Secrets of Memories Chapter 60: Kobi's Secret
He tore through the hall of Hollow Bastion, ignoring Sally's questioning calls, ignoring Pooh's helloes, ignoring Tarzan's shouts, as he gripped the old tome tightly in his hand and recklessly, and purposely, lost himself in the halls of the old castle.
Now he knew the truth, the horrible truth about himself. How stupid was he? Why did he accept Maleficient's offer, why did he fall to Ansem, whose shadow still lived in the nether reaches of his heart? Why was he such an easy pray of the Darkness?
" Just look at me!" he raged. " Now all I can see is darkness. The light blinds me. This is not what I wanted! Why? Why!"
Riku stormed into a room, locked the door behind him, and chucked the book in his hand. He was glad to hear glass shatter; the book must've struck a mirror.
" That's right," he growled. " No mirror will mirror my image. Silver hair, blindfold, eyes like demons of the dark…"
His darkness became active, indicating that there was a bed for him to sit on. Riku did just that; he sat on the bed and covered his face with his hands. He tried for a few minutes to calm the pounding in his chest, then began to cry.
How long had it been, a year and a few months? Why was he still blind? Did his journey through Castle Oblivion ruin his vision?
The road to dawn took him to the doors of Kingdom Hearts. His eyes, used to the darkness, could not stand the whiteness and King Mickey had given him a black cloth to shield his eyes. He had worn it ever since…now he knew what had happened to his eyes.
" DAMNIT!" Riku screamed at the ceiling. Darkness pulsed at his fingertips; power pulsed in his scarred palm. How nice it would be, to pull down Hollow Bastion on his cursed body and end his miserable existence forever…
Take care of Kairi.
He still had to find Sora. And once he did, he still had to go home. The three of them, Sora, Kairi, and him, they still had to go home.
" I can't give up now," he murmured, laying back on the bed and stretching his arms out, relaxing. " Sora won't give up. I know he won't give up. So I can't give up either. I'm still his standard; can't lose my image now…"
He drifted into sleep, his face touched with a peaceful smile. A tear rolled down his cheek and wetted the bedcovers underneath.
''
He stared out into the darkening twilight through the towering glass window, watching the sun setting behind the distant mountains. It was beautiful, as stars came out of the sky of colors to shine upon the bustling city that surrounded the castle he stood in. But where was he?
" What is this place?" Riku wondered, looking around. Then he blinked. He could see. He touched his face; his blindfold was gone. He spotted a long mirror on the wall a little way down. He ran to it and stared at himself. His eyes were aqua blue, though darker, more brooding. Then, as he watched, his eyes transformed to a pale white, with black pupils and flecks of the aqua blue framing the hot white within.
" My eyes…" he murmured, reaching out and touching the mirror.
His hand went through the mirror.
" This must be a dream," Riku realized. " And I'm aware of it. But what is this place?"
He turned back to the window, looking up at the pointed arch that ended its meters-long run up the wall. It all seemed familiar. He looked up and down the hallway, staring in awe at its marbled flooring and intricately carved doorframes and ceiling. Clearly someone had the money and the means to make a castle out of this place –
It hit him.
" This is Hollow Bastion!" But it was so beautiful, so white, so…lively. Not metallic, not mechanic, not the haunted, lonely place where he had resided for some time as Maleficient's pupil.
He stared at the tall, white amphorae that displayed crisp purple flowers. They lined up the wall facing the great row of windows. Hollow Bastion definitely did not have that domestic touch the last time he was there with his vision intact.
" I wonder who lives here…" Riku looked around. Ten seconds later, his answers came in peals of laughter as two youngsters, both barely three, rushed into the long hallway from a perpendicular one. Giggling madly, they clambered up the ledge between the wall and the actual glass window and hid behind a statue of what looked oddly like a Behemoth. The laughing was quickly silenced, followed by the pitter-patter of feet rushing down the hallway they had just appeared from.
