Welcome To Oblivion [Kingdom Hearts: Chain Of Memories] in Gamer's Gaming

The Road So Far…

Sora, Donald, and Goofy have just saved the world from Ansem and the threat of the Heartless. The trio sealed the door to the darkness with the help of Riku and King Mickey, who remained trapped on the other side. Mickey, however, had mentioned that, although the door to darkness was sealed, there were many doors to the light that they may return through. As the door was sealed, the various worlds destroyed by the Heartless came back into being. Kairi became separated from Sora as the Destiny Islands returned to their original form. Sora yelled out to Kairi, promising that he would find his way back to her and that he would come back with Riku. As the worlds separated from each other once more, Sora, Donald, and Goofy found themselves on a dirt path. As they walked along, wondering how they were going to find Riku and Mickey and then find their way back home, Pluto wandered across their path, holding a letter in his mouth marked with the seal of King Mickey. Sora asked Pluto if he had seen Mickey and the dog took off running. Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked at each other and took off after the dog, hoping that the path would lead them to their missing friends…

Now…

That night, the trio slept beside the path in the field of grass that ran on in all directions. As Donald and Goofy slept, Sora awoke and began walking along the path when, from behind him, a robed figured called out to him. It told him that, along the path, he would find something he needed. Sora spun to face the figure, but it had disappeared. He looked around in all directions until he found himself staring at the man in the black robe. The man told him that in order to claim what he needed, he would have to lose something dear to him. Sora ran towards the figure, but it disappeared into the dark of the night once more. Meanwhile, in a white room with a birdcage, a girl sat alone, drawing a picture of a castle. Back with Sora, our hero walked along the dirt path until, finally, he came upon a castle that looked eerily similar to the one in the girl’s drawing. Sora stared up at he ominous looking castle before making his way back to Donald and Goofy. He woke the both of them up and convinced them to follow him to the castle. As Donald and Goofy talked amongst themselves, something caught Sora’s attention and convinced him to walk up to the door, opening it and letting himself into a great white hallway with a single door at the other end. Goofy seemed nervous and asked if they thought it was okay to just barge in like this. Donald said that they had to if they were going to find the king. Goofy looked all around, asking if the king was really there. Donald told Goofy that something just told him that Mickey would be there. Goofy seemed surprised, because now that Donald mentioned it, Goofy had been thinking the same thing. Sora turned around and said that he thought so too. One look at the castle, and he just knew. Goofy laughed, saying that great minds think alike, but Jiminy Cricket jumped his way up onto Sora’s shoulder, saying that it couldn’t just be a coincidence. Apparently he too had been having the exact same feelings. Donald said that something seemed screwy about all this and voted that they go take a look in the castle. Sora agreed and started walking to the door on the far side of the room. Donald quacked at him and asked where he was going. Sora told him that he was going to check out the door. Why? Was Donald scared? Donald scoffed and told him not to be ridiculous as he walked in Sora’s direction. Goofy called out to them, asking if they thought they should shut the doors before they just took off. However, as Goofy turned around, he called out for Sora as he spotted the man in the black robe standing in the doorway. The door closed behind him. Sora had finally had enough, drawing his Keyblade and asking who the mysterious man was. As the man approached, Donald assumed that the man was a Heartless and went to cast a Thunder spell on the man, but nothing happened. No matter how hard Donald tried or how many spells he attempted to cast, nothing happened. Donald was confused, wondering why his spell casting wasn’t working. The man said that he thought the answer would be obvious: the moment they set foot in the castle, the trio had forgotten every spell and every ability that they had ever known. The man said that, in this castle, to find is to lose and to lose is to find. That was the way in Castle Oblivion. Sora questioned what that was, but the man disappeared into a haze of dark smoke, only to reappear in another spot. The man said that, in the castle, they would meet people that they had known in the past. And they would meet people they missed. Sora seemed puzzled about who he would miss until it hit him. Riku. Was Riku here? The man told him that if what he wanted was to find