Chapter Sixteen: A Hard Decision
Xemnas eyed every single one of his members, seeing only two missing, but they were both traitors. "Kill anyone you see, call upon Nobodies for help if needed, but keep the Recreation Committee apart!" he ordered and then vanished, letting his Organization XIII handle Hollow Bastion.
Riku blinked and looked around, but he didn't see Hayner anywhere. He looked up and saw that it was just getting dark. "You haven't found him yet?"
"Yeah, he's out in the woods practicing. He won't come out of them." Olette explained. "I think he's going to try and fight Seifer."
"That'll be one hell of a lesson for Seifer." Riku smiled and then yawned. "Despite how long I've been sleeping, I'm tired!"
"Yeah, we are too. You guys want to go to one of our houses and sleep over there?" Olette offered.
Kairi was about to except the invitation when Riku says stubbornly, "I'll stay here thanks. It's comfortable." He added, seeing Kairi's glare.
"Okay, what about you Kairi?" Olette asked.
"Yeah, I'll come, I don't like sleeping outside, besides, it get cold." Kairi pointed out, trying to make Riku change his mind, but it didn't work.
Riku stayed where he was and rested his head on the back of the chair, staring up at the stars. He didn't watch the others leave, nor did he say good-bye. His mind was else where. What happened to me? What has become of my friendship? He wondered thoughtfully, his eyes clouding over with a sad glaze. Sora and I, we used to be the best of friends, and then, after three whole years, things just vanished. It was like I was still the enemy, and that is how I feel in my heart…like an enemy.
I even treat Kairi different. With Sora gone, I now realize what a jerk I acted like, though I always tried to cover it up, why? Why did I toss everything I loved away for power? I'm no better than Xemnas for that…Riku's lips twisted into a sad and regretful frown. Now that he was alone again, everything flooded in on him. He had nothing to do to spend his time with.
"Am I fading back into the darkness? Like I wanted to?" Riku wondered aloud. He had spoken to Sora about them just fading into darkness, but be able to control it, to be on the other side. Sora had seemed like it would be a whole new eventful adventure, and so it has been. Sora went into darkness, but was taken, snatched, forcefully and now he was gone until they got his heart back from Xemnas.
"Anyone in here?" came a familiar voice.
Riku looked down from the sky, alert as he quietly picked up his Dark Keyblade, his Soul Eater, and peered at curtain. It opened a little just enough to reveal a very short person. Riku smiled and said, "Is that you, Your Majesty?" he asked, certain it was Mickey.
"Oh! Riku, I thought this place was deserted. Are you here alone?" Mickey asked.
Riku nodded, "Yes, Your Majesty." Riku dropped his Soul Eater and forced himself to his feet and tried to stand there, but he could not move otherwise.
"Okay, well come on out here, I have someone who wishes to speak with you." Mickey said. "And how many times to I have to tell you that you don't have to call me 'Your Majesty'?" Mickey ordered, gesturing Riku forward.
"Uh…We have a slight problem with that." Riku said, wobbling where he stood. He shifted his weight, but it didn't help much.
"Why?" Mickey asked. Clearly Mickey couldn't see through the darkness that Riku was beat up from Xemnas and Sora.
"I kind of can't-" Riku cut off as he finally lost balance all together and fell back into the chair. He flinched as the slashes on his back brushed against the hard fabric. "-stand." Riku finished through clinched teeth. He then looked back up and Mickey with a loud sigh.
Mickey rushed forward and then quickly took a look around, "You sure no one's nearby?" Mickey asked.
"Yeah, why so secretive?" Riku asked as Mickey came up to stand in front of him.
"You'll find out. Now what happen to ya'?"
"Xemnas, and Sora…" Riku replied, his voice failing. He didn't like to think about it. Friend or foe, Sora was both and Riku knew how Sora had felt when Riku had betrayed him, but Sora was gone which made it all the more painful to think about.
Suddenly the curtain was pulled back to reveal two hooded figure coming in. Riku tensed, but he made to aggressive moves as they came up to Mickey and him. Instead he leaned back in the chair and yawned again, but looked at neither the king, nor the two men standing in front of him, instead he looked back up at the stars. At last, he found his voice and finished, "Xemnas caught me off-guard when I saw…it happen…and attacked me with a clone of himself. I'm glad he wasn't using the two Keyblades, only the two light sabers. Sora, he probably did the most damage…he attacked me with the Destructor and nearly killed me. If Kairi hadn't come, I would be dead."
"Two Keyblades?" Mickey asked, surprised. "Which ones?"
"The Kingdom Key and the Destructor." Riku responded, still staring up at the stars. If this all began before it started, then had Sora been in the right mind from the beginning? He's been against me for three weeks now, maybe four. Does that mean that I failed to see what was happening to my friend? Am I the reason he's dead? "Am I the reason?…" he whispered aloud quietly.
"Riku?" Mickey asked uncertainly.
Riku blinked, his glassy eyes becoming clear once again as his stream of thoughts were broken. "What?" he asked, looking down with his ocean blue eyes full of sadness and confusion.
"Axel and Scalvatrx want to speak with you." Mickey said, turning to the two men in hoods. They removed their hoods and stepped forward.
"About what?" Riku asked dully, looking back up at the stars.
"We want to talk to you about your dark powers, Kairi, and how we can help Sora. But Riku, if you're not listening to us, then you'll never be able to save Sora." Scalvatrx explained gravely.
"I don't want to talk about that right now." Riku told them angrily, not looking at anyone, instead he shut his eyes, and for once, welcomed the darkness that greeted him.
