Chapter 209: Confrontation

"In here," Minnie said, starting across the very large audience chamber. Sora followed after her, though he went much slower, taking time to appreciate the space in which he was standing. The giant door had been impressive enough, even with a little and more practical door stuck in it. But this hall was huge.

He'd been in pretty big halls and rooms, back in Castle Oblivion, but this dwarfed them all. The play island from back home would probably fit in this space without a problem, that's how big it was. Not to mention it was clean, too. Absolutely spotless white floors, and the red carpet wasn't faded at all. Either it was hardly used, or the magic brooms were better at their job than Sora'd initially anticipated.

"Sora?" Minnie called. She was more than halfway across the room, now, looking back in his direction. Sora chuckled, nervously, and rushed to catch up with her.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

She just shook her head, heading to one of the thrones. She reached under the arm of it, patting around, as if looking for something. After a moment she grimaced and bent down so she could see the underside, muttering to herself. Sora slowly moved closer, wondering what she was doing. It was almost like she was looking for a… hidden switch?

"Aha!" she exclaimed, and there was a click that sounded a lot like a switch being pulled.

The floor rumbled beneath them. It was moving. A bright light filled the room, and Sora had to shield his eyes. When the light cleared and the floor stopped moving Sora saw a set of stairs leading downwards, presumably to where the Cornerstone was.

"Down there?" Sora asked.

"Uh-huh."

Down the stairs was another wide, open room. It was empty save a single large glass ball, filled with light. The Cornerstone. The room was noticeably darker than the Audience Chamber, which seemed to be an effect of the thorns that covered the walls.

"Oh dear…" Minnie took one worried look around the room, and then headed straight for the Cornerstone.

Sora's attention remained on the thorns. They seemed vaguely… familiar. He bent a little closer to them, squinting, trying to recall where he'd seen them before. He'd definitely see thorns like these before. But where?

"Mmm… it's not burning as bright as it should…" Minnie fretted. Sora looked up at her. Her attention was fixed on the Cornerstone, one of her palms pressed against its glass.

"Do you think the thorns have something to do with that?" Sora asked, joining her by the Cornerstone. He sent a look at her, but she was too focused on the Cornerstone to notice. After a second, Sora turned back to it and hesitantly reached out to touch it. He was surprised when his fingers were stopped about three inches from the Cornerstone—held back by some invisible barrier. It stung his fingers, too, almost like a bolt of electricity.

"They mi—oh!" Minnie turned to him, eyes wide. Her eyes flickered to the Cornerstone, then back to him

Sora swallowed, shaking his hand a little. He wasn't sure why that had happened, but given how shocked Minnie was, it probably wasn't supposed to happen. Was it because…

That thought process came to a halt as the hairs on his skin stood up. Something dark had entered the room, and he could feel it in the air. He turned to see what it was, and found Maleficent. That would explain the thorns. But… now that Sora looked closer, he noticed that Maleficent wasn't entirely there. She was like a projection, a ghost—her image was here, but she wasn't solid.

"Maleficent!" Minnie exclaimed, taking a step away from the Cornerstone, tensing defensively. Sora summoned his Keyblade immediately, sinking into his battle stance. He didn't doubt that Minnie would've been able to protect the Cornerstone alone, but it would be rude to not help her out.

The motion of summoning his Keyblade brought Maleficent's attention to him. What had been a mocking smile—directed at Minnie—instantly fell to a glare.

"What are you doing here?!" she demanded, eyes narrowing as they focused on Sora.

"What- what's it matter to you?" Sora spat in response, trying to seem as threatening as possible. Unfortunately, being in front of Maleficent still made him shake a little, out of nervousness. It was hard not to be intimidated by her.

Maleficent glared at him for a moment more, then turned up her chin. "Well, I suppose it is highly inconsequential," she said, turning away from him with a swish of her cloak. She made her way towards the Cornerstone and unfortunately, seeing as she was no more than a ghost of an image, they couldn't stop her. Sora ended up taking a step out of her way, though it was more habit than anything else. Not that having someone walk through you could be a pleasant feeling…

"What are you doing here, Maleficent?" Minnie asked. Her voice was pleasant enough, but her hands were balled into fists and her shoulders shook a little.

