Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

When the dust had settled on the blood-soaked ground, forgotten keyblades lay scattered around. Countless warriors' lives were lost; for an unfinished war, it was such a cost. With this great battle left in a time behind, the many deaths will weigh on the new five’s mind.

Ephemer was walking alone down the path with dead keyblades lining either side, the sunrise casting a faint light. Not long ago had he and Skuld parted ways after having seen a mutual friend pass on during the war. Now, he had returned to this fated land. This was someplace he had to be, others he had to meet.

This secret must stay with the five of you. When all is said and done, you must come to the fated land. You'll be joined by four others.

It wasn't long before Ephemer heard footsteps approaching him from behind, when he turned around and saw a familiar face.

He let out a gasp before blinking a few times. He wanted to make sure that he was seeing things correctly. “Skuld? Well, this is a surprise!”

“Disappointed?” she started before pausing. “I, on the other hand, had a feeling you might be here.”

“Of course not! We came here once right after the war, remember?” Ephemer asked. He sighed heavily before glancing away. “I just never thought I'd see you here again.”

“This whole thing is a big secret. We weren't supposed to tell anybody,” Skuld replied, giving an understanding nod to Ephemer’s concern. 

Ephemer looked back at her, meeting his eyes to hers. “I suppose you're right.” Now he was the one to pause while he pondered over his thoughts. There were still so many questions that he had for all of this. And he knew many of them he wasn’t going to get them easily. “I wonder who the others are.”

“I dunno,” Skuld replied staring at the dusty ground. “I wasn't sure I believed Master Ava when she said others would come.” She held her breath for a second. "But now that you're here…”

She trailed off, letting out a sigh. She started to scan the horizon, in hopes that someone might be showing up. Within a few seconds she did start to see someone coming from the west. Her eyes widened slightly as she pointed in the direction of the incoming person.

“Look! Someone's coming,” she said before running off to greet the newcomer. “Welcome! You're number three. I'm Skuld. Nice to meet you.”

The person that had come closer to them was a young boy with bright golden blond hair and deep blue eyes. Once he was close enough to talking range, he started to talk with Skuld and Ephemer. 

“Oh, uh, thanks. You too,” the boy said, in a quiet, shy tone. 

Ephemer then walked a bit closer before he spoke up. “So Master Ava talked to you too, huh?”

“Yeah,” Ventus nodded. “She said I should come here when everything was over, and that I was one of the five.”

“I got the same speech,” Ephemer replied. 

“I'm Ventus,” the boy finally said. “Call me Ven.”

We cannot avoid the end; not even the Masters, including myself, are likely to survive.

The three then began to talk more about the subject at hand. As far as they could tell, they were the only three there at the time. The other two would come eventually, but to when that would be, they had no idea. The waiting game was all they could do for the time being. 

It wasn’t long before they were interrupted by input from a new arrival. The fourth leader to arrive; Brain. His longish black hair and cowboy-esque hat cast a shadow over his eyes, matching quite well with the darker toned ensemble he was wearing. None of the three heard his approach, but they we’re talking, so they thought nothing of his surprise appearance.

Now with their numbers up to four, they were only waiting on one more. They did talk a bit to pass the time, but morning drew out to day, and then set into evening. The four were bored of waiting, growing impatient, and as they were about to start looking around, the final member of their new group of leaders arrived. However, what he had with him surprised them all. 

Laurium, with his flowing pink locks and semi-formal attire, had come across Master Invi's keyblade in his search.

"So you're the fifth leader?" Ephemer asked after introductions were given, as if wanting to be sure.

Lauriam nodded. "Yes, that's correct."

Skuld took a step forward, her eyes locked on the keyblade in the newcomer's hand. "But… But why do you have Master Invi's keyblade?"

Lauriam looked down at it, gripping the handle tightly in his hand. A pensive look spread across his face. "I found it lying on the ground on my walk here. Thought it would be better to bring it along rather than leave it to be covered in dust."

“Maybe we should find all of the Masters’ keyblades, and memorialize them in this place," Skuld suggested.

Ephemer nodded. "I think that would be a good idea. It could be a way to show respect if we did that."

"The Masters were fighting each other, right? So their keyblades wouldn't be far from where you found Invi's, Laurium,” Ventus suggested. 

“Then let’s go and search for them,” Ephemer said. “We will meet back here with them okay?” 

Everyone nodded in agreement before walking off in directions. There were hundreds upon hundreds of keyblades scattered across the battleground. Maybe of them laying flat, but others lodged into the ground, their chains blowing in the wind.

Skuld tried not to stare too much as she walked by rows of now unused keyblades. It only brought her heartache to see all of them, sitting there now. She glanced away and tried to focus back to looking for one of the keyblades of the Foretellers. They would stand out far more than the majority around her. 

Eventually she did see a sight that stood out from the rest. She could see a larger, fanicer keyblade several feet out in a clearing. The closer she got, she ended up seeing it was not one keyblade, but two. They were crossed at an angle, with the tips buried into the ground. 

“Hey Skuld!” Ephemer’s voice rang out. 

Skuld turned to her left and saw Ephemer walking from another path. 

“Looks like we found Master Ira’s and Master Aced’s,” Ephemer said as he approached Skuld. 

“They were together then… when…” Skuld started to say, but she found herself at a loss for words. “Do you think they were fighting against one another? Just like how their unions were?”

Ephemer stared at the keyblades, his eyes deep in thought. After a few moments of silence, he stepped forward and picked up Ira’s keyblade. “I’m not sure. Nor… do I really want to think about that happening. I guess… it’s possible though.”

Sklud quietly moved over and picked up Aced’s. “It’s terrible to think that this had to happen…”

“Agreed. But let’s head back. We both have found a keyblade at least.”

The two of them headed back the way they came, this time walking together. Ever so often they would glance at the fancy keyblades that they now held in their hands. The keyblades they never thought they would get to hold. If it weren’t for the circumstances that lead them there, they would have thought it was cool. But now holding the keyblades only brought a heaviness to their hearts. It didn’t take much longer before they had returned to where Lauriam was waiting. 

Lauriam saw them approach then looked to their hands. He nodded slowly once seeing the two keyblade. "I see you've found Master Ira and Master Aced's."

The two nodded at the young man, both still with heavy hearts. They made their way to Lauriam and took a seat next to him, placing the keyblades gently on the ground. They wanted to have words to speak, but nothing would come. They now had three of the masters keyblades. And soon there would be two more to join. 

Before long the remaining two were seen coming down other paths. Ventus came closer first, and in his right hand, held like he would his own when fighting, was Gula's keyblade. Brain on the other hand had no keyblade.

"Why are you holding Master Gula's keyblade in such a way?" Skuld asked.

Ventus looked down, seeing how he was holding the keyblade. He shrugged. "It's how… I would normally hold my own. Just habit I guess?"

"Ah, I see. But good that you were able to find it," Skuld replied back.

Ventus nodded slowly, his eyes still on the keyblade. "Yeah… that's true…"

"Brain, does this mean that you were not able to find Master Ava's?" Ephemer asked.

Brain took a step forward, lowering his head. "I looked as much as I could. But I could not locate her keyblade in the area I was in. I doubt any of you saw it on your searches."

Everyone else shook their heads.

"No, we found Master Ira's and Master Aced's keyblades near each other, but there were no others nearby," Skuld said, trying to think if she had seen anything else, but no image of the fox foreteller's keyblade came to mind.

"I didn't see Ava's keyblade nearby when I found Gula's," Ventus replied.

"And I only saw Master Invi's," Lauraim added. 

Ephemer lowered his head, trying to understand why none of them had found the last keyblade. "Where could it be? She… she had to be here right? All of the others were."

"Did anyone actually see her on the battlefield? Wasn't she in Daybreak Town when the war began?" Lauriam asked. 

"I believe so," Skuld started to say. She closed her eyes, wondering what could have happened to the soft spoken Forteller. 

She then cleared her throat. "If we cannot find hers… I suppose we should still continue with the memorial for the others. Even without Master Ava's keyblade we shouldn't forget the others."

"Agreed," Lauriam said, standing back to his feet. "How will we do this though? What I mean to say is, how will we arrange them?"

"I have an idea," Ephemer stated before he stood up and picked up Master Ira's keyblade.

After debating between themselves, the decision was to have Master Ira's and Master Aced's crossed at the point where they were embedded into the ground, a bit of space between them. Master Invi's was beside Master Ira's while Gula's was on the opposite side, next to Master Aced's.

They had no verbal words that they could say. All of their thoughts and feelings stayed within their hearts and minds. But they all knew what the others were thinking. Without words they all mourned the fallen fortellers. Once their thoughts and prayers were finished they discussed what they had to do next. After a few minutes they left the battleground to carry out the next phase of the mission they had.

The wind blew through the land that was now a graveyard. It picked up dust and blew it in every direction. The keychains of hundreds upon hundreds of keyblades blew with the wind, swaying back and forth. 

In the center of the crossroads the foretellers' keyblades remained, their keychains moving with the wind just like the rest. Eventually footsteps were heard on the empty and vacant land. A black cloaked figure approached the four keyblades. In their hand was a large keyblade with pretty pastel colors of yellow, pink, and light turquoise.

They walked up to the memorial that the new leaders had made before speaking.

"While some say that ignorance is bliss, I believe that it is the beginning of one's own destruction."

They planted the keyblade into the ground, burying the tip into the small gap of earth between Master Ira's and Master Aced's.

"Would you have still chosen this path if you had known the outcome of your decision, Ava?"

The person then took a step back to view all five the Foretellers' keyblades.

"But this is not the end of the road, fellow apprentices of the Master, for we shall meet again in another life." They paused for a moment. "although I am curious if we should recognize each other, for by that time, I will no longer appear as Luxu."

He turned, and began to leave, before he heard the sound of a keyblade being summoned. When he faced back towards the memorial, Luxu noticed that one of the keyblades had vanished.

"Interesting, it seems as if you've escaped your fate, but how?" He thought aloud, pausing before continuing, "and for how long?"

Chapter Text

In Castle Oblivion, within the room where Sora rested.

"You have a choice to make, too," Namine said.

"Why me, too? No one's messed with my memories," Riku asked. 

Namine looked at him, waiting for a moment before she spoke. "It's not your memories. It's your darkness. In your heart there is darkness, and in that darkness is Ansem. He may be at bay for now… but eventually he'll wake, and he will take over you just like he did before. But I have powers you can use. With my powers, I can put a tight lock on your heart. That way, Ansem could never come out from inside you."

"What happens to me if I let you do that? Will I forget everything like Sora?" 

Namine stayed silent, giving the answer with only the look in her eyes. After a bit more explanation from Namine about the consequences of his choices, she asked him to choose again. A bit more discussion happened and then Riku had come to his answer. 

"I don't need my heart locked. I'm ready, I'm gonna fight Ansem," Riku answered with a serious tone.

Namine pursed her lips, clear worry etched into her face. "But what if his darkness overtakes you?"

"If that happens, then the darkness will show me the way," Riku answered. 

After the two talked a bit more, now with Riku commenting that Namine reminded him of Kairi, he was finally ready to leave. He told Namine  to look after Sora and then turned to leave.

Just as he was about to exit the door, Namine grabbed hold of his wrist. "Wait Riku! Uh… there is one more thing."

Riku turned around, wondering what she possibly could have meant. "Huh? What is it?"

Namine hesitated, thinking over her thoughts carefully. Quickly she let go of Riku's wrist and straighten up. "I wasn't too sure at first… it took me a while to realize this, but while I did not mess with your memories… I did notice something else."

"Something else?" Riku asked. He raised an eyebrow, trying to understand what she was getting at. But nothing came to mind what she could have meant.

Namine bowed her head. "I didn't mean to look too deeply, but I noticed something about you. In your mind… there are hidden memories. Real hidden memories, not like the fake ones I created for Sora."

"What?" Riku asked. He almost couldn't believe the words he had heard. He had hidden memories? How could that be? And of what? 

He furrowed his brows, trying to take in this new knowledge. "Do you know what they are?"

Namine tilted her head back up, meeting Riku's eyes again. "No. They are deeply buried, I've never really seen anything like it before."

"Is there anything you could do about it though?" Riku asked, becoming increasingly curious about apparent hidden memories locked in his mind. Out of everything that happened, it was intriguing him the most.

"I believe so," Namine replied quietly. "I think that I could awaken them… if you wanted."

Riku closed his eyes, beginning a deep thought process. "I have hidden memories… but what are they? I mean I guess that's why I can't remember them, they are hidden after all."  

He crossed his arms and let out a long sigh. "I feel like they must be important… either that or they are repressed. If they were bad and I repressed them, maybe I shouldn't remember. I don't know… but I think it would be good to know, at least some point."

Riku opened his eyes again, seeing Namine waiting patiently for his answer. He cleared his throat. "Thank you for offering, but for now I'll just think about it."

Namine nodded in understanding. "Okay, let me know if you make a decision."

Riku gave a nod back and then headed out of the room, ready to face Ansem.

300 days since Roxas joined the Organization.

Namine and DiZ stood in the white room, starting at the capsule that held Sora, still asleep. A problem had occurred where restoring Sora's memories had stopped. DiZ said that they would have to take action soon if nothing with Sora could be done. But for now they were at a stand still, and there was nothing Namine could do.

She sighed and exited the room, back into the hallway of the Twilight Town mansion. It was where they hid out now from the Organization, hoping they could continue to go undetected. Continuing through the mansion, Namine walked into a different room, and found Riku, who appeared to be staring out the window, even though he had a blindfold on. There was a contemplative look on his face.

