The Dawn

This time around, Riku was given cards to worlds he had never been to before. He had no idea where he was going, so he took the first card that came to hand and used it to open the door. Apparently his first stop was to a world known as Atlantica.

He was startled at first to find himself under water, and instantly went to hold his breath. But then he noticed that he wasn't floating or swimming in the water, but was simply standing at the bottom of the ocean like he would on land. Taking a chance, he open his mouth and took notice that he could breath. He wasn't even releasing any air bubbles either. Not looking a miracle horse in its mouth, he took things as they were without question and headed further into the world.

The Heartless seemed to have to swim to get around in this world, but he did not. Perhaps it had something to do with them being fragment memories of this world while he was simply a guest walking among them. Either way, the world was beautiful. He had always wanted to get a chance to swim at the bottom of the sea back on his island, but never got the chance to since whenever he was out on the ocean he was helping his dad out on the fishing boat.

It was nothing like he'd ever seen before, and not to be lame or make a pun but it was like a world of its own compared to the surface. Maybe when all this was over, he would give this a try again. Although, next time he would probably have to learn a spell that would allow him to breath under water. The place was amazing, what with the seaweed, the underwater plants, the occasional sea wrecked treasure from ships, and the underground air holes. The only thing that seemed out of place were the doors to the next grove room that needed to be opened with cards.

This place was a fun break from the stress that was building up from the castle floors'. Jumping on bubbles, running away from giant biting clams, and climbing outward stone ladders on cliff sides, it kinda made him feel like a kid again. That was until he bumped into Ursula in the Key of Beginnings room. Well, at least he had fun in the many room between that until he had to face off with another member of the Dark Council from his past. Somehow she seemed much bigger than he last remembered her, and a lot more testy. She kept trying to bite him.

It was at moments like this, he wised he could swim, it would make this fight a whole lot easier. Cause now he would have to jump to reach her face, and he would have to hope she bent her head close enough. Even then, he would have to tempt her closer in anger by attacking her tentacles, which didn't take his assault lightly as they smacked the sense out of him. But soon he had taken her down and had received her booster card as an award. No wonder Sora had taken down the Dark Council's members so quickly, they were easy. It was too bad Riku hadn't seen how weak they were in the beginning, maybe he could have avoided this whole darkness trouble to begin with. But with her gone, Riku made his way out of the world and onto the floor's Exiting Hall.

'Well, where to next?' Without much of a look, Riku pulled out the next card once he reached the next floor's cream door. "Olympus Coliseum? Huh... Isn't that the world that Hades said he was from? Well I'm about to find out.'

Opening the door, he walked into a world that looked like it was made for gladiators and warriors. Riku had heard about this place, this was suppose to be the world that some of the greatest fighters gathered around to participate in its battle tournaments. This was the place he use to sense Sora and his companions going to from time to time, and apparently it was one of the places he had trained before going to rescue Riku from the Heartless world, according to his mother. It was suppose to test your merit as a warrior, and your heart as a hero. Riku felt like he was no hero at this moment, but... he was a fighter. He would give this place all he's got.

Riku could see the attraction Sora had for this place; he had always wanted to fight in a tournament to prove his strength. This was a great place to learn from your opponents, and make battle companions through fighting. That was the strange friendship between boys: they'll fight each other one minute, and become good friends soon after. But it looks like Riku wouldn't be getting that since all he was bumping into were Heartless. The place looked like it was set up to be a run-through triathlon challenge competition, but no one was there to participate. Oh well, at least the world was nice. It had a style to it that was unlike the other worlds he had been too. It was a pity he didn't take the chance to go to the real thing when he had the opportunity.

He had come to the room of the Key of Beginnings, where it seem that the finish line was. This one had a coliseum arena in the room, and Hades was waiting for him in the arena, ready for a match. He had not seen Sora defeat this Dark Council member, nor did he know if Sora ever did take him down. But Riku was sure he could take down this ruler of the Underworld.

But he had almost counted his eggs too soon as Hades was literally toasting him with his flames. Regrettable, Riku had to call on his Dark Mode to save himself at the last second. He hated relying on the darkness inside him, but he needed it in order to survive the match. Hades was much harder than he thought, and had almost defeated him. Riku almost felt like he didn't deserve the Hades booster card rewarded to him from the fight, but he took it any way. The people he was beginning to face were steadily getting stronger, he would need all the help he could get. Especially since he could sense one of the smells of darkness in the castle had dissipated away. It smelled like that Vexen guy- or Nobody. Riku didn't know, it was hard to tell what they were, he would just have to go by what Vexen had hinted they were. It looks like somebody had destroyed Vexen, somewhere further up on the castle floors. Whoever they were, they reeked of darkness too.

But he had no time to dwell on what has already been done, Riku needed to keep going. It would seem that his next stop on the floor above the previous floor was to a world called, Wonderland. Riku had heard about this before... but it was on the slip of his tongue.

"!" That's when it hit him. 'This is the world that Alice was talking about, where everything was nonsense! Maybe she's here as well, at least her memory fragment.

The place was already ridiculous enough, all of the plants were so big it made him feel like an ant. Or like he had somehow shrunk. Even the Heartless here seemed a little weird, some were shaped like flowers while others were like horns. Sometimes he would have to whack-on glowing bell flowers to get overgrown vines off the next door, and occasionally would have to jump on big mushrooms, or giant toadstools, to get to higher grounds. This place was madness. It didn't help prove his case wrong when he ended up in a room that looked like the dinning room of a giant and a Heartless that looked to be made of folded paper carrying torches guarded the place.

He had taken down the Heartless and had faced the room of Beginnings, but still no Alice.

"..." He was actually looking forward to seeing that little girl full of imagination and wonder, but it would seem that his memories would have otherwise. It looks like Alice wouldn't be there to show him around. He had thought at least... he had some good memories with the ten-year-old girl. But it would seem, that he had cast her out his heart as well. But that kinda made sense, after all, he did have to push her aside in order to appease his conscious about what he was doing with Maleficent to the princesses of heart in order to receive power and rescue his friends. He didn't even consider the feelings of others, or their hearts. So the voice was right, he did cast people aside in his heart, that was just in his nature apparently.

Disappointed that he had finally seen the world that Alice was talking about but no Alice, Riku made his way to the next room, ignoring the door with a face for a handle and keyhole as he opened it and went through. Climbing up the ladder to the world's exit, he made his way up the Exiting Hall's stairs and proceeded on to the next floor.

"Just one card left." Riku sadly said out loud to himself as he looked down at his last world card. Even though the end to his trial was near, he was still scared about what was going to happen to him 'after that'. "If I get through this, will I be free of the darkness?"

The answer made him nervous. He wasn't ready for this.

It didn't help much that another smell of darkness in the castle had been squished out, somewhere up higher on the floors. He didn't recognized this darkness, he didn't know the person the stench belonged to. But what he did know was that they were no more. The castle was starting to smell cleaner, but he had a good idea that it wasn't because of him. No matter how many of the dark fragments he faced from his past, he was not the one that was effecting the darkness in this castle. It was not a reflection of his actions, only a secondary course of action that he had no part in.

However, unlike last time, it wasn't another user of darkness that took them out, but a wielder of light. But Riku couldn't recognize or tell whom they were. To his relief they actually had a heart; which meant that there were others in the castle like him besides himself. So he wasn't alone. Maybe if he continued going up the floors he could possibly meet up with them. However that seemed unlikely, he was down to his last card, there was no way for him to go further after that. Also, this person's heart was so train wrecked it was a headache for Riku just trying to pick it up, let alone decipher. It was strange, it was like the heart was constantly changing. Slowly deteriorating and being broken down only to be put back together differently; and each time it was broken down it only got stronger. Whomever it was must of had a strong heart; however, Riku was greatly concern about the condition of the heart with all the stress it is being put under. Yet, there was nothing Riku could do for them from where he was, they would just have to survive with their own devices. Besides, if they were cleaning up this castle to help ease his nose of the stench of darkness, he would let them run their course. He had things he needed to take care of on his part anyway.

Using his last card, he entered the world known as Halloween Town. The place was dark, but not that Realm of Darkness dark. Just a good haunting kinda dark, like a place that would give you a good scare but no actual harm. Riku grew excited, he had wanted to go to this place when he sensed Sora making a stop at this place and defeated Oogie Boggie. The place seemed like fun, and the place looked awesome with its decorations.

