When Raphael emerged onto the familiar beach on the Dark Meridian, he saw Jack, Mist and Rayne spring up from the sand where they had been sitting. To his dismay, he didn't see Jason.
"Jason isn't here?" He asked, not wanting to bring disappointment to them with a brutal answer. The three Rikkisons stopped a few metres in front of him, and Rayne asked, "What happened?"
Raphael dismissed his Portal and told them what had happened. He had thought that he would be greeted with skepticism when he told them about how Light was simply driven away without any explanation, but the three Rikkisons just looked at each other grimly.
"So what went on at your end?" Raphael asked. The three of them looked at each other, and Jack said, "Let's wait for Jason first. I don't want to have to repeat myself."
Raphael looked at Jack for a moment, then nodded. He went further inland to where trees started to grow and sat on the exposed roots of one. Something had happened on their little trip as well, and they wanted to discuss it with Jason first. Maybe to decide how much to tell Raphael. They didn't seem surprised at Raphael's news that he had driven off a Divine Being either. So who would have been able to drive off a Divine Being, but do it in a way that made Jack want to keep it quiet. He wanted to discuss what had gone on with Jason, meaning he didn't know what to do. He was afraid. And what could scare him more, than the idea of his precious daughter being put in danger.
Rayne had wandered off across the beach and was kicking the grainy sand morosely as she walked. Raphael followed her and walked beside her for a bit. Partly it was because he didn't want to scare her off by suddenly asking the questions, but it was mostly because he didn't know how to start.
Luckily, he didn't have to because Rayne was the one who broke the silence. "Can you tell me exactly what happened in the Keyblade Graveyard right before we left?"
Raphael was confused, but didn't question her. "Starting from when?" He asked,recalling the events that had taken place that day.
"From when you, Jason and Marek got to where I was." Rayne said. She sat down on the wet sand and watched the small waves lap at her feet.
Raphael sat down with her and started talking. Rayne listened attentively. He hadn't really thought about it much. He hadn't had time to think about the fantastical events that had occurred in that graveyard of regret and divine intrigue. He could still remember the feeling of the endless wind that blew brittle earth into his eyes, and the lethargic flow of the whole world. As he recounted what had happened, it was like he was back in Rayne's Valley, surrounded by Divine Beings on all sides, floundering in the middle of their awe inspiring presence. When Raphael had finished speaking, he looked at Rayne. She hadn't budged from her original position, and still seemed to be staring out into the sea.
"I lost control." Rayne said softly. "Pierce's Remnant was just there, and I leapt in. Mom and dad were about to be killed, and I just…" She trailed off, and Raphael felt awkward, and couldn't look at Rayne's helm. It would have been even harder if she had an actual face.
"Yeah, so did I." Raphael said, "I knew what I was doing, but it was like I just didn't care." His brow furrowed as he remembered what it was like to plunge his Keyblade into Light's body. The feeling of chasing Light out of its vessel was disturbingly satisfying, like plunging his Keyblade into a human body and seeing blood run of the wound. The memories of the countless Heartless he had slain rose to his mind, and he remembered the few missions where he had to kill a human. That look in their eyes as they rolled up into their heads had always been the same. Could Light have felt the same way?
Raphael had been silent for a while, but he merely said "At least you can say you did it to protect your family. For me, I just did it blindly. Even when I wasn't possessed I still wasn't thinking."
"Don't blame yourself." Rayne said. "Seeing Pierce like that, it triggered my rage, but after that, my rage just grew out of hand." She held up her own and looked at it.
"It wasn't either of our faults." Raphael said thoughtfully, trying to banish the morbid thoughts of the people he had killed from his mind. "And we can't be afraid of whatever it was." He looked at Rayne and continued, "If we could control whatever's inside us, we could kill all the Divine Beings. This completely evens the playing field."
Rayne didn't answer for a bit. When she spoke it was tentatively, as if she was scared to voice her thoughts. "Light was destroyed before." Raphael's eyes widened as Rayne continued. "It was destroyed along with time itself. There would have been huge consequences if real gods hadn't come and fixed it."
"Why don't we ask these gods for help?" Raphael asked, "Where do they live?"
Rayne laughed, and if it had happened at any other time, Raphael would have been a little annoyed. Now, he was just glad that Rayne didn't seem to be depressed. "You do know Jason didn't tell me anything about this, right?"
Rayne nodded. "Yeah. Sorry about that. To be honest, I wasn't there. I heard it from my brother who was."
Raphael tried to remember what Pierce's Remnant looked like, but couldn't recall it. Strange that he couldn't use Riku's memories to help. "Pierce was there?"
"Yeah." Rayne replied. "He and Sora were the only ones who witnessed it." She turned to look at Raphael. "And, no. They come when they want to. We can't rely on them for help."
"Some gods." Raphael laughed, lying down on the sand and staring up at the black sky.
"They only come if it's absolutely necessary," Rayne said, "So it's a good sign if they still haven't shown up."
