Hikari here to bring you this new chapter, Nyah~

For those of you who also follow Shadows of the Night, we will soon begin switching back and forth between updates between these two stories.

Now, hope you enjoy the read... while I have an argument with technology again...

*Hikari has lengths of power plugs for various devices tangled around her legs and is currently suspended upside down*


Chapter 4

Over the next few days, Namine would frequently check in on Riku. He rarely left the room that was set aside for him at the mansion, and was almost always found lost within his own thoughts. The few times that he did leave were to either deal with Heartless that wandered a little too close to the gates of the mansion or check in on the happenings of Organization XIII.

Namine couldn't help but worry. Every since she woke up those memories within Riku, he had started acting different. It wasn't something major that would warrant the notice of DiZ. Then again, he rarely showed any care or attention to them that it didn't matter. But Namine took the time to notice the small, subtle changes with Riku.

She feared that Riku was not handling his old memories well. She still had chosen to remain polite and not look into what they were, but that still left her to be curious. She could only wonder what was going on in his mind and what could possibly be troubling him. But she also had not dared to ask him for permission to look. They were his memories and she felt it was wrong to look at them.

But it still left her greatly concerned.

She started to feel this more the longer the days went on. She started to pick up small things with how Riku spoke. It was only occasionally, but every once and a while he would give a response that sounded far to proper to belong to him. The mannerisms were not his… or at least they were, but from a long time ago. It was the only explanation Namine could think of. But she still could not find a good way to question him about it.

Currently she stood in the room that had the casple with Sora sleeping inside. There was still no progress that could be made. Everything was still at a standstill. It saddened her that she was unable to do as DiZ asked, but she knew it was out of her control. But she could only hope that an answer would be found soon.

With little else for her to do, she decided to comb through what memories of Sora's that she had already put back in place, just to make sure that everything was exactly where it should be. Nitpicking through the chains of his heart, Namine noticed something subtle that she had missed before. There were connections from before his earliest memories, where he would have been too young to create memories. Taking a closer look, Namine saw things she didn't expect; a world full of fairy tales and keyblade wielders of all kinds.

Namine pulled out of Sora's memories. She stumbled back slightly, trying to process what she had seen. "Were those… Sora's memories? What were those? They felt like his, but they felt older. Older than Sora is… timewise."

Namine tried to stay still, but she found herself too fidgety to do so. She started to pace the room, thinking more about what she had seen. "Could it be that they are like Riku's? Some strange hidden memories? But how are things like that possible?"

Namine turned to look at Sora again. "And then there is the fact that they've apparently been awake and active in his mind the entire time. Nothing I did woke them up… they've been like that for years. I don't understand…"

Namine stepped back towards the capsule and tried to look again. She knew she was prying into something she had no knowledge about, but she had to understand. Or at least she had to try to understand. She searched through a few of the memories, seeing other people she didn't recognize. Soon she stopped again and stepped away.

"I wonder if there is any connection with Sora's memories and Riku's. Maybe… Maybe I should finally ask him about it."

After a brief pause to debate whether she should reveal her findings to Riku or not, she turned to leave the chamber. Heading out into the rest of the mansion, she moved towards the room Riku was occupying.

She knocked gentle against the door. "Riku? Are you there?"

She waited a moment and then she heard his voice. "Yes. You may come in."

He was speaking in a polite manner again, but Namine didn't focus on it this time. She had other thoughts she wanted to talk about first. After she would explain what she saw, she figured she would only then choose to ask Riku about his memories.

When she entered the room she saw that Riku was sitting by the window again, presumably staring out it moments before. He stood up and walked over to Namine.

"Has something come up? I mean…" He paused, as if regaining his thoughts. "You know… anything good or bad with Sora's condition?"

"His condition hasn't changed, which is both good and bad. However, I came across something that I didn't notice before."

"Oh? Something you didn't notice? What is it?" Riku asked, sounding more curious.

Namine clasped her hands together. "I'm not entirely sure, but I have a theory for what they may be." She breathed in slowly before continuing. "I think, with how his memories were hidden, they could be from the same time as yours. But I still am not too sure since I don't know anything about your memories yet."

If Riku didn't have the blindfold covering his eyes, Namine would have seen them widen. He didn't answer right away either. There were too many questions coming to his mind to even process speech.

"Memories from the same time. Could it be… Sora is one of the others? Who though… Gula or Aced?"

Finally Riku was able to clear his throat. "Namine, please tell me. If you can describe what you saw I may be able to figure and judge if it connects or not."

"I didn't look all to deep, but I saw hundreds of keyblade wielders in a world I know nothing about."

Riku moved forward, grabbing Namine by her shoulders. His breathing had escalated. "Did you see anything specific? Anyone dressed in fancy robes with detailed masks? Masks that were designed after an animal?"

Namine flinched back, completely startled by Riku's actions, looking quite a bit more timid, almost scared of him now.

