Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ Kingdom Hearts Route B ❯ Little London ( Chapter 3 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or any of the Disney/Square Enix characters that appear in this work. Please support the original releases.

 

 

 

Chapter 3: Little London

 

 

 

"What tiresome little beasts."

Green smoke swirled around in the air, creating a circle. In the middle of the circle, like a window to another world, was the image of the Castle Oblivion's great hall. A boy, a duck and a dog walked out of the castle's dimensional door and looked around the empty space.

"Those fools. And to think they have no idea what they've stepped into."

There was a pompous cackle, followed by another puff of sickening smoke. A woman stood in front of the circle in the air. She smelled of death, both from the cigarette balanced on its holder between her bony fingers and from her puffy, white fur coat, which did nothing except make her skeletal figure look much bigger then it really was.

"Boorish woman. Extinguish that infernal instrument of suffocation."

The fur clad woman turned sharply toward the speaker. A thin, old man in long, black minister's robes turned up his long, crooked nose at her.

"Boorish?" The woman growled. "You're wearing that silly dress and hat and you call me boorish?"

Fury sparked in the man's narrowed eyes, but he did not let his emotions get the better of him. Instead, he elegantly put his fingertips together. "I am not here to partake in your petty goals. I have a much more sacred quest. Spare me the childish squabbling."

Another figure glided into the room, this one even smokier then the woman. Except the smoke came from his black robe, which flowed and swirled at the hem like ashes in the wind. On top of his long head was a blue fire instead of hair. He smiled, revealing a row of shark teeth.

"Can't get any more sacred then me, your holiness." The fire-headed man bowed. Then he turned toward the woman. "I suggest you don't underestimate those brats."

"What can one measly child do?"

"This ain't my first rodeo, ya gaudy fashionista. That little squirt there and his keyblade are annoying news."

The woman shook her cigarette at the man. "I will not be outdone by a child, an overgrown water fowl and a mongrel."

She had to pause to take a breath, on the verge of another complaint, but she did not get the chance to speak. Her smoke window disappeared, obscuring the view of Sora and his friends. The white void that they stood in dimmed slightly as a shadow without an owner moved over the floor. The shadow laughed silently on the ground, circled the woman and the two men before reattaching to a pair of black and white suede shoes.

A lanky man strutted into the space, his cane tapping along with his steps. His shadow did not match his movements. Rather then walking, it danced on the ground as though taunting the rest of the group.

The man bowed, tipping his feathered top hat, revealing a thick head of hair. He wore a maroon, undertaker tailcoat, and a purple vest that seemed too small for him as his midriff was bare. When he spoke, his voice was smooth and throaty, reverberating like a bass cello.

"Now gentleman, and lady, of course. I didn't call you all here for some meaningless squabbling, now did I?"

"No, you promised something in return," said the old man, "and you have yet to keep your end of the bargain."

"Now, Your Grace," the smooth man bowed, "I am a man of my word."

"I do not tolerate witchcraft or those that live outside of the Holy Kingdom of God. Your 'friends' aid had better be worth it."

When the shadow man rose, there was a misty mischievousness in his violet eyes. "Such darkness, Your Grace. I assure my friends will give you exactly what's coming to you."

 

 

 

Sora, Donald and Goofy had entered through the door from the Enchanted Bayou's side and had exited out back into the room they had started in back at Castle Oblivion. Nothing had changed since they left it. The exit hadn't magically reappeared and the only way out of the room was the same door they had just entered from.

Donald and Goofy spoke to each other, while Sora went to each corner of the room, looking for a switch or mechanism. Unfortunately, the walls were perfectly smooth and hospital white; there wasn't a spec of dust out of place that could give him even a hint of a possible secret passage. He tried to knock over one of the decorative pillars in the room, too see if there was anything underneath, but found that it was bolted to the floor. Whacking it with his keyblade hadn't worked, either. He had only succeeded in breaking off a piece of the pillar.

"Something's screwy," Donald began. "How come that door leads to another world? Why were there heartless in there?"

