CHAPTER 15: Tainted Memories

It was there again. I bit my bottom lip and studied it.

MEMORY LANE

Why did this door keep appearing? Was this Lea's subconscious telling me that it wanted me to know something? That I should see something about his past? Most likely something he's hiding from us.

It wasn't a crazy theory. I mean if Xehanort is still lurking around and he is linked to Lea's past, then most likely Lea's darkness is somewhere in his past. If I was to destroy said darkness, then I should enter through this door, find darkness and eliminate it.

Is that how I get out of here? Out of Lea's heart? By helping him confront his darkness? Yen Sid indicated that magic couldn't get me out of his heart as it wasn't magic that put me in here in the first place, but via Marino's desire to protect me. Thus it had to be undone on its own.

But then the old wizard said that warriors were not born or made. That they were ordinary people who rose to the occasion.

So maybe if I rose to the occasion, in this case, destroyed Lea's darkness, then maybe I would be set free. And while I'd like to think he wasn't talking about me risking my dumbass to save someone else, the same person who directly caused my world to disappear, I've had this hunch for the last couple of days now that I was placed here for a much bigger reason than I'm comfortable with.

I stared at the door while I questioned whether or not Yen Sid had lied to us. That perhaps he had a different plan altogether. I chewed on my bottom lip. The idea that someone, who everyone seems to blindly trust, would lie made me all the more uncomfortable.

However, it made more sense that it was a lie.

I sighed. Only one way to find out.

I stood up and brandished my shield. "I'm ready for you this time."

Pushing open the door, I stepped through as a white light glittered all around me and found myself in the white room again, standing next to Axel. He was sitting on his bed. His normally spiky red hair flopped down onto his back and he sat with his hands in front of him. He had a pained and concentrated expression on his face, looking as if he was contemplating something extremely important and grim. I would have patted his back to cheer him up but my actions did nothing here in the past.

The door to his room, or at least I assumed it was his room, opened.

"Huh?" The redhead glanced up to find Saïx entering his room again. "Ever heard of knocking? What do you want?"

"Tell me what Xion has been doing," he ordered, earning a scowl from Axel.

I snorted. Some best friend you are.

"Well, how should I know? I'm not spying on her," he said defensively.

"The two of you look pretty close," Saïx suggested.

I tilted my head. Was that jealousy?

"So what? Now I've gotta rat on my friends to you?" Axel retorted, looking away. "I think you should just go."

Oh, was I witnessing an old friendship fall apart? Not that the last memory was friendly either. I mean, there was an implication that Saïx had wanted to erase Axel. I observed their body language and facial expressions, only to find them unreadable. I guess this was part of being a Nobody. They both just seemed guarded around one another, keeping aloof airs. I never would have guessed that they were friends had I not seen them as children.

Saïx blew him off. "Today, you and Xion will be going on the same mission."

"Well, thank you, sir, for personally delivering that message to me," Axel said.

Who is Xion?

"We also need you to go back to Castle Oblivion soon," Saïx continued.

Axel turned his gaze back to him. "Says Lord Xemnas?"

"That castle hasn't given up all its secrets," Saïx said. "One even he doesn't know of its whereabouts."

"Even he doesn't know...You mean the chamber, right? We turned that place inside out. If it's there, we're not gonna find it just by looking."

"Then let me give you another reason," Saïx said. "Xion comes from the castle to which Naminé can be traced." This grabbed Axel's attention, earning a gasp of surprise from the redhead. "The place where both Naminé and Xion were born...it's practically calling out for you."

Did this mean Xion and Naminé were princesses of Castle Oblivion? Was Axel friends with royalty? Was he supposed to be their bodyguard? Was that why Saïx was upset to learn Naminé was missing if Axel was in charge of protecting her?

I scratched my head. This was too confusing.

"Pfft. Whatever," Axel responded with nonchalance. "As far as the castle goes, you're the one who really wants to go there. By finding the room that Xemnas is searching for...you would find out everything about Xemnas's true agenda, am I right?" Axel gave him a pointed look.

Saïx looked up and I followed his gaze to the heart-shaped moon outside the window. "The Chamber of Repose as well as the Chamber of Waking. Xemnas has an agenda that he hasn't told to anybody. And we are bound to find some clues in the Chamber of Waking." He folded his arms over his chest. "And once we obtain those clues, we'll have the upper hand for our own objectives."

"I knew the time would come when Vexen and Zexion got in your way, that's why I took the initiative." Axel stood up. "And cleared the way to the top for you. I can handle all the dirty work. You go all the way to the top."

"You will be going on a solo mission to Castle Oblivion," Saïx said. "Expect the orders soon."

