The Sapphire Sorceress

Disclaimer: The rights to Kingdom Hearts belong to Disney and Square Enix.

Act 16: Castle Oblivion

"I was alone for so long. I couldn't bear it anymore... So I beckoned your heart to lead you here. And I'm so glad you found me. But your heart, I had to..."

Unknown Location: ( Sora )

It was some time since the trio of heroes was around civilization. The journey to save the worlds from darkness ended with success, and yet it came at a cost. They were split away from everyone they knew through their adventure. Losing those bonds was not easy to accept however their new journey was to reclaim them. Their current surroundings were in a giant grass field with no kind of landscapes in their sight. Sora knew they didn't know how long their path would be yet they could not give up without finding Riku and the king. They must continue for their sake along with everyone back on the islands.

"Sora are you okay?" One of his newest friends asks with the boy looking at one of the king's trusted men. Donald and Goofy were two of Mickey's royal assistants even if the king considers them as more than just that. Due to the manipulations of Maleficent and Ansem they both got sent away from the kingdom they knew so well. Donald and Goofy want to see the people living in Disney Castle once again. For now however Doland and Goofy were happy to have met Sora the newest keyblade wielder.

"Yeah I was just thinking about how funny things worked out of us three. If things didn't happen like they did we might not have ever met. Even though I don't want things to happen like they did I would never want us to ever have never gotten to know each other." Sora knew it seemed like fate was pulling them into bring together.

"I would always want to come together too Sora!" Goofy replied agreeing with Sora's view of things. They might have gone into hardship, but in the end it only made their friendship strong. Donald also would not wish to have never gotten to be with Sora even if he misses the people back in his world. Their bond had been many times and would continue to go through hardship, but they all knew once they could find their precious ones it would be worth it.

"It's amazing how long it has been while since we've been out here." The comment came from their fourth companion Jimmy Cricket. He decided to tag along with the gang keeping a record of their days and progress in locating Riku and the king, and while under orders to stay with Donald and Goofy on their adventure into the worlds. He did miss Pinocchio and Geppetto along with the others at Disney Castle.

"To be honest I don't really know long it's been lucky you've kept records for us Jimmy!" Sora had on his charming smile on his face showing off his care-free nature. It's not the kind of person to worry about tomorrow's worries and just focuses on today. That heart of his could be part of the reason he's become a keyblade user.

"Yeah I'm sure glad you decided to stick around with us Jimmy." They were all grateful he was writing down that information. While he was unable to fight or defend himself Jimmy was very much-needed for their adventure just like their weapons.

"Yeah I agree with Goofy. With your help we won't forget anything important." Donald's comment made Jimmy smile feeling wanted and appreciated made his day. Speaking of that night was coming as the sun was now setting creating a beautiful sunset. The wildlife around them looked very pretty with the falling light of the sun. As the moon rise everyone set up a place to rest for the night. They trip would need another day, but they did not mind another night being together out in the wild.

"So many stars out tonight and each one represents a different world right? I'm glad we were able to stop Ansem so everyone else can look at the sky like this." Sora said holding his arms behind his head as he looked up into space. Goofy nodded in agreement as he was also pondering something he felt like talking about to everyone.

"You know I've also noticed we have not run into anyone during our trip? Do you think we will see anyone we might know out here Sora?" Goofy was feeling pretty isolated with no one else to meet and speak with besides his group. During their travel with the Gummi Ship they came across many people with different backgrounds yet they have not seen anyone for a while.

"I know we will find someone out here besides Riku and the king. It's only a matter of time before we run into something. It might be something good or bad yet I know we will face it together!" Their strength overcome the evil of the worlds before so why would it not overcome things now the destined boy figured to himself.

"Yeah Sora, Goofy, and me!" Donald replied sticking out his wand into the sky putting it next to Goofy's shield and Sora's keyblade. Jimmy felt left out of the pose until they called him over to hold up his book. Their laughing and joy brightened up the darkness of the night sky. As they crew finally went to sleep they all dreamed about see their other friends once more and having a huge party. They were not aware of the castle looming in the coming days. The twisted house of memories that would shatter their minds and nearly break them apart.

