Flannery: Sorry ppl of EARTH!
Haruhi: We got kinda caught up in school, but now we're out and have time to work on this
Flannery: YAY! Let it BEGIN! LET - IT - BEGIN!
Haruhi: Dude... Chill
Flannery: *starts eating chocolate covered raisins*
The Beauty in Beast's Castle
Phalanx looked out a window near her seat. They were heading towards a new World, which once again, she new nothing about. She sighed and sat back, strangely there weren't too many Space Heartless right then. At that time, that one childish question came to her, "Are we there yet?"
"Almost," Donald replied from the ship's control.
Sora chuckled; he had probably asked that question a few times before too.
Phalanx looked out the window near her seat again. She could see the World. It was some sort of castle.
"Hold on, we're about to land!" Donald said before Phalanx felt the ship descending.
--
Everyone looked around at the palace they were in. "Wow, it's huge in here!" Sora exclaimed.
Goofy looked around worriedly, "It's sorta gloomy, don't ya think?"
A loud roar rang out through the castle making the group jump. They all began looking at the direction it sounded like it came from. "Hey, does anybody else recognize that?" Goofy asked breaking the silence.
Sora crossed his arms and began thinking.
Phalanx looked up at him as if he were insane. She would probably never forget a noise like that.
Another growl echoed through the rooms.
Sora grinned widely. "Hey! That's the Beast!" He said excitedly.
Donald nodded his head in agreement, "Yeah."
"How 'bout we see how he's doin'?" Goofy offered.
"Look!" Sora shouted suddenly. Everyone turned to see a Heartless shadow rush into a nearby room.
Donald growled, "C'mon!"
The rest of the group followed him into the room the Heartless went into. Before they rushed in the door Donald looked around the corner. "Where did it go?" He wondered. He straightened up when he saw something at the far side of the room. Phalanx saw it too. A rose in a glass case. Donald headed over to it.
A rose? She thought.
Donald was about to reach up and grab it but a Heartless jumped up in front of him. "Found it." Donald said uncoordinatedly.
A few popped up around Sora and he quickly summoned the Keyblade. They started showing up around the room, driving everyone to the center. They all looked around worriedly thinking any of the Heartless could attack or show up in the middle of them.
The doors to the room suddenly burst open. Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked over at who or what came in. Smiles immediately came to their faces. Phalanx turned to see what was there. Like its name said, it was a beast. It had horns, fangs, and claws. It was at least eight feet tall and had a purple cloak around its neck. It roared and sliced all the Heartless in half. It began walking towards the group.
"Just in time!" Sora said enthusiastically.
It ignored him and knocked him to the side of the room with its arm, continuing to make it past the group towards the rose.
Phalanx, Donald, and Goofy all stared at it, wondering why it had just hit Sora. As it walked past them it knocked them over too. The beast picked up the glass case with the rose in it and inspected it to see if it was damaged.
Sora managed to sit up and watch the beast leave; everyone did. They all walked over to the door and stared after the beast. Phalanx could tell this wasn't his normal behavior. What was going on?
Donald rubbed his cheek, which was probably where he got hit.
"Gee, to ya think he maybe forgot where we are?" Goofy asked.
"With so many Heartless something's probably up." Sora thought.
"Why'd he have to do that?" Donald growled.
Phalanx began thinking of Organization XIII. They were probably behind all of this. But what could the Organization be doing? If Beast was Sora's friend, why would he be acting like this?
They all walked out and began wandering the halls. They made it up a stairwell in the main hall and turned to the right. As the group went by a door they heard a woman talking. "Oh, what am I going to do?" She asked someone. Sora stood to the left of the door and pointed at it. Donald nodded. He took a few steps back. "Okay." He said defiantly. He charged forward.
"Donald!" Sora shouted.
Donald burst through the door and landed hard on the floor.
Phalanx giggled. "I guess the door wasn't locked." She noted.
Donald growled and looked up. "Hey! Who opened the door?" He asked.
