Kingdom Hearts: Saving Life in Another World

by GreenWarrior291

After having defeated Xehanort and managed to have saved Kairi from her fate, Sora disappears into a dark abyss of Darkness. Just as it seems like it'll be an endless sleep for having abused the Power of Waking, an outsider manages to teleport the young keyblade wielder into a different world.

60. New problems arise

Chapter 57: New problems arise

As Subaru snapped back into reality, he looked to see Elsa standing next to him with Vanitas' book in her hand. His soul hurt from this but not has bad as the one with Typhon.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, sorry about that. How long have I been out?"

"A couple of hours. I haven't been able to find Sora dear."

"Hm. He must have gone to the second floor with that Reid guy...maybe."

"Well then, let us search before the others get up."

"Right."

Subaru nodded at Elsa's statement and the two quickly went towards the exit of the library to head towards the stairs. As they do this, they suddenly notice a bright light coming from a part of the library.

"Huh? What was that?"

"It could've been Master Sora. Come on, let's check it out."

Both Elsa and Subaru went towards the direction of the library where the mysterious light appeared only to find a young boy with a red jumpsuit with puffy shorts and a zipper that runs down the entire front. The boy was also wearing a black and white jacket over top, large yellow shoes, white fingerless gloves with yellow and blue straps holding on a silver circle plate, a blue belt with chains hanging off, and a silver crown necklace similar to Sora's.

"Wh-Who is this boy?"

Subaru had asked yet once he took a closer look, he made a realization along with Elsa that the person they are seeing is a younger looking version of Sora. As they noticed this, the young version of Sora woke up from his slumber, looking completely confused. Subaru and Elsa both stood still for a moment, unsure on what to do yet they were thrown off when they heard the young spikey haired boy say,

"What a dream..."

Sora starts to go back to sleep, which caused both Subaru and Elsa to shake him to keep the boy awake. As they do this, the boy was shaken once he realizes that he isn't dreaming.

"This isn't a dream!"

Subaru and Elsa stepped back to allow some breathing room for the boy has he gets up, looking surprised by the library he finds himself in. As he does this, Subaru and Elsa both have a conversation away from the boy, both of them worried.

"What do you think?"

"Something is off here, if he really is Sora then why is he young all of a sudden? He also seems to not know who we are..."

"H-Hey, who are you two? Where am I?"

Subaru and Elsa turned towards the boy, seeing that he is still confused yet very curious on the location he is at. The two look at each other and nod before Subaru answered the boy's answer with,

"We are at the Pleiades Watchtower."

"Pleiades...watchtower?"

"Y-Yes, but first what is your name?"

"Oh, my name is Sora."

"Ah...my name is Natsuki Subaru, this here is Elsa Grainhert but just call her Elsa."

Subaru's voice was filled with concern and slight nervousness since he was correct in assuming that this young boy is a younger version of Sora that doesn't have any memories of all they had went through. Elsa looked at this Sora and all she was filled with was concern for the boy, not sure how to act. The young looking Sora looked at the two for a moment before he realized that he isn't at his island, causing him to panic for a moment,

"Wait a minute! What happened to my home? My island? Riku! Kairi!"

"Don't worry Sora Dear, your friends are safe...there is just a lot to explain."

"What is going on here?"

Both Subaru and Elsa were startled by this when they heard Emilia speak out of nowhere, causing the two to turn around with Sora confused at the situation. As they turn around, they notice that Emilia is accompanied by Rem, Beatrice, and Ram. Before anything can be said by either Elsa or Subaru, Sora approached the group which caught Emilia and the others off guard.

"S-Sora? Is that you? Why are you young all of a sudden?"

"What are you talking about?"

Emilia and her group were dumbfounded by Sora's response to this, causing them to turn their gazes towards Subaru and Elsa, having a feeling that the two would know what is going on. Emilia was the first to speak by asking Subaru directly,

"What happened to Sora?"

"I don't know Emilia-tan, we just found him like this."

"What do you mean? What is going on?"

Sora started to ask more questions, completely confused at the situation he is in but before anything can be said, a swarm of heartless appear all around them. This causes Subaru and the others to get their weapons out and ready for a fight.

"Damn, as if things aren't tough enough."

Subaru and the group all surrounded Sora to protect him while the young version of the Keyblade Wielder just looked with concern in his face. He recognized the dark creatures since he had encountered them back in Destiny Island.

"I-It's those creatures from the island!"

"Don't worry Sora Dear, we will protect you!"

"Yes, she is right. We will protect you, Master Sora!"

"Master?"

Sora was confused but before he can question it anymore, he noticed that everyone swiftly went after the heartless. Sora just stood in the sidelines with Rem protecting him from any heartless.

"Don't worry Sora, I will protect you with my life." Rem said confidently.

"Ok..."

Sora looked at the others and saw just how skilled they were against the heartless, impressing him. As he looked around, a more powerful looking heartless appears near the boy which causes Sora to jump back. Sora took a look and noticed that it was a combination of shadow heartless, the demon tide.

Rem noticed this and quickly charged at the heartless only to be easily tossed aside with one hit. Sora noticed this and wanted to help yet the heartless turned its attention towards him, forcing the boy to run for a moment. As he was running, he was dodging a couple of the attacks until he reached a dead end, trapped. Sora turned around and could see the large heartless approaching him, ready to attack.

"I can't fall here...Riku...Kairi...!"

Sora called out to his friends, hoping that he can be saved until he suddenly summoned Kingdom Key. He looked at the weapon and recalled that this was the same weapon that allowed him to take on the heartless back in destiny island.

"The...keyblade..."

Sora looked at his weapon for a moment before looking at the giant heartless, ready to face off the threat on his own.

"I have to fight...I want to see my friends again!"

Sora charged at the demon tide, not afraid to fight for his life. The demon tide send off a few shadow heartless to attack the boy yet he was able to barely hold his own, knocking the heartless away from him as he closes in on the large heartless. Once he was close enough, he swung Kingdom Key towards the demon tide yet due to how strong the demon tide was, he ended up getting pushed back.

"Sora!"

Sora looked at his back side to see the blue haired girl with a horn being show on her forehead, jumping into the fight and landing a powerful hit on the demon tide, managing to destroy a bunch of shadow heartless. Sora was surprised by this for a few seconds before returning focus to the fight, hitting the demon tide with all of his strength despite how much stronger the heartless is compared to him. As Rem and Sora were holding their own, the demon tide heartless was starting to push the two back until all of a sudden a powerful red beam destroyed half of the heartless.

"-!"

"What was that?!"

Rem and Sora looked to see Shaula shooting more beams at the demon tide until every single piece had been destroyed. Emilia, Beatrice, Ram, Subaru, and Elsa had just finished taking care of the neoshadow heartless that were attacking them when they noticed Shaula easily taking down the demon tide heartless. Subaru and his group quickly went to check on Rem and Sora to see if the two were alright, especially Sora.

"Are you alright, Sora?"

"Y-Yes, I'm alright."

The group was still off to see a very young Sora, with Beatrice finding it odd that she is relative to Sora's height. Subaru looked at the younger version of his master for a moment before turning towards Shaula to ask her,

"What happened to Master Sora?"

"Uh! How rude! I helped and Master hasn't praised me!"

Shaula starts complaining much to Subaru's dismay before attempting to hug him again, to which Subaru was able to dodge this by just moving out of the way. Shaula crashed into the wall before turning towards Emilia to ask her what she thinks.

"What do you think we should do, Emilia-tan? We can't leave Master Sora like that."

"I know but first you must apologize to Shaula."

"W-Wait, why?"

"Because she is hurt. Now apologize."

"Okay..."

Subaru turned to try to apologize to Shaula yet she managed to successfully hug him, causing him to fall to the ground. Emilia and the others noticed this and had a chuckle with Emilia feeling jealous once again. As Shaula was hugging Subaru, Emilia and the group turned towards the young version of Sora to see how he is holding up.

"Is there anything we can help you, Sora?"

"Who are you all? How do you know my name?"

"Ah. My name is Emilia, just Emilia."

"My name is Ram."

"I'm Rem."

"The Great Spirit Beatrice."

"Nice to meet you all."

Sora smiled at the group, happy to see friendly people around yet his mind was also on Riku and Kairi. He last recalls Kairi disappearing in his arms while Riku was consumed by darkness. As this was happening, Subaru looked at Sora and was unsure on how they should handle this situation. He turned towards Shaula to ask her once again,

"Do you know what could've caused this?"

"I do not know. This has never happened...then again master left me all alone."

"Hm. Well damn it. This is a problem."

Subaru looks at this young version of Sora that knows nothing other than his island having just been swallowed by darkness. He got up with Shaula still holding him tight, wanting to talk with the younger version of his Master.

