Two drowsy eyes peeked open, shut again, and then flew open in shock. Completely amazed, the boy sat up, bonking his head on a cement shelf only three feet above the one he slept on. He reached his hand up to his head as he looked out around the dark blue room. It was filled from top to bottom with rows upon rows upon rows of cement shelves, each with a different body on it. Some were brand new; some were old, decaying skeletons; some were even dismembered.

After recovering from his sudden nausea, the boy asked, "Am I really…alive?" No one else seemed to be. How could you possibly wake up in a room full of dead people, fifty feet from either the ground or the ceiling, and still be the only living thing around? He looked around some more, examining every inch for signs of life. Oddly, he noticed a handful of jars a couple dead guys over on the same shelf as him. He crawled over to see why they weren't an actual body, kneeing an old lady's stomach and breaking a little boy's neck on the way.

"Sorry," he said to the dead people as he reached the jars. Picking them up, he read out loud, "Sarahx, T-rex, Katex, Xariana." They seemed a little familiar but didn't mean anything until he picked up the last two. "Luxord? Saix? These are…Organization people."

An evil voice suddenly roared through the room, shouting, "Sora!" The boy looked around again, confused, until the girl appeared from a shadow. She was a giant girl, made out of what seemed similar to a cloud, and she was floating toward the newly awakened Sora, her dark hair constantly being blown by a nonexistent wind. She stopped about a foot away from Sora, her eye the same size of his head. "Put the jar back," she ordered slowly, her lips appearing enchanted by the way they moved. "Or I may just have to kill you."

Sora quickly put the jar he was holding back down on the shelf, and she instantly changed to the more normal size of twice Sora's height. "That's more like it," she noted, tapping Sora's chin flirtingly. "What are you interested in my friends for anyways?" She wondered, seductively turning her head to the side.

"Friends?" Sora asked curiously, "They're dead, right?"

"Yes," she agreed, pausing before laughing and explaining loudly, "but this! This is Tartarus," she calmed down again to continue, "my realm of chaos and death. Everyone here is dead. That's the way I like it. That's the best kind of friend to have, right?" After playing with Sora's chin again, she floated off, seeming to be pacing across the air, "They don't ever talk back, or argue, or tell you not to do the things you want to do. They always support the decisions you make, never complain about my lack of decoration, and, best of all, they never ask for anything in return."

"Uh," Sora decided, "I think I still prefer live ones."

"Come to think," she noted, getting back in his face. "Why are you alive?"

"I…uh." He shrugged.

"Well, you can't stay here," she announced, leaning back and crossing her arms.

"I'll leave. Just show me the door."

She gestured behind her to a large square light that had just become visible. Sora nodded like he was about to leave, but then he wondered, "Oh, can I take the jars?"

"You what?" She shouted, echoing through the room. "How dare you even think of taking something from my realm!"

"I…uh, never mind," Sora decided, scrunching up between two shelves.

"Why?" She questioned after a moment of sheer anger passed.

"Well, I don't know," Sora scratched at his head nervously. "I know some friends of the…dead guys who I thought might benefit a little more from the remains. After all, you have plenty of dead people around, and the jars…well, they don't even add anything aesthetically to the room."

"That's a big word coming from such a small man," she noted, grabbing Sora's cheek as she said it. Then, she cleared her throat and stated, "Of course you can have them…What can I have in return?"

Sora thought for a while before emptying the pockets on his belt and handing the contents to her. "The keys to a cottage, a page from the Winnie the Pooh book, a potion that can bring things back to life—though, I'm not sure why you'd want that—my red video phone…no you can't have that."

"I meant like people," she clarified with a slight laugh.

"People?" Sora repeated in shock.

"Sora!" A voice called up from down below. The boy looked over the edge to the floor and saw Wesley. "Come down here so we can get out of this place!"

Looking back to the lady, Sora said, "Sorry, guess not. Bye." Then, he jumped off the shelf to the ground—because we all know falling that far doesn't hurt Sora. "Wesley," he began.

"Sora, what were you doing still up there? Didn't you want to get out?"

