Kingdom Hearts III: The Heart's Greatest Weapon
Chapter 21: Monochrome Dreams
Continuing onto the library, Mickey and Donald got a good look around the castle. Things were going orderly and the peace was well kept. Pete sighed as they walked down the hall towards the library.
"Never thought I'd see these walls again." he thought. P.J. looked up at his worried father's face.
"Hey dad? You okay? You seem kind of out of it." P.J. said. Pete stuttered and rattled his head.
"Uhh...yeah son. I'm.....er....I'm fine! Really!" Pete boasted. P.J. turned to Max and they both sighed. Donald watched the brooms walk past with buckets in their arms.
"Did the queen say anything about what was going on, your majesty?" Donald asked. Mickey thought for a moment.
"Hmm. Well Donald, I don't think she was quite specific. I'm sure we'll get all the details once we see her." Mickey said. As they passed by, they heard what sounded like a classroom going on.
"Hey, your majesty, what's that sound? It sounds like a classroom." Sora asked. Mickey looked back and chuckled.
"Welp, that's actually our new school. It was added to the castle not too long ago. Would you like to drop by and visit? I suppose we have time." Mickey said. Sora glanced at his friends, getting a shrug as their response.
"Sure. I think that would be nice." Sora said. Mickey nodded and led the group towards the new classroom. When they arrived, they saw four small children at their desks. It was Huey, Dewey, Louie and Pistol, P.J's sister.
"Hey. It's Pistol. But I thought she was at the library." P.J. said. Max shrugged, figuring now must've been her class time. Just then, Sora saw someone writing at the board with a book in her hand. When Sora saw her face, he saw she wore a long orange robe and she had beautiful silver hair.
"Hello there. Are these friends of yours your highness?" she asked. Mickey nodded, introducing Sora and the others to her.
"Hello Sora. My name is Raine Sage. I'm the teacher here at the castle. It seems you just came in on one of my classes." Raine said. Suddenly, something seemed to hit Goofy, like he remembered something.
"Oh! Hey guys. Do ya think Raine might have something to do with Genis?" Goofy asked. Sora and Donald looked on confused.
"Hmm. You DO have a point Goofy. I mean, Raine has the same last name as Genis. Maybe she's his sister that he mentioned." Sora said. Just then, Raine gasped.
"Did...Did you say "Genis"? That's....my little brother's name. How do you know Genis?" Raine asked. Donald told her that he was at Radiant Garden, helping them with the Heartless. Raine sighed.
"Thank goodness. He's all right." Raine said. Deciding that she should end class early, she joined Sora in the hallway and asked to know what happened with Genis.
"Well, you see...." Sora said. Raine listened to every word, amazed to hear Emil, Marta and Colette were found too.
"Oh. I see. So, they're all right as well. That's good. It's true that I'm Genis' sister. I was also his teacher, back on our world. However, when our world was attacked, I got separated from them. I worried that I'd never see them again. But for you to arrive and tell me this, it makes me happy." Raine said. Sora crossed his arms.
"Well, you're welcome to join us Raine. I'm sure Genis would like to see his sister again." Sora said. Raine nodded.
"All right. I guess I'll tag along for the time being. But, what about your meeting with the queen?" Raine asked. Mickey told Raine that they sent Seifer and Paine to wait for them.
"We probably should head over there majesty. Whatever the queen has to say must be important." Donald said. Mickey thought for a moment and nodded. With Raine at their side, Sora and Mickey returned to the library. Mickey found something as a shock. Pluto, his best friend and companion, was in his bed quivering and shuddering.
"Pluto? Hey Pluto! You okay pal?" Mickey asked, petting the dog's head. The ill dog looked up at his master and licked Mickey's face. Queen Minnie and Daisy stepped in after Paine shut the door.
"Thank you all for coming." Minnie said. Daisy glanced at Pete, still convinced that his prescence meant bad news.
"What's going on your majesty? Is something wrong?" Sora asked. Minnie nodded and approached the desk.
"Lately, we've been getting a lot of strange energy readings and spikes of darkness have been appearing inside the castle." Minnie said. Daisy went to the desk, wearing gloves, and picked up a black spike. It seemed to be radiating dark energy.
"Whoa! Now that's scary." Pete said. Minnie nodded.
"Not to mention poor Pluto has been acting ill this whole time. He hasn't eaten, slept or even had a quiet drink of water without something acting up." Minnie said. Pluto whined softly, nuzzling himself in his bed.
"What should we do? This sounds like Heartless." Sora said.
"But wait. You said that this "Cornerstone of Light" thing protected this castle from Heartless. So, how did THIS get here?" Seifer asked, pointing at the spike.
"Maybe someone in here is actually a Heartless. It could be letting the darkness seep into the castle. But....where?" Paine said. Everyone thought for a moment before Mickey asked Minnie how the core was doing.
