This fic is the sequel to Darkside in that it will be written in a similar style and share some elements of the first fic. This story follows Riku from the end of CoM through KH2, telling about what happens in between the times we see Riku in the game interacting with Sora.

This fic will have HUGE spoilers for KH2 and CoM. Please don't be upset if you haven't played the games and read something you didn't want to know.

Yaoi, some cursing, dark stuff going on. You are warned.

And a little side note, when I wrote the first fic I couldn't find the name of Riku's sword so I referred to it as the dragon blade, but in this fic I will call it the soul eater.

/People thinking to themselves./

--A secondary person in someone's head talking to them, like Ansem (Xehanort's heartless).--

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Riku was amazed at how at peace he felt here in this room of white. Despite the blinding glare of the floors and the walls andeverything in the room, he felt comforted.

/Perhaps I really have been in the dark too long./

In front of where he sat was a cocoon with feathery petals curling around it. Inside he knew that Sora was sleeping, slowly regaining the memories he had abandoned to discover what lay at the end of Castle Oblivion.

/It happened again./

When he heard footsteps approaching, Riku straightened his shoulders and turned to see the King. He too looked exhausted. Castle Oblivion wasn't something that was easy to overcome.

"Riku? Are you okay? You haven't moved since we got here."

Ever since being trapped behind the door together, Riku had found solace in Mickey's company. They surely made an odd pair, the high voiced little mouse and the tall, dark keyblade master.

"Just letting it all sink in..."

He trailed off, once again looking at the enormous cocoon that held the one person he'd been searching for months. The person he'd loved, betrayed, and loved again all in such a short time. And now, he arrives just hours too late to see him again. Even if, as Namine had said, Sora wouldn't remember him, just seeing his best friend after all this time would have done wonders for him.

"We found him Riku. And now we know where he is. We can keep coming back to visit him until he wakes up."

Riku ran his hand through his hair, letting it get caught in the knots that had formed during his battle against Ansem. Though he knew that the man was still inside him somewhere. After everything that had happened, he had come to accept it.

As much as anyone accepts a being of pure evil residing in one's subconscious.

"I was so close, Mickey. The whole time we were just steps behind him. I just--I just wish I could have apologized to him again."

Mickey patted Riku on the shoulder, his oversized gloved hands making a soft thwumping sound against the other's shirt. He then sat himself down next to his comrade, and enjoyed the peace and quiet of the white room. The girl herself was gone, following Diz to wherever it was the two were bound for. Though neither had confirmed it with the other, both keyblade masters felt it in their gut that the witch and the powerful man in red weren't far away.

"Namine told me a few things about the Organization before she left."

Riku sighed as he realized that their small repreive was over. They had found Sora and Donald and Goofy. They were safe now. But new enemies were causing trouble, and had to be stopped.

"They call themselves Organization XIII. Which means there are eight left out there somewhere. She said they are something called a Nobody, the shell of someone who was strong enough to maintain their personality after being turned into a heartless."

"So, what do we do? I don't even know where we are..."

Riku and the King both looked around the room, like it would somehow explain itself. With the illusion of Castle Oblivion gone, they had no clue what world they were in. Or if their gummi ship had ended up anywhere near them. The thought of being stranded on an alien planet hit the two and both sighed.

"Well, guess we better find out where we are first, huh?"

The ability to instantly perk up despite the situation had always been something that Riku could admire. Sora had it. Shadow and King Mickey too. Feeling like he was somehow blaspheming the boy in the cocoon, Riku tried to not think about Shadow and instead picked his head up and walked out of the room. Mickey was close behind him, ready for anything.

Everything shifted abruptly around them from a sterile white to a dark metallic corridor with pipes crisscrossing in tracks on the ceiling. As they passed it Mickey pointed out the computer terminal that Diz and Namine has been busy with before they left. Sora's vitals were being recorded on the screen, and Riku's eyes lingered on the outline of the keyblade master, hoping he was doing the right thing by leaving him in the care of two strangers.

Despite the broken furniture and the dust that was gathered in the corners, Riku found himself enjoying the scenery. This crusty old mansion was still somehow comforting. The building had survived being gutted and invaded by the Organization, but still held itself up. He glanced over and smirked at the fact that Mickey seemed to be gazing in awe around at the paintings and sculptures of the old mansion as well.

"Hm. This doesn't look good..." Mickey said as they left the mansion and saw the sunset streaked sky above, and a dark forest at the end of the yard.

"I don't know, seems like a nice enough place to me."

The mouse just shook his head, causing the zippers on his outfit to clink together.

"I can't remember how we got here. Namine used her powers to create an illusion, and brought us here. I have no idea where the gummi ship is. If its even on this world."

Despite how much he enjoyed the scenery here, the thought of being trapped anywhere made Riku's stomach clench up. Too many memories of living on an island, being smothered.

/Maybe that's why I couldn't give up the darkness. Too much freedom./

They walked in silence through the shadowy forest and into the sparsely populated town square. There were bright lights advertising shops, and a small tram ferrying people across the town. Riku wondered if this city had any connection to Traverse Town.

/Maybe they had the same guy designing them./

"Riku. I think maybe we should keep ourselves hidden. It wouldn't be good to draw too much attention to ourselves."