Sora was about to answer, when the lady came down, brushing Wesley's cheek as she greeted, "Good day Wesley."

"Well, it was until I saw you, Eris," Wesley retorted.

"Oh you know who I am," she sounded flattered at first, but quickly changed to angry, "yet you still dare to insult me."

"Let's just say, I've dealt with goddesses far more frightening than yourself. I'd love to stay and chat up a storm, but I think I'd rather keep living, so ciao." Wesley turned to walk away with a wave and didn't stop until he'd left Tartarus. Sora followed. That was both a good thing for them and a bad thing for them, seeing as goddesses love nothing more than revenge.

"Kairi!...Kairi!" Sora shouted through the girl's house when he first arrived.

She came out of a back room, hands behind her back, and responded, "Yes? Sora! You're okay!" After throwing her arms around him in a hug, an urge from the inside prompted her to ask, "Is Roxas with you?"

Sora took a step back and stated disappointedly, "I was hoping he was with you."

"Sora? You left him there?"

Trying to figure how best to put it, Sora explained, "I…I died."

Kairi suddenly looked shocked and confused, so Wesley tried to make things better by interjecting, "I saw Roxas. They were, uh, trying to fix his memory, and it worked for me, so it must be fine…right?"

That calmed her down a little, but she still mentioned anxiously, "But he told us he needed our help." Then, she turned to Sora. "Was that before or after you died?"

"After," Sora answered.

"I still can't believe you died. How are you alive if you were dead? Why didn't Roxas tell us you died?"

"I can't answer the first question, but…Roxas didn't know who I was when I died."

"We all knew something was wrong when he called. Why didn't you mention that at first?"

"I…was…dead," Sora excused obliviously.

"Well, if you knew something was wrong," Wesley noted, defending Sora better than he could, "Why didn't you try to save him?"

"We did actually," Kairi responded, remembering to mention that finally. "Chiyo and Becca and Nehemiah went to find Tia Dalma because he found her. And Nori and everyone went to get Roxas from the Castle."

"When did they leave?" Sora wondered.

Kairi shrugged. "A while ago. They should be done, I think…We should go meet them."

"Meet them?"

"Yes. Vash made a secret hideout for Tia Dalma to stay in. I know where it is. Everyone was going to meet there when they finished their missions. We might be able to find them there."

"Let's go then," Sora decided, walking right back out of the house. Kairi followed—as did Wesley. They grabbed the dirt bikes and she directed them all the way to the hideout.

Sora was surprised, to say the least, when they were met at the door by a snarling boy with a sword. He was about to turn around, thinking it must be the wrong place. Wesley went to draw his sword as well. Thankfully, Tia Dalma—the new one who sat in the background—recognized them.

"Sora," she greeted with her still strangely distorted accent.

"Sora," Hallom repeated, dropping the katana to his side. Now that he knew who they were, he felt bad about threatening them in the first place, but he didn't put it away just in case they were mad at him.

"So good it is to see ye," Tia continued, approaching the door.

"T-Tia Dalma?" Sora asked in confusion. "What happened to you?"

"It ees a disgize," she responded. "Duz it work?"

"You need to work on the voice part, I think," Wesley pointed out.

"Now young Mister Swann," she scolded, grabbing Wesley by the ear, dragging him into the room, and sitting him on a chair, "how deed you get eenvolved een all dis?"

"It was an accident," Wesley answered remorsefully. She glared at him, so he added, "I swear."

"You weel not leave dis room," she ordered.

"Until when?"

"Until I say."

"But Tia!"

"Wesley James Swann, you will not leave dis room."

Wesley looked away, clearly angry, but he'd probably listen to that, no matter how much he'd hate it.

After a second, Hallom muttered, "Wesley Swann? I've…heard of you."

"From where?" Wesley demanded suspiciously.

Taken aback by the harshness, Hallom almost decided not to finish, "Your author."

"Oh yeah? She's weird." And thus, a conversation—or at least half a conversation—was started.

Suddenly, Kairi noticed something. "Well, if you're here, Tia, where's Chiyo and—"

"Dey wuz taken," she interrupted. "By de men in black cloaks."

