Chapter 6: Monstro
sakuraphoenix: Okay, this hiatus was completely and utterly ridiculous!
Detroid: Yeah but please don't hate us for how long this went on hiatus since well... ya know
sakuraphoenix: Long story short, I was busy, he was busy, and honestly? I was kinda trying to tackle a writer's block brick wall but kept getting chased away by a bunch of angry bulls from the wall
Detroid: Yeah so I'll let my cute girlfriend do the disclaimer this time
sakuraphoenix: You're getting me to blush *blushing*
Disclaimer: We do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney. The rights to Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix and Disney, obviously, belongs to the Disney company. We also do not own Luz. She belongs to Keybladeauraofpie. Rita, Reina, and Yukie all belong to D.J. Scales, therefore we do not claim any ownership of them and any other OCs that don't belong to us
sakuraphoenix: Okay, that was a little long, but hey, we're rusty
Detroid: Yeah so at least, bare with us and so this chapter will begin in a different POV rather than how it usually goes and it'll be Jing's POV for once
sakuraphoenix: Yeah, the others lost that straw draw. Man, that's making me think of something that happened in my friend's communication class. Long story and it's not gonna be told in this
Detroid: Anycase…. Enjoy this long chapter going through floor 2 exit and through the whole 3rd floor
sakuraphoenix: And do tell me, which memories are we going to encounter today?
Detroid: That'll be for the readers to find out and us to know so enjoy!
sakuraphoenix: What my adorable Raichu said!
I sure hope Hikari's okay… I mean, she has to be. I don't hear from her in nearly ten years, and then… well, I finally get close to finding her again. But… does she remember me?
"Hmm…" Goofy said while stopping
"Huh? What's the matter?" Donald asked Goofy
"It's that creepy castle that I was talking about earlier… I know I didn't imagine it." Goofy said as Sora and Donald looked at each other as Goofy continued to say:
" 'Cause that was the castle where Sora and Luz had to use the Keyblade to free Kairi's heart. Then they just disappeared! And I was so worried. How could I ever forget that?"
"Oh! It was when Luz, Lumen, Hikari and I turned into a Heartless!" Sora replied before thinking and said:
"Wait. That happened...in a castle?"
"Ugh, this creepy castle is messing with your heads! How is it that we're still sane just from being in this dump?!" Rita exclaimed angrily
"Rita." Reina said to her
"What?" Rita asked her
"Rita does have a point though. For some weird reason, since you guys aren't Keyblade Masters, and we are, the creepy castle is protecting us, in a sense. Ugh, man, I wish Hikari was here. She'd help figure this out." Luz said
"Well she's not here. We're on our own. Though I still can't believe Sora forgot." Rita said bluntly
"I can." Lumen said as we started cracking up a bit
"Hikari… Sis… where are you?" I said to myself
"Aww… You forgot that? 'Cause I remember perfectly." Donald said to Sora
"Oh yeah? Then what's it called." Sora told Donald
"That's easy! It was…" Donald started to say but completely forgetting the castle's name and said:
"Jiminy, help me… Is it in your journal?"
"Guys…" Rita started to say
"It's Hollow Bastion!" Luz, Rita, Reina, and Yukie exclaimed in unison, scaring us half to death
"Every word! I finished the first volume right before we got to this castle. Now then, if I can just find it… Oh, here we go!" Jiminy said as he found the book and jumped off Sora's shoulders
He pulled out his journal, but if this place was sapping their memories, I had a bad feeling...
"Let's take a look…" Jiminy said before he had a look of shock on his face as he said:
"Oh! How could it be?!"
"What's the matter?" Goofy asked
"All of my entries… They're gone! Every page is blank!" Jiminy exclaimed in shock and disappointment
"What'll we do?!" Donald asked
"How could this have happened? I'm so careful with the journals! All that hard work is gone..." Jiminy said through tears
"The journal's blank… What's going on?" Sora asked
I had no idea… and that's saying something!
