Chapter 12
Sora woke up to feel warm sunlight on his face. Stretching, he opened his eyes and saw that the curtains were pulled aside from the window to let the bright morning sunlight in. It also seemed like a blanket had been draped over him sometime during the night. Turning, he tried to remember what had happened. Dinner, the dance, coming back to his room, Geni sleeping…Geni! Looking around the room, he realized she was gone. Peering over the side of the bed, he saw that her boots were gone as well. Figuring kidnappers wouldn't have bothered with grabbing her boots, he assumed she left by herself.
Sitting up slowly, he noticed that his shoes were neatly arranged by the table, the glass of water gone, and a note sitting on a tray full of what looked like breakfast. Hopping off of the bed and walking over to the table, he saw a steaming bowl of oatmeal with toast and some orange juice. Sitting down and taking a large swig of the orange juice, he began reading the note.
Dear Sora,
We dropped off breakfast around nine-thirty and saw that you were still sleeping like a log so we didn't want to bother you. As you saw, Geni left late last night with Queen Minnie, and as far as we know she is still in her majesty's chambers. Neither of them have come out as of yet, and Queen Minnie has posted a "Do Not Disturb" spell on the door. They must be talking and catching up on some important things, so don't worry about it. We'll be back around eleven to make sure you don't sleep the day away. Today's agenda mostly involves preparing the gummi ship and resting for the trip ahead, so use your time wisely – we'll be leaving bright and early tomorrow morning. See you later!
Donald and Goofy
Continuing on to the rest of his breakfast, Sora pondered. Well, now things are starting to make sense. I hope Queen Minnie didn't keep Geni up too late talking; she looked dead tired last night. Sora finished his breakfast in silence, his mind however thinking of all the things he wanted to accomplish today. Hmm, research the Nobodies, help restock the gummi ship, train a little with the Keyblade and magic… His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. Assuming it must be Donald or Goofy, he got up and answered it. "Hello?" Standing outside the door were Donald and Goofy, as assumed.
"Finally, you sleepyhead. I thought you were going to waste the whole day in there," Donald said impatiently.
"Did ya have a good nap Sora?" Goof chimed in.
"Definitely. I just finished the breakfast you guys left. By the way, any word on Geni and Queen Minnie yet?" Donald and Goofy gave each other a strange look. "What's the matter? Is something wrong?"
"Well, maybe. Geni came out of Queen Minnie's room this morning a little after we left you breakfast. But she was…" Donald paused mid-sentence.
"What? What happened?" Sora was beginning to get very worried.
"Well, to put it simply," Goofy stated, "she was a mess. It looked like she had walked through a battle field. She had bruises and cuts all over – no broken bones, thank goodness – but she could barely stand. She was unconscious when Queen Minnie had her escorted to her room." Goofy and his frankness – enough to make anyone go senseless sometimes.
Sora could only stare in open-mouthed horror as Goofy finished his monologue. "Wh…What?" He turned back into his room, and raced to where his shoes were. Slipping them on very ungracefully, he raced past Donald and Goofy and out the door. "I have to go see her!"
"Sora, wait! You can't!" Donald yelled after him, but his words fell upon deaf ears. "Oh, good going, you big palooka!" Sora was already racing towards the grand staircase and up one floor to Geni's room. Reaching for the doorknob to her room, Sora was repelled by some invisible force and flew backwards onto the floor. Landing on his built in padding, he wondered what had stopped him. The only clue he had was a shimmering substance that covered her entire door. Jumping back up, he ran towards the door and pounded on it. He wasn't repelled back like the first time, but his hands tingled whenever he touched the door.
"Sora! Hold up!" Goofy called as they raced towards the door.
"Guys! The door…it won't let me in! Help me remove the spell or something!" Goofy and Donald halted near the door, showing no sign of helping him. "Come on guys, help me get in!"
"We can't Sora," Donald said dejectedly.
"Sorry," Goofy chimed in sadly.
"Well why not?" Sora demanded, still trying to pull at the door knob.
"Because they would not defy a direct order from me," a small but commanding voice said. The voice belonged to Queen Minnie who was walking down the hallway towards them. "Step away from the door, Sora."
