Chapter Eight: Day 309: Luck of the Cards.

She was falling…

Falling down a tunnel, her blue eyes watching a hole of light from above slowly shrink to half its size, then a fourth until it was just a pinprick…

And then vanished entirely.

Aqua blinked as her falling body seemed to slow. The dark tunnel was suddenly becoming brighter and she could make out brick walls on all sides of her, smooth and circular, like the walls of a well. Aqua looked around, eyes widening as she noticed there seemed to be furniture and-

There was ticking all around her, interrupted by the occasional burst of jingling alarms.

Clocks, Aqua though in wonder.

The walls were filled with furniture and clocks. Aqua's descent down the tunnel slowed even more as she began to approach the floor below. Her feet touched the floor and her descent was completed. Aqua looked up towards the tunnel above and could still see all the clocks and furniture embedded in the wall but could no longer hear the clocks.

"That was…odd." Aqua was completely lost about what words to use and this was all she could say to sum up her feelings. Aqua reached into her pocket and pulled out the Star Fragment. "Where have you taken me now?" The shining gem like surface of the fragment offered no clue to the nature of this new world.

She placed the fragment back in her pocket and decided to take in her new surroundings. And what sights they were. The brick walls were lined with multiple pictures of flowers, carrots and rabbits. But the water maiden hardly gave those a second glance as she looked down at the floor. Embedded in the brown and tan checkered floor pattern were the images of furniture, specifically some flowers, a lamp and a couch. Aqua walked over the couch and looked down the hallway. On the halls entrance sides were red curtains pulled back to reveal the walls of the hall were lined with pink wallpaper lined with little red diamonds.

Aqua slowly walked down the hall, noting the candles lined on the wall and a table embedded in the flooring. Aqua turned as she passed the flat table and saw a white door. Aqua walked up to it while muttering, "Let's see what's behind door number one." She pulled the golden knob and the door swung open…revealing a smaller black door.

Aqua blinked, her hand still clutching the white doors knob. "Ok," she breathed. "This is…odder. Door two then." Aqua reached and grabbed the silver handle of the black door and pulled it open. And revealed a third door, this one also smaller then the black and white ones. Aqua found her wonder and confusion fading into annoyance. With a growl, she yanked this one open and was pleased to finally see a doorway, even though it was pitch black and she couldn't see what was beyond the door-er, doors.

Aqua gave the bizarre hallway one last glance before taking a deep breath and walking through the doorway.

The keyblade mistress found herself surrounded by darkness and there was a strange sense of vertigo for a split second-

And then the light returned, causing Aqua to blink several times, her arm rubbing tears away. Aqua, "Ah! What is-"

She lowered her arm and looked around. It was a slight improvement over that weird hall but not by much. The floor had a similar checkered pattern only instead of brown and tan it was pink and…darker pink. Not red, but not any other color really. Aqua looked to her right, spotting a large stone and brick chimney with a small brick stone attached to it. Aqua walked over to it and crouched, looking into the chimney itself. There weren't any ashes or old remnants of kindling, so nobody had used this in quite a while. Standing back up, Aqua turned and looked over to the left side of the room. There was a small shelf that seemed to rise out of the floor, a few books resting atop it and one just laying against it on the floor, scant inches away from two orange armchairs. Aqua continued to move her gaze along, spotting a grandfather clock with…rabbit ears, she saw with a mental groan.

Whoever designed the theme of this place seemed to like rabbits. Aqua turned her gaze away from the rabbit clock and saw a small green bed with a simple set of white sheets. Aqua turned and faced the last part of the room. She frowned at the sight of a set of pink bricks. She looked down…

And her jaw dropped.

At the very bottom of the pink bricks was a very small door, no larger then her head! It was made of wood and had a large golden knob. Aqua walked over, crouching down to better see the door. "How in all the worlds is anyone supposed fit through there? It's way to small." Aqua continued to peer at the door. Then something odd happened. The knob seemed to shift on its own and for a moment Aqua thought the door was about to open and she might meet an inhabitant of this world-

"It's not that I'm too small, you're simply too large."

Aqua let out a screech of fright, jumping back and falling on her backside, hands and feet scrambling away from the door. Aqua couldn't tear her eyes away from it though; her blue orbs the size of plates. The golden knob had grown a pair of eyes and a mouth! And it had SPOKEN to her!

Aqua wiped her suddenly sweaty brow as the doorknob yawned. It gave her a tired glare. "Must you be so loud?"

Aqua pointed at the talking doorknob and stuttered, "Y-you t-t-talked?"

It cocked an eye at her. "As do you but you don't see me making a spectacle of it." The knob yawned again, its small mouth stretching wide open. "Uh, all you strangers coming around as of late. First those odd ones in black and now a woman with blue hair who acts like she's never seen a talking door before." Aqua snapped out of her shock at the mention of the color black.

She crawled closer to the knob, whose eyes were dropping a little but staying open to watch her approach. Aqua, "Strangers in black? You've seen them?"

The knob rolled its eyes. "Yes I have, several times and each and every time all they do is stir up a racket! Fighting with those strange shadows and making me lose sleep!" Aqua's eyes narrowed and she bowed her head slightly. Then, she raised her head, face set in a curious but determined expression. Aqua, "How can I go farther ahead? You're way to small for me to just walk through."

The doorknob rolled its eyes again before yawning once more. "Take the potion." Aqua frowned. "What potion?" She asked. The doorknob made an aggravated sound. "The one on the table." It snapped. Aqua still looked confused. She started to ask, "What tab-" when there was a loud sound behind her and a rush of air and the tell-tell tingle of magic.

Aqua looked over her shoulder and did a double take. Directly in the center of the room was a small white table and chair and on top of it were two bottles, one red, and the other blue. Aqua blinked, looking between the doorknob and the table. She shook her head, blinking again in wonder. Aqua, "Ok. This all totally normal. Talking doors and spontaneously appearing furniture. I've seen weirder."

And the truth was she had. And she had taken it all in stride, since the oddities of those worlds were simply part of its nature and even then, still rare. But the water maiden had never encountered a world quite like this and such strange events in short order. She stood and walked over to the table, looking down at the two potion bottles. She picked up the blue one first, holding it close as her blue eyes studied the bottle's surface, but she could find no words or identifying marks of any kind to indicate what would happen if she drank it.

Placing it back down, she picked up the red one. This one did have words on it: 'Drink me.' Aqua frowned at this, never one to just drink or eat anything strange looking. Aqua was about to put it back down when she noticed the bottom of the red label was curled up slightly and she could just make out the edges of more words. Aqua peeled the bottom of he label down. And her blue eyes twinkled in amusement. The words now read: 'Drink me, please?'

Aqua gazed around the room again before sighing and shrugging, deciding to go with the flow of this world. "It asked nicely."

With that, she unscrewed the potion cap and took a swig. Almost instantly, she wanted to spit the stuff out it tasted so horrible, but she forced herself to swallow the contents. Coughing and almost retching, she placed the potion bottle back down, her eyes narrowed in disgust and her face scrunched up like she had eaten something sour. She wished it had been something sour compared to that stuff. It tasted absolutely terrible!

Coughing, Aqua frantically wiped her mouth with the back of her gloved hand, hoping she could scrub the awful taste away. Gradually and to her relief, the awful tasting stuff began to fade away. Aqua coughed a few more times but by then the taste had faded entirely. She looked down at the potion bottles and then the door, which was still glaring at her no doubt because of all the coughing she had made. Aqua, "Ok, I drank that nasty stuff. What-"

She stopped mid sentence.

There was a…tingling sensation in the pit of her stomach. Slowly, it began to spread through her whole body, traveling down her legs to the tips of her toes and up the lengths of her chest and then down her arms to the ends of her fingers. Aqua could feel and sense a rise in magic, around and inside her but it was an unfamiliar magic, not her own.

Aqua only had time for one last blink of shock and wonder when the magic surged and she was instantly surrounded by a cloud of white smoke. She coughed, hands waving out to sift the smoke aside. The weird tingling magic was no longer inside her but all around her, manifesting as this cloud of smoke.

"H-hey! (Cough, cough) what gives?" The water maiden called through the smoke to the door. The living knob didn't respond and Aqua was about to say something again but the smoke started to fade away. Aqua stepped through the fading smoke-

Her jaw was starting to ache from all the shocked dropping.

