Sora, Donald, and Goofy enter the room, which looks like Traverse Town.

"How?" Kairi asked, blinking in shock, and Sora simply turned to look at Aqua.

"Was this what you and Axel meant?" He asked. "When you guys said that the floors changed?"

"Yes," Aqua replied. "The floors are made out of your memories. So, this is your memory of Traverse Town."

Goofy wonders if maybe the card transports you to different places based on the picture.

Mickey smiled, proud of Goofy's thinking. Many people often saw the dog's frequent mistakes and didn't see the knowledge that he held. In many ways, Goofy was more knowledgeable than most of them. He had gone through being a parent after all.

Donald wonders where Leon and Aerith are, and Sora reminds him that they went back to Hollow Bastion. Sora then states that they're still in Castle Oblivion, right?

Kairi smiled at Sora, nudging him in the side. "So, you can be smart," she hummed, and Sora pouted at her.

"Of course, I can," Sora huffed, wrinkling his nose at her. She simply giggled a little.

The cloaked man from behind them says he's correct and it's just an illusion created by Sora's memories. They turn around to see the man.

Naminé breathed in deeply through her nose. Not here, not here.

Sora asks what he means, and the man says that he'll leave that to their imagination. He says to use the cards to get through the Castle and Sora questions him. Donald and Goofy suddenly vanish from behind him.

Sora gasped, worry for his friends coursing through him and Mickey felt the same worry. Where had Donald and Goofy gone?

Mickey paused a second later. They probably were picked up by the cards, weren't they? He breathed out a sigh. They were okay, they had to be.

Sora calls for them before asking the man what he did with them.

"Are they okay?" Sora asked, gaze returning to Aqua, something he presumed he would be doing a lot while watching this time, and Aqua grimaced. She didn't know the complete ins and outs of it but…

"Yes," Naminé answered instead, blinking slowly to keep her breathing even. "They're just in the cards."

"You mentioned those before and you're not talking about the ones that show the places, right?" Sora asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Your skills tend to get locked behind these cards," Axel explained, also aware that he didn't have that much knowledge due to their avoidance of the main floors, which would have activated for them. But he had listened to Marluxia and Zexion enough times as they figured out the layout to know the basics. "Simply, instead of waving a wand of Keyblade to do a certain spell, you would instead have to pull a card out with that specific attack. I assume that's part of the castle's defenses." He directed that last bit at Aqua who nodded.

The man says they are at the mercy of the cards now and if Sora masters the cards, he'll gain their strength. A card appears between the two of them with Goofy and Donald's faces on it.

"The cards can absorb people too?" Kairi questioned, eyes going wide, and Naminé nodded, as much as it would be noticed.

"Apparently," Aqua replied, thinking it over in her mind. Master, why couldn't you have explained more? Then I would be able to tell them what's happening, like a true Master should be able to.

Sora snatches it up and looks at it and several more cards appear in his hand. When he gestures with Donald's, Donald briefly appears and throws ice forward and heals Sora before vanishing again.

"Wait, so it basically just… controlled Donald like that?" Sora asked, slightly put off. He didn't know how much he liked that. The idea that his friends would just be reduced to… their battle moves or whatever.

"I think so," Aqua confirmed and Sora wasn't the only one giving the screen dubious looks. Kairi, Ven, Vanitas, and Roxas all looked perturbed.

Xion was very glad that when she had gone to Castle Oblivion, all of this hadn't happened, probably through her use of using a Dark Corridor straight to the top. Though, what world would it have become? She wondered. Twilight Town? The Clocktower specifically?

The man says cards will disappear as they're used but replenish over time. He says they're the hearts of Sora's friends.

"Aqua, when we go get Ven, perhaps we should wait until you're with us so you can disable the castle," Sora muttered, slightly glad that he didn't remember all of this card nonsense. "Just to make it easier."

"That might be a good idea," she replied. "Ven's body is at the top of the Castle anyways. You'd probably have to go through all the floors again."

"Some of us can portal?" Axel offered and Aqua paused, before nodding.

"That's also a good idea."

