Disclaimer: not mine
And here we start part 2! Enjoy. I actually gave up on this game and just watched the cut scenes due to the whole card battle thing, drove me insane.
Chapter 7
She sat in the white room, coloured pencil moving over the paper. She drew the castle she was in, carefully, three small figures approaching it. He was coming…Sora. She had no memories of anything before the room, but she knew Sora. She was so lonely…
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
He had been aware almost instantly of 'Ansem's' failure and while it was a setback, they had each had their role to play. And he had several contingencies ready to go. The research in Castle Oblivion into memory and replica's was important and perhaps would help finish filling their ranks. They still did not have a thirteenth member and it was very possible they would soon be down even more members. Treachery was suspected and that was why he had chosen those he had to send to Castle Oblivion. He had just sent Axel to deal with them, better they be dealt with now then to let their treason spread to others.
He knew the Heartless version of himself had fallen to the new Keyblade wielder…young Sora, after possessing the boys friend. Access to the Keyblade would speed things up, a pity the boy had not formed a Nobody when he became a Heartless himself. It was an assumption, but it had to be correct for the last Princess' heart to have been freed. There were many questions regarding the boy, including how he was returned from his Heartless state.
Marluxia had sent word, Naminé had drawn an image of the boy and his companions approaching the Castle as planned. They could prove very useful to them via either the memory experiments or the replica program, and a good way to test Marluxia and the others. He had no worry about Vexen and his section, they were too interested in the experiments to contemplate treason.
The other boy would likely be more useful to their plans, already exposed to the Darkness…and locked behind the door. Such a waste.
Vexen had sent them the results of one of his experiments and perhaps for now it could fill the position of XIII. It would need training though, it had very little knowledge or personality. They had used the memory data he had collected from Sora during their brief confrontation in Hollow Bastion on the puppet, but it wasn't enough. Once Sora reached the Castle, Vexen's team could copy more memories to give to 'Xion', make it more complete and useful.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Sora lay in the grass beside the dirt road, staring up at the night sky. They didn't have a clue where they were and they'd somehow lost Pluto. This World was strange, nothing but rolling hills of grass, it would be boring if they hadn't just come away from multiple fights to the death…against the one guy.
They had plenty of food, for all of them, thankfully, enough to last for several months at least. But they had no ship, no way to leave. As the sky began to lighten, he got up to look around more.
"Along the road ahead lies something you need."
Sora spun around, calling his Keyblade to hand, fighting the urge to crouch. Further along the road he spotted a figure wearing a black-hooded coat, completely hiding his body, hood up over his head…and then he was gone. Sora looked around for him, and the man reappeared behind him, Sora spinning to face him.
"However…in order to claim it you must lose something that is dear to you." The man turned around and disappeared.
Sora walked ahead, searching around, but it seemed he was really gone this time. Sora breathed deeply but the scent was…strange, almost impossible to detect despite the fact the man had been standing there only seconds before. He hurried back to wake the others and tell them what had happened.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Marluxia looked at Naminé's latest drawing and smirked. The Keyblade bearer was about to enter and now it appeared the one Ansem had possessed was also to join them. So many opportunities. They could make good use of one or even both boys in their plans to overthrow the Superior.
He looked over at where Naminé was sitting, cowering. She was so easy to use and control, such a marvellous find for the Organisation with her powers over memory.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
"Where am I..." Riku couldn't feel anything around him…floating. He was so tired…
"Stay asleep."
Riku gasped, forcing his eyes open, at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. "Who's there?!" he asked, able to see nothing but unending grey.
"You should remain asleep. Here, between Light and Dark."
"Between...what?" he asked in confusion and then gasped again as memory flooded back. "The king! Where's the king?! Together we closed the door to Darkness. After that…" he remembered nothing.
"You came drifting here by yourself. You did not have the strength to overcome the Darkness. Or...maybe you were close to it."
"Hmph. As if I'm some kind of demon." He lifted his hands, flexing them, making fists, getting his body moving to stay awake, before looking up to try and see anything.
