Chapter 9

"You are NEVER driving again!" Donald yelled. I nodded and took Sora's hands off the steering wheel.

"Come on you guys! We made it in one piece, didn't we?" he asked, trying to look innocent.

"Barely," I said angrily, picking up the fallen goggles and putting them back on my head. Where did this kid learn to drive? Better yet, who gave him his liscence? We xited the ship, Donald and Sora still arguing, and stopped when we reached a huge- and I mean it. HUGE!- castle.

"Woooow," Goofy and I said at the same time.

"Who d'ya think lives here?" Goofy asked. Sora shrugged and opened the gate.

"Let's go find out!" he said cheerfully. We nodded and stepped through the gate. I lloked up at the tallest tower in wonder. How long did it take to build this place? How much did it cost? Wow! I wish I lived in a place like this! This makes the tower look like a playhouse! I snapped out of dreamland when I felt myself bump into a large statue. I examined it. It looked like a gargoyle with a spear, but it's head and left arm were knocked off. The similar beastly statues were damaged in the same way. I picked up the fallen head.

"Alas, poor gargoyle. I knew him not," I said dramatically. Sora laughed and I put it at the base of the statue. We all pushed open the doors, because they too were needlessly large, and there was no way one of us could open them alone. We walked into the foyer and looked around. It looked like some kind of medieval castle. It was dark and kind of dirty. The pillars were cracked in some places, torched were lit, but it still remained dark. There was a large flight of stairs, splitting into eastern and western halls. I noticed four rooms next to where we were standing. One of them was opened.

"Wak!" I heard Donald yell. I turned around and lifted up my foot as a shadow slithered by us and into the room.

"Come on! Let's follow it!" Sora yelled. We raced into the room and began searching. This room was actually nicer than the foyer. It had a sort of cozy feeling. There was a fancy rug in the center, a large fireplace, and a table in the corner with a shimmering rose on it. Donald made his way towards the rose, but stopped when the heartless popped up in front of him.

"Wak! Found it!" he said. In that instant, several heartless appeared and surrounded us. We fought the heartless, but there seemed to be no end to them! Yeesh! How many people lose their hearts in one are?

"There's too many!" Sora yelled, stabbing another one through the head.

"Should we run?" I asked, hitting one with a fireball.

"Somebody help uuuuussss!" Donald yelled. The doors flung open and a roar echoed through the room. I gasped and backed up, but Sora and the others smield.

"Beast!" Sora yelled. A large creature with brown fur, large claws and fangs, and a tail enetered. His eyes looked like they had tiny flames burning inside of them as he growled menacingly. He knocked the heartless aside with ease and made his way towards us. Sora waved at him.

"'Bout time you showed up-" he was cut off by the monster shoving him across the room.

"Sor- Wah!" I yelled as Goofy, Donald, and i were shoved, both of them landing on top of me. Ow... The beast grabbed the rose and left, still growling all the way.

"What's up with him?" Sora asked, rubbing his arm. I shoved Donald and Goofy off of me and stood up.

"Is he always like that?" I asked. Sora shook his head.

"No, I think something's wrong. Come on," Sora said, running through the door. Donald grumbled and rubbed his cheek.

"why'd he have to go and do that?" he growled before walking out the door. I followed behind Goofy.

"So, uh, who was that guy?" I asked.

"Not sure what his real name is, so we just call him Beast!" Goofy said. 'Beast'? Sounds a bit like an insult to me. We walked back into the foyer, and I noticed a figure disappearing into the eastern hall. I tugged on Goofy's sleeve and pointed.

"Someone's up there." Sora and Donald looked up as well.

"Well, this is Beast's castle, so it must be Belle!" Sora said, "She'll know what's wrong with Beast!" We ran up the stairs and turned, walking into the hall. We made our way over to a large set of doors and listened.

"What am I going to do?" a distressed voice moaned. Sora pointed at the door and Donald nodded.

"Okay!" Donald yelled, charging at the doors. I heard a faint click that sounded like a door unlocking.

"Wait!" I yelled, but it was too late. Donald hit the doors and burst through them, flying fowards a few feet.

"Hey! Who opened the door?" he yelled. I looked in and saw a yound woman with brown hair and brown eyes, a blue dress and white apron, and a blue ribbon in her hair. She smiled and picked up Donald.

"Oh! I'm so happy you're here!" she cried. Donald struggled and yelled at her to put him down. "Donald! Sora! Goofy!" she laughed.

"Hiya!" Sora said, waving. Belle put a very dizzy Donald on the floor. I giggled as he stumbled around, trying to get ahold of something.

