Disclaimer: The name Selene is the name of the Moon Goddess who is the daughter of Zeus, according to Greek legends.
Author's note: Not much to say, so let's just read on, shall we?
I only own the rights of Jason, Lyla, and Chancellor. The rest belong rightfully to Square Enix, Disney, Nintendo and Toei.
CHAPTER 24: Castle of Dreams-Jason.
Back with Jason...
When Jason and Mickey had both arrived in the next new world, neither of them had expected to not only find themselves shrunk down to size, but also, ironically, trapped in a normal mouse-trap in a huge house, having been placed in the former home of Cinderella. Then again, neither of them knew this at the moment, nor had they thought much about the mansion. It was the fact that they were the size of, well, normal mice that was the problem and they were stuck in a cage.
"Okay. Can someone please explain to me how on Earth did we shrink?" Jason complained as he placed his hands on his hips, pouting at the lack of info.
Mickey was complaining about the situation as well as he held onto the bars of their cage, groaning, "Gosh, I know that I'm a mouse, but this is ridiculous!" before sighing in defeat.
"Remind me to never tell Lyla this part when Grovyle and I head back into the future." Jason requested to his companion while rubbing his temples, shuddering as he could just picture Lyla making fun at him if she ever heard anything about this part of his adventure. He'd never live it down.
"I'm not even gonna tell Minnie about this part either." Mickey agreed, shrugging as he lets go of the bars. He supressed a shudder as he admitted while gazing around their surroundings, "Gosh, this reminds me of the time when I climbed up a Beanstalk to the Giant's castle back at home." remembering one of his non-Keyblade adventures five years ago.
Hearing this made Jason turn to his friend with curious interest, "Your world had a Beanstalk too?" he asked. Like many others, Jason has heard of stories of Beanstalks in the story of "Jack and the Beanstalk" but never did he think that the story itself or at least giants and beanstalks were actually real. What kind of crazy adventures did Mickey really go on before this incident, he wondered.
The king shook his head as he answered, "Not anymore. Master Yen Sid and I made sure to move the Land of Giants to a more suitable world that wouldn't cause any problems."
'Wonder how they managed to do that?' Jason thought to himself. He realised that he still had a lot to learn and that was another reason for him to at least change the future and save Temporal Tower.
However, before Jason could say something else about Mickey's earlier adventures, both of them froze in fear when they heard a meowing coming from a cat, which in retrospect, given their current sizes, it sounded more like a roar that made their hearts drop into their stomachs. When Jason and Mickey both turned to look, their eyes widened as the cat, Lucifer, was approaching them, grinning evilly as he eyed the two hungrily. Given their current sizes, the two travellers were meals.
"AAAAAHHH!" Jason and Mickey both screamed out in horror with freaked out expressions, clinging onto eachother for dear life, which, if the situation was different, it would've been comical.
"Just when things couldn't get any worse!" Jason hysterically panicked.
When Lucifer crept closer, the two were visibly shaking in fear, as Mickey, terrified out of his mind, quivered while trying to reason with the hungry 'giant' cat, "Y-Y-You don't wanna eat us, mister kitty. My friend and I taste terrible."
"Yeah, we taste like cardboard!" Jason added, nodding far too quickly.
Lucifer held up his paw to make the attack and Jason and Mickey both shut their eyes and braced themselves for the impact, when suddenly...
"Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!"
From a woman's voice, magic sparkles suddenly appeared and surrounded Lucifer who lowered his paw and stared around the magic which covered him as he gave out a meow of fright while Jason and Mickey, realising that they were okay, slowly opened their eyes and looked up, now confused on what was going on. As the magic cleared, the cat was gone. In his place, was...a black and white frog? It took the two a moment to realise that the cat had turned into a frog. Lucifer, also realising this, freaked out before he ran away...er, I mean, hop away, traumatized.
"Huh?" Jason and Mickey both muttered as they let go of each other and the latter put down gently.
"How weird." Jason blinked, confused.
Mickey scratched his head in confusion, wondering, "I wonder how that cat turned into a frog?" while he and his friend were both relieved at such a close call.
(~Bibbidi,Bobbidi,Boo-KH:BBS~)
Just then, a glimmer of sparkled appeared and in the form of the sparkled, appeared an elderly but very kind woman in a blue and pink hooded cloak with a magic wand. She stood towering over the two who backed up a little, not used to seeing a person larger than them. Well, Mickey had that experience before when he encountered a giant more than once, but it still made him nervous.
