Hinyah~ Hikari here with the new chapter that Riku wrote.

Apologies to those who follow both my stories and were disappointed that neither were updated last week.

Here we are this week with an update for BOTH stories.

Well, now on to the story.

Chapter 12

Riku groaned before shifting his body. Beneath him was something soft and comfortable. Though… he didn't remember falling asleep on the bed. He had… what was it that he had done? Everything felt odd… something he couldn't quite put his finger on. But he knew that something was definitely different.

When he opened his eyes, he was met with the familiar blackness of the blindfold. That much was the same at least, but there was still that feeling he couldn't exactly explain. After a few more moments of just laying quietly, he realized that someone else was in the room with him.

"Namine…?"

Right away he placed a hand to his throat. With just hearing the sound of his voice he knew something was wrong… or really the lack of hearing his voice. The voice he was hearing was not his, not at all. But he did know the voice for sure. It was one that he would never be able to forget anytime soon.

His breathing began to pick up while his throat felt like it was swelling shut. He scrambled off the bed and onto his feet. He tore off the blindfold and stumbled his way over to the mirror even though he knew what he was going to see.

His gut tightened and twisted unpleasantly once he stood in front of it. It was as he expected, but that didn't diminish the feeling that was building up in his stomach. It was already rising up into his chest and his throat, making it harder to breath.

But he knew this was coming.

He knew this was going to happen.

His reflection was no longer his, but instead it belonged to another. It belonged to the man that tormented him for so long… Xehanort's Heartless… Ansem. He kept staring at the reflection despite his gut growing sick of what he was looking at. He wanted to pull away, but he couldn't get himself to move his body anymore.

'Riku…' Terra's voice echoed gently.

"Don't say anything… I don't want to hear it. Not one word."

He winced after that. Even his own thoughts were in… that voice. It was even more unsettling than he would have thought. His whole body shook and lose all the strength he had to support himself.

"Riku!"

This time the voice saying his name was Namine. She ran over to him and placed a hand gently on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

He opened his mouth but the gut feeling tightened. No words could leave him mouth for if they did it would leave a foul and bitter taste. The voice he now had was not what he wanted to hear when trying to tell Namine how he was. All he could do was shake his head, letting out a long sigh.

He felt her arms wrap around him. Now pulled closer to her, he could hear her increased breathing. For a Nobody she did know how to mimic and show emotions very well even if she couldn't feel the true emotional part of it.

"Please…" Riku finally managed to say. It was the only word he managed to get out before feeling like he was going to be sick if he tried to speak anymore.

"I'm so sorry Riku…" Namine murmured. "I should have done more to help. Maybe… maybe I really shouldn't have woken up those memories of yours…"

"Namine no, please stop thinking about that," Riku replied, trying his hardest not to grow anymore weary from hearing the voice. "This was bound to happen no matter what. This darkness… it was growing stronger every day and I knew I wouldn't be able to fight it forever."

Ira paused for a moment while he tried forming the rest of his thoughts into words. If he truly wanted Namine not to worry, he knew what he had to say to make it easier for her. "My memories… they have nothing to do with this. I do ask that you don't think of it that way. It is mainly only is coincidental timing. Nothing more."

"Are… are you sure?"

"Yes I am most positive."

"But… what do we tell DiZ? I mean he knows what you have been struggling with… but I'm not sure what he…?" Namine trailed off, leaving an obvious bit of uncertainty in her voice.

"I will figure something out, don't you worry," Riku-Ira placed a hand onto Namine's shoulder. This… may be a bit of a minor setback… but it doesn't change anything with what we have to do for Sora. Though… honestly I think…" this time it was Riku who trailed off.

He gave into some deep thoughts over the subject matter. While he thought on it, he was surprised how quiet Terra was being. He only could figure that Terra was actually trying not to butt in too much to the conversation, knowing Riku needed as much thinking and clear mindedness as he could get.

"I can't let Sora know what happened," Riku finally said. "Until I can figure out what to do with… this… I can't let him know. You'll help me keep it a secret, right Namine?"

Namine nodded slowly,hesitating a moment before answering. "Very well. But Riku, don't shut yourself away again. I feel you need all the help you can get with this."

"Thank you," Riku said, smiling slightly. Internally it made him feel sick again to know that he was smiling but with the appearance of Xehanort's Heartless. No matter how much help he would get, he knew that it was always going to be unsettling. "For now though I may just need some time to myself again. I promise I won't do anything stupid or anyhting else. I just need some space…"

"Okay, if you say so," Namine said as she stood up. "Just let me know if you need anything, okay?"

Riku nodded. "Okay."

Namine left the room shortly after, leaving Riku still sitting on the floor. He sat there for several minutes, unable to find the strength to sit or stand up right. The mirror was right there and he knew once he stood back up he would go back to looking and staring, letting that uneasiness form in his stomach again.

Finally he decided he couldn't take the lingering dreaded silence for much longer. "You're still being awfully quiet."

'I only wanted to step back and let you be because that is what you wished,' Terra replied in a tone that was much more like Aced's.

"Well you going to mock me or tell me off now? Tell me that this was all my fault and I deserved it?" Ira scoffed, his voice laced with sarcasm.

'While I will say you didn't deserve this, I will be blunt with you and say yes it was your fault. Your choice to fight against and continue to hate the darkness made it grow to overpower you. You know you cannot deny that. You as Riku were doing your best to find balance though the darkness still was stronger than you expected. But you as Ira… you refused balance and only wanted the light.'

Ira was ready to rebuttal but Terra spoke sooner.

'I know what you are going to say and want to say, but just stop Ira. Please think for once and see where this had lead you. Hating on it more and growing angry over it will only make it worse for you.'

Ira sighed heavily. As much as he wanted to argue, he knew that Terra was right. He had been right the entire time… but Ira just wanted to refuse all of it. His mind wanted to stay to what he use to know rather than what he had recently learned.

Standing up he began to pace around his room, trying to get any jitteriness out of his system. While doing so he tried his hardest to keep himself from looking at the mirror again. The last thing he wanted was to have another panic attack over what he saw.

"I'm sorry…" Ira finally said lowering his head. "I have been rather foolish,"

'Indeed you have. But this isn't over for you. Even with this you can still help out Sora and do what is necessary.'

Riku nodded. "Yeah I know… This is still hard for me though. But… thank you for being here. Honestly it really is nice to have someone to talk to about this. I really don't know what I would have done if I were alone on this."

'You're welcome Riku,' Terra replied.

"Now I guess all that is left is to try and explain to DiZ what happened… And to see if there is anything else he needs my help with watching Roxas in the simulation."

'All right if that is what you want to do right now. Just let me know if you want to talk about anything else on this matter for later.'

"Okay," Riku said, nodding again. "And thank you again."

I don't really have anything else to say besides please follow/favorite/review if you haven't already.

We enjoy feedback/theories, and for those of you who have questions, Riku will maybe answer them in a PM depending on spoilers or not.

Until next time, Nyah~