Hey, everyone! I am back again with an adaptation of the game 'Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories'. Now, to be fair, it is the one game I only briefly tapped into, but have not played a lot of, as I was not a fan of the card system. So most of my research is based on other people's gameplay and the cutscenes. And before you ask, no, I am not stopping SAKIII. It is still gonna keep going, and I will tell you there will be a story after this one is done focused around Philia and how the Heart Sisters were formed. This story will fill in gaps that were not told in SAKIII. The story will take a darker turn, as it kinda does in Chain of Memories, but I hope you all enjoy the story of 'Sword Art Kingdom: Path of Memories'. Please leave a review to tell me what you think so far.
(The Epilogue of Sword Art Kingdom: Heart's Origin)
Present Day, Disney Castle.
Kayaba finished off the story, closing his screen down after reading all that he recorded. He looked up at the group who had listened to it. Mickey had his eyes closed, thinking on what he had told, while Jiminy, Donald and Goofy looked at each other, hearing everything in the story.
"That concludes my report on what I learned from the journal." Kayaba told the group, looking to Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy, "I am rather interested in what the three of you have to say about it, considering you had an important role in the entire story."
"Well, uh..." Donald started, looking to Donald and Jiminy.
"It is strange that I have no recollection of that version of the story." Jiminy stated, "I don't even remember placing that in my journal."
"But doesn't it does sound kinda familiar." Goofy pointed out, "Feels like we should know her, even though we don't her." Donald and Jiminy nodded in agreement.
"Remembering and familiarizing are two different results." Kayaba sighed, putting his tablet away, "This wasn't what I was hoping to gain."
"And exactly where did you find this information?" Mickey asked, "We never found a trace of this information in the Datascape."
"That's just it. The information was buried so deep within the data of the journal, that even Data Riku barely noticed a trace." Kayaba answered, "From what we gathered and hypothesized, we believe that the reason we could not find it before was that the data was blocked by the Data Naminé we encountered."
"Naminé?" Jiminy echoed, the four surprised at this bit of news.
"Correct. Once she vanished, that was when these small traces were visible between the pages of information on your first adventure. It was as if she was responsible for hiding any information about Philia to us in the first place. It makes me wonder if the real Naminé was responsible for why you three, along with Sora, cannot remember her." Kayaba's words did make Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy ponder, though it resulted in more confusion and headaches than anything.
"Well, for the time being, you should look into this a bit further, Kayaba." Mickey requested, "In the meantime, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy, you should go ahead and make your way to Master Yen Sid's tower. It's nearly time for Sora, Riku, Kirito, Asuna, and Leafa to start their Mark of Mastery."
"Yes, your Majesty!" Donald and Goofy answered.
"We'll be on your way." Jiminy followed up.
"Great. I will join you momentarily. There's something I need to speak to Kayaba about, first." Mickey told them. They understood, and left the room, leaving only Kayaba and Mickey alone.
Once the door closed, Kayaba turned to Mickey as he hopped out of his seat. "I assume you purposely left us alone to speak about the information I gathered, correct?" He asked Mickey.
"As a matter of fact, you are correct." Mickey nodded as he spoke.
"Then, I am to believe that you know more about Philia, correct?"
Mickey nodded again, before starting, "In fact, I remember Philia well. So do very few others, including Riku, Kairi, and even Maleficent."
This bit of news surprised Kayaba, not expecting those names to come up, before asking, "But, how is it that you and they remember Philia, but not her closest friends?"
"It's not just them." The king pointed out, "Everyone connected to Sora and Philia together, save the few that I mentioned, don't remember her, either. And I know the truth." This made Kayaba remain silent as he wanted to know this truth. It took a few seconds for Mickey to gather himself up before answering with a serious tone.
"The reason why Sora, Donald, Goofy and Jiminy don't remember her...is because Philia asked them to forget about her."
The truth was rather surprising to Kayaba, as he asked, "Philia...wanted Sora and the others to forget about her?"
"That's right." Mickey responded, walking over to the fireplace.
"But that seems illogical." Kayaba stated, "Considering the close bond she had with Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy. Not to mention that it showed in the journal that Philia even wanted to form a romantic relationship with Sora. Why would she give up that by making them forget? And more importantly, what kind of power would have that capability?"
Mickey paused before turning back to Kayaba as he answered, "Both of those questions can be answered in one place. It's a place that changed the very fates of Sora and Philia, and where we first met a group that Xehanort's Nobody, Xemnas, founded."
"You mean Organization XIII." Kayaba understood, "Meaning the time Kirito, Asuna, and Yui ended up joining them wasn't the first time Sora encountered them?"
Mickey shook his head at this, before answering, "That was the second time they fought them. The first time Sora encountered the Organization was in a place called Castle Oblivion. And it was because of them that Philia made the choice to make Sora, Donald and Goofy forget about him..."
(Philia Speaking) "A memory is like a cobblestone that you place in front of you. With every memory you gain, you start to form a path before you. That path leads to who you are."
"But what happens when those stones are taken away? What happens when they are replaced? And what happens when the path you wish to take is not the one you are on now?"
"To me, the path that I am taking is both the path of fruition and of damnation. The memories I lost, the memories that I hold dear, and the ones I wish never came about."
It was nighttime. The clear sky and the stars glistening across it, each representing a world, shined down onto a vast landscape, filled with nothing but grassy plains, the occasional sprinkling of trees here and there, and a single dirt path that went off into the distance. There was no sign of life or light in any part of this seemingly never-ending world... Well, almost none. For a flickering light was in a certain part of the grasslands, not too far off from the dirt road.
Sitting around a campfire were four individuals, or rather, two were awake, and two were asleep. The two asleep were the anthropomorphic duck and dog of Donald and Goofy. The two that were awake were both human, one being a boy with spiky brown hair, and the other being a girl with orangish chestnut hair. The two were Sora and Philia. Sora was poking the campfire with a spare stick as he stared at it with a vague expression, with Philia curling herself in a ball as she looked to Sora.
"How long have we been out here?" Sora asked Philia, "Feels like forever."
"Sora, we've only been out here for a couple days." Philia answered, "Still, we are running out of supplies. And we lost sight of Pluto, as well."
After they arrived in this world, their goal was to try and find the door to the light to save Riku and King Mickey. They ended up finding Pluto, Mickey's faithful dog, who had a letter with the King's insignia on it. So, they pursued Pluto as they ran after him. However, they ended up losing sight of him, but assumed they had to just keep going on the path in order to find where it will lead them.
"It just seems like it'll take forever before we can even make it somewhere." Sora sighed, tossing his stick into the fire, "We have been going on this path for such a long time, and it all looks the same!"
"Believe me, I know." Philia agreed, "Still, what else is there to do? We have no Gummi Ship, no way to traverse other worlds, and no map of where this place is. All we can do is just move forward. Besides, it could be worse. We could be dealing with more Heartless."
"That's true." Sora agreed, "But at least that would be something besides just walking forever. He fell backwards, laying his head on the soft grass behind him.
Philia looked down at the fire, thinking. 'It has been a long time since we had some peace, but it would be nice if we did at least find something.' Philia pondered, 'Ever since I awoke in Traverse Town with no memory, my life was usually dealing with some sort of conflict, whether it was the Heartless, those who controlled, or just dealing with one new world after another. Now that we stopped the Heartless, as well as defeated Ansem, our only goals are to find King Mickey, Riku, and a way back home.' She then paused her thoughts before finishing, 'Of course, that includes my memories. I still have no clue who I was before meeting Sora, or where I came from.'
