Authors Note: You know, I'm sitting here now... Wondering, where the hell am I going with this. I mean I know where I'm ending, I have certain things that must happen, I have an order for those things to happen. But how to get to my first 'thing', I have no idea. Everything is important, but I'm not sure where to put everything. Planning can only take you so far, and after that your on y our own. So the question is... I don't know... I don't have one... That's how lost I am. But I have one more to put out to you. But after this... Um I may be awhile before I can put out more. And sorry for the long authors note. But read and enjoy.

Chapter 6: Soul Eater

He took a step forward, looking into the man's face.

In front of him, he saw Riku. With some girl, that he had never seen before.

"How come my past, always comes back to bite me. No matter what, I keep seeing him". He said with such spite.

Even though he felt a mixture of emotions, he was still going to stay. There was something making him want to stay. Something strange.

He took a step forward so that he could hang his feet over the edge of the rocks. Sitting down where he could not be seen, but where he could see.

"Why can't I just go and confront him?" He asked himself. "I bet I could easily destroy him now".

His was feeling a lot at this point, mostly anger.

But seeing Riku again, made him feel other emotions on top. Most of these emotions linked to other people. Because thinking of Riku made him feel overwhelmed with rage.

"Why can't I do this any more. Eight years ago, I would of. I would of killed him".

He summoned his blade and swung it around in front of him. Soul Eater had not changed in all the years. Not at all. But then again, there was only one place that he ever needed to use it.

"Castle Oblivion, if I never go back there. It will be too early".

He shook his head.

"That's where it all started... But most of all that's where it ended. But... but... why didn't my story end, at the end. My end was not an end at all, but a new beginning. But even my new beginning was hell".

xXx

About 8 – 9 Year Ago

At the end of the events in Castle Oblivion

Riku... The real Riku walked up to the gates of the mansion in Twilight Town. Looking up through the gates, he looked up to the top of the mansion, then back to the ground.

"Maybe Namine is here..." He said.

His replica walked up behind him, making his presence known.

"Hold it!" He shouted.

The real Riku turned around, looking at his replica with shock.

The real Riku stood completely still while his replica walked towards him.

The replica stopped, a few steps away from the real Riku.

"Hmph. You've changed. Your own darkness... it doesn't frighten you any more". The replica said.

"How can you tell". The real Riku asked.

"Because I'm you". The replica replied with wide eyes.

"No I'M me". The real Riku snapped.

The replica looked down at the ground. "I'M me. He says". The replica spoke to himself but out loud so that the real Riku could hear.

The real Riku remained silent.

"Must be nice being real. A fake like me could never get away with saying that". The replica continued.

The replica looked down at his hands. And then spread them out, jolting his head forward.

"That's right, I'm a phony, a fake!" He shouted.

The replica lifted his hands up to his face, pulling them down it.

"The way I look, the way I feel, everything I remember!". He continued shouting.

He looked straight down to the ground, bringing his hands to his side. Then raising them up, with clenched fists.

"And even this new found power!"

All this time the real Riku remained silent. Just staring at his replica in front of him.

Then he was shocked to see a dark aura surround his replica.

The replica held his hands out. "I thought by finding some new strength. I could finally be someone...".

As he said someone the dark aura disappeared and his hands fell to his side once again.

"... someone who is not at all you". The replica finished.

The replica looked down at his chest, and at his hand clenching where his heart would be.

"But... nothing changes...I'm still just empty!" He shouted.

The real Riku almost thought he could hear him crying as he continued.

"Everything about me is borrowed".

The replica looked straight at the real Riku, looking like he was holding back tears.

"As long as your around, I'll never be more than a shadow".

As he said never, he swung his right arm back, summoning Soul Eater.

Taking his fighting stance, he pointed his blade at Riku.

The real Riku took a second to take it in, then took the same stance and summoned his own Soul Eater.

And they started to fight... The real Riku took a few moments before he needed to shift into Dark mode, while his replica remained in it for the entire fight.

As it came to the end, Riku, the real Riku knocked his replica to the ground.

The real Riku stood there... above his replica... watching him fade away into a pool of darkness that surrounded him.

Even on the edge of death... the replica still spoke.

"So... it's over". He snorted.

Riku just stood there still, unsure of what to do.

"Hmph. Death doesn't frighten me. Good riddance to a phoney life. My heart was never real. I'm sure, even what I'm feeling now is probably all fake".

