Chapter Six: Truth Be Known

"So…you were in their point of view? Strange-who was it?" Kairi asked, sitting down next to the chair that Riku was sitting in.

Riku was unsure if he should tell them or not. He didn't really want to, he didn't want to worry them. It had just been a dream, right? There was nothing to worry about. He didn't respond as he looked out the window. His eyes widened at the place where they were going. The world wasn't far off at all.

The Gummi ship landed on the island, a shocked Kairi, Sora, and Riku piled off along with a calm Cloud, an anxious Donald and Goofy, and a monotone Aurithia. "Why-Why are we on Destiny Island?" Riku asked, staring at the island that he had been away from for what seemed like forever, but truly, it had only been about a month.

"This is where your journey began and ended and so it shall begin again. You must seek what cannot be found." Aurithia repeated what she had told Riku ever since they had met her. Was she directing this at him, or Sora? What about Kairi? But Riku could feel her burning gaze on him and he realized, with a sinking heart, that this part of the journey was his. Sora had played his part. So what did that mean?

"I wonder is Selphie, Wakka, and Tidus are here," Kairi said, looking around instantly for their friends. Riku blinked, his eyes also searching for his friends. Sora seemed to shrug and didn't look around at all. Riku looked at his fiend, wondering if that was how he had been he had first come back to Destiny Island.

"Riku-come back to me!"

Riku shivered as the voice ran through his mind. He knew that Ansem was talking to him through thought, so Riku tried to concentrate on anything but that voice. He stared at the sand, concentrating really hard on it, trying to block Ansem's voice out.

"Come back to me Riku. If you do not, I will only imply force upon you. No matter the way you return, it will be soon. Sooner than you think. I understand that you saw that little thing with my damned mentor and the blasted King, right? You see-they are both fools, don't you agree? You once did, so why not now?"

"Riku? Are you coming?" Kairi's voice broke Riku's concentration and Ansem's voice flooded his mind.

"My plans are full-proof now. What I told Ansem the Wise-or Ansem the Fool, was a lie. Though, in a way it was not. You and your damned friends did not succeed in killing me all the way. How wonderful! I am happy to say that in due time, my Nobody shall reunite with me along with the dark angel. Yes, the dark angel is out to kill Sora. With you and your Dark Keyblade on my side-along with the damned Keyblade Master's Destructor, I will be able to kill Sora.

"You, Riku, will be the new wielder of the Destructor. And do not be surprised, I can sense your shock. It is still in existence. And guess what, Riku, you can summon it now-not Sora. Sora may still have a darkened heart, but my shadow still remains in yours. That darkness alone will allow you to summon the Keyblade that was once thought to be destroyed only a day ago.

"Riku, join me once more in my rein. Join me and you will not regret it. No harm will come to your friend, Kairi, though I cannot say the same for Sora. You will be the death of him. Wonderful isn't it? Heh, am I making you mad? Good. Anger and hate are the keys and ties to darkness. Both still live on in your heart. You want to hurt me? Do you want to take my life, Riku? Do you want to strangle me? Stab me? Slit my throat? That is a good sign, reside in your anger because you cannot reach me. Soon the darkness will get to you and you will be left without a choice. I will be waiting for you."

Riku wasn't aware of anything but his own fury. Ansem's words echoed through his mind and he tried to calm himself down, but it was in vain. His eyes shut tight with rage and he clenched his fists together, dropping to his knees. He could feel the darkness in his heart grow. It felt as if it were seeping into his bloodstream.

"Riku?" a questioning voice said. It was Kairi, but Riku was deaf to it.

In his rage, he didn't notice that he was on his knees, but now he bent over, digging his fingers into the sand. Riku felt his heart pounding in his chest, his mind racing. His blood boiled with hate at the very thought of hurting his friends and joining Ansem again. Then quiet suddenly, a pain raced through his right arm that he wielded his Dark Keyblade with. He bit his lip, biting back a yelp of shock, but a sound passed his lips as the sand around his fingers turned a dark black. The black seeped into the sand, tracing something in the sand.

"You see? I was right. Now, come to me, Riku."

"Riku!" Aurithia's alarmed voice filled his ears, but again, he forgot about his friends as the black sand solidified.

Riku raised his hand to stare at the blade the rested in his palm. His open opened in a silent scream of fury. The Destructor lay in his hand, glistening in the sunlight. "Arrgghhh! Get this thing away from me!" Riku suddenly screamed, throwing the blade into the sand. It stabbed into it deeply. Swirls of dark magic surrounded it, and then it vanished.

"Ha, ha! Shocked? Surprised? Angry? Hateful? It is only to be expected. Who would have thought-you to possesses both the Dark Keyblade that unlocks darkness and the Destructor, the Keyblade of murder and destruction? Ha! What a good combination for my apprentice!"

"Was that the-?" Kairi asked, staring at the spot where the Keyblade had been.

Riku felt his body going numb as he looked up at his friends. They were all staring at him and his new curse. He stood up, brushing the sand off of his cloak. Sora was about to speak up when Riku interrupted, his tone dark and harsh-icy, "Don't say anything, Sora. I already have enough to coop with."

