Chapter 4: 8 AM to 8:20, Traverse Town Part 1

Marluxia groaned to himself as he'd have to teach Sora about the cards. A computer screen projector appeared in front of Sora that showed a card of Tarverse Town floating.

"Hold the card before you." Marluxia tried to make his voice sound mysterious. "The door will open, and beyond it a new world."

Sora held up the card at the computer screen and the cards matched. "Like this?"

"Yes." Marluxia smirked. "Go, Sora." He held up his hand as if Sora was never to see the real world again. "To lose and claim anew, or to claim anew only to lose..."

Marluxia vanished. He laughed to himself. He actually was in Sora's memories right now, which would practically mean that he was inside Sora's brain. Ew... Ok.

"C'mon, guys -" Sora grinned happily, "let's go!"

Sora held up his card and after a few cards flew around in a circular motion, the door swung open, and after a bright light, Sora appeared in Traverse Town.

"Wait, this can't be right." Sora had a horrified look on his face. "We're in Traverse Town!"

Marluxia appeared for he made his way through the memories to find the right card. "It isn't reality that you see." Marluxia sighed. "This town is an illusion conceived by your memories ingrained in that card."

"My memories?" Sora stared.

"Forget about that, Sora!" Jiminy shouted. "We're two heads short!"

Sora ran around the town with a very confused and horrified look on his face.

"Donald?" Sora shouted. "Goofy?" Sora was terrified by now. "Guys, where are you?" Sora faced Marluxia and took out his weapon. "What did you do with them?"

"They are at the mercy of the cards now." Marluxia said happily. "Master the cards, and their strength will be yours again."

Suddenly Sora and Marluxia went into battle mode. Marluxia prepared himself for a long speech, "The laws of this castle require that your friends be transformed into cards." A Donald card appeared in front of Sora. Marluxia continued, "If you value your friends, you will pick them up without fail."

Sora grabbed the Donald card and stared at it with a very sad look on his face. Marluxia lectured, "Cards you pick up are added to the top of your stack.
Use them, and your friends will come to your aid."

Sora threw the Donald card at Marluxia. Donald appeared and shouted, "THUNDER!" Marluxia was zapped as he was earlier this morning.

"Meep," Marluxia almost said out loud. "The cards you use vanish, but they will reappear to aid you time and again. 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."

Sora suddenly remembered an ability. He jumped just to make sure he could still jump high. Then he did a dodge roll. 'Yes!' Sora thought. 'I haven't forgotten how to dodge roll.'

"First think for yourself." Marluxia spawned out a lot of cards like Luxord does. "Move, then use the cards."

Sora ran up to Marluxia and hit him three times with different attack cards.

"Good." Marluxia coughed. "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.
Keep using cards until you run out, and I will show you."

Sora used up all his cards and beat up Marluxia bad enough that he had bruises.

"There." Marluxia choked. "You have no more cards, and without them, no power. If you want that power back, you must focus. Bid the cards return to you.
and they will."

Sora got to reload his cards by looking at the floor and praying that he would get power.

"The strength of your heart brought back the lost cards." Marluxia smiled. "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."

Marluxia stared at Sora seriously, "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 cycled his cards six times to check out all the neat stuff he had. 'It's like playing uno!' Sora thought.

"The four card types you use in battle are grouped into two wider categories." Marluxia said. "The first category includes attack cards, magic cards,
and item cards."

Marluxia cycled his cards around and found another card. "The second category consists entirely of enemy cards. To use cards from a different category —"

Sora switched card categories to show that he was learning.

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

Marluxia disappeared and reappeared at a room where a blonde-haired girl was drawing something. Marluxia limped over to see what she was drawing. "So..."

The girl gasped in horror and slammed her notebook shut. "That's how you see me!" Marluxia frowned.

"I'm sorry, Marluxia!" the girl exclaimed. "I didn't mean it..."

"You make me sick!" Marluxia flipped his hair in her face. Then he walked over to a globe, "I know you want Sora... come over here and see his progress.
See how he does in the castle."

The girl stood up and walked over to the computer screen/"globe" that was in the middle of the room. She watched carefully. Sora remembered Traverse Town as a town that was all blocky with lots of ladders and houses. She watched as Sora actually spoke for the first time, and she heard his voice.

Donald and Goofy were standing there.

"Are you two all right?" Sora had a very scared look on his face. "Where have you been?"

"You tell us!" Donald looked disappointed and sort of freaked out. "When you opened the door, there was this weird light... and the rest is a big blank."

"Well, try to remember what happened." Jiminy had just jumped out of Sora's pocket. "I need to keep my journal up to date."

"Hey, wait a second..." Goofy mumbled. "Donald, where'd you get the new duds?"

"You too, Goofy!" Donald exclaimed. "Somebody's been messing with our clothes!"

(Sorry, Donald, that sounded kinda wrong!)

"The cards again?" Sora asked.

"That is for you to ponder." Marluxia appeared.