" Kobi? Riku? Children!" A scowling, middle-aged woman strode into the hall. " Come out now! You're already in big trouble, you two. Don't make it worse than you already made it!"
Riku jolted. He DID know who Kobi was. They were here, in Hollow Bastion, many years ago. But why? And how?
" Children!" the woman was wearing a white apron over a plain brown dress with blue bordering. Her umber hair was flecked with gray and held in a tight, severe bun. Her green eyes sought out the two silver-haired children; finding no signs of them, she gave a disgruntled humph and strode down the hallway, eventually disappearing around a corner. She had not seen Riku.
" What the…" he watched as the two children cautiously peeped out from behind the Behemoth statue. Then they high-fived each other.
" Yes! Score!"
The one who spoke had green eyes and, strangely enough, resembled Ansem. He was wearing a green shirt and black shorts.
" Poor Nana!" the other child laughed. He had Riku's blue eyes; he was wearing a yellow shirt and dark blue shorts. " Three times today!"
" Did you see the look on his face?" the green-eyed child, probably Kobi, scrambled to a spot on the ledge and sat watching the corner the woman they called Nana had vanished around.
" Oh yeah!" the other child grinned, staring out at the city below them. That must've been me, Riku thought. " We should do it again!"
" Vixen's gonna tell Father, though," Kobi sighed.
" Then we'll just have to get back at him," the young Riku grinned.
Sounds like me, Riku thought. When I was young.
Then a little girl, around their age, appeared from the hallway the two children and Nana had come out of. She was a fair child, with light blonde hair and dark sapphire eyes. She was wearing a dress the color of very pale peaches.
" What a cute girl," Riku murmured aloud. Who was she?
" Oh, hey Naminé," Kobi waved nervously, while the young Riku jumped and whirled around. " What are you, ah, doing here?"
" Nana wants you," Naminé answered. " She says she'll tell on your father if you don't go to her."
Young Riku and Kobi looked at each other. Young Riku shrugged and Kobi very abruptly changed the subject. " Where's Kairi?"
Riku stared. Where's Kairi? Kairi was here, too? Riku, Kobi, the memory shifter Naminé, the Society member Vixen, and Kairi were all here in Hollow Bastion that long ago? What was going on?
" You forgot, didn't you?" Naminé looked at them with a hopeless sigh. " She's gone to Disney to stay with some relatives for a five years."
Young Riku and Kobi looked at each other. " We forgot."
" You two are a riot," Naminé sighed and shook her head. " Well, I should tell you, I'm also leaving tomorrow morning."
" What? To where?" Kobi demanded. Riku's young self stared out at the twilight sky.
" To Celt Circle," Naminé replied, then said with all the importance of a toddler, " Daddy says I can learn magic there. That's why I'm going. Daddy said I got magic in me and all I need to do is learn how to use it."
" No fair," Kobi said crossly. " I wanna learn magic, too."
Naminé shrugged. Then the young Riku spoke, " We didn't even tell Kairi good bye."
" Don't worry," the blonde girl said. " I told her for you two. Oh, and are you guys coming or not? If it's not Nana, its Kobi's father."
" Come on," Kobi jumped off the ledge. " I want Nana yelling at me, not Father."
" Or Vixen," the young Riku added, following his lead. " He could get Lexeus to help him, like he said the last time we blew up his laboratory."
Lexeus? Another Society member here in Hollow Bastion?
" And I exploded Vixen's laboratory," Riku murmured, watching the three children leave. " That rocks."
He approached the window where the two children sat and watched the skies. As the night grew longer and the stars shone stronger, he saw something blazing across the sky. Something a lot like a shooting star.
" Is this the night the World Barriers fell?" Riku asked no one in particular, watching the trail the shooting star left behind, the star stuff sparkling in the night.
" It depends."
Riku whitened, then whirled around. There, before him, stood the man he'd least want to see in the world, least of all in his dreams.
