The darkness surround him as he walked in a straight line trying to find some way out of here. The brown haired boy sighed as continued trudging along he had been walking for what felt like days in this sea of black. He continued walking though trying to find an exit, find someway to escape. 'Is this the end? Did Xehanort win?' Sora wondered worried. 'Did he make me a prisoner of my own heart?'

'Hypocrite. You are the one who has made your heart a prison…' the familiar words echoed from all around him.

"No!" Sora shook his head in denial, his heart couldn't be a prison.

There was no answer to his declaration and silence fell over the darkness again leaving Sora to his thoughts. The long stretch of silence permeated the air for an unknown length of time. 'What does he mean…? I made my heart a prison?'

'Do not forget that you, yourself, are not so very different from us.'

"How am I the same!? I am nothing like you!" Sora shouted out confused and angry.

A chuckle permeated through the air tinged with maliciousness as the voice spoke again, 'Are you so sure? Can you truly be confident that your heart is truly your own? Or are they just copies of someone else's heart?'

Sora's body trembled as he yelled out, "My heart is my own!"

'If I were you I would check the contents carefully, and delete the extra junk that doesn't belong to you. Maybe then you will realize just how little of you actually exists.'

Sora growled in anger as his keyblade formed in his hand and he slashed at the air hoping he would be able to hit whoever it was that was speaking. Minutes passed of him fighting against nothing and he stopped as he panted heavily gasping for breath and the keyblade vanished. Sora collapsed backwards onto the ground the darkness shifting around him.

He laid on the ground and his eyes slowly slid to a close. When he woke up he was still in the same position. Slowly he stood up and continued to journey on. Blinking he rubbed his eyes as he caught a glimpse of two people who he didn't recognize but his heart felt like it was crying. The two of them were walking away and Sora was about to run after them when he heard, 'Well…my heart was aching. That's why I kept going.' Sora's own voice echoed around him.

The young boy froze as his oceanic blue eyes widened and he recalled saying those words. 'Why… why was my heart aching? I don't even know these people…'

'You should ask your heart… check that the box's contents match what is on the label.'

'I should check my heart… but by doing that aren't I just doing what they want?' Sora questioned holding his hand to his chest over where his heart was. 'But what choice do I have? I could just keep wandering this darkness for a way to escape… or I can look into my heart for the key.'

'May your heart be your guiding key' a voice different from earlier stated.

Sora closed his eyes and focused on his heart on his feelings, when he opened them again he was in his awakening room with him and his friends being shown. He took a calming breath and allowed his emotions to flood through him confusion, fear for his friends... and the emotion he always tried to keep locked away, anger. The darkness in his heart had always been his anger… Sora shuddered and turned away from the anger and tried looking for whatever it was the voices were talking about. His darkness was manifested on the platform as a doorway which had him shuddering.

'What could you know... when your stuck here... in this tiny world?' A voice sounding faint and distant yet so similar to his own questioned.

Sora frowned in confusion that voice felt familiar… "What do you mean?!" He demanded with a glare.

'The answers you seek… lay in the deepest recesses of your heart… you must dive deeper into your heart.' The voice answered the end a faint whisper and Sora could barely make it out.

To get answers, he would have to go deeper.

"But, the only way deeper… is through the darkness of my heart." Sora muttered out loud.

No voice answered him.

"What should I do?" Sora questioned as he paced along the platform.

'These facts cannot be changed… you will be the thirteenth dark vessel.'

A memory of Xehanort saying that his mind will sleep forever, and that his body will become a vessel for him. "No! I won't let that happen." Sora shouted at the dark void that surrounded him even here on the platform. "My body belongs to me!"

'Are you so sure?'

Sora stared at the darkness in his heart he had to know the truth was his heart really a prison? He didn't want to believe so, but these unknown feelings that coursed through him scared him. Sora turned to look at the portal of darkness and he could feel the anger that radiated from it. Other negative emotions was there as well though the anger by far outweighed them.

"Everyone has darkness in their hearts," Sora muttered outloud as he cautiously stepped towards it trying to muster up some more courage.

"I have to do this to wake up right? If I fight the darkness in me… will this allow me to wake up? What will I discover hidden behind the darkness?" Sora questioned his voice trembling slightly as doubt plaguing his mind. Finally he asked the question he feared the most, "Am I really my own person?"

Sora took a deep breath and summoned his keyblade Oathkeeper "I have to do this… for Riku and Kairi, I promised Kairi I would come back… and I will." He spoke as he pulled out Kairi's lucky charm nodding he put it away and then stepped into the portal.