"What are you feeling?" The real Riku asked softly.

The replica ignored his question.

"What happens when a fake dies? One like me? Where will my heart go". He asked.

He kept his eyes on the sky... the bright twilight sky, watching himself slowly fade away.

"Does it disappear?" He asked.

"It'll go somewhere". The real Riku answered "Maybe the same place as mine".

The replica snorted.

"A faithful replica until the very end". He said.

Then as he faded away, with the wind behind him. He said one last thing.

"That's okay".

Riku could imagine him smiling behind the thick black cloud of darkness.

The pool the replica was lying in soon disappeared, without a trace.

Riku kept his eyes on the ground, refusing to move.

xXx

Moments after the Replica's death.

The Riku replica opened his eyes.

Looking around him, he found himself standing on a small stained glass platform. On it was a picture of Riku holding Soul Eater. Behind him, it seemed to be an image of Sora's key blade. And around this main image in the middle, there were pictures of all of Riku's friends and enemies. And one of the clearest images, was one of himself. But the replica wondered if it was really himself.

"Where am I?" The replica asked himself.

"Is this where my heart went?" He shook his head. "No! It can't be!".

He summoned his blade and swung it in front of him.

"How can I not be dead!" He screamed into the air. "I watched myself fade away".

The replica looked around him once again. Apart from the lit platform, the rest of the place he found himself in, was surrounded in darkness.

"No!" the replica shouted. "How can I be here".

He looked down at the platform again.

Throwing his blade straight at the large image of Riku, a large crack appeared down it.

"Why am I in your heart!" He screamed so loud, the crack began to grow bigger. "I would rather die, than be in your heart".

He swung his blade around him, trying to get rid of his anger.

"You planned this... you said... my heart would go the same place as yours. Why did you have to say that!"

The replica summoned his blade back to him and once again throwing it at the image of Riku... This time shattering it.

"I'll destroy you from the inside!"

As the replica fell into a free fall, he found himself surrounded by Riku's memories. Memories that he had once thought to be his own. But also surrounded by new memories, things that had happened recently.

"How long have I been asleep". He asked himself.

Then he saw an image of Riku fighting a boy.. a boy in a black cloak.

"Roxas... how do I know your name".

He saw Riku give in to the darkness in order to save him. He saw Riku change completely.

"The darkness... it must of woken me". The replica shook his head. "But how long... how long has it been since Castle Oblivion".

Finally the replica's free fall ended, and the replica landed on his feet. On a platform no different from the one he had just destroyed. But this time, there were heartless there to meet him.

"Good something I can kill".

And so his life continued like that. Where he fought and rested. With nothing but the image of those he had thought he knew, but never did. But his new life was also hell. There was nothing there for him but rest and destruction. He wanted to escape. But little did he know that it would take years before he could.

xXx

About a year and a half later.

During the ending moments of Xehanorts final stand against the key wielders.

Xehanort fell through a portal that he opened below him. The seven key wielders now stood before this portal. Their hopes, dreams and spirits low. They had already lost Donald and Goofy, and no one was ready for the final moments against Xehanort.

The portal in front of them seemed different. It almost seemed like to travel through it... it would rip you apart... then piece you back together on the other side.

"Is it safe?" Sora asked half heartedly.

"Yes... For us... but...". Mickey answered.

"But what?" Riku asked.

"Roxas and Namine... as they share Sora and Kairi's hearts... they may not be with us... on the other side". Mickey answered.

"Where will they go?" Kairi asked worriedly.

"I don't know... on one hand... they may create their own bodies... but on another they may fall into the void and disappear forever".

"Then... what do we do?" Sora asked. "We can't go after Xehanort... if we can't ensure their safety".

Riku stepped forward. "Then they stay behind... We go through... Sora and Kairi can stay here".

Mickey thought about it for a second before speaking. "Maybe...".

"No!" Sora shouted.

Everyone turned to him.

Sora shook his head worriedly. "That wasn't me".

Then he spoke again. "No it was me... come on guys have you forgot me already".

Riku shook his head. "Roxas... How are you doing that?"

"I don't know... just you need all the help you can get... and if it means me disappearing then so be it... I don't know about Namine... but I'm willing to give up if it means Xehanort is stopped".

Roxas replied.

Kairi spoke up too. "Namine says that she's with Roxas... if it means Xehanort falls".