From all that she was able to gain from the fragments of memories she gained from sealing worlds from the Heartless, she learned of very few things. She learned that she was a treasure hunter, in a world where she constantly had to fight. She did have a friend named Argo, and she did remember a towering, red-hooded figure. That was pretty much what she could figure out about herself for the most part, but she was still clueless. She wanted to find more ways to learn as to who she was.
Suddenly, Sora sat up abruptly, looking about with a concerned expression. "You okay?" Philia asked.
"Didn't you feel that?" Sora asked, looking to her.
"Feel what?" Philia questioned him, growing concerned.
"I don't know. It was like...something was calling out to me."
"Sora, we haven't seen anything or anyone for a while. You probably feeling bored."
"I'm telling you, I know what I felt." Sora stated, standing up and looking about.
"Just get some sleep, Sora." Philia told him, raising a finger, and pointing it at the campfire, using her Blizzard magic to douse the flames, "We need to be full of energy to keep going in the morning." She walked over to a soft patch of grass to fall asleep on.
Sora felt irritated that Philia wasn't believing her. She may be right, but it didn't stop him from wanting to see if what he felt was real. "I'm gonna go walk about a bit before I go to sleep." Sora told her, before wandering off.
"Don't go too far, Sora." Philia sleepily responded, before drifting off to sleep.
Sora wandered towards the path, going along it for a short while. As he did, his irritation to Philia subsided. He couldn't stay angry at her. She was usually the words of wisdom for the team, and usually helped them when it came to removing distractions. Still, if this was something, he had to at least check it out.
He then noticed that there was something ahead that they hadn't seen before now; a crossroad. The road went three other directions as he stopped in the center, looking about. This was new, and he wondered which path they should take?
"Along the road ahead lies something you need." a male voice spoke up from behind Sora, and he spun around to meet whoever it was. However, he saw no one. Where did it come from? His wariness was acting up, and he cautiously looked about, until he felt a presence behind him again, and spun around. Sure enough, there was someone there. A person in a black cloak, a hood covering his face. The attire looked awfully familiar to him.
"However, in order to claim it," The man continued, "you must lose something that is dear to you." Sora raced to him, but he vanished from sight, disappearing as soon as he appeared.
Sora paused, wondering who that was, and what he was talking about. "Who was he?" Sora asked, "And, what did he mean by 'something I need'? And I have to give up something dear to me?"
Sora knew what he needed, but to lose something in response to it? Was that really worth it? Still, somewhere deep inside him, he felt a tug. It was like he needed to go that direction, as the thing he needed was something important. What was it that he needed? Was going in the direction gonna help him acquire it?
Sora's head was hurting from all the thinking, so he decided to sleep on it. He went back to the campsite in order to get some shuteye.
The next morning, Sora led the team to the crossroad, but for some reason, he had forgotten who he had met, or what the person said. But everything he felt that time was still within him, and it told him to go along the path onward. Leading the team along, they started to notice the area slowly and surely change before them, before it became a much more drastic looking place than the grasslands they were in before. The road had an almost rainbowish sheen to it, and it became a single path with nothing on the sides, not even land. It was an endless void of darkness around and below them, like the area where they fought Ansem in.
"Sora, do you know where we are going?" Philia asked, looking about, "This place feels very different from where we were before."
"I don't know." Sora responded, "But, it should lead us somewhere, right? It's better than nowhere at all."
"I guess..." Philia agreed, looking about with caution.
"Hey, look over there." Goofy called out, pointing to the path ahead. The team soon realized they were approaching some sort of structure, though they didn't even realize it. They got closer and closer, until they stopped to look at it. The structure looked like a castle of sports, dull gold and teal rooftops of sorts. The building itself was very unusual, as it looked like structures were just mixed-matched in every angle, even congruent to what it should be. A poorly designed castle with a pair of gold double doors in front of them.
"What in the world?" Philia asked, looking up at it, "What is this place?"
Sora didn't answer, but looked up at the building. Donald and Goofy discussed something in front of the two, wondering how they were able to get here in the first place. Suddenly, Sora felt a sort of compelling, like something he was looking for was in there. Something he needed. Without a word, he started making his way to the doors.
"Sora, where are you going?" Philia asked, as Donald and Goofy looked to the building while Sora passed them, and they followed behind him. "Guys, wait up!" Philia called out, racing after the three of them.
Sora reached the doors, and opened one of them up, looking around, before opening the door wide enough to walk through. The entryway was large and almost completely white. Columns were lined along the walls, and there were some sort of decorations on each sides and on the roof, where there seemed to be a diamond patterns of black and white. On the far end was a set of stairs that lead to a pair of cream colored doors.
The boys entered in first as Philia raced in behind, calling out, "Guys, we really shouldn't just barge into this place! We don't even know who owns this place!"
"But we gotta do it, if we're gonna find the king..." Donald argued back at her.
"Huh?" Philia looked confused.
"The king?! King Mickey's here?" Goofy asked, looking about.
"Something just told me he'd be here, OK?" Donald responded.
"You can't be serious..." Philia muttered, feeling deja vu, "That's not conclusive enough to just enter into a place like this."
"I don't know." Goofy followed up, "'Cause now that Donald mention it, I was kinda thinkin' the same thing."
"Seriously? Me too!" Sora admitted, "One look at this castle, and I just knew. Our very best friends...they're here."
"Guess great minds think alike." Goofy chuckled.
"That's unusual..." Philia muttered, not getting that feeling whatsoever.
"Hey, wait! Hold on! It can't be just a coincidence!" Jiminy suddenly popped out of Sora's clothes, hopping up in surprise.
"Jiminy, you don't mean that you..." Philia started.
"Yep, I had it too, mm-hmm!" Jiminy answered, "I had the exact same feeling."
"Gawrsh, maybe it's contagious!" Goofy assumed.
"Not to me." Philia responded, getting their attention, "I never had that feeling like you guys are having. Although..." She looked about the place as she followed, "...I've had this weird feeling since I came here. Something...rather ominous."
"That's different from what we feel." Sora noted, "That's very weird."
"No, no. Something's screwy." Donald argued, "We gotta go take a look."
"All right." Sora agreed, and walked further in.
"Wah! Where are you going?!" Donald squawked.
"That way. To the door." Sora pointed to the door, before looking cheekily back at the three asking, "Are ya scared?"
"Aw, don't be ridiculous!" Donald answered angrily, "Come on, let's go, Goofy, Philia!" He walked to Sora's side as they were about to make their way to the door.
"Guys, I don't know about this." Philia retorted, "We should leave while we can."
"Ya think so?" Goofy asked, as the two turned to the door. Suddenly, they gasped in shock, as they realized that they weren't alone. Standing at the doors, closing the one Sora opened up shut, was a black-cloaked person, his hood covering his face.
"Sora! Donald! We got company!" Philia called out, as she and Goofy readied their weapons.
Sora turned to him, and the moment he appeared, he suddenly remembered the guy from last night. "That's it! Who are you?!" Sora demanded, producing his Keyblade, while Donald readied his wand.
