Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts and I will not repeat this disclaimer because I hope that it will work for the entire story.
A/N: This is my second Fanfic and unlike my other story this isn't completely written out. When I began uploading Feelings are Illusions I already had the story finished, so this will not update as quickly as the other one did. I only have a basic idea of where this story is going so any feedback is appreciated. Thanks.
(^_^)
The castle blatantly stood out against the dark night sky, its yellow brick walls and contrasting turquoise roofs reflected off the light of the moon. A figure in a black leather coat made his way down a dark path toward Castle Oblivion, a place where he never wanted to step foot into again. It had not been long since he last visited this place but it was already bringing back memories he hoped to forget. Somehow Sora had lost everything precious to him in this building and it hurt to remember that he was unaware of what was going on or where his best friend was.
Forcing those memories out of his train of thought, Riku made his way to the doorstep of the castle. He needed to know more information on Organization Thirteen in order to clear his conscious of what happened with Sora. Without knowing what these things were, both Sora and himself were able to destroy a few of them. Although they reduced their numbers, somehow the Organization still continued to threaten them. The side of light in his heart needed to find an advantage and the place to start looking was the only place Riku knew the Organization once controlled, Castle Oblivion.
Riku pushed open the large doors, surprised that he was able to open them without any difficulty. He had assumed that the doors would be difficult to open due to their lack of use. After shutting the door behind him, Riku walked down the long hallway. Memories of his conversation with Ansem's Heartless played in his mind, and he was thankful that he had the darkness in his heart at bay for awhile. He decided to head to the upper levels of the castle knowing that is where Marluxia and his followers stayed, assuming that they would have information on the Organization and what their plans were. As he walked he wished he could relive the memories Sora had of this place, maybe then he would be able to get past what occurred here.
After making his way to the upper most floor he found a door that led to Marluxia's room. He figured if the former leader of Castle Oblivion had information it would be here. The room was dusty, which wasn't surprising considering no one lived here for at least 2 years. The first thing that caught his eye was the bookshelf against the far corner of the room. There was little of interest there, nothing that would help him in his search for enlightenment. As he looked through the room he found nothing beyond schemes to overthrow the Organization and his plans for the members who resided in the lower levels. These were the three that he encountered, but surprisingly they did not go after Sora. He wanted to understand Sora's struggle, even if Sora did not remember it himself.
Riku exited the room, disappointed that he found nothing in the room. He then wondered around the rest of the floor, looking into the rooms that belonged to Larxene and Axel. Both of which were cluttered but held nothing of importance. So far this trip was a waste, he was doing nothing but remembering is own struggle with the darkness in his heart. He then decided to head down to the lower floors where the members he encountered lived. All three of them were scientists who recorded everything so there was a chance that they may have recorded what was occurring with Sora as well, especially since that is why they were sent here from the World that Never Was.
After the long hike back downstairs he continued to descend into the basement of the castle. One thing he noticed was that it was unusually cold down here. He knew that Vexen lived down here and he wielded ice but he was the first member to be destroyed. Deciding that it was just the fact that most basements are colder than the rest of the house Riku continued downward. Once he reached the lowest floor he noticed that it was not as dusty as the rest of the castle, in fact it was rather clean. The floors did not shine like they did back when he first encountered the castle, but they did not have a thin sheet of dust like the others did. Cautiously he walked forward, following the hallway till he reached a line of doors, which he assumed were the rooms of the basement dwellers.
Riku opened the first door he came to and knew instantly it was Vexen's room. There were lab notes sprawled across the floor and it was rather messy. It wasn't until he took a few steps in the room did he notice that the floor held that layer of dust, he could see his footprints. Riku spun around, his leather coat whipping behind him, and hurried out of the room. Something was wrong with this place. He didn't bother to close the door behind him because he didn't want to attract attention to himself. Next he opened what he believed to be Lexaeus' room with the same results, it was also dusty. Now Riku wondered what could possibly cause this hallway to be kept clean. There was two more rooms to try, one he could only assume would belong to Zexion and then the lab where they conducted their experiments.
