The ground seemed to be spinning madly underneath Sora. He thought he was still running, but his whole body was numb, and he really couldn't tell if he was even on his feet anymore. Somewhere behind him, someone was screaming and crying, or maybe that was him screaming, he didn't know. His mind was certainly screaming, trying to insist that no, that didn't happen, that couldn't have happened, because if it had, that meant Riku was dead, and Riku couldn't be dead.

Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Sora tore his eyes away from the spot where Riku had disappeared and looked up to see Goofy standing above him. He still couldn't seem to make the rest of his body move, though, and his gaze kept being pulled back to that place again, the scene replaying in his head over and over. That awful, horrifying moment that would haunt his memories forever.

But Riku couldn't be dead. Could he? Riku had been lost to Sora on more than one occasion, but he always came back. He would come back again this time, too, right? He had to. Somehow, someway, he had to come back. This couldn't be real. It had to be some kind of trick.

Finally, Sora came back to his senses enough to look around him and find everyone else. The King was standing off by himself, staring into the distance, with Donald not far behind him, watching. Behind Sora, Kairi had collapsed onto the ground and was sobbing into her knees. Lea was sitting close by, looking down at the dirt with a blank stare.

Kairi. He had to get to Kairi, she needed him. Sora rose shakily to his feet, aided by Goofy, and stumbled over to her. Taking a seat behind her with his legs on either side, he wrapped his arms tightly around her stomach and laid his head on her back. Her whole body was convulsing with sobs, and before Sora knew it, tears were running down his face, too.

"Riku!" he whimpered. "Why, why?"

Memories began to play like a movie in his mind. The first time that he and Riku had discovered the secret place on the play island, and had carved their names into the stone walls. Sparring matches in the sand with their little wooden swords, which Riku mostly won, long before they had a clue they would one day both be fighting with real weapons. The day that Riku had started school, and Sora had cried because he wasn't old enough yet and had to wait all day to play with his best friend. Meeting Kairi for the first time, and all the time that he and Riku had spent trying to play detective and figure out where she had come from. Dinners at Kairi's house, sleepovers at Sora's house, and walks home from school with stops at the park to swing and slide. The silly raft that the three of them had built, thinking they were going to explore other worlds. The first time that he had actually had to fight Riku, and the moment that he had finally found him again after searching dozens of worlds and fearing that he had lost him forever.

Now he really had lost him forever, and Sora didn't know how he was supposed to go on from here. Riku had always been there, for as long as he could remember, so he really couldn't imagine what a life without him was supposed to look like. He felt like there was a hole in his heart, an emptiness where Riku was meant to be.

Sora didn't know how much time passed while they all sat in shock. Eventually, Mickey broke the silence, though he still didn't turn around.

"I failed him," he said softly. "He was trusting me to make it right, and I failed him."

Raising his head, Sora wiped his face with his arm and looked at the King with a frown. "It's not your fault," he countered. "You just did what you thought was best. We all did."

"We all failed him," Donald put in. "We should have paid more attention, and seen this coming."

Sora's chin dropped to his chest in shame. It was true, if they had been paying more attention to exactly what Maleficent had said, maybe this wouldn't have happened. Maybe Riku would still be alive.

Just then, the sound of running footsteps caught their attention, and they all jerked their heads around to see Leon, Aerith, and Yuffie approaching. The three of them slowed and looked around the scene in front of them, seeming to try to piece together what was going on.

After a moment Aerith gasped. "Oh, no!" she breathed. "Don't tell me..."

"When you didn't return right away, we were afraid something had gone wrong," Leon explained. "What happened?"

"Riku, is he...?" Aerith asked softly.

"He's gone," Mickey finished. "Maleficent took the data, and then she killed him."

Yuffie clasped her hands over her mouth, and Leon shook his head sadly, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. "I'm sorry we weren't here," he said. "We should have come with you."

"There's nothin' you coulda done," Goofy replied. "It all happened too fast."

"Why would she take him with her, though?" Lea broke in. "I mean, could this just be some kind of trick? If he's really dead, why not leave him behind?"

"I don't think it was a trick, Lea," Mickey answered quietly. "She probably just didn't want to let us have closure by giving him a proper burial."

Kairi had finally calmed a few minutes earlier, but now she started shaking again. Shutting his eyes, Sora squeezed her even tighter than before. As he held her, his grief began to turn to anger, bubbling deep inside but growing bigger and stronger by the second. Finally he could stand it no longer, and he jumped to his feet, his fists clenched by his sides.

"We're sitting around blaming ourselves, but the only real culprit here is Maleficent," he shouted. "She's the one who killed him. She has to pay."

Lea stood, also. "You're right. We've gotta find her."

"Revenge is a dangerous path to take," Aerith cautioned. "Maybe you should give yourselves a little more time."

"We can't," Mickey shook his head. "Dangerous or not, we've got to act now. Maleficent has the data, and I'd bet she's already trying to use it. She needs to be stopped."

Leon nodded. "Okay. Let's head back to Merlin's house and see if Cid has been able to dig anything up yet."

Leaning over, Sora placed his hand gently on Kairi's back. She looked up, her eyes all puffy and red, and took his offered hand. He pulled her to her feet, and she leaned on him for support as they all began to make their way back to town.