AN/ whoa! thanks for the reviews everyone! I'm loving the imagination and ideas I'm getting about what's up with Destiny Islands. Flightfoot, the data idea is AMAZING and I'm surprised that didn't even occur to me when I created this fic. Sadly, I already have a different answer, which should be covered shortly.

Chapter 10: The Truth

He was remembering on the go now, flashes of his past flitting through his mind before going. A battle was running through his head at the moment, another fight with Sora. What had led up to it was fleeting, but it had something to do with Namine. Well, it had everything to do with Namine. He had been angry at Sora, because he was supposed to protect her, not Sora. The battle had been a fierce one, but he used the memory and the anger that was flooding through him against the Dusks and Heartless that surrounded him.

But, as the battle reached its end, things started to go wrong. There was no longer any anger to throw into his battle, there was no longer… anything.

He fell to his knees, fooling Sora into thinking he had won.

"Riku!" Sora said.

"Want some more?" he laughed, shooting Dark Firaga at him. Sora took the blast full on, and was knocked off his feet. Riku grinned and stood up, walking over.

Sora pushed himself into something of a sitting position, and gasped: "Riku!"

"Looks like I win" he laughed.

"Riku, stop!" Namine shouted from behind him.

He ignored her, raising his blade for the final blow. "You are through!" he shouted, starting to bring his blade down.

"I said STOP!" Namine shouted, and it felt as if his brain just exploded. He collapsed, though he never felt himself hit the ground.

Outside of his memory, Riku hit the ground, not knowing what had even happened.

He didn't know that he lay there for so long, and he had no idea what was going on around him. He could hear whispers of voices, someone shouting his name…

"Broke his heart… smashed it really…" Larxene. Even in this state he could recognize her voice.

"Smashed… his heart?" he could hear Sora repeat.

How nice. Sora did care.

There was a bit more arguing, something about Riku not being there… then the sound of a body hitting the floor.

What Larxene said next was what hurt him the most.

"All right, have it your way, then. I know it'll kill you to hear this, but I think I can live with that. That thing lying there is just a puppet that Vexen made as an experiment. No more than a toy. It's laughable, really. It called you a fake, but IT was a fabrication all along."

Those words repeated in his mind, over and over, almost like a broken record. Not real? Just a fabrication? A puppet? Is this all I've ever been? Nothing more than… a toy?

No! It can't be! I'm… I'm… I'm REAL! I have to be!

Larxene's voice came floating in, breaking his determination. "It was only finished recently? How could it remember anything?"

"Its memories with Namine were just planted, not real."

It? I'm more than an it! I'm a real living being!

Anger flooded through him, but he could do nothing about it.

He didn't even know how he was still alive right now.

"Memories that were counterfeit, trumped up, and completely bogus. Isn't that the truth, Namine?"

Namine!

He had to protect her, he had to make sure Larxene stayed away from her!

But he could do nothing.

She's all I've got! I have to do something!

"Don't you get it now? That's what Naminé's powers are about! She can enter, rearrange, and even create new memories-of anything, even things that never happened. The girl you've been trying to protect all this time-is really a manipulative witch who shackles people's hearts!"

What? Namine… Namine did this to me? She… she made me like this…

But…

I can't- can't just—

I can't let go of this. Even if they are lies, all these memories of mine, they're all I've got.

I'm just a copy of… of the real Riku, wherever he is, I never had anything. All I ever was—is a shadow off… him. I had nothing then, and I've got nothing now.

I've got Namine…

I think.

Speaking of Namine, he could hear her voice.

She was talking to Sora, explaining what she had done.

Then, something she said hit him hard.

One of Sora's friends had asked: "What about Sora's promise?"

Sora's promise to protect Namine.

MY promise to protect Namine.

"Made up, it was fake. Sora never really promised me anything."

Which means I never promised her anything…

"Me being with him on the islands—that was a lie, just like everything else. We never met, I was never Sora's friend-"

Which means we were never on the islands together either…

He sighed, or thought he sighed. He couldn't do anything with his body, he was surprised he could even do so much as to think.

More conversation passed, none of it interesting, then:

"Namine, Marluxia is gonna be up there," one of Sora's friends said. "So maybe you'd better stay down here."

Then Sora said: "Yeah. Maybe you could look after Riku?"

Of course, Sora cared, even if he wasn't the real Riku… Sora was so stubborn.

But, it was nice of him.

He could feel Namine sitting next to him somehow, and her presence calmed him. Even if all these thoughts inside of him were just planted, these feelings just born of lies, he would keep them.

Because they were all he had.

He wasn't sure how long she sat there, time passed oddly in this state. He wondered if Namine was even thinking about him. He almost wished she would say something. But, she probably didn't even know he could hear.

Heck, he didn't even know why he could hear.

I wonder… do they think I'm dead?

There was a shift in the air, and suddenly he couldn't feel Namine next to him.

"Marluxia…" he muttered, blinking his eyes open. He wasn't sure how he knew Marluxia was behind this, but he knew. He pushed himself into a sitting position and looked around. Everyone was gone.

"How… how am I even awake?" he wondered aloud. But then he shook his head, telling himself that it didn't matter. All that did mater was the fact that he WAS awake.

Namine.

He had to find her.

Determination to find her was probably the only thing that was keeping him going. He got to his feet, staggered at first before he could find his balance, then headed out of the room. He had to reach the top of the Castle and he had to reach it NOW. Nothing else mattered.

xxx

He paused outside the final door. He could hear voices on the other side. Marluxia, Sora, and Namine, they were arguing. He listened to them for a minute. Marluxia ordered Namine to erase Sora's memory, and she had refused. Sora then told her to just go ahead and do it, claiming he would be fine.

Riku, no, NOT Riku, the Replica, knew he had to get in there before Sora got himself or Namine killed. He tried the door, it was locked.

Of course.

Marluxia laughed, informing Sora that if Namine erased his memories—

Thinking quickly, the Replica threw open a portal.

—He would end up like "Vexen's pathetic imitation of your Riku"

That simple sentence raised a flame of anger in his heart.

"Take another guess!" he shouted, jumping through the portal. He came out on the other side in mid-air and only had a second to calculate his move. Using gravity as his aid, he lunged forward and slashed at Marluxia, who dodged. Namine screamed.

"It can't be!" Marluxia said as his landed.

From behind him, Sora gasped: "Riku!"

"No," he said, turning only slightly so he could see Sora. "Just an imitation."

"You're a shell!" Marluxia shouted defiantly. "A shell who has everything taken. EVERYTHING!"

"What can you possibly think I ever had?" he asked angrily. "Both my body and my heart are fake. But… there is one memory I'll keep, even if it is just a lie! Whether it was a phantom promise or not… I will protect Namine!"

"Imbeciles" Marluxia muttered, reaching into the air. A flower petal slowly floated down from the sky, and transformed into a scythe in his hand. He slashed his scythe through the air, and held it ready at his side. "You would knowingly shackle your heart with a chain of memories born of lies?" he asked them, in disbelief.

Sora readied his weapon.

"You would be one who has a heart, and yet cast aside your heart's freedom?" Marluxia asked, voice rising.

He protectively put his arm in front of Namine, keeping her out of harm's way, yet never taking his eyes off of Marluxia.

"You turn from the truth because your heart is weak—you will never defeat me!"