Chapter 4
"Where are we going now?" Jen asked.
"To our home!" Donald said excitedly. Just then a world came into sight: Disney Castle.
"There it is!" Goofy said.
They docked the gummi ship in the Gummi Hangar and got out of the ship.
"This is your castle...must be nice to be home, huh?...Well." Sora said looking around.
"Ya know, somethin' just don't feel quite right." Goofy said.
"Yeah." Donald added. Suddenly Chip and Dale showed up. They seemed to be panicking about something.
"You're back!"
"Move it! Let's go!"
"Queen Minnie needs to see you!"
"The castle's in danger! Hurry! To the library!"
That got them moving alright. They walked through the castle halls fighting off loads of heartless. Sora seemed annoyed by the amount of heartless, but Jen wasn't. She had always loved to fight. So she was enjoying herself quite a bit. After a while they arrived at the library. Queen Minnie was there waiting for them.
"Your Majesty! Queen Minnie! We're back!" Donald exclaimed.
"You're here!" Queen Minnie said. Jen blocked out the rest of the conversation. She'd already heard it once. That was enough for her. Instead she looked around the room. It was, with lack of a better word, weird. And there were walking broomsticks! Jen mentally grinned. She'd always loved those things.
"Jen!" Jen raised her head.
"Hmm?"
"You're coming with me and the Queen." Sora said. Jen nodded.
"Let's go!" Donald said and he and Goofy left the room.
"Um, the audience chamber, right, ma'am?" Sora asked rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
"Yes, Sora. Let's be on our way." The Queen answered. Then the three of them left the room as well. There were a lot of heartless in the colonnade, but they fought their way through it. Jen went ahead and demolished every heartless in her way, while Sora slowly walked after her and protected the Queen while killing the heartless that remained. When they reached the door, the Queen lifted her hand and removed the spell she put on the door. A small door opened in the bigger one and they walked through it. The audience chamber was empty. At least, they thought it was. Until a horde of Bolt Tower heartless floated down from the ceiling.
"Not here, too!" Queen Minnie said.
"I got 'em." Sora said as he got into his fighting stance. Jen soon followed him. They soon decided to run through them instead of fighting them. There were just too many of them. When they reached the throne, the Queen pressed a button underneath it. The throne suddenly began to move and an extremely white light appeared from underneath it. Jen closed her eyes and held her arms in front of her face to shield her eyes from the light. When it disappeared the heartless were also gone. Underneath the throne was a set of stairs and they walked down them.
"The room below is called the 'Hall of the Cornerstone'. Our castle has always been safe from worlds that are evil…thanks to the Cornerstone of Light which we keep down there." The Queen explained.
"The Cornerstone…of light?"
They arrived at the Hall of the Cornerstone. A ball of swirling light was standing in the middle. But the room was covered in thorns.
"This is the castle's cherished Cornerstone. But look. The thorns…They must be the work of someone very evil. I wonder what this could mean…"
Suddenly a burst of green flames appeared along with an image of a woman.
"Maleficent!" Donald yelled.
"No way!" Sora exclaimed. Jen felt a wave of pure hatred come over her as she clenched her fists.
"Well, well, well. What have we here…? If it isn't the wretched keyblade holder and his pitiful lackeys!"
"Hey!" Donald, Goofy and Jen said.
"We're not his lackeys!" Donald exclaimed.
"It's not like I'm here out of free will, either." Jen said. Maleficent turned to her.
"And who might you be?"
"None of your business!" Jen answered coldly feeling her anger rise even more.
"An Organization member? Just when I thought the Keyblade bearer could sink no lower…"
"She's not an Organization member!" Sora started, but Jen put her hand over his mouth.
"She doesn't need to know who I am." Sora looked at her with confusion, but nodded. Jen removed her hand.
"Just what are you doing here, Maleficent?"
"I'm here on a property venture. I want this castle for my own. However, it's a bit too 'bright' for what I have in mind. I suppose I'll just have to fill every room with my personal touch of darkness."
"You'd better stop right now if you know what's good for you!" Queen Minnie said.
"Ooh, how frightening. Very well. I'll stop... Just as soon as the castle belongs to me!" Maleficent said. Then she suddenly vanished while laughing evilly. Jen could feel the tension disappearing immediately.
"What a hag." Sora said as he folded his hands behind his head.
"We should ask Merlin about this." Jen said.
"Yeah! That's a great idea!" Sora exclaimed.
"We saw him in Hollow Bastion, right?" Goofy asked.
"Yeah, let's go!" Sora said.
"I'll stay here." Jen said as she positioned herself against the wall.
"Why? We could be gone for ages!" Jen shook her head.
"You won't be gone for long."
"How do you know?" Donald asked suspiciously.
"I'll tell you later."
"If you're sure…" Sora said.
"Positive."
"All right then. Let's get goin'." Sora said as they ran out the door.
Jen closed her eyes and crossed her arms as she leaned against the wall. Queen Minnie started pacing through the room. They didn't say anything to each other for a while.
"Do you miss him?" Jen asked abruptly. Queen Minnie stopped pacing and looked at her, but Jen still had her eyes shut.
"Hmm?"
"King Mickey, I mean."
"Well of course I do." She answered.
"But…why? He's coming back right?"
"That's what he said." Jen nodded slowly as if trying to understand something.
"It's only natural to miss someone dear to you when they're away." Queen Minnie added.
"Maybe…" Jen said.
"Do you miss him?" Queen Minnie asked. Jen's eyes snapped open. She somehow knew they weren't talking about King Mickey anymore.
"No!" She said stubbornly and glared at the Queen.
