Kingdom Hearts ~another side~ Ch. 2

[Hayate]

When clouds go rolling by, they roll away and leave the sky…
Where is the land behind the eye that people cannot see…?

Kingdom Hearts ~another side~

[/b][/size][/center]
~ Report 2: Wonder and Thunder ~

“WHOOOOOAAAAA!”

The panicky yell echoes off the walls of the cylindrical passage that Ciel floats down through. Like being in a wind tunnel, the boy with blue-green hair “parachutes” down the passage and softly touches down on the red-and-white-tiled floor.

This would be the first stop on Ciel’s journey: the realm of ridiculous, Wonderland.

“Ugh… Gotta work on that landing…”, Ciel groans to himself. “I’ll never hear the end of it from Snow if I dent his ship…” As he shakes off the whiplash, he’s finally given a moment to analyze his new surroundings thoroughly. They were certain stranger than what he was accustomed to. “Weird place.”, he comments. “If either Roche or Marin are here, it’ll be a miracle.”

Leaving the large room he arrived in, Ciel steps into the nearby corridor and sees an open door in the distance. Just before the door closes, he catches a glimpse of someone of considerably short stature stepping through. With intent to pursue, Ciel breaks into a light jog down the zigzagging hallway. “…Huh?” After about 15 seconds of running, something strikes the kid as odd: the door didn’t seem to be getting any closer, regardless of how far he ran. To test this, he starts to run faster. Everything appeared as expected: the walls to the left and right of him and the floor under his feet moved past relative to his running speed, but the door at the end of the corridor wasn’t getting closer. In fact, it looked as though it were moving further and further away. “…Wait a minute…” Ciel stops running and looks behind him. Much to his surprise, the room he’d arrived in was only a few feet to his rear. “What the…? That’s impossible!”

“Hahahaha! Here in Wonderland, there is no ‘impossible’! ‘Implausible’? Nope! ‘Improbable’? Heavens, no!”

Taking the voice from nowhere to be a threat, Ciel draws his Pierce the Skies Keyblade. “Who’s there!?”, he calls out confrontationally.

“Who, indeed…?”

Just as the voice came from nothingness, so too does a creature appear from nothingness, taking the form of a short, chubby feline with an awfully wide grin. Its fur was striped pink and purple, its paws and the tip of its tail a lighter shade of pink, its ears small and pointy, and again, its hair-raising grin stretched from cheek to cheek. The strange cat stood before Ciel on its hind legs. “‘Who’s there’, you say? I say, ‘tis I!”

“A…cat?”

“A Cheshire cat, to be precise. A pleasure.” To properly welcome Ciel, the Cheshire Cat tips its hat in courtesy. Or rather, he tips his head, removing it with ease. As he tosses his own head into the air, it lands back onto his body…upside-down. “Oh, goodness! You can stand on your head too? How splendiferous! How serendipitous!”

“Um…”

“…Hmm? Oh! Silly me!” Removing his head again, the Cheshire Cat places it back on right-side up. “Ahhh! Much better!”

The silly kitten’s mannerisms bewilder Ciel a great deal. But since it wasn’t attacking, he lowers his guard. “Are you…a Heartless?”

“A who-less?”

“A Heartless.”

“Hot dress?

“Heartless!”

“Hmm… Maybe. Maybe not. But you know who might know? Those black creatures that started popping up around the kingdom as of late.”

“So the Heartless are here!”

“Who’s here?”

“The Heartless!”

“The who-less?”

“ARGH!!!” Ciel’s threshold for annoyance had all but been reached. “…Let’s try this again. I’m looking for someone. Has anyone else passed through here recently? Anyone with a Keyblade?”

“Can’t say. But you know. The shadows hold more secrets than they care to reveal. Perhaps you should try asking them.”

“I’ll assume that means I’m on my own here. Then how about this? What’s with this hallway? I can’t get to the other end.”

“You sure it’s the other end you’re trying to reach?”

“…Huh?”

“Could it be it’s not the other end you wish to reach, but rather the door at the other end?”

“…Is there a difference?”

