We're so back.
After writing these three chapters, I've found my average turn around time for a chapter seems to be two weeks! I want to have a set uploading schedule for better engagement with y'all, but also for better motivation for continuing forward at the pace I have been. So, my new posting schedule will now be every other Friday between the times of 5-8 EST. This means the next chapter, which is already written, will be posted October 25th!
This is very exciting for me, as I feel I've finally got my groove back.
As always, big thanks to everyone who read the last chapter, especially to those who followed and favorited Lost Souls! I hope you continue to enjoy as we start off the next POV triangle with the half pints.
Chapter 6: Sleeping Memories
Just follow my yellow light
And ignore all those big warning signs.
–Yellow Light, Of Monsters and Men
"Wake up you guys! Naptime is over!"
Sora prodded Donald and Goofy as they roused from their prone position on the floor, both letting out low groans of pain. Goofy sat up slowly, rubbing his head as he gazed around at the destruction their battle had wrought on the castle. The once gleaming walls were covered in scorch marks, pockets of stone were chipped out from the pillars, and a thin layer of ice stretched across the floor. Donald woke up more suddenly, grabbing his wand and raising it high in preparation of continuing the fight that knocked him out.
"It's a little late for that," Sora muttered, gesturing for Donald to stand down.
"Gawrsh…" Goofy replaced his hat and brushed the ash from his clothes. "Where'd that Axel fella go?"
Sora sat back on his haunches, puffing out a breath that coalesced in the now-freezing air. "He's gone. Said that was some kinda test, and I guess we passed?"
Donald lowered his wand after confirming the threat was gone, now turning to look over Sora's wounds. He attempted to cast a cure spell, but after a few seconds it became clear nothing was happening. He sighed and fished out one of the few remaining potions from his pockets. "How did we manage to do that?"
Sora shrugged a single shoulder. "Dunno, but he gave me some more of those…memory cards?" He handed them over in exchange for the potion, letting Donald and Goofy take a closer look. "Said if we wanted to find the people we care about, we need to go higher up. And to go higher up, we need those."
"Well that was nice of him!" Goofy chuckled, holding up one of the cards and twisting it in the light. Donald agreed with a more suspicious hum.
"Aren't you going to mention that last part?" A voice chimed from inside of Sora's hood. He looked over in surprise to see Jiminy clambering out, his expression concerned. "You may no longer be you when sleeping memories awaken—what was that supposed to mean?"
Sora waved a hand dismissively. "He just said that to sound mysterious and creepy. I mean—how can I be anyone else?"
Jiminy did not look convinced. "What about remembering something important to you that you forgot?"
"Sora doesn't forget important things!" Goofy chimed in cheerfully.
"Right! I still remember everyone and everything important to me," Sora said while walking towards the doors at the end of the hallway. "Whatever they're cooking up we'll be able to handle it, as long as we stick together."
"Sora's right," Donald added, ignoring the smug look Sora sent his way at the word choice. "And as long as the King might be at the top of this castle, we've got to keep pushing forward!"
Jiminy sighed, but seemed to relent to the team spirit of determination.
Goofy chuckled, tilting his head up with his hand on his chin as he reminisced on something. "Boy, this sure does remind me of that other creepy castle we explored together. It was nerve-wrackin', but I learned there that as long as we stuck together, we'd turn out alright!"
Sora exchanged a look with Donald, both of their brows furrowed. "Riiight…when was that, exactly?" Sora asked.
Donald folded his arms, his webbed feet slapping the marbled floor. "Goofy, are you sure you're not making that up?"
Goofy looked stunned, but that surprised expression quickly turned to one of confusion as he scratched at his head. "I don't think so…No, I'm sure I'm not!"
Sora propped a hand on his hip, feeling like something was frustratingly out of reach. It sounded familiar—but at the same time that description of the castle was bringing up absolutely zilch in the memory department. Maybe its name would strike a bell? "What was it called?"
"Oh it was—uh…" He scratched a bit harder, one of his eyes squinting as he thought. "Holla…Holly—! No, um….Holler…"
"C'mon less talking more walking!" Donald quacked, gesturing to the set of double doors.
"But I'm sure I didn't imagine it!" Goofy shook his head, refusing to move. "That's where Sora had to use that Keyblade to free Kairi's heart, so Akira could lock the Keyhole, 'member? I could never forget how worried I was when he disappeared!"
Sora blinked, his mouth falling open. How could he have forgotten that? His earlier comment about remembering everything important to him seemed to ring hollow now. "Oh—when I turned into a Heartless! And Akira brought me back!" He paused, his recollection of those events worryingly fuzzy. "Wait…that happened in a castle?"
"You forgot that?" Donald chimed in, turning away from his task of trying to get them through the doors. "'Cause I remember it perfectly!"
Sora looked down at him, brow raised in amusement at the sudden switch. "Then what's it called?"
"That's easy," Donald snorted. "It was…"
A moment of perfect silence passed. Donald remained still, his feathered hand raised in the air as if purposefully leaving them in suspense. "...Jiminy, help me out."
"Don't you worry, fellas, I've got it all right in here," Jiminy held up a journal, patting it fondly. "I just finished the first draft of my entire chronicle right before we got here!" He opened it with a smile. Everyone waited with baited breath as he flipped through a few pages. Then all at once, his smile faded into a look of pure dread. "No. No this—this can't be!"
"What, what's wrong?" Sora asked, twisting as if that would help him get a better look at Jiminy on his shoulder.
"The journal—it's empty!" Jiminy cried, displaying it outwards for everyone to see. Every single page he flipped to was blank, as if it were brand new. "How could this happen? I take such good care of my journals!"
Sora glanced at Donald and Goofy, watching them visibly reacting the same way he felt. How could it erase the words written inside a journal? And why were they having such a hard time remembering things about their journey? Castle Oblivion was doing much more than simply scrambling their senses and taking away their fighting capabilities. His gut twisted at the realization.
They were losing their memories.
To find is to lose, and to lose is to find.
"We're forgetting," Sora murmured. "This place is doing something weird to our heads. Why else would we not remember stuff like that?"
"So the higher we go…the more we're going to forget?" Donald quacked in worry.
"What if we forget everything and can't get it back?" Goofy asked, his finger held against his mouth. "If we forget what we were trying to do…and why we came here in the first place…then I guess we'll just live in this castle forever." He looked up, blinking at the horrified expressions of Sora and Donald.
"I guess it is called Castle Oblivion," Donald muttered.
Jiminy's cries continued to echo in the background. "I should've considered the meaning of those words more seriously! All that hard work—wasted!"
"We're still okay so far though, right?" Sora said, trying to reassure himself at the same time. "We forgot it at first, but when Goofy reminded me it came back…for the most part."
"But what happens when we forget something more important?" Jiminy wiped his teary eyes, tossing the now useless journal aside. "We could forget the King!" He rounded on Sora. "You could forget about Riku and Kairi! And who's to say what Akira is going through without people there to remind her of what she's forgetting!"
Sora tensed, the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach growing by the second. He reached for the echo of Akira's heart, no longer content with simply feeling it still beating. It told him nothing about the state she was in.
