Mad at Mouse Part 21

There used to be a whole lot more travel between the Worlds.

I’m not just talking about when I was active, because back then we didn’t have a lot of ships. Those we did had, went to the War. Travelling, when I was young, was a matter of finding a gap and flinging yourself through the dark, or the madness.

It wasn’t something done lightly. People did it. But there was always the chance something would go wrong.

I know taking the pathways is dangerous, but I do it anyway.

My first memory was the Mirror paths. I grew up in the pathways.

But that isn’t important. What is?

There used to be a whole lot more travel between the Worlds.

A thousand years ago there were hundreds of Worlds who reached out for the stars.

A hundred years ago that number had been reduced to a few dozen.

Today? There are no fleets, there are a few traders, but most of those stick to a few known planets.

It didn’t make sense. Why had the fleets retreated? Why had people stopped yearning for the stars?

I stepped out on a World I knew once had a fleet, had once expanded out to several nearby Worlds.

It was in ruins.

I listened and watched.

There was no sound, no movement, no wind.

The World was dead.

I walked.

If there was Heartless I didn’t see them. I didn’t see anyone.

There was a thin layer of dust over everything.

The people were gone. Dust in the wind.

I found a library. It had a rack of newspapers and magazines which I briefly scanned through. What had happened here?

There was fear. Terror. People had been afraid. The Fleet had been called home.

I don’t know what happened here. I don’t know but I can guess.

I hope I’m wrong.

Mad at Mouse Part 20

Sora, Donald and Goofy arrived just in time to crash into the girl as she ran out the gates.

Sora and the girl went flying, Sora getting caught by his friends, but the girl wasn’t as lucky. She went tumbling over the courtyard and into one of the bushes lining the way.

“Hey!” Sora yelled, “Are you okay?” He dashed over to help pull her out of the hedge.

She looked terrified. Short and skinny, with dark bruises under her eyes, and dark lines over her arms where the bush had cut her.

“The stars...” She gestured upwards, and Sora looked up at the Night sky. He tried, but the stars here looked so different from the stars back home.

“Is there something wrong?” Sora asked, brushing leaves off the girl.

She turned her gaze to him, “Everything.” Her eyes were so big. Was she going to cry? She looked like she was going to cry. “You are the Keyblader.”

“Yep, that’s me! I’m Sora.” He pointed over his shoulder, “This is Donald and Goofy but you probably know that if you live here. Can we help? Everything is quite a big burden to carry.”

Her eyes flickered over them, returning to Sora’s. “You aren’t like the others.”

“Others?” Sora asked, confused.

“Keybladers.” She said, poking his chest, his heart. “You are different. Strange.” She tilted her head, “Twilight doesn’t like me. I don’t think he likes most people.”

“I’m sure he didn’t mean to hurt you.” Sora said.

“There’s three of you.” She replied, her eyes crossing, “But... why? I don’t...” She glanced up again. “It’s not important. Minor details. I need...”

“Calm down.” Sora said, patting her, “You’re not making a lot of sense. Want to run that by us again?”

“The stars are running. Something is coming. Something bad. I need...” She took a step away, towards the gate. “I’m sorry.” She darted away, making a run for the gate.

Goofy and Donald stepped aside to let her pass, and once she stepped out the gate she disappeared in a flash of blue light.

“Who was that?” Sora asked.

Donald and Goofy shared a look.

“I don’t rightly know.” Goofy replied, rubbing the back of his head.

“We should have stopped her.” Donald said, tapping his wand angrily.

“She was scared.” Sora replied.

“She should of been, sneaking into the Castle.” Donald grumbled.

“No. Of something else.” Sora glanced at the sky again. “Do the stars look alright to you guys?”

Donald and Goofy both looked up, and shared a glum look.

“Not again.” They said in unison.

Mad at Mouse Part 19

He was sleeping. Destiny watched for a while before slipping out. So that was a King.

A King, a Keyblader, a Magician.

Those were just the hats she knew about, she wondered how many jobs were left untended because the Mouse had taken too much on?

He seemed to be healing. She casually took a glance over his chart as she left the healing wing.

It seemed strange to her that they hadn’t continued testing. He was sick. They didn’t know why. Sure he was healing, but that had more to do with the Dark Heart not being done with him yet.