"Is something the matter with the Beast?" Goofy asked. She looked at us hopefully.

"Isn't that why you're here?" she asked. We shook our heads. She looked sadly at the floor.

"But we may be able to help!" I said. Sora blinked and nodded.

"I want to help, but the only ones who might be able to talk to him are in the dungeon. i want to help but I-"

"Wait, who's locked up?" Sora cut her off.

"The Beast locked his servants in the dungeon," Belle said.

"Why?" I asked. She shook her head.

"That's what I want to know," she sighed.

"Well, where is the dungeon?" Sora asked.

"In the west hall. You can get to the undercroft from there," Belle instructed.

"What's an undercroft?" I whispered to Goofy. He shrugged.

"West hall! Got it!" Sora said. We left the room and went up the other flight of stairs. This hall was much bigger than the last! There were fancy suits of armor lined up on either side of us, the carpet was red and shimmered with gold thread on the sides, the walls were white marble and had aome paintings on them, and a brilliantly lit chandelier hung from the ceiling. I whistled and turned around, looking at it a few times. We walked down the hall until we saw a dresser placed in front of something. Sora ran foward and pushed it slightly. A door was behind it.

"Here it is!" he yelled.

"DO YOU MIND?" an angry voice asked. Sora jumped and backed away from the wardrobe.

"The heck?" I asked, looking the dresser up and down. I now noticed that it had eyes and a mouth. I poked it and it's doors flew open, knocking me back. "Ouch!"

"You okay?" Goofy asked, helping me up. I nodded.

"Try not to wake her up," I warned Sora. He nodded and gently pushed her aside until she was away from the door. The dresser sprung to life again and sighed.

"And I was just getting comfortable..." she groaned. I noticed a figure heading towards the west wing. I was about to tell Sora and the others... but the man was holding a... a keyblade!

"Roxas!" I whispered and ran after him. My brain told me not to do it, but my legs kept moving on their own. It has to be Roxas this time! It just has to be! He turned a corner and pushed two suits of armor aside, running through a door.

"W-Wait! Roxas!" I called after him. The man froze and he turned to face me. I walked up nervously, afraid it may be a trick. I kept my hand on my staff and stood a few inches away from him.

"Roxas...? Is that you?" I asked. He said nothing, but grabbed my shoulders and kissed me tenderly. I made a surprised noise, but calmed down after a few seconds. This guy may or may not be Roxas... but he sure can kiss! I let my arms wrap themselves around his neck and fingered the hood. He didn't ssem to notice and continued to kiss me. It was then that I pulled the hood off and pushed him away. Red spikes instead of blonde came out and green eyes seemed to mock me for my mistake. The keyblade he put on the floor turned into his chakrams. He grabbed my shoulders again and looked into my eyes.

"Miss me?" Axel laughed. I pulled away and whacked him with my staff.

"YOU CREEP! HOW DARE YOU!" I shrieked, whacking him again and again. "YOU HAD NO RIGHT TO IMPERSONATE ROXAS AND EXPECT TO GET SOME ACTION FROM ME! YOU JERK! YOU PERVERT! YOU-" Axel yelled 'Ow!' everytime I hit him, but he reached up and covered my mouth.

"Hey, it was a joke. Calm down," he said. I still yelled at him even though he had my mouth covered. Axel laughed again and rubbed the bumps I left on his head. "Where'sSora?" he asked. I stopped yelling and stared at him. He slowly removed his hand.

"Why do you want to know?" I asked, brandishing my staff.

"None of your business. Where is he?" he asked again. I shook my head and began preparing an ice spell.

"I'm not telling! Leave!" I yelled, still angry with him. Hey, Axel's cute and all, but I'm sure you'd be pretty upset too if he got your hopes up and then smashed them into bite-sized pieces! Axel shrugged and disappeared into a portal... Which was followed by a big ball of ice going in after him. I heard him yell again and he stuck his head out of the portal. I laughed when I saw his hair had icicles on each of the spikes. Hahaha! He looked ridiculous! His hair was frozen up too, and his face was a slight bluish color.

"You little brat!" he ran at me and threw me against the wall before disappearing. I groaned and stood up shakily. Ow... he didn't have to do thaaaat!

"There you are!" I looked over at a pile of crates and saw Goofy's head sticking through a hole. "Hey! She's over here, fellers!" The crates were soon destroyed and Sora and Donald came through.

"Where were you?" Sora asked. I looked at the floor, still a teeny bit disappointed. I thought I was going to get to see Roxas again! "Fuu?" he tried to look at my face. I looked at him. He looked so much like Roxas... Sigh... I hope he's okay...

