In the past, young Sora and Riku are in the cave again.
Several of the watchers blinked in surprise. Why would they be seeing this again?
Riku couldn't help the small, selfish part of him that was glad that they weren't seeing Hollow Bastion quite yet. And everything he had done there.
Riku tells Sora that when they're older, they'll get off the island and go on real adventures.
Aqua tipped her head to the side. This was the same memory that they had seen when Sora got knocked out in Monstro. It clearly must mean a lot to Sora. Or both of them, if Riku was the one remembering this time.
Sora says that there's a lot of fun things to do on the island and asks Riku if he's seen the new girl in the Mayor's house yet.
"Riku, is this you?" Sora questioned softly, trying to think back. Unless they had moved back in time for whatever reason, he only dreamed about this after being swallowed by Monstro.
"I think so," Riku replied, voice barely over a whisper. He didn't… His voice wasn't working anymore.
Sora says she arrived the day of the meteor shower as he leaves.
Naminé couldn't help but blink in surprise at the mention of the meteor shower. She was under the impression that Sora couldn't remember clearly, due to its nature as a True Memory. She had to dig so deep to be able to access it in both of their minds when manipulating them. Another thing you've done wrong. But perhaps, it was because the memory must have just happened. Narrowing her eyes at the screen, she could just see the links of the chain hidden under young Sora's shirt. The necklace Riku had given to him. And Kairi had just arrived, according to them. She arrived during the meteor shower, so this probably was just a few days after that.
Young Riku pauses, turning back in interest. The door has changed to show a Keyhole.
"Huh?" Sora squawked in surprise, sitting up slightly, the thought of what was coming next slipping from his mind for a second. Because… that was the Keyhole! He hadn't ever seen it; it hadn't been there the night of the storm. How had Riku seen it?
Aqua narrowed her eyes, pursing her lips. The fact that Riku could see it, could see the Keyhole… probably meant that he had been Bequeathed to already at this point. Usually, people not chosen by the Keyblade couldn't see them unless they had already been revealed through magical means. But Riku was what, five? Who would have Bequeathed to him? And why?
"You could see it Riku?" Kairi asked, turning to look at the older boy, who nodded. How else would he have known to open it? But if they were acting this way…
"You can't?" He questioned, getting one headshake back. Kairi didn't make any movements. "Huh."
"It means you've already been Bequeathed to," Mickey explained, having come to the same conclusion as Aqua. "Only Keybearers can see the Keyholes before they're revealed. It's how Sora's been finding them. He's just had the misfortune of finding them in places where they're deliberately hidden. If they were just out in the open, Sora should be able to see them."
"Aw man, knowing that would have saved me so much time," Sora grumbled slightly, but was distracted. "Wait, so Riku's already been Bequeathed at this point?"
"That's the only explanation I can think of," Aqua replied. Ven hummed in contemplation while Terra looked to the side, trying to not let anything show on his face. He'll tell Aqua he Bequeathed to Riku, he will. Eventually.
Unknown to him, a similar thought process was going through Riku's mind. It seemed more and more possible that what he had imagined, someone looking like Terra offering him a weapon, saying a ritual, wasn't imagined at all. That it had, indeed, actually happened. Because, in the memory, it happened a couple of months before this. Right before they met someone who looked like Aqua. The coincidences were… too much.
"Does this mean that Riku's been a Keyblade Wielder for a decade?" Xion questioned, tipping her head to the side. Riku blinked at that. He couldn't have been, right? He knew what he said to Sora, soon, but that was just what Maleficent said and she had been lying. He had thought, that after he had stolen the Keyblade from Sora it had given him the ability to use it. Maleficent must have been lying at the time. He wasn't… He couldn't have been… All this time?
"Sora gave me my Keyblade I thought?" He asked before Aqua could answer, eyes flicking to the older Keyblade Wielders. "When I stole it from him. In Traverse Town."
"No, you couldn't have taken it if you weren't already a Keyblade Wielder," Terra responded instead, working to keep his voice even. I thought Aqua already explained this, but there was a good chance… Riku didn't actually hear it. Due to… everything that was happening onscreen.
"So, someone Bequeathed to Riku when he was a young child," Roxas muttered. "Then didn't they also Bequeath to Sora?"
"No, because Sora couldn't see the Keyhole," Mickey replied.
"Then when did Sora get a Keyblade?" Kairi asked. The room fell into silence as several of them thought it over.
Vanitas raised an eyebrow, watching the group at large. Huh, it was strange that Master Aqua didn't have an answer. But he didn't have one either. Though he didn't know that much about Keyblades. Just use them to hit stuff and stop the Master from hitting him. Master Xehanort sure wasn't stopping to give him a history lesson at any time.