Riku waited for her answer, but he could feel that her body had tended up. He let go of her and stepped back. He let his mind wander more into his Ira mindset, letting himself think more properly for an apology. "I'm sorry Namine. I didn't mean to jump so quickly to speaking. I only know that you did say things that are familiar to me. Please, if you will, let me know what you saw, if there is anything else."

Namine took a step back as well, but seemed to calm down at the apology. "The one bit of memory I did see had a lot to take in, but it appeared to be a large crowd gathered before someone whose face I couldn't see. I'm uncertain, but they appeared to be wearing a fox mask."

"Ava…" Ira breathed out slowly upon hearing the information. "But if Sora's old memories saw her and he was in a crowd… was he not one of the other foretellers?"

Ira stumbled back slightly until he found his way to the bed. He sat down and ran a hand through his hair. "Could he be one of the young wielders from one of the unions? But who… and why? Why a single wielder… who could he have been? From Ava's union or another? This just adds more questions to all of this."

"Riku?" Namine called out his name to get his attention. "Is there a relation between what I saw in Sora's memories, and your own?"

Ira blinked, focusing back to Namine. She was still wondering about his memories. And it made sense why, especially with what she learned about Sora… or whomever he once was.

She deserved to know something at least. If she did perhaps, if she ever found others with memories like his, she'd know what to look for. "Yes there is a connection. This may be hard to believe, but in a time before this, I was once a different person."

Namine looked confused, but did not speak up, instead choosing to respectfully wait for Riku to continue.

"There was a time long ago where there were many keyblade wielders. And they were all in different groups or 'unions'. And I… I was the leader of one of the unions. It was peaceful for years, but then things changed after a time… and everything changed for all of us…"

Ira went on to explain as much as he could to Namine. He didn't tell about every detail or who the other union leaders were, but he gave as much as he thought she would understand. When he finished explaining he let out a long sigh.

"So now I've got two sets of memories. Ira from back then… and now currently as Riku. It's still confusing… and still a bit hard for my heart to understand. The conflicting opinions and stuff…" Riku sighed as he lowered his head.

"I'm sorry…" Namine barely spoke up. "I should have done a better job connecting your past memories to the current ones."

Quickly, Riku raided his head and turned to the direction of Namine. "No it isn't your fault. You didn't know what my memories contained. So you wouldn't have known the affect it would have."

"But I still went through with it, and I didn't even try to look. If I had just leaked a little… seen what there was, I may have not unlocked it all at once," Namine replied as she clasped her hands together to keep them from fidgeting.

"Namine, please," Riku stood back up and went over to Namine. He placed his hands on her shoulders, causing her to look up at him. "I would have ended up like this one way other another, whether you unlocked my memories slowly or all at once. There isn't anything you could have wished to do about it. It's all on me…" He sighed, lowering his head slightly. "My choices and my feelings are what make this hard, but I don't want you to blame yourself."

"If… If you say so. But… are you really going to be alright?" Namine asked.

"I think I will find a way to manage… even if it takes me some time. Thank you for the concern though," Riku replied.

Namine smiled, feeling much more relieved than she did moments ago. "Okay. But Riku…" She hesitated briefly before she continued. "You don't have to keep this all a secret anymore. If you ever need to talk about… your memories or anything. I'll do my best to listen."

"Thank you Namine," Riku-Ira replied before smiling. His thoughts were still muddled and clouding about the entire situation. He still had far too many things to think over on the subject, and he wasn't sure if he would find all of his answer. But he smiled to Namine as best as he could, trying to show that he truly was happy to have her words of caring. "It's nice to know that I have someone by my side."

Namine nodded. "You're welcome. Though… now that I think about it. I'd assume your memories are what made the change in your personality?"

"Changes in… my personality?" Riku asked.

"Oh…" Namine mumbled softly, fidgeting slightly again. "I guess you wouldn't notice by yourself. It is your personality after all. But I mean, there is a slight difference in your personality now, and who you were then."

"Ah, I guess that makes sense," Riku replied as he rubbed the back of his neck. "You're right though, I didn't really notice. It's all just me… only different versions I mean. I hope I didn't worry you because of that."

"No you didn't, I mean I was curious. At least I know now. Also… if you want me to, I could try to look more into Sora's older memories, if you want me to try and find out more."

Riku shook his head. "No, it's all right, I think right now I still need some more time. I still got a lot on my mind that I need to sort out. And adding more questions won't really help too much."

"Hm, okay. You'll let me know?"

Riku nodded and after a goodbye between the two, Namine left the room. Riku let out a long sigh as he dropped back down onto the bed. He did want to know who exactly Sora once was, but as he had told Namine, he wasn't ready for that information. Riku still had to deal with something else first… himself.


Riku here now... idk where the heck Hikari went. But she dropped me alone to do the rest of this. And didn't tell me what she was doing in the first place. So here is I am. But hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!