"Of all the things to come back and bite me in the ass this is the worst!" Riku thought out loud.
He was floating through the inter space between worlds. He wasn't going to land anywhere. That way they wouldn't be able to track him. He leaned back in his chair. By now they must've found that note he'd left for them. He wondered what their reaction had been. Well there was no way of finding out now.
He sighed and closed his eyes. Maybe now he could get some sleep. Maybe his dark side would leave him alone. Maybe.
He drifted off into sleep.
"So you thought you could just run away from your problems didn't you?" His dark side sneered.
"Hey I did what you wanted me to do didn't I?" Riku snapped, "I left Mia behind, she's safer if I'm not there."
"Oh is she really?" Another voice sneered. His dark side vanished and another voice took its place.
"Who are you?" Riku asked.
"That does not matter, you should never trust your dark side it will only deceive you."
"What do you mean?" Riku asked dreading the answer.
"Your dark side was trying to lure you away from Mia! Her life is in danger now that you are no longer there to protect her!"
"YOU LIAR!" Riku yelled.
"How could your love possibly kill her? I will show you the truth now. Look into this orb."
A large spinning golden orb appeared in the center of the room. It was then that Riku got a good look at the speaker. He was wearing golden and white robes and a hood hid his face. A golden light surrounded him. Riku looked into the orb and gasped.
He could see his friends. They were at the entrance of Hollow Bastion fighting a swarm of Heartless. Lulu, Wakka, Tidus, and Kairi had all been knocked out while Sora, Yuna and Mia struggled to defeat them. But something was different about these Heartless. They seemed much stronger.
Finally Sora was knocked to the ground. Two other Heartless grabbed Yuna and Mia and lifted them into the air screaming and flew off with them.
Then the little movie ended.
"Quick! Do something! Save them!" Riku cried to the figure.
"I can't Riku, but YOU can! You must fly to Hollow Bastion and save your friends before it is too late. Go quickly!"
"Right! Thanks!" Riku turned and started to run off but he stopped and turned around to face the figure. "But before I go, I have to ask this, who are you?"
The figure smiled and floated off the ground. "I am your light side."
Riku grinned. "I knew it!"
The two girls were both dragged into the chamber and laid down on two separate slabs of stone. Yuna lay to the left, Katie lay on the right, and Mia was on the middle stone.
Maleficent smiled.
"Finally, I have all three pure-hearts before me! The final incantation shall be uttered and the life force of these three maidens will be sapped from their bodies. I shall use that power to create a heart for the heartless! Then they will become unstoppable!"
She waved her staff and began to mutter the spell.
Riku jumped off the gummi ship and was immediately confronted by a group of heartless. He had resolve burning in his heart. He killed all of them without mercy. He continued along the path to the castle. He ran as fast as his legs would carry him slashing through Heartless as he ran.
"Just a little longer Mia." He thought to himself, "I'll kill Maleficent and save you. I promise."
Suddenly a huge heartless sprang out of nowhere and knocked him off the path to the castle. He fell down to the icy chambers below.
Riku felt himself slam down onto cold hard ice. He sprang up and ran towards the exit. He needed to get back up there now!
"Are you going somewhere?" A voice hissed out of the darkness. He spun around. A hooded figure was standing there.
"Of course I'm going somewhere!" Riku yelled. That voice sounded so familiar.
"You are not strong enough to save Mia." The figure whispered. "There is only one way to be strong enough, you must reopen you heart to darkness!"
"NO WAY!" Riku yelled. He wouldn't! He just couldn't! After everything that had happened...he'd come to far to go back to darkness.
"You must, it is the only way to keep her life-force from being drained."
"What?" Riku asked in horror.
"She's dying, right now as we speak her life-force is slipping away. You were willing to risk darkness for Kairi why not Mia?"
Riku was horrified. All this had happened just because he ran away. It was his fault. It was time to make everything right again. He closed his eyes and outstretched his hands and allowed darkness to sweep over him like a flood.
Sora and the others burst into the castle cathedral. They spotted Maleficent.
