Chapter 12 - Memoria

When the feeling of being in a wind-tunnel had passed, Sora calmed. His sharp, quick breaths slowed; he was back in his element. He was in the Light; not The Light, what he was searching for, but it was Light, no question. He felt gravity under his feet, yet felt himself moving upward. It was most like being in an elevator.

He looked around; there was nothing but a vast, shining white as far as he could see. The sound of a slow, methodical thumping reached his ears. Hollow Bastion's very heartbeat. Why was there no Darkness here? It was repaired again, whole. The closing of Kingdom Hearts had shut off the Darkness, at least, that's what he figured. There was so much left to know, to understand.

Sora's thoughts began to drift toward Riku. Immediately, he saw Riku's face before him. Not the mature, adult-looking Riku in the unknown's raincoat; Riku as he was a year ago. Turquoise eyes, cocky smile, yellow outfit, baggy pantaloons. Sora's arms folded, and he smiled. Riku smiled back. The form began to change. Riku's clothing shifted to a darker hue, marked with deep blue, red, sealed with the Heartless crest. In the young man's hands lay the Heart Key.

The brown-headed boy shook his head, not wanting to remember. Not wanting to remember how he had treated his best friend, how he wasn't able to save him from Ansem. His cerulean gaze shifted to the Heart Key itself. From the heart-outlining teeth to its crimson base, it seemed to be wickedness incarnate. Then Sora noticed an inconspicuous difference between the keyblade created by the Princesses and the keyblade Asher wielded.

Asher's keyblade had a keychain. The key created to free Kairi's heart did not.

Thoughts of Asher altered Riku's image, shifting it into a copy of the red-haired Id. Anger welled within Sora like bile. That rat. He had taken all of Asher's memories from him, and would have kept him that way, and now he was Caejan's lapdog.

Not wishing to see any more, he cleared his mind. The silhouette disappeared. He began to wonder where his friends were; Dyne and Riku, at least. He stepped forward, his shoes thumping loudly, echoing endlessly. He continued walking, examining the area about him. Nothing but white and that soft hum of heart-energy.

"Riku...? Dyne...?

His voice echoed, much louder than his shoes did. Faintly, he heard Riku's voice come back at him.

"Sora. Follow my voice."

"Riku! You made it okay, right? Dyne, too?"

There was a long silence, though Sora had begun his walk.

"Yeah. Keep walking."

Sora walked, still. Pausing, inhaling, he then lunged forward into a full sprint. He wanted to find Riku, find Dyne, find the gate to Memoria. Soon.

"Keep following. Come on, Sora, I know you're faster than that."

Sora released a burst of speed, charging headlong in the direction of that voice. Step, step, step... and, before he knew it, his foot suddenly dropped elevation, as if he had stepped off of the edge of the world. His body followed quickly behind it.

He fell through the Light, the Light of Hollow Bastion. Soon, the Light became so bright he could not longer see and was forced to shut his eyes, cover them with his hands, and still it worked through. He saw images; images of Hollow Bastion's past, of Ansem's experimentation with the Heartless, of Ansem meeting with King Mickey, farther back, further and further and further until he saw Hollow Bastion before it was ever Hollow Bastion. The falls had not always flowed upward, and this world had existed within a sea called Atlantica. The sea from which so many people from so many other worlds fished in and boated over. Once, the worlds were one, and Sora had been given the privilege to see that great pangaea, or at least the part that Hollow Bastion had occupied.

The light faded. Sora's body hit the surface of the water, and he fell further and further into the dark depths of it. Yet, as he fell, he then felt the sensation that up and down were no longer of any importance, that they no longer existed. Then, he felt yanked upward by some immense force, rocketing upward, higher, higher-

Dyne slapped him on the back, hard. Riku stood beyond the edge of the waters, arms folded, looking ahead, at the path before them. Sora uncovered his eyes, and looked.

He didn't see any forks in the road, which was good, but the sheer strangeness of this new environment was unsettling. They all stood upon a singular platform, which was surrounded on all sides by water. The azure liquid spanned about five feet of distance from the edge of the platform. Sora's wet clothes indicated that he had awakened there, in the water.

Ahead of them (the only way to go) was a cobblestone path, narrow, which led to another platform. Sora looked down. The ground he stood on hovered in this endless void, a broken-down slab of pavement from which sprung gnarled, dying weeds. He frowned, and looked over his company.

Riku was standing before the path ahead, looking, taking in his surroundings. Dyne was still checking if Sora was okay.

And then there was Lilka.