Roxas huffed. "Except that the three of us are dead," he interjected bluntly. "So, you'd have to find another person with the ability to make Dark Corridors." The good mood that had been sweeping around the room dimmed considerably at his words. Riku thought about bringing up the fact that he could make Dark Corridors while in Ansem's form, but he had no idea if he still could. It made sense that he would, with his ability to use both Dark and Light, but he didn't know for sure.

The cloaked man warns that everything is controlled by the cards and that whether it was an enemy or a door, Sora would have to use the cards. Goofy and Donald suddenly appear again.

Sora figured that it would be a common occurrence of them disappearing and reappearing due to the cards, but he didn't need to like it. He couldn't imagine what had been going through his younger self's head when all this was happening. Probably just a lot of worrying.

Sora asks if they're okay and Donald says that he can't remember anything from the card, with Goofy agreeing. Jiminy says to try to remember as he'll try to keep it all straight in his journal.

Naminé grimaced at the reminder of the journal. It hadn't been hard for Marluxia to snatch it away with a Dark Corridor and replace it with a blank one while they were busy with a world. Thankfully, he had never destroyed it, so Naminé assumed DiZ had given it back to them. Probably.

The cloaked man tells them to master the cards, but they now walk alone. Goofy says they can't let Sora go alone, with Donald adding that Sora can't do anything without their help.

"Hey!" Kairi exclaimed, giving the screen a look on behalf of Sora. "Sora's very competent when he needs to be."

"Thanks Kairi," Sora smiled at her. "But I do really need them. Just like they need me. We're a trio and they've always watched my back when you two haven't been around to."

Except for that one time where they left you alone in Hollow Bastion without any weapons, but I assumed you're just ignoring that bit, Riku thought, feeling his face twist slightly before he forced it back to neutrality. Even if Sora didn't want to think about it, he did have to acknowledge it sooner or later. He couldn't keep pushing it down.

Sora thanks Donald but the cloaked man simply says that they'll get no more help from him. "Walk the avenues of latent memory, and you shall meet someone dear to you. And you may stumble upon memories that were hidden or people who are close to you."

"None of that was true, was it?" Sora asked, checking with Naminé. "I just want to know for the watching."

"Yes," Naminé admitted, looking down and trying not to think about everything she had done. "All the stuff about 'finding someone dear to you', that was fake."

"I wonder who he was referring to…" Sora murmured, wishing that he could have remembered something from the time in the castle and Naminé flinched. Both Axel and Riku wondered if she was going to say something, but she kept her mouth firmly shut, so neither of them revealed the truth. If Naminé didn't want people to know quite yet, then they wouldn't tell anyone. By all accounts, it was Naminé's thing to share, and it wasn't like it was going to stay a secret forever. But she deserved a chance to be the one to reveal it.

He vanishes and Goofy wonders about the hidden memories. Sora says that he hasn't lost any memories.

Naminé flinched again, hands closing around her nonexistent sketchbook. Sora swallowed, looking away, and both Riku and Kairi gave him concerned looks. It's okay, he thought. Once we get out of here and figure out a way for Naminé to have her own body, she can go back through and fix my memories. And then I won't forget anything ever again.

Goofy agrees with him and Donald says they should get going or they won't find anything out. They start walking through the fake Traverse Town before being beset by Heartless.

"Oh, wonderful," Ven said sarcastically, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "Of course, they're even around in the fake worlds."

"Well, it is built on my memories," Sora replied with a shrug. "And there were always a lot of Heartless in Traverse Town before I managed to seal the Keyhole."

"Are you going to have to seal the Keyholes again?" Xion wondered. "Given that it was your mission before, and these are based on your memories…?"

Sora shrugged again. He didn't remember.

Goofy and Sora move forward but Donald realizes that if he can't do magic, he can't fight.

Mickey winced slightly. That would probably grate on Donald, probably more than Goofy or Sora would realize. Perhaps it was another good thing that Donald didn't remember this, or he no doubt would have pushed himself so hard once they got out in order to try and make himself even better so something like that wouldn't ever happen again. And Donald didn't need any more bad sleep habits.

Sora and Goofy fight the Heartless but are struggling. Donald tries several different spells before managing to get a fireball out using a weak Fire spell.

"Strange," Aqua murmured. She knew it was Naminé's powers that were doing it and the cards were focused on Sora, so Donald and Goofy didn't have to use them, but why that spell specifically?

