Chapter 210: Battle Plans

They didn't even make it to the Library. Mickey met them in the hall right outside the audience chamber. He seemed a little preoccupied, fidgeting often. Even Goofy seemed more distracted than normal. Mickey lit up once he saw them, however, and immediately started talking:

"That dark presence—" he began.

"Mickey, how important is this?" Minnie interrupted. She was hesitant as she spoke, though, like she didn't want to interrupt him.

"Uh, a little important…" Mickey said looking taken aback. He blinked a few times, then his face hardened with determination. "But probably not as important as the Cornerstone."

"Are you sure?" Minnie pressed. "I'd rather not interrupt you if this is important, but the Cornerstone does take precedence."

"I'm sure," he assured her. "What's goin' on?"

"Well, Maleficent was here," Minnie said.

Sora frowned, wondering how much longer it was going to take them to discuss all this. Minnie was heading into things rather slowly, but the only way to hurry her up was to just butt in, and that'd be rude.

"Are you okay?" Mickey asked, worried immediately.

"Yes, I'm fine!" Minnie said. "Maleficent wasn't exactly here, she was just… intending to be here?" Minnie frowned. "Maybe that's not the right way to put it…" she murmured.

"She mentioned taking over the Castle," Sora chimed in, figuring they really should just hurry to the point.

Mickey turned to him, eyes wide. "Oh no!" he exclaimed. "The Castle!?" He turned to Minnie, for reassurance that this was true. She nodded.

"Oh, Mickey calm down," Minnie said, chuckling lightly. "You know that witch has hardly any power here! We should be on guard but we don't have to be too worried."

"Okay…"

Mickey didn't seem too convinced.

"She's right, Yer Majesty," Goofy said. "The Heartless haven't even managed to get in yet—oh!"

Just as he said it, a couple dozen Heartless (largely Shadows, from the looks of it) appeared around them. Everyone took their battle stances.

Except Sora.

Sora burst out laughing.

He covered his mouth with his hand, but that didn't stop the giggles from coming out. Everyone sent him a look, each of them varying from worried to confused to skeptical.

"Gawrsh, Sora, what's so funny?" Goofy asked.

"Sora this isn't the time for laughter there are Heartless," Donald snapped.

Sora had to move his hand away from his mouth so he could breathe, but once he'd gulped in air the laughter continued. It was much more strained this time, at least, due to the slight lack of air. Sora still felt awful.

Mickey and Minnie both sent him sideways looks, and nearly in unison they asked:

"Sora…?"

"I- I'm sorry I shouldn't- shouldn't be laughing-" Sora stuttered, all at once trying to stop and get air in his lungs and explain himself. "It's just- the- the timing- of him saying- and the- the Heartless—"

"Look out!" Daisy called, throwing a very large blast of Fire magic past Sora and at a Heartless that was sneaking up behind Minnie. Goofy ran by, then, bashing through a string of Heartless and launching half of them into the air.

Sora doubled over with his uncontrollable laughter, now, tears welling up in his eyes, his sides aching. "I am so sorry—" he gasped. "I don't- don't know why I'm—"

"Thunder!" Donald called, and Sora more felt than saw the bolts rain down around all of them, striking the Heartless. He heard a couple swipes of a Keyblade, felt a blast of light to his left, and clutched his aching gut with hand and covered his mouth with the other.

He forced the air into his lungs and pinched his nose. Deep breaths could calm laughter. Eventually. And, finally, they did. Sora straightened, shook his head, still breathing deeply, trying to keep himself from bursting into giggles again. His hand slowly moved from his gut to his heart, clutching at his shirt.

He knew what this feeling was, now. It hadn't happened in ages, but it had happened before. His Shadow….

"Sorry," he mumbled, but no one was focused on him anymore.

Goofy was peering out into the gardens. Everyone else was finishing up this batch of Heartless, though there weren't many left.

"There!" Donald declared, as his Blizzard finished off the last Heartless. "That takes care of that."

"Not so fast, Donald," Goofy said. "There's more down in the gardens."

Donald went over to look, and started grumbling immediately.

"Why don't you go take care of them?" Mickey suggested. "I'm sure it won't be too much trouble, especially not for my Captain and Court Magician."

Donald brightened at the use of his official title. "Of course, Your Majesty!" he said, and hurried off in that direction.

Goofy started, too, but paused after a few steps. "Sora? You wanna come help?"

Sora shook his head. "No, that's okay," he said.

"Alright…"

"I'll come!" Daisy said. "Donald's really awful at remembering to Cure," she added, in a hushed voice, as she passed Sora.

She and Goofy then followed after Donald.

"What was that about?" Mickey asked, turning to Sora.

"My Shadow…" Sora whispered, closing his eyes, fingers tightening around the cloth of his shirt. He took a deep breath, in and out. He'd hardly notice the lack of connection with his Shadow, but now that it was back, he was wondering how he did. There was something that felt strangely… natural about it. "He…" Sora paused, licked his lips. "He sent the Heartless. Tch." He rolled his eyes, then. "Thought it was funny."

"And you were laughin' because he was laughin'?" Mickey asked.

"Probably." Sora sighed, scratched his cheek. "Sorry, by the way."

Slowly, Mickey shook his head. "No… it's- it's alright."