“Why, there’s a whole world of difference, boy! Wishing to reach the door and wishing to know what’s on the other side -- those are two entirely different things! There’s knowing your limits, and then there’s breaking past them! It’s up to you to distinguish the two!”

“I…think I understand…”

“Good! …I wonder how far that understanding will take you…” Satisfied with what’s been said, the Cheshire Cat leaves, disappearing into the same nothingness from which he emerged. “Trust not in what you see, but what you feel… And beware the mean Queen… She doesn’t take kindly to outsiders…or insiders…”

“…Well, that was helpful…” With his welcoming committee gone, Ciel gazes down the corridor again and rests his eyes on the door in the distance. “Okay… What I seek is the other side of the door, not just the door itself…” He closes his eyes and reaches out his hand. Within moments, he could feel his fingers wrap around something solid and smooth. It felt like porcelain. As he opens his eyes, Ciel finds his hand gripping a doorknob. The knob of the very door he was trying to reach. “It worked…!”

With his first ordeal behind him, Ciel opens the door and proceeds into a room with decorative wallpaper, assorted pieces of furniture, and a fireplace. On a nearby table, he sees two bottles, both labeled ‘Drink Me’. “Hah! Jackpot!”, says Ciel, picking up one of the bottles. “I could sure use a drink after all that running.” Bringing the rim of the bottle to his lips, he downs a good amount of the drink. “Ahhhhh! That hit the spot!”

Just then, the bottle in Ciel’s hand begins to grow in size.

“H-Hey! What the…!?” The boy quickly sets the drink down and backs away. Looking around, he notices everything else in the room getting bigger as well. “W-What is this!?” By the time everything had stopped growing, Ciel was only about half as tall as the chair’s legs. The door he came through, the furniture, the fireplace, and even the bottle Ciel drank from towered over him now. “I-I’m small! I’m tiny! What’s going on?!?”

“Ohhhh… What’s with all the yelling…? I’m trying to sleep over here…”

“Huh!?” On the other side of the room, Ciel notices another door which was, oddly enough, just his size. He runs up and sees a golden doorknob adorning it. “D-Did someone say something?”

A face on the gold plating shows itself to Ciel, complete with eyes, a nose (the doorknob), and a mouth (the keyhole). “Yes. I did.”, the face says.

“WHOA! Talking door!”

“Didn’t I say to stop yelling? You woke me up from a good dream…”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“Yes, yes, just don’t let it happen again. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” With a powerful yawn, the doorknob starts to drift back to dreamland.

“…Oh! W-Wait a minute! I shrunk! How do I return to normal!?”

“Oh, for Pete’s sake… You drank from one of the bottles, didn’t you?”

“Yeah…”

“Then drink from the other bottle! Use your head, lad!”

“Jeez, excuse me for living…” Regardless of how he got the information, Ciel got it. At least he wasn’t doomed to be puny forever. “…Huh?”

Suddenly, through brief flashes of black, the Heartless appear to greet the Keyblade wielder. Some old faces and some new comprised their numbers.

“Tch!” Ciel draws the Pierce the Skies in reply, almost relieved to have some normalcy thrown his way. “Never gets old, does it?” He rushes in to challenge the monsters.

…With only mild effort, Ciel dwindles the Heartless’ numbers to nil and props the Keyblade on his shoulder in triumph. “Hah! Whether it’s here or home, the Heartless don’t stand a chance against me! …Hmm?” Hearing a faint clamor to his left, Ciel readies the Keyblade once more, immediately assuming it to be more Heartless. “…!”

Before the 15-year-old could react, however, he’s encircled by a battalion of foot soldiers. They resembled playing cards, with pictures of hearts and spades on their chests, but with heads, arms, and feet. The red heart soldiers wielded lances, while the black spade soldiers brandished axes. Ciel would’ve tried challenging them, but the soldiers appeared far more trained and organized than the Heartless. “…”

Off to one side, two soldiers step aside to allow entry by another character: a rather large woman dressed in regal attire and jewelry and carrying a small heart-tipped wand. She looks upon Ciel with an expression of profound contempt. “…”

“…”

With a flick of her wand, the woman directs the soldiers to… “Seize him!”

