DISCLAIMER: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, nor the Disney and Square Enix characters. Please support the original works.


Chapter Seventeen: The Haunted Mansion


One would think that plummeting down a lightless tube, with the wind screaming in your ears would be the worst thing that could happen when accidentally wandering into a haunted house, but no. For Kairi, the worst part was not the bottomless darkness, her stomach rolling as she fell, nor was it the terrified yelps of Max falling at her side. No. The absolute worst thing was tumbling right through a series of spider webs and having to deal with the itchy, creepy-crawly feeling of sticky thin lines all over her arms and legs. For several seconds, falling was the last thing on Kairi's mind as she desperately patted herself down in the hopes of avoiding an eight-legged stowaway on her person. She was so distracted by the spiderwebs that she could care less that she banged and bounced along the tube until-WHUMPH!

Max and Kairi landed on something oddly soft, like a sofa. At least Kairi thought it was a sofa, because that was the shape it took when she ran her fingers over the rounded, cushiony edges. Whatever it was, it suddenly jerked, careening forward like a sled going down a steep mountainside, closer and closer to a cliff neither Kairi nor Max could see coming.

Hanging onto the couch, the duo screamed as their weird doom buggy sped through dusty darkness. In the midst of the confusion, Kairi saw flashes of tombstones, heard the angry cries of crows, and felt scratches from dry bushes and low hanging tree branches, the only hints that they were outside and not being dragging further into the earth.

The buggy stopped. Max and Kairi flew, splashing face first into a puddle of mud. Coughing, Kairi sat up, waiting for her head to stop spinning as she looked around. A full moon hung overhead. Silver spotlights shined on the tombstones, oven graves, and crypts all around her. There were no ghosts...for now.

Using a nearby tombstone, Kairi pushed herself to her feet, cleaning the mud off her chin. Max paced next to her with his hands shoved grumpily into his hoodie pocket. He passed by a tombstone, did a double-take, and called Kairi over. Stepping next to Max, Kairi read the engraving on the headstone.

"'Here lies Edward Gracey. May his soul rest in peace alongside his love, Ms. Elizabeth.'"

Kairi glanced at the headstone to her right. Sure enough, it bore Elizabeth's name.

"Do you think they died before they could get married?" asked Max.

"That's so sad. I can't imagine not getting to spend a life with someone you love."

Kairi touched the headstones. She knew that offering comfort to two, lifeless, slabs of stone would do nothing to ease the sorrow of the people they represented, but something in her heart compelled her to show sympathy nonetheless. Her fingers slid over the cold stone, and then Kairi gasped as the world around her flashed.

She was no longer standing in a cemetery. Instead, she was in a gold and red ballroom. A young lady, her skin glowing a lovely brown in her white wedding dress, was dancing with a pale gentleman in the center of the room. Kairi watched, mesmerized as the two dancers moved about the ivory dance floor. They looked nothing like the ghosts back in Ramsley's ballroom.

Unlike the ghosts that twirled in endless circles, their backs stiff and joyless, the young lady and gentleman looked into each other's eyes. The gentleman dipped his dance partner, and she rewarded him by hugging him close when he pulled her back up. They swayed and waltzed,as if nothing else existed outside their dance and each other. Kairi had a taste of sweet and sour envy as she watched the two dancers. For a second, she fantasized herself and Sora in such a loving bliss.

"Kairi!"

She jerked. The ballroom vanished. The world around her darkened. The cold air crept back into her lungs as she was thrust back into the cemetery with a very frightened Max at her side. He was pointing toward the distance, toward several open graves and tombstones that were rumbling, as though something were moving under the earth. Kairi summoned her sword, watching as the earth rolled, a tiny hill moving closer and closer toward her.

The mound of dirt exploded several feet away, and something round, with sharp spikes, yellow eyes, and zig-zagging teeth popped out of the earth. Max and Kairi leaned against each other, letting out a breath.

"Oh. It's just a heartless," Max rasped.

"Thank goodness."

Said heartless seemed to be offended that it was a sight for sore eyes. It lunged, teeth opening wide. Jumping back, Max and Kairi ran in opposite, diagonal directions. Then they cut through the heartless by executing a tag-teamed, x-slice. More tombstones and crypts shuddered as another army of burrowing heartless appeared. One after the other, Max and Kairi fought them off. Eventually darkballs joined the battle, and Kairi shifted her attention to frying them all with thunder magic, leaving Max to pick off the heartless on the ground.

Just as Kairi cut through a darkball, something blue flashed in the corner of her eye. She turned, pointing her sword at it. A ghost was nearby, hovering over an open grave. Rags hung off his transparent, blue limbs, and his eyes were wide and glittery.

"You have to stop," he moaned.

Kairi had no time to try and communicate with a ghost. A darkball was gliding her way and she had to duck and slice it as it moved over her head. The moment the heartless vanished, Kairi spotted another ghost sitting on a headstone to her left. This one was of an old woman, holding a bouquet of dried roses.

"We must move on."

The ghost gurgled her words, almost as though her throat was filled with liquid. Kairi squinted at the old ghost for a second before an earth core heartless came blasting out of the ground beneath her feet. It threw her up into the air, and she found herself surrounded by darkballs. They smashed into the reflect spell she quickly conjured, bouncing back and giving her just enough time to blast them into nothing with a follow up lightning spell.

Rolling when she landed, Kairi came back to back with Max. More heartless popped out of every nook and cranny in the cemetery. After several more rounds decimating whole squadrons of heartless, Kairi felt as though her limbs were slowly, but surely, getting heavier and harder to lift. Whenever she stopped to take a breath, another ghost appeared. They watched her, beyond the battle. Kairi couldn't see some of their faces, but she heard their words and felt their sorrow on her skin, like a cold, wet towel.

