As Nick continued his ascent to the second floor, he remembered what the enigmatic Axel had told him before disappearing:
"When your sleeping memories awaken... you may no longer be you."
"That's really bothering me what he said..." Nick thought. "What could he have meant by that? How could I be anyone besides me?"
Nick took a look at the Oathkeeper keyblade. It seemed to be glowing with a golden light.
Shaking it off, Nick smiled. "I shouldn't let it worry me. Whatever these freaks are cooking up, I'll be able to handle them."
Just then, a memory flashed into his head.
Near the top of the Rising Falls, Will (in her normal clothes, but still wielding the Soul Eater) can be seen confronting a young woman with short blue hair tied into two small ponytails and wearing long, flowing white robes.
"No vessel, no help from the Heartless..." Will quipped. "So tell me, Orube, how'd you get here?"
"You know well enough, Will," Orube responded. "When your pitiful Heartless invaded Candracar, I just barely got out of there. I believed, and that's all it took. I can't believe what you did to Taranee. She was one of the nicest people I'd ever met. I WILL get her back!"
"Come and take her if you can!" Will challenged. Orube let out a mighty battle cry and leapt for Will, lashing out with many hand-to-hand strikes, all of which were easily countered.
Will lashed out with the Soul Eater. Orube didn't see it coming until it was too late.
Nick looked a bit confused when he came back to reality. "When did that happen? And if it's supposed to be important to me, why couldn't I remember it?"
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(They say that those who cannot do, follow someone and learn.)
S.P.D. Gold Ranger presents:
W.I.T.C.H.: Keys of Memory
Story Created: March 12th, 2008
This Chapter: September 2nd, 2008
Summary: Directly following the events of Key to Her Heart, Nick journeys to Castle Oblivion, still on the search for his missing friends. What he finds in this castle may tear his very world apart... Meanwhile, Will, still on her path to cleanse the darkness inside her, also finds herself in Castle Oblivion, hoping to find a way to erase Xehanort's still-standing influence on her...
On Today's Episode: Nick continues his journey through the card-worlds, hoping to find Will and unravel just what the Organization is really up to...
Also, I don't own ANY franchises used in this story. They belong to whoever created them. This story is copyright S.P.D. Gold Ranger (me), March 2008.
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Chapter 2-A: Crystal of Memories
Nick looked around his surroundings as he came to a stop inside the coliseum-style area.
"Wait, I remember this place!" Nick exclaimed. "This is the Alfea School of Magic. This was where we started off this whole journey when we left Traverse Town..."
The only difference between this memory and the Alfea School that he remembered was that this place was completely empty.
"It's probably because the place was mostly empty the last time I was here. This memory is probably based off of the times I remember from that place..."
Nick looked up, only to see a column of darkness appearing from out of nowhere. From it came the Trickmaster, a Heartless that Nick still clearly remembered. The evil witch Icy was sitting on its shoulder, just like before.
"That's one memory I REALLY WISH I could forget!!" Nick exclaimed, bringing out two cards from his deck and holding them into the air. The cards shined, and they turned into perfect replicas of Maylin and Haruka, just like before. All three readied their keyblades for battle.
Responding to this unseen challenge, the Trickmaster crossed its dual torches and began charging up energy.
"Oh, I've seen this one before!" Maylin exclaimed, drawing a spell coin from her pocket. "I'll show you! BLIZZARA!!"
Maylin slammed the Chinese Spirit keyblade into the coin and shot a powerful gust of frost towards the Trickmaster. However, to Maylin's evident surprise, the Trickmaster then shot a gigantic fireball from its crossed torches that punched through Maylin's Blizzara spell.
"What the...?" Maylin exclaimed, just barely batting away the fireball with her keyblade.
"All right, my turn!" Haruka shouted, running up and charging her Sweet Crest keyblade until it began glowing a bright blue. Taking her chance, Haruka threw her keyblade towards the Trickmaster, hoping to knock it off balance so Maylin could attempt another spell. This time, it worked, the spinning Sweet Crest slamming into the Trickmaster, causing it to fall to its knees. The impact was such that Icy was sent flying off of the Trickmaster.
Maylin drew another spell coin, intent on having this one hurt. "You picked the wrong girl to mess with, dark boy! THUNDARA!!"
Her spell coin glowing a bright yellow, Maylin thrust her keyblade towards the Trickmaster, a giant bolt of electricity flying for it. However, the Trickmaster easily absorbed it, firing it right back at Maylin, who just barely dodged.
Seeing his own chance, Nick raised the Oathkeeper and made a massive leap towards the flailing Icy. One good strike sent her flying. Nick wasn't done yet, though.
Nick focused on the Oathkeeper's magical energy and teleported to Icy's location, knocking her backwards with another strike. Icy could do nothing but watch helplessly as Nick pinballed her around in the air before delivering a final downward slash that sent the ice witch crashing to the ground.
With Icy incapacitated, Nick turned his focus on the Trickmaster, the Oathkeeper glowing a bright blue. The Trickmaster noticed this, and began flailing its arms wildly, not giving Nick a single opening to attack from.
This didn't faze Nick in the slightest, as he quickly charged for the immense Heartless. Before he struck, he seemed to move forward so fast that nothing was left but a single ghost image.
Nick reappeared rather quickly, and, much like he had done with the Guard Armor, drove the Oathkeeper straight into the Trickmaster's head. After a short while, the Trickmaster completely evaporated, its only remains being a single glowing heart and a leaf-green crystal.
Maylin and Haruka smiled towards Nick yet again before reforming into the cards they'd come from.
(Author's Note: Yes, another direct-copy battle. It's frickin' late, and I'm tired. I'll try not to do a direct-copy in the next chapter...)
Once the dust from the battle had settled, Nick headed for the door that had just appeared, finding himself back in Castle Oblivion.
"What was that castle I saw before?" Nick wondered. "I can't remember what it was, but I'm quite sure I didn't make it up... Maybe my journal has something to say about it..."
Nick reached into his pocket, pulling out the aforementioned journal. When he opened it, he gasped in shock.
"What happened?! There's nothing in there! But I could have sworn I just put my last entry in there before I came here!!" Nick exclaimed.
Staring up at the skylights, Nick sighed. "What kind of castle is this?"
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Next time:
Chapter 3-A: Days Gone By
As Nick continues his search through the card-worlds, he begins to wonder what the Organization is up to... Also, someone appears to be watching him, and it's not who you'd think...
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"What the heck are these things?!" Maylin exclaimed, batting away the mysterious creatures with her keyblade.
"I honestly have no clue, Mei-chan," Haruka wondered, holding Sweet Crest in a defensive stance.
"We don't know much about them," stated Timber, a young wolf creature who was wielding a keyblade of his own. This particular wolf was one of the commanding officers of the Nightwatch. "What we do know is that they're called Unbirth, and they're just as devious as the Heartless."
"GREAT!! As if we didn't have enough trouble here!!" Maylin exclaimed, slashing through another Unbirth with lightning speed.
"I wouldn't make them mad, Mei-chan," Haruka stated. "If they're as powerful as the Heartless, we'd best stay on our guard."