"Maybe it will get revealed in this?" Naminé said quietly. She didn't know either. There hadn't been anything in Sora's memories about ever getting Bequeathed to, at least not in any of the memories she could access. Instead, there was only the memory of the storm, of the light in the darkness and getting the Keyblade from that. Had that… been someone giving him a Keyblade? Like Kairi got her Keyblade after merging with her. But that hadn't been someone giving her the Keyblade either. Naminé fought the urge to rub her temples. This was so confusing.
Unknown to all of them, Kairi was having a slight crisis in the back. She could see the Keyhole her whole life too. She hadn't ever asked about it, just seeing it as something normal. Did that mean…? Had that meant…? She hadn't put any stock into how she got her Keyblade, given that it happened about three hours ago at this point, and they were actively fighting someone at the time but… How the hell did she get it? And if she had indeed had it for over a decade at this point as well, who Bequeathed her?
Riku is drawn to the Keyhole, reaching one hand out, only to be interrupted by Sora's voice.
Riku stiffened as he saw his younger self reach for the door. That door… which had only ever done the wrong thing. He silently thanked the younger Sora for distracting him.
The younger Riku turns and leaves the cave, the Keyhole vanishing behind him, and young Riku turns into present Riku, who is kneeling on the ground, darkness wrapping around him and panting.
The levity in the air vanished in a second, all of them pulled back into the time they were watching and everything that was happening. Riku bit his tongue, getting the urge to move away from Sora and Sora froze, staring at the screen in shock.
"Riku, are you okay?" He asked, worry for the past version of his friend building up in him. He had seen Riku, presumably soon after this and Riku looked okay, but…
"Yes Sora, I'm fine," he responded after a second, doing his best to stop his hands from shaking. "Darkness just… hurts."
Don't I know it, Vanitas thought, doing his best not to remember the tearing, ripping pain that went through him whenever Xehanort did anything to him.
Maleficent tells Riku that it was reckless to bring Kairi there without using a vessel.
"Is it dangerous for me to have been in Hollow Bastion?" Kairi asked. As she was aware, she was supposed to be there, as a Princess of Heart.
"She meant traveling through the corridors," Riku answered, mostly on instinct. All that was going through his head was what came after this.
The three former Organization members made noises of agreement. One of the first things that had been hammered into first Roxas's, then Xion's head was the fact that they didn't use Corridors of Darkness unless wearing their coat.
Maleficent reminds him that relying too much on the dark powers could cost him his heart.
And it did, Riku thought. It did.
A loud roar sounded through the castle, causing Riku to stand and look around.
Sora perked up when he recognized the Beast. He must have just arrived in Hollow Bastion looking for Belle. That meant…
He wilted slightly, leaning into Riku's side and reaching for the older boy's hand, holding it gently. He knew what came next.
Maleficent describes the roar of a castaway, somehow managing to get to Hollow Bastion despite his world collapsing, searching for his princess through sheer force of will.
Riku sucked in a breath, trying not to choke or allow his breath to pick up again. It was fine, this was over, Maleficent was dead, Sora was back, he was fine.
The darkness was always there, even though he now had a hold on it. He was always part of the darkness that he fell to out of selfishness and rejection.
Maleficent tells Riku that the beast is no match for Riku with his power, which Riku questions. Maleficent tells him that he has untapped potential which she can awaken and a green glow surrounds him.
Sora made a face, not liking seeing Riku still so coated in darkness and hurt. Aqua and Terra couldn't help the instinctive shiver that went through them at the dark power and Vanitas hummed quietly, tipping his head to the side. It seemed things were going to get interesting, if the other teenagers' reactions were anything to go by.
In the Gummiship, the four of them sit in the ship, looking at another piece of Ansem's report.
While several of them blinked at the sudden shift, both Sora and Riku relaxed slightly, comforted in the knowledge that they weren't at Hollow Bastion quite yet.
"More of his report?" Ven asked, trying not to remember what they found out last time. This Ansem the Wise certainly didn't sound like someone a part of the light.
"Great," Roxas snarked and Axel took a deep breath. He wasn't… He wasn't going to fall back into flashbacks this time.
Mickey felt a stab of sorrow go through him.
"When I tracked the movements of the Heartless, I suddenly happened upon a strange door in the deepest recesses beneath the castle. It had a large Keyhole, but seemed to be unlocked. So I opened the door."
"Wait, how can DiZ see the Keyhole?" Roxas asked, lip curling up as he said the name of the man who had tormented him. "He's not a Keyblade Wielder. Right?"
"He isn't," Mickey confirmed and furrowed his eyebrows, trying to think. How could Ansem see the Keyhole?
"That might have been us," Aqua volunteered, trying to ignore the memories that were creeping up on her as she spoke. "All three of us were in Radiant Garden, some more than once." Terra's hands curled into fists. "Perhaps our presence triggered it somehow?"