"We may have stopped Ansem, but it's not like we got rid of the darkness." Sora summoned his keyblade, staring at it. "Leon said that the heartless will keep coming after me as long as I wield the keyblade. And the heartless are made of darkness. It we destroyed the darkness, would we have gotten rid of Riku and the King too? Since they were in the heartless realm?"

"We'll just have to rescue the King and Riku before we find a way to get rid of the heartless for good," Goofy offered.

"But how are we going to do that? The only way out of here is through the door we just came from. So what now? Do we go back into the bayou?"

Donald shrugged and Goofy scratched his head.

"We won't get anything done in here," Jiminy said. "Let's go back and see if we can get some advice from Mama Odie. She seemed knowledgeable."

With no better plan, the three friends went back up the stairs and pulled the door open. White light enveloped them like an embrace as they walked through the doorway, but when the brightness faded, they weren't in a misty bayou.

They were standing in an alley between two ornate buildings that towered over them. It was so high that Sora could barely see the grey clouds overhead. A shiny, rain-washed street, with ridiculously large cobblestones lay under his feet and tail.

Tail?

Sora stared. There was a long, thin mouse tail between his faded, yellow shoes. He felt oddly warm, as though he were wearing a wool jacket, and when he looked down at his hands, he stiffened in surprise. He had paws, and his skin was covered in a thin layer of ash-brown fur.

Shocked, he smacked his hands on top of his head, which led to another surprise. Velvety soft ears were growing out of his head. Looking around, Sora spotted a puddle right outside the alley. He ran out into a wide street and looked down into the water.

"I'm a mouse." He pulled at his clothes. Rather then the usual red shorts and blue and white jacket ensemble, he was wearing a burgundy tailcoat with golden buttons, and black trousers.

"Cool! Guys," he turned around and called Donald and Goofy over, "check it out?"

Donald and Goofy weren't mice. They were just smaller versions of themselves. The only thing that had changed was that they were wearing similar style clothes.

"Aw man! Couldn't you guys turn into mice too?"

"Nevermind that," Donald huffed, "where are we?"

The ground vibrated as something came down the road. Turning, Sora saw hooves thundering closer and closer. The three friends ran, but their new tiny legs made it very hard to outrun a horse. Donald and Goofy panicked, crashing into each other. Dizzy, they didn't see the hoof that was about to squash them flat. Sora threw his body at his friends, grabbed them and rolled toward the middle of the horse, between the hooves. He watched as the giant animal and the wagon it was pulling passed over them.

Eventually, the horse and carriage stopped further down the side of the road. A man and woman stepped out.

"What a dreary morning," the woman said, opening a parasol even though there wasn't much rain. She walked arm and arm with the elegantly dressed man up the steps to the front of a house that stood next to a street sign that said, "Baker's Street."

"This is the place, my dear." The man knocked on the door.

"Oh I do hope he can help us," the woman cried, "we've no where else to turn."

The door opened and the two of them disappeared inside. Just as they did so, it seemed as though the rest of the world had woken up. More carriages and people appeared on the road. A milkman went from door to door, replacing empty milk bottles with new ones. A man dressed in all black went from lamp post to lamp post, extinguishing all the candles. A boy strolled down the streets, his satchel heavy with newspapers, knocking door to door to make his deliveries. And a little mouse girl ran past Sora, Donald and Goofy with tears in her eyes.

She ran toward the house where the man and woman from the carriage had entered, but she didn't climb up the steps. Instead, she vanished into the bushes next to the stairs. Sora chased after her. Passing between the leaves and branches of the bushes, he found a clearing with a tiny door on the side of the building. The little girl was banging on the door.

"Basil! Basil! Open up!"

Her hand was turning red.

Sora reached forward and grabbed her wrist. She turned around with wide, glassy eyes and then pointed up into the bushes.

"Look out!"

Yellow eyed rats sat on the branches above. Their mouths oozed with purple froth, their fur crumbling as though they were made from ashen paper. One of the rats reeled back. There was a heartless emblem on its chest. The rats' sharp eyes locked on Sora and the little girl.

