Kingdom of Chaos
Chapter 14: Double Take
Author: Sketchy Sunshine of OSTOCOM
Rating: PG-13, just to be on the safe side
Author's Note: Hope this chapter explains stuff, Takame! XD
See chapter one for summary, disclaimer and other goodness. Otherwise, here's chapter fourteen! XD
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Sora sat on a wooden bench, tracing the spot on his arm where the Soul Eater had cut him. The cure spell had obliterated any trace of his wounds…but couldn't heal the other wounds inflicted inside.
Donald and Goofy stood beside him, also healed. They faced Toshi and Riku, unsure whether to be overjoyed or cautious. The night had settled in, and the sound of crickets echoed in a chorus around them.
"So…you're really Riku?" Sora finally asked, hesitant.
"Yeah. Although I can understand if you don't believe me…" Riku sighed. "There are lots of people running around pretending to be me."
"No. I mean, I know it's you…" Sora stood and faced Riku. He felt very strange not being able to look into his friend's eyes. "Why are you wearing that blindfold?"
"It helps me to see," Riku answered.
"But can't you take it off?..." Sora reached a hand up towards Riku's face.
Riku recoiled stronger than he intended to. "No! No…I can't see without it," he said quickly.
"Where's the king? Was he really with you?" Goofy spoke up.
"He was. He was there when I needed someone the most…" Riku's voice became tinged with sorrow. "I wouldn't have gotten here at all if it hadn't been for the king. We got separated coming to this town, and I'm trying to find him."
"Oh…" Donald and Goofy hung their heads in dejection.
"But at least we found you!" Sora said, trying to find the bright side of the situation. "We can find a way home now and see Kairi!"
Riku paced around the bench slowly, while Toshi looked on with well-hidden impatience. "I can't go home…not until I find the king, at the very least. And even then…"
"Even then what? Why won't you just come home? We don't care what happened when Ansem had control of you…we've already forgiven you!" Sora said, insistent.
Riku grimaced at the mention on Ansem. "I know you've forgiven me…I just haven't forgiven myself."
Sora slumped, his optimism waning again. He slowly began to realize that even once he and Riku returned to Destiny Islands, things wouldn't be the same…and they never could be again. "I just don't understand what happened to you after we closed the Door."
"Because you didn't ask," Riku said, unable to stop a small amount of bitterness from seeping into his voice. "Or because you forgot. Why did you choose to go to sleep?"
Sora tried to think of an answer, but nothing quite made sense. Various memories of his time in Castle Oblivion had come back to him after fighting Zexion, but most of the details were still incoherent and disconnected. "It just…seemed like the right thing to do at the time."
"It may have been the right thing to do, but it wasn't necessarily the wisest," Riku responded. "We're in an entirely different Kingdom now, and we have a lot of very powerful people after us. This may very well be more serious than just killing Heartless."
"Speaking of, we should find someplace to stay for the night," Toshi said, getting up from his spot by the iron gate. "The Heartless tend to pop up at night, and the last thing we need to deal with is them…or Heartless shadows."
"Heartless shadows?" Donald questioned.
Sora's interest suddenly piqued at hearing the blond-haired boy's voice. He stood, and faced him with an inquiring look. "Who are you? And how come you also have a Keyblade?"
Toshi grinned, glad to finally be able to speak his piece. "My name is Toshi."
Sora gasped, and Donald and Goofy did likewise. "Toshi! We were supposed to find you…" Sora fished around in his pocket until he picked up the note. "We found this note when we woke up in Castle Oblivion."
Toshi took the note and unfolded it. His face lit up immediately at seeing the drawings inside. "Naminé…"
Sora was glad that he was finally making connections…but was still curious as to how these connections were being made. "Where did you get a Keyblade?" he asked again.
"I have a Keyblade because I am you."
Sora looked at Toshi as if he had just transformed into a moogle. "…Huh?"
"Well, not exactly…I am the you that doesn't exist," Toshi amended.
Sora's confusion only worsened. "The me that doesn't exist? What does that mean?"
Toshi bit his lip, trying to figure out the best way to explain something he barely understood himself. "Well…where we are now is Twilight Town; a city on the Borderlands between your Kingdom and the Kingdom of Chaos. Everything that doesn't exist exists here…shadows of cities, castles and people. We can have lives of our own, perhaps even entirely different lives…but we are still made from people that exist."