"Master Sora, mind coming with us? We can explain what is going on along the way."

"Okay..."

Sora nodded at this and quickly followed the group down the stairs to catch up with the group, three organization members were watching from a distance. One took of his hood to reveal to be Replica Riku, interested by the events that had played right in front of them. As he took of his hood, so did the tall one of the group to reveal that it was Terra-Xehanort.

"Well, isn't that interesting. Sora is back to his weaker self. Back to a time when he hadn't met his two lackeys."

"This could prove in our favor. Without his memories, we could turn him to a puppet of darkness, similar to this puppet."

"True but that isn't our priority."

Terra-Xehanort looked at Replica Riku, surprised that he doesn't want to do something to Sora since he is back to zero experience. Replica Riku, Terra-Xehanort, and their other Organization XIII member continued to observe Sora and the others for a bit before heading into a corridor of darkness to report to Xehanort of what had happened. As they were about to leave, Replica Riku looked at the young version of Sora with some annoyance in his mind.

He disliked seeing this since it reminds him of the memories he has of their time together as children, despite these memories not being his real ones. He looks around the library and seeing that it contains lots of memories of the dead, it causes Replica Riku to think if there is a chance to become a real person, one that is his own person.

'Maybe...this'll be my chance to be real.'

Replica Riku takes this into mind since he is aware that he is just a replica. He turns around and along with Terra-Xehanort and the mysterious figure with them.

---

As Subaru and the group all went down to the lower floor where Julius and the others are located, they all notice that there are some nobodies surrounding the carriage. This caused Subaru and Elsa to take action first, Subaru being annoyed that the Organization is sending their minions to attack them. As the two charge at the nobodies, Shaula looks at the dusk creatures and easily takes them down by snipping them down, using the same energy of mana she used when attacking the group prior to them having gotten to the Pleiades watchtower. The nobody dusks noticed this and quickly spread around to avoid getting hit by Shaula's attacks. Subaru quickly casted Thundera to hit a couple of dusks before taking on a few nobodies nearby him.

'Damn these things! They are so annoying and persistent!'

Subaru swings his keyblade at one of the dusk nobodies charging at him, barely managing to land a strong hit to push the threat back. As he does this, Emilia takes this opportunity to fire a large amount of icicles directly at the nobody dusk, destroying it in the process. Subaru looked back and saw that Emilia gave him a smile, showing how she will be there for him when he needs help. Subaru smiled back and gave a thumbs up before the two returned focus on the fight ahead.

Elsa with her incredible speed managed to move quick enough to strike down a few dusk nobodies, showing off her skills. Beatrice, Rem, and Ram noticed this before quickly throwing their attacks towards the remaining dusk nobodies. Ram using El Fura, Beatrice using Minya, and Rem using her knives to attack the remaining nobodies, managing to finish off the last of them. As they succeed in this, the group go to the carriage to check on Patrasche, Frufoo, and the others.

As they were heading into the carriage, Subaru opens the door to see Julius and Kishida both having their weapons ready while protecting Meili, Naoko, a sleeping Kenichi, and Anastasia. Once the two knights noticed that it was Subaru, the two sigh with relief before putting their weapons away.

"Kishida, I thought you were still training with Reid?"

"I was but then I tired out, so I came back here to see that you and your master were gone. I told Emilia-sama to which she took the two maids and the great spirit with her."

"Ah. Makes sense."

"Subaru, where is Sora?"

Subaru turned towards Julius as he heard what the finest knight had to say to which caused young Sora to appear in front of the others. Kishida and Julius were both unsure on who the boy was until they made the comparisons with Sora's looks, making them realize that something went wrong.

"Sora, are you alright?"

"Y-Yes, who might you two be?"

"..."

"Their names are Julius and Kishida, the two knights of Lugnica."

"Lugnica...?"

Sora crossed his arms as he was thinking deeply into the words that are being said to him, making him question a lot. One thing he knows for sure is that people know him for some reason, meaning that he might have lost his memories of them. He stood silent for a moment before going off to shake hands with the two knights, happy to meet them.

"Well even though I don't remember anything, it is nice meeting you once again."

Kishida and Julius both looked at each other for a moment before nodding, accepting this and being kind to Sora. As Kishida and Julius speak with Sora for a bit, the other wake up to see a young version of Sora. Subaru quickly explained everything that happened which caused the group to think carefully on why this happened. As the group all think on this, Subaru decides to go on a walk to think for a moment on his own, not realizing that Sora went to follow him.

'Considering that Master Sora and I were reading some of the books from the library, could that have been the cause of this?'

Subaru continues to think on this, knowing that this is the only lead he has in solving the mystery. As he was thinking on this, his thoughts were interrupted when Subaru felt someone tapping his shoulder. He turned towards his back side before noticing that it was Sora.

"Oh, I didn't realize you followed me. What's up?"

"I just wanted to ask you a few questions, um...Subaru, right?"

"Yes."

"Alright, well the first is why do you call me Master? It feels...weird."

"Well you see, you were the one who trained me to use my keyblade and trained others. You are quite the skilled warrior."

"Really? I become a master?"

"Yes, one of the best. You even beat the strongest person in this world."

"This world...So there really are other worlds?!"

"Yes, you told me about them. You had visited a lot of worlds on your many journeys."

"Wow...so I really forgot a lot of things then..."

Sora crossed his arms and closed his eyes, feeling bad that somehow he had forgotten everything. This thought caused him to realize that he must have interacted with Riku and Kairi during his previous journeys. This caused him to worry whether or not he saved them or whatever happened to them. As Sora was looking very concern, Subaru patted his younger version of his master while saying in a confident tone of voice,

"Don't worry, your friends are safe. You told me that you managed to save everyone after having been in a keyblade war."

"Key…blade war?"

"Yeah, there is a lot to explain but I can reassure you that they are safe."

Sora looked at Subaru and can tell that the two are close friends by how he has been talking to him, confidently and friendly. Subaru smiled and gave a thumbs up which cheered Sora up, believing him that Riku and Kairi are safe and sound. As Sora nods at Subaru, the two are approached by Beatrice and Rem.

"Subaru, Emilia-sama would like to speak with you."

"Alright Rem. Could you take care of Mas-er...Sora?"

"Of course."

Subaru nodded and quickly went with Beatrice to go where Emilia is while thinking back on what he just said, knowing that for now he must address this younger version of his master by just his first name rather than how he usually addresses him. As Subaru and Beatrice leave, Rem turns towards Sora for a moment to inspect him. She does this for a moment before she speaks to the young boy.

"Sora, are you sure that you don't remember anything?"

"Y-Yeah...all I remember happening was fighting those dark creatures and then my island was being torn apart before I was dragged away..."

Rem observed the things that Sora said, seeing that these events take place at the beginning of Sora's first journey from what he told the group during their trip towards Priestella. This made her realize that this Sora is quite young and even more innocent than her Sora since she doesn't have any fighting experience.

'I have to protect him.'

Rem thought of this, feeling sad since Sora is the one person she wants to remember her previous and current self. She knows that Subaru knows who she was before Lye ate her memories yet she wishes that Sora didn't lost his memories. Despite this, she can see that even in his youth the boy who was chosen by the Keyblade hadn't change as much. He is still an innocent boy who wants to look out for his friends.

"Sora, shall we go for a walk? Maybe I can explain all that you've done in this world."

"Sure."

Sora nodded and started to walk with Rem, wanting to learn what he did in this world before having lost all of his memories. Rem had explained to the boy all that she knew about his journey in this world, explaining all the good deeds he had done which surprised Sora. He looked at his hand before suddenly Kingdom Key appeared.

'So with this Keyblade, I'm able to protect my friends...'

Sora was still shocked by the strength he had gained, allowing him to do the feats he did. As the keyblade disappeared, he continued to listen to Rem about all the things he had done in this world, surprised and sad when he heard of Rem's situation.

"There is no need to be sad, Sora."

"S-Sorry, it's just that you all remember me while I don't. In your case, nobody but Subaru and I remembered you, yet I lost my memories of the original you."

"It's okay, we will find out why you lost your memories and we will fix this."

Sora was uncertain at first but seeing the genuine smile of the blue haired girl gave the boy some confidence in himself that he will find his memories once again and regain the strength he had that helped protect his friends. Rem smiled as she sees that she helped the young version of the boy she loves regain his confidence. As she enjoyed the cute smile Sora had, she had a thought in mind.

"Sora...how exactly was your childhood?"

"Huh?"

Sora looked at Rem with a surprised look, having been caught off guard by the question he was asked. This did cause him to question the relationship he had between himself and the blue haired girl.

"How exactly were our interactions...?"

