CHAPTER 15.1: Sora's Chain Of Memories Part 1

[Open to the living room in the Owl House]

Willow's memories have been fully restored. Now, only Sora's memories remain.

Eda: Alright, *claps hands* Willow's all fixed.

Everyone turns to Eda.

Eda: Now, it's time for Sora.

Willow: Sora?

Luz: His memories got burned too.

Willow: Oh.

Amity: And of course, I'm helping. I have to make it up to him as well.

Luz: Alright. Eda, send us in there.

Eda: Wait.

Luz: What is it?

Eda: You, Amity, Willow, Gus, and myself. We're all going in.

Luz/Amity/Willow/Gus: WHAT?!

Luz: Wait, what do you mean we're ALL going in?!

Eda turns around and sees Sora, still sleeping peacefully on the chair. She then turns back to the others.

Eda: Alright, listen carefully. While Luz and Amity were fixing Willow's memories, I somehow received a mental message from a girl who knows Sora.

Luz: A girl?

Willow: I know Sora is friendly to just about anyone, but I'm suddenly curious about how many girls he's friends with.

Amity looks at the two in confusion.

Gus: Is it just me, or could it be that Sora is sort of a... what's that earth term, oh, a "Casanova"?

The girls, aside from Amity, squint at Sora for a bit. They were all hoping he wasn't in their thoughts. Which then reminded Luz about the times female students at Hexside gushed over him, even though he was rather oblivious.

Eda: Alright, back to the topic at hand. I blacked out during the girl's message in my head.

Luz: Well, what was the message?

Eda began explaining to the teens what she had seen while having a flashback in her mind.

Eda: Her name is Naminé. She's apparently the guardian of Sora's memories.

Luz: Really?

Amity: Wait, so there's no "Inner Sora"?

Eda: I don't know. All I know is that she's in his head, and she's going to guide us into fixing the memories.

Willow: Ok, but why all of us?

Eda: ...

Luz: Eda?

Eda: Luz and I know why.

The other teens look at Luz.

Luz: We do?

Eda: Did ya forget? Sora told us his life's story.

Luz: *gasp* That's right!

Willow: Wait. You know everything about Sora?

Luz: Basically.

Amity: Ok, if you two know everything, then the three of us should be more than enough.

Eda: That's the thing. We basically know everything somewhat. And it's a really, really, really, REALLY long story. So, Naminé says all of us should go. That way, we can get it done quicker.

The teens then understood her reason.

Eda: Also...

Then teens look at Eda in confusion.

Eda: Willow. Gus. Amity. From what Naminé has told me, Sora trusts you three to learn everything about him.

Luz suddenly remembers the private conversation she had with Sora. About possibly including Willow into his secret. She feels pleased that he trusts them. Luz then turns to the others.

Luz: Ok, are you guys in?

The other three look at each other and then back at Luz.

Amity: It's my fault he's in this state. I HAVE to help. I WANT to help. And, I'm honored that he trusts me.

Willow: He's our friend. And after everything he's done for us, we couldn't possibly turn away. I'm also happy that he trusts us to learn more about him.

Gus: Me too! *fist pumps* Let's save our buddy!

The teens nod at each other, and then they turn to Eda.

Luz: We're ready, Eda!

Eda: Alright then. First, gather around Sora.

They proceed to do in a circular formation in front of him.

Amity: Ok. Now what?

Eda: Hold hands. I can't use that spell from earlier to bring us all into Sora's mind. Since without me out here, we can't be brought back out. So, I'm gonna try to establish a mental link with Naminé to bring our minds in. Amity, since you're at the opposite end, place your left hand on Sora's shoulder.

Eda placed her right hand on Sora's other shoulder and held Luz's hand to her left. Followed by Gus. Followed by Willow. Willow and Amity looked at each other and then at their free hands. They were hesitant at first because of what happened earlier in Willow's mind. Eda then told the two to put their issues aside for now, as Sora's memories are the main priority. The two were still hesitant but ultimately held hands and nodded each other slightly. Amity then placed her left hand onto Sora's shoulder.

Eda: Ok, give me a sec.

Eda closed her eyes and began channeling her magic. Hoping to contact Naminé. After a bit, Eda opens her eyes to reveal them to be glowing yellow. Eda's magic aura then engulfs Luz, to Gus, to Willow, to Amity, and then to Sora.

