Chapter 2 – The Heart of Atlantis
The next few days fell into a pattern. Riku, Mickey and Lea helped Kida whenever trouble arose. They kept using the crystals and Ketaks Kida and Milo had lent them, and the Atlantean guard was glad to have the extra help.
In return, Milo worked on the translations. He had little time during the day, but Riku noticed the dark circles that had formed under his eyes as time went on. Whether it was from late nights or concern for his wife's safety and the city's wellbeing, Riku didn't know. All they could do was protect Atlantis until they figured out what was going on with the Heartless.
"Someone's behind all this," Riku declared one night after a particularly grueling battle. He sank into a pile of ornate cushions in the corner and closed his eyes. His stomach rumbled, but the thought of trying to use Atlantis's complicated eating utensils again just made him even more tired.
"Just now figuring that out, are we?" Lea released his hair from its ponytail and raked a hand through it. He drug one of his cushions over to the low table in the middle of the room and plopped down on it, digging into the feast laid out for them.
Mickey joined him, eyeing the dish with brightly colored crustaceans with suspicion before settling on a purple fruit instead.
"Riku, arentcha hungry?" he asked.
"It's okay, no one here will judge you for eating with your hands." Lea popped one of the fruits into his mouth and swallowed. His messy eating was just like Sora's. Kairi used to scold Sora all the time about it, and he'd even nearly choked on a chicken bone once. Thanks to her intervention, it had ended up hitting Riku in the face instead of remaining lodged in Sora's throat. At the time, Riku had been annoyed by Sora's carelessness, but now it was a fond memory.
Sora, Kairi, I hope you're doing okay. He sighed and stood, joining Mickey and Lea at the table.
"I think we should ask Kida to take us to the Heart of Atlantis," he said.
"That's what I've been saying for the last several days." Lea took a swig of his drink to wash down the latest bite. "Xehanort's probably sent one of his lackeys after it. Better if we get to it before they do."
Mickey frowned. "See, fellas, I get what you're saying, but I don't know that Kida and Milo trust us enough yet. They said they've been rebuilding, which means somethin' musta happened. If it really is the heart of their world, then they gotta keep it safe. We can't go in there without their permission."
Riku sighed. "I think it's more than just that. Remember what Kida said? The Heart of Atlantis is alive. It's built on the emotions of past rulers and has a consciousness of its own."
Something about Riku's words sent the wheels turning in Mickey's head. "Gosh, that's it! When you think about it, it's not all that different from what Kingdom Hearts is supposed to be."
Oh. Well, Xehanort's interest made a lot more sense. If the Heart of Atlantis really were like Kingdom Hearts, of course he would want to find it. Anything that might help him fulfill his twisted goals was fair game in his eyes. The three of them agreed to bring it up again with Kida and Milo. But before they could finish eating, Milo burst into their room. His hair was sticking up all over his head, his glasses askew. He panted for breath and clutched his chest.
"Riku, Lea, Mickey! You gotta come quick. The Heartless are in the palace!"
Exhausted though they were, they scrambled to their feet and followed him. Riku hardly glanced at the grand hall, the one surrounded by shallow pools filled with water lilies, as they passed through. Before the sight had made him marvel, but now there was no time for anything but their task at hand.
They reached the throne room. Just as Milo had said, the place was swarming with Heartless. Riku summoned his Keyblade. Hack, slash, boom. Over and over and over again. His muscles trembled and shook, pushed as they were beyond the limit. Sleep. He needed sleep. He'd gotten too little of it. The Heartless attacked at all hours of the night, and that meant he'd been woken up at all hours of the night for the last several days. His movements were slow, sluggish.
"Where's Kida?" Lea searched the place for her, but their usual ally was nowhere to be seen.
"She went to the Heart of Atlantis." Milo had grabbed one of her usual spears and was using it to stab at the Heartless. Riku had to give it to him. He packed more of a punch than his appearance would have let on. He was no Kida, but he was defending himself well enough. Maybe she'd trained him herself.
"She what?!"
"I tried to stop her, but we didn't have much of a choice. If they reach it before she does, we could lose the whole city."
Riku grabbed Milo's shoulder. "Milo, take me there. Mickey, if you and Lea can handle this, we'll go make sure she's okay."
Mickey and Lea took a brief moment to nod before returning to fighting.
"If you say so," Milo said. "C'mon, follow me."
Milo led Riku into a mysterious cavern. The place was almost completely dark, illuminated only by an unearthly glow coming from above them. Giant stone masks surrounded a blue flame, pulsing and swirling with the very life of the city itself.
