Sora felt like he was wrapped in fog. Perhaps he was dreaming again. Like those times he ended up at that strange place he could never quite remember. Was he going to have to choose his path forward yet again and fend off some ridiculously strong heartless when the protections on that place wore down? He didn't think he was ready. He felt battered, as if he had been fighting in a long battle. Perhaps the place would let him sleep some more...
"It's been forever and he still hasn't woken up! What are we going to do?" The speaker's voice was familiar, but he could not think of whose it was. It pierced through the daze he was in, and awakened a throbbing headache.
"Relax, Lookalike. He'll be fine. After all, you protected us from most of the damage. I'm sure he'll be waking up any minute now." That voice was also familiar. It didn't help his headache any though. In fact, the throbbing increased unbearably.
"But look at his face. He must be trapped in a nightmare of some sort. We've gotta help him!"
"Woah there, kiddo. Are you sure you wanna go diving into his heart? Riku barely made it back when he did it, and that kid is a certified master. You've still got a ways to go before you get master status. So just enjoy your ice cream."
"But it's salty."
Sora couldn't take it anymore. His head felt like it was going to split open.
"Owwww," he moaned, curling up on his side.
"Sora? Are you okay?" the first speaker asked.
"So loud," Sora whined. "It hurts." Tears pooled up in his eyes.
"Lea, I think he hurt his head," the first speaker hissed. Sora flinched, because although the speaker's voice was now quieter, it somehow cut into his aching head more sharply.
"Ventus, unless you have a potion or the magic to cast cure on him, the best you can do is leave him alone."
What Axel said struck a chord in Sora's pain-addled brain.
"Heal," he rasped, and felt the instant effects of the spell Curaga. His body felt lighter as well, and a little less bruised, although his muscles remained weary.
"You probably should have saved that," the second speaker muttered.
Sora was finally able to sit up and open his eyes. There wasn't much to see. He was surrounded by gray; an endless sea of monotone that was neither light nor darkness. The only break from the harsh blandness was the two people near him. Hovering above him was a blonde boy with blue eyes- eyes that he knew to be the same color as his own. The boy had a piece of plate mail on one shoulder which Sora knew could become a full set of armor. From this bit of armor, Sora determined that this must be Ventus, not Roxas. He'd never figured out how to tell the two apart aside from their clothes. It didn't help that he shared his heart with both of them to a certain extent. Farther away, a man with bright red hair lounged lazily, with one leg stretched in front of him and the other bent, with one arm resting on his knee. He was staring off into the distance, but Sora knew his eyes were green. Axel. No, not Axel. Sora kept forgetting that Axel was gone, and this was Lea now.
"Where are we?" Sora asked.
"We're nowhere," Axel- Lea said.
"So where are we really?" Sora turned to Ventus, who he could at least trust to give a straight answer. Axel would find a way to give a twisted, convoluted, misleading answer to even the simplest of questions. Ask him what two plus two is, and he'd tell you something vague. Actually, he'd probably answer "Lexaeus" who had been Organization XIII's IV.
"Didn't you hear Lea?" Ventus asked. His brows furrowed. Sora sighed internally. It was easy to forget how naive Ven was, especially since his exact double, Roxas, was extremely cynical. Where Ven was eager to trust, Roxas was suspicious. Then again, Roxas would be puzzled why Sora didn't trust Axel, or rather, Lea, since the two were best friends. Roxas didn't have to worry about what antics Lea would get up to since they never were meant to bother him.
"Yeah, I did, but how can we be nowhere?"
"Sora, don't you remember what happened?" That look of concern was in Ventus's eyes again.
"Hmm, let's see," Sora mused. We were in the Keyblade Graveyard…"
The battle was fierce, and raging all around them. Countless heartless thronged in between the keyblades of wielders past, while they and their friends pushed ever onward. They'd had to call everyone they knew from all the worlds to help them face this threat. Up ahead, Leon and Cloud cleared a path as Yuffie, Aerith, and Tifa followed, picking off the few enemies that they missed. But then Sephiroth swooped down, and Sora knew it would take all five of his friends to beat Cloud's dark side.
Farther back, six of the seven princesses were in a circle, using their power to prevent more heartless from spawning. Behind them, a girl sat drawing pictures. Sora knew Namine's pictures would manipulate the world, giving strength to the warriors of light and taking some of the edge off the darkness. The seventh princess, Kairi, stood in front of them, guarding them with her keyblade. Ahead of them, friends of the princesses formed a phalanx, attempting to destroy as many heartless as they could so that Sora and the other keyblade wielders could spare their energies for the challenge that lay up ahead.
Lightning flashed. As the ground rumbled, Sora noticed ice forming under his feet. Above him, the wind picked up, carrying rose petals along with it. The newly human members of the organization had joined the fight. He shot a grateful look to Roxas, who shrugged. Even Roxas hadn't been certain that they'd listen to him and Lea as they attempted to persuade the others to join. It would have been quite bad had the members chosen not to join the light's battle, or worse, had chosen to join their former leader in the darkness.
Because it was no secret who lay ahead. They had already defeated four of the Xehanorts, but another nine awaited them, including Saix and Xigbar. And Xemnas. Would the organization members turn on them after meeting the darknesses that used to be their colleagues? Or, more worrisome to Sora, would Riku succumb to his own darkness when he faced the form that had once taken over him: the heartless of Xehanort who called himself Ansem?
Speaking of Riku, where had he gone? Sora had lost sight of him. They were supposed to stick together, him and Riku and Roxas. It was all part of the strategy that had been laid out for them. He had to find Riku. He couldn't lose his best friend; not again.