Sora raised his eyebrows, worried, hearing Mickey's slight hesitance. Then again… it wasn't like randomly bursting out laughing in the middle of battle wasn't crazy weird.

"What are we gonna do about Maleficent?" Minnie asked.

Mickey frowned, thinking about it. "Well… Maybe I should see what the Cornerstone looks like…" He looked over at the Audience Chamber doors, rubbing his hands together nervously.

"It's alright," Minnie said, quickly. "A lot of thorns in the room in general, and the Cornerstone itself is weaker than normal, but not in any immediate threat."

"Thorns, huh? That's Maleficent alright." Mickey shook his head. "You should seal the Audience Chamber so the Heartless don't get in," he added, urgently.

Minnie nodded and went to do that.

"What's the plan, though? We gonna wait 'til Maleficent comes here?" Sora asked. "Or we gonna go to her?"

Mickey shrugged. "Do we even know where she is?"

"Maybe," Sora said. "I know where her sort of current base is. The old Castle in Hollow Bastion—though it's in even worse ruins than ever. Hardly has a roof anymore. It's a miracle to find a dry spot when it's raining…"

He shook his head at the thought. Waking up numerous times due to being rained on had never been fun. And it was full rain, too, not just a couple leaks here and there. The roof in his room—well, the room he'd stayed in when with Maleficent—had been missing most of his roof. And if he'd wanted to move rooms, he'd have had to move the bed himself.

"Then I s'pose we could take the fight to her…" Mickey mused.

"We shouldn't leave the Castle undefended, though," Minnie said. Given the glow of magic on the doors, she'd finished with the protection spell. "What if she shows up while we're looking for her?"

"I could stay here," Mickey said, almost immediately. "And Donald and Goofy and- and Sora could go after her." He swallowed, but nodded, firmly.

Sora found himself smiling at the thought. Fighting Maleficent would be nice. …wouldn't it? Getting revenge…

But did he really want revenge?

Something tugged in his heart, hard, and a wave of nausea washed over him. He staggered a step backwards, reaching out to grab onto something, so he could steady himself. Except there wasn't anything. He sunk to the ground, instead, covering his mouth with one hand, fighting the urge to gag.

"Then again…" Minnie said, slowly, bending down next to Sora. She exchanged a glance with Mickey. "There is Sora's health to consider…"

"I'm fine!" Sora protested. He coughed. "It was- it was just my Shadow. He- he…"

"Maybe Minnie's right," Mickey said. His eyes were narrowed with concern. "Maybe you should stay here."

"No, I'm fine, really!"

"Are ya sure?"

"Yeah!"

Mickey frowned. "But if you collapse like this while you're—"

"I won't!" Sora said, firmly. "This was just- just my Shadow. He wouldn't do this to me while I'm fighting."

"I don't see why he'd be nice to you just to keep you from dying…"

"Well—"

"It's probably best if you stay here."

"I can still fight her I swear!"

"I'm not saying you can't fight her. I'm just saying maybe you should stay here instead."

Sora pursed his lips. He probably shouldn't be arguing with Mickey. With a king. For the most part Mickey was very patient, but he seemed to be growing frustrated. Sora couldn't blame him, but he wanted to fight Maleficent.

"But I know the layout of Hollow Bastion," Sora protested. "I know where she might be, I know—"

"Donald and Goofy can handle it," Mickey said. "I trust them with my life. I'm sure they'll be fine."

"Yeah but—"

"Sora," Minnie interrupted, gently. "Maybe we could use your help around here. I'm sure Mickey could use the help against Maleficent, if she does show up."

Sora grimaced, swallowed. He really should stop arguing. The chances of Maleficent showing up here were still pretty high. He could still fight her. And, more importantly, if he kept up the protesting he was going to sound like a spoiled little kid. If he hadn't sounded like one already…

"Yeah…" he said, swallowing again. "Alright."

"Thank you," Mickey said, straightening. "I'm going to go tell Donald and Goofy." He sent a concerned look at Sora. "Maybe you should get some rest…"

Sora rolled his eyes. "I'm fine, really…"

"Then you can help me out in the library," Minnie said.

"Oh! Okay!" Sora quickly got to his feet and dusted himself off.

xxx

"So what are we looking for?" Sora asked, as he pulled down a random book from the shelves and flipped through its pages.

"Any record of something similar happening before," Minnie replied. She was on the other side of the room, running her fingers along the spines of the books, carefully checking the titles. "I don't think there is one… but it can't hurt to look…"

Sora put the book back on the shelf, pulled down another. "How, um, worrisome is all this?"

"Mm… a little." Minnie pulled a book down, finally, taking it over to the desk. "The Heartless being here, more than anything else. Maleficent is no surprise, nor a huge problem, but the Heartless…" She let out a long breath and shook her head. "The Cornerstone should keep them out. The fact that they're here…"

"Is it because of Maleficent?"

"Maybe…" Minnie shrugged. "But she shouldn't be strong enough to weaken the Cornerstone this much. Not on her own. She must be getting help from somewhere… But where?"

Sora sighed. "Unfortunately, I don't know. I don't remember her making any deals with anyone. But she wouldn't have told me about it, anyway…" He trailed off. "I guess we should get looking."

"Mmhmm…"