Ravendo's list.
It's been a bit since I did anything along this plot point. The FF7 Remake got this on my mind again. A few references might be considered spoilers for BBS or KH3, but I think that would be pushing it. Review if you can.
Reminder that I only own the story itself.
Taken
"Riku? Riku!" Mickey rushed over to the wild eyed youth. The sixteen-year-old was shaking and frantically looking around. "Riku, what's wrong?"
"Where is he?" Riku rushed past the king and began searching the small, rundown apartment they had been inhabiting. "I need-"
He stopped abruptly and closed his eyes tightly. "No, he wouldn't do that!"
Mickey studied him in deep concern. Riku was moving about the room in a very disjointed way. He seemed to be switching between determinedly seeking out something and holding himself back. As he shifted between these, he muttered to himself in rushed, nearly inaudible words.
The anthromorphic mouse had an extremely bad feeling about his. "Riku."
"Stop it!" The silvered teen abruptly shouted and Mickey knew it was not aimed toward him. The boy blindly threw out an arm and smashed the side of his hand against the wall. He then whirled around and paced back toward the door. "I have to…"
Mickey hurried to the door and blocked his path. He had no idea what he could do but there was no way he was letting Riku out in this condition. The small king could only think of one thing that would cause the youth to behave this erratically.
Speaking as calmly and authoratively as he could, Mickey tried to make Riku focus on him. "Riku, whatever Jenova is telling you isn't true. You know in your heart what is."
Riku shook his head violently. "She's… she's saying…"
Again Riku turned, this time stalking toward the desk near the window. "She won't shut up! Even now, this very moment, she's telling me-" He picked up the desk chair and hurtled it at the window. The glass only cracked but the frail wooden chair broke apart. "Shut up!"
Mickey's eyes widened with shock. Riku was turning violent and he had no idea how to stop him. He was much smaller than the teen, nowhere near equal in physical strength, and he refused to use magic on him unless absolutely necessary. "Riku, listen to me."
When Riku next looked at him, something feral had taken hold of his expression. His eyes were still wild, the aqua laced with a deeper color, swirling in random patters. "You don't care about me."
The teenager slowly and deliberately approached him. " You only care because I can use the Keyblade. I'm just a back up for Sora."
"No, Riku." Mickey had no idea if logic would work against the illogical, but he was going to try. "You and Sora are different, and one can't be traded for the other."
"He's the important one, the hero. And if he's the hero, I... must be the villain..." Riku's expression smoothed out. "I have no use for you and you will not use me."
"Riku. You don't believe that."
"That's what you do. Use and abandon..." Riku stopped before the king, not looking at him. "That's what you did to her."
"Her?"
"Aqua," said Riku softly. He clearly wasn't speaking to Mickey. "Mother knows where she is... Who's Aqua?"
Mickey's eyes widened. How in all the worlds did Jenova know anything about...? He wasn't even certain what had happened to her.
Eyes of swirling color fixed upon the small ruler. "The darkness took her and you've done nothing. Some friend you are." Riku's hand went for Mickey's throat. "The worlds are better off without you."
"Riku. I know you can hear me." This was completely different from when Xehanort was controlling Riku's body. "Take back control; don't listen to her!"
"I don't need you." Fingers tightened just slightly. "You can't help me."
"Not with this, Riku," said Mickey. "Use your heart and clear your mind."
"Mind-" Riku seemed to freeze. Suddenly he jerked away again, hand to his head and he spun around. "Nooo... Just stop... Stop!"
Abruptly, the air of the room changed. Though gasping, Riku's form straightened as if a weight had been lifted. When he faced Mickey, his eyes were clear. He looked exhausted. "She... She backed down... Why?"
"You were stronger than her."
Riku shook his head, placing his hand on his chest. "My mind wasn't...isn't..."
Mickey didn't like what Riku was implying. "The heart is stronger than the mind."
"Is it?" Riku questioned. Did the heart control the mind or the mind control the heart? That distinction changed everything. His heart had become much stronger, but the rest of him was a different deal. "My heart is my own, but my mind... if that isn't... I'll keep being taken over until it breaks. Isn't that what Sephiroth said? Broken repeatedly to be remolded into someone unrecognizable... I didn't believe him."
"But, as long as you don't lose heart-"
"That's not enough," said Riku firmly. "I thought it would be. After what I went through with Ansem... what I'm still dealing with... It's not enough. She overrode my awareness so easily... I'm not at all prepared."
"Then, we need Sephiroth." Mickey concluded with some reluctance. "He's the only one who can help you."
"Yeah." Riku was uneasy about it, but something in his heart knew this was the right path. While he didn't trust the man, he knew that his intentions were true. He wished he had believed that before now. "We need to find my brother."
