Author notes:

Changed the name of story to Heart of Darkness

I might be starting another story but I have no solid idea on what to name it yet.

So Updates may go slower than usual.

In this story, Riku does not understand Al Bhed or will he ever. He really can't learn the entire language in like 1-2 days.

Riku's darker half is also starting to re-emerg in this chapter.

Proof, Plan, and Tears?

Meeting Room

Normal Pov

"Finally, I landed on this planet and asked the guards to see you. The rest you know." Riku finished his explanation and studied the group before him. Some of the audience seemed confused, others had a look of disbelief, and some with an look of outrage. Riku grimaced 'well this can't be good.'

Nooj confirmed that idea when he voiced his thoughts. "So you want us to believe you are from another world? That you flew here on a spaceship to battle those so called heartless. With a key that only a select few can wield?'

Riku tried to look confident as he answered. "Yes, All that I told you is the truth."

Baralai ran his hand through his hair with a sigh "Riku, we can't just accept what you said as the truth. Many people depend on us to protect them from this threat. For all we know, you could be trying to lead us to our deaths."

"Yeah" Gippal cut in "We have never heard of a machina that can travel between worlds before. If you want us to believe, you have to show us proof that what you say is true." Behind him, the group agreed with him with shouts of "Show us proof?" and some yelled in a weird language Riku couldn't understand.

'I guess I will have to show them my key blade and ship. I wasn't planning on telling them everything, but it seems I have no choice' With his decision made, Riku looked up with a determined gleam in his eye. "I need you to bring me different things that are locked, a person who is willing to assist me, and at the end I'll show you my ship."

Baralai turned to the group behind him "Go and find something that is locked. Anything you can bring will be fine." The group split up to find something that Riku could use.

Baralai walked around the table and toward Riku "As for the assistant, I will be the one helping since I want to see this up close."

Riku nodded "That's fine with me, in fact, it will probably help since people are more likely to believe you than others."

Fifteen minutes later, there was a locked chest, safe, and a locket sitting in front of Riku. Riku let Baralai check to make sure if every item was locked. After Baralai was done, Riku summoned his key blade. The sudden appearance of the Key startled the group standing in front of him.

"Well, as you can see, here is the key that I told you I use to fight the heartless. Now I will use it to unlock these objects before me." Riku tapped the chest, safe, and locket in a quick manner.

Click, Click, Click

Three loud sounds of the locks being unlocked was heard. Riku stepped forward and opened each object to show that they were indeed unlocked. The crowd was silent throughout this entire process. They started to whisper to each other when Riku turned away from the objects. He could barely hear snippets of the conversations. "He has to be using some trick!" or "He must be deceiving us" were the main things he could hear.

Riku ignored their conversations and walked over to Baralai. He held out his key blade to him "Here, take my key blade and try to use it." Baralai cautiously took the blade from Riku's hand and stepped back with it. He turned toward the chest and raised the key blade above his head. He swung it in downwards arc intending to cut the chest in half and stumbled when he felt no resistance. He looked at his hands to see that the key blade was no longer there. Confused Baralai looked towards Riku and saw that the blade is now in his hands.

Riku couldn't stop a smug grin from appearing on his face. "Now that I proven my first two points, the only thing left now is to show you my ship." Riku turned from the stunned group and walked towards the exist. Behind him he could hear the group running to catch up with him as he left the building and headed for the cliff.

He led them up the secret path he had found and stopped when his ship came into view. Riku pointed at it "Is that enough proof for you?" Stunned silence was the only answer he received as the group took in the sight before them.

Gippal was the first to recover "So this machina can travel between worlds! This machina would be a great help to recovering our lost technology!" Riku was unable to understand the rest of the conversation as Gippal turned toward the tattoo people who spoke the language Riku could not understand.

Riku turned toward Baralai and Nooj "What does he mean that my ship will help them? Who are they and why do they speak a different language than you."

"My apologies" said Nooj "Those people are the Al Bhed and they are a people whose focus is on machina. They are continuously trying to regain the lost knowledge of the machina we used to have on this world."

Riku look worriedly at the group "They are not going to mess with my ship are they. That's my only transportation from this world to others."

"No" answered Baralai " They will not mess with your ship."

"What?" Gippal shouted " There is no way we can't examine that ship. So many things can be learned from it."

Nooj shook is head "Baralai is right Gippal. We can not afford to cause any him any trouble if we want those heartless to be gone from our world and others."

"But" whined Gippal

"No!" Baralai and Nooj said at the same time.

Riku couldn't help but smile at the trio in front of him. They reminded him of Sora, Donald, and Goofy when they fought. This brought him back to his earlier thoughts onboard the ship. His mood instantly soured and his heart was once again glimmering with a evil aura.

"So what must we do?" Riku was suddenly pulled from his dark world and looked toward the speaker. "Uh what did you say?"

Nooj sighed but repeated what he said "Now that we know you are telling the truth. What should we do about the heartless?"

"Before you answer though we should head back to the meeting room for a more appropriate place to discuss things." Said Baralai.

Riku merely shook is head in agreement and began to follow them back to the building. 'What was that feeling I had a second ago. It was dark and familiar, but I thought I was no longer part of the dark."

Meeting Room

Normal Pov

Riku's thoughts were quickly brought away from what happened at the cliff when the meeting about how to best close the keyhole began.

"What are all the ways we can reach the stadium?" asked Riku.

Nooj pointed at a part of the map of Luca on the table " You can enter here but must come from the direction of the highroad. This means we would have to travel on foot to the city and then fight through the streets before entering the stadium."

Riku shook his head " That way is to difficult. I am the only one here with experience against heartless and the losses would be to great with a low chance of success."