Axel waited until he left to talk to himself. "Castle Oblivion… Naminé and Xion…"

I'm confused. I thought he was going on a mission with Xion? Turning my attention on to the redhead I also began to wonder just what the hell were they up to anyway. Their own objectives? What objectives? What goal did Axel and Saïx have?

A red door appeared in the middle of the room. I waited for Axel to take notice of it but when he stood up and walked out of his room, he walked right through it as if it wasn't truly there.

That elicited a groan from me.

"That could only mean one thing," I said to myself. "You were meant for me." I eyed the door suspiciously. "And just where do you want to take me this time?"

The door stood there almost ominously as if waiting for me to take the bait and enter.

Sighing, I opened it with my free hand, allowing the light to fill the room and blind me. Blinking a few times, I opened my eyes to a red-orange sunset and slowly began to recognize the place. A town was beneath me, consisting of various buildings, green hills, and a white railroad way. I could see the ocean in the distance. Glancing at my sides, several large bells hung. The wind seemed to push the clouds towards the building that I was standing on.

The clock tower.

I was standing on the clock tower from Lea's platform. Strange, I thought the clock tower would come from Lea's world, but this was definitely not Lea's world.

"Twilight Town," a female voice said.

I yelped in surprise and whirled around, finding a person in the Organization 13's cloak. She was sitting down, facing the sunset. Her hood was drawn down and closed up so I couldn't see her face. Pausing, I also looked around to see if she was talking to someone else but we were the only ones here.

She patted the empty space next to her. "It's okay. You can sit with me if you want."

"You can see me?" I asked cautiously.

She faced me. "Am I not supposed to?"

Well, that's unsettling. I weighed my options. She sounded really young. Could she be dangerous? Yes. Was there any potential of real harm as I was in Lea's heart? Yes. Well, what was I waiting for?

I sat down next to her. "Who are you?"

"I think I should be asking you that," she said, giggling. She sounded light. Pure. Yet there was an undertone of sadness in the softness of her voice.

I smiled a little. "Yeah, I guess that's rude. I'm Sole."

She handed me a blue popsicle. "Have one."

Can people be poisoned while traveling through someone else's memories? I stared at it for a bit longer before I took it and licked. My mouth made a twitch when it picked up on the sweetness and then the saltiness.

"It's got a weird flavor."

"It's Sea-Salt Ice Cream," she laughed. "It's Axel's favorite."

"Hey!" Realization struck me like a lightning bolt just as I bit into the ice cream. "You're the hooded figure!"

"Huh?"

"You're on the platform," I said. "You are somebody important to Lea. I mean, Axel. Seems like you knew him as Axel."

An uncomfortable silence followed.

"How are you able to see me?" I asked. "Everyone else can't."

"Sounds familiar," she said sadly.

I tilted my head. "You sound like you have experience with being invisible. Are you not a memory?"

She shrugged. "Yes and no. I don't really know."

I nodded. "I thought so."

She turned to me. "What do you mean?"

"I just thought maybe it was possible that others didn't see me because they were indeed part of the past. Something that actually happened. If you can see me, and you admitted that you were just as invisible, maybe you aren't supposed to be here like I'm not supposed to be here," I explained, taking a few licks at the ice cream. "So, who are you?"

She huffed, standing up quickly. Judging by how she squared her shoulders, I must have hurt her feelings.

I was instantly on my feet. "Sorry, I didn't mean to insult you."

She didn't respond. And then she pushed me off the clock tower.

Rude.

I found myself lying on my stomach on cold, white stairs with my arms above me. Groaning, I forced myself to sit up and exhaled slowly as I examined myself. Fortunately, I can't break any bones while in spirit form. I slowly turned my neck from side to side and stretched my back, hearing everything crack. I took in my surroundings, noticing a symbol on the wall. It looked like an upside down heart and a cross with sections taken out of the heart.

The Heartless had a symbol. Perhaps this was the Nobody symbol?

My eyes landed on Lea's favorite blue-haired person, and that particular pain in the ass was glaring at Axel.

"I never expected you to question it. If you could save one of them, why would you choose the puppet?" He had his arms crossed, curious but annoyed with the redhead. "Or put it this way, which would you rather suffer the loss of? Some make-believe friendship, or a real one?"

Axel grunted, uncomfortable, and cast his eyes down. He seemed to do that a lot when disappointed in himself, or when he couldn't find a way to explain himself. Hmm, was this it? The end of their friendship?

"Things are finally right again. Of course, we're better off this way." Saix began to walk away, pausing in his steps only to push Axel further. "Xemnas is exasperated from the 'fixing' we had to do. We have to set things right." He turned around to face Axel. "There is simply too much on the line…Lea."