"I don't think Jiminy would erase his own journal." Donald said
"Once we get out of the castle, let's help Jiminy rewrite the journal!" exclaimed Goofy
"How can you do that if you're not going to have your memories by the time we even get out of this castle?" I asked Goofy
Rita, Luz, Reina, Ankoku, Lumen, and even Yukie were giggling at what I said. Yeah, I crack myself up too sometimes. Sadly, we all walked out of the exit hall of the second floor, and onto the third floor, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for the little guy.
"Something's screwy. Journal pages don't just vanish!" Donald exclaimed
"What if...it's more things?" Sora asked
"Huh?" asked Donald
"Goofy was telling us about another castle we've been to… But none of us really remembers it. Do ya think… Could it be that we don't remember because we're losing our memories?" Sora asked
"That could be a possibility." I said
"Losing? Our memories?" asked Donald
"Hold on! Remember what that mystery fella said? "In this place to find is to lose and to lose is to find". It musta been our memories he was talking about losing!" Jiminy said
"So if we basically keep going, you'll all lose your memories. Great… What else could go wrong today." I said in a sarcastic tone
"How about everything?" Yukie asked me
"So if we keep going, we'll lose more… Guess it really is Castle Oblivion." Sora said
"So the higher we go, the more we'll forget?" Donald asked
I couldn't help but look worried. If what they're saying is true… does that mean I'll forget Hikari?
"Does that mean everything and everybody will be forgotten?" Donald asked with sadness in his tone
"Riku and Kairi to…" Sora sadly said
"Do you want us to go back?" Donald asked Sora
"You guys can go back but I'm not." I said
"Don't worry fellahs! We might forget about where we've been or what things we've seen but we won't forget who our friends are." Goofy said
"I don't know…" Donald said to Goofy
"C'mon Sora! When you, Lumen, Luz, and Hikari turned into Heartless, did you guys forget about me and Donald?" Goofy asked
"Of course I didn't!" Sora replied
"I'd be lying if I had said no." Lumen said
"Well, if I had forgotten, Riku would've never let me hear the end of it." Luz said
"There ya go! No matter what happens, you won't forget your friends." Goofy told Sora
"Unless they are you're family." I said
Everyone was just silent, looking at Sora, as if they were waiting for him to say something.
"You're right. Thank you, Goofy." said Sora
"So, if there's nothing here that can make you forget about your friends… then we have nothing to be scared of! Let's go!" Donald exclaimed as he walked towards the door
"But when I turned into a Heartless… who was the one who took forever to notice and kept clobbering me and Luz?" Sora asked Donald
"And called us confounded Heartless and told us to get lost?" Luz asked Donald
That got him to stop dead in his tracks. I couldn't but laugh at how this seemed to hope that they forgot.
"How come you two didn't forget about that!?" Donald said angrily
We were all just cracking up seeing Donald jumping up and down in the air. That was hysterical!
"If you're still remembering the silly stuff, we'll be okay." Donald said
"There's no way we could ever forget our friends!" said Goofy
"And like I told you, unless they are you're family." I said angrily at Goofy
"Whoa, hey, no need to get snappy." Rita said to me
Sora walked up to the door, and used a card, and we ended up in some place that smelled like rotten fish! Ew! I'm never getting this smell out of my clothes!
"What a weird place! Everything's kinda springy and soft." Sora said
"Nice and warm, too. I'm startin' to feel like a nap." said Goofy
"I think you should be a little more worried." A voice said
"Who's there?" I asked, drawing my keyblade
I saw a boy, no wait, not a boy, a puppet, peeking his head out from behind the corner. So that's who it was… who is he?
"You're inside the belly of Monstro the Whale." a wooden puppet said, peeking out of his place
"Why, I know that voice… Pinocchio? Pinoke, it's you! Come on out!" Jiminy exclaimed
"Is that you, Jiminy? Gosh, I thought I'd never see you again!"" Pinocchio said
"Gee, there's no way you wouldn't find me again. I'm your conscience. And your conscience will always be your guide. Remember?" Jiminy asked
"Sure, Jiminy. And I've been a good boy, promise. I didn't tell a single lie." Pinocchio said to Jiminy
And his nose suddenly grew! Yikes! Talk about a natural lie detector.
