The Moon's Light and the Dawn
After the King and Sora sealed the door to darkness, Riku, Sairu and King Mickey are engulfed in a bright light, rendered unconscious and scattered throughout the realm of darkness. In a realm of nothing but perpetual grey smoke, Riku floated there, unconscious, safely wrapped in the comforting embrace of slumber. He slowly came round, wondering aloud where he was, until a voice rang out: "Stay asleep". Once Riku heard this, he was suddenly alert and ready. "Who's there?!" he called out. "You should remain asleep. Here, between light and dark" "Between what?" Riku pondered confusedly. Then, realization hit him: "The King and Sairu! Where are they?! Together we closed the door to darkness. After that-" "You came drifting here by yourself" the voice explained. You did not have the strength to overcome the darkness. Or... maybe you were close to it" the voice continued. "Hmph. As if I'm some kind of demon" he retorted spitefully.
The voice responded rather satisfied with his response. "Turn from the light. Shut your eyes. Here blanketed by the darkness, sleep is safety. Sleep is eternal. But..." a light appears out of nowhere before Riku, before fading to reveal what appeared to be some sort of card, inscribed with a picture of a castle that invoked a sense of emptiness within Riku. As the card proceeded to float around Riku, he asked "What's this?" the voice responded "It is a door to the truth. Take it and your sleep ends, as you take the first step towards the truth. But know this: the truth will bring you pain. Will you still go? There is no return to the security of sleep" the voice finished explaining. As Riku paused to consider, after a few moments of thinking, he reached for the card, with its light fading in his hand, and confidently declared "This seemed like a boring place to take a nap anyway" smirked. "That was very well said, Riku" the voice responded, sounding amused. Then, to his surprise, a blinding radiance emitted from the card, forcing Riku to close them, and once they opened again, he discovered he was now somewhere else.
His new surroundings were for the most part, a dazzling white colour, numerous white pillars lined across the walls. The style of the room was somewhat difficult to place, but at first guess, Riku believed he must be in some sort of castle. After gaining an understanding of his surroundings, Riku turned his eyes on the card in his hand and said aloud "A door to the truth, huh..." Then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed an unconscious figure behind him.
He was an ordinary looking boy for the most part, with medium length dark red hair, a jade green collared shirt, blue jeans, black and white trainers and a black arm warmer adorning his left arm. He laid on his front among the white floor, revealing a peculiar sword strapped across his back: a white bladed sword that seemed to blend with the surroundings, with a hand-guard stylised as a crescent moon, and a chain from the hilt of the sword with a crescent moon charm. Riku instantly knew who it was and rushed to his side, jostling him awake, calling his name: "Sairu. Come on, wake up!" he said as softly as he could; thankfully, Sairu began to stir and his eyes began to open, revealing chocolate brown eyes. His speech was slurred, but he began to come round and he noticed Riku kneeling over him.
"Riku... Where are we?" Sairu asked once he regained his composure and began to rise. "I don't know, but I think that door ahead will lead us further into wherever we are" Riku answered. "I see... Wait! Where is the King?" he added worriedly. "I don't know, but it looks like we're going to have to go on ahead by ourselves" Riku responded. Sairu nodded in understanding, but then, to his surprise, "Sairu, how did you get here, exactly?" Riku asked. "I'm... not too sure. All I remember is that the King sealed the door to darkness; everything after that is just blank" Sairu answered. Riku gave him a nod of the head, and then, the two friends decided to move on and they approached the golden door at the far end of the room.
As Riku stopped before it, he holds out the card above his head, which glowed and disappeared whilst the door opened, enveloping the duo in the light. Once they opened their eyes again, they were greeted with a shocking sight: the exterior of the castle, Hollow Bastion. "This is Hollow Bastion!" Riku said. Sairu only gave a look of confusion: 'How did we get here? And why does it seem so familiar?' he thought. Then, he heard a voice speak: "What you see is not real. It's the world of your memory" "Who was that?" Sairu asked, but Riku ignored him and spoke to the voice "My memory?" "The things you remember from your time at Maleficent's castle became a card, and that card made this world" the voice explained, which was strangely a relief for Sairu: knowing it was all an illusion.
