DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT THE PLOT AND MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!

A/N: HELLO THERE! THIS IS ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE "'HAPPY DAYS'" WE ARE ALWAYS ENJOYING!
Why, you ask? Simple! Chapter 27 Has Now ARRIVED! HALLELUJAH! HIP-HIP-HOORAY! YES!

Okay! Okay! Enough with the excitement! No, I did NOT mean the readers/viewers! I was talking to the opening title(s) crew. They can get SOOOOOOO Carried Away!

So, for all of you who are eager to read on ahead, I just wanted to state a few things first.
(1.) ATTENTION ALL "Once Upon A Time" FANS! Progress on Chapter 4 of "Once Upon A Time ~The Darkest Age~" has started. However, it will be postponed until after 7 [SEVEN] REVIEWS have been posted on it! So far, only 3 [THREE] REVIEWS have been posted! Therefore, Chapter 4 shall have to wait until 4 [FOUR] MORE REVIEWS have been posted on that story!
(2.) I apologize for taking such a long time to write Chapter 27. Things got a little hectic lately, and I am still trying to sort a few of them out. I HOPE Chapter 28 takes less time to complete. I REALLY LIKE WRITING THIS STORY!
(3.) PLEASE CHECK OUT THE POLL ON MY PROFILE PAGE! IT SHALL NOT REMAIN OPEN INDEFINITELY!

Anyways, Ever since I came back from DISNEY WORLD, I have been in the mood to watch mainly Disney Movies. I wanted to tell you I also got to meet JOY And SADNESS from Disney-Pixar's "INSIDE OUT (2015)", DONALD DUCK, GOOFY, and even MINNIE MOUSE - ALL AT EPCOT!
I will tell you it was difficult NOT to look at JOY! She was as hyper as in the movie - and she LOVED dancing around and letting her dress twirl.
Donald Duck signed his autograph, "DONALD DUCK #1". What a surprise, huh?
I told Goofy, "A-Hyuck!", and he whispered to me, "You got it!" In that moment, I felt REAL DISNEY MAGIC! It is extremely easy to notice Disney Magic whenever you watch one of their movies/shows/anything-else-Disney-related!
If only SORA was a meet-able character...

So, I decided to just let you read on ahead. Please keep in mind, This Chapter is a much DARKER Chapter than Chapter(s) 25 OR 26! YOU WERE WARNED!

In other words, PLEASE READ AND REVIEW TO YOUR HEART'S CONTENT!

CHAPTER 27
A Shady Character

The ballroom was looking fancier and fancier. Pieces of holly and mistletoe were being hung all around the room. The fragrance of the plants seemed to hang high in the air. The only sounds were the footsteps of everyone walking or hobbling around.

Sora approached a long, wooden table and carefully threw a white cloth over it. He proceeded to tuck it in on the sides and ends. Once it was neatly on the table, he bent over and scooped up a stack of china plates. He calmly placed one at each seat. Next, he grabbed some spoons, knives, and forks and placed one of each at each spot. He paused for a moment, realizing he had fourteen forks; each one was a different size. He sighed, recalling how his mother had once explained to him that there would be one fork for each course during a holiday meal.

He placed the remaining silverware onto the table. As he wiped his forehead, he thought the pile of metal objects resembled a bunch of scrapped cars. He shook his head. He hated doing work like this — it was sooo tiring! It reminded him of all those chores his mom had insisted he do the day he had turned sixteen.

Sixteen years' worth of work… in one day. No wonder he hated it. After all, he had always either tricked Riku or Kairi into doing his jobs, or he would offer Amemi a new seashell for her collection in exchange for her doing all his chores. Now he wished he had gotten used to doing all this work. It would have payed off in the long run.

He wondered… why didn't he ever think everything through? He shrugged it aside and returned his attention to the table.

"No, no, no!" a strict voice said from behind. Sora spun around to see Angelique waving her right hand at him and shaking her head. "Every fork must be in its proper place. The smallest one goes on the outside and the biggest one on the inside."

Sora sighed deeply. He picked up the silverware and started sorting it out. By the time he had finished this, he had heard Angelique scolding others in the ballroom. He glanced around. He saw the Christmas angel was now lecturing Goofy and Launchpad for casually tossing holly and mistletoe all over the place; the knight immediately started sweeping up the colorful, decorative twigs.

He spotted Donald helping Cogsworth clean off ornaments. Many of them were sparkling. Some of the shone brightly like the moon on a clear night. A few seemed to move by themselves. The rest were a little dusty and needed to be polished. That was where the duck mage and the clock came into play.

This sight made Sora shake his head and smile, a little. He recalled how Donald had once spent two hours to clean the Gummi Ship's windshield after Goofy had taken the controls and flown through a comet's tail. All that dust and ice… it had taken several washings to clear the window.

Sora's eyes now landed upon Amemi. The sandy-haired teenager was busy hanging a strand of silver garland all around the room. He watched as she carefully wrapped the strand around a column a few times, cut it from the main strand, and then moved on to the next one. This sight did not surprise him. His sister tended to help set up the decorations for any party, celebration, or holiday. In fact, the brown-haired young man would not be surprised if she had been the one who'd placed all the decorations for his surprise birthday party.

Sora had to smile at watching everyone getting ready for the Christmas dinner and party. As he saw Lumiére and Mrs. Potts directing various decorations around, the seventeen-year-old Keyblader relaxed. He placed his hands behind his head and started to sway a little.

For now, all he needed to do was watch.

A soft noise seized his attention. He stood upright and swung his head around. That was when he noticed something else about the unexpected sound. It was also graceful like… music? It almost felt like the songbooks he had explored with Riku and Violet back in the Symphony of Sorcery. Of course, that was simply a coincidence… or was it? He did not know for sure.

He noticed the others around him were starting to take note of the music. "What is that?" Amemi asked as she stopped wrapping some garland around a column. "It sounds… beautiful."

"And spooky," Goofy gulped.

Sora turned to Cogsworth. "What is it?"

"Oh, that's just Forté," Cogsworth muttered in reply. "He's probably busy composing another song for the Master."

Donald grabbed some tissues from his pockets and stuffed them into his ears. "I don't care who he is! That stupid music is too loud!"

That was when Sora realized Donald had a point. The music had grown louder as the group had been listening. This made Sora wonder why… or rather, who this "Forté" was like. His mind went back over how everyone else in the castle had been transformed into tangible items thanks to the spell that Enchantress had placed on the castle. This led him to assume this "Forté" was probably some kind of musical instrument.

The music continued to play. Sora's ears perked up. He froze. They seemed to be telling him something. He wondered… what was it? What about this music was getting his attention?

He needed to find out more.

Sora signaled to his teammates to join him by the exit door. Not sure what the young man was getting at, Amemi, Donald, Goofy, Launchpad all shrugged and followed Sora out the door. Once they were all gathered in the entrance hall, Sora turned to his friends. "I don't know about you, but I'm curious about this guy, 'Forté'," he said. "Wanna check it out?"

Donald and Goofy seemed a little hesitant. Sora was very familiar with this reaction. Those two always became quite nervous whenever Sora was eager to do one thing or another. He had often made them jump in surprise by simply joking around about stuff. Once, he had suggested taking a pirate ship out for a joy-ride. He could still perfectly recall the reactions on Donald and Goofy's faces. Boy, were they relieved when he had added in how it was all a joke!

"Sora," a voice said from the left. Sora, Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, and Amemi all looked to the left and saw Belle coming up the stairs towards them. Chip was standing in her open hand. At the far side of the entrance hall, the front door was slightly cracked open.

"Belle," Sora said. "What's going on? I thought you were outside."

"Me, too," Goofy nodded.

"Yeah," Donald stated with a suspicious look in his eyes.

"I think we all were convinced you weren't inside," Amemi indicated. Launchpad simply gave a nod of his own.

"We were outside," Belle explained. She looked up to the other side of the room. From there, Sora knew the stairs led to a corridor that led down to the West Hall.

"It's… the music," the young woman went on. "It sounds beautiful."

Amemi gave a nod. Sora could tell his sister agreed with Belle. He wondered if this was one of those so-called "girl-things". Of course, the sandy-haired young lady had often claimed whatever Riku and Sora had been doing on their own at the Children's Play Island "boyish-things". He only knew this was true since he had once overheard Amemi telling Kairi this during a sunset a few days before. He had not thought about it much at the time… yet, now it seemed to distract his mind.

He shoved the thinking process into oblivion and told Belle how he was going to check out the source of the unknown music. Before Belle could reply, the red footstool-dog raced up the stairs, nearly knocked Belle and Donald off their feet, and hurried up in the direction of the West Hall.

"Hey!" Donald snapped at the footstool.

"Sultan?" Belle called to the sprinting piece of furniture. She hurried up the stairs after him.

"Hey! Wait up!" Sora called after Belle. He led his friends and sister up the steps after the young woman.

As Sora and his friends sped through the West Hall, they saw Belle round a corner. They came a stop on the other side. In the middle of the hall was a pack of blob-like creatures that were all a dark-purple shade. Everyone stared at the display before them.

"Heartless!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy declared.

They summoned their weapons and charged into the horde. Launchpad used his gas-gun. Amemi aimed with her slingshot. Belle leaned against the wall with Chip, just to be safe.

