Good lord look at the time, yes I know it's late, but I hope this chapter makes up for it. I've been working on it all day. But good thing is that my college class is done! And I passed my final with a 93%! Now I have to do clinical work and then take my certification sometime in September then I will be a certified phlebotomist! Now onto the normal stuff, thank you to unicron1000 for putting me and this story as their favorite! You my friend are amazing for doing that! And as always thank you to v.t.7 for leaving me a wonderful review, you hit the nail on the head when you said the darkness was basically a cancer. That is exactly what I was going for! I am so happy that you like how I'm keeping the characters in canon even as they go through this, it means a lot to me. I am so happy you are enjoying the story! And that goes for everyone! Thank you for reading!
Now onto the story before I get even more emotional!
Three months had passed since Riku's first round of treatments, and they hadn't got any easier to deal with. He had a horrible suspicion that the treatments were failing.
Within the first month of his treatments he was feeling good enough to participate in his training and book work. Yet going through his treatments alone took it's toll on him. Many times he wished for someone to be there with him. He once voiced his thoughts to the King.
"Riku you have to understand why I have Sora and Kairi busy during the time of your treatments. We can not risk them shortening your treatment times because they do not want to see you in pain."
Riku's stomach turned at the King's words. He was starting to think that the King didn't care how he was feeling. Or at least he thought those were his own thoughts.
Mickey sighed at the heartbroken look Riku had. The King rubbed his face. Suddenly he didn't look like the happy go lucky mouse everyone knew. He looked like someone with all the world's weight on his shoulders. It killed him to say these things to Riku. But he knew Sora and Kairi too well. All Riku would have to do would be to tell them to turn the orbs off and they would do it in a heartbeat.
"Riku, my boy, do not take my words in an uncaring way. I hate the thought of you being in that room alone, going through all of this pain. But we are on the last straw, there is nothing else we can do."
Riku looked up at Mickey, he nodded in understanding.
"We just cannot risk your imbalance getting worse." Mickey said. "You have too many people in the worlds that would be devastated to lose you, myself included. If there was another way I would take it, but we don't."
Riku once again nodded with a sad smile. He stood up from the chair, holding onto it slightly for support.
"I understand Mickey."
The keyblade wielder turned and headed to the door.
"I am sorry, Riku. I really am." Mickey said.
Riku looked at Mickey and nodded before leaving the room and headed up to the lonely tower for his treatment.
Nether Riku nor Mickey saw Sora and Kairi eavesdropping on their supposedly private conversation.
"Poor Riku. What can we do for him?" Kairi whispered before the two scurred away from Mickey's door.
"Technically Mickey never told us that we couldn't see Riku during his treatments." Sora said, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.
"So we just go and see him? But what about all the work we have to do? Mickey will know something is up if we don't get our work done." Kairi countered. She didn't want to cause Riku anymore stress.
"We'll just bring our work up with us. And think of it this way, while Riku is going through his treatment we can help him get his other work done too! Mickey can't get mad if we tell him that we are just helping Riku get his other work done."
Kairi nodded, catching onto what Sora was getting at.
"You really think Mickey will buy that if we get caught?"
Sora shrugged.
"I don't know, but we just have to make sure that we don't get caught."
From that moment on, Sora and Kairi rearranged their schedules so that while Riku was undergoing his treatments they could be with him. And help in any way they could to help him. It shocked Riku the first time they came into the room with all of their textbooks and notes.
They just set up all of their work as Riku watched them, he asked them why they were up here. The only answers he got was that they needed his help with their work, or that they just couldn't find a quiet spot to work.
Riku shook his head, much to his bodies protest. The pain had yet to subside throughout the treatment. But Sora and Kairi kept him distracted by asking him questions and what certain things meant. What potions would be useful in certain fights and what moves would be better against what enemies. Time had flown by as Riku answered their questions. While sometimes answer were put on hold as he threw up, he and the others would get their work done in the time Riku underwent his treatment.
In the second month everyone had noticed that Riku was starting to really drop weight. While Sora and Kairi were toning up, Riku was losing everything. No matter how much he would eat throughout the day he would throw it all up during his treatment. And with no appetite after his treatment, he was hardly eating.
