CH 7: Endless
''We have to go.'' Xion murmured hurriedly, hair rapidly darkening at the roots. She paused long enough to yank up Sora's arm with a lot more strength than he reckoned she had in her, and began to drag him from the edge down the tower. Sort of like the moms who picked up fallen trees from children, or something. He couldn't deny that he was a little nervous about the heavy-set frown rooted in her face, though.
''Mind telling me where we're going?''
She kept her head down, counting down the steps across each landing. ''Can't you see? Down this tower.''
''I meant afterward.'' He stopped in his tracks, watching the last traces of blond leach out of her hair, the strands shrinking to their original size. He couldn't deny that it was disconcerting, at least. He watched as a black coat suddenly materialized into existence, swishing around her ankles. She could've been a magician, he reckoned.
Xion shook her head, unperturbed by the stare. ''It'll make a lot more sense if I show you.''
Sora could have pulled away, but he didn't…yet. The brunette was still as curious as ever, even in the layered impossibility of a paradox looming over him. ''You're not going to turn into someone else, are you?''
''Rude!'' She shoved her shoulder right into his before resuming her gait. ''I'm not a shape-shifter. I reflect.''
''I see.''
''You're a really bad liar.'' She pointed out, groaning. ''Everything occurring here is hypothetical, guessing at the most. I'm not really sure myself. And…I just…you know what, just come with me!''
Sora didn't reply as they continued their descent. It wasn't so much that he didn't have anything to say as it was anything that wouldn't get automatically shot down. Figures; know-it-alls were all the same. Even if that one, in particular, happened to have magic powers. ...Apparently.
Donald didn't know that there was a basement beneath the citadel. Come to think of it, he didn't know much about Yen Sid, either. In the time he had spent with him, he'd only attained just the briefest snatches of knowledge from him, and they usually came in the form of premonitions, which any person worth their beans could tell meant a warning with a bunch of flourishes.
And that was a whole lot of hand-waving, indeed.
But he trusted the King's judgment. After all, the mouse had saved him from countless troubles, and given him the highest job of their world, only answering to the monarch himself. He was proud to be here, happy to finally be seen as someone truly essential in Mickey's goals. But as they traveled down the spiraling steps that had appeared only after Yen Sid waved his hand, he couldn't help but admit that he wasn't to sure about the wizard's intentions.
The least he could've done was cast a heat spell. It was freezing cold in there, and he barely had any magic in him for more than a simple night-light.
As for Goofy, the idiot couldn't stop blathering on and on about the picnic a month before, which consisted of potato salad, apple pies, and a whole load of relatives from who-knows-where to celebrate a holiday that Donald didn't care about in the first place. For crying out loud, he'd heard the story ten times before. But Goofy was honestly trying to lighten the mood, and that was what counted in the end. Well, sort of. But it did serve as a good distraction from troubling thoughts.
''…And my boy came! You shoulda' seen the look on my face when Max walked in. I stopped right then and there and gave him a good ol' hug, ahyuck. He was actin' up and going on about bribes, but I know he was happy to be there!''
''That's just amazing,'' Donald droned, mechanically waving his wand like a bulbous flashlight in the darkened space. ''Didn't he leave soon afterwards though?''
''Aw, don't be a sourpuss. It was the thought that counts.''
A mumble escaped his throat. ''He's playing you like a fiddle and you don't even realize it, you dolt.''
Goofy cupped a hand around his ear, smiling from ear to ear. ''Huh? Speak up, I can barely hear you!''
''Nevermind.''
Farther ahead, Yen Sid paused to stroke his beard, waiting in a frigidly fixed stance. He really did fit the description of an evil king. When they reached a sufficient distance he spanned the imposing stretch and stood in front of a tarnished door, emblazoned with a six-pointed star. Pausing only to pass his fingers over it, Donald could've sworn he saw the briefest trickle of magic float outward, sinking into the burnt wood. Glowing red for a moment, the shape lighted up, as if caught on fire, before fading back to its original constitution and swinging wide to open into…more darkness.
Behind him, Goofy rubbed his neck. ''At least we're getting somewhere.''
