The last thing he'd remembered was chasing someone in the Realm of Darkness after losing track of the Queen, someone with a black coat opening some kind of portal… He had chased the person and went through the portal and then…

Sora slowly opened his eyes, feeling groggy and tired. Looking around, he appeared to be in a place that held only what looked to be a cloudy sky… "What is this place…?"

There was no answer, all was quiet, calm, and peaceful. Sora stared up into the calm, floating in the room with no floor or ceiling.

"Stay asleep…"

Sora's eyes widened in surprise at hearing the low voice, jolting up to float around. He looked around wildly. That voice, it sounded familiar… "Who's there?! Show yourself!"

"Wouldn't you like to continue sleeping, Sora?" Asked the voice as the boy looked around. "Here in this place between light and darkness...?"

"Between...? No, we have to go home, to the Realm of Light!" Sora insisted. He then realized that the brave mouse who'd been his traveling partner was gone. "Wait, where-?! Your Highness?! Your Highness, can you hear me-?!"

"Why worry about her?" The voice interrupted, making him look up. "I'm certain she's continuing to do all the work for you…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora grunted. Sure he'd been known to slack off on the Islands, but now was different! He'd been giving his all to find a way home to his friends before ending up here.

The voice didn't answer him. "You can sleep as long as you'd like here, Sora… Just shut your eyes… Here, sleep is safety… sleep is eternal…"

"Sleep… forever?" The boy asked. He then glared up. "No way! I gotta get back home to my islands, to Kairi and Riku!"

"Your friends…." The voice gave a low chuckle, as if amused. "do you honestly think someone like you could survive such pure light as them after all you've done…?"

"Quit acting like I'm some creature of darkness, I'm not!" Sora cried, though his head told him otherwise. He had wielded darkness, fought with Kairi, who's pure and beautiful light had tried to save him. The darkness eventually got too strong for him to bear so he had let both Hades and Ansem control him like some puppet. "I am with the light!"

"No." Whispered the voice. "Do you want to know the truth?"

In a blinding golden flash, a blue card appeared to Sora. The boy had winced before it floated around him. He recognized the place on the card at once: Hollow Bastion. "What's this?"

"A door to the truth. Take it, and your sleep ends. But know this: the truth will bring you pain… Will you still go?"

Sora watched in wonder as the card stopped.

"You won't be able to return to the safety of sleep."

The boy took it with no hesitation and smiled to himself. "I've been too much of a lazy bum already, I'm going to get through this and then go home!"

"We will see." The voice said then and the card suddenly blinded the boy with light.

He appeared in the cold white hallways in one of the many basements of Castle Oblivion. He looked around at the stark place as he walked forward. Was this a place between light and dark too?

The boy then quickly thought of something and hurriedly checked his pocket before giving a sigh in relief. The charm was still there. He took it out and he matched the smiling face that stared back. "Don't worry, Kairi, I'm gonna give this back. A promise is a promise!"

When he reached the door, the card suddenly glowed and then disappeared, making him nearly drop the trinket before hurriedly shoving it back in his pocket. He hesitated slightly when he reached for the handle. He didn't want to go through a lot of pain… but it would be worth it to see Kairi and Riku again. He quickly opened the door and stepped in.

He found himself in Hollow Bastion, in the exact spot he had awoken after Destiny Islands fell. He gasped in shock, looking around. "Hollow Bastion?! No way!"

"This isn't the real Hollow Bastion. This is merely your memory of it."

"My memory?" Sora asked in confusion, hopping across the platforms to get the bridge ahead. He didn't trust that voice or who it belonged to, but it was all he had to follow for now, and the voice hadn't yet shown it's owner.

"Yes. Your memories of your time with Hades and this world were turned into the card, and the card was turned into this place…"

"Okay." Sora mumbled, walking across the bridge. He then gasped. "Wait! I remember Kairi was here! So, she's gotta be here, right?"

"She would be… ordinarily…"

"What's that mean?" Sora waited for a few moments then frowned. "You still here? Voice? Hellllo?"

After a few moments, there was no response. Sora sighed. He was alone.

