Hinyah~ Hikari here.

It's been a while since we've updated this story, and I apologise for the wait as I had no hand in writing this chapter.

Don't let me hold you up any longer, enjoy the chapter~


Chapter 10

"Tell me why… why you know my name," Roxas asked again.

Though his mind wanted to say it was Roxas, Riku thought he should technically think of it as Ventus, but without proper answers he couldn't be too sure. What he knew though was that he had to try and figure out something. This was an unexpected turn, but he wasn't going to let it get away from him.

"I think you should answer first," Riku said, trying to sound as authorized as he could. "How could you possibly be Ventus? I mean, up until this point you were Roxas, right?"

Ventus shook his head. "No, not exactly that. It's more of… Roxas is someone else, but I am just here for the ride."

Riku tilted his head slightly, prompting him to continue.

"I don't really know how to say it, but I guess you could say my heart has been sleeping while Roxas developed. Somehow I was aware of what was going on, for the most part. Not like everything, but most things I think. I don't really know how to explain it."

'Whatever could have happened to Ventus to lead to this? How much did I miss since Xehanort first took possession of me?' Terra pondered.

"I don't know, we could ask, but it may be best for another time. Should I tell him about you though?" Riku asked.

'Maybe not now, there is already too much on the table to talk about,' Terra replied. 'Though I can figure he may ask how you know my name. You can tell him at least that I had bequeathed the keyblade to you when you were younger. But for now we need to try and find out more about his situation.'

"Ventus," Riku spoke. "So if you are saying your heart has been sleeping, what about Roxas?"

"He's… he is still here, but somehow I got in control of him, and he is now in a sleep stasis or something. I still can't really figure it out, just suddenly hearing my name and now I am in control of his body."

Riku nodded slowly, still trying to take in all of the information that was given to him. It was still quite the strange situation, but then again he already had several strange situations beforehand. Honestly he couldn't tell what was the oddest of the group; finding out his old memories were from when he was a forteller, Terra being awake in his heart and also being one of his friends from his past life, or Terra's friend Ventus actually being awake in Roxas.

"But please… how do you know my name? And Terra's? I don't understand," Ventus added a moment later finally sitting up right.

"I… I knew Terra's name because he bequeathed the keyblade to me years ago. I think he may have mentioned your name, but it has been over ten years by now."

"But how did you know I was Ventus? Unless Terra told you what I looked like?" Ventus asked.

Riku faltered slightly. "Ah… um. I think that's something better for another time."

Ventus narrowed his eyes slightly. "If you say so…"

"Just trust me on that."

"Well, can you answer me one more question? If you bequeathed the keyblade, why didn't you use yours in the fight?"

Riku shifted slightly. He pursed his lips and looked away from Ventus. "That's not important right now. What is important is…" Riku sighed briefly as he tried not to let his Ira thoughts get the best of him. "We need to figure out what to do now."

"What to do now… you mean with me, I mean Roxas? You need him cause he has…" Ventus trailed off as he thought. "Some of Sora's memories right?"

"Yeah… that's right."

"Well, as long as I can stay in control of Roxas, I can help come along willingly. I understand why at least, Sora has to wake up after all. I can sense that Roxas wants nothing to do with it though and…" Ventus trailed off before he gripped his head.

"S-Stop it!" Ventus grumbled as he continued to hold his head.

"Get out of my head!" Ventus followed up a second later… though the tone was much harsher, much more agitated and annoyed.

Roxas.

"They're fighting for control…" Riku thought as he saw the boy struggle, mumbling things back and forth at himself.

'I guess that makes sense. Roxa still seems to not want to listen though,' Terra replied.

Ventus or Roxas, Riku wasn't too sure at this point, breathed out heavily. He groaned while his face wrinkled into a grimace. "Just listen! They need Sora's memories! They have to wake him up!"

"I could care less about that!" Roxas shouted.

"I thought you said you wanted to find him," Ventus replied.

"To get to my life back! I couldn't care any other way about him!"

The boy groaned as he staggered to his feet. He never once stopped holding his head. The blond slowly looked up to Riku. "Just do what you can… hope you can… get Sora awake…"

His eyes closed and he collapsed to the ground right after. He still breathed, but they were deep and slow. Riku carefully walked over and rolled him onto his back, and from the looks of it he showed no signs of waking any time soon.

"Looks like both Roxas and Ventus fought for control so much it exhausted him… or really them I guess."

'It still surprises me that Ven's heart is there. Would that mean that Ventus's heart was originally with Sora and somehow stuck with his Nobody and that's why Roxas looks like Ven?'

