Section D

Sora's first impression was white, lots of white. For a horrifying minute he thought he was back in the Castle That Never Was, but then he calmed himself. The white of the walls was not the faded, dead looking white of the Organization's stronghold. It was a cheerful bright white that was edged with blue and gold, giving relief to the eyes. Sora thought he knew where he was.

He was in Disney Castle.

"Thank the Light that you're awake Sora" said a gentle voice near him. Sora turned his head to see Queen Minnie, King Mickey's wife looking at him with concern.

"What happened?" Sora asked. He realized that he was lying on a soft blue sheeted bed in a room with many other beds in it. Several had patients in them. These were animal things like Minnie and Donald and Goofy as well. "Am I hurt? Did something happen to the Islands?" Sora demanded frantically. He thought that he would go mad if Minnie told him that his world had been destroyed. Not just from grief, but from sheer frustration. He had worked so hard to save everyone! Why couldn't he have a little peace now and then?

"No, your Islands are safe, for now" Minnie said. "Nothing was harmed while you were under the influence of the Night Juice."

Sora didn't like the way she said "for now". There was also something else. Minnie was either upset or angry for some reason. Sora guessed that she was angry. But at who? What was going on? What was Night Juice, and why had it been used on him? Why had he been kidnapped from his birthday celebration? He wanted answers. Roxas had said to wait and see what happened, but Sora was impatient. Besides, it wasn't Roxas' decisions to make. It was his body, and his was the dominant mind.

"What is going on?" Sora asked quietly. "Why did you kidnap me? Is something happening with the worlds again?"

Queen Minnie shook her head. "Sora…I can't really tell you what is going on. That's not my---" she was cut off by the infirmary doors being thrown open. Daisy Duck, Donald's girlfriend walked into the room, hands on her hips. She seemed to be in a bad temper of the highest order.

"Minnie, have you seen Donald? He and that…that…Merlin where going over some magical techniques together and they've been gone all day!"

Minnie gave Daisy a look. Daisy immediately became quiet as she saw that Sora was awake. Minnie had been blocking the bed.

"Sora!" Daisy said. She smiled at him. "Nice to see that you're awake. You were pretty bad by the time Merlin, and His Majesty got you here. We rushed you to the infirmary right away."

Sora flung his legs over the bed. "What happened to me? Did I get hurt? What's happening now?" he demanded. Sora was slightly embarrassed to see that he was wearing nothing more than a thin gown, but his curiosity, bordering on the brink of anger was too focused to remain on that for long.

Finally Minnie sat down on one of the empty beds. "Sora" she explained. "You were not the only one taken from your world that night." Before Sora could interrogate further, she raised a white gloved hand. "Allow me to finish. Riku and Kairi were taken that night as well. As for why, I am afraid that a new threat---"

"Something new is happening to the worlds?" Sora almost screamed, and then got control of himself again. "Sorry" he said. "It's just that…I…"

"I understand" said Queen Minnie, but Sora could have said that she didn't understand at all. She didn't understand how it was to be in danger, standing between a madman's dreams of an empire of the soulless, and an unsuspecting mass of citizenry. Being the targets of entities so powerful that you could feel it baking off them. Seeing your world destroyed. The closest Disney Castle had come to being destroyed was the Cornerstone of Light fiasco. That was all. So no, she didn't understand, couldn't understand. But Sora said none of these things, because they occurred so briefly in his mind that he didn't actually have the time to voice them.

"Not precisely" said Queen Minnie. "Nothing is happening to the worlds. But there is a very clear threat that something might happen to them if we do not move quickly."

"What do you mean?" said Sora, but he was afraid he did. Memories of Maleficent and Pete's "last stand" at the Alter of Naught came drifting back to him. It was only Shadows! And while Maleficent said she was having trouble controlling the powerful dark forces rampant in that in-between world, how much of that had been true, and how much of it was a big lie? Sora groaned and put his head in his hands.

"It's her isn't it? Maleficent. She's not through."

"No, she's not" said Daisy. "We don't know exactly what she's up to, but we do know that it's something big. Hardly any information on it though. Pete has been seen in several worlds though. The Land of the Dragons, Deep Jungle, Radiant Garden. He's been gathering things Sora. The King thinks that Maleficent might create some kind of weapon, that or some giant Heartless."

"How is that possible?" Sora asked.

"There was a lot of advanced technology both within the Hollow Bastion ruins, and even more within the lair of Organization XIII" said Queen Minnie gravely. "If Pete has been salvaging these things from those places and if he and Maleficent have been left undisturbed by anyone for an entire year…" she shivered. "It makes me ill to think what kind of twisted monster they may have created, or what powerful weapon they have made."

"Can't be any more powerful than the Sister Ray that Cloud told me about once" said Sora. "So you're saying that we should go over to the World That Never Was and kick their butts." Sora thought about when he, Donald and Goofy had fought Maleficent and Pete. Pete was a pushover. Maleficent, while slightly more powerful, was too reliant on her magic and had been blinded by arrogance and her assurance that she could defeat them easily. That was a mistake that she would not make again.

"There you are Sora" said a voice near the door. Sora turned to see King Mickey himself followed by Merlin. The old wizard tipped his hat to the Keyblade Master.

"Why it's good to see you again, boy" said Merlin. He lowered his eyes to the floor. "I'm afraid I must apologize for…well…tainting you water with that Night Juice it was a dreadful business, but I'm afraid it had to be done."

"Have you filled him in?" Mickey asked his wife. Minnie nodded. She stared at Merlin in silence.

She's angry with him for giving me that stuff Sora thought. I guess I should be too, seeing as it was me who had that weird vision and passed out…but somehow I don't feel like it.

"So Sora, what do you say?" said King Mickey. "We're counting on you. Donald and Goofy will come with you too." The King looked at Sora and sighed. "I promise Sora" he said. "I would not have called you here like this if there had been any other way. But we suspected that you would not come if we asked you. So…our methods."

"I guess I understand" Sora said. "But what about Riku and Kairi? Where are they? Is…is Kairi worried about me?"

"They're staying in the Guest Wing of the Castle, but I don't think---" Sora ran past Mickey and into the hallway, his gown flapping behind him.

"Wait!" the King called, but Sora was already past that hallway. Oh well.

Kind of an odd way to end a chapter, but it was pretty informative. What is Maleficent's mysterious experiment?