I promised myself I wasn't going to split it... but I had to! I swear, I will have twice as many chapters as planned by the time I'm done with this thing. Oh well! Also, another big thank you to everyone who reviewed (I have over 50 now, wow! You guys are the best!).

8

The First New World

Hollow Bastion

"You don't really think I'd actually kill anyone, do you?" Rep dryly asked Yuffie as she shoved a blue ice cream bar on a stick into his hand. It was the first time he had spoken in nearly half an hour. "Or bring Maleficent back?"

Yuffie shrugged and bit into her own ice cream. "I dunno, maybe. But mostly I just like teasing Leon. It's so easy to get him riled up. For some reason my lot in life has led me to constantly surrounding myself with overly serious people like him and in this time I have learned that they're fun to bug. Keeps me entertained." She stopped and let the ice cream melt in her mouth. Grimacing, she pulled a face and stuck out her already blue tongue. "Yuck! Still too salty! It tastes like ocean. And I was hoping for something nice after all that fighting..."

"Even so," Aerith began, ignoring the comment about the ice cream though Rep caught her studying it warily, "you're not really helping Riku by doing so. Leon is anxious enough as it is and Riku certainly doesn't need any more bad publicity."

"Yes," said Yuffie snidely, though it was in jest. "But that could also be part of Riku's evil plan to take over the world and claim it for himself."

Rep wasn't sure if he was supposed to laugh or not. "Trust me, that's not it."

"Oh, so you've got something more sinister in mind?" Yuffie probed while Aerith rolled her eyes. "You gonna let me in, or what? I can make a great evil partner in crime – you're looking at the best thief there is!"

"You didn't steal these, though, did you?" Aerith asked teasingly to change the subject.

Yuffie laughed. "Nope, bought these off Scrooge. I have to support the local cuisine." He turned to Rep and, as if it made all the sense in the world, added, "He's a duck."

Rep just nodded stiffly, knowing that Yuffie was hoping for a more shocked reaction. He was no stranger to walking, talking ducks, so one that made ice cream was not too farfetched to him. Even if it was, however, Rep still did not feel much like smiling. Biting into his own ice cream, Rep pulled a face and grimaced; there was practically no sweet flavor, just an overpowering salty taste that really did bring to mind memories of Riku accidently gulping down seawater as he dove.

"Is it supposed to taste like that?"

Aerith answered, "No, Scrooge keeps trying new recipes every so often. Sometimes it's quite lovely – nice, cold, and creamy, but that's never good enough for him. He wants to recreate an older recipe exactly the way that it was, which, unfortunately, is a balance between salty and sweet so it often just turns out like… well, ocean."

Yuffie sighed and tossed her barely touched treat into a trash receptacle along the road. Aerith followed her lead. "You don't have to finish that," she advised Rep with a small smile.

However he ignored her and continued sucking on it. The flavour was still overwhelmingly salty to the point where he wanted to gag, but as they had been walking Rep had begun to notice a weakness in his legs and suddenly remembered that he had not eaten or drank anything for over two days. By the time Yuffie had handed him the ice cream, Rep was finding that his vision was starting to blur and it was a challenge to keep from swaying on his feet. Without knowing when he would get a chance to eat again, Rep did not want to waste the opportunity. Once he had finally finished, his mouth was even drier than before but he was not feeling quite so ill. Following the girls' example, Rep tossed his stick into the trash.

"Alright ladies and gentleman, let's continue our tour!" cried Yuffie as she grabbed Rep by the arm and pulled him along.

"Let's just get this over with," he muttered under his breath.

Rep wanted to enjoy himself; it was the first world he had ever been able to experience for himself and he had to admit that it was fascinating to hear Aerith and Yuffie describe their plans and what the town would look like once it was finished. He was beginning to create a strong picture in his mind of what it once was and what it had the potential to be. Their words called forth images of grand waterways, sturdy buildings created entirely from rubble, and a strong and proud society. Rep could not deny that their dream could be beautiful. However Rep was reminded very quickly that it was a dream that he would never be welcome to share.

"It's Riku…"

"What's he doing here?!"

"What are they thinking? Bringing him out here like this…"

The whispers, laced with fear and unrivaled hatred, had shadowed him from the moment he had left the hut and echoed his every footstep. People had completely halted in whatever they were doing to watch him either by standing frozen in the streets or by peering out at him through a window, which was perceived to be safer. At first he had hung his head and wore what he hoped resembled an apologetic expression. He truly was sorry for losing control that morning and wanted to let them know that he meant no harm, but he had a feeling that they wouldn't care. Their disgust seemed to run much deeper than several hours could have allowed.

Rep tugged at the sleeves of his sweater, ensuring that his manacles were completely covered. He knew it was beyond childish, but just wanted to press his hands over his ears and block them out. The next best option, Rep found, was to simply return each of their glares with an even fiercer one of his own. At the very least, it usually made them look away.

"Just ignore them," Aerith whispered as she stepped in closer to him, almost like she was acting as a shield.

Shaking his head, Rep tried to listen to what Yuffie was saying about the "new-slash-old sewer system that probably (hopefully) wouldn't clog anymore". He didn't want to acknowledge that it bothered him. He didn't want them to think he was too weak to handle it. Though they failed to show it, Rep knew that Aerith and Yuffie too were on edge and he had heard Yuffie whispering just before she left to get the ice cream that she had not anticipated so many people. Eventually Rep came to the realization that his appearance in the city had effectively halted the normal flow of daily life and everyone was just standing around and waiting for him to do something to condemn himself. He could practically sense the tension radiating off the streets.