"Organization XIII," Sora realized. "They're at the Castle now too." Turning to Kairi, he finished, "Let's go."

"Take me with you," Hallom and Wesley both begged.

"No," Tia countered. Then, she added, "You either Sora."

"Well, someone's got to save them," Sora stated. "And who better to save them than the Keymade Blastter!" He ended the sentence with his hand stretched out in the air, a goofy looking, rainbow colored Keyblade extending from it like he didn't realize what he'd said.

Kairi giggled.

"What?"

"You said Keymade Blaster," she laughed. "You're trying to save the world, and you can't even remember your own name."

Slightly embarrassed, Sora repeated, "Let's go. I owe those Nobodies a visit anyways."

"What if I don't want to?"

"Then, stay here. I'm leaving," Sora finished, turning around and leaving the hideout.

"Sora," Kairi called, running after him, "wait for me!"

It was almost day time by the time Sora and Kairi abandoned their bikes at the edge of the forest. Immediately thereafter, they reentered the darkness. Sora didn't remember exactly how to get to the Castle That Never Was, but he remembered the general direction. After only a little Heartless and Hubabaloo slashing—and fifteen minutes longer than the first time—the two arrived at the big green hole.

"Um, Sora," Kairi began unsurely. "How do we get past that?"

"Watch this," Sora bragged, pointing a Keyblade directly to the castle beyond it. Not only did the castle door unlock, but a pathway also appeared, leading them to it. Sora smiled cheesily.

Kairi smiled too and suddenly challenged, "Race ya," as she took off running.

"Stop it Kairi!" Sora shouted, chasing after her. "You're gonna get us—"

Less than a minute later, they were in the cage with Nori, Warren, Chiyo, and Nehemiah.

"Well," Warren commented sarcastically, "it's at least nice to know we're all still…alive."

"It's getting a little crowded in here, don't you think?" Nori noted. "I liked it better when there were just the two of us." If you couldn't tell, by that point, Nori and Warren weren't taking anything seriously.)

Nehemiah was the first to comment, "Sora! You're not in Roxas anymore!"

"Sora!" Another voice called from outside the cage. "You're not dead anymore."

"Yes, " Xemnas explained to Axel, "that would be what happens when you destroy Kingdom Hearts." Axel and Demyx stared blankly at the boy. "You never thought of that, did you?"

Sora giggled and then broke out laughing. "You two destroyed Kingdom Hearts…" He was suddenly clam as he continued, "That explains some things."

Before anything else could be said, a scrunched over, seven foot tall lobster swept furiously into the room. As always, his cloak flowed behind, making him appear more composed and elegant than e actually was. He glanced around the room, breathing heavily as he searched for something. Quickly, he found what he'd been looking for: them.

Storming over to the cage, he stated, "Beautiful. Now that all of them are gathered together, they will be much easier to kill." He laughed evilly.

Everyone in the cage gulped in expectation.

Xemnas was the only one to put up a slight protest, asking, "Here Sir? In your house? It would seem—"

"Silence," Lionel ordered thunderously. "You're running the glory of it. Of course I won't do it here. I have something far more vicious planned. Far more memorable."

Nori looked up at Lionel and realized he knew where they were going.

The captives looked around at their new surroundings. They were on a ledge, stuck between a tall cliff and a deep canyon. On the other side of the canyon, which was fully equipped with an easy escape route, most of Organization XIII and Lionel were preparing to fight. This side of the canyon, not even considering the fact that every single one of them was handcuffed, the friends were far more likely to bombard their enemies with questions than attacks.

"Is this the…" Chiyo began in shock.

"Bottomless Pits of Doom," Nori finished, falling to his butt and repeating over and over, "I can't do it." Though, because he hadn't told anyone the whole story yet, no one understood why he was moping and complaining on the verge of tears.

"What are you doing here?" Warren asked suspiciously to Axel and Demyx who stood next to him, also confined in handcuffs.

Axel grumpily refused to answer, so Demyx explained, "Well, we sorta got in trouble for blowing a hole in Kingdom Hearts."

