Sora doesn't leave the room at first. While she's fine physically speaking, she's feeling pretty weak as well. Normal, her wounds have been completely healed. Healing magic takes as much out of the patient as it does out of the caster.
It's strange. Aside from the paopu fruits, magic doesn't exist on the Islands outside of stories.
That wasn't the case on Radiant Garden. Sora remembers Aerith encouraging plants to grow at an astonishing rate, remembers breaking her arm and having it healed within a day. Remembers Nana weaving illusions as she tells her stories.
Sora supposes those hidden memories explain why she's always been convinced that magic is real. Part of her already knew it was.
Another reason for her weakness is that she hasn't eaten in days. Well no, she's been fed water and soup while she was unconscious, but it wasn't enough to truly sate her.
Thanks to her hunger, the broth Aerith brings her is the most delicious thing Sora has ever tasted.
As Sora devours every drop of it, slowly so she doesn't upset her stomach, Aerith and Yuffie explain where they are. This world is called Traverse Town. A place where people end up when their home is destroyed by Darkness.
Most of the time they end up here.
Riku didn't.
Traverse Town is a special place. Unlike other worlds, it's constantly changing to meet the needs of the inhabitants. The more people there are, the bigger Traverse Town gets.
Those inhabitants include talking animals. The dog Sora woke up to the first time? His name is Pongo, and he can speak! He just kept quiet because he didn't want to startle her.
Talking animals. It boggles the mind in the best of ways. Sora can't wait to have a conversation with one.
Then there's the sky in Traverse Town.
"What do you mean, it's always night here?" How that is even possible? Yes, this is another world, but she's always assumed that the sky was the same everywhere. Her newly recovered memories support this.
"I mean, there's no sun here," Yuffie returns with a mischievous smile.
"Which means it's always night," Aerith continues serenely, laughter dancing in her eyes.
"That's so weird," Sora marvels. Yes, the magically growing town and the talking animals are even stranger, but still. No sun.
Very weird.
"Want to see?"
Yuffie's question captures her full attention.
"Of course I do!" Sure, it'll look like the night sky from the Islands and Garden, but she still wants to see. Who wouldn't want to see an eternal night?
"That's the spirit!" Yuffie cheers, before she holds out a hand to help her get up. "It'll be fine," Yuffie says to Aerith. Sora doesn't really get why, but then, she also doesn't get why Aerith looks a little worried.
Right now she's a lot more focused on getting to see this eternal night.
The room she's in has one large window with closed curtains. They walk towards it.
"Ready?" Yuffie asks as she grabs the curtains.
"Ready," Sora confirms, full of anticipation.
"Then feast your eyes on this!"
With that, Yuffie throws the curtains open and takes a step to the side, offering her an unobstructed view.
Sora gapes.
She was wrong. The sky is nothing like on the Islands or Garden.
The stars aren't mere pinpricks, they're huge and blazing. Some are bigger than others, and all are constantly changing. A spectacle of ever shifting light. It's made even more stunning by the dancing rainbow that makes up the space between them. The space is dark like the night is supposed to be, yet at the same time, the colors are so vibrant. They're also moving. The rainbow sometimes covers stars, hiding them from sight, and other times it reveals a new one. A living painting that's ever changing.
It's beautiful.
"Impressive, right?"
Yuffie sounds pleased. Sora doesn't turn to look at her, just keeps watching the wonder that is the sky.
"It's beautiful."
She wishes Riku was here. He would love this.
Sora pushes the sharp flare of grief away. Riku isn't here.
Which means she has to memorize exactly what this looks like so she can tell him all about it when she finds him again.
She's glad that Yuffie and Aerith stay quiet. It lets her enjoy this wonder to the fullest.
Sora doesn't know how much time passes, but eventually she's able to tear her eyes away from the sky and look down at the town itself. Her eyes widen with wonder once more.