Sora charged up to one of the floating bubbles. "Take this!" he shouted. He jumped and swung his Keyblade at the Heartless. The weapon sliced straight through the monster, which evaporated in a flash. With a relieved grin, Sora proceeded to do the same for three more Heartless.

"Fire! Fira!" Donald sent five balls of flames at the drifting enemies. As each fireball made contact, one of the Heartless caught fire and exploded, weakening the others around it.

"C'mon!" Goofy charged into the fray. His shield smashed straight into one of the Heartless and vanquished it before he slammed into two additional Heartless behind it.

Within seconds, all the Heartless in sight were no more. Sora took a few moments to catch his breath. He turned to his companions and casually placed his Keyblade onto his shoulder. "Well, that's that!" he grinned.

He noticed his friends were filled with alarm. He saw it written all over their faces. Belle gasped and pointed into the distance. "Sora!"

"Watch out!" Amemi yelled.

"Huh?" Sora was perplexed. What was everyone looking at? He turned around in time to see a giant instrument sending something deadly at him. He leapt out of the way. "Whoa!"

He landed directly next to Amemi. "What IS this?!"

It was nothing like he had ever seen before. This particular creature was a tall, human-like being that resembled a marching band conductor with grey horns shaped like musical nots of the sides of its head. It was wearing a bright-green coat with black cuffs, a high, black collar, two, black, M-shaped patterns on its chest, white pauldrons with gold tassels on its shoulders, and a gold trim. Its pants were very baggy and sported black-and-white stripes. It wore white gloves and knee-high, black boots with slightly curled toes. It also had a tall, bright-green shako bearing a golden-white feather and violet trim. There was also a relatively large spike on the back of its head. Its red eyes were glaring at the group and there was a golden, lightning bolt-shaped baton in its right hand.

"It's a Heartless!" Donald exclaimed in alarm.

Sora stared at the creature. When he saw it twirl around like a top for a moment, he noticed a peculiar-looking symbol on its back. It seemed to resemble a darker version of the Heartless emblem.

With one wave of its baton, the creature caused three more monsters to appear. One of them was a red drum with white rims and two, dark-gray drumsticks with gold spheres on the ends.

Another was a golden trumpet with a silver mouthpiece and valves; it seemed to be a strange, zig-zagged shape.

The third one was an ordinary-looking violin, with the exception of an odd, V-shaped headstock and very deep side indentations. It was mostly brown with some black, lightning-shaped markings on its body. The bow was silver with an arrowhead-shaped tip.

"This is not a Heartless!" Sora realized. His eyes grew in astonishment. "It's… something else!"

The creature waved its baton around as though conducting an orchestra. The trumpet, violin, and drum started to play. A wave of reddish music flooded the room. Sora held his arm over his face to shield him from the shockwaves the music was making. Donald rushed behind Goofy's shield; the knight was already ducking behind it. Amemi leap behind Sora, and Launchpad barely held his ground.

Once the musical wave had ceased, Sora lowered his arm. He shook his head and jumped into his fighting stance. "I don't know what it is, but we've gotta stop it!"

The creature continued to wave its baton around and around. One by one, each of the instruments approached the group. Donald sent a series of fireballs at the violin and set its strings ablaze. Goofy slammed his shield straight into the drum and bounced back. He vibrated for a few seconds before coming to.

"A-Hyuck!" was all he could say.

Launchpad fired several rounds from his gas-gun. Each of them either bounced against the violin's strings, missed the drum, or were deflected by the conductor's waving baton. "Aw, gee…. "

Amemi fired her slingshot straight at the trumpet. She was so focused on the one enemy, she failed to see the violin and drum closing in on her. With one loud set of notes, the two instruments sent a series of glowing, red musical notes at the sandy-haired girl from both sides. Amemi screamed and she was thrown into the air and slammed into the nearby wall.

Sora gawked at the sight. "Amy!"

He hurried toward his sister. The drum set crossed his path. Sora glared at the monster. He was NOT about to let this terrible creature get away with this! He slashed his way through the drum, tearing it clear through and vanquishing the creature in the process. The trumpet got in the way next. He sliced his way through the instrument's valves and split them apart. When the violin came along, Sora tried to slice his Keyblade through the enemy's strings.

His blade was tangled in a hurry. As he tried to yank it free, Goofy came rushing over and smashed his shield into the strings. They buckled a lot, causing Sora's weapon to come flying free. The Keyblade tore out some many of the strings, the violin exploded into blue-fiery Darkness.

At last, Sora reached his sister. Amemi was just starting to rise from where she had landed onto the floor. She shook her head and looked around. When she saw her sister, she felt relieved. "Sora."

"It's okay," Sora assured her. He held out his hand. Amemi accepted it. He helped her to her feet. As she looked around, Amemi's eyes lit up.

"Sora!" she shouted, pointing into the direction of the enormous conductor.

Sora whirled around in time to see the creature giving a fiery, reddish glow. Its eyes seemed to be glowing a blood-red color. The seventeen-year-old Keyblader winced at the sight. This was nothing like he had ever seen before. It was clear this particular monster was not a Heartless, nor was it a Nobody.

It also seemed to be giving off a dark emotion. What was it? Jealousy? Why? What was this monster?!

The conductor turned to face Sora's team. It raised its arm back and then thrust it forwards. The baton went flying across the room like it was doing cartwheels. Goofy yelled for everyone to look out. The group rushed to the sides and the baton bounced off a wall — less than two feet away from Belle and Chip. The baton circled back and ended up in the conductor's hands.

Sora scowled at the creature. "Let's do this!" he declared.

In one swift move, Sora ran towards the enemy and jumped. Donald rushed forwards and did the same. At the same time, Goofy hurried ahead and leaped high into the air. Donald caused a column of ice to form around the creature's head. Goofy tossed his shield straight at it and shattered the icy block. Just as the shield was making impact, Sora swung his Keyblade at the creature. "It's over!" he yelled.

His blade went clear through the monster's head. The shako went flying into the wall. As he moved across the creature's short, blonde hair, Sora sliced his Keyblade in a sideways arc. The monster's head burst open, causing the entire creature to go up in bluish-colored flames. It happened so fast, by the time Sora's feet were back on the floor, the creature had vanished into Darkness.

"We did it!" Donald and Goofy cheered together.

"Oh yeah!" Launchpad agreed, giving a thumbs-up.

"Thank goodness!" Amemi sighed with relief.

Sora came running back to his friends. "That was weird," he remarked as he let his Keyblade vanish from his hand. "Where did that guy come from?"

Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad all shrugged. Amemi's face indicated she was as puzzled at the others. "Yeah, you're right," Sora admitted. He turned to the stairs leading to the West Wing. "We have more important things to do. Let's find that dog… err, footstool."

Amemi rolled her eyes. She had absolutely no clue what Sora was talking about. How could that footstool be a dog? True… it did act and sound like a dog. However, its appearance was that of a footstool. She shook her head.

This was one thing her brother still needed to explain to her.

Belle and Chip hurried by. "Sultan?" Belle called as she sped up the stairs.

Sora, Amemi, Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad were not far behind. They hurried to the Beast's room at the end of the hallway. From there, Belle led the way through the doorway Sora had earlier noticed was unfamiliar to him.

Back in the West Hall, a figure in a black-hooded coat peeked their head out from behind the banister. As they looked up to the second floor, the figure reached up and removed its hood, revealing spikey, black hair, pale skin, and golden-yellow eyes.

With a sneaky grin, the figure's eyes started to give a yellow glow. "Ah, yes, Ventus," it said in a rather deep voice. "I see you're still as strong as I remember. One day, you and I will join back together and help recreate the χ-blade!"

A dark portal opened behind them. The figure calmly replaced its hood before turning to the portal. They stepped through it without another word.

Once in the Beast's room, Sora's team continued to trail Belle as she walked through a doorway. Sora recognized this entrance now. Last time he, Donald, and Goofy had been to this place, they had somehow missed this door. Well, it was not much of a doorway. Rather, it was a small opening in the wall that led into the next room.

As the group stepped through, their footsteps started to echo about the enormous chamber on the other side. Sora looked around. Aside from the large windows on the opposite side of the room and the many candle-stands lit throughout, nothing seemed that out of the ordinary when compared to the rest of the castle.

He noticed a small fireplace near another doorway on the side of the room. He gazed up and saw the ceiling was completely shrouded by darkness. When he swept his eyes around the room, there no sign of life anywhere.

"There's nobody here," Sora muttered to himself.

The music had seemingly stopped. 'That was weird' Sora thought to himself. After taking down a peculiar-looking enemy, this unfamiliar part of the castle was somewhat… spooky. Where had the music in this place come from? How would he find out?

Sora saw the footstool-dog, Sultan standing beside Belle. "I found him," she told the others.

"Alrighty," Goofy chuckled. "Then let's go."

"Wait," Sora blurted. "What about that music? Isn't this where it came from?"

The members of his team all shrugged and shook their heads a little. The brown-haired Keyblader frowned. "C'mon! Let's take a look around here! We gotta solve this mystery! How do we know there aren't any Heartless in here?"

"Look around," Amemi pinpointed. She gestured her hands all over. "You can see this place is empty."

Sora shook his head. "I don't think so. I'm going to check it out. Are you coming along?"