"Oh, that would teach that mean Luficer from hurting others." Said the old woman, before gazing at the mouse cage to see Jason and Mickey, realising that they were still stuck. She quickly then apologetically said, "Oh my, you poor dears. Let me get you out."
She then gently picked up the cage which, despite being gentle, Mickey and Jason both had trouble keeping their balance before the nice old lady placed them on the ground and opened the cage. Jason and Mickey, while relieved, hesitatedly walked out of the cage and then relaxed a bit when they realized the woman wasn't going to harm them.
"Uh, thanks, ma'am." Jason said, rubbing the back of his head, before asking, "Who're you?"
"I'm Cinderella's Fairy Godmother." The Fairy Godmother introduced herself with a kind smile, "I appear to those who believe that dreams come true."
"Cinderella?" Mickey asked, already sensing that this Cinderella person must be one of those people with pure hearts filled with light; A Princess of Heart. He then smiled, saying, "Gosh, she sounds very nice."
"And I can tell that both of you have pure hearts filled with light as well, dears." Fairy God-Mother replied, before kindly asking, "Now, may I ask your names?"
Mickey introduced himself, "Name's Mickey: Mickey Mouse."
"I'm Jason. Pleasure to meetcha, miss Godmother." Jason greeted, before remebering something and then requested sheepishly with a sweatdrop, "Um...do you mind making the two us bigger please? I don't like the idea of being small." which Mickey also remembered and shrugged awkwardly as well.
Fortunately, the Fairy Godmother nodded, "Of course, dears. Just a moment." before she waved her arms and wand around, chanting a magic spell, "Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!"
A spell of light surrouned both Jason and Mickey who were awed by this, until they were both covered in the light and then both grew bigger and bigger until they were now in their normal sizes as the light faded, returning the two travellers back to normal. Realising this as they looked at themselves and their surroundings, they both sighed in relief. It was pretty scary to have been unexpectedly shrunk down to size, so it was great to be back to normal height.
"Thank you, Fairy Godmother." Mickey said to the Godmother, admitting while once again supressing a shudder, "I was a little scared for a while there, and I know I shouldn't be."
'You're not the only one.' Jason thought. He already decided that he never wanted to experience in being small ever again as long as he lived.
To their surprise, the Fairy Godmother said to Mickey in a knowing tone, "Being afraid is nothing to worry about, dear. As long as you believe in others deep within your heart, the darkness will not hurt you." (~End Bibbidi,Bobbidi,Boo~)
"Huh?" Mickey blinked, astonded.
Jason was as well, as he asked, in a whisper while making sure no one else was listening, "How'd you know about darkness?"
"A while ago, young others before both of you came arrived in different times, helping young Cinderella continue in believing in her dreams, which has finally come true. As a matter of fact, both of your hearts match that of Cinderella's heart. But then again, strong rays of sun create dark shadows." The Fairy Godmother explained, while referring to Ven, Grovyle, Terra, Serenity and Aqua.
While Jason was still a little confused on what he was hearing and at the same time wondered if Grovyle was here with Terra, Mickey's eyes widened as realization hit him, almost like a ton of bricks. Strong rays of sun create dark shadows. Meaning that the closer one gets to the light, the greater the darkness becomes. Mickey gazed down to the floor, hurt by these words. Master Yen Sid said that Mickey's heart was full of pure light, but then again...the closer Mickey would follow the light...that meant there was indeed darkness in his heart...and it was possibily starting to grow and increase.
"Then that means..." Mickey trailled off, unable to continue and tried not to get too upset.
Jason saw his friend's helpless look, realising that Mickey was once again fearing the darkness in his heart, and quickly told him, "Mickey, it's okay."
The Fairy Godmother also sensed the dread and noticed the increasing upset look on the young king's expression, quiring kindly, "Are you worried about the darkness in your heart?"
"I'm just scared that the darkness would overtake me." Mickey finally admitted, fiddling with his fingers together, asking a bit more to himself than the others in the room, "What if I end up hurting others that I care so much? What if I...what if I end up in a dark path and lose myself?"
"Oh, my dear. You are worrying yourself too much." The Fairy Godmother said, in an attempt to make Mickey feel better, before advising to both of them, "Continue to love those close to you, and nothing will overtake your hearts."
"Continue to love those close to us?" Jason repeated.