She sees a large plaza with a great willow tree in the center. Cheerful buildings surround it, each different and unique. Some of the buildings have neon signs, making them stand out even more, while others have shapes and sizes she'd never expect. The streetlights have brightly colored flags strung between them and flowers are blooming on almost every windowsill.
Compared to the Islands, and especially compared to the Garden, the amount of greenery in this place isn't much. Not that this matters. Sora has never seen a place this cheerful. And while the town itself is incredibly pretty, that isn't why she's so amazed.
It's because of the people. There are as many animals as there are humans, walking around and talking to each other. Everywhere she looks are more of them. There's even a group of kids, both human and animal, seated in front of the willow tree.
Some of the animals are walking on two legs! And they're wearing clothes!
"They're wearing clothes!" she exclaims, the only thing the can think to say.
"Why wouldn't they?"
Yuffie's innocently spoken question makes Sora turn her gaze towards her. As expected, Yuffie is wearing a mischievous smile. Next to her, Aerith is smiling with amusement as well. But she's also giving her a look like she's searching for something. What she's searching for, Sora doesn't know, and right now she's focused on far more important matters.
"So the animals wearing clothes can talk, and the ones who aren't wearing any can't?" she asks, but immediately realizes that can't be the case. Pongo wasn't wearing any clothes and he can talk.
Unless he wasn't wearing clothes so that he wouldn't startle her? Like how he didn't speak?
"No, all animals can talk," Aerith explains. "Most just don't see the need for clothes. Unlike humans, they don't need them to keep warm."
"See that guy with the green hat and the bow?" Yuffie asks while pointing out the window. Sora looks down to see who she's talking about. She figures it out just as Yuffie continues talking and she feels a grin grow. "His name is Robin. Great guy, loves to play pranks and he's really creative about it. He's also amazing with a bow. No one's ever seen him miss."
Sora laughs. It's hilarious how Yuffie has let out the most obvious thing about Robin.
Robin is a fox. Not a normal fox though, oh no. Robin the fox is wearing clothes and walking on two legs.
"See the two guys with him?" Yuffie asks and continues to talk without waiting for an answer. "The one with the beard is Grumpy, the name fits perfectly, trust me. And that's Dopey, Grumpy's exact opposite."
Once again, Yuffie leaves out the most obvious thing about them. Namely that they're both dwarves. Yuffie is having so much fun with this.
"Oh, there's Simba! He's the one who found you. The one with the crazy hair I mean."
Yuffie is pointing at a group of four who just entered the plaza. Three of them are animals, two of which are wearing clothes. Of the four, two fit the description of having crazy hair, one human and one animal.
Sora takes a guess.
"Simba is the guy with the sword?"
To her surprise, both Yuffie and Aerith laugh much harder than getting it wrong should have.
"That's Leon," Aerith says like Sora is supposed to know who that is. "It's the name Squall is going by now."
Wait, that's Squall?
Sora strains her eyes as much she can, trying to recognize the teen she knew in the man now walking the streets.
She fails. He's too far away to make out true details. Aside from his hair, that's still the same. True, it's longer than she remembers, but it's still a familiar wild mess. Even if it's darker than before. Or maybe that's because of the light?
"Simba is the lion."
Aerith's words make her turn her attention to the large lion walking next to Squall. He also has crazy hair, though in his case it's a wild mane of red. Simba the lion also isn't wearing any clothes. He's the one who found her?
Cool.
"I'm going to tell Squall you're awake. Be right back!"
Yuffie pulls her in a tight hug before she can even start thinking of a reply, and Sora doesn't even have time to hug her back before Yuffie lets go and darts out of the room.
Sora grins. Yuffie hasn't changed a bit.
"Who are the other two?" she asks Aerith while turning her attention back out the window.
"The duck is called Donald and the dog is called Goofy."
Wait, that's a dog? He... doesn't really look like a dog. She? Goofy isn't a name she's heard before.
"Are they both guys?" she asks.
"They are."
"What about that white cat?" she asks while pointing out who she means.
"Her name is Duchess and she is very much a lady."
