Hello again everyone. So it looks like until I am done with this college class I will probably be updating this story on Sundays. Blame my teachers for not knowing how to teach. Chapters might be shorter for a little bit, but I will not put this story on a hiatus. No. I'm having to much fun writing it.
As usual, thank you to v.t.7. for always reviewing my story, you are wonderful!
Enjoy!
"Everything is just as amazing as I remember!" Sora exclaimed walking closer to the castle. The others followed behind him. Guards opened the large doors for them, displaying the large and elegantly decorated hall inside.
Kairi looked on in awe of such a grand building, while Riku hung around the back of the group. Something had him on edge.
"Alright before everyone gets settled in and we get down to business, I think it would be a good idea to show you all around the castle. I don't think anyone wants to get lost."
Mickey took the lead of the group and showed everyone around the castle. Winding halls and passages ways were as extravagant as the last they walked through. The large halls held everyone's attention as they walked.
The King would stop and explain some paintings of old kings and queens. Other paintings were of old keyblade masters and wielders.
Riku paused for a moment when he saw a picture of a blue-haired keyblade master. He felt like he had seen her before, but he couldn't place where.
Other rooms held artifacts from other worlds and from different time periods. Mickey also showed Kairi some pieces from her home world. At the end of the tour, the King showed everyone to their own spacious rooms. The trio had no idea how they were going to take up all of the room their new rooms offered.
They ended up back in the Grand Hall, where Queen Minnie was waiting for them.
"Sora, you know my lovely wife. Everyone this is the Queen. Queen Minnie." Mickey said, as Minne walked over to them.
"Hello everyone. It's so nice to see all of Sora's and Mickey's friends." Minnie said with a soft smile. "Mickey has spoken in lenght about you all."
Minnie walked up to Kairi.
"If you wouldn't mind too much deary I would love to have a talk with you. I have never been able to talk to a Princess of Light before. I have many questions."
Kairi nodded and smiled.
"I would love that Queen Minnie. Maybe I can help clear up your questions. And maybe you can answer some of mine."
The Queen looked at Mickey and the boys.
"We will be in the study if you need us."
And with that Kairi was swept away by the Queen.
Mickey looked at Sora and Riku, a serious look came over his face.
"There is another room I wish for you both to see. It will be dealing with Riku's treatment."
Riku felt sick, he was really starting to regret coming here now. It was rare to see the King so serious, so when he was, it was concerning to him.
They made their way up to one of the far towers. This one seemed to be the highest one. They could hear something humming around them as they ascended up the stairs.
Light orbs lit their way as they climbed, nothing made of darkness would be able to last in this stairway.
About half way through their climb Riku had to stop walking. He couldn't get in a full breath, his chest was hurting too much. Riku leaned against the wall, he could feel the darkness calling to him. That sick voice again was calling to him. Tempting him to use it's darkness to get through this climb.
"Riku?" Sora questioned, halting his climb. Mickey looked back also.
Riku shook his head, he was breathing hard. It felt like a cinderblock was on his chest.
"I-I just need a minute. I'll be fine."
He concentrated on the light in his heart, fighting to get the darkness back in control. After a few minutes and some calming breaths, the darkness receded.
Riku nodded and continued the climb.
The trio finally made it to the top of the tower after about another two minutes of climbing. With the tower being at such a great height, you could look out and see all of the castle grounds. The training field, the gardens, the small hedge maze. Everything. You could also see miles beyond the castle ground. It was beautiful.
Sora pulled Riku over to one of the large windows.
"This view is amazing! Look, there's a creek over there!" Sora said in wonder. "Look at the gardens! You can see everything from up here!"
Riku nodded. He did have to admit, this was a nice view. But he didn't know how he would be able to make this climb everyday for his treatment. His body was in so much pain, just standing still took all of his concentration.
Mickey cleared his throat, gaining both of their attention. He stood in front of a old wooden door.
"It took all of my best engineers and mages to get this room complete in such short time. But this is where Riku's light treatments will be taking place."
"Light treatments?" Riku asked, he didn't like the sound of that.
Mickey nodded and opened the door and stepped into the room.
The room was small, but comfortable looking. There was a bed at the far front wall.
Mickey flicked on a switch, and the humming they heard earlier in the climb grew louder.
