DISCLAIMER: Kingdom Hearts isn't mine. Also, I am not a human. Just a simple centipede trying to mosey through the day. Pay no mind.
Sora and Riku walked ahead of us, talking loudly to one another to catch up. Every once in a while Sora would look up at our silver-haired friend, still seeming as though he couldn't actually believe that Riku was here in the flesh. Then a large grin would spread across his face, showing that he had no need to worry anymore. Riku was here to stay.
Kairi and I lingered behind, walking slowly and watching our friends. A smile formed on her face. "Crazy week, yeah?"
My eyes met hers and I laughed lightheartedly. "I'll say." Then I bit the inside of my cheek. I still had an apology to give. "Hey… Listen, I don't know how you got here or what happened to you after Axel tried to kidnap us on the Islands… But I—I just… Look, I just didn't mean to—"
"Akira," Kairi interrupted, putting a hand on my shoulder. We stopped walking and she looked at me sternly. "You're not seriously trying to apologize, are you?"
I shrugged. "I would've tried to get here sooner, but I was knocked out for a while. I took a really bad fall and I thought you might've been hurt or—"
"You're rambling," she interrupted again, shaking her head. "Just say what you need to say."
Sighing, I fiddled mindlessly with the piercing in my eyebrow. "Look, I was just worried about you. I didn't know what happened to you and I felt bad for leaving you alone in an unknown world. Especially after that whole thing with Axel."
She scoffed, letting go of my shoulder and beginning to walk again. I strolled next to her, my eyes locked on her face. "What, like I can't take care of myself? Besides, there was seriously nothing you could do to prevent anything that's happened. It's not your fault. Plus, you're here now."
A small smile crept onto half my face. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right." I paused, wondering if I should say what was on my mind, and then continued. "You know, a girl told me this would happen. Well, kind of told me."
"Hm? Who?"
I shrugged. "A girl I met in Twilight Town. Namine. She told me that we'd find Riku. She didn't tell me directly, but she knew it would happen."
She smiled. "I know Namine, too. She's a good person, I think." We walked slowly, feet dragging and she glanced at me. "You know, you got kinda teary-eyed back there. You okay?"
I scoffed. "I was not teary eyed."
"Yeah, sure," she said dismissively, waving it off as if she had never even made the suggestion. "I was just being a good friend and checking on you. Whatever."
Rolling my eyes, I poked her in the arm. "I'm fine. I just didn't realize how much I missed him until he was actually, you know, right in front of me. Literally."
"Mhmm," she murmured, obviously thinking there was more to it. "I think that you're just a big softie and don't want to admit it. But that's fine. Keep up the charade."
My eyes flicked to Riku and Sora, who were shoving each other playfully. "The bromance has been resumed, huh?" I joked, trying to change the subject.
Kairi complied and laughed, high and tinkling. "I swear, they might as well date each other."
"Maybe you should make sure Riku doesn't move in on your man," I murmured playfully, examining my nails.
"Hey! Not my man!" Kairi insisted, scowling. Still, her cheeks were bright red.
"He sure as hell won't be if you don't get those two apart," I sang, darting away before Kairi could protest in that shrill way she had. Chuckling to myself, I grabbed Riku by the crook of his arm, pulling him away from Sora. "I'm gonna steal you for a bit, yeah?"
Sora's eyebrows furrowed, but Riku was smiling, showing he didn't mind at all. "Um…" Sora began.
"Thanks, bye!" I said, pulling Riku by his arm. Before we entered the next room, I glanced back to Kairi who did not seem at all amused. To push her a bit more, I mouthed 'you're welcome' at her and she became even more scowly.
Laughing, I yanked Riku into the next room which was illuminated by two grave-type things. Creepy.
"What's this about?" he questioned, a small smile on his lips.
"The lovebirds haven't seen each other in nearly two years. Gotta give 'em some time alone, you know?"
He rolled his eyes too. "Geez, they still have a thing for each other? After that long apart?"
I scoffed. "Did you not just witness the disgustingly affectionate hug they just gave each other like, five minutes ago? Because I did, and they were com-pletely in love." Smiling, I placed my hands in my jacket pockets. "It made me want to vomit."
He laughed lightheartedly. "Still a cold, heartless wench, I see."
I gave him a mock curtsey. "Don't ever expect anything less from me." Then I straightened myself, smiling. "Okay, you know this question was inevitable, so I'm gonna go ahead and ask it." He raised an eyebrow and I continued. "What has it been like to see other worlds?"