"Is that possible?" Sora asked and Aqua grimaced.
"It seems that there is many a thing that is possible that we don't know," she responded, worrying her lip with her teeth. "Perhaps this is one of those."
"On the other hand, who opens a mysterious door that they were led to by the Heartless?" Vanitas drawled, rolling his eyes. Riku flinched, the door in the Secret Place flashing in front of his eyes, and Sora squeezed his hand, giving Vanitas a look.
"I think we established that DiZ is a terrible person who doesn't care about the consequences of his actions," Roxas sniped back, crossing his arms and leaning deeper into Axel's side, if to remind himself that Axel was actually there. The older man smiled down at him.
"And behind it… was an enormously powerful core of energy. It may be the ultimate goal of the Heartless. But what could that energy be?"
"The Heart of the world," Mickey murmured. "The very being of the World."
"The Heartless feed on the hearts of living beings and they yearn for that energy core. So what is beyond the door must be a heart as well… the heart of the world itself."
"And that's when you close the door and never open it again," Xion murmured, having seen what happened when Riku opened his. But she had a feeling that Ansem wasn't going to do that.
"But what do the Heartless mean to do with the heart of the world?"
Roxas groaned slightly, leaning his head back to land it with a thunk on Axel's arm. "Maybe devour it like they've devoured every other heart they've ever come across?" He asked, rolling his eyes so hard it hurt. "You just said that they were seeking it out for a reason. Why do you think they're coming after it?"
Naminé wasn't the only one trying to stifle giggles at Roxas's clear disdain for the man. Not that he didn't have a right to do so, but it was still funny to witness.
"That night, I observed a great meteor shower in the sky."
Sora, Riku, and Kairi all perked up. Ever since their parents informed them when they were ten that Kairi had actually fallen from the sky instead of washing up on the beach like they had said originally, the idea of meteor showers always fascinated them. One of them had been magical enough to bring Kairi to them. Perhaps they were all that magical.
"I am studying the material from the meteorites that fell. What a find! The stuff is foreign to our world- elastic to the touch, and when two pieces are brought together, they bond easily."
"Oh, Gummis," Mickey said, recognizing the description of the material.
"I wonder if any Gummi ever fell on our island?" Kairi wondered.
"Don't you think we would have found it?" Sora asked, thinking back to their many adventures as kids. "We've been everywhere."
Donald realizes he's talking about Gummi.
"How much of that Gummi do you have?" Aqua wondered, thinking back to the tiny pieces they saw Donald and Goofy pick up in the Jungle.
"A lot," Mickey revealed. "Our world seems to be a hotspot for falling Gummi."
"None of the records make any mention of such a substance. Was this introduced to this world when I opened the door?"
"Was it?" Terra asked Mickey, the mouse clearly being their resident expert on Gummi.
"I don't think so," Mickey admitted. "It seems pretty random. From what I can tell, Gummis just come in meteor showers. I think it was just coincidence that the meteor shower appeared the night Ansem opened the door."
"Our world is so small, and the space surrounding it so vast- I wonder what other strange materials are drifting out there. Could there be uncharted worlds in the sky above?"
Several of them had to contain noises of humor or confusion. To them, the travelers of the stars, it seemed rather strange to them for the knowledge of the other worlds to be barred from one person or another. Even Sora, Riku, and Kairi had a basic inkling that there must have been something else out there due to Kairi's appearance.
"I should stop musing on such unrealistic dreams. For now, there is no way to venture outside this world. My people and I are all but prisoners in this tiny place."
Our world was beautiful, part of Axel's mind hissed. It was beautiful and happy and only moderately dangerous. It was your obsession with the outside worlds and the inability to stop yourself that doomed our world to death and destruction. That doomed our people to death and Heartless-ness.
Jiminy says that's all they have for now and Sora muses on the door. Goofy asks him if he's ever seen something like that.
Yeah, when I opened it, Riku thought, his semi good mood disappearing like smoke. That seemed to be happening a lot.
Sora says he has, on Destiny Islands. Goofy connects the keyhole from the report to the Keyholes they've been locking up.
Sora smiled, looking at Goofy onscreen. Despite what people might think of him, Goofy could be very smart when it counted.
Sora asks Donald if they're at Hollow Bastion yet and Donald says that he can't find it on the map.
"Did Maleficent erase it somehow?" Ven asked. "Or was it because it fell to darkness and Maleficent managed to bring it back, in a way stopping it from registering?"
"Probably the second option," Mickey responded. "We had no idea that Radiant Garden returned or even the way that Maleficent managed to do it."
Riku guessed that Ansem, Seeker of Darkness had something to do with it.