Axel said nothing but walked away, a sad look on his face.

A black hole of whirling purple smoke opened behind me. I examined it and then turned my attention to Saix, who most likely opened it, and waited to see if he'd step through it. He did and once he was gone I made myself stand up. As I did, the memory faded into a grey mist and a light shone on my face, nearly blinding me. I waited until my surroundings dimmed and blinked a few times.

I had returned to square one. The platform of Lea's heart greeted me with a stillness. As if it had shown me too much and needed a break.

"That's it?" I said. "What was the point of the field trip?"

I scowled, tapping my foot on the platform, but it occurred to me that these memories had a theme. They weren't Lea's memories. They were all Axel's memories. I looked down at the people on Lea's platform in wonder. Was Axel reaching out to me this time? That was possible, right? He's a part of Lea.

The image of the cloaked figure stared up at me. "So you're a girl," I said.

I'm not a girl. I think I've proven myself countless times.

I rolled my eyes. "Good morning to you, too, princess."

Aw, come on. I thought we got past this name-calling business.

"You wish," I said. "What's going on in the outside world?"

I haven't even opened my eyes yet so I don't know.

We heard Chihiro gasp and wake from across the room. "Ugh. Bad dream."

Lea opened one eye to observe her, allowing me to take a peek. The room was unusually empty, which might have explained the quietness. Marino was still sleeping in a curled up position.

She sat up. "Lin? Where is everybody?" She spotted the sleeping forms of Lea and Marino. "At least you guys are still here. Maybe I'm not late." She began putting on her clothes, the movement waking Marino up. As she walked over to one of the sliding doors, he stretched and let out a loud yawn.

"It really is like the sea," Chihiro muttered to herself. Her head swiveled to the side. "There's Mom and Dad's pig pen. I sure hope that they're doing all right over there." She glanced up. "Kamaji lit the boiler already? How long were we asleep?"

"Must you be so loud?" Marino whined.

Lea threw a pillow at him, which earned him an "Oof" from my brother. The redhead sighed and then rolled over on his side, trying his best to ignore them. Having just woken up, he wasn't in the mood to deal with all their chatter just yet.

Chihiro wasn't willing to wait, leaving the room before either one of the guys could get ready.

"You know you're going to have to get up," I said.

Don't. Just don't.

"Lea," I drawled out. "She's a child on her own."

She'll be perfectly fine.

"But there are heartless out there."

He sighed. You're annoying, Sole.

"Come on, kiddo. We have to catch up with her fast," Lea said, throwing off the blankets.

Marino raised an eyebrow at him. "Did she give you a lecture about sleeping in?"

"Your sister is relentless."

Marino chuckled. "Try living with her for sixteen years."

"I can still hear you," I deadpanned.

It's nothing that we wouldn't say to your face.

By some miracle, they were able to catch up to Chihiro who had stopped at a wooden handrail to observe the commotion. Spirits were running in every direction, barking orders for more food.

They were greeted by Lin. "I was just coming to wake you up. Here, look. It's real gold. There's a new guest here who's loaded. He's giving gold away by the handfuls."

Lea raised a curious eyebrow at that.

"Not interested I take it?" I asked.

I was never one for gold or riches, but someone who freely gives away that much gold is fishy. They want something.

"That would explain the mass chaos." Marino motioned to the staff running around like crazy, complaining that someone was starving.

"Who is the guest?" Chihiro asked.

"Ugh, who cares?" Lin laughed. "Come on, before Yubaba wakes up."

"I'm going to go look for Haku," Chihiro shouted over the volume.

Lin stopped at the bottom of the stairs. "Ugh, would you quit worrying about Haku? Come on, Sen, let's go get some gold."

Two more female spirits clad in the same pink attire joined Lin. "Come on, Lin, let's go get some more!"

Marino glanced at Lea. "Should we or should we not?"

"Do you want gold?" Lea asked.

Marino shrugged. "No, but I thought we should at least investigate."

Chihiro walked away from the chaos, giving them no choice but to follow her seeing as she was their main responsibility. They returned to their bedroom's balcony and she looked over to the pig pen that held her parents.

"Hmm, where is Haku? He better get here before I forget what my parents look like. I sure hope Dad hasn't gotten too fat." Chihiro rested her head on the wooden rail.

"You won't forget them," Marino said, nudging Lea. "We'll make sure of that."

But I felt Lea's uncertainty. He rubbed the back of his head, glancing at the floor. "Yeah, what he said."

The wind whistled and a fluttery sound followed it. Lea turned his gaze to the water to find a white dragon wiggling about in the water, looking like it was trying to get rid of the white specks trailing after it.

