A Heart of Darkness

Riku fell out of the door with a thud; he stayed on the floor, his chest hurt from where he had hit the wall during his fight with Maleficent. His hands clutched his stomach as he breathed in and out. The fight had taken a lot out of him, he hadn't needed to fight for a long time, and so that was a bit of a strain on his body. He took his hands of his stomach and looked at them, a moment ago, when he needed help, a card with the Kings face on it appeared, was he helping him from afar? Riku sighed and brushed his silver hair from his eyes, it had always been long but now it was a stupid length and would take a lot of care to handle.

Riku shifted his weight and sat on his knees, at once his hands returned to his side as he winced in pain. He hadn't broken anything, he hoped. He took a moment to look at his surroundings, he was in a nicely decorated hallway, it looked a lot like the one he had been in before, it was a pale blue and the lights were very bright. Riku lay on his back, closed his eyes and was considering taking a nap when he was interrupted.

"Why do you shun the dark?" The voice had returned just as Riku wanted to take a break, this voice was so predictable, interrupting him at times he didn't need him and not being there when he did.

"Oh, come on. I know you heard every word I said to Maleficent." Riku said in lazy tone, he was too tired and sore to have to argue with the voice.

"Darkness is you weapon. I need you to accept it." Again, the voice made him sound like he was some demon of the dark; Riku opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling.

"What do you care?" He said, taking no notice of the fact he was talking to the ceiling and probably looked like he was going crazy.

"Stop resisting and accept the darkness. You must…" The voice stopped, this got Riku's attention, and slowly he sat up. What happened next freaked Riku out more then finding Maleficent, the voice came back and continued his sentence, except it wasn't the same voice as before.

"If you are to serve me again!" This voice was so familiar, Riku jumped to his feet but again, his hands reached for his stomach.

"Ansem…just as I thought." Riku snarled through gritted teeth, in front of Riku's eyes, Ansem faded in to view, Riku took a step forward.

"You don't look surprised."

"You always were chatty when it came to darkness. So let me guess…you want to pull me back into the darkness and play puppet master again…right?" Riku said as he stared at Ansem, but to his surprise, Ansem just stood there and smiled.

"Clever boy. You'll make a fine host. Now, surrender to me again and-" Ansem was cut off by Riku, who had his blade in his hands and looked like he wanted to rip Ansem to pieces.

"You're insane! There won't be an 'again'!" And with that Riku charged straight at Ansem, Ansem stood there, he didn't move nor did he flinch. Riku got close to him and bought his blade down with force. It contacted with Ansem but nothing happened. Ansem looked down at the blade then up at Riku with a look of amusement on his face. Riku was then sent flying across the lobby. He landed on his back, Riku laid there in more pain then he had been in for a long time and all of that pain came form one push down the lobby, he tries to scan for his weapon, and it had landed a few feet away. Riku tried to reach for it but he just couldn't reach it.

"Unnh…" Riku moaned as he clutched his stomach with one hand and placed on hand on this head. Ansem walked towards him, laughing.

"Did you really think you could harm me? A weakling like you couldn't even defeat Sora-and you had darkness on your side" Ansem taunted Riku, who had finally managed to sit up.

"Excuse me…fore being...weak…" Riku said, as he tried to speak through the pain he was in.

"You need the darkness. Submit! Bow to the darkness, and bow to me."

"Not a…chance" Riku got to his feet, this took a lot of effort, he had no idea why he still was in so much pain, it should have gotten easier but it hadn't, if anything it seemed as if he hurt more. Ansem, seeing his pain continued his assault with words.

"Only the darkness can help you now." Ansem walked closer to Riku, Riku took a step backwards. Ansem was to powerful and he had to chance against him. He was truly alone. Riku closed his eyes and hung his head, this was it for him, and he'll never see Sora again and tell him he was…sorry.

"You're wrong!" A voice said from no where. Riku snapped out of his thoughts, he recognised this voice and for once he was glad to hear one from his past, but he had to be sure.

"That voice…! Your Majesty, is that you?!" Riku called out, a small light appeared in front of him and circled around, and the King's voice seemed to be coming from the floating orb.

