Castle Oblivion

Day 65

The endless white pristine hallways irked him in ways that should not be possible. He had been under fire both literal and gun related, fought great monsters, launched into a massive warmachine and tore it apart with his hands. But this hallway? This hallway truly made his skin crawl.

Generally, Kuro enjoyed the light. Much more than he enjoyed being in the dark. The gentle glow of lantern light eased his spirits, the shimmering flames of a roaring fire warmed his hands, the shine of the twilight sun made him smile. All these sources of lights felt natural and familiar, comfortable and pleasant to him.

The lights of these ivory clean halls were too bright, too blinding. As if they were meant to disorientate and to discombobulate. The floors were made of pale marble, the edges of the floor lined with diamonds that ran along the ground and from one end of the room to the other. With its huge towering columns that started from the floors and up into the ceiling. Kuro covered his brow with his hand, trying to block out the unyielding dazzling light. No matter what angle, no matter how closed his hands became, it was as bright if he held his eyes open or if he squinted just enough to make out DiZ's form walking in front of him.

"It's so bright." Dusk grumbled as they shifted the brim of their hat ahead enough it totally blocked their line of sight. Their claws pawed out before they grabbed ahold of Kuro's pant leg and hobbled alongside the taller Heartless as he led them through the halls of the castle. "You would think the sun was in our eyes."

"DiZ, it's so goddamn bright in here." Kuro complained, rubbing his eyes to the point where stars started exploding in his vision, beginning to be grateful that the twinkling starlight in his eyes dulled the lights of the hallway, even momentarily. Kuro continued to walk on ahead, DiZ leading the way through the hall. "How the hell did Sora get through this?"

"Sora was in here for almost a month," DiZ noted, with a snide grin, glancing over his shoulder at his Heartless companion. A sick fascination dwelled in him seeing how uncomfortable the Castle Oblivion lights made the Heartless. "Can you imagine being in these types of rooms for that long?"

"I'm about to lose my mind and it's been less than a minute." Kuro groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose and continued to trudge along forward. Kuro heard DiZ's feet eventually slow to a tenderfoot tap, Kuro's gait following him in turn. DiZ came to a stop in the hall, arms folded behind his back as he cleared his voice to speak again. Kuro continued to rub his eyes regardless, trying to attend to the irritation that he was feeling in his skull.

"I have returned, just as I said I would…" DiZ's voice returned, echoing in the darkness as Kuro rubbed his knuckles against his eyes. Kuro groaned, gnashing his teeth together as the leftover agitation of his eyes continued to be rubbed by his hands. "And this time I have brought my associate to assist me with the process of moving forward. Come say hello, boy."

Kuro walked along to DiZ's side, opening his eyes and blinking them quickly to stave off the flashes behind his eyelids. Trying to will away the strain in his eyes as he adjusts to the once again blinding hallway light once again. He glanced over at DiZ whose expressionless face was focused on ahead, following his sightline to the target of this conversation. The first thing he noticed was the glistening shine of her ocean water shaded eyes.

"Kuro… meet Naminé." The older man's voice rumbled, Kuro's eyes widening in response and his breath catching in his throat as he sees her. His joints locked and his heart stopped beating for a moment. "The Witch of Castle Oblivion."

Her platinum blond hair ran along down her right thin shoulder, her pale skin made her rose pink lips pop and stand out against her light complexion.

She wore an ivory lace dress that ended at her lithe thighs, her slender legs ran down to a pair of soft blue sandals, the top bands decorated with sunflowers.

She noted how much older Kuro appeared with his face unshaved, his whiskers beginning to slightly curl and hide the skin under his beard. His silver hair resting along his shoulders and running down the middle of his back. His copper toned skin was dark, making the orange of his eyes almost glow in contrast to his complexion.

He wore a brown vest, with a white long sleeve underneath that seemed to give his arms more definition and molded around the muscles sculpted by rigorous combat and an unnatural strength. His hands were taped and bound by similar white wraps, his pads of his fingers appeared rough and his knuckles darkened from their constant use.

