Hi, everyone!

Lilith here, and sorry I took so long to get back. I've been distracted by writer's block, the twilight of summer, and the autumn season closing in. But I'm doing fine now.

Anyways, for this chapter, I tried my best to let Sora get some more attention while leaving behind a few things to give you guys red flags (that is, if you can spot them well enough) about our new party member. But needless to say, I'm not going to spoil what it is. :p

So, without further ado, I hope you guys like this chapter. Enjoy!

To Guest: Funny you should say that...

I own nothing of Kingdom Hearts except my OCs.

Read, leave a review, but flames are unacceptable.

Chapter 10 – Floor 5; Monstro, Sora

Amidst the confusion coming from Luna and Medea's immediate suspicions, Sora couldn't help standing there shocked and speechless at the new stranger's admittance to where his relations linked to. He couldn't help wondering why his friend never spoke about her family all those years ago since release from the hospital back on the islands. Did something happen before that prevented her from ever talking about her birth family? And if so, does this Nero know anything about her past that nobody else does?

Nero happened to notice the confusion and answered, "I know this doesn't make any sense, and you're already dealing with enough problems in this dreary place. But I promise you that I'm telling you the truth."

"But then what brought you in Castle Oblivion?" Sora had to ask on a whim, "If you're who you're saying you are, then what are you doing here? Have you been kept here against your will by those guys in black?"

"I want to know about that, too," Medea agreed, glowering at him. "The fact that you're here feels way too convenient for us. Why don't ya give us one good reason why we shouldn't label you as an enemy right now?"

"I just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time," Nero replied like it's no big deal, "and that got me into a lot of trouble. And you can definitely thank those bullies in the black coats for that. It's thanks to them that I've been stuck here with no way out."

"Oh, so you were a prisoner!" Donald guessed.

Jiminy didn't feel too sure about it. "I dunno… If he's been trapped here, then how did he get away from them?"

"I'd like to know about that myself," Luna agreed in distrust. "Those guys we met before…they were dangerous people when we first met them. I don't think they're people we'd want to take lightly, much less think they'll be merciful on us just because we merely stumbled upon this place."

"Well, if it helps, I wasn't the only person trapped here," Nero assured them, "Besides me, I met a young girl here, and she's had it pretty rough ever since she was brought here by those guys. The only reason I was able to sneak out and find you all was because she asked me to go get help as soon as possible."

That instantly got Sora's attention. "Really?! Who was that girl you had met before we came along? Do you know her name?"

But he didn't sound interested in telling him outright. "If I told you, someone'll know I'm here, and we'll all be in trouble."

That bummed out Sora somewhat; ever since he started remembering about a blond-haired girl as they traversed up the stairs, he had been more than eager to remember more about her. He had hoped that by piecing together those memories about her, then it would help his friend with her memories so that they have more reason to keep moving through the castle.

Still, the idea of having extra help through the castle – and someone who claims to be related with Luna at that – in future preparation for what else might be ahead of them wouldn't be too easy to refuse. Maybe if he had the right means of persuasion, he might be able to find out more about her from Nero, and perhaps he might hear about what the two had gone through in the castle before he and Luna had arrived here. But for now, he's just gonna have to suck it up and deal with what's in front of him right now. Besides, he could tell from Luna and Medea's faces that they aren't too excited about having someone they believe they don't know tagging along with them without good reason to do so.

"In that case, then how about you come along with us?" Sora offered up to the newcomer, "If you join us, then maybe you can help us deal with those guys we met earlier if they bother us again. And maybe your being here might help Luna warm up to you a little more."

Medea wasn't too thrilled about it. "Hey, when did you decide to call the shots, kid? And besides, don't we have that rodent and Riku to look for?"

"Oh, yeah, we still have the King and Riku to worry about," Donald remembered.

"Yup, and we still haven't seen any sign of them yet," Goofy agreed.

"I want to find Riku at least. I'm worried about him," Luna seconded that.

Most of them didn't notice it, but when Riku's name is brought up aloud, something about it made Nero's eyes suddenly darken. But the two teens don't know about it, as their thoughts are more focused on the progression inside the castle and uncovering what is lurking inside the halls of Castle Oblivion.

