The Eleventh Hour
By Lynx (of Organization VI)
Rating: Uh, T for Teen, I guess.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or its characters; they belong to Disney and Squeenix, respectively. No money's being made, le cry.
Summary: For Riku, his future was the same as his past.
Notes: Basically, a much more lengthy expansion on a drabble I wrote a month or so back. A lot of the ideas, theories and reasoning I need to credit Rebmakash for, because she's the smart one and thinks up all the cool stuff. I just add a lot of words onto it.
There will be KH2 SPOILERS APLENTY in this fic, so be warned.
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Chapter Five – THE FIFTH HOUR
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TICK
With nearly four books' worth of notes and writing stuffed into peoples' bags and pockets, the six made their way back up out of the basements and to Castle Oblivion's exit. Sora was already trying to examine a few, and was arguing with Donald on which order they went in. Although they hadn't come away empty-handed, Riku couldn't help but feel that this entire endeavor had been futile. Even if they did discover what was really causing the memory loss, would they be able to do anything about it?
The feeling was clinging to him so strongly it seemed to constrict the air out of his lungs. The space around them felt hollow and cold. I've felt this before...
"Riku."
All heads snapped up to realize that their path to the gummi ship transport spot was now blocked. Riku's blood froze like the breath in his chest.
The Chaser was back, still covered in armor and still shouldering that massive Keyblade. But now there were two others: a taller one, wielding a Keyblade that looked like a warhammer. The other was smaller and more petit, perhaps even female. It also carried a Keyblade.
"Who are you guys?" Sora asked, sounding uncertain whether they were friend or foe.
"We've come for Riku," the shorter one said. Its voice was still garbled, but definitely sounded female.
"I warned you that this would happen," the first Chaser said tiredly. "Will you wait until people begin to disappear? Entire worlds?"
"What're you talking about?" Sora yelled back, irritated at being ignored.
"Riku, what are those things?" Kairi asked.
Riku gritted his teeth. "Chasers. I don't know exactly what that means, but..."
"Must we take all eternity to say something so simple?" the taller Chaser groaned, leaning on its Keyblade. "No more of this foolishness. Riku must travel back to the past and become Xehanort. If he doesn't, all of the worlds will collapse and all of their inhabitants will disappear."
The first Chaser seemed annoyed at its partner. "I would thank you not to jeopardize our task with your lack of finesse."
The shock of such 'lack of finesse' stunned the six into silence. Sora was the first to break it. "What do you mean, 'become Xehanort'? Are you saying that Riku is Xehanort? That's impossible! We destroyed his Heartless and his Nobody!"
"And Riku helped do it, too! He couldn'ta been in two places at once," Goofy added.
The first Chaser seemed only to be talking to Riku. "As I said before, it is a time paradox. You must go back in time to become him."
"Go back in time? But that's—"
"You've done it before, have you not?"
Sora fell silent at that. Riku remembered the special door Merlin had made to the distant past; to before Disney Castle was built and Mickey was crowned king. They want me to do that again...and stay in the past.
Kairi stepped forward. "But that can't be right. Even if Riku did go back to the past, he couldn't be Xehanort. He's nothing like him!"
"Why do you think Xehanort's Heartless latched onto your heart so easily?" the first Chaser questioned. "Why was he so hard to shake away? Why do you think you assumed his form so readily when using darkness? Because you are he."
The larger Chaser pointed at Riku. "Haven't you noticed the similarities?"
And suddenly, the little quirks that seemed irrelevant about Riku became obvious to them. He had grown taller, almost to Xehanort's height. His face had become slightly narrower. His bangs had grown more ordered, while the hair in back now stuck up behind his ears. The bluish tint had even begun to fade, giving him a more distinguished look.
Riku suddenly wondered if he'd ever be able to look in the mirror again, and the thought felt familiar.
"That...that doesn't mean anything!" Sora shot back, although his voice faltered.
"It means everything," the first Chaser replied.
Sora was becoming angry now. "How would you know who Riku will or won't become? How do you know all of this, anyway?"
"We are from all times, and have seen all times."
"We know past, present and future."
"And we guard it from anomalies that would destroy it." The tall Chaser pointed at Riku. "Such as you."
The sense of dread and despair turned to anger in Riku. "You believe all of our memories are being lost because of me?"