"He won't let us leave."

"Something is making him stronger."

"Please. We just want to rest."

"It's been so long."

"We're so tired."

Kairi shook her head, trying to shake off the voices, to concentrate on the battle. Then she spotted a circle of purple flames burning around Max's feet. Kairi rushed him, pushing him down before the fire got too close to his body. The flames burst, and an invisible heartless appeared over their heads.

Max blocked the invisible heartless' sword, using his dual blades to twist the weapon out of the heartless hands. More heartless appeared, only to be defeated one after another. Yet the heaviness on Kairi's limbs didn't go away. Instead, the cemetery lit up with a blue glow, as more and more ghosts appeared, begging, moaning, crying. Their wails felt like needles were being pressed into Kairi's skin. She grit her teeth, trying her hardest to fight through the icy pain, even as her ears burst with the sound of the ghosts' cries.

"It isn't supposed to be like this."

"Grim grinning ghosts are supposed to socialize, not steal hearts."

"If this continues, then we will all..."

"I don't want to be a true monster..."

The voices faded when Kairi yelped. Her shoulder collided with the dirt and as her calf burned with pain. The icy feeling and the ghosts' calls had distracted her for one second, but it had been just enough time for an earthcore heartless to sneak up underneath her and bit down, hard, on her leg. Lifting her sword felt like moving mountains, but somehow, Kairi was able to stab the earthcore when it tried to pounce on her and finish the job.

The heartless exploded, and Kairi cast a healing spell on herself, but the heavy, icy feeling wouldn't go away. The ghosts' hopelessness were like thousands of invisible hands. Hands that were pressing Kairi down.

Max ran to her side, pulling her back up. When Kairi touched his hand, the heaviness eased a bit, as Max's concern washed over her. His small charge of light was enough for Kairi to stay conscious. The ghosts' sorrow, and the heaviness wasn't getting weaker, and Kairi realized, with a gulp, that there was really one way to deal with it.

"Need a favor, Max."

"Name it."

"Clear a path? I'm going to talk to one of the ghosts."

The good thing about Max was that he didn't hesitate, or ask why. He simply dug his heels into the dirt, and waited for Kairi's signal. Pointing to an old casket in the distance, Kairi turned toward Max and nodded. He spared only a second to look at the old lady ghost on the casket, watching as she sadly plucked petals from her translucent rose. Looking around, Max quickly assessed the surrounding heartless.

"On three," he warned Kairi.

Letting go of Max's hand, Kairi steeled her concentration. The ghosts' sorrow still pressed her down, but she focused on her goal: the old lady on the casket.

"THREE!"

Max charged like a red and blue lightning bolt. Holding his swords at his sides, he cleaved through heartless on his right and left, creating a path. Kairi stuck close to his back, close to his light, using her magic to push away any heartless that may try to ambush him. Max stopped, several feet in front of the old lady ghost.

"Do your thing," he said to Kairi. He then turned to face the heartless again. "I'll hold them off."

Kairi stumbled toward the old woman, calling out to the ghost. The pressure from all their sorrow made her slur her words, but she managed to say, "Who isn't letting you leave?"

The old woman's gaze was faraway, in an unreachable, invisible dream. She spoke slowly, the words emphasized by a long, sad moan.

"Ramsley."

"Why?"

"Master Gracey and his love have moved on. We were supposed to be at peace as well, our unfinished business done. Yet Ramsley cannot rest. He keeps us captured. If we do not move on soon, we will fade away into darkness. Please. Help us."

"How? What can I do?"

"Madame Leota will know."

A sound reached Kairi's ear, a chewy, scratchy sound. She turned, slicing through a darkball before it could bite her shoulder. The heartless had noticed she had slipped away. A whole herd was stampeding toward her.

"Ramsley's work," the ghost woman whispered.

"I can't help you until I'm done fighting," Kairi gasped.

The old woman stood. "We cannot resist the darkness for long, so go."

"Go where?"

An ax thunked into the ground next to Kairi's foot. Yelping, Kairi slashed at her right side. Her sword went right through a ghostly bride. The veil hung low over the bride's face, making only the half curve of her red lips visible. Her voice was smooth and inviting as she lifted her ax and sang.

"Until death, do us part. Here comes the bride."

The ghost bride flashed across the cemetery, cleaving through heartless without mercy. Just as Kairi was in the middle of processing the terrifying, yet oddly awesome, sight, a carriage burst out of the nearby crypts. The carriage charged, the top hat wearing driver screaming a war-cry as his ghostly horses thundering toward the heartless. Earth cores and darkballs were trampled into nothing. From the sky there was a loud scream. A ghostly opera singer fluttered down and used his rather large body to smash into the ground like a cannon ball.

The opera singer's attack shook the ground so much that Max lost his balance, and the heartless were momentarily frozen in place. In the midst of the confusion, Kairi spotted a golden casket rising out of the ground.

"Go. There."

The old woman's ghost was pointing to the casket.

Kairi's throat throbbed painfully, but she did not have time to feel afraid. The heartless were quickly coming back to their senses. It was do or die, literally. Racing back into the battlefield, Kairi grabbed Max's arm and pulled him toward the golden casket.

Max dug his heels into the ground. "Are we actually going to dive headfirst into a casket?"

Kairi glared at him over her shoulder. "Don't question it! Otherwise I might lose my nerve!"

Kairi reached the open casket, covered her eyes, and jumped right in. Max howled, falling in after her. A moment later, they hit the ground, hard. The air above them stilled. After several seconds of catching their breaths and rubbing their behinds, Max and Kairi realized that they had landed in a corridor of some kind.

Dusty, moldy smells reached Kairi's nose. When her eyes finally adjusted to the dark, she noticed old paintings on the walls. Thankfully, the images in the paintings didn't move. At the end of the corridor was an open door. A blue glow flickered in the room beyond.

