Author's note: This story is decicated to fellow author, Cloudhead who is famous for his own series, "The Reluctant Father", which I forgot to mention, sorry.
I do not own the rights of Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to both Disney and Square Enix.
Chapter three: Dangers of Castle Oblivion.
Back with Roxas...
Roxas was still a little sad that he wouldn't be seeing Axel until the later got back. The youngest member had no idea what was going on in Castle Oblivion. He noticed on the paper on the window of the members that left for the second castle-Vexen, Lexaeus, Zexion, Axel, Marluxia, Larxene.
When the boy arrived in the lounge, he found Luxord the 10th member, who seemed to love card games, and had asked, "No.13. Do you play poker?"
While Roxas shook his head, 'No', never having heard of the game before, Xigbar seemed to know what the 'pirate' member of the Organization was trying to do, and the one-eye-patched member said, "As if. You're just looking for a sucker."
Never the less, the three of them played the game none the less, and, to Luxord's shock, Roxas was actually good at it so far.
Too bad the peace and quiet didn't even last long for 2.5 seconds, as all of the sudden, the awful sound that was unfortunately Demyx who was playing his Syter or whatever it was, and Roxas was surprised on how noisy it was.
"I wish they'd send him to Castle Oblivion instead." Xigbar grunted in irritation, saying in his head, 'Keep it down!'
Fortunately, his mental wish was granted, as Saix, who couldn't stand the noise either, harshly and unexpectedly whacked Demyx(comically) on the head, ending the noise all together with his clipboard, and you can see a cross bandage on Demyx's head.
"Listen, everyone." Saix began formally to the remaining members, "With half of our numbers unavailable, I need you all to pick up the slack." much to Xigbar's and Luxord's annoyances, though Roxas didn't have a problem with that.
"Aye aye, sir." Xigbar grumbled sarcastically.
"Roxas," Saix began to the young blonde, "You will execute your mission with Xion today." much to Roxas's surprise, remembering Xion, who was a strange female who's face was covered.
Demyx was crying a bit, and asked to Saix, "What was that for?" but he was ignored and sent on his own mission.
It was Xion's first mission, though she hardly spoke of anything, and what surprised Roxas was that she didn't use the Keyblade like he did, despite that they both could wield Keyblades. None the less, when they filled their quota, Xion left without a word, and Roxas did what he usually did, though he felt lonely without Axel and hoped he would be back soon.
The next day, Roxas and Xion paired up again, and the same happened as yesterday, though this time, it was a little different.
"I think that's enough." Roxas told Xion, dismissing his weapon, "Er...uh...I guess I'll see you later." turning away to head over to the clock tower. However, Xion didn't leave this time, and, then came an awkward situation.
"R-Roxas..." Xion began, causing Roxas to turn around as she said his name, "Roxas...your name...It's...Roxas, isn't it?"
"Uh, yeah. That's right." Roxas replied, before Xion left. "So, you can talk then."
Back to Day 24...
Riku stepped through the doors, only to find himself in a familiar world-too familiar for his liking. He suddenly knew where he was. "This is Hollow Bastion." Riku said to himself.
And, well, we all know what happens here, so I'll just skip this part.
The good thing about Castle Oblivion for the six members of the Organization was that at least they had bed rooms where they could get some decent sleep. Though Axel was on assignment to dispose of the traitors of the Organization, he at least deserved some decent sleep.
However, this time, his sleep today was disturbing. Axel seemed to be struggling in his sleep, tossing and turning.
Finally, he jolted up into a sitting position, jerking awake and gasped, before panting, cold sweat on his forehead. Axel looked around, before realising where he was, and sighed for the first time in almost ten years. He never really suffered nightmares since becoming a Nobody, so why now?
"...Namine...where did you go?" Axel whispered to himself. He just had a dream that he nearly killed her while attempting to destroy Marluxia. Not that he cared or anything, but still...even Namine didn't deserve such cold death. Ugh, what was wrong with him?