It flashed across the small space between them like a bolt of black lightening. Sora grabbed the little girl and rolled out of the way, and the heartless slammed against the door. It quickly rolled back onto its feet, squealing like a needle on glass. The sound felt like a screw was being driven into Sora's newer, more sensitive ears. He grit his teeth, shaking his head, his brain feeling like it was swimming in smoke.

At the first sign of his weakness, the heartless attacked. The girl screamed, hiding her face into Sora's tailcoat. Sora pulled out his keyblade and hurled it at the nearest heartless. It sliced through the heartless' open mouth, making it explode into darkness. The rest of the heartless advanced, claws out, teeth dripping with purple venom, and Sora's keyblade didn't return to his hand in time.

It was just then that Donald and Goofy stumbled into the bushes, crashing shield and staff first into the heartless that was inches away from shredding Sora into pieces. The leader heartless was thrown to the side, but other heartless charged. Sora jumped in front of his friends and the girl, raising his keyblade to shield them, but just then the leader heartless had recovered and it charged at them from the side.

Sora had no time to shield himself.

He shut his eyes.

He felt the mist from the heartless' breath, and then heard a thundering blast.

Opening his eyes, Sora watched as the swarm of heartless exploded one by one. The last heartless launched itself at Sora's head, jaws open wide, only to burst into dust a moment later. Behind the heartless stood a handsome, smartly dressed mouse in a deer-stalker hat. A heartless roared at him from the branch above.

The mouse didn't even turn. He simply lifted his pistol over his head and shot. The headless exploded. He gleefully destroyed the remaining heartless, and, after defeating them all, he twirled the pistol, flipping it toward his lips and blowing into the barrel.

"Fine way to test my marksmanship, I must say."

Without looking at Sora, Donald and Goofy, the mouse bent down to inspect the ground where the heartless had been standing. He rubbed some dirt between his fingers, sniffing it.

"Hmm, extraordinary."

The mouse poured the dirt into a glass vial, and then went to the door in the wall, entered the house and slammed the door behind him. The little girl chased after him.

"Basil, wait!"

"Olivia?"

A stout mouse with a mustache entered the tiny clearing. He ran to the little girl. "I say child, what on earth are you doing here?"

Just then, the other mouse stuck out his head from his house. "Dawson, my good chap! I am on the verge of a breakthrough! Come in!"

Dawson glared. "Dash it all Basil, how can you walk by Olivia and these people?"

Basil squinted at Olivia and then at Sora, Donald and Goofy as though seeing them for the first time.

"Ah, well. Good morning friends. Have you come to ask for the assistance of the great Basil of Baker's street?"

The little girl, Olivia, ran up to Basil. "I need your help! My Daddy's gone."

Basil huffed. "Again? Ms. Flangerhanger-"

"Flaversham!"

"Whatever. Just how many daddies can a little girl lose?"

"I didn't lose him." She stomped her foot. "He was taken! By those creatures!"

The detective's eyes got wide. "Those creatures you say? Well, why didn't you lead with that? You there, young mouse, duck and dog."

Sora wrinkled his nose. "We have names you know."

"Yeah," Donald grumbled, "it's-"

"No time for introductions! Come on in!"

 

 

 

 

Kairi sat in the middle of the cave, wrapping bandages around the cuts on her fingers and palms. She closed the pocket first aid kit and tucked in back into the travel pouch on her belt. This was her third night in a row sneaking out of the house to come to the door. She had been so sure it would open this time, and had even tried to find a crack between the door and cave wall. Her attempts to pull it open that way had only ended up with a handful of splinters.

Kairi stood and patted the dirt off her purple skirt-shorts. Spreading her feet apart, she pointed at the door.

"I'll get you open one way or another! Just watch! You won't keep me from my friends."

If only brave declarations of not giving up would make the door open. Kairi groaned. In all her years living on the islands, she had never once thought that she were in a prison, but that was when Sora and Riku were with her. Now she could understand Riku's wish to leave.

Just a few months ago, she had planned with Sora and Riku to make a raft, to sail across the ocean and see if they could find another world. She hadn't really wanted to leave the island like the boys had. She went along for the fun of it. She never really expected to be thrown off the islands, or even find the world she had originally come from.