"They think we can fix this mess on our own?" Raphael said. "If they do, then they can't be that wise."
"Sometimes we put so much emphasis on humans believing in gods," Rayne said, "That we don't even consider gods believing in us humans." She stopped to gather her thoughts and concluded, "And maybe our faith in them is simply so we're aware of their faith in us. And maybe that's all we need."
Raphael looked at her curiously, and she quickly went on, "Anyways, my point was that killing a Divine Being could have huge effects. This war against them doesn't have such a simple solution."
"Then what do you think we should do?" Raphael asked, slightly irked at her seeming apathy.
Rayne just shrugged, and Raphael instantly regretted his brusque tone. She was feeling as torn as he was about being possessed, and he wasn't even sure if the presence of parents helped.
"There's this world where I can do research." Raphael said in what he hoped was a reassuring voice. "I can look some things up, find out how to control whatever's in us."
"It's the X-Blade, isn't it." Rayne said, "Don't tell me you didn't know."
"I suspected," Raphael said after a pause, "But I didn't want to tell you until I was sure."
"Sure." Rayne said, "You were there when the X-Blade came to this Realm. I was about to be taken over by the X-Blade because of Xehanort and Vanitas, and you came over and absorbed the Darkness of the X-Blade. I was left with the Light."
Raphael nodded. "It makes sense when you say it like that, but I just wasn't sure. Before I thought there were the things that were correct and things that weren't, but not I'm just not sure. I don't know if my thoughts are dictated by the X-Blade or myself. I just don't know." As he said this, the image of Vanitas gone insane rose to his mind. Would he turn into something like that, unsure whether his thoughts, his most cardinal possession, had been snatched away from him.
"I guess that goes for both of us." Rayne said more calmly. "I don't know why mom and dad are hiding things from me."
Raphael thought and replied, "Their Hearts are the Hearts of them when they were twenty or so. They probably forgot how to deal with it or think rationally like the parents you're used to."
Rayne thought for a bit, then nodded. "That makes sense." She said. They sat on the beach a while longer, then she got up and went back.
Raphael looked at her walk away, but didn't follow her. He thought about what she had said regarding belief of gods in humans. There were plenty of religions out there, but none of them preached mutual belief. It was an interesting idea. He waited for Riku to put in a comment there, but he didn't say anything. Was he alright?
Raphael dove down into his Heart to look. When he emerged into it, he found that Riku was not. His body floated limply in the air, and around him a malignant force of Darkness swirled around him. It was the Darkness he had beaten back with Riku before in the Keyblade Graveyard, and it was as hateful and as full of wrath as it had been the day Raphael had absorbed it.
He quickly summoned Heaven's Clarity and ran at it. Like before, slashing at it proved futile, and it just swirled around him malevolently. Why wasn't it attacking him?
He had used this Darkness against Light. Did it acknowledge him as its Master because of that? He willed it to gather into one place, and it flickered but didn't stop moving. Instead, it lashed out at Riku, making him spin away and sent flying a few metres. Raphael felt the rage that always came with the Darkness rise in him, and he willed it to stop. He drew on the rage, like the times when he drew his Dark Lance so long ago. The Darkness kept on flowing, but it coagulated into a sphere that hovered at eye level.
"What are you?" He asked in a hushed voice.
"We must unite." The Darkness responded. It's voice was harsh and grated on Raphael's ears.
"What do you mean?" Raphael asked. The Darkness still swirled in its sphere form, but it retained the shape of a sphere. Because of that, it seemed to be a dark solid, rather than a vortex of untamed Darkness.
"The two of us must come together." The Darkness responded. Raphael felt like he was back in the Keyblade Graveyard, yelling at the Remnants, trying to get answers. He turned to Riku, and ran over to him, appalled that he had forgotten about his friend.
Riku was still floating where he was, and Raphael shook him. Riku didn't respond, and he didn't have a pulse. Raphael felt his own wrist and found he couldn't find his own pulse. One of the many strange things about this place. He remembered when he had been drifting in the Lanes Between and had been suddenly revitalized by a surge of Darkness.
He wanted someone to reassure him that what he was doing was right, but that had always been Riku. Taking a deep breath, and hoping he didn't kill Riku in the process, he transferred his own Darkness into Riku.
He immediately jackknifed in the air and shot out a bolt of Dark Thundaga into the air. He fell onto the platform and whirled to his feet, looking around wildly. When he saw Raphael, he relaxed and said, "Was that you?"
"If you mean transferred Darkness to you, then yes." Raphael said, his own heart racing after Riku's sudden display. "If you mean caused you to leap into the air and almost electrocute me, then no, that was all you."
"What happened?" Riku asked, looking around him. "Where did the Darkness go?"
"Here. What happened to you?" Raphael asked, as he brought the orb of Darkness closer to him.
"I was just minding my own business as you were getting killed, and then when you used that," Riku said, pointing towards the ball of Darkness, "It completely overwhelmed me. I think I heard the voice you were hearing. It kept on wanting to unite with me."
