her breath. Abigail smiled. "First fight, huh?" Kira glanced and Diez, who had now joined them, and nodded.
"Against Heartless, yeah." Abigail opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by an angry cry.
"You three!" The trio turned, and saw the conscious Card Soldiers lining up. Down the aisle they had created, the woman with the flamingo was marching down the aisle, the White Rabbit scurrying to get to the end first. He stood, chest out, and announced her.
"Presenting her Majesty, the Queen of Hearts!" As she reached the end, the Card Soldiers turned in unison to face forward. The Queen stared at the three teenagers, her flamingo held in front of her like a cane.
"You," she pointed the flamingo at Diez, "you," it moved to Abigail, "and you!" And finally rested on Kira. "You three have interrupted my croquet game!" Diez, Abigail, and Kira stared at her. Kira leaned towards Abigail.
"What's croquet?" She whispered. Abigail shrugged.
"Must be some kind of game." Suddenly, Abigail was smacked on the back of the head. "Ow!" All three turned in shock, towards the Queen of Hearts, who had whacked Abigail with the flamingo.
"For interrupting my croquet game, I sentence all three of you, to execution. Now, OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!" She screamed, pointing the flamingo once more at them. The Card Soldiers huffed, and descended upon them.
"Run!" Diez yelled, and immediatley headed back towards the way they'd come. Abigail ran to her right, while Kira ran to the left. Everyone thought they were being followed by the other two.
/-/-/-/-/
Abigail ran, trying to avoid the waves of water that splashed over her. She'd ended up on a beach, of sorts, with a dodo bird conducting a race in which its participants, (consisting of a lobster, an owl, and an ostrich to name a few), attempted to get dry.
"This is so dumb!" Abigail sputtered, spitting saltwater out of her mouth. Dodo turned to look at her from the high, (and dry, Abigail noted with distaste), rock he stood upon.
"No no no, my dear. This is a Caucus Race!" Abigail rolled her eyes, and decided she'd rather take her chances in the forest than be splashed one more time. As another wave splashed over them, she made a break for the treeline.
/-/-/-/
Kira sipped an overly large cup of tea, trying not to spill any. She had stumbled across a tea party, set up in the middle of the woods. It was hosted by a man in a top hat, (The Mad Hatter, he had called himself), and a March Hare. There was also a doormouse, but he was asleep for most of it.
"Is he, uhm, okay?" Kira said, setting her cup down. The Hatter chuckled.
"I have a better question, for you." He leaned forward, very serious suddenly. "Why is a raven, like a writing desk?"
Kira stared at him.
"...Huh?" The March Hare rolled his eyes.
"He said, why is a raven like a writing desk? It's an easy riddle, you should be able to find the answer." The Hatter chortled, sipping from his tea.
"Don't be silly, Marchy! Answer is very hard to find, I hear." Kira sighed, and had to inwardly agree with the Hatter, no matter how absurd he was. Deciding it was time to find her friends, Kira stood.
"Well, it's been, er, wonderful meeting you, but I really must be going. Thank you." She said, and turned to walk away into the forest. Behind her, she could still hear snippets of their conversation.
"That girl, she reminds me of someone."
"No, not Someone. There was another girl. A blonde." Kira stopped. Abigail? She turned and walked back towards them.
"Excuse me, but did you say you'd seen a blonde girl? She's a friend of mine. Her name is Abigail?" Hatter looked up at her from under his top hat.
"No, not Abigail." He scoffed. "Alice." Kira looked down.
"Oh..." As Hatter and the Hare began to talk again, Kira walked towards the woods.
"It has been a while since we've seen Alice, hasn't it, Hatter?"
"Oh yes. But, Time is still angry at me. So I can't tell you how long it's been!"
Their laughter followed Kira into the woods.
/-/-/-/
Diez, thoroughly unhappy, sat on a log as two people, (calling themselves Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee), bounced around him.
"Ooh, you must hear a story!" Dum cried, seeing Diez begin to stand up.
"Yes, yes! A story!" Dee agreed. They held hands and bounced around him, singing a rhyme. It took all the training Diez had not to summon his Keyblade right then and there, instead of listening to their incessant babbling. He ducked under their arms and dissapeared into the forest.
They were still rhyming as he left.