A horrifying thought shot through his mind unbidden—what if he forgot Akira? What if in forgetting her, he leaves her in whatever state she's in, lost and alone in this castle that seemed to eat you from the inside out?
He shook his head, forcing those thoughts out.
"M-Maybe we…should turn back," Donald voiced hesitantly.
Sora extended a hand without comment. Donald blinked at the extended hand, then to the cards he still clutched in his. With only a moment of hesitance, he handed them over.
"We can't leave without Akira. But as soon as we find her, if there's no other hints of Riku and the King," Sora paused, hating the words he was about to utter. Giving up was not his style, but he had to admit they were out of their depths, "…we'll get out of the castle."
KH
She never had enough shades of green.
The flaxen-haired girl gently brushed away bits of colored pencil on the page, careful not to smudge the drawing. Pushing her notebook back, she tilted her head and observed the picture in full. Four kids were playing on a beach in the middle of summer. Almost every inch of the paper was filled with vibrant color—except a small speck of white in the background, hardly big enough to give notice to.
She startled when there was a hand on her shoulder, looking up to see Larxene leaning over her. The woman's bright cyan eyes roamed over her drawing, her mouth contorting into an unimpressed scowl. "Why is it taking so long?"
The girl's mouth dried, fighting not to tremble as Larxene's grip on her shoulder tightened. "I-I—I'm going as fast as I can…"
"It's not fast enough," Larxene growled.
"Larxene, knock it off," Axel called over in an annoyed voice, reclining in a chair nearby. "You heard the girl, she'll get it done when she'll get it done. What's the rush?"
Larxene let out a small hmph as she turned away, arms crossing over her chest. The girl kept a close eye on her as she leaned against the table, ever so subtly scooting away to create distance. "The rush is that the kid is catching on. Marluxia ran his big mouth and they're getting spooked."
Axel snorted. "Like that matters. Sora is loyal to a fault—unlike you." Larxene flicked up her middle finger. "So—again unlike you—he's not the type to leave a friend behind. As long as he's got hope, he'll keep going until it's too late."
The silence that befell the room was uncomfortable, tension prickling in the air like electricity. Despite past experiences telling her speaking up was a bad idea, the girl still felt the need to justify herself.
"I have to start small," she explained, her voice barely above a whisper. "Akira is such a big part of his life—she has so many links in his memories. If I remove too much all at once, it'll all fall apart. He'll fall apart."
Larxene either didn't seem to get it, or didn't care. "Okay he'd fall apart, but would he still be usable?"
The girl looked away, hesitantly shaking her head. "He wouldn't be much of anything."
"Distracting her is really helping speed the process along," Axel chimed in sarcastically.
Larxene looked like she was about to shout a witty retort, but suddenly she paused. Her expression faded from annoyance to a devious excitement. "No. But I know what would speed the process along." Before either of the two in the room could get in a word edgewise, she waved a corridor into existence.
Axel was half-way out of his chair. "Larxene, where are you going?"
"Hey, cool it hot stuff," Larxene gestured for him to sit back down. "I'm just going to pay the hero a visit."
"Don't do anything stupid," Axel growled. "Weren't you just complaining about Marluxia getting Sora's guard up?"
Larxene only laughed. "That's different! Listen, I'm not some idiot that plays with something until it breaks. I'm just going to help him remember his dear friend Naminé is all." She grinned over at the girl, who shrunk into her seat. "Now sit yourself back down and watch her. I'll be back before you know it."
Larxene ignored Axel's mouth opening to continue his protests. She snapped her fingers as she strode through the corridor to dismiss it, ensuring Axel couldn't follow after. He hesitated before eventually falling back into the chair with a sigh and a mutter of, "Why do I even bother."
Naminé fiddled with the edge of her notebook, a pit forming in her stomach. She shouldn't have said anything. Of all the Organization members holding her captive here, Larxene was by far the cruelest. She wasn't sure what she had in mind for Sora, but she knew it wouldn't be good.
"Don't worry about it too much."
Naminé startled out of her thoughts. She looked up at Axel, who was already staring her down. How did he know what she was thinking? Was it that clear on her face?
"Larxene is…well, she's a bit of a bitch," Axel tried and failed to smother a grin at the descriptor, "but she won't hurt him too badly. He's too important."
Too badly? His words, meant to be comforting, weren't very much. However, Naminé still nodded her thanks. Not many of the others would even bother trying. Actually…none of them would. She eyed him from across the room silently. His kindness only made her more uncertain of him.
Axel returned her scrutinizing stare with a grin before reclining back in his chair, arms crossed behind his head as he settled in for a nap.
Naminé let out a small sigh, finally flipping to a new page in her notebook. There she started to sketch an outline—a strange courtroom, with a birdcage housing its unwilling defendant.
KH
A large, vibrant forest stretched before them, filled with flora that fit in just right with the vastness of the space they grew in. Mushrooms the size of trees and trees the size of houses towered far overhead. Sounds of birdsong filled the air—along with the distant humming of voices alongside it.
Sora twirled to take it all in, Donald and Goofy trailing behind him. It felt like it had been a lifetime ago they were last in Wonderland.
"Hey, this is the world with the talkin' doorknob!" Goofy held up his finger in declaration, but soon brought it to his chin, tacking on a hesitant, "...Right?"
Sora nodded. The specifics might be a bit blurry, but he remembered that much. "Yeah, it's Alice's world."
"Incoming," Donald quacked, interrupting the reminiscing. Sora and Goofy turned to see a small creature in obvious distress bounding towards them. A white rabbit in a waistcoat looked down at a pocketwatch in his hand, letting out a yelp that almost sent his spectacles flying from his face.
"I'm late! I'm late! Oh, I'm dreadfully awfully late!" A strong feeling of deja vu roused itself as the rabbit hopped about and shrieked. "The Queen will roast me for dinner if I'm lucky! It'll be off with MY head next if I'm not!"
"Off with your head?" Donald and Goofy echoed, the same time Sora emphasized, "Next?"
The rabbit either didn't hear them or didn't care to address the questions. Stuffing the watch back into his waistcoat, he dropped to all fours and vanished into the foliage.
"That definitely happened before," Sora said, pointing after the rabbit.
"Off with his HEAD?" Donald repeated, looking up at Sora with a concerned expression. "Was he saying that the last time?"
"I—" Sora began confidently before letting out a hum and crossing his arms. "...don't remember that part. But I do know we followed after him!"
"For such a peaceful lookin' place, it sure does sound dangerous," Goofy murmured as they all took after the rabbit, following the trampled grass cutting a path through the bushes. It wasn't hard to keep pace with him, considering he continued his panicked raving as he ran.
Given they didn't need to do much actual tracking to follow the rabbit, Sora's mind wandered as they ran. Hazy memories were starting to rise, coated in bittersweet nostalgia. This was the first world they'd all traveled to. This is where he and Akira realized they could learn magic. Her face took over the forefront of his mind alongside the sound of her breathless laughter. Her deep green eyes, sandy-blonde hair, the freckles dotting across her face and trailing down her neck…
Successfully recalling her face and all its minute details, he followed that up with Riku's, then Kairi's. The last he saw each of them, their expressions, how it felt in the moment to leave them. He remembered it all without difficulty.
