Chapter 14: Karmas and Enigmas

Riku reentered the room, only to find that Yukari was attempting to steal his bed. She was sitting under the covers and playing with her ears.

"What are you doing?" he asked loudly, refraining from yelling only for the sake of Roxas and Naminé next door, especially since they also had to deal with Rikku.

"These earpieces are uncomfortable to sleep in," she replied, showing Riku the earpieces. So she wasn't just randomly playing with her ears. She placed them next to her weapon. "They woke me up, but the dog smell and the duck feathers between the covers kept me up. I swear, no one has been in here in over a year, not even a maid." She lowered herself so that she was lying down and pulled the covers up to her chin.

"But that's my bed," Riku grumbled persistently.

"It's a queen," she countered. With Riku glaring darkly at her, she turned over a few times. "Wonderful. This bed feels like someone was jumping all over it. What, did some overactive boy bring his pet dog and duck here?"

Riku snorted, "That's very likely. They probably scared off all the maids, too."

Turning over a few more times, she grumbled, "This is no use. Your arms were more comfortable than this." She blinked a few times, as if mulling her last words over, then looked at Riku evilly.

Riku cocked an eyebrow at her. "What if I don't want to hold you?"

"Then I guess it's too bad," she shot back. She ran up to him, flung her arms around his neck, and took the weight off her feet. The only way to keep both of them from toppling was to...do what she wanted.

He grunted and stumbled over to the bed, noticing that it was extremely uncomfortable. Not that he would ever admit it. Besides, he had slept on worse.

Yukari laid her head on his shoulder, tickling his nose with some stray hairs. "Comfortable, are you?" Riku snarled. She didn't answer, which annoyed Riku even more. "If you're not comfortable, don't say anything." Still, she didn't say anything, so he sat up quickly, dumping her on the floor.

"Hey!" Ri squawked. "What's the big idea? I was finally comfortable." She pierced him with a death glare.

Riku slowly inhaled and exhaled through his nose. "Then why didn't you say so when I asked?"

Yukari hesitated for a split second before answering, "Did you consider the possibility that I was so comfortable that I'd already fallen asleep?" Riku averted his eyes. No, he hadn't. "I didn't think so."

"I find it hard to believe that you're that tired," Riku shot back, determined to salvage some of his pride. "It's not like we got to the point of sparring back there."

Ri heaved an overly-dramatic sigh. "It's my weapon. Producing darkness takes a lot of energy."

Glancing quickly at her weapon, Riku felt his annoyance get elbowed aside by his curiosity. "I've never seen a weapon like that before."

Ri picked up her weapon and gently revolved it, examining it appreciatively. "I doubt you would have seen anything like it before. Its primary function is as a high-tech hearing device; it just happens to be a functional weapon if used properly. And I hate to admit it, but it intrigues me, too. I'm still experimenting with it myself." She put a slight, bitter stress on 'experimenting.'

Riku's eyebrows shot up. "Hearing device?"

"The prongs are extremely sensitive to vibrations. A computer in the hilt interprets the vibrations and sends the interpretation to the earpieces. The earpieces then turn it into what my brain interprets as sound, yahta yahta," she rattled off.

"Where did you get something like this?" asked Riku suspiciously. This hearing device was starting to sound like some top-secret government project.

"None of your business!" Yukari shot back. As Riku's frown deepened, she added, "I didn't steal it or anything if that's what you're worried about."

Even though Riku still wasn't quite convinced, he put the subject in the back of his mind for the time being. "So, how does a hearing device bring down a house?"

Yukari continued as if nothing had happened, as well, "You've noticed that it looks like a giant tuning fork?" Riku nodded. "That's because it is, really. I hit it, it vibrates, and you get sound or light, depending on the wavelength. The length of the weapon controls the wavelength and the slide valve at the top of the hilt controls the length of the weapon." She pulled the slide all the way out. "Light has the shortest wavelength." She began slowly pushing the slide in, commentating as she reached the desired positions. "Microwaves are towards the end of the electromagnetic spectrum." Glancing at Riku, she smirked, "That's the light spectrum, in case you didn't know."

