Hello again. Welcome to Chapter 2! :-D In relation to Chapter 1, I'm presenting a small theory to sort of justify why Maleficent wanted Jiminy's Journal in Dream Drop Distance. When KH3 comes out, this will more than likely be debunked but I think it's a more interesting idea. At least it's set to come out in 2018. We can get excited about that!
Theory #1: After Maleficent's raven sends a message to King Mickey saying she and Pete have Minnie for ransom, the raven sort of gets a quick glimpse of Master Yen Sid administering the Mark of Mastery exam, right? Well, during the exam, Sora and Riku are basically traveling through worlds whose events are set in the past before darkness presumably engulfed the world. When Maleficent and Pete were in the data worlds, the events were also set in the past but during the events when Sora first started his journey. Now, the journal itself was messed up, so the exact events that took place during Sora's time aren't really there and the worlds are essentially just illusions. I thought it would be cool to have Maleficent take Jiminy's Journals not because she wants to conquer the worlds in them but because she wants to test her apprentice with her own version of a Mark of Mastery exam. The best way to do that is to have her apprentice travel through a collection of worlds the person wouldn't be familiar with and have the apprentice lock some of the keyholes. This would be similar in style to Yen Sid's exam in KH 3D.
That was the whole setup/plot point for Chapter 1. Enough of me jabbering about nothing. Enjoy Chapter 2.
The number of guards doubled at the kingdom gates. That much could be seen from the trinoculars that Fait produced from his pocket. The comrades hid in the shadows of the forest, visited every so often by one of their woodland creature friends, but were hardly distracted from their mission. Maleficent's powers were far more intense than either of them could remember. The dark mistress had been limited in the uses of her powers, but there something very different about her powers now. Fait shook his head a little at the thought. He couldn't deal with changes in his master's strength right now. He had to worry about King Stephan's army and the keyhole to Enchanted Dominion. Pete would have to worry about the guards on his own for a while. Fait handed Melvin the trinoculars for the moment as a fawn came up to him for a gentle pet on its head. Why the woodland creatures weren't bothered by the Heartless he would never know, but he liked not being the enemy to deer and rabbits. He, for whatever reason, liked being gentle every now and then.
"That's a lot of guards..." Melvin whispered, using Fait's trinoculars to look passed the gates and count the numbers of men moving about in the surrounding area. "How are we supposed to get passed them? Pete's gotta deal with the stronger knights. We just took out the cute, little pawns"
"Some of them are leaving their posts," Fait informed, looking out into the distance. "That means it's time for them to change shifts. The ones on the left are guarding the princess of heart. The ones on the right are guarding the pathway going into the forest. We can't go back that way. We have to find a safe route."
"Fait," Melvin called, turning to his comrade. "They're headed to the mountain!"
"They must've found out about Maleficent," Fait replied in almost a panicked voice.
The two looked out and saw Heartless spawning before the guards and attacking them. While most of them were able to hold their own with magic, some of them could only do so much before they were defeated and became a Heartless. Pete soon lumbered out and gathered more Heartless and strength to weaken the army's defenses quite nicely. However, the soldiers guarding the path to the forest caught sight of Fait and Melvin, too, and were already on their trail.
"Hey! You there!" a voice called out from behind them.
"Oh great! Now they're after us!" Melvin complained, rising to his feet and summoning a large magic staff.
"We can't fight all of them head on. Take a dive!" Fait commanded, jumping into the air and turning into a shadowy mist.
Melvin followed suit and the two managed to dodge a few attacks from javelins and rush into the forest. When they got far enough to go undetected by the guards, they reshaped into dimensional forms and Melvin then said, "We gotta go stealth until we get to the keyhole. If the guards get close enough then we can attack. I'll try not to use any elemental magic since it could draw attention."
"Think you can use time magic if I give a signal?" Fait asked, nodding at this new plan.
Melvin scoffed then pointed a thumb to his chest in confidence. He said, "Please, you're talkin' to only the best magic user next to maybe Maleficent. I got your back!"
Fait chuckled at his friend and turned to the fast-approaching guards before he said, "Alright then. Haste on me. Slow on the locked."
"You got it!" Melvin said before he and Fait disappeared and went into stealth mode.
At Disney Castle...
