The Castle of Oblivion

Sora ran as fast as he could, his mind fixated on what the hooded figure had said. Could Riku really be closer than it appeared. He sped so fast that Donald and Goofy were able to catch up with him. His legs sprinting as fast as they could through the grassy road in the middle of a cold moonlit night. That didn't stop him though from running off and the adrenaline was going to keep him going until he reached his destination.

The further he went down the road the longer it seemed the road went on. The yellow pathway went on for miles and miles without end as grass surrounded everything. It just made him more frustrated. He felt so close to Riku now than ever and here this road continued to get in his way.

It just made him want to scream in frustration.

Was he really that close to finally reuniting with his friend, and even was that hooded figure in the first place. He ran as fast as he could down the grassy road, the plains seemed to be going for miles on end without ever coming to a halt. It didn't matter that his legs were starting to give in, he was going to find that castle and more important find out who the guy in the black hood was all about.

It couldn't have been Xehanort that he saw, he was destroyed. They had destroyed him for good.

No, no, it had to be someone else, a new threat perhaps. There were other villains and evils he had faced during his first adventure, Maleficent being one of them. Though she was now trapped behind a magical barrier in a ruined out old castle in Hollow Bastion. Was it possible that there was a new threat rising. Jiminy had mentioned earlier something about other evils out there. But he didn't think he would have to face them so soon. Then again, whenever he read tales of the stories, no one really talked about what happened after happily ever after.

So many of the stories his mother told him never really talked about what happened after the first great adventure. When the story was over it was over. Even when things had sequels it normally ended with the story being over and he felt his first journey could have felt a series of books and stories to tell.

Something inside him felt numb now as Sora began to think that maybe everything he had attempted was for not.

Sora didn't want to think about it right now. If his friend Riku was out there he needed to find him and quickly.

Instead he just focused as he ran down the grassy field in the middle of the night with as much speed as he could muster. He had so much he wanted to discuss with Riku. Sora wanted to know how he was feeling, what had happened that

Suddenly Sora stopped as a thought occurred. What exactly was he going to say to him. The two had tried to kill each other. Multiple times. It would definitely be an awkward reunion. What would they say, or do, would their friendship be different? So many questions now wracked through his brain.

As Sora kept thinking Donald and Goofy continued right behind him, barely managing to keep up the pace. Both sprinting as fast as humanity or in their case, Duck and Goofy possible.

"Sora, wait up" Donald called, barley out of breath as he ran as fast as he webbed feet could make it, "We can't run that far, we need to rest"

Goofy agreed, his long legs being able being able to carry him further "Yeah, what on earth did you see"

"Riku! Riku is close...Someone...Something is going on!" Sora said his breathing thinned as he began to lose speed.

On the back of his jacket Jiminy hung on for dear life. "Slow down Sora, just because you heard someone say Riku was around doesn't make it true"

"But what if it is!" Sora countered, feeling pain in his legs, "We gotta find him, he could be in danger or falling to darkness again, Xehanort could have gotten him for all I know!"

"You aren't gonna get anywhere if you're out cold!" Jiminy yelled.

Instantly Sora stopped Donald and Goofy bumping into each other, landing on the ground with a thud. All three of them are still standing in the middle of the grassy plane once again. He felt tired, exhausted, and worst of all, Sora felt a hint of sadness come over him as he thought that .

"W-what, what, what if we didn't win" Sora said, clenching his fists for a moment with a surge of negative emotions rushing through him.

"What do you mean?" Goofy asked.

Sora flinched, and looked at Goofy wide eyed "What if we didn't win, what if we can't find Riku and the King because we lost, or we didn't really defeat Xehanort. What if everything I did was for nothing and that this was all one big hoax"

"But we saved the world" Donald assured him, "Riku looked fine"

"But what if he isn't" Sora looked desperate, "What if Xehanort is still in his heart and took over again, I mean he went into the realm of darkness and who knows what could have taken him again"

"Ah come on Sora, don't think like that" Goofy said sympathetically, "I'm nervous too, but I know we one, I remember, how you, me, Donald and Kairi all defeated Xehanort"

"Did we?" Sora asked nervously, "Did we really, I remember the door opening and the Kingdom Hearts striking light at him and...That's it"

"Yeah, and then Xehanort vanished and we won," Donald finished.