"Because of the paradox, time is unraveling," the Chaser explained. "Xehanort sets everything into motion. He opens the door to his world; sends the Princess of Heart to your islands. Without him, the walls never break down, and the Keyblade never chooses its wielder. Nothing and no one exists as it does now."
The tallest Chaser finished, "So there is no choice for you. Either you go back to the past and satisfy the paradox, or you stay here, and time crumbles."
Leave my friends, my whole life, and become Xehanort...or complete oblivion. To Riku, the two options didn't seem all that different. He felt Sora, Kairi, Mickey, Donald and Goofy close by, still with him, still loving him after so much pain and such long years. Riku exhaled, and shut his eyes. "No. I can't leave my friends. I just can't."
There was a long silence, so stark that even the wind seemed muted. The main Chaser hefted its Keyblade into an attack stance. "Then we take you by force."
Riku was about to draw his own weapon, when he suddenly found five bodies between himself and the Chasers. "You'll have to go through us if you want Riku!" Sora challenged.
"We do not want to do this."
In a flash, all three Chasers attacked. They were met by six weapons, and the fight instantly turned into all-out melee.
Riku found himself guarding against the tallest Chaser, at first afraid that he would be overpowered as before. But Sora charged in from the side, knocking his opponent off-balance. Together, they set in on the tallest one, parrying and hacking against his fast strikes with echoes of metal on metal. Donald, Goofy and the King kept the other two at bay with a barrage of weapon strikes and thunder spells. Since Kairi's swordsman skills were still mediocre in comparison, she kept busy healing her friends and tossing them ethers when needed.
The Chasers countered by teleporting from location to location, swinging at them with incredible speed considering their huge weapons. But with five backing him up, Riku knew he was more than a match for his enemies. They hadn't spent years fighting Heartless together for nothing.
Even with their skills combined, the six were still on the defensive, at best. So it came as a surprise when Sora finally landed a hit on the main Chaser. Even more shocking, what should have been nothing more than a simple cut or bruise seemed to have caused serious damage.
The Chaser staggered out of the fight, clutching at its injured side and cursing under its breath. The other two ran to its side, still baring their weapons. The sight almost confused Riku. For how formidable they looked and how powerful their attacks were, any breeches in their armor seemed to pose a grave danger.
"Fighting us is foolish!" the female Chaser declared. "If Riku does not become Xehanort, the time paradox will fold in on itself, and you will all be destroyed!"
The King responded, "Then we'll find another way to fix things!"
"But Riku's our friend, and we're not gonna let you take him from us!" Sora finished.
The injured Chaser pointed an accusing finger at Riku. "This will be on your hands."
All three Chasers disappeared in an instant, and didn't come back. When they realized they were alone again, celebration finally broke out. "Ha, that showed 'em!" Donald quacked, giving a little victory hop.
"You can't possibly turn into Xehanort," Sora added, almost trying to convince himself. "Whatever those guys were, they can't be right. It's just stupid!"
"But didn't those weapons look like Keyblades? Where could they have gotten those?" Goofy wondered.
"A relic of forgotten years..." Riku echoed under his breath.
King Mickey waved a hand at them. "C'mon, guys. We better get back to the ship before they come back."
As they tread back down the dirt path to the gummi ship, Riku kept his head low. Somehow, he couldn't meet his friends' faces. Since Sora was still busy spouting off how stupid the Chasers would have to be to make such accusations, Kairi was the first to notice. "Riku, are you okay?"
I'm supposed to go back in time and become the one person I hate the most. I'm supposed to leave all my friends and family and turn into a monster that tries to destroy the worlds. And if I don't, I'll end up destroying the worlds anyway. How can I possibly be okay?
"Yeah, I'm fine."
TOCK"Well, so much for that..."Braig sighed, picking up a stone and skipping it across the fountain's rippled surface. It jumped twice before sinking to the bottom.
"Now, Master Ansem didn't explicitly say we needed to stop the experiments," Ienzo said, looking around at the other apprentices for confirmation. They stared at the fountain Braig sat at, as if expecting it to provide answers. All except Xehanort, who stood in the shade of a sprawling oak tree. The sun was out in force today, and he hated being out where its heat and warmth stuck to him.
Even rolled his eyes. "He said that we were to cease using live subjects for experiments on the heart. All of our research thusfar has been from the library. We can't go any further unless we test our theories. So he may as well have told us to stop for good."
Elaeus groaned, scratching at his spiky red hair. "And I believe we were so close to making a real breakthrough."