The Land of Dragons: Mountain Village ( Aqua )

The night has only begun for me and my fellow nobody as our new "mission" had been well under way. The cold breath came out of the mouths of the villagers near us, but we did not even shiver like that did in this snow. In a way being without emotions was helpful for stuff like this. Then again it makes it hard to interaction with those who really can have feelings that are real. Shaking my head to get out of those thoughts my eyes looked at Roxas. He was simply holding himself ready for the next wave of heartless activity.

"I know this is not an exciting mission Roxas, but I'm happy that I could be your partner for the day." Hoping that would cheer him up I gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder as well. His face still looked rather dull, but he did nod his head in response to my comment. At least we managed to calm down the civilians down so they won't feel as much tension during our night here.

"That rose you gave me I asked Marluxia to help me take care of it. From what he said it was one of the most beautiful roses he's ever seen." Really now that manipulator actually did something to help one of the members of the organization. That would warm up my heart, but since I can't do that the next best thing was a smile on my face. We didn't have a tight bond so far yet I could see we are slowly bonding with each other. Then again Axel was very interested in Roxas as well.

"Well I'm glad you're able to enjoy my gift Roxas. You know perhaps when this is over we can start a garden. Marluxia might be a jerk, but I don't think anyone else would bother dealing with flowers like he does." As our conversation went on I could tell the stares we were getting by the villagers could be either curious interest and possible disdain for us being here.

"How can that one blade take down those monsters?"

"It is nothing else than witchcraft. Not one of our soldiers could defeat those beasts."

"I don't believe the captain. They have to be spies so don't sleep without one eye open."

Gripping my hands I knew they would never truly be fine with us being around even if we've brought them no harm. That was the nature of men and there was nothing I can do to change how they feel besides prove myself to them. Even so I knew people were not so easy to convince no matter your actions or words. Before we could worry about that there was someone walking towards us in a panic.

"Where is the captain they are coming! They took Bei-Fong now they are coming here...we have to-" Before he could go on he fell into the snow clearly out of energy. The others took him to the medical tent as the "captain" was unsure what to do now.

"They know we are here so they will be others arriving soon. If they already took Bei-Fong then we have to make sure no one else gets taken. You two better be able to handle this." His voice hissed out his frustration. Roxas stood up and was glaring back at the leader of this group. I also rose up not accepting his cynical thoughts about our protection. Once again that man named Ping was able to come to our aid cooling the leader down. Still the fact these heartless claimed someone's heart meant they were stronger than the ones Roxas defeated earlier.

"You're going to need my help for these guys Roxas. Ready to take them down with me partner?" I held out my hand in a supporting gesture. I know he was feeling under pressure with Li Shang and some of the villager's comments. I hoped he was be able to put those words out of his head for the moment and it was working for the moment. He quickly shook my hand giving me a nod of approval. After pulling out Monsoon and Roxas readied his keyblade I stood defiant to whatever was coming our way.

At first it seemed like nothing was coming out of the darkness besides more snowfall. Then I could hear a small tremble like feet coming in our direction. It was difficult to hear at first, but slowly the sound grew louder. Tightly grasping my weapons I knew being without emotions meant I could not be afraid of these creatures. Yet I felt concerned for the safety of the others, but even so I can't falter not now! With Roxas by me I could never have fear in my mind...

Finally the enemy was in front as it seemed like they were a huge wave of horses. It was not until they got closer I realized they were heartless with four legs to walk on, and they held giant spears to use as weapons. Ping looked at the enemy wave and suddenly called out every soldier to form a line of defense.

"What are you doing if those guys can handle these guys I'd say let them. We can't afford to lose any more soldiers recruit."

"Yeah and we can't let more villagers fall like Bei-Fong!"

"Are you questioning my orders soldier?"

"No I'm questioning your actions as a person!"

While their argument continued on I knew these heartless looked ready to rush into the village. Even if we held them off some would break through and get to the village. We could not also lure them away since we lack hearts. It seemed like there was only one thing we could do to avoid death.

