Searching for Lost Hearts

L.A.: Sorry for the long delay. School kept me really busy. Without further ado, here's the next chapter!

When Rin finally did land, instead of feeling agonizing pain, she bounced. She bounced several more times before skidding to a halt.

"Ow," Rin muttered as she stood up and rubbed her rear. "That wasn't fun."

"Are you hurt?" Jiminy asked curiously.

"Just my pride," Rin said as she looked around. "Are we back in the main room?"

Jiminy nodded. "I think so…"

"Um, Jiminy?" Rin cocked her head. From the corner of her eye, she could see Jiminy mirroring her expression. "Why is everything upside down?"

Everything from the tables to the flowerpots looked as if they were nailed to the ceiling.

"Are they upside down or are you?" a voice said behind them. Rin whirled around. Jiminy was barely able to cling to her shoulder.

The Cheshire Cat was laying on an upside down table defying the laws of gravity.

"Great, just great," Rin muttered as she put her hands on her hips. "What do you want?"

"Have you found the last piece of evidence?" The Cheshire Cat asked as he stretched.

"No," Rin said. "I was kind of busy falling down a hole."

"Maybe you've just been too busy looking down," The Cheshire Cat said as he inspected a claw.

Jiminy and Rin traded glances as they looked up. A pot was suspended above them. Upon closer examination, Rin noted that there was something in it.

"What is…" she yelped as something fell out of the pot. She dodged it. When she calmed down, she realized a black claw was lying on the ground.

"A heartless claw," Jiminy said.

"So, you've found the last one," The Cheshire Cat said as he appeared in front of her. "And as promised," he touched her forehead with his paw. A shiver ran down her spine. "Your reward."

Rin stepped away and glared at him. "What did you do?"

"You'll see," The Cheshire Cat said. "Just wave your staff and you'll know."

"If it's magic, I can't do it," Rin held up her staff as her shoulders slumped. "No matter what I try, I can't get it to work."

He floated towards her. "Magic doesn't come from the power of your strength but from the strength of your heart.

Rin looked at Jiminy who shrugged his shoulders before turning back to the Cheshire Cat. "What do you mean?"

"You'll figure it out," The Cheshire Cat said as he slowly faded away.

"Wait," Rin called. "Do you know how we can get back to our friends?" Jiminy and she looked around but could not see him anywhere.

"You'll find your friends soon as long as you head in the right direction," the Cheshire Cat said, his voice echoing through the room. A couple seconds later, she could no longer feel his presence.

"Any idea what that means?" Rin asked as she cut her eyes towards Jiminy.

Jiminy stroked his chin. "Well, it sounded like a riddle. So maybe by right direction he actually meant go right?"

Rin sighed. "Well, that's the only thing we have to go on. So, let's go." She slipped the Heartstaff into its holder.

"Rin! Where are you?" Goofy said through cupped hands.

They had been looking for Rin for a while and hadn't found any trace of her. They were all starting to feel the absence of the Heartstaff keeper. Donald was trying not to show it; but Sora did notice he was kicking the flowers and dirt a little harder than normal. Sora couldn't stop replaying the image of Rin falling down the hole. Her eyes were wide with fear and she seemed so helpless. If he had moved a second faster, he would have caught her in time. If he were better, then he could have protected his friends.

If I were more like Riku… He quickly shook his head, horrified by the thoughts that ran through his mind. He took his hand and rubbed it across his face. Can't lose my self confidence now. Then I'd be no help to anybody.

A chill ran through his body. He heard a yelp beside him and turned to see both Donald and Goofy shivering violently.

"You felt that too?" Sora asked as he unconsciously rubbed his arms.

"Yeah," Goofy said. "Gawrsh, what do you think caused it?"

"I don't know…" Donald said as he cast his gaze to the ground. "Let's get going."

They were beginning to lose hope.

"Rin! Come out! We're getting tired of looking for you," Donald said as he tapped his foot impatiently.

"Sora, Donald, Goofy!" Rin yelled.

The trio turned around to see Rin running towards them waving her hand excitedly.

"Rin!" they yelled as they raced towards her.

"We were so worried about you," Goofy said as he hugged her tightly.

"Yeah," Donald's grin quickly turned to a frown. "Though we've waste time now."

"It doesn't matter," Sora said, "since we know you're okay."

"And look how productive I've been." She pulled the heartless claw from her pocket. "It's the last piece of evidence we needed."

Donald's, Goofy's, and Sora's faces lit up.

"Great job Rin" Goofy said.

"Yeah, you're not a complete failure after all" Donald added with a grin.

"Anyway, the Cheshire Cat gave me a gift. Something to do with magic."

"So that explains it!" Donald said.

"Explains what?" Sora asked as the others turned to look at Donald curiously.