As Sora continues asking questions about the people below, she sees Yuffie appear and race towards Squall. They talk, and then Squall is literally dragged along by Yuffie.
Aerith continues to answer her questions as they wait for Yuffie and Squall to arrive. Sora discovers that there aren't just animals here, there are also talking plants! Or rather, one talking plant. Namely, the willow in the center of the plaza. Her name is Grandmother Willow and she's apparently a teacher. The kids seated in front of her are her students.
When she hears the door open, Sora wastes no time in spinning around and running to Squall, colliding with a hug.
"Squall," she says in a suddenly choked up voice, breathing in the scent of him. While she wasn't close with him like she was with Yuffie and Aerith, she's still so happy to see him.
She's so happy he's alive.
"Kairi," Squall says in a much deeper voice than she remembers. The awkward note in it is wonderfully familiar though.
Sora lifts her head so she can beam up at him. Squall gives a faint smile in return and gently pats her back. Up close, he's a lot taller than he'd seemed to be outside.
"You're taller than I remember," she tells him. Yuffie lets out an amused snort while Squall's faint smile grows.
"So are you," he says, making her grin some more. It's true, she has gotten taller. Still tiny compared to him, though.
Yuffie bounces over and hugs them both.
"Hooray for no longer being midgets!" she cheers.
"Depends on your definition of midget," Aerith says, though Sora can't tell who her teasing is aimed at.
Yuffie reveals that the teasing was aimed at her by letting out a betrayed gasp and looking at Aerith with a mock wounded expression.
"Are you calling me short?"
"Did I say that?" Aerith returns with an innocence Sora knows is fake only because of her memories.
"You implied it," Yuffie accuses. While the topic isn't familiar, Yuffie didn't used to care about her height, the banter still soothes the gaping hole the loss of her world caused. Not much, but ever bit helps.
Sora is more than content to simply listen to Aerith and Yuffie tease each other. Squall seems to feel the same way, not adding to the conversation but watching with that faint smile.
Unfortunately, Sora soon starts feeling woozy. The healing took more out of her than she thought it had.
Aerith immediately notices and orders her back to bed. Sora fears that they're going to leave her again, but they don't. Instead Squall, standing at the foot of her bed, asks her what she can remember from the destruction of her home.
"Leon," Aerith warns from where she's standing next to him, stern in a way that always made Sora confess every little thing she'd done wrong as a kid.
"We need to know," Squall returns without taking his eyes off her. Sora bites down her lip, her joy crashing with a vengeance.
"Chill out, Squall," Yuffie says with a glare while rubbing soothing circles on her back. Sora is grateful. "She only just got here."
"Which means her memories are fresh," Squall counters, his own expression hard as he looks at Yuffie. "She might forget something important later on."
"It's fine," Sora says when she sees Yuffie open her mouth to argue. It makes Squall's gaze return to her and his expression softens slightly. Sora swallows and takes a deep breath, forcing herself to remain in control. She can break down again later. "What do you want to know?"
"Did you see a woman with horns?"
The question throws her completely off guard. Whatever she was expecting him to ask, it wasn't that.
"No?" she returns, uncertain, before she shakes her head and gets her thoughts in order. "No, I didn't see anyone like that. I just saw..."
She falls silent, unable to come up with a decent way to describe those
(heartless)
things.
"Heartless," Yuffie says, drawing Sora's full attention. "They're called Heartless."
The name resonates with something deep inside of her, a chill running down her spine. She
(knows)
recognizes that word, despite having never heard it before. She knows what it refers to.
She knows what Heartless are.
"You don't know–" Squall begins before being interrupted by Yuffie.
"Absent things that hurt to look at and move in ways nothing should?" she asks while holding her gaze, her expression hard in a way Sora can't remember it ever being. Sora nods, confirming that's what she was talking about.
Yuffie's expression twists with actual hatred.
What happened to her?
"Heartless," she repeats, vicious in a way Sora has never known Yuffie to be.
Squall lets out a slow breath. Sora has the impression that he's struggling with something, but her memories offer no answer. She hadn't known Squall that well.