"Well you and I were romantically involved."

"I-Is that so..."

Sora's face turned completely red since he is unsure how to deal with the answer he got, not exactly hold enough for romance stuff. This caused Rem to smile since she can see that Sora acts the same way as his older version of himself regarding romance. As she smiled and continued her conversation with the boy, wanting to learn more of the boy's past. While this was going on, Subaru and Beatrice both approached Emilia. Once the two were close to Emilia, the conversation began with Subaru asking,

"How are you doing, Emilia-tan?"

"I'm good, I'm just worried about Sora...and about my boyfriend."

Subaru's face turned red for a moment since he was caught off guard yet he was curious to know why Emilia was worried for him.

"Mind if I ask my amazing girlfriend why are you worried about me?"

"Well, you have been acting different. So I'm worried for you."

"Yeah...you are right, I'm just concerned since I don't know what could've caused Master Sora to have lost his memory of everything."

"There is no need to worry, we will fix your master, I suppose."

Beatrice grabbed Subaru's hand in an attempt to comfort him, something he took notice of. Emilia also wanted to comfort him by giving him a hug, making him smile since he has people he can rely on. They stayed like that for a moment before Beatrice moved the subject to something both Emilia and herself were curious on.

"Now, why were you and Sora on the library on your own, in fact?"

"Yeah, why is that Subaru?"

"Well..."

Subaru stood silent for a moment, not expecting the conversation to turn towards him regarding the previous night when Sora and himself agreed on going to the library on their own. Subaru thought for a second before responding to the two girls' questions.

"You see, Master Sora and I wanted to find something to help us pass the trials yet we couldn't find anything so far."

(Yeah, since you are pathetic.)

"Huh?"

Subaru looked around, having heard an extra voice, one that he felt familiar to him, yet he was unsure of this. Emilia noticed the unsure look her boyfriend had, causing her to worry for him once again.

"Subaru, what's wrong?"

"Sorry, I thought I heard someone familiar, but I guess I'm just stressed out."

"Then you need to rest, in fact!"

"I agree, you should rest for a bit."

"No, I have to help Master Sora-"

Before Subaru could finish his sentence, he received a slap on the face from Beatrice, not having realized that the little loli girl had taken her shoe while he was speaking. He held the part of his cheek that was hurting badly before looking at Beatrice, completely stunned by what she had done.

"Why did you do that for, Beako?"

"Because my contractor needs to learn to rest, I suppose!"

"Okay Okay!"

Subaru says this since he doesn't want to anger Beatrice anymore than she already is. Beatrice was satisfied by this and quickly pulled her contractor towards the carriage to have him rest. Emilia watch this and just smiled, seeing Subaru and Beatrice cute together as contractor and spirit, reminding her of her time with Puck.

'…I miss you, Puck...'

Emilia looks sad for a moment yet she looks up and can see that Kenichi and Naoko were both talking with Beatrice and Subaru, making her smile once again since she knows that she isn't alone. She starts to think back when she met Subaru in their encounter in the hallway, how alone he was in this world that wasn't his own. Although she didn't know at the time, she could tell that he was alone.

Having learned of Subaru's past from Kenichi and Naoko, she was right to assume that but now seeing him be happier made her happy because not only is she seeing someone she can say she loves be happy but she is also happy. Subaru had been by her side since their encounter and as never given up on her, showing that there is someone out there that would care for her despite being a silver haired half-elf.

'I love you Subaru.'

Emilia smiled as she thought this and quickly went to join the others, wanting to talk to Kenichi and Naoko for a bit. As she was joining the group, Subaru could sense the something is wrong which caused him to look up.

"Subaru, what's wrong?" Kenichi asked, noticing that something is bothering his son. Subaru remained silent for a moment before speaking in a serious tone to Beatrice.

"Beako, EMM."

"Huh?"

Beatrice heard this and looked up to see that an attack is heading their way in rapid speed. This caused her to instinctively create a barrier around them to protect the five of them from the powerful dark attack. As the group was shielded, the attack hit the group which caused everyone around them to notice this and be worried for them.

"Subaru! Emilia-sama!"

Kishida cried out in fear that something bad happened to them and the others yet as the dust settled, they could all see that they are alright. The only thing is that Subaru has his keyblade ready to fight, Kenichi having his sword out, and both Beatrice and Emilia creating their respective icicle shape attacks, all of them prepared to fight off the threat that is heading their way.

Julius, Kishida, Ram, and Elsa got their weapons out and ready, seeing that a new threat is around. Subaru's group quickly split up with Kenichi keeping Naoko safe while Subaru makes sure that Emilia and Beatrice are safe. As the group splits up, someone with an organization coat lands at the same spot the attack was sent.

As the organization member lands, the group looks at the threat and can see that it was a large man with long white hair. The organization member looked at everyone for a moment before summoning his keyblade, pulling out No Name keyblade which catches Subaru's attention.

"Great, who are you supposed to be? And why do you have a keyblade as well?"

"Hmph."

The man that is Terra-Xehanort smiled at Subaru before he suddenly teleported in front of the boy with his motions being that of an attack. Before anybody could react, the fight started with Subaru being the one to be attacked first by Terra-Xehanort's attack. The boy was sent flying with his chest area hurting badly due to the hit he received by Terra-Xehanort's keyblade.

Subaru was about to crash into the wall until Shaula jumped up to catch her master. As Shaula saved Subaru, Emilia and Beatrice both looked at Terra-Xehanort and start to attack the Organization member. Terra-Xehanort noticed this and quickly allowed the two to attack him until Replica Riku and the other organization member jumped in and blocked off the attacks.

"What?!"

"Did you really think that it was going to be that easy?"

Beatrice and Emilia both gain some distance from the three organization members while Kenichi, Julius, Elsa, and Kishida charge towards the Organization XIII members while Ram provided cover. Replica Riku and his two allies noticed this and got themselves ready for a fight, wanting to see how skilled the four fighters are. Elsa being the strongest out of the four charges directly at Terra-Xehanort, seeing him as the bigger threat. Just as she was closing in on Terra-Xehanort, the unknown Organization member stepped in between the two to block off Elsa's attack.

"My My, I suppose I can fight you instead."

"..."

Elsa looked at the glowing weapon that her new opponent was using and was curious at first before realizing that it is Kingdom Key, causing everyone to be surprised by this since they didn't expect an Organization member to wield Sora's keyblade. This caused the bowel hunter to lose her nerve for a moment as she says,

"Were you the one to take Sora's memories?!"

"..."

The Organization member stood silent as it started to go on the offensive against Elsa, pushing the bowel hunter back. Elsa realized how much of a threat her opponent is, quickly using all of her skills to the test. As Elsa and the Organization member were on equal terms, Kenichi and Replica Riku both continued their fight that they left off back in the mansion over a year ago. Kenichi was the one to start the fight by going on the offensive, taking the fight serious since he is aware how strong Replica Riku is. As the two clash swords, Replica Riku looks at Kenichi with an annoyed facial expression before saying,

"You again?"

"Let us finish what we started back in the burned down mansion."

Replica Riku looked annoyed at this and started to easily deflect off the attacks while Julius and Kishida take on Terra-Xehanort, knowing that he is the strongest of the three Organization members. As the two go on the offensive at the same time, Terra-Xehanort looks at the two with a blank facial expression since he doesn't see the two as a threat. As he was about to take down the two knights with ease after deflecting their attacks easily, Ram quickly send in a powerful El Fura. Terra-Xehanort noticed this and managed to dodge the attack only to notice that Emilia and Beatrice continue their attack on him.

'Hmm. How annoying.'

Terra-Xehanort took the attacks, not being fazed by them since he knew that they weren't strong enough to do real damage to him. As this happened, Julius and Kishida tried again to attack the Organization member only for Terra-Xehanort to knock the pair out.

"Pathetic."

"D-Damn you...!"

Kishida looked angrily at Terra-Xehanort, seeing just how far their strengths are yet he was determined to continue fighting. Julius also got up alongside Kishida, also determined to continue fighting against the threat. Terra-Xehanort was annoyed by this yet he was intrigued by the two knights' determination. He looked at them and smiled as he prepared to charge at the two, ready to end them. Just as he was going to kill Julius, someone jumped in between the two and managed to barely push back Terra-Xehanort's attack.

"Hm."

"You are not going to win!"

Terra-Xehanort looked at this person and was surprise to see Subaru there, still standing in his second form. Terra-Xehanort jumped back and looked at the boy with some interest, seeing a possibility to take out someone who can pose a threat to them. He pointed No Name keyblade at Subaru and stated to him,

"You should learn to give up, boy. You stand no chance."

"I know that but even so, I won't back down from a fight! Especially to protect my friends!"

