By: Naela
Summary: A being tied to Sora is awakening and now more than ever the Keyblade Master is needed. Only, no one seems to know where he is. How are Riku and Kairi tied into all of this and who are the Non-Existent Ones?
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. They're all property of Squaresoft and Disney.
Chapter Four: In Between
Enigma held out the Kingdom Key--the key that was supposed to belong to King Mickey, but somehow he had it. A thread of energy arced around the golden handle before leaping forward and exploding in a flash of light. That light pulled in on itself and knifed upwards. The space that the energy had travel formed a crack that was large enough to fit three people. It was like peering through a shattered stained glass window and seeing the world behind it.
Lowering his arm, Enigma said, "Let's go."
Riku took a step forward, but stopped when a nagging thought surfaced. "Wait," he said. "What about Goofy and Donald?"
"Who?" asked Enigma, turning away from the crack.
"Goofy and Donald, remember?" Riku asked. He realized that Enigma probably wouldn't remember. "Ah, never mind, they're my friends."
They're supposed to be your friends too.
Crossing his arms, Enigma lowered his eyebrows into a frown in the same fashion Sora used to express disapproval. "Leave them," he said.
"What?"
"I said leave them," Enigma responded in the same calm tone as before. He turned back to the crack. "We don't need to start dragging along any extra dead weight."
"Goofy and Donald are far from being--"
Whirling around to face him, Enigma stepped up to the silver haired boy and glowered at him. "If this is all you're going to do, waste time with your nonsensical blather, then you might as well remain here."
Sora would never say something that cruel.
Enigma headed for the crack and paused to stare at Riku once before disappearing behind it. The silver haired boy silently counted to ten before following and found Enigma waiting for him on the other side. Lazily, the boy waved his Kingdom Key and in a flash of light, the crack disappeared.
"I thought you said the barriers to this world collapsed," Riku said.
Enigma nodded. "The barriers that keep people from entering and leaving have," he said. "But the one that keeps up a semblance of containment is still up."
Reaching up, Riku pulled his blindfold up and over his eyes, allowing him to scan the area around him. They'd stepped into what looked like a twisting hallway filled with row upon row of doors. The walls between each door were cracked, bits and pieces of it shattered, revealing only darkness behind the fallen parts. Above them was a darkened sky, lacking stars or other celestial bodies. The only light in the place was from the glowing emblems emblazoned on the front of every door. He squinted when he stared directly at the emblems but it was a light that he could tolerate.
"What is this place?" he asked.
"The World in Between," Enigma answered. "Between every barrier of a world there is a space. This space is the path that most world travellers go through in order to get into another world."
"You mean that region that most Gummi ships travel through?" Riku asked.
The sandy blond warrior nodded and glanced over his shoulder, "Enough with the questions, we need to get going."
Enigma led him down one corridor, then another. The paths twisted and were as odd in structure as Wonderland's Bizarre Room. At times the halls would go uphill and they would have to climb it and then it would suddenly drop down steeply, and they would have to be careful not to slip and meet with an unfortunate accident. Sometimes there were stairs to mount or descend, and most of the time they came across forks. Enigma always chose the path to the right, and Riku followed, wondering if they were anywhere near their destination.
Just what was their destination?
"Hey," he spoke up.
Enigma hesitated slightly before walking again. "What?"
"Where exactly are we going?"
The sandy haired boy shook his head and opened his mouth to speak, he immediately clamped it shut again and lunged forward, pulling Riku close to him and dragging him back down the corridor they come from.
"Wha-hey!?" Riku exclaimed as he struggled to break free from Enigma's firm grip.
"Shut up!" Enigma snapped and pulled him down another corridor. He flung Riku against the wall and pressed himself against the silver haired boy.
Riku opened his mouth to protest when his attention was drawn to a sound in the distance, one that was growing louder and was ominous as an approaching sound. Riku recognized the noise as it grew louder. It was a thundering herd of multiple footsteps. Focusing on the corridor's entrance, he 'saw' them pass: an entire group of beings dressed in a style similar to his and Enigma's, except, unlike them, these beings were completely faceless, the shadows of their hoods covering their entire face and hiding their features.
Moments passed and the hooded beings continued to file past, not noticing them until Riku fidgeted, lifting his weight from one foot to another as his legs grew tired when he'd unconsciously forced himself to be still. Their heads whipped about and Riku bit back a gasp when he saw the empty hoods. Fear made him call the Oblivion into existence. A hand snaked its way to his grasp onto his wrist and stopped him from making any sudden lunges.
"Don't!" Enigma hissed into his ear. "They're your brethren."
Riku recoiled and knocked his head against the wall. He winced at the pain and momentarily saw spots. By the time his head cleared, the hooded beings that had stopped to stare at them continued moving ahead once more. Eventually the last of them had passed and they were well ahead in the distance.
