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 Thirteen: Morning Glory
Enigma wondered when it'd begun. When had he become so dependant on another person? Enigma absently pulled up the zipper of his duster and stood in front of the lavatory's mirror, trying to find the answer in his reflection. Readjusting his hood, he turned away from the mirror, no longer able to look at his own reflection for too long without thinking of his "twin". Every time he stared into his own eyes, he saw Sora's blue eyes gazing back at him. There was no denying the uncanny resemblance even if he didn't like how just about everyone he'd come in contact with seemed adamant at pushing an opinion at him. Before, it'd been fine when he rarely came across people who knew Sora, but now it was a flood of people, one after another, each having the same initial reaction every time they saw him--even Kairi…
He glanced into the next room, at the empty bed he'd just recently shared with Kairi. It was an hour ago when she'd left, not before giving him a quick peck on the cheek and reassuring him that she was fine. Enigma didn't believe her reassurances, but since he wasn't sure how to comfort her, he'd let her go. After she'd gone, Enigma had reflected that he should have asked her to stay. He didn't feel very right whenever she was gone. There was an emptiness in his chest that flourished into existence after she left.
He left the lavatory and entered the bedroom. It was painfully empty without her. Lowering himself onto the bed, he sat stiffly, his back straight and his arms folded across his chest.
There were memories, ones that were so faint and annoyingly vague that he tended to keep them packed away in the back of his mind rather than contemplate their meaning. When Kairi was near, they had a tendency to resurface. They were pockets of blue skies and long sunny days, but, though he didn't know why, in those memories, he'd been happy.
He was forced out of his contemplation when he felt a gaze boring into him. Frowning, Enigma's gaze shot up to the ceiling and immediately found the source. Wedged in a corner with her feet pressed flat against the walls was a girl around his age with short black hair and a green top. She looked mildly surprised that he'd spotted her. Her shock turned into a grin, and she winked at him. She dropped from the ceiling, landing gracefully on her feet.
After striking a dramatic pose, she ran up to him and folded her arms across her chest, grinning in triumph. "Squall's definitely right about you," she declared. "You're the first person asides from him to be able to pick up my presence!"
Enigma gave her a cold look, not sharing her enthusiasm. "Why exactly are you in my room?"
The girl paused, a blank look on her face as she thought over the question. "Weeeeeell… Aerith's making breakfast, and since you're our guest, she wanted you to be there, too." The girl planted her hands on her hips. "I don't know why she'd want that after you were so rude yesterday."
"Cry me a river," Enigma muttered. He stood and strolled past her. "You can tell her that I won't be joining her. Now get out."
He heard the girl gasp at his brush off, and then she hmphed before running ahead of him and planting herself firmly in his path. He stopped and levelled a scowl at her. The girl was far from being deterred and glared back. "You're so rude!! I mean, here's Aerith, and she's trying to be nice, and you're just brushing her off!"
"I'm well aware of that," Enigma retorted.
The girl leaned back, frowning, and suddenly let out a small gasp as a mischievous gleam flashed in her eyes. She quickly took on an impassive visage. "You know… Kairi's going to be there, too," she informed him. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't curb the sly twist of her lips. "Same with Riku, too."
Enigma stared at her, very well aware of her game, but he had to admit that the thought of Kairi and Riku being in the same room together without him there didn't sit too well with him. His scowl deepened as he brought a hand to his forehead. "Fine, just fine, I'll go," he said, sighing heavily.
The girl smirked and pumped a fist at her triumph. She let out a, "Score!" before turning and bolting out of the room. Enigma watched her leave and was suddenly struck by a realization. He had no idea where the dining room was located. Sighing, he sat on the bed, hoping that they'd send someone for him.
He waited for fifteen minutes, then another ten minutes, and then gave up, realizing that they wouldn't be sending anyone up to guide him to the dining room. Enigma considered forgetting about joining them for breakfast, knowing that they were probably close to finishing. Still, he wanted to make sure nothing was happening between Kairi and Riku, and the best way to ensure that was to be there himself.
He left his room after waiting another five minutes and glanced up and down the hall, hoping to find someone who could direct him to the dining room. The hall was empty, and he scowled at the lack of help. Settling on his last resort, he reached out with his senses, hoping to pinpoint Kairi's or even Riku's location.
There.
