Chapter Text
One hazy summer afternoon in Twilight Town, a guest arrived the old mansion beyond the woods. King Mickey was visiting the group to check in on Sora’s progress and exchange any information they had uncovered. Riku, Naminé and DiZ had gathered in the foyer to greet their visitor. “King Mickey, to what do we owe the honor?” asked DiZ.
“Your Maje- I mean, Mickey, it’s good to see you again,” said Riku.
Mickey gave them a practiced smile. He wondered how much Riku could actually see him through the blindfold he was now wearing, but didn’t comment on it. “You too, Riku. Gosh, you sure have grown a lot since I last saw you!”
Riku looked down and pulled at his cloak collar. “Oh, yeah, I had a bit of growth spurt. I even outgrew the old coat. DiZ found me a new one.”
Naminé waved hello and Mickey nodded before he returned to DiZ’s question. “I wanted to check in on you fellas and see how Sora was doing.” Mickey looked around the foyer of the old mansion that DiZ had suggested. The warm light of sunset coming in from the back windows barely lit the room, just enough to see dust floating through the air. Cobwebs hung from the chandeliers and broken decor was strewn across the floor. The building had clearly been abandoned for a long time. However, it at least looked structurally sound. It wasn’t ideal, but it was a safe hideaway for the group for now. “Have you made much headway, now that you’ve moved out of Castle Oblivion?” asked Mickey.
“Moving to the mansion has helped,” said Naminé. She and DiZ had stayed hidden deep within Castle Oblivion for some time working with Vexen’s equipment and research on memory while Axel had prowled the other floors looking for them. Once he gave up and left, and with Riku’s help, they were clear to move Sora to this location undisturbed by the Organization. “It’s safer for Sora here, and the equipment is better suited to our needs. But as far as progress…” She fidgeted with her fingers. “There is a leak in Sora’s memories. Some of his memories are escaping, and even the links that are connected are getting caught in that flow and tangled up. It’s slowing everything down.” Naminé hesitated before announcing, “I think it’s a Nobody that is interfering, pulling those memories away. Sora’s Nobody.”
“You think Sora has a Nobody?” asked Riku.
“He could. Sora’s time as a Heartless was short, but it was enough,” said Naminé. She noticed DiZ glaring at her and turned away, focusing on Mickey.
“Then we just gotta find Sora’s Nobody. If he’s anything like Sora, I’m sure he’ll be glad to help us,” Mickey said with a big smile.
“I would not be so certain,” said DiZ. “Sora’s Nobody would be of great use to the Organization. No doubt they have their sights on it, if it is not already among their number.”
“I’ll go search for him,” Riku volunteered. “Any idea where he is? Or what he’ll look like? If Sora’s Heartless was just a Shadow, his Nobody might only be a Dusk. How will I know I’ve found him?”
“Sora is strong; I doubt they would be a Dusk. They’ll likely resemble Sora. I’m not sure in which world you could start looking, but when you find them, you’ll know.” Naminé said, placing a hand over her chest. Riku smiled at her and nodded. “Right.”
“When a Heartless is born in the Realm of Light, as Sora was,” DiZ explained, “a Nobody too is born in a different realm, the Realm Between in which Castle Oblivion and Twilight Town both lie. We have all spent a good deal of time in this Realm Between, but have yet to come across a Nobody resembling Sora. Thus I must conclude it has left its birthplace, either fled or taken away through a Corridor of Darkness. He could be on any world in the Realm of Light by now.” Riku nodded, and thought to himself that DiZ had a long-winded way of saying he didn’t know anything.
“In that case,” Mickey said, “Riku, maybe you could help me with another problem while you keep an eye out for Sora’s Nobody.”
“A problem? What is it?” Riku asked.
“I was keeping an eye on the gang in Hollow Bastion and they’ve run into some trouble. It seems that there’s a new bunch of Heartless that appeared at the castle. The Heartless have exploded rubble everywhere and now the crew can’t even get inside. It’s blocked off all the entrances and put a big halt to their restoration efforts. I couldn’t find any way in, but since you know the castle better, I was hoping you’d know another way to get inside and be able to clear out those heartless,” said Mickey.
Riku’s heart jumped. He clenched his fist and steeled himself. He hadn’t been back to Hollow Bastion’s Castle since he was last there with Maleficent, at least not the real version. Returning would no doubt drag up painful memories, but, “I can handle it,” he told Mickey.