"Just take a deep breath," he told himself to little effect. He was torn between feeling angry and ashamed in a way that utterly confused him. Either way, Rep wanted to kick something. "This is your first world. At least… try to look around."

Raising his head, Rep attempted to peer around those that had gathered. There actually were not as many people as he imagined there to be, perhaps only a few on the streets, though their voices carried. He could sense more in the houses or on some of the other roads. But as Rep began to focus more on his surroundings, he slowly began to realize that despite all the talk of new buildings, there were a lot of houses already standing, far more than necessary for the community as it was. As he passed them, Rep began to notice unmistakable signs of abandonment: cracked windows, filth, and scratch marks from Heartless.

"Why are there so many empty houses?" he caught himself wondering aloud.

Yuffie halted and spun around to face him with a happy grin, like she was glad he finally wanted to participate in her tour. "That's an excellent question! I'm glad you brought that up." She gave a quick glance around and wordlessly grabbed Rep and Aerith's hands and pulled them onto a side street, apparently for privacy. Rep was just glad to be out of site for the moment as the whispers immediately died down.

Clearing her throat, Yuffie began. "See after Hollow Bastion was lost to the Heartless, a bunch of us all woke up in Traverse Town. You've been there, right? So you know what I'm talking about. It's sort of like… a fancy refugee camp for people from lost worlds. So me, Aerith, Cid, and Leon, along with some others, woke up there one day. As much as we wanted to, we knew we wouldn't be able to return home right away. So we started creating a new life for ourselves there."

Rep glanced up at the stone wall behind him. A large chunk was ripped out of it. Solemnly, he said, "but not everyone in Hollow Bastion made it to Traverse Town."

Awkwardly, Yuffie turned to him and gave him a nudge. "Well... no. They didn't. But don't worry! This story has a happy ending."

"You do have to understand, Riku, that many lives were truly lost when Hollow Bastion was overtaken. Regardless of how hard we pray for that to change, they will never be returning and their houses will remain empty for some time. But even with the sad prologue," Aerith said, her voice growing more confident with each word, "our story had a strong beginning. When first we arrived there, the world was empty. Both of people and of Heartless. It was if the worlds themselves had granted us a gift, a safe haven, to rebuild a new home. But overtime, as the Heartless army grew, more and more worlds became consumed. It was a tragic story, but our family began to grow. Their worlds too had vanished into the darkness." Continuing, Aerith said, "You see, when a world is claimed by the Heartless, it disappears completely. No one knows exactly what happens to them, though we have our theories. But we do know that they vanish from this realm."

"Realm?"

"Yes, the Realm of Light is where we are now. Hollow Bastion was once thought of as a keeper of the light."

Cruel then, Rep thought, that Maleficent would have chosen it to be her domain; for the people of Hollow Bastion it would have been seen as the ultimate insult. Though Rep was having difficulty picturing a place that was named 'Hollow Bastion' as anything worthy of calling itself a keeper of the light.

"So are there other realms?" he asked.

"I would assume so. When a friend of ours returns, you can ask him more about it. I'm sure he would love to explain his findings further. And I'm certain that you'll find him to be a wonderful story-teller."

Yuffie laughed. "Sure. If you like stories that go on forever! Just like this one - we still haven't even told Riku why all the houses are empty!"

Intrigued by the concept of other realms, places that even Riku likely didn't know about, Rep had almost completely forgotten what his initial question was.

"You see," explained Yuffie, "we had always assumed that Hollow Bastion had fallen like the others. Like disappeared. You know, 'poof'. But it didn't - unlike the worlds that were devoured whole, Maleficent kept ours alive to use for her kingdom. A lot of it, like the remains of this town, was blocked off by these impenetrable waterfalls. We didn't even know how much, or how well, it had survived until recently."

At this, Aerith's expression grew solemn. Her smile returned almost as quickly as it had vanished once she caught Rep's eyes watching her. "I'm fine," she assured him before he could ask. "Just... trying to remember which one of us is supposed to make dinner tonight. I'm almost certain it's Leon and I'm concerned that he'll forget."

Instantly Rep saw through the lie, but recalled the sad look on her face respectfully held his questions.

"Anyway," continued Aerith, shaking away any traces of sadness, "About a month ago, Maleficent was defeated." Strangely, Rep noticed, Aerith did not say by whom. Rep knew that Sora, Donald, and Goofy had been the ones to finally end the witch's reign, but found it odd that Aerith, who seemed to know so much, neglected them. "Then, we returned here in our Gummy Ship on... more of a scouting mission than anything, really. And we found that the barriers that had held us back had been destroyed along with her. Almost by some miracle, the barriers had apparently prevented the remainder of our town from decay. It was like only one year had passed instead of ten."

"I mean, sure," said Yuffie, "we have a ton of work to do here. Well, you've seen it. There's a lot of rubble and destruction from the Heartless, but it's so much better than it could have been. I mean," she gestured around them with a huge grin, "most of the houses are still standing and the waterway was pretty functional when we got here."

Rep was quickly finding that Yuffie's enthusiasm was infectious and was even starting to feel a little better, despite his reservations. "That's great," he told her honestly.

"It is great! It's way better than we could have ever hoped for. So when we came back about a month ago to check it out, we knew that it was finally time to come home."

"But unfortunately it was not quite so simple," said Aerith, suddenly stopping to let several dusty and exhausted workers pass.

"What do you mean?" Rep asked as he casually stepped behind her, partially to avoid being seen. Luckily the workers were to intently focused on returning home to even spare him a glance.