"Is that Haku?" Chihiro muttered softly.

The dragon flew into the sky before dropping, giving us a chance to observe the injuries it obtained from these white specks.

"What is that?" Marino asked, eyes squinting. "That white stuff?"

The dragon dropped right back into the water with a loud splash.

"It's Haku, he's back!" Chihiro shouted. The dragon writhed underwater. "Are birds chasing him?"

Haku shot out of the water and flew past the balcony, causing the trio to back away.

Lea rushed to rail and looked up. "Those are not birds."

Marino joined him. "Then what?" He grabbed on to one of the white things. "Paper? It feels like paper. Weirdly bird or person-shaped cut out paper." He released it and it flew up to recommence its chase.

"Haku! Fight them! Come on!" Chihiro cheered the dragon on until she noticed the wounds. "He's hurt! Haku! This way!"

"Oh crap," Marino said as he scrambled out of the way.

Lea grabbed his arm, yanking him to the side just as the dragon broke down one of the doors and crashed into the room. Chihiro hastily slid the first door shut but needed help sliding the second door as the paper figures crowded her. Marino and Lea were on it, having a few of them stuck to their faces.

Chihiro screamed and jumped around to get the white stuff off of her, ripping some in the progress. She stopped when she noticed that she wasn't being harmed.

"It really is just paper," she said sheepishly.

And the white paper figures slowly began to fly out of the room on their own.

"Ok. Normal paper doesn't do that," Marino said.

"Must have some magic on it," Lea reasoned and he closed the door.

Chihiro's attention immediately fell onto the dragon. "Haku, you're bleeding."

"Understatement of the year," Marino muttered, looking at the blood oozing from the dragon's cut up flesh and the blood drooling in pools from its mouth.

The dragon was making soft hissing sounds and its eyes narrowed at her.

"Hold still. Those paper things are gone now," she told the dragon. "You're going to be all right."

Lea's eyes widened as the dragon coiled its body and pulled Chihiro to his chest just as the dragon launched itself at her and broke through the sliding doors.

"Nice save," Marino said.

Chihiro broke free from Lea and stood on the rail, staring up. "He went into that top window! I got to get there before he bleeds to death!" She began running and the guys took off after her, but they came to an abrupt stop when they nearly collided into the crowd of spirits. They managed to wiggle their way through the mass and to the elevator until Chihiro ran right into a toad spirit.

"Hey!" He grabbed her by the shoulder and hand. "What are you doing?"

"Going upstairs," she answered hastily.

"No, you're not." He scowled and then looked at her hand. "AH! Blood!" He released her instantly.

Chihiro ran back into the crowd and... what in the hell was that?

Behind one of the spirits was the white masked spirit. It had grown bigger than the size of a horse and gained some black frog legs while at it. Its mouth, which I thought had been on the mask, was actually much wider and larger, deceitfully hidden beneath the mask. I caught the sight of huge, white human-like teeth when the spirit's tongue rolled out.

Lea groaned. It definitely wasn't as it seemed.

He turned to Marino. "Don't summon anything just yet. There are too many spirits here and someone could get hurt."

Marino nodded his head, keeping his hands clenched.

"Get out of the way! Our guest is coming through here!" The spirit with the red cap on its head swished his fan at Chihiro.

Chihiro recognized the white masked spirit and bowed to it. "Thank you for helping me earlier."

"Don't talk to him you stinkin' hum-" The spirit was picked up and tossed aside.

The crowd became silent, surprised at the sudden show of violence. The masked spirit faced her, making guttural voice sounds, and his hands flooded with gold. The crowd gawked at the gold in awe.

Chihiro shook her head. "I don't want any but thanks!"

Disappointment showed in the way the masked spirit's shoulder drooped down and in the trembling of its hands, dropping the gold onto the floor.

"I'm sorry but I'm in a really big hurry." She disappeared into the crowd as the masses pounced on the fallen gold.

Lea and Marino had to fight their way through, shoving spirits aside to catch up with Chihiro.

"Ah to be small and a child again," Marino muttered under his breath.

"No thanks," Lea said as he squeezed through. "I used to be a short kid. Thankfully life granted me my wish to be tall." He paused for a moment. "Besides, it's easier to find people at this height. Found an opened window!" Lea stopped and poked his head out. He spotted Chihiro standing on top of the roof, clinging to the wall. "Yep, and there she is. Come on, we have to climb."

Chihiro tightened her clothes with a white sash and tied it up so the sleeves wouldn't be in her way. She pulled up her pants and strung the strings tightly, preparing herself for the jump.

"Chihiro, let's be smart about this," Lea said as he and Marino reached her.