" Ansem…"
" Why so surprised, Riku?" Ansem laughed. " Have you forgotten the shadow that resides in your heart? That, I admit, surprises me. I did not think you'd forget me."
" Actually, I thought I got rid of you," Riku snapped back. " Turns out I didn't, if you're popping up in my dreams. What do you want?"
" To laugh at the memory that came out of your dream," the silver-haired man grinned, his eyes ablaze. " So much have you seen in such a short time. Your memory surprises you, does it not?"'
" What's your point?" Riku demanded. He didn't like the smug look the man had.
" As the darkness grows in the heart, the mind, the earth, the sea, the very skies, so do memories awaken," Ansem grinned manically. " It is only a matter of when and what. When will they awaken and what will they reveal?"
Riku glared at him. " Is that it?"
" Excuse me?"
" Is that all you're going to tell me? I've heard plenty of that crap but I didn't expect it to come from you."
" It depends," Ansem countered. " Will the memories of your days in the darkness overpower your search for the light or will the memories of your past-" he gestured to the halls of Hollow Bastion "-answer questions you never even thought of?"
" What do you know of my past?" Riku snapped back.
Ansem's eyes blazed. The faintest of smiles flashed the stern face. " I know what you don't know."
He turned away and Riku felt the heavy gloom in his voice. Strange, Ansem was never like this before. The Ansem he knew always fought to force him into his service. But now…he sounded sad.
" I don't regret the things I do," Ansem spoke, staring out the window into the night of the city at the feet of Hollow Bastion. " Except maybe a few. But that is too late, isn't it? Once you enter the darkness, there's no going back…never to the past you once lived in."
He turned to Riku. " It must be strange, hearing these words come from me."
" Yeah, apparently," Riku remarked sarcastically.
" It is just that…" Ansem looked out the window again. " You remind me…of something I regretted doing. That is why I chose you. You may wield the darkness within you with the light of your heart but something else lies within your soul. That is why I am forever your shadow, that is why I am here now, even though you have banished me from your heart.."
" Uh…sure," Riku noted, realizing that this Ansem was rather…passive.
" I still desire your strength, your power, but I will not fight you here…not in the halls of your former home…that would bring upon an avalanche of memories too powerful for you or I to handle. The chains wind around your heart; any tighter and it will burst. And where would I be?"
" Gone from me forever," Riku muttered, shaken by his words.
" But so would you," Ansem grinned again. " Memories are a powerful thing, a powerful weapon. Without memories, you are nothing, a mere shell. With memories, you can be the most powerful being on earth. But memories can take hold of you, wrap you in its chains, and hold you captive, until you fall for the false images they send you. Or…they can destroy you."
" That's what Naminé said, I think."
" It was good that she went to Celt Circle," Ansem spoke, more to himself than the teenager in whose heart he inhabited. " She has learned much there…and served both the dark and the light. A fair trade. Kairi, she proved far more useful than I thought. Through her…"
The silver-haired man looked at Riku. "…I have found both you and Sora."
" You used her as a tool? Used her to find us?" Riku demanded. How dare he kick around Kairi that way!
" The race of Angels are closely tied to those who wield the Keyblades and those who can, but may not, wield the Keyblades," Ansem's eyes blazed in a fury of fire. " She is powerful in her own right; it is difficult to destroy her. You, I sent to a world far away but someone intercepted and sent you another way. The same…with someone I should have never sent away."
Ansem turned and began to walk down the hall. " Never do things you regret. Or your heart will become too weak to resist the forces of light and the forces of darkness. I chose the darkness before it tore me apart, therefore saving myself. As for you…don't weaken your heart or the Twilight will savage your heart and soul, shred it into pieces. And that, I'd hate to have it happen to you. Where would I be once you are destroyed by the opposing forces of the wolf and the fox?"
