A.N: Trigger warning- character suicide in this chapter.
Chapter 21
Riku wasn't handling the grief as well as he would've hoped. He regularly broke down when confronted with a person, place or object that reminded him of Sora. Nightmares now plagued the boy nightly- images of Sora dying in various, horrible ways as he looked on helplessly, often causing him to wake up shaking, a shout of rage or grief waiting on his lips.
He didn't know he had done it yet, but his thoughts and behavior were causing him to change in the way his captors desired. He was allowing Darkness back in again by constantly dwelling on his troubled thoughts and avoiding people and places that would trigger memories, not knowing those places held the knowledge that would set things right again.
Sora was still alive, unconscious at the present, but his heart continued to beat and he still drew breath as Myde rushed back to Yen Sid's tower with the boy in his arms. Sora had let his guard down around another replica- this one having the appearance of Riku. The replica had attacked quickly, subduing the boy with a poison attack, only to be quickly struck out of commission by others. The replica was now sedated and slung over Lumaria's back, since one of them had the idea of getting information from the replicas.
Yen Sid took no time for formalities when the small group arrived, laying Sora directly on the ground and ordering Myde to bring him a vial of panacea from their supplies. He had Lumaria lock the replica in one of the spare rooms, warning him not to take his eye off of him as he turned his attention to Sora. The boy was pale and shaking, but Yen Sid looked relieved as he completed the brief exam, grateful the boy wouldn't require a stronger antidote to set him right.
Sora's eyes shot open and he bolted upright with a look of pure disgust on his face the instant Yen Sid dosed him with the panacea- he choked, sputtered and let out a curse.
"AUGH! That stuff tastes RANCID! How on earth did Riku let you dose him with that bile for three days? I think I'm going to throw up from just one dose!" Yen Sid began to laugh, completely forgetting the seriousness of the situation in the humor of Sora's reaction.
"I think it was in his best interests that he was asleep through most of the doses, but I understand your distress. Panacea's not the most pleasant of potions, but it works!"
"And why did I need a dose of that stuff to begin with?" Sora said sourly, crossing his arms over his chest in a defiant manner. Yen Sid's expression became more serious.
"The war has began, and I should warn everyone not to let their guard down, not even for a moment. It seems that the enemy has crafted replicas in the likeness of several of our allies. Sightings have confirmed likenesses of you, Riku and Mickey so far, but the odds are pretty high that there are others. Lumaria has managed to capture one of them and we intend to interrogate him. Maybe Xehanort let something slip to them."
"Wait... you mean torture?!" Sora exclaimed in disbelief.
"Not if it isn't necessary." Yen Sid answered. "I prefer not to use those sort of methods, and would only use them in extreme cases. But I think these replicas would willingly talk if we approached the matter... delicately."
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The replica was awake and putting up a massive fight. Lumaria could hear shouting amid the sound of crashing and breaking objects. He was challenging anyone who walked within earshot. Yen Sid approached the door, showing slight alarm at the noise coming from within. He ignored the looks of shocked disbelief coming from Sora, Myde and Lumaria and opened the door.
An enraged Riku replica shot out of the room like a bullet, only to be stopped in his tracks by Yen Sid's tall, intimidating form. The look of contempt quickly changed to one of terror, and the replica cowered in his presence.
"Riku, can we talk?" Yen Sid stated matter-of-factly as he walked in and shut the door behind him.
The replica began to calm down in Yen Sid's presence, though he still acted frightened around him. The fact that he was showing even a slightly trusting demeanor around him seemed to suggest that Yen Sid had not been copied, and the replica knew he was standing before the original.
"Master... why? Why are you showing hospitality to those impostors?" The replica exclaimed wildly.
"Impostors?" Yen Sid asked, putting on an air of one who was confused.
"Yes. Don't you know? I'm the only one that's left! Everyone else... Sora, Kairi, Mickey, all the others... they're gone! Those others... they're fake! They've been made to mock me and the fact that I'm all alone!" The replica's eyes shined with tears, his voice quivering as he spoke.
"Who told you that?" Yen Sid asked.
"I saw it with my own eyes!" The replica shrieked. "Cut down, like firewood! They weren't given a chance!"
"Riku..." Yen Sid said, trying to act in a comforting manner, but still trying to get to the point. "There's something I need to show you..." He drew a knife from his robes and, taking the replicas hand in his own, drew the edge swiftly across both their palms. Yen Sid remained impassive, but the replica let out a yelp as the blade cut him.
"You've been deceived, you poor boy..." Yen Sid said as he cast cure over the bleeding cut on his own hand. The replica, however, looked at his own hand with growing shock and horror as the cut gave no blood. "The reason you can't bleed is because you have a doll's body. Whoever convinced you that you were alone in this world lied to you. Your friends are all still alive and still safe, and I know that your own origin still lives on out there somewhere. You're not alone!"
The replica continued to look at the clean cut on his hand, and suddenly a soft sob broke the silence. He was crying.
"Is everything... I know... a lie?" he asked between sobs, suddenly seizing the knife that Yen Sid abandoned on a table. He turned it toward his heart.
"Wait! There's no need to do this! Things can be done to set everything right!" Yen Sid exclaimed, but he was too late. The replica, unable to cope with the new information, had plunged the knife into his own heart, ending his life. He was gone before his body hit the ground. Yen Sid lowered his head in regret, certain that his own words had driven the replica to suicide.
Sora and the others had rushed into the room shortly after, led in by the commotion.
"Is he..." Sora began, quickly silenced by Yen Sid's solemn nod.
"He couldn't cope with the knowledge that he had been deceived. He took his own life." The old wizard said sadly.
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They couldn't just leave the replica's body in the chambers, so the group as a whole decided to bury him on the castle grounds. Yen Sid remained near the simple grave well into the night, lost in his own musings.
It had been a long time since Yen Sid had parted ways with his old comrades. Eraqus was long gone and Xehanort had abandoned the way of Light. He had been giving his former comrade a lot of thought in recent months however. The Xehanort he knew was long gone at this point, he knew, but the man's actions would still cause him shock after Yen Sid had been convinced he knew everything of how he behaved.
He couldn't believe that Xehanort would go so far as to completely destroy the emotions of his own followers. Yet he had used the emotions of several replicas and real people to deceive them into following him, giving no thought to future consequences. Yen Sid had witnessed one of those consequences in action that day as one of the followers Xehanort tricked was driven to suicide when he learned the truth.
"What on earth is your motivation, my old comrade?" Yen Sid asked nothing in particular. "There has to be more to this than possessing a weapon..."
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"Ansem! What business brings you here now? I hope it's to inform me that my final vessel is ready!"
"Hardly..." Ansem replied coldly, brutally shoving a bound and bruised figure before Xehanort. It was Maleficent.
"This witch has confessed to aiding in the escape of the prisoner. But that's not the sole reason I have brought her before you today. It seems she has something she wishes to say!" Ansem roughly lifted the dark fairy to a standing position. "So what is it you have to say, hag?"
Maleficent looked Xehanort in the eyes with a look of cold defiance as she spoke.
"I wish to offer myself up as a vessel in the boy's place!"
End of Chapter 21.