Chapter 12

CHAPTER 7 THE LAST DAY SOMEONE WAS CALLING HIM. Who…? Who was saying his name? “Sora!” “Sora, wake up!” The voices were familiar. He blinked his eyes open, and in front of him were Donald and Goofy. Sora took a moment to stretch and then lazily jumped out of the pod, where he hugged the two waiting to see him. “Donald! Goofy!” They all embraced and then kept their hands linked, so glad to be reunited. “Goodness, that was some nap!” Jiminy Cricket poked out of Sora’s hood and hopped down to the floor. “You mean we were asleep?” Sora said. Jiminy cocked his little head. “I think we must’ve been. Or we wouldn’t be so drowsy…” “When do ya think we went to sleep?” Goofy wondered. Sora was confused, too. When did we fall asleep? What were we doing before that? He couldn’t quite remember. “Let’s see,” Sora thought aloud. “We defeated Ansem, right?” “Yup.” Goofy nodded. “Restored peace to the world… Found Kairi… Oh yeah—and then we went to look for Riku.” “Then what?” Donald said. “And then…,” Sora started. “Um, and then… Hmm.” The four of them sank into thought. It was fair to say they really had no memory of what had happened after that. “What’s your journal say, Jiminy?” Goofy asked. If it had happened on their journey, Jiminy would have written it down. “Gee, there’s only one sentence,” Jiminy told them. The others peered at the tiny journal. It was cricket-sized, and the letters were too small for them to read, but they could see that there was indeed just one short sentence on the page. “‘Thank Naminé’…,” Jiminy read. “Hmm. I wonder who that is.” Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked at one another. Naminé… They couldn’t remember hearing a name like that. “Welp, if we meet any Naminés, then we gotta tell ’em thanks.” Sora nodded to Goofy’s sensible statement. “For now, why don’t we go outside and see where we are?” Jiminy suggested, and sprang back up to Sora’s shoulder. Donald and Goofy checked their effects—Donald’s wand and Goofy’s shield—and began looking for a way out. The floor, the ceiling, the walls were all white, and at one end of the room there was a grand door. When they opened it, brilliant light streamed in…and outside was a mansion’s spacious garden, dotted with crumbling stone pillars. “What’s this place supposed to be?” Donald said, squinting in the sunlight. “Dunno, but it’s kinda excitin’.” Goofy looked around with intense curiosity. They went through the garden to a massive gate that had been left open, and beyond that was a gloomy forest. Sora hung back nervously. “It’s pretty dark up ahead…” “Should we go back to the mansion?” Goofy asked. “You turn into a fraidycat while you were asleep, Sora?” Donald teased. “Yeah, right! C’mon, let’s go! Donald! Goofy!” Sora charged into the woods. Donald hid behind him. “Looks like something’s gonna come out at us…” “Look who’s the fraidycat now,” Sora said, laughing. And yet, this forest… Not only the forest. The garden, too. They felt vaguely familiar. Have I been here before? Sora wondered. “There’s light up thataway!” Goofy ran toward it, with Sora and Donald close behind him. Axel stared vacantly at the sun sinking into the sea. The never-ending sound of the waves was beginning to grate on him. He was far outside Twilight Town, as far as the trains went, at a deserted beach. It was the same beach Roxas and his friends had meant to visit. He stood up from the hunk of driftwood he’d perched on and flinched as pain shot through his ribs. “Ouuuch… He could’ve gone a little easier on me…” Axel still hadn’t quite healed from his fight with Roxas. He sat himself back down on the driftwood, resting his elbows on his knees, and watched the waves rush in and out. He wasn’t sure what to do yet. He would already be branded a traitor. He hadn’t exactly disobeyed orders…but he had failed to carry them out. The other members were already suspicious of him as the lone survivor from Castle Oblivion. He couldn’t imagine that it was safe for him to return to the organization. “Oh man, what do I do…?” He stretched carefully and got up again, his eyes narrowed against the setting sun. It turned the sea red, and the sky. The waves lapped at his feet, getting them wet. “Axel,” said a voice from behind him. Startled, he turned. It was… “Naminé…” He stiffened warily, but she only gave him an awkward smile. And there was a man standing behind her. He wore the same black cloak, but he wasn’t in the organization—Axel knew that much. He had a feeling it was the man he’d met outside the mansion. Forcing his injured body to move, Axel readied his chakrams. “Axel, don’t…” Naminé looked back at the other man, whose empty hands were resting at his sides, trying to show that he wasn’t an enemy. Axel sucked in a breath and sat down once more on the hunk of driftwood. “So, what’s your name?” “…Ansem.” “Ansem? Somehow I doubt that.” Ansem—or rather, Riku—shrugged off the question. “Never mind my name. I want to offer you a bargain.” Axel pretended that this didn’t rattle him as he stared back at Riku. Through the forest, there was a town built mostly of brick. “There’s people here! We can ask somebody where we are.” Donald ran toward them to ask. Watching him, Sora cocked his head. “Hmm…” “What’s the matter, Sora?” Goofy asked, concerned. “You know…I think I’ve been to this town.” He didn’t know why, but he felt it—something