Title: Kokoro no Sakkaku: The Illusions of the Heart

Chapter: The Battle for Destiny Islands

Pairings: SoKai, Riku? Zemyx

Note: I'm sorry about the long wait! I blame it on my computer kicking the bucket, can't open anything (even windows now). I had to start it from scratch, and coupled with exam study it just caused one big muck up my end. So, here's a long one for ya! Also, I don't know how, but this became Riku centric. Oh well!

Also, a note on the timelines for this story: In case you can't quite follow things, Sora's part of the battle is actually an hour after Riku's (that being the length of time it took Sora to get to the Play Island after the explosion).

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Riku stared around himself, trying desperately to peer through the seemingly endless darkness surrounding him. He desperately tried to focus his mind on the battle at hand, however, the only thing in his head were a million speculations about what Organisation XIII's backup plan could have been. Riku's mind was only partially focussed on the battle, and this was something that his opponent took advantage of.

With an explosive force, Riku felt something hit the front of his head with such a force that he was blown backwards hitting the hexagonal force field surrounding the miniature island. Looking up in a daze, he saw Ansem standing before him, a grin plastered across his face, and the Way to Dawn clutched in his hands, identical to the keyblade he himself held in his hands.

"You cannot win, for the darkness will encompass all." The fake Ansem drawled, slowly walking towards him, keyblade raised at the level of Riku's neck. With every step Ansem took Riku, still hazy from the blow to the head, scrambled backwards moving in a clockwise fashion around the barrier.

His movements halted when he ran into an invisible object that felt like his favourite Paopu tree. As quick as he could Riku bolted upright, moving automatically into his defensive position, facing down an Ansem that had now moved chest to chest with Riku, only separated by the twin blades locked against each other. It was closer than Riku ever wanted to be to the Ansem he used to claim to be.

"Give in to the darkness." Ansem drawled, his foul breath blowing across Riku's face. Riku scrunched up his nose and with a herculean effort pushed the Ansem backwards, sending him stumbling through the small boulder he knew to be there. However, Riku did not notice, instead he charged towards Ansem vaulting straight over the invisible Paopu tree, towards the one character he could see within the darkness.

However, before Riku could reach him the Ansem disappeared, leaving Riku once again in darkness. Riku paused in his actions, remaining frozen in his place for a split second before hesitantly moving into a standing position. For a few minutes he was left simply standing there, the distant sounds of the wind blowing his only companions. Riku used this opportunity to think about how he could defeat a monster that he could not see.

The answer came like a lightning strike, it was obvious. Riku straightened up and shut his eyes firmly relying completely on his senses of hearing and smell. At first, the illusion overwhelmed his senses, however, slowly, as the illusion died away with nothing to confuse, the sounds of the ocean came back to Riku. He also heard the faint shuffling of a person moving around the grassy ground of the island.

Holding a couple of fingers to his forehead as he tried desperately to determine the monsters position, he mentally prepared a Dark Aura attack. When he heard the person come to a close somewhere to his left, next to one of the palm trees dotting the miniature island, Riku turned around as quick as a flash and let loose the Dark Aura attack on his mysterious assailant.

For the first time he heard the true voice of his foe, crying out in shock as the attack hit. It was a voice eerily similar to that of Zexion's, and yet, not the same. Whilst it had the same throaty drawl as the now deceased nobody, there was something about it that seemed off. It was as if Zexion, like Xehanort, had manifested a sentient humanoid heartless. It was such an absurd notion that Riku automatically dismissed the voice as entirely a coincidence.

"You have predicted my true whereabouts," The voice whispered, now somewhere to Riku's left. "Very clever. However, I won't be as lax again." The voice whispered now in his ears.

With that, the sound of the ocean disappeared as it became clear that the entity strengthened its illusion.

Once more Ansem's deep voice rang through the air, sly and seductively, trying to reel Riku in. Riku began to wonder whether he should do what the man said, and give in to his dark side once more. At that moment, the only thing Riku could remember from that time was his strength. He was strong enough to defeat Roxas and bring back his best friend. If he were to give in then, wouldn't he be able to defend Destiny Islands?

However, he then remembered the downside of the darkness. Throughout that time he was surrounded by the guilt of giving in, wallowing in the bitterness that resulted from it. He had become Ansem, and it was almost killed him inside. No, he would not give in. He could do this, he would do it for Sora.

Riku straightened up and desperately strained his ears for any sign of the man. That's when he caught the faint sounds of a very familiar battle cry, a sound that gave him a boost in his waning courage. Sora had arrived on the scene.