Kairi closed her eyes, imagining Hollow Bastion, the meshwork of old, empty halls and pipes that was where she had been born and where the heartless had appeared for the first time. Questions she had never asked herself before mixed in with worries for Sora and Riku. She had been so happy living on the islands, she had never thought about where she had been born. All she remembered was her grandmother's story. But now she wondered who her parents had been, what Hollow Bastion had looked like before Maleficent had taken over, before Ansem had lost his mind and filled it with heartless. And why was she a princess of light? What exactly did that mean? What role did she have to play?

"I won't learn anything if I'm stuck on this island."

She moved toward the exit of the cave. Just before she got to the tunnel that led to the way out, Kairi turned around to look one more time at the door, hoping it had opened. No luck. With a sigh, Kairi left the caves.

The moonlight cast a silver shadow on top of the seawater. Walking along the beach, she looked out at the island with the paopu tree. She hadn't been to that island since she had come back home, and she refused to go back there until her friends had returned. Still, Kairi wasn't in the mood to go back to the main island. She was too awake to sleep and for the first time ever, she debated not going to school in the morning.

Kairi laughed. Ditching school was something Sora would do. How many times had she and Riku gone to class only see his chair empty. Then they would catch him fishing or napping on the islands. Good-at-everything-Riku would get all of his school work done just so that he wouldn't actually have to go to class, and Kairi, just as lazy as Sora, would do the bare minimum not to get in trouble.

She closed her eyes, imagining the three of them racing on the beach, and spending lazy days watching the sun set. The ocean breeze, still warm even in the night, caressed her skin, and something wet tickled her fingers.

Kairi's eyes snapped open. Turning slowly, she looked down. A dog with a bump on its head was smelling her hand. Catching her eye, the dog rolled over on its back, exposing its belly. Unable to resist, Kairi bent down to pet the dog.

"Now where did you come from?"

The dog panted happily from the belly rubs. Kairi lifted his dog tag and read the name "Pluto."

"Nice to meet you, Pluto."

The dog turned over and began scratching its ear with its hind leg. It was just then that Kairi noticed a letter in the sands.

While Pluto was busy, Kairi reached to pick up the letter. Turning it over, she noticed a mouse-shaped seal. As Kairi opened the letter, the dog went around in a circle before lying down in the sand and closing its eyes.

Sliding the delicate parchment paper out of the letter, Kairi read.

Donald. Goofy.

Things have gotten worse. We may have closed the door, but somewhere in the worlds, there is a machine. A machine made by Ansem shortly before he left his body behind and took over Riku. That machine is still making heartless, and, as long as it is running, more and more people will disappear. I'm sorry to ask this of you, but it doesn't look like I can leave the heartless realm just yet. I need you and Sora to go to Yen Sid. He should be able to tell you of a way to travel between worlds now that they are separate again. I'll try to meet you as soon as I can.

There was no name on the letter, only the same mouse shaped symbol at the bottom, but Kairi didn't care. Stuffing the letter into her pouch, she ran back into the cave, ignoring Pluto's barks as he chased after her. She reached the area with the door and threw her body against it.

Pain stabbed along her arm and shoulder, but Kairi tried again. The second time made her head spin, and she fought the urge to sit down and catch her breath.

"Let me through," she growled.

The door refused. Closing her eyes, Kairi concentrated on the letter.

"Please. I know they're in danger, I can feel it. There has to be something I can do, I can't just wait here. I have to see them again. I will see them again!"

Pluto put his head under her hand, as though trying to comfort her. Kairi patted him absentmindedly.

There was a creak.

The door opened just an inch.

All the sound in the world was silenced. Even her footsteps. As she got closer to the door, Kairi felt light, as though she were about to be blown away. She pulled the door open more and looked inside.

The thing beyond, Kairi could not describe. A mass of energy? An emotion? A place, a time, a core, a heart, a memory? Something, not air, not water, but silky and cold fluttered around her body. She floated in a sea of everything and nothing. It made her want to laugh, cry, and be furious at the same time.

