Midnight City

Darkness, moving and flowing like polluted waters, pooled around him, swallowing him. He tried to escape, but it immobilized him. Slowly sinking into the inky sea, he opened his mouth to call out, but found he could not utter a sound.

The darkness swallowed his head at last and just as he started to suffocate…

Riku awoke gasping for breath, his vision blurry. He rubbed his eyes and struggled to his feet. After finally opening eyes, he thought he had lost his sight or that he really had been swallowed by darkness, before realizing that he stood in a narrow, shadowed alleyway.

What was that…? Riku thought. His breathing was heavy, exhausted almost. He took a deep breath through his nose and was immediately assaulted by a plethora of noxious scents. He lost his balance and nearly collapsed before he caught himself on the wall.

"That's right," he said. "Forgot about that…"

After regaining his senses and being extra sure not to breathe in too deeply, he glanced around. He stood at a crossroads in the dark alley, each of the four paths obscured in darkness. He could see stars in the sky, but most of the sky was blocked by clouds. The walls around him where relatively low to the ground, probably one story, he guessed. Although he could make out windows, none were illuminated from the inside.

As he deliberated about which path to take, he spied a particularly low hanging roof over a narrow alley, the opposite wall rising above it several feet. He eyed it several moments before dashing towards it, kicking off the lower wall, then the higher one and finally landing in a crouch on the roof with a smooth flip.

He took a moment to scan the area. While it was still quite dark, he was no longer shadowed by the narrow alleys. Moonlight shone through some of the clouds, illuminating some areas. The roofs of many buildings extended far into the night.

Finding what he was hoping for, a makeshift road made up of roofs that hung over narrow streets and dark alleys, he stood up and ran across the roof. As he neared the edge, he leapt and landed another nearby building.

An ominous feeling washing over him, he summoned Way to the Dawn and bisected one of the shadow creatures that had attempted to sneak up on him.

"I think I remember what you guys are now," Riku said conversationally to his foes, which now surrounded him. "You're Heartless, and I think Sora used to call you guys Shadows."

Temporarily disregarding how he knew that, he launched an attack on another Shadow, destroying it. Using the momentum of his attack, he spun around and destroyed three of the Shadows.

Slicing a Shadow out of the air, he raised his hand and whispered.

"Dark," he said, uttering the name of his spell. Bluish-black spheres shot from his hand and struck the remaining few Shadows, obliterating them.

Lowering his weapon, he glanced around, searching for more foes. Satisfied that he had disposed of them, he let Way to the Dawn vanish.

"Shadows…" he said, letting his gaze wander to the clouds. It must be some of my memories returning… One moment I had no idea what was going on, then it just… came to me…

Satisfied with his epiphany, he resumed his trek across the rooftops. Encountering no resistance along the way, he finally reached a dead end, of sorts. The buildings rose a few stories above the roof he was on.

I wonder how Sora and Kairi are faring, he thought as he examined the buildings for a viable means of ascent. Are they somewhere else in this town? Fighting the Heartless? Are they even on this world?

Finally spying a way to the next roof, he leapt off the building, triggering the movement magic he used back on Destiny Islands as he flew through the air. He kicked off the corner of one building and ricocheted towards its neighbor, repeating the process twice before launching himself high into the air.

Letting the magic fade, he twisted his body to land on one of the buildings below. As he fell through the sky, almost leisurely, a bright, white-hot plume of fire shot up out of one of the alleyways several buildings away from him.

Rolling into a landing on the rooftop, he scanned the area for where the fire plume was. A few seconds later two more plumes burst into existence, in roughly the same direction as before.

Quickly summoning Way to the Dawn, he leapt from the roof to the next as more bursts of fire illuminated the night. He observed as he leapt that the bursts moved slowly away from him.

As he neared his destination, he noticed the streets below start to widen. Leaping off the last roof, he landed in the middle of a crossroads filled with Heartless.

He brought his weapon up just as a helmeted Heartless lunged at him, red claws first. Catching the claws on the blade of Way to the Dawn, he swung the monster around, slinging it into the horde of Heartless.

Another burst of fire lit up the area, and Riku barely caught glimpse of a silhouetted person. Before he could see more, the Heartless attacked.

Reacting on reflex and instinct, he slashed his way through his attackers. The Heartless, composed of Shadows, more of the clawed kind that attacked him and their flying variants, proved very little threat on their own but their numbers challenged him.

Flipping over an incoming attack from an aerial foe, he sliced it in half midair and spun his weapon around.