Riku scratched the back of his head, looking suddenly ashamed. "Given the circumstances, it could've been more, y'know, lighthearted."
I shrugged. Of course I knew what he meant. Kairi had told me all about how Riku had been taken over by the darkness. I wasn't stupid. But still, I smiled. "Psh, whatever. Shit happens. But for real, what was it like to see literally everything?"
He raised his eyebrows, seeming a bit taken aback by my casualness. He was very obviously ashamed of everything that had happened. "You're serious?"
"Um…Yeah," I said, my voice having a very distinct 'duh' tone. "You're still you no matter what went down in the past. So, spill it. I want you to rub it in my face about how great it was."
A grin slowly made its way to his face and he sighed, relieved that I didn't think of him differently. "Okay, I gotta be honest. It was so great. There are so many places out there! There are so many interesting people, too, with their own lives and dreams. It's just…" He paused, letting out a breath. "Just, wow."
I grinned back at him, shoving his shoulder playfully. "Congrats. You've succeeded in making me jealous. Hooray to you."
He smiled at me fondly, opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by the echoing footsteps of Kairi and Sora. They had finished talking or hugging or…whatever, and were coming to rejoin us.
"If you guys are bickering already, I'm going to scream," Kairi said as she entered the room, Sora right next to her.
Sora groaned. "Geez, I almost forgot about that. Everything is a competition with you two."
I rolled my eyes, placing my hands on my hips. "Oh my god, calm down. We were just catching up. Y'know, kind of like you guys were doing." I wiggled my eyebrows subtly and Kairi blushed furiously, a frown plastered on her face.
"What is this place?" Sora questioned, seemingly not noticing Kairi's red face. He took a few steps forward, his eyes scanning the room. "Some kind of… Graveyard?"
"Looks like it," Donald quacked, causing me to jump. I hadn't even realized he and Goofy were in the room.
Hands in my pockets, I moseyed to the 'grave' on the left. It illuminated a weird blue light, almost shimmering. "I think…" I began, cocking my head. "I think they're portals."
"You think so?" Sora questioned, moving to stand next to me.
Moving hair out of my face, I shrugged. "Only one way to find out," I said carelessly before thrusting my entire body into the deep, deep blue.
As usual, I was correct. The grave was a portal, leading to a giant open space on one of the upper stories of the castle. The place was huge; wind whipped at my cheeks fiercely, causing my long braid to smack me in the face multiple times.
I stood on the edge and peered down. We were so high up that the ground could not be seen. My toes edged over the side to where I was only staying on the building by the arch of my feet. Exhilaration flooded my veins. The fact that a sudden burst of wind could topple me over and end my life was strangely liberating, and I edged off the building a bit more, testing my limits.
Soon I was hanging onto the building only by the heels of my shoes, arms up so I could balance. And, y'know, not die. But then someone grabbed me by the arm roughly, yanking me off the side of the building and back onto completely solid ground.
"Okay, daredevil, enough of that," Riku grumbled, shaking his head. "We need to get moving."
My brows furrowed. "Excuse you, I was enjoying myself, thank you very much."
He groaned. "Well I would enjoy it if you would listen for once and actually do as I suggest."
I scoffed, my arms crossed over my chest. "You're not my mother, y'know. I can take care of myself."
He looked me up and down, crossing his arms over his own chest before smiling. "I know you can. But still, we have to get moving."
"WOW! It's really windy out here!" Sora yelled, standing on the edge of the building. Grinning, he looked down into the dark city. "HELLLLOOOOOOOO!"
I raised my eyebrows. "Oh, so he can do it but I can't?" My eyes wandered over to Kairi, who was rubbing her arms fiercely from the wind chill and cold.
Riku groaned again. "Well, he's not hanging off the building like a maniac. He's just standing there and being normal instead of nearly killing himself."
Scoffing, I waved him off. "Psh. What's the fun in that?"
Kairi rolled her eyes. "I almost forgot how annoying you two were together." Then her eyes wandered to the side and she gasped. "Guys! Look!"
All six of us turned our faces upwards (even Sora, who still hung off the edge of the story) to see Kingdom Hearts being bombarded by a singular white laser.
Brows furrowed, I put my hands in my jacket pockets, perplexed. "Wha—"
"It's the King and DiZ! I mean, Ansem the Wise," Riku exclaimed, his golden Xehanort eyes widening. "They must be higher up. We gotta go."
