The White Prison

White.

Everything was white.

I never really liked the color white. It's just so clean. Besides, it's not even really a color. It's a hue produced by the reflection of all the rays of the solar spectrum. Yes, I do know the meaning of the color white. I'm an artist, I just know these things. But why white? Of all the colors they had to choose from, they picked the one that's the hardest to take care of. One spill of some colored drink and everything's ruined. They should have just made the walls clear. Then perhaps I'd be able to figure out what floor Kaity is supposed to be on. Anything would be helpful because, guess what,...

I'm lost!

I'm lost in Castle Oblivion. Where to find is to lose and to lose is to find.

...How typical.

My being lost isn't what's really bothering me though... Kaity was kidnapped by Marluxia and, I'm assuming that if he's back, other Organization members have returned as well. Which is just perfect. All of Sora's hard work gone to nothing. But if they're really back, where are they? I've been here for hours and haven't seen anyone. I walked through the front door! What could be more obvious? I thought that they had cameras put up throughout the castle. I even saw one of them when I came in! They would have seen me by now. So... where are they? Why haven't they come out?

As I questioned this, I made my way across the third floor hallway to the next door. This place is really strange. I mean, it's a land that's lost to oblivion, so it's going to be a weird place, but it really mess's with your head. I had always thought that the reason why the castle was so confusing was because of Namine. She was the one who tore apart your memories and played with your head. But I guess that's not the case. It's the castle that really screws with your sense of direction.

I stopped in front of the big golden door at the end of the hall. Normally, I would have needed a card to open the door, but a lot has changed since the Organization had been here. Placing my hands on the door, I pushed forward with all my might. The golden doors began to open. I stopped pushing when there was a crack wide enough for me to squeeze through. The room I slipped into was just like the other two I had already navigated through.

Before me stretched a maze of white hallways. At the end would be the door to the fourth floor. I groaned and started trekking my way through the labyrinth. What is up with these maze's? If I keep going at this rate, I'll never get to Kaity. It took me three hours to get through the other floors. This one will take up another hour and then who knows how many after that. By then, something horrible could've happen to her. But I won't allow that. I have to find her.

Uncapping the red marker I found in my bag, I took off at a sprint, turning at every corner I reached. As I passed the corner, I whipped out my had with the marker and let it skim against the wall, leaving behind a bright red mark. Doing this made it a heck of a lot easier to navigate the halls.

I had been running for about ten minutes when I saw him.

I was just about to turn into another hallway when I saw a blur of dark colors fly across the opposite end of the hall. I skidded to a halt and stared at the spot I had seen the blur. Who could that have been..., I thought. Unless it was one of the Organization, there was no one else in this castle. At least, I didn't think there was. Turning away from the hall, I took off after whoever it was running around.

I didn't see him again for a few minutes. When I did see him, I caught him running around another corner into a different hallway. "Hey!" I called as I followed him. "Stop!"

He didn't stop though. Is he deaf?, I thought annoyed. "Hey, you! Wait! I need to talk to you!" But he kept running. What the hell? "I said HALT!"

I guess he heard me that time, because he finally stopped. I hadn't expected him to actually hear me, so I was still running full speed at him. I was going to hit him! I tried to stop, but couldn't. I shut my eyes and prepared to run into him but I didn't.

Instead I tripped and tumbled across the ground, sliding across the white floor. I moaned and opened my eyes. That hurt. Pushing myself up, I looked back at the boy. He was still standing in the same place he had stopped in. I stared at him confused. Why didn't I crash into him? I was barreling straight for him...

The boy didn't move. He just stared at me curiously. Or... at least I think he was. His eyes were covered by the hood of the short sleeved jacket he was wearing. I could only see the half of his face below his eyes along with a few strands of blonde hair that were poking out underneath the hood. I didn't recognize him at all. Not even by his outfit, which was a mix of black, gold, dark green-gray, and a nice cream color. He was wearing a jacket much like Sora and Roxas' jackets, but his was white on the right side and black on the left side.

Underneath the jacket, it looked like he was wearing a grey vest and a high-necked, black shirt. On his left shoulder was a chunk of dull green and grey armor. He was also wearing a pair of capri pants and a pair of shoes similar to Sora's, but colored a dull grey and green. The thing that attracted my attention though was the strange silver emblem that rested on two criss-crossing straps on his chest. It looked like a upside down version of the Organization XIII emblem.