Destiny considered. It would be so easy to drain that power away, causing a relapse. The mouse was a burden, appearing to be healthy while at any moment he could crumple.

That was dangerous.

Whatever plan she came up with, it was likely the Keybladers would need to play a key part, they had last time, and every time since according to the records.

On the scale of things one Keyblader shouldn’t be that important, but they were so few now.

She needed to think.

She wanted a puzzle she could solve. All this research was giving her a headache. There was so much missing, so many gaps, but where there wasn’t gaps there were mountains of knowledge to digest.

She slipped in and out of the Dining Hall, picking up something brightly coloured and wobbly. She didn’t know what it was called, but there was always a pile of them and it transported well.

She wandered, letting her head clear. She was starting to think the answers wouldn’t be found here, if they were to be found at all.

Twilight seemed to object to her presence.

It didn’t make sense for her to stay, once she had finished in their library.

She found herself outside and stared up at the sky.

The stars were moving, they always danced to music she could not hear.

Now? They ran.

Something was coming.

Mad at Mouse Part 18

Mickey drifted awake to the sound of beeping. It was irritating, but he was too cold and tired to do anything about it.

There were words taking place over his head, but they might as well have been in a foreign language for all the sense it made.

What had happened?

The Heartless had been defeated, did they miss one? Did that one sneak attack him?

No. The woman.

Mickey’s eyes flipped open as adrenaline sent his heart racing.

He recognised that ceiling. He shifted enough to glanced around the room. He knew this room. He was in Disney Castle? How did he get here?

“Sire!” Doctor Ludwig Von Drake was standing by his bed, holding a clip board. Mickey felt his heart miss a beat.

“How...?” He croaked, and Ludwig fetched him a glass and straw.

A few probing questions later and Mickey was starting to rethink having Ludwig as the castle’s Doctor. The Duck was a good researcher, a great student, but he frankly terrified Mickey when he got an idea firmly lodged in his head.

He was relieved when the Doctor left, and let Minnie in.

She was putting her best face on, but to anyone who knew her well she looked worried.

“Minnie...” Mickey said. “What happened?”

“We were hoping you could tell us.” She clasped his hand and sat down beside his bed.

Mickey nodded, “There was these odd readings from one of the Cornerstone Worlds, they don’t usually get many Heartless, but they were pouring in. I think the shielding failed. I went down to check things out and... well I found the Heartless.”

Minnie nodded expectantly.

“There was this woman singing to them, I thought at first she was an enemy because they weren’t attacking her, but as soon as her song stopped, they attacked us both. She was injured, but we fought them off. I thought we had cleared the area. I don’t remember what happened after that.”

“She brought you home to us.” Minnie said.

Mad at Mouse Part 17

I think Twilight believed me.

He left me for a while. Probably to discuss things and prepare. I resumed my research, but at this point I didn’t expect to find anything new.

There had been so many threats in just the past few decades. It was worrying how the numbers of Keybladers had declined over time.

There were only four active Keybladers recorded, and only two had reached Master level.

I am sure there were others, there were certainly signs of other powers at work.

The Wardens were a much more subtle power, it was entirely possible that the Wardens were falling beneath notice, or that no one had realised they were a power.

I noted the names of individuals that had chosen to help the Keybladers in the past. Unless someone admitted to being a Warden I couldn’t see myself being able to find them, so I discarded that idea for now.

On the other hand High Mages were the exact opposite. Loud and visible and about as subtle as a rhino in a tutu. The possibilities for those were much smaller, but it was with a feeling of alarm that I noted most of those were either of advance age, or very much enemies of the Keybladers.

That was worrying. Might need to grab a few Watchers later to null their power, hopefully long enough to talk them around.

The White Knights... I think they must have died out before these records began. I knew how to train one up, but there wasn’t time...

Thinking of that, I inserted a copy of the White Knight training guide in the library. It might not be any use at this point in time, but I hoped that we would need a plan for the future as well.

The other minor powers I let lie, they had been in decline before, and while they might be helpful, it wouldn’t be enough to tilt the balance.

I glanced at the doorway, half expecting to see someone standing there.

Twilight had been gone a while.

Maybe it was time to check on the Mouse.