"The reason why we each experienced that chilly sensation back then. Since Rin learned the spell, it automatically passes to us as well."

"Gee, how come we can do that?" Goofy asked.

Donald frowned. "I'm not entirely sure. Even I don't know all there is to magic."

"Well, you found all four pieces. Nice going." The Cheshire Cat purred from behind them.

They jumped as they turned to face him.

Sora was the first to recover."Yep!" Sora said as he crossed his arms and grinned, "Now we will be able to save Alice for sure."

The Cheshire Cat stood up and wagged his claw, "Don't be so sure. She may be innocent, but what about you?"

"What's that suppose to mean?" Rin asked with a frown.

The Cheshire Cat began to vanish. "I won't tell. But I suggest you remember your spells." And with that, he was gone.

"What do we do now?" Goofy asked.

"Why, save Alice of course." Sora said as he began to walk away.

"He's going to lead us to trouble." Donald grumbled.

"What do you want?" The guard said. The quartet had just entered the garden only to be greeted by an angry five of hearts.

"We're here to present the evidence that her majesty had requested," Sora said.

The guard let out a sigh. "Very well, step up to the podium."

"Somebody's in a bad mood" Rin murmured as Jiminy nodded in agreement.

They approached the queen. She was tapping her scepter against the podium. "Well, show me."

The quartet set their four pieces of evidence before the queen. Rin caught Alice's gaze who gave her a helpless grin.

The queen yawned. "My, that's a lot of evidence but I'm not impressed. Guards, bring forth my evidence!"

A jack of spades brought forth the queen's evidence.

A grin appeared on the queen's face. She snapped her fingers and guards scurried further. "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."

When the guards stepped away from the evidence, wrapped presents were in their place making it impossible to guess which was which.

"What?" Donald stomped his foot.

"After all the trouble of collecting them?" Sora asked.

The queen frowned. "You dare object? Then you will lose your head." When she noticed that they were silent, she said with a satisfied smile, "now, choose."

They all looked back down at the pieces of evidence.

"What do they think this is, Christmas?" Donald murmured.

"It's Christmas already?" Goofy asked, his eyes filled with hope.

"Well, there is a one in five chance that we will pick the right one…" Rin said.

Donald, Goofy, and Rin turned to look at Sora.

Sora's eyes widened as he quickly put his hands up in defense. "Oh no! I'm not picking. I'm horrible at these games. Rin, you pick."

Donald, Sora, and Goofy turned to look at Rin.

"What?" Rin said.

"Yeah, you'll do great," Sora and Donald pushed her towards the presents.

"Just don't mess up!" Donald added as both Sora and he quickly ran back to where they originally stood.

"Yeah, not happening," Rin said. "I'm not the chosen hero here."

"Come on," Sora said, reminding Rin of a five-year-old. "I've always lost at guessing games."

"How bout we pick this one," Goofy said as he picked up a present. Donald, Sora, and Rin stood frozen in place.

The present shook and burst open revealing a heartless shoulder. The queen screamed as the heartless vanished right in front of them.

"What in the world was that?" The queen screamed.

Sora took a step forward, a smirk on his face. "There's your evidence. Alice is innocent."

Alice smiled.

The Queen's face turned bright red. "Rrrgh…silence! I'm the law here. Article 29: Anyone who defies the queen is guilty." She pointed to the quartet. "And you have defied me."

"That's crazy," Donald said as he threw his arms in the air.

The queen pointed at them. "Guards, seize them at once!"

"Oh, boy…" Rin groaned as she, Sora, Donald, and Goofy slowly backed away from the approaching guards. An ace of diamonds raised Alice's cage high in the air via a crank tower that had risen from the ground.

Donald attacked the grumpy Jack of Spades from before with multiple blizzard attacks. Goofy and Sora took down a couple more guards with their weapons.

Rin aimed her staff at the guard praying magic would appear. Nothing happened. At the last second, she dodged his swipe and wacked him with her staff.

The queen jumped up and down as she clenched her fists. "Cards, if they touch the tower, you'll lose your heads."

Rin paused as she turned towards her right. A tower was in the middle of the battleground. "That definitely wasn't there before."

"Nobody's notice you," Jiminy said still clinging to her shoulder after everything that had happened. "Why don't you try attacking the tower?"

Rin nodded as she zigzagged through the guards. Once she reached the tower, she brought the Heartstaff back as if it were a baseball bat and whacked the tower as hard as she could. The tower groaned.

"Um, Rin," Jiminy said. "I'd hate to be a backseat driver but why don't you try magic again."

"Screw…" She hit the tower again with a whack. "…magic" Whack! "I'm doing this…" Whack! "…the old fashion…" Whack! "..way!" She hit it one last time and the tower gave a loud groan before crashing to the ground.