in him knew this place. “Quack! Sora! It’s called Twilight Town!” Donald shouted back to them. Twilight Town… That name was familiar, too. Just then, the toll of enormous bells sounded through the town. “Gawrsh, those sure are some bells,” Goofy remarked. “Reminds me of Traverse Town.” That town had a huge bell, too… “Oh. I guess…,” Sora said absently, concentrating. “Actually, I think I know somewhere we need to go.” Somewhere he had to go… Somewhere he usually went. He thought he remembered something like that. He broke into a run. “Hey, Sora, where ya goin’?” Goofy called, chasing after him. “C’mon! This way!” “Wak!” Donald, listening to the people tell him about Twilight Town, jumped to follow them. Up this slope and then into this alley… And then… “Wait up, Sora!” Goofy was panting and wheezing. “Don’t just take off like that!” Donald scolded, bringing up the rear with a scowl. “Hmm… It’s here.” Sora zeroed in on the fenced-off corner of the alley. “What’s here?” Donald pushed open the fence and stepped in without hesitating, his webbed feet slapping the ground. “Hey, what d’you want?!” an angry voice yelled. Sora and Goofy exchanged glances and ran in after Donald. Scratching his head, Sora grasped for an excuse. “Uh, nothing… Just thought something might be back here…” Past the fence there were two boys and one girl, all about the same age as him. “Now you know,” snapped a boy with spiky hair, who occupied the highest space he could sit in. “This is our spot.” “Um…,” the heavyset boy began, looking puzzled, and he walked up to Sora to peer into his face. “What?” “We’ve…never met before, right? I’m Pence.” He grinned brightly. The other boy seemed to give in and jumped down from his vantage point. The girl got up from her seat on a wooden crate. “I’m Hayner,” said the spiky-haired boy. “It’s good to meet you, but we got stuff to do, so catch ya later.” He headed out to the fence. “My name’s Olette,” said the girl, introducing herself warmly. “Hey, did you finish up the summer homework yet? These projects are just the worst, huh?” “Homework?” Sora blurted, a bit bewildered. “Hey, what’re your names?” Pence asked. Sora exchanged glances with his friends. Unruffled, Goofy spoke up. “We’re Sora and Donald and Goofy.” “Hi,” Sora added, holding out a hand to shake, but Pence and Olette just looked at each other. “Sora and Donald and Goofy… We just met someone who’s looking for you,” Olette said. Now the trio looked at one another again. “Sure looked like he was in a hurry,” Pence said. “He was wearing a black cloak, and I couldn’t see his face, but he had these big round ears.” “The king!” Donald exclaimed, jumping up. “Where’d you see him?” asked Sora. “The station.” “The station! Thanks!” Sora nodded at the other two. The king is looking for us! “Well, we’d better get back to that assignment!” Olette started for the fence, too. “See you.” Pence followed her out. “Okay, let’s head to the station!” Sora said, and the other two nodded. They dashed outside—or started to—but then Goofy stopped short in his tracks, and Sora and Donald ran right into him. “What’dja do that for?” Sora complained. Goofy slowly turned to look at him. “Uh…which way’s the station?” “Oh—it’s this way!” Sora ran up the hill. “Wak! Stop running off!” Donald tried to keep up. “Sora? How d’you know?” Goofy said. “I just do!” Sora called back over his shoulder. It was true. Somehow, he just knew this town. Up atop the hill, they would find the plaza in front of the station. “Is that it?” Goofy asked. Sora paused and then walked up to the building. “Probably.” “Your Majesty?” Donald called. “Maybe he’s not here,” Goofy said, perplexed—and then they found themselves surrounded by silver creatures of a sort none of them had ever seen before. “Yipe!” “H-Heartless?!” Donald gripped his wand. “No—these aren’t Heartless!” Sora rushed at the squirming silver things. In the next second he had the shining Keyblade in his hand, and he brought it down on them as they tried to wriggle away. “Fire!” “Here goes!” Donald waved his wand as Goofy swatted the things with his shield. But no matter how many they defeated, more enemies appeared to surround them again. “They just keep comin’!” Just as Donald shouted, a shadowy black figure came to scatter the creatures. The newcomer was smaller than Sora by a foot—no, by two. He held a Keyblade, and his hood didn’t quite hide a pair of big ears. Sora was leaning closer to make sure he was really seeing what he thought he saw, and then, noticing the ears, Donald and Goofy practically climbed atop him. This resulted in the three of them falling flat, with Sora on the bottom, but they hardly noticed as they exclaimed in unison, “Your Majesty?!” “Shh!” King Mickey turned to glance at them, a finger to his lips. “You gotta board the train and leave town. The train knows the way. Here, take this.” In his hand was a cute little cloth purse. Sora took it and examined it closely. It was much heavier than it looked—probably because it was stuffed full of munny. “Your Majesty?” Donald said tentatively, but King Mickey was already dashing away across the plaza. “The king…,” Sora mumbled, still staring at the purse. “Was that really him?” “It coulda been… Yep, I know it was!” Goofy was facing the direction where King Mickey had disappeared. Donald hopped happily in place. “Now we know he’s okay!”