Subaru with Beatrice by his side charge at Terra-Xehanort, beginning their fight by going on the offensive. Both contractor and spirit point their hands towards the threat and shout out El Minya, casting a large amount of purple icicles all around the Organization member. Terra-Xehanort looked at this and quickly started to deflect every single attack, showing how strong he is.

Subaru knew this would happen and quickly alerted Beatrice to use her trump spell, causing the little girl to cast Al Shamak. As she does this, Terra-Xehanort's senses are distorted for a moment, allowing Subaru the opening he needed to land a hit. Subaru jumped up and swung his keyblade at Terra-Xehanort's direction only for his opponent to all of a sudden block the attack.

"Wha-?"

"Did you really think that trick would have worked?"

"Shit!"

With ease Terra-Xehanort shoved Subaru away, sending the boy flying for a moment before Shaula once again caught him. As she does this, Subaru looks at her and says,

"Thanks...think you can give us a bit of a hand?"

"Anything to ple~ease Master."

Shaula set Subaru down and quickly with her snip abilities started to fire powerful mana towards Terra-Xehanort. The organization noticed this attack and quickly tried to block the attack only to instantly realize that these attacks were a bit more than he can handle, causing him to quickly dodge the attack thrown towards him.

As he dodges the attack, Kishida and Julius went for another attack, the two still having some energy left in them only for the attack to fail once Terra-Xehanort managed to quickly recover his defense. He quickly sent the two knights flying into walls while turning his gaze towards Shaula.

"Away with you!"

Terra-Xehanort turned towards Shaula and pointed his keyblade at her before firing small shadow balls towards her. The guardian of the tower looked at her opponent with a serious facial expression, not afraid of her opponent yet recognizing that he is a threat. She continued to fire her Hell's snipe ability, doing her best to push back the Organization member.

As she was attacking, Subaru looked up and with sheer determination he stood beside Shaula and started to cast Minya. As he did this, Shaula noticed her master standing next to her, fighting by her side which made her slightly embarrassed and a bit heated, yet she was happy overall. For her, it was rare for her master and her to fight side by side, making this a special moment for her.

She looked with more confidence and happiness towards Terra-Xehanort before the two gave it their all against the Organization member. While Subaru and Shaula together were holding Terra-Xehanort back, Elsa and the Organization member continued their fight with the bowel hunter growing more and more impatient, not liking Sora's enemies using his own weapon against her. She continued to go on an aggressive offense while shouting,

"Who are you?!"

As she continued to ask the question, she continued to receive nothing but silence which made her unhappy each time. As Elsa was about to land a deadly blow, the Organization member managed to find an opening and quickly landed a kick on her stomach area. This sent Elsa back a few feet yet she was able to recover fast enough for her body to instantly react to her opponent's attack, seeing the keyblade being thrown towards her at rapid speed.

She was able to dodge the attack and was also barely quick enough to grab the weapon, wanting to use it against her opponent for even having such a thing. As with her incredible super human feats allowed her to approach the Organization member in a few seconds, she started to go on the offensive with Kingdom Key only for each attack to be easily dodged.

'Whoever this is, they are a big threat...could they have done something to my Sora dear?'

Elsa continued on her offensive attacks until the Kingdom Key disappeared from her hand and returned back to the Organization member's hand. As this happened, the Organization member hit away Elsa once again. The Bowel hunter once again managed to get back on her feet, preparing herself for whatever else her opponent will do only to see the Organization member teleport in front of her.

This surprise her and she quickly jumped back to avoid getting hit, just barely avoiding the lethal attack. She looked at her opponent and quickly got both her most deadliest knives out before charging into battle, knowing that she needs to be careful in this fight since she doesn't have her immortality. Just as she started to go all out, two dream eaters joined her in the fight and managed to land a surprise attack on the Organization member.

Elsa looked and was confused seeing the dream eaters before noticing Ram, seeing that she is the one commanding the dream eaters. Ram and Elsa both looked at each other for a moment before the two look at the Organization member with the two dream eaters standing by their side.

"Shall we?"

"Let's."

Elsa and Ram both went on the offensive with Elsa charging towards the Organization member alongside the two dream eaters while Ram prepared her most powerful wind attack. Elsa smiled as she started to go on the offensive once again, having Sora be her motivation to go beyond her limits. The dream eaters also joined in on the attacks, all three having enough strength to start pushing the Organization member back.

While Elsa, Ram, and the two dream eaters were proving to be strong together, Replica Riku and Kenichi continued their long awaited rematch with Kenichi doing his best on the offensive side. As Kenichi was showing some pretty impressive skills, their strengths were still far apart with Replica Riku easily being able to push his opponent back with one kick. Kenichi was caught off guard by this yet he was still able to keep going, charging at the boy with everything he had.

"I won't be going down that easily."

"Is that so?"

Replica Riku quickly with his left hand created a dark fireball to take down his annoying opponent. Kenichi noticed this yet he continued to charge towards the boy, confident in his plan. Replica Riku looked confident at his attack until he noticed Kenichi managing to block off the attack.

"What?"

"Don't think that just because I'm an older simple human, that I won't be able to deflect off such an attack."

Kenichi smiled as he didn't think that he was actually strong enough to push off the attack due to how old he is. As he did that, he went on an offensive against Replica Riku to start pushing the boy back. Replica Riku was completely thrown off by this, not expecting Kenichi to be as strong as he is. This made him understand that underestimating his opponent will lead him nowhere but defeat.

This caused the Organization member to take the fight seriously, starting his pressure Kenichi back with just a few high-level attacks. Just when it seems that Kenichi is done for, two people jump in between the two fighters. Subaru's dad looked up and saw Rem and Sora standing side by side. Rem holding a knife in her right hand while Sora was holding his Kingdom Key in his usual fighting stance. Kenichi smiled as he got up to join the two, ready to give it his very all. As he gets himself ready, Rem looks serious at Replica Riku while Sora looks with a shocked expression.

"Riku!"

"Sora, I see that you are choosing others over your friends."

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing important to you."

"Riku..."

Sora wasn't aware that this was not the real Riku, making him feel down yet the second he let his guard down, Replica Riku had charged directly at him. Rem was quick enough to notice this and quickly reacted by getting in between the two before with her immense strength blocked off the attack. Sora looked with surprise as he saw Rem and Replica Riku fighting with everything they got, Rem being able to hold her own while Replica Riku was using all sorts of attacks to catch the blue haired oni off guard.

Seeing that there is no other choice, Sora tightens his grip on Kingdom Key and quickly jumps into the fight, managing to barely block off one of Replica Riku's attacks. As he does this, Replica Riku and Sora look at each other for a moment before replicating a fight they had when Sora and the original Riku were kids, both looking to be on equal terms for a moment before Riku started to get the upper hand. This caused Rem to join the fight, allowing Sora to keep up against a much tougher Replica Riku.

Kenichi also jumped in and allowed both Sora and Rem to start pushing back Replica Riku. As the three organization members were each being pushed back, they eventually jumped away from their groups. As the three Organization members were together, a corridor of darkness appears behind the three, alerting them to start wrapping up the fight. Shaula noticed the three threats all together, causing her to prepare the strongest Hell's Snipe she has ever done in such a long time. As she prepared this, Replica Riku was the one to speak before his group left,

"This has been fun, but it isn't over. Watch your backs."

As Replica Riku said this, Shaula fired her most powerful attack only for the combined forces of Replica Riku, Terra-Xehanort, and the Organization member, all three pushing the attack back to Shaula. The guardian of the tower was shocked by this but was saved when Subaru managed to get her out of the way by tackling her to the ground. As this happened, the three organization members left with Replica Riku and Sora both looking at each other for a moment before Replica Riku left the area.

All Sora felt was saddened since he had thought that Riku was with Kairi back in the island from what Rem said yet seeing him be a part of the bad guys group, he felt hurt. Once the Organization members left, Sora put away his keyblade and left on his own to think on what just happened. As Sora left, Rem wanted to go and talk to him since she noticed how heartbroken he was, yet Elsa insisted on going.

"Allow me to talk to him."

"I'm his lover, I should talk to him."

"Regardless, I want to be the one to help him."

"Let her, Rem."

Rem and Elsa both noticed Ram speak, both girls surprised by what the red haired oni had said especially Rem.

"Why Ram-sama?"

"He is still overwhelmed by everything. Besides, I need you by my side to take care of the others."

"I-I understand, Ram-sama."

Rem nodded at Ram before looking at Elsa for a brief moment, jealous and annoyed at this yet she is aware that the bowel hunter won't do anything bad to her Sora. As she turned to approach her sister, Elsa put away her knives as she went off to talk with Sora, having felt that he was sad. As she left, everyone turned towards Subaru with Ram being the one to speak on behalf of the group,

"Seeing that Sora-sama taught you, I hope that you have some kind of plan, Barusu."