"I did know that, thank you very much," Riku shot back.

"Right," she said, giving an infuriating smile that clearly said she was only humoring him. "Anyway, then you move into sound wavelengths." Here was the longest pause as her weapon continued to grow. "And at the very lowest frequency, you have darkness."

"And what does any of this have to do with making you tired?" Riku asked, purely out of a lack of understanding. He reached out a hand to help Ri back onto the bed, his way of apologizing.

He expected her to just take the invitation to sit without actually accepting his helping hand. But, she surprised him once more and took his hand, a small smile on her face. Not a smirk. Not a sneer. "A tuning fork needs energy to start vibrating, such as physically hitting it. It's the same with giant tuning forks."

"Isn't that impractical in a battle setting?" Riku pondered. "Even just sustaining a vibration would require you to hit it every few seconds."

Her eyes never left his face as he talked, glimmering with an excited curiosity. "Have you ever studied physics?"

"No," Riku replied, caught off guard by the change in subject. "Why?"

"Because you understand physics quite well, at least the concepts."

Riku snorted, "No, I just remember having to hit the tuning fork every five seconds in music class just to hear anything."

Chuckling a little, Ri said, "That's physics. Energy is directly proportional to the product of the mass and the square of the velocity." She looked expectantly at him, but he only shook his head. Huffing, she explained, "You know, 'E' equals 'm' 'v'-squared?"

"I thought it was 'E' equals 'm' 'c'-squared."

Ri rolled her eyes. "'c' is the speed of light. Technically, speed isn't the same as velocity. They both have magnitude, but velocity has direction. The equation only deals with magnitudes, though, so speed and velocity are interchangeable values. Don't worry, it's a common misconception."

Now it was Riku's turn to look at her curiously. "You've studied physics, obviously."

"You could say I dabbled in it," she vaguely answered. Riku didn't press her. "So, we come back to the energy problem –"

"– which you solved, since you weren't hitting your weapon constantly."

"Cynical, intelligent, and observant," Ri marveled. "Pinch me, I'm dreaming." Riku pinched her. "Ow! I didn't mean literally, asshole." She slapped his arm.

"Careful," Riku teased, "or I'll have to wash your mouth out with some soap."

"Oh, I've never heard that one before," said Ri, rolling her eyes, before continuing. "I started playing around with magic and found that I could draw on my magical energy to sustain a vibration. Light is easy; it has a short wavelength, so it has less mass and doesn't take much energy. Now, darkness has the longest wavelength, the most mass, and takes the most energy. What I did earlier was about all I could handle."

"Have you used magic before?" asked Riku.

"No," Ri sighed. "I've never used a sword before, either. There was a book with some swordplay techniques in that house and I was trying them out when you guys showed up. I thought it would be beneficial; I've run into some of those black buggy things and they explode rather nicely when I expose them to their natural frequency, but I doubt that will work on anything much tougher." She saw Riku's question on his face before he opened his mouth. "Every object has a natural frequency at which it vibrates the most. Vibrate something too much and the molecules can't stay together. That's how I brought the house down."

Yukari stopped talking and finally looked away; she'd looked straight at his face the entire time they were talking. And...something about her commanded him to give her the same attention. Perhaps it was her curiously colored eyes. Riku kept staring at them, just trying to figure out whether they were blue or green. It was almost hypnotic.

He couldn't resist any longer. "What color are your eyes?" She kept staring off into space as if she hadn't heard him, so he gently tapped her arm. Jumping slightly, she turned back to him and he posed the question again.

Grinning, she asked, "Well, what color are they, now?"

Riku peered at her eyes. "Blue."

"Then right now they're blue," she answered, "and tomorrow they'll probably be green, and the next day some color in between. ...I just rhymed, didn't I?"

"Yeah," Riku smirked.

"Damn," Ri chuckled. "But, yeah, my eyes shift colors from blue to green. I can't even tell what color they are half of the time." She paused, and her eyes flickered away from Riku's face for a moment. "I really am sorry that I attacked you." The sudden change of topic and the sincerity in her voice caught Riku off guard. "I guess I'm a bit paranoid."

