Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories The Novel (light novel) Page 11

  “But why…? Belle…” The Beast helplessly looked up at the high ceiling.

  Sora went to him and said quietly, “I’m not sure what’s going on, but…is everything okay?”

  He seemed very familiar—and he was kindhearted, Sora was sure of that. It hurt to see him looking so sad.

  Donald came closer, too. “Don’t feel bad. There must be a reason she said those things.”

  “Keep your sympathy,” he growled. “No one could ever care for a beast like me.”

  He went after Belle.

  “…Gawrsh, I sure wish there were somethin’ we could do for him,” Goofy said softly, watching him leave.

  “Well, there’s gotta be a reason!” Donald looked up at Sora.

  “Are you saying we should help them, Donald?”

  “Obviously!” Donald grinned.

  Sora folded his arms and smiled, too. “We ought to keep going, but…”

  “We can’t just leave ’em, can we?” Goofy finished for him.

  “Let’s go find Belle, then,” Sora decided and started toward where she and the Beast had gone. “Besides…those two are probably our friends, I bet.”

  “Gee, what makes ya say that?” said Goofy, close behind him. “I don’t remember ’em at all.”

  Puzzled, Donald looked at Goofy.

  “Y’know, all these worlds are made out of Sora’s memories, after all,” Goofy went on. “And I’ve got a feeling the Beast helped us out big-time somewhere along the line.”

  Sora looked back at him and said brightly, “Yeah, I’ve got that feeling, too.”

  “All right, it’s our turn to help him out! Let’s go!” Donald ran ahead—only to run into some Heartless.

  “Aw, nobody’s looking for you!” He jumped up and waved his wand. “Blizzaga!”

  “Ahyuck! But we’re a lot stronger now!” said Goofy, moving to back up Donald.

  “Yeah—way better than when we first got here!” Sora swung his Keyblade.

  When they’d first walked into Castle Oblivion, they had no idea how they would manage… But now they could see how far they’d come. All the strength they’d lost—they had reclaimed it.

  So maybe…maybe, they could reclaim the memories they had lost, too.

  And we’ll get Riku’s memories back.

  “Yaaargh!” The Keyblade in Sora’s hands glowed faintly as he defeated the Heartless.

  They tried to head deeper into the castle, fighting off the Heartless that appeared as they went. Atop the staircase that wound up to the side of the hall, they came to a small door.

  “There’s somethin’ funny about this…” Goofy reached for the door with his shield ready in his other hand.

  “Here we come!” Donald ran in with his wand held high.

  “Oh, my!”

  Instead of more Heartless, they met the lady they were looking for—Belle. She was surrounded by bookcases. The room could only be a library.

  “Who are you?” she asked, not unkindly. “Did Maleficent kidnap you, too?”

  “Um… Not exactly. It’s a long story.” Sora scratched his head, a bit at a loss, but then he heard what she’d actually said. “Wait! Us, too? You mean you were kidnapped?”

  Belle’s sweet, serene expression clouded over. “Yes. That witch forced me to come here… And I’ve been trapped ever since.” She turned away from them. Maybe she didn’t want them to see her holding back tears. “I have no one to talk to. Books are all I have to ease my loneliness. I’ve missed him so much…”

  “You mean, the Beast?” Goofy said cautiously. “Then, why were you so mean to him back there?”

  She looked at him and replied frankly, “You don’t understand. I can’t let him see how I really feel.”

  “Why not?!” Sora blurted. “He looked really hurt!”

  Belle looked down, biting her lip, and spoke after another moment. “It’s just that—” Then she suddenly glanced up. “Oh no, she’s coming! Hide quickly!”

  “Huh?”

  “Hyuck? What’s goin’ on?”

  “Wak?”

  She looked so alarmed that the trio began to panic.

  “There’s no time to explain,” she told them. “Hide! Now!”

  Sora huddled under a desk, and Goofy jumped behind some curtains, but Donald couldn’t find a good hiding place and only ran in circles. “Wak! Quack! Wawawawaaak!”

  “Hurry!” Belle whispered, and just as Donald finally squeezed himself in between some bookcases, a door opened.