Axel glanced up at the ceiling, and sighed. Maybe this Castle was starting to influence on him. Plus, it wasn't named Castle Oblivion for nothing. "Maybe this place really is dangerous." he muttered to himself. He layed back down and placed his hands behind his head. For one thing, he wasn't going to get anymore sleep tonight.
After going through what he found out was his memory of Hollow Bastion, Riku walked out of the doors and into the 11th Basement level. Once again, he heard the voice that was starting to annoy him.
"Why do you shun the darkness?"
Riku frowned, pausing as he replied, "C'mon, I know you heard me. Every word I've said to Maleficent."
"Darkness is your weapon. It is time you learned you must accept it." the voice continued.
"What do you mean?" Riku demanded.
The voice answered, "Stop resisting. Accept the darkness. You have no choice..." it trailed off before in front of him, a black and purple darkness appeared before it disappeared, revealling a figure-DiZ. "If you are to spend your days as a slave!" revealing to be the voice.
"So you're the one who wants to use me now." Riku muttered, as if he was expecting an unwanted guest.
"Hmm? You don't seem surprised." DiZ thought.
"All you have been talking about is the darkness. I can only assume you wanna do what Ansem did with me, and play the new puppet master." Riku stated his theory, which was also known as obvious.
DiZ smirked, his red eyes glowing, "Clever boy. However, it seems to me that you are intent on resisting the darkness. All right. Then see it for yourself." pulling out another card, "This is a card crafted from your memory. Advance through the world it
creates and soon, you will understand... Chasing after light is not the way. It will not give you distance from the darkness. There is no running from the darkness."
Riku glared at the new enemy, answering with determination, "Don't worry, I'm not running. Give it. I'll enter the world and in the end, if I haven't given in to the darkness... Then I win."
In an instant, DiZ threw the card at Riku who caught it before it could zip passed him. "I have one more gift for you." DiZ continued, before he clenches his hand, and a dark sphere forms inside Riku who writhes in pain.
"What'd you do?!" Riku demanded in anger.
"I simply tempered the darkness that yet remains in your heart." DiZ answered.
Riku's eyes narrowed, "You still think that I'd rely on darkness?"
DiZ didn't answer, instead, he said, "I'll be waiting, Riku...for you to sense it and yield to the darkness in your heart!" before he disappeared into the corridor of darkness.
Riku glared at the spot, before continuing on, hoping that he would defeat the darkness in his heart once and for all.
Outside of Castle Oblivion, earlier in the new day, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Jiminy and their new companion, Namine, continued down the road before stopping at the fork in the road, wondering where to go. For one thing, Namine was backing away from the middle road.
Which the others caught on and Sora asked, "The middle road leads to Castle Oblivion?"
Namine could only nod.
"Okay, so the middle road is not an option." Sora said, before asking as he looked at the left road and the right road, asking, "So...which path should we chose?"
"I say that way!" Donald said, pointing at the right road.
Goofy blinked, saying, "I thought we'd go that way." pointing at the opposite direction.
Sora, Jiminy and Namine only glanced at each other, before they all looked at the direction Goofy suggested, and finally, Sora said, "Well, let's try that way anyway. I have a feeling that it'll lead us somewhere." and Jiminy and Namine both nodded in agreement.
"Aw phooey." Donald grumbled, but followed the others none the less, hoping that it was the right direction.
Back to Day 25...
The next morning in the Organization Castle, Roxas appeared in the lounge and Demyx was the only one he found, and the Water-skilled Nobody noticed something odd about Roxas, and asked, "What happened to you?"
"Huh?" Roxas asked, confused. Demyx pointed out the look, "That goofy grin on your face." before continuing to play his favorite instument(Sorry about the spelling mistake), while Roxas blushed, asking, "I was grinning?" but not getting an answer.
"Good morning, Roxas." a familiar voice said behind Roxas who turned around, and, to his great surprise, as he knew the voice belonged to Xion, but the person standing there was far different. Xion always had her hood up...or did she always had short black hair and blue eyes?
"Good luck to both of us today." The girl greeted, looking like a normal fourteen year old girl.