"But Cid managed to find it with the Navigation Gummi?" Sora said uncertainly, tipping his head to the side slightly. Mickey paused.
"I think Cid's just a miracle worker," Kairi replied instead. "He did manage to upgrade the Gummiship the last time you were there." Sora acknowledged that with a nod.
Goofy asks if they should Cid install the Navigation Gummi and Donald asks how Riku got there then.
Corridors of Darkness, five people thought. They all had intimate experiences with the things.
Sora says they should stop at Traverse Town and the ship changes course. Sora looks back out to the sky, troubled.
"Worried about Riku?" Naminé asked innocently, blinking at the fifteen-year-old.
"I think so," Sora responded, not picking up on the tiny hint of… something in Naminé's voice. Riku did his best not to blush.
Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrive in Traverse Town, finding Cid in his shop. Goofy tells him they found another Navigation Gummi and hands it to Cid.
Looking down for a quick second, Sora couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if they never found that Gummi. Never heard from Hook where Riku and Maleficent were. Would everything stay the same? Or would things have changed.
Cid says they'll be able to find even more routes with it and says that he'll install it.
Vanitas still couldn't help the quiet scoff that escaped him. Honestly, what was that man thinking, doing things for free. One day, it was going to hurt him. Everyone wanted something.
Goofy says they could use a break and wonders if they should head over to Aerith's. Donald turns to Sora, who's zoned out slightly.
Yes, he could use a break, Aqua thought, trying to catalogue the days in her head. This was… about a week? And Sora had just gone from world to world, fighting? Of course, the boy needed a break.
You should have been there. Helped the boy. She pushed away her thoughts. No darkness.
Donald gets his attention and Goofy reminds him no frowning faces.
You aren't even on the Gummiship, Aqua thought, mind whirling. Had anyone even told this boy that it was okay to cry and get upset about things? That it was healthy?
Sora asks them how they can remain so cheerful and that there was no sign of Mickey.
Mickey sighed quietly. He shouldn't have put his own disappearance on Sora's shoulders, an unintentional as it had been. The boy had enough on his plate.
Donald says they're not worried about Mickey. Goofy tells Sora that the king told them to go find the Key Bearer and they found him and that as long as they stick together it'll all work out.
Funny, Riku scoffed. It's… two hours after this that you go and abandon him in the middle of Hollow Bastion? I don't care that you returned, he could have died. And it would have been your fault.
Goofy says Sora just has to believe in himself.
And my friends, Sora thought. Me and my friends. My power comes from them.
Sora repeats believe and closes his eyes. He hears Kairi's voice in the back of his head.
"Another vision?" Kairi questioned, having seen the few things Sora had hallucinated during the adventure.
"Of a sort," Sora replied, remembering what happened.
Sora opens his eyes to a bright light, the light fading away to reveal Sora hovering over a scene of a young girl and an older woman.
Kairi choked. "Is that… me?" She questioned, looking at the young girl. It certainly looked like a small version of her, but… "I didn't know this happened!"
"You gave me another vision, Kairi," Sora explained. "About an old story you were told when you were younger." Kairi blinked, mystified before her eyes drifted back to the screen, focusing on the old woman. Was that her… grandmother? She didn't know. She couldn't remember anything but that seemed… right, almost.
Aqua blinked, recognizing the young girl almost instantly. That was the girl from before, in Radiant Garden. Moving as little as possible, Aqua looked back to the girl, instead looking down at her neck. There. The necklace she had cast a spell on to keep Kairi safe. If Kairi was from Radiant Garden and Radiant Garden had fallen to darkness, perhaps the spell had saved her from the fall. It made her heart warm slightly. That she had actually managed to do something useful, even if it was only saving one life.
Axel frowned at the screen. It almost… He poked, as much as he didn't want to, at the back of his mind, where most of his foggier memories were. The scene, it reminded him of home. Of 'Ri and their small cottage. First their parents and then their grandmother. He looked away, taking a deep breath. It was probably better if he didn't watch the scene. No matter how long, the grief remained. Wherever Kairi was from, he was glad she also had a loving grandmother, even if she wasn't there anymore. He knew more than anyone how good that type of support was.
The young Kairi runs up to the old woman, who starts to tell her a story. "Long ago, people lived in peace, bathed in the warmth of light."
Vanitas made a face. When had light ever been warm to those who didn't worship it?
"Everyone loved the light. But people began to fight over it. They wanted to keep it for themselves."
"The Keyblade War," Ven murmured, wincing slightly at the jab of pain that went through his head slightly. What… was that?
"And darkness was born in their hearts."
Vanitas wanted to scoff, but he had a feeling that it wouldn't be appreciated. There was no way there wasn't some form of darkness before this war. Nothing was all light, it wasn't possible.