Launchpad grinned. "Heh! What've we got to lose? Christmas is tomorrow, but we've got plenty a-time to finish those decorations!"

One by one, the others all gave in. Sora nodded and suggested they split up to search the area. Sora headed for the fireplace. Amemi hurried to the windows. Goofy approached the side of the room where a few boxes and chairs were being kept. Launchpad neared the exit doorway. Donald strolled to the only wall without any candlelight.

Amemi felt along the windows. She could feel the cold, winter air blowing around outside. As she slid her hand against the window, her feet bumped into a wooden trunk on the floor. She stared at it for a moment. She cautiously approached the chest and, finding it unlocked, opened it. All she found inside where blank pieces of paper. "Wait a moment," she said softly. "This looks a little like… music?"

Donald continued to walk around. His hands were tucked behind his back and he was whistling softly. His eyes were rolled back as though saying "I didn't do it!". The keys of a piano caught his eye. Recalling all those lessons his mother had insisted on, Donald looked both ways before a sneaky grin formed on his face.

"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy," he muttered to himself. He crept up to the keyboard and plopped himself onto the dusty stool before it. He reached his hands out and cracked his knuckles. He was about to touch the keys when a deafening blast of music filled the room. The vibrations shook the place so much, Donald bounced off the stool and tumbled onto the floor.

"Yeow!" Donald shrieked in alarm. He noticed Sora, Goofy, Launchpad, and Amemi all trying to keep their balance as the noise rocked the chamber. Even Belle and Chip bounced around a little. A few window panes gave a crack or two.

"Donald!" Sora stated in a serious tone once the noise had ended. "What're you doing?!"

"That wasn't funny!" Amemi scolded.

"I didn't do it!" Donald hastily said.

"A-Hyuck! Hey, fellahs! Look what I found!" Goofy called from the other side of the room. Sora and the others swung their attention straight to the knight. The anthropomorphic dog was gesturing them over from a nearby chair.

Sora led his team over to where Goofy was at. Belle came over with Chip. To their amazement, a tiny piccolo was standing in the chair.

"Oh, hello," Belle said in her very polite style. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Belle."

"I'm Sora," Sora introduced.

"I am Amemi," Amemi said. She gestured to the other three. "That's Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad."

"Are you… Forté?" Sora inquired.

The piccolo rapidly shook its head. "No," he said in a speedily voice. "F-Fife."

"We heard the most beautiful music," Belle told Fife.

Goofy nodded. "Yeah! Was it you?"

Fife gave a giggle. "Me? You thought that was… me?"

Before Sora and the others had a chance to cover their ears, Fife turned a bright red color and unleashed an ear-splitting squeak. Donald started to complain about the noise, yet no one could hear him over the short, yet deafening, sound.

"Excuse me, please," a loud, deep voice declared from the shadows. As the words echoed about the room, Sora, Amemi, Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, and Belle all swung their attention to the nearby wall. To their surprise, a gigantic pipe organ was situated against the wall. The lack of proper lighting in the room made it difficult to see the instrument.

Nevertheless, Sora thought he saw a mask-like face located in the middle of the organ's tallest pipes. The face changed from a blank look to a friendly smile. Sora nearly leapt in surprise.

"I am Maestro Forté," the face on the organ said. "Court composer and your most humble servant."

Sora gulped as he stared straight up at the face. This guy, Forté… he was the one Cogsworth had mentioned? He sure looked spooky. The sight reminded the spikey-headed youth of the residents of Halloween Town. He wondered if there was a connection there. Was there?

Belle fearlessly approached the pipe-organ with Chip hobbling over beside her. "Please to meet you, Monsieur Forté. I'm Belle."

"Yes, the entire castle is talking about you, child," Forté said. His tone of voice reminded Amemi of someone who was rolling their eyes. He was not even looking Belle in the eye as he spoke. "They say you are planning a Christmas Gala."

"Yeah," Donald nodded.

"Marvelous idea. The very thing to shatter the master's dark and gloomy past."

A mystified Amemi turned to Sora. "What is he talking about?" she asked.

Sora held up a hand. "It's not important," he told her.

Amemi crossed her arms, an annoyed look in her eyes. Forté ignored the two and went on. "But you must make this the grandest celebration ever."

He looked down at the group. "Have you gifts?"

"Yes," Sora approved.

"Food?"

"Yep!" Chip confirmed.

"Garlands? Ribbons? Wreaths?"

"You name it, we've already got it set," Amemi proclaimed.

Forté continued without missing a beat. "Spangles and 'fandangles'? The trinkets? The trimmings? The trappings?"

Sora shook his head to the side. He had never heard of such things. Then again, there were always things he had never heard of before. Maybe this was all stuff needed for a Christmas celebration? It sure sounded like a lot of things!

"Yup," Chip nodded with delight. "We got 'em all!"

Forté gave a doubtful grin. "The tree?"

Chip sighed. "See, Belle?" he looked at the young woman. "I told ya."

Donald stared at the two. "You didn't find a tree?!"

"Well… we found one," Belle admitted.

"But it was on the piddlin' side of punny," Chip added.

"I remember having a similar thing happen to me," Launchpad blurted. "I got a tiny, green tree and I put one ornament on it. The tree leaned over and the ornament fell into the snow."

"Hey! I remember that!" Goofy added. "It was like in thuh old cartoon movie! A-Hyuck!"

Donald glared at the pilot and knight. "Shut-up!" he scolded them, a fiery look in her eyes.

Forté gave a laugh; this seemed to irritate Donald all the more (for a few milliseconds). He shifted his gaze to the window. "But, did you look in the Black Forest?" he questioned. "There, you will find a tree better than any you can dream of."

Sora turned his eyes to the window. In the distance, he could see the forested landscape. A few mountains rose beyond the trees. One look at the forest, and he agreed the name Forté had called it by was fitting. It almost looked like the place where Heartless and Nobodies would be lurking.

"'Better'?" Chip beamed. He turned to Belle. "We gotta go Belle! We gotta!"

Belle turned to the teacup and held out her hand for him. Chip hopped into her open palm and she raised him up to her face so she could look in the eye. "Chip, we can't," Belle said. "I promised your master I wouldn't leave the castle grounds."

"You did?" am astonished Sora said. There were a number of new things going on here he had never expected.

Belle nodded. "I gave my word."

She lowered her hand and allowed Chip to hop back onto the ground. His eyes were downcast and he was looking at the floor.

"Cheer up, son," Forté said, drawing everyone's focus back to him. "There is a profound lesson to be learned here. Keeping your word is much more important than bringing joy to another."

"What?!" Donald and Goofy exclaimed.

"That doesn't make any sense," Sora stated.

"I'm completely confused," Launchpad admitted. "Don't worry! I'm used to it!"

Belle frowned at the giant organ. "You're twisting what I say," she folded her arms.

"Not at all," Forté countered. "I agree with you. Look after yourself. Let the Master do the same. Never mind that the tree was always his favorite part of Christmas."

Now, Sora was also crossing his arms. He could sense a hint of manipulation in Forté's words. "Favorite part of Christmas"? Yeah, right! That was one of the oldest forms of trickery. Sora knew it anywhere.

He was not as naïve as he used to be. Ever since he had ventured through the Realm of Sleep with Riku and Violet, he had somehow changed. He was not sure why or how this had taken place. All he knew was, it was coming in strange forms.

He had acted rather hyper and a lot like his sister when he had celebrated Riku becoming a Keyblade Master. He had nearly shoved Kairi into the sea one evening while she was standing on the dock with her eyes on the distant sunset. He had easy beaten Tidus and Wakka in a two-against-one fight before dawn. Selphie had claimed to see Sora cheating with some type of "glowing sword". Not too long ago, Goofy had indicated he was using the power of Darkness. He had seemingly shoved Judge Frollo off the bell tower of Notré Dame.

Sora tried not to let it bother him. Surely, all these events were just coincidences… weren't they? Hopefully, they were. He was still trying to make sense of all this. Now, that was definitely not one of his strong points!

"Please, Belle, please," Chip begged. Sora and Amemi noted the teacups reactions significantly resembled the look a little dog gave whenever it was pleading.

Belle shifted her gaze to the window. "It looks dangerous."

"Mademoiselle," Forté said. "You are in more danger in this very room, I assure you."

Sora saw Amemi folding her arms and giving the same suspicious look Belle had. Those last few words Forté had said… why did they sound so… peculiar? It did sound like the composer-turned-pipe-organ was hiding something. Whatever it was, it was clear neither of the two siblings knew was it could be.

After a few long seconds, Belle finally lowered her arms. "All right."

Chip hopped into the air with delight. "Yes!"

"We'll help," Sora instinctively said in turn.

Amemi, Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad all shrugged. Once again, the seventeen-year-old Keyblade wielder was eager for another adventure — even if it was simply going into the forest beyond the castle's grounds.

"We'll take Phillipe," Belle added. "If we hurry, we can be back by nightfall."

"Hurray!" Chip cheered with excitement.

Belle bent down so Chip could hop into her hand. "Au reviour, Monsieur Forté," she said to the enormous piano. "You'll keep our secret, won't you?"

"Of course, Mademoiselle," Forté replied less than a moment later. "The Master will remain completely in the dark."

Belle turned to Fife. "Au reviour, Fife."