They manage to destroy the rest of the Heartless and Goofy says that they really lost their powers. When Sora and Donald compare abilities, Donald realizes that they've gone back to the level they were at when they started.

"Was that purposeful, Naminé?" Roxas asked and Naminé hesitated.

"Maybe?" She responded, voice sounding weak. "It was just… it was easier almost, to have a tangible idea of how much to erase. Like, I didn't want them to die so I had to give them something, but I have no idea what that would be. So I reached out into their memories and found a memory of them remembering the level they were at when they reached Traverse Town, so it wasn't that hard to implant that memory over their physical remembering."

She got several strange looks.

"It… makes sense to me," she murmured quietly, looking down, and several people scrambled.

"No Naminé, it's completely fine," Aqua reassured her quickly. "It's just… none of us are memory manipulators, so we probably just don't really understand it because we've never done it."

Vanitas rolled his eyes. While he didn't truly get it, it made mostly sense to him. While allowing their actual memories to hold, she simply edited their physical memories, the memories that have to do with things like repetition and physical actions. Like their muscle memory. It was very possible. He would know well. Just because he had Ventus's memories didn't make him that great of Keyblade Wielder after they split, especially once he was forced into a different body. Things like that didn't always translate over. Naminé had just given it a push.

Sora says the three of them are together, so they'll be fine.

"Of course," Sora said to himself. "My friends are my power. We'll be fine."

A voice calls out saying that they'd better be careful, or the Heartless will make sure they're not fine at all.

"Leon!" Sora exclaimed before pausing. "Or my memory of him? Can the rooms make people?" Both Naminé and Axel nodded. "Okay, good to know."

Sora recognizes him and asks him what he's doing in Castle Oblivion. Leon corrects him saying that it's Traverse Town.

"Oh, because they're my memories, they don't know anything is wrong, right?" Sora said, watching the screen. "They just think it's normal."

Sora pauses, wondering how he can explain it, and Leon asks how they know his name, drawing his sword.

"They don't have any memories of him?" Kairi asked, turning to glance at Naminé. "Why? Aren't these built out of Sora's memories?" Naminé shook her head softly. She didn't know that much more than they did. Castle Oblivion had been a mystery to all of them.

Goofy and Donald wonder what's going on while Leon says that he's never met them. Sora says they've fought Heartless together and Leon says that he doesn't know what they are talking about, mentioning that he doesn't even know their names.

Naminé flinched. The room was too close to what had happened during the year that Sora was asleep. When everyone connected to him did lose their memories of him. All because of her. Her nails bit into her palms again. She hadn't… She didn't…

She dreaded the moment when it was revealed what she had done.

Sora asks how he could just forget them, and Leon tells them not to take it personally, while calling him Sora.

"What?" Ven questioned, blinking at the screen. Leon had just called Sora by his name, even when he had just said he didn't. He thought… "I thought they didn't know you."

Sora frowned, biting the inside of his cheek. He really wished he still had his memories of this time. It would have been very helpful in order to explain what was going on. Unfortunately, he was just as much in the dark as most of the others. It seemed like Riku, Axel, and Naminé had more knowledge about the subject, but they hadn't been saying anything, so they probably didn't know what was going on at that exact moment.

Donald says that he does know Sora's name and Leon is confused, asking why he knows Sora's name. Goofy wonders if Leon's just messing around and Donald says it wouldn't be funny if he is.

"I wonder if it's their hearts," Mickey mused, thinking about it. "Castle Oblivion took Sora's memories of people he had connected with, in his heart. I wonder if their hearts are connecting, even though some of them are simply shadows of the hearts that did connect with Sora's."

"Is that even possible?" Terra asked and Mickey shrugged slightly. Castle Oblivion had been very powerful after all, and it made some sense, given that it had once been a stronghold for Keyblade Wielders. Things created by Keyblade Wielders should be able to recreate hearts and their connections, due to how much that concept was part of being a Keyblade Wielder.

Leon asks who's kidding around, accidentally calling Donald and Goofy by their names as well. Leon says he doesn't get it and that something's wrong with his memory.