"Get ready to charge them don't hold back!" I yelled out moving my legs to run at the huge wave of assault heartless. He was shocking at my suggestion yet when he looked back at the soldiers quivering in fear he knew this might be the best option we have to stop any more casualties. At the same time we charged into the wave not allowing them to go into that village so easily. As I expected they were a lot more powerful than the last heartless. Even with my advances in strength four of them were easily keeping me on my toes.

"Auxaq!" Roxas called out for help as he got swallowed in a huge wave of riders not giving him room to attack. Even with our strength the amount of heartless was too much to deal with on our own. I was considering calling out Dusks, but I know the villagers might be concerned they would attack them as well. No we can't avoid being cast out so we will have to do this by ourselves.

"We need to split them up there are too many to fight them all at once!" I called out to Roxas who agreed as we changed our plan of attack. Looking at the hoard I knew they might be a large number, but that also makes them a big target. Throwing my fans to distract a few I decided to slow down a few allowing Roxas to go in for the kill wiping some of them out.

Before I could move to the next away I was hit in the back with one of the spears as more of the heartless continued ramming into my body. Despite the lack of pain in my body I was having a rough time getting back on my knees. Roxas was in front shielding me from more attacks. With a glare my eyes lit up as my fans had a sudden glow to them. Monsoon's edges now looked more sharp with a blue light glowing on them, and my hands launched them towards the heartless. Now the blades suddenly created waves of attacks blowing through several heartless at once.

"Now Roxas!" With a path open Roxas continued his assault on the heartless thinning out the waves as best he could with the keyblade. Even with this moment of victory it was a fleeting hope the wave grew back in size and strength. No matter what they won't simply go away plus they were getting closer to the village. Roxas knew this as well and looked at me for the next move.

"Move out-of-the-way!" Before I could react Ping along with some other villagers made a charge at the swarm of heartless. Knowing they would lose their hearts they still will not surrender...is that the power a heart holds? Realizing the risk they were making I tried to stop them with my power, but it did not affect them at all. Damn it I can't afford to let them give up their lives like this.

"Roxas we have to call our back-up now!" I knew this would put us in a bad way with the army yet we were now out of options. While Ping's actions were admirable even he knew the heartless were too much to overcome with simple weapons and such insufficient power. Only beings like us who lack hearts to steal could match them, and the keyblade was the only way to finish them.

The captain was calling out to Ping ready to make his way into the sudden battlefield in the snowy night. Suddenly the reinforcements arrived as Dusks, Oracles, and nobodies that I've been told Roxas used called Samurai came to our aid. The fight began as the forces created a huge wave of combat as I tried to look for Ping in the cluster of enemies and allies battling out with each other. That's when I saw Ping being held up by a spear as the heartless looked primed to steal his heart.

"You're not getting a meal tonight you monster!" As my body grew blue in color I sent out a charged attack with my fan weapon and knocked the beast away from the nearly unconscious Ping. Looking up I noticed Li Shang was running through the enemy lines trying to get to his soldiers unaware of the heartless rider following him. I knew there was no way I could reach him in time, but Roxas could so I was able to slow down the monster allowing Roxas to slice him down before Ping along with the other soldiers lost their captain.

"I'm sorry all of this was because of us..." Ping looked up at me showing guilt when he was actually doing nothing wrong. Shaking my head I tried to raise his head to get him on my back not seeing the hair fall out from the shape it had been in when I met him. For a second it looked like he might have been more of a she, but at the moment I can't focus on that. Li Shang was able to reach me as we both met up with Ping on my back still with a beating heart.

"How could this happen? There was nothing like this until you two came along! They felt drawn to you and those weird creatures this is your fault and-"

"That's enough don't you care there is a battle going on now! The more time you waste arguing the more soldiers you lose to the heartless. I don't know why I can't control them like the other members however we can't them reach the village. You take your men and fall back we can handle the rest from here."

"Oh what leave you to handle this on your own? No way besides if you can "control them" how can I believe you didn't send them here in the first place. You could be working for Shan-Yu after all!"