  A woman in black and purple robes strode into the library.

  “Oh… Hello, Maleficent.” Belle smiled at her. “To what do I owe this visit?”

  “He was here, yes?” Maleficent said sharply. “He risked his life to come and save you. Why do you reject him?”

  She took a step closer to Belle, looming over her.

  “I won’t ask for his help.”

  Maleficent peered closely at Belle. “Oh? And why is that?”

  “You know very well why,” said Belle, nearly shouting at her. “I’m not going to fall into your trap!”

  Maleficent gave her a cruel smirk. “Then, I suppose I have no choice but to make you beg for his help!”

  With a wave of the staff in her hand, Maleficent and Belle vanished into thin air.

  “Belle?!” Sora and the others jumped out of their hiding places, but there wasn’t a trace of her.

  “What do we do, Sora?!” Donald looked up at him, flailing.

  “Help her, of course!” Sora replied. “What else?”

  Donald and Goofy nodded to him, and they dashed out of the library.

  They ran through chamber after chamber and came at last to a soaring chapel, where they found Maleficent and Belle facing each other.

  “What are you waiting for?” Maleficent taunted. “Call to him!”

  “No! I won’t let you hurt him!”

  At Belle’s refusal, she raised her staff. “Then, I shall make you scream! And the fool will come running the moment he hears your cries.”

  As she was about to swing it, and no doubt release some terrible magic, the trio ran to stand in front of Belle. “Enough!” Sora shouted.

  “Oh…?” Maleficent raised her eyebrows at the sudden intruders.

  Sora held the Keyblade ready. “The Beast isn’t the only one you have to deal with.”

  “Begone, boy. You have no business here. Unless, of course, you wish to join in the screaming. Perfect! Shrieks of terror, ringing out in chorus—what better way to draw that brute to me!”

  Maleficent stared down at him, and Sora glared back.

  Then a growling voice came from behind Belle. “Don’t trouble yourself.”

  “Beast!” Belle whipped around to see him there, and he began to stalk closer, but she stopped him. “No! You mustn’t! I told you to leave this place. Leave me alone! I never want to see your face again!”

  And she turned her back on him again.

  “Belle…” He grimaced as if in physical pain.

  But from where Sora and the others were standing, they could see Belle’s face contorted in sadness, too.

  “All right,” said the Beast, sounding resigned. “If that’s how you feel…I understand.”

  “But that’s—mmfff !” Sora started, and Goofy clamped a hand over his mouth. He wriggled free. “Hey, what was that for?!”

  “Just let ’em be…,” Goofy whispered to him.

  The Beast spoke slowly. “My hideous form is punishment for being a selfish prince, unable to love. I was made into a monster, loved by no one…and I only became more selfish. Until I met you, Belle.” A soft smile came to his frightening face. “You are the only one who accepted me. Little by little you warmed my cold, twisted heart. The memories of our days together are the most precious to me.”

  Belle turned to him again, looking as if she might cry.

  “So, I’m sorry, but I can’t leave you here…even if you hate me for it. Consider this my final selfish act!”

 
“Oh no… Beast…!”

  Behind her, Maleficent let out a terrible cackle. “Well, well. I never dreamed such ugliness could hide so beautiful a heart! This calls for a change of plan. Beast, I shall claim your heart instead of Belle’s!”

  She swung her staff.

  “Look out!” called Sora, but the Beast didn’t move an inch.

  Purplish light blasted from Maleficent’s staff, a beam heading straight for the Beast.

  “No! Please!” Belle jumped in front of him to take it. “Oh—?!”

  “Belle!”

  Struck by the purple light, Belle collapsed unconscious into the Beast’s arms. A heart, glowing beautifully, rose from her chest.

  “Hm, so much for the change of plan. Belle’s heart it is, after all. It seems her cold words spoke little of her true feelings!” The heart floated up over Maleficent’s head. “Ha-ha! She loves you, Beast. I can feel it shining in her heart!”

  “You fiend! Give her heart back!” The Beast lunged to attack Maleficent, but darkness covered the chapel, and then she was gone.