Aqua looked around, spinning in place. The entire room was HUGE! She had shrunk down in size; she was smaller then one of those books on the shelf! Aqua ran a hand through her locks, her face pale and her breathing quick and panicky. "I've had way to many surprises for one day…"

With a sigh and shake of her head, Aqua took a single step towards the door-

And the air between her and the door rippled, darkness gathering. Three emerald and blue colored bell like Heartless appeared, their small yellow eyes looking at not with the usual hunger of the Heartless but almost curiosity. Under them, shadows rose, forming into the insect like bodies of the Shadow Heartless. Aqua gave the door another glance. "Shadows…right." She muttered. She swung her arm out, her keyblade appearing in a flash of light. She looked at the Heartless, the hovering ones swaying back and forth while the Shadows antennas twitched in time with their heads. Aqua crouched, keyblade held out slightly and she tensed.

As one, all the Heartless charged, lunging at her chest-

Aqua shot through them, spinning and slashing, her keyblade covered in an aura of light. Aqua slid to a stop in front of the door while the Heartless had frozen on the spot. Aqua stood calmly, lowering her keyblade. The Heartless behind her exploded into showers of black mist, pink hearts flying into the air. With a twirl of her blade, the keyblade vanished in a flash of light. Aqua allowed herself a small smile before walking up to the living door, noting she was now the perfect size to go through it. "Ok, I'm the right size now," she said and looked at the knob. "Can I…go ahead?" Aqua's eyes widened before narrowing in an annoyed glare.

It was asleep!

The doors eyes were closed and it snored loudly, a little bubble growing and shrinking with every intake of breath and exhales of a snore. Aqua growled lowly and then smirked deviously. She slowly raised her hand, smiling playfully. She waited a moment and then the doorknob took in a deep inhale of breath, his bubble growing very big and-

'POP!'

The doorknob's eyes shot open and it made a grunting sound and snorted. Aqua gingerly wiped the small dot of snot on her finger on her skirt, cringing in disgust. The doorknob shot her an angry glare. "Can't you see I'm trying to sleep here?"

Aqua put her hands on her hips and shot back, "Can't you see I need to move forward? And you're blocking the only way. So open up!"

The doorknob yawned and smacked its lips. "I'm not the only way," it mumbled. "You just haven't been looking hard enough…zzzzz…" With that it fell back asleep, snoring away. Aqua gave the sleeping knob a confused and slightly annoyed look. Aqua, "Looked hard enough? Where else can I-"

There was another telltale tingle of magic. But this one was different, not like the magic she had felt when the table appeared or when she shrunk. This felt foreign-

Before she could give it more thought, the green bed to her left shook and shuddered. Slowly, it pulled into the wall, sinking into it seamlessly like the furniture in the hall outside. And where the bed had been was now a large open pass. Aqua quickly looked between the snoring doorknob and the revealed passage. She shrugged. "Well, it was right. I didn't look hard enough." With that, Aqua walked over to the passage and through it, disappearing into its darkness.

Behind her, atop the white table and leaning on the blue potion bottle, a black cloaked figure watched her, the hood of his cloak hiding his face and the only sound coming from him was the sound of rapidly shuffling cards, flying from his right hand to his left.

Aqua found herself in a large garden. Like before when she passed through the doorway in the hall and into that bizarre room the maiden had found herself surrounded by darkness and this darkness gradually faded into light. But this time it was slower and the light was not as bright. When Aqua could finally see again she found herself in a garden.

Or what she thought was a garden. In truth the only plants were large green bushes, perfectly cut to resembles walls and even heart shaped arches on both right and left sides of the room, two passages leading to parts unknown. At the far end of the area here was another arch and passage. Three choices, Aqua thought and took a few steps, slowly arriving in the center of the garden.

As she stood there, Aqua slowly turned in place, her blue eyes studying this new wonder. There were roses bushes on the four corners of the walls, though the left were red and the ones of the white were white. Aqua supposed that wasn't too odd, a gardener could have more then the same plant and many different colored flowers, as he or she wanted. Then there was something wrong with the scenery beyond the bush walls. It looked…flat. For a brief moment, Aqua thought if she were to walk up and try to reach over the bushes, she would actually be able to touch the view beyond them. To Aqua, it looked like walls that had merely been painted to look like regular sky, clouds and more bushes beyond it.

Aqua continued to stare at the strange view before she quickly turned her head. There was a sound. Like…armor clanking? Suddenly it was all around her, echoing from the three passages around her. Aqua tensed, crouching slightly, arm held out in case her keyblade was needed.

The sound grew louder and closer still and Aqua was convinced it was some kind of armored brigade, maybe a group of knights or soldiers-

The sound was all around her as the ones making it poured in from all three passages, surrounding Aqua in short order. Aqua simply stared at the soldiers in dumbfounded shock. And just when things started to look normal around here, she thought. The soldiers were cards.

They were indeed cards, cards the size of full-grown men. They had heads right over their symbols and little arms and feet on their four corners. Aqua noted coolly that the black cards carried axes and the red cards carried spears. Aqua calmly counted how many of these 'Card Soldiers' had her surrounded; amusingly realizing they were numbered like regular cards, from two to ten not including the aces. Finally, Aqua counted twenty Card Soldiers around her and the cards were only Hearts and Spades.

Very hesitantly, Aqua raised her hand and gave a small nervous wave and smile. "Uh, hello?"

Instantly she had ten spears and axes aimed at her neck.

So much for friendly negotiations, Aqua thought and frowned in annoyance. The two Aces, of Spades and Hearts, quickly looked at each other and whispered rather loudly, "She has blue hair!" "That's not natural at all!" "She must be in league with those shadows the Queen has us after!"

Aqua's eye twitched at the comment about her hair but her rising anger quickly simmered at the mention of 'shadows'. She took a step forward and said quietly, "Um, excuse me-" Instantly all those spears and axes were even closer to her neck. Aqua gingerly poked one of the spear tips aside since it was dangerously close to piercing her neck and smiled, just a bit forcefully and went on, "I, uh, maybe able to help with your 'shadow' problem-"

The Card Soldiers didn't seem to interested in her offer as they merely pushed their weapons dangerously closer then they already were. Aqua gulped and decided to stop talking since she guessed the next time she did her head would come off. "Silence prisoner!" The Ace of Hearts snapped. "The queen will decide her fate." With that declaration from the Ace of Spades, the Card Soldiers behind Aqua lowered their weapons and pushed them into the exposed part of Aqua's back. Aqua jumped and gave a small yelp, rubbing the spot where they stuck her. Aqua rounded on the Soldiers behind her and snapped, "Easy! I'll come peacefully." To her slight joy those soldiers actually flinched and stepped back.

Not that she wanted to. As Aqua was led towards the north passage, she toyed with the idea of summoning her keyblade and fighting her way free. But she remembered the Cards mentions of a queen and reluctantly decided not to. These Soldiers were just following orders and Aqua couldn't blame them for that. So she let them lead her on.

The Card Soldiers marched in front of and behind Aqua, with the young girl smack between both platoons of Aces and Spades. They led her through a large heart shaped bush arch and into a large open field. Aqua could see something on the far end of the field but couldn't make it out as the guards marched ahead of her and lined up on both sides of the field, weapons at the ready, postures and backs held straight.

Aqua could finally see what was in front of her. There was a wooden like throne built at the end of the field with a golden crown symbol embedded on the front of it. Connected under was a long series of blue and red colored tiles, more red hearts engraved on them as well before ending where a large wooden stand was. On the left side of the throne was a second stand, but it was smaller and had a series of long steps. Aqua frowned, standing in place.

Then she noticed someone was on the throne.

The reason Aqua hadn't seen this person at first was because the colors of their clothes blended almost perfectly with the colors of the throne. They wore odd mix matched red and black in a checkered style dress and a similar striped gold and black skirt. Atop her head (Aqua figured it was a woman but she still wasn't exactly sure) was a golden crown and the collar of her shirt was raised around her pudgy neck. Well, her neck wasn't so much pudgy as her whole head was fat. The person waved a red heart shaped fan at her head and glared down at Aqua what she no doubt perceived as a great height.