"I think I remember a guy like this one back in Hollow Bastion." Philia recalled, remembering the fight they had to deal with in the past involving another black cloaked person.
The guy didn't answer, but started walking towards the group. "Wak! Heartless!" Donald squawked, "Oh, yeah? I'll try some magic! Thunder!" Donald pointed his staff at the mysterious person, attempting to conjure magic. However, nothing came. "Come on. Thunder! THUNDER!" Donald shouted, waving his staff. Again, no luck. "Come on... Blizzard! FIRE!" Nothing Donald called out was working. He couldn't cast magic. The man came to a halt as Donald asked, "Why isn't it working?"
"I should think it's obvious." The cloaked man spoke up, "The moment you set foot in this castle, you forgot every spell and every ability you ever knew." The team looked surprised. Philia attempted to see if it was true, and tried to use her Cross Edge Dagger Skill. However, while she knew the movements, her Swordbreaker didn't even respond. The skill didn't activate.
"In this place, to find is to lose, and to lose is to find." The man continued, "That is the way in Castle Oblivion."
"Castle Oblivion?" Sora echoed, just as the man suddenly created a portal, vanishing from sight. The team looked around before the man reappeared right behind them.
"Here you will meet people that you have known in the past." The man explained, "And you will meet people you miss."
"I miss?" Sora echoed, wondering what that meant, before realizing, "Riku! You mean Riku's here?"
"If what you want...is to find him..." the man started, raising a hand, before unleashing a blast of dark winds that had what seem to be rose petals mixed in with it. Philia instinctively responded as he raised his hand by getting in front of Sora, helping him endure the gust as she went into a defensive stance. Suddenly, the man became almost ghost-like, as he phased right through the two. Once he passed through them, he became opaque again as the wind ceased. Philia and Sora looked back at him, with Sora making the first move, doing a leaping slash at the man. However, he vanished before Sora struck, leaving only rose petals behind.
"What happened?!" Philia demanded, looking about, before the team looked to the cream-colored doors up the stairs, where the man reappeared from a portal. The four raced up to the bottom of the stairs, readying their weapons.
"What'd you do?!" Sora demanded.
"I merely sampled your memories. Both of yours, in fact." The man answered, pointing to Sora and Philia, stopping his finger at the latter as he noted, "Though to be fair, your's was not intentional. But from them, I made this." He suddenly produced a card, which was rectangular in shape, with a crown-shaped top to it, blue edges, and a picture of the world of Traverse Town on it.
"To reunite with those you hold dear..." he continued, throwing the card straight at Sora, who instantly caught in, looking at it.
"What's this, a card?" Sora asked, looking at it, with Philia looking over his shoulder at it.
"It is a promise for the reunion you seek." the man answered, waving the hand to the door behind him, "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..." With those final words, the man left in a portal, leaving the four wanting more questions from the man.
The team paused, with even Jiminy popping out of Sora's pocket to look at the card Sora held. "Well, I get the feeling there's no going back, now." Philia muttered, "It's your call, Sora."
Sora paused for a moment, giving a determined glare as he declared, "Guys, let's go." The team nodded in response, and they approached the doors. Sora raised the card to the door, and it shined. All of a sudden, the doors glittered and shined, before opening up for them, and they were bathed by a light within. The team shielded their eyes, and Sora led them through the door.
Sora and Philia were the first to run through and make it to the other side as the light died down. However, instead of another room like the one behind them, the pair found themselves in a very familiar town district. The night sky. The familiar shops. The very world where they first met one another.
"This is... Traverse Town!" Philia gasped, realizing where they were.
"This can't be right..." Sora followed, looking about.
"What you see isn't real." A familiar voice spoke up, and the two spun around to see the black-cloaked man again for a brief second before he vanished into a black portal, disappearing from sight. The two looked about, before they heard him speak up from right behind them again. "This town is an illusion created by your memories ingrained in that card."
"My memories?" Sora echoed.
"Mine, too?" Philia asked, wondering if her memories were also involved.
Jiminy hopped out of Sora's jacket, saying, "Forget about that, you two! We lost Donald and Goofy!" The two spun around the area, realizing that Jiminy was right; Donald and Goofy were nowhere to be seen, and did not respond when the two called out to them.
"What did you do to them?!" Sora demanded.
"They are at the mercy of the cards now." The man answered, "Master the cards, and their strength will be yours again."
"What cards?!" Philia asked, wondering what the man meant. Suddenly, Sora and Philia felt something grab their attention simultaneously, and they looked into their pockets. Somehow, a deck of cards ended up in their pockets, and they examined them, each. Both of them noticed that the cards were, for the most part, pictures of their own blades on cards similar to the one Sora had. Others had potion bottles, and some had the Cure spell on them
"Those cards are how you will fight." the man spoke up, "Let me give you a demonstration." He snapped his finger, and suddenly, a card appeared, floating in between the two and the man. It was green, and it had a picture of Donald on it.
"The laws of this castle require that your friends be transformed into cards." The man explained, "If you value your friends, you won't fail to pick them up."
The two remained cautious as they looked to the man, but Sora went forward, and snatched the card of Donald into his hand. The moment he had it in his hand, the card glowed and flew into his pocket, with the other cards.
"It went into Sora's pocket?" Philia asked.
"Cards you pick up are added to the top of your deck." the man continued to explain, "Use them, and your friends will come to your aid."
"Okay, the I'll use it on you!" Sora declared, pulling out the Donald card, and raising it high. Suddenly, Donald appeared, and he instantly went into a Blizzard spell, shooting ice chunks at the man, who effortlessly backhanded the attack. Donald then instantly used a Cure spell to heal Sora and Philia, before he disappeared in a sparkle of lights.
"Donald sure came in and out of the area quickly." Philia noted.
"The card's gone!" Sora pointed out, seeing that the Donald card vanished.
"The cards you use vanish, but they will reappear to aid you time and again." the man told him, "Cards are the hearts of your friends. Everything in this castle is ruled by cards. Whether an enemy or a door confronts you, cards are the only way to proceed."
"So everything we do in this place is connected to these cards." Philia understood, looking at the cards on her person. She swung her blade into an attack, and a card popped out of her pocket, before vanishing. "This is different to how we fought before." She muttered.
"True, but you mustn't forget your own strength." The man stated, "Movements, including leaping and dodging are not influenced by the cards."
"Good. That would be a serious pain if that was affected, as well." Sora admitted, looking back at Philia, who wandered to his side.
"First think for yourself." The man spoke, "Move, then use the cards."
"Fine, let me do it." Philia responded, and she charged at the man in black, wanting to at least do some damage. She unleashed a combo attack with her dagger to the man, but it didn't do any damage to him. Philia was shocked at how easily her attack was parried just by this guy's hands. This made her realize something.
She backed away to Sora's side as he asked incredulously, "How could he be unscathed?! Even without our magic and skills, we should at least be strong enough to do some damage to him!"
"I think it's not just our magic and skills that were forgotten." Philia responded, "Our strength is gone, as well. It's like how I ended up at the beginning when I first appeared in Traverse Town." The realization shocked Sora.
"That's not the only thing you have to worry about." The man spoke up, getting their attention, "Every move you make causes a card to disappear. If you use up all your cards, you will be unable to act." The two looked to their pockets, realizing how little cards they had. "But there is a solution, and it can only be done when you run out of cards. Do so, and I will show you."
