Chapter 105: On the Edge
"C'mon, what's the worst that can happen?" Riku laughed, forming a dark corridor behind him. He flashed a quick grin at Namine, and then stepped through.
He emerged right on Aerith's doorstep. He grimaced slightly.
Well… I was polite enough to use the front door this time, he thought with a slight laugh, and then knocked on the door.
There was a gap of silence, muffled sounds of commotion, what sounded like Cid shouting, a bit of arguing from Yuffie, and then finally the door opened. Riku was surprised to not find anyone he might have been expecting, but rather Sora. He gasped slightly, though it was more to do with the fact that Sora's face was heavily bandaged and not that he was shocked to see Sora here.
Not that he wasn't shocked to see Sora here.
But the bandages were a bit more shocking.
"What happened to you!"
Sora grimaced. "Long story. What are you doing here?"
Riku held up his hand and wiggled his fingers. "Need to have Aerith check on my hand."
Sora scowled, skeptically. "What happened?" he asked, slowly.
"Long story," Riku replied. He tried not to smirk, but…
Sora glared for a second, and then sighed in defeat. "I got slashed in the face. There was darkness involved."
"I got stepped on. Broke all my fingers."
Sora winced sympathetically, then turned around and called into the house: "Aerith! Riku's here to see you!"
"He remembered!" Aerith exclaimed. She rushed over, and even though Sora was about to let Riku in, she shoved him aside, pulled Riku inside and then proceeded to fuss over his hand. "Does it still hurt? Have you had any problems? You weren't fighting, were you?"
"Uhh…" Riku blinked a few times at the overflow of questions.
"Here, Aerith, let me look."
Riku frowned. He didn't recognize that voice. His frowned deepened as someone (who he assumed was the owner of said voice) took his hand and started looking over it. She was probably about Aerith's age, and she had dark brown hair and eyes so rich a brown they were almost red.
"Sorry about Aerith," she said. "We had to give her coffee so she'd stay awake."
"Sorry-" Sora began as he made his way to the couch.
"Nonsense. It's her fault she refuses to take a nap!"
"It's the middle of the day!" Aerith protested.
"And?" Yuffie asked. Sora sat down next to her, and she threw a glance his way.
"I'm Tifa, by the way."
Riku glanced back at her, and then nodded. She smiled at him.
"You… mentioned something about getting stepped on?" she asked.
He nodded again. "Yeah. Larxene Replica just being… a Larxene Replica." He made a face. "Well, okay, I think L is a bit worse than the rest of them. None of the others were smart enough to break my fingers or anything."
Tifa nodded. "Okay, so you got stepped on, bones crushed… what else?"
Riku frowned slightly at the question. "Well… she did drive a knife through my hand to keep me pinned to the ground."
Tifa didn't even wince. "Thought it might be something like that," she said. She felt his hand for a moment more before letting go of it and nodding with approval. "Aerith did a nice job healing you up. Still a bit of damage that hasn't healed yet, but it should be fine as long as you don't strain your hand." She narrowed her eyes at him. "You haven't been fighting, have you?"
He grimaced. "Well…"
Tifa rolled her eyes. "Just like Cloud," she muttered, and then sighed. "Alright, how much damage did you do?"
Assuming that "damage" referred to "fighting" and how much damage had been done to his hand, Riku replied: "Well, not a lot. I can put up a decent fight left-handed, so I didn't really use my right hand or anything…" he trailed off, not liking the look Tifa was giving him.
"I didn't really have a choice!" he explained frantically. "Everyone was just like 'oh, we're going to raid Saix's Computer Room now' and I tried to bail out of it, but it didn't matter! They still dragged me along." That wasn't, exactly true. He could have tried harder to get out of it. But Tifa didn't need to know that. (And, neither did Aerith…) "Besides, I didn't do a lot of fighting! I spent most of my time blocking bullets…"
Tifa raised her eyebrows. "So you didn't use your right hand?" she asked, though the way she asked suggested that she already knew the answer.
He shifted uncomfortably, not really liking the look she was giving him. "Well… I did grab L by the hood of her cloak," he admitted, but then quickly added: "But it was such a perfect opportunity, I really couldn't let it pass me by, and, besides, my plan would've worked too, if Xigbar's stupid clone hadn't been shooting bullets at me…"
Sora frowned.