She paid him no mind as she made a run for it, jumping on the pipes. The guys copied her and the three of them ran as quickly as they could as the pipes detached from the wall and began to fall apart. Marino let out the most inhuman, high-pitched scream as the trio finally got to the ladder and clung to it. The pipes collapsed and fell.

Marino glared at her. "Do not ever make me do that again!"

Lea chuckled. "What's the matter, Marino? Afraid of heights?"

"I'm afraid of death, you crazy nutball!"

Chihiro ignored them, instantly beginning her climb up the ladder with determination. Marino sighed hesitantly but Lea shoved him up so he would go first. Midway up the climb though, she paused.

"It's Yubaba!"

The boys stopped climbing. Marino kept his chin on the ladder but Lea turned his head to look over his shoulder.

"We gotta hurry!" he shouted.

They stopped at a small whimsical window that only Chihiro was able to stand on. She heaved her shoulder and then her body to bust the window open and fell in with a yelp.

"Chihiro?" Marino shouted to check on her.

"I'm fine." She was immediately on her feet and running.

"Fantastic," Lea muttered, allowing Marino to go in first. "Follow the dirty footprints."

"On it." Marino chased after her but screeched to a halt. "Heartless!"

Lea had one leg in and one leg out when he had paused to look, falling into the room ungracefully with a thud. Rubbing his head, he frowned at the sight before him. There were heartless in the shape of colorful, plush cushions and children's toys. A clown with orange straw hair and a massive round, red nose stopped in front of them. The heartless symbol glittered on its chest. Blue eyes narrowed eagerly at Lea and it smiled.

Lea summoned his chakras. "I got these." He twirled his left chakram to distract the heartless. "You go after her as I said."

Marino shivered at the sight of the clown and nodded. "No problem. Just be careful."

The scent of smoke filled my nostrils. My eyes watered and stung. I groaned to myself. It was unbelievable that I was still having reactions to fire without actually being physically there myself, but I assumed it was because Lea was breathing it all in and therefore affecting me. A heat wave erupted from the chakrams and something black and chain-like twisted around him. A flash of red went off and flames appeared to lick the tips of the sharp blades. Lea threw one of the chakrams into the clown like a frisbee. The clown blocked his attack, catching it with its white-gloved hands.

Lea blinked. "Well, that was unexpected. Let me try that again." He pushed off the ground, jumped into the air and brought down the chakram. "BURN!" He slashed down the clown's head but the chakram got stuck in between the eyes of the clown. "What?" The surprise in Lea's voice was not lost on my ears.

It let out a chuckle, sounding like a powered-down robot. The clown, with his head still torn in two, grabbed the other chakram and yanked it out. It now held onto both of Lea's chakrams. Its head was flopping up and down as it began to knit itself back together as if some invisible person took a needle and thread and sewed it back together. Its blue eyes seemed to come undone, however, reminding me of the googly eyes Fiore used to glue on her toys as they shook about.

But Lea didn't feel deterred. Albeit thrown off guard, there was a fire in his chest as his heart thumped wildly.

"Lea, your keyblade," I urged him. "Use it. Use it now."

But it doesn't-

"You can use your keyblade, Lea. You've been training to become a master."

He hesitated. It still doesn't appear when summoned, remember? What if it doesn't come?

"You've got to try!" I shouted, cringing as the clown rushed at him.

Lea dodged to the side, using fire to keep the clown at a distance. The clown heartless spun on its foot to clobber him with his own chakram.

And what does this idiot do?

He closes his eyes. The floating window on the platform went black for a few seconds and then I heard a sharp CLINK sound of metal. My heart jumped into my throat and pounded in my ears.

"LEA!"

His eyes popped open and he glanced down. There it was in all its glory. Lea's keyblade. It had been so long since I've seen it that I almost forgot what it looked like. The handle of the key resembled a smaller chakram. The teeth of the key formed a curve like a tongue of a flame. The keyblade had blocked the chakram, which had been aimed for Lea's throat. Lea grinned, happy to see that his keyblade had finally answered his call. He pressed harder, using his body weight to throw off the clown, and the clown stumbled backward.

"You're done for now," he said with a little too much confidence, but with a quick uppercut slash of the keyblade the clown was obliterated.

That left the oddly, colorful plush cushions. They appeared normal until they turned around, showing their backside to have deep yellow glowing eyes and sharp fangs. Lea joyfully hacked through them. Once they and the fire vanished, he glanced at his chakrams and then back at his keyblade.

"Do you think it will come out now?" he asked aloud. "When it's supposed to?"

"I don't know," I said. "I don't know how the keyblade works. I don't understand why it sporadically appears."

