Chapter 5
Sora was very gloomy the following day. He told Roxas about his discovery, and the two of them agreed to keep an eye out for it. But Sora was at a loss. Not only did he find a very critical clue to his nightmares, he also lost sight of looking for Namine. This gave Sora more questions than answers. Why was the book there in lost and found? Who owned it? Did Namine knew of this? And who knocked Sora out cold?! Who?!
Sora wanted to ask Vanitas about it. If anyone did dirty work for Lord Xehanort at school, it was him or Braig or even the kind Axel. He pulled out his phone and texted Vanitas. He hoped he might answer him.
He was walking and texting at the same time and he bumped into somebody.
"Hey! No walking and texting at the same time kid!" Quacked Mr. Donald Duck, one of the janitors of the school.
"Sorry Mr… Oh! It's you!" cried Sora with joy and familiarity.
"Of course it's me! You bumped into me kid!" cried the duck.
"Donald. You're Donald!" cried Sora.
"Uh yeah! I'm Donald Duck. And you heard of me. Good. Now scram and get to class. The principal hates kids that get to class late." said Donald.
"Please Donald. I need to speak with you. And with Goofy!" cried Sora.
"What? Goofy too? Why do you need to speak with us?" asked Donald.
"Please. I think you can help me. And Goofy! It's about some nightmares I have!" cried Sora.
"Can't help you there kid. If you have trouble sleeping, try counting sheep." chuckled Donald.
"In my nightmares, you and Goofy are searching for Mickey! He's your king!" cried Sora. He quickly caught himself sounding silly and Donald burst out laughing.
"Excuse me. Mickey is a king? An actual king?! Hahaha! You think the head janitor is a king!? Oh this is funny! Wait until I tell him!" said Donald.
"He's here too! Good! I need to speak with you three! It's important!" cried Sora.
Donald looked at Sora with a glare, but then he shook his head. "You're serious are you? You really had a dream about us?" he asked.
"Please. I think someone is in trouble. Or better yet, I think we all are. I have nightmares about things happening to people around me. And I'm looking for a girl named Namine. My brother Roxas and my friend Kairi are searching for her too. I haven't told my friend Riku yet." said Sora.
"Woah, slow down kid! Your story is getting complicated and it's making my head dizzy." He then rolled his eyes.
"Okay, come with me. They are probably in the janitor room." he said.
Sora beamed with delight and followed Donald down underground. Sora had never set foot in the underground maze of the school. It was a network that the janitors used to get to point A to point B.
"Hey Wall.E." greeted Donald to a small robot passing by. The robot waved at Donald and Sora as they entered a small room.
Inside, eating donuts and drinking soda was Mickey Mouse and Goofy. Pluto was sleeping on a small bed next to a radio.
"Donald! You got to try this bearclaw! It's so good! Happy brought them from Snow." said Mickey.
"Yeah! And the jelly filled ones are so finger licking good!" said Goofy aloud.
Sora walked in and put his hands on his mouth. "Oh my gosh! I can't believe it's really you three together in one room! I see you guys in my dreams and I never thought of talking to you guys!" said Sora with tears in his eyes.
"Oh gwarsh! Looks like we got ourselves a fan." said Goofy.
"A student? Donald, care to explain why you brought a kid here?" asked Mickey.
"It's going to sound crazy, but you got to listen to this kid." said Donald.
Sora sat down and quickly explained to everyone the events so far. And what he discovered and what had happened. When his story was done, Mickey was lost in thought.
"So you think these stories are real?" asked Mickey.
"Yes. And the one who could answer it all is Namine. Please, do you guys know who she is?" asked Sora.
"You see guys! He's probably like this because of Video Games!" said Donald.
"Donald please!" cried Sora.
"Gwarsh. I haven't heard Namine's name for quite a while." said Goofy.
"Yes. It's odd that we forgot about her like this." said Mickey, still thinking.
"Where is she?" cried Sora.
"That's the thing. We don't know where she could be. We know who she is, but we don't know where she could be." said Mickey.
"You guys seriously don't believe anything this kid is saying?" asked Donald.
"His story… it's familiar." said Mickey.
"Yeah. It sounds like a movie that I know about, but never watched. Makes sense?" asked Goofy.
Donald tried to say more, but then he himself realized it was true. What Sora said to him DID sound familiar.
"Roxas told me the same thing. Even he had nightmares. And Rafiki admitted as much." said Sora.
"Funny that we feel like we know what you're talking about, yet we don't know anything at all." said Mickey.
"You said you were knocked out at Lost and Found?" asked Goofy.
"Yes. That's how I lost my book." said Sora.
"If that's so, it's probably in the hands of Lord Xehanort." said Donald.
"The principal?" asked Sora.
"Principal? Bah! More like evil emperor Zurg! He's a no good tyrant who pays us very little and he never gives us holiday bonuses!" said Donald.
