A/N: I will admit right here and now that I was inspired by the scene in the first X-men movie where Wolverine had a nightmare and accidentally stabbed Rogue. And just so we're clear, at some point it switches over to Sora's POV.

Dementia

Chapter 2: Mask of Tears

It was a dark and stormy night. Rain was falling all around Sora. He looked about. This was The World that Never Was - a dark city with towering skyscrapers and neon lights. But this was not Sora's memory of it. When he had visited this dark city, it had not been raining. Sora looked at his hands. They were gloved in black leather. He was wearing an Organization jacket. It occurred to him that he was reliving Roxas' memory.

In the puddles formed by the rain, glowing yellow eyes emerged forth and took form. Sora was surrounded by thousands of Heartless. But he was not afraid. He was confident. Eager, even. He could take them on no problem. He summoned forth two Keyblades, the Oblivion and Oathkeeper. In a few fluid movements, he hacked and slashed the closest Heartless to him. They lunged at him, and he spun and turned, dissolving them with a single touch of his Keyblades. One bold one leapt into the air, so Sora followed suit and attacked. He landed gracefully on his feet and looked up at one of the skyscrapers. Standing on the rooftop was a blindfolded Organization member. Sora squinted carefully. It was Riku!

In an instant, Sora lost control over his moments. His legs carried him upwards. He was jumping across the surface of the skyscraper, running the walls upwards, slicing through any Heartless who stood in his way. His vision started flickering. He saw flashes and images that didn't make sense. It was happening all too fast. Riku was staring down at him and he dove off the edge into a freefall. Sora's arm moved with a will of its own as it threw the Oblivion towards Riku. Riku caught it and passed by Sora in his fall. The two made eye contact for a moment, as much eye contact as one could make with a blindfolded young man.

Riku landed and swiped at the remaining Heartless. All were gone in a matter of moments. Sora did a back flip off the glowing screen at the top of the skyscraper and began his descent. He felt like a passenger in his own body. His feet touched down on the ground. Without a word, Sora lunged at Riku with his Keyblade drawn forth. Riku deflected the first blow and returned with one of his own. Inside his mind, Sora was shouting for control. He didn't want to fight his best friend. He wanted to stop, but he couldn't. This wasn't his memory - this was Roxas'. He exchanged a few more strikes with Riku before knocking him to the ground and pointing the edge of the Oathkeeper at Riku's throat.

"Why?" shouted the silver-hair young man angrily. "Why do you have a Keyblade?" Sora looked at his Oathkeeper in consideration. And he visualized what would happen next. He felt his next action before he did it. He knew what Roxas was about to do. Sora raised the Keyblade above his head, preparing for the final strike. He couldn't stop himself; he was going to strike down his best friend in cold blood.

"Shut up!" Sora spat as he rapidly brought the Keyblade down. But everything seemed to slow down. He felt hands grasping his shoulders. He heard words whispered in his ears.

"Wake up." Fear seized him as the Keyblade drew closer and closer to Riku's face. "Sora!" He cried out loud. At the last moment, he regained control of his movements, so the first thing he did was change the course of the Oathkeeper upwards. A shriek pierced his ears. His surroundings melted away. It was a dream. He was in his room, but there was a girl standing in front of him. Sora's eyes focused in on the girl's face. It was Kairi. What was Kairi doing in his room? Why did she look so terrified?

Sora realized his arm was upright. He was grasping something. His eyes slowly traveled downwards to the Oathkeeper hilt in his hands. The rest of the blade was imbedded in Kairi's chest and out of her back. Sora felt the blood drain from his head when he realized what he had done. His eyes flickered back up to Kairi's face. She stared back with wide eyes.

"…Kairi?" he whispered, gripped with fear.

OOOoooOOO

Time freezes. Blood is trickling. I hear drops hit the floor.

She coughs. I'm drawn back to reality.

I let go of the hilt. She falls. I gasp. She's bleeding.

Panic.

"Help! Riku, help me!" I'm on the floor. She's in my arms. She's coughing uncontrollably.

She touches my cheek. She's saying something. I can't hear.

White noise.

"For god's sake, Riku! Where are you?"

The door bursts open. Riku runs in. He's on his knees.

His face is pale.

"Oh god, what did you do?"