Kairi swallowed. "Are we back in the mansion?"

Max looked up. The casket they had entered from was gone. All that was behind them was a dead end.

"I'm so confused. How did we back here from the cemetery?"

Kairi didn't answer Max. She squinted at the blue glow at the end of the hall, and felt a sudden, creepy rush of claustrophobia from the small hallway they stood in. She began walking toward the blue glow.

Max trudged behind her, his swords gripped tight in his hands, eyes darting about, looking for ghosts, heartless, vampires, mummies, scarecrows, werewolves, zombies, living dolls, and whatever other creepy, crawly thing that was waiting for them at the end of the hall. Kairi's legs were shaking. She half expecting something horrible to jump at her from behind. At least she was no longer weighed down by all the ghosts' sorrow.

When they made it to the end of the hall, the duo shared a look, swallowed hard, and stepped into a spacious room that was so dark they could not see the walls. Instruments floated in the air. The ceiling was so high that all they could see was a void of black shadows above. The twinkling of flutes, the banging of drums, and the low booms of a trumpet filled the empty space. At the center of the room, on a raised, round dais, was a table. A crystal ball floated above the tattered, grey table cloth.

The music suddenly stopped, and a whispering voice echoed from the air, all the way into Max and Kairi's bones.

"Thrills and chills ahead. Come. Step before me, else your bravery has already fled."

The hair on Max's scruff stood straight up.

Kairi grabbed his arm, her teeth chattering. "Did you here that? Where did it come from?"

The voice spoke again. "Stow your fear. Come near."

"N-near where?" Max asked.

The crystal ball on the table swiveled, turning around. A pair of eyes narrowed from within the spherical glass, and it took all of Max and Kairi's self control not to scream at the severed, ghost head that spoke from within the crystal ball.

"Do you wish to hear the truth told, or is your cowering all that I am to behold?"

When the woman in the glass spoke, her blue, wispy curls moved about her pale, grey face like an icy wind. Frosty, blue eyes zeroed in on Kairi.

"Are you Madame Leota?"

The face inside the glass nodded.

Kairi let go of Max's arm. Stepping onto the dais, she sat down at the seat before Madame Leota's table. A moment later, she felt Max's hand on her shoulder as he came to stand at her side. Madame Leota, and the crystal ball her head was trapped in, floated above the table, whirling around Max and Kairi.

"Ah, I see. A door to the darkness is what you seek. Where oh where can such an opening be?"

For the first time since entering the mansion, Kairi felt no fear as she looked into the crystal ball. "You know how we can enter the realm of darkness?"

"That I do. But if you want me to do something for you, I require a favor too."

A journal floated down from the cavernous ceiling. It fluttered in front of Kairi's nose. Reaching for the old, musty, leather, Kairi opened the journal to a random page and began to read aloud.

"'Fourteenth September. Master Gracey has fallen in love. That which should bring these tired old bones nothing but joy fills me instead with horror. His bride to be, Elizabeth, is nothing more then a common girl. To wed her would be a stain on the name of Gracey, a name that I have worked tirelessly to raise from the mud since the boy lost his parents many years ago.'"

Kairi turned to another page.

"'Twenty-first October. My words of warning have fallen on deaf ears. I have found letters in the master's study. Letters of correspondence from Elizabeth. They are to elope in three days. I must stop this foolishness before it can be done.'" Kairi paused, slowly lowering the journal. "'No matter the means.'"

Max glanced at Madame Leota. "This is Ramsley's journal, isn't it?"

Madame Leota floated back to her table, watching Max and Kairi silently. The duo stared at her, speaking in unison.

"You don't really mean that..."

They trailed off before they could say the horrible words. When Madame Leota didn't answer, Kairi shook her head.

"Wait. This can't be right. Why would Ramsley get rid of Mr. Gracey too? And if Ramsley, you know, really took out Mr. Gracey and Elizabeth, 'by any means,' before they got married, then why did I see the two of them dancing together?"

"What are you talking about?" Max asked.

Kairi looked at him over her shoulder. "Back in the graveyard. When I touched their tombstones. I saw them dancing, at their wedding."

Madame Leota sighed. "Torn from each other while alive, their hearts still met. One heart they shared, their love easily overcoming Ramsley's betrayal."

Kairi hadn't realized she had been smiling until Madame Leota gave her a knowing look. Then, the ghostly woman's expression hardened.

"Though the lovers have found peace, Ramsley persists. Jealousy tethers him to this place, and his pull is hard to resist."

Max tilted his head. "That's why he's not letting the other ghosts move on or be free? That's stupid."

Kairi slammed Ramsley's journal on Madame Leota's table. The woman in the glass ball raised her eyebrows in surprise when her table shook underneath her.

"That jerk! We have to avenge Mr. Gracey and Elizabeth. We have to free all the other ghosts."

"How?" Max waved his arms around in defeat. "Ramsley is dead, remember? And something tells me he's not the listening type."

"There has to be a way to defeat a ghost. If not for justice, then at least for my own sanity." Kairi leaned forward on the table, squinting at Madame Leota. "What can we do?"

"A schemer he is, through and through. This new power over darkness is new."

Kairi frowned. "How did he get this power then?"

Madam Leota closed her eyes. "Of my visions, only one I can see: someone has empowered Ramsley."

Max groaned. "Who would be crazy enough to give a ghost more power?"

"In order for the spirits to rest, stealing the source of Ramsley's power is your test. Darkness tethers, light releases. Steal that which he covets, and he too vanishes."

"So he'll be weak to light if we get rid of the source of his power." Kairi pushed away from the table, standing. "Great. Now we just need to figure how to get out of here, and find out what that power source even is." She gave Madame Leota a hopeful glance. "I don't suppose you know a thing or two about what and where his power source might be?"

