Chapter 5: Notre Dame: Riku's Side

A/N: We're back with Riku! Looks like it's his turn to visit Notre Dame. Let's just hope he doesn't have to kill Frollo like Hikari had to on her side lol.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, I just own my Oc's.

Enjoy!

/

Gripping onto Hika's neck, Riku watched as the Dream Eater flew down to the newest world that was stuck in slumber. Looking at the buildngs, he noticed that the town was very old and seemed to be trapped within a different time period. This houses had thatched roofs while the roads were paved with cobble bricks. And the most noticeable part of the town was the giant catherdreal that stood in the heart of the town.

Riku thought it was a nice piece of architect bet he sensed something off about the place.

"Hey, Hika, think you can take us to that building? I wanna check something out"

Hika whinned before flying over towards the chuch to see what the commotion was about.

/

"Stop her!"

Esmeralda ran away from Phoebus and Frollo as they chased her down the streets. When she reached a dead end, she gave them a sly smirk before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. Just as that happened, Riku walked towards the scene and saw Esmeralda secretly run past him.

Riku just shrugged and continued heading towards the church. When the smoke died away, Phoebus saw Riku and went up to him.

"You there! Have you seen a gypsy woman?"

Riku thought about the girl who ran past him before moments ago. He really didn't know what was going on, but he didn't want to interfere. He highly doubted his exam involved arresting people.

"Nope. Sorry" he said flatly.

Phoebus sighed in frustration. He had a feeling he was going to hear that.

"Alright, thanks"

He went back to Frollo to give him the bad news.

"I'm terribly sorry, sir. We've lost her"

Frollo growled in frustration.

"Slippery vermin" he spat.

He gave Phoebus a nasty stare.

"I'm beginning to question having summoned you back from the war, Captain Phoebus"

He spun on his heel and walked away. Phoebus glared at the back of Frollo's head but followed after him.

When the coast was clear, Esmeralda came out from her hiding spot and approached Riku.

"Thank you. You stood up for me" she said.

"I'm Esmeralda"

Riku just nodded in greeting.

"Riku. I don't know how I helped since I don't know what a 'Gypsy' is to begin with"

Esmeralda frowned as she looked away.

"Judge Frollo has been hunting us for years" she explained. "We Gypsies are guilty of nothing but loving our freedom, yet Frollo hates whatever he can't control. Now he's even brought in fresh blood to tourment us. I'd hate to know what kind of darkness drives that man"

Riku didn't need to think too hard on that. He had seen men like that first hand way too many times.

"I think I can imagine" he said. "Tell me more, was he always like this?"

Esmeralda scoffed in disgust.

"I don't give Frollo much thought…but if you'd like, you could try Notre Dame. They say it's a place for answers"

Looking back at the church, it seemed Riku realized why he wanted to see it. Maybe it would give him clues about this Frollo guy, or maybe it could help him with his test.

'Either way, hopefully I'll get some sort of answer'

Motioning for Hika and Sunny to follow, the trio headed for the church in hopes of finding answers.

/

It was rather dark inside the church. With candles being the only source of light, the whole place gave off an ominous vibe.

Looking around the church, Riku tried looking for someone who would give him answers.

"Is anybody here?" he called out.

He heard some shuffling as someone peered from behind a column.

"Who…who are you" someone asked.

Riku turned to the source of the noise and walked towards it.

"I'm Riku" he introcuded.

The figure shuffled further behind the pillar as Riku grew closer.

"Oh. M-my name is Quasimodo. I'm very sorry, but the Archdeacon is away" Quasimodo said.

"Actually, I'm looking for a man named Frollo. Do you know where he is?" Riku asked.

Quasimodo poked his head out a little but made sure he was hidden.

"My Master? He said he had business on the outskirts of the city"

Riku raised an eyebrow. This was the second person he ran into who knew about Frollo. It seemed he was famous on this world.

"You mean you know him?" he asked.

Quasimodo nodded slowly.

"Oh yes, he's….he's very kind. Master Frollo saved my life. He protects me from the outside world"

Riku frowned at Quasimodo's choice of words.

"He 'protects' you from it?" he questioned.

Quasimodo was hesitant for a second but slowly stepped away from the coloumn he was hiding behind.

"The people out there would be cruel to me. I'm a monster you know" he explained.

While his features were quite different from others, Riku didn't see a monster. If anything he saw a person who was being controlled by a monster that feed him horrible lies. And he didn't need to think too hard on who that monster was.

"Is that what Frollo told you?"

When Quasimodo looked away that was all Riku needed for an answer.

"Trust me, looks can be deceiving" he said.