I shake my head. Tears.

"I don't know…It was an accident…" I hold her closer. She's getting cold.

She's shaking.

"Tell me what happened."

"I woke up and there she was, I don't even know why she was in my room…"

I can't breathe.

"What happened?"

More tears. Deep breaths.

"The Oathkeeper…was lodged in her chest…" Reality hurts.

Riku speaks to her. "Kairi, can you hear me?"

She's still. She coughs.

"Blink if you understand me."

She blinks.

Riku looks at me.

"You need to dismiss the Keyblade."

I shake my head.

Fear.

"No… she'll bleed to death."

"You haven't got a choice, she'll die if we don't heal her now! And you can't heal her with that thing sticking out of her!"

I clench my eyes shut.

"No…" I can't let her die.

I'm afraid.

He grabs me by the shoulders.

"Sora! Do it!"

Eyes open. Trembling. She's dying.

Concentrate. Flash of light and sparkles. The Oathkeeper is gone.

She's bleeding. Nothing to hold the flood back.

She gasps in pain. Her shaking is terrible.

I'm making things worse!

"She's going into shock." Riku shakes me. "Use Cure!"

I press my hands to her wound.

"Heal!"

Magic flows from my fingers.

She's healed only a moment but the wound rips open again.

The cure spell doesn't work on large wounds like this.

"It's not working!" My voice quivers. "Riku, what do I do?"

He's in just as much shock.

"G-get some towels! Hurry!"

I nod. Riku takes Kairi from me. She's gasping.

There's so much blood!

I'm running to the bathroom.

I stabbed her.

I grab every towel in sight.

I was dreaming one minute, and the next, she's bleeding all over me.

My hands are stained red with her blood.

I feel bile in my throat.

"Oh god… What have I done?"

I need to focus.

My mind is getting hazy. I want to block everything out.

I'm back in the hall, the doorway to my room.

"I didn't know how many towels to get, so I just brought them all…" I trail off.

Riku is in tears. His fingers are on Kairi's neck. He's not putting pressure on the wound. He's not even trying!

"Riku…?" His face is dark, obscured by hair. He looks at me.

"She's gone…" He looks me in the eye. "We lost her. I'm so sorry."

An eternity passes in that moment.

I killed her.

I drop the towels.

I killed Kairi.

I feel ill.

Distress.

I walk from the room.

Numb.

I make it to the bathroom in time to heave up last night's dinner.

Aware. Riku kneels beside me.

Comfort. He pulls me into a hug.

Tears. I cry into his shoulder.

He says we should call the police.

But that would make it real.

Can't let it be real.

"Don't tell them what happened." I don't understand. "Sora, you can't tell them what happened."

"Why?"

Confusion.

"They'll take you away." He hugs me tighter. "I just lost one friend, I can't lose you too." He's afraid.

"But it was an accident…" Quavering voice. "I didn't mean…didn't mean to…"

Can't breathe again.

"Just promise me, you won't tell them anything. We found her like that." Oh god. "Please promise me."

"I promise…"

Numb.

Numb.

Numb.

OOOoooOOO

The police arrived shortly after Riku called them, along with a paramedic and a coroner. The coroner pronounced Kairi dead at the scene while the police questioned Riku and Sora on the matter.

"When did you find her?" asked the officer.

"About 12:30…" Riku replied.

"Can you recount what you saw when you opened the door?" Riku told a fabricated story of how he and Sora had been at the beach and when they got home at around midnight, they found Kairi dead in Sora's room. Riku had even gone as far as messing the room up prior to the police's arrival to suggest there had been a break-in and a struggle. While many of the questions asked by the two officers had been directed at both young men, Sora answered very few unless it was to confirm a part of Riku's story. For the most part, Sora was still in shock over everything that has happened.

The police did a brief search around the room for evidence and after turning up nothing, the paramedic and coroner placed Kairi's body in a body bag and onto a stretcher.

"We need to take her for analysis and a proper autopsy in this investigation," one officer explained, but Sora didn't hear a word. He watched silently as the coroner and paramedic wheeled the stretcher out of the room. As they passed by him, the true reality of what was happening struck him.

Kairi was dead. Nothing was going to bring her back.