"Kida!" Milo's voice echoed across the cavern walls. Kida was locked in combat with two figures. One wielded a long blue shield, the other a familiar jagged navy and red blade with a blue eye embedded in the hilt. They all stood on top of the water, Kida because, well, she was Kida, and the other two because their patches of water were frozen solid.
"Milo! Hurry, the Heart—" Kida stopped. "Riku?" she asked, a look of confusion and relief warring on her face as she glanced between Riku and her opponent, who was also Riku.
"Shut up!" the Riku Replica shouted. "I'm the real Riku, not him!"
Riku summoned his Keyblade. "Kida, don't listen to him! That's not me! It's my Replica. Look at his eyes!"
Kida parried the Replica's blow with her staff. "They are golden! And so are this other man's!"
"Yes, exactly! Xehanort's taken them over!"
Great. Not only had Xehanort gotten his hands on Even, he'd also somehow found the Riku Replica. So his vision of his other self in the dream version of Pinocchio's world hadn't just been a fluke. How? How was that even possible? Riku wondered if this is how Sora felt when he saw Vanitas for the first time.
Guess we know who two more of the Seekers are. What are we up to now, eight? Nine?
His Replica had seemed at peace when he'd last spoken to him, but after Xehanort's meddling, even that seemed to have changed. Riku had the feeling Even hadn't necessarily rejoined Xehanort's ranks willingly, either. His sudden disappearance, combined with his possessed reappearance here, with a replica in tow…
A replica. His specialty was creating replicas. What if Xehanort had found the Riku Replica's heart in the darkness and had made Even create a new body for it?
It was just a hunch, but if Even had made a new body for the Riku Replica, then that meant it should be possible for them to make new bodies for Roxas and Naminé.
"Who's Xeha— oh, never mind! Hang on, Kida, we're coming!" Milo stumbled across the rocks with Riku right behind him. Riku froze the water in front of them just in time for them both to go sliding across it. He charged at his Replica as Milo took on Even.
"You're inferior! I'm the one who deserves to exist, not you! I don't care if my heart is fake!" The Riku Replica bared his teeth and slashed at Riku. Riku parried the attack easily and retaliated with a rush of dark energy.
"If there's anything Sora's taught me—" Riku dodged the next attack, then got in one of his own— "it's that you're wrong. There's no reason we can't both exist. Your heart is as real as mine!"
His Replica ignored him and continued attacking. Riku sighed. The people Xehanort had taken over, they just didn't seem capable of listening to reason. It was like Xehanort had done something to their minds as well as their hearts. Or maybe that was simply the side effect of having someone else's heart shoved inside your own.
Then how had Sora managed to hold onto his sanity, let alone a unique identity? Over the years, he'd had far more hearts inside of him than anyone else ever had. And yet he was still so clearly himself, still so clearly Sora.
Maybe his willingness to shelter them was what made the difference. Yes, that had to be it. Xehanort didn't ask permission, and Sora always gave it.
Riku glanced at Milo. He was still fighting Even, all right, but the two of them were embroiled in a passionate debate about… Even's research? Riku couldn't believe his ears. There wasn't much physical attacking going on, but that was probably for the best. Riku caught snippets of their conversation as he continued to fight his Replica.
"So you're the little weasel who stole my research!" Even shouted, shooting a blurry of ice that Milo just barely avoided.
"I didn't steal it! Riku showed it to me! I thought he had permission to—"
"Absolutely not! And you call yourself a man of science!" Even huffed. He slammed his shield into Milo, which sent him flying. "Doesn't anyone care about ethics these days?"
Milo picked up his glasses from where they'd fallen on the ground and jammed them back on his face. "E-ethics? Ethics? You were researching how to use machines to create artificial humans! And not only that, you went and did it! You made copies of people without asking for their permission! Don't you talk to me about ethics!"
Riku glanced at Kida. She'd taken the distraction he and Milo provided to get close to the Heart of Atlantis. Sensing the threat close at hand, blue lights from within it scanned the area and settled on her. Her eyes glowed, the crystal on her neck drawn to the Heart of Atlantis.
"Riku, don't let her go into the light!" Even cast a Blizzard spell that hit her leg, freezing her in place. Milo punched Even in the face, and they both went sprawling.