Settling into a defensive position, Riku turned his head backwards and forwards, seeking out with his heart that which could not be found. He sensed it standing right before him, holding what seemed to be one of the discarded wooden swords lying around the play island. Not outwardly reacting, Riku silently lashed out with his keyblade and struck the entity in the shoulder, or at least that's what he was aiming to do, and for the first time he caught a glimpse of his foe.

The man was a shock to Riku's system, for standing in front of him, clutching his now wounded shoulder was what could only have been Zexion. The same Periwinkle blue hair, covering his left eye, clad in an identical set of Organisation XII's robes. Gone were his thoughts of sentient heartless now. Instead he was thinking to himself, 'How did this happen, a replica?'

Perhaps this was what Demyx had heard Saix and Xemnas talking about? Maybe this was Organisation XIII's back up plan. But, then again, didn't Demyx write something about a replica instead? Riku decided to save thinking for later. He didn't need this at the moment.

Focussing in on the battle at hand, glad that his zoning out had only taken a couple of seconds, he now saw that the illusion had fallen, and Zexion's replica(?) was now inching backwards, clutching his now bleeding shoulder. "This is over, for now." The nobody said, temporarily conceding defeat it seemed. Finally, the hexagonal barrier trapping him in place fell. However, Riku did not move. Instead, he stayed frozen to the spot in a slight shock.

He had almost given in to Ansem, and had considered going back to that place. It was like considering stabbing a friend in the back for more power. Sora and Kairi expected so much more from him. They were the denizens of light, the keybearer and a Princess of Heart. They were proof that a heart could be pure, and remain true no matter what. Riku fell to the ground, devastated. How could he compare to friends as strong as they?

"RIKU!"

He looked up from underneath his bangs and saw that Sora had arrived on the beach, since his entrapment by Zexion. He then realised that it was also night. He had apparently been trapped by Zexion for many hours. He could understand that though, he remembered that in the darkness, one lost track of time. Many hours could go by in a second, but likewise it felt like an eternity.

Sora vaulted over the shack and onto the bridge, running towards him with a concerned look marring his face. The view made Riku's heart swell, knowing that his friend remained strong, where his wavered. Sora truly was a vivid light, shining the way out of the darkness. He had somehow become his own personal Way to Dawn.

Riku straightened up. He would stay strong. He knew that despite all of his strength, Sora had one weakness and that was his friends. Riku managed a shaky smile.

"Riku!" Sora exclaimed, "What happened here? What was that explosion?" Sora asked.

Riku vaguely remembered hearing an explosion sometime ago. "I'm not sure. All I know was that I was looking at Demyx's diary, when all of a sudden I was surrounded by heartless."

Sora gasped, "No way!"

Riku nodded. "Yeah. And you'll never guess who was behind it all." Riku said gravely. Sora looked at Riku with a tilted head but said nothing. "Organisation XIII"

Sora's eyes widened and he took a step back. Nothing had prepared him for this. "How can this be possible?!" Sora yelled.

Riku merely withdrew from his pocket Demyx's diary and turned to the page that he had been reading. Sora took it and skimmed through it as fast as he could. Steadily, Riku watched as Sora's face grew paler and paler.

"Replicas? You mean, they were replicating Organisation members? You weren't the only one?" Sora asked. The one thing he dreaded above all others was a return of Xemnas. That would spell disaster for all.

Riku nodded. "I don't know much about it. What I do know was that they have at least replicated Zexion." Riku crossed his arms. "I don't like this So-"

"!" Riku was cut off by a high pitched female scream.

Riku then remembered that there were two other boats on the dock. One was Riku's boat, and the other was-

"KAIRI!" Sora yelled, running to the other side of the island, where he somehow knew she would be. Riku stood there for a split second, processing Sora's train of thought. When he realised what this had meant, he ran after Sora, only a second behind.

*

Sora barely noticed the foliage rushing past him, nor felt it when he stubbed his toe on a rock lying on the ground. All of these things were irrelevant. The only thing that mattered to him now was finding Kairi, and making sure that she was okay. What felt like hours later he passed the flying fox tower, and found Kairi barely conscious. She was lying in the exact same place where two years earlier they had been building a raft to explore other worlds.

Around her were a multitude of high level heartless. One heartless, a Crimson Jazz, was burning Kairi with a low level fire spell.

With a battle cry, Sora dove into the fray and with him, several more heartless appeared.

Close on Sora's heels, Riku realised that the battle had only begun.

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AN: I'm sorry that there's no Demyx's diary in this chapter… and that it's been months since I've updated. Uni has been hell lately. Plus, I needed to think through the plot. There are probably plot holes, especially regarding the replica issue. So if you see any please tell me.

Anyway, stay tuned!