*Riku peaks around the corner* Hey guys! I finally found my way here. Vacation made me take a detour, but don't worry, I'm back! So yeah today I am handling the chapter. I have no idea what's been going on with Hikari, but whatever. Let's get to it!
Chapter 3
"How… how is this possible…" Riku murmured, pressing a hand against his face. "This cannot be real…"
He was Ira? A master of the keyblade and a forteller that once managed an entire union of keyblade wielders.
But he was also Riku? A young boy who was supposed to have the keyblade, but lost it when he gave his heart into darkness.
None of this was making any sense to him, and his head was starting to throb even more. Though with a few deep breaths he was able to at least focus on his surroundings. He was laying on old bed in a dimly lit room. It took Riku several moments to try and process where he was before remembering that it was most likely a room in the old Twilight Town mansion.
He jumped off of the bed and ran to the dresser on the wall to his right. He pulled up his blindfold slightly and stared right into the mirror that hung above it, analyzing everything. He looked at every part of his face, the shade of his hair, the color of his eyes. This was how he looked as Riku… but not as Ira. There was a faint resemblance he could see, but other than that he was someone else now.
"I don't understand…" Riku-Ira's thoughts murmured. "I did not think such things as reincarnation were real. That… That was not in the book of prophecies. Is it possible that there could have been more after that last page? I guess with me being here, it must be true. But does that mean… the others are in this time as well? But where…?"
With too many questions that he knew he didn't have the answers for. Riku-Ira shuffled back to the bed and sat down. There was no point in trying to figure out everything when he was still trying to get a grip on the knowledge that had just awoken. He rubbed his forehead as a slightly aching pain came through. It was a bit troublesome now that his old memories were awake. It was started to build a bit of conflict when he tried to think over everything that had happened.
Suddenly something started to dawn on him… more so from the Ira side of him. With both sides of two lives rushing through his head, it was easy to start having one judge the other. Mainly it was the side of him that was Ira that now realized what he had done so far as Riku.
"What a fool I am in this new life…" Ira mumbled, letting out a long sigh. "To think I was foolish enough to let darkness taint my heart when before I knew to strongly oppose it."
He paused for a moment, searching through his memoires as Riku to rethink some of his current thoughts. "Then again… I cannot fully blame myself. There have been many factors that lead me to be rather uneducated and naive when it comes to the darkness and everything else."
He breathed deeply again as he flopped backwards onto the bed. His thoughts floated around before he started to think back on his life as Ira, something that still seemed odd to Riku. "Can't believe it though… it's so weird to think that I had another life before. It does make things feel weird now with using the darkness… since I use to hate it. Maybe it's okay since I am trying to be balanced… the road to dawn and all. But then again… the darkness is still darkness… right?"
He sighed heavily at himself before placing his right arm over his eyes. "Ah… I don't know though…"
At that moment there was a small knock on the door to the room. It creaked open a slight bit and Namine popped her head in.
"Riku," Namine paused when she saw that he was conscious. "Glad to see that your awake."
"Oh, it's yo-" Ira started to say as he looked to her, but he shook it off. He sat back up as he tried again, this time with his thoughts coming from his memories of himself as Riku. "Hey Namine. Yeah… I'm awake now. Uh… how long was I out for?"
"It's been a little over a day."
"Ah… I see," Riku replied. Had it really been a day since Namine finished her work? There was now another day that he was out, but this time because of the memories she woke up. And he could only figure nothing more had happened with Sora, otherwise Namine probably would have started with that. After a bit of thought he continued. "I hope DiZ isn't too upset about that, but I guess nothing much has happened?"
Namine shook her head. "There hadn't been much activity that required your presence."
"That's good at least…" Riku replied softly.
"DiZ, however," Namine continued, "was not pleased to learn that I had put you out of commission without you having forewarned him."
Riku sighed slightly. He knew they hadn't really informed DiZ of what they were doing. They knew he was caught up with his own thoughts and plans for everything that he would not approve. But Riku had wanted to know what was locked up in his mind. And with the delay they had, he and Namine took the opportunity.
"I hope he understands at least. Don't worry though, if he's still upset I'll try to explain it to him."
"But what am I even going to say? I cannot go and tell him the exact truth. I doubt he would believe such a thing. Even now it still feels weird for me to think about. I have two sets of memories now… and it makes everything feel different. My darkness… I feel that I should find a way to rid myself of it, yet I know it's not that simple. Even with defeating Ansem back at Castle Oblivion… there is still much darkness left from him, aside from my own. Then there is the part that I feel I still may need it…" Riku-Ira let a long sigh escape from him as he dwelled further on the matter.
"...iku" Namine was calling out to him, a slight worried tone to her voice, trying to get his attention "Riku..."
"Huh?" Riku said, snapping out of his thoughts. "What is it?"
"Are you alright?" Namine asks, concerned. "You've looked a little dazed since I came here to see you."
"Oh, sorry about that," Riku replied quickly. "I think this is just a lot to process right now. You know, with these memories."
"I understand." She paused for a moment before asking something that was on her mind. "If you don't mind me asking, what were those memories about? I didn't look at it myself as to not intrude."
"Ah… it's a bit hard for me to explain right now. I think I just will need some time to myself to think about it. Don't worry though, it's nothing that bad, just a lot of things to take in."
Riku thought to give her a truthful answer, but the more he thought about it, he couldn't figure out how to explain it. Even if he could trust Namine to listen to him, there was still so much he needed to think about. He was far from adjusted with his old memories back, and it would take much more time to get use to it. For now, he figured he wouldn't tell her. Maybe in the future he would, but for now he decided to keep it just for himself.
Riku: We will be sticking around with Riku for a while until we reveal the next person. Who it is you may ask? That is the mystery. But feel free to guess and theorize, we'd love to see what you guys have to say!