"So, what do you say? You wanna come with us?" Sora asked.

Nero's tension vanished as he answered, "I'll be glad to if your companions are willing to put up with me."

Between the traveling parties, there was mixed feelings lingering about them regarding letting this peculiar young man accompany them. Sora and Goofy felt a lot more trusting about him, thinking that he might have some insight about the castle and he could help them prepare for the strangers in black coats should another one show up. Medea, Donald and Luna, on the flipside, have some serious reservations about this new face; Medea and Donald are especially suspicious as to what reason he has for wanting to tag along with them without explaining everything about himself, while Luna is unsure whether she should even place her trust in this man who insists he's related to her by blood. Jiminy is the only one who isn't certain whether to openly trust him or not, since he doesn't know what to make of the situation. So, what should the verdict be for allowing another traveling partner?

Finally, the duck made his choice. "Fine, we'll let him come with us. But if he does anything funny, I'm givin' him a taste of my magic!"

Nero held his hands up innocently. "Calm those feathers there. I won't do anything funny, promise."

"You'd better not! Because I'll let you know that my master doesn't tolerate being lied to in any way," Medea warned harshly.

"So, we've come to an agreement?" Sora asked.

"It would seem so. Though…I'm still nervous about this," Luna replied cautiously.

"Luna, I promise you that I won't give you or your friends any trouble while we're here," Nero promised her, "I want to get out of this castle as much as you guys do, and it'd be easier for all of us if I came along and helped out, if at all."

That seemed to settle any further problems from here on out, but that didn't mean everyone was pretty chill about the new changes. The only thing that could be done at this point to keep on going…and hope the new recruit doesn't give them any trouble along the way up the stairs through the castle.

When they reached the next door on the next floor to pass through, only two cards remained to be used to their knowledge. Now all that has to be done is to decide which world to enter next with the power of the cards.

"Only two more to go. Which world should we visit next?" Sora asked everyone.

"I dunno. You tell us," Donald replied.

Luna examined the cards Sora presented. "Well…it seems we have the choice of either a creepy whale, or a spooky town out of a scary story."

"What's so frightening about a whale?" Nero asked, "You make it sound like some kind of demon."

"Excuse me? Have you ever been INSIDE one?" Medea grilled him, "It smelled like dead fish and who the hell knows what else, its breath stank, and do I even need to mention its stomach at all? I don't even want to think about it!"

"Wow, Medea. You remembered something on your own," Goofy applauded her.

"I'm surprised you recall what it's like," Donald said, dully amazed at her memory.

"Okay, then. I guess we're going to the giant whale next," Sora decided, mistaking the conversation for a confirmation. "Unless somebody has any objections to it, we're going in."

"I don't have any objections," Nero replied.

"Wait, what?! When did we agree to that?" Donald demanded to know.

"It's not like we have too many other options on our hands, don't we?" Luna admitted reluctantly.

True to Medea's attention to detail from her memories, from the moment they stepped inside the innards of the beast itself, the squishy sounds of tissue could be felt below their feet, and the smell of something digested lingered into the air. It didn't help things in the slightest that there are some planks of broken wood from swallowed ships scattered all over the place, leaving behind unfortunate implications that nobody has ever survived the insides of a sea creature of such caliber. They don't know what to expect from this place, considering the infamous reputation of where they are.

"What a weird place! Everything's kinda springy and soft," Sora wondered.

"Nice and warm, too," Goofy agreed, "I'm startin' to feel like a nap."

"Don't even think about it, unless you wanna let yourself get digested while you do," Medea warned.

"I think you should be a little more worried."

Startled, Donald called out, "Who's there?!"

At the duck's demand to know who spoke to them, a small boy peeked out from behind a corner to meet them. Young-looking as he appeared to be, it was easy to tell from his odd joints and his wooden stature that he's once been a hand-crafted puppet – except he doesn't have any strings attached to him whatsoever.

"You're in the belly of Monstro the Whale," the boy informed them.

Jiminy quickly recognized the voice of the child. "Why, I know that voice… Pinocchio? Pinoke, it's you! Come on out!"

Pinocchio, upon recognizing the cricket, exclaimed joyfully, "Is that you, Jiminy? Gosh, I thought I'd never see you again!"

