Chapter 6: Dawning Truth

Riku shoved Kida left and he dove right, rolling to the side and summoning the Keyblade in a flash. Soul Eater glinted darkly and he brought it up in time to deflect the scythe's blade just before it would have gutted him.

Marluxia pulled it back and prepared to attack again, but in mid-swing he seemed to lose concentration and his grip on the weapon shifted. He held it differently, almost awkwardly, though he tried not to show it. As he attacked the young man again, it was obvious he was not using it properly and had no clue how it should be handled.

Riku expertly thrust him back and stood ready, black cloak flapping in the wind as he waited to see what the other would do next. In an instant, Marluxia shook off the uneasiness and retaliated with a quick Deathscythe attack.

Several flashes of deadly light streaked toward him. Only Riku's honed reflexes allowed him to judge rightly the direction and power of the assault so that he could avoid it. Even so, the very tail of one caught his leg as he lunged out of the way, slowing him down.

The scythe swept out, but Riku was no longer in that spot. Ignoring the pain from his lower limb, he ducked beneath his enemy's guard and stabbed out as he shot past, feeling the blade meet flesh.

Then ahead of him three whirlwinds rose up from the earth, but he was going too fast to avoid them. One caught him and the other two combined to keep his body paralyzed there in the air. His injured leg prevented any escape. The petals spiraling around him from the wind felt like miniature razors and the magic keeping him from breaking away stretched his spine back painfully. He forced his senses to broaden with difficulty and knew Marluxia was floating over him with a sardonic smile on his face. The scythe was raised high and then swung down with all its force.

Riku barely managed to twist inward as the point swept down toward his throat. Despite his sudden jerk, white-hot pain burned his shoulder and he let out a half-yell. The Flower Storm vanished instantly and he found himself slammed to the ground, but forced himself up, calling the Keyblade to his hand.

All at once, Marluxia appeared to lose focus and grasped his weapon awkwardly again.

"What is this?" he asked with confusion.

Riku used this momentary diversion to slip behind one of the maze walls. Kida was there and dragged him along paths too puzzling for him to remember in his dazed and injured state.

"It is Sirikahn," she said in a low voice as they ran. "I could see his expression change as he fought you. There is still a disjointed connection that draws and ebbs, but he cannot control it."

"I understand," he agreed, breathing hard. "That's the only edge we seem to have at this point, but it's unpredictable. There's no relying on it."

They stopped their wild dash and listened. An explosion broke the silence and bits of rubble rained down on them.

"A creature of the Darkness can't hide for long and I will not wait here forever. Think of the innocent people down there just waiting to be slaughtered. How long do you think you can run with those wounds?"

Kida turned to him with wide eyes. "My people… He cannot mean it."

"He will. Nobodies have no remorse."

"Then we must overcome him here before he goes elsewhere." She seized his arm and held him still, shaking her head vigorously. "No, no… This is too fast. We must stop and think. We have to know why Marluxia's mind was taken over by Sirikahn in the first place. Somehow I know that is the key to defeating him."

The teenager considered this and realized immediately that she was correct. From what he had seen from the encounter with the Atlanteans, Sirikahn had been a strong and caring leader but in truth he had been a weak person. It was also obvious from their initial meeting which ended in the king's terrible injury that Marluxia was arrogant and selfish, but had he been that way as a human?

"That's it," he said in an excited whisper. "He is the one whose life most mirrored Marluxia's before he became a Nobody. I'm almost positive."

This new information made Kida's mind whirl. She tried to recall her father's words. He kept saying, "call it and it will come"…but what was 'it'? Not the Heart, for she had already tried that and not succeeded. So what did she need to call?

The answer came as if someone had whispered it in her ear. Its simplicity nearly astounded her…but how was she to go about it? She needed some sort of power to reach into the cosmos, but without the Heart it would be impossible.

"I know what to do," she said in a soft voice. Riku's face showed some skepticism and she grew fairly bashful. "I think I know, that is. I need to send a call into the sea of worlds. The Heart is the only source of energy I can use, but I cannot take it from him."

Riku reached into his cloak, pulling out the keychain for Heaven's Zephyr. She accepted it curiously. "Try this. It absorbed some of the Heart's light in the cavern before Marluxia took you there."

"What about him?" she wondered, flinching as she heard the Nobody's weapon decimate another wall of the maze in his search for them.

"I may be able to give you some time. I'll try to confront him, but he might catch on. If you do succeed with your plan, come find us. If not, get the people to safety."

He disappeared and Kida looked after him in surprise. Even though he was wounded in both arm and leg, this stranger from another world was using himself as bait while she attempted to find something she couldn't even be sure was there at all. Quite a gamble on both their parts.

The princess sighed as she closed her eyes and recalled the words her mother had said so long ago:

Heart-calling. That is the only way we have to contact someone far away. It can help you connect to another's mind and communicate, but if you use it to summon them to you, to pull them through space itself…part of you will become attached to them. Do you understand why it is dangerous, Kida?

"Yes, Matim. I must be willing to give up myself. But I should only need to see and speak to this one. There is no reason to sacrifice any part of me."