Mickey smiled. "Thank you both of you... but take care... I know your strong enough to survive. So we will find you... once were done".

Roxas spoke through Sora once again. "Thank you your Majesty. Now go! Don't worry about us... we'll see you again".

Everyone smiled... taking it in turns to step through the portal. As Sora stepped through, he felt Roxas ripped from his heart. As Kairi stepped through, she felt Namine pulled from hers. Then when Riku stepped through he was surprised to feel anything. But he felt as if his heart fell calm, but also fell easy. Like he too had something pulled from his heart. But he did not know that it was replica... no one knew.

But in mere moments those three people who were never meant to exist... became somebodies. Somebodies with solid forms.

Roxas and Namine appeared in Betwixt and Between, while the Riku replica appeared on the Dark Margin. A world completely new to him... a world he had only seen in Riku's memories. It was a new start. But also... nothing easier than where he had been before.

He was still trapped... finding himself unable to open dark corridors. He was surrounded by endless amounts of heartless... and worst of all, he was completely alone. Once again.

All he had... were false memories. And this made his hatred grow once again. And with plenty to kill, he was in no shortage of practise. Practise for when he would meet his original again. And destroy him... making him the one and only Riku.

xXx

7 years later.

The Present Day

The replica jumped to his feet. Looking down on the unsuspecting Riku.

He wondered many things.

Would he answer the originals questions?

Would he give him any time to talk?

But the biggest thing... was... could he win?

He launched himself off the rock, down to the sand below. Landing on his feet he summoned his blade and pointed it at a surprised Riku.

The real Riku looked at the blade now pointed at him.

"Soul Eater! Who are you?" The original asked.

"Don't you remember me! Did all that mean nothing! Or is it just a forgotten memory to you now".

Becca jumped to her feet and went to summon her own blade. But Riku held out his hand to stop her.

"Think of the heartless". He said to her.

She nodded.

Riku turned his attention back to his replica. Without realising who it was. The darkness was hiding his identity. And the seven years had not been kind... he looked much older. He had far more scars and seemed darker and more experienced.

"No. I'm sorry but who are you?" Riku asked softly.

"You've only ever used that tone with me once before. When I was supposed to die!". The replica thrust his blade forward, but Riku stepped out of the way.

"Are you going to kill me again!" The replica asked.

"Again? Who are you?" The original asked once again.

"Who am I... Who am I! I am you!".

The replica took a step forward so that the original could now look into his face.

"No... How?... no...no". That was all the original could say.

"How!" The replica started laughing. "You saved me... I joined with your heart. You said I would... Didn't you think it would happen. But your heart... its a prison... full of darkness!"

The original shook his head in disbelief. "I'm sorry".

"What do you have to be sorry about! Apart from sending me into your heart! Xehanort was the one who I was thanking! But then in freedom came more capture! In this place! And do you know what kept me going?"

The original shook his head.

"Really! It was the thought that you would always come back here... where I could kill you... and finish what I should of done back in Castle Oblivion".

The original took a step back... Holding his arms out.

"Do it then... I have nothing left".

The replica looked into his eyes. Seeing nothing... no anger, no hatred, just peace.

"That peace...". He said to himself. "How? How did you get it... there's nothing left in your eyes... nothing but the peace of serenity".

"I've lost everything... Just like you... I have found my new purpose keeping a promise".

"I tried to keep a promise". The replica lowered his blade.

"And that kept you alive, it kept your heart going".

"Maybe... maybe a promise is all I need".

The original smiled. "Here". He held out his hand, opening a dark corridor. "You can go... Go make a new life".

The replica looked at the corridor then back to Riku. "It's not right... its fluctuating. If I use this... you may never be able to open one again".

The original smiled. "Consider this my final promise to you... a promise of freedom".

The replica smiled. "Thanks Riku".

And with that he stepped through disappearing from sight. The corridor stayed open.

Riku turned to Becca.

"He's right mind... this is your only chance to leave".

She shook her head. "Ray told me to stay with you... So that's what I will do".

Riku smiled as the corridor closed in on itself. Disappearing for good.

Authors Note: So yeah... That was fun to write. And as I have split it into two part, I have another chapter for you... just a bit more from Repliku. Finding another purpose. But yeah.. thanks for reading. And I hope you enjoyed. Next one should be up in about two days. But until then, have a good day.