"It's alright," Riku told her gently. "You had a good reason not to trust us. We do use darkness after all."

"But you use light, too," Yukari said, a wry smile twisting her lips. "So, spill. How did you get these powers?"

"That's a long story," Riku sighed. "I'd rather not get into it now." She didn't need to know about Xehanort's Heartless yet...or Nobodies...or Organization XIII.

"Fair enough," she conceded. "Can you at least tell me about your giant keys? They look about as goofy as wielding a giant tuning fork."

"The goofier, the more powerful," Riku snorted, summoning Way to the Dawn. "This is a Keyblade, the most effective weapon against the evil side of darkness. It takes a strong heart to wield one. Most people can't even hold it."

Yukari ran a hand along the smooth metal, feeling every detail, a child-like amazement in her eyes to rival Even's. "It's warm," she whispered. Absentmindedly, her hand continued to travel down the blade until it reached the hilt. Holding her breath, she gently eased Way to the Dawn out of Riku's hand. It stayed.

"Finicky thing," she breathed.

"Very," agreed Riku. "Your heart had a moment of weakness before, so it wouldn't let you hold it. But," – Riku reached out his hand and Way to the Dawn flashed into it – "I can summon it back." He dismissed it with a swirl of light.

Yukari's lips twitched into a slight pout for a moment. "Some giant key. Roxas has two of these?"

"Right," Riku nodded. "The black one is named Oblivion and the white one is Oathkeeper. Mine's Way to the Dawn."

"Names...," Yukari murmured. She began examining her strange weapon once again.

"Does it have a name?" asked Riku.

A dark look flashed over Yukari's face. "Not one that I would consider using," she spat.

"Alright, then. A name...," Riku said, crossing his arms and tilting his head to one side while he was thinking. I think Sora's rubbing off on me. I'm picking up his habits. "I've got it! A friend told me a story about a warrior who swung his sword so hard that it literally sang through the air. He named his blade Onsaken."

Ri nearly fell off the bed as she went into a giggling fit. "Tuning fork blade?" she gasped.

"Well, a giant key is called a Keyblade, so why not call a giant tuning fork a tuning fork blade?" Riku asked. Was his suggestion really that bad?

"I know," Ri replied, still letting a few chuckles escape. "It's a very appropriate name, but that doesn't mean it can't be funny." She paused for a moment, looking pensive. "Onsaken...I like it."

Outside, a bell tolled ominously, leaving an oppressive silence in its wake.

"Did you hear that?" Riku asked urgently.

Yukari looked at him worriedly. "Hear what?"

It rang again. "There!" cried Riku. "That bell. Can't you hear it?"

"No," she replied, reaching to put the earpieces back in her ears, "but I'm sure your hearing is better than mine." The bell sounded a third time. "What a lovely 'G.'" Riku frowned at her in confusion. "The bell's pitch. I wonder who's ringing it?"

"I don't know," Riku said in a low voice, "but it didn't sound too good to me." He crept out of their room and into the hallway. Nothing seemed amiss here, so he quietly slid open the doors to the Second District and peered out. Still nothing. Summoning his Keyblade, he slowly began edging out of the doors.

"Wait," Yukari whispered, grabbing Riku's arm and dragging him back inside. Her eyes were wary, giving her that crazed, desperate look again. "I can't hear anything."

"That's because there's nothing here," Riku patiently explained. She was intelligent; why would silence frighten her so much?

"Yes!" she said in a strained whisper. "There's always something making noise; rats, sewer lines, the wind. But here...there's absolutely nothing. Not even a fly buzzing."

Riku was about to answer, but stopped as he noticed something glowing on the edge of his vision. Turning towards the fountain, he saw the Keyhole gleaming merrily from the wall behind it. He frowned. Sora had already sealed this Keyhole, so what was it doing here now? Did Astan have the power to unseal Keyholes? Could Riku reseal it? He had to try, at any rate. Breaking away from Yukari, he strode out the door and vaulted over the ledge to the square below.

