Riku groaned as he came back to awareness again, sitting up on...cold sand?
"...Ugh...What...? Cognis?! What happened? Where-" he started.
"Calm down - you're fine now," her voice came to him. From his left. Audible and directed. She was still in that formless, humanoid shape of hers. Sitting beside him.
"Where...are we?" Riku said slowly, listening to the sound of waves, feeling a frigid breeze on his body. Cold sand under his hands, still...
"The Realm of Darkness."
"WHAT? How did we get there? Why are we-" Riku exclaimed.
"Well, I needed a safe place to put you while I waited for you to wake up again, didn't I?" Cognis said simply.
"So you brought me to the- the homeland of the Heartless? Are you crazy?! What if they'd attacked me in my sleep, or-"
"There aren't any Heartless in this part of the Dark Realm," Cognis said, calm and quiet. "And even if there were, they wouldn't do anything to you, as long as I'm here by your side."
"Well...alright. Can we go back to the Realm of Light now? I'm awake now."
"Of course we can." Cognis stood up. She raised an arm, and a dark portal appeared in front of him. "I'm sorry if I frightened you; I should have remembered you knew about Master Aqua's time here before - naturally it would have made you panic."
"Uh - thanks? No- no big deal. As long as I can just walk through this thing and get out of here again..."
"I promise you."
Riku turned his head toward her. He tried to smile, nodding. "Hey, I trust you."
"Thank you."
"Those people before, in that world - they mentioned a dark spirit inside a girl with red hair," Cognis spoke. "They must have surely meant the Ancient Darkness inhabiting Kairi's body. They were searching for her, and only found us by accident."
"So, what? You think that means that other Darkness is actually back there...?"
"Yes."
"And...you want us to do something about it, don't you," Riku guessed.
"Why not? It might not be fighting Nightmares, but it is still a way of helping people - protecting them."
"Protecting people, huh..." Riku murmured, bowing his head. He sighed - then, he paused. "What about those people back there who attacked us?"
"They're not a problem for us anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"I took care of them for you."
"What...? What did you do?" Riku exclaimed, clenching his fists, trembling, as he leapt to his feet now!
"Why are you getting upset?" Cognis said, confusion in her voice. "We were attacked - you were incapacitated - and I was left to protect you. To save you. And that's what I did, Riku! Because you're my-"
"Cognis: tell me what you did!" Riku demanded, stepping forward, putting his face in hers. Not that she had a face. A vague shape of a human head, made out of darkness.
"I acted to defend you - to save your life!" Cognis responded, firm and angry now. And sounding upset, herself now. "You should be thanking me-!"
"Thanking you?! For WHAT? For fucking over my reputation on a whole 'nother world?! How can we even go back there now if whole- armies of people are going to want to do what those ones did?! They're going to want revenge, don't you get-"
"It was self defense!" Cognis shouted. "They outnumbered us, they knocked you out without even saying hello! I mourn the loss of life too, Riku, truly - and contrary to what certain users of Light might believe, I didn't enjoy it either! But I don't regret doing what I had to in order to keep you safe! And I won't ever apologize for that! But I can apologize for making things more difficult for you on that world, in future," she finished, quieter. Hesitant, almost.
"What the hell, Cognis...I thought you were supposed to be some kind of hero?" Riku said shakily, falling down to the ground, flat on his rear. He raised his hands and slammed them against his face. "How could you just..."
"I did give them the chance to stand down and live - I told them," Cognis spoke, in strained tones. "And I did spare one of them who actually listened to me. But the rest...Riku, they attacked us, they didn't give me a choice. I had to protect you. And in this formless state...I'm not exactly equipped for non-lethal takedowns. It was either all or nothing. And they made their choice, clearly. Even after I told them how it would end. How can you judge me for that? It's not very fair..."
Riku sat for a long time, or maybe no time at all (according to Aqua, "time" didn't really exist here). He just sat there, listening to those waves, and thinking.
After a long while, he finally moved. He spoke.
"You're right, Cognis. And I'm sorry." Riku swallowed, running a hand over his hair. "And- thank you, for saving me. But...it doesn't mean you still didn't- complicate things for me now, on that world. For both of us."
"I know that," Cognis said quietly. "And I'm sorry for that. All I was thinking about was you - not whatever impact it would have on the future. I didn't have much time to sit and think."
"...Yeah, I get that," Riku replied. "And I don't- I don't blame you for it, alright? At least you messed something up trying to do something good; I messed everything up doing terrible things. Hey, I guess that just means even Darknesses aren't perfect, huh?" he tried to joke.
"Of course we're not perfect; Amaya would never have been able to get one over four of my kind if we were. And Ventus never would have bested Vanitas, either."
"Then why do you sound so broken up about it?" Riku questioned.