At that moment, he decided this would be his way of tracking the memory loss. As long as the memories of those he loved were not fading, he would be fine. Thus reassured, he returned his concentration to the rabbit.
They all slowed to a stop as their mad dash suddenly brought them out of the forest's edge. The wild landscape turned into a manicured lawn completely surrounded by rose bushes. A heart-shaped hedge led into the garden, and Sora spotted the cotton tail of the rabbit disappearing beyond it. It wasn't mere seconds after this a trumpet sounded off, followed by a loud commotion.
"C'mon," Sora whispered to Donald and Goofy, all three peering just beyond the edge of the bushes.
A row of armored creatures that resembled playing cards lined the aisle of this makeshift courtroom, each standing at the ready with a polearm. The white rabbit they were tailing was currently standing on a podium, panting heavily as he set aside a trumpet and declared in a scratchy voice, "Court is now in session!"
"Finally!" Scoffed a woman, glancing over to the rabbit with thinly veiled scorn. She was dressed fancifully in a red, high-collared dress and wielded a golden scepter like a judge's gavel. With a quick smack against the desk in which she sat behind, the remaining creatures sitting in wooden benches nearby quieted down.
"Is that…the Queen?" Donald quacked.
"Looks like it," Sora murmured, gesturing to the small crown that sat atop her heart-shaped hair. His hand then dropped as he pointed to a blonde girl standing behind a podium at the center of the court. "And that's—"
"ALICE!" the Queen boomed, making all in attendance flinch back. "Do you understand the charges being brought against you?!"
"Gawrsh, it's Alice!" Goofy gasped, a bit late to the recall.
"This happened before," Sora murmured. "They put Alice on trial, then we busted in and rescued her, remember?"
He glanced over at Donald and Goofy, who exchanged uncertain looks. "I think so…" Donald responded, sounding just as unsure as he looked. "But what was she on trial for again?"
They were drawn back to the sounds of the courtroom as the jury gasped, ripples of unsettled murmuring spreading through the crowd.
"Fiddlesticks! Where is the evidence I've aided any sort of creature like that!" Alice cried in her lilting accent, standing strong against the intimidating glare of the Queen.
"The evidence?" the Queen roared, slamming her fist against the table in lieu of her scepter. "The evidence is I forgot! That's all the evidence you should need! And as the perpetrator of this heinous act, feigning ignorance to ask a silly question like that—I should hold you in contempt of court!"
"How is this fair?" Alice turned her indignation onto the creatures in the jury as she gazed around the garden. "Stealing someone's memory is—why it's impossible! Why should I be charged simply because your Queen can't remember things?"
Stealing someone's memory? That didn't sound right. Sora paused, racking his brain to think about what Alice was being charged with the first time they came here. It had something to do with the Heartless, but the specifics were evading him.
Was his worry over them losing their memories influencing this?
"Such insolence! I'll have you know that before today, I've never forgotten anything before, ever!" the Queen growled. She stood, planting her hands on the edge of the desk so she could leer over Alice. "And to think, I might have let you go had you just apologized straightaway!"
Alice let out a scoff, clearly not believing that for a second. By the face the white rabbit made, it was clear she had ample reason to not trust the Queen's apparent 'forgiving' nature.
"The court has reached a verdict!" The Queen leaned back to grab her scepter, slamming it against the desk several times before pointing it at Alice. "OFF WITH HER HEAD!"
Okay, this had gone on long enough. Even though things weren't entirely a 1-to-1 with how it happened originally (probably), it was clear the Queen still meant Alice harm. Sora gestured for Donald and Goofy to follow him as he charged forward, pushing past the armored cards to burst into the courtroom. "Hold it!"
"Who—What is the meaning of this?!" the Queen shouted, redirecting her scepter towards him. The cards all dropped their weapons forward, surrounding the trio.
"Your Majesty, Alice didn't steal your memory!"
The Queen sat back in surprise, but that quickly faded into suspicion. "Oh, then I suppose you know who the real culprit is?"
"I do!" Sora nodded, confident at first. "It was—uh—" He faltered. Donald and Goofy exchanged nervous glances, wordlessly gesturing for him to continue. But what was he going to say? He had a feeling the Queen of Hearts wouldn't be so willing to accept his explanation about a memory stealing castle.
"SPEAK UP BOY!" the Queen snarled. "Or it'll be off with all your heads!"
What did he say the first time around to keep the Queen from hurting Alice? He couldn't remember, and being put under a time limit wasn't helping his racing mind. And so, he shouted the first thing he could think of. "Um—I am! I'm the thief!"
"Come again?!" The Queen leaned over the desk, looking flabbergasted. Alice had pressed herself back against the podium, a hand clutching her chest. Even Donald and Goofy yelled out in shock behind him.
"Gawrsh, you are?"
Sora blinked, turning around to face Goofy. "What—no! But what else was I supposed to say?" he hissed in a whisper.
"Anything but that!" Donald replied in the same tone.
"Cards! Seize the thief and his accomplices!" the Queen shouted, before dropping to take cover behind her desk.
"Run for it, Alice!" Sora gestured back towards the heart-shaped hedge, summoning the Keyblade. She didn't need to be told twice. As the cards drew their weapons back, she dove between their legs with a small yelp and took off into the forest.
"Donald!" Sora called out, pointing his Keyblade towards the brigade of cards. The metal grew cold and he puffed out a misty breath as the temperature surrounding him dropped. Thankfully Donald didn't need him to elaborate as he raised his wand. With a duel call of "Blizzard!" a flurry of freezing cold winds and snow poured forth. As it tapered off, all of the cards surrounding them were frozen solid.
"Fellas, we better skedaddle too!" Goofy shouted, gesturing in the distance to more armored cards making their way to the courtroom. Sora didn't have any complaints about that. Pushing over one of the frozen cards to cause a domino effect and block the path momentarily, the trio fled into the forest after Alice.
The Queen didn't seem keen on letting them escape, however. Sora could hear the clanging of the armored cards following after them. Tossing a glance over his shoulder as they ran, Sora redirected them back into the foliage.
"What's their problem?"
"Oh, I don't know," Donald grumbled, slapping away a branch and barely dodging the rebound. "They're just following after the person who claimed he stole the Queen's memory is all!"
"I was put on the spot! I couldn't think of anything else!" Sora cried defensively.
"Guys, this is no time to be fightin'!" Goofy interjected before Donald could retort. They both mumbled their agreements, but Sora had a feeling he hadn't heard the last of this.
Thankfully, this forest had plenty of places to hide away. Sora pulled Donald and Goofy under the roots of a nearby tree, waiting and watching as the brigade passed them by. Eventually the clanging of their armor faded, and the song of the forest returned.
"...Was that all of them?" he whispered.
"I think so," Donald quacked, sticking his head out to look this way and that. They waited a minute more for good measure before reemerging.
As they crawled their way back into the open, brushing dirt from their clothes, Sora let out a sigh. "I don't think it went that way last time."
"I certainly don't remember having to hide," Donald grumbled, patting the dust off his hat before replacing it on his head.
"Are you sure you just didn't forget it?" Goofy asked, looking concerned. Donald looked like he was going to retort, his beak opening, before it shut slowly and he faded into a contemplative silence.