  “Where are you?!” he roared.

  “She went that way! Where the shadows fled!” Sora grabbed the Beast’s paw and ran toward the door at the side of the chapel.

  “Who are you…? What are you doing here?” the Beast asked.

  “No time to talk! We better go after her now!” Donald said, coming up behind him.

  “You would help me?”

  “You bet!” Goofy added at Donald’s side. “After what you were sayin’, well, we just gotta!”

  “Let’s go get Belle’s heart back!” said Sora.

  “Right.” The Beast nodded, and his anguished look eased into determination.

  Through the corridor that extended from the chapel, there was another huge room with a rose emblem on the floor, like the hall they’d first come into.

  And there, in the middle of this room, Maleficent stood awaiting them.

  “Why, you’ve done well to make it this far,” she said with a menacing sneer.

  “Give her back!” shouted Sora.

  Maleficent laughed. “As your reward, Beast, I’ll tell you why she rejected you. My dark magic requires hearts of utmost beauty. And Belle was perfect. Deep in her heart, her love for you shone with an uncommon radiance.” She turned away from them. “But she guessed my plans… By denying her love for you, she put her heart beyond my reach.”

  “But she saved me—she protected me… So that’s it. I’ve heard enough. Release her heart now, Maleficent. If you don’t…”

  She chuckled softly.

  “Is something funny?” The Beast fixed her with a furious stare.

  “Don’t you realize why I’m telling you all this? Did you think it was out of kindness? No—I did it to erase your doubts. Now your heart is beginning to shine with love for Belle. A beautiful heart—that is, a heart useful to me. So I shall have yours, too, monster!” With a sweep of her staff, green flames rose from the floor to surround the Beast.

  “That is not to be!” he snarled.

  “You dare to challenge me?! Pitiful fool!” The floor rumbled and more flames poured up from it.

  “You’re up against us, too!” Sora raised the Keyblade, preparing to strike.

  “That’s right!”

  “All of us!”

  Donald and Goofy jumped in.

  “Then your hearts will be mine as well!” Maleficent grew and transformed into a jet-black dragon to breathe fire at them.

  “Whoa!” Sora barely evaded the flames and rolled into a corner.

  The Beast let out a ferocious roar and charged at the dragon.

  “We’ve got her!” Sora, Donald, and Goofy exchanged glances and all jumped at Maleficent’s clawed feet.

  “Sora!” Goofy stretched out his hands, and Sora used the leverage to spring up higher. Then he brought the Keyblade down on Maleficent’s head, as the Beast dealt a heavy blow to her jaw. The dragon opened her mouth wide and roared in pain.

  “Gotcha!” Donald pounced up on Goofy’s back and bounded off his head to explode with his magic. “Blizzaga!”

  Chunks of ice went straight down the dragon’s throat. She flailed her head madly, and without losing a moment, the Beast slammed into her, roaring.

  While her head was lowered Sora struck with his Keyblade again. The dragon writhed horribly and then was still.

  “We did it!” Sora ran to the Beast’s side as Maleficent’s dragon body turned to light and disappeared.

  Left behind was a heart, shining like starlight.

  “Belle’s heart!” Sora and the Beast, then Donald and Goofy, all gathered around it. The heart glowed more brightly and took shape again as Belle.

  The Beast called her name and embraced her.

  “Please forgive me… I had to be so cruel to you. But no matter how I tried, I couldn’t hide my own feelings…” Belle pressed her face to his powerful chest.

  “I’m the one who should apologize,” the Beast rumbled. “For doubting you. I never want to remember feeling that way…so angry, so alone.”

  “Then don’t. We’ll leave behind the sad memories and make happier ones. Starting right now.”

  “Belle…” They held each other tightly.

  “Ahyuck! There they go with the mushy stuff,” Goofy whispered to Sora.

  “Yeah. Looks like it’s time we were on our way…”

  “Good idea. Let’s get out of their hair!” Donald started walking. There was a little door up ahead.

  “But…” Sora looked back at Belle and the Beast.

  “What is it, Sora?” asked Goofy.