The room became several degrees colder when a door appeared along the back wall. The door opened, revealing the graveyard, now cleared of heartless, beyond.

"Back to the graveyard with you. There, you have some investigating to do."

"Do we have to?" Kairi squeaked.

"Don't delay," Madame Leota warned, "else you want darkness to come your way."

If Max hadn't put his hands on Kairi's shoulders and pushed her toward the door, she would have stayed there for a good ten minutes just trying to summon up the nerve to leave. The moment they stepped through the doorway, they turned around, and saw that there was nothing behind them. The room they had exited from might has well have never existed at all. All that stretched behind them was a long, dry plain, under a clear, starless sky.

"It's too quiet," Kairi mused, looking around. "Where did all the ghosts and heartless go?"

"Maybe they destroyed each other?" Max suggested.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I hope not. As scary as they are, getting destroyed by heartless is not something I would wish on anyone."

Kairi lifted her legs, stepping over dried, thorny bushes.

"Where are you going?" Max asked as he followed her.

"Looking for Ramsley's tombstone. If Mr. Gracey and Elizabeth had one, I'm willing to bet he does too."

"What will you do if you find it?"

"I don't know, but it seems like a good place to start looking for clues."

Max made a face. "Please don't tell me we're going to dig up the coffin."

Kairi whirled around but before she could say anything, she spotted a big, marble structure right behind Max. A grand mausoleum, lit up by dozens of spooky, blue-fire, candles, sat right in the middle of the cemetery, like a king standing in a crowd of kneeling servants. The letter "R" was written above the mausoleum's front door. Vines had crept up the structure, decorating the glowing, white marble with a touch of erie green.

Kairi stepped toward the mausoleum, closing her eyes, concentrating. Her ability to sense darkness wasn't as precise as Riku's was, but she could still feel its itchy, uncomfortable touch through the mausoleum doors.

"This is it," she told Max. "This is Ramsley's tomb."

Max whistled. "Well someone's self important. Mr. Gracey, the owner of the mansion, and his beloved get a measly headstone, but the keeper of the grounds has a whole mausoleum."

"Gee, what a swell guy," Kairi agreed, squinting at the mysterious letters on the tomb's stone door. She didn't understand the ancient language, but something whispered in her her heart.

"Beware all who enter. Here lies the passage to the dead," Kairi recited.

"Well, that's not creepy or anything," said Max.

There was a bar across the tomb's stone door. Kairi grunted as she pulled it out of the way. The heavy door opened, and a blast of cold, clear air blew Kairi's hair back from her shoulders. There was nothing but darkness within. Picking up one of the candles near her feet, Kairi closed her eyes and stepped into the darkness.

"Okay, Kairi, just think. After this is over, you'll have a way into the realm of darkness. We'll find Oswald. We'll save Ortensia and take them both home." Kairi bit her lip, squeaking, in a high pitched voice. "I just hope nothing jumps at me."

Max picked up his own candle and walked into the tomb right behind her. A few steps in, and the door slammed shut behind them. Kairi let out a tiny, nervous shriek, one that she quickly smothered by covering her mouth.

They walked deeper into the tomb, footsteps echoing as they started down a set of stone stairs. Near the bottom of the steps, Kairi saw a dim, brown glow. Stepping into a cavernous underground room, Kairi had to stop to let her eyes adjust to the light. Several fires flickered in brass basins. More fires burned in sconces on the circular walls.

Kairi gulped. It was like walking into a library of coffins. Rectangular holes were cut into the stone walls, and, in each hole, rested a forgotten coffin. Plaques with names, dates, birth and death, were written underneath each tomb. Except one.

A single, black, stone coffin lay in the middle of the room. The itch of darkness made goosebumps rise up on her skin. By the time Kairi had reached the coffin, the itch had now turned into an uncomfortable burning sensation. Getting on her knees, Kairi pushed the coffin's cover. The sound of stone sliding over stone made her bones tremble, but she kept pushing until the coffin's cover fell off.

Max yelped. The room had shaken when the coffin's cover had fallen to the floor. He nervously peered inside and was almost disappointed when he saw that there was nothing inside the coffin. Nothing except for a swirling ball of black energy. Kairi reached in, about to touch the orb of darkness. It flashed, sliding away from her fingers. Popping out of the coffin, the orb of darkness zoomed across the room, back toward the steps, right into Mr. Ramsley's hand.

"I must admit," Mr. Ramsley moaned, holding the ball of darkness aloft, "I am impressed. Your tenacity is commendable, if not irritating."

Max growled. "Murderer."

The look of contempt on Ramsley's face could have made a thriving garden rot.

"I am no more a murderer when you are a hero. Edward was a fool. The master had everything, and yet he would risk losing it all to marry that woman, that commoner."

There was fury in Kairi's eyes. She locked her gaze on the orb of darkness in Ramsley's hand. "Love isn't foolish."

"I tried to warn the master, but he wouldn't listen. Running away with that girl would have destroyed this house. All my work, my loyalty, duty, my sacrifices, undone."

"Loyalty?" Max growled. "You're just a selfish liar. And what about all the ghosts you've trapped here? What use is there in not letting them rest?"

"Why should they be allowed to rest? Edward and Elizabeth," he said her name as though it were a curse, "have moved on. Why should I remain here, alone, dealing with a curse that should have been cast on my foolish master? If I am to be wrongfully bound to this place, then so shall everyone else that has wondered through this house."

Kairi's was shocked. "Everyone that has wondered through this house? Then some of those ghosts were...you're a real monster."

"No, young lady. I am a rational man. And I see now that the only logical next step is to make sure you two do not leave this place while you still draw breath."

