It was a woman this time, wearing the same black coat that Axel and the other wore. So she's working with them… Haruhi gripped her staff tightly, ready for any hostile motions. She ran forward with her friends, standing close to Sora. If anything, she could try to protect him.

"I bet you work with Axel!" Donald exclaimed.

"Too clever." The woman's voice was dripping with contempt. "I'm Larxene. So are you enjoying your stay at the castle? I bet it's nice to peel away all the useless memories and awaken the true memories that lie deep in your heart."

Sora seemed taken aback. "True memories?"

Larxene continued. "Though it seems you're still forgetting the most important part. When that poor girl hears that you've forgotten her name...It'll just… It'll break her heart."

"Stop playing games!" Haruhi had enough. "Just tell us what you want from him! Stop manipulating us!"

"Haruhi, stop!" She stared wide eyed, at the boy. He turned back to the woman. "What do you mean, poor girl? Is she here!?"

"Yes she is." The blonde's voice was sing-song and mocking as she turned away from them. The only expression they got was from her hands. "You see, the bad guys are holding her captive somewhere deep inside the castle." Larxene turned, mocking smile still on her lips. "And you're obviously the hero, so you have to go save her. Although…" Quick as lightning, too fast for Haruhi or even Sora to react, she sent the Keyblade Wielder flying. The charm Kairi gave him dropped to where he had been standing. "I'm a bad guy, so you have to go through me."

Goofy called out to him as the boy stared at the charm in confusion. "Is that…mine?"

Haruhi felt herself pale. His memories of Kairi were being affected. The charm… She stared at it for a moment before realizing what was wrong. "Sora, don't trust it!" The charm was wrong. She had seen him stare at it every night, it didn't look like that. He wasn't listening. "Sora, you have to trust me. It's not real!"

"Obviously she's lying to you, Sora." Larxene's over sweet voice crooned. "She doesn't want to be replaced so she's trying to keep you from remembering. From finding that poor lost girl. What was her name?"

"Na..mi…" Sora struggled with the name, not looking at Haruhi, only the charm. "Nami..ne."

"Well, it's about time. That's right… Namine. Yes, she's the one that gave you that tacky good luck charm."

Haruhi ran forward to intercept the woman. "Stop lying!" She swung her staff only to be sent rocketing back with a simple backhand. Sora's eyes met hers briefly, full of confusion, doubt, and fear. It was the last thing she saw before darkness and the somewhat familiar sound of a portal closing invaded her senses.

"Haruhi, my precious angel, wake up~!" Haruhi groaned, rolling over in her futon. "C'mon Haruhi, you're going to be late. Take too long and I might have to call Kyouya-kun to come get you!"

The girl jolted up. "I'm awake, dad, you don't need to call Kyouya-senpai." She grumbled a little. "Knowing him, he'd add the gas price to my debt."

Ranka smiled indulgently. "How odd for you to sleep in like this, though. And in your uniform too."

"Yeah… I must have fallen asleep study…ing." Entering the bathroom, she paused. "You were going to call Kyouya-senpai? But how?"

"With my phone, silly. Are you getting sick?"

"No, but Kyouya-senpai's still missing! So is Tamaki-senpai!" At her father's confused look, Haruhi faltered. "Aren't they..? Or was it just a dream..?" Closing the door and shaking slightly, she stared in the bathroom mirror at herself. Everything seemed normal. Shaking her head, she splashed water on her face and went back out. "Sorry about that dad. It must have just been a weird dream. I'm going to head out now, alright?"

He nodded, smiling. "Be careful, Haruhi!"

Haruhi slid into the Third Music Room, looking around cautiously. The room was empty and dark. "Tamaki-senpai? Hikaru? Kaoru? Guys?" There were loud groans from the far end of the room. She went over slowly, grabbing a flower vase just in case. As she drew closer to the noise, the girl's eyes grew wide.

The rest of the club was unconscious, tied together and thrown in a corner. Not one of them was in good shape. "Well, well, well, look who's finally joined the party." A familiar voice called. A blond woman appeared from the shadows.

"You!" Haruhi gasped. "But… Then I'm still in the castle? We're not home..?"

"You are not." A new, more masculine voice answered. The host spun around. The new person had long pinkish brown hair and cold eyes. "I am Marluxia, Master of Castle Oblivion. We met on the first floor."

Haruhi's eyebrows rose. "That was you? Why do you smell like roses?"

Marluxia smirked. "Just remember that you asked. Larxene, choose one of them." He pointed to the group of boys.

She grabbed one of the twins, Kaoru, whose eyes shot open as if he'd been shocked. "Ow! Hey, watch it, lady."

Hikaru, roused by his twin's shout, tried to stand. "Let go of Kaoru! Let go of my brother, damnit! Kaoru!"

"Hikaru, shut up!" The fear in Kaoru's voice was evident. "Yelling isn't going to help me or Haruhi."

"Haruhi?" Gold eyes flickered over to the girl, wide eyed and still clutching a flower vase. "Haruhi, get out of here!"

