A/N: Hey, hey everyone. Not much to say, except thanks for the reviews (now that I figured out exactly what direction I'm taking this story, I'm going to continue it). And I hope the beginning isn't too confusing since I had to stick only to pronouns (you guys will get what I mean -wink-)

Oh, and this chapter is dedicated to Ethereal Shadow for playing the scene(s) I needed in Kingdom Hearts, and then sending the dialogue to me. Thankies!

Chapter 2: Lost

"Quit while you can," cried out a masked voice through the everlasting darkness. It was low, assured, but unknown. A shadow among shadows, vanishing like a whisper in the wind, almost as quickly as it made itself known.

"No," replied a different, yet equally confusing echo.

"The darkness will destroy you."

"You're wrong," it replied. The argument between two phantoms, elusive as they were, echoed and echoed upon deaf ears. Yet somehow, the quarrel continued, desperately trying to find a listener, and refusing to fail. "The darkness may destroy my body, but it can't touch my heart… it'll never die!"

"Really… How will you fight without a weapon?"

"I don't need the keyblade. I've got a better weapon. My heart," answered the voice with overwhelming conviction, emphasizing its importance, and with luck, the response finally found one to awaken.

He woke, slowly gaining consciousness, but to his dismay found nothing remotely comforting short of the continuation of a familiar fight.

"Your heart? What good will that weak little thing do for you?"

Bleak and thick as the suffocating shadows were, he failed to find the strength to disagree with the voice and side with the other, more righteous, echo. In fact, he failed to find any strength within himself at all, to even shout out and acknowledge his own existence. Though, the purpose for attempting such a gesture past his mind entirely, as he allowed the emptiness to surround him.

"Riku!" the persistent echo continued. He searched and searched but did not understand where the source was coming from, or precisely what the outburst meant. It sounded alien to him, in another language or in a cryptic message only one with endurance could unravel. But as he stumbled, mentally attempting to reach anything familiar and shed light upon the darkness, his absent wish was granted.

A vision appeared before him of several bodies belonging to whom, he did not know. Their faces cast in shadow, contrary to the glowing hearts shining through them.

"Sora! Sora, look!"

"The… the keyhole!" The other continued, looking back, and despite it being expressionless, he felt the creature's eyes piercing him with concern. Before he could rationalize the meaning behind it, another figure walked passed him. The heart locked within its shadowed body shone most radiantly, as it walked forward holding a sword with an even greater blinding light. "It won't work! The keyhole's not finished yet!"

"What can we do?"

"Maybe we've gotta go wake Kairi up." Still, another cryptic message, he reminded himself, gazing from one creature to the next, finding one more than he previously counted. It, however, was not shining, dark and lying on the floor, only visible from the reflected light of others.

"I think you're right. If we can free her heart …But…But how?" The brightest responded, catching all of his attention. This voice, this one, appeared overwhelmingly recognizable, as the creature to which it belonged held up its glowing sword. "A keyblade that unlocks people's hearts… I wonder…"

Suddenly pain shot through him. This he remembered. Vaguely on the edge of his mind, trying desperately to surface.

"Sora?" The emptiness surrounding him seemed to grow more powerful suddenly, as the creature knelt down, slowly elevating a different blade, which, if possible, shed a light of darkness blacker than the shadows surrounding it. "Sora, hold on!"

"No, wait!" But, the creature did not wait, much to his dismay, as it pierced itself with the evil creation gripped in its hand. He, too, suddenly felt pain in his chest, as the light from the creature spewed out from it, in search of another home. "Sora! Sora!"

But the pain… the insurmountable pain eating away at him clouded his vision, leaving only the desperate voices to comfort his loneliness. "Sora!"

"SORA! Come back, Sora!"

….Sora? What did that mean, he wondered as he fell, the pain replaced by an equally dreadful void. So distant and yet unmistakably important. But what was this 'Sora'?

"What's happening to me? Falling… falling… into darkness…"

"Sora, are you really—No, he can't be. I won't let him go!"

"Don't bother. Your voice can no longer reach him where he is. His heart belongs to darkness. Darkness sprouts within it, grows, consumes it. Such is its nature. In the end, every heart returns to the darkness whence it came," interrupted another voice, erasing his memory of the previous one. "Every light must fade, every heart return to darkness! Look as hard as you are able. You'll not find even the smallest glimmer of light. From those dark depths are all hearts born."

