They ended up in a near exact sitting order as before. Sora, Riku, and Kairi were on the farthest couch to the left, Sora placed between them. Mickey's chair sat between them and Naminé's chair, which was bracketed on the other side by Aqua's, Terra's, and Ven's couch. Vanitas's chair was technically between them and the final couch, but he had dragged the chair backwards far enough that it couldn't really be counted like that. And then the three former Organization members' couch was the last.

"You ready?" Kairi murmured to Sora as they settled down and the lights dimmed, and he paused.

"I don't know," he admitted after a second. "I assume this will cover what happened that I can't remember. So, I don't really know if I'm ready to see that. Just because I don't know what it is."

"Well," Kairi replied, hugging him gently. "We're here for you. No matter what we see."

"I know," Sora responded, his other hand reaching out and finding Riku's. "I know."

Donald asks Sora what they're supposed to do now, and Sora says they have to find Riku and the King. Pluto appears and the three of them run after him.

"We're starting here?" Xion wondered in confusion. "Didn't we already see this part?"

None of them answered because none of them knew.

As Sora races after Pluto, he remembers several things from the journey, ending with Riku closing the door.

Sora took a deep breath. Seeing it again the day prior… It had hurt. He squeezed Riku's hand again. Riku wasn't leaving. Not now, not ever.

Sora sits up in shock, revealing he was dreaming, and it is nighttime.

"Are you just sleeping out in the open?" Vanitas asked in his familiar sarcastic drawl, raising an eyebrow. Did kid-Keyblade not realize how dangerous that was?

"There was no one else there," Sora defended with a shrug. "Honestly, from what I remember of that world, it was really empty. Like, there was no one else there."

"Strange," Aqua murmured, thinking it over. There should have been at least someone.

Sora looks over, seeing Donald and Goofy asleep. He gets up and walks a little ways away.

"Were you… struggling to sleep after everything?" Aqua asked Sora gently, recognizing that the Sora on screen didn't seem surprised to be waking up in the middle of the night.

"A little," Sora admitted, rubbing one of his arms. "It… I just kept seeing what had happened. It was kinda hard to sleep through that."

Nightmares, Terra thought with a sigh, desperately blocking out what had happened the night prior. Aren't we all used to them.

Seeing Kairi giving him a concerned look, Sora tried to smile at her. "It's okay, Kairi," he reassured her. "It's not as bad now." Well, mostly. "It was just the first few nights after everything. I don't have nearly as many nightmares now."

Doesn't mean you have none, Ven thought, remembering his own night terrors the first few months at the Land of Departure. And I bet you have new ones from your amnesia. I would know.

Sora walks back to the path, ending at a crossroads. He looks both ways.

"We couldn't decide which was to go," Sora explained as there was looks of confusion at his younger self's actions. "So, we decided to sleep on it."

"Along the road ahead lies something you need."

Naminé froze, thoroughly unprepared to hear Marluxia's voice. Her shoulder hunched slightly and she only just able to stop her hands from snapping up and covering her ears, an action she wished she had been able to do while trapped in the Castle. Her breathing racked up several notches. It's okay, she told herself, trying to keep her reactions contained so no one would see. He's dead, she's dead, everything's fine. Her hands curled into fists. They can't touch you now. Except in your dreams.

Roxas and Xion both jumped in surprise, both of them recognizing Marluxia's voice from the few times they had seen him. It hadn't been long; in fact it had barely been two weeks after Xion's joining of the Organization and Roxas actually remembering the days before Marluxia and the others left for Castle Oblivion. Roxas remembered though. He remembered the mission he had with the pinkette, the way he had gazed at the Keyblade in his hand and the looping way his words came out. He couldn't… He hadn't liked Marluxia, that much he remembered, but there was a tiny part of him, something he didn't even feel had been him, that hadn't wanted to leave the older Nobody's side.

"Marluxia?" Roxas questioned, raising an eyebrow as the onscreen Sora turned around and saw a cloaked figure. Aqua's, Terra's, and Ven's eyes moved over to the three former members, recognizing the coat easily.

"Who?" Sora questioned, blinking in surprise. He didn't… He didn't remember this part. He remembered… walking to the crossroads, looking around, thinking about Riku, and then…

Nothing.

White walls greeting him, falling out of a pod.

