Kingdom Hearts; The Dark's Keeper

Chapter XIV; The Past Never Stays

Castles seemed to be a common theme in every world they had been to. X looked around the gear-filled room, a place specifically meant for Gummi ship docking. It looked almost like it was overdone, more there than needed to be. The grind of the gears filled the room with more sound than necessary.

"So this is your castle," Sora said as he looked around. "Must be nice to be home, huh?" He asked turning back to Donald and Goofy. The two were looking around, their hands over their mouths. "Well," Sora prompted when they didn't answer him.

"You know, somethin' just don't feel quite right," Goofy said.

"Yeah," Donald agreed. X couldn't think what it was. This world seemed to be like any other. He could feel some kind of darkness, but compared to other worlds it actually seemed like a small amount. Not at all the usual. Was the world supposed to have even less darkness?

X was pulled from his thoughts by two chipmunks sliding down the railing to stand in front of the group on top of some kind of gear stack. They wore aprons and had spots of grease on their fur. It took X only a moment to recognize them. They had been the two he and Terra had met in the town. The ones who needed Unversed chased off the race track. He looked away, hoping they wouldn't recognize him. He didn't want to have to explain that.

"You're back!" the black nosed chipmunk said jumping up. X remembered he had been called Chip the last time he had been here. The only one whose name he really knew.

"Move it! Let's go!" the other chipmunk ordered motioning up the stairs to the rest of the castle.

"Queen Minnie needs to see you!" Chip explained.

"The castle's in danger! Hurry! To the library!" the other said.

He didn't need to say anything more to have the group rushing through the castle to the library following the two chipmunks. Inside the library was bright, like everything else in the castle. The walls were covered in bookshelves that reached the ceiling. They were needlessly tall. X had a feeling no one had been able to look at the books on the top shelves for a long time. A desk was in the center of the room and a dog bed as well. Beside the desk was the queen mouse, Queen Minnie as the chipmunks had said.

"Your Majesty! Queen Minnie! We're back!" Donald announced as they entered the room. She turned to them quickly, her hands pressing together in front of her.

"You're here!" she said happily.

"Your Royal Highness, did ya happen to summon us?" Goofy asked. Queen Minnie nodded.

"Yes," she said.

"Where's the King?" Sora asked putting his hands behind his head. X sighed heavily putting his hand in his face. Donald jumped up, grabbing Sora's ear and pulling him down closer to his level.

"Excuse him. This is our friend, Sora," Donald introduced. Sora brushed him off, managing to pull himself free of Donald's hold.

"Oh, Sora! The King told me all about you in his letters. He said you're a very brave young man," Queen Minnie said smiling at Sora. Sora smiled in return, rubbing his ear where Donald had grabbed it.

"So, do you know where he is?" Sora asked. Queen Minnie shook her head, lips pursed together in a frown. Sora, Donald, and Goofy all sighed slumping forward. X rubbed the back of his head, unsure of what to do next.

"Oh, we should introduce you to X too. He's our guide from Master Yen Sid," Goofy said looking up suddenly. X jumped a little looking at the group, who no longer looked so down, they were all looking at X now. He turned to Queen Minnie who smiled at him and chuckled.

"It's been a long time since you've come to visit," Queen Minnie said.

"Indeed it has your majesty," X said bowing slightly to the queen. He hadn't expected her to remember him. He had hardly spoken to her. In fact, he didn't think he had said anything to her. Only spoken to Terra. "I hope you forgive my intrusion again."