Disclaimer: Check Chapter 1, with one little addition. Dumbledore, and any further Harry Potter characters I may or may not use, belong to J.K. Rowling, not me. Capiche?
Beast's Castle, one of my favorite worlds. Even though it had been really dark on my old set, it wasn't so bad here. Infinity transported us down near the front doors, ans with Sora's help, I heaved them open. The hallway inside was dimly lit, making it very dreary.
"Hey, what is this place?" Doanld looked up at cieling, falling over as he couldn't stretch his neck far enough.
"It's huge!" Goofy's grip tightened on his shield.
"And kinda spooky too, don't ya think?" Sora nodded, looking this way and that.
"I wonder who lives here." We all covered our ears as a loud roar rang throughout the hall. Once the ringing in our ears had cleared, I tilted my head.
"Is it just me, or was that really familiar?" Sora nodded as another roar was heard, and he snapped his fingers.
"That's the Beast!" Donald and Goofy nodded, jumping as Sora pointed to something on the ground. I whirled on my heel, daggers drawn as we ran after the Shadow heading into the Parlor. Donald headed in first, peeking in around the door. We all headed down the few stairs in the room, and Donald headed for the corner, where Beast's Rose rested on a table.
"Where did it go?" He caught sight of the Rose, and as if in a trance, headed straight for it. The Shadow popped out of the ground, scaring the poor duck out of his wits and snapping him from his trance.
"Found it!" Another pair of Shadow's popped up behind Sora and I, making us jump and summon our weapons. We were forced onto the carpet in the center of the room as the Shadow's danced around us. But no matter what we did, they just kept coming. My blades and hands were covered in the black blood they left behind, and I could sense Donald's Mana running dry. Goofy and Sora had knocked many a Shadow away from the Mage as he tried to down an Ether, but they were too fast. We backed onto the center of the carpet again, backs against one another. Sora's sides were heaving, and he rubbed his eyes.
"Aw c'mon! Enough already!" Clutching his staff, Donald cried out.
"Somebody help us!" As if on cue, the Parlor doors slammed against the wall as they were forced open. Scowling fiercely, Beast walked into the room. Hope seemed to flood our little group as the man in front of us cleared the remaining Heartless away, but my heart sunk as I saw the look in his eyes. He wasn't here to bail us out of trouble like he'd done in the Ruins of Hollow Bastion, not this time.
He was here for the Rose, and the Rose alone. Sora didn't realize this, and stood up straight with a smile on his face.
"Just in time!" The rest of his sentence was cut off by a cry of surprise, as Beast's toss threw him into the wall. Donald and Goofy were thrown to the opposite side of the room, and I was launched near the stairs with a cry. Beast walked over to the Rose, picking it and it's case up gently, like a mother would her child. He turned away from the cornet table, stalking out of the room as I picked myself off the ground. Sora, Donald and Goofy joined me in the center of the room once more, and Donald was rubbing a large bruise on the side of his head. Goofy frowned.
"Gee, do ya think he could have forgotten us?" Sora shrugged, but crossed his arms over his chest.
"With this many Heartless around, something has to be going on. We'd better go check it out." I nodded, letting Sora lead the way from the room. Donald took up the rear, and I heard him mumble to himself.
"Why'd he have to do that?" Smothering my giggle behind my hand, I nearly crashed into Sora. The boy was staring at the wide staircase, brow furrowed.
"What's wrong Sora?" He blinked, and tilted his head.
"I just know I saw a lady at the top of the stairs..." We all followed his gaze, and I nodded.
"If Beast is here, there's a good chance that lady was Belle." Sora smiled to me and nodded.
