Disneyland Sea is awesome! Especially the Fantasmic show at night! It was totally worth sitting in an airplane for 13 hours to get to Japan.

Back on subject…Here is the sequel to Sora the Maelstrom. It should have shorter chapters since that game was shorter than the main games. Hopefully, that means chapters will get out more quickly.

I've made some additional changes to characters and the story. Some will be more obvious than others.

I still don't own any of this.

Chapter Start

Sora looked up at the stars. He wasn't sure how long they had been stuck in this strange realm, but it felt like it had been for a while. Sora would have to guess it was at least a few days.

Sora glanced at the group. The others were all sleeping while Sora kept a look out. Donald and Goofy were all spread out and snoring lightly. Aladdin hadn't moved at all since he'd curled up on the ground a couple of hours ago and hadn't made any noises since then either. Being around them 24/7 for that length of time was a bit…trying, but it was also…nice.

Sora sighed and went back to staring at the stars. He wished there was some clue as to where to go from there. Yeah, they'd managed to defeat Ansem and the Heartless, but had that restored the worlds? Even if it had, how were they going to get back to these worlds and go home?

Sora jumped to his feet to look around. They had been following Pluto, but had somehow managed to lose him. Now, they were at a crossroads, literally. The path had three possible choices for them, and they weren't sure which would be the best to choose. They'd eventually decided to sleep on it for the moment.

As Sora was thinking about his life, he saw something move out of the corner of his eyes. Sora turned to get a better look, fully expecting it to be a stray leaf. He was dead wrong. It was a person in a black hooded cloak that disguised every feature.

Sora gasped and sent a Firaga at the figure, which disappeared before the spell could impact. Sora frowned. That was some form of teleportation…

"Ahead lies something you hold dear…" Sora spun around to see the figure standing on the path directly behind him. Then suddenly it was even further away from him than it was a second ago. "However, in order to claim it, you must lose something that is dear to you." And then the figure was gone.

Sora immediately started waking up the rest of the group. "Guys! Wake up! Something happened!"

"Huh?"

"Whuzzat?"

"Bleh…"

"There was someone else here!" That got their attention. "They were wearing a black cloak so I could make out the gender. Whoever it was had a teleporting ability though so we need to be on guard."

The four immediately got in a back-to-back formation with their weapons at the ready. After nothing happened for a few minutes, Aladdin broke the silence. "Did…he want anything?"

Sora frowned. "I dunno. He said something I hold dear is ahead but that I would have to lose something dear. I don't know what he meant so I'm considering it a threat for now."

"But what if there are other people where he came from?" Goofy had a point there so they reluctantly set out on the path the cloaked person had gone down.

5 minutes later, they were in front of a topsy turvy castle. "How could we not see this from where we were?" asked Donald. No one could come up with a response to that except for some shrugs. "Your scan thing hasn't been working at all!"

Sora glowered. "This place is strange. I can't sense anything, even if it's right in front of me!"

"Hm…" Aladdin carefully opened the door and looked around. "No one's there. Come on." Then he slipped in.

Not being the kind of people who would abandon a friend to the wolves, they followed Aladdin in.

"You sure we should just barge in like this?" asked Goofy, looking around. The room was completely white with some flower statues on pedestals.

Donald huffed. "We have to if we're gonna find the king…"

Goofy gasped and started looking around. "The king? ! King Mickey's here?"

Donald shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. Something told me he'd be here, that's all."

Goofy lit up. "Really? !" He turned thoughtful. "But…now that you mention it, I was thinkin' the same thing."

"So was I," said Aladdin. "Which is weird since I know where everyone I care about is…Except for maybe Genie."

Sora made a face. "I took one look at this castle, and I just knew they were here…I know I said I'd try to listen to my heart more, but this just smells funny."

Jiminy hopped onto Sora's shoulder. "I agree. This can't be a coincidence"

Donald gave Jiminy a surprised look. "Why Jiminy? Don't tell me that-"

"I felt it too!"

"Gawrsh, maybe it's contagious," suggested Goofy.

"Or maybe something funny's going on," muttered Sora.

Donald nodded in agreement. "We should check it out."

"Okay." Aladdin started walking forward.

"Hey, where are you going?" asked Donald.

Aladdin gave them a confused look. "To check it out. What else?"

Sora chuckled. "We won't be able to check it out if we don't move forward." He moved forward so that he was standing next to Aladdin. "What's the matter, scared?"

Donald spluttered for a moment. "D-Don't be ridiculous! Come on Goofy!" He started walking forward.

Goofy shrugged. "Okay, but we should shut the door behind us." As Goofy turned to close the door, the hairs on the back of Sora's neck stood on end and Sora spun, summoning his Keyblade.

The cloaked figure that had been at the crossroads was behind them. "Who're you?"