The girl was still in that room. She looked to the side and shouted, "Wait Marluxia! Why did you insert yourself into his memories again?"

Marluxia continued, "Master the cards and make your way through the castle. From here on, you walk alone."

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

"Yeah!" Donald agreed. "Sora can't do anything without our help!"

"Thanks a lot, Donald!" Sora groaned.

"You sure you'll be okay?" Goofy frowned.

"Of course!" Sora smiled. "You want me to go alone?" Sora faced Marluxia. "Fine. I can take care of myself."

"Hmm," Marluxia grinned evilly, "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."

Marluxia vanished and appeared beside the blonde girl. "Why did you do that?" the girl was almost in tears. "You made him fend for himself!"

"Of course," Marluxia took off his hood. "Kid needs to toughen up."

The girl sadly stared into the globe as they continued...

"I have a really bad feeling about this..." Jiminy said.

"Relax, Jiminy." Sora laughed. "I'm ready for any tricks he's got up his sleeve. How hard can it be to figure out these cards? All I have to do is use one in front of that door over there."

Sora ran up to the door and held up the card. After running through the town and fighting off the Heartless, he made it to the First District in his memory.

"Hmm," Sora frowned, "fighting alone isn't as easy as I thought..."

Two cards floated above the ground. With a few flashes of light, Donald and Goofy appeared.

"Aaaah!!" Sora screamed. "Don't pop out of nowhere like that!"

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

"Gwarsh, your fighting's gotten kinda rusty." Goofy frowned. "You sure you don't need us?"

"I'm fine," Sora smiled, "honest."

"Think like that," a familiar voice spoke, "and you're as good as Heartless fodder."

"Leon, it's you!" Sora cried. "What are you doing in Castle Oblivion?"

Leon appears. "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."

"Quit playing, Leon!" Sora shouted. "We all fought the Heartless together! You know that!"

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

"You don't?" Goofy's eyes filled with tears.

"Sorry." Leon looked at the floor.

"I can't believe it." Sora protested. "How can you have forgotten about us?"

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

"You DO know his name!" Donald pointed.

"Now, now hold on!" Leon yelled. "Why do I know your name?"

"You think Leon's just kidding around?" Goofy asked Sora and Donald.

"If he is, it's not very funny." Donald growled. "Sora's really hurt."

"Who's kidding around, Goofy?" Leon asked. "You and Donald are the ones who-"

"Hey!" Goofy's eyes got huge.

"I don't get it..." Leon looked as if he had a brainfreeze. "What's happening to my memory?"

"I dunno, Leon." Another familiar voice said. "Maybe Aerith was onto something after all."

Yuffie walked into the scene.

"She said she sensed some uncanny kind of power and asked us to look into it." Yuffie smiled. "Well, we looked. And this is as uncanny as it gets. Maybe we should bring Sora and the others to Aerith."

"Yuffie, you know my name!" Sora grinned.

"Yep!" Yuffie gave a sassy grin. "Looks like you know mine, too."

"A friend of yours?" Leon asked.

"Nope!" Yuffie replied. "Total stranger." Yuffie then looked from Leon to Sora and co. "But I definitely know his name. Strange, yes, but convenient! We can skip the introductions."

"Well, gee, Yuffie." Leon said. "I guess all our problems are solved."

"Anyways, I'm gonna run ahead and fill Aerith in." Yuffie took a step forward and held up her ninja weapon. "Leon, you give Sora and the others the grand tour. See ya later!"

"Well, let's get on with it." Leon shrugged as Yuffie walked out. "Come on, follow me. Be careful, though. There are still Heartless wandering around town.
I'd better teach you how to protect yourself in battle."

Suddenly Sora found himself and Leon going into battle mode. The blonde-haired girl gasped while watching this.

"See the numbers printed on your cards?" Leon asked. "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."

Sora used up his 9 cards.

"See how it works?" Leon asked. "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."

Sora looked down at his cards.

"Cards with 0 as their value are special." Leon said. "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."

Leon then continued, "Try to make the most of it. Card values also affect the cost of assembling a deck. Keep that in mind."

Leon saw Sora trying to figure out how to sort out the cards so he said, "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 stocks three cards and uses them, "Like this?"

Leon nods his head. "The sum of your three stocked cards becomes the value you play. The value is usually high and hard to break, and the combo attack deals a lot of damage. Don't hold back. Show me what you can do."

Sora's told how to execute a stock combo and he does so.

Leon said, "Combo attacks aren't the only benefit of stocking cards. Choose your cards carefully and you can unleash special abilities called 'sleights.'"

Leon continued, "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."

Then Leon put away his gunblade. "Think you've got the hang of it, Sora?"

"Yeah, more or less." Sora answered. "I'll pick up the rest when I fight some real battles."

"Here, I found this lying around." Leon hands Sora something. "You take it. Remember what I told you and make good use of it."

Sora examines the card he just got. It's a Simba summon card.