Chapter 109: A Replica's Pride
It was weird, being in Kairi's house again—being home again—after so long. Namine tried not to linger too long in the cluttered living room, nor spend too long staring fondly at the bulletin board that was on the wall under the alcove of the stairs. It was littered with multi-colored flyers and other papers regarding town events, along with a drawing of Kairi's she'd done when she was a lot younger. One of Namine's drawings hung on there too.
The feelings of nostalgia were only worse when she stepped into her and Kairi's shared room. She'd missed the smell, the view out the large window on the wall opposite of the door, the sight of her pictures all over the walls. She'd hung a few pictures up in Castle Oblivion, but it just wasn't the same.
"Whoaaaaa," Joseph said. He pushed past Namine and hopped up onto her bed—which was significantly smaller than Kairi's—standing on it to get a better look at the pictures. "I've seen some of your drawings before! But these are all really good! WOW!"
He studied them all for a moment, then leaned over, balancing cautiously on the end of the bed to point at one picture that hung dead center over the dresser. It was surrounded by paper hearts and flowers. The picture itself was of Kairi and Namine sitting on the pier, at sunset.
"I love this one!" Joseph said. He turned to Namine. "Did you make the flowers and stuff around it?"
"I did," Kairi answered, from over by her bed (which was on the opposite wall of Namine's). She was in the process of unceremoniously dumping stuff out of her schoolbag.
"THAT'S SO COOL!" Joseph was beaming from ear to ear with a kind of genuine awe. "Can you teach me how!?"
"Uh, sure?" Kairi laughed. She shared a look with Namine, both enjoying and a little amused at Joseph's enthusiasm. "I guess I'll have plenty of time to, huh."
"Definitely," Namine said. Belatedly, she realized Joseph had said the same thing at the same time. She looked over at him, and he grinned at her.
Toby plopped down on Namine's bed, sitting next to where Joseph was standing. There was nowhere to sit besides the beds, and seeing as hers was taken, Namine went over to Kairi's. She sat on the end closest to the window, which was further away from Kairi's dresser, to give Kairi more room. She had to hoist herself up onto it—Kairi's bed was a big bed, standing a few feet off the ground.
"Ohhh, by the way…." Joseph hopped off Namine's bed, shoulders sagging as he looked to Namine, apologies painted on his face. "Sorry about calling Castle Oblivion your guys's home world and stuff. I know Riku hates it there and you sure looked queasy about it when, well, I said it..."
Namine shook her head. "It's fine," she told him. Ren was the one who'd pressed, anyway. "I don't hate Castle Oblivion like Riku does, I just… I wouldn't consider it my home."
"Oh!" Joseph lit up a little, probably grateful he'd been forgiven. He thought that over for a moment, then nodded a few times. "That's…! Fair!" he said.
"Wait, aren't we going to Castle Oblivion?" Kairi asked, looking up from folding her clothes. She turned towards Namine and Joseph, scowling.
"Yeah…" Namine answered cautiously, not sure why Kairi was… Oh, wait a minute. Namine had a feeling she knew what this was about. "Oh! It's not- It's not that bad," she said.
"It's boring," Joseph huffed. He crossed his arms over his chest and pouted.
"If it's not bad, why does Riku hate it?" Kairi pressed.
"It's just… got a lot of bad memories for him," Namine said. She sighed. She knew Riku also didn't want to be there, helping the Rebellion, but she could tell Kairi that later. When Joseph and Toby weren't around.
Kairi's eyebrows raised up high. "And yet he sticks around?" She seemed to be in disbelief. Or… worried? It was hard to tell.
"Well, he's gotta!" Joseph argued. "The Rebellion's nothing without him!"
"Hmm." Kairi said. She turned back to folding her clothes. After a second, she sent the slightest glance in Joseph's direction. "Good job on that lying, by the way," she said. There was a hint of laughter in her voice, though Namine could tell she was distracted by something else.
Joseph lit up. "Yo, thanks!" he said, beaming widely, puffing up with pride. "My lying skills are pretty good, haha."
"Surprised you didn't come up with a cover story quicker than he did, Kairi," Namine teased, leaning towards Kairi.
Kairi shot a glare at Namine, though a smile tugged on her lips. "I was trying!" she protested. She shoved the shirt she'd finished folding into her bag. "All I could come up with though was that Riku was a famous fighter in that, um, Olympus place? And, he couldn't return until the season was over or whatever, but you'd already brought up Castle Oblivion and I wasn't sure how to fit that in."
"Ohh! That's pretty good, though," Joseph told her.
Kairi shrugged. "Well, whatever," she said. "It's probably for the best you said something—my dad knows me well enough to know when I'm lying."
"I don't see why it matters, though," Toby said, slowly. He was scowling and slowly kicking his feet. "Wouldn't he have just, um, forgotten?"
"I mean, yeah… maybe…" Kairi admitted. Her shoulders hunched. No one but Namine could see the way her face scrunched up. "But, um- better safe than sorry, I guess?" Her hands shook as she reached for the next article of clothes to fold.
Namine licked her lips. "Well," she began, hoping to reassure Kairi. "You would've had to come up with something for th—"
The words caught in her throat as a terrible pain shot through her chest.
