OBLIVION-CHAPTER ONE

His eyes fluttered open, frost biting at his skin. His senses returned to him as he awoke from his long and empty slumber. The gigantic pedals around him flew down, piles of tiny, telescopic ice particles falling as well. He stumbled out from the flower and collapsed, his teeth chattering. Why was it so cold? And, more importantly, where was he?

He rose to his feet, looking at the emptiness that surrounded him. He hugged himself for warmth and looked back at the pod. How had he gotten there? He remembered running after Pluto in that ield, and that man in the black coat... At Hollow Bastion, one had been there too, but he had trouble focusing on the memories, and he felt something lika large, blank spot in his head. In his heart. The Keyblade Master contemplated this, touching the pod with his palm. It was wet with condensation; it was as if it was defrosting.

"Sora!" came a squawck. He spun around to see a shorter person waddling towards him. "Donald!" he exclaimed, running up to him. He smiled; at least there was a familiar face. The duck tapped his chin, eyeing the boy curiously. "Sora, where are we?"

"...I don't know," was the disheartened reply. Sora leaned against the pod, which was drastically warmer by this time. "I don't remember coming to this place, wherever this place is..."

"Neither do I," replied Donald. They stood there in silence for a moment, Sora crossing his arms. He knew what happened, but he could not remember. No matter how hard he tried, it was impossible to piece together what he recalled last and what was occuring now. He had to have remembered something... no one could forget everything about something... could they? Not one detail came up in his mind, it was just... blank.

"...Sora, you look different," said Donald as he pointed at the boy. The brunet male perked up his eyebrows, brought out of his thoughts by the duck.

"Hmm?"

"You look different," he said once more. "You're taller, and your face looks more..." he searched for the right word, "mature?" The Keyblade Master never noticed this before, and he glanced down at his body. His clothes did feel a tad tight, and his hair seemed longer. He looked back at the pod, its crystalline surface mirrorlike. He attempted to study his facial features. He saw some notable differences, but it was nothing major. In fact, to him, it seemed like he had only aged a year. A year.

"A year..." he thought aloud, moving away from the pod. "Donald, just how long have we been here?" he questioned, keeping his eyes on his reflection. It sounded like he was trying to confirm something, but Donald had no clue either way.

"I don't know... Hey!" He jumped up in sudden surprise. "Goofy! Where's Goofy?"

"...I'm right here, Donald," said the knight with a chuckle as he staggered out into the open. He hiccupped. "Anyone else think this place is, uh, kind of odd?" Sora looked downwards, at his hands, before coming to a decision.

"Come on, guys," he ordered, nodding towards the door at the far end of the room. "We have to find a way out of here and figure out where we are."

"Not a bad idea," remarked Jiminy as he popped up on Sora's shoulder. The boy nodded and walked up to the door. He opened it without one bit of hesitation, which was most likely why he was so startled by the distortion in the next hallway. Goofy and Donald bumped into him after his abrupt stop, and the duck hopped up.

"What's the deal, Sora?" he complained, but the boy only pointed at it. "...I don't know. Here, you guys have a look..." He stepped to the side to allow them to see the purpleish, swirling vortex in the hallway.

"What do you think it is?" inquired Goofy as he reached out to it. Donald pulled him away quickly, however.

"Don't touch it!" he shouted, but Sora shook his head. He approached the vortex and cast Donald a reassuring glance. "Don't worry, guys... I... I think I've seen this before."

"What are you talking about?" the wizard retorted. Upon seeing the boy reach out for it himself, he bonked him square in the head with his wand. The Keyblade Master shuffled away, rubbing the spot with his hand. He glared at Donald.

"What'd you do that for?" he demanded, rubbing the spot extensively. The mage crossed his arms, tapping his foot impatiently on the purely white, tiled floor. "It could be dangerous, Sora! How will you find Riku if you're dead?"

"Relax, Donald!" he responded defensively. "I'm aware of that, but... I feel like I've done this before, like it's second nature... Just trust me, okay?"

"Uh huh..." said the duck, turning away. Sora sighed and looked back to the swirling mass of darkness. It seemed harmless... They had been through numerous portals and such before... had they not? He shrugged off the worry. It could not hurt to try, even though Donald had a point, but something like this was not stopping Sora. At least, not yet. Without saying anything more, he walked into the darkness, disappearing. Both of his companions jumped back at this, however Goofy regained his composure quickly.

"Hmm... Come on, Donald. We gotta follow Sora, remember? King's orders."

"Not you too, Goofy!" Donald yelled, but the knight was already gone. With an aggravated sigh, Donald realized he had no choice but to follow.

---

The sky was a mixture of fiery red and orange hues, and the clock tower chimed, the bells able to be heard throughout the entirety of Twilight Town. A flock of ravens flew off as three teenagers walked aimlessly in the streets. "So, as far as I'm concerned, Pop's has no business telling me what I shouldn't be doing," fumed the tallest of the tree, a boy with bright, blond curls. He slipped a hand in his olive green pant pocket, sighing.

"Oh, come on Hayner, it's no big deal," commented the other boy energetically. He was shorter than the others and a bit on the chubby side. "He's just looking out for you, you know that."

