Chapter 21: Sine die
Sora's spirits were deteriorating as he and his companions left Master Yen Sid's tower. All that Yen Sid had to say on the subject was to follow his previous advice, to believe in Riku, and to trust the wisdom of the Master, 'then everything will become as it should'.
Sora did not say anything since they exited his study, and now they were nearly at Twilight Town.
"Aw, cheer up, Sora," said Goofy in a highly optimistic voice. "He didn't say there was nothing we could do. It sounded like we're already doing what we're supposed to."
"But he didn't say that we could save Riku either," Sora's shoulders slumped. "I don't know what 'everything turning out as it should' means." He said there was only supposed to be one.
They arrived in what use to be a garden in front of the old mansion. The front room looked decrepit as always, which kept most of the town's occupants from entering. At the top of the stairs, Sora once again found his attention drawn to the room that Naminè had made her own. He turned and stared heading for the white room.
"Sora, where are you going?" asked Donald. He and Goofy stopped walking, and Vincent was already following Sora.
"I just want to see something. It'll only take a minute," Sora answered over his shoulder just before he entered the room. It looked exactly as he remembered it; with blinding white walls, floor, and furniture, and white sheets of paper covered in colourful sketches strewn everywhere.
He slowly walked around the room, looking at the drawings of past events that the artist should not have known anything about. A particular drawing always caught his attention. He remembered everything from the drawings that featured him, except for this one.
He was in the chamber that he had slept in for a year. Riku was standing beside it, Keyblade in hand, and still wearing the strange suit that he received when Xehanort's heartless first fought to take over his form. Sora picked up the drawing and stared at it. Ever since Riku had appeared in his dream, Sora had the distinct feeling that he was forgetting something, and it seemed important to him.
"Whoa, whoa, time out! When did I ever do that?"
"Hmph, you probably forgot. It never mattered to you how I felt!"
He doubted the sketch had anything to do with the current situation, but the only other time he remembered feeling this way is when he had first seen this drawing. It had been fleeting, only bothering him when he saw or thought about the sketch. The feeling from the dream was constant. He sighed, and was about to put the drawing down when he started feeling something tugging at the back of his mind.
"Keep your lock. I'd rather finish off Ansem once and for all."
"What if the darkness he wields is stronger than both of you?"
"Then I'll make the darkness show me the way."
"Take care of him."
"I think you already have that covered, Riku…"
Sora felt that same tugging in the back of his mind, only this one seemed to pull him further, until he was looking into another room. It was as familiar and as foreign as the sketch he had been staring at a moment ago. The stone walls and floor; the heavy beams on the ceiling; the worn chairs, table, and trunk; the cosy bed pushed into the corner; the little potbelly stove radiating warmth… It seemed like he had seen them all a thousand times, but he had no recollection of ever being in this room before.
The heavy wooden door opened, and Sora's breath caught as Riku entered, followed by Sora himself. They both seemed different, but were undeniably them. Riku clothes and way of moving were the same as the master that Sora had seen in his dream earlier. The Sora that followed him was wearing a brown blouse under what looked like a blue tunic, brown pants, and brown boots. He also lacked the easygoing manner that Sora had in abundance.
"I already made the mistake of trusting them once. I am not going to make that mistake again," said Riku as he sat in one of the worn chairs.
The Sora that matched him sat in the other chair and turned it to sit facing Riku. "First of all, you never trusted them. I wanted you to-"
"It was still my decision. I chose poorly," Riku stared straight into Sora's eyes, silently refusing to share the blame.
Sora rolled his eyes and released an exasperated sigh. Clearly, this was not the first time they had this discussion. "Anyway, it will just be Akane there. He's…not like Orethan, we can talk to him. Even if he tries to fight, it will be him against both of us. He's an incredible fighter, but no one can beat both of us together."
I'm not telling him something. What would I keep from Riku? I can tell him anything.
Riku's eyes shifted slightly as he looked into Sora's, and something seemed to dim in their aqua depths. "I just, have a bad feeling about this. I don't trust him." His voice was softer than it had been a moment ago.
He knows. He has always been able to tell when I'm trying to keep something from him.
"Just trust me then. Akane seemed completely sincere when he contacted me about this. Everything will work out fine, you'll see." His smile was broad, but his eyes did not light up the way they should have.
Riku lowered and turned his head, to the Sora sitting across from him, it looked like he was just thinking hard. The Sora who was watching could see Riku's face. He certainly was thinking, but there was more moisture in his eyes then there should be, and his expression looked empty.
He noticed that too. He's afraid to ask, afraid to follow his heart. He always has been.
Riku took a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them, the unshed tears had stilled and he looked resigned. He met his Sora's eyes again, "I trust you. Where do we meet?"
The Sora sitting beside him looked both relieved and anxious, but his voice remained positive and confident when he answered, "At The Four Corners."
What was I thinking? What did I do?
Riku nodded, obviously he knew of this place already. "Maybe we should tell master McKiye, in case we don't come back. Someone should know what happened."
"Riku," said Sora in a stymieing tone. "Of course we're going to come back, besides master McKiye will meddle, he always does."
"So do you," Riku responded in an unclear tone, "But alright, we'll keep it just between us. I would prefer this to affect the worlds as little as possible anyway."
