Me: Castle Oblivion, how I hate you. I kept turning into a ghostlike thing so much I got sick.

disclaimer: I do not own kingdom hearts

I wake up thinking, 'when did I fall asleep? I remember we closed that door after I pushed Aqua through then that mouse pointed a keyblade at it and sealed it.'

Then I hear a voice say, "Where am I?" I turn my head and see that boy from the door.

I try to say to him, "Hello," but no noise comes out of my mouth.

Another voice then says, "Stay asleep."

The boy gasps, sort of gets up, then says, "Who's there?!"

The voice responds, "You should remain asleep. Here, between light and dark,"

He then asks, "Between... What?" He gasps twice then says, "The king! Where's the king?!"

I regain my voice and say, "Together the three of us closed the door to darkness. After that..."

The voice says, "The two of you came drifting here by yourselves. The two of you did not have the strength to overcome the darkness. Or... Maybe you were too close to it," I feel that the last part was directed at me but the boy looks hurt as well.

He says, "hmph. As if I'm some sort of demon."

The voice then orders, "Turn from the light. Shut your eyes. Here, blanketed by the darkness, sleep is safety. Sleep is eternal. But..." Then a light appears in front of Riku and a card with a crown shape on top appears.

The boy then asks, "What's this?"

The voice replies, "it is a door to the truth. Take it and your sleep ends, as you take the first step towards the truth. But know this: the truth will bring you pain. Will you still go?"

I try to respond, "Of course," but my voice doesn't work again.

The voice continues, "There is no return to the security of sleep. And Logan this choice is not yours to make, but Riku's,"

Riku takes the card then says, "This seemed like a boring place to take a nap anyway,"

The voice responds, "That was very well said, Riku"

Castle Oblivion B12F Entry hall

A bright light emanates from the card and, the grey fog surrounding us has disappeared and we see a white room with pillars platforms and one big door in front of us. Riku gasps again, says, "A door to the truth huh?" and he walks up to the door and reveals the card.

The door opens and as we walk through I ask him, "How did you know that would work," his only response is a shrug. When we walk through we see the castle of Radiant Garden, but everything is different.

CO: Hollow Bastion

Riku sees my confused look and then says, "This is Hollow Bastion,"

I gawk at him and then say, "That name stuck?!"

He nods, looking confused though, then the voice from before says, "What you see is not real. It's the world of your memory, Riku."

He asks, "My memory?"

The voice replies, "The things you remember from your time at Maleficent's castle became a card, and that card made this world. Riku, you've seen everything here before, haven't you?"

Riku responds to the voice, "Yeah... So what now? Am I going to learn something? Maybe meet someone?"

The voice responds, "You would meet the people in your memories. Ordinarily."

He yells, "What does that mean?" The voice doesn't respond, "Hey! I'm asking you a question?" Still no response, "fine. But it had better be you I run across next, Voice."

He runs through the gate to the castle and as I try to go through the gate I succeed but start to float. I stay close to Riku, who, according to his actions, doesn't notice me, and can only watch as he fights an giants creatures he calls heartless, using cards to attack, until he pulls out a green card with my face on it and when he activates it I get a few seconds where I get to fight but then I am floating again.

This is how it goes for a while and we go through two more rooms then I rematerialize when we go into the fourth room and Riku says, "Hey, Logan, everything is just how I remember it. Even this room..."

The voice from earlier then says, "it must be nice being back in your old bedroom. Think of all those memories..."

Riku replies, "You again. Sorry, but those memories I could do without. Maleficent gave me this room."

"So she did. And you lived here, tempted by the darkness she offered. You cast away your home, your friends, everything... But at least they gave you a nice room."

"Stop talking!"

I dematerialize again and we go through 3 rooms then when we enter another one I rematerialize.

"No one here either..." Riku says, "there's nothing but Heartless in this castle," he jumps down onto the level below and yells, "Voice! I know your watching... So explain this! Where are the people from my memories?"

The voice replies, "Do you want to meet them?"

"Of course I do."

"But you cast them aside."

"What?"

"You dreamt of the outside world, and you passed through the door to darkness. Behind you, you left family, friends, home... Everything... All in pursuit of darkness."

"But I cast that aside too!"

I slap my forehead and whisper to myself, "Baka..."