To Rep's surprise, it was Yuffie who answered. "Well, when Maleficent and... uh, yeah, just her, was defeated, the worlds that had been lost to the darkness began to reform. They returned to our Realm exactly as they had been when they fell and all of the people in them came back too. But that meant that some of our friends in Traverse Town started vanishing to go back to where they came from too."

"Their hearts called for their worlds and they were granted their wish." Aerith's voice took on an unusual tone as she spoke, one that was mingled with both joy and pain. "In flashes of light, they all began to vanish. Though some, who had adopted children from Hollow Bastion or had become so inseparably close with those of us to came from there, found that their hearts chose a different path and yearned to return to Hollow Bastion with us. However, as Hollow Bastion had never technically been consumed we were not drawn back to it in the way that the others were'

"We gathered those who's skills would be the most crucial in the first stages of rebuilding, along with some supplies and living items, and travelled with them on the first airship here. This was about three weeks ago. Our second airship brought their families and nearly all of our supplies. The third trip was supposed to be the final one to bring home the rest of our people, but we never made it."

"Why not?"

Aerith paused to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear and sighed. "When the true darkness was defeated, the walls that surrounded and separated the worlds began to reform and heal. We thought we had more time and were caught right as they began to seal."

"They barely made it out in one piece," muttered Yuffie. Rep saw her give a quick shudder and was reminded of the Heartless in Castle Oblivion being crushed by the door. "The Gummi Ship was horribly damaged. You've probably never had to deal with that because you can just bypass them with portals... okay you specifically can't, as we learned today, but others can. And I wasn't there because me and flying don't really get along. But I've heard it was pretty bad. Like the ship was crushed into a pulp kind of bad and it's taken a while to repair."

"That's why there are so many empty houses," Aerith concluded. "They're waiting for their owners to return home."

"So they might be stuck with no way out, but hey - at least they won't be homeless!" teased Yuffie.

Uneasily, Rep said, "But you're going back for them, right? I could..." he paused, thinking over what Yuffie had said. "I could try opening another portal so you could get to them."

Aerith seemed to be choosing her response cautiously. "It's very generous of you to offer, Riku, but I don't think that's the best idea. Portals can be extremely dangerous without protection and, unfortunately, we have none."

"Besides," Yuffie said with a grin, "even if you do manage to use one without knocking yourself out again, it might freak people out if you just pop out of a swirly hole of evil and order everyone to come with you. No worries though. Cid has apparently made some great additions to the ship, meaning that it should be able to survive at least one trip."

Raising an eyebrow, Rep said, "But that will only get you to Traverse Town. What about the trip back?"

"Not to worry. We do have a plan that will go off in exactly one week." She glanced at Aerith with a lopsided smirk, though Rep noticed that it was only half returned it. "We'll tell you more about it later. But right now we have more town to see before the sunset!"

Suddenly Rep stiffened as a new scent caught him. A moment later he heard a cry and the clash of a thunder spell being set off. He did not even need the scent to know that a wave of Heartless had appeared.

Sharing a sigh with her friend, Aerith said, "I suppose that will have to wait. It's always something." She removed her staff from the strap holding tightly across her back. A little guiltily, she looked at Rep and muttered, "I'm sorry about this."

"Yeah, sorry," Yuffie agreed as pulled out her shurikens and sped off with Aerith in tow.

Rolling his eyes, Rep stomped in the direction they had gone and reappeared on the main street. Already Aerith and Yuffie had torn through the group of Shadows, Soldiers, Yellow Operas, and Gargoyles that had amassed in the middle of the street, leaving a sizeable dent in their numbers. Only sparing the slightest of glances to ensure that the girls were not in any immediate danger Rep walked right past them and slumped down on a stone ledge that was a fair distance away from the fight with a loud sigh of frustration.

Leon had been correct in stating that the usual numbers had increased since that morning and this was far from the first group they had encountered. Rep had suspicions that the fear that was gripping the town ever since he had arrived was the cause. However, if the furious words following him were anything to go on, they all believed that he was controlling and summoning them in greater droves to wipe them out. Desperate to make the voices stop, Rep had rushed at the first wave they had encountered, only to be thrown back by Aerith's staff and ordered to get to safety as she and Yuffie ran to help those already fighting.

"I can fight!" he had insisted furiously. It was only the incredible exhaustion and dehydration that kept him from rushing in, regardless. "It's pretty much the only thing I can do right. How else am I supposed to prove I'm on your side?"

His demands went unanswered, though he noticed Aerith becoming more and more agitated each time he brought it up. Finally, on the third group of Heartless they met, she could take it no longer and shouted at him to be quiet as he was disturbing everyone and his joining in would only make it worse for himself. She knew it was hard, she told him afterwards, but violence upon violence would never win them over.

Despite silently acknowledging her argument, Rep had been so furious that he was not even given a chance to speak up that he had kept his mouth clamped shut until Yuffie had gotten the ice cream.

Now sitting uncomfortably on the ledge, Rep passed his hands over the manacles; they did not feel quite so tight now, but he could not bring himself to hate them any less. They were a symbol, more than anything. "I don't know what I imagined freedom to be like, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't anything like this."

A lone Soldier Heartless broke away from the pack and charged at him. Aerith and Yuffie, along with several other men and women who had joined the fight, were far too occupied to notice. Rep took one look at its awkward gait and rolled his eyes. The Heartless made a lunge for his chest, but was halted by a hard kick to the face. Reeling back, the Heartless merely shook off the strike, which had dented its helmet, and renewed its attack. However, Rep once again sent it sprawling with another kick, this one less forceful than the first. And for the next five minutes, while his guides handled the real threat, he spent his time playing the odd makeshift game until he quickly tired of it.

