“Nothing. Well, I guess you’ll be safe now.”
“And the queen won’t give us any more trouble,” Goofy added proudly. “After all, we got rid of the Heartless, just like she commanded!”
“Don’t tell me you’ve been fooled, too!” Donald scolded.
“Huh? But she did command… Huh? Gawrsh, didn’t she?” Goofy folded his arms, thinking hard.
Alice began to laugh—and then Sora caught it, and Donald and Goofy joined in.
“But you have to go, don’t you?” said Alice.
“Yeah…” Sora turned, and there was only a normal door where the talking doorknob had been.
“Thank you so very much,” Alice said sincerely and curtsied to them.
“Just like a princess!” Donald exclaimed.
Alice laughed quietly.
“You are a princess!” Goofy crowed.
“A princess? Whatever do you mean?” Alice tilted her head.
“Aw, it’s nothing!” said Sora. “C’mon, Donald, Goofy, let’s go.”
“Do be careful, Sora!”
And the trio walked through the door.
CHAPTER 3
AGRABAH
Can we meet soon…?
No, we will meet soon.
It’s in the pictures I drew. My drawings of the future.
So you and I will cross paths very soon.
What kind of smile does the real you have?
What will the real you think when you see me, I wonder?
The fake me and the real me.
The fake world and the real world.
False feelings and true feelings.
But as for what is real and what is not, I don’t know anymore, either.
We will meet soon.
That’s the only truth I have—an illusion.
I hope we see each other soon… I want to meet you, Sora.
THE TRIO STEPPED OUT AGAIN INTO THE SOARING HALL. At the end, there was another flight of steps leading higher into the castle. The gleaming marble walls began to feel eerie.
“Donald, Goofy, let’s go!”
Sora had to keep going. He had to find out if that hunch he’d felt when they first entered the castle was right. The feeling that he’d meet someone important here.
Behind him, Goofy paused. “Hmm…”
“What’s the matter?” Donald looked up at him.
“It’s that castle I was talking about earlier… I just know I didn’t imagine it.”
Sora turned back to see Goofy looking quite serious. “But…we don’t remember going to another castle.”
“We did, too—that was the castle where Sora had to use the Keyblade to free Kairi’s heart…,” said Goofy. “Then he disappeared! And I was so worried. How could I ever forget that?”
“Oh! When I turned into a Heartless!” Sora remembered. There was no way he’d forget that, either.
In that pitch-black darkness…I heard Kairi’s voice…
“Wait. That happened…in a castle?”
“Aww, you forgot that?” said Donald.
“Umm…” Sora cocked his head.
“’Cos I remember perfectly!” Donald puffed his chest out.
“Then what was it called?” asked Sora.
“That’s easy! It was…” Then, Donald trailed off, his head tilted in concentration. “Huh.”
Sora couldn’t quite remember the place where those things had happened. That was… It was… Where?
“Hey, Jiminy… It’s gotta be in your journal, right?” said Sora, and the cricket hopped out of his pocket.
“Every word!” Jiminy took a tiny notebook from his coat pocket. “I finished the first volume right before we got to this castle.”
He opened the well-used notebook—and shouted in dismay. “Oh! How could that be?!”
“Gawrsh, what’s wrong?” Goofy leaned down, trying to see the tiny journal.
“It’s completely blank!”
Donald looked closer, too, and jumped up. “Wak! The journal entries are all gone!”
“How could this have happened?! I’m so careful with the journals! Ohh…all that hard work is gone…” His knees wobbling in shock, Jiminy sat weakly on the floor.
“Let me see it…” Sora took the little notebook and skimmed through it. Every page was blank, as if not a single word had even been written there.
“Journal pages don’t just vanish!” said Donald, frowning.
“Maybe it’s more than that.” Sora handed the notebook back to Jiminy and spoke with more certainty. “Goofy was telling us about another castle we’d been to… But none of us really remember it.”
Yeah. He didn’t make it up—it’s not just his imagination, Sora thought. Little by little, we’re forgetting pieces of the past.