"Yeah, you're right. Belle must know what's gotten into the Beast, so we should ask her." He turned to Donald and Goofy, who nodded. As we entered the East Hall, I felt Griever roar out a warning, just in time to pull Sora back from getting his head cleaved off by a statue that had come to life. The boy yelped as I tugged him down, eyes wide as he stood in a hurry, summoning the Keyblade once more. Goofy and Donald charged at the creature, but Donald could do little to injure it. Bieng made of stone, no magic affected the statues, and becuase of that, our mage was forced from combat. The statues in the hall all fell to a mix of Sora's Keyblade, my Daggers and Goofy's shield. Donald pouted as we continued forward with the statues defeated. Approaching Belle's door, Sora and I scooted to one side as Goofy stood on the other. Putting one finger to his lips, Sora gestured to the door. Donald nodded, gearing for a charge to ram the doors down. I heard the lock click open, and Sora reached out to grab the duck as he charged into the opening doors. As he landed on his face, I winced in sympathy. He shook off the rough landing however, and raised his head.
"Hey! Who opened the door?" He looked up, yelping as Belle drew him into a relieved embrace.
"Oh, I'm so happy you're all here!" As Donald struggled in Belles arms, she looked over his head to us.
"Donald! Sora! Christie! Goofy!" The boys and I waved, and I had to clutch at Sora's shoulder to keep my balance as I held in my laughs at the way Donald was struggling.
"Put me down! Put me down!" Belle blinked, realizing she still held Donald in her arms. Apologizing, she set the dizzy duck down onto the ground, where he sat as we entered the room. After a moment, he recovered enough to stand on wobbly legs.
"Where's the Beast?" Belle looked away, crossing her arms.
"Oh, he must be in the West Wing. We don't talk like we used to anymore." Sora tilted his head.
"Did something happen?" Belle nodded, frowning in confusion.
"Yes. Isn't that why you're all here?" I shrugged as the boys looked to me, and turned to Belle.
"Not really. But since we're here, we can still help." Donald and Goofy nodded, the duck having finally recovered his balance.
"The Beast won't talk to you?" Belle nodded, walking over to he balcony door and throwing it open. The chilled night winds blew her thin curtains around, but I was grateful for the fresh air.
"He's been acting strange lately. The only ones who could know why are locked up the dungeons below. I want to help them, but..." Sora tilted his head, confused.
"Wait a minute. Who locked who up?"
"The Beast locked up his servants." Donald crossed his arms over his torso, tapping one foot.
"But why?"
"That's what I don't know." Sora "hmmed", putting one hand on his chin. He looked up after a minute.
"Where's this dungeon Belle?"
"You should be able to get into the Dungeon from the Undercroft in the West Hall. Just be careful, the Heartless are everywhere now." Sora nodded, giving her a thumbs up as we left the room, shutting the doors behind us. Despite Belle's warning, no Heartless stopped our passage into the West Hall, and we walked past rows of unmanned armor. Sora looked around the expansive, lit hallway.
"There should be a way into the Undercroft from here, right?" At Goofy's nod, Sora continued his search by beginning to push a wardrobe from the only doorway that was unblocked. He noticed the doorway a second after I did, and before I could stop him, he whooped in joy.
"Here it is!" He jumped backwards in shock as the Wardrobe came to life.
"Do you MIND?! I was TRYING to sleep!" We watched in shock and confusion as the wardrobe lifted herself up, walked the short distance back to her original position, and began to fall back asleep. When she started snoring, Sora began to push her again. With a little help from Donald and Goofy, we finally got her out of the doorway. She came awake once more.
"And I was just starting to get comfortable... May I help you young man?" Sora blinked, then nodded.
"Right. Belle needs us to go into the dungeon, to find the servants." The Wardrobe smiled.
"Goodness! You're here to help my friends? Well, why didn't you just say so?"
"Er...well...you kind of startled us before." The wardrobe smiled in apology.
"I'm sorry about that. You see, I used to be a human until the Enchantress cast her spell. I was turned into this wardobe while the Prince was transformed into a Beast." Donald and Goofy stepped back in shock, shouting in unison.
"The Prince is the Beast?!"
"The Beast is a Prince?!" Wardrobe nodded, frowning a bit.