"Uh-oh!" Pinocchio exclaimed
"Well, for Pete's sake!" Jiminy said
"Oops! But... how did YOU end up inside Monstro, anyway?" Pinocchio asked
"We, uh, sort of used a special way…" Sora said while trailing off
"It's so special, we don't know how we did it!" said Goofy
"That's too bad… I was hoping you could help me and Father get out of here." Pinocchio explained
"Well, I'll be! Geppetto's here, too?" Jiminy asked
"Sure he is. Follow me!" exclaimed Pinocchio
It took a few, and by a few, I meant a LOT of cards before we reached a new area with more whale spit, whale tongue, and some kind of shipwrecked ship.
"Geppetto!" Jiminy exclaimed
And an old geezer showed up from the ruins of that shop! I don't think he should be even old enough to be wandering around this place!
"Bless my soul, it's Jiminy Cricket. How in the world did you get here?" Geppetto asked
"You tell me! How does a clockmaker wind up in the belly of a whale?" asked Jiminy
"Well, it's a long story…" Geppetto said
And insert long boring story here. Seriously, I was yawning listening to this guy yap!
"So you sailed out to look for Pinocchio…" Donald said while trailing off
"...and Monstro swallowed you!" Goofy exclaimed
"Yes, but I found my son. I would do anything for my Pinocchio." Geppetto said
"But now you can't get out, can you? Being stuck in the belly of a whale is awful." said Sora
"Not if Pinocchio and I are together. That makes everything a little bit better. There's nothing better than being reunited with someone you care about." Geppetto explained
He's right… there is nothing more important than reuniting with her. And these guys… they're just getting in my way. Silently, I left them. I'm going to tear this castle apart brick by brick, if it means finding Hikari, and I'll do it alone.
Luz's POV
I subconsciously cupped my cheek as I smiled thinking of Riku. I know he's out there, and I know I'll find him, somehow.
"Yeah… I know what you mean." Sora said
"I don't care if I'm trapped here, so long as I have Pinnochio. He's such a good boy." Geppetto replied
"Well, he still tells fibs. But with a little help from me…" Jiminy said
"Oh, Jiminy, you worry too much." said Geppetto
"Speaking of Pinocchio… Where is he?" Sora asked
"He was here a minute ago. Where's he gone this time?" asked Donald
"I expect he's off exploring. That boy has been poking around just about everywhere inside this monster. He won't tell me why it's so important. I tell him it's dangerous, but he won't listen." Geppetto said
"That boy's a handful! Sora, if you don't mind…" Jiminy said, trailing off
"I know, I know. You want us to find him, right? C'mon, guys, let's get going!" said Sora
We headed off, but then I noticed that Jing was missing. What the… where in the world did she go?!
"Hey Sora." Jiminy said as he jumped onto Sora's shoulders
"What is it Jiminy?" asked Sora
"Jing went missing as well." Jiminy told Sora
"What?!" Sora exclaimed in shock
"Where did she go?" Ankoku asked us
"I think she didn't want to come with us." Donald explained
"Maybe… but there has to be another reason." Jiminy said
"Maybe she just wants to find Hikari, and she probably thinks we're in the way." Lumen said
"Remember what Geppetto said about being reunited with someone you care about?" Goofy asked to us
"How does she care so much about my sister? How do they know each other for that matter?" Ankoku asked out loud
"Did your parents say anything about Jing to you?" Sora asked Ankoku
"Nothing, that or I can't remember." Ankoku admitted
"Any case… let's just find Pinocchio." Donald said
We all nodded as we continued through this memory world of the whale. Ew… I remember the first time we went through Monstro, and it took three showers to get my hair to stop smelling like fish, and the whole bottle of detergent to get the smell out of my clothes! I hope Jing's okay...