Riku… Then he cast some sort of spell at Sora. Sora swatted and attacked with his Keyblade, but the mysterious newcomer was too fast. Sora asked what he had done. The man replied he had merely sampled Sora’s memories. Using his memories, the man had made a blue card. He told Sora that to reunite with those he held dear, he would have to use the card. He told Sora that all he had to do was to hold the card up to the door just behind him and it would give him access to a new world. He told Sora to proceed, to lose and claim anew or to claim anew only to lose… Fuckers like to speak in riddles apparently. Just as suddenly as he had appeared, the man disappeared. Sora resolved himself and said that they should continue. Sora approached the door and held the blue card aloft as light consumed his body. Sora approached the door and proceeded through…right into what looked like Traverse Town. Suddenly, the man appeared behind him once more. He told Sora that what he was seeing wasn’t real. The town was an illusion created by Sora’s own memories that had been ingrained in the card. Jiminy hopped out and told Sora not to worry about that. They had lost Donald and Goofy. Sora demanded to know what the man had done with them. He said that they were at the mercy of the cards now. Master the cards and their strength would be Sora’s again. Suddenly, the mysterious man attacked. The man explained that the laws of the castle required that Donald and Goofy be turned into cards. He said that if Sora truly valued his friends, he would pick them up as quickly as he could. As the man conducted and then finished his tutorial for Sora, Donald and Goofy reappeared and ran up to Sora. Goofy suddenly became startled when he noticed that his and Donald’s clothes had changed. Sora questioned if it had happened because of the cards, but the man told him that was a question for Sora to ponder himself. The man told him that if mastered the cards and made it through the castle, he may find the truth. But from this point on, he was to walk alone. Goofy seemed nervous for Sora, but Donald just said that Sora couldn’t do anything alone. Sora scoffed and sarcastically thanked Donald for the vote of confidence. Goofy asked if Sora was sure he would be okay and Sora told Goofy that he would be fine. Sora turned back to the robed figure and said that if he would need to go it alone. The man huffed and said that the hero spoke boldly before telling Sora to go, the rest of Castle Oblivion awaited him. Walk the avenues of latent memory and Sora would meet someone dear to him. With that, the man disappeared into the darkness. Jiminy said that he had a bad feeling about this, but Sora said not to worry. He would be ready for any tricked the mysterious man might make and made his way forward into Traverse Town. At a door nearby, Sora used a new room Keycard and managed to find a safe haven in the midst of the town.

[Ed.- I feel some explanation is due here, just to make the rest of this a little more smooth. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, operates using a card based battle system. All of Sora’s attacks are triggered by the use of cards. Whether it be attack, magic, healing, or items cards, all of his actions in battle require the use of cards with the exception of running and jumping. The worlds themselves are also at the mercy of the cards. As the mysterious figure pointed out, the worlds are not the same as before, they are simply generic representations based on Sora’s memories. Each world contains rooms which, when the world is first accessed, are blank. Sora uses Map Cards to create the environment in each room. The Moment’s Reprieve card created the safe haven that Sora just accessed. A card called Tranquil Darkness will create a room where only a few Heartless will appear. All the rooms in each world are accessed and fleshed out by the Map Card. There are four special Map Cards for each world also, which I will mention in the course of this chronicle. Three of these cards access the story rooms, which progress the story, of course. The fourth is a special treasure room card which will not always be accessed right away. So my plan is to say which card I am using to create each new room I access and maybe tell a little about the rooms, but mostly, the chronicle will be about what happens in the three story rooms and on each floor of the castle as each floor will host one world. All told, I believe there are fourteen or fifteen floors in Sora’s story. Oh, and it should also be explained that, as the mysterious figure has mentioned, Donald and Goofy are also cards to be used in battle. They will appear in story rooms and in each floor’s entrance hallway, but otherwise, they are cards just as everything else. Okay, I believe that covers it, but if there are any questions, feel free to ask and I will explain in the beginning of the next entry as long as it doesn’t reveal something storywise too soon.]