"Take the stand!" Aqua actually jumped at the sound of the lady's voice. It was deep and booming, echoing off the grass walls. Aqua quickly climbed up the stand, now directly across from the woman. Aqua looked around, finding no sympathy in the blank faces of the Card Soldiers. Aqua almost missed the sound of scampering feet and looked to the left where the sound originated-

Once again, the keyblade mistress found herself doing a double take and her eyes widening.

It was a rabbit, a white rabbit wearing a red jacket over an orange vest, a little button tie on his neck and some spectacles at the end of his button red nose. The white rabbit scampered to the top of the wooden stand; pausing to take in several deep breaths like he had just ran a marathon to get here. The rabbit held up a golden trumpet and blew a few loud notes. As the notes played the Card Soldiers stood even straighter. The rabbit lowered the trumpet and stood straight as well, head tipped back and his little arms at his sides.

"Presenting her majesty, the beautiful Queen of Hearts!"

'Beautiful' was most definitely the last word Aqua would have used to describe the Queen, who smiled in smug satisfaction at the rabbit's declaration. The rabbit went on, declaring, "Court is now in session!"

Court? Aqua wondered. Aqua looked at the rabbit in confusion as it simply stood there. The Queen of Hearts suddenly spoke. "And what are the charges?"

Yeah, what ARE the charges? Aqua had to resist shouting that, remembering that her Master had taught her the customs of some worlds would appear extremely odd to her one day and she had to practice patience and tolerance.

The rabbit spoke again. "The defendant is accused of aiding the shadows with the attempted theft of her majesty's heart!"

"WHAT?"

Aqua could no longer bottle her enraged confusion. The rabbit jumped, exclaiming in fright and all the Card Soldiers flinched, stepping away from Aqua as she panted and fumed, face flushed in rage. The Queen of hearts returned Aqua's outrage and shouted in indignation, "How dare you speak out of terms!" Aqua snapped, "I have a right to defend myself! For one, I've never even seen you before so why would I want to steal your heart?"

The Queen merely scoffed, waving her fan dismissively. "A likely story," the Queen responded before suddenly pointing her fan at Aqua. "You're unnatural hair color proves your allegiance to those shadows!"

AGAIN with her hair color? How in all the worlds did the fact her hair was blue prove anything?

Aqua looked at this supposed Queen in wonder, wonder at how in the world she was a queen of anything. This 'trial' and her actions were absolutely ridiculous!

Aqua closed her eyes and took in a deep breath to calm her nerves. This farce had gone on long enough and even her patience had limits.

With that, Aqua turned on her heel, showing her back to the Queen and calmly walked down the steps. Behind her, the Queen gasped and sputtered at this insult. She rose to her feet, her fat face flushing enraged and her pudgy arms shook. She pointed her fan at Aqua and screamed, "No one leaves unless I say they do! I am the Queen and you will do as I say!"

Aqua looked over her shoulder, glaring coolly at the Queen of Hearts. Aqua, "I don't recognize your authority, 'your majesty'." Aqua said the last part with mocking adoration and respect, a little smile on her lips. This only served to further infuriate the Queen, her large body shaking enraged. She tossed her head back and screeched, "OFF WITH HER HEAD!"

Aqua's smile instantly faded at that and she heard the swishing of blades behind her. Aqua slowly turned her head and saw she was once again surrounded by Card Soldiers, the Heart Soldiers pointing their spears while the Spade Soldiers had their axes held close to their flat bodies.

Aqua felt a small amount of pity towards the Soldiers. She could see some of them were shaking in fright at the mere sight of her. Aqua sighed internally. She really didn't want to hurt these poor things as they were only following orders.

But Aqua had come too far to let her sympathy stop her now.

She started to raise her arm, hand extended out and the Cards all stepped back.

This caused the Queen of Hearts to screech, "Why are you idiots just standing there? Cut her head off already!"

The Cards looked amongst each other, hissing whispers to each other. Aqua hadn't moved and stood perfectly still, arm still held out in case one Card decided to make a move. And then she caught something out of the corner of her eye.

Keeping her head straight forward, Aqua glanced out of the corners of her eyes to her right. There, directly across from her was another passage in the garden wall. And no Card Soldiers to block her way if she decided to run that way.

Aqua smiled in relief. There was a way out without having to hurt anyone. Aqua returned her gaze to the Card soldiers and saw they were still cowering slightly. Aqua flashed them a friendly smile. "Hey boys, ever play fifty-two pick up?"

This caused the Card soldiers to lower their weapons and look at each other, mumbling in confusion. Aqua spun her arm around herself, picking up a small gale and magic gathered in her hand, the wind moving to swirl in her palm. Before the Cards or the Queen could say or do anything, Aqua thrust her palm out, a miniature green whirlwind of magic and wind swirling towards the Cards, hitting one and sending it flying in the air. It quickly hit a second, then a third, then a fourth and soon all twenty card Soldiers were knocked in the air.

Where they hung lazily, floating back and forth, arms and feet weakly flailing out.

Aqua crossed her arms over her chest and watched the Soldiers float in the air. Aqua, "Though were short thirty cards or so…" With that, Aqua turned on her heel, facing the Queen of Hearts and white rabbit who watched with their jaws dropped in awe as the Queen's forces continued to float in the air, slowly descending back down. The water maiden flashed a fake sweet smile to the Queen and said, "I wish I could say it's been a pleasure meeting you your majesty but I'm not that good a liar."

To Aqua's childish enjoyment, the Queen's fat head turned red and she shook, sputtering in outrage.

Feeling her work was done Aqua turned and sprinted towards the passage, disappearing through its darkness.

The Queen of Hearts head was still a stinging red as she stood on her throne, her little heart fan shaking in her palm. She watched her Card Soldiers land on the ground and slowly rise back up, most of them swaying and looking dizzy. "WHAT ARE YOU DOPES STADING AROUND FOR! GET HER!" At the sound of the Queens roar (And its echoes), the Card Soldiers all scrambled into position and charged for the passage, spears pulled back and raised, axes held high for a mighty swing-

Only for all the Cards to bounce back as the air around the passage crackled and solid blue ice to erupt from the ground in front of it. The Cards all stared at the ice in wonder while the Queen raged and fumed, slamming her fists on the wooden arms of her throne.

Behind the ice block, Aqua held her right hand over her mouth; muffling her laughter a she heard the Queen's roars of fury still even from her behind her barrier.

"Smash it you fools! Crush it down to little ice cubes!"

The Card Soldiers slammed their weapons against the ice block, chipping little bits away that melted on contact with the ground. The Queen stood a little ways from her Soldiers, angrily pacing back and forth and clutching her fan so hard it threatened to snap in two. The White Rabbit scampered back and forth in time with the Queen of Hearts. The Rabbit stuttered, "Yu-yu-your majesty please calm down! We'll find that blue girl, don't you worry!"

This did not ease the Queens rage and she merely responded by snapping, "We wouldn't have to be looking for her if these incompetent buffoons would have just done their jobs and CUT HER HEAD WHEN THEY HAD THE CHANCE!"

All the Card Soldiers and the White Rabbit jumped and cringed again.

The Queen resumed her pacing for a few more seconds, the White Rabbit stumbling on her heels. The fat queen stopped pacing for a moment when her Soldiers made a large chip in the ice, a long crack on top of the barrier. She grinned and exclaimed, "Yes, yes! A little more and then I'll show that freak blue haired witch what happens when you insult the queen!" With that declaration, the Queen of Hearts placed her hands on her hips, fat head tossed back in raucous laughter. The Cards and Rabbit all suppressed groans of dismay.

The Queen ceased her laughing and watched as her soldiers cleared a path in the middle, allowing a single Spade Card to step towards the ice barrier. The Spade Card dragged a huge black battle-axe behind himself, tearing the grass up as the blade dragged though it, dirt scattering in some spots. The Queen looked absolutely giddy as she watched the Card lug the huge axe up, stumbling as it balanced the weapon on its shoulder.

The Queen bounced on the tip of her feet as her Spade axe-man swung the axe out, stumbling again but managing to keep its footing as it held the huge weapon out. The Queen found her excitement feeding her impatience and she screeched, "Do it already! SWING!" The Spade Card jumped a little, almost loosing its balance, but it made the sudden momentum work for it and pulled the axe back, high over its head where the black blade hung for a slit second, metal shining briefly. And then it came down, the air around it splitting as the Card swung with all its strength down on the ice barrier.

"YES!" The Queen of hearts cackled as the blade completed its descent-and froze, less then an inch away from shattering the ice.

