CHAPTER VIII
ACQUAINTENCES, OLD AND NEW
The ship clicked and whirred as it finally stopped in the main hangar in Disney Castle. Sora was the first one off the ship, running like a boy on Christmas morning. The first two friends he saw were Chip and Dale, working on ships in the hangar.
"Sora!" chirped Chip.
"Good to see you, pal!" squealed Dale.
They ran up his legs and hugged his head.
"Hey guys, how's everything? Is the King around?"
"Of course, everybody's actually in the main audience chamber…they're giving awards to Donald, Goofy and King Mickey for the service they provided in defeating Organization XIII!" said Dale.
Sora smiled wider than he had all day. "Good. They deserve them." He patted the chipmunks on the head as he ran off toward the main audience chamber with all his friends from Radiant Garden at his heels. Kairi and Riku were keeping up with him as he pushed open the door to the audience chamber.
There he was. It was the first time Sora had actually seen King Mickey seated in his throne, with Minnie by his side. Pluto pranced around the room, as Jiminy Cricket sat on his back, holding a small pad. Donald, wearing bright new mage robes, was walking up towards King Mickey. Next to him was Goofy, who was wearing a suit of leather similar to his previous outfit, except it was outfitted with metal pieces in some parts that made him look rather like a knight.
He knew it was an important ceremony, but he couldn't hold it back any longer.
"Goofy! Donald! King Mickey!" he blurted out, covering his mouth. But he held out his arms and before he knew it, they were wrapped around the duck, the dog and the mouse.
"Sora! Boy, it's been a while!" Goofy positively beamed with delight.
"It's an amazing coincidence that you're here, Sora," said Mickey. "We were having a ceremony to honor the heroes that defeated Organization XIII, and we just so happen to have three pendants with the names Sora, Riku and Kairi on them."
The friends all gathered in the audience chamber. Riku, Kairi and Sora put on their Hero Pendants, which seemed to increase their strength, and had a great time talking to all of their friends. It took almost a full hour until the unsettling truth dawned on them in the form of Aerith.
"I really don't want to be a stick in the mud…but we're not here on a pleasure trip. Radiant Garden has been overrun and nearly destroyed by heartless."
As she went on to explain about Pete, the Unsmiling Man and Leon, the residents of Disney Castle grew more and more shocked. When she finally finished, King Mickey stood up.
"I hereby welcome all residents of Radiant Garden to live in Disney Castle and continue their daily lives just as they left off. Any service that my court can be of to you, you have at your disposal," and Mickey snapped his fingers, signaling hundreds of bewitched mops and brooms to the center of the chamber. The merchants squealed with glee as they, Scrooge and his nephews headed off into the courtyard to begin construction.
"King Mickey, is the cornerstone of light safe?" Sora asked.
"Of course. Donald has even grown so powerful that he was able to put a shield of permanent reflega magic on it, so that it can't be touched."
"Good. Just want to make sure that we never have to deal with another unexpected invasion."
Sora, King Mickey, Riku, Kairi, Donald and Goofy headed out to the courtyard. It was an amazing sight – in less than a few hours, it looked better than Radiant Garden, thanks to the help of the magical brooms and mops.
Yuffie waved cheerily at them as they came into view. "I guess I gotta get working on some new official restoration committee badges…these brooms and mops did almost everything for us! Thanks, King Mickey!"
There were accessory shops and food stalls, synthesis workshops and armor stores. Hewie even opened up a weapon shop, where Donald purchased a Soul Catcher Wand and Goofy got himself a Bounce Shield. Sora stocked up on potions and ethers, as Kairi talked to the cute creature she met before.
"You're cute!" she said.
It mumbled something in cheery, but completely foreign gibberish.
"Well…I just wanted you to know that you're cute…that's it, I guess…" but the Moogle pointed at her purse, from which she pulled three small glassine stones. The Moogle threw them into a small furnace.
"Hey!" Kairi protested. But the Moogle then pulled out a shiny, sparkling gold bangle. Kairi slipped it onto her ankle and smiled, kissing the Moogle on his cheek. Even if it was an alien…the Moogle still blushed.
Aerith, Cloud, Yuffie, Merlin, Cid, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy and King Mickey sat at the main table in the new Disney square for dinner that evening. It was agreed that everyone could now call Disney Castle 'home'. They clinked their glasses, made a toast and retired to their new chambers within the castle. Sora and Riku, on the other hand, grew restless that night and decided to go check out the cornerstone of light.
The door that led to the Timeless River was still there, as was the beautiful green stone. But as Sora tested the reflega magic by slamming his keyblade into it – pretty sturdy, he discovered – he heard a 'wak' from the door behind him.
"Sora! What are you doing out this late! You should be resting!" Donald yelled and ran up to the boys. Goofy followed behind him, sleep in his eyes.
"Gawrsh, you could get in trouble. Being down here so late at night…Minnie and Daisy would be pretty mad if anything happened to ya…" Goofy said sleepily.
"Relax, guys. It's just me and Riku."
"Yeah. Just checking things out. I mean, if this is gonna be 'home' for a while…" Riku said, trailing off.
The four friends heard some frantic slamming. From where? The main door was too far away to make such a loud noise. The pounding of footsteps got louder, and they heard a funny little voice screaming at the top of its lungs.
"Ahhh! Ya gotta help, ya gotta! Is there anyone in this door?" screamed the voice. Suddenly, the door to the Timeless River popped open, revealing the source of the voice.
A small, green monster, no more than three feet tall, stood, panting in the doorway. He had one large, bulbous eye and thin, spindly legs and arms. Behind him wasn't Timeless River, though…it was a room that looked like it belonged in a factory. Hundreds of other doors peppered the wall behind him. The little creature breathed a sigh of relief.
"Please, ya gotta help me! There's some crazy things happenin' over here, and I don't know what's goin' on! I'm just glad to find some humans who aren't scared of me! Jeez, you wouldn't believe what irony that is."
The four friends looked at each other, perplexed.
"Look, I'll explain everything later, but please…if you can help when it comes to fighting big scary black things with twitchy antennas and ones that MELT into the GROUND, we could really use your help!" said the monster.
"Heartless?" asked Goofy.
"Sounds like it…" said Riku.
"That's right up our alley!" yelled Sora, excitedly.
"Oh good, great, ya know, I'm not so much interested in what they're called, so long as they stop eating my friends! Please!" cried the monster.
"Calm down, we'll help you." Donald said.
"Good. Calm isn't exactly what I do," said the monster, who took a deep breath. "My name is Mike. Follow me!"
He led the way through the door, as Sora, Riku, Donald and Goofy followed him into the Scream Factory.