Sora approached the only other door he could access. The door prompted him to use a Map Card that was level 2 or above. [Ed.- Yeah, sorry. I forgot about the card levels. Each card has a number 0 through 9. This is used to determine which attacks take precedence in battle, which cards can be used to created new rooms, and stuff like that.] Since Sora only had one Map Card, a level 2 Tranquil Darkness card, he used that to access the next room. In this new room, Sora found only a few Heartless to challenge him and two doors to exit through. One was a regular door, but the other had a small crown overhead. Sora fought his way through the groups of Shadows, Soldiers, Red Nocturnes, and Blue Rhapsodies, picking up new cards and adjusting to this new battle system, until he cleared the room of enemies. With the Heartless beaten back, Sora walked up to the door with the crown above it. It prompted him to use a level 1 or above card as well as a card Sora had just noticed in his inventory. It was a golden Map Card that read Key of Beginnings. It looked just like the one that the door was asking him for, so he pulled out his level 2 Sleeping Darkness card, as he did not have any that were level 1, and the Key to Beginnings card. The door reacted and opened to Sora. In this new room, Sora found himself in what appeared to be Traverse Town’s Third District. Sora, though he had fought bravely on his way to this room, commented how fighting alone wasn’t nearly as easy as he thought it would be. Suddenly, Donald and Goofy appeared behind him out of little spheres of light. Sora jumped, startled by their appearance. He told them not to just pop out of nowhere like that. Donald quacked back at him and said it wasn’t their fault. They had no idea what was going on. Goofy got a surprised look on his face, looking past Sora to something beyond. Sora turned and looked down to the ground to find Pluto. Donald said that things just kept getting stranger, wondering what Pluto was doing there too. Goofy said that there was nothing strange about it. After all, they had come to Traverse Town with Pluto, hadn’t they? Donald seemed puzzled. He couldn’t quite remember whether they had or not. Jiminy jumped out of Sora’s pocket and told them that it was before they met Sora that Donald and Goofy had come to town with Pluto. Donald quacked again. Jiminy was right. Donald remembered that they had been chasing Pluto and that was how they had ended up at Castle Oblivion. Goofy, puzzled again, asked if they were in Traverse Town or not. Jiminy told him that it wasn’t really Traverse Town, that the World Card Sora had gotten from the mysterious figure had created Traverse Town inside of Castle Oblivion. Sora just groaned and shook his head. He didn’t care, it was all too confusing. Sora didn’t know where they were, but figured if they just kept moving forward and defeating Heartless, they would get somewhere. Just then, a figure came from behind them and warned them that, if they weren’t careful, it would be the Heartless that would defeat them. Sora spun back around and spotted Leon. Sora was overjoyed to see his friend, but was also confused. What was Leon doing in Castle Oblivion? Leon asked Sora what he was talking about. This was Traverse Town. Then he asked how Sora knew his name. Sora sputtered. He couldn’t believe his friend who had fought battles beside him against the Heartless could forget who he was. Leon told him that he had never met any of them before. Sora told Leon to quit playing around, but Leon had no idea what Sora was talking about. He didn’t even know any of their names. Sora couldn’t believe Leon had completely forgotten about them. Leon felt bad for them, but it happened all the time. “Don’t take it so personally, Sora,” Leon said. Wait, if he couldn’t remember them, how did he know Sora’s name? Leon was flustered. Why did he know Sora’s name? Goofy asked Donald if he thought Leon was just kidding around. Donald said that if he was, it wasn’t very funny. Sora was really upset because of it. “Who’s kidding around, Goofy? You and Donald are the ones who-” Donald jumped back. Now he could remember their names too? Leon put his head in his right hand. He figured something must be wrong with his memories. A voice called out to him from behind and said that perhaps Aerith had been on to something after all. Yuffie appeared from a nearby passageway and said that Aerith had sensed some kind of uncanny power and asked Leon and Yuffie to look into it. Since there aren’t any X-men around, I assume she means Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Yuffie suggested that they take Sora to see Aerith. Sora was relieved that Yuffie remembered his name. She sure did, and