Raphael nodded, "Weird. It said it wanted to unite with me."
Riku shrugged. "More importantly, can you use this stuff without nearly killing me in the process?"
Raphel tried to draw on that Darkness, but it kept on eluding him. It was like it shied away from his touch whenever he got near. Cocking his head, Riku said, "I think you need to give in to your emotions more. It's like how you used to draw on Darkness before you met me and Marek."
Raphael nodded, recalling the burning corrosion of his Heart every time he had used his Dark Lance. Still, this wasn't the time for experimentation, and after making sure Riku was alright, emerged back into the real world.
He was lying down on the sand, but when he opened his eyes he was staring into Rayne's helm. After jerking back up, he whirled to his feet and asked, "What was that for?"
"I was making sure you were alright." Rayne said. "We were calling you and you weren't responding."
Raphael looked over and saw that Jason had joined them, and was sitting in front of Mist and Jack. "How long has he been here?" Raphael asked.
"About ten minutes. He sent me to go walk over to you after he'd finished telling the story to granddad" Rayne said as she ran on back to the rest. That seemed about right. Enough time for Jack to ask Jason for advice while sending Rayne away so she didn't pick up on his anxiety. Jack was worrying too much. It was causing him to make bad decisions. Rayne should have stayed, since it was her problem as well as Jack's.
Jason's armour was still being repaired by Rayne, but he sat up straight on the sand, alert, as he listened to Jack. Raphael listened to their version of the story, noting without surprise that they left out the part with Rayne losing control.
Raphael decided not to ask furhter. It didn't matter since he already knew. "So are we going to this third world?" He asked.
"As soon as we can." Jack said, "Can you make the Portal now?"
Raphael let Riku take over. He summoned Way to Dawn to his hand, and pointed it at the air. A Portal of Darkness sprang from the ground and Riku went to the back of Raphael's mind. Jack walked through it closely followed by Mist and Rayne. Jason turned as if to say something to Raphael, but Raphael walked into the Portal of Darkness as well, leaving Jason to quickly follow.
When Raphael got out of the Portal, he was stunned. Did Riku make the Portal correctly? "Of course I did." Riku said, "Why wouldn't I."
Because maybe Raphael's desires manifested themselves in Riku and caused the Portal to go of course. He had wanted to come here after they dealt with the third crisis Vanitas had told them about. "You know this world?" Riku asked.
Raphael did. Apart from Radiant Garden, the city of Academia on the world of Gran Pulse had one of the largest libraries in existence. They stood on bricks that levitated off the ground and swung ninety degrees at a time to form catwalks between buildings that soared far up into the sky. Raphael hoped none of the Remnants had a fear for heights, because they were at least a kilometre up from the ground. He doubted if even the Remnants could take such a long fall.
The others were looking around in amazement, never having seen buildings half the size of these. Raphael cleared his throat and asked, "You guys can track Darkness and Light, right?"
"Yeah." Jack said, "Why?"
"So you don't need me to find the Divine Beings." Raphael continued, "which is good. There's something I need to check out here."
"What is it?" Mist asked, "What are you going to do?"
"Just a little research." Raphael shrugged. "I'll try and find you once I'm done. If stuff happens, we regroup at the Dark Meridian."
"I don't think we should split up like this." Jack said, "What if one of the Divine Beings choose to ambush you?"
"I can run away fine." Raphael smiled, "Besides, it's not as if I'm alone. Riku will take care of me."
"Take care of you?" Riku smirked, "I can do that. Just don't eat your words."
The Remnants looked at each other, and Raphael beckoned Rayne to lend an ear. "I told you, I need to research what's going on with us." He whispered. "I don't know for certain, so I need to look into it first."
"You still shouldn't go alone." Rayne said. "What if the Divine Beings come after you. We still don't know what happened to Marek."
"Marek can take care of himself." Raphael said, "and if I do have to run, I'll just slip into a Portal of Darkness quickly. Darkness won't have time to lay a finger on me." He lowered his voice and said, "Look, if we can work out what's happening to us, we can control it. We won't put any of our friends or family in danger again."
Rayne hesitated, but she nodded and went back to stand with her parents. Jason looked at Raphael for a bit, then walked off with the rest. Raphel watched the four of them summon their Riders, then fly straight towards the source of Darkness or whatever Divine Being was there. Raphael really wished he had one here. Could Riku take over and start flying?
"I'd rather not." Riku said, "Attaining armour means attuning your own presence with your Keyblade's. If I keep on taking over and using my own Keyblade and Armour, it will just confuse you even more than normal."
Yeah. Raphael was looking forward to getting armour. But there were some things he had to research first. He kept on running towards the grand library, eager yet apprehensive to see what he would find there.
So, hope you enjoyed that. I'm going to be away on this school trip until sunday, so I won't be updating until then. Sorry about that. I'll post as soon as I'm free.
Thanks, 'till next time.