"Gee, there's no way you'd never find me again," Jiminy replied, "I'm your conscience. And your conscience will always be your guide. Remember?"

"Sure, Jiminy. And I've been a good boy, promise," Pinocchio agreed, "I didn't tell a single lie."

Just as he said that, though, a small spark of magic occurred, in which his nose suddenly grew a few inches. This almost startled everyone in the area, except for Jiminy who suspected that this would happen sometime.

"What was he saying again?" Nero asked, hiding his sarcasm.

"Don't be too hard on him. He's only a child," Luna requested.

"Uh-oh!" the puppet exclaimed in horror.

Jiminy slapped his face in dismay. "Well, for Pete's sake!"

"Oops!" Pinocchio said in embarrassment, "But…how did you end up inside Monstro, anyway?"

"We, uh, sort of used a special way…" Sora struggled to explain.

"It's so special, we don't know how we did it!" Goofy added.

Pinocchio felt disappointed about it. "That's too bad… I was hoping you could help me and Father get out of here."

"Well, I'll be! Geppetto's here, too?" Jiminy asked in surprise.

"Sure he is. Follow me!" Pinocchio replied eagerly, hurrying ahead of them.

"Oh! Oh, Pinocchio, wait! It might be dangerous!" Luna called out, hoping to keep up with the boy.

"C'mon, we'd better follow him," Sora agreed, "make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble after this."

Keeping up with a child is one thing, but when the Heartless came along to screw things over, at least Sora and Luna went out of their way to protect Pinocchio while their friends kept vigil from behind, if mostly to make sure nothing tries to sneak past them – or tries to get close to Sora or Luna, for that matter. Thankfully, at least Pinocchio was smart enough to get out of the way when the bigger baddies arrived on the scene, and knew to hide himself someplace safe.

Following the boy led them into the mouth section of the whale, where they found a whole bunch of wrecked ships silently floating in the suspicious-looking water. Within one of the ships, though, they can make out that there's someone living aboard one of the shipwrecks, apparently trying to eke out what the giant mammal's innards could be offered to little avail. The elderly man hanging around the ship had to be Geppetto, Pinocchio's father.

"Well, at least we found the old man," Medea commented.

"Geppetto!" Jiminy called out.

When Geppetto heard the familiar voice, his attention shifted to where it came from and was surprised to find a familiar face along with some new ones by the wreckage.

"Bless my soul, it's Jiminy Cricket," he said with relief, "How in the world did you get here?"

"You tell me! How does a clockmaker wind up in the belly of a whale?" Jiminy asked.

"Well, it's a long story…" the clockmaker sighed.

From there, Geppetto explained to them how he had created a boy puppet and how he came to life; but when he told about how he had realized that Pinocchio didn't come home as he was supposed to, he went out to find his son himself – only to get caught in the middle of Monstro's feeding time and ended up swallowed by the gigantic whale itself! After that, Pinocchio found himself inside the whale as well, and they've been trapped in there ever since then. Now they have idea how they're going to find a way out, not with the whale uninterested in finding something new to munch on.

"So you sailed out to look for Pinocchio…" Donald started to understand the matter.

"…And Monstro swallowed you!" Goofy finished the sentence.

"That's just horrible! You and your son didn't deserve to end up in a terrible place like a whale's belly," Luna said, horrified at the tragedy.

"Yes, but I found my son," Geppetto reassured them, "I would do anything for my Pinocchio."

"But now you can't get out, can you?" Sora guessed. "Being stuck in the belly of a whale is awful, like Luna said."

"Not if Pinocchio and I are together," Geppetto replied optimistically, "That makes everything a little better. There's nothing better than being reunited with those you care about."

"Yeah…I know what you mean," Sora agreed.

"I would know about that myself, since I finally found my sister," Nero added.

"I don't care if I'm trapped here, so long as I have Pinocchio," Geppetto continued, "He's such a good boy."

"Call me a pessimist, but I have my doubts on the last part," Medea said skeptically.

"Well, he still tells fibs. But with a little help from me…" Jiminy admitted.

The clockmaker chuckled a bit. "Oh, Jiminy, you worry too much."