Luz: Are we ready?

Eda: Almost...

Eda then hears a voice in her mind.

?: Perfect. I'll bring you in now. But, unfortunately, we don't have much time.

The teens eyes then glowed yellow as well as they felt a rush going through their bodies. Luz, Gus, and Willow simultaneously felt a jolt within them. It felt like something from their chests. They all wondered what exactly that was, but they couldn't contemplate it as everything suddenly faded to black for everyone.

[Cut to a black void of sorts]

In what seems like a realm of nothing but the sheer color of black. Five specks of light appear at once and shape themselves into silhouettes. The silhouettes reveal Eda, Luz, Gus, Willow, and Amity. They all looked around to see nothing but black.

Gus: Oh man, where are we?

Willow: Is... is this?

Amity: Sora's-

Luz: Mind?

Eda: It should be. Hey! Naminé! Where are you?!

A voice suddenly speaks to all of them.

?: Look below.

[Play Kingdom Hearts 3 - Dive Into The Heart -Destati- Third Inception - Extended]

Everyone looks then down to see nothing. But then, a bright blue light appears and blinds them for a bit. Then, as the blinding subsides, they are shocked and amazed at what they see.

Eda: Woah...

Gus: Oh my...

Willow: Wow...

Amity: Wow, is right.

Luz: More like... sweet mother of-

They see right below them what can be described as a giant circular glass mural of Sora. The image of Sora is viewed as him reclining to the edge while being placed in front of six connected circles. The group slowly landed on top of it and inspected the mural.

Luz: Holy woah. Is this Sora's mind, Eda?

Eda: I think so. First time seeing this.

Amity: Hey! Look at this!

The others turned and ran towards Amity. What they see is shocking. Behind the image of Sora lies six connected circles that show images of Sora's friends. Luz and Willow noticed what they were and pointed to each one.

Willow: There's Donald.

Luz: Goofy.

Willow: Riku.

Luz: And-

Luz and the others notice the last circle is cracked, and all they see is a black silhouette.

Luz: I'm guessing that must be Kairi.

?: You are correct.

Hearing a voice suddenly startled the group and caused them to turn around. They see a girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing a white dress and blue sandals.

Luz: Who-who are you?

Eda: Kids, this is Naminé.

Now known as Naminé, she greets the others, greeting them back.

Naminé: I take it Eda has informed you of Sora's current situation.

Luz: Yeah.

Naminé: But first, an explanation is in order as I imagine you have questions.

Luz: First of all, what exactly are we standing on?

Naminé: This is Sora's Dive to the Heart. It is the very core of Sora's being. His heart, if you will. As you can see, his Dive to the Heart is composed of several enormous, illuminated stained-glass pillars known as "Stations," rising from unseen depths. Each Station has a unique shade, and it depicts a specific set of people to who said person is really close. Everyone has one if they look deep inside themselves.

Luz: Wait. Everyone?

Luz and the others placed their hands onto their chests and thought about it.

Luz: *thinking* Wonder what mine looks like?

Amity then walks up.

Amity: We need to fix the memories. Where do we start?

Naminé nods and extends her arms outward, and metal frames containing images of Sora suddenly appear and float around the Dive to the Heart in a circular motion. The group stands in awe of what they see.

Gus: Oh man. So many.

Willow: Can we really fix them all?

Amity: We have to.

Luz: Yeah.

Naminé: Don't worry. Not all of the memories need to be fixed, for I managed to protect most of them in time from the mysterious fires.

Amity winced at the mention of the fires.

Naminé: Only four sets of certain memories need to be repaired. Once they are, the rest of the memories will repair themselves automatically.

Eda: Huh. Convenient.

Willow steps up.

Willow: About Sora. Is there an Inner Sora?

Naminé: Inner Sora?

Willow: Like his own guardian of memories?

Naminé: Ah. I'm afraid not.

Amity then steps up.

Amity: I have a question. Eda said that Sora trusts Willow and Gus to learn everything about Sora. Do you know anything about that?

Naminé: Yes. I saw Sora and Luz having a conversation regarding him sharing his secrets to Willow initially. Sora thought about it and planned to tell not just her but also you and Gus when the time was right. However... something was stopping him beforehand.