Sora crossed his arms, thinking back to Aerith's strange warning before they left Traverse Town. Something about remembering things wrong and being led astray because of it—is this what she meant? That because they now couldn't remember everything clearly, the copies the castle created were going to be wrong?
He shook his head with a frustrated huff. Whatever! So what if this wasn't exactly right, this world's Alice was still in danger of being caught, so they had to go and help her. He could worry about the rules of Castle Oblivion later. "C'mon, let's find Alice before the Queen does."
"How're we gonna find her? This forest is awfully big," Goofy said as they began their walk in the opposite direction the brigade went.
"She didn't get that big of a headstart on us," Sora hummed. "Anyone remember any hideaways in this place we can check?"
"I think Akira found something before," Goofy said, pointing deeper into the forest. "When we were lookin' for…whatever it was we were lookin' for. We went and had a tea party!"
"A tea party?" Donald repeated with furrowed brows.
"...Oh, yeah!" Sora snapped his fingers, turning around to face Donald and Goofy as he walked backwards. "She ran right into a wall painted to blend in with the trees and stuff. And then we—"
He broke off as he backed directly into something solid, sending him sprawling forward onto the ground. Rubbing his head, he scowled up at the perpetrator, blinking when the wall he was just describing stood before them.
"Now I remember!" Donald quacked. Sora sent a sour look his way.
"Oh boy! If Alice is here, do you think she'd want to join our tea party?" Goofy's voice was slightly muffled, as he'd already begun crawling through the large hole in the false wall.
"Goofy, we don't have the time to sit down for a tea party," Donald responded in a slightly exasperated tone as he crawled in after him, "there's a giant manhunt for us going on!"
Sora rolled himself to his feet before ducking into the entrance last. It was a bit of a tight squeeze—his shoulders were brushing up against the walls, dust raining down on his clothes once again. He couldn't help but reminisce on the entrance to the Secret Place as he did so, not seeming to realize the plaster wall turning to roots and dirt overhead.
As he finally pushed his way through to the other side he was…
Not where he was supposed to be.
A sunny, sandy beach stretched before him. The sound of the waves and the cool air on his face was like a balm over his heart, soothing away his worries. He could hear screeching laughter further down the stretch of sand—kids playing some kind of game.
Sora glanced over his shoulder, now looking directly at the entrance of the Secret Place. Donald and Goofy were nowhere to be found. "Uh. Guys?" he shouted, peeking into the nearby bushes and shaking them around, as if they were hiding on purpose. No response.
The sun beat down overhead to warm his skin, wind whistled through his hair—this wasn't some kind of hallucination. But how—or rather why was he now in a memory of Destiny Islands? He's thought of home plenty of times before now, but Castle Oblivion hadn't actually sent him there when he did. Only those cards were supposed to send him places!
Something was off—he should turn back, crawl through the opening in the clifface, and hope it took him back to Wonderland. His body moved to do just that, crouching with a hand braced against the rock. And yet…
He hesitated, casting a longing look back at the ocean. More laughter echoed from the shore, his heart undeniably tugged towards the sound. Were those his friends? Even if they were illusions conjured up by the castle, would he be able to hug them, tell them how much he missed them and how he hoped they were okay?
…Maybe staying here for just a bit wouldn't hurt.
Before he could think better of it, he pushed away from the wall and ran towards the beach. His shoes kicked up sand as he rounded the corner, finally able to see four figures splashing about in the ocean. What sent Sora skidding to a halt, however, was the fact he was already there.
A younger version of himself hoisted a likewise younger Akira onto his shoulders, the two of them facing Riku lifting Kairi above his with grins on their faces. They rushed forward and engaged in a chicken fight, Akira and Kairi locking arms as they tried to shove one another off into the water. Sora couldn't help but smile at the memory played before him in real time.
As he trailed along the wooden seawall, laughing at the shriek Akira made as she was shoved off his shoulders by the victorious Kairi, he was surprised to hear another giggle overhead. He looked up, blinking at the sight of another girl. A stranger.
Her flaxen hair was brushed over one shoulder, a pure white dress somehow free of debris that naturally gathered while at a beach making her stand out like a sore thumb. A notebook was settled in her lap, her fingers covered in charcoal dust as she returned to sketching the play fight that was taking place before her.
Who…was that?
As he opened his mouth to ask that exact question, a hand on his shoulder made him jump a mile in the air.
"Hello, Gummi Ship to Sora!" a familiar scratchy voice quacked in his ear. "Where did you go?"
Sora blinked, rubbing his eyes as they took in the sight of the tea party room. Destiny Islands was gone—if it was ever there to begin with. He looked back overhead to where that strange girl was, only to be met with the sight of the false wall they'd just crawled through. "What—where—?"
"You okay, pal?" Goofy asked in concern, giving Sora's shoulder a final pat before withdrawing to give him space.
"You were staring at Alice like a weirdo!" Donald murmured, thumbing over his shoulder in an obvious gesture towards the girl in the blue dress, who was watching their group with trepidation clear on her face.
"I—yeah, sorry, must've gotten…lost in thought." Sora made eye contact with Alice, seeing a flicker of that strange blonde-haired girl again as he did so. He shook his head, giving his forehead a small smack with his palm to straighten himself out.
"Hey, Alice!" he raised a hand in greeting, flashing her a reassuring grin. "Sorry, it got a little crazy back there didn't it? But looks like you made it out alright, so that's good."
Alice clutched her hands close, eyeing him uneasily as he approached. "I know you saved me, and well—I don't mean to sound ungrateful. But…" she took a deep breath, "was that true, what you said? Did you really steal the Queen's memory?"
Sora huffed, unable to stop the frustration from creasing his brow. Did he really look that much like a thief? "No, I didn't!"
"Yeah, he only said that 'cos he wanted to save—" Goofy began, only to be interrupted by Donald's harumph.
"—to show off!"
"I did not!" Sora shouted, rounding on the duck who was staring at him with arms crossed. "I already told you, it was the only thing I could think of!"
They were stopped from engaging in the argument further by Alice's laugh. Her shoulders slowly lowered, the tension in her form easing. "Oh, is that so? Well—regardless of the intentions, as I said before you did save me. So thank you very kindly for that." She curtsied, the trio returning the gesture with bows.
"Though I must say," Alice continued as she straightened, patting her dress out, "you all don't seem like you belong in Wonderland. Did you fall down the rabbit hole too?"
"Sort of," Sora answered vaguely.
Alice's eyes narrowed further, scrutinizing. "...Were you all at my aunt's garden party? I get the strangest feeling that we've met before. Of course that seems so silly—Donald, you're a talking duck! No, that sort of nonsense could never exist in my world."
"Wak!" Donald pointed at her. "You said my name!"
Alice raised a hand to cover her mouth, blinking a few times. "Ah…so I did!" Her eyes flicked over to Goofy. "And you're Goofy, aren't you? Your name, that is, though I suppose it could be your personality too."
Goofy chuckled with a nod. "A-yup!"
"And you," Alice finally pointed towards Sora, "are Sora."
"Bingo," Sora said with a grin.