But then, a little thought crossed Sora's mind as he had the niggling feeling something was a little off. Considering how they were talking about Pinocchio, he just had one question: where is he? When he turned around, his suspicions were confirmed since he didn't see the wooden boy anywhere with them not long after arriving at the mouth.

"Speaking of Pinocchio… Where is he?" he asked.

Baffled, Donald and Goofy looked around to find that they don't see the puppet within the area, like he just vanished into thin air.

"He was here a minute ago. Where did he go now?" Donald asked in worry.

Medea groaned in frustration. "You cannot be serious right now! You look away for one minute, and already he's wandering off!"

"I expect he's off exploring," Geppetto had reason to believe. "That boy has been poking around just about everywhere inside this monster. He won't tell me why it's so important. I tell him it's dangerous, but he won't listen."

Somehow, Jiminy had a bad feeling about it. "That boy's a handful! Sora, Luna, if you don't mind…"

"I know, I know. You want us to help find him, right?" Sora saw it coming. "C'mon, guys, let's keep going!"

"We'd better hurry if we're going to find Pinocchio," Luna agreed worriedly, "It'd break my heart if anything terrible happened to the poor boy."

"Yeah!" Donald and Goofy agreed on it.

"Somehow I have to wonder how his father puts up with all this," Nero said in disbelief.

Leaving behind the partial safety of the shipwrecks behind them, the party wasted no time hurrying away from the mouth to search for the missing child – all the while cautiously hoping that nothing serious has happened to the boy while they weren't looking.

As they searched through the bowels of the whale, the party had to watch their step as the surface of the innards is no cakewalk to navigate across. And it really didn't help things in the slightest with the bouts of Heartless popping up every few moments just to harass them in the middle of their search. But at the very least the surface their walking isn't slippery, otherwise that would've made trekking through a lot worse than it already was.

Their search for Pinocchio eventually led them into Monstro's stomach, which is strongly evident by the green liquid that might as well be acidic given the bubbles surfacing every few seconds and the awful stench of something once been digested however long ago it was. At least they found the boy safe on the platform, much like they are right now.

When Pinocchio saw them coming, he was surprised to see them. But Jiminy certainly had something to say about what he was doing on his own.

"Pinocchio! What are you thinking?!" Jiminy exclaimed with worry. "You know Geppetto worries when you wander off by yourself."
"Jiminy was worried, too," Donald added.

"I'm sorry…" Pinocchio apologized, ashamed.

"Don't take it the wrong way. It's just that we don't want you to get hurt, that's all," Luna promised the boy as she knelt to comfort him.

"What are you doing anyway? Are you looking for something?" Sora asked him.

Pinocchio hesitated before he answered, "Um…yeah, I was looking for treasure!"

Not long after he said that, his already longer nose suddenly grew longer than usual, which hinted that he wasn't being honest with himself as he was supposed to be.

Medea frowned at the boy. "Any more lies you wanna tell us, kid?"

"Here we go again!" Jiminy sighed in displeasure.

"But Jiminy…" the boy protested.

Then, Goofy came to his defense. "Now, don't be so hard on the little fella, Jiminy." He looked to the boy. "We promise not to get mad, Pinocchio. Is that why you're afraid to tell? No need to fret. Tell us the truth – we'll understand. Put yer trust in Goofy!"

"It's alright, Pinocchio. If you tell us, we can help you," Luna agreed, reassuring the boy.

Moved by the reassurances, Pinocchio decided to come clean. "I was looking for a way out. Father says he's happy, but it's my fault we're stuck here. I shouldn't have run away from home. I want to help Father get back to his workshop. But he'll worry if I tell him what I'm doing."

It didn't take long for Jiminy to put two and two together. "So that's why you thought you had to tell a lie."

"You did it 'cause you love your dad!" Goofy concluded.

"Good to know, or would've gotten into a lot worse trouble than this," Medea agreed cautiously.

"All you need now is courage!" Donald added.

Pinocchio got confused. "What?"

"Tell Geppetto the truth," Donald replied, "With a little courage, you can do it! If you tell him how you really feel, I bet he'll help you find a way out."

"And we'll give you a hand!" Sora added confidently.

"Really? You'll give us a hand?" Pinocchio asked hopefully. "Okay, I'll give it a try! Wish me luck, Jiminy!"