"How did we end up here?" queried the Crest Sorceress, moving from the edge of the platform to Sora's side. She had been looking at the waters. The platform was surrounded in a pool of water, but the water seemed to taper off, falling forever into the void. It was as if they had found the edge of a world.

"I'm not entirely sure how, but I think Riku did it. He was the first to get here. We just followed," replied Dyne, satisfied that Sora was unhurt. The boy moved to Riku's side. "This is a very weird place. I never thought I'd see it."

"I don't think we're supposed to," spoke Riku, finally. His gloved hands reached to the back of his head, where he straightened the black blindfold he wore. "Nobody is ever supposed to enter this place. It's as if it's quarantined. Don't you think we would have heard something about it beforehand, Sora? You, as the Keyblade Master, especially."

"Asher just told me to find Memoria. The Door to the Light is supposed to be here. He said something about..."

His voice trailed off, and he delved through the memories and the advice that his black-haired friend, who was lost somewhere now, had given him.

"He said, 'The Door to the Light, tied by two keys'. I think he meant the Oblivion and Oathkeeper."

"'Door to the Light'? No, the door to the Darkness is tied by two keys. He must have his lines crossed," stated Dyne, who turned to look at Lilka. The sorceress appeared completely confused.

"No, he said Door of Light, specifically. Maybe they're both tied?"

"Could be. Anyway, we need to get going. We're in for a long trip, I'm sure of it," spoke Riku. The blindfolded unknown moved off onto the cobblestone path.

"Sora. Do you think I'll be able to get back to Fargaia from here? Do you think Pandora's here, somewhere?" asked Lilka, slowly getting her feet to walk.

"I don't know. If every world has a gate to Memoria, and we can get here, I'm sure we can get back, somehow, too. And Pandora might be here. The memory of her, anyway. But this place weirds me out, so let's mosey," replied Sora, and Lilka followed.

Back in the Kingdom, those who had helped Sora in his fight to reach the edges of Memoria walked into Hollow Bastion's great hall to regroup. They had no gummi ship. They had no Crest Sorceress. They had no way off of Hollow Bastion.

"...uh, d'you think he'll be alright?" asked Goofy, who walked beside Donald. The both of them straggled far behind. King Mickey led the entourage, and he appeared deep in thought.

"Don't worry. You really think Sora can't take care of himself?"

"It is Memoria, after all."

"Aw, phooey! He's with his friend, Riku. And the other guy. If he can't make it, they'll help him. No problem."

Mickey paused in the center of the antechamber. Cloud, Leon, Aerith, Yuffie, Cid, Goofy, and Donald each stalled, watching the short-statured King with undivided attention.

"...where's Lilka?" inquired Yuffie, eyeing over the group. No crest sorceress was present.

"She followed him," replied Cloud, who proceeded to hoist the immense Buster Sword over his shoulder, careful not to club Aerith while he was at it.

"I wonder if we'll be able to find a way off of this world," thought Yuffie aloud. She turned to Mickey. "The guys in the coats are still around, right?"

The King appeared thoughtful, and then looked to the others.

"Only one of them is here now. From what Riku told me, their leader has plans to keep Sora from opening the Door. Two of them left, I think, shortly after we started to fight with that monster-"

"He had a name, you know," retorted Yuffie, giving the King a dirty look. She took a wavering breath, apologized, and listened.

"I'm sorry, Yuffie. But two of them left, their leader departed to the realm of Darkness, and the last one... he remains in this castle."

"You Majesty? Uhhh... where was it that Sora went, exactly?" asked Donald. "They called it Memoria, right?"

The raincoated mouse turned to his court mage, and nodded.

"Long, long ago, at the beginning of everything, the Kingdom was a peaceful place, filled with Light. Everything originated from thgere. All the worlds were connected, everything was one big world. They called that realm Memoria. Do any of you remember the fairy tale?"

"Sure, I remember. Nanny always used to tell the tale," Yuffie responded. "When Hollow Bastion was overrun, she was taken by the Heartless. She knew so much."

"It wasn't just a fairy tale. Well, some of it's untrue, but most of it really happened," the King continued. "But Memoria fell apart. It became ruined. The people there, who lived and thrived because of the Light and their memories, succumbed to Darkness. When they became forgotten, and forgot each other, they became the Nobody."

Aerith sighed, moving toward the fountain, away from cloud. She watched the water fall, gathering her thoughts. The others turned their gazes to look at her.

"Aerith? What is it?" asked Yuffie, not a little worried.

"You know, this is our home, Yuffie. I don't think I want to leave. We should stay."

"What are you talking about?" queried Auron, frowning. "There's a black-coat in here, the basement levels are crawling with Heartless, and who knows what else?"