Sora's hands had become numb from trying to force the door open. He stepped back slowly until he bumped into the wall opposite Geni's door. Sora tried to speak, but he could not form any coherent words or sentences. Queen Minnie walked up to Sora and grabbed his hands. A warm feeling began to spread through them, and Sora felt himself becoming calmer.
"It's alright, Sora," Queen Minnie said to him. Sora looked down with wide eyes at the small monarch. "Geni will be fine, as long as she gets plenty of rest. One of the castle doctors is in there right now with her, putting on a special spell that will heal all her wounds – then all she will need to do is sleep it off. Right now, the one thing she doesn't need is her brother acting like it's the end of the world. Understand?" Sora nodded, taking several deep breaths. Queen Minnie smiled, and then said "Good. Now, would you like to know what is going on?"
"Yes," said three voices at once. Sora looked quizzically at Donald and Goofy; he assumed they had known what exactly was happened to his sister.
"Well, unfortunately, I cannot tell you right now."
"WHAT!" they all shouted angrily.
"Gentlemen, calm down," Queen Minnie admonished. "Most of what happened last night is between Geni and I and some very important people."
"Who?" Sora demanded. "Were they the ones who did this to Geni?"
Queen Minnie was silent for a moment before replying. "I'm…not sure. I was not privy to their discussions, so I won't know anything until one of the council members' contacts me or Geni decides to tell me. However, it also may be the case that no one will tell us anything."
"Why not?" Goofy asked.
"I'm afraid this council is more powerful than anyone here at the castle, King Mickey and myself included. Now, before we go any further, I must ask something of all of you."
"What can we do, Queen Minnie?" Donald said.
"You must forget everything I have told you." Queen Minnie held up one of her hands, showing them a large crystal. "I'm terribly sorry, but no one must know about this until the time is right."
"What do you mean –?" The crystal began to glow; Sora could feel his eyes becoming blurry and his head feeling fuzzy. The crystal began to glow brighter and brighter, until the light suddenly disappeared.
"…so we're going to let her sleep, okay? I shouldn't have kept her up so late, considering how tired she looked when we started talking. Alright Sora, Donald, Goofy?" Queen Minnie was looking at the trio expectantly.
Sora looked blankly at Queen Minnie. What had she been talking about? Oh yeah! They stayed up late talking so she was letting Geni sleep until she woke up herself. "Yeah, Queen Minnie. I'm going to go check out the Grand Library for information on Nobodies. Do you guys want to come along?"
Donald immediately replied, "No, I'm going to go and work on the gummi ship and make sure everything is working in top condition. What about you, Goofy?"
Goofy was scratching his head. "Hey fellers, didn't we come up here for something important? It feels like I'm forgetting something…"
Donald knocked Goofy on the head with his staff. "You dummy! You were going to come and help me, remember? We were just checking on Geni before we left."
"Oh, that's right. Well, we'll see you later than Sora, Queen Minnie." Donald and Goofy walked away towards the gummi hanger.
"I had better get going too. Could you please let me know when Geni wakes up, Queen Minnie?"
"Of course, Sora. Did you need help finding the Grand Library?"
"Well, sort of. Could you at least point me in the right direction?"
"Certainly. If you go…" Queen Minnie gave Sora the easiest directions towards the library, and he set off with a wave. Queen Minnie waved back, waiting until the hallway was empty once again. Sighing, she removed her spell on the door and walked inside. Strolling to the first door on the left as Geni and Sora had done yesterday, she opened it to see the castle doctor sitting next to Geni's bed. Geni was in her bed sleeping, with a large bubble of magic surrounding her. Looking closely, you could see cuts healing themselves and bruises disappearing into her skin; there was a large gash across her forehead and along her right shoulder blade that were quickly fading away. She was so pale that if you hadn't seen her chest rising and falling with her breathing, someone could have mistaken her for dead. "How is she doing, doctor?"
The doctor stood up in Queen Minnie's presence. "Just fine. She is reacting to the spell quite well; so much so that it should be finished in about ten minutes or so."
Queen Minnie heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I'll stay with her then, until the spell finishes. I'll let you get back to your other work." The doctor nodded, packing up his small bag and heading towards the door. "Oh, doctor? One small thing."
