Apparently, a near-death experience feels like a serious hangover.
Until I sit up, my head feels like it's about to explode. I'm almost afraid to open my eyes, but I do anyway. The room isn't spinning and my body doesn't want to throw up, both of which are good. It's dark, night having fallen while I was unconscious, the room lit only by a few dim lights and a soft golden-green glow from the keyblade laying on the coffee table beside me.
Yggdrasil.
I reach out, closing my fingers around the grip and lifting the weapon. It's so much lighter than it should be, its gentle warmth like that of living flesh. It even feels like it's pulsing slightly at my touch, greeting me. Yeah, I'm glad to be awake, too.
A soft noise from the recliner, close to the end of the couch where my head had been a moment ago, makes me look up. Riku rubs his eyes, slowly coming to from what must've been a long nap. The moment he sees me alive and well, his eyes go wide and alert, though the puffiness under them makes him look sick.
"Sora! Y-- you're awake... thank god, I thought you'd never open your eyes! I thought you were dead!" He slides off the recliner to sit on the floor closer to me. "Are you alright? How do you feel? Are you still in pain?"
Somehow, seeing Riku this frantic makes me feel better. It means he cares. "Well, at first I felt kinda woozy, but I'm okay now. How about you? You look like you haven't slept."
"As if I could sleep, worrying about you. You've been asleep since about nine-thirty... it's been over twelve hours."
"I'm surprised you didn't cart me off to the hospital."
"The phone lines are completely messed up, and 911's been backed up all day. You should see what happened outside while we were busy in bed." Riku sighs and runs a hand through his tousled hair. "The entire city is buried in snow, and I mean buried. Besides, even if I did take you to the hospital., how could we explain that?" He gestures to the keyblade now laying in my lap.
"Kinda weird, huh?"
"Kinda? Sora, I pulled that bloody thing out of your chest. What is it and where the hell did it come from?" He's gawking at me like I've lost my mind, a far cry from the blind concern he'd been showing a few minutes ago. To anyone who hasn't been through what we've experienced, I really must sound like a raving lunatic.
"It's called Yggdrasil. It's a keyblade... but you don't remember, do you?"
"Remember what?" Riku reaches up and lays a hand on my knee, but his fingers keep their distance from the gleaming keyblade. He almost looks afraid. "There's something different about you, more than just this keyblade thing."
I smile softly, touching Riku's hand with my own. "I remember everything now. This is what was making me sick, but it's not Yggdrasil's fault, really. It's mine. I was holding it inside me, keeping it hidden until it was needed, but I was hurting it at the same time. All the anger and resentment built up inside me, and it was killing the keyblade. Every time I had a seizure, that was Yggdrasil trying to break free. I should've just let go, but that would mean letting myself feel again, and I couldn't do it. It was too painful."
"How could you hurt it, though? It's some kind of... key."
"It's alive, Riku. Keyblades have souls of their own, choosing a wielder and partnering with them. Keyblade masters have to have pure hearts, and mine was pure once. But...." Even now, across another lifetime, it's so hard to say. My smile falters, tears welling in my eyes. It's enough to draw Riku up from the floor and onto the couch beside me, arms sliding around me. "I lost you once, and it destroyed me."
"I don't understand... we've never met before."
"Yes, we have, in another lifetime."
"Sora...."
"Hear me out, Riku. There was a battle... a lot of battles, actually... I ended up on one side, you ended up on the other. We fought, I won... and I lost you. I spent years searching for you, and in the end, it all came down to a week. I was a week too late."
I turn my head, looking into confused, worried eyes. He shakes his head slowly, either in disbelief or admonishing me for such an outrageous story. My heart shudders at the sight, and Yggdrasil pulses in gentle reassurance, settling my nerves in an instant.
"Too late for what? It doesn't make any sense."
Sickness rolls in my gut, the idea... the sight of that lonely grave under its blanket of flowers... clenching my heart in grief that my keyblade once again has to soothe.
"You died."
Funny... it's true what they say. The color really does drain from his face. I watch it flee, his expression going from shock to denial in the span of a heartbeat. His lips move, his throat making little noises, but that's all.
"You don't believe in reincarnation, do you?"
"... no...." He can barely say it, the word almost a croak.
"But it's true. The keyblade was my weapon back then. There are others, but this one's mine... I can tell, even though it's different this time." I finger the keychain lightly, feeling the smoothness of the amber. "These change the keyblade's form and powers, but nothing changes the way it feels."