Donald audibly croaked, his mouth going dry.
An eternity later (in reality, about ten minutes), they stopped at a final threshold. Yen Sid placed both hands over a yawning entry and shining sparks emitted glowing flickers, embers that danced along the sides of the walls on either side, spiraling along the edges and temporarily lighting up the area in animated phosphorescence. Off to the side, a floppy-eared dog and talking bird stopped to catch their hitching, tumbling breath.
''We're going to die here, aren't we? It's never going to end, I'm telling you!'' the duck rasped, feathers hanging limp. He threw his hands up. ''Why did I agree to this?''
''Well, g'warsh, I wouldn't use words like that…'' Ever the optimist, Goofy gestured at the entrance. ''Look! Yen Sid's gone on without us, which means that was the last door!''
''You're lying! Can't you be realistic for once? Why do you always …lie…'' he trailed off, sprinting. His feet couldn't move fast enough.
Goofy shook his head, musing. ''Stubborn as ever.''
They were staring down a hole.
More specifically, a gigantic circular drop that went for who knows how long, probably straight to China. Or the strange, dark place known as hell; Sora was sure it was a combination of both.
''So I'm supposed to go down here? By myself?'' He blanched.
''That's the gist of it.''
''Where does it go?''
''I'm not exactly sure, but I feel like you're supposed to go.'' She clung to him before he could, presumably, run. ''I couldn't tell you before, or you wouldn't have agreed.''
''It could just be nothing. What if I die?''
Xion bit her lip, feeling her composure waver. ''It could.'' She let her arms fall flat at her sides. ''But this is your heart. I don't think you'd off yourself like that.''
''Let me get this straight: if I go in here, my memories could be restored?''
A small nod; she stepped back, wringing her hands nervously. ''Mm-hm. I can't bring them back, but you can.''
''But why can't you come?'' He turned to her, so close their noses could've bumped. ''We could work together, and solve this problem quickly!''
'' …I can't. Someone's got to safe-guard this place. The darkness always looms right at the edge. If I go, this place will be engulfed, and we have no way of getting it back.''
''Huh,'' He scratched his head, temporarily sated by the answer. ''I never did ask, though: what is this place?''
She straightened up, leaning into his ear. He reddened considerably. Was she going to…kiss him, or something? He liked her as a friend, but this was going a little too fa-
''My home.'' She said, quietly. ''The only place I've got left.''
With that, Xion pushed Sora down into the chasm, and he went head-first, a one-way express trip into the great beyond. Or, whatever lay beyond holes with no light with barely a peep.
''Do you think they're alright?'' Jiminy, who's reviewing his journal, looks up with slight disinterest. He'd promised to document every single thing that happened this time around, but so far, there hadn't been much to put. His notes barely covered one page.
''Yeah,'' goes Chip, working on breaking open a circuit box, wrinkles his nose. ''Dale, can you help me with this?''
The other chipmunk is sprawled on the chaise lounge, absorbed in a comic. ''Nah, go help yourself. Haha! This is hilarious!'' Dale rolls back and forth over the pages in laughter, effectively crumpling them.
''…Maybe we should've gone with them. They might have required our assistance.'' Jiminy frowned. He wasn't one to doubt the duo's intent, but Donald and Goofy were his friends. They usually let him tag along, so why was it this time that they left him to his own devices?
''You're just overreacting. It's Yen Sid we're talking about. They'll be fine, and back here in no time.''
''…Oh man! I didn't even know you could do that with a banana!''
''I don't think you two understand the gravity of the situation,'' the cricket muttered, settling back on his haunches.
''You're just mad because they left you behind this time, aren't you?''
''I am not!''
''Nuh-uh! You've been staring at the shuttle hatch door every ten minutes! I saw you!'' Chip puts down the screwdriver to shoot the insect a shrewd grin. ''Now you know what it feels like, don't you? It isn't all fun and games.''
''They've been gone for two hours already,'' Jiminy huffed, and then gestured uselessly to the clock, which ticked methodically, hands swiveling around the numbers in eternal circles. ''Doesn't that strike you as a little odd? They would usually be back here by now.''