"How very strange," Alice marveled. "And clearly you all already know my name. Perhaps it's just the nature of this place?"
"Yeah, must be," Sora said with a shrug. He didn't much feel like launching into the actual explanation at the moment.
"Well…what are we going to do now?" Alice questioned, glancing towards the hole in the false wall nervously. "I feel I need to return home before my aunt notices my absence—but the forest is absolutely crawling with the Queen's men! There's simply no way I'll avoid them all."
Sora hummed, crossing his arms with a frown. He really bungled that rescue by blurting how he was the thief. He wished, certainly not for the last time, that Akira were here with them. She would've thought of something much more clever to say to the Queen.
"Yes, you're certainly not out of the woods yet," a new voice echoed around the small garden space, making all of them jump. In a plume of sweet-smelling smoke, a feline face appeared, large yellow eyes practically glowing. Underneath its pink nose, an unnaturally large smile stretched.
"Why, it's the Cheshire Cat!" Alice gasped.
Ugh, not this guy again. Sora mentally cringed. Last time he appeared, he sent them running around in circles with all his riddles.
As if reading his thoughts, the Cheshire Cat's grin turned towards Sora. With a swish of a large plumed tail, the rest of the cat's striped, purple body appeared as he floated in mid-air. "It seems you're having quite a time—or is it that you're out of time? Can you hear the pieces falling into place?"
"Cheshire Cat, can you help us?" Alice stepped forward as Sora simply blinked at the cat. "We need to find the way out, but the Queen is looking for us. We aren't sure how we can avoid her."
The cat chuckled, floating until it looked like he was performing a handstand and gesturing with his hind limbs. "Oh yes, that Queen is a stickler for justice. She won't forget you until she remembers, and she certainly won't stop hounding you until she gets her memory back."
"But we didn't take her memory!" Donald huffed. "We can't just make her remember something she forgot!"
"But we gotta do somethin'," Goofy said. "Or else it's off with—y'know what!"
"Oh yes, you should do something," the Cheshire Cat's voice came from directly behind them, and they all whirled to see him now sitting at the head of the table, stirring a cup of tea. "But you don't have to do anything."
Sora squinted his eyes at the cat. "...What?"
The cat took a sip of his tea, humming happily. "If you can't remember something, it's like it never happened. Likewise, if something never happened, you can't remember it. Try too hard to remember, and your memory might just lie to you." Sora felt the vibrations of a purr rumble just beside his head and turned to see the Cheshire Cat was suddenly uncomfortably close, yellow eyes gleaming. "Isn't that right?"
With another plume of smoke the cat faded until only a pearly white grin was remaining. "That's all I can say, I'm afraid. The rest is for you to figure out. Good luck!" Then the smile also faded, and all that was left was the faint noise of someone humming the words to a nonsensical song.
"That was no help at all," Sora murmured, trying to shake off the chill the cat's knowing grin had given him.
"Alice, do ya remember where that rabbit hole is?" Goofy suddenly asked, bringing the girl's attention back towards him.
"Yes I…I think so," she said, sounding uncertain. "But with all the guards around—"
"Now don't you worry about them!" Goofy hooked an arm around Sora and Donald, pulling them both into a side hug. "We've faced all kindsa bad guys and came out just fine in the end! Just stick with us, we'll get'cha back home in a jiffy!"
Alice's expression brightened considerably. "Do you really mean that?" Her round eyes looked to Donald and Sora, who nodded their agreements hastily. "Oh, thank you! I seem to remember the path I took crossing through this garden before, that's why I came here in the first place. I think the way back is…that way!" Alice pointed before trotting off, waiting by the nearby hedges.
Goofy followed first, the two of them pulling the branches aside to reveal a secret passageway through the foliage. Donald lingered beside Sora as they fell in line after them, and Sora could tell the mage was eyeing him closely.
"...You're acting screwy," Donald eventually said.
Sora glared down at him, assuming it was an insult. However, Donald's gaze was nothing but concerned. He blinked, reaching a hand up to rub the back of his neck. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you're being weird—in a bad way," Donald clarified. "Don't think Goofy and I haven't noticed you being extra quiet. Even before we got to this castle!" He hesitated before fixing an earnest gaze up at Sora. "What's going on? You can talk with us too, y'know."
Sora frowned, finding it hard to keep eye contact as he glanced away. "It's—nothing."
"Aw, phooey."
"No, really it's—I mean it's nothing you guys don't already know," Sora said, his hand subconsciously reaching up to fiddle with his crown necklace. "Akira was the one acting…screwy. Ever since we closed the Door to Darkness. And now she's in trouble, and what if she's losing her memories too without us there to help her remember—a-and I just—" He forced his mouth shut, not expecting all of that to come tumbling out. "...I'm just worried."
Donald gazed up at him with a sympathetic crease to his brow. They walked forward silently, the forest around them still singing its pleasant song. Eventually Donald broke the uneasy silence with a sigh, "Have I ever told you about Daisy?"
Sora looked over at him quizzically before shaking his head. Now that he thought about it, he really didn't know too much about Donald and Goofy's lives before their adventure together.
"Daisy is the lady-in-waiting for Queen Minnie, and we've been together for…well, some years now."
Sora blinked as these words processed in his head. It took him a few seconds before he whipped back around to face Donald with a poorly-hushed whisper of, "You have a girlfriend?!"
"Shhhh!" Goofy, Donald, and even Alice hushed him, and he shrunk back with a small pout.
"As I was saying," Donald harrumphed, "We've been together for a while, and this is the longest we've ever gone without seeing each other. I used to worry about her and how she was doing without me almost every single day—until I realized that she wouldn't want me doing that. In fact, she might be insulted that I did." He chuckled. "My point being…you're not giving Akira enough credit. She's a strong girl, and if she knew you were worrying so much about her, what do you think she'd say?"
Sora laughed despite himself, knowing the exact answer. "To stop worrying."
"Exactly," Donald waggled his finger with a grin. "They'll be okay. She'll be okay. And if you don't believe me, then believe in her."
Sora returned his grin, already starting to feel better. "Thanks, Donald."
"Don't mention it," Donald said, holding his head up a little bit higher, clearly chuffed by his success at cheering Sora up.
As the mage hurried to step back into line with Goofy, Sora stopped him with a small, "Wait, before we move on from this conversation."
Donald looked back at him curiously, and Sora felt his heart give a jump at the question he was about to pose. He wasn't sure why he felt the need to bring this up right now—but currently, he couldn't trust his own memories. "Do you remember Akira ever mentioning someone we grew up with besides Riku and Kairi?"
Donald let out a questioning quack. "I…don't think so. Why?"
Sora shrugged, his lips pursing. "I dunno. I just suddenly remembered a kid we used to play with when we were younger—I think? But I'd completely forgotten about her until just a little bit ago..."
"Hold on," a voice in his hood chimed as Jiminy fought his way to the surface. "Are you saying you remembered something? Weren't we supposed to be forgetting things the further up we went?"
Sora once again shrugged. "I can't explain it either."
"Well, considering what that first hooded fella said," Jiminy brought up another journal, completely separate from his now-defunct manifesto. "'In this place to find is to lose, and to lose is to find.' Maybe…that means the castle will also bring back our forgotten memories? Like an exchange?"