She knew Yuffie. Aerith as well, and she can't remember ever seeing an expression like the one she's wearing now either. One where all her emotions are carefully hidden.
Aerith never hid her emotions before. Not like this.
Something is very wrong.
"Let's start at the beginning," Squall says. "When did you realize something was wrong?"
Sora puts her own worries out of her mind for now. She can ask later.
"I felt the Darkness arrive," she says. She hadn't recognized it at the time, but looking back, that's what caused her to almost faint.
The same thing had happened to her when the Darkness arrived on Radiant Garden. Sora shivers.
"I was so cold," she whispers without making the decision to do so. Talking about this is so painful, her throat tightening up and tears threatening to fall again.
If it helps Yuffie, Aerith and Squall, Sora will talk about every single detail.
Yuffie, Aerith and Squall all look at her with an understanding that makes her own horror a fraction more bearable. They all know what she's talking about. While Sora wishes they didn't, their understanding is comforting.
"What happened next?" Squall asks, his voice gentle for all that his expression is stoic. Aerith's lips tighten with disapproval. She still doesn't want him to keep asking about this. Judging from the annoyed look Yuffie gives hm, she doesn't want him to either.
Sora takes a deep breath and forces her tears down.
She tells them about almost fainting. Tells them about the storm that wasn't a storm.
She isn't explaining it well, she knows that. But she doesn't need to. All of them understand what she's talking about.
All of them saw the same thing happen to the Garden.
"I knew Riku was on the island, so I took my boat and went there."
This time Yuffie is on the receiving end of Aerith's warning look.
"When I got there, I found Riku. Then..."
How to explain what happened next?
"We were swallowed by Darkness," she settles on, the best way she can think to describe that... that hunger, the way it consumed them, the impossible cold clawing at them from every side. "We got separated," she whispers, her breath hitching because Riku isn't here. He was taken by the Darkness.
She's going to get him back.
Sora lifts her chin and determinedly continues her story.
"The Darkness was broken by–"
She falls silent as she suddenly realizes that she still has that
(Keyblade)
weapon with her. That shield? Giant Key?
She doesn't know what to call it. She also doesn't know how it's still with her. Inside of her?
(part of her)
Can she make it physical again?
(yes)
Yes, she can. She just needs to...
(pull)
Sora realizes that she's closed her eyes and is holding out a hand when a warm weight fills her palm, her fingers closing around the handle like she never let go if it. She hears Yuffie suck in a sharp breath and Aerith let out a soft gasp. When she opens her eyes, she sees that both they and Squall are staring at the key in her hand with utter shock.
"It was broken by this," she says, but before she can say anything more, Squall speaks.
"That's a Keyblade."
His voice is hushed and disbelieving, but Sora is more focused on how the word resonates with her in the same way the word for Heartless did. Unlike that word, this one doesn't fill her with dread.
It fills her with
(longing)
comfort.
Squall lifts his eyes from her Keyblade.
"Kairi," he says, giving her an intense look that makes the one she knows from her memories seem like a pale imitation. And the Squall from her memories could give some very intense looks indeed. "How did you get a Keyblade?"
"I don't know," she answers truthfully. "It just showed up. It saved me from the Darkness."
"You're all seeing a Keyblade too, right?"
Yuffie's question, dazed yet urgent, makes her turn to look at her. Yuffie's eyes are locked onto her Keyblade with shock and disbelief.
"I'm not imagining it?"
"You're not imagining it," Aerith says, sounding more than a little dazed as well. Sora is pretty sure that she's missing something big.
"What's a Keyblade?" she asks, figuring it's best to start with the basics. Yeah, they're obviously talking about the key in her hand, but why is it such a big deal?
Yuffie lets out a too loud laugh, startling Sora and making worry rise. Yuffie sounds almost hysterical.
"You don't know what a Keyblade is," Squall says like he can't believe what he just heard.