He faded as he kept on walking. Riku stared after him, his mouth agape with astonishment. One, his home was Hollow Bastion. Two, he knew Kobi. Three, he knew Vixen and Lexeus. Four, he knew Kairi and Naminé. Five, what was Ansem smoking? For crying out loud, the man's completely lost his mind!
But what did Hollow Bastion hold over him? Why had he refused to fight Riku in these halls? And what did he do that he regrets to this day?
" Wolf and fox?" Riku echoed. " And why does he always think about himself? 'Where will I be once you are destroyed?' Tell that to my ass, Ansem. You hear me, crazy man! Tell that to my ass!"
Flashes of light from the corner of his eye told him to look to the windows.
A meteor shower blazed through the sky, fearsome and beautiful all at once. Light blazed as they arced their way across the sky.
" The world barriers had fallen," Riku murmured.
And everything faded away…
" Read the book. Kobi had read through it before, when he was young. Lorien had rediscovered it, brought it back to the world. Now it is up to you to read its contents."
Memories…the secrets of memories…
''
Riku sat up, breathing hard. The air in the room had cooled; how long had he been sleeping?
" Too long," he muttered, rubbing his eyes. His gloved hands met nothing but skin.
Riku blinked. He then looked to his right. There, on the bedcovers, lay the blindfold. It had fallen off while he was sleeping.
" Can – can I see?" Riku wondered, looking up and taking in the room. It was night, all dark…but he could see, he could see into the night. He could see the three bookshelves opposite of the four-poster bed, the dust-covered black walnut desk, and a dresser. Shards of a mirror lay scattered all over it; the oval mirror that hung over it had shattered and the book Lorien handed him was lying nearby. It lay open, the pages face down on the dark green carpeting.
" Maybe I shouldn't have broken the glass…" Riku murmured, walking over and picking up the book. He kept looking around, half-expecting to see light and shy away from it.
" Maybe I can only see in the night," he thought, realizing that in this darkness he could see everything as perfectly as he did years back in the day. He carefully lifted the book up and turned it over so the pages within faced his white eyes.
" What the…" Riku stared.
There it was, everything from his dream, all written in shining dark ink by a neat hand:
Kobi and Riku have done it again! It took five million munny to rebuild Vixen's laboratory and no matter how many times Nana, Vixen, and I warned them, they always found their way inside and…well, they basically blew up the laboratory again! How many times have I told my second cousin that Riku's gone out of control and needs to be disciplined? If Daron keeps spoiling his son, we'll have two nightmares on our hands! Of course, that means I'm being a hypocrite, too, and a lousy example for Kobi. I should teach him discipline but Nana, though he drives her insane, keeps telling me that he's too young to start maturing. Maturing! I'm quite amazed he hasn't shown any effects of his mother's death, poor Reina. Oh how I miss her soft touch and her gentle laughs. Only if the plague had not reached her when it had! Here I am, saddled with a whole world to rule and an unmanageable son who will someday be my heir! What am I to do?
On a better note, both Kairi and Naminé have left. Not that I want those girls to leave; they're darlings, compared to Kobi and Riku, those little mischief makers! I'm quite glad the world barriers hadn't fluctuated; the king's invitation is far too important for Kairi to miss answering to. And Naminé, she's got the makings of something special. I hope Tesdel teaches her well; I have great hope in her talents.
Meteor storms again in the skies; I hope the people have heeded my word and paid no attention to them. Why are they so common, so constant now? Will something come from this? What does this mean? Are the storms an omen of darker times?
I suspect Kobi's been reading my other journal; I should hide it, but where?
Riku stared at the page. This was a joke, right? Like, someone must've forged Ansem's writing and wrote his page to confuse the hell out of people, right?
But not, it cannot be denied. The page said it all.
The book Tarzan carried was the one that Ansem's son was to read. And he did…both times. A long time ago…and today. Kobi…he's Ansem's son.
