Authors Note: Look! Another update! I know, you're all fainting with surprise! Thanks so, so much to kingdomdisney and DeadlyPapegoja for their reviews. It means a lot that their still reading. Okay! So, I'm not sure whether Beast's Castle is gonna be one or two parts. I try to keep most chapters around 2500-3000 words so it all depends. Either way, the entirety of the world will be up today, maybe the next one too if I have time. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable. Just my OCs Katy, Ryan, Cassie, and Jordan.

The party proceeded through the Stardust Sweep, blowing up the zillions of Heartless ships that swarmed through Gummi Space and finally arrived at a rather creepy looking castle.

"Hey, what is this place?" Sora asked his companions.

"If we knew, don't we think we would tell you?" Katy quipped, looking around the dark interior a little nervously.

"It's sorta gloomy, dontcha think." Goofy said aloud, also looking a bit wary

"I wonder who lives here."

As though answering his question, a roar sounded through the castle, shaking the walls and floors.

Whoa, flashback.

"Does anybody else recognize that?" Goofy asked, excitedly.

"That's the beast!" Sora exclaimed

"Maybe we should check up on him." Goofy suggested

"Umm, I think we're gonna have to hold off on that. Look, bunny at 3:00." Katy sighed; pointing as a shadow Heartless skulked into a room to their left.

"C'mon!" Donald yelled.

"And we've only been here abut 45 seconds. It's a new record." Katy mumbled, chasing after him.

They entered the room and were attacked by a swarm of Shadows. They disposed of them quickly, but it was one of those situations where they just seemed to keep coming.

"Aw, C'mon! Enough already!" Sora groaned as yet another wave of Heartless appeared.

"Somebody help us!" Donald yelled enraged.

Apparently this castle had ears, because once again, Donald's plea was answered when the doors slammed open, revealing the Beast.

He stomped into the room with a roar, successfully eliminating the remaining Heartless.

"Just in time!" Sora said with a grin.

The Beast stared at him blankly, before pushing him roughly to the side. He did the same to Donald, Goofy, and Katy before picking up a glass encased rose and swiftly leaving the room.

"Gee, do you think he forgot who we are?" Goofy asked, puzzled.

"I dunno, but with this many Heartless around, something must be up." Sora remarked, helping Katy off the floor. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Just a few bruises. I'll live." She answered, distracted by Goofy's previous statement.

She knew that is was possible that Beast had forgotten them. If the Organization had decided not to destroy Naminé, it was a strong possibility.

They exited the room, Donald noticing a feminine shadow at the top of the stairs.

"What's up?" Sora asked the flustered ducking

"I'm sure I saw a lady at the top of those stairs."

"Well, if this is Beast's Castle, wouldn't Belle live here, too?" Katy reasoned.

"Yeah, maybe. She might know what happened to the Beast, too."

"Well, let's go find her!" Goofy said, running towards the stairs.

They went up the staircase that Donald thought he'd seen Belle on and approached the door at the end of the hall. Faintly, they could make out a woman's voice from behind it.

"Okay." Donald muttered to himself, backing up a few feet.

Realizing what he was going to do, Sora tried to protest

"Donald!"

But it was too late, the talking animal was already running at the door at full speed…when it opened.

"Not cool duckling. You don't just barge in to a girl's room without knocking." Katy said, shaking her head at him.

Donald glared at her and mumbled something about someone opening the door.

The four of them looked up to see a young woman in a blue dress looking at them with relief.

"Oh, I'm so happy you're here!" Belle exclaimed, picking up Donald and giving him a hug.

"Hiya!" Sora said with a wave ad Belle put Donald down to give Katy a hug."

After their hellos, they cut right to the chase.

"Where's the Beast?" Donald asked

"Oh, he must be in the west wing." Belle answered, looking at her feel. "We don't talk like we used to."

"Did something happen?" Sora asked, concerned.

"Yes. Isn't that why you're here?"

"Well, we actually didn't know that you guys lived here…but we can still help out." Katy answered truthfully.

"Since we're here and all." Sora added, "So, the Beast won't talk to you?"

"He's been acting strange lately." Belle confessed. "The only ones who might know why are locked in the dungeon. I want to help them, but…"

"Wait a second. Who locked who up?" Sora asked, confused

"The Beast locked up his servants." Belle clarified.

"Why?"

"That's what I don't know."

"Okay, Princess. Where is this dungeon?" Katy asked, impatient to find out what was going on.

If it was the Organization…well, nothing good would come of it.

"You can get to the undercroft from the west hall. The dungeon is down there." Belle replied

"West Hall. Got it." Sora said, grabbing Katy's hand and tugging her out of the room.

"Are you okay?" He asked her once they were outside.

"Yeah, I already said before. A couple of bruises aren't gonna kill me, Sora"

"No, not that. You just look…nervous."