''So what? They're just a little busy. You know how they love to take their sweet ti- bwahaha, you gotta' see this!'' Dale's practically frothing at the mouth, and Chip jumps down from the panel to investigate. In two minutes, the two were rolling with giggles, giddily encouraging Jiminy to head over.
The cricked went back to his work with a low moan, trying to get rid of the gut-wrenching feeling pulling at him. He hoped, for Donald and Goofy's sake, that he was horribly wrong.
They're staring at a monster.
No, no, not a monster; the shadows fling and sway, and the metal structure heaves back and forth from the ceiling, like the pendulum to a gigantic clock. It just darts and moves without anyone touching it, without a breath of air in the room. Yen Sid gazes up at it, and Donald's certain he can detect pride in every defined contour.
Proud of a giant metal casing; Donald can hear himself think in the cavern; he watches the stalactites jut out from the ceiling and thinks of daggers. The place was a shivering death trap.
From behind, Goofy pokes him in the ribs. ''Wow.'' He finally says, awed. ''It sparkles like a diamond in here.''
And it does; the multi-colored shards refract curving lines, veins of shine and light and bright reflecting sparks, igniting at one end and glowing in another.
''You aren't nervous?'' Donald asks, squeakily, nasally reaching a crescendo that makes even Yen Sid pause in his enamoring love.
''No, because I trust in him, a'hyuck. He wouldn't let us down. Besides, by doing this, we're helping the king, right? It's a good thing!''
The duck gulps. ''You'd better be right. This is getting weirder and weirder by the second.''
Yen Sid turns, and he's ready. Not resigned, but determined. ''Are you prepared?'' His hat droops strangely, and in the low light, there's a caustic flicker in his eyes.
''Of course!'' Goofy pledges the statement wholeheartedly, eyes rested on the giant iron cocoon without a swath of indecision. ''…But, uh, what for?''
''What are we doing?'' Donald asks, eyes growing to the size of saucers. He's got his wand with him, and it begins to act strangely; pulsing, throbbing in his grip. Goofy then drops his shield with a jolt, seeing it skitter on the ground.
Yen Sid stares at the two items flinging their way out of their grips. ''Those are imbued with magic.''
Donald can't keep out a groan. ''Y-yes! Why are they acting like this?''
''The frequency.'' the wizard answers simply. He takes on a dark intone. ''This is your last chance to turn back. Yet, you would still continue, despite not knowing what lays ahead of you? You might never come back.''
Donald notices the book he'd handed him earlier begin to shake from the recesses of the wizard's robe. Yen Sid makes no effort to keep a grasp on it, and it falls with a plunk, still audibly chafing on the floor. Pebbles begin to scatter weaving patterns in the dirt, and none of the two are able to comprehend, much less formulate a logical answer.
''What is this place?''
''It goes by many times.'' Yen Sid creases his brow one final time. ''Even I am not sure where it will take you, but it is where you must go. That much I am sure of.''
The giant metal egg, all but forgotten, begins to swing with a wildness, not far enough to reach them, and then suddenly stops, lurching back.
''Do you trust me?'' the man asks, in the lapse following.
They find the answer in their hearts, and it's so clear they could almost- ''Yes.'' they answer, in unison. They aren't prepared, and confused out of their wits, but if it was one thing they would remember, it would be trust. They would have never made it through their adventures with Sora without it.
Behind them, there is an ominous groan, the entrance sealing up with a spiraling click; locked up, sealed, and set into stone.
The structure swings to a stop. Yen Sid's words are almost petulant, as a magic seal begins to blossom underneath his feet, enclosing his form in a barrier of transparency. ''Remember that, please. It is all for the better good.''
The silence is almost damnation. Before they can begin to decipher the message, the process begins.
Shaking, the metal structure opens and the encasing pops, softly hissing. Rays of luminescence begin to radiate out, and there's a wind whistling in their ears. It gradually crosses the floor, and they find that they could not move out of sight, even if they wanted to.
It touches the edge of Donald's webbed feet, and it immediately begins to dissipate. He's fading away, fast, like a birthday candle blow out too soon. He can't make a single peep, only watch in mystified horror as the arc grazes past his ankles to his knobby bends in his knees leisurely, casting it all into oblivion.