Kida's staff clattered to the ground, and the Riku Replica took his window of opportunity. Riku grabbed him, but not before he sent a ball of dark energy hurtling towards her, colliding with her crystal full force. The darkness spread throughout the crystal, tainting it and turning it pitch black. First the searchlights turned black, then the eyes and mouths of the masks above them, then all of their crystals.
Milo looked from his crystal to the Heart of Atlantis. "The darkness is corrupting the crystals! Hurry, take them off before they—"
It was too late. The darkness had reached the Heart of Atlantis, snaking its inky tendrils into the blue flame. Kida yanked the crystal off her neck and tried to destroy it, but it was no good. The masks, animated by some unearthly power, slowly rotated towards them. Riku didn't like the way their dark eyes gazed ominously down at them.
"Good work, Riku. Our work here is done," Even said. "We can come back later, when things are less messy."
The Riku Replica smirked and summoned a Corridor of Darkness. He and Even disappeared through it before Riku could stop them. It was just as well; their number one priority now was to save the Heart of Atlantis, if it could be done. The bad news was that Even and the Replica had left a swarm of Heartless in their wake.
There was a wild look in Kida's eyes as she caught several Heartless with her staff. "We could use the Ketaks, but I do not know if they will work, now that the crystals are corrupted!"
The corruption was spreading. Soon it would take over the whole Heart. They had to think of something, and fast.
"Riku, quick! Do you know any magic that lets you fly?" Milo asked, knocking a Heartless away with a rock.
"A lot of good that's going to do when we don't know even how to stop the corruption!"
The masks shot out beams of dark magic. They were split up, the whole cavern a veritable minefield as they dodged ray after ray of darkness on top of the swarms of attacking Heartless. Riku could handle the Heartless, but the heart of a world becoming corrupt? He didn't know what to do.
Kairi, I wish you were here right now. You could put a stop to this in seconds flat, if what you did to Vanitas is any sign.
A group of Heartless swooped in on Milo all at once. Kida rushed to defend him. Riku attempted a dark barrier that might help protect the Heart a little longer when—
BOOM. Light filled the cavern and reflected off the walls. Riku shielded his face as it obliterated the Heartless and engulfed the masks and the Heart in its warm glow. When he could see again, the eyes and mouths of the masks were back to their usual blue, as were the searchlights. The darkness inside the crystals shrank away until it was no more.
"Thought you fellas could use a hand," Mickey said, lowering his Keyblade. Kida and Milo stared at him, mouths agape. "Riku, would ya mind showing Lea how to seal a world? I think Kida can take care of the rest of the Heartless from here."
Riku nodded. Milo recovered from his shock enough to hand Kida her crystal, and they all watched in awe as she floated to the Heart of Atlantis. The masks moved aside for her, and the blue flame enveloped her in its fiery glow. Riku stared, transfixed, as she transformed into a living crystal. He'd never seen something so beautiful, so mesmerizing. She floated back down to them in a strange, spellbinding dance, and Riku swallowed. He'd known what she could become, but it was one thing to know and another altogether to actually see.
She took Milo by the hand, and together they flew back towards the city. Mickey summoned his Ketak and followed after them. Their departure had revealed the location of the Keyhole, floating in place of where the Heart had been. Riku showed Lea what to do, and together they sealed it, ensuring the safety of Atlantis at last. Afterwards, Lea cracked a grin, a gesture that made Riku raised his eyebrow.
"What? Feels good, being a hero," Lea said.
"Yeah." Riku cleared his throat, his gazing lowering to his shoes. "Look, Lea, I really am sorry about what I did to Roxas."
Lea let his Keyblade disappear. "I know. You were just trying to help Sora. I get it. I would have done the same for Roxas."
"Yeah, but that doesn't make it okay. If it had been up to Sora, he would've—"
Lea laughed. "Well, you aren't Sora, and neither am I. But you know what?"
"What?"
"Someone we both care about a lot once told me something. She said you can't change the past, but the future's still open. It's something I've tried to live by, ever since. It's actually worked out pretty well so far."
Riku smiled. "Yeah, I bet. Those are wise words to live by."
Together, they left the cavern. Something had changed between the two of them. They weren't quite friends, but they weren't at odds anymore, either. As they watched Kida summon the city's guardians to put an end to the Heartless threat once and for all, Riku put his finger on what it was. Not friendship, perhaps not even liking; but a small, fledgling sense of trust.
"Are you sure you cannot stay?" Kida asked. She and Milo were garbed in their royal attire once more for Riku, Mickey, and Lea's send-off. Their royal hosts had already thrown a large celebration party on top of a ceremony for them, and Riku felt if they stayed any longer they would just be encroaching on their hospitality.