My hand could not stop itself as it came into contact with his cheek. His face grew into surprise as the red mark was now on his pale face. My eyes were cold with anger knowing in my head it was fake. We had no more time to waste so he must come to grips with the situation as I have.

"Roxas and myself will deal with this. You take your men and villagers and evacuate to somewhere safe. We will not here when you return neither will the heartless. If you truly are their captain you will accept that order soldier!" His mouth went shut and didn't open after my speech. Nodding he took Ping off my back and took the remaining soldiers and villagers away from the battle. Looking at the ground there was clearly some who could not go with their captain. Their bodies remaining still meant their hearts now belonged to these monsters. Funny it takes heartless creatures to defeat heartless creatures or as Xaldin would put us the superiors on the food chain.

"We are going to finish this now..." I held out my hands and began to concentrate on using the full extent of my power. I knew this would leave me open to attack, but thankfully Roxas and the other nobodies were my guards. I'm entrusting them to protect me for just a little while. To have others to rely on that's what friends are for like Ven. Could he really be just like him or are my memories affecting me too much? It's such a blur in my head.

Opening my eyes I cast my magic on several of the rider heartless holding them up in the air. Powerless for the moment Roxas was able to rip through enough of them to shrink the size of their forces. I also noticed my body was going faster than before as I knocked some of the rider into the ground with great force. Eventually our teamwork overcame the might of their numbers as the remaining heartless fled the scene leaving their defeated to be slain. Looking up the huge amount of hearts faded into the air signaling the end of this battle. The nobody forces mostly left besides Roxas' forces and my own personal nobodies. Seeing their faces I knew they were not my first comrade Banon. He's long gone and I would need to accept that.

"Your highness, Auxaq we must give the fallen a proper burial." The samurai nobodies actually cared enough for the deceased to give them a burial? Despite being lesser nobodies their honor was rather admirable to witness. Roxas and I had the same thought and decided to give the dead respectful graves. It might be an empty gesture yet I knew this is likely what they wanted for their friends. As we were finishing up I wanted to ask Roxas something about Ping. The fact his hair was so long not to mention when he was on my back I felt something unusual about him.

"Roxas how did you feel about being with me today? I know you might have wanted to hang out with Axel so I was just wondering if-"

"I-I enjoyed being with you Auxaq well until all of this happened. You're right I did wish to be with Axel, but I didn't mind working with you today." Suddenly my comment about Ping was forgotten as I could swear there was a happy smile on my face that was not fake or just pretending. Looking at the last body being placed in the holes we made I knew it was just about time for us to leave for our home. After what happened I don't think anyone here wanted to see us now. While I was upset with their words I knew in the end there was nothing we can do to change their feelings. That was the right somebodies have compared to us shells. To mourn the losses of people they care about unlike a nobody.

"Just a moment you two!" We both noticed Ping struggling to reach us through the snow and with his injuries. Rushing over to help him I saw his hair floating through the wind seeming longer than I expected from a man. That's when I also noticed he was bowing to us both which confused me.

"I h-ad to come here to give you our thanks. Without you both we would have lost much more tonight than a few men." He opened his eyes taking a gaze as the newly made grave sites for those who lost their hearts tonight. He gave a weak cry as his arms began to shake.

"You even made a grave despite what they said about you both. I don't know how we can repay you two for all of this." Roxas titled his head unsure what to think about all of this, but I knew exactly what I wanted to get in return. Waving my hand I walked next to Ping and took hold of "his" hand. The blush grew on the warrior's cheek as I my blue eyes stared into the soldier's own.

"Can you confirm yourself as a female?" Roxas's lips were wide open as "Ping" got caught off-guard by this request. Tilting his head he did not know what to say to my request so I decided to explain myself.

"When I picked you up I could feel there was something different about you from the other soldiers. Your hair also looked rather long for a male warrior, and let's just say my intuition kicked in as well." Holding my hand on the back of my head I tried to lighten the moon as I felt Ping was tense about this.

