25A/N: I'm really happy about this chapter. Yay Riku. I find him so much easier to write than anyone else... 'cept maybe Naminé, but even then she escapes me. Silly Naminé. xD
Chapter Five: Dark Side of Memories
"I've never tried to block out the memories of the past, even though some are painful. I don't understand people who hide from their past. Everything you live through helps to make you the person you are now." - Sophia Loren
The darkness hissed in anger as the key blade passed through the air. It clashed on its opponent's weapon, metal on metal sending sparks out into the black. The boy wielding the blade kicked out, sending both himself and his opponent flying backwards. He quickly arched his back and flipped over, landing lightly on his feet, bending with his weight and sliding slightly on the wet ground. Silver hair fell into his face; overtop the black blindfold lying over his eyes. He crouched there, breathing heavily, waiting for his opponent to move. Neither did for a long time, the rain pelting them both from above. Suddenly the hooded man across from him stood, chuckling darkly.
"Such a shame…" He said lightly, his breath still catching up with him, "You could be of such use to us, Riku."
"Everyone seems to want me lately." Riku smirked darkly, "I feel so popular."
"But you wouldn't come." The man laughed quietly again, "Even if we could bring back Sora-"
"Leave him out of this." Riku ground out threateningly. His hand gripped the handle of his blade as he dipped his head in anger.
"He is this." The man took a step back motioning to their surroundings in one sweeping wave of his arm. "Think, Riku. You brought the Key of Destiny to him and yet he still didn't wake. Do you think that he'll ever wake up?"
The silver haired teen saw what was coming. His boots ground the rocks into the pavement as he suddenly pushed himself up and sprinted toward the hooded in one fluid movement. His fingers barley brushed the silver beads on the cloak before he disappeared into the dark portal.
"Farewell, Riku. Try not to die before we can meet again."
The voice echoed around the alley, bouncing off the neon signs and dark walls. Riku stood there panting slightly, staring where the portal was only minutes ago. He cursed under his breath, and fell to one knee, half leaning on The Road to Dawn and gripping his injured side with the other. Of course while he hadn't given his enemy the enjoyment of seeing him hurt like this looking back he decided that perhaps still fighting him as full strength wasn't his best idea. Riku brought his glove back to stare at the mixture of blood and darkness dripping off his fingers. No, not a good idea at all. He gave another grimace, gripping the ripped black material under his fingers before pushing himself back up. No use worrying about it now. He gave another glare at the spot his opponent disappeared and turned around to leave.
Suddenly he wet his lips, catching the sent of darkness before the heartless began to crawl up from under him. They slowly emerged, pulling themselves out of the ground one limb at a time. Riku looked down the alley to both catch the sight and smell of what seemed to be a hundred more. Those already out numbered far more than he was ready to handle, as even more forced him into the corner of the alley. They sat there a moment, twitching their little heads almost as if the little daemons were capable of thought. He tense ready for another fight when his side gave an unprecedented jolt of pain. He fell to his knees again as his senses blurred.
If he was more alert, he might have noticed how hesitant the creatures were to attack. But he wasn't- Riku was tired and in pain, and although he wouldn't admit it, phased by the man's words. More and more appeared, all waiting in unison, twitching and scurrying back and forth. Riku finally pulled himself up, leaning on his blade slightly, still trying to catch his breath. Although breathing hurt he had learned it usually The darkness was making him faint, and he hated himself for it. As if sensing his fear, the Heartless attacked.
Riku frowned. He really didn't have time for this.
He cursed again, as his blade passed through the first few. He tried to ignore the putrid smell of darkness dripping off his blade as he threw his free arm out to the side. A portal suddenly appeared, shimmering iridescent in the night. The Heartless swarmed toward him, hoping to catch their prey before he disappeared. Riku nearly blanched at the all consuming smell of darkness. Without a second thought, he plunged head first into the darkness.
Dark memories flooded his sight. A voice Riku knew better than his own rumbled in his mind, and he panicked.
(You can't escape me.)
The darkness threatened to push inside him, taking advantage of his weakened state of mind. He physically pushed away at the dark tendrils tumbling over his arms and snaking around his waist. The smell permeated his very being, nearly making him gag at the bitter cold taste. The voice chuckled darkly, latched into his mind like a vice.
(I guess you're still scared…)
Suddenly Riku tumbled out into the sunlight, the harsh radiance blinding his eyes even from behind his blindfold. For half a moment, he thought he was dead, lost in the light, but then he heard it- The harsh grinding of gravel under his feet. He let out his breath and nodded, looking almost relived.
He was still alive.
He flopped into the grass beside the long winding road, still breathing heavily. The smell of darkness radiated off his clothes and skin, nearly choking him. His gloved fingers clawed at the soft ground beneath him, creating piles of upturned grass and dirt as the injury in his side gave a rather painful twinge. He nearly growled, angry at his own weakness. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself again, and yanked the blindfold off his face. The sunlight made him wince and blink, but he laid there, arms flung out to his sides, as if he was trying to soak up as much sun as possible. He slowly closed his eyes, almost hesitant, as if afraid of what he would find in the darkness of his own mind.
("I'm not scared of the dark!")
He opened his eyes with a grimace- Memories. They were coming back stronger and louder as time went on, and though he knew it meant Sora was waking up, he couldn't help but wish they wouldn't be so pushy.
