Chapter 3 Traverse Town

Does it feel like déjà vu? Or more like the start of a new story? What are you dreaming now, I wonder?

A dog licked Sora’s face. He was lying unconscious in an alleyway; only a little bit of light was shining around the corner.

“Unh…” Sora opened his bleary eyes slowly, but what he saw was not the ocean of the Destiny Islands nor the sky overhead, but a town he’d never seen before—and a dog.

After he was blown away from the Destiny Islands, he had arrived in Traverse Town. It was a place to live for people who had lost their homes to the “glitches,” though they never forgot where they’d come from. There was something peaceful about this place and its neon signs standing out against the night sky.

“What a dream…,” Sora muttered, then closed his eyes again. A world like this had to be a dream, after all.

But the dog—the king’s friend, Pluto—jumped on Sora’s stomach.

“Ungh—this isn’t a dream!”

Sora stood and rubbed his eyes, then took a look around him. What is this place…?

Now that Sora was upright, Pluto looked up at him and wagged his tail happily.

“Oh, boy… Do you know where we are?”

Huh? How did I…? As Sora wondered, Pluto ran on ahead.

Sora followed him into a district paved with brick. It looked like some sort of plaza.

Sora, are you all right?

“Whoa!”

Sora was startled by the voice coming out of nowhere, but then sighed in relief as he remembered that it belonged to Mickey.

He didn’t remember much, but this voice was Mickey’s, and Mickey was a friend he’d never technically met.

“Mickey, what happened? Where am I?” Sora asked.

Gee, you must’ve been taken someplace else.

Sora folded his arms and considered Mickey’s response. A few things were finally starting to come back to him.

All these weird blocks appeared on my islands, and I used my Keyblade to get rid of them. Then a storm blew me away. What happened after that…?

“Wait! The island! Did I fix it?” Sora asked, thinking Mickey might know.

Yep! All the blocks are gone. You did a great job, Sora.

Then what was that storm all about…? Anyway, the blocks were gone, and that was what mattered. Everyone was probably back on the beach playing as usual.

“So, okay, I’m in a strange town… Why? Is this place full of glitches, too?”

From what he had seen, there weren’t any of those odd blocks here.

Could be. Mind taking a look around?

“Sure, I’m on it.”

With that, Sora glanced around the plaza and spotted a lone man standing at the top of a nearby flight of stairs. He was maybe middle-aged, with goggles on his head, a brown band around his stomach, and a frown on his face. His arms were crossed, too. Maybe something was bothering him?

Sora ran up the stairs and called out to him.

“Hello there.”

“Hnnh? Hey, kid.”

The man met Sora’s cheerful greeting with an equally spirited one. But he was quick to notice that Sora wasn’t a local.

“Haven’t seen you ’round before. You new to Traverse Town?”

“The name’s Sora! Nice to meet ya.”

“Yeah, I’m Cid. This here’s my shop.” Cid pointed with his chin toward a building with a sign out front identifying it as an accessory shop. He then gave Sora’s face another look and stroked his stubble thoughtfully.

“So Sora…don’t suppose you ran into the triplets on your way here?”

“Triplets?” Sora tilted his head at Cid’s question.

“Yeah, there’s three of ’em? Uno, dos, tres? They went off to see what’s got the town all scrambled, and… Well, they ain’t come back.”

“Something’s wrong with the town?”

“Hoo, I’ll say. These weird blocks have popped up everywhich-where. Ya clear ’em out, and they come right on back.”

Weird blocks? Maybe they’re the same as the ones on my island. This world was having trouble, too, it seemed. Anyway, the blocks weren’t here in the plaza…

“But I don’t see any blocks right now.”

“Oh, you just go for a little walk. You can’t miss ’em.”

“Okay, I will,” Sora replied. He turned away from Cid, then began to run off. He knew every square inch of the Destiny Islands, but this town would be full of unfamiliar places. Finding them would be fun.

“Hey!” Cid called.

Sora stopped and turned around.

“While you’re takin’ in the town, keep an eye out for the triplets, yeah?”

“Sure. What are their names?”

If these triplets were out looking into the glitches, he might learn something by talking to them.

“Well, there’s Huey—he’s the feller in red. Dewey wears blue, and Louie’s decked out in green.”

“Huey, Dewey, Louie. Got it. I’ll take a look.”

“Attaboy. You got any questions, just ask around town.”

“Will do. See ya later, Cid!”