Orbs of twinkling lights appeared, floated above the bed. They lighted up the whole room. There was a small writing desk next to the window, and a small dresser. Other small things were scattered about the room to make it homey.
"Those orbs," Mickey said pointing to the floating light orbs, "They are made of pure light. Which is generated by the Cornerstone of Light, which I will show you later. The flecks of light will be able to sink through your skin and into your heart. There the light will help maintain balance and fight off the darkness."
Sora made a sour face.
"That sounds like it'll hurt...will it…?"
Mickey sighed, and looked at Riku. With all he had seen so far, he didn't think there was a "pain free" option for Riku anymore.
"Yes, it could be painful. But sadly, there are no other options Riku has." Mickey crossed his arms. "His imbalance is too great, this is the only method."
So far during this whole trip, no one had asked him once if this was something he wanted to do. But the others had yet to notice his agitation.
"Maybe Yin Sid could give us some advice." Sora suggests. "He might have some other answers."
Mickey shook his head.
"He was the first person I consulted with Sora. He was at a lost of what to do also."
"They will never listen to you, Riku."
Riku twitched at the voice, he was tired of having that voice in his head. The others once again didn't see his distress as they continued their conversation.
"Do you really want to go through with this painful treatment? I have asked you, but they haven't."
Riku clinched his teeth and shut his eye's. He just needed to focus on his light and the voice would go away.
"Do they really care about your opinion?"
Riku just wanted that voice to shut up! He was tired of it messing with his head! If it was Ansem again, he was going to make sure that Ansem was never going to talk again!
"You will never get rid of me, boy. These treatments won't work against me. I am part of you! What part of that do you not understand?"
"And if I decide that I don't want to go through the light treatments?" Riku asked, his anger finally exploding.
He was still tired and all he wanted to do was sleep, he didn't want to deal with any of this right now.
"Ha ha ha, you will lose boy. Just like before."
Not once was he asked if he wanted to go through these light treatments. Yes he agreed that he would let Mickey help him, but he didn't agree to any form of treatments yet.
Mickey and Sora went quiet, shocked by Riku's claim.
"What do you mean Riku!?" Sora exclaimed. "This is how you will get-"
"No Sora, he is right. He has the option to not go through with this treatment."
Mickey had a feeling this was going to happen. Riku was so far into darkness that his mind was bound to get warped.
"Riku. If you do not go through with this you will be consumed by your darkness and lose yourself." Mickey said.
"If you decide to not go through with this, I will open Kingdom Hearts and let you walk into the darkness once more. It would be a better place for you to be when your darkness takes over."
Sora shook his head. "B-but we won't have to do that because Riku's going through with the treatments."
Riku remained silent. Something deep inside of him was yearning to get back to the darkness. He knew he shouldn't listen to it, but the feeling was too strong.
Sora's heart dropped when Riku was silent for so long. He was actually considering giving up!
Sora grabbed Riku's arm, but pulled back when sparks once again flew.
Riku held his arms and took a few calming breaths. His anger was getting the best of him again.
"Riku?" Sora asked hesitantly. Concern was written painfully across his face.
"I'm fine." Riku said tightly.
"Let's say I go through with these treatments...when would they start?"
Mickey was worried over the boys. But he could only do what he could for them.
"I would like to start them as soon as we can. It would be even better if we would start today. I don't think it would be safe for you to go on much longer like this."
Riku rubbed his temples, his head was pounding. So he just got here and he was already expected to undergo these treatments.
"Look, I know you both want me to get these treatments going as soon as possible, but-just...just give me time to think okay?"
Sora reached for him again, but refrained from touching him.
"Riku…"
The dispersion in Sora's voice almost broke Riku.
"I'm not saying I won't go through with them, I just need time to, you know, prepare myself. Mentally. If this is going to be painful I need to be ready for it."
Sora looked ready to say something, but Mickey spoke first.
"I understand, Riku. I believe it will be best for everyone to just rest for today and we will start everything tomorrow."
Riku nodded, at least he had bought himself some time. With no further questions, Mickey lead them out of the room and down to the Great Hall. Where Kairi and the Queen were waiting.
"I do hope Minnie didn't ask too many questions, Princess." Mickey joked, which earned him a look from Minnie.
Kairi shook her head and smiled.
"No if anything I was the one that asked a lot of questions."