But the place was empty. Where were the monsters and ghouls that were suppose to scare him? Riku was disappointed that this place was empty too. Oogie Boggie had once talked about the King of the Pumpkin Patch that ruled this place, that could scare the bones out of grown men, called Jack Skeleton. But it looks like no pumpkin patch king was coming out to scare him. He was all alone in this world with only the Heartless for company. That alone was a little scary enough. The isolation was starting to get to him a little, but still he continued to proceed. Just simply enjoying the wonders of this world. Running past jack-o-lanterns and street-lamps and jumping through guillotines; running under the Moon in the dead of night. The place would have been a great experience if he had a costume of his own to fit in with. But he was only a guest in the memory of this world, he would have to walk among it as he was. Chances were he would have to face Oogie Boggie as another embodiment of the darkness inside of him.

'Called it.' Riku thought to himself as he made it to the room of the Key of Beginning where Oogie Boggie was waiting for him on the higher level of a large gambling wheel.

He was caged in and had to break Oogie Boggie's throw and destroy the right dice that Oogie Boggie threw in to break through his defenses. The other two would either disintegrate from his touch or explode in his face. But when he did pick the right one, it knocked Oogie Boggie out of it and left him open for attack as the fences would go down. If he was lucky he would get a mouse card that would automatically lower Oogie boogie's defenses. In no time Oogie Boggie was defeated and he had received his booster card as a reward. And with that the last member of the Dark Council was defeated. Riku had overcome the darkness, and had won. The castle floors should hold nothing more for him, he should be done with this card trial. All that was left was to face what awaited him at the end. As much as he enjoyed this world it was time for him to head to the exit. His journey through the castle was almost over, it was time to see how it will end.

Taking the latter up the to exit to the Exiting Hall, Riku open the cream doors to head up the stairs to the next floor. Or at least he would have if there wasn't a giant man with a bulked blade standing in his way. This man had a strong cheek bone and face structure with a square chin. His eyes were a calming blue, which contrasted with the rest of his intimidating presence. And his hair was wild with its brown short spikes that waved out behind. He was wearing another one of those black robes like that Vexen guy had. Could he possibly be a 'Nobody' as well? Whatever 'that' means.

"!" Riku got on guard. This man reeked of darkness, but not as bad as the other ones that were in the castle. He just stood there, patiently waiting as Riku made it all the way into the room. "That scent... You're another one of those 'nobodies.'"

"You done well thus far." The man complemented with a deep voice. "But to possess your powers, and yet fear the darkness... What a waste."

"I do not... fear it!" Riku was getting tired of people throwing the sames words at him. The only people he got to meet in this place and they were all mocking him to be a coward.

"I sense that you do." The man replied, as if countering a bluff. "You're also capable of controlling the darkness."

"..." Yeah right, the last time someone said that to him he lost all control of his body.

"Cast away your useless fear. Open your heart. Embrace the darkness."

"And if I say no?"

"Then you lose both light and darkness- and disappear." The man answer, calling forth a powerful flow of darkness from himself that flood the room with its power. Riku had to guard from the initial wave of the darkness before everything calmed down again. "I, Lexaeus, will not yield to the frail heart- of an infantile coward!"

"!" Riku brought up his Soul Eater, ready for a fight that was most likely going to happen.

"Now, stop resisting- and let the darkness in!" The man called Lexaeus fully lifted up his blade point from the floor, bringing it into stance.

Riku was caught off guard, Lexaeus's blade was slow but had a powerful blow as it shook the floor with its impacts.

"Take this!" Riku gritted through his teeth as he took the chance between the breaks in Lexaeus's swings. "Like it?!"

But Lexaeus quickly swirled his blade around in answer, knocking Riku back with its power. Giving Riku only a moment to get out of the way as Lexaeus slashed his blade down creating an impact wave that vibrated through the floor.

"You can't run!" Lexaeus roared, throwing his blade at Riku with a speed that had set it on fire as Riku circled around him, trying to find an opening. The blade barely missed Riku as he ran on passed it, the heat from it singing at his back. Riku sweat-dropped in alarm as the blade impaled into the wall, thinking about how that almost could have been him. The blade seemed to have a will of its own as it had returned to Lexaeus's hand.

"Just give up!" Lexaeus slashed his blade through the air, sending a swirling wave of fire at Riku as he continued to circle.

"!" Eventually Riku had gotten the chance he was looking for, taking the initiative he dashed at Lexaeus, striking him with a combo. It had dazed him for a second, but Lexaeus seemed to recover quickly. It took a little more for Riku to get Lexaeus out of breath, but at that point Riku was out of breath too.

"Curse you..." Lexaeus huffed as he backed away a little, knelling over as he rested his weight on his blade that was digging into the floor. Riku had some how gotten a card from him, but Lexaeus looked like he still had some fight in him.

"You're finished!" Riku assured to him as he leaped towards Lexaeus to finish the job. But Lexaeus gritted his teeth and rose up onto his feet again.

"Don't mock me!" He roared at Riku, slashed his large blade at him, knocking Riku up onto the ceiling hard.

"Ah!- (Exhale)!" The breath was knocked out of him as he hit the ceiling, his eyes opened wide in shock until he limply fell to the floor, dropping his Soul Eater.

"You were too much trouble." Lexaeus said over to Riku's unconscious body. He slowly walked over to Riku to finish him off, still sore from the fight before. But he halted as a darkness came out of Riku's body. "Hm?"

The darkness engulfed Riku's body, only to bring him into Dark Mode.

"(Ah)!" Lexaeus gasped in surprise at the sudden turn of events. Riku was too much of a coward to even use the darkness in a fight, let alone use it in his unconscious state. How was this even possible?

He was getting up.

Rising onto one knee, Riku suddenly vanished. Only to appear behind Lexaeus in a dash and slash him. The blow had made Lexaeus drop his blade.

"Too slow." Riku taunted with two voices as he still remained in stance behind Lexaeus.

"..." Lexaeus stumbled a little before he started to fade away. Strangely he was content with his demise. With the last of his energy, he turned his head to look behind him, back to Riku and back to the stairs. "You are the Superior's- Forgive me, Zexion. This was a fight I should not have started."

"Heh," he was smirking. Lexaeus had disappeared from existence and he was smirking. Something was wrong with him. But this wasn't Riku. Riku had felt his control slip the moment his eyes had closed. His grasp over his body was taken when he hit the floor, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He was falling into the black.

"I see you now... clearly."

"Huh?" Riku had woken up to the sound of Ansem's voice, realizing he was no longer in the castle but floating in pitch black. It was terrifying and rattled him a little as he swatted around, trying to grab a hold of something. Put there was nothing to grasp, this place was empty. Nothing but the darkness. "Lexaeus?!"

"Riku... I can see your heart..." This was Ansem, truly Ansem. There was no doubt about it. Only the real Ansem could have such a cold grip over Riku's heart at the mere sound of his voice. There was no lecturing with self-realization lessons, or mild assistance while keeping space, nor a choice like the Ansem from before. This Ansem was a pure dark presence that demanded for you to submit. It pulled at you, choked at your heart until you gave in to its overwhelming pressure.

"No... it's not. Darkness this foul could only... only be-" Riku shook at the thought while he floated in the darkness.

"That's it, remember me... Let me drift into your heart..." Ansem coast him on until Riku remember his name. He wanted to make sure Riku never forgets it; he wanted to hear Riku say it.

"Ansem!" Riku shouted in anger as he looked up into the darkness. Ansem could only laugh, slowly growing into mad hysterics at Riku's weak attempt at intimidation.

"You called out my name." Ansem taunted at Riku, his voice circling around him where Riku couldn't really pick him up. "You have been thinking about me... You're afraid of the darkness I command. Good..."

He lived off of fear. It feeds the darkness. Riku got a chill up his spine by just that one word.

"The more you think of me, the closer my return draws. And when I have awoken, I will take hold..." Riku flinched back in alarm as Ansem appeared in the darkness in front of him. "Your heart will be mine!"

"!" Riku pulled back in alarm as Ansem reached out at him in the darkness. Blocking his face as Ansem's hand drew in close, too scared to do anything else in the moment.

