*I don't own ANY of the Kingdom Hearts characters. I only own Katie.
Katie slowly approached the castle's door. With all of her strength, she pushed the door open; she slipped through the narrow crack of the heavy door and shut it. The thud echoed through the empty white halls. Katie walked down the castle's corridor, glancing at the high marble columns that outlined it. She climbed up the steps, which was quite difficult with a slight limp, and reached for the golden door's handle, she cursed under breath when it didn't budge; locked. "Damn it..." Katie hissed. She looked back at the main door and shuffled back to it, she grabbed the handle and jiggled it, and it also became locked. Katie let a frustrated groan and slammed her head against the door.
"Ow! Katie, don't do that! Remember that you got me up here!" Vanitas growled. With a huff he added, "Let me guess. We're suck?"
'Yup.'
"And we have no idea how to get out?"
'Yep.'
"And you don't know your way around?"
'Yeah.'
Vanitas groaned angrily. "Great, just great. Fantastic, even!"
Katie sighed, 'I knew I should've finished Re: CoM...If I did, I'd have somewhat of an idea how to get around. All I know is that there are thirteen top floors and twelve basement floors. I think Naminé's room is upstairs...? Ugh, where's Repliku when you need him?'
"I thought he annoys the living crap out of you?"
Katie shrugged as she looked around the columns. 'Eh...he does at times with the overprotectiveness but he's a very nice guy. So, I'm okay with him. Just want to know why a fifteen-ish year old is concerned about a seventeen year olds safety...' She clicked her tongue in disappointment and got back up. She leaned against the pillar as she mumbled, "When Aqua made this place, she definitely made sure people wouldn't be able to find their way around…" Katie let out a huff when Vanitas didn't reply; she started to turn around until a flash of something gold caught her eye. Squinting she went towards where the flash came from and kneeled down, it was a gold card with a picture of a key on it. Katie snatched the card and studied it; she looked over her shoulder at the door, then an idea popped into her head. She walked over to the golden door and lifted the card up, with a chime the card disappeared from her hand, the door slowly creaked open.
"How'd you do that?" Vanitas asked.
'Magic.' Katie answered sarcastically while rolling her eyes. She stepped into the newly opened doorway and walked down it. She slapped her head when she ended up in another empty white room. "Damn it! I can only use that card once! I'll never my way through this bloody maze of a castle…I'll just fade into oblivion and never see daylight again…" She looked around the room to find more cards, but she never got lucky. This room was stripped clean; Katie banged her head against the wall in distress. 'Stupid God-forsaking castle…' She punched the wall in frustration; she eyed the slight darkness that formed around her hand. Katie stared at smoke-like darkness with wide eyes then remembered what the lion said in the Pride Lands. "…Use the Darkness…" She raised her dark hand and closed her eyes to focus; a whoosh sounded in front of her and opened her eyes slowly. A dark portal stood before her. She walked into the portal with no hesitation and ignored the cold of the portal and the fact she could barely see a thing as she walked down the portal. Katie finally saw light at the end of the never-ending hall of darkness and picked up the pace. At the end of the portal, she walked into what looked like a mad scientist's lab. She hesitantly walked into the room and eyed the test tubes and beakers that littered the white counter tops. Katie stopped in her tracks at the sight of a giant test tube that was connected to the floor and the ceiling; it was filled with light green goo and had many free wires floating in the substance. Next to the tube were diagrams of humans, scribbled with notes and tables of data. One of the tables was labeled Replica Program: Clone Number 1 Progress. Katie slowly backed away from the tube and accidently knocked over some beakers. It was a good thing they were empty.
"What's wrong, Katie?" Vanitas asked.
Katie stammered out loud, not even bothering to contact to Vanitas mentally, "T-this is Vexen's lab…w-where Repliku was created…" She turned around to the counter and saw a brown, spiral notebook. She opened it and her mind instantly began to spin from confusion, each page got more confusing until she got near to the end. Out loud, she read, "The copy of the subject Riku was a total success. I've managed to create a clone that is fully functional and even has a heart. With this, I'll be able to create a clone of Number XIII that can also wield the Keyblade like the Superior requested. Now I'll be able to create Keyblade Wielders and then, and only then, Kingdom Hearts will be ours." Katie shook her head and continued to flip the pages, more complex data that didn't compute to Katie's mind. With a sigh, she closed the notebook and put it in her flak jacket's pocket. To Vanitas, she said, "This notebook has all the information about Repliku and Xion. I think I'll give it to Yen Sid when…if I see him again." She turned the computer and typed in the words, Replica Program, she smirked when many files popped up; Katie went through drawers until she found a compact disc. Katie pushed the disk into the computer and moved all the files into the disc; she put the disk in her pocket when it got rejected. "Now I got Riku and Roxas' stolen data…"
"Why does that matter?" Vanitas huffed.
Katie shrugged, "Don't know. Maybe I could give it back to them." She raised her hand and focused her inner darkness into one spot. Even though Katie tried her hardest, the dark portal didn't appear. Katie made a low growl in her throat and paced in a circle. "Why isn't this working?!" she hissed. In the corner of her eye, she saw a black coat. Katie walked to it and took it off of its hook, she studied it and let out a long sigh, she put it on.
Katie felt confusion rise from Vanitas, "You're seriously putting on a Organization XIII cloak?!"
"I remember in one of the Kingdom Hearts games, it said that these make it easier to control and go through dark portals." Katie explained, she zipped it up. "Trust me, I so don't want to wear this but if it'll get me to use the Darkness easier, I have to wear it. I don't see any cards lying around, do you?"
"No…"
"Then the only way to get around is dark portals." Katie raised her hand and a portal automatically opened, ready for use. As Katie stepped in, she asked Vanitas, "Besides, what could possibly go wrong?" She didn't even notice that her silver hair grew; now barely taking up over half of her head.
Okay, this is how it will work. This segment of the story (Dark Realm/Castle Oblivion) will go to each part. Such as this: Castle Oblivion, Dark Realm, Castle Oblivion, Dark Realm, and so on and so forth. This pattern will end when both parts of this segment of the story is completed, okay? ^-^
Bless your face. And if you sneezed while reading this KH fanfic then bless you. Peace off. BOOP!