Roxas came hopping out of his room, one foot still trying to work its way through a pant leg. "Wait!" he called as Riku approached the fountain. "There's a –"

Something big and purple crashed down in front of Riku, blocking his path to the Keyhole.

"– Heartless." Shoving his foot through, Roxas hopped down next to Riku and planted his stocking feet into a fighting stance. "Don't worry, Guard Armor's a pushover."

Naminé came bursting out of the door, a pair of shoes clutched in her hand. "Roxas, do you want your shoes?" she called.

"No," he replied. One of the feet crashed down next to Roxas, nearly smashing his toes. "On second thought, that's not a bad idea," he grimaced.

Naminé quickly slipped over the railing to the stones below. As soon as her feet hit the cobblestones, a rainbow-colored barrier rose around the square. She nervously headed towards the boys and silently handed Roxas his shoes.

"Calm down, Naminé. This battle will be cake," Roxas stated confidently. He began putting on his shoes.

Guard Armor snapped its fingers and ten Berserkers appeared inside the barrier. Halting with one shoe half-tied, Roxas gaped at the Berserkers and gulped.

"You were saying?" Riku deadpanned. He leapt at the nearest Berserker and was promptly knocked back towards the inn and into the wall.

"Are you alright?" asked Yukari from the other side of the barrier.

"Fine," Riku grunted, shakily standing. White lights danced across his vision and it felt like a ball-peen hammer was pounding on his temples.

"What am I supposed to do, watch you three get pummeled to death?" she snapped out of frustration.

"Pretty much," replied Riku. He rushed at a Berserker that was aiming at the back of Roxas's head. Not expecting the attack, the Berserker dropped its claymore and Riku quickly seized it.

"Stand clear!" he shouted as the blood rushed to his head. Roxas and Naminé scurried away as Riku swung the claymore once, twice, and finished with a vicious spinning strike. The weapon vanished, its owner destroyed, and Riku landed delicately back on the ground. A hand swung at him and he rolled out of the way, then reversed direction to avoid another claymore.

"Any ideas?" Riku called.

Roxas stepped in front of Naminé as a downward slash came at her and blocked with his Keyblades. She drew herself as close to him as she could and cast Firaga around them.

"One," Roxas panted. "I hope I remember how to do it." He began gathering dark energy around Oblivion and bolts began crackling down its length. They concentrated at the tip, but stopped there. "C'mon," Roxas muttered, jiggling the handle.

"Maybe it just needs a jumpstart," Riku suggested. He mimicked Roxas, then placed Way to the Dawn's tip on Oblivion's tip. Sparks began fizzling off where the tips met, igniting when they landed and causing minor damage.

"Not what I was going for, but it works," Roxas remarked. "Let's step it up!" They put some more energy into whatever they'd come up with, which produced a volcano of massive Dark Fireballs that rained down on their opponents.

The power kept building until Riku felt that it would burst out of control. "Here it comes!"

"Dark Nova!" they shouted together. A massive explosion expanded outward, ripping through the remaining Berserkers and Guard Armor. As their Limit ended, they smirked and gave each other high-fives.

"Nice one!" Naminé smiled.

Yukari watched in awe as Riku, Roxas, and Naminé worked seamlessly together to finish off the few survivors of that incredible attack. It was mind-blowing that each of them held such power.

"What's going on?" Rikku yawned in Ri's ear. "I just woke up."

"A battle, that's what, you useless twit!" Ri bit.

Rikku placed a finger on the corner of her mouth. "Eh, heheh...oopsy."

One last slash from Way to the Dawn brought the end of Guard Armor and the end of the barrier. The torso piece clattered to the ground, lifeless. "Let's go," Yukari said, grabbing Rikku and jumping down to join the other three.

Roxas was the first to spot her. "No, go back! It has a –"

The torso rose into the air with renewed energy. Hands and feet magically regenerated, although the positions were switched this time. Another barrier flashed into existence.

"– second form." Roxas looked about as ticked as Sora got when Tidus and Wakka played monkey in the middle with Sora as the monkey. "Opposite Armor..."