"A theme," Vanitas muttered, shooting another glance towards the girl in white and biting down on his tongue. Why was he… Worry shouldn't even be possible for him to feel, not for a Light-Bearer. But…

Falling under Xehanort's Keyblade more times than he could count, the knowledge that his Unversed were attacking, were killing people, all at Xehanort's behest. Everything…

He huffed, looking away. What was wrong with him?

Yuffie appears behind Leon and says that maybe Aerith was onto something after all. She says that Aerith told her that she was sensing some uncanny power and this situation seemed pretty uncanny.

"So, they have no idea they're fake," Roxas muttered, given from Yuffie's comment. "They have whole… lives in their heads and they don't even know they're just figments of someone else's imagination." He gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to lean into Axel's side for comfort. It was… far too realistic.

Sora realizes that Yuffie knows his name and Yuffie says that Sora knows hers. When Leon questions her, she says she's never met Sora before in her life but that she definitely knows his name.

"She seems more okay with it," Kairi murmured, and Sora laughed slightly. That was just Yuffie for them. Sora couldn't doubt that this was probably exactly how Yuffie would react if something like that happened in real life.

Yuffie says it's strange but convenient, mentioning that they can skip introductions. Leon wonders how she can accept the situation so easily.

"Because our lives are absolutely insane," Riku muttered to himself. At this point, he wouldn't blink twice at some other crazy things, like time travel, given what they were doing now. He then paused. Was this technically time travel? But like, third person time travel? They were going to be seeing the future, after all, and they were seeing the past. He rubbed his temple slightly, mimicking what Leon was doing onscreen. Just because their lives were crazy didn't mean they didn't still give him a headache.

Yuffie says she's going to run ahead and inform Aerith about what's happening, instructing Leon to give them the grand tour. Leon puts away his weapon and leads them through Traverse Town.

"I know we've accepted crazy 'Keyblade Wielder Magic' at this point," Ven said, worrying the edge of his lip between his teeth. "But… How big are those floors?"

"Large," Axel said with a slight head tilt. "But Marluxia also theorized that the rooms were able to… change themselves almost, in order to make certain words from the memories of the user more realistic. When we were there, they certainly weren't big enough to house a whole town."

"I can check the library when we get back to the Land of Departure," Aqua said, trying not to let her discomfort show. She should know these things, she should. "I bet it will probably have some answers to how it exactly works."

Sora asks if he's taking them to the hotel in the Second District and Leon is shocked that he even knows that. Sora lies that he just guessed.

"Was that place their base or something?" Xion asked. "They always seemed to be there."

"No, but it was the place they lived, I think," Sora replied. "They owned the top floor and all of them stayed there while the rest of the floors were actual hotels for people when they arrived in Traverse Town. Their activities were kind of spread around Traverse Town after that."

Sora remembers someone and gets Leon's attention, saying that maybe he'll remember if they fight.

"Sora, what even-?" Kairi asked, twisting to give the boy next to her a look and Sora hummed, trying to figure out his younger self's logic. If he was asking about the hotel…

"Oh, because the first time we met, Leon and I fought and I lost," he realized. He bet that was what his younger self's logic was. "I think I thought that maybe recreating the same events, it would help Leon's memories come back."

"Fine, maybe it was for your friend, but if you know you're going to lose a fight, don't start one," she scolded him and he pouted at her.

"Kairi, I had improved a lot since that fight!" He replied. "Maybe I could win against him." He got several dubious looks at that. "I could!"

"I don't think so," Riku said, smirk crawling up the side of his face when Sora's pout was directed at him. "Him and Cloud, I think you're going to need a lot more training if you ever want to beat either of them." Sora crossed his arms with a huff. He could! …Maybe.

Leon questions him and Sora asks Donald and Goofy to stay back, as they didn't fight with him the first time. Goofy remembers because they hadn't met yet and the two of them back up.

Mickey sighed slightly, giving his friends a look. While he knew that they would intervene if it looked like Sora actually needed it, and he wouldn't because Leon wouldn't hurt a child like Sora too badly, they probably also shouldn't have been encouraging that. But they did think it was the best way to regain Leon's memories, so it could be excused.

"Sora," Kairi grumbled out and Sora wrinkled his nose.

"Hey, don't get mad at me, I don't remember this," he defended himself.

"You still did once though," Roxas called over, a smirk on his face. "And I bet you'd do it now too." Sora stuck his tongue out at him.