“Hold on!” Jiminy shouted, jumping to his feet. “Remember what that mystery fella said? ‘In this place, to find is to lose and to lose is to find.’ It must’ve been our memories he was talking about losing!”
“So if we keep going, we’ll lose more… Guess that’s why they called it Castle Oblivion.” Sora folded his arms, thinking hard.
The farther they went, the more memories they would lose—he’d never imagined something that crazy. But this was real, and they were watching their own memories turn vague and fragmented—and fade out, bit by bit. If they kept going, how much more would they forget…?
“Should we go back?” said Donald.
“Don’t worry!” Goofy replied, looking untroubled. “We might forget about places we’ve been or things we’ve seen, but we won’t forget who our friends are.”
“You really think so…?” said Sora.
Goofy smiled at him. “C’mon, Sora, when you turned into a Heartless, did you forget about me and Donald?”
“Of course I didn’t!”
“There ya go!” Satisfied, Goofy posed with his head high. “See, no matter what happens, you won’t forget us!”
“Huh… You’re right. Thanks, Goofy.”
No matter what…I won’t forget my friends. There’s no way I can forget about all the people I got to meet.
“Then we’ve got nothing to be scared of!” Donald held up his wand in determination.
“But when I turned into a Heartless, who was the one who took forever to notice and kept clobbering me?” Sora teased.
“How come you didn’t forget about that?!” Donald flailed with his wand, jumping up and down. “Meanie!”
Sora and Goofy and Jiminy Cricket, too, looked at one another and burst out laughing.
“Well, I’ll be extra sure to write everything down from now on,” said Jiminy.
“Thanks, Jiminy,” said Sora. “We’re counting on you.”
Jiminy nodded and went back into Sora’s pocket.
“I know!” Goofy told Donald and Sora. “How about we make sure we remember why we’re on our journey?”
“Goofy and I are on a quest to…,” Donald began.
“To find King Mickey,” Goofy finished, “’cos he stayed on the other side of the Door of Darkness to help save everything. I think.”
Donald and Goofy nodded at each other.
“And I’m looking for Riku. He was with the king when the door closed,” said Sora. “Yeah, you’re right. There’s no way we’ll forget the important things.”
That was why they were going through this castle—to find Riku and King Mickey, who had pulled that door shut from the other side. They wouldn’t lose sight of that.
“But…I wonder what we’ve forgotten?” Donald said, sounding regretful.
“I can’t think of anything, so maybe that means I really am losing my memories,” said Goofy. “But whatever they were, they couldn’t have been very important memories, right?”
“Yeah. If it was really important, you wouldn’t have forgotten it,” Sora agreed and held out something. “Look.”
It was the star-shaped charm made of thalassa shells.
“I’m making them so even if one of us gets lost, we’ll m
ake it back here safe and sound. So the three of us will always be together.”
Donald peered at the charm sitting in the palm of Sora’s hand. “What is it?”
“A good luck charm Kairi gave me. It’s special to her, so I promised that I would return it.”
I promised her that I’d come back, Sora told himself. I’ll find Riku and we’ll go back to Kairi together.
“I’ll never forget making that promise,” he said. “So I’ll never forget Kairi.”
“It’s my lucky charm. So you have to bring it back to me!”
“Don’t worry. I will.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
The promise he’d made to Kairi in that cavern. Her dark eyes and red hair, her small hands. The pendant she wore and the sound of her voice. He could never, ever forget…
“Sora!”
It felt like he heard Kairi’s voice from somewhere. Sora turned—but the girl he saw standing there had flaxen hair and a white dress.
“Huh?!”
“Sora…” She smiled at him.
But he had never seen her before. Who was this girl…?
“Hey, Sora, what’s the matter?”
At Donald’s question, Sora blinked, and the girl in the white dress was gone.
“Huh… Do I know…that girl?”
“Where’d you go?” said Donald, looking up at Sora with concern.