"I'm fine..." I muttered. Sora still gave me a worried look. I smiled, trying to be cheerful. "So, uh, did you find out what's wrong with Beast?" I asked. Sora shook his head.

"No, but we found the servants!" he said. I looked behind him.

"Where are they- Oh!" I looked down and stepped back when I saw a small cup hopping on my shoe... cup? The crap? oh well, I already saw a talking dresser. I shouldn't be too surprised.

"Um, hello!" I said, bending down to the cup. The cup smiled at me and hopped up onto my knee.

"Are you Sora's girlfriend?" he asked. I giggled and shook my head. "So you're not Kairi?"

"I never said Kairi was my girlfriend!" Sora yelled, his face turning beet red. A candle, a clock, and a teapot hopped past me.

"Chip! Leave the nice girl alone!" the teapot said. Chip made a sad face.

"But Mamma! I like her! She's pretty!" he whined. I picked him up in my hand.

"It's fine, he's not bothering me," I said. Chip smiled. The teapot sighed.

"Alright. Let me know if he begins to annoy you!" she laughed. I nodded and Chip hopped onto my shoulder. He was so cuuuute! Like a mini-Vivi! Awwww!

Maturity level still falling, but who cares! We left the creepy room. I could still feel Axel's presence... like he was watching me. I'm still debating over whether or not to tell Sora I saw him... or that he's after him! What could Axel want with Sora? Maybe it has something to do with Ro-

"What's your name?" Chip asked. I looked at him and smiled.

"Fujin. Please, call me Fuu," I said.

"Okay Madmoiselle Fujin! I mean Fuu!" he said happily. Aaaaawwww! I just wanna hug hiiiiim! But he's made from china...and china breaks... Not a good idea. We stopped in front of a room. The clock stepped fowards.

"Would Sora and his friends please follow me? The rest of you, wait here!" he ordered. I set Chip down and followed them into the room. The Beast had his back to us. Sora waved cheerfully.

"Hey, Prince!" he said. Prince? Oh. That explains the castle then. The Beast roared and jumped at us. I jumped to the side and pulled my staff out, just in case we needed to beat some sense into him.

"Oh dear! Master!" the clock yelled. The beast jumped at Sora, trying to scratch him. Sora's jacket suffered some damage, but Sora was okay. He hit Beast a few times then tried to move away. Beast seemed to only want to attack Sora. Donald and Goofy and I tried to get his attention, but to no avail. The clock kept setting off an alarm, trying to wake him up or something. The Beast grabbed Sora and sank his claws into Sora's arm. He cried out in pain and surprise as he was thrown across the room and on top of me. Why is everyone sitting on me today?

"Sora!" I cried. He winced and got up. I jumped in front of him and blocked an attack with my staff. "cure!" I yelled, healing his arm. Sora looked at it in bewilderment and smiled.

"Thanks- ack!" he blocked another attack. The clock sounded the alarm again and Beast froze. Sora kept his guard up. The Beast relaxed and looked at the clock.

"Cogsworth... what happened?" he asked. Cogsworth- I'm guessing that's the clock-looked at the floor nervously.

"Well, Master...ah, you see...that is... How shall I say...ah, actually... um..." he stammered.

"Well, you put everyone down there in that dungeon!" Donald yelled.

"I...I did?" Beast asked.

"Ah... you did!" Cogsworth piped up. The Beast looked at the floor, saying nothing. Did Axel have something to do with this? He was only attacking Sora, and Axel's after Sora.

"Who were you talking to earlier?" Sora asked.

"Xaldin... that's his name. He came from the darkness... He...used my anger to control me. He took all my sorrow, my sadness, my pain---and turned it all into rage. There was nothing I could do... I could no longer see the truth," Beast said sadly.

"Oh! That must have been the reason you locked your friends in the dungeon!" I said. Everyone looked at me. "You didn't want to hurt them.. so, you locked them in there?" I must sound like an idiot!

"Was that it? Was it to protect them?" he asked quietly.

"Sure! We know you're good inside!" Goofy said. Phew! Someone agrees!

"He's right, Master. We've all seen how kind you can be. After all... Belle can see the goodness in your heart, but I'm afraid you've yet to-" Cogsworth said happily.

"Belle!" he yelled, like he just remembered something. He sighed. "I mistreated her... I mistreated her and been so selfish..."

"She didn't say anything like that," Sora said.

"She'd never tell anyone of my cruelty... She's too good." Cogsworth leaned towards Sora.

"You see, I'm afraid he judges himself a bit too harshly," he murmered.

"Why don't you just go talk to her?" Sora suggested.

"But-" Beast tried to protest. Sora and I grabbed his hands.