Taking a few moments Sora just looked out over the horizon. His mind raced. He fought so hard to be the hero he wanted to be for his friends. He wanted to be for Riku and Kairi. Donald and Goofy. If the keyblade came to him then he was the hero right?

Sora wished that all of his confidence would come back to him because he could really use it right about now.

"I mean, we don't really know what's going on out there" Sora pointed to the stars, "All we know is we closed the door to darkness and that's it, but what if bad stuff is going down. How do we know? We don't have the Gummi Ship or anything"

"Well, nothing bad has happened to us" Goofy shrugged, "So maybe nothing bad is happening to our friends.

"But we don't know that" Sora sighed and began to pace around, "Then why are we still traveling, like I don't wanna say goodbye to you guys, but ...But I wanna get home...To Kairi...To my mom..what if...what if Riku doesn't wanna be my friend anymore"

There was a moment of silence, Donald and Goofy exchanged looks, even Jiminy gave Sora a worried expression.

"Sora," Goofy said taking a deep breath, "We're worried too, and believe me, no one wants to get home more than me. I got my boy Max out there waiting for me, I've been gone for a while now, he's probably getting worried. But I made a promise to the king that I was gonna follow the Key so, that's why I'm gonna follow yuh until you don't need to follow no more".

Sora looked up at Donald and Goofy, then Jiminy and smiled, he was so lucky to have friends like this still by his side. He wouldn't have made it far without them. He owed them so much and didn't know how to repay them.

"As for Riku he seemed pretty friendly to me when we closed the door" Goofy added

Donald rolled his eyes, "Sure then"

Goofy gave him a disappointment look before looking at Sora, "I bet he can't wait to see yuh again"

"Think so?" Sora asked sounding hopeful ,

"Yep I know so!" Goofy gave him the brightest of smiles

"Having hope is easier said than done," Donald muttered.

"What does that mean?" Sora asked.

Donald sighed, "You know I lost my sister? It's hard still to this day"

"She could still be out there, heck she might be even in the place we're going" Goofy said.

Donald just shrugged back not wanting to continue the conversation.

Sora tried to give a faint smile but still looked sad, "Goofy, your optimistic but...I know but...I didn't get to really know WHY he did any of it, not really...I mean I forgive him and everything but still, I-I wanna know, you know" He took a deep breath, "We've been friends for so long, and then just like he turns to darkness and tries to kill me, I mean I forgive him yeah, but I still wanna know why"

"That's fair, it's no fun when friends fight" Goofy said,

"Or kill each other" Donald muttered.

Goofy just nodded and smiled. "Heck I know I get sad when me and Donald have big fights, but we always manage to keep moving forward because that's how much we care"

"Have you tried to kill each other before?" Sora asked.

"Yes" Donald stated bluntly, "At least me"

Sora grimaced.

"Hey, remember what I told you when we first met?" Donald said sternly, tapping his foot"No frowning, no sad face okay. Happy faces!"

Goofy

Smile, darn ya smile.

Ya know this old world is a great world after all.

Donald

Smile, darn ya smile

And right away watch Lady Luck give you a call

Goofy and Donald

Things are never black when they are painted

Time for you and joy to get acquainted

Make life worthwhile

Come on Smile, Darn Ya Smile.

Sora laughed and smiled, "Thanks guy, I needed it, come on, we got friends to save...Together"

"Yeah!" Donald cheered.

Goofy nodded taking Sora's shoulder, "Together"

Despite the pick me up Sora still didn't feel completely sure of his accomplishments. Was he the hero that Bill Cipher, that strange demon, had made him out to be. Part of wished he could know what others thought about him.

He would prove to them and the people he met and fought the Heartless against he was worth the hero.

"Yeah", Sora nodded giving them a smile "All for one and for all"

Giving them one more nod Sora walked off with his friends behind him, his feelings definitely felt far more confident than before.

