“I don’t care if I’m trapped here, so long as I’ve got Pinocchio. He’s such a good boy.”
“Well, he still tells fibs,” said Jiminy. “But with a little help from me…”
Gepetto laughed. “Oh, Jiminy. You worry too much.”
“Speaking of Pinocchio… Where’d he go?” Donald glanced all around.
“Where’d he get to this time?” said Sora, also searching. He could see a number of shipwrecks scattered about, but no sign of Pinocchio.
“Hmm… I suppose he’s off exploring,” said Geppetto. “That boy has been poking around just about everywhere inside this monster. He won’t tell me why it’s so important. I tell him it’s dangerous, but he won’t listen.”
“That boy sure is a handful!” Jiminy complained, then looked up at Sora. “If you don’t mind…”
I want to go see Naminé, Sora thought, and save her… But finding Pinocchio will have to come first. I know how Geppetto feels. He just wants to see someone who’s special to him.
“I know, I know,” he told Jiminy. “You want us to help find him, right? C’mon, guys, let’s get going!”
They jumped down from the deck and went deeper into the whale.
Heartless appeared out of the floor and the walls, making Donald jump. “Wak! We’ve got trouble!”
“Take this!” Sora swung the Keyblade and mowed through them.
“Hey!” Goofy yelped.
Sora turned. “What’s the matter, Goofy?”
“I just saw Pinocchio over thatta way!”
“What, where?” said Donald, kicking a Heartless in what might be its face.
“Over there!” Goofy began to run in that direction, followed by Donald and Sora. But the Heartless followed them.
“Enough already! Fira!”
Donald’s magic had gotten a little stronger again apparently. A good medium-sized fireball dispatched the Heartless.
“There! That way!” Goofy dashed ahead at full speed, and it was all Sora could do to keep up.
“Whoa, you found him?” said Sora.
“Well… I dunno if I found him, but I remembered that he went that way.”
“Remembered?”
Goofy seemed to remember a lot more than Sora did.
“I mean, I get the feeling he went that way when we were here before, too. But…”
“But?” Sora asked, and Goofy stopped in his tracks.
Donald didn’t come to a halt quite as quickly. His beak mashed into Goofy’s back. “Wak! Don’t stop all of a sudden like that!”
“What’re you doing, Goofy?” Sora stamped his feet in place. “C’mon!”
“Er, but… Wasn’t there someone else with Pinocchio?” Goofy stood with his arms folded, thinking hard.
Sora looked down. He couldn’t remember if there had been anyone else.
There was so much he was forgetting. But the more he forgot, the more his memories of Naminé were coming back.
“Do you remember, Donald?” said Sora, without looking at him.
Donald only frowned. “Hmm…”
“Hey, Sora…”
“What, Goofy?”
“D’you remember why we went into this castle?” Goofy asked him earnestly.
“Well, yeah—we came to find Riku and the king,” Sora said without any hesitation.
“That’s good! You remember!”
“’Course I do!” Sora retorted a little angrily and hung his head.
He had forgotten that—well, not completely, but he’d forgotten what it really meant. It had left his heart as he got more and more intent on remembering Naminé. Was that how memories ended up disappearing, bit by bit?
“I think…maybe we met Riku in here before…,” Goofy said cautiously. “Am I makin’ it up?”
“Huh?!” Sora folded his arms again. Had they seen Riku here? He didn’t remember—the memory just wasn’t there.
“Riku took Pinocchio and… Gee, I don’t remember too well, either…”
“I don’t know… I’m sorry.” Sora’s shoulders slumped miserably.
“What about you, Donald?”
“Nope, can’t remember…” Donald hung his head, too.
“Gawrsh… I’m not quite sure, either. Maybe it’s just me, after all.”
They all stared at the springy floor.
Sora had the feeling they’d come here before, but he could hardly remember anything about what had happened inside Monstro. The one thing he could say for certain was that somewhere in here—in Castle Oblivion, not in Monstro—Naminé was being held captive, and he had to help her.
Then they heard a high scream from far off.