"Yes, Queen –?" Before the doctor could finish the sentence, Queen Minnie was using the same crystal she had used on Sora, Donald, and Goofy to alter their memories.
"…and I believe one of the cooks might have cut his finger with one of those long knives, if you could look into it?" Queen Minnie again seemed to be waiting for an answer.
The doctor looked slightly dumbfounded for a moment, until he smiled and bowed. "Of course, I'll get right to it. Tell Lady Geni when she wakes up that if she has any more problems sleeping to let me know."
"I will do that. Thank you very much." The doctor nodded, and headed out the door. Turning back towards the bed, Queen Minnie sat down on the chair the doctor had been using. Looking at her bruised and battered foster daughter, she could only wonder.
"What's going on? You were only gone for ten hours, so roughly three days. What happened to you there? What did they say? What did they do to you?" Queen Minnie sighed heavily, wondering when her multitude of questions would be answered.
Sora was thinking the exact same thing. Having found the Grand Library, he began his search for information on the Nobodies, Organization XIII, and the Heartless. After searching through book after book after book for several hours, his search had led him no farther than the information he already knew. Heartless are darkness made real; Heartless were born from the darkness, and more Heartless are created when a person loses their heart to them or the darkness. Nobodies are created when someone with a strong heart and will leaves their body behind when they become a Heartless, and that empty shell begins to act of its own accord. Since the spirit and body eventually fade, the Nobodies do not truly exist at all. They do not have feelings because they do not have hearts. The most powerful Nobodies have now formed the group called Organization XIII which commands all of the lesser Nobodies. Sora couldn't find any more information than that.
"I guess even the Grand Library has its limits," Sora said, sounding defeated. "Oh well, might as well go and see if Donald and Goofy need any help." Grabbing the six books he had been currently paging through, he returned them to the librarian. Thanking her, he left the massive room that was filled from floor to ceiling with books. Considering the library was in the southern wing of the palace near the Audience Chamber, he retraced his steps from the day before and found himself in the central garden with the elaborate topiaries. Walking towards the central topiary that was shaped like a castle, he opened the doors and descended down the softly illuminated staircase. Goofy and Donald were walking around the gummi ship, checking panels full of wires and loading several large boxes into the hold. "Hey guys, how's it going?"
"Sora! Any luck in the library?" Donald asked, screwing in a panel near the engines.
"No, not a thing. Anything I did find we already know."
"Aw shucks, that's too bad. Whatcha going to do now?" Goofy asked.
"Don't know. Did you guys need any help with the gummi ship?"
"Well," Donald said, surveying the area around him, "You could help Goofy load the rest of the boxes down into the cargo hold. I'm just about finished with the standard maintenance. All that will be left after that is to run a diagnostic over the entire system and we'll be finished."
"Okay," Sora said, grabbing a box. Goofy and Sora made several trips down into the dark cargo hold and back until the platform was clear once again.
"Thanks for your help, Sora," Goofy asked as he wiped his brow. "I'll help Donald with the rest of it, so you're free for the afternoon."
"Sure. See you guys later," Sora said. He began to ascend the stairs once again, feeling like nothing was going right that day. Nothing new from the library, Donald and Goofy have everything with the gummi taken care of, and Geni's still sleeping. I guess today just isn't my day. Oh well, at least we'll be on our way tomorrow; maybe we'll find the king or Riku! With the thought of reuniting with his best friend on his mind, Sora's depressing mood lifted and he smiled happily. I wonder if Geni could be up yet. Wanting to check on his sister, Sora climbed out of the gummi hanger and strolled towards the east wing of the castle and up the grand staircase, whistling all the way.
Queen Minnie was just exiting Geni's room when she saw Sora coming down the hallway. Perfect timing, she thought. "Good afternoon, Sora. How did everything go in the library? Did you find what you were looking for?"
"Not really," Sora said, sounding slightly defeated. "I couldn't find anything that we don't already know."
"That's too bad; our resources on the darkness and its beings are not large, even though they have been around for quite a long time. Maybe a book in Geni's library could help you; she has collected some older and more obscure books from over the years. Why don't you ask her?"
Sora's face lit up. "Is she awake finally? Can I go in?"