The teenager with silver hair…he was the son of a fallen king…the heir of a fallen world. This…was crazy.
And not only that, Kairi and Naminé lived here, too. The four of us lived in Hollow Bastion…wait, I've heard of Old Citadel but…
Riku flipped through a few pages, then found his answer.
Hollow Bastion was Old Citadel. This was my home once…so long ago…
Riku continued to stare. This was so…wrong, so crazily wrong.
" How has it…come to this?" he whispered, falling to his knees.
''
Hours passed before Riku stirred. His legs were cramping up badly; he was forced to stand anyways. Shaking, he picked up the book and closed it, caressing its leather-bound cover. He now knew half of the truth. They had come from Hollow Bastion. It was now only a matter of where Sora came from.
" I wonder what Tarzan, Pooh, and Sally are doing," he wondered aloud. " They're probably worrying to death about me."
He smirked, then looked out of the window. The sun was rising; the skies were turning light and the surviving stars were fading away. He would now have to go back to his realm of darkness and rely on his dark powers and his sense of smell and touch to find his way now.
" I wonder whose room this was…" he murmured, knowing that the bed felt rather familiar…
Etched on one of the posts was a name. His name.
This was my room.
His heart caught in his throat. Riku stared at the etching, while the sun rose. His blindfold in hand, he continued to stare, at the crude carving that symbolized his name.
This was my room. I slept here, I dressed here, I'd sit here and wonder…
Shaking his head, Riku tied the blindfold around his face, picked up the book, took one last look into the room, and quietly closed the door behind him. He knew where the main hall was; he strode for there down the dark halls purposely, never looking back.
He would never come back.
""
Tossing the little black lamp in his hand, Pete Coulter looked up at the palace of Agrabah. It reminded him of the glory of another time, another era. But that was a bygone era; he was no longer part of the memories.
Things aren't the way they were before, he thought. They never were.
He knew where Aladdin and Princess Jasmine had gone and he knew it was not safe to stand in front of the palace, juggling a black lamp in his hands and wearing extremely outlandish clothing. Add that to his massive bulk and you've got a purple sheep in a sea of white.
" Maybe next time, suckers," Pete growled under his breath and strode off.
His dealings with the Heartless were not like how Ansem dealt with them. He was already one of them and he needed to exert almost no control. They already seemed to know who led them and who did not. The same with the Dusk, the Nobodies; the Advocate oftentimes pushes them around but Pete has no need to. The Darkness favors him tremendously.
Except maybe that Axel.
Pete dare not crush the lamp in his hand from anger. The lamp was very valuable; it held something dear to their cause.
" Jafar, it's time to wake up," Pete grinned. " Time to meet the sunshine, get moving, and kick some street rat butt."
" Not yet."
Peter twitched. " Shaddup, Axel. Leave me alone, already, will ya?"
The fire-haired man smirked. " You are part of the Darkness, therefore I will NOT leave you alone. We need to talk, plain and simple."
" Look, if you wanna make a deal with me and my abilities, you're gonna hafta pay," Pete spat back; Axel looked upon him with contempt. " And don't give your elders that 'eye'!"
Axel grinned. " Relax, Pete, I respect my elders."
" I'm sure you do," Pete snapped back scathingly. " After all that you pulled off at Castle Oblivion-"
" It was all planned," Axel replied smoothly and calmly. " Hey, it keeps with my personality. And it is plain true. If I had the chance, I'd roast Vexen over fire."
" Vexen, eh? I thought his name was Vixen."
" Oh no, we call him that to mess with him," Axel grinned. " In fact, as I recall, everyone called him that."
" Keeps true with what I hear. You need to respect your elders!"
" Oh I respect a few…"
" Now, what is it that you want with me? Clearly its something else."
" Don't release Jafar yet. We're waiting for the right moment to strike."
" Oh really?" Pete said, tossing the black lamp in his hand. " And what if I don't do as you say?"
