I have a feeling this will be a well-loved one…

Chain of Memories and 358/2 Days invoke a lot of emotion from fans.

I hope I give these two games justice…!

Anyway, to sum it up- this installment is about Riku and Ari. Their mistakes. Their growth. Their decisions. Their friendship. And their hearts. It'll be a lot of hurt revealed, and the road to recovery from both sides.

Disclaimer:

I own nothing but my OC(s). Everything else belongs to either Square Enix or Disney.

Genre: Suspense/Hurt/Comfort

Rating: Teen (Cursing, and other precautions.)

Synopsis:

A new chapter begins, just after the Door to Darkness was shut from both sides, and spans for the entirety of a long, painful year.

Memory becomes the Key, when Sora's heart is dismantled by a petite blonde held captive in a castle named for Oblivion. During the boy's siege of the castle floors, Ari was forced apart from him. She found instead, a hateful, hurting replica bearing an identical appearance to their childhood friend, Riku.

When Riku himself shows up, from the castle's basement floors- the unsettled two must make a difficult choice. When Sora's safety is put in jeopardy, they rush together to form a relentless tag-team, despite the baggage between them- facing off from the depths of the shadows against the hooded cult calling themselves "Organization XIII".

Maybe what mattered the most between them, wasn't remembered the least?

KINGDOM HEARTS: Of Days and Memories

Chapter I

Just Wondering (Out Loud)

The sound of a fire danced to every crack of heated wood breaking in the pit of it. A duck and dog lay asleep among their equipment, a tent set up for the other two who remained by the fire's side.

A boy not even fifteen sat staring into the flames, with a look of absolute concertation and deep thought.

Not far from him, a girl a year his senior lay on her side with eyes closed, head propped by hand. She was listening to the sound of the campfire.

At the boy's feet, a small cricket diligently wrote in his journal every detail he could recall and see.

"Jiminy?" the boy's voice cracked. Puberty was setting in, his voice the prominent indicator. "What do you keep writing about?"

The old cricket chuckled quietly. "Why, our adventures, Sora. Care for a look?"

Sora tried. He really did. But the pages and penmanship were just too small for his baby blues to focus in on. "Er…sorry, Jiminy."

The cricket laughed a little louder. "It's alright, Sora. Would you care to know what's on the last page?"

They turned to the small snort coming from the only female among them. Without cracking open an eye or missing a beat, she mused nonchalantly. "Oh, I bet it was about Kairi. After all, Sora doesn't go a day without looking at that charm she lent him."

Sora squawked with mortification. "Sh-she…no! No, I…erm…uh…"

She and Jiminy laughed.

"Shut up, Ari!"

She opened an eye to see his face bright red and illuminated perfectly by the orange glow of their fire. "Relax," she giggled. "I'm just teasing you, kid."

She could hear him grumble- something between he was only a year younger, to how it wasn't like that with her cousin.

"Well, it's not that far off the mark," Jiminy mused. "She was a part of everything up until everyone parted ways. I was reflecting on Sora's promise, and his pattern of making and keeping them."

Ari's laughing calmed. "Well, he's got a good track of that."

"Not to mention the importance that charm has for him."

"Shut up!"

Laughter ensued. The duck snorted, turning in his sleep; back facing the fire.

Stretching, Ari turned onto her back. The heat of the fire washed over her. It was beginning to lull her into slumber. "Get s'me rest," she murmured behind a yawn. "I know it's hard Sora…but you need to sleep."

The last thing she heard behind the dancing crackle of their fire, was Sora murmuring his incoherent response.

"Along the road ahead, lies something you need.

However, in order to claim it-

You must lose something that is dear to you."

They were woken by Sora's shouting.

"Get up! GetupgetupGETUP!"

She jolted, turning over and curling into herself the louder he got. "What!?" She snapped groggily.

"There…there was someone. I took a walk 'cause I couldn't sleep. There's this…crossroad…or something. Anyway-"

"Back up," Ari snapped, pressing up onto her knees and narrowing her eyes at the boy. "What do you mean you went for a walk!?"

The duck was living behind her. "You damn well know the rules, Sora! Don't take off on your own when we don't know where we are!"

Yet the dog seemed to keep his cool. "Whaddya mean…there was someone…?"

"It's like I said, Goofy!" Sora's breathing was ragged. "He…came out of nowhere. Then took off down the trail we're already heading down. Said something about something I need…but I gotta lose something in order to…claim it…or something?"

The duck and the girl through themselves back onto the ground, grumbling into their own limbs the ludicrous notion of a midnight hunt for answers.

"C'mon!" Sora was already packing up their equipment. "Let's go already!"

She loved the boy- he was family. But in that moment, she could have offed him on the spot.

'He's not the only Keyblade wielder we have. No one would question it so long as the job is still done…'

It had merit. Donald, behind her, seemed to be considering the pros and cons to it as well.

"Where…where are we?" She couldn't help the inquiry as it escaped unhinged.

Two hours they had trekked. Going from grassland and shallow hills to a bottomless abyss housing one lone bit of land at the end of the trail- a crooked castle its only means of inhabitance.

"Uhhh…" Donald tried to answer. But really, what could be said? It was a castle, a small bastion, in the middle of nowhere with empty Darkness encasing the horizon and abyss.

Yet Sora seemed to not need an answer, as he marched along to the double doors keeping them from within.

Goofy paced behind the boy, while Ari and Donald shared a look of uncertainty.

'This doesn't feel right…Sora, what are we doing here?'

"Hey…ya think it's OK to barge in…?" Goofy was finally on the bandwagon of worry.