"No more keeping secrets, then. Have we got a deal?" Jiminy asked to make sure.

Pinocchio nodded eagerly. "Sure! I'll be brave and tell Father how I really feel. No lies this time!"

"You see? Bravery to be honest can help you in the long run," Luna said cheerfully, "especially if there's someone you care about. Isn't that right?"

Unbeknownst to them, Luna's words seemed to have made Nero wince a little and break eye contact from the rest of the gang; not only that, but he felt himself turning a little pale, but he looked away before anybody could see what was really going on with him.

"Yeah…you're right," he agreed, struggling to hide his reluctance.

"Great! Then your nose won't –" Jiminy's talk was interrupted when a sudden quake occurred.

Suddenly noticing the violent shuddering, Sora and the others started looking around the place, trying to find where the cause was coming from. Could there be something be wrong with the whale, or was there something else at play? Whatever it is, it didn't sound good for everyone present.

"What's happening?!" Sora exclaimed.

"I've got a bad feeling about this!" Donald fretted.

"Pinocchio, run for it!" Jiminy cried out in alarm.

Immediately, Pinocchio started to flee for the exit out of Monstro's stomach, but before he could get out to safety, something dropped down from the ceiling – and then snatched the boy, forcing him into its cage-like mouth! By the time they had heard the sound of something landing on the platform, Sora and the others suddenly were horrified to find that Pinocchio is trapped inside a Heartless's body with no way out of there.

"Pinocchio!" Sora was alarmed at the sight of the boy's capture.

"Help! I'm trapped!" the boy cried out from inside the cage.

"Oh, no! We've got to help Pinocchio!" Luna panicked in horror.

"Just do me a favor and don't do any repeats, you hear me?" Medea ordered as she brandished her claws.

"Why is it children get into trouble like this…?" Nero sighed as he readied his broadsword.

If having to rescue Pinocchio is already enough of a dilemma, then the fact that the platforms the Parasite Cage decided to settle on has stomach acid surrounding only four smaller platforms that have barely any leg room for everyone to move around on served to make the situation a lot worse. In fact, Donald and Goofy in particular are forced to watch their step every single time so that they don't get burned by the acid below them while they're trying to help their allies. On Sora's account, he is able to get a few hits in with his keyblade, but even then had to rely on his magic when he was out of the range of the creature. On the flipside of the situation, Luna and Medea had it a bit easier since Luna can use her Shadow Hands to keep her above the acid while staying at a comfortable distance and Medea doesn't always have to keep her feet on the ground while tearing through the rubbery hide of the parasitic Heartless.

However, what made the battle more difficult for them is when the tentacles of the creature stretched out to either grab at its assailants or to knock them off the platforms toward the walls of the stomach. Not helping them is the thunderbolts it lets out just to spitefully trip them up, preventing them from staying still on the platforms.

"This is getting very annoying!" Donald complained angrily.

At one point, one of the Parasite Cage's tentacles lashed out at everyone on the field, causing everyone to suddenly either trip on their toes or to make them stumble along the edges of the platforms. One of them lashed out against Luna as she tried to move out of the way, but it caught at her satchel, causing the strings to cut off; instinctively, she summoned a smaller Hand to grab it and bring it back to her. Just as she was doing that, though, the tentacle returned for another round when the might of a broadsword blocked it off from getting closer to her – which was only made possible by Nero!

"What were you thinking, Luna? Pay attention!" Nero questioned her.

"Sorry…I was distracted," she replied as she tucked the satchel by her hips.

A sigh could be heard from him. "We'll have to talk about this later. But for now, I think it's time to tip the scales in this fight, don't you think?"

From his pocket, Nero pulled out a card much like the ones Sora and Luna had seen and made use of when things got pretty difficult for them. In this case, the moment he used the card, the entire floor changed from a hazard acid pool to a harder surface with a much safer platform.

The instant Sora witnessed this; he quickly put two and two together to figure out that the cards capable of changing the environment was all Nero's doing. To him, he finally understood why progress through the worlds has gotten a little bit easier for them a few floors ago.

"Okay, just hang on a little longer, Pinocchio!" Sora called out to the boy inside, "We'll have this thing to its knees in no time!"