"No," Sora answers without looking away from Yuffie, but before she can ask what's wrong with her, Yuffie jumps off the bed and starts moving around the room with a nervous energy Sora remembers well. When Yuffie gets like this, it's impossible for her to remain still. Sora has never seen it as extreme as this though.
"That's a Keyblade. Squall, that's a Keyblade," Yuffie says like she needs to repeat it a thousand times more. Her hand are flying through the air and she's moving around so fast that it's a little disorientating to see. "It's a Keyblade! We can finally destroy them!"
Destroy who?
"Yuffie," Aerith begins, no longer looking dazed but watching Yuffie pace around with worry. It makes Sora's own worry grow even worse.
Yuffie cuts her off with a sharp gesture.
"Don't tell me I'm getting ahead of myself, I'm not and you know it. We have a Keyblade. We can get rid of them for good."
The statement is vicious, something Sora has never seen from Yuffie before.
Why is she acting like this?
"She's right," Squall says before Sora can ask. He lifts his gaze from her Keyblade and gives Aerith a look even more piercing than the one he gave her. "With a Keyblade, we can beat them. We can win."
"What are you talking about?" Sora bursts out. "Beat who?"
"Heartless," Yuffie answers with another sharp gesture, still pacing around too quickly. She reminds Sora of an aggravated cat, stalking the room with her fur on end and her tail swishing wildly. In Yuffie's case, her hands have taken on the role of the tail. "They don't die. You can destroy them for a while, but they always reform, always come back. Except when they're destroyed by a Keyblade. It's the only thing that can kill them."
A Keyblade doesn't kill them. A Keyblade
(frees them)
does something, but it doesn't kill them.
Sora has no idea where that thought came from and she doesn't care either. She's just realized something far more important.
"There are Heartless here?" How? She thought this place was safe!
Before anyone can answer her, a church bell sounds from outside. The effect is immediate. Yuffie halts her pacing so abruptly it gives Sora whiplash just from watching, while Squall jumps to his feet and grabs the sword on his back. Even Aerith is tense in a way Sora has never seen from her before.
"What's going on?" she demands, panic starting to rise.
"The Heartless are attacking," Squall says, not looking at her but checking over his sword with practiced ease. Yuffie is patting down her pockets, muttering what sounds like a checklist to herself. One that includes a ridiculous amount of throwing weapons, far more than should be able to fit into her pockets.
Sora absently processes all of this.
Most of her is panicking.
The Heartless are here
(for her)
The Heartless are here and they're attacking.
They need to leave.
"We need to leave."
She only realizes that she's spoken after the word have already left her mouth, and then she's trying to get out of the bed except Aerith is suddenly there and putting her hands down her shoulders, preventing her from getting to her feet.
"Kairi, calm down. This isn't the first time they've attacked. We know how to handle this."
The reassurance is soothing in a way only Aerith can pull off. While Sora is still worried, she's no longer panicking.
Which means she can think clearly again. The Heartless are attacking, and they can't escape this world. Which means they have to fight.
"Yuffie, let's go," Squall says as he finishes inspecting his sword. "Kairi, stay here."
Before Sora can tell him exactly how much that isn't happening, Yuffie speaks up.
"Take the Keyblade, Squall."
What? No!
"I'm not staying behind! I'll fight with you." She's beaten Heartless before, she can do it again. And she definitely isn't letting her friends face them alone.
"You haven't recovered yet," Yuffie returns like it's an actual argument. She's fine. A little weak, but fine. She can fight.
"Kairi, stay," Aerith says. "Leon and Yuffie have done this many times before. If you want to help them, stay here. They'll worry about you otherwise, and that might distract them. They might get hurt."
Oh, that's a low blow.
Sora wavers. She doesn't want to stay behind, she wants to help them.
She doesn't want to put them in even more danger.
"You'll fight with us after you've had training," Squall says, making Sora let out a harsh breath. It's good to know they don't expect her to stay behind forever, but they do expect her to stay behind this time.
She doesn't want to.
She wants to put her friends in danger even less.