Fife blushed and waved as Belle left the room with Chip. Sora followed her out the door. He glanced back to see Forté giving the same grin he had the entire time. He wondered… why did the composer seemed so… suspicious?

Amemi, Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad were all out the door shortly after Sora had left.

Once the group had departed from the chamber, Forté turned his eyes to Fife. The tiny piccolo was still waving at the doorway. His cheeks were a slight shade of red. "Au reviour," he muttered in a soft voice that echoed about the otherwise empty space.

Forté rolled his eyes in irritation. "Fife!" he shouted. Fife whirled around and looked up straight at the giant organ. "I want you to follow them," the former stated. "Make sure that they don't come back."

Fife gasped and glanced back at the still-open doorway. "Oh, but Maestro, she's so nice…. "

Forté snorted. "When you are finished fauning, Fife, perhaps you can recommend someone else to play your solo?"

A series of greenish musical notes drifted from the pipe organ's pipes and started to open a wooden trunk near the windows. A song started to play from inside.

The instant he heard the song, Fife spun around and started to hobble for the door. "No! I'm going, I'm going."

Forté gave his typical sinister grin. He spotted the three Beagle Boys stepped out from their hiding place near the fireplace's mantle. The trio looked as perplexed as ever.

"What's going on?" one of the tall Beagle Boys asked.

"I don't understand," the second tall one added.

The third one turned to Forté. "How did Sora get here?"

"Hmm?" Forté raised an eyebrow. "You know that young man?"

The Beagle Boys immediately nodded. They quickly filled in the castle's composer all about their encounter with Sora and his team in the world of La Ville de Sonner Les Cloches. They went into a lot of detail about how the Keyblade and his sandy-haired sister had defeated them and a huge Heartless in the city square.

Forté gave a darker grin than before. "Well, fortunately for you, everything is going according to plan. We will have that 'Sora' and also prevent Christmas from coming back to the castle."

The Beagle Boys all gave dark grins of their own.

Less than five minutes had passed since Sora had left the castle with Belle and Chip. The three had taken the Axe from the boiler room with them when they had left for the forest. Amemi had watched them hitch a red sleigh to a large horse. She had witnessed them leaving.

Now, she was sitting in chair near the window. She continued to look out anxiously. What if there were Heartless in those trees? Maybe Sora could handle them. Then again, what if he was too far outnumbered? She recalled all the Heartless Frollo, Pete, and the Beagle Boys had used in the ambush in the Count of Miracles. Now, she was worried!

…She wondered if this was how their mother often worried about Sora's safety. This had taken its toll during that year Sora had seemingly vanished altogether. Amemi hated to think about it. That very idea of seeing an extra bedroom with such an enormous mess had never made sense… until she had finally remembered her brother. Even though Kairi had told her over and over there had been another boy in addition to Riku on the island, Amemi had refused to believe it.

She shook the terrible memories away from her mind. She watched as Lumiére tried to direct the servants to raise the room's chandelier higher and higher to the ceiling. Donald watched in awe from the other side of the ballroom.

Amemi looked to the controls. To her surprise, Goofy and Launchpad were the ones operating the chandelier. "Careful, Careful," Lumiére instructed. The chandelier slipped. His eyes grew with alarm. "Too fast! Get out of the way! Stop!"

The enormous chandelier came rushing down at the floor. Donald panicked and ducked underneath the table in the middle of the room. The light fixture came to a sudden halt on the tabletop. Donald gave a sigh of relief as he crawled out.

"Huh!" Angelique snorted from where she stood on the other end of the table. "Amateurs!"

Amemi had to roll her eyes. She watched both Goofy and Launchpad casually slip out of the ballroom. They left the door open. Before Amemi could rise to her feet and close it, a loud voice echoed into the room. "Cogsworth!"

Cogsworth raced to the door and beyond. "Oh yes, coming, coming!" he called in return.

"Cogsworth!" the voice bellowed again. Amemi did not have to take a second thought to recognize it as the Beast.

A few minutes passed. That was when Cogsworth returned, a nervous look in his eyes. "Excuse me, hello! Has anyone seen Belle?" he told everyone. "I can't find her anywhere and the Master is demanding to see her now."

"Why?" Donald asked.

"He's got a song he wants her to hear," Cogsworth explained.

Lumiére grinned brightly with enthusiasm. "C'est magnifique!"

"Last I saw of her," Mrs. Potts said. "She was going with Chip and Sora to look for a Christmas tree."

Amemi's eyes grew with realization. Had her feelings of dread proved true? Hopefully not! She could not bear the thought of her brother being in danger. It was not like him to be caught with his guard down. It was impossible thanks to his Keyblade.

"Right," Cogsworth decided. "We must conduct a search of the grounds. Lumiére, you're with me."

Lumiére saluted. "You can on me, Mon Capitaine!"

The two headed out of the room. Cogsworth peered back a second later and said, "Mrs. Potts, stall the Master."

He glanced back out the door and hurried away. "Lumiére, Lumiére, wait! I'm leading! Me first, you second."

"Cogsworth!" The Beast's voice echoed for the third time. "I'm waiting!"

Mrs. Potts rushed out the door before Amemi could react. Donald stepped up to the young woman. "Well, what now?"

Amemi gave a shrug. "I have absolutely no idea what is going on here," she admitted. Deep down, she wished she did know what was happening. There were too many questions lacking their answers.

The strong scent of smoke grabbed their attention. "Not again!" Donald deeply sighed. He charged out the door.

Amemi rolled her eyes. It was clear Goofy and Launchpad were back in the kitchen trying to make cookies — and they had burned them all again. "What's new these days?" she told herself.

She rose from her seat and walked towards the middle of the room. The decorations strung all over seemed to sparkle in the light of the now-rising chandelier. She smiled, recalling how much she had always enjoyed looking colorful lights — especially during the holidays! It was always something she looked forward to seeing. That, and the "WordGirl Christmas Special", "Holiday Cheese". They were both two of her traditions.

She looked traditions — particularly the ones regarding holidays. Routines were a little part of that, even though she had come to take things as they came. Sora, on the other hand, had never learned to accept things in stride. He often battled, argued, and fought his way through them.

'That could be a reason why he's got a Keyblade,' Amemi thought to herself. She continued to admire the decorated ballroom. This was of those scenes she wanted to remember as long as she could possibly remember anything.

At once, Cogsworth and Lumiére came rushing back into the ballroom and straight up to the sandy-headed girl. Amemi was startled to see the two out-of-breath. To top it off, they were also showing fearful expressions on their faces.

"What's wrong?" Amemi inquired.

"This is catastrophic!" Cogsworth declared. "They… they went into… the… the…. "

"…The Black Forest!" Lumiére completed.

Amemi gulped. The secret was out. She knew they had no choice. "I know. Sora went with them. They went into the forest to find a tree."

"But there are Heartless out there!" Cogsworth stated. "It's too dangerous!"

"We need to save them!" Lumiére said. "Will you come with us?"

Although she did not care for the candelabra's behavior towards her (and all the other girls in the castle), Amemi knew they had to act — and fast! She nodded.

Donald suddenly appeared in the ballroom. "Let's go!"

One look at the duck's serious facial expression and Amemi instantly knew he had been informed of the situation. Not to mention, his wand was out and ready for fighting Heartless. She pulled out her slingshot. "Sora, Belle, here we come!"

The group hurried out of the ballroom. They raced to the exit doorway and out into the snow beyond. As they struggled through the deepening snowdrifts, Lumiére gazed back and Cogsworth. "Cogsworth, quit dawdling," he said.

"I'm not dawdling!" Cogsworth argued. "I'm waddling."

"Well, don't waddle then! We're in a hurry, you lazy, old clock!"

Amemi shook her head. The two servants were clearly not getting along too well — if at all. Hopefully, they would be able to work together once they had located Sora, Belle, and Chip.

Time was passing at a snail's pace. He continued to pace around with lots of anxiety. The Beast peered out the window in anticipation. The sun had just finished setting. He was getting more and more impatient. After all, patience had never been one of his favorite attributes.

Here he was all dressed up in his best suit, standing beside a candlelit table, awaiting Belle's presence. The only thing he could hear was a ticking clock. Tick-tock… tick-tock… tick-tock… tick-tock… tick-tock… tick-tock… tick-tock… tick-tock… tick-tock… tick-tock… tick-tock… tick-tock…. He was about ready to seize that annoying clock and smash it against the wall!

He gazed out the window after a few more minutes of pacing. "Why am I still waiting?" he insisted to know. He turned to the doorway. Belle and Cogsworth were still nowhere in sight. "Mrs. Potts!" he yelled.

In less than a minute, the old teapot came hobbling into the room. "Coming sir, coming," she said as she speedily approached the table. The instant she saw his frown, she quipped, "Such a brisk day. You look positively chilled to the bone!"

The Beast's frown grew. "Where's Belle?"

"How about a nice pot of tea, sir?" Mrs. Potts swiftly suggested. "Just a spot."

The Beast snorted his disapproval. He marched to the open doorway leading to the music hall. "Forté! Play Belle's song."

From the next room, the melody of a song could be heard from the composer's pipes. All he heard was music. He wanted much more for Belle. "You're not singing," the Beast bellowed.