"It must be a Heartless!" said Donald. He whipped out his staff and pointed it at the figure. "Let's see how it handles my magic! Thunder!" Nothing happened. "Huh? That's odd. Thunder! Thunder!" Nothing happened. "Um, Fire! Blizzard!" Still nothing, and wasn't that a scary thought. "Why isn't my magic working?"

The figure started talking. "I should think it's obvious. The moment you set foot in this castle, you forgot every spell and ability you knew…though the forgetting does not end there."

Sora's eyes widened in horror at the thought of forgetting anything that had happened recently. "What? !"

The figure nodded. "In this place, to find is to lose and to lose is to find. That is the way of things in Castle Oblivion."

Sora frowned. "Castle Oblivion?" That certainly sounded foreboding. "What do you mean by 'to find is to lose and to lose is to find?'"

"Here you will meet people you know. People you miss."

"There's lots of-Wait a minute. You mean Riku! He's here? !"

The figure chuckled. "Do you want to find him? If you do…" The figure ran towards Sora. Sora slashed at the figure, but the figure went right through him and the Keyblade.

"How'd he do that?" asked Aladdin.

Sora spun around, he felt noticeably different. "What did you do? !"

"I sampled your memories. And from them, I made this." The figure held up something blue and rectangular with spikes on the top. "This is the key to reuniting with those you hold dear." The figure threw it at Sora, who caught it.

"What is this?" The back was blue with a stylized heart on it, and the other side had a picture of Traverse Town on it. It felt a pit like paper or cardboard. "A card?"

"A promise," corrected the figure. "Use that card and press on. You will find your friend."

"How do you expect me to do that?"

"Hold the card before you. The door will open, and beyond it a new world."

Sora frowned and held up the card towards a pair of double doors at the other end of the hall. The card and doors flashed for a moment, and the card disappeared.

The figure nodded. "Yes, go, Sora. To lose and claim anew, or to claim anew only to lose…" instructed the figure as it faded away.

The group paused. "So, should we listen to her?" asked Aladdin

Donald raised an eyebrow. "Her?"

Aladdin shrugged. "It sounded like a woman…"

"I don't like the idea of losing any memories though," said Sora. He'd heard about what mako poisoning was like, and this sounded disturbingly similar. Not to mention his more recent memories… "This could be a problem."

"It could be a good thing though," pointed out Aladdin.

"Yeah, his majesty might be here," pointed out Goofy.

And Riku might be here too. Sora sighed. "We won't be able to turn back." The others' expressions didn't waver. "Fine then…Let's go." Sora lead the way to the doors.

To his shock, they ended up in Traverse Town…and Sora was back in his Tsviet uniform for some reason. "Impossible…" Then Sora realized something much more important. "Donald? Goofy? Aladdin?" They were gone. "Jiminy!"

The cricket jumped onto Sora's shoulder. "I'm right here!"

Well, at least someone was still there. "What about the rest? And how are we in Traverse Town?"

"It isn't reality that you see." Sora spun. It was the cloaked figure from before. Sora summoned his Keyblade. "This town is an illusion conceived by your memories ingrained in that card."

"Forget about that! Where are Donald, Goofy, and Aladdin? ! What did you do to them? ! I swear if they're hurt in any way-"

"They are unharmed, but they are at the mercy of the cards now."

That did it. Sora saw red and rushed forward to attack the figure. Said figure dodged without any problems. "What happened to my technique? I should be able to do this!" He felt so clumsy, but continued attacking the cloaked figure. The figure kept dodging.

"The laws of this castle require that your friends be transformed into cards." As if to prove the figure's point, a green card fell from the sky and started bouncing on the ground. Donald's picture was on one side. What the figure had just said ran through Sora's mind and he ran over to grab the card.

"Donald? Can you hear me?" The card disappeared.

"Cards you pick up are added to the top of your deck. Use them, and your friends will come to your aid."

"Deck?" Sora suddenly felt a weight in one of his pockets. He reached in and found a deck of red cards shaped like the Traverse Town card and the Donald card. Sora looked through them and quickly pulled out the card with Donald's face on it. As Sora lifted it up, it disappeared and Donald briefly appeared. "Donald!" Donald cast Fire, but the figure dodged and Donald disappeared. "No!"

"The cards you use vanish, but they will reappear to aid you time and again."

"How? !"

The figure chuckled. "The cards are the hearts of your friends. Everything in this castle is ruled by cards. Whether an enemy or a door stands in your way, cards are the only way to proceed. But you mustn't forget your own strength."

"I don't care about that! How do I get them back? !"

"Every move you make causes a card to disappear. If you use up all your cards, you will be unable to act. But there is a solution. If you want that power back, you must focus. Bid the cards return to you…and they will."

