Floor 5
Monstro
High up in Castle Oblivion, the girl with blond hair in the white dress was still sitting in her chair. She continued drawing in her sketchbook.
"I remember!" Sora suddenly shouted as the three of them were walking up to the door to the next floor. "There was another girl."
"What? Where?" Goofy looked all around.
"No, no, I mean on the islands where I used to live," Sora said while rolling his eyes. "Besides Kairi and Riku there was another girl I was friends with. The four of us use to play together all the time."
"Well, I'll be!" Jiminy jumped from Sora's pocket. "I think that's the first time you've mentioned her."
"Yeah, I forgot all about her," Sora said a little sadly. "I think she went away when I was still little."
"That's strange," Donald walked up to him. "Why are you remembering all that now?"
"I'm not sure," Sora shook his head. "But it's been coming back to me in pieces as we go through the castle."
"So what's her name?" Goofy asked.
"I don't remember," Sora said. "I feel find of dumb. Here we are, saying we won't forget our friends and I can't even remember her name."
"Sora…" Donald said sympathetically.
"Well, there's no rush!" Goofy clapped him on the back. "Let's keep going. You're bound to remember it, just like the rest!"
"I guess so," Sora shrugged. Sora walked up to the next door and picked out one of the two World Cards left. It was Monstro. He held up the card and walked inside.
"What a weird place!" Sora said as he placed his hand on the wall. "Everything's kinda springy and soft."
"Nice and warm, too," Goofy looked around. "I'm starting to feel like a nap."
"Shouldn't you be a little more worried?" a voice came from nowhere. Sora pulled out his Keyblade, ready for anything.
"Who's there?" Donald shouted.
"Don't you get it?" the voice asked. "You're inside the belly of Monstro the Whale."
"Why, I know that voice," Jiminy popped up. "Pinocchio? Pinoke, it's you! Come on out!" Sure enough a small figure came running toward them. Sora was shocked when he got a full view of him. It was a small boy made completely out of wood.
"Is that you, Jiminy?" the wooden boy asked excitedly. "Gosh, I never thought I'd meet you here."
"You can't get away from me, son," Jiminy smiled. "I'm your conscience. Your conscience should guide whatever you do. Remember?"
"Sure, Jiminy. I've been a good boy while you were gone. I didn't tell a single lie." As soon as he finished this sentence his nose began to shine then grow.
"Well, for Pete's sake!" Jiminy shook his head as he stared at Pinocchio.
"Oops!" Pinocchio stared down at his nose but quickly changed the subject. "But, how did you end up inside Monstro, anyway."
"We, uh, sort of used a special way," Sora interrupted.
"It's so special we don't know how we did it!" Goofy laughed.
"That's too bad," said a saddened Pinocchio. "I was hoping you could help me and father get out of here."
"Well I'll be! Geppetto's here, too?" Jiminy asked.
"Sure," Pinocchio nodded. "Want to see him? Follow me!"
Pinocchio lead them through the belly of the whale. The twists and turns were very confusing but Pinocchio seemed to know exactly where he was going. Soon they came to a large opening where there was a ruined ship and an old man.
"Geppetto!" Jiminy cried out.
"Bless my soul, it's Jiminy Cricket," Geppetto stopped what he was doing and came over to them. "How in the world did you get here?"
"You tell me! How does a clockmaker wind up in the belly of a whale?"
"Well, it's a long story…" Geppetto sighed but proceeded to tell the story of how he and Pinocchio winded up where they were.
"So you sailed out to look for Pinocchio…" Donald started.
"…and Monstro swallowed you!" Goofy finished.
"Well, it was worth it, because I found my son," Geppetto nodded.
"But now you can't get out, can you?" Sora asked and Geppetto nodded again. "It must be awful being stuck inside Monstro."
"Not if Pinocchio and I are together," Geppetto said firmly. "I couldn't live without him. There's nothing better than being reunited with someone you care about."
"I feel the way, Geppetto," Sora said.
"I don't care if I'm trapped here, so long as I have Pinocchio. He's such a good boy."
"Well, he still tells fibs," Jiminy shrugged. "But with a little help from me…"
"Oh, Jiminy, you worry too much," Geppetto laughed.
"Speaking of Pinocchio," Sora broke in. "Where is he?"
"He was here a minute ago," Donald said as they all started to look around. "Where's he gone this time?"
"I expect he's off exploring," Geppetto said as if this happened all the time. "That boy has been poking around just about every square inch of Monstro. He won't tell me why it's so important. I tell him it's dangerous, but he won't listen."
"That puppet's a handful," Jiminy shook his head. "Sora, if you don't mind…"
"I know, I know," Sora waved it off. "You want us to help you find him, right? Okay then, let's get going guys!"