A woman was standing there. She had a blue dress with white sleeves and with what looked like a white apron. She had brown hair and a blue bow in it. "Oh, I'm so happy you're here!" She exclaimed. She picked up Donald and gave him a big hug. She looked up a bit. "Sora! Goofy!"
Donald was squirming and telling her to put him down.
Sora and Goofy waved. "Hiya!"
"Put me down! Put me down!" Donald shouted.
The woman laughed and put Donald back on the ground.
"Didn't you say you needed some help?" Sora asked.
The woman nodded, "Yes. Beast, he's been acting very strange lately. He locked everyone in the castle dungeon!"
"He what?!" Everyone but Phalanx yelled simultaneously.
"Yes, that's why I need your help." The woman said worriedly. "I need you to go down there and get them out."
Sora nodded, "Sure thing." He turned to the rest of the group. "You guys ready?" He asked.
All three nodded.
"Thank you so much." The woman sighed, she seemed more relieved.
As Sora, Donald, and Goofy started searching through the castle to find the dungeon, Phalanx faded into some shadows near the stairs. She needed to do some research. One of her questions needed to be answered. Which Organization member was sent to this World?
Phalanx went and scanned all of the rooms in the castle. She stopped when she heard voices coming from the furthest room to the left in the west wing.
A familiar voice was talking.
Phalanx put her ear against the door to hear what it was saying better.
"It's about time we talked about Belle." It said. "You need to get rid of her, she's planning to take you down. She's no good."
Phalanx clenched her fists and swung open the door. She pointed at the hooded figure in the corner of the room. "Xaldin, leave him alone!" She shouted.
Beast spun around to stare directly at Phalanx. He quickly glanced from her to Xaldin, then back.
Xaldin could be seen smiling under his hood. "So look who we have here." He said. "I was wondering if I would see you again."
XXXXXXX
The Heartless that came off of the iron door faded to darkness.
Sora looked around. "Hey, what happened to Phalanx?" He asked Donald and Goofy.
They both exchanged glances and then shrugged.
Donald thought for a moment. "Maybe she got lost in the castle." He said finally.
Sora sighed. Two people weren't enough to find? "At least she's somewhere in the castle so it shouldn't be too hard to find her." He muttered, trying to be positive.
Sora opened the door that led to the last room of the dungeon. Donald and Goofy followed him in and looked around. "There's no one here to rescue!" Donald complained.
"Did somebody say e'rescue?" Someone asked.
Sora jumped back and quickly took a closer look around the room. There were three chairs. One had an old clock on it, the next had a candelabra, and the last had a teapot and a teacup.
"Who said that?" Sora demanded.
The candelabra waved one of its candles and said, "Of course I did monsieur." It then took a deep bow.
XXXXXXX
Phalanx found herself trapped in a ballroom. She had to dodge all of Xaldin's attacks and when she finally found a time to strike she was in the room and got locked in. Belle also got trapped. They were both probably going to be used as bait to get Sora and the Beast here.
Phalanx sighed and leaned against one of the columns in the ballroom.
Belle looked around worriedly. "What are we going to do?" She asked.
Phalanx shrugged. An I idea came to her just then. She quickly raised her right hand in attempts to open a Corridor of Darkness. The darkness swirled around as if it wanted to form a gateway but dispersed before if could blend together. Phalanx hadn't been able to open a Corridor since she tagged along with Sora's group. She sighed. "Too much light." She mumbled.
A loud roar rumbled from outside the room. Belle quickly looked over at the entrance to the ballroom. "Beast we're in here! Help!" She shouted.
Phalanx straightened up. The doorknob started rattling and the door opened as if planned. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the Beast ran in. Sora had a confused look on his face, he probably expected danger but no enemy was in sight. His eyes quickly flew to the center of the room. Darkness started oozing out of the middle of the floor. Beast growled. "Belle, get out of here!" he demanded.
Belle quickly nodded and ran out the other side of the ballroom which led outside to the garden.