Sora willed Donald to return…and nothing happened. "Of course, that doesn't work with your friends' cards," continued the figure.

"Bitch!"

"Your friends will return to you on their own time. You're not the kind to control your friends after all."

Well, that was true. There was no way Sora would ever be able to control Donald. Instead, he tried to attack the figure again. The attacks were less clumsy and felt more like they were supposed to. However, after a couple of minutes, Sora suddenly found himself unable to attack. "What the-"

"Once you run out of cards, you will be powerless to attack."

Sora glanced at his hand where he'd kept hold of the deck. All of the cards had disappeared. Sora willed them to return…and they did. Still no Donald.

"The strength of your heart brought back the lost cards. You can recall spent cards at any time. You need only wish it. But each time you do, the cards will take longer to return." Sora frowned at that news and gave the figure a look. "The cards are by no means unlimited. Use them wisely. Anticipate the flow of battle and choose the most effective cards. You may use any card in your deck."

Sora went back to attacking the figure until he ran out of cards again.

"The four card types you use in battle are grouped into two wider categories. The first category includes attack cards, magic cards, and item cards. The second category consists entirely of enemy cards. To use cards from a different category just think about the other deck." The red deck was suddenly replaced by a single black card with a Shadow Heartless on it. Sora promptly threw it at the figure, activating it. "You can't use the two decks at the same time."

Sora switched back to the red deck, which had reappeared. He promptly started attacking again. When he ran out of cards again, the figure went back to lecturing him.

"Cards will empower you whether you are attacking or defending. But it is up to you to decide when to attack and when to defend. Do not forget it."

That was when Sora finished summoning the cards back again. Just as he finished, three green cards fell to the ground and transformed to the other three guys in the group. Sora put off attacking. "Are you all right? Where have you been? !"

"You tell us!" demanded Donald. "When you opened the door, there was this weird light…and the rest is a big blank."

Jiminy jumped onto Sora's shoulder with a huff. "Well, try to remember what happened. I need to keep my journal up to date."

Aladdin groaned. "I'm in those weird clothes again!" The three were back in the clothes they'd had when they'd traveled to The End of the World.

"The cards again?" wondered Sora.

"That is for you to ponder," said the figure. "Master the cards and make your way through the castle. From here on, you walk alone."

"You mean we can't go with him?" asked Goofy. "That's not fair!"

"Yeah, we've been with him for nearly the whole time!" agreed Aladdin.

"Sora can't do anything without our help!"

"Thanks a lot Donald…"

"That is the law of the castle. You have no choice."

Sora sighed. "Right, I should be able to survive on my own."

His friends looked at him worriedly. "You sure you'll be okay?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah, don't worry. I can take care of myself. I'll be fine." "It can't be as bad as DEEPGROUND."

"The hero speaks boldly. Go, then. The rest of Castle Oblivion awaits. Walk the avenues of latent memory, and you shall meet someone dear to you." And then the cloaked figure disappeared…Along with Donald, Goofy, and Aladdin.

Sora and Jiminy both sighed. "I have a bad feeling about this…"

"Relax, Jiminy. I've been through worse. I just have to figure out how this card stuff works…"

"Good luck with that." As Jiminy finished speaking, a card appeared in front of Sora. It was yellow card with a hollow key symbol on it. "What is that?"

"Let me compare it to the other cards I have."

Sora took a moment to go through his pockets and found the two decks, a box with 'extras' written on it, and another box with 'synthesis' written on it. Since the yellow card was suddenly in the 'synthesis' box, Sora was going to assume it wasn't for fighting.

Next, Sora decided to explore the town. This was made a little difficult since there were some Shadow Heartless wandering around. Normally, Sora would barely give them a passing glance, but they were considerably…different from what he was used to. When Sora hit the first one with the Keyblade, the world blurred, and he was suddenly facing several Shadows with stars floating around their heads. After Sora had killed them all, he was thrown through another blur and was back where he'd been before, more or less.

What annoyed Sora was that he kept freezing up against the Heartless, which was ridiculous! He wasn't scared of Shadows! They could barely even hurt him. In fact, Sora never froze up in a fight…Except against Sephiroth, but that didn't count.

After clearing the place of Heartless, Sora realized something: He wasn't in Traverse Town. He was in a room designed to look like Traverse Town. Given, the cloaked figure said it was an illusion, but this…this was something else.

There were two doors. The first was the one Sora had entered through. The other one was locked and refused to be opened, even by the Keyblade. Sora huffed. "I thought this thing was supposed to open any lock…" Although, it was a strange lock.

There was a slot shaped like a card and above that, the outline of a card with the number '6' and an arrow pointing up on it. Struck by inspiration, Sora slapped one of his deck cards in the slot. Nothing happened. "Well, that's not working."