“Sorry. Never mind… C’mon, let’s keep going.” Sora gave them a smile and ran up the stairs.
The room had walls of white marble, the same as the castle halls. There was something drawn on the floor, like a magic square, and in the center sat a big crystal ball.
The crystal ball showed an image of Sora and his friends, and Axel was staring at it hard.
Across from him, a woman in the same black cloak also peered into the crystal ball.
“You seem pretty intrigued by this Sora kid,” she said without looking up.
Axel turned away. “Are you telling me you’re not, Larxene?”
She covered her hand with her mouth and giggled. “Haven’t decided yet.”
Larxene wore her straight blond hair smoothly slicked back, which along with her sharp gaze created an altogether severe impression.
“I think what intrigues me more is what you see in him,” she crooned.
“Once, for a time, he became a Heartless,” said Axel.
“Oh yes—that’s how he came to this castle.” Larxene folded her arms and took a step toward Axel.
“And do you know what happens to people who turn into Heartless?”
“They lose their minds and their feelings—they’re consumed by the darkness. Of course I know that.”
Axel turned to look at the crystal ball again, at the shape of Sora and his companions glowing inside it. “But not him. Sora held on to his feelings, even as a Heartless. There’s only one other person who’s been able to do that.”
Just one other person… The only one that we know of.
“It’s not just that,” he went on. “Why isn’t he alone? It’s a world made from his memories—so why are the king’s minions still with him?”
“Are you saying those two have some kind of power…some strength in their hearts, too?”
“I don’t know.”
Was it because of Sora’s power or the Keyblade? Or was it really something about those two lackeys themselves…?
“So that’s what interests you?” said Larxene. “Why the Keyblade chose Sora’s heart…and why those others are still with him.”
“What is it that makes his heart shine like that? And what’s sleeping within it?”
“The mysteries of the heart, huh…?” Larxene, too, looked again at the images in the crystal ball.
“Isn’t it the organization’s mission to unlock them?” Axel placed his hand on the crystal ball and gazed closely at the image of Sora.
When Sora held up a card and opened the door, hot air gusted out into their faces.
The trio stepped through the door and looked around. On the dry ground sat buildings made of stone, their roofs painted in vivid colors. Clouds of dust stirred as they walked.
“Where are we this time?” said Donald.
“Uh, gee… It’s Aladdin’s world, isn’t it?” Goofy sounded uncertain about it.
“I remember, all right.” Sora looked down. It was hard to believe that even the hot desert air could be an illusion made from his memories.
But…I didn’t even remember who we met in this world, until Donald and Goofy said so, Sora thought. I forgot…
Aladdin’s world… And who else was here?
Walking ahead, Donald stopped short and jumped. “Wak! Someone’s in trouble!”
Sora followed Donald’s line of sight—someone was there surrounded by Heartless.
“It’s Aladdin!” Goofy exclaimed and dashed toward the commotion.
“We’d better do something! Blizzard!” Donald pelted out spells as he ran.
Sora followed and brought the Keyblade down on the Heartless. “Need some help?!”
“Thanks! I thought I was done for!” Aladdin shouted back.
The Heartless rushed at the newcomers with mean-looking scimitars. As Sora swung the Keyblade with a fierce cry, Aladdin countered with his knife, too. But no matter how many they defeated, more Heartless sprouted up from the dusty ground.
“They just keep coming!” yelled Donald, waving his wand.
“Guess we’d better see if that legend’s true!” Aladdin took a shiny golden oil lamp from his pocket. “Magic lamp, my first wish! Get rid of these Heartless!”
Blue smoke poured out of the lamp and took the shape of a blue-skinned genie. “Stand back, kids! Comin’ through!”
Donald looked up. “It’s the Genie!”
“…Genie?” Sora murmured.
“Something the matter, Sora?” Goofy said, peering at him anxiously.
“Nah, it’s nothing.”
The Genie of the lamp… A friend who fought beside us here with Aladdin.
But Donald remembered his name…and I didn’t.