A year having passed.

"Do you not remember this part?" Mickey asked, able to realize what Sora was thinking and Sora nodded once, looking at the screen in interest. It was strange seeing himself on screen and yet not remembering what had happened.

Naminé flinched.

"Well, that's Marluxia," Axel explained with a nod of his head at the frozen screen. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Naminé carefully. He doubted the young girl was going to have a good reaction to what was going to be shown next. In the back of his head, he wondered how Roxas and Xion were going to react to what he had done there. It wasn't like they didn't know he could be ruthless; they had seen that firsthand, but… He hadn't ever killed anyone in front of them. In the Castle, he was directly responsible for both Vexen and Zexion's deaths, even if he didn't do one of them himself. He didn't… He had lost their friendship once, technically they hadn't really reformed it, just seen each other here and decided to stop fighting, and he didn't want to lose it again.

"He was a member of the Organization," Axel continued.

"'Was'?" Terra questioned.

"He's dead," Axel replied, and Sora flinched back in shock. Had he… killed Marluxia? It wouldn't be the first time, but… It was disconcerting to think you wouldn't remember killing someone.

"And this Marluxia, was he responsible for the actions that led to Sora losing a year of memory?" Aqua asked and Axel nodded once.

"Him and a few others."

I didn't want to, Naminé thought with a shiver. I didn't want to.

Unseen, both Ven and Vanitas flinched slightly at the voice. Why was it…?

"However… in order to claim it, you must lose something that is dear to you."

"What?" Kairi questioned and Axel was already shaking his head.

"It's not true," he told them, gesturing towards the screen. "Whatever Marluxia says, it's not true. It was a ploy to try and get Sora under their control."

Terra and Aqua both noted the 'their' in that statement, which was strange considering it seemed like the man onscreen and the three on the couch had once been on the same side.

"Is that… the reason I don't have memories of that time?" Sora asked and Axel paused. He didn't… completely know what had happened in the end. He knew the backbones of it, yes, but finer details?

"Partly," Naminé said softly, dragging the attention to her. "Partly." She had wrapped her arms around herself. She wished she had her sketchbook to clutch.

Sora runs towards the man, but he disappears, leaving Sora confused. He looks around.

"And thus," Axel murmured. "It starts."

In a room of white walls, an unknown person drew a building.

"Naminé," Kairi said softly. "Is that… you?" She couldn't see a lot of the person whom she assumed was her nobody, but… Naminé clearly knew something from this time. And the doll in the birdcage…

"Yeah," Naminé replied, looking down at her hands. "That's me."

Aqua's eyes had caught on Naminé's drawing. Could it be…? It couldn't, right? They couldn't possibly… Her gaze went back to the room around her. She hadn't questioned it, when they were transported there, hadn't thought to stop and take a second to look around because of everything happening and it really didn't make sense if it was, but…

The Land of Departure? She wondered.

In the morning, Donald asks Sora if he was sure it wasn't a dream. Sora said it wasn't and the man said that something lied on the road ahead.

"At this point, why is Donald questioning it?" Xion asked with a small smile. She didn't want to think about Castle Oblivion and everything that had happened after she went there, so she shoved the memories back, trying to focus on the present. Tried to focus on what was happening onscreen. Not everything that had happened between her and Axel. "Crazier things happened to you guys in the last month alone."

"Donald is… skeptical," Mickey explained with a shrug. "Always has been, always will be. I assume it's something you've become acquainted with?" He aimed the question at Sora, who nodded once.

Goofy askes what sort of man it was, and Sora says he was dressed in a black coat, much like the guy from Hollow Bastion.

"What?" Sora asked blankly as he heard his past self speak to Donald and Goofy. "What guy in Hollow Bastion? We only fought Ansem!" He placed a hand on the side of his head as he tried to think back. They had only fought Ansem, only Ansem. Right?

"Sora?" Riku asked, worried about the way Sora's voice had rose in pitch, and Kairi blinked in surprise, reaching out and placing a hand on Sora's shoulder.

"We didn't… We didn't fight anyone else," Sora muttered to himself, hand digging into the strands of his hair. "We didn't, we didn't."