"Obviously," Warren noted.

"So we've been punished by having to fight on your side."

Warren nodded, slightly satisfied, but expecting to keep his eye on them the whole battle, as Sora added the next inquiry, "Why is Roxas over there?"

This time, Axel explained crossly, "Thanks to you, Nori and Warren, he's been submitted to a procedure which increased his sense of duty, making him want to do nothing but obey the orders of Xemnas."

"What the hell," Warren complained.

"Well that's a way to annoy someone who's trying to rescue their friend," Sora noted, forming a skeleton-ish, crisscrossed Keyblade between his two hands.

"You're going to fight like this?" Axel wondered, sounding slightly nervous.

Sora just raised the Keyblade in the air, and shouted, "Release." Suddenly, eight strands of light came out of it, each one flowing straight to a different person's handcuffs. One by one, they fell to the ground, unlocked. His team all looked to their hands astounded—some of them happy, some of them still too far gone to ever be happy again.

Lionel watched in shock as Sora made a different Keyblade appear in the hands of each of his friends who had no other weapon. Kairi could summon her own Keyblade, but Sora gave Chiyo the Fairy Harp Key—a green one with feathers and stuff. Nehemiah got the Jungle King Key, which was kind of jagged. Nori looked down to see Crabclaw, with a red crab on the end of it, obviously given to him to match his crabby mood. Somehow, he took the hint and stood to his feet.

Aghast, Lionel turned to Xemnas asking, "Did you know they could do that?"

Xemnas hardly even bothered to shrug. "Eventually you get used to it. We still have the advantage of long range attacks," he explained as a cool breeze developed through the canyon. Quickly, it grew to a terrible dust storm preventing anyone from seeing.

Warren looked around for a second and then decided, "Great, let's use this cover to get out of here."

"No don't," Sora warned, looking around suspiciously. When Warren was about five feet on the cliff behind them, Sora suddenly shouted, "watch out!"

Warren turned around to see a lance pointing straight to his back, and Sora trying to hold it back with all his might. After a surprised moment, Warren jumped out of its way, and Sora let it crash into the rock wall.

As the thing disappeared, Sora explained, "That's Xaldin."

Another one flew at the friends, giving Chiyo just barely enough time to deflect it with her Keyblade. She watched in horror as the thing tried of its own mind to find a way around the Keyblade.

"Oh, enough of this," Demyx stated, raising his own hand in the air and forming his sitar.

"You're really going to fight?" Axel questioned.

"This is life or death Number VIII," Demyx replied, clearly serious; though, his joking tone still showed through. "And Xaldin has no idea where those lances are going." Then, he shouted, "Dance water, dance," playing a chord on the instrument. Instantly, seven geysers of burning water shot up on the other side of the canyon. He also, had no idea where they had ended up, but he was satisfied when he heard a scream.

In response to Demyx's attack, a group of heartless appeared to attack them. Sora had fun flipping and slashing for a second, but that ended when Warren just lit them all on fire, seemingly bored. Nehemiah was the first to be taken out, by a shot from Xigbar that he hadn't expected. Next, Larxene shot at the friends with lightning. Sora tried to return the effect, using one of his magic spells, but he couldn't reach across the canyon. Frustrated, he ran to the cliff, jumped up, and grabbed onto a high ledge.

Kairi ran to beneath him. "Sora! What are you doing?"

Still hanging from the ledge, he answered, "We can't do anything against them from here. I need to get up here and jump across there." He pulled himself onto the ledge.

"Don't go Sora," Kairi pleaded as Warren lit another mob of Heartless on fire.

Sora looked down at her and, after a second, stated, "I have to."

She was distracted for a second by another lance, so Sora grabbed another ledge and flipped onto it. He kept climbing until he reached the top of the cliff. From there he looked down and could see everything that was happening. Nori stood there in a complete daze, now being completely protected by Warren. Demyx was still trying to attack the other side. Axel still refused to do anything, and everyone else just protected themselves from the seemingly random attacks.

