Chapter 7: Where is This?

Sora slowly blinked his eyes open. He lay on the ground, face down. He groaned, realizing just how much he hurt. His head hurt, and his body hurt. He pushed himself to his feet and looked around.

"Where… am I?" he asked himself quietly. He didn't recognize where he was one bit. Platforms of ice floated in mid air, leading somewhere. He was standing on an island of sorts, water as still as glass around him. There were also waterfalls, but the water rose, instead of falling. Off in the distance was a large Castle. At first, he started to panic, then he grinned.

He had made it to another world.

In his excitement he leapt into the air. "Yes! I did it!" he shouted, screaming with joy. "Ha!" he shouted, punching the air with his fist. "HA!"

His excitement was short lived, for he soon realized that he seemed to be the only one there. No sign of Kairi, or Riku, or Namine. No one. Had they gotten away too?

Of course they did, he told himself, laughing. Why wouldn't they?

But where had they ended up? Another world, perhaps? Had they all been separated?

He sighed, his happiness completely gone.

"Where's Kairi?" he asked. He received no response, obviously. "I wonder what happened to her…" He slowly began to worry. He really wasn't worried about Riku. In fact, after that first thought, wondering where everyone had gone, he hadn't thought about Riku again. He looked up towards the Castle in the distance. It seemed there was still a lot left to this world. Maybe someone else besides him had ended up here.

Confidently, Sora took a step forward, and then let out a gasp. A wave of pain shot up his side when he took that step. He gasped for air, and now it hurt to breathe. He clutched his side and stood there for a few minutes, until he had caught his breath and the pain had subsided.

He jumped to the first ice platform, and the next, and then the one after that. Most ledges were a bit high for him to reach, and he had to catch onto the edge of it and then pull himself up. As he went, his side started hurting again. First, it was just a dull throb, but it slowly eased its way up to the pain he had felt before. He would pause whenever it reached this point and let the pain subside. But it took longer to subside every time, and soon he was just moving on with the pain, doing his best to ignore it. After a while, his vision became blurry around the edges, making it hard to see. Thankfully, he never fell off the platforms. He was sure if he had fallen, he probably wouldn't have gotten back up.

Close to the end, he could hardly see at all, and the pain was a bit overwhelming. He misjudged his jump slightly, and nearly missed, but thankfully caught onto the edge. He hung there for a second, gathering his strength. With one mighty pull, he heaved himself onto the platform. He attempted to stand up again, but his vision went completely, and he fell to the ground.

xxx

She clutched her head, probably already writhing on the floor in pain. She wasn't quite sure. It hurt too much to think straight. She would try and open her eyes, only for the waves of pain to overcome her. She wasn't sure where they were coming from. Sometimes it seemed as if there was something around her, causing this pain, and other times it felt as if it was only all in her head.

Then she was sure it was all in her head. Why? Because of what she was seeing.

It was warped, confused, angry. But it was familiar. He was familiar. Even if the scene was warped, his face remained constant. Riku. Each scene, they changed frequently, had something to do with him. Sometimes he would be fighting, and it would change from one black cloaked figure to another black cloaked figure between strokes of the blade. Other times, he would be talking. The scenes changed so quickly, she could never catch who he was talking to. But she saw Sora's face a couple of times, the black cloaked figures occasionally, once she thought she saw him talking to himself, and she swore she saw her own face a couple of times.

But then the memories shattered, and it felt as if she was lying, abandoned, on the cold floor.

But there was a flash, and the scene shifted, and she was lying on the floor again. This time, she didn't feel so abandoned, but she hurt. And she found in front of her, lying cold and abandoned, Riku. His eyes were blank, and his mouth half open in shock.

"Riku" she whispered, reaching out to him. But he was out of reach.

She opened her eyes, still clutching her head, but the pain was gone. Slowly, she pushed herself into a sitting position and looked around. She had no idea where she was. She seemed to be in the middle of a forest, of sorts. Large tree stumps and boulders were here and there, along with a few giant flowers and mushrooms. The trees seemed to be giant blades of grass.

"Where am I?" she asked, but received no response from the world around her.

xxx

He clutched his head, probably already writing on the floor in pain. He wasn't quite sure. It hurt too much to think straight.

Flash. Change.

"Surely, you knew this was going to happen." Of all people, it was Zexion that said it.

"Why would I know?" he snapped, walking forward.