The two looked anxiously at the masked man, both looking at each other with the same concern. What would happen if they ran out of cards, unable to attack. Would the man strike them? Then again, if he wanted to do so, he would've done it when they first entered the castle.
"Sora, I'll stay back while you do what he says." Philia told Sora, "One of us should at least have some way to attack if he is trying to deceive us."
"Good thinking." Sora agreed, "Okay, I'll do it."
He launched himself at the man, unleashing several slashes in combos at the man. No matter what angle he tried to attack him at, or how forceful he was with his swings, the man blocked each and every one, nullifying any attack dealt to him. Sure enough after he used his last card, he tried to attack, but something stopped him. It was like an internal force was preventing him from even swinging his Keyblade. Startled at his body not functioning, he backed off to Philia. "Guess he's right. I can't even attack anymore without any cards remaining." He told her.
"So it would seem." Philia realized, "This Castle Oblivion has really screwed up our way of fighting!"
"You have no more cards, and without them, no power." The man spoke up, "If you want that power back, you must focus."
"Focus?" Sora echoed.
"Bid the cards return to you, and they will." The man ordered him.
Sora looked to Philia, who nodded, and placed her guard up while Sora focused himself, wishing for the cards to return to him. Sure enough, after a couple seconds, the cards responded, and through magic, they produced themselves back into Sora's pocket. "Hey, it worked!" Sora noticed.
"The strength of your heart brought back the lost cards." The man explained, "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. The cards are by no means unlimited. Use them wisely."
"In other words, every attack matters." Philia understood, pulling up the cards and shuffling through them, "We gotta make sure not to waste a single attack for anything pointless. But it seems like we only have the one kind of card, apart from that card we have to use Donald."
"The four card types you use in battle are grouped into two wider categories." the man explained, "The first category includes attack cards, magic cards, and item cards. The second category consists entirely of enemy cards."
"Enemy cards?" Sora echoed, before having his instincts activate on him again, turning to his other pocket, and looking to see another card there. It was a gray card, with a picture of a Shadow Heartless on it. "Where was this?" He asked.
"Cards will empower you whether you are attacking or defending." The man told them, "But it is up to you to decide when to attack and when to defend. Do not forget that."
"Tell me, why are you teaching us all this?" Philia asked with concern, "You tricked us into coming here, but why teach us how to defend ourselves?"
"I am merely giving you a fighting chance, in order to seek out what you most desire." The man answered, "Whether it is the person you truly missed, or the memories you wish to remember." Philia looked shocked at this. So it wasn't just the chance that Riku and King Mickey were supposedly here, but also her lost memories?!
Just then, Sora and Philia heard the pattering of feet, and turned to see the other half of their team finally appear. It was Donald and Goofy.
"Are you two all right?" Sora asked, "Where have you been?"
"You tell us!" Donald argued, "When you opened the door, we saw a strange light, and the rest is just...blank."
"Gee, that doesn't help." Jiminy stated, "You guys gotta remember. I have to keep my journal up to date."
"No, you gotta remember what the man told us." Philia noted, "In this place, they are at the mercy of the cards. Maybe they kinda disappear when we enter into a battle, and reappear when we are not in one?"
"What're you talkin' about?" Goofy asked.
"Honestly, I don't know what I am even talking about." She sighed, massaging her head.
"Hey, Donald, where'd I get the new clothes?!" Goofy asked, suddenly realizing that he and Donald were both in the attire they had on for most of the adventure they had together.
"Wak?! Me too, Goofy!" Donald realized, seeing his clothes have also changed, "Somebody has been messing with our clothes!"
"Could it be the cards again?" Sora asked, as they turned to the man.
"That is for you to ponder." The man answered, "Master the cards and make your way through the castle. But from here, you two walk alone."
"Alone? We can't let Sora and Philia go alone!" Goofy argued.
"Yeah! Sora can't do anything without our help!" Donald pointed out.
"Thanks a lot, Donald." Sora retorted.
"Sora's a lot more able than you give him credit for." Philia argued, "And if anything, I'll be there for him, as well." Sora felt grateful that Philia was praising him.
"You sure you'll be okay?" Goofy asked them.
"Of course." Sora answered, looking to Philia, "We've got each other's backs. No worries." She nodded in response, then they turned to the cloaked man as Sora declared, "You want us to go alone? Fine. We can take care of ourselves!"
"Whatever challenge you are putting us through, just beware that you don't realize who you are messing with." Philia finshed.
"Oh, you have no idea how much we know about you." The man retorted calmly, "Go, then. The rest of Castle Oblivion awaits. Walk the avenues of latent memory, and you shall meet someone dear to you." With his final words, he created a dark portal, and vanished from sight.
"I've got a bad feeling about this..." Jiminy muttered.
"Relax, Jiminy." Sora assured him, "It's like Philia said; we're ready for any tricks he's got up his sleeve. How hard can it be to figure out these cards?"
"I bet he's only given us the basics." Philia retorted, "I bet we have more to learn than we realize."
"Well, we'll just have to figure things out as we go." Sora stated, turning to the door on the far end, "All I have to do is use one in front of that door over there."
"And I bet this is the card for it." Philia assumed, walking over to the place where the man stood before, picking up a golden card with an outline of a key picture on it.
"Then let's place it in!" Sora called out.
"Hold on, Sora." Philia stopped him, "Let's make sure we gather everything we can from this area before moving on. If my treasure hunter instincts tell me anything, is that we might find more cards and stuff that might be hidden around."
"Oh...that makes sense." Sora understood, "Then let's do it."
The two went around the place, only noticing that Donald and Goofy had disappeared once again, now under the rule of the cards again. The two searched about, and Philia discovered a barrel that contained a Blizzard card, while Sora found a box that he was able to lift up. However, this also brought the reveal of something else they didn't expect to appear.
"Heartless!" Sora exclaimed, holding the crate above him as he saw a Shadow Heartless ahead of him.
"Sora, throw the crate at it!" Philia shouted to him, racing to his side. Sora immediately threw the box at the Heartless, and placed it in a daze. "Got it!" Sora cheered.
"No time to waste, Sora." Philia called to him, running to the Heartless and slashing it. The moment she struck it, the area shined, and the two found themselves in front of five dazed Shadows.
"They multiplied?!" Sora asked, shocked at what happened.
"Who cares. Let's take them out!" Philia answered, and the two went to work, using their new card-style fighting system to strike at the Heartless and knock them out, defeating them all.
When they were defeated, the last Heartless dropped a red card, with a Shadow Heartless on it, with the name 'Tranquil Darkness' written in tiny lettering on the bottom. "Guess this must be something we use." Philia assumed, picking up the card and handing it to Sora.
"Let's make our way to the door." Sora responded, and they walked together to the door on the other side of the room.
When they made it to the door, one of the cards in Philia's other pocket glowed, and revealed a blue card with a number on it. She took it into her hand as she and Sora examined it. "Maybe this is necessary to opening the door?" Sora assumed, "Try using it." Philia nodded, and raised the card to the door. It shined and disappeared, and the door glowed, opening itself up to the two. "It worked!" Sora cheered, and the two entered through.
They found themselves in another small part of Traverse Town, where they discovered a few more barrels and crates to break, but no enemies. They discovered another Blizzard card for Sora to have, and another door to go through. This time, the card that they gained from the Heartless before was the one they used to open the door, and they entered through to the next room.