"Hmm. Turn from the Light. Shut your eyes. Here blanketed by the Darkness, sleep is safety. Sleep is eternal. But..." the voice trailed off and a light shone in front of him, revealing a card. Riku averted his eyes from the light, finding it blinding after the greyness. The card floated around him.
"What's this?" he asked warily.
"It is a door to the truth. Take it and your sleep ends, as you take the first step toward the truth. But know this: the truth will bring you pain. Will you still go? There is no return to the security of sleep," the voice explained.
Riku thought about it. He was tired and sleep sounded wonderful…he could just let go…but Sora…Kairi…he remembered the look on Sora's face as the door shut between them, how desperately he had tried to take his hand… Riku reached out and took the card.
"This seemed like a boring place to take a nap anyway," he told the voice, and he swore he sensed amusement from it.
"That was very well said, Riku."
The card glowed, and Riku covered his eyes, blinking in the bright light of a pure white hallways. He saw a door up ahead and then looked down at the card in his hand, approaching the door.
"A door to the truth, huh..." he held the card up to the door.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Kairi got up and went to her bedroom window, looking out at the Island. She could see Sora's house just down the road, a single light on just in case a missing son returned in the night. She couldn't see Riku's, but she knew no light burned there to usher him home. She missed them so much…
She'd barely been home for four days, but it was like she'd never been gone, no one really remembered anything except a bad storm thankfully. She didn't know how she'd explain where she'd been during that time. Sora's Mom had asked her if she knew where they were and she'd had to admit that she didn't, not sure what she could tell her. The truth would sound insane after all.
In the morning, she'd be back at school for a new year and then everyone would know they were missing. She just hoped that Sora could find Riku fast and that they'd be home soon. She missed them so much.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,
"Well, Sora? Did you enjoy meeting your memories?"
Sora stared at the black covered figure, trying to work out what the point to all of that was. Donald and Goofy had lost all of the hard earned abilities they'd gained during the journey…but he hadn't forgotten his. He'd played along, though it was hard, acting as if he couldn't use magic and could only bash Heartless with the Keyblade. It was frustrating but he didn't think letting them know he could do it was a good idea.
Something or someone was messing with memories…and he was a vampire, vampires didn't forget, if they did then what was the point to immortality? They'd just end up a new person every few centuries. They could grow (not physically obviously) and learn but they couldn't lose anything once turned, too frozen in time.
"Yeah, it was good to see everyone. But what do you really want from me?" He asked, he didn't think it was anything good.
"What do you have to give?"
The man walked toward them. Sora, Donald, and Goofy summoned their weapons but before anything could happen another man appeared, this one with his hood down, revealing spiky red hair.
"Hello!" the newcomer greeted almost cheerfully but his green eyes were not friendly.
"What do you want?" the first asked.
"No hogging the hero."
The hooded man seemed to hesitate but then tossed the red-haired man a card. "Then perhaps you'd like to test him."
"Perhaps I would," he smirked as the first disappeared. "My show now, Keyblade master. Who am I? Oh, my name's Axel. Got it memorized?"
"Uh...sure," Sora answered, surprised to find he could catch this one's scent relatively easily, was the cloak somehow blocking that when the hood was up? He smelt like fire, ash…a bit like sea salt…and something sweet? There was Darkness too, not quite as much as Sora had expected, but none of the scents he tended to equate with emotions which was really weird.
"Good, you're a quick learner. So Sora, now that we're getting to know each other better…" Axel smirked and summoned two bladed chakrams. "Don't you go off and die on me now!"
Sora nodded, dropping into a fighting stance, letting Axel make the first move, wanting to see how he fought. Leon had beaten that into his head, don't rush into fights with unknown opponents. It was hard, holding back, and with the others having lost so much as well. Sora took a few more hits than normal when he had to cover for them but in the end, Axel vanished, leaving a card covered in light hovering where he'd been. Sora walked over and plucked it from the air. He needed to feed soon but he was worried, what if they were watching them?
"Another one. What's it do?" Donald asked, looking at it when Sora held it out to them.
"Hmm. Kinda looks like the card you used when you made Traverse Town," Jiminy commented after climbing onto Sora's shoulder.
He didn't know why the cricket stayed with him all the time, he had to get cold since Sora didn't generate body heat anymore, and since he was unaffected by the illusion he would feel his true temperature. Didn't insects do badly in the cold?
