KHA: This chappie was supposed to come yesterday but I had to force Akyra to ramble at the end.
Akyra: Say, are we having that party?
KHA: What party? O.o
Everyone: (partying)
KHA: PARTY! Hey... Who stole the sugar? O.o
Roxas: (whistles)
KHA: O.O GET HIM! (chases Roxas)
Roxas: (screams like a sissy)
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or COM. Or Roxas who is currently running for his life. GET BACK HERE OR SUFFER MY WRATH OF DOOM!
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"The island's breaking up!" Sora screeched.
The storm had become more violent than ever and he was having a pretty hard time keeping his balance amidst the gusting winds. The sun had quickly faded and was replaced by a dark orb while the ocean's waves crashed unmercifully against the beach. Sora was clinging on to a very shaky palm tree, afraid to be thrown in the ocean by the gusting winds. As he scanned the area for a way to escape, he saw his shadow rise from the ground, just as it did on that fateful night.
Darkside was back.
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"I have to keep her safe…" Sora told himself after having defeated Darkside. The storm had wrecked the islands so much that only a small platform with a couple of broken pieces of wood was all that was left of it. But he had no time to worry about his home. He had to protect Naminé.
"Naminé! Can you hear me?" he called out. Although he didn't get an answer to his call, he DID spot someone's figure in the distance.
"Naminé…" he sighed with relief as he ran towards the girl. Hearing Sora's footsteps, the blonde-haired girl turned around to face him, wearing a smile as bright as her white dress.
"Sora...you came for me," she said gratefully, looking into his sky blue eyes.
"Naminé… I…" he stuttered.
He couldn't seem to find the words to tell her. She looked very… different. Didn't she have pinkish purple hair? And purple gloves? And a yellow halter?
"What is it, Sora?" she asked playfully.
"N-nothing…" he said, "I just imagined you with dark pink hair, that's all…"
"Pink hair?" she giggled, "That's silly!"
Sora laughed.
"Yeah, but it doesn't matter… Naminé… finally… I've been through so much just to see you."
"I could say the same," she answered, her smile fading, "But I messed up. I really wanted to see you... but not like this."
"Not like what?" Sora asked gently, his voice full of concern.
"I was alone for so long," she explained, hanging her head in shame, "I couldn't bear it anymore... So I beckoned your heart to lead you here. And I'm so glad you found me. But your heart, I had to —"
"No, it's okay. I promised I'd protect you. That's why I came," Sora interrupted.
"Thank you," she said smiling. But her smile suddenly fell and she wore a very worried look on her face, "Oh, Sora, forgive me... I'm not supposed to be in this picture."
"She's right."
It felt so bizarre. Sora was positive that Naminé had spoken. Yet her lips didn't move and her voice came from another direction. Sora whirled around and, once he laid eyes on the new figure, he gasped. A second Naminé was strolling down the sandy platform, trapping Sora between both identical girls. Well… identical in a way. The second and newer Naminé seemed more real…
"Naminé!" he cried, quickly shifting his gaze between both girls.
"That's not me," the second Naminé said sternly, "I'm not in your heart. I'm not in anyone's heart. I never have been."
"What... What are you saying, Naminé? What's gotten into you?" he stammered, backing away from them, "We were inseparable! But then I lost you... I came here so I'd never lose you again!"
"Was it really me you came for?" the second Naminé asked.
"Of course!" he cried, rummaging in his pocket, determined to find what he was looking for. In a matter of seconds, Sora pulled out the prize. It was her star-shaped good luck charm, shining brightly from its silver shine.
"Look! You gave me this, didn't you? I may have forgotten things in this castle, but not you!" he said.
"You still have it! My good luck charm..." the first Naminé sighed happily.
"No, Sora! Don't believe me!" the second Naminé intervened.
"What am I supposed to do…?" Sora moaned, gazing down at the charm. His head was swimming in confusion as he looked back and forth from Naminé to Naminé.
"Think, Sora. Think of those who are most special to you!" Naminé cried, "See that faint glimmer way in the back of your heart? That's a piece of your memory, Sora. Call out to it! No matter how far away the light gets, your heart's voice will always reach it."
