Chapter 62

Sora crash-landed in front of the castle. Rocky grew to be his size, and carried him up on him.

"Good boy," grumbled Sora as he rested his body on top of the rocky dog. Riku came out of the castle, widening his eyes when he saw Sora on top of the rock dog.

"Sora...what is that thing?" Riku was pretty shocked to see his friend and his new companion.

"I got a pet dog Riku! Now I can take him on walks, and feed him, and play with him...and you can help too!"

"Maybe another time..." Riku motioned for Sora to come in the castle. Rocky transformed to a smaller creature, and Sora went inside the castle. He was greeted with the sight of multiple people conversing about something. Kairi saw him first, and went to hug him tightly.

"Sora! You're here!"

"Yes, I'm here alright!" Sora hugged back. Sora eventually let go, and scanned the room. He did a double take when he saw someone who looked just like him, only with black hair. "Who...who are you?!"

"He's Vanitas." Aqua looked at him with curiosity. "Apparently, he is on our side now."

"We can go over this on the way to Castle Oblivion," Vanitas grumbled. "This is already confusing as it is."

"You must make haste!" Yen Sid came in with a worried look. "Sora, I will help your ship get to Castle Oblivion, so make sure to get there as soon as possible."

"Wait, hold up, what's going on?" Sora looked shocked. Then, he spotted Misaki, and backed up. "Wait, Ichigo's mother?! What-"

"Sora, I'll explain all of this to you later," Kairi said. "Right now, we have to get to a certain someone, and you have the power to do so. Can you trust me on this?"

"Of course." Sora decided to go as fast as he can to that area. Aqua and Vanitas got up to go outside. Sora went after them, but he waved a hand at everyone else in the room. "Nice to see all of you again!"

Sora, Rocky, Aqua, and Vanitas boarded the ship. Donald and Goofy looked shocked, while Blue, Trunks, and Cloud looked with confusion at them.

"So there's another Sora?" Blue asked.

"I mean...this universe is filled with Soras," Cloud said. "Seriously, we have his nobody, which is just a more mature version of him, and -"

"WHAT?!" Sora interrupted. "Are you saying that Roxas is more mature than me?"

"Is he not though?" Goofy said. Sora put his head down in defeat.

"Enough with the antics," commanded Vanitas. "We got to head to Castle Oblivion."

"It seems like you got the same idea I did." Axel appeared in the room in his pajamas. They were lined with race cars that spewed fire on tracks.

"Ummm...who...?" Aqua asked.

"The name's Axel, you got it memorized? And as for why I am in pajamas, I slept for a while now. And I find out that Roxas is in Castle Oblivion. Those psychopaths have him there!"

"Then this makes my revenge easier to carry out." Vanitas gritted his teeth in anger. "Those weird cultists will deal with a very angry man of darkness."

The ship picked up speed, and it headed into a portal. Sora was filled in on the latest happenings, and he looked at Vanitas in shock. "So, you are on the side of light?" Sora asked.

"Not exactly. I am a creature of darkness, and I do stand by your side...from the shadows." Vanitas looked outside of the ship. "There is nothing for me in the light, Sora."

"You don't have to abandon the darkness to be part of the light," Aqua said. "Riku was able to handle the darkness and stay in the light. I am sure that you can do that too."

Vanitas looked depressed. "I don't think I can do something like you guys can."

"Well unfortunately for you, we will make ya do so!" Axel said. Vanitas looked doubtful of that claim.

The ship stopped in front of a white castle. The crew got out of the ship.

"So, this is Castle Oblivion..." Sora said out loud. "I still can't recollect what happened here."

Aqua closed her eyes, and pointed her keyblade at the place. Suddenly, an amazing change occurred. The tower reassembled itself, and the darkness surrounding the place vanished. Before the crew could react, the castle turned into a colorful place.

"This is the Land of Departure," Aqua said. "The place that I call home."

The crew quickly entered in the place. They immediately found some unconscious people by the doorway.

"Run...run..." One of them groaned before falling unconscious. Stitch made an appearance on Sora's shoulder with Rocky on the other, and both were concerned at the bodies in front of them.

"What happened to you?!" Aqua looked at them in horror.

"We...we needed to get to Ventus...but...the nightmare..." The man passed out after saying nightmare. Vanitas looked on ahead and saw more people passed out.

"Well, let's go on ahead." Everyone ran, following Aqua as she headed to the main training area of the building. Sora saw a boy who looked like Roxas sleep on a chair, and he saw what was clearly Roxas passed out on the floor. In front of them was a crowd of defeated people who wore white cloaks. A woman with a keyblade was kneeling in pain as she faced off against...nothing.

"Hey, I think that's the girl Demyx mentioned!" Axel widened his eyes. "What could have beaten her...much less any of these guys?"

"Definitely something powerful," said Vanitas. "Roxas lost to her. Though given the circumstances, I can't really say that it was a fair fight..."

The woman noticed and turned to the group. She cuddled into a ball and faced away from the group.

"N..No...get away from me..." She sniffled. Vanitas got the impression that this was directed at him. He looked towards Ventus and saw something was not right with the space in front of him.

"What is that thing...?" Vanitas pondered.

