Inverted Sky: KH Chain of Memories

Chapter 15: Castle Oblivion part XV

As Ansem charged at Riku, the boy quickly brought the wooden sword up in front of him in a defensive manner. But as the man slashed with the teen's normal weapon, Riku parried the blow to the side while also dodging in the opposite direction. Him knowing that his current blade would break apart if it took a full impact from the Keyblade. Though, he had to keep moving away from his foe, as Ansem swiftly turned and attempted to stab at the silver-haired boy as he rolled further to the side.

Jumping back to his feet, Riku then spun around to face Ansem in order to keep his eyes locked on the man. Whom was already slashing down toward his head, to which the teen deflected the attack once more by angling his weapon with both hands. Yet as he alternated his parry into a strike of his own, Ansem's form seemed to vanish as he was already at Riku's side. "Pathetic." the man whispered, just before delivering a palm into Riku's ribcage.

This attack sending Riku sliding to the side, to which he immediately fell to a knee when he finally stopped. The pain of his broken ribs was a bit much for him, as his breathing unconsciously became shallower. Yet he still managed to push himself back to his feet, his body dulling the pain thanks to the fight or flight instinct. Narrowing his gaze on the confidently smiling man, Riku then ground his teeth in frustration and prepared himself for another assault.

Despite knowing he needed to stay on the defensive, the teen wanted nothing more than to go on the attack. 'Just to smack that smug look on his face.' he thought briefly as he saw Ansem come toward him once more.

At the same time, the man sent three orbs of darkness ahead of him, and at the silver-haired boy. Whom painfully ducked and weaved out of the way from these spheres, to which he then turned his attention to Ansem as the man's blade was mere millimeters from his face. With an almost instinctual tilt of his head, Riku managed to avoid the attack. However, Ansem's free hand slammed a palm into his chest.

With the air evacuated from his lungs, the teen gasped for air, even as he was sent tumbling backward. Though, Ansem's attack wasn't over, as he kept charging forward with a series of slashes. Some of which Riku managed to avoid by simply using his backward momentum to roll out of the way. For the rest of the attacks he couldn't dodge or defect however, hit their mark with painful accuracy. It being very clear to the boy that he wouldn't be able to keep up for much longer, his opponent just being too strong for him to handle.

"Come now...I was expecting some bravado in declaring that I would never win." Ansem commented in a taunting manner, smiling mockingly as he did.

Narrowing his eyes once again, Riku swiftly dodged away from another slash before rolling to the side in order to gain a bit of distance. Yet by the time he turned to look at his foe, a large beam of darkness was coming right toward him. With his eyes quickly widening, the teen tried to leap out of the way of this blast. But it still caught him in the right side of his stomach, feeling a hundred times more painful than the worst burn of his life. Which sent him spinning through the air without any aim or direction, like a rag doll.

Landing limply on the ground, Riku groaned and growled in his suffering. As he clutched his side with both hands, he began casting healing magic on himself. Due to his lack of experience with such magics though, the process was agonizingly slow. Yet Ansem seemed to allow him to do this, while leisurely approaching the teen. "Well well...it seems you've already hit your limit." he hummed out in an amused tone.

"How disappointing...but I suppose it's to be expected of a mere child." Ansem continued, to which Riku found himself beginning to sink into the blackness of the void-like space around him.

With clear panic in his eyes, the silver-haired boy tried to escape the shadows rising up around his form. But it was in vain, as the more he fought, the further he sank into the darkness. "Have no fear, Riku...I'll give Sora a greeting on your behalf." were Ansem's final words before the boy disappeared fully.

'Dang it! Why am I so weak? Why can't I fight against him?' Riku demanded inwardly as everything went dark.

'No...this is simply what I deserve for the things I've done to my friends. It's my fault I was jealous of Sora. It's my fault I let Ansem into my heart. I'm just reaping what I sowed.' he continued on, simply closing his eyes and embracing the blackness.

Feeling his body begin to fall in what he could only assume was the endless abyss, Riku suddenly felt the sensation of floating instead. "Hmm?" he hummed out, slowly opening his eyes to see an endless grey surrounding him.

It looking like he were within dark clouds in the sky, yet there was no clear up or down as he was simply suspended in this space. "Where...?" Riku uttered while looking around confused.

"You're within the 'in-between'." a female voice spoke up, one that the boy didn't recognize.

"Who are you?" he questioned, merely sounding confused as he lost all desire to fight back.

"My name is Namine...I brought all of you here, just like I did with Sora." the girl responded in a regretful tone.

Though Riku briefly tensed up and narrowed his gaze, he slowly relaxed and simply let Namine continue. "But...I wish to have all of you help her, instead of being the catalyst for her downfall."