She had to be very quiet if she wanted to best her opponent in this battle. She tried her hardest to keep her footsteps deathly silent as she trekked through the snow. The kingdom was covered in ice after the small snow storm yesterday. Now that it was December, there would be more than enough wintry fun until Christmas arrived. As she took her time to observe the castle towers, she could see there was a magical glow from the lanterns as the court wizard went about lighting them with his Fire magic. She heard a small shuffling nearby and hid away in the bushes. She took her gloved hand and gathered up a few weapons before pressing them close to her warm bosom. It was a good thing she wore her cloak today; otherwise, the droplets of icy cold water coming from the melting icicles would definitely blow her cover. Wait! So would not hearing them fall to the ground. Curses!
"Hmm..." she heard a familiar voice say as her opponent crept a little closer to her place in the bushes.
This actually wasn't a fair fight since her opponent had a gun, but she figured she could easily defeat him since he had to rely on firepower while she chose brute force to win. Suddenly, a little kitten hopped out from behind a statue and mewed. This startled her opponent and made his hunting dog come out to defend his master. Now that was just plain, flat-out cheating on his part! He brought a hunting dog to the fight? Not fair! Her opponent's hunting dog barked at the kitten and scared it to the point where it clutched onto the statue for dear life, but this distraction gave her enough time to pop out of the bushes and hit her opponent with two snowballs.
She yelled, "Gotcha, Mickey!"
"Ah!" King Mickey shouted, falling to the ground and then laughing. "Nice job, Minnie."
"You should be ashamed!" Minnie said, lecturing the king as he rubbed the back of his head with some guilt. "Calling Pluto to help you and using a play gun. The point of a snowball fight is to only use what you have: your hands and your ears."
"Aw, but Minnie," Mickey said with a tiny pout and puppy-dog eyes, "Donald's nephews were so proud of their newest invention. I couldn't just let them down and not test it out."
"Test it out? Against a lady?" Minnie then argued, winning this argument with that statement.
"Aw, gosh, I didn't even think about that," Mickey chuckled with blush dusting his cheeks. "I suppose hot cocoa wouldn't get ya to go easy on me, would it?"
Minnie hummed with thought and then planted a sweet kiss onto Mickey's cheek. She said, "That's the best idea you've had since this snowball fight."
"Aw, gee!" the king then said, his winter hat slightly covering heart-filled eyes for a moment before they returned to normal. "C'mon Pluto!"
"You, too, Figaro!" Minnie called, catching the little kitten when it leapt off the statue and ran into her arms.
Mickey and Minnie held hands as they went inside of the castle, chuckling at their pets running to the nearest fireplace. All was quiet throughout the castle but it was a pleasant atmosphere. Just as they began to remove their coats, the walking brooms came up behind them and starting scooping up the snow that stuck to the bottoms of their shoes. The couple thanked the enchanted brooms, earning polite bows from them, and held hands again to walk to the sitting room. The holiday season would undoubtedly be more enjoyable this year. Abruptly, a group of pureblood Heartless appear through the castle halls and Mickey's keyblade appears immediately after that! Minnie gasps and stands behind Mickey after he darts his arm out to protect her.
"What are these guys doing here?" the king questioned, anger emanate in his voice.
"Mickey, I think these Heartless are too different," Minnie whispered, covering her mouth with her hand.
"You're right. I can feel it, too," Mickey replied, gripping his keyblade tightly. "These guys are stronger than before - way stronger! Someone really powerful must've woke 'em up."
"Blizzard!" a familiar squawk sounded.
"Your majesty!" another voice called.
Goofy and Donald rush to King Mickey's side, but the couple of Heartless who weren't immediately defeated from Goofy's rush attack unleash their own blast of power that blows everyone back. The other Heartless who were frozen start moving slowly before curling into a kind of ball and breaking the ice into shards. The floating ice is soon covered in darkness and under the control of the Heartless. They shoot the pieces at the group, but Goofy reacts in time to shield them. While they're distracted with fighting the Heartless up front, a few emblem Heartless appear from behind. Two soldiers snatch Queen Minnie's arms and being dragging her away.
"Mickey!"
The king turned around sharply and shouted, "Minnie, no!"
"Faith!" the queen shouted, unleashing a blast of light and destroying the Heartless trying to take her. Unfortunately, a Devil's Wave of Heartless rises from the ground and scoops Minnie up. She shouted again, "Mick - !"