The shadow from the ebony hall of Hollow Bastion's lips broke into an effortless grin as he stared into her blue eyes, the witch from the incandescent room of Castle Oblivion returned his expression with a similar energy.

Dusk's golden eyes glanced between the two. Dusk's paw swiped at Kuro's hand, their claws scratching against his knuckles. To their surprise, Kuro didn't react. He was still focused on Naminé.

"Why are you looking at her like that?" Dusk inquired with a curious look in their eyes. Kuro shrugged, not taking his eyes off of Naminé.

"I don't know…" Kuro muttered, those blue eyes of hers twinkled with a kindness and beauty that he couldn't resist admiring. Nor did he want to stop.

"I assume that the asset is kept safe?" DiZ spoke as he walked past the Naminé and continued down the hall, having left the two of them behind. Eye focused forward on the purpose of their excursion out to the castle. "Is he still incubating?"

"Sora is where I left him, down in the room at the end of the hall." Naminé explained, still focused on Kuro as the two were mesmerized by the other. Not in a dream or briefly as disembodied voices. In the flesh. In front of one another.

Kuro opens his mouth to speak, only for Naminé to raise a finger to her mouth quickly and quietly, eyes narrowed in turn to emphasize the need to not say anything. Her eyes darted to DiZ's back, shaking her head silently.

Kuro followed her gaze toward DiZ and nodded in understanding. She did not want DiZ to know that the two of them had interacted before. And Kuro respected her decision. DiZ seemed to focus on his mission too much to really care about what the two of them were saying either way.

Kuro cleared his throat, walking over to follow behind DiZ as he walked. His eyes never left Naminé's as he did so. Dusk trailing behind them, still covering their face with their wide brim hat.

"It's nice to meet you, Naminé." Kuro said in his rumbling voice, his orange eyes flickered in inexpressible joy as they met her blue eyes. She smiled in response, nodding towards him as the two of them walked alongside one another. Her hands locking behind her back as she dips her head to glance up at Kuro. Kuro's hands combed through his long locks to straighten them, eventually retracting them into his pant's pockets, crooking his neck to look at her as they walked together. His voice fell to a gentle and soft tone as he continued to speak. "Finally."

She giggled and it set his chest on fire, his heartbeat throbbing as the sound of her laughter echoed through him and the halls as this familiar wave warmed his body. He needed to hear it again. Something about her laugh that sang to the lowest depths of his heart. As if hearing one's favorite song for the first time again.

The first thing he noticed was how small she was, not just in height but in stature. Kuro stood with broad shoulders, a thick neck, and a full head of silver hair bigger than the short blonde woman. Kuro was twice her size in his body, and he was sure his pinky would fit perfectly in her whole closed fist. There is a brief flash in his mind, of a pair of interlocked hands nestled in coarse sand. He flexes his hand uncomfortably, the phantom chill pinging in his palm.

Her shoulders were thin, her arms slender and lacked definition, and her hands were delicate and small. Her hands occasionally flex and roll as though she needed to stretch them out. He liked to imagine it was from all of the drawings she had drawn.

She glanced over at him, her eyes focusing on the heat of his stare, the fiery orange hued glare meeting her sweet, gentle blue with centered attention. Mesmerized by her presence. She had never seen someone stare at her so tenderly, as if she were the most important thing in the room, before. Her hand absentmindedly began to comb through her hair, twirling and twisting the ends of it as they walked. Her cheeks are gaining a rosy glow as he gazes at her.

"How long… have you been here?" Kuro inquired, occasionally shooting a glance over at DiZ's back to ensure that the older man stayed focused on what was ahead of him. Kuro nodded, returning his attention back to Naminé. "Since… yeah."