"Sorry, Kida, but we've gotta help our other friends," Mickey said.
"I understand." She turned to Milo, who handed them several tightly bound books filled with meticulously written pages. Had it really only taken him a couple of weeks? The sheer volume of the material was downright impressive. Riku told him as much, and Milo sniffed and puffed his chest out.
Kida rolled her eyes and laughed, shoving Milo playfully. "Don't let it go to your head, Milo."
He grinned and whispered something in her ear, earning another playful nudge. Then he cleared his throat and said, "Those are the translations. I gotta say, there was some stuff in there that was downright fascinating. The tech required is way beyond what even Atlantis has right now. I never would've imagined that machines could create human bodies! I hope you don't mind that I took some notes for myself."
"Not at all," Riku said. "You've earned it."
Milo nodded, then his expression turned serious. "You… you won't use the research like Even did, will you?"
Lea shook his head. "Nope. We're just trying to save our friends, and we think this research can help. They lost their bodies and need new ones."
Milo breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, phew. Then I wish you the best of luck. But I am wondering how people can lose their bodies and still live."
Riku, Mickey, and Lea exchanged glances. "It's a long story," Mickey said.
"Well, you'll just have to come back and tell it sometime, then." Milo turned to Kida, and she smiled and addressed them.
"You are welcome back any time. Please come visit us again." They were about to return their crystals when she shook her head. "No. We want you to keep them. They will guide you back to us, in case you ever need our assistance. We owe you a great debt."
"And besides, we might need your help again someday," Milo added. A knowing expression crossed his features. "And if it's not too much trouble, I'd like to read more research from your world."
Busted. The three of them exchanged guilty looks as Milo nudged Kida. "See Kida? What'd I tell you?"
"Yes Milo, I know. Their clothes are strange and their technology surpasses ours. It was not difficult to put things together from there."
"Well, you're wrong about one thing. We're not just from another world, we're from three different worlds," Lea said. Their eyes went as wide as saucers at this information.
"Three?" Milo asked. He adjusted his glasses and peered at Lea, as if to make sure he'd heard him correctly.
"And our worlds aren't the only ones. There're a lot more," Riku added. No point in keeping it a secret anymore, after all.
Milo was practically bouncing off the walls. "D-did you hear that, Kida? Maybe my days of exploring aren't over after all!" He picked her up and swung her around. She laughed and planted a peck on his cheek before turning back to their guests one last time.
"Don't worry about him, he always gets like this when he is excited. Like a child in a sweets shop." She gave him another kiss, and together they talked about all the places they could go, the things they could see and do.
Riku, Mickey and Lea promised to visit again and bring more research for Milo to look at. But at last it was time to say goodbye. Lea climbed into the Gummi Ship, and the other two followed him. As the doors closed, Riku waved goodbye to Kida one last time. When he turned to Mickey and Lea, he couldn't help but voice his concern.
"What happens if they figure out a way to get to other worlds?"
Such travel was usually reserved for Keyblade wielders, and he wasn't sure how he felt about normal people doing it. Kida was an incredible fighter, and Milo wasn't bad himself, but the only surefire way they could protect themselves was if they had Keyblades of their own.
"Well, if anyone does figure out how to get to other worlds without a Keyblade or a Gummi Ship, I think I'd want Milo and Kida to be the first," Mickey said. "We could use more people like them helpin' out."
"Yeah." People who were kind and good, not because they had to be, but because they wanted to be. Because it was the right thing to do. They reminded him of Sora and Kairi in a way. It was what had drawn Riku to his friends in the first place, and he was determined to protect that goodness, no matter what. It was his duty to protect it, to protect them.
But such thoughts could wait till later. They finally had Even's research in their hands, and it was time to take it to Disney Castle. Ansem the Wise awaited them. And so did the hearts of the two people who were depending on them to succeed.
A/N: And with that we conclude the Atlantis arc!
Riku's memory of Sora choking on a bone was inspired by the Motion Reference Materials in one of the Kingdom Hearts Ultimanias. The scene never made it into the games, but I thought it really captured the dynamic between Sora, Riku, and Kairi nicely, so I wanted to include a reference to it.
Since we don't know the identities of a good chunk of the Seekers of Darkness, I'm having to do a lot of guesswork for this story. It'll be interesting to see who they actually turn out to be, but I thought it was suspicious that Even was said to be in unstable condition during DDD, so I ran with it.
As always, thank you for reading!