Author's Note: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.
Ch.8 Search for Evidence
Faced with the task of finding evidence to prove that Alice was innocent, we decided to ask Alice herself for clues. "Why hello. I'm dreadfully sorry for getting you involved in all this, and I don't even know you're names," she said. "I'm Sora, and this is Donald, Goofy and Dexal," Sora said, gesturing at each of us in turn. "Charmed. But since we're trying to prove you're innocent, do you have any idea where to find some clues?" I asked. "I met a Cheshire Cat in the forest. He may know something," she said. "Be silent! You may not speak to the defendant!' one of the cards yelled. I glared at him, but looked at the others. They shrugged, and we walked through the doorway in the side of the hedge into the forest.
It was huge, filled with enormous closed flowers and lily pads. But as large as it was, that also presented a problem. "How are we gonna find the evidence in here?" Donald asked. I was about to answer, but then the head of a grinning cat appeared in the air. It vanished, reappearing a second and then a third time. The third time the body appeared as well, and the cat lifted up its head up put it back on its neck. "Who are you?" Donald asked, and I said "Are you the Cheshire Cat?" "Am I, or am I not? That is the question. Poor Alice. Soon to lose her head and she's not guilty of a thing!" he said.
"Hey, if you know who the culprit is, tell us!" Sora told him. "The Cheshire Cat knows has all the answer, but doesn't always tell. The answers, the culprit, the cat all lie in darkness," the Cheshire Cat said, before vanishing. "Hey!" I called. Although we couldn't see him, he said "They've already left the forest, I won't tell which exit. There are four pieces of evidence in all. Three are a cinch to find. The fourth is tricky. Big reward if you find them all. "Should we trust him?" Donald asked, and he replied "To trust or not to trust? I'll trust you to decide!" I looked at the others. "Well, looks like this is the best lead we've got. Let's split up and search the forest first," I suggested.
They nodded, and we broke off to look throughout the area. As I passed by one of the flowers, a large yellow one, I heard a voice whisper "Psst!" I stopped looking around for whoever it was. "Hey, you there! Feed me a Potion, and I'll make you big!" it offered. I kept turning my head back and forth, until it said "In front of you!" and I looked at the flower. I should have been surprised, but after seeing a talking rabbit, doorknob, cards and cat, a talking flower wasn't that big a stretch. "Why would I want to grow bigger?" I asked it. "Just trust me! And give me a Potion!" it said.
Shaking my head at the fact I was talking to a flower, I pulled a Potion out of my pocket and poured it on its petals. It sighed, and suddenly I was wrapped in green light before I grew back to my normal size. "What the-?" I yelled, seeing the others look at me from below. "Whoa, Dexal! How'd you get so big?" Goofy asked. "I don't know! How do I undo this?' I asked, walking carefully so as to not crush anything. "Beats me," Donald said. I looked around for some sort of solution, and accidentally stepped on one of the huge lily pads. It sank right into the floor, and when it did another rose straight up into the air.
Startled, I foolishly drew my Keyblade. It hit the larger tree and a huge red fruit fell to the ground, just the perfect size for me to eat. "Hey, maybe taking a bite out of that will make you grow smaller!" Sora suggested. I looked at it, and shrugged, picking the fruit up and taking a bite. It was sweet and sour at the same time, and I shrunk back down to my normal size. I sighed. "Whew, that's better," I said, before noticing a small pink box. Tapping it with Stormfall, it opened to reveal a set of footprints. "Hey guys! I found a clue!" I said. They came to see it and I showed it to them. "Great, but where are the other three?" Donald asked.
I looked around, but Sora saw a doorway on the side of the tree and pointed to it. "How about we go through there?" he suggested. We did so, but the moment we set foot through the doorway we fell down a hole. "Not again!" I called, but then it opened to show the Bizarre Room, and we fell onto the side of the fireplace. And right next to us was another box. "There it is! Nice idea, Sora!" Goofy commented. I nodded, and let Sora do the honors of opening it. A huge waft of air poured out, along with a scent that I recognized as the Heartless. "What the-? How are we going to show that to the queen now?!" Donald called.
"Hold on a sec. Aeroga!" I called. A huge whirlwind appeared around us and drew in the scent, sucking it back into the box before I shut it. "Only two to go," I said. "Okay, then let's get back to the forest!" Sora said. As if to tempt fate however, a Large Body and three Red Nocturnes appeared, and I shouted as the Body shoved us off the edge of the fireplace. Once we hit the ground a pair of Shadows rose up, and from above all three of the Nocturnes cast Fire. "Oh come on!" Donald protested, dodging the spells along with us. Sora jumped up and slashed at one of them, while Goofy and I ran at the Shadows.