"Deck the hall with boughs of Holly," a dejected Forté sang from the next room. "Fa la, la, la, la… la, la, la…. "

The Beast slammed his fist onto the table. "Louder!"

Forté's voice grew a little louder, even though his singing did not sound any better. "'Tis the season to be jolly…. "

The Beast turned away from the doorway. It was not his fault the castle's head composer was a terrible singer. This was his castle, so everyone had to do whatever he told them to. There were no exceptions. He was the Master and they were his servants.

"How 'bout some tea, sir?" Mrs. Potts suggested. "Good for the heart, you know."

The Beast growled softly. "No, thank you."

"Just a spot."

"No."

"But there's always room for tea, love."

The Beast pounded his fist onto the table. "I said 'NO'!"

Mrs. Potts shook her head rapidly. "Dearie me!"

The Beast raised an eyebrow. Something strange was going on here. "Mrs. Potts, are you trying to distract me?"

"Goodness no, sir," the teapot declared with haste. She swung her focus to the window. "Heavens, is that a yellow-bellied, double-breasted sapsucker? Rare this time of year."

He had heard plenty. The Beast knew something was up. "Enough!" he snapped. "Where's Cogsworth? Where's Belle?"

"Belle?" Mrs. Potts whimpered.

The Beast knew he had summoned the wrong person. He turned to the doorway. "Sora!"

"He's not here," Mrs. Potts accidentally let slip out.

The Beast stared at her. "Where are they?"

Mrs. Potts gulped. "We can't find them, sir."

The Beast leaped to his feet in a flash. "What?! Leave me!"

Mrs. Potts barely dodged the table as it flipped over. She hurried out the door to avoid the Beast's wrath. In the meantime, the castle's Master marched up to the small table where his rose was kept. He grabbed the bluish mirror beside it.

"Show me the girl!" he ordered.

The mirror immediately changed its reflection to show a projection of a reddish sleigh being pulled through the snow by a brown horse. In the carriage were Belle, Sora, and Chip.

The Beast glared at the display. He knew this meant only one thing. Belle was running away… and Sora was helping her. Although he was not sure why Donald and Goofy were absent, he kept his mind focused on Belle. He needed to take action — fast!

"I will bring her back," he stated in a very loud voice as he slammed the mirror down onto the table. It did not break, nor did it crack. He did not notice. He was just determined to get out there and retrieve Belle before anything happened to her. He knew Heartless were lurking in those woods and did not want anything to happen to his prisoner, even if she was with Sora.

He marched into the next room and headed for the doorway to the rest of the castle. Knowing this was a shortcut to the entrance hall, the Beast stormed towards it.

"No!" a voice declared from behind. The Beast spun around to see Forté staring at him. The gigantic pipe organ hastily added, "She's abandoned you!"

The Beast snorted at the composer. He turned to the door. "Listen to your old friend, won't you?" Forté quickly said. "have I ever steered you wrong? Lead you astray? No!"

The Beast turned back to face his servant. "But the girl," Forté sighed. His keyboard began playing a spooky melody. One might have assumed it was Halloween-style piece. He started to sing. "The quickest way to break your heart… make you depressed and ill… is to get tangled up inside… the side effects could kill…. "

As Forté sang, the Beagle Boys emerged from their hiding place to watch. The composer was shrouded in a cloud of Darkness that was growing thicker by the second. "All passion is a waste of time… a deadly game, pour vous… I am your friend, your cher ami… I wouldn't lie to you…. "

One of the Beagle Boys grabbed a mirror and rushed it up to the Beast. The creature seemed to be under some kind of spell. Either that, or he was in a trance. "If you must love someone, may I suggest," Forté continued. "You love yourself! Just think it through… you'll never leave and you will find… you'll get more rest… you'll always feel as good as new…. "

The Beast grinned at his reflection. The glass shattered a moment later. He glared at the Beagle Boy, suspecting a trick. The villain dashed away before the Beast could get his claws on him. Forté's playing intensified, causing green streaks of music to fly from his pipes. He pointed them towards the rose in the nest room. "Your freedom is the most-important thing, my friend… you must be strong, you mustn't bend… don't talk for hours… don't send flowers… don't write poems… don't sing and dance beneath the stars that shine above… don't fall in love!"

The green streaks of music transformed into a number of Air Soldier Heartless that were dark-blue colors instead of the usual brown or orange. The Beagle Boys stared in alarm, having never seen this coming.

Forté chuckled. "Don't do it!"

The Beast swirled around wildly. This was exactly what Forté wanted to see. He knew his manipulation in the song was working. "As soon as your heart rules your head… your life is not your own… it's Hell when someone's always there… it's bliss to be alone… and love of any kind is bad… a dog, a child, a cat… they take up so much precious time… now where's the sense in that?"

The Beagle Boys nearly jumped when a large Defender Heartless appeared out of the Darkness cloud around Forté. Their eyes were wide and alert, having seen this exact same thing happen with Judge Frollo in the Palace of Justice.

"Love takes the wildest heart and makes it tame," Forté added. "If you're turned on, then just turn off… emotions are a thing all great men overcame… please, don't make this grand catastrophe… don't get attached to anyone or anything… there's nothing worse than things that cling…. "

The Darkness from the composer surrounded the Beast. In no time, he was lifted into the air and hovering before Forté's glowing, green eyes. This was one sight the Beagle Boys hated to look at. It almost felt like the Devil had possessed the pipe organ.

"You'll go to pot," Forté continued to sing (or chant). "You'll turn to drink… you'll never rest… you'll end up mad and looking like some poor, tormented dove…. "

Forté gently allowed the Beast to land on his feet. "Don't fall in love…. DON'T FALL IN LOVE!"

In a single half-heartbeat, the Beast's eyes filled with rage and power. He roared with such force, the Beagle boys had to cover their ears. They watched as the castle's Master charged out of the room on all fours. He stormed down the halls beyond like a predator on the hunt.

The three blinked a few times. Had they just witnessed what they thought they had seen? Had Forté done something to that creature? What was going on? Outside from the fact Forté had caused numerous Heartless to show up, they were totally lost.

They swung their eyes to the composer. He was giving a darker grin than they had seen before.

"He sure looks creepy," one of the Beagle Boys commented.

"You ain't kiddin'," another said.

The third one gulped. "I don't like this."

Forté shifted his eyes to the trio. "Beagle Boys!" he bellowed. "Go out there and make sure this 'Sora' never makes it back to this castle! I can't have anyone interfering with my plans!"

The Beagle Boys all exchanged puzzled looks. After some quick shrugging, they turned back to the piano and saluted. "Sure thing, boss!"

The three hurried out the door. Several of the Heartless followed them. As he watched them leave, Forté maintained his proud smile. Once the girl, Belle, and that wretched boy were out of the way, nothing would be able to stop him from making the spell permanent. "Yes," he grinned. "The time is near."

The ballroom was brightly lit considering the time of night. Angelique was walking across the table in the middle of the room. She slowly strolled around each table setting, checking to see if Sora had done his task perfectly.

She stopped when she saw something she did not like on the table's end. One of the forks was at a crooked angle. She shook her head and shoved it into its proper place.

The doorway banged open. The decorator glanced up. There were Goofy and Launchpad, their hands full of trays. They rushed to the table and placed the smoking trays down as quickly as they could. The pilot and knight immediately started to blow off their hands. "At least we got the cookies done," Launchpad smirked.

Angelique took a closer look at the oddly-shaped objects sitting in the trays. The cookies were a dark-brown color and smelled like a combination of M&Ms and soot. She shook her head. "No, no, no, no, no. You cannot make cookies from dust."

She broke off a crumb of the nearest cookie and tossed it into her mouth. As she chewed, Goofy and Launchpad watched in anticipation. After a few minutes, the angel noticed something surprising; these cookies tasted absolutely delicious!

She smiled. "Still, I have to admit… not bad for amateurs."

Goofy and Launchpad grinned. "Donald owes us twenty Munny!" Launchpad whispered to the knight.

Goofy snickered in agreement. Boy, would Donald be greatly upset when he returned to the ballroom and saw these cookies!

A massive roar echoed from the hall. Angelique, Goofy, and Launchpad all swung their eyes to the doorway in time to see a well-dressed Beast coming into the room. Now, this was a sight Goofy had never seen before. The Beast was down on all fours, and he had a dark-gray cape. To top it off, he had a wild, dark look in his eyes.

"Huh?" Goofy said aloud. "What's going on?"

Less than a second after the knight had spoken, the Beast charged over and shoved the knight and duck-pilot aside. The two went flying into the wall. He slammed his clawed fists onto the table with such force, it toppled over and splintered into two sections. All the silverware, dishes, and cups fell to the floor and shattered.

The Beast did not stop there. Next, he stormed over to the garland wrapped around the room's columns. He grabbed it and yanked. The garland snapped apart and fell to the floor. He did this for each column as he raced around the room. He then reached the curtains that had recently been placed over each window. He slashed through them and then pulled them down, tearing the fabric into small pieces.

Goofy and Launchpad were back on their feet in time to see the Beast race past them and out the door. He barged through the doorway with such intensity, the doors shook and one broke free, crashing to the floor just inside the ballroom.

The two were speechless. The whole ballroom had been torn apart and had been left in ruins. This sight was a terrible reminder to Goofy of how much damage the Heartless had done to the worlds — particularly the Radiant Garden.