Mickey gazed up at his friend, explaining, "Well, there's more to love than just, well, ha ha, ya know, like two people come together." shrugging.
"Not sure I get it."
"You'll understand when you grow up into a fine young man." The Fairy Godmother told the eleven year old boy who, while still confused, decided to take up her advice and nodded.
Jason then asked kindly, "Um, is it okay if we can take look around?" referring to outside of the mansion.
"Of course, dears. This house is being sheltered by new owners sometime soon." The Fairy Godmother nodded.
"Thanks." Mickey replied, and Jason nodded in agreement.
After the two said their goodbyes to the Fairy Godmother and ventured out of the empty mansion(while Jason childishly taunted the now Frog Lucifer who glared at the boy), while handling the numbers of Unversed that appeared, Jason and Mickey passed the forest and entered a clearing where a fountain and a bench were at.
(~Sadness Theme*At Zanarkand-FFX*~)
Mickey however, still hurt and slightly haunted by what he heard, stopped and gave out a sigh. His sigh was heard by Jason who realized his companion was now behind him, causing him to stop and turn around, seeing the concerned look.
"Are you still worried?" Jason asked as he approached his friend who nodded.
"When I came back to Yen Sid's tower, and I told him that I was terrified of the thought of the darkness overtaking my heart and that I wanted to try and stop myself from being swallowed up by it, he told me the same thing he told me back a long time ago when I first met him." Mickey explained.
"What was that?"
"He told me that I had such powerful pure light within my heart, that I could be immune to the darkness, as long as I cared about those I love, or that I was probably born without darkness, so, it wouldn't even affect my heart if I ever come across the darkness." Mickey answered, almost repeating his mentor's speech word for word. He sighed again, and admitted, "But that didn't stop me from worrying, so he had me train to learn the balance of Light and Darkness and control it."
Now that he thought if it, he did pretty much messed up when the wave washed over him during that test before Mickey learned of the Unversed. Not only that, he was starting to regret in not having told Yen Sid about his desire to help protect the worlds from the Unversed and wondered if the Sorcerer was angry at the moment. One couldn't tell with the old man.
Sighing again, Mickey went over to the bench and took a said, cupping his chin with his hands while his elbows rested on his knees, as he continued, "But lately, I'm startin' to think that when we took off without tellin' him, I can't help but wonder if that's what would be one of the many things for it to take over me."
Jason could see the point there, but that didn't mean he was willing to think that his friend in front of him was going to give into darkness. Mickey was stubborn when it came to the welfare of others and only worrying about himself last. The future-boy then shrugged a little helplessly, "I heard that when a world is covered up in darkness, those who were too close to it will end up having their hearts consumed him darkness and live in fear and anger, only caring about themselves. Even those born in a world of darkness are likely to be effected."
Jason then added, "But Grovyle's different, because he saved me, and his heart was full of light. Mine too, for a weird reason. Still haven't figured that out yet." and that was the truth. Same with Lyla as well. All three of them, and the Planetary Investigation Team in the Pokemon World in the future.
When Mickey didn't say anything, Jason approached him and took a seat next to him, continuing, "But that's in the future, and that's a future I'm going to prevent, and I'm pretty sure Grovyle knows that by now too."
He then continued with a smile, "Mickey, you can still prevent the darkness from hurting others in other worlds, and you're doing it because you want to save the worlds and everybody living in them. Not to mention that you're helping me to find my best friend. I want to make sure Grovyle okay, but at same time, I wanna help the worlds too. If those're not causing light to burn in our hearts because we want to help others, then what else is Light?"
Mickey considered what his friend had told him, and it did sound similiar to what he learned five years ago when he first became Yen Sid's apprentince. "So you're basically saying is that we just followed what our hearts told us to do?" He asked, and when Jason nodded, Mickey then realised that he was right, and shrugged, "Gosh, I guess you're right. I've always thought about others in bad situations more than myself, even before I learned about the Keyblade."
"That's why a lotta people really like you, Mickey." Jason smiled happily, then turned sheepish as he added, "...Except bad guys, but you know what I mean. And I like you too, because you're my friend." shrugging as he realised, "The first friend I've ever had here in the past."
This made Mickey emotional which he tried to keep in check, wiping away tears that formed as he smiled, feeling better. "Aw, gosh, Jason. I'm glad to have a friend like you too. You're the first I've ever had that came from the future." (~End Sadness Theme*At Zanarkand*~)
Just then, the moment was shattered as both Jason and Mickey heard some sparks and turned in the same direction, noticing sparks of purple electricity coming from the glamourous castle up ahead. Immediately, the two companions leaped off the bench and knew that they had some rescuing to do.