Leon says that he doesn't think this will be much of a fight while drawing his blade. Sora says they won't know until they try it.

"Or you can know because the last time you fought that man, he won easily?" Riku said quietly and Sora elbowed him in the side. The older boy raised an eyebrow at him.

Sora attacks Leon a few times, but the older man easily deflects him away.

"I should be fighting better than that," Sora muttered, able to recognize his own skills, or lack of them.

"Don't forget what Naminé did," Ven brought up, unintentionally causing the girl to flinch. "She took away all your skills remember?"

"Oh yeah," Sora replied. "So, it is really a recreation of what happened after the Islands fell."

Leon stops the fight after a minute, telling Sora not to be so reckless and that he probably has the picture by now. Donald and Goofy check in with Sora.

Despite guessing that it probably wouldn't work, Sora still slumped slightly when it was clear that Leon didn't remember him despite him recreating their first meeting with him.

Leon mentions that they really don't know how to fight but Donald refutes that they do, they just forgot. Leon asks how they forgot something like that.

Naminé bit her lip, pulling her knees to her chest, and hunching her shoulders slightly. Riku looked over at her, worry building in his heart. Naminé needed someone. He frowned. Maybe he should invite her over to sit with them? Though she might not want that and he didn't want to put her on the spot. She had always been iffy around him anyways. Some days she would cling to him, following his footsteps whenever he was at the mansion while other days she would flee each room he came into, barely able to look at him. He had tried to ask her about it before, but she hadn't answered.

Donald can't figure out how to answer and Leon simply says they should go see Aerith. They head to the hotel and go into a room.

"Hey, it's the same one from before," Sora realized. "When they told me about the Keyblade!"

"Makes sense," Kairi hummed. "It is the room that is the most ingrained in your memory after all."

Leon says that he brought them and Yuffie greets them from her spot on the bed with Aerith smiling at them from her spot. Sora asks Aerith if she forgot him too.

"Why wouldn't she have?" Vanitas asked with an eyeroll, leaning his chin on one of his hands and looking directly at Sora and the others. Not allowing his eyes to wander at all. "None of the others do."

"Because Aerith has always been special," Sora refuted, looking to the side for a quick second. "She… knows things and her presence is soothing, if you could call it that. She's different." Kairi nodded once, able to back up Sora as she had felt the same thing from the small bits she could remember of that time, remembering the woman who seemed just a little… off, but in a nice way. "If anyone would remember, it's her."

Aerith says that she doesn't truly know how to greet him as her heart is telling her two different things and that she doesn't think she knows him, and yet she still feels like he belongs there.

Sora tossed Vanitas a triumphant look. His lookalike simply scoffed and looked away.

Aerith says that her heart says that they've met before but she doesn't remember him. Yuffie agrees, saying that it doesn't feel weird that she knows his name despite them never meeting.

Mickey nodded, thinking back to his theory about their hearts. It seemed more and more probable as time went on.

Goofy asks what they mean and Yuffie says that it's like they're familiar in a way, like they met a long time ago. Sora replies that they've met and that they took down a Heartless together.

"I don't think they're going to be convinced," Kairi said gently, and Sora nodded once. She was probably right but he couldn't imagine what was going through his younger self's brain at this moment. While he knew that the world was fake, it must have been so hard to distinguish between what was real and what was fake.

Leon says that it feels like he's right but that he can't remember. Sora and Donald repeat what Leon said as they said goodbye in Hollow Bastion and Leon finishes the sentence.

Sora perked up slightly as Leon finished the sentence. Maybe they weren't really his friends, but they clearly had some sort of connection to them.

Donald realizes that he remembers and Yuffie agrees, saying that she remembers him saying that and quotes what she said after. Leon supposes that he can't write it off as a coincidence then.

Axel raised a single eyebrow at the screen. Interesting… He hadn't been that interested in the rooms before, mostly just doing his best to fool Larxene and Marluxia, and make sure that none of the others did anything that would harm Roxas. But now, seeing it, he understood why Xemnas had seen it as such a wonderful place. If they had an enemy they particularly wanted gone or broken to their wills, they could easily trap them in their own memories until they were questioning what was real or what was false. Much like Marluxia had planned to do to Sora, though with Naminé's help.