"A good friend sees you for who you are no matter what face you wear"

He couldn't help but think back when he was stuck in Ansem's body and how Sora and Hikari accepted him, despite looking like their enemy. They were able to see what was behind the face and see him for who he really was.

"You should go out there-find some friends who understand you"

Quasimodo shook his head frantically, not liking that idea.

"Oh no. My master forbids it. I'm not to step foot outside" he insited.

Riku tilted his head; a trait he seemed to have picked up from Hikari.

"Are you sure that's what's stopping you? Because I think something else is holding you back"

Quasimodo turned away, clearly showing he had enough of what Riku had to say. As he slowly walked away, he could hear Riku giving him one last piece of advice.

"Ask your heart, Quasimodo"

With that, the bell ringer went upstairs, not wanting to be seen by anyone else.

When he was by himself again, Riku sighed sadly.

"Wish I could follow my own advice" he said to himself.

'Then again, if Hikari was here, she would know what to say'

Hika went up to him and nudged his hand as if to say 'cheer up'. Riku smiled a little and rubbed her neck.

"Well, looks like we need to go to the edge of town to meet this Frollo guy. Might as well start heading there before he leaves"

The trio left the gloomy church in order to search for this mysterious Frollo.

/

Walking to the edge of town was a quiet experience for Riku. He never saw people walking the streets or came across any nightmares.

Hika huddled next to him as if not liking the atmosphere. Riku gave the Dream Eater a gentle smile as he patted her neck. It really was ironic how his Dream Eaters were acting like the two most important people in his life. Sunny tended to be protective but acted childish at times while Hika was gentle but had a fierce side when needed. Not only that she liked to be near Riku.

Even though he wasn't near Hikari or Taiyouko, he at least had some form of them with him.

When they reached the bridge that connected the outskirts of the town to the city, they found out why everything was quiet.

Flying in the sky was a large Wargoyle Nightmare.

"A Dream Eater! And a big one!"

The Wargoyle noticed the trio and started to attack. Riku hid behind a pile of boxes as the Nightmare swopped around the bridge.

"Oh, like this is fair" he said sarcastically.

He was at a disadvantage with being on a narrow bridge. He didn't have a lot of room to attack and if he dodged one of the Nightmare's attacks, then the bridge would be destroyed.

Jumping from his hiding spot, he made a run for it. He ran as fast as he could off the bridge while the Wargoyle flew off to the outskirts of the city. It seemed that it too had business there as well.

Running to Sunny, he jumped on the Ram's back and urged it to go faster.

"Come on! We need to go after it!"

The trio ran down the dirt road as they went after the Nightmare, hoping to stop it before it caused any trouble.

/

However trouble was already here as Phoebus aimed his sword at Frollo. The two of them were checking in on the local peasants to see if they had seen Esmeralda and the Captain couldn't take it anymore. If the Judge planned on harming innocent people for his own ambitions, he would not stand for it.

"Stand aside, Captain Phoebus" Frollo ordered.

When the judge went to step forward, Phoebus held his sword higher, showing he would hurt Frollo if he came any closer.

"What have these people done wrong?!" he demanded.

"I have proof this family gave harbor to gypsies!" Frollo spat. He acted like this was the worse crime to commit.

"That's not a crime! They haven't done anything wrong!" Phoebus insisted.

"I can think of few crimes that are greater" Frollo said.

Before Phoebus could attack, the Wargoyle appeared before them, hovering near Frollo.

"What demon is this?!" Phoebus said.

Frollo smiled darkly, darkness starting to ooze out of him.

"Oh, you are mistaken, Captain Phoebus. This is no demon, this is righteous judgement! I have been granted this power so that I may smite all gypsies now and forever!"

Phoebus looked at the judge in horror. Just how far did Frollo plan to make this madness real?

"This is all wrong!" he insisted.

Riku rode up to them and jumped off Sunny to aim his keyblade at Frollo. After seeing how he treated people like Quasimodo and Esmeralda, and how he planned to use the Wargoyle, he came to his own conclusion of what kind of person Frollo really was.

"He won't listen" he said. "Once you've fallen that far, there's no coming back"

"How dare you?" Frollo spat.

"I am a virtuous man. Good and evil shall be made plain…once the gypsies face the fires of judgement!"

Phoebus went to attack Frollo, hoping to stop the judge's plans once and for all. When he was about to strike, the Wargoyle knocked him out of the way.

Frollo laughed wickedly as he and his little companion left to give 'judgement' towards the gypsies.

Riku went to Phoebus and helped him sit up. While he was just an underling for Frollo, the captain had a good heart and wasn't swayed by the darkness.