Cognis was silent. For a long time. Then-
"Because if I was perfect, I wouldn't have complicated things for you," she whispered. "And I wouldn't have upset you so badly, or- made you so mad with me..."
Riku felt his stomach squirming in that moment, at her words. He wasn't the greatest at this feelings stuff at the best of times - comforting people - and right now...how was he supposed to find a way to comfort a being of formless darkness? He couldn't have even given her a hug or a pat on the arm if he'd wanted to...
"I'm not mad at you-"
"Yes you were: I felt it, remember? I feel everything from you."
Riku clenched his teeth. He screwed up his eyes and let out a breath. "Okay...yeah, I was mad at you. And that was wrong of me, okay? I'm sorry about that. But I'm not mad now. I'm just more...mad at the situation, I guess. But you- you did the best with what you had, and you protected me, and...I'm grateful for that. You are a hero, Cognis - you're good at Heart. And I'm lucky to have you here with me." He paused, frowning before going on. "And, look, about non-lethal takedowns...I do think you might be wrong about that. You know I use Dark Firaga, right? There are other Dark-based spells you can use, too - Dark Thunder, Dark Blizzard, etc. I sort of learned them from Maleficent, of all people. So...next time we get into a situation like that, why don't you try some of those?"
"...I never thought about trying to use Dark-Elemental Magicks," Cognis's subdued, embarrassed voice came. "Though, I'm not sure I can even cast magic in this formless state."
"Hey, Nobodies can cast magic, right? And...so could Terra - or, the him that was just a suit of armor," Riku said with a shrug. "And you are darkness, so I don't see why you shouldn't be able to cast Dark Spells, by all accounts."
"Hm..." Cognis stepped forward on the beach, raising an arm of rippling pure darkness. After a moment, Riku "saw" the magic burst from the end of her hand, flying out into the dark...as a large chunk of frothy, dark ice. Her arm slowly fell to her side again, as she turned back to face him.
"Guess that answers that, doesn't it?" Riku said, trying to grin at her. "Nice spell."
"Wrong," Cognis said flatly. "Now that I know I could have done this the entire time, my guilt is immeasurable and my day is ruined!"
"Well...my day's ruined too, so, at least we're still in the same boat here?"
Cognis let out a heavy, lengthy sigh. "Let's just go back to the Realm of Light."
"Yeah," Riku nodded, getting to his feet again at last. "We can track down this other Darkness - maybe clear up this whole...misunderstanding, and maybe get Kairi her body back, too."
Xion felt a lot more confident when she stood in front of the large doorway again...into that room.
The dark, sub-basement hallway was lit up with lights now, which helped too.
But what really helped was all the others with her this time.
Even was there, of course - but so were Ienzo, and Ansem The Wise, and Dilan, and Leon and Cid, and Cloud and Tifa, too!
Dilan stayed close to Ansem, while Leon, Cloud and Tifa entered the room first. They all had their weapons with them (except Tifa, who didn't need weapons because she had her fists).
"Remarkable..." Ansem said. He shook his head. "To think such a room has been here this whole time..."
"Makes you wonder what else people got up to in here, in secret," Cloud said, crossing his arms and looking at Even.
"If I knew this was here, why would I have personally come and gathered you all up to lead you straight to it?" Even responded. "I would have told Xion to just keep it to herself, were I so nefarious. Heavens knows the girl would have listened to me without questioning it. But the fact is: I enlisted all of your help - for Xion."
Tifa strode forward slowly, her heels clicking on the floor. Her eyes swept around the room, then settled on the big machine in front of her. "This place...and Xehanort really...?" She looked back at Xion, frowning. "It must have been terribly frightening for Kairi. And for you, too..."
"So why did you bring us here?" Cloud said to Even, letting his arms fall, gazing at him. "You want us to destroy this thing?"
"Destroy it?!" Cid exclaimed, rushing forward now. He hurried past Tifa and turned to face them all. "Are you crazy, kid? I ain't never seen a contraption like this before in my life - but if Xehanort's the one who made it, then we shouldn't be so hasty here! We've gotta take it apart, get a look inside - see how it all works! Figure out what else he might've done with the blasted thing! After we've got everythin' we can out of it, then you sword-slingers can feel free to go to town on the thing! Look - there's a console right here, and it looks like it's still got power, despite the damages..."
Cid went to a control console in front of the machine, staring at glass number gauges and glowing little screens and buttons. He tapped some buttons, then flicked a switch back and forth. He tapped at a screen and bent forward. "Hmmm...let's see here...I'm no computer wizz, but I think I can get something from this..."
"I can help you there, if you'd allow me," Ienzo said, starting forward. "I'm fairly good with computers, if I say so myself."