"But I already know who's most special to me," Sora argued, "It's you, Na —"
The area seemed a little brighter than it did before. In fact, it seemed a LOT brighter. Both girls, the remains of the island, everything… was being engulfed in a white light, leaving him alone in the area. He blinked. Why was there so much light? And why was Naminé's charm changing before his eyes? But most importantly, why did he suddenly have two charms? The first charm seemed to be a flower-shaped keychain with a little smiling face on one of its arms. The other was a simple, golden, hollow star, which was attached to a chain with a clasp, as if it were a necklace. Sora looked up. Both girls were gone. But other girls replaced them. One girl was smiling down on him, her short red hair fluttering in the wind. A white tank top, a bright purple skirt and a layer of necklaces replaced her white dress. She looked so familiar…
But the other one…
She looked as if she were hiding, not daring to reveal her face. Sora squinted but still wasn't able to see her face. All he could make out of her was her very weird hair color. It was pinkish purple…
"Huh?" Sora asked, snapping out of his dream-like state. The light had faded and he was back on the islands.
"Who... Who were they? I can't remember them, but…" he muttered, looking down at his possessions. He still held the flower-shaped charm but the star-shaped necklace had vanished. What was going on? Maybe Naminé could explain this to him… That's when he realized something was missing…
"Wait, what about Naminé? Where did she go?" he asked himself. Without a moment to lose, he darted off towards the exit, hoping to find Naminé in the castle.
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"This castle is so weird… Who would have guessed that the hallways in the basement and the upper levels looked EXACTLY the same?" Akyra remarked, twirling around to admire the view.
The basement hallways were Riku travelled through looked identical to the hallways Akyra had travelled through with Sora. They had the same columns, the same pearly-whiteness as well as identical marble flooring.
"You're kidding me?" Riku asked as Akyra shook her head, "They really look the same?"
"Yup! Which is totally weird since the black robed people seem to be obsessed with… erm… darkness," she replied.
As she said this, Riku looked away. Obsessed with darkness… yeah, that's exactly how he used to be. Obsessed with power, obsessed with greed… and obsessed with eliminating his friends. Those who stuck up for him through everything…
"No, Riku, that's… that's not what I meant," she pleaded.
"Don't worry about it," he answered, trying hard to smile, "It's not important…"
"But… if you don't mind me asking…" she began, "Can you explain why you attacked Sora and I on the upper floors?" Riku looked up at her in shock.
"No! I never came after you two! This is the first time I see you since we closed the huge door together!" he argued.
"Then… who was that?"
Riku put his finger to his cheek, deep in thought. He could swear he never went near Sora. Was it someone disguised as him? Or was it… That's it! It must be him!
"My replica!" he answered, "Vexen made a replica of me! An evil one for that matter…"
"So… There's another you running around the castle?" she asked.
Riku nodded. He seemed to know what he was talking about. Besides he has been super friendly these past few minutes. He just couldn't be that messed up replica…
"Okay, I believe you!" she said, grinning widely.
They continued to pace through the corridor in silence. You know, this kind of reminded Akyra of how quiet they used to get when they were walking towards a door to open a new world card… No, no, no! She wasn't going to think about this. But she had to break the tension somehow…
"So…" she began, "how did you end up here?"
"I don't know… I just woke up in here. I've been alone for so long, searching for the King, fighting off Ansem -"
"Ha ha! You're such a kidder!" Akyra chuckled, her smile quickly fading after a couple of seconds, "We defeated Ansem, r-right?"
"Yes, you did. But his shadow is still present in my heart. He keeps trying to drag me down… back into darkness…" he sighed.
"Wow…" Akyra said, surprised at how much Riku had to go through, "I- I'm sorry…"
"Don't be. I know how to fight him off now! All this time I've been pushing the darkness away but… I'm not supposed to. If I can use both the light and dark without being afraid, I can get rid of him. No, don't worry! I won't sink back into darkness again," he added once he noticed Akyra making a face at him.
"You shouldn't. You'll only end up hurting us…" she said.
"I know," he sighed, "Trust me I – Hey! Quit procrastinating!"
"W–What?" she asked, stunned by his sudden action.
"I told you my story and it's only fair you tell me yours! Why aren't you with Sora when you're supposed to be protecting him? And what is that red mark on your cheek? Tell me your story, Akyra."
Akyra frowned. He was asking her to relive the torment she went through. Was she really able to tell him everything without breaking into tears? There was only one way to find out.
"You want to know my story?" she asked, "Alright, here it is…"
Riku listened intently as Akyra drew a deep breath.
"After shutting the big door, we walked for eons and finally found this castle. I knew there was something strange about it but we had nowhere else to go. So, we ended up going into world cards of worlds we had supposedly already visited. But… we… we couldn't remember them at all. It made no sense. If we visited them before, we'd surely remember them, right? Anyways, one of those black robed people told us that "To find is to lose and to lose is to find". He was talking about our memories. The higher we went into the castle, the more we would lose. But… if we lost all those memories, we'd find something else…"
"You-you lost your memories?" Riku gasped.