"I really can't believe that this is what it's come to," thought Rep, leaning forward with a sigh as he punted the Heartless in the stomach without even sparing it a glance. The Heartless never changed its attack pattern, preferring only to run at his waiting feet, so it required little effort. "Riku would love to see me like this."

Abruptly he caught the sound of whispering. This time Rep did look up at the source and saw several girls carrying books emerge from the side street he had just left. Even from a distance he could read their horrified faces perfectly. He suddenly understood that, from their perspective, it would look as though he was controlling the Heartless since he was so nonchalant about it attacking him.

"Wait! I'm not - augh!" Rep snarled as his lapse in rhythm and had allowed the Heartless to bypass his defenses and leave a deep scratch along his ankle. Hissing, Rep kicked it a good distance away and pressed his hand over the wound as blood began to soak through his jeans. When he looked up, the girls had vanished.

Gritting his teeth and focusing on the Heartless' scent so that it would not catch him unaware a second time, Rep closed his eyes to think. "I can't take this anymore. I know I don't deserve much, but I don't want to live with Riku's crimes forever. Mine are enough."

Rep sighed as he glanced over at where Aerith and Yuffie were still fighting. Aerith was summoning beams of light to rain down on the them while Yuffie was dashing about with unmatched agility and striking each one with a shuriken. He wondered what everyone must would be thinking when they see him sitting alone on the sidelines. Would they be terrified that he was apparently unguarded, furious in believing that he was calling the Heartless to fight them, or ashamed that he was doing nothing to prove himself.

The Heartless ran at him, but Rep simply swung both of his feet up to stop it in its tracks. "I know they want to show me around, but I just can't take any more of this today. It wouldn't even be that bad if I didn't have to see their faces when they looked at me. Like I'm some kind of monster... even if I am... not human."

Rep sighed and stared at his hands. He hated that his body belonged as much to Riku and Vexen as it did to him. But as he gazed upon them and his loathing for Riku grew, a memory began to form in his mind. It was not one that had been planted - it was his own. And he knew how to use it.

Because there was something he could do that neither Riku nor Vexen seemed to have planned.

"I turned invisible once. And I can do it again."

The Heartless continued to claw at him but with Rep's feet firmly planted on its face, it could do little more than flail its arms like a windmill. Ignoring it and everything around him, Rep inhaled deeply and tried as hard as he could to recall what had happened yesterday. Rep shifted his weight back closed his eyes and focused.

"What was I doing right before it happened? The person who actually saw me was Axel. I could have turned invisible at any point between then and when I faced Riku. And I know it wasn't just Riku - his friend couldn't see me either. Was it something I did? I didn't... feel any different." He opened his eyes and glanced down at the manacles. "Was it magic? I don't remember casting a spell, and even if I did I don't even know how to do anything other than dark magic. Ugh. I have no idea how I did it! This is impossible."

Rep tried to keep his breathing slow and level. The Heartless' claws and the sounds of a battle raging nearby made it a slightly challenging, but Rep thought that he was doing quite well under the circumstances. He remembered feeling unusually calm right before meeting Riku and wondered if there was a connection. "Just think... invisible thoughts," he muttered.

Then, all at once, the voices disappeared, the sounds quieted, and even the scents became less potent as Rep slipped into a complete meditative state. All of his thoughts were directed towards recreating that moment. He was determined to remain completely focused until he accomplished his goal and absolutely nothing would break his concentration.

"Hey, you're Riku, right?" a child's voice called from his immediate left.

Three things happened at once. The first was that Rep jumped at the sudden sound and instinctively used magic to defend himself, creating a burning jolt throughout his arms. Second, he gave the Heartless too hard a surprised kick and disintegrated it. Finally, with the leverage supporting his weight gone and his body momentarily paralyzed from the manacles, Rep flipped backwards over the ledge and collapsed on his head as it hit the ground. With a sharp ache in his skull, Rep managed to crack his eyes open to see too young faces peering down on him.

"Are you okay?" the girl on his right asked hurriedly, her brown eyes wide with concern. As he groaned and righted himself, Rep began to realize that her voice sounded strangely familiar.

"Yeah, are you okay?" asked her companion somewhat sarcastically. Rep knew it had been him who had spoken first. "I wasn't even that loud."

Rubbing his hands over the burn marks that now marred his skin, Rep snapped, "Yeah. I'm fine." He had expected the two children to just run away from him or for their parents to frantically whisk them away, probably between sneering at him some more, but instead they simply took a seat on either side of him. Expectantly they observed him, as if they thought he was going to make the first move. Having absolutely no idea how to respond to that, Rep just glanced at each of them and said awkwardly, "So... who are you?"

Placing a hand to her chest and giving him a warm smile, the girl introduced herself as Marlene and her friend as Denzel.

"Hey," Denzel said noncommittally, not quite meeting his eyes.

The introductions complete, the three sat in silence while Rep tried desperately to think of something to say. It didn't help that they were both intensely staring at him, though with different expressions; while Marlene seemed eager to talk to him, Denzel looked a little more wary.

"Are you from... here?" he asked finally, mentally kicking himself immediately after.

Marlene giggled under her breath. "We're too young to have been born here! I'm only six."

"I'm ten," added Denzel. "How old are you?"

"Uh, fifteen. Sort of."