“Then we have a plan. If that is all, I shall return to my work. As we all should,” DiZ said, glancing at Naminé before leaving. She visibly relaxed once he was gone.
Mickey frowned at this and glanced between Naminé and Riku. DiZ didn’t seem very pleasant to work with, but they needed his aid. “Is there anything else I can do to help?” Mickey offered.
Naminé shook her head. “Thank you, but we’ll be alright.” She looked to Riku for his agreement, but he seemed deep in thought. Instead, he asked, “Mickey, if I left for Hollow Bastion right now, do you think you could stay here for a bit? There are some Organization members that tend to come to Twilight Town around this time of day and I’d want to know the mansion is protected.”
Mickey nodded. “No problem! Naminé, I’ve heard you’re a great artist. I’d love to see your drawings, if you don’t mind sharing.” Naminé nervously tucked her hair behind her ear and glanced to Riku. He opened a Corridor of Darkness and gave her a nod. Naminé and Mickey would be fine, and it would be good for her to spend time with someone who wasn’t using her. Naminé looked back at Mickey and nodded with a quiet, “Um, okay, sure.”
Riku waved goodbye to them. Mickey waved back, “See ya real soon!” and Riku disappeared into the darkness.
—
Hollow Bastion’s Castle had undergone heavy reconstruction since Riku was last there months ago. Where there had once been rising waterfalls, now there was a paved road littered with machinery. Riku paced the new road back and forth, debating how to make his approach. The lifts outside had been re-purposed for construction, while the path to the old main gates had collapsed onto the side postern door, blocking the entrance the Restoration Committee had been using. He did know some hidden pathways in, but it would also be more helpful for the Restoration Committee if the obvious entry points were cleared. Otherwise, he could have just used a Corridor to get inside. Although if he did that, he might appear in a room suddenly surrounded by Heartless.
Riku could sense darkness emanating from the castle, but it was different from Maleficent and the portal she constructed. Whatever Heartless had caused the destruction were definitely still there. He wondered which Heartless could have made such huge blasts and mentally went through a list of which fit the description. Maybe Crimson Jazz or Cannon Guns? But those were already common to Hollow Bastion, and Mickey had said these Heartless were new to the Restoration Committee. Perhaps Minute Bombs? They did explode, but they were too tiny.
Riku walked to the far side of the postern balcony and peered over the edge. If he understood the new layout right, he should be standing right over the old waterway. But through his blindfold, he couldn’t tell. The thin strip of fabric filtered out most but not all of the light, letting him only see shapes but no texture, contrast but no color. He could tell Naminé from Kairi, but not a Red Nocturne from a Green Requiem until a fireball was heading his way. He was tempted for a moment to lift the blindfold just for a second, but instead he took a deep breath and steadied the fear in his heart. Beyond the edge of the balcony, he could see nothing. The scent of darkness in the castle and sulfuric fumes of rebuilding overpowered any other smell. But under the sound of hissing gas and rattling pipes, he could hear a faint trickle of water echoing up. This seemed to be the right place, so Riku leapt from the balcony and fell into the darkness below.
Riku landed safely in the drained grotto among crystal stalagmites and let out a sigh of relief. A glittering stream flowed through the middle of the quarry, wetting Riku’s boots up to his ankles. Tucked in a corner, there was a crevice just large enough for Riku to squeeze through to reach the waterway. He climbed his way over rubble to the dungeon, scrambling up collapsed ceilings until he was only one floor down from the main castle, and there he sensed a dense blot of darkness trembling on the floor. Riku drew his weapon.
The blot didn’t move. Was it asleep? Riku inched forward to inspect it. The creature was small and resembled a Shadow with antennae, but its features were sharper and pointier. It was lying on its chest, its limbs spread out like it had collapsed. Its torso was pulsing rapidly like it was panting. As Riku neared it, it suddenly moved, but only struggled to roll onto its side and flail its limbs. Riku nudged it with his foot. The creature scratched at his boot with as much strength as a kitten batting a toy. “Weird…” Riku muttered. He had never seen a Heartless act like this. Was it sick? Could Heartless get sick? Was it dying? He almost pitied it. But it was darkness, and he struck it down.
Riku continued higher into the castle. Whatever that creature had been, it wasn’t what caused the explosions.