"Of course. She is still in bed resting, so knock first. I must go and attend to some things, but I'll send up some tea and snacks for both of you. Is that alright?"
"Definitely. Thank you for all of your generous hospitality, Queen Minnie."
"No problem, Sora. Geni is my foster daughter, after all; you are already like a member of the family to me. Thank you so much for returning her to us." Queen Minnie became slightly teary eyed at these sentiments. "Oh, excuse me. I'm getting all emotional on you – please excuse me." Queen Minnie smiled and walked down the hallway towards the grand staircase. Sora smiled, feeling a little at home, even though he had no idea how far away the Destiny Islands actually were.
Queen Minnie turned around at the top of the staircase to see Sora entering Geni's chambers. Considering everything Geni just said...
One hour earlier, Queen Minnie had been still sitting next to Geni as she slept. The spell had dissipated about fifteen minutes after she had entered, and now Geni was sleeping off the rest. All of her injuries had healed, but by her face she still looked exhausted. No one had come looking for her or Geni, and that she was glad for. Although, having to alter Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the doctor's memories left her a bit uneasy. Well, they will find out one day. Just...not today, Queen Minnie said to herself, defining her reason to her inner conscious. Her inner ponderings were cut short when she noticed Geni was beginning to wake up.
"Mmm," Geni said, moaning slightly, her eyes opening to see Queen Minnie sitting next to her. "Did you get the license plate number of that truck that hit me?"
Laughing, Queen Minnie replied, "If you can make bad jokes like that, you'll be fine. How are you really feeling?"
"Terrible, but it could have been worse," she said as she sat up slowly. "I think they went easy on me, considering."
"You mean the council did this?!"
"Well, yes and no." Although Geni was sitting up, she was holding her head. "He didn't have to give me a migraine, though."
"Who's 'he'?" Queen Minnie asked. "Tell me everything."
"Of course. Well, the council must have redirected the gate, because I ended up entering into the main council chambers. Every single member was there to greet me."
"What? I didn't think they would take this that seriously. All one hundred of them?"
Geni nodded. "Yes. Her majesty even attended, oddly enough, even though the head of the council was there to preside. I stood at the central podium as is traditional, and they began by welcoming me back. Oddly enough, it reminded me of your audience yesterday. After welcoming me, they proceeded to go through everything in minute detail: the day I left the castle, why I left, whom did I leave with, what happened in the past year – our time – that I could remember, any new information I might have, and so on. I think it took at least six hours to get through everything."
"That quickly? They must have been planning something else then."
"Right again," she said. "After we finished the beginning discussions, I was brought up to date on what had happened there during the past seven years – their time. Some things have changed, while many others have stayed the same. Briefing me on that took at least another eight hours."
"That's only fourteen hours, though; and if you did sleep a little at night, what did you do the last day you were there?"
"They tested me." Queen Minnie stared at Geni.
"Excuse me? Pardon me frankness, but did they know what has happened since you came back to the realm of light three days ago?!"
"Exactly. The council wanted to know if this experience has strengthened me or left me weaker than ever. Of course, they made sure to heal any injuries I had and gave me an energy boost so I was at my peak." At this point, Geni looked down and started playing with a stray thread on her comforter. Queen Minnie noticed this action right away, assuming that Geni was alluding to some discomfort in her story that she didn't want to, but had to, tell her.
"Who did you have to fight?" Queen Minnie said softly, looking down at her own hands.
"Him," Geni whispered quietly. Queen Minnie started, knowing only one person she could be referring to. The only person whom Geni could fight while going all out, yet while trying to hold back at the same time.
"Oh dear. I'm sure the council had good reasons for pairing you with him. Was it in the arena with the required audience?"
Geni nodded. "Many people came to cheer me on, which made me feel very glad that so many of them still cared about me there. However...those people who detest outsiders' were also there cheering him on. The condition of the test was that if I won, I would be reinstated and everything would be just like before. However, if I lost...I would have lost everything I worked so hard for and more."
"What happened? Did you win?"
Here, Geni finally smiled. "Did you have any doubts? It was difficult; the battle itself was at least four hours or more with both of us fighting as if to destroy each other. Little did I know that he was being tested as well."