The next room they found was larger than the others, and had more platforming for the pair to deal with. Plus, there were more Heartless to deal with. Dealing with one of them as they tried to climb a ladder ended up involving more than just Shadows, but Soldiers, Blue Rhapsodies, and Red Nocturnes. Dealing with the Red Nocturnes was easy for the two, now that they had Blizzard, which instead of shooting a close ranged scattershot, ended up being an ice shard shot at the opponent.
When they defeated the opponents, they gained a new card that had a Shadow on it with a '-2' next to it, with the words 'Feeble Darkness' underneath. "Another one of these cards." Sora noted, looking at it.
"Guess we'll find a use for it." Philia assumed, and the two carried on.
The climbed up the ladder to find another door, along with another Heartless, which they bested and gained the green card 'Martial Waking' from the fight. They used that exact card to help them open the door to access the next room, along with the golden keycard they got at the beginning, to open the door ahead of them.
When they entered into the next room, they found themselves in the Third District of Traverse Town. They stopped and looked about, with Sora mentioning, "Fighting with just the two of us isn't as easy as I thought..."
"True." Philia agreed, "But at least we're technically not alone."
Just then, the two felt something, and turned to see two light fall from the sky, explode brightly, startling the two as Donald and Goofy appeared before them. "Don't pop out of nowhere like that!" Sora exclaimed.
"Hey, it's not our fault!" Donald argued, "We don't know what's going on!"
"First at the beginning, now here." Philia muttered, "How do you two keep popping up?"
Suddenly, Goofy made a noise, noticing something behind Sora and Philia. They turned around, and saw a familiar dog in front of them. The same dog they tried chasing after before Castle Oblivion. "Pluto?!" Sora recognized the dog.
"Things keep getting stranger." Donald huffed, "What's Pluto doing here?!"
"There's nothing strange about that." Goofy retorted, "We came to Traverse Town with Pluto, didn't we?"
"Did we?" The duck asked.
"No, wait!" Jiminy called out, hopping out of Sora's clothes, "According to my journal, it was before you met Sora that you came to town with Pluto!"
"Wak! He's right!" Donald remembered, "We were chasing after Pluto, and that's how we ended up in Castle Oblivion!"
"But aren't we in Traverse Town?" Goofy asked.
"It's not the real Traverse Town." Philia argued, "The card that man gave to Sora created this version of Traverse Town inside Castle Oblivion. This is merely an illusion created by our memories."
"Aaagh! Who cares about all that?" Sora exclaimed, digging his fingers into his hair in a frustrated manner, "It's too confusing! I don't know where we are, but let's just keep moving forward defeating Heartless! We'll get somewhere!"
"Sure. Work with actions rather than reason." Philia muttered, looking to him incorrigibly.
"You'd better be careful, or it's the Heartless that are going to defeat you." a voice spoke up from behind the two humans, who's eyes went wide. It was a very familiar voice. They turned around to see none other than an ally who helped them in the past, Leon.
"Leon, it's you!" Philia exclaimed, surprised at his sudden appearance, "What are you doing in Castle Oblivion?"
"Castle Oblivion? What are you talking about?" Leon asked, looking stone-faced, yet confused, "This is Traverse Town. And how do you know my name? Who are you?" The new stunned both Sora and Philia, even as he added, "I've never met the likes of you before."
"What the heck are you talking about?!" Philia questioned, "You guys practically saved me when I was lost and confused, with no memories of my past!"
"Yeah, quit playing around!" Sora argued, "We all fought the Heartless together! You know that!"
"Look, I don't know what either one of you are talking about." Leon responded, "I don't even know your names."
"You don't?" Sora asked, while Philia felt concerned about how Leon forgot her, and paused to think.
"Sorry..." Leon apologized, turning away from them.
"I can't believe it." Sora whined, "How can you have forgotten about us?"
"I feel for you, but you've got the wrong guy." Leon told him, "Happens all the time. Don't take it so personally, Sora."
Donald, Goofy, and Philia all noticed something that was off about what Leon said, and the latter pointed out as she exclaimed, "You said 'Sora'. You DO know his name!"
Leon realized what he had said, and turned to Sora, asking, "Now, now hold on! Why do I know your name?"
"Wait, let me try something." Philia cut in, getting his attention, "Leon, what is the first name that comes to mind when you see me?"
Leon narrowed his eyes as he looked at the treasure hunter for a moment, then finally, he answered, "It's Philia."
"That's right!" Philia answered.
"I am?" Leon asked, surprised.
"Do you think Leon's just kiddin' around?" Goofy asked Donald.
"If he is, it's not funny." Donald answered, "Sora's really upset."
"Who's kidding around, Goofy?" Leon asked, "You and Donald are the ones who-." Leon stopped, massaging his head, as Donald caught the fact he knew their name, "I don't get it... Something's wrong with my memory. What's happening here?"
"I wonder..." Philia started, thinking on some possibilities.
"I dunno, Leon. Maybe Aerith was onto something after all." A girl spoke up from behind Leon, and Philia instantly knew the voice well.
"Yuffie!" Philia greeted, seeing the ninja thief girl approaching the group.
"Hiya, Philia." She greeted as she waved at her, before stopping her hand, and asking, "Wait...how did I know your name?"
Philia looked crestfallen as she said, "Not you, too..."
"Well, anyways..." Yuffie disregarded her confusion as she looked to Leon, "Back to what I said about Aerith, she said she sensed some uncanny kind of power. And asked us to look into it. Well, this is as uncanny as it gets. Maybe you should take Sora and Philia to see Aerith."
"Yuffie, you know my name!" Sora pointed out.
"Yep! Looks like you guys know mine, too." Yuffie responded, looking to Philia, who nodded in response.
"You know them?" Leon asked her.
"Nope! Total strangers." Yuffie answered, "But I definitely know his name. Strange, yes, but convenient! We can skip the introductions."
"How is it that you can accept this situation so easily?" Leon questioned her nonchalant attitude, "I don't get you..."
"Well, I'm gonna run ahead and fill Aerith in." Yuffie told him, "Leon, you give them the grand tour. See you later!" With that, she, along with Pluto, walked away from the group, with Leon watching her leave.
"Even if she doesn't remember us, it's nice to see that she is still the same Yuffie as before." Philia stated, her eyes looking sad at how her friend forgot her, but smiling at seeing her personality was the same as before.
Leon turned back to the team as he said, "I guess it's no use pondering over it. Come on, follow me. But there are Heartless wandering around town. I'd better teach you how to protect yourself in battle." He pulled out his gunblade, shouldering it as he backed off from the pair. Just as he did so, Sora and Philia readied their weapons, as Donald and Goofy vanished, now forced to deal with the laws of the cards.
For the next several minutes, Leon taught the two lessons, such as the numbers on the cards, how to unleash card breaks on opponents, how to stock cards up to bring out high-number attacks, Sleight techniques, which the two learned were some skills that they used before. Philia was even able to manifest her Armor Break Dagger Skill through concentrating and pulling a specific number count from her cards. They also got the warning about how using stocks and sleights also reduce the cards they could use during the battle, and cannot be reloaded until the end of the battle.
"Think you got the hang of it, Sora, Philia?" Leon asked, putting his weapon away as he approached the two, as Donald and Goofy magically reappeared to their side again.