Riku opened the third room and froze. It was cleaner than the others with little dust and cobwebs, and it looked as though it was used recently. Someone was hiding in this castle and using the lower floors, probably hoping that no one would look here. He lightly stepped into the room and checked the likely hiding spots, in the closet, under the bed, and anywhere a body could easily be stashed. His search came empty handed but he knew that the person was on this floor, the others were so dusty that any footprints would have been noticeable. Obviously whoever it was must be in the laboratory, that was the only place on this floor he had yet to check.
Riku gently closed the door as he left the room, hoping that if the person hid themselves in the room where Riku didn't look he would be able to hear the door open. Somehow his search for answers had turned into something completely different. Gathering up all the courage he had within himself, he summoned his KeyBlade and pushed the swinging door open.
The room was dark, the only lights he could see emanated from a computer which was turned on. He tried to flip the light switch but it was already flipped up, the lights were burned out in the room. Now Riku knew he had to keep his guard up, whomever was in the castle was obviously hiding themselves in the room. He took a step forward and then another, continuing in this motion until he reached the lab table in the middle of the room. Blindingly he ran his hand across the table, feeling for anything that could help him in his hunt, but the only thing he found were test tubes, beakers, and other scientific implements. He made his way around the table, surprised that no one had attacked him yet or run out the door. Just as he made his way to the other side of the table he kicked something on the floor. Unsure of what he discovered, he kicked again, this time a little harder. A soft moan was heard.
Riku wanted to jump backward but he forced himself to stay calm. The person he kicked didn't move or make any threatening gestures, which surprised him to no end. He was beginning to think he was being over paranoid, there was no way it was a Nobody seeing as Sora and himself killed them all. Deciding it was alright to leave the suspect for a moment, Riku hurriedly made his way to the computer hoping to turn the monitor and control what little light the room had to offer. He gripped the sides of the monitor and turned it to the side. Once he got a glimpse of the person he jumped backward slightly.
On the floor lay Zexion, Number Six from Organization Thirteen. The only movement the Nobody made was the slight flinching from the light that was showered on his face. There were various IV's stuck inside his arms and the boy looked like he was on deaths door. Of course it was hard to tell exactly what the body on the floor looked like due to the shadows and overall darkness of the room.
Riku continued to stare at Zexion unsure of what he wanted to do. He knew that he needed to kill the Nobody because it was an abomination that was never meant to exist, and to be fair the Nobody did try to kill him two years ago. Although he knew the choice he should take he was hesitant to do so. Here he wanted to learn about Nobodies and the Organization in order to help relieve himself of his guilt, and a Nobody just happens to be right before him seemingly defenseless. Of course he knew that Nobodies were far from being damsels in distress, therefore he knew he had to act on the side of caution. If Sora were here he would attack without a second thought, Riku envied that about him but he knew that would only allow the darkness in his heart to once again take over.
After contemplating his options, either kill the Nobody or take him hostage, he decided it would be best to capture him. This way he could try to get what he wanted and if it didn't work out he could always kill the thing later. Riku inched his way over to Zexion, who continued to remain still. Having fought Zexion before, Riku knew that he could merely be seeing an illusion on Zexion. Once he was within a reasonable distance Riku knelt down and grabbed Zexion's arm. As soon as he touched the coat of the Nobody he felt something grab hold of his arm tightly and push him. Startled by the sudden movement, Riku collapsed backward from the force. He closed his eyes as his back hit the ground and when he opened them he saw Zexion hovering over him, despite being connected to IV's.
Riku kneed the other boy in the stomach, causing him to fall backward into the side of the lab table, which then caused beakers and other scientific instruments to crash onto the floor around them. He then summoned Soul Eater and expected Zexion to summon his Lexicon, but nothing of the sort happened. "Why are you still here?" Riku asked as he made his way to his feet, not bothering to brush off the glass particles.
Zexion did not answer. He staggered to his feet, pulling the wires out of his skin as he stood.
