"What? You can't be Riku," Rikku said, now utterly confused. "I'm Rikku."
"Well, so am I." Riku said, brushing a strand of bluish silver hair out of his face.
Rikku paced the place nervously, mumbling to herself in Al Bhed.
"Ur syh, fryd'ja E kuddah socamv ehdu drec desa? Uuuur, drec muugc NAYMMO pyt..."
Riku looked very confused. "Um, are you okay? You sound like you're dying or something."
Rikku looked up.
"No! I'm speaking in Al Bhed, not that you would know that, but..." Rikku rambled. "Hey, where are we?"
"In the space between light and darkness," Riku replied in a far-off tone.
"Huh? What're you talking about?"
The boy shook his head. "It's a long story."
"Well, I've got awhile, so let's hear it."
Rikku sat down on the white earthen floor, ready to listen. The boy began to pace, looking agitated.
"Not too long ago, Heartless came and attack our island,"
"Our?" Rikku cut it.
"Mine, Sora's, and Kairi's, it was called Destiny Island." Riku replied. "Anyways, we all got separated all over the world. I was alone... But everything happened so fast, and I found myself here over a few months. Sora showed up, and we had to close this door to save the world from being overrun by Heartless."
The boy breathed.
"So," Rikku started, "basically, you saved the world, but one had to stay back, and that was you?"
"Something like that." He sighed.
"Ohhhh," Rikku said quietly, "sorry to hear that."
"Whatever," Riku said unequivocally. "We need to figure out a way out of here. I've been searching for it for awhile now."
Rikku stood up and began to wander around the area.
"Drana'c hudrehk rana..." she whispered to herself.
She spotted an oddly-shaped rock to the left a door. She looked and saw an identical rock on the right side. On each rock there was a symbol, a key. Rikku pondered.
"Hey, what's this?" Rikku called to the boy.
Riku walked over and bent down next to her, examining the rock. His fingers traced the carving in the stone.
"Two keys will open the door to the light..." he said, barely audible.
"Huh?"
"Of course!" Riku said. "The two keys!"
The boy fumbled inside his pockets, finally pulling out a silver chain. Rikku examined it, seeing a silver key.
"You've gotta have the other one," the boy said confidently to Rikku.
"Oh?" Rikku replied. "What makes you so sure?"
"You couldn't have gotten in here without it," Riku said matter-of-factly.
"Come to think of it...." Rikku whispered.
She opened up one of the pouches attached to her skirt, retrieving a gold key she'd found while on a sphere hunt.
"This?" Rikku asked, holding it up for Riku to see.
Riku snatched the key from her hand and examined it closely.
"Yes, this is it!" she said happily.
He handed the key back to her and ran over to the rock on the right.
"Okay, on my count, put the key in the outline in the stone the same time as me, okay?" he said.
"Uh, okay," Rikku agreed uncertainly.
"Okay, one, two, THREE!"
At that second, Rikku and Riku both pressed the keys into the carvings on the stones. At first, Rikku thought nothing had happened. Then she looked to the left and saw a faintly rainbow-colored staircase materializing out of nowhere.
"Wow," Rikku gasped.
"That's our way out," Riku said, smiling broadly.
They both jumped to their feet and walked towards the staircase. Rikku set a foot on it to make sure she wasn't hallucinating, and felt solid something under her boot. She took the next step, then began to climb the other, Riku right behind her.