The night Destiny Islands had fallen, Sora had been transported to Hollow Bastion.

He had awoken scared and alone, no longer wanting to explore if he didn't have his friends by his side. "I shouldn't have done this…!"

In a mere second though, a shoot of blue flames had appeared before him. The boy gasped in shock, leaping away. "Huh?!"

"You okay there, champ? You look lost." The god smirked, offering him a clawed hand up.

"Who are you?" Sora asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Hades, lord of the dead, nice to meet ya'." Hades introduced before he suddenly grabbed the boy and pulled him to his feet.

"I'm Sora…" The boy replied, following the god as he floated over the platforms. "I'm looking for my friends, Riku and Kairi, have you seen them?"

"Eh, sorry kid, I got nothing." Hades shrugged. "But hey, I bet I could find them with a little help from the darkness!"

"The darkness… helps you?" Sora asked, entering the elevator up to the castle. The man in the cloak had said the darkness would help him and his friends see other worlds, could it bring them together again too?

"Me and the darkness are simpatico, we go way back." Hades explained. "Got me outta a few tight jams…"

Sora gaped up at the castle once they reached it. "Hades, is this your castle?!"

"You kidding?" Hades snickered. "Casa de Hades is much, much further down south. This is more my vacation home, took it over from some scientist stiffs."

Sora was led inside and winced, seeing shadowy creatures in the foyer. Now that he thought about it, they were lurking around the outside too.

"Ey, don't worry about these dolts, kid." Hades assured him, flicking one away from him. "They aren't anything to worry about with me around, I control them. So, you both have to play nice and not destroy each other, got it?"

"Got it..." Sora whispered softly, still a bit worried.

The two walked to a room with a viewing orb surrounded by heartless.

"SCRAM!" Hades shouted, making them all scuttle away. He walked up while Sora followed him. "So, who we looking for first?"

"Well, either but… there's this girl-"

"Ain't it always." Hades smirked, winking.

Sora nodded. "Her name's Kairi… I think I scared her."

"Scared her with what, darkness? She doesn't get it, yet." Hades asked, scoffing slightly. "Trust me, buddy, I'll help you find your girl and get her back on your side, then together, we'll all find what's-his-name."

"Riku… Wait, you'll help me?!"

"Sure, champ! What are friends for?"

In the present, Sora had seen no one but heartless, things that he had never fought too much before, he had been told that he was safe from them, after all. He fought them off with his golden-bladed sword he didn't know he still possessed until it had appeared. Despite the blade being made by Hades using darkness, it still held a light look about it, something a knight would carry with the crown that held the blade to the handle. Maybe Hades thought so too, and that's why he'd made it so Sora would think he was some hero. What a joke that was now…

The boy explored every room in hopes he'd find Kairi, Riku, or even one of Kairi's friends there to assure him he was still in the light, but no one was there to find. Eventually, Sora became fatigued.

He remembered whenever he felt like this during his darkness training, looking like the dead as Hades called it, he'd be sent to his room to rest. The boy climbed up there out of instinct.

The room was tiny, only having a small bed, a singular bookcase, and a desk and chair.

"You must have so many memories of this room… Your room that Hades made for you while you stayed in this castle…"

"You!" Sora gasped in shock. He then frowned. "I don't want any of these memories…"

The boy sighed, sitting down on the bed for a moment. He looked around, remembering how he'd write in the small journal about his feelings and adventures across worlds. When he'd found Riku, he'd set the boy up in the chair and often spoke to him despite him not being able to talk back. He talked about many things, how much he wished Riku would wake up, how sorry he was that he'd let this happen, how badly he wanted Kairi to join them. He was a sound sleeper, but that had only given terrible nightmares of losing his friends.

Sora remembered then that he had run to this room and flung himself on the bed in near tears just after he'd broken Kairi's heart. But… that hadn't been him. Hades had unlocked the darkness in him and it felt like he wasn't in control anymore. He had suspected Hades had been the one puppeting him since Sora couldn't remember what had happened after he left to capture the woman in gold, only that he had supposedly killed Kairi's friends, who he had always been untrusting of, sure, but he'd never wanted to actually kill them, he didn't wish that on anyone. He didn't know then that his heart had just a bit of light still in there that saved them.

