CH.14: Riku on the edge
Riku was submerged in darkness, his body descending into a sticky substance that surrounds him and draws at him. He can't open his eyes and there is a burning feeling in his chest. Oh that is right…Sora did this to him. The keyblade which was once a weapon of light had been corrupted along with Sora so now only darkness prevailed.
It was so dark in here…even if he could open his lids he would find himself drifting in a sea that had no light to guide him. It was familiar for it was the same way he felt when Ansem had taken over him. He had been led on by Maleficent and then somehow accepted Ansem to him…leading him far from home, making him lash out at Sora when he was just trying to get his friends home.
"Don't give up now Riku!" He wanted to say something but it was like his mouth was sealed shut or for some reason he feared he would inhale the darkness.
Was that King Mickey? No, it couldn't be. King Mickey was back at Disney Castle with Queen Minnie, where he rightfully belonged. Their adventure had been fun and fraught with peril but every adventure has an end. Riku himself was seeing past his adventures so he could finally be happy…with Namine.
"Are you really going to take this lying on your back? I left the rest to you…and to think I walked away from my own happiness…" Riku recognized the voice and sure enough the ground rushes up to meet him and he lets out a cough.
"Wait…how are you here?" Riku was wet but he somehow managed to dry off, huh, guess this is how it worked.
"I'm not really here…think of me like your flight or fight psychosis. Clearly some part of you is ready to give yourself to the darkness…drift away, deal with the fact that you are leaving so many people behind. Just one tiny tremor of fear or resigned fate and I show. Don't expect me to do this again though."
Had he really been willing to give up? The pain, the loneliness, the acceptance of his fate…this must have been what it was like for Aqua. It had been his choice to let Ansem in…to fill in that void he had by Sora moving on, by his needing to save Kairi…it did a lot of things for him but it never made him truly content.
"Look, other me, the real me…you need to wake up and realize that while Sora did this to you he is not in complete control of himself. We should both know that darkness manipulates and someone is clearly behind the scenes making Sora into what he is not. Sound familiar?"
Riku understood. The other him before him…he had also been manipulated and made to do things in the work of the Organization. Vexen, he had done this to him. But Vexen was no longer who he was, he is responsible for Namine being brought back. He had acted as a double agent amidst the newly formed Organization.
"The Organization is disbanded…so…who is acting in their stead?" Riku pondered on that as he sat there.
"I have no clue. Still in your time in the darkness you must still be able to pick up residual effects of portals in use correct?"
Riku nodded his head though he knew the King was the only one who could open a portal. Plus they'd need a door or the very least an idea of where they were going. He had not heard from the King since he had gone back to the Castle.
"Do you think he went to the other side?" Riku of course meant the very dark land he had once traversed with King Mickey on numerous occasions. It was dark because one couldn't see past their own hand at times and the amount of heartless swarmed about blending into the shadows.
"It could be possible. However such a trek won't be easy on your own. Also if you hesitate too long you will surely lose him. Sora is still your light in the darkness is he not?" The other him addresses as he walks around.
"Sora is my best friend, but, there is another light I now hold close to my heart. I didn't think it possible…and…oh right, sorry-."
Riku had forgotten that the other him had developed feelings for Namine back in Castle Oblivion. Still for what it was worth he meant to do well by Namine, for Namine…not sure how the correction worked but still she had found a way into his heart and being here now just reminded him of what he had left behind…what he would have…
"Namine, I see, well I don't hold any ill feelings towards that. In some ways it is still me…just the real me, the one that matters. This will be the last time we truly speak to one another and I want to make it count. Are you familiar with 'the faded?' If not it is alright…the term means more than you figure it out to be."
"Sora faded…or vanished…his body having given up after the toll of bringing Kairi back. Wait are you saying-?"
Riku goes to stand up and he grips his heart as he falls to one knee. It was getting hard to breathe and yet somehow the other him was not affected.
"When one fades there is one of two ways of going about it, to fade completely from existence…or…by some twist of fate one will find themselves taken to a location specifically designed to hold a 'faded' individual, tether their existence so they remain around. It is mostly rumor or hearsay and honestly no one has ever come back from being 'faded' and lived to tell the tale."
Riku pondered on that. He had to get out of here…he had to get the information back to King Mickey and the others. Still the wound…it festered with darkness getting closer and closer to his heart.
"Tell you what…I have concocted a device, let us just say it is a parting gift for when you return back to the realm of light." Riku lifts his head as he notices a device being held out to him.
"What is it?" He accepts it as he looks at the device hovering a bit over the palm of his hand. It was dark with red wings and seemed to be emitting some sort of weird cricket noise.
"I call it 'dark tracer' it is basically a device used to track down darkness. However it normally only works on fresh movement in the darkness; so, there is a risk if you wait too long that it will not work. I want you to immediately set out for Sora-."
"I can't…I will need to alert everyone of this. How long exactly before it stops working?" Riku places the device into his pocket and he finds some of his strength has returned.
"I'd say twenty four hours at least. Riku…your wound-." Riku looks down noting it was not sealing up, not entirely.
"Is that twenty four hours for Sora…or twenty four hours for me?" Riku tried to crack a joke but his other self just shakes his head.
"I'm hoping it doesn't come to that…in can case send out the device and if it works as I know it will, more or less…it should leave a portal open to allow time for your friends to get through. However there is no telling what will be let out in the time you are gone." The other Riku was not making his job easier.
"Right…I'll get on it right away. Oh and this is the last time we will meet right?" Riku looks over at him and it was very much like looking at one self…but from the past.
"Don't expect me to bail you out again…heh…but yes this will be the last time. You know the darkness better than anyone, if anyone is going after Sora…it might as well be you. Good luck." The two of them exchange a mutual nod of understanding before the darkness goes nova. Riku is thrown out and as he lays there coughing he finds Namine weeping over him and Aqua and Terra there too.
"Thank goodness you are up. Namine here called us and we came as soon as we could. That wound, it is almost similar to the one I received…but your eyes-."
Riku could not see his eyes so he makes his way to the ocean water and notices that his eyes are very much green and vibrant, almost soulless. They reminded him of Maleficent. They pulsed some and his hand goes to his chest. Time was against him already. Darkness was pooling around his wound and he had to hurry in rescuing Sora.
"I know this sounds crazy…but…I might have a plan to go after Sora." Riku begins to unveil his plan to them, all the while hearing about a figure who crippled Ventus. They needed to contact King Mickey but time being of the essence he activates the device and lets it fly.
Authors note: Next chapter Simone and Sora both experience time in the darkness…dealing with their actions, struggling to find their way back…the while questioning the past which lingers just beyond their reach.