In the back of his head, he wondered if that thought had ever crossed Xemnas's mind. Or Saix's.

Aerith says that she thinks that Sora's heart is doing the remembering for them and explains that Sora's memories must resonate with their hearts and that Sora's heart is full of memories of them together. Leon asks that if it means that Sora's memories are affecting theirs.

Mickey nodded once; his theory confirmed. It made sense that Sora's heart would be affecting whatever reflections of hearts they had. They were connected after all.

Aerith says that his memories hold a certain power. Sora thinks back to what the cloaked man said, saying that this place was just an illusion created by his memories.

Aqua laced her fingers together, attempting to stop the repeated thoughts that were going through her head. She should have asked more questions when Master Eraqus showed her how to transform the place, she should have done research, should have done something because now she was useless when she was supposed to be helpful. Supposed to be a Master.

Aerith realizes that there is someone special to him in the town and Sora realizes that his memories are resonating in her heart, telling her what happened.

"I wonder if that would happen for all of us," Terra mused, watching the screen carefully. "If all of our hearts could resonate with the people we see in the rooms. Or if it might just be something for you."

"Why would it just be me?" Sora asked, tipping his head to the side. Terra didn't answer. Maybe it was because Sora was some sort of special. That much was clear at this point.

When Donald and Goofy question it, Sora says he doesn't know and it's hard to explain, turning to Aerith and saying that a friend of his was somewhere within the Town, before correcting and saying the Castle.

Sora smiled, glad his younger self hadn't forgotten about Riku, and he leaned to the side slightly, landing on Riku's arm and just hanging there. Riku shot him a look and smile.

Naminé looked down at her hands. Already, she was slowly, ever so slowly, starting to mess with Sora's memories by pulling on his connection with Riku. His chase to find him, his necklace from him, the love he had for him. She bit her tongue so hard she tasted blood. She had done nothing but hurt him so much, twisting his memories of his closest friend and tearing them apart to place herself in there instead. All in some messed up attempt to maybe get saved by him.

Her nails bit into her palms.

Yuffie says that there aren't any castles around there and Sora struggles to explain. Aerith deduces that he's still not completely sure himself and Sora agrees, saying that they just got there anyway.

"I wonder why it's messing with your head so much," Roxas muttered. It wasn't like it was that hard to grasp. He was in a room created by his memories inside of a castle. What more was there to it?

Naminé flinched, shoulders shaking.

Sora says that he wants to take a look around and see if it's really the Traverse Town they know. Leon says to take a look around then and warns about Heartless, before mentioning that they shouldn't be a problem for him.

Sora felt a small bubble of warmth in him when Leon affirmed his fighting skills. It wasn't that he felt like he was lacking, he knew he was a good fighter, but he hadn't really been given that many compliments, except maybe from Riku. Mostly, Goofy and Donald just pushed him to be better. Which he did need to be, but it could get… draining sometimes.

Sora asks if that means Leon knows that he can fight, and Leon says that he feels like believing him and requests to leave it at that.

Mickey smiled. It was clear that Leon cared about Sora, even if he was just an illusion of the real one. And well, the real one cared about him as well. He had made a good decision, trusting Leon with knowledge of the Keyblade, as minimal as it had been. He had clearly been a good thing for Sora.

Sora teases Leon who playfully threatens to knock him around with his blade again. Sora and the others hurry out of the hotel.

Sora smiled at his interactions with them. He really needed to see them again, make sure they were okay in the aftermath of the Heartless attack. They had seemed mostly okay the quick time he had seen them, but he really should have looked deeper. He was the Keyblade Wielder after all. He was supposed to stop the Heartless.

As they walk through Traverse Town, Goofy questions Sora on what he meant while speaking to Aerith, but Sora says he doesn't really understand it himself. Donald says it can't be an illusion, as they're standing in it, but Goofy wonders if he and Donald are also illusions from Sora's memories.

Sora felt a chill go down his spine as the thought was spoken aloud. No, that was Donald and Goofy who were standing with him. The real Donald and Goofy. They weren't… They weren't memories. They weren't illusions. Right?

"Naminé?" He asked, turning to look at her, and she shook her head very quickly.

"It's them, I promise," she replied, stuttering over her words. It was the real Donald and Goofy, that much she knew.