"Riku, fight!" Cried out the voice of king Mickey that appeared in a bright light that got in between Ansem and him. "Don't let him win!"

"!" The light grew brighter, making Riku flinch his eyes shut until they dimmed again. Only for king Mickey hologram to appear, blocking Riku off from Ansem. "Your Majesty?!"

"You meddlesome king!" Ansem roared back in aggravation as he flinched back from king Mickey's inner light, blocking his face with his arm.

"..." Soon Riku found himself back in his body and back on the castle floor. Tiredly bringing himself back on his feet again, he looked down at his hands as he checked if everything was okay. "The king... He protected me..."

He had saved him from Ansem. But... where was he now?

"Your Majesty, where are you? Please answer!" Riku called out as he looked around the Exiting Hall, but no one was in sight and no one was responding. Lexaeus's scent was gone, most likely disposed of by Ansem when he had taken over Riku's body. And king Mickey was nowhere in sight. But... he could feel a warm presence in his heart. Even if king Mickey was not physically there, he would always be there in Riku's heart. He place a hand gently over his heart as he looked down at it. "You're with me, aren't you..."

The truth of this warms and calmed his troubled heart down. With his ease again returned, Riku made his way up the stairs onto the next floor. But as he made it onto the next floor he could feel the whole castle shake as a large stench of darkness had been destroyed. He had steadied himself with bent knees and a solid footing until the shaking had stopped.

"What? One of the scents has died- a really strong one." He couldn't believe it, the presence with a wrecked heart had taken down one of the larger stenches of darkness in the castle. It must have been quite a fight, the air had seemed a lot more cleaner. But he had no time to ponder how this had come about, since another one of those 'nobodies' had made their appearance on the floor. This one seem much younger than the guy from before, almost around Riku's age but a little bit more older. He had short dark blue hair that had a goth twist to it as they spiked out and his bangs covered half of his face on one side, only revealing one of his blue eyes on his aloof expressing face.

"The keeper of this castle, Marluxia, has been felled by the Keyblade master." The young man said, cutting to the chase.

"Keyblade... You mean Sora! Sora is here?!"

"Yes. Want to see him? But... can you face him?"

"What's that mean?" This man didn't waste any time with games like most of the others did, but he still seemed to toy with Riku's emotions subtly in his words. That alone made him pretty dangerous.

"The world of darkness, and Ansem's shadow, still nest within your heart. Do you plan to face Sora like that? Are you not ashamed?"

"..." So he was playing at Riku's subconscious insecurities and fears...

"Sora's fare is to battle the darkness. He must oppose anyone who host the dark- in other words, it's you."

"!"

"If you don't believe the words I say..." He threw Riku a card, tossing it passed Riku as Riku caught it as it crossed, "then you had best see the truth with your own eyes."

"This card!" Riku gasped as he looked at the card. "This is our-"

"Yes, it is your home." And then he was gone. Leaving Riku to his own devices once again.

"..." Nervous now, Riku made his way up the stairs to the door to the worlds. Opening it with the card to take him back to Destiny Islands. Once there, he didn't even feel like exploring. Riku was just happy to be back at home again, he never even realized how homesick he was until he was back on the island again. Running to their Paopu fruit tree, Riku sat on its bent branch to rest for a second as he looked out at the sea. Ahh, he could practically feel the ocean's taste in the wind. "I never thought I'd miss the island winds so much..."

There was no one to respond to him, or even listen to his words.

"Hmph." It would seem that he was talking to himself. And he was okay with that, right now he just needed to get it out of his system. "There was a time I couldn't wait to get off this rock. And now I'm acting all relieved."

Feeling as if he had rested enough, he jumped off the tree again. Only to spot three of his friends from the island over had the dinghy harbor. Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie.

"Is that...?" Riku couldn't believe it... there were others on the island too. "Hey!"

Well of course they would be on the island, but so far nobody had shown up in his memories of the worlds and he was just happy to see them. Rushing over to the bridge, he didn't even waste time and just jumped down. Running along the beach until he reached them as quick as he could. He was happy to see them, really he was, but... they were so quiet. They weren't even looking at him.

"What's with you guys? I don't think I've ever seen the three of you so quiet." That got Tidus's and Wakka's attention as they turned to look at Riku, Selphie just kept on staring off at the sea from her seat on the edge of the harbor. They just stared at him and said nothing. "What, is there something on my face?"

Why weren't they saying anything?

"Guys?!"

They faded away and disappeared.

"!" Riku flinched a little in surprised as they disappeared, leaving him alone again. In their place, they left a Key of Beginnings card.

The island seemed nothing like he remembered it to be. It was a lot bigger and swarming with Heartless. Riku found it a little odd that the island would be separated into rooms with doors, but he just guess that was just the workings of the castle's floor, it was opening the memory of the Destiny Islands' world to interpretation. But on the bases it still mostly resembled his island after he left the initial 'beach room' from before. And if he thought about it, of course this place would be bigger than all the other worlds, this was the place were most of his memories were influenced. He grew up in this place...

He eventually found his way to the door that could only be opened with the use of the Key of Beginnings card. Somehow he had found his way back to the bridge that led to the Paopu fruit trees. Seems like the rooms only led him around in a circle. But he was startled as he felt a presence behind him on the bridge, instantly turning around only to find out that it was Kairi.

"Kairi..." It was good to see her awake and well. But... he didn't really know what to say to her. How could he explain himself to her? His actions had caused great suffering to others, and her in the long run. But she didn't hold any contentment as she just stared at him, saying nothing. Just like the others... "Hey, Kairi. Are you-"

But she faded away. Her disappearance seemed to sting more than the others.

"Ahh." Riku could only sigh as one of his closes friends faded away before his eyes. "No!"

"Surely you knew this would happen." The guy from before had returned again much to Riku's annoyance.

"!" He was in no mood for this right now as looked over from the corner of his eyes behind him before turning around.

"You've been to a number of worlds in your memory before this one. And in those worlds, you met only dark beings." The guy pointed out. "That's all that's left in your heart: dark memories. Your memories of home are gone- each and every one."

"That's a lie!" Riku strongly denied. "I remember everyone from the islands! Tidus and Selpie and Wakka! Kairi and Sora, too! They're my... my... my closest friends..."

But his words lost their flame as he deflated at the end. Bowing his head as he thought about how he turned his back on them for power.

"And you threw away those friends?" The guy bringing out loud what Riku was thinking. "Maybe it's your own actions that you've forgotten."

That is when he started pointing the blame.

"You destroyed your home!"

"!" Riku gasped in alarm at his accusation. His world falling apart around him in his fears and anxieties as it took on the form it did when it was falling into darkness. Riku looked around in alarm as his home was being destroyed once again before his eyes. "This is... that night!"

"All of the islands you grew up on were sundered, scattered. Many hearts were forever lost to the darkness. Because of what YOU did!"

"!" Riku gasped in alarm as the guy pointed towards the edge of the island they were floating on. Right at the spot where Riku once stood when his world was falling apart, that moment before he followed a hood-robbed Ansem through a portal of darkness to Hollow Bastion. As if the memory had solidified a holo-image of himself had appeared in its place, its back turned to them just like Riku remembered the moment.

"You hated being an islander, so you opened the door to darkness and destroyed the islands. It was YOU!" The guy accused, eating away at Riku's conscious filling him with guilt and doubt. "You were pulled into the darkness then, and now you belong to the darkness. You should look- look at what you truly are!"

Riku watched as the holo-image of himself was engulfed by darkness and replaced with a Darkside that arised from its dark pool.

"This... this can't be who I really am!" Riku didn't want to believe it. He refused to believe it.

The Darkside slanted his beady yellow eyes accusingly at Riku as it moved to strike him with its hand.

Its fist had opened a pool of darkness which had brought out more shadow Heartless, but gave rise to an opening as Riku struck at its hand while it was down on his level. But eventually it would pull back, forcing Riku to have to move around and jump for its hand again. It was the only vulnerable spot in the Heartless' defense that Riku could reach, and even then it was hardly doing any damage. Even using a king Mickey card did little help. His only hope was to try and reach for a more vulnerable spot like its face. But how was he going to do that?