"... I... I don't believe this, Sora. I don't believe any of it. How can I? It's not possible!" Riku seems to have found his voice now, his accent thicker than ever. His pallor makes the darkness under his eyes stand out even more. He looks like me.
"... I get it. You can't remember until you have yours back, too. That's what's happening here... they're not just weapons, they're seals." I let go of the keyblade and reach around to unclasp Riku's necklace.
"What're you doing...?"
"Just hold still."
I clutch the caged pearl in my hand, feeling it pulse with the same resonance as Yggdrasil. I'm right, I know I am. Laying my closed fist against Riku's chest, I offer a reassuring little smile that makes some of the tension melt from his features.
"Trust me."
I push my hand inside him, feeling his flesh both spasm in alarm and welcome the invasion in a blaze of cool lavender-white light. Riku gasps, stumbling and almost collapsing if not for my hand. His keyblade nearly leaps into my grasp, eager to be drawn forth, and I begin to pull back. The caged pearl emerges on the end of a short chain, swinging slightly as I unsheathe the weapon from his heart. Even halfway out, it begins to resonate, throbbing in time with Yggdrasil's heartbeat. Riku drops to his knees, arched backward, an odd haze the same color as the light in his chest passing through his eyes.
It's awake.
With one more yank, I pull the keyblade free, sending Riku tumbling to one side. He curls into a semi-fetal position, shuddering, his eyes nearly blind with that strange fog. It's all I can do to pick up Yggdrasil, holding on tight to both keyblades as I watch him wake from a life-long sleep.
"Why? It was mine."
My heart pounds in my chest as I run, fleeing my friend-turned-nemesis, feeling my own shortcomings and burning with shame for it. For all the times I've been better than him, why now does my power fail me? What makes him so special, that I can't best him when it matters most?
"Know this."
That voice gives me the chills, right down to my soul, freezing me in place. Every fiber of my being is screaming at me to run, but I never did have enough sense to run from danger, did I? It's called courage... or maybe stupidity.
"The heart that is strong and true shall win the keyblade."
"What? You're saying my heart's weaker than his?" Of course it is. If my heart was strong, I never would've doubted Sora's friendship. But I did, I tried to murder him, and now I can never go back. In for a penny, in for a pound.
"For that instant, it was. However, you can become stronger. You showed no fear in stepping through the door to darkness. It held no terror for you. Plunger deeper into the darkness, and your heart will grow even stronger." The cloaked shadow draws closer, bringing with it the coldness of the grave. It's too late to back away now. Even if I ran, it would catch me.
"What should I do?" Now that I've sealed my fate, what else can I do? I only hope Sora will forgive me someday.
"It's really quite simple. Open yourself to the darkness. That is all. Let your heart, your being, become darkness itself." It glides closer, spreads cloaked arms wide, and crashes down on me like a wave. I scream, the sound drowning in the unparalleled darkness. What lies beyond the cloak is both horrible and beautiful, tearing me in half, ripping away the last of what makes me human.
I feel my heart stop beating in its unseen fist, a faint vibration traveling up....
... my arm, the clang of metal on metal, the grinding of weapons and the hiss of sparks.
Sora drops a little lower, straining under my pressure, gritting his teeth. The flash of his blue eyes is fierce, every bit the warrior the keyblade master should be. Still, I am unafraid, my breath hissing between my lips in excited pants. My keyblade grinds against the dark blockiness of his own, the heavy industrial weapon made ridiculous by the bright yellow bird dangling from the end. The thrill of the hunt screams through my blood, demanding that I push harder, splitting his skull in two so that those emotional eyes will stop staring through me.
"Forget it! There's no way you're taking Kairi's heart!"
He shoves me away, sending me stumbling a step, and it's all I can do not to shudder in pleasure. I will take him down fighting, the little nuisance ground to powder under my heel. Especially for mentioning her name, for worrying about her well-being. Where was your friendship when I needed it?! Why did you forsake me, when I loved you... when I even remembered what love is?!
With a cry, I throw myself at....
... the door, slamming into the heavy barrier with my shoulder. It barely moves, but it does indeed move, and I find the hope that we'll be able to close it.
"Come on, Sora! Together, we can do it!"