Annoyed, I stood up and faced the strange boy. Yes, he's taller than I am, but he had this aura about him that was like a boys. "Thanks for finally stopping." I bit out.

The boy smirked. "Sorry, I didn't hear you at first." His voice sounded really familiar... but strange too. It kind of sounded like a echo, but without the echo. "There usually aren't very many people roaming around these halls."

"Yeah... I know." I said as I looked him over again. "So...who are you?"

"Who are you?" He asked back, warily.

"I asked first." I'm really getting annoyed by this guy.

"So? I asked second." He crossed his arms.

I don't have time for this! "Fine! My name is Sam and I really don't have time to play any of your games!" I snapped.

He unfolded his arms. "Well, It's nice to meet you, Sam. I would return the gesture, but I don't know who I am."

What? "What do you mean?" I asked warily.

"I mean, I don't know my name." The boy said sadly. "Or anything else about me. I don't even know how I ended up in this castle. All I know is that I'm looking for something that I can't find."

That makes two of us. "What are you looking for?" I asked. "Maybe I can help."

"That's really nice for you to offer your help, but I've been searching this castle for ten years." He said with a sad smile. "And I'm no closer to finding it then I was when I started."

Ten years? Wow. That's really sad. But he doesn't look that old. He looks like he'd be my age. "You can still tell me what you're looking for."

"My body." The boy said.

..."Come again?" I said taken aback.

His lips twitched up at my reaction. "Ten years ago, I fell into something like a coma and my spirit detached itself and woke up in one of these hallways."

"So... you're a spirit?" I said, skeptically folding my arms.

He took a step forward and made a grab for my shoulder, but instead swiped through the whole upper half of my body. I gasped and stumbled backward, staring wide eyed at his hand. That was so creepy! "Oh my God." I breathed, looking back up at his covered eyes.

"Yeah." He sighed. "So, what are you doing here?"

Once my heart rate slowed, I registered what he said and composed myself. "I'm looking for my friend. A girl with short blonde hair." I told the boy. "She was kidnapped and I think that whoever took her brought her here."

"A girl with short blonde hair?" He echoed thoughtfully.

"Yes, have you seen her?" I asked hopefully.

"Yeah, I have actually." Yes! I knew she was here! "Some men brought her into this castle sometime yesterday. She stopped screaming her lungs out at them about an hour ago."

"Thank God!" I sighed. She's okay. That's what matters. "Do you know where they're holding her?"

"The thirteenth floor. In a small white room." He answered assertively. "Do you what help getting there? I know a short cut you could use. It's not the safest, but it's quicker then navigating these rooms."

A short cut? "Sure." I said. Whatever can get me to Kaity faster.

"Alright, follow me." The boy turned around and started down the hall. I jogged to keep up with him. Stupid boys and their long legs. Keeping up with him is like trying to keep up with the guys.

We walked in silence for awhile. But curiosity opened my mouth.

"So... you don't remember anything from your past? At all?"

The boy was silent. "I guess I should say that I don't remember most of my past." He said slowly. "Every now and then I'll get...flashbacks of what I think are memories of my past. But none of it ever makes any sense."

"How did you become a spirit? Or go into a coma?"

He glance at me. "I lost my heart." He said. "Or... at least that's what I've come to think. From what memories I can put together, my heart seemed to just break rather then got stolen by the darkness. I don't really know..." His pace slowed a bit. "but..." He muttered. "... even though I'm looking for my body so that I can finally wake up... I feel like someone is already trying to do that. She said that she would come back."

She? Who is he talking about? "Who?"

The boy looked up at me like he just realized I was there. He shook his head and started walking again. I hadn't even notice we had stopped. "I don't remember."

I didn't push the subject anymore. It wasn't my business to know anything about him. But... I wanted to. I felt like... I could help him. That I could find his heart and body and wake him up...

I shook my head at the thought. That's crazy. Who am I kidding? I could never do that. No matter how much I wanted to help him. I'm not even supposed to be here. All I can do is hope that whoever promised to come back for him hasn't forgotten their promise.

After a few more minutes, we came upon a door at the end of a hallway. The boy stopped in front of it and turned to me. "This short cut is not like a staircase to the top of the castle." He explained. "In this room, the castle will judge you by looking into your soul and deciding if you are worthy. It's kind of like a test. Only one or two people have ever found this room. Others who have heard of it were too scared to try."