The key to this art was desperation. An idle desire yielded nothing. Her true need invoked the Heart-calling so seamlessly that it was as if Heaven's Zephyr had given her its wings.

She became aware of movement though there was no acceleration. Kida simply moved. She passed by hundreds of worlds in the blink of an eye, then she fell through the atmosphere of one and went hurtling down toward the earth. There were many creatures inhabiting the world, but her awareness only focused on a single one.

Hopefully this one would have the critical answers she sought.

%*%

Both of them were injured.

There was a wound from Riku's last attack bleeding freely on Marluxia's chest, and although it should have been crippling, he wielded his scythe as if it did not cause him any pain. Marluxia could see the deep gash through the rip in Riku's cloak, but the boy paid it no attention whatsoever and moved as though it was not even there.

"Do you really believe you can stop us? Why don't you simply join us? You have the same goals and Darkness has its hold on your soul more deeply than you admit. I will even help you defeat Xemnas, our superior. I would be satisfied with mere existence while he wishes to destroy the worlds to achieve his objective. Which of us would you rather have in control?"

Rather than answer, the islander raised Soul Eater and aimed it at the man opposite. Strength from deep within enveloped his body and in a sudden cloud of shadows his clothing had changed to reflect his Dark personality. He gave a sneering smile that betrayed no mirth; only a desire for sadistic revenge.

The scythe slashed, sending waves of energy toward him and Riku jumped, easily avoiding them. He used the height to dive at Marluxia with Dark Break.

The strike sent the Nobody stumbling back, but he released his scythe in a wide sweep that would have split any enemy in half. With the exception of his current enemy, that is.

Riku met the blade, bringing it to a sudden halt, and the faint outline of Darkness began to glow along his skin as he gathered all his energy.

There was no warning. One second Riku was standing bracing weapon against weapon, the next he had sped past Marluxia in a streak of dark light, ripping back again from the opposite direction. Again and again and again the man tried to defend himself, but his enemy was too quick.

Each time, he made an attempt at protecting himself, but the attacks came from every angle within seconds of one another. He fell to the ground, scythe clattering against the broken cobblestones. The boy had defeated him…unless…

Riku's Dark form faded and he breathed hard from the exertion. Marluxia laid a few yards away, cloak shredded in places and blood seeping freely from the numerous wounds. The young man gave a sigh of relief and straightened, but tensed almost immediately as a single rose petal drifted lazily in front of him. His eyes darted back to the Nobody, but there was still no movement from the defeated man. Was it a natural petal from the garden around them?

Less than a moment later there was no doubt where it came from. The Graceful Assassin had vanished. Riku jerked his head about trying to see where he could have gone, but there was no sign.

Suddenly a slicing pain ripped up his back and a millisecond later Marluxia's scythe slashed from the left, cutting deep into his shoulder. He tried to deflect the invisible blows with Soul Eater, but he didn't know where his enemy was until after the strike. Five more blows inflicted deep injuries, but Riku could see nothing more than the slight glint of the blade. There was a lull in the assault and he collapsed, unable to run or even lift the Keyblade in defense.

The sky above seemed to fill with rose petals, spinning in a dizzying pattern, all in preparation for one final attack. Marluxia solidified across the clearing. He raised one hand, calling every scrap of energy to himself. The spinning storm of flowers funneled downward as he sped toward this creature of half-light and half-darkness, intent on killing.

"Marluxia!"

Kida ran forward, leaping to place herself between the Nobody and his prey. Her hair fanned out around her like a silver veil and she threw her arms wide, no fear in her eyes as she stood in the direct path of his ultimate attack.

For an instant Marluxia's eyes filled with the memories of two people: Sirikahn's and his own. He banked impossibly hard!

The tornado of pink flowers exploded. Each petal was ripped to shreds with the sudden abandonment of the attack and he himself put all his effort into holding everything back. His weapon melted into nothing just before he slammed uncontrollably into Kida. They rolled to a stop a short distance away and he lay still on the ground, battered, cut, broken, bleeding…but breathing.

The princess detangled herself from him and left his line of sight. His neck refused to turn and he could see nothing but what was directly above him: the underground 'sky' full of harmless minced flowers, drifting down like ash after a volcano's eruption.

A minute or two later she returned to stand over him, saying nothing. Her face held no hatred. It was unreadable to him.

"I… I put everything into…that attack…" he gasped out with difficulty. "Why…am I not…fading?"

"I did not allow you to complete it," she said with a hint of relief, though he could not guess why she would be happy about his survival. "Riku will live, and so will you."

Marluxia gave a disgruntled noise deep in his throat but no words passed his lips.

"I understand you now… You took the name 'Graceful Assassin' for a reason. You loved her, did you not? The same way Sirikahn loved his brother's wife. That woman hurt you so badly that you killed her."

He gazed through her with pain written all over his face, but whether that was from his physical wounds or her words, she could not say.

"You ran from the anguish and the memories, but you did not commit suicide. You were afraid of dying and afraid of facing the truth, so you tried to numb it in many different ways. But none of them lasted very long before the guilt was back worse than ever."