Raising a brow slowly, the silver-haired boy glanced around briefly, as if trying to find the girl somewhere nearby. Not seeing anyone with him though, made it clear that Namine must be contacting from somewhere else. "What do you mean?" he asked, his tone sounding a bit more calm.

"The group you're fighting against, they're known as Organization XIII...and their goal is to use me, and all of you, to turn Sora into their puppet. Their aim seems to be to gain the power of the Keyblade for themselves. To what end however, I unfortunately don't know." Namine explained softly, yet in an entirely honest voice that actually reminded the boy a bit of Sora herself.

"I see...but why not tell Sora and the others? I can't be of much help with the way I am now. Ansem has won...I can't beat him." Riku muttered as if to himself, there being a clear self-loathing in his voice.

"He hasn't won yet Riku...you're stronger than you realize. You have been taken by the Darkness, yet willingly and consciously returned to the Light. That alone shows you have powers not many could hope to gain." Namine declared to him, making the boy blink in surprise.

However, he tilted his head down while letting out a breath; "But...I..." he started, but trailed off as he was unable to continue on.

"Riku..." Namine started, sounding a bit more firm than before.

"You once said that you were angry with yourself for being weak, but that's not really why you were upset, was it?" she questioned in a rhetorical manner, causing the silver-haired teen's eyes to widen slightly.

"What you're really mad about...is the fact that you don't think you deserve to be strong. That's why you only learned Mickey's sword techniques...because you didn't truly want power. You wanted to punish yourself for seeking strength that hurt your friends." Namine continued, leaving Riku utterly stunned and silent as he couldn't even deny her words.

"But you're no longer 'that' person anymore Riku, you deserve to be strong." she declared, to which the boy closed his eyes for a few moments before reopening them.

"How do you know?" he asked in a nearly voiceless manner.

"I know because...unlike before...you're fighting to keep your friends safe. And if there was ever a cause worthy enough for strength, it's to protect." the blond stated, making Riku's eyes widen briefly once again.

He then gained a small smile while nodding his head in response; "Yeah...I guess you're right. Though...what should I do?" he asked while looking himself over as if trying to sense another power he could somehow use.

"Use the Darkness Riku." Namine claimed, leading for Riku to just look out into the endless expanse with a surprised expression.

"I know you're afraid to use it, but you've already come back before...so it no longer holds sway over your heart." she continued in a confident tone.

"But...what if I-" Riku started, yet was swiftly cut off as the girl continued on.

"Your reason for fighting has changed...you won't be consumed like you were before. If you don't trust yourself...trust in the bonds you have with your friends. They will keep you from losing yourself." she said in a more gentle way than before.

Though Riku was silent for a few moments, he slowly gained a wider smile and nodded once more. "Yeah. Plus...if I lose to the Darkness a second time, Sora will never let me live it down." he muttered silently in a light chuckle.

"Alright then...I'll accept it." Riku continued, just as black wisps began to surround his body.

"Thanks...Namine. Will I be meeting you someday soon?" he asked as his form became completely engulfed.

"Maybe...one day." Namine responded softly, her voice making it sound as though she was smiling.

"You must know though, Sora is heading for the top of the castle. But I've prepared a secret way to reach it at the bottom...so please, come help Sora." she called out, her voice echoing as the connection was likely fading.

"That's the idea." the silver-haired teen claimed as the area quickly filled with darkness.

In the next moment, Riku found himself rising out of the abyss he had been pulled into. His body having Darkness surrounding it as his eyes snapped open, to which they narrowed on the man in front of him. Whom gazed at the boy in shock, yet this surprise increased further when the Keyblade vanished from his hand and reappeared in Riku's. But a split second later, it was stabbed through Ansem's chest.

"I think this belongs to me." the silver-haired teen stated firmly, gazing up to the man with his blue-green eyes as they glowing brightly through the darkness.

Looked down at Riku in shock, Ansem's form began so slowly dissipate into the shadows around them. "Well well...it looks like you had it in you after all." were his last words before fading fully.

Smiling lightly to this, the silver-haired teen looked himself over as he felt much stronger than ever before. "Even if I use the Darkness...I'll never lose my way, so long as my friends are with me." he said silently, closing his eyes.

When he reopened them however, Riku saw that he was awake within the castle once more. Though, kneeling beside him was a concerned King Mickey; "Thank goodness you're awake." he hummed out in relief.

"Y-Your Majesty..." Riku stuttered out in his surprise.

"You looked like you were having a nightmare, so I was getting really worried about yo-" Mickey started, but was cut off as the silver-haired boy just hugged him.

Despite the sudden and unexpected hug, the mouse smiled softly while returning it. "Gosh...I hope I didn't miss too much." he said in a sheepish manner while patting Riku on the back.


Next week I'm gonna only do either two or three chapters, but if I can do more, I will.