Leon
I stood waiting for the haunted house queue to move along. By no Cloud had just gone in with Tifa, Cid offered to take Aerith, and that left me with Yuffie clinging to my arm. As we waited together I saw Sora walk towards us. Alone.
"Hey Sora." Yuffie giggled, "You going in? Thought you would be a scaredy cat."
"I'm just waiting for the others to come out." He sighed gloomily.
"You okay?" I questioned, only to find a saddened look cross his face.
He stared at us in silence. I turned my attention to the crooked house, with its roof swirled at the top; it made me feel like the house was dark, and naturally twisted in its own. "I wish people would stop faking happiness." Sora spoke suddenly.
"What do you mean Sora?" Yuffie smiled and walked over to hug him gently.
"Riku is unhappy. I can't do anything about that… And now I find out even Kairi is sad. I don't know what to do anymore. It feels like all the peace, and happiness I have felt has made everything worse. I should have seen a change in Kairi towards Riku… But I insisted on making him suffer…. Why am I so selfish?"
"Selfish? What's brought this on Sora?" I questioned. I felt guilty. I couldn't help him, and I was struggling to see someone so happy be like this.
"Riku and Kairi… They…. Riku told me everything and I just want to hear Kairi's side of the story."
"Sora you're not making sense." Yuffie sighed, still keeping hold of him.
I felt my body tense. If Riku isn't with Sora, and everyone else is inside the haunted house, then "Sora where is Riku?" I felt myself blurt.
"Last time I saw him he was at the graveyard… I said I wanted some time to think alone." Sora's face turned to guilt. "Shit I left him alone in the graveyard!"
"It's okay, he'll be fine." Yuffie attempted to comfort him.
"What if he collapses again?" Sora kept yelling.
"It's fine. I will go look for him. Okay? You stay here and wait for everyone and then you can all look for him okay?"
"I guess." Sora sighed and ran into the exit to look for them. His mad dash caused Yuffie to fall to the ground. "Owie." She groaned. After she rose she brushed herself down. "So we are looking for Riku right?"
"Yeah." I groaned and pulled my phone out.
I quickly dialled Cloud's number. "What do you want?" Cloud's voice bellowed in anger.
"Riku has gone missing Cloud, believe me you would normally be the last person to call." I barked impatiently.
After that I heard the phones toneless noise echo. "Son of a bitch put the phone down."
"Leon!" Yuffie exclaimed in shock.
"C'mon we need to move." I turned and began to run towards the Graveyard. Please be alright… please be alright.
By the time we had gotten to the graveyard, Riku was stood in the arms of a female in a black cloak, and a male figure, who I felt I should know. As I scanned the area I saw a dark orb like the one Organization 13 used to use to transport them. The female was directing Riku slowly to the portal.
"I won't hurt anyone will I?" Riku spoke quietly. He rose, and I felt her warm embrace as she stopped me from falling.
"I promise you won't hurt anyone. You will meet all of those who have been forgotten. We are creating a new world for those people. We will all be happy." The male spoke.
I grabbed Yuffie and pulled her behind a tomb to see what was going to happen.
They both raised their hands and a dark orb appeared. Its wisps of shadows circled and whipped its sides. As I scanned the area I saw a dark orb like the one Organization 13 used to use to transport them. The female was directing Riku slowly to the portal.
"Wait… who are you both?" Riku asked. He looked so comfortable in the girl's arms. I felt guilt travel through my thoughts. Riku isn't happy anymore…. Sora was right.
"The name is Zack Fair. And this is Rinoa Heartilly." The male beamed cheerfully.
Rinoa? You're alive. Why didn't you come back to Radiant gardens? That was our promise, right? I felt my head begin to hurt as I searched for her face. My heart pounded hard against my chest. "Now come on, before the portal attracts—"
I felt my body move out of the hiding place and being pulled towards her. All I wanted to do was embrace her, and hold her in my arms for as long as I could. Not ever let the darkness take her from me again.