Katy looked down to hide the panicked look on her face. She was being too obvious. She had to calm down.

"It's nothing. I just…with the Beast not being himself, and what happened earlier, I'm just a little on edge." She lied.

Sora studied her face for a few seconds before nodding and grabbing her hand once more.

Katy sighed inwardly. This withholding information this was gonna be harder than she thought…

After reaching the west hall, moving the talking wardrobe out of the way of the door, and learning that a spell had been cast on the castle that transformed the Beast into the Beast, the party finally reached the dungeon.

"This must be it." Sora said

"Yep. Definitely creepy enough." Katy agreed

Donald walked up to the large door on the other side of the room and pushed it, causing a chain reaction that ended with the door turning into a Heartless. What, did you think saving the servants would be easy?

The Thresholder wasn't really that tough. First it sent out its minions; two possessed statues and a couple of waves of hook bats. Then Sora used the Keyblade to release the Heartless that was possessing the door, the Possessor (Go Figure). After a couple of repeats, the door turned back into a door and the possessor disappeared.

"Gee, first doors with talking doorknobs, then doors that attack us, I'm scared to find out what's next." Katy mumbled to herself as they continued deeper into the dungeon.

They reached a dead end and there were still no sign of the servants—just a teapot and cup, a clock, and a candlestick.

"There's no one here!" Sora exclaimed looking around."

"No shit, Sherlock." Katy bit back, annoyed. "That chick sends us all the way down here, and there's no one to rescue."

The a disembodied voice asked,

"Did somebody say "rescue"?"

"Shh! Be Quiet! It might be THEM!" Another voice hissed

"Oh, they look like nice children to me." Yet another voice reasoned

"We are nice! We're your friends!" Goofy explained

"Yeah! Belle sent us to find you."

Then to their shock, the items mentioned before jumped of their various—er chairs and approached them.

Katy smacked her forehead.

"Great! First talking animals, then talking doorknobs, now talking inanimate objects. What next!"

"Excuse me, miss! Who are you calling inanimate!" The clock exclaimed, haughtily.

"I'm Sora. This is Donald, Goofy, and Katy." Sora introduced before things could get ugly.

Donald picked up the clock in fascination and, to Katy's delight, began to shake it.

"No, no! Put me down, I am self-winding, sir!" It protested, squirming in the duck's grasp.

"We're glad you're okay" Sora said t the candlestick.

"It is we who are overjoyed to see you!" It replied, hopping back on the chair.

"Did somebody put a spell on you, too?" Goofy asked.

"Yes, that's right." The clock answered

The inanimate objects, (Whose names they found out were Cogsworth, Lumiere, Mrs. Potts, and Chip,) then proceeded to tell them the story of how they became inanimate. An enchantress came to the castle disguised as a beggar and asked for shelter. When the Beast, then the Prince, turned her away, she turned him and all of the castle's inhabitants into their current forms."

"We know what needs to be done to break the spell, but the Master is not himself lately." Lumiere trailed off

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Sora asked

"It's as though he's forgotten how to trust people." Mrs. Potts sighed.

"Do you think he's been turned into a Heartless?" Cogsworth asked aloud.

"What?" Katy exclaimed

"Well, if that's the case. It's a good thing we're here." Sora said with a grin.

"Conceited much? Whatever, can we just get out of here? I'm freezing." Katy rambled, trying to hide her nervousness.

"Yes! Come. My friends. I know a shortcut." Lumiere said, hopping off the chair once more and leading them out of the dungeon.

They opened the secret passage to the west wing by lighting all of the enchanted lanterns and pushing the secret brick. They arrived at the west wing and entered the Beast's room.

Five Minutes Earlier

"It's time you dealt with Belle." A man in a black Organization XIII cloak told the Beast. "She's scheming to take everything you have. This castle, your precious rose. And then—your life. Trust no one. Feed your anger! Only anger will keep you strong."

"I've had enough of strength. There's only one thing I want—" The Beast replied

"What? To love and be loved in return? Who could ever love a beast?" The man replied, cruelly.

The Beast roared, and that's around the time when our favorite heroes walked in.

"See? She has accomplices." The man said, regarding them from behind his hood.

Katy paled. Her fears had been confirmed. The Organization was behind this.

But, before she could act, the man had cast barriers around the room and vanished through a dark corridor. Sora thought that meant it was a good idea to approach the Beast.

"Hey, Prince!"

And call him Prince…not good.

Sure enough, the Beast roared again and lunged at them, leaving them with no choice but to fight him.

Between their well aimed blows and Cogsworth's pleas for Beast to compose himself he finally snapped out of it.

"Cogsworth. What happened." The Beast asked, voice rough

"Well, Master…ah, you see…that is…How shall I say…ah, actually…mmm…" Cogsworth stuttered

"Well, you put everybody down there in that dungeon! Donald explained.