"No excuses!" Sora said strictly.

"You're going to do it. Whether you want to or not!" I ordered. We dragged him (literally! He really did not want to do this!) back to Belle's room. Belle wasn't there, but the dresser was.

"Master!" the dresser cried.

"Everyone's okay now!" Donald said reassuringly.

"Where's Belle?" Beast asked.

"Oh my, she left. Something about a man in black," the dresser said.

"WHAT? Why can't she just do what she's told?" the Beast roared. I covered my ears. Yikes he's loud!

"Temper! Temper!" the dresser scolded. "Her spirit is what makes her special!"

"Well, let's go find her!" I said. We all ran out to the foyer and looked around.

"I'm warning you! You'll be sorry!" a voice threatended.

"Belle! Where are you?" the Beast called.

"Beast! Help! I'm in the ballroom!" Belle yelled. As we entered, she ran onto the balcony. I looked up at the ceiling.

"Look!" I yelled, pointing. A large heartless that resembled a ball with antennaes was floating around. It had chains around it and a silly looking grin. It soon faxed into the walls and the walls, floor, and window turned black. We all drew our weapons and looked around.

"Where'd it go?" Goofy yelled. The pillar nearest Sora grew antennae.

"There!" Beast yeleld, jumping at it. The heartless squealed and came out of the pillar. We all charged it and began pummeling it with our weapons. After a few minutes, it phased through the floor and appeared in the center of the ballroom. It exploded, and a large creature with reddish fins on the side of its head appeared in its place. Donald quacked and hid behind Goofy. It became invisible in a flash and we all stood bak to back.

"Keep your guard up!" Beast commanded. We nodded. Goofy yelled as he was thrown back. Sora slashed at the air and cut it's hand. The monster screamed and tried to run when it became visible.

"Everyone get out of the way!" Sora commanded, running to the chandelier. We did as he said, and watched. The monster hit the chandelier, sending ti spining around the room. Sora held onto it as it hit the monster, slicing it in half. The creature disappeared into the floors, and the ballroom returned to normal. I ran over to Goofy, who merely smiled and gave me a thumbs up. I pulled him up onto his feet and we walked back over to Sora.

"We sis it!" Sora cheered.

"So you think," a voiced laughed. We turned around to see a man in a black cloak.

"Xaldin!" Beast roaored. Sora and Beast ran at him, but xaldin disappeared before they could get to him.

"What does he want here?" Beast growled.

"He must be with Organization XIII. Ever heard of the Nobodies? When a strong-hearted person turns into a Heartless, a Nobody's created, too. See, the Organization...they've got control of all the Nobodies," Sora explained.

"Perhaps they were after your Nobody," I suggested. Sora nodded.

"You're alright!" belle yelled happily. She ran towards us.

"Belle!" Beast yelled back and made his way over to her. Chip, Cogsworth, and the others followed. We watched them talk. Belle was scolding Beast about something when the candle sighed.

"I'm afraid time is running short," he said with a heavy French accent.

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"Rememebr the rose?' the teapot asked.

"From the Beast's room?" donald asked. The candle nodded.

"You see, if theMaster can learn to love and be loved in return-" Cogsworth started.

"-The spell will be broken!" the candle exclaimed.

"Will he make it?" I asked.

"We think so!" the teapot said. Sora's keyb;ade began to glow, and once again, the light surrounded Sora and I. The rose that was in the Beast's room appeared before us. Sora raised the keyblade. I was hesitant. What if the mark grew and I turned into a heartless or something? I sealed it anyway. When we came back, I examined my hand. It didn't grow, but it was becoming an odd shade of black. I gulped and poked it. It stopped darkening. Okay, I'm scared now!

"Fuu? Heeeellllooooo?" a hand was being waved in front of my face. I jumped and loked at Sora. "It's time to go!" he said. I nodded and hurried out after him. Sora stopped in front of me and grabbed my arm. "Can I talk to you for a minte?'

"S-sure!" I said. Sora led me a few feet from the gummi ship.

"Why do you keep running off like that?" he asked. I froze and looked at him. What should I say?

"I-I... " I stammered. Sora sighed and looked at me sternly.

"You could get hurt or kidnapped or killed or something if you keep doing that! You had me worried sick!" he said. I blinked. He was worried?

"You don't need to worry about me. I can take care of myself," I said, boarding the ship. Sora glared and followed me.

"Just promise you won't do it again. Please?" he said. I sighed and nodded.

"Okay, mom," I muttered sarcastically. I sat down and let my head fall back against the seat. I guess I'll just take a nap until we get to the next world. I closed my eyes and slipped into oblivion.