Sure enough they were together, and they were only a few floors below him. Memorizing their location, Enigma headed for the stairs and hurried his way towards them. He stopped when he reached a commercial area that was already busy with crowds of people milling near the stands. He had a hard time making it across the floor. Whereas people would normally try to avoid making contact with him, quite a few of the pedestrians here were bumping right into him, making Enigma growl each time as he was forced back a few steps.
A blonde boy, who appeared human save for his tail, shoved past him. Enigma's scowl deepened, and just as he was about to take a step forward, his mind snapped to a realization, and he whirled around. His hand snaked forward, grabbing the boy's tail. The boy let out a pained howl as Enigma pulled him back and released his tail, grabbing his collar instead.
"My munny," Enigma stated. He lifted the boy off his feet and held out his free hand. "You took it, and I want it back."
The boy scowled at him. "You accusing me of being a thief?" he snapped.
Enigma rolled his eyes and reached into the boy's pockets, pulling out his stolen munny bag. Dropping the boy, he turned and walked away, only to stop once again. He turned and sidestepped. The blonde boy hurled past him, bumping into another pedestrian. He groaned and stood up, glaring at Enigma.
"You were trying to attack me?" Enigma asked, his voice clearly indicating what he thought of the idea of an attack from the boy.
"My tail still hurts from that yanking!" the boy exclaimed, catching the attention of many of the shoppers. There was a sudden grin on his face, and clearly he was enjoying their stares.
"My sincerest apologies," Enigma retorted. "Now start acting your age and live with it."
The boy's grin faded, and he growled, hurling himself forward again. Like before, Enigma easily sidestepped the attack and watched as the boy skidded to a halt, flailing his arms to keep his balance. Rolling his eyes, the hooded warrior brought his hand up and pushed his assailant forward, sending him to the ground.
"Are you going to stop now?" Enigma questioned. His eyes darted about the ring of spectators that had gathered in only a matter of minutes. He fought back a grimace and brought his gaze back to the boy. "Or do you want to further humiliate yourself?"
"Not until you apologize!" the boy exclaimed, puffing out his chest. He pulled out a dagger and scrambled to his feet. There was a slight gasp from the crowd as the boy waved the gleaming blade, showing it off to them.
Enigma, on the other hand, was calm. Being threatened by a weapon was nothing new to him, and he had nothing to fear from the boy. He could see that the thief wasn't ready to use the dagger on him. His hand was trembling, and the hesitant look in his eyes was enough to reassure Enigma that the boy held no real danger to him.
In one fluid motion, Enigma summoned the Oathkeeper and swung the weapon fast enough that it became a blur. It knocked the dagger from the boy's hand. The boy, along with the crowd, jumped at the quick attack and watched in amazement as Enigma dismissed the keyblade.
The boy dove for his weapon and had his hand on its hilt when a voice spoke above the crowd's murmuring. "That's enough," it commanded.
The crowd parted, and Enigma turned to see Leonhart standing behind the gathering of people. The brown haired warrior approached them calmly, the chains and buckles of his belts rattling noisily with each step he took. He stopped before the boy and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, lifting him onto his feet.
"This is your final warning, Zidane," he said as he dropped the boy. "Make another scene like this again, and I won't have any problems with tossing you into the dungeon."
The boy's face soured as he brushed himself off. His eyes scanned the crowd and registered their stares for the first time. Blushing a beat red, he nodded, and Leonhart thumped him on the back. "Now apologize to Enigma," he ordered.
Grumbling incoherently under his breath, Zidane faced Enigma, his eyes on the ground as he mumbled his apology. Giving Leonhart one final, wary glance, the thief turned on his heel and ran.
"Nothing more to see here. Get going," Leonhart told the crowd, waving his hand dismissively. He turned to face Enigma. Leonhart brought a hand to his forehead, rubbing the scar that ran from there to his left cheek. "I'm not appreciating the fact that you're picking fights with my people."
"The boy was the one who stole from me," Enigma said defensively, not liking how he was being accused.
"Now there's a surprise," Squall muttered dryly, folding his arms across his chest as he shifted his weight from one leg to the other.
"You're here to guide me to the dining room?" Enigma questioned.
"As a matter fact, yes," Squall replied. "Yuffie never did have enough insight to realize that not everyone knows how to get from point A to point B."
"I might as well not go," Enigma said, his old doubts beginning to resurface. "Breakfast is probably over by now."
Leonhart marched forward, offering him only a slight shrug. "That's life," he replied. "But we still need you down in the dining room. There are some items of importance that we need to discuss."