Pinocchio was lost. He knew he must have been somewhere around the stomach seeing as he was on a platform surrounded by burning liquid. He needed to find a way back to Geppetto.
"Oh!" Pinocchio let out a great sigh of relief when he saw Sora and the others running up to him. Before he could say anything Jiminy hopped in front of him.
"Pinocchio, you naughty boy!" Jiminy yelled. "You know Geppetto worries when you wander off by yourself!"
"Jiminy was worried, too!" Donald joined in.
"I'm sorry," Pinocchio hung his head.
"What are you doing anyway?" Sora asked. "Looking for something?"
"Um…yeah, I'm looking for treasure!" Pinocchio said excitedly. There was a bright light and Pinocchio's nose grew once again.
"Here we go again!" Jiminy yelled.
"But, Jiminy…" Pinocchio started.
"Now, don't be so hard on the little fella, Jiminy," Goofy smiled patted Pinocchio on the back. "We promise not to get mad, Pinocchio. Is that why you're afraid to tell? No need to fret. Tell us the truth, we'll understand. Put your trust in Goofy!"
"I was looking for a way out," Pinocchio said with a sigh. "Father says he's happy, but it's my fault we're stuck here. I shouldn't have run away from home. I want to help Father get home to the workshop. But he'll worry if I tell him what I'm doing."
"I get it," Jiminy said in a much more calm voice. "So that's why you had to lie."
"You did it because you loved your dad!" Goofy smiled.
"All you need now is courage!" Donald assured him.
"What?" Pinocchio asked.
"Tell Geppetto the truth," Donald told him. "With a little courage, you can do it! If you tell him how you really feel, I bet he'll help you find a way out."
"And we'll give you a hand!" Sora added.
"Really?" Pinocchio asked hopefully. "You'll help us? Okay, I'll give it a try! Wish me luck, Jiminy!"
"No more keeping secrets, then," Jiminy nodded. "Have we got a deal?"
"Sure! I'll be brave and tell Father how I really feel. No lies this time!"
"Great! Then your nose won't…" Jiminy was cut off when all of Monstro suddenly started shaking. Pinocchio was thrown off his feet and almost feel into the burning liquid but Donald quickly caught him.
"What's happening?" Sora yelled as he tried to steady himself.
"I got a bad feeling about this!" Donald shouted.
"Pinocchio! Run for it!" Jiminy yelled and tried to get Pinocchio to run. Pinocchio nodded and stared running but was cut off from the others as a huge form dropped in front of them It was the Parasite Cage!
"Pinocchio, where are you?" Sora shouted.
"Help! I'm trapped!" Pinocchio's voice came from inside the Parasite Cage. Sora gritted his teeth and ran forward. He summoned the Spellbinder to his hand but just as he was about to attack the Cage whipped a tentacle out with great speed and knocked him far back. Sora was up quickly, almost not being able to stop before hitting the acid.
He ran at the Cage again, this time ducking under the first tentacle and jumping to the side to avoid the second. Sora leaped up and was about to slash through the Cage's head but one of the tentacles shot up and knocked Sora away. Sora punched the ground frustrated. He couldn't get past the Cage's defenses. Sora stood back up but this time stayed back. He needed strategy for this fight.
"Strike Raid!" Sora shouted and tossed the Spellbinder forward as hard as he could. The Cage brought up both tentacles to block it. The attack bounced off of the tentacles but as soon as it returned to Sora's hand he used Strike Raid again. The Cage was unprepared and unable to block this one. It sliced one of the tentacles clean off.
Sora caught the Spellbinder when it came back to him and ran at the Parasite Cage again. He jumped to the side, avoiding the Cage's tentacle and leaped up to its head. He was ready to cut into the Cage's head but it suddenly bit down and sank its teeth deep into Sora's arm. Sora screamed in pain, trying desperately to get his arm free but the Cage's hold was too strong.
Sora tossed the Spellbinder from his right hand to his left. Just as he was about to cut into the Cage's head the tentacle he had cut off suddenly grew back and knocked the Spellbinder out of his hand. Sora struggled harder but no matter what he did he couldn't break the Cage's bite on his arm. He summoned the Spellbinder back to his hand again and this time blocked the strike from the tentacle. The tentacle wouldn't let off on the pressure of the attack so Sora was stuck defending himself.
"Genie!" Sora shouted out and he felt the card glowing in his pocket. Genie appeared in a puff of smoke and fired a magical attack at the Cage. The Cage howled in pain and finally dropped Sora who was quick to cure his arm. As Genie flew back into his card and the Cage slowly recovered Sora calculated a plan. Once he was ready he began to run at the Cage again.