The Queen's eyes bugged out of her head, jaw dropping before snapping close as she shook in fury. Straightening herself, the Queen marched towards her Card Soldiers, hardly noticing they all now stood still, writing it off as their usual fear of her. The Queen stood beside the still motionless axe soldier, her pudgy arms raised slightly and shaking. "Why did you stop?" The Queen roared in demanding. The Card stood absolutely still, apparently oblivious to her rage. Growling, the Queen raised her heart fan, pulling it back like a baton or other weapon, raising it menacingly. "I'll teach you to defy my orders!"

With that screamed, the Queen swung her fan with all her might, striking the Spade Card upside its head. And still the Card did not move. The Queen of Hearts blinked, panting and stepping back, suddenly frightened. She turned her head, looking over to the White Rabbit. Her eyes widened when she saw he was frozen like the cards as well, standing completely still. The Queen clutched her fan close to her chest like it would protect her from any horror.

"W-what's happened? Why are they all so still?"

"For them," purred a distant voice. "Time stands still."

The queen let out a screech of fright and turned, trying to run away but only succeeding on tripping on her the hem of her own skirt. She fell flat on her face, fan sliding away across the grass. The Queen looked around in a frenzy, trying to identify the source of the voice. "W-who are you? Show yourself!"

The bodiless voice chuckled, though the sound carried no real humor.

"As the lady wishes."

In front of her, the air rippled, the green background before the Queen turning black, smoky tendrils of darkness leeching out for her. Uttering a scream of terror, the Queen turned and crawled away quickly, reaching for her fan again.

She never saw the cloaked figure in black step out of the miasma of shadow.

The Queen of Hearts snatched her fan and turned, leaning on her elbows to look at the newcomer, her eyes widening in right. The shadow! She thought in terror.

The shadow stepped towards her, extending his right hand out. In a flourish of white and black, silver cards appeared, twirling around his wrist and into his palm. The shadow held his cards up to his hidden face; the Queen could catch a hint of his lower jaw. The shadow was smirking.

"Tell me something." He began to shuffle more cards from his right hand to his left, all the while approaching the Queen, who backed away on her hands and feet in terror.

The shadow stopped approaching when the Queen found herself trapped against her own throne. The shadow held up his left hand, a single card between his forefinger and his thumb. "If you're the queen of hearts…"

He flashed the card, revealing it to the queen but for her it was a card unlike any other.

Instead of the usual symbol and number this one had the layout of a clock, the numbers in roman numerals. Strangely, the symbol XIII was connected to the hands of the clock.

The shadows smirk widened.

"Does that me the king of spades?"

The Queen sputtered in terror as the shadow approached closer still. When he extended his empty hand out towards her, all she could do was throw her arms in front of her face and scream as loud as she could, praying someone, anyone, would hear her and come rescue her, even that stranger with the blue hair.

But alas, no one did.

And the shadow's hand reached for her heart, darkness snaking between his fingers.

Aqua stopped.

She stood a little ways from her ice barrier, head bowed slightly to listen. For a second she thought she had felt something, like a sudden rise in darkness like when a Heartless appeared. But at the same time this sudden darkness was different. Not darkness, but definitely not light either. No sooner had she sensed the strange feeling it was gone.

Aqua stood still for another moment, thinking she might sense it again but there was nothing. Deciding to let it go for now, Aqua turned her gaze to take in the new surroundings. She had escaped that strange maze like garden and that infuriating queen to find herself in a most odd forest.

There was a huge tree not too far ahead, its leaves blocking out the sky above entirely. In several places huge reeds or more likely weeds rose, a few huge yellow and pink flowers breaking through. Aqua looked at a long green stalk, following it up with her blue eyes. Immune from too many shocks in this world, Aqua found little amazement as she finally noticed huge lily pads floating in the air, suspended by strong yet thin green stalks.

Aqua gave one last glance at her barrier before facing forward and slowly advancing deeper into the forest. There was no sound at all in this forest, which slightly unnerved Aqua. To the inexperienced, no sound in a forest would be a relief from all the constant chirping of insects, birds and frog croaks. But as Aqua had learned, no sound in a forest meant one thing: something had scared off all the insects, birds and frogs.

And it was only a matter of time before whatever it was decided to greet her.

The water maiden approached the huge base of the tree and noticed there was an opening in the weeds. Aqua looked into the opening, spotting more large flowers and oddly three mushrooms of varying sizes. For a moment, the keyblade mistress toyed with the idea of jumping on them to reach above the huge trees leaves. But after seeing what happened when she took a few passages and drank something that literally shrank her down to size, Aqua found herself reluctant to see what lay above the trees. So she turned away from the mushrooms and looked at the path ahead, spotting more weeds and flowers.

And a blonde girl in a blue and white dress huffing and puffing as she ran towards the keyblade mistress.

Aqua's eyes widened when she saw three deep scratches on the girls right arm, the blonde girl clutching her wounded arm close to her chest. Aqua moved swiftly as the girl tried to run past her, catching the younger girls shaking form and trying to hold her still as she attempted to thrash herself free of Aqua's grip.

"Easy, easy!" Aqua soothed but the girl still tried to break free, head snapping to look over her own shoulder back down the path she came. The girl looked at Aqua and spoke quickly. "Let me go, please! It's coming!" Aqua however maintained her grip on the girl, though she took a split-second to follow her terrified gaze down the path. Aqua then looked back down at her and asked, "What? What's coming?"

The girl looked up at Aqua, mouth opening to reply when the whole forest shook as a loud 'boom' echoed off the area. The girl froze in Aqua's grip while the water maiden herself found her eyes widening as she slowly looked around the forest. A second 'boom' shook the forest even harder. A third followed shortly after and Aqua suddenly realized where they were coming from. Her blue eyes looked down the path the girl had come from.

The girl herself shook harder in Aqua's grip. Aqua gently pushed her towards the opening in the weeds and whispered fiercely and quickly, "Stay there and no matter what you hear, don't come out until I say so." The girl numbly nodded as Aqua pushed into her in the small space and walked away quickly. The keyblade mistress looked at the path, hearing the booms but finding little force behind them. Whatever was coming was big and strong but not as big and strong as it sounded earlier.

With a thrust and swing of he arm, Aqua summoned her keyblade and held it at the ready. Just as her enemy made itself known.

It was a huge gray and black striped creature, its huge body striking the large tree and shaking it, loosening dozens of leaves as it bounced back. Aqua saw it was a large Heartless, at least four times her size but around the keyblade wielders own height. As Aqua studied it more, she saw a large black collar around its neck with at least half a dozen silver spikes jutting out. The Heartless had four stubby limbs with three claws at the end of each paw. Like other Heartless it had yellow eyes but these had swirls in them instead of the usual lack of pupils. Aqua saw something dangling from its collar was tag shaped and colors were those of the Heartless emblem.

The dog Heartless turned its wild gaze on Aqua, huge red tongue dangling out of its bigger jaws. Aqua tensed, muscles and limbs tightening while the Heartless cocked its head in a classic confused manner of a dog.

Then, it pulled back and lunged forward, its huge body spinning as it shot towards Aqua. The water maiden cart wheeled out of the way and the Heartless shot past her, slamming into a large boulder by a pond. The boulder cracked but didn't fall apart. The Heartless stumbled back, shaking its body/head before returning its wild gaze back on Aqua. Only this time it looked angry. Aqua pointed her keyblade at the Heartless and then slowly raised her other hand out. She waved her fingers in the 'bring it on' gesture.

