---Sora53: Look how fast I updated!
Fans: It's not that hard when you're on vacation.
Sora53: SILENCE! I put a lot of effort into this chapter!
Corita: Really?
Sora53: OF COURSE!
Naminé: Dun dun dun!
Joe: -is eating a watermelon lollipop- WHO WANTS ONE?---

Dislaimer: I don't own KH or CoM. I own Corita and this bottle of water I'm drinking. Mmm...purified!

"Sora, what are you saying?" Goofy asked in a shocked tone as everyone looked at the Keyblade Master in disbelief.

"Do it, Naminé! Erase my memories, break my heart... I'll still have my promise. I'll still protect you!" Sora said boldly.

"Sora..." Naminé whispered in a stunned tone.

"I don't need my memory to take on Marluxia, anyway." He said lightly.

"Yeah!" Donald said boldly. "With everyone else's memories, he can piece his own back together again in no time!"

"Ignorant fools!" Marluxia screeched. "If Naminé destroys your memory, you'll be naught but a lifeless shell. Your heart will be unable to feel, to care! Just like that pathetic imitation of Riku!"

"Guess again." called a fierce voice. Seemingly out of nowhere, Riku dashed up from behind Sora and struck Marluxia with his sword. Marluxia, caught off guard, was sent crashing to the wall of the castle. Riku stood between Sora and Naminé, sword raised and eyes glowing with fury.

"Riku!" Sora gasped.

Riku sighed. "Not Riku. Just someone's experiment."

"No! You're an empty shell! You've been stripped of all you had!"

"Did I ever really have anything?" Riku growled. "My body and heart are fake...but I must protect Naminé. Phantom promise or not, it's MY promise!"

Marluxia stood again, and he watched the 5 figures before him closely. "Know your place!" Marluxia snarled. "You would chain your heart with false memories? Cast your heart's freedom aside? You turn from the truth because your heart is weak. You cannot defeat me!"

Marluxia held up his arms, and in a flash of light, a huge scythe appeared in his hands. He swung it downward, and Donald couldn't help let out a soft chuckle.

"Pink?" He laughed. "A PINK scythe?"

"FOOLS!" Marluxia thundered, slamming his scythe into the ground. The whole hall rumbled, and those who had weapons prepared for battle.


"Haha! We won! Take that, scary pink scythe guy!" Donald chortled after Marluxia had vanished.

"I suppose you could say that you won." Marluxia mused, reappearing before the group.

"Wha...hey!" Donald growled.

"What you just defeated was nothing more than an imitation of me." Marluxia said.

"So what?" Riku growled, slicing at the new Marluxia with his sword. However, that Marluxia merely vanished as well.

"Grr...another trick..."

"Where do you suppose the real Marluxia is?" Goofy asked.

"I'd say he's behind this really huge ominous door." Sora stated.

"Good thinking!" Goofy chuckled.

"But...whatever's in there is powerful. I can feel it." Sora said softly.

"Let's take him DOWN!" Donald roared.

"Riku...take care of Naminé."

"What?" Riku asked, stunned.

"You don't want to?" Sora asked.

"Oh course I do! Good luck in there!"

"Okay...let's do this!"

Sora walked towards the large, ominous door and pulled at the giant handle. Donald walked over to help, and so did Goofy. With their conbined efforts, the door pulled open, and the trio walked inside.

"Maybe we overestimated Marluxia." Sora said as they entered. Everything was pitch black, making it hard to see.

"GOOFY! You stepped on my foot!"

"Sorry, Donald..."

Behind them, the door snapped shut, making it even darker.

"Great. Just great. We were tricked. Now we're going to rot in here forever!" Donald wailed.

"Oh, grow up. Do you here something?" Sora asked.

A soft rumbling noise seemed to be coming out of the darkness...it grew louder, and Sora, Donald, and Goofy huddled closer together.

"Drown in the heart-lorn world of nothingness!" Boomed Marluxia's voice. "I shall scatter your heart to the empty winds!"
"I think that's our cue to start battle." Sora said meekly, drawing out his Keyblade.


"So she's the reason why you're here with me..."

"Pretty much. She brought me to Vexen...I NEARLY beat her in our stupid battle, but she teleported me away...cheater..."

"Well, she's gone now. So, are you feeling better?"

"NO! I'll NEVER forgive Sora!"

"Uhh...why?"

"He beat her! I never got to get my revenge!"

"Corita, Sora just - what just happened?"

Riku and Corita had nearly reached the next door to the next world when Riku stopped. Corita, who'd been walking next to him, stopped as well.

"One of the scents has died..." Corita whispered. "GAH! I SHOULDN'T be able to tell that! Reason 782 why I hate Larxene!"

"It was a really strong one..." Riku responded.

"Really strong? Then we know it wasn't Axel." Corita said lightly.

"That was Marluxia, the keeper of the castle." Echoed a calm voice. Riku and Corita lept back slightly when they saw another robed figure appear before the stairs. He had silver hair, somewhat darker than Riku's, that hung over half of his face. His eyes were slightly darker than his hair. His voice, while calm, held strength and cunning. He looked down at Riku and Corita with serenity.

"Perhaps I should say ex-keeper." He said smoothly. "The Keyblade Master just finished him off."

"The Keyblade Master?" Corita asked eagerly. The new figure looked down at Corita's bright face. "Do you want to see him?"

"Of course!" Corita said.

"I'm sorry. Perhaps I should say, can you face him?"

"Wha...?" Corita asked, stunned at this sudden statement.

"Sora's fate is to battle the darkness. As the hero of light, he must oppose hosts of the darkness...in other words, you two."

"Stop it! Sora wouldn't care! Sora wouldn't care if I plunged into the darkness's deepest depths of my own free will!" Corita roared.