Where was this strength when I needed it, when it could've prevented so much misery? Even with the sounds of Sora's companions yelling in fear as they help us and the shrieks of the Heartless dying in the light of the king's keyblade behind me, I can't shake my thoughts from the darkness of my mistakes. I'm almost glad I lose sight of Sora's face around the edge of the door for a moment, giving me time to blot my tears on my arm.
"Now! They're coming!" Oh god, please don't let them get through. Sora's so tired, he might actually be killed if they break through the door.
The door... it's swinging shut. All of my mistakes can never be wiped clean, but they can be sealed away where they'll do no more harm. I catch a glimpse of Sora as the heavy portal closes, hurt etched deep into his eyes even as he puts on a brave face.
No, Sora. Don't think of me. I'll only hurt you. Don't....
"Take care of her."
The door closes, and I sag to the ground as Sora and the king seal it. Now I can break down freely, knowing he's safe.
STOP!
But it won't stop. It's not done with me yet....
The children run out ahead with me closely following the flock. I have my keyblade in one hand -- the one given me by the king when I set off to find Sora -- and a toddler tucked between my free arm and my chest. I can hear the bandits behind me, hooting and calling for an attack. I know the children, with their short legs and shorter stamina, will never outrun these adults. I hand over the toddler to one of the older kids, yelling at them to keep running as I turn to face the pack of human wolves hunting us down.
The first takes a keyblade strike to the head and drops like a rock. The next two succumb to wide horizontal slashes. Three, four, and five eat a series of rapid stabs. It's an old dance, done many times on many worlds, but my sins are too great to be washed away in the blood shed by righteous slaughter. Still, I keep hacking away, seemingly no end to the horde pouring down on us. They start to surround me.
This sucks. If I hadn't rejected the darkness, these men would all be bloody smears on the landscape. Then again, if the darkness still owned my heart and soul, I wouldn't care about the children, either. I suppose part of me hoped that being apart from Sora for nearly seven years would be torture enough to make up for everything I'd done, but it seems fate has other ideas in mind.
Fire tears into my side, rupturing a kidney and angling up to pierce a lung. I choke, staggering and dropping the keyblade into the dust as my back becomes a pincushion for sharpened wooden spears. They drive me facefirst into the dirt, pulling their weapons out only to stab me again and again. It hurts so much I start to go numb, not even feeling the blood sticking my clothes to my body.
Oh god, I can't die here. Not after the hell I've been through...!
I raise my head, watching through the wall of legs as the children vanish into the forest at the edge of the village, safely hidden away in the shelter tucked away there.
I smile even as tears fill my eyes, the children's safety my final atonement for my sins. But Sora... where is Sora to hold my hand and grin at me, laughing that everything will be alri--
A spear rams into the back of my neck and erupts through the front, tearing away the last of my breath and with it the image of Sora, smiling to the very end....
Riku jerks awake in my arms with a strangled cry, the light fading from his eyes in an instant. For several moments, he's disoriented and squirming, until he focuses on my face. Suddenly he's still, save for the terrible sobs that wrack his body. I've never seen him weep this badly, burying his face against my shoulder when I pull him close. It sickens me, watching someone so cheerful break down this way.
"... f-- forgive... m-- me...."
I almost miss it between the heaving sobs. He remembers everything, and I can't imagine the horror and the guilt he must be feeling. I want to tell him it wasn't his fault, but my comforting would also make me a liar. Yes, he chose his path of his own free will, but in the end he also chose to break away from it. What he needs now is understanding, not accusation.
"Shh, don't cry anymore. I forgive you, Riku."
It's all I can say. Now it's up to him to forgive himself. I hold him as he held me, letting him cry out a lifetime of pain and regret. Now he understands why he feels the need to be so gentle and meek, to make up for the sins of arrogance and jealousy in a life he couldn't even remember this morning. His fingers bite into my arms as he holds onto me, afraid to let go.
Laying on the carpet on either side of us, where I dropped them, Yggdrasil and its brother blade hum softly. Riku's keyblade is beautiful, the shaft and guard formed of intricately wound tendrils of silver and gold and crystal, dancing with faint many-colored lights that fade in and out like a dream. They coil upward, embracing a crystal blade like a large, open lotus blossom in profile, the petals forming a sharp, spiny blade lit brightly from within by a glow that slowly shifts color through the spectrum, into white, and back again.
"Riku, take this."
