Author's Note: Thank you guys for reviewing, I hope you guys will keep it up, not because I will stop writing, but because it is nice to have feed back and makes me happy! :)

Anyway, the quotes are getting more whimsical and probably less fitting, but they make some sense in my strange and twisted mind anyway so feedle dee dee! I am sorry for the continuing chapters explaining stuff rather then action etc, but there is nothing too too extraneous I trust.

Chapter Nine: Explanations

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost.
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring.
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

-J.R.R. Tolkien, an Al Bhed author, of course.

Rikku flinched and opened her eyes, immediately raising her hand to block out the dusty sunlight that filtered in through the faded curtains. She puzzled at it for a moment. The light was an odd color and it was impossible for her to tell what time it was.

How long have I been sleeping?

Thankfully she had not dreamed, but remained blissfully unaware. Sadly, this was no longer the case; though this time she had no confusion about where she was or rather where she wasn't, and no immediate feeling of suffering. She felt... distanced... but also wide awake.

Sitting up with a frown, she threw off the covers and climbed out of the bed, gingerly setting her bare feet onto the hard floor. Physically, she felt much better then she had before. Now she just wanted to find that woman Julia and hopefully get some answers. Looking down at the large nightshirt she wore, Rikku briefly wondered if she should change back into the green dress so she'd at least be wearing proper clothes, but she quickly discarded the idea. The thought made her sick, as if dark karma clung to it now. Besides, she'd be lying if she claimed that she hadn't worn skimpier outfits, a lot skimpier. No, this would be fine. She was actually astonished with herself for even caring about such a comparatively trivial thing.

Crazy...

Fixing a determined expression on her face, Rikku opened the door and poked her head out into the hall. Finding it clear, she stepped out, looking around in both directions. It was in much the same state as the room she just left; musty, gray, depressing, and also painfully silent. Three other doorways lay to her left, but Rikku wasn't about to go exploring in the bedrooms of someone else's house so instead she headed for the stairs, hoping that she'd find Julia or those kids below.

She continued to absorb her surroundings as she walked down the steps. There was something odd about this place that she couldn't quite put her finger on. Reaching the landing, she found that the living room area was empty as well. The door to her left looked like it might lead into a kitchen so Rikku went there, wondering if this place did in fact have inhabitants or if she had just imagined Julia, Rinoa, and Locke. It was bad enough waking up in an unknown place, but to wake up alone and abandoned in some creepy old house after everything that had happened... Shaking her head, she pushed the door open, almost startled when she actually did find someone on the other side.

The man jerked his head up, fixing her with a dark stare as he casually concealed the papers he was writing on. They both took a moment to assess one another before either of them spoke. The man was striking with sable brown hair and stormy dark blue eyes that were almost violet, but perhaps the most striking thing about him was the scar that ran between his eyes and across the bridge of his nose, clearly made by some sort of blade.

"Uh... hi." Rikku said, most intelligently. The man leaned back in his chair, continuing with his assessment, clearly seeing something about her that he didn't like.

"So you're awake."

Why yes, yes I am... and aren't you the observant one...

The look he gave made her testy. It reminded her all too much of the way she had seen so many Yevonites treat the Al Bhed, scorning them for their mere existence. After all she was the one who was knocked out and brought here, not the other way around. Why should he be viewing her with such mistrust? She guessed that he must be Rinoa and Locke's father, the one who had wanted to lock her in that room. It was just rude and well... mean. Rikku held her tongue in check though. She needed to find out more about where she was... about what happened and she didn't think the best way would be to bitch at her host.

"Um yeah..." Rikku hesitated and there was a moment of awkward silence before the questions came pouring out of her. "How did I get here? What happened to Spira? What is this place? Who are you?!"

The man looked calmly back at her then responded to the last one. "I could ask you the same thing... Spira... that was your world?"

Rikku nodded slowly looking down at the ground. "Was my world..." Abruptly she jerked her head up, eyes blazing at him. "What the heck happened to it?! What were those, those things... they... killed everyone. Everyone I love is dead!" Rikku laughed, slightly hysterical. "Everyone I hate is dead!" That made her pause, it wasn't entirely true... she certainly hated the ones who had done this, and she had no doubt in her mind that they were very much alive. "I don't even know why I am not dead..." She ended this last bit with a shrill tone in her voice.

So much for remaining calm.

For a moment she thought she saw a flicker of sympathy in the man's eyes, but then it was gone, replaced by a hard look as he got up from the table and approached, his arms crossed as he glared down at her... and an absolutely ginormous sword at his side. He was quite clearly trying to intimidate her, but she had no idea why.

"That's what I want to know... Awfully lucky aren't you, very convenient that you yourself were the only one to make it out. That you were saved." Rikku couldn't believe what she was hearing and grew more upset with each word that he spoke. She glared up at him angrily, waving her arms wildly as she answered back.

"Look you big jerk, I don't know what happened. I was unconscious, nooo memory of how I got here! Last thing I do remember is seeing my cousin violently murdered by some big creepy black fiend and one of my best friends get cut down by some psycho when he tried to help her. Then I got whacked over the head, lights out, and that's it! Believe me. I would have much preferred to die instead of Yunie..."

Then much to her embarrassment, she burst into tears. Still she was gratified to see a slightly regretful and completely helpless look on his face. At that moment, Julia burst into the room and immediately assessing the situation,andhaving seen Rikku's tears, she scowled and gave the man a reproachful look.

"What is going on here?! Are you alright? Why don't you sit down and I'll make some tea..."

