XXXxxxXXXRiku
Buzzing.. And hissing..
That's all I can hear..
I should open my eyes.. It's so dark behind my eyelids.. Right?
Right..
I feel weird.. Am I numb? I think I just might be...
Where am I anyway? It's dark..
So dark..
I open my eyes, but all I see is dark. There's no light in here. But, there's them...
Yeah. I can still see them, their beady yellow eyes watching me. I hear them too, the buzzing and hissing. But that's not all I can see. I can see the wisps of darkness too. It's all around me. Why? Where am I?
I can't remember.
I try to move my arms, but something's keeping them pinned down. My ankles too. I'm in a chair? Weird. How'd I get here? I don't bother lifting my head, I can't see anyway.
What was that?
Oh, that's just a door opening. It's so loud. Why is it so loud?
Footsteps. Someone's coming.
"Riku?"
That voice. I should know it. It sounds so far away. Where is it?
"Riku, can you hear me?"
"Yes.." I find myself speaking.
I know that voice now. I lift my head, looking up at him, the one who put me here.
My best friend.
"Sora.." I say, almost like a whisper.
Sora stares down at me with those big blue eyes, like he wants something. What am I supposed to give?
"Riku, do you remember why you're here?" he asks.
"No." I say, letting my head fall back down, like the weight of holding it up is almost too much.
I hear him sigh, like I'm some child who hid something he needed.
"Riku, just tell me, where is she? Is she still alive?" he asks, almost pleadingly.
I frown, She? Who is he looking for? I didn't answer him and he sighs again, this time with agitation.
"You can't keep doing this, it's bad for you." he says.
"What is?" I mutter.
"This!" he says, "Leaving you here like this! You have to tell me where she is, then we'll let you go."
We'll? I still did not answer.
"Riku, please, is she alive?" he asks.
"I don't know what you're talking about." I reply softly.
Sora makes a tsk noise then he sits on the floor in front of me. I can see him now, I think that's why he sat down. It's weird, the darkness isn't going after him, it's only surrounding me. Is this what they did? I sigh, closing my eyes. I can't keep looking at his searching eyes.
"Riku, please, I don't want to do this anymore. I'm tired, you're tired, he's tired. Riku, it's been two weeks, just tell me, where is she?" Sora asks again.
"Sora, I don't know what you're talking about." I sigh.
He stands, "Fine. Be that way."
He then turns and walks away, opening that loud door and then it slams shut. Silence now. No, silence is bliss. There's no silence here. There's buzzing and hissing. It isn't silent. It's never silent. Two weeks he said. Yeah.. I'm starting to remember now, but, I still don't know where I am. What's going on here, who he's looking for, who the other one is? I don't know any of it.
Why am I still here? Why am I the one in question? Who has these answers? If Sora does, will he give them up? What if he doesn't? Am I supposed to stay here? For how long? I'm suddenly so tired. Must close my eyes now.
No, I can't sleep, too much darkness. I can't breathe in here. The air's thick with dark breaths, too much.
All too much.
Suddenly I can't fight the spell of sleep coming over me. So I just let go. And everything is finally silent.
Buzzing and hissing. The silence didn't last long enough. Does it ever? Oh, there's that sound again. And more footsteps, is it Sora? Or the other one?
"Riku." he growls.
Nope, not Sora, sounds like him, but it's not. I lift my head and it's Roxas glaring down at me, and he's wearing the Organizations coat again. That's different. I don't remember seeing him in that last time, but, how long ago was that, that Xemnas was killed?
"Where did you put her, Riku?" he asks.
"I didn't take her. I don't even know what you're talking about." I say.
"You're a liar." he growls, "Where is she?"
"I don't know!" I say.
Roxas snarls, "I know you took her!"
I don't know why, but I started to laugh then, it wasn't funny, more like a chuckle, like some sick joke was being played, and I'm the object of it. Roxas clenches his fists and he draws back and actually punches me across the face. My head snaps to the side and a little blood spills out. I frown and look back at him.
"Now, tell me where she is!" he demands.
"I don't know where she is." I say, because it's true.
Roxas then yells towards the door, "He won't tell me where he took her!"
Sora comes in then, cosign the door behind him, did it open? I don't remember hearing it. Sora stares at me, his arms crossed, his eyes red, was he crying? He walks up to me and crouches down, a little under my level and I look at him.
"Riku, please, can you tell me where she is?" he asks, his voice soft and sincere, nice.
I stare at him for a moment, then I reply, "I don't know where she is."
Sora frowns, "Riku, I know you took her."
"I didn't take anyone." I deny.
I could tell Roxas was getting angry, tired of this. What's he play in this anyway?
Sora notices and turns to him, "Roxas, you need to calm down."
Roxas snarls, "How can I, when she might be dying this very minute, and he won't tell her where he's taken her?!"
"I didn't take anyone." I put in, staring evenly at Roxas, my expression neutral.
