Kyrie (c) Me

Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix

Kingdom Hearts

Bonded Soul

Chapter 12

"Where's the Beast?"

Her smile disappeared and a frown took its place as she wrapped her arms around herself, like she was protecting herself from something or trying to keep something from coming out. Kyrie looked at the girl sympathetically, she looked absolutely depressed and dejected.

"Oh, he must be in the West Wing. We don't talk like we used to." She answered. Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked at each other and nodded while Kyrie stared at Belle curiously.

"Did something happen?" Sora asked. She stared at him for a second before answering.

"Yes. Isn't that why you're here?" she asked, confused. Sora looked at Kyrie, Donald, and Goofy before shrugging his shoulders. Their true reason for being there was the same as it was to the other words, to destroy heartless, nobodies, and discover the true intentions of Organization XIII. But it didn't mean that they couldn't help the world's residents whenever they were in a pickle.

"Not exactly. But we can still help!" Goofy answered, turning to her. This made the girl smile as she clasped her hands together. Sora nodded as well as Donald and Kyrie, all agreeing to assist Belle.

"Since we're here and all." Sora added. Kyrie began writing in her notebook, deciding that now was a good time to ask what had been going on in the castle as of late. Once she was done, she stepped forward and tugged on Belle's sleeve, making her look down at the smaller girl.

"Yes?" she asked. Kyrie simply held out her notebook for her to read.

So let's start from the beginning. The Beast won't talk to you, at all? When did this all start happening?

Belle was silent as she read her words, before answering.

"He's been acting strange lately. The only ones who might know why are locked in the dungeon. I want to help them, but…" Belle answered, shaking her head. Kyrie nodded in understanding, even she wouldn't try anything to get on the Beast's bad side, especially after what happened in the parlor.

"Wait a second. Who locked who up?" Sora asked. Belle turned to him.

"The Beast locked up his servants." Belle answered. Sora nodded before Donald decided to speak up.

"But why?" Donald asked in confusion. Belle shrugged her shoulders a little, still managing to keep herself lady-like.

"That's what I don't know." She explained sadly. Sora nodded as he placed his hand against his chin, thinking for a moment. Kyrie was silent as she thought this whole situation over.

"Well, the servants would probably know what's going on with the Beast, so we should definitely go and get them out of the dungeon. But what's bothering me is…" she looked towards the window for a moment, her eyes narrowing.

"Is that I sense a familiar presence here. And not a good presence, either. It must be one of the members…but…who?" she thought as she stared. She was instantly snapped out of her thoughts when Sora began to speak.

"Hmm. Where's this dungeon?" He asked, staring at her. Kyrie could only deadpan, Sora must've been thinking the same thing as her. Only difference, was that he probably couldn't sense a dark presence nearby, like she could.

"You can get to the undercroft from the West Hall. The dungeon is down there." She answered. Sora nodded as he turned to the door.

"West Hall. Got it." He said. Belle walked forward just as he, Donald, and Goofy began walking out into the hall.

"Be careful!" She warned, but he only turned and gave her a thumbs up, smiling as he did so. Kyrie only smiled as she followed, Sora really was a sweet boy. But sometimes, it seemed like he was in way over his head when it came to helping people. Regardless, she was glad that she was able to tag along with him, Donald, and Goofy.

Once they were out into the hallway, Kyrie walked so that she and Sora walked side-by-side, with Donald and Goofy right behind them. Once they got to the staircase, the continued until they were walking up the part of the staircase opposite of the one that led to the hallway Belle stayed. Through the door was a massive hall with suits of armor lining both sides, making Kyrie feel a little creeped out.

"Jeez…the suits of armor look like they're staring at us." she thought as she followed them, her eyes on the suits of armor the entire time. The hall turned a corner and led to an even bigger hall, which had a large set of stairs at one end of it. But something caught Kyrie's eye as the boys looked around.

"Is that…a wardrobe?" she thought, rubbing her eyes for a moment to make sure she wasn't seeing things. But it was true, a wardrobe was standing in front of a green door, that seemed to be rotting a little due to age. She quickly tugged on Sora's arm, getting his attention.

"Huh? What it is, Kyrie?" he asked, turning to her. She quickly pointed at the wardrobe, and his eyes widened. Approaching it, he spotted the door behind it.

"Here it is!" he called. He started to push it and almost as soon as the door was uncovered, the wardrobe moved. Yeah, that's right. It MOVED. The wardrobe moved and glared down at Sora, a pair of eyes and lips appearing as it woke up.

