The Gathering

Chapter Three: The Memory Beyond

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Interlude…

"And if the darkness is to keep us apart,

And if the daylight feels like it's a long way off,

And if your glass heart should crack,

Before the second you turn back, be strong.

Home, hard to know what it is if you never had one.

Home, I can't say where it is but I know I'm going.

Home, that's where the heart is.

And I know it aches,

And your heart, it breaks,

You can only take so much.

Walk on, walk on,

Stay safe tonight."

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I raced swiftly down the hill, taking in the battle scene I was about to become immersed in. I could hear the steady thump of Mickey's running at my back, but his speed was never a match for my own. His footfalls began to become back-noise.

There were three smaller beasts, they're structure resembling that of a dog. They each had multiple tails that seemed to dance within their own accord. The inhuman growling, I realized as their snarling muzzles dripped with saliva, had came from these creatures. They were fairly large, but I figured what real harm could a dog do?

Two other beasts loomed at their sides, large and towering. They were very strange looking, almost comical. They're aqua-marine colored skin seemed to catch the sun, and the large trunks attached to their heads swayed in the breeze. Their whole look screamed "laugh at me."[1]

In the midst of the scene, was a strange sort of… large bird. The beasts had it surrounded, its short wings frantically flapping in terror. One of the dog-like creatures made a swipe at the bird's long legs, and it released an awkward, horrified squawk in response.

Dinner, I mused.

My hands began to glow and fizzle with an iridescent pink as I powered up. It was a feeling, although it has been with me since Ansem, that I could never get used to.

A surge of strength and adrenaline coursed throughout my limbs, extending all the way to my fingertips. The sounds of the plains became a rush through my head, the tiniest noise sounding like the blast of a canon. My eyes began to sting as my vision swirled and curled before me. Then with a flash of white, my whole outlook changed.[2]

During my powered-up state, my eyesight took on the properties of a Heartless. The world through these creatures' eyes was a completely different thing than what we mere humans know. Words can never begin to explain the sensations their eyesight brings.

The world becomes dark, shadowed in dull, lifeless colors. Organic substances lack form or shape, merely smudges and blurs against a darkened plane. Humans, animals, anything living- become moving blobs of grey, void of all color… save their life essence. As a Heartless, the only thing that holds importance to you is the heart of living creatures. It's the only thing in their monotonous world that holds any color whatsoever.

At the center of each moving blob lies a glowing, pulsating light of reds and oranges. When in this state, with each thump of the heart a wave of awareness washes over my body, pulling me towards the source.

It's an alluring pull. It feeds my senses and floods pleasure throughout my body. It screams at me, a siren's call, beckoning me to take it- to further feed the delight coursing in my veins.

Sometimes I'm afraid that someday I will become too weak to resist the allure of the Heartless. That someday… I'll give in again… and… and…

I can't think about this right now, I chide myself. I'm about to go into battle.

I ran up on the tail-end of the beasts while chanting a protection spell. My mouth blindly recited a language that could make no sense nor has no logic- an ancient tongue of whispers and staccato sounds that only the Heartless understand. A glowing ring that morphed into the sign of the Heartless shot up from the ground to surround the bird. The creature pierced the air with an undignified screech, my newly sensitized hearing protesting to the onslaught.

The sneering beasts took a step back, their internal instincts telling them it was better not to approach the ring of light. They snarled, disgusted with the loss of sustenance, and instead turned their heads towards me. I stopped about a yard away, listening as Mickey finally caught up to my side.

"They don't look so bad," he commented idly, his voice bellowing throughout my head.

I tilted my head to the side, smirking down at his colorless form. "Looks are deceiving." I began to take off my blindfold, tying it securely around the hilt of my Soul Eater. 

He hmmphed at me, the chain on his Kingdom Key jingling noisily in the wind.

"I'll take the three smaller ones, then back you up on the funny looking things."

"Riku," he began with worry in his squeaky voice, "I really don't think you should over exert yourself. After all, you used up most your power earlier when you were-"

I ignored him, running off in mid-sentence.

I leapt off the ground, easily flipping in front of the canines. They growled and licked their muzzles, the noises becoming amplified within my head. I raised my hand into the air, a sharp crackling and popping emitting from the center of my palm and seeping outward until the air seemed to become alight with energy. The atmosphere around us felt as if it had broken open, splitting under the stress. The malicious animals took an apprehensive step backwards.

"Let's dance," I smirked, shaking the ground around my feet with a jolt of ear-splintering lightning.

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"Wakka!" She screamed frantically, trying to keep her balance as she ran, panic steadily taking over her mind.