Sora let a breath of relief at that, slumping slightly. He was already guessing why his younger self was so confused and having that thought put into his head definitely wouldn't help.

Sora says he doesn't know and Goofy says that none of this makes a lot of sense. Donald sees some Heartless and the three of them face off.

Everything's fine, Sora thought. I'll be fine, my past self will be fine. I'm right here, aren't I? He ignored the part of his brain that was shouting about 'memories' and 'being messed with'. Everything was fine.

Sora is about to fight but Donald and Goofy get turned into cards. He snatches them up and fights the Heartless using the different cards.

Riku pinched the bridge of his nose, crinkling his face into an unpleasant expression. He hated those things.

"Wait, why are they turning into cards now?" Ven questioned. "They didn't earlier?" Several glances were aimed at Aqua and Axel, who seemed to have the most knowledge about the topic, but both of them grimaced. Aqua hadn't asked Master Eraqus about the failsafe too much, like an idiot, and Axel only had guesses and secondhand accounts to go off of.

"Castle Oblivion is weird?" Xion offered and there were noises of agreement from around the room.

After Sora defeats the Heartless, Goofy and Donald pop back up again, and Donald realizes that they're stronger now than before. Goofy says the strength they lost is coming back bit by bit.

"I assume we're probably relearning what we did before," Sora thought aloud, tapping his fingers on his knee. "This is kind of what we did the first time around."

Naminé nodded once, not being able to bring her voice back quite yet.

In the distance, a bell starts ringing.

"The bell!" Kairi exclaimed, sitting bolt upright. "Like before!" Sora's eyes grew round as he remembered.

"Are we going to have to fight that Heartless again?" He asked, feeling a little put off. They had fought and destroyed that thing, what, three times now? Why couldn't it just stay down.

The giant Heartless from before slams into the square.

While several of them jumped, various noises of surprise rippling across the room, Sora simply sighed once, rubbing a hand over his face. Yep, they had to face it again.

Sora faces down the Heartless, with Donald and Goofy turning into cards again. Sora fights it, using the cards.

"Hopefully this is the last time I'll have to face it," Sora muttered, watching himself take down the Heartless again. It wasn't a surprise that he managed to take it down relatively quick, as he already had experience taking it down. Three times.

The Heartless collapses after Sora beats it, with Donald and Goofy appearing again. Sora sighs, before being distracted as Leon, Aerith, Yuffie, and Cid walk up to them.

"Oh, Cid!" Sora said, blinking at the sight of the man. Of course, he was there too. He lived in Traverse Town for a while as well.

Leon asks if they found Sora's friend and Sora admits that he doesn't think he'll find him in the town, but that he has to be somewhere in the Castle, he's sure of it.

Naminé flinched. Your fault, your fault. You're the one doing this, you're deceiving him, you're drawing him to his death. How could you? How dare you? Her nails dug into her arms.

Riku smiled gently. He wasn't actually there quite yet, he thought at least. He could have been there already, time was screwy in the Castle, but even if he was there, it wasn't him Sora was searching for. He shot a glance at Naminé and grimaced at the look in her eyes. He should do something, but… would Naminé want him to? She seemed to be working to make herself smaller.

Cid questions his use of Castle, but Leon says that Sora's probably right, even if they can't understand it. Leon says that Sora can see the reality that's bigger than their world.

Sora smiled at Leon's faith in him. It was nice to hear, even if it was only from a reflection of the man.

Sora wishes that he was sure, and Leon tells him that he'll be okay and no matter what shape reality takes, Sora will be able to handle it. The others wish him luck and Sora thanks them, before wondering how they're supposed to leave. Aerith points out a door.

Sora laughed quietly in his hand. Aerith, always the strange one. One day, he would have to ask her about… well her. Maybe there was a reason. Perhaps she had a strange set of magic?

The three of them start to head to the door, but Sora pauses as Aerith calls out to him. He turns to look at her as the other Traverse Town members leave.

Several confused looks were shared. What would Aerith need from Sora?

Aerith says that she doesn't have all the answers, but that she has to tell him something. She checks with him that this place is made of memories and Sora replies that it's what the man in the cloak said to him.