/-/-/-/
Kira stumbled down the dark path, unsure of where she was heading. The comforting daylight had quickly given away to night, turning the woods into a dark forest filled with strange sounds and several unknown creatures. While she was throughly creeped out, Kira didn't feel like she was in danger. The dark was strangely comforting, though she knew that to see the light again would definetly put her at ease.
Exauhsted, Kira slumped onto a rock. She stretched her legs out, releiving the ache for a few moments. She wondered where Diez and Abigail were, if they were okay. Though she'd only know them for a short time, Kira was stilled worried.
She yawned and stretched, sinking from the rock onto the ground. Leaning back against it, Kira closed her eyes and tucked her legs up close to her.
Just a few moments...I have to find Diez...and...Ab...i...gail....
It was the smell of smoke that awoke her, hours later. Kira sat up suddenly, and immediatly regretted it. Her body was stiff from being in the same curled up position. The forest had lightened with the rays of the rising sun.
The smoke that had awaoken her was blue. It curled in strange shapes around Kira, and she stared at it, transfixed. She looked towards a small path leading away from the main trail she had been following. Curious, Kira stood and, shaking off the stiffness, followed the smoke trail.
Soon, she came upon a small clearing, filled with several mushrooms. The smallest were half her size, and the tallest, in the center, was just below her chin. Sitting atop this mushroom, was the source of the blue smoke.
A blue caterpillar, with six pairs of arms, one of which held a hookah. Kira could merely stare, transifxed, as the Caterpillar smoked his hookah, completely unaware of her presence.
"Come closer, child." Kira jumped, startled by the Caterpillar. His eyes opened, and he stared straight at her. Slowly, Kira moved forward, until she was standing just before the mushroom. "Who are you?" He asked.
"I'm Kira." The Caterpillar coughed, and shook his head, before sucking in another lungful of smoke. As he spoke, her blew smoke rings at her.
"No, I asked: Who are you?" Kira coughed, not appreciating the smoke. She waved her hands in front of her face.
"I'm Kirameki!" She said, fighting the bile that rose in throaght back. The Caterpillar sighed, rolling his eyes.
"No, I did not ask your name. I asked who you are." Kira blinked. She stared blankly at the Caterpillar, confused.
"I...I'm not sure wh--"
"Of course you're not. You've lost your memories, have you not?" Kira's eyes went wide. "It is easy to tell. After all, you told me your name with no feeling. Only that it was a fact, not something to be proud or ashamed of." He scoffed. "You might as well not be real." Kira narrowed her eyes.
"I am real." Kira said, frowning at him. The Caterpillar raised his eyes in amusement.
"Are you now? Then tell me, Kirameki, or is it Kira, what is your best memory? The one that brings you the most happiness? What is the saddest memory?" Kira was taken aback. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish, and she found herself unable to answer. The only memories she had at the moment were of being abruptly sent ona journey with two people she'd just met. The Caterpillar took her silence as an answer, and nodded.
"Names are just names. What makes a person are their memories, created by experiences." A silence fell upon them as Kira contemplated what the Caterpillar had said. A sudden shouting came from somewhere off to their left. The Caterpillar huffed.
"Your friends shall be arriving soon." Kira looked up at him. "The way back to the room with the Doorknob is that way." The five unoccupied arms pointed to the right. Kira nodded, staring off into the woods. She turned back to ask the Caterpillar a question, only to find him vanished. The only sign he had been there was the faint smell of blue smoke.
"Stupid flowers!" Abigail yelled, barging into the mushroom clearing. Diez wasn't far behind her, looking rather embarassed. Abigail turned to face the way she came, waving a fist in the air. "Your singing was off-key! Personally, I'd rather listen to nails on a chalkboard than hear another one of your songs!" She turned, hands on her hips. "'Weed', hmph!"
Kira turned her gaze towards Diez, who shook his head. It was not a good idea to get Abigail worked up anymore than she already was, at least for his sake. Kira nodded.
"Oh, Kira!" Abigail cried, finally realizing that she was there. Abigail ran over to her, and hugged her. "I'm so glad you're alright!" Kira was slightly shocked at first, but patted her on the back.
"I...I'm fine, Abigail. Here," Kira said pulling away, "the room's this way." She turned, and lead them out, back into the woods. She missed, however, Diez's questioning look. Abigail may have not caught the hesitation in her voice, but he most certainly had. Something had happened to Kira while they were seperated.
The sad, lost look in her eyes was more than enough proof.
"Don't let go, hold on to
Every moment
Always know, hold on to
Every moment
That you can..."