Open Your Eyes

Chapter 5: The Promise



I let these words roll around in my head. The others? What others? Slowly but surely, I came to realize what he was saying. I felt a wave of nausea hit me as a sort of sick discovery washed over me. It must have showed on my face because Riku began to smirk.

"You figured it out pretty fast. I'm impressed," he said, still with that smirk on his face. I couldn't look him in the eye. I was deathly scared of what I would find in those stunningly chilling blue green eyes of his.

"You can say who it was, unless you're too scared to," he continued. I took a chance and looked him in the eye. I soon came to regret it. As I looked him in the eye, I saw the emotion that I had been dreading to se. It was the emotion that only a madman has in his eyes after he talks about killing people. It was triumph. There was no sorrow in his deep eyes. Only triumph. My stomach twisted.

"You... you killed Wakka," I said. The effort almost tore my heart in half. This was a familiar feeling; I experienced it every time Dark Dude had played with his new friends back on that far away place called Earth.

"One down, two to go," said Riku. He still had that grin on his face. It was almost making me angry now.

"You killed Selphie, and Tidus," I said, choking out their names. Again, that feeling of my heart being torn in half. I looked Riku in the eye again. I saw a change in his eyes as soon as I looked at him. I don't know what he saw in my eyes, but I know what I saw in his; it was a flicker of fear. It was brief, but I saw it there.

"Very good. We have a winner," said Ansem. I had forgotten about him. I whirled to make sure he wasn't planning an attack. He wasn't. He was standing there with the same sickening smirk on his face as Riku. Only his Ansem's seemed... more practiced. Almost like his face had spent lots of time in that exact position. I shuddered, and turned back to Riku.

"Why Riku, why?" I asked. I wasn't crying , and my voice no longer shook. I wanted to know why. I reached into my pocket to find the packet of Kleenex that Wakka had given me. I pulled it out. I then clenched my hand, forming a fist around the Kleenex. I was scared that I would crush the Kleenex, but I kept on squeezing it. As if doing so would make strength leek out of it like a sponge, so I could soak it up.

"They were some of your best friends; you grew up with them, you played with them, cried with them. So why?" I asked again. I was beginning to feel rage well up inside of me.
Riku simply smirked.

" Why did I kill them? They were in my way. They were trying to tell me that this was wrong. They tried to stop me from taking the keyblade from Ansem. They told me that there was hope. But there is no hope. I realize that now, and I won't be forgetting it any time soon," Riku said. The smirk was still in place, but it was like he was forcing it now. His voice had changed too. It was now sinking into bitterness.

"But Riku..." I started. What would I say? The same things that Wakka, Tidus and Selphie had said? That only got them killed. Since Riku knew them way better then me, and he had still killed them, I'd say that I would get less mercy then those guys.

" It was almost fun," Riku continued. "Wakka knew what was coming, so he tried to take me down with his blitzball. But, he was no match for me. the way Selphie screamed when I thrust the sword right through Wakka's heart... it was so... gratifying to hear. Wakka's last words were, ' Leave them'. I'm surprised he managed to talk at all through his tears. I obviously didn't listen," said Riku. His smirk was starting to slide a little now.

"You, you..." I trailed off, unable to finish. I don't swear almost at all, so I was trying to think of a non-swear word that was bad enough for Riku. My fear was slowly retreating, making way for the anger that was now starting to flow through my blood.

"Tidus was next. He put up a good fight; he was angry though, and his emotion blinded him. He fought with his heart, not his head. He fell after a while. He died in front of Selphie, blocking her from one of my sword thrusts. He was glaring at me as he fell, and tears of rage were falling from his eyes. Selphie screamed again..." Riku continued. The smirk was fading fast from his face. His eyes were still triumphant, but I thought I saw pain too; that kind of pain that is numb only for a time, then comes back at full strength.