I pick up his keyblade, prying him away from me just enough to press it into his grip. He looks down at it with only the softest of sniffles and hiccups, the keyblade's magic easing his pain as Yggdrasil did for me. His lips move, shaping a word in a daze as if speaking for the soul within metal and crystal.
"Euphoria...."
"You remember."
"It's different now, but... I'd know it in any form." He's whispering, rattled to the core by the sight of this impossible thing that he somehow knows very intimately. He sits up on his own power, head bowed as he lays the keyblade across his lap. "Euphoria... that's its name now...."
I'm at a loss for what to do now. Everything we thought was real is paper thin now, a dull layer thrown over reality to mask it, but now that layer is tearing and I don't know how we'll cope. I flap my arms once, helplessly, and blow a frustrated breath upward through my bangs. Riku is quiet, all cried out and trying to make sense of his world being turned upside-down.
Euphoria thrums in Riku's hand. Riku makes a throttled noise, head snapping back and his eyes hazing with light again. Behind it, his pupils are hugely dilated. He looks like he's seriously stoned, but such is the nature of Euphoria's power. Though I've never seen this particular form of a keyblade in action, I can easily imagine what it's doing.
"What is it, Riku? What do you see?"
His voice rasps between his lips, quiet and fearful, the pillar of logic momentarily transformed into the mouthpiece for something far greater than either of us.
"... they're coming...."
"Who?" Fear clenches my heart even as I ask. I know who's coming, but I would be able to deny it until the name is spoken.
"... Heartless... are coming...."
Fuck. I was hoping he'd prove me wrong anyway. They've always been drawn to the keyblades, and with the strong pulse of power from two healthy blades, how could they not be lured here? They certainly didn't take their sweet time tracking us down.
"You know what we have to do. We're the only ones who can."
Riku slumps, barely catching himself with one arm braced behind him. "... I can't...."
"Bullshit. You were the rightful keyblade master before me. You know how to fight. We have to fight."
"... what if I slip again, Sora? I've been tempted by darkness before... what if I give in a second time? How can I put you and the whole world at risk?" I've never heard him sound so melancholy before. His voice says he's lost all will to struggle, to do what he and I were born to do.
He sounds like me.
"Riku, listen to me. If we don't fight, if one or both of us sits here and does nothing, then the danger will be more immediate and certain. People will die. We have to at least try. That's why we're here."
"But they felt the keyblades... if it wasn't for us, they wouldn't come here in the first place...."
"Eventually, they would have. This world isn't sealed, it's not safe. We'll make it safe."
"I can't...."
Anger sends a streak of hot tightness up my throat. I get up and grab his arm, yanking him to his feet. He yelps, staring at me almost fearfully.
"You can and you will. You want to make up for what you did in the past? Then move your ass and help me save the fucking world!"
Hauling him into the bedroom, I quickly start throwing on clothes... heavy black bondage jeans, black boots, and a black t-shirt emblazoned with angry red letters: "Do not start with me. You will not win." I'm pulling on my new windbreaker when I notice Riku isn't moving. Growling, I toss an outfit at him.
"Get dressed."
Mechanically, as if he's afraid to argue with me in this mindset, he starts pulling on what I've thrown him. The reflective straps on the baggy UFOs confuse him until I fix them, and the shirt makes him erk in surprise: "Hurting you is the last thing on my mind. But it's still on the list."
"Sora, I don't think this is practical...."
"What, you think you're gonna fight evil in khakis and a sweater? Maybe they'll laugh themselves to death."
I shove his leather jacket into his arms, letting him fumble it on before we grab our keyblades again. Then I drag him to the balcony doors, sliding them open. A burst of icy air swirls around us, raising gooseflesh on my arms and legs and whipping my hair into my face. The snow is so thick, the entire city seems softened by it. I hear a loud crack in the distance, watching as one of the trees in Central Park topples under the weight of the ice coating it. I let go of Riku and shove my hair away from my face, stepping out onto the balcony. Somehow, I'm cold but not freezing, the light shining from Yggdrasil protecting me from the elements. I glance down over the railing, scanning the streets far below, and I see the horde of small dark shapes chasing a man down the street. He stumbles and falls, giving the Heartless the chance to catch up with him.
Instinct kicks in. I leap up onto the railing, hearing Riku's shriek of horror before I launch myself into open air.
