Sora stepped into a pool of faint light. Beyond the light, he could see nothing but darkness. He could hear his footsteps echo, so he knew there must be a wall or ceiling somewhere. He paused, unwilling to leave the safety of the light.

He had not been standing for long when he heard footsteps approaching -- the steady clip clonk of heels. From the shadows emerged a shape -- a girl in a short black skirt and hooded top, beads jingling from the tassels. Her hair was cropped short, black with streaks of blonde and red. As she stepped towards the light, he could make out the glint of her blue eyes and the slight smirk on her lips. He took a step back as she stopped at the edge of the light.

"A-Akiri? Is that you?" he sputtered.

Her smile grew and she tossed the bangs from her eyes. "Hello, Sora," she greeted demurely.

The momentary joy he felt at seeing her face again was fading to confusion and -- though he could not explain it -- fear. "But... you... you're dead... I saw you die..."

She blinked and tilted her head. "What are you talking about? I've been looking everywhere for you." She took a step towards him, and Sora took another step back.

"No... this isn't right. You're not real."

"Of course I'm real!" She did a little spin to show off her figure. "You just aren't thinking clearly. Come here." She held her arms out towards him, and he backpedaled from her reach. "What's wrong? Aren't you happy to see me?" she pouted.

"I would be... if you were real."

She put her hands on her hip. "What makes you think I'm not?"

"You're not the same Akiri I met... you look different... you look like... like that girl, Xion."

She glanced down at her outfit and tugged at a lock of her hair. "Do I? Well? What do you think? Do you like it?"

"No! I mean... I didn't know Xion... she... you... aren't a part of my memories."

The girl giggled at this. "But I am a part of your memories! You remember now, don't you?"

He did. Spelling out Roxas' name had opened a floodgate of information he never knew existed inside himself, of two separate lives he had never actually lived. "You can't be Xion... and you're not Akiri, either..." Staring at her, a thought dawned on him. "There never was an Akiri, was there?"

The girl clapped her hands. "Oh, of course there was! Here." She held out a hand to his chest, just above his heart. "Do you understand?"

"I... I'm not sure..."

She dropped her hand and turned away. "Sora... do you know why you're here? In Silent Hill?"

Sora placed his hands where hers had been. "We... crashed here. It was an accident."

She spun on her heel. "Is that what you really think? Do you think it's an accident that I'm here? Do you think all the places you've been, the particular monsters you fought... those were all accidents as well?"

"I don't know! None of this makes any sense. It's crazy. I'm going crazy."

There was a sharp crackle and a spark of light. The pool of light was growing, and on its edge he could just make out the form of the pyramid monster he had met on the roof of Brookhaven Hospital. It stepped very slowly towards the light, sparks dancing along the blade clutched in its hand. Fear made his heart leap in his chest, and as he exhaled, dark smoke puffed from the tips of his fingers.

The girl ignored the presence of the monster and focused her gaze on the smoke curling around Sora's hands. "You know you're not crazy. You just don't want to accept who you are, what this place is."

"What are you talking about?!" he cried, panic building. The smoke was clawing its way up his arms. The monster was inching its way to his left.

"More than that, I don't think you want to accept what you've done."

"I haven't done anything!" At this, there was a screech and a low rumble from outside the pool of light. Sora watched as another pyramid monster stepped into the light -- the monster from the labyrinth. Vines trailed and curled around its feet, the long scythe clutched in its hands glinting in the light. It circled to the right. The dark smoke shot across his chest.

The girl took a step back, away from the light. She was eyeing him with a mixture of pity and frustration crinkling her brow. "As long as you believe that, they'll hunt you."

There was a rushing and trickling, and the pyramid monster from the carousel stepped towards the edge of the light, the enormous mace trailing from its hand, water dripping over its bloated skin and leaking from the hole in its chest. It crept towards the first monster. Sora looked behind him, but the door was gone, and the monsters were circling around to cover the gap behind him. The smoke was trailing down towards his feet. The girl was backing away from the light as another monster appeared with a whistle and a roar -- the same one he had met in the church. It spun the lance in its hands as it took its place to the right just above the second.