"Start spitting it out faster!" Yukari called.

Rikku slipped out of Yukari's fingers. "Don't worry, guys. I'm all over this one." She pointed a finger at Opposite Armor and screamed, "Ultima!" The air around her swirled with colors as her magic began working. A small spark appeared before Opposite Armor, right in the spot that Rikku was pointing at. The spark started glowing like an ember, then died.

"Poopie," Rikku muttered. "I'm too small... I know! One of you can try it."

"Start teaching, then," said Riku, as a foot-turned-claw tried to smash them.

"Alright!" she exclaimed, bobbing in the air a bit. "It's a black magic spell, so you have to focus on turning your magic into dark energy, and a lot of it. When you have that all gathered up, just point and release."

Riku did as Rikku had instructed, gathering as much dark energy as he could with his Keyblade. When he felt that he couldn't put any more into the spell, he pointed and let the spell loose.

A spark appeared as before, but this time it didn't die. It exploded into a mass of flashing light and color that swallowed Opposite Armor, causing massive damage. The spell finished with a few, final flashes of bright, white light, leaving only the torso behind. Roxas struck the final blow, releasing the massive heart that had been held captive by the darkness.

"That was a really good spell, Rikku," Naminé remarked.

Rikku grinned broadly. "I might be a bit silly," – "A bit?" sniggered Roxas – "but I know how to kick some serious monster butt."

"What's wrong, Riku?" Yukari asked. She alone had noticed the misgivings on Riku's face.

Green-tinged wisps of darkness seeped up through the ground from where the Berserkers had been defeated. They traveled up towards the heart and began clinging greedily to it. Flames spread around it and the mass sank towards the ground, growing ever larger. The flames died away to reveal a Halfhearted that resembled Opposite Armor, although it clutched a claymore in each of its claws: Berserk Armor.

"Enough, already!" Roxas moaned as he ducked a claymore.

The other claymore came down over Riku and he quickly raised his Keyblade to block it. The claymore halted, then lost form and oozed over Riku's hands. Berserk Armor shook as if laughing, then jerked Riku into the air. He yelped a bit as he felt his shoulder pop out of its socket. Unfortunately for him, it was his right shoulder.

Naminé shot a Blizzaga spell at the former-claymore holding Riku, but Berserk Armor took the spell with the first claymore. A large chunk of it froze and broke off, but was immediately regenerated. Concentrating on her magic, Naminé didn't notice a hand-turned-foot come up behind her and grab her around the middle, trapping her arms at her side.

"Naminé!" Roxas cried, scowling as Berserk Armor shook again. In desperation, he threw his Keyblades at Berserk Armor, only to have them stick on impact.

Riku's shoulder was really starting to ache, and he could feel it slowly draining his health. "Rikku!" he gasped.

She instantly flew up to him. "I don't think I can get you down," she admitted sadly.

"That's okay," he replied. "Just get me a Potion. They're in my pocket."

Rikku perked up a bit. "I can do that!"

After a few seconds of rummaging in his pocket, she found it. The healing droplets formed over his head and Riku sighed in anticipation of the soothing effects. But, they never came; Berserk Armor absorbed the Potion before it reached Riku. He moaned softly.

Onsaken picked up every agonizing vibration of the moan and Yukari's head snapped towards Riku. His right shoulder was clearly dislocated and his breathing was heavy. He couldn't take hanging there much longer.

"Look out!" Roxas screamed. He pushed Yukari out of the way of a claymore at the expense of being captured himself.

Yukari blinked. She would never have expected something like that from Roxas. "Thanks."

"No problem. Now get me down!"

She didn't need to be told twice. Without thinking about it, she jerked the slide down as far as it would go and hit it on her heel. "Cover your eyes!" She poured all the magic she could muster into Onsaken and light exploded around her.

Berserk Armor used Roxas to shield the piece that seemed to be its head. It swung the claymore holding Riku at Yukari. Her eyes widened and she placed her feet into what she thought must have been a good fighting stance. The stance wasn't up to par, but it worked. When the claymore smashed against Onsaken, Yukari was able to hold her ground.

