Chapter Thirty-One: The Future that Never Was

On the inside of the door I found not much different. I was on the ground, kneeling, while Senka was shielding me with darkness. From what was happening, I presumed she had… saved me.

"Isn't that curious?" I asked myself. "So Senka would have saved me… but why?"

I stood around, taking in all the angles of what was going on. Even Charon's immense control over light couldn't pierce Senka's dark shield, it seemed… like she was saving me for a reason.

"I get it. Another tool," I said to myself. "Senka is really strong, but even she needs tools."

Another door appeared. I pushed it open to find myself, and the other me, standing in some part of Senka's castle. The other me was bowing before Senka, whom was seated on a dark throne.

"There's no way… I would ever swear alliegance to someone like Senka," I said. "Then again, back then…"

I walked around, taking in all the angles again. The other me was as close to the ground as he could get, while Senka looked at him evilly. I wasn't sure if she was going to twist him or kill him… but I knew what she was doing.

"Corrupt me to use me," I said. "Use me… to snuff out the light. Even though I wasn't as strong as I am now, I was still stronger than Riku, back then… maybe even Sora."

Another door appeared. I shoved it open, and found myself on the smaller island off of the Destiny Islands. The sky was very dark… nearly pitch black… and I stood there, dragging Kairi by the back of her dress into a dark portal. Sora was slumped against a tree, clearly knocked out, while Riku was lying sprawled on the ground, and looked like he was trying to crawl forward.

"As I thought… Senka would have corrupted me so that I would become her tool," I said to myself. "It's what I was meant to do…"

I stood there trembling for a moment before regaining myself.

"No… I refused that path. It's nothing more than a vision…" I said to myself. "I refused the darkness, even though…"

Another door appeared, this one ebony in shade. I shoved it open to find myself dueling Riku in the Great Maw, halfway entrenched in darkness. We were clashing swords high above the Great Maw, and I was wielding my Zangetsu.

"My Dark Form… I had nearly forgotten about it," I said. "It's a cursed strength… something I never want to use again. It makes me into something I'm not…"

Just then, I had an epiphany. The darkness had made me into something I'm not… so it must have made Senka into something she's not. And that means… it would make her into something she's not.

"I don't want to know the conclusion of this battle…" I said to myself. "Either way, only more tragedy would have come of it."

Another ebon door appeared.

"I'm not sure I want to know what's on the other side…" I muttered to myself as I pushed open the doors. "But I have to find her… and maybe, I can still save her."

I walked through the ebon door to find myself dueling with Riku again, this time in the World that Never Was. We were running toward each other, running up and down the Memory's Skyscraper. This time I was completely entrenched in darkness, while Riku looked like Xehanort's Heartless, once again donning Organization XIII's black coat.

"We're both totally submerged in the darkness," I said to myself. "He's… I'm…"

I stood silently, shaking in my boots.

"No… I turned away from the darkness. I can still ignore its grip over me!" I shouted. Another ebon door appeared. I shoved it open and ran through it at the same time. This time I was standing in Senka's throne room, dueling Sora. I was once again in my full Dark Form, while Sora was in his Final Form. It appeared that I was losing.

"I think I understand it now… I was supposed to fight Riku twice: once a draw, the other time… I was supposed to kill him. After that, Sora would have battled me, and in the end, killed me," I said. "Then he would have gotten Kairi back, left for the Destiny Islands… and maybe lived happily ever after. Then again, there's no such thing… as happily ever after."

"You're awfully wise," I heard a menacing voice call out. It was too damn familiar… so creepy…

"Who's there?" I asked, turning around.

"You," the voice said. I turned back around to find the Dark me walking towards me.

"You're the me that was meant to be…" I said, a slight shake in my voice. "The evil me… the one steeped so far in darkness, you don't know anything else…"

"Evil? I thought we threw away such childish concepts," the Dark me said. "I'm not evil… just the polar opposite of you."

"I suppose this means you're going to want to fight?" I asked, somewhat more confident now. "Why else would you…"

"Yeah, we're going to fight. And I'll beat you," the Dark me said, "because you've come to rely on nonexistent powers."

