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 Seven – THE SEVENTH HOUR
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TICK
When Riku awoke the next morning, he tried not to look in the mirror again. He didn't want to look. But he did so anyway, and discovered his eyes had gone back to their usual green sometime during the night. It elicited little more than a sigh of relief from him. After all, his mind was already made up.
Breakfast and conversation with his friends seemed to pass by in a blur. He remembered the delight from Sora and Kairi that his eyes had returned to normal; that he would be all right after all. He held his smiles as best as he could and avoided any uncomfortable queries with ease.
But the moment he was free, he quit the castle and headed down to Merlin's home in the burrow. Or rather, it was his "summer home" as his real one was in Disney Castle, but he spent so much time in Radiant Garden it might as well be his permanent residence. Trying to appear as casual as possible, he knocked on the front door.
The wizard opened up, and greeted him with a nervous chuckle. "Ah, Riku, good day! Won't you come in?" He took the invitation, and strolled into the cozy hovel. "Now, what brings you around to my neck of the woods, hm?"
Riku decided to get straight to the point. "I need you to make another door to the past. Like you did for Sora, Donald and Goofy back in Disney Castle."
Merlin almost closed the door on his foot he was so startled. "W-What's that? A door to the past? What would you need it for?"
He bit his lip, then walked over to the stove and put the kettle on, acting as if he were staying long enough for tea. "We think it might help us stop the memory loss and disappearances."
The wizard appeared flustered. "Now look here, young man! Doors to the past and future are not to be trifled with. Just you being in the past can create all kinds of anomalies and glitches in time itself—"
"We've talked it over, and decided it's necessary," Riku stopped his rambling. "We won't disrupt time too much, we promise. We're just fixing things."
Merlin studied Riku closely, and he hoped his real intentions didn't show through. "If it was this important, I think I would've heard about it from Sora."
"He'll fill you in on the details later. We really need to make this fast; time's of the essence," he insisted.
His authoritative voice finally made the old wizard cave, although grudgingly. "Fine. Now, where and when exactly do you need this door to be? I can't just conjure it up anywhere, you know. Wherever the door is set is where you'll end up in the past. It could lead to a rather nasty situation."
Riku had already considered all this. I need to go back to before Kairi came to our islands, so almost twenty years. And as for the place...wherever Sora and Kairi won't find me.
"We need to go way outside the town, almost to the edge of the world. And eighteen years into the past."
Merlin considered this. "Hmm, well, yes, eighteen years shouldn't be that much of a problem. I was still at Disney Castle then. That was back in the days when gummis were first discovered you see, and—"
He headed for the door. "I'm sure you can tell me more on the way."
"Now just a moment, Riku. We'll take a shortcut." The wizard pulled out a wand and gave it a wave, and Riku suddenly found his vision obscured by thick blue clouds. When the haze cleared, he saw that they were no longer in the burrow. Instead, what looked like fields of endless grass stretched before them. Radiant Garden was just a smudge in the distance; at least half a day's walk away.
"Is this the place?" Merlin asked him once he recovered his bearings.
"Yeah, this is perfect."
"Right then." Merlin rolled up his long sleeves, made a series of strange motions with his hands, and a door materialized on the grass before them. It was a simple door with two handles and a symbol above it that he didn't understand.
"That should do the trick. Now, you say this won't take a moment, yes?" Merlin asked, stroking his long beard.
"Yeah." Riku paused. "Say, did you leave the kettle on?"
Merlin's glasses nearly flew off his nose in a panic. "Oh goodness gracious me, the tea! That kettle hates me enough as it is! Now you just wait here, I'll be right back." And in a puff of magic smoke, he was gone.
For a moment, Riku just smiled at how easily he'd gotten what he needed. All he had to do was go through the door and lock it with his Keyblade. His tracks would be covered, and by the time Sora and Kairi figured it out, he'd be long gone.
But then the stillness got to him. There was just himself, the fields, and the door. The sun was high in the sky and the weather around him was perfect. He felt sick to this stomach.
Just go through the door. Get it done. You have no choice.
He stepped forward, and set his hands on the handles. The door felt heavy and final, and he found he couldn't muster the strength to open it. He tried to think of anything that would move his limbs: the look on Sora's face when he learned Halloween Town was gone. The horror in Kairi's eyes when his own had turned orange.
But that just made him think of his friends, and his rigor got worse. I can't even say goodbye. If I say goodbye, I'll never be able to leave. It's best if I just disappear. Disappear so that nothing else will.
He still didn't move. He didn't even realize his arms were shaking until he removed one from the door to rub a tear out of his eye. The idea of crying suddenly infuriated him, and he lurched forward and pulled the door open a crack. He stopped as he felt a hot and harsh wind hit his face. Whatever was in the past wasn't like the serene valley here.
His jaw set, and he summoned strength back to his arms. This was it. I became Xehanort to save my friends once. I can do it again.
"Riku!"
All of his built-up strength came crashing down at the sound of Kairi's voice. He turned, and saw her running over the grass towards him. A gummi ship hovered just overhead; he'd been so absorbed in the door he hadn't even heard it approach. She slowed her pace as she came up to him, gasping for breath. "Heard from Leon...you had left..."