As if answering his prayers, a mouse card had fallen into the area. Judging by the cards great track record, Riku used it and level building pillars had risen from the ground, leading up to the Darkside Heartless' face. Not taking a good thing for granted, Riku jumped his way up and began striking at Darkside's face. And just when the pillars were starting to come down again Riku was able to finish Darkside off with the last blow, jumping up to deliver it as the pillars were coming down. Grabbing Darkside's booster card while he landed back down on the ground.

He was exhausted from the fight, and out of breath, his emotions had drained him more than regularly in the fight. He had looked around to see that island was still in ruin and the guy from before had disappeared. But he was startled with a mix of surprised relief and concern as he saw Sora standing at the edge of the island where his holo-image once stood.

"Sora?!" He called out to Sora, but Sora didn't respond as his back remained turned to Riku. Perhaps he couldn't hear him over the chaotic winds. "Sora!"

A doorway out of there had appeared behind Riku but he didn't care about that now. What was important to him now was his friend. Running up to Sora he tried calling out to him again.

"Sora, it's me-" But he had to jump back as Sora quickly turned around, slashing his Keyblade at him. "What?"

Sora was crouched down like he always was when he was ready for a fight. Charging at Riku, he didn't know what to do as Sora came at him with the full intent to harm him. Summoning out his Soul Eater at the last second, Riku parried Sora's Keyblade, holding Sora back while still trying not to harm him.

"Stop it, Sora! Don't you recognize me?"

"Yeah, I recognize you."

"!" He could talk! None of the other memory fragments he had would talk to him, other than Maleficent. This actually relieved Riku a little to hear his friend again, but at the same time... it alarmed him that this might actually 'not' be memory fragment. And if that were true than this... could actually be Sora and what 'he' thought of him now. The guy had said Sora was in the castle, it could be a possibility.

"I can see exactly what you've become!" Sora pushed back off of Riku, shooting at Riku with the light of his Keyblade. It had hurt as the laser focused light shot Riku back off his feet. Sora sadly approached closer to Riku again "How can the light hurt you? Riku... Have you really become a creature of the dark? You're not Riku anymore... You're just a pawn of the darkness."

"..." Riku slowly tried to sit up, wanting to deny Sora's claims but was still too sore to speak.

"So be it." Sora huffed as he braced himself to deal with his friend and what he believed he has become. "It's time for you to face the light!"

He raised up his Keyblade, charging up his light as it soon engulfed Riku making him flinch back in its blinding light. Soon Riku found himself falling in a sea of white blankness, forever falling without any end.

"I'm... fading..." Riku tiredly said out into the blankness, unable to control his fall. "Fading away... into the light."

In a way... he kinda wanted this...

He wanted the darkness inside him to be gone. Now he was surrounded by the blankness of light. How strange... it wasn't as warm as he expected, nor as comforting as the light he was use to.

"You won't fade." Called out a voice that reminded him of Kairi.

"!" He could see her now. She looked like Kairi, and yet... she didn't really feel like Kairi, although they both had the same aura. And even still, he felt like he could trust her.

"You can't fade. There's no power that can defeat you- not the light, not the darkness." She warmly said to him. "So don't run from the light- and don't fear the darkness. Because both will make you stronger."

"Make me stronger? Darkness too?"

"Yeah. Strength that's yours. The darkness inside your heart- it's vast and it's deep... but if you can truly stare into it and never try to look away, you won't be afraid of anything again."

"All this time I've tried to push the darkness away-"

"You've gotta just remember to be brave. Know that the darkness is there and don't give in. If you do that, you will gain strength- the kind that's unlike any other. You'll be able to escape the deepest darkness- "

"-and I'll be able to see through the brightest light-" He was finally getting it.

"Follow the darkness. It'll show you the way to your friends."

"Can I face them?"

"You don't want to?" He saw it. For a moment there, the person behind the Kairi mask had shown her true self, he could even hear the break in their voices. She kinda looked like Kairi, and had her eyes, but her skin was paler and her hair was longer as she hung her blond locks to one side of her shoulder and she had a simple white sundress on. She wasn't Kairi, but she still held concern for him, which made him feel warm inside after all the people he had run into trying to just destroy him and use him. It was such a relief after so long of nothing but fighting.

"You know I do. Of course." He warmly replied back to her question, her Kairi mask returning back again as her real self disappeared again in a moment. She smiled at his answer, disappearing in the light again as Riku's spirit had returned again. "And I will! With my strength- My dark strength!"

With the darkness inside him, he had pulled himself upright in the light void again, ceasing his falling into its blankness.

"Darkness!" Calling forth his Dark Mode, he sensed into the void until he picked up on the scent of darkness. Turning towards it, he struck.

"Impossible!" Sora had grunted in pain in the voice of the stranger as he gripped his slash wound that Riku had given as he pulled himself out of the light. Revealing his true colors, the guy had fallen out of his Sora disguise and knelled to the ground in pain. Slowly he rose back to his feet again to face Riku. "How is it that you found me when you were there in the light?"

"You reek of darkness. Even the light can't block the smell."

"!"

"I guess I followed the darkness right to you."

"This is absurd..." The guy growled in outrage as he clinched his fist. "Then I shall make you see... That your hopes are nothing- nothing but a mere illusion!"

The guy had surrounded himself with swarms of paper as he summoned a book as his weapon. This guy didn't seem like much of a fighter, it wasn't a hard match.

"Vanish." Riku taunted as he shot energy of darkness at the guy, knocking him back onto the edge of the island. The fight was going by much faster with the power of darkness giving Riku a boost.

"Go!" And he was having a rather fun time breaking the guys cards and beating him in Dual. "Your memories shall be mine."

"!" Riku's eyes widened as the guy's pages had turned into images of him, hiding the real one in a swarm of himself.

"Had enough?" But he wouldn't be able to taunt for long as Riku sniffed him out, and just went after his book to get rid of the illusions. "What?! What is this?"

With a Slieght, Riku had finished him off.

"Ugh... I'm defeated...?" The guy couldn't even believe that he had lost as he knelled down to catch his breath. Riku had collected his booster card as a award only to find out that the guy's actually name was Zexion. Seemed like a waste to have fought the guy and 'not' get his name, just doesn't bring a significance to the victory without it. "After all your protests, you're still like us, on the side of darkness."

"I know who I am." He wasn't going to fall for his tricks again. He would no longer be taunted into guilt of what he wasn't or was.

"When did that happen?" Zexion huffed as he got back on his feet again. "You were always terrified of the dark before-"

"Not anymore!" Riku proclaimed as he dashed at Zexion.

But the way Zexion flinched and coiled away made Riku change his course of attack. He was scared... scared to die and disappear. Riku couldn't honestly finish him off, this Zexion still had the desire to live. Changing his aim, he struck at a spot where it would only damage Zexion, not finish him off. Zexion grunted in pain and disappeared into a dark portal, most likely believing that he had fooled Riku into thinking that he had finished him off. But Riku was no idiot, he could still smell him in the castle. But he would let him live... he was harmless for now.

Changing out of Dark Mode he headed out the Doorway where it lead to another room in the world. The island was back to normal again, much to Riku's relief. He kept on going further into the rooms, seeing where the doors would take him. But soon he found himself jumping up a stone uplift cliff-side out of the world and into the Exit Hall of the floor. He was going to miss those islands, but Riku was sure he would see them again 'for real' soon.

Startled he felt the darkness of Zexion destroyed as he made it up the stairs to the next floor. It would seems that someone else had finished the job for him. It was a shame really... he was hoping that the guy could've survived.

"Riku..." Ansem called out to him as he walked further onto the floor. Riku had ignore his voice and continued focusing on who could have snuffed out Zexion while he kept going on, but Ansem wouldn't have it. "Riku..."

"Who's there?!" Riku was startled into attention as Ansem voice finally caught up to his ears.

"I know you can feel it..." Ansem taunted as Riku looked around trying to find him. "The grip that I have on your heart."

"!" Riku instantly touched his heart on reflex. A small gesture to make his feel a sense of security, not an act of any real defense.

"You have let in the darkness, Riku. That means very soon your heart shall become an all-consuming darkness."

"I'm not like that now!"

"Yes, you are." Ansem gently spoke to him like he were a pouting child before stunning Riku's control over his body.