"That's right. Although his behavior was far from Princely at the time." I tilted my head.
"What's this about a...spell?" Noding once more, Wardrobe launched into her story.
"Well, it was a cold winter's night, just a few days before Christmas." The boys nodded, wanting her to continue.
"And that's enough fot now. You can hear the rest once you've rescued the others. It'll give you something to look forward to." Donald pouted, but Sora smiled. As she moved away from the doorway to let us in, Wardrobe spoke up again.
"You'd best hurry. That dungeon is damp and chilly, certainly no place for a clock!" Sora quirked a brow.
"A...clock?" Wardrobe nodded, somehow herding us to the doorway.
"You'll find out soon enough dears, now hurry!" We nodded, and Sora and I pulled open the heavy door. Inside the Undercroft were lots of boxes and tarps. This must have been a storage area, if the Prince hadn't used the dungeon's often. Donald walked over to the dungeon door, not noticing the sentinals coming to life. He placed an ear against it, and the eyes of the otherwise cold statues came to life. Backing away, Donald barely kept his beak attached as the creature's claws slammed into the keyhole.
"Uh-oh..." He turned and ran, hiding behind Goofy as the Heartless tried to slam a fist down on top of him. I summoned my daggers as they joined thier hands, letting Sora run to attack them. Throughout the fight, Hook Bats kept appearing. Normally, we'd have ignored them and just continued onwards, but in such tight quarters, they were increasingly annoying. After nearly losing his hat to one, Donald whirled around, knocking it from the air with his staff bieng used like a golf club. He continued to keep them off our backs with Magic after that, giving Sora and Goofy a chance to knock the sentinals on the door out. Instead of fading away like most Heartless would have, they continued to stay there. But they lost all thier color as a ball of Dark Energy came floating out of the Keyhole. Sora stared after it for a moment, then charged at it before it was out of range. Goofy and I chased after the ball as it got away from Sora, and it was quickly defeated. With it's life energy spent, it hovered over the room and faded away. The doors behind us unlocked with a loud sound, and Donald turned.
"You think the dungeon's past this door?" Sora nodded, trying to pull the stone doors open. He grabbed one handle and tried to pull, but he couldn't do it on his own. Goofy and I grabbed the other handle, and we managed to get them open enough to squeak through. Once inside, Sora looked around.
"There's nobody here." Donald's jaw dropped.
"You mean, there's nobody to rescue?" Sora sighed, nodding. As we turned to leave, a french voice spoke up.
"Did someone say rescue?" Another voice spoke up, this one with a british accent.
"Shhh! Keep quiet. It might be THEM!" A third voice, this one motherly and kind, continued.
"Oh, they look like nice folks to me. Why else would they have come down all this way?" Still looking around, Sora called out to the room.
"Belle sent us to find you. If there's anyone in here, can you please come out?" I tapped Sora's shoulder, pointing to the chairs set against the back walls as a winding clock, three pronged candlestick, teapot and teacup hopped off of them and onto the ground. I smiled slightly as we bent down to be at thier levels, letting Sora do the introductions.
"I'm Sora. This is Christie, Donald, and Goofy." Almost hypnotized by Cogsworth's ticking hands, Donald grabbed the little clock, startling the rest of us. Chip hid behind my hand with his mother close by, as Lumiere crossed his "arms" and heaved a sigh. Cogsworth was trying to get Donald to put him down, to no avail.
"...D-don't touch! I-I am self winding sir!" Still ignoring the clock's protests, Donald continued to examine the clock's workings. Sora rolled his eyes, turning back to Lumiere as Chip peeked out from my hand.
"I'm glad you're all alright." Lumiere nodded, turning to the boy.
"It is we who are overjoyed to see you!" Cogsworth giggled as Donald tickled his foot and tugged on his arm. I turned to Lumiere.