"The darkness spread, swallowing the light, and the hearts of many people. It covered everything… and the world disappeared."
Sora couldn't help but be reminded by what Ansem, Seeker of Darkness had been doing. Spreading the darkness, disappearing worlds. It sounded awfully similar to what had apparently happened back then.
"But small fragments of light survived… in the hearts of children."
Both Ven and Vanitas made different expression of slight pain at that. It almost felt… familiar? In a way? Ven reached up and rubbed at his chest, trying to work out the ache that had suddenly settled in it. What was going on?
"With these fragments of light, children rebuilt the lost world. That is the world we live in now."
A flash of pink hair. Red scarves and black hats.
"But the true light sleeps, deep within the darkness. That's why the worlds are still scattered, small and divided from each other. Someday, a door to the inmost darkness will open, and the true light will return."
"That's what you did, isn't it Sora?" Kairi questioned, still entranced by the image of her grandmother. How could her grandmother had known? Was this story known? By who? Who had created it?
Sora nodded slowly, remembering opening the door to Kingdom Hearts. Or, not really Kingdom Hearts, according to Mickey. But something like Kingdom Hearts.
"Even in the deepest darkness, there will always be a light shining within to guide you."
"Isn't that our purpose? To be the light that survives?" "It's what Master Ava wanted."
"So you mustn't give in to darkness. Believe in the light, and darkness will never defeat you. Your heart will shine with its power and push darkness away- the power to bring happiness."
"remehpE, I'm going to murder you!" "C'mon dlukS, it was just a joke!"
"Do you understand, Kairi…?"
"What did you do to her Ven?"
Sora calls out Kairi's name in surprise.
Ven gasped quietly, feeling like he had just been pulled out of a body of water. What had just…? His head pounded slightly, and he reached up, rubbing at his temple again. Had the story… just affected him badly? It wasn't that sad, it didn't even have to be real, but… He pinched the bridge of his nose. Was there something… had he seen something?
Unknown to him, most of the same thoughts were going through Vanitas's head, though with a lot more panic involved.
Axel swallowed slightly, shaky away the slight memories that had come back to him. That sounded a lot like the stories he used to know. He couldn't remember them clearly but… they sounded similar. Perhaps another proof that the worlds used to be connected, if the stories had spread to different worlds.
The old woman vanishes, and younger Kairi looks around, worried. Sora reaches out to her, but she vanishes and Sora is thrown back into his mind.
"So, Kairi's heart reached out to Sora's?" Aqua wondered, thinking it over. It made sense, sort of. Kairi was inside Sora's heart, why shouldn't she be able to influence him. It was clear that she didn't remember it now, but perhaps she had been awake when she did so. Could there have been a reason for showing Sora that memory?
Goofy asks Sora if anything is wrong and he denies it. Sora wonders if Kairi called to him.
"I did," Kairi said with a smile, looking over Riku's lap to smile at the boy. Sora returned it.
"Did no time pass?" Xion asked and Sora shook his head.
Cid enters the room and says he installed the Navigation Gummi. He asks if they're really planning to go there.
"So, Cid found Hollow Bastion when literally no one else could?" Roxas asked. Sora shrugged.
"Cid works miracles."
Donald asks if he means Hollow Bastion and Cid says it's basically Heartless central right now. Goofy asks if he knows a lot about Hollow Bastion and Cid simply says to be careful.
"He's not going to tell you he's from there?" Naminé asked.
"It was a sore spot," Sora explained. "It couldn't have been easy to even mention."
Sora says they have to go and that Riku was there, as well as Kairi.
Sora leaned into Riku's side, reaching out for his hand.
The trio leaves and Aerith appears from around the corner, asking Cid if they're really going. Cid confirms it and says that he never thought he'd hear the name of the place again.
Sora wondered what would have happened if they had told them they were from Radiant Garden from the beginning and had gone with him, instead of showing up later. He wondered if it would have changed anything.
Sora, Donald, and Goofy land in Hollow Bastion, on the waterfall steps.
While several people recognized this as the place Riku woke up all the way back in the beginning, Riku went stiff, breath wracking up as he realized what was going to happen. What he was about to do.
Sora looks out, mentioning that he seems to know this place.
Kairi gave Sora another smile, though this one was a little more strained. While she didn't know everything, she could tell something happened here. Something… bad.
Goofy asks if he's been here before and Sora denies it, saying that he feels warm in his chest. A roar sounds from closer to the castle.
Aqua pursed her lips, thinking. It was clear that something was about to happen, judging by the boys' actions, and she looked over to Terra, seeing him clock the same thing. They would be ready to help if it was needed.
Donald jumps in surprise and Sora says they should follow it.
No, no, no, no, Riku's mind chanted. I don't… want to see this again.