"YOU!" Sora yelled. His voice was full of anger.
"Me." Maleficent said evilly.
She stepped towards them. That's when Tidus noticed that Mia, Yuna, and Katie were lying on separate stone slabs just behind her.
"YUNA!" He yelled. Maleficent laughed.
"Don't bother. Your voice can no longer reach her where she is. An enchanted sleep has been placed on her, she cannot wake up."
"What are you planning to do with our friends?" Rikku yelled. Her face was red with anger.
"It's quite simple really. You see this?" She said tapping a large glass heart. It had three chambers in it. Two of the chambers were full but one was only half full. "This is a magic heat that I constructed. The heartless will all share this heart. The summoner and Katie have already lost all their life force but they will not die until the last pure-heart has been sapped. When the heart is complete then the heartless will become unstoppable! Even the keyblade will be useless!"
Sora gripped the keyblade tightly and started towards her but he felt a hand on his shoulder stop him.
"No Sora, leave this one to me." A voice said firmly. Sora spun around. Riku was standing there holding his keyblade. He was wearing the same dark outfit with a heartless insignia on it that he wore when he'd been evil.
"Riku...you didn't...you sold your soul...again."
"Sorry buddy." Riku said sadly, "But this is something I have to take care of."
Riku started towards Maleficent. She laughed.
"You think you can beat ME? You can't just walk away from darkness. I know that you think you can, but you CAN'T!"
"I'm here to save Mia, that's all that I want." Riku hissed. His voice had a poisonous tone to it.
"Take her if you can!"
Riku lunged at her but Maleficent was ready. She formed a shield in front of herself and Riku bounced off the top. He landed on his feet and swung his sword at her.
A long battle raged on and both foes seemed equally matched, but every time Riku felt weak he would look over at Mia and his strength was renewed. Finally with one powerful blow he severed her arm.
"ARGGGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!" She screamed in agony.
"Now stand aside or I'll take off your head!" Riku ordered.
Maleficent narrowed her eyes and stepped to the side, still clutching the bloody stump that had been her arm.
Riku started towards Mia. He would get her free first, then he would save Yuna and Katie.
But as he reached out to pick her up from the slab an electric shock ran through his body and launched him back into the wall.
"What gives?!" He yelled wiping blood from a corner in his mouth.
"The spell I put on her keeps anyone but me from removing her from that platform! She will be dead in just a few minutes!" Maleficent laughed.
Riku's mind raced frantically. He had to think of something that could save her. But what? He looked at the glass heart that was slowly filling with Mia's life force.
"Soon you will share that one heart along with the heartless. Your heart will be completely dark and you won't even remember that girl who you sold your soul for!" Maleficent continued.
That's when it hit Riku. The heart! If he could just destroy it then all the life force would go back into Mia and the others. But he now shared that heart with the heartless. What would happen to him if it were destroyed?
He looked over at Mia. He had no choice.
He lifted his sword and slumped towards the heart.
"What are you doing?!" Maleficent shrieked.
"THIS!" Riku yelled. He brought the keyblade down on top of the glass heart. It shattered into a million pieces. There was a flash of light and Maleficent exploded into nothingness.
A golden light surrounded Yuna, Katie, and Mia. Yuna sat up; a few seconds later Katie did the same.
Riku felt a sharp pain in his chest. He looked down at his hands. They were becoming transparent. He fell to the ground and gasped for air.
"RIKU!!!" A voice screamed. Mia had gotten up. Her eyes widened with terror at the site of Riku beginning to vanish. She ran over and knelt by him.
"NO! Riku! You can't die now! There's so much I want to tell you!"
He looked up at her and forced a weak smile. Everyone else ran up towards him.
"Sora," Riku choked, "I want you to keep an eye on Mia for me when I'm gone."
Sora nodded sadly. "Two eyes, whenever I can spare them."
Riku smiled. "Thanks buddy, and Mia I just wanted to say that I love..." Suddenly he gave one last shuddering gasp and vanished.
Mia stretched out her hands where he'd been, as if he would suddenly reappear. But nothing happened he was gone.