Naminé rapidly paled as she stared at Sora, dread filling her as it abruptly hit her what must have happened. "No, no, no," she murmured at a fervent pace, nails digging into her own arms. She had fixed Sora's memories; she had fixed it. They were all supposed to be there, all of them! And yet… Clearly, so obviously clearly, that wasn't true. "No, no." She could almost feel DiZ behind her, his ever-looming presence snapping at her to work faster, to restore Sora, to kill Naminé and Roxas.

Both Aqua and Terra felt concern sweep through them when it was clear that something just happened and Terra got up from his seat instantly, moving to kneel in front of Sora.

"Sora," he said, quietly but firmly. He reached out and grasped Sora's hand, untangling it from his hair, holding it tightly in his hand to stop Sora from grasping his hair again. Both Riku and Kairi looked to him in concern, worry for their friend clear in their eyes. "Sora, what's wrong?" Behind them, the screen had paused.

"I didn't fight anyone else at Hollow Bastion, I didn't," Sora whispered out, looking up at Terra. "I didn't!"

"Sora, breathe," Terra instructed, seeing the way that Sora's breaths had started to pick up. "Deep breaths."

Aqua, however, had noticed that Naminé was also quietly panicking and quickly moved from her chair, reaching the younger girl and grasping her arms, removing her hands from their place digging into her skin.

"Naminé," she said gently. The girl looked up at her, tears beading in her eyes, and Aqa winced at that, gently pressing a Cure into her to seal up the small crescents that had been created by Naminé's nails. "Naminé, you need to breathe."

"This is my fault," she replied, taking a shaking breath in. "This is my fault."

"How is it your fault?" Kairi asked her Nobody, looking up from where Terra was helping Sora calm down. "What happened?"

Seeing that Naminé had promptly frozen again when she had looked over at them, and thus Sora, Riku took up the story. "Naminé was the one to fix Sora's memories, putting them all back together."

"Why did my memories need to be fixed?" Sora asked sharply, looking up at Riku. Riku paused, biting the inside of his cheek. "Riku!"

"It was Marluxia," Axel cut in, placing a single hand on Roxas's shoulder to stop him from interfering. "Marluxia messed with your memories and thus, Naminé had to put them back together. It's why you were asleep for a year. It's why you have no memory of what's going to happen next, because she had to fix it all."

"It wasn't Marluxia, it was me," Naminé spat out and Aqua moved closer, reaching out and wrapping the shaking girl in a hug, holding her close. She could feel the repressed sobs rippling through her. What a way to start, she thought, pressing a kiss to Naminé's head on instinct, years of caring for Ven slipping through. It hasn't been five minutes.

"Marluxia forced you," Axel said sharply and both Roxas and Xion shared a look. They knew Naminé, knew the basics of what she could do and how she had been helping Sora. They didn't know this.

"And then DiZ didn't make it better," Riku continued. He had grown close to the girl during their year together, helped by the fact that Naminé seemed to take comfort in his presence, and he didn't want anyone getting any ideas. Not when Marluxia and DiZ had made her entire life hell. "Sora, Naminé was trying to restore your memories, all of your memories. But DiZ was being his usual self and Naminé was struggling. Unfortunately, it seems like not all of your memories were returned safely."

Sora's breath hitched at that, and Terra renewed his attempts to help Sora calm down. Both Ven and Mickey watched the scene worriedly, both feeling useless as Aqua and Terra helped their respective teenagers. Vanitas watched it with a careful eye. Well, this was a development.

"What else is missing? What else is missing?" Naminé muttered shakily, not really registering Aqua beside her. She had put Sora's memories back together. She'd had to have done it right. She had to. Because Xion and Roxas had died, and she had done it to Sora, and Riku didn't deserve to lose the boy he loved again, and it was all her fault, and she couldn't-

"Naminé!" Aqua leaned back a little, placing her hands on the girl's shoulders. "Look at me. Deep breaths, okay? We'll figure this out. We will. You need to calm down." Naminé took in a shaking breath, hands pressing together and twisting around each. Her fault, her fault, her fault.

Sora, meanwhile, was doing his best to listen to Terra's instructions. Both Riku and Kairi had grasped either his arm or his shoulder and Terra was gently guiding him along. He didn't… He didn't want to forget anything. He didn't want anything that he had done to not be remembered, by him especially. What else was he missing? What else had he forgotten?

"Better now?" Terra asked and Sora nodded once, albeit shakily.