He was quiet for a moment. "Maybe I needed a little bit of encouragement."

"Yes, death is a great force of encouragement. I fully agree." I rolled my eyes.

"No, I mean. Maybe I needed someone to believe that I could," he said with a hint of a smile.

I paused. Was it possible that the keyblade wasn't reliable? Or that it didn't always appear because Lea doubted his ability to summon it? But why did he doubt it, to begin with? He was training to be a keyblade master and he had summoned it before, so where was his insecurity coming from? I could understand if he had been reluctant to be a keyblade wielder, therefore have trouble summoning it, but this is what he wanted to do. He wielded his chakrams confidently without effort, almost as if they were a part of him, therefore it couldn't be that he wasn't comfortable with using weapons or getting into fights. In fact, he practically looked forward to a good brawl.

Before I could say anything there was a loud wailing sound. The wooden floor beneath his feet trembled with the noise.

Lea tilted his head in confusion. "Was that a baby?"

"Marino and Chihiro!"

He sighed. "On it."

He followed the cries of a young child to the room where they first signed their contract, finding Chihiro on the floor with Haku, who was still bleeding. Three familiar green heads with black facial hair bounced around him. There was a hole in the floor and the heads were attempting to push Haku in. Marino was on the other side of Haku with his wand in hand.

He had his wand aimed at the blackbird with Yubaba's face. "I'm warning you."

Lea's eyes landed on the baby who had tumbled his way into the room, tearing down the red curtains as he went. The oversized babe was nearly nude, wearing only what looked like a red apron. I couldn't make out the giant white letters on the front. With his height and weight, he looked more like a sumo wrestler than an infant. He stood in front of Chihiro with crocodile tears in his eyes and frown etched on his face.

"I'm not afraid of germs. If you don't play with me, I'll cry."

"Please don't cry, just wait." Chihiro pleaded with him.

Water gathered in the baby's eyes. "Right now or I'll start crying." And he began to wail.

"Don't cry! Don't cry!" Chihiro tried to sooth the infant.

Lea frowned. "I don't normally support child abuse but…this one could use a spanking."

"What a spoiled brat," A voice akin to Yubaba's spoke. A white piece of paper, the very same as the ones that attacked Haku, floated to the infant's head. "Shut your big mouth." The infant stopped and stared at the floating white paper, bewildered. "You're a bit of a porker, aren't you?" The white piece of paper landed on the floor and transformed into Yubaba.

Marino blinked and then rubbed his eyes. He glanced at Lea who shrugged at him. "Okay, officially confused."

The Yubaba look alike glanced down at herself. "Hmph, still see through."

"Mama?" The infant asked.

"You pea-brain, can't you even tell me from your own mother?" She flicked her index finger, making a bell-like chiming sound. The infant morphed into a tiny, chubby mouse. "There, now your body matches your brain. Let's see, what else can we mess with?"

Marino and Lea instantly backed away, wanting nothing to do with her magic. The three heads seemed to be in agreement as they tried to bounce away. Chihiro was stunned and watched with her mouth agape. The Yubaba look alike waved her index finger, changing the crow into a fly and the three heads into the infant.

She laughed and turned to the trio. "This is our little secret. You tell anyone else and I'll rip your mouth out."

"Pfft," Lea snorted and narrowed his eyes at her. "You have a great way of making friends."

"Who are you?" Chihiro asked.

The witch inched closer to Chihiro. "Zeniba, I'm Yubaba's twin sister. It was nice of you to lead me to the dragon's hiding place. Now hand him over to me."

Chihiro clung to Haku's lifeless form. "What do you want with Haku? He's badly hurt."

"Too bad. He stole my solid gold seal. It's magical and powerful and I want it back."

"Haku wouldn't steal. He's a good person," Chihiro argued.

"Hah, do you know why he became my sister's apprentice? To steal her magic secrets and now he's stolen my magic, too," Zeniba countered. "He's a greedy little thief. There's nothing good about him. Step aside, little girl. I'm going to take my seal back from him. There's a spell on the seal and anyone who steals will die."

"No, you can't!" Chihiro screamed.

A loud thud interrupted them and the group all looked at the fake infant crawling its way back, slapping his hands hard on the floor as he made his way to the witch.

"You idiots. What's your problem? Keep quiet. I don't want my sister coming up here." Zeniba approached the fake infant.

I watched the mouse and fly climb on to Chihiro's shoulders as Lea's eyes were focused on the witch. Sometimes having the floating window on this platform allowed me to see things from his perspective without him actually looking at it, which was great except for now.

"Lea, pay attention," I told him.