Everyone tilted their heads in confusion.

Naminé: Now, it wasn't that he did not trust you all to keep his life's story a secret. He was wary about revealing his origins due to the World Order.

The group raised their eyebrow in confusion.

Eda: World Order?

Luz: What's that?

Naminé: The World Order is a universal law that prohibits Sora and others like him from revealing that other worlds exist whenever they travel to said worlds. It also prohibits him from interfering with the affairs of other worlds.

Luz and Eda were a bit surprised to hear that.

Luz: Really? But Sora told us all about the other worlds.

Naminé: Yes. Sora believed it was necessary to tell you and Eda due to the Heartless arriving in your world, along with Maleficent and Pete. Aside from the fact that you and Eda were already familiar with the other worlds from Sora's perspective...

Luz and Eda tilt thier heads.

Naminé: *giggles* Sora's not been known to follow that rule. The memo to not mention other worlds exists does slip his mind constantly and interfering when he isn't supposed to be his habit, especially when it comes to helping those in need.

Eda smiles sweetly.

Eda: So, Sora's been a rule-breaker since the beginning. *sniff*

Eda wipes a single tear from her right eye.

Eda: My boy. *chuckles* And to think I couldn't be even more proud of him.

Luz looks at Eda with an agreeable smile while the others look at her with slight confusion. Naminé giggles as the others turn their attention to her.

Luz: What's up?

Naminé: Oh, nothing. I'm just pleased that Sora has made wonderful friends with you all. But, back to the matter at hand. I've managed to put out the fires myself. But the memories that are damaged still need to repair. I would've repaired them myself, but I'm using my magic to maintain the link between you, me and maintaining your presence within Sora. I can, however, guide you on how to repair them.

Luz: Oh, we kind of got the gist on how to fix the memories. We go in, fix them by hand, and pop out when they're fixed.

Amity: Um, Luz. It was that simple in Willow's mind because I knew Willow that far back.

Eda: Not to mention we hardly know ANYTHING about Sora in FULL detail since we've only known him since he arrived in the Isles. That, and his story was a summary, not literally every single detail.

Luz starts feeling sheepish herself.

Luz: Oh yeah.

Naminé: Not to worry. As I said earlier, I will guide you, being the guardian of his memories.

Luz: Great. Ok. *looks around* Where to start?

Naminé extends her arms upward, and the metal frames containing images of Sora suddenly vanish. She then moves her arms down. However, the other metal frames that appeared and floated around the Dive to the Heart were in place.

Naminé: These five memories are the first set to be repaired. I believe you should start the day his journey began. His home.

Naminé pointed the memory frame from the upper right direction from Luz's perspective. Luz and the others walked towards the said frame and saw what looked like a sunny, tropical island.

Eda: An island?

Luz: Wait. Island. This must be Sora's home. What was it called again...?

Naminé: Destiny Islands.

Luz: Yeah, that was it!

Amity: Wait. Sora's homeworld is an island?

Willow: It actually looks nice.

Gus: I wonder what's it like there.

Luz: Well, we're about to find out. *turns around to the others* Ready?

The others nod in agreement.

Luz: We're ready, Naminé.

Naminé: *nods* I will contact you while you enter the memories. Good luck.

Luz and her team nod at Naminé and enter the memory frame, bracing themselves for their first task.

[End Kingdom Hearts 3 - Dive Into The Heart -Destati- Third Inception - Extended]

[Cut to Destiny Islands]

[Play Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep - The Silent Forest - Extended]

Luz and the others appear on the other side of the memory frame and appear to be shocked by the island. The Seashore area is naturally covered in yellow sandy beaches, exotic trees and shrubbery, and wooden constructions. In the distance, there is a shack of some kind and a large treehouse built into an enormous tree. A miniature part of the island is settled next to the main island side and can be reached by crossing a bridge. However, due to Amity's damage to his memories, the island has lost its color and appears to be in utter disarray.

Gus: This is Sora's home?! What happened?! The place is in ruins!

Luz: The fires did this.

Amity winced at the mentioned damage and clenched her fists. Amity, in her thoughts, blames herself and is determined to fix everything fast. She also hopes that Sora will forgive and accept her apology. Willow takes notice of Amity and shows a sympathetic look.

Luz: Naminé! What do we need to do?