As the six of us began to run back to the portal (Sora lagging behind), a familiar whooshing sound came from behind my group of five. A dark portal was forming, separating Sora from the rest of us.
Anxious for the fight that was sure to ensue, I formed a giant fireball in my hands. Then, out stepped a man in a black coat (obviously) with cropped white-blond hair and a rather impressive 5 o'clock shadow. A silver earring hung from his right ear and in his hand was a single black and blue playing card.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Sora creeping silently up to the Organization member from behind. To distract the man, I laughed spitefully. "You're gonna threaten me with a playing card? Oooooh, how absolutely terrifying! Maybe you should try a bit harder."
Despite my comment, he smirked. Then he snapped and giant playing cards materialized out of nowhere, forming a giant circle around us. He then turned around, eyeing Sora's not-so-sneakiness.
Maybe I shouldn't have prodded him? Oops.
"You!" Sora exclaimed, his Keyblade appearing in his hand.
The cards were spinning faster and faster around us, making me dizzy. Donald fired thunder spells at them, but absolutely nothing happened to them. I sent my giant fireball at the cards in a vain attempt at destroying them, but it was all for naught.
I heard the blond man chuckle. "I'd rather we just skip the formalities," he mused in a classy sounding accent.
Then the cards spun faster and faster and faster, and soon all I could see was blackness.
The next thing I knew I was standing in the same spot I had been, wind rippling my hair. The man was gone and all that remained was Sora, who was bruised and exhausted-looking.
"You okay?" Kairi questioned him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
He grinned, his Keyblade disappearing from his hand. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Just an Organization member I had to take out, no biggie."
Donald healed him, and he, Sora, Kairi and Goofy began to make their way to the portal. Riku began to move that way too, but I grabbed his arm and pulled him back, my eyebrows raised.
"Um..." I began, squinting my eyes. "What just happened?"
His brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"
Biting the inside of my cheek, I continued. "I just completely backed out! I missed the fight! Did that happen for everyone, or…"
He waved me off, smiling. "Luxord, that Organization member, he blocked us out of the fight." My eyebrows shot up and he continued. "It happens a lot, especially to people like us. The Organization cares more about Sora and his Keyblade than us. So, they block us out of the fight. You get used to it after a while."
We strolled to the portal, and I noticed that Donald (the last person to reach it) was just heading through. "So, every time there's a fight I'm most likely gonna black out again?"
Riku shrugged. "No, no, that's actually never happened before. Usually they just pull up a protective wall or something. I think it had something to do with the cards, but who cares. Sora took him out, which means Luxord probably didn't have the power to do anything bad to us in the first place."
I laughed and pushed my braid behind me (it was slapping me in the face in time with the wind. Very annoying). "'Skip the formalities,'" I mocked under my breath, a smile on my face.
We had reached the portal and I stepped through to reenter the graveyard. Sora and Kairi stood next to each other, quietly chit chatting. Donald and Goofy stood awkwardly to the side (as usual), waiting for the action to happen.
Sora brightened at the sight of Riku and I emerging from the portal and Kairi put her hands on her hips, a small smile on her face. "So here's the thing;" she began, "the door to the next floor wouldn't budge. We already tried, and it just wouldn't open. And there's another portal in this room, so…"
I shrugged. "It's just logic that we'll have to go through there before being able to advance any further."
"And it's also logic that there'll be another Organization member waiting in there," Riku noted from behind me.
Sora grinned, standing casually. "Then let's go ahead and finish this fight!" Cheerful as always.
We walked through the next (and last) portal and ended up in an empty silver room. At the front were large glass pane windows, the bright light of Kingdom Hearts shining in on us. Next to the windows stood a man with blue hair, his back turned to us.
He turned to face us, his expression completely stoic. "Only you could've made it this far… Roxas." He had a large X-marks-the-spot scar in the middle of his face and his gold eyes sunk deep into his skull. Suddenly I felt squeamish.
Sora clenched his fists and stomped. "That's really getting old!"
"Yeah!" Donald pitched in, going to stand in front of Sora. Goofy moved with him and they spread their arms out, attempting to…block him from sight? Who knows? "He's no Roxas!"
The blue-haired man did not speak. Instead, he twisted his silver claymore in his hands, a small smirk appearing on his face. "Different name, same fate," he said carelessly before swinging his weapon and sending a strong blast of wind our way. I began to stumble, and soon I had arms wrapped around me, shielding me from the wind. I realized it was Riku, and Kairi was squeezed up right against me, also huddled in his arms for protection.