Before she could even speak up, he turned to face her. "Namine, is something wrong?"

"The restoration of Sora's memories has come to a halt, and it's outside my control."

Riku's shoulders slumped. Even with the blindfold covering his eyes, it was clear that he looked disappointed. "Oh… I see. I guess that means more waiting then. You don't know how long it will last for?"

Namine shook her head. "I'm uncertain of how long it will take before I'm able to make anymore progress." She paused for a moment before continuing to speak. "Since I currently not able to work on Sora's memories, have you decided about your own locked ones?"

Riku stayed silent at first, thinking it over carefully. Eventually he spoke back up. "I do want to know why I have locked memories. I really do want to know why… and since we seem to have some time on our hands I guess we could do it now."

"It will only take a few days, as theses memories already lie within your heart. All I have to do is chain them together with your current ones and you should be able to remember them at your own pace."

"All right," Riku replied. "Let's do this then and get it over with."

Chapter Text

Riku had now slept for several days in a dreamless sleep. Namine worked her hardest to unlock the memories she saw within Riku’s heart. It was much harder than she originally thought. These memories she saw in Riku… they were much deeper, much more buried then any memories she had seen. At first she thought they were just some repressed childhood memories, but the more she worked, she started to feel that it was more than that. 

It was something completely different. 

The time soon came when she was finished with her job with Riku’s memories. Slowly he woke up after she had finalized the last bit she needed to do. Eventually Riku opened his eyes and began to blink. Everything around him looked hazy and he couldn’t seem to focus. 

Once he got to his feet, he groaned. He placed a hand to his head as a small pain started to form. “Ah… Namine, is it over?”

“Yes, those hidden memories should be awake for you to recall now,” Namine said softly. 

“I guess it is just taking a bit for them to come clear and-” 

Riku stopped mid sentence

Something was tugging at the back of his mind. Something familiar. He could almost feel the memories creeping up on him… flooding back into his mind. 

Flashes of keyblades clashing jumped first into his mind. 

So many keyblades. 

So many wielders. 

All of them fighting. 

He was fighting too, against many of them. Many of them all so young. Why were they fighting? Why was he fighting? What… what were these memories? These were… his memories? 

Before Riku could even think, his mind burned with so many images. He felt the strength in his legs gave out as he dropped to the floor. He thought he could hear Namine calling his name, but the sound of keyblades clashing against one another was far louding in his head. The room around him swirled until everything went black. 

The world around Riku was a hazy, barely any object or person could be made out. All he knew was there was constant fighting going on. 

He stood across a small clearing in the chaos from another.

He had his keyblade drawn, and he felt like he was going to attack. He tried to stop himself but he could not control what was happening. It was as if he were only watching everything that was happening before him. 

His felt his body move and quickly turn to block an attack from behind him. 

“Iraaaaaaaaaaaa!” the person shouted in a deep voice from behind him. They wore an outfit that, at first, Riku saw as strange, but it was also familiar at the same time. 

“Ira?” Riku thought to himself. “Why does that sound… it sounds like…”

Riku wasn’t given much of a chance to process the scene he was witnessing as his mouth opened and he spoke. 

“We settle this now.” 

The man with the bear mask launched at him, swingin his keyblade to attack. There was hardly any time to react as Riku felt the keyblade shove harshly against his chest. He was knocked back and the man jumped forward ready to strike again, this time though he blocked it. The two of them then began to fight more, exchanging hits back and forth. The fight between them ensured for a while, both of them taking many hits. 

The scene before his eyes faded and started to change into something else. He now stood before someone with a keyblade. A younger looking person, and they were in a battle stance. Was he fighting them? Why though? He tried to process as he felt his body move again, preparing to strike the young person. 

Instead, similar to before, he turned slightly and blocked an attack coming from behind him. 

It was the same bear masked man from before. “I’ve been waiting for this moment…. Ira.”

“There’s that name again…” Riku thought as the two of them started to fight against each other once more. “Why is it familiar… Why do I know…”

As the fight went on, something started to make sense to Riku. It started to make sense to him why all of this was familiar. He had seen this before… no… he had experienced this before. He had lived these moments once before. 

When the battle started to end, he was on his knees, breathing heavily. A few feet before him was the bear masked man. He too was near to collapsing onto the ground, looking as if he was at his end. Riku had never felt so exhausted before, never so worn down. 

But that was when everything started to make sense. He now knew exactly what this moment was. But before RIku could even acknowledge anything more, the desolate-looking world before him went black. 

Riku’s eyes shot open. He sat up, breathing heavily. His entire body felt cold, almost to the point where he thought he would be shivering. With a shaky hand he placed it on his chest. His heart was pounding against his rib cage. He was sure it was going to break through if he didn’t try to relax it. 

With his other hand he ran it across his face, wiping the cold sweat that dripped down him. He shuddered as the wisps of things floated around his head. He had never felt so shaken in all of his life. What he had seen… was far from anything he had expected. He almost couldn’t believe it.

But from that, one thing was for sure. 

He remembered. 

Those memories that were locked before… they were awake now… He could access them.  

They weren’t memories from childhood, which was his first assumption… these were memories of another life. His past life… as Ira.  

Chapter Text

“How… how is this possible…” Riku murmured, pressing a hand against his face. “This cannot be real…”

He was Ira? A master of the keyblade and a forteller that once managed an entire union of keyblade wielders. 

But he was also Riku? A young boy who was supposed to have the keyblade, but lost it when he gave his heart into darkness. 

None of this was making any sense to him, and his head was starting to throb even more. Though with a few deep breaths he was able to at least focus on his surroundings. He was laying on old bed in a dimly lit room. It took Riku several moments to try and process where he was before remembering that it was most likely a room in the old Twilight Town mansion. 

He jumped off of the bed and ran to the dresser on the wall to his right. He pulled up his blindfold slightly and stared right into the mirror that hung above it, analyzing everything. He looked at every part of his face, the shade of his hair, the color of his eyes. This was how he looked as Riku… but not as Ira. There was a faint resemblance he could see, but other than that he was someone else now. 

“I don’t understand…” Riku-Ira’s thoughts murmured. “I did not think such things as reincarnation were real. That… That was not in the book of prophecies. Is it possible that there could have been more after that last page? I guess with me being here, it must be true. But does that mean… the others are in this time as well? But where…?”

With too many questions that he knew he didn’t have the answers for. Riku-Ira shuffled back to the bed and sat down. There was no point in trying to figure out everything when he was still trying to get a grip on the knowledge that had just awoken. He rubbed his forehead as a slightly aching pain came through. It was a bit troublesome now that his old memories were awake. It was started to build a bit of conflict when he tried to think over everything that had happened. 

Suddenly something started to dawn on him… more so from the Ira side of him. With both sides of two lives rushing through his head, it was easy to start having one judge the other. Mainly it was the side of him that was Ira that now realized what he had done so far as Riku. 

“What a fool I am in this new life…” Ira mumbled, letting out a long sigh. “To think I was foolish enough to let darkness taint my heart when before I knew to strongly oppose it.” 

He paused for a moment, searching through his memories as Riku to rethink some of his current thoughts. “Then again… I cannot fully blame myself. There have been many factors that lead me to be rather uneducated and naive when it comes to the darkness and everything else.”

He breathed deeply again as he flopped backwards onto the bed. His thoughts floated around before he started to think back on his life as Ira, something that still seemed odd to Riku. “Can’t believe it though… it’s so weird to think that I had another life before. It does make things feel weird now with using the darkness… since I use to hate it. Maybe it’s okay since I am trying to be balanced… the road to dawn and all. But then again… the darkness is still darkness… right?” 

He sighed heavily at himself before placing his right arm over his eyes. “Ah… I don’t know though…” 

At that moment there was a small knock on the door to the room. It creaked open a slight bit and Namine popped her head in.

“Riku,” Namine paused when she saw that he was conscious. “Glad to see that your awake.”

“Oh, it’s yo-” Ira started to say as he looked to her, but he shook it off. He sat back up as he tried again, this time with his thoughts coming from his memories of himself as Riku. “Hey Namine. Yeah… I’m awake now. Uh… how long was I out for?”

“It’s been a little over a day.”

“Ah… I see,” Riku replied. Had it really been a day since Namine finished her work? There was now another day that he was out, but this time because of the memories she woke up. And he could only figure nothing more had happened with Sora, otherwise Namine probably would have started with that. After a bit of thought he continued. “I hope DiZ isn’t too upset about that, but I guess nothing much has happened?”

Namine shook her head. “There hadn't been much activity that required your presence.” 

"That's good at least…" Riku replied softly.

"DiZ, however," Namine continued, "was not pleased to learn that I had put you out of commission without you having forewarned him."

Riku sighed slightly. He knew they hadn't really informed DiZ of what they were doing. They knew he was caught up with his own thoughts and plans for everything that he would not approve. But Riku had wanted to know what was locked up in his mind. And with the delay they had, he and Namine took the opportunity. 

"I hope he understands at least. Don't worry though, if he's still upset I'll try to explain it to him."

"But what am I even going to say? I cannot go and tell him the exact truth. I doubt he would believe such a thing. Even now it still feels weird for me to think about. I have two sets of memories now… and it makes everything feel different. My darkness… I feel that I should find a way to rid myself of it, yet I know it's not that simple. Even with defeating Ansem back at Castle Oblivion… there is still much darkness left from him, aside from my own. Then there is the part that I feel I still may need it…" Riku-Ira let a long sigh escape from him as he dwelled further on the matter. 

“...iku” Namine was calling out to him, a slight worried tone to her voice, trying to get his attention “Riku...”

“Huh?” Riku said, snapping out of his thoughts. “What is it?” 

“Are you alright?” Namine asks, concerned. “You’ve looked a little dazed since I came here to see you.”

“Oh, sorry about that,” Riku replied quickly. “I think this is just a lot to process right now. You know, with these memories.”

"I understand." She paused for a moment before asking something that was on her mind. "If you don't mind me asking, what were those memories about? I didn't look at it myself as to not intrude."

“Ah… it’s a bit hard for me to explain right now. I think I just will need some time to myself to think about it. Don’t worry though, it’s nothing that bad, just a lot of things to take in.”

Riku thought to give her a truthful answer, but the more he thought about it, he couldn’t figure out how to explain it. Even if he could trust Namine to listen to him, there was still so much he needed to think about. He was far from adjusted with his old memories back, and it would take much more time to get use to it. For now, he figured he wouldn’t tell her. Maybe in the future he would, but for now he decided to keep it just for himself. 

Chapter Text

Over the next few days, Namine would frequently check in on Riku. He rarely left the room that was set aside for him at the mansion, and was almost always found lost within his own thoughts. The few times that he did leave were to either deal with Heartless that wandered a little too close to the gates of the mansion or check in on the happenings of Organization XIII. 

Namine couldn’t help but worry. Every since she woke up those memories within Riku, he had started acting different. It wasn’t something major that would warrant the notice of DiZ. Then again, he rarely showed any care or attention to them that it didn't matter. But Namine took the time to notice the small, subtle changes with Riku. 

She feared that Riku was not handling his old memories well. She still had chosen to remain polite and not look into what they were, but that still left her to be curious. She could only wonder what was going on in his mind and what could possibly be troubling him. But she also had not dared to ask him for permission to look. They were his memories and she felt it was wrong to look at them. 

But it still left her greatly concerned. 

She started to feel this more the longer the days went on. She started to pick up small things with how Riku spoke. It was only occasionally, but every once and a while he would give a response that sounded far to proper to belong to him. The mannerisms were not his… or at least they were, but from a long time ago. It was the only explanation Namine could think of. But she still could not find a good way to question him about it. 

Currently she stood in the room that had the capsule with Sora sleeping inside. There was still no progress that could be made. Everything was still at a standstill. It saddened her that she was unable to do as DiZ asked, but she knew it was out of her control. But she could only hope that an answer would be found soon. 

With little else for her to do, she decided to comb through what memories of Sora's that she had already put back in place, just to make sure that everything was exactly where it should be. Nitpicking through the chains of his heart, Namine noticed something subtle that she had missed before. There were connections from before his earliest memories, where he would have been too young to create memories. Taking a closer look, Namine saw things she didn't expect; a world full of fairy tales and keyblade wielders of all kinds. 

Namine pulled out of Sora’s memories. She stumbled back slightly, trying to process what she had seen. “Were those… Sora’s memories? What were those? They felt like his, but they felt older. Older than Sora is… time wise.”

Namine tried to stay still, but she found herself too fidgety to do so. She started to pace the room, thinking more about what she had seen. “Could it be that they are like Riku’s? Some strange hidden memories? But how are things like that possible?”

Namine turned to look at Sora again. “And then there is the fact that they’ve apparently been awake and active in his mind the entire time. Nothing I did woke them up… they’ve been like that for years. I don’t understand…” 

Namine stepped back towards the capsule and tried to look again. She knew she was prying into something she had no knowledge about, but she had to understand. Or at least she had to try to understand. She searched through a few of the memories, seeing other people she didn’t recognize. Soon she stopped again and stepped away. 

“I wonder if there is any connection with Sora’s memories and Riku’s. Maybe… Maybe I should finally ask him about it.”

After a brief pause to debate whether she should reveal her findings to Riku or not, she turned to leave the chamber. Heading out into the rest of the mansion, she moved towards the room Riku was occupying.

She knocked gentle against the door. “Riku? Are you there?” 

She waited a moment and then she heard his voice. “Yes. You may come in.”

