igniculus -i m. [a little fire , flame, spark].
Act I, Scene Two: Igniculus
Riku looked up to see what had brushed by his bare feet, which were hanging very awkwardly over the end of the couch. It was rare that he slept on anything that could fit all six feet and four inches of him, and this case was no exception.
Standing over him was Avarielle. Her hair was back in three loose braids, and she was wearing a fluffy gray robe. Her arms were crossed over her middle, for warmth, and her gentle chocolate eyes were resting comfortably on him.
"Couldn't sleep?" Riku asked, swinging his long legs around in an arc so he was sitting up straight. He grabbed the blanket she'd loaned to him and rolled it up in a ball to put it away.
Ava took the spot next to him.
"Yeah," she said.
Riku had been able to sleep, but not for lack of things to keep him awake. There was a lot to think about, but this was the first time in ages he'd had somewhere safe and comfortable to rest so he'd taken advantage.
"Riku…can you tell me what day is like?"
"What?"
"I don't really remember what a sun is like…or warmth…or daylight…" She paused, thinking carefully. "This place is always night. It just alternates between dark and darker."
"Daytime is very bright," he began. "The sun is a huge glowing circle that's yellow or orange or even white, depending where it is in the sky. Early in the morning it comes up and the sky is first blue and then pink and orange and finally the whole sky is a light blue…"
"That sounds so pretty!" she interjected. "What is it?"
"It's called a sunrise," he said. "But I always liked sunsets better…" Riku pulled his hand through messy silver-blue hair. "Then the sun sinks down into the ocean and while sky goes blue and purple while the sun is bright orange and red."
"That sounds beautiful, too…" She looked at him. "Riku, if we ever get out of this place, will you show me a sunrise and a sunset?"
"You're planning on escaping?"
"I want to get out of here with all my heart. I've tried again and again but the result is always the same…" Ava shook her head. "Nevermind. I guess we'll never leave."
"Then why did you just sound like we might?"
"Because…I was hoping somehow, with our combined hearts…we could get out."
"You were hoping?"
"I…"
Riku's face transformed into a big grin. "Ava, if you can still hope, then it isn't the end."
She gave him a cautious smile before her mouth curved back into a grimace. She stood up and walked a little away from him. "Caelestis is the end of hope, Riku. Every hope I have had has died so far—will this one I have with you die as well?"
"But we've found each other. We both still have hearts—or a little of them, anyway."
Ava turned around. "I'm scared to believe we can do something, Riku. What if we both just fall into darkness anyway? Here, it happens to the strongest of hearts."
"No one here has a heart—we're different."
Her eyes were shining with tears. "No one here has a heart anymore."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Riku, do you know where the Heartless here even come from?"
"Heartless come from the darkness inside people's hearts."
"And where are we now?"
"What?"
"We're in the city of darkness. The Heart of darkness."
Riku didn't know what she was getting at, but he wasn't quite sure he wanted to know.
Ava took a slow breath. "The Heartless here are very powerful. Why? Because they are the darkness formed within the most courageous of people's hearts. They are the remnants of those who had a will strong enough to come here and fight the darkness."
"Like Sora?"
"Sora?"
"My friend…he held the Keyblade. He and I closed the Door in Kingdom Hearts."
"A Keyblade master?" This seemed to surprise her. "Still, there is darkness in every heart. Kingdom Hearts itself is light and darkness."
"Ansem was sure that Kingdom Hearts was the source of all darkness. But Sora said Kingdom Hearts was light."
"They were both right."
"How can that be?"
"A coin has two sides, and so does a heart."
Riku was having trouble handling all she was telling him. So the Heartless in Caelestis were made from those who had tried to fight the darkness and failed? So Kingdom Hearts was both light and darkness, and he had just ended up on the wrong side?
Ava continued to affirm what she had already stated, even as he asked the same questions over and over, disbelieving. And then he asked her one question that stopped her cold.
"How do you know all this?"
Avarielle slowly returned to the couch and sat down heavily. "Because I've seen it happen," she whispered.
He knew he'd somehow hit her in her most vulnerable spot. Still, he wanted to know. For years Riku had had so many questions, and here were some answers.
With a sad sigh, she began.
"When I was very young, there were attacks on my home world. It wasn't exactly like the attacks have gone on more recently. There were no shadow creatures with magical powers going after any and all hearts. They were actual people—possessed, overcome by the evil growing inside.
"My father didn't understand why his once friends had started killing. I guess no one could possibly have understood. My father was a very good man—a warrior priest—and so he used his powers of prayer to unravel the mystery. He saw that, in our universe, the balance of power was tipping. The darkness was growing stronger and spreading like a great curtain being pulled over our worlds.
"My father was the kind of man who could never just sit back and watch injustice. He trained long and hard and finally found some kind of channel to the source of all darkness and light."
"Kingdom Hearts?" Riku asked.
"Yes. Kingdom Hearts." Ava gulped. "My mother was very much in love with my father, and she could not bear to be separated from him. She took me and left to go after him. We managed to catch up just as the Door was opening.
"By that point, it was too late for us to return. Our world was nearly a wasteland; there was nowhere for us to go. So my father had us all journey together."