But the Heartless successfully kidnapped the queen and brought her into the corridor of darkness. Mickey, now infuriated, attacked everything within his sight and rushed to the corridor before it closed; yet, it disappeared and the Heartless left behind retaliated and stopped the king from saving his queen. Donald and Goofy were fighting the Heartless further up ahead and didn't see the queen's kidnapping in time to help save her. When the Heartless started to disappear again, Donald and Goofy turned to see Mickey on the floor with despair in his heart.
They ran to his side and the king whispered, "They've got her. They took Minnie."
Donald placed a hand on the king's shoulder and whispered, "Oh no..."
Goofy let out a saddened sigh before a light of hope struck him. All was not lost! He hummed with determination and then saluted the king to get his attention. He then said, "Straighten up! This is no time to start cryin' or givin' up! We'll go out and search for Minnie high and low until we figure out who took her and why, but they'll be none of this 'down in the dumps' attitude while we're doing it. Minnie didn't give up. She believed in us from the moment we left to fight the Heartless and stop Xehanort, and she believes in us now. We'll save her, your majesty. Just believe in us."
Lost for words, King Mickey sniffed up a tear that threatened to drop and stood up to his full height. Goofy was right! They'd find Minnie no matter what. As the trio planned their rescue operation, a single Heartless that somehow remained undetectable was watching them from the opposite side of the castle. It was a rather peculiar Heartless from the way it was dressed. It had pieces of a samurai's armor and a samurai's straw hat on its head. No one knows if it can hear the plan from its distance, but it remained standing in its place until Mickey turned to it when he finally was able to detect the power the Heartless exuded for a moment. Mickey didn't see the Heartless where he sensed its power, but it was clear that it wasn't in the same place anymore. He turned back with suspicion toward his planning allies and joined the conversation from there.
Back at Enchanted Dominion...
Melvin and Fait just narrowly escape King Stephan's soldiers with their stealth tactics but successfully distance themselves from the next few waves of warriors as they hurriedly run through the forest. The duo begin to slow down as a slope approaches. They slide down and come to a bridge made by a fallen tree. Melvin went ahead of Fait to check the sturdiness of the thing and climbed on to see if the tree could hold his weight. It creaked a little, making the duo tense, but otherwise stood its ground. A noise made Fait turn a bit sharply. When he saw nothing behind him, he returned his gaze to the tree only to be startled by one of the woodland creatures of the forest - specifically a female rabbit. Fait scoffed, rolled his eyes, and then shook his head before reaching down and waving a finger at the rabbit. The long-eared rodent followed the Heartless as they crossed the wood bridge before Fait stopped to gaze at the view of the castle. King Stephan's domain was almost miles away now. Continuing on, the Heartless trekked their way to the little cottage where Princess Aurora was raised and soon took a deep breath of relief.
A squirrel and an owl soon joined the Heartless as Fait kneeled down to pat the rabbit on her head. The trinoculars were needed for a moment so Fait reached into his pocket and retrieved them. He turned the top corner lens and then made the right corner lens protrude out some. Fait saw nothing in the cottage and led the way inside of it. Though small, the cottage was cozy. From the kitchen of the home, Fait was drawn to a pulse emanating from the fireplace. It was a strong beat. Soon, his keychain lit up and summoned his keyblade again. This made Fait go into the kitchen to find the world's keyhole, but his search came to a halt when he heard Melvin scream.
"Fait! It's Shinnosuke!"
Fait ran outside to see Melvin and Shinnosuke, the samurai Heartless, wrestling playfully but only to see a large emblem Heartless standing behind them and awaiting orders. This particular comrade was new to the humanoid. It was large with sharp claws and teeth much like him and his friends, but it was unique with its long head and limbs. It even had three heads on its shoulders which made it rather strange-looking for a typical creature of darkness. It had silvery-green skin and red nails or red spiked features all over its body. As Fait approached the group, a Devil's Wave struck him and he caught something in his arms before being tackled to the ground. Fait was about to demand an explanation until he came face to face with a large mouse in a red dress with fur along the collar of a shawl.
"Who are you?" Fait questioned, hearing the mouse gasp.
The mouse looked into Fait's hand and saw the familiar before clenching onto his blue cloak and saying, "Oh, you have a keyblade. That means you can help me!"
"Shinnosuke, who is that?" Melvin demanded, pointing at Minnie.