The yelling was waking the other boys. Marluxia slammed his scythe, which he had summoned at some point, on the ground. "Enough. Now, for the demonstration." He snapped and vines wrapped themselves around Kaoru. A malicious smirk appeared on his face as thorns slowly began growing into the boy.

The vase dropped from Haruhi's hands as Kaoru's yells grew louder. "S-stop it! You're going to kill him! Please! Just STOP!"

The man put a hand out and the thorns stopped growing. He smiled at her. "And why should that matter? He isn't even real."

"I'm…ugh… just as real… as you are." Kaoru panted.

"You are an illusion fashioned from the memory of a girl desperate for home. So desperate that she allowed herself to believe that a friend in danger was just part of a dream. Haruhi, I won't stop. You endangered everything we are working for, so you must suffer the consequences. Larxene?"

The blond smiled, crouching down next to Mori. A bolt of lightning shot from the ceiling.

The memory Music Room was in shambles. The illusion Host Club members disappeared after their deaths and the two villains had left so only Haruhi remained, physically unharmed but mentally scarred. She had no idea how long she lay there, only that the extra lightning had died out a while ago. Not that there was anything she could do anyway. Sora didn't know her anymore, Marluxia had made that point clear as Kyouya…

A sob tore through the girl. It wasn't fair. She had never wanted this. She wanted to be studying and going to school so she could become a lawyer, not running around killing monsters and taking care of a sweet and idiotic kid.

A pair of boots entered her line of vision. "I see, so this is how they dealt with the interloper. Lexaeus, pick her up. Perhaps we can get some information on what they're planning up there." Haruhi vaguely felt herself be lifted from the ground gently, eyes barely open. There was a rustling of pages and the room went white. "The room needs to be reset for our other guest, after all." She could make out the blurry outline of a face with a shock of orange-ish hair before everything went dark.

When she came to, the world was dim. Haruhi shook her head, trying not to vomit. "How unfortunate," an icy voice muttered, "that she was unconscious and traumatized through the Dark Corridor travel. It would have been fascinating to see the unaltered effect of the Dark Realm on a human."

The figures across from her slowly began to focus in her vision. "You..." she panted, her voice weak. "Say that…as if you aren't." Forcing back the images in her head, Haruhi's eyes stayed trained on the trio. "Your colleagues sure seemed human."

"Interesting. Most people would be catatonic after what XI and XII did. Why aren't you?" The long haired man asked. When the girl stayed stubbornly quiet he harrumphed. "As for your question, child, we are no longer human."

"No longer human? How does that even work? You don't look like a Heartless and you don't have the same aura that Ansem had." The man smirked as the other two's heads shot toward them.

"We are very similar to the Heartless you call Ansem." He sneered at the name. "However, we are also very different."

"Vexen." The shorter one warned. His voice was familiar.

The blond – Vexen, she assumed – turned toward the other. "Does it truly matter if I tell her? Superior sending us was announcing to the wielder of the Keyblade and his friends that we are here anyway."

The other sighed. "Very well then. You will be the one to explain it to him, though."

"He needs us." Vexen's voice wavered. Turning his back to the man, he stared at Haruhi. "Where was I? Ah, yes, unlike the Heartless, we have full control over ourselves without possessions. If I understand correctly, Ansem was using the heart of Riku to exist."

Haruhi nodded. "Yes, he was. But Riku reclaimed himself."

"Do not interrupt me, girl. Though we call them Heartless, in all truth they are made of hearts and are therefore slaves to the heart's emotions. We are not Heartless. We are Nobodies, the shells left behind when a strong heart is stolen. Without a heart, we cannot feel and are therefore not bound as they are."

"Nobodies…" She was quiet, mulling over what was said. Something was off, though. "But, if you can't feel then how do you explain Larxene? She was… truly angry. No one does what she did if they aren't…"

The shorter one sighed. "She and others among us hold on to what emotion they can remember. It isn't real. Just a well-crafted illusion. But now we should get down to business. What is it they are doing up there with Sora? What threat did you pose to their plans?"

Haruhi shook her head. "You should know, shouldn't you? They're messing with his memories, replacing them. But for what ends I don't know. As for how I was a threat… All I did was point out what Sora should know. He forgot Kairi." She paused. "So did Donald and Goofy. I remembered."

"Vexen." The shortest one seemed to be the true leader here. "When you rejoin our colleagues, see if you can ask the witch about our guest's memories." His gaze rested on the girl. "I find myself curious as well."

"Who is of higher rank here, Six?" Vexen hissed. "But very well. Data is data. My Replica should have fought Sora by now." The man vanished into a dome of darkness.

Haruhi wasn't entirely sure how long she had been in the dark room. The larger man, who introduced himself as Lexaeus, had disappeared a while ago. The other, Zexion, was silently reading from a giant tome. The Host thought better of trying to make conversation with him, the Nobody reminded her entirely too much of Kyouya on a bad day.

The hours of stillness was broken by the rustling of pages as the book snapped shut. Zexion stood, almost restlessly. His chair and the table vanished, leaving Haruhi's seat as the only furniture. A sharp intake of breath was what drew the girl's attention, though. He was stiff, a look of pure irritation in his eyes. Lexaeus appeared out of the darkness, his face somewhat grimmer than before. "Vexen is no more."