“Pinocchio!” They ran toward the sound.
The space they were in had been more or less open like a corridor, but now it looked different. They must have made it to Monstro’s stomach.
“Pinocchio!”
Up ahead of them, a single Heartless was poised to attack the wooden boy.
“Blizzara!” Donald hurried to wave his wand. A chunk of ice hit the Heartless and it disappeared.
“Pinocchio! What are you thinking?” cried Jiminy, jumping out of his usual pocket as Sora came near. “You know Geppetto worries when you wander off by yourself.”
“I’m sorry…,” said Pinocchio in a tiny voice, still sitting where he’d fallen on his behind.
“What’re you doing, anyway? It must be something important, right?” Sora took Pinocchio’s hand and helped him up.
“Um…yeah, I’m looking for treasure!” But as he said that, Pinocchio’s nose began to grow.
“Oh, here we go again!” Jiminy scolded, hopping around him.
“But…”
“Aw, don’t be so hard on the little fella, Jiminy.” Goofy scooped up the cricket and put him atop his own head and turned to Pinocchio. “We promise not to get mad, Pinocchio. Is that why you’re afraid to tell?”
Pinocchio only hung his head.
“Is that it?” Sora peered into Pinocchio’s face and received a tiny nod in return.
“No need to fret. You can tell us the truth—we’ll understand. C’mon, put your faith in us!” Goofy went on, but Pinocchio still looked worried.
“It’s okay, you can trust us,” said Sora.
Then Pinocchio looked up at them. “I was looking for a way out. Father says he’s happy, but it’s my fault we’re stuck here. I shouldn’t have run away from home. I want to help Father get back out of here. But he’ll worry if I tell him what I’m doing.”
Jiminy took off his top hat and clutched it. “So that’s why you thought you had to tell a lie.”
“You did it ’cos you love your dad!” Goofy grinned.
Donald jumped and spoke up, “Now all you need is courage!”
“What?” Pinocchio stared at him.
“Tell Geppetto the truth. With a little courage, you can do it!”
“But…” Still uncertain, Pinocchio looked down again.
“If you tell him how you really feel, I bet he’ll help you find a way out,” said Goofy. But Pinocchio didn’t move.
“We’ll give you a hand, too,” Sora added.
“Really? You’ll help us?”
Everyone else nodded.
“Okay, I’ll give it a try! Wish me luck, Jiminy!” Pinocchio looked up at the cricket finally.
“No more keeping secrets, then,” said Jiminy. “Have we got a deal?”
“Sure! I’ll be brave and tell Father how I really feel. No lies this time!” He grinned.
“Great! Then your nose won’t—”
Before Jiminy could finish the sentence, the floor beneath them shook.
“What’s happening?!” Sora looked around with his Keyblade ready.
“Whoa!”
A huge Heartless sprang up out of the ground, right in front of Pinocchio, and opened its wide mouth.
“Pinocchio! Run for it!” shouted Jiminy. But the big rotund Heartless—the Parasite Cage—reached out with its long tentacle arms to lift up
Pinocchio and dump him in its mouth.
Shouting his name, Sora ran to him, but the creature’s mouth held Pinocchio in like cage bars.
“Help! I’m trapped!”
“Hold on!” Sora swung the Keyblade at the Parasite Cage’s mouth. The impact clanged as if it were really metal.
Donald hurled spells at it. “Fira!”
But nothing seemed to help. Pinocchio curled up in terror.
“Pinocchio! Don’t give up!” Sora shouted as he kept striking the Parasite Cage. Finally its right arm went limp.
“But…I’m scared!”
“C’mon, Pinocchio! Be brave! Fira!” Donald yelled.
“Huh?” Pinocchio looked up. “But…how…?”
With Donald’s magic attacks, the creature’s left arm stopped moving. But its hard metallic body seemed practically invulnerable.
“Just have a little courage! Try fighting your way out!” said Sora.
“Courage…” Pinocchio screwed his eyes shut and jumped as hard as he could.
