Author's Note: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.
Ch.2 The Mercy of the Cards
Sora turned in a circle, trying to figure out what was going on. He had used the card to open that door, gone through it... and ended up in Traverse Town? "This can't be right..." he said. But then a voice behind him said "What you see isn't what is real." He spun around but the figure was gone, reappearing behind him. He turned again, and looked at the stranger. This one was wearing the same coat as the first stranger, but this one was the slightest bit shorted, and with a different build. The voice was different as well, and even vaguely familiar... "What you see before you is an illusion, created from the memories making up that card you used," the figure explained. Sora frowned. "My memories?" he repeated. But then Jiminy jumped off of his shoulder, landing on the ground. "Forget about that, Sora! We lost Donald and Goofy!" he called.
Sora looked around, and saw that he was right. "Donald? Goofy? Guys, where are you?" he asked. But when he received no reply, he looked at the figure. "What did you do with them?!" he demanded. The figure chuckled, saying "They are at the mercy of the cards now. If you can manage to control the cards, their power will be yours once more." The figure held up his fingers and snapped them, and an explosion of light surrounded Sora. When it faded he and the figure were standing in the middle of an open area. Before he could say anything another card like the one before materialized, only this one was green and had a picture of Donald. "The laws of Castle Oblivion mandate that your friends be changed into cards. If you value your friends, you'll pick them up," the figure said.
Sora ran and picked up the card of Donald, and the figure said "Cards you pick up are added to your inventory. Use the cards of your friends, and they will reappear." Sora nodded held up the card, calling "Donald!" The card vanished and Donald appeared before him. He called "Yeah!" and cast Fire and Blizzard, before disappearing again. "The cards you use vanish, but they will appear time and again to help you. The hearts of your friends and your memories of them are within those cards. The cards rule over everything within this castle. Whether it's an enemy or a door in front of you, both require the use of cards. However, you shouldn't forget your own strength. First think for yourself, then use the cards," the figure explained, making that last part sound like a challenge.
His eyes narrowed and Sora decided to take that challenge, rushing forward and swinging. The figure easily dodged him, and said "Well done. Every action you make costs a card, and that cards disappears. If you use up all of your cards, you will be unable even defend yourself. But there is a solution. Keep attacking me until you no long can, and I'll show you." Sora nodded and swung again and again, attacking. As he did he could feel his exhaustion growing, ever action he made increasing it. Eventually he couldn't make another swing, and stopped. Never mind make another swing- he could even think of another move. "The sensation your feeling is that which you have without any cards. Without cards, you have no power. If you want that power back, you have to focus. Concentrate and regaining your strength, and the it will," the stranger said.
Placing his hand over his hearts, Sora closed his eyes and imagined his strength coming back to him. To his surprise it did, and he suddenly felt refreshed, now able to think and act. "The power of your heart brought your cards and strength. You can recall the cards and power you have lost at any time. Be warned though. Each time you do, the cards will take longer to return, leaving you vulnerable to enemy attack. The cards are not infinite. Anticipate, plan, and ct accordingly. Having an able mind is have the battle," the stranger said. Sora nodded and the area around them vanished, causing them to reappear in the opening area of Traverse Town. Sora heard running feet behind him, and looked to see that it was Donald and Goofy. "Are you two alright? Where have you been?" he asked.
"You tell us! When you opened the door, we saw a strange light. And the rest is just... blank," Donald said, confused. "Gee, that doesn't help. Try and remember what happened. I have to keep my journal up to date," Jiminy said, frowning. Just than Goofy jumped, looking at himself. "hey Donald, where'd I get the new clothes?" he asked Donald's eyes widened and he looked at Goofy, then at himself. "Waak! Me too, Goofy! Somebody's been messing with our clothes!" he yelled. They were both no longer wearing the outfits they had entered the castle with, but rather they wore the outfits they had worn during their first journey across the worlds. Sora turned to the figure, asking "Could it be the cards again?" The figure chuckled. "That's for you to think about. Master the cards and make your way through Castle Oblivion. But from here on out, that is a path you walk... alone," he said.
"Alone? We can't let Sora go by himself!" Goofy protested. "Yeah! Sora can't do anything without us!" Donald added. "Gee, thanks a lot, Donald," Sora deadpanned. Goofy looked at him. "You sure you'll be okay?" he asked worriedly. "Of course!" Sora assure them, before turning back to the figure. "You want me to go it alone? Fine. I can take care of myself," he declared. The figure chuckled. "You speak rather confidently for someone... who just lost a friend," he said. At that Sora gasped, freezing. How did this guy... Donald said what he was about to, yelling "How do you know about Dexal?!" The figure laughed out loud, saying "How indeed? Walk the avenues of latent memories, and you'll meet someone dear to you. You might just also find that answer along the way." It was then that the figure became enveloped in Shadows gain, and vanished.