The rest of the trip to the dining room was walked in silence. Leonhart led the way while Enigma followed, his eyes observing the layout of the citadel and committing it to memory for future instances where he might need to know how to reach the dining room. They stopped before a pair of double doors.
"Riku is in there," Leonhart informed him.
Enigma nodded. "I know that," he replied. Beyond the door were a number of pulsating auras. One of them he could identify as Riku's, and sitting next to him was Kairi.
"I don't know who you are or why exactly you're here, and I'm going to be honest and say that I don't trust you, but…" Leonhart cast his eyes towards the door and frowned. "I trust Riku even less."
"That's nice to know," Enigma said. He wondered if the other felt it, too--the sudden surge of darkness in Riku's aura. Before it'd been a grey light, a little dim, but still light. Now it was tainted, dominated by an evil presence that Enigma couldn't place his finger on. Though there was a great level of animosity between them, Enigma wondered what had brought about the change. "What makes you distrust him?"
"He just reminds me of someone," Leonhart replied. He shook his head. "We'll talk about it later."
He pushed one of the large wooden doors open and held it for Enigma as the boy stepped into the dining room. Everyone from the library and a few new faces were there, and they were all busy, centred around a large table and gorging on a simple breakfast that Aerith had set out.
Squall closed the door, moved towards Rinoa, and seated himself. Every eye on the table had shifted to Enigma now, and he ignored them, walking over towards Kairi instead, who greeted him with a warm smile. Enigma was hesitant to smile back at her, not with this many people watching him, and managed a small one before seating himself in the empty chair beside her.
Someone had gone out of their way to set out a plate of eggs and toast for him, and he stared at it quizzically and then up at Kairi, who gave him a reassuring smile. His eyes wandered beyond her towards Riku, who stared darkly at him. He held Riku's gaze before Kairi leaned forward, breaking the lock. "Say… Squall?" she spoke up. The brown haired warrior who sat on the other side of the table raised an eyebrow in acknowledgement.
"You said that once Enigma arrived we'd talk about the situation," Kairi reminded him. She gave him a pointed look.
Leonhart gave her a stare before sweeping his eyes across the others and resting on Rinoa, offering her a questioning look. She shrugged and smiled reassuringly at him. "Might as well," she told him.
"Yes, well I'm sure all of you are well aware of what I want to talk about," Leonhart said. His eyes darted over towards Enigma and Kairi. "Except for you two, but we'll go over the details soon."
"This is about Sephiroth, right?" Riku asked. There was an awkward silence in the room as all eyes suddenly darted towards Cloud, who was sitting between Rinoa and Aerith.
Squall nodded. "Yes… Sephiroth…" he muttered. "Five years of absence and he's back."
"Why is this Sephiroth important?" Enigma questioned. "Who is he?"
"A crazy bastard!" Yuffie exclaimed, shooting out of her chair. She suddenly clamped her mouth shut and glanced furtively in Cloud's direction. The blonde haired warrior glanced the other way.
"Yuffie," Squall said in warning.
"Sorry!" the ninja exclaimed and promptly plopped back into her seat.
"Sephiroth's a number of things," Cloud said, his clawed hand tightened into a fist. "But he's also supposed to be dead. I killed him five years ago! He's supposed to be dead!" He blinked as he realized that Aerith had reached over and taken his hand.
"Not like people coming back from the dead is that impossible," Riku muttered.
"That's the issue we need to address," Squall said, nodding his head. "That and also the reason why he's back."
"Someone brought him back," Cloud declared. "There's no possible way for him to make it back on his own. There was an outside force… I saw this happen all the time when I was working with Hades… men and women who journey to the underworld in order to bring their loved ones back by making a deal with the devil."
Squall nodded, though his gaze drifted over towards Riku, suddenly understanding how his best friend had been brought back from the dead. The boy was very well aware of what the others in the room were thinking and had his head bowed, avoiding their gazes. Kairi seemed to notice his sullen mood and leaned over towards him, resting a hand on his shoulder.
"So you're implying that someone made a deal with Hades to bring Sephiroth back," Squall mused. He frowned. "That solves the first issue, but what about the second?"
"Well… why not just ask Hades?" Yuffie suggested. "I'm betting he'd tell you!"
"You could, but the information would come with a price," Cloud replied. "Nothing from Hades is ever free."
Riku snorted, catching the attention of everyone in the room. He leaned back in his chair and stared at his hands, refusing to meet their gazes, but the smirk on his face told them that what Riku knew was contrary to what Cloud knew.