"Fine stay quiet." Riku growled, bending his body a slightly as he prepared to attack. He then launched himself forward and slammed the KeyBlade against the side of Zexion's neck. Riku took a step backward as he watched Zexion fall to the ground unconscious.
Confident that Zexion would not awaken any time soon, Riku stepped over him and headed to the computer, where he assumed he would be able to find useful information on the Organization. He pulled a stool over and turned the monitor to its proper location, however as soon as he hit a button the log-in screen appeared. Riku sighed realizing that he did not have enough time to fool around with the passwords and user names at the moment, Zexion could wake up any time and he needed to make sure he had control over the Nobody before that happened.
Riku shut the computer down and unplugged it, he was determined to take it with him. Even if the only information stored on the computer was lab reports it was worth taking a look at. He dragged the computer to the front of the castle and ran back to the Gummi Ship to grab a duffel bag. He then hurried back into the castle and down the stairs hoping that he still had some time left. If Zexion was a normal person he would probably he out for awhile, but seeing that he was a Nobody he wasn't sure how long it would take for him to wake up. Once he reached the lab he felt his shoulders relax, Zexion was still unconscious.
Riku made his way through the dark room, throwing everything that looked to be of some importance inside the blue and yellow bag, which happened to be his favorite colors even if they clashed. Once he scavenged what he could from the laboratory he proceeded to Zexion's room, seeing as it was the only one that wasn't covered in dust. Riku wasn't surprised to see that Zexion, or any of the Nobodies for that matter, had very little in their rooms. He did come across a few books that he assumed would be of some use and a few research journals. On the second bookshelf he looked through he noticed a small piece of paper shoved between two journals. Letting his curiosity get the better of him, Riku pulled the paper out and his eyes widened when he realized it was a photograph of six people. Instead of throwing it in his bag, Riku slipped the picture in the side pocket of his coat. Somehow he knew that this picture was important to this Nobody and he figured he would be able to use it against him. He would never have thought of this four years ago, but he was very naive on that island.
Satisfied with his work, Riku went back to the laboratory and walked up to the Nobody. Luckily he found the smallest of the thirteen, but then again size was very misleading because he knew how deadly Zexion could be. After securing the bag on his shoulder, Riku lowered himself to the ground and studied the IV's that were in his arms. They connected to two small bags hanging from a lab table, a quarter of which was filled with a blue liquid. Unsure what the bags were for, he ripped the tubes from Zexion's arms and wrapped the tubes around the bags before throwing them in his bag as well. He then grabbed a hold of Zexion and slowly made his way to his feet. After shifting the smaller boy in his arms, Riku made his way up the stairs and out of Castle Oblivion.
Once Riku was under the moonlight he was able to take a good look at his hostage. His body was skinny and very small, which was entirely too frail for a boy his age. Zexion's skin was much paler than when they met two years ago and his pitch black cloak displayed just how thin he was. His body seemed to be fading into darkness. Other than that Zexion looked exactly as Riku remembered him, he had not aged and his hair was still that beautiful blue silver. Taking in what he had just thought Riku froze. Shaking off his thoughts as another trick by the small boy, Riku walked up to the Gummi Ship. He had to shift all the weight to one arm as he reached to lift the top of the ship.
Gently he laid his hostage in the seat beside his own, that way he could keep an eye on the Nobody and would know exactly when he began to stir. For his own safety in case the Nobody awoke, Riku first buckled the boy before securely strapping him in with some spare rope he kept in the back of the air craft. Once he was satisfied with his work, Riku stretched his legs knowing he was going to have to sit in the cramped drivers seat. It was at times like these he realized how much smaller Sora is compared to himself. Of course he couldn't complain to Sora about the Gummi Ship because Riku did take it without permission. He knew that Sora would never understand Riku's need for closure. If anything, Sora would have wanted to accompany him since this was the location where he almost lost his precious memories forever.