He was speaking in a polite manner again, but Namine didn’t focus on it this time. She had other thoughts she wanted to talk about first. After she would explain what she saw, she figured she would only then choose to ask Riku about his memories. 

When she entered the room she saw that Riku was sitting by the window again, presumably staring out it moments before. He stood up and walked over to Namine.

 “Has something come up? I mean…” He paused, as if regaining his thoughts. “You know… anything good or bad with Sora’s condition?”

"His condition hasn't changed, which is both good and bad. However, I came across something that I didn't notice before."

“Oh? Something you didn’t notice? What is it?” Riku asked, sounding more curious. 

Namine clasped her hands together. "I'm not entirely sure, but I have a theory for what they may be." She breathed in slowly before continuing. "I think, with how his memories were hidden, they could be from the same time as yours. But I still am not too sure since I don't know anything about your memories yet."

If Riku didn't have the blindfold covering his eyes, Namine would have seen them widen. He didn't answer right away either. There were too many questions coming to his mind to even process speech.

"Memories from the same time. Could it be… Sora is one of the others? Who though… Gula or Aced?"

Finally Riku was able to clear his throat. "Namine, please tell me. If you can describe what you saw I may be able to figure and judge if it connects or not."

"I didn't look all to deep, but I saw hundreds of keyblade wielders in a world I know nothing about."

Riku moved forward, grabbing Namine by her shoulders. His breathing had escalated. "Did you see anything specific? Anyone dressed in fancy robes with detailed masks? Masks that were designed after an animal?"

Namine flinched back, completely startled by Riku's actions, looking quite a bit more timid, almost scared of him now.

Riku waited for her answer, but he could feel that her body had tended up. He let go of her and stepped back. He let his mind wander more into his Ira mindset, letting himself think more properly for an apology. "I'm sorry Namine. I didn't mean to jump so quickly to speaking. I only know that you did say things that are familiar to me. Please, if you will, let me know what you saw, if there is anything else."

Namine took a step back as well, but seemed to calm down at the apology. "The one bit of memory I did see had a lot to take in, but it appeared to be a large crowd gathered before someone whose face I couldn't see. I'm uncertain, but they appeared to be wearing a fox mask."

"Ava…" Ira breathed out slowly upon hearing the information. "But if Sora's old memories saw her and he was in a crowd… was he not one of the other foretellers?"

Ira stumbled back slightly until he found his way to the bed. He sat down and ran a hand through his hair. "Could he be one of the young wielders from one of the unions? But who… and why? Why a single wielder… who could he have been? From Ava’s union or another? This just adds more questions to all of this."

"Riku?" Namine called out his name to get his attention. "Is there a relation between what I saw in Sora's memories, and your own?"

Ira blinked, focusing back to Namine. She was still wondering about his memories. And it made sense why, especially with what she learned about Sora… or whomever he once was. 

She deserved to know something at least. If she did perhaps, if she ever found others with memories like his, she'd know what to look for. "Yes there is a connection. This may be hard to believe, but in a time before this, I was once a different person."

Namine looked confused, but did not speak up, instead choosing to respectfully wait for Riku to continue.

“There was a time long ago where there were many keyblade wielders. And they were all in different groups or ‘unions’. And I… I was the leader of one of the unions. It was peaceful for years, but then things changed after a time… and everything changed for all of us…”

Ira went on to explain as much as he could to Namine. He didn’t tell about every detail or who the other union leaders were, but he gave as much as he thought she would understand. When he finished explaining he let out a long sigh.

“So now I’ve got two sets of memories. Ira from back then… and now currently as Riku. It’s still confusing… and still a bit hard for my heart to understand. The conflicting opinions and stuff…” Riku sighed as he lowered his head. 

"I'm sorry…" Namine barely spoke up. "I should have done a better job connecting your past memories to the current ones."

Quickly, Riku raided his head and turned to the direction of Namine. "No it isn't your fault. You didn't know what my memories contained. So you wouldn't have known the affect it would have."

“But I still went through with it, and I didn’t even try to look. If I had just leaked a little… seen what there was, I may have not unlocked it all at once,” Namine replied as she clasped her hands together to keep them from fidgeting. 

“Namine, please,” Riku stood back up and went over to Namine. He placed his hands on her shoulders, causing her to look up at him. “I would have ended up like this one way other another, whether you unlocked my memories slowly or all at once. There isn’t anything you could have wished to do about it. It’s all on me…” He sighed, lowering his head slightly. “My choices and my feelings are what make this hard, but I don’t want you to blame yourself.”

“If… If you say so. But… are you really going to be alright?” Namine asked. 

“I think I will find a way to manage… even if it takes me some time. Thank you for the concern though,” Riku replied. 

Namine smiled, feeling much more relieved than she did moments ago. “Okay. But Riku…” She hesitated briefly before she continued. “You don’t have to keep this all a secret anymore. If you ever need to talk about… your memories or anything. I’ll do my best to listen.”

“Thank you Namine,” Riku-Ira replied before smiling. His thoughts were still muddled and clouding about the entire situation. He still had far too many things to think over on the subject, and he wasn’t sure if he would find all of his answer. But he smiled to Namine as best as he could, trying to show that he truly was happy to have her words of caring. “It’s nice to know that I have someone by my side.”

Namine nodded. “You’re welcome. Though… now that I think about it. I’d assume your memories are what made the change in your personality?” 

“Changes in… my personality?” Riku asked. 

“Oh…” Namine mumbled softly, fidgeting slightly again. “I guess you wouldn’t notice by yourself. It is your personality after all. But I mean, there is a slight difference in your personality now, and who you were then.”

“Ah, I guess that makes sense,” Riku replied as he rubbed the back of his neck. “You’re right though, I didn’t really notice. It’s all just me… only different versions I mean. I hope I didn’t worry you because of that.”

“No you didn’t, I mean I was curious. At least I know now. Also… if you want me to, I could try to look more into Sora’s older memories, if you want me to try and find out more.”

Riku shook his head. “No, it’s all right, I think right now I still need some more time. I still got a lot on my mind that I need to sort out. And adding more questions won’t really help too much.”

“Hm, okay. You’ll let me know?” 

Riku nodded and after a goodbye between the two, Namine left the room. Riku let out a long sigh as he dropped back down onto the bed. He did want to know who exactly Sora once was, but as he had told Namine, he wasn’t ready for that information. Riku still had to deal with something else first… himself. 

Chapter Text

Riku once again was alone in his room. There was nothing to do today anyways so he wanted to take as much time as he could to have to himself. He breathed in and out as he let various thoughts swirl around in his mind. 

Out of everything that had happened to him, having his memories as Ira being reawakened was the more troubling. It brought far more conflict to him than he already had. And there were still so many questions. 

Many, many unanswered questions. No matter what Riku did to calm him mind, the questions never stopped burning in the back. Almost every moment he let his mind wander, new thoughts came from both sides of his mind. Ira and Riku. Two different people, yet technically the same. Both sides of his memories still clashed against one another nearly every chance they got. And at some points Riku wasn’t sure what to do. 

Currently he was in his room, lying on his bed like he usually did when his thoughts got to be too overwhelming. The subject in his mind today was one that he was surprised didn’t arise right away.  

His keyblade. 

His former keyblade from when he was Ira. 

“Is it still possible that I could wield it? In this new body and life, am I able to do such a thing?” Ira wondered as he rolled onto his back. If it weren’t for the blindfold, he would be staring up at the ceiling, but the darkness over his eyes gave him the same feeling for spacing out. 

“But my heart has given into darkness… I don’t even think I would be worthy to use my former keyblade. I couldn’t even gain back the keyblade I was suppose to have in this new life.”

Finally feeling jittery from the sheer thought of his keyblade, Riku-Ira jumped to his feet and began to pace. It was the only thing that could slightly help relax him, but it didn’t do much over all. He kept fixating on his keyblade. He knew that those with a strong heart could wield one, but they could also lose it. If enough darkness came to a person’s heart, they could lose the ability to summon their keyblade. 

That was what Ira grew up learning anyways. But then Riku remembered back some months ago. When he was at Hollow Bastion, waiting for Sora, he got his keyblade back for a short time. Even though he was using the darkness he managed to get hold of it once more, but then Sora’s heart proved to be the stronger one. 

Then there was the keyblade he had after that, but a lot of his memories from when Ansem first possessed him were too hazy to recall. But he knew he had used a keyblade of some sort then, and he was more empowered with the darkness at that point. 

“Maybe what I thought I knew was wrong…” Ira mumbled aloud. “It may be possible for me to summon it back. But… do I even want to try? If I fail…” He sighed. “Then l'lI know what a disgrace I have become.”  

Standing still Ira held out his hand. Though the blindfold covered his eyes, he still thought to close them. He breathed in as he tried to concentrate. He let as many thoughts about his keyblade come to his mind. Then he felt the weight come into his hand. 

With his free hand, he pushed up his blindfold slightly to take a proper look at what he now held. And it was in fact his old keyblade. There was no way he could forget the curved designed of the silver colored handle that made it look like clouds. Or even the delticalled designed unicorn just above the handguard with the red and black detail around it. 

“I suppose I am still worthy to wield it… but I don’t even know if I should.”

With one, long finally sigh, he dismissed the keyblade. “Until I am able to sort out what is in my heart, I don’t think I should use it.”

Suddenly a new idea came into his mind. “Ah, I suppose with the time I have I could do some of that. I think a bit of inner meditation would be good.” 

Riku chuckled slightly before sitting down on the floor with his back up against the fall. “I guess one good thing to come from this is remembering these techniques. But I can only hope it helps…”

With a deep breath he became to calm his mind and enter into a deep meditation. The room around him faded as his mind went into a sleep. Though on the outside he was sleeping, the inside of his mind was an entirely different story. 

Riku opened his eyes and saw two things. One was that he was no longer wearing his blindfold, and two was that he stood in a space that wasn’t the bedroom. This was a very different, and very special space. 

Darkness surrounded him in every direction, but there was one large bright light source. Looking down, he saw the familiar glow of stained glass. A beautiful design surrounded him, but it was different than he expected it to be. But then he quickly recovered from his concern, factoring in that it was most likely influenced from having two active sets of memories. 

The stained glass platform beneath him appeared divided, accentuated by the obviously different colors that dominated the two sides. One half was predominantly red, with a backdrop of lavender-violet buildings and an elaborate clocktower off in the distance. The half-ring of circles had unicorn motifs in silver-white. On the other side was an island backdrop with the rest of the ring being made of what appeared to be the heartless symbol without the red ‘x’ through it. The remainder being shades of indigo-blue. In the lower center, dividing the backdrop, was himself, or rather both versions of himself. 

He was kneeling on the divide, with a keyblade stuck in the ground before him. His appearance was split, with the half on the red side wearing the cloak and mask from his time as Ira, while the other side showed what Riku looked like now. The black Organization Cloak contrasting the white robes, as if to symbolize his divide between darkness and light. In the circles above his head were the faces of people he knew, also split like the rest of the panel. 

Sora and Mickey were the upper and lower right on the bluish side while Gula and Invi had the top and bottom left of the red side. The two that were along the centerline were harder to distinguish, as a very obvious line went through both. The upper one was obviously Ava on one side, as apparent by the fox mask, while the other half looked to be Kairi. It was a bit harder to discern the last the last circle. While one side was obviously Aced, the other person had semi-spiky brown hair, and blue eyes.

Riku looked at each bit of the design, taking note of every little detail. It was pretty nonetheless, but still was strikingly odd to see everything split. But that was not why he was there. He wasn’t there to stare at a symbol of the state his heart was in. He came to this place to try to meditate and relax. Or at least try to clear out things from his head. 

Slowly he began to walk around the edge of the platform, looking out to the darkness that surrounded it. It was much more noticeable than he thought it would have been. He could sense it out there, looming and drifting. 

He came to a stop when he felt a chill run up his spine. He turned his head and once more looked out into the vast darkness. There he could see a shadowy creature moving within the darkness. 

It was no doubt the guardian Heartless than Ansem once controlled. Though Riku knew he had succeeded in defeated Ansem… the man’s darkness was still left in his heart. Ansem’s conciseness was gone, but everything else remained. All of the darkness and powers that was Ansem, still were tainted all over Riku’s heart. 

It was still there and had begun to try to take over him once again. It was the main reason he wore the blindfold. It helped keep the little bit of essence that was left from Ansem from taking him over. 

Now as he stayed there, eyes locked on the Heartless, he saw that he slowly started to move. Riku gasped, stepped back when he saw that the Heartless was coming closer into range. Once it got to the platform, it’s glowing yellow eyes fixed on Riku, it kept moving. 

Without waiting too long to see what the creature would do, Ira instinctively summoned his keyblade in a defensive position. And much to his surprise, the Heartless came to a complete standstill. 

Heavy breaths left Ira’s chest as he kept his eyes locked with the creature. Something was strange about this, but he couldn’t understand what. Normally Heartless would jump at seeing a keyblade, due to the light it held. But this Heartless wasn’t doing that, and furthermore, it was no longer looking at Ira, but instead at the keyblade.

“What does it… why is it just staring at my keyblade?” Ira thought to himself. 

Seeing that the creature was still not moving from the spot it hovered over, Ira lowered his keyblade slowly. The Heartless followed the keyblade, but then went to look back right at Ira. But still it did not move from its spot. 

“Either this Heartless sees something about my keyblade… or maybe I am losing my mind here…”

Suddenly a faint growling sound came from the Heartless. Ira held his keyblade, but surprisingly the Heartless shook its head at him. It moved one of its clawed hands up and tried to pull at the fabric that was wrapped around its mouth. 

