A/N: Yay for XxFireFistAcexX!!! He won my contest, so I'm writing him his very own oneshot on the plot he gave me. I hope everyone enjoys it (especially the winner)!!!!
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. The plot belongs to XFireFistAceX I just wrote it out for him :3
P.s. If I get something wrong, please tell me. I never played Chain of Memories. I've only read the manga. It's painfully obvious. And, XD I'm clueless as to what Xemnas fights with!
X--Dodo-do-do-dodo--X
Riku dashed through the hallways of castle oblivion, kicking through doors and sprinting up stairs. He gripped the handle of Road to Dawn in the palm of his hand tightly as he searched hastily, still finding no success in his mission. If only he had a map or something to navigate with… This place was huge! On top of being totally lost, having no idea where he was, he'd been searching at least an hour and there was still no sign of Xemnas. No sign of Namine…. To make matters worse, his energy was draining by the second, not to mention his hope. How the chase had started, he could care less. What he beat himself up for was the fact that he was stupid enough to let Xemnas get away with the girl. He didn't care if the memory of her in his childhood was fake or if she'd made the whole thing up with those little "witch" powers of hers, or whatever the organization called it, Namine still meant something to him. What was it Sora had said earlier? Something about a promise…
Bah! He needed to focus. At least the other Organization members weren't getting in his way; he couldn't handle anything else at the moment. He was bent on finding a way to the top floor of Castle Oblivion, he was sure that's where Xemnas was keeping Namine. Positive. Sliding on his heals and coming to a halt in front of the next set of stairs, he then raced up the steps to a new floor of the castle.
At long last, he reached the top floor and, sure enough, there was Namine. She wasn't conscious, but she was there. That was relieving enough. He dashed over to where she was and knelt down beside her, grabbing hold of her shoulders and shaking her back and forth. "Wake up!" He called. "Wake up!" She didn't budge. She didn't do anything. Before Riku could really do anything about it, Xemnas appeared behind him and laughed wickedly, drawing his own weapon, eyes on his prey.
"Come to save your precious witch?" Xemnas questioned, taking off his hood and showing his face. His silver hair, much like Riku's, fell in front of his face and over part of his eyes. His death glare was menacing. Just the way Xemnas spoke made Riku's blood run cold. He'd get rid of it, for sure. Xemnas would pay for ever daring to hurt Namine.
"She is not a witch." Riku snarled, gripping Road to Dawn in his hands, holding it in front of him while he stood in front of Namine, blocking her from Xemnas. His hold on Road to Dawn was so tight that the handle was becoming embedded into the palm of his hand. He always chose the finest times and places to become nervous. Xemnas would surely take it to his advantage, unfortunately. But Riku didn't have time for mind games. His objective was to grab the girl and get out.
"Worked up?" Xemnas asked, lowering his weapon and walking closer to Riku. Riku backed up a little against Namine, giving Xemnas a look of sheer hate as he did circles around the two. He just wanted to kill him now and get it over with. " Tell me," Xemnas started, snickering evilly as he neared Riku again, who backed up even further, "What's she to you? Why don't you just leave without her?"
"I-I..." Riku almost dropped his guard for a second to look at her but stayed focused. "I'm not entirely sure." Xemnas began laughing so loud and obnoxiously that Riku had to cover his ears just so he could think. His ear drums felt like they'd explode. Twitching, Riku bent his knees and got ready for battle, uncovering his ears and taking full grip on Road to Dawn once again when Xemnas had hushed himself. Thank the dear lord.
"And what, might I ask, are you going to do to take her from me? I hope you didn't come here thinking it'd be easy." Xemnas was now on the other side of the long room, far enough away for Riku to feel somewhat comfortable with the distance, if at all. Just being near the leader of the organization made his chest ache. He felt bad for the poor little Namine collapsed on the ground behind him; she'd spent her whole life here. She'd surely find happiness with Sora, Kairi, and himself on Destiny Island.
"Nothing is ever easy with you, is it?" Riku yelled, levels of anger reaching their limits. Who did he think he was, torturing innocent people and then calling them witches. He didn't exactly know Namine, yet, but he did know that she didn't deserve the way she was being treated. Not at all.
"Need I remind you who I am?" Xemnas took slow steps toward the center of the room where Riku was defending the "witch." The glare plastered on his face never left him. "Leader of all nobodies, master of-"
Riku cut him off. "Yeah, yeah. Blah, blah, blah." Riku felt ill. "You've repeated yourself one too may times." Xemnas growled, took a battle stance used both of his hands to hold his weapon up. You could see the electricity surging through the metal, which soon spread to the walls of the room and the part of floor that he was standing on, just threatening Riku to come closer.