" When he gets out of prison, he'll have to deal with you first," Axel grinned maliciously. " You know he has a thing for blood, any blood."
" What if he doesn't get out of Limbo," Pete snapped back. " Then what?"
" I deal with you. Orders from the top ones."
" Humph. You and those blasted three."
" Of course, it's either we deal with you, he deals with you, or you listen to us and we let you deal with a certain king…"
Axel watched Pete's face, noting the mixture of emotions running through him. He knew that this was the bait, the irresistible bait. Pete would have changed if he refused it.
" Very well."
Axel grinned. " But before you go anywhere, I want you to answer some of my questions."
" And what if I don't?"
Axel grinned even more darkly. " Every being in this Universe knows of your deeds, your betrayal, all that you've done. You are regarded as a fugitive and an enemy. They may not know how you look like, after what our own dear Advocate pulled off, but if I happen to announce that ol' Pete Coulter was walking in Agrabah, everyone and everything will turn against you. And, I've heard, the great Genie is in the palace as I speak and the street rat and princess of heart are headed back here."
Pete twitched.
" So, Pete, what will it be? Answer a few questions, or face the wrath of all these people?"
He gestured to the masses around them. It was worse for Pete; they were in the middle of the busiest place in Agrabah – the bazaar.
" Damn you."
" Now you can tell me I don't respect my elders. But tell me, wasn't it told that Ronsend would have three kids – one of Darkness, one of Twilight, and one of Light?"
" Well, maybe he doesn't know it but I do. What kind of question is that?"
" Answer! Now…isn't Marucia Ronsend's son?"
Pete bit his lip. " Where'd you hear that?"
" Oh I have my sources. And their resemblance is rather…impeccable. Explanation?"
Pete sighed. Axel has clearly lost his mind. " Ronsend was…somewhat reckless. He had always wanted to play 'hero'. That included traveling. And on his travels, he…made some big mistakes. That's where Marucia came from."
" Ah…"
" Anything else?"
" If Marucia's one of us, a.k.a. the Darkness, then that means there are two others out there, one of Twilight and one of Light."
" They're dead, as I recall." Pete didn't like where Axel was going with his questioning and analysis.
" Or are they?"
" What are you talking about?"
Axel began to pace. " Records show that Kurozora, one of Ronsend's sons with Alara, came to Celt Circle. There are few of us in the Society who knows of Aozora's memories. He can recall living on Celt Circle. Yet, officially, nobody's survived the destruction of Celt Circle. I think we can conclude that his father…is our own Advocate."
" Makes sense," Pete was forced to admit. Axel clearly knew what he was talking about and he had very solid proof to back himself up. " And you think he's the Twilight son because he uses the Oblivion and the Oathkeeper, am I right?"
" He shares the same powers as Riku," Axel stated. " They both can master the dark and the light. But while Riku sinks further into the powers of the darkness, Aozora rises to the powers of the light."
" Riku will not fall to Darkness," Pete said. " He uses his powers for the purpose of the enemy."
" What do you think? He hates Ansem and Ansem, to him, is the embodiment of darkness. Of course he won't sink to our level! But then…we are left with only one question: who is the last son of our own dear Ronsend? Who is born of the Light from a father who reeks of Darkness?"
Axel was looking at Pete very pointedly, willing him to come to a conclusion. A very unpleasant conclusion.
" You're crazy."
Axel grinned. " You're only the second to come to that conclusion."
" Riku was the original Keyblade Master."
" Yet that proves nothing. Remember, we studied the heart. A strong heart is not the only thing the Keyblade responds to. The Keyblade repels the Darkness, abhors it. It embraces the Light."
" And there are only two Keyblade Masters as of now…"
Axel grinned even more maliciously, crossing his arms and giving him a rather leering look.
" Bingo."
Chapter 61…" Aozora."
" You'd lose your right to your Keyblades to join the darkness?"
Those were Sora's eyes.