Now Ira was starting to feel completely confused on what he was seeing. 

Then a thought hit him. “Maybe it’s not the outer appearance I need to be focusing on… maybe there is more to this than I originally thought.”

Closing his eyes and concentrated on the presences of the Heartless before him. And as he suspected, there was something else there besides the darkness. There was a faint light constrained by chains and ties where the Heartless would be standing. 

Ira’s eyes shot wide open. “You… You’re trapped? The darkness has some hold over you with deep binds, correct?” 

The guardian Heartless nodded slowly. 

This was already far weirder than he ever expected. But he started to think more on it, and newer questions came to mind. There was one thing that Riku wanted to know before he tried anything that could end badly. “You’re not actually Ansem, are you?” 

The Heartless shook its head quickly and gave a short growl. Even if Riku didn’t want to believe it, the way the Heartless reacted was enough to make him understand. It wasn’t Ansem, but whoever it was had been confined to the Heartless and controlled by Ansem. 

There was also something about the faint presence that Ira felt was… familiar. He couldn’t truly tell though for the binds on the light was making it too hard to sense. But he knew now that he had to do something.

He raised his keyblade, pointing it directly at the Heartless. With a deep breath he thought on a deep spell that needed all of his concentration. The tip of his keyblade glowed and soon light shot out and headed right towards the Heartless. 

As the light struck, golden chained materialized around the Heartless. Ira kept his concentrated though and didn’t let what was happening distract him. He knew what he was doing and he couldn’t stop for a moment, otherwise it wouldn't work. 

The chains started to crackle and crumble away as more light hit them. Finally a snap sound was heard as the chained shattered from around the Heartless and the light was free to hit it directly. 

The Heartless became engulfed momentary in the light and the shape started to change. Ira lowered his keyblade, finished on his part, and now watched curiously what was going to happen. 

When the light faded, the Heartless was no longer there, but instead the glowing form of a person. They had a glowing light around them, and were slightly transparent from the looks of it. That lead Ira to understand that the light was in fact someone’s heart that had been trapped within the Heartless. But when he got a good look at the person, he couldn’t believe it, or really Riku couldn’t. 

Before him now was the spirit, it was the closest thing that described it, of a man he saw one before. Once many years ago when he was just a boy. Back then, what had happened didn’t make any sense. But now with the help of his memories of Ira, the event made complete sense. This was the man who gave Riku the ability to use the keyblade in the first place. 

“How in… But you’re… how are you even…What even is…” 

No matter how hard Riku tried, he couldn’t get a full sentence out. Everything was far too jumbled in his mind to even think coherently. Thankfully he didn’t have to try and speak for the man nodded and smiled slightly. 

“I know it is pretty weird given the circumstances. When I first saw you, I never expected to have our fates so intertwined. But it makes sense when you think about it,” the man replied before walking right up to Riku. “And since we never got to introduce ourselves before, I’m Terra. Though I already know you since I have been around for a little while now.”

“Wait what do you mean that it makes sense about our fates being intertwined? We only met once before, so what does that mean for this?” Riku asked. 

Terra smiled again. “I’d actually think it is a bit ironic how we were led here. But I want to believe that it is fate’s way of leading us to make amends towards one another.”

“I still don’t get it. What are you talking about?” Riku demanded. He didn’t want to get frustrated with Terra, but he couldn’t figure out what it was that he was meaning. Though in his mind he did feel something tugging at him. Something was telling him that he wanted to agree with Terra, but he was still missing one piece that connected to it. 

“I think you should know since you are using your old keyblade… Ira,” Terra replied.

Riku-Ira let out a gasp. He knew that there was a bit of familiarity to the light he had sensed. But before the chains were broken, he couldn’t tell which side of his memories had that feeling. But now, strangely, he understood it was both. 

Focusing on the light from Terra, Ira thought as hard as he could. It didn’t take long though before he had his answer on who Terra was to him. It made complete sense now, but still left so many more questions than ever before. Yet he now understood what Terra had meant, even though it was strange to think about. But the answer still left him at a loss for words. 

All he could manage was one word. 

One name.

“Aced?” 

Chapter Text

There were so many thoughts filling Riku-Ira’s head that he could no longer stand. His head swirled and everything around him started to feel dizzy. He dropped down to his knees before moving back to sit down. If he thought that his thoughts and memories felt meshed and conflicted before, that was nothing compared to how he felt now.

“Are you going to be all right?” Terra asked. 

Riku-Ira exhaled deeply before looking up at Terra. “How should I know? You know how strange all of this is for me? To know the man who used to be my right-hand man in the old life, is now the man who gave me the ability to even use the keyblade in this life and gave me thoughts about the outside world! And… and that is what threw everything off. When everything changed and I let myself give into darkness and…”

Riku-Ira’s breathing increased dramatically. He could no longer even think to finish his sentences. His head pounded against his skull, breaking up the rest of the thoughts that he even had on the matter. But then he felt a pair of hands on his shoulders, and it somehow was enough to stop the throbbing in his mind. 

“Hey, I know it’s probably a lot to take in. But you can’t forget to breathe.”

“I know that!” Ira snapped quicker than he probably should have. “But don’t you find this strange, and almost hard to believe? How closely tied we still are in this new life?” 

“Well at first, I didn’t know if there was anyone else but me. I’ve remembered for a while now, but if the others are out there too, they may not remember. I didn’t know it was you of course when I first met you. Even when Ansem possessed you I didn’t know. It was only until I saw your heart change that I connected the dots, but by that point I knew about the past for so long it didn’t seem as shocking.”

“How long have you known?” Riku-Ira asked, taking several deep breaths now that his mind felt much more clear. “How did it happen for you to remember?”

Terra smiled slightly at him before sitting down across from him. “I think a little over ten years now. Maybe close to eleven I think. Being confined within a Heartless I never really thought much of the time.” 

He laughed slightly, almost making it seem amusing. “But… it is a bit hard to remember the details for how it happened. I know Xehanort was involved with it since he was the one to possess me. If I remember… he did try to remove my heart or something, and it ended up with me tied away in the Heartless you saw. From that split… that is when I remembered.” 

“Xehanort?” 

“He’s the one that caused so much of this,” Terra answered. “Ansem… he is really only Xehanort’s Heartless… or some weird combination of you, me, and him. Not really too sure how it all worked out.”

“Ah yeah, I suppose it does sound a bit confusing. But by that, he should also have a Nobody right? Wait!” A thought suddenly struck Riku’s mind. “Does that mean, his Nobody would be…”

“Xemnas, yes,” Terra answered soundly. 

“So this really is more tied up than I realized…”

“That’s what it seems like,” Terra replied, though his tone remained much more serious, much more like Aced. “But tell me, on the thought of the others, if we two are tied most likely from our connections of the past, do you think it is the same for the others?” 

“I’m not too sure, at first I thought Sora was either you or Gula. But what I gathered from Namine is that he isn’t a forteller, but a young wielder from a union. Most likely from Ava’s union based on what Namine said she saw.”

“But a random wielder? Or would he be someone that had some purpose back from those times?” Aced questioned. 

“I wouldn’t know, unless…”

“Unless what?” 

“There were those who I fought against during the keyblade war… The exactness of who I went against still reigns fuzzy in my mind, but I know I faced young wielders. Perhaps Sora could be one of them?”  

“Hmm…” Aced placed a hand to his chin. “It could be possible. But without knowing too much on what Sora’s memories are, we can’t be too certain.”

“Maybe I will ask Namine to look into it more. Discover if there are any memories of the war,” Ira replied quietly. “But I still wonder for the others…” 

“If they are connected, then I am sure we will see them again. But for the method of how they would remember, presuming that they are locked as ours were, it may prove to be difficult.”

“I agree. Though who knows what will happen now, especially now that you’re free from Ansem’s… or actually Xehanort’s Heartless,” Ira answered before letting out a lot exhale. Many of the questions had found answered, leaving him much more relaxed than before. 

“It’s hard to say… I’m just a heart without a body right now. There isn’t much I can do about that.”

“Well, you can continue to stay here then. I owe you that much… you know as Riku at least,” Riku replied. 

“I mean I can’t really go anywhere anyways, you know… just being a heart,” Terra laughed. “But thank you.” 

“Also…” Riku started to say, looking back at Terra. “Why in this life did you give me the keyblade? It couldn’t just be of the ties we didn’t even know we had at the time, could it?”

Tera shrugged. “Could be a hidden part of it. But why I choose to bequeath it to you was because I saw how you reminded me of myself, wanting to protect your friends. And…” Terra paused for a moment, seeming to think over his words carefully. “I sensed… the light within you and I could tell that you were someone I could trust to pass the keyblade on it.”

“The light…” Ira scoffed. “We can see what happened to that.”

“I wouldn’t dismiss it so easily Ira,” Terra said, speaking in a tone that belonged more to Aced. “You don’t need to cling to your past opinions so vastly. Both of us in this life did let the darkness get to us, but you now are doing something I wish I could have done. You’re trying to find a balance between the two.” 

“Is that really the right choice though? Everything we were taught back then…”

“There is a lot that we thought we knew that no longer holds. We thought our end was to come at the keyblade war, but here we are in a new life with new events that we have gone through. With our new lives we have been given chances to try new things and take different choices than we did before. And there is still a lot we could learn from all of this.”

“I guess you’re right. I’m still having a lot of doubts on this, but I’ll keep trying,” Ira replied. “Thanks.”

Terra smiled. “You’re welcome.”

Riku finally stood up and stretched slightly. “I probably should get back, just in case Namine needs anything. Oh, and to ask her about the thing with Sora’s past memories.”   

Terra nodded in understanding. “I’ll be here if you ever need to talk about anything else.”

Riku thanked him once more before leaving the platform that represented his heart. When he opened his eyes he was back in his room again. Standing up he checked the clock on the wall to see how much time had passed, as sometimes there could be an imbalance of time between the heart and the real world. But it only seemed that a few hours had passed from the looks of it. 

With feeling a little bit hungry, Riku started to make his way out of the room and down the hall. On his way he let the thoughts of what transpire replay in his head. It was still rather strange to think that all this time he had someone else’s heart resting within his own. On top of that it was someone that he once closer knew. 

“Fate sure seems to have a funny way of reuniting people,” Riku thought to himself as he continued to walk. 

‘All the more reason we may be right about the others being closely connected to us. If fate has deemed it that way, then I think we should keep that in mind,’ Terra’s voice echoing in Riku’s head.

Riku came to an abrupt stop and his eyes widened. He blinked a few times, not sure if what he had heard was real or not. A moment later he heard Terra’s laughter. 

‘Sorry if I startled you. With my heart being freed from that Heartless, I have a bit more free range within your heart. Hope you don’t mind, but it has been over 10 years since I’ve been able to talk to anyone.’

“Ahh… makes sense at least,” Riku muttered aloud, thankfully no one else was in the hallway at the time. Plus with the new information giving, using his thoughts to speak didn’t come to him right away. Only after did he speak verbally did he realize he could keep the conversation in his thoughts to avoid any suspicion. 

“This is just going to be a bit weird to get used to,” Riku replied back, this time through his thoughts. 

‘Better to start sooner than later for that,’ Terra replied, still having laughter in his tone. 

Riku smiled back and finally continued to walk down the rest of the hallway. “I’ve got a question then. How much do you resemble your old self?”

‘We already know that my stature much different than before, though by appearance there are similarities. Similar shade of the hair and partial resemblance of the facial structure but not by much. It is interesting you bring this up though. I never thought about the fact that none of us saw one another without the mask. And I can assume the same for you?’

“Yeah, for the most part at least like you said. Not exactly the same, but I can point out things I remember that look similar to my old self.”

‘Well we know for one thing that your height is far from the same,’ Terra replied before laughing. 

“Hey!” Riku replied back as he let out a verbal huff of air. 

‘Sorry, sorry. Don’t feel too bad, you still have time to grow.” The tone Terra spoken in almost sounded teasing now. 

“Yeah yeah,” Riku muttered in his thoughts. “I feel this could get annoying real fast.” 

‘Aw come now, I think this could be fun. Or at least quite the insightful start of something.’

Chapter Text

Riku currently was walking down the halls of the old mansion. He had nothing to do and didn’t really feel like doing any training or exercise at the current moment. Without any progress on Sora there still wasn’t much that he could do. 

‘Maybe today we should ask Namine about Sora’s other memories,’ Terra’s voice came ringing into Riku’s mind. 

“I guess we could. I know she still is probably bothered over the fact she can’t do anything to help him, but maybe doing this could help lighten the mood,” Riku replied. 

‘Agreed. Let’s go find her then,’

Riku walked on until he came to where Namine’s room was. He knocked and waited politely before she came to open the door. 

"Hello, Riku. How are you doing today?" She greeted him, stepping aside to invite him into the room.

“I’ve been doing all right,” Riku said as he stepped into the room. “But there is something we-... I want to ask.” 

Riku didn’t mean to slip up like that, but over the past days he had started getting accustomed to having Terra around to talk to. He hadn’t told Namine yet about Terra, that would be a conversation for another day and Terra agreed with him on that. He could only hope though that Namine would think of it as his personalities mixing again for a brief moment and not question it. 

Namine looked at Riku with a mix of confusion and curiosity. "What would you like to know, Riku?"

Riku cleared his throat. "It's about those old memories you saw in Sora. I was wondering if you could take a look again… for me. I want to know if there is anything else you could find."