Well that's reassuring. "What happens to me if I don't pass the test?" I asked warily.

"I think the castle chucks you through the roof." He smiled

How pleasant. Murder by castle. But I have no other choice. "Alright, I'll take it."

The boy smirked and touched the door. When his fingers tapped the surface, a dull glow washed over the panel. He pulled his hand away and gestured for me to go in. I stepped up to the door. At a thought, I looked over my shoulder at the boy.

"Thank you..." I said turning around.

But there was no one there.

Turning back to the door, I took a deep breath and pushed it open.

The room was unlike any other room in the castle. It was completely made of mirrors and only mirrors. I warily walked into the room. Behind me, the door slammed shut, causing me to jump and shriek. When I looked back to the door, all I saw was more mirror. Actually, I couldn't remember which wall I had even come through. Great, now there's no way out. What now?

I stood in the middle of the room, waiting for something to happen. Anything. But nothing did. This was getting me nowhere! I'm never going to find Kaity. That boy probably tricked me and is now laughing his butt off somewhere. Frustrated beyond belief, I looked into the mirror in front of me to see my reflection staring back.

Except my reflection didn't look frustrated. It looked happy. Then my reflection waved at me.

"Holy Crap!" I exclaimed, jumping back into the mirror behind me.

"Careful now, Don't break me." My reflection scolded.

Although it was me in the mirror, it wasn't my voice coming from it. It sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it. I stared wide eyed at my reflection, completely flipped out. The room filled with a tense silence as we stared at one another.

Hey, if your reflection started talking to you, you'd freak out too.

"You could say something." She said, annoyed.

"Uh... hi?" I quivered out. I can't believe I'm talking to my reflection.

"It's a start." She sighed. "If you don't know, this is the Room of Reflection." She gestured to the surrounding room. "It's purpose is to look into the deepest parts of your heart and soul to judge if you are worthy to obtain what you wish to know," She smirked. "Or if you are to be flung out of the tallest tower."

"Um, okay." I said. What does it mean by 'what I wish to know'? I just want to get to the thirteenth floor! But... is this room seriously giving me the chance to ask any question I want?

"Yes, just ask any question you want." She said, confirming my thoughts. "After you ask your question, look to your soul. If you deserve an answer, I will give you one and the room will take you to the floor you wish to go to."

Look to my soul? She must mean that I have to look into my eyes. Your eyes are the reflection of your soul, after all. But what question should I ask? I have a ton of them! Like, why are Kaity and I here? How do we get back home? What am I supposed to do to save Kaity? Who was that boy? How many more Organization members have returned? There's just too many! But... there is just one question that's been nagging at me... one that just keeps cropping up in my thoughts...

I looked at my reflection. "After my awakening, as I was drowning in the darkness... I heard a voice say something as I was being pulled under..." Nervousness was creeping into my voice. "It said something about me ending a war..." I wasn't asking how to end it. What I really wanted to know was how to prevent it. If I know what cause's it, maybe I could stop it before it starts.

"My question is, what is being fought over in this war? Why are they fighting for it?" When I was finished, I looked directly into the reflection of my eyes. Green looking into green. A few moments passed before she said something.

Your heart and soul are... difficult to read. The voice wasn't coming from my reflection now. It sounded like the voice was talking inside of my head. There are so many fortifications guarding them...but...I sense nearly all of them are around your heart. They're...tricky to infiltrate.

Behind the walls...it's cloudy. The voice grew gloomy. Shadowed. Like the darkness before a storm. And yes... there's darkness in your heart...lingering on the edge...waiting for the right moment to take over. It circles your heart, like a tempest, longing to pour out it's dark rain. But... there is a light in the eye of the storm. Bright and beautiful, battling endlessly against the growing darkness. She sighed in sympathy. You walk a dangerous road, Samantha. One many have tread and few have survived. But there is something different about you... something that is in your heart. Whatever it is, it reassures your soul. It's too strong for me to see...

After she said that, my eyes began to burn. It felt like they were being stabbed by burning needles repeatedly. I covered my eyes in agony.

Just remember, my dear. There are something's that just cannot be changed...

The pain intensified until it hurt to have my hands resting over them. When I opened my eyes and looked into my reflection, my hands flew to my mouth muffling my scream. My eyes were no longer green, but a bright liquid gold. Around my eyes was blood. I pulled my hands away from my mouth to see them covered in blood as well.