"Something's not right." Jason said.
"Seems like we've gotta help others here!" Mickey declared, "C'mon!"
"Right!"
(~Unforgettable-KH:BBS~)
At the Castle Courtyard just at the entrance of the castle, hundreds of jellyfish/mushroom like Unversed were hovering threateningly towards the Prince, a young Maiden who is Cinderella, and the Grand Duke who are backing away slowly. Just as one of the Unversed made to attack, it never had the chance as a voice yelled out from behind the Unversed, "Leave them alone!"
The Unversed all turn to see Jason and Mickey approaching them as the two summoned their Keyblades and got into fighting stances. While the two were concerned at the large number of the Unversed, both of them knew that the safety of this world was more important, so they had to do this.
"Stay away from them and the Castle right now!" Mickey demanded at the Unversed.
The two then charged as did the Unversed in a large battle while the Prince, Cinderella and the Grand Duke retreated to the Castle while concerned for the welfare of the two young travellers who were risking their lives to protect them and their Kingdom.
Jason whacked and slashed at three Unversed before dodge-rolling out of the way and then rolled backwards before stopping on his knees and tricked the Unversed into thinking he was surrendering before giving all three of them an upper-cut at the chest with his Keyblade. He then leaped when another Unversed tried to hit him with a Thunder spell but missed, and then he side slashed it from left to right, from up to down, and whacking it by the angle before thrusting his weapon downward from head to bottom, causing it vanish instantly. Jason then rolled out of the way from another red Jellyfish Unversed and then waited before it flew towards him. He caught it just in time as he swiped at it, causing it to disappear completely.
Mickey casted spells of Light at seven other Unversed before once again preforming his air-triple somursaults that knocked five more Unversed several times and defeating them before landing safely on the ground. He then flowfully striked at a two Unversed with his agility and coordination. Mickey finished off the Unversed before dodging eight more Unversed which he took out with a twister-like swipes three times each before doing the same to another, catching the Unversed off-guard. He then used Anti-Gravity to catch five Unversed to lower their flight and then swiped them with his Keyblade.
Jason and Mickey then either blocked or dodged more incoming spells from the Unversed while Jason then tossed his Keyblade at one of them which actually hit three, destroying them twice before it returned to him and Mickey counterparted with Firaga at three more, following up with Thunderaga and Blizzaraga which either burnt, electrocuted or froze the Unversed into oblivion. The duo then raced forward and combatted against the Unversed army multiple hits, slashs, thrusts and whacks with effortless team-work.
This was repeated several times with the decreasing number of the Unversed before the duo once again used their special combined move to finish their opponents off.
Mickey held out his hand to Jason, calling out, "C'mon!"
"Let's go!" Jason agreed while joining hands with Mickey and once again the two formed a circle their backs touching and then held out their Keyblade which created the swirling circle of light, spreading the area which hit the rest of the Unversed army many times as they all tried to get to them but failed and ultimately faded into nothing, while the two wielders finished their move and landed on the ground safely.
The two glanced around before they were convinced that, despite feeling worn out, the Unversed Army was defeated. (~End Unforgettable~)
After Mickey healed the both of them, he and Jason dismissed their Keyblades as Cinderella, the Prince and the Grand Duke approached them once they knew that they were once again saved from the monsters that attacked recently.
"Thank you for saving us and our Kingdom." The Prince thanked, as his fiance and Grand Duke nodded in agreement.
"It was nothin'. Just glad we made it in time." Mickey replied, and Jason nodded in agreement.
Cinderella, having seen the two, couldn't help but say, "Those swords...Terra had one as well." making the two of them blink in surprise.
"Terra..." Jason muttered, before realising what Cinderella meant, and asked, hopefully, "Hold on, was he with somebody else?"
"Why yes. His name is Grovyle. Is he your friend?"
"My best friend, yeah." Jason confirmed, relieved, "Where is he?"
Too bad his hopes in finding his friend in this world were dashed as the Duke answered apologetically, "Oh dear, I'm afraid you're little too late. Grovyle and Terra had left long before both of you came."
"Why am I not surprised?" Jason sighed as his hung his head low, disappointed.