"Did the Enchantress cast a spell on all of you too?" Mrs. Potts nodded, watching Chip hop from my hand to Sora's. The boy gently placed him on the ground, and the little teacup hopped over to his mother.
"Yes. It was a winter's night, very long ago. An old beggar woman came to the castle, and asked for shelter." Cogsworth began to tell the story, even with Donald still playing around with him.
"But the master of this castle, that is of course, the Prince..." Donald opened up the pendulum window, playing with the hanging timer. Cogsworth slammed the glass window shut, scaring Donald into putting the clock down onto a box. Dusting himself off, the clock continued the story.
"The master turned her away. All because of her, meager appearence." We all stood, and Goofy shook his head.
"That's awful!"
"Oui. He was a spoiled Prince. So selfish and...how shall I say...cruel." Cogsworth verbally protested the slander of thier master, and Mrs. Pott's continued the story.
"The old woman warned our master not to be decieved by appearences. Still, he would not take her in." Done with chewing out his comrade, Cogsworth picked up the tale.
"Then the old woman's ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress. She turned the Prince into a Beast, a shape she saw fitting for his cold heart. And to further punish him, she turned everyone in this castle, that is, us, into household items." Sora blinked, trying to clear the shock from his brain.
"Wow...that's quite the story." I nodded, turning to the servants.
"Is there anything at all we can do to help?" Doanld smirked.
"Let's get the Enchantress!" Mrs. Pott's shook her head.
"Oh no dears, we already know what must be done. But with the Master out of sorts as of late..." Sora crossed his arms over his chest.
"He sure is acting strange. It's almost like he's, forgotten to trust the people around him..." Sora looked at the ground, and I knew he was thinking about how Riku had acted when we were just a little younger. Cogsworth's question made him look up.
"You don't suppose that he's been, turned into a Heartless, do you?" We shook our heads, and the servants sighed in relief. They hopped down off the boxed, passing through the barely open door with us behind them. No matter what anyone says, these guys are good at getting around over boxes and the like. At the top of the Undercroft stood two suits of armor. They'd blocked our path before, so I'd not given them a second thought. But now that Cogsworth stood before them, they sprang to life.
"Allow our guests to pass!" They stepped aside, letting us through. As the other servants stepped through, Cogsworth turned to Sora and I.
"After you." The next room was another dimly lit hall. I coughed, covering my nose with my arm. This place reeked of Darkness. Lumiere sighed.
"I'm afraid that marching out of here won't be as easy as we expected. You see mon ami, the doors leading to the other side are concealed with a clever sort of contraption." Sora tilted his head.
"What kind of contraption?"
"Observe." We turned to watch Cogsworth. The little clock had hopped onto a crank jutting out from the wall, and was now hanging off it for dear life as a darkly flaming lantern lowered from the ceiling. I coughed again, that was what was making this place reek! Donald sqauwked in surprise.
"The lantern came down!"
"Indeed it did. If we could but light all the lanterns in the passageway, the secret door would open. However, as you can no doubt see, the lanterns are already lit by an enchanted flame. You must put these flames out before I can light the lanterns properly." Sora tilted his head.
"Why don't you just throw water on them." Mrs. Potts shook her head.
"I'm afraid that's not enough dearie. These flames are Darkness. If you use light, they may go out." Sora nodded.
"Let's try the Keyblade." Summoning the weapon, Sora pointed it at the dark lantern. The black flame went out, letting Lumiere light it normally.
"Bravo!"
"Only three lanterns left! If we work together, we can get that door open in no time!" Sora smiled brightly.
"Piece of cake!" Lumiere sighed.
"Again, it is not so simple mon ami. You certainly cannot expect Cogsworth to hang from that handle forever?" Cogsworth sputtered, seething at his candelabra comrade.
"What? Why? Lumiere, you!" Ignoring the fuming clock, Lumiere continued his explaining.