"How can you be 'sort of' fifteen?"

Marlene nudged her friend. "He means he's fifteen and a half."

"Then why would he say it like that? And he looks older than fifteen, anyway."

"I meant I'm almost sixteen," Rep said quickly to put the bickering to an end. "What does it matter?"

"So where are you from?" asked Marlene, ignoring the question while she smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress.

"I'm from the Destiny Islands." When they looked confused, he elaborated. "It's another world with a lot of water and palm trees and, uh, sand. And seashells."

Smiling, Marlene leaned forward to hear better. "That sounds really nice. Are there lots of flowers there?"

"Yeah."

"And fish?"

"Sure."

"And boats?"

"Tons."

"Can you climb the trees?" Denzel wanted to know.

"You can. But it kind of hurts because there aren't any good branches to hold. We had an obstacle course, though." Rep barely realized how weird it was for him to be listing off features on the islands as if he had actually been there. It felt so natural. "My favourite spot was on the islet under the paopu tree. I liked to watch the sun set over the water."

Marlene nodded happily, like listening to him talk was the most fun she'd had all day. "What's a... papoo?"

"Paopu," he corrected. "It's a fruit that looks like a yellow star. There's kind of an old legend that says two people who share one will be a part of each others lives forever."

"That sounds so romantic!"

"Have you ever tried one?" asked Denzel. Rep could hear a genuine curiosity in his tone.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't have anyone to share it with," he snapped a little too fiercely as Naminé's image appeared in his mind.

Turning towards Denzel, Marlene giggled. "Would you like to share one with me?"

"Yeah, that'd be great," he replied as he shifted his position on the ground to a more comfortable one. "Could you get one for us, Riku?"

Rep could not believe he was even having this conversation. "Probably not." When they seemed to expect a reason, he elaborated, "I'm never going to be able to go back."

"Or go there at all."

"Oh," muttered Denzel with an apologetic glance. "That's too bad." Rep had to wonder if Denzel thought it was upsetting that Rep could never return to the place he thought was his home or whether he was just annoyed that he would never get the chance to try a paopu.

Suddenly Rep heard the clank of several Heartless' feet along the ground. The two children stiffened, but instantly relaxed once the sound faded. Rep could hear Yuffie calling for Aerith's assistance as the two of them fought. When he looked back, he noticed that both kids were sitting noticeably closer to him.

"It's not safe to be out here by yourselves," Rep addressed the pair, not quite sure what they wanted from him. "There are a lot of Heartless around."

"Yeah, like the one you kicked in the head?" Denzel piped up accompanied by a roll of his eyes. Scuffing his shoe along the cobblestones, he added, "no one is really paying attention of the Heartless today, even though there are so many - they're all too worried about you."

Unable to stop himself, Rep had to ask, "So, are you scared of me too?"

The pair looked at each other and shrugged. Answering for them, Denzel admitted, "Not really. We saw you backflip off a wall just because I said hi. You're kind of too dorky to be scary."

Nodding, Marlene joined in with a much more chilling, "You were a lot scarier this morning." She must have caught the look on Rep's face as she quickly amended, "but it wasn't your fault! You weren't... really yourself. Me and Denzel, we don't blame you for that!"

"Well, I wasn't there." Denzel ran a hand through his red hair and jerked his head in the direction of his friend. "But Marlene was."

"You were there?" Rep was horrified by the idea that he could have hurt a little girl if he hadn't gotten the darkness under control in time.

Cheerily she grinned. "Yup. Don't you remember me?" When Rep failed to respond, she pointed towards his middle and explained, "I gave you that ribbon."

Confused, Rep followed her hand to his pocket. The corner of his card was sticking out and Rep suddenly noticed that a long, red ribbon had been wrapped tightly around it.

"I gave it to you as a good luck charm to keep you safe."

Rep's heart seized as another voice that had once said those exact words came painfully to mind. In a strained voice he asked, "Say that again?"

Tilting her head to the side in confusion, Marlene complied. "I said it was a good luck charm to help you."

A lump forming in his throat, Rep nodded and all but ripped the ribbon off his card. It felt limp in his hands, like something that had died. Numbly he threw the ribbon onto the ground at Marlene's feet. "Here. You can have it back."

Before he could recover, Rep found the ribbon back in his hands. He glanced up to see Marlene's wide, brown eyes staring at him pleadingly. "But it was a gift for you! It's supposed to protect you from the darkness."

"You don't have to be so ungrateful," Denzel lectured him with folded arms and a stern expression. "She didn't have to give it to you."

"Don't you have anyone else you could annoy right now?" snapped Rep as he roughly stuffed both the ribbon and his card out of sight. ?He had almost resolved to throwing the ribbon away the moment the two left his sight, but something about the way Marlene was looking at him made him want to reconsider. She actually looked afraid, as though she truly believed would be in danger the moment he parted with it.

All three of them jumped, with Marlene practically tumbling into Rep's lap out of fright, as a particularly loud explosion resounded behind them and caused the ground to tremble. A cheer immediately after told Rep that they had been successful in taking down an unusually large Heartless.

Jerking his thumb towards the action, Denzel said almost accusatorily, "So why aren't you over there helping them?"

"That's none of your -"

"It's because of these, isn't it, Riku?" Marlene poked at his manacles, her tiny fingernails clinking along the metal.

Stunned, Rep asked, "How did you know that?"

"I heard Cid say something about putting manacles on you before he took you away. I asked Leon what they were and he said they were like special handcuffs. They look like they're hurting you," she pointed out with a touch of sadness, indicating the red lines where they had burned him.