Riku is standing on one of the islands, looking down at the Beast. He asks Beast how he got here.
Riku ripped his hand out of Sora's grip, folding his arms over his chest, hunching his shoulders. He bit his tongue, slamming his eyes closed. How could he…? He was so… dark. Sora moved at his side, twisting his body to look at Riku better and placed a hand on Riku's shoulder, causing him to flinch slightly. Sora leaned backwards.
Vanitas raised an eyebrow, leaning forward slightly. The silver-haired boy looked… different onscreen. More… cocky. He almost reminded Vanitas of Master Xehanort, when he had successfully tricked Eraqus of something or had made a step in his plan. Calm, secure. The feeling of knowing what was going to happen and what he was going to do. It was… an interesting feeling to have, especially when offscreen Riku was so clearly distraught.
Aqua's eyes shot to Riku as he moved, eyes instantly cataloguing his movements. She'd had her fair share of witnessing panic attacks, first with Terra then Ven, so her eyes moved across his body, doing her best to count his breathing. She wouldn't get involved, not yet, and or would Terra. Not until it was clear Riku couldn't handle it on his own.
Mickey shifted in his seat, wanting to stand up and head over to Riku, to reassure him like he had done countless times during the year, wanting to make sure he was okay and that he wasn't hurting himself too badly with his thoughts. But he didn't think Riku would appreciate it, not in front of Sora and Kairi.
The Beast replies that he simply believed and explains that when his world fell to darkness, Belle was taken from him, and he vowed to find her at any cost. He says she must be here, and he will have her back.
Why are you carrying that sword? Why are you so proud to me tainted by darkness? Why are you ready to hurt the one you love?!
"Belle is a Princess of Heart?" Xion questioned, getting a small nod from Kairi. But other than that, no one was really saying anything. Like before, in Monstro, in Neverland, it felt almost wrong to try and talk over what was going on.
Riku tells the Beast to try and take her. Beast leaps at him but Riku dodges and slashes at him, causing the Beast to collapse.
Stop it, stop it! Sora will hate you; Kairi will hate you, you're doing nothing good, you've fallen too far out of jealousy and repressed emotions!
Sora shouts at Riku to stop, running up from the other side of the island and Riku turns to look at him.
Riku made another noise, nails digging into his arms and Sora looked at him in deeper concern, almost not paying attention at all to the screen and what was happening on it. Riku was hurting. What else could matter?
Terra's eyes flicked back to them, narrowing in consideration.
Riku tells Sora that he finally made it and that he was waiting for him. He mentions that they've always been rivals, always pushing each other.
No that's not true, you just had to be the one to protect them, to protect him. Had to be the strongest, the best at everything. Otherwise, he might leave you for her.
Riku's hand twitched, moving slightly upwards towards his hair and even Kairi had changed her position now, gazing at Riku in concern.
Riku says it all ends here and there can't be two chosen ones. When Sora asks what he's talking about, Riku says to let the Keyblade choose its true master.
Always Sora, always Sora. The brightest, most loveable one. The right one. The good one. The true Chosen One. He's always proven that. "We've always been rivals." I've always been worse than you.
Riku reaches out and the Keyblade starts to pull itself out Sora's hand, much to his shock. It vanishes from his hand and instead reappears in Riku's.
If it were any other situation, Aqua would be pouring over what had just happened, trying to figure it out, but she couldn't, not at the moment. Her eyes kept moving back to Riku, who was curling deeper and deeper into himself.
Axel's eyes remained firmly on the screen, not wanting to put even more attention on Riku when he was clearly struggling to keep himself calm. He doubted the kid would want it.
Riku says that Maleficent was right and tells Sora that he doesn't have what it takes to save Kairi, that it was up to Riku. He says that only a Keyblade master can open the secret door and change the world.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Riku whispered out, fingers tangling in the ends of his hair. "I'm sorry."
"Riku?" Sora questioned, eyes wide, wanting to reach out for Riku again but remembering how Riku reacted last time.
Sora says that it's impossible and says that he's the one who fought his way here with the Keyblade.
"I didn't mean it, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
Riku tells Sora that he was just the delivery boy and that his part is over. He picks up a wooden sword and tosses it to Sora, telling him to go play hero with that. Sora falls to his knees.
"Riku," Sora said, finally through his thoughts and placing his hand on Riku's shoulder.
"NO!" Riku shrieked, hands letting go of his hair and shoving himself to his feet. He staggered, tripping over himself as he backed up. Sora and Kairi both made noises of surprise and Terra stood up to his feet, taking a step in Riku's direction.
Riku made a sound that was halfway between a sob and a scream and backed up until his back slammed into the wall. His knees buckled and he slid down the wall, hands going back to his hair as he tugged on it. Sora jumped to his feet, chasing after Riku.