"Room?" Ven asked, looking up at the ceiling. "Do you think… you can show us what Sora's forgotten? So, we know?"

For a second, it looked like the room wasn't going to do anything, but the screen abruptly switched scenes, and Sora took a deep breath, reaching for Riku's hand and holding it tight. What had he forgotten?

From their places, Aqua and Terra twisted around to be able to see the scene, but they didn't leave the teenagers they were comforting.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy walk away from sealing the Keyhole in Hollow Bastion, heading back to see the princesses again.

I know this part, I know this part, Sora thought in his head, leaning on Riku's side. We went and saw the princesses after this, right?

However, they end up in another strange room.

Sora's breath stuttered in his chest.

"You don't remember this part, do you?" Riku asked gently and Sora shook his head rapidly. "It's okay." Without a second thought, Riku reached out and wrapped an arm around the younger boy, holding him in a side hug.

Naminé shuddered, tears finally managing to slip down her cheeks. My fault, my fault, my fault.

Sora wonders where they are. "Ah, it seems you are special, as well."

"Xemnas?" Roxas spat out in confusion, going ramrod straight as he recognized the voice of the Organization leader. "What is he doing there?"

I don't remember this, Sora thought with panic building in his chest. I don't… I don't remember this.

Sora spins around, asking who's there, and a black cloaked figure appears.

Xion shivered slightly at the sight of the Nobody who had given so much grief to her and her friends and Axel reached out, letting her lean on him. Internally, he was trying to go over what was happening? How had this happened? Why did Xemnas approach Sora?

"That's… Xemnas?" Aqua questioned and Axel nodded. "The leader of your… Organization?"

"Yep," Axel said evenly, watching his two kids carefully. Kingdom Hearts knew that they didn't have good interactions with him.

"Xehanort's Nobody," Terra said bluntly, trying not to think of pain and darkness and what are you doing, stop. Ven and Aqua both looked at him in concern. Or would it be my Nobody? He wondered, biting down on his tongue. It was his body, after all.

Goofy wonders if it's Ansem and Xemnas says that the name sounds familiar.

"Gosh, I wonder if that's why he's there," Mickey guessed, his gaze going between the screen and the kids.

"You mean, he could have had a… connection, with Ansem?" Aqua questioned but Axel shook his head.

"That's not how it works," he said. He would know.

"But Ansem and Xemnas are different than your average Heartless and Nobody, aren't they?" Kairi brought up, feeling slightly like she was intruding. She was barely a Keyblade Wielder, she didn't know anything about the subject. Not like Mickey or Aqua, but… "Because there was… two hearts in there when they…" She trailed off, pointedly not looking at Terra. The older Keyblade Wielder winced, shoving back memories again.

None of them said anything else.

Xemnas says that Sora reminds him of 'him' and Sora asks what that is supposed to mean.

"Who is he talking about?" Xion wondered and Roxas shrugged slightly. It couldn't have been him; he would have just been created.

Xemnas says that Sora is not whole, just incomplete. He says he'll test their strength.

"'Incomplete'?" Sora questioned, shivering slightly. As much as it unnerved him that he didn't remember this part… "Why would I be… incomplete?"

"Maybe because…" Ven trailed off. "This is after you saved Kairi, right?" Sora nodded. "Maybe because Roxas had already been created at this point and Xemnas could just… know? You were technically incomplete because Roxas was no longer a part of you."

Sora blinked in thought.

Sora gets knocked back by one of Xemnas's attacks and when Goofy tries to intervene, he gets thrown back by a pair of swords. Donald tries to hit him with magic, but Xemnas deflects it.

Yeah, Sora thought with a grimace, watching his past self get flung around easily. I really wasn't ready to face him.

Riku's arm tightened around Sora's shoulders and Kairi looked to Sora in concern.

Xemnas calls it impressive and says that it will be enjoyable.

How was that impressive? Vanitas thought with an eyeroll. He lost within a minute. It reminded him of the first couple months of training sessions with Master Xehanort. He hadn't been able to stand up to it either. Of course, he had learned not to make those mistakes.

Sora asks what he's talking about and Xemnas says it's beyond Sora's comprehension. Xemnas says they will meet again.

