"May my Heart be my Guiding Key."
"This world is just too small."
"Please don't do this Master! I'm not strong enough!"
"Together always... That would be the last night we spent under the same stars."
"What I do... I do for friendship!"
"Yes boy thats it! Let your whole heart blacken with anger!"
"Aqua... put an end to me."
"When we grow up, lets get off this Island. We'll go on real adventures, not this kid stuff!"
"Why do you still care about that boy? He has all but deserted you for the Keyblade and his new companions, after all."
"Hey! Let him go Riku."
"It is I, Ansem. The Seeker of Darkness."
"Sora... Kairi... I'm sorry."
"I met two boys I considered passing the Keyblade onto. But because Terra had already given one of them the power, I didn't."
"I know you can feel it Riku, the grip I have on your heart. You've let the Darkness in.
"So its true. You really are his nobody. I guess DiZ was right after all."
"What a shame... And here I thought we could be friends."
"It's Riku. Riku's here. I've looked for you... I looked everywhere for you!"
"I need... more rage!. I need... more hearts!"
"W-we're back."
"You're home."
"Ever the fool boy. And ever the pawn of Darkness!"
"Master Xehanort! We were right about you!"
"Let us finish this at the fated place! Once your Lights and my Darknesses have joined together!"
"She sacrificed herself to save me!? Why did you keep it from me for so long!?"
Darkness. It had such a distinct smell, a stench that was almost suffocating. As Riku opened his eyes to see nothing but the dark void, he wanted to slip right back into unconsciousness. He was falling. If he wasn't so wary of the Darkness and all the dangers that it embodied, he might have actually felt relaxed in that moment. But he was no fool. Never again would he let himself be controlled by the Darkness or manipulated by those who used it to further their own goals. Silently, he reminded himself of his path down the middle between Light and Dark as recognition set in.
He knew this place.
It wasn't the Realm of Darkness. Not exactly. More like a place set between the waking world and the dreaming one. He knew that his actual body was currently resting in the Realm of Darkness, probably being guarded by Mickey. He felt bad. Here he was, resting like a lazy bum while a King was protecting him.
"It's almost here. The time of the preordained confrontation is at hand."
His feet touched something and suddenly a flash of white light revealed a stained glass platform beneath him. A younger version of himself hovered in a sleeping position on the picture directly in the center. He looked so calm. So innocent. Far from what he was now. The only thing that remained the same was his white hair which he had recently cut.
"Can you tell me how long I have?" Riku asked. The voice rarely, if ever replied to his questions. The background to the picture was white and around the edge were several portraits of people who had affected his life. Sora. Mickey. Kairi. Maleficent. Ansem. Marluxia. The Replika of him that an Organization member had created. A girl that looked startlingly like Kairi but with black hair and a large crack over her face. Namine. Roxas. Ansem the Wise. A blue haired girl he assumed was Aqua. A man with white hair and yellow eyes who looked like Terra. A boy who looked like a young Roxas. Lea. Braig. A boy who looked like Sora if he was on Xehanorts side. Master Xehanort. Finally, there was a pale skinned boy with dark red hair and soft orange eyes.
"He must be stopped. He would do anything to save her."
"Her?" Riku's eyes narrowed as he thought about who the voice was talking about. Could Xehanort have some female ally they didn't know about? No that couldn't be it. Why would Xehanort want to save anybody but himself?"
"You will struggle to bring yourself to end his life. But it is your duty, as a Keyblade Master."
"Struggle? You mean, the battle will be difficult?" Riku was often frustrated by the cryptic messages the voice sent his way when he arrived in this place. It was irritating, and quite honestly a waste of his time. Glancing down at the faces once more, he noticed that Soras eyes were shut. Pointing at it, he looked up into the dark sky. "Whats that about?"
"Abandon your search for those requiring their own personal awakenings. Hunt down instead, the Old Masters. Their legacies are the only things that can help you attempt to stop what is to come."
"I cant. I owe Aqua my life!" Riku rolled his eyes, clearly done with the conversation. Looking down, his eyes widened as the portrait of Sora opened its own. The eyes were crimson and dark lines were streaking out around his face. Blinking, he shook his head and sighed in relief as it changed back. He must have imagined it.
"Wake up!"
Riku opened his green eyes and immediately sprang to his feet, summoning his Keyblade to his hand as he dodged to the side just in time to miss being slashed by a Neoshadow. He looked around and frowned. They were surrounded. Mickey was close by, doing what he could but the sheer number of the Pureblood Heartless was overwhelming. Raising Way to the Dawn, he blocked the slash of a Neoshadow before cutting it down. Taking down several more of the long limbed creatures, he closed the distance between him and the King until they were standing back to back.
"I was hopin' you would wake up!" Mickey greeted him, leaping into the air above a Neoshadow and coming down hard with enough force to destroy the being of darkness. "Seemed like ya were having one heck of a dream!"
"It was definitely something..." Riku replied, quickly slashing through two Neoshadows and raising his hand to fire a blast of black flame towards a group of others. It exploded and the blaze took them out easily. "The Realm of Darkness seems to have gotten a lot more populated since the last time we were here."