"Xion...?" Roxas muttered, surprised.
Demyx, who also noticed, was taken aback, as he muttered in disbelief, "Whoa...she speaks."
What also amazed Roxas was that Xion was acting like a completely different person now, and not only that...she seemed familiar.
Back with Mickey and Aqua...
When the two of them entered the door as Mickey noticed the card glowing, he and Aqua were quite stunned on what they were seeing. They found themselves in a forest, and to Aqua, it seemed familiar. It was in the middle of the night, the moon was out and the stars were shining.
For Mickey, he felt a strong case of deja vu, as he rubbed his eyes before blinking to make sure he was awake. A feeling of dread entered his heart. "Oh no...please don't tell me I'm in another Castle of illusions." he groaned.
"Castle of illusions?" Aqua asked, curious.
"Well," Mickey began, "It happened a long time ago, before I even knew that I had magic powers or about the Keyblade. A witch kidnapped my gal' Minnie and took her to this Castle of illusions. I went after them to save Minnie, and, well, there were several doors that took me inside lots of illusions of strange places, including a forest, because I had to find this raindow gems to get to the Witch's tower."
Aqua's eyes widened as she heard this, "Why would the Witch do that to Minnie?" as she recalled meeting the Queen in Disney Town, which she instantly somehow knew that Minnie was the wife of King Mickey.
"It's a long story, but I really didn't like the Castle of illusions." Mickey shrugged. "Gosh, it was very scary, especially a few times when I either turned very small or everything was giant."
"I can see your point." Aqua admitted. She then suggested, "Well, lets go find out where we are and figure things out from there."
"There is no need." a new, smooth like voice spoke from nowhere, alarming both Mickey and Aqua who both became vigilant and looked around for the source. Sensing movement from behind them, they both quickly turned around, only to find no one. They turned around again to the direction they were about to go, and this time, found a figure in a black coat, his hood up and covering his face. The two Keyblade Masters got into defense stances.
Little did they know that it was Marluxia.
Aqua could sense powerful darkness from the man confront her and Mickey, but she also found that something was missing inside him. "Who are you?" she demanded.
"That isn't important right now." Marluxia began, "What you're seeing now is an illusion, crafted from your memories." shocking both Mickey and Aqua.
"My...memories?" Aqua muttered, before gasping as she now knew where she was and why it looked the same. "We're in our memories!?" she asked.
"That's correct." Marluxia confirmed, "In this place, to find is to lose, and to lose is to find. That's the way of Castle Oblivion."
Mickey's eyes furrowed, "Castle Oblivion?"
"Here you will meet people that you have known in the past. And you will meet people you miss." Marluxia continued.
Aqua seemed to figured it out, because she said, "You mean in my memories?"
"You're a smart young woman." Marluxia chuckled, "It seems you know part of the meaning to find is to lose, and to lose is to find." before he holds out a hand and a blast of darkness and rose petals blast in a gust of wind at Mickey and Aqua who try to block it, before the black-coated man becomes transparent and flies through Aqua who gasped before stumbling.
"Aqua!" Mickey exclaimed, before turning to Marluxia and glared at him, but the enemy disappeared and reappeared back in front of them.
"What'd you do!?" Aqua demanded, summoning her Keyblade-Master Eraqus's Keyblade she kept for ten years. Mickey also summoned his Keyblade, the Kingdom Key-D. It seemed to amuse Marluxia.
"I merely sampled your memories. And from them, I made this." Marluxia muttered, holding out what seemed to be another card with a picture on it. "To reunite with those you hold dear-" he tosses the card to Aqua who caught it.
Aqua looked at the card, and muttered, "What are these for?"
"To continue your journey through the new worlds." Marluxia explained, "Proceed, warrior of the Keyblade." to which Aqua and Mickey both gasped, as he continued, "Go through your journey for to find is to lose and to lose is to find." before he disappeared.
"He said that about three times." Mickey sighed, before questing, "And how did he know about the Keyblade?"