It's like I never really forgot my own abilities, gliding toward the street in a tight, downward spiral with only Yggdrasil's magic and my own faith to hold me aloft. The Heartless feel me coming, pausing in their pursuit of their prey to look up. I meet their attention with a savage snarl, straightening my flight into a direct plunge, led by Yggdrasil. The keyblade stabs into the back of one shadow, an abrupt twist turning the creature into spreading wisps of darkness and a dark heart that floats away.
The man is long gone, but even so I'm still more worthwhile prey to these hungry monsters. They swarm over me, but Yggdrasil flashes out twice, my arms barely feeling the impacts as each swing cuts through several at a time. They hiss and howl as they die, inaudible to human hearing, but through the keyblade I can understand their harsh vocalizations. The Heartless curse me, even as they're driven to take my purified heart and the weapon I wield.
One escapes my attention as I focus on the small group rising from the snow in front of me. I hear it hiss as it leaps at me from behind, only to bounce off a sphere of glowing wind that swells around me. It doesn't feel like Yggdrasil's magic, but it's so close it could only be from one source.
I hear him land in the snow not far from me, and I turn in time to see him stumble a little. He looks shocked at his unintentional spellcasting. I just grin and flick him a salute before cutting down my would-be assassin.
"Well, don't just stand there! We've gotta find the keyhole!"
Thankfully, when I take off running, Riku follows, catching up quickly and keeping pace with my run. A second barrier springs up around him, helping us to plow through the deep slush and snow. But even protected from the cold, we're barely making headway into the drifts and the wind.
"Can you sense it, Riku? I can feel it's south somewhere, but I don't know exactly where!"
"No, I can't feel it! Sora, it will take hours to canvas the entire southern sector of Manhattan! We'll exhaust long before we find it!"
He's right, but it won't stop me from looking. I don't want to die, but I'll drop dead of exhaustion before I let the Heartless take me. A fresh wave of them pour from the alleys, shadows and larger Soldiers and even a few Darkballs....
Oh shit.
A Behemoth.
The monstrous creature lumbers around a corner and stops in our path, its bellowing roar shaking snow from the streetlights and the cornices of the buildings. Its horn sparks brightly, a shower of snapping stars tumbling down. The smaller Heartless charge us, unaffected by the deep snow, and it's all we can do to cut them down as they come. Riku cringes with the first few strikes, but slowly his body starts to remember and he falls into a pattern of step, pivot, slash, lunge. Unbelievable... he must've taken fencing in school. Prep school geek, indeed.
The Behemoth marches forward, beady eyes focused on us. If it gets any closer, it'll hit us with a blast from its horn, and not even our barriers will protect us. I charge past Riku, who splits a Darkball in half with a vertical strike.
"Sora, where are you going?!"
I feel like a ninja, running with my arms held behind me, leaning forward into the wind. My shield burns through the snow, clearing a path as I rush the enemy. As the Heartless charges up for an attack, I leap up and forward, like an athlete going for a record long jump, and whip my body around. The momentum translates into a spinning slash, Yggdrasil cutting not once but twice across the monster's face. It rears back as I land on its snout, hooking my arm around the horn and ignoring the shock I get for my trouble. Blinded, the Behemoth roars, my ears ringing from the sound; I run along its head and pause on its back near the neck.
"Eat it, bitch!"
Yggdrasil sings a ringing war cry with me as I drive the blade deep into the back of the Heartless's neck. The beast explodes in a burst of darkness and electric energy, throwing me clear. Somehow, I flip over in midair and land in a three-point crouch, my keyblade held out to the side, ready. I feel powerful, unbeatable. Adrenaline courses through me like never before, leaving me lightheaded with happiness. I'm not helpless. I can make a difference in this life, and I will.
"Sora!"
Riku rushes up to me, his free hand clutching his right bicep. Blood trickles down his arm, soaking into the leather of his jacket. I'm on my feet in an instant, touching the wound and summoning healing energy from Yggdrasil. Leafy vines of light coil around his arm, the gash and the blood vanishing in the green glow. Only the cut in the leather shows that anything was there before.
"Better?"
Riku nods mutely, that lost look in his eyes again. "What are we doing, Sora... how can we save the whole world, when we can barely get through this bloody snow?"