Denzel nodded. "Yeah. I noticed you rubbing them after you fell off the wall. What do they do?"

Rep sighed and pulled back his sleeves to let the two get a better look at them. "Leon called them 'anti-magic' manacles. They're designed to stop me from using any of my dark magic or even summoning my sword. I'm useless as long as they're on me."

The explanation, it seemed, was not enough to satisfy Denzel. "Well just don't use dark magic then. That's what got you into this mess in the first place, wasn't it? Leon doesn't need to summon a sword to fight and he definitely doesn't need dark magic. Neither did Cloud. And they've never had any problems."

"It's not that simple!"

"Why not?" he challenged.

Rep ran his hands through his hair. He could not believe that he was having this argument with a child. Though, he had to admit, Denzel did have a good point. Why couldn't it be that simple?

A moment later he realized why not. The answer was obvious.

He was never created to be anything other than a tool for whatever form the darkness took, subject entirely to its whims and desires. For any other human being it might have been simple. But Rep was not human.

He was only a replica.

"I really don't know any other way. I was completely born into the darkness and wasn't... made to be any other way. I can't change what I am. I'll never be anything more than this. Besides," he snapped at Denzel, stung that he had to reveal this part of himself, "why does it matter to you?"

Looking slightly taken aback at Rep's hostile response, Denzel replied, "It doesn't. Not really. It's just that... if I was as strong as you, I wouldn't let something like that stop me from doing everything I could to protect the people I care about."

Suddenly Rep heard Aerith's voice frantically calling Riku's name. He jumped, having almost completely forgotten about her and Yuffie fighting the Heartless. Shaking himself out a sort of daze, Denzel got up and poked his head over the ledge. "We're over here!"

A second later, their faces appeared above him as Rep craned his head to see. Their faces were flushed red and Aerith's long hair had gone slightly frizzy. "You can't disappear like that!" she scolded in between deep breaths. "We were so worried about you!"

"He was hanging out with us," Denzel explained. The look he gave Rep suggested that he had decided to let the remarks slide. "He's not doing anything wrong."

With a nod in the direction of each child, Yuffie addressed Rep. "They're not bothering you, are they."

"It's fine. They're good kids." Marlene and Denzel shared a grin at his words.

"And you two - what are you doing out here? You know there are more Heartless than normal today."

In response, Denzel shrugged and replied, "I went to visit Marlene at her place. We saw Riku sitting on the ledge through the window and thought we'd make sure he was okay. At first it looked like he was being attacked by a Heartless, but then we realized he was just playing with it." Rep merely shrugged under Yuffie and Aerith's bewildered expressions. "Then we just started talking."

"We weren't afraid," explained Marlene with an earnest smile, "because we knew that Riku would protect us if anything bad happened. Right, Riku?"

At first he almost blindly agreed so that they would not get in trouble with Aerith, but as he turned his gaze from her to Denzel and back again, Rep slowly began to realize that she had genuinely meant that. It was not a ploy to escape punishment; they had braved the dangers just to check on him, knowing intrinsically that no harm would come to them as long as they were by his side.

"They... they actually believe in me." He turned towards them, seeing only kindness in their faces. "They don't know anything about what I really am, but they still think that it's okay that I'm here. Even after everything I said, they still think I have a chance at being something better. They're not judging me based on what I am - or even on what Riku did - they just see me as... me. As Rep."

"Yeah," Rep agreed, sounding as stunned as he felt.

Aerith seemed to relax, looking almost relieved and Rep knew she had reached the same conclusion. "Well, I am very glad to hear that."

"We're giving Riku a tour of the city," explained Yuffie. "Do you two want to come along? My mouth is getting dry and I could use a few extra guides to handle some of the talking."

"We'd love to!" Marlene got her feet alongside Denzel and brushed the dirt from her clothes. "Oh, by the way. John and Terry said that we could have dinner with you tonight, if that's okay."

Raising an eyebrow, Aerith addressed a slightly fidgeting Denzel. "Are your... parents okay with it too?"

"Yeah, they're fine with it," he responded a little too quickly.

Aerith looked less than convinced, but appeared to let it slide as she seemed almost too tired to argue. With a wave of her hand, she gestured their group forward. "Well, it's almost time to show Riku the sunset. So, let's head up there."

Rep sped up to catch up with Denzel and whispered quickly, worried that he would be noticed and interrupted, "Hey, can I talk to you for a second?"

Spinning around with his eyebrows raised, Denzel stopped. Even knowing that the manacles made him near defenseless, Rep knew that it was a measure of how much Denzel trusted him that he would even consider it. "What's up?"

"What you said back there about being strong, it sort of made me think. See, there's this guy I know called Sora. He's the strongest person I've ever known. And not just because he's a great fighter. He was kind to me when no one else was, even when I gave him no reason to do so. No matter what I did, no matter the mistakes I made, he still thought I had a chance. And even though I wasn't who he thought I was, I hope there was a small part of him that didn't want to see me go." Rep smiled down at Denzel, almost able to imagine that his fluffy orange hair was Sora's brown spikes. There was no need, however, to change his eyes - they were just as blue and gentle as Sora's were. "You remind me of him. I know it might not feel like it now, but you're a lot stronger than you think you are."

Slowly a smile spread across Denzel's face and he nearly laughed in delight. "You really think I can be strong like you and Sora?"

"Yeah. I do."