"Hmm. Well the first thing is that we all need to pass the second trial. Since it is only passed per person, we will need to see how each one of you can beat Reid."

"Very well."

Ram nodded at this first before everyone else, seeing that this is the best course of action they can take. As the group moves around towards the carriage to check on Naoko, Anastasia, and Meili, Shaula hugged Subaru since she loved how aggressive he was in his tackle to save her from her own attack. Subaru was uncomfortable by this, especially with how tight she was holding him.

"Sh-Shaula! You're squishing me!"

"So~orry! I just love you so much Master!"

"Hck!"

Subaru managed to break free from this and quickly started to run up the stairs with Shaula chasing after him. The group noticed this and started laughing a bit with Emilia slightly getting more jealous. While everyone was enjoying this, Rem turned towards Ram after having a little chuckle and in a serious tone of voice she asked,

"You wanted me by your side, may I ask why? You are much stronger than me."

"That may be so but there is a reason for this. I want to see if we can find your memories here."

"Huh?"

Rem was at a pause when she heard this, not having prioritized her lost memories for a while now which is something Ram noticed. There was a moment of silence before Ram continued her explanation.

"You have been in this amnesia condition for far too long. That's why I need you with me so we can restore your memories. Even if I can't remember you, I want you to remember yourself at the very least."

Rem was stunned by this, yet she smiled had how her sister cared for her and her well-being. She nodded at her before the two went towards the library, both thinking that if her memories could be anywhere, it could be there.

---

While everyone all trying to come up with a plan while Rem and Ram go to the library in search of a way to get Rem back her memories, Sora walked alone for a bit to think deeply in what had transpired. He is still shaken that Riku was there, fighting on the wrong side. This made him worried over Kairi, not knowing what happened to her or if she even is alright at this point.

'Riku...Why...?'

As Sora was sadden to think of this and worried for Kairi's sake, he could sense that someone is behind him. He turns only to see Elsa standing there, approaching him. This caused him to shift emotions for a moment, not wanting to worry an ally of his.

"Hello...what brings you here?"

"I came to check on you, Sora Dear."

"Ah. I'm alright."

Elsa looked at Sora's eyes to verify this and could easily tell that the boy was worried for his friends, having been reverted to his fourteen-year-old body and memories prior to his first adventure with Donald and Goofy. This made her cross her arms and in a calm voice she said,

"There is no need to worry about your friends. They are safe in the outside world. What you dealt with right now was someone else, a replica of the original."

"Replica? Are you talking about Riku?"

"Yes...It's a bit hard to explain but prior to you losing to your memories, you told us the journeys you had undergone before arriving here."

"I did hear some of the journey I have gone through here by Rem...but I don't think we covered what I had done before leaving the Island."

"Ah well I can tell you about it. You had told us prior to arriving the city of Priestella."

Sora and Elsa sat down for a moment with Elsa telling everything Sora had gone through in his first journey, allowing the boy to learn the history he had lost. He stood silent after hearing his first journey, seeing that Kairi had indeed returned to Destiny Island safely. This gave a small smile to Sora before he started to wonder what happened to Riku.

As he looks at Elsa, he was completely surprised when she suddenly hugged him, leaving Sora uncertain on what he should do. The two stay hugging for a moment before Elsa moved away while apologizing, seeing that she did this without warning.

"S-Sorry, I just needed to do that."

"...o-okay."

Sora and Elsa had stayed silent with Sora unsure on how to respond to this while Elsa feels slightly embarrassed. Although it makes her happy to hug Sora, she feels weird hugging a young version of the boy, yet she still cares for him.

'I will get you back the way you were...Sora dear...though I will say, you were really cute as a kid.'

Elsa smiled as she thought this, starting to understand that she cares deeply for the boy but unlike how she loves seeing bowels or how she cares for Meili in a sisterly love, this caring feeling felt genuine and much different than anything she had ever felt. As she tried to figure this out, she looked at Sora and started to say,

"I get that things must be very difficult for you, Sora Dear. You are in an unknown place and don't know what had happened, but I can assure you that you will get through this with all of us helping you."

Sora looked at Elsa and although he can sense that she has some darkness in her, he can see the light in her eyes and the kind nature she is giving him. He smiled and nodded at the bowel hunter, believing in what she said. As the two get up, they look at the stairs and could see that everyone is making their way up.

"Seems like they started without us."

"Started what?"

"Figuring out what to do for the trials."

"Trails?"

Elsa looked at Sora again and somehow she found a young looking Sora having a confused facial expression even more adorable. She patted the boy before alerting him of the situation they are in, letting him know that they have to beat the trials to possibly find someway to restore the people who lost their names or memories or both from Gluttony. This made Sora curious on whether he can regain his memories again as well.

"Don't you worry Sora Dear, we will find your memories, I promise."

"Okay. I trust you Elsa."

Elsa smiled as she hears this, making her heart warm up a bit before she went alongside Sora towards the stairs in order to catch up with the others. As the two walk up the stairs, they encounter Meili who was behind the group alongside Kishida, Anastasia, and Julius. Meili looked at Sora and started to talk to the boy.

"How are you holding up, Sora-chan?"

"I-I'm okay, just thinking about home."

"Oh, do you have a mom? A dad?"

"Yes, my mom is probably worried out of her mind since I didn't go to dinner...then again how long was I away from home...?"

Sora started to ponder on his time away from his family, wondering how they have been handling things since he had been gone for who knows how long. As this came to mind, Meili quickly started to pick on Sora's arm to snap him out of his thoughts. It took a few pokes before Sora returned focus to the conversation.

"Sora-chan! Are you still here?"

"Y-Yes, sorry about that."

"What were you thinking about?"

"Just about my parents...I wonder how they are doing..."

"No need to worry Sora-chan! I'm sure that they are fine!"

Meili patted Sora in the back while speaking in a cheerful tone, hoping that this would cheer the young Keyblade wielder. As she does this, they all managed to reach the second floor where Reid was waiting.

"Take ya long enough! I was gettin' bored!"

"Sorry about that, we just ran into a couple of situations."

Kishida spoke to his master while Reid inspected the room for a moment. He was interested since he saw some new faces yet he noticed Shaula shaking in fear. Just as she was going to run away, Subaru grabbed her arm and with the strength he could muster, he kept her in place while she was shouting,

"Let me go! I don't wanna be here! Master!"

"I know you are scared but I want you here."

"NOOO!"

Shaula continued to fight Subaru in being there, not wishing to be near Reid. As this happened, Reid noticed Sora and could tell that something was off about him aside from having looked a few years younger.

"Yo, Keyblade user, can ya come here fer a moment?"

"S-Sure."

Sora approached Reid with Subaru having his free hand ready in the case he needs to jump in and save his young version of his master. As Sora approached Reid, the first Sword Saint observed and could tell that something is odd. He can feel two different auras, one that is the pure hearted Sora and the other is something else, something he doesn't like. He points one of his chopsticks towards the boy and begins to say,

"Shall we have a fight?"

"What? Why?"

"Cause I'm bored. Now hurry up!"

Reid says this and waits for a moment before charging towards Sora, hoping that this will prompt the boy to fight. Before Sora could react, Subaru jumped in the middle of this and barely managed to block off the attack. This surprised the entire group with Shaula completely worried about her master. Reid was at first annoyed at this, yet he was curious to see how strong Subaru was, prompting him to jump back for a moment before charging at the boy.

"Aight, yer trail as started now kid!"

"Wait what?!"

Subaru noticed that he was put into taking the trials now, the objective having been to defeat him which forced Subaru to quickly go into his second form in order to keep up with Reid Astrea. Elsa instinctively grabbed Sora by the shoulder and moved him out of the way to get him away from the fight. As Sora was pulled away, Subaru deflected each attack the best of his ability, seeing that he really is out of his lead yet seeing Emilia, Beatrice, a young version of his master, his parents, and the others all watching him fight gave him enough motivation to not give up.

As this motivation was burning in his heart, he continued to block off many attacks until finally he got a chance to go on the offensive when Reid was curious to see the offensive side of Natsuki Subaru. The boy started to swing his keyblade with everything he got, slightly annoying the stick swinger since he thought Subaru would provide some challenge.

"This is lame. Pathetic. Weak. I expected more from ya but yer a disappointment."

Reid waited for a second before landing a barrage of attacks on Subaru's chest side, leaving the boy in pain before sending him flying towards the group. As Subaru was in the air, he started to think about his entire journey through Lugnica. During this thinking, he recalled his worst moments.