The resulting impact was so great that it knocked Onsaken into a new frequency and the length changed accordingly. Yukari lessened the energy input, using only enough to keep Onsaken vibrating. For a moment, both held their positions. Then the claymore began oozing over Onsaken, but didn't seem to be able to hold anything. Intuitively, she slashed through the claymore and Riku dropped to the ground, though his hands were still covered.

"Natural frequency," they both smirked.

"If energy is increased," Yukari began, "and mass remains constant, then velocity squared increases." She put all her energy into it again, pleased to hear the low hum being emitted from the prongs. A few seconds later, every part of the Halfhearted started vibrating. Each vibration grew larger and larger until the body exploded into nothingness, allowing the heart to drift away. Yukari dampened Onsaken and sank down beside Riku, breathing just as heavily.

"C'mon, Naminé. We need some healing over here!" Rikku called from Riku's left shoulder. The spell came moments later, providing some relief, though it did nothing for Riku's right shoulder.

"Your shoulder can't say like that," Yukari remarked regrettably. "Hold still." She placed one hand on his shoulder and grabbed his arm with the other. "One...two –" Intense pain flared in Riku's shoulder, worse than when it had been dislocated, and he couldn't help letting a soft scream pass his lips. "– three."

"Dammit," he whispered, grabbing a Potion out of his pocket to dull the pain in his joint.

"Is everyone alright?" Naminé asked. Everyone nodded, tired but unhurt.

"The Keyhole," Roxas reminded them.

"Right," muttered Riku. He pushed himself up and walked over to the fountain. Way to the Dawn appeared of its own accord, courteously in his left hand, and began glowing. Riku pointed it at the Keyhole and a beam of light shot out of the tip. With a loud click, the Keyhole vanished once more.

"I thought only the master could seal Keyholes," Roxas frowned.

"There are three of those, now," replied Riku.

"Does it matter as long as it's done?" Naminé pointed out.

Ri crossed her arms out of irritation. "Boy, I wish I could join in on this conversation. Too bad I have no idea what's going on."

Roxas sighed, "Look, thanks for your help and all, but this time, we really do have to leave. Other places need our help and we don't have time to chat."

"You mean other worlds," Ri smirked. They all looked at her with varying degrees of surprise. "I'm not stupid. I know this isn't my world, and I know it isn't yours, either. How did you get here? Some sort of space ship?"

"Gummi ship," Riku confirmed. It was no use denying anything, not to Yukari.

"You can explain on the ship, then," she said firmly.

Roxas blinked. "What?"

"I'm going with you." No use, whatsoever.

"No," Roxas said quickly.

"You're only saying that because you don't like me," Ri bit.

"I don't think you should come, either," Naminé spoke up. "This isn't a game. It's real, and dangerous."

Yukari turned her back on Roxas and Naminé, focusing her captivating eyes on Riku instead. "I'm going with you."

He stared right back into them. "Why?"

"Because...," she faltered, "my heart is telling me to."

Riku smiled. That's what he'd needed to hear. "She's coming."

"But–"

Riku raised a hand to silence all objections. "Roxas and Naminé, you're driving this time. Rikku, try contacting Yuna again. Yukari, get comfortable. In case it hasn't been emphasized enough yet, this is a long story." She looked at him slyly. "No, I won't hold you."

Ri settled into a chair in the back of the Gummi. "Is this the same long story you mentioned at the inn?"

"Yes," Riku replied. "Don't say anything until I'm done or I might not be able to finish."

"Don't worry, I'll be good," she teased, although she looked at him curiously.

"It started about a year ago..."

"Monsters!" Rikku shrieked from the cockpit.

Riku and Yukari glanced at each other before rushing out the door. They found Rikku cowering in front of the Gummi's view screen with Roxas and Naminé looking at the screen warily. On the screen, something that looked like a dragon was fiddling with the Commsphere, trying to focus it. The dragon in the foreground became blurrier as the background became clearer, revealing a wolf-like creature sitting next to a bird-like creature. The wolf was wearing a crown pendant around its neck.