After sighing to himself, Riku dropped himself into the drivers seat. He reached up to close the hatch before buckling himself in. Taking one last look at the Nobody, Riku shook his head. Everything up to this point had made sense, he was taking a Nobody to his home world after they had just returned the peace. Sora was not going to like this one bit and he didn't understand what he was doing or why. He should have killed the heartless boy as soon as he saw him, but now that he was sitting beside him in the ship he figured he ought to see this through. He had already made it this far so what was the use in killing the Nobody now. Of course by the looks of Zexion's body he wasn't going to last much longer anyway, but surviving two years after his supposed death was quite impressive. Riku turned the keys and began ascending into the sky.
The ride was smooth until the ship reached the boundaries of the world. In order to fly through the resistance, Riku shifted gears and floored the gas. The turbulence caused the ship to rock violently and he was thankful he wore the seat belt this time. Early that morning when he left Destiny Islands Riku blatantly ignored the seat belt because he did not like to feel restricted, however, he learned quickly that the seat belt was quite necessary when exiting worlds. Once the ship pushed through the boundary there was an instant calm. Instead of moving forward like it would within the worlds it seemed to causally float along as though it was unable to gain any speed. Riku was thankful for Sora's connection to Cid, who installed the warp feature on the Gummi Ship otherwise this trip would have taken him weeks. He changed the gear to its original driving position before flipping up a small plastic covering that protected a small red button. Riku braced himself before pressing the button, which caused him to violently slam back into his seat. Within seconds the ship was floating a few feat from the boundaries of Destiny Islands, his home.
Riku's entire body relaxed at the sight of the small island. He couldn't imagine wanting to live in another world after all that had happened, then again he couldn't understand why he was so intent on leaving the world in the first place. This sunny beach is where he was raised and it contained everything he ever loved. Sure he was still curious about other worlds he had yet to visit but he knew that he had to keep it in check because the last thing he wanted was to destroy what he held so close to his heart.
A few moments passed with him starring at the world before he slowly pressed down the gas pedal with his foot. He easily entered the world with very little resistance. It was odd how easy to was to penetrate a world compared to that of leaving, almost as though the worlds were designed to get invaded. Shrugging off the thought, Riku steered the ship to the smaller island where Sora last left the ship. It was also the place where they used to hang out as kids. Once he landed, Riku pulled the keys out of the ignition and lifted up the hatch. Luckily for him it was in the middle of the night so the odds of Sora noticing him returning were very slim, especially since he knew his best friend went to bed early. He reached over the seat and pulled out his shoulder bag and slipped it on. Since he had to drag Zexion all the way to his house, Riku knew that he wouldn't be able to carry all the stuff he brought from Castle Oblivion in one trip. Somehow in the next few days he would have to sneak back out here and grab the remaining cargo.
Riku turned his attention back to the Nobody, who was slumped in the seat with his head resting on his shoulder. It amazed him how such a small body was able to give Riku so much trouble two years ago, of course back then he was around the same size as Zexion. He guessed that now the two of them were roughly the same age, well at least the same age Zexion was as a Nobody. Riku struggled with the binding, cursing himself when he was unable to pull apart his own knots. After a few moments of frustration, Riku gave up and used his keyblade to cut the rope off. He had hoped he would be able to save the rope and reuse it once he got to his house but now he would have to find another alternative. Slipping his arms underneath the small body, Riku gathered to boy close to himself and lifted him out of the seat. With much difficulty, Riku was able to exit the ship while carrying a bag and a body, which surprised him since it seemed the ship was not designed to be exited in such a manor.
After closing the hatch and making sure that there was no one watching him, Riku began walking across the wooden bridge to the city where the Islanders lived. Just as he reached the end of the bridge he felt the body he was holding shift slightly. It would be just his luck that Zexion would wake up when he was unbound and could easily escape. Riku was about to make his way back to the ship to try to use whatever rope he could salvage when he heard footsteps heading his direction. It seemed like everything was against him this night.
"Riku what are you doing out here this late?" Tidus asked as he walked up to his friend. He was smaller than Riku, closer to Sora's size, and had blonde hair that spiked out to the sides of his head. Riku always thought he had interesting pants, one leg was shorter than the other, and he always wanted to ask if he bought them like that or if he modified it.