The Cage raised its tentacles ready to defend itself and bite into Sora again. Right before Sora was in striking distance however he summoned both Donald and Goofy. Goofy used his Rocket attack and sliced off one tentacle and Donald used a powerful Thunder to blast off the other. Now that the Cage was defenseless Sora sliced through its large body but it was still not enough to get the Cage to open. Before Sora could attack again the tentacles regenerated and knocked him away. Sora grunted in frustration and slammed both fists into the ground.
"Help me! I'm scared!" Sora heard Pinocchio shout.
"Pinocchio, be brave!" Sora yelled to him.
"How?" Pinocchio asked.
"Don't give up!" Sora shouted as he dodged one of the Cage's tentacles slamming into the ground next to him. "Try fighting your way out!"
"Okay! I'll try!" Sora could hear Pinocchio struggling inside the Cage. Sora ran forward and dodged both tentacles and with a huge leap sunk the Spellbinder deep into the face of the Parasite Cage. There was a great scream of pain and the large mouth of the Parasite Cage opened and Pinocchio jumped out. The Cage let out one more terrible scream before disappearing.
"Pinocchio, are you all right?" Jiminy rushed to Pinocchio's side.
"Don't worry, I'm okay," Pinocchio said happily. "Just a little sticky…But I have a great idea! The Heartless spit me out when I started struggling. Why don't we try the same thing with Monstro?"
"Of course!" Sora nodded. "If we're lucky, Monstro might cough us up!"
"Great idea!" Donald nodded. "Let's go deeper inside and try it!"
"I'm going too!" Pinocchio said firmly.
"No, it's too dangerous," Jiminy said quickly. Pinocchio started to protest but Jiminy cut him off. "You should be with Geppetto. No use escaping form Monstro if you two get separated again!"
"Leave this to us," Sora grinned.
"I guess you're right," Pinocchio said a little disappointed. "Be careful, everybody!" They all nodded and ran off deeper into Monstro.
Sora, Donald, and Goofy kept running as fast as they could until there was nowhere left to run.
"Looks like this is as far as we can go," Goofy said.
"Ready, then?" Sora summoned the Keyblade into his hand. "Let's shake things up!"
"It would be easier if we had someone to fight," Donald told them.
"Perfect timing," Sora smiled as he saw waves of Heartless coming at them. "Looks like we've got company!" Sora started to doubt a little when he saw just how many Heartless were coming for him. Hoping he would have enough energy to keep them out for as long as he wanted Sora summoned both Goofy and Donald. All three of them ran forward to meet the Heartless head on. When the two forces collided Sora was first to attack by taking out three Soldiers in one swipe then he was knocked to the ground as a whole bunch of Shadows swarmed over him.
Goofy felt good to be fighting free again and was tearing through Heartless left and right. When several Search Ghosts surrounded him he unleashed his Tornado attack and took all of them out. Two Large Bodies came running at him but Goofy was ready. He rolled out of the way and the two Heartless slammed into each other. As they were rocking from the blow Goofy slashed one's back with the edge of shield. The other started to attack again but Goofy leaped up and slammed his shield down onto the Large Bodies head with a thunderous impact.
Donald let out a chain of Fire attacks, destroying lesser Heartless and wounding the more powerful ones. A couple of Air Soldiers came sweeping in from above but he quickly cut them off with a Thunder. When a Shadow leaped at him he used his staff like a bat and smashed the Shadow away. He used a Blizzard spell to blast away several Soldiers in front of him but his victory was short lived when he found that he was surrounded on all sides by Large Bodies. Donald focused and fired off a powerful Thunder attack that destroyed them all.
Sora knocked all the Shadows away from him. He quickly retaliated by cutting them all down. A couple regular Soldiers and a few Air Soldiers came for him. Sora jumped on top of one of the Soldiers and then jumped off of it to reach the Air Soldiers. He sliced through one, then another, then grabbed the last one and tossed it to the ground. On his way down he slammed the Spellbinder through it. He had, however, taken his attention off the Soldiers and one hit him hard on the back of his head and another dug its claws into his back.
Sora quickly knocked the one in his back away so it couldn't take his heart. He looked around to see that Donald and Goofy were fading. He didn't have the energy to keep them out of their cards anymore and they were returned to them. There were still way too many of them for Sora to take on by himself. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the first card he grabbed.
"Cloud!" Sora held the card up high and Cloud appeared before him. The black wing erupted from Cloud's back and he went flying at the Heartless. He sliced through them feverishly, taking out many at a time. He held his sword up into the air and several meteors appeared above him. He pointed his sword forward and the meteors crashed into the Heartless before him. When it was all over and Cloud had gone back into his card Sora saw that only one little Shadow remained.