The Darkness spread across the ground and started covering all of the columns and windows. Once everything was colored black a round Heartless came out of the ground. It had spikes and was covered in chains. They all looked up at it. What kind of new enemy was this?
It dived into the floor. Quickly, everyone started looking around. The columns around the room picked themselves up and dragged themselves across the room from their positions. The bottoms were turned into spikes. "It can control things?" Phalanx asked worriedly.
Sora glanced from each of the poles to the next. He suddenly charged at one and swung his Keyblade at it. The Heartless shrieked and came out of the pole. Goofy quickly threw his shield at it as Donald used a Fire Spell. Sora grinned and swung his Keyblade at it. Phalanx clapped her hands and placed them on the ground. She made the tile beneath the Darkness send a shockwave through the ground and hit the Heartless with a pillar of rock. It growled and stabbed one of its spikes into the ground in front of everyone knocking them back. Beast jumped over them and cut the Heartless with his claws. He then helped Sora and the group to their feet. "Are you okay?" Beast asked.
Sora nodded, "C'mon we have some trouble to take care of."
The five of them all looked up at the Heartless floating in front of them. Sora charged forward and hit it with the Keyblade. Donald used a Blizzard Spell and Goofy tossed his shield. Phalanx transmuted a sword as a weapon while Beast leapt up and slashed the Heartless with his claws. Phalanx ran forward and stabbed straight through the Heartless with her sword. It shrieked in pain as it started melting into the Darkness surrounding the room. Sora grinned. "We did it!" He cheered.
Him and Donald high-fived each other. Phalanx looked around suspiciously. "Something's not right!" She said quickly.
"Huh?" Goofy just noticed they were still surrounded in Darkness.
Beast turned to the center of the room. "Look." He growled.
A giant hole opened up and a huge claw came out. Phalanx quickly ran over to it. The Heartless' head came out next; it had turned into a huge monster with fangs. "W-whoa," Phalanx stuttered stumbling backwards. The Heartless jumped the rest of the way out of the hole. Phalanx was about to run back to the group before the Heartless grabbed her. She began struggling. "Put me down!" She shouted. She couldn't move her arms so the sword was useless.
Sora and the rest of the group quickly ran over. He hit the Heartless with the Keyblade but it only tightened its grip around Phalanx. "Get me down!" She whined.
"How?!" Donald asked.
They all got hit back by the Heartless then it completely vanished, Phalanx with it. She dropped her sword which made a loud clanging noise when it hit the ground. Goofy looked around. "Gawrsh where d'you think it went?" He wondered.
Donald quickly scanned the ballroom. "Look!" He said suddenly. He pointed his staff at a warped area of the air a few yards away. It jumped upward and the chandelier started shaking as if something landed on it. "Everyone, move!" Beast shouted knocking everyone backwards. The chandelier crashed into the ground barely missing the four. Sora smirked and jumped on top of it. He swung his Keyblade as hard as he could to knock the Heartless off the chandelier. It barely held onto the side from what it looked like. Sora quickly grabbed the chain the chandelier was attached to and pulled it while pushing the lamp with his feet. "Stand back!" he told his friends. They all quickly ran behind the poles without question as Sora managed to make the chandelier start to spin counterclockwise. The Heartless moaned as it hit into each of the poles around the ballroom. It immediately became visible again. Sora reached out and grabbed Phalanx's arm pulling her free. Her knees were pretty wobbly so he helped to support her.
The chandelier started slowing down. Sora grabbed Phalanx and jumped down, the chandelier lifted itself back towards the ceiling. Beast, Donald, and Goofy all ran forward and struck the Heartless. Sora dashed forward and slashed through the Heartless' chest with one swipe of the Keyblade. It roared in pain and started fading into Darkness. All around the room the Darkness disappeared. Everyone looked around.
"It's really gone this time?" Phalanx asked.
Donald nodded. "Yeah, and let's hope it doesn't come back."
"We did it!" Sora cheered.
"So you think." Someone grunted.