"Even if we do decide to ask Hades…" Squall resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "We wouldn't be able to reach him. The Gummi ships have been out of order since the day the barriers had been restored."
Cid thumped a fist against the table, rattling the plates and silverware. "What the HELL??? You forgetting about the fact that I'm the best god damn Gummi mechanic there is Squall?!?!"
The brown haired warrior leaned back against his seat, rubbing his scar. "No, I'm not forgetting about you, Cid," he said through clenched teeth. "If you think that you can fix them, then go ahead."
"Fine!" Cid retorted. "You'll be pissing in your pants when you see the fine work those babies will be in when I'm done!"
"…Whatever," Squall muttered.
"Wouldn't it be faster if Enigma just teleported you guys there?" Kairi asked.
Squall raised an eyebrow. "Teleport?" he questioned. He stared at Enigma. "You can do that?"
Enigma shrugged. "I can," he replied.
"Would you mind?" Aerith asked.
"Of course he wouldn't!" Kairi spoke for him before Enigma could open his mouth. She leaned back, giving him an innocent smile.
"No… of course not," Enigma replied, shooting her an irritated look.
"Well then… who do we send with Enigma?" Squall asked.
"Aerith won't be going," Cloud declared firmly. "And I won't be leaving her side."
The others nodded in agreement with his decision. They understood his desire to protect Aerith, especially since Sephiroth had return, but they also were aware of the fact that Hades wouldn't take his return to the underworld too kindly.
"I'll go!" Rinoa volunteered.
"No you won't," Squall snapped. "You're staying here."
Rinoa directed a challenging look at him. "Really now?" she questioned. There was a dangerous edge to her voice. "What suddenly gives you the right to dictate my life, Squall?"
Squall gave her a hard look, one that bore no tolerance for defiance. "I'm not going to argue with you, Rinoa. You're staying, and that's final. I won't have you putting your life in danger again."
She scowled as he turned his attention towards the others at the table. "Anyone else willing to go?"
"Busy with the frickin' ships," Cid replied, moving the straw he was chewing on to the corner of his mouth as he spoke. "Fixin' 'em up is going to take time."
Shifting his gaze down the table, Squall raised an eyebrow. "No one then?"
Yuffie shot up, startling those who were sitting by her. She snapped her fingers, catching the attention of the others who had managed not to notice her abrupt movement. "I'll go!"
Squall frowned as he levelled his gaze at her. His head snapped forward, and he was about to retort a negative and command the girl to sit back in her seat. Yuffie, however, had sprung out of her seat and was pumping a fist into the air.
"I'll get things ready!" she informed everyone and dashed out of the room.
The door slammed, finalizing her decision. Squall gave Rinoa an impatient look as he heard her chuckling softly. Meeting his gaze with a shrug, she gave him a large grin. "You raised her," she said. "Is it any wonder that she has your stubbornness?"
"You're not helping," he growled.
Her retort was to stick her tongue out at him before turning to face Aerith and sharing a short giggle with the woman in pink. Squall brought a hand to his scar and, out of habit, began rubbing it to alleviate the oncoming headache.
Kairi found herself smiling as she watched Squall deal with Rinoa. Despite the fact that they'd just had a slight falling out, they'd somehow mended the rift in a matter of minutes without even uttering an apology. She chanced a side-ways glance at Enigma, who was sitting stiffly in his seat, wearing his usual emotionless mask. He noticed her stares and frowned slightly. There was a crack in his mask, and she could see a conflict of two emotions as he blinked multiple times. Finally his visage relaxed, and he offered her a slight smile. She smiled back, and suddenly an idea came to mind as she turned back to gaze at Squall.
"We'll go, too!"
Squall brought his hand away from his scar and gave her a doubtful look. "You three?"
Kairi glanced hesitantly at Riku and Enigma. While there was a slight crease to Enigma's brow, he gave no indication of not wanting to go. Riku, on the other hand, was frowning and giving her an odd look.
"…Yes. All three of us, Enigma's going to be needed to open the portal anyway, right? And Riku and I could help him."
Riku shook his head as he leaned back in his seat. "I don't think I should be going," he announced. "After what happened last time, I don't think Hades would take another visit from me too warmly." Beside him, Kairi stared at him in shock. Riku refused to meet her eyes.
Across the table, Cloud shifted in his seat and met Riku's gaze. "It would be best for you to go," he said. "You managed before to…convince him to let me go."
Riku appeared apprehensive as he considered the warrior's words. There was a slight pressure on his mind as a certain presence made itself known, urging him to go.
