Guessing Games

Summary: What would have happened if it were Sora being sealed into the Darkness instead of King Mickey and Riku. What would happen if it were Riku searching for Sora instead of Sora searching for Riku? How would the story change?

Chapter 1: Friend in Need
Two years! Two years since those Heartless vanished! Two years without those pesky heart stealers! Two freakin' years! Why the hell were they back now?

Various thoughts flew irritably through Leon's mind and he continued to curse the heartless surrounding him. For the past two years he and his fellow Restoration Committee members had been struggling to rebuild their home, Hollow Bastion. Seems all their efforts are going to be in vain if these heartless won't stop destroying the landscape!

Leon was normally a calm guy, priding himself in saying what he needed to say, when he needed to say it. He gripped his gun-shaped sword tightly in his palm, one hand rising to angrily push his mass of brown hair from his eyes. These heartless were grating on his nerves. The fact that they wouldn't stop coming only angered him more.

Merlin's prediction flowed through his mind once more: "The heartless are going to return," he had told them. "And they're not alone."

"What d'you mean they're coming back?" Cid, his companion, had sprung from his chair, glaring at the wizard. "Who else could be with them?"

Merlin glared at Cid. "Some figures in black. I know not who they are. I do know that Sora had vanished. I do not know where he is nor can I sense him. I haven't been able to sense him for two years. We're alone in this fight."

"Vanished?" Aerith's hand rose and lay lightly over her mouth. "Didn't he return to his own world?"

Merlin shook his head. "King Mickey and the others had returned, as far as I can see. Sora was not with them."

The news hit them hard. The small boys that they'd all remember. The boy that had saved their world was gone? It didn't seem possible. Surely Merlin wouldn't lie about this though, would he?

Leon growled, focusing his thoughts back on the heartless that were relentlessly attacking him. He knew that it would have been useless to call for assistance; no one was near him. He had planned to scout out a new building area when he had been bombarded. Now, he was tiring, more quickly than he would have liked and the heartless were still coming. When he sliced through one, three appeared. Stabbing another meant two more heartless to compete with. One heartless sneaked past his guard.

Sensing one behind him, he spun, bringing his blade up to deflect. Yet, his actions seemed to be too sluggish…too delayed. He couldn't seem to move fast enough and he could see the heartless reaching for his heart. Time seemed to move slowly and the heartless' shadowy hand reached for him.

A black blur swooped between the shadow and the man, neatly slicing the Heartless before it could grab his heart. Leon snapped back into action and fighting off another round heartless that was crawling forward.

"Firaga!" Fire erupted around him, forming a temporary protective barrier that killed any Heartless inside and around it.

Leon looked back; noticing that the dark blur he had seen was actually a person in a black sweatshirt, hood hiding their head and facial features, and a pair of black baggy pants. The person was standing behind him, his back to him and his head rose to a ledge about ten feet above them. He was panting and Leon doubted it was from just that one spell. What troubled him the most wasn't the seemingly protective barrier erected around him, nor the fact that his life had been saved by a stranger. It was the fact that the stranger wielded both Oblivion and Oathkeeper, two keyblades that were own by only one person. They one person everyone believed was dead.

A deep, low chuckle drew his attention to the ledge that the stranger was looking at. A man stood at the edge, wrapped in a long black cloak, his face hidden by a hood, concealing his face much like it did for the stranger next to him.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. And it was such a fun game too." The cloaked figure laughed.

"You didn't leave me very many clues Luxord," the stranger growled, his voice low yet familiar. "And you lied. You said sunset!"

The figure shrugged beneath his cloak. "Minor details. You're here aren't you? And you're on time! Congratulations. Though I was hoping that clue might have stumped you."

The lower portion of the stranger's face was visible and Leon saw him smirk. "'A stormy lion' gave it away Luxord. And I'm tired of your games!" He slashed OathKeeper sideways, slicing neatly through a Heartless that had scurried past his shield. "Quit toying with me!"

Amusement was evident in Luxord's voice. "But my dear Keyblade Master. This is all just one big game in which I am the king and you are the pawn."

Furious, the stranger leapt from the protective fire shield and landed near the base of the vertical climb. A few nimble hops and multiple slashes brought him halfway up the cliff way. He ran the rest of his way, using his momentum to hurl himself at the chuckling man. He swung down at him, slashing with Oblivion before spinning and striking with Oathkeeper. Cards burst from the ground around Luxord and shielded him from the attacks, bouncing the stranger backwards over the edge.