"I know," responded Aerith, turning to face them all. Her eyes were sad. "But we really don't have a way out of here anyway. I just..."

"Aerith, what's wrong?" asked Cloud, leaning on his Buster Sword.

"You know we're all going to be destroyed, right?" she said, tears forming in her eyes. "There's no way to survive it. The stars are all blinking out. The monster that destroyed Traverse Town is destroying everything, and we can't stop it. Sora is out last hope. If he doesn't bring everything back, it's all over."

"Aerith, don't you trust Sora?" asked Goofy. "If anyone can do it, he can."

She nodded, dropping her eyes from the rest of them down to the ground.

"I do trust him. But..."

"Don't worry about it," grinned Yuffie. "Sure, the Darkness is probably going to swallow us before Sora gets rid of it forever, but he'll set things right again."

The flower girl smiled, and brightened a little.

"Well... let's see if we can't find a way off of this castle," she said. "If we're going to wait for Sora to do what he needs to do, I'd rather not do it here."

The others were relieved, and they all moved out of the hall, toward the outside of the castle. They left their hope and their trust on Sora, and pushed on.

Platform upon platform upon platform. They seemed endless, as if the four of them would keep walking forever.

Sora moseyed along, hands behind his head, a distant yet contented look upon his face. Lilka looked about, constantly, as if expecting danger in this unfamiliar territory. Riku walked beside Dyne, doing very well for a blindfolded man. They were all quiet, however, so Sora had plenty of time to daydream.

Some of the platforms resembles pieces of certain worlds. One platform was made of a sandy, beachlike surface with a palm tree sprouting from it. Some were intricate stained-glass artworks, others were chunks of cement or boulders, some big, some small, but each one different. The bridgelike paths between them all were never of the same length, either, but none were short.

Lilka, bored with the scenery, turned to Sora.

"So... you knew Kydran, right? Before the Coliseum?"

"His name's Asher, and I knew him a long time before the Coliseum."

"Oh... so you knew Pandora, too, right?"

"Pandora... I don't know Pandora, but I know that they knew each other way before Traverse Town."

"They sure acted like it. You shoulda seen her! She was all over him," giggled Lilka, and Sora shook his head. His thoughts had been drifting toward his own love, Kairi, who he still hoped- no. Not hoped. Knew she was waiting for him, on the Destiny Islands, far away from where he was. Would he ever keep his promise?

"Sora," Riku called. Sora's arms fell from the back of his head to his sides as he jogged ahead. Dyne had drifted farther back, his pace slowed a little, so the Keyblade Master was able to pull up beside his childhood friend.

"What is it, Riku?" questioned Sora, whose thoughts of Kairi had dissipated. His focus was now on the platinum blonde, the concept of Riku. He had a lot of questions to ask.

"It's good to see you again, Sora," Riku said, somewhat sentimentally. This statement caused the brown-headed boy to grin from ear to ear.

"You too, Riku."

There was a long silence as they continued to walk.

"So, uh... I guess you already know what I'm gonna ask."

"What happened after we closed the door, right?" responded Riku, smiling lopsidedly.

"Yeah."

"The door to the Light is not behind the Darkness. Mickey found that out, but we stayed anyway. We had to close Kingdom Hearts. It was the only way to stop the Darkness from spreading any further. We found something out, though," began Riku. Sora was completely silent, listening. "When Ansem opened the door to the Darkness, he had no idea he was being manipulated. Caejan had been residing within Kingdom Hearts, though Mickey never did understand why. When the Door was opened, Caejan was set free. The King and I traveled all over Kingdom Hearts, looking for a way out, since neither of us could get out through the Door anymore, and... the hole opened."

"Hole?"

"I never got a good look at the Heartless monster, and I don't think I wanted to. All I got to see was this... mass of tentacles. Pure Darkness. It opened a hole in the walls. Think of Kingdom Hearts like a house with only the one front door. This thing bashed through the walls instead of trying to go out the front door. So Mickey and I just... walked out."

"Then?"

"We found Caejan, Kydran, Knives, and Dyne in a place called Clockwork Town. We both mistook Dyne for you in a black cloak; it was so weird. He had had his own 'awakening', like you did, right before waking up there. I'm sure Asher had and 'awakening', too, before the Town was destroyed. Since Caejan was looking for another crony to help him keep things the way he wanted him, I decided to play as a double agent in Caejan's little club for both Dyne and the King."

"You called him Asher."

"What?"

"You called him Asher!"

"Of course I did, that's his name. The kid with the black-and-red hair."

Sora was silent, and the gears in his mind were churning.