"Strike Raid," he grit out as he tossed his keyblade through a group of Heartless, killing them. Recalling his weapon, he knocked away an attacking Heartless and beheaded another. He recited the incantation for a spell and stones rose up from the ground, surrounding him. With a swing of his free arm and a shout of 'stone', the rocks shot outward, destroying or scattering his attackers and giving him breathing room.

Another burst of heat and light washed over Riku as a fireball exploded somewhere behind him. Whoever had been casting the powerful fire magic was helping him fight off the considerable horde of Heartless. He had not, however, seen the person after the brief glimpse at the start of the battle.

A strange shifting noise drew Riku's attention back towards his attackers, and he noticed that the smaller Shadows near him had all slipped into the darkness furthest from the light. The larger Heartless froze and then vanished into portals of darkness.

"What?" He said. Just as he started lowering Way to the Dawn, thinking that his adversaries had retreated, he heard a sound, like a cross between a creak and a slither, and a large, shadowy hand flew out of the darkness and grabbed him, lighting Riku into the air.

He hollered in pain as it squeezed him, then it slung his body around and tossed him across the street. As he pushed himself up and recalled his keyblade (which he had dropped in the attack), he glanced at the arm. It was quite long, reaching out of a dark alleyway and halfway across the street. It was also spindly, looking like a bone or a tree branch in shape. Odd shadowy tendrils stuck out from various parts of the arm as it swung in the air in a spastic manner.

Riku could make out a strange, writhing silhouette in the darkness where the arm disappeared, but before he could pull himself up and attack, all of the shadows in the alley seemingly moved forward, like a blob of darkness, and another arm slithered out, this one more fluid in appearance. Several Shadow Heartless, but larger, more human sized, rose from the ground.

Riku brought his weapon up and lunged for one of the Shadows, slashing it across the torso. More resilient than its smaller brethren, it did not dissipate, so Riku slashed it three more times before it faded. Seeing motion in the corner of his eye, he rolled to the side just as the arms shot overhead. He leapt up and fought off an approaching Shadow as the dark creature loomed over him.

A flash of fire incinerated a Shadow, and he saw the arms writhe. He heard what sounded like something hitting someone followed be a female cry of pain, and he realized he was about to meet his elusive comrade.

Dispatching another Shadow, he turned to face the arms and leapt up, striking the joint of one arm with his keyblade. He cleaved the arm of easily and it struck the ground and flailed about.

Wait for it… Riku thought as he watched it. A second later it spun around and slithered towards him like a snake. Knew it!

But he was prepared, for just as it turned on him his palm was extended out and he chanted a spell. Lightning flew forward and struck the arm, causing it to spasm and dissipate.

He heard an unearthly scream as the shadow creature reacted to its arm being destroyed. Just as he turned towards it, a fireball struck the form and exploded. Leaping back away from the flames, he watched as the shadow coiled away from the fire, its remaining arm flailing madly.

Glancing sidelong at his helper, he could tell it was a girl, or woman, of small stature, but the intense darkness of night and the harsh light from the flames obscured her.

Refocusing on the monster, he noticed that a Shadow had crept towards him. Dispatching it, he watched as the shadow creature, now forming itself into a coil-like shape. It lashed out, striking at him and the girl like a whip. Riku leapt away, dodging the shadow tentacle, but the girl slid under the attack, slashing upwards with a glowing, silvery-white sword, taking off the monsters appendage. His hand shot out, but the girl already blasted the falling piece with a ball of fire.

The monster wailed again, and he gazed over at it. It had reformed itself, splitting and extending two long whip-like tentacles attached together at a shadowy ball shape that now floated in the air.

It suddenly spun, whipping its appendages around and tossing both Riku and the girl across the battlefield. As he slid along the ground, he saw at the base of the head where the limbs met two glowing, yellow eyes. Turning his slide into a roll and then a flip, he brought his weapon up and charged.

"Hold off the arms!" He hollered to his ally. "I've got a plan!"

One of the tendrils lashed at him as he rushed forward, and he cut it off halfway. Ignoring the dismembered part, he rolled underneath the main body just as the girl cut the other limb with a blade of flame.

"Strike Raid!" He cried as he tossed Way to the Dawn up at his foe. It spun through and cleaved in half the monster. It wailed a last time as it flailed about and finally perished in a wisp of shadow.

"Well, glad that's over with," Riku said, releasing a breath. The area lit up and the sound of crackling fire met his ears. Turning, he noticed his companion had lit a fireball on her fingertips and was holding it out, like a lantern. He had trouble making out her features in the firelight.

"Thanks for the help," she said, her voice mild. "My name is Terra Branford."

