Ok, my last story bombed so I decided to write this one. It's only my second fic, so please R&R.
"Riku, I have another assignmentto give toyou." The red haired pyromaniac named Axel stated.
Riku groaned. He hated it when Axel was the one to give him assignments.
"What is it this time?" He asked, rolling his eyes. "Attacking someone in another world, retrieving a cursed item for Vexen to examine, a trip into the abyss maybe?"
"Heh heh, close. You need to go get a sword called the Giulmar Twilit. Diz wants it for some reason."
The Guilmar Twilit? Why does that sound so familiar? Riku wondered. "So all I have to do is find some sword with a funny name? I guess this means I got the break I asked for."
"Not quite. You see, someone already found the sword." Axel had a look on his face that reminded Riku of the way Tidus looked when he was about to tell the punch line of a bad joke that he thought was really funny. "You might know of him. His name is Sephiroth."
"Sephiroth? I think you're lying." Riku couldn't help snicker inwardly at the strangely accurate comparison he had made between Axel and Tidus.
"And what makes you think that?" Axel asked, his eyes narrowing.
"I have my reasons." Riku, though he didn't show it on the outside, was trying as hard as he could not to laugh. He found it extremely funny that Axel, the man who was constantly reminding Riku who had more seniority, knew less about Diz than Riku did. "I think I'll go ask Diz myself."
As he walked away, Riku could hear Axel cursing under his breath. He kind of enjoyed making Axel so mad, but not because the guy was a jerk. No, it was because Axel was the guy who had made King Mickey leave, the one friend Riku had had in this miserable castle. He had gone into a depression then, barely eating and almost never sleeping. He spent his time completing the missions he was constantly being sent on and wondering if Sora would still be his friend when he woke up. The whole time he was like that he had thought that King Mickey had just abandoned him because of what he had done in the past.
Then he received help from the last person he ever expected. The Riku Replica. He still wasn't sure if he had just been hallucinating, or if he had actually met him, but he knew that it definitely helped. The other Riku had shown him what had really happened when King Mickey had left, how he had fought Axel, Zexion, and Lexaeus before they were able to throw him out. He had also told Riku not to worry about Sora not forgiving him since the whole reason Sora went to Castle Oblivion in the first place was to try and find Riku. When Riku pointed out that he still didn't have a friend, Riku Replica suggested that he try and become friends with Namine.
Shortly after that his meeting with Riku Replica had ended, but Riku did search for Namine after that. It wasn't hard to find her, and they did become friends pretty quick. Namine wanted to know what life was like outside the castle, what it was like to not have someone putting you down constantly. Riku just needed someone to talk to, so he was happy to supply the stories Namine asked for. They agreed that it would be better for both of them if no one else knew that they were friends, since everyone else in the darn castle seemed to want to make them as miserable as possible.
Riku was suddenly torn from his reverie when he heard Larxene yelling at somebody. Wondering who was on the receiving end of this argument, he quickly rounded the corner. He almost laughed out loud when he saw that it was Diz. Larxene was ranting and raving, while was watching her calmly. Riku had at first thought that Diz was the leader of the Organization, but soon learned that the reason the others treated him with such respect was because he could take on all of them in a fight. That and it was literally impossible to win in an argument with him. Riku was the closest to accomplishing this, but still had a long way to go.
After a few moments of her ranting and raving, (something about never getting a straight answer) Larxene stopped, glared at Diz who stood about five inches higher than her, and stormed off. Diz then turned his attention to Riku and asked why he was here.
"You have a question to answer." Riku answered. He normally would have come right out and asked him, but Diz had given him strict orders to talk this way to him. Since Riku was under his command, he had to do as he was told. Lately Riku had found this slipping into his normal conversations with the other members, much to Axel's annoyance, and even into his conversations with Namine.
"And have you asked this question already? Or is this a new one?" Diz asked. Riku hated this ritual, but he knew it was necessary.
"I've asked it of myself, but I cannot find an answer. Axel gave me an assignment he said came from you, but the assignment does not make sense." Riku watched Diz's reaction more that anything else, since this would give more of an answer than anything he said.
Diz replied "I do have an assignment for you."
Riku had noticed the slight hesitation Diz had made before answering, and took that to mean that he hadn't told anyone about this new assignment. "He said I needed to retrieve a sword called the Giulmar Twilit from Sephiroth."
"He was correct." Diz revealed absolutely nothing other than this, so Riku decided he must not be lying.
"If he was correct, then why do you need me to take something from Sephiroth? Why don't you do it?" Riku knew that Diz knew he really meant why didn't he just ask Sephiroth for it? He was friends with him, right?
"Why indeed? Why am I training you if I can do all of this myself?" Diz put on a quizzical look, or at least what Riku knew was his quizzical look, and shrugged.
Then Riku understood. This was a test to see how he would handle this, and how he would react. "I'm not going to risk my life just so you can see how I react to certain circumstances. Sorry, but I refuse this mission." He turned on his heel and left without another word to Diz.
He decided to let Namine know that he had gotten Diz mad at him and that he would have to leave the castle for a little while. Namine, why did he always tell her everything? Even stuff he wouldn't have told Sora. He wasn't in love with her, was he? Was it even possible for him to love anymore, now that Ansem was in his heart? Was it possible for him to have that light in his heart, when it was submersed in darkness?
Riku was contemplating this while he was walking to the room that held Sora, since that was the only place Namine ever stayed for more than sixty seconds. When he got there, he wondered how she would react to him getting Diz mad at him. After all, the last person to succeed in that, Marluxia, got killed by the Keyblade Master. While Riku wasn't exactly worried about that, he was worried about what Diz would do to him.
Riku shook his head and opened the door. He wasn't going to think about that right now. He walked in and looked around, trying to find Namine.
"Namine?" He asked the empty room. Why wasn't she here? The only time she ever left was when either Riku forced her to eat or she needed to sleep. Since it was only one o' clock, Riku didn't think the last one was very likely.
"Oh, were you looking for her?" Asked a familiar voice from beside the door.
Riku spun around, drawing the Soul Eater. He almost dropped it when he saw Sephiroth holding his seven foot sword, the Masamune, up to Namine's throat.
"Release her!" He yelled, running at them.
"You'll have to catch me first. I'll be in Traverse town. Don't be late." Sephiroth replied mockingly as he disappeared into a portal of darkness.
"No! Aargh!" Riku punched the wall. Why did he just let the one friend he had get kidnapped, let alone by the guy he just said he wouldn't go after?
He ran back out into the hall, running for the exit. He saw Diz, almost exactly where he had left him, and growled, "I changed my mind. I'm going after Sephiroth."
"Good. Don't forget the Giulmar Twilit, which, by the way, means Twilight Guardian.
"Whatever! Just don't get in my way!" Riku yelled back as he finally got to the giant doors that opened into the never ending grassy plains that were the trademark of this world. I won't let you down, Namine. Riku thought as he opened the portal to the Twilight Road, which was the only way to get from world to world with the walls intact.
Ok, like I said, this is my second fic, and the first one bombed, so that didn't count. Anyway, R&R, flames accepted