Opening his eyes he saw that he was on a different platform, this one showed a boy who looked like Roxas but his clothes were different. He wasn't alone though as it had three star shapes, one blue, one green, and one red. And then there was another boy on the image, one that looked like him, but with black hair and gold eyes.

"Where am I? What is this place?"

"You are inside the darkness that is in your heart… and you are also able to view the second heart that you hold inside your own," a voice responded from behind him, the same one that sounded distant and faint before. Sora spun around to see the boy from the image. The one who looked like him only with black hair and gold eyes.

"What do you mean? Who are you?" Sora questioned the boy with narrowed eyes.

"I am called Vanitas," The boy, Vanitas, answered. "To explain what I mean would require more time than we have… but the short version is basically many years ago a heart was broken into two. They fought and were recombined but the stress put them into a deep sleep and so the heart sought shelter where it could piece itself back together. It found your heart which accepted it. But a year ago the keyblade was used on your heart releasing the hearts within you. A Nobody was created from this act, but within the Nobody one piece of the heart resided once again split from its other half. The other half of the heart was left with your heart combining its darkness with yours when you became a Heartless."

Sora's eyes widened. "Is that why…? Yen Sid did say that he found it worrying that I had enough darkness within me to form a Novashadow…"

Vanitas gave a nod, "Yes. When the girl… Kairi returned you to normal your heart absorbed the dark half of the heart that had split. The dark half can no longer merged with the light half in the way it was meant to happen," Vanitas spoke a bitter tone to his voice.

Slowly Sora pieced it all together, "Are you the dark half of the heart?"

Vanitas smirked. "Yes I am."

Sora frowned, "Does that mean you now have my darkness?"

"No, your darkness is still yours, but it links us together. Especially since someone is pushing darkness into you."

"I need to wake up and stop what is happening. I won't let Xehanort take control of my body," Sora stated in determination as he wondered to himself if he was going to have to fight this boy to be free.

Vanitas stared at him his eyes giving nothing away, "The only way to wake up would be to accept the darkness, control it and command it to stop putting you to sleep. Your will would have to be stronger than Xehanort's."

Sora gasped taking a step back his eyes wide. Vanitas smirked, "That is the only way I am aware of, who knows there could be another… but you are running out of time."

"Running out of time…?"

"I am not what the darkness is trying to keep asleep I can hear a bit from the outside world," Vanitas answered with a one shoulder shrug.

Sora's body trembled in confusion there was just to much information and not enough time to process it. "What is going on?"

Vanitas tilted his head, "Xehanort is telling your friends that they are not to touch you since you are to become his new vessel, and he is revealing his plan." Vanitas smirked, "looks like you have a bit more time since the old man loves to gloat. I wouldn't count on it being much though."

Sora nodded in understanding. He clenched his fist, he knew he couldn't let Xehanort gain control of his body. "There is no other way? What about you what would happen If I were to defeat you!?" Sora demanded with narrowed eyes at the boy.

Vanitas shrugged, "I don't know everything, but it will not release you from the spell Xehanort has cast."

The blue eyed boy sighed as his shoulders slumped and he reluctantly asked "What would happen to me if I were to do it your way?"

Vanitas rolled his eyes, "Why would anything about you change? You would be in control of the darkness not the other way around, if you fail to control it then you fail your friends."

Sora stared down at his hand which now held the lucky charm Kairi had given him and he sighed, "How... how do I do this?"

"I will help you, just remember control the darkness don't let it control you." Vanitas said walking towards him before holding his hands out. Sora grabbed his hands as his fearful blue eyes met the confident golden ones. "Don't be afraid of it. Command it. Control it," Vanitas told him firmly.

Sora took a deep breath and focused on his friends faces Kairi and Riku, for them he would do anything. After all they were friends... and that's what friends do.

Darkness flowed out of Vanitas hands a small trickle heading towards Sora, "Grab a hold of the darkness command it." Vanitas voice commanded.

Sora released his breath as the darkness reached his hands and started climbing up his arm. He grabbed a hold of the darkness and allowed himself to fall away from the light. 'Stop' he thought towards the darkness that was climbing up his arm. The darkness stopped moving and stayed where it was. Obeying like a well trained dog. Sora tried to ignore the rush of pleasure that filled him at seeing something obey him so completely. That feeling… it had to be the darkness. It just had to be.