Naminé: Head towards the other side of the island through the shack. You will find a door.

Luz: Alright. Let's go!

The group proceeds to walk through the island. After reaching the intended door, they entered through it and saw what appears to be some sort of obstacle course with a crooked bridge, numerous trees used as footing, and a large zip-line. Passing through the obstacle course, they eventually encounter what looks like a raft.

Luz: Oh, cool. A raft.

Naminé: Yes. This raft is the nexus of this memory. The raft is complete. However, some items are missing. You will need to collect them.

Luz: Ok, what are we getting?

Naminé: One Seagull Egg, three mushrooms, two coconuts, three fish, and one bottle full of drinking water.

Luz turns around to her team.

Luz: Ok. Let's split up and-

Willow: I'll get the mushrooms.

Eda: I'll get the fish.

Gus: I'll get the coconuts.

Amity: I'll get the water.

Luz: Wai-

Eda: Luz gets the seagull egg. Let's go.

They all split up to grab the items while Luz stands there deadpanned.

Luz: *shudders* Why eggs?

Luz climbed atop a tree near the bridge on the first part of the island to grab the seagull egg. Willow gathers the mushrooms from a hollow behind a rock next to the raft. One from the bushes on the other side of that same cliff, and the last one from a somewhat dark cave on the first side of the island. Gus went up to a tree and kept whacking it with a wooden plank until two coconuts fell. They almost hit Gus in the head. Eda went to the shallows and used her magic to catch the three fishes in water spheres. Amity went and stood near the waterfall on the first part of the island to fill up the bottle. After everyone had collected all the items, they all returned to the raft and placed them on top. Just as they did, a bright white light engulfed them, and they appeared right back in Sora's Dive to the Heart.

[End Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep - The Silent Forest - Extended]

[Play Kingdom Hearts 3 - Dive Into The Heart -Destati- Third Inception - Extended]

Luz: Hey. We're back.

Eda: Alright, one down, four to go. At least, for this set.

Willow: So, can we watch it play out?

Naminé jumps in.

Naminé: Sora did want you to learn about him, see the memory and learn.

Gus: Cool. I still wonder what life's like for him there.

Amity: Well, let's see.

Everyone gathers around to watch the memory play out and what they see is...rather odd.

It went from Sora, who wore a red jumpsuit with puffy shorts and a zipper that runs down the entire front, a black and white jacket over the top, large yellow shoes, white fingerless gloves with yellow and blue straps holding on a silver circle plate, a blue belt with chains hanging off, and his signature silver crown necklace, waking up to what looked like Luz watching over him. Except this Luz is wearing a white top with a black one underneath (the black one shows at her collarbone and the hem) which slightly exposes her navel, purple biker shorts underneath a purple skirt with a blue belt, and white slip-on shoes with purple caps. She also features a black choker, a yellow wristband, a purple armband on her left arm, and a pair of bracelets on her right arm.

Amity: Wait. Luz, you were there?

Eda: Also, what's with the outfit?

Luz: Oh, no. See, that's actually not supposed to be me.

Amity: Huh?

Naminé: It's as she says. That image of Luz is not really her. It's supposed to be Kairi.

Amity: Kairi?

Luz: One of Sora's friends.

Amity: But, how did she switch out with you in there? Like, how's that possible?

Luz and the others look to Naminé for a possible answer.

Luz: Any idea?

Naminé: I'm not sure how it came to be that way. Perhaps, you remind him of Kairi in some way. And that acted as some sort of placeholder.

Luz's eyes slightly widened, and while being confused by Naminé's notion, she did feel flattered.

Luz: Aw.

Eda: I'm not sure how that makes any sense.

Luz: I'm starting to think that many things involving Sora won't make a lot of sense.

The rest, aside from Naminé, nod in agreement. They watched the rest of the memory play out as that was settled. The memory played out from a muscular boy with silver hair, who wore a vest with a yellow collar and is yellow in the front and black on the sides and back. The vest has two black crisscrossing straps that go over his chest and on his upper back that are trimmed with white and have a white stud on each end. Above each of his wrists are tight black bracelets and on his hands are black and gray gloves that reach just to the base of his thumb. He wears a black belt with a silver rectangular buckle high on his waist, securing his dark blue-gray pants. Blue wading pants mostly cover his pants held up by black straps almost identical to the ones on his vest, except they are each layered and have more studs, as well as not being crisscrossed. The wading pants are tightened at the ankle with small black belts. His shoes are white and blue, with some yellow strings on the inner sides, some of which criss-cross each other. The shoes each have two black straps with white trim and gray soles. Luz and Willow were a bit drawn to him.

