Sora dawdled down the next white hallway deep in thought after Hollow Bastion. His heart wouldn't be drowning the Darkness forever, he would have the small amount of light he knew was still there consume it, then he wouldn't have to think about it ever again.

"Exterminating all the Darkness in your heart… Are you sure that's what you want?"

Sora jumped slightly at hearing the voice again but then looked up with a nod, narrowing his eyes. "Of course!"

"But without the Darkness, you would be so weak... Without the Darkness, you won't be able to protect yourself or your friends…Isn't that reason enough to accept it?"

"Accept it?" Sora asked, mulling the idea over for a moment. He was much stronger with the darkness on his side but it had cost him everything when he'd accepted the beings within it. "No! I don't need the Darkness to give me strength!"

"Like it or not, boy, the Darkness will always be in your heart… as will I!"

Sora leapt back in shock when a doorway of Darkness appeared in front of him and revealed the man that had started everything. He clenched his teeth, summoning his sword. "That voice! It was you!"

"I thought you were smart enough to figure it out, but the way you look now…" Ansem smirked, crossing his arms as the boy's eyes slowly went back to normal from their widened state.

"I did think it was you at first but… I didn't want to believe it." Sora admitted with a sigh. "I thought Kairi was able to defeat you for good! But you're still with me… You want me to go into Darkness, so you can take me over again, right?"

"Correct. You aren't as dull as you appear…." The man nodded to the boy. "That ignorance you carry was the main reason I chose you as my vessel to begin with. I needed someone ordinary, weak, compared to everyone else who shone so much brighter. You were used to staying behind in their shadows… so you would feel right at home in mine… Surrender now and you can live in it peacefully."

"Never!" Sora yelled, glaring at Ansem's offered hand. He hurled his sword at the man but it suddenly stopped midair with Ansem's powers, making Sora gasp.

Ansem chuckled slightly before flinging it back, the handle jabbing Sora in the stomach and sending him to the ground. "Foolish boy… Without the Darkness, you have no power. You can't protect anyone, not even yourself."

"That's not true…" Sora grunted, struggling to stand as Ansem strided over to him. "My friends are my power!"

"Is that right?" Ansem laughed a bit harder. "That may be so normally but here, where there are no 'friends' to defend you, you must use your own strength in the darkness!"

"That's not true!" A sudden bright voice cried, making them both surprised at the sudden intrusion.

A sudden bright twinkle of light came down from the ceiling and circled around Sora in a sort of embrace. The boy laughed in relief and grinned at the light when it gently landed in front of him. "Your Highness! You're here!"

"Yes, Sora, and I'm not going anywhere!" The Queen announced to them both, making Ansem grimace. The light suddenly went into Sora's heart, making the boy jump a bit before looking around and then touching his chest in realization. "Keep with the light, Sora, it will never abandon you as long as you don't abandon it!"

"I won't!" Sora cried, now having the strength to get up and point his sword at Ansem. "I won't abandon the light again!"

Ansem scoffed with a smirk. "If you'd like to challenge my darkness, you can certainly try."

"Sora, let's go!" The Queen's voice cried.

Sora ran at the man with a yell, leaping up and slashing down with every ounce of strength he had, but just before he was able to land a hit, Ansem's Guardian appeared and grabbed him from behind. The boy gave a yell in anger, struggling to get free.

"You still resist even when surrounded by it." Ansem chuckled as the boy kicked to get free, his arms being forced to his sides and his sword being dropped in shock. "Well, we will see how long you can keep it up then."

Minnie and Sora's combined light bloomed from his chest, making the figure drop him. Four more cards were thrown at his feet. The boy picked them up and recognized them as places he'd been before.

"Worlds from your memories." Ansem explained as the boy stood. "Go through them, and you will understand… No matter how you chase after the light, you will never escape the darkness! There is no way out!"

"Sounds like a challenge to me." Sora grunted, placing the cards in his pocket before narrowing his eyes. "Well, you're on!"

"Before we begin…" Ansem held out his hand before twisting it around and clenching it taunt. "allow me to give you a head start."

Sora suddenly felt a sharp pain sting in his chest as a dark glow came from it. He gasped and stumbled back a bit before clutching his chest before it finally dimmed. "W-What?!"

"I tempered with the darkness left in your heart." Ansem told him before he could even ask. "You can now use its power whenever you want."

"I'd never use the darkness after what it's done!" Sora growled. "There's no way!"

"You may find you have no choice, you so easily give into your emotions after all." Ansem hummed, vanishing into darkness. "I'll be waiting for you to yield to the darkness in your heart, Sora!"

The boy stared at the empty space, panting.

Sora entered the next floor but he immediately paused, his heart felt… strange, it felt cold and strained. "This feeling… What is it…? I've felt it before but…" He glanced up in surprise, suddenly realizing it without even needing a confirmation, he just knew. "It means darkness is close! … I-Is it me…?"

"You have to believe in yourself a bit more, Sora." Encouraged a sudden voice.

"Your Highness!" Sora gasped in surprise.

Suddenly, he was blinded by a bright flash of light and saw the small Queen in front of him. She wore a large bow between her ears along with her adventure wear that still seemed fit for a noble with its puff sleeves and pink hues. She smiled weakly at him, because she was see-through.

"Your Highness, are you okay?! You look like a ghost… Are you a ghost?!" Sora asked in worry, falling to his knees.

"No, no!" Minnie cried, placing her hands out to stop him from panicking. "I'm still in the Realm of Darkness, you see, and I'm using my power so we'll be able to communicate when you need me! I appeared in this form because, well, I thought it might be nice to see a familiar face other than those in the darkness."