("Because I...I refuse to stay weak!")

("...I just hate how weak I am. How dying is the only thing I can offer.")

'Ever since I have arrived to Lugnica, I was always saved by someone. Emilia saved me from those three morons...Master Sora saved me when I was going to die by Elsa in the loot house...Rem and Ram were there to save me from the Mabeast attack...Master Sora and Emilia came to save all of us during the fight against the White Whale...even Master Sora saved me from being possessed from Petelguese. We also have the events of the Sanctuary where Otto had to knock some sense into me to be able to handle whatever that prick Roswaal had in stored. I just want to save them all...I don't want to be weak anymore!'

Subaru thought back through every moment he had struggled, with the big ones being the failed loops he had witnessed over a year ago in the second trial. This was enough for him to land on his feet with an odd aura glowing around him. The group all noticed this and were unsure of what was going on yet only Reid was interested in this.

"C'mon! Show me what ye got!"

Subaru hadn't noticed the glowing aura, the only thing he noticed was that he felt a strong anger inside him as if his soul was burning with hatred. This hatred somehow manifested into the glowing aura around his body, allowing Subaru to gain some extensive strength all of a sudden.

'This strength...it isn't normal...is this the wrath witch factor?'

Subaru had recalled that he had gained something in him when both Regulus and Sirius were killed, making him think that he gained the witch factor of the two sin archbishops similar to how he gained invincible providence from Petelguese after he was defeated by Sora. He looked at Reid and charged at the Sword Saint with everything he got, hopeful that he can land a powerful hit.

As he closes in, Reid uses his left stick to hit Subaru in the face, yet it did not faze the boy, causing him to be surprised for a second before receiving a powerful punch to the face from Subaru's free hand. Reid was taken aback from this and before he could react to this attack, Subaru managed to land another hit on Reid's chest area. This caused Reid to be sent flying into a wall, completely caught off guard by this. He got up and started to look at Subaru with a bit of an annoyed facial expression.

"Th'fuck was that!"

Before Subaru could say anything, the aura all over his body suddenly disappeared with the boy falling to the ground while coughing up some blood.

"Subaru!"

"Son!"

"Master!"

Shaula, Kenichi, Naoko, Emilia, and Beatrice all shouted at the same time before the five of them approached the boy. As they checked up on him, Reid approached the boy as well to make sure he isn't dying. Although Reid was close to Shaula, she didn't care about him at the moment since her attention was more focused on her master. As Emilia and Beatrice were using their mana to help heal Subaru while the boy thinks on what had happened.

'That ability was nothing like the keyblade formchange...it was the wrath witch factor for sure. The ability I got was a much stronger body that was able to tank that hit yet the cost is damaging my own body. Talk about a shit start of a new ability.'

Subaru was thinking on what he should call this ability yet his thoughts broke when he coughed out more blood. Reid noticed this and quickly told the group that he needs to rest to which the group agreed. Kenichi and Naoko both took their son to the library, having sense that it is a better place to rest than heading to the lower levels of the tower. As the two parents left with their injured son, Reid crossed his arms and quickly said to Subaru,

"You fought well boy. You may not be strong but yer a fighter aight. Ya passed the trial."

Subaru was able to hear this and quickly looked at Reid before giving a thumbs up, also giving some respect to Reid despite the sword saint being a womanizer. As Subaru was taken to the library by his parents, Julius and Kishida both stepped up with Julius being the one to say,

"Will you allow Kishida and I do the trial together? Or does it need to be specifically a one on one trial?"

Reid turned towards the knight he had defeated the day before, having taken note on what he said to him. He crossed his arms for a moment before looking at the knight and responding with,

"If ya two can make it fun, then it's fine."

"Very well."

Julius and Kishida both nod at this and get themselves ready for a fight, with Reid reminding them that their condition is to land an actual hit on him. Kishida was curious on why to which Reid responded that he wishes to have a fun challenge against weak warriors. The two knights noticed this and were more motivated to beat the Sword Saint. The three got into their fighting stance for a moment before the two knights charge towards the stick swinger.

Reid looked at Kishida and Julius both swinging their swords directly at him, causing him to quickly deflect the attack without any problem until Kishida used his hook hand to try to stab his arm. Reid smirked by this before moving his arm away, being able to avoid being hit before quickly attacking the duo. Kishida and Julius both managed to slightly hold their own yet within a few seconds, Reid managed to land a couple of hits on the two knights.

Julius and Kishida were both stunned by these hits, barely able to hold their swords yet Kishida was the stronger of the two. With sheer will, he was able to push his body beyond his limit. As Kishida on his own went to attack Reid, Julius struggled for a bit, his body feeling overwhelmed with pain.

'D-Darn...this is bad...I'm the...finest knight! I can't give up...here...I also can't give up...I'm also...I'm also...Anastasia's knight!'

Julius with sheer will power was able to regain his strength and quickly with the sword that was a part of the trial, he charged towards Reid and started to give it his all. Reid was surprised by this, seeing Julius managing to gain back his fighting strength. Julius and Kishida both gave it their all which impressed Reid since he was trying a bit yet nothing to bad. He easily knocked the two to the ground, easily finishing the fight yet he was looking at the two knights proudly.

"Ya two'r good. Not's good's Keyblade user but good."

Julius and Kishida both looked at Reid for a moment before passing out, causing Anastasia and the others to all check up on the two knights. As they do this, Sora looked at Reid and was shocked to see just how skilled this guy is. He did hear from Rem that he was able to beat him, making him question his own strength a bit.

'Am I really that strong?'

Sora looked at his hand for a moment before Kingdom Key appeared, allowing him to see that the weapon he is wielding could be the reason he is strong. This made him want to confirm something, causing him to go towards Reid which does catch the stick swinger's attention.

"Ya here ta test yer skills?"

"I don't remember a lot but I want to know how strong I am right now."

"Aight, then show me what yer capable of right now."

Sora nodded and quickly got into his usual fighting stance, gaining the attention of the others with Elsa being the one most concerned for Sora's sake. As they watched, Sora charged towards Reid's position to attack him. As he swung his keyblade, Reid dodged the attack with a disappointed facial expression.

He could tell that somehow Sora got weakened somehow, making him realize that the other thing that is not Sora is the cause of this. With only a simple kick, he was able to send the Keyblade Wielder flying to the ground while he looked at Sora in disgust, not so towards the boy but towards the other thing that isn't his aura.

"Disgusting."

Emilia and Beatrice were the first two to check up on Sora to see if he is alright while Elsa was stunned by this. Something inside her heart made her feel extreme concern for Sora while also in rage by what happened. She is unsure what is going on with her since she has been having trouble understanding these new emotions.

One thing was for sure, she wanted to get back at Reid for having easily kicked Sora. She approached Reid with her knives in both her hands, ready for a fight. Reid turned towards Elsa and was distracted by her chest, seeing that she has the biggest compared to Emilia and Shaula.

"Yer a damn hottie!"

"And you are a dead man, disgusting pig!"

"Now Now, no need ta be hostile, hottie."

"Despicable men."

Elsa without hesitation started her trial by using her inhuman speed to attack Reid, catching him off guard yet he was still able to keep up with her. He dodged and deflected every attack but as he was doing this, he was left impressed at how a hot woman like Elsa can move quickly and her strikes being extraordinarily strong for a normal human. This made Reid excited for another challenge, causing him to quickly take the fight a bit serious.

Reid managed to start overwhelming Elsa with his incredible speed, matching her attacks and even surpassing her speed within a few seconds. The Bowel Hunter was completely caught off guard by this, causing her to be stunned for a moment before realizing that she is outmatched now. Reid hit Elsa a couple of times before managing to knock her out of the fight. As she was sent flying towards the group, everyone noticed this and was stunned for a brief moment to see how easily the Bowel Hunter was knocked down.

Sora looked at this and felt a surge of energy as he saw someone that cared for him getting easily defeated. This prompted him to charge directly towards Reid only to also get sent flying with one kick to the gut. With both Sora and Elsa knocked to the ground, everyone started to retreat with Reid looking disappointed and disgusted at the group.

"Y'all better work harder or y'all will never beat me!"

Emilia picked up the young Sora while Kishida and Julius were both able to be strong enough to get back on their feet and carry Elsa out of the second floor. As they were leaving, Replica Riku and his group were watching from the shadows with Master Xehanort alongside the three Organization members. As the group left, Terra-Xehanort looks at the old Keyblade Master to ask him,

"What do you think? Shall we convert this warrior as a part of our group?"

"Hmm. Let us keep watching. I want to see the full potential of this Sword Saint before doing anything. Besides, the group is about to get a rude awakening."

"Will you want us to do anything?" Replica Riku asked.