"Tell me," Xemnas started, shaking his head to remove stray pieces of hair from his eyes. "Are you ready to die?" He took three steps even closer, ready to strike at any second. The same went for Riku. The electricity surged through every inch of Xemnas' body and even over his shadow, trickling at Riku's toes. Riku wasn't concerned with the energy though; his eyes were fixed on Xemnas'. A deadly silence filled the air. Sweat rolled down his forehead and down his arms and legs, getting in-between Riku's palm and the handle of his weapon. Xemnas grinned wickedly and took another step forward. The electricity was now running through Riku's feet, making him twitch. He did his best to ignore the pain and gripped Road to Dawn tighter.
"Do something already," Riku threatened, "what are you waiting for?!"
Xemnas' grin grew, and held up his weapon, about to attack. "As you wish." He shot forward but Riku held Road to Dawn in front of himself to block the attack, wincing a bit as the electricity at his feet surged up his legs. Xemnas pulled his weapon back and swung it at Riku again, only to hit the air. Riku had ducked and then the weapon was completely out of his way he shot up again and shoved Road to Dawn right through Xemnas' chest, where the heart should be.
Things got quiet all of a sudden and the electricity stopped, and when it did Riku leaned closer and pushed Road to Dawn even further through his body. That was it...? Riku thought when Xemnas' skin felt cold. He was expecting a lot more.
Suddenly, Xemnas' evil laughed roared through the room, echoing and electricity covered Road to Dawn and traveled up to the handle and through Riku's chest and arms. Riku screamed and flew back against the wall, ripping Road to Dawn from Xemnas' body and falling to the ground, the energy still pumping through his middle. In short, it hurt like hell. While he groaned in pain, wrapping his arms around his middle and dropping Road to Dawn, Xemnas came to Riku's side and knelt down next to him, grabbing a handful of Riku's silver hair and pulling his head up to look at him. "You shouldn't underestimate me, Riku." Xemnas used his hair to throw his head back up against the wall with a bang. "You disappoint me."
Riku was so confused his head hurt. Or, he thought that was what was making his head hurt. He'd gotten him right in the chest, in the heart... He closed his eyes tight as another wave of Xemnas' energy poured through his body.
Xemnas stood again, smirking at Riku while he screamed agony. It seemed as though he were almost finished with this pest, he was at least half dead by now. "I haven't a heart, remember? That trick won't work so easily."
Riku mentally slapped himself. Of course he had no heart! What was he thinking!? Xemnas was a nobody! How was he supposed to kill him now? He knew that he'd better think fast, time for him was running out. And quickly. Riku forced himself to his feet, held Road to Dawn in one hand and wrapped his free arm around his stomach. "Yeah," Riku muttered, "I remember."
Xemnas grinned when Riku had stood. He arched his back and held his weapon in the air with his elbow still bent, ready to strike. The evil in his eyes glistened clearly as the static around him grew further and a chilling breeze filled the atmosphere. He looked like he just couldn't wait to tear Riku to bits.
Riku shivered and bit his tongue, sweat trickling down his forehead. He glanced at Namine for a second to make sure she was okay, and she was. For some reason, the electricity went around her.
"So," Xemnas caught Riku's attention again, "what's your next move, hero?"
Riku turned to look at Xemnas again. Hero? He was far from it...
"Guess."
000
Riku screamed out with pain, falling to his knees on the cold, hard floor and gripping his torn shoulder. He lost Road to Dawn halfway through the fight, and fighting with his bare hands proved to be quite difficult. His blood ran over his hand and down his arm, dripping onto the floor as he watched it, horrified. The past hour and a half had been hell, seeing as Riku had all the wounds and scars and Xemnas hadn't even a scratch. Riku felt pathetic.
He managed to stand again, but had to lean against the wall he'd been backed up against for balance. His face was drenched in sweat and his muscles felt as though they were about to explode; not to mention a few of his ribs were broken. If this took any longer, he'd bleed to death. He felt hopeless, like he was in a corner. There was nothing left for him to use, he'd done just about everything he could think of. Xemnas dodged everything. Out of breath, Riku used all the strength in his body to push off the wall and try and strike Xemnas again, which, of course, failed. When Xemnas had simply stepped out of Riku's way last second, Riku fell to the ground on his nearly broken arm and screamed again, turning over on his back and squeezing his eyes shut.
His chest moved up and down rapidly as he panted and laid there, nearly unable to pick himself up again. Almost every ounce of his strength was drained. Not only was Riku's head pounding, but he could barely keep his eyes open either.
"I expected more than this from the key bearer's best friend," Xemnas sighed, then snickered like a maniac, "He'll be devastated when I tell him you're dead."
Riku scowled and got up again, at least on his knees. "You'll leave Sora alone." Riku wished he had Road to Dawn really bad at this point. Or a gun... Riku hated fighting with his bear hands.
"Just give up already..." Xemnas sighed.
"I haven't lost yet." Riku hissed.