And with that, Sora’s search began. There were two large gateways in the square—they would be a good place start. He ran down the stairs and headed for the door on the left, but it wouldn’t open.

Maybe the Keyblade will do the trick? He held it out toward the door, but it didn’t respond at all. No light or anything.

Sora let out a small sigh, then tried asking a man who was standing next to the door.

“Hey, does this door not open?”

The man replied with a troubled look on his face. “The door to the Third District won’t budge. I’d go and find out what’s wrong, but I’m no match for all those Heartless.”

“That’s okay. I can take care of ’em.”

Apparently, this door that wouldn’t open hid some sort of secret.

“Really? But… Well, if you say so. You’ll have to go through the Second District to get to the Third. Take the north door.”

“So I guess this is the First District?”

“Yes indeed.”

“Thanks for filling me in!”

Sora then retraced the path he had just taken and headed north behind Cid’s shop. The blocks hadn’t been in the plaza, but there were some back here. Destroying the blocks as he proceeded, Sora reached the end of the path and a big wooden door like the previous one. It opened easily with a light push.

Sora peeked through it to see rows of buildings with a different feel from the First District’s. Whereas everything in the First District had been made of brick, here it was all about flagstones. The red-and-black blocks everywhere were the one thing they had in common.

How am I supposed to get to the Third District?

In the distance was a clocktower with a stained glass window. That might be a good place to start. Sora set off at a trot.

“Heeelp!”

As Sora reached the front of the clocktower, he heard a small cry. Looking for the source, he saw atop a block a boy dressed in red with a hat of the same color.

And before him were the Heartless.

“He’s in trouble! I’ve got to help him.”

Sora took his Keyblade in hand and charged. At least there weren’t many. He swung his Keyblade and defeated the Heartless one after the other.

Once he was sure they were all gone, Sora jumped onto the block and spoke to the boy. “Are you okay, uh…?” He’s wearing red, so…

“I’m gonna guess you’re Huey?”

“That’s me! Me and the guys are trying to figure out what’s clogging the town with blocks!”

This was definitely one of the triplets Cid had asked him to find. Were they not investigating together?

“You mean you and… Dewey and Louie, was it? Where are they?”

“I dunno. We got separated. They musta gone to check the alleyway.”

“Got it. I’ll go take a look.” Sora started to run off, but then stopped. Wait, where is the alleyway?

Huey noticed and called out behind him. “Follow me!”

“Thank you!”

Huey took the lead to show Sora the way.

“Y-yikes!” But then he stopped in his tracks with a yelp as a pack of Heartless appeared, and they looked tougher than the ones Sora had just fought.

“Get back! I’ll handle this.” Sora stepped in front of Huey to protect him, then faced the Heartless. There were way more of them than before!

He still managed to take them down, though the battle left him out of breath, and he turned back toward Huey.

The boy had been watching fearfully from behind cover, but once he was sure the Heartless were gone, he ran up to Sora with such enthusiasm that Sora almost expected to get a hug.

Relieved, Huey looked up at Sora. “Wow, you’re strong,” he said.

“You go back to Cid’s shop, Huey. I’ll find Dewey and Louie.”

“Okay.” Huey wasn’t too keen on the idea of going off on his own anymore after seeing those Heartless. “Oh yeah! Here, you can have this!”

The boy offered what appeared to be a glowing piece of…something to Sora.

“Wow, it’s a… What is it?”

“I found it while I was investigating. Pretty cool the way it sparkles, huh?”

While the glimmer certainly did catch the eye, Sora couldn’t even begin to guess what it was. It could be some junk for all he knew.

“Yeah, umm… Thanks! Just what I’ve always wanted…”

“Anyway, I’m goin’ back to Cid’s. You can get into the alleyway from beside the fountain!”

Sora looked over at where Huey was pointing and saw the fountain near the gate he had come through a short while ago from the First District. Next to it was a door.

“Anyway… Next stop, the alleyway!”

Sora hurried over to the fountain, then turned and opened the door to the alley. Along the backstreet was a small canal—probably connected to the fountain.

“Hello? Anybody there?”

He suddenly heard a voice coming from somewhere, but there was no sign of its owner. Maybe it came from above…? Sora looked upward, but all he could see was the underside of a balcony. As he walked ahead a bit, his path was cut off by Heartless. There sure were a lot of them around here.

Suddenly, he heard the voice again.

“Hey, over here!”

Yeah, it was definitely coming from above—so whoever was calling out to him was on the balcony?