Without a second thought, the Card Soldiers pounce upon Ciel and force him to the ground with their collective weight.

“Hey! What are you…!? G-Get off me!” Ciel is subsequently dragged to his feet, hands bound, and led into the next room over. “Stop! What’d I do!? Where are you taking me!?”

The regally-garbed woman looks on in silence as her ‘prisoner’ is led away. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees a Red Nocturne float up beside her. “Grrrr…” With her heart wand, she swats the lone Heartless away. “Filthy creature!”, says the woman furiously before going to join her soldiers.

Ciel is planted behind a podium in the center of a royal court. To each of his left and right sides, a Card Soldier is posted to ensure he stays put and quell any thoughts of escape he might’ve had. He would’ve spoken out in protest, but with the place as heavily guarded as it was, he thought it best to keep silent for the time being.

On an elevated platform to the left side of the court, a short white rabbit in spectacles and a red coat addresses the court. “Attention! This session of the Queen of Hearts’ royal court is called to order!”, proclaims the rabbit.

‘Court?’, Ciel ponders. ‘I’m on trial?’

“It’s the case of…of… W-What was your name?”

“Me? It’s Ciel, but I--”

“Ciel v. Wonderland! Her Majesty, the honorable Queen of Hearts, presiding!”

Seated only a few feet away and above, the Queen of Hearts looks upon Ciel while fiddling with her wand. “…”

“What is all this? Why am I on--?”

“The accused shall refrain from speaking unless spoken to!”, the Queen rebukes.

“…”

“Now then… Ciel, was it? You stand accused of bringing those foul, black-skinned beasts to my kingdom. How do you plead?”

“I brought the Heartless here!?”

“So you confess!”

“What!? No! I’m innocent!”

“Hmph! So you say, but I’ll be the judge of that!”

“How can you say I’m in league with the Heartless!? I was fighting them!”

“Hah. What a laughable defense. I’m the Queen of Hearts, boy; even I must deal with deserters and traitors to my kingdom. There’s no such thing as the perfect follower.”

“But--!”

“Enough! I’ve heard all I needed to hear! Time for my ruling!”

‘…From deliberations to verdict in under a minute? What kind of trial is this…?’

“This court finds you…undeniably guilty!”

“But I didn’t do anything! You have no proof!”

“I require no proof! If I decide you’re guilty, then you’re guilty! End of story!”

‘…It’s like trying to argue with an infant…’

“For the crimes of introducing this black menace to my kingdom AND questioning the authority of my court, I sentence you…”

“…”

“…to beheading!”

“!!!”

In response to the Queen’s ruling, the Card Soldiers surround Ciel to prep him for his execution.

That was Ciel’s cue. “Okay! Looks like ‘behaving Ciel’ time is over!” Regardless of having his hands bound behind his back, Ciel demonstrates a level of agility and cunning that only comes with being a wielder of the Keyblade. Drawing the Pierce the Skies into his hand, he launches himself off the ground with an Aero spell, uses that same wind-based magic to cut through the rope that restricted his wrists, and lands outside the circle of Card Soldiers. With a swerve to the left, he flees into the forest.

The Queen was noticeably enraged by this turn of events. “After him, you fools!”, screeches she. “Bring me the head of Ciel!”

The ‘fugitive’ Ciel makes it past a couple of clearings and ducks into a cover of mushrooms. He peeks through the tall grass and watches some Card Soldiers run past. It seemed, for the moment, he was safe. “Whew… Close one… Just when I thought this world couldn’t get any weirder…”

“So you managed to dodge the Queen’s ‘off with their heads’ credo. I commend you.”

To Ciel’s rear, the Cheshire Cat makes an encore appearance. “You again. I got some questions, and I feel like you’re the only one around here with answers.”

“The Cheshire Cat has all the answers -- but doesn’t always tell.”

“The Queen thinks I brought the Heartless to Wonderland, meaning they must’ve arrived only recently. How long have they been here? Do you know where they’re all coming from?”

“Maybe from over here. Or maybe from over there. Or maybe…they’ve been here since the very beginning.”