"Wakka! Where are you?!" She began to curse idly in her head. She could have sworn he left the beach in that direction.

"Kairi!?" She heard a familiar voice call back to her somewhere from within a growth of vegetation. She kicked up sand as she raced towards the sound of that voice, the very essence of the island quaking and tilting beneath her feet.

A larger jolt shook the ground and Kairi stumbled, pummeling face first into the sand. In the distance she could hear the angry waves beating against the islands.

It was happening again.[3]

She rose to her hands and knees, head hanging low. Kairi's eyes were focused on her hands, intently watching her fingers shake with fear. She let out a choked sob, burying her hands deep into the sand to wash out the image of her frailness.

Weak. She was too weak.

She dare not stand nor rise to look at the sky because she knew what she would see. She knew what was causing the islands to scream in pain and agony.

The meteors were falling.

"Kairi, there you are!" She only vaguely registered the sound of Wakka's voice and the tentative touch that was laid upon her back.

"Kairi?"

His voice… it was so hard to hear. Everything was being drowned out by the rumbling of the island or the slapping of the violent waves. It was all beginning to blur together, mesh and smear into one huge opposing sound within her head. Fear was welling up deep inside her stomach, clenching her innards painfully. She felt sick, bile residing in her throat and threatening to spew forth.

Somewhere, on a subconscious level, Kairi registered the sound of Wakka's terrified voice as she collapsed breathlessly into the sand.

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"What are you staring at?" Cloud narrowed his eyes at the man dressed in black.

"You're getting old," the stranger said quietly, stabbing at the eggs Tifa had made for him.

"Does it show?" He reached across the table towards the white-haired man to grab a biscuit from the platter that had been set out.

The stranger shrugged, absently scooting his breakfast around on his plate creating what looked like from Cloud's point of view, a face. "It shows in your eyes, I think." He glanced discreetly over towards the bar to make sure Tifa couldn't hear their conversation.

"I'm not that old, you know," Cloud said defensively, taking a large bite out of the biscuit and chasing it with a gulp of milk. He thrust the glass down with an overly loud clang, raising his eyebrow at the man sitting opposite of him. "I'm only creeping up on thirty."[4]

"Only?" the strange man teased, finishing off his edible artwork with a bacon smile.

Cloud eyed the younger man's plate with morbid fascination. "Besides, aren't you supposed to respect your elders?"

The other man smiled, flicking a lock of his white hair out of his eyes. "You're right, you're not that old. Not old enough for that anyway."

Cloud opened his mouth to retort, but was abruptly cut off as a loud shattering crash came from Tifa's direction. She tentatively poked her head up from behind the bar, eyeing the two men warily. Laughing nervously, she held up what looked like the remains of a glass bottle, a thick, purple liquid dripping off the jagged edges.

"Sorry," she said timidly, quickly escaping to the back room to find a mop.

Both men watched her scuttle out, their brash teasing forgotten.

"I think you make her uneasy," Cloud said, turning back to munch on his biscuit.

"Why would you say that," the other man said curiously, pushing his plate, now adorned with a full blown breakfast smiley-face, towards the center of the table. He began to absently twirl the fork across his knuckles.

"Because I think she likes you," Cloud said, smirking as his statement almost caused the stranger to drop the fork in mid-twirl.

Despite the falter, he continued spinning the utensil. "She's not really my type. But since we're on the subject of Tifa, don't tell her what's going on."

"What? Why not?"

The younger man tossed the fork in the direction of his plate, it landing with a hollow thud against the wooden table. "Because I don't want her getting involved. Too many people is just asking for complications."

Cloud shrugged one shoulder, not entirely surprised that the other man had kept his plans so secretive. "She'll find out eventually, you know. She's too close to Aeris and me not to. Besides, all of Midgar is going to get involved when they finally arrive."[5]

"Then we'll burn that bridge when we get to it." The white-haired man leaned far back into his chair, propping his booted feet upon the table and crossing his arms behind his head. "Now," he said lazily, glancing at Cloud from beneath his fringe of pale hair, "tell me about this Rufus you mentioned."[6]

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"Wok!"

"I know, I know!" I gritted my teeth at the frantic sounds of the bird behind me, the noises he continued to emit piercing my eardrums in my powered up state. I didn't understand why he was making such a fuss; he was still safely inside the boundaries of the protection spell.

I grimaced at the dog I was holding at bay, his entire body pinning me to the cold earth. The only thing lying between his razor sharp teeth and my sensitive neck was my Soul Eater, the blade lodged firmly between his jaws. I struggled to gain enough leverage to push him back and off of me, but it wasn't becoming a successful endeavor. He was just too large and ten times stronger than he appeared. His acidic saliva was dripping to the ground, burning the grass around my head and filling my nostrils with a nauseating scent.

