Royal Darkness

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Kingdom Hearts Saga except for Saiyoku.

"Uh, wh—where am I?" Saiyoku woke with a start, completely confused; her senses seemed to be on hyperactive mode. She was floating on her back in a sea of foggy gray, nothing around her. Well, she'd been in darkness, through light, and now this?

"Riku? Your Majesty?" She sat up slowly, unaccustomed to the total lack of gravity. There was no one around. How was she supposed to get back?

Light… or the dark? Does it matter?

"Oh what do you know, it's you again. It's been what? A year?"

You must re-decide.

"Re-decide? Why? I'm perfectly happy with my choice, thank you very much Mister-picky-choosy-disembodied-voice-inside-my-head."

It is not because of you, but because of Riku.

"Hmm?"

What he chose and what he rejected just now affected you.

"Wait… So where is he?"

He has now chosen the path in-between light and dark, same as you.

"You did not answer my question, and how does this matter?"

That Paopu fruit affects it. Do you still believe that you can help him on this path? Or that he can help you?

"If I picked it, I'm staying with it. Did you really think I'd stray from this path?"

No.

"Then shoo you little voice, shoo!"

One more thing. Here.

An elongated crown shaped card appeared in front of her, and she took it. It had a picture of a dark grassy field with a crossroad in the center.

This card will allow you to go to this place. The King is here. If you want to, you may go. If not, you will stay asleep here forever. That card is the pathway to a long and perilous journey, where you will hear many truths and lies and see much pain and suffering. Stay here if you want to be safe from these dangers, where sleep is eternal.

"Any upsides?"

Choose.

"You just do not like happy things. Okay… umm…" She looked around the gray sea and thought long and hard. The voice had mentioned the King, but didn't mention Riku… The best odds are that he's with his Majesty and they're waiting for me, she thought.

"Okay, I choose to go. See ya later!" She disappeared in a flash of light; the card was left behind, fluttering in place, as if it was falling but not getting anywhere.

Irrational child, but intelligent…

King Mickey was wandering down a dirt path in the middle of an open field, the stars dim and barely visible, as if covered by a veil. A flash of light behind the dark gray clouds caught his eye and he looked up and saw what looked like a shooting star. It grew larger as it approached his Majesty. He gasped as he could make out a girl's features within the shining flame of light. The beam slowed and seemed to gradually turn so she would land on her feet.

She landed softly, the light dimming, her hair and clothes fluttering in the wind. Her knees buckled beneath her and she collapsed into the grass. The King ran toward her, nudging her awake.

"Hey, are you alright?"

She opened her eyes and picked herself up, looking down at her tiny little King.

"I'm fine. Thank you, Your Majesty." She dusted off her hands and did a tiny little flip of her hair with her hand before asking him, "Is Riku with you?"

He looked at her hard before responding, "Oh, you and that boy were the ones who were on the other side of the door with me. Your name is…?"

"Saiyoku."

"Okay, Saiyoku. The boy's name you said was Riku, right?"

She nodded, hoping that Riku just hadn't told him his name.

"So, do you know where he is?"

He looked up for a long time, trying to remember. He shrugged his shoulders, "Nope. But I'm sure we'll find him."

"We? Are you saying I can stay with you?"

"Of course. We can find your friend, and we'll find Sora, Donald, and Goofy."

"Alright, Your Majesty."

"Please, call me Mickey."

"Okay Your Maj—oh, I mean Mickey."

He held out his hand and Saiyoku took it. They continued to walk down the road, both discussing where they had been and her decision.

"Mickey, do you have any idea where we are?"

"I believe it's an area of the Dark Realm, kinda more like an outer shell than the main core, that's why it's not total darkness, and you can even see the stars. It also means, since we are still in the Dark Realm, and we'll have to find some way to get out, since all normal communication is blocked."

"So, no gummi ships?"

"Nope. We'll have to find out where Riku is, and if he's not in the Dark Realm anymore, then we'll have to find a way out of here somehow. It might take weeks, or at the most, years!"

"Heh, I guess we'll have to find something… but, there's absolutely NOTHING out here except this field." She gave a small smile, Thanks for REALLY cheering me up, Your Majesty. How the heck are we supposed to get out of here!?

"Look." He pointed in front of them, where a man in a black robe that shielded his face stood facing them, blocking their path.

"Who is he?"

Mickey ran forward and drew his Keyblade trying to attack the mysterious man. He dodged every single one of the King's attacks; he was clearly not in the mood for any fighting. He held up his hand to stop Mickey and pulled out another card. He disappeared into a dark portal, leaving the card behind. Saiyoku ran up and grabbed it, examining it from back to front. It wasn't the blue color the other card she had seen; it was black instead, with a picture of a strange castle.

She offered it to Mickey to let him see. He held it up as if to see it better before handing the card back to Saiyoku.

"Where do you think this castle is?"