"The core's been fine. It's these strange dark spikes that have us worried." Daisy said. Mickey still believed all of this had to relate to the core. Minnie agreed with Mickey, believing there was no other logical reason. So together, the group entered the Audience Chamber. But what shocked them more was the room was filled with giant, pitch black spikes!
"Oh no! This wasn't here before!" Minnie gasped. Raine was in complete shock.
"Such....power. What darkness could create these?" Raine muttered. The spikes punctured the floors and walls. Some even reached as high as the roof. Luckily, there weren't many blocking the way to the throne and they successfully managed to enter the Hall of the Cornerstone, shocked still to find more dark spikes.
"Oh my. This is terrible." Daisy said. Sora and the others looked around.
"Man. This is...This is kind of scary." Seifer said. As they approached the Cornerstone, a magical burst appeared before them. It was Yen Sid.
"Master Yen Sid!" Donald and Mickey exclaimed. The two bowed before Yen Sid.
"It is all right. I sensed the darkness growing inside the castle and I wanted to have a see for myself." Yen Sid said. He turned to the Cornerstone, studying it's strange power flow.
"What is it Yen Sid?" Minnie asked.
"This is not good. There indeed is some dark force at work here. But as to where....I am not sure. Perhaps the past knows the truth." Yen Sid said. Mickey scratched his head, wondering what his teacher meant. But to Sora, Donald and Goofy, it seemed that Yen Sid was referring to Timeless River.
"You think something is messing up the past of the castle? If that's the case, we'll go back and fix it." Sora said. Yen Sid turned to Sora with a slight chuckle.
"I thought you would say that Sora. A true Keyblader at heart and a hero to the end. Very well." Yen Sid said. With a wave of his hand and a twist of his wrist, the doorway appeared which led to Timeless River.
"I am sure Merlin has spoken to you before about this special door. In it lies a very special world. A world that has direct links to ours. If what you are saying is true, then we must examine what is going on in the castle's history." Yen Sid said. Sora nodded.
"Okay. Me, Donald and Goofy will take a good look at it. Maybe the rest of you guys should stay here, in case Heartless show up." Sora said. Seifer huffed.
"Fine. I try to come along for some excitement and I get stuck on guard duty?" Seifer asked. Sora sighed.
"Well, do you WANT to come or what Seifer?" Sora asked. Seifer huffed.
"Yeah. Maybe I would." Seifer said. Donald and Goofy glanced at each other, quietly snickering. Pete also volunteered to come along as well. But Daisy automatically rejected the idea. She still believed that Pete must be behind this.
"Excuse me Daisy, but Pete has been helping us. How could he cause all this if he just arrived here today?" Donald asked. Daisy was silent.
"Good point. All right then. But don't you DARE mess anything up Pete!" Daisy said. Pete nervously chuckled and promised, crossing his heart and everything. So with Seifer and Pete, Sora opened the door and began to step through. Just as soon as they left, they heard a growling sound from upstairs.
"What's that?" Paine said. They all looked up and saw Heartless appearing. First to appear were Bolt Towers, followed by Shadow and Rabid Dogs.
"Heartless!" Minnie gasped. Daisy ducked behind Paine as she drew her blade.
"Well, guess we have a job as well. Guard this door." Paine said. Mickey drew his blade, ready to fight.
"Wait! Mickey! Sora might need your help more than we do. We'll hold them off for as long as we can. Go into the past and help Sora!" Minnie said. Mickey glanced at Yen Sid, agreeing to the queen's words.
"Okay! But keep this." Mickey said. He gave her a walkie talkie before darting into the door. As it shut, the Heartless approached. Meanwhile, on the other side, the door began to rattle and give off jingling sounds. It spit up Sora and friends, along with Mickey.
"Ouf! Ouch!" Pete groaned. Sora groaned and rattled his head.
"Ugh. What...What just happened?" Seifer groaned. Suddenly, he gasped. He saw he transformed into a black and white character from the 1920's!
"What's going on here?! I'm messed up!" Seifer exclaimed.
"Don't worry. You're fine. This is what the past of the castle is like. We're all the same. So don't worry." Sora said. Just then, someone walked by with a serious face. But he came to a screeching stop when he saw Sora. It was Pete from the past.
"Hey! It's you!" he called. But suddenly, he saw his future self.
"You?! I thought I told you to stay out!" Past Pete exclaimed. Pete gulped, unsure what to say.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Hold on there big guy! He's on our side this time! We promise!" Sora shouted. Mickey looked around.
"Wow. I almost forgot how our castle grounds appeared to be." Mickey said. But just then, Sora saw something out of the corner of his eye. It almost looked like a black shadow replica of the past Pete. But he wasn't sure what to believe.
TO BE CONTINUED...