Rep hardly had time to react as Denzel suddenly flung his arms around his waist. He stumbled back, though quickly regained his footing enough to steady the both of them. Unsure what to do with his hands, Rep just let them hang awkwardly by his sides while Denzel continued to hug him in gratitude. As confused as he was, Rep appreciated the gesture all the same.

"Thanks, Riku," Denzel whispered into his shirt, and for a moment Rep desperately wished he could have said who he really was. Denzel pulled back and Rep was glad to see that his smile had not faded. "I really think you can change, you know. I don't care what anybody else says. You just have to want to."

Rep didn't know how to respond to that. "I..."

"Hey!" Yuffie called, waving her arms frantically. Rep was only able to just make out her silhouette against the sudden darkness of twilight. Aerith and Marlene had disappeared, though Rep was able to find their scents just beyond the ledge behind Yuffie. "Guys, get a move on! You really don't wanna miss this."

"Let's go!" cried Denzel as he grabbed Rep's hand and sped off after them.

They followed Yuffie up and over a crumbling wall to a place that Rep guessed was beyond the city limits. Brambles and thorny bushes were piercing through the dry ground, though the humidity was increasing with each passing second. Cid's sweater was feeling hot and heavy against his skin and, had there not been two children following right behind them, he would have considered taking it off.

Yuffie wiped the sweat off her brow and glanced up at the sky. The dark clouds were starting to roll. "Phew, looks like it might rain tonight."

Denzel kicked at the dirt. "It looks like we could use it."

She nodded in agreement. "It would certainly be good for the new farms - see them over there?" Following her gaze, Rep peered over a hill to see a number of small, square fields off the eastern edge of the town. He could see several straight rows of raised dirt in each one, but was too far away to tell if anything was growing.

Suddenly Rep felt a tug on his shirt. He looked down to see Marlene staring up at him. Her hair was sticking up at odd angles and she was panting. "Riku, could you carry me?"

"Uh..." he looked up at Aerith for guidance. She just shrugged, though Rep had the impression she was laughing. "Sure."

She grinned at held her arms up. Rep bent down and gathered her into his arms, surprised at how light she was. Marlene adjusted her weight to sit more comfortably and put less strain on him. "Thanks, Riku."

"It's no problem."

"She's not too heavy for you? You're not tired?" Yuffie asked.

"I'm fine. Just a little hot."

"Not to worry! We're just... about... THERE!" she cried, running the last few meters up the hill.

Rep had been walking with his head slightly hung so that he could watch for any rocks or sudden drops that might have caused him to trip and drop Marlene, and as such had not been watching the sky. Therefore he had not at all been prepared for what he was about to see as he neared the edge of the cliff where the others were waiting and, with nowhere else to go, finally looked up.

The sky was painted crimson with the thick clouds looking like elegant brush strokes across the canvas. The emerald hills rolled beneath them, seemingly endless until they suddenly collided with a mountain range that appeared to shatter the horizon. Rep could only stare in amazement at the sheer beauty that was unfolding before him.

Aerith beamed at him. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"It's the first," Rep said without thinking, so caught up in the radiance that he forgot who he was supposed to be. "It's my first sunset. I never knew it could look like this. It's so real." Rep felt a tug on his sleeve and, like pulling him out of a dream, he glanced down into Marlene's puzzled eyes.

"But... you said that your favourite part of being home was watching the sunset with the papoos. So it can't be your first, right?"

Immediately his face grew hot as he sensed all eyes on him. As casually as he could muster, Rep explained, "I meant that it's my first sunset since I left home a year ago. I, uh, almost forgot what it looked like after so long. It's nice just to see the sun again." He wasn't sure if it was the fading sunlight, the humidity, or the intense way that everyone was watching him that was making him feel so flustered. "It's colourful," he offered clumsily.

To his surprise, their confusion and suspicion instantly became pity. "You must have been through an awful lot," Aerith said sadly as she lay a hand on his shoulder. Rep gave a silent nod in confirmation.

"That was stupid and careless. I'll have to be a lot more careful in the future if I want to keep this up."

Nonetheless, the slip of the tongue that nearly unravelled his entire identity was not enough to tear Rep away from the site of the sun slowly disappearing over the horizon. There was a flash of red as it kissed the mountainside and, spellbound, Rep watched it sink lower and lower until the tallest mountain peak appeared to be piercing it through the middle. No one said a word until the last rays of light vanished.

"We should head back," said Aerith, laying a hand on Rep's shoulder and gently guiding him away. "It will be night soon and the Heartless tend to become more aggressive in the darkness." She squinted up at the sky and shielded her eyes with her hand. "And Yuffie's right about the rain. I just felt a few drops."

Rep nodded, though found he had to pull himself away from the ledge. Had he not been carrying Marlene still, he would have insisted on staying out and waiting to see the stars for the first time. But he understood what Aerith meant and knew it would be unsafe to have the two children so far away from the town after dark. Just then, he too felt the splatter of a raindrop on his forehead. It was instantly followed by another. And another.

The rain began falling in buckets as they tore back down the hill. The dust quickly became thick mud and Rep had to struggle not to slip while still holding Marlene. The sweater was clinging to him like a second skin and his hair had become plastered to his face. It was a challenge to make out Aerith's back as she ran in front of him and he was nearly relying purely on scent to know where the others were. He thought that someone might have screamed something at one point, but any words that might have been were silenced by a thunderclap that seemed to shake the entire foundation of the hillside.

The only that Rep knew they had finally made it back into town's boundaries was that the elevation suddenly levelled out. Soon after he was able to feel the familiar texture of cobblestones under his feet. Night had completely fallen and only faint street lights, many of which had yet to be restored, were his only guide through the winding streets. He could tell that the streets were deserted and was able to sense clusters of people in various location along parallel lines, knowing that everyone but them had made it home safely.