"I hope you don't mind the graves Ping we felt like they deserved to have their rest and-"

"It's Mulan actually, but yes I'm sure their souls will be at peace now. The captain will likely be looking for me so I should get back to him. Still from one female to another I'm glad to have met you Roxas and Auxaq Gaobie." With another bow Mulan went back to her army as it seemed like our missions was now at an end. We could not save everyone yet the village was now safe from destruction. Considering how things could have ended much worse I consider it a good day. So me and Roxas went back into the portal of darkness to return to our hollow world of nothingness.

llll

As the nobodies went back into their home there was someone who was observing these events. The man called Shan-Yu who actually sent the heartless after the village. He expected a simple slaughter of his enemies which would make his invasion of the empire that much easier. Instead the sudden arrival of those organization members ruined his plans. His plans for conquest would have to wait for another time as his hawk companion flew around him. He was a patient man however so for now he would wait and plot his next action.

- Day 22 Left Behind - ( Aqua )

So the day has finally come for my departure from this castle and into another one. While it was rather unexpected of myself I've come to enjoy being here with so many beings without a heart to help me live in the world. Looking in my journal I could see several amounts of pages filled with content about my thoughts. Notes about Roxas, Axel, Larxene and of course Lord Xemnas. My annoyance with Zexion, Demyx, Marluxia, Vexen, and Xigbar who got my nastiest comments. I could not say much about Xion, Saix, Xaldin, and Lexaeus. There was also the notes about the memories which continued to flood my head of the past few days. I knew this book was very important to me which is why I will be taking it with me.

Besides this book there was not much else I had in this room besides some clothing given to me by Axel whom bought it in Twilight Town. I was glad he would be coming along with me to the new base of operations since besides Larxene he was the only one I knew well in the others going into that place. There was something in my mind telling me this split would lead to something horrible, but then again I could be pretending to have a feeling of fear. So I gathered up everything I needed and went to Nothing's Call.

The basement was mostly empty besides the members that would be now stationed at Castle Oblivion. Vexen looked bored, Marluxia didn't seem happy to be in front of the Superior, Larxene was her usual snarky self, Zexion just glared at me, Lexaeus was indifferent, and Axel waved at my direction giving me the only friendly gesture out of all of them. Standing in line we all took in the last speech we would hear from Xemnas for a while.

"It pleases me to announce our expansion team for Castle Oblivion is now complete. The lesser nobodies that have roamed through the halls of the castle have not been seen. Therefore it's time we explore this new base of operations. Perhaps we can find new allies and tools to help us in our greater goals. For now it will be sad to have all of you leave us, but I know in the end it will all be worth it. Now go my friends..." With nods from everyone including myself we all made our exit through the portal of darkness beginning our trip into new territory. I would somewhat miss The World That Never Was along with being with the Superior. That just means I have to work harder to return to him with hopefully my memories in full.

llll

As the group left Xemnas knew this split would leave the Organization's power in half. Losing quite a few of their forces would be a blow to their cause, but he was a manipulator who learned from Ansem the Wise. He knew how to adjust to things not exactly going according to plan. Even with the possible plans for a coup by Saix and Marluxia in the end things will continue as expected. Still the anomalies created by Xion and Aqua were things he could not predict that well. The risk of losing either one of them would be a major blow to Xemnas' grand scheme, and yet there was not much he could do besides watch and let things play. Indeed he could be sending Aqua into oblivion yet the potential of finding his last friend was too much not to chance. She would need to regain her memories to wield her keyblade along with finding the Chamber of Waking. Xigbar didn't understand what was so important about getting that boy back while Xemnas thought much differently. Having two powerful keyblade users was one thing, but the both of them together were very powerful. Those two along with Terra stopped Xehanort's plans even if they were all split from each other. While he isn't the original Terra for Aqua or Auxaq he would be more than enough.

"Yes Aqua let us be reunited once more all three of us."

[ Welp things are finally kicking into motion for the Chain of Memories are, but there will be sort of a filler installment next time dealing with Aqua remembering her last day in The World That Never Was and her final mission with a certain someone. Who that could be well stay turned and find out. :P

Anyways I hope my writing has improved since the start of my story. Thanks for reading and enjoying it everyone. ]