Donald wrinkled his beak in distaste at the explanation. "Forgotten memories? If I forgot them then clearly they weren't important, I don't want that exchange!"
Jiminy was still jotting things down in his journal. "Do you remember anything about this girl, Sora?"
Sora hummed, thinking back over the memory he witnessed. "...She was quiet. And she'd rather draw in her notebook than play with us in the ocean. But she was always there with us anyways—before she just stopped coming around one day. Must've moved away or something, I guess."
"What was her name?"
Sora paused, dropping his gaze. "I…can't remember."
Donald gave him a little pat on the arm. "Don't look so down, Sora. We all have childhood friends we can't really remember everything about. It's part of growing up!"
Sora frowned, unable to explain why his heart thumped in pain at his comforting words.
By this time, skulking through the undergrowth of Wonderland and avoiding any main pathways, Alice announced they were close to where she first emerged into the strange land. Looming ahead there was a house fit for a giant—the roof of which was broken clean off.
"That was my fault," Alice murmured, pointing towards the destruction. "I drank a potion that made me big. Through that house is the way to go—so we can drink the potions that'll bring us back to a normal size!"
She went to step forward, but Sora grabbed her shoulder. "Wait—listen." They all did, hardly daring to breathe. The only sounds nearby were the trees rustling with the wind.
"I don't hear anything," Goofy whispered.
"That's the point," Sora said, looking around them cautiously. "Why'd it get so quiet?"
"Well, clearly you aren't all that daft!" A voice boomed from the clearing. All at once the foliage surrounding the clearing rustled as card soldiers burst forth, quickly falling into formation around their group with their polearms dropped forward.
Sora pushed Alice behind him as Donald and Goofy backed up to place her safely in the middle, the three of them brandishing their weapons defensively.
A small envoy carrying the Queen on a palanquin circled the group, the Queen giving them a devious grin as she was toted around. "Thought you'd seen the last of me, did you? Unfortunately, you weren't clever enough to slip past me. I knew you all would come slinking back here trying to avoid justice. But the game is up!" The Queen sat up and gestured towards them, the cards holding the palanquin cringing and readjusting at the sudden shift in weight. "For stealing my memory, I sentence you all to—"
All at once the forest dimmed considerably, as if a cloud were passing in front of the sun. But as Sora looked up, he saw the sky was completely clear as it had been this whole time. Then, without warning, it all went dark. The forest was covered in complete darkness—to the point Sora couldn't even see his hand as he raised it in front of his face. He could hear Alice gasp in fright, and the worried murmurs from the cards surrounding them.
And something else behind the rising panic of the crowd—small noises of movement, shoes against the forest floor, the swish of clothing, and…static?
Sora blinked, and suddenly the light was back. They all winced as their eyes readjusted to the sudden brightness, and Sora took the moment to take stock of their environment. It all seemed normal—by Wonderland standards. The only thing different he could tell was the Queen's stance. Her hand was still raised in declaration, but her expression was one of pure confusion.
"I…sentence you…" The Queen trailed off, lowering her hand. The cards looked about themselves, shifting uncomfortably in place with their Queen so out of sorts. "Oh, confound it all! I can't remember what I was about to say!" She fixed a confused stare onto Sora, then glanced about her surroundings, only seeming more lost at what she saw. "Where am I? What am I doing away from court?"
"That was…odd," Alice murmured from behind him.
"She completely forgot," Sora said, his unease only deepening despite the danger seeming to have passed. "It's like—"
"Somebody just stole her memory!" Donald quacked. "The thief!"
"Fellas, look out!" Goofy ran to the front of the group, shield raised just in time to disperse a ball of flame launched directly at them. They didn't have to search very hard for its source. Stepping from the shadows of the trees surrounding them was a huge Heartless—blending in with the branches perfectly with its spindly limbs.
With a set of five flat heads stacked on top of each other in alternating colors of red and black, it peered down at the gathering with ten beady yellow eyes. Its strangely segmented body continued that color scheme with highlights of gold, the Heartless symbol emblazoned on its torso. Its long arms unfolded from its body slowly, crinkling as if they were made of paper, and it reached behind its back to produce two juggling clubs out of thin air.
"Scatter!" Sora yelled, grabbing Alice as their group burst into action. The Heartless inhaled with all five faces, exhaling a cone of fire where they'd just stood. The trees and brush caught flame, filling the clearing with heat and smoke.
"Goofy, fall back with Alice," Sora shouted, pointing towards the partially-destroyed building nearby. "Make sure she gets there safely! Donald, help me distract this thing!"
Goofy and Donald both nodded, not hesitating before following through with Sora's instruction. Goofy grabbed Alice's hand, lifting his shield with the other as they ran towards the shelter. Donald raised his wand, shouting out "Blizzard!" as an explosion of ice erupted at the Heartless's feet.
The card soldiers previously surrounding them were proving no help in the battle, abandoning their formation to instead run in various directions in a panic. The Queen, the cards lifting her palanquin having abandoned her, took off towards the building with a shriek.
The Heartless turned away from the scrambling cards as ice encased its feet, its hands still flipping and juggling the clubs mindlessly. Sora used the ice like a ramp to run and vault off of, swinging the Keyblade at the tip of his arc. To his dismay, the Keyblade simply glanced off its surface, his attack completely ineffective.
Sora landed heavily on his feet and stumbled. He brought his Keyblade up to block instinctively when the sound of whistling cut through the air, and he braced as one of the clubs slammed him away. He tried to right himself in mid-air but still hit a nearby tree hard enough to force the air from his lungs.
He blinked the blurriness from his vision, rolling forward into a dodge as the second swipe snapped the trunk in two. Bark exploded outwards as Sora shouted, "Wind!" But no magic came to his aid, and the shards of wood peppered his skin and clothes in tiny cuts.
A shout of "Fire!" preceded the whoosh of flame passing overhead, hitting the Heartless directly in the middle of its faces. It stumbled only slightly, however, quickly brushing off Donald's elemental attack. But the fact it stumbled at all made the lightbulb spark in Sora's head. Wasn't magic how they beat this thing the first time?
Donald skirted around the Heartless's feet, throwing a few more distracting balls of ice that momentarily stuck it to the ground. Sora raised his Keyblade to join in, a flurry of cold wind blowing through his clothes providing momentary relief from the heat building in the air.
But as he let loose the spell, the Heartless grew wise to their plans. It struck the two juggling clubs against the ground to light them on fire, and in the same motion spun them to surround itself with flames. The blizzard spell broke apart before it even had a chance to hit the Heartless—which was now on fire itself.
"Wak!" Donald let out a distressed cry as the Heartless stooped to swipe at him, Sora flinging the Keyblade to hit the club off its intended course.
It turned its attention back to him as he caught the Keyblade, and once again Sora felt the draining effects of Castle Oblivion creeping into his limbs as he dodged. He let out a harsh breath as he fell back to attempt another blizzard, the spikes of ice hardly hitting hard enough to even be considered an attack. If they just had access to all their spells again—this guy would be toast if he could cast a higher level version of blizzard!