"Yes. His scent is gone. Axel struck him down." There was empty contempt in the shorter Nobody's voice. "It's something I find deplorable. Agents of the Organization striking each other down…"

"Our problem is Sora." Haruhi stood silently at her friend's name. The two seemed to have forgotten her presence. "Vexen was no match for him and he is still under Namine's control." So Namine was real… But not who Sora thought she was…

"But we cannot eliminate Sora, can we?" It sounded as if they had gone over this topic time and time again, to no real conclusion.

Lexaeus nodded. "Correct. For our Superior, he is in dire need of the hero of light. When light loses sight of its path we may find use for the dark. What we must do…is obtain the darkness."

Realization dawned on the girl. The darkness to Sora's light, the one person who could truly match him… But, did that mean he really was here as well? "No…"

Zexion's eyes flickered toward her before returning to his companion. "Riku... Of course."

She was on edge, waiting. Her plan was risky and relied on every ounce of luck the Host had left. But getting to Riku was the best chance she'd have at getting to Sora, so try she would. Lexaeus straightened and Haruhi mentally applauded herself. Zexion would only face Riku if there was no other choice. She'd only have a moment.

Zexion nodded and, as Lexaeus summoned the dark dome, the girl leapt forward. The next thing she knew, she was in a bright hallway much like those she traveled through with Sora. "Ow…"

"What..?" Haruhi looked up, brown meeting bright (albeit incredibly confused) blue eyes of Riku. He sniffed the air, stiffening. "That scent..." He glared at Lexaeus "You're another one of those nobodies."

Lexaeus was unfazed. "You've done well thus far. But to possess your powers, and yet fear darkness... What a waste."

"I do not...fear it!" Haruhi blinked, pushing herself up and nearer to Riku. There was nothing wrong with fear…

"I sense that you do. You're also capable of controlling the darkness. Cast away your useless fear. Open your heart. Embrace the darkness."

"And if I say no?" There was a taunt in the boy's voice that worried the girl. Did he not see the size of the man? Not to mention the nearly as giant weapon… These boys had no sense of self-preservation…

Lexaeus didn't lose his perfect calm. "Then you lose both light and darkness," he paused, crouching dangerously. "and disappear!" A red and black aura enveloped the man, darkness shooting at Riku, who stumbled back a little. Haruhi slipped closer to him, grabbing his arm in support. He smiled in thanks before turning his attention back to their enemy. The darkness disappeared. "I, Lexaeus, will not yield to the frail heart of an infantile coward! Now, stop resisting and let the darkness in!"

As the Nobody and teen brandished their weapons, Haruhi felt a familiar sensation come over her.

Haruhi reappeared by the wall. She stayed there, finding it better to observe than go between the two exhausted combatants. Riku was still standing. "You're finished!" He leapt at the seemingly fallen Nobody.

Eyes narrowed dangerously. "Don't mock me!" The giant axe-like weapon slammed into the boy, sending him flying. Haruhi winced, hearing him crash against the ceiling and floor. "You were too much trouble." The mountainous man stood, approaching Riku's prone form.

"No!" Haruhi moved without really thinking, throwing herself in his path to buy the other teen more time to recover. Without even breaking his stride, Lexaeus smacked the Host out of his way. She dropped, dazed. She was just able to focus on what was happening. A dark haze rose over Riku, transforming his clothes to a familiar, foreboding outfit. Lexaeus gasped lightly as he pushed himself up. He vanished and the Nobody grunted, stiffening. His weapon fell. Riku appeared behind him.

"Too slow." Even in her current state, Haruhi could hear something wrong with Riku's voice.

Lexaeus's voice was weak. "You are the Superior's…" He turned, a wispy darkness and odd distortions appearing around him. "Forgive me, Zexion. This was a fight I should not have started." And he was gone. For good, something in the back of the girl's mind told her. The darkness was too different from the other passages he had used.

Riku chuckled. He took a step before his eyes rolled back and he dropped. His clothes returned to normal. Haruhi made her way over to him slowly. He thrashed, groaning. "Riku, Riku wake up! Riku!"

He jolted up, looking down at his hands. "The king... He protected me..." He paid Haruhi no heed, looking around frantically. "Your Majesty, where are you? Please answer!" No answer. Riku's hand found his heart. "You're with me, aren't you..?"

Sighing, Haruhi stood. "Riku..?" She flinched as he spun around. "I don't know if you remember me, but I was-"

"Traveling with Sora, yeah. I know. Haruhi, right?" She nodded. His brow furrowed. "Where is he? Why aren't you with him?"

"It's a long story." She warned before plunging into the tale.

Yes, I know I was rather mean to Haruhi in this chapter, but I had to separate her from Sora. The story would be incredibly boring if it was constantly stuff from the game plus Haruhi mentioning how something was wrong. Plenty of time for that with KHII. So now Sora doesn't remember her, she's a little bit traumatized, and Riku has a companion. Originally two chapters, but they were pretty short