Wiping the sweat from her brow, she saw that Sora, Donald, and Goofy had finished off the rest of the guards.

Sora held the Keyblade up to one of the guards and motioned to Alice's cage. "Now, lower her back down."

The card grumbled but did as he was told. When the cage reached the ground, the quartet was shocked at what they saw.

"Gawrsh, she's gone," Goofy said.

"What have you done with her?" Sora turned towards the queen.

She placed a hand on her chest as her eyes widened. "I didn't do anything."

"She must've gotten kidnapped while we were fighting," Donald said.

The queen snapped her head towards her guards. "You fools, find the one who's behind this at once. I don't care how, just do it!"

The cards scrambled around the garden, running into each other as they searched for the prisoner.

"Gawrsh, poor Alice" Goofy said.

"Yes, poor, poor, Alice" said a familiar voice from behind them.

The quartet whirled around to see the Cheshire Cat perched on top of a hedge.

"Have you seen Alice?" Rin asked.

The Cheshire Cat scratched his head as he smiled mischievously. "Alice, no. Shadows, yes!"

"Where did they go?" Goofy asked.

The Cheshire Cat pointed his hands in opposite directions. "This way? That way? Does it matter? Left, right, up, down. All mixed up thanks to the shadows."

His body disappeared leaving only his grin. "They attacked some poor flowers. Who knows, they may go after that door knob, too." And with that, he vanished.

"What did he mean by that?" Goofy asked.

Rin sighed. "My guess? I think he wants us to go see the door knob."

"Why?" Donald asked.

Rin held her hands up. "How should I know? This world doesn't make any sense to me."

"Come on guys, let's go," Sora said. "It's the only lead we have."

When they arrived in the room, they found it completely deserted. Except for the doorknob's snoring, everything was quiet.

"Well, where are the heartless?" Donald said as he craned his neck to look up at the table.

"You'll have a better view from higher up," the Cheshire Cat said from his perch on top of the table.

"I hate it when he appears like that," Rin muttered as she followed the others up the table leg.

After they had reached the top, they were out of breath.

"Phewy," Donald said as he leaned on his arms. "What was the point to this?" I don't see anything."

Sora held out his hand and pulled Rin up the rest of the way as Goofy scanned the area.

"Gawrsh, it's sure is high here," Goofy said.

"The shadows should be here soon. Are you prepared for the worse?" The Cheshire Cat grinned. "If not, too bad!" He laughed as he vanished.

The room shook as a giant totem pole like monster appeared. It had gangly limbs and in its hands, it held juggling pins.

"What…is that?" Rin said as she pointed her finger at the monster in horror.

"I think that's a heartless," Sora said. The heartless cocked its head at them as it juggled its pins.

"Heh," Donald balanced his staff on his shoulder. "Heartless can come in many forms, big and small."

The heartless let out a strange sound, almost like a giggle, sending shivers down Rin's spine. It lurched forward, sending a pin hurling in their direction. The four hurled themselves off the table.

As Rin fell towards the ground, she braced herself for pain. Once again, to her surprise, as she landed she bounced a couple of times. This is one weird world.

The others soon gathered around her as they eyed the heartless. A pin materialized in its hand again. It shook its pins once, and they caught on fire.

"And just when I thought it couldn't get any worse," Rin said as she slung the Heartstaff over her shoulder.

"Rin, you stay here and provide support," Sora said as his grip tightened on the Keyblade.

Goofy brought his shield up. "Let's do it for Alice!"

As the other three rushed towards the heartless, Rin stood back and watched. Her hands clinched the Heartstaff until her knuckles were white. She hated not helping; but, since she couldn't use magic, there wasn't much else she could do. It wasn't like she could run up and whack it with her staff. A 40 foot heartless would not take that too kindly.

"Don't worry, Rin," Jiminy said as he scribbled furiously in his journal. "Sora and the others will take care of it in no time."

"Yeah," Rin's gaze trailed to the ground. "I just wish I could help."

A loud yell startled the both of them. Rin looked up just in time to see Sora thrown across the room and slammed against a wall.

The heartless cackled as it raised its pin over its shoulder and walked towards Sora. Donald and Goofy had be thrown to the other side of the room and were slowly recovering from the shock. Rin's eyes widened as she saw Sora clutching his side, completely defenceless against the heartless.

Her body seemed to move on its own and suddenly she was standing in between Sora and the heartless. Her hands shook as she pointed the heartstaff at the heartless.

"Rin," Sora wheezed, "move. The heartless will get you."

"B-but you're hurt," Rin said.

The heartless raised a flaming pin above its head.

Rin closed her eyes, wishing just once she could cast a spell.

I don't want to be useless. I want to protect my friends. I want to put out that flame!