"My mind's made up," Riku said in a voice that sounded anything but. "The Chasers were right. I have to go back and fix things before it gets any worse. I have to, for you guys."
"Riku, listen to me, you—"
"Don't try to stop me," he almost shouted, almost threatened. "There's a reason I didn't say goodbye."
She was coming closer now. "—Don't have to go, just—"
He shut his eyes, feeling the wet between his lids and the heat from the door. It was better than looking at her. "We went over this, I do have to! So don't...don't!—"
Seconds away from wrenching the door open fully, she put a hand on his shoulder, and he could go no further. He turned to look at her, thinking he would see desperation in her eyes, but instead he saw hope.
"Riku. We went over the notes again. We think we may have another way."
TOCK
The hand on his shoulder felt like a shock, setting his nerves alight. For an instant, his mind panicked. I'm not just another I'm me I'm everything I'm not—
"Xehanort. The test is done."
He opened his eyes, and the bright laboratory came rushing back in lights and colors. There were the canisters, the computer terminal, the piles of books. Ienzo and Even were still at the table, taking notes. And on his left, Ansem's warm yet concerned smile came into his view. "How do you feel?"
It took a moment for him to process. He could feel his heart beating soundly inside him, but tasted something odd in his mouth and the tips of his fingers felt tingly. Not that he would share inconsequential side effects with anyone. If Ansem grew too concerned, the tests might stop, and then he'd never get the darkness he needed.
"I feel fine. I feel great!" he said, demonstrating by flexing his arms and walking around the table. He earned a few amused smirks from the other two apprentices. "It gets easier every time."
"It seems once again, you are physically well," Ansem said. "But what about your mind? Have any of your memories returned to you?"
Xehanort considered this. He searched the back of his mind for any glint of his past...a smell, a sound, a name...but came up empty once again. "No, I can't remember anything."
Ansem sighed, treading towards the window. "I wonder if these experiments are doing any good after all."
"No, it is helping!" Xehanort insisted. "My mind feels clearer now. There is less of a haze. I am certain we're making progress, and that with continued tests we'll pull out real results."
His master turned back to face him. "It does seem to be producing encouraging reactions. But I believe you are a special case, Xehanort. And I worry about the effect of so much darkness in your heart."
Xehanort smirked. "Are you still worried I'll turn into one of those dark creatures we found? I keep telling you, I'm fine. Everything's intact up here," he said, tapping the side of his head.
"What little there is to be intact," Ienzo mumbled under his breath.
Xehanort heard it. With a smooth flick of his wrist, he sent Ienzo's pen off the desk and onto the floor...while standing across the room. Ienzo picked up his lost pen, looking nervous under his long bangs. He never showed off his abilities blatantly; it was always more fun to make them wonder.
"Regardless, I still think we should take these tests in a new direction," Ansem continued, his hands folded behind his back and his brow creased with worry.
Even spoke up. "Master Ansem, if I may: I believe we should work more with the door Xehanort found beneath the castle. After all, he was able to open it, and without any kind of key. I believe it may have a connection to his memories."
He couldn't have said it better himself, and he was glad someone else had made the suggestion. Ansem, however, still seemed uneasy. "Yes, it's true he was able to open the door. But that entire area is still unstable, and it will require all the caution we have to ensure no one gets hurt."
Shot down once again, although it didn't surprise him. He knew he could wait to find the answers he needed, although he wasn't sure how much longer he could be patient. "When should we do the next test?"
"We should be able to proceed again tomorrow, as long as you are feeling well enough," Ansem replied.
"I will be."
"Then you can discuss the results with Even and Ienzo, and I'll put most of this away." His master began to undo the plugs and wires attached to the console he'd just been hooked up to. Taking that as their cue to leave, the other apprentices gathered up their books and papers and followed Xehanort out of the laboratory.
He smiled as the other two struggled to keep pace with his long strides. Even seemed absorbed in his notes, as usual, while Ienzo wanted to talk. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were looking forward to these tests."
"Why shouldn't I? They're helping me get back my memories. That's why I'm here in the first place."
"I meant enjoying the tests themselves," Ienzo corrected. "I've noticed you get this look on your face every time he throws the switch."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Like a big, stupid grin." Ienzo tried to demonstrate by rolling his eyes back and spreading a wide and dumb-looking smile across his face. Xehanort just sneered at it.
"Probably just a natural body reflex," Even commented, surprising them both with the fact he'd been listening in the first place. "And back on the subject, I'm starting to believe my hypothesis was wrong."
"That memories are connected with knowledge?"
"Precisely. Since we started the tests, Xehanort's learning abilities have increased almost tenfold. But his memories have remained lost." He waved his notes at them as if it would further prove his point. "I thought they rested exclusively in the mind, but it seems more like they're a support for the heart. Or rather, they act as a bridge between the heart and the mind."
Xehanort mused over the thought. "And having no memories is like having a broken bridge within you."
"No wonder you're so cracked in the head," Ienzo joked again.
The thought fascinated Xehanort, and the image of the door came to his mind again. No wonder indeed.
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