"I've missed something…" he muttered.
Riku threw him a look.
"You think? Ever since you've left I've had to deal with every piece of crap that Saix feels like throwing at me, and then there's stupid L. I hate her, I wish I could kill her, but oh no, 37 has to be in the way every time I even get a chance." He grimaced at the thought. "Please, Sora, you haven't missed anything at all."
Sora stared for a moment. "I could've done without the sarcasm," he said finally.
"Might want to avoid making him angry, too," Yuffie added. "Things might get ugly."
Riku frowned, a bit confused.
"I'm not the only one who's missed things, Riku," Sora said quietly. "You… don't know who my Shadow is, do you?" He looked up at Riku, and Riku shuddered slightly, as the look was a tad unnerving. Sora's heavily bandaged face was completely serious, if not a bit grim; not what Riku was used to seeing on Sora.
"The subject… might have come up," he replied slowly. He could vaguely remember something being mentioned, but he couldn't really remember any specific details.
"That's a no, then," Sora said.
Riku nodded.
"Oh, don' worry," Cid called from the kitchen. "You'll probably find out who he is before the day is out!"
Riku frowned. "Hmm?"
Sora shifted uncomfortably.
"He's just been a bother, that's all," Aerith said.
"'Bother' is an understatement…" Sora muttered, his voice a tad bitter. "I mean, he's the only reason you guys were up all last night, plus-"
"Sora," Tifa interrupted firmly. "Feeling bad about it-"
"Will only make it worse, I know. But he made me do it to you and Aerith last night, and then it was Leon this morning…" Sora trailed off.
Riku made a face. He wasn't following this at all. "Do… what?" he asked, slowly.
"My luck, you'll find out any minute now," Sora replied, bitterly.
Tifa sighed. "Sora, remember what I said?" she asked, calmly. "As soon as you feel it coming, you just need to stop whatever you're doing and focus on blocking him out."
"That's my problem!" Sora snapped, rising to his feet. "I don't feel it coming! It just- it just happens! And as soon as it starts, I can't stop it! I'm just- stuck. Trapped in his will. I can't control it."
"Then start learning how to control it," Tifa replied, not at all softening to his outburst. "And start learning to listen for it, too." She turned and headed to the kitchen before Sora could say anymore.
"No need to make him angry!" Yuffie called after her.
"No need for that, either," Aerith said, frowning at Yuffie.
Sora sat back down and buried his face in his hands. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry." He slowly curled his fingers into a fist. "I- I just can't-"
Aerith smacked his hands away from his face. "Stop that! You'll ruin the bandages again."
He opened his mouth to say something, but Yuffie cut him off.
"Stop apologizing, too," she said. "It's getting annoying."
Sora slowly closed his mouth.
Riku sat down on the couch across from him, a bit hesitantly. "I… guess it's not a good idea to ask about what happened to your face, then…" he said. He started to lean back, but then decided it wasn't comfortable, and so leaned forward instead, folding his hands together in his lap.
"Well, you don't know who my Shadow-"
"Let me guess," Riku interrupted. "He's a jerk, pain in the butt, and from the label 'your Shadow' I'm assuming his some form of your darkness. That, or I'm remembering something."
Aerith frowned slightly. "Didn't we discuss this with you?" she asked.
Riku shrugged. "Maybe… I don't remember."
"How can you not remember?" Yuffie demanded. "That was less than a week ago!"
"A lot's happened since then," Riku replied casually. "I mean, doesn't it seem like a lot more time has passed, or something?"
"Hmm, I guess it does…" Aerith agreed.
Sora mumbled a barely audible "yes".
"Well, that's because a lot of crap has happened," Yuffie said. "Since then, Cloud left, you left, you came back, you left again, and then Tifa showed up, and- oh! That's right, those-"
Aerith threw a glance at her, silencing her.
Yuffie blinked a few times in confusion.
"What?" she asked, not seeming to understand why Aerith had silenced her.
