Riku was confused.
At first it was all a nightmare, a painful reminder of a memory and a dream, especially for him. He felt it, he knew it was - WAS - all a dream.
Until now.
He couldn't remember what it was that took place before all this, and why this happened. There must have been something significant for such a change like this to happen. Magic? It may very well be, but for this to happen... he couldn't even place a finger on it. Such a being with magic like this must be very powerful.
He awoke, in his younger glory, a day before the darkness swallowed up the islands.
His head was throbbing furiously, and his vision was wavering. He didn't know what to feel; he was very confused.
Why? It was a question in his head. Why did this have to happen? He didn't want to live through those days again. He did not want to be reminded of the pains, the guilt. He's already changed, and he didn't have - and want - to go through the same events - the same mistakes - he'd gone and went through.
If this was punishment, it was definitely unjust.
+++++
"Riku! Are you sure you're okay?" he was snapped back to reality with his Sora's palm slapping not-so-hardly on his back.
He'd been struck with thought nonstop since that morning. Everything happened very abruptly - it was hard to take in all at once.
"... Yeah, I'm fine," he responded, trying to mask his uneasiness with a little bit of his attitude from that time (he's realized just how big the gap of his attitude before and his attitude now is). He stood up not too gracefully from his position, brushing off sand that stuck on his pants.
"You seem so... deep in thought," Sora laughed in all his happy glory, his hands subconsciously placing themselves at the back of his head.
"At least I'm putting my brain cells to work. What about you?" Riku retorted smugly. Thankfully he could still connect to his younger-self.
"Ah- HEY!"
Hey, Sor--, our raft still--needs a name..-- Wha--Highwin--
--Me--Superso--
--th--sua--?
Riku's head began throbbing. He groaned, and put his hands on his forehead as an attempt to soothe the incoming headache. His mind was filled with memories of the past, unclear and rambling.
"Riku!" Sora ran up to him, genuinely worried.
I'm fine.
"-Hey, Sora, the raft... it still needs a name."
+++++
"Riku... I-I..." he was shaking violently, his eyes void of any form of light.
He wasn't himself.
"SORA! Don't lose grip of the light!" Riku was desperate; the turn of events now was definitely very different than the ones that had taken place before. He was supposed to be the one standing there, lost in the darkness.
--e door--opened--
He didn't know what to do. He didn't want his best friend to suffer what he had.
He didn't want this - any of this. But he couldn't understand why this is happening right now.
"Kairi... I couldn't save her. I could have..." Sora's eyes were distant and shrouded, and as he slowly turned to look at Riku, the darkness that surrounded him closed in to him, slowly, menacingly. It engulfed his feet, encircling his legs, his arms. It hugged him from every angle.
Sora, no!
"Hold on, Sora!" Riku's scream was nothing more but a desperate call for his best friend. He tried getting near Sora, and it proved to be a very difficult task. The sheer strength of the wind blowing toward him made it even harder, but he was determined to save Sora, no matter what.
Wh--talking abou--we--find Kairi!
Kairi...
She'd have to wait. After all, he had advantages. He knew what was going to happen, though altered. At least, it could provide clues.
Riku's heart pounded strongly in his chest, he knew that he himself was struggling to hold on to the light. His darkness is still deep, and uncontrollable, but he didn't want history to repeat.
"Sora, grab my hand! Fight the darkness!" Riku stretched his arm toward Sora as a last call; he was out of options. Now it's either Sora would grab his hand or turn away.
The door--opened, Sor--now we--to the outside world--
If he turns away...
Riku could only cringe at the thought. What have they done to anger the fates like this?
He could only hope this was a dream, a nightmare.
Don't be afraid of the dark.
Riku's chest suddenly hurt. He felt the darkness grabbing his heart, engulfing it into his grasp. It took him almost all of his strength to fight it away.
--Once we step through, we might not be able to come b-- no turning back--but this--our only chance--can't--fear stop us--not afraid of--darkness--
"-ARGH!" He screamed. He fell on his knees, his expression that of agony, his hands gripping onto a place closest to his heart, trying to fight off all the pain he felt. Trying to fight off the darkness.
The darkness will give you power more than light ever could.
"Riku... let's go together, to save Kairi," Sora was now looking down on him, a dark but hopeful expression on his face.
No...Sora, don't!
"The darkness... it can take us, with Kairi, together! We... we can explore the worlds!" Sora's voice now became forceful, persuasive. The light in his eyes was no longer, and in its place a power Riku was so very familiar with, and it only grew stronger and stronger each passing moment.
Keyblade... Keyblade...
"Sora, don't let go of the light!" and with that final scream, light materialized in Riku's hand, forming into the Keyblade.
I-... the keyblade... what...
Rku could no longer focus on what was happening around him. The appearance of the keyblade in his grasp had made him sink deeper into confusion, desperation. It only made situations worse.
This wasn't how things were supposed to turn out!
The darkness encased Sora, its tendrils dancing around him, until he was no longer visible, and the darkness dissolved into nothing.
"SORA!"
+++++
Riku found himself drenched in sweat, panting heavily on his bed. He immediately ran to the bathroom as soon as his feet touched the floor, and stared at his reflection.
He was greeted by his tired eyes and over all disgruntled appearance.
The sound of running water seemed to calm his panicked senses down, although bits and pieces of the dream still haunted him. He shook his head and washed is face with cold water.
It was only a dream.
That thought helped him calm down completely. He was very thankful it was all just a horrible nightmare. He wouldn't have been able to handle it well if all of it happened for real.
He glanced at a digital clock placed on the rack just below his mirror, along with his other things.
4:45 am.
He decided against going back to bed, and instead opted to get ready for school.
+++++
"Something must have been bothering you all night when you look bad, and you never look bad," Kairi joked at Riku's not-so-neat look, and although it was a joke, Riku just can't seem to smile about it.
"Yeah! C'mon Riku! Spill!"Sora's cheerful demeanor never faded from him. Just the simple thought of him being under the power of darkness was too... impossible.
"Hm," was the only response he gave. He just couldn't bring himself to tell them about it.
School has just ended, and the Destiny Trio, as they are now well known as, were just on their way to the ice cream parlor where they would always hang out in for a while before they went their separate ways. That and they sold sea-salt ice cream, too.
They've just taken their cold treats from the new girl behind the counter, who Kairi and Sora happened to have a chat with for a bit.
"So, Riku, any chance of us knowing what's been bothering you since this morning?" Kairi prompted, taking a bite out of her ice cream.
At this, Riku was stopped from his biting the ice cream. He wished they'd forgotten about it, but it turns out they - she - didn't. She just knew them too well.
"You know you can trust us, Riku!" Sora added to Kairi's prompting, and even though Riku doesn't usually give in to their pleas for him to spill his own set of personal secrets, he decided to tell them about this.
"It's just a dream I had last night," Riku simply stated, then took a bite from his cold treat.
"And it's about?" Kairi urged him to continue.
"About the islands being succumbed to darkness, and Sora being taken with it," Riku said after a pause, and then took a deep breath. It felt better when he has finally let go of the thought that bothered him for a while.
"What are you talking about, Riku?" Kairi responded, and Riku was comforted with this response. He wanted to tell them how ridiculous the dream was and how it didn't make sense to him at all, so he turned to look at them.
Their expressions were not what he expected, though.
"It wasn't a dream, Riku."
+++++
.preview end.