"More or less." Sora answered, "I'll pick up the rest when I take on real battles."
"True. Getting the fundamentals is one thing. Delivering through with it is another thing entirely." Philia agreed.
"Here, I found this lying around. You take it." Leon told them, handing Sora a couple of cards, "Remember what I told you and make good use of it." Philia and Sora looked to the gold card, seeing an outline of a heart on it, and the blue card, seeing none other than Simba's face on it.
"It's Simba!" Sora recognized.
"I guess even our summons from before can be cards, too." Philia understood, before thinking on one thing. Could this mean the other summons are available? Including Tinker Bell? She had to figure that out as they ventured through.
They had to deal with more and more Heartless as they went through the area, gathering cards and leveling up their strength. Sora ended up learning a new sleight technique called Sliding Dash, and learning more and more about the combos and what he can pull off with the cards. Philia was also doing the same, trying to learn the right kinds of combos, including the ones she gained from finding Donald and Goofy cards.
They continued to use their cards to access new rooms, going deeper and deeper into Traverse Town. Leon wasn't kidding on the amount of Heartless, as there were a lot. But fighting them just made them stronger and more experienced at fighting in the new laws in the world.
Finally, they accessed a door that led them straight into the house in the Third District they were familiar with. There, they found Pluto, Leon, Yuffie, and their other friend, Aerith, there. Aerith was looking at the group, Donald and Goofy reappearing again, as both Sora and Philia had a sudden suspicion they had to get an answer on.
"Aerith, have you forgotten us, too?" Philia asked, worried on the answer.
"I don't know whether to say 'Nice to meet you' or 'Good to see you again'." Aerith answered, "I don't think I know you, but I still feel like you belong here."
"Yeah, exactly!" Yuffie agreed, "Like we've never met, but it still doesn't feel weird knowing your name."
"But I'm telling you, we HAVE met." Sora repeated, feeling frustrated and neglected at his forgetful friends, "We took on the Heartless together. We were a team!"
"It feels like you're right... But I can't remember." Leon repeated.
"Then I guess you won't remember what you told me." Sora responded, "In Hollow Bastion, when I sealed the Keyhole: We may never meet again..."
"...but we'll never forget each other." Leon responded.
"That's exactly what you said!" Philia pointed out.
"They're right, Leon! I remember you saying that, too." Yuffie recalled.
"I guess I can't write it off as a coincidence, then." Leon assumed, folding his arms as he pondered.
"I don't have any memory of it, but somehow I still remember." Aerith stated, "I think your heart is doing the remembering for us."
"My...heart?" Sora asked, looking confused.
"We don't know you, Sora and Philia, but your heart is full of memories of us together." Aerith explained, "Those memories must resonate in our hearts, too. Maybe they tell us things we couldn't otherwise know."
"So you're saying that Sora's and Philia's memories are affecting ours?" Leon asked her
"His memories do seem to have a certain power." she responded.
Philia nudged Sora as she whispered, "It's possible that because the town was created by our memories, they weren't able to remember us until we vocalized our memories of them to help them remember."
"Yeah, that guy said something similar to that." Sora recalled the black-cloaked man, "This town is just an illusion. Something our memories created."
Aerith had her back turned to the group as she asked, "And...there's someone special to you in this town?"
"How did you..." Sora started, before remembering, "Ah, I get it. My memories are resonating with yours telling you what happened."
"That's right. A friend of ours is supposedly somewhere in this town." Philia explained, "And by town, I mean Castle Oblivion."
"Castle Oblivion? What's that?" Yuffie asked, "There aren't any castles in here."
"That's...a little difficult to explain." Philia answered sheepishly, "I don't even know how to
"You two are still not sure what's going on yourselves. Right?" Aerith assumed.
"In more ways than one." Philia sighed.
"We just got here, after all." Sora pointed out, "I want to take a better look around."
"Then go have a walk around town." Leon suggested, "There are Heartless, but that's no problem for you."
"So you know we can fight?" Sora asked, looking a bit smug at Leon's awareness.
"I can't say I know, but I feel like believing you." Leon answered, "Let's leave it at that."
"Here, you guys should take this." Yuffie told the team, tossing Philia a card like a shuriken, which she caught easily, "I don't know how, but I got this card for you guys. Maybe it'll help you guys find the truth." Philia looked at the new golden card, with the Heartless emblem on it.
"Thanks, Yuffie. You're the best."
"Oh, I don't need you to help me remember that." Philia rolled her eyes at Yuffie's comment, and the team left.
Sora and Philia continued on the path, reaching another door, using another card to open it. As they did so, they learned one important thing; the cards that they gathered from the fights with the Heartless had different effects on the next room. The red cards that contained Heartless faces on them had effects like producing more or less Heartless, or even causing the Heartless to be more vulnerable. Meanwhile, some of the green cards had effects like boosting the strength of their standard attacks, boosting healing effects of items, or even gaining a Friend Card at the start of the battle. They had to keep this in mind as they gathered cards from fights.
The finally reached the room that required their gold card to use, along with needing a green card. They decided on using the card that had an effect on boosting their magic, and used that with the gold card to open the door. When they went through, Donald and Goofy reappeared as they raced down the Second District, only to stop and find themselves reunited with Cid, who turned at their presence.
"Well, Whaddaya know? It's Sora and Philia!" Cid greeted the two, before scratching his head as he noted, "Wait, what am I saying? I don't know you. But you do LOOK like a Sora and Philia, what with Sora having spiky hair and baggy pants, and Philia having dandelion hair and blue coat..."
"It's okay, Cid. That's our name." Sora answered.
"So! You've heard of me, eh?" Cid asked them, looking to one side, "Well, I can't say as I'm surprised."
'He's getting influenced by our memories, just like the others.' Philia mentally noted, 'He at least took the initiative on knowing our names, at least. Is that because of our influence on Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith?'
"Anyway, maybe you can help us out." Sora spoke up, "A friend of mine's supposed to be somewhere in this castle, er, town. Got any ideas?"
"Your friend, huh?" Cid echoed, "Lately, all this town sees is Heartless. Can't even take two steps without gettin' attacked. In fact, this plaza's the worst. Word is, a jumbo-sized Heartless shows up when that bell rings." He pointed to the bell at the top of the building right behind him, the one the team were familiar with. "If you value your hide, you'll get outta here while the gettin's good." Cid finished, turning around, and walking away from the team, leaving them alone.
"Gawrsh, maybe we should leave." Goofy suggested.
"Don't you want to see the Heartless?" Sora asked, looking to his friends.
"Honestly, I'd rather not." Philia answered, "Unless, of course, it had some treasure."
"Treasure?" Donald echoed, intrigued by the thought, before shaking his head as he corrected, "NO! No treasure is worth that much!"
Just then, the team heard the sound of the bell starting to ring, startling them, and causing them to look around. "The bell!" Donald squawked.
"Be careful, you two!" Goofy warned them.
The team readied their weapons as they looked around, before seeing something fall in the same area Cid was in before. A familiar set of armor hit the ground, bounced upwards, before forming together into a Heartless they fought before.
"The Guard Armor!" Philia recognized the Heartless.
"How did it come back?!" Sora asked, and Donald and Goofy vanished, under the influence of the cards.
"Guess our memories brought back more than our friends." Philia answered, "Let's take it out once again!"