apparently Sora knew hers too. Leon asked Yuffie if she knew Sora. Yuffie said that she didn’t, he was a total stranger, but she definitely knew his name for some reason. She didn’t mind at all. It just meant they could skip the introductions. Leon put his head in his hand again. He couldn’t figure out how she could so easily accept the situation. She said that she would run ahead and fill Aerith in while Leon gave the group the grand tour. With that, Yuffie and Pluto both wandered off back to find Aerith and Leon told the trio to follow him. Then he remembered all the Heartless around town and told Sora that he better teach him how to protect himself in battle. Leon taught Sora about being aware of the levels on his cards. If he played a card higher than his opponent, it would break the opponents defense and vice versa. If both Sora and his opponent were to play the same level card, both attacks would be deflected. Sora could also stock cards. By stocking three cards and using them together, it would create an attack more powerful than if he used the cards individually. The sum of the three cards would be the value he played. Not only would stocking cards allow Sora to do combo attacks, but if Sora were to stock three specific cards, it would allow him to unleash a special ability called a sleight. Sleights are special abilities that require a specific three card combo, unique to each sleight, to unleash the ability in battle. Leon warned him, however, that each time Sora used stocked cards, he would lose the first card he picked for the rest of the battle. He wouldn’t be able to reload it. So Sora couldn’t simply rely on sleights to win battles as it would cause his cards to run out. Leon asked Sora if he think he had the hang of it. Sora figured he did, more or less, and that he would pick up the rest as he fought real battles. Leon then extended his hand and told Sora to take this card he had found lying around. Leon reminded Sora to remember what Leon had taught him and make good use of it. Sora looked at the card. It was a Simba card! With the lesson done, Sora also received the Key of Guidance Map Card and found himself back in the previous room. Sora returned to the safe haven he had created to check his deck and make a few changed before setting out to the other door that was in the Tranquil Darkness room he had created.

The other door prompted Sora to choose a level 3 or higher card. Unfortunately, Sora only held one: a level 6 Map Card called Sorcerous Waking, which would increase the efficacy of his spells. Without another option, Sora used the card and progressed into the new room to face the Heartless. While his battles rewarded him with a multitude of new Map Cards, Sora also managed to win his first Enemy Card, which would give him a power that the Heartless used in battle. Sora won the Shadow Card, which would increase the level of all of his cards used in battle by 1. Inside this room were two more doors. One of these was also marked with a crown above it. Checking the door, Sora was prompted to sacrifice a level 3 or above Map Card and his Key of Guidance card. Doing so, Sora gained access to the room. Sora and company found themselve in the Small House that the refugees from Hollow Bastion called their home in Traverse Town. Leon and Yuffie flanked Aerith on the other side of the room as she took in the newcomers. Sora asked if Aerith had forgotten him too. Aerith wasn’t sure whether to say “nice to meet you” or “good to see you again.” She said that she didn’t think she knew Sora, but she still felt like he belonged there. Yuffie chimed in, saying that they’d never met, but it didn’t feel weird knowing Sora and company’s names. Sora was frustrated, saying that they HAD met and had taken on the Heartless together, as a team. Leon felt like Sora was right, but he couldn’t remember. Sora said that Leon wouldn’t remember what he had told Sora in Hollow Bastion when he sealed the Keyhole. Sora quoted him, saying, “We may never meet again…” Leon finished with, “…but we’ll never forget each other.” Sora noted that he must have remembered something. Yuffie turned to look at Leon. She had remembered him saying that too. Leon crossed his arms and admitted that he couldn’t just write everything else off as coincidence, then. Aerith said that she had no memory of it, but somehow she still remembered. She figured that Sora’s heart must be doing the remembering for all of them. Sora wondered how his heart played into everything. Aerith said that, although they didn’t know him, Sora’s heart was full of memories of all of them together. Somehow, those memories must have resonated in their hearts as well. Perhaps that is why they were remembering