Though were way no way it could understand the meaning of the gesture, the Heartless pulled back, grinding it's jaw before lunging again in that spinning body tackle. Aqua cart wheeled out of the way again but this time kept her keyblade pointed at the Heartless. The tip glowed red for a moment before a fireball shot out, slamming into its side. The Heartless stopped spinning, letting out several pained yaps as it spun in place, the spot where Aqua's spell had struck still on fire. Never one to let an opening go to waste, Aqua charged over in her own spinning slash, her keyblade striking the Heartless across the right side of its face, cutting clear through its eye. The huge beast Heartless let out another yelp but this one was more of an enraged cry then a pained cry. It lunged out, striking Aqua with a head butt on her whole body, sending the water maiden sliding back. Aqua came to a stop in a slight crouch, her free hand clutching her now aching chest. She shot the Heartless a glare and it returned it in kind with its remaining eye. The keyblade mistress and the Heartless charged each other, the Heartless roaring while Aqua gritted her teeth. The Heartless lowered its head as it approached Aqua and then lunged forward in a burst of speed, head snapping up to hit Aqua-

As she easily lept over it, jumping over the Heartless. Aqua floated in the air a moment as she pulled her keyblade back, reversing her grip on it before throwing it with a mighty cry. The keyblade became a black and gray blur as it spun back down towards the Heartless. The keyblade cut through the middle of the Heartless and vanished into the mass of it's gray and black body. The Heartless's one remaining eye widened right before it exploded in a shower of black mist and a fluttering pink heart. Aqua gracefully fell back down to the ground, watching the black mist clear to reveal her keyblade impaled in the ground where the Heartless had been. Aqua wrapped her hand around its handle and with a tug, freed it. Aqua then dismissed her blade in a shower of dazzling yellow sparks.

The water maiden let out a small breath. That hadn't been too hard but it could have been a lot worse. The keyblade mistress turned her gaze to the spot where the blonde girl in the blue and white dress was hiding. Said girl poked her head out from between the weeds, eyes wide and filled with shocked impression.

"You…you beat it." Aqua casually shrugged. She walked closer to the girl who stepped out of the weeds entirely. "The bigger ones aren't so tough once you see past their scary looks." Aqua said as she reached the girl. The keyblade mistress bowed slightly, looking at the girls cut arm, which she still clutched to her chest, staining the white on the front of it. Aqua held her hand out to the girl. "May I?"

The girl looked confused for a moment before realizing the stranger with blue hair was referring to her arm. The girl hesitated for another moment and then nodded, holding her arm to Aqua. The water maiden gently touched the girls arm, carefully running a finger over the scratches. The girl winced, eyes snapping closed before slowly opening again, tears brimming around the corners. Aqua smiled reassuringly and said, "Don't worry. Here." She held up her left hand, which glowed a bright healthy green right before Aqua ran her hand over the girl's three scratches. The young girl felt a strange sensation flow into her arm, like cool water running over hot skin, and before her widening eyes, the three cuts vanished.

Aqua smiled again, nodding when she saw no trace of the cuts or any kind of scar before releasing the girl's arm. The young girl held her arm up to eye level, staring in wonder before returning her gaze to Aqua. "How did you do that?"

Aqua smiled. "Magic," she replied simply. "My favorite thing in any world."

This caused the girl to smile and Aqua found she liked this look better then the fearful one from earlier. Aqua then sighed and looked around. "So…" She returned her gaze to the girl and asked helplessly, "Do you have any idea how to get out of here?"

The girl smiled and nodded, filling Aqua with surprised relief. "Yes I do," the girl replied. She moved past Aqua while saying, "We just have to go through-"

She stopped talking, causing Aqua to frown and turn, looking at the blonde girl and seeing she had a shocked and crestfallen look on her young face. Aqua followed her gaze and winced. The girl was staring at the frozen passage and Aqua saw the ice hadn't even started to melt yet. "There…" The girl finished, voice quiet and numb.

Aqua slowly walked over to the girl, standing a little ways behind her. The water maiden offered a sympathetic gaze to the girl, whose head was bowed and she fretted her hands together near her chest. "Oh dear," the girl mumbled. "What could have done that?"

"What indeed?" Aqua flinched and instinctively moved the girl behind herself with a sweep of her arm, eyes scanning the forest for the source of the voice. The girl herself gasped, mostly because of Aqua's sudden movements.

"Or more likely…"

The air rippled near some branches above Aqua and the girl, the green turning a shade of purple and pink stripes. Aqua watched in confusion as the purple and pink form sprouted four little limbs and then a long bushy tail and finally, a large head. And a larger grinning face. Yellow eyes stared down on the two girls but despite the grin, they held no amusement whatsoever. The cat leaned on its arm in a casual recline. It looked very strange. Especially since the cat was floating in midair. "Who indeed?"

Aqua decided to ask the obvious. "Who are you?" The answer came seconds later but not from whom Aqua expected.

"Cheshire!" Aqua rounded on the blonde girl, eyes confused when she saw a look of relief on her face. The cat chuckled, the sound just as humorless as its grin.

"Hello Alice," it purred. "I see the key holder saved you from those shadows. I'll have to thank him if he ever comes back." Aqua blinked in confusion. She looked between Alice and the cat. The grinning feline finally seemed to take notice of the water maiden and turned its yellow gaze on her.

"And who do we have here? Another key holder?"

Aqua froze, eyes widening. She understood what it meant and the implications behind that. Steadying herself, she kept her gaze cool and even as she stared up at the cat. Deciding to try and throw it off, Aqua shot at it, "Who are you? No, what are you?"

The cat reclined up, standing on its feet before its tail pushed out, straightening out entirely and leaving the cat floating even higher in the air, swaying slowly back and forth. "Who am I? Just a grinning cat. The real question is, who are you? And why is that shadow drawn to you?"

Aqua frowned. "Shadow?" She asked to herself.

The cat nodded, rubbing its belly. "Yes, that gambler who manipulates the sands of time. But can he manipulate your sands my dear? After all, those who bear the key…"

The cat vanished, not entirely. First its legs disappeared, and then its legs followed quickly by its body, leaving on its tail and head floating for a split second before the head vanished but not the large grin or its tail. The mouth moved as it spoke again. "Make their own fate. Or…"

The tail and mouth vanished completely, leaving only empty air where the grinning cat had been. But its words still hung around. "So they think."

And then it was truly gone.

Aqua and Alice stood alone in the forest once again. Alice looked at Aqua in confusion while Aqua furrowed her brow, the cat's words echoing in her head.

'The key bearer…Could that cat have meant that boy Aladdin and Jasmine spoke of… Sora?'

She brushed the thought aside. Now was not the time to wonder about that. Right now she had to get herself and more importantly Alice out of here. Brushing off the cat as best as she could, Aqua turned back to Alice and asked, "Do you know any other way out of this forest?"

The girl bit her lip, head bowing slightly. Alice, "I'm really not sure. It's been so long since I've been here I can't really remember if there's another way out of the forest."

Aqua sighed lowly, crossing her arms and closing her eyes. She briefly considered melting her own barrier and going through those cards and that ugly loud-mouthed queen but she tossed that thought aside. As a keyblade master she had no right to harm any resident of any world unless they abused the powers of darkness or any other power while willingly using it to harm others. While that queen's heart definitely teetered on the edge of darkness those card were more or less innocent, even if they did follow her selfish desires.

Aqua opened her eyes and sighed. Alice looked up at her, slightly anxious. Aqua looked at the younger girl and smiled, trying to cheer her up.

But then Aqua's eyes widened when she saw something past Alice. The blonde haired girl blinked in surprise and turned around, wondering what the blue haired woman was looking at. Her own eyes widened as she saw it too.

On the soil of the path before them, paw-prints appeared, one after another as if an animal was walking in front of them. No. A cat.

The paw-prints continued to appear before the two girls, leading down the path before turning around a corner. Alice looked up at Aqua, who had a cautious expression on her face. Alice smiled and tugged on one of aqua's white belle sleeves. Alice, "Let's follow them."

Before Aqua could try and dissuade the younger girl, Alice was already sprinting ahead, following after the heels of the invisible cats. The water maiden watched the girl and the prints disappear behind the corner before slowly turning her gaze back up to where the cat had been. Then, she looked back over to the path and followed after Alice.

Not far away from the branch where the cat had hovered over, the black robed shadow arranged his hand of cards, moving a card with the image of a shadowed dragon to the middle of his hand, between two queen cards.

The appearing paw-prints led the two girls to a hidden passage in the grassy walls of the forest. Aqua had held Alice back and went through it first, just in case these prints led them into a trap. Aqua was once again briefly surrounded by darkness; something made her edgy every time-

And just as quickly as it covered her it faded away.

Aqua found herself in another cleared lot, the forest and maze walls perfectly surrounding it. To Aqua's left she saw a large cottage with a balcony over the door and deck. And directly in front of Aqua was a long table, three chairs of varying kind on both sides and a large pink one at the end. Aqua moved forward slightly, and Alice walked through the passage shortly after.

Once again, the girl's face lit up at the sight of the table. Alice, "The tea party!"