"A little over two months now." Naminé noted, nodding her head as she quickly recounts the days and the nights spent as a captive in this castle. Her smile falters for a moment, before she finds the strength to put the face back on. "How has it been outside these walls? Have you been safe?"

Her concern was laced in her words, highlighting the importance of hearing that he had been safe. She had gotten silence minutes since the two of them came into being, and since have had two very different paths. Kuro thought for a moment of telling her he had been safe to settle the worry that he had heard in her voice. However, he then decided against such a thing. She didn't need to hear a lie. He wouldn't want her to lie to him to preserve some sense of safety. There aren't a lot of safe places anymore.

Kuro shakes his head in response, rolling his shoulders and letting out a short groan. Images of fire spreading, shell casings hitting the floor, and blood spilling flashed across his mind. His jaw clenched and his eyes shut momentarily. The remembrance of Kuro's own actions sent chills down his spine, that damned heart of his cringing and becoming unsettled from all the death and the horror. Kuro started steadying his breath before he spoke again.

"No. I haven't been safe out there. Maybe if we have some time, I can tell you all about my adventures out there." Kuro grumbled, shrugging his shoulders as he continued to walk along. He glanced around, lips pulling in a weak smile. The walls of the castle were pearl shaded, and looked to be sturdy and strong. He'd imagine that they would stand vigilant against any attack. He nudged his chin towards them as they continued to walk. "Tell me, I was told that a girl had been held captive in this castle. Have you been safe?"

"I haven't been safe either." Naminé stated immediately, her eyes falling ahead as she feels her gait slowing and her hands start to tremble slightly. Images of Axel, Vexen, Marluxia and Larxene appearing before her. She nearly trips over herself, her body shivers in remembrance. The harsh words, the cruel intentions, and the constant threat of death that loomed over her. "I've been held here-"

"As a prisoner. At the mercy of the Organization, no less." DiZ piped in to finish the sentence for her, as they approached the hallway door. His lips curled to a grin as he pulled his hands from behind his back to swing at his sides. The reminder of her captors seemed to have stolen her positive mood, Kuro noticed immediately. "A plaything, a tool for those blasted devils. Weren't you, Naminé?

Kuro looked at her, eyes watching the way her body grew more rigid and her eyes focused to the floor. As if afraid to look up to eye level, conditioned to always keep her stare into the tiles beneath her feet. Her face cringed in a passing pain as though she were deeply troubled.

Kuro's vision quickly then became muted. He had to see what she was feeling, he had to know. The lights in the hallway dimmed to just shadows, and Kuro nearly stumbled over his own two feet when he saw that there was nothing in her chest. Not a single echoing ring that illuminated her form. Not like Jessie. Not like Barret.

Where he would have imagined a now melancholy heart, there was just a vast darkness in the center of her chest. An unending deep pitch right where the thumping organ generally was.

She didn't have a heart, she was a Nobody. Just like Xion. Kuro's vision returned and he pressed onward with a sense of sorrow for Naminé, the lonely blonde haired girl. He spent the rest of their quiet walk together wondering how a girl with such a sweet smile couldn't have had a heart.

Castle Oblivion

The Pod Room

"Why does it looks like an egg?" Kuro's question echoed in the seemingly endless room with a raised eyebrow and a crooked twist of his neck. As if the change in his perspective would make it appear any less egglike.

The walls were so white and clean, there was no clear differentiation between what was a wall, a corner, or a ceiling. The room could have been either ten feet or a hundred feet tall and Kuro couldn't tell the difference. The room could run for miles or end just at the end of Kuro's nose and he wouldn't know it until he rammed head on into it.

The pod in question was shaped like an egg at first glance, oval and a pristine shell color, however it had definition and ridges along its faces in intricate curves and dips that resembled coiled petals on a flower before it plumes, waiting for the right time to fold open and spread its leaves.

DiZ decided to ignore the Heartless' question, finding it not worth answering. He turned towards Naminé, his golden eye rigid and cold as he glared at the Nobody.