Amity: Who's this guy?

Luz: That's Riku. Another one of Sora's friends.

Willow: Yup. He... He definitely is.

Eda slightly chopped the two girls' heads.

Eda: Alright, easy, you two. Thinking Sora was cute is enough, don't need you fangirling over his friends either.

[Pause Kingdom Hearts 3 - Dive Into The Heart -Destati- Third Inception - Extended]

-RECORD SCRATCH-

Luz and Willow's eyes widened in embarrassment, and they tried to deny that claim.

Luz/Willow: *panicking* What?! N-no! That's not what's happening here!

Naminé covered her mouth with one hand and giggled.

Naminé: *thinking* Oh my, someone's gotten popular.

Eda, Amity, and Gus stood deadpanned and coincidentally thought the same thing. "How does Sora do it"?

[Play Kingdom Hearts 3 - Dive Into The Heart -Destati- Third Inception - Extended]

As they settled with THAT, they watched the rest of the memory play out from Riku walking up to the duo and dropping a log on top of Sora, while commenting on Luz's laziness, to the trio running across the shoreline, to them having a conversation about the possibility of there worlds existing and what to do if they actually did arrive at a new one, to Riku throwing what looked like a star-shaped fruit over to Sora. This part of the memory caught the interest of the others in particular.

Gus: A Paopu fruit...

Willow: If two people share one...

Eda: Their destinies become intertwined...

Amity: They'll remain a part of each other's lives...

Luz: No matter what.

Naminé: That fruit is indeed a special one. Only found on Destiny Islands. What you have recited is the legend that surrounds the fruit.

Each member of the memory fixing team had a thought on the fruit. Gus thought about its taste. Willow hopes to one day acquire the seeds of the fruit and grow some of her own. Eda thought the legend sounded cheesy but went to deeper thought about it. Amity didn't really think much of it but then glimpsed at Luz. Luz thought it sounded romantic and hoped to try it someday. The memory continues playing as they see Sora inside the secret cave. He is seen sitting in front of a drawing of some kind. It resembled Sora and Luz. What he does next surprised everyone aside from Naminé. Sora places his right hand onto the drawing of Luz for a moment, then begins to draw an arm of his, giving a Paopu fruit to Luz. Meanwhile, with the others, they have quite the reactions.

Gus: He... wants to share the Paopu fruit... with Luz- I mean Kairi.

Willow: Does... Sora...

Amity: ...

The three notice Eda and Luz's reaction. Knowing about Sora's story, the two show sadness in their eyes. They are starting to realize how much Kairi means to Sora. Naminé also noticed Luz and Eda's reaction and approached them.

Naminé: Are you two... Ok?

Luz and Eda turn to Naminé and nod, trying to focus. They watched the rest of the memory play out from Sora talking to a mysterious hooded figure, which freaked them out a bit, to Sora and Luz sitting next to each other on the boardwalk while watching the sunset. The memory ends there.

Gus: Sora sure had great friends back at his home.

Willow: I wonder how often he misses them.

Amity: Certainly a lot.

Eda lowers her head.

Eda: *thinking* Darn it. I wanna see this kid smile again.

Luz turns to the others.

Luz: Let's fix the rest of the memories, fast.

Eda, Amity, Willow, and Gus nod in unison, and the five go to the next memory frame to fix.

[End Kingdom Hearts 3 - Dive Into The Heart -Destati- Third Inception - Extended]

NOTE: Finally done, sorry it took longer than expected. Aside from wanting to spend the holidays with my fam, kinda faced Writer's Block. Now, I'd like to take this opportunity to tell ya'll that this is going like a LONG arc. What I mean is, I'm going to split each memory of Sora's as its own chapter. I realized that if I try to include all at once, it would take freakin' forever. And so, to keep uploads consistent as possible, I will be doing this. Hope ya'll understand. Now, I'm gonna go work on the next one as much as I can, until then, Eda, if you would.

Eda: Byyyeeeeeee!