Suddenly from deep within herself, a word came and filled her mind. It was such a powerful feeling that she couldn't keep it contained. And so, the word came bursting from her mouth.

"Blizzard!" As soon as it was said, the stone in the Heartstaff glowed. Its little wings at the base of the topper flapped once before a stream of magic shot from the Heartstaff's gem. It hit the flaming pin and quickly froze it.

Rin's eyes widened as her hands shook. "I did it."

"Congrats Rin," Jiminy said excitedly. "You just performed magic."

While the Heartless was still stunned by the attack, Donald and Goofy charged towards it.

"Give this to Sora," Donald said as he hurled a bottle with glowing green liquid.

Rin caught it and looked at it confused.

"It's a potion," Jiminy said. "Quick, give it to Sora."

She handed it over to Sora. He took a swig and gagged slightly.

"It's gross," Sora said.

"Keep drinking," Jiminy said.

He groaned as he did as he was told. The more he drank, the wince on his face seemed to lessen. Gradually, he let go of his side and relaxed.

"That stuff is good," Sora said as he stood up and smiled at Rin. "Thanks for protecting me."

Rin blushed as she looked away. "No problem."

The Heartless roared startling them.

"Let's take this heartless down," Sora said. He jumped into the air and slashed the heartless right down the middle.

The heartless let out an agonizing scream before disappearing into the air. A glowing heart floated in the air for a second before disappearing.

The quartet let out a sigh of relief at the destruction of the heartless. They started when a voice called out to them.

"What a racket. How's a door knob to get any sleep?" The doorknob let out a huge yawn revealing a small keyhole. Upon seeing this, the Keyblade began to vibrate.

"Wha…What?" Sora said as the Keyblade forced him to point it strait at the keyhole. A beam of light shot out from the tip of the Keyblade into the keyhole. There was a sound of something locking inside the doorknob's mouth. The beam of light vanished when the doorknob closed his mouth and fell back to sleep. Sora stumbled slightly when he regained control of the Keyblade.

The quartet stared wide-eyed at the Keyblade for a moment.

"What was that?" Donald said finally breaking the silence.

Sora shook his head as he tilted the Keyblade from side to side. "Did you hear that? It sounded like something closed."

A clinking sound came from the doorknob causing them to look up. Laying on the ground in front of them was a little pink block.

"What is this?" Sora asked as he picked the block up.

Donald and Goofy huddled around him. "It looks like a Gummi block." Donald said.

"This Gummi piece sure isn't like the others though. No sir." Goofy added.

"I'll hold on to it" Donald said as he took the piece from Sora and put it in his pocket.

While Sora, Donald, and Goofy were huddled around their new discovery, Rin was having her discovery herself. As soon as the beam of light had vanished the Heartstaff had begun to vibrate. Huh?" Rin said as she looked down at the staff. It happened so fast that Rin wasn't sure if she had imagined it. The little white sphere in the center of the staff turned blue for a second before returning to its original white color. The staff stopped vibrating returning to its normal self. "That was weird," Rin muttered.

"What was weird?" Jiminy asked.

"I'll tell you later," Rin said. She felt something rubbed up against her leg. "Eeek!" Rin screamed as she jumped back a few feet. Her scream caused Sora, Donald, and Goofy to turn towards her. Looking back to see what had touched her, Rin found that it was, of course, the Cheshire Cat.

He sat back on his hind legs and grinned at them. "Splendid. You're quite the hero."

"Have you seen Alice?" Sora asked.

"If you're looking for Alice, she's not here. She's gone! Off with the shadows into the darkness." The Cheshire Cat disappeared before they could ask him anything.

Rin looked at Sora. He had his head down and his fists were clinched tightly. "I failed again," he muttered under his breath.

Rin put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It wasn't your fault."

He looked at her. "But…"

"Sora, you tried," Rin said. "You defeated a giant heartless. Alice was probably already gone way before then."

"Remember. No sad faces!" Goofy added.

"We won't be able to do anything if you're sad," Donald said.

Sora smiled. "Yeah, you're right. It's not going to help anyone if I'm gloomy."

Goofy grinned. "Yep!"

Rin wasn't sure why, but she didn't fully trust Sora's sudden change in heart. She was pretty sure, that something else was bugging him. There was no point though, in asking someone something that they weren't willing to talk about.

Donald and Goofy each grabbed one of Sora arms. "Let's go back to our Gummi Ship. We might find her on another world." Donald said as he, Sora, and Goofy began to walk away.

"Uh guys?" Rin said causing them to stop and look back at her. "Just one thing... We fell down a hole to get here so how exactly do we get out?"

Sora, Donald, and Goofy grinned sheepishly.

"Oh yeah," Sora said as he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. "That could be a problem..."

L.A.: Now that is a good question. Anywho, you know what to do. READ and REVIEW!