"Then I guess we're gonna need it to keep going," Sora shrugged.
"That's right," Axel's voice had him turning, Keyblade once more in hand, but the older male didn't seem to be looking for a fight this time. He looked….smelled, injured, though not too badly.
"Axel!" Donald brandished his staff in warning, but Axel approached as if it didn't worry him, which it probably didn't considering Donald's current skill level.
"Did you really think after that introduction, I would give up oh so easily?"
"You were testing us," Sora suggested, and Axel grinned though there was nothing friendly about it. Actually, all his expression, his scent, none of it seemed to give away emotion at any time and that was just plain weird.
"And you passed. Congratulations, Sora! You're ready now…ready to take on Castle Oblivion. You will need to follow your memories. Trust what you remember and seek what you forget. Then you will find someone very special."
"You mean King Mickey and Riku?" Goofy asked.
"You will just have to give some more thought to who it is that's…most important to you. Our most precious memories lie so deep within our hearts that they're out of reach. But I'm sure that you can find yours, Sora."
"Why me?" he didn't like what he was hearing at all. There was something very wrong in the Castle, but what? If the Traverse Town they'd been to had been made from his memories, then why hadn't anyone there known him?
"You have lost sight of the Light within the Darkness. And it seems that you've forgotten that you forgot."
"The Light within Darkness..." he was horrible at riddles! Riku was better but even he would probably be lost, Kairi was really the one out of the three of them that had any luck with the things.
Axel held out his hand. "Would you like me to give you a hint?"
"Sora…do ya need it?" Goofy asked after a moment, but Sora shook his head.
"I'm gonna figure it out for myself," he answered, he didn't think he wanted 'help' from anyone in the Castle except his friends. The people in black were dangerous and he didn't need to be able to smell them to know that.
"Good answer. Just what I'd expect from the Keyblade master. But be forewarned... When your sleeping memories awaken, you may no longer be who you are now." With that warning, Axel vanished again, leaving behind five World Cards.
Sora stared at the place where he'd been, thinking. They definitely wanted something from him, but what? They kept bringing up memories but why? It was almost like…nah, that was impossible, wasn't it? His memory was far better since he'd become a vampire, he remembered things now that he hadn't been able to as a human due to the passage of time, like when he was two and he'd fallen off the kitchen counter, breaking his left wrist.
"Hmm..."
"What's wrong, Jiminy?" he glanced at the cricket.
"Well, ya see, what Axel said back there worries me. What could he have meant by, "You may no longer be who you are"?"
"I may no longer be me? How can I be anyone else?" But he could, and he knew it, he could lose himself to the vampire instincts and become nothing more than a bloodthirsty beast. He didn't think that was what they meant though, they didn't seem to know what he was, which was good.
Jiminy laughed but there was something nervous in it. "Of course. Still, you can't be too careful."
"Yep. Feels like just about anything could happen here in Castle...Oblivi…Oblivi…Obliv…"
"Castle Oblivion!" Donald finally finished for Goofy, and Sora hid a snicker.
"Oh, yeah! Now I remember!"
"We'll be okay. Whatever it is they're cooking up; we'll be able to handle it together," Sora told them, wishing he could be as sure as he sounded.
"'Course we will, like at that creepy castle we explored together, the one with all those weird contraptions," Goofy agreed, and Sora swallowed.
"Hmm... When was that?" he asked, pushing without looking like it, hopefully.
"Uhh... I can't remember. What was it called?" Goofy's question had his un-beating heart sinking. "Gawrsh, oh it was, uh... Holla... Holly... Holler... Sorry. I can't remember."
"Wak! Stop goofing around," Donald whacked him with his staff.
"Hollow Bastion," Sora whispered too quietly for them to hear, now scared. How could they ever forget that place?
,,,,,,,,,,,
Naminé stared at the drawing of four children together, working to insert herself into Sora and Riku's memories. Something was wrong though, she wasn't sure what, but something wasn't working like it should.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,
"Why do you shun the Darkness?"
"Hmph. Come on, I know you heard every word I said to Maleficent," Riku answered, looking around warily.