One of them jumped forward to claw at me, and I blocked the blow before countering. Goofy raised his shield with both hands and hit the other Shadow on the head without, resulting in an oddly satisfying thunk! The Shadow wobbled about, dazed, and I cast Magnet to draw it towards me. The spell also drew in the other Shadow, and I jumped up and slashed at both of them. They burst into darkness and the Large Body immediately jumped down, taking their place. Donald cast Blizzard and pelted the Nocturnes with ice, nearly destroying two while Sora brought his Keyblade down and defeated the third. The Large Body swung at Goofy, who blocked the blow with his shield and was sent back slightly.
"Now you've asked for it!" I called, jumping up and saying "Slot Raid!" I threw my Keyblade at it and hit the Heartless in the side, before I came back to me and I threw it again. Both times a bell appeared over its head, and when I threw it a third time and another bell appeared munny started raining down. Grinning, I collected the munny while simultaneously casting Seeker Mine, creating a set of magical explosives on the ground which instantly homed in on the Body. They exploded once they were close enough, and the Large Body was briefly raised into the air before another mine went off and it exploded.
Donald cast Blizzard again and destroyed the last Nocturne, Sora having beaten down the other two. For a second we didn't move, making sure the coast was clear before we headed back through the doorway to the forest. The queen was surprised to see us all pass through the same way twice, but we paid her no mind. Once back in the forest we resumed our search, finding a pair of antennae in a third box. But no matter how hard we searched, we couldn't find box number 4. "Where could it be?" Sora wondered, checking behind a large red flower. "Maybe it's in the Bizarre Room, and we just didn't take a good enough look!" Goofy suggested.
"But we've already gone through every possible doorway to it. It isn't like there another, is there?" I asked, looking around from on top of a mushroom. "Wait a minute! What about that one?" Sora asked, pointing. We looked in the direction he pointed and saw a doorway, one that was directly beyond the platform I had accidentally raised. "That's it! Let's go!" Donald said, immediately running towards it and jumping through. I looked at the others and they shrugged, following. We fell through a hole again, but this time we landed on a large faucet on the other side of the fireplace.
And right in front of us across the wide gap was the fourth clue.
"Hey, there it is!" Goofy exclaimed. Donald looked uncertain. "But how are we going to get across? I'm not sure we could jump that far," he said. Goofy just smiled. "Don't worry, I can do it!" We let him walk to the edge, and he placed his hands together before jumping forward like he was taking a dive. It didn't work, and he sailed right down to land on the floor below. "Goofy! Are you alright?" Sora called. "Gawrsh, that really hurt!" he said, but he was still alive. "Well, think you can do it Donald?" I asked. He looked unsure, but ran forward and jumped.
He failed as well, only coming a foot short. Donald realized this and tried to flap his arms to get closer, but he was a duck, not a chicken, and fell down as well. Sora looked at them, before saying "Got any ideas on how to cross?" I looked at the gap, trying to come up with a way. I stood there for a about a minute, until it hit me. The idea was so obvious that I almost hit myself on the head for not thinking of it sooner. Okay, just jump over the edge as far as you can. Trust me," I said. He looked at me hesitantly, but I nodded and so did he. Sora bent his knees and clenched his hands into fists, putting all his strength in his leg before leaping forward.
Indeed Sora went farther than the others, but I knew that he wouldn't make it. So I waited until he was at the height of his jump, and then called "Aeroga!" and pointed Stormfall at him. A blast of air hit him directly in the back, pushing Sora forward just enough that the distance was covered. He landed on his feet; knees bent to absorb the impact, and looked back at me. "It worked!" he said delightedly. "Great. Now open the box!" Donald called from below. He did so, and told us that inside was a set of claw marks. Instantly the Cheshire Cat appeared beside me, and I jumped so far back I nearly fell off the faucet.
"Well, look at what you found. Nice going," he said. "Now we can save Alice!" Sora said excitedly. "Don't be so sure! She may be innocent, but what about you?" he asked. I looked at him confusedly. "What do you mean?" I asked. He smiled wider. "I won't tell. But I'll give you something," he said, and tossed a ball of blue-white energy at Sora. Without calling it his Keyblade appeared, and the ball hit the Kingdom Key and sank into it. It glowed slightly before fading, the Kingdom Key disappearing. The Cheshire Cat disappeared, and Sora asked "What was that?"
"I think… that was the power of ice. Sora, I do believe you were just given the spell Blizzard," I said. He looked at his hand in awe, before drawing the Kingdom Key and calling "Deep Freeze!" Shard of ice shot from it and forward and I just happened to me right in the line of fire. With a shout they hit me straight in the chest and encased my torso in ice, the extra weight causing me to slip off the faucet and fall to the floor below like a rock. On impact the ice shattered, and from above Sora called "Sorry! Are you okay?" Groaning, I stood and shook my head. "Yeah, I'm good! Just get down here so we can go present this evidence!" I called. He did so, and we walked back to the Queen and Alice.
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The evidence has been gathered, but can Sora and the others use it to save Alice? And will the Heartless still try to mess up things?
Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding… or am I?)