"Liar!" Roxas screams.
"Roxas, calm down, we'll find her, just be calm, yelling at him won't solve anything." Sora replies to Roxas, calmly.
Roxas and Sora both turn to me then, and they both ask at once, "Where is she?"
"I honestly have no idea where she is, because I have no idea what this is even about." I explain.
Riku growls, "If yelling won't help, maybe this will."
He then punches me again, my head, again, snaps to the side and I spit blood onto the floor, not bothering to move my head back to look at him, I just leave it laying to the side as I stare at my own blood on the floor. Roxas then stomps out and I sigh in exasperation.
Sora stays int here a little longer and asks, "Riku if he really took her, where is she? Please, I need to know if you took her?"
"Sora, I had nothing to do with her disappearance." I reply, even though I still have no idea who he's looking for.
Sora nods, looking defeated, and he leaves the room, leaving me alone in the dark room, still strapped to this chair.
XXXxxxXXXSora
"Roxas, what if it wasn't him?" I ask.
Roxas frowns, looking angry, "Don't spew that crap at me, Sora. You're the one who called me here because you said you saw him take her from the Islands."
"I know," I sigh, "But what if I was wrong? We've been torturing him for two weeks, it's horrible, I know you said it wasn't real, that it's just a mind trick to weaken his will, but..."
"You're having second thoughts about my methods." Roxas looks at me, "Sora, if it is him, he'll play you for a sucker, my methods are wearing him down, this will work."
"But what if it really wasn't him?" I ask.
He rolls his eyes, "Sora, who else do you know that looks exactly like the guy in there?"
He points his gloved hand towards the door a few feet behind him.
I sigh, "No one."
"Exactly." He leans back in his chair, his hands folded over his lap.
He stares level with me, holding my gaze with his icy blue eyes.
"Roxas?" I ask.
"Yeah?"
"What if calling you back wasn't the right thing to do?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you were inside my heart, what if releasing you is causing you to change?"
He laughs, "You think I'm going dark? Is that it?"
He laughs again. I wince under his tone, "I mean look at yourself! You're using darkness against him!"
"It's not real, Sora. I told you that." Roxas says, suddenly serious again, "I told you what I was going to do, using a mind trick to beat him inside, it's not real darkness, it can't really hurt him, you know that. Don't try and decline, this was your plan. It stays, and so do I. At least, until we find her."
I nod, slowly, "Right.. Sorry.. I'm going to try and talk to him."
Roxas sighs, "It's late. He's probably asleep. And you should be too."
"What about you?" I ask.
"I'm a Nobody." he shrugs, "I don't really have to sleep."
"Right." I sigh and get up from the table, "I'll see you in the morning, Roxas."
"Yep." he smirks softly, "You'll always see me."
I laugh lightly, "Right."
XXXxxxXXXRiku
I wake slowly, the buzzing and hissing doesn't really bother me anymore, it makes everything feel... Real. The door opens again and I look towards it, well, towards the sound, I can never see the door, not once did I see it. It's Sora who's coming towards me, looks like Roxas stayed out then.
"Riku." he says.
"Sora." I say back.
"Did you take her?" he asks.
This again?
I frown, "No."
He sighs, "Riku, I saw you take her from the Islands. I know you did. So just tell me where she is."
I frown, "Take who? When was the last time I was on the Islands?"
I honestly couldn't remember. Is that bad? Where was I before this? Why can't I remember?
Sora looks confused, "You... You can't remember?"
"No." I look up at him, "I remember coming home. Seeing the King, then we got that letter, we went somewhere. I went somewhere after we got back.. Where did I go?"
I try to remember, but the memory is lost to me. Did Namine do that? Is that possible? She's inside Kairi's heart isn't she?
Sora gasps and I look at him, "Why can't you remember?"
"I don't know." I say.
Sora turns and leaves the room instantly, leaving me alone with the little monsters all around me. I frown, why can't I remember anything after we went to... Went to... Hm.. Where did we even go after getting that letter? What did the letter say? The King.. He needed us. Right? But for what? Why can't I remember anything? Ugh.. I'm losing it again. My eyes, they're fighting me to close. Why not?
I let myself slip again.
XXXxxxXXXSora
"What do you mean he doesn't remember?" Roxas asks.
"I mean, he has no memory, nothing after we came back. He knows we saw the King before he left, he remembers getting the letter. He doesn't remember we took the Exam. Something's going on, and if it was Riku that took Kairi, we're not getting anywhere with him, he has no memory of it." I explain.
Roxas frowns, "So, what do we do then? How do we find her? What if Riku's being controlled? What if we let him go and he attacks us? Sora, you know we can't beat him. Not even together. He's stronger than he was."
"How do you know that?" I ask.
Roxas looks away from me and closes his eyes, "Look, we just can't let him out yet. Not until we figure out if it's safe."