Hayner stopped, looking up to the sky. "...I dunno. Hey, Olette, what'd do you think?" he asked, glancing at the last teenager, a girl with semi-long hair and a bright orange tank top. She looked up at him, broken out of her thoughts. "...What? Sorry, I was just thinking..."

"About your Mystery Boy?" chuckled the shorter one. "Really, Olette, it's not healthy to obsess over these kind of things."

"Ugh, shut up, Pintz," she replied, folding her arms. "And he's not my Mystery Boy... Really, I can't help it."

Hayner grinned. "But you have to admit, it's kind of strange that you're always thinking about him," he teased. She grimaced at them. "Oh, forget you guys!" she said and turned on her heel.

"See what you did now?" Hayner exclaimed to Pintz, who raised up his hands in defense. "What did I do?"

Olette sighed again as she left them, closing her eyes. Why could they not remember him? She did, so what could be the problem? The only thing, was his name. She was utterly clueless on the subject of his name, but she could still remember that they used to hang out, all four of them. So, if she could recall his presence, why did they not?

As she walked, however, something suddenly appeared before her. She screamed in surprise, startling both her and the other person. "Whoa, sorry!" said the boy quickly. "I didn't mean to frighten you, I just, I don't know..."

"N-No, it's alright, but how did you-," Olette stopped mid-sentence, frozen by the male's face. It was nearly identical to that of the boy in her dreams, the boy of her memories... but he was not the same. His hair was different-brown, not a dirty blond-, and he wore different clothing. He stared at her, wondering what was wrong.

"Um, are you okay?" he asked, when suddenly something else appeared behind him, falling atop him, and that was followed by a smaller person. "Agh, Goofy, Donald!" said the teenager as he got up. The other two stood as well, and Hayner and Pintz ran up behind her, fear apparent on their faces.

"Olette!" Hayner exclaimed. "What's wrong? You screamed, and-," He caught sight of Sora and his comrades, and cocked an eyebrow up. "Well... what're you doing screaming about these clowns, Olette? We thought you were being by some of those white creatures," he stated, placing his hands on his hips. Pintz chuckled, putting his hands behind his head.

"Dang, you guys are hilarious! You're not from here, are you? Never seen you around, actually."

"Of course we're not!" hollered Donald. "We don't even know where we are!"

"Yeah," Sora said, running a hand through his hair. "We're a bit lost." Hayner nodded, glancing sideways at the large mansion to his left; they were outside its gates, which were locked tight. "I don't know where you guys are from, but this is Twilight Town. Were you headed somewhere?"

Sora shook his head. "No, in fact, we have no idea how we got here..." He stared at them uncertaintly, thinking about what to say next. "...We don't remember..."

This piece of information interested Olette. No one else remembered that boy she knew of, and these strangers were in something of the same dilemma. 'What's going on here? ...Could it be connected to those white creatures...?'

"Don't remember, eh?" the blond boy said, rubbing his chin. He glanced at Olette and Pintz, and cleared his throats. "How about this, then. You guys can come and stay at our little hideout until you figure out what to do. The town's been in a bit of a ruckus recently, and you'd be safer there, I guess."

Sora smiled. "Uh, sure, why not?"

---

The sound of the train was loud and clear in the somewhat large, musty room. Several bookshelves lined the walls, and multiple, tattered chairs were located throughout the room. There was a sofa as well, and an old, broken record player in the corner. "Have a seat," said Pintz as he plopped down on a chair, drumming his fings on the armrest. Sora and Donald sat down on the sofa, and Goofy got into a chair nearby. Hayner remained standing, looking up at the ceiling.

"...That mansion you guys were standing around, do you know anything about it?" Sora shrugged at this, leaning forward just slightly. "Why should we? I told you, we've never been here before."

He nodded, taking out a candy stick from his pocket. "I know, I know, I was just making sure... It's just there's been these shady people going into that place and coming out, but you guys don't look like them."

"I saw some around the train station, too," said Pintz casually. "One or two of them boarded."

Sora seemed concerned by this, but he had no idea why this was important. "So?"

"Well," began Hayner seriously, "around the time they started coming around, these white creatures showed up. Weird little things. We've seen a few jumping around the place, but they've been increasing in number."

Donald leaned a little closer to Sora, whispering, "...Think they're Heartless?"

"I don't know," responded the Keyblade Master, but Hayner seemed oblivious to this. "But, since you guys aren't sure about what to do, why don't you go and visit the old man who lives out in the mountains? They say he's something of a wizard or something."

"A wizard?" asked Goofy. "Why'd we want to go see a wizard?"

Hayner shrugged. "I dunno, but he might be able to help you with whatever you're trying to do. You can get to his home by taking the train," he said, pointing upwards. Sora folded his arms, pondering this. He looked to Donald and Goofy, but they only returned the stare.

"Are you sure this train can take us there?"

"...The train can go anywhere," answered Olette, her gaze on the floor. Hayner sighed and popped the Poxy stick into his mouth. The brunet boy stood up. "Okay, take us to the train."

END-CHAPTER ONE