Fellowship & Fairydust

“What happened to you?” I nearly jumped out of my skin when I turned to Kairi after we passed through the door. “You’ve been turned into a mouse!”

As she looked at herself, the redhead didn’t seem bothered by it at all. “So it is true. Sora told me how he, Donald, and Goofy changed into merpeople and animals in some worlds. You make a cute mouse yourself.”

Huh? Raising my hand, I froze when I saw it had become a paw. When I felt my face there was fur and a small snout. Was… was I a mouse as well? Kairi said I was, and I had no reason to disbelieve her. Still, it was freaky to think I wasn’t human at the moment. “Why did we change into mice here?”

“I don’t know, but the tower brought us here for a reason. We need to find out what.” 

Before I could say anything we both heard and felt footsteps. Looking at the opening from where we were, which was underneath some piece of furniture with a wooden bottom, we saw a pair of black shoes march past us. As I crept to the part where the light was shining, I saw a short fat man with a yellow suit head out the door. “Hey, who are you and why do you have the kid?”

“Well, she was trying to run away in a swamp. There was a strong chance she could’ve had a fatal accident out there.” Someone said as they entered carrying a little girl over their shoulder. I couldn’t understand why they were wearing a black coat. The air here was so muggy and hot. “You should be thanking me for bringing her back.”

That voice… there was something familiar about it. Before I could dwell on it, the figure stepped aside for a pair of large reptilian monsters to come in. Why was one of them holding a teddy bear in its mouth?
“Put me down, you old witch.” The girl challenged the figure who held her. 

Without a word the cloaked figure just dropped her like a rock. “You should be more careful who you insult. Next time I’ll let the alligators eat you.” 

“They won’t do that. That’ll make Medusa angry, and they won’t disobey her.” 

Looking at Kairi, I asked, “Medusa?” All I got was a shrug before we focused our attention back at the people, who were giants to us now.

“Give me my teddy bear back now, Nero.” The girl ordered the alligator thing, which to my surprise dropped it without a fight. I had to admit, she was a brave little child standing up to something like that beast. 

The man in the yellow suit then turned to them. “All you two bring back is a teddy bear? Man, you leatherheads are slipping.” When they started growling at him, the man began backing up from them. “Now, now, easy. Down, down boys. Heel, heel.” He ended up climbing up a couch to put some distance between him and the predators. 

“It wasn’t entirely their fault. They were attacked by a pest in the swamps. You can see the damage on one of their backs.” The figure said. “Which brings me to my reason for coming here.”

“Because of a pest?” The man asked from his position

Waving a finger, the figure said, “Uh-uh. I don’t discuss business except with the head, and you’re not even the butt.” That statement earned a giggle from the girl.

Frowning at her, the man said, “Now, Penny. Next time you misbehave I’ll let Brutus and Nero have your old teddy bear.” 

“You will not. Besides I’m not scared of them like you are, Mr. Snoops.” 

That’s four out of five names I knew now, and I found myself admiring this kid for her bravery. Frowning, the man called Snoops told her, “Now don’t you sass me. Boys, take this naughty little girl to her room.”
“I can go by myself thank you.” With that final word, Penny headed up some stairs.

Shaking his head and muttering something about kids, Snoops turned the stranger. “Why don’t you make yourself comfortable while I let Medusa know the girl’s been brought back?” With that, he left the room to head to somewhere else. 

Looking at Kairi, I noticed she was looking at the cloaked figure with disdain on her face. “What is it?”

“That cloak. It’s just like the ones Organization XIII wore.” She said. 

“Organization XIII? What’s that?” 

“They were a group of people who made so much trouble for Sora and the rest of us. At first, we thought they were made up of Nobodies, but it turned out that wasn’t the case.”
Blinking, I asked, “Nobodies? That’s a strange thing to call troublemakers.”

“Not that kind of nobody.” My words made Kairi smile a little. “Nobodies are what we call people who don’t have hearts. They’re individuals who had their hearts stolen by the Heartless. Sometimes when a Heartless is created from a strong heart the body that’s left behind begins to act on its own, but because a Nobody doesn’t have a heart they eventually fade back into darkness. The only way to undo it is to destroy both the Heartless and the Nobody.” 

Her words made me shudder, but I couldn’t dwell on it because we had to duck back under the furniture. Brutus and Nero were headed our way, and I was afraid they might’ve spotted us. I was so relieved when they continued to patrol the room, indicating they didn’t notice us.

That’s when I felt a vibration in my pocket. Raising an eyebrow, I pulled out my holoscreen to find I was getting a call. A call? But… that means… pushing the answer button, I couldn’t help but feel tears swell up as I saw several familiar faces on my screen. However, they all jumped when they saw me. “Gri’s beak! What did you do with Clair?”

“I am Clair.” Okay, that lack of recognition took away some of the joy I just felt. 