Sora watched as the girl began to disappear. "No, wait! Don't leave me here!" he yelled, but she was gone. The monsters stood facing him, forming a square around him. The smoke was reaching its tendrils up towards his face.

A glint of light caught his eyes. Through the darkness where the girl had disappeared, another figure was forming. It was smaller than the other monsters, but had the same unmistakable shape covering its head. Patterns of light traced their way across its skin. Light glowed from under the mesh of its burnished metal helmet, decorated with jagged patterns and chains. The light reached up in faint beams around its head, and glared from a long gash across its bare chest. A thick black cloak had been ripped up and sewn back together, hanging down from his hips. As the creature stepped towards the pool of light in front of him, he saw that each hand held on to an identical katana, the blades curved and glowing softly. The other monsters seemed uneasy at its arrival, and for a moment Sora thought they might turn on it. The newcomer seemed unfazed, and kept its faceless gaze solely on Sora.

This is it.... I'm going to die, Sora thought. I don't think even the power of darkness will save me now. He watched in a numb detachment as the dark smoke lapped at his chin, curling up in long tendrils from his arms and hands. He held out his arms, watching the darkness swirl. I guess the darkness is not so bad. Maybe that is where I'm going now.

The monsters snarled and spat at one another, the air filling with a torrent of crackling and roaring and rumbling. He looked at each of them in turn. With nowhere to run and none of the frantic desire to fight, he finally had a good chance to look at them. As he stared, darkness shifting across his eyes, he could hear voices and images play like worn-out tape in his mind.

A woman in a black cloak with blonde hair and a wide smirk twirled a fan of knives. 'Guess you really are a hero. A heartless hero!' -- and she disappeared in a burst of lightning and darkness.

A man in a black cloak with wild pink hair summoned a scythe in a burst of rose petals. 'You turn from the truth because your heart is weak.' -- and he also disappeared in an explosion of petals and darkness.

A young man in a black cloak held up his hands in defense. 'Oh, we do too have hearts! Don't be mad...' -- but he also dissolved into water and darkness.

A man in a black cloak with long black dreadlocks stood backdropped by six swirling lances. 'When Kingdom Hearts is ours, we can exist fully and completely.' -- but the lances burst into light, and he crumpled howling into the darkness.

'I'm not scared of a bunch of ghosts, are you?' Akiri's voice rang in his head. Ghosts... all along he had been chasing down ghosts -- phantom remnants of darkness. What were Nobodies, really, then ghosts of memories, searching for a way to survive in a world in which they no longer belonged? He really had been afraid; afraid of what he could not understand, afraid of what the existence of these creatures really meant. What was the true nature of their existence -- and what did it mean to destroy? Was it, as he had often been told, merely erasing that which was never meant to exist -- that should never have existed in the first place? Were the memories and experiences and pains of his own Nobody nothing more than the illusion of an existence, an echo meant to return to the source or fade away?

Will I go to the same place as them? Into darkness? Sora thought. If there's a place of darkness, there must be one of light, too. But maybe I don't deserve to go there. Tears prickled at the corners of his eyes. The smoke had slowed, pooling hesitantly around his chest. The monsters were closing in around him, shaking their weapons. The newcomer crossed its blades, and the patterns glowed in vibrant waves.

Mom, Dad... Riku, Kairi... Donald, Goofy... will they forgive me? he thought, falling to his knees. Will I ever see them again? Will they want to see me? Sora looked up at the monsters towering over him, jostling one another to get closer. I thought wielding the Keyblade made me special... everyone was counting on me. I thought the true power of the Keyblade was fighting for the light, and that made me one of the good guys. But... maybe that's not true. His eyes fell to the katanas crossed in front of him. A blade is a weapon... weapons are meant to destroy... whatever the nature of the person holding it, that is its purpose.

Sora looked down at his hands. The darkness was curling away from his fingertips, burning back up his arms. Maybe the real reason I can't use the Keyblade has nothing to do with light or dark. I didn't want to use it. I was afraid. I didn't want to accept what everyone really expects of me... to destroy. I've been nothing but a tool for someone else's plans.