Terra frowned, tapping his hand on his knee. By all accounts, if they didn't know from Aqua, the cloaked man could have been lying. And then they would be in a worse position. But they knew he was telling the truth, though the past Sora didn't know that. The whole thing just made him nervous. Maybe because it was messing with Sora's head. While such things had never been truly done to him, mostly, it was still enough to put him on edge, worrying for his successor's best friend.

Aerith says that if it's true, then the town is just a figment of his mind, as well as the people within it. Sora says they can't be a figment because she's standing right there as well as the town is there.

Aqua narrowed her eyes slightly. Already, there was evidence that something was happening with Sora's mind. He had been sure in his stance that this was just a projection of the place when they first entered the room but now he was much more unsure and cautious. Her gaze went to Naminé for a second, the younger girl having relaxed some. Could it have something to do with Naminé? They hadn't explained much, but what they had was enough to paint a picture in her head. And she didn't like it.

Aerith says that she's not really her and she can't remember things she should and can sense things she shouldn't.

"A self-aware projection?" Axel muttered to himself, watching curiously. From what they had said, it was clear that this Aerith wasn't normal in any sense of the word, so it wasn't completely surprising that the illusion of her had picked up on some of her quirks, but it shouldn't have been to this extent, right?

Sora is confused but Aerith warns him about his memories, much to Sora's shock. Aerith tells him in his journey he'll be faced with more illusion and the shadows of his memory might try and deceive him to lead him astray.

Your fault, your fault, your fault. What kind of a person are you, to so thoroughly hurt someone to take away his memories of his closest people? Naminé closed her eyes, trying to force back the tears.

Sora wonders what that means but Aerith apologizes and says that she's just another illusion and that the truth is out of her reach.

I mean, you got pretty far, Vanitas thought, giving the screen a look. She figured out a lot of it before it happened.

Sora asks her not to say things like that, as it is depressing.

This ship runs on happy faces! Sora looked down, taking a deep breath before looking back up. It was fine, everything was fine.

Aerith tells him to stay strong and to not let the illusions distract him from what's truly important.

I have a feeling that I didn't do that, Sora thought, leaning on Riku's side in a effort for comfort. Was it my fault that Donald, Goofy, and I slept for a year? Did I mess something up so badly?

Sora nods to her before being distracted by Donald and Goofy calling for him. He says he'll be right there, only to turn and see Aerith gone.

"She's… gone?" Xion asked, blinking in shock, and Axel sighed and shrugged a shoulder.

"Sora's about to leave the world," he explained. "Of course, she's gone. The floor is collapsing as they go."

Sora wasn't the only one to make a face at that. While it was true that it wasn't really their friends, just copies of them, they had still been their friends in a way. But now they were gone, like they never had existed.

Sora calls out for Aerith and Donald questions him. Sora says he was just talking to her, but Goofy says that Aerith left with the others.

"Was I the only one to see her?" Sora wondered. Why Aerith? Was it because of her special sight or whatever it was? Or was it something else?

Donald says he worried them, simply standing there by himself, and Sora wonders if this is what Aerith meant.

Kairi took a deep breath, reaching out to grasp one of Sora's hands. It was clear that something had started, whatever it was, and it wasn't making her feel good. She worried her bottom lip. Everything would be okay, right?

Sora looks back once, before turning and following Donald and Goofy towards the door, where he uses one of the cards to open it. They all exit the room.

Naminé looked down at her hands. How long… How long would she be able to keep a secret what she did? She suspected that even Axel and Riku didn't know the true depth of what she did to Sora's memory, as she never truly told them. Never told them about reaching into the deep True Memory of the meteor shower, about erasing both Kairi and Riku from certain points of Sora's life. And, what she did to… him. Axel already knew that part but…

She swallowed shakily. There was what… twelve more floors for Sora to get through? She could make it that long, she could. She had to, she didn't want to make more of a burden of herself. Sora had already done so many wonderful things, like offer her a body of her own. And now, he was going to see all the horrible things she had done to him. To the Replica.

She pressed her eyes together, forcing tears back yet again. Would Sora uphold his promise like he had done before? Even though this time he would watch her break down his memories one at a time?

She didn't know and she was too scared to ask.

Her hands twisted around each other, and she wished for her sketchbook. She just wanted this to be over.