"Are you sure? But that means..."
"It does. He and I were both candidates, as well as several others. The others had been tested, and most failed according to a friend of mine. However, I do not know what the outcome of our test was. In our fight, however, I won only by a hair."
"I knew you could do it!" Queen Minnie jumped up and grabbed Geni's hands. "I had no doubts at all!"
"At least one of us didn't," she said. "After the battle finished, I blacked out on the floor of the arena. From what it seems, they healed most of my injuries then sent me back. How long have I been asleep?"
"Let's see, about five hours now. Are you feeling up to eating or drinking something?"
"Some tea would be nice, but I don't think I can stomach anything else for a little while yet."
"I'll bring some up, then. I want you to rest for the remainder of the day though."
"For once, that sounds nice. I wanted to catch up on some research I had been meaning to do for Sora anyway." Waving her hand, several books popped out of the air and onto her bed.
"Have fun," Queen Minnie called as she walked out the door. Once she was out of sight, she let out a huge sigh of relief. She had been thinking terrible things about what might have happened; however, none of them turned out to be true. Geni was right – she had brought back good news.
...I wonder what's going to happen to those two if she is accepted? Shaking her head to clear her thoughts of her recent conversation, Queen Minnie headed down the stairs and towards the kitchens.
Sora was just about to close the door behind him when he heard Geni's voice. "Hello? Who's there?"
"Just me," Sora called. "Is it okay to come in?"
"Yeah, just close the door behind you – it's a little drafty in here today." Closing the door fully, Sora walked toward the only open door and into Geni's bedroom. She was sitting up in bed in her pajamas, propped up by a few pillows, and surrounded by several large books. Sora tried to keep himself from snickering out loud; her pajamas had rainbow colored rubber duckies all over them.
"How are you feeling?"
"Much better. I guess I just needed to catch up on some sleep. How about you?" Sora sat down in the chair that was next to her bed.
"Okay; a little disappointed that I didn't get much information out of any of the books in the Grand Library. Everything I found I already knew about."
"Here." Geni handed him a small book. "This was written by a man who had been researching the Heartless in Hollow Bastion when I was little. He was the current elder of the city when I first arrived there when I was a baby. Maybe it could help you." Sora gratefully took the book which was entitled The Beings of Darkness by Ansem. "It's a thorough copy of his reports – I believe you've already read them. However, this version was edited to include assumptions on other parts of his research that he didn't really dwell on."
"Looks promising considering this was the guy who released the Heartless in the first place," he said, flipping through a few pages. "Oh, Queen Minnie said she would be sending up some tea and snacks when I passed her in the hallway."
"I told her that tea was fine; oh well, I hope you're hungry at least. I don't really have an appetite for anything at the moment." She shifted her book, resuming reading the page she had left off on.
The room was silent for a moment as each sibling read, until Sora asked, "So, what are you reading?"
Without pausing her reading, she lifted up so Sora could see the cover of the book. "It's called The Origins of Light and Dark, written by a sage about five hundred years ago from the world of Ancient China." Bringing it back down to a readable level, she continued. "It discusses their version of natural balance, yin and yang. It says that the light and the dark must balance each other, and that the light needs the dark so that the universal balance will not become corrupt and inherently destroy itself. It also discusses the various ways we can see this at work in the natural world: light and shadow, day and night, male and female, young and old, strong and weak, happy and sad, and so on."
"Interesting," Sora said, not quite getting what she was talking about. "What kind of destruction is it talking about if there is no 'universal balance'?"
"Well, floods, fires, tsunamis, tornadoes, hurricanes, mudslides, lightening storms, droughts, black holes, supernovas, exploding stars...the usual." Geni's eyes kept flicking back and forth over each page as she spoke.
"Oh," Sora said. "Do you mean like when the darkness took over and swallowed the Destiny Islands when the Door was opened and our world was connected?"
"In a way," Geni replied, turning her page. "Each world is connected to every other world through the world's heart. You were already connected, but if someone tried to access the Destiny Islands through the world's heart, it would be like they were getting a busy signal. Once the door was opened, all the Heartless had to do was walk through it. Poof – no more Destiny Islands. However, all of the worlds' were restored when you closed the door to the darkness; each little light that you saw was a world returning to its original state – Hollow Bastion, the Destiny Islands, and many others."