They continued going down the road, the grass starting to fade and the sky darkening even more until all the stars vanished leaving nothing but a void. It was becoming clearer that something bad was on the horizon. Sora wondered if this had anything to do with that triangle Bill Cipher he had met in his dream. He wanted to tell Donald and Goofy about him but thought against it for now.

They stopped once they hit the end of the line, and gaze upon a bizarre looking castle. With green towers and yellow paint. It had a sickly looking void around it. Sora, Donald and Goofy had never seen anything like it before. Not even Hollow Bastion, which in itself had a magnificent fortress center looked anything like it. Tall and imposing, this Castle was definitely a place that screamed magical, and perhaps those inside were just as powerful.

It was intimidating just being near it, all signs pointed to this place being trouble. Not like they hadn't dealt with trouble and evil castles before. Last time during Sora's previous adventure, most of the trouble they faced was in an evil castle. Perhaps this was a sign that in terms of their next event, the troublesome castle would come first.

"Hold on!" Donalds topped him before walking forward towards it

Sora groaned glaring at him, "What?"

"We can't just go barging in Sora" Donald argued looking angry, "What if it's dangerous, or a trap, or a dangerous trap".

"What's the difference?" Goofy asked.

Sora rolled his eyes, "Donald, most places we go to are dangerous, that's sorta the whole point of our first adventure, we got to worlds, we fight heartless, we fight villains and hopefully we come out alive"

"Sounds kinda stupid if ya put it like that" Goofy poited out matter of factly

"It's not stupid" Sora replied, "It's just fact, we've been through worse"

"And yeah and look how well that's gotten us" Donald argued.

Sora shrugged, "I mean honestly pretty far, we're here aren't we"

"True" Donald muttered.

Sora sighed again rubbing his head, "Look, Riku might be here, so if we don't look in, we might be missing our chance, besides, we are out of food, and I'm hungry, and this has been the only place for miles in the middle of nothing but grassy field" he extended his arms to make the point.

Donald and Goofy just looked at each other nervous. Sora groaned and tried to calm himself. They didn't understand that this could be the best chance to find Riku and rescue him and the King. In fact, why weren't they thinking of the King? Wasn't the whole point he joined them in the first place, got into this grand quest.

"I mean I guess" Goofy said as he looked up at the castle, "Still, strange that a whole castle just appease out of nowhere at the end of the road"

Jiminy hopped onto Sora's shoulder and now looked at the castle as scribing something in his journal, "Definitely fascinating" He muttered, "Wonder who lives here?"

Taking a deep breath, Sora did not want to be mad at his friends.

"Come on guys" Sora said trying to stay calm, "Let's just try this...Please, we could find the King too"

Donald and Goofy again just looked at one another and nodded.

Sora took a deep breath as he looked at the forbidding Castle gate and sighed, "Okay...Good...Let's go"

With every step they took that led them closer to the Castle the feeling of intimidation grew more and more. Something about this place felt strange, familiar almost. He had been in castles before, yet this one felt quite ...cold. He couldn't quite place his finger as to why though he was drawn to this place but he was. Though that need was probably the fact that he wanted to find Riku and see if he was there. If his dream was true then Bill Cipher could be right.

"What is this place?" Sora asked slowly, stepping forward gently, putting a hand to the wall feeling the stone press up against his glove.

"I don't know." Donald asked looking nervously at it, "Think we should go in?"

Sora bit his lip and looked back. "I told you guys Riku might be here, why are we arguing this again?"

Goofy shrugged. "I mean, it's always good to look everywhere for our friends. Seems like a place we might find something."

"Yeah, exactly." Sora nodded, building his confidence up. "Riku and the King might be here. Come on, let's take a look."

Despite being calm, Sora felt a bit nervous. This place was unsettling and didn't have a very welcoming environment. It even had that strange scent, the scent of darkness. Everything though was painted white and there was no real sense of color or even life to it. Perhaps Heartless roamed the hallways of this place? Either way if Riku or the King was here it was definitely worth checking it out. Wouldn't be the first time nor probably the last they would plunge into danger like this without much danger or remorse.

"Sora?" Goofy asked, seeing his friend stand absolutely still, pretrafied. "You okay?"

"Yeah-" Sora said, voice shaking, hovered his hand by the door.