"Gawrsh," was all Goofy could say.

"The cookies!" Launchpad declared as he raced over to the ruined table. The trays had been knocked onto the floor and every cookie had been smashed — except two. One of them resembled an angel. The other was shaped like a star. The pilot hastily scooped up the surviving cookies.

Angelique rose from where she had fallen from the table. The instant she saw the mess, she sighed deeply and her face became downcast. "I knew this was hopeless…. "

Goofy and Launchpad both looked out the door. To their surprise, the Beast had left the entrance doorway wide open. Snow was starting to blow into the castle. Knowing this meant the castle's Master had hurried outside in a frenzy, Goofy wondered if the Heartless had done something to him.

The knight and pilot quickly agreed to make sure nothing happened to the Beast and hurried out the door. They needed to find Sora as rapidly as they could.

Sora breathed into his hands. He rubbed his arms. He continued to shiver. The cold wind blowing over the sleigh had gotten worse. Belle's horse, Philippe, struggled to pull the vehicle through the otherwise blinding gusts. The night sky above was void of any stars. Sora looked up several times, only to instantly slam his eyelids shut.

His teeth started to chatter. This was the complete opposite climate from what he was used to. The tropical islands back home seemed like a paradise compared to this blizzard, or snowstorm, or whatever it was called.

He just wanted to find a tree and get this over with. There should not be anything to worry about. What kind of Heartless would suddenly show up and attack in weather like this?!

Finally, Chip hopped up and down in Belle's hand. "There!" he declared. "That's it! That's it!"

The sleigh stopped. Belle and Sora looked up. On the other side of a frozen lake was a tall, green tree. To Sora, it seemed to be the same tree his Mom had struggled to set up for Christmas.

Belle smiled. "Oh, Chip, it's perfect!"

Philippe whinnied with delight. He gingerly crossed the iced lake to the other side. Sora and Belle quickly hopped out. Chip jumped into the sky and hobbled over to the tree. Sora looked up straight up at the trunk. "Whoa!" was all the brown-haired young man could utter.

"This is it!" an excited Chip proclaimed.

Sora was so focused on the tree, he barely saw the flash of Light in his hand. He shifted his eyesight down a moment later. His Keyblade had suddenly appeared. He stared at it. He knew one thing for certain.

Whenever his Keyblade appeared like that, it meant trouble was on the way. The only question was… when would it get here?

Amemi's teeth were chattering away, even though her mouth was closed. As she trudged through the snow, she kept her arms tucked in. She could feel the snow against her legs. Each step she took caused her feet to sink deeper into the snowbank. By now, her shoes were going in all the way.

She watched Donald step past. His bill was so cold, an icicle was dangling from it. Up ahead, Cogsworth and Lumiére were slowly moving through the snow. The candelabra was way up ahead, about twelve feet ahead of the clock.

Cogsworth was panting. "Do you see her?" he asked.

"Not yet," Lumiére replied. "Now, come along, hurry."

Cogsworth stopped to catch his breath. "You go on. I'll never make it. Save yourselves."

Lumiére stopped and turned back. He gave an annoyed grin. "It will be summer before we reach them," he muttered.

The candelabra shoved the clock face-first into the snow. Before Amemi and Donald's eyes, Lumiére hopped onto Cogsworth's back and caused the clock to slide down the other side of the bank. The sight reminded Amemi of a surfer.

"Whoa! Oh dear!" Cogsworth yelled in alarm.

"Allez, Allez, faster, faster!" Lumiére called. "I think we've finally found a use for you! Clock-boarding! No, snow-clocking! Whatever! Allez!"

The sight of seeing Lumiére using Cogsworth as a sled made the gears in Amemi's head turn rapidly. She wondered if there was a way she could do this very thing herself. Her eyes landed onto Donald.

The moment Donald saw the look in Amemi's eyes, he gulped. He knew this would not end well. "No, no, no!"

Without warning, Amemi snatched the duck and threw him into the show. She jumped onto his back and rode him like he was a surfboard. Except, instead of waves, there was snow drifts.

"Wahoo! Let's go!" she cheered with delight. Having mastered surfing back home, she rode down the snowbanks and zipped along at super speed. She wondered if this was something WordGirl ever did during the Winter months.

She failed to notice Donald muttering a long list of illegible garble. Thanks to the snow, his words were completely muffled and almost impossible to make out — even just a little.

The weather was worse than the Beagle Boys had expected. They shivered as the trudged through the deep snow. The biting gales caused patches of frost to form around their masks. An occasional passing snowflake caught their eyes before it drifted into the distance and out of sight. Their tongues and noses felt numb. Despite their black clothing, they were ill-equipped to deal with these freezing temperatures.

They had a job to do. If Forté kept his word, they would get their second chance. This should be the golden opportunity they needed to get back onto Maleficent's "good" side — given the evil fairy had a "good" side. That was the only thing that kept them going through this apparent snowstorm.

A movement from the left caught their attention. Before their eyes, a strange-looking figure rushed by. They blinked twice. Had they just seen a candlestick surfing down the hillsides on the back of a clock? That was impossible! …Or was it?

A second movement drew their focus. They stared in complete surprise. A sandy-haired girl was sliding across the landscape at super-speed. Yet, what had drawn their eyes to her was the fact she was standing on top of Donald Duck.

"Huh?!" one of the taller Beagle Boys said, a baffled and bewildered look inscribed upon his face. "What was that?"

"It looked like that girl Sora was with," the other taller Beagle Boy added.

The third Beagle Boy gasped in astonishment. "It was his sister! She was sledding on Donald!"

The three were equally amazed. They had just witnessed the sister of that young Keyblade wielder surfing the snowbanks from atop Scrooge McDuck's nephew. That was the last thing they had expected to see in this world!

"Let's get some Heartless out here!" the tallest one stated. He reached out his hand. A tiny, Shadow Heartless appeared and slowly crawled through the snow.

"That's nothin'! Let me give it a try!" the second one said. He reached out his hand. A few Neoshadow Heartless appeared and trampled over the smaller Shadow Heartless. Like their predecessor, the Neoshadows were having a difficult time trudging through the snow.

"You got it all wrong!" the third one declared. "I'll show ya how it's done!"

He reached out his hand. A pack of wolves suddenly appeared before the group. They were a neon-green color with navy-blue paws, yellow ears, and glowing red eyes. Their teeth were also glowing a blood-red color.

Before any of the Beagle Boys could react, the wolves attacked the Neoshadow Heartless and terminated them with such ferociousness, they acted like they had not eaten for twenty years. The pack then turned their focus to the trail of skis and tracks left behind by Sora's sister, Donald, and the other figure who had flown by earlier. With growling snarls, the Heartless scurried down the hills and into the distance.

The Beagle Boys each gave a sinister grin (even though they were still not as dark as Pete's grin). They were convinced everything would now be going their way.

Sora was keeping watch. He shivered as he stood still and swept his eyes around the forest. His Keyblade was still in his hand. It had not disappeared, and he was currently unable to put it away. He had tried multiple times to do this, and each and every one of them had ended in failure.

He definitely knew something was up. He just did not know what it was, let alone when it would come. It almost felt like his Keyblade was taking a shot into the Darkness.

"It's the best tree ever!" Chip declared. Sora looked to his right. Chip and Belle were gathered at the tree the former had decided they needed for the celebration. The Axe from the boiler room was slung over Belle's shoulder.

"Chip, you're right," the young woman agreed.

"Merry Christmas and a Happy Hanukkah!" the Axe cheered.

Belle took a moment to observe the snowstorm. "We'd better hurry. It's getting very stormy."

"We'd better get going," Sora added. "I've got a feeling something's coming our way."

Belle held the Axe tightly as she slammed it against the tree's base. "Oy! Oy!" the Axe declared. "Again, with the chopping."

Sora rolled his eyes. About one year ago, whenever someone had acted like this, he normally would have grinned or laughed. Now, he thought this kind of stuff was rather unamusing and just plain annoying.

It suddenly occurred to him this was most-likely the way Donald often thought about things. He could picture the duck thinking about all the possible ways he could get back at Goofy and Launchpad for all the troubles they had caused him.

He was wondering if this was a result of Xehanort's Darkness in his heart. Goofy had mentioned some of that terrible Keyblade Master's Darkness might still be inside of the brown, spikey-haired seventeen-year-old. Even so, Sora was sure that was just an excuse. He had learned from Violet how his heart had nearly been lost to the Darkness thanks to Xehanort's deception in the Realm of Sleep. Of course, that did not mean that same Darkness still existed in his heart now.

Then again, he had outright attacked Dilan at the entrance to the castle at the Radiant Garden. He had also inadvertently shoved Judge Frollo off the rooftop of Notré Dame. Now, he was starting to think a lot more like Donald. Was there any connection between all these incidents? Or was it all just mere coincidences?

He did not for sure, and he was sure he would never know for certain. After all, that was the way life worked. No matter how many questions you asked, there would always be a limited number of answers. You could ask a million questions in your lifetime and only receive enough answers for about half of them.

"Timber!" Chip's shout broke Sora's thought process. The young man looked up in time to see the tree coming down — straight for him. He ran to the side as the tree's highest point crashed down where he had been standing.

"That was close!" Sora murmured to himself.