The voice laughs then says, "And what do you have to show for it? First your home, then the dark. Your heart only knows how to cast away. It's empty... like that room. I bet your new friend Logan will be cast aside as soon as you get out of here. Your memories are as empty as your heart. That's why you don't meet anyone. Your heart is hollow... Except for the residual darkness."

"You're wrong! I rejected the darkness! And I won't ditch Logan!"

The voice laughs again while I smile and jump down to Riku. The voice then says, "Did you really, now?"

I then tell the voice, "I believe him!" Then the two of us leave the room and I dematerialize again.

We go through two rooms and enter another voice room as I have decided to call them. This room finally has another person in it. A pale, and I truly mean as pale as a ghost, woman is there and I materialize again.

The woman says, "I knew you would return, Riku.

Riku is shocked and says, "Maleficent! You're alive?!"

Maleficent, who must be the woman in front of us, and apparently should be dead, says, "You haven't been paying attention. I am but a figment of your memory."

"Of all the people I could run into, it had to be you."

"But of course. After all your heart is steeped in darkness. You can only see those who exist in that same darkness..."

I sweatdrop.

Riku the says, "No..."

Maleficent points at me, then says, "Riku, be grateful you have someone to keep you company. Your heart is empty. Were it not for the darkness it contains, he would be your only companion."

"That's sounding pretty good right about now," Maleficent laughs and we both realized what he said and sweatdrop.

After Maleficent stops laughing she says, "Come, now. You once turned to me to sate your hunger for darkness. You want me here. Who but I can grant you the darkness you long for?"

"There was a time I did want you around. I surrendered my heart to the dark. But never again. You and your darkness have nothing to offer." He walks past her,"All I did was lose myself... Empty myself! I'm finished with all that. If I'm stuck seeing people like you, people of the dark... I'll take you out one by one."

"Then you mustn't forget to destroy your friend Logan. Also don't forget to destroy yourself last. For his heart is half dark, and, like me, you are one of the dark."

"Destroying myself is fine with me. I turned to darkness because my heart was weak. I hate that weakness. It's like I am my own enemy. And seeing people like you embrace the darkness just makes it worse!"

"But what about Logan?"

I then yell to her, "I am only half dark! But you, you are full of darkness!" I charge at her but she just steps to the side and I miss.

When I ready myself to charge again, Riku says, "Enough talk, Maleficent."

Maleficent then says, "So you both hate the darkness enough to fight it. Oh the agony you must feel! Then let me end your pain, Riku and yours too, Logan... end it forever... With the wondrous power of darkness!" She then transforms into a dragon and I dematerialize.

After the fight is over Maleficent turns into a card and we leave. Riku climbs up a ladder then we leave Hollow Bastion.

Castle Oblivion B12F Exit hall

As soon as we leave Hollow Bastion, I materialize, and the voice says, "Why do you shun the darkness?"

Riku scoffs then says, "Come on, I know you heard me... Every word I said to Maleficent."

"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..." A dark portal appears in front of us and a man steps out, "...if you are to serve me again!"

"I though it was you...Ansem."

As Riku says Ansem I shout, "Terra!" I charge at him but he pushes me aside before I even reach him.

Terra says to me, "I am not Terra. Not the one you fought, if you could call it a fight, nor the true Terra," he makes an orb of dark magic and I pass out just from the sight of it.

Castle Oblivion B11F Entry hall

The first thing I hear when I wake up, Riku is carrying me like a backpack, is, "Even in the darkest darkness, there's always a little bit of light."

Riku then says, "Light within darkness."

"You, Logan, Aqua, and I have seen it," the new voice says.

"Aqua!" I shout this as soon as I hear her name and Riku let's go of my arms. I turn around, activate my armor, and see the mouse who sealed the door, "Where is she!"

The mouse then says, "She is fine, she is with Sora."

Riku tells me, "She is on Destiny Islands then, with Sora,"

"Actually she is here in this castle, so are Sora, Donald, Goofy, a girl named Mitsuki, and a guy named Tatsuo."

"What? Why are they here?" I ask the mouse.

"They were lured here by Organization XIII. The group nearly entirely assembled by your nobody," he replies.

"Oh no, Pulse no!" I say pacing.

"The light you were talking about was kingdom hearts?" Riku asks.

The mouse nods, then says, "I will try to find a way to reach you. I'll get there, I promise. And Logan, Aqua can handle herself pretty easily."

He fades then Riku goes up to the door and opens it with another card.

Me: I can't wait till I get out of here!