"How old were you then?"
"I was about four or five," she replied. "Most of what I am telling you now I don't really remember; my father told me later."
"So you went into the Door?"
"Yes." Ava wasn't looking at him now, but he saw a tear slide down her right cheek. "We came to Caelestis some time later. It wasn't as bad as it is now, but this place is always getting worse. My…my mother was killed early on in a Heartless attack."
Riku was ready to give her time to deal with these memories, but now the words were flowing just as her tears did.
"My father was devastated, of course. And now there was no one to watch me. The people in Caelestis were either natives or they were warriors, struggling to find the source of darkness and shut it off, somehow. My father had to stay with me. He waited until I was about seven or eight until he would leave for long periods of time to fight the Heartless. And every day I sensed more resentment from him."
"Resentment?"
"My mother couldn't defend herself because she was protecting me. I think, before I was born, my parents were so very much in love they didn't even want children. They didn't want me."
Riku had a hard time believing that her parents were completely good people if they didn't even want their own child.
"My father grew angrier than I had ever seen him. When he fought the Heartless, he would take special joy in making them suffer. I thought it was horrible—especially since the Heartless would let out high-pitched screams. He would also take out his anger on me. He would chastise the inhabitants of Caelestis while, at the same time, he was acting more and more like them."
Avarielle shook her head slowly, her face now buried in small, soft hands. Riku sensed that, although her tale went unfinished, she was quite done telling it for now. He placed one hand on her back, and she leaned against his side.
Riku wrapped his arm about her shoulders and held her warm, trembling body against his.
"I've been alone for a long time," she whispered. "It feels good to lean on somebody for a change."
"No problem," Riku said. He didn't mind feeling her warmth beside him either.
Riku began to talk about how he had come to Caelestis. He explained about being a child on the Destiny Islands, how his parents had been killed in a boating accident when he was nine, how he had grown up playing with his best friend Sora and then, when she appeared out of nowhere, Kairi.
He got to the part where he was a rebellious fifteen-year-old boy trying to escape his limits, how he had found the darkness and let it in to consume his whole world and ruin the lives of the friends he cared for most. Here he had to control his deep voice from rumbling even more with anger and self-hatred.
He explained all about the Keyblade and working under Maleficent to fight Sora. He talked about how he was originally the chosen Keyblade Master, but for one instant Sora's heart was stronger than his. Riku talked about all of his mistakes, how he let Ansem come into him just for more power. He told Ava how helpless it was to have your body be doing horrible things to your friends when you could not do anything.
Lastly, he talked about being freed when Kingdom Hearts had opened with a burst of light. Ansem was destroyed, and Riku's spirit was drawn into Kingdom Hearts itself. The last part of the man's tale chronicled the sealing of the Door and his journey down the road of darkness.
"All of the worlds of my universe were restored, I think," Riku concluded. "That's what was supposed to happen when the darkness was sealed. I hope Sora and Kairi made it back to the Islands all right. They are probably having a good life right now." There was no bitterness in his voice, for this was, in reality, his truest wish.
"Your friends sound like such nice people," Ava said drowsily but sincerely. She moved upward a little bit so her head was resting on the man's shoulder and not his side. "I wish I could meet them someday."
Riku realized that they had now been talking for several hours. He let himself fall asleep, just as Ava was doing close against him. His last thoughts were regretful; why hadn't his heart been stronger?
Riku awoke suddenly, jumping at the loud noises erupting on the street below. He rushed to the window, Ava alert and at his side. Between the metal bars that covered the glass panes, he could make out a swarm of Heartless heading for the main street, pushing over crates and trash bins.
"What are you going to do?" Ava asked, pulling her robe about herself to keep out the cold—and perhaps protect herself from something colder than the night.
"I…I want to fight them. That's a bigger group of Heartless than I've seen ever since I came here. I think they're up to something," he added intuitively. "Besides, I've sat back and let the Heartless kill too many times before."
Ava's eyes brimmed with concern. "Please…please don't. What will you fight with?"
Riku looked down at her. It was so strange. They had met less than a day ago and already they had such a deep bond, like they'd known each other forever. Was it only because the other's heart was the only one to call out to?
"I'll fight with my heart," Riku said, smiling. "When I took the Keyblade from Sora, he told me the same thing."
"You can't do it alone."
"I can't."
Ava's eyes wandered downward. "No one here has fought the Heartless for years. Everyone just runs away from them."
"Then maybe attacking will be enough…maybe fighting will make the difference."
"Or maybe they've grown stronger with no one to keep them in check—!" She grabbed at his hand when he started to walk away. "Riku, I can't lose you to them. We have to get out of this place—and we need each other to do it!"
He turned around and looked down at her pleading face. "Fight with me, Avarielle. We've both tried to get out of this place by running away. There's a world beyond Caelestis—there is a Door to the Light. But we're not going to find it without facing the darkness head on. And that means fighting."
Avarielle nodded. She put her hands over his two clenched fists. "All right, then, Riku. We'll go together."
The woman jumped back as his hands began to glow. Two black and silver weapons were materializing in his pale fingers, crossing directly over his chest. They were huge blades brimming with magic power.
"These are…Dual Keyblades!"