"If you don't believe me, then see for yourself." The man said. He reached into one of his robe's pockets and pulled out a card. He threw it in Riku's direction, but Corita snatched it out of the air before Riku could.

"We'll do just that." Corita snarled.

"Hey...Corita! This card..." Riku stammered, pointing to it. Corita looked at it as well, and let out a gasp.

"This is our..."

"Yes. Your home." The man said.

Corita looked back up at him. "What's your name?"

"I am called Zexion." He said calmly. With that, he vanished into thin air.

"Zexion, huh? Another robed freak with an 'x' in their name..."

"We should probably do what he says..." Riku muttered.

"Uh huh. Well, let it be known now that I don't like his scent. There's something different about it..."

"I thought you didn't like the fact that you could read scents?"

"GAH! Reason 782 why I hate Larxene! How could I forget?"

"So, what are the other 781 reasons?"


"Out! Out! Out!" Sora cried as he, Donald, and Goofy ran for the exit. The room was shaking and the door was within sight.
Donald and Goofy ran out in front of Sora, and Sora made it out just in time. The door (which had reopened after they'd defeated Marluxia for whatever reason) closed again, and Sora turned around to face it. The door began to glow.

"It's...a Keyhole..." Donald whispered as the faint outline of a Keyhole glowed on the door.

"I know just what to do about that." Sora said cheerfully. Holding up the Keyblade, a beam of light shot out from the end of it. It entered the bright Keyhole, and a soft clicking noise filled the hall.

"Are you okay, Riku?" Sora asked after he'd lowered his Keyblade.

"I'm not Riku. I'm fake." Riku said grimly as the trio approached him and Naminé. "I can't remember when I was created, or why...all I've got left are you and Naminé. Even so, those memories aren't real."

"Naminé, can't you put Riku's memories back to normal?" Goofy asked sadly.

Naminé shook her head. "It...it doesn't work that way."

Riku turned from the group and started heading for the stairs. "Don't worry about me."

"Riku, wait!" Sora called, running towards him. "It doesn't matter if someone made you! Your heart...your feelings...they're yours. They're special!"

"Sora..." Riku said softly, turning around again to face him. "Thank you. I don't have to be real to see that you're a good person. That's good enough for me."

Riku turned around again and headed down the stairs. Sora, although slightly discouraged, turned back and began walking towards Donald, Goofy and Naminé, who were deep in conversation.

"Can you fix our memories?" Donald asked.

"Yes. Just because you can't remember something doesn't mean it's gone." Naminé responed.

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"Well...Remembering one thing leads to remembering another, and then another...Your memories are connected, like links in a chain. Those same chains are what anchor us all together." After she said this, Naminé sighed. "I don't destroy memories. I just take apart the links and rearrange them. You still have all your memories."

"So you can fix them?" Goofy asked nervously.

"First I have to undo the links I made." Naminé said. "Then I have to gather up the memories scattered in your hearts and reconnect them. It will take time."

"We've got time." Sora said, nodding and smiling.

"Wait! You said you'd have to undo the links you made!" Donald said. "That means..."

"Yes, Donald. You won't be able to recall what happened in this castle."

"Not even you?" Sora asked feebly after a few moments of silence.

"I'm sorry, Sora. You have to choose. You can lose your memories of this castle and regain those you've lost...or keep your memories here and give up the ones you've lost."

"...I have to choose?"


"Wow...I never thought I'd miss the islands winds so much..." Riku said peacefully.

"Not to mention the smell of the ocean..." Corita said happily.

"It's kind of funny...there was once a time when we couldn't wait to get out of here." Riku mentioned.

"And now we're acting all relieved to be back. Even if it isn't real..."

"Hey, look over there!" Riku said, pointing towards a trio of younger kids.

"Hey! Tidus! Selphie! Wakka!" Corita called, running towards them. The three of them didn't even seem to notice her.

"What's up, guys? I don't think I've ever seen you so quiet." Riku said coolly as he walked up next to Corita.

The three of them didn't even notice them. They simply stood there, their eyes gazing off into nothingness.

Then, they vanished.

"Guys!" Riku cried.

"They...they vanished...what's going on?" Corita asked nervously.

"Yeah, like I know." Riku said sarcastically.

"See, Riku? This is what happens when you jump headfirst into a problem: your friends start vanishing right before your eyes!"

"What? What problem did I jump headfirst into?"

"'Fighting the darkness within' if I remember correctly!"

"It sounds so corny when you say it like that..."

"WELL, MAYBE IT'S JUST A CORNY CONCEPT!"

"THIS ISN'T MY FAULT!"

"YES IT IS!"

"NO IT ISN'T!"

"YES IT IS!"

"WHAT ARE WE ACCOMPLISHING BY SHOUTING?"

"I DON'T KNOW! IT'S JUST A GOOD WAY TO VENT YOUR EMOTIONS!"

"GAH!" Riku roared, stomping off.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Corita cried, running forward to keep up. As she walked, she slipped on the fine sand underneath, and she fell into it.

"Stupid sand!" Corita roared, leaping up as fast as she could and brushing it off.

Joe: CORITA FELL IN THE SAND!
Sora53: Maybe.
Sora: HAHAHA!
Corita: Why you little...
Sora: Eep!
Sora53: Guess what I've decided!
Riku Fangirls: You're converting into a Riku fangirl!
Sora53: ...no. The taste of darkness...is like the aftertaste of semisweet chocolate.
Corita: That aftertaste is EVIL! It never goes away, and it tastes icky!
Sora53: Exactly. MUAHAHA!
Riku Fangirls: Soo...you're gonna be a Riku fangirl!
Sora53: ...---