Shoving Enigma away from him, Riku glared. "What did you mean by that?" he demanded. "My brethren?"
Enigma sighed and walked towards the entrance of the corridor. He peered down the conjoining one in the direction that the beings had gone.
Undeterred, Riku approached the warrior, the Oblivion still in hand. "Answer me!"
"So you truly know nothing," Enigma muttered. Turning away from down the corridor to face the silver haired boy. "After all this time and you still understand nothing."
A part of Riku's mind screamed at him, as warning bells went off. He backed away, suddenly bringing the Oblivion up and holding it at Enigma. The point hovered a mere few centimetres from his nose, but Enigma stared calmly at him, unimpressed.
"What are you doing?"
"The only other person I've known who's spoken words like that was Ansem," Riku snarled. "I get it now, you're just using some sort of illusion of Sora to get to me!"
The other rolled his eyes and began to walk away, strolling down in the direction that the beings had come. He disappeared behind a corner. Moments passed by in silence before Riku lowered the Oblivion. He pressed a hand against his forehead and groaned.
"Maybe I am Ansem."
Riku's heart hammered against his chest. He whirled around to see Enigma in the corner and behind him, suspended in the air was a large, multicoloured crack that silhouetted his figure.
"Or maybe I'm Sora," Enigma continued. "But you know, at this point I really wouldn't care what you think. I could just leave you here and not give a damn, but apparently Mickey thinks you're important, so either you come and actually get somewhere, or you don't and you get be stuck here for the rest of your life."
Approaching him, Riku stood at an arm's length from Enigma and examined him. The other stared back with the same stoic gaze he seemed to always wear. He was Sora on the outside, but he was far from being Sora in personality.
"Why did you call them my brethren?"
Narrowing his eyes, Enigma asked, "Did you truly undergo a metamorphosis without undergoing an awakening?"
"What?"
Enigma shook his head and gestured for him to follow. "I'll answer your questions later, when we're at a safer place." With that said, he stepped through the crack. Riku followed and was surprised when his feet came down against wet sand.
They were on a beach and Riku was relieved to see that it was night. In the sky was a glowing moon that glared brightly at them, causing Riku to blink when realized that the light wasn't causing him pain. Jutting from the ground were strange arches that reached into the dark liquid of the ocean and peppered about the area were dark and glossy rocks.
Stepping towards one of the black boulders, Enigma waved his hands about him in a sweeping gesture. "This place is the Forgotten World," he informed Riku. "This is our genesis."
Riku was about to question him when his foot struck against something hard and he stumbled. Enigma casually reached out and caught him. Nodding curtly at the warrior, Riku scowled and searched the ground, his hands coming across the object that had nearly caused him to trip.
"A glass bottle?" he asked, giving Enigma a questioning look. Inside it was a scroll, so old that it was browning.
"Messages in a bottle," Enigma said with a smirk. He took it from Riku and upturned the bottle, shaking out the contents. A rolled up paper slid out, after unfurling it, he read what was on the parchment. "…Sora."
Riku's head came up. "Huh?"
"That's what the paper says," Enigma replied. He shoved it back into the bottle and tossed it aside. "Sometimes a person's voice will manifest itself in strange ways. Like that bottle over there, I guess someone wanted to meet Sora badly and tried calling out to him. Who knows, maybe it was you."
"Strange…" Riku murmured.
"To you maybe, but this is just something that happens a lot here," Enigma said. "Perhaps you haven't realized it yet, but nothing is normal here."
"What did you mean about this place being our genesis?" Riku asked. "I wasn't born here."
Enigma smiled. "I'm talking about the origin of the Unknown, which is what you and I are."
"The… Unknown?"
"Those beings you saw before, the ones dressed like us, we're like them, something about us was different from other people, and that something changed us into the Unknown."
"But what are they?" Riku asked.
"Basically the keepers of balance," Enigma said. "Every time there's a misbalance, between light and dark, that's where we step in to make up for it. Most Unknown can't fight against this, it's something that they have to follow, only a select few, like us and the Non-Existent Ones, break that rule."
Sitting on a boulder, Enigma stared off into the sea. "This is where the Non-Existent ones come to see into different parts of time. I've been coming here and hoping that I could find some sort of clue on Sora's whereabouts."
Riku stood where he was and glanced back towards the glass bottle. "Why do you want to look for Sora so badly?"
"He's the key," Enigma murmured. "The key to everything, all my questions and not just that… he'll be needed soon."
Riku bent and picked up the glass bottle. "But you're Sora."
There was a chuckle coming from the rock. "It'd be so much easier if I were."