"Alright, then I'll meet you there as well." The other Sora stood and began walking towards the door, "And try not to worry about me too much. I can take care of myself."
"Sora?" said Riku softly just as his friend reached the door, causing him to pause on his way out. "I've always considered myself very fortunate…to have you as a friend. Please…just, be careful, alright?"
Sora was not sure if his past self understood a deeper meaning to those words or if the unusual show of emotion in the other boy's face and voice simply caught him off guard, but he could see the conflict in his own eyes. He would bet good munny that Riku saw it too. After a moment where he seemed unable to find words, the Sora of the past, whom now had extra moisture in his eyes, smiled weakly, nodded once, and left the room, closing the door behind him.
Sora found himself standing in the too-white room again, staring at the drawing that he still clutched in his hands. He thought he could still hear the unsteady breathing of someone unmistakably crying silently to himself. Someone Sora thought would never cry… Let alone because of something that he had done.
"Sora, Are you alright?" Sora turned his head and found Vincent watching him with a concerned expression.
"I'm alright. I think…I just remembered some stuff, from a long time ago." Sora rolled up the sketch and put it in one of his oversized pockets. "Vincent, have you ever done something that you thought was the right thing at the time, but it ended up hurting someone very important to you?"
"Yes, unfortunately, I have," answered the crimson-eyed man with a steady voice.
"How do I make everything right?" asked Sora.
"Sometimes you simply can't," Vincent replied calmly. "Rarely can such things be mended by one person alone. Just learn from it, and do not make the same mistake again."
Sora looked nervous, "If I remember now, then do you think Riku does too?"
"Most likely."
Sora's shoulders drooped slightly, "I hope he'll forgive me."
"I don't think you need to worry about that," Vincent answered knowingly. "Riku understands what it means to make difficult decisions, and to make wrong ones… especially when meaning well. I doubt he would be able to stay angry at you for long in any case."
Sora turned to the door with a determined expression, "Well, we have to save Riku before we can do anything about it, right? So lets go, maybe The King is already here."
They entered the computer room of the mansion, Merlin's books and devices were still occupying most of the room.
"Sora!" cried the unmistakable voice of King Mickey as he entered.
"Your majesty!" Goofy and Donald simultaneously exclaimed.
King Mickey and Merlin were standing together near the apparatus that had brought them into The World That Never Was. "We've been expecting you," said Merlin conversationally.
"Riku told me to come here," Sora said as he looked down at the tiny king. "It was in a dream, sort of. The Master of the Keyblades was there too. Do you have any idea what we need to do?"
"We have to follow the Keyblade Master," answered Mickey. "He talked to me too. He definitely has a plan, but he wouldn't tell me everything. Riku appeared for only a moment, but he seemed sad, and he said he was sorry."
"Did he say what he was sorry for?" Sora wore a concerned expression. King Mickey shook his head sadly. Donald and Goofy exchanged worried looks.
Merlin smiled at the lot, "you needn't worry so. What will happen, will happen. It sounds as though Riku has everything under control, now all you need to do is trust him. Everything will work out fine, you'll see."
"You really think so?" Sora turned hopeful eyes to the old wizard.
"You forget; I happen to be the world's most powerful wizard. I know everything."
"Uh, uh, uh…everything, Merlin?" asked the supercilious voice of Archimedes, as the brown owl climbed out of his small round house and then flew down to land and perch on Merlin's crooked hat.
"Well, maybe not everything, I admit I do not know what Riku has in mind," said the old wizard with a reproachful glance up at Archimedes before returning his attention to Sora. "However, I do know that the boy has strength in him, and if he has gained the knowledge of the Master of the Keyblades, then the worlds are in very capable hands."
Sora nodded slowly. He did not like the idea of following a plan that might include Riku's demise or the imprisonment of Xeahanort in his heart forever, but it seemed to come down to whether or not he trusted Riku. He did, without a doubt, so he would follow. "Alright, then let's go."
The Gulwings opened the portal, and soon Sora, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Vincent found themselves in a familiar dark alley.
The large skyscraper in the centre of the square caused two memories to rush to the surface when Sora looked at it. One he remembered clearly, running up the side of the building, Keyblade in hand, Xemnas jumping off the top and then duelling as they met in the air.
The second, he could not place. He was again running up the side of the building, this time wielding two Keyblades. Riku was standing on the top of the building before diving off, smoothly catching the Keyblade that Sora threw at him, and falling past him gracefully before they both landed and battled the surrounding heartless.
Blinking past these strange memories, Sora saw the castle that hovered over the city. It looked much as it did before, but had an eerie green light glowing near the top that was the unmistakable sign of Maleficent's presence. The castle, as well as the city, also seemed darker somehow.
The group of heroes did not make it very far before heartless starting pouring out everywhere. Sora summoned The Watcher, and then felt his magic gather around him, as well as an energy that felt distinctly like Goofy and one that felt like Donald. His clothes took on a golden yellow hue, and Oblivion appeared in his other hand. Sora was glad that he had decided to wear his 'fairy clothes' as Riku called them (much to his dismay), while he fought with the two Keyblades. King Mickey fought with his own Keyblade and Vincent used a clawed gauntlet that looked somewhat familiar to Sora, and a strange gun to impressive results.
The small group of heroes battled their way through throng after throng of heartless, slowly working their way to the castle, where a greater confrontation no doubt awaited them.