"Ah, Queen Minnie." Maleficent bowed, though the glint in her eyes and the slight smirk on her face suggested she didn't actually mean any respect by it. "I see you're as radiant as always."

"And I asked you a question," Minnie replied, glaring now. "What are you doing here?"

Maleficent just smiled, directing her full attention to the Cornerstone. "I'm here on a little… property venture. Except…" She reached out her hand towards the Cornerstone, slowly, as if anticipating the barrier. "This world is just a bit too bright for my liking." Her fingers hit the barrier, then, and she tensed visibly.

Sora swallowed, his own fingers stinging at the memory of what that stun felt like.

"I suppose I'll just have to fill every room with my owner personal touch of darkness," Maleficent continued, smugly. She flashed a look back at Sora. "You could still help me, boy, you know," she said. "I'd be more than happy to take you back."

Sora scoffed a little. Her persuasion tactics were a little less than sub-par.

"I'm sure Sora doesn't want anything to do with you!" Minnie protested.

"Really?" Maleficent raised her eyebrows. "I didn't hear him say anything of that sort."

"She's right," Sora said, baring his blade. "I don't want anything to do with you anymore!"

"Pity. It'd be much easier with you. But no matter."

"Ooh, Maleficent, you stop this, right now!" Minnie warned, taking a step forward.

"Hmph." Maleficent smirked. "Oh, I'll stop, to be sure. Just as soon as the Castle belongs to me!" She let out a shrill cackle and then vanished in a flash of green fire. Her laughter still rang through the hall even after she'd vanished.

"Ugh," Sora groaned, banishing his Keyblade.

Minnie sent a worried look at him. "You okay?"

"What? Of course!" He laughed, nervously. "I mean, it's not like she did anything…" He trailed off, sending another look at the Cornerstone, rubbing his thumb over his fingers. Why hadn't he been able to touch it….?

Minnie slowly nodded, though she didn't look like she believed him. "We should go tell—"

Her words were cut short as Donald barreled into the room. Daisy followed after him, though at a comparatively slower pace.

"Mickey- Mickey said there was trouble," Donald panted, skidding to a halt.

"No trouble just yet," Minnie assured him. "Only Maleficent."

That news only made Donald turn red with anger. "Why that..! I oughta—" He continued spewing threats, but most of them were lost in the mix of his angry quacking. Sora tried to make a few out, but didn't have much luck.

"She's not here anymore, Donald," Minnie told him, calmly, and immediately turned to Daisy. "Is Mickey doing okay?" she asked.

Daisy nodded. "Mmhmm. He shouldn't be much longer."

"Was it my Shadow?" Sora asked.

"Don't know," Daisy shrugged. "I couldn't see anyone, but Mickey and Goofy could."

"Oh, that was definitely him," Sora said.

"Well, let's head up to the library," Minnie said, after a second. "Mickey should meet us there when he's done, and we'll regroup—or, discuss what we're going to do about Maleficent, anyway."

xxx

Sora's Shadow didn't hesitate—he went straight to Hades. He had a couple of questions to ask the Lord of the Dead.

To say he was shaken up after being impaled and nearly drowned in light was an understatement. He was still trembling, and nearly collapsed with every step he took. He'd opted to walk—just a little—to Hades' throne room (or whatever it was) to give himself time to compose himself. Obviously, it wasn't working.

Hades wasn't even surprised when he entered. He just lit up, obviously anticipating a progress report on their plan. He paused after a second, though, likely sensing Sora's Shadow's anger, or rather, seeing how disgruntled he looked.

"You get beat up or something?" Hades asked, still casual about the matter. After a second though, his voice fell to seriousness. "Our plans aren't shot, are they?"

Sora's Shadow just pounded his fist against the Disney Castle model in the middle of the room. It shook a little, and a couple of the figures fell over.

