Serenna is the main feature of this chapter. That, and roses,
In the mystic land of Wonderland.
Second floor, entrance hall: Zexion and Serenna tried to catch up with Selene, but it was too late, Selene was already taking a World Card out of her pocket. She held it before the door, which dissolved, and the door opened. She ran through it without another word. Serenna looked at Zexion, confused. "What's going on, Zexion?" she asked. Zexion looked at Serenna. She was a very pretty girl, and Zexion would have started to like her, if he could feel anything. Jason had imbibed him with emotions when he lived in The Castle That Never Was. But in the last five months, all the emotion had drained out of him. "Selene's mother has issued her a challenge. How could she refuse? We need to catch her before she does too much damage." Serenna was already halfway towards the door. Zexion rolled his eyes and followed.
Wonderland: Selene ran through Wonderland, slaying anything that got in her way. Her mom had clearly issued her a challenge, and she wouldn't turn it down. She would rather die. She was running so fast she couldn't stop in time to avoid the cage that had been clearly been placed to catch her. "Ha ha!" said a really fat woman with a crown and a dress on. "I finally caught you, now give me back the memory you stole!" As Selene protested, out of the corner of her eye she noticed a blond girl in a blue dress mouthing "thank you" to her, then vanishing into the trees.
Zexion and Serenna entered Wonderland, a whimsical land of insanity. As they walked around, a cat appeared on a nearby tree. "Have you seen our friend?" Serenna asked, "She's thirteen year old girl with gray hair and steel-blue eyes." The cat disappeared, and reappeared in a nearby tree. Then, he gave a face-splitting smile. "She lies between the light and the dark. The dark bore her, but she wants to be part of the light. You should find her before she returns to the darkness from whince she came." With that, the cat disappeared. Serenna looked annoyed for once. "The cat didn't actually tell us anything!" Zexion smiled. "I have the Keycard, so we should get going." The duo ran off.
En Route: While he was alone with Serenna, he decided to get to know her better. "Did you say you were friends with Jason?" Serenna smiled. "Yes, since childhood. We've had our fights, but I've always tried to be the best person I could be. We drifted apart for a bit when we were teenagers, but we started to hang out again when he turned seventeen. Then one day, he went to his first day of work and never came back. After three months, he returned, but he seemed so much sadder then before. He would take long walks for no reason. Then, he went for a walk and didn't come back. I went looking for him the next day, and I found you." Zexion absorbed all this, and kept talking with her until the reached the Keycard door.
Wonderland forest: Zexion and Serenna found a blond girl in a blue dress standing by herself, looking worried. "Can you guys do me a favor?" she asked. "You should at least give us your name." Zexion said. "I'm Alice." said the girl. "So what's your favor?" Serenna asked. Alice fidgeted guiltily. "The Queen Of Hearts was after someone to blame for her loss of memory. She was about to trap me in a cage, but a girl with gray hair ran into it first." Zexion and Serenna looked at each other. Yep, that was Selene. "She's our friend. We just happened to be looking for her." Alice clapped her hands delightedly. "Then we can rescue her together!" Alice ran towards the exit, and the second Keycard appeared in Zexion's pocket.
En route: Zexion noticed that Serenna kept staring at the roses. Zexion picked a rose and secretly put it in her pocket.
The Queen's palace: "You are here on the charge of stealing my memory. So it's OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!" Selene shouted from her cage, "What kind of mor—" "SELENE!" Zexion's shout made Selene's hopes soar. The Queen Of Hearts looked at the group with clear anger. "What buisness do you have with me?!" Alice whispered into Serenna's ear, and she practically jumped. Serenna stepped forward and said, "We are Serenna and Alice Rose. You hired us before you lost your memory to investigate who the culprit is. We have found who it is." The Queen looked confused. "What about the cloaked people?" Alice said, "They are our bodyguards." The Queen covered up her confusion with bluster, "Of course I did all that. Fine work, girls. Serenna Rose, lead your group to the culprit and get my memory back!" The third Keycard appeared in Zexion's pocket.
