? ? ?

"Are you sure this will work?" the boy raised a skeptical eyebrow towards the magician. They couldn't afford any screw-ups and if this didn't work, they'd be gone forever.

"With these types of circumstances, nothing is certain, I'm afraid." The man replied, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "What I am certain of is that once you go through that door, you might not be able to return until what's broken is fixed."

"So, you're saying if this doesn't take us to the right place…" the boy's older friend started, his brows furrowing.

"You'll have to make due with where you've been taken."

"Wonderful," the older crossed his arms, exasperated.

A dark haired girl to his right placed a hand on her hip, frowning slightly at the door. "We don't have much choice, though, do we?"

"I'm afraid not…" the timid blonde girl behind him responded.

"Might as well jump in," the boy shook his head, reaching for the handles. "Geeze… You'd think after all this time, he could sort out his own messes."

Riku

The Realm of Darkness was as mundane as Sora warned. The most exciting things to happen were Heartless attacks and, while they were actually quite formidable, their attacks were far and few. Sora did well in leading them through the darkness, his confidence in their eventual escape keeping them going. This chatter filled the infinite silence, which was less grating than Riku thought it would be. He supposed it was due to being with another like himself.

Cloud had a quiet reserve about him, not quite willing to open up. Sora did well in prying from him what he was comfortable with talking about. Mostly about growing up with Tifa. The two were childhood friends and when their world was claimed by the darkness, they were separated. Cloud was sent to Traverse Town, with Aerith, Yuffie, Leon, and Cid and Tifa… he didn't know. He grew up in Traverse Town, trained hard, and begged Cid to build him a ship. He had been gathering Gummi pieces over the course of eight years and found just enough to build a ship to get him out there to search for Tifa.

There wasn't much to talk about, besides the past. The future was uncertain and if it was just this, Riku wasn't sure he even wanted to keep moving forward. But Sora was a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. He was the hope that the storm would pass and all he had to do was be himself.

After a while, Riku finally noticed something different about Sora. They were fighting Heartless, this group being a particularly strong congregation with one large, malformed creature on all fours leaping at them every chance it got before vanishing into the shadows. Sora tried to keep up, going for the big one while Riku and Cloud attempted to clean up the common ones.

Sora radiated darkness as he flew at the creature that showed itself once more. He swung himself onto the monster's back, holding onto its hide as it lunged for Cloud who pushed it back. The creature reared, attempting to throw Sora off before it ran into the darkness again, Sora still clinging to it. Riku and Cloud glanced at each other, both showing concern for the boy that had vanished.

When the monster burst from darkness once more, Sora held a Keyblade in his hand, raising it up to stab downward. The creature reared again in pain, but Sora held fast, the Keyblade having lodged into its flesh. Riku and Cloud jumped out of the way as the Heartless charged. Keyblades circled the monster as Sora summoned another, holding it backhanded to strike it violently. He jumped into the air as the barrage of Keyblades lodged into the Heartless, finally felling it.

Sora landed, darkness pulling itself back in as the multitude of Keyblade vanished. He still gripped the two in his hands, the one he held in his left looking very familiar. As Riku approached him to make sure he was unharmed, he realized it was Ven's Keyblade. Sora definitely did not walk away unscathed. Blood stained his clothes and Riku could not tell where it was coming from. The brunette slowly turned to Riku, his blue eyes glowing gold.

"Sora…" Riku reached for him uncertainly. He was hesitant to move closer. "Can I look at that?" he nodded to the blood that dripped down Sora's arm and off of his shirt.

Sora barely seemed to register any pain. He glanced at the wound and the torn cloth and nodded, still gripping the blade tightly. The second in his right hand was one he was sure he hadn't seen before. The red and black blade bore the same blue eye Way to Dawn did. Riku approached his friend, slowly peeling back fabric to look at the wound.

"Can you put those away?" Riku asked slowly. On either side, metal clashed onto the ground, light and darkness dismissing the blades. Riku held a hand to the wound that gauged Sora's shoulder, casting the strongest Cure spell he could. The wound closed up and he moved to the next one that sliced along his ribcage. He used what magic he had left to heal him before giving him the last potion they had. "Drink this."

Sora only looked at the bottle, like he'd never seen a potion before in his life, before downing it.

Riku took his shoulders, "Tell me your name."

The boy turned up to him, tilting his head curiously. For a moment, he was silent, his mouth trying to work the right words. Then, he finally responded, his voice small as if he weren't certain of the answer. "Sora."