The Parasite Cage made a terrible shriek and opened its mouth. Pinocchio jumped out, and then—
“Gotcha!” Sora hurled the Keyblade into the gaping mouth. It spun around, dealing a nasty blow from inside, and as it flew back into Sora’s waiting hand, the creature turned to light and disappeared.
“Whew…” Sora slumped over in relief.
Jiminy Cricket, who had been hiding in his pocket, jumped out and hopped to Pinocchio’s side. “Are you all right, Pinocch?”
“Don’t worry, I’m okay. Just a little sticky…” Pinocchio got to his feet and flashed them a smile.
“That was great, Pinocchio!” said Sora, grinning back.
“Aw, you guys helped. But, you know, I have a great idea! That thing spit me out when I started fighting back…”
Donald looked confused. “Wak?”
“So, maybe we could try the same thing with Monstro…?” said Pinocchio with a mischievous glint.
“Oh, right! If we’re lucky, Monstro might cough us up!” Sora replied. Pinocchio nodded.
“Great idea! Let’s go deeper inside and try it!” Donald exclaimed, waving his wand around as if he could hardly wait to get moving.
Pinocchio ran up to him. “I’m going, too!”
Jiminy wouldn’t hear of it. “No, it’s too dangerous.”
“Aw, c’mon…”
“You should be with Geppetto,” Jiminy told him. “No use escaping from Monstro if you two get separated again!”
Knowing he was right, Pinocchio sulked. “No fair…”
“It’s okay. Leave this to us,” said Sora, smiling.
“Oh… All right. Be careful, everybody!”
Sora and the others nodded to Pinocchio and headed deeper into the whale’s belly.
“Here goes…!”
They fought through Heartless farther into Monstro.
“Maybe we didn’t meet Riku in here after all…,” Goofy mumbled.
“But Riku and King Mickey might still be in this castle,” said Sora, looking back at Goofy as he ran.
“What makes you think so?” Donald asked.
“Just a feeling, I guess. Didn’t we all get that feeling when we first walked into the castle?”
Sora could still remember that clearly. We all felt that way at the entrance. I’m sure of it.
“Then we better hurry!” said Goofy.
“Up there! That’s as far as we can go!” Donald pointed at a dead end.
“But…how should we shake things up? Should we run into the walls?”
Donald hit the wall with his wand a few times, and the floor under them began to shake. “Quack!”
“All right, let’s hit the walls and floor as hard as we can!” said Sora.
“Got it!”
They kicked and stomped, and struck the walls with their weapons. The rippling tremors in their surroundings got stronger and stronger until a catastrophic wave went through the floor…
“It’s working!” Just as Sora said that, the wind hit them. “Whoa!”
“Wak!”
“Wah-hoooey!”
And they were blasted away.
“Ow, ow, ow…”
The trio woke up on a rocky shore. Sora got to his feet, rubbing his bruised hip. Donald and Goofy were sprawled out nearby, but they were awake, too.
“Now I know what getting shot out of a cannon feels like!” said Goofy as he stood.
Donald didn’t bother to get up yet, but looked around. “Where’re Pinocchio and his dad?”
Hearing that, Jiminy Cricket hopped out of Sora’s pocket and paced in circles. “Well, they’re not here. They must have gotten out safely,” he said, looking up at Sora.
“Without you, Jiminy?” Sora teased. “I thought there was no escaping your conscience!”
“I don’t mind being left behind, as long as they’re both safe. Maybe, just maybe…Pinocchio doesn’t need me that much after all.” Jiminy’s smile was wistful.
“What do you mean?” Donald wanted to know.
“That little puppet used to have trouble telling right from wrong. But he’s come a long way. Maybe he doesn’t need Jiminy Cricket anymore.” He looked into the distance. “Maybe he’s got a conscience of his own, and he’s got to think for himself.”
“Don’t you remember what Geppetto said? There’s nothing better than being reunited with someone you care about. I bet Pinocchio’s counting the days till he can see you again.”
Jiminy nodded and hopped up onto Sora’s head.
“Well, what do you know? You might be right.”