Aqua had a bad gut feeling, as she muttered, "I guess Xehanort must've told more with dark hearts about the Keyblade than I thought." recalling how Maleficent knew about the Keyblade ten years ago.
This worried Mickey a lot, then he suggested, "Welp, I guess we'd better be extra careful. I have a bad feeling about this."
Agreeing on this, the two of them decide to investigate this memory of one of the worlds Aqua has been ten years earlier.
Little did they know, was that they were being spied on by three of the Organization members who found a security room with magical cameras of Castle Oblivion. Marluxia returned to the room as Axel and a somewhat jealous Larxene kept on eye on Aqua and King Mickey.
"I thought there weren't any other Keyblade wielders at the moment." Axel muttered. "Just how many of them are there?" as his strange dream was long forgotten and he actually managed to get some more sleep.
"Are you really that dense?" Larxene sighed, "Of course there are others! What I'm concerned about is, why is that girl a Keyblade wielder?" glaring at the blue-haired woman on the screen.
Seeing the blonde-haired woman's reaction was priceless for Axel and he couldn't help but tease, "Jealous much?" causing Larxene to glare at him in irritation.
"That woman is already more trouble than Sora." Marluxia spoke up, pulling off his hood, and, to boh Axel's and Larxene's annoyances, more pink roses grew around the graceful assassin. "However, she will soon discover the meaning to find is to lose and to lose is to find..." before he flinched, and then groaned in realisation, "Oh no, I said it again."
"Maybe it's becoming your own catch-phrase." Axel joked as he crossed his arms.
"Please say you didn't say that." Larxene groaned.
Axel shrugged, his own gut feeling about these two with him growing stronger. He had a feeling that he was right about them. Still, he couldn't let his guard down. He would have to continue to pretend to act like nothing supicious was happening around his co-workers.
"If Namine had not gone missing, Sora would've been lead here to Castle Oblivion." Marluxia muttered softly, but Axel caught on, though the latter pretended it didn't hear.
"Hey, it looks like those two are about done with their first memory." Larxene spoke up, looking at the screen again. Axel and Marluxia also looked and noticed that Aqua and Mickey, having relived a slightly different version of what Aqua went through in the Castle of Dreams ten years ago, were leaving the memory behind to return to the real world.
"Perhaps I should go and greet them again." Marluxia smirked, placing his hood back over his head and then teleported away.
Axel shook his head, muttering, "He's better off working in a Greenhouse."
"Tell me about it." Larxene agreed, "Those petals are so annoying."
Both of them turned back to see that Marluxia has already greeted with Aqua and Mickey, before Axel decided, "I'm gonna go and give the guy a break." teleporting away before Larxene could say anything else.
Aqua and Mickey both made it through their first memory and were in another hallway that was pretty much the same as the previous room when they first arrived in Castle Oblivion. Both of them figured that, since the people they met didn't recongise them and that they were in the castle when they first got here, that what they saw was an illusion.
Unfortunately, Marluxia was waiting for them. "Well, miss Keyblade bearer, did you enjoy seeing your memories?" he asked.
"What is it that you want?" Aqua demanded, not answering.
"What do you have to give?"
Marluxia started to approach them, making Aqua and Mickey both summon their Keyblades again, just as Axel appeared behind Marluxia who paused, sensing the redhead's appearence.
The red-haired Nobody waved a hand at Aqua and Mickey, greeting with a smirk, "Hello!" only making Aqua's glare go harder. She could alreadly tell that the young redhaired man was like Marluxia in darkness.
"What do you want?" Marluxia asked, not turning around.
"I got bored, with you hogging another hero." Axel replied.
While the graceful assassin wasn't amused, he decided to give Axel a chance for once, and threw him another card, which the skilled Flurry of Dancing Flames caught, his grin widening. He was looking forward to this.
"Then perhaps you would like to test this young woman." Marluxia muttered.
"Perhaps I would." Axel replied as his comrade teleports away, giving him a farewell, "See ya.". He then turned his attention to Aqua, saying, "My show now, miss Keybearer."
"Who are you?" Aqua demanded.