Pluto didn't hesitate. He leaped through the doorway and Kairi didn't look back as she followed. The door slammed back shut behind them.

 

 

 

 

It didn't take long for Sora to learn that Basil was both incredibly intelligent, and yet irritatingly rude. He watched with an odd sense of fascination as Basil zipped from one end of the room to the other, pulling out books, sipping tea while reading and writing down notes at the same time, looking under a microscope, and muttering all kinds of things while completely ignoring everyone else in the room. Several times he ran past his housekeeper so fast that she had to keep the contents of her tray from falling by balancing it with her tail.

"Have some cheese crumpets dears," said Basil's maid tiredly, putting out tea and sweets for Sora, Donald and Goofy.

While Donald and Goofy happily partook in the treats, Sora moved toward Basil to ask what he was doing. Dawson pulled him back.

"Don't disturb him," Dawson said with a smile, "this is quite normal behavior for him, in fact."

"Huzah! I have it!"

Basil threw a book on the table and opened to a page with a strange black illustration. Getting closer, Sora saw a dark outline of a creature with jagged antennae and claws. A heartless.

"I knew I had seen forms like those creatures before. Listen."

Clearing his throat, Basil began to read.

"'Of all the strange phenomenon reported by London's very own mice, none are stranger then the myth of the shadow spawn.' Fascinating. I surmise that all the missing London mice were taken by these creatures!"

Dawson shook his head. "Creatures of shadow? Are you serious, Basil?"

"My friend, when you have eliminated all other possibilities, what remains, no matter how improbable must be the truth." He continued to read the old book. "Now then. 'These creatures seemingly come out of nowhere, and swallow unsuspecting mice and rats alike, leaving no trace behind.' What a mystery indeed!"

Olivia gave a terrified moan and then pressed her face into her scarf, sobbing.

"Basil," Dawson chastised.

"What?"

Goofy gave Olivia a pat on the head. "Now, now. there's no reason to be upset. I'm sure your daddy's all right."

Olivia peeked at him from under her scarf.

Sora rounded on Basil. "Can't you be a little more sensitive? This is no time to be researching heartless. We have to help her find her Dad."

Basil's eyes got wide. "Heartless you say? Now how do you know what those creatures are called?"

Sora could practically feel Donald's annoyed glare boring into his back. Luckily for him, Basil continued theorizing.

"I must say these creatures are simply fascinating. If I could only capture a live specimen, I could study its behavior patterns."

Immediately, Sora, Donald and Goofy all stood and yelled.

"No!"

Basil gave them a quizzical look. "You three certainly seem familiar with these creatures."

"Uh, what gives you that idea?"

"Elementary, you wouldn't react so intensely unless you had something to hide. Why shouldn't I get to the bottom of these so called heartless?"

Sora waved his hands. "I-it's just a really bad idea."

Basil raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

Sora wasn't sure it would be very smart to tell him what had happened to the last person that had studied the heartless. The worlds didn't need another Ansem.

Once again, Basil did not give Sora the time to think of a good excuse. It seemed as though a few seconds of silence was all Basil could stand before he jumped to the next course of action.

"Very well. Seeing as you three have some experience with these heartless, and since Ms. Flamhammer-"

"Flaversham!"

"-needs some help, I am recruiting you three to aid in this case."

Once again, Sora, Donald and Goofy couldn't get a word in as Basil easily turned his attention to Olivia.

"Now then, lead the way, young lady. Where did you see your father last?"

 

 

 

 

The ground beneath her feet was strange. It was sounded wet, yet there wasn't any water. The white surface didn't look like rock, or dirt, or stone. She wasn't sure if she were outside, or in a very deep cavern underground. There was no horizon, no sky, and no bottom to the abyss below. Every corner of the world, as far as she could see, ended in blackness.

The air was motionless and lukewarm. The only noise was the sound of her own breathing and heartbeat. The only light came from the eerie purple glow that peeked out like a fungus in the cracks of giant rocks that seemed to jut out of from the darkness.