"Why are you asking me? I have no clue at all," Riku muttered.

He then heard a portal open and DiZ walked on through. Riku stood up, facing DiZ. "I took care of it, he's unconscious now."

"Good. We can can move further with the plans then," DiZ said as he glanced at the boy who lied on the wet ground. "Gather him and head back and I will explain the next steps we must take."

Riku nodded as he went to pick up Roxas. He brought him back to where DiZ and Namine were, and with a bit of set up they placed Roxas into a digital landscape to hide him from the Organization. Aside from that, DiZ told Namine to hide Roaxs's memories and give him new ones suited to the simulation.

With nothing more that he could do for the time, Riku walked back to his room and sat down on the bed. As soon as he did, he hunched forward from a pain that shot through his entire body. He gasped for a deep breath, but the pain was distracting him too much.

It was the darkness inside of him… Xehanort's Heartless/Ansem's darkness. Riku knew it for a fact… it was still there and still trying to take over him. Now it was starting to feel stronger than before, even though he still had the blindfold on. It only lasted a moment longer, and then the pain was gone and Riku could breathe normally again.

'It's only going to get worse if you are going to start fighting it again,' Terra said.

Riku frowned. "I can do what I want for it."

'That doesn't mean fight it and try to suppress it, that's only going to make it stronger to over power you. Besides,' Terra's voice dipped down slightly, into his Aced tone. 'Earlier Ventus made a fair point… why did you not use your keyblade in that fight?'

"We are not talking about this…" Ira grumbled.

'I think we have to because you are being far too stubborn on this,' Aced replied. 'You can't keep going like this. It's only going to get worse for you. So tell me, why did you not use your keyblade in the fight?'

"Because…" Ira sighed deeply. He thought about not telling Aced. He didn't have to know after all, it was none of his business, but… he was still there in his heart. He was still there to talk and all of that. He would keep asking eventually, so better to get it done with than have to wait longer.

"I'm not worthy to wield it anymore…"

'That's a complete lie and you know that. You had your keyblade before, it's one of the reasons I realized it was you, Ira.'

"I still do not wish to use it, not until I can find a way to-"

'Purging the darkness is not the answer, you need to find balance with it. You were already doing fine before you remembered yourself as Ira. Now you are trying to skewer it once more.'

"I don't need your philosophy… I just," Ira paused as he placed his hands on his head. He started to do a series of deep and slow breaths. Eventually he lowered his hands back down to his side.

"Sorry…" his tone came off softer and calmer, much more like Riku. "I'm struggling so much with this. I can't seem to help but switch back and forth on my opinions now. How did you ever come to terms with yourself when you remembered?"

'As I've said before, I have had enough time to think about all of this.'

"I don't think I could go through 10 years of this…" Riku mumbled.

'I don't think you would need to, I know it didn't actually take me that long. I was only able to think about it for that long. For me, I think it also has to do with the similarities between my two lives. While both my lives have a similar connection with the darkness, your two lives are vastly different, and that is why it is a struggle for you to agree with yourself. Because of your past, that is what you as Ira thinks must be the answer, but you are currently Riku, and what matters now is what currently is, not what once was.'

"So… all I have to do is get myself to stop fighting against my choices… and come to an agreement? Then like… I would be, I guess you could say at peace with or one with my two lives?" Riku asked, hoping he was understanding what Terra had just explaining.

'That would be the basic point of it.'

"That's still going to be hard though… I try, but my Ira side is still so deeply opinionated on the matter. It's almost like how we saw Roxas and Ventus… how they were fighting for control… that's how it feels for me some of the time."

'You will find a way, don't give up yet Riku. Even if it seems split half the time, keep listening to your heart and you will find your way.'

Ira laughed softly. "I still cannot fathom how insightful you are now. Thinking back how you were to how you are now, you truly have done growing between the two of us. I know you are trying to make a fair point, but if I still… I still cannot accept the darkness, I thank you for trying at least."

Terra hummed softly. 'You're welcome. I only hope that you can find a way to come to terms with your darkness instead of pushing it away. Before… it becomes too late for you to realize.'


Whelp, I apologize again for the delay on this story.

For those of you who only follow this , I usually update one of my stories on Fridays (well, Friday's for me for all you international readers out there) and recently Riku and I have been quite dedicated to Shadows of the Night.

Well, hopefully you follow/favorite/review if you haven't already, and are still interested in keeping up with this story even after all these waits.

Now i need to go bury myself in wrapping paper.

Until next time, nyah~