"And I beat you," Sora muttered, feeling only the smallest bit salty that Xemnas had beat his younger self so quickly and easily. "With Riku's help of course." Because he didn't do it alone and he wouldn't let Riku forget that.

Sora asks who he is and Xemnas says he is an empty shell before vanishing.

An empty shell, Xion thought, looking down at her hands. Like all of us. No hearts, no memories. No purpose.

Sora blinks in confusion, turning around and suddenly finding himself and Donald and Goofy out in the main chamber, Leon turning to greet them.

With that the screen faded away, as if waiting for them to process that.

"Okay," Aqua said after a second, looking back down at Naminé who didn't seem to be panicking as much anymore. "Okay."

"I'm sorry," Naminé whispered miserably, lifting her head to stare at Sora. "I tried to fix your memories; I thought I did. I thought I did."

"Naminé," Sora said, almost reaching a hand out. He didn't… remember her, specifically. All he had of her was the small moment he had seen her barely an hour ago when she had become a part of Kairi and the note in Jiminy's journal but… "Naminé, it's okay."

But he was missing memories and what else was he missing, what else had he forgotten? He slammed down on those thoughts, throwing them from his mind. It's okay. Happy thoughts, happy thoughts. It's fine.

"It's not, it's not," Naminé muttered before leaning back into Aqua's embrace. She couldn't fail, it wasn't allowed of her. Or Larxene or DiZ would kill her.

"It is," Sora said more firmly. "And maybe, once we're out of here and you can get your own body, you could maybe go back through my memories and fix the few remaining holes." Because there had to be more, he was forgetting too much, what else had he forg- Happy thoughts.

"But I'm… I'm a part of Kairi now," Naminé whispered out and Sora shook his head.

"We can change that," he told her. Because she was here and alive and clearly a person, despite what she may have started out as. It wouldn't be fair to her to just let her drift back into Kairi, not when she was so clearly a person. "We've done the impossible before, right?" He gave her a grin and she giggled wetly, pressing a hand to her mouth to stifle the last remaining sobs. I remember you, she thought. Even though you knew the promise was fake, you still… you still helped me. She couldn't suppress the small smile that made its way across her face. I'm glad… you're still that person.

Roxas on the other hand, was sitting rigid on the couch, eyes wide and breathing carefully controlled. Sora had just… Would he…? For myself?

He didn't… He hadn't… A hand on his arm made him jump and he turned to look at Xion, who gave him a small smile. Maybe Sora would be okay with allowing me to exist as well, Roxas thought, reaching up and taking Xion's hand, squeezing it tightly. But I don't want to, not without Xion. And Xion was gone, despite her magical appearance here. If Xion wasn't there, then he would be fine drifting into oblivion. Axel's hand landed on his shoulder, no doubt able to guess about what was going through his head and he leaned onto Axel's side, feeling suddenly tired. Even if Axel's there, it's the three of us, not the two. I won't… I refuse to exist without her.

"Naminé," Sora said gently, the words from others suddenly registering with him. "What we're going to watch… It's going to be… hard on you, isn't it?" Because he wanted to know now, he hadn't known with Riku and it had led Riku into multiple panic attacks, because he hadn't realized.

Naminé froze, remembering white walls and lightning and Larxene but sucked in a deep breath and shook her head.

"It'll be… I'll be fine," she replied with a small smile, pressing her hands together. Because she had to be fine. Sora had… had just offered to make her a person. Make her a true person, let her be herself, in a body all her own. Even after everything he knew she had done. Will he still do the same after he sees all I've done? No, she had already made enough of a mess of herself. Already required too much care and forgiveness that she didn't deserve. Sora and Riku had managed to watch their past with minimal help. She would be fine, she had to be fine. She had already done too much.

Both Riku and Axel gave her a look. She most certainly would not be fine.

But neither of them moved. Naminé would need help, there was no way she was going to be able to get through this without some comfort. And they would be there to help once they were needed.

"Okay," Aqua said gently, and paused for a quick second. She certainly said that a lot. She shook herself and stood up, placing a final hand on Naminé's shoulder. The younger girl would clearly need someone to keep an eye on her, so she resolved to do so over the course of the next set of memories. "Do we think we can go back to watching now?" Naminé nodded quickly, frantically, she had already caused too much ruckus, and Aqua nodded once in return. She turned and headed back to her couch, seeing Ven give her the smallest of questioning looks. She simply smiled. It was fine, she would be there to help Naminé and whoever else needed help as they watched. She was a Keyblade Master, and she had already failed in her duty once. The least she could do was not fail now.