"Yet." Xemnas snickered, right before he sent a wave of electricity Riku's way. Riku fell over on his back in pain, his scream echoing off the walls like a broken tape recorder. The sound was so horrifying that Namine stirred from her deep sleep. She sat up and stretched, yawned, and rubbed her eyes before she looked around at where she was. When she saw the static flooding the room and Riku, half dead, lying on the floor she covered her mouth with both her hands, terrified. Xemnas turned his head slowly to look at her, while Riku continued to shriek in agony. "Awake, Namine?"
The sound of Namine's name being spoken immediately distracted Riku from his aching body. Namine!?
Xemnas ignored Riku, for the moment, and walked towards Namine. "Scared I'm going to kill your little key-bearer, witch?"
Xemnas lifted his hand, fully prepared to do whatever to knock Namine out again. "Leave her alone!" Riku yelled, catching Xemnas' attention once again.
"Don't worry, I have no reason to kill her yet." Xemnas then turned back to Namine, grabbed her by her arm, and held out his hand again.
"DON'T!" It was too late, the static from Xemnas' palm flooded into Namine's arm and into her head, making her twitch in fear for a second before her eyes went blank and her head fell over, and her whole body went limp. Xemnas threw her back to the ground and laughed, watching Namine sleep for a second before he turned back to Riku.
Riku clenched his fists and stood on his two feet again, amazingly. His rage was so strong that it surpassed any pain. He growled through his teeth, giving Xemnas a death glare as he prepared to charge. Just then he remembered, though, that if he kept this up, all the bones in his body would be crushed in a matter of minutes. The strain was too great. So, he sunk to his knees again and sighed, holding his bloody hands out in front of him in defeat. "I give up," he whispered, "you win. Just leave Namine alone." Just then he remembered while he was staring at his hands... Magic! How in all the worlds had he become such a moron, he didn't know.
"Finally." Xemnas sighed in relief. "As for the witch, I'll do what I want with her."
"CURE!" Riku screamed, catching Xemnas off guard. A bright white, blinding light flowed through Riku's arms and up through the rest of his body, making but two seconds to Cure more than half of Riku's wounds. Riku grinned really wide and looked up at Xemnas slowly, who looked like he was in trouble. Riku felt sooooo much better about the situation; he'd come up with a way to beat Xemnas, or, at least, hold him off long enough for Riku to grab Namine and run away.
Riku stood on his feet again, this time with hardly any pain at all, and gave Xemnas a look. Xemnas returned the same expression.
"FREEZE!" Riku screamed, catching Xemnas off gaurd again and he held his hands over his face while Riku pointed at Xemnas and a blast of ice and cold air flew his way. "FREEZE FREEZE FREEZE!" Within a matter of minutes, Xemnas was totally frozen. You could see his eyes move inside the ice, but that was about it.
Not even taking a second to look at Xemnas after that, he dashed across the room and scooped Namine's near lifeless body up in his arms and ran away, running as fast as his feet would carry himself and Namine. The only way out of the castle that he knew was where he got in; the front door. That meant traveling all the way back down several flights of stairs. It couldn't take long, though, he had to be fast. Who knew how long the ice suit would hot Xemnas? The fear made him go faster.
000
Just as Riku reached the two, tall front doors he heard a loud roar from all the way at the top of the castle. Once Riku was outside, he left the doors open and sprinted as far away as he possibly could. It didn't matter where he ran, Sora would most likely find him sooner or later and take himself and Namine back to Radiant Garden in Hallow Bastion. And just like he'd thought, Sora's gummi ship hovered over the two within minutes and a rope fell from the door.
"C'mon, Riku!" Donald yelled from the ship, looking down at Riku. Riku grabbed the rope with one hand and tightened his grip around Namine's tiny waist with he other. He jumped and the gummi ship took off with the two of them while Riku stared at the castle as it began to get smaller and smaller. Namine was still sound asleep when they reached Hallow Bastion. Riku and Sora talked with Leon and Cloud while Yuffee and Aerith tended to Namine, who seemed to be sleeping through everything.
"You didn't kill him?" Leon questioned.
"I'm surprised you didn't pulverize him!" Sora gawked.
"Shut-up..." Riku sighed.
"Next time," Sora chuckled, "I'm coming. We'll beat him together!"
"I can handle it myself." Riku told.
"Riku!" Aerith called from the other end of the room. She'd just come out of the room Namine and Yuffee were in. "You should get some rest, too. Don't worry, we've got Namine taken care of. You can talk to her in the morning."
"But-!"
Aerith gave him 'the look.'
Riku gave in. "Alright." He turned to Sora. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow, too."
"Actually..." Sora rubbed the back of his neck. "Donald, Goofy, and I have to go the kings castle tomorrow. We'll be gone before the sun comes up."
Riku sighed. "Bye, then."
"Bye."