While Mickey felt sorry for his friend, he then pressed on to the more important matters and asked the trio of this world, "Do ya know why those monsters appeared outta nowhere?"
(~Burden of Truth-CRISIS CORE: FINAL FANTASY VII~)
"They began to appear shortly after a boy in a mask arrived in our kingdom, I believe. Those that saw him said the monsters obeyed his every command." The Duke explained.
Hearing this was shocking news to both Jason and Mickey as they both glanced at each other, as the former exclaimed, "The guy in the mask...Vanitas was controlling those things? No way...!"
So Vanitas was behind the Unversed, which made their theory of about the situation more and more of reality. As Jason and Mickey both turned back to the Duke, Mickey asked urgently, "Is he still here?"
"Well... No, I don't believe anyone has seen him since then." The Duke answered.
So Vanitas wasn't here either. While it was good news that he wasn't around causing more problems, it raised concerns as Jason and Mickey both realised that the bad guy in the mask was possibly in another world, still causing problems while sending out the Unversed.
"Is there anything else we can help you in return?" Cinderella offered.
"No, thank you. We'll be fine on our own." Mickey kindly declined, knowing that both he and Jason had to get going, not only to find Grovyle, but also to try and stop Vanitas and if they had to, stop this Xehanort as well.
"Thanks, anyway." Jason concluded as he and Mickey both bowed their respects at the trio who nodded in return.
After saying farewell to them, Jason and Mickey then turned to leave and left the castle and courtyard behind. Once the trio were out of earsdrop, the former couldn't help but ask, "Vanitas was the one bringing the Unversed into the worlds?"
"The magic Mirror did say that he and Xehanort are on the same side." Mickey shrugged, before questioning, more to himself than to his friend in deep thought, "But why would they do such a thing? What is it do that want?"
"The darkness in their hearts?" Jason guessed.
"Could be." Mickey nodded in agreement. "I gotta know more about this."
Making up his mind, Jason nodded to himself before declaring, "Count me in. If this is the case, then the future of darkness could happen ten years early, and I don't anyone to face that, if at all."
Seeing how his future friend was serious, Mickey decided that Jason was here to stay for a while, replying, "Then let's get goin'. We still gotta warn Grovyle and the others about this when we see them." also referring to Terra, 'Sailor Moon', Ven and Aqua.
Jason nodded in agreement, before the two were once again wrisked away by the Starshard and the wristband. While they were prepared to face more dangers, they were unaware of the more threats that were yet to come that would ultimately set forth in Mickey's future. (~End Burden of Truth~)
Meanwhile, back in the Future in the Solar Universe...
It's been at least a couple of days since Jason and Grovyle left for the Pokemon world to begin their long investigation in how and if Temporal Tower can be restored to it's former glory, which would allow Time to finally return to the rest of the worlds and not just Earth. While Lyla, who was seated at the same cliff she seated with her friends a few nights ago, had expected to not see them for a while, she couldn't help but dread that something went wrong.
The ten year old had her hair-clip with the blue crystal in the palm of her hand, remembering how she given them their goodluck charms. The crystals of the Starshard. Why did Lyla feel like Jason and Grovyle were in trouble? She was so worried about them. She felt completely useless, almost like a damsel in distress, which really, being a damsel in distress was not her style. She never liked the idea of being shown as weak like princesses in fairytales or like in horror movies.
No. Lyla was an adventurous type, and she cared more about her friends than herself. Nodding to herself, she replaced her hairclip back into her hair and stood up, declaring to herself, "That does it. I'm going after them. I wanna help them bring Time back to the Pokemon world too!"
With that in mind, while she would have a little bit of trouble finding her way to the Pokemon world, Lyla rushed off to reunite with her friends and join them on their expedition to bring back time. Yet she was unaware of what she was about face.
Back in 1988 in the Multiverse...
A portal of time opened up in a skull-shaped rock on a jungle fested island surrounded by sea, as Chancellor stepped out, successfully having arrived in the same future as Serenity had arrived in earlier. He gazed around his new surroundings and smirked. While he had a feeling that the Moon Princess wasn't in this world, Chancellor was a patient man.
He would wait for her to come.
A/N: This ends the Castle of Dreams saga of this story, and in the next chapter, we return to Grovyle and Terra, back at, where else, Olympus Coliseum. Sorry that this chapter was shorter than the last one, but I think I'm ending up where the chapters alternate from being shorter and longer. See you real soon!