Looking at me from where she was, Eini asked, “Why aren’t you human?”

“Well, apparently Kairi and I can’t be seen as humans here,” I answered before I gasped. Why did I tell them about Kairi? It’s not like I didn’t trust them, but what if the person in the cloak heard? If they were one of the Organization then hearing Kairi’s name might not be good.

“Who’s Kairi?” Grace asked from where she was.

“She’s a friend, but now’s not a good time.” Looking behind me to make sure the alligators weren’t coming back, I explained, “There are these large reptiles in this room, and I don’t want them to hear where we are.”
“What kind of reptiles?” Braxton asked. 

“They’re called alligators. Think an enlarged mutreag lizard with an armored back and that’s an alligator.”

“How big?”

“I don’t know. Maybe fifteen feet. Point is, at this size they could eat us with no resistance, and being digested is not an end I would like to have.” 

Johri then spoke up. “Well, don’t worry. Now that we have a means of communicating, we can relay information to get you and Jason back to Harthyn.” 

“That might not be the best idea,” I warned her while turning to see Snoops enter the room. “There’s this person in a black cloak here, and they sound familiar. I… I think it might be someone from the space station.”

That got Braxton’s attention. “Someone from the station? Who? How?”

“I don’t know. If you want to know, check to see if anyone is missing from there right now. I’ll see if I can get a look at their face.” 

Nodding, Braxton said, “Understood. We’ll let you know what we find out.” With that, the call was ended and I looked at Kairi with concern. I didn’t want to believe my words, but that’s how the voice was familiar. It was someone who was selected for Yeller’s space program, and if I was right that would mean there was a traitor in space.

At that moment from outside came the sounds of something crashing against the wood, followed by some bangs that caused a cloud of black smoke to rise through the cracks in the door. They were soon forced open by an ugly woman in a black raincoat and hat, with what looked like a red dress on underneath. “Where is she? Where is she?” She asked, acting like she didn’t notice the cloaked figure at all. 

Stuttering, Snoops answered with an attempt at confidence, “I sent her up to her room.” 

“Why did you let her escape? What is your alibi this time, nitwit?” She asked while throwing her coat to the side and sitting down on the couch. I couldn’t believe how oblivious she was to the fact that she wasn’t alone. 

As he began to pull off her boots, Snoops began to give his excuse. “Gosh, don’t blame me Medusa. Those leather-headed lizards of yours are supposed to be patrolling the island. They let her get away.” 

“And I had to bring her back after they lost her when they were attacked in the bayou.” The cloaked figure finally told Medusa that she and Snoops were not alone on the boat. I swear she nearly jumped out of her skin upon realizing that.

“Who are you? How did you get here? Why didn’t tell me we had an intruder, Snoops?” Medusa asked as she swung a cane she carried at the man’s head. Ducking from the swing, the man began stuttering out a series of reasons before Medusa growled, “Oh, shut up.” Turning to the cloaked figure, she asked, “What do you mean, attacked?”
“Someone has arrived in Devil’s Bayou who will pose a threat to your plans.” The figure said while giving us the name of this place at the same time. “Judging from the wounds on Brutus, I’d say he’d be the size of a mouse or a rat. Do not treat that lightly. Mortem is more dangerous than you can realize.”
Kairi and I looked at each other upon hearing that name. Mortem was here? And he was small? Why? What purpose did he have for coming here? This didn’t seem like the place to find one of the Seven Hearts of Light, unless he knew Kairi and I were coming here. That thought chilled me to my bones. 

Looking at the wounds on Brutus, Medusa cuddled him. “My precious pets. Don’t you worry. Madame Medusa will make sure that nasty pest won’t hurt you again.” Turning to the figure, she growled, “I warn you. If you have come for the Devil’s Eye, then you’ll be making sure Brutus and Nero get their dinner tonight.” I shuddered when I saw the alligators lick their chops at that. 

Shaking its head, the figure said, “Relax. I have no interest in your oversized rock. What I want is something else. Tell me, in the records that led you to learn about the Devil’s Eye did any of them mention strange things that make no sense? Like giant keys or special swords?” 

“Keys? Swords? No, not that I can–” Snoops began to answer before getting whacked on the head by Medusa. 

“That is none of your business.” The woman told her. Getting to her feet, she added, “I appreciate your bringing back the girl, but the Devil’s Eye will be mine. Eh, ours. No one, and I mean no one, will take it away from us.”

With a shrug, the figure got up. “No matter. I got the answer I was looking for.” As they spoke, a corridor of darkness appeared behind them. They moved to step inside, but paused to look back at Medusa, “Just so you know, I did leave behind presents to keep Mortem or anyone else from interfering with your treasure hunt. They won’t harm you unless you let your greed for the Devil’s Eye get the better of you. As long as you keep your desires in check you’ll find the Heartless to be loyal servants.”

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