Disclaimer: not mine
Chapter 6
"Whew... Throwing that battle wore me out," Larxene leant against the table, wiping her brow theatrically.
"Really?" Axel snorted. "It looked to me like you just plain lost."
"How dare you! You don't appreciate the nuances of."
"An ungainly effort," a new voice finished, and Axel forced back a smirk as the scientist appeared among them.
"Huh?" she demanded, turning to see him. "Vexen!"
"How could you be humbled by someone of such limited significance? You shame the Organization."
Oh, this was going to be fun.
"Grr..."
"How can we help you, Vexen? It's not very often we see you topside," Axel asked to move things along.
"I came to lend you a hand. You obviously believe this Kairi has much potential, but I remain unconvinced she is truly worth such coddling. I think an experiment would show if she really is of any value to us."
"Hmph. Well, here we go again. It's just an excuse so you can carry out your little experiments. That's all," Larxene sneered.
"I'm a scientist. Experiments are what I do, yes," Vexen mocked her.
"Whatever. You can do what you want. But you know, I think testing Kairi is just a cover for testing your valet."
"Valet? He's the product of pure research."
"What he actually is, is a toy," Larxene dismissed the whole project.
"Hmph. You should just learn to be quiet," Vexen snapped back at her and she looked away, dismissing him. "Besides, he is not the only one we can use to test the girl. Young Roxas was sent here for that very purpose."
"Use the Replica first, it should unsettle her more. She may not make the connection to Sora through Roxas, especially with Naminé's work," Axel pointed out. "Anyway... Since you came all this way, you're gonna need this." He held out a card to Vexen. "A humble gift to my elder. I hope you use it to put on a very good show for us."
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"Stay back, pirates! Or this will be the last fight you pick!" a boy in green and actually flying yelled at them, holding a dagger in one hand.
"What's the big idea! We're not pirates! We're only here because... ...Umm... Why are we here, Kairi?" Donald asked her.
"Huh? How am I supposed to know, Donald? Goofy, what do you think?" She asked. But…she should know, shouldn't she? What was going on?
"Gawrsh, beats me," he shrugged.
"Okay, okay, I understand. Kairi, Donald, and Goofy, right? I guess if you were real pirates ...you wouldn't get lost on your own ship. Plus, you're dressed funny," the boy said, putting his dagger back in his belt.
"There you go again!"
"Wait, so if you thought we were pirates... This must be a pirate ship!" Kairi's eyes widened. Real pirates? They were in danger, she knew the stories from home about what pirates would do to prisoners…especially girls.
"That's right. You're trapped inside the Jolly Roger-ship of the ol' codfish, Captain Hook."
"Well, if we're trapped, that means you are, too!" Donald snapped.
"Me? Don't be silly. No one can capture Peter Pan! I'm just laying low until it's time to spring my plan." At least they finally knew his name.
"What plan is that?" Goofy asked him.
"The pirates kidnapped my friend Wendy. She's got to be somewhere on this ship," he explained as the fairy flew up to him. "I didn't expect there to be so many pirates on watch, though. I sent Tink to look for a way around... ...but all she found was you."
"I bet I know what Tink had in mind," Kairi told him, nervous, but she couldn't leave someone else behind in their clutches. "If we all make a big enough racket, we can distract the pirates!" in response, Tink flew around her, obviously that had been her plan.
"Gawrsh, you musta read her mind!"
"So how about it? Let's work together, at least until we get above deck," Kairi offered.
"Well, why not? Of course, I could save Wendy myself, if I wanted to. But you guys look like you'd be stuck without me." With that he flew away.
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Kairi froze as she saw the figure up ahead, waiting for them, her eyes widening. How… she smiled in relief. "You're... Riku?! What are YOU doing here?" He'd been locked behind the Door, hadn't he?
"Not happy to see me? Lemme know if I'm getting in the way-ya know, of something that's more important," he sneered, and she took a half step back in shock.
"What? I didn't mean that..." she shook her head.
"Hmph. Spare the excuses. I bet that you had all but forgotten about me."
"Are you crazy Riku? I thought I'd never see you again, that you were trapped. I'm so glad you got free," she told him. "I was looking for a way to get you out."
"But you're not anymore, right? Now it's only Naminé that you're looking for. You don't care about me. Just like you never cared ...at all about her feelings," Riku spat.
"Naminé's...?" She asked in confusion.
"Hmph. I knew it. Never even gave it a thought, did you? Just cuz you want to see Naminé – sorry - doesn't go both ways. Tell ya the truth, Naminé doesn't even want to look at your face."