"Just watch. If you see that they need a little "motivation", then act on it."

"Understood."

The three organization members nodded at this before watching Xehanort leave the place in a corridor of darkness. As Xehanort left, the three organization members looked at Reid for a moment before Replica Riku decided to go and challenge the stick swinger. Reid was about to leave and take a nap until he sensed Replica Riku's presence. He turned around and could feel a bad vibe, causing him to have his guard up. As he had his two chopsticks ready for battle, he noticed the boy with grey hair and a dark robe pull out a sword out of thin air, getting himself into his fighting stance.

"Hm. Do ya think ya got a chance against me?"

Replica Riku just looked at Reid for a moment with a blank expression before starting the fight, having Reid declare that the trial as started for his opponent. Replica Riku's speed was as fast as Sora prior to losing his memories, forcing Reid to go all out since his opponent is going aggressive. Reid deflected many of Replica Riku's attacks for a moment before seeing that his opponent is becoming stronger than him. This slightly excites him since he as been waiting for a challenge since his fight against Sora.

This made him quickly pay attention to the way Replica Riku was fighting, waiting for the right moment to exploit an opening. As he was on the defensive, Replica Riku's aura shifted to one of a powerful dark aura, showing that he is starting to go all out with his many techniques, some involving the boy teleporting rapidly around the area.

Reid was able to barely keep up until finally Replica Riku ended the fight by teleporting up in the air and slamming his sword on the ground which caused a bunch of explosions to happen all around the area. Reid was caught by this and sent flying into the same wall Sora had sent him back when the Keyblade Master took the trial. As Replica Riku saw Reid in the ground, he approached the stick swinger before pointing his sword at the man's head.

"Is this the best you got? I expected more."

"Hm. Ya got som' nerve, boy. Lookin' down on me."

Reid looked up with anger in his eyes, not enjoying the opponent he is facing since Replica Riku is much of a darker version of Sora. Sora was fighting for others while Replica Riku is fighting for himself. This caused him to see that he needs to not let his opponent win, causing him to quickly hit the sword away before going on the offensive, showing that he was not giving up.

Replica Riku was caught off guard by this, causing Reid to get a few good hits on the organization member. Replica Riku looked annoyed at Reid and waited until the stick swinger had a second opening to allow the Organization member to stick out his free hand to land the finishing blow towards Reid, sending him flying across the room after having taken a dark fire ball to the chest. As the stick swinger was in the ground once again, Replica Riku once again pointed his sword directly at the man's head while saying,

"I have already one this fight. No point in fighting a losing battle."

"Grrr...fuckin' prick."

Reid got up and just looked at Replica Riku with disgust before turning around and beginning to leave in order to rest. As he was leaving, he said to Replica Riku,

"Yer disgustin', but seein' as ya beat me, ya past the trial...ya prick."

"Hmph."

Replica Riku just watched Reid leave before returning to Terra-Xehanort and their other Organization member so the three can continue to watch over Sora and the others.

---

As the group all re-united in the library green room, Rem and Ram had been looking around to find something to retrieve Rem's memories yet they were forced to stop when they noticed an injured Subaru being carried by Naoko and Kenichi. This caused the sisters to both check on Subaru, worried for him despite Ram having a cold attitude.

"Hmph. What stupidity did Barusu did this time?"

"My son managed to hold his own against the stick swinger but whatever ability he did caused him this."

"My baby boy..."

Naoko was extremely worried for her son, seeing that he is still in pain. A few minutes after arriving to the library, the rest of the group arrived with Sora and Elsa being set next to Subaru, all three of them out of the count for now. Emilia approached Subaru and with Beatrice assisting, the two were healing him while Rem took care of Sora and Meili took care of Elsa. Kishida and Julius both looked at Subaru, Sora, and Elsa before thinking on how dangerous the situation as gotten for them.

"Do you think that we can pass the trials?"

"I do not know Kishida-san. Even if we do succeed, all of us, we still have to worry about the Organization."

"Yeah, they seem to be persistent."

"Will you be returning back to the first sword saint for more training?"

"After we make sure Subaru, Sora-sama, and the Bowel Hunter are alright."

Julius nodded at this, respecting Kishida's response before the two waited for a moment to make sure their three allies recover. The group waited for a moment before Elsa and Sora both managed to wake up while Subaru continued to recover. As Sora and Elsa were getting up, Sora was having a dream of having met two familiar people, one was known as Donald Duck and the other was called Goofy.

The Keyblade wielder was unsure of this yet his thoughts would diverge from his odd dream to his friend, having noticed Subaru injured. His instincts took over and caused him to summon his keyblade and yell out "Cure", causing a green circle with some bells to appear on top of Subaru, healing him in the process. Subaru coughed a bit before seeing that his body was slightly healed, causing him to look at his master and thanked him.

"Seems like you saved me once again, Master Sora."

"Y-Yeah...no problem."

Sora still felt off being called a Master since he hasn't done anything according to him yet he is aware of the things he had done in this world at the very least. As the two keyblade wielders smiled, Emilia and Beatrice hugged Subaru first before Naoko and Kenichi joined in. All four of them having been worried for Subaru's sake while Rem went and hugged Sora, having been worried for him. Both Sora and Subaru were unsure on how to respond to this yet all they did was smile at the people that care for them. The group checked up on Elsa last, seeing that she was being taken care of by Meili.

"How are you holding up?"

"I'm alright. He was a lot tougher than I expected."

"Yeah, it is to be expected though at least you are alive."

"Yes, you are right about that Subaru."

Subaru was unsure on how to continue but somehow felt relief that she was alright, having gotten use to having Elsa around in their group. The rest all continued on the plan in looking around the library to see if there's something they can find that could help them out while Kishida returned back to the second floor to be trained by Reid once again with this time Kenichi joining him. As everyone was looking around, Subaru and Sora managed to get a chat away from everyone.

"How are you feeling Ma-er I mean Sora."

"I'm okay, just wishing that I had all my memories to understand what is going on. I feel bad because you all know so much of my journeys, yet I don't know anything. It just feels like a piece of me is missing."

Subaru stayed silent for a moment, trying to find the right words to motivate Sora and to give him hope. As he thought of this, he recalled something that he learned on his journey in Lugnica with the Emilia camp.

"I know it seems hopeless, but we will get your memories back, after all there is still a promise you need to complete."

"What promise?"

"To help me get Rem's memories back. We were able to wake her up but she still needs to regain her original memories just like you. If anybody can help find her memories, it will be you. You are pretty amazing after all, being the Keyblade Master that defeated the legendary Sword Saint Reinhard Van Astrea."

"Hehehe."

Sora laughed it off a little, liking how enthusiastic and energetic Subaru can be. Before anything can be said, the two looked up at the top of the library, both keyblade wielders uncertain of what will happen next. Subaru is still having some self-doubt while Sora is unsure on how he should react. The silence eventually died when Sora asked a question to Subaru,

"H-How am I as a master?"

"Oh you are the very best. You taught me a few cool techniques and tricks with the keyblade. I have learned to use formchange yet some of the other things I'm still struggling. For one, I still don't understand how you fly around and my high jumps are getting there. Other than a few things, you have gotten me stronger which is something I want to thank you."

"Oh...well as long as I'm able to help a friend, then I'm happy."

Sora smiled at Subaru, surprising the boy for a moment since he wasn't expecting this yet seeing the younger version of his master have the same smile as his older self, a smile of innocence made Subaru realize how unique and special Sora is. Being that Sora is literally the definition of light.

'Seems like regardless of whether you are a Keyblade Master or an islander, you seem to always stay the same, Master Sora.'

Subaru looked at the ground with a smile before getting up, knowing that the two should return to focus on getting Rem and Sora's memories back. As the two keyblade wielders got up, Subaru finished the conversation with Sora by saying,

"I promise you that I will protect you with all of my strength until you have regained yours. I will not fail you."

Sora noticed this and just smiled at his friend before the two went to reunite with the others, seeing that they are still looking around the library. As the two split off, Shaula approaches Subaru and starts to bother him.

"Master! Master!"

"Yes Shaula."

"Hug me!"

"Wait what?!"

Subaru noticed this and can see that Shaula is getting more and more aggressive with her neediness, causing him to run for it.

"That's sooo mean! Don't run away!"

Shaula starts chasing Subaru for a bit, wanting a hug from her master. This went on for a bit before the entire group gathered to talk about their findings. Everyone is still struggling to find anything useful, causing them to be slightly discouraged.

"It is possible that the only way to get some answers is to beat the trial against the stick swinger."

"We already have Emilia-sama, Sora-sama, and Barusu passed the trial, they could continue to the next area."