"Do you mind?" the wardrobe snapped in a female voice. Sora jumped and stood still, before starting to move back as the wardrobe moved back into its usual place. Kyrie stared at it, wide-eyed, unable to comprehend what just happened.

"Did it…just talk?" she thought, staring at it. Sora looked at the wardrobe for a second, before deciding to push it again. This time however, he went nice and slow, running when the wardrobe stirred, but continued after it fell asleep. Once it was out of the way, it stirred once more.

"And I was just starting to get comfortable… May I help you?" it snapped groggily. Kyrie bit her lip to hide her smile, while Sora, Donald, and Goofy blinked in surprise. Never had they heard an inanimate object talk.

"Huh? What? Oh, right…Belle needs us to go to the dungeon." He answered, confused for a moment as he stared at it. Or, in this case, her.

"Goodness! You're here to help my friends? Well, why didn't you say so?" The wardrobe smiled, obviously excited that the small group was attempting to rescue her friends.

"Er…" Sora started, drifting off. And Kyrie couldn't blame him, no one wanted to piss off this happy wardrobe, not in a million years.

"I'm sorry I startled you. Oh, I used to be human, you know, until the enchantress cast her spell. I was turned into a wardrobe when the prince was turned into a beast." The wardrobe added, obviously not hindered by the boy's lack of words. Donald and Goofy looked at each other in surprise.

"The prince is the Beast?" Donald asked at the same time as Goofy said, "The Beast is a prince?"

The wardrobe nodded, and Kyrie's eyes widened in both surprise and curiosity.

"That's right. Although, his behavior was far from princely at the time." The wardrobe explained. Sora looked back and forth, completely confused about what was being said.

"What's this about a… spell?" Sora asked. The wardrobe gave a mischievous smile as she began her tale.

"Well. It was a cold winter's night…" she started, leaning forward as if talking about the latest gossip. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and even Kyrie, nodded as they leaned forward, eager for the wardrobe to continue. But she merely winked at them and leaned back.

"And that's enough for now. You can hear the rest when you've rescued the others. It'll give you something to look forward to." She finished. Sora and Goofy slumped their shoulders while Kyrie placed her hands on her hips, clearly displeased. Donald looked down at the ground, disappointed.

"Aww…" he whined, disappointed. The wardrobe looked at the door for a moment, before looking back at them.

"Hurry, now. The dungeon is damp and chilly. Certainly no place for a clock!" she urged. The group raised their eyebrows at her, a clock?

"A clock?" Goofy asked, confused.

"You'll find out soon enough." She said simply. Sora nodded as he walked to the door.

"All right. Let's get going." He spoke, opening the door. Giving the wardrobe one last look, the four walked into the undercroft.

Once inside, Kyrie understood immediately when the wardrobe had said "damp and chilly". It was freezing in there!

"How could it be so cold down here, there's no windows or drafts!" she thought as she rubbed her bare shoulders, trying to warm herself up. The group stopped when they noticed a door with the strangest carving any of them had ever seen.

"This must be it." Sora stated as Donald walked forward and placed his head and hands against the door, trying to hear if anyone was inside. But Kyrie saw the carving's eyes flash bright yellow before she ran forward, arm outstretched. The entire door began to glow as Donald backed up, Kyrie grabbing the back of his clothes just as the carving came to life.

"Uh-oh!" he quacked as the carving lifted a hand and slammed it, missing Donald and Kyrie by inches as she jumped back. Then it slammed both hands together, and a fight ensued. Sora and Kyrie summoned their keyblades almost instantly as started attacking the door, before it went still and a small, black shape shot out of it.

Watching it closely, Kyrie went after it as well as Donald and Goofy, and with the three of them attacking it, Sora was able to rush in and deal the death blow. Once it vanished, the carving on the door disappeared and left an outline where it used to be. Looking at each other for a moment, the four decided to proceed with caution, hoping that nothing else dangerous was beyond the door.

Once they opened the door and walked inside, all they could see was a teapot, teacup, clock, candelabra, and nothing but straw. Kyrie raised her eyebrows, where were the servants?

"There's nobody here." Sora spoke, disappointed. Kyrie smiled, Sora always liked being the hero. Donald looked around, also disappointed.

"You mean there's nobody to rescue?" he asked. All was silent for a few moments, before an unknown voice spoke.

"Did someone say 'rescue'?" A voice asked.

"Shh! Keep quiet. It might be them." Another hissed. One tut-tutted.

"Oh, they look like a nice group of people to me." A third voice spoke, more feminine than the other two.

"We are nice. We're your friends." Goofy explained. Sora looked around before speaking again.