"I've got a bad feeling about this..." Jiminy stated. "Relax. Jiminy. I'm ready for any tricks these guys have got up their sleeves. And how hard can it be to figure out these cards?" Sora asked, pointing at a door ahead. "All I have to do is hold one in front of that door over there," he said. "Well, good luck," Goofy said, before he vanished in a burst of light. Donald nodded in agreement, before the same happened to him. In their places were two cards, which Sora picked up and placed in his pockets. Jiminy jumped back onto his shoulder and hit in the hood of Sora's jacket, and he started forward for the door.
While Sora was doing that, the same figure that had spoken to him reappeared in the Seeing Room. It was names as such for the crystal orb in the center of the room, which could be used to look into any of the card worlds being made in the castle. Currently it was showing Sora as he held up a card to first door in Traverse Town, going through it. The figure grinned, taking off his hood. "And so the pawn takes his first step," he said, before looking behind him. "Very good with erasing Sora's abilities, by the way. I applaud you for it," he said. Behind sat a girl in a chair, who sadly nodded. Just then the door to the room opened, and two more cloaked people walked in. One was Axel, a man with a tall and slender build and bright emerald eyes. Under each eyes was a reversed teardrop shape, but his most distinguishing trait was the thick shoulder-length bright red hair that he had in slicked-back spikes.
"Well, well, that went rather well, don't you think?" he asked. The figure shrugged. "Sora knows how to use the cards now. The question of is if he'll be able to make good use of them," he said. "That is true. We need him to go further into the caste if he is to find his true 'memories'," the one behind Axel said. He was the same stranger that had led Sora to the castle. The figure shrugged. "I don't see any reason for him to leave. We told him he would find Riku here," he said. "Yeah. And who knows, he might even find you, Dexal," Axel said, looking at the figure. Dexal sighed, gazing at his reflection in the crystal. He looked at same as he always had- short and spiky hair that was the color of silver, and eyes that are blue around the edge but reddened as it came closer, until around his pupils they were a ruby-red.
"To be honest, I'd rather I not be found. What memory he has of me is a good one, and there's no reason to mess with a good thing," he said. "Oh? Then you probably won't like what I have to hear," the hooded one said. Dexal rolled his eyes. He never liked what Marluxia had to say. "What?" he asked. "Once Sora has made it through that imaginary Traverse Town, you will be the one to test him," Marluxia ordered. Dexal stared at him, before groaning. This was the price of being a double-agent: Doing as you were told by someone you disliked. "I've got no say in this, do I?" he asked. Marluxia shook his head, and he replied "Fine." "Good. Now, let's observe and see how he progress, hm?" Marluxia suggested. The three of them gathered around the crystal in the center of room, watching.
After making his way through several doors in Traverse Town, Sora opened one that took his to replica of Traverse Town's Third District. He crossed his arms, frowning. "Hmm... Fighting alone isn't going to be as easy as I thought," he said. Behind him two cards lowered down to the ground, before turning into Donald and Goofy with a flash. "Aah!" he yelled, turning around. He saw the two of them, and called "Don't pop out of nowhere like that!" "Hey, it's not our fault! We don't know what's going on!" Donald replied. "A-hyuck!" Goofy said, jumping at something head. They all looked in the same direction as him, and saw that sitting there was... "Pluto?!" Sora said. "This just keeps getting weirder. What's Pluto doing here?" Donald asked. "There's nothing weird about that. We came to Traverse Town with Pluto, didn't we?" Goofy said.
Donald frowned. "Did we?" he asked. "No, wait! According to my journal, it was before you met Sora and Dexal that you came to town with Pluto!" Jiminy said. "He's right. We were chasing after Pluto, and that's how ended up in Castle Oblivion!" Donald said. "But aren't we in Traverse Town?" Goofy asked. "Well, it's not really Traverse Town. I think that card created this Traverse Town inside Castle Oblivion!" Jiminy tried to explain. Sora groaned. "Aaagh! Who cares about all that? It's too confusing! I don't know where we are, but let's just keep moving forward, defeating Heartless! We'll get somewhere!" he said. Then they heard someone say "You better be careful, or it's the Heartless that are going to defeat you."
They turned as saw a very familiar person walk towards them. Sora gasped. "Leon, it's you! What are you doing in Castle Oblivion?" he asked. Leon frowned. "Castle Oblivion? What are you talking about? This is Traverse Town," he said, Sora blinked, but then the next thing that came out of his mouth shock them all. "And how do you know my name? Who are you?" he asked.
Dexal has appeared, but what does this mean? And why is Leon acting strangely? These questions will be answered... next chapter!
Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding... or am I?)