  “Nothing.” He smiled and followed Donald.

  Belle said to leave behind the sad memories, but… Is that really okay?

  Is it okay to forget things…?

  Maybe we lose the sad memories first. Is that why I forgot about Naminé?

  Then why did Riku forget about me? …Because he really never liked me after all?

  Sora’s smile was gone. As they went through the door, his face was drawn tight with painful thoughts.

  CHAPTER 7

  HUNDRED ACRE WOOD

  Something I can do…?

  Can I do anything for Sora?

  Something I can do for Sora, even though I’m nobody, and I can never become somebody…

  Hey, Sora.

  What should I do?

  I don’t know.

  Because I don’t have anything that’s special to me…

  SORA, DONALD, AND GOOFY STEPPED INTO ANOTHER of Castle Oblivion’s white halls.

  What’ll I do if I see Riku? Sora thought. What can I say to him?

  How can I get him to reclaim the memories he lost?

  “Looks like nobody’s here,” said Donald, glancing this way and that. The marble halls felt terribly deserted.

  Riku wasn’t here.

  Donald looked up at Sora with concern. “I kinda thought Riku would be waiting for us…”

  “Gawrsh, it doesn’t look like he’s here. Maybe he doesn’t feel like fightin’ with ya any more after all?” Goofy, too, seemed anxious on Sora’s behalf.

  “I sure hope so,” Sora sighed as if to himself, his eyebrows drawn.

  The big crystal ball showed an image of the trio.

  “So what’s going on, Vexen? I thought Riku was under your control—so where is he?” Larxene arched her finely shaped eyebrows and stared expectantly at Vexen.

  Beside her, Axel smirked. The color drained from Vexen’s face—what little there was to begin with.

  “He’s hiding somewhere to lure Sora deeper into the castle, right?” Axel said to Larxene, and then turned to Vexen. “I suppose we should just leave it at that.”

  Riku’s unexpected behavior wasn’t such a bad thing for them—rather the contrary, in fact.

  But there was another matter…

  “Aha! Oh, I see now! I never would have guessed,” Larxene giggled with a theatrically clueless shrug.

  But she…she and the other
s haven’t realized what’s happening in this castle now—what’s about to happen.

  She went on taunting him. “I’m so sorry. It’s just hard to tell whether your research is supposed to be of any use whatsoever.”

  Vexen began to tremble with rage. “Silence!”

  “Aw, you hate being told the truth, don’t you? Simpleminded for a scientist!”

  “As if you’re one to talk…” He glared at her with his fists clenched.

  “That’s enough.” Another man stepped in to interrupt them. The hood of his black cloak covered his face.

  “Marluxia!” Vexen exclaimed.

  The man slowly pushed back his hood, revealing the pale pink hair that grew to his shoulders and deep-set narrow eyes with a cold glint. “Vexen, the fact is that your project was a failure,” he said icily with a faint, threatening smile. “You had better not disappoint us again.”

  The smile grated on Vexen’s nerves. He stalked up to Marluxia.

  “Disappoint you?!” he spat. “You go too far! In this organization, you are number eleven! While I am number four, and I will not be ordered around by the likes of you!”

  “This castle and Naminé have been entrusted to me,” Marluxia told him, unmoved. “Defying me will be seen as treason against the organization.”

  “And traitors are eliminated,” said Larxene, grinning as if she couldn’t wait to see it happen. “That’s what the rules say!”

  “I tell you, the project failed,” Marluxia repeated. “And I must report that failure to our leader.”

  Vexen went pale again upon hearing the word leader.

  “What— no, wait! Don’t tell him that!” He sounded as if he might fall to his knees and beg.

  Seeing him like that, Marluxia made a small, cruel smirk. “Perhaps we can work something out.”

  “How?” Vexen looked up.

  “Eliminate Sora yourself.”

  “What?!” He stared, round-eyed, and so did Larxene and Axel.

  “Is there a problem?” said Marluxia with a smile so cold it was elegant.

  “No… It’s just, why…,” Vexen floundered. “Won’t that cause a problem?”