Belle grabbed a rope from the sleigh and tried to the tree's base. She turned to her horse. "Take it away, Philippe."

The horse neighed in reply and started across the frozen lake. The sleigh and tree were not far behind. Belle grabbed Chip and the Axe and hopped in. Despite having his Keyblade stuck in his hand, Sora raced over and climbed into the sleigh. It was now time from the long journey back to the castle.

Hopefully the others' distractions had kept the Beast from learning where they had gone.

An audible KLINK filled his ears. Sora glanced ahead and spotted a tiny object lying on the ice. Belle poked her head out, too, and smiled when he saw the little instrument.

"Fife?" Belle said.

Fife grinned with a large, shy smile. "Uh, hi, Belle. Nice tree." He waved.

"How'd you get all the way out here?" Sora inquired. He still suspected something peculiar was afoot.

"I just was a… walking," Fife replied. His cheeks started to turn a shade of red. This display reminded Sora of how he had felt after Kairi had — NO WAY! He was NOT about to let THAT memory return to his mind! It needed to be locked up — ONCE AND FOR ALL!

"You were walking way out here?" Sora asked.

"I mean, I love the bitter cold," Fife chuckled with extra anxiety. At once, his chuckles ended and a deafening, high-pitched toot filled the air. Sora and Belle covered their ears. The sound felt more like a shrill alarm than something a little piccolo could produce.

The horse clearly hated it. He reared up in alarm and slammed his paws against the ice. He did this a few times. The sleigh rocked and suddenly toppled. Sora found himself falling out and sliding across the lake on his face. "Ow," he muttered softly.

Belle landed a few feet away from him. She looked back at her now-panicking horse. "Philippe! Oh, no!"

The ice underneath the sleigh started to crack. It broke apart, sending the vehicle and tree into the freezing water. The Axe jumped from the sleigh just as it plunged under the ice, dragging the tree and the horse along with it.

"The tree, Belle!" Chip exclaimed. "We're going to lose the tree! Noo!"

Belle gasped. She tried to stand, only to fall and start sliding. Sora's eyes were on Belle's horse. The animal was still panicking and being dragged under by the sleigh. Although he still was not sure if this was the reason why his Keyblade had appeared, he knew someone had to do something — and fast!

Despite how slippery the ice was, Sora managed to stand long enough to rear back and throw his Keyblade through the air. The blade cut clear through the ropes connecting Belle's horse to the sleigh. The animal ran off to the safety of the snowbank as the ice continued to crack and float away.

"Phew! That was too close!" Sora commented as he fell backwards onto the ice. At least, this time he was sitting down.

"Sora!" a voice shouted.

Sora swing his eyes to the opposite side of the lake. He could just make out the silhouette of a young woman about fourteen years old waving him over. "Amy!" he realized in a mere half-second.

He crawled to the nearest bank and stepped onto the snow. He started for his sister. He noticed Donald rising out of the snow. He had to shake his head, certain he knew what had happened. In addition, he took notice of Lumiére and Cogsworth hurrying across the ice to where Belle, Chip, and the Axe were waiting.

"Hang on, cherie!" Lumiére called. "I will save you!"

"Oh dear," Cogsworth worried aloud.

Sora continued to head for his sister and Donald. Just as he was getting close, he saw a wild-looking animal appear from the trees and cut him off. He slid to a stop before the peculiar-looking wolf. The moment he saw the Heartless emblem on its head, he glared and immediately started to fight the creature. "Back off!" he shouted in anger.

Another Heartless or two joined the first one.

Amemi watched in alarm as she saw her brother taking on a few Heartless wolves. She watched Donald pull out his wand and hurry over to help Sora battle away. She reached into her jacket pocket and took out her slingshot.

Before the sandy-haired teenager could rush into the frenzy, she found herself shoved into the snow. She looked up to see a snarling Heartless wolf standing beside her. Now, she wished she had paid a little more attention in school. Her teacher had given a full lecture on wolves — particularly on their hunting strategies. He had even shown an episode of an animated show starring a pair of brothers who study animals.

Her mind paused for a moment. The only thing she really could remember about that topic was the show. What was it called, again? She could not remember. All she did know about it was it starred those two brothers who know a lot about creatures, the characters sometimes used technology to turn themselves into versions of the creatures, and the animation did not appear to contain any outlines.

The Heartless's growl grabbed her attention. Amemi looked around and saw her slingshot lying in the snow a few feet away. She tried to reach for it, only to have the enemy step in the way. Spotting a nearby stick, she rolled around and grabbed it. She clambered to her feet as the monster approached.

"Stay back!" Amemi yelled as she held the stick like a baseball player about to swing. "I'm warning you!"

The Heartless continued to approach. She swung the stick and missed. She swung a second time. The Heartless opened its mouth and snatched the stick. Amemi pulled as hard she could, only to have the stick snap in half. The Heartless spat out the piece of broken wood and glared all the darker at the teenage girl.

Amemi gasped in alarm as the creature jumped at her and shoved her onto the ground. She tried to get up, yet the enemy had her pinned down. A second Heartless wolf emerged from the trees and raced straight for her. Knowing the creature was about to jump in her direction, Amemi screamed. She was so much in shock, her eyes remained frozen on the creature about to strike. "HELP!"

"AMY!"

The monster leaped into the air and reached its claws at the young woman's neck and chest. Just before the Heartless could land, a blur of something flew through the air and headed for the creature. A second object came flying from the side; it appeared to be spinning like a top.

The two items struck the Heartless wolf at the same time and vanquished it. A bolt of magical lightning appeared and struck down the Heartless wolf pinning the young woman in place.

Amemi bolted upright in a flash. She looked around wildly and spotted both Sora and Donald rushing over. From the side, Goofy and Launchpad came scurrying over. They were accompanied by the Beast, who was roaring with intense force.

Sora reached his sister first. He extended his hand. She grabbed it and he pulled her up. "Thank you, Sora!" she declared as she threw her arms around her brother. "I was so scared!"

Sora felt a little shocked for a moment. He took a deep breath and smiled. "It's okay. No need to get so worked up."

Amemi let go of her brother. "Well, you did just save my life."

"More like I just saved your heart from those Heartless," Sora corrected.

Amemi had to shake her head. Her brother was acting so modest. She knew that was one quality their Mom had strictly wanted the two to have. If there was anything less important than being glorified as a hero or heroine, she could not think of it.

"That was close," Donald remarked.

Sora and Amemi turned their attention to the three spectators. "What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"Your sister was almost Heartless food," Goofy indicated.

"And you almost couldn't get to her," Launchpad added.

Sora had to admit, his friends had a point. Those Heartless wolves had almost taken his sister's heart, let alone her life. He had never been one to think so extreme in such situations. To him, helping others was always important. So was proper justice being served. He was only eager to be called a "True Hero" by Phil. If anyone else referred to him as a hero, he tended to shrug it aside.

A loud ROAR snatched the group's attention. Across the lake, the Beast was lifting an unconscious Belle off the ice. Cogsworth, Lumiére, Chip, the Axe, and Fife were all following him back to the shore. As they drew closer, Sora saw Belle's face had turned blue. He knew this could only mean she had caught a cold… or worse.

Sora held up his hand. "Just in time, again!" he declared, ready to give his friend a high-five or pat on the back.

The Beast simply snorted towards the young man and proceeded through the snow. Amemi and Goofy stepped to the sides as the Beast marched past and continued on his way in the direction of the castle.

Sora and the others stared in disbelief. "What's happened to him?" Amemi questioned.

"Gee," Goofy spoke up. "He sure seemed cranky."

"No kiddin'," Launchpad agreed, shaking his head slightly. "He tore up the ballroom while you guys were gone."

Sora, Amemi, and Donald swung their eyesight to the pilot. Launchpad explained how he and Goofy had finally finished some cookies, even though they had left the kitchen a mess. After they had taken the desserts to the ballroom, the Beast had barged in and smashed the table, torn down the decorations, and wrecked the entire room. "Reminds me of muh own house in Spoonerville," Goofy mentioned.

Sora nearly slapped his face. He could easily picture any house Goofy lived being in a total state of disaster. He wondered if Goofy tended to live the same way he did. It was something the seventeen-year-old Keyblade wielder had been told was called "the casual life". Each day would be a relaxing one… throwing filthy clothes on the floor… drinking soda with every meal… watching movies and shows on the television and/or online every day… sleeping in… accidentally tossing smelly socks out the window… eating popcorn covered in chips for every single snack….

Sora now wondered why he had gotten involved with the style of living. Being a couch potato no longer sounded like fun. Eating chips? Talk about fattening! It was too much like the way of life shown by the sloppy sportswriter, Oscar Madison, on that classic show, "The Odd Couple".

He shook all this out of his mind. Ever since school had let out for Winter Break, he had a little too much time to think about stuff. Until now, he had not even thought about all the things he did in his carefree, daily life. He was not quite sure why he was thinking about this particular topic either. It was what it was. Just as simply as counting to twenty-four.

Sora and the others turned their focus back to the lake. The servants were all on the snow-covered bank. Chip saw Belle lying in the Beast's arms. "Belle!" he exclaimed.

Fife looked as though he had just witnessed a tragedy or watched a horror movie. "Oh no! What have I done?!" He looked down into the snow and covered his eyes. "It's all my fault."