After Sora did away with the Heartless, he climbed up the blocks scattered around the alleyway and reached one of the balconies. On the next one over was a boy dressed in blue.

“Whew, thanks! I thought they’d get me for sure!”

“No problem, um… Let’s see, blue… Dewey, right? I’m Sora. You okay?”

“Sure am! I couldn’t get down because of all the Heartless!” Dewey replied loudly, looking at the street below with relief.

“Well, you should get back to Cid’s place while you can.”

“Oh, let me give you something for helping me out.” Dewey shoved his hand in his back pocket. “So you’ll never believe what I found while I was out inv— Huh? It’s gone!”

With a small hop of alarm, the boy began searching the balcony.

“What’s gone?”

“The thing! Gee, I musta dropped it somewhere in the Second District… I gotta go find it!”

Dewey leaped down from the balcony in a panic and dashed toward the door to the Second District.

“Hey, wait! Where are you—?”

Sora jumped down, too, and went after him. Upon entering the Second District, he saw Dewey on all fours in front of the fountain searching for something.

“Hmm, something that shiny oughtta be easy to spot…”

“Hey! Don’t run off like that. It’s dangerous.”

“Aw, please. What are you afraid of, monsters?” Dewey retorted with a smile. Well, this place had been crawling with enemies when Sora saved Huey only a little while ago.

“Still can’t find it? What did you—?”

“Urk! Heartless!” Dewey shouted with a leap before Sora could finish his question. Another pack had arrived.

“Dewey! Get to safety!” Sora ordered, readying his Keyblade.

The Heartless were fierce this time, but Sora still managed to beat them.

“I told you it’s dangerous,” Sora scolded Dewey. He was a little miffed now.

“But I want you to see the thing I found!”

That’s nice and all, but it’s too risky to hunt for it with so many Heartless around. “Dewey, go back to Cid’s. I mean it!”

“Aww! But Sora, I can’t go back empty-handed! Just let me look a little longer.”

“Oh brother… All right, but stay out of trouble until I get back.”

As Sora gave up trying to stop him, Dewey dropped to all fours and resumed his frantic search for whatever he’d lost. His white tail feathers waggled in the air.

“What exactly are you looking for?”

“…I found it!” Dewey shouted and stood up.

“Well, that’s great!”

In his hand was a mysterious shining shard. “See how pretty it is when it catches the light? I want you to have it, Sora.”

Dewey held the glowing item out to Sora happily. Wait, this looks familiar…?

Sora removed the gift from Huey from his pocket. They were shaped quite similarly, but not exactly the same.

“Hey, cool! I wonder if they fit together,” Dewey commented as he peered into Sora’s hand.

“Actually… Yeah, if I stick this like this…”

Sora put the two shards together. They did fit perfectly, but it still wasn’t obvious what they were shards of.

“Whoa! Do ya think they’re supposed to make something?” Dewey asked curiously.

“Could be… But look. We’re still missing some pieces.”

Maybe they would be able to figure out what it was if they had all the parts.

“Then let’s go hunt ’em down!” Dewey hopped happily, ready to go on another treasure hunt, but Sora grabbed him by his blue shirt and stopped him short.

“Uh, did you forget about what just happened? You’re going back to Cid’s shop, where it’s safe.”

“Aww! But I wanna go with you!”

“No buts. I’ll bring the pieces by when I’m done. Now get those legs in gear.”

“Right. Legs in gear, I promise.”

Dewey lowered his head meekly and started trudging away, but something didn’t seem right. No, Sora knew exactly what he was up to. He would do the same thing in Dewey’s shoes.

“Not so fast!” Sora caught hold of that blue shirt again. “Cid’s shop is the other way, buster.”

“B-but I know a shortcut!” Dewey shook his head vigorously.

“Uh-huh. I better go with you.”

“Aww, phooey…”

Sora took Dewey by the hand and began walking back to the First District. The right way.

Dewey looked up at Sora and said while they walked, “You’re pretty tough, huh?”

“Not really. I’ve got a friend who’s even tougher.”

Actually, what did happen to Riku…?

“My uncle’s strong, too, but he’s got nothin’ on you.”

“Your uncle… You mean Cid?”

“Nope! Cid’s only looking after us. Oh hey, there he is!”

As soon as he spotted the man in question, Dewey shook off Sora’s hand and scampered away.

“Dewey! You all right?”

“I’m fine, Cid,” Dewey replied cheerily.