Aerith sighed and then quickly whispered a few things in Yuffie's ear. A couple of confused looks and nods over in Riku's direction, Yuffie finally got it. She nodded, closed her mouth, and said nothing more. Aerith sighed and headed to the kitchen.
"I'll go get some drinks…" she muttered.
Riku leaned forward a bit more. "You didn't happen to hear any of that, did you?" he asked, keeping his voice low. Sora leaned closer, and then shook his head.
They both cast glances over at Yuffie. She seemed pretty intent on not saying anything.
"Did you hear anything?" Sora asked.
"No," Riku replied.
That was, of course, a lie. Thanks to the excellent hearing that Vexen had decided to program him with, he had actually heard a good portion of what Aerith had said. He didn't quite understand it, but considering he shouldn't have technically heard it, it would be weird to ask.
He sighed and leaned back. Sure, the excellent hearing was handy in some situations, but he really did hate hearing things when he wasn't supposed to hear them.
He turned the things Aerith had said over in his mind a couple of times. First she had told Yuffie that it would be bad to mention whatever Yuffie had started to mention. Then she had said something along the lines of "We can't be sure of how he'll react." That sentence had been accompanied by a nod in his direction, so whatever it was had something to do with him. Yuffie had then frowned in confusion, still not getting it, and Aerith asked: "Don't you remember what she said?"
He didn't know who Aerith meant by "she", but just mulling over the thought sent chills down his spine. He dropped the subject.
"You still haven't explained what happened to you," he said, glancing up at Sora.
Sora rolled his eyes. (Well, Riku assumed he did. He only actually saw one eye roll, but he was pretty sure that it was impossible to roll only one eye.)
"My Shadow got pissed and attacked me," he explained simply, and then frowned. "I think." He rubbed his head. "No… hang on… he was being, well, himself, and then he started getting upset about something, and I felt kind of bad for him-" He glared. "Then he attacked me." He nodded, satisfied, then grimaced and added: "I think."
Riku raised his eyebrows.
"You think?"
Sora groaned and rubbed his head again. "It's all kind of blurry," he muttered. "I can't quite remember any exact details about it." He groaned again, but this time it sounded more like it was out of frustration.
"Something wrong?" Yuffie asked.
"I'm- I'm forgetting something-" Sora said, frantically, clutching his head now. "Something really important. What was it!"
Yuffie slapped his hands away from his head. "Aerith said stop that!"
"Be quiet!" Sora snapped. "I- I have to remember what it was. It was important, I- I promised- I- Ug! What did I promise?" His eyes were squeezed shut, and he looked like he was going to start pounding on his head in attempts to jog his memory.
Riku reached over and grabbed Sora by the shoulder, firmly. "Can you remember anything before that?" he asked. "Try and focus on the events leading up to what you're trying remember."
Sora nodded. "I, uh, I was at this castle, and there were Heartless…" he said, slowly. "Then, um, I saved Belle from one of those… Snapper Dogs or whatever they are… and then- then the Beast attacked me, and there was someone from Organization 13, and-"
Riku's eyes widened in shock at mention of the Organization, but he figured now wasn't a good time to ask Sora about it.
"And then-" Sora gasped. "Then the Organization member tried to frame me, and- and, uh, and there was- there-" It sounded like it was killing him to get the words out. "There was a bunch of Heartless, and- and then a giant one- no. No. Before that. Something before that." He gritted his teeth in concentration. "The Heartless were- they were crushing me, and then- then someone- someone saved me. I think. Someone… someone… who was it?"
Aerith walked back into the room, carrying a tray of drinks. "I brought-"
"Shh," Riku interrupted, throwing a glance at her. "You'll distract him."
He had a bad feeling that even what he said had distracted Sora. Sora was muttering something about a nightmare right now, though he was having even more trouble getting words out. Obviously, he was getting close to what he couldn't remember, and whatever had made him forget it in the first place was trying to make sure he wouldn't remember.
"Nightmare, nightmare, childhood nightmare," Sora muttered. "I was fighting- fighting with someone else. Someone- someone who- who saved me? I- I was fighting with- with- was I fighting with someone?" His face was contorted slightly in pain now. "It was… the Beast- no. No, he was- he was injured. Belle had to drag him off. I was fighting with- with someone else- someone, someone, Keyblade, monster- Keyblade! Keyblade, Keyblade, Keyblade…."