Ramsley lifted the orb of darkness, and a shockwave ripped through the crypt. Kairi's teeth chattered when the dark energy passed through her. Behind her, the wall trembled, the stone cracking, the floor undulating. Something cold wrapped about Kairi's ankle. Looking down, she felt her stomach shrivel as she looked into the lifeless, sunken eyes of a corpse.

The skeleton hissed, dust and spiders moving between its rotting teeth. Tattered clothes hung off its ashen bones. Kairi pulled out her sword and swung. The corpse's hand broke off from the rest of its body. Instead of releasing her leg like she had hoped, the severed hand's fingers clamped down tight on Kairi's ankle, refusing to let go. She managed to pry the hand off and was just about to hack at the corpse when the sound of crackling and moaning reached her. When Kairi looked up, her throat went dry at the sight of dozens of skeletons coming out of every coffin and tomb in the mausoleum.

"DUCK!"

Max grabbed Kairi's shoulder and pulled her down, saving her from getting a fireball to the face. Another black ball of fire flew toward them, as Ramsley threw volley after volley of the dark spells. Max reacted the fastest, cutting through one spell after the next with his two swords. While he defended them from Ramley's attacks, Kairi sliced through the skeletons that were slowly shambling toward them.

"A living state is so easily fixed." Ramsley's voice was calm. "It's only a matter of time. You cannot resist the power I command."

Kairi was quickly realizing that, while her sword could slice off the corpses' limbs, and magic could momentarily wash, electrocute, or burn them back, the enemies would simply dust themselves off and rise back up for another round. Meanwhile, Max was pinned down. Ramsley's black fire spells were relentless, leaving Max no opening to get close enough to snatch the dark orb from Ramsley's hand.

Desperate, Max flung one of his swords at Ramsley. The weapon sailed through the air, and Ramsley did not make a single move to get out of the way. Max and Kairi froze, momentarily transfixed and exited, as the sword flew. The sword pierced the wall, right through Ramsley's torso. Ramsley burst into smoke, and Max and Kairi whooped. Then they realized that the corpses hadn't stopped moving, and that the smoke Ramsley had left behind was slowly coalescing back into a human shape.

Ramsley was back, and his laughter was cold and cruel. "How wonderful. You believe you can actually defeat a ghost?"

"He's really starting to annoy me," Kairi growled as she sliced off the skull of an incoming corpse.

"No kidding. Switch with me," Max panted. "I'm down one sword and I don't have enough ranged attacks to get close. We need to get that orb, otherwise, this will go on forever."

"Okay. Wait for my signal."

"You'd better do it fast," Max barked, "because here comes another volley."

Out of the corner of her eye, Kairi spotted a purple light that was slowly getting brighter. Six corpses lunged at her at the same time. Kairi screamed a reflect spell, protecting Max from several fireballs, and keeping the corpses back just long enough for the two of them to switch places.

The second the spell went down, Max charged at the skeletons. He cut off arms and legs and removed skulls from spines, leaving nothing but crumbled bones on the ground. The skeletons tried to reassemble themselves, but Max wouldn't let them rise back up. It became a cycle. Disassemble, move on to the next group and repeat, keeping all the corpses down even as they rose back up to their feet.

Kairi, no longer held back by the army of undead, threw a waterga spell at Ramsley, momentarily washing away all his fire spells, allowing her to get close enough to reach for the orb in his hand. The moment she was in reach, Ramsley vanished into smoke, taking the orb with him. He appeared in another section of the crypt, redoubling his attacks.

A quick reflect spell stopped a fireball from burning Kairi to cinders. She grabbed Max's sword from the wall, and proceeded to switch between slicing through fire spells, and firing water magic to hopefully get close enough to Ramsley so that she could snatch the dark orb from his hand. Too bad the stupid, old ghost was more slippery then he looked. Ramsley vanished again, reappearing across the room, right behind Max.

Kairi didn't think. She threw a water spell right at Max's back, watching as it doused the fire spells before Max could be burned. The water pushed back the piles of bones that Max had been attacking, but it also swirled Max around, leaving him sitting on the floor, confused and dizzy. Ramsley was nowhere to be found, and Kairi wasted no time in racing across the crypt toward her friend. Several steps away, Ramsley appeared right behind Max, aiming a fire spell directly at the boy's head.

If Kairi was reacting on instinct before, she was absolutely crazed right then. It didn't matter that Ramsley was a ghost and that she would fall right through him, it didn't matter that she would be burned in the process, her mind was working too fast to even think about summoning a reflect spell. Kairi lunged at Ramsley, passing right through him. Her body collided with only truly solid part of Ramsley's body, the dark orb he had been holding in his hand.

Kairi hissed as the darkness burned her shoulder. Still in the air, she saw the dark orb bounce in front of her, falling into an open coffin. Unable to regain her balance, Kairi tumbled into the casket right after it. She landed on her behind, in a wide, dark cave. It was only pure luck that had kept her from falling on the spiky stalagmites below.

Max's concerned voice echoed from above.

"I'm okay!"

Kairi wasn't sure if Max could hear her, but she had no time to stop. The dark orb had fallen into a puddle of cave water. This could be her only chance.

"Try to keep Ramsley back! I almost have it!"

Running toward the orb, she reached out, about to grab it. Then, something, a human shaped shadow, appeared between her and the orb. Kairi froze. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she began to notice the rough edges and shiny surfaces of the shadow.

Not a shadow.

Armor.

Armor she had been seen before. Briefly. In Beast's castle.

Back then, the armor hadn't moved. It had been empty. Kairi hadn't sensed anything inside it. Now, it ticked as moved toward Kairi, like a marionette, and darkness was pulling the strings.

Kairi eyes quickly flitted to the orb of darkness that was lying on ground, right behind the armor.