"Must have somethin' to do with Master Xehanort!" Mickey offered, flipping back to avoid an unusually precise strike from another Neoshadow. "We've gotta get outta here!"
"Yeah." Riku replied, looking around as he dodged several more attacks. Looking up, he spotted a cliff that would give them a moment to gather themselves. "Up there!"
"Gotcha!" Mickey said, cutting down several more Neoshadows. "Lets go!"
The two Keyblade Masters fought their way to the base of the cliff, each of them expertly covering the others blind spots while also defending themselves. It would appear as effortless to an outsider, a practiced and perfected technique over several years rather than a sudden necessity in order to survive. Mickeys agile and aggressive style blended well into Riku's more calm and minimalist approach to Keyblade combat and they soon reached their destination. Instead of stopping however, they continued and began to run up the side of the cliff while continuing to fight off the Pureblood Heartless. As they got closer to the top, less and less Heartless managed to reach them and by the time the reached the peak they were finally alone.
Riku dropped to one knee and dismissed Way to the Dawn, working hard to catch his breath. The last time he'd done something like that had been in the World that Never Was during his fight against Roxas but back then he hadn't had to fight off the more powerful cousins of your everyday heartless in droves. Recovering himself, he stood back up and brushed off his black coat before turning to Mickey.
"That won't stop them for long." Riku stated, pulling his hood back up to cover his face.
"Gee I knew the Realm of Darkness would be full of Heartless but I don't know if we can keep doing that." Mickey agreed, beginning to walk forward. "But we have to. For Aqua."
"For Aqua. "Riku nodded and followed after the male.
They walked in silence. The Realm of Darkness was not the kind of place you wanted to attract attention and the coats of the Organization did offer some small form of camouflage for them. Which totally wouldn't work if they were speaking the whole time. It was fine for Riku. He'd never been the chatty type, that was always Sora's role in the friendship. His thoughts went to his best friend, wondering if Sora had been back to Yen Sids tower yet to receive his orders. Or how Kairi was doing. Had she arrived at Radiant Garden yet with Lea to train under Merlin? Questions he was going to have to wait to find out the answers to. Which was fine. He'd spent long enough wading through the Darkness apart from his friends, a couple more weeks wouldn't do much.
But that was just it. Time worked differently in the Realm of Darkness. A day in the Realm of Light could be a week here. Or even a second. The entire dimension worked in a way to best break the spirit of any living person unfortunate enough to get lost here. Despair was what it craved and Riku had no doubt that others had found themselves here and caved in. He just hoped Aqua hadn't given up. Not yet.
"Hey Riku." Mickey said quietly, his eyes still looking forward.
"Yeah?" Riku replied, wondering what his friend wanted.
"When ya were trapped here after fighting Ansem the Seeker of Darkness, what keptcha going?" Mickey asked. Riku raised his eyebrow at the mouses question.
"I uh..." Riku took a moment to think before answering. "Well, you certainly helped. I was so lost, broken and disappointed in myself straight after the battle. I guess you could say I set myself a goal, that I would redeem myself and make up for everything I did. No matter the cost to myself. I kind of started viewing myself as a tool. I couldn't breakdown emotionally because my emotions were locked away."
"How tragic." A familiar, haughty voice spoke behind them and both Keyblade Masters spun around.
"Maleficent!" Both cried in unison, summoning their respective Keyblades.
"What are you two doing in the Realm of Darkness?" Maleficent raised one perfect eyebrow, stroking her chin with her free hand while her other clutched her staff.
"None of your business." Riku stated, a fire starting to burn in his chest. It was familiar and putrid. The feeling of his inner darkness attempting to come to the surface.
"Such a rude attitude. How quickly you forget boy, that it was I who taught you to keep the Darkness at bay!" Maleficent cried, sending a blast of green fire in their direction.
While Mickey made to dodge the blast, Riku charged at it with his Keyblade raised. Slicing through it, he leaped towards the female and brought his Keyblade down towards her in an attempt to decisively end her reign of evil. Nothing was that easy of course and the woman blocked his strike with her staff. He landed and swung again, only to have her summon a green barrier around herself. With a frustrated yell, Riku gripped his Keyblade with both hands and began to rain down hammer like blows on the shield but to no avail. He stopped after the fifth try, his eyes wide and full of hatred. It was like looking at a different person.
"Interesting..." Maleficent said, studying him intently. "It seems that being surrounded by the Darkness has drawn out some of your old tendencies."
"That wasn't me and you know it!" Riku growled.
"Child, you cannot blame your actions during that time entirely on Xehanorts Heartless." Maleficent let out a dark chuckle. "I distinctly remember you choosing the path to the Dark because... now what was it? Ahh yes. Your little friend chose to spend his time with others and not you."
"Well now he's on a different path!" Mickey came to Rikus side, giving his friend a concerned look who was standing in a cool silence.
"Clearly." Maleficent stated, clearly unconvinced. Waving her hand, she let out another chuckle. "I don't have time to play with you. But he certainly does!"
Riku and Mickey spun to see a Darkside Heartless forming behind them, a green flash behind them as Maleficent disappeared. As her laughter faded away, Riku let out a frustrated cry and ran towards the Darkside head on. Mickey held out a hand to his friend, confused about the sudden change.
"Riku wait!"