Author's notes: Meh. SLIGHT SPOILER IN THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE. NO LIKIE NO READIE.
Alright… well, I was originally planning on having Riku and Sora's father be one of the FF characters, but I couldn't really find any one who fit, so I made him an OC. Sorry if I disappointed anyone by doing that but tough luck.
Abused
Riku took a moment to study his father. The man's silver hair was an average length, unlike Riku's long hair, and was tossed around messily. Riku guessed that he didn't waste any time. His father was wearing simple grey cargo pants and a grey sleeveless shirt with a leather jacket over the top. He wore army-style boots, and a silver and gold motorcycle helmet was tucked under his arm.
"I missed you too, son."
"Why did you leave?"
"To find you, of course! I didn't know until the King stopped by that you had been back for, geeze, nearly a year now?"
Riku let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, time sure flies here." He nodded, before glancing over at Sora.
"What happened?" His father asked.
"Sora has a Nobody, named Roxas. That Nobody had fused with him at the end of our last adventure. Roxas apparently got restless, and separated, taking a part of Sora's heart with him. I went for a walk to clear my head… when I got back a cop car and an ambulance was parked outside the house…" Riku shook his head quickly.
"A Nobody, you say? Ah, well, then, I guess the trio is complete!"
"Trio?" Riku asked, tilting his head slightly.
"There have always been three, Riku, and a king to rule beside. No more, no less. A Light, a Dark, and a Betwixt, also known as a being of the Twilight, then there's the king that they rule beside. The Keyblade Master can be any of the three main Keybladers, in this case, your brother."
"The Light…" Riku muttered. "Would Roxas be the Darkness, then?"
"Oh, no, Riku! Roxas, by race, is a Betwixt!"
"Then…"
"Yes," his father nodded solemnly. "That leaves you to be the Darkness."
That hit Riku like a mallet. He was the Darkness of the Keyblader trio… "So I've always been doomed to fall to the Darkness…"
"Fall, no. Embrace, use the Darkness to protect people, to do good."
"Good and evil are matters of perspective."
"Even so, you can use it to help people. Embrace it, Riku. You'll learn, with time. Never, ever, give in to it, though."
Riku nodded determinedly. "I'll try." He glanced over at Sora. "But first, Roxas. He can't be let to roam around free like this." His father nodded.
"I'll go!"
Both turned to see Rachael sitting up. Apparently she had been listening the whole time.
"If things get out of hand…"
"I'll stop Roxas!" Rachael interrupted Riku.
"Let her go. She'll be fine, Riku." Their father advised. Riku sighed, but nodded.
"Let's go, Rache."
Rachael nodded, stood and practically ran out of the room. Riku walked over to Sora, and placed a hand on his cold forehead. He sighed.
"Hang on, Sora, I'll return your heart soon enough." He promised, before turning and leaving.
He found Rachael waiting outside for him. She glanced up, nodded, and the two began to search the town on the mainland.
After a couple hours, the sun appeared above the horizon, and still no sign of Roxas. Riku slumped down against the wall of the local fish and chips shop, sighing.
"We haven't found him anywhere..." he muttered, before his phone rang. He quickly pulled it out and answered it. "Hello?"
"Riku, you need to get down here, quickly."
"What's wrong?" Riku asked the person on the other end, his father.
"No time to explain, just hurry."
With that, his father hung up. Riku flicked the phone closed and put it away.
"Come on." He grabbed Rachael's arm as he took off running. His sister followed along close behind him.
They ran until they caught up with a bus just starting to leave the station. When they did, the two silver haired adolescents jumped up and landed on the roof of the bus. Riku was impressed with Rachael, who didn't seem to be having any trouble keeping her balance. The two jumped off when they rounded the corner near the hospital, sprinting inside. He didn't even bother to talk to the receptionist, barrelling through to the room Sora was in.
The first thing he noticed was that Sora was restrained to the bed, struggling to get free. Kairi had a bloodied-up tissue to her nose, and a woman with silvery light brown hair, and eyes the same colour as Riku's was standing off in the corner, wearing jeans and a grey t-shirt and joggers. She appeared to be around twenty-one, twenty-two.
Riku walked over to Sora, putting a hand on his shoulder and pushing him back down onto the bed. Sora's eyes shot open to give Riku a death glare.