Cid glanced at him, pausing. Then he shrugged and stepped away. "Why not? Take a crack at it if ya like - but I want to take a wrench to the mechanical bits as soon as possible."
"If this machine is what sent Kairi off to some other world, are you sure you want to be messing around with it?" Leon asked. "Something with that kind of power could make a pretty big explosion if something goes wrong, couldn't it? And it's already damaged enough as it is."
Ansem The Wise looked at the machine, then he sighed. "I would agree with young Leonhart. I, too, am most curious to plume the depths of Xehanort's secrets...but we must be cautious, Ienzo."
Ienzo tapped at some buttons and flipped some switches. Then he stopped, turning to look over a shoulder. He looked conflicted. "Are you sure, Master Ansem? We can't know how long this machine will stay in a functional state, all on its own. If it fails before we get anything out of it-"
"The Keyblade Wielders have Xehanort himself in their custody," Ansem spoke, cutting him off. "Anything that can be learned, can be learned by interrogating the man himself. Some things, little Ienzo...are best left forgotten."
Ienzo frowned. Then he nodded. "Of course, Master. Just let me at least find the way to power this machine off - to prevent any explosion or fire hazards..."
"Mm. Very well," Ansem nodded.
The room was silent as Ienzo worked the console. As he stared at the screens and gauges. He looked around the room, at the pipes and cables from the machine. Then he murmured to himself and started tapping at more buttons one after another. "Now this should just-"
The blue sphere in the ceiling suddenly glowed! It swirled with light, as energy started to blast out of the ends of the pipes on the ceiling. A loud high noise filled the room!
"Ienzo, what has happened?" Ansem demanded loudly, looking wary and shocked.
"Not to worry, Master, I just misjudged the-" Ienzo started quickly, waving a hand as he started tapping at the controls again furiously.
Sparks flew out of the holes in the machine Stitch had made - the console started to beep and flash red!
Ienzo stared down at the small screen on the console, freezing. "What in the...?"
Then, in-between the ring of pipes around the ceiling, tiles of stone slid open, and strange...pointy things with glowing ends popped out! They sparked with electricity - and then they all rotated and shot blue beams down at the machine.
The pod on the left lifted up and tilted itself upright with a whirring noise, the inside through the glass window starting to glow...
It got so bright and white that Xion could barely look at the pod anymore!
Then it all stopped. The noises faded, the lights were turning off - all over the machine, and on the pointy things from the ceiling - and inside the pod...
Even the green pointy lights in the room were dimming too.
The whole room was just dark now.
Cid's voice echoed, cursing, then his flashlight turned on. He looked around the room, then at the machine. "Guess we did blow the thing's last fuse...damn shame..." he mumbled, reaching up to rub at his hair.
"There, you see, Master?" Ienzo spoke nervously, stepping away from the machine and raising his hands. He flashed a wide smile at them. "It's off now!"
Ansem shook his head, looking like he was trying hard not to smile.
Even was just looking at Ienzo with disappointment. He shook his head too, crossing his arms. "Well, I suppose we can't argue with the-"
"Hey - guys...?" Tifa's voice came, quiet and confused. "You should come look at this..."
Xion blinked in the dark as Cid's light swung around the room - to the pod on the left, where Tifa was standing right in front of now.
"What?" Cloud said, stepping forward cautiously, a hand going over his shoulder - to the handle of his big sword.
Tifa stepped out of the way, her hands going to her waist.
Cloud leaned close to the pod, then looked at Tifa. "What the hell?"
"Alright, brutish fighters, please move, so as to allow the actual scientists to..." Even began, stalking forward quickly. But as he strode around to the front of the pod, even he went quiet. His face paled, his jaw dropping. "What...in the world...?"
"What's everyone freaking out about-" Cid said, throwing up his hands and striding over to join them. Then he stopped. "Ah...huh...well that sure ain't right."
"What's going on?!" Xion said, taking a breath and hurrying forward! She was a scientist too - and she couldn't stand not knowing what was going on here either!
Ansem The Wise, Ienzo, Leon and Dilan all came up to crowd behind her.
But Xion didn't notice.
She was just looking through the glass of the pod's door in total confusion and shock.
It didn't make sense.
How? Why?!
Science was failing her! Observations were useless because what she was observing was...impossible!
Inside the pod, there was a small, thin...girl. Sleeping, her eyes closed. She wore a white dress, and she had a necklace around her neck with a small teardrop pendant on it. She had a head of short, red hair. She was...really young? But Xion still knew who she looked like (even without all the old photos around the destroyed house back on the islands, or from Kairi's photo album from her grandmother). The girl in the pod was...
"Kairi?" Xion whispered.
AN: Muhahahaha...hahahahahhaha...HAHAHAHAHA! xD Okay I'm done now. Sorry. Just - have fuuuun with that! :D :D :P :P ;) ;)