"Her name is Queen Minnie," Shinnosuke answered, turning to the large Heartless behind him and nodding for him to guard the forest while he spoke to his friends. He jumped a bit when said friends stared at him like he grew a second head from his chest before scoffing in somewhat amusement at their faces. He then continued, "From Disney Castle."
"Wha - ?" Fait started, now seeing the recognizable features. "You kidnapped the queen?"
"And brought her here?" Melvin questioned.
"Look! We need her help," Shinnosuke said, sighing hopelessly. "I found... a piece of my heart at Disney Castle in the garden."
"What?" Melvin questioned.
"A piece of your heart?" the queen questioned, placing a finger on her bottom lip. "What do you mean?"
"When I went to your world," Shinnosuke started, looking at Minnie as he was talking, "my mission was to release a few Heartless to keep your king distracted and await my orders, but I found a part of my heart there instead and was afraid that maybe other fragments would be there. If we were to somehow weaken your king to the point where he couldn't protect you all, then the Heartless wouldn't just get all of your hearts but the fragments of my heart, too. After I put my fragment together with the others, I remembered the day you saved me, Fait."
"Saved you?" Fait questioned, sitting up and moving Minnie to his side.
"Yeah," Shinnosuke whispered, nodding and then looking at Fait as he spoke. "We were kids... playing in a forest. You wanted to find this crystal for the Moogles to make a new item. It was for Melvin's birthday present: a new wand. The crystal was in an underground cave, and you asked for me to go with you."
"That's sweet and all coming from this nut basket," Melvin informed, pointing a nonchalant thumb at Fait. "But what does all of this mean? Why was a fragment of your heart in Disney Castle of all places? It doesn't make any sense."
"That's why we need her majesty there," Shinnosuke said, pointing to Minnie. "There's a connection between us that goes beyond knowing each other in another life. Our hearts are still scattered to all kinds of places, even the memories we have right now, but it's the places that makes all of this confusing. When we were in the Realm of Darkness, we didn't have any memories of our pasts so we just followed whoever was controlling us if they were strong enough to do it. Fait was different."
Melvin hummed in thought and folded his arms. He then looked at the queen and said, "We can't let Maleficent see her. She'll try to get rid of her for sure. That'll screw up any chance we might have at figuring out how we knew each other as kids and what happened to us. What'll we do?"
"Might I suggest something?" Minnie finally piped, standing up and bringing Fait closer to his friends to form a circle. "You three are the only Heartless I've ever seen talk to each other like true friends. If it's possible, I can try to bring you three to Merlin. I have one condition!"
"A condition?" Fait questioned.
In the distance, Pete was lumbering through the forest with Princess Aurora over his shoulder and a smug grin on his face. After he sent an army of Heartless to overwhelm the castle and Maleficent sent backup, he went on ahead and proceeded to the world's door so he could leave with Fait and Melvin. He didn't fully understand why he couldn't take over the castle with the other two Heartless. As much as he liked giving them a hard time, they were the strongest out of the bunch and could probably best the keyblade masters. Maleficent cherished them greatly for this reason especially Fait. Although he used regular swords as Heartless, he could easily wield a keyblade with the small bit of light within his heart. The little country cottage was coming into view as Pete strolled up. Abruptly, a large emblem Heartless appeared and stopped Pete from going any further.
"Hey, what's the big idea?" Pete demanded. "Outta the way!" When the Heartless wouldn't budge, Pete snapped his head to the side and said, "Oh no! The castle guards!"
Distracted for a moment, the Heartless turned to the side in search of guards then turned back around to see Pete running away from it. Angered, it held out a hand to make an invisible wall that stopped Pete from moving on and foiled his little "plan". Hovering above the big cat, the Heartless pointed a single finger at Pete's shoulder and teleported Princess Aurora to the cottage where his master, Shinnosuke, would be. Pete caught sight of the shadowy heap appearing behind someone and gasped when he spotted Queen Minnie with the group of Heartless.
"No way!" he shouted. "What are those idiots doing? Maleficent'll kill 'em if she sees Queen Minnie there! Wait! If Queen Minnie is here, then King Mickey and those other nimrods are gonna be away from the castle for a while to search for her. Hm... and if they're leaving the castle right now..."
With an evil chuckle, Pete snuck off and teleported into the shadowy abyss. The large Heartless turned to his master and sent him a message telepathically as a warning. The group was already in shock from having Princess Aurora join them uninvited and unconscious.