"Have you thought any more about the offer?" DiZ inquired, who nodded gently to him with a soft sigh. DiZ grinned only briefly, before he returned to his typical scowl. "Very good. You shouldn't still be here. After all, the Organization is still attempting to operate this outpost. And you shouldn't have to answer for the fact that nearly half their ranks had lost their lives in these halls."

Kuro huffed a short breath upon hearing the loss of life that happened here, wondering how Sora fared with killing these people. If he had a harder time than Kuro has with killing. The weird scruples Kuro was recently having, with the heart and the mind combating the two sides of the issue.

That heart of his slowly reawakening has made it difficult for him to process the damage he had been inflicting onto living breathing people, such as the SHINRA guards and his execution of Frollo.

That echoing troubled feeling reared its head every time he thought about it, and he was starting to get tired of it. Kuro understood the choices he made, and he logically didn't regret what he had done.

He knew Frollo had to die, those SHINRA guards had to be killed. What made them so different from the Heartless he had slain? His own kind have been killed in droves for a long time now, what made Humans so special?

Kuro's thoughts returned to the hero of the realm who killed Ansem, who braved this castle and killed several members of the Organization. Something even the Heartless hasn't done.

If Xion had Kuro on the ropes so long ago, he could only imagine the power the other members would have held. Especially the ones that had DiZ in such a worried state.

He felt a short pulse of power drawing him toward the pod, his eyes widening as he moved toward the machine. The pull got stronger as he got closer.

He approached the pod, a hand moving to rest against the surface. It was surprisingly warm to the touch, reminding him of a warm cup of coffee with the thin heated ceramic separating his fingertips from the scalding liquid within. Its heat was so familiar, and so close.

His eyes muted the room, and that's when he saw a radiating, glowing heart in the center of the pod. It's tremors of crimson echoing out and pulsing in a steady, relaxed rhythm. The beating of the heart matching the thumping of his own in his ears. A simple smile graced Kuro's lips at the sound, never hearing two hearts echo in sync before.

"I have thought about it. And I think it's better for us to be taken to Twilight Town." Naminé noted with a short nod before glancing over at Kuro as he circled around the pod. Her eyes go wide as he presses his hand against the machine and lets it skirt across the surface. As if he were trying to find a way inside. "I do think it's safer for Sora to be placed somewhere where the Organization isn't."

"Sora?" Kuro muttered as his hand remained on the pod and he came to a sudden stop. It hit him fast, and his voice similarly fell as swiftly as the realization got him. He tapped the surface of the machine tenderly, nodding his head gently. As if to awaken the occupant inside. Of course the heart inside was strong, it belonged to the hero that saved the realm. "Oh, Sora…"

"I prepared the Memory Machine myself since last we spoke, and I followed the instructions and schematics that even the insolent Even had used down to the letter. It should be fully operational." DiZ noted, seeing the Nobody offer a short nod in response as DiZ waves his hand in the air and brings up a translucent keypad before him. A few keystrokes and the sound of a conformation jingle echoes in the chamber.

Lights flashes from within the pod, a brief illumination before the petals that make up its form begin to slowly pull apart and spread. Revealing the individual within.

Kuro took a few cautious steps back, not wanting to be caught back one of the descending leaves as the flower shaped machine bloomed. Kuro's eyes go wide as he finally gets to see this hero Kairi mentioned wanting to share a paopu fruit with and Naminé was currently working on protecting.

"It's him." Dusk muttered gently as they stood beside DiZ, their golden eyes growing wide as they stared at the Keyblade's chosen. The destroyer of scores and scores of their brethren, who struck down the Seeker of Darkness and saved the realm. Restoring the lost worlds and lives that were stolen and taken by the encroaching Darkness.

Within the small chamber of the machine, was a spiky brown haired boy. He was clad in a red jumper with a white sleeved-black torsoed jacket with a hood. A chain with a crown resting along his thin neck, his face had rosy cheeks and he was slumbering without an ounce of worry. His white gloves held in loose fists at his sides.