"It's about damn time we have an opening on that freak!" Medea agreed as she prepared for another counterattack.

Thanks to the change of scenery, everyone pooled their individual strengths together and pummeled the monster until it could no longer keep itself standing from the overwhelming force delivered against it. Now there's still the matter of figuring out how they're going to get Pinocchio out of the monster's cagey mouth.

"Help me! I'm scared!" Pinocchio cried, afraid.

"Pinocchio, be brave!" Sora called out.

"How?" the boy asked.

"Don't give up! Try fighting your way out!" Sora replied.

"And trust me when I say I don't want my master getting stuck with ya!" Medea added. "Not after last time!"

"Be brave…" Pinocchio could be heard taking a deep breath to calm his fear. "Okay, I'll try!"

Then, when least expected, Pinocchio suddenly started jumping up and down inside the Parasite Cage's stomach, causing to convulse in pain like it was having a severely upset stomach until it could take it anymore and collapsed, leaving its mouth open for escape. Pinocchio took advantage of this as he climbed out of the mouth and hurried to the safety of Sora and company before the monster disappeared in a flash.

Jiminy hurried over to him to make sure the child is okay. "Pinocchio, are you alright?"

Pinocchio smiled like it's no problem. "Don't worry, I'm okay. Just a little sticky…"

"That's good to know. You had us all worried," Luna sighed in relief.

"But I have a great idea!" Pinocchio said, "That thing spit me out when I started fighting back. Why don't we try the same thing with Monstro?"

"I wouldn't have thought about that," Medea admitted, impressed at the thought.

"Of course! If we're lucky, Monstro might cough us up!" Sora agreed eagerly.

"Great idea! Let's go deeper inside and try it!" Donald seconded the idea.

"I'm going, too!" the boy declared.

"No, it's too dangerous," Jiminy stopped him right there.

Pinocchio seemed disappointed. "Aww, c'mon…"

"You should be with Geppetto," the cricket insisted, "No use escaping from Monstro if you two get separated again!"

"I have to agree with Jiminy on that. Besides, you and Geppetto are family," Luna agreed, "and it would best if a real family should stick together after finding each other again."

"Leave it to us," Sora promised him.

Knowing that it's the honest truth about family, Pinocchio felt convinced it's for the best.

"I guess you're right," he agreed, "Be careful, everybody!"

"You be careful, too, Pinocchio," Luna answered for everyone, "Take good care now."

Knowing that the wooden boy will be safe from harm after the Heartless fiasco, the party made their way out of the stomach to find the perfect location to provoke Monstro into setting free the imprisoned family held within the belly of the monstrous whale.

After scouring around the rest of the whale innards, they found themselves moving deeper and deeper into the belly until they found themselves in the farthest reaches of the whale's innards itself. It can only be assumed that where they are is probably the most sensitive of Monstro's organs since they could feel some tickling as they stepped inside the place to examine it.

Goofy looked around before he said, "Looks like this is as far as we go."

"I guess this spot is where the whale's sensitivity levels get bonkers," Medea speculated.

"Ready, then? Let's shake things up!" Sora asked, ready for some action.

"It would be easier if we had something to fight…" Donald started to say.

"Like Heartless?" Luna finished the duck's thoughts.

Sora looked past them like he saw something opportune. "Perfect timing. Looks like we've got company!"

When everyone turned to find numbers of Heartless emerging from the shadows of the innards, it didn't take long for them to get into positions to execute the plan. Thanks to the solid wave of Heartless swarming in on them, it gave the party enough enemies to attack and give a little irritation to the giant whale. As time went on, as every little Heartless was wiped out, there seemed to be some tremors initially passing through unnoticeably. By the time they got all of them, a violent quake suddenly flooded the entire area, startling them before they could catch their breath.

Jiminy noticed it and exclaimed, "It's working! Monstro's gonna sneeze!"

"Oh, great! Now we're in for it!" Medea groaned, knowing what will happen next.

All of a sudden, a violent burst of air shot out from underneath them, sending all of them careening out of their current location without any chances of escaping the blast. Before long, they made a rough landing right back to the mouth of the whale itself where Geppetto had been earlier – only except for the fact that both father and son are gone from sight.