Though its movements were choppy, the armor was fast. It flashed across the cavern, its open palm glowing with the unmistakable sizzle of magic. Three firaga spells burst from the amor's hand, lighting up the cavern and zooming toward Kairi like homing missiles.

Kairi ducked and rolled, avoiding the three spells. She charged the armor, but it nimbly jumped to the side, dodging her sword strike. Kairi was about to thrust her sword again, when something hot and fast, like a baseball, collided with her stomach, throwing her back against the cave wall. Reeling from the firaga spell to her torso, Kairi could only raise her sword, barely blocking the second spell. The third fireball, which Kairi now realized were the exact same three she had dodged at the beginning of the fight, smacked her sword out of her hand.

Trembling, Kairi pressed a hand to her injured stomach, casting a healing spell. Just as the green, magical leaves pushed away her pain, she spotted several disks of orange light around her feet. The disks moved toward her, exploding when they got too close, like land mines seeking out their target. Kairi jumped and ran, managing to make several of the mines explode by making them collide with nearby stalagmites.

Searching for the armor, Kairi spotted it reaching down to grab the sword she had dropped. With the blade in its metal hand, the armor straightened into a battle stance. Before Kairi could think, the armor was on her, attacking with strikes so quick, it was all Kairi could do to dance out of the way. For one second, the armor stopped, raising the sword into the air. Then it rushed Kairi again.

She had been so focused on dodging the sword, that Kairi had not noticed the barrage of ice crystals that burst out of the ground beneath her feet. The attack threw her up into the air, and Kairi barely managed to summon a reflect spell around herself when the armor appeared right behind her and swung the sword in a wide arc toward her legs.

The sword attack destroyed Kairi's protective spell, and sent her crashing into a heap on the floor. Kairi's back throbbed. Her teeth ached from gritting them in an attempt not to sob. Up above her, Kairi heard Max's pained cry, followed by the unmistakable thump of his body hitting the floor.

The armor was still reaching for her. The orb of darkness was out of her reach. And Max needed help. This couldn't be it. She still had to find her friends, she still had decisions to make. She'd come so far.

The armor reached out and clamped its tight grip on Kairi's upper arm. The cold steel burned Kairi's skin, as did the harsh coating of darkness coming from within the seams of the armor. The armor pulled her up, momentarily dropping Kairi's sword. In its free hand, darkness glowed, a deep, poisonous purple.

Kairi tried to reach out and grab her sword, but the armor's grip kept her far away from her weapon. Slowly but surely, the darkness crept closer and closer to Kairi's chest. She raised her hand, pointing at the armor's helmet. A bolt of lightning brust from Kairi. It coursed into the armor, stopping the metal suit for several seconds. The armor twitched, the darkness in its hand wavering, yet, even as she had fired the spell, Kairi knew it would not stop the armor.

Darkness tethers. Light releases.

Her only hope was a holy spell, but how? She had never done it on her own. Even now, Kairi tried concentrating, on reaching for some light, any light, but nothing came. Darkness oozed off the armor that still had not let go of her arm. It pressed down on her bones, making it hard to concentrate on laughter, on hope, on anything but the terror of failing. If only she knew how to control her power as a princess of heart.

The armor recovered from the lightning spell. It had taken less then two seconds for it to brush off Kairi's magic. It slammed the girl into a nearby stalagmite, holding her still.

Kagome grunted, reaching up to grab the armored hand pinning her back. She squeezed her eyes closed, reaching into her own heart. She had faced ghosts today, there was no way she was going to lose to some stupid armor. No matter what, she had to free the ghosts, had to do Mr. Gracey and Elizabeth right, had to prove that Ramsley was wrong. There was no way she was giving up, she would attempt a holy spell, or she would sink into the darkness while trying.

The fingers on Kairi's arm loosened. The armor stumbled backward, putting several paces between itself and the glowing girl it had trapped. Something silvery blinded Kairi for a moment. Then, cold, yet gentle hands grasped her shoulders, pulling Kairi to her feet. Her pain fluttered away as light and love covered her from head to two. There were people standing on either side of her.

To her left, was a lovely woman in a wedding dress, to her right was a gentleman. His smile was sophisticated and kind. Recognition clicked and Kairi's jaw dropped.

"Mr. Gracey?"

Her surprise was swept away by the sound of Ramsley's furious scream echoing from the hole on the cavern's ceiling. A moment later, Ramsley materialized in the cavern. His eyes were now pale blue, hollow, except for the unhidden hatred. The wrinkles on his face deepened as he looked at his old master.

"You dare to come back here? After you abandoned this house to be with her? How dare you return after all of your mistakes in judgement!"

Kairi sneered at Ramsley. "Where's Max? What did you do to him? Tell me!"

Ramsley ignored her demands, not taking his eyes off Edward Gracey's ghost.

"Love was never a mistake, Ramsley."

Mr. Gracey's voice was calm and soothing, yet firm and unwavering. He stepped closer to Kairi, and she felt something warm flutter over her arm. Elizabeth took Kairi's hand. She too faced Ramsley without fear.

"Our only mistake was never punishing you for your crimes."

And there it was. Light. Gracey's conviction. Elizabeth's love. Both flowed into Kairi like the warmth of a fire after braving a snowstorm. Immediately, her exhaustion faded, and the familiar rush of a holy spell began glowing deep with in her heart. All she had to do was say the word.

Ramsley charged, flames dancing in both of his dead eyes, evil intent zeroing in on Mr. Gracey and Elizabeth. He never reached them, for the combined power that Gracey, Elizabeth, and Kairi had been cultivating, suddenly burst. The three of them had whispered the spell, and a blinding, white wind flashed through the cavern. The second the light touched him, Ramsley faded, never to be seen again.