What used to be the central Lift Stop had been dismantled by the Restoration Committee. The magical barriers were turned off, the electronics and trams salvaged, and new paths were laid out with scrap metal that felt like they could collapse at any moment. A few of the pointy Shadow-like creatures scurried along these paths, as well as new boot-shaped Heartless. Unlike the one creature before, these flung themselves at Riku on sight. He dodged their swipes and kicks, narrowly avoiding the ledge, and sliced through the creatures until it grew quiet again. But the room was not empty. As Riku climbed higher, he found a pair of boot creatures lying still and weak, and disposed of them as well.
Riku ended up back at the main Entrance Hall, where the gates were blocked with massive amounts of rubble. There, where he had last fought Sora while he was still himself, before Ansem possessed him, Riku spotted a large rotund Heartless with a valve on its back floating around. It bounded towards Riku and he swung at its front, his sword bouncing off with a clunk. The Heartless swelled like an over-inflated balloon and glowed red. “Shit,” Riku bit out. Riku called up his Dark Barrier and rushed at the creature, knocking it back toward the blocked gates just in time for the explosion to blast a hole through the ruins. Riku took a moment to catch his breath and wipe his forehead. At least that took care of the opening the way for the Restoration Committee.
Riku stood by the fountain in the hall and listened to the trickling water. He had seen Hollow Bastion back in Castle Oblivion, but being back here for real was different. With practice, he had been able to sense how Castle Oblivion felt fake, but here the smell of must and mechanisms was thicker, the echoes of the halls were deeper. Time had passed, he had grown, and everything looked smaller now, but the pressure on him had grown more immense. This was where he first wore the darkness like a second skin. This was where the Keyblade had abandoned him again after he abandoned Sora and turned to Ansem instead. Up until then, he had been slowly pulled into the darkness and slapping Sora’s helpful hand away, but this had been his point of no return. If he had listened to Sora at this point, how would things have changed? Would they have fought Maleficent and Ansem together? Could they have freed Kairi’s heart without Sora’s sacrifice? If he had been by Sora’s side, would Sora be awake now?
A sudden nudge at his ankle drew him from thoughts. He jumped away and looked down to find a small bunny-like creature fall flat on its face. What was wrong with these Heartless? The bunny-creature struggled to pick itself up with its ears and hopped over to Riku to headbutt his leg again, but it was so weak it felt more like a nuzzle. Riku watched it and considered how strange these Heartless had been acting. If there was something causing it, weakening them, then they needed to know what it was. Was it the nature of these particular Heartless? Had something changed in the Dark Realm? Had the Organization done something to them? What if something was stealing their strength for its own use? Riku held his hand out to the Heartless that was still gently headbutting his leg and softly squeaking. He hadn’t used this power since… since the last time he was here in Hollow Bastion. He took a deep breath first.
“Stop,” he commanded the Heartless. It ignored him.
Riku titled his head. Maybe he was rusty? He tried again to no avail. After a short hesitation, he lifted his blindfold to examine the creature.
The bunny had short black fur and maroon ears. Riku used the hilt of his blade to push it away from his ankle and it peered at him with sad red eyes, unlike the Heartless’s yellow stare. Then he saw the emblem on its chest. It was still a heart, but that wasn’t the sign of a Heartless. This was something different. It wasn’t a Heartless at all.
“What are you?” he wondered. It still smelled of darkness, with an afternote of salt. He released it, and instead of nudging him again, it clung to his leg with its ears. “Get off,” he complained and tried to shake it off. It squealed and hung on tight and he had to slice it off. As it faded away, its black smoke drifted away at an angle, like it was being pulled towards something before vanishing. Riku could still sense a darkness collecting higher up and set off for it.
He climbed the winding pathways of the castle around the Lift Stop, cutting down these new dark creatures that crossed his step. Some of them attacked, some were already fading away, but either way they had to go. He reached the Grand Hall, where Ansem had possessed him and made him a captive of his own body, and found a new prisoner manifested from darkness that had coalesced. The massive creature was bound in chains, half of its armored body locked in a metal cage. But that barely restrained it, as the creature threw itself bodily at Riku, swinging its own prison as a weapon. Riku took the attack with his dark barrier, then charged in return, his blade clashing against iron chains. He jumped back to get some distance, casting a Dark Firaga in his wake, but the creature weaved around it and closed in on him in midair, striking again with its gibbet, and throwing Riku to the floor. He rolled to his feet and found himself near the passageway to the Grand Hall. He considered fleeing briefly to regroup and had barely taken taken a step towards the doorway when the creature burst from the ground, blocking his path. Riku flipped away and the creature spun closer in a fiery tornado.