"Riku!" He exclaimed, moving forward.
"I'm sorry!" Riku's voice cracked at the same time the air did, the only warning Sora got before a wave of cold shoved him backward, ice spikes exploding from the air around Riku's creating a barrier around him. Sora couldn't help the shout of surprise and worry that slipped out of him and he could hear both Naminé and Kairi scream. The noise in the room quadrupled as everyone tried to figure out what had just happened and a second later, Sora felt arms places themselves on his shoulders, leading him backwards.
"What just happened?!" Roxas shouted, jumping to his feet and almost throwing himself between where Riku was and where Xion was sitting. Naminé had curled into a ball, watching the scene with wide eyes and Kairi was frozen on the couch, face pale and mouth open. Terra brushed past the two of them, heat flickering from his hand as he worked to destroy the barrier that surrounded Riku and Aqua continued to pull Sora back until she could place him on the couch next to Ven.
"I though we couldn't use magic!" Vanitas spat out, half out of his chair, eyes wide and flicking around, panic and anger warring in his voice. Axel had stood as well, wrapping one arm around Roxas's shoulders and guiding him back to the couch. The sound of snapping ice reverberated around the room as Terra pulled off the first ice spike, seemingly not bothered by the coldness that Sora could feel from his spot. Aqua left his side, moving to help Kairi away from the couch and Riku's ice, guiding her towards Sora.
"We can't use Keyblades," Ven corrected, voice shaky and eyes wide as he watched Terra break through another one of the barriers. "I suppose magic doesn't fall under that category." The screen had paused and none of them paid any attention to it as another ice spike feel from Riku's small fortress, Terra's hands melting the ice he touched.
Riku, Sora thought in his mind, feeling lost and unmoored. This was like when Maleficent appeared but so much worse. He… Riku had shoved Sora away. Had he hurt Riku? He didn't mean to. He should have been better, shouldn't have touched Riku, should have done something more. He…
Kairi fell onto the couch next to him, shaking and shivering, and Sora found himself wrapping an arm around her on instinct, holding her close. Roxas had allowed himself to be placed back on the couch, but reached out, pulling Xion into his side as Axel didn't sit back down, instead heading over to Terra's side, fingers lighting up with his own fire. Mickey had leapt from his seat the second the ice exploded out, hurrying over to Terra's side, worry and fear clear on his face.
Riku, have you always been feeling like this? Sora wondered. I didn't… I forgave you a long time ago. There was nothing to forgive. Maleficent used you, used us. I thought you saw that. But he couldn't help but think of Riku's words in the Castle that Never Was. "I gave into the darkness. How can I face everyone?" Did Riku really still think that? That he was still swallowed in darkness, the bad thing that everyone warned their children of?
Another crack of ice sounded, combined with a quick noise of success, and Sora looked up in time to see Terra drop down to his knees, swiftly being covered by the remaining ice spikes that Axel and Aqua worked to remove. Sora could just hear Riku's muffled voice, accompanied by Terra's soothing words, and he winced. He should have seen it, should have been better. Riku you've always protected me. Please, let me protect you.
Riku couldn't breathe. He couldn't. All he could see was himself. Sneering, arrogant. Drugged by the darkness, buoyed by pride and anger. The way he had dismissed Sora, the way he had hurt him. No wonder he loved Kairi, no wonder he sacrificed everything to track her down. No wonder he almost killed himself to save her. Because who could ever love Riku, with everything he had done, everything he was. The darkness, ripping and tearing, a broken part of him that he couldn't get rid of. He shouldn't have let Sora see him, shouldn't have let Kairi pull him back. He should have just faded into the darkness, nothing to darken Sora's bright future again.
Arms suddenly wrapped around him, causing him to flinch backwards, hands digging deeper into his hair. He shouldn't, he can't… He didn't mean to make the ice grow, it had just happened and he wanted it to stop because he no doubt hurt Sora and he couldn't just stop hurting Sora could he, he was always just the darkness to Sora's light, something that should be destroyed in order to create the light that was always supposed to be there-
The hands moved, carefully unwinding his hands from his hair no matter how much he tried to avoid them. They carefully grasped his wrists, pulling them together and away from his hair or arms. The other arm wrapped around him, pulling him into a hug and he just wanted to stop, let him go, couldn't they see that he was nothing but darkness, please-
"Riku, listen to me." Terra's voice wasn't a surprise, per say, but it still made him flinch all the same. Terra's arms tightened ever so slightly around him, holding him close. "I need you to breathe, I need you to follow my counting. Just like we did a couple of hours ago, okay? Can you do that?"