"RIKU!" I heard Yuffie cry. "Riku wait don't move!"
She woke my mind, and I found that Riku was slowly going closer and closer to the darkness. I couldn't lose him. I made a promise to his parents I would protect him from the darkness. "Riku come on, we are going to take you home. You don't have to worry about anything just come home." I reasoned.
"Why? I am being a burden to you!" Riku yelled, making me flinch. I watched helplessly as Riku's body began to drop. He's getting weak I need to hurry. Rinoa caught him quickly, and held him in her arms.
"That's enough Leon. You can't make him do anything!" She turned to me and pulled a face of utter disgust.
"Rinoa what are you doing here… I thought you –." I started, I felt my heart race. I couldn't tell her anything. Why?
"You didn't even try and look for me… don't try and make out you care!" she yelled.
"I tried… I swear I did!" I whispered. "Please Rinoa just come back with me and we can talk… I have missed you so much… Please." My heart was aching. The thought of the one person I ever loved more than anything else, hates me the most. I felt a desire to reason with her. Make her understand.
Her male partner stepped forward and picked both Riku and Rinoa from their place. "Don't waste our time. Neither of you lot cared. Do Riku the decency and let him go."
Before I could stop them, the darkness was engulfing the trio. I ran to try and pull Riku back, but before I could reach him, they had vanished.
"Riku!" Yuffie cried.
"Damn it! Why? Why did you keep everything bottled up? You didn't need to leave!" I yelled and felt my body slip to the ground.
"Leon!" I heard Tifa appear. "Leon have you found Riku."
"I have lost him…. I don't understand…" I stammered.
My body began to struggle for breath. Breathing hard I found Tifa's hands touch my shoulder. My head was screaming a series of confused thoughts. Why is she here? She disappeared… engulfed by the darkness… she couldn't have survived… so why? Why did she appear… why did she have to take Riku? "What happened Leon?"
"Rinoa took him." Is all I could say. My voice was going hoarse. "She took him away… And refused to listen…. She actually took him through the darkness."
"What do you mean Rinoa took him… she died she can't have took him." Tifa voice turned cold. "Leon you can't blame her if she isn't here. I know it sounds harsh but—."
"YOU LOST HIM! How the hell could you lose him? He was right in front of you wasn't he?" I heard Cloud's voice behind me. It was cold and twice as harsh as Tifa's. Within a few seconds there was a strong impact on my chest. My vision was blurred and I struggled to see what had hit me. "You absolute dick. It's not hard to stop him is it?"
"He couldn't stop him. He wanted to go." Yuffie interjected, and she walked beside me. I felt her hand on my shoulder, and she pulled me to my feet as best she could.
"Well no shit. I would too if I was living with two strangers, and see nothing but darkness, lose a close friend, and to top it all off see nothing but hate and disgust." Cloud barked back at her.
"Knock it off. The important thing now is that we find him. Fighting isn't going to look for him, so we need to calm down." Aerith appeared and was giving Cloud an evil stare.
"You won't find him. Rinoa and Zack took him. I have no idea where they are." I groaned.
"What do you mean Zack took him? That's impossible. Zack was killed by SOLDIER shortly before the Heartless destroyed our world. No one could have survived that. I watched him die. I said good-bye." Clouds voice was weak. I was sure the name of an old friend hit him harder than I expected.
"I think I know someone who may know where he is." Aerith whispered faintly. Her face was pale. From what I was told Zack was someone Aerith well and truly cared for. Although he died in an effort to be free from his SOLDIER life.
"Who could possibly know where they are? They are in the darkness Aerith. No one knows that time space well enough." I groaned. My vision was beginning to return. As I looked around, cloud had sat himself on the step of a tomb. His face whiter than Zero's, and his eyes deep in sorrow and thought.
"Wouldn't Kara know?" Aerith asked turning her attention to Tifa.
"Who you mean that kid who works at the bar with Tifa?" Yuffie questioned, looking as though it was her first real thought.