"You abandoned your home… your friends… but at least he gave you a nice room…!"

"Leave me alone!" Sora yelled, springing up and quickly running out.

Sora had met the other villains during Hades' 'parties' as he called them. He hadn't been allowed to spend too much time with them, at least, not in Hollow Bastion, even if he had spent more, he wouldn't trust them. They didn't seem concerned with Sora's search for his friends at all when Hades had supposedly done everything in his power to help him with it.

One meeting he'd skipped all together, too excited to have Riku back with him. He had given the lifeless husk a tour, even though he knew Riku couldn't hear him, it still felt nice to speak to him. He took Riku everywhere with him so he wouldn't lose him again.

The boy often looked at Riku whenever he was training with Hades, who had given him nothing but praise. Though it felt nice, it also felt hollow compared to Riku's comments. He wasn't afraid to tell Sora the truth on his skills or fight him to the point where he had to become better. That was what had made them friends, their drive to always push each other to be the best.

Because of those memories, Sora had tried to ignore Ansem's whisperings on the Islands that Riku would always be better and Kairi would always like him more for it, so much that they would leave him behind without a second thought. He hadn't believed it until he'd heard Kairi's joke about sailing away…

Sora eventually reached the foyer but just as before, there was no one but the heartless. He slashed through them all and then looked up to the ceiling. "Hey! Voice! I don't get it, where are the people from my memories? You gotta tell me!"

After a few moments, the voice responded. "You really want to see them?"

"Yes! More than anything!"

"But you abandoned them…"

The boy immediately felt guilt rise up in his chest. "I… I didn't mean to-!"

"Yes, that's right, you wanted to take your friends with you to see other worlds… but at the same time, you were angry at them and afraid they didn't care for you anymore… That mistrust lead the darkness to swallow you whole before you could reach them... Your weakness made you abandon your family, your home, even those friends you 'cared' for… and darkness took their place in your heart…"

"That's not true!" Sora yelled in anger. "Everyone and everything I really care about is still in my heart! And there isn't any darkness left in there cause I'm with the Queen and Kairi and Riku now, and they're the light!"

"Do you really believe you can get rid of the darkness in your heart so easily?" The voice laughed. "Your heart is completely submerged in it!"

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"It means, champ, is you'll only find creatures of darkness here."

Sora gasped in shock and turned to see the lord of the dead, someone he'd foolishly thought was his friend. "Hades?! But I thought you were-!"

"If the word you are gonna say is dead, you clearly forgot who you're dealing with." Hades grumbled with a smirk, walking closer to the boy. He suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sora grimaced in worry, looking around until Hades suddenly appeared behind him, wrapping his arm around the boy and picking him up to be at his level. "You don't look too happy to see me, Sora, what's wrong? You and I are a couple of pals! Remember the good ol' days?"

The boy got his face as far away from Hades as possible. "We're not friends! We never were!"

"I'm hurt, I'm really, truly hurt, you'd say that." Hades said, placing a hand to his chest where a heart would reside after dropping the boy to the ground and sauntering away. "I gave you all your powers, didn't I? And isn't that your criteria for friendship?"

The boy gritted his teeth, glaring at him.

"Well, it doesn't matter, you'll be stuck here in Darkness forever anyway, guess you'll have to get used to me."

"No way!" Sora summoned his sword, pointing it to Hades before sprinting to him. "My heart may have been weak and gave into the dark, but I know, deep down, there's still a light, there always was! And that light, it'll grow more and more when I defeat creatures of darkness, including you! I won't be trapped in the dark for long!"

Hades chuckled before disappearing in smoke.

Sora landed on the ground, looking around wildly before he heard flames shooting at him just in time. He gasped and then quickly leapt out of the way only for the god to appear a bit ahead of him.

The boy gave a cry in panic when a barrage of fire balls came hurtling at him, making him block with his sword and desperately hit back what he could, though it seemed to do very little damage. He then had to guard against a very long stream of fire that he was sweating from soon after.