The two charged in from opposite sides, as the Heartless stomped forward, its right gauntlet flashing a card emblem, before shooting at Philia. She could see the card number of the opponent, and remembered the Card Break, producing an attack card that was stronger than the claw attack number. Her attack worked, and the Heartless recoiled from the Card Break effect.
As it stumbled, a green card appeared. Sora saw it, and went to grab it. On it was the green emblem of King Mickey. "I got a card!" He called out to Philia.
"Any idea what it can do?" Philia asked, striking with her dagger attacks until she got repelled by a Card Break from the Guard Armor.
"No idea, but it has the number 0 on it." Sora noticed, "Leon told us about how to use them, right?"
Philia pondered on the lesson that was taught to them by Leon. Whenever they use a card that has a 0 on it, it should only be when the the opponent attacks with their own card move. Course, the Heartless was in the midst of its attack, spinning its claws around to try to slash them and keep them at bay. She ended up getting scrapped by the attack, but was able to back off in time.
"Sora, you know what to do with that card?" Philia asked.
"Yeah, I remember." He answered, before calling out, "Hey, Heartless! Come at me!" The Guard Armor turned to face Sora, stomping towards him, before unleashing a strike with its claws. Sora utilized the Mickey Card, as he called it, to not only nullify the attack, but caused the Guard Armor to be shocked, causing its body pieces to crumple to the floor.
"Nice one, Sora!" Philia called out.
"Let's go in for the attack!" Sora responded, and the two unleashed attack after attack at the fallen armor pieces. They managed to take out both of its arms, making sure to take them out, before it recovered and got to its feet again.
The Heartless then activated another attack, jumping up and slamming down onto the ground with its hammerlegs, causing the shockwave to send the two flying away.
"You okay, Philia?" Sora asked, using his Cure card to heal himself.
"I'll be fine." Philia answered, using a Potion card to heal, as well, "But we need to be careful. Those feet are still lethal weapons of it!"
The two kept up the air of caution as they made sure to combine cards to try and counter attacks, focusing to reload only if they needed to. The Guard Armor was force even without its arms, stomping around all over the place, stomping in place, and making bounces that created shockwaves. True, his attacks were more or less one-noted, but they were still destructive. They were able to do some damage to it, especially when Sora pulled out the Simba Card, unleashing a roar that did some damage.
"Sora, I got a Donald Card!" Philia called out, racing out of the way as it charged at her.
"Cool! I see a Goofy Card over there!" Sora addressed a card floating around the field close to his position.
"I'll give you cover, so go!" Philia called out, unleashing Donald to the field, who used two Thunder spells onto the Heartless, the attack ending up destroying one of its feet. "Got it!" Philia cheered, before seeing another green card, with the Mickey emblem on it, "And I got that, too."
"Let's try this out." Sora decided, using the card stacking of Goofy with two attack cards. He unleashed it, with the results of Goofy unleashing a Smash technique, uppercutting the Guard Armor with great force, Sora adding an extra uppercut slash, before Goofy leapt onto Sora's shoulders, leapt high enough to reach the Guard Armor in the air, and slammed it back to the ground. It became crumpled to the ground, giving Sora a chanced to unleash some slashes to take out it s last appendage. Only the body and head remained.
"It's no long on its last legs." Sora stated in a joke, snickering at his smarts, only to be knocked away as the Heartless started spinning like a top, knocking him back.
Philia raced towards the spinning Heartless, and Sora, getting up from the attack, though she was insane to act like that. However, she was not stupid, and had the Mickey Card ready, unleashing it as she was about to get struck by the attack. The trick worked, as with the power of the card, the Heartless crumpled to the floor again.
"Sora, let's go in for the final storm of attacks!" The treasure huntress called out.
"Yeah, let's do it!" He answered, and the two came together, unleashing card after card, striking with everything they had. By the time the Heartless could recover, the two did a lot of damage.
"Together!" Sora shouted, leaping up to the Heartless.
"Yeah!" Philia answered, and the two slashed it on opposite sides, landing on different sides of the Heartless. They landed on the ground as they saw the Heartless shaking, before the helmet hit the ground. From its hollow body, a crystal heart came out and rose into the air, disappearing from sight. Moments later, the Heartless did the same. However, in its place, a dark card appeared, with the Guard Armor on it. It floated down to Sora, who took it.
"What's this?" Sora asked.
"Maybe that card can be used for something in the future." Philia assumed, "Hold onto it. It could be useful." Sora nodded and placed it away.
Some time later, Sora, Philia, Donald and Goofy were gathered together with Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, and Cid, explaining what happened.
"So your friend wasn't here?" Yuffie asked the team.
"No, I don't think I'll find him in this town." Sora answered, "But he's somewhere in this castle. I just know it." Philia nudged him to stop him talking. The Traverse Town group had no clue about them being in a castle, as Cid pointed out in his next words.
"Castle? Like this whole town's inside some humongous castle" he asked, laughing, "Hoo, that's rich!"
"He's probably right, Cid." Leon defended Sora, "We may not understand what's going on, but Sora and Philia do. He can see that reality is bigger than just this world."
"We wish we were that sure." Philia muttered, "But even we are still trying to learn everything that is going on here."
"You'll be okay, you two." Leon assured them, "No matter what shape reality takes, you can handle it. I may not remember you, but I know you in my heart."
"Leon..." Philia muttered, glad to hear his words. He, along with the rest of the team behind him, were still good friends to her, as they were the ones who saved her when she first appeared in Traverse Town oh so long ago. They were the first memories she had since she woke up.
"Take care, Sora. You, too, Philia." Yuffie told the two.
"I'm a little lost...but best of luck anyway." Cid sighed. With that, Leon and his gang left the four, exiting back the way to the First District.
"Let's find a way out of here." Philia told Sora, who nodded in agreement. However, as Donald and Goofy left, Philia noticed that Aerith had started coming back to the team, and she got Sora's attention to see her.
"What's up, Aerith?" Sora asked her.
She looked at them seriously as she answered, "I don't have all the answers, but I had to tell you something. Your memories created this town, right?"
"That's what the guy who gave me the card said." Sora answered.
"If that's true, then this town is just a figment of your mind... and so are we."
The assumption surprised the two as Sora exclaimed, "But...you can't be a figment! You're standing right here. The town is here, too!"
"But I'm not really me." Aerith retorted, "I don't remember the things I should. And I sense things I shouldn't."
Philia went from an expression of surprised to pondering, realizing that what Aerith made sense. The world, along with the people in it, was just an illusion. The memories they had were what created this Traverse Town, along with Leon, Yuffie, Pluto, Aerith, and Cid. Heck, the Guard Armor might've been a creation from their memories, as well. What they did here in this version had no affect on the real version of their friends.
"Sora, Philia, beware your memories." Aerith warned the two, "In the journey to come, you'll be faced with more illusions. Sometimes the shadows of your memory will deceive you, try to lead you astray."
"So, uh...what exactly does that mean?" Sora asked.
"Seems kinda vague." Philia answered, "Can you give us a hint, Aerith?"
"I'm sorry. I'm just another illusion." Aerith answered, "The truth is out of my reach."
"Don't say stuff like that." Philia argued, "Illusion or not, you are a dear friend of mine, and hearing you say that is pretty sad..."