"You alright?"

Phoebus groaned but nodded as he stood up.

"Thanks. I gotta tell you, this is embarrassing…having to rely on a kid"

Riku chuckled a little as he thought of Taiyouko. When they traveled together, nine times out of ten he was the one who was helping her. It didn't matter that she was the adult and he was the kid, that was just the sort of friendship they had.

"You wouldn't be the first." He said. "You should take it easy. I'll deal with Frollo"

Phoebus was hesitant at the idea but couldn't help but agree.

"I'll admit, you look more capable than me right now" he admitted.

"All right, be careful. It looks like that creature is heading for the cathedral"

Riku nodded before jumping back on Sunny.

"Alright guys, back to the cathedral"

The trio ran back for the bell tower, hoping to stop Frollo from fulfilling his plans.

/

The whole city was up in flames from Frollo's destruction. In order to get rid of the gypsies, he planned to wipe them out all at once- including the city and the citizens who lived there.

Riku knew he was fighting against time before the whole city burned to ashes. When he reached the bell tower he was alarmed to see Quasimodo holding Esmeralda in his arms. Had Frollo gone that far with his 'judgement'?

"Is she going to be alright?"

Esmeralda nodded slowly, trying to fight off the smoke that tried to fill her lungs.

"I'm fine, thanks to Quasimodo"

Riku looked relieved to hear that. Now he could focus on the cause of the danger.

"Quasimodo, where did the creature go?" he asked.

The hunchback looked at the bell tower sadly, knowing his master was responsible for this.

"It's…it's up there" he said.

Riku nodded in understanding before taking off for the cathedral. Quasimodo looked at the ground for a moment before looking at Riku determinedly.

"W-wait…wait, I'll go with you!"

This was his master's fault and felt the need to fix it. Frollo had wronged him for so long and wouldn't stand for it anymore.

Riku stopped running and looked at Quasimodo. He could understand that the Hunchback's intentions were pure but he didn't need to be dragged in this further. He needed to get far away from Frollo's madness.

"Thanks, but stay with Esmeralda, she needs your help the most right now" he said.

He turned away from them and gave the Hunchback one last parting question.

"Quasimodo, did your heart have the answer?"

With that, he ran inside to stop Frollo once and for all.

/

With the Wargoyle close by, that meant the Nightmare's were drawn to its power. The whole cathedral was overrun with them and Riku wondered how he was going to get rid of them quickly.

Fortunately, some very unlikely allies were near as a trio of living gargoyles went about destroying them.

"Well, I guess….you three got this covered" Riku joked.

"It was a walk in the park" Hugo the gargoyle exclaimed.

"How would you know? You don't have any legs" Victor said.

"Yeah but-aw, gimmie a break! It's just a figure of speech!"

"Both of you, pipe down!" Verne the female gargoyle said.

"And get ready! Cause here come some more!"

The trio of stone statues went to defend the cathedral which gave Riku the chance to take care of the Wargoyle.

Running up the stone steps, he could feel the power of darkness growing stronger with each step he took.

'Frollo's heart is drenched in darkness. It's like it's trying to suffocate him' he thought.

He needed to end this fast before it got any worse. Those who were drenched in Darkness ended up suffering terrible fates.

When he finally made it to the top of the bell tower, he saw Frollo standing near the edge, laughing at the destruction he caused.

"Yes! Let it burn! The flames will consume everything!" He cackled.

"You see? This is the power that has been granted to me!"

Riku glared at the judge darkly. He just about had enough of his so called ideal of purity.

"All I see is a sad old man with a dark heart" he spat.

Frollo growled as the darkness continued to consume him and eat away at his heart.

"Again, you are wrong! Now you will be judged like the rest!"

In a final act of madness, he threw himself off the bell tower to be eaten by the flames.

"Judgement is mine!" he cried as the flames consumed him.

Riku looked away painfully from the scene. Once again another soul ended tragically because of the darkness.

"Such a pity, but then again he didn't have any potential"

Riku's blood ran cold as he heard that voice. It was a voice he hoped he wouldn't have to hear ever again.

Turning around slowly, he saw the mysterious figure standing with Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness.

"Ansem! Why are you here?!"

"Your best friend is never far" the mysterious figure taunted.

Ansem 'tsked' sadly at the scene before him.

"So sad. The post of yielding to the darkness" he cooed.

Riku growled knowing he was taunting him about almost becoming his puppet. To this day it still made him shiver to think he could have ended up like Ansem or even worse, Xehanort.

"I'm sure you could write a book about that" he spat.