A shock of yellow flashed by him in the rain, darting by so quickly that he almost thought it was a bolt of lightening. However, no thunder followed. Suddenly the light reappeared in before him, above him, behind him. Surrounding him. Rep skidded to a stop as his chest grew tight.

There was no mistaking that scent.

"Stop!" he screamed to the others. "Don't go any further!"

Yuffie spun around first, followed by Aerith and Denzel. "Riku! Hurry up - we have to get out of the rain! It's crazy out here!"

"Don't move! Just stand exactly where you are." He felt Marlene's arms tighten around his neck in fright. She saw them too.

Aerith took a step towards him and Rep bristled, shaking his head and holding up a hand as an order to not approach any closer. "Riku," she shouted over the rain, "what's going on."

So quietly that none could hear her but Rep, Marlene whispered, "That." The others followed her gaze and instantly understood. There was no need for words.

The flashes Rep had seen were not lights at all - they were eyes. One hundred pairs of glowing yellow eyes motionlessly observed them from the rooftops. Rep knew they were Heartless from the scents, but they looked unlike anything he or Riku had ever seen. They were black as the sky behind them with liquid gold eyes, calling to mind images of Shadows, but they were human sized with powerful limbs and thick, sharp claws. And unlike Shadows, which were always twitching as if they had lost control of their own bodies, these were silent, motionless, and intently focused on their prey.

"Are they Heartless?" Marlene whispered, shuddering against him.

With a lump in his throat, Rep nodded. The rain was distorting their image, making it so that they could strike at any moment without being seen. As slowly as he could, Rep lowered Marlene onto the ground. The Heartless intently followed his every motion yet did not make any move of their own. He could almost feel their eyes on him. Once he was certain that she was securely on the ground, he hissed to Aerith over the rain, "You have to take these off me."

"Riku," she pleaded, "I can't. I'm sorry."

Frozen, Rep stared at her in horror. "There are too many of them for the two of you to handle. There are hundreds of them and these two," he nodded quickly in the direction of Marlene and Denzel, "are in danger. You have to let me fight!"

"I know! I know!" Aerith insisted, glancing up at the Heartless to see if they had reacted. "But you have to understand. The manacles are protecting you from using a darkness you can't control. Riku, there is a very strong possibility that you summoned them here without knowing. You don't have control of... them."

Rep felt like screaming. "What are y - "

"She's right," Yuffie snapped before he could fight back. "We can't take that chance."

"What do you want, then? That we just run? Look around! They're surrounding us. If we call for help, they'll be massacred the second they leave their homes. You can't protect the three of us while fighting them all. You have to trust me or we will all die."

Rep thought he saw Aerith falter as her hand unconsciously reached towards him. "So what are you proposing?"

He took a deep breath and laid out his plan. "I have an attack. It's called Dark Aura and, yes, it relies on the darkness. But it's powerful and I can take out a lot of them at once." Rep glanced up at the Heartless. They had shifted forward on their haunches but had come no closer. "I'll hold them off while you get Marlene and Denzel to safety."

"And how do you know it won't just make everything worse?"

"I don't," he clarified sternly. "But you have to let me try. It's our only chance. I can promise you that I'm not doing this, but you have to let me end it. I'm the only one who can."

Marlene's grip tightened on his hand. "But... what will happen to you? You can't fight them all by yourself."

Rep shivered and tried to convince himself it was just the rain. He knew what had to be done. "I'll be fine. That's not important right now." Rep's eyes strayed to the rooftops, where the Heartless were beginning to descend slowly and methodically. Silently they crept forward in waves, their eyes swimming in the blackness through the rain. "There's no time! Just let me do this. Please."

With a pained expression, Aerith closed her eyes and nodded. "Alright."

She began to walk towards him. Her eyes were trained intently on his, as if the Heartless never existed. Aerith was careful not to move to quickly or loudly. After what seemed like agonizing ages, she finally reached him.

The Heartless stopped and waited.

Aerith's hands closed over the manacles. Up close, Rep could see that her eyes were red and wet. It was impossible to tell if it was from the rain or tears. "I'm sorry. We'll come back for you as soon as they're safe."

"Just get them out."

She nodded and pressed against the cold metal of the manacles. Rep felt them grow hot as the spell on them was being broken. Despite the situation, he felt a stirring of relief in his stomach. He was going to get them out. But suddenly Rep felt a shift in the scents and happened to look up. Every golden eyes were trained directly on his. They had passed directly over Aerith and was watching him intensely. Waiting for him to be freed.

All at once Rep understood. The Heartless obeyed the will of the darkest heart and these were able to plan, think, and act only because they were meant to. The Heartless had not attacked because they were waiting for a command. They had no interest in the others because it was him they were searching for.

Aerith had been right all along - he was unable to control the darkness within him and without knowing it, he was mastering them. And that power was about to be released.

"Wait - don't!" Rep wrenched his hands from her grasp. "You have to run! Now!"

The spell sealed as the Heartless lunged.

Notes:

Soooooo... I had to split it. I refused to but I had to give in. Unless you guys wanted a 40 page chapter...

Do you?

Nah ;)

I don't have a whole lot to say about this one, just that I hoped you liked it. And stay tuned for the next one in a few weeks! (Hopefully not too long, because that's the one with all the action.)

Aaannnddd please leave a review if you like the story so far! It honestly makes my whole day!