"I still don't understand..." Sora said, feeling a headache coming on from this bizarre information.
"I told you, I am the you that doesn't exist," Toshi said. "Everything that you cannot be or will not do formed me. I really don't know when or how I came to be here…but I've learned that I am everything you are not. People that use one side of an immense power have other selves that form here…the other side of themselves."
"Gawrsh, does that mean there could be another me somewhere around here?" Goofy asked.
Toshi answered, "There could be. Although I don't think I've ever met them."
"So if you're everything that I'm not…does that mean you're the dark half of me?" Sora questioned, suddenly concerned.
"It's true that a large part of me is darkness, but there are some parts of you that don't exist that are light, too. And I can still use the darkness towards good ends…" Toshi grinned. "I guess your sense of justice still rubbed off on me."
Sora furrowed his eyebrows. "How can darkness be used for good?"
Toshi nodded at Riku. "Ask your friend…after all, he knows the most about it."
Donald asked the question they were all thinking. "Is there a nonexistent version of the king, too? And a nonexistent Riku?"
Riku looked uneasy for the first time. "There may have been another me at one point…but he's gone now."
"Gone?" Sora asked.
"Riku no longer has a shadow," Toshi butted in. "He incorporates all parts of himself within himself, so he is his own shadow. And because of that, he's stronger than he ever could be before."
Toshi walked close to Sora until their noses almost touched. Sora backed away a step, suddenly uneasy. Toshi's voice was filled with anticipation. "Which is why we need to merge!"
The shock of Toshi's request quickly sent Sora back a few more steps. "What!"
"We need to merge!" Toshi repeated earnestly. "If we do that, we'll both be complete, and we'll be stronger than we ever could be otherwise. We'll be able to take down the Organization in no time!"
"But what do you mean by 'merge'?" Sora asked, almost certain he wasn't going to like the answer.
"We share the same mind and body…maybe even the same heart. We'll exist in the same space, and be able to draw on each other's power. I'm not sure on the exact schematics, but I do know that us merging is what the Organization fears most," Toshi explained.
"Merge? How do you do that?" Donald asked skeptically.
Toshi reached a hand towards Sora. "I don't know, but I'd imagine if we just—"
"Woah, hold on!" Sora stumbled backward, and nearly tripped over the bench. Toshi backed off at seeing the discomfort in Sora's eyes. "I mean, don't you think we should wait before doing this merge thing? I didn't even know there was this other me running around, and then I suddenly found you and Riku, and all these memories of Castle Oblivion…"
Toshi's face fell. "You're right, I'm sorry. We've only just met. It's just…" he stopped.
"What?"
"…I need to find my sister, Naminé," Toshi said, exhaling slowly. "The Organization kidnapped her, and I can't take them down without your help. I've been looking for her for so long…"
Sora's sense of sympathy instantly kicked in. He understood exactly how Toshi felt looking for someone important to him…and then realized just how much he did understand. How much else do we have in common?...
"Well, we'll still help you find her," Sora volunteered. Donald and Goofy both groaned inwardly.
"Before we do that, we need to find the king," Riku interjected.
Toshi was about to protest when Donald hopped up. "He's right! The king wouldn't want us to leave without him." Goofy nodded vigorously in agreement.
"We can't try and go home yet?" Sora asked, crestfallen.
"I told you before, I'm not leaving without the king," Riku said decisively.
"Well, it looks like it's three against two," Toshi commented, folding his hands behind him head in the same manner as Sora. "Let's find us a place to stay for the night and get a fresh start tomorrow…the longer we stay out here, the more at risk we are."
The other four answered with affirmatives. They left the iron gate, and started back into town. As they walked down the dimly-lit streets, Sora felt a strange feeling settle into the pit of his stomach. He had thought a lot about what would happen once he was reunited with Riku…but he hadn't pictured anything like this.
What's happened to Riku…and to me? And if this Toshi is who he says he is…what would happen if we did merge?
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Done again! Woo…these chapters seem to be getting longer. oO Next chapter is written, and should be up soon.
Must…resist…urge…to…post…poetry…GUHH
Check it, I'm doing fanart-ish-type things for this fic here: http : lynxgriffin . deviantart . com (spaces added so that the addy wouldn't be deleted.)
Reviews are greatly appreciated! XD