"So I joined Caejan and the others and we went to Hollow Bastion. I wanted to see if Ansem had survived the blast of Light that Mickey used, anyway. It toasted him, but he was still alive in Hollow Bastion. It wasn't until then that I realized that Ansem's shed body is working with Caejan as well."

"So Ansem was right, his body didn't perish. What about his four-realms theory?"

"I heard all about it. He knew there had to be four realms, created when Darkness was created. The realm of Light, the realm of Darkness, the In-Between, and the Kingdom."

"Memoria, Kingdom Hearts, wherever it is that the bodies go, and... home."

"No doubt."

"How come you can see? Why are you wearing that blindfold?"

"I think it looks cool," grinned Riku. Sora shook his head. Still Riku. "When Mickey blasted Ansem, he was still using my body. The Light blinded me. In the Darkness, though, you don't really need to see. There's no light to see with. You begin to discern Light and Darkness and heart-energy. Dealing with Caejan was difficult."

"Why?"

"He has no heart."

"What? That's impossible. Only dead or things that aren't alive don't have hearts, and even then they usually have a heart."

"The King thought it was impossible, too, but it's true. I can't tell Caejan from a rock, except for this unnerving feeling whenever he's nearby. Like-"

"Something unnatural."

"Yeah."

Sora slowed his gait as they reached yet another platform. He came to a complete stop, his brow furrowing, his arms folding. Riku paused as well, followed by Lilka and Dyne. The crest sorceress and the dual wielder had been exchanging words, and Lilka did not look at all comfortable around the unknown with the blonde hair.

"Up ahead. The path disappears."

It was true. The platform-path seemed to disappear into a thick fog, very similar to the mist on a freezing morning after a rain. This mist flowed, however, as if there was a powerful wind forcing it to move. Beyond, Sora could make out a bleak shape, though exactly what it was impossible to tell- it may even have been his eyes playing tricks on him.

"Fog," Riku spoke. "But it's not real fog. It's mixed... Light and Darkness, fighting."

They continued forward, slowly, reaching the edge of the fog. Sora looked back towards Dyne and Lilka, and Dyne shrugged and moved forward.

"This is dumb. It's just fog," stated the blonde-haired unknown, flatly, and he pressed on. Sora sighed, and followed. Lilka moved ahead of Riku, and Riku took up the flank.

"Maybe we can salvage the old ship?" suggested Yuffie, but the mere idea of it was ridiculous. The gummi ship they had rode in on must have been laying on the bottom of the ocean by now. The ninja let out a massive sigh.

Cloud, Aerith, and Cid had been left to exploring the castle for parts. Goofy, Auron, Donald, Mickey, and Yuffie waited at the Rising Falls, looking for any debris of any sort. Mickey hopped agilely from floating rock to floating rock, checking each one for remains of their ship.

"Forget it! We're never gonna get off this world!" cried Donald after a long while of searching. Goofy appeared worried, for once, and Auron was clearly frustrated.

The waters of the Rising Falls, for one moment, did not flow upward.

"Do you feel that?" questioned Mickey, glancing over his shoulder at Auron. The warrior frowned, and glanced up at the sky. He did feel a little cold.

"Not really," responded Auron after a short moment. "Why? Is something coming this way?"

"Yes. It's the same force I felt in Kingdom Hearts... before we were set free," answered Mickey. He froze. "Yes, something is coming this way. I can see it."

The entire group raised their gazed to one of the walls of the rising falls, to which Mickey was pointing. An immense black form, distorted in the water, was growing steadily larger. It was moving their way.

"Hurry! Get back to the top! RUN!" cried Mickey, he turned swiftly and began his ascent up the floating stones, the ruined structures.

The black form erupted through the falls.

Lilka looked about, nervously. The fog itself was making her edgy, alarmed. She didn't feel the least bit comforted by Sora's reassurances that they would make it through, nor by the fact that she was with three very powerful young men, each of which were fighting for the Light. The mist had gotten so thick they could not even make out the path ahead of them, so they spent a lot of time time merely trying to find the next bridge from platform to platform.

The crest sorceress edged closer to the Keyblade Master as Dyne covered the perimeter of the next huge platform upon which they stood. She wrapped her arms about his left bicep, and nearly jumped out of his skin. He wriggled his arm, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable, but she held fast. Resigning from the resistance, he justified it as doing Lilka a favor.

"Sora, this place really worries me," stated Lilka. Riku and Dyne had already started down the next cobblestone bridge, so both Sora and Lilka began to follow.

"Me too, but we have to keep moving forward. Dyne, how far do you think we have to go?" called Sora, trying to look as casual and relaxed as possible while in a strange, frightening place with an equally strange girl clinging to his arm.