"I see." Suddenly a group of people appeared in the room. It were Sora, Donald, Goofy and Merlin. Donald was still explaining stuff to Merlin and didn't appear to notice his surroundings.
"Perhaps it's better if I see for myself." Merlin said.
"You remember Jen, right Merlin?" Sora said as he pointed at me.
"Jen? Ah, of course. How have you been?"
"Fabulous." Jen muttered.
"Good. Good." Merlin said apparently not noticing her sarcasm. "And how's that mind-read thing doing?"
"It's gone."
"Gone? But how can that be?" Merlin asked. Jen shrugged. Even though she knew the answer, she wasn't about to tell them anytime soon. Maybe after all this was over. If they'd still be talking to her by then, of course.
"Well, no matter. Let's see to these thorns." Merlin said and walked over to the Cornerstone. "Mm-hmm… interesting."
"What's happening, Merlin?" Queen Minnie asked.
"This is not good. In fact, I'm afraid it's quite serious." Merlin waved his hands around and with a flash a door appeared.
"What's that?" Sora asked.
"My boy, that's a gateway to a special world. Someone in that world is responsible for what's going on in this castle. Of that, I'm certain."
"Oh boy!" Donald exclaimed.
"Then we should go get him." Sora said as he walked over to the door.
"Wait a moment!" Merlin said. "The perpetrators must be stopped, of course. But there's something else to do first. Somewhere in that world, there should be another door that's identical to this one. I believe our enemies are utilizing that door. As long as it remains open, the castle will be in grave danger. Listen carefully, Sora. You must find that door. And when you do…lock it with your Keyblade."
"Got it!"
"You can count on us!" Donald said.
"Now one more thing. You're heading into a very special world. While you're there, the nature of that world may tempt you to do something dark. You must resist that temptation at all costs!"
"What do you mean?" Sora asked.
"You'll know soon enough. I have faith in you, my lads!" Sora nodded.
"You coming, Jen?" Jen shook her head. "Why not?"
"It's an In-between world. It'd be easier for them to find me."
"Oh. Um…Why are they looking for you anyway?"
"That doesn't concern you."
"What's wrong, Jen? Why can't you tell us? What happened to you? You used to be so cheerful." Sora said. Jen opened her eyes and glared at him.
"It doesn't matter."
"It does to us. You know you can trust us, right? Does it have something to do with that girl? What's her name…? I think it was Ru--…" Sora was cut off because Jen had him pinned to door by his throat.
"Don't ever say that name in front of me again! Got it?" Jen hissed. Sora nodded weakly. Jen released him and brushed off his clothes. Then she leaned into his ear and whispered, "I'll tell you one thing: That…girl is the reason I am what I am today." Then she stood up straight. "Sorry about that. Now go. I'll stay and protect the Queen and Merlin, m'kay?"
Sora shrugged, still a bit shaken up. "If you insist. Let's go, Donald, Goofy." He said and opened the door. They waved goodbye and walked through it. As they disappeared Jen turned to Queen Minnie and Merlin.
"I'm just gonna kill some heartless in the other room. I'll be back later." She said and walked to the door.
"I'd like to have a word with you later, dear, if you don't mind." Merlin said.
"Whatever." Jen said and shrugged.
Jen walked through the door and into the throne room. But as she walked to the middle of the room she found that there were no heartless to kill. Jen sighed and sat down. Nothing was going the way she wanted it. Why couldn't she just find the person she wanted to find and then be out of here for good?
Suddenly she heard footsteps behind her. But she didn't move. She knew who it was.
"Hiya, Jenny."
"It's Jen."
"Right, of course." He said sarcastically and sat down next to her.
"How did you find me?"
"We knew you were with Sora. And you know that kid ain't too hard to find."
"Right. What do you want with me?"
"Right now I just want to ask you some questions."
"You know I can't tell you anything, Dem."
"I know…it's just…The Superior wants you to come back to our Headquarters, but we didn't even know that you were there in the first place... I wanna know how you know us..."
Jen sighed. "It's not that simple…"
Demyx stood up. "Why not?" At that exact moment a black portal appeared and another Organization member stepped out. This time Jen stood up and grabbed her sword from her back.
"You are needed back at headquarters, Demyx. The girl will be taken care of later." The guy said.
Demyx looked at Jen and then back at the other Organization member. "Fine." He said and walked to the portal. He looked back at Jen and said, "See ya." Then he disappeared. The other guy stared at her for another minute.
"We will find out what you're hiding. Count on it." He said before disappearing as well. Jen sighed and put her sword back. 'Great.'
"Well, she sure isn't what I expected her to be." Queen Minnie said.
"Oh, she was hardly a coldhearted girl when I first met her. Quite the contrary, actually. Fiery temper, that girl. Caused me quite some trouble."
"I wonder what could have happened to her."
"It's a long story, actually, and way too boring to tell." Jen said. Queen Minnie and Merlin looked up.
"Back already, dear?" Merlin asked. Jen frowned at the nickname, but answered anyway.
"Your little light show from earlier drove all the heartless away."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Queen Minnie said. Jen shrugged.
"There was something you wanted to talk about, right?" Jen asked Merlin.
"Yes, actually." Merlin said as he walked closer towards Jen. "Can you lower your hood for me?" Jen froze. He was on to her, wasn't he?
"I'm afraid I can't do that…" She said. Suddenly Merlin removed his hands from his pockets and stretched them out towards Jen. This sent Jen flying into the wall. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Merlin?" Jen yelled.
"I'm sorry, Jen, but it's the only way. Now, I want you to answer this question truthfully:"
"Let me down!"
"Are you, or are you not," Jen's eyes widened. "A Nobody."