"Ahh, I see. I can I guess I can look again. We still haven't been able to continue with Sora's current memories anyways…" Namine trailed off at the end, looking slightly despondent. 

Riku placed a hand on her shoulder. "We are going to do something about it, and we will find a way. Don't worry so much, okay?"

Namine nodded silently. "Okay. I'll go search now if you don't want to wait much longer."

"That would be preferable," Riku said, accidentally having some of his Ira mannerism slip in.

"It shouldn't take too long, you may come along if you want," Namine said before she nodded again.

"All right then, I'll come. I have nothing to do anyway," Riku said. before the two of them left the room. 

As Namine made her way to the room that held Sora, her mind wandered. She was curious as to what Riku was looking for specifically within Sora's memories. Then there was also that small slip up in what Riku had said. Using 'we' instead of 'I', it concerned her that his personality may be starting to split.

It wasn't long before the two of them arrived at the destination. Going through the door, past Donald's and Goofy's sleeping forms, Namine once again stood before Sora. 

She started from the beginning, skimming through until she came across the first of the relevant memories. Shortly after summoning his keyblade, Sora's past self was approached by a man dressed mainly in whites and blues. He also wore a mask depicting a unicorn. 

Namine continued on, watching him befriend a dark, long haired girl in his group, as well as the fox masked girl she saw before. He had made another friend along the way, but their appearance was too fuzzy for Namine to make out. The memories of the person were too damaged for her to repair, as if something had happened to Sora in his past life for him to begin forgetting.

Now that she was taking a closer look, Namine noticed that most of his old memories were in a similar state, so she focused on the ones that were still clear. A few adventures with the forgotten friend, time spent with the fox-masked leader, as well as a specific, tragic encounter.

Sora and his long-haired friend had come to what appeared to be a wasteland full of lost keyblades, not once, but twice. The first time was sad, almost tragic: saying final goodbyes to the mystery friend who they could not save. The second seemed to have a lighter tone. A surprise meeting between the two who were later joined by others. The 'third' to arrive to the place was a young boy who bore a striking resemblance to Roxas, followed by an older boy with long, dark hair, and dark clothes. They sat around, as if waiting for another to arrive. 

Someone else did eventually arrive, and when Namine saw them, she froze up, stopping the memory where it was. She collapsed, sitting down on the floor trembling slightly with her arms wrapped around herself.

Riku ran to her side and placed a hand on her shaking shoulder. “Namine? Are you okay? What happened?”

"Marluxia," Namine answered in a quiet, almost scared voice.

Riku looked at her puzzled. He may not have met Marluxia when he was at Castle Oblivion, but he had heard about him from Namine. All he knew at least was that she was deeply afraid of the man because of how he treated her in the time that he held her captive. Even to the extent as trying to use her as a shield in battle. 

“Are you sure? How can that be possible?” Riku asked. 

‘Maybe it was someone who only resembled him,’ Terra added, saying it as his own thoughts but also as something else for Riku to ask. 

Riku decided to use that to ask another couple of questions. “Maybe it was someone who looked just like him? Did you hear anything being said in the memory?” 

Namine shook her head. "They looked so much like him, albeit a younger version. The bright pink hair is too unique." She murmured out before continuing. "Those memories are too fragmented to make out a conversation. Yet his appearance was clear, as if a new memory had restored it."

‘Bright pink hair?’ Terra questioned. He hummed, lowering his voice slightly. 

“What is it?” Riku asked him. 

‘If you can, ask her if she can give a description of what he wore. There may be something more to this than if what she says matches what I am thinking,’ Aced replied. 

“Namine,” Ira started slowly, seeing that she still looked a bit shaken. He moved his hand to her back and moved it up and down to hope and give her some relaxation. “I know you are probably processing a lot right now, but if you can tell me what you say Marluxia wearing, it could be of some help.” 

"I didn't really look at what he was wearing all that closely, but I saw him in a white shirt with a black vest. And his pants I think we're a shade of dark magenta or red.” 

Aced hummed again, this time much more thoughtfully. ‘Hmm now this is intriguing.’

“How did that help you? Was there perhaps something you connected from now and then?” Ira asked. 

‘Another strange connection you could say. I recall there being a young boy in my union who fit that very description. Though his name was not Marluxia, but instead Lauriam.’

Riku-Ira gasped audibly, drawing attention from Namine. 

"Riku…?" Namine looked at him with a timid, questioning gaze.

“Ah, um…” Ira cleared his throat. “Nothing, I mean it is something. What you’ve said helps, but it is just a bit unexpected, that’s all.”

Namine still appeared to be a tad curious, but didn't push on the matter.

“You don’t have to look any further today. Unless there was any other important information you saw, I think I may take leave for right now.”

"You had asked before about ones wearing robes and animal masks." Namine half stated, half asked.

“Yes? I suppose you saw more of them then?” 

"Just one other, dressed in white and blue with what appeared to be a unicorn stylized mask." Namine answered.

Ira gasped once more, his eyes widening. “You saw… me. I mean my former past self… Ira.”

Namine's eyes widened in slight surprise. "You were the one who appeared before him when he first summoned his keyblade in that life."

‘So Sora is from your union then,’ Aced commented. 

“I figured that,” Ira replied, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He may have known that as well as Aced, but Namine didn’t and he did feel like he owed her some explanation. She was the one who had been so helpful in all of this after all. 

“That means Sora…” Ira glanced up at the pod that contained the sleeping Sora. “He was from my own union. I actually knew him back then… and now I see that these ties are much closer than I originally thought.” 

“Your union?” Namine asked.

When Ira has explained to Namine about his past, he had glossed over things like his union and various other things. At the time it didn’t seem important, but now with the knowledge given, it made more sense to explain more about it. Still though he didn’t want to go into too much detail, but he explained the basic premise of what a union was from his time to Namine. 

“I met with each young wielder when they first joined my union, though I would not be able to know which one Sora was unless you have any other information that could help that.”

“There were others that I could see from his memories. A girl with long, dark hair that he was friends with,” Namine said before trying to explain what she could remember about the outfit. 

Ira hummed thoughtfully as he tried to think. He closed his eyes, trying to remember someone like that. And he knew there was someone, the memory was still old and tugging at the back of his mind. After a bit of thought it did finally come to him. “Skuld, that was the girl’s name. And if you said she was friends with him… I could only assume she may have been in a party with him. And that would make him… Ephemer.”

With a deep breath he finally stood back up, he held out his hand to Namine before helping her to her own feet. “I must thank you again Namine for your help. Though there are still many questions I have, I think I will be all right for now on the matter.”

“You’re welcome…”Namine paused as she was about to say his name. “Would you rather I address you as Riku or Ira?”

Ira-Riku looked at her for a moment, forgetting that she did know both of his names now. He shifted slightly, trying to figure out how to respond. This entire time he had been in his mindset of Ira over Riku and he hadn’t even noticed it. He had just heard things about his past life and that became the focus and the matter he wanted to think on. But even with that the question being asked was one he had not expected. 

“I.. ah… I’m not really sure,” Riku finally mumbled. “I still don’t know how to feel on being addressed like that, even if one side of me is showing more than the other. I guess you could use either, I’m still probably going to respond either way.” 

“Ok then, Riku.”

“If it’s okay, I’ll head back to my room now. You know to clear out some more thoughts about this,” Riku said. Then in his thoughts to spoke to Terra. “And to further discuss this matter with you.”  

‘Of course, this has really proved to be rather insightful.’

Namine and Riku left the room before departing ways, she said goodbye to him before returning to her room. Once Riku was back in his own room he closed the door and let out a long sigh. He made his way to the bed and sat down, running his hand over his face. While Namine peering into Sora’s older memories had given the reveal on who he once was, that pretty much had opened up a flood gate on new questions. Not just for him, but also for Aced as well. Both of them needed to think more and talk on the subject, so wanted to get to the easiest place that he could talk to him, Ira started to mediate. Slowly the world around him faded away as he was pulled into the place he had lasted talked with his friend face to face. 

Chapter Text

“Do you think this means that everyone has been reincarnated?” Aced asked, jumping right into the conversation. 

“I don’t know… it seems odd though,” Ira started to say. “Both you and I look different from our past selves yet do have some resembles. Sora and Ephemer look nothing alike, though both do have the same cheery optimism which makes a whole lot of sense now. What about… what was the name… Lauriam? I may not have seen Marluxia, but from what Namine said it seems they look the same.” 

“Perhaps it is just a coincidence then that he looks the same in both lifetimes? It does seem puzzling for sure. But now we must take into account that others we know may also be here as well. But whether they look similar or not to their old lives is what will be up for debate.” 

Ira nodded, though it was not without another thought to follow. “Though we may never know if their memories are never unlocked. And we surely cannot have Namine go and check everyone’s memories.”

“I suppose it will be that way. But I have a feeling we may run into others down the road. After all we were brought together again, so why not others. Or at least the other foretellers.”

“You’re right. I guess only time will tell at this point. And when Sora wakes up I’ll need to find a time to try and talk to him about it… whenever that will be…” Riku said as he let out a sigh. He slumped his shoulders and stared off into the distance. 

“You’re still unsure about that, aren’t you?” Terra asked as he walked a bit closer to Riku. 

“Yeah… I just don’t know how I am going to face him again. Not after what I did.”

“But Riku, you’ve done so much more than that, you’ve been helping him ever since then. You actually are able to atone for your mistakes. Something I wish I could do right now,” Terra replied. 

“I know that, but it is still hard to come to grips with it. I gave into darkness…”

“So did I.”

“I turned against my best friend and fought him,” Riku stated. 

“And I did that as well under similar circumstances,” Terra replied. “Don’t forget in this lifetime we have both gone through similar things. You are not alone on this.”

Riku shook his head. He understood what Terra was saying and he was glad he had someone to talk about it, but it was still hard. Not just because of what he had done, but also because his mind of Ira kept fixating on it more than he would have liked it. But that was not really something he wanted to mention. He didn’t want to seem so at war with himself. That was not the focus that needed to happen, but instead waiting for the next opportune moment to do something to help Sora. 

Riku walked along the forest outside of the old mansion. More and more days had gone by and no progress had been made. It had been just over fifty days now since Sora’s memory restoration had come to a halt. And after all of that waiting and still more to come, what Riku ended up needed was a walk and there was no better place to do that then the forested area. It was quiet and tranquil. A nice simple walk to try and clear his mind was what he wanted, but there were always harder thoughts that were less welcome. 

Riku soon came to a halt and breathed out slowly. He reached up to his blindfold. His fingers grasped it, but he stayed there and did nothing further. He eventually lowered his hand and let out a long side. 

‘Why do you hesitate?’ Terra’s voice said, though Riku was unsure if it was Terra speaking to him or more of Aced. 

“I don’t know…” Riku muttered aloud, seeing that it wasn’t a problem since no one was around. 

‘You need to work on fighting it. Xehanort’s Heartless… or Ansem’s darkness is strong, I will admit that. But you need to be the stronger one and fight against it.’

“I know that!” Riku snapped slightly. “But… I can still feel it everywhere. It keeps trying to break through and overpower me no matter how hard I try to keep it concealed. I know if it does overpower me… it may be permanent.”

‘We won’t let that happen. Though until we can find a solution, it may end up coming in handy,’ Terra replied.

“And I don’t want to use the darkness!” Ira hissed. “I’m not about to let my heart stoop any further into it.” 

‘Ira,’ Terra said, using his much more, deeper serious tone of voice. It was now Aced speaking. ‘Trying to avoid it or ignore it won’t solve it to make it go away. You will have to eventually come and face it.’ 

“And do you have any idea how it feels to have the darkness of someone else overcome you? When ever I take off this blindfold his powers surge forward and try to take over, transforming me back into that man. I try to hold it back, but it just comes to be too strong.”

‘I may not know how that feels, but I do know what it is like to have darkness and to have to learn how to deal with it. I did it as Aced first and then now as Terra.’

“And look where that lead you. Both times it lead you down a terrible path with heavy consequences.”

Terra remained quiet after that, leaving a regretful gut feeling in Riku. 

He shook his head, trying to clear out the thoughts from Ira so he could better focus on being Riku at the moment. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean for it to come off that harshly. But as Ira I still am not keen on the darkness still.” 

‘I may have used the darkness and yes it did have consequences, but that darkness was never the sole issue. As Aced I was blinded and twisted by the events that had happened to think that my way was the only way to be right. And this time around I was foolish and careless. I was manipulated and deceived by so many aside from Xehanort. I may have used the darkness… but it was never the main reason but instead other things that influenced it.’

"I know… but I'm still sorry for what I said," Riku muttered. 

'It's all right Riku. The situation isn't an easy one. I don't have all the answers right now, but I am going to keep helping. I know we will find a way to get through this together.'

"Thanks Terra," Riku replied. He breathed in deeply and let it out slowly, feeling thankfully he did have someone to talk to. Someone who could closely understand his situation in more ways than one.

"I feel I should tell someone else though… in case something happens to me. You know… someone on the outside?" Riku said, chuckling slightly. 

Terra laughed in return. 'I guess that would be helpful. But who? I assume Mickey?'

"Yeah, probably him. He has been helping me a lot since Castle Oblivion anyways," Riku replied. "I just hope it won't have to come to that…"

'As long as you keep holding on, I know you will find a way. Just keep listening to your heart. Remember the old saying… 'May your heart be your guiding key',' Aced said.

If Ira was able to see him at the moment, he knew that Aced would be smiling. The saying though was not something he had thought about at all since reawakening his old memories. He found the corner of his lips curling up into a smile. 

"Thank you Aced, you've become rather insightful over all of this time."