"You've seen everything here before, haven't you?" the voice asked. "Yeah..." answered Riku, lost in thought. "So what now? Are we going to learn something? Maybe meet someone?" Riku then asked. The voice responded "You would meet the people in your memories. Ordinarily." He added cryptically. "What does that mean?" Riku demanded. His only response was silence. "Hey! I'm asking you a question!" Still no response. "Fine. But it had better be you we come across, Voice" Riku sighed in defeat and turned to Sairu. "Sairu, you ready?" But there was no response as Sairu was nowhere in sight. "Guess it's just me" he sighed again and ran on to explore.
When Sairu came round, he soon found himself in what appeared to be a bedroom, with only a bed in the corner and Riku looking at the room rather darkly. "Hey, where are we, and how did we get here?" Sairu asked, causing Riku to jump in surprise. "Whoa, Sairu... Where have you been?" he asked, gasping for breath. "What do you mean? I only remember being outside and then, everything was sort of a blank white" Sairu responded. "It is the rules of this castle" the voice spoke, surprising the two boys. "What?" Riku asked.
"Here, in the castle you two emerged in, the rules state that those who use the cards will traverse the castle's labyrinth alone. Yet, for brief instances, he can regain his form to aid you in combat, and this special room allows him to regain his form before he becomes a card again" the voice explained, the two boys nodding in understanding. "Speaking of this room, do you remember it, Riku?" the voice changed the subject. Riku simply responded "Everything IS just how I remember it. Even this room..." The disembodied voice merely snorted in response before speaking "It must be nice being back in your old bedroom. Think of all the memories..." "Sorry, but these memories I could do without. Maleficent gave me this room" Riku responded. "So she did. And you lived here, tempted by the darkness she offered. You cast away your home, friends, everything... But at least they gave you a nice room" the voice argued. "Stop talking!" Riku suddenly shouted and ran out of the room, while Sairu was turned into a card once again, everything turning white once again.
Once Sairu appeared again, he and Riku were now in the entrance hall of the castle. "No one else here, either..." Riku said quietly. "Huh?" Sairu asked. "As I've been travelling through the castle again, there hasn't been anyone or anything except for Heartless" Riku responded. Sairu merely nodded in understanding, as he did appear when Riku found a card of him and lent Riku his strength. Then Riku and Sairu jumped to the lower level of the hall and Riku shouted "Voice! I know you're watching- so explain this! Where are the people from my memories?" The voice thankfully responded "Do you want to see them?" "Of course I do" Riku exclaimed in retaliation. "But you cast them aside" What?" Riku asked, confused. "You dreamt of the outside world, and you passed through the door to darkness. Behind you, you left family, friends, home- everything- all in pursuit of darkness" he explained, until Riku retaliated "But I cast that aside too!"
"And what do you have to show for it? First your home, then the dark. Your heart only knows how to cast away. It's empty- like that room, apart from Sairu, of course. Regardless, your memories are devoid of any people; therefore, there is no one to meet. Your heart is hollow- except for the residual darkness" the voice explained. But Riku was now fed up with the voice and shouted "You're wrong! I rejected the darkness!" The voice simply laughed and said "Did you really, now?" With that, Riku turned to Sairu, who simply nodded before turning into a card again as Riku left the room.
This time, Sairu did not appear until Riku called on his help in battle with a dragon which could only have been Maleficent, or at least, the illusion of Maleficent. After lending his assistance, he disappeared yet again, until he regained his form in the next floor of the castle he awoke in earlier. Thankfully, Riku was by his side, though the voice appeared to taunt Riku this time. "Why do you shun the darkness?" it asked. Riku simply responded "Come on, I know you heard me- every word I said to Maleficent" the voice then responded "Darkness is your weapon. It is time you learned you must accept it" "What do you mean?" Riku asked. "Stop resisting. Accept the darkness. You have no choice..." the voice said as he appeared, and to Sairu's horror, the figure revealed itself to be none other than Ansem "if you are to serve me again!" he finished, smirking confidently.