Everyone could only stare as Riku shoved past them all and reached into his pocket taking out a black cloth-his blindfold.

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Sora didn't understand. Why-no how could Riku summon a destroyed Keyblade-much less the Destructor? That had been his Keyblade for a time. He watched in silence as Riku tied the blindfold over his face, shutting the light out. Sora felt sympathy flood through his soul towards his best friend. Obviously something was going on with Riku that he was not about to talk about. "What does he have to coop with?" Sora asked, looking at Aurithia, Cloud, and Kairi.

Kairi shrugged, but Cloud continued to stare at Riku. Aurithia, however walked over to Sora and responded gravely, "This is all happening much to early. Something terrible has occurred. I knew it was coming, but I did not expect it to happen so fast. It is as the Prophecy says."

"Prophecy? What Prophecy?" Sora demanded at once, looking at Aurithia with a flash of anger for not telling them sooner. "Tell us!"

Aurithia nodded, "Very well, it goes like this:

A Shadowed One will walk on the brink of Twilight and Dawn. The shadows around him will bend at his will. He will rein over all with the Dark and the Bloody Shadow. His own shadow shall live, an angel following him, his rival's blood on his hands. The Shadow and the Shadowed will seek the blood of the Pure One. The banded shall join as one and regain their numbers with the Shadow and the Shadowed. The Angel will fly and destroy the ones who are marked and the Universe shall plunge into darkness."

Sora blinked as Aurithia finished. "What is that supposed to mean?" Kairi seemed to be asking the same thing without using any words.

"That is for me to know and for you to find out," was Aurithia's simple reply. Sora and Kairi gave her angry looks, but Cloud did not answer. Instead he as looking at his hands, then at Riku, and then at Aurithia.

"Wh-What?" Cloud gasped out, his eyes wide.

Aurithia smirked, "Oh, so you have figured out some of it?"

"You mean Sephiroth is going to-oh hell no!" (think of how Will Smith says 'Oh hell no!' and that is how Cloud says it.)

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Axel glared at Arkath. "Grr!" he grumbled, slamming five cards down on the table. It had the Suicide King, along with four other kings. "Beat that!" Axel challenged.

Arkath smirked, "Okay," Arkath calmly laid down five Aces, making Axel's face pale with anger and shock. "Looks like you lost-again."

"What? NO!" Axel screamed, clutching his hair, but he quickly regained his cool. 'Gotta remember your training!' he told himself as he handed Arkath 1300 Munny.

"You're not a very calm person, are you Reno?" the little girl that had hugged Cloud earlier asked, staring at him with wide eyes.

Axel blinked, "Reno? Who the hell is Reno?"

"Axel! Watch your mouth!" Tifa snapped. Axel looked over at Tifa with a sheepish grin. "Oh sorry," he apologized and then looked back at the girl. "My name is Axel A-X-E-L, got it? Not Reno."

"Whatever, Reno," Marlene said, grinning slyly at him.

"Has anyone seen a damn Moogle anywhere?" Barret, a big dark-skinned man asked, walking in the door-or what was supposed to be the door.

"Barret! I just got onto Axel for cursing in front of Marlene! I don't care if you are the girl's father-you are not going to curse in front of her!" Tifa shouted.

Axel rolled his eyes, resting his head on one of his gloved hands. "I sure wish Roxas were here…Why couldn't they stay split?"

As if to answer his question, a cloaked figured walked in, a hood masking their face. Axel looked up, his green eyes flashing. He tried to see if the figure had blonde hair-nope, he couldn't see any hair and so it couldn't have been Roxas/ Roxas's hair always stuck out from under his hood.

"Has Sora, Riku, and Kairi left yet?" an unfamiliar voice asked.

Everyone turned to look at the figure and nodded, "Who are you?" Merlin asked, walking up to the figure. "You aren't supposed to just walk right into my house without warning us first!"

"Scalvatrx," the hooded figure turned to face Arkath, who looked at him expectantly. "Where is your sister? I hear from the Moogle that she is here, though I do not see her."

&&&

Under the cloak, Demyx felt extremely nervous. Why did it always have to be him who went into the enemy's houses and speak with them? Because he whined that he wasn't good at fighting? Or that he liked to act all rock-star like and attract a crowd? Then his heart sank-or what was supposed to be his heart as he realized with horror that the Organization could do without him. that was not a fun thought.

Demyx looked at Axel, blinking, biting his lip. Surely Axel would recognize his voice! That was when Demyx noticed that Axel seemed very upset about something and was staring at him intently. Demyx watched with terror as Axel stood up and walked over to him. He feared Axel was going to blow his cover, but instead, Axel walked right past him. Just as Demyx thought he was going to be okay, Axel grabbed him by the arm and yanked him forcefully out the door. Demyx yelped with surprise, rejoicing that his hood hadn't fallen off, otherwise he'd have been beat to death.