"You don't have to go."
Riku turned to stare at Enigma. "What?"
"You can stay here," Enigma said. "Kairi and I can go, and we'll handle the situation. We'll manage without you."
Riku bristled at Enigma's words, and he scowled. Turning away from the hooded warrior, he caught Leonhart's attention. "I'm going," he declared.
Squall slowly nodded as he assessed the trio and finally came to a conclusion. "Then it's settled. You three can leave whenever you're ready, and all of Hollow Bastion's resources are yours."
"And thank you for your help, too," Aerith spoke up. "We really do appreciate what you're doing."
"It's not a problem," Kairi said, giving Aerith a wide grin.
"Well then… let's get the three of you ready," Rinoa suggested. She stood and turned to face Squall. "And you better talk to Yuffie, convince her to stay."
Squall nodded at her. "Right… Enigma, Kairi, Riku, I'll speak with you three later. Wait in the library after you're done."
"All right," Kairi said and watched as Squall turned and left the dining room.
Cid snorted as he strolled past them. "I can't believe we're depending on a buncha kids," he muttered loudly enough for them to hear.
"Cid!" Aerith rebuked.
The older man shrugged. "What?" he asked. "Just stating an opinion. Got a problem with that?"
"That's not how you speak to a guest," Aerith scolded.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, don't give me that crap," Cid retorted and paused before he glanced down at the trio. "Uh, thanks."
"No problem," Kairi said, grinning up at the older man.
"Snotty little kids," Cid mumbled as he sauntered out of the room. It was only a matter of minutes before the room emptied and only Rinoa, Cloud, Aerith and the trio remained.
"Well then," Rinoa said, clasping her hands together. "An afternoon to ourselves."
"What now?" Kairi asked.
Rinoa gave Kairi a sly look. "Let's go shopping."
Argh... slooooow updates, but I'm happy to finally get this chapter out. I was planning on updating sooner, but I was focusing on other... stuff. Yeah, mainly I just finished a big arse test and I've also been focusing some time on this Kingdom Hearts fanfiction archive I've been working on with Koorino Megumi. Haha, yes, shameless plugging, you guys can find the URL to the fanfiction archive in my profile and those of you who have KH fics should submit them! I'd be happy to receive fanfics from you guys. Ooooh and another thing, Megumi and I've started a KH fanfic mailing list... so sign up!!
Okay, shameless plugging aside, I have no real comment about this chapter. It's chock full of FF character cameos and this was bound to happen sometime sooner or later. Hope you guys enjoyed it, next chapter has our favourite trio making a startling discovery, good or bad? Who knows... well I do, but you guys can guess!
SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Ari Powwel: Ehehehe... *sweatdrops* I guess it's time to confess that I don't proof read my author's notes and that embarrassing typo just shows it. Wow, so I'm not the only one who stays up late to read fanfics. Oh don't worry about what I said about Hades and Riku, that was just in reply to another reviewer.
choas-x: Hmmm big Xenosaga fan I see. ^_^ No, I do like Xenosaga, I just don't like it as much as Xenogears. Xenosaga would be one of the better RPGs out there, but I just wasn't all too impressed with the characterization, but I suppose I shouldn't really make comments like that until I've played through the entire series, but you can see the problem with that. Anyway, enough Xenosaga talk. I'm glad you were surprised about the Riku and Ansem revelatin.
ElfGoddess: Well... I dunno about punching them in the face. Riku seems a little too sweet and more polite than that... but I suppose laughing insanely isn't something he'd do anyway. So was it Ansem or Riku? Well... you could say it was a combination of both, but Riku's laughter was heavily influenced by Ansem, not that I was expecting a lot of people to figure that out. ^_^
Meiko: Yep, yep, the dream was definitely interesting to write. Especially when Kairi and Enigma have the same dream, though I have to admit that the entire sequence was just filled with doofy symbolism.
Koorino Megumi: Well you know I try to make things mysterious especially for you. =P
Refugee: Thank you! I try to keep characterization in mind when I write.
Victorious Light: Well you should know that I can't answer that! You can decide whether or not Enigma's a killer hehehe... well decide until I reveal whether or not that's true. *is evil*
Bunni: Wow! Another Riku fan! I'm glad I'm not disappointing you guys with Riku's characterization since lately he's decided to be iffy on me.