Aqua looked back at Alice, her expression confused. Aqua, "I'm sorry?"

Alice moved past Aqua and towards the table. She looked over the chairs and various cups and plates on the table. Her excited smile vanished quickly. Alice, "Hatter's not here…"

Aqua furrowed her brow, confused once more. "Whose that?" Alice looked over towards Aqua, mouth opening to answer when she gasped in surprised, looking past Aqua. The keyblade mistress whirled around, her weapon appearing in her right hand in case it was an enemy.

It may has well have been when Aqua saw it was that cat again, Cheshire as Alice called it, leaning against the door of the cottage.

The cat once again balanced itself on its tail, grinning mirthlessly at the two girls. It spread its stubby arms in an inviting gesture. Then just as quickly as it was there, it vanished. "Hey! Wait-" Aqua called after, racing towards the door. Aqua tripped on the edge of the decks steps. "Whoa!" Arms flailing, Aqua stumbled, slamming into the door. To Aqua's horror, it slipped open easily and Aqua fell into darkness again-

-and emerged back in the bright bizarre room.

Aqua landed on her hands and knees, momentarily dazed by the sudden change of scenery. After reorienting herself, the water maiden stood back up, rubbing her forehead. Aqua took a few slow steps into the huge room, blue eyes gazing up at the white table.

Suddenly, Aqua heard another thump and whirled around, spotting Alice fallen on the floor. Alice rubbed her knees, which Aqua saw were bruised from the fall. Alice, "Oww…"

Aqua smiled sympathetically and moved to help her-

She felt it again. Aqua froze half way towards Alice the moment she felt that foreign magic from earlier, the same magic that had revealed the passage behind the bed. Behind the magic was a sudden surge of darkness. Aqua looked around quickly, trying to identify the source before it got the jump on her and Alice. Aqua looked over towards Alice and snapped, "Find cover, something's coming."

Aqua resumed looking around, feeling the darkness grow. Whatever was coming was powerful and she could sense a terrible greed and wrath laced in the darkness. Aqua's gaze was snapping all over the room when she stopped.

The water maiden quickly whirled to look down at Alice. The girl hadn't moved. Aqua blinked in confusion and slight anger. She moved towards the younger girl while saying, "Alice, you need to hide right now!" But the girl still did not move.

Aqua frowned in panic. She stepped closer, reaching to touch the girl. Then stopped. Alice was frozen still, her features still looking annoyed and pained from her fall. Aqua, "What-"

Something shot up, aiming right for Aqua's neck. Acting on pure instinct, Aqua leapt back crouching slightly in case it was an enemy. Her blue eyes widened in shock when she saw it was a series of cards with an odd reversed heart symbol on their backs and white surfaces, surrounding Alice in a perfect circle. Aqua gasped as the cards began to spin around Alice's form, slowly obscuring any view of the girl-

And then sinking back into the floor, taking Alice with themselves.

Aqua's eyes widened in terror and she cried, "Alice!"

The water maiden's cry was drowned out by a terrifying roar and surge of darkness.

Aqua looked up toward the ceiling and saw a growing miasma of darkness, purple flames occasionally bursting forth from inside it. Aqua watched in terrified awe as sections of the miasma stretched out. Multiple streams of the dark mist melded together forming a long skinny limb with claws at the end. As soon as the arm was completely stretched out, a great leathery wing emerged from it. Aqua's eyes had widened to the size of saucers.

More tendrils stretched out, forming more limbs. A tail. A leg, a second wing. And finally, a long neck and diamond shaped head. Twin yellow eyes opened, glaring down at Aqua. The dragon thrust its limbs out, head tossed back in a world-shaking roar of fury.

Aqua could feel and see the darkness rolling of this dragon in waves of black energy. It was a Heartless but unlike any Heartless she had ever seen. The dragon returned its gaze down on Aqua. And with a flap of its wings, it shot down, a black meteor aiming straight at Aqua.

The water maiden crouched and back flipped, dodging the dragons dive-bomb at her. The floor cracked and split apart where the dragon landed, the huge Heartless stumbling slightly as it rose up, knuckle walking on the claws at the ends of its wings. The beast looked around wildly, spotting Aqua a few feet ahead of itself. Upon seeing the blue haired warrioress, the Heartless let out a mighty bellow down on her. Aqua returned it's below with a glare and swung her keyblade out, shards of fire shooting out and striking the beast's armored torso. And did nothing but annoy the dragon. The beast reared back on its haunches, taking in a huge breath of air. Aqua could actually see the air being sucked up, ripples appearing around the dragon's maw. A split-second later she remembered what happened when a dragon took in a deep breath like that.

The dragon lunged forward, black flames spilling out of its open jaws, straight for Aqua's form. Aqua held her keyblade in front of herself and her Reflect Barrier appeared, deflecting the flames off of her. The dragon ceased its attack and looked down where the woman had been. Black fire completely obscured any view of her. Hissing in annoyance, the Heartless stepped through its own fires, oblivious to the heat. Not far away, Aqua hid behind one of the huge legs of the white table, watching the dragon walk past her Aqua mentally cursed her stupidity for using fire magic. Her anger over the sudden attack and confusion over Alice's disappearance had manifested in fire magic and dragons, whether regular or Heartless breed, were always immune to fire. Unless they were ice dragons but this one clearly wasn't. Aqua peeked around the leg of the table and saw the dragon had its back to her, long neck and head turning slowly back and forth as it looked around in the east corner of the room. Seeing her chance, Aqua moved out of her hiding spot and thrust her keyblade out. Shards of lightning magic shot from the tip of the blade, striking the dragon on its back. The Heartless flinched before tossing its head back in a roar of pain. Aqua could see yellow streams of lightning coursing from its back down its wings, encircling the membrane and leaving small rips in the no doubt sensitive flesh. The dragon tried to move and face Aqua but the water maiden was already charging forward, a hand running over her keyblade, the black blade now covered in an icy blue aura. Aqua shot forward, slicing through the membrane of the dragon's right wing. The Heartless bellowed in agony as the skin split easily and the torn edges were frozen solid. Aqua continued to charge past the dragon, slowly but not stopping as she crouched and leapt, performing a flip in midair. Her metal shoes struck the wall and she stopped for a split second. Pushing all of her strength into her legs and focusing more magic into her keyblade, Aqua propelled herself off the wall, shooting back towards the dragon. Only this time she was at its eye level. The monster's yellow eyes widened in surprise-

Aqua's keyblade, now covered in pure white light, tore through its neck, decapitating it.

Aqua slid across the surface of the white table, crouched slightly, keyblade still glowing.

The dragon stood perfectly still as Aqua rose back up to her full height, keyblade raised slightly. Then, Aqua swung it once, lowering it completely. As soon as the keyblade rested near her thigh, the dragon's head slid off the top of its neck and struck the floor with a resonating 'bang!'

Aqua turned slowly, looking down at the dragon Heartless as the rest of its body struck the floor, shaking the room and causing a few of the pictures to shake, threatening to fall off the wall. The water maiden watched with a cool gaze as the body and head melted into black mist that faded away just as quickly as it appeared. Aqua wiped sweat off her brow. All bark, no bite, just like that other one, she thought.

She started to move, going to jump off the table when she felt a rise in darkness again. And heard a slow but loud clapping. Aqua paused, freezing still but tightening her grip on her keyblade.

She listened to the clapping and realized whoever was doing it was right behind her.

The keyblade mistress turned and looked down from the table. Leaning against one of the large orange chairs, standing in the exact spot where Alice had appeared and disappeared was another person in a black cloak, hood raised up over his face. His head was bowed and he continued to clap slowly for another second, before stopping, hands clasped together before he stood up from his lean on the chair and his arms fell to his sides.

He raised his hidden face to gaze up at Aqua, who stared back down at him. "Most impressive." The hooded figure spoke first, his accent sophisticated and caring an air of arrogance. He moved his right hand towards his hood while talking still. "Your skills do not disappoint. Axel and Demyx spoke the truth."

Aqua remained silent as he lowered his hood, revealing a man slightly older then her, probably in his late twenties. His hair was blonde and cut very close to his head and sporting a goatee and several piercings on his ears. His blue eyes gazed up at Aqua, returning her cool and leveled gaze. He flashed a smirk.