The body hovered in suspension in the airless room, the tips of his massive yellow shoes tapping against the floor at the low of every hovering bounce. The gentle motion of his bobbing in the air was as if he was being cradled by the machine, swaddled around in metal, and rocked continuously to stay asleep.

Kuro cocked his head, looked up from big shoes to spiked hair, and let out a sigh of disbelief.

The hero that saved the whole realm and destroyed The Seeker of Darkness was so small. With peach fuzz cheeks, a childish roundness to his face, and a youthfulness to his appearance.

Once again Kuro noticed, much like Naminé, the boy was small compared to him. Sora, who was currently still levitating in the machine, had to be lifted half a foot or so off of the floor to come eye to eye with the Heartless. Sora's shoulders were tight and small, where Kuro's were broad. Sora's arms lacked substantial mass of muscle but were agile and slender. Kuro's arms were thick and packed with muscle.

Sora's peach fuzz cheeks were puffy and soft, whereas Kuro's cheeks were smoothed flat and filled in with a steel shaded beard. Sora's skin was warmed and browned by the sun, in contrast to Kuro's that was several shades darker and tanned naturally.

Sora's hair was spiked up and short, a shade of chestnut brown that reminded Kuro of forests and nature. Kuro's was silver and long, resting along his shoulders and running down into the middle of his back.

Kuro's lips curled to a soft grin, looking over the hero with respect. Kuro could only imagine the strength that this boy must've held to destroy the Seeker of Darkness, as well as those members of the Organization. He'll have to ask him how he did it, whenever he decides to wake up.

Kuro's eyes muted the room once again, the figure of Sora darkened into a silhouette, to show an image that befuddled the Heartless the longer he stared at it.

Sora's heart was broken, as though it were shattered into pieces and was slowly being pieced back together. The gentle crimson ripples were jagged, inconsistent and spiked. Unlike pond ripples that other hearts held in their bodies, his ripples resembled an outlined drawing of a busted window, with every sharp valley and hill spreading through his body. The crystal shape of his heart was fractured and was slowly being healed.

"What's wrong with him?" Kuro asked softly, as to not wake him, crossed his arms over one another as he stared at the Keyblade Wielder. Wondering what could have happened to Sora to leave him in such a state, where he was left to slumber in an incubation machine, waiting until he was cooked enough to be freed from his unbloomed flower-egg shaped prison. Was it until his heart was properly put into place once again? "What happened to his heart?"

"Why doesn't the Witch of The Castle tell you what happened?" DiZ glanced over at Naminé with a snide smile, looking at the Nobody with his golden eye. The Nobody's eyes rested on Sora, staring at him with an aching pain echoing in the center of her chest. Naminé's interlaced her hands nervously together, squeezing them together into a tightly held fist. The remembrance that her hands were responsible for not only the scrambling of Sora's memories but the mental decompensation of the Riku Replica. She tightened her hold, enough that it began to hurt her fingers, punishing herself for not finding the strength to stand up to Marluxia and the Organization Thirteen earlier.

"I… I have the ability to manipulate the memories belonging to Sora and those closest to him. Marluxia forced me to make Sora forget about Kairi, and make him go further and further into the castle. Making him think that I was his best friend, that I was in danger and that he made a promise to me to protect me. But it was all a lie, he never knew me. No one knew me. But they told me if I didn't bring him deeper into the castle, I would never leave this place alive…" Naminé explained, walking up alongside Kuro to join him at his side. Standing shoulder to the Heartless' elbow as the two of them look over Sora. Her eyes fell to the right hand, her pinky finger extending and curling into a hook. Each wiggle of the tiny finger makes her smile grow little by little. The promise Sora made made her feel marginally better the longer she spoke. "The Organization forced me to manipulate him, but Sora managed to defeat them in the end. And when it was all said and done, they had a choice. To either stay awake with their new memories that I created or to be put to rest while I restore them to their original form. Sora, Donald, and Goofy chose to go to sleep so I could fix their memories, and make Sora remember Kairi. Then I promised to look after him…"

"They held you hostage?" Kuro glanced over at her, his voice soft and small before he turned back towards the hero, his eyes softening as he stared at the boy. "And they forced you to ruin these poor guys' memories? Putting you in Kairi's place to lead him on like some kind of sick carrot on a stick?"

