Chapter 8- Tearful partings
After defeating the giant Heartless that appeared before him, Riku was left exhausted from the fight. As he caught his breath, he looked over and notices someone familiar staring out ahead of them, gazing upon the destruction that laid ahead: it was none other than Sora, Riku's best friend and rival. "Sora?!" Riku called in surprise, but he did not respond. "Sora!" he called again, and still no response. With the lack of response unnerving him, Riku slowly approached his long time friend, and asked "Sora, it's me-" Riku attempted to say, only for Sora to all of a sudden turn around and attack him with his Keyblade. Thankfully, Riku had drawn his sword in the nick of time, confused over Sora's uncharacteristic behaviour. "Stop it, Sora! Don't you recognize me?" Riku asked, to which Sora angrily replied "Yeah, I recognise you. I can see exactly what you've become!" he exclaimed as he withdrew.
Once he regained his footing, Sora then struck Riku with a beam of light from his Keyblade, which Riku failed to block or dodge in time, and fell back with a thump. "How can the light hurt you? Riku... Have you really become a creature of the dark?" Sora added, sounding confused and saddened at the same time. "You're not Riku anymore... You're just a pawn of the darkness" Sora stated sadly as Riku recovered from the last attack, looking at his friend, who wore a dejected expression upon his face. Then, to his surprise "So be it. It's time for you to face the light!" he declared whilst he hoisted his Keyblade skyward, and it shone with a blinding radiance that took Riku completely by surprise. As he closed his eyes, Riku felt like he was falling yet gently surrounded by the light Sora's Keyblade conjured.
"I'm... fading..." he said in a content and calm voice. "Fading away... into the light" as his form became immersed in the light's glow. Then, to his surprise, a voice called out to him, a familiar voice. And, within the light, Kairi appeared before his eyes saying "You won't fade. You can't fade. There's no power that can defeat you- not the light, not the dark. So don't run from the light- and don't fear the darkness. Because both will make you stronger" "Make me stronger? Darkness too?" Riku asked, sounding confused. "Yeah" Kairi confirmed "Strength that's yours. The darkness inside your heart- it's vast and it's deep... But if you can truly stare into it and never try to look away, you won't be afraid of anything again" "All this time, I've tried to push the darkness away-" Riku said in a realizing tone of voice. "You've just got to remember to be brave. Know that the darkness is there and don't give in. If you do that, you will find strength- the kind that's unlike any other. You'll be able to escape the deepest darkness-" Kairi said until Riku finished the sentence for her "-And I'll be able to see through the brightest light-" "Follow the darkness. It'll show you the way to your friends" "Can I face them?" Riku asked wonderingly. "You don't want to?" Kairi asked, and Riku sincerely answered "You know I do. Of course" With that, Kairi gave Riku a satisfied and gentle smile before fading away. "And I will! With my strength- my dark strength!" he confidently declared as he appeared from darkness, standing in the white void. "Darkness!" he exclaimed, and darkness shrouded him, changing him into his dark attire. With his transformation complete, Riku swung his blade through the light, to re-emerge on the ruins of the island he stood on previously.
"Impossible!" a pained Sora said as he clutched his side in pain, though he spoke with a different voice, as Sora was enveloped in darkness, and Zexion collapsed to one knee in Sora's place, reeling from the pain Riku inflicted upon him. "How is it that you found me when you were there in the light?" he said in a pained expression as he turn to face Riku. "You reek of darkness. Even the light can't block the smell" Riku said in a matter-of-fact voice. "I guess I just followed the darkness right to you" he added while smirking. "This is absurd..." Zexion said, shaking his clenched fist in anger. "Then I shall make you see... That your hopes are nothing- nothing but a mere illusion!" Zexion angrily exclaimed, and battle began between the combatants.