"If he gets tired and falls off, any lanterns that are still enchanted will return to the cieling. Before you can continue to fix these silly little things, you must tend to Cogsworth. Once he recovers his wind, he'll grasp the lever for you again." AS Sora, Lumiere and Mrs. Potts tended to the second lantern, I went on ahead to clear the way of all the crates. Thankfully, the damp flooring made them easy to push away, clearing the path for the ones behind me. As Sora lit the last lantern, Donald and Goofy came up with Cogsworth behind them. Sora turned to Lumiere.
"Are we all set now?"
"Oui. The secret door should open now." I shook my head.
"Then...where is it?" Cogsworth pointed to an odd colored brick sticking out of the wall.
"Just push the brink over there, the one that's sticking out of the wall. It will open the way for you." Nodding, Sora pushed it back into the wall. The added pressure of the extra brick made gears hidden in the walls turn, opening the secret door behind us and letting light and some warm air in, the light coming from the staircase behind the door. Lumiere and Mrs. Potts headed on towards the stairs.
"Now, we must tend to the castle. We've been gone far to long." They headed off, with Chip at their heels. Cogsworth stayed behind, turning to us.
"The Master's room is at the very end of the West Wing. I shall go on ahead and wait for you." The clock left up the stairs, and we followed. We arrived in Beast's room just as Xaldin was leaving, and Sora waved.
"Hey Prince." Beast whirled around, cape flying out behind him as he roared at us. I stepped back, covering my ears in pain as the roar sent Donald to the ground with his hat over his eyes. Sora and Goofy made vague noises of surprise, and Cogsworth cried out to his master.
"Oh dear! Master!" Beast slashed at us, making Donald and Sora jump back. He roared once more, and I winced as I had to put my hands back over my ears. Beast launched himself at us, and we leapt aside. His reckless charging sent him headfirst into a wall, and Cogsworth took this chance to ring his alarm bell. It startled us, and Beast to a degree, but didn't snap him out of his rage. If anything, it made him angrier. After one of his claw swipes almost took Sora's head off, I'd had enough. Dispelling my daggers, I jumped onto his back and tugged on Beast's cape to slow him down. The boys stared in shock for a moment, then sprang into action once more. Clobbering Beast over the head with the Keyblade, Sora gave Cogsworth a chance to wake the Beast from his mind. It worked this time, but not before I was thrown off his back. I rolled to a stop near the Rose's pedestal, and Sora raced over to help me up as Beast shook off the last of his anger born stupor. He turned to Cogsworth.
"Cogsworth...what happened?"
"Well, Master...ah, you see, that is...How shall I say...ah, actually...mmm..." Donald scoffed, fed up with playing nice.
"Well, you put everybody down in the dungeons!" Beast blinked in shock.
"I did what?!" Cogsworth backpedalled, trying to calm his master.
"Ah, you did." Beast looked away, not speaking. Sora pulled me from the ground, and turned to Beast.
"Who was that guy you were talking to? The one in black?" Beast looked up, snarling.
"Xaldin! That's his name. He came from the Darkness...He...used my anger to control me. He took all my sorrow, my sadness, my pain, and turned it all into rage. There was nothing I could do. I could no longer see the truth..." Shaking the last of the cobwebs from my brain, I turned to Beast.
"That explains why you locked everyone into the dungeons. You wanted to be sure they wouldn't get hurt."
"Was that it? Was it to protect them?" I nodded.
"Yeah. We all know you're good inside." Cogsworth took up the mantle of boosting Beast's self esteem here.
"We've all see how kind you can be. After all...Belle can see the goodness in your Heart, but I'm afraid you've yet to..." Beast cut him off, making us jump.
"Belle!" The man sighed, sagging.
"I've mistreated her...I've mistreated her and been so selfish." Sora shook his head.
"She didn't say anything about that."
"She never tell anyone of my cruelty, she's too good." Cogsworth sighed, whispering to Sora.
"You see, I'm afraid he judges himself far to harshly." Sora rolled his eyes.
"Why don't you just go talk to her?"