Julian gently led Rikku over to the chair and immediately began bustling about, putting water in the kettle and pulling out cups. Then turning to Rikku with a smile, she grabbed the man's hand and headed for the living room.

"Excuse me. I need to talk to Leon. It will only be a moment." Rikku watched as she dragged him out and after a quiet moment, brushing away her tears and listening to Julia's voice as it rose an anger and the words of her rant became clear.

"I didn't realize I'd married such a bully. She's obviously been through a lot; I cannot believe you were provoking her like that, making her cry. She's still injured Leon!"

Leon didn't shout back, so Rikku did not get to here his part of the conversation, but soon enough Julia began again

"I don't care who brought her here! You cannot tell me she is not a victim in the situation... This isn't so different. She's just another one that needs help... If Mikael had given the order to—"

Leon broke in again, obviously telling Julia to keep her voice down, because she quieted and Rikku could not hear the remainder of the conversation. When the pair returned, Leon no longer appeared so hostile, but neither did he look happy about the situation. Rikku glared stubbornly at him as he moved in front of her and grudgingly held out his hand in apology.

"I'm sorry. You can't be too trusting around here if you want to survive and we have more cause to be suspicious then most... I just don't want to put my family into jeopardy, which is always what happens when he's involved and when he brought you here. I thought you were a spy." Rikku frowned, confused. She had absolutely no idea what Leon was talking about.

"Who brought me here?"

Julia walked over setting down a cup of steaming tea in front of her, answering.

"Riku." Rikku turned to look at her, wondering what she wanted.

"Yes?"

Julia smirked and even Leon wasn't able to keep a straight face. The idea of Riku and the little blonde girl having essentially the same name was just too funny. Rikku frowned as she looked back and forth between the pair.

"What are you smiling at? Julia just shook her head.

"That's his name. Riku. Two nights ago he dropped you off." It clicked. The silver haired man, he had warned her and then he had knocked her out and brought her here, leaving Spira to die... Riku. The name fit somehow, despite the irony of it.

"Ok... but why? Who is he? He warned me about..." Rikku shook her head impatiently. "Can you please explain to me what happened to Spira and what those things were?" Leon nodded slightly as he took a seat at the table again.

"I can't claim to know why he did get you off the world, but he probably brought you here because we help people like you, people whose worlds have been lost." Seeing the still confused expression on her face, he continued to explain. "The wraiths, the shadow beings... They're called the Heartless, creatures of pure darkness. They move from world to world and steal the heart of it, its life essence, and then the world dies. Sometimes the process is quick, sometimes slow. They're under the control of...let's just say some bad people, at Hollow Bastion. Riku works for those people, thus the mistrust... but I owed him, so here you are."

Rikku shook that aside for now and stared at him in disbelief. "But why do they do it?"

And why'd he save me...

Leon simply shrugged. No one really knew the answer. "Desire for destruction, power... they're looking for something."

Rikku's gaze took on a determined focus. "Well it's got to stop. They can't just get away with this!"

And I will have my vengeance.

"They already have, best thing you can do now is try to get over it. Live what life you have left. Cocytus is dying, slowly but surely, but it's all there is. No world is safe." Rikku threw him a disgusted look. Just do nothing?! Before she could speak though, Julia stood up.

"Rikku, I am sure you'd like some real clothes. I believe there's some in the attic that would fit you. I had a friend... she was just a little taller, the clothes will do nicely if we can find it."

Rikku was curious, but by way Julia talked, Rikku knew that whoever her friend was, she was dead now and Rikku didn't want to hurt her with questions.

"Come on Leon, you can help us look also and explain to Rikku about the order of things here in Cocytus."

So as they all headed up the stairs and to the attic, Leon gave Rikku a rough overview of the districts of the city, the nine rings, making sure she understood which areas to avoid. Basically, if she went past the fifth district, she'd be in trouble, though none of the sectors could be deemed as very safe. As he continued to drone on, they all began to search around the attic. Hollow Bastion and the heartless seemed to be an off limits topic for now, but she'd find out more... later. For now though, she'd focus on the task at hand. Search for the clothes.

The attic was cluttered with a random assortment of boxes and old furniture. It had the same musty old feel as the rest of the house, but was even worse. Rikku walked around, trying to see in the dim room, there was only one window and the lights didn't work. No one seemed inclined to get a lamp, so Rikku made do. As she surveyed the room though, she began to notice something strange. At first it was just a flicker and Rikku thought that she had just imagined it, but then it happened again, longer this time. Holding still, she waited and the glow came once more, this time not diminishing. Following it to the source, she found a big old clothing trunk, with and odd light seeping out of the sides.

"What in the farplane...?" Rikku moved forward almost as if she were drawn to whatever lay inside the chest. Opening it she saw that it had the clothes that they were looking for, but that wasn't what interested her. Lying just under a yellow dress at the top of the chest was a sword, the same type that the man who had killed Tidus had wielded. The same type as Riku's. Strikingly similar actually. Reaching down, she picked it up, absent mindedly calling to Julia and Leon.

"I found the clothes... and something else." The pair came out from behind the stacks they were looking in and as Leon saw the keyblade he turned to Julia, an appalled expression on his face. "That's what you call safe keeping?!"

Julia frowned at him. "Well and why not? I was sure that no one would—" Julia broke off as Leon rested his hand on her arm nodding at her to look over at the girl. Rikku herself was looking down, the blonde hair cascading down her back, and the oversized nightshirt hanging to her knees. She looked like a child, staring down in wonder at the keyblade in her hands as the object itself glowed softly, quelling the dusty darkness of the attic.

Julia glanced at Leon. "Well that's new."