"Can't move!" Riku gritted under his teeth as he tried to fight his invisible restraints. Darkness began to seep out of him.

"The deeper the darkness runs inside you, the stronger I become." Ansem taunted. "Controlling you is effortless."

But a light had dashed into the room, coming around in front of Riku only to seep into his heart, pushing Ansem's control back.

"Errh!" Ansem grunted in pain as he was forced back by the light. "Must you interfere again?!"

"Ah!" Riku grunted out in relief as he was released from his restraints.

"Phew! Sure glad I made it in time!" Riku quickly turned around at the sound of king Mickey's voice behind him. This time his voice didn't have that echo sound to it, it almost sounded like he was really there. "That oughta keep Ansem busy for a while."

"Huh?" He was really there.

"Sorry I couldn't come here sooner, Riku." King Mickey apologized as he approached him.

"Your Majesty, is it you?" Riku couldn't really believe it.

"Uh-huh." This couldn't be an illusion, Riku had to make sure. Grabbing at king Mickey's cheeks he squished them in a little. He could feel them, he could touch them, king Mickey was real. "Whoa! That tickles!"

King Mickey shook Riku's hands off while Riku started to laugh under his breath.

"This time, you're not an illusion. I'm so glad that you could make it here." Riku happily said, glad that he was no longer alone in this place.

"I made a promise to you that I would find a way, didn't I?" But king Mickey was startled as Riku suddenly crashed onto the floor. "Oh!"

"Ahh... I'm okay. Don't worry. Guess I'm just relieved." Riku humbly said in pure honesty from his spot on the floor. "I've- I've been alone so long that having someone else around is... is a little... overwhelming."

"..."

"But... uh, how did you make it here? I thought it was too far."

"I found a card to help me." King Mickey said, pulling out a card that Riku recognized to be a world card. It said that it lead to a world called Twilight Town, but Riku had never been to or heard of a place like that before. "I needed a way outta the realm of darkness, and then suddenly, this card appeared right in front of me. When I picked it up, I could see your heart beyond the darkness. That's what let me find you. I guess the card thought its place was to be with you."

King Mickey handed the card over to Riku who took it without complaint. He had never heard of the place before, but he was soon about to find out what it was.

"Maybe you're right."

"The power of light should keep Ansem locked up for a while."

"Alright then your Majesty, let's see what lies beyond the next door." Riku said as he walked over to the cream doors and used the card to open them to the world of Twilight Town.

Looking around, it was a nice quiet place. The sun was setting with that nice colorful hues of orange, pink, and purple as the town started to light up with street lamps and neon signs. The place had a nice orange glow to it; but Riku couldn't recall ever coming to this place.

"Where am I? Where is this place?" Riku said while he looked out into the town, suddenly noticing that he was one person short. "Your Majesty?"

He looked behind him to see that king Mickey seems to have not made it into the world with him. But his worry didn't last long as Ansem had appeared in front of him through a dark portal.

"You must battle me all alone." Riku instantly brought his attention to the front as Ansem spoke. "Against my dark powers!"

"..." Riku had pulled his weapon out for a second, only to smirk as he lowered his blade again, not playing along with this Ansem's game. This guy was no real threat, or evil.

"What's this? Are you giving up?" Ansem mocked to Riku, not really making any real moves either as he taunted Riku on. "Finally ready to surrender to your fate?"

"You're not the true Ansem."

"!" Ansem's eyes widen in alarm that Riku had finally figured it out, but exhaled and relaxed his pose as he saw no point playing the facade anymore.

"Your scent is different." Riku said, answering this Ansem impostor's silent question on how Riku had figured it out. "The Ansem in my heart smells darker. The odor is more foul. But... your scent isn't that. It's not darkness. It's something else."

"..."

"I finally understand. You're the one who guided me when it started." Riku concluded in silent gratitude for this stranger's help, even if he did that in the form of the greatest darkness in Riku's heart. "You came to me pretending to be Ansem. You gave me the card- To make me face the darkness."

"Hm." The Ansem impostor smirked as he began to change into his true identity. "That is correct."

"..." Riku watch as the Ansem before him changed in to a man in a black robe with a light brown material holding belt loosely wrapped around his waist. He also had a red shoulder cloak and brown scarf around his neck. His face was wrapped up in red bandaged and one of his eyes was cover with two crossing black belts with metal buckles, leaving only his right orangish-red eye to be uncovered from the bandages along with his mouth.

"DiZ, or so I am known." The man introduced himself. "You- I've watched you all along."

"Really. Who are you? And what do you want from me?" Riku didn't hold any hostility towards this man or his accusations of watching him. He just wanted to know what DiZ was after. Why would he go through all this trouble to help someone he's never met before?

"For you to choose." DiZ simply answered as if that explained it all.

"Choose?"

"You are a special entity."

"!" Did he know?

"You exist between light and dark. You stand in the twilight."

"..." Perhaps he didn't know.

"You are to meet Naminé, then choose."

"Naminé? Who's that?"

"You will know soon."

"!" With that DiZ had disappeared into a ball of light and that shot up into the sky, leaving Riku alone in the town again. But not before dropping a Key of Beginnings card for him as the light rocketed off. "..."

The town was so peaceful and quiet, regardless of the Heartless that littered about the place. It had a calming affect to it like Traverse Town, but with a little something more. For some reason, this world gave off a warmer feeling inside than Traverse Town. Perhaps it was the lighting.

Fighting through two rooms of Heartless, still with the help of the king Mickey cards, Riku had made it to the room that required the Key of Beginnings card to open the door. On the other side of the door lied a mansion guarded off by a stone wall covered in ivy and an iron gate. This place seemed to be out of the town and more into the woods most likely near the town.

"Maybe Naminé is here..." Riku said aloud to himself, not really expecting a reply. But got one anyway.

"Hold it."

"!" Riku turned around in alarm at the sudden call, only to see that it was his Replica. But something was different about him. He seemed so tired out, and he reeked a little bit of Zexion. So 'he' was the one that disposed of him...

"..." The Replica approached a little closer to Riku, stopping at a safe distance as they stared each other down. Whatever he saw in Riku seemed to irritate him a little. "Hmph. You've changed. Your own darkness- it doesn't frighten you anymore."

"How can you tell?"

"Because I'm you."

"No. I'M me." Riku corrected, earning an irritated click of the tongue from the replica.

"'I'm me,' he says." The Replica repeats, fuming up inside at the meaning in those words. "Must be nice being real. A fake like me could never get away with saying that. That's right, I'm a phony, a fake!"

"!" Riku was caught off guard by his outburst. He had not expected for the Replica to react like this. Such pure rage and anguish, this was the most expression that Riku had ever seen the Replica giving in the lot of encounters he had experienced with him. He must have gone through something core deep since the last time Riku had seen him.

"The way I look, the way I feel, everything I remember!" The Replica continued to voice out his anger. "And even this newfound power!"

"!" Riku gasped in alarm as the Replica openly displayed the power he had stolen from Zexion. Power is meant to be earned through hard work and dedication, not through stealing it or taking handouts from others, Riku had to learn that last one the hard way.

"I thought by finding some new strength, I could finally be someone- someone who is not at all you!" The Replica cried out as he looked down at his hands. Riku could hear the desperate plea for help through the Replica's words and watched as the strong being he had fought before crumble before him into a mess of raw emotions that he thought even the Replica himself didn't know he was exposing. "But... nothing changes... I'm still just empty! (Inhale) Everything about me is borrowed."

"..." This was truly sad to watch.

"As long as you're around, I'll never be more than a shadow!" The Replica's head shot up again as he looked at Riku accusingly with raging eyes.

"..." Riku could only pitifully watch his Replica as he pulled out his blade. He had just wanted to be his 'own' person... All he wanted was his own identity and individually, not the existence that was forced upon him by others for 'their' liking. That wasn't so much to ask. That was what all living things should have the right to have, even the living things that were artificially created. Riku couldn't hold it against him for wanting that. But all the same... he wasn't going to allow himself to die just because this guy had wanted to take his place in some twisted logic. So pulling out his Soul Edge, he prepared to defend himself.