When the wind stopped I fought my way out of his grip, narrowing my eyes. "Why would you do that?!" I shouted. "I can take care of myself! You know I can!"
Drawing my hook blades, I ran forward to join the fight with Sora, Donald and Goofy (they had somehow held strong against the wind), but instead of freely running out into the room, I was knocked back by an unseen force, effectively falling onto my butt.
"Force field," Riku said. I could hear the smirk in his voice.
I groaned, pulling myself up from the ground. "You have got to be kidding me!" I yelled, slamming my entire body against the force field in an attempt to break it. "Are they seriously gonna do this every fight? Because I'm not digging it!"
Riku placed a hand on my shoulder. "Akira, chill out. Pull yourself together."
Again I groaned and stopped slamming my body into the force field, instead resorting to a rather pissed off looking frown. "Who the hell does that guy think he is, keeping me out of a fight?" I grumbled, arms across my chest.
"He's Saix," Kairi said simply, eyeing Sora's battle carefully.
My mind raced. I'd heard that name before. Somewhere.
Then it hit me; Axel had told me about him in the realm between this world and the alternate Twilight Town. Saix was the man who had kidnapped Kairi after she'd escaped from Axel.
My eyes flickered to her. She did not seem at all distressed by seeing the man who had taken her, so I concluded that nothing bad had happened. Thank god.
So instead of worrying, I turned to face the battle as well, still immensely annoyed that I was missing out on what looked like a spectacular fight. Really, it did. This Saix guy was a real toughie, and overall I was immensely impressed by his performance. He would fly into the air, tossing around duplicates of his beautiful claymore, seeming calm and cool. Then all of a sudden he'd lose his mind and go in a complete berserk mode, twitching and swinging his claymore randomly. Truthfully, it was quite the show.
Unluckily for Saix, Sora had strategy on his side. He would run around the room the whole time, occasionally taking cheap shots at him while Donald fired off defensive magic and Goody pummeled the blue haired freak. Then once Saix lost it and threw around his claymore duplicates, Sora would steal them and attack Saix with his own weapon. It was the type of strategy I had always been famous for coming up with and I smiled. At least I'd taught this kid something over the years.
Soon enough, the battle was over, leaving a rather exhausted and beat up looking Sora. The force field faded around us and Kairi ran to him, engulfing him in a hug. Disgusting.
When they pulled away, Sora did not seem happy to have won the battle. Instead, he looked immensely confused. "I don't get it," He began, crossing his arms and looking down. "Why does everyone keep calling me Roxas?"
Riku looked at him closely. "Because, Sora. Roxas is your Nobody."
Sora jumped, his eyes widening. "My… My Nobody?! That's impossible! I never turned into a Heartl—" He stopped, realization dawning on him. I had heard all about this part of the story too; the sacrifice he'd made for his dear friend Kairi, turning him into a mindless being of the dark.
Kairi backed away from him, standing next to me. "It was when you came to rescue me, remember?"
"Xemnas was the one who found Roxas," Riku explained, staring directly at Sora. "Since he was your Nobody, he could use the Keyblade. That's why Xemnas brought him into the Organization—but Roxas betrayed them." He crossed his arms, examining Sora carefully to see if he understood fully. "After that, I fought him because I thought it would help wake you up. But… I lost. But the next time we met, I made sure I was the stronger one." A smile formed on his face. "Maybe I didn't need to fight him at all. I think he left the Organization… Because he really wanted to meet you."
Sora's eyes widened and he looked down, as if he had been longing for his Nobody for a long time. "Roxas… I wish I could meet him, too."
Then Riku stepped forward and stood in front of Sora, pointing a finger to Sora's chest. Right where his heart would be. The brunet boy held his heart and gave Riku a quizzical look, which his friend nodded at. Then Sora gripped his chest and smiled, excited to be whole.
Riku seemed to snap out of the sappy heart moment happening and quickly whipped around, all of a sudden seeming back to business. "Come on. Let's keep moving."
Sora followed him closely, a giant grin on his face. Donald and Goofy trailed behind and Kairi cast a glance to me, smiling. "Crazy week, yeah?"
I laughed. "Yeah," I verified, beginning to walk back to the portal we had come from.
"Yeah. Crazy week."
At least Riku is in the story at this point. Took long enough, eh?
SERIOUS SHOUTOUT TO blissfulnightrain FOR BEING THE NICEST PERSON EVER AND ENCOURAGING ME. U DA BEST HONESTLY. THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING.