DiZ's eye squinted in confusion as he stared at Kuro's back, watching his shoulders fall gently and his voice become soft. The Heartless' empathy for these two strangers baffled the man. The Heartless could be so easily swayed by sympathy and pity, a play that DiZ would be sure to note when it comes to furthering their agenda to destroy the Organization.

Kuro's empathy expanded beyond those that he felt he had personally wronged, DiZ recalled the city of the bells that Kuro had unintentionally destroyed. It included those who were wronged, and he felt the need to assist.

Naminé nodded sullenly and Kuro shook his head with a disconcerting groan. The idea that she was forced to hurt someone, someone who would have surely helped her otherwise, was a pain and a hurt that Kuro hoped she would never have to repeat. He glanced over at her with a pain in his chest, sensing from the reverence that she spoke with when she talked about Sora, that he must have been quite a good guy.

Kuro's thoughts shifted to the Organization, taking a quick glance at DiZ over his shoulder before he returned his sights onto Sora.

SHINRA was this galactic organization, with domination and control over an unknown number of planets that they fracked and ruined for the sake of draining its natural resources. Their damage was planet wide, and needed to be stopped.

The Organization, from what Kuro had surmised, seemed to be focused on the devastation of lives on a personal level. They wanted to collect Heartless' hearts for the sake of completing Kingdom Hearts and giving them hearts. And it seemed that they were going to go by any means to do so. They didn't need to ruin the ecosystems of entire planets for their power, they wanted to ravage a poor boy's memories and do it with the hand of an innocent and kind girl.

They had done something so horrid to DiZ that Kuro assumed it was the reason that the one golden shaded eyed man was covered in bandages and made it his life's mission to destroy them. The Organization seemed to be horrible on a more individual level, and Kuro didn't know if it made them better or worse than SHINRA. But it did make one thing clear. They needed to be stopped.

Blue eyes and raven black hair popped into his mind, his friend Xion was a member of the Organization. A member of a group that directly opposed DiZ, and all the same, a member of the group that was responsible for holding Naminé hostage and trying to ruin Sora's memories of his friend Kairi. Kuro's jaw clenched and his heart began to race with conflict.

He wondered if Xion was complacent to the horrors that were done in the walls of this castle, or if she had been ignorant to what was happening here. Kuro, letting out a huff of discomfort, had to shelf that thought to the back of his mind.

He would have to ask her about her relationship to the Organization in more depth the next time he runs into her. Maybe she would see the errors of their ways, much like Rowan before he was poisoned by that Professor? Maybe Xion would join DiZ and Kuro with bringing them down, just as Jessie joined Avalanche to oppose SHINRA in the name of her father?

"I'm sorry they did that to you." Kuro spoke softly to break the silence that lingered in the room, Naminé's breath was sucked from her chest and a shiver was sent down her spine. Her eyes grew wide, seeing the Heartless glance over at him with a tender stare, looking at her with a dismal pair of orange eyes. "I'm sorry that they made you do that to him…"

Naminé's gentle blue eyes met his orange stare, and she could feel the sympathy that spoke to her though his somber gaze. Those glistening horizon shaded eyes holding a feeling of regret for not being here, not being able to intervene earlier. Kuro's eyes dropped to the floor, a quick sniff of his nose warded off the wetness of his eyes and he cleared his throat.