"You've been through these worlds before, and all you encountered were-"

Flash. Change.

"Riku…" Namine whispered, turning to face him.

"Namine!" he shouted.

Darkness spilled out the door behind her, taking over the scene-

Flash. Change.

He landed on the floor, lightning cackling around his body. He winced in pain and turned himself over.

"Stupid little toy! Think you could defeat me?" Larxene giggled, highly amused.

He slowly backed up, trying to put as much distance between her and him as possible.

Flash. Change.

"I said STOP!"

He wasn't sure what happened, exactly, but it felt as if his brain exploded. He fell to the ground, not even feeling himself hit the floor.

Flash. Change.

"So you're a fake me" the real guy said-

"NOT A FAKE!" he shouted, sitting up.

To his embarrassment and shock, Leon and a two of his friends were staring at him. He was in one of the beds of the hotel room that served as their base. When had he gotten here?

"Not a what?" Yuffie said. She was glaring.

"Yuffie, shh," said the only face Riku didn't recognize. She was wearing all pink, her hair tied back with a bow. She studied Riku with concerned eyes. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Riku nodded. "Yeah, of course," he grumbled. "Probably…" He reached up to rub his head. It felt like it was on fire. "What… what happened?"

"We were fighting Heartless," Leon answered, carefully. He looked similarly worried himself. "Then you just… collapsed. We brought you back here to get you away from the Heartless, and so Aerith could look at you easier—are you sure he's not hurt?" This last question was directed at the woman who had to be Aerith.

Aerith nodded. "Positive," she said, with a roll of her eyes. "You're acting like I don't know how to heal, Leon."

"My head hurts," Riku offered. "Can you do anything about that?"

"Of course she can, Aerith's the best healer ever!" Yuffie said.

"You know there's not much I can do for headaches, Yuffie," Aerith countered, with a shake of her head. She reached into a medicine kit beside her, though, and produced a small bottle. "A potion might help, though," she said, handing it to Riku.

Riku took it, sniffed it experimentally, and despite its strange smell, downed it in one gulp. It tasted as funny as it smelled, but his headache started to subside.

"So… I just collapsed?" Riku asked, setting the empty bottle down on the table next to him.

Leon gave a sharp nod.

"I wasn't hit by Heartless?"

"Don't know. Wasn't looking at the time."

"I didn't see anything, either," Yuffie added.

"And I hadn't gotten there yet," Aerith said.

"Weird…" Riku mumbled. He couldn't remember anything happening, either.

"Hey, what was that you…?" Yuffie began, but Aerith cut her off with a stern look and a raise of her hand.

"Just… Just a nightmare," Riku explained, looking away from the both of them. "Don't worry about it."

Yuffie scowled and folded her arms over her chest, but said no more. Aerith gave Riku a quick, kind smile. Leon, his own arms folded across his chest, looked at the ground.

"Hey… what are you guys?" Riku asked, looking between them. "If this is your headquarters, then, you're some kind of… what?"

"Not much, really," Leon answered. "I know I called this headquarters, but actually…" He trailed off, looking uncomfortable.

"We're the only people in town who are any good at fighting Heartless," Yuffie said, with a roll of her eyes. "That's all."

"That's all?" Aerith asked, and she laughed. Leon sighed and shook his head, but he was smiling almost as wide. "We're family, really," she told Riku. "Leon and I have always been, but by this point, Yuffie and Cid are too. After we lost our world, and- and…" She shook her head, as if not wanting to say it. "Well, all we really have left any more is each other."

"Oh…" Riku said, not sure what else to say. He supposed that did answer his question, though.

"Y'know, you're pretty good with the Heartless," Yuffie said. "Minus the whole collapsing thing, anyway. Might, uh, be nice if you stuck around."

"Sorry," Riku told her, not that he meant it. He pushed himself out of the bed. "I really need to get going and find my friends. If I could stay I would." He didn't really mean that, either.

"Don't worry about it, Yuffie's just trying to pawn her work off on you," Leon said.

"Am not!"

"Mmhmm."

Leon didn't sound like he believed her at all.

"You are always welcome here if you do need a place to stay, though," Aerith assured him. "Regardless of how good you are with the Heartless."

"Uh, thanks," Riku said, as he headed out the door.

He waited until he was in the alley of Traverse Town, where he wouldn't be seen, before opening a dark corridor and stepping into an unknown world that lay beyond.