"Oh deary, you didn't ask too many at all. I was happy to answer them." Minnie said.
The King joined his Queen while Kairi went over to the boys. She could tell something had happened between them while she was talking to the Queen. And it wasn't good.
"What happened." Kairi whispered, as she stood by Sora.
Sora shook his head sparing Riku a small glance.
"Nothing. At least nothing major...I hope."
Kairi looked at Riku, his face wasn't giving way how he felt about whatever had occurred.
"Now, I know you three are probably hungry, but we will have to wait until Donald and Goofy get back." Minnie said.
"Where did they go? I thought they patrolled the castle." Sora questioned.
If Donald and Goofy had been sent off somewhere that was news to him. Why wouldn't the King had contacted them?
"They do, Sora. But something has come up and we didn't have the time to get in touch with you." The King started.
Mickey paused, he was trying to figure out if this was something else the three needed to worry about. They had enough to deal with now, he didn't want to add to it.
He decided to tell them, they were bound to find out eventually.
"There have been a growing number of Heartless sightings."
That information shook the three. They had thought that the Heartless were gone. Or at least their numbers so small that they were no longer a threat.
"We were first made aware of them by Squall and the others. They had told us that the numbers were similar to how they were when
everything started before." Mickey continued.
"They said that they had kept an eye on the numbers of Heartless and they are still growing. None of us want a repeat of another over take like before, so I sent out Donald and Goofy to investigate."
"The others though, they are okay right? None of them have been hurt?" Sora asked. He knew that fighting Heartless without a keyblade was hard, and if their numbers were growing it would be easy to be overpowered by them.
Mickey shook his head.
"No one has been hurt. The others took care of the Heartless before any damage could be done."
"When should Donald and Goofy be back?" Kairi asked.
The large doors opened before any answer could be given.
"We'll have to report these numbers to the King. He'll want to know about it right away." Donald squawked.
"Yer right, and I don't think he'll be happy when we tell 'em bout it." Came Goofy's response.
"Donald! Goofy!" Sora exclaimed, his face breaking out into a giant smile.
"Sora?" Donald said before finding the trio standing next to the King and Queen.
"Well hiya there Sora! Whatcha doing here in Disney Castle?" Goofy asked as he and Donald walked up to them.
"Oh well, uhh…" Sora didn't know if he should mention anything about Riku's problem.
Mickey spoke up, taking the attention off of Sora and onto him.
"What was it that you guys said that you wanted to tell me? How bad are the numbers?"
Donald and Goofy stood at attention.
"They are how Squall and the others reported sir." Donald said.
"We went up against a hoard of them ourselves and they have gotten stronger, yer Majesty. They seem to be resurging again." Goofy chimed in.
"Oh no…" Minnie whispered.
Mickey's face hardened. It was just like the last time. He glanced at Riku, maybe these things were connected some how.
"Very well, you are dismissed. Dinner will be served in a few minutes, everyone."
And with that, Mickey and Minnie headed deeper into the castle.
"We will catch up with you Sora at dinner, I think it would be best if Goofy and I got ready for dinner." Donald said, and Goofy nodded and the two also headed deeper into the castle.
The three stood there for a few moments before Riku spoke up.
"I'm heading to my room."
With a nod from the other two the three parted ways.
Dinner was grand, rich food lined the long table. A small string band played softly in a corner of the room. The room was also filled with laughter and conversation. They were all catching up and sharing stories about their times away. Riku wanted to enjoy the scene in front of him, but he was dreading what tomorrow would bring.
He wondered just how painful the treatments were going to be. Would he be able to handle them. Would they work? Was it worth the pain he was going to go through? Doubt filled his mind about the treatments. He had no way out of them now. Riku was going to have to go through with them, he wouldn't be able to convince the others or himself that he didn't need them.
Once dinner was over everyone headed back to their rooms with bellies full and hearts light.
Riku laid on his bed awake, he was tired, but he feared sleep. He feared the nightmares that woke him every night. Without Sora next to him, he wondered if he would sleep through the night.
Riku looked out the large window and stared at the stars, he was happy to be off of the island. But he wasn't happy here either. He was starting to truly wonder, was he ever going to find a place where he truly belonged. Or would he be trapped somewhere, not able to leave. Stuck in one place.
Forever.
Thank you for reading! And let me know what you think of it!