An audible tsk overhead drew him out of his strategizing. Sora looked up in surprise to see a figure lounging in the branches of a nearby tree. A woman looked back at him with an unimpressed stare, her turquoise eyes narrowed. Sora didn't have to question the whys of her appearance for long—the answer made itself clear in the black leather cloak she donned.
"Just how many of you guys are there?" Sora growled, in no mood to receive yet another mysterious set of directions in the middle of a battle.
The woman huffed, examining her hand as if she were looking at her nails hidden under her glove. "Brat. Is that really how you greet strangers?"
Sora dodged another ball of fire sent towards his head, and Donald let out a screech of his name. He hesitated, glancing back and forth between the battle and the cloaked woman in the tree. "I'm a little busy at the moment!"
As he turned to rush back to Donald's aid, something hit the back of his head. He whirled with a growl that died in the back of his throat when he saw the tree was empty. A gleam of blue caught his eye, and he looked down to see a card sticking out from the ground—clearly having been what the woman just threw at him.
He likely would have contemplated the consequences of taking their help again for longer—had he not seen Donald barely managing to dodge the slam of the Heartless's club that left a crater in the ground. He stooped and grabbed it as he ran, wincing past the fierce headache it gave him. A torrent of memories rushed past in a dizzying blur—
Akira smiling at him, her green eyes luminous against the backdrop of space outside the Gummi Ship viewport— The lightning that raced down his spine at the simplest touch from her— A raging storm overtaking the Islands, swallowing everything he's ever known— That girl in the white dress whimpering in fear as another burst of light raced across the sky—
He planted his foot firmly into the ground, raising Kingdom Key high into the air with a call of "Thunder!" A rumble echoed through the clearing before an arc of lightning descended from the smoke, striking the Heartless directly on the top of its head.
The Heartless swayed from the direct hit before falling forward into a kneeling position, dazed. That's all the opening Sora was looking for. He rushed forward and leaped, the wind gathering at his feet to boost him high into the air. He flipped at the apex of his jump, swinging the Keyblade on the down pass. It cleaved directly through the lowest head in the stack, sending all the heads thumping to the ground. The Heartless's body followed soon after, slamming into the forest floor with a quake that had him waving his arms to maintain his balance.
"Sora!" Donald shouted from across the clearing, "Was that you?"
Sora nodded to the question, not yet dismissing the Keyblade as he gazed around the clearing. The fires had been reduced to a smolder after defeating the Heartless, but the smoke obscured their immediate surroundings more than he cared for. That cloaked woman was probably still there, watching them.
He was distracted from his post as sentry when the familiar sensation of a cure spell washed over him, knitting together his wounds and leaving behind a pleasant tingle. He looked to Donald in surprise, mirroring his question with a, "That you?"
Donald was clearly pleased if the grin he gave to Sora was anything to go by. "Looks like we got some more of our abilities back! Wonder if it was more of that 'losing is finding' malarkey?"
"You did it!" Alice's voice was all the warning had before her arms were around Sora in a hug. He held his arms about him awkwardly until the girl threw herself at Donald next, his feathers flying from the motion. "My goodness, you all were so brave! You fought back that monster with absolutely no concerns for yourself!"
"Good job keeping Alice safe, Goofy," Donald croaked out from the hug.
Goofy chuckled, placing a hand on Sora's shoulder. "Likewise! That was some good teamwork you two!"
"You really took charge there," Donald said to Sora approvingly, finally freed from Alice's grasp. "And if that was the thing stealing the Queen's memories, then everything should be fine with her, right?"
"One way to find out," Sora said, gesturing towards the card soldiers swarming to the flabbergasted Queen of Hearts like bees.
"You four! Hold it right there!" The Queen bellowed, not sounding any more friendly towards them in the slightest. The cards took the memo from their liege, regaining their confidence with a more size-friendly set of adversaries. They prowled forward with weapons brandished as the Queen attempted to recover her aura of intimidation. "What was that creature? Did you summon it here? Are you assassins in my midst?!"
Sora floundered as the Queen's face rapidly gained its color back, specks of rage filling her cheeks. Before the Queen could shout any more of her paranoid conspiracies, however, Alice stepped forward. With a curious tilt of her head, her expression was nothing but polite concern. "But your Majesty, that wouldn't be possible. It was you who commanded us to find and destroy that creature!"
The Queen's anger broke like a wave against the shore, leaving behind only confusion. The trio weren't too far behind the Queen's bewilderment at Alice's bold-faced lie. Alice shot them a quick glance over her shoulder alongside an impish wink.
"Your Majesty, in her prudence," Alice continued in the baffled silence, "didn't trust us completely at first. And so you thought to test our mettle and our loyalty by slaying this creature terrorizing your kingdom."
"Right—you wanted us to bring you its head as proof!" Sora chimed in, finally catching onto Alice's plan. He almost didn't manage to catch the duping delight from showing on his face.
"But, uh, it kinda faded away…" Goofy looked to the ground where the Heartless fell, the only sign of its existence now the destroyed, burnt clearing. "I sure hope you don't mind, your Majesty."
The Queen blinked rapidly, looking between the four of them with her lips pursed. "I…told you to do that?"
"Of course! Don't you remember?" Sora asked, his grin finally slipping through as the Queen's anger returned.
"Of course I remember, you little prat!" the Queen snapped, straightening and gesturing for the cards to back down. "I never forget anything! You did splendidly." Sora could see her set her jaw, clearly not happy with handing out the praise. Despite this, she clapped her hands and started to head back to her abandoned palanquin. "The creature has been vanquished, let us return to the palace posthaste!"
The cards wasted no time in escorting the Queen back towards the premises of her palace, likely out of fear of her anger turning to them next. Didn't matter or not whether they'd remembered the Queen gave no such orders—nobody dared to contradict her.
As soon as she was out of sight, they all relaxed with a breath of relief. Alice wiped the sweat from her brow, grinning towards the trio. "That was a close one, wasn't it?"
"Way to think on your feet, Alice!" Sora high-fived her with a laugh. "I never would have thought of that!"
"Yeah, he probably would've just admitted to summoning the Heartless," Donald said with a teasing grin that made Sora's smile falter.
"As much as I'd love to take the credit," Alice said with a bashful flush on her cheeks, "I simply remembered what the Chesire Cat said. 'Try too hard to remember, and your memory might lie to you.' The Queen of Hearts would never admit she forgot something, so instead she remembered something that didn't happen at all!"
Sora's already flagging smile dropped completely at this. Why did that cat's words unnerve him so much?
"Well, looks like the Queen won't give ya any more trouble!" Goofy declared happily. "After all, we got rid of the Heartless just like she told us to do! You can go back home just like we—"
"Hold it!" Donald interrupted, jumping up into Goofy's line of sight. "Don't tell me you fell for that too!"
"Huh?" Goofy tilted his head, and immediately Sora knew he wasn't just playing around. "Gawrsh, did she not command us to do that?"
Donald sighed heavily, but Alice just laughed at the duo. "As much as I appreciate you all escorting me here safely…well, don't be mad, but I think I might stay in Wonderland just a bit longer." She gazed around at the forest that had once again cautiously begun to sing. "Now that the Queen of Hearts doesn't wish me dead, I would quite like to explore some more. I'm sure my aunt won't mind!"