Axel blinked, "Who am I? Oh my name's Axel." he replied, before quoting his catch-phrase while tapping the side of his head, "Got it memorized?"
"I never forget names." Aqua replied, keeping her guard up.
"Good. That's what I want to hear." Axel chuckled, "So, now that we're getting to know each other..." held stretched out his arms on both sides and summoned his Chakrams, making Aqua and Mickey get into a deep defence, while Axel concluded, "Don't you go off and die on me now!"
He then drew his arms back and threw his weapons with such strength straight towards the two Keyblade wielders, Axel smirking, "Here I come!"
"Get down!" Mickey cried out, pushing Aqua and himself to the floor to avoid in getting sliced in half, before the mouse king got up and shouted, "That's not nice in throwing weapons around!" Only to find that Axel disappeared...only to reappear behind the two keybearers.
"Yeah, well," Axel smirked, "Gotta use what I got!" before he attempted to slice Aqua who blocked each of his attacks with her Keyblade.
Finally, Aqua grunted and yelled, "That's enough!" and she too clashed in return, though when she finally thought she caught him off-guard, Axel teleported away in time and yet he was still smirking.
This angered her more, but she had to keep her temper in check, for she didn't want to end up her heart fall into darkness. Instead, she aimed her Keyblade at Axel and summoned, "Freeze!" her Blizzard spell, seemingly freezing him.
Or not.
"Not bad, for a girl." Axel muttered as he easily melted the ice around him. "Just so you know, I have the ability of fire."
Aqua didn't like this, so she casted Thunder as did Mickey who did a triple air-somersault with his Keyblade and actually hit Axel, giving Aqua's thunder a chance to electrocute him and he screamed out in pain, before the two Keyblade wielders joined hands and did the special powers of Light spin(Whatever that's called) and as Axel tried to reach them, he kept on hitting injured until finally...he was defeated and disappeared.
The fight was over, and when Aqua and Mickey both landed back on the ground, the card Axel left behind floated in front of them. Aqua picked it up carefully, and examined it.
"Gosh, it just like the last card we used." Mickey realised as he gazed at the card. "I wonder what it means?"
"I guess we just keep going." Aqua thought.
"That's right." a too familiar voice stated, and it sounded like it was grinning. Aqua and Mickey both gasped, and they were shocked to find Axel near the staircase, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, as if he wasn't put into a battle against them at all.
"Axel!?" Mickey exclaimed as he and Aqua both returned to defense stances.
Axel smirked, before standing up and approached them, saying as he walked, "Did you really think after that introduction, I would give up oh so easily?"
"Was that some kind of test?" Aqua demanded.
"Yup, and you passed." Axel nodded, "Congratulations! I gotta admit, you sure put up a good fight. It's no wonder you're a Keyblade wielder."
"If you think I'm interested in the Darkness, think twice." Aqua stated.
The redheaded pyro snickered, "Spoken like a hero." before giving a serious frown, "But I can tell that you both stumbled into the darkness, yet it hasn't gotten hold of either of you. Care to explain that?"
Aqua tried to drive away the terrible memories of when she dived into the corridor of darkness to save Terra and sacrificed herself to sent him back into the Realm of Light, and became trapped for ten long years, even if time was different, as she hasn't aged a single day since that day. She remained silent. Mickey was silent as well, as he refused to tell Axel about his current Keyblade.
"I'll take that as a 'you don't want to tell me'." Axel finally stated. He shrugged, "That's cool. None of my business, I get it. But still, you need to trust your memories and your heart if you want to get through Castle Oblivion. No one has ever seen all of this place-not even me."
"So you don't know much about this place either?" Mickey asked, a little confused, but not letting his guard down.
"Come on," Axel muttered, "This place ain't known as Castle Oblivion for nothing."
"Then what is it that you and your the other man want?" Aqua inquired.
"That," Axel smirked again, "I'm not telling." before holding out a hand for an offer, "Unless you would like me to give you a hint?"
That was enough for Aqua as she summoned her Keyblade again, and snapped, "Never!"