"What's he-" Aerith began.
"Trying to remember something, I think," Yuffie replied.
"Shh!" Riku snapped.
Sora groaned again in frustration. "He had a Keyblade, he- he was- he- my Shadow- no. No no. Why did- Keyblade. Keyblade, Keyblade, Keyblade. He- star shard, no. No. Um… Mickey!" He opened his eyes, smiling slightly in relief. "I promised I wouldn't give up and let the darkness have me."
"There you go," Riku said, letting go of him. He nodded, breathing heavily.
"Here," Aerith said, forcing a glass into Sora's hands and forcing him to take a drink. She set the rest of the drinks down on the coffee table, then headed back into the kitchen.
Tifa walked out, eyes narrowed. She threw the towel she had over her shoulder and leaned against the wall. "What was that about Sora having trouble remembering something?" she asked.
"I couldn't remember that I promised Mickey that I- umm…" Sora blinked a few times in shock. "That- that I wouldn't give up and let the darkness win. That was it. I promised I wouldn't give up…"
Tifa's eyes narrowed with concern, and Yuffie looked confused again.
"Why can't he remember?" she asked.
"The darkness doesn't want him to."
Everyone turned to Leon, who was making his way down the stairs. He shrugged. "Seems logical, doesn't it?"
"And worrisome…" Tifa added.
"Why don't we talk about something else?" Riku said, not liking the frantic look on Sora's face.
"Like?" Sora asked.
Riku shrugged, got to his feet, stretched. "I've got a ton of crap I can rant about. Trust me, you've missed a lot!"
"Any particular reason you're standing?" Yuffie asked.
"Been sitting still too long," he replied.
Yuffie made a face, but then rose to her feet, too, and leaned against a nearby wall. Only Sora was still sitting.
"Well, you could explain how you managed to get roped into fighting despite being injured, if you'd like," Tifa suggested, folding her arms across her chest. "Because I'm real interested to hear that." The flash of her eyes suggested it wasn't for really any benign reason, but Riku figured it wasn't too terrible of a thing to talk about, and anything to get Sora on another subject would be fine.
"Alpha just got all antsy because apparently I'm the only decent fighter in Castle Oblivion, so our plans would be shot without me?" He scoffed and rolled his eyes. Then he thought about it a second more, and laughed. "You know, it's funny, really," he mused. "I'm not really used to being the 'strongest'. Back in the other universe, I always felt so—" Well, maybe he shouldn't finish that with weak. They didn't need to know. (And the memories associated with that made him want to vomit, so he quickly finished with something else.) "Well. I was a real pushover for Sora—the, uh, other Sora—and Real Thing, that was for sure."
"You sound so… not bothered by that…" Sora said, slowly. There was a shift in his tone, but Riku couldn't quite place what it was.
He shrugged. "Why be bothered? It's true."
"But doesn't it bug you?" Sora continued. There was a glint in the one eye Riku could see. "The fact that you're still in his shadow? The fact that you'll never be anything more than a copy of someone else?"
"Oh no…" Aerith sighed.
Leon groaned and rubbed his head.
"Not again!" Yuffie moaned.
"What are you—" Riku began.
"Don't provoke him, Riku," Tifa said. "It'll only make it worse."
"Make what—"
"You're still just a fake, and that's all you'll ever be, Riku," Sora said, and it almost sounded like he was laughing as he did so.
Riku frowned, trying to fight back the anger that was festering inside of him. "That's not true!" he shouted, and then turned away. "No- I- No. It doesn't matter. I don't care. I don't care about that!"
"Stop takin' the bait, kid!" Cid called.
"Try and tune him out, if you can," Leon suggested. "He'll stop as soon as you stop reacting."
Riku nodded, and then turned his back to Sora and found a spot on the wall to concentrate on. It wouldn't be too hard to block everything out, he had done it many times before, usually as a tactic to ignore Larxene. All he had to do was concentrate—
"No, you don't care about him, do you?" Sora sighed.
Concentrate on one particular—
"You care about her."