I could hear the clash and ring of Mickey's keyblade somewhere to my right, and faintly detect his ragged breathing as he fought. I briefly entertained calling for his help, but something inside was holding me back.

Pride- two hundred seventy three, Riku- zero.

The dog snarled at me, his acid spit getting dangerously close to my shoulder.

"Why can't you just die?!" I ground out between clenched teeth, wondering why this beast had decided to put up more of a fight than his companions. He roared from deep within his belly, as if somehow understanding what I had said.

My options were running thin. My legs were pinned beneath the creature, so I couldn't propel him off. My sword was trapped in between his massive muzzle, so that wouldn't be of much use. And I couldn't use my hands for magic because taking just one palm off my sword would ensure dog chow.

I narrowed my eyes at the beast, my voice growling with an intensity to almost rival his. "This is so fucked up." I could just imagine it now. 'Uh, sorry, Sora. Riku was looking for you, but he got eaten by a dog before we could locate you.'  Eaten by a dog. What a heroic way to go.

Then, with a strangled squawk a blur pummeled into the side of the dog, sending it rolling a few feet away and freeing me from the ground. I instantly jumped to my feet, my head bolting towards my rescuer.

"Wok!"

I rolled my eyes, pointing towards the glowing ring of light. "Get back in the ring where it's safe!" The bird tilted its head, eyeing me with incomprehension. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the dog rising back to its paws, shaking his ragged fur clean of dirt.

"Go!" I yelled at the bird, thrusting my finger back in the direction of the protection ring. It stood there dumbly, totally clueless as to the meaning of my words. I gritted my teeth, turning back towards the dog as it eyed the long-legged fowl with newfound hunger.

"I'm through playing with you," I mumbled, growing more angry by the second. I was beginning to weaken, and I could feel my body powering down, the ride of adrenaline slowing throughout my veins.

"You've already wasted more time than you're worth." I took a wide step to the right, effectively blocking off the bird.

I summoned up the last of my energy, focusing it into a powerful ball within my palm. It began to spread, running along the blade of my sword like roots from a tree. The force flowed and rippled, collecting like a water droplet at the tip of my blade. The world began to sway around me, and I felt a heavy dizziness draping over my head- the telltale signs that very soon my powers would be completely drained.

When my last ounce of power had permeated through me and collected in my blade, I raised it high above my head, trying my best to focus on the grayish blob of the dog as everything started to tilt and whirl.

Somewhere, on another level, I heard Mickey yell my name. And on a totally different level, I realized that what I was about to do wasn't entirely the greatest idea I'd ever had.[7]

I roared in frustration, flinging the blade with razor precision. It sliced and rocketed through the air, instantly delving deep within its target.

The dog lunged upward in pain, whining and howling in defeat. Then the blade released the power from within, a huge blast of light engulfing the creature until it become so bright, I had to shield my sensitive eyes. A crackling and shredding sound rolled across the plains, shards of light shooting out into unknown locations.

I blinked, the world becoming colorized as the power of the Heartless fled from my being. Still, everything was blurry, and the light from my blade was making my eyes water.

Slowly, it dissipated, and I was left staring at Soul Eater lodged deep within the ground. The dog's body had been completely destroyed.

Overkill, I mused to myself, as weakness encompassed my body and I fell limply to my knees.

The steady roar of wind across the land was vanishing, the plains suddenly dead quiet within my ears. My body was suddenly too tired to hold up, and I collapsed backwards onto my back.

The last thing I saw was a blur of white and blue sky.

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"Riku."

I groaned, nuzzling my cheek into something soft and warm.

"Riku, wake up."

My temples were throbbing, and even from behind closed eyelids my vision was stinging.

"Riku."

"If I move," my voice came out barely above a ragged whisper, "I think I'll break into pieces."

"Riku," the voice said around a gentle, familiar laugh, "you're not going to fall apart. I promise" The warm thing against my cheek slightly stroked my skin, leaving a hot trail in its wake.

I blinked rapidly, waiting for the world to come into focus. I was greeted with the sight of cold, glowing familiar eyes.

"No!" I squeezed my eyelids shut, not ready to face whatever nightmare I had come upon. Those eyes… the bane of my existence…

"Riku?" The thing against my cheek, which I could now recognize to be a hand, nudged at me a little, bidding me to open my eyes. Slowly, I opened one cautiously, this time staring up into open pools of blue.

"Sora?" I opened my other eye, looking confusedly upon my friend. He smiled sweetly, petting the top of my head fondly. I was still lying on my back, my head resting comfortably in Sora's lap.