Maybe Axel was just going to kick him out. Oh who was he kidding? Axel was going to beat the living daylights out of him. Demyx followed backwards as Axel continued to drag him further away from Merlin's house. When they reached the ruin Market Place, only then did Axel release him.

"What are you doing here?" Axel hissed, glaring at Demyx. Demyx could taste the crimson in his mouth from where he was biting his lip. Yes, the Nobodies had changed through death. They could feel; they could bleed. "Well? Demyx, don't play dumb-only an idiot wouldn't realize that that isn't you under there!" Axel snapped.

"Oh…" was Demyx's only response.

"You fool! You think you can just walk into Merlin's house and that I won't recognize you immediately? For one, you're the only person I know that tall with a black cloak besides Riku and Roxas, secondly, your voice gives you away, and thirdly, you can't fool me!"

"Oh…but Axel, I did just walk in there," Demyx pointed out.

"That's not the point!"

"Then what is?"

"Are you always this ignorant? I'm surprised Xemnas hasn't tried to get rid of-oh, wait a minute. Did the Organization tell you to walk in there like that?" Axel suddenly demanded.

"Well…um…yes, but um…how do you know the Organization is still alive?" Demyx asked, giving Axel a sheepish grin.

Axel rolled his eyes. "I really feel sorry for you Demyx. But you do realize that Xemnas was trying to get you killed-but out of the kindness of my heart, I saved you."

"No, you mean because I was Roxas's friend, you saved me, right?" Demyx asked, the teasing note in his voice.

"Whatever. Anyway-wait a second-What? No! I can be kind too ya know! Anyway, I have a job for you,"

"What?"

"Go away and never return to Radiant Garden, or the Organization again. Go live your rock star life, got that?"

"And if I don't?"

"I'll kill you," was Axel's reply. Demyx's eyes widened and he nodded. Then he bolted and ran for it. Axel laughed to himself. Demyx was such an idiot. He wouldn't kill Demyx because he had stolen 1,000,000,000 munny from the guy when they had first met him. Apparently Demyx had actually been a rock star or something before he became a Nobody. And in truth, he had been Roxas's friend, and Roxas-if he ever came back, would find out that he had torched his best friend and become very pissed with him.

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Riku wrapped the blindfold around his forehead, not his eyes. No, he wasn't going to do that just yet. He wanted to see the light for a few more hours before his world of darkness returned. He walked along the shoreline, ignoring Cloud, Kairi, Sora, and Aurithia who were talking quietly a good ways off. He watched the clear ocean waves wash over his black boots that he wore, turning them a glistening black like wet tar. Riku sighed, closing his eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun on his body. He felt so tired, hungry, angry, confused, restless, and pained. He kept telling himself that if what Ansem said was true; that he would indeed hurt his friends, he should leave them, but that was not the right thing to do. He had done that before, and he would not do it again. Last time had been rough and he had lost more things than he had ever dreamed of losing. He had lost Sora's heart and light-his life for a while, but eventually, Sora came back. He had lost his sanity in a way. And most of all, Riku's pride that he always carried had melted away. He did not have the right to feel proud anymore. He had let someone take over his being in order to get power-to get the Keyblade. That was the wrong thing to do and now he had paid for it. It seemed he was still paying for it, seeing as they had not yet killed Ansem. Riku had mentally blocked Ansem's voice out completely, but he was straining himself, trying to hide his weaknesses from himself. One weakness he held was that he feared the darkness. Once he had enjoyed the darkness, had dove into it, but now he was afraid of it. Riku had learned, in Castle Oblivion, not to be fearful of the darkness, but to be one with it. Tame the darkness without being tamed yourself. Riku knew that Ansem was always going to be hanging over him like a shadow. He had just had to face it. Ansem was part of him, but Riku did not want to believe that. He knew it was true, and now his fears of the darkness had come alive-literally. Ansem was out there somewhere, waiting for him. Riku realized, as he walked along the shore, that the 'dream' he had had, was not something his mind had made up. No, it was all real. He knew there had been another Ansem ,Ansem the Wise. He knew of Xehanort, Xehanort's Heartless, and Xehanort's Nobody. But now he knew for sure that Xehanort's Heartless was alive.

"Riku!" a familiar voice called out to him. Riku looked up, his ocean blue green eyes flashing as he spotted a familiar person running towards him. It was Tidus. Tidus had a smile on his face as he came up to Riku. He gave Riku one look and then asked, "So where have you been?"

"Places," Riku muttered, not looking Tidus in the eye.

Tidus noticed the dark look in Riku's eye and became suspicious, "Have you been messing around with the darkness again?"

Riku looked up, anger flaring within his eyes-his blood, but then he became calm and shook his head. "No, it's nothing like that. Look, if you want answers, go talk to Sor- …someone else." Riku was going to say Sora, but he figured Sora would not want to talk about it.

"Riku! Get back here!" a sharp voice snapped. Riku spun around to see Aurithia looking at him with hard eyes. She seemed rather angry about something. "You are supposed to come with us! Don't you keep walking away from me!"

Riku couldn't help but grin as he continued walking along the shore as Tidus raced over to where the other four were.