He was floating through the inter space between worlds. He wasn't going to land anywhere. That way they wouldn't be able to track him. He leaned back in his chair. By now they must've found that note he'd left for them. He wondered what their reaction had been. Well there was no way of finding out now.
He sighed and closed his eyes. Maybe now he could get some sleep. Maybe his dark side would leave him alone. Maybe.
He drifted off into sleep.
"So you thought you could just run away from your problems didn't you?" His dark side sneered.
"Hey I did what you wanted me to do didn't I?" Riku snapped, "I left Mia behind, she's safer if I'm not there."
"Oh is she really?" Another voice sneered. His dark side vanished and another voice took its place.
"Who are you?" Riku asked.
"That does not matter, you should never trust your dark side it will only deceive you."
"What do you mean?" Riku asked dreading the answer.
"Your dark side was trying to lure you away from Mia! Her life is in danger now that you are no longer there to protect her!"
"YOU LIAR!" Riku yelled.
"How could your love possibly kill her? I will show you the truth now. Look into this orb."
A large spinning golden orb appeared in the center of the room. It was then that Riku got a good look at the speaker. He was wearing golden and white robes and a hood hid his face. A golden light surrounded him. Riku looked into the orb and gasped.
He could see his friends. They were at the entrance of Hollow Bastion fighting a swarm of Heartless. Lulu, Wakka, Tidus, and Kairi had all been knocked out while Sora, Yuna and Mia struggled to defeat them. But something was different about these Heartless. They seemed much stronger.
Finally Sora was knocked to the ground. Two other Heartless grabbed Yuna and Mia and lifted them into the air screaming and flew off with them.
Then the little movie ended.
"Quick! Do something! Save them!" Riku cried to the figure.
"I can't Riku, but YOU can! You must fly to Hollow Bastion and save your friends before it is too late. Go quickly!"
"Right! Thanks!" Riku turned and started to run off but he stopped and turned around to face the figure. "But before I go, I have to ask this, who are you?"
The figure smiled and floated off the ground. "I am your light side."
Riku grinned. "I knew it!"
The two girls were both dragged into the chamber and laid down on two separate slabs of stone. Yuna lay to the left, Katie lay on the right, and Mia was on the middle stone.
Maleficent smiled.
"Finally, I have all three pure-hearts before me! The final incantation shall be uttered and the life force of these three maidens will be sapped from their bodies. I shall use that power to create a heart for the heartless! Then they will become unstoppable!"
She waved her staff and began to mutter the spell.
Riku jumped off the gummi ship and was immediately confronted by a group of heartless. He had resolve burning in his heart. He killed all of them without mercy. He continued along the path to the castle. He ran as fast as his legs would carry him slashing through Heartless as he ran.
"Just a little longer Mia." He thought to himself, "I'll kill Maleficent and save you. I promise."
Suddenly a huge heartless sprang out of nowhere and knocked him off the path to the castle. He fell down to the icy chambers below.
Riku felt himself slam down onto cold hard ice. He sprang up and ran towards the exit. He needed to get back up there now!
"Are you going somewhere?" A voice hissed out of the darkness. He spun around. A hooded figure was standing there.
"Of course I'm going somewhere!" Riku yelled. That voice sounded so familiar.
"You are not strong enough to save Mia." The figure whispered. "There is only one way to be strong enough, you must reopen you heart to darkness!"
"NO WAY!" Riku yelled. He wouldn't! He just couldn't! After everything that had happened...he'd come to far to go back to darkness.
"You must, it is the only way to keep her life-force from being drained."
"What?" Riku asked in horror.
"She's dying, right now as we speak her life-force is slipping away. You were willing to risk darkness for Kairi why not Mia?"
Riku was horrified. All this had happened just because he ran away. It was his fault. It was time to make everything right again. He closed his eyes and outstretched his hands and allowed darkness to sweep over him like a flood.
Sora and the others burst into the castle cathedral. They spotted Maleficent.
"YOU!" Sora yelled. His voice was full of anger.