"How will we know?" I ask.
Roxas looks straight at me, "You'll know."
"What?" I ask.
"You'll know. When it's safe, you'll know." he replies.
"I don't understand." I frown, crossing my arms.
He sighs, "Must I spell it out for you?"
I groan, "Just shut up and let me think, please."
He rolls his eyes and turns towards the door holding the room Riku's in.
He closes his eyes, "This is bigger than us."
I look at him, "What do we do?"
He turns back to me, "We have to figure this out on our own."
"Why can't we have help?" I ask.
"That takes too long. They're too far away." he replies, frowning.
"Then what?" I ask, this was getting exhausting, we're just going around and around in circles here.
"We need to test Riku." he says.
"Test him? How? Isn't that dangerous?" I ask.
"It may be, but it's our best shot of finding out what happened to Kairi." he replies.
I nod, sucking in a breath, "What do I have to do?"
XXXxxxXXXRiku
I open my eyes just as that sound is heard again. Man, I hope it's just Sora again, I don't enjoy Roxas punching me. It'd be different if I could hit him back.. Wait, what?
"Riku, I know you didn't take her, well, at least, not when you were yourself." That was Sora.
I look at him, "What are you going on about?"
I was seriously getting tired of this.
Very tired...
"Riku, I know you took her, but you were being controlled." he says.
"Did Roxas come up with that?" I snap, suddenly feeling angry that they pinned a crime on me I have no idea about, and now he has the guts to say I did it but it wasn't me.
You better start making sense, Sora!
Sora flinches lightly and replies, "We, uh, both did."
"I see." I narrow my eyes, "So, let me guess, you're still going to hold me prisoner, right?"
"Yes." he replies, a little uneasy.
He looks kind of scared of me. Why do I find amusement in that? I groan and lean my head back, "Tell me your theory, you have one don't you?"
I close my eyes as he answers, "Yes, we think you're being controlled, from the inside.."
"By Ansem." I say, opening my eyes and looking at Sora.
He nods, not looking me in the eye now.
I smirk, "So you don't trust me anymore."
He looks uncomfortable now, "Riku, if it's true, we need to..."
"Need to what?" I glare at him, How dare he not trust me! I have Ansem locked away! A little loss of memory has nothing to do with Ansem, or whoever SHE is! This is insane!
"Try to draw him out.." Sora mutters.
"Impossible." I say.
"Riku, just let me-" I cut him off, "No, Sora, it's impossible. Ansem is locked away inside my heart. Like Roxas should be in yours."
"Nice to see you too." Roxas growls, now standing beside Sora.
Hm, when did he show up? Oh well.
"Look, I don't know what's going on, but I didn't take anyone from anywhere." I sigh, "Now let me out of this thing."
"How can we trust you?" Roxas asks, "We don't know if what you're saying is even right."
I growl, "Let me out."
"That right there is why we can't." Roxas smirks, crossing his arms.
I frown and look at Sora, "Come on, Sora, you know me, you know me better than anyone!"
Sora looks torn, but he shakes his head, "I don't know."
This is getting ridiculous.
I want out NOW!
Suddenly there's a huge crash, the entire room is shaking. Roxas falls and Sora does too. The chair turns over and I'm on the floor, still strapped to the damn thing. Roxas gets up before Sora and he growls, "What the hell?!"
Sora sits up, looking a little dazed, I can see a little blood trickle down the side of his face. He stands and pulls Roxas up, then he asks, "What was that?"
Just then there's another explosion and the room shakes again. Roxas and Sora run from the room to check it out I guess. But they leave me here, strapped to this damn chair.
"Hey!" I call out to them, "Let me out of this! I can help!"
When no one comes back for me I start to pull against my restraints, but I still can't break through them. The heartless and darkness all disappear from the room and I frown, How is that even possible? Someone comes back into the room, I can hear them, but I can't see, it's still very dark in here. Did Sora leave the door open?
I didn't hear it close, I guess he did. Who is this? The person pulls the chair back to the right position and I look up to thank who got me back up, but seeing who's staring back at me, I don't say a word, I just glare intently.
It's me staring back at me. He grins at me and I growl, "You're that replica."
He chuckles, "Maybe for now, but I'm about to become the real deal. Once I kill you."
I tug against the restraints, to defend myself, but I can't move. Damn you, Sora!
"So you took her." I say.
He chuckles, "That's right. I took your little princess, and I killed her."
Kairi. They were looking for Kairi. And now she's dead. Damn you, Sora..
"You think killing me will make you human." I say, "It won't."
"We'll see." he laughs, my keyblade appearing in his hand. He chuckles, "Goodbye," and he stabs the blade into my chest.
I cough and blood spills out of my mouth, Damn you, Sora. You've stranded me here. Inside this silence. Stranded me in your silence. Stranded in silence...
Right...
Because it's not my fault..
Right?
Right...