"That's what you angry about? Christmas bonuses?" asked Sora.
"If it were Jack Skellington, our paychecks would have been loaded!" declared Donald.
"Calm down Donald. I doubt Xehanort has the book. I don't think he knows about your problem." said Mickey.
"Oh no. I never spoke to him about it. Although I did speak with my brother Vanitas. He works for Xehanort. He's one of his… guards." said Sora.
"Guards! You see! He surrounds himself with tight security! And I know he has your book. Let me guess. Did it have weird stuff in it?" asked Donald.
"Why are you so mean?!" cried Sora.
"Kid, if you really need help with sleep, talk to someone else about it. We are just janitors." said Donald.
"Don't kick him out. I'm actually interested in this." said Mickey.
"What?!" cried Donald.
"I mean, it sounds all so far-fetched, and yet, very familiar. Why does it sound familiar? I'm interested in knowing." said Mickey.
"You can't be serious." said Donald.
"I'm interested too!" said Goofy in agreement.
"Why am I not surprised? Goofy, don't listen to anything Mickey says! Whenever he gets a hair brained scheme, he goes through with it! Remember that one time we cleaned up that clock?" asked Donald.
"Yeah! And we were ghost hunters too!" said Goofy.
"I had a dream about that! You guys were also musketeers, club bouncers and even theme park owners!" cried Sora.
"Wow, you see us a lot in your dreams. You are kinda funny." said Goofy.
Mickey stood up and walked around the room. "I'll be honest with you guys… I've been feeling like something isn't right in this school. There is something here that is so… creepy." said Mickey.
"How so?" asked Sora.
"Young man, we've seen things that were out of place and we kept quiet about it, but there have been a few things going on that are making me feel nervous." said Mickey.
"Yeah. This one time, Belle, the librarian, found a book called "Who framed Roger Rabbit." I will never forget that title. She read it and found it so appalling that I had to find Roger. Poor fellow was cleaning toilets at the time. He was even freaked out that this book had his name. Eventually, the book went missing and we totally forgot all about it." said Goofy.
"Another time, my wife found a black feather outside the school. But it was very large and sinister looking. I remember showing it to Braig, one of Xehanort's men, and he destroyed it with a flamethrower." said Mickey.
"And this one time… my uncle Scrooge went bananas after he found out that he spent a lot of money on a gaming console after he drank too much…." said Donald.
Sora laughed. "What?!" he cried.
"It's true! He was so mad, he called the company to refund his money." said Donald.
"What system was it?" asked Sora.
"It was an old gaming console. A PS2 I think it was." said Donald.
"A PS2? Those were recalled because of their faulty cooling systems!" said Mickey.
"I remember Max wanted one of those badly, but I didn't have money to buy him that. I was happy to hear they were long gone." said Goofy.
Sora shook his head. "We're running off course. So, you guys are in?" asked Sora.
"Sorry we weren't much help, but yeah. We're in! And I know just the place to start." said Mickey.
"You do?!" cried Sora with excitement.
"Geez Mickey. When it comes to adventures, you simply can't resist!" said Donald.
"I love adventure." said Mickey.
"Me too." said Goofy as he got up.
"Well let's be careful. What if old man Xehanort finds out?" asked Donald.
"He won't do anything. We're just three simple janitors looking into something not right with the school and we intend to fix it. Besides, I'll sweet talk to the old man if he ever catches whiff of our adventure." said Goofy.
"Yeah! I know you will." said Sora.
"Don't encourage them." said Donald.
"Let's go guys! Oh boy, this is exciting!" said Mickey with a twinkle in his eye.
"Hey, we will need donuts!" said Goofy. He quickly carried the donut box with him.
"Good thinking Goofy!" cried Mickey.
"Yeah Goofy. Now we won't starve to death." said Donald sarcastically.
"Are you always this grumpy?" asked Sora.
"No. Grumpy works in the office upstairs." said Donald.
"Well, in my nightmares you tease me a lot and you are much nicer." said Sora.
"Me nice? I don't believe it." said Donald.
"You are nice. Especially to your nephews and Daisy." said Goofy.
"Don't bring her into this." said Donald.
"Aww, cheer up Donald! Where's your sense of adventure?" asked Mickey.
"I lost it since the day we were sucked into that tornado during your concert." said Donald.
Sora chuckled. That was also in one of his nightmares, but he decided to not say anything yet. And so, Sora, Donald, Goofy and Mickey set out to find the answers. In a strange way, Sora felt at ease with them. Sure they didn't have magic or shields to fight, but Sora felt like he could trust them. There was something about them that made Sora feel at home. Mickey and Goofy were very nice and welcoming and even Donald, despite being grumpy, was also nice to be around. Strangely though, Sora felt at ease.