Cogsworth, the Axe, Chip, and Lumiére all gathered around him. "We all share some blame, mon ami," Lumiére reassured the piccolo. "For daring to hope for Christmas."

Sora gave a deep sigh. He gazed into the distance. The snowflakes had stopped blowing around, so the castle could be seen as a large silhouette. He knew he needed to lead his team back to that building before they all got hypo— what-cha-call-it.

It was pitch-black outside by the time Sora, Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, and Amemi returned to the castle. Cogsworth, the Axe, Lumiére, Chip, and Fife had all taken a separate route and gotten to their destination a few minutes before.

All the servants were gathered in the Entrance Hall, moping. Even Angelique and Mrs. Potts were there. So was the large Wardrobe from Belle's room. Sultan, the footstool, was racing around and around, trying to get someone to play with him.

When Sora asked what was going on, Cogsworth sighed. "It's hopeless," the old clock replied. "The Master is locking Belle in the dungeon. The ballroom is in shambles. The kitchen is a disaster zone."

Goofy and Launchpad both covered their mouths to keep from snickering a little. Sora ignored the two and headed upstairs. "Sora? Where're you going?"

Sora looked back to see Amemi following him up the steps. "I'm gonna go see the Beast," Sora explained.

"Then, I'm going with you," the sandy-haired teen stated.

Sora nodded. He and Amemi hurried up the stairs to the West Hall. They raced down the hallway, slashing through a few Neoshadow Heartless that happened to cross their path. When Sora approached a greenish doorway in the hall, Amemi stopped.

"Where does this lead?" she asked.

"The undercroft," Sora informed his little sister. "It's… like a basement. The dungeon's down there."

Amemi gave a nod. "Then, let's keep moving."

Sora pushed the doorway open. The two ran down a flight of stairs and hurried to a large, stone doorway. As they grew close, a passing blur of something dark-purple caught Sora's eye. He halted, so Amemi did the same. "What is it?" she asked.

Sora glanced over his left shoulder. "There!" he said.

Amemi spun around and gasped. Her eyes grew wide with alarm. A small, bubble-shaped creature was drifting around the room. It was a dark-purple color with black eyes and a staring facial expression. Parts of the edge were spiked like a hedgehog or porcupine. "That is one ugly monster," Amemi winced.

"That's a Heartless," Sora indicated. He summoned his Keyblade and rushed towards the enemy. He jumped and sung his weapon at it. The Heartless was hit, yet all it did was jiggle a little. Sora was about to attack again when the Heartless drifted towards a stone statue. The creature entered the statue. At once, the statue glowed with the power of Darkness and came to life. It swung its massive battle-axe at Amemi. The young woman flipped backwards to avoid getting hit.

"This is not going to be easy," she sighed, taking out her slingshot. She shot at the statue. The statue hobbled back a little after being struck. It proceeded to swing a pair of samurai-like swords in a counter-attack. Amemi jumped out of the way and shot at it again. The creature blocked the attack and tried to clobber the young woman.

"Hey! Leave her alone!" Sora shouted. He sliced his Keyblade through the statue. The object retaliated, sending Sora flying into the wall. Amemi saw what had happened and instantly kicked at the statue. The object suddenly became motionless. She shot at it.

With a significant force, the statue exploded apart, sending a shockwave through the air. From the shockwave, a group of Air Soldier Heartless appeared. Once he had gotten back to his feet, Sora glared at the enemies. He and Amemi stood side-by-side as they attacked each and every enemy. They had to counter and block a few times as the Heartless attacked almost relentlessly.

Once they had eliminated the last Air Soldier Heartless, a few flying bats appeared. In the middle of the group was the bubble-shaped Heartless. "Let's do this!" Sora yelled.

"Right!" Amemi approved.

The two sibling charged at the enemies. The bats sent a series of sound waves to attack. Sora and Amemi leapt through the waves like a lion going through a flaming hoop. They struck out each of the bat-shaped Heartless before turning back to the bubble-shaped creature.

"Let's go!" Sora shouted.

"C'mon!" Amemi called in turn.

Their weapons glowed. They jumped into the air as Light started filling the room. Amemi rushed at the enemy and delivered a perfect shot at it. Sora held his Keyblade high above his head and slashed his way clear through the enemy.

The Heartless was so damaged, it practically evaporated into Darkness less than a minute later. Sora and Amemi looked back in time to see the creature disappearing for good. They put their weapons away and wiped some sweat off their foreheads.

"Thank goodness!" Amemi said with relief.

"Yeah," Sora nodded. He gazed at the doorway to the dungeon. It was open. "Let's get going."

The two hurried to the dungeon. As they were about to step inside, they could hear a pair of voices coming from the dark room. They halted and closely listened. They immediately recognized one voice as the Beast. The other one clearly was Belle.

"You said you'd never leave."

"I wasn't trying to leave. I just wanted to make you happy."

"You broke your word, and for that, you will rot in this dungeon forever."

"I should have known that you'd never be anything but a Beast."

Sora and Amemi stared in complete shock. To Amemi, Sora seemed to be in more shock than she was. As far as the young woman could tell from the words she had just heard, the Beast was going to imprison Belle in there for good. The whole concept reminded her of a rather dark fairy-tale. She was not sure why, just that it did.

A pair of twinkling lights appeared from the darkness. As they grew larger, it became clear they were eyes. Sora and Amemi stood on either side of the doorway as the Beast stepped out from the dungeon. He did not bother to shut the door and continued to the stairs across the undercroft.

Sora reached for his friend. "Beast?"

The Beast stopped in his tracks. "Sora… leave the castle."

Sora now looked shocked (from Amemi's perspective). "But," he started to say. "What about—?"

"Enough!" the Beast roared. He spun around long enough to glare at the spikey-headed Keyblader. "This is my castle! Everyone must do what I say!"

Amemi had heard enough of this nonsense. She frowned and stepped forwards. "What's gotten into you?!" she scolded. "What are you?! A slave owner?! You treat everyone here like trinkets! You don't care about them! You think they're slaves and take advantage of them!"

She pointed straight at the creature before her. "That's what makes you a beast! You're nothing but a monster!"

The Beast snarled at the sandy-haired girl. "Silence! You don't know anything!"

Sora hopped between the Beast and his sister. "Cut it out — both of you! We came here to bring peace — not start a war!"

The Beast covered his face in shame. He turned away and strolled up the stairs to the West Hall. Sora and Amemi watched him leave. Amemi sighed. "I didn't mean to cause trouble," she confessed. "I hate watching someone mistreat others."

Sora turned to his sister. "I know, but… this's not the time to bring that up."

Amemi crossed her arms. "When will the time come?"

Sora spun around. "I… don't know. Let's get back to the others. We've gotta get going."

Amemi gawked at his brother's statement. "Are you serious? You're going to just leave this world without trying to resolve this problem?"

Sora turned to his sister. "Unless we leave and come back, what good can we do?"

Amemi realized her brother had a point. They should just leave this world and return later. Hopefully, by then, the Beast and Belle would have reconciled. Maybe this place will be much brighter and more home-y. Perhaps this was still a chance.

Yet, the very idea of having to leave and return later was still quite a tall order. The Beast needed to learn to respect others' wishes… but, that would be another story.

A/N: ...I am not quite sure what to say. That ending... it seemed to... to... to get to me. How TRAGIC!
Despite how terrible everything now appears, it looks like Amemi is not willing to give up so easily!

Still, I have the feeling all of you noticed the changes in Sora's character. I know, those might [(a little)] out-of-character for him. Fortunately, I will tell you, they ARE NOT permanent ones. It is all a part of a certain "'story arc'" that started back in "Kingdom Hearts - World Unto Dreams". More on that later, most-likely.

Either way, I HOPE you all enjoyed This Chapter! I actually had a hard time planning out the scenes at the lake. I did not want to mirror the movie TOO MUCH at the part where Amemi battled the Heartless wolves using a stick. That was a bit of a challenge. Thank goodness I was able to sort it all out!

By the way, I wonder if any of you recognize the figure in the black-hooded coat - the one who appeared in the West Hall. Does anyone know who he is? What about the monster Sora's team took on? The one that WAS NOT a Heartless? Please post your answers in the REVIEWS SECTION FOR THIS CHAPTER!

I am still wondering what you thought of Goofy and Launchpad's comical relief in there. I personally found it quite silly to see them trying to bake cookies like that!

Well... I seem to be running out of time. I shall just have to sign off here and come back later on. Then again, it depends on how long it takes me to finish Chapter 28.

So Then, I Shall See You All Next Time!
What I Mean Is, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DOES DEPEND ON IT!

REMEMBER THIS MUCH - A MINIMUM OF 214 IS REQUIRED FOR THE SEQUEL! IF 240 ARE POSTED, I WILL INCLUDE A "SNEAK PEEK" FOR THE SEQUEL ITSELF! HOWEVER, THAT/THOSE GOAL(S) MUST BE MET BY THE TIME THE-SECOND-TO-LAST-CHAPTER IS POSTED! THAT WAY, I WILL HAVE TIME TO ANNOUNCE WHETHER OR NOT EITHER GOAL WAS MET!

This Is SoraLego278 Saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!" Plus, Remember To "Have A ZIP-A-DEE-DOO-DAH DAY!"