Minnie had the chiefs make Riku a high vitamin and protein broth for his lunch and suppers. Sadly majority of that broth was thrown out. Not only was he throwing up during his treatments, throughout the day he was also throwing up. When Riku first saw the black ooze he tried to hide it, yet Sora had told the King about it after the first time he saw it. Mickey still had no idea how that could happen. He had consulted with anyone he could think of, he read any book he could get his hands on. Nothing helped. For what Riku was going through, he was the the first in recorded history for everything.
One day during Riku's sparing lesson, he gave everyone a scare.
Riku was in the magic area of the training field practicing against flying enemies. Five enemies were circling around him, waiting for an opening. Riku held his keyblade close, ignoring the fact that it was shaking. He had a rough treatment today, but he had already skipped three sparring sessions this week.
Suddenly the enemy behind him darted for him. He spun around and hit it back with his keyblade, the two on his right lunged at him. His dark shield went up and he aimed at them. Shaking as bad as he was it was hard to lock onto them.
He was able to fire off a few Fira's before an enemy hit him from the side. He stumbled as he tried to catch himself. Another flew into him, hitting him in his back. Riku drove his keyblade into the ground, leaning onto it for support. Never in his life had he ever felt this week. Before he would have been able to take care of these few enemies without breaking a sweat or taking any hits. But now he was getting his butt kicked.
The enemies kept coming, he was able to fend them off, but they were getting too many hits in in between. He could hardly raise his keyblade to block an incoming enemy, yet it hit him square in the face. He hit the ground hard. Riku's body went slack, he was so close to passing out. He couldn't believe how weak he had become. Dark spots began to fill his vision. Suddenly something exploded inside of him, and a surge of energy flowed into him.
Riku sprang to his feet, moving faster than he had the whole time he had been here and destroyed the enemies. Suddenly he could breath, nothing hurt anymore. He felt great as he destroyed the dummies. Being able to unleash this power, Riku couldn't believe how good he felt.
Within minutes all of the enemies were nothing but burnt and torn up bits. The area around Riku had giant chunks taken out of it. Smoke came off of the area around him, since he caught some of the grass on fire.
Riku grinned, he thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of being able to destroy things that quickly.
Sora walked out onto the field, he so did not want to do this today. It was too nice of a day to be stuck training.
He smelt something close burning, he looked around and his eye's locked on Riku. His stomach dropped. Not because of the burnt dummies, or because of the damage Riku had done to the field and the surrounding area. No.
Riku was standing there in his Dark mode outfit. The Keyblade of Hearts held tightly in his hands. A twisted smile on his face. And for once Sora was scared of Riku. Scared of all the damage he had unleashed due to being in his Dark mode.
"Riku!" Sora shouted.
Riku turned to him, his eye's glowing an unnatural gold. Riku had never seen Sora look at him like that. So scared. So fearful, of nothing else but Riku. Riku got severely light headed and collapsed.
Sora ran over to him, putting Riku's head in his lap. Slowly Riku's normal clothes returned and the Dark mode faded. But the pain returned. Riku groan and looked up at Sora.
"You're okay right?" Riku whispered. "I didn't hurt you?"
Sora shook his head, clutching Riku close. The treatments were failing. Sora didn't understand why. The treatment was meant to destroy the extra darkness and restore Riku's balance. But they only seemed to be making things worse. Sora pressed a small kiss on Riku's clammy forehead. Things were going to have to change.
Which they did.
The third month was horrible for Riku.
The King did confirm that the treatments were indeed failing. At this point Riku's imbalance should be returning to normal, yet the darkness was fighting back. Riku's health was also failing. Riku's breathing had become very labored. Mickey had brought a doctor in. She had told them that fluid was starting to fill Riku's lungs. They all knew that it wasn't normal fluid. Somehow the dark ooze was in Riku's lungs.
His eating has also gotten worse. Instead of eating little bits of food throughout the day, Riku wasn't eating at all. His weight had dropped to a dangerously low level. Sora was beside Riku throughout the entire day. Making sure he was at least drinking something, or trying to get a small amount of Minnie's broth into Riku.