En Route: "That was so amazing! How did you come up with that?" Alice blushed at Serenna's compliment. "I knew the Queen would never admit to forgetting something, so she remembered something that never happened." Alice turned to Selene. "Thank you for saving me." Selene looked away, embarrassed. "Don't think about it too much."
The Strange House: the group made it's way into a huge room. Alice wandered about for a bit, then climbed onto a huge table. "What's up there?" Zexion called. "A couple of bottles." she called back. A pause, then she suddenly grew huge. "Thanks guys!" she called, and she exited through a huge door. Zexion and the girls were about to approach the same table when the Trickmaster Heartless fell in front of it. "Serenna, Selene! Weaken that heartless, and when it's weak enough I'll finish it off." They nodded, and attacked the Trickmaster. Zexion stood in the background, using his powered to make sure they didn't get hurt. When the Trickmaster's movement slowed enough, Zexion threw his Lexicon at it, and like last time, it grew huge and swallowed it whole. The group climbed on the table, drank from the bottle, and once they grew huge, went through the huge door.
Second Floor, exit hall: "You don't have to tell me, Zexion. I'll stick to the group more often." Zexion smiled, glad that Selene had learned her lesson. He was worried, though. During the Trickmaster battle, Zexion had to hold back to keep Selene's disguise. Why was he losing his powers? Serenna Rose led the group into the third floor.
Thirteenth floor: Larxene tested her new powers on the limp figure in the corner of the room. Her new powers still weren't strong enough yet. "Little one, do you think you could work faster?" Naminé shook her head. "It took seven floors for my powers to take effect on Sora. Please be patient." Larxene dropped it, and Naminé went back to work. She had seen that Zexion had wondered about his fading powers. She hoped, for Selene's sake, that Zexion didn't figure out that the reason his powers over illusions were fading with each passing floor was that Naminé was stealing them…and giving them to Larxene.
In the mystic land of Wonderland.
Second floor, entrance hall: Zexion and Serenna tried to catch up with Selene, but it was too late, Selene was already taking a World Card out of her pocket. She held it before the door, which dissolved, and the door opened. She ran through it without another word. Serenna looked at Zexion, confused. "What's going on, Zexion?" she asked. Zexion looked at Serenna. She was a very pretty girl, and Zexion would have started to like her, if he could feel anything. Jason had imbibed him with emotions when he lived in The Castle That Never Was. But in the last five months, all the emotion had drained out of him. "Selene's mother has issued her a challenge. How could she refuse? We need to catch her before she does too much damage." Serenna was already halfway towards the door. Zexion rolled his eyes and followed.
Wonderland: Selene ran through Wonderland, slaying anything that got in her way. Her mom had clearly issued her a challenge, and she wouldn't turn it down. She would rather die. She was running so fast she couldn't stop in time to avoid the cage that had been clearly been placed to catch her. "Ha ha!" said a really fat woman with a crown and a dress on. "I finally caught you, now give me back the memory you stole!" As Selene protested, out of the corner of her eye she noticed a blond girl in a blue dress mouthing "thank you" to her, then vanishing into the trees.
Zexion and Serenna entered Wonderland, a whimsical land of insanity. As they walked around, a cat appeared on a nearby tree. "Have you seen our friend?" Serenna asked, "She's thirteen year old girl with gray hair and steel-blue eyes." The cat disappeared, and reappeared in a nearby tree. Then, he gave a face-splitting smile. "She lies between the light and the dark. The dark bore her, but she wants to be part of the light. You should find her before she returns to the darkness from whince she came." With that, the cat disappeared. Serenna looked annoyed for once. "The cat didn't actually tell us anything!" Zexion smiled. "I have the Keycard, so we should get going." The duo ran off.
