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Chapter 35- Hollow Bastion: Darkness

Sora stood over Riku, Keyblade pressed to the silver-haired boy's throat. Riku's clothes melted back into their original form as he stared nervously up at the Keyblade Master. Sora narrowed his eyes at Riku and released him from the Keyblade's cold touch.

Riku scrabbled to his feet and ran to the door at the top of the stairs. He kept running until he reached the Great Chapel. Tears fell down his face. "I fought so hard. I'm sorry, Iji. I don't want you to go. I don't want Sora to take you back. We were meant to be together, for the rest of eternity. You said it yourself that you'd follow me to the end of the world." He punched the wall as he thought about the Keyblade. "Why? It was mine! I was going to get Kairi's Heart back with it! And then I was going to live happily ever after with Iji."

"Fairy tales aren't always so simple."

Riku turned. A figure in a brown cloak stood before him. His hood covered his face. A harsh blue glow emanated off of him. The being's breath rattled deeply in his lungs.

"Know this; the Heart that is strong and true shall win the Keyblade."

Riku glared at him. "Are you saying my Heart is weaker than Sora's?"

The man nodded. "For that instant, it was. He believed he would win, and he did."

Riku shook his head in denial.

"However," the man continued. "You can become stronger. You showed no fear in stepping through the door to darkness. It held no terror for you. Plunge deeper into the darkness and your Heart will grow even stronger."

Riku shook his head again slowly as he thought. "I can't do it… not without Iji by my side. I can't leave her."

The man's voice grew stern. "Then she will have to join you. If she refuses, then you know what she meant wasn't true."

Riku considered his words, thinking about what he could achieve with the new powers this man offered. 'Would Iji come with me?' Riku thought. 'Of course she would. She loves me… But what about my light? We would have to give it up for it to work…'

"Your decision?" asked the man.

'I can't back out of something like this.' Riku nodded. "What should I do?"

The man's voice became softer. "It's really quite simple. Open yourself to the darkness. That is all. Let your Heart, your being, become darkness itself."

Darkness started to ooze out of the ground and flow around Riku's body. It turned into a green glow. Riku could feel the power welling up inside him, filling his being. Suddenly there was pain and deep laughter.

"Foolish boy, so gullible…" hissed the cloaked man. Streams of his blue light flew out to cover Riku.

"What…? What are you doing?" gasped Riku. There was terror in his voice.

"For so long I have waited for a suitable body. Now I have found it." The cloak faded away, leaving nothing but blue light and a dark silhouette.

"No!" yelled Riku, falling to his knees. "Iji! Please help me!"

The laughter intensified. "She's no longer yours, boy. I've been waiting for her too. She holds the answer to the final door! And from now on, she's mine!"

"Iji… I'm sorry…" Riku whispered. Everything started to fade away in front of him. It felt like he was dying inside. Darkness pulled him down. Soon there was nothing but a tiny pinprick of light in the distance.

*****

There was a throb of pain in Iji's heart. "Riku…?" she asked worriedly.

"Yes?" replied a voice.

Iji turned around. The door to her room had been opened so quietly she hadn't heard it. Riku smirked and raised an eyebrow at her. Iji jumped up. "I'm so glad you're back, Riku! I was getting worried…"

"Shh, it's okay now. I'm back." Riku walked over to her and put a finger on her lips to silence her.

As his finger touched her face, her eyes widened. "You're not Riku…"

In a flash, Riku's other hand wrapped around her throat. "How right you are." he mused, his voice changing into two. "It's been quite a while. Seven years I'm guessing, though it was hard to tell the time in that abyss and you… you haven't aged at all." His hand became tighter. Iji gasped for air. "Do you have any idea what I've been through? Seven years, I wandered around in that forsaken place! Seven years that door taunted me! Within my grasp, but so far away! But not anymore, now that I have you again..."

"No…" Iji's mind flashed back. A man stood over her, laughing as darkness tore at her being.

'Riku' smiled sinisterly. "Good, so you remember after all. And that reminds me. I never did get to finish my experiment, did I?" He pulled a jar out of his pocket. Iji struggled at the sight of it. With one hand, he popped the top off. The dark matter inside squirmed, then leapt at Iji. It landed on her face and entered her eyes.

Iji tried to scream, but her airway was constricted. 'Talara!' she shouted in her mind.

Talara's voice came weakly. 'I can't…fight it... Goodbye, Iji… I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help.'

'No, listen! The last feather! Hide yourself in there! I'll get you back!' Iji yelled frantically. The remnants of light that fought for freedom inside her retreated. With a quick movement of her hand and before the darkness swallowed her totally, Iji plucked her last white feather and stowed it in her pocket. Then she let the shadows cloud her vision.

He let go of her. She dropped to the ground. "Get up," he ordered. She rose to her feet. Her eyes were completely empty. "Whose are you?" he asked, eyes narrowed.

"I'm… all yours…" she smiled emptily.

"Good," he smirked. "I have a job for you."

*****

The battle up to the Great Chapel had been exhausting on Sora, Donald and Goofy. They had hardly any magic left to heal their wounds.

"Take this!" Sora sliced a Wizard Heartless in half. Sora sighed in relief and leant against a wall. Donald tossed him an elixir, which Sora downed in an instant. "Thanks," Sora wiped his mouth.

