Chapter Three

Rapture

We slowed the gaming process at least a few hours as we contemplated the information we'd been given. We brainstormed over everything we knew about Albedo, which wasn't much, since it all came from the first Xenosaga game. We knew he was nuts, that was clear. Apparently he'd been infected by some entity they kept calling U-do, and was a key of some sort. A key to what, I had absolutely no clue, but a key none-the-less. He was extemely powerful, the only boss in the game that took me three tries to kill each time I faught him, and I doubted we'd be getting more than one chance now. He took hundreds of One Hundred Series Realians and took their memories just for the pleasure of their pain, and yet millions of other model realians still followed his every order. Doubtless that meant that he would have an army of false humans here, as well. But as far as I'd seen, Albedo couldn't change his form, however, one of the one hundred series realians did shift to look like one of the main characters at one point. Perhaps he'd sent one of them?

All the thinking made our heads hurt, and the strain of seeing through the dim light was beginning to sting Kristi's eyes, so as the sun began to sink behind the horizon, plunging the world into a similar darkness, we emerged, following the memorized trail of the way Kiru had brought us, walking past the constructed raft as we moved up to battle island where Riku, Kairi, Sora, and Kiru sat leisurely.

We joined them in relitive silence. Kristi stayed near the person she knew the best as was her tendancy, who happened to be Kiru. She sat on the edge of the island with him, half turned so she could see the others as well, but I had no problem sitting on the opposite edge of the island, and staring out at the distant horizon, contemplating everything that had happened in the past twelve hours alone. How could twelve weak hours change a person whole state of being? Everything was so dreadfully different to me that I could scarcely accept it until now. Yes, for years I'd prayed, and wished, and tried to become one with my video games, my movies, my -fantasies-... but now that I was here... now that I was so alone... so alone with my cousin in this world of mystery, and magic, and intrigue, this world of fathomless change... I wanted to go back to my predictable adress in California. I wanted to go back to the meaningless existance I lead.

And yet, somehow, I didn't. Everything here was just as it should have been. There was nothing beyond my grasp. There was nothing I could not demand. I was away, away from the pain, the meaningless, the effort go on just to meet the next day, the next nothingness. Here I had power beyond belief. I was not human, but I existed, if only in a plane of nonexistance.

It was a game of give and take, this. Give of your body, of everything you've ever known, and take of everything you had been forbidden.

Not, of course, that we had any choice what-so-ever in the matter. I just couldn't stop thinking about the possibility that maybe, just maybe, we did.

I sighed, not listening to the conversation behind me that my cousin took no part in. It was the one of what they would do when they left Destiny Islands. Apparently they'd lost their apprehension of discussing it in front of us, as neither of us took any particular interest in it. Why should we? We knew it'd be cut short anyway. However, we prefered to let them dream, and told them not what would come.

Still, when Kristi spoke up, I tuned myself in.

"So, Riku," She asked conversationally, leaning back to fix him with a thick stare, "When were we going to have that dual?"

Riku looked down at her, lifting an eyebrow curiously. "You were serious?" He asked fluidly, not bothering to uncross his arms as he gave her his attention. "I'm not doing any fighting tomorrow. We better do it now."

Sora began dumbly cheering as both people stood straight, and Kiru sighed in unison with Kairi as they resolved to simply get out of the way. Neither one of them wanted to get in the middle of what would go down in the next few moments, and honestly I couldn't blame them. Riku had been undefeatable in the game, I only hoped Kristi could handle him in reality, well, as much of reality as this dreamworld could be considered.

"Are you going to move?" Riku asked me bluntly, recrossing his arms commandingly.

I stared up at him, blinking innocently. I was as out of the way as I was going to get. "No." I stated calmly earning a sigh from him. However, he just shrugged with a dim 'whatever' before he tossed Kristi a thin wooden stick, holding his own over his head.

I noted that Kristi was better with her fists than a stick, though she out did Sora by a longshot. The two faught each other with a flurry of strikes, all of which neither party could especially well block. Finding the exchange useless, Riku backflipped to the edge of the island, and charged forward, stick flying, a move which Kristi dodged by leaping to the side, and digging her sneakers into the ground just before she fell off the island. She rolled to the side as he tried again, barely staying on the island that time. She brought her stick up as his thundered toward her, deflecting it as she performed the difficult to master technique arcanum on him, which, to my surprise, he combatted equally, rendering her to the ground.

I stood, and fluidly caught a stick thrown to me by Kiru, stepping up to his twin. He lifted an eyebrow as he lashed out at me, a move I darted out of the way of, slipping around behind him, and striking him on the back, knocking him forward. I took a step backwards, and spred my arms in silent taunt. He backflipped to the opposite edge of the island, and shot out at me as was his tradition. I lept over top of him, and in mid air, to my own surprise as well as to his, I turned, striking him with all my weight with the stick, throwing him flying into the water. Both my feet landed on the very edge of the island, and I put my arms out for balance this time, but it was futile, I toppled forward, landing ungracefully into the water, and creating a rather large splash that helped to thoroughly soak Riku, who'd managed to catch the ladder as he fell.

I could hear the others laughing above us as I floated back to the surface, and didn't bother climbing back up as Riku was doing. I was done for the night. I wanted to stay as far away as possible from them.

I'd always been a natural loner, but never had I had such loathing for anyone as I held for everyone now.

Authors notes: Really, really, REALLY short chapter, yeh, but I got around to kicking Riku's ass with a stick! And A message to the real Kristi, since in the first chapter she was a bit too helples... Better now? You kicked ass too! (just not as much as I did. )