Riku caught sight of the slight scowl on the other's face and watched as he stood up. His hands were clenched momentarily into tight fists, but Enigma visibly forced himself to relax. Taking in deep breaths, the sandy blonde turned to face him. Noticing Riku's concern, Enigma gave him a small but reassuring smile.
"There's nothing here," he said. "We might as well go."
"Where next?"
Enigma shrugged. "I really have no idea, I thought you were the one who'd give me a clue to Sora's whereabouts."
Dropping the bottle, Riku gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry," he mumbled.
"Doesn't matter," Enigma said. He walked swiftly past the silver haired boy towards the edge of the beach and stood there, staring at a spot on the ground. There was a sudden light that made Riku step back and turn his head, though in his mind he could see what was happening: Enigma was standing there with his hands raised above his head. His hands, Riku realized, were the source of the light. Fumbling with his blindfold, he quickly tugged it over his eyes.
The ground beneath his feet trembled though beside him, Enigma didn't seem to notice. The other was still and continued remaining still until a monolith of black rock shot into the sky and stopped its ascent when it cleared over three metres. Enigma glanced once back once and stepped forward into the rock. Just like that, he was gone.
Reaching forward with his hand, Riku frowned when his fingers push through the rock, and soon his entire hand was missing. Taking small steps he walked forward into the boulder and just as each half of him was in between two different places, he felt someone grab his hand and pull him forward. He fell forward when Enigma's steadying hand clamped itself onto his shoulder and straightened him.
They were back in the World In Between, and like every other part of the world, they were in an endless corridor that stretched on into absolute darkness. Enigma moved away from behind him and started traversing to the end of the corridor. They came across an intersection where they had the option of going forward, right, left, or back the way they came. Enigma stopped in the middle and stared straight ahead before turning to face his companion.
"Riku."
The blindfolded boy glanced up. "What?"
"Do you know what the Heartless are?"
Creasing his brow, Riku nodded and held a hand up to his chest. "Creatures born from the bodies of those who have had their Hearts stolen."
"And where did you learn this from?" Enigma questioned.
"From. . . people I knew," Riku replied. "What is this about?"
"Heartless go to places where there's a great abundance of darkness," Enigma said. "In order to do this they must travel through here."
It finally dawned on Riku what his friend was leading up to. He stepped closer to Enigma and scanned the corridors, trying to find traces of the dark creatures. There was a swelling of darkness only a few metres away down the hallway to his left. Pulling out the Oblivion he held it ready and faced the corridor's entrance.
"No need to waste time on them," Enigma said, stepping beside him, both of his hands were empty of weapons. "Our brothers will come soon enough."
Grabbing Riku's arm, Enigma pulled him down the opposite corridor and kept his hand on his arm as he watched the Heartless flood forward. They paused at the junction, sensing the presence of the two. Snarling, the shadows pressed their noses to the ground as if trying to sniff the two warriors out. One came dangerously close to them and was kicked back by Enigma's booted foot. The shadow fell back and screeched, alerting the other Heartless. The entire band of creatures turned their eyes on the two and hissed in tones that expressed their savage desire for their hearts.
Riku's grip tightened on his weapon and in response, Enigma tightened his grip on Riku's arm. He glanced back and forth between the sandy haired boy and the Heartless. A gust of wind blew past the two, causing their coats to flutter and nearly forcing them back. Digging his heels into the ground, Riku saw the source of the wind: a swirling vortex of purple bolts. Through this portal came the Unknown, their hands outstretched and burning with blue energy.
Beside him, Enigma whispered, "Don't move." Riku did his best to follow the instructions.
The Heartless forgot about their quarry and whirled about to face the new comers, sensing them as a threat. One leapt forward and was struck by a blue bolt of energy. It was thrown back, its body filling the air with the scent of burnt flesh. Another bolt was enough to finish it off. Confused by the demise of one of their own, the Heartless began making a slow retreat, keeping their glowing eyes on the band of hooded men as they backed away.
In unison, the Unknown raised their hands, and the glowing intensified. Riku winced and steeled himself to the pain. The iron grip on his arm became tight enough to stop the blood flow into his hand. Above their heads, a mass of blue energy formed, churning and rumbling like a storm cloud. Blue bolts broke away from the mass and lanced across the Heartless. In moments the shadow creatures were gone, but the lightning storm continued. One bolt came dangerously close to Riku and was soon followed by another. The boy jumped away, breaking free from Enigma's grip. The energy cloud immediately veered towards Riku and hovered over the boy's head.
"Idiot! Run!" Enigma snarled at him and shoved him aside.
A very confused Riku began running, inches ahead of the arcs of energy that chased after him. He ran blindly, with his hands flung forward, and continued running in the same fashion until his lungs felt as if they were on fire. He groaned when his palms slammed into a wall, the impact nearly shattering his wrists. Another bolt struck the ground inches away. The next one would hit him if he didn't continue moving. Flinging himself to the side, he came across another wall and felt along it until his hands came across a knob. Twisting it he threw the door open and dove in.