I open my mouth to answer, but a high-pitched whinny cuts me off. Looking down the street, I see two horses in riding tack being menaced by a couple of Soldier Heartless. I aim Yggdrasil over Riku's shoulder and launch two quick blasts of fire that consume both Heartless. Riku turns to look, getting the idea immediately. He whistles, and the horses trot over gratefully, nuzzling us in thanks. They're police horses... their partners must've been taken by the Heartless just before we arrived. Riku swings into the saddle of his horse easily. Oh, it figures he's had riding lessons, too!
"Showoff."
I glare, but there's no real sting in the words. I set my keyblade in the snow so I can scramble onto the other horse. Thankfully it's a patient animal to put up with my fumbling, whickering softly until I'm settled. I hold out my hand, and Yggdrasil vanishes, reappearing in my grip. Riku nudges his horse, sending it galloping and plunging through the drifts. I dig my toes into my mount's sides, swearing as I'm jerked backward when it suddenly takes off after Riku.
"God damn this bony thing's running when I want it to trot and it's trying to throw me off and I CAN'T FUCKING STEER!"
"Stop being so melodramatic, Sora! Remember, this was your idea!"
"So it was a bad idea!"
Actually, it's not. The streets are flying past, and I finally get my balance back enough to hold the reins in my left hand and Yggdrasil in my right. Heartless try to chase us down, leaping at Riku and me in an attempt to knock us from the saddles, but we cut them out of the air without a pause. Most of them are left behind, a black swell like a malignant tide racing after us.
"Up there!"
Riku points toward the southeast, where the Empire State Building rises above the rest of the skyscrapers. At first, it looks like the antenna is ablaze with St. Elmo's fire, but then the metal rod splits down the center, the two halves glowing brighter and brighter as they bend and curve into a familiar shape.
"That's it! Let's go, let's go!"
I kick the horse again, hanging on for dear life as it rockets down Eighth Avenue. When we reach West 34th, I tug on the reins, praying that the animal will respond. The horse wheels left, kicking a shadow out of the way. All I can see is the huge glowing keyhole atop the skyscraper, dim radiance shimmering across the opening formed by the manipulated antenna.
We stop at the base of the building, sliding off our exhausted mounts. Riku goes right for the doors... only to discover they're locked tight. Not only that, the lights are off... it looks like the keyhole blew out the power in the entire building. Even if we could get inside, the stairs aren't an option. We'd never make it to the top in time.
A loud cracking sound catches our attention from somewhere high above our heads. Something is happening around the keyhole, and if we don't get there soon, we've lost.
"All this way, and we can't even get to the keyhole...." Riku looks like he's marching to his doom, Euphoria dangling forgotten from his hand. "We're buggered."
I look up the side of the skyscraper, hundreds upon hundreds of feet of glass and concrete in a sheer vertical ascent. There's only one way to the top now, if we have the faith to do it. I grab Riku's hand.
"When I say go, start running. No matter what, don't stop."
"Run where?"
"Up the side."
"Are you mad?! We can't climb walls!"
"Of course we can't. But we can run up them."
Riku shakes his head, pulling his hand out of my grip. "It's not possible!"
"Just do it or we're fucked! Now run!"
I shove him toward the building, hard enough to make him stumble briefly. I bolt past him, though his long legs let him catch up quickly. Twenty feet... ten feet... five feet... then my foot makes contact with the side of the building and I just keep going, leaning forward slightly as I charge up the vertical face of the tallest skyscraper in the city. Riku is right beside me, nearly hyperventilating with terror.
Then from somewhere near the top, shadows start pouring down like a living waterfall, dropping toward us and slashing with their claws as they fall. Razors of pain break past my faltering barrier, leaving me with burning, oozing slices all over my body. Riku isn't faring much better, his silver hair streaked with red from a forehead wound. But we can only take out the ones heading right for us, threatening to body slam us off the side; any more effort toward fighting could mean losing our footing.
My lungs feel like they're about to burst, my body aching from the assault of the falling Heartless. Mercifully, we see our respite just ahead: the crackling sounds we heard before are from the shadows welling around the base of the keyhole, solidifying into a twisted, roughly circular platform held up by a gnarled "trunk" growing out of the antenna tower. I don't need to say a word to Riku; we both make a break for the platform, launching ourselves up and grabbing the edge. Riku pulls himself to safety just as my hands start to slip, but he leans over and hauls me up with a groan.
We lay there, panting for breath. My heart pounds so hard it feels like it's trying to batter my ribs into powder from within. Just above us, the keyhole hums and pulses with raw energy.
"... hurts to breathe... so cold...."