"Since when did you hire people?" I asked.
"You're not the only owner of MY bar you know." Tifa joked. "She's a good kid, although she seems to be a little strange… She looks a lot like you Leon."
"Yeah of course she does." I groaned. Like that's true.
"Actually I am sure I saw her earlier waiting for someone." Tifa smiled.
"C'mon then let's move then." Yuffie ran off quickly, "The sooner we find Riku the better."
"Cloud come on." Aerith touched his arm gently.
As I began to walk past Cloud, I felt the coldness from his eyes hit the back of my neck. I felt as though any minute cloud was going to turn and stab me thorough the back. Even though me and Cloud argue the majority of the time, I would have thought we could have gotten along, without being hit in the chest.
We walked together searching for 'Kara'. We passed what felt like hundreds of people, and struggled to find a single person who even moderately "Looked like me". Yuffie was moaning all the way down. My head felt like it was splitting. The pain in my head fluctuated, and I struggled even more to prevent Rinoa's face from entering my mind, as well as the last image I have of Riku leaving. Cloud was silent throughout our entire search. No matter how many times Tifa asked him if he was okay, he blanked her and carried on walking around.
After a while it felt as though we were walking around in circles. Aerith had called Sora to tell him the news. She told him gently not to worry and to carry on having fun, at a request from Riku. By the time the sky had gone pitch black, and the majority of people had gone home, we had begun to lose all hope of finding her.
"Hey no fair Angeal! You're supposed to let me win." A girl whined weakly in the back ground. I watched as Cloud spun his head round and stared at the pair.
As I turned my head to watch I saw a girl with her hood up, and brown hair strands pulling through. The man stood tall over her, and laughed loudly. He had jet black hair which was swept back over his head apart from one piece on both sides of his face. He had a strong intimidating face, with unusually bright eyes. "You're as bad a Zack was when I took him to the park." He placed his hand on her head and rubbed it.
"Ouch stop it! You're really mean!"
The pair seemed at home standing in front of the stall. As I watched I felt my body ache inside. By the time he had let go of her, all five of us had halted to watch the pair. I felt a pane of sympathy for Aerith as she stared in absolute horror at the man.
"Hey you!" Cloud called, and stormed over to the pair. "Are you Angeal Hewley?"
"Who? You're wasting my time. C'mon kid we need to go, before your mum kills me." The man picked her up and placed her on his shoulders. I took a hard look at the girl, trying to look for her face. She looked as though she was the same age as Riku. She looked tall and very thin compared to Namine and Kairi, although there was something unusual about her overall aura. It was hard to see her face, with the black hood covering her face. Although I could just make out where her eyes where.
"See you around." The girl laughed, as Angeal turned and walked away.
"Wait! We need your help. Where is Riku? I know it's you Angeal." Aerith ran after him.
I studied hard and watched as the girls head turned back. Her eyes went dark, and she held out her hand.
"Aerith don't!" I called, and felt my body run forward after her. I called forward my gunblade with every being of my body. I pushed my hand forward, and watched as the blade began to materialize before me. I pressured my hand on its handle, forcing vibrations through my sword. As I drew closer to Aerith, I watched as the young girl forced a black orb forward. As it hit the floor, it blasted outwards, throwing both me and Aerith back.
My chest was in so much pain. I felt as though every one of my ribs had been shattered in pieces. My head throbbed as the pain of the impact spread over my skull. A high pitched buzzing noise forced its way through my ears. I lay with my eyes open unaware of my surroundings, and found myself face down. I shifted my body to a more comfortable position, and forced myself to rise. I found myself lying next to Aerith. She looked rough. Her face was blackened by a mixture of bruises and dirt. I touched her shoulder to try and wake her up but failed. I looked around desperately trying to get help and as my face turned in the direction the force had come from, I saw the two begin to disappear amongst the smoke. "Wait come back. Please!" was the last thing I heard before I collapsed, and darkness crept it's way over me.