Chapter 24: The Nightmare Begins

"Was that another meltdown?" Riku asked as Namine woke up. She nodded, but said nothing more.

Riku stayed quiet, wondering if he should say anything. Finally, he asked: "How's your head?"

Namine smiled slightly. "Fine," she replied. "I just… I don't get why… I've never had meltdowns so often… I wonder what's going on…"

"Maybe this is just left over from the last one?" Riku suggested.

"I guess so…" Namine muttered, rubbing her head. "Actually, I hope so. They- they hurt. A lot. I don't think I'll be able to stand it if these start happening too often."

"This is the point where I tell you that I won't let that happen," Riku said quietly. "However… I don't think I can promise you that."

Namine laughed. "Don't worry about it, I'll be fine as long as they don't start happening every day."

"And they won't, right?" Riku asked.

"They shouldn't…" Namine replied with a shrug.

Riku let out a small sigh of relief. "That's good," he said with a smile.

"Hey, on another subject: I know I'm still kinda out of it, but, what about Kairi? Remember, I left her on the Islands. Do you think we can go get her? I mean, all of us are here but her now…" She trailed off, seeing Riku's face darken. "What?"

"It's just…" Riku shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Well, Sora doesn't want to see her."

Namine jolted, taken aback by that. "Why not?"

"He's worried she hates him, plus he wants to wait until his darkness is more under control," Riku said.

"That's stupid!"

"He just doesn't want to hurt her…" Riku saw that Namine still didn't look convinced, so he sighed. "Listen, please? Can we give him a little longer?"

Namine sighed.

"Alright, fine. But just because you asked."

xxx

Sora made his way into the Main Room, stretching and yawning. It was hard to say he'd slept in, seeing as time didn't seem to exist in Castle Oblivion, but Namine was already out here, on Riku's favorite couch, which meant Riku had been out here, too. Sora wondered where he was now.

He walked over to join Namine, who was peering over the back of the couch at the room beyond.

"What's up?" he asked her.

She jolted a bit in surprise, then turned to him with a smile—a distracted, worried smile, but a smile.

"Oh, 'morning Sora!" she said. "I just… They needed Riku for something, and it sounded kind of like they needed him for a fight?" She scowled deeply.

Oh, that would explain things.

Sora looked around the room, and, sure enough: the room seemed empty of Replicas in general. And… it sounded like there might be fighting coming from the next room over. Hard to tell, though, with the way this Castle handled sound. (This castle was, really, the weirdest place Sora had ever stayed.)

"Might be a fight?" Sora answered, for Namine. "Maybe a rogue…" Not that he had any idea what that even meant. "That or, Saix might have sent someone. I hear he used to send people frequently, but hasn't done that in a while, so maybe he finally did." He shrugged again, not sure what else to tell her. "Obviously, it's a battle, though," he finished.

She sent a look at him. "Don't they need you, too?"

"Nah," Sora laughed, shaking his head.

"Oh." Namine looked down to her lap. "I hope Riku will be okay…"

Sora rolled his eyes. "Please, this is Riku we're talking about," he laughed.

Namine laughed a little with him. "Good point," she admitted. Then she frowned, like there was something on her mind. After a second, she said: "Hey, Sora…?"

"Yeah?"

"Well… nothing. Never mind."

Sora moved, so he was standing less next to her and more in-front of her. She wouldn't meet his gaze.

"No, what?" he pressed.

"When did you plan on coming home?" she asked. "I- I get that Riku got caught up in this Rebellion thing, and you have your darkness problems, I guess—"

"I do," Sora broke in. "There's still darkness in me and I won't go home until it's taken care of. I mean, I don't know how much going from world to world killing Heartless helps, but…" he trailed off.

"I missed you," Namine said, and now, she looked up at him. "Kairi misses you."

Sora laughed. "Pff! Yeah, right! Kairi doesn't miss me."

"Sora, I talked to her two days ago! I know she misses you!"

That made Sora pause. Namine seemed pretty confident, and, well, she was right. She had seen Kairi pretty recently. She'd know. She'd know whether or not Kairi hated him, Kairi would've mentioned, but…

His stomach roiled. He ground his teeth together. Something burned in his chest.

"Maybe she just told you that," he snapped. "To keep you from worrying, because- because if you knew she hated me, then—" None of the words felt right in his mouth, but he couldn't stop. "You don't know what I did!"

"Kairi told me plenty about what happened," Namine argued. "And sure, she's probably mad at you, but most of all she just—"

"SHUT UP!" Sora roared.

The darkness inside him twisted, churned. Made it so he wouldn't listen, couldn't listen. It twisted his thoughts and the things in his mind until only one thing was clear.

Kairi hates me.

She has to.

"Sora, please," Namine said, a note of fear in her voice.

"I said SHUT UP!" Sora screamed.

The darkness was roaring inside of him, happily finding its way back into his heart. He towered over her, fury burning in him, and the darkness eagerly feeding off of that.

His fury, however, fizzled when he saw Namine shrink back in fear.

The fear slowly grew inside him, too.

He was afraid of the darkness inside of him.

He was starting to be afraid of himself.

Why can't I do anything right? he moaned, internally, caught in a moment, staring down at Namine, hand raised to strike her even though he hadn't put it there.

I let myself lose it and then—

Then THIS happens…

THIS is why Kairi hates me.

He couldn't stop himself, and that was the worst part. The darkness in his fingertips kept building, and he couldn't make his arm lower. He couldn't even close his eyes, so he wouldn't have to watch.

I'm so sorry, Namine…

"No!" someone shouted, and everything was a blur. Next thing Sora knew, he was pinned to the ground, and an extremely angry looking Riku was holding him there.

Sora was angry for a second, before it fizzled and faded. The darkness was retreating, and he was gaining control of himself again.

He laughed, relieved, a little nervous.

"Thanks- thanks for," he stammered. "I'm… I'm sorry. I let my darkness get out of control, and—"

"It's fine," Riku told him, a little roughly. Sora wondered if he really meant it.

"But—"

Namine suddenly let out a cry of pain. Sora winced, wondering if it was him. Had his darkness still managed to do something? Riku let go of him immediately, rushing to her. Sora pushed himself up, trying to see…

She was clutching her head, as if it hurt.

"Not… again…" she groaned. It was horrible to see her face scrunched up in pain like that.

"It's alright," Riku whispered to her, reassuringly. He picked her up and carried her off, not saying another thing to Sora.

Sora blinked a few times. He was relieved that it hadn't been his fault, but…

Another meltdown.

That was three.

He swallowed. It didn't matter, though, that it wasn't his fault. The memory of what happened burned in his mind.

I almost hurt Namine… he thought, in horror.

I… I can't stay here!

I have to go.

There was no question about it now. He had to go, before anyone really got hurt.