Riku coughs, not faring much better as he tries to focus for a healing spell. "No one else here... rest for just a moment...."
He gasps, yanked to his knees by his hair. I struggle up, brandishing Yggdrasil in shaky hands, ready despite my fatigue to take the bastard's head off.
Different face.
Same silver hair, just without the points.
Fiery orange eyes.
"Even now, you two cause me nothing but trouble...."
Fuck me blind.
"... f-- father... how...."
Riku gasps in pain, twisting in his captor's grip to get a good look at the face attached to a familiar voice. His eyes widen in horror.
"... w-- what's happened to you...?!"
Sinclair Whitebridge, vessel of Lord Ansem, smiles viciously down at his son before turning that grin on me.
"I told you to stay away from my son."
"Get bent, Ansem. Riku's father may be a dick, but he doesn't deserve to be your lap dog." My lips curl back in a nasty smirk. "Or are you afraid to face us directly?"
Ansem takes a few steps toward me, dragging Riku by the hair. Riku's face is twisted with pain, the pressure aggravating his head wound.
"Just how long do you think I've been in this body? A few hours? Oh no, I've been here since before your keyblade first began to resonate. You were easy to find, throwing out so much energy."
"I've had seizures all through this life."
"I know." His smile is positively horrible now.
... oh god, that's sick.
"... you were in Sinclair before Riku's mother got pregnant... you're...."
"I suppose you'll never know for certain, now will you?" His smile tightens into a frown, glaring down at Riku. Riku struggles in his grip, trying to pull free. "Keep that up and you'll tear your hair out, boy."
"... let me... go...."
Riku grits his teeth, twisting one more time and sweeping back with his leg. Ansem goes sprawling, surprise making him lose his hold on Riku, who scrambles over to me.
"You'll regret that." Ansem gets to his feet, dusting off his suit and folding his arms across his chest. He hovers slightly off the ground, trenchcoat drifting out behind him in the wind. "Come to me, keyblade masters. Let us dance one last time...."
I look at Riku. He looks back at me. We nod as one and raise our weapons.
"Forget what he looks like. It's our duty."
"I know."
Together, we charge.
Ansem meets us halfway, his Heartless guardian shadow appearing to block and slash at us. Half of my strikes are met with the thing's resistance, the other half catching him just enough to hurt him a little. Riku doesn't seem to be faring much better, judging by the hollow pings of Euphoria meeting the Heartless's unseen shield. I take a step back to heal and recast my barrier, then dive back in. Yggdrasil slides against Euphoria, both blades laying nearly side by side as our twin lunge stabs at Ansem's empty chest. We barely nick him before he slides away, only to dart in again, laughing.
"Submit!"
"Riku, get out of the way!"
I dive for Riku and shove him aside, feeling the guardian's claws sink into me instead. Then the Heartless is within me, an unbearable chill that wraps its hands around my heart, waiting for its master's order.
"Come... open your heart...."
The hands squeeze, and I can't stop a cry as a knife's edge of agony shoots through my chest. It's crushing the life out of me, those few seconds of suffering enough to make me drop to one knee. I take two quick breaths, rallying myself, then surge to my feet again. Immediately, the command rings out, and a second compression rips a scream from my lungs as I double over. God, it hurts more this time than it did when I fought him a lifetime ago.
Ansem laughs, but it quickly becomes an outraged cry when Riku leaps up, bringing Euphoria down in a hard overhead strike. It swats Ansem out of the air, and we see the Heartless lord bleeds shadow from a wound in his shoulder that should've taken his arm clean off. Riku barely has time to land before he lashes out again. Ansem calls the guardian off me just in time to block his attack, sending Riku hopping back to compensate for the ricochet. The Heartless claws him in mid-hop, Riku hissing as he immediately triggers a healing spell, only to be struck again and again before he can complete it.
The splashes of blood across the platform send a blinding red haze over my vision. He'll never stop hurting us, will he? It's our fate to be chased across worlds, hunting and hunted.
I'm tired. I want to rest. I want peace.
I straighten, both hands tightening on Yggdrasil, which sings such a note within my heart that the very keyhole vibrates with it. Ansem whirls, shocked and perhaps horrified, as I thrust the point of the keyblade into the air, calling down every last ounce of power I can muster.