"Do you guys hear that?" inquired Goofy. He pointed to a darkened doorway.

Sora left his spot on the wall and joined him. He walked a little way into the entrance and strained his ears.

"So, I see that the path has emerged at last." A strange voice echoed down from a set of stairs. It sounded familiar, yet it didn't.

"Yes, the Keyhole to darkness." answered a female voice. Sora could tell it belonged to Maleficent.

"Unlock it and the Heartless will overrun this world.' There was a hint of relish in the first voice.

"What do I care? The darkness holds no power over me. Rather, I will use its power to rule all worlds." Maleficent's voice grew louder.

"Such confidence…"

There was a moment of silence.

"Oh! Impossible! The Princesses of Heart are all here!" gasped Maleficent. "Except for her…" Again there was silence.

"She cannot hide forever. Rest assured, have patience and she will appear. She is the last piece missing from our puzzle, but no matter. If need be, the door can be forced open."

"Forced open? How will that be possible?"

"I may be able to persuade Iji. She is quite taken with me to be honest." The strange voice chuckled.

Sora growled as he listened. "Riku, you piece of scum!"

There was a clatter. Sora turned. Goofy grinned in embarrassment and picked up his fallen shield.

"The king's fools are here." Maleficent said in a hushed tone. "I'll deal with them myself. You go and guard the Princesses."

Sora gave Goofy a death-stare. "Great way to be stealthy…"

"Gwarsh, sorry Sora. I'm a knight, not a ninja." Goofy explained clumsily.

"Let's get up there then." Donald motioned towards the stairs.

The trio ran up the stairway and burst through a set of large oak doors. Maleficent stood on the podium, smiling slyly. "My, my. I'm afraid you're too late. Any moment now, the final Keyhole will be unsealed. This world will be plunged into darkness. It is unstoppable."

"We'll stop it." Sora retorted, looking deadly serious. "After coming this far, there's no way we're gonna let that happen!"

"You poor, simple fools…" Maleficent mused. "Don't you see that your departure into darkness is inevitable? The time of the Keyblade Master is drawing to an end, along with the light. When I open the last door, everything will become darkness and I will rule over it all!" Her evil laugh boomed throughout the castle. Underneath her, the rock podium split from the ground and rose into the air.

Sora charged at the floating boulder and started to slice away at it. "Goofy! Attack Maleficent! Donald! Cast Aero on us and keep back!"

*****

Maleficent glared at Sora and faded as a portal appeared. Splatters of blood dripped onto the ground as she left.

"She's hiding in there somewhere." Sora healed himself and strode into the portal. Maleficent held her side and leaned on her staff awkwardly in the middle of the hall. "Tell me where Riku and Iji are!" demanded Sora.

"Never…tell…" wheezed Maleficent. She attempted to cast a spell, but failed.

"Do you need some help?" asked a semi-familiar voice.

"Riku!" Sora turned. Riku walked past him to beside Maleficent.

"Is that-?" Donald gaped at the weapon in Riku's hand.

"Yes. A Keyblade." Riku looked his new weapon up and down. The design of it was demonic, seeming to have been cast straight from out of the darkness. "But unlike yours," Riku sneered at Sora's Keyblade. "this Keyblade has the power to unlock people's Hearts. Allow me to demonstrate… Behold!" In a quick, fluid motion, Riku swung around and stabbed his Keyblade deep into Maleficent's chest. "Now, open your Heart, surrender it to the darkness! Become darkness itself!"

Just as Sora gasped, Riku disappeared.

Maleficent started to glow a sickly shade of green. Her wounds healed right before the group's eyes. "This is it!" The witch laughed, almost disbelieving what she was feeling. "This power! Darkness… The true darkness!" The glow surrounded her turned into flames and engulfed her. Her body twisted as it morphed into a dark coloured dragon. Green flames shot out of Maleficent's mouth as she reared up and attacked.

"Duck!" yelled Sora, pushing Donald and Goofy to the ground.

"Do you mean Donald?" asked Goofy, grinning foolishly.

Donald slapped Goofy across the face. "There's no time to be stupid! Come on!"

Sora ran around the back of Maleficent as Donald and Goofy distracted her. Using the Keyblade as a vault, Sora leapt onto the dragon's back and ran up her spine. Maleficent shook her body to try and kick Sora off. The Keyblade Master held fast and made his way onto her head. Maleficent swiped at him, but Sora rolled back and instead she raked herself across her eyes, blinding her. She bellowed in pain. Sora took the chance and started to attack her face and neck. Before long, Maleficent screeched in an un-human voice. Sora jumped off just as she was again engulfed in flames. This time, all that was left was a tattered black cloak.

"The bigger they are, the harder they fall!" Sora laughed in triumph. He was interrupted as Riku appeared once more. He smirked and walked over to the coat and spat on it.

"How ironic." he said out loud to nobody in particular. "She was just another puppet after all."

"What?" Donald asked.

Riku turned around to face them. "The Heartless were using Maleficent from the beginning. She failed to notice the darkness in her Heart eating away at her. A fitting end for such a fool." He rubbed his spit into the cloak with a foot and it disappeared. He glanced up at Sora. "I'll be waiting for you up in the Grand Hall." He faded once more.

"Riku!" Sora yelled at the empty space. He spun around and ran out the portal. Donald and Goofy ran after him, calling for him to slow down.