"What's," my voice came out pained, ragged, and I had to clear my throat and try again. "What's going on? Where am I?"

He frowned, that old familiar Sora-pout taking over his features. "Not excited to see me?"

I turned my head away, looking out into the distance. Where ever I was it was night time. "You're not real," I whispered dejectedly, all too aware of my multitude of illusionary Sora dreams.

"What makes you say that?" He questioned me softly.

"I don't have to explain myself to figments of my imagination," I said while taking in my surroundings. We were on a beach of some sort, the moon hanging low over the waves.

"Riku…" he said in that pained voice, the one that constantly haunted my memories. The voice he'd always used back when…

I pushed off of his lap, rising to my feet and taking a few steps away from him. Crossing my arms over my chest, I listened intently as the water slapped methodically at the sand.

"I don't recognize this place. It hasn't been in any of my other dreams."[8]

I could hear Sora creep sheepishly up behind me. "That's because it isn't a dream. I'm not a dream. It's real…" his voice lilted off at the end.

I swung my head around, staring down into his upturned face, "Don't play with me, Sora." I walked further along the beach, kicking at a piece of blackened driftwood in my path.

It was so dark, so desolate. There was no way it was Destiny Island.

I reached an oversized boulder lodged within the sand, and plopped down upon it. Bringing my leg up to my chest, I rested my arm atop my knee. Sora quietly and hesitantly crept up beside me.

"I'm not playing with you, Riku," he whispered. "It really is me."

"If it were you," I said, sadness laced within my tone, "then why would you still look like the Sora I knew seven years ago?"

He took a seat beside me. "This isn't my body, Riku, just my subconscious. It's the only way I can reach you."

I squinted my eyes, watching the glitter of moonlight roll over the ocean. "I don't understand."

"You shouldn't understand," a deep, hauntingly familiar voice bellowed out from behind us.

I froze, too frightened to turn around and confirm my fears. My heart skipped a beat, my blood running cold to the fingertips. Icy terror, in its most painful form, gripped at my chest.

I glanced at Sora out of the corner of my eye, his face contorting into a look I'd never seen before. Hatred? "How did you get here…" Sora whispered to the newcomer through clenched teeth, his eyes glinting a strange, almost golden, color.

I rose from the rock, angling my body to look behind me. Every thing seemed to move in slow motion, that single moment feeling like a century of moments. Behind me, stood the very essence of the nightmare that had become my life.

"Ansem…"

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She slowly regained consciousness, groaning in pain from the sickening swish of her stomach. Then, as if a light switch had been flicked on, it all came rushing back to her.

"Wakka!" Kairi tried to bolt upwards, but something had her pinned effectively in a sitting position.

"Calm down, girl," Wakka said assuringly in her ear before she could become panicked, his breath tickling the back of her neck. She looked down, realizing it was Wakka's own arms that had her restrained, her back resting against his chest.

He laughed nervously, as if realizing the magnitude of her scrutiny. "It's nothing personal, I just didn't want you to get sick and choke."

She leaned backwards, more at ease by the explanation, cradling her head against the crook of his neck.

"What happened? All the noise… the island… is everyone ok?" She couldn't seem to find the right way to word her thoughts of distress. Her body was still so weak from the panic attack, her mind beckoning her back to the comfort of sleep.

"It… didn't break apart…" Kairi understood the unvoiced 'this time.'

"I'm not sure why," Wakka's voice was light and airy, as if he was deep in contemplation, "it just stopped suddenly. But I guess we shouldn't question good fortune, yah?"

Kairi nodded, a little too weary to do anything but agree. "It couldn't have been… it's never that simple, Wakka."

He faintly growled, the reverberation vibrating against her back. "You're right. Maybe we should check on the others, yah?"

Kairi's eyes fell shut heavily, her voice fading on the breeze, "After I… wake up…"

Wakka pulled on a lock of her hair fondly, smiling down at her motionless form. "Sure, kid."[9] 

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"This isn't what it looks like," Ansem said to me, standing only mere feet away. Sora rose abruptly, pushing close to my side.

"It's exactly what it looks like, Riku. He's trying to force us apart again." Sora voice was rough, falling like icicles on the air. In all the time I had known Sora, he'd never sounded like that…

Ansem hesitantly extended his arm, his face going so slack that it almost looked sympathetic. "You can't listen to him, Riku," he pointed accusingly towards Sora.

"And is he supposed to listen to you, Ansem?" Sora spit the name out like pungent venom. Ansem's hand faltered slightly in the air, as if hearing his own name pained him.