They all spun around. "Xaldin!" Beast and Phalanx yelled simultaneously. They all ran forward. "Farwell." Xaldin said before leaving through a Corridor of Darkness.
"What does he wanted here." Beast growled.
"He's with Organization XIII." Phalanx explained. "Ever heard of the Nobodies?"
Sora nodded and continued for her, "You see. When a strong-hearted person turns into a Heartless a Nobody is created too. The Organization has control over the Nobodies."
"They wanted to make you into a Heartless." Goofy said, "So they could have control over your Nobody."
Phalanx looked over at him. He's not too goofy after all. She thought.
Belle ran in just then. "You're all okay!" She exclaimed beginning running over.
"Belle!" Beast said in a surprised tone. He quickly ran the rest of the way over. A living teapot, teacup, clock, and candelabra walked over making Phalanx jump back.
Beast took on a guilty expression. "Belle. I-I'm sorry-I wasn't myself." He apologized. "I hope I haven't hurt you in any way."
Belle smiled and shrugged.
"Forgive me." Beast begged.
"I know you weren't yourself. You don't have to apologize." She told him. She planted one of her fists on her hip and shook her finger at Beast. "But I had hoped that you might have changed a little bit." She scolded.
Beast took a step back as if she was his mom and she caught him doing something bad.
"I wish you could start trusting me." Belle said crossing her arms and looking away. Beast looked down sadly.
"Oh, I am afraid time is running short." The candelabra said worriedly.
"What it can talk too?" Phalanx muttered to herself.
"What do you mean?" Sora asked.
"Remember the rose?" The candelabra quizzed.
"From the Beast's room?" Donald thought aloud.
The clock pointed over at Donald. "Precisely. If the master can learn to love, and earn love in return, before the last petal falls-"
The candelabra interrupted him, "The spell will be broken."
Sora looked over at Belle and the Beast quickly. "Really. Do you think he's going to make it?"
The teapot nodded. "We think so." She said, leaning towards the teacup.
Goofy smiled. "Yup! I think you're right!"
"I hope you're right." Sora shrugged.
Phalanx elbowed him in the arm. "C'mon, have some hope!" She told him.
The Keyblade summoned itself just then. Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked at it in shock. Nothing in the room had shot off the Keyhole that time. Sora looked around a few seconds and held the Keyblade in position. The Keyhole suddenly appeared in the room from nowhere as Sora locked it.
Beast and Belle walked over. "What happened?" He asked.
Donald pointed upward. "The gate is open!" He said in triumph.
"Do you have to go?" Belle asked.
Sora nodded, "Yeah."
Goofy looked at the two of them. "Now, no mare arguin', okay?" He asked.
Beast looked at Belle and sighed nervously.
The candelabra grinned. "We'll see to it." He said taking a bow.
"Take care, dears." The teapot said.
The clock nodded. "You're welcome here any time." He offered.
Sora nodded. "If you hear anything about Riku or the King, the Heartless, the Organization-anything at all-let us know!" He told them all.
Beast and Belle nodded.
Sora, Donald and Goofy all waved. "Bye!"
The four all turned around to leave and headed out of the ballroom. As they were going down the stairs Phalanx asked Sora a question. "Sora, why do you want to know about Riku or the King? I've heard of the King-but not Riku. Who is he?"
Sora sighed. "For a while now Donald, Goofy, and I have been looking for the King and Riku. The last time we say them they got trapped in the Realm of Darkness. Riku was my best friend."
Phalanx nodded. "I hope we'll find them."
Sora quickly glanced down at her. "'We?'" He asked.
"You're going to stay with us?" Donald asked.
Phalanx smiled nervously "If you don't mind."
"Not at all." Goofy said.
"Welcome to the team!" The three exclaimed.
Flannery: *still eating chocolate covered raisins*
Haruhi: Ummmm How many have you had?!
Flannery: I dunno, I lost track after 7,293,454
Haruhi: Uhhh Sure… Please stay tuned for the next chapter.