"We can still go back." Goofy replied, giving him a sympathetic look. "No shame in turning around, not every castle needs to be explored."

"No-No, we have too...The king...Riku…" His words began to fumble as he has mixed emotions of anger, excitement and nervousness

"Sora, calm down," Goofy held out a hand, a worried expression on his face for the concern of his friend "Being excited and nervous ain't gonna get Riku here anytime sooner."

Taking several breaths, Sora tried to calm himself, "Okay, okay...I'm calm," he took one last deep breath, "But we really should get inside".

Donald and Goofy sighed in exasperation.

Sora slowly began to make his way towards the castle heading towards it's large massive entrance way. The closer he got the more intimidated he became. Large gargoyles hovered over him glaring at them with their stone eyes. He wondered just who lived within such a place. A wizard? A king? Perhaps some sort of evil force? Maybe a force for good, he shouldn't judge.

For a moment he thought about what would happen if he went through those doors. He was about to enter unknown territory. There would be no turning back.

What he tried to open the door to was everything he had just to push it even a budget. It was really heavy. Using all his muscles he pressed hard against the door feeling a bit of it move, but it wasn't enough. It still wasn't budging an inch.

"Ugh...Guys, a little help." Sora said through gritted teeth as he pushed with all his might . "Oh man this is heavy."

Donald and Goofy rushed forward and together they managed to open the door just a pinch in order to get inside.

All three squeeze through the small hole they created arriving on the other side. Sora could feel his companions pressing up against him as they pressed through the tiny doorThey pushed hard managing to get the door opened a bit more, but still the massive size was definitely unbearable to handle for a long period of time.

"Hey move it." Donald muttered, wiggling his way through Sora's arm.

"Squeez!" Goofy shouted as he did one more lunge through the door

Sora tried to get past them both gritting his teeth in frustration. "Why don't we ever go one at a time." he thought to himself

"You always run into things before we can catch up," Donald muttered.

"No you two always go in before I have a chance" Sora argued.

Goofy just groaned as he kept pushing, "Well, to late now, might as well keep pushing forward"

"Okay on three-" Sora yelled, "One...Two...Three

Once inside, they found themselves looking up a singular room that looked more like a hallway than an entrance painted entirely of white. No other color but white. Not even a painting hanging on the hall. Just one room and a door ahead of it. Nothing more, nothing less.

This place had a very hollow feeling towards it. The white walls gave a sense of liveliness to it, but it didn't have the feel of decay. If anything there was a sense of almost nothing to it. Neither living nor id, just existing in an empty void of nothingness.

"Someone likes minimalism." Goofy pointed out.

Sora looked around. "What is this place?"

"This is weird." Donald said, seeming nervous. "I don't like it, we should go back."

"Nuh uh, I'm going forward, the King and Riku might be here and we need to look at every place we can." Sora pushed forward toward the door, stopping when he saw Donald and Goofy seeming nervous. "Don't tell me you're scared, are ya?"

Donald frowned. "Don't be ridiculous!"

"Then let's go forward," Sora suggested.

Jiminy hopped onto his shoulder now, "Well hold on, maybe we should think about this"

Sora rolled his eyes annoyed, "Again, come on, we're inside, how bad can it be. Seriously guys we've gotten in riskier stuff than this. I mean we faced Xehanort...Xehanort, you know the guy who is responsible for everything! We faced him and beat him!...Hopefully...Maybe...Honestly I'm still not sure, but gotta stay confident right? That's what you said, stay confident"

"Confident, but not foolish" Donald argued, waving his staff at him.

"I'm not foolish, i'm just trying to keep my spirits up like you said," Sora grunted, folding his arms indignantly.

Goofy just smiled, "Well, I think keeping good spirits is a good thing, especially if we're gonna be exploring this creepy castle anway. Might as well be cherry about it. I do wonder who exactly lives here though"

"This place just feels, so weird" Sora took a few steps forward, "Like, it feels, almost empty, like nothing is here"

Suddenly that familiar chill of cold air came rushing down Sora's spine again. As if everything around them started to become a bit more lifeless. He felt unbalanced for a second, almost falling down and tumbling on himself before straightening up again. Something had happened but he couldn't quite put his finger on just what it was.