"Okay. I'll stay."
Aerith and Yuffie sigh with relief. Squall seems a fraction less tense as well.
"Squall, Keyblade," Yuffie reminds him, getting things back on track in a way Sora isn't used to from her. Normally Yuffie is the one who needs to be told to focus.
She really has changed.
Squall marches over and Sora hands over her Keyblade. Even if she can't fight with them, she can still help them by doing this.
Except the moment Squall opens the door, her Keyblade disappears from his hand and reappears in hers. Sora feels
(confused)
her worry spike with a vengeance. This isn't good.
"You've got to be kidding me," Yuffie says. Sora agrees completely.
"Stay with Squall," she orders her Keyblade, before handing it over once more.
Once more, it teleports back to her hand the instant Squall tries to leave the room. Sora glares at her Keyblade. It's bad enough that she has to stay behind, but now she can't even help by lending her friends the only thing capable of permanently getting rid of the Heartless? This
(shouldn't happen)
isn't fair.
"Let me try," Yuffie demands. This time Sora doesn't just verbally order her Keyblade to remain with Yuffie, she keeps thinking it as hard as she can while Yuffie darts out the exit.
Her Keyblade teleports back to her hand. Apparently her Keyblade
(is weird)
has a will of its own and it refuses to leave her side. Great.
"Alright, no Keyblade," Yuffie says with a scowl. Sora glares at the stupid thing that refuses to help her friends.
"We'll try again later," Squall says in a brisk voice and marches to the exit. "Yuffie," he commands as he passes by her, telling her to follow just by saying her name.
"Be careful," Aerith calls out softly. Squall doesn't stop, but his answer sounds like it's one he gives often.
"Always."
With that, Squall is gone, so quickly that Sora doesn't even get a chance to say goodbye herself.
"You too, Yuffie. Don't do anything crazy," Aerith says, and while her smile is meant to be teasing, it's a too brittle to succeed.
Sora has never seen Aerith's smiles be anything but strong.
"Me, do something crazy? Never," Yuffie returns with a grin full of bravado. Just like with Squall, it feels like she and Aerith exchange these exact words often.
Just how often do the Heartless attack?
"Be careful, Yuffie," Sora says quickly, not wanting to risk her leaving as quickly Squall did.
Yuffie hesitates, before she darts over and pulls her into a tight hug. Sora hugs her back just as hard.
"Stay safe, Kairi. I don't want to lose you again."
Sora tightens her embrace. She doesn't want to lose Yuffie again either.
"You too," she says. "Stay safe."
Yuffie lets out a playful scoff and lets go of her. Sora forces herself to do the same.
"No worries, I've got kicking Heartless ass down to an art form," Yuffie says with a familiar cocky grin. While the cockiness seems real, Sora knows that Yuffie is just trying to reassure her right now.
It doesn't work.
"I'll be back before you know it."
With that, Yuffie runs out of the room.
Aerith doesn't.
"Aren't you going with them?" Sora asks. She thought they were all going to fight.
"I'm a healer," Aerith says like she can't decide whether that's a blessing or a curse. "I need to stay behind and care for the wounded."
No matter how much she wishes she could fight with their friends instead.
Tightening her grip on her Keyblade, Sora swear she won't be left behind again. Next time, she's going be right there with them and protect her friends.
The part of her not worrying about Yuffie and Squall desperately hopes that Riku is somewhere safe.
...
Riku continues punching the dead tree. His hands are on fire, hurting in a way that means he should really stop and get someone to look them over.
He can't get someone to look them over because he's alone, alone, alone, alone!
Riku yells as agony stabs scatters his thought. He fractured something, maybe even broke it. Damn it!
He punches the dead wood with his other hand, before kicking it as hard as he can. He's being stupid, he knows that but he just can't stop. Everything is too much and he needs an outlet, needs something to keep himself from drowning.
Pain stops him from drowning.
He spins into a roundhouse kick – his body freezes right before his leg hits the wood.