"You fricken' hell-dweller!" I spat at him. I took an involuntary step towards him. I was breathing fast and was ready for a fight... or was I? All he had wanted was Kairi... so why had he killed his friends? His gory details were making me feel sick. Both Tidus and Wakka had died protecting the ones they loved. And Riku... but why?

"And then Selphie. She screamed and yelled at me, and then just gave it her all. She just flew at me with her little skipping rope, and her anger blinded her as it did Tidus. The scream he let loose when she died," Riku said, while tilting his head up as if in ecstasy, "was heaven."

"You freakin' idiot!" I yelled at him. I took another step towards him and then stopped myself. This was how Selphie and Tidus got themselves killed. By hurling themselves at Riku in rage. I should calm myself down...

"But you still haven't answered my question, " I said, trying to banish the rage inside me. "Why did you do it?"

"I did answer it," said Riku." They were in my way."

"That's no reason to kill somebody!" I countered. But then again, was it?

"They told me that there was another way. They said that Kairi did love me..." said Riku. The smirk had been completely wiped from his face now. His icy blue green eyes seemed to be melting, as if someone was heating them from inside his head. I stared at him, then I thought of something.

"Just not in the same way she loves Sora, right?" I asked, my voice softening. I knew exactly how Riku felt. It was that feeling of loving someone, even as a friend, but knowing they could never know, or care about you the same way.

Riku turned to face me. He was angry again, and his silver eyebrows almost joined in the middle, making his eyes look like slits. Uh-oh, I thought. I think I crossed the line there.

"You fucking couldn't know," hissed Riku. "You could never know." And with that, he threw himself at me.

As that was the last thing I had been expecting, so I had only enough time to lift my sword up in order to parry his attack. I saw the muscles in his arms tense as he pushed off of my blade with his, and circled around for another attack. I whirled to see him coming at me from the other side. I knew that I had to defend myself, but I also knew that I wouldn't be able to just defend myself forever. I would need to attack Riku; but he might not stop until he was killed. That was what I was afraid of.

I brought my blade up to block Riku's second attack. "No one can feel what I feel," he hissed quietly at me.

"That's where you're wrong,' I said. This time I pushed his blade away, and quickly slashed at his exposed left arm. My sword made contact, cutting through his dark coloured outfit and into the pale flesh beneath it. I saw red blood start to flow out of the wound, and thought, I did that. I caused someone else pain. I gasped and backed away slowly, while Riku stared at the wound in shock. He took in the sight of the blood flowing out of his pale, freshly cut skin. He then looked up to me and snarled. I wanted to back away, but I forced myself to stay. I needed him to think that I was not afraid of killing him.

"You say you've felt pain," Riku said. I nodded, eager to see where he was getting to. "Who inflicted it? Who inflicted this pain that you say is equal to mine?"

'One of my best friends, " I said slowly. "And... a few others I've met". I wanted him to see that he was not alone.

"Who were they?" he snarled. I noticed that he was getting ready for another attempt to kill me, so I prepared myself.

'That's... that's none of your business!" I said. It really wasn't. So why was he asking?

"That's too bad!" he roared. He then charged at me, sword held high. I brought my sword up to try and block it, but he was much more powerful then me. He knocked my sword out of my hand and threw me to the floor. I hit the ground hard, whimpering in pain as the hard marble connected with my still-tender side. He then brought the blade up to right above my heart. Riku could kill me, so why was he waiting? Did he want to make it slow and painful?

"Who were they?" he asked again. I thought about it, then answered.

"One of my best friends, Dark Dude, and this guy I used to like," I spoke. I was trembling there on the hard, cold floor. I was so scared. Riku just snorted.

"You can't fucking know how I feel," he said. "You can't."

"Maybe I don't know exactly how you feel," I said. "Or maybe I don't feel it a s much as you. But, I do know what you feel," I was taking a chance.

"What do you want?" Riku asked. That question caught me off guard. That was probably the last thing I was expecting him to say. After I thought for a moment, I gave him my answer.