Zexion was considerably powerful, even with Riku utilising the full extent of his dark power, being able to steal Riku's cards and use them himself, creating numerous illusions to deceive his opponent. But after an arduous battle, Zexion was overwhelmed by the darkness that Riku wielded. Down on one knee once more, Zexion, in a satisfied tone of voice, said to him "After all your protests, you're still like us, on the side of darkness" "I know who I am" Riku retaliated, yet this did not deter Zexion "When did that happen?" he asked, rising to his feet as he spoke "You were always terrified of the darkness before-" "Not anymore!" Riku interrupted, as he ran full pelt and struck Zexion with another strike. In his pain and fright, Zexion disappeared into a corridor of darkness, while Riku looked on, wearing a determined expression as he regained his original attire, and proceeded on his way through the islands.
Back in the dark retreats of the castle, Sairu recently awoke from his somewhat peaceful slumber in time to bear witness to Zexion's return, as he clutched his side in pain, wearing an expression of anger and pain. "What IS he?! No one's EVER worn the darkness the way that he does! It's impossible!" he said, as he struck the wall with his fist in frustration. "Riku did this to you then?" Sairu asked, concerned. "Indeed..." Zexion said through gritted teeth "He has now abandoned all fear of the dark, and has welcomed it into his heart. Yet, he wears it like it's nothing! How?" At hearing this, Sairu was glad to hear that Riku no longer feared the darkness, but was torn at seeing the pain his other friend was in right now. Just as he attempted to draw his weapon to heal him, a dark corridor opened, revealing Riku clad in his dark attire, with another figure dressed in a black cloak with form-fitting sleeves and bright red hair with piercing emerald eyes.
Sairu immediately recognised him: the high-spirited teen from his home who always said a certain line to ensure others remembered him for whatever reason. Though he wouldn't admit it aloud, inside, Sairu related to him in the same way with being remembered. Yet, all he could focus on was seeing him again, despite that he was no longer surprised, being reunited with familiar faces from the past. He then noticed Riku giving him a rather dirty look, and then concluded that it wasn't Riku, but the Replica they encountered a while back. Zexion appeared terrified at his appearance, but relaxed once he realized it was the Replica as well. "Oh... Oh, yes. The Replica, of course. We can use this Riku to defeat the real one" he said sounding confident, until he noticed Axel's stiff posture. "Axel?" Zexion asked questioningly.
"Wouldn't you like to be real?" Axel asked flatly, addressing the Replica, who slowly nodded. "All you need is the kind of power that the real Riku doesn't have. If you can get that, you can be a new person- not Riku, nor anybody else. You won't just be a copy of someone. You will be unique, you OWN self" "Axel! What are you saying to him?!" Zexion asked in confusion and anger again. "You know, he's as good a place to start as any" Axel added nonchalantly, gesturing to Zexion. As the Replica ran to Zexion, however, an obstacle stood between them: Sairu, wielding his blade in his left hand, a look of ferocity gleaming in his eyes. "Out of the way" the Replica demanded. Sairu simply ignored him, but then, Zexion, in his confusion asked Sairu "Why?..." he said quietly, until his voice rose "Why would you save me after all I've done to you?! I'm not the friend you once remembered, so why?!" "Because you're the last remnant of my friend" Zexion froze at Sairu's response. Sairu continued "I'd never forgive myself if I couldn't preserve what is left of you. You may be a Nobody, but you're the Nobody of my best friend. So, whether you like it or not, you're still my friend no matter what you say. I will protect you" Sairu confidently declared, before single-mindedly setting his sight on the Replica before him.
"Mind if I take his power as well?" the Replica addressed Axel, who simply shrugged his shoulders at the request. "Do what you want to do. You're you, after all" and with that, he decided to lean against the wall, getting a front-row seat at the action. Sairu and the Replica began an intense battle, both of their assets being swift and powerful strikes of their blades. If it wasn't for his years of training, Sairu may have fallen right at the get-go, but he was holding his own against the Replica of his friend remarkably well. It was practically eternal, each parrying their opponent's blows, then attempting to strike one another, and back to parrying the attacks again. Then, to Sairu's horror, the Replica found an opening, and sent Sairu flying with a kick into the wall beside Zexion. The latter could only watch in horror, as he had done with the entire battle. With that, the Replica withdrew his blade, and addressed Sairu "Not bad at all. You're a lot stronger than I thought. But now... it's over!" he exclaimed as he charged at Sairu, holding his left hand out, ready to strike and take his strength.