"Sora! You have to try harder than that," Luxord called out, looking over the edge. "Pity I must kill you." He drew his arm out to the side across his chest. Flicking his fingers, four cards appeared and fanned out in his hand. "I was so enjoying the hunt." He whipped his arm down, sending the card hurtling after the stranger.

Focused with halting his hazardous decent, the stranger only caught a glimpse of white as the cards flew towards him. He drew the keyblades up in front of him, protecting his vitals and suppressing a hiss as a card sliced past his arms, tearing flesh.

The ground was mere feet from him.

The stranger held out a hand below him and, landing awkwardly, back flipped and landed harshly on his feet. He fell to the ground, knees colliding harshly with the unforgiving earth. He cradled his hand to his chest, both keyblades dropped to the ground on either side of him. His hood loosened and fell to his back.

Vivid blue eyes glared up at the platinum blond on the rock face; a boy facing down a man. Spiky chocolate brown were clumped with sweat at his temples. A muscle in his jaw twitched, the only outward sign of the immense pain flooding his body.

Luxord smiled. "My dear Keyblader, you have once again surpassed my expectations. My praise," he bowed mockingly at the young teen.

"Take your stupid praise and choke on it," The boy's voice lowered and became husky as his vision started blurring from pain and fatigue. He fought back the blackness creeping along the side of his vision. Luxord snapped his fingers and the Heartless disappeared.

"You're still alive and so I must once again congratulate you," Luxord's smile was far from pleasant. "Another riddle perhaps? Another death if you're tardy. Are you ready?"

"Enough of your games! It's me you're after. Leave my friends out of this!"

"Ah, but you're friends are as much a pawn as you are. You do not comprehend the true focus of our cause! And so, a riddle: "Falling from heaven's tears." You got three days. At anytime on the third day, he will die." He stomped his foot and a whirl of blue and purple darkness appeared behind him. Luxord nimbly stepped into it. His voice drifted to them. "Three days Keyblade Master. Will you make it?"

Sora struggled to his feet, cursing when they refused to support him. He stood again, swaying. He took a step and stumbled, falling to the ground.

An arm wrapped around his waist and his own was draped over Leon's neck.

"So you are alive…Sora," Leon murmured as he took more of Sora's weight.

Sora smiled yet, despite the optimistic gesture, his voice was little more than a whisper. "Don't feel very alive," A groan escaped past his lips. He muttered to himself. "'Falling from heaven's tears'? Dammit. Who is it?" He tried, with Leon's help, to stand. He collapsed against his friend.

"Now listen here Sora," A green cricket hopped from Sora's torn hood and onto Leon's shoulder. "You're in no condition to fight. You need to rest. You going on to day three without sleep and you've been fighting nearly day and night."

Leon glanced over at Sora, saying nothing as he started to head back to Merlin's house with Sora in tow. One thing he knew for sure, Sora needed help. He hoped Merlin had the answers.

Sora grunted. "Yeah. I had six days that time, though. And I almost didn't make it!" he staggered and leaned more heavily on Leon. "Dammit. Dammit…" his voice faded as the blessed blackness of sleep claimed his tired mind.

Leon stopped for a moment, readjusting Sora until he rested comfortable on his back. He turned to Jiminy. "How long?"

Jiminy sighed, sitting down on next to Leon's collar. "You're the fourth one. He's been fighting both fear and Heartless since he nearly lost the first one. He's a brave boy. He won't risk losing any one of you. So he'll fight and, if he keeps this up, the Organization will win."

"Organization?"

"Luxord is a member. The Organization is made up of Nobodies, the shells of people that had lost their hearts. They're after Sora. Well, Sora's keyblades to be exact. They're using this…game to wear him down. It's working."

"You mentioned earlier that he lost the first one. Who was he?"

"She. And he nearly lost her; her name's Sally. She was a girl we came across in one of our worlds. Halloween Town I believe. She's an experiment that had a heart. It made her alive. When we got to her she was in pieces. We arrived in time to save her heart and when we left Dr. Fickelstein was working on repairing her body. Sora's never forgiven himself."

Leon watched Sora out of the corner of his eye. It was clear the young boy – who wasn't a boy anymore – had been a lot, alone. The whole story he'd have to get from the source but that could wait. He had to figure out the clue to help Sora; let him rest and recover. Then he can help him so he wouldn't have to be alone – to fight alone against this Organization.

He'd help Sora. In any way he could.

Aaaaaand…CUT! That's a wrap folks! Tune in next time for Chapter 2! Ciao!