He thrust at Hades but he disappered once again, making the boy nearly slam into the wall. Sora panted, looking around, but then remembered what had happened the last times Hades had done this. He flipped his sword to hold it backhand and swiftly stabbed behind him, wincing when a loud cry came from Hades. He quickly took it out and turned to see the god stumbling back. Sora knew Hades was bad, and that he'd used him and never really cared, but at the same time… he had still considered him a friend not too long ago…

"You know, champ, I have someone like your Riku." Hades had once said.

Sora had fallen to the ground during training and admitted to the god that he probably wanted someone like Riku instead as a warrior for the dark. He had explained then who Riku was. The boy looked up in confusion. "Really? Someone's stronger than you?"

"I know, I know, crazy." Hades smirked before letting himself drop to the ground beside Sora. "You're thinking, stronger than the lord of the dead, Hades? No way! But, it's true! I've been in his shadow since the day we were made… he got everything, all the powers, all the screaming fans, all the cute goddesses, not to mention a cushy palace in the clouds of Olympus. I've always wanted all those things, but the 'mighty' Zeus' got them all! Just once I wanted to beat him! Make him suffer just like I have, make him feel what it's like to be completely alone besides the stiffs in the Underworld! You get me?!"

Sora stared up in surprise and then slowly shook his head. "I… get feeling like you're in someone's shadow but-"

"That's all you need to get." Hades smiled, ruffling the boy's hair. "Because with the darkness on my side… I finally got a point, now the score's 1 to thousands!"

"You actually beat him?!"

"Well, it was a battle, not the war." Hades drawled, thinking back to about 20 mortal years ago when he'd stolen Zeus' most treasured possession. "What I'm trying to say is with darkness, you'll be loads more powerful than that silver-haired jockey, maybe even as powerful as me! With all that power… you'll be able to protect him and your little girlfriend, and you'll never be weak again…"

"I hope you're happy…!" Hades chuckled as flames surrounded him.

Sora stared, unsure what to say. "I…"

"You got rid of the only friend you have left." The god spat with a smirk. "I hope you enjoy facing all this darkness… alone…"

The boy grimaced, shutting his eyes as the fire blinded him.

At the very top basement, the room was cold, damp, and dim-lit, and the place where the second group of Castle Oblivion congregated.

The youngest of that particular group came out of a dark corridor. He had long dull blond hair and a narrow face. He crossed his arms in frustration that his master had summoned him here while he had been working on an experiment. He was the one who had insisted upon calling Zexion master, since he had a respect for his rank which was higher than him. Perhaps another reason was to fill the other thing he longed for beside a heart... "Why did you call us here, master? I was busy working on-!"

Stop wasting our time with your blabbering, Vexen…" Beside him, a lean and broad-shouldered man appeared. He had long dark dreadlocks that were tied back into a ponytail along with very sharp sideburns. "Surely Zexion wouldn't be so foolish as to call us here just for a chat…"

Vexen pouted slightly but glanced over to his master anyway.

Zexion looked between the two after closing his book. "I just thought that you'd both like to know: we have a guest other than the hero of light."

The other two gave each other a look.

"Kairi is in the castle? How interesting…" Vexen mumbled softly.

"More interesting still, is the other one." Zexion countered. "... The sensation they give, it feels nearly just like that of the superior..."

"Well, I think the identity of this person is quite obvious..." The tall one suddenly said softly, making the two turn to look at him in surprise.

"Oh? Then please, enlighten us, Xaldin." Zexion granted with a wave while Vexen narrowed his eyes in doubt that he could figure it out.

"The emotions of the heart are so easily calculated, especially in children. Our guest has been following blindly his feelings of care towards the young keyblade wielder, which is why he was drowned in Ansem's darkness in the first place…"

"I see now, it's Sora who's in the castle. No wonder he would feel like the superior... seeing his connection to Ansem." Vexen smirked as if he'd figured it out himself. "A hero of darkness.. Much more potential than a hero of light!"

Zexion nodded faintly to Xaldin. "Agreed. We shall see if your theory is correct then."

The two watched as Zexion summoned his lexicon before casting an illusion on himself. He smirked back with another face. "If it is truly Sora… then he deserves a proper welcome."