Kairi didn't know how far she had walked, or even how she had gotten to that place. She was standing on a narrow bridge that seemed to extend endlessly in both directions. Above and below were a spiderwebs of bridges and platforms. If it weren't for the fact that she was sure she was standing right side up, she wouldn't know which way was up or down. Pluto walked by her side, his head down and his tail up, ever vigilant.

This had to be the realm of darkness. The heartless' world. Kairi could feel it. The empty, lonely space around her didn't have the life of nighttime darkness. Even when she lay down to sleep in her dark room, there were stars overhead, an ocean breeze, a cricket chirping, the warmth of her bed sheets, but now it was nothing but a wasteland without sensation.

Kairi took out the letter from her pouch and stared at the mouse shaped seal. She remembered Sora's adventures. Though her heart been torn from her body, she had taken refuge inside Sora's heart, and she had seen the world through his eyes. She watched Sora struggle to find his friends, watched Riku make terrible decisions, and learned about Donald and Goofy's search for their king.

She was sure the letter had been written by the king. She had to find him and tell him that the letter hadn't reached Sora, Donald or Goofy. Then together, they would find a way out of the realm of darkness and deliver the news to their friends.

She walked and walked until Pluto let out a little whine, and her feet ached from hours, or was it days, of walking. Sitting down on the strange ground, with her feet dangling over the deep chasm below, Kairi leaned back. Pluto sat down next to her and she absentmindedly scratched him behind the ear. He put his head in her lap.

"I'm so glad you're here with me."

Pluto let out a happy growl.

"I want to take a break too." She looked out into the ocean of darkness. "This place is huge. I wish I had a map."

Pluto shot up from her lap. He lowered his body, his hackles raised, his ears back, and his fangs barely visible under his quivering lips.

Though there wasn't any noise, Kairi felt something creeping closer, like the rising thunder of an incoming stampede. There was frost in her joints even though there was no change in temperature. A creeping shiver rolled through her, like ants crawling all over her skin.

Pluto barked.

Just a few paces ahead, the air thickened with dark, purple orbs. Out of the lumps of dark smoke, spherical creatures appeared, their pitch-black bodies blending into darkness. The only thing that made their bodies discernible from everything else, were the beady, yellow eyes that locked onto Kairi and Pluto.

Kairi had seen those heartless before. At Hollow Bastion.

The dark balls floated toward them, and Kairi saw the jagged, zizzagged shape of their teeth opening and closing as they got closer. One threw its body at her, and she ducked, feeling the end of the heartless' frayed tentacle pass over her spine.

Her skin itched from the contact. She felt a surge of fear, loathing and sadness flash through her body for a moment and her knees felt weak. Unable to get her legs to move fast enough, Kairi could do nothing but raise her arms and cover her face as another heartless launched itself at her. Purple teeth opened wide in front of her eyes.

Pluto jumped, snapping his jaws down on the heartless' tentacles, pulling it back from Kairi's face just in time. The heartless thrashed, tossing Pluto around like a fish on a hook. Pluto growled, refusing to let go. Kairi tried to grab his tail, to pull him off and run, but the rest of the heartless were closing in, trapping her between them and the bottomless pit below.

The last heartless finally shook Pluto off and the poor dog landed in a heap at Kairi's feet. The swarm of heartless advanced and Kairi walked backward until her heels touched the edge of the platform she was standing on. Which was worse, falling or being devoured?

The heartless attacked.

Kairi dropped down and covered Pluto with her body, gritting her teeth, listening to the sound of scratching bites ripping through the air, getting louder. There was a flash of yellow light. Metal scrapping and thunder banged through her ears, and then she felt the sprinkling of mist falling on her forehead and shoulders.

Looking up, Kairi watched the heartless explode one by one. Electricity zipped in the air before fading out. Then all was silent again.

"Are you okay?"

Kairi gasped, looking around for the owner of the voice.

"Up here."

Looking up, she saw the silhouette of someone standing on the platform above hers. There was a faint glow coming from something in his hand, a yellow spark that slowly dimmed out. The figure jumped down to land in front of her.