"Me." Maleficent said evilly.
She stepped towards them. That's when Tidus noticed that Mia, Yuna, and Katie were lying on separate stone slabs just behind her.
"YUNA!" He yelled. Maleficent laughed.
"Don't bother. Your voice can no longer reach her where she is. An enchanted sleep has been placed on her, she cannot wake up."
"What are you planning to do with our friends?" Rikku yelled. Her face was red with anger.
"It's quite simple really. You see this?" She said tapping a large glass heart. It had three chambers in it. Two of the chambers were full but one was only half full. "This is a magic heat that I constructed. The heartless will all share this heart. The summoner and Katie have already lost all their life force but they will not die until the last pure-heart has been sapped. When the heart is complete then the heartless will become unstoppable! Even the keyblade will be useless!"
Sora gripped the keyblade tightly and started towards her but he felt a hand on his shoulder stop him.
"No Sora, leave this one to me." A voice said firmly. Sora spun around. Riku was standing there holding his keyblade. He was wearing the same dark outfit with a heartless insignia on it that he wore when he'd been evil.
"Riku...you didn't...you sold your soul...again."
"Sorry buddy." Riku said sadly, "But this is something I have to take care of."
Riku started towards Maleficent. She laughed.
"You think you can beat ME? You can't just walk away from darkness. I know that you think you can, but you CAN'T!"
"I'm here to save Mia, that's all that I want." Riku hissed. His voice had a poisonous tone to it.
"Take her if you can!"
Riku lunged at her but Maleficent was ready. She formed a shield in front of herself and Riku bounced off the top. He landed on his feet and swung his sword at her.
A long battle raged on and both foes seemed equally matched, but every time Riku felt weak he would look over at Mia and his strength was renewed. Finally with one powerful blow he severed her arm.
"ARGGGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!" She screamed in agony.
"Now stand aside or I'll take off your head!" Riku ordered.
Maleficent narrowed her eyes and stepped to the side, still clutching the bloody stump that had been her arm.
Riku started towards Mia. He would get her free first, then he would save Yuna and Katie.
But as he reached out to pick her up from the slab an electric shock ran through his body and launched him back into the wall.
"What gives?!" He yelled wiping blood from a corner in his mouth.
"The spell I put on her keeps anyone but me from removing her from that platform! She will be dead in just a few minutes!" Maleficent laughed.
Riku's mind raced frantically. He had to think of something that could save her. But what? He looked at the glass heart that was slowly filling with Mia's life force.
"Soon you will share that one heart along with the heartless. Your heart will be completely dark and you won't even remember that girl who you sold your soul for!" Maleficent continued.
That's when it hit Riku. The heart! If he could just destroy it then all the life force would go back into Mia and the others. But he now shared that heart with the heartless. What would happen to him if it were destroyed?
He looked over at Mia. He had no choice.
He lifted his sword and slumped towards the heart.
"What are you doing?!" Maleficent shrieked.
"THIS!" Riku yelled. He brought the keyblade down on top of the glass heart. It shattered into a million pieces. There was a flash of light and Maleficent exploded into nothingness.
A golden light surrounded Yuna, Katie, and Mia. Yuna sat up; a few seconds later Katie did the same.
Riku felt a sharp pain in his chest. He looked down at his hands. They were becoming transparent. He fell to the ground and gasped for air.
"RIKU!!!" A voice screamed. Mia had gotten up. Her eyes widened with terror at the site of Riku beginning to vanish. She ran over and knelt by him.
"NO! Riku! You can't die now! There's so much I want to tell you!"
He looked up at her and forced a weak smile. Everyone else ran up towards him.
"Sora," Riku choked, "I want you to keep an eye on Mia for me when I'm gone."
Sora nodded sadly. "Two eyes, whenever I can spare them."
Riku smiled. "Thanks buddy, and Mia I just wanted to say that I love..." Suddenly he gave one last shuddering gasp and vanished.
Mia stretched out her hands where he'd been, as if he would suddenly reappear. But nothing happened he was gone.