"I agree" Baralai pointed towards a different part of the map " We would have a better chance if we came from the sea. The stadium is much closer and we would have less of a distance to fight through."

Nooj frowned at Baralai "You forgot that the heartless are swarming all over the ports. Some have even been able to steer the ships and are now using them as weapons."

Riku sighed " So the only two ways to get into the stadium are both littered with Heartless and a strong possibility of death."

"There is another way." Said Gippal who had been quiet the entire time. " We could use an airship we dug up to transport a small group to the stadium."

Riku turned to Gippal "Why didn't you say this sooner. That ideas is a lot better than the others and removes much of the problem of the heartless."

Gippal glared at Riku "Did you not here what I said? I said only a small group could get into the stadium that way. It would be suicide for anyone who went."

"How small of a group are we talking about" asked Riku

Gippal grimaced " Only about four people would be able to go."

Baralai rested his head against the table in defeat "That number is to small. Any group we send in there will be overwhelmed by the heartless in matter of minutes or even seconds. It seems we will have to choose one of the other suggestions and hope that the losses we obtain will be smaller than we predict."

"No" said Riku "We will go with Gippal's plan."

Baralai looked up at Riku with disbelief "That would be suicide to anyone we send in there."

Riku shook his head " No, if we go with this plan, me and a few others would be able to land near the keyhole. If I can close the passage, then the heartless should greatly decrease."

Nooj looked at Riku "Are you sure you want to go with this plan. There is no turning back when you are in there. Make one mistake and you will die."

Riku smiled confidently at Nooj "Don't worry about me. I'll make sure to close that keyhole and live to brag about it to my friends."

"Then its settled" said Gippal "We will call together all the soldiers, summoners, and volunteers to make the announcement. We need three other people to agree to come with you to give you the best chance at success. Lets go to the balcony to announce are plans."

Balcony facing training area

Normal Pov

"Soldiers of Spira, we have gathered you here to ask of you an important mission." Announced Nooj. "We need three volunteers to accompany Riku to the stadium in Luca to close the gate that is letting in those creatures we are fighting. Those of you who are willing to sacrifice your life and most likely your hearts, please step forward and announce yourself."

Nobody stepped forward, then on the edge of the field a person stepped forward. It was a girl of around eighteen years old. She wore a black dress with the slits down the side of her arms and around her neck. The bottom of the dress was made from many intertwined black belts. She carried a strange Moogle Doll in her right hand. Her hair was black and reached down to her lower back. "I Lulu, of the black magic branch, will volunteer to join this mission."

Nooj acknowledged her and looked back towards the others waiting for another to step up.

Next one to move forward was a huge blue furring being. He had a broken horn on his head and carried a lance(?). "Kimahri accepts this mission."

Nooj acknowledged that he stepped forward and waited for the last person to come.

No one moved after those two. Minutes passed and there was no signs of anyone else coming.

"Ahhh to hell with this!" said Gippel "I'm coming along to Riku."

Startled Riku turned to him "Are you sure about this Gippel? You might die or lose your heart to the heartless."

He waved his hand in a dismissive gesture "I'm not worried."

Baralai dismissed the soldiers and turned to Riku. "Your mission start tomorrow morning. I suggest you get to know your team a little and then get some sleep."

Riku was already on his way down to the training area with Gippal right behind him. " I'm already on my way!"

Training Area

Normal Pov

Lulu and Kimahri quietly stood beside each other as they watch Riku and Gippal make their way across the training area. Neither shared their thoughts on what they thought about the mission.

Riku and Gippel crushed the silence when they screeched to a stop in front of them breathing heavily.

"Did you really have to run here?" Asked Lulu as she watched them catch their breath.

"I guess not " laughed Gippel " It just seemed like you guys were waiting for us so we decided to hurry."

Lulu merely sighed and shook her head. 'why did I even agree to this mission?'

Riku noticed Lulu's annoyance and decided to change the subject. "We haven't met properly yet. My names Riku and your guys names are?"

Lulu answered with a annoyed "My name is Lulu. At least remember it after I said it five minutes ago."

Kimahri merely said "Kimahri"

'Great' thought Riku 'So this is the group I am likely to die with tomorrow.'

Gippal could sense Riku's souring mood and tried to brighten up the conversation " So guys what made you want to accept this mission?"

Lulu instantly stiffened and gave Gippel a death glare "My reasons are for me to know only and not for you to pry into." With that Lulu turned and marched off angrily.

Gippal merely looked at Riku in confusion as he watched her march off. Riku could only shrug his shoulders at her behavior and turned toward Kimahri to hear his answer.

Kimahri stared at them for a moment and turned away from them and began to walk away.

"Well" said Gippal "Looks like we got a strange group.

Riku could only shake his head in agreement

Gippal turned toward Riku with a smile "Don't sweat it man. We should get to bed to make sure we are fully rested for the mission tomorrow."

"Yeah, your right Gippal." Riku started walking toward his ship "I guess I'll spend the night in my ship since it looks like you already full with refugees."

Gippal embarrassedly rub the back of his head "Yeah, Guess you can tell huh. Anyways makes sure you up early so I don't have to wake your lazy but up."

"Whatever" Riku said as he walked off.

On the way back to his ship, Riku noticed Lulu standing in front of a blue sword. He watched her for a second until she noticed him. She hurriedly turned her head and walked away. Riku merely shrugged his shoulders and continued his walk to his ship. Suddenly an image of Lulu face appeared in his mind. He stopped and stared towards the direction Lulu walked off to.

'Was Lulu crying?'

Authors notes:

I shaved about 4 years off of Lulu. I thought since they made every other final fantasy character way younger, so could I.

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