Chapter 27.

No sign of life came from Riku after that last utterance. Sora tried repeatedly to revive him, but knew it was already too late. Despair washed over Sora like a wave as he held Riku's body close to him and wept bitterly.

"I wish I had followed my Heart when it was practically screaming the truth to me..." Sora sobbed as he brushed a lock of silver hair from Riku's face. He looked peaceful, the beginnings of a smile gracing the pale, still visage. "You needed me... and I killed you... I'm so sorry..."

A loud blast broke Sora's concentration. A flash of purple light erupted over the horizon. Sora couldn't make out the source of it from his position. He gently laid Riku on the ground and stood up to get a better look.

Grief quickly turned to anger as he witnessed Xehanort attacking ally and opponent indiscriminately, shooting orbs of concentrated Dark magic in all directions.

You soulless Bastard! Do you even care about your own followers? Sora thought. I have to put an end to this... once and for all! I won't allow anyone else to die!

XXXXXXXX

The old man didn't care who got hurt or killed in the process of weeding out his prize. All the necessary pieces of the X-Blade were assembled, all that was needed now was the clash of Light and Darkness. He could practically feel the weight of the coveted weapon in his hands.

"How many more, Xehanort?"

The old man turned around, a twisted smile forming on his face when he saw who his challenger was.

"How many more have to die!" Sora seethed. "Eraqus... Riku... all those Nobodies you killed off so indiscriminately... those who I don't know about..."

Xehanort began to laugh, a cold, jeering laugh equally as piercing as Ansem's or Xemnas.

"Necessary sacrifices... though for many of them, Death would be merciful. That fool Eraqus- so frightened of the Darkness that he could never come to terms with the fact that Darkness was around him and inside him. It tore him apart in the end... So I had Terra help him along..."

"How can you justify murder!" Sora seethed.

"How many times do I have to tell you? Death was mercy to these individuals! I've seen all their minds- they would all rather die than face the life they came from..."

"No... Riku too?"

"Oh yes. I know for a fact that he didn't reveal everything about himself to you. He always told that same story to appease you- he wanted to broaden his horizons, become stronger, felt like island life was suffocating him... sound familiar? It was a lie!"

"No... why would he lie to me?"

"He thought the truth would break your Heart. Riku was an only child- you knew that much... but the reason why he never even got a chance at having siblings is because his mother died giving birth to him! And rather than love him as a memento of his late wife... Riku's father held a grudge- from that first day. He named him Riku because that's all he'd ever view him as... earth to walk on and kick aside!"

Sora clutched his Keyblade so hard it turned his knuckles white.

"As he grew older, the abuse became more harsh. Riku soon became obsessed with becoming stronger- so he could protect both himself and his dearest friends from his father's wrath. He encountered Terra soon after, and for the first time, Riku saw a glimmer of hope in his sad existence. He tried to summon his own Keyblade every day- from the day he inherited the power. For nine years, his efforts were fruitless, and he abandoned the effort, wondering if his encounter with Terra was in fact a dream. Meanwhile, his desire to leave the islands became an obsession as his father's abuse continued, and he soon brought up the idea of building a raft. You and Kairi were very supportive of the idea, as you were both at an age of curiosity, and therefore didn't question it."

"He could have just told the truth. Why does he allow himself to suffer on his own like this?" Sora was repeating this phrase to himself over and over, becoming increasingly enraged at what Xehanort was revealing.

"You remember the night of the storm? That was when Riku finally managed to summon Kingdom Key. He was at home, quietly preparing for the following day's journey, when his father came home, drunk and angry. He began to savagely attack Riku- who couldn't stand it anymore. He somehow found himself blocking his father's blows with a weapon he had never seen before, and he subconsciously used his Dark Aura to stun him. In a moment of desperation- Riku had opened his Heart to Darkness, and Ansem took advantage of that, quickly seducing him to go with him. Riku agreed, feeling that a life in Darkness couldn't possibly be as bad as a life with his father. You know what happened after that..."

"I never thought it was that bad..." Sora muttered.

"Don't you get it? Riku would still be at his father's mercy if it wasn't for the powers of Darkness! Do you really think he would've blindly followed you back to the Destiny Islands and his father at the end of all this? He was reluctant to go with after you two defeated Xemnas, only agreeing in the end because he knew you would be there!"

"No..."

"What?"

"He wouldn't need to go back there... he had a family with the Light. Any one of them would have gladly taken him in. Yen Sid viewed him as a son, Mickey viewed him as a brother. And he's my best friend. If I only knew... I would've protected him, like he protected me all those times... But for now... I will do everything in my power to make sure no other Hearts succumb to Darkness and hurt more people!" Sora rushed at Xehanort and swung his Keyblade at him with as much strength as he could summon. Xehanort blocked the attack with his own Keyblade, and a a wave of power erupted from both Keyblades the moment the two met.

The smoke generated by the wave settled slowly, revealing the end result of the clash. A crack formed in Xehanort's Keyblade, and it soon spread across the entire weapon, causing it to shatter in it's wielder's hand. Sora's Keyblade disappeared, in it's place was a massive weapon- two Keyblades intersected to form an X, a massive blade emerging from the intersection.

"Is this..." Sora began.

"The X-Blade!" Xehanort exclaimed. "It's happened! With this, I can finally reawaken Kingdom Hearts and gain control over the worlds of both Light and Darkness!"

"You're not gonna gain control over another thing!" Sora roared, charging at Xehanort and plunging the X-blade directly into his heart.

It happened almost at once. Xehanort died the moment the blade pierced his heart. The empty shell of his body began to draw in something from the surrounding area. Sora realized that it was drawing in the shattered fragments of Xehanort's heart. The X-Blade began to shake violently and grow hot in Sora's hand, causing him to drop it. It shattered into many pieces the instant it struck the ground, each fragment vanishing in a flash of blinding Light or suffocating Darkness. Sora's Keyblade sat in it's place, untouched.

A massive orb of unstable energy had formed around Xehanort's body. The act of fragmenting his Heart had rendered it unstable, and Sora knew something was going to happen very soon- before he would have a chance to escape.

"I guess I'll see you soon... Riku..." Sora said, closing his eyes calmly as the orb of energy exploded, engulfing everything in it's path.

End of Chapter 27