The Replica was emotional and a little more reckless, but he was more powerful, not to mention the boost he had from the dark aura he had taken from Zexion. Riku had to be more careful, even though the Replica's defenses were vulnerable, his attacks were more damaging. Riku soon learned this as the Replica would dash through the darkness all around Riku for a slash, and summoned lightning darkness from the ground that spewed out all around him.

"Get ready!" The Replica roared as he slashed down, creating a shock wave that shot out straight along the ground, cutting along Riku's shoulder.

"Take this!" Riku roared back, gritted his teeth through the pain of his wound as he countered back at the Replica with his own strike. Breaking a few of the Replica's moves while he was at it. But still took a few more blows from the Replica in the mix. Realizing that he was going to need a little more help, Riku transformed into Dark Mode. "Darkness!"

Doing Sleight on the Replica as he tried to get his barrings again.

"Get ready!" But the Replica wouldn't have this comeback as he warped through the darkness, striking at Riku as he dashed along the area before coming down to slash at Riku from above. "Vanish!"

Riku barely moved out of the way, changing out of Dark Mode as the blows ate at his dark powers which had taken most of his damage. Riku had to jump back to get the distance between them again as he caught his breath. This guy was tough, stronger than the last time they fought. And he wouldn't let up, as he pursued Riku with a dash thrust.

"Like it?!" The Replica mocked at him.

But Riku replied with a counter combo. "Take this!"

Building up his darkness again, he changed back into Dark Mode to Sleight the Replica again. Only for the Replica to damage him so much that he had changed back to normal again, his dark powers not absorbing all of the Replica's attacks as he was standing on his last toes. But he had a feeling that the Replica was on his last toes as well. He just had to out last him.

Running from his slash attacks, Riku dashed to the side of the Replica and hit him with one last combo strike, hoping that it would finish him off. "Like it!"

It turns out it did.

"Strong... the real thing..." The Replica gasped out as the air was knocked out of his from the strike. He fell to the ground, not getting up. His darkness began to leak out of him, and pool around him like blood as he looked up at the sky. "So... it's over."

"..." Riku put away his blade as he looked down at his Replica, witnessing his last moments. And listen to his last worries.

"Hmph. Death doesn't frighten me. Good riddance to a phony life." The Replica tiredly said as tiny specks of him began to break off into darkness. "My heart was never real. I'm sure even what I'm feeling now is probably all fake."

"..." In all honestly this was the realist that Riku had ever seen the Replica. He had more heart to him than the Nobodies he had defeated before. "What are you feeling?"

"... What happens when a fake dies- one like me? Where will my heart go?" The Replica answered his question with another question. His expression was starting to change as the sky's clouds took on a more dark color, that was more like darkness, in his eyes. There was a sadness to his voice as the answer scared him. "Does it disappear?"

"It'll go somewhere." Riku assured to his Replica, trying to ease his worries. "Maybe... to the same place as mine."

"Tst. A faithful replica until the very end." The Replica laughed inside at the notice, but he felt more at ease with that. His eyes began to close as he took on a more peaceful look as he began to turn into specks of darkness that floated off into the sky and the pool of darkness had dissolved into the grass. "That's... okay."

"..." Riku didn't honestly want to see the Replica go. But he had to do what he had to do to survive, even so... He had wished that things could have turned out differently.

Dragging off with his wounds he headed off into the next room, breaking through crate boxes in order to find health sphere to heal his wounds. His Replica had put up one heck of a fight, he would give him that, if that fight had gone any further the results might have been different.

Pretty soon Riku was healed enough to confidently keep on going to the next room to face more Heartless. His path had split up to two different direction. He had decided to take the path to the left, but both paths seemed to go straight up anyway. He would just have to see where the 'right' path would take him. Either way, once he had reached the end to the last door, it required a lot of cards to open it AND the Key of Guidance card that he had gotten by the mansion's gate from the Key of Beginnings room.

Inside the room was a major 180 from the Twilight Town's design, the place was so sterile white that Riku had almost thought he was back at the castle again. There seemed to be a flower bud pod in the center of the room. But what had caught Riku's attention was the shy girl who was bashfully hiding behind it. Riku had to tilt his head a little in order to get a good look at her. It was the girl from before...

She timidly made her way from behind the pod to approached Riku, still keeping a good distance from him in her shy nature.

"Are you Naminé?" Riku asked her, trying to break her from her shell without frightening her.

"Yes." She answered.

"I see..." She had confirmed who she was to him with her voice. "That was you..."

"Huh?"

"Forget it. Nothing."

"..." She stayed quiet for a moment while she tried to gather up how she was going to go about her next course of action. "Please... Come this way."

She moved out of the way to reveal the pod to him. As he look closer inside of it, Riku notice red shining through it. Only to be accompanied by other colors of black and white... and limbs. And spiky brown hair...

"!" He gasped in alarm as he realized that what was inside the pod was a person. A person he knew. Running up to the pod he called out to the person inside. "Sora!"

But Sora didn't respond. He just continued to sleep peacefully inside the pod.

"What have you done to Sora?" He called back to Naminé in alarm for his friend.

"Nothing." Naminé squeaked in a gasped as she tried to assure Riku. "He's just asleep. To get his memory back."

"..." Riku calmed down a little at that, silently waiting patiently as Naminé explained to Riku what had happened to Sora while he was in the castle. How Marluxia along with another Nobody by the name of Larxene had forced her to mess with Sora's memories so they could control him. How Sora had defeated them alongside his friends to save her; and in the end went into her pods so that she could fix their memories at the cost of the memories he had made in this castle. "So... Sora chose to forget about this castle... and get his old memories back?"

"You have a choice to make, too."

"Why me, too?" Riku asked as he looked up at the pod. "No one's messed with my memories."

"It's not your memories." Naminé gently shook her head as she corrected him. "It's your darkness."

"..." His darkness...?

"In your heart there is darkness, and in that darkness is Ansem. He may be at bay for now- but eventually he'll wake, and he will take over you just like he did before." Naminé explained. "But I have powers you can use. With my powers, I can put a tight lock on your heart. That way, Ansem could never come out from inside you."

"What happens to me if I let you do that?" Riku asked while putting a hand over his heart in slight comfort. "Will I forget everything like Sora?"

"..." She didn't answer right away, that was never a good sign.

"I'll have to." Riku concluded for himself. In order for Naminé to lock away Ansem and his darkness from Riku's heart, she would have to unchain all the memories dealing with him, making him forget all the things he had been through since he had left the island. All the things that had helped him grow to the point that he was at right now.

"The darkness in you will be sealed tight just like your memories." Naminé confirmed his assumptions. "You'll stop remembering the darkness. You'll go back to how you were."

"..."

"Riku, please choose." She gently asked of him, silently saying she would not do anything without his consent.

"..." The thing was... Riku didn't want to forget. He hadn't come all this way just to forget all the progress he had made... all the friends he had made along the way. Yes he would like to forget all the bad things he had done, but... that wasn't going to change the fact that they had actually happened. He would just be running away from the truth, and from himself. He has to face and accept his actions as he continues to move forward to better himself, that was the only way for him to truly grow. That was the only way for him to truly get a hold of his darkness. Looking up at Sora's pod, he had finally got his answer. "He doesn't even look worried. Will I sleep like that, too?"

"Yes."

"Figures." Riku smirked. "Sora always did as he pleased. Whatever we'd be doing together, he'd find a way to slack off. Even trying to leave the islands- I did all the work on the raft by myself."

"..." Naminé quietly listened to Riku's story as she looked up at Sora as well.

"That's it. When this slacker wakes up, I'll tell him off." Riku huffed. "I told him to take care of Kairi and here he is just taking a nap!"

"?" Naminé looked back at Riku as he turned to face her with a small smile.

"But I can't chew him out like he deserves- if I've been asleep." He said the last part with a playful tease as he wag his finger in time with his words.

"!"

"I don't need my heart locked." Riku said, politely declining her offer. "I'm ready- I'm gonna fight Ansem."

"But what if his darkness overtakes you?" She asked in concern, making sure if he was absolutely certain with his choice.

"If that happens, then the darkness will show me the way." He pointed out, referring how if had shown him the way before in the light.

"Yes..." Naminé smiled at his answer. "That's true."

"Heh. Why do I get the feeling that you knew I would say that?" Riku smirked, crossing his arms.