The small pyramid monster raised the crossed blades to either side of Sora's throat. Sora held his head up, feeling his skin burn where the edges of the blade pressed against him. The Keyblade is not really good or bad, light or dark... it's both, and neither at the same time. Just like Kingdom Hearts is both light and dark... there is both in everyone.

The other monsters pointed their weapons down at him. He could feel blood trickling down his neck. The dark smoke had retreated to the edges of his clothing. I guess... there really is nothing to be afraid of, he thought, and closed his eyes.

He felt a force like a gust of wind bursting from his chest. There was a rustle of cloth and clank of metal as the monsters shifted in confusion. The blades left his neck. Sora's eyes blinked open.

The darkness around him had exploded into a swirling cloud. As he watched, it was sucked backwards towards him, and disappeared into the fabric of his clothing. The blood and dirt shriveled and caked off; threads reached across the rips and tears in the fabric and repaired. Dark smoke clouded and settled into the form of the jacket and gloves he had lost. Drops of silver were spreading across his clothing in glistening shades. The cuts and scrapes on his skin were healing. He held out his hands, and with a burst of light and a crackle of darkness, two Keyblades appeared in front of him and hovered in the air: one black, and one silver-white. He pushed himself shakily to his feet and, with a jolt of shock, felt his feet leave the ground as well, so his toes were hovering just above the ground.

The monsters stumbled back with a collective howl of fear and rage. Sora watched in stunned amazement as the Keyblades began to spin protectively around him. That's right... I don't need to be afraid anymore, he thought, and he turned to face the monsters surrounding him. They charged, each wielding their respective weapon and hurtling their elements. A bolt of lightning shot towards him and was reflected back towards a wave of water. Sora swerved around a gust of wind and crossed his arms, the Keyblades crossing through the vines reaching for him. The Keyblades appeared to obey his thoughts but also react on their own, and soon he was flying with them in and out of the light as he repelled a barrage of blades and electricity, earth and wind. The Keyblades danced in front of his eyes, blurring into trails of light and dark. Their attacks could not touch him. He struck down each monster one by one, and watched as the elements turned on each -- lightning burning through one, another crumbling into earth, melting and curling into steam, disintegrating and disappearing into the wind.

The Keyblades slowed, and he descended softly back towards the pool of light, where the last creature waited, a blade at each side. As if to mimic, the Keyblades fell at each side of Sora, as the two regarded one another for a long moment.

Then, with a clash of light, they rushed at one another, the katanas ringing as they collided with the Keyblades. They pushed at one another, neither able to strike faster or move quicker than the other. Even without physically holding the Keyblades, Sora felt himself draining; his heart beat a staccato rhythm against his chest, his lungs ached for air. The bursts and clashes of light became a haze in front of his eyes. Finally he backed off, feeling his feet sink to the ground and his body sag as he struggled to catch his breath. The Keyblades clattered to the floor and disappeared. The silver shades dissolved from his clothing, returning back to the same familiar hues of blues, reds, yellows and blacks.

The monster stood in front of him, the katanas at its sides. A glowing substance was bleeding from the patterns in its skin and the gash in its chest, dripping out of the mesh of its helmet, covering the creature in a bright light. The katanas fell from its hand and also clattered against the ground. Slowly, shakily, the creature reached up to grasp the sides of its helmet. Sora watched in exhausted bewilderment as slowly, the creature pulled the helmet from its head.

For a long, confused moment, Sora thought he was looking at himself. It was only as the face looking back at him blinked, and a smile tugged at its lips, that he realized it was not him he was looking at. The boy in front of him could be his twin, if it was not for the tousled blonde hair shining gold in the light. Sora saw the boy's lips move, but could not hear anything. Before he had a chance to get a better look, there was an explosion of light. Sora threw a hand up to shield his eyes, and when he had dropped his hand, the boy was gone.

In his place stood a familiar figure in a black cloak. Feeling his strength leave him, Sora sank to the floor, leaning back and taking long, shaky breaths. "Is this... a dream?" he wheezed. "Am I just dreaming all of this?"

The man crossed his arms, his face as indistinguishable as ever beneath his hood. "Reality is what we make of it. Or, in this case, what you make of it."