"Stay strong, the both of you." Aerith told the pair, "Don't let the illusions distract you from what's truly important." The two looked to each other, then nodded to Aerith in response.
"Sora! Philia!" Donald's voice rang from the alleyway, getting the two's attention as they turned to see him and Goofy wait for them.
"Are you ready to go?" Goofy asked.
"Yeah, we'll be right there." Sora answered, looking back as he said, "Well, I'd better be going." However, when he turned around, he saw that Aerith had vanished. It was as if there was no trace of her ever being there.
"Aerith?" Philia called out, looking about, calling her name again.
"What about Aerith?" Donald asked.
"Where did she go? We were just talking to her!" Sora stated.
"Aerith left with Leon and the others, remember?" Goofy reminded them.
"What do you mean?" Philia asked, looking to them, "She was right here!"
"You worried us. Just standing there by yourself." Donald told them.
This befuddled the pair to no end. Aerith clearly was right in front of them, warning them about the illusions of this place. Then, the warning she gave them clicked in their heads, and a thought occurred. Aerith said it herself that she was an illusion, after all. Did that mean the two spoke to someone that Donald and Goofy did not see?
As they turned and walked away from the area, Philia started to think about everything that transpired in this town. The friends who had no memories of them until they reminded them. The rules of the cards. The warning Aerith gave them.
'Apparently, this castle is not only ruled by cards, but memories, as well.' Philia told herself, 'Sora and I have an influence in this illusion of Traverse Town. Why do our memories have such an influence? And why did the man in the black coat create this world for us? What is his main goal? There are so many missing pieces to this puzzle. What's more...' She looked to her friends, who were all ahead of her, and finished, '...Why do they think Riku and King Mickey are here? I feel like we are lured into something we should never have stepped into in the first place.' The thoughts weighed heavily on her mind, as they made their way back to the Third District.
The team made it back to the district, and ended up going through a door that led them through a bright light. Moment's later, the trio raced out of a door, finding themselves back in a white room very much like the one they were in when they first came to this castle. There were some stairs that led up to another level, but standing in their way, almost waiting for them, was the man in the black coat.
The team readied to fight him as the man started, "Well, Sora? Did you enjoy meeting your memories?"
"Yeah, it was good to see everyone." Sora answered, "But what do you really want from me?"
"Yeah, what's the point to all of this?" Philia asked.
"What indeed?" the man answered, "The real question is what do you have to give?" He started to make his way towards the four, who readied their weapons, not letting him get the drop on them again.
Suddenly, another black portal appeared, and out of it came another person. It was another person wearing a black coat, only his hood was off, and his face was revealed. The person was a young man, with very spiky scarlet hair, green eyes, and what looked like teardrop markings underneath them.
"Hello!" He greeted the team, who were not to eager to see the guy. In fact, they were rather irritated and concerned that there were more people involved in Castle Oblivion than just the hooded man before them.
"What do you want?" The hooded man asked the newcomer, not even turning around to look at him.
"No hogging the hero." the red-haired man answered.
The hooded man paused, before drawing a blue card, and tossing it straight at his comrade, who effortlessly caught it with a grin. "Then perhaps you'd like to test them." The hooded man suggested, before creating a black portal and vanishing from the room, even as the redhead answered, "Perhaps I would."
"My show now, Keyblade master." The man told Sora.
"Who are you suppose to be?!" Philia demanded.
"Me? Oh, my name is Axel. Got it memorized?" He poked a finger to his temple as he asked the question.
"Uh...sure." Sora answered, a bit thrown off at the new personality and the new person.
"Good, you're a quick learner." Axel said in an almost mocking manner, "So, Sora, Philia, now that we're getting to know each other better..." He raised his arms, tensing them as he seem to be summoning something. He then stretched his arms out, and created two wheels of flames from his hands, which dissipated to reveal two spiked chakrams. The sight of him producing his weapons immediately got the heroes ready to fight, as the man finished, "...don't you go off and die on me now!"
(Insert 'Resister' by ASCA, TV version.)
Pride that shines within strong, unwilling emotions
Resist destiny!
(Sora and Philia stand at the crossroads in the middle of a grassy plains at night, facing opposite directions, with Philia expression that of sadness. Then the wind draws their attention, and they shielded their faces, only to open their eyes to see Castle Oblivion before them, with Donald and Goofy by their sides. The scene blurs out as the title of the series appears.)
In a place your voice doesn't reach
Is a twisted rule that no one taught me
(On a clear surface in a black environment, Sora stood there, the silhouettes of Donald, Goofy and Jiminy, then switched out for Riku and Mickey, then Kairi with her back turned. She turns around, and her appearance changes to Naminé. He closes his eyes, and falls backwards.)
When you were young, you had dreams you wished for with all your heart
The journey to find where they are has only just begun
(Sora transforms into Philia as she splashes through the surface, her eyes half-closed as pictures of their previous adventure scatter the area about her, mostly those of her and Sora together. She becomes wide awake, and struggles to swim back up to the surface, only for her leg to be grabbed by a hand. She looked down to see a man in a black coat, all but his grin hidden in the hood as he looked at her.)
I no longer need the time I mourned.
So break the wall of limitation, right now!
(In a white room, Naminé sat there with a somber expression, drawing pictures in a book. She looked up, and the scene shifts to one of the large doors within Castle Oblivion opening to let Sora, Philia and their friends through.)
Pride that shines within strong, unwilling emotions
(The pair were working together as they took out Heartless that got in their way as they charged through the castle hallways with their weapon, before pulling out cards that shined, allowing them to perform magic and Dagger Skills.)
Recollections that never change, no matter what pain we experience.
(At a closed door, silhouettes of Axel unleashing his blazing chakrams, to Larxene throwing her electrified daggers, to Vexen and his shield in front of him as he unleashed a pillar of ice, to Marluxia as he swiped his scythe, unleashing a scattering of flower petals.)
Embracing the vow I found as I broadened my sight
(Sora ends up fighting against Dark Riku as they clashed with one another, both determined to save Naminé, before pushing off of one another, skidding to a halt.)
Because this road I chose with unclouded eyes will connect me to you
(Sora, covered in injuries, glares at Riku, before he heard something, and turned around to see Phox standing there, his blood red cutting knife raised, as a screaming Philia was consumed in a cocoon of darkness, before revealing herself once more, in a similar attire to Dark Riku's, only blue instead of purple, and her eyes flashed deadly at Sora.)
Let your voice echo, resist destiny!
(Sora was shocked at Philia's change, but saw Donald and Goofy come to his side, assuring him to save her, and they charged forward to Dark Philia, Sora's hand raised out to her, though the scene shifts to regular Philia falling backwards into darkness.)
Proud of Myself. Aaah~
(Scene warps about, from Sora standing on the beach with Kairi, who is swapped with Naminé, to Philia clutching her heart, while the logo of the Laughing Coffin was behind her, then crying out in desperation to know what is the truth, to Riku rising up to reach out to the light, to the light showing a silhouette of King Mickey, to the shadow of DiZ in a dark room, finishing Naminé closing the drawing book, placing it on a small white table before her, showing a crude picture of Philia and Sora standing together, their hands held as they stared up at Castle Oblivion. Naminé's shadow over the book moves aside as she walks away, ending the scene.)
Next Time on Sword Art Kingdom: Path of Memories
Beginning of Loss