Sora and his fellow teammates walked out of the Hollow Bastion room and into the all to familiar white hallways of Castle Oblivion. Sora dug into his pocket and drew out a single white card. He smiled and turned to Donald and Goofy.

"Only one more to go guys! We'll find Namine soon enough!"

Donald scowled as he crossed his arms and tapped his foot.

"About time! This is getting tiring!"

Goofy chuckled at Donalds statement

"Well… maybe you'll forget that you're tired, ayuck!"

Donalds face turned a maddening red at Goofy's reply and had to use every ounce of strength not to fry his fellow comrade.

Sora laughed uneasily and grinned.

"Come on now guys, we got better things to do than fight."

Jiminy hopped onto Sora shoulder and gave a nod.

"He's right, once we've cleared this world we'll be at the top! And we can finally defeat Axel and save Namine!"

All three then gave their nods of agreement. Sora held the world card above his head and the doors opened, swallowing them in a blinding light. When the light faded they were stunned to find themselves….

Underwater!

They yelled in unison as they feared the factor of drowning, but were met with an even stranger reality. They could somehow breathe underwater! Goofy was the first to speak.

"Hey… how come we're underwater.. but we can breathe?"

He looked to Donald, who just gave a confused look.

"I didn't even have to resort to magic like I did the last time. But, how is this working?"

"Any ideas Sora?" Piped up Jiminy.

Sora folded his arms and began to think, what was it that the cloaked figure had said to them? Before they had stepped into the copy of Traverse Town? Wait, Copy? That was it!

"Maybe it just has to do with it being a copy. Even though we feel like we're underwater… we're actually not."

"So.. uh... it's like a big dream?" Goofy asked.

"I suppose so," Sora replied. "But we've got to get a move on if we're going to rescue Riku and Namine."

The four set off. But as they were walking through the water world, they felt as if something was amiss. Jiminy looked at the surroundings, blue rock, steep cliffs, and seaweed blowing in the wind. Well, make that water, he thought to himself. But something caught his eye.

It was hard to explain. The thing was a shadow, but at the same time it wasn't, it was more of a muted color, anything it was in front of being rubbed out into black. And as the thing moved the darkness moved with it. Jiminy quickly glanced to Sora and shouted in alarm.

"Sora! There's something up there!"

Upon hearing the shout Sora and crew drew their weapons and looked around warily.

"Where is it Jiminy?" Sora demanded in his search for the thing.

Jiminy pointed up to the ledge where he saw the shadowy phantom.

"It's up…. There?"

The thing was gone. Not even a dark patch shone on the light blue rocks of the ocean. Sora lowered his weapon after not seeing an immediate threat.

"You mean it's gone?"

Jiminy frowned as the truth dawned upon him and nodded.

"It was right up there, it was.. a shadow"

"Could it have been a Heartless?" Goofy said, holding his shield a little higher.

"I don't know… but whatever it was… it was nothing I've ever seen before."

Donald went back to his "I'm tired with this" pose, tapping his foot in an agitated matter.

"Well if we run into it I'll give him a taste of Firaga!"

Sora looked over his shoulder to Donald.

"Well we're not going to wait here for it, lets just get to the exit of this world and get out of the castle."

They set off again. Walking further along they discovered that they were in an underwater canyon. The sheer drop-offs were chilling to the bone.. it was an easy place to get ambushed. And all the while Jiminy kept his eyes peeled for that strange shadow from before.

Soon the canyon walls parted, and they found themselves looking over a huge expanse and in the middle…

"Gawrsh," Goofy said with in awe, "Will ya look at that?"

The beauty of the city overcame Sora. It was a brilliant gold that shone with a great luster. Its spires reached into the "sky" and must have been 32 stories tall at least. On each spire was a different design. One had coils, another had cross designs upon it, one even leaned over on its side to form an arch. It looked like a mess of coral. Goofy was the first to break the silence of his dumbfounded friends.

"You think anybody lives there?"

"There's gotta be somebody there! Look at how big it is you palooka!" Donald retorted in an angry matter.

"Donalds right, lets check out the city and see if there's anyone we need to help," Sora said with a determined tone, "Besides… I think I'm getting hungry.."

They all heard a faint rumble and Sora grinned weakly.

"I think we all need a snack," Jiminy said with a frown.

And with that they set off to the golden city.

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Zexion sat in a corner of his darkened room. Upon his face was an expression that resembled a stone statue. Something was troubling him, eating away at him.

In the middle of his worrying Lexaeus phased into the room and stopped in front of Zexion. On his face was a stiff scowl.

"You haven't been talking for a long time Zexion. Ever since Vexen has gone to his own businesses you've shut yourself up in here. What concerns you so much that you don't even talk to old friends?"

Zexion remained silent for a moment, but soon his lifted his head and spoke out, his voice being dry and faint.

"Don't you see Lexaeus? Vexen is now, or perhaps even finished a weapon to take out Marluxia, and then use it on Sora. Marluxia is the black sheep in our group, he wants to rebel and kill us. As we speak he is probably trying to persuade Larxene and Axel to join him. Vexen is racing against the clock to do away with Marluxia before we must kill two more members of the Organization."

It was Lexaeuses turn to be mute. But it wasn't long before he spoke up again.

"Then why don't we help him Zexion? The three of us will be more than a match for the traitor."

Zexion shut his eyes; it was as if his old friend were driving a nail into his head with his questions.

"There is something else that has been troubling me. One of the worlds Sora has just visited is showing fluctuation in its creation. For some reason Soras memories have incorrectly rooted themselves into that level. And something within it is growing. A being of its own, forged by Soras memories. Occasionally I have witnessed Namine drawing a shadow in her pictures. It always mutes out the colors around it. Sometimes she even draws the shadow attacking one of us."

"Do you suppose that Namine created it?"

"I'm not sure Lexaeus. But if the shadow continues to grow it will eventually be able to walk out of that floor and come after us. Perhaps Namine is trying to warn us all."

"But why would she do such a thing? We brought her here against her will."

"That is something that I do not know Lexaeus. And I've been trying to figure out why the shadow is here, and why Namine knows about it, but so far it all comes out as a complete jumble to me. Let us hope that if Vexens weapon does indeed work that it can deal with the shadow in that world as well."

"I hope as well," Lexaeus said with a stern voice, "For all our sakes."

Zexion did not peruse the conversation. He only went back to thinking. Lexaeus sighed and leaned against the marble wall. The silence in the room was sickening, and then, for no purpose, Zexion uttered a single word.

"Vanessa"

Lexaeus looked up from the wall he was leaning on, what was that that Zexion had said?

"Did you say something Zexion?"

"…. Don't let it trouble you Lexaeus"

This was the first time Lexaeus decided not to listen to his friends' advice