The Songs in Our Hearts Book One: Reaching Out

Chapter Twenty-One: Trickery in the Shadows

As it turns out, the forest was filled with Heartless. Sora, Coda, Donald, and Goofy had fought their way through with enough ease however. The brunette had learned that Coda was another magic user who casts spells by playing music. He also explained to the violinist that the Heartless were a threat to be reckoned with, and that it was important that they defeat them. Coda gladly helped them deal with the Heartless as they searched.

Finding the first three bits of evidence was easy, just as the Cheshire Cat had told them. The first piece of evidence were some large footprints that resembled jester shoes. The next one was a broken antennae on a lilypad. And the third was in the Bizarre Room, but the group had to take a special entrance to get there. They hadn't noticed it before when they were in the room earlier, but there was a strange, gasoline-like smell. It was as if something was using gas to try to burn something else.

"Well," Sora started to say, crossing his arms. Jiminy sat on his shoulder, writing down everything he could about the evidence they just found. "I guess those were the three easy ones," he muttered, letting his sky blue eyes wander around the room.

"The Cheshire Cat wasn't lying about the fourth clue then," Goofy added, scratching his head. As Sora looked at his surroundings, he noticed how distracted Coda seemed to be at the moment. The older boy kept moving around anxiously.

Walking up to him, Sora asked, "Are you worried about Alice?" Coda turned to him.

"Of course," Coda answered, moving his gaze away for a moment. "That trial is biased towards the Queen, and Alice is in danger if these clues we've been finding don't help," he elaborated, playing with his sleeve with the other hand.

"Yeah, you're right," Sora murmured.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you," the other boy quickly apologized, reaching out to him.

Sora smiled at Coda. "It's fine. We'll just break her out if it doesn't work!" he laughed, making the others giggle as well. As the fourteen-year-old stared up at the taller boy, he noticed something on a shelf. The pink paint had been disturbed, and the wood looked damaged. "Hey guys, is that it?" he directed them to the strange mark on the shelf across the room.

"It must be!" Donald beamed. "But, uh, how do we get there?" the duck asked. Sora looked down at the floor. They could easily make their way over by running across, but then there was the matter of climbing up.

"Um, I think I might have a solution," Coda broke in. He was holding his violin.

"Do ya really?" Goofy asked, putting his hands together in excitement.

The violinist turned to Sora and began to explain, "I have a spell that can transport a target to a place as long as I can picture it." Sora's eyes widened in amazement.

"You can really do that?" he gawked, excited to see the spell in action.

"It might take a few tries to get you there, but I think I can do it," Coda admitted, clutching his bow. The sixteen-year-old took a deep breath. "Just, stay still, and I'll try my best," he instructed. Sora nodded and turned to face the shelf.

A song began to play on the stringed instrument. He could see a dark, blue light shining behind him. It grew brighter and brighter until the boy was engulfed by it. Sora shut his eyes tight. Some how, he was moving fast through the air— as if he was flying, but he could not see anything past the bright light.

After a few seconds, his feet touched solid ground. The blue light that surrounded him was quickly fading away. Cracking one eye open, Sora saw that he was on that pink, wooden shelf now. It worked. Coda's spell actually sent him across the room.