Huey was next to Cid. “Gee whiz! Where were ya?” he asked, slightly annoyed.

“The alleyway behind the Second District,” Dewey answered.

“Was Louie with you?”

“What? I thought he was with you!” Dewey shook his head dejectedly at Huey’s question.

Louie was the last of the triplets.

“Might be he’s in the Third District,” Cid said worriedly and crossed his arms. “Sorry, Sora—think you could go have a gander?”

“Sure, I don’t mind. Actually, I’ve got something to hunt for myself now,” Sora said with a nod.

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“You ever seen one of these?” Sora showed Cid the pieces he had gotten from the boys.

“Well, uh, sure! That there’s a…a, uh… Nope, no clue.”

“We found ’em!” the boys chorused.

Cid held the fragments up to the sky and squinted at them with one eye closed.

“The other pieces have gotta be around town somewhere,” Dewey exclaimed with a leap.

“What happens when you put ’em all together?” Cid was still looking intently at them.

“Who knows? Something cool, I bet!”

“Yeah!”

Huey and Dewey both sounded very confident.

“I guess we’ll find out,” said Sora. “Let’s see what I turn up while I look for Louie.”

Cid returned the fragments, then folded his arms again and nodded. “Thanks, Sora.”

“Leave it to me!”

Sora returned to the Second District.

“Huh?”

The red-and-black blocks were in different places than they were earlier. They’d walled off some areas before; maybe now he could reach them.

Sora explored the Second District and found a newly opened pathway. It would probably take him to the Third District.

“All right, let’s do this!”

The Heartless in his way were stubborn, but Sora’s Keyblade took them down. He hurried to the Third District.

This neighborhood was full of bright neon lights, very different from the Second District or the First.

“Louie! Are you here? Looouieee!”

He called and called; there was no sign of the boy. Maybe he wasn’t here…?

That was when a figure soundlessly appeared before him—wearing a familiar black coat.

“Huh? Hey!” Sora brought his Keyblade up, ready to fight, but the man in the black coat didn’t move. “All right, ’fess up! These glitches are your doing!” he shouted again, but the man in the black coat said nothing and strode away.

“Hey! I’m talkin’ to you!”

He had entered the Second District. Sora followed him back down the narrow street and into the plaza of the Second District, but a strange sight greeted him there.

The sky didn’t look like the sky.

Where the stars should have been was a black canvas threaded with red lights, just like on the blocks. What’s more, the clocktower on the far side was enveloped in an uncanny green light.

“What’s going on here?” Sora muttered as he headed to the clocktower.

“Whoa, what?! This building… It’s flat as a pancake!”

What Sora found wasn’t the clocktower, but something that looked more like a stage prop of the clocktower.

“Is somebody there? Heeey!” someone was shouting urgently.

“Louie?! Where are you?”

“Um, can I get back to you on that? All I know is that I was standing on top of a building…”

So when the building got distorted, Louie vanished.

Now that Sora thought about it, the bridge on the island had disappeared, too… This could be one of the glitches.

Which meant that there should be another fissure in this world that could take him to that alternate space. If Sora took out the bugs or whatever inside like he did on the island, he should be able to find Louie.

After some thorough searching, a hole—a System Sector—opened in the wall, exactly like the other one had before.

“Okay, hang in there, Louie!”

Sora plunged into the opening.

“This sure brings back memories,” Donald said quietly as he watched the monitor.

“Sure does…,” Goofy replied.

“That’s where we met Sora for the first time.”

“And Aerith and Yuffie, and then Leon… I wonder how they’re all doing?”

The two of them reminisced fondly.

Though there were no longer any records of their journey in Jiminy’s first journal due to the events of Castle Oblivion, everyone who lived through the events could still remember them.

Just as memories could be recalled, maybe the records they’d discovered in the journal after converting it to data would recover over time.

“This is where you two met Sora, huh?” Mickey commented, as thoughtful as the other two.

“That’s got me thinkin’, Your Majesty. When we data-fied everything in the journal, all the entries were still there. So the Pluto who woke Sora up came from the data, didn’t he?” Goofy inclined his head as he thought.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, shouldn’t we all have data versions in there, too?”

“Hmm…I wonder… Jiminy, what do you think?” Mickey crossed his arms and turned to Jiminy.

“I still don’t quite understand how this world works, either. Those blocks won’t let us get a good look at the entries. I’m guessin’ the worlds in the data are incomplete—broken into pieces. What a mystery…”

“Hmm…,” Mickey mused, looking down.