"I'm Riku," he said. "No problem. You mind if I ask where I am?"

"You're in Traverse Town," she said lightly. "Where did you come from, do you remember? Some drifters like you don't remember much."

"Umm, Destiny Islands," Riku answered. "But it's- never mind. What do you mean by drifter?"

"Well, when the Heartless consume a world, the survivors find themselves here, in Traverse Town," Terra said. "It's a strange town, and not all of its districts, like this one, are inhabited. Sometimes the Heartless are so prevalent that it's dangerous."

"So where are all the people then?"

"Safer places," she answered. "We have ways to ward the Heartless, but we try to be cautious."

"If it's dangerous, what are you doing out here?" Riku asked. "What do you do, exactly?"

"My friends and I are…" Terra paused for a moment. "Not from this world. Or any world, really. It's a long story. But we found this place by accident and made it our home. We're all veterans of a war that happened far away, so when the Heartless attacked we protected the townspeople. After that we became caretakers and guardians of the town."

"That doesn't explain why you're out here, though," Riku said after a thoughtful moment.

"Oh, well, I came to find you, actually," Terra said. "And speaking of which, we should get going before more Heartless arrive."

Riku nodded and followed Terra, who had moved towards a narrow street. Illuminated by firelight, she guided him through the winding, narrow streets. No Heartless plagued them, but Riku brought his weapon out as a precaution.

"Are you sure we're not lost?" He asked after making another turn. He had lost track of where he was going a while ago, considering all the streets look the same in the darkness.

Terra giggled lightly. "Don't worry. This part of town is like a maze. It's easy to get lost in, and I'm trying to avoid the Heartless."

"Seems convoluted."

"It is, but there's a particular route that the Heartless avoid for whatever reason."

"What about the rooftops? It's how I found you," Riku said.

"Fast, but the Heartless crowd them a lot. Some of the really dangerous ones can be found there."

The continued on in silence for a while more, and Riku started picking up a subtle pattern in their path. They traveled in one general direction, but never cut in a straight line, instead weaving and curving back and forth. The street was very narrow and often uninterrupted, save for the dwindling number of turns, with no crossroads or alleys jutting off to the side. The walls were very high in some areas. Whenever Terra reached a crossroad, she would pause and inspect it almost nervously before continuing.

"It's almost like it's hidden," Riku said under his breath, so quiet Terra did not react.

After a while longer (Riku was not sure how long, exactly; he had lost any sense of time he had) the street led them to an archway. Terra stopped within sight of it and dispelled her flame, practically blinding them.

After a few minutes, once his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, Terra asked with a whisper: "Are your eyes adjusted?"

"Yeah," he whispered in reply. He could barely make out her silhouette.

She slowly crept towards the opening and led them out, into a wide plaza. A fountain sat in the center and gurgled rhythmically. A light illuminated a spot at the far end of the plaza, hanging from another archway. She moved quietly and cautiously but swiftly towards it.

When they finally crossed the area, Terra visibly relaxed. "What a relief," she said. "It should be safer from here on. Can you help me close the gates?"

Realizing that two iron bar gates sat open either side of the archway, he nodded. A few minutes and an ominous creak later and they closed them. As Terra locked it, Riku inspected the area. It was brighter, with periodic streetlamps lighting the much wider streets. Although he could not make out the details of the buildings before, the ones ahead of him seemed far brighter and far less ominous.

With a click, Terra turned back to him. "We should get going," she said. "See that building over there? The big one?"

She pointed. Looking in that direction, he noticed what she was indicating. Although it did not tower over the other roofs, it stood maybe a story or two above them in the distance and was lit up like a beacon. "Yeah."

"That's home."

Just as Riku was about to step towards the building, a pungent smell filled his senses. A second later, a wave of dark energy washed over them and a pillar of darkness shot into the sky near the building. A vile, malicious feeling filled the air and froze Riku in his place.

"This is…" he whispered to himself. Terra, unaffected by the darkness, shouted in surprise and took off towards her home.

Riku, still paralyzed, stared ahead at the dark pillar. He closed his eyes and inhaled, kicking in his dark senses. It was far more obvious, but he focused through it. Several bright lights shone through the oppressive gloom. All but one light, which glowed so bright that it knocked him out of his paralysis.

Resolved, he lifted Way to the Dawn and took off after Terra.


Fin

Author's Notes: Well. That was one long wait. I apologize, but I had the worst case of writer's block. I was dreading trying to write Riku. And I still didn't, I guess.

Anyway, reviews are greatly appreciated.