"Why not?!" She asked in confusion. They'd been the two girls of the group, surely they'd been close. She was sure of it.
"You should ask your memories...why Naminé disappeared from the islands. Remember that, and you'd know."
"Did I... Did I do something? Is it my fault? Riku..."
She gasped in horror as Darkness enveloped Riku and he donned his darkness armour. No, not that. What was wrong with him? This wasn't the Riku who had helped her close the Door.
"Go home, Kairi. I'll care for Naminé. Anyone who goes near her..." he summoned his sword, "goes through me!" He lunged at her and she dashed back, summoning her Keyblade, blocking the next blow.
"What's-What's wrong with you?! We're supposed to be friends!"
"Please, Kairi. Since when have you ever cared about me? Naminé's not the only one who's sick of looking at you. So am I!" he yelled, jumping back.
"And Sora?" She demanded. "What about him? Have you forgotten what you using Darkness ended in for him? Riku, stop it!" but he ignored her words as they fought until in the end he ran off. "Riku! Please wait!" she begged but he was gone.
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Sora stood, hidden, watching as Kairi ran down the hall. She looked different to how he remembered but he could feel the weak magic woven into the fabric. A gift from one of the people in Traverse Town probably. He wanted to show himself to her but he couldn't. He could easily explain his presence as wanting to see what everyone was so interested in for himself, especially when they may make him fight her. But revealing himself? And yet…he wanted to, he wanted to talk to her…to…to make her feel better about his death. He forced himself to turn away, vanishing back to the basement levels.
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Naminé fought not to give away her fear as Larxene approached her. Of all of them, the only one she wasn't afraid of was Axel. She hadn't met Roxas but she knew she wouldn't be afraid of him either, not when he came from Sora.
"Why so glum, Naminé? Is there something that's been troubling you? Are you feeling awful about tinkering with Kairi's memory? Or maybe you – "
"Cut it out, Larxene," the Replica walked in and Naminé felt worse, she had rewritten his memories totally. "Naminé, she doesn't want to remember Kairi."
"Is that so?" Larxene smirked.
"Don't worry. Whatever's hurting you, I'll make it go away," he promised, pulling out a good luck charm. "I swear it on this, the good luck charm you gave me," he smiled at her before putting it away. "See ya." And with that he was gone.
"That's just amazing. It's almost like you completely made his Heart from scratch. Nice touch with the good luck charm. I didn't know you could use memories to transform objects like cards into keepsakes. You used the same trick on Kairi, right? You changed Kairi's good luck charm with your magic, didn't you?" she giggled. "It won't be long before Kairi and both Riku's forget about Sora completely! And then one of those boys will be all yours to."
"They won't forget," Naminé cut her off.
"Huh?"
"No matter how much I change her memory, Kairi will never forget Sora and Riku will never forget either of them. Memories of me…More false memories of me will just make his feelings for Kairi even stronger than before. Because...I'm the shadow of Kairi. And I can't take Sora's place in Kairi's memory, not fully, there are too many differences."
"What's your problem with that? That should be your incentive not to screw anything up. Just do a good job rewriting their Hearts. Then you can actually be somebody, and no longer just Kairi's shadow. You'll be real in Riku's Heart," Larxene taunted before leaving.
How long would it take them to realise that Riku had no idea who she was? And that Kairi still remembered Sora? What would happen to her then? But…it was worth it to do the right thing, to make sure they could be reunited.
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"Who are you? Were you kidnapped, too?" Belle asked them
"Uh...not exactly. It's a long story. Wait! So you've been kidnapped? You don't want to be here?" Kairi asked, confused. She was sure nothing like this had happened on Sora's journey and she knew she hadn't seen anything like it either.
"Yes...No, I don't really want to be here. That witch forced me to come here. I have no one to talk to. Books are all I have to ease my loneliness. And then there's him... Oh, I've missed him so much."
"You mean the Beast? Then why were you so mean to him before?" Goofy asked.
"Yeah. You really hurt his feelings," Kairi pointed out.
"You don't understand. I can't let him see how I really feel," Belle shook her head, looking away.
"Why not?" Kairi pushed.
"It's just that," she froze as the sound of a door opening was heard. "Oh no, she's coming! Hide, quickly!" she told them and they were confused. "There's no time to explain. Quick. Hide!" she insisted and so they did, right before the bookcases toward the wall slid open and Maleficent walked out from them and into the room. "Oh... Hello. To what do I owe this visit?"