Jing's POV
All of these cards were driving me crazy! It's always card this then card that then card whatever! If I didn't know she was here, I would've left this stupid Castle Oblivion already! I used the next card… and it was worse already! I was in the whale's stomach, and the puppet, Pinocchio was there!
"Oh!" Pinocchio exclaimed
I ran up to Pinocchio and stopped to catch my breath. Okay, I am out of shape.
"I-I've found you…" I said while catching my breath
And not long after I had, Sora and the rest of his gang found me. Great...
"Pinocchio! What are you thinking!? You know Geppetto worries when you wander off by yourself." Jiminy told Pinocchio
"And what were you doing? We were worried." Luz said to me
"You guys don't seem to like me for knowing Hikari." I said to Luz, Rita, Reina, Lumen, Sora, Ankoku, Donald and Goofy
"That's not it." Lumen said to me
"What he means is, we don't hate you for knowing Hikari, rather, we wanna help you find her, that is, if you want our help." Rita said to me
I stayed silent as I looked at them. I don't think they even care about Hikari.
"Jiminy was worried, too!" Donald exclaimed
"I'm sorry…" said Pinocchio
"What are you doing, anyway? Looking for something?" Sora asked
"Um...yeah, I'm looking for treasure!" Pinocchio told us
And his nose grew again. He's lying.
"Here we go again!" Jiminy yelled
"But, Jiminy…" Pinocchio sadly said
"Now, don't be so hard on the little fella, Jiminy. We promise not to get mad, Pinocchio. Is that why you're to tell? No need to fret. Tell us the truth- we'll understand. Put yer trust in Goofy!" Goofy exclaimed happily
Pinocchio was just silent before he started to come clean.
"I was looking for a way out. Father says he's happy, but it's my fault we're stuck here. I shouldn't have run away from home. I want to help Father get home to his workshop. But he'll worry if I tell him what I'm doing." Pinocchio explained
"So that's why you thought you had to tell a lie." Jiminy said
"You did it 'cause you love your dad!" exclaimed Goofy
"All you need now is courage!" Donald added in
"What?" Pinocchio asked
"Tell Geppetto the truth. With a little courage, you can do it! If you tell him how you really feel, I bet he'll help you find a way out." Donald said
"And we'll give you a hand!" Sora added in
"We will?" I asked
"We will." Lumen said to me as he crossed his arms
"Really? You'll help us? Okay, i'll give it a try! Wish me luck, Jiminy!" Pinocchio exclaimed
"No more keeping secrets, then. Have we got a deal?" Jiminy asked
"Sure! I'll be brave and tell Father how I really feel. No lies this time!" Pinocchio said
"Great! Then your nose won't…" Jiminy started to say
And that's when the room started shaking like an earthquake! Is this what happened to them when they came inside this whale?!
"What's happening!?" Sora exclaimed
"I got a bad feeling about this!" exclaimed Donald
"Pinocchio, run for it!" Jiminy told Pinocchio
But before he could, a Heartless dropped down in front of him! And if that wasn't worse enough, he was trapped!
"Pinocchio!" Sora exclaimed
"Help! I'm trapped!" exclaimed Pinocchio
"What!?" I exclaimed
I do not know what's worse, being stuck in a whale's stomach, or being stuck in the whale's stomach with a Heartless parasite cage… huh, not a bad name: parasite cage, anyway, it was bad! We had only a few platforms to work with, and every now and then when we gave the Heartless a sound beating, it would drop a card that would give us a platform. At least we didn't have to worry about being digested. In any case, I think the Heartless in these memories were easier than ones in real life because honestly? I just took it down with my Keyblade while everyone else kept it preoccupied with blizzard and fire spells. Once it was done, a card of the Heartless appeared. This may come in handy sometime… but at least now the Heartless was down for the count!
