Cloud slowly got to his feet, using the wall as support. All his energy was gone. He began to walk, still using the wall. Finally, he got out to the hall and began to make his way back to the control center. After it seemed like forever, he made it there and found Riku and Leon lying face down with Donald and Goofy over them. Donald looked up as he entered. "You too! What happened to you guys?" he asked. Cloud couldn't hold himself up anymore and fell to the floor by his friends. "Cloud!" Donald shouted when he saw this. When Cloud finally awoke, he found he was in a bed. He tried sitting up but his muscles wouldn't move. He turned his head and saw Donald sitting in a chair by the desk in the room. "Donald?" he asked weakly. He frowned. Donald looked at him before speaking. "I need you to tell me what happened. Riku and Leon are still out of it." He said after he realized Cloud was awake. Cloud sighed. He didn't know if he had the energy to speak. Donald realized this and decided to wait a while before Cloud could answer. "Tell me later. I need to check where we are." He said before walking out. As he left, Cloud began to wonder what exactly had happened. It wasn't long before he fell asleep again.
Sora turned his head as he heard the two heartless appear behind him. He turned to see each one had done their job well. He held out his hand for the yellow orbs that each one held. They handed them over and disappeared into the shadows. Sora smirked as he held the three orbs of energy that the heartless had stolen from his three comrades. They began to glow brightly and were absorbed into Sora. He would let them have it back anytime soon. Not until he placed marks of their own on them. He felt the energy immediately spread through his body. He laughed slightly with a smirk as he felt this. He felt powerful. Almost as powerful when the entire energy of the mark took him over but the energy wasn't enough to meet that standard. He allowed his hand to release from the fist he had balled it up into. He looked back up at the 3-d map he had been watching earlier before the heartless had come back. Their ship was closer and would soon arrive at the destination. Perfect. With the three most powerful people weak they wouldn't be able to defeat the army of heartless he had prepared. He heard more heartless appear. He turned and faced them. They came forth and waited fro instruction from him. He thought for a moment before he found what he wanted them to do. "When our guests arrive, make sure they follow you to me. That's when we can activate the spell." He told them. They nodded and disappeared again.
Goofy and Donald landed the ship and went back to check on Cloud, Riku, and Leon. All three were awake with weapons in hand. They acted as if nothing had happened to them but their eyes showed how weak they were. Yet Donald and Goofy didn't notice this when they set off for the castle. As they neared it, three heartless appeared. Cloud recognized one. "That's the one that took my energy!" he said before he took off after it, Leon and Riku following him. Donald and Goofy looked at each other before trailing behind them. They chased them down many hallways before Cloud stopped, puffing for air. He was just remembering that his energy was taken from him and it was taken its effect on him. Leon and Riku had done the same while Donald and Goofy looked at each other in wonder. "Are you guys all right?" Goofy asked in concern. The three immediately stood up straight and nodded but their eyes said deferent. "You're not well enough to take them on. Go back to the ship. You'll be killed if you fight like that." Donald told them as he pointed toward the ship. "No way. Sora is my brother and I'm supposed to protect him no matter what condition I'm in. So I'm going. That's that." Loud said, the weakness in his eyes being replaced with furry and determination. "Cloud, just because you're his brother doesn't mean that you should give up your life! I deserve to be killed so I'll go. It's my fault the mark reappeared and it's going to be me that gets rid of it." Riku said lowering his eyes. The others looked at him in awe. They had never heard his voice so commanding and sorry at the same time. Cloud's eyes changed to understanding. He finally started to trust Riku. He finally started to respect him. "Riku, I do what I must. I understand now how you feel about Sora but I need to help him. Not because I'm his brother but because he needs me. If we're going to save him, we're going to do this together. What about you Leon?" he asked as Riku took in what Cloud had said. He smiled slightly. "Hey, I'm sticking with you." He said. Cloud nodded and started to walk down the halls, going slow and steady in hope that his energy would be restored as he walked. The thoughts of saving Sora gave the group more strength than usual but their energy was still gone. 'We will save him even without our energy.' Cloud thought to himself as they continued walking down the hall.
Finally! Cloud starts to understand Riku's intentions and feelings for Sora! Whoot!