"I didn't know. I hoped." She replied. "I wanted 'you' to face the darkness, because you're the one who can."

"So that's the reason-" Riku said as he uncrossed his hands to rest them on his hips, "that's why you came to my rescue inside that light... in the form of Kairi."

"!" She gasped at the knowledge that he had somehow figured it out. "When did you know?"

"I knew when I met you. You and Kairi smell the same." He smiled at her, please to finally get a pleasant smell after so long time of getting nothing but the reek of darkness. He turned back to the door and started to walk out, heading towards the path he had chosen for himself. "Look after Sora."

He asked of Naminé before heading out the door. He didn't see it, but he could practically feel from Naminé's light aura that she had nodded and smiled in reply to his request. She was a good person. The nicest person he'd met without a heart so far...

Returning back to Twilight Town, he had headed back down the rooms to take the door on the right this time. Most likely this was the way that would lead out of the world of Twilight Town and back to the castle's floor. It took a couple of rooms and a good chuck of Heartless to fight through to get to the last room of this world, but he had finally made it to the cream doors that had lead to the Exit Hall of the castle floor. Riku had opened the doors only to be greeted by king Mickey on the other side.

"!" Riku was caught off guard a little as king Mickey was the first to greet him, standing right in front of the doors.

"Gosh, I guess you decided not to go to sleep." King Mickey said in pride of Riku's choice.

"How'd you know that?" Riku asked as he fully entered the Hall.

"I heard it from DiZ."

"!" Riku looked to the left center side of the room to see DiZ standing in between the pillars. DiZ was patiently waiting with his eyes resting, only for him to look over a Riku once he had sensed him enter the room. Walking away from the corner wall as he took the center of the room; his arms crossed behind his back and his back straight. He had an air of authority about him, almost regal.

"Do you know him?" Riku asked king Mickey.

"Well, I'm not sure." King Mickey answered, not really knowing how to go about to answer that question. It was hard to explain it to Riku, and it would take too long. Time of which they didn't really have at the moment. "Gotta feelin' that I've met him... somewhere..."

That should have to do, for now...

Riku would let that be as he approached DiZ.

"Hey. Who are you?" What better way of finding out than at the source.

"I could be nobody or anybody." DiZ answered in riddle. "It is up to you whether you choose to believe in me or not."

"Boy, you really like pushing decisions on other people." Riku said in sarcasm.

"And you have pushed away slumber making the choice to face Ansem." DiZ shot back without missing a beat.

"Do you think I'm reckless?"

"You have chosen your own path." DiZ simply answered.

"Are you supporting me? Or are you abandoning me?" Riku spectated, not really liking the thought of the last possibility being true. He had been down that road before, he did not like where it led.

"That will be your choice as well." DiZ seemed to leave all the choices to Riku, showing that he would have no part in directly influencing Riku's progress.

"..." He would not support Riku's actions, nor would he cut them down. He would simply watch as a spectator, letting Riku grow on his own. Nothing to benefit him, nothing to pose a threat to him. He would stay a third party that would only assist once Riku had chosen a path and would not interfere once another choice needed to be made, and Riku could respect that.

DiZ walked up closer to Riku, holding out his hand as he offered Riku a robe. One that looked similar to the one the nobodies were wearing. Taking the offering from DiZ's hand, Riku looked it over as DiZ backed away again.

"What's this?" Riku looked back up to DiZ, waiting for an answer for the strange gift.

"The Organization will pursue you."

"?" The Organization? Naminé had slightly hinted to them a while ago, but didn't really explain about them. Or exactly what they were and what their main goal is. She had said something about them trying to retrieve hearts of their own or something, but somehow they were going on about it the wrong way.

"Like a pack of hunting dogs, they will sneak up on you if they sense your presence. However- this cloak that is worn by the Nobodies will render their eyes and their noses useless." DiZ continued to explain. Before stopping for a second as he looked at king Mickey's giant mouse ears. "The ears, not so..."

As if knowing that he was talking about them, king Mickey's ears twitched at little at his words. Riku continued to look the cloak over as DiZ went on with his explanation.

"They wear this to give themselves protection from being devoured by darkness." Riku looked back up at him at that. "Is it clear? Even the Organization cannot rule the darkness."

"Doesn't matter. I won't run from the darkness." Riku said to him with determination.

"Hmph." DiZ could only 'hmph' at that, tossing over a world card to Riku. Riku caught it and looked at the world it was suppose to lead to, only for him to be stumped as the card apparently lead to Castle Oblivion. But... weren't they already in it? That's what Naminé had called this place. "This card will draw out your heart's darkness. Finish your business with Ansem."

Riku nodded at DiZ, putting the card away before looking at king Mickey.

"Come on. Let's go." King Mickey nodded in reply as they both walked off passed DiZ to head for the stairs that lead to the next floor. DiZ turned around and watched them as they headed off. As they made it on to the next floor, Riku had stopped in front of the cream doors to look at the card once again. "He said this card will draw Ansem out..."

"Don't worry!" King Mickey said while turning to Riku, already sensing his anxieties. "We can defeat him together!"

"Sorry..."

"?"

"I gotta face him alone."

"But why?!" King Mickey began to worry about Riku confront such foul darkness alone.

"There's no point in doing this if I can't do it on my own." Riku insisted with a clinched fists raised in front of him before he turned to look over at king Mickey. "But I do need a favor. If Ansem is the victor, he's going to enslave me. If that happens, use your powers to destr-"

"Of course! I'll be right there to save ya!"

"Huh? No that's not it. I want you to destr-"

"No way." King Mickey interrupted again with a waging finger. "No matter what happens, I'm gonna be right there to help ya. I promise you that."

He had placed a hand over his heart to confirm that it was a promise from his heart.

"Unless... you don't believe I'll come through for ya..." King Mickey countered at Riku, challenging Riku to doubt him. But Riku could never do that.

"I choose to believe in you- always, Your Majesty."

"And I in you." King Mickey replied back. "You're not gonna lose. I know it."

"Thanks." Riku nodded in gratitude as they both faced the doors again.

"You'd never let the darkness get the best of you. I'm sure of that."

"Alright..." Moving on ahead, Riku had used the card to open the doors. They had opened up to a long hallway of sterile white being tainted grey by the darkness that engulfed down the hallway. Riku ran through the hallway as the doors closed, ready to finish this. Stopping in the middle of the hall where the light still touched to catch his breath; he called out through the hall, pulling out his Soul Eater. "Ansem! Where are you? Show yourself!"

But Ansem only laughed mockingly at him, refusing to reveal himself.

"Why in such a hurry?" His voice echoed through the hallway, his voice made Riku clinch his fist in rage as he could practically 'feel' the foul darkness of Ansem from it. "I'll be here at the very heart of darkness... Watching you plunge into the same darkness- inside of you."

"Tst." Riku clicked in tongue at that in anger, grabbing the Key of Beginnings card that had slid from the darkness as he continued to run further into the darkness of the hallway.

The room on the other end of the hallway was just as sterile white as the castle, but with more floral designs along with wall and floor patterns. Strange... with the many height levels and extra stuff in the room, the place still felt empty. Like the place was a mock replica of the real thing, as if it could never capture the worth of a true castle or a home. Just like the residence that had once dominated this place had tried to replica emotions or a heart. But unlike them there would be no redeeming qualities, or respect for Ansem's core goals. The man that lied in the heart of this floor was pure darkness, with no chance of redemption. Riku would have to face him, for the worlds, and for himself.

Riku only had to fight through two rooms of Heartless before he was already facing the door that would lead to Ansem. The world's build design was a straight shot, move forward to face Ansem or turn around if he lost his nerves. But there would be no turning back for Riku, he had to face this. If he ever wanted to stop Ansem from constantly breathing at the back of his neck.

He had entered the room, which had led down another hallway. At the end of it was Ansem. He did not reveal himself, but Riku could sense him there.

"I smell you, Ansem." Riku called out, not in the mood to play these games. "Show yourself."

Ansem revealed himself from the darkness, entering a stare down with Riku. The idea of this child trying to confront him was foolishness entirely.

"I have watched you fight. I know your strength." Ansem pointed out, judging Riku's progress. "Your skill with the darkness has grown. It has become more mature."