“Wak! I’m sure Sora can fix it, though!” Donald said, hopping up just like his nephews. If one thing was for sure, it was that this Data-Sora, born from records of the real version, was indeed Sora. It didn’t really matter whether he was data or real.

“You’re right. If anyone can get to the bottom of this, it’s Sora.”

And with that, the four of them returned their attention to the monitor.

Sora eradicated the bugs within the sector—the Heartless—and returned to the Second District.

Everything was back to normal.

“Hello? Anybody down there?”

He heard a shout from above that sounded like Louie. He was probably up on the clocktower.

Sora made his way up the scattered blocks and found a boy in a green cap—Louie.

“You all right?”

“Yeah, thanks to you!” Louie launched himself at Sora and grabbed his leg in relief.

“Good. Let’s get you back to Cid’s.”

Sora picked Louie up in his arms and leaped down to the ground.

“What happened?” the boy asked anxiously when Sora set him down.

“I don’t really know, either. Oh! Louie… Have you seen anything like this?” Sora showed Louie the pieces he had gotten from Huey and Dewey.

“Huh? Hey, yeah! I’ve got one, too. Check it out!” the boy replied, then produced a glowing fragment just like the others from his pocket.

“See if it fits with the pieces I’ve got.” Sora put all three together.

“Whoa, it sure does! But look.” Louie sounded disappointed. It seemed they were still missing a segment, but at least now they could more or less tell what it was supposed to be. That meant only one piece remained.

“Whaddaya think it’s supposed to be? A keyhole?”

Louie regarded the pieces with his head to the side.

“Keyhole?” The word reminded Sora that he’d seen a keyhole that glowed like this on the Destiny Islands.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing. Sorry. Let’s head back to Cid’s.”

Sora took Louie’s hand and started walking away.

But when they opened the door to the First District, Sora found himself face-to-face with the man in the black coat, which shifted in the breeze.

“Louie, get back! No—run! Go right to Cid’s!”

Sora stepped in front of the boy protectively and got into a fighting stance with his Keyblade. Cid’s place wasn’t far.

“Okay. Be careful!”

Once he was sure he heard Louie running off, Sora stared down the figure in black. “I hope you’re happy with all the trouble your glitches have caused!”

In response to Sora’s accusation, the man in the black coat tossed something over to him.

“What’re you—?” Sora quickly scooped it up. “Wait… Is this…?”

It was another glowing piece. Sora looked up hurriedly, but the man in black had already vanished in that brief moment.

“Huh?!”

Sora pulled the other pieces from his pocket, and then they floated into the air, the four pieces combining into a keyhole.

“I knew it. It’s the same as before.”

Sora, can you hear me?

Then he heard Mickey’s voice. Sora decided to ask him.

“Mickey, listen to this. You remember that Keyhole from the island? I’ve found another one. If this all works the same as last time…”

You think the source of the glitches might be waiting inside.

“Exactly. And if I go through the Keyhole and defeat it…”

The town might turn back to normal… You’d do that, Sora?

“We’ve come this far. Leave it to me!”

Sora held his blade toward the Keyhole floating in midair. Light shot from his Keyblade into it, and a door opened with the sound of a lock opening.

“Okay, here goes!”

The moment he ran through the door, Sora tumbled head over heels.

“What just happened?! Is this Traverse Town?” Sora yelled, plummeting so fast it was like something was sucking him downward.

Sora, careful! I’m reading enemies right near you!

Sora landed while Mickey was talking, and right in front of him, he heard the sound of metal scraping against metal. With a great rumble, a giant Heartless shaped like a suit of armor—Guard Armor—revealed itself.

If I beat him, those glitches will be history!

“All right, let’s get this party started!”

Guard Armor abruptly jumped into the air, ready to stomp on Sora.

Dodging the attack, Sora circled behind the Heartless and swung his Keyblade at its back.

That stopped Guard Armor in its tracks. It rotated its great head, searching for him.

“Heh-heh! Over here!” Sora taunted, and Guard Armor responded with a sudden laser beam from its face. Sora rolled out of the way and positioned himself behind the Heartless once more before striking with his Keyblade.

“Time to put an end to this!”

With a mighty leap, Sora brought down his Keyblade, and Guard Armor came to a halt. After a moment, its body fell to the ground in pieces that vanished into light.

“I did it!” Sora struck a macho pose and grinned.

The Keyhole spit him out and sent him tumbling into the First District. The blocks were still there, even though he thought he’d defeated their source.