Riku had not lost as much of his memories of his best friend as others he had come across, apparently some perk of being part of the dark. Even the King had lost his precious few memories of the optimistic boy. Riku however, only lost certain memories, blurred faces and names of a world he felt he left behind forever- One that was returning full force. Of course there were those memories he wished would stay blurred- such as leaving his best friends for power that only darkness offered. That would be a memory he wouldn't mind forgetting forever. He rolled to his side, and pushed himself up, staring at his surroundings and trying to ignore the shooting pain in his ribs. Bright green hills rolled into the distance under a perfect blue sky. The chocolate brown road stretched out for miles in front of him and although there was no destination in sight, he knew where this road lead to-
Castle Oblivion.
He frowned, his thoughts turning dark as he thought of the place. Why here of all places? Sora didn't reside in that Castle any more. Neither did Naminé... so why? Surprise suddenly took over his face as he felt his hands clench at his side and the darkness gather there. He quickly relaxed and let the darkness fade away. He sighed sadly and let his head hang. Darkness was like a drug, and in his anger and pain he kept drawing on that power more and more, becoming more and more addicted.
Would he lose himself yet again?
Suddenly a cold wet nose rubbed against his cheek, yanking him out of his quiet despair. Riku let out a surprised yelp and felt backwards, landing on the soft ground with a wince. He grabbed his side, hissing in pain as the yellow messenger came into view. After behind doubled over in pain a few moments, Riku looked up, sticking Pluto with a sharp glare. Although he was angrier at himself for being caught off guard, he felt as if the King's messenger was a perfect thing to blame.
The poor thing merely nudged the boy with his nose in apology and offer the thin yellow roll of parchment to him. Riku tried to stay angry but the puppy's bright eyes had him duped. He sighed, still slightly annoyed as he gingerly sat down and opening the letter turning his back on the dog. Somewhere in the back of his mind he figured this might be slightly childish, pretending to ignore a dog, but he dismissed that as well. Pluto, figuring he had been somewhat forgiven nudged the silver hair boy again.
"If Sora knew I was going so soft, he'd never let me live it down." Riku smiled, scratching the dog behind the ears.
Riku stopped, catching sight of the handwriting. It wasn't the king's normal scrawl draped across the page, but a simple curvy writing that was shaky and almost unintelligible at the moment. Riku frown, merely skipping to the bottom to confirm his suspicions.
"Naminé."
Pluto nudged the hand away, pushing at any hidden pockets the boy might have. Riku gave a absent minded chuckle, and pulled out a half eaten loaf of bread. The messenger dog suddenly became twice as excited, and Riku absent mindedly chuckled the bread to the side and let the dog pounce on it. The silver haired teen narrowed his eyes as he turned back, searching through the rest of the message. What he found made him stand up suddenly despite the agonizing pain that continued the fester in his side. His bright aqua eyes scanned the letter again... and yet again. no matter how many times he read it, he couldn't mistake the message-
His heart stopped beating.
Sora?
xXx
"He's stronger than we expected."
One of the black cloaked men across the pure white room gave a slight chuckle which he unsuccessfully turned into a cough. The first, a cold no nonsense man, marked by the cross shaped scar on his face, glared back obviously offended.
"You have something to say, Number IX?"
The Amused Man shook his head, clearly still trying to hide his amusement. The First didn't look contented, his icy blue glare fixed on the other,
"I would disagree, Melodious Nocturne, for your… 'laughter' says otherwise." He crossed his legs with the air of annoyance, as the other gave a sheepish shrug, "Do remember, Number IX that we Nobodies cannot be amused."
Number IX sat forward, pulling down his hood as he did so. A smile drapped across his younger features reached his sea-green eyes in a way none of his comrades could even hope to achieve. He was obviously smirking, as he brushed back strands from his oddly cut hair.
"Just wondering, Saïx-" his voice held his ever present cheerfulness even as those around him shifting uncomfortably. The Younger Nobody was being far more forward than normal. He didn't seem to notice them or is Superior's glare as he continued, "Do you only say that since he outplayed you?"
The Lunar Diviner's glare deepened, "Perhaps you would wish the assignment of testing him next?"
The younger nobody visibly deflated, before forcing another bright smile on his face as well as another round of his overly-cheerful laughter, "You know I'm not the fighting type…"
"Then you'd do your best to keep quiet."
"Number IX." The calm but commanding voice broke through the building argument and every member stilled. Their eyes all traveled up to the highest seat where amber eyes glowed under his dark hood. "Treat your elders with more respect. Number VII, repeat your conclusion."
The Lunar Diviner looked up, anger fading out of his eerie yellow eyes and back into their dull emotionless state. "We were wrong to underestimate him. When I sent the heartless after him they hesitated, weighing who was stronger."
"You said you injured him." Attention was diverged to one of the lower chairs where it's occupant, a sturdy blonde, flipped a card his fingers. "Did the Heartless really consider him stronger? Even while twice as injured at yourself. That's a gamble on their part."
"As if!" His neighbor waved off the insinuation, "The Heartless don't have anything to lose, Luxord."
"Regardless." The Lunar Diviner said loudly, bringing attention back to himself, "They still considered him a powerful entity."
The Superior nodded, bringing his hand to rest his covered chin in thought, "Understood. And yet-" He looked at the other expectantly.
Saïx smiled, no happiness showing through, "If you wish sir, we could still break him.
In the shadow of the Superior's hood, another twisted smile appeared in his face, "He must have… a weak point. Find it."
The Lunar Diviner merely gave a short nod and disappeared into iridescent black. The amber eyes looked out over the others still waiting. They settled on one outspoken Sitar player who visably cringed underneath it.
"Number IX…" He started slowly his voice void of any emotion. "Your punishment for your behavior toward your senior…" The Melodious Nocturne tried to sink deeper into his chair.
The cold smile returned.
"Bring the Sleeping Hero to me."