The door was left wide open behind them- well, one side of it, anyway. White halls, offwhite décor and installments to add variety. High ceilings. Long halls.

"What kind of place did we just wander into…?" Ari muttered behind Goofy, gluing herself closer to the group.

Donald swallowed. "Well…we've gotta do it, if we wanna find the king…"

The notion perplexed the poor dog. "The king…!? You mean King Mickey's here?" He whirled around on his clumsy feet, almost as if he were expecting to see the small king standing there, waiting for them to find him.

Donald grimaced. "Something just…told me he'd be here, OK?"

Baffled, Goofy placed a hand over his chest, where his heart no doubt thumped a little quicker than was normal for him. "Really…? 'Cause now that ya mention it, I was…kinda thinkin' the same thing."

Sora turned around, eyes widened by slight surprise. "Seriously? Me too…! One look at this castle, and I just knew." His mouth spread into a soft smile. "Our very best friends- they're here."

Ari bit her tongue from behind Goofy and Donald. 'Tch. Yeah- right. Maybe yours, but mine are back at the Bastion.' She looked back to the doorway, feeling uneasy by something she couldn't quite place her finger on. 'This doesn't sit right. None of it does. But why…? Why am I feeling so uneasy?'

She turned around to Goofy's signature chuckle. "Ahyuk! Guess great minds think alike."

"Wait…!" Jiminy scrambled up onto Sora's shoulder, having taken to traveling with him that night. "Just hold on. This can't just be coincidence."

Donald shook his head. "Oh no, Jiminy. You don't mean-"

The cricket nodded his head with absolute serious assurance. "Yep, I had it too. I had the exact same feeling."

"Gwarsh!" Goofy clamped a hand over his mouth. "Maybe it's contagious!"

Shaking his head stubbornly, Donald refused to believe it was that simple. "No, no- something's screwy. We gotta take a look."

'And that's where I'd disagree.' She thought, brushing back her growing bangs from her eyes.

"All right," Sora turned to head for the doorway at the other end of the hall.

Donald startled. "Where do you think you're going!?"

"That way," Sora pointed to the door. Placing his hands on his hips, he cocked his head with lips spread into a Cheshire grin. "What? Are ya scared?"

Refusing to admit such a notion, Donald fixed his hat and responded with indignation at such a thing. "Of course not. Don't be ridiculous!" He waddled ahead. "C'mon you two."

"Uh…shouldn't we shut the…" Goofy's vice trailed off, Ari jolting at his side as they turned to the door left unopen. "…Door…"

A soft click, and the large doors shut rather quietly, thanks to a hooded figure garbed in a black coat.

"Sora…!" Ari called out, halting her best friend in his steps.

He turned around, scowling at the sight of the figure. "That's it," the boy snapped. "Just who are you?"

Silently, the figure walked their way; boots the only sound masking the swishing of their coat.

Donald tensed. "Heartless?" he assumed.

She was about to bite out that she highly doubted it. 'They don't feel the same. Even 'Ansem' felt different comparatively.' But she didn't get the chance.

The duck shook his head. "I'll try some magic." He clutched his staff, when he dug that out of their supplies and equipment she wasn't sure…

Pointing it at the approaching figure, Donald shouted out, "THUNDER!"

But nothing came cascading down. Just silence. No mana. No magic. No spell. Nothing pulsed like it should have.

Perplexed, Donald tried again with more vigor. "THUNDER! THUNDER!"

Nothing.

"Come on…" He muttered, patting the head of his staff in his other palm. "Blizzard…!" he swung, with no results. "Fire!" To which no heat arose.

The figure halted about two meters from where they stood. "I should think it's obvious, why it's not working." The voice of a masculine figure. Ari tensed. 'A silver tongue. Be on guard.'

"Heh." The figure shrugged one shoulder. "The moment you set foot in this castle, you forgot every spell, every ability, that you ever knew."

She was left at that moment, she realized, to be the only one among them who had yet to have her weapon out. Rather, she seemed to fixate more on the way he spoke, and what he spoke of. 'You're up to something. You wanted him here.' And she could only wonder as to why.

He seemed unperturbed by her steeled silence, more curious as his neck turned, hooded face directed her way. "In this place," he seemed to understand the unspoken inquiry as to what made this domain so special, "to find is to lose, just as to lose is to find. That is simply the way of Castle Oblivion."

"'Castle Oblivion'?" Sora tested on his tongue, just as the hooded one disappeared in Darkness, reappearing with a warped noise behind them from the same type of portal.

They whirled around at the sound of the element dissipating, as well as the soft chuckle. "Here, you will meet people you have known in the past." He remained still and steady. "And you will meet people you miss."

"I…miss?" Sora couldn't quite accept that taste in his mouth. But something clicked in his mind, to which even Ari couldn't say was positive or negative. "Riku?" He breathed. "You mean Riku's here!?"

The figure tilted their head to their right. "If what you want…is to find him…"

A raging gust pressed against the young hero, targeting him as the other three received the outer edges of the wind. Ari gasped at the sight though, as they could only watch the figure glitching in and out as he ran right through their friend.

"Sora!"

~.:*:.~

Fading memories. And reconstructed memories.

And…a dream.

A dream of you-

In a world without you.

~.:*:.~

Author's Endnote:

Well there we have it folks! A new chapter in their story begins. ;) We're on our way for a long, taxing, tiring slew of adventures and turmoil. It will not be evenly paced, but I'll do my best to keep the confusion down to a minimum!

Much love,

~ AoZ