“Genie of the lamp here! Nothing I can’t make right as rain!” Floating in the air, the Genie folded his arms and grinned down at them. “Well—if we had rain in the desert. But enough dry jokes! One Heartless disappearing act, coming right up!”
He snapped his fingers, and all at once, the Heartless vanished.
Donald jumped. “Wow!”
Aladdin took a step closer to Sora and held out his hand. “Thanks, Sora.”
“Well, if we were in trouble, you wouldn’t keep walking, either—right, Aladdin?” Sora laughed.
Aladdin’s mouth fell open. “Wait—how do you know my name?”
“You know my name, too!”
“You’re right!” He smiled a bit bashfully and shook hands with Sora.
It’s okay—I still remember, thought Sora. I won’t forget my friends.
“You could’ve called the Genie in the first place, though,” he said with a grin.
“It’s not that simple. The thing is…” Aladdin looked up at the Genie.
“Couldn’t have said it better myself! But I will anyway. Can’t have as many wishes as you want, the world just doesn’t work that way! Strictly limited to…”
“Three wishes!” Goofy jumped in. “Ahyuck!”
“My, sir, have you shopped with us before?” the Genie remarked. “Precisely! Three wishes per master! So, Aladdin here has two wishes left—and ixnay on the wishing for more wishes!”
“Two wishes left? Then you’d better use them carefully,” said Sora.
“Yeah… I’ve got to get back to the palace somehow, though.” Aladdin sounded as if he’d arrived at a decision.
“Uh, why do you need to go there, Aladdin?” Goofy wondered.
“It’s that no-good royal vizier, Jafar. He had me get this magic lamp from the Cave of Wonders. And the cave was full of Heartless! I’m lucky I made it back to Agrabah in one
piece.”
“He made you go all by yourself?” Sora folded his arms. “This Jafar guy’s got a lot of nerve, giving dangerous orders like that.”
“I know how you feel, master,” said the Genie. “People have been ordering me around for a good ten thousand years!”
“Aw, gee, that doesn’t sound like a good time,” said Donald, and the Genie surprised him with a bear hug. “Wa-wak!”
“It’s really, really not. No fun for the Genie at all!”
“Okay, I get it—you can let me go!” Lifted off the ground in the Genie’s arms, Donald wriggled and kicked.
“I keep wishing someone will wish me outta this gig…but go figure the odds on that!” The Genie set down Donald and drifted, hanging his head.
Aladdin looked at him thoughtfully for a moment and said, “Well, how about I use my third wish to set you free?”
The Genie spun around in the air once. “Huh?!”
“I’ve still got two wishes left. So I’ll save my last one to wish for your freedom,” Aladdin explained, smiling brightly.
“Doth my pointy ears deceive me? Master, you’d do that for me? Not just pulling my topknot now, are you?”
“I promise, Genie. I’ll set you free with my third wish!”
The Genie crowed, flying in circles, and this time hugged Aladdin tightly.
“Anyway, there’s only one thing I want,” Aladdin said seriously, while the Genie was still rubbing his cheek against Aladdin’s.
“Piece of cake, when you’ve got the Genie of the lamp on your side!” He let Aladdin go finally, looking down at him from the air. “So, what’ll it be, Al? Fame? Fortune? A herd of luxury camels for your very own?”
“Well, there’s this girl… Her name is Jasmine. She’s the princess of Agrabah.”
“The princess?”
“A Princess of Heart!” Donald and Goofy both echoed at once.
Sora had completely forgotten about the person who was the most important to Aladdin.
Jasmine was a Princess of Heart— Wait, what did that mean?
There are too many things I’m forgetting, Sora thought, even though Donald and Goofy seem to remember. Why…?
“Yeah, she’s the princess,” Aladdin sighed. “And…that’s the problem. A street rat like me doesn’t have many chances to see her. That’s how all this started—I thought if I went to the Cave of Wonders, I could get the treasure, and then maybe Jasmine would want to meet me.”
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories The Novel (light novel) Page 5