"Sora?" Riku's voice sounded distant and echoic. Before Sora realized it, he was falling to the floor and his vision faded into darkness.

OOOoooOOO

Sora sprang awake. Was it all just a dream? The images were starting to fade away. He looked around his room. It was pristine, as if no one had touched it in years. He threw his feet over the edge of the bed. The carpet was soft and warm. Fluffier than he remembered. Sunlight was streaming through his window. What time was it?

10:30am

Sora looked at his hands. For the briefest moment, they were red, but it must've been a trick of the light.

Sora left his room and went to Kairi's next door. He knocked three times. When he got no answer, he opened the door slowly. She wasn't in bed. Sora smiled. What kind of person wakes up early on a Saturday with no plans? Apparently Kairi did.

"Kairi?" he called out loud. If she were in the kitchen, she'd hear. The flat was silent. "Kairi, you here?" Riku's door flew open. The older man walked out with a look of distress.

"Sora, what are you doing?" he asked, rubbing his eyes. Sora shrugged.

"Looking for Kairi…" Riku gave him a confused look.

"Don't even joke."

"I'm not." Now it was Sora's turn to be confused. Riku's face changed into worried concern with a touch of pity.

"You really don't remember…?" Riku rubbed his face. "Sora…she's…" He sniffed. "She's dead." Sora's eyes widened. So it was true? His nightmare was true? Sora backed up to a wall.

I killed her?

His knees gave out and he slowly slid downwards against the wall. Riku bit his lip in worry.

"I'm sorry…" Riku didn't know what else to say. Sora didn't respond. He wasn't aware of his surroundings anymore. He simply stared ahead at nothing in particular.

Sometime later, after Riku had managed to bring Sora down to the kitchen for food, Riku began talking about what had happened while Sora was out.

"The coroner said he's gonna contact Kairi's adoptive parents and they'll arrange for a funeral." Riku placed a plate of fried eggs in front of Sora. "Usually these things are three days after the death…" He sighed sadly. "First is the wake and then the burial. I imagine one of us will have to write a eulogy." Sora slowly blinked. Riku shook his head and turned back to the oven.

"I cleaned your room after you blacked out last night," he continued as he cooked some bacon. "The police said it'd be alright, since their initial investigation turned up no leads. I…" Riku paused as he remembered. "I washed the carpet up." He turned his face down and muttered the next part. "Blood is hard to get out…" Sora gave no sign he heard anything. He was still staring ahead while his plate of eggs got cold. "The police said they'd be back today to look around the outside. They're convinced they're looking for a burglar. So I think you're safe." Riku turned to Sora to gauge his reaction. Sora gave none. Riku turned back to the frying pan. "I also washed your hands and arms. I didn't want you to wake up and…" He didn't know how to put it. Freak out? "And I got you into some new clothes." He thought for sure he'd get a reaction from Sora, like irritation that Riku would ever dare changing Sora while he was asleep. But Sora just sat there, staring into the distance.

Riku turned the heat of the stove off and turned to Sora. "Are you hearing me?" Sora didn't respond. Riku was filled with panic. "Sora?" He took a seat next to him. "Sora, snap out of it!" He gave his best friend a gentle shake. Sora blinked slowly, but still didn't respond. Riku tried to calm himself. "Relax," he whispered to himself. "He's just in shock… This is normal… He'll snap out of it when he's good and ready." He eyed Sora's untouched food. "At least eat, Sora." He took Sora's hand and placed a fork against his palm. Sora blinked slowly and raised his arm. Riku's panic subsided as Sora gradually began eating, but his movements were mechanic, as if his conscious had shut down and his brain was fulfilling a basic need for survival.

Whatever gets him through this. Riku went back to the oven and placed a few pieces of bacon on Sora's plate.

For the next three days, Sora remained in his comatose state. He only ate if Riku gave him a fork and he didn't sleep. They got a call from Kairi's adoptive parents informing them when and where the funeral was to be held. Just as Riku had predicted, they also asked if one of them could write a eulogy. Riku took on the responsibility, knowing that Sora wouldn't be up for it. In Sora's mind, he kept reliving the accident. Nightmare, waking, Kairi, blood, death. His mind was unable to move past that moment. Towards the end of the third day, the evening before the funeral, his condition seemed to improve slightly, in the sense that he was reacting to loud noises and sudden movements with jitteriness. Riku had dropped a plate during dinner, which caused Sora to jump. Afterwards, he began speaking again, but only in short one-worded sentences and only when he was spoken to.

