Chapter 36

CHAPTER 3 AXEL’S LAST STAND THE HAUNTED MANSION WAS DIM AND HUSHED INSIDE. In the middle of the dusty foyer stood something that might have been a broken model of a castle. “There’s gotta be a computer here somewhere,” said King Mickey, scanning the place. “A computer? Is it connected to the other Twilight Town?” Pence wondered. “It might be.” The king nodded. “And there should be a way into the realm of darkness there.” “Did Riku tell you that?” Sora leaned over the king, looking him in the eye. “Aw, Sora, don’t make me answer. He’ll get mad at me…” “Aha! I knew it!” While Sora hopped in place, unable to contain his excitement, King Mickey let out a deep sigh. Technically, Riku hadn’t told him that, but he had mentioned that something was here in Twilight Town. Maybe Riku already knew I’d end up breaking my promise to him, the king thought. “Let’s split up and search the place!” said Hayner, and Sora immediately rocketed up the big staircase from the foyer. “Sora?!” exclaimed King Mickey, startled by his lack of hesitation. “I bet it’s this way!” Sora shouted back, then ran down the hallway on the second story. “Wait for us!” Goofy chased after him. Everyone else followed. “Say, Sora… How’d you know?” asked the king, as Sora stood in front of the door at the end of the hallway, waiting for the others. “Um… Huh.” Sora seemed mystified himself. “Just a guess?” “‘Just a guess’ means you don’t know,” Donald scoffed. “But I think that computer’s through here. I’ve got a feeling.” With that, Sora opened the door. Axel waited. In the shadows of the spaces between, he waited for Sora… For Roxas. “Traitor,” Saïx had called him. But his betrayal of Organization XIII wasn’t exactly a recent development, Axel thought with a bitter laugh. It had begun back in Castle Oblivion. When Marluxia and Larxene conspired to steal Sora’s memories, trying to take possession of him. No one could predict what Roxas would become, the Nobody created in such an unusual manner, born in the moment when his somebody Sora became something that was not Sora. Well, no—it was possible that Xemnas had some idea. Perhaps Vexen when he tried to tell Sora about Twilight Town and those close to him. Or all six original members of the organization. The organization could hardly be called that anyway—this ragtag bunch of Nobodies united only by their desire for hearts. It was only natural that conflicts would arise between the newcomers like Marluxia and the six founding members, what with all the quarrels among the half of them posted in Castle Oblivion. Axel had only acted to keep Sora alive—to keep Roxas alive. But thinking back on it now, maybe all he’d done was to play right into Xemnas’s hands. Agony racked his body. Saïx had dealt him a mortal blow, or close enough. “Hurry up, Sora…,” he muttered, lifting his face to the nonexistent sky. When Sora opened the door, he saw a room with books lining every wall, but in the middle were stairs leading down. “This is…” The room was familiar somehow, he thought as he took it in. Spacious and square, it could have been a library or a study, and yet there was a chilly atmosphere that seemed out of place in the dusty old mansion. “What is it?” asked King Mickey, following Sora inside. “It just feels like…” He turned to Donald and Goofy. “Have I been here before?” “Wak? I don’t think so…” Donald crossed his arms. “Gee, y’know,” Goofy recalled, “when we woke up and left that funny room, didn’t we end up outside this mansion?” “Yeah! That’s it! We must’ve…,” Sora began excitedly, then trailed off when he saw that Goofy was concentrating, his arms also crossed. “Huh?” “We didn’t go into this room, though,” Goofy said tentatively. Sora frowned, feeling as if there was something terribly important that he couldn’t remember. “But…I just know…in here…” “Maybe you came here while you were asleep?” said the king. The trio looked at him. “…While I was asleep?” Sora focused harder on his thoughts. He didn’t know what it could be, but he felt something was important. Something so frustrating and sad… What was it? Hayner was done listening patiently. He shoved himself into the conversation among King Mickey and the trio. “Look, I get that things are weird in here, but shouldn’t we be trying to help Kairi?” “Yeah. You’re right!” Sora nodded and descended the stairs in the middle of the room, opening the door at the bottom. Kairi sat on the floor, hugging her knees to her chest, and Pluto licked her face. “Do you think Axel’s okay…?” she wondered. Pluto’s reply was a whimper. She hid her face in her knees. They are coming to help me. Axel… Sora and Riku… All of them. But why are they keeping me here? I’ve seen Axel get hurt twice, for my sake. And I couldn’t do anything. Axel’s saved me so many times, but I can’t help him… So many times? Kairi caught herself. She’d only met him twice. Once when that other man had kidnapped her, and just now. So why did she get the feeling that he’d helped her more times than that…? In the room through this door they found a sizable computer setup. “This is it!” King Mickey scurried over to it. Donald stared dubiously in the direction of the keyboard. “How’s it work?” “I got this,” said Pence, who had been mostly silent until now. He ambled over to the terminal and began poking around. “Hey, Sora?” Goofy murmured, leaning close to him. “What?” “Doesn’t this computer look kinda like the one in Hollow Bastion?” Donald nodded, emphatically agreeing. “Does it…?” Sora cocked his head. Pence was already busy typing. “Uh-oh.” Seeing his expression, Hayner came closer. “What’s wrong?” “I can’t go any further without the password…” Stumped, Pence gestured at the screen in frustration. King Mickey, watching Pence’s work intently, turned to the trio. “Any ideas what it would be, fellas?” “Sora!” “Donald!” “Goofy!” They gave their names in order, which would be the same as the password for the computer in Hollow Bastion—or rather, in Radiant Garden. “Nope, that’s not it.” Pence shook his head. “Need a hint, need a clue…,” Donald grumbled, then shoved his hand into his pocket. “The picture!”