‘Well I have had a lot of time to reflect, but thank you for the compliment. Though do you think you should also inform Mickey about my presence here? Though I never directly met him years ago, I did at least see him once in passing. So he may know of me as well,’ Terra said. 

“I am not sure, it’s a lot to have him take in,” Riku said. “With everything else that is going on, there is so much already to worry about. But you do make a good point, if he would happen to know something or figure it out, it would be helpful. Though the part on our past lives can probably be left out. “

‘Agreed. Then let’s go and find him,’ Terra said as Riku began to walk further around the forest. 

Eventually Riku did find Mickey, who had also been walking around the forest. The first thing Mickey did upon seeing him was to give a friendly smile. “Gosh Riku, I haven’t seen you in a while, I’ve been pretty worried. Where’ve you been all this time?” 

“A lot of wandering and searching,” Riku answered quietly. “As I we wait for Sora to awaken, I’ve been trying to find a way to deal with the darkness within me. That and just a lot of other complicated thoughts.” 

“And how’s that been going for ya?” Mickey asked. 

Riku sighed as he placed a hand over his blindfold. “I don’t know… mixed I guess. I’m still trying though, I am not going to give up yet.”

“That’s great to hear. But, you said that Sora hasn't woken up yet… Did something go wrong?”

Riku nodded and began to explain the situation that was at hand with Sora and his memories. Mickey listened quietly and nodded along until Riku was finished. After Riku was finished explained about what memories the Organization was holding from Sora, Mickey spoke up again. 

“Well, then you have to let me help! Maybe I could find a way to get the memories back!”

Riku shook his head. “No that’s all right, I’ve already got that covered. But Mickey, there may be something else you could help with… a favor I mean.” 

“Sure. Just tell me what you need.” 

“There are a couple things, but the first one is that I will have to face an Organization member soon. I can sense that it isn’t going to be an easy fight to survive… and…” Riku sighed deeply, trying to gather his thoughts. 

What he was about to say was hard for him, not just cause of the matter at hand, but also the Ira side of him never wanted it to come to this. He was struggling to fight against himself to say his next series of words. The darkness still had a deep negative opinion on Ira, even if what Riku was trying to use to for a good purpose. And because of that, it was a struggle within his own mind to speak on the subject of darkness. But Riku kept trying, knowing that this had to be done. 

“I may only survive the fight if I give… into the darkness. If that happens… you’re the only one who will be there for Sora, Donald and Goofy… the only one who can guide them when they awaken.” 

Mickey look astonished by Riku’s words, no surprise there. It would be obvious by what Riku said to make Mickey worry for him. “Don’t say that Riku…”

Mickey started to say more, but Riku cut him off. He had to finish what he wanted quickly before his Ira side decided to make him change his mind. “Please… promise me, Mickey. You have to be there for our friends.” 

Mickey quieted down and looked solemn for a moment. He thought it over before looking to Riku and gave a nod. “Of course, Riku. I promise.”

“Thank you,” Riku said, relieved that Mickey agreed. “And now for the other thing… does the name Terra mean anything to you?”

Mickey raised an eyebrow. “Terra? How do you know that name?” 

“So you know him?” 

“Not directly,” Mickey said, shaking his head. “But I knew his friends. What do you know about him?” 

Riku chuckled slightly, wanting to be able to tell Mickey the entire story, but there was no time for that. “Well… due to some circumstances Terra’s heart is currently resting within my own.”

“What? How can that be?” Mickey asked, clear shock on his face. 

“It’s a lot to explain…” Riku said. He took in a deep breath, preparing himself for the explanation that was needed for his friend. 

After the explanation was done, Mickey nodded as he tried to think over it. Riku had only explained as much as he knew was needed, which was just how Terra got to be in his own heart. That was the topic on hand and all that Mickey needed to know, for now at least. Riku figured there would probably be a time later to explain the rest, but it would be when everything was much more calm. 

“So Xemnas is really the Nobody of Xehanort when he had been possessing Terra…” Mickey mumbled as he mulled over the thoughts. 

“That’s right, though he does seem to act as someone entirely different than Xehanort and Terra,” Riku added.

“So what are we going to do about it? We need to find a way to get Terra back to his own body, but I don’t know how we can do that… and I don’t think Xemnas is an option since we do need to take him down along with the rest of the Organization…” Mickey trailed off before letting out a sigh. He lowered his head and he continued to think, but less than a minute later he shot back up again. “I’ll go let Master Yen Si know of the situation, maybe he can shed some light on it and find a way.” 

“That sounds like a plan then, but Mickey, you can’t tell anyone else about this other than Master Yen Sid. Got it.”

Mickey nodded. “I got it. Don’t worry Riku, I’m here for ya.”  

“Thanks Mickey,” Riku replied. “Now it’s just a matter of time before I have to go off. I know DiZ will want me to soon enough…” Riku trailed off, though he let the rest of these thoughts finish in his mind. “and I know that battle will be tough. I only hope I can make it through it.”

‘I know you will. Remember not to give up so easily,’ Terra said, trying to sound encouraging as he could. 

“Thanks. Though it is going to take a lot more than just being supportive and hoping not to give up to win this battle.”

Chapter Text

The time had finally come for Riku to take action. Roxas had made his move and ran away from the Organization, coming to find Sora. Xion had also left and from Namine could tell, the two of them had fought and Xion had lost, meaning her existence would be forgotten.

But the main concern was having to face off against Roxas. Riku was already in The World that Never Was, standing on top of the tall skyscraper. He paced back and forth as he waited for the moment when Roxas would come.

'Are you going to be okay doing this?' Terra asked.

"Of course," Riku mumbled. "If we want to wake up Sora, this has to be done."

'But to have to fight someone your age and defeat them, and essentially he is apart of Sora.'

"I know that… but I just want to make sure Sora can wake up. That's what matters most to me," Riku replied.

'And what if this battle takes a turn for the worst? Do you have a plan if… you know you need…'

"I am not going to let it get to that point," Ira replied quickly. "I'll be able to handle it and I won't have to use more darkness."

Thunder was heard above and droplets of rain began to pour down, though in the distance he could sense a figure moving towards the building. Soon enough the figure came into a closer range and Riku knew exactly who it was.

Before he was given a chance to think, Roxas stared to run up the building, coming right at Riku. Riku didn't wait any longer and he jumped off the building without a word. The closer they got Riku wondered if Roxas was going to try and attack, as he saw the boy looking like he was ready to strike.

Much to his surprise Roxas ended throwing one of his keyblades towards him. Riku caught it just as the two of them passed by each other, with Roxas still running up the building. And for those few seconds memories of Xion rushed into Riku's head from when he held her in his arms back at Destiny Islands.

By the time Roxas made it up to the top of the buildm Riku had already landed on the ground. "Why did he toss me one of his keyblades…"

'Most likely trying to get an attack, but it was not the most strategic. Though what I am most curious about is how he has two keyblades on him,' Terra said.

Before Riku could give an answer back, several Neoshaodws appeared around him. Riku sighed, knowing the question would have to come at a later time. Roxas jumped down and looked like he was going to face off against Riku, but thankfully he turned his attention over to the Heartless and jumped so he would be back to back with Riku.

The fight against the Heartless didn't last long, but soon after another series of memories danced in Riku's head of Xion, but this time they were much more faded and distant. Roxas looked to Riku before jumping back a few feet.

"Who are you?"

Riku heard a small gasp from Terra, but he didn't have any time to question that. "What does it matter? I'm here for you."

"Why are you trying to stop me?" Roxas asked.

"Because I want back the rest of Sora's memories," Riku replied.

'Riku…' Terra started to say, though his voice seemed much more quiet than usual, almost as if he was uncertain of what he wanted to say.

Meanwhile Roxas grumbled angrily. "Sora, Sora, Sora! Enough about Sora!"

"Not now," Riku said to Terra, trying not to get too far distracted in the fight. Then he answered to Roxas. "Do you actually have some kind of plan?"

"I'm going to set Kingdom Hearts free! Then everything can go back to the way it was! Me, and Axel, and… and her can go on having ice cream together," Roxas answered.

Riku looked to the keyblade in his hand, still surprised that Roxas had not called it back yet. "Her? You mean Xion? It's a struggle just to remember the name now, isn't it? Either way, I can't let you go doing anything crazy."

"I have to find this Sora person, and freeing Kingdom Hearts is the only way! I want Xion back. I want my life back!"

'Riku,' Terra tried again. 'I know that voice. Is that really Roxas?'

"Yes, what about it?" Riku answered quickly.

'I thought I was just imagining things at first… but that voice sounds just like Ventus's…'

"Who?" Riku asked.

"Hey! Are you going to answer me or just stand there!?" Roxas shouted, seeming to get close to the end of whatever patience he had.

Riku shook his head, trying to put himself back in the conversation with Roxas. "I can't let you go to Kingdom Hearts. If you try to do that, the last thing you'll get back is your life. It just can't work that way with the Organization still wanting to use it."

"Shut up!" Roxas shouted before charging at Riku.

Riku held up the keyblade defensively and blocked the attack. As he tried his best to fight against Roxas he decided to ask Terra again what he was talking about before. "What did you mean before? Just who is Ventus?"

'Ven was one of my best friends and an keyblade apprentice along with myself and Aqua. I don't know what happened to him though after the fight that happened in the keyblade graveyard… but I know his voice. And Roxas's voice is Ventus's.'

"But how can that make any sense? Roxas is Sora's Nobody? But that does bring up a good point, I guess I didn't think about it until now. It does seem weird that Sora's Nobody would sound different, but then again Namine doesn't sound like Kairi…"

'I think Namine may be more of a special exception considering she is a Nobody of a princess of heart, but at the same time Kairi's heart was within Sora's at the time. There could have been an effect from that. But still… Ven… how can that be his voice…?'

"Well it's not really like we can ask him," Riku said as he dodged another one of Roxas's attacked.

'You could try, though I agree I don't know how well that would go,' Terra answered.

Roxas's attacks started to pick up more, and Riku wasn't able to dodge them as easily. Soon after an onslaught of attacks Riku tumbled to the ground and let out a groan. He tried to sit up slightly but saw that Roxas was standing over him.

'Can we really be sure that Roxas is Sora's Nobody?' Terra asked.

"Yes! Namine knew he was and the two are connected. How else could he have gotten a hold of Sora's memories?"

Roxas continued to stand over Riku, most likely glaring at him from under the hood. He then raised his keyblade to strike again, but Riku made a quick recovery and knocked Roxas back. The force of the knock back managed to cause Roxas's hood to fall off just as he hid the ground, letting out a loud groan of pain.

Now that the hood was off, his appearance was clear to see. And Terra once again let out another series of gasps. Riku was slowly walking towards Roxas to get a better look at him when Terra spoke up again. 'That is Ventus! There's no mistaking that. I could never forget what he looks like.'

"But he is Sora's Nobody…" Riku replied as he stuck the keyblade into the ground right next to Roxas.

'He has to have some connection to Ventus then. I don't know how else it could be that way otherwise,' Terra answered.

A grunt from Roxas pulled the two from their conversation. He was slowing getting up, using the keyblade as support. Just as he was almost up, he pulled the keyblade out of the ground and swiped at Riku.

Riku jumped back and quickly tried to think what he could do. Roxas had his other keyblade back and now Riku was left defenseless. He jumped out of the way as Roxas came closer and landed farther away from him. But that only seemed to aggravate the Nobody even further. He tried again, but like before Riku just jumped out of the way and landed on the other side of the area.

"Grr… Why don't you quit?!"

Riku breathed in deeply. "Come on, Sora. I thought you were stronger than that."

'What are you doing?' Terra asked.

"Just trying to confirm that Roxas is truly Sora's Nobody and not somehow Ventus's," Riku answered.

"Huh? Get real! Look which one of us is winning," Roxas retorted suddenly. He then gasped, clearly surprised at his own choice of words.

"I guess that confirms it then. You really are Sora's Nobody…" Riku stated.

"What are you talking about? I am me! Nobody else!" Roxas shouted as he summoned up both keyblades again.

His movements were far quicker this time, and with only a few seconds to make his move, Riku was only able to dodge the first attack. The second attack came directly at him and instinctively Riku held up his wrists. When he felt the hard metal of the keyblade collided with his left wrist he cried out in pain before he crumpled to the ground.

"Riku, please! You have to stop him!"

It was a familiar voice that echoed in his head, but it wasn't Terra. Riku wasn't even sure if Terra heard it as he did not give any reaction. But Riku knew who the voice was… it was the girl… her name already forgotten. But he knew it was her.

Riku breathed out slowly as he held his broken wrist. He tried to think over his options, but nothing was coming to his mind.

'Riku, you need to use extra strength. You can't win this just by dodging his attacks and nothing more.'

"There's nothing more I can do!" Riku shouted back in his thoughts.

'There is though… but it's the one thing you don't want,' Terra replied.

"I am not going to use the darkness to win this fight!"

'Ira… if you are going to let your prejudice against the darkness prevent you doing what you can, then you are going to lose this fight,' Aced said in a warning voice.

"I said I won't!" Ira shouted before calming himself down slightly. Riku breathed out slowly trying to regain his thoughts to be not as judgmental as he would be as Ira. "Even if I did that… and used Xehanort's darkness… wouldn't that put you at risk of being transformed into the guardian Heartless again?"

'I'm not sure… but that may be the risk we have to take if you want to defeat him.'

"But I… if I do that then…" Ira breathed out slowly. "I can't… I can't bring myself to do it…"

'Then we try something else. Ask Roxas if the name Ventus sound familiar.'