She bent over double, clawing at her chest, a low screech tearing out of her lungs. Her chest was on fire with pain. All she could see in her mind's eye was darkness, darkness, blood, darkness. A flash of a smirk drawn across Sora's lips. Darkness. The image of Hollow Bastion's purple buildings blurred at the edges.
Laughter rang in her ears. But that wasn't Sora's laughter. That was—
"…amine!? Nami—"
The words cut in and out. She could feel hands on her shoulders. She could feel darkness burning on her skin—no. That wasn't…!
"—at's going—"
"—meltdown? Namine, pl… …to me! Na—"
"Scared?"
"Of what!"
Tears burned in her eyes. Her heart pounded in her ears. She dug her fingers into her skin, the pain nothing compared to the sensation of every cell in her chest dying. But—one of these things was not real. One of these things was only…
"Namine!"
Kairi's face came into view before her. Blurred. It was Sora's face, anger in his eyes, bandages taped to his—No. Kairi's face solidified. The freckles splattered across her cheeks, purple eyes wide, frightened.
"What's wrong?" Kairi demanded, shaking Namine a little. "Are you hurt? Are you okay? Are you…!?"
"A meltdown, it's gotta be a meltdown!" Joseph said from behind her, leaning from one side to the other, trying to see Namine around Kairi.
"No, it's—" Namine gasped. She clutched at Kairi's arms, gripped them tightly, grounding herself. This is what was real. The images still played in her mind, though. Riku and Sora—no no no! Why were they fighting again!?
"Namine, come on," Kairi urged.
"It's—I'm fine." Namine swallowed. She pushed the images out of her mind, mostly successfully. Her chest still burned. "It's. Riku. I need to get to Riku."
"What?!"
"I—" Namine looked to Joseph, because, surely he'd been around when this had happened before? She knew it had happened at least one point before. When she knew Riku was in danger, and she needed to get to him. He was staring at her blankly, though, brow furrowed in confusion and worry.
"No way!" Kairi said, firmly. "You're gonna stay right here, and we're gonna, I dunno." She turned to Joseph now. "What should we do? Obviously, this is some magic thing, so- so we need to see someone who knows what might be…"
"I guess we could see 7?" Joseph suggested.
Namine ground her teeth together. "No," she argued. "Listen! Riku- Riku's in—" It was an effort to speak, but she had to get the words out, she had to. "Riku's in trouble. I'm- I'm sure of it!"
Kairi glared. "How."
"C- Come on, Kairi!" Namine coughed. It was hard to think about anything that wasn't the pain in her chest or the images that still flickered on the edge of her mind. "You- you know, the pictures I draw—" Pictures that were more than pictures. Pictures that had something to do with what Riku was seeing at the time she drew them.
"You didn't draw any pictures!"
"No but I can feel it!"
"Where do we need to go?" Joseph asked. "Hollow Bastion, right? That's where Riku is?"
"But—" Kairi began.
"We were going to Hollow Bastion anyway!" Joseph cut her off. "And, besides, isn't Aerith a healer? I think Namine mentioned Aerith being a healer."
He turned to Toby for confirmation, for whatever reason. Toby nodded.
"Maybe Aerith will know what's going on," Joseph said.
Kairi sighed. "Alright, fine," she said. She pulled herself away from Namine, which was… fine. Without anything to hold onto, though, the images in Namine's head spun a little faster though. "Let me just—"
Kairi haphazardly threw the last few pieces of clothes she'd been packing into the bag, then tossed her portable CD player in on top. She snapped the clasps of the bag and tossed it over her shoulder.
"Alright, let's go!" Kairi said.
"Q- Quickly…" Namine gasped.
"I got it." Joseph opened a dark corridor.
xxx
His body was screaming in defiance. He couldn't keep this up much longer. The darkness, however, seemed intent on running him dry. Every time he felt weary, a wave of darkness would surge through him, blotting the thought out and sending more strength through him to keep him going.
He swung his blade at Sora, and Sora blocked it with surprising accuracy, and a jolt went through him from the impact. He could see his hands shaking, and figured that the rest of his body was, too, though he couldn't feel it. He shook his head, trying to clear it; his brain was all foggy.
It's the loss of blood, he reminded himself, not for the first time. The darkness seemed intent on making him forget that fact.
Did it want to kill him or something?
Because if he didn't stop fighting soon and get some help, there was a high chance he might not make it.
However, Sora wasn't backing down, and there was no way that he was going to.
He wasn't a coward.
He threw Dark Firaga at Sora, hoping that it would knock him off his feet. Sora, however, batted the spell back with his blade, sending it back in Riku's direction. Riku considered dodging, but he didn't need to, as it only grazed past his ear. It was sparking with a familiar energy, one that made him sure that if he had wanted to, he could've caught the spell and merely absorbed it back into himself.
Sora ran toward him then, blade bared, leaping up to strike. The scene was so familiar that Riku's next move was practically subconscious.
He threw up a wall of darkness around himself. The wall caught Sora before impact and shock flashed across his face before he was thrown backward, skidding across the ground. He didn't get back up.
Riku started towards him, though he wasn't entirely sure why. It turned out it didn't matter, though, because he had only gotten about two steps before his legs gave way beneath him. He collapsed and landed flat on his face.
His vision was clouding.
His breath was getting short.
He couldn't find the strength to move—
He lost consciousness.