In the mausoleum above, Max watched as the skeletons fell to the ground. One by one, they crumbled into dust. Outside, in the cemetery, all the ghosts smiled as they felt the light pick them up and carry them away, finally giving them peace. In the mansion's ballroom, the dancers stopped dancing, happy that their waltz had come to a end and looking forward to resting their tired feet as the light took them away as well.

When the white wind finally faded, Kairi was the only one standing. Across from her, the suit of armor rested, face down, on the ground, no longer controlled by the darkness. Kairi spotted something on the cave floor, where Ramsley's orb of darkness had been. Now that her holy spell had washed away the darkness, she realized that the orb hadn't been an orb at all.

Bending, Kairi picked up a star shaped charm. The third and final one. Unlike Sora and Riku's charms, this one was blue. Kairi spent a moment wondering what would happen when she met up with Sora and Riku again. When the three charms were brought together, would they get a clue about how to solve the world crashing problem?

Mr. Gracey cleared his throat. Kairi turned around and caught him bowing. He and Elizabeth hovered in the air, their bodies slowly fading.

"Thank you, miss. Ramsley's gone and now the mansion can fade away into the light, as it should have done many years ago."

Kairi blushed. "I should be thanking you. If you hadn't come here, I never would have summoned the light I needed to defeat Ramsley."

Elizabeth tilted her head. "I don't understand. Did you not call us here?"

"N-no. I didn't."

Mr. Gracey and Elizabeth exchanged a look.

"We were called here," Mr. Gracey explained, "by a strong light. We simply followed it."

"Yet, now that I have time to reflect," Elizabeth said, "that should not be possible."

Kairi stepped toward the ghosts. A new fear, one she couldn't quite explain, made her shake. "I don't understand."

"Normally, when one fades into the light, they don't return as ghosts. Ever." Elizabeth explained.

"The rules of our world must have been broken," Mr. Gracey concluded. "No...Light isn't supposed to run free like this. That must mean-"

The cavern shook. Kairi yelped, lunging to the side before she could be stabbed by one of the falling stalactites that had broken lose from the ceiling. By the time she had found safe space to stand, she realized that Mr. Gracey and Elizabeth had almost completely faded away.

"Wait! Not yet! What did you mean about light running free?"

Mr. Gracey turned toward her, the volume of his voice rising and falling. "There is no time. The mansion will vanish. You must leave now."

"Thank you for everything," Elizabeth whispered, "but you must hurry."

Then they were gone.

Kairi dashed toward cave wall. She jumped on a nearby rock, and was just a few feet away from the ceiling when Max popped his head through the hole above. His face brightened when he saw her.

"You're okay!" The two friends said at the same time.

Max reached in. "Grab my hand!"

Jumping up from the boulder, Kairi caught Max's hand. He grunted as he pulled her up. Looking down at the cavern one more time, Kairi's heart froze.

The armor was standing.

It walked, stopping directly underneath her. She turned to scream, to warn Max, but then the armor did something...odd.

It shrugged.

It turned.

And then it walked deeper into the cave, out of sight.

Max finally pulled Kairi up and she collapsed into him, hugging his waist.

"I'm so glad! I thought Ramsley beat you!"

Max patted her back. "It'll take more then some fireballs and few skeletons to get rid of me, but never mind that!" He pointed to the walls, which were now covered in deep cracks. "We have to get out of here!"

Exiting the tomb, Max and Kairi watched as the world around them slowly collapsed. In the distance, the trees, the mansion, and the furthest tombstones began to sink as the ground crumbled into a black void. There was nowhere to run, yet the remaining ghosts smiled as they faded into nothing.

Max and Kairi moved away from the mausoleum as it shivered and then fell into the earth. Then, they heard laughter right behind them and turned to see Madam Leota. She smiled through the glass of her crystal ball, floating around Max and Kairi.

"Thank you. You have been most sublime. All worlds begin and all worlds end. Feel no sorrow, for it is our time."

With the ground vanishing into nothing, Kairi and Max held on to each other.

"That's great and all," said Max, "but what's going to happen to us?"

"Our journey done, but yours has just begun. We had an accord. An opening to the realm of darkness shall be your reward."

Madam Leota closed her eyes. Below her crystal ball, a black vortex appeared.

"Continue toward your destiny," Madame Leota nodded to the portal below her, "but heed my warning. The end of your path has much treachery. Darkness tethers, light releases. Do not be tempted by the light's caresses."

Madam Leota, like all the other ghosts before her, faded. Never once did the peaceful smile she wore waver, even as her crystal ball disintegrated and her wispy, shadowy form flickered out like a candle. Kairi squeezed Max's hand.

"Well, no turning back now."

Max grinned. "After you."

Kairi looked around. All that was left of the haunted mansion was the tiny spec of land they stood on. It was now or never. Closing her eyes and holding her nose like she was about to jump into a pool, Kairi dived into the darkness, pulling Max through with her.


Sora fell face first into the cold, hard ground. Grunting, he pushed himself up to his hands and knees. Then, his cheek was slammed back down onto the ground as Donald and Goofy fell on top of him.

Sora smacked his lips, spitting out fresh mouthful of dirt. His tongue ran over an elongated canine in his mouth. He blinked, finally lifting his head to take a look around. They were outside, in a world so foggy that the only thing he could see clearly was the yellow moon hanging overhead. Wolves howled in the distance, owls hooted, and the air was cool and clear, carrying the echos of distant, shrieking ghosts, as well as the subtle scent of pumpkin spice, cemetery flowers, and sugary candy corn.

Goofy, finally getting over his dizziness, rolled off Sora.

"Gawrsh, sorry pals. Are you two all right?"

