Chapter 6

"OK, which way should we go?", asked Goofy.

"Um, right. No, left. No, wait, maybe we should go right," Anne said as she looked at the navigation screen.

Vanitas had enough of this.

"Make up your mind already!"

This earned another whack on the back of the head from Xion. Suddenly, a beeping noise came from the monitor.

"Another world's coming up!", Anne told the others as they gathered around the monitor.

"What world is it?", asked Sora.

"Um... it doesn't say," said the girl.

"Well, some of us should go and investigate it," said Riku.

"Good idea. How about you, Ichigo, Rukia, Ven, Vanitas, Xion, Anne, Terra, and I go and check it out?", Sora suggested.

"WHAT? Why me?!", asked Vanitas, once again earning a whack on the back of the head from Xion.

"OW! Will you quit that?!", he said as he held his head.

Riku rolled his eyes at the two and turned to the rest staying in the ship.

"Nel wants to come!", said Nel.

"No, Nel, you need to stay here with the others," said Sora.

"OK...", Nel said.

"You guys stay here and keep an eye on the ship. We might be gone for a while," he said.

"Hold on, what do you mean by "a while"?", asked Donald.

"Um... possibly a few days... or maybe a few weeks," Riku said.

"A FEW WEEKS?! What do you expect me to do for a few weeks cooped up in here?!", Keigo demanded.

"Hey, Master Yen Sid told us that time runs differently on certain worlds. For example, we could be gone for weeks while it only feels like a few hours to you guys," said Riku.

"OK, but still, what am I supposed to do?", asked Keigo.

"I don't know. Check out things on the navigation monitor or something," Terra said as the group that was heading out headed to the teleporter.

"Don't worry you guys, I'll make sure he stays out of trouble in here," said Namine.

"Thanks. Donald, get the teleporter ready," Sora said as they stepped onto the teleporter.

"OK! Ready to teleport!", Donald said as he punched in a series of numbers on the control panel.

"Good luck!", Goofy said as the group disappeared.

...

The group grunted as they landed on the ground. Sora looked around and saw that they had landed in a grassy field. Suddenly, they heard the roar of an engine.

They looked up and saw a huge, strangely shaped ship fly over them.

"What is that? Some sort of battleship?", asked Ichigo.

Sora looked to his right and saw an old lady in a pale blue dress walking through the field. Suddenly a Soldier appeared behind her.

Sora gasped. "LOOK OUT!", he shouted as he summoned Kingdom Key and destroyed the Heartless.

"You OK?", he asked once the rest of the group caught up with him.

"Yes, thank you. What was that thing?", asked the old lady.

"That, ma'am, was a Heartless, and I think that you should find a place to stay until their gone," said Terra.

"That's exactly what I'm doing. But I'm not doing it because of the Heartless you just told me about," she said as she started walking up a hill. Sora quickly followed her and asked, "Then why are you doing it?"

"I wish I could tell you, but I can't," said the old lady.

"Still, you need to get somewhere nice and warm," said Ichigo.

As soon as he said that, a scarecrow, that was surprisingly standing on it's own, bounced towards the old lady.

"Whoa!", Ven said in surprise.

Suddenly, some type of walking fortress climbed over the hill and over them. The gang stared in awe.

"You turniphead! This isn't what I was looking for!", the old woman said angrily. The scarecrow ignored her and bounced over to the walking fortress, which had a door with a few steps attached to it near the back. The old woman ran over to it, with the Keybladers and two Soul Reapers following her.

"Hey lady, you should be careful!", Ichigo shouted as he ran in an effort to keep up with the fortress.

The old woman quickly climbed onto the doorstep. She opened the door and peeked in before turning back to the others and said, "It's nice and warm in there, so I think we should go in!"

The scarecrow hopped over to her, carrying some type of purple cloth.

"Oh, my shawl! Thank you!", she said as she took it. "It was a pleasure meeting you, even if you are my least favorite vegetable. Take care, Turniphead!", the old woman shouted before turning to the people running after her.

"Hurry!", she shouted. Sora, Terra, Ichigo, and Ven were the first ones to reach the doorstep.

"Bye, Mr. Scarecrow!", Anne shouted to Turniphead before the rest of the group reached the doorstep. They opened the door and climbed in.