Riku dragged his feet to the room Aerith directed him too; a few doors down from Namine's room. He walked into the dark room and shut the door behind him before he climbed into bed and turned over on his back to stare at the ceiling. Of course he wasn't going to be able to get to sleep, despite the fact that he was exhausted. He laced his fingers behind his head (the typical Sora pose) and drifted off into thought. All his thinking was centered around one person, though, you could guess.
Namine.
A few hours of no sleep and constant worrying finally drove him out of bed. He opened his door, quietly though, and tip-toes down the hallway so nobody would hear him coming. Thankfully, Aerith and Yuffie were sound asleep in their chairs next to Namine's bed. Only problem, they were light sleepers. They could hardly sleep through anything.
Riku stealthily made his way over to Namine's side and peaked over the edge of the bed, taking a second to stop and watch her sleep. Namine had felt his presence though, she could feel his warm breath against her skin, and she stirred. "R-Riku?" Namine asked, lifting up her hand to touch Riku's face, but he stopped her and held a finger over his mouth.
"Shhhh..." Riku hummed sweetly, and tugged on her arm, urging for her to get up. She obeyed, and quietly pulled her feet over the edge of the bed. Riku gently grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the room, and then the two snuck up to the roof of the building and sat themselves down on the tiled surface, finally able to make it up without waking anyone up.
Sitting close to Riku, Namine brought her legs up to her chest and hugged them, resting her head on top of her knees as she breathed in the sweet, nighttime air.
"So..." Riku started after a while, leaning back and using his arms to support his body. "You sleep well?"
Namine said nothing, and Riku suddenly felt horrible. He'd nearly forgotten about Xemnas.
"Sorry." Riku mumbled.
Namine still kept quiet.
"Um," Riku sighed, rubbed the beck of his neck, and gave Namine an apologetic look, "are you okay? I mean... I didn't really get-"
"I'm fine." Namine said in a faint tone. Riku almost didn't hear her.
"O-oh okay," Riku forced a smile, "good."
More silence filled the air until Namine spoke again. "You shouldn't have come after me."
Riku looked at her suddenly, making a face, "why not?"
Namine looked at him. "It was a trap, obviously. Why would Xemnas suddenly-"
"I knew that," Riku laughed, "I had to get you away from Xemnas somehow. That's what the king told me to do."
Namine looked surprised, and then she looked back down. "Oh..."
Riku stared at her for a second, and then looked up at the glistening sky.
"Why?" Namine questioned, getting Riku's attention again.
"You're part of Kairi," Riku explained.
"Hmm." Namine hummed, sounding disappointed. The last thing she wanted to think about was seeing Kairi again, because, well, you all know what that means. Time to return to her real self.
"But," Riku said, "Kairi won't be here for a while. In the mean time, the king's making me stay here to keep you company."
Namine winced at the word making. "Thanks... I guess..."
"Glad to be out of that creepy castle?" Riku asked, trying to cheer her up.
Namine thought about it for a moment, "Yeah. Maybe."
"You know," Riku tapped her shoulder, getting her to look at him, "it wasn't right of them to call you a witch."
"I never really minded," Namine's gaze shifted to the side, "I kind of am."
"N-Namine!" Riku lifted his hand to the side of her face, and tilted her head towards his again. Their eyes locked and Namine felt at peace for a moment, before Riku spoke softly again. "Don't say that..."
Suddenly, a noise from behind them interrupted everything. Startled by the noise, the two turned their heads to the source of the noise. "Hey, what're you to doing out here, I-" It was Yuffie, looking quite frustrated with her hands on her hips, but she stopped and just stared when she actually looked at the two, "Oh... Was I interrupting something?"
Riku's face turned ten shades of red and Namine just looked confused when Riku removed his hand from her face and looked away for a minute.
Yuffie shook her head, rolling her eyes, and then held out a hand for Namine. "Hey," she said sweetly, "you should come and get some more rest, I'm sure that everything that happened yesterday was hard. You just need to relax for a while, okay?"
Namine took the offered hand and was helped up to her feet, and gently guided back inside.
"Oh, Riku?" Yuffie said before she left with Namine. "Just let her be for a while."
Namine looked back at Riku before he was totally out of sight and Riku looked back at her too. Their eyes met for a fraction of a second and then Namine was out of sight. Riku sighed, and stared up at the sky again.
Yuffie was right, there was more than enough time later to talk. For now, he just needed to focus on a plan to get rid of Xemnas for good. If it were possible.
God knows Sora'd think of something, though. Maybe Riku could just relax for a while too
End
A/N: I really liked writng that, although it took a while (sorry marc :(... ). Maybe I'll make another chapter :D Some time later, though, if i do. I've got to focus on a few of my other fan fics for a while. hope this was enjoyable! Review please! Heehee, Namine's so shy...
Hope the action was written well enough! I had some trouble with that part of this fic...