"Good. If we had time to practice I would have you go through some more exercises to prepare, but we are out of time. This is it Sora, you have to fight off Xehanort's darkness. I will try to help as much as I can from here." Vanitas said letting go of Sora's hands.

Sora nodded and was about to return up when he paused and without thinking about what sort of consequences his actions could have he grabbed Vanitas's hand and pulled him up towards his own heart platform. "If my thoughts are correct you could help more from up here right?" Sora said with a smile.

Vanitas just stared at him with wide gold eyes before he nodded. "Alright let's do this then."

Sora felt the darkness in him and he felt the darkness that Xehanort was using to keep him in this sleep. 'Stop putting me to sleep! Let me wake up!' he mentally shouted at the darkness trying to push it away. The darkness fought back not wanting to listen he could almost hear it whispering back at him that he was weaker than Xehanort that he was unworthy.

"Don't be afraid of it! Control it!" He heard Vanitas shout at him. Sora nodded and changed his tactics as he could feel a portion of the darkness falling away and into Vanitas.

Staring at the surrounding darkness that lingered beyond the edge of the platform he pulled the darkness towards him commanding it to let him wake telling the darkness that it had to obey him now. He pulled the darkness into him and dispelling it within him. To his shock it obeyed him flowing into him and once more he a warm feeling came over him at the darkness obeying him.

It took what felt like hours, but the last dredges of Xehanort's darkness finally went away. Sora looked over at Vanitas who looked as tired as Sora felt. "Now wake yourself up Sora." Vanitas told him with a small smirk his eyes half lidded as he raised a hand to hide a yawn.

Sora nodded and closing his eyes he pushed himself up into consciousness. The first of his senses to return to him was his hearing and he heard Xehanort speaking, "But first, the thirteen darknesses shall be united. All of the seats have been filled. And now the last vessel shall bear my heart like the rest!"

Sora could feel the chair rising up as he groggily tried to open his eyes tried to move.

"No!" King Mickey shouted and Sora heard movement.

"Sora!" Riku cried out and Sora heard a crash sound.

Sora slowly opened his eyes as he stared at Xehanort who's eyes widened slightly. "What? How did you awaken yourself?" The man demanded.

He managed to get and stand up, "Release Riku and King Mickey!"

"The only way… for you to have undo the spell-"

In a flash of flames in front of Sora stood Axel. "Axel!" Sora shouted happily. He remembered the times Roxas had spent with Axel and he would honour that friendship. If Axel wanted him that is.

"Axel? Please. The name's Lea." Axel tilted his head back slight to smirk at Sora as he pointed to his head, "Got it memorized?"

"You're not supposed to be here!" Xigbar shouted.

Axel gave a scoff "I have promises to keep. I'll always be there to get my friends back." Axel smirked, "You had your perfect little script, but you kinda forgot to write the sequel" He taunted. "Now let's find out what happens!"

Sora and Axel shared a quick look at each other and Sora jumped down summoning a keyblade that he didn't realize was different. He sliced at Ansem who was holding Riku for the guy to jump back. It was now that he held the keyblade defensively in front of him that he realized it was different.

The keyblade he held was mostly a dark gray but held red outline along its gear like head and hand guard defense. The blade had a few chains on it and two eye things along each end.

"Void gear…" Xehanort muttered before a crooked smirk appeared and he chuckled.

Micky escaped from Xemnas and also stared at Sora's keyblade. 'Void gear? That sounds right… but why are they all staring at it?' Sora thought.

"Because that was my keyblade. Your own keyblade was not going to answer your call for it. My own keyblade did answer though," Vanitas's voice answered inside his head surprising him a bit.

"Let's get out of here," Axel said as all of them stood in defensive positions.

"Right!" Micky agreed and Ansem glared at them and summoned his guardian which quickly grabbed Riku and Mickey. A familiar sound had everyone pause as donald and Goofy landed on top of the creatures head somehow managing to make the guardian disappear.

"We are out of time. Neither the union of light nor darkness has been achieved, and we must all return whence we came. But, the gathering of the seven and thirteen is nigh." Xehanort says as all of the thirteen members fade away. "Let us finish this at the fated place, once your lights and my darknesses have joined together!"

The six of them release a collective breath before they all grin at each other. Soon the six of them were making their way back to Yen Sid's tower. What the future held none of them could know.

A/N Hey so this is my first Kingdom Hearts story and I hope you enjoy, please tell me what you think is going to happen and what is going on. My Friend Riku Kingdom Heart has been helping me edit over this and make sure my information is correct so a huge thanks to Riku for helping and introducing me to the KH franchise!