"Yes. But peeling away the supposedly worthless memories would reveal something we longed for. That's when this whole mess started…"
She hung her head in sadness, not wanting to continue. But, for Riku's sake, she felt she had to.
"We forgot most of our memories. But something strange happened. Sora… began remembering things. He remembered a girl. He says her name is Naminé and she used to live on the islands with us before she moved away. According to him, we used to play together all the time and one night, he made a promise to her that he'll always protect her."
"Naminé?" Riku asked in confusion, "I don't remember a girl named Naminé living with us."
"Exactly! Neither did I! I forgot things but I never remembered. So, the more Sora rambled about Naminé, the angrier I got. I mean, if she was so important, how come I wasn't able to remember her? Anyways, with time, Sora became… obsessed over her. And the more he rambled, the more I ranted. I made sure he knew what I thought about Naminé. And trust me, Riku, they weren't pretty thoughts. I guess… I guess we both got on each other's nerves. Then, at some point, Sora just snapped. It was partly my fault since I was bashing Naminé but… it was insane. He punched me. Right at my cheek. And I punched him back."
Riku stared at her wide-eyed. She laughed. At least he was enjoying the story, right?
"After that, he sent me away, never wanting to see my face again. The only chance I had to fix things, I went after him and he… he… he…"
A tear welled up in her eye. She didn't think she could continue any longer.
"He said to me that he wanted to forget about me more than anything. Without me being by his side, I'm sure he'll end up forgetting about me as he climbs higher up the castle. Anyways, I ended up on Destiny Islands, where Zexion found it amusing to play stupid mind games with me… And, I guess that's where I met up with you."
As she finished, Riku dug into his pocket, pulled out a tissue and handed it to her. She took it without hesitation and brought it to her eyes, drenching it with tears. Riku looked at her sympathetically. He knew Akyra never cried that easily. Maybe this stung her more than anything else could have.
"Hey, cheer up! Where is that smiling Akyra I used know?" he asked her. She smiled uneasily.
"That Akyra's gone. She got locked outside the castle," she said, "But I'd love to see her again…"
"Then bring her back!" he argued.
"It's not that easy you know."
"Then make it easy. I know you can. All you have to do is know that you can do great things."
"You're starting to sound like Zexion now," she chuckled, "It's kinda scary."
"You know what I mean! I saw you fight darkness all by yourself. You're going to tell me that's not great?"
"Hmm… I'll consider it…" she said playfully.
"See? She's already coming back," he said. She laughed. You know, maybe she really can change things on her own. Maybe she even save Sora before it's too late. All right, that's going overboard. But maybe she really can!
"So, going back to your rambling…"
"Hey!" she pouted.
"Ha ha! Anyways, are you serious? Did you really lose most of your memories?"
It was hard, but she managed to nod. What if she forgot something important and he found out? Then what would happen?
"There has to be something you remember!" he pleaded.
"Yeah," she answered, "I remember everything that happened in this castle. I remember fighting off Ansem and closing the door on you and the King. Oh yeah! And I remember our home was called Destiny Islands and it looks like a huge beach. And… that's about it… I guess…"
"WHAT?" Riku gasped, causing Akyra to almost topple over in surprise, "That's it? You don't remember the worlds you visited? The adventures we had among them?"
"Nope. They don't ring a bell…" she sighed.
"You're really serious…" he answered. He can just tell she was serious. She didn't remember anything.
"How about Tidus, Selphie and Wakka? Our friends from the islands?"
"N-No…" she muttered softly yet sadly. Riku sighed. She has to remember this one last person.
"What about Kairi? Do you remember her?" he asked hopefully. Akyra looked away, thinking for a second. She shook her head, leaving Riku in disbelief.
"Well then…" he said sternly, snapping Akyra out of her saddened state, "I guess now we have to find the King, fight off Ansem AND find your memories."
"R-Really?" she asked with a grin.
"Of course," he replied.
"YEAH!" she squealed, skipping around in circles. You know, for a moment, she really thought Riku wouldn't understand. Now she was positive he wasn't that weirdo replica who continuously fights with Sora. So, they began marching down the hallway towards the next flight of stairs, Akyra smiling brightly.
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KHA: Alright, in case anybody couldn't guess, the star necklace that Sora was holding is the necklace Akyra wears. It vanished because, well, it's currently around her neck. XD And it really won't have any more significance until my KH2 ficcy.
Akyra: You have to make me ramble, don't you?
KHA: Eh... It keeps the drama.
Riku Fangirls: DON'T YOU DARE GET ANY IDEAS! RIKU'S OURS!
KHA: O.O (hides under bed)