"What about the synthesis cards? Cards have been appearing in it as you've beaten Heartless."

Sora popped that box open and found Jiminy was right. He slapped a card that had a '7' on it in the slot. The door flashed and opened. "So, that's what those are for. Let's go."

The next room also had nothing but Heartless in it. Sora had a choice of two doors, and chose the one on the left. The next room was full of Heartless as well, but Sora found something potentially useful. One of the doors had a picture of the yellow card on it. Sora placed that in the slot, and walked through the door.

Sora looked around. There didn't seem to be any Heartless in this room. "Is this a dead end?"

Then three green cards fluttered down from the sky and turned into his friends. "Gah! Don't pop out of nowhere like that!"

Donald huffed. "It's not our fault. We don't know what's going on either."

"You sure you're okay?" asked Aladdin. "Your fighting seems really off, like you don't have the experience you had before."

"You sure you don't need us?" asked Goofy.

Sora sighed. "I think it's the way fights have to be done in this castle. Using the cards is tricky, and I think I'm using them like I'm supposed to. I just have to figure out why I keep freezing up when I try to use cards. After that, I'll be fine. Don't worry."

"Think like that, and you're as good as Heartless fodder."

He knew that voice. Sora spun around. "Leon!" Sure enough, the gunblader was walking over from…somewhere. "What're you doing in Castle Oblivion?"

Leon gave Sora a suspicious look. "Castle Oblivion? What are you talking about? This is Traverse Town. And how do you know my name? I've never seen any of you before in my life."

"Say what?"

"But you fought the Heartless with us!" protested Aladdin.

"Look, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't even know your names."

"You don't?" asked Goofy.

Leon just shrugged. "Sorry."

Sora huffed. "I don't believe it. How could you have forgotten about us?"

"Hey, I feel for you. But you've got the wrong guy." Leon shrugged. "Happens all the time. Don't take it so personally, Sora." Sora twitched, badly.

"You DO know his name!" crowed Donald, looking far more triumphant than he had any right to be.

Leon, for his part, looked more shocked than any of them had ever seen. "Now-Now hold on! Why do I know your name?"

Goofy turned to Aladdin. "You think Leon's just kidding around?"

Aladdin shrugged. "It's not a very funny joke."

"Who's kidding around, Goofy? You and Aladdin are the one…who…" Leon trailed off as he realized what he just said.

"Hey, you do remember our names!"

"I don't get it…What's happened to my memory?" Leon looked like he was about to have some kind of break down…And Sora thought he saw some smoke coming out of his ears.

"I dunno Leon. Maybe Aerith was onto something after all." Everyone turned as Yuffie walked over. "She said she sensed some uncanny kind of power and asked us to look into it. Well, we looked. And this is as uncanny as it gets. Maybe we should bring Sora and the others to Aerith."

"Yuffie…Do you recognize me?" asked Sora.

Yuffie grinned. "Nope! I know your name, and you know mine, but you're a total stranger to me. Strange yes, but convenient! We can skip the introductions!" Definitely Yuffie.

Leon rolled his eyes. "Well, gee, Yuffie. I guess all our problems are solved," he said sardonically.

"Oh, hush you." Yuffie smiled at Sora. "Anyways, I'm gonna run ahead and fill Aerith in." She turned back to Leon. "Leon, you give Sora and the others the grand tour. See ya later!" And then Yuffie ran off, seemingly disappearing into one of the walls. Sora's eyes bugged out.

"How-"

"Well, let's get on with it," interrupted Leon. He looked around before pointing at a Shadow. "There are some Heartless still wandering around so I'd better teach you how to protect yourself in battle."

"Will it keep me from freezing up?"

"Yeah, just attack that Heartless and dodge until I give you instructions."

Sora walked over and bopped it with the Keyblade before it could jump him.

After the blur, Sora found himself facing a single Shadow, which was oddly convenient. Everyone else had disappeared though.

Leon's voice drifted in from somewhere. "First off, if you hit the Heartless first, they'll be stunned during the first few seconds of the battle." Well, that explained the floating stars. "If the Heartless hits you while still in the field, you'll be the one stunned, so be careful." Then the Heartless snapped out of it and started trying to attack Sora, who started dodging. "Now, there are numbers printed on your cards. You see them?"

Sora pulled out his deck. "Yeah!"

"They range from 0 to 9. Higher numbers mean stronger cards. If you and your enemy both play a card at the same time, the higher card wins. Go on, try it out."

"How do I see what card it plays? !"

"It should appear near its feet." Sora briefly looked down and was surprised to see a card flash onto the ground right before it attacked. Sora dodged and went through his deck until he found a '9.' He attacked as he saw another card appear in front of the Shadow. The Heartless froze up as soon as Sora initiated his attack, allowing the attack to hit.