Terra gave Sora one last searching look, getting a smile back in response, before standing as well and returning to the couch. Riku released Sora quickly, letting out a quiet cough as he tried to scrub the small blush away from his cheeks. Because Sora had gone to him for comfort, and he had managed to hug Sora and he wasn't clearly doing anything wrong and-

He was fine.

The three of them head to the path from before, only to see that it was now a single path instead of a crossroads. Donald says if Sora's dream wasn't a dream, the three of them should go.

"Very eager all of sudden?" Vanitas noted with a drawl and Mickey paused. It was slightly surprising of Donald that he would be so ready to go and figure it out. It was probably because he cared about Sora though.

Naminé looked down. Already, she was manipulating Sora, even if it was just very barebones.

The three of them ran down the path, watching as the grass turned into rocky lands instead. They came to a stop at a hill, where a castle was visible.

Aqua gasped, slamming a hand to her mouth in surprise as the castle came onscreen. It was the Land of Departure. But how? Why? Had it just been found, or had it been sought out? Was it due to Terra's memories that Xehanort might have had access to? Or was it just Xehanort remembering where the place was? But what about-

Ven was in there.

"Aqua?!" Both Terra and Ven exclaimed, spinning to face the woman while several other glances were shot her way. Mickey stiffened in concern. What had set her off?

"It's the Land of Departure," Aqua whispered out, staring at the frozen screen.

"What?!" Ven yelped, spinning back around to stare at the screen while Terra shook his head.

"It can't be," he said blankly. "Master Xehanort destroyed it. I was there."

"That doesn't look anything like home," Ven continued, staring at the screen.

"I transformed it," Aqua explained, worry pounding in her heart. Ven was in there, asleep and defenseless. What if they found him? What if they hurt him? "Afterward. Master Eraqus showed me how. Ven, your body is in there!"

"What?!" Ven repeated in shock, looking back to her, fear spiking in his heart. Everything they had heard about the Organization did not paint a good picture of it and he knew for a fact that he certainly wasn't in any condition to defend himself.

"If I may cut in," Axel said, looking between the three of them. Clearly, this was something they needed to talk about, and he wasn't going to question the fact that Castle Oblivion had once been some place else entirely. "I've been there several times, with others and without, as well as read all the reports. If Ven's body is in there, like you say, we have not found it." Aqua slumped in relief, one hand reaching out and clasping onto Ven's shoulder, tugging him closer for the quickest second. "If anything, the Castle is extremely hard to navigate, so we don't tend to spend much time in there unless absolutely needed."

"The security system," Aqua nodded and both Terra and Ven gave her looks. "The way… It was transformed to act as a guard. For Ven's body, but in the past, it was used to protect the land itself and the people within. Master Eraqus told me."

"Is that why the floors transform into places from your memories?" Axel asked. "And why your magical abilities tend to be locked behind cards?" Aqua paused, before nodding.

"I assume," she replied. "Master Eraqus didn't tell me much, perhaps not thinking he would need to, but he told me some."

"The cards are so difficult," Riku muttered to himself mulishly, getting a surprised giggle out of Sora.

"And the reason you came to the castle, was it just coincidence?" Aqua asked Axel, biting the inside of her cheek. Because if it wasn't…

"In the beginning, I thought so, and I've never been proved wrong while I was alive, but now knowing everything we do about Xehanort," Axel responded with a grimace. "There's a chance it wasn't." Aqua let out a long, slow breath. She was afraid of that. "I was instructed to search for something call the Chamber of Waking within the castle, though, as this point…" He looked down slightly. "I don't know if the order came from Xemnas or Saix, so I don't know if Xemnas knew that Ven was in there."

"Chamber of Waking," Ven murmured. "Is that where my body is?"

"I have to assume." Aqua paused, taking a deep breath. It's fine, it's fine. Ven is safe, he's still fine. Well, his heart is still who knows where, but at least there is still a body for it to return to. It's fine.

