Disclaimer: Go back to the first chapter, I'm too lazy to type it again. ^o^

The First Master

Riku stumbled out of the Great Hall, through the Entrance Hall and out onto the balcony in the front of Hollow Bastion. Badly beaten, he was bleeding from many cuts on his body. Ansem had not taken it well when Riku found the strength to regain control of his body. He had let Riku live only so the young boy would be forced to remember that he destroyed the Keyblade Master; that he brought about the death of all worlds.

Riku falls to his knees, clutching the rails for support. He looks to the now darkened sky, filled with what he once thought were stars. Back then he thought the dissapearance of one was of no matter. He pauses, then exhales slowly. Ignorance was bliss. He shuts his eyes tight, trying to fight back the tears. As he opens his eyes another light in the sky flickers and fades away, and the best he can do is pray for all of the worlds to forgive him.

"… all my fault…"

He had allowed Ansem to control his body. He had been seduced, played by his lust for power. He had wanted Kairi back so badly… but now she would never be revived.

"… all my fault…"

He had attacked Sora… well, he hadn't, really. But Ansem had, using his body. He didn't want to know what Sora thought of him now.

"But Sora can't feel now, can he?" Riku asks himself bitterly.

"He's dead, or a heartless, empty of all emotion. And who's fault is that, I wonder?"

Riku slams his fist on the cold stone below him. He stares into the dark abyssal sky, wishing only that he could jump out into it and never return… to live forever alone, or die, so he'd never witness the destruction he brought upon the worlds. Sora was the Keyblade Master… he was the only one who could have saved them…

'But he isn't… is he?' A voice rose out from the depths of his heart. 'He's not the Riku stumbles out of the Great Hall, through the Entrance Hall and out onto the balcony in the front of Hollow Bastion. Badly beaten, he is bleeding from many cuts on his body. Ansem had not taken it well when Riku found the strength to regain control of his body. He had let Riku live only so the young boy would be forced to remember that he destroyed the Keyblade Master; that he brought about the death of all worlds.

Riku falls to his knees, clutching the rails for support. He looks to the now darkened sky, filled with what he once thought were stars. Back then he thought the disappearance of one was of no matter. He pauses, then exhales slowly. Ignorance was bliss. He shuts his eyes tight, trying to fight back the tears. As he opens his eyes another light in the sky flickers and fades away, and the best he can do is pray for all of the worlds to forgive him.

"… all my fault…"

He had allowed Ansem to control his body. He had been seduced, played by his lust for power. He had wanted Kairi back so badly… but now she would never be revived.

"… all my fault…"

He had attacked Sora… well, he hadn't, really. But Ansem had, using his body. He didn't want to know what Sora thought of him now.

"But Sora can't feel now, can he?" Riku asks himself bitterly.

"He's dead, or a heartless, empty of all emotion. And who's fault is that, I wonder?"

Riku slams his fist on the cold stone below him. He stares into the dark abyssal sky, wishing only that he could jump out into it and never return… to live forever alone, or die, so he'd never witness the destruction he brought upon the worlds. Sora was the Keyblade Master… he was the only one who could have saved them…

'But he isn't… is he?' A voice rose out from the depths of his heart. 'He's not the only one…'

"What do you mean?" Riku tried to force the little voice back inside of himself.

'Don't you remember… Sora was the second Keyblade Master…'

"… you mean…"

'yes.'

The glowing outline of the Keyblade appeared, the handle lying in Riku's gloved hand. Slowly it formed itself, like steel being melted into a mold. Finally the shaft built itself around Riku's hand.

"I was the first Keyblade Master…" Riku whispered to himself.

He wrapped his fingers around the cold steel of the Keyblade, but it's glow faded. Spreading from his hands was a black flame, trailing across the length of the blade. Whatever the flame touched faded to black. The darkness inside of Riku's soul was pouring into it, transforming it… making it as dark as himself. Chains wrapped around the blade. Last to change was the chain dangling from the tip. Dark mist swirled around it and around the ornament, turning it into a black Kingdom symbol.

He hoisted himself from the ground by the railing.

"Guess when I took the darkness, I took it for life…" Riku chuckled at the irony that one consumed by darkness would be fighting to save the light. He half expected to hear again from the voice inside of him, and he almost hoped he would, but he didn't. He tightened his grip on the blade and walked, a bit swaggeringly, as he was still in pain, towards the edge of this world. He promised himself that one day he would come back and lock this place to rid it of heartless, and of Ansem.