"Coming home from a trip." Riku casually responded as though he was doing nothing out of the ordinary. It was now common knowledge that other worlds existed and Sora and Riku traveled around, but certain details were left out. How Destiny Islands was truly devoured for instance, neither Sora nor Riku wanted the Islanders to know that it was Riku who brought calamity here.
"Lucky." Tidus sighed. Riku knew the other boy wanted to accompany Sora on a trip to Radiant Garden or any other world, but Sora never asked anyone other than Kairi or Riku, both of which usually declined. "Riku, what are you holding?" Tidus asked, standing on his toes and leaning forward to get a good look. "Is that a person?"
"Yeah...an old acquaintance." Riku mumbled, wanting to get past this conversation. "He's hurt so I'm in a hurry."
"Oh Sorry!" Tidus gasped.
Riku took this moment to hurry past him. "I'll see you later Tidus." Without waiting for a response Riku hurried across the bridge and into the town. He knew that he needed to get home without any more distractions since he could feel Zexion shift again in his arms. It wouldn't be long before the Nobody woke and he didn't want him to escape before he got a chance to question him. Luckily his home was only a few blocks away, but he would have to pass Sora's house in order to reach it.
Luckily Riku didn't meet anyone else on the way to his house, which wasn't surprising considering the time of day it was, and all the lights in Sora's house was off. As he made his way up his front steps he heard Zexion moan. Riku pushed front door open, relieved that he didn't bother to lock it when he left. Destiny Islands did not have a high crime rate, if any. The room he stepped into was dim, lit only by a small lamp on a end table at the far corner of the room. He kicked off his shoes in the foyer before stepping into the room. Now he was at a loss of what to do next, he hadn't expected to bring home a Nobody. Unsure of what else he could do, Riku walked to the spare bedroom. It was at times like this that he was glad that he lived alone.
When he entered the room, Riku flipped the light switch with his elbow and glanced around the clean room. There was nothing laying around that could be used as a potential weapon besides the glass in the vanity mirror, but Riku knew he could easily best the Nobody with his Keyblade if it came down to that. Deciding that this room would have to work, Riku gently dropped Zexion and the bag on the floor, not wanting to wrinkle the bed. After deciding Zexion wouldn't be able to escape any time soon he went to find some rope to bind Zexion to the room.
Riku walked through the house cursing to himself when he was unable to find any ropes or chains. Of course that wasn't something he usually kept around the house but he knew there was some on the small island where they played as children. Unfortunately he was unable to get there at the moment because the last thing he wanted to do was leave Zexion in his house unsupervised. Riku was about to give up when he noticed the curtains in the sitting room. The tassels that held the curtains back caught his eye, it could temporarily be used as rope till he was able to get some from the smaller island. After deciding he had no other choice, Riku grabbed the two tassels and hurried back to the room.
When he entered he was still surprised to see Zexion was still unconscious, maybe the Nobody was in worse condition than he originally thought. Riku walked over to Zexion and bent down over the smaller boy. He rolled Zexion over and grabbed Zexion's thin wrists to tie them to the bed legs. It would be possible for Zexion to escape if he was in better condition but Riku assumed that he wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon. Looking at the Nobody this close Riku was surprised to see how normal the boy looked. If Riku didn't know any better he would have assumed that Zexion was a regular person who had an affinity for leather.
Pushing the thoughts out of his head, Riku stood up and looked out the window only to find that it was late. He assumed it was around two in the morning and decided that if he wanted to get any sleep tonight he should head to bed. Allowing himself to be slightly paranoid, Riku closed the door to the spare bedroom and locked it behind him. For once he was glad that the door could only be locked and unlocked by using a key. He walked across the hall to his own room. Completely exhausted from the trip, Riku didn't bother to shower, instead he pulled off the heavy leather coat, allowing it to fall to the floor. He scuffed over to the bed, not realizing just how tired he was until he collapsed onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
(^_^)