Riku turns his head, the only part he still has control over, and looks around for Maleficent. When he finds her, he gives her his fiercest glare. He hates it when she does this. She's only done it twice before, but that's more than enough for him to absolutely despise her trapping him like this.
"Let go," he orders. When Maleficent doesn't release him, he almost chokes on pure fury.
"Continuing down this path will only bring harm to you," Maleficent says in that voice that keeps rubbing him in the wrong way.
"Do I look like I care?" Riku snaps, unable to believe the nerve of this witch. Who does she think she is, his mom? His mom is dead – don't think about that.
Maleficent looks at him with consideration that sends chills down his spine.
"No, you do not."
Before he can repeat his order for her to release him, she lifts her staff in front of her and the crystal starts glowing even brighter, making wariness replace most of his anger. Shadows slither over the floor out of nowhere, not quite moving like Heartless do but uncomfortably close to it.
One of the many reasons Riku doesn't trust her is because her magic reminds him of the Heartless.
The shadows rise from the floor, solid in a way that should be impossible. They twine together, forming a single whole and taking on the shape of... a sword?
Without warning, the shadows turn into matter. The result is a wicked looking sword, the blade curved and the metal dark in a way that inspires instinctive unease. It almost seems to be absorbing the light.
Maleficent releases him. Riku puts down his leg, his momentum gone. So is some of his rage, replaced by even greater suspicion. And, as much as he hates to admit it, with fear.
What is she planning to do with that?
"This might provide a less damaging alternative to your need to fight," she says, the blade still hovering in front of her. Riku forces himself to keep standing and not take on a defensive posture. He won't show weakness to her like that.
"I can't punch things, but hacking things up with a sword is fine?"
Maleficent's pupils contract in their signature creepy way and her lips quirk with the faintest of smiles. Riku does his best to ignore the irrational fear that sight inspires.
"The weak do not survive," she says like it's an actual answer to his question. "Only the strong do. This I learned when my world was destroyed."
She gracefully waves a hand at the sword and it slowly flies towards him. Riku resists the urge to take a step back, but he does shift his balance, ready to deal with an attack if it comes.
It doesn't come. The sword halts in front of him, close enough that he only needs to reach out a hand to grab it.
"Don't let your rage rule you, Riku. Harness it instead. Hone it and use it to accomplish your goals. Use it to become strong."
Part of him rejects the words just because she's the one saying them. Most of him wants nothing more than to take the sword and destroy everything within sight.
He's scared of how angry he is. How angry he's been ever since his world – ever since he got here. He doesn't want to feel like this.
He doesn't know how to stop.
Sora would make him feel better.
The thought only makes him feel even worse. He distracts himself by grabbing the blade with his uninjured hand. The metal is cold, the chill biting into his palm even with his gloves. It's heavier than the shinai he's used to, but he can still tell that the balance is good. More than good in fact.
Carefully running his thumb along the edge of the curved blade, he immediately snatches it back when the blade cuts through glove and skin like they aren't even there.
This is dangerous. If he isn't careful, he could easily lose a limb. He'll need to constantly focus on how he's moving both the blade and his own body to make sure he doesn't hurt himself.
Good.
He starts going through a routine, getting a feel for his new weapon.
He does his best to ignore the way Maleficent watches him like a snake watches a mouse.
When he starts feeling more confident, he enters a more complex routine.
It isn't enough to stop him from becoming angry again. He can already feel his heart speeding up again, blood rushing in his ears, the chaos of emotions threatening to pull him under.
He stops moving when Maleficent lifts her staff, the crystal starting to glow. What is she doing now?
Too solid shadows gather again, far more than when she made the sword. This time they turn into... a person?
No, not a person. A faceless dummy. Something he can vent his rage on by destroying it.
The dummy steps forward and oh, this is so much better.
This is something he can fight.
Riku lunges forward, nothing on his mind but the need to destroy, to get rid of his anger by utterly obliterating this thing.
Maleficent watches him with a satisfaction that sends chills down his spine.