Naminé was beside herself, she had never been the recipient of an apology before. She was the one who apologized or begged for forgiveness. She was stunned, and her mind short circuited for a moment as she attempted to try and process such a thing happening to her.

"Kuro, if you may grab Sora for transport." DiZ requested the Heartless to assist, nudging his chin towards the Keyblade Wielder. Kuro nodded thoughtlessly, stepping up into the machine's cavity and walking up the slopes of the metallic leaves towards the hero. It was time to leave the Castle.

DiZ motioned his hand in front of him, dispersing the shadows in air and conjuring his Corridor of Darkness. DiZ barked over his shoulder as he walked through the veil of darkness. "I'll prepare the Corridor for you to take us right to the room. You'll drop off Sora in his pod and come back for the duck and dog. I have pods for them as well."

"Wait, what? Kuro's gonna-" Naminé saw Kuro already approaching the Keyblade wielder, making his way in front of Sora. Rolling out his wrist as he stood before the island boy. "Kuro?"

"Alright you lazy bum, let's go." Kuro mumbled softly, as if afraid to wake up the boy as he reached forward to grab Sora by his lapel. Ready to pull him out of the machine. "We are just going to switch beds, no need to wake up."

Naminé's mouth dropped as Kuro's hand slowly moved towards the Keyblade Wielder. Naminé's heart, if she had one, ramped up into overdrive and she could only sense disaster imminently approaching.

"Kuro! Wait!" Naminé shouted, her heart dropping into her stomach as the Heartless made contact with the hero. Fingers scratching against his chest before Kuro's fingers snatched Sora's shirt.

She didn't know what she expected to happen.

Naminé thought Kuro would disappear from sight, crumbling into nonexistence as the roaming heart rejoined the slumbering body. Naminé imagined being helpless, watching the Heartless be unsure of what was happening and screaming for it to stop. She thought the vulnerable and comatose Sora, since he was currently unable to protest while his heart and memories were currently being reshuffled and rebuilt from the ground up, would be vacuumed up due to the Heartless's appetite. Whose own ravenous dark heart had grown to be powerful by the constant consumption of live beating hearts. What would be more delicious than one that belonged to a Keyblade Wielder? One who was as pure as Sora?

But instead, nothing happened. Kuro grabbed Sora by the collar and brought him close. With the subtlety and the grace of carrying a sandbag, the Keyblade Wielder was thrown over the Heartless' shoulder. No hearts were eaten, no one disappeared, they both were fine.

"What?" Kuro's arm wrapped around Sora's waist to keep him saddled along his shoulder. The boy appeared to be lifted effortlessly from Naminé's estimate, The Heartless barely noticed the weight of him. Sora was light, and Kuro settled him with a shift and shrug of the shoulders. The Heartless turned towards Naminé, lifting his chin to her. "Everything ok?"

"Are you ok?" Namine's voice came out in a short, breathless tone. Almost cautiously, as though Her eyebrow furrows as she stares at him. Kuro glances at Sora, then back to her.

"Oh, he's not heavy. Like at all." Kuro smiled, a short laugh bursting out of him as he walked towards the dark corridor. Shaking his head as he stares on into the pitch flowing darkness. "I'm pretty strong, he weighs like nothing."

Kuro walked on through, leaving Naminé alone in the pod room, her eyes watching the flowing doorway of darkness shift and motion like the shimmering surface of a rushing river. Naminé watched in piqued curiosity, wondering how Kuro didn't react at all to meeting his original form? Why didn't he say or do anything abnormal when around the heart's original vessel, Sora?

The nature of Kuro's existence would have hinged on Sora's lack of a heart, which isn't possible because Sora still had a heart, even if his Nobody is currently out and about collecting hearts and investigating worlds for the Organization. Which left Kuro to exist in this state of uncertainty?

Naminé had done some memory spelunking into Kuro's rather hazy and fractured memory. The fact that Kuro came from Sora's sacrifice to save Kairi's heart is very much true. Her ability to search through his memories despite not being able to manipulate them like she had done with Sora is proof as such.