things that they wouldn’t know otherwise. Leon asked if that meant Sora’s memories were affecting theirs. Aerith admitted that Sora’s memories seemed to have a certain power. Sora then remembered the mystery man and figured that this might be what he meant about the town just being an illusion created by his memories. Aerith followed with the other thing the man had told him, that there was someone special to him in this town. Sora was confused at first before reminding himself that it was probably his memories resonating with hers, letting Aerith know what had happened. Sora admitted that a friend of his was somewhere in this town…er, in Castle Oblivion, he meant. Yuffie, confused as ever, asked what Castle Oblivion was. There weren’t any castles in Traverse Town. Sora couldn’t figure out exactly how to explain the situation. Aerith sympathized, figuring Sora wasn’t quite sure what was going on himself. Sora agreed, saying they had just gotten there after all and should probably take a better look around. Leon told him to go ahead. There were Heartless, but that wouldn’t be any problem for Sora. Sora seemed amused that Leon was admitting he could fight. Leon scoffed and said he just felt like believing Sora when he said he could fight and to just leave it at that. With that, Sora received the Key of Truth map card and set back out into Traverse Town…or, ya know, his memory’s version of it…like, in Castle Oblivion and stuff. Whatever. Anyhow, Sora returned back to the Sorcerous Waking room and proceeded to the other available door. The door prompted Sora to give up a level 7 or above map card. Sora used a level 0 Sleeping Darkness card, just to see if the map cards worked like the battle cards. Sure enough, the level 0 card worked and Sora entered a new room where all the Heartless were sound asleep, making them easy pickings for a preemptive strike. Sora swept through the Heartless like a hot mess through prom and came to the only door in the room, marked once more with a crown above it. The door prompted Sora to sacrifice a green map card and his Key of Truth card. Sora used a Meeting Ground card and his Key of Truth card to access the only room left available to him.

In this room, Sora found himself in what appeared to be the Second District of Traverse Town. Cid, the gummi ship engineer and savior of the refugees, was standing alone in the middle of the district. Cid turned to face Sora and said hi. Then he scratched his head, wondering why he greeted someone by name that he didn’t even know. But Cid supposed he did LOOK like a Sora, with his spiky hair and baggy red shorts. Sora told Cid to relax, his name was Sora. Cid seemed surprised that Sora had heard of him. Oy vey, here we go again. Well, then again, maybe he wasn’t surprised. Sora stopped him and asked if Cid could help him find a friend of his that was supposed to be in this castle- er, town. No Mario, your princess is in another castle- er, town. Jeez. Anywho, Sora asked if Cid might have any ideas on how to find his friend. Cid said that all that had been in this town lately was Heartless. You couldn’t even go two steps without getting attacked. In fact, this area was the worst. Cid told Sora that a jumbo Heartless would show up whenever the bell in the tower rang. Gee, very subtle Square… Cid said that if the gang valued their behinds, they would leave while they could and then walked off himself. Goofy suggested that they leave. Sora joked, asking if he didn’t want to see the Heartless. Donald yelled that they didn’t. Of course, right on cue, the bell began to ring. Donald and Goofy spun around, expecting the attack at any moment. Sora drew his Keyblade as, suddenly, a giant purple Heartless fell from the sky. Folks, if you remember, this is our old friend, the Guard Armor. Of course, because of the rules of Castle Oblivion, Sora was left to fight the massive foe on his own this time. Sora made use of the Shadow card he had won previously to boost his combat deck and proceeded to attack the Guard Armor. Sora did his best to use his attack and spell cards to their full effect, utilizing Simba more than once, until finally, he managed to defeat the giant foe and was rewarded with the Guard Armor card. The Hollow Bastion Refugees Club came out to make sure Sora was okay, after the battle of course. Yuffie asked if Sora had found his friend. Sora said no and figured he wouldn’t find him in this town, but he was somewhere in the castle, he just knew it somehow. Cid, a little behind the rest of the group, laughed at the idea that such a big town could fit inside a castle. Leon quieted Cid, though, saying that they may not understand what was going on, but Sora did. Sora could see that reality