"Help me! I'm scared!" Pinocchio exclaimed
"Pinocchio, be brave!" Sora said
"How?" Pinocchio asked
"Don't give up! Try fighting your way out!" Sora told Pinocchio
"Be brave… Okay, I'll try!" Pinocchio said
It looked more like he gave the Heartless a bad case of indigestion, but it did the trick as it disappeared. Thank god. I don't want to see that thing again, like… ever!
"Pinocchio, are you all right?" Jiminy asked
"Don't worry, I'm okay. Just a little sticky… But I have a great idea! That thing spit me out when I started fighting back. Why don't we try the same thing with Monstro?" asked Pinocchio
"Of course! If we're lucky, Monstro might cough us up!" Sora exclaimed
"Great idea! Let's go deeper inside and try it!" exclaimed Donald
"I'm going, too!" Pinocchio said while determination
"No, it's too dangerous." Jiminy told Pinocchio
"Aww, c'mon…" Pinocchio sadly said
"You should be with Geppetto. No use escaping from Monstro if you two get separated again!" Jiminy explained
"Leave this to us." Sora said
"I guess you're right. Be careful, everybody!" said Pinocchio
Reluctantly, I followed everyone else down to the bowels of the whale… yeah, I think I'm gonna be sick.
"Looks like this is as far as we go." Goofy said
"Ready, then? Let's shake things up!" Sora exclaimed
"It would be easier if we had someone to fight…" said Donald
"Perfect timing. Looks like we've got some company!" Sora explained
Sheesh, this won't change. Heartless this, heartless that, heartless whatever! Just buzz off, why don't ya you useless shadows?! Then again, fighting these guys are great stress relievers.
"Whew…" Sora said
The whole place then started to shake! Either that was us making Monstro sick, or he's gonna sneeze us out!
"A-hyuck?" Donald asked
"It's working! Monstro's gonna sneeze!" Jiminy exclaimed
And the next thing we knew, were were being sucked out of the bowels! We all consciousness because the next thing I felt was Monstro's tongue. Ew! Gross! But at least now I knew what getting shot out of a cannon feels like… not good.
"Oww… Now I know what getting shot out of a cannon feels like." Sora said
"Where's Pinocchio and his dad?" Goofy asked
"They're gone. They must've gotten out safely." Jiminy said
"Without you, Jiminy? I thought there was no escaping your conscience!" exclaimed Sora
"I don't mind being left behind as long as they're both safe. Maybe Pinocchio doesn't need me after all." said Jiminy
"What do you mean?" I asked
"That little puppet used to have trouble telling right from wrong. But he's come a long way. Maybe he doesn't need Jiminy Cricket anymore. Seems like he's got a conscience of his very own." Jiminy explained
"Don't you remember what Geppetto said? "There's nothing better than being reunited with someone you care about". I bet Pinocchio's counting the days till he can see you again." Sora told Jiminy
There's nothing better than being reunited with someone you care about, huh… Sora's right. I may not know where Hikari is, but I know she's here, and she's safe. Seeing her again… after so long… it'll all be worth it.
"Well, what do you know? You might be right." Jiminy said to Sora
I smiled to myself as we proceeded to exit the memory world. Hikari… please hang in there. I promise, I will find you, Castle Oblivion getting in between our memories or not.
sakuraphoenix: That was a bittersweet ending, if you ask me
Detroid: Yeah
sakuraphoenix: And once again, I am so sorry for the seriously long hiatus, and the upcoming quadruple updates for all stories should hopefully satisfy you until I get a update schedule organized or something. I don't know, yet.
Detroid: True
sakuraphoenix: In any case go easy on us for the review in terms of, something along the lines of 'what took so long' or 'what did life throw at you this time' or anything along those lines and until next time, I'm sakuraphoenix…
Detroid: And I'm Detroid, both of us saying we heart you so chao!
sakuraphoenix: You forgot the signing off for now part
Detroid: You know what I mean!
sakuraphoenix: In any case, bye!
Detroid: See ya!