"He was here, yes? He risked his life to come and save you. Why do you reject him?" She demanded to know.
Kairi shivered, she had never met Maleficent and was glad she hadn't. Hearing her was bad enough, though she did wish they could see what was going on, in case Belle needed help.
"I won't ask for his help," Belle denied.
"Oh, and why is that?"
"You know very well why. I'm not going to fall into your trap!"
"Then I have no choice but to make you BEG for his help!"
The sudden silence had them rushing back into the room, only to find it empty.
"No! She got away!" Kairi frowned.
"What should we do?"
"Help her, of course! What else?" Kairi rushed down the hall.
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"What's wrong?" Goofy asked as they walked through the woods.
"Something...feels really strange. I'm sure I don't know this place, but it's starting to feel like it's familiar to me..." she admitted. But how? She was sure she'd never been there before. Sora?
"You must have come here sometime before," Donald insisted and she shook her head.
"No, and that's what's strange..."
"It could be like with Naminé. You forgot lots of other stuff…and that's why you remember this place now."
"No... It's different. With Naminé, my memories...sort of came drifting back to me, a little piece at a time. But not now. It's not memories, just this idea that I must have been here before," she explained.
"So, feeling nostalgic?" she summoned her Keyblade at the sound of the voice of the man who had given her the card. "Kairi...a question, then, for you... Your memories of Naminé or your feelings here…which of the two of these is more real, I wonder."
"Naminé, of course! Whatever it is that I'm feeling, I bet it's just another one of your mean little tricks!" She glared at him even as he laughed.
"The memory's wiles can be cruel. In its silence, we forget. In its obsession, it binds our hearts."
"Cut the riddles!"
"I told you. This place was created solely from another side of your memory. It is on the other side of your Heart that the memory of this place exists. It is your Heart that remembers. Or perhaps, your Heart remembers through another's?"
"You're wrong! I don't know this place!"
"If you remain bound by the chain of memories and refuse to believe what is truly found inside your heart...then throw it away. You are not a Keyblade master, just a slave to twisted memories. Yes... Exactly like my Riku." He summoned a shield. "Your existence is worth nothing!"
"Like YOUR Riku? Worth nothing?" She demanded. So…that hadn't been Riku? "That's enough! YOU'RE the one who changed Riku! Every word you've said is a lie! I'd never throw away my Heart! I'm gonna take you down and save Riku and Naminé. THAT'S what's in my Heart!" She yelled at him, lunging.
By the time he was on the ground, panting in pain, she felt half frozen and exhausted.
"Burgh... You have such strength, even at the mercy of your memory…"
"None of that matters! Just put Riku back!" she demanded. Once Riku was back to normal, they could find Naminé and then the three of them would save Sora and find some way to help him get his Heart back.
Vexen laughed. "Just put him back?" he started to get up. "The Riku you speak of...has but one fate, to sink into the Darkness…and you will share that fate, Kairi! If you continue to seek the girl, Naminé, the shackles will tighten, you'll lose your heart...and end up becoming Marluxia's pawn!"
"Marluxia? What does Naminé have to do with…"
Axel's chakram flew past Kairi and struck Vexen, startling them all. She turned to find Axel was behind her.
"Axel!?"
"Yo, Kairi. Did I catch you at a bad time?" he asked even as Vexen started to rise again.
"Axel, why...?" he demanded.
"I came to stop you from talking too much...by eliminating your existence," Axel shrugged and Kairi pushed Donald and Goofy back, whatever was going on didn't involve them.
"No... Don't do it!"
"We are just Nobodies who have no one to be, yet we still "are." But now you can be nothing instead of just being a Nobody. You're off the hook," Axel smirked. This was Sora's friend? Would…would Sora be like him now?
"No... Please don't!" Vexen cowered against the brick wall of the old mansion. "I don't want to…"
"Goodbye," Axel waved before snapping his fingers, Kairi gasping as Vexen was engulfed in flames, fading away into darkness.
"What are you- What ARE you people?!" She demanded.
"Hm... Don't know. I wonder about that myself," he vanished but she saw him wave his hand towards the other side of the wall.
"Kairi?"
"I want to check that mansion out. How about you two head into town and see what else is there?"
"You sure?" Goofy asked and she nodded.
"I'll be fine," she promised, watching them leave before entering the grounds.
"You still remember Sora?" he asked, and she turned to face Axel. He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, eyes locked on her, and she nodded.
"Is he okay?"