Now she could tell he was listening. His breaths came quick, his hands clenching and unclenching as though he wanted to reach up and grab her by the throat to keep the narrative from continuing. But he had no strength.

"You searched everywhere, until finally you asked the wrong person if it was possible to eradicate emotions from a human. Vexen told you it was as simple as walking into a room."

"Shut up…" he coughed out. "Shut up!"

"But there were Heartless in that room," she continued as if he hadn't spoken, but her tone was not insensitive. "Even though you fought desperately they stole your heart, leaving behind the husk of a Nobody. You had lost all feelings through that and proven yourself strong enough to join the Organization."

Now she lowered herself until she was kneeling beside him. Strands of her bleach-white hair trailed along the ground but all her attention was on him. His rose-colored eyes burned with an anger a Nobody should not have possessed.

"But the memories still haunt you. Being a Nobody is no longer good enough. It has stopped easing the torment, just as all the other attempts failed. You want to forget everything about her now, not simply deaden the emotions."

"How do you know that?" he demanded in one breath, then had to cough and breathe deeply for a short time before he could say more. "…How do you know everything?"

"I cannot tell you yet. But I do not need magic to see you have been running all this time and cannot run any longer."

"How can you be so sure?" Marluxia shot back with a snarl.

"I have a story to show you."

She held up a winged keychain and cupped her hands around it, then it glowed briefly with the Heart's light. The world around them washed away in a flood of brilliant silver. In less than an instant it was gone, replaced by a vivid wood.

Marluxia could not see Kida. In fact, he could not see himself. His mind seemed to be inside the head of a child so that he experienced the boy's experiences and felt what he felt. Even now he could sense himself fading into the story…

%*%*%*%*%*%*%

The child was collecting stones by himself, tossing them at a target and laughing as he missed. He was a fair way from his home, but there was no danger.

The wind howled eerily in the distance, sounding like wolves as it echoed through a stony ravine nearby. Looking around nervously, the boy wondered if perhaps there was some danger lurking about. He did not want to admit it to himself, but perhaps it would be best if he started home.

At first he walked slowly, but there was a crack behind him and he jumped. Instead of looking back, he began to go on more briskly. Again there was a snap and he jolted into a jog, his eyes going wide and heart beating faster.

Several more cracks in succession convinced him that something was following. He ran as fast as he could, darting between trees and stumbling over rocks, but not once looking back. If he did, what would he see? A bear? A monster?

The great lumbering noises were directly behind him and he could almost feel its hot breath on his neck! His home was too far away and he could not cry for help without losing breath he desperately needed to keep running. But his legs were tiring and he was slowing down. Any moment now it would seize him in its teeth.

I am going to die!

The boy had no strength left, but he clenched his jaw and dove at a broken branch on the ground. He could not escape, but he would face this beast head-on. Turning with a savage cry, he raised the branch and prepared to attack the—

…

Nothing. The forest was empty but for himself. He dropped his weapon and gazed about with disbelief. Had it really happened?

%*%*%*%*%*%*%

"Marluxia. Do you understand this story?"

The Nobody blinked and the vision faded back into the small, broken clearing at the center of the ancient garden. The remaining rose petal shreds were still falling. He tried not to show how the story had affected him. The child's fear had infected him during the dash so that even now he could not be sure there had been nothing following.

"I suppose this tale of yours is to show me that my guilt is nothing but a fantasy," he said drily, attempting to belittle it all.

"That is the last thing I would try to convince you." She leaned closer until her eyes, brimming with sincerity, were all he could see. "He ran. He ran and ran until he could go no farther. Safety was too far away and it was impossible to escape. That is when he turned to face his fear. Stop fleeing something you have never tried to confront. Then perhaps you will see its true nature."

"I have. I know what I did. I've never denied it."

The princess of Atlantis still knelt at his side. "Not denying the truth does not mean you faced it. It is impossible to live without guilt even if you lose your emotions, as you have proven. You never stopped regretting your act." She took Marluxia's hand even though he tried to snatch it away, but she held tight and refused to let go. "Stop burying the truth."

For the first time since he could ever remember, Marluxia stopped hiding behind the illusion that he was a victim. He stopped pretending he wasn't suffering. He stopped masking the memories and trying to rewrite them to conceal his remorse. Even with his emotions caged, he could still experience despair…and longing.

"Do you want to be healed?" Kida whispered.

"…Yes…but how?" His voice had gone listless.

"If I call, it will come."

"What will?"

For the space of a breath it seemed as though she would not say. But then her gray-blue eyes softened with empathy and she knew it would not be kind to keep the truth from him. So she answered tenderly:

"Your Heartless."

So glad you made it to the end…and now I shall leave you with this nasty cliffhanger! But to be honest and serious, this conversation (where Kida basically tells him he's a coward who won't fess up to his past) is based on my own experience. It wasn't until my fiance cornered me and forced me to listen that I started turning my life around. I hope it didn't seem too out of the ordinary for a princess and a Nobody.

Hmm… I just remembered a very strange question I asked my reviewers a couple years ago and now I wonder if anyone would have an interesting answer:

What would you do if your hotdog suddenly jumped out of its bun and started singing?