They saw an entrance to a system of tunnels that ran under the length of the cities and pried open the gate, sneaking in. It wasn't hard, considering the fact that there didn't seem to be too many people in this town anyway. As they stood by one of the posters that held a map of the underground tunnels, Mickey suggested they head for the train system. Riku just quirked an eyebrow at the small king.

"Just trust me on this one. There are more ways to travel between worlds than gummi ships and portals."

"Well I figured. But a train? Are you sure?"

Mickey just smiled and shrugged.

"Not really. I'm just going on a hunch." And with that he continued up on the tunnels, heading for the train station.

/I guess hope springs eternal./

"I could just use some darkness, transport us to a world we know has connections and ships."

There was no answer from the tunnel ahead so Riku just let the subject drop. Mickey was a lot more sensitive about him using any dark powers. He may seem kind and optomistic, but Riku got the feeling that it took a lot to gain the king's trust.

When they exited the tunnel back into the open air Riku expected to be able to see stars overhead. But it was the same yellowy orange sky. As if the sun was still setting.

"How long does it take the sun to go down here?"

Mickey hadn't even been paying attention to the sky, instead heading straight for the train station. With a little huff at being ignored, Riku diligently followed. It was almost as if Mickey had forgotten him, completely focused on where he was going. Sure enough within the cool air conditioning of the building he found the mouse standing beside a set of tracks, looking expectantly down the tracks.

"I was right. This set of tracks leads to Yensid's tower. I'm sure of it. He can supply us with everything we need."

"Yensid?"

Riku found a bench that looked pretty comfortable and sprawled on it. Like the rest of this quiet town, the station was deserted except for an old janitor emptying out trash cans that seemed to be entirely filled with popsicle sticks. Of all things Riku suddenly felt a huge craving for a popsicle.

"Hey, Mickey! I'm gonna go grab some ice cream, you want one?"

The king just sighed and walked over, climbing onto the bench beside Riku.

"Sure. I'm not actually sure when the train might get here. It might be soon though, so hurry."

Not wanting to be stranded in this world any longer than he had to be, Riku jogged out of the station and headed into the town, quickly spotting a group of kids with blue popsicles.

He ran up to them, and the three turned to him and smiled. The girl stepped up to him and seemed to examine him very closely.

"I've never seen you in Twilight Town before, are you new?"

Riku just nodded and pointed to the popsicle in her hand.

"Sorry, I was just wondering where I could get an ice cream."

A boy with slicked back blond hair pointed down the pathway. He gave Riku instructions as to where the ice cream vendor usually parked his cart and with a quick thank you he took off down the alleyway. The ice cream seller was right where the boy had said he would be, and Riku used some of the munny he had stashed in his pockets to get two of the sea-salt ice cream popsicles. As he ran back up the pathway he waved at the group of kids lounging with their ice cream.

"Riku! The train is here!"

He sped up and nearly fell as he turned into the train station and ran up the stairs. Mickey was standing by the same set of tracks, but now an odd blue train with yellow stars dotted on it was sitting next to him. He motioned quickly to the train and hopped on. As Riku stepped through the doors they began to close and he had to squeeze his way inside.

"I hope this ice cream is worth it..." he said, handing Mickey's to him, then opened his own and took a tentative lick. It was salty and sweet, which he should have guessed by the name. But it was incredibly good.

/Guess that explains the popsicles in the trash can./

So engrossed by his ice cream, Riku hadn't even noticed where the train was carrying them to until he looked out the window and saw that they were traveling along tracks in the air, heading towards a single floating island in the distance with a tower perched on top.

"I prefer portals I think," he mumbled as he looked down into the emptiness beneath the train tracks.

"I hope Yensid is there. I think you'd like him."

Again feeling distinctly ignored Riku nodded, even though Mickey never turned to look at him. He was so excited to get to this Yensid's place that he was practically bouncing up and down in his seat. Feeling tired just watching him, Riku yawned and slumped back on the plushy seat, intent on taking a little power nap before they reached the tower.

Behind his closed eyes he saw the man in red, the girl named Namine who had altered his memories, and played both him and Sora against each other. Sora alone led his mind to the cocoon where his fellow keyblade master sat and waited to be made whole again, and these thoughts took him to where he didn't want to go. A boy with bright yellow eyes and hair black as pitch. Whatever it was inside of him that Shadow had managed to latch onto still ached when he thought about him.

But Shadow was just the darkness within Sora seperated into a new body. So logically Riku should have no problem simply loving Sora instead. They were one in the same.

/If I had my choice, which of them would I want/

"Riku, we're here."

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Okay, sorry if these first few chapters are going to be a little slow. I need to get the characters to where they need to be. But don't worry, just like Darkside I'll be skipping forward in time between most of the chapters. And if you see spelling or grammar mistakes, i'm writing this without Word or any form of spellcheck until my beta returns. It shouldn't be long...but feel free to point out a mistake and I shall fix it.

I hope you guys enjoy and will review and come back and read more. If you want to be notified of when a new chapter comes out, put this story on your alert list. If you don't have an FFN account then I can email you, though there's a good chance I'll forget.

Later readers!