En Route: While he was alone with Serenna, he decided to get to know her better. "Did you say you were friends with Jason?" Serenna smiled. "Yes, since childhood. We've had our fights, but I've always tried to be the best person I could be. We drifted apart for a bit when we were teenagers, but we started to hang out again when he turned seventeen. Then one day, he went to his first day of work and never came back. After three months, he returned, but he seemed so much sadder then before. He would take long walks for no reason. Then, he went for a walk and didn't come back. I went looking for him the next day, and I found you." Zexion absorbed all this, and kept talking with her until the reached the Keycard door.
Wonderland forest: Zexion and Serenna found a blond girl in a blue dress standing by herself, looking worried. "Can you guys do me a favor?" she asked. "You should at least give us your name." Zexion said. "I'm Alice." said the girl. "So what's your favor?" Serenna asked. Alice fidgeted guiltily. "The Queen Of Hearts was after someone to blame for her loss of memory. She was about to trap me in a cage, but a girl with gray hair ran into it first." Zexion and Serenna looked at each other. Yep, that was Selene. "She's our friend. We just happened to be looking for her." Alice clapped her hands delightedly. "Then we can rescue her together!" Alice ran towards the exit, and the second Keycard appeared in Zexion's pocket.
En route: Zexion noticed that Serenna kept staring at the roses. Zexion picked a rose and secretly put it in her pocket.
The Queen's palace: "You are here on the charge of stealing my memory. So it's OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!" Selene shouted from her cage, "What kind of mor—" "SELENE!" Zexion's shout made Selene's hopes soar. The Queen Of Hearts looked at the group with clear anger. "What buisness do you have with me?!" Alice whispered into Serenna's ear, and she practically jumped. Serenna stepped forward and said, "We are Serenna and Alice Rose. You hired us before you lost your memory to investigate who the culprit is. We have found who it is." The Queen looked confused. "What about the cloaked people?" Alice said, "They are our bodyguards." The Queen covered up her confusion with bluster, "Of course I did all that. Fine work, girls. Serenna Rose, lead your group to the culprit and get my memory back!" The third Keycard appeared in Zexion's pocket.
En Route: "That was so amazing! How did you come up with that?" Alice blushed at Serenna's compliment. "I knew the Queen would never admit to forgetting something, so she remembered something that never happened." Alice turned to Selene. "Thank you for saving me." Selene looked away, embarrassed. "Don't think about it too much."
The Strange House: the group made it's way into a huge room. Alice wandered about for a bit, then climbed onto a huge table. "What's up there?" Zexion called. "A couple of bottles." she called back. A pause, then she suddenly grew huge. "Thanks guys!" she called, and she exited through a huge door. Zexion and the girls were about to approach the same table when the Trickmaster Heartless fell in front of it. "Serenna, Selene! Weaken that heartless, and when it's weak enough I'll finish it off." They nodded, and attacked the Trickmaster. Zexion stood in the background, using his powered to make sure they didn't get hurt. When the Trickmaster's movement slowed enough, Zexion threw his Lexicon at it, and like last time, it grew huge and swallowed it whole. The group climbed on the table, drank from the bottle, and once they grew huge, went through the huge door.
Second Floor, exit hall: "You don't have to tell me, Zexion. I'll stick to the group more often." Zexion smiled, glad that Selene had learned her lesson. He was worried, though. During the Trickmaster battle, Zexion had to hold back to keep Selene's disguise. Why was he losing his powers? Serenna Rose led the group into the third floor.
Thirteenth floor: Larxene tested her new powers on the limp figure in the corner of the room. Her new powers still weren't strong enough yet. "Little one, do you think you could work faster?" Naminé shook her head. "It took seven floors for my powers to take effect on Sora. Please be patient." Larxene dropped it, and Naminé went back to work. She had seen that Zexion had wondered about his fading powers. She hoped, for Selene's sake, that Zexion didn't figure out that the reason his powers over illusions were fading with each passing floor was that Naminé was stealing them…and giving them to Larxene.