"But..."
"No excuses! C'mon, we'll go with you." He was still hesitant, but Beast followed us into the East Wing. Belle wasn't in her room, and only the Wardrobe stood there.
"Master!" Donald smiled smugly.
"Everyone's safe now!" Wardrobe smiled in relief.
"Wonderful! Thank you!"
"Where is Belle?!"
"Why, she left in a hurry. Something about going after this...man in black." Beast roared in surprise.
"WHAT?! Why doesn't she do as she's told?" Wardrobe huffed.
"Temper, temper! Her spirit is what makes her so special!" Beast was already in the hall before we could even get a word in edgewise. We raced after him into the Main Hall, where he stood at the base of the main stairs.
"Belle! Where are you?"
"Beast! Help! I'm in the ballroom!" Beast turned on his heel, racing back up the stairs and through the doors. Belle was running across the floor to the Balcony door as a Darkball in chains was chasing after her.
"Belle!"
"I'm alright!" The Shadow Stalker changed targets, turning to us. After a moment of staring at us, it floated up onto the chandelier. After a few seconds, it dropped down once more, poisoning the the room with Darkness. I summoned my daggers as Donald jumped into Goofy's arms to avoid the tide of Darkness choking the room. Shadow Stalker reappeared in front of us, and Beast leapt at it, claws tearing hunks of it's flesh away. We didn't even get a hit in, the Beast finished off Shadow Stalker in less than a minute. It floated away from the angry Beast, twisting and warping into a creature akin to Dark Ifrit of Spira Fame. The only difference was this creature was dark purple, with throbbing pink fins on it's head and arms. It roared loudly, moving to attack us. Sora didn't give it a chance, and struck forward with his Keyblade. Dark Thorn was unable to dodge this, and stumbled backwards as it clutched its side. It roared again, and vanished from sight. Sora looked wildly around, while Donald and Goofy covered his back. Beast was sniffing the air, while I kept my vision to the cieling. Sure enough, it had claimed the Chandelier as was quickly dropping the warped lighting fixture down to the ground. We all leapt out of the way, Sora beating down upon the Heartless' head when it jumped off the chandelier. It vanished once more, and Sora groaned.
"Where did it go now?!" Beast looked up, and called to Sora. The boy caught on quickly, and leapt from the ground onto Beast's cupped hands. Beast launched the boy up into the air, where he grabbed ahold of the chandelier. We scattered as Sora's wieght brought the lighting fixture down, catching the Dark Thorn in midleap. Sora spun the chandelier around the room, sending the dark creature into the door way and out into the hall. It roared feebly, then faded away into a puddle of boiling darkness. The ballroom returned to normal, and Sora smiled.
"We did it!"
"So you think." We all whirled back to face the doors, and Beast roared at the sight of Xaldin there. Sora, Beast and I ran to try and engage him in combat, but he faded into a Dark Portal before we got there.
"Farewell." Skidding to a stop, Beast snorted.
"What does he want here?" I dispelled my daggers, looking up at Beast.
"He's with Organization XIII." Sora nodded, and continued with the story.
"Ever hear of the Nobodies? When a strong hearted person is turned into a Heartless, a Nobody's created. See, the Organization has control over all the Nobodies." Goofy nodded, placing his shield back on back as Donald calmed down.
"That's right. And they were gonna make you into a Heartless. That way, they could get that Nobody of yours and have control of it." Sora and I nodded to Goofy, but before we could say anything else, Belle appeared.
"You're alright!" Beast turned, then raced over to Belle as she was coming in from the balcony. He skidded to a stop near her, just as the servants were coming into the ballroom.
"Belle...I-I'm sorry, I...wasn't myself. I hope I haven't done anything to hurt you." Belle smiled gently, and hopeful, Beast mirrored that smile. But still, he was angry at himself.
"Forgive me."
"I know you weren't yourself. You don't have to apologize. But I had hoped, that you might have changed a little bit." She wagged a finger in his face, making the man look sheepish. Then Belle crossed her arms.