"Darkness is your weapon. It is time you learned you must accept it."
"What do you mean?"
"Stop resisting. Accept the Darkness. You have no choice..." the voice continued and Riku fought back a shiver, it was familiar. He tensed as an aura of Darkness appeared, revealing…Ansem! "...if you are to serve me again!"
"I thought it was you...Ansem," Riku glared at the being who had possessed him, who had used him to nearly kill Sora multiple times, had played with his head until he had forgotten that Sora was his best friend, not just some rival.
"Oh. You don't seem surprised."
"All you have been talking about is the Darkness. I can only assume you wanna pull me back in...so you can play puppet master," Riku shrugged as if unconcerned when in reality he was terrified, he couldn't go back, not again.
"Clever boy. I knew you'd be the one to most appropriately serve me. And now, surrender to me again."
"You're crazy! Not a chance!" He yelled, hands balled into fists before he called Soul Eater to hand, slashing at Ansem who absorbed the attack. Riku cried out as he was sent flying back, rolling across the white floor.
"Did you really think you could do me harm? A weakling like you couldn't even defeat Sora… and you had Darkness on your side."
"Excuse me...for being weak..." Riku grunted as he staggered to his feet.
"You are weak. You need Darkness. Surrender. Bow to Darkness. Bow to me," Ansem gloated, and Riku glared at him.
Riku growled at his tormentor. "That's not gonna happen!" he would never give in again!
"Only the Darkness can offer to you all of the strength that you will need to save your friends."
"You're wrong!" a new voice called as a sphere of light floated down and hovered around Riku.
"That voice..." Riku frowned in confusion and then his eyes went wide, hope blooming. "Your Majesty?!"
"That's right! Remember Riku, you're not alone." The sphere moved closer, fusing into Riku's chest, and he closed his eyes, feeling the warmth of the Light. "Listen close. The Light'll never give up on you. You'll always find it, even in the deepest Darkness!"
"I got it." Riku smiled slightly, he wasn't alone, he was never alone. The King believed in him. Sora…Sora believed in him, even when he'd given up on himself, Sora had still be looking for any sign he was there. "I won't lose to Darkness. Not today." He glared at Ansem.
"You think that feeble little Light can save you from the Darkness that I command? You shall feel my Dark powers…in your bones!"
"Give me all you've got. I'll give it right back!" he yelled, lifting his blade.
He dodged Ansem's first attack, darting in, trying to land a hit. He was shocked to find he was holding his own. He didn't let himself become distracted though, he had to beat him. He hissed in pain as Ansem scored a hit…in the same place he remembered Sora landing one in that fight back in Hollow Bastion, the one Ansem had shrugged off. He dug out a potion and went on the attack.
"What, that all you got?" he panted, refusing to show weakness, even as Ansem staggered away from him. How long had they been fighting?
"It seems to me that you are intent on resisting the Darkness. All right. Then see it for yourself." Ansem held out a card and Riku stared at him in confusion. Was he really giving up so soon?
"Huh?"
"This is a card crafted from your memory. Advance through the world it creates and soon, you will understand... Chasing after Light is not the way. It will not give you distance from the Darkness. There is no running from the Darkness," Ansem answered.
"Don't worry, I'm not running. Give it. I'll enter the world and in the end, if I haven't given in to the Darkness... Then I win." He didn't like the sound of how the card was made. How had Ansem done that? And…was making cards all he could do with the memories?
"I have one more gift for you." Ansem clenched his hand, and a Dark sphere formed inside Riku.
He writhed in pain, clutching his chest, ending up on his knees. "What'd you do?!" he demanded once he could speak again.
"I simply tempered the Darkness that yet remains in your heart."
"You still think that I'd rely on Darkness?" he snapped, he wouldn't! He'd seen what that did to him and he would never betray his friends like that again.
"To use it or not is your choice. I'll be waiting, Riku...for you to sense it and yield to the Darkness in your heart!" with that he vanished and Riku stood.
No, Ansem was wrong, he would never give in again. He closed his eyes, thinking of his friends; the King, Sora, Kairi, and…who was she? There'd been another girl…hadn't there?
TBC…