Sora looked around before saying, "I don't see anything."

The old woman and the Keybladers climbed up the stairs and glanced around.

"What a dump," the old woman muttered.

"I totally agree," said Vanitas as he sat down near a fire that was blazing.

"This place doesn't seem like a castle," said the old lady.

"Why do you say that?", asked Ven.

"Well, back in my home town, people called this place "Howl's Castle"."

"Well, they were definitely wrong about the castle part," Rukia said as she and the others sat down.

"At least this fire's warm," said the old lady.

"I don't envy you, lady. That's one nasty curse you got on you there. You're gonna have a hard time getting rid of that," a voice said out of nowhere.

"What the?", Sora asked as he rapidly looked around and stopped when he saw the fire, which had eyes, arms, and a mouth.

"The fire's talking!", Ichigo said in surprise.

"Let me guess. The curse won't allow you to talk about it, right?", asked the fire.

"What curse?", asked Sora.

"This lady right here is actually close to that guy's age," the fire said as he pointed at Riku. "But she's under a spell that turned her into a 90 year old, and the curse won't let her tell anyone about it."

"Yikes...", Anne muttered. "Are you Howl?", asked the old lady.

"No, I'm an extremely powerful fire demon named Calcifer," said the fire.

"A fire demon? Well, you should be able to help her with her curse then!", said Ven.

"Maybe, maybe not. If she finds a way to break the spell that's on me, I'll break the spell that's on her," said Calcifer.

"How can I trust you?", asked the old lady.

"Come on! You should feel sorry for me! Howl treats me like I'm his slave! If you can figure out how to break this thing, I can break the spell on you," said Calcifer.

"Alright, it's a deal," the old lady muttered as she fell asleep.

"Hey, lady. Lady! Hello?", Calcifer said.

"She's out," said Vanitas.

Calcifer sighed. After a minute of awkward silence, Sora asked, "So... what else do you do around here?"

...

Sora woke up to the sound of someone knocking loudly. He groaned as he sat up. The Keyblade wielder looked around to see that everyone except the old lady and Ven, who was slumped against the fireplace, were awake.

The old woman woke up, but pretended to fall back asleep when someone came running down the stairs. It was a young boy with light brown hair wearing a white shirt under a green vest with green pants and an orange bowtie.

"Hey, who are these guys?", the boy asked as he looked at Sora and the gang.

"Porthaven door!", Calcifer said as the person at the door kept knocking. The boy quickly ran over to a table, pulled out a blue cloak, and pulled the hood up, making a long grey beard appear.

"Standby," he said in a gruff voice as he climbed down the stairs and opened the door, revealing a man wearing a suit and top hat.

"Excuse me sir, would the great wizard Jenkins be at home?", asked the man.

"I'm afraid that my master is out at the moment," said the boy as Sora, Terra, and Xion walked over to the doorway.

"This is a letter from his Majesty. The time of war is upon us! The King requires that all witches and wizards aid our country. Jenkins must report to the palace immediately," the man said as he handed the letter to the boy.

"I will inform him right away," the boy said as he closed the door.

"War... and we're dealing with our own little battle right now," Vanitas muttered with a yawn.

"And what do you people think you're doing here?", asked the boy.

"Calcifer said we could come in," said the old lady. "I did not! These people just wandered in here from the Wastes!", said the fire demon.

"They're from the Wastes?", the boy asked in his normal voice as he threw his hood up. "Then how do we know if they're not witches and wizards?"

Suddenly, there was another knock at the door.

"Porthaven door again," said Calcifer.

"Must be a customer," the boy said as he put the disguise back on and walked down the stairs. "Standby," he said as he opened up the door, revealing a little girl.

"Yes, my dear child?"

"My mom sent me to pick up a spell," the little girl said.

"Ah yes, do come in," the boy said as he led the girl up the stairs.

Sora, Ichigo, and the old lady walked over to a window and peeked out it. Instead of the mountains and fields that they saw last night, they saw a town with a beautiful view of the ocean.

"That's weird, we're not in the country anymore," said Ichigo.

"Excuse me, Granny, are you a witch too?", the little girl asked the old woman in a cute voice.

The woman smiled and said, "That's right, I'm the scariest witch of them all!"