That had felt weird, but it certainly worked.

"See how it works? Playing a card higher than your opponent's and breaking through their defenses is called a 'card break.' Playing a lower card results in your attack being deflected. Even powerful cards can be deflected if the enemy's card is higher. Whoever is on the losing side of a break is left wide open to attacks. Don't let that person be you." Well, that explained why Sora kept freezing up…This had the potential to become incredibly annoying/dangerous.

"Cards with 0 as their value are special. No matter what card the enemy plays, you can break it with a zero card. But you have to wait until AFTER the enemy plays their card. If you play the zero card too soon, the enemy can break it with any card they play. In other words, it's the most powerful card if it comes last, and useless if it comes first."

To try this out, Sora looked for a '0' card and used it right after the Heartless used a card. It had the same result as using the '9.'

"Try to make the most of it. Card values also affect the cost of assembling a deck. Keep that in mind." Sora had no idea what that meant, but he made a note of it.

"Now, it's time to teach you how to stock cards. You don't have to use battle cards one at a time. You can also assemble three cards and use them all at once. This is called stocking cards. Stocking cards and using them in threes is much stronger than using cards individually. Go on, give it a try. Stock any three cards in your deck. Remember, you need three cards or it won't work."

Sora grabbed three random cards and tossed them into the air. He promptly threw the Keyblade at the Heartless so that it hit it once after he threw it and once on the way back to its wielder.

"Combo attacks aren't the only benefit of stocking cards. Choose your cards carefully and you can unleash special abilities called "sleights." Sleights come in all varieties, and each has its own unique card combination. You should try it out once you've collected more cards and learned a sleight or two. But keep one thing in mind. Every time you use a sleight, you lose the first card you picked for the sleight. You can't reload it. The lost card won't return until the end of the battle. Relying only on sleights will cause your cards to run out. That means trouble." Sora didn't need Leon to tell him that. Then the world blurred, and Sora found himself standing with the other four guys again. "Think you've got the hang of it Sora?"

Sora nodded. "More or less. I'll work out the wrinkles as I move along."

Leon nodded in understanding and then handed Sora two cards. "Here, I found this lying around. You take it." Sora examined them. One was a blue card with a lion on it, and the other was a yellow card with a hollow heart on it. "Remember what I told you and make good use of it."

Sora nodded. "I will."

"Good. Come on." Leon turned, startled walking, and disappeared into a wall.

"Hey!" Aladdin ran over to the wall. "How'd he do that?" Then he disappeared as well.

Sora glanced behind him and saw that Donald and Goofy had disappeared as well. Before he could even react to this, a force picked Sora up and threw him out of the room. He spun around, brandishing the Keyblade…and saw a wall with no door whatsoever. "What happened to the door? !"

Sora looked around. One of the other doors was open, so he'd been here before. That was weird. Sora decided that all he could do at this point was look around for the door that matched the second yellow card.

Sora spent the next several minutes trying to get used to the card system using what Leon had told him. He quickly realized how difficult and annoying it was.

"I hate this *censored* fucking *bleepity* card system!" Sora attacked the final Heartless, luckily using a card that had a high enough value to work. He was thrown back to the room, but was still so angry that he started attacking a nearby lamp post. Several red balls popped out. Sora stared, rage forgotten, as the balls bounced and disappeared into the air above Sora's head as '+5' appeared in the air above him.

"…This castle is crazy." Was there even a point to that?

After lots of frustration, stress venting, and bouncing red balls, Sora finally found the door that matched the door. Sora slapped the card into it, and walked through.

Aladdin, Goofy, and Donald did not reappear when Sora entered this room, but he did see Aerith. Sora walked over to her cautiously. "Aerith, please tell me you haven't forgotten me, too."

Aerith smiled sadly. "I don't know whether to say "nice to meet you" or "good to see you again." It feels like a little of both." Sora sighed. "I don't think I know you, but I still feel like you belong here."

"Yeah, exactly!" Yuffie and Leon suddenly came bounding in from the wall. "Like we've never met, but it still doesn't feel weird knowing your name."

"I'm never gonna get used to that," muttered Sora. "And I'm telling you, we HAVE met. We took on the Heartless." Yeah, they mostly left him on his own, but they did help against that one Behemoth so he considered them friends and comrades. "We were a team!"

Leon frowned in thought. "It feels like you're right…" Leon sighed and shook his head. "But I can't remember."

Sora tried to think of something to jog Leon's memory. "Do you remember what you told me in Hollow Bastion when I sealed the Keyhole? 'We may never meet again…'" He trailed off to let Leon finish.

"But we'll never forget each other."

"See? You do remember!"

Yuffie nodded. "He's right, Leon! I remember you saying that, too."

"I guess I can't write it off as a coincidence, then," admitted Leon.