"That is true Ram but the thing is that we don't know what will the next trial bring. Not only that but Ma-er I mean Sora needs to get his memories and experiences back before we can continue on."

"Hmph. I guess for once you are right, Barusu."

"So then the question is how do we get the rest of us to pass the trial? If the bowel hunter had a hard time handling the first sword saint, the rest of us will have an even harder time."

Subaru can tell that Julius has self-doubt in himself, having been defeated the way he was by Reid while he, the weakest of the fighters, somehow managed to pass the trial. This prompted Subaru to do something to help out the finest knight.

"Julius, can you come here for a moment?"

"Okay."

Julius and Subaru both went away towards another area of the library for Subaru to help out the knight, not wanting anybody else to experience self-doubt or self-hate. Once they were away from the group, Julius started to ask,

"What is the reason you have brought me here?"

"Well I was hoping to get some training, at least to get your mind from this for a bit."

"I will be alright, Subaru."

"At least one sparring match."

"Hmmm. I guess it wouldn't hurt having one sparring match."

Julius got out the sword he got from the second floor and prepared himself for a sparring match with Subaru, seeing the boy pull out his Starlight keyblade and get himself ready. The two spirit knights look at each other for a moment before starting their sparring match with the two going on the offense. As Julius' sword and Subaru's keyblade clash a few times, Julius starts using some techniques to push back the Keyblade wielder.

Just as it seems that Subaru is going to lose, he uses all the techniques Sora had taught him and starts using Reflect and a few jumps to avoid getting hit. As Subaru's defenses were able to keep up with Julius' offense attacks, eventually the fight stopped abruptly when the knight lowered his guard and started to ask,

"What exactly happened to you in your trial against the sword saint?"

"What do you mean?"

"That dark aura around you. It wasn't something normal."

"Hmm. I do not know but it was some ability I had gained."

"Do you have a name for it?"

"At the moment no, I haven't had time to think of a cool name for the ability to buff up my defense stats."

"Defense stats?"

"Increasing my defenses."

"Ah, well then it seems that new ability of yours as a downside since it didn't last long."

"Yeah, shitty start to another ability."

"Hm."

Julius found this amusing and quickly returned focus to the sparring match by going on the offensive side, pushing Subaru back a bit. As the two were training for a bit with Julius being on the offense for the most part and Subaru on the defensive side, eventually the two clash weapons and end up in a blade lock.

"You are quite strong, Subaru."

"That's saying something from the finest knight of Lugnica."

Julius smirked a bit as this ended up turning into a training session for Subaru, Julius wanting to improve Subaru's fighting abilities once seeing that he needs a bit of work on his offensive side. Subaru jumped back to break the blade lock before charging quickly towards Julius, wanting to go all out only for his attacks to be easily blocked away with Julius' superior skills. Subaru noticed this and quickly tried to use magic to his advantage yet he was pushed back when Julius was able to easily block and dodge the attacks.

"Come on Subaru, you must rely on your physical strength rather than the magic abilities you have grown accustomed to."

"Yeah Yeah, it's just my physical strength will take a long while to grow so for now I have to rely on magic."

"Even so, it does seem to still be weak."

"That is something that I can hopefully change."

"You will with practice but for now let us work on your physical strength. If you don't have the means to take an opponent down with physical strength, then you must rely on pure skills and techniques."

"Alright."

Subaru understood that this is something he should work on and seeing that Julius knows some techniques, he paid attention to the way the finest knight was teaching him. Julius showed Subaru a few ways to evade and attack while also doing a counterattack at the same time, allowing Subaru to gain a grasp on dealing with tougher opponents who may be stronger than him.

As Subaru was learning how to use some quick techniques, eventually Sora and Rem managed to walk by the area with the two having been looking for anything to help restore their memories. As they walked around, the two noticed the training session between Subaru and Julius, surprised by Subaru was adapting and learning to how things Julius was teaching.

'Wow...Subaru is amazing!'

Sora thought as he noticed how fast Subaru was adapting, managing to dodge and deflect most of Julius' attacks. Eventually Julius was able to overwhelm Subaru, managing to disarm the boy before pointing his sword directly at the boy's face.

"You are very skilled, Subaru. You learned some of my techniques very fast but you still have a long way to go."

"Well, hopefully I can improve on that."

"You will Subaru."

Julius set away his sword and looked around while he felt somewhat proud that he was able to show something to Subaru.

"That was very fun, thank you Subaru."

"Hey, we are friends after all. I just wanted to regain your confidence back."

"I still thank you Subaru, it was fun...my friend."

Subaru smiles at this before nodding towards the finest knight, happy that he was able to cheer him up. The two spirit knights looked at one direction to notice Sora and Rem standing there, having been watching the sparring match.

"Master Sora?! Rem?! How long have you two been watching?"

"For a little bit but you were amazing, Subaru."

"Hehe thank you, Ma-er I mean Sora."

Subaru was caught off guard that his master was fascinated by the way he fought yet he did felt prideful that he was able to impress a young version of his master.

"Well Julius-sama, what will you be doing?"

"I suppose I can train for a bit. Sora, would you like me to teach you a few things?"

"Um sure."

Sora managed to figure out how to pull out his keyblade and slowly approached Julius, wanting to learn a few skills as well while Julius felt that it is needed to teach this young version of Sora how to defend himself until he can regain his memories. While this was going on, Rem and Subaru got a chance to talk while also observing the training session between Sora and Julius.

"How is he holding up?"

"Sora is doing fine, he is just confused like a lost kid. Reminds me of when I woke up with no memories, no identity to myself. So in a sense, this is me repaying him for all the good he has done."

"Master Sora is the greatest."

"He sure is."

"What about you? How are you holding up, Rem?"

"I'm okay. Ram-sama is working hard to get my memories restored."

"Yeah...that is also something we need to get back."

Rem looked at Subaru to see how sad he was despite his best efforts to hid it. This prompted her to ask in a polite manner,

"What is hurting you, Subaru?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I can tell you are sad. Having spent time with you and Sora, I got to see that you both share a little bit of personality, so I can tell that you are sad. What is bringing you down?"

"Hehe..."

Subaru wanted to laugh it off, yet he wasn't able to and was somewhat surprised that Rem was able to detect his sadness. He took a moment to think before he was able to be honest with Rem by saying,

"I guess you can say that I should've been much stronger, maybe then you wouldn't have lost your memories or Master Sora wouldn't have ended up in this state had I been smarter..."

Subaru paused himself has he thought about the moment Sora and him heard everyone questioning on who is Rem after having defeated Petelguese and Marluxia. He believes that had he paid attention more, he probably would've been able to keep Rem around so she wouldn't had lost her memories. In the case of Sora, he had distracted himself in reading the book of Vanitas, making him feel like if he had stuck with his Master, he wouldn't be in the state he is right now. Rem could tell that Subaru is blaming himself and quickly hits him in the head, catching his attention.

"Ow."

"Subaru, you can be a real idiot. From what I heard, there was no way you could've known that the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony was going to attack. How is it your fault that Gluttony attacked me and the others?"

"...You make a fair point."

Subaru still felt guilt but he knew that this guilt is unneeded since he really didn't know that was going to happen. Rem continued to speak with a more serious yet kind attitude,

"I understand you feel guilty for what happened to Sora. I also feel guilty too. I should have been by his side but there is nothing we can do. We can't dwell on what happened in the past, we can only move forward and deal with the problems that are presented to us right now."

Subaru nodded at this, understanding that dwelling on the guilt he has in him won't be much help at the moment. Before he could say something, the two noticed the way Sora was holding is own against Julius. Subaru paid attention to the way Sora was fighting, seeing that at the moment the two are on equal grounds. Sora's offense was much better than Subaru's yet he didn't have all the usual skills he normally would have, giving Julius the advantage.

Within a minute, Julius managed to disarm Sora despite having some trouble with him compared to Subaru. As Julius was able to beat Sora, he started to give the boy some advice on how to improve his fighting style. While Sora was learning some techniques from Julius, Subaru turned towards Rem and asked her to keep an eye on things while he goes and looks for anything to help them get their memories back. Rem understood this and nodded but before she watched the boy leave, she quickly told him,

"Don't let that guilt overwhelm you, Subaru. You are a good person, you don't deserve to feel guilty for something you didn't do."

"Okay Rem."

Subaru nodded as he understood this and quickly made his way towards the area where his master was looking at prior to becoming his young self.

'Maybe there is something here. There as to be something!'

Subaru looked around with some stress in his mind, uncertain on whether or not he will find what he is looking for. As he was searching through each book two to three times until finally he came across a book with an interesting name.

"Why is this here?"

Subaru was surprised by this and quickly opened the book to see the context, curious.