Sora slammed the Shadow into the wall of Monstro and glanced around seeing no more coming. Had it been enough. There was a low rumbling and all of Monstro started to shake again.
"What now?" Goofy shouted.
"It's working!" Jiminy yelled. "Monstro's going to spit us out!" They all cheered for a moment when they suddenly felt a great force pulling them forward. They were flying forward at a blinding speed. Sora screamed when he suddenly felt his head slam into something and all went black.
Sora shook his head but it kept on pounding. He opened his eyes and saw Donald and Goofy starting to stir as well. Looking around he saw they were in Monstro's mouth nearly out of the beast.
"Ow," Sora held his head. "Now I know what being shot out of a cannon feels like."
"Where's Pinocchio and his dad?" Goofy asked as he looked around.
"They're gone," Jiminy said. "They must've gotten out safely."
"Without you, Jiminy?" Sora asked. "I thought there was no escaping your conscience!"
"I don't mind being left behind, as long as they're both safe," Jiminy said. "Maybe Pinocchio doesn't need me after all."
"What do you mean?" Sora asked.
"That little puppet used to have trouble telling right form wrong," Jiminy smiled. "But he's come a long way. Maybe he doesn't need Jiminy Cricket anymore. Maybe he's better off without me nagging him all the time."
"Don't you remember what Geppetto said?" Sora said. "There's nothing better than being reunited with someone you care about. I bet Pinocchio's counting the days till he can see you again."
"Well, what do you know? You might be right," Jiminy nodded. There was a sudden bright flash and they felt themselves leaving Monstro for good.
They were back inside of Castle Oblivion. Exactly how they had gone from a whale to a castle was completely beyond them.
"Hey, Sora!" Donald stopped them. "Did you remember anything else about that girl?"
"Yeah, bits and pieces," Sora said as he slipped into deep thought.
"Tell us about her!" Goofy said. "Talking about it might help you remember."
"Okay. Um…" Sora thought some more. "She was quiet, and almost always drawing pictures. While we were all swimming at the beach, she'd draw a picture of it instead. Sometimes she drew us, too! She was really good at it. I think sometimes Riku and I would fight over who would get his picture drawn next." Sora smiled as he remembered this then it slipped into a frown.
"But one day, she was gone. Just like that. I think our parents knew the reason. They might've even tried to explain it to me. But I was little. I probably didn't understand what was happening. I remember crying a little after she was gone but that's it. I still can't remember her name."
"Still, up until now you didn't remember any of that!" Donald tried to cheer him up. "At this rate, you'll think of her name in no time!"
"Anyone notice something odd?" Jiminy asked. "Sora's remembering things instead of forgetting them. Hmm…Maybe forgetting things is the only way to reach the memories buried deep down."
"You mean you have to forget to remember?" Goofy asked.
"So it's like those black-robed guys said," Sora thought. "Our precious memories lie deep in our hearts, out of reach. And all that stuff about finding being losing and losing being finding… I didn't get it at first, but maybe this is what they were talking about."
"Aww, that's no fair!" Donald shouted. "Why aren't the rest of us of us remembering anything yet? Come on, Goofy! We're not forgetting fast enough! Let's move!"
High up in Castle Oblivion Sora was being watched. Larxene watched with a smirk on her face but Axel watched in deep concentration.
"It looks like Sora's memories have taken root, just as we planned," Larxene smiled up at Axel.
"Let's see how far our boy will go, then," Axel smiled back. "Think it's time for another round?" Axel turned and started walking away.
"Only if it's my turn to play," Larxene quickly stopped him. "You had your fun on the first floor." Axel stood with his back to her for a moment before turning and tossing some cards to her.
"Remember, Larxene," Axel said. "Our job is to deliver him in one piece."
"Fine," she waved him off. "But who says I can't have my way with him first?"
"Don't break him," Axel stared at her intently.
"Do I detect a soft spot?" Larxene let out a sarcastic gasp.
"He's partly one of us," Axel turned away once again.
"I'm not going to break the toy, Axel," Larxene assured him. "Just play with it. I'm not dumb."
"Then you won't mind the warning," Axel smirked. "Remember, Sora is the key. We need him if we're going to take the Organization."
"So you're in on it, too?" Larxene asked a little surprised. "Well, keep it under your hood until the time is right." With that Larxene disappeared in a flash of electricity. Axel stared at the spot where she vanished form and chuckled a little.
"You would have been wise to do the same, Larxene."
Yo! I know its been a while but I've just had a few personal problems to deal with. Now, however, I'm back and (hopefully) better than ever!
Now I know, this seems to be a very straight forward retelling of Chain of Memories but I've got great plans for the chapters to come so stick with me! Please? Alright I should be back as soon as next week with the new chapter so until then this is the Prince saying, Love and Peace!!