Ansem laughed, knowing he hit a nerve with Riku.

"But I embraced the Darkness-and unless you hurry up and learn to do the same, your story will end just like his"

Riku growled and summoned his Keyblade.

"I walk the road to dawn!" he declared.

The Mysterious figure scoffed in disgust.

"Still afraid of the dark I see" he said.

"I wonder how your story is going to end with the path you've decided to take. Will it be happy or tragic?"

With that, he opened a dark portal that he and Ansem went through, leaving Riku alone.

Placing a hand over his heart, Riku could feel it beating frantically.

"He's think's I'm afraid of the dark?" he asked himself.

Gripping the fabric of his shirt, he shook his head, throwing away the doubts that filled his mind.

"No, not while I have the Keyblade. It will guide me to the light and lead me to my story's happy ending!"

With that, he aimed his Keyblade at the Wargoyle, ready to show this creature what he said was true. The Wargoyle used it's wings to its advantage. It would fly out of Riku's range of attacks and could fly overhead for a counter attack.

Riku fired off a few spells that he knew but they worked to no avail. It was a reminder that Hikari was more adapt to magic than both Sora and he were.

Changing his battle plan, he moved further into the bell tower where he wasn't out in the open and where the Wargoyle didn't have a lot of room to move around. This didn't phase the Nightmare since it just slammed its claws into the building, hoping to smash Riku in the process.

Sunny fended the Nightmare off with its defensive magic but it was quickly showing that the ram couldn't hold out for much longer. Riku dove behind a pillar when a claw slammed into the ground. He needed to end this fast before it destroyed the bell tower.

Hika hovered near Riku, waiting for his next command. Since Sunny was busy keeping the Wargoyle at bay, the Pegaslick was focused on keeping Riku safe.

Riku racked his brain with ideas to get rid of this Nightmare but the only one he could think of was aiming for the head. The only problem was trying to reach it when said creature could fly. Turing to Hika, he figured the Pegaslick would be able to do it since it was the only Dream Eater here that could fly.

"HIka, think you can fly me up to the Nightmare's head?"

Hika tilted her head in confussion.

"Fly, you know like what you did back in Traverse Town? I need to reach for the creature's head"

Hika looked deep in thought for a moment before doing something unexpected. In a flash of magic, the Pegaslick merged within Riku's heart and caused wings to sprout from his back. Riku looked at the wings in shock. He didn't realize his Dream Eaters could do that.

"Now what I had in mind but I'll take it"

Using his new found power, he scaled the walls of the building and flew over the Wargoyle's head.

"Now you'll have a taste of judgement!"

Striking the Nightmare down, Riku watched as the Wargoyle let out a cry before falling down into the flames.

Riku looked over the ledge deep in thought. He could have ended up like Frollo if he had stayed with the Darkness. He would have lost everything to power. Seeing what could have happened to him made him grateful that his friends were able to stop it.

"I won't let history repeat itself. Now as long as I have the Keyblade"

/

With the Wargoyle and Frolo gone, Notre Dame was at peace. The flames of destruction vanished and a new, freer life rose from its ashes.

Quasimodo finally saw that he wasn't a monster and that he had friends who saw him for who he really was.

"Master Frollo-he made me live inside the bell tower, but the real walls were the ones I built around my heart" he admitted.

"You helped me see that, Riku"

Riku looked away shamefully, feeling like he didn't desrve the praise.

"I was…speaking from…personal experience" he said quietly.

Once upon a time he too had walls around his heart. He didn't want to show his friends how weak his heart was of that he was willing to do anything to see other worlds. Even going to far as to side with the darkness.

"I'd say you still keep a locked inside" Phoebus said.

"We all do that sometimes" Esmeralda admitted.

"There are just some things we need to keep separate from the world at large, at least until we have time to figure them out"

Riku nodded in agreement.

"I do have a lot of things locked up, and maybe some of them will stay there forever, but…as long I have friends who understand me and are willing to take the time to help me understand everything….then I have nothing to worry about"

"Then that's all that matters" Esmeralda said.

Riku smiled then turned to Quasimodo. He wanted to give the hunchback a few words to think on as he began his new life.

"Even if your heart is still hiding behind some walls, you don't have to be afraid. You have friends now who see you for who you really are and will help you become the person you wish to be. You're not a monster, Quasimodo, so let the world see it"

Quasimodo looked at his hands, actually seeing human hands for the first time. Riku was right, he wasn't a monster and it was time for him to show it.

"Thank you, Riku"

Riku just smiled and turned to his Dream Eaters.

