Chapter Twenty One: Echoes of the Past
"Hah. So that was Roy's brother..." I muttered, pacing about my shop. I was just thinking about him... he was here a couple days ago. "He seemed a little... vengeful. So what was he talking about? The 'divines'?"
I could tell you, but...
"Who's there?" I asked aloud, pivoting around. Nobody was there...
"Guess I'm hearing things..." I muttered to myself.
"You're not hearing anything but me," a creepy, familiar voice echoed. It had to be coming from outside...
I ran over to the door and kicked it down. I stepped out into the empty streets, hearing the wind howl as wind blew past, ruffing my hair. I looked around... there was nothing, save for a tumbleweed that blew past me. I finally looked up, spotting a man in a black coat standing atop the roof of a building in town. His hood was up, but my heart was telling me...
"You could only be... Xehanort!" I shouted, summoning Way to the Dawn.
"That's right..." a sinister voice said, pulling up the hood on the coat. "Riku. It's been quite a while."
"How the hell are you alive?" I shouted. "You should be dead!"
"You have forgotten just how strong the darkness is," Xehanort taunted. He jumped down to look me in the eyes.
"I forsook the darkness long ago," I said to him. "Pure darkness, at least. It's not something I need anymore. I've got friends. I always had them."
"Who needs friends when you've got servants?" Xehanort asked. He snapped his fingers and two other figures in black coats appeared behind him, as well as a couple dozen Dusks. "Friends are nothing more than a liability. You can count on them for a little while, but eventually, they'll fail you. Just like Sora failed you all those years ago."
"Sora didn't fail me. I failed Sora..." I muttered.
I failed myself...
"See what friends will do for you while you fight alone," Xehanort said, disappearing in a dark corridor along with his accomplices. The Dusks' mouths unzipped.
"It's been a while since I seriously fought..." I said, getting into a battle pose. "This could get a little messy."
I waited for the Dusks to make the first move. A couple moved in to attack me, but I dispached them with a single stroke. A few more moved in, but I jumped over them, then sliced one in half. The other two attacked me with their spiny 'hands,' but I knocked them aside, then did a spin slash to eliminate them. A few more moved in, but instead of fighting, I closed my eyes.
Dark Break!
I jumped up, diving down on the Nobodies. I did the same many more times, and in just a few moments, the street was clear again. More Dusks appeared. I attacked them, nimbly dodging all their blows while finishing each one off with a single stroke. After just a couple minutes, the Dusks were gone.
The wind blew again, ruffling my hair once more. Another tumbleweed blew past me.
"So it begins..." I muttered, turning to go back into my shop while dismissing my Keyblade.