"I should be dead," he said, firmly. He looked up at Hades. "Why am I not dead?"

Hades took extra care in examining him. "I dunno," he said, after a moment. "The Mouse try 'n do you in?"

"I should be dead!" Sora's Shadow repeated, firmer this time. He hoped he didn't sound too desperate. His knees were still shaking, though, so the point was probably moot. "That blow should've killed me! Why am I still here!?"

"Well, clearly, that blow shouldn't have killed you," Hades replied with a chuckle. "If it was supposed to, you would've ended up here and then I would've had the say on whether or not you got to keep living. From what I can tell you, you haven't been anywhere near dead for a while."

"But why is that?!" Sora's Shadow demanded. "That would've killed anyone!"

"Ah, I think you mean it would've killed anyone human" Hades corrected. "And, if I remember correctly, you're not human."

Sora's Shadow stopped, eyes wide. His heart pounded in his throat.

"Non-humans tend to be harder to kill," Hades added.

"You can- you can kill heartless!" he protested.

"More like… get rid of them for a while until they reform as a different shape."

"But—"

"Listen, kid," Hades interrupted. "I don't know why you can't die, I just know that, from the looks of it, you can't! Got a problem with that?"

"Yes!" Sora's Shadow shouted. "I do!"

Hades raised his eyebrows. "Geeze… people tend to be happier when they learn they're immortal…" he muttered, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"I don't want to be immortal!"

He was screaming, now, furiously protesting against this apparent fate. He wanted to punch something. Wanted to find something that he could wring the neck of. Why couldn't he die? Why couldn't he die!?

"Really?" Hades asked, clearly shocked. "What's the big deal about being immortal?"

Sora's Shadow didn't have an answer. He knew the possibility of living forever scared him senseless—but he wasn't about to tell Hades that.

"Can- can Sora kill me?" he asked, finally, voice cracking.

It was his only other option. His only other hope. If the Mouse was right… He had to be right.

Hades just shrugged. "Maybe? I don't know!" he said. "I mean I guess it could be possible, but honestly I've never had one of your kind on my doorstep before. Not dead anyway." He waved the matter aside then. "But, more importantly, what about our plan? How's it working out, hmm?"

Sora's Shadow glared. "I don't know."

"Then find out!"

He groaned. "Fine, just two seconds."

He closed his eyes, listening. Something had been threatening the Cornerstone—whatever the hell that was—while he had been there. Hopefully it was Maleficent. Sora would know…

Oh how he'd missed being able to sort through Sora's head like this. Listen in on his thoughts, and what he was hearing, too.

"Maleficent was there," he said, aloud.

"Good!"

"But…" His face fell. "Oh…"

"What!?"

It was amazing how quickly Hades' mood could go from pleased to furious.

Sora's Shadow sighed. "Apparently she… wasn't… exactly there? Hang on!" He squeezed his eyes shut, focusing harder, digging deeper. "She was… it was like she couldn't actually set foot there. Their defenses are still too strong."

"Send a little Heartless in!" Hades declared, pleased again. "That'll weaken their defenses."

Sora's Shadow sent a glare at him. "Heartless don't like being sent there."

"So? I'll send them myself if I have to!"

Sora's Shadow rolled his eyes. Sighed again. He supposed it wouldn't take too much coaxing to send Heartless in there. They wouldn't be happy with him, but they would listen. They always did.

"Will it be enough?" he asked.

"Ehh, no telling," Hades said. He shrugged. "Oh, what the hey, I'll lend her a little of my power. It's not like she's gonna get anywhere with it—this ends with her death either way, am I right?" He smirked. "Either you kill her or the Mouse does. No question about that. And, hey, worst case scenario is she actually beats the Mouse. No complaining there, really. Not from me. Well, so long as she doesn't get Sora…"

"I'll be sure she doesn't," Sora's Shadow said, firmly. He wouldn't lose Sora to Maleficent. Not again. He'd die before he'd let that happen. Even if he couldn't actually die. Apparently.

"Good!" Hades was grinning, all too pleased with himself and the situation. "Then we're good!"