"What's happening?" I cried.

As I watched my reflection, more blood leaked from my eyes. They were like tears. One of the blood tears slid down my cheek and dripped on to the reflective ground. I watched it fall. When the drop touched the mirror, the reflective surface rippled. Like a pond of water. The blood immersed into the mirror and swelled, rippling endlessly across the ground. Spreading over the ground and up the walls. When every spot of mirror was covered in my blood, the walls stilled.

"What the hell?" I whispered.

Tentatively, I touched the wall closest to me. I no more than grazed my finger over the surface when a earsplitting "crack" resonated in the room. Snapping my hand back to my side, I watched as a dark liquid began to spill from the fissure I made. Fast. What's worse is that the fissure expanded. winding its way up to the roof. The liquid began to rain from the roof and pour faster from the wall. The smell of blood slammed into my scent glands, choking me. I went into a round of coughing as the crack still expanded across the roof. It was going to collapse.

"Oh, no..." I gasped just before the ceiling collapsed and blood fell into the room like a water fall. I screamed as the sticky substance swirled around me. I struggled to keep myself above the tide. My hair was plastered to my head and neck and my clothes were soiled with it. "Help!" I screamed as I went under the tide. I pushed up and gasped for breath. The walls around me cracked and shattered. Then a ocean of blood washed over my head, drowning out my screams.

You wanted to know, you wanted an answer...

I squeezed my eyes shut as they began to sear with pain again. I was drowning. I couldn't breathe. But when I closed my eyes, I didn't see darkness. Instead I began to see bright flashes of images. And I could breathe now. Even in my panicked state, I made myself focus on the vision.
I saw an image of a barren world. A wasteland with rocky cliffs and dusty air. There was no life there. All there was were Keyblades. Thousands upon thousands of Keyblades. Then over the horizon, dark shadows began to move across the ground.

They fight for control.

Faces flashed in front of me. Figures clad in black and blue and red. Golden eyes slid into my vision and were gone just as fast. A guy, no older then eighteen, with dark hair and eyes the color of the Caspian sea. He stood on a cliff. Watching...waiting...

I gasped as at a sharp pain in my head.

They fight for balance.

More faces. Familiar faces. Everyone clad in battle gear. Determination glittering in their eyes. An unfamiliar face, filled with sorrow and anger. Perilous blue eyes. Keyblades, glittering in the hostile sun. A knowing look. Praying...hoping...

They will rise where many have fallen.

The sounds of clashing metal. Pain. Anger. Loss. It's what they want... It's what's rightly theirs...

They fight for the Kingdom of Kingdoms.

Darkness. Panting breaths. Running footfalls. Panic. Worry. Pain. A sudden light... the battle...

They fight for the Key to the Door.

A blinding flash. The warmth of light. The clash of weapons. Yells. Darkness. And then..
Peace.

They fight for you.

When consciousness came back to me, I began wishing it hadn't. My eyes still burned. But not as bad as before. They felt like I had looked into the sun for way too long without blinking. When I opened them, all I saw was darkness and a thin strand of light. Pushing myself to my feet, I stumbled toward the light. Knowing that it would be the way out. The light was a crack in a door. Light flooded my vision as I pushed it open. Walking through it, I blinked and looked around to find myself in another hallway of Castle Oblivion. On the columns of the hallway was the numeral 'XIII'.

I was on the thirteenth floor. Groaning, I lifted my hands to my eyes and gently rubbed them. When I pulled my hands away, I thought about how my eyes had turned gold. I spotted a vase in the hall. I walked over to it and looked at my reflection. There was no evidence of what had happen in that room. No blood. No gold eyes. But... that sure was something. There are no words to describe what just happened. It's no wonder why it was never in any of the games. It's like a torture chamber. When I see that boy again, I'm going rip his lungs out.

Yes, the room was horrible, but it did hold true to its word and answer my question. Those images... that war...
I didn't recognize the world. I'd never seen it in any of the games. And the guys that we were fighting against. I didn't recognize any of them ether. What I do know is that the darkness and terror was real. Very real. And then the peace at the end. Now that was something I'd never felt before.

They fight for you...

I shook my head. I'll have time to think about all of that later. Right now, I need to focus on helping Kaity. I saw the door at the end of the hall and headed towards it.