"I want to get home alive, and in one piece," I replied. I could take everything from there; all I need to do was get home. "I know this is sort of a stupid question, but what do you want?"
Riku sighed and looked away. After a couple of seconds, he turned back to me and answered.

"I want to keep Kairi safe," he answered. I chanced another look in his eyes to try and see if he was lying. What I saw in his eyes surprised me. There were real tears in his eyes. He hadn't started crying yet, but one more move and he would.

"That's reasonable," I said. "You just want to protect the people you care about." I took a deep breath. He hadn't killed me yet; why? I was starting to relax a little, but not much. I glanced around the floor, looking for my weapon. It lay only a few feet from my right hand. I turned back to Riku.

"That's all I wanted to do on Earth too," I said. "I-I wanted Dark Dude to be happy, and safe..." I trailed off. Maybe Riku was wrong. Maybe this was the same thing as he felt. He looked me in the eye. It felt like his eyes were piercing my flesh, looking right into my soul. I let out a small squeak.

"Stop that!" I said angrily, turning away. There were only a few people I knew that could look at me like that, and look right through me. Right now he was reminding me of only one of those people. Dark Dude. Riku didn't seem to be finished with me though. He grabbed both sides of my face with his hands and forced me to keep eye contact with him. I felt my eyes tearing. I was going to loose it if he didn't stop soon. Riku's stunning eyes kept searching me, as if he was looking for something that he lost. After what seemed like hours, he released my face and looked away for a moment, thinking. I was grateful for him releasing me, and I took a deep breath. I also took off my glasses and wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. Riku then transferred his sword to his left hand and stuck out his right, as if he wanted to shake my hand. I must have looked confused, because he laughed.

"I'll make you a deal. I think we might be able to help each other. You can help me find Kairi, and I'll help you find a way home. If you fail, I'll kill you. Understand?" Riku finished his offer. I stared at him for a moment. Well, trying this was better then dying now. This way, we both might get what we wanted. I frowned though, thinking of what Riku had done before. He had killed 3 of his best friends, maybe without a second thought. Was this a good idea? Maybe coming with Riku in the first place wasn't a good idea. I sighed. This was not the time to think about past choices I had made. Even though Riku was clearly not completely right in the mental department, going with him now held a better chance of surviving and getting home. I took a deep breath and made my choice.

"Okay," I said, reaching out with my right hand to shake his. "I understand." I smiled at him. I knew that this was strictly business, but at least I might not be alone anymore.

"Stop it!" said Ansem from behind Riku. 'You belong to me!" he yelled at Riku, pulling him closer. I glared at Ansem, rolling over and grabbing my sword.

"Do you know how gross that sounds?" I asked Ansem, then swung my sword at the arm he was using to hold Riku. To my surprise, I made contact, and blood began to flow out of Ansem's arm. I grabbed Riku's uninjured arm and pulled him away from Ansem.

"Thanks," said Riku, looking over at me.

"No problem," I replied, smiling. I then felt something under my feet. Riku and I looked down to see that small puddles of light were growing at our feet. I immediately grabbed Riku's hand. There was no way in hell that I would loose track of him. Riku looked over at me, a little unsure.

"It's okay," I said. "The last time these things popped up, I went to Destiny Islands. It has to be someplace good," I said. well, at least I hoped that we would be going someplace good. Riku nodded at me, and said something that I never expected.

"You won't leave me, right?' he asked. I did a double take. Was that Riku talking to me? I then realized that he simply wanted a guarantee. He wanted to know that I wouldn't run off, and leave him to fend for himself. Not that I doubted that Riku couldn't take care of himself, but...

"Never," I replied simply. Riku nodded again, and, with that, we sank into the pools of light, wondering what was going to happen next.

By: Luna20 C

Author's Note: I'm sorry that this has taken me so long everyone. I hope that it is to your liking. Even though it sucks... Please reveiw. It would mean a lot to me. Arigato everyone!

AlWaYs,
Luna20 C