Worse yet, the King had made Riku's treatment times even longer. Now he was in the tower for sometime five or six hours.
Riku needed help getting around the castle, which Sora had immediately said he would do. The two grown extremely close in their time together. Kairi had noticed it when she would see them throughout the day. Each of them seemed to need some form of physical contact between each other each other. Like they needed that reassurance to know that the other was still there.
Kairi had once brought it up to Sora, who didn't know what she was talking about, he just liked being close to Riku. She once asked him how he felt about Riku, which Sora somehow managed to dodge every time she asked him. She didn't think he was that dense, but apparently he was when it came to anything close to romance.
The worse for the trio had yet to come. While Kairi was with Minnie undergoing her Princess training, Sora was with Riku. He had brought some snacks, and the broth, up to the tower for after Riku's treatment.
Sora walked into the room, Riku hadn't heard him walk in. Riku's body was tense, shaking heavily. Small pained hisses passed through Riku's lips. It broke Sora's heart to see Riku like this.
Sora walked over to Riku, and set the snacks on the nearbynearby table. "H-how do you feel?"
Riku opened his eye's and instead of seeing the aquamarine eye's he loved, he saw those horrid golden eye's. The treatments weren't working.
"Horrible." Riku gritted out. "The light hurts a lot more today. It feels like it's burning me." He shut his eye's. Today was a really bad day. The trash bag had already been replaced four times, and it was only the second hour.
"I feel like I'm about to pass out…" Riku said. Even though it would have been okay for Riku to pass out on the bed, he was afraid his Dark mode would take over again. He feared that if that happened, he would hurt Sora.
Sora held Riku's hand. Riku was looking even sicker than he had a few days ago, which was something Sora didn't think could happen. He was deathly pale and so thin that it looked like the smallest bump would break him.
Sora felt tears in his eye's. He was so tired of Riku being in this state, he just wanted him to get better.
"Y-you're going to get better Riku...I-I promise."
Riku looked at Sora, even if his eyes weren't there normal color, he could see the emotion Riku held for him.
"Don't make promises you can't keep Sora...it'll only hurt you more in the end."
"Come on, please don't talk like that, Riku." Sora hesitated before he spoke. "You will get better."
Riku tried to smile at Sora's words but it came out as a grimace. grimaceRiku
clutched his chest, a coughing spell took him. Sora dapped at the corner of Riku's mouth when he was finished. Dark spots covered the tissue.
Riku's heart was hurting again, his whole chest felt like it was one fire. Riku's breathing suddenly plummeted, he was struggling for air.
"Riku!" Sora exclaimed kneeling next to the bed.
Riku was gasping as he tried to breath, this was the worst attack he's had. A scream ripped through Riku. It felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest. Darkness curled around Riku.
"Mickey!" Sora shouted as loud as he could. He tried to get to the door but Riku had a death grip on his hand. Sora only hoped that Mickey had heard him.
Sora tried to talk Riku through the attack, but the darkness was growing around Riku.
Sora summoned his keyblade and unleashed a powerful Thundaga, hoping that would get Mickey's attention.
Luckily Mickey had heard him and bursted through the door. He gaped at Riku before hitting a button on the wall and the room exploded into light. Sora had to shut his eyes as the light reached a blinding level. He could hear Riku's screams getting even louder. He thought the grip Riku had on his hand would break it.
Suddenly Riku's death grip was gone and the room was quiet.
When Sora could see again he checked over Riku, the darkness was gone but suddenly feared the worst. Riku didn't look like he was breathing. He was impossibly still.
"H-hey Riku..." Sora's voice shook. "C-come on Riku..wake up!" He grabbed Riku's hand, squeezing it hard. Now he was the one that couldn't breath.
"Sora..." Mickey said, putting his hand on Sora's shoulder. This was the last thing he thought would happen.
Sora held his keyblade in the air and used a Curaga, Riku had to be okay. He had to. Sora held his breath, waiting for any sort of reaction that would signal Riku being okay.
Yet Riku was still, unmoving.