Sairu was too disoriented to move out of range or even attempt to block. As he watched his opponent running towards him, his mind flashed images of key events in his life: his first time training with his brother, a dismal birthday celebration, and images of his most cherished friends: his companions through the castle, the silver-haired hero of darkness, Riku, and the King of Disney castle, Mickey; Sora, the spiky haired goof who always smiled, Donald, the temperamental duck magician, Goofy, the kind and surprisingly reasonable knight; and most of all, Kairi, the red-haired princess, and last but not least, Ienzo, the blue-haired brother from another mother. With those thoughts, he felt content at waiting for the inevitable to happen, to feel the iron grip of his adversary's fingers clasp around his neck, and resigned himself to his fate. But, after some time elapsed, he felt no such grip. And once he opened his eyes, his confusion was resolved, if only to be replaced by horror: the Replica's iron grip was around Zexion's neck as opposed to his.
The Replica was enveloped by a menacing blue aura until he released his grip around Zexion's neck, and turned to Axel. Axel simply gave Zexion a mocking smirk, coldly remarking "So sorry, Zexion. You just found out way too much" he said as he disappeared via dark corridor with the Replica in tow. After their departure, Sairu peeled himself off the wall and ran to Zexion as he fell backwards. Sairu managed to catch him before he hit the ground, resting his head in his right hand as he kneeled over him. Sairu gazed upon the face of his saviour and best friend in horror, tears threatening to flow from his eyes, who gave him an exhausted yet satisfied smile upon his lips. His body was slowly fading away into darkness, but gave it no notice as he remained in Sairu's arms.
"Why...?" was all Sairu could manage with his arid dry mouth. Zexion merely sniggered at this and remarked in disjointed sentences "I guess... like you... I couldn't... let go of our past... To see you die... would destroy me... I joined the Organization to regain... my heart" he struggled to say. This only increased the horror within Sairu's heart as he pieced together what that meant "Then... you were..." Sairu murmured in shock but Zexion interrupted "Indeed... Once I had a heart, I had planned... to come back... to you and Kairi... like old times... Now, I will fade... into darkness, an incomplete being" "No" Sairu said defiantly, as the first tears streaked his cheeks. Zexion simply gazed at him in confusion. "You were never incomplete, even now..." he sobbed as he spoke, the tears cascading his cheeks in a torrent "Kairi and I were always with you. You didn't need a heart to remain our friend. We would have given you a new heart ourselves, filling your void with our souls" At hearing this, Zexion's confusion turned into a serene smile, clearly having been touched by his friend's words.
"Sairu... Thank you..." Zexion said, on the verge of tears himself. "I... understand now... I always had..." and soon, he disappeared from Sairu's arms altogether, though his last words lingered on "... a heart" With him, Sairu's arms fell uselessly to his side, remaining in that kneeling position for some time. The tears didn't stop falling as Sairu remained there, drowning in despair over the loss of his dear friend. He then yelled as loud as he possibly could, overwhelmed by the sadness that consumed him from inside. Once he stopped screaming, Sairu then blankly stared at the ceiling with tear-stricken eyes, hoping to see his memories of Ienzo flash before his eyes again, but not this time. As he returned his gaze to in front of him, he noticed the darkness had not faded, but instead, what was presumably the residue of Zexion's being formed into a corridor of darkness before him. As he rose to his feet, Sairu walked absentmindedly into its depths, unsure of where it would take him, nor caring in the slightest. For him, everything now seemed as dark as that room he was in, the room... of endings.