"How is it possible? The light of Kingdom Hearts destroyed you! You shouldn't exist at all!" Sairu exclaimed in anger and horror. Ansem merely glanced in Sairu's direction, and responded "It's quite simple. Riku still bears a sample of my darkness in his heart. As long as that fragment survives, I will never be destroyed" he proudly declared. Riku, however, simply gave a rather lucid look at Ansem, and said "I thought it was you... Ansem" Ansem unfolded his arms and addressed Riku "Oh, you don't seem surprised" Ansem replied, before Riku replied "All you have been talking about is the darkness. I can only assume you want to pull me back in... so you can play puppet master" he explained with a dismissive wave of his hand. Ansem seemed amused, and then said "Clever boy. I knew you'd be the one to most appropriately serve me. And mow, surrender to me again-" He was interrupted summoning his sword, exclaiming "You're crazy! Not a chance!" and running at him, only to be repelled by an invisible force field, and fell on his back.
"Riku!" Sairu exclaimed and drew his sword, attempting to use his Radiant Wave attack (the white energy technique he used against the giant Heartless in Monstro's stomach), only to see that nothing happened. Ansem confidently lowered his hand and said to Riku "Did you really think you could do me harm? A weakling like you couldn't even defeat Sora, and you had darkness on your side" Riku managed to rise into a sitting position. "Excuse me... for being weak..." he said. "You are weak. You need darkness. Surrender. Bow to darkness. Bow to me" he said as he approached, only for his path to be blocked by Sairu wielding his sword. But Ansem merely swept him aside, and he landed against the wall, just clinging on to consciousness.
"That's not going to happen!" Riku said defiantly. Ansem then stood over Riku and said "Only the darkness can offer to you all of the strength that you will need". Then, an unexpected voice spoke and argued "You're wrong!" Then, a small orb of light appeared, circling Riku as he and Sairu began to recognise the voice. "That voice...! Your Majesty?!" Riku spoke, and the King's voice responded "That's right! Remember Riku, you're not alone" before the light faded and entered Riku's chest. He then spoke "Listen close. The light'll never give up on you. You'll always find it, even in the deepest darkness!" After hearing this, Riku rose to his feet and said "I won't lose to darkness. Not today" Ansem defiantly said "You think that feeble little fight can save you from the darkness that I command?" thus engaging Riku in battle, while Sairu leant against the wall, regaining his strength.
After some time elapsed, Riku and Ansem's battle came to an end, culminating as a draw. "What, that all you got?" Riku remarked confidently, though Ansem simply responded "It seems to me that you are intent on resisting the darkness. All right. Then see it for yourself" and with that, he produced card in his card. "This is a card crafted from your memory. Advance through the world it creates and soon, you will understand... Chasing after light is not the way. It will not give you distance from the darkness. There is no running from the darkness" he explained. Riku simply dismissed it and said "Don't worry, I'm not running. Give it. I'll enter the world and in the end, if I haven't given in o the darkness... Then I win" When he finished speaking, Ansem smirked and threw the card to Riku who caught it.
"I have one more gift for you" and with a number of hand gestures, a portion of darkness appeared on Riku's chest, seemingly causing pain to Riku. "What'd you do?" Riku demanded to know. "I simply tempered the darkness that yet remains in your heart" Ansem answered. "You still think I'd rely on darkness?" Riku asked scathingly. "To use it or not is your choice. I'll be waiting, Riku... for you to sense it and yield to the darkness in your heart!" With that, Ansem disappeared into darkness, leaving Riku clutching his chest. "Are you OK, Riku?" Sairu asked as he walked over to his companion. "I'm fine. Come on, let's go" Riku answered, and they proceeded to the next floor.
Elsewhere, in a secluded darkened room of the castle, stood a solitary figure, resting his chin on his hand in thought. This figure was dressed in a black cloak, with black gloves and boots. His most striking feature was steel grey-blue hair that was short at the back and longer on the front, with his bangs draping over the right side of his face. Then, black smoke suddenly appeared, and as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared, revealing a tall, burly man dressed in a similar black cloak, with short auburn hair that was slicked back into odd, messy spikes and blue eyes.
The steel-blue haired individual was brought out of his contemplation by his companion's arrival. He then spoke in an empty voice "Don't I even warrant a hello, Lexaeus?" he asked. As he spoke, a third individual in a black cloak with long platinum blond hair, with two bangs framing his face and bright green eyes appeared from the same black smoke and approached the steel-blue haired man and asked impatiently "What is going on here, Zexion? I want an explanation" Zexion turned to the new arrival and said "Nice to see you too, Vexen. It's such a shame. The Organization used to be the rope that bound us together"