"Huh?" he said turning around in a dash but saw nothing

"What's wrong Sora?" Donald asked, holding his staff close to the chest.

"I don't know…" Sora said dreamily as he walked a few steps forward. "I feel like, like I dropped something."

Sora looked at his hands but didn't see anything, yet right now he felt very light. Like something heavy had been lifted from him but it wasn't something he wanted taken from him. He continued to feel this shaky sensation as he kept steady on his feet.

He looked at Donald and Goofy who seemed okay, yet still something felt very off. Something had happened to him

Donald rolled his eyes. "You're always spacing out."

"Maybe you dropped your wallet?" Goofy suggested.

"I don't have a wallet." Sora muttered.

"You should, it's important. It's where I keep Max's baby pictures." Goofy took out his wallet to show all of Max's baby pictures. "See, here's Max when he was two, look at that little diaper on his bottom, oh and here when we first went to see Santa at the mall, he was a little nervous but..."

Sora frowned before interrupting Goofy as he continued going over every single picture there. "I don't think now's the time Goofy."

Again that chill, this time coming from right behind them as Sora felt his spin begin to tingle

"The child who defeated Xehanort, welcome."

"Who said that?" Donald asked, jumping back and taking out his staff.

Standing by the door the hooded figure in the black coat stood before the door as it slowly closed behind him. Sora, Donald and Goofy all took defensive positions ready for a fight, as he just stood there in silence. The figure's face was covered in complete darkness, like an empty void gazing back at them. Quickly Sora held his Keyblade and got into his battle stance, knees at the ready

Sora tried to look into his hood but saw nothing but an empty void of darkness underneath it. Though with his keyblade in hand he was ready to fight him. But the confidence didn't feel as there as it normally was. Again he felt light headed and almost empty inside at the moment. Something was affecting him.

"Who are you?!" Sora yelled, narrowing his eyes as he tightened the grip of his Keyblade.

The figure remained silent, just standing there gazing at them.

"Silent huh." Sora eyes narrowed.

"Maybe he's a Heartless?!" Donald yelled. "I'll try some magic. Thunder!"

Donald lifts his staff expecting a large strike of lighting to come crashing down on him. But nothing comes, the room remains silent not a speck of magic to be found.

"What?" Donald looks at his staff and starts to shake it, hoping it would activate the magic. "Thunder! Thunder!...Fire!"

Again and again he would try a spell but nothing would happen. Donald was shocked, looking at his staff to make sure nothing was wrong. Sora became worried. Donald's spells would always work. Sure, he wasn't an all powerful wizard like he used to read the stories from his island home but he was good enough. Although his healing abilities were something to be desired. However, the magic would always work to some degree.

"Why isn't it working?" Donald shook his wand to see if anything would happen but only a few sparks came out of it.

Finally the hooded figure speaks, their voice smooth and angelic. "I should think it's obvious. The moment you set foot in this castle, you forgot every spell and every ability you ever knew. In this place, to find is to lose, and to lose is to find. Memories are truly a wonderful thing, and a powerful thing of that...One should be weary of how one treats them.

"That wasn't obvious at all" Goofy pointed out, "More mysterious and vague if you ask me"

"Yeah, like what does that even mean?" Sora asked. "How can you find something and lose?"

"I forgot everything?" Donald shouted, squinting his face. "No, I worked too hard to forget now, I didn't work my keister off wizarding school just to forget!"

"Forget stuff?!" Goofy looked shocked as he was too tired to remember. "Okay, Max's birthday is next month ...I need to clean out the gutters when I get home ...My cat Waffles, funny enough, doesn't like waffles."

"Enough!" The hooded figure shouted causing them all to stop, next he spoke it was calm again, "This is the way of Castle Oblivion"

"Castle Oblivion?" Sora muttered looking around him now, "So this place is called Castle Oblivion huh? Why? Nothing much obvious about it"

"Maybe because it was obvious to us?" Goofy asked more to himself than to the figure in particular.