The top of the tower is engulfed in blinding white light, rippled through with crackling veins of blue and green. I've never cast this spell before, but I know it because Yggdrasil knows it. Ultima, the keyblade calls it, the unstoppable energy of raw natural fury, and it tears through Ansem's blocking guardian like tissue paper. A wave of concussive force slams into the Heartless lord, blasting him back almost to the opposite edge of the platform. Only quick thinking saves him from going over, one strong hand snaring the obedient shadows under him to keep him there.
It's not enough to save him from the keyblade driving into his back, pinning him to the platform like a butterfly in a shadow box. The darkness howls with him, rebelling at its master's pain. Ansem coughs up thick inky blackness, the light in his eyes flickering.
Riku squeezes his eyes shut, tears rolling down his cheeks.
"I'm sorry, father... I still love you, even if you've forgotten how to love me."
He twists the keyblade deeper. I hear the lotus petals catch on the hard surface under Ansem's body with a grinding scrape.
Ansem chokes once, pitifully, and sags as the lights within Euphoria flare brightly, eating away the darkness within him. His body breaks into countless dark lights, scattering to the winds like embers in a storm. Riku nearly collapses, weeping brokenly... there's no way to know if Sinclair actually died with Ansem, but there's no time to think of it now. I can hear the Heartless army clawing their way back up the building toward us... toward the keyhole.
"Riku, hurry! We have to close it!"
Riku drags himself toward the keyhole, his face a mask of agony. He looks as bad as I feel, covered with cuts and bruises, his hair a snarled, bloody halo. We lean against each other, raising our keyblades toward the keyhole, his still covered with dark ichor that makes the lights inside it seem all the more beautiful. Guiding our will through the blades makes us tremble, twin beams of brilliance flashing out to strike the keyhole dead center.
Nothing happens.
The Heartless are getting closer, howling for our hearts in their foul alien language.
"... Riku, do you remember Kingdom Hearts? Remember the door?"
"... yes...." He sounds so old and tired. I wish I could be here to comfort him for the rest of his life, but fate rarely lets us have what we want.
"... this time, it's my turn."
I take a running jump, the surface of the keyhole's gateway breaking over me like diving into a pool of moonlight.
"SORA, NO!"
Beyond the keyhole, there is... god, I can't describe it. The only thing that makes sense is the massive, slow pulse of the heart of this world. I'm bathed in the feeling, my own heart making a subtle shift to match its rhythm.
For a moment, connected to the world's heart, I am the world. Everything in it is a part of me. I almost feel like a benevolent god.
And it's my duty to protect the world, no matter what the sacrifice might be.
But it doesn't mean I don't have the right to cry about it.
"Oh god, Riku... I'm so sorry... but one of us has to be on this side."
"You can't! You can't do this!" He's on the brink of losing it, our moment of happiness nearly shattered forever. It always has to be this way, doesn't it? "Sora, please... come out of there, we'll find another way!"
I lay my hands against the gateway, like touching the surface of a glass-smooth lake. "There is no other way. Think, Riku... if your mother was still alive, would she want you to destroy the world if it meant saving her?"
He shakes his head, the pain in his eyes making my own tear up.
"I don't want that, either. Happiness would mean nothing with that kind of guilt."
Riku moves closer, laying his hands on the gateway over my own. Through the energy, I can feel his touch as if there was nothing between us, and I remember being entwined in his arms, bare flesh to bare flesh, hearts beating in unison as they always have.
As they always would.
"Someday, it will end. The keyblades aren't selfish... someday, we'll find our peace, and we'll be together."
"But how will I find you...?"
I can feel his grief as acutely as if it was my own, resonating through the bond between us and our keyblades. Yggdrasil and Euphoria croon softly, echoing our sorrow.
"... your face could change a thousand times, and I would know you. We will find each other. I promise. It may be another world, it may be another lifetime. But I still promise."
"... I love you, Sora...."
"And I love you. I always will."
My lips touch the shimmering energy of the gateway, and his meet mine in a kiss so sweet I can almost forget what we're about to do. It lasts only a moment before we part, taking aim at each other through the force parting us. The light from the keyblades meets and mingles, spreading out through the glow of the keyhole. I watch Riku's face until it's lost in the brilliance. Only then do I sob, letting the click of the lock drown out the sound.
I settle back into the heart of the world, feeling it surround me in a mother's embrace. For once, the darkness isn't frightening, but instead the soothing, warm nothingness of the womb, where I will wait until my time comes once again.
To be concluded....