"That's right," Riku shook him. "You need to get a hold of yourself. I know it was a rough fight, but you can't let the darkness consume your heart."

"I think…" Sora clutched his shirt over his heart, the glow in his eyes dimming. "I think they're fighting."

"Ventus and Vanitas." Riku didn't have to ask. Those were the only two he was aware of that resided in Sora's heart and he knew that they would be at odds. "Have they fought before?"

Sora shook his head. "This… this never happened. I've never felt like this. The ache… a war raging in my heart… He's gotten stronger. I think the darkness made him stronger."

"Is he trying to get out?" Riku asked.

Sora turned up to him, his blue eyes bearing renewed determination, the darkness subsiding. "He can try all he wants. If he intends to harm anyone, he's not getting out anytime soon."

That was when he collapsed, unable to hold himself up. The blood loss had weakened him. The potion brought some color back to his skin, but it would take some time to recover without the proper tools. Riku and Cloud supported him as they continued onward.

Of course, Cloud had no idea what had just transpired. Sora had no trouble telling him about Ven and Vanitas. The boy didn't know much about Vanitas beyond what Ven and Aqua had told him, but he knew there wasn't an ounce of light in him. He wasn't a good guy and he would only cause pain. Imprisoning him in his heart was the only thing he could do.

Cloud could relate.

Even as they traveled, sleep became more and more fitful. Sora even began to complain about the increasingly strange dreams. They weren't side effects of the darkness that much was for certain. Especially when the two decided to compare dreams.

Riku gazed off into the infinite darkness, his lips turned into a frown. Cloud was sleeping and Riku had just awoken from another strange dream. "We were on the island," he started. "It was the night of the storm that took it. The darkness… I had embraced it as a means of escaping Destiny Island. I was so ready… I turned around and… you were there."

"You held out a hand," Sora continued, reaching forward. "You wanted me to come with you. Kairi, too. But… I was scared. I reached for you as the darkness consumed us, but…"

"You couldn't reach me." Riku turned to Sora.

"I thought the darkness would swallow me, but… there I was, back on the island." Sora turned his hand and summoned Kingdom Key. "Keyblade in hand. I could finally fight those monsters that appeared from the shadows. I found Kairi… in the Secret Place. The place we used to draw on the walls." His knowledge of the island baffled Riku. They didn't talk about specific places when discussing their home. How could he know they had called that cave the Secret Place? "Kairi was there and… there was this crazy strong wind and… she was blown towards me. I tried to catch her, but… she went right through me."

"Our island was broken… shattered when I came to," Riku said softly. "A man in a robe held out his hand, promising me safe passage. I took it."

"The island was in pieces… and there was a Darkside." Sora furrowed his brow. "I fought it and… was pulled into the darkness."

Riku grunted, clenching his fist. "None of this makes any sense. We can't be having dreams of the same event from our own perspectives. Especially when it didn't even happen that way. Where is this coming from?"

"They don't feel like dreams, do they?" Sora sighed, leaning back onto his hands. "They feel more like…"

Riku grit his teeth, "Memories."

"Yeah!" Sora grinned.

"No, Sora, this isn't a good thing," Riku turned to him sharply. "Do you remember how Naminé deals with memories?"

"Yeah?"

"Maybe these dreams are because of her," Riku concluded. This was the only thing that really made sense. "Maybe she's planting these false memories into us. They're only starting out as dreams, but what if we start to believe them?"

The dream he had previously, she was in it. Dressed in white, standing before a large pod, her hands clasped to her chest as she worried. She apologized to Riku for what he felt was the umpteenth time, which he casually brushed off. He didn't need to hear her apology. She had nothing to apologize for. She had been forced to do something that she regretted and was trying so hard to fix her wrongs. She was so sincere it was hard to stay mad at her.

What she had done, he wasn't certain. He just knew she was fixing it and trusted her completely. He didn't have much choice, really. She was the only one who could fix it. From the dream, he could see they had spent much time together. She smiled gently at him and warmth pooled in his cheeks, his gut twisting into knots.

"You think she has the power to do that?" Sora asked.

"Yeah," Riku nodded.

Naminé

It was easier to work while they were sleeping, which meant erratic hours. Well, not so much easier for her. Easier for them. She was instructed not to let them know what she was up to, which meant making them think her sorting through their memories were just dreams. But she was getting reckless and she knew it. Curiosity drove her, even if it wasn't her intended mission.