Glancing over to the other side, he tried to get an idea of what he was about to jump into. Not a single one of them had been injured seriously. Demyx had just barely begun to weaken a few. Once again having to convince himself this was necessary, Sora took a deep breath. Taking a running head start, he jumped off the cliff and toward the other side of the canyon. Since he was still in the air when he reached the other side, he decided to slash at Lionel's head a few times on the way down. It worked well, but he was knocked out of the air prematurely by Marluxia's scythe.

Horrified that he'd been attacked, Lionel shouted, "Kill him!"

Sora sprung to his feet, gripping his Keyblade tighter and swinging with all he had at Marluxia. The little boy with the little key fought the girly man with a giant scythe and bunches of flower petals for quite some time. The rest of the battle continued around them, but they didn't notice anything except each other. No one else bothered them in their battle either. Sora had to jump out of the way of a geyser, but that still didn't distract him from the attack he had been making. To the two of them, they were all that mattered.

Kairi and Chiyo together slashed a lance to pieces, and then a drop of water landed on each of them. They both looked up, along with Warren, Demyx, and Axel. It had suddenly started to rain, and was quickly picking up its rate. A bolt of lightning hit that had not been caused by Larxene, and instantly it began to pour.

Axel elbowed Demyx. "Don't make it rain."

"It's not me," Demyx insisted.

"Then what is it?"

Warren looked at Nori, who was still dumbfounded and curled up in the fetal position on the ground, and stated, "Quit it Nori. Snap out of this now."

"I-I-I can't," he stuttered, rocking back on his heels. A second later, he was laying flat on his face a couple feet towards the canyon.

"You get out there and fight like the rest of us," Warren ordered.

Nori would have stayed right there, except for the fact that he had landed on two very large shoes. He looked up curiously to see Sora scowl. Without giving Nori a chance to think, Sora instantly sliced at him with the Keyblade. Instinctly, Nori blocked it with the Keyblade he still held. It took a few deflections just for to realize he was being attacked by his friend. Not too long after that, the rain cleared as his mood changed. The only good thing that had come from the rain was that it had settled the dust down.

Thus, as Nori questioned, "Sora! What are you doing?" Axel and Demyx were holding their own conversation.

"Sora's here, but…Sora's there," Demyx noted, pointing to the battle between Sora and Marluxia. "What's going on?"

Axel thought for a second. "It can't be the new kid. He's still over there. Besides, Xemnas said he could only imitate living beings…"

"Zexion," they both realized.

Considering he was fighting against a giant farm tool, the real Sora was doing well holding his own. As he went to deflect an attack from Marluxia, however, he noticed another presence behind him. He reached out his open hand to protect himself from the new threat, a regular Kingdom Key appearing in it. A second later, when he got the chance to look, he realized who it was that had attacked him from behind.

"Roxas," Sora began in confusion.

"Why are you fighting us?" Roxas questioned, also confused because his conscience should have been on his side.

"Huh?" Sora asked.

Roxas didn't repeat himself, though. He simply brought out Oathkeeper and Oblivion—his Keyblades—and commenced fighting Sora. Marluxia picked up on it again as well. With both of them attacking him, Sora didn't have time to think of anything. He could only hold his Keyblades above his head to divert their blows.

…And Nori just kept fighting.

…And Sora just kept fighting.

…And Lexaeus got bored. Slamming his Tomahawk down on the ground, he created an earthquake. Nori stumbled, but didn't fall. The Zexion-Sora had been to close to the edge of the canyon, so he tripped off of it. Like Sora, however, after a second he grabbed the edge and pulled himself back up. His figure changed back into Zexion as he did so, which really threw Nori off. He easily toppled Nori to the ground with the Keyblade—which had remained the same—and held it against Nori's throat.

Sora too had lost his footing during the earthquake. As he was about to return to his feet, something unusual fell out of his pocket. Instantly distracted, he picked up the jar with a label that read Saix and examined it.

"How did this get there?" He asked curiously. "I thought—"

His sentence was abruptly ended by a burst of gunfire coming from Xigbar that knocked him to the ground…completely to the ground.