Riku could feel hot tears spilling down his cheeks, broken sobs in his throat as his breath hitched and shook, and he shook his head, trying to squirm out of Terra's hold. Maybe if he got far enough, he could put up more ice. But that's only proving their point. You're not good enough to be there, to interact with Sora and the others. You can't get a grip and you can't control yourself. What kind of Keyblade Wielder are you?
"Riku, please follow my voice," Terra's voice had taken on a more urgent tone and Riku choked, his breath stuttering as Terra's counting started up again. He couldn't- All he could see was himself, younger him, darker him, everything he was now and then, wrapped up in a ball of pain and suffering and-
A second set of hands suddenly descended, pressing a gloved hand to his chest, applying just enough pressure that his stuttering breath paused for a broken second. The hand let up after a second and Riku sucked in a deep breath, feeling his breath skip for a second as it tried to get back into its rhythm it had just been thrown from. But the hand returned, helping him to take another deep measured breath and he let his head fall forward, feeling a third pair of hand carefully catch it and lean it backward, onto Terra's chest he would assume. More tears leaked from his eyes, and he tried to listen in, tried to focus. His thoughts continued to swirl and the only thing he could grasp onto was Terra's counting, trying to cling to it.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he gasped out, the words causing coughing to erupt from his throat. The third set of hands from before rubbed one of his shoulder blades gently, quiet murmurs coming from them (her?).
"It's okay," Mickey said from in front of him. "No one blames you; this was a year ago. You've grown, you've learned, you're better now, you're good." Of course Mickey would know exactly what would be swirling around in his head right now and he got the bizarre need to shake his head, to tell Mickey that no matter what, he would still be the taint on Sora's legacy, the darkness in his shadow. But Aqua shushed him quietly, her other hand ending up on his head and starting to brush out the strands of hair that were tangling together gently. Riku's breath continued to align itself with Terra's counting, and he finally managed to pry his eyes open, looking around.
Mickey was standing in front of him, worry clear in his gaze. He could just see the edge of Terra, sitting mostly to the side of him, and he couldn't see Aqua, though he could feel her hands. Behind Mickey, he was sure the rest of the teenagers were probably somewhere back there, but he couldn't bring himself to do anything about it. He should be stronger than this, he should be better, for when he wasn't good, but as the sobs started to peter off, all he felt was tiredness, a deep seeded tiredness starting to make its way into his bones. He abruptly remembered that they had technically fought Xemnas and the rest of the Organization today as well and it made sense why he was so tired, if he was also dealing with that.
"Riku?" Mickey said gently and Riku's eyes drifted back to him. "Are you with us?" Riku couldn't find the strength in him to respond verbally so he just nodded. Terra gently released Riku's wrists, loosening his hug just enough for Riku to fall back into it voluntarily, still trying to dredge his strength back from wherever it went.
Everything thing just went quiet. He didn't care, all his thoughts were gone, all the flashbacks. Everything was just tiring and he just wanted to sleep and allow himself to dream that he was still on Destiny Islands before this all happened. Or that he was in the Disney Castle, in the room Mickey promised him with a view of the sunrise.
A set of footsteps interrupted his musings and he didn't even have time to look up before Sora was kneeling in front of him, unshed tears in his eyes, replacing Mickey's spot. Riku's eyes widened, mouth opening to say something because he could pull enough strength to talk to Sora of all people, but the younger boy surged forward, wrapping Riku in a hug that more or less pulled him from Terra's former embrace.
"It's okay, it's okay," Sora told him, holding him close and burying his face in Riku's shoulder. "I don't blame you, everything's fine now. You're Riku. You're my best friend. You've saved me more times than I can count and nothing, nothing will ever be able to change that. Nothing in this world or any worlds.
"You made mistakes, but you've made up for them." Sora's arms tightened around him. "You watched over me, took care of me, guided me when I was trying to fight the Organization, shielded me from the blast, fought with me, trusted me with Way To Dawn." Sora's breath hitched and Riku could feel a few tears leaking from Sora's eyes into his shirt. "You're Riku. You're everything to me. And nothing will ever change that. Not Ansem. Not Xemnas. Not whoever we face tomorrow. Not the darkness that you hold. Not the light that I wield. Nothing ever. And if you leave again, I'm going to track you down and chain our wrists together." Riku couldn't help the garbled chuckle that slipped out of his mouth because that was such a Sora thing to say and he could feel the tears slipping from his eyes.
"You're Riku," Sora whispered out. "I need you."
And you're Sora, Riku thought. And I love you.
It was a love that would always be seen from the side, the type that romantics would write about. A quiet, unspoken thing that Riku would hold close to his chest and no one would ever see it. Because he didn't need to hurt Sora like that.
But here, in this moment? He could pretend, just pretend, that maybe one day, he'd have a chance to have Sora, the two of them in the dark and light together, never separated or fighting again.