The space in front of Ventus transformed into something humanoid. It wore a demonic mask and an Organization XIII coat, yet it did not felt like it was familiar to anyone in the room.

"I...I thought I found my solution..." The woman kept stammering, clutching her knees tightly. "I made a mistake...I..."

"What is that?!" Sora looked at the being. It was now surrounded by darkness. Sora felt something was off, but he could not place his finger on it. The being looked at the group with curiosity.

Vanitas suddenly had a thought. "Hold on," he said, "This being of darkness...it has a mask, like an Hollowfied being would, correct? What if it's a shinigami?"

As if to prove him wrong, the being extended its hand and a keyblade formed. Vanitas and Aqua were shocked that it resembled Ventus's keyblade, only it is covered in darkness.

"You know," Trunks said, "I was about to say...it looks like it is guarding Ventus, right?"

Sora suddenly came to an realization. "This has to be...the thing that guarded me!"

"What?" Aqua asked.

"I think he's referring to his trials to be a keyblade master," said Vanitas. "He was trapped in a nightmare, and when Riku went to rescue his friend, Sora was guarded by this thing. I didn't even recognize it because it has that mask...and that coat..."

Vanitas looked at the woman on the ground. "I think that she must have been responsible for this. The X-blade...she was trying to recreate it through both Roxas and Ventus."

"But it failed because the dark thing she summoned took in otherworldy powers," Blue said. "She must have not known about what the thing was..."

"Correct."

A voice came from behind them, startling the group. Everyone turned to see Eraquis standing before them.

"Master Eraquis!" Aqua was stunned by what she saw.

"Wait, Master Eraquis?!" Donald gasped. "He's supposed to be long gone!"

"Yeah!" Goofy said. "Yen Sid told us that Xheanort had something to do with your disappearance!"

"Oh, he did. Unfortunately, he used Terra to get rid of me. I only returned because of the light."

"Maybe you should have stayed down," Vanitas said. Aqua shot him a dirty look.

"Well, if it isn't the sidekick of Xheanort." Eraquis raised his keyblade and pointed it to him. "The one who stood by his side while my students suffered. Tell me, you're here to assimilate Ventus inside of you, correct?"

Vanitas closed his eyes, thinking about his response for a bit. He opened his eyes, as if coming to an epiphany.

"At first, I wanted to become together with my brother," Vanitas said. "We were together for so long...and when we separated, all I was left with was darkness. Negativity. I still have that feeling, and even when I channel it into Unverses, those feelings come back to me, hurting me more."

The group looked in shocked silence.

"I admit, I did want to become one with Ventus, especially if it meant an end to an existence like mine. I know that I am nothing more than a monster. However...I can't just run away from what I have done. I have to mend what I have done, and that means waking him up and letting him choose what to do. I know that he would expect the same for me."

"How thoughtful of you," Eraquis said. "Forgive me if I am skeptical of your real intentions. Regardless of that, I will rescue Ventus, so I will pass through!"

"You know...maybe this might be a better idea," Axel said. "He's strong enough to pacify the thing in front of Ventus."

"I agree with Axel," Aqua said. "We need to rescue Ventus."

"Are you forgetting that he's got his own faction?" Vanitas reminded Aqua. "You didn't trust him in the Realm of Darkness for a good reason. He's content with following through whatever actions benefit the light without caring for others."

"And how would you know that?! How do I know that you aren't lying?!" Aqua asked.

"Because if there is one thing, I never lied." Vanitas stared Eraquis down. "I know I caused terrible harm to your friends. I won't expect you to ever forgive me. I was honest with my malice, my hatred...and I am honest in making things right. I would question the motives of your master, however, because unknown to you...he tried to destroy Ventus."

"WHAAAA-?!" Donald gasped again. The group, including the woman on the ground, widened their eyes in shock.

"Hold on a second," Blue said. "Are you telling me that he tried to kill his own student?"

"I did." Eraquis said. "He was the key to creating the X-blade. If that is created, the worlds as we know it are in danger. That is why you must not let that happen! And if we must take control of this war, then we need to take control of Kingdom Hearts!"

Aqua was pained by this revelation. She looked at her master with confusion. "Master...why?"

"We got no time to worry about this!" Axel shouted. "Look!"

Several beings approached around the group. They were shrouded in light. In the palms of their hands, they held up lightning.

"This isn't looking too good!" Trunks said.

Suddenly, Eraquis moved towards Vanitas. "Time to remove the darkness!"

A bright flash engulfed the area, blinding Vanitas. Before Eraquis could hit him, Cloud blocked his blade.

"What?!" Vanitas was surprised at the save. Eraquis jumped back in surprise.

"Leave this to us two Aqua!" Cloud said. "Sora, you guys get to Roxas and Ventus!"

"But..." Aqua looked conflicted.

"He's right, we don't have time!" Vanitas said. He raised his keyblade and got into a battle position.

"Aqua, let's leave this to them!" Sora said. Stitch and Rocky growled at the enemies that surrounded them. Axel guarded Roxas, and the rest of the group stared down the beings.

"Alright, I'll leave this in your hands." Aqua decided to head to the being guarding Ventus. "I need to get to Ven!"

"I am sorry, Aqua. You once again leave me with no choice." Eraquis pointed his keyblade forward. "ATTACK!"