Oblivion, to completely erase everything. If this castle was able to make people forget then the name made sense. However, right now it didn't seem like Sora had forgotten anything. He remembered Kairi, Riku, why he was here, and his mother. Everything that was important he remembered, and he would never forget. He couldn't. That was his driving force after all. He didn't have that then, what was the point after all?

The mysterious hooded figure just chuckled as he gazed upon Sora through the empty darkness of his hood.

"Here you will meet people that you have known in the past. And you will meet people you miss. But whether they are real or not, that is for you to decide. Again, the power of memories is truly spectacular and must not be taken lightly"

Sora listened carefully, still confused. "People I miss...Wait a minute, Riku. Does that mean Riku is here?"

"Perhaps. You do want to find him, correct?"

"Yes, more than anything!" Sora pauses for a moment and guilt riddles him. "I-I mean, apart from going to him and seeing my mother again."

Before Sora could say anything else, the hooded figure rushed towards him and then like a ghost passed right through him. All of a sudden images of his past began to play in his mind. Riku, Kairi, Leon and the gang, Dipper, Mabel, Star, Marco, even enemies like Maleficent, all these faces and places played in his mind in the blink of an eye, and then in an instant, vanished. Leaving the hooded figure standing on the other side of the room by the door that leads to the next level.

Sora stumbled, shaking his head to restore his consciousness. "What was that?!"

"I merely sampled your memories."

The hooded figure goes into the pocket of his coat and pulls out a card, tiny with bleu binding in the shape of a crown. He tossed it Sora who tossed it barley. His hands fidgeting, he tried to study it. The image on the card looked familiar.

"Traverse Town?" Sora recognized the image on the card "...What is this!"

"It is a promise for the reunion you seek. Hold the card to open the door. And beyond it, a new world. Proceed, Sora. To lose and claim anew, or to claim anew only to lose…"

Sora raised an eyebrow. "N-None of that makes any sense!"

"Apparently brains were not in the Keyblade's design when one choose you" The hooded peron muttered.

"Ah, phooey, I say let's go!" Donald shouted. "If he doesn't wanna make sense, why should we listen?"

"No-" Sora stopped him, looking at the card.

There was an image of a familiar looking place on it but right now his memory couldn't pin-point what exactly.

"Use the card to proceed through the castle…" Slowly the hooded figure vanished into thin air. "Brave Key bearer"

Sora looked at the card and gulped. How could something so small be so intimidating. Slowly Jiminy climbed up on top of him, looking nervously at it as well. Trying to look at the markings, deciphering them but to no avail.

"Wait a minute, Sora." Jiminy looked at him nervously. "They said that if we started losing our memories the moment we set foot in this castle. What does that mean started? And all that craziness of to find is to lose and to lose is to find. I'm not sure if we should go any further. Donald already can't use his spells."

Donald shivered holding his staff tightly in his hand.

"What about Goofy, did he forget all his training?" Jiminy asked.

Goofy gasped. "What if I forgot the Alphabet?! ...Uh, A, B, C, D….."

"No!" Sora shouted standing confidently before both of them. "We can't let fear take hold of us, we've beaten worse guys than this. We beat Xehanort for pete's sake."

"Pete!" Goofy said. "He was my next door neighbor."

"Wrong Pete, Goofy. "Sora frowned.

"Whoops, sorry."

Sora shook his head. "No worries, but really! We need to go, Riku could be here, same with the King. We can't let the fear of that guy get the best of us. For all we know, they might have been lying."

"Then why can't I use my spells?" Donald asked, shaking his staff.

"Maybe the castle blocks our magic?" Sora said, turning to face the door. "Doesn't matter, let's go find Riku!"

"Doesn't matter!" Donald shouted. "I can't do magic of course it matters."

Ignoring him Sora walked towards the door. A sense of unease coming over him. He wasn't about to let what the hooded figure told him get to him. He knew deep down that no matter what sort of dark magic affected him and his friends right now would never remove what was important. Riku, Kairi, his mother, all the ones he loved, those memories could not and would not be broken. With all the confidence he mustered, he held out the card to the door as the magic allowed it to open. He and his companions walked through the light.

"Okay," Sora looked into the light and began to make the first step, "Let's go"

"Don't worry Riku, I'll find you….I promise"