"I don't know. It's impossible to tell in this fog."

The girl gave Sora's arm a tug before they stepped onto the next bridge.

"Sora..."

"What is it?"

"...remember me."

The boy appeared clearly confused. Forget her? Not as long as she was glued to his arm. It was a strange request, but Sora trusted instinct over brains, even if it wasn't his own instinct.

"...okay."

Riku meandered behind Dyne, who had volunteered himself to be the trailblazer of the group. He had to watch Dyne carefully, watch his heart-signal, so similar to Sora's. There was the same sort of vibration there, as if some piece of Sora had been imprinted on him, or still remained. It reminded him of...Home. He used to play with Sora a lot, back home, on the Destiny Islands. That place seemed so far away now, its sandy, sunny beaches and pristine waters. The island, where the children would all go to play. They had had such a great time there, where everything was so simple, so clean. There was no Darkness then, no matters of right or wrong because everything was right...

Riku grinned, glancing over at Sora. Right, like today. The platinum blonde, much shorter now, stood straight up, turquoise eyes sparkling. He lifted the newly crafted wooden sword up, and gave it a few test swings. His brown-headed friend picked up his own new sword, smiling from ear to ear.

"I'm gonna kick your butt, Sora. You don't got what it takes to beat me," stated Riku, thumbing towards himself, shaking his head to reiterate his point. "You can be my sidekick, though."

Sora sank into a combating stance, grinning. Maybe he couldn't beat Riku, but he would try.

Dyne simply continued walking, unaware of what was happening to Riku, unaware that the fog was doing its work. Nothing but gray fog, nothing but the void beyond that gray void. Like sleep. Maybe he would wake up...

His eyes opened. The fog was gone. Everything seemed so perfectly clear. Dying light filled the alleyway. The boy picked himself up off the ground, looking at his hands. They didn't seem so familiar anymore. For a moment, he could have sworn that he was wearing black gloves, and black sleeves covered his wrists... no. That wasn't the case.

He stepped out of the alleyway, slowly, not really thinking but his mind not blank, either. He hadn't the presence of mind to ask himself where he was. He was in... Hollow Bastion, wasn't he? No, this place was not dark. Hadn't he been in a dark place?

Dyne kept walking.

Sora's mind focused on Lilka. Where had she come from, anyway? She knew Asher, seemed pretty familiar with Pandora, so she couldn't be all bad. His blue eyes, which had been focused on the ground, shifted upward, to make sure Riku was still there. He stopped. Lilka's attention was lifted upward, as will, and she glanced then up to Sora.

Riku was no longer solid.

It was as if something was eating away at him, pieces of him were being removed. His outline was still solid, but he was growing transparent, incorporeal. He panicked, recalling his childhood friend, releasing Lilka, bounding ahead.

"Riku!"

"...bring it on, Sora!"

The little brown-haired boy charged the slightly older Riku. He swung his own sword at Sora, and the two blades clacked together loudly. The two seemed perfectly satisfied with the sound, and proceeded to spar with a little more intensity.

"No, don't fade away!"

"What?"

Riku parried away a strike, and backslid into a halt. Frowning, he looked the other boy over.

"What's the matter?"

"Come back, Riku!"

"Sora, you sure I didn't bonk you too hard?"

There was a long silence. What Riku was seeing as Sora halted suddenly, his face twisted, as if there were two forces fighting for control of the image. Then the boy shook off the look, and extended a hand.

"Riku... take my hand. Come on. Come back."

"...Sora...?"

"Please. You wanna go on an adventure, right? I know where we can find one!"

The platinum blonde held still, silently considering his friend for a moment... then stepped forward, and placed his hands in Sora's.

Sora had suddenly gained in strength, became immensely strong. Riku was lifted off his feet, flew forward, rocketed out of his body-

and stumbled ahead, his form solid once more. His step was wobbly, he was clearly disoriented. His foot slipped. His body toppled over the edge of the cobblestone bridge.

"No! Riku!" cried Sora, diving forward, launching a hand out, catching Riku by his wrist. Riku groaned. Sora's eyes were huge, panicked, and he fought to pick himself up, drag Riku back onto the edge. He glanced toward Dyne. Dyne was no longer corporeal. Further alarmed, his eyes fixed on Lilka. The girl had dropped to her knees, and was growing less and less solid by the moment.

Sora felt his shoe slip toward the edge of the bridge; he was losing traction. One foot slid out from under him, and he dropped, hard, on one knee. He dug the heels of each shoe into the cobblestone, and somehow managed to stop himself from going over into the abyss, Riku in tow.

His feet began to slide again.