"Who could be mad at that?" Sora shrugged, giving Alice a smile. "Just maybe stay away from the palace this time?"
"Oh certainly, I've no intentions of returning there ever again!" Alice waved goodbye and after a final thank you, she disappeared into the forest.
Sora let out a sigh as they stepped through the door in the broken-down house, exiting the memory and re-emerging into the blindingly white hallways of Castle Oblivion. His mind was practically on a loop, reviewing everything that happened in Wonderland. Something was off—he had a distinct uncomfortable prickle in the back of his mind, making his scalp itch. Was he like the Queen? Did he forget something terribly obvious, but now couldn't remember what it is he forgot?
And now that girl—their old friend from childhood he just suddenly remembered. Why did he remember her, of all things?
"Um. Sora," Donald's uncomfortable quack drew him out of his troubled thoughts. It didn't take long to realize what made the mage uneasy.
The same cloaked woman from the forest stood in the hallway, blocking their pathway up the stairs. She was messing with a strand of blond hair that stood up from the rest like a cowlick, looking completely bored.
"Took you long enough." She rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms in displeasure. "I was waiting so long I thought you all had gone and died despite my help."
"Help?" Goofy parroted, his shield gripped tight despite his hesitance to start hostilities. Sora could hear both him and Donald shuffling anxiously, unsure if this was about to turn into a fight like Axel's introduction did. He was in the same boat—these guys didn't ever seem to set out to be antagonistic, yet the aura she exuded was anything but helpful.
"Like I told Axel, I don't need your help," Sora huffed.
"Oh, but I'm afraid you do." The woman walked forward, their weapons reflexively raising. "Seems you're having trouble peeling away all that worthless junk trapping your hidden memories. That poor girl is going to be so heartbroken when she hears you forgot her name." Her voice was a faux pitch of sympathy, but Sora's eyes widened in shock regardless.
"Wait. You know her?" Sora broke off with a wince as his headache once again flared, the lights in the room seeming to hum from the intensity of it. "Is—is she here?"
"Bingo," the woman's smile widened, making a ripple of unease run through their group. "The bad guys are holding her captive. She's waiting for a brave, fearless hero to come and rescue her from their clutches!" Her hands clasped together as she faked a swoon. "Sadly, there is a catch."
Quicker than Sora had time to react, she was rushing forward. He flinched back as she lashed out, catching a glimpse of his startled reflection in something metal clutched between her knuckles. He managed to dodge another strike, then a third—but he wasn't expecting her to reel back and kick him directly in the stomach with the heel of her boot.
The hit sent him flying backwards. He landed on the ground hard, clutching his stomach and trying to draw in a wheezing breath of air.
She slowly lowered her leg, giving Donald and Goofy a sinister grin as they hovered around Sora's collapsed form in shock. "The name's Larxene. And I'm one of the bad guys you have to get through to save her."
KH
Axel's eyes opened a smidge the moment he heard Naminé's quiet gasp. Fixing his gaze onto the sphere of transparent white glass in the center of the room, he could see a reflection of Larxene standing over Sora's prone form. With a groan and a roll of his eyes, he sat up to better focus on the situation. He meant what he said earlier—Larxene wouldn't put Sora out of commission. But keeping an eye on the fight to make sure she didn't go overboard wasn't a bad idea.
Unfortunately for him, he heard the sound of a corridor opening just as the King's men threw themselves forward to protect the kid.
Glancing over his shoulder, he saw another Organization member stepping through—though the identity of this member gave him pause. Now more curious than annoyed at the interruption, he straightened and walked over to the newcomer.
"Zexion, to what do I owe the pleasure of your presence topside?" Axel asked, giving a lazy two-fingered salute in greeting.
The older teen brushed back the hair in front of his face, glancing over at Naminé briefly before focusing on the seeing-eye glass in the center of the room. "It has been some time since our last meeting together. I've been sent to take stock of your progress. How fares research for the Memory Project?"
"There's been some surprising developments since we last spoke," Axel said with a tight-lipped grin.
Zexion looked up at him, dead-panned. Echoes of the fight played faintly in the background—but it might as well have been as loud as if they were in the room themselves to Axel. "Clearly. Care to explain?"
"Well…the Keyblade Wielder is proving a surprisingly resilient subject of study." Axel looked towards Naminé, who had her eyes glued to the mini projection of the fight. She wasn't paying attention to a single word he said. "The strength of his heart and the unique bond he shares with the Pure Heart is making it…difficult to alter his memories as theorized."
"And where is the Pure Heart, exactly?"
Axel winced. He should've worked on a more convincing lie to tell—but he got complacent with the communication breakdown that happened between the two groups sent to Oblivion. Something must have tipped them off. And that something…was sent to the lower reaches of Castle Oblivion, right to them. Axel's eyes widened in an empty show of surprise.
"Is she alive?"
Zexion hummed, his blue eyes flitting over Axel's face. Seemingly satisfied by what he found there—or perhaps, what he didn't find—he waved a hand flippantly. "For now. No thanks to you."
"Listen," Axel hissed, glancing warily around the room before lowering his tone. "I had no choice in the matter. It already happened by the time I found out about it."
Zexion narrowed his eyes. "I see. Regardless, I think you realize this must be reported back to the Superior. Anything as treacherous as going against the Organization's ultimate goal of possessing Kingdom Hearts must be punished severely. Are we in agreement?"
Axel mirrored the boy's expression. He recognized a threat when he heard one. "Obviously. Don't think he'll care much who was responsible when we come back empty handed though. So why don't you just let this experiment play out? If we can bring Sora back as an asset for the Organization, maybe he won't turn all of us into Dusks."
Zexion hummed. "So, that's the plan, is it? Making Sora our 15th member? Or…is it maybe to replace our slightly defective newest recruits?"
If he was hoping to provoke a response out of Axel, he'd be disappointed to see nothing flash across his face. "Whatever best suits the Organization's needs, naturally."
"Naturally," Zexion echoed. "I'm taking this information back to Vexen. You can tell Marluxia and Larxene we know about Sora and are pleased with the new subject of study, but I think we can both agree that the conversation about the Pure Heart stays between us. For now."
Axel made no motion to reply. He didn't need to. With another cursory nod of farewell, Zexion stepped through a corridor and disappeared. A few seconds passed in silence before Axel let out a long sigh through his nose. He was really hoping to narrow down the casualties to those with treacherous intentions against the Organization only, but that seemed to be getting more difficult as the days went on.
"...Damn it."
In a throwback to one of the first ever fanfictions I read and fell in love with, I want to post a little questionnaire at the end of each chapter for funsies. I thought it was a fun little way to engage with readers, so here's a trial run to see if you guys will enjoy it too. Feel free to answer whichever ones you want, if you want to!
1. Which POV are you enjoying the most so far? Sora, Akira, or Riku?
2. If you were losing your memories, would you want to be aware of it? Or would you rather stay in the dark?
Akira returns in Chapter 7 on October 25th! Follow the story to be alerted when I post! Also don't forget to check your account settings and make sure your alerts are turned on. For whatever reason email alerts are defaulted to off, so be sure that's not the case with you!
Until next time!