Sora pushed himself up to lean his arms against his knees, smirking. "You're still not making any sense. It wouldn't kill you to give me a straight answer, would it?"

The man chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "I told you in the beginning, but you didn't listen to me."

Sora stared down at his feet. "This town... it is all connected, somehow," he thought aloud. "All the places I've seen have felt like places I've already been. They all made me think of someone different. All the monsters were Nobodies and Heartless I've... destroyed. All of it comes back to me somehow. I just... didn't want to see it. It was all so frightening and messed up, I was too busy running and fighting to see it. I kept making excuses." He buried his head in his arms. "Now Donald and Goofy are gone because of me."

The man shook his head. "The town draws on the darkness in one's heart. Goofy was blinded by his loyalty to the point he no longer cared for himself. Donald's unbridled rage and selfishness inevitably overcame him."

Sora lifted his head up and scowled. "I should have helped them! I should have told them the truth! They thought I was a monster..."

The man uncrossed his arms. "And you were, weren't you? You became what they saw, and what you expected from yourself." He held out a hand. Dark smoke burst from his palm. "Darkness only has the power that you choose to give it. Your fears can control you, if you let them." The smoke danced along his fingers, and he brushed it away. "That dark form will always return as long as there is darkness in your heart, and there always will be. There will always be some fear. That is what it means to be human."

Sora looked away. "I can't go back like this... I hurt so many people... Donald and Goofy... my parents... Kairi... Riku..."

The man tilted his head. "Not everything you fear is the truth. Haven't they hurt you as well?"

"Well..."

"Do you hate them?"

"No! Of course not..."

The man sighed. "Do not be ashamed of what you have or have not done. Everything is not divided into black and white. I know you have seen this, or you would not have the gray form. Your greatest power lies not in darkness or light, but in the unity of both. That's why you found Roxas in the Gray World."

"Roxas? Wait... what happened to him?"

The man shifted his weight and looked away. "He was sacrificed to restore you. He is the darkness to your light, the other side of your heart."

"Did he... die? Did I kill him?"

"He is a part of you now, as much as you were a part of him. Just like Xion was a reflection of you both."

Sora looked down at his chest. "They were... real, weren't they?"

The man stared at him for a moment. "Perhaps, as much as you believe," he answered finally.

Sora sighed and pushed himself off the floor. "I think I can finally answer your question."

"Hmm?"

"In the church. You asked me what I believe." Sora held out his hand, the Kingdom Key appearing in a flash of white light. "I believe in myself. I believe in my own power," he announced. He let his hand drop to his side. "I don't know if what I'm doing is right or wrong. But I want to protect my friends. I want to protect everyone. If that means I have to destroy... that is my responsibility as the Keybearer. I have to see things through." Sora opened his hand and the Keyblade disappeared. He bowed his head. "I want to go home with Riku and Kairi... I want to see my parents again... I want tell everyone that I'm sorry..."

The man stepped closer to Sora. "What if they cannot forgive you?"

Sora shuddered and closed his eyes. "I just have to hope they will."

The man turned away and raised his hand. Dark smoke burst from the air and swirled into a wide portal. Sora stepped back, eyeing the portal warily. The man turned to regard Sora. "This portal will take you back, if you are not afraid of the darkness."

Sora clenched his fists and puffed out his chest. "I'm not afraid." He stepped towards the portal and paused. "Who are you? You're not from the Organization, are you?" He looked back towards the man in the black coat.

The man hesitated. "No, I am not. But I am not much different from them." He reached up and pulled back his hood, and Sora stumbled backwards. The man gazing back at him had dark bronzed skin, swept-back silver hair, and piercing gold eyes.

"Ansem?!" he blurted out in surprise. "Or uh, wait... Xehanort's Heartless? But... I thought..." He stared at the man in confusion, who stared back at him with a stony expression. Sora frowned. "I was right not to trust you... you've caused nothing but trouble... for me, for Riku, for everyone... but, I... I forgive you, anyway."

Ansem said nothing, only looked away. Sora thought he saw hurt in Ansem's eyes, but shook his head -- he must have imagined it. He turned back towards the portal. For a moment he felt like he was missing something... but the feeling passed, and he stepped into the darkness, and the world dropped away.