As he came closer, he became clearer. He was short, only a head taller then Pluto. Though, when his long, rabbit ears stuck up, he could have been as tall as Kairi's shoulder. Black fur covered his head and ears, but his face was white, with round, curious, black eyes, and a button nose. He wore blue shorts with yellow buttons and a ruffled dress shirt. In his hand was a long, stick made of mahogany wood.

"Cura," the rabbit said.

He lifted the stick in the air, the end glowed a soothing, spring green. The light fluttered around her, small four leaf clovers bursting in the air before they sprinkled over her skin. The glow faded just as quickly as it had appeared. Kairi felt warmer. Completely rejuvenated, she stood.

"Thanks."

Pluto charged, pouncing on the rabbit and throwing him down.

The rabbit screamed.

"Ah! Stop that! It tickles!"

He tried to push Pluto off in between his laughter, but Pluto, his tail wagging so fast it blurred, was determined to give the rabbit all the doggy, slobbery thanks he could muster. Kairi whistled and Pluto lifted his head, running back to her side.

The rabbit stood. He glared at Pluto. His fur stuck out at odd angles, his wide eyes and twitchy nose making him look way too adorably frazzled to be intimidating.

Kairi snorted and had to cover her mouth before she could go into a full on giggling fit. Somehow, it didn't seem very polite to laugh at her possible savior.

"Ewwww." The rabbit whipped the slobber off his face with his sleeve.

"Sorry," Kairi said breathlessly. She had to pinch herself to stop the smiling, but her cheeks refused to come down. "Thank you for saving me."

The rabbit tapped his long foot. "What do you think you're doing in the realm of darkness? Don't you know how dangerous this place is?"

"I had to come here. I'm looking for someone."

All the annoyance dropped from the rabbit's face. "Looking for someone?"

Kairi nodded, reaching into her pouch. "I have to find the person that wrote this letter. Maybe he can help me find my friends."

"You're separated from your friends?"

"Uh huh."

His eyes softened for a moment, and then he shook his head and the grumpy expression returned. "How can you come to the realm of darkness without a weapon? Do you even know any magic spells to help protect you?"

"I, uh, well-"

"What would your friends do if something happened to you while you were in here?"

"But I-"

"Hold out your hand."

"Huh?"

The rabbit grabbed her hand and tapped it with his stick. Kairi felt zapping along her arm like a million static shocks. She pulled her hand back, giving the rabbit a hurt look.

"What was that for?"

The rabbit wasn't listening. He paced back and forth, with a smile on his cute face.

"Right. That's the stuff." He waved his stick in little circles in the air. "You got magic in ya. A lot of it." He pointed at her with his stick. "You can use that."

Kairi looked down at her hands. "You mean, I can perform spells?"

"You want to find your friends, don't ya? You're going to need to learn at least one spell. I'm going to teach you the fire incantation."

Kairi clapped her hands together. "Really? How do I do it?"

"Okay, close your eyes and imagine the sun in your chest."

Kairi did as she was told. In her mind, she saw a fire burning where her heart should have been.

"Now, pretend that sun is moving through you, ready to come out."

The fire in her chest traveled through her veins. Kairi tried to imagine heat moving through her chest to her toes and fingertips, but she didn't feel any warmth.

"Now concentrate the fire in your hand and say the incantation."

Kairi lifted her hand, did as she was told, and said the word, "Fire."

But her fingers didn't glow or warm up. She didn't feel any energy being expelled from her body. Nothing. Not even smoke. The two of them stood for a moment, starring at her open palm in silence until Kairi smiled nervously.

"Guess I'm not too good at it."

"Maybe fire isn't your thing." The rabbit shrugged. "We'll keep practicing. And until you get it, stick with me. I can keep an eye on ya."

Kairi felt the syrupy sweet feeling of excitement in her chest. "You're going to travel with me? Really?"

The rabbit's ears dropped, pink coloring his cheeks. He rubbed the back of his head. "Well, it'd be really mean to just leave you here alone. Name's Oswald by the way."

"Kairi. Pleased to meet you."

She extended her hand and the rabbit shook it. His fur was soft and warm.