Yutaan: Now why would you think I wouldn't reply to your review? I appreciate the fact that you took time to comment on my fic so I take my time to reply. Hmmm, you make an intersting point about Kairi, I actually share your view, I see her as a kind and caring person and no, she doesn't fall for everyone!! That would make some pretty odd triangles... as if the one between her and Sora and Riku aren't odd enough! And you reviewed three times too! Wow!!
Now as for some of your theories, really, don't worry about what you post, I make tons of theories all the time in other stories, some of them don't hold water while other times I make pretty good guesses. Yours right now are really based on observations and facts that you've found in this fic, the game and other sources so you're already doing a great job.
I don't think I need to keep it too much of a secret, but I can give you a 67% guarantee that THE VOICE in Riku's head and THE VOICE in Sephy's head aren't the same.
I get what you're trying to say about Enigma being Sora's Non-Existent... I call them Non-Existent Ones... well actually you can see that by the summary I have at the beginning in of every chapter.
You're actually making perfect sense about Sora's whereabouts when he'd lost his heart. I just really can't verify things too much.
And I LOVE your analysis on Enigma's personality! You're almost getting there too. Enigma really only has five years of experience and though he thinks as an adult would, his reactions are based on how he was taught to react. He prefers to see everything with calculated logic and such because he knows quite a few things about the cosmos and what to expect.
Hehe, you're not the only one who saw a potential relationship between KOS-MOS and chaos, I'd almost support them too, but the fact that KOS-MOS is an android still gets to me. I've done some thinking about her character, and I've decided that I do like KOS-MOS a little more, but I don't like the fanboyism revolving around her... really, I let myself be influenced by the fanboys just a little too much. Anyway, I've read theories about the REAL KOS-MOS and chaos getting together. ^_^
And wow, you actually know how many fics you've read? I don't even know how many I've read, probably surpassing the thousands by now. Thank you so much for that compliment!
Shinji Ikari: Hmm... well I took my time before I started to respond to your review. I want to apologize in advance if this comes out a little negative, but bear with me, I've been having a very, very, very bad week. I don't want to go into details about really bad it's been, but your review really hasn't done anything to help my mood. So please, know that I don't really mean to be negative.
I'd like to first state that I appreciate your reviews, I really do. Your insight has made me consider different elements of Kingdom Hearts that had never crossed my mind before. Though lately, I've started to become a little... well you could say agitated with your reviews, mainly because half of your review is really about nitpicking my author's notes. I don't want to sound like those authors who go into a rant everytime they receive one little review with negative criticism, but I really find it unfair that you believe I should be careful about offending certain readers, mainly you, when you write a half page long reviews that offends me.
As for the Xenogears/Xenosaga influence. You seem to take it as if I'd ripped it right from the games, when I say INFLUENCE I meant that when I was writing those scenes, I had certain scenes from Xenogears/Xenosaga in my mind during the time. You were the one who asked for them and I gave them to you.
Please don't worry about my making comparisons between your story and Xenosaga/Xenogears, most of my past comments were sparked from the fact that I'd just finished playing the two games and they were still on my mind. That aside, I can reassure you that any further comparisons with Xenosaga/Xenogears should not be taken seriously.
On Mary Sues: Your definition of a Mary Sue and mine are worlds apart. The general concensus of a Mary Sue is a character that's an obvious author insert that takes centre stage of the fic and dominates over the main characters of the fandom that the author's writing for. Adding to the list of how Mary Sue-ish an original character can be is that they are related to a certain main character and falls in love with another. I have seen many, many fics that have original characters that are like this and I have just grown cynical towards any fic that has an original character that fits the one or two of those qualities, that is why I worry over some of my own original characters being Mary Sues/Gary Stus because they have a few of the above mentioned attributes.
Moving along from that... Riku has yet to really figure out his feelings, especially towards Kairi, add the fact that Ansem's running around in his mind and the fact that he's feeling more of an outsider because of how Kairi and Enigma are obviously falling for each other. He's battling with a lot of negativity right now and his comment over finding Sora was just to provoke Enigma.
On Spehiroth: Yes, I was afraid of that I'd might make myself seem like a Sephiroth fangirl for giving him a bigger role in this fic than I'd intended for most Final Fantasy characters. Cloud and Sephiroth have a history, and to Cloud, Sephiroth is dangerous and he over exaggerates when he's talking about Sephiroth.
You have an interesting interpretation of the dream sequence and pretty much the closest of most of the people who've guessed on what's it supposed to mean. And thank you for the compliments on the other scenes, I appreciate them of course.