"I just wish you could start trusting me." I winced, that had to have hurt. Sora shook his head as Lumiere spoke up.
"Oh, I'm afraid time is running short."
"What do you mean?"
"Remember the rose in the Master's Room? If the Master can learn to love, and earn love in return before the last petal falls, the spell will break." Sora smiled happily, bouncing on the soles of his feet.
"Really?!" He looked to the not so happy couple standing away from us.
"You think he's gonna make it?" I nodded, and Mrs. Potts echoed my sentiment, as she nuzzled her son.
"We think so dearies. We think so." Goofy nodded.
"Yep, I think you're right about that." Sora smiled hopefully.
"I hope your right." All of a sudden, the balcony doors flew open as the Keyblade appeared in Sora's hands once again. Beast held Belle close to him in case of a threat, but Sora shook his head. With the unlocked keyhole, I could hear cheers of a crowd and smell mold and mildew.
Olympus Coliseum.. Sora locked the keyhole, and the wind died down. The balcony doors shut, and Beast and Belle walked over to us.
"What happened?"
"The gate is open!" Belle frowned.
"Do you have to go?" Sora nodded, letting the Keyblade vanish into thin air.
"You two play fair now, ok?" Beast and Belle looed at eachother, then looked away. I giggled as Lumiere bowed.
"We shall see to it."
"Take care of yourselves dears."
"You're welcome here anytime." Still smiling, Sora turned to Beast.
"If you hear anything about Riku, The King, The Heartless, The Organization, anything at all, let us know." They all nodded, and we turned to leave the ballroom. The doors closed behind us as we waved goodbye, heading back to Infinity. We were beamed on board, and I yelped as the ship moved without any commands.
"Infinity! What's going on?"
I'm afraid I don't know. We're being summoned to Hollow Bastion by some very powerful Magics. I suggest you hold on!
We did as she asked, and arrived at Hollow Bastion within ten minutes. Infinity beamed us down into the Burrough, where the door to Merlin's place was open. Sora called the Keyblade as several Soldier class Heartless ran out of Merlin's open door, but they vanished before we could engage them. We raced into Merlin's house, where the old wizard was just dusting himself off after a tumble. He looked at us.
"Well now, you all certainly took your sweet time." Sora tilted his head.
"So, you're the one who summoned us back here?" Merlin nodded, righting a chair that had been knocked over.
"Yes, yes, but it seems I used too much power in doing so, and those infernal Heartless..."
"So, what's up?"
"Ah, yes. I was given this in the Zero District by a dear friend of mine.." He pulled out Pooh's storybook, handing it to Sora. Sora smiled brightly, sighing in happiness as he ran his fingers over the worn cover.
"Pooh's storybook!"
"That's right. Dumbledore said he found it in his world almost a year ago." I looked up in surprise, but said nothing as Sora clutched the book to his chest in relief. Merlin smiled.
"Well, I know you're a good friend of Winnie the Pooh, Sora. That's why I summoned you all back here. But when I did, the Heartless appeared from the shadows. Of course, I fought back with my own magic, but I feared that book would be damaged, so I...wait a moment. Leon and other's should hear this too. I'll go find them. Be back in a jiffy." Merlin vanished in a puff of smoke, and Sora set the book down onto the table.
"I wonder how Pooh's been doing lately." Putting a hand on Sora's shoulder, I smiled.
"If you want to go check on him, we can cover for you." Sora smiled brightly, opening the book to the exact middle page, a map of the Hundred Acre Wood. He waved, then jumped on in. It's magic accepted Sora like an old friend, and I closed the book behind him. Carrying it to the pedestal near Merlin's bed, I set it down gently and settled to wait for Sora's return.
Sora gently floated down onto the paper, looking at the old designs. One stod up like a pop-up storybook, and Sora smiled.
