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Part 1
The Rebellion Continues
or
Darkness Arises
Chapter 3: Gone So Long
Riku groaned and rubbed his head as he continued to stare at the same blank screen. Apparently, this device was supposed to track Sora. "Are you sure this thing works?" he called.
"Of course it does!" said the Vexen Replica who created it (Riku never did catch what his number was), sounding rather offended.
"It's trying to tell me that Sora doesn't exist!"
"Well maybe he doesn't," the Vexen Replica suggested. "Did it ever occur to you that he might be, I don't know, dead?"
"Hey!" Riku snapped. Quite a few of the Replicas around him looked up and sent glares in the direction of the Vexen Replica. "He's not dead!"
"He's been floating in darkness for three months," the Vexen Replica replied. "If he hasn't returned by know, he probably won't any time soon. Just admit it already, your friend is as good as dead."
"Shut up," Riku shouted, glaring. Whatever number this Vexen Replica was, he was getting annoying, and Riku was starting to get angry. But only because it was true. He turned away. "Sora will come back," he whispered. "He has to."
The Vexen Replica shrugged. "You can't keep running from the truth forever."
"Looks like he won't have to," came the voice of Zexion Alpha, followed by the opening of a dark corridor. Everyone turned to him.
"We've found Sora," he announced. Just as he said it, the device in Riku's hands started beeping.
"Told you it worked…" the Vexen Replica muttered, walking off.
xxx
The darkness spat him up, and he landed roughly on his hands and knees. Sora didn't move for a while, just tried to catch his breath. After a moment, he collapsed, rolling over onto his back, and just laid there, staring up at the clear blue sky.
"I'm free…" he muttered after a moment, the realization slowly hit him. "I'm free, I'm free, I'm free!" It was a shock, and a relief.
And it was short lived.
He shouted out, back arching in pain. He rolled over onto his side, curling up into a ball, the pain overwhelming. The darkness shot through him, changing his form to a completely black silhouette, almost like a Heartless. It only lasted for a split second, then it died down.
Sora continued gasping for air, unsure of what was going on. He was free, wasn't he? The darkness was gone, right?
But, then… what was wrong?
There was only one logical conclusion.
"It's still there…" he said, clutching at his chest. "There's darkness still inside of me…"
He gasped again, as another wave of pain shot through him. This isn't fair! he thought angrily. How is there still darkness inside of me? Me and Riku got rid of Ansem for good!
He closed his eyes, trying to search inside himself. His heart still felt dark, clouded, but empty. All traces of Ansem were gone. He'd feel it, if they weren't.
Sora took a shaky breath.
But, just because Ansem was gone, didn't mean the darkness was as well. It was still there. Restless, shifting, waiting. Waiting. It wanted him to slip up. Let his guard down. So it could get back in.
A shiver went down Sora's spine.
"I can't let that happen…" he said to himself, trying to hold onto conviction. "I won't let that happen!"
He'd get stronger, so the darkness wouldn't be able to take him, wouldn't be able to tempt him. He'd get stronger. Somehow, he'd get stronger. And then the darkness wouldn't be able to use him, it wouldn't be able to make him hurt anyone again…
Just thinking about that made Sora's stomach churn. He buried his face in his hands.
I'll fix this, he thought to himself. Somehow…
The best thing to do now, he thought, was to get a good look at his surroundings. He was in an endless sea of grass, broken only by a dusty path to his left and a few trees here and there. He didn't know where he was, or where to go, or, how to get there.
Can't go home, though, he thought, definitively. Not while my darkness is still like this. But then, where can I go….?
"Sora!"
He looked up, shocked. That'd been… a voice! And… someone calling his name! Had he imagined it, or…?
No, there was Riku, coming into view. Sora blinked a few times, rubbed his eyes.
"R- Riku…?"
Riku knelt down next to him. "Yeah, it's me, who do you expect?"
Sora just stared. He couldn't believe it. Riku was here. He slowly reached out, grabbing Riku by the shoulder. His hand didn't pass through or anything. "You're real…" he said slowly, starting to smile.
Riku raised an eyebrow. "Uh, yeah…?" he replied, confused. Sora didn't even look relatively okay. He looked dazed. "What, think you were imagining this?"
Sora shrugged, pulling his hand away. Maybe he had been worried about that, but, Riku didn't need to know.
"Are you okay?" Riku asked.
Sora didn't say anything for a moment. He just continued to stare. "I- I think…" he said finally.
Riku frowned. "What happened to you? Ansem dragged you back into darkness, and—"
"Ansem's gone," Sora said.
"How can you tell?"
"I think I'd be able to tell if there was someone else still lurking in my heart, Riku," Sora snapped. He winced, a wave of pain going through him at that. The darkness in him rose up, finding something to anchor on. Sora quickly fought to push it back down.
"What's wrong?" Riku asked.
"The darkness… it's still there. My darkness… it's still-" Sora shook his head. He didn't know how to explain it. "I guess… I guess it's still got a hold of me. Well, it's still inside of me… I don't, really—"
"You don't have to explain it," Riku said quickly.
"Good," Sora muttered, letting out a sigh of relief. "I don't want to think that it's got a hold on me, because then I'd just be asking it to…" He stopped, grimaced, then shook his head. He wasn't finishing that thought for a reason! "Sorry about snapping at you, by the way."
"It's fine," Riku replied. "C'mon, do you think you can walk?"
Sora nodded, standing up. Riku got to his feet, opening up a dark corridor. Sora eyed the corridor with discomfort.
"What?" Riku asked.
"I don't know if I want to be using those," Sora replied quietly. "I think there was a reason I wasn't able to form them in the first place. Using them might… I dunno. Be bad. Considering how my darkness is…."
Riku started to get the feeling that Sora was a bit paranoid. "Well, what else are we supposed to do? I don't have any other means of transport." He was a tad annoyed, but was doing his best not to show it.
"Well, where are we headed?"
Not home… Riku thought bitterly. He hadn't actually been intending on going there first, but it was out of the question now even if he had wanted to. "Castle Oblivion," he said. "I figured that would be a good first place to stop."
Sora scratched his head. "Is there anyone there you could ask for—"
"Other means of transport?" Riku finished, now really starting to get annoyed. "I suppose, if you really must. But I really rather not leave you. I've spent long enough trying to find you. Come on, Sora, it won't do much harm just once."
"My darkness is waiting for any reason to get a hold of me again!" Sora said. "You're going to have to leave me."
"I'm not leaving you!"
"I'm not gonna go anywhere," Sora argued.
"I'm not taking any chances," Riku replied firmly.
Sora frowned. "How long have you been trying to find me?" he asked quietly. It didn't feel like he had been gone that long, and he was assuming it had only a been a few weeks, tops. But the way Riku was acting now was starting to make him think otherwise. There was no way Riku would be this annoyed only after a few weeks.
"Sora," Riku said, also a bit confused. "It's been three months."
"W- what?" Sora whispered. "It's been- that's-" He swallowed. It certainly hadn't felt like three months. "I've been floating in darkness three months?" No wonder Riku's so tense… he thought.
"I guess," Riku muttered.
"Wow, that's-" Sora swallowed. "That's a long time…" he muttered.
Riku nodded, and then sighed. "Look, if you really don't want to use a corridor," he said. "Castle Oblivion's actually somewhere over there," he pointed off in the distance. "If you would rather walk to it…"
"Do you mind?" Sora asked.
"I guess not," Riku replied, rolling his eyes.
"Thanks," Sora laughed.
"Thank me later," Riku called as he started walking. "We have a long way to go."