"The lovely keyblade mistress…" He slowly took a few steps towards Aqua all the while talking. "Who conquered fire and water, oldest of the elements. But not the most powerful."

Aqua kept her gaze on him before asking, "Who are you?"

The man smiled and extended his arms away from himself. There was a flash of black and white and Aqua saw cards flow out of the ends of his cloaks wrists. The cards moved with life of their own, wrapping around the man and briefly obscuring him from view. Gradually, they faded away and the man stood with his arms to his chest in a classic thinkers position, only instead of his fist under his jaw, he held a hand of five cards in his right hand.

The man smirked again and gone was the false friendliness.

"I am Number 10 of Organization XIII, Gambler of Fate. Luxord."

Luxord lowered his left arm but kept his right raised. Aqua hadn't taken her eyes off his cards. The moment she saw them, she knew.

"You took Alice."

Luxord smirked at Aqua's angry gaze and nodded. Luxord, "I needed a bargaining chip to keep you here long enough." Aqua's eyes narrowed into angry slits, her keyblade almost shaking but she managed to restrain herself from attacking this guy already. If she did, Alice would no doubt be hurt if she didn't hear everything this weirdo had to say. And by the sound of his voice and the fact he already said more then his two friends before him, he no doubt had a lot to say.

Luxord went on. "You've already beaten my two comrades, unsurprising since they're brute force. Myself? I'm a man of gambling and offers. I like to resolve things as peacefully as possible." He flashed Aqua a classic dealers smile.

"Here is my offer: I will let the girl go, unharmed and give her safe passage home. In return…" His smile morphed into a smirk. "You come with me and meet the Superior." Aqua knew he thought he had her.

So she took great joy in responding simply and flatly: "No deal."

Blue light erupted around her keyblade, turning it into a sword of pure blue magic. With a battle cry, Aqua leapt off the table and shot down on this 'gambler'-

"TIME!"

The air rippled around Aqua and the entire room. The water maiden froze in midair, scant inches away from Luxord's head. The Gambler of Fate smirked up at her form. He strode past her frozen form, the air rippling where he walked.

"A maiden who dances across water…"

Luxord thrust his arm out. Multiple cards flowed out of his sleeve and shot over to Aqua, positioning themselves around her like frozen arrows. The Gambler came to a stop a few feet away from the keyblade mistress.

"Forming unbreakable bonds wherever she goes…"

The air started to ripple, Aqua's form slowly moving again.

"Never realizing…"

Time started again and Aqua landed on her feet, eyes wide in shock, face confused as she saw all cards around her, gleaming dangerously like multiple blades.

"Those bonds are her doom!" Luxord cackled and with a sweep of his hand, the cards all shot at Aqua. The water maiden shot up. Eyes closing as she spun in place, her barrier appearing in a flash. The cards struck hard, some of them actually cracking the green glass like energy that made up her shield but in the end they all bounced off and floated harmlessly to the ground where they vanished a second later in bursts of black and white.

Luxord smirked in joy as he watched Aqua lower her barrier but not her keyblade. Her sapphire orbs gazed into his cold cobalt eyes and they held, unafraid.

Luxord laughed. "She knows the most important rule of any deal." He held up his right hand, more cards appearing between his fingers. Luxord, "Never accept the first offer." Aqua flashed the Gambler her own smirk. Aqua, "Let me guess. You 'gift' is time, right? The other two were 'fire' and 'water', right?"

Luxord nodded, standing perfectly still and watching her closely. Aqua's next question caught him off guard. "So if time is your thing, can you see the future?"

Luxord, blinked, actually surprised. He quickly put his poker face back on and replied simply, "No."

Aqua shrugged. "Shame, she said. "Because if you could, you'd probably already know-" She thrust her keyblade out, the blade pointing at his neck.

"You're going to lose this gamble!"

Luxord smirked, clearly enjoying this. He held out his left hand and said, "A moment my dear. Hear me out on my next offer." He snapped his fingers and two huge cards appeared behind him. Aqua saw a strange reversed silver heart symbol on the back of the cards before they turned, revealing a clock face, the numbers in the classic roman numeral forms from one to twelve and the symbol XIII connected to the hands. The big and little hands were lined up directly over the XII symbol.

Luxord smirked as the two cards spun in place, vanishing and reappearing on the raised shelf near the chairs. Luxord, "How about a game, love? Here's the offer: If you win, I let you and girl go. If I win: I give the girl to the Heartless and take you to meet the Superior."

Aqua hissed at that, stepping forward but managing to force herself to not charge him. As long as he held Alice, she had to go along with his 'game'.

"Fine," Aqua snapped. "What's the game and the rules?"

Luxord smirked, pleased and went on. "It's a game of time. The rules are simple. We each have three minutes. The first to run out of time loses." With that said, the hands on the cards began to slowly tick. Aqua blinked; surprised by the simplicity of the game but also feeling she was missing something. Aqua, "That's all?"

Luxord nodded, still smirking. His smirk reminded Aqua of that cat. Aqua lowered her keyblade ever so slightly. That was all Luxord needed. His arm shot out, cards flying from his cloaks sleeve and shooting at Aqua. The water maiden immediately pulled her keyblade to herself, trying to summon her barrier-

Aqua winced and gave a small cry as a card cut through the exposed flesh of her arm. Thankfully her barrier appeared, deflecting the other cards. They bounced off her shield and flew back to their master, sliding back up his sleeve. Aqua didn't lower her barrier and glared at the Gambler as he held up another hand of cards. Aqua spared a glance up at the time cards. Her eyes widened. Her card now showed she was five seconds ahead of Luxord's, whose counted normally.

She shot him a glare and exclaimed, "What gives? Why did I lose time?"

Luxord laughed. Luxord, "All in the game love. Health and Time are intertwined. For every cut, scrape or bruise inflicted on that pretty skin of yours, you lose time. That rule applies to me as well." Aqua's glare intensified and she exclaimed, "You failed to mention that earlier!"

Luxord laughed and stepped back, more cards flying from his sleeves. Luxord, "Second rule of gambling my dear: Never reveal all the rules at once."

With that, his left hand shot out, snatching more cards. Luxord spun and threw all of his cards at Aqua. The water maiden kept her barrier up for another second before casting it off and jumping back. She thrust her keyblade out and icicles erupted around Luxord, exploding into small but deadly shards. The Gambler gasped and threw his arms over himself in a shield like manner. Aqua knew he was still going to be struck by the shards but to her shock, two human sized cards appeared around his body, deflecting most but not all the shards of ice. When the barrage of icicles stopped, Luxord lowered his arms, the cards vanishing. Aqua saw a cut across his cheek, which the Gambler rubbed at with the back of his left glove. He grinned at the sight of his own blood. Luxord, "And the game begins."

Before Aqua could do anything, more cards encircled his body and he vanished. Aqua tensed, looking around wildly. He could be anywhere, could try to attack from afar or from the shadows, some place she'd have a hard time retaliating at. But then Aqua remembered: He was a Gambler. And Gamblers loved risks.

With that thought in mind, the keyblade mistress ducked just as Luxord reappeared behind her, razor sharp cards in his hands that he swiped out, trying to cut Aqua across the throat. Aqua spun, leg shooting out to knock Luxord flat on his back. The Gambler grunted, eyes closing for a second before snapping open as Aqua attempted to stab him through the chest. He dodged by rolling away and jumping back up, more cards appearing in his hands. Only these were different from the earlier ones. Instead of the black and white colors, they were red, blue and yellow. "Like magic? Me too!"

With that, he threw the cards out and Aqua saw the red one light on fire and the yellow one come alive with electricity. Aqua called her barrier back up right before the cards reached her. The blue one struck first, exploding into a rain of icicles. Aqua grit her teeth and managed to keep her shield up. Then the yellow struck next and lightning coursed all around her barrier, cracking it in some spots. Aqua tried to raise more magic but then the red card struck and flames exploded, engulfing her and her barrier. Aqua screamed as it shattered. She stumbled back, dazed and defenseless. Luxord raced over, his leg kicking out to strike Aqua in the midsection and then his elbow slamming down onto her back. Aqua fell flat on the floor, crying in pain. Luxord sneered and raised another hand of cards, each shining sharply and held between his fingers. He pushed down on the back of Aqua's neck, holding her in place as he raised the cards over the exposed skin of her back-

Aqua's legs kicked out, nailing Luxord right in the stomach. He fell back, grunting, grip on the maiden's neck loosening. That was all Aqua needed to allow herself to grab her keyblade and bring it up swinging, striking Luxord right in on his shoulder, forcing him farther back. Aqua advanced, swinging her keyblade over and over across his chest, arms and even nailing him right on the face and neck a couple times. With one last swing, she sent him sliding back, bloody and panting. Luxord crouched slightly, blood running down his nose that he wiped away. He grinned at Aqua. Luxord, "Not bad love. You don't slouch." He spared at glance at the time cards, wincing and cursing when he saw Aqua had about two minutes left while he was down by forty seconds, left with less then a minute and a half.