"I don't think I have any memory of it…" said Aerith, briefly filling Sora with dread. "But somehow I still remember. Maybe Sora's heart is doing the remembering for us."

Sora blinked. "How would something like THAT work?" That wasn't how memories worked! He should know after all the lectures Kimihiro had given him.

Aerith shrugged in response to Sora's question. "We don't know you, Sora, but your heart is full of memories of us together. Those memories must resonate in our hearts, too. Maybe they tell us things we couldn't otherwise know."

Okay, that actually made sense when he thought about all the stuff he'd learned recently.

Leon raised an eyebrow, looking very uncomfortable. "So, you're saying that Sora's memories are affecting ours?"

Aerith just chuckled. "Sora's memories do seem to have a certain power."

Sora frowned in thought. "It's just like what that guy said then. This town is just an illusion…Something created by my memories."

That got some confused looks. "And…there's someone special to you in this town?" hazarded Aerith.

"How did you-Ah, right…" Sora had forgotten that Aerith was also an Ancient. "You're more sensitive when it comes to these things…Anyway, yeah. A friend of mine is somewhere in this town-I mean, Castle Oblivion."

They were looking even more confused now. "What's Castle Oblivion?" asked Yuffie. "There aren't any castles in Traverse Town."

Sora sweatdropped. He'd forgotten they weren't in the know. "Uh, not quite what I meant." Although… "It's so complicated and unbelievable that I'm not sure I can explain it adequately."

"Then don't," said Aerith. "I'm sure you still have your own questions, right?"

"Yeah…" He wasn't sure they'd be able to answer any of his questions though. "I haven't explored the whole place though. It wouldn't hurt to keep looking around."

"Then go have a walk around town," said Leon. "There are Heartless, but that shouldn't be a problem for you from what I've seen."

"Oh good, you know I can fight again."

Leon shrugged. "I can't say I remember, but I am starting to believe. It's better than nothing."

Sora closed his eyes, crossed his arms, and nodded. "Well, there's something to that as well." Then he opened his eyes, and they were gone. Sora stared. "Of course this had to happen." Then a yellow card appeared in front of him. This one had the Heartless crest on it. Sora looked around cautiously before grabbing it.

Once again, an invisible force grabbed Sora and tossed him out of the room. When Sora turned, the door was gone again. "The rooms the yellow cards create must disappear after I leave them…"

Sora sighed. That figured. The one place he could see people he knew, and it disappeared as soon as a conversation was over. Sora sighed and started looking for the appropriate door for the yellow card.

By the time Sora had found the appropriate door, he was starting to get annoyed. He had gotten slightly used to the rules of the castle, but it was still difficult. Plus, it was difficult to find his way around here. Sora slapped the card into the slot, and walked through the now open door.

Inside was someone that Sora hadn't seen yet: Cid. "Well, whaddaya know? It's Sora." Cid paused and scratched his head. "Wait, what am I saying? I don't know you. But you do LOOK like a Sora, what with the spiky hair and glowy clothes…" Cid crossed his arms with a huff. "Guess I just call 'em like I see 'em."

Sora sighed. "It's okay Cid. That's my name."

Cid grinned. "So you've heard of me! Well, I can't say I'm surprised."

"Yeah, yeah, can you help me out? A friend of mine's supposed to be in this…town. Have you seen anyone unusual lately?"

Cid frowned in thought. "Yer friends, huh?" He sighed. "Lately, all this town sees is Heartless. Can't even take two steps without getting' attacked." Cid spread his arms out. "This plaza's the worst. Word is we'll have a jumbo-sized Heartless on our hands when that bell rings. If you value your hide, you'll get out of here while the gettin's good." And Cid immediately turned and walked into a wall after that.

"Gawrsh, maybe he's right."

Sora jumped and spun around. "Don't do that!"

Aladdin winced. "Sorry! It's not like we have any control over when we appear!"

Sora sighed. This place was so crazy. "So, we haven't been kicked out of this room yet. What do you want to do?"

"Leave," said Donald.

"How come?" asked Aladdin.

"Cid said that a giant Heartless shows up when the bell rings! Weren't you listening?"

Aladdin nodded. "Yeah, but Sora's taken on giant Heartless before. Why would this be any different?"

Sora groaned. "It's the rules in this castle. My focus has to be in too many places at once. It makes battles a lot more difficult than they usually are." He sighed. "Donald's probably right. It would be best to avoid any tough fights when we can."

And that was when the bell rang and the ground started to shake. Goofy's eyes widened and he pointed behind Sora. "Sora, look out!"

Sora spun around as the world shifted again. There was a giant suit of armor of armor across from him. "This again? !" The Guard Armor lashed out with one of its gauntlets, and Sora rolled to the side to dodge it. "I am not going to be able to fight this like I did the Shadows and Soldiers earlier." Sora dodged out of the way of another claw swipe as he tried to think of something to do.