“The beginning?”

“But I wonder… Did they step out from the darkness on their own? Or did something pull them out?”

“You think there’s something else at work here, don’t you?”

“So fickle the shadows are… Prowling and howling… Lurking about in the slithy toves and the borogoves…” In the middle of his nonsensical speech, the Cheshire Cat takes his leave of Ciel once again. “…And the momeraths outgrabe…”

Ciel couldn’t help but be uneasy about the situation. “So something’s drawing the Heartless out by force… But what?” While he’d come to Wonderland with the intention of locating Roche and Marin, the young Key bearer felt compelled to assist the residents with their Heartless dilemma. Even someone as corrupt as the Queen of Hearts didn’t deserve to have her heart taken. “…All right. But just this once, you hear? If I’m on trial again after this, so help me…”

As he dodges the Card Soldiers, Ciel’s investigation into the Heartless leads him into an area on the outskirts of the forest where a lavish tea party had been set up. “Doesn’t feel like there’s any Heartless here. In fact, this is probably the most light-filled place in Wonderland.” He cautiously approaches the table and takes notice of the various tea set items and silverware laid out. “…”

All of a sudden, a series of shrill cries cuts through the calm.

“…You sure are making me work for it, aren’t you?” Ciel takes the Keyblade into hand and turns a full 180. There, at the garden entrance, over two dozen Soldiers, Blue Rhapsodies, and Yellow Operas stare him down. “Well then… Make it interesting for me, huh?”

“…What do you mean you haven’t found him yet!?”

An apprehensive Card of Spades reports to the Queen of Hearts in her court. “H-He’s proving to be rather elusive, your Majesty. We’re turning the Lotus Forest and Bizarre Room upside-down, but it’s become quite the chore, what with all those black creatures squirming about…”

“Imbecile! You will bring the boy to me within the next five minutes, or it’s off with your head!”

Knowing the Queen of Hearts, she would most assuredly follow through on that threat. “Y-Yes, your Grace! As you command!”

But before any further manhunts could be carried out, a bone-chilling howl shakes Wonderland to its very core.

“W-What is it now!?”

“It came from the Bizarre Room!”

It isn’t until after Ciel finishes exterminating Heartless in the Tea Party Garden that the sound of the howl reaches his ears. “Whoa… That sounded huge…”

“Quite huge indeed… A world in need… Will you heed…or let the darkness be freed…?”

“…I can’t just allow the Heartless to consume Wonderland. I’ll fight! Just lead the way!”

“I think you already know the way… Am I wrong? ”

Ciel closes his eyes momentarily and contemplates on the Cheshire Cat’s words. His mouth curls into a smirk. “…I guess not. After all, you have all the answers.”

“Hehehe… How very true…”

With blade in hand, Ciel charges past the garden and through the dense forest. He effortlessly dispatches any Heartless that bar his path and returns to a most upsetting picture in the Queen’s court: her entire ‘deck’ of soldiers was on the ground, battered and beaten. “Holy…! W-What happened here!?”

“Get up! Get up, you incompetent clods!”, the Queen of Hearts bellows, attempting to stir her unconscious knights awake. “Up at once, or I’ll have all your heads!”

Another howl echoes from within the Bizarre Room.

“Ohhhh… What’s to become of my kingdom…? …You there! Boy!”

“Me?”

“You say you aren’t in league with those beasts!? Prove it! Rid my kingdom of that vile rabbit!”

‘Rabbit…?’ Did she refer to the White Rabbit? Somehow, Ciel couldn’t imagine that harmless-looking critter making such a terrifying sound. “…Right. Leave it to me.” With this assurance of victory, Ciel bolts into the Bizarre Room.

“…Hmph! I care for results, not bravado!”

Ciel returns to the room where his miniature adventure had started, and looks around in search of the howling Heartless. It was quiet for the most part, save for the Doorknob’s snoring. He takes a few steps toward the center of the room, but stops short when a drop of hot saliva splashes at his feet. Ciel’s eyes shoot upward and they meet the gaze of a Heartless scaling the ceiling.