He was surprised when he continued falling.
Enigma ground his teeth and kicked another one of the Unknown aside. It crashed into the wall directly opposite of the warrior and slid to the ground. Another tried walking past him to pursue Riku, but Enigma grabbed a handful of the Unknown's jacket and flung it backwards. None of them tried fighting him for the sole reason that Enigma was a welcomed visitor. Riku, on the other hand, was not. Only Unknown that had gone through a complete metamorphosis would be able to travel through these corridors without worry of coming into harm when they came across another of its kind.
Once again cursing the boy for his stupidity, Enigma kicked another hooded man, sending him flying. If only Riku had listened to him and kept contact. Up until now it'd been Enigma's aura that had been shielding Riku's presence from the Unknown. Separating the contact had separated him from Enigma's protection.
There was a fizzle and the room became considerably dark. Enigma glanced up to see the energy cloud gone, and when he turned to face the Unknown, he saw them moving away, lost and directionless as usual with only the intent of fulfilling their two goals: keeping the balance of the cosmos and preventing any foreigners from entering the World in Between. This sudden change in the Unknown only meant that Riku had escaped from the World in Between.
He stood there and watched as the Unknown disappeared from sight and soon began heading down the corridor that Riku had run into. The scorch marks on the ground were telltale signs of the chase and he found himself inside a corridor that had come to a dead end. There were two doors at the back and glancing from left to right, Enigma assumed that Riku had escaped through one of these two doors. He had a 50% chance of guessing right and the same chance in guessing wrong.
Shrugging, he chose a door--it wasn't as if he would not be able to come back.
Well wasn't that a heap full of information?? Still doesn't clear up too much, I realize, but I think we're going down a very obvious path. Some things to note is the fact that the hooded people in Deep Dive aren't really called the Unknown. It's just this unofficial term some fans coined up for them and I've come to know them as... Unknown... er.. ok, that was an awkward sentence. O_o
Anyway, it seems that Enigma and Riku's been separated, awww!! After just meeting up!!! Oh well, I can promise that in the future chapters that these two will be uniting again but for now Enigma and Riku's gonna be having a few adventures on their own. The old FF crew from Kingdom Hearts are gonna be coming back... along with Sephiroth (Hee hee) and a few others. Ok, I'm gonna admit that I'm not really a Sephiroth fangirl but I'm enjoying the role I have planned up for him. Ooooh but saying too much is gonna spoil it for ya guys. Hmmm what else am I forgetting? Oh right, any Leon and Yuffie fans out there are gonna be disappointed as I love Squinoa and just can't bear to see my favourite pairing broken up. It's like... putting Tidus and Selphie together when Tidus and Yuna are clearly meant for each other... it's just wrong!! Ah yes, better stop talking, ok, next chapter, we'll be seeing Enigma's story and his interaction with the people in the world he lands in.
SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Deja Vu, who's a wonderful beta reader who even reviews!!
Chibigenius: Glad you're liking the fic and yeah, I know it was a real stretch to have Kairi fighting and winning against Tidus but taking in all of the factors that she's been training since she returned to Destiny Islands and the fact that Tidus was going easy on her, well it's pretty inevitable that she'd get a victory. It's more of an ego booster for her than anything... but that's for later chapters. Ah, and someone who's not a Final Fantasy fan, well I hope you can bear with me with some of the future fics, lol.
Dragonmaster Dyne: Ah, glad you liked my little easter eggs, though whether or not Auron and Yuna will be playing a bigger role is up to my muses to decide. ^_~
Koorino Megumi: Whew! Glad you liked the last chapter, I was actually nervous about it since there seems to be very few Kairi fans. I also really wanted to include the scene between Kairi and Sora's mother since that was the one thing that I was sorely disappointed with in Kingdom Hearts: Sora never showing any sort of concern for his family!! I don't know about anyone else here, but I'd be bawling my eyes out if I realized that my parents were possibly dead. Ah well, at least it gave me some ideas. *G*
Cynthia Chen: I share your joy! Brings out the champange and cookies Ok, odd food combinations but I am definitely elated over the fact that there really IS going to be a sequel. I hope that it does live up to my expecations... but then again FFX-2 didn't and I'm really looking forward to that game. lol. Oh, and who says Riku/Sora is bad? Heh, I just happen to find Sora+Kairi really sweet, ok I'm a sucker for sap. (Ok, I admit that I do happen to like the idea of Riku/Tidus as Dragonmaster Dyne's "Gone Too Far" fic has converted me even though Tidus+Yuna still holds a special place in my heart.)
shadowwind: Thanks for the review!! Of course I'm gonna keep this up and I'm glad you like my writing!!!