Sora pulled out the deck and looked at the top number. It was a five. Then he turned his attention to the Guard Armor. He continued to dodge the attacks while he kept an eye on the number of the card it was using. Eventually, it used a card that had a lower value than five.

Sora quickly threw out the card. The Guard Armor stumbled back. Sora quickly ran in and started hitting it until it was able to recover. Then he quickly retreated out of its attack range. "That should work for now…" Sora glanced at the next card in the deck. It was a two. "Oh come on!"

Sora spent the rest of the fight using that strategy while grabbing his friends' cards and using them in stacks to stagger the Guard Armor. After around 15 minutes, Sora successfully destroyed the Guard Armor…Or at least he assumed he did. He was shifted back to the plaza and it was nowhere to be found at the very least.

Somehow, everyone was now in the plaza. Sora couldn't help but wonder how that had happened.

"So, your friend wasn't here?" asked Leon, as if a giant Heartless hadn't been present a split-second ago.

Sora sighed and shook his head. "No, I don't think I'll find him in this town. But he's somewhere in this castle. I know it."

Cid raised an eyebrow. "Castle?"

Yuffie nodded. "Turns out this whole town is in a castle."

"Hoo, that's rich!"

"He's probably right Cid," said Leon. "We may not understand what's going on, but Sora does. He can see that reality is bigger than just this world."

Sora sighed. "I wish I was that sure."

Leon put a hand on Sora's shoulder. "You'll be okay, Sora. No matter what shape reality takes, you can handle it. I may not remember you, but I know you in my heart."

"Leon…"

Yuffie nodded in agreement. "Take care, Sora."

Cid scratched the back of his head. "I'm a little lost…but best of luck anyway."

"…Thanks." Then the Traverse Town residents turned and walked away.

"Does this mean we have to turn into cards again?" asked Aladdin.

Donald sighed. "Probably…"

As the group turned to leave the room, Sora heard someone call his name. He turned and saw Aerith walking back over to him. "Aerith? Something up?"

Aerith fidgeted nervously. "I don't have all the answers, but there's something I thought you should know. Your memories created this town, right?"

Sora nodded. "That was the impression I got."

"If that's true, then this town is just a figment of your mind…and so are we."

Sora blinked in surprise and thought for a second. "Actually, that would make sense. I really can't think of any way you guys could have gotten here. And that means…None of this is real."

Aerith nodded. "That's right. But you thought it was real. Sora…beware your memories. In the journey to come, you'll be faced with more illusions. Sometimes, the shadows of your memory will deceive you and try to lead you astray."

"Sounds sort of like mako poisoning," mused Sora. "I don't suppose you know what I'm supposed to do?"

Aerith shook her head. "I'm just another illusion, Sora. The truth is out of my reach."

Sora sighed. "Right, if you were created from my memories, you can't know anything I don't." He thought a moment. "So, I need to be careful about the illusions made from my memories."

Aerith nodded. "You mustn't let illusions distract you from what's truly important."

Sora nodded. "Gotcha."

"Sora!"

"Are you coming or not?"

Sora turned toward the others. "I'll be there in a minute." Then he turned back…and Aerith was gone. "Huh? Aerith?"

"What about her?" asked Donald.

"I was talking to her just now, but she just…disappeared." The others started shifting nervously. "What? What is it?"

"Aerith left with the others," said Goofy. "Remember?"

"She did?"

"Yeah," said Aladdin. "You were just standing around talking to yourself. We weren't really sure if we should interrupt you or not since you had a really serious look on your face."

"You didn't see her?" Sora frowned in thought. "I see. That must be what she was talking about…We should leave here as soon as possible. I'll explain what I found out to you as soon as we do."

And then they got kicked out of the room.

"…We're never gonna be able to leave that room on our own, are we?" Sora sighed and looked around. He saw something unfamiliar in this room. There was a crystal with a couple of lights in it at the top of a ladder next to an open door. Assumming he hadn't gone through that door before, Sora headed straight for it.

As soon, as Sora walked through the door, Sora was greeted with a blindingly white hallway. He also noticed that the rest of the group had returned. Before anyone could even open their mouths though, the figure in black reappeared. "Well, Sora? Did you enjoy meeting your memories?"

"It was nice seeing them again." That was actually true. "But why show me an illusion? What do you want?"

"That depends on what you have to give."

The group and the figure got ready to fight…and a lanky man with spiky red hair and a cloak identical to the mystery figure's appeared out of a portal of darkness. "Yo! What's up?"

Everyone facevaulted…Yes, even the other person in a coat.

The hooded figure got up and gave the redhead what was presumably a scalding look. "What do you want?"