"You have no idea." Sora laughed, scratching the back of his neck.

"I'll only be able to talk to you for short periods of time when you really need me, otherwise I'll be trying to find a way to escape." The Queen exsplained. "And in those times when I can't be with you, you have to fight the darkness inside you! Because in it, there's a light that never goes out!"

"Well, I know that." Sora grinned. "Kingdom Hearts taught me that, Kairi too!"

Minnie smiled with a laugh. "I know you know, I just wanted to be sure you didn't forget. You can never give up, believe in yourself and the light you hold."

"You can count on me!"

"And you can count on me too, to get to you. I'll do everything in my power until I find you, I promise." The Queen swore, placing one hand to her chest and the other for Sora to shake.

"Thank you." Sora smiled weakly. The Queen was one to keep her promises too, he could feel it in his heart. He bent down and tried to shake but his hand fazed through. "Oh, right… we can't shake on it…"

"We shook in our hearts." The Queen assured him.

"Right! And we're always connected by our hearts." Sora remembered with a smile.

The Queen nodded with a grin before fading away.

Sora waited for a few moments. "Your Highness?"

There was no response in his mind. She must be looking for a way out.

The boy's smile fell. He was alone again…

Suddenly though, the door in front of him creaked open.

He suddenly felt that same feeling as before with the darkness, making his head jerk up and he summoned his sword. He pointed at the newcomer but it immediately fell when he saw who it was. "K-Kairi?!"

"Sora, I finally found you…!" Kairi smiled, walking to him while he stared. She looked exactly as she had the last time he'd seen her.

"Kairi!" Sora cried again with tears in his eyes, running to her and hugging her tightly, making her cringe slightly in suprise. "You're really here!"

"Of course I am!" Kairi smiled, gently pushing him off her. "I promised I'd find you again, didn't I?"

"Yeah!" Sora sniffed, wiping his tears away. He then remembered his own promise and quickly took out the charm, holding it up for Kairi to see. "Speaking of promises...!"

The girl stared at the charm a bit blankly for a few moments before smiling. "Oh… right…. Our other promise…!"

Sora frowned in confusion. What was with that look? Did she really not remember it? She was the one who'd made him promise… "You made me promise to give it back, remember? I've kept it with me this whole time, to make sure it got back, 'cause it's super important!"

At the mention of its specialness to them both, the girl suddenly snatched the charm out of his hands.

Sora felt a bit worried then, seeing the girl look a bit crazed while staring down at the thing before she chuckled slightly, turning away.

"Thank you very much, Sora…" The girl looked back then and he saw her eyes glow bright blue before she suddenly turned into the form of a tall man with long blue hair, Zexion. "This trinket holds so much precious data on you and the hero of light's bond… Does it not?"

"Wha-?! Who are you?!" Sora cried in shock, realizing now that the feeling he'd gotten when 'Kairi' entered had never actually left. He then gritted his teeth in anger and summoned his sword. "And why do you want Kairi's charm?! Give it back!"

Zexion looked unamused, turning away from the boy as he traced the lines of the seashells of the good luck charm. He walked away slowly.

"Hey! Did you hear me?! I said give it back!" Sora yelled again. He threw his sword at the man but his lexion suddenly appeared, swallowing the sword whole before it closed.

"What?!" The boy gasped in shock.

It suddenly spat the sword back out to him on the ground. He quickly picked it up.

"Your ignorance is quite helpful to me, believe it or not. It's providing quite a lot of data..." Zexion mused, looking through the book. "As for this…"

Sora grimaced when he let the charm hang by its woven strap. He quickly ran at the man but he disappeared in darkness much as Ansem had, leaving the boy alone.

"No! Come back here! You gotta give it back!" Sora fell to the ground, feeling sadness and anger well up inside of him. He let out a yell in rage, accidently allowing the darkness inside him out. He found himself then in the same exact suit he'd worn when he'd used the Darkness before and when he'd been possessed. Fear overwhelmed him seeing it again, making it even worse. "Why…?!"

Zexion appeared in the basement's laboratory, displaying the charm to his associates.

"What is that?" Vexen scoffed, turning away from a table where a blank body covered in the Organization's cloak lay. "I thought you'd get useful data for our project from the boy."

"I did." Zexion replied, placing his lexicon and the charm next to a computer. "Sora made a promise to Kairi to bring it back to her before they closed the door."

"So the boy's heart must've associated the memories of his time with her into it." Xaldin mused, watching from a nearby chair.

"Yes, yes, I'm sure that'll be very useful to convincing Kairi it's the real thing, but did you get the actual important data so I can get started? I've been itching to make it!"

Zexion firmly slammed his hand on the lexion and charm, glaring at his eager apprentice that had tried to snatch it away. "I only got a bit of data. With it and the charm, there could be enough to form it… but it may not be enough to get the results we want: a perfect replica of Sora in which we can use as a weapons of the Organization. Don't be hasty. Leave it for now, Vexen."

"But master-!"

"Leave it." Zexion hissed, grabbing Vexen's wrist tightly before disappearing in a dark corridor.

Vexen held his wrist and then glared angrily back before suddenly grabbing up the materials and throwing them onto the table next to the body.

"Can you truly not wait any longer, Vexen?" Murmured Xaldin, watching as he typed a few more things into the computer. "What it's incomplete?"

"Then it shall be just like us..." Vexen smirked, glancing back at him before looking back as the body began to form. "Success or not, we shall soon have our result…"