"He's as fine as any of us can be," Axel shrugged. "He's here now, but they're keeping a close eye on him in the basement."
"He's here?"
"He even fought the real Riku, that's how they got the info to make a fake, which is what you faced. Be careful Princess, Marluxia wants you as his puppet. Trust your memories of Sora and Riku."
"Not Naminé?" she asked in confusion.
"Naminé…is you."
"What?" she demanded, and he vanished.
How could Naminé be her? It didn't make any sense. Unless….they'd made a Replica of her somehow? Why though?
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Riku collapsed, if Mickey hadn't appeared…he'd almost lost himself to Ansem again. At least he'd taken one of those cloaked people out. He had to find Kairi and get her out of the castle and somewhere safe.
He looked up an froze as he spotted some kind of strange creature watching him, shocked when it kind of half bowed before vanishing. What?
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Kairi stared from the unmoving body on the ground to Naminé.
"I'm so sorry Kairi."
"Who are you, really?"
"I'm your Nobody," the other girl admitted, and Kairi frowned.
"That's impossible, I've never been a Heartless."
"But your Heart was within Sora and to free you, he became one. That created me."
Oh. And then the others joined them.
"You must be Naminé! It's good to meet ya. We're friends of Kairi's and my name is,"
"You're Goofy, and you're Donald," she finished for him.
"Yeah, but how did you know that?" Donald asked in confusion.
"Congratulations, Kairi! You finally found your friend. I'm so happy for ya!"
"Gee, there sure are a lot of questions... Naminé, I know this probably won't be easy for ya...but could ya tell us what happened?" Jiminy asked.
"Of course. It's my fault, after all. I took the people and memories that were inside Kairi's heart...and little by little, I added in false memories. I was meant to erase her memories of Sora and replace them…but I couldn't do it," she admitted softly.
"Hey... What about Kairi's promise?" Donald asked.
"Made up, it was fake. Kairi never really promised me anything. Me being with her on the islands…that was a lie, just like everything else. We never met. I was never Kairi's friend…"
"Or Sora's and Riku's," Kairi said, and Naminé nodded.
"No. You see, in all of your true memories, I was never really there."
"Gee, then that must mean it was your magic that made the rest of us lose our memories, too. Is there any way for us to ever get 'em back?"
"I can fix everything if we go to the thirteenth floor. But Marluxia, he…"
"Bet I know who that is. Was he the fellah who made you tamper with all of our memories?" Jiminy asked, and she nodded.
"If I didn't obey, he said I'd be locked in this castle forever. I've been alone for so long..." she whispered.
"So ya did what he told ya to do because you were lonely?" Goofy asked with wide eyes.
"I'm so sorry..."
"Don't be Naminé, you didn't do everything he said and you can fix it, right?" Kairi asked, and she nodded. "Well, then, let's go."
"Oh boy! I can't wait to get my memory back!" Donald cried out in relief.
"Naminé, Marluxia is gonna be up there, so maybe you'd better stay down here," Goofy suggested.
"Yeah. Maybe you could look after Riku? We'll come get you when it's over." A fake Riku or not, he didn't deserve to be treated the way he had been. Once it was all over, maybe Naminé could fix him as well.
"Okay," the blond agreed.
They walked to the stairs where Donald and Goofy waved goodbye. Kairi stopped for a moment and looked back at Naminé.
"Please be careful, Kairi."
"I'll be okay... I promise!" She grinned, she had to be okay for Sora and Riku. Sora was in the basement, once Marluxia was dealt with they could find him.
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"Lexaeus is gone as well..." Zexion frowned and then looked up as Axel appeared.
"Vexen, Larxene, Lexaeus... I wonder who will be next in line," Axel smirked.
"I thought perhaps it might be you," he admitted.
"Me? No way. I already took my pounding from Kairi. She thinks I'm done for good. Nope, I think it'll be Marluxia next. For defying the Organization and targeting the Princess. I hope she moves exactly as her Heart commands him to. So, what about you? I thought you guys had plans for Riku. And where's Roxas?"
"Yes, we were going to set him off against the traitors... But with Marluxia gone, there is no more need. He is nothing but a nuisance now," Zexion pointed out even as Roxas appeared. He almost thought he felt a moment of nervousness, he was alone with Axel and Roxas, whom Axel had taken under his wing.
"And he's dangerous, as well. After all, he took down Lexaeus."
"You know that is not how I do things. Tell me, did you obtain the data on Riku's home?" he asked, and Axel tossed him the necessary card. "Go with Axel," he ordered Roxas, not wanting either of them around.