As they recovered, Sora couldn't help groaning from the rough ride while the others worked to straighten themselves out after that event.

"Oww…Now I know what getting shot out of a cannon feels like," he groaned as he worked to get up.

"That was a horrible ride out," Luna complained as she sat up.

"Yeah, well, at least you didn't get any back pain like the last time we were here," Medea said.

That stunned Nero somewhat. "Wait, when did that happen? She didn't do anything too reckless, did she?"

But Goofy interrupted them when he asked, "Where's Pinocchio and his dad?"

Jiminy looked around the wreckage. "They're gone. They must've gotten out safely."

That got Sora worried. "Without you, Jiminy? I thought there was no escaping your conscience."

"I don't mind being left behind, as long as they're both safe," Jiminy reassured him, "Maybe Pinocchio doesn't need me after all."

"What do you mean?" Sora asked as Luna questioned, "Are you sure, Jiminy?"

"That little puppet used to have trouble telling right from wrong," the cricket explained to them, "But he's come a long way. Maybe he doesn't need Jiminy Cricket anymore. Seems like he's got a conscience of his very own."

That was when Sora remembered something. "Don't you remember what Geppetto said? 'There's nothing better than to be reunited with someone you care about'. I'd bet Pinocchio's counting the days until he can see you again."

Jiminy smiled, comforted by the thought. "Well, what do you know? You might be right."

When Sora and Jiminy spoke heavily about the matter of having a conscience and the associations with Pinocchio, it seemed to make Nero behave a little apprehensively despite his efforts to hide it. Luna noticed this, though, and wondered if there was something else on his mind besides the fact that they've heard a cricket lecturing about knowing right from wrong and letting a conscience guide someone in their lives.

"Does Jiminy's talks about having a conscience bother you, Nero?" Luna asked curiously, "I'm sure you understand that he means well with what he's teaching."

"Well, no…it's not the cricket that bothers me," Nero replied hesitantly, "I just have to question how your friend over here is able to understand these things when he's prone to doing something reckless himself."

She shrugged a bit. "It's how Sora is. He wants to help people, regardless of whether they know right and wrong or not."

"Right…" he murmured to himself. Then he changed the topic. "Luna… Back when we fought that monster, what was that you were determined to rescue despite the trouble already in your face? It didn't look like anything too important."

Luna pouted a bit childishly. "It's a satchel that I got when I visited a world. I've used it to hold important treasures to me, little things from my childhood that I was given by people I knew back then. I don't want to lose those parts of myself because, without them, I'd lose what connections I had made before…before I lost it all…"

Unknown to both of them, Medea listened to what the two were talking about as she wondered what's on Nero's mind as he questioned about the satchel her master carried with her everywhere. Something about Nero's attention to it started to bother her as it felt to her like an invasion of Luna's privacy.

"Well, if there's something in there that gives you bad memories, then you should get rid of it right away," Nero suddenly suggested.

Luna was shocked at this. "No…! I couldn't do that! What if I need them to remember where I got them? What little I was given, for better or worse, are a part of me and are reminders of where I've been. I can't just get rid of even one thing, not in a hundred years!"

"My thoughts exactly on that, Luna," Medea agreed, stepping in her master's defense. "And besides, what business are the contents of the bag to you, bub? I don't recall you being the security guy about it."

At first, it seemed like Nero was about to make an argument with Medea, but something in the Guardian's glare warned him that they were being serious about their opinions. Knowing that he's in a losing battle, he reluctantly backed down from the topic and decided to drop it before anybody else questions what's going on between them that was being troublesome.

"…Alright, then. I'll drop it for now," Nero complied, "Let's just keep going through the castle."

As Nero began to walk away, Sora walked in on the two girls with a confused face as to why Nero was acting rather oddly while walking away from them.

"Was there something wrong?" he asked out of concern.

"I'd rather not talk about it until we get outta here," Medea replied quickly, not wanting to waste time.

"Yes, I'd rather not stick around inside a giant whale for another minute," Luna agreed, "Can we talk about once we leave here? I promise I won't hide anything."

Sora, convinced on the notion of caution, agreed, "Alright, then. When we're out of here, we'll talk about what happened. I just don't want any trouble, you know."