I watched their verbal tirade, my own mouth frozen shut in confusion and trepidation. What was going on? What were they talking about? Why was Sora acting so strange?

"Stop trying to twist things," Ansem said in a strangely quiet voice.

Sora's eyes narrowed, and he flicked his hand into the air. A strange sucking sound erupted, and I watched in fascination as some sort of portal opened not far from where Sora and I were standing. He walked over to it, stopping just at the entrance and turning back towards me. The blacks and purples swirled behind him, offset against his creamy skin.

"Come on, Riku, we're leaving," he held his hand out towards me, beckoning me to grasp on.

"You can't have him!" Ansem roared, "Not again!"

"Again?" I whispered feebly, my head suddenly beginning to throb with a petrifying intensity.

"You can't listen to him, Riku! He's trying to trick you!" Sora pleaded with me, pushing forth his hand another centimeter for emphasis. "Come with me!"

My head felt like it would implode at any moment, the pain becoming unbearable. I dropped to my knees, covering my ears with my hands.

"Shut up! Both of you! This is just a dream! You're figments of my imagination!"

"No, Riku, I'm real!" Sora screamed helplessly at me, his fingers grasping at air as if he could pull me in closer by sheer mind force.

I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping to somehow block out the ache coursing throughout my head. "Go away… just go away…" My voice was dry and cracking, breathing suddenly feeling like an utter chore as the pain choked up my system. Nothing made sense. I just wanted it to end. I wanted to wake up. I wanted to-

"Riku…"

The pain… suddenly vanished, the darkened beach becoming deathly quiet. I slowly lifted my head, dropping my hands from my ears and looking straight into Ansem's face. For a solitary moment, it felt as if he and I were the only things that existed throughout the entire universe.

"We'll go together." Ansem said, his eyes briefly flashing with a tinge of sapphire blue.

"So…ra…?" I whispered back to him.

"No!!!" I watched in horror as with a flick of Sora's hand, Ansem's body was engulfed with a piercing white light, his face contorting in horrific pain. "Go back to where you came from!" Sora screeched as Ansem's body hovered in mid air, shaking like a leaf in the wind as some sort of unseen hands squeezed the life out of him.

And for some reason, without even giving it a second thought, I dove into the eruption of white light with Ansem.[10]

-----------------------------------TBC-----------------------------------

[1] It's been so long since I've played FF7, I can only barely remember what some of the creatures on the plains looked like. I know there were some sort of wolf like creatures, and then some kind of large beast that was green and had a trunk like a elephant. Er, or maybe I made that one up in my head, lol.

[2] Yay, we're one step closer to explaining Riku's golden eyes. And you even know some of the new powers he now has, due to Ansem.

[3] You can either infer that she's talking about when Destiny Islands broke apart, or when she was sent from Hollow Bastion during the meteor shower. Either assumption would be correct for the purposes of my story.

[4] Think about it, in the FF7 game Cloud was twenty-one years old. It's been seven years. Old boy is getting on up there. Though I tried to stress that Cloud still looks just as hot and not old at all by the comment about how it only shows in his eyes.

[5] Hmm, who are "they?" What are Cloud and the Dual Wielder talking about? And does this mean the Dual Wielder lied when he told Tifa he didn't really know Cloud? Only time will tell.

[6] Dun dun dun! *thunder cracks in the distance* Oh come on, you knew Rufus had to come in at sometime. He's just too sexy to leave out, you know?

[7] If you don't get what Riku's doing, he's summoning the last of his strength and power into the blade to make it a very deadly weapon. Only, this isn't quite a good idea since he had already used most of his power playing around in the previous chapter, so now he's rather weak and drained and doesn't have much energy to spare.

[8] That's because it's the creepy beach from Deep Dive, you silly, silly man.

[9] Aw, does Wakka have a wittle bitty crush? I haven't decided yet, lol.

[10] Oh my GOD. What just happened? I don't even think Riku really understand what happened, himself. Sometimes I guess it's just better to act on instinct. Only… what the hell was Riku's instincts telling him? As always, everything will be explained with time.

-----------------------------------Author's Note-----------------------------------

Argh, this is a pretty short chapter, sorry about that. I just needed to end it there to add suspense. Oh yes, and if you're interested in making the little Ansem/Sora/Riku scene more dramatic, I recommend downloading the song "Shadow of Doubt" by Yoko Kanno and playing it while you read. The music gives it a great feel. Oh yes, and apologies to calling Riku's sword the Bat Wing in the previous chappies, it was the only think my friends and I had ever known it as. But then someone mentioned it was called the Soul Eater, and I was like duuuuur I knew that. Why had I forgotten?!