Above all others, this one appeared most assured, most convincing. He found himself depending on it, longing for guidance but to what, he was not certain.

"Giving up already? Come on, Sora. I though you were stronger than that."

-----

The soreness in his bones throbbed with each heartbeat while he twitched his eyes open. He remained inert, waiting for the clouds surrounding his sight to clear but mostly to avoid possible pain. Slowly forming shapes before him, his eyes wandered from the cobblestone before him to his still hand. Exhaling, he twitched his fingers, testing to see if there resided any feeling deep within them.

Much to his relief, there was, and he grudgingly pulled his hand out of sight and used it as leverage, lifting him above the muddy floor. He grimaced, realizing dank water restes on his innocent cheek. "Great, Sora," he murmured to himself.

Suddenly realizing what he had said, he thought over the word again. Sora. Of course. His name was Sora. Lifting himself to his feet, he tried, with great difficulty, to remember anything beyond his name. His age, his home, his friends… all a mystery and yet at the tip of his tongue. Even his last name for that matter. The more he tried to dig for it deep in the depths of his mind, the more Sora doubted his ability to find it.

Sighing, he reached for his hood, but stopped short of pulling it onto his head. Even the meaning behind veiling his visage from onlookers escaped his reasoning. The lack of understanding any purpose ate away at him, and soon Sora felt unutterably empty.

He walked forward not knowing his destination nor particularly caring. "Sora," he whispered, trying to make the word tangible, forcing himself to remember it without fail like shoving unwanted food down his throat. No matter how often darkness consumed him, Sora refused to lose all of himself to it. If his name remained known, then perhaps he could succeed in such a feat.

"Sora," declared a deep voice with vigor beyond any strength Sora, himself, could uncover. He, indifferent yet somehow curious, pivoted to face the break of silence in the alleyway he now stood in.

"Who are you?" Sora asked, so fatigued he doubted anyone heard the response. The pain in his chest began to rise, and he urgently struggled to suppress it with his hand, lest the stranger in his midst sense such weakness.

"…Sora," it replied with disappointment, stepping out of the shadows. Though even with the light, it did little to show his identity, for a gray hood cloaked him with darkness. "You don't remember me?"

Uneasily, he approached the man, anger welling in his throat. "How can I, if I can't even see your face?"

"True," he tilted his head, agreeing to Sora's confusion and then lifted the hood dreadfully slowly, hoping to tease the boy further. "Do you recognize me now?" However, he frowned upon seeing the lack of wonderment in his friend's eyes. "You… really can't remember?"

The brunette furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, trying to inspect this new man from every angle of his face. Though Sora could not deny how remarkably handsome and striking he was, Sora merely shook his head. He allowed his eyes to observe him further, desperately wanting to remember this face from somewhere. From his silver hair to his ears to his nose and then… to his eyes. Such incredible sea green eyes. Sora discovered himself lost, hypnotized by them, but unlike the darkness that he was often unwillingly lost in, Sora felt safe, untouchable even.

"Sora?" The man whispered, raising an eyebrow and wondering precisely why the boy was gawking at him like a little school girl. "You okay?"

"Who…are you?"

"Riku; it's Riku. Why can't you--?"

"Riku," he echoed breaking from his concentration, or lack thereof. That too, much like his own name, seemed covered and hidden. But as he played the name over and over again incessantly in his mind, a sharp pain came forth in his chest. He winced, slouching forward but was stopped short from falling as Riku caught him.

"You ok? Psh… of course not."

His vision was swimming, but he refused to let go of the name. Something… something dark was manifested in his chest and did not want Sora to remember it. But he would not falter and continued to shout it, trying to intimidate and make the darkness vanish.

"…Sora? Sora!"

It faltered, retreating, temporarily defeated by Sora's refusal to lose sight of Riku's blessed eyes. And then, his memories of Riku returned with lightning speed, threatening to overwhelm him. A smile crept across his face, looking over each moment with suppressed excitement and relief. Sora, exhausted, closed his eyes, and unwittingly began the first real sleep he had encountered in years.

Noticing his found friend grow limp, Riku contorted his face, bewildered and confused. He gazed down but then smiled to see Sora resting in his arms. "Always were adorable," he sighed.