The lower portion of his body is gone, stripped clean, so it's like he's hovering, or still stopped in an odd projection of time.
Goofy can't even blink as he watches the light begin to devour the sole of his shoes; panicked, his retinas roll back in their sockets, pleading to Yen Sid, who watches, undisturbed.
The wizard mouths something, but it is deafened by the combined force of the wind and their barrier. Their weapons begin to slide toward the humungous cocoon, sliding right in and disintegrating in the light. He thinks he should feel horrified, but all he seems to come up with is uncomfortable as the ray shimmers around his feet, abruptly disentangling them into dust.
It isn't fair. Donald doesn't want to die. Not now, when there's still so much to do.
But he can't move a single muscle as the light graces up and works on the feathers, exploding in a whitened puff, and body shrinking back. There isn't any blood, but a numbness starting to tug at his skin. It eats away at him, and when it's started to trace up to his neck, he realizes that he no longer has a heart. It's completely gone, faded into the giant cocoon that slowly opens, light like lancets, picking out only them.
He couldn't even scream.
Goofy watches as the book tumbles in, and his mind is whirring. Out of his companions, he's always been the most honest and knowledgeable (though he'd never admit this himself), and he's always tried to be the sensible voice of reason. In his head, he's wondering about Chip and Dale. Did they know, yet? No, no. The two of them only knew to wait.
At least Jiminy hadn't decided to accompany them. He wouldn't have to share their fate, wherever it happened to take them. Up to his chest, now, rising faster, as if impatient with the progress thus far, and he knew he wouldn't last much longer. He'd been thinking too long; it took away his lungs, and he no longer had to breathe. Yet, his nostrils still moves as if he could.
Donald's bill was the next to go; it fluttered cleanly, the fragments whirled into the vortex in a fine, crystalline dust. At the very least, it was painless. He managed a look at Goofy, who'd taken the fuller brunt; already, they were both beginning to distort, their images fading.
His vision was beginning to swim and grow dark; colors began to lose focus and vibrancy, and still, he kept his eyes locked on his friend. Were they really tricked? Was this how it was going to end?
Yen Sid, watching the two, said nothing more. His hand moved, and with a flick, he and his barrier disappeared in a flash. He had deserted them. His face carried not a single shred of remorse.
There wasn't anything concrete Donald could focus his mind on. Memories began to swing free of their foundations and become lost. There were only scraps left, reminders here and there. He was still here, but there was something persisting at him.
Had he forgotten something important?
Words began to come to him sporadically, slower, weighed down by something coalescing behind his consciousness. He struggled to keep his grip on reality, but it was a fight he was losing.
Slower – slower –
And then it all went dark.
Goofy wasn't sure where he was, now. He couldn't see, and there was the peculiar sensation of having his ears shred first, nothing to hide them from the incoming torrent. There was now an odd deafness, a distinct lack, but images wouldn't come to his mind.
Several fleeting images engrained themselves in his head, upon his brain, as permanent and lasting as his honesty. Queen Minnie and Daisy, waving to him from the gardens, smiles plastered on their faces; he was their favorite guard. Chip and Dale; they'd tried to teach him cards once, but stopped playing with him when he begun to every single game.
The pictures sped faster now; Jiminy Cricket showing him an empty notebook, Donald giving him advice about when to use potions correctly with a shake of the head. Sora and his friends leaning against the tree, pinpricks of individuals growing farther and farther away as the gummi ship exited; every person he'd ever met, snapshot after snapshot and finally-
There was the king, looking up at him, face shining. You did well, Goofy.
I did, didn't I? I think so, too. We saved the worlds twice, but we couldn't have done it without you, hyuck.
Mm-hm. Mickey's face held a few more frames. Thank you for everything. You should get some rest. It'll be a long way back to Disney Castle.
He felt a heavy burden fall away at last; Goofy would've grinned, if he still had his mouth. Rest, huh. It sounds nice. I guess I could try it, now that I have all the time in the world.
I'm so tired.
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