"I wonder if Pooh's home now..." He headed for that page, entering the little clearing that contained the house of his dear friend. Pooh was sitting on a log in front of his empty firepit, and the stuffed bear looked up as Sora entered the clearing with a smile on his face.
"Hey Pooh Bear! How are you doing? Finding enough honey lately?" Pooh nodded.
"Oh yes. In fact, I was about to do my stoutness exercises. Would you like to join me, Sora?" Sora nodded, hands on his knees.
"Sure, I'm game." Smiling at his friend, Pooh hopped off the log.
Only to freeze in midair as the world changed around them. Sora frowned.
"What?" He reached out a hand to try and help Pooh, but was thrown back and out of the book. He cried out in pain as his head impacted with Merlin's floor, looking up as the book closed behind him.
"Sora, get your ass out here right now! We need help!" Shaking cobwebs from his brain, Sora stood up.
"Christie?"
Cutting down another Soldier, I jumped backwards to avoid the NeoShadow's claw. Why had these things shown up here?! Sora raced from Merlin's house, Keyblade in hand. Goofy, having just taken another Shadow from the air with his shield turned to the boy.
"Did ya bring the book Sora?" Sora turned to go back and get it, but before he could go back inside the house, three Soldier's ran out of the open door, clutching the book in thier claws.
"Hey!"
"Give that back!" Sora ran after the one Soldier carrying the book, hacking it away from the book. The rest of the Heartless faded away, leaving only the bok behind. As Sora picked it up from the ground, he shook his head at the sight of three slashes on the cover.
"Think it's ok?"
"Gawrsh Sora, you should go back and check on Pooh." I nodded, taking the book from Sora's hands and holding it open. He jumped on in, and Donald frowned.
"What are we gonna tell Merlin." Shaking my head, I gently closed the book. The tears in the cover were repairable with some glue and thread, it would be alright.
"We'll just tell him the truth. He'll understand."
Sora ran into the clearing, hoping beyond hope that Pooh was alright. The little bear was sitting on the log in front of his firepit, unharmed.
"Pooh! I'm so glad you're alright."
"And I'm very glad you came to visit. But you see, I was about to begin my stoutness exercises. Perhaps we could visit a bit later...Somebody-I-Don't-Know." Sora blinked in shock, but nodded as Pooh hopped from the log.
"Oh...sure. How's Piglet these days?" Pooh touched his toes and stretched out his legs.
"I'm don't think I know anyone by that name. Now where was I? Oh, yes. My stoutness exercises." Sora reached out a hand, then turned around with his shoulders sagging. Shaking his head, Sora left the book to return to Merlin's study, where Christie, Donald and Goofy were having a standoff.
"Couldn't be bothered to wait for an old wizard, no you couldn't!" Sora flinched.
"Sorry about that Merlin." Merlin frowned.
"How are things in there now?" Sora looked away, taking a seat as one of Merlin's enchanted chairs appeared behind him.
"Well, Pooh seems to have forgotten about me, and his other friends too." Merlin sighed, nodding.
"Yes, yes, I was afriad of that." He walked over to the book, gently setting on the table and casting a strange blue spell on it.
"I suspect it has something to do with those pages the Heartless stole. You'll juse have to collect the torn pages and repair the book to set things right in there." He turned to face the warriors.
"Now then, this book is one of the world's most cherished elements. I'd been meaning to tell Leon and Vincent it had been recovered, but I think we should just keep it between us for now." Donald, Goofy and Christie nodded, and as Merlin turned to Sora to get an answer, they all smiled. The teenage boy had fallen asleep on Merlin's table, visibly exhausted. Merlin sighed, turning to Christie.
"Well, I daresay you'd better stay the night dear. I don't think he's going anywhere now." Christie nodded, and with a smile, left Merlin's house.
A little break would do them all good.
A/N: Yes, Albus Dumbledore found Pooh's storybook. He went to Merlin, and the rest is fini. Kay? Good. See you all next time!
