Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me. I'm just borrowing its characters.
Through A Mirror Darkly
The adrenaline was still coursing through his veins when he returned to Hook's ship, reeking of fish guts and who knows what else from running around in Monstro. Hook's crew on the ship avoided him as he stalked his way into the lower deck, picking up a bucket of clean water in the only toilet on the ship and sloshing it over himself, not caring that it was freezing cold, and possibly not the best time to be wet. And that it was possibly the only bucket of clean water to be shared among the entire crew.
But he couldn't stand smelling like a fish anymore. And Hook could raise a fuss all he liked, and Riku could just care less. He was the one with two working hands, after all.
Grabbing a towel, he started to dry his hair, wrinkling his nose at the smell that hung on the cloth. Thank goodness he stuck resolutely to his original outfit, though he appeared glaringly out of place in Hollow Bastion; the water merely rolled off his clothes instead of soaking into them.
Riku's expression continued to darken as he thought about Sora, fighting with him, fighting against him. It was so exhilarating the first time, so right, that he was fighting with Sora against the Parasite Cage. Despite his words, his initial feelings of bitter hatred, it felt right. Of course, that all changed when Sora still stubbornly refused to help him, help Kairi.
Refused to see through obstinate blue eyes that Kairi should have been the one who mattered, and not some stupid worlds in need of saving, worlds that probably won't remember that he was their savior. It hurt, the final realization that Sora had really separated himself from them, that Sora didn't care.
The towel crumpled in his grip, and he realized that he was hyperventilating with anger. Riku shook his head, suddenly regretting wasting all the water. Kairi… Kairi was all that mattered now; she was the reason why he followed the witch's orders to get the damned puppet in the first place. He frowned, contemplating Sora.
There was a wheedling cough behind him, interrupting his train of thought, and when he turned, the towel held on his head with only one hand, Smee was already stuttering his message out.
"Ma-Maleficent re-re-requests for y-your presence."
"Don't you ever knock?"
He raised one silver eyebrow, slinging the towel around his shoulders. Smee continued to fiddle and twitch, and looking as though he couldn't stop himself, "It's better if you hu-hurry. She s-s-s-says that she's found out why the girl c-c-can't respond... You d-don't…" The sorry excuse for a pirate stammered and flinched some more even as Riku pushed past him, tossing the used towel over his balding head.
"Useless man."
The ship had been swaying gently when he was in the toilet, but once he was out of the protection of the room, the sway turned into a rougher rock, nearly throwing him off balance once he step forth from the stairs. Above him whizzed colourful asteroids and meteors, some of them gummi pieces that did not gain his attention even though Maleficent had mused on them, once when he accidentally walked into one of her various rooms and she was there, surrounded by the multi-colored…rocks.
Colour never, ever looked good on or around the witch. If anything, it made her look less frightening and menacing.
Nevertheless, it wasn't the time to think about whether Maleficent would look good in the latest line of gummi jewelry, if there ever was. He pushed the door, noting that Hook never bothered about having doorknobs, and saw the witch standing by Kairi's bed, looking down at her. Her obnoxious pet of a raven turned its head towards him, cawing and raising its coal black wings. He scowled at it, striding over and deliberately treaded on the witch's flowing black robe.
"Smee said you found out what happened to Kairi."
The witch chuckled. "Surely you have figured out what it is when I sent you to get that puppet." She touched Kairi's face with her hand, and instantly he smacked it away from her face.
"Don't you dare touch her."
"Of course not."
He bit his lip. "So, Kairi's like a lifeless puppet now?"
Maleficent smirked, stroking her raven. "Precisely."
"And her heart was…"
The witch seemed to take pleasure in playing with his uncertainties, interrupting him with quiet venom in her answers. "Taken by the Heartless, no doubt."
Sora's voice, taunting him, "Riku! What's the matter with you? What are you thinking? Don't you realize what you're doing?
It's telling me you're on the wrong side!""I'm not wrong," he breathed to himself. "I'm the one who's trying to help Kairi, not you. I'm not wrong." He looked at the witch defiantly, "Tell me! What can I do?"
She was smiling, filling him with the same sickly emotion. "There are seven maidens of the purest heart. We call them the princesses of heart. Gather them together, and a door will open to the heart of all worlds. Within lies untold wisdom. There you will surely find a way to recover Kairi's heart."