"Yeah, Belle sent us to find you." He explained. All of a sudden, the objects in the room began to move! They watched with amazed eyes as the teapot, clock, teacup, and candelabra jumped off the chairs and approached them.

"Wow!" the three spoke, leaning down to get a closer look at them.

"I'm Sora. Donald. Goofy. Kyrie." Sora spoke, pointing to each person as he said their name. Donald and Goofy nodded, while Kyrie gave a small wave, still amazed at what she was seeing. Suddenly Donald shot forward, grabbing the clock as the others jumped back, and began to mess with it.

"D-don't touch! I-I am self-winding, sir!" it protested. Goofy looked over just as Donald began to shake it, making Kyrie sigh before she spotted the little teacup at her feet. Smiling, she picked it up carefully and smiled at it. The teacup smiled right back.

"Hi!" it chirped in a little boy's voice. Kyrie nodded before Sora looked at the candelabra.

"I'm glad you're okay." He spoke sincerely, looking at it. The candle nodded, smiling at him.

"It is we who are overjoyed to see you!" the candelabra explained. Goofy looked at the small bunch before speaking.

"Did somebody put a spell on you guys, too?" he asked. The clock pulled its, his, arm out of Donald's grip, before looking at Goofy.

"Yes, that's right! You've heard! It was the enchantress." He answered. The candelabra nodded as he continued.

"It seems so long ago…" he spoke sadly, crossing his arms as he did so. The teapot began to speak as she stood by Kyrie's foot.

"It was a cold winter's night… An old beggar woman came to the castle, and asked for shelter." She explained. The clock continued from there as Donald continued to mess with him.

"But the master of this castle, that is of course, the prince…" he stopped the second Donald began playing with his pendulum, before he slammed the door protecting it.

"Stop that! Put me down this instant!" he snapped. Donald complied and sat him down, but not without glaring at him. The clock cleared his throat as he continued.

"The master turned her away. All because of her, ahem, meager appearance." Goofy gasped as Kyrie narrowed her eyes, he denied a poor old woman shelter just because she was ugly? That wasn't right!

"That's awful!" he exclaimed. The others nodded as the candelabra pitched in.

"Oui. He was a spoiled prince, so selfish and… how shall I say… cruel." He explained. The clock turned to him, shocked and horrified at it words.

"Lumiere!" he gasped. The teapot ignored them and continued their sad tale.

"The old woman warned our master not to be deceived by appearances… Still, he would not take her in." she continued. The four nodded as the clock and candelabra ceased their argument, and turned back to them.

"Then the old woman's ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress." The clock added. The teapot nodded sadly as she continued, and Kyrie felt sorry for them. Whatever happened, they got caught up in it because of their master, and were completely innocent.

"She turned the Prince into a beast, a shape she thought fitting for his cold heart." She continued, her voice grave. But for some reason, the clock started talking before she could finish.

"And to further punish him, everyone in the castle was enchanted, too." He finished. The room was silent for a few minutes, before Sora finally got the courage to speak.

"Wow… that's quite a story." Sora spoke sincerely, although it didn't reach his eyes.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Goofy asked, wanting more than anything to help them in their plight. Donald smiled as he got an idea.

"Let's get the enchantress!" he exclaimed. The teapot shook her head.

"Oh no, dears." She spoke. The candelabra, Lumiere, turned to them before speaking.

"We already know what needs to be done, but with the master out of sorts…" Lumiere explained, before drifting off. Kyrie gave a silent sigh, even the servants didn't know what was going on with their "Master". Sora nodded in agreement.

"He sure was acting weird." He agreed.

"It's almost as if he's forgotten how to trust others." The teapot continued, looking sad as she spoke. The clock gasped, turning to them.

"You don't suppose he's been turned into a Heartless, do you?" he asked nervously, obviously concerned for the well-being of his master. The boys gasped in surprise.

"Heartless?" They gasped, surprised at the thought. Kyrie was silent before shaking her head, if he was a heartless, it would've showed.

"No, I think he's just irritable." she thought. Sora turned to them.

"If they're a part of this, then it's a good thing we're here." Sora spoke as he looked back between Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie.

"Let's go find the Beast!" Donald quacked.

Okay, this was a boring chapter. I'm not going to lie, but it was. I didn't want to go too much into the Thresholder fight, because really, it was one of the more annyong boss fights and one of my least favorite.

Oh, and happy Turkey day everyone! (and if you don't know what that is, it's Thanksgiving day here in the US, so...)

Anyways, please read and review!