“Someone you care about, huh…?” said Goofy, looking at Sora.
“The person we care about is…the king!” Donald exclaimed.
“There’s a lot of other people we care about too…but I can’t remember ’em too well now…” Goofy looked terribly anxious about it.
“But we won’t forget the king,” said Donald. “It’ll be okay!”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Goofy nodded.
“The ones I care about are Riku…and Naminé,” said Sora.
“And Kairi, too!” Goofy added.
Sora stopped short.
Right. He’d promised Kairi…that he would come back.
…And he’d forgotten about it.
No, it wasn’t that he’d totally forgotten…he just hadn’t remembered. Even though he’d made such an important promise…
And if Goofy hadn’t said anything about her, Sora might have gone on not remembering. Just like he’d forgotten about Naminé because everyone had stopped talking about her.
He couldn’t let that happen. Kairi…and Riku. He had to go home with them, back to their islands.
“There’s the door!” Donald pointed at a door in a big boulder.
“Let’s go!”
“Right!”
The three ran to the door.
CHAPTER 5
NEVERLAND
I color in my drawings with pastels.
White sand…blue sky, warm sunlight… The three of us were always smiling so brightly.
How much of it was a dream…and how much of it was real?
Can you see?
The world is so full of color, but I’m here in this room of cold white marble. All I can do is draw in this sketchbook.
Do you know now? I wonder if you do. I want you to know.
I’m here.
But am I supposed to exist?
Hey, Sora… Tell me.
THROUGH THE DOOR, THERE WAS ANOTHER OF THE same marble halls.
“Gawrsh, d’you think someone’s gonna jump out at us again?” said Goofy, walking gingerly, practically on tiptoe. If this room was made like all the others, there would be a stairway up ahead, and the next room upstairs would have a door leading to another world.
“Does this castle have a top?” Donald wondered.
“Well, it can’t just go on forever, can it?” said Sora.
“Hmm… I dunno…” Donald looked up at t
he magnificently decorated ceiling. Chandeliers made of marble just like the flower carvings shone down.
All the rooms looked the same with their cold bright marble—so identical that it was getting hard to say how far they had come or whether they were really moving at all.
“Maybe when we get to the top of the castle, we’ll find where they’re keeping Naminé,” said Goofy.
“Yeah, maybe—so let’s go!” The moment Sora began to run, they saw a silhouette up ahead, moving tremulously.
“Wak! Someone’s there!” Donald rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
“…Riku?!” cried Sora.
A silver-haired boy stood there—Riku, who they had to leave on the other side when they closed the door to Kingdom Hearts.
“Riku! Is it really you?!” Sora flung himself forward, ready to seize him in a hug. Riku looked just the same as when they’d parted, in his yellow shirt and blue pants—not like when Ansem had possessed him, turning his outfit all strange and inky dark. Sora felt a little relieved at that. “What’re you doing here?”
“Not happy to see me?” Riku’s voice was cold, stopping Sora in his tracks. “Let me know if I’m getting in the way of something more important.”
“Huh? I didn’t mean that…” Sora hung his head. Riku hit the mark too easily.
“Hmph. Never mind the excuses. I bet you’d all but forgotten about me.”
“Are you crazy?” Sora protested. “C’mon, I came all this way looking for you!”
They really had been looking for Riku and King Mickey. And he’d started looking for Naminé on the way, too, but he still meant to find Riku.
“But you’re not anymore, are you?” said Riku. “Now the only one you’re trying to find is Naminé. You don’t care about me.”
“That’s not true!” Sora burst out.
“We’ve been looking for you and King Mickey and Naminé, too!” Donald shouted from behind him.
“Well, Sora, you never gave a thought to her feelings, did you?”
“Naminé’s…?” Sora mumbled, caught off guard.
“Ha. I knew it. You don’t really care about her, either. Just because you want to see Naminé—well, it doesn’t go both ways. But that wouldn’t have crossed your mind, huh?”
No…Sora hadn’t thought of that.
I thought Naminé must want to see me, too… When I want to see her so badly…
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