"Maybe if we continue down this road, it'll eventually bring us there." Mickey pointed farther down the road, where all Saiyoku could see was more grass.

"I don't know, but… oh!" She almost dropped the card when it burst into light for a few seconds, glistening and reflecting the stars above. "What do you think that was about?" She started to turn it over again, but watched the reflection this time. It vanished and changed on the other side, and she held it up to try and get her own reflection. The other reflection was still there, not of her, but…

"Mickey, I think you need to take another look at this card." She passed it to him, and he turned it over too.

"That reflection… do you think?"

"Yep. That's where Riku is. But, who was that guy? And why did he give us this card?" She continued to watch the reflection.

"Hmm… maybe he was a good guy!"

"I don't know… something seems funny… why would he just give us the card and not say anything, like how to get there or whatnot?"

"Maybe he was shy?"

"Okay, seriously Mickey…" Saiyoku shook her head and smirked before beginning heading down the road, the King stunned behind her.

"What? What?" He asked, confused.

She continued to stare at the card, confused but happy. Now she knew where Riku was… It was a bit strange though that that guy had just appeared out of nowhere when they had just been talking about how to find Riku and how to get out. She turned the card so the reflection was just perfect, no glare. There was Riku's face in the reflection. Not hers, not the stars', not anything else, and he wasn't even there.

The King caught up with her quickly, and he asked for the card. She handed it to him and he drew his Keyblade.

"What are you gonna do?"

"Trace this card to where Riku is." The card burst into light again and hovered out of Mickey's hand. The Keyblade glowed too, and a burst of light surrounded both Saiyoku and King Mickey. "The castle is too far away, so I can't make it there just yet. We'll have to get closer, which will probably take us some time."

"Like, how much time?"

"A week or so."

"A week? But, Riku…"

"Don't worry Saiyoku. Don't you believe in your friend?"

She sighed, "Of course I do. I'm not worried about him; I'm worried about whoever's in that castle. Who knows what we'll be facing next."

"We'll find out eventually."

The light seemed to grow smaller until it barely covered them both.

"I'm going to be sending us there more in a spirit form, just so we can talk to Riku, if only for a moment. I have the strangest feeling that he needs help."

"Is it because every heart is connected? Is that how you can feel it? 'Cause I can feel it too."

"Ahuh, and that's how I'm utilizing this pathway for now. The ties between hearts are especially faint when far away, so the weaker the ties, the harder it is for me to use the pathway."

The field around them faded and instead showed an all white hallway, probably inside the castle. The image sharpened, showing Riku on one side of the hall with a man Saiyoku knew too well.

"Ansem!" She growled, "What's he doing here? And with Riku?"

"I don't know. But I can't hear what they're saying just yet. We need to get closer."

"Can Riku see us?"

"Eventually he'll be able to hear our voices, but all he'll see is a small ball of light."

The speech below grew louder and clearer, so both Saiyoku and the King could hear.

"—so you can play puppetmaster."

"Clever boy. I knew you'd be the one to most appropriately serve me. And now, surrender to me again!" Ansem held out his hand.

"You're crazy! Not a chance!" Riku drew his Souleater Keyblade and lunged for Ansem, who merely blocked it with a Dark Aura Shield, knocking Riku back to where he was, sprawled out on the floor.

"Did you really think you could do me harm? A weakling like you couldn't even defeat Sora when you had Darkness on your side."

"Mickey, Riku's in trouble. We have to do something!"

"I know, but this trick takes some time. I'm almost there."

"We don't have time!"

Riku sat up, groaning, "Well excuse me for being weak."

"You are weak." Ansem taunted as he approached Riku, "You need Darkness. Surrender. Bow to Darkness, bow to me!"

"That's not gonna happen."

"Your Majesty!"

"I've got it!"

"Only the Darkness can offer to you all of the strength that you will need."

"You're wrong!" Mickey yelled to Ansem, and sure enough, Riku could hear him now. They lowered so they were standing in front of him rather than above him.

"That voice…" Riku turned to follow whatever he was seeing that was circling him. He then looked back at us, whatever he had seen had stopped.

"Your Majesty!?"

"That's right! Remember Riku, you're not alone."

He nodded and followed whatever he saw until he was looking down at his chest. He held his hand above his heart.

"Listen close. The Light will never give up on you. You'll always find it, even in the deepest Darkness."

"I got it. I won't lose to Darkness." He stood up, "Not today."

Ansem crossed his arms and looked entirely smug. "You think that feeble little light can save you? From the Darkness that I command!?"

They both took their fighting stances and the scene began to fade.

"What? No, can't you keep it up longer, Mickey?"

"I'm sorry, Saiyoku. I can't. Riku's locked his heart for now, at least the pathways between them. He's trying with all his might to keep Ansem out and Light in, so he's cutting off all connection for a while."

The scene changed back to the field they were in again, and the card fluttered into Saiyoku's palm. She tucked it into one of her many pockets and sighed. So close, yet so far…