"What? You're still thinking about that? What good would that do?" Riku asked.

'You saw how he reacted when you called him Sora. Maybe something similar could happen," Terra replied, trying to sound hopefully. 'It's worth a shot, isn't it?'

"Are you spacing out again?" Roxas asked, still heavy with agitation. "Seriously what's with you?"

Riku turned his head up and breathed out once more. He knew Terra had a point, and currently with his Ira self fighting him internally on using the darkness he saw it as the only other option. "Does the name Ventus mean anything to you?"

Roxas blinked, confused by Riku's question. "What?"

"I said, does the name Ventus mean anything to you?"

Roxas opened his mouth to reply back, but instead he gripped his head. He staggered back as he groaned, sounding almost as if he were in pain. He breathed in and loud rapidly before dropping down to his knees, still gripping his head tightly.

"I guess you were right… but that only raises even more questions…" Riku said as he finally managed to stand up.

'Agreed… Now hopefully we can get somewhere with this,' Terra replied, trying his best to think over the situation. Though even what he had just seen, he could not find an answer. All of this was far too confusing for even him.

"How… How do you know that name?" Roxas muttered as he never let go his head. He didn't even look up at Riku, though he could see that Roxas had his eyes shut.

"Um…" Riku said, trying to think of the best way to explain it.

'Try mentioning my name. Maybe that could help.'

"What about the name Terra, does his name mean anything to you?"

Roxas cried out again, now collapsing to the ground. He curled up, bringing his knees to his chest. "How! Those names… why do you know… how do I know…" Roxas trailed off as he groaned again. He let out a sharp breath and his breathing started to calm a little. "My name… I don't understand. How do you know my name?"

Roxas finally looked up at Riku, his eyes wide and full of concern. Riku pushed up the blindfold up from one eye so he could actually look properly at Roxas. And he could see how confused the expression was on Roxas, like even he didn't understand what was going on. And now the list of questions had tripled for Riku and Terra, and they weren't sure if they would ever get all of them.

Chapter Text

“Tell me why… why you know my name,” Roxas asked again. 

Though his mind wanted to say it was Roxas, Riku thought he should technically think of it as Ventus, but without proper answers he couldn’t be too sure. What he knew though was that he had to try and figure out something. This was an unexpected turn, but he wasn’t going to let it get away from him. 

“I think you should answer first,” Riku said, trying to sound as authorized as he could. “How could you possibly be Ventus? I mean, up until this point you were Roxas, right?” 

Ventus shook his head. “No, not exactly that. It’s more of… Roxas is someone else, but I am just here for the ride.”

Riku tilted his head slightly, prompting him to continue. 

“I don’t really know how to say it, but I guess you could say my heart has been sleeping while Roxas developed. Somehow I was aware of what was going on, for the most part. Not like everything, but most things I think. I don’t really know how to explain it.” 

‘Whatever could have happened to Ventus to lead to this? How much did I miss since Xehanort first took possession of me?’ Terra pondered. 

“I don’t know, we could ask, but it may be best for another time. Should I tell him about you though?” Riku asked. 

‘Maybe not now, there is already too much on the table to talk about,’ Terra replied. ‘Though I can figure he may ask how you know my name. You can tell him at least that I had bequeathed the keyblade to you when you were younger. But for now we need to try and find out more about his situation.’

“Ventus,” Riku spoke. “So if you are saying your heart has been sleeping, what about Roxas?”

“He’s… he is still here, but somehow I got in control of him, and he is now in a sleep stasis or something. I still can’t really figure it out, just suddenly hearing my name and now I am in control of his body.”

Riku nodded slowly, still trying to take in all of the information that was given to him. It was still quite the strange situation, but then again he already had several strange situations beforehand. Honestly he couldn’t tell what was the oddest of the group; finding out his old memories were from when he was a forteller, Terra being awake in his heart and also being one of his friends from his past life, or Terra’s friend Ventus actually being awake in Roxas.

"But please… how do you know my name? And Terra's? I don't understand," Ventus added a moment later finally sitting up right. 

"I… I knew Terra's name because he bequeathed the keyblade to me years ago. I think he may have mentioned your name, but it has been over ten years by now."

"But how did you know I was Ventus? Unless Terra told you what I looked like?" Ventus asked. 

Riku faltered slightly. "Ah… um. I think that's something better for another time."

Ventus narrowed his eyes slightly. "If you say so…"

"Just trust me on that."

"Well, can you answer me one more question? If you bequeathed the keyblade, why didn't you use yours in the fight?"

Riku shifted slightly. He pursed his lips and looked away from Ventus. "That's not important right now. What is important is…" Riku sighed briefly as he tried not to let his Ira thoughts get the best of him. “We need to figure out what to do now.”

“What to do now… you mean with me, I mean Roxas? You need him cause he has…” Ventus trailed off as he thought. “Some of Sora’s memories right?” 

“Yeah… that’s right.”

“Well, as long as I can stay in control of Roxas, I can help come along willingly. I understand why at least, Sora has to wake up after all. I can sense that Roxas wants nothing to do with it though and…” Ventus trailed off before he gripped his head. 

“S-Stop it!” Ventus grumbled as he continued to hold his head. 

“Get out of my head!” Ventus followed up a second later… though the tone was much harsher, much more agitated and annoyed. 

Roxas. 

“They’re fighting for control…” Riku thought as he saw the boy struggle, mumbling things back and forth at himself. 

‘I guess that makes sense. Roxa still seems to not want to listen though,’ Terra replied. 

Ventus or Roxas, Riku wasn’t too sure at this point, breathed out heavily. He groaned while his face wrinkled into a grimace. “Just listen! They need Sora’s memories! They have to wake him up!”

“I could care less about that!” Roxas shouted. 

“I thought you said you wanted to find him,” Ventus replied. 

“To get to my life back! I couldn’t care any other way about him!” 

The boy groaned as he staggered to his feet. He never once stopped holding his head. The blond slowly looked up to Riku. “Just do what you can… hope you can… get Sora awake…”

His eyes closed and he collapsed to the ground right after. He still breathed, but they were deep and slow. Riku carefully walked over and rolled him onto his back, and from the looks of it he showed no signs of waking any time soon. 

“Looks like both Roxas and Ventus fought for control so much it exhausted him… or really them I guess.”

‘It still surprises me that Ven’s heart is there. Would that mean that Ventus’s heart was originally with Sora and somehow stuck with his Nobody and that’s why Roxas looks like Ven?’

“Why are you asking me? I have no clue at all,” Riku muttered. 

He then heard a portal open and DiZ walked on through. Riku stood up, facing DiZ. “I took care of it, he’s unconscious now.” 

“Good. We can can move further with the plans then,” DiZ said as he glanced at the boy who lied on the wet ground. “Gather him and head back and I will explain the next steps we must take.”

Riku nodded as he went to pick up Roxas. He brought him back to where DiZ and Namine were, and with a bit of set up they placed Roxas into a digital landscape to hide him from the Organization. Aside from that, DiZ told Namine to hide Roaxs’s memories and give him new ones suited to the simulation. 

With nothing more that he could do for the time, Riku walked back to his room and sat down on the bed. As soon as he did, he hunched forward from a pain that shot through his entire body. He gasped for a deep breath, but the pain was distracting him too much. 

It was the darkness inside of him… Xehanort’s Heartless/Ansem’s darkness. Riku knew it for a fact… it was still there and still trying to take over him. Now it was starting to feel stronger than before, even though he still had the blindfold on. It only lasted a moment longer, and then the pain was gone and Riku could breathe normally again. 

‘It’s only going to get worse if you are going to start fighting it again,’ Terra said. 

Riku frowned. “I can do what I want for it.”

‘That doesn’t mean fight it and try to suppress it, that’s only going to make it stronger to over power you. Besides,’ Terra’s voice dipped down slightly, into his Aced tone. ‘Earlier Ventus made a fair point… why did you not use your keyblade in that fight?’

“We are not talking about this…” Ira grumbled. 

‘I think we have to because you are being far too stubborn on this,’ Aced replied. ‘You can’t keep going like this. It’s only going to get worse for you. So tell me, why did you not use your keyblade in the fight?’

“Because…” Ira sighed deeply. He thought about not telling Aced. He didn’t have to know after all, it was none of his business, but… he was still there in his heart. He was still there to talk and all of that. He would keep asking eventually, so better to get it done with than have to wait longer. 

“I’m not worthy to wield it anymore…” 

‘That’s a complete lie and you know that. You had your keyblade before, it’s one of the reasons I realized it was you, Ira.’

“I still do not wish to use it, not until I can find a way to-”

‘Purging the darkness is not the answer, you need to find balance with it. You were already doing fine before you remembered yourself as Ira. Now you are trying to skewer it once more.’

“I don’t need your philosophy… I just,” Ira paused as he placed his hands on his head. He started to do a series of deep and slow breaths. Eventually he lowered his hands back down to his side. 

“Sorry…” his tone came off softer and calmer, much more like Riku. “I’m struggling so much with this. I can’t seem to help but switch back and forth on my opinions now. How did you ever come to terms with yourself when you remembered?” 

‘As I’ve said before, I have had enough time to think about all of this.’

“I don’t think I could go through 10 years of this…” Riku mumbled. 

‘I don’t think you would need to, I know it didn’t actually take me that long. I was only able to think about it for that long. For me, I think it also has to do with the similarities between my two lives. While both my lives have a similar connection with the darkness, your two lives are vastly different, and that is why it is a struggle for you to agree with yourself. Because of your past, that is what you as Ira thinks must be the answer, but you are currently Riku, and what matters now is what currently is, not what once was.’

“So… all I have to do is get myself to stop fighting against my choices… and come to an agreement? Then like… I would be, I guess you could say at peace with or one with my two lives?” Riku asked, hoping he was understanding what Terra had just explaining. 

‘That would be the basic point of it.’

“That’s still going to be hard though… I try, but my Ira side is still so deeply opinionated on the matter. It’s almost like how we saw Roxas and Ventus… how they were fighting for control… that’s how it feels for me some of the time.”

‘You will find a way, don’t give up yet Riku. Even if it seems split half the time, keep listening to your heart and you will find your way.’

Ira laughed softly. “I still cannot fathom how insightful you are now. Thinking back how you were to how you are now, you truly have done growing between the two of us. I know you are trying to make a fair point, but if I still… I still cannot accept the darkness, I thank you for trying at least.”

Terra hummed softly. ‘You’re welcome. I only hope that you can find a way to come to terms with your darkness instead of pushing it away. Before… it becomes too late for you to realize.’ 

Chapter Text

The darkness had grown stronger, and Riku knew full well that it was going to get out of hand soon enough. He had tried his best to keep it at bay from the start, trying to keep it balanced with his light. It was doing all right, but slowly Riku had tried to keep it hidden and down, which only let it grow stronger. 

It was a bit troublesome, but nothing he couldn’t handle. Though that all ended up going south once he remembered being Ira, after that his balanced was terribly skewed and he hadn’t been able to mend it back. From that the darkness had gotten even worse and was close to overpowering him even if he kept his blindfold on. 

Holding it back too all of his energy and strength, and it was starting to wear him down. He sighed heavily before he began pacing around his room, trying to get the jitteriness out of him one way or another. 

‘There has to be something we can do at this point,’ Terra commented. ‘I just can’t figure out what it would be.’

“Well whenever you think of something, I would be glad to hear it,” Ira replied with heavy sarcasm. 

‘First you need to calm yourself, getting upset only makes it worse. Ira, you need to try to listen to yourself, to Riku. As Riku you are more understanding of the situation. Yes neither side of you wanted this to happen, but Riku isn’t trying to continually still force it away.’

“I know that…” Riku muttered quietly. “It’s still hard though, to know that it’s come to this. That either way the darkness is going to overpower me…”

‘Even with that you will still be yourself, Xehanort’s Heartless is gone, only the darkness is left. The only major part of all of this, is that the darkness seems to be trying to transform you into him physically, but not mentally. You will still be you even if it happens…”

“But I do not want that to happen! Do you understand how much of a disgrace as a forteller I would be if this were to happen to be back then?” Ira questioned. 

‘It doesn’t matter Ira! Listen for once!’ Aced yelled back. ‘All of that is in the past. None of what you speak of matters anymore. The thing that matters is the life you have now and how you shape it from here.’

“I still have a right to be upset! It’s only been a day since Roxas was placed in the simulation and the darkness has already-”

A knock from the door stopped Ira from finishing. 

"Riku?"

With a few deep breaths, Riku made his way over to the door and opened it. "Yeah, Namine?"

"I wanted to see how you were doing, you've kept yourself in your room since you brought Roxas back."

"Just lost in thought again," Riku halfheartedly said before sighing. "Sorry…"

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Riku shook his head. He wanted to calm down from his rant he had just had, not give any more fuel to it. "Nah… it's okay. Maybe later though."

Namine nodded in understanding, before speaking up after a moment. “Uhm, Riku, would you be willing to answer a question or two about your past memories?”

Riku raised an eyebrow slightly. He hadn't expected Namine to ask something like that. With what was going through his head, he did feel a bit disjointed, but he didn't want to turn Namine down. He could only figure that she was either curious or had something that she learned from Sora's memories. 

"Sure," Riku said as he took a seat his bed. "What do you want to know?"

“In your previous life, did you ever come across Roxas, well, someone identical to him?”

Riku-Ira's eyes when wide. "Wait… what? Roxas? I don't…"

He trailed off as he tried to process this new information. "Why do you ask? I assume you may have seen someone in Sora's old memories?"