"You betcha! Riku, you're not alone. Listen careful now, Riku. The light will never give up on you. You'll always find it, even in the deepest darkness! But you have to believe!" The King's voice was full of reassurance and this filled Riku with the confidence he needed.

"I will! Hear that? I'm not losing to the darkness today, Ansem." Riku shot his hand out and his weapon came skimming across the lobby floor and into his hand. Again, Ansem smirked at the boy.

"You think some feeble light can save you from the darkness I command? Fool!" The area around Ansem got dark, Riku took a step backwards. The air was getting all dense and the atmosphere, although it was low to begin with, had dropped. Behind Ansem a large shadow was climbing up. He took its place behind Ansem's back. This was Ansem's darkness; it made Riku sick to think about it, he was just glad that his darkness was not on display.

Soon after the dark had appeared, it had vanished once more. They were still in the lobby and Riku knew that he would have to fight Ansem, he had just had to battle Maleficent and he was still bruised from that, he took and trip across the lobby floor a moment ago and now he had to battle someone who could control the dark at will. Today really sucked.

The darkness that Ansem had summoned, if that's what you'd call it, acted like a weapon and took a swing at Riku, who stuck his blade out to block it. They collided but Ansem was stronger the Riku and he couldn't hold Ansem's strength for much longer. Riku's knees began to buckle and he began to sweat, Ansem on the other hand showed no signs that he was tiring. This just annoyed Riku more, this made him feel weak.

Ansem pushed down hard causing Riku to sink to one knee, Riku was tired, angry and very sore. Ansem sent of a dark pulse which sent Riku down to both knees. The pulse kept Riku on his knees and it felt like the pulse went straight through his body, giving him Goosebumps. Riku was about to give up when the king's words echoed in his ear…

…'The light will never give up on you. You'll always find it, even in the deepest darkness! But you have to believe!'…

He had to believe, he just had to, if he could have any chance of defeating Ansem, now would be the best time. He had to trust that the King would come trough for him. Riku closed his eyes and lowered his blade and let it rest on the floor, Ansem took this chance and struck Riku hard…

But nothing happened. Ansem was stuck, a bright light had appeared and was acting like a shield, and it blocked Ansem's attack. With a tremendous push sent Ansem back, Riku stood up, grabbed his blade and launched himself at Ansem. Riku's blade connected with Ansem's stomach and Ansem's power had connected with Riku's side. Both fighters fell to the floor, but Ansem was the one who stood up first. Riku looked at the floor, he couldn't give up now, not after the light saved him. Riku staggered to his feet and swayed uneasily on the spot.

"Is that all you got?" Riku tried to sound like he had the energy but he knew he didn't, and so did Ansem.

"It seems you are intent on resisting the darkness. Very well. See with your own eyes." Ansem reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pile of cards. They looked a lot like the one that sent him to Maleficents castle.

"What are those?" Riku asked, still clinging to his weapon and not taking his eye off of Ansem.

"They are cards crafted from your memory. Advance through the worlds they beget, and you will come to understand. Chasing the light will not distance you from the dark. You cannot run." Ansem made the last part sound like a threat, Riku looked at him still, intent that if Ansem tried to attack him again he would be ready.

""Who's running? Give me the cards. I'll enter those worlds. And in the end, if I haven't given up…I win." Ansem threw the cards to Riku, who caught them, badly.

"I have one more gift for you." Ansem smirked at Riku, who was surrounded by a weird light; Riku looked at Ansem in horror.

"What did you do?!"

"I tempered the darkness that remains in your heart." Ansem said in a offhand voice, as if he did that kind of thing everyday.

"What, you still think that I'd rely on the darkness?" Riku asked him, feeling a little insulted.

"Whether or not you use it is your choice…I'll be waiting, Riku…for you to come to your senses and yield to the darkness." Ansem clicked his fingers and vanished. Riku blinked. He then looked at the cards. Riku sat on the floor and let out a sigh of relief.

Little did he know that there were 3 people who also wanted to use him for there work, and that he would meet then very soon.

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