But it wasn't Sora...
Riku's hand curled into a fist, gripping onto Sora's clothing.
"Roxas. You've been hiding here this whole time..." he growled. Everyone except Rachael stiffened.
"Roxas," the girl hissed. She walked over and put a hand on Sora's forehead.
"What do you want, Rachael?"
It was Roxas's voice that had left Sora's mouth. Riku nearly flinched when he heard it.
"Why do this?" She asked softly. The teenager jerked in response, still glaring at Riku. Riku saw his expression soften.
"I'll help you, Sora." Riku promised, getting a nod in response, before Sora screamed and began to struggle against the restraints. "Roxas, quit this! It is getting you nowhere." He growled. Rachael glared at him, before whispering something in Sora's ear. The teenager seemed to relax a bit, before his eyes closed. Sora forced them open again, looking up at Riku pitifully.
"Sleep, Sora. Let me worry about Roxas." Riku ordered. Sora nodded weakly, closing his eyes. Riku looked at Rachael. "What did you do?"
"Separated them." Rachael replied. He could see sweat beads on her forehead, and she looked exhausted, to say the least.
"I'll go find Roxas."
"I'll come." Sam offered. "I'll just have to get my sword from the car, if we're fighting." Riku nodded.
"Alright, meet you out front."
Sam nodded then left. Riku turned to Kairi. "Hey, you okay?" He asked. She'd thrown the tissue out, since her nose had stopped bleeding.
"What'll happen to Sora, if Roxas dies with a part of his heart?"
"I... don't know." Riku admitted. Kairi looked down. "Hey, I won't let that happen." He promised. Kairi nodded. He then turned and left the room.
Sam was leaning against a nearby tree, a samurai sword in her right hand. She glanced over, and nodded. The two silently began to search the town.
They came to the main shopping center, and spotted Roxas standing at the main entrance, Keyblades in hand. He was looking down, eyes closed, and his arms were crossed across his chest. Riku called Way to the Dawn in an instant, and Sam gripped her sword with both hands, getting into a fighting position. The Nobody's head snapped up and he glared at them. The other people in the area began to clear out.
"Come to kill me again? Not going to climb up to the top of the shopping center and make me run up it? I'm disappointed, Riku. Going to use Darkness to strangle me again?"
"Never!" Riku snapped.
"Shame. It's the only way you can beat me... at least you lost that stupid blindfold." Roxas then charged, swinging Oblivion to slice Riku. Riku ducked, and Sam darted forward to catch Oathkeeper on her sword. Roxas spun around, striking her on the side with Oblivion. Sam rolled with the blow, minimising injury. Riku swept his foot across the ground, tripping Roxas, who flipped to regain his balance.
"Riku, you seem to have lost your touch." Roxas smirked. Riku growled in response, then realised something. The smell of Twilight had become more potent... He spun around just in time to find himself and Sam surrounded by Samurai Nobodies.
"Damn." He cursed.
"The irony." Sam commented, glancing at her sword then at the Nobodies, before hacking through a couple of them. More appeared and took their place. She backed up so she was back-to-back with Riku. They didn't remain like that for long, though. Riku darted forward and jumped up, trying to slice Roxas. The Keyblade-weilding Nobody brought his Keyblades up in defence, and Riku screamed in pain, seconds before everything went black.
Black, black, and more black. That was all this place was comprised of. Riku looked around, trying to see something other than black, without success. He sighed.
"Am I... dead?" He asked. Then he looked up. A light shined in the distance, and it was approaching him. He covered his eyes, then saw a person in the light. "Sora!" He exclaimed. Sora stopped. His eyes were vacant, empty. He was an empty shell. Riku shook his shoulders. "Sora!" Sora looked up at him, before emotion filled his eyes.
"Riku..." Sora hugged his brother. "I'm sorry..."
"Sora, what's wrong?"
"Riku, you have to hurry... I'm running out of time..."
Riku wrapped his arms around his younger brother. "How? There's nothing I can do... not from here, anyway..."
"Awaken."
Sora's form became transparent, before it faded from sight completely. Riku waved his hands where Sora had been, but found nothing there.
Then his eyes opened, and light filled his vision.