Lea's attention flickered back to Chihiro just as Haku woke up. Haku snarled and whipped his tail out, destroying the enchanted white paper. The destruction of the enchanted paper resulted in cutting Zeniba in half and her two halves shifted apart.

"Ow, paper cut," she said and then she vanished.

Haku leaned back, causing both he and Chihiro to lose balance.

"Haku! We're falling!" Chihiro screamed as they both fell into the hole in the floor.

Lea didn't hesitate. He grabbed Marino by the back of his shirt and jumped right into the hole. And while Lea enjoyed the free-fall, Marino screamed every profanity word he knew.

"LEA! WE DON'T HAVE ANY PARACHUTES!" Marino yelled.

Lea laughed. From the euphoria that vibrated in his heart and shook his platform, it seemed like Lea had experience with either falling or flying. He was loving this.

"LEA!" The panic in my brother's voice only made him laugh harder. "THIS ISN'T FUNNY, YOU FU-"

Chihiro must have spoken some sense into Haku because he took flight, catching Lea and Marino on his way out and crash landed into the boiler room. Right on top of poor Kamaji. Lea rolled over to his side, shooing away the sootballs that had gathered around him. Marino rubbed his forearms and shook his head, convincing himself to forget everything that had just happened. Kamaji muttered something incoherent just as Haku struck himself against the wall and then laid on the floor with blood pooling around his jaws.

"What's wrong with you?" Chihiro asked the dragon.

Kamaji, after gaining back his composure, studied Haku. "This looks serious."

Haku collapsed with no fight left in him.

"Haku, don't give up!" Chihiro rushed to his side, kneeling next to him. "What do we do? Is he dying?"

Kamaji eyed him. "It looks like he's bleeding from the inside."

"From the inside?" she repeated.

The spider spirit nodded. "I think so. Maybe he swallowed something."

Chihiro reached into her shirt and pulled out the medicine ball. "Haku, I got this gift from the River Spirit. Eat it. Maybe it will help." She nudged it against his fangs. "Come on, open your mouth! Please, Haku! Eat it!" She bit into the medicine ball, breaking it in half. "See, it's okay. Open your mouth…" She managed to stick one of the halves to the back of his throat. "Got it! Now swallow!" But nothing was happening.

Kamaji scowled at Marino, clear disappointment riddled his face. "You're a magic user, aren't you? Why haven't you done something useful?"

Marino's face flushed as he scratched his head. "I don't know any healing spells."

"Sure, you do. Just say Cure," the spider spirit grumbled. "Honestly, hasn't anyone taught you anything?"

Marino shot him a glare but summoned his wand and pointed at Haku. Haku's mouth began to glow. "Cure."

Haku reacted violently, thrashing about. Marino dropped his wand as he and Chihiro clamped the dragon's mouth shut. Haku whacked his tail against the wall and floor a few times, growling and snarling until he puked out something black and gooey.

"Sen! Look there!" Kamaji pointed.

"Chihiro," I said for Lea.

I know. I haven't forgotten. Thanks.

They all turned to watch the black, gooey blob melt into the floor as smoke rose into the air, leaving behind a black worm. The black worm-like creature had been wrapped around a gold frog figurine. The black worm's eyes popped open and it looked around, showing no approval of its surroundings.

"The gold seal!" Chihiro shouted and she ran after it.

"Get that black slug!" Kamaji cheered her on, still pointing at it. "GET IT! GET IT!"

The black worm squirmed away as Chihiro tried to stomp on it a few times, escaping to the sootballs. However, it was betrayed by the sootballs as they didn't welcome it and forced it to run back out. Chihiro's left foot finally succeeded in killing the black worm thing and she let out a horrified gasp of realization of what she's done.

"You killed it? Those things are bad luck!" Kamaji's raised one of his arms straight up. "Hurry! Before it rubs off on you!" Chihiro slowly hopped on one foot to face him. In swift movements, the spider spirit was raising his arm up and down as if he was trying to dispell evil magic. He ordered her to create a circle with her forefingers. "Evil be gone!" He broke the circle with his hand.

Chihiro showed him the gold piece. "Haku stole this seal from Yubaba's sister."

"Zeniba's solid gold monogrammed seal. That's as powerful as it gets."

Haku slowly morphed into his human form.

"Look! He's changed back! Help me! What do I do?" Chihiro lifted him into her arms and turned him over. "Haku! Haku! Wake up!" Haku lied there motionless. She turned her attention to Kamaji, hopeful for answers. "Zeniba put a curse on the seal."

"That's strong magic. It's made him gravely ill."