 

 

 

 

Olivia's house was a toy shop with all kinds of mouse dolls, wooden boats, yo-yos and kites for Donald and Goofy to play with while Sora assisted Dawson in keeping up with all of Basil's increasingly ridiculous demands. Which was a shame, because all Sora really wanted to do was play with the toys.

At the moment, Basil's behind was sticking up from under a table. He was crouching with his eye glued to a magnifying class. Sora and Dawson were on the other side of the table, holding a candle in each hand to provide Basil with some light.

Basil rubbed dust between his fingers. Then he pulled out a glass tube with some dirt in it. Whatever he was looking for didn't match and Basil moved forward on all fours, sniffing the floor.

He smirked. "Ah hah! No mistaking it. It's the same cold smell of those creatures I so expertly dispatched earlier."

"What?" Sora leaned up so fast that the top of his head bumped the table over him. "Ouch!"

Dawson patted him on the arm. "Are you all right young man?"

Rubbing his head, Sora nodded. Then to Basil he said, "You can smell the heartless?"

"Well, certainly not, but when those creatures vanished, they left behind a very distinct scent. The scent of ozone covered the dirt where they had been and the faint scent of it lingers here as well." Basil rose from under the table. He walked over to Olivia. "Young lady, are you sure you saw your father being dragged from here?"

"Yes. Those creatures came in from the window and grabbed him. He fell under the table and then when I looked, he and the creatures were gone."

Basil tapped his magnifying class against his chin for a moment and then rounded on Sora, Donald and Goofy.

"Gentleman, we are not leaving this toy shop until we have found a clue. No time to play, we've a search to do."

Donald and Goofy put away the toys sadly. While Sora and Dawson inspected the room, looking under and behind the furniture, Donald sat on Goofy's shoulders and looked at the high corners of the room. Basil poked his head through the window and stared intensely at the sill, the curtains and the glass.

He took out a bag full of white powder from inside his coat pocket and covered the window glass and sill in it. Hand prints appeared on the window, and the white dust showed slashes in the sill, indicating claw marks. As Basil poured over what his finding could mean, Sora lifted a bookshelf for Dawson to look under.

The older mouse's head vanished under the book shelf. Then he moved back, signaling for Sora to put the shelf back down. In Dawson's hands, something metal glinted. He called Basil over and the detective snatched a coin from Dawson's hands.

He brought the coin to his nose, sniffed it, polished it on his shirt and then smirked.

"We have our next location, gentleman."

"The bank?" Goofy asked.

Basil held up the coin in front of Goofy's eyes. "There is a distinct scent of gin, sea water and sewage coming off this coin. There is only one pub in the entire city that lies in the junction between the sewer system and the ocean. Judging by the lack of dust, this coin is new. I surmise that it must have rolled under the bookshelf recently, and look here."

Sora, Donald, Dawson and Olivia leaned in close to squint at the token. There was a slash across the gold plated surface, revealing the plain metal underneath.

"This scratch mark has the same pattern as the marks on the window."

Dawson put his hand on his forehead. "Oh, don't tell me we're going to go back to that pub. My head still spins from the last time we were there."

 

 

 

 

Jiminy's Journal

Olivia Flaversham (First Appeared in The Great Mouse Detective, 1986): A sweet, rambunctious little girl who loves her Daddy very much. She's completely at ease helping Dawson and Basil solve mysteries.

Basil of Baker's Street (First Appeared in The Great Mouse Detective, 1986): An intelligent and plucky detective that lives for the game of solving mysteries. He's a jack-of-all-trades and very talented in the fields of science and history, but he can be a bit self-centered and rude at times.

Dr. David Q. Dawson (First Appeared in The Great Mouse Detective 1986): A kind doctor that assists Basil on his cases. Dawson is the perfect foil to Basil's narrowminded nature. He provides a more grounded view when solving mysteries.

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (First Appeared in Trolly Troubles, 1927): An energetic, mischievous, and mysterious rabbit that has a lot of skill in magic. He's quick to help others and do the right thing, but why is he in the realm of darkness?