"That's right! We're not gonna join you!" Mickey added, jumping in front of Aqua to protect his friend.
This made Axel chuckle, retreating his hand, saying, "Good answer. Just what I'd expect from the Keyblade master." before frowning again, "But be forewarned...If you give into your darkest memories, you may no longer be who you are now." as he teleports away and disappears.
Hearing this made Aqua remember her encounter with the one eye-patched man from twelve years ago, and then she realised, to her horror, she was being used...just as Terra was used by Xehanort.
"You think you two have got some grand role to play. As if. You're only here so that when I finish you off...Terra will succumb to the darkness." Braig's voice echoed in her mind.
And then, before that...
"I was stupid and helped Xehanort do it. The Master-he tried to hurt Ven. I only fought because I wanted to protect him. But I was tricked. Xehanort set the whole thing up-all so he could awaken the darkness inside me." Terra's voice.
Aqua sighed, holding her hand to her chest, clutching it, as she muttered, "What else is darkness but hate and rage?" repeating those words she told Terra all those years ago.
"Aqua?" Mickey asked worriedly.
"Maybe the darkness is starting to get to me too." Aqua continued, not really paying attention. "I've been in the Realm of Darkness for too long. I couldn't even...I couldn't even save my friends..."
"It's not your fault, Aqua." Mickey reassured. "You're not to blame for what happened to them. You can still save them. We just have to find Ven's heart and figure out where Terra is, as well as finding Riku." he pointed out. "Don't listen to what Axel or that other guy are saying-they're just tryin' to trick you."
After a moment, Aqua nodded, replying, "You're right. I've been given a second chance." she pulled out her Wayfinder and gazed at it. "I'll find a way, and this time, I won't fall into the darkness."
Mickey laughed, "Now you're talkin'! C'mon, let's find a way outta here."
"Right." Aqua nodded, "And Mickey...thank you."
"Aw, gosh." Mickey's cheeks went a little pink in embarrassment.
Meanwhile, in the lounge part of Castle Oblivion, Axel reappeared, his thoughts troubled. Did he reveal too much? Nah, that's not it. No, he had to focus on his assignment.
"This woman's memories link to ten years ago, if I recall correctly." Larxene muttered as she was lying on the couch side-ways, reading a book, 'Marquis de Sade.', and she continued, "You're too careful around that woman, Axel. I would've kicked her around more."
Axel frowned, "Yeah, well, I have healthier hobbies than you, Larxene." he told her. He was mentally relieved that no one in the Organization liked her that much. He was beginning to suspect that even Xemnas didn't like her either.(And really, how can blame him?)
"How can you say that?" Larxene asked as she puts the book away, "Anyway, you're interested in this girl, aren't you? The way how she is chosen by the Keyblade. But you're more interested in her heart."
"None of us heard of this person before." Axel said, "But I could sense that she's been in the Realm of Darkness." he could sense the familiar pressence of the Realm of Darkness like the Heartless and the Nobodies. "But she still remained whole. Like Sora, this girl's heart is full of light. To survive in a place like that for so long..."
"Are you saying that she's alive because of her heart?" Larxene inquired.
Axel nodded, "Most likely. I want to know what's hidden in her heart, like how Sora returned to normal after becoming a Heartless at Hollow Bastion. Must be the power of the Keyblade or something." just as Marluxia returned as well, once again taking off his hood, and once again, rose petals floated all over the place.
"To unlock the mysteries of the heart-That is the Organization's purpose-The reason for our being." Marluxia began. "I have been entrusted with the management of Castle Oblivion."
"Even if you have no idea about much of this place either." Larxene pointed out, "So anyway, boss, what do we do with this girl?"
"Perhaps she could be a use to us." Marluxia stated, "I believe that not even she can resist the darkness."
Axel remained silent on this. This was going to be tougher than he thought.
A/N: I know this is confusing, but this is only just the beginning. It's going to take longer than I thought, but it's worth it. In the meantime, fellow readers, please continue your amazing reviews and I'll see you again in the next chapter.