Mickey pressed the intercom on the wall and called for all of his healers to get to the tower immediately. Soon footsteps could be heard racing up the stairs.
Sora grabbed Riku by his shoulders and shook him slightly.
"This isn't funny Riku! Wake up!" Sora cried.
"Sora please! Let Riku go. Now! The healers are coming. They will need room!" Mickey demanded.
Sora shook his head, his own tears falling onto Riku's pale face. He shook him again. But Riku didn't respond. Sora's heart broke into pieces. Sora gathered Riku into his arms, sobbing into Riku's chest. He pressed soft kisses all over Riku's face. He didn't know why he did, it just felt right. He didn't care that the King saw this. He was too late. Everything that he wanted to tell Riku...he was too late.
Sora was gently pulled away from Riku by the healers. He stood by Mickey. All he could do was stare at Riku. RIku looked so peaceful. He didn't look like he was in any pain. But Sora was, Riku was gone.
Kairi and Minnie ran into the room. Kairi's hands flew to her mouth when she saw Riku. She looked over at Sora, who was just staring at Riku, crying. She's never seen him like this. So broken. Sora was never like this. She feared what would happen to Sora if Riku didn't make it.
Sora felt a hand on his arm, it was Mickey. He was ushered towards Kairi, his heart heavy and his stomach in knots. He felt sick.
Kairi hugged him tight. He felt her tears through his shirt. Yet he couldn't hug her back. There was no way he could comfort her, he was too heartbroken to do that. Mickey gave the two a moment as he stood next to Minne who grabbed his hand. The two of them stared intently at the healers as they worked feverishly on Riku.
Minnie looked at Mickey and nodded. Mickey moved over to Kairi and Sora and started to walk them over to the door. Sora was very reluctant to move. He couldn't just leave Riku again. The healers stepped back, they had done all they could. Sora let the healers leave first he wanted a moment with Riku. Minnie took Kairi back to her room
.
Sora stood there thinking of all the thing him and Riku had gone through. He thought that after he had gotten Riku back home all of this would be over. He never thought he would lose him again. Sora thought that they would finish high school together, go to college together. Basically do everything together.
Sora wished that he had realised his feelings sooner, he wished that they didn't bloom in this situation. Sora and Mickey moved to the door, he couldn't handle seeing Riku like this anymore.
Suddenly Riku gasp and took a shuddered breath. Sora was back at Riku side within seconds. Mickey called for the healers once more.
He looked over Riku's face, waiting for him to open his eye's. Yet they did not open. The healers were in the room in seconds and running scans on him. Sora stepped aside as they worked and Kairi was at his side not long after the healers were in the room. She had heard Mickey call for the healers.
After a short time, one of the healers walked over to Mickey and whispered something into his ear. He nodded and the healers left.
Once more Sora felt a hand on his arm.
"He will be fine Sora...but he needs his rest." Mickey said. "That much light must had been exhausting for him. I will watch him. You need your rest also."
Sora looked at the King and suddenly Mickey looked older. He didn't look like the happy go luck King he knew. He looked tired, drained.
Sora wanted to protest, he wanted to stay with Riku. Incase anything happened he wanted to be with him. Wanted to be with him when he woke up. But with the way the King was looking at him, he knew it was futile to refuse. Sora nodded, looking over Riku's face like it was the last time he was going to see it.
Sora's feet lead him out of the room without him really knowing it. He vaguely remember Kairi asking him if he was okay. Did he ever answer her? He couldn't remember. Maybe he just walked away without answering her.
He stared at his door before it clicked in his brain that he was in front of his room. He opened the door, walking slowly into the dark room and shut the door behind him. He slipped off his shoes and all but collapsed on his the bed. Sora stared blankly at the ceiling before he let out his own cry of anguish. Rolling to his side he sobbed loudly. He cried for hours. Sadly he came to the conclusion that he was going to lose Riku and there was nothing he could do about it.
Soooo uhhh that happened. But don't kill me, Riku's okay! See read it again, he's okay! Thank you for reading! Please leaving me a review, it really brightens my day and lets me know that people like the story. And I love hearing people's theories about this story and where they think it's heading!