"What are you talking about…" I trailed off, intending to go into my True Form. But I didn't feel the strength enter me… and I looked down to see my Phoenix Sword had disappeared!

"Those forms you use… True and Aether… don't exist. Your sword doesn't exist. In the end, you yourself aren't meant to exist!" the Dark me shouted, charging at me with the Zangetsu. He attempted to impale me, but I dodged it. He spun around, striking me in the abdomen. Or he would have, had I not grabbed the sword. I pulled it out of his hands, stepped back, and got into a ready pose.

"You forget: I once wielded all the swords you carry. I have just as much, if not more technical prowess!" I shouted. I charged at the Dark me, who used a batto-jutsu to knock me back. I stood steady as he slashed and thrusted his Masamune at me several dozen times. I then worked my way a bit closer, and attempted to impale him with the Zangetsu's cord. He blocked it.

"Don't you remember our abilities?" the Dark me asked, pulling out the Souba he carried. He then slammed it onto the Masamune, making… the Soubasune. "You can't defy your fate!"

"I won't be consumed by the darkness!" I yelled, brashly charging at him again. We clashed swords, and I stared into his hate-filled, crimson eyes. We backed off for a moment.

"I had almost forgotten how corruptive the darkness is…" I muttered to myself. "I see it in your eyes…"

"Those eyes of yours… they're the eyes of a hero," the Dark me said.

"Hero? I'm no hero… call me Hitokiri Kensai," I told the Dark me. "Sora's a hero. Someone like me… could never be called a hero… I kept wishing, hoping, even, that it wouldn't come to this. I never wanted to kill Amy… I never even wanted to fight her."

"Amy…" the Dark me said. "She… I couldn't protect her… that's why…"

"Why what?" I asked.

"Why I followed Senka. I didn't need to protect anyone, and my strength made it easy to destroy. So I did what I do best: I killed."

"You're weak," I said.

"What!" the Dark me shouted.

"You're weak. You were too weak to stand up to the darkness… too weak to stand up to the light… too weak to stand up for what you believe in!" I shouted.

"SAY THAT AGAIN!" the Dark me shouted, blazing at me, Soubasune outstretched. He attempted to slash me, but I grabbed the blade, looking down. I felt blood on my hand… my blood.

"You're weak," I said. Then I thrusted him through the stomach with the Zangetsu, turning it after wounding him. He screamed in agony, then froze again. My Phoenix Sword was at my side again, and I felt my forms return. A door made of pure silver, trimmed with opal stones and ivory, appeared before me.

"This is…" I gasped. "This is…!"

I slowly pulled the doors open, then slowly walked through them. I found myself on the beach I had stood on two years ago. This time, though, there was sound. I could hear the wind blowing across my coat and the lull of the waves. The sky was twilit. I knew what memory this was… and it was a memory that was meant to exist. This was that memory…

I walked around a little, looking for the memory I was meant to see. After only a minute or so, I chanced upon my goal. I stood a ways away from the me of two years ago, who was approaching a campfire Amy was seated around.

"Roy! You're okay!" she shouted, and then came over and sat next to the other me. She also tried to hug the other me, but the other me shrugged her off.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry… about before," the other me said once she had given up. "I don't know what happened… I guess I just lost control."

"It's okay. Nobody can always control themselves." Amy replied. "Well, that's the last of them, I think." she said, and then quickly put her head on the other me's shoulder by surprise. "Wasn't it great, though? We got to reenact a scene from Naruto!"

"What scene?" the other me asked her, barely able to restrain himself.

"The one where Sasuke uses his cursed seal for the first time… and just about annihilates all three of those Sound Ninja. It was kind of like that," she answered.

"Yeah, I guess so. Let's just hope what happened to Sasuke doesn't happen to me!" the other me said with a small smile, and then tried to shrug Amy off again.

"Just a little longer?" she asked the other me, looking up.

"Tch! Fine…" the other me muttered, finally submitting.

Time froze again. I began silently

It was so obvious… I…

I opened my heart.

A door made of black silver, trimmed with onyx stones and ebon wood appeared before me. I knew what was beyond this door… the battle to decide everything. The battle with my light… and my darkness…