They continued their dance back and forth, exchanging blows and burns until Riku had the creature cornered in the doorway. He cast another Dark Firaga, expecting it to dodge to the side where he’d be waiting with his sword, but it stubbornly took the fire and refused to budge. It seethed into its helmet and raged in its chains, stretching itself as wide as it could to form a blockade in the doorway. Riku got some distance and studied its movements. It had shown no method of attacking at range thus far, so why pin itself down? Its chest was heaving and its movement had been slowing down, but frantic. It was on its last legs, but instead of trying for some big final move, it was tensing for his attack and snarling. Riku called a Dark Firaga to his hand. The creature roared, echoing on the stone. It made Riku jump. He had never seen a Heartless act like this. It was desperately trying to scare him away. It was defending. It was scared. Whatever these creatures were, they weren’t as mindless as Heartless.
“Sorry!” he yelled, and cast his Dark Firaga on the creature. It roared in its prison, screaming as the fire ate away at it, but still it did not move from its spot, blocking the pathway for as long as it could until it reached its end and disappeared into darkness.
He shouldn’t feel bad for it, he told himself. It was a monster. Even though it had something precious to protect. Riku shook his head and resumed his search. As he walked through the doorway, he trailed his hand along the walls. He could feel how the stone was scratched from the monster’s barricade. “What were you defending?” he wondered and continued onward.
The Grand Hall had not seen as much change as the rest of the castle. The artificial keyhole had been dismantled, but the pipes still rattled, and the princesses coffins still stood empty. Despite the keyhole being sealed, the darkness of all that had happened still lingering in this place. And yet, overpowering that faint odor, Riku sensed a cold, pure darkness the moment he stepped into the room. Something was there, at the base of the stairs. He crept toward it, not getting too close. It wasn’t moving. Did it know he was there? He couldn’t see. He strained his senses, hoping for anything else. He could hear faint breathing and felt— a tug at his heart.
Memories of Sora arose in his mind unbidden. The two of them laughing on the beach.
It’s like somethings squeezing me inside.
The two of them racing along the shore. Drawing on the walls of the secret place. Collecting pretty shards of sea glass.
Somebody up there must be sad.
The two of them briefly reunited in a town of remnants. Fighting in the belly of a whale. Fighting on a ship that sailed the stars. Fighting, fighting.
I dunno Riku, you say some weird stuff sometimes, but I’ll try it.
Sora?
Riku clutched at his heart. He focused on its steady beat, then reached up and pulled down his blindfold.
At the base of the dais, unconscious and slumped up against the wall was—
“Sora!” Riku gasped and ran to him. “Sora, hey! Wake up!” Riku pulled the boy into his arms and shook him by his shoulders, but his head only lolled to the side. Riku looked him over as he traced the boy’s pale cheek, along his arm, and down to his waist. Was this really Sora? His hair was black and he was wearing a dark suit, but he looked just like Sora. And that was just like Naminé and Kairi. Naminé was born in a different dress, and her hair was blonde, but she looked just like Kairi. Riku’s heart had reacted, just like Naminé said it would. In his heart, this boy felt like Sora. This had to be Sora’s Nobody! Riku couldn’t keep a grin off his face as he held the boy tighter. He felt elated, like the pressure from the last several months had suddenly released and he would float away if not for the dead weight in his lap. He found him.
Riku tried to wake him once more to no avail. “Don’t tell me you’re sleeping too,” he sighed with a laugh. He placed his hand on the boy’s cheek, rubbing his thumb gently over freckles he had long memorized. The boy shuddered at the touch, taking tiny breaths between slightly parted lips. “That’s okay. You’ll be all together again soon. You can wake up then.”
Riku heaved the limp boy into his arms as he summoned a dark corridor back to Twilight Town. Riku held him pressed tight against his chest to be sure of his grip. Travel through a corridor could be treacherous, even for a Nobody. “I’ve got you,” Riku told him, and carried him through the dark portal.