was bigger than just this world. Sora said that he wished he was that sure about it. Leon told him that he would be okay. No matter what shape reality would take, Sora could handle it. He may not remember Sora, but he knew him in his heart. Sora was touched…in the happy, friend way. Not the creepy, Michael Jackson way. Yuffie told the trio to take care. Cid admitted that he was a little lost, but wished them the best of luck anyway. The Fugees then took off and Sora went to leave also, but he turned back, realizing that Aerith had walked back towards him. Sora asked what was wrong. Aerith said that she didn’t have all the answers, but she had to tell him something. She said that his memories had created this town. Sora confirmed that was what the mysterious man had said. Aerith pointed out that if that was true, than the whole town was just a figment of his imagination. So were all of the people in it. Sora rebelled, saying that she couldn’t be a figment. She was standing right there. The town was all around them. Aerith said that she couldn’t actually be herself, however. She didn’t remember things she should and she could sense things that she shouldn’t be able to. She warned Sora to beware his memories. In the journey to come, Sora would face more illusions. Sometimes, the shadows of his memory might try to deceive him and lead him astray. Sora was puzzled and wondered what she meant. Aerith apologized. She was just an illusion and the truth was out of her reach. Sora told Aerith not to say stuff like that. It was depressing. She told Sora to stay strong and not to let the illusions distract him from what was truly important. Donald called out to Sora from a nearby alley and asked if he was ready to go. Sora told Donald and Goofy that he would be right there. Sora turned back to say goodbye to Aerith, but she had disappeared. Sora called out to her, but she was gone. Donald asked why he was calling out to her. Sora said that he had just been talking to her, but she had disappeared. Goofy told him that Aerith had left with Leon and the others. Sora spun around. Donald told Sora that he had worried them just standing there by himself. Sora was startled, wondering if this is what she had meant…

Sora returned into Traverse Town in a room called Conqueror’s Respite. This room appeared after the battle and was devoid of Heartless. Sora checked his deck once more. Two exits from the room existed. Sora checked the door closest to him and was prompted to sacrifice a level 2 or higher map card. Sora used one called the Teeming Darkness map card, which would populate the room with more Heartless than usual. In one of the battles, Sora received a Soldier enemy card. Sora decided he would see what the new enemy cards he had won would do. The Soldier card would add an extra hit to normal combos. The Guard Armor card would extend the range of his attack cards. Happy with his new additions, Sora faced off against more Heartless. Sora did manage to find one other door in the room, one that had yet another crown above it. However, this door asked for a card that Sora had not seen yet. Sora had Jiminy mark where this door was, should he find the required card in the future, and went back to the Conqueror’s Respite room. Heading toward the other side of the room, Sora noticed a tall, tall ladder that led up to a platform high above. Sora climbed the ladder and found another door. However, this one was already open and had a sign above it that read, “See You Again!” Sora wasn’t sure what to make of it, but since it was the only door he had yet to go through, he proceeded through and into the white light behind it. On the other side of the door, Sora, Donald, and Goofy emerged into another long, white hallway. At the other end, in front of another door, the mysterious hooded figure stood waiting. The figure asked if Sora had enjoyed meeting his memories. Sora said that it had been nice to see everyone, but asked what the figure really wanted from him. The figure asked what he had to give and proceeded towards the group. The trio drew their weapons and made ready to battle when, from behind, a dark portal opened in the middle of the room and another black robed figure appeared. This one had his hood down, however. He was a tall man with spiky red hair and green eyes. An evil, mischievous light sparkled in his eyes as he greeted both the trio and the other robed figure. The hooded figure asked the newcomer what he wanted. The man told him not to hog the hero. The hooded figure spun around and tossed another World Card at the man with the flame-kissed hair. The hooded man asked if the redhead would like to test the hero. The redhead said that he would like that very much as the hooded figure stepped into his own dark portal and disappeared. The redhead turned to the trio and told them that it was his show now. The newcomer introduced himself as Axel. “Got it memorized?” [Ed.