"Hmm, makes sense. So when I saw Kairi standing on actual sand, that was the beginning of the restoration of the Destiny Islands?"
"Exactly. Now, if the door is still open on the islands or not I'm not sure. Most likely it is still closed and locked as are all of the other worlds you visited."
"That makes me feel better about Kairi being home even if we aren't there," Sora said with a smile. Suddenly, the twins heard someone knocking on the main door. "I'll get it," Sora said. "Coming!" Walking out into the common room and towards the main door to Geni's suite, Sora opened the door to find Queen Minnie holding a tray with a pot of water and some sandwiches on it.
"Anyone hungry or thirsty?" she asked.
"You bet!" Sora said, taking the tray from her. "Thanks Queen Minnie."
"Are you two having a good time in there?" she asked as she followed Sora into Geni's bedroom.
"Of course; we're discussing the depth of the relation between the light and the darkness and it's relation to the Heartless and Nobodies. Ugh, my head hurts from just listening to that." Geni rubbed her temples, still trying to recover from her headache.
"Well, maybe you should wait on studying and just relax for now," Queen Minnie said as she collected the books on the bed and placed them on the dressing table on the opposite side of the room. "Beds are for resting, not thinking. Now, green or chai?"
"Green, please," Geni said as Queen Minnie placed a few leaves into a cup and filled it full of steaming water. Sora grabbed a sandwich and sat back down on the chair and continued to read his book on the Heartless. "Thank you," Geni said as Queen Minnie handed her a steaming cup.
"By the way Sora, Donald and Goofy wanted me to tell you that the gummi ship is ready to go. I guess the three of you will be leaving tomorrow morning then?"
"That's the plan," Sora said, looking up from his book. Hearing this, Geni's heart fell. She was already getting used to Sora being around all of the time, like an extension of herself. She didn't mind being alone, but his presence around her made her feel...more complete, in a sense.
Sora started feeling funny while he was talking to Queen Minnie. He looked around the room for a moment; nothing was out of place, no Heartless lurking around, yet his heart felt like it was slowly withdrawing into itself. Queen Minnie was still talking about the new visitors to the castle, and Geni was drinking her tea. Wait a minute...looking closely at her, Sora realized that her eyes had changed. They weren't bright and clear like they had been before; now they were cloudy and unfocused.
"So will we see you at dinner, Sora?" Queen Minnie asked.
Thinking quickly, Sora said, "Is it alright if I have dinner in here with Geni?"
"Of course. I'll have someone from the kitchen bring some up a little later. I have to go attend to some of my duties, but I'll see you both later." Queen Minnie strolled out the door, and moments later they heard the click of the main door closing.
Finishing his sandwich, Sora turned to Geni. "You're okay with me leaving, aren't you?"
Geni finished swallowing a drink of her tea before she smiled. "Of course I am! How else is Organization XIII going to be defeated? Anyway, I'm getting a bit tired. If you don't mind, I'll think I will take a nap before dinner comes later. If you want, you can have full access to my library and other rooms." She set the teacup down onto the nightstand.
"Sure, sounds good," Sora said, not quite convinced of her lighthearted attitude. He took the teacups and leftover sandwiches, placing everything on the tray and moving it onto the dressing table. "I guess I'll see you later then," he said as he grabbed the books they had been using.
"See ya," Geni mumbled into her pillows as she sank down underneath her blankets. Sora looked back at her as he walked towards the door. Something wasn't right, something about her attitude made him seem wary about her wanting to take a nap all of a sudden. Shrugging, he walked out of the door and closed it gently behind him, heading towards Geni's library.
Geni listened as Sora walked out the door. She didn't dare move a muscle until she heard the door close. Breathing a sigh of relief, she let herself sink into the soft sheets. I should have told him, she thought to herself. He has the right to know, considering. But the agreement Queen Minnie and I have with them makes that impossible – at the moment. But still…and now Sora's leaving tomorrow. What am I going to do? Geni buried herself in her bed coverings, trying to drown out the sound of her slowly shattering half a heart.