When Shinnosuke gasped after receiving the message, he turned to Fait quickly and said, "Pete saw us! I'll bring her and the queen elsewhere until it's safe. We'll meet you soon."
Fait gave Shinnosuke one last look before turning his sights to the keyblade in his hand and then to Minnie. He nodded and watched his friend carry Princess Aurora through a Corridor of Darkness with Queen Minnie at his side. The wall the large Heartless created disappeared along with the creature itself. Melvin gave Fait a little jab to reassure Fait that he was doing something for all of them. That wasn't some basic memory Shinnosuke managed to obtain. It was strangely too significant. The fact that he felt he had to get Queen Minnie and bring her to the danger zone called Enchanted Dominion showed that he was remembering more important details of their past than anyone else. The only connection the Heartless trio had so far was that Fait, Melvin, and Shinnosuke were friends in another life. Something kept them together even in darkness. When Fait turned to look at the cottage one more time, Maleficent appeared in the corner of Fait's eye and stood over him.
"Whoa!" Fait shouted, darting away from the dark mistress. When he saw she meant no harm, Fait relaxed then said, "Maleficent..."
"What is taking you so long?" the woman asked with some concern.
Fait kneeled before her and replied, "We just escaped the soldiers a moment ago. The World's Door is inside the cottage."
She then said, "Is that so? Well, I have some news to give you, child. Come to me, Fait."
Maleficent created from the earth a stony throne for her to rest on. Fait walked up to her, unsure of what to do and was surprised when the dark mistress pulled him closer and made him kneel and rest his head on her lap. She gently moved his hood back and pat his head. Then, surprising even to Melvin, the woman stroked Fait's blonde hair and played a bit with the black parts of his hair. Maleficent hadn't done this to Fait in years, so Fait was truly unsure of what to do. The witch's pet raven soon flew to her side and perched on the throne next to her. Melvin - at a loss for words - sat down quietly and watched the sentimental exchange between his friend and their master.
"I haven't brushed your hair in some time, have I?" Maleficent asked in an eerily smooth voice. "Those were fonder times. Your hair was always a bit different. Not gold as sunshine or brown as the earth but somewhere in between. The time you spent in darkness under my wing even added something unique to it - a bit of black. You and I have been getting stronger. Your friends, too. Fairly soon, we will have our memories and our powers back to us, but I wonder if we will ever have these same moments together when everything returns to normal."
Fait looked down into Maleficent's dark robes, pondering the notion, and then said, "You've helped me for years. Under you, I've grown. It wouldn't be fair to leave you behind after all this time. I'll help you get stronger just as you've helped me. We'll be alright."
"Such purity and goodness," Maleficent complimented. "You are more than deserving of the title of master, my young apprentice. There has been a slight change in plans. I believe you should take one more test to prove you are worthy of the title of master. There is a man named Yen Sid who lives in the Mysterious Tower. He has named a few apprentices true keyblade masters. Let us prove to him that your strength is admirable. Do you remember the sleeping spell I taught you?"
"Yes, madam," Fait replied. "But does this mean you don't want me to release the Heartless on this world?"
"Yes," Maleficent answered. "We will leave this world be for now. Let us show Master Yen Sid the power of sleep that you possess."
With that, Maleficent lifted Fait up to stand and disappeared into the darkness. He turned to Melvin with some confusion and then looked at the cottage. Fait pulled the hood over his head and then summoned the keyblade to his hand. When he walked into the kitchen, the room shifted and the cauldron within the fireplace floated up with light magic. The fireplace soon turned into a stone wall in the shape of a door and the keyhole appeared on the surface of the cauldron. Just as Fait lifted the keyblade in his hand and pointed it to the keyhole, a voice in his head began to ring and he could hear the wind blowing outside with Melvin sitting patiently.
Fait chanted, "A broken heart will not mend in a day. Sorrow will not wash away in a night. To keep the spirits of ill distant from the world, the bridge between despair and hope must stand tall. But this bridge opens within the world an endless darkness and a shallow light. The world - stuck between being asleep and being awake - must wait until the master of light and darkness can fix what has been broken and restore its balance. I am the light that illuminates the darkness. With my torch, those who seek me will march on the path to a sound peace. I am the truth that shields the world from eternal suffering. With my vision, those who seek me will never be blinded by the wicked and walk with confidence. As my light forms the bridge, I send this world to sleep in a realm where hope is eternal."