"I did what?" Beast exclaimed

"Well, yes…you did." Cogsworth clarified.

"Who was that guy you were talking to? The one in black?" Sora asked, trying to help jog his memory.

The Beast gasped

"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."

"Well, I'll be! That must be why you threw all of your friends down there into the dungeon." Goofy reasoned. "You wanted to make sure that you didn't hurt 'em, right?"

"Was that it? Was it to protect them?" The Beast asked himself.

In other words, yeah, sure, let's go with that.

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

"Belle!" The Beast exclaimed.

"Oh, yeah. Forgot about her." Katy mumbled

"I've mistreated her. I've mistreated her and been so selfish."

"She didn't say anything about that." Sora frowned

"She'd never tell anyone of my cruelty. She's too good."

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

"Yeah, lover boy. We'll even go with you." Katy agreed, dismissing her blades and resting her hands on her hips.

With a bit more convincing, the party, plus Beast made their way back to Belle's room.

They got to Belle's room, only to find that she wasn't there. The wardrobe told them that she'd gone after the man in black.

"WHAT?" The Beast roared "Why doesn't she do as she's told?"

"Temper, temper!" The wardrobe scolded "Her spirit is what makes Belle so special."

"Yeah, and who died and made you in charge of her." Katy asked, a bit miffed.

"We'd better go find her." Sora said.

The party left Belle's room and headed to the Entrance Hall. Before anyone could suggest where they should start looking, they heard Belle's muffled voice

"I'm warning you! You'll be sorry!"

"Belle! Where are you?" The Beast called out.

"Beast? Help! I'm in the ballroom!"

They ran back up the stairs and into the ballroom to find Belle being chased by a ball-and-chain looking Heartless.

"Belle!" The Beast cried

"I'm all right!" She replied, running outside onto the balcony.

The Shadow Stalker growled at them and attached itself to the large chandelier.

That's when the battle began. And things started to get…interesting.

It turned the ballroom into a warped arena-version of itself, possessing different parts of it much like the Thresholder door. They took care of it quickly, but that wasn't the worst of it.

The Shadow Stalker curled into itself and transformed into a rather ugly looking Heartless.

The Dark Thorn immediately turned invisible, making killing it that much more difficult, but by using a bunch of fancy combos, (I don't even remember LEARNING this!) they were able to take it down as well.

"We did it" Donald cheered.

"So you think." Said a familiar voice.

They all whipped around to see the man in black.

"Xaldin!" The beast growled, running towards him

"Farewell." The Organization member said, vanishing through a dark corridor.

"He must be part of Organization XIII" Sora reasoned. "ever heard of the Nobodies? When a strong-hearted person turns into a Heartless, a Nobody is created, too." Sora explained.

Beast still looked confused

"The Organization has control of all the Nobodies. They probably wanted to make you into a Heartless so they could have control of your Nobody." Katy finished.

"You're all right!" Belle exclaimed, coming in from the balcony.

"Belle!" The Beast exclaimed, running towards her and stuttering out an apology.

"Belle! I-I'm sorry…I wasn't myself…I hope I haven't done anything to hurt you."

"I know you weren't yourself. You don't have to apologize. But I had hoped that you had changed a little bit. I wish you would start trusting me."

Meanwhile, The servants were explaining how the spell could be lifted.

"You think he's gonna make it?" Sora asked

"We think so." Mrs. Potts said.

"Yeah, I think your right." Katy said with a smile.

"I HOPE your right." Sora added, earning himself a slap in the head.

Then the Keyblade started to glow. We all know what that means.

"Do you have to go?" Belle asked, sadly

"Yeah." Sora replied.

"Now no more arguin', okay?" Goofy added

"We'll see to it." Lumiere promised "You're welcome here anytime."

"If you here anything about Riku, or the King, the Heartless, the Organization—anything at all—let us know!" Sora instructed.

The pair nodded and our heroes left for the Gummi Ship.

As they set course for the next world, Katy moved to sit beside Sora.

"Now it's my turn to ask you. Are you okay?"

"Yeah…just. I thought we would have heard something about Riku by now."

Although she didn't like him very much, Riku was one of Sora's best friends. Sighing she kissed his cheek.

"I'm sure we'll hear something soon…don't worry. He's probably with the King somewhere…"

Sora nodded and got up to man the ship's controls (oh, dear lord.)

Katy sighed. She really wished she could just tell him everything. But she was afraid that if she did the universe would explode…and that he'd be so mad that he'd never talk to her again. Pushing these thoughts back Katy shut her eyes, deciding to get some sleep before it was back to reality.

A/N: Okay, so I'm not including the trip back to Hollow Bastion because all it did was introduce the Hundred Acre Wood, and I don't include it in my stories. So I'm probably not going to be able to update this week so you can expect them again next week. Read and Review!