Her smile grew wider imperceptibly, and he almost felt afraid. But he couldn't turn back. Not anymore.
You leave me no choice.
"Now, I'll grant you a marvelous gift. The power to control the Heartless."
His eyes widened, looking at her. Taking in the implication of her words.
No choice.
Riku's expression grew hard, and he held Kairi's hand.
No choice.
"Soon, Kairi," he told the sleeping beauty. "Soon."
When the ship docked into one of the temporary bays in Hollow Bastion, he took care that Kairi was taken to her room first before sprinting to his own, sending the still scattered papers flying as he flung the door open. He stepped over them carefully, reaching for the first book. Those pages could wait until later, once he finished the others.
He had prepared himself for a long read, settling himself comfortably on the pillows on his bed. Riku didn't know how long he spent rifling through the reports, even reading the long lengthy rants that Ansem apparently enjoyed writing when things actually went right but were really, really boring, but he still found that he really couldn't understand how the 'customized' Heartless could be made.
It involved, from what he could understand, a Heartless, memories, and compliance between both the creator and the would-be creation…so far. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he got up from his position, feeling his muscles suddenly contract in protest. Riku swept his hand out to lift himself up, and gently collided with a mug.
Surprised, he twisted his body, reaching over to lift a piece of cloth over some suspicious looking…oh. Cold food stared, well, coldly at him, almost accusing him of not eating. Riku frowned at it, and then his stomach started to protest.
"It's about time." A drawling voice made him snap his head around, one hand sliding underneath his pillow smoothly to grasp at the short staff he had kept hidden there. Its polished wood reassured him, even though he knew he didn't really have much of a chance of fighting with it. His normal weapon was much longer, but he figured, when he first saw it lying on one of the abandoned stalls in Agrabah, anything goes.
"Who's there?" Riku was glad that his voice didn't waver, even though in truth, his heart was beating wildly at the sudden intrusion. He thought he had trained himself enough such that no one could sneak up on him, but apparently, whoever this was, proved him wrong. "Show yourself," he snarled now, sending those yellow magic flares of light that usually hung around him, bathing him in a sickly yellow glow, out across the room.
It was frighteningly empty, but there was the sound of one dark chuckle, making his spine shiver. Riku tried, vainly, not to think of those old, old ghost stories that he and Sora used to tell each other during sleepovers. "Look, damn it, where the hell are you, and WHO ARE YOU?"
"Why, I'm here," the voice brushed so close to his ear that he thought he heard his neck snap as he whirled his head around to face the speaker. The fact that no one was there continued to pound in his mind that there were very, very malevolent ghosts around, and maybe even the staff couldn't save him.
"I don't like playing games, damn you."
"So I see." The same chuckle again, now slowly traveling in front of his face. Almost reflexively, he raised one hand in front of him, making a fist where he thought the voice would be. "It's of not use, child."
"Are you one of the – Maleficent's toadies?" Riku snorted. He turned away as best as he could, knowing that he could just be turning towards where the voice was. But the single act of defiance reassured him where his weapon couldn't. "I don't listen to her. Why should I listen to you?"
The laughter continued, now annoying him more rather than scaring him. "Be certain that I'm no 'toady' of the sorceress. Rather, I'm just a very interested individual." It paused, and Riku, for the lack of anything else to do, simply glowered. "You are interested in the affairs of the heart. And the darkness."
"What's it to you?"
"What's it to me?" The voice grew amused and derisive, making him bristle. "Nothing, to tell the truth. But you interest me. Your interest in the Keyblade Master intrigues me."
Riku suddenly found himself looking at the mirror, looking at Sora, sleeping again, face looking so tired. His heart suddenly ached again, and he willed the pain to go away. Sora was the past. Sora…wasn't supposed to matter. Kairi was.
"Who are you?" He asked again, tiredly. Ansem's reports weighed him down with their strange words and mysterious instructions, never leading him anywhere, never leading him to a conclusion to whether he should make his own…his own Sora.
The voice laughed again.
"I am your only choice. I am…your hope."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author's Notes:
Looks like there would be a Part 3, after all. I'm not really too happy with this chapter, because it sounded too fuzzy and confusing without anything concrete, and maybe once this fanfic is done, I'll scrap this part.
I do hope that you have enjoyed reading it, though.
Cheerios,
DarkMoon