They chuckled at her response. The boy walked back over to the girl with a small bag.

"Dust your ship with this powder and the winds will favor it," he said as the girl handed him a coin and walked down the stairs.

"Farewell, child," the boy said as the little girl left. He then looked up at the woman and said, "Quit telling lies to our customers!"

"Hey, what about you? You're wearing a disguise!", said Sora.

"I have to. I'm practicing my magic," the boy said. Suddenly, they heard a ring.

"It's the Kingsburry door!", said Calcifer. The boy put his disguise back on. "Standby."

He turned a knob above the handle. As he turned the knob, a color panel that was to the right of the door turned and landed on red.

The door opened up, revealing a man wearing fancy clothes.

"Good day. Would this be the residence of the great wizard Pendragon?", asked the man.

"It is," the boy said as the old woman, Sora, Anne, and Xion walked down the stairs.

"I bear an invitation from his Majesty, the King. Please inform Pendragon that all witches and wizards are required to report for duty at the palace," he said as he walked away and climbed into an old fashioned car.

Xion, Sora, Anne, and the old woman peeked out the door to find that they were now in a fancy looking city.

"Mamma mia," Xion said softly.

"This is the royal city isn't it?", asked the old lady.

"Move it or you'll lose your noses!", the boy shouted as the four walked back in.

"And stop wandering around," he said as he walked away.

Sora, Xion, Anne, and the old woman gave each other a mischievous smirk before Sora turned the knob to green. They peeked out the door to find that they were back in the Wastes.

"This must be the Wastes," said Sora.

"Try the blue one!", Anne said with an excited tone. Sora turned the knob to blue and opened the door to find that they were back at the town by the ocean.

"Cool!", said Xion as Sora closed the door.

"Leave it alone you guys. I'm getting angry," said the boy.

"This is a magic house, isn't it?", asked the old woman.

"Where does the black one lead to?", asked Anne.

"Only Master Howl knows that. I need some breakfast. I'm starved," he said as he walked over to a desk and grabbed a plate with cheese on it. The old lady walked over to the table and grabbed a plate with bacon on it.

"Don't you want some bacon and eggs?", she asked.

"Yeah, but we can't use the fire. Master Howl's not here," said the boy.

The old woman chuckled and grabbed a frying pan. "Don't worry. I can cook."

Vanitas walked over to Ven and kicked him lightly.

"Ven, wake up and get off your butt. Granny's making breakfast," he said.

Ven immediately bolted up at the word "breakfast." He got up and the old woman walked over to the fire place.

"It doesn't matter if you can cook. Calcifer will only listen to Howl," said the boy.

"That's right lady, I'n not taking any orders from you," Calcifer said as he blew a raspberry at her.

She ignored him and said, "Alright Calcifer, let's get cooking."

"I don't cook! I'm a scary and powerful fire demon!", Calcifer shouted as he growled in an attempt to sound intimidating.

"Oh yeah, that's REAL scary," Ichigo said sarcastically.

"How about I pour a bucket of cold water on your face?", said the old woman.

"Or maybe we should tell Howl about your little deal with Granny here?", said Vanitas.

"Stupid me! I never should have let them in here!", Calcifer said as the old woman put the frying pan over him.

He sighed in defeat and said, "Here's another curse for you. May all your bacon burn."

Sora snickered at the funny comment. Suddenly, the door opened and a man with platinum blonde hair wearing a pink jacket with a white shirt and grey pants entered the house.

"Master Howl, the King's messangers sent letters that said you must report to the palace as both Pendragon and Jenkins," said the boy. The man, who Sora assumed was Howl, walked over to the old woman and looked at Calcifer and said, "Calcifer? You're being so obedient."

"Hey, I'm not doing it on purpose! She bullied me!", said Calcifer.

"Not just anyone can do that. And you are... who?", he asked as he turned to the old lady.

"Um, you can call me Grandma Sophie. I just started work today," said the old lady, now known as Sophie.

"Give that to me," he said as he gently took the wooden spoon out of her hand.

"Hand me two more slices of bacon and six more of those eggs," he said as Sophie handed him the food. Howl fed the egg shells to Calcifer, who really seemed to enjoy them.

"Want me to get the plates?", asked Sora. Howl nodded.