"It just doesn't make any sense," Ienzo persisted, gesturing with his hands and walking in a tight circle as he always did when puzzled. "It was Master Ansem who said we should test those theories in the first place! He was the first one to try it on Xehanort! Why would he retract on that now?"
At the mention of Xehanort's name, all eyes turned to look at him. He just smirked. "It was that King that came from another world. Master Ansem was so fascinated with him that he does whatever he says."
Dilan began, "But if that King was right about the worlds disappearing..."
Ienzo would not be silenced. "What about us? We're his apprentices! We've studied with him for years. Since when does the opinion of an outsider matter more than ours?"
Xehanort braved leaving the shade to walk closer to the others. "Exactly. We have always helped Master Ansem with his research. But he made this decision independently of us."
He had their agreement. "Hardly fair of him!"
"We should have had a say!"
"Besides, if anything, the experiments done so far have shown that darkness makes the heart stronger."
Xehanort's grin widened. Wasn't he living proof of that? The darkness channeled into him had only helped. His latent abilities were stronger; his thinking was sharper. It even made him more physically fit.
Most importantly, it had put an end to the nightmares.
"But what can we do about it?" Braig asked.
Just the question Xehanort wanted to hear. "It's simple, really. We continue our research without him."
The other apprentices stared at him in shock, leaving only birdsong and the fountain's babble to fill the silence. "I'm not so sure that's wise," Elaeus finally ventured.
"Is it wiser to seek answers that may benefit all, or to leave the questions be because of fear?" he asked. Elaeus fell silent.
Xehanort stood before the others, his reflection glinting in the fountain. He continued, "It is not only wise for us to do so. It is our duty. How can we call ourselves scientists and yet be swayed by every naysayer that comes along and presumes to know what people really need? We have learned all this so that we may help others!"
The other five apprentices seemed enthralled at his words. Good. Because all of you will never believe that this is for me. For my answers, my benefit.
"Then we should continue!"
"It is our duty as scientists!"
Elaeus remained ever pragmatic. "Where will we get the necessary tools and equipment? Master Ansem will surely notice if we continue our experiments using his workspace."
"We'll make our own workspace," Even said, sounding delighted at the idea. "Our own equipment and facilities! We'll just need to hide it somehow."
Dilan picked up on the idea. "Under the castle, or in the basements, where Xehanort found the door. Civilians never come there, and there will be no shortage of those darkness creatures."
"I thought we agreed on calling them Heartless," Braig butted in.
Even dismissed him with a wave. "It's beside the point. We will have to build a massive laboratory if we are to accomplish what we're proposing. And if we are too discreet, Master Ansem will become suspicious."
"Xehanort can just ask him to build an extended laboratory. He'll listen to him," Dilan said.
"I'm afraid he may not," the white-haired man, sighed, shaking his head. "Master Ansem and I have been having...disputes recently. He may take such a request the wrong way from me."
"Then I'll do it," Ienzo said proudly. "Master Ansem trusts me, and listens to practically anything I ask."
"Only because you're just as much of a teacher's pet as Xehanort," Braig teased. Ienzo drew back as if to shove the taller man into the fountain, but Braig stopped him with a well-aimed splash. This prompted laughter from Elaeus, who tried to pick up Ienzo and dunk him into the fountain.
Xehanort's loud throat-clearing cut their brawl short. "Gentlemen. Are we going to waste all day here?"
They straightened up immediately, but he still saw the disappointment hiding in their faces. The sight pleased him in some odd way. He never had been able to stand the others being playful and goofing off for too long. "Let's get to work."
"Yes," Even said first, and started back up towards the castle. He mumbled to himself; probably making mental notes. Ienzo was right behind, with a defeated Elaeus in tow. Before the other two left, Braig gave him a smirk and a wink.
"Way to go, man. We never could've come this far without you."
And then all of them had started back to the castle. Xehanort smiled to himself...of course they hadn't gotten this far without him. He was the crux of everything. I should be. I deserve to be.
Before leaving, he glanced back at the rippling fountain. His own reflection stared back at him: narrow face, long white hair that stuck up behind his ears, and orange eyes that hadn't always been that color. Just another just another just another—
He seethed, picked up a rock, and threw it violently at the fountain's surface. The water splashed and rippled, erasing his face. Satisfied, he stormed up after the others.
He always hated looking at his own reflection.
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