"Alright guys, looks like our work here is done. Now we can just-hey wait….where's Sunny?"

Looking around for the Ram, Riku found Sunny near the steps of the cathedral. The poor thing had it's ears back as Hugo the gargoyle tried making a move on her.

"So, I was wondering if you were free by any chance? I thought we could have dinner and maybe get to know each other"

Sunny back kicked the statue into the cathedral where Hugo had hearts in his eyes.

"Oh, I like 'em feisty!"

Feeling disturbed, Sunny ran to Riku, where she hid behind him and shivered. Riku couldn't help but laugh at the sight.

"What's wrong? Don't you want to make some friends?"

Sunny glared at him and headbutted him in the back.

"I'm kidding. Now let's head out before he asks for your number or something"

They bid farewell to their new friends while Hugo shouted 'Call me" to Sunny.

As they walked away from the cathedral Riku had a lot of thoughts on his mind. He wondered why Ansem was with that mysterious person and why they were so bent on him joining the darkness. His path was not the same as theirs and he intended to keep it that way.

"I know the road my heart walks' He thought.

He picked up Hikari's necklace and smiled gently as his fingers wrapped around it.

"And…I know who I want to share that path with'

/

"Hey, Axel. You haven't forgotten right?"

Axel looked at Roxas with a popsicle stick hanging from his mouth.

"What?"

Roxas smirked as he shook his head.

"You made a promise" he said.

"I did?"

Roxas nodded.

"That you'd always be there…to bring us back"

Axel smiled a little as he remembered that promise.

'Yeah…best friends forever"

Roxas stared off into the sunset, enjoying the peace that was rarely felt these days.

"Yep, so you need to look after Ankoku for me since I can't be there for her. She'll probably refuse the help, but I know deep down she needs it."

Axel snorted as he thought of a certain foul mouthed Nobody.

"Ankoku was always headstrong…even for a Nobody" he admitted.

Roxas nodded in agreement. He suddenly turned to his best friend with a bright smile on his face.

"Yeah…and 'she's' also waiting for you too"

Axel looked at Roxas as if he lost his mind.

"Huh?"

Roxas clasped his shoulder. The scenery slowly growing dark.

"She's waited for you long enough. Don't keep her hanging"

/

The first thing that came to Axel's mind was that he was resting on a cold floor. Groaning in discomfort, he painfully tried to will himself to wake up.

"Where…where am I?"

The last thing he remembered was fading into darkness after he helped Sora and Hikari make it to Xemnas's strong hold. And with that the memories came pouring out of him.

Memories of the Organization, of Roxas and Ankoku and when he was Lea poured into his head. But the ones that came to the forefront of his mind was of a certain raven haired beauty who was as alluring and mysterious as the moon.

Someone who Axel cherished so deeply that he willingly scarified himself so that she would be safe.

"Tsukiko!"

Springing to his feet, he found himself in Ansem the Wise's compute lab.

'How did I get here?' he thought.

Before he could take another stepp, he panicked when he saw his reflection in one of the lab's windows.

Rushing towards the glass, he touched the spot where the marking under his eyes were. Pulling his hand away he saw that they were gone. Another thing he noticed was the sudden beating within his chest. Pressing a hand there, he was shocked to feel a heartbeat.

It seemed that Axel was not Axel anymore. He was human again. He was Lea.

"I'm…me again"

He couldn't believe this. He never realized that he would have returned to his normal self after his Nobody had vanished. It had been so long since he had been Lea that it almost felt like a dream.

When he heard noises behind him he was surprised to see that he wasn't the only one who returned to his normal self.

"Dilan, Aeleus, Even, Ienzo…we're people again"

It seemed those who had suffered from Xehanort's experiments were back to their normal selves…well almost everyone.

"Where are Braig and Isa? They should be here too" he wondered.

He didn't like the gut wrenching feeling his heart was giving him as he thought of those two.

If they weren't here then where were they?

As he looked back at his reflection, he thought of two other individuals that he didn't see. The ones he promised he would be there for.

"Where did Ankoku and Tsukiko go?"

/

A/N: Axel's back, Bitches! That's right, your second favorite couple of the series is about to make its return! It's really sweet that the first person he thinks of when he comes to is his sweetheart, Tsukiko. I just know she's going to be beyond happy and relieved that her boyfriend is back and not really dead. Ankoku on the other hand might kill when she finds out that he really is back and scared them like that lol.

Seems like Ansem the Seeker of Darkness is back to give Riku trouble. Luckily Riku isn't foolish enough to go back to him again. He's got important things he needs to protect after all.

Please review and tell me what you think!

Take care!