The morning of the funeral, Riku drove the two to where the funeral was to be held. It was to be a closed casket wake. The people in attendance included Kairi's adoptive family, all her friends from school (Yuffie, Tidus, Wakka), and the family of Riku and Sora. People were mulling around just before the ceremony was to commence and Kairi's parents approached Sora and Riku.

"I'm so sorry you boys were the ones to find her like that…" Kairi's mother wept, dabbing her eyes. "Did any of you two happen to know what Kairi's last words were?" Sora looked away. His mind's eyes flickered back to the event, the night. He saw Kairi. She was saying something. He couldn't hear it.

"Sorry, we didn't catch it," Riku answered, giving Kairi's mother a hug. Sora blinked slowly.

The ceremony commenced shortly afterwards. After the opening comments were made, Riku stood at the front where the coffin was placed. He cleared his throat and fidgeted with his notes.

"Kairi… was a dear friend to all of us," he began. "She was always smiling and looking on the bright side of things. When she first came here, we were quick to accept her into our lives and into our hearts. Because that's just the kind of person she was. She was pure-hearted and easily lovable." He paused to smile. "She was like my little sister. We used to tease each other about silly things, like our clothes and whom we were dating. And there were times where she was the only one I could speak to about certain things." Riku paused. "She never gave up on me. When I was lost and alone and I was planning on falling into obscurity, she pulled me to me feet, reminded me who my true friends are. I'd still be wandering in darkness if it weren't for her determination. She was a pillar of light for everyone. And we'll never let that light die out." There were a few murmurs of agreement. Kairi's parents were crying hard. Yuffie wept on Tidus' shoulder. Sora looked down. For some reason, he felt disconnected from the grief everyone else was feeling. "I'd like to ask for everyone to take one minute for a moment of silence." Everyone bowed their heads as Riku stepped down from the podium and took a seat next to Sora. It was completely quiet…

All quiet except for a few whispering right behind Sora. He gritted his teeth in annoyance. Some people could be so disrespectful. After 20 seconds, the whispers got louder and Sora shut his eyes tightly to try and block them out. 35 seconds into the silence, he turned around slightly to send a well-aimed glare at whoever was responsible, but there was no one sitting in the row behind him and everyone else's mouths were closed. Shaking it off, Sora turned back to the front. 46 seconds into the silence, the whispers were back, accompanied by something that made Sora's skin crawl.

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

Was that coming from the casket?

Sora looked around. No one else seemed to mind the odd knocking coming from within a coffin with a dead girl. They went on oblivious.

The knocking got louder. When a minute was up, there was a loud bang from the coffin that made Sora jump. His eyes scanned the crowds. They were rising for the viewing part of the ceremony. No one else seemed to have heard the noise. He turned to Riku.

"Did you hear that?" he hissed, nodded his head in the direction of the casket. Riku eyed him carefully.

"No. That's the whole point of a moment of silence," Riku replied bluntly. "You hear nothing." Sora gulped.

"I heard it. Knocking." Sora lowered his voice. "Someone's alive inside the coffin…" Riku's eyes widened in surprise.

"Sora, don't be ridiculous."

"I heard the knocking!" Sora covered his mouth, looking around. "She's still alive. She's alive, Riku, and they're going to bury her alive!" Riku looked around panicked. It wasn't that he believed Sora; it was more that he was worried someone would hear his ramblings.

"C'mon, Sora, let's go for a walk. I think you need some fresh air."

"Fresh air…" Sora let Riku lead him out of the room. As he walked through the double doors, he glanced over his shoulder at the casket…

…Just in time to see a pale arm reach out of the top and over the side. As a white, hollow face appeared above the rim, Sora let out a terrified noise and looked at Riku quickly. He was about to point out the dead corpse making an appearance, but when he glanced back, it was gone. Whose face had that been? Sora shivered in fear.

OOOoooOOO

A/N: Just so we're clear, I don't hate Kairi. I'm actually rather fond of her character, so rest assured, I take no pleasure in killing her character off, but it's very important to this story.