"Well, at least we have one place we know we should go after we get out of here," Sora remarked, trying to look on the bright side. "To find Ven's body." Aqua nodded to him while Ven looked a little put off. It was just the smallest bit strange to hear people talking about your body like you weren't there.

Donald remarks that it's a really big castle and Sora mentions that it's bigger than Hollow Bastion.

"It was even bigger once," Aqua murmured nostalgically. "It didn't used to be just the castle, there were grounds around it too. Big enough to raise three Keyblade Wielders at least." Both Terra and Ven gave her smiles at that, and she returned them as best she could.

Goofy says that it looks like they could get lost in there and Sora stares at the castle.

Aqua and Mickey both frowned slightly at the action. Sora almost looked… not surprised, but there was something else in his gaze. It wasn't the right gaze for someone who hadn't ever seen the castle before.

The three of them go closer, entering the castle itself.

Now, seeing the inside of the castle, many of them could recognize the similarities of the walls to the walls of the room they were currently sitting in. Explained why Axel had been so confused in the beginning at least.

Donald says that there's no one there and Goofy asks if it's okay to just barge in. Donald says they have to if they're going to find the king.

"The king?" Sora questioned, tipping his head to the side. Where had that come from?

Naminé pressed her nails into her palms.

Goofy questions him and Donald says that he just felt like King Mickey would be there. Goofy realizes that he feels the same.

"Is that something we should be worried about?" Kairi asked, turning to Sora, only to remember that he would have no clue as well.

"It was me," Naminé admitted, looking down at her hands. "I… pulled on the memories of your missing friends to guide you into the castle."

"Oh," Sora said, before nodding once. If it was just Naminé, then it was fine.

Sora says that he was feeling the same but Jiminy brings up that it couldn't have just been a coincidence.

Several of them jumped at Jiminy's appearance, most of them having forgotten that the cricket was there. He was almost never seen, after all.

When Donald questions him, Jiminy reveals that he had the same feeling and Donald says they have to take a look then. Sora starts toward the door as Jiminy hides back in his pocket.

"Sora," Riku muttered out, sounding long-suffering. "Don't just walk into things, especially when you're having strange feelings."

"Are you surprised at this point?" Kairi asked Riku and Sora pouted at both of them.

"Hey, I don't run into everything," he said and the two of them exchanged glances.

"Yes, you do," they both replied, and Sora crossed his arms with a huff.

Donald asks where Sora is going, and Sora replies that he's going to the door before asking Donald if he's scared. Donald gets huffy and follows after Sora asking Goofy if he's coming with them.

Mickey sighed, a fond smile crossing his face. That was Donald for you.

Goofy wonders if they should shut the door before they go, turning back to the entrance, before calling out to the others. When they look back, the cloaked figure is there.

The tension in the room rocketed up several notches and Naminé took a deep breath in. It's fine, they're gone. Marluxia's dead. Larxene's dead.

Sora asks who he is and when he doesn't answer, Donald attempts to attack him through magic. But nothing works.

"What?" Mickey questioned, blinking at the screen in surprise. Donald wasn't… Donald was a very good magician; he wouldn't have just… What happened to his magic?

"Was that you as well?" Sora asked gently, looking to Naminé, who ducked her head.

"I'm sorry," she said in lieu of a response, and Sora simply gave her another smile.

"Hey, it's fine," he replied. "Just umm… what exactly did you do?"

"I simply made you forget ever learning the spells or attacks," she responded. "I mean, you remember learning them, just not how to do them." Sora nodded, satisfied.

Vanitas tried not to think what would have happened to the girl if she had been around ten years earlier and caught the attention of Master Xehanort. He would have very readily taken advantage of her power. The girl probably wouldn't have survived Master Xehanort's… methods.

Sora asks Donald what the matter is, and Donald says that his magic isn't working. The cloaked man says that the second they set foot in the castle, they forgot every single spell and every ability they had ever known.

Aqua paused, wondering. By all accounts, if that were real, that would have made for a very secure security system. Perhaps she should try to make changes to the system once she got back there and saved Ven. If changing it was possible.

"In this place, to find is to lose and to lose is to fine. That is the way in Castle Oblivion."

"Wait, if Castle Oblivion wasn't its original name, who named it?" Kairi questioned after a beat, remembering what Aqua had said about it originally being the… Land of Departure, that was it.