Time to wrap this up.

Luxord stood up to his full height and extended both of his arms out. Two cards slid out of his sleeves and into his hands. Magic flashed and the cards grew to Luxord's size, though he was still able to hold them easily. Aqua gasped and braced herself as the Gambler of Fate crouched slightly and charged over like a bull, roaring loudly. He reached Aqua in seconds, slashing the huge cards at her several times but Aqua ducked and weaved under his swings easily. The keyblade mistress pulled her keyblad back to try and strike Luxord in the side-

The Gambler's booted foot shot out, slamming into Aqua's thinner legs and causing the girl to scream in pain and lose her balance. Luxord's card shot up under her in a dangerous uppercut-

Aqua's scream echoed off the room's walls. She threw a fireball to knock Luxord back and clutched at the huge cut across her side, blood oozing through her fingers. The Gambler of Fate laughed, his huge cards vanishing. He smirked at Aqua, who was crouched on her knees, keyblade almost slipping out of her grasp. Luxord spoke while glancing up at the time cards. Luxord, "Time's almost up my dear." Aqua followed his gaze and her face paled when she saw she had thirty seconds left while Luxord was down to fifty. The Gambler held up another card, an Ace of Spades. "Time to ante up."

Aqua panted and closed her eyes. She couldn't lose. Not with Alice's life at stake. Her eyes opened, glaring at Luxord with intense fury and determination. Luxord found himself admiring the girl's spirit. Even in the face of defeat she still wouldn't back down. He held his hand out, fingers beckoning Aqua. The water maiden rose up and charged, keyblade pulled back. Luxord found his admiration turning to disappointment. She couldn't really think this would work, did she? The Gambler easily stepped aside, dodging her charge-

And allowing Aqua to turn with shocking speed and slam her keyblade into his torso. Luxord's face contorted in shock and pain as he was knocked off balance. Aqua slammed her keyblade into his back, gripping it with both hands and sending Luxord flying into the air, screaming in pain. Aqua jumped back, slashing her keyblade in the air before pointing it at the Gambler. Magenta colored magic gathered at the tip, glowing brighter and brighter until it flashed and seven beams of energy shot out. Luxord's cobalt eyes widened in terror right before all seven beams of Ragnarok struck him from all sides, exploding in a shower of sparks. Aqua stood there, watching Luxord's limp form fall back down to the ground in a smoking heap. Aqua turned her gaze from him to the time cards. Hers read five seconds. Luxord's read zero.

The cards vanished in a flash of black and white. Aqua had won. Not taking any chances, she limped over to Luxord's shifting form and pointed her keyblade at his neck. Aqua, "I won. Release Alice, now."

Luxord panted, several cuts on his face and blood dripping down his mouth and nose. He nodded and raised his right hand, fingers snapping. More life sized cards appeared and vanished just as quickly, leaving a confused looking Alice to look around the room before spotting Aqua and Luxord with a gasp. She started to walk over but Aqua held up her hand, stopping her. The keyblade mistress returned her gaze to Luxord, who watched her with interest. Then, Aqua lowered her keyblade and stepped several spaces back, giving the Gambler room to stand.

Luxord rose on his knees, hand lying on his left knee. He panted, coughing blood before returning his gaze on Aqua. He grinned. "You play the game well love."

A portal of black mist rose behind him, tendrils leeching out to wrap around him. Luxord went on, "Friendly warning: Those who come after me…"

His body vanished but like the Cheshire Cat before him, his words hung in the air.

"Are far worse then me or the others could ever hope to be."

Aqua watched the Corridor of Darkness swallow Luxord up and melt back into the ground, disappearing. Only then did she allow herself to collapse, dropping her keyblade as she clutched her bloody side. Alice gasped and cried, "Miss!" She raced over to Aqua, looking at her in desperation and helplessness.

A low chuckle reverberated off the walls. "Don't worry Alice."

Green light and leaves encircled Aqua, making Alice gasp as the water maiden's wounds and blood vanish, her clothes even repairing themselves as well. Aqua blinked in surprise and stood up evenly, looking over herself in wonder. There was strange noise and the Cheshire Cat appeared in front of the two girls, walking normally. Cheshire, "It seems that shadow was no match for you. But this is unsurprising." While Alice smiled at the cat in gratitude for healing Aqua, the keyblade mistress herself continued to stare mistrustfully. Aqua, "Who are you, really?"

The cat shrugged, still grinning but this time actually looking amused. Cheshire, "I am like this world: A thing of wonder." And with that, he vanished once more. Aqua and Alice stared at the spot where he had been, the exact spot where Luxord had vanished. Aqua sighed, deciding to let it go. She looked down at Alice, smiling. Aqua, "What say we get out of here?" The young girl could only nod excitedly.

It had only taken a few jumps for Aqua to get herself and Alice up the white table and over to the blue potion bottle. Aqua managed to pour the contents of that bottle into the cap of the potion and that allowed the girls to drink form it. They had grown back to normal size in a puff of white magic. After that, they left the bizarre room and went back into the tunnel hall. They now stood directly under the tunnel, both looking up into it. Alice voiced the question on their minds:

"How do we get back up?"

Aqua sighed, scratching her head in thought. Aqua, "I really should've though about that."

This only caused Alice to giggle. Then the young girl gasped. Aqua flinched, assuming the worse. Aqua, "What, what is it?"

Alice, "I just realized," She smiled up at Aqua. "I never got your name."

Aqua blinked, and she too realized she had never told the girl her name. The water maiden found herself laughing, Alice joining in seconds later. Aqua smile down at her said, "Well let me fix that." Aqua clasped her hands and gave a formal bow. "I am Aqua. It's a pleasure to meet you." Alice smiled and curtsied with her dirty and ripped blue and white dress. Alice, "I'm Alice and it's also a pleasure to meet you."

Both girls stood back up, smiling at each other. Suddenly, Alice gasped. "Oh!"

Aqua's eyes widened and she was about to ask what was wrong when Alice's body gave off a flash of light and then a circle of light appeared around the girl. Aqua stared in wonder, remembering Jasmine had done this as well. There was another flash as Alice's eyes closed and the Star Fragment appeared, hovering between the two. The Fragment glowed, light encircling it and Alice. There was one last great flash of light-

And both Alice and Aqua were gone.

"Alice! Alllice!"

The young girl woke with a start when she heard her name being called.

Alice once again found herself under that tree she liked to sit and read under. She rubbed her still tired and heavy eyes.

What an odd dream…

The monitors glowed and machines whirred and beeped in the dark basement laboratory.

The man in red bandages and robes, DiZ as he called himself, watched the monitors with new interest. Instead of the usual numbers and schematics they showed, they instead replayed images of the blue haired keyblade mistress's battles with the three Organization members. DiZ followed each of them at once, his single amber eye watching with great interest.

DiZ, "It would appear putting that data inside the fragment was not such a waste after all. Her prowess with the keyblade is simply unbelievable, far better then I could have ever hoped." The researcher had long grown use to simply speaking to himself. He typed a few strokes on the keyboards, watching the images fast forward or reverse. He smiled, watching each of the three Organization members be struck down by Aqua.

DiZ, "If she defeats all the servants of my former apprentice…"

DiZ's grin spread into a terrible smirk.

"I will no longer need Sora."

With that, he chuckled and resumed watching Aqua's battles.

Not far ahead, standing behind a cracked door was the blindfolded Riku, mouth agape in terror.

DiZ's words rang over and over in his head.

No longer need Sora.

Riku's fist clenched tightly, the leather of his glove squelching.

He walked away from the door, leaving DiZ to his plans and experiments.

Riku waved his arm out, a Corridor of Darkness appearing.

He had to find Aqua. And he had to find her fast.