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"Kairi... Hey, Kairi. Are you…" Riku ran to her but she vanished and he froze in horror. "Ah... No!" what was going on?
"Surely you knew this would happen," a bored voice asked and he spun to see the man with weird bluish hair staring at him. "You've been to a number of worlds in your memory before this one. And in those worlds, you met only dark beings. That's all that's left in your heart: dark memories. Your memories of home are gone…each and every one."
"That's a lie!" Riku snarled, hands balled into fists. "I remember everyone from the islands! Tidus and Selphie and Wakka! Kairi and Sora, too! They're my...my..." he paused, looking down, ashamed, "my closest friends..."
"And who threw away those friends? Maybe it's your own actions that you've forgotten. You destroyed your home!"
There was a flash of Darkness, and the islands were reduced to a single landmass.
Riku gasped and observed his surroundings, feeling sick as he realised. "This is...that night!"
"All of the islands you grew up on were sundered, scattered. Many hearts were forever lost to the darkness. Because of what YOU did!" he pointed over to a projection of Riku at the edge of the island.
Riku gasped at seeing himself.
"You hated being an islander, so you opened the door to darkness and destroyed the islands. It was YOU! You were pulled into the darkness then, and now you belong to the darkness."
Riku clutched his heart and looked ahead in horror. No…he didn't belong to the Darkness anymore, he didn't!
"You should look-look at what you truly are!"
The projection of Riku transformed into a Darkside Heartless, and Riku staggered back, eyes wide as he stared at it.
"This...this can't be who I really am!" he denied.
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Sora looked around the room, Zexion was gone, but where? He must be after Riku which meant they had to still be in one of the basement levels. Axel had told him to do what he needed to which meant that if Zexion was to die, it would be up to him. If he really was going after Riku then there may be no choice. He knew Axel was going after Marluxia to stop his treachery.
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Riku was relieved to see Sora looking out to the dark sea on the edge of the island. "Sora?! Sora!" he called, but there was something off…how could Sora be here. He…he was…Riku froze as he remembered. Sora was dead. But if this was his memories, did that mean this Sora was just a memory too? He walked over cautiously. "Sora, it's me," he called, only to have to dodge back as Sora swung at him with the Keyblade. "What?!" that had never happened.
Sora jumped at Riku and struck, Riku blocking the attack with his Soul Eater, their blades clashing.
"Stop it, Sora! Don't you recognize me?"
"Yeah, I recognize you. I can see exactly what you've become!" Sora jumped back and fired a laser at Riku, knocking him on his back. "How can the light hurt you? Riku... Have you really become a creature of the dark?" Sora demanded angrily. "You're not Riku anymore... You're just a pawn of the darkness. So be it. It's time for you to face the light!"
No! This was not Sora, it couldn't be….it couldn't. Sora had…he'd reached out to him, tried to save him even as Ansem had taken full control of his body.
Sora held his Keyblade up…only for another to block it. "What? How dare you interfere!"
Riku pushed himself up, staring as someone in a black coat protected him, but why? They remained utterly silent as they struck and the image of Sora faded to reveal the man from before. It had been an illusion! He stared in shock at the weapon in the coated figures hand, a Keyblade….the Keyblade! But that was impossible.
"Traitor!"
"No," was the cold answer and the voice…no, it wasn't his, but the similarities hurt!
He watched as the man who had tricked him collapsed, fading into shadows. The hooded figure went to walk away, and Riku pushed himself to his feet.
"Wait!" he called, and the figure hesitated. "Where did you get that Keyblade?"
The figure turned to him, head tilted to one side before looking down at the Keyblade which vanished.
"That was Sora's! How did you get it?" he snapped, taking a step forward. "Who are you?"
"I'm Nobody," was the answer, but the coldness from before was lacking, the voice somehow flat though.
Riku walked towards him. "You're the one I fought before," that got a nod. Riku thought back to that fight. "You held back, why?"
"Just go Riku, find Kairi and leave."
Riku frowned, heart pounding. There was something… "Take off your hood." It was impossible…so why did he feel sick with anticipation? It was impossible, Kairi had confirmed that Sora was dead and the voice wasn't his, he was taller too, though not by a lot. So why did it hurt to see him?
The person stared at him, before slowly reaching up and lowering the hood, and Riku felt his breath catch in his throat. His hair was lighter than Sora's…the facial shape not quite the same, but what really caught his attention were his eyes. They were flat, dull, and yet…
"S…Sora?" he whispered.
TBC…