At first, when she had received this mission, she'd approach Saïx in the Gray Area every morning, only for him to instruct her to return to her room and continue her mission. Now, she didn't even bother. It had been almost two weeks and she hadn't quite found the secrets the Organization was looking for. She found something much bigger.

Sitting at the clock tower in Twilight Town, holding her ice cream, she told Axel what she had found. "I think they're alternate memories," she said quietly, still uncertain. "Another set from another time."

"Yeah?" Axel adjusted his position to get comfortable. "And where did they come from?"

"I'm still trying to figure that out," she hummed, taking a bite of her ice cream. "It's like… a whole other universe where that boy… Sora… if he wasn't thrown into the Realm of Darkness. If he was the hero, all by himself."

"I could believe it," Axel laughed. "He'd wipe away any obstacle in his path with that kind of power."

"But he doesn't have it there." Naminé elaborated. "He stands and fights with just one Keyblade and his friends by his side. I'm still trying to find out exactly what happens in the world of those memories… how he does it and why it was him."

Axel rubbed the back of his head. "Maybe you should… work on that in your own time. You have a mission, don't you?" he reminded her. "You don't want to keep boss man waiting for results just because you're curious. And those events didn't actually happen. So, maybe just… stick with your job for now."

She sighed. She understood Axel was looking out for her and he certainly didn't want her to get into trouble. She nodded, agreeing to look more into those strange memories on her own time. Naminé turned up to face her friend with a grin as she remembered another memory she had come across in Sora. "There's another set of memories in Sora… ones that don't belong to him. I saw you, there… Lea."

She couldn't help but giggle as Axel jumped. He twisted to face her full on, his eyes wide. "Wh-What did you see?" he sputtered, almost nervously.

"The other boy… Ven. He had a wooden Keyblade," Naminé smiled fondly at the sweet memory she had the pleasure of experiencing. "And you were teasing him. The two of you fought and you lost so badly." She laughed. "'I'm willing to call it a draw if you are!' You were so small. It was nice of you to cheer him up like that. He… he really needed it."

Axel rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah well I…" he snapped his head towards her, his brows furrowing. "Wait… how does Sora have those memories?"

Naminé tilted her head. Oh, right… she sometimes got so wrapped up in her work, she forgot she hadn't told Axel certain things quite yet. "Oh… Ven's heart took refuge in Sora's. Sometimes I catch his memories by accident."

"And… why is his heart doing that?" Axel asked. His curiosity was… more than that. He actually sounded… worried.

"The absolute darkness that surrounded the door," Naminé explained slowly. "His heart was left open to the attack. So, Sora took him in to protect him." Her brow pinched in confusion. "Are you… are you worried about him?"

Axel pulled back, floored by her question. "Well… you saw how we met. We were… kind of friends once. Don't… I…"

She put a hand on his forearm. "I won't tell."

She followed Axel's instructions, sticking to writing reports on the true memories of what secrets might be being kept. There wasn't much that the Organization didn't already know. They didn't know about Ventus. They didn't know about how Sora had been able to wield so many Keyblades. Naminé felt like she was giving all of the secrets the two had to give. She suggested maybe probing Kairi or Aqua to see if they knew anything, taking an initiative like Zexion had taught her to do.

What she discovered certainly had Saïx interested.

"Is this true?" he asked, holding up the report she submitted. She set up shop in a spare room, feeling much more comfortable not being holed up in her room the entire day, only leaving for food and ice cream. It made it easier for her superiors to talk to her when they needed to. She pressed her lips together tightly as she nodded. "They plan to seize Castle Oblivion?"

"It's Aqua's home," she urged. "She wants it back." Was it wrong for the woman to want her home back? Naminé didn't think so. Everyone needed a home to return to, right? Who were they to keep it for themselves? They already had a home, and a rather large one. What did they need a research facility for? There was plenty of room here.

"Do you know their plans?" he asked.

"It's no use…" Naminé said quietly, turning back to her drawing. Standing before the castle stood two figures, one with blue hair and another with red. "They're already there."

I adore Naminé so shush. I can't not have a chapter writing from her. Plush... she's important. Very very important. For... reasons. Not enough things happen to certain people to justify a full chapter. Especially with Sora, Riku, and Cloud in the Realm of Darkness. More like Realm of Infinite Boredom. xD