- Lol, if you keep following all of my future Kingdom Hearts entries, you will eventually see why I laughed and why this is such an epic moment in the series.] Sora was puzzled, but said sure. Axel congratulated Sora on being such a quick learner and said, since they were getting to know each other better… Axel raised his arms and shot them out to his sides as two fiery red and silver chakrams appeared in his hands. Sora and company readied their weapons as Axel told Sora not to go and die on him now as he attacked. Sora attacked as best as he could with all of his cards, using Donald and Goofy to land the finishing blows on Axel. After the battle, Sora received a Fire magic card and another World Card. Goofy asked what the new card did and Jiminy, playing the role of Captain Obvious, said that the card looked just like the one Sora used when he made Traverse Town. Sora figured they would need it to keep going. Axel’s voice came from behind, telling him that was exactly what it was for. Axel, seemingly unaffected from the battle with Sora, approached and asked if the trio had really thought that, after his introduction, he would give up oh so easily? Sora exclaimed that he had been testing them. Axel congratulated Sora on passing the test and told him he was ready to take on Castle Oblivion. Axel told Sora that he would need to follow his memories. Trust what he remembered and seek what he forgot and, in doing so, he would find someone very special. Goofy asked if he was talking about King Mickey and Riku. Axel chuckled and said that they would just have to give it some more thought as to who it was that was most important to them. He said that their most precious memories lay so deep that they were out of reach, but he was sure Sora could find his. Sora asked why he could do it. Axel told him that he had lost sight of the light within the darkness and had forgotten that he had forgot. Sora seemed confused about the light within the darkness. Axel asked if Sora would like a hint. Goofy asked if Sora needed the hint. Axel’s expression changed the slightest bit and looked almost hopeful, but Sora said that he would figure it out for himself. Sora told Axel that if he got in his way… Donald jumped out in front of him and said not to worry, that he and Goofy would protect him. Axel chuckled once more and said that was a good answer. Exactly what he would expect from the Keyblade master. Axel warned Sora, however, that when his sleeping memories awakened, he might no longer be who he was at the moment. With that cryptic warning, Axel disappeared into a dark portal once more, leaving Sora and crew to contemplate his warning and their new World Cards. They had received cards for Wonderland, Olympus Coliseum, Agrabah, Monstro, and Halloween Town. Goofy seemed concerned that there may be more than just Axel and the other hooded figure lurking around the castle, but Donald said that if Axel came back, just to leave Axel to him. With that in mind, the trio progressed up a nearby set of stairs and onto the second floor of the castle. As they looked around at yet another white hallway, Jiminy muttered to himself while sitting in Sora’s hood. Sora asked Jiminy what was wrong. Jiminy said that what Axel had said worried him. He wondered what Axel could have meant when he said that Sora may no longer be who he was. Sora was confused. How could he possibly be anyone else? Jiminy laughed, but said that they couldn’t be too careful. Goofy agreed and said that it felt like anything could happen here in Castle Oblivi-…Oblivi-…Oblivi.... Donald stopped him and finished saying Castle Oblivion for him. Sora agreed, but said that whatever the robed guys were cooking up, they would be able to handle it together. Goofy said that of course they could, like at that creepy castle they had explored together, the one with all the weird contraptions. The group stood looking at each other, trying to remember what the place was called, but realized they couldn’t rightly remember what had happened. What was it called? Holla…Holly…Holler… Goofy apologized, but he couldn’t remember what the place was called. [Ed.- Hollow Bastion, in case you were confused.] Donald told Goofy to stop goofing around. Ahyuck! Sora asked if he wasn’t just making it up. Goofy said he didn’t think he was, but remained there, puzzled as ever. Now on the second floor and with a new door before them, Sora walked up to the door and drew out the Wonderland card, ready to explore another world made from his memories…