The boy walked over to a desk and grabbed three plates for Howl, Sophie, and the boy.

"You're gonna need more plates," said Howl. "You're our guests, and you'll need breakfast so you won't go hungry."

"If you say so," Sora said as he picked up more plates for them. He walked over to the table, pushed aside some books, and set the plates out. The rest of the residents in the house except for Calcifer sat down at the table.

Ven, Vanitas, Xion, and Terra were stuck sharing their food with each other.

"So, friends, bon appetite," said Howl.

"Bon appetite!", the boy said as he dug into his food. Sora did the same.

Xion rolled her eyes and turned to Howl and Sophie and said, "Sorry, he always eats his breakfast like that."

"That's alright. By the way, I never caught your names," said Howl.

"Oh, I'm Sora, and this is Riku, Vanitas, Ven, Xion, Anne, Terra, Ichigo, and Rukia," said the spikey haired Keyblade wielder.

Howl nodded and said, "As you already know, I'm Howl and this is my apprentice Markl."

He turned to Sophie and asked, "So, what do you have hidden in your pocket, Sophie?"

She gave him a look of confusion before reaching into a pocket and pulled out a dark pink slip of paper.

"What's that?", asked Sora.

"Give it to me," said Howl. Sophie shrugged and handed the paper to Howl. Suddenly, it zapped them and it fell on the table, leaving some sort of mark.

"What the h**l is that?", asked Ichigo.

"They're scorch marks! Howl, can you read them?", asked Markl.

"That is ancient sorcery. It's quite powerful too. "You who have swallowed a fallen star, oh heartless man, your heart shall soon belong to me."," Howl said as he read the note.

Rukia gave him a look of confusion and asked, "It says that?"

Howl nodded. "This can't be good for the table," he said as he placed his hand over the mark. Smoke started rising from under his hand. When he lifted his hand, the mark was gone.

Sora's eye twitched. "What the heck?", he thought.

"I may have erased the mark, but the spell is still there," Howl said as he picked up his plate and took it to Calcifer.

"Calcifer, move the castle sixty miles to the west," said Howl as he gave the fire demon his food. "And while you're at it, make some hot water for my bath," he said as he climbed upstairs.

"Oh, sure, like moving the castle isn't hard enough!", Calcifer said sarcastically.

After a moment, Markl asked, "You're not working for the Witch of the Waste, are you?"

"The who now?", asked Anne.

"I would never work for that witch! She's the one who-!", Sophie shouted, but the curse stopped her from saying the rest. She banged her fist on the table in frustration, knocking a few books off.

"If I ever get my hands on that witch, I'm gonna wring her fat neck!", she shouted.

"Finish your breakfast!", she grumbled as she wolfed down the rest of her breakfast.

Sora and the gang exchanged nervous glances.

"Uh... excuse us for a minute," Terra said as they walked over to a corner.

"Are you sure we should stay here? We should be looking to see if there are any Organization members around here," said Ven.

"We should. We'll check around town for Heartless," said Riku.

"What I'm really worried about is leaving Keigo in the Gummi Ship," said Ichigo.

"Why's that?", asked Sora.

"Keigo does crazy things when he's bored, so who knows what's he doing now?," he said as he looked out the window.

Meanwhile, in the Gummi Ship...

"Keigo, stop!", Tatsuki shouted at her friend as he punched random buttons.

"What does this one do?", he asked as he pushed a button.

The seat Uryu was sitting on suddenly shot upwards and he hit the ceiling.

"OW!"

"Oh, that's what. Ooh, what about this one?", he asked as he pulled a lever, causing the ship to turn upside down.

"WHOA!", Lea shouted as he held onto a chair.

"Keigo, turn this ship back over right now or I swear I'll use the most powerful magic spell I know on you!", Roxas shouted as he held onto Namine while gripping a seat.

Keigo pulled the same lever and the entire ship turned right side up.

"Hey, what does that one do?", Lea asked as he pointed at a blue button.

"Seriously Lea?", asked Roxas.

Keigo pushed the button and music started playing.

"What is love? Baby, don't hurt me. Don't hurt me, no more," a man sang.

Lea and Keigo started bopping their heads to the song. Roxas groaned and face-palmed.

"Come on, Sora. Hurry it up, will you?", the former Organization member muttered.