Axel paused before blinking once. "I don't know," he admitted. "I always assumed it had always been named that. While we only discovered about five years ago, it always seemed like it had been a part of the Organization." He frowned, looking down. Why name it Castle Oblivion? It wasn't because of Naminé, she hadn't existed yet. He knew that was because Xemnas had decreed it so. And the man was nothing if not persuasive.

When Sora questions him, the man says that they'll meet many people that they have known in the past and find people that they miss. Sora asks if that means that Riku is there.

"Were you there?" Sora asked, twisting to look at Riku. To him, it seemed that Riku didn't have the same memory gap as he did and while that brought up many questions, he was glad about it now because that meant that they weren't completely in the dark about what was happening.

"I was," Riku replied, thinking back. "Eventually. And I never came across you, unfortunately. I ended up in the basement."

"How?" Ven asked and Riku paused, thinking.

"DiZ? I think?" Riku replied. "I hadn't really… thought about it. I just… really wanted to find Sora."

"Aww, Riku," Sora crooned, leaning on his side and looking up at him. "Don't worry, we're never going to be separated again, got it?"

Riku looked to the side, trying to will his blush into dissipating. "Of course," he responded quickly, and Sora smiled at him. But didn't attempt to remove himself from leaning on Riku.

Axel raised an eyebrow at them, wondering if Riku was going to able to pay attention to the next bit with how loud his gay crisis seemed to be going on behind his eyes.

Donald asks about the king as well and the man asks if they want to find them. When Sora says yes, he blows magic at them before disappearing in a cloud of flower petals, reappearing on the staircase.

Yep, Marluxia, all three of the former members of Organization Thirteen thought. He was the only one with a flower motif after all.

The cloaked man explains that he just touched their memories and made the card, which he holds up and tosses to Sora, who looks blankly at it. Donald and Goofy realize it shows Traverse Town.

"Naminé, you didn't do that part with your powers, did you?" Sora asked and Naminé shook her head.

"No, that's all the Castle," she replied, and Sora wasn't the only one to look to Aqua next.

"It's…" Aqua sighed slightly. "Again, I don't know that much, Master Eraqus wasn't expecting something to happen, but the idea is that a friend would know how to use the cards and get through the defenses, approaching where whoever was still in the castle was staying. The castle transforms the rooms based on your memories; he didn't do anything except grab the card from where it was already being summoned. The fact that he's saying that you'll lose your memories is wrong and I assumed Naminé's influence."

All of them nodded at that explanation and Axel hummed slightly. He supposed that was why it made sense that none of them had ever lost their memories when they moved between floors.

The cloaked man says that is it a promise for the reunion they seek and that they need to hold the card to the door to get through. Sora questions his use of the 'cards being their guide'.

Riku shook his head again. He would visit the castle again, especially if they needed to save Ven, but he would do his best to do no fighting. He hated the cards.

"To lose and to claim anew or to claim anew only to lose."

"Is this… Marluxia always this word-twisty?" Sora questioned, shaking his head slightly. He had a feeling that his younger self would have been thoroughly thrown off by the sentences that Marluxia was speaking.

"Yeah, pretty much," Axel responded, being the only Organization member who was there long enough to get a read on Marluxia. Wonder if that was a development due to becoming a Nobody… Axel couldn't help the wonder that went through him. Marluxia and Larxene, to a lesser extent Demyx and Luxord, had always been a mystery to him. While Luxord and Demyx had never had the same reaction as Marluxia and Larxene to becoming Nobodies, the way that Xemnas and Xigbar treated them was always strange. He wondered if there would be answers while they watched.

The cloaked man disappears, and Sora says they should go. Donald wonders if they'll actually find them and Goofy says they don't have that much to go on.

Both Mickey and Riku looked down. If only they could have found their friends before they had gone to sleep. If only to have seen them for just a second…

Sora holds up the card to the door, making it shine and open. They walk through.

Naminé looked down, wishing for not the first time that she had her sketchbook. It had always been such a wonderful thing to help her either forget about where she was or help her block out what the others were discussing around her. Discussing using her. She wished she had it now.

But I'll be okay, she thought. I was the one to do this to Sora, clearly I did more damage than I thought. The least I can do is be here to help explain some things when they come up.

Still, her nails dug into her arms and the sound of lightning crackled in her ears.