The ferocious beast largely resembled a rabbit with tan fur, with a tuft of blond hair where the base of its ears meet its head. The Mad Hare clings to the ceiling, glares at Ciel with deranged, bloodshot eyes, and bares its serrated fangs as it snarls.

[BGM: Tension Rising]

“That’s definitely not the White Rabbit!” Pointing his Keyblade up, Ciel fires at the monster with bullets of compressed air.

The Hare crawls swiftly along the ceiling to evade Ciel’s shots, then leaps onto the floor below with a crash to face Ciel up-close. It roars in defiance of the Keyblade. Taking hold of the blade with both hands, Ciel rushes inward. As he swipes horizontally, the Hare leaps again, landing on the table on the middle of the room. Ciel bounces back and motion an upward vertical slash to cut into the Hare’s flesh. It howls in pain and jumps backward to the wall. From this position, it pushes off the wall with its feet and drives its claws at Ciel. Ciel defends against the brunt of the attack, but due to the Hare’s quickness, some damage does get through. “Tch!” While the beast has its back turned to him, Ciel hops onto its back. As expected, the Hare doesn’t consent to this and tries to shake Ciel loose with its jumping power. Ciel uses strands of the Heartless’ fur as makeshift reins and forces it into the wall. The Hare goes down right away, prompting Ciel to make himself airborne. From several yards up, Ciel flings and retracts his Keyblade with such velocity that he appeared to be throwing numerous Pierce the Skies’. Once his multi-Strike Raid assault was completed, he lands on the center table. Severely weakened but not beaten, the Hare turns its head back and roars at Ciel with so much intensity, it blows him off the table and into a wall. “Oof!” Ciel crashes to the floor, on his back, in a daze. As his eyes readjust, he sees the Hare pouncing upon him. Thinking quickly, Ciel takes his Keyblade and holds it out in front of him to keep the Hare’s claws from impaling him. As its head hangs over Ciel, the beastly rabbit gnaws incessantly at the air. Ciel’s first thought: the Mad Hare was intent on devouring him. “I don’t think so…!” Kicking at the monster’s underbelly, the boy flips the Hare over him and onto its back in a maneuver similar to one Claire had demonstrated on him the day before. Having accomplished this, Ciel hops onto the Heartless, and the situation was overturned: Ciel was now on top, and the Hare used its claws to keep him at bay. Glancing down, he notices the Heartless emblem on the Mad Hare’s underbelly. The object of Ciel’s attack was clear. With a revolving attack, he briefly stuns the monster’s limbs, and… “Take this!” …thrusts the Keyblade into the emblem and twists it 90 degrees as if unlocking a door. The Hare lets out a great pained roar as jagged shafts of light pour out from the emblem. The Heartless crumbles to black dust, its freed heart floating away as a result.

“Whew…”, Ciel exhales in relief.

Atop the center table, the Cheshire Cat appears before Ciel one last time, quite impressed by the battle. “Marvelous! Stupendous! …I suppose…”

Ciel puts his weapon away and meets the jokester’s eye. “Hey. Be honest. You were helping me because you didn’t want to see Wonderland swallowed by the darkness. Right?”

“‘Help’? Who knows? It could be that you helped me. It all depends on how you look at it. Me? I always look at things from…” The playful cat’s head rotates at an axis until it was upside-down. “…a different perspective.”

“I understand. This place is your home. It’s only natural to want to protect where you live.”

“Hmm…”

“But why lead me on with all the riddles and cryptic talk?”

“Oh, didn’t you know? I’m quite mad. Mad as a March hare, you might say! Hahaha!” Same as before, the Cheshire Cat vanishes after saying his piece, leaving only the sound of his laughter behind.

Even Ciel has himself a short chuckle. “‘Mad’? Try ‘downright nuts’.”

His escapade in Wonderland now at its end, Ciel prepares to return to the NORA and move on to the next world. He stands before the door he first came in through…and notices it towering over him by several stories. In his forgetfulness, Ciel had forgotten to restore his original height. “Oh, yeah… Knew there was something I forgot to do… Hehehe…”

~ Next Report: Sons of Man ~