The redhead shrugged. "I got bored, what with you hogging the hero. Thought I'd come by to see what's happening. You gonna fight?" He suddenly caught several blue cards thrown at him by the other cloaked figure.

"Perhaps YOU'D like to test him."

The redhead smirked. "Perhaps I would." The hooded figure disappeared as the redhead walked over to the center of the room. He grinned at Sora-tachi. "Looks like it's my show now, Keyblade master. My name is Axel." He tapped the side of his head. "Got it memorized?"

"Uh, yeah sure…Why do you have mako eyes?"

Axel shrugged. "You know how it is. You gotta work to eat."

"Or steal," interjected Aladdin.

Axel nodded in agreement. "That too. So, now that we all know each other…" In a burst of flames, Axel summoned a pair of round bladed weapons. He smirked at Sora. "Don't go dying on me!"

Chapter end

And that was the first chapter. Everyone's got their fancy clothes back, they've wondered into Castle Oblivion, and Axel…has mako eyes?

Well, it's Sora. Nothing's ever simple for him.

On a side note, there will likely be several references to mako and the effects it can have on people.

And now for the set of omakes I made for this story. I have a feeling you're really going to like them…Or at least get a giggle out of them."

Omake: Chickenpox

It started as a normal enough day for the Tsviets. They'd been woken up by Zakuro and Kyo's morning fight (Better than an alarm clock!), and Kimihiro had put together a delicious breakfast from who knows what. They were still adjusting to the move to Destiny Islands, but anything was better than DEEPGROUND so it was going along quite well.

It got weird in the afternoon. Kyo was trying to figure out how to hook up a TV while Chris just sat on a couch and stared at the TV, which still wasn't working. Then Sora walked in, saw Chris and walked over to her. "I'm itchy." Chris gave him a blank look. "I'm itchy all over and I keep itching no matter how much I scratch."

Chris, grabbed him and yanked his shirt off in a practiced move, revealing several spots on his chest. "It's chicken pox. Don't scratch."

"Chicken pox?" Kyo looked out from behind the TV. "What the hell? How can someone full of mako and Jenova cells get sick?"

Chris shrugged. "Mako enhances physical abilities, including the immune system, causing it to attack pathogens before any detrimental effects become noticeable. Some pathogens can last long enough to cause detrimental effects. It appears chicken pox is one of them."

"You mean we're not immune to that sort of crap?"

"No."

"Well, that sucks. You mean we have to take care of a sick kid?"

Sora pouted. "I can take care of myself…"

"To prevent possible infection and scarring he must not be permitted to scratch the sores."

Kyo groaned. "And I bet Kimihiro is gonna make a big deal about this. Just our luck. Could this day get any worse?"

That was when Rosso walked in. "Ah, there you are Christine. I am itchy and have spots. Do you have anything for that?" Kyo started banging his head against the wall. "Why is he doing that?"

"You have chicken pox. Don't scratch."

"But why is Kyo hitting his head?"

"I have chicken pox too," said Sora.

"I will go inform Kimihiro," said Chris. "Kyo, please prevent them from scratching their sores." Kyo ignored her and kept banging his head against the wall.

Roughly half an hour later, Chris returned with Kimihiro and some bags. Kyo had left by that time. Rosso gave the bags a suspicious look. "What are those for?"

"You have to tough out chicken pox," explained Kimihiro. "This has some things to help with the itching." He started pulling out stuff. "Cotton mittens." Rosso made a face. "Calamine lotion…Oatmeal."

"Oatmeal? How is Oatmeal going to help?"

"Oatmeal baths make you stop itching for a while."

Rosso gave Kimihiro a disbelieving look. "You want us to sit in a bathtub full of oatmeal?"

"Yes."

"I refuse."

Weiss overrode Rosso's decision and forced her to take the oatmeal bath on penalty of amputation. That wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't decided she should take the bath with Sora.

Given, they only had three bathrooms, so it was understandable. Anyway, they didn't have to worry about anything inappropriate. Rosso was a lesbian, and Sora was just too young to care about girls, naked or otherwise. No, what made it bad was that Sora got bored.

The result was shaving cream everywhere.

"I will not defend you from Nero's wrath."

Sora pouted. "But I'm so bored!" He sank up to his nose and blew bubbles out of his mouth.

"Trust me. I'm not enjoying this anymore than you are."

Then Ash walked through the door…Literally. He blinked. "Am I interrupting something?"

Rosso leapt at him and punched him back through the door…Only this time the door broke. "That's it!" Rosso grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her body. "I don't care if it will help, I'm leaving!" Then she stormed out through the hole in the door, making sure to stomp on Ash on the way out.

"Me too!" Sora jumped out of tub and ran out of the room, buck naked.

Ash groaned. "I'm so confused…"