Sora reached up and grasped Goofy's hand. Rather then the gloves Goofy usually wore, his hand was now covered in thick fur and there were long claws on each fingertip. Looking up, Sora noticed Goofy's orange, black, and yellow patchwork jacket and pants. A tiny jack o' lantern was now Goofy's nose, and a giant screw had replaced his hat.

Donald groaned from behind Sora. Sure enough, when Sora turned to get a look at Donald, he wasn't surprised to see that his friend's feathers were replaced by faded, mummy wrappings. Sora looked at his hands, which were now covered in clawed, white gloves. His clothes had been replaced as well; he was now wearing a black and white jacket, and black trousers. An orange, pumpkin mask covered his right eye.

"I know where we are," Goofy said. "We're in Halloween Town! Oh boy, I can't wait to see what Max looks like! Wait? Where is Max?"

Sora looked around. Through the mist, he was able to make out Riku and Mickey's shapes. There were collapsed on the ground a few feet away. Kairi and Max were missing. Then, Sora spotted the mansion that had appeared in Hollow Bastion. Strangely enough, unlike everything else in the world they found themselves in, the mansion was not obscured by the heavy fog.

"Are Max and Kairi still in there?"

Goofy and Donald slowly moved toward the mansion's back gates. Just when they were a few steps away from it, the gates flickered like the old, black and white pictures on a broken projector. Then, poof! The mansion was gone, as though it had never been there at all. Only the foggy planes of Halloween Town remained.

Goofy reached out, his eyes wide. "Oh no! Maxie!"

Sora cupped his hands around his mouth, screaming. "Kairi!"

Donald pressed his hands to his beak, panicking. "What happened? Where did it go?"

Something popped out of the air. The trio yelped, falling back as blue, magical sparkles glittered before them. One of Master Yen Sid's enchanted letters floated in front of Sora's nose. His name was written on it. Unfolding the letter, Sora read a few lines and let out a sigh of relief.

"What does it say?" asked Goofy.

"It's from Kairi. She and Max are safe, and they'll meet up with us later. She says that she'll head back to Master Yen Sid's place when their mission is done."

Goofy put his hands over his heart. "Well, as long as they're okay."

Donald patted Goofy's elbow. "Max will be fine. He was trained by King Mickey. There's nothing he can't handle."

"Yup. Plus Kairi can take care of herself," Sora said.

"And good luck to anyone that tells her she can't," came Riku's voice.

Turning around, Sora spotted Riku and Mickey moving toward them through the fog. He was about to ask Riku and Mickey if they were all right, but when the two of them came close enough to be seen clearly, all that came out of Sora's mouth was a laugh.

"What?" grouched Riku, wrinkling his nose. "I feel kind of funny. Why is everything so much louder all of a sudden? And I smell more things then usual."

Sora walked around Riku. "Put your hands on your head."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

Huffing, Riku did as his was told. Then he proceeded to scream.

"What the-my ears!"

Sora's laugher returned, full force. "I know! They're adorable! You look like some kind of wolf-man!"

"This isn't funny, Sora!"

"I'm sorry, it's just that your tail wags when you're surprised."

"I HAVE A TAIL?"

If Sora was laughing before, he was almost rolling on the floor now. Riku stomped around, his new wolf feet making it so his footsteps were silent, instead of the angry thumps he had been hoping for.

"I wish Kairi were here," Sora wheezed. "She'd be all over you, petting your fluffy, silver mane of hair and your cute widdle paws!"

At this, Riku stopped so that he could flex his hands. There were paw pads on his palms, and long claws at his fingertips. Sora was now kicking his feet. Riku growled, much like the wolf he would rather not be.

"Would you knock it off?"

"Okay, okay." Still chuckling slightly, Sora rolled over on his hands and knees before pushing himself back up. "I was only joking."

King Mickey, who had been silently watching the argument and trying his best not to laugh, finally let a chuckle escape from his lips. Riku's face spelled absolute betrayal as he turned toward the king.

Mickey grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, sorry. But the lone wolf thing suits you a little too well."

Mickey put his hands into the pockets of his new, green lab coat. Much like Goofy, he wore a pair of patchwork pants, except his were purple and green. With two big bolts coming out of his neck, and a piece missing from his left ear, as well as a few sewn up scars on his face, Mickey looked more like a mad scientist then a keyblade wielder.

"Sora, I think you should stop before you really hurt his feelings."

"Only if he howls at the moon."

"Sora," Mickey scolded, tapping his foot on the ground.

"Fine, fine. To be honest, I actually like it. You look cool."

"Thanks. I could do without the tail though."

Riku's wolf ears suddenly twitched. He took a long sniff of the air, and then frowned, facing something in the distance.

"Uh oh."

There was a loud boom that shook the autumn leaves up from the ground. Goofy, Mickey, and Riku covered their sensitive ears, while Donald and Sora tried not to fall over as the aftershock of the explosion made the ground rumble beneath their feet.

Something terrible had just happened in Halloween Town.


Jiminy's Journal:

Madame Leota (First Appeared in The Haunted Mansion, 2003): The ghost of a Romani woman that once resided in Mr. Gracey's mansion. Trapped inside her own crystal ball, her favorite pastimes are reciting haunting premonitions and making rhymes. She helped Max and Kairi find a way to the realm of darkness, in return for setting everyone in the mansion free.

Edward Gracey (First Appeared in The Haunted Mansion, 2003): The master of mansion. He was once a well known gentleman that had a high place in society, but he was willing to throw all of it away to be with his one true love. Although Ramsley's betrayal stopped him from being with her, his love was so strong that his ghost found her in death.

Elizabeth (First Appeared in The Haunted Mansion, 2003): The woman that Mr. Gracey loved with all of his heart. Though she could not be with Mr. Gracey in life, due to her status as a commoner, she was able to find peace with him in death. Yet, somehow, she returned as a ghost when Kairi's heart reached out for help.