"If you don't speak to us now, you may never see any of your friends in Hollow Bastion again. Riku, there's a war going on in that world right now!" Axel explained, spreading his hands wide as he tried to get Riku's attention, but Riku didn't even acknowledge their existence.
I needed it last time, but do I need it now? I have to save my friends, but I have to save Sora too. And if I am to do both, I will have to have it. I will except it once more. I will not walk in the twilight between darkness and light anymore! I will except the darkness so I can save them once more, but I will not like it. I will have to leave Kairi again. Riku thought sorrowfully, but his mind was made up. He took a deep breath and just sat there, consumed in the darkness within himself.
Riku forgot about the others around him as he took out the sash that he had kept in one of his pockets for so many years. He lifted it to his head with his eyes opened and put it around his eyes so he could see nothing but the darkness.
Mickey was the first to realize what Riku was doing. "Are you sure this is what you want?" Mickey asked him.
Riku, after he was relaxed once more, looked down at where Mickey was, "I will help them at any cost like I did last time. I owe everyone that still."
"But Riku, you don't have to do that, we can still help them." Mickey said.
Axel and Scalvatrx stood by. Scalvatrx wore a bored look on his face, but there was knowledge in his eyes. He knew what was going to happen, it had happened before and it was going to happen again. What friendship and loyalty Riku felt towards friends that he had once tossed away and threw them from his life. Scalvatrx wished he knew what it felt like to have real friends. Axel, Axel thought that he was Scalvatrx's friend, but Scalvatrx believed that Axel was nothing more than a pest.
Axel was always trying to get him to remember about some Arkath that Axel believes exists in him. What a pain!
"I told you, my mind is made up. In this form, I'll be stronger, and I can walk, I can fight in this form." Riku said as his features began to change. His hair grew longer and his skin turned a darker color. He grew taller and stronger. The blindfold he had worn was gone and replaced with cold eyes.
Riku stood up, in perfect form of Ansem. "I'm Ansem now, Mickey." Riku said, his voice had changed too, it sounded like Ansem's.
Kairi had changed into some of Olette's clothes after she had taken a quick shower. Now she was catching Olette up on everything that had happened to her when she had been captured. She had even managed to tell Olette about Sora, but Kairi could feel the tears coming from her eyes.
"I'm scared he'll never come back." Kairi said.
"I'm sure he will. You and Riku will find a way. You have in the past, you've found one another and you've defeated Xemnas before, who's to say you can't do it again?" Olette spoke with confidence, but also comfort.
"Yeah, you're right we can beat him." Kairi's voice became stronger as she looked up from where she was sitting on Olette's bed and out the window. Her eyes scanned the dark blue sky that was full of twinkling stars. Somewhere out there, Xemnas was waiting. "I wonder if Riku's alright…"
"I'm sure he's fine, he looked fine when we left, I mean besides his injuries." Olette said.
"Yeah, but you don't know Riku very well. Something was troubling him, it was written all over his face. Do you think he'll get cold?" Kairi asked.
"Maybe, depends on how low the temperature drops. You want to go give him a blanket or something?" Olette asked Kairi, understanding that she should feel more worried for Riku from all the stress on her at the moment.
"Yeah, but I might want to go see if he wants it. He's rude at times." Kairi said, standing up and wiping the tears away. She opened Olette's door and headed towards the door. Opening it, she stepped into the chilly night air and headed for the back alley.
"If this is what you want, I can't try to stop you from doing anything." Mickey sighed.
Riku nodded and then formed a dark portal. "Be right back." He promised them and waved as he stepped into it.
"Hey! Where are you going? Riku!" Mickey demanded, but the dark portal closed as soon as Riku vanished into it.
Riku came back within seconds with a black cloak in one of his hands, "I told you to call me Ansem now." Riku told Mickey, but there wasn't anger in his voice.
Riku put on the black cloak that resembled the Organization XIII's cloaks and turned to the others. "I'm going to leave when dawn breaks, I don't want Kairi to know I'm leaving. She's not going to be put into danger anymore." Riku swore to them as he went back to the chair to sit down, but kept standing.
"Can we talk now?" Scalvatrx asked, sighing with irritation.
"Never stopped you, did I?" Riku asked bluntly.
"Okay, well guess we should just skip a lot since you seem overly confident and get to where you have to have Kairi for all of this since you seem so content on keeping her safe." Scalvatrx's voice held the irritation and annoyance that was in him at the moment. "You have to have Kairi for one reason only: So Sora's heart can return to Sora and Sora only."
Riku looked up at this.
"If you don't have Kairi, his heart could either do two things: 1. Vanish, 2.Go into another Organization XIII member. You can leave Kairi here, but all I am saying is that when the time comes to fight Xemnas, get Kairi." Scalvatrx explained.
"And now we can help Sora by doings two things and only two: 1. Get him out of Hollow Bastion. 2. Go get his heart back. They aren't much, but the reason why you want him out of Hollow Bastion his because Xemnas is sure to destroy Sora's body so that Sora's heart can never return to him."
Outside the Usual Spot, Goofy and Donald were listening in on the conversation and slowly, they crept inside and leaned against the wall so they wouldn't be seen by any of them. In that split of a second, Donald noticed that Riku's eyes were staring in their direction.
Donald knew Riku could see them and held up one feather to his beak signaling that Riku should keep quiet. Riku gave them an irritated look but then returned to the conversation.
"By dawn, you needed to leave anyway in any hopes of helping out with the battle in Hollow Bastion, but now, Riku, you are going to rest." Scalvatrx finished.
"It's Ansem, Arkath." Riku growled. Scalvatrx shot him a glare, but it faded and turned into a simple, unreadable nod.
"Fine, Ansem." Scalvatrx said with a neutral voice.