“Why are the blocks still here? Didn’t I get rid of the enemy controlling them?” he muttered.

Mickey answered his question.

You did. Now you just need to sweep up. Use your power, Sora, and end the glitches here once and for all.

“My power?”

Sora stared at his hand. What power…?

Uh-huh. A power that’s yours and yours alone. Use the Keyblade to lock the Keyhole for good!

Sora raised his head and saw the Keyhole still hovering there. So he merely needed to close it? “Right! Here goes.”

That should be the end of the blocks in town. Nice work, Sora! You’ve solved this world’s mysteries.

Sora nodded and held his Keyblade up toward the Keyhole again. This time, he heard the lock close, and the door blinked out of existence without a trace.

Good, the town was back to normal now. Still, Sora was bothered by man in the black coat.

I guess he really is the one messing up the worlds…?

The moment Sora closed the Keyhole, the monitor distorted with static.

“What’s happening?” Donald asked apprehensively.

With a hand on his hat to keep it in place, Jiminy did a tiny hop. “It’s another new entry!”

At Jiminy’s shout of surprise, Mickey and the others all looked at the journal inside the digitizer.

There are more hurts than the one you have just undone.

“Hmm… It looks to me like a new message gets added each time a world inside the journal is repaired,” Mickey commented as he thought.

“Yeah! Just like before. Which means…” Donald looked up at the monitor.

Riku had appeared onscreen after Sora had fixed the Destiny Islands. Jiminy had not made any record of that event, so maybe they would see something this time, too.

After a few moments, the display showed Sora shaking hands with Donald and then Goofy in Traverse Town, not long after they had first met. The real Donald and Goofy had been talking about that first meeting earlier.

“Gawrsh! I remember that,” Goofy commented.

“Does that mean that we’ve appeared inside the journal now that the world is fixed?” Donald asked.

But the viewpoint of the image on the screen shifted slightly to show Pluto in what looked like an alleyway.

He headed deeper into the alley, sniffing at a scent. Beyond was one of the inky black portals they had encountered many times during their second journey—a Corridor of Darkness. The feed cut out right as Pluto dashed toward it.

“That’s funny. We were there… Was Pluto with us?”

“Well, I sure didn’t write anything like that in the journal.” Jiminy was as puzzled as Donald was.

Something unrecorded had appeared on the monitor. There was still no telling whether it was an event that had actually taken place or not.

“Hey, do you fellas think that maybe the journal is trying to tell us something?” Goofy wondered. What exactly was going on with this little book?

Just then, something very strange happened.

“Wak!” Donald cried.

Something had appeared in the room with them—a group of Heartless.

“Here, in the castle? But how?” Jiminy exclaimed in a panic. Mickey leaped from his chair and brandished his Keyblade. In a single flash, the Heartless were dispatched.

“We gotta check the rest of the castle now!”

Donald and Goofy followed Mickey as he rushed to the door. But…

“It won’t open!”

They pounded on the door, but it didn’t budge. Chip and Dale, as well as Minnie, Daisy, and Pluto would all be on the other side.

“Hey! Hello?! Anybody out there?”

No response.

“This is not our day,” said Jiminy quietly.

“Well, fellas…I hate to say this, but we’re trapped,” Mickey said, his shoulders drooping as he backed away from the door.

“We’re what?! But there could be more Heartless roaming the castle,” said Donald in a worried tone. Was Daisy safe?

Just then, an alarm indicating another new entry came from the computer.

Everyone quickly checked the monitor and saw yet another entry in Jiminy’s journal.

Undo the hurt to unbar the way.

“What does that mean?”

Jiminy put a hand to his head in confusion. All these short new entries—what did they mean?

“‘Undo the hurt to unbar the way’?” Mickey read the message aloud.

“Gawrsh, we’re tryin’. It said we’ve already undone some of it, right?” Goofy said, thinking with his arms crossed.

“Well then, we’ll just have to keep going, repairing the journal’s data as fast as we can,” Mickey replied.

Donald and Goofy shared a glance.

Suddenly, the view on the monitor changed again to show Sora.

“Your Majesty,” Jiminy said, turning back to Mickey, “I think Sora might’ve reached the next world.”

“But we gotta do something about the castle!” Donald pleaded.

“I’m as worried as you are, Donald, but right now our best hope is fixing up the journal.”

With that, Mickey turned to watch Sora on the screen. Donald and the others did the same, trusting that their king was right.