"..."

"And yet, why..." Ansem almost sounded hurt. "Why do you accept the darkness- but still refuse me? You know you and I are similar. We both follow where the darkness leads."

"..."

"Indeed, we are the same. We exist in the same space- so why deny me?" Ansem asked Riku for an answer. "Does some part of your heart still have a fear of the dark?"

"That's not it. The truth is..." Most would have felt pity for Ansem at his words. But Riku wasn't going to fall for mock hurt. Pulling out his Soul Eater, he prepared for a fight. "You just really stink."

"You are a fool to choose a fight with me." Ansem said, dropping the vulnerable act. "You've been conquered by me once before. You should know my powers well by now."

"Yeah, I know. Or did you forget? I used all the power you had to give- and Sora still beat me." Riku shot back at him in taunt with a smirk. "I'm not impressed."

Ansem was irked at that, but closed his eyes and calmed down for a moment. Opening them again once his nonchalance had returned.

"Very well. In that case-" Ansem had summoned all of the darkness deep within him, consuming the room as it spread out. "You shall sink into the abyss!"

"!" Riku could only block as the darkness came at him like a strong wave, more close to a tsunami. He had opened his eyes to see that he was in a darkness just as empty of the light as the Realm of Darkness, only to quickly jump back as Ansem was the first to make the first strike. Riku had dodged the cheap attack, and gritted his teeth at his attacker. Ansem was smirking at him with his Heartless Guardian ready for battle.

"Submit!" Ansem shouted at Riku as he struck with his Heartless Guardian.

But Riku broke the attack with his own, continuing on with a combo. But Ansem's Heartless Guardian released barrier of Dark Thundara through the floor around Ansem, forcing Riku back.

"Submit!" Ansem insisted as his Heartless Guardian went in for an attack again, making Riku have to jump over his low attack.

"Ah!" Breaking Ansem's next attack after he came down, Riku went in for another combo. Only for his next combo to be broken by a wave of stalagmite darkness shot at him from Ansem. Realizing that he was taking some damage, Riku called on the powers of darkness inside him to boost up his defense as he went into Dark Mode. "Darkness!"

"Take this!" Ansem smirked, charging at Riku like a comet with his Heartless Guardian in front.

"Ugh." Riku grunted as he took the damage head on, Ansem had come at him from multiple directions which he could only dodge from the last one as the attack ceased. Building up his own move, Riku went in for a Sleight while Ansem was vulnerable during his cool-down. "Like it?!"

Ansem had shot Dark Thundaga at him again, which Riku had to roll out of the way from. He tried to get him with Sleight again, but Ansem's Heartless Guardian had blocked Ansem from most of Riku's attack, only allowing the last two to actually strike Ansem. And even as he struck at the ground, creating a shock wave, Ansem floated back out of the wave only receiving slight damage from it.

Realizing that close-up attacks weren't really going to work with Ansem, Riku vouched for jumping back and using distance attacks. Charging up cards, he shot Dark Firaga at Ansem. It was a direct hit, but Ansem was charging in at him with Dark Thundaga in a thrust attack.

"Take this!" Ansem taunted as he did his comet strike again, only for Riku to break it halfway through.

But eventually his Dark Mode couldn't take much more as Riku was forced back to normal at a bad time. Taking the opportunity, Ansem struck at him with Dark Thundaraga and stalagmite darkness, forcing Riku into a corner. Riku had got a few combo's in, and had even won a Dual with Ansem, but he still was getting hit too much.

Riku was taking too much damage, he would need to do something quick or he was done for. Luckily his dark powers had recharged while he was taking a beating, so he quickly went into Dark Mode again. In Dark Mode, he had gotten the distance between them again, and continued firing Dark Firaga at Ansem while rolling out of the way of his Dark Thundaga attacks.

"Like it?!" Riku roared, shooting one last Dark Firaga that had brought Ansem to a stop, making them return to the castle room.

"Insolent brat!" Ansem grunted in pain as he held on to his side. Throwing one last attack at Riku, who had blocked it with his blade.

"Ansem!" Riku roared at him while he charged at Ansem for a side slash. "You're finished!"

"Hardly... finished..." Ansem struggled out as he faded into darkness. "I gave you... the dark... My shadow... lingers..."

"!" Riku turned around to face Ansem in alarm as he felt a concentration of darkness building up with haste inside of Ansem.

"I will return!" Ansem said with the last words before the dark energy inside of him burst like a super nova. Throwing Riku into the darkness with it.

The blast had done some damage to Riku, rendering his arms and legs useless as they were too sore to move. Riku was beginning to sink further and further into the darkness when a bright light had made its way towards him.

"I know you wanted to do this alone, but you don't mind a LITTLE help, right?" The light said taking the form king Mickey. Grabbing Riku in the darkness, he wrapped Riku's arm along his shoulder as he helped drag him out of the darkness. "Let's go, Riku."

"..." Once they had returned back into the castle, Riku's arms and legs began to work again. Still a little sore but enough recovery to be able to stand up on his own.

"So, Riku... what's next?" King Mickey asked, wondering what his next move was now that he had defeated Ansem. "Are you going home?"

"I don't know if I can." Riku honestly answered, looking down at his hand as the truth of his words brought him sadness. "It's still there. His scent... it's faint, but not gone. I can't go until it is."

"..."

"His darkness may still have a hold on me..." Riku lowered his head in shame and sadness.

"Your darkness belongs to you. Just like your light." King Mickey insisted.

"..." Riku heard his words, but wasn't so sure they were true. King Mickey approached him a little closer, placing his hand over own heart as he titled his head to look up at Riku's bowed face. Making sure Riku was looking at him.

"Until now, I thought darkness was nothing but bad." King Mickey honestly admitted. "But my time with you made me change my mind."

"..." Riku had to lift his head to him at that.

"You've chosen a road I never thought of. Light and dark, back to back. With you, they mingle in a way no one's ever seen before. I want to see where that road leads." Walking a little closer to Riku, he held out his hand. "And if it's okay, I want to walk the road with you."

"Wow, Your Majesty, I don't know what to say..." Riku couldn't help but smirk, slowly reaching his hand down to take king Mickey's in a firm shake. "Thanks."

"Oh, you don't have to call me that, heh-heh!" King Mickey chuckled. "We're pals."

"Fair enough, Mickey." Riku said with a smile. Fully calling king Mickey by his name, as a friend.

Together they had walked out of the door of this world floor not too far from the area Riku had just fought in. Once in the floor's Exit Hall they had walked up the stairs which had led out of the basement level and on to the first floor. The exit to the castle was now at hand. Now the road would lead them to wherever they see fit. Taking out the cloak that had been given to him by DiZ, Riku had put it on. Ready to see what lied ahead of him beyond the castle walls. With king Mickey putting on his own cloak as well, turns out DiZ had given king Mickey one sometime after giving Riku his; they both walked out onto the dirt road, leaving Castle Oblivion behind.

The dirt road they walked on lead them to a plain of grass. The sun had long set, indicating that they had been in the castle a long time. Although Riku couldn't truly tell how long, the flow of time around this place was a little stranger than usual. And his time in the Realm of Darkness has thrown his internal clock off whack. The road ahead of him was vast, but at least he wouldn't be going it alone. King Mickey walked beside, side by side as they both would see what lied in store for them next.

But as they continued walking they were ground to a stop as DiZ stood in front of them between a crossroad. His arms crossed behind his back as usual.

"What are you making me choose now?" Riku asked, already knowing what he was gonna do.

"Will you take the road of light-" DiZ asked, gesturing to the road to Riku's right before looking towards the road on Riku's left. "-or the road to darkness?"

"Neither." Riku instantly answered, making king Mickey look up to him in wonder at his answer C. Riku continued to walk on ahead, passed DiZ as he took the road behind him. "I'm taking the middle road."

"You mean the twilight road to nightfall?" DiZ asked making Riku stop in his place for a second.

"No..." Riku turned his head to look back at DiZ. "The road to dawn."

As if answering to his answer, the purple of light of sunrise started to greet the horizon to where the road that Riku had chosen met with the sky. Not one to be left behind, king Mickey quickly rushed over to Riku's side as they continued to walk down the road again, towards the path that Riku had chosen for himself.