Lea gave them some distance, choosing to sit against the wall near the sootballs to observe quietly. Kamaji had brewed some strong tea and with Chihiro's help, they slowly made him drink some. Most of the tea dripped down to his chin and Chihiro cleaned his face. Marino joined Lea on the sidelines, not sure as to what else he could do for them seeing as it wasn't in his expertise.

"That should make him more comfortable," Kamaji said as he and Chihiro laid him down. "Poor Haku, he's had it hard ever since he got here. He just showed up out of nowhere just like you did but he got mixed up with Yubaba. Took the job as her apprentice—I warned him, it's too dangerous! Just quit! Go back home, I told him, but he said for some reason he had no home to return to. Once Yubaba got control over him, his face turned pale and his eyes turned steely and he's never been the same."

People don't change automatically. It's a slow process. One they don't notice until one day they don't know who they are anymore.

I had been sitting down, tracing one of the symbols on the cool platform and stopped when he said those words. He sounded remorseful. "Are you talking about yourself or someone you used to know?"

Both.

"Are you referring to your Nobody days?" I asked but I was met with silence. Okay. He still wasn't ready to discuss that. I'm glad I kept my little trips through his memories to myself. He'd probably be extremely upset with me for barging into his privacy without his consent.

"Kamaji, what if I take the gold seal back to Zeniba?" Chihiro asked. "I can give back the seal and apologize to her for Haku. Can you tell me where Zeniba lives?"

The spider spirit scratched his forehead. "Eh, you'd go to Zeniba's? It might help but that's one dangerous witch."

"Please?" she begged. "Haku helped me before. Now I want to help him."

"Hmmm…I know how you can get there but you'll have to get back on your own."

"That's okay. She'll have us with her. She won't be alone," Marino said.

Kamaji nodded. "Wait here." He walked to one of his wooden drawers, one that had a clock and a stash of bottles on top, and pulled everything out of the third drawer. "Let's see now…where...hmm…"

Lea and Marino stood up, both boys stretching their limbs and cracking everything back into place.

Chihiro approached the sootballs and began untying the white ribbon and sash. "Everyone, I need my shoes and clothes, please." The sootballs immediately sprung into action, returning into their holes. "I guess my parents will have to wait."

Lea gently patted her head. "They'll be okay."

The small sliding door opened and Lin greeted us with, "Sen! I've looked everywhere for you." She walked up to Chihiro, looking around in mild horror. "There's blood everywhere. What's going on here? Who are those guys?" Lin stared at the chubby mouse and fly on Chihiro's shoulder.

"Yeah, hello to you, too." Marino waved at her.

Lea rolled his eyes. "Forget it, Marino. She doesn't care."

"I've picked up some new friends," Chihiro explained. Sootballs returned to her, carrying out her shoes. "See?"

Lin leaned further down. "Everyone's looking for you. Yubaba is furious."

"Huh?"

"The guy with all the gold turned out to be a monster called No-Face, and he says that you let him into the Bathhouse." Lin gave her an appointed glare.

Chihiro confirmed her guilt. "I did let him in."

Lin gasped. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I thought he was a customer." Ah, the poor kid. She was so earnest.

"What? He's a monster. He's already swallowed three people."

"AHHH! FOUND IT! Here it is Sen," Kamaji shouted, cackling gleefully and holding on to two tickets.

"Hey, we're busy boiler man," Lin snapped, hands on her waist.

He ignored her. "You can use this." He held up an orange and white ticket with Japanese characters, and for the first time, I realized he had only three fingers. A thumb, an index finger and maybe the ring and pinky finger got superglued together.

"You've got train tickets? How did you get a hold of them?" Lin stared, envious.

Kamaji smiled at Chihiro. "I've been saving them for forty years. Now listen carefully, the train stop you want is called Swamp Bottom." Chihiro repeated after him. "That's where Zeniba lives—the sixth stop. Make sure you get it right. The train used to run in both directions but these days it's a one-way ride. Still want to go?"

She nodded her head. "Yup. We'll walk back along the tracks. Right, guys?" She glanced at Marino and Lea. Marino gave her a thumbs up.

"Sen, what about No-Face?" Lin asked.

"I'll take care of that now." She knelt next to Haku. "Haku, I'll be back soon. Just hold on."

"What's going on?" Lin asked the spider spirit.

"Something you wouldn't recognize. Humans call it love," he answered.

Suntiger: As usual, I don't own the Kingdom Hearts Characters or The Spirited Away characters or film dialogue. Sorry I've been gone for so long! I've never intended to take such large gaps in between chapters but life got out of control. I've gotten better with keeping my mental health in check but it's been very challenging. I hope the new chapter meets your standards!

Comments, questions, concerns, and criticism are welcomed. If you see any mistakes, please point it out to me! Thank you for reading!