Kuro had Sora's heart, but she couldn't connect to it. As though they were on opposite sides of a mirror, knowing that they were close enough to see one another but not close enough to actually make contact with the other side. Another strange occurrence that shouldn't have happened. She, by all means, shouldn't exist either. There is no Heartless counterpart to her, and Kairi's heart was released technically when Sora pierced his own. Thus making her accidentally. A twitching pain echoes in Naminé's empty chest. Accident. Unpurposeful. Mistake.

Those feelings of shame reared its ugly head, in the form of black coats and snide comments about her lack of self and her unfortunate situation. But they were all dead now. Thanks to Sora as he rose through the floors and to Riku who crawled up from the basement.

Well, most of them were dead anyways. Axel had survived the slaughter, betraying Vexen, Marluxia, and Larxene, as well as Zexion and Lexaeus. The clever sneak.

Kuro walked back out of the dark, unburdened by a sleeping dead weight teenager, as he prepared to transport the duck and dog. He glances around the room, seeing the currently distraught Naminé standing silently in the room alone. Kuro approaches her slowly, so as to not startle her.

"Hey, Could you show me where they are?" Kuro asked softly, Naminé's head nodding slowly as she led Kuro to the adjunct room where the duck and dog were incubating.

Their pods were much more modest, perhaps a little taller than Kuro was, to which Kuro had assumed due to the fact that The Keyblade Wielder's memories were substantially more deconstructed than the other two. Naminé pressed her hand to one of the petals, and slowly began to open them up.

Kuro stood in front of the one on the left, and as the petals plumed open, he was met with a short white feathered waterfowl. His yellow beak bent in a permanent scowl, as though he were constantly angry. His vestment was tailored with blues and accented with gold, several pouches rested along his abdomen and his webbed feet hung inches above the ground in suspension much like Sora.

"Donald Duck!" That voice of his quacked deep in Kuro's mind, the mere sound of it brought a smile to the Heartless' face. Naminé watched as Kuro's lips broke out a grin the moment he saw Donald, noting that spark of remembrance, however faint, aglow in his orange eyes.

Naminé did the same thing for Goofy, hand to a petal and having it unfurl.

The bipedal lanky dog had a pronounced snout, with two massive teeth protruding from his mouth. His snores seemed to be silenced within the pod, now echoing as he continued to snooze.

The dog wore green combat pants with a black belt, a turtleneck of a similar shade with a black vest that was left unzipped along his slim torso. His cap held a pair of goggles, and his white gloves hands were interlock across his chest as he rested.

"The name's Goofy!" His voice was full of good natured intentions and with his cadence came off rather humorous. As though being… Well, being goofy was as simple as breathing to the dog.

Kuro glanced between the wizard and the knight, eyes squinted in confusion as he tried to recall why he can hear their voices so clearly and so easily despite never seeing them before.

"Kuro?" Naminé inquired as she saw the way his brow furrowed and his eyes drew to a pointed glare at the two. Naminé slowly approached, Kuro letting out a sigh of discomfort. His skin goosebumping as he recalls things that never happened to him. Naminé reached out, her slender fingers grazing his knuckles to pull him out of his mind and back into his body. "Are you ok?"

"Do you remember? Who you were before?" Kuro asked aloud, as he absentmindedly rested a hand over his beating heart. Feeling it thundering against his chest. A heart that wasn't really his own. A heart that was second guessing and remembering things that happened to him and not to Kuro. He glanced over at Naminé, who simply shook her head in response to his question. He groans, his shoulders shrugging sullenly. He goes to throw the duck over one shoulder and the dog over the other. Kuro looks to Naminé with a defeated smile on his face, a restlessness in his gaze as he walks on to the dark corridor. The blonde girl joins him as they walk on into the dark. "I think you might be the lucky one here, Naminé. Because I'm starting to feel like a stranger in my own mind…"