“There was a young boy. His outfit differs from what Roxas wears when not in the Organization cloak, but his face and hair are an exact match. Though maybe a bit younger.”

"Do you think… that it could…" Riku tried to finish his thoughts, but once more he trailed off, trying to understand it all.

'It's possible I suppose. Given what we know so far. Ventus could be from that time as well.'

"But how? That's what I don't understand… how he would still look the same from the two times."

'Apparently Marluxia still looks the same as he did in his old life as Lauriam. On top of that has nearly the same name only slightly differed.'

"But then… who's union? Clearly not either of ours."

Riku looked at Namine again, ready to figure out more on this new development. "Did you happen to see anything else about him that could be more insightful. I mean this is already, but it's hard to go off on where he could have been in the unions."

“Half of his jacket is mainly white, with black accents while the other half is reversed in coloring. His pants are shades of brownish grey, the upper half is darker than the lower.”

'That's exactly what Ventus wears!' Terra exclaimed. 

"So strange…" Riku ended up muttering aloud without even realizing. 

“Did you know him?”

Ira shook his head. "I'm afraid not, but I do know of him. Not from that life though, ah… it's a little hard to explain right now. Someone I knew from back then knew him though… technically. Again I am not sure how to explain this, but do know this, he seems to have connections to this like all the rest of these things."

'You could be more specific than that. It's not going to harm her to know more.'

Riku nodded his head slightly. "I don't know how to explain it too well, but to summarize it lightly… Ventus is why Roxas looks like that rather than Sora."

“Ventus?”

Riku nodded. "Yes, that’s what his name is. The boy who looks like Roxas."

Namine started to speak again, most likely to ask another question, but Riku never heard her words. Instead a vigorous pain surged suddenly through his body. All his senses became blurred and felt out of place. He breathed heavily as the room began spinning. 

The darkness was trying to reach through him and take over again. Another sudden attack trying to break through. It was trying to take control and change him. Once more just like all the times before, but this time felt worse, way worse. He let out a cry as he felt the darkness prickled through every inch of his body. 

With all of his senses being thrown off, there wasn't so much he could do. He did know one thing though. He could hear a voice shouting… shouting something. 

Who was shouting? He couldn’t tell, his mind wasn;t allowing him to focus that deeply anymore. All his focus was on the pain and how much it was hurting him. 

Though maybe there was more than one, more than one person shouting to him. It was still too hard to tell, too hard to focus. 

Slowly he could no longer hold on to his senses, and everything began to fade into darkness. 

Chapter Text

Riku groaned before shifting his body. Beneath him was something soft and comfortable. Though… he didn’t remember falling asleep on the bed. He had… what was it that he had done? Everything felt odd… something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. But he knew that something was definitely different. 

When he opened his eyes, he was met with the familiar blackness of the blindfold. That much was the same at least, but there was still that feeling he couldn’t exactly explain. After a few more moments of just laying quietly, he realized that someone else was in the room with him. 

“Namine…?”

Right away he placed a hand to his throat. With just hearing the sound of his voice he knew something was wrong… or really the lack of hearing his voice. The voice he was hearing was not his, not at all. But he did know the voice for sure. It was one that he would never be able to forget anytime soon. 

His breathing began to pick up while his throat felt like it was swelling shut. He scrambled off the bed and onto his feet. He tore off the blindfold and stumbled his way over to the mirror even though he knew what he was going to see. 

His gut tightened and twisted unpleasantly once he stood in front of it. It was as he expected, but that didn’t diminish the feeling that was building up in his stomach. It was already rising up into his chest and his throat, making it harder to breath. 

But he knew this was coming. 

He knew this was going to happen. 

His reflection was no longer his, but instead it belonged to another. It belonged to the man that tormented him for so long… Xehanort’s Heartless… Ansem. He kept staring at the reflection despite his gut growing sick of what he was looking at. He wanted to pull away, but he couldn’t get himself to move his body anymore. 

‘Riku…’ Terra’s voice echoed gently. 

“Don’t say anything… I don’t want to hear it. Not one word.”

He winced after that. Even his own thoughts were in… that voice. It was even more unsettling than he would have thought. His whole body shook and lose all the strength he had to support himself. 

“Riku!” 

This time the voice saying his name was Namine. She ran over to him and placed a hand gently on his shoulder. “Are you okay?” 

He opened his mouth but the gut feeling tightened. No words could leave him mouth for if they did it would leave a foul and bitter taste. The voice he now had was not what he wanted to hear when trying to tell Namine how he was. All he could do was shake his head, letting out a long sigh. 

He felt her arms wrap around him. Now pulled closer to her, he could hear her increased breathing. For a Nobody she did know how to mimic and show emotions very well even if she couldn’t feel the true emotional part of it. 

“Please…” Riku finally managed to say. It was the only word he managed to get out before feeling like he was going to be sick if he tried to speak anymore. 

“I’m so sorry Riku…” Namine murmured. “I should have done more to help. Maybe… maybe I really shouldn’t have woken up those memories of yours…”  

“Namine no, please stop thinking about that,” Riku replied, trying his hardest not to grow anymore weary from hearing the voice. “This was bound to happen no matter what. This darkness… it was growing stronger every day and I knew I wouldn’t be able to fight it forever.”

Ira paused for a moment while he tried forming the rest of his thoughts into words. If he truly wanted Namine not to worry, he knew what he had to say to make it easier for her. “My memories… they have nothing to do with this. I do ask that you don’t think of it that way. It is mainly only is coincidental timing. Nothing more.”

“Are… are you sure?” 

“Yes I am most positive.”

“But… what do we tell DiZ? I mean he knows what you have been struggling with… but I’m not sure what he…?” Namine trailed off, leaving an obvious bit of uncertainty in her voice.  

“I will figure something out, don’t you worry,” Riku-Ira placed a hand onto Namine’s shoulder. This… may be a bit of a minor setback… but it doesn’t change anything with what we have to do for Sora. Though… honestly I think…” this time it was Riku who trailed off. 

He gave into some deep thoughts over the subject matter. While he thought on it, he was surprised how quiet Terra was being. He only could figure that Terra was actually trying not to butt in too much to the conversation, knowing Riku needed as much thinking and clear mindedness as he could get. 

“I can’t let Sora know what happened,” Riku finally said. “Until I can figure out what to do with… this… I can’t let him know. You’ll help me keep it a secret, right Namine?” 

Namine nodded slowly,hesitating a moment before answering. “Very well. But Riku, don’t shut yourself away again. I feel you need all the help you can get with this.”

“Thank you,” Riku said, smiling slightly. Internally it made him feel sick again to know that he was smiling but with the appearance of Xehanort’s Heartless. No matter how much help he would get, he knew that it was always going to be unsettling. “For now though I may just need some time to myself again. I promise I won’t do anything stupid or anything else. I just need some space…” 

“Okay, if you say so,” Namine said as she stood up. “Just let me know if you need anything, okay?”

Riku nodded. “Okay.”

Namine left the room shortly after, leaving Riku still sitting on the floor. He sat there for several minutes, unable to find the strength to sit or stand up right. The mirror was right there and he knew once he stood back up he would go back to looking and staring, letting that uneasiness form in his stomach again. 

Finally he decided he couldn’t take the lingering dreaded silence for much longer. “You’re still being awfully quiet.”

‘I only wanted to step back and let you be because that is what you wished,’ Terra replied in a tone that was much more like Aced’s.

“Well you going to mock me or tell me off now? Tell me that this was all my fault and I deserved it?” Ira scoffed, his voice laced with sarcasm.

‘While I will say you didn’t deserve this, I will be blunt with you and say yes it was your fault. Your choice to fight against and continue to hate the darkness made it grow to overpower you. You know you cannot deny that. You as Riku were doing your best to find balance though the darkness still was stronger than you expected. But you as Ira… you refused balance and only wanted the light.’

Ira was ready to rebuttal but Terra spoke sooner.  

‘I know what you are going to say and want to say, but just stop Ira. Please think for once and see where this had lead you. Hating on it more and growing angry over it will only make it worse for you.’

Ira sighed heavily. As much as he wanted to argue, he knew that Terra was right. He had been right the entire time… but Ira just wanted to refuse all of it. His mind wanted to stay to what he use to know rather than what he had recently learned. 

Standing up he began to pace around his room, trying to get any jitteriness out of his system. While doing so he tried his hardest to keep himself from looking at the mirror again. The last thing he wanted was to have another panic attack over what he saw. 

“I’m sorry…” Ira finally said lowering his head. “I have been rather foolish,”

‘Indeed you have. But this isn’t over for you. Even with this you can still help out Sora and do what is necessary.’

Riku nodded. “Yeah I know… This is still hard for me though. But… thank you for being here. Honestly it really is nice to have someone to talk to about this. I really don’t know what I would have done if I were alone on this.”  

‘You’re welcome Riku,’ Terra replied. 

“Now I guess all that is left is to try and explain to DiZ what happened… And to see if there is anything else he needs my help with watching Roxas in the simulation.”

‘All right if that is what you want to do right now. Just let me know if you want to talk about anything else on this matter for later.’

“Okay,” Riku said, nodding again. “And thank you again.”    

Chapter Text

The next couple of days went as best as things could for Riku, Namine, and DiZ. Roxas was within the Digital Twilight Town while Namine tried her best to restore Sora's memories. There wasn't too much to worry about at first, but slowly the Organization was trying to slip into the system to get Roxas back.

Riku himself tried his best to keep doing what he wanted, or whenever DiZ needed his help with something. Most of the time it was something within the system that he would have to go and check. Either way, no matter what he did, he had begun to talk far less than he normally would.

Namine would try to check on him when in between restoring Sora's memories, but other than that she was left with barely any time to do much of anything else. She wished that she could do more for him, but most of the time he seemed distant and lost in his own thoughts. It was as if his mind was elsewhere half of the time and it didn't make any sense to her.

Namine sighed as she went back to pieces back the memories. She closed her eyes trying to draw on the memories that still resided within Roxas. That was another thing that she kept on wondering about, but also kept quiet about. Roxas was within the simulation, and to him everything was real due to the fact Namine had to place fake memories into him.

But within doing that, there were a couple of times she could notice something was different. There things would be something else there with Roxas besides himself. It only happened a few short times, never long enough for her to see. But from time to time she could notice that there was a brief flash of someone else's memories. No matter how she tired, she could never get a grasp right away who they were from, but she knew they were there. Even when she had briefly met with Roxas the other day, she didn't get enough time to look into it. It still left her to wonder what it meant and if Roxas even knew.

Roxas groaned while he woke up. There were more strange dreams like before. The past several days it was always about these weird dreams that felt too real. He sat up in his bed before rubbing his face.

"Right… 'promise'..." he muttered quietly, still only half awake. He then groaned against before running his hands over his face once more. "What a mess… I don't understand…"

'It is confusing, I don't understand it myself.'

Roxas's eyes widened. "Huh?"

He jumped up to his feet and looked around. There was no one there but himself, but he could have sworn he heard a voice. It wasn't the first time too. When the strange dreams started, sometimes he would hear someone's voice. It wasn't who ever he saw in his dreams… the voice sounded almost like himself but lighter.

But since he only randomly heard this faint voice from time to time, there wasn't enough for him to really try and investigate. Plus as much as he wanted to tell his friends about it, he was sure they wouldn't understand and think of it as just some weird thing.

Roxas sighed. "They'd probably think I'm just not getting enough sleep and that's why I am hearing things."

'To be honest you haven't been getting the best of sleep lately.'

Roxas jumped again at the sudden voice. "What?... No. I'm just hearing things. It's just my thoughts being weird."

Roxas breathed in, almost expected a response, but there was nothing after that. With no more random voices floating around in his head, Roxas head out. It was the day of the Struggle Tournament anyways, he needed as much focus as he could get.

It all seemed to be going all right during the tournament, but things went strange and everything froze up on him. A strange man had shown up and he was the only other one who could move besides himself.

"You really don't remember? It's me. You know, Axel," the man said before pulling off his hood, revealing his bright red hair.

"Axel?" Roxas questioned.

'Lea!?'

Roxas shook his head at the sudden interjection. It made no sense at all why it would show up now, and of all times for him to be hearing things now was the worse time. He tried not to think about all while trying to understand why this Axel guy was even here. It didn't make things easier than Axel had summoned two charkrams and basically was threatening to kidnap him.

"What gives!? What's going on!?" Things only seemed to get weirder from there with the strange key weapon appearing back in his hands after he tried to throw it away.

"Number 13. Roxas. The Keyblade's chosen one," Axel answers.

Roxas sighed. "Like that actually gives me any answers."

'Well it makes sense to me at least, since it seems I can still remember before.'

"I didn't ask you!" Roxas shouted in his thoughts before groaning to himself. He couldn't believe what he was trying to do. If this wasn't proof enough maybe he really was going crazy.

He tried his best to not focus on that anymore and instead at Axel, who was infuriating him more than his possible insane thoughts. "Okay, fine! You asked for it!"

He engaged in a fight with Axel, but it didn't last too long as someone else entered the area seemingly out of nowhere. Axel narrowed his eyes at the man dressed in strange robed. "So it was you."

After that, everything felt like a blur with both men calling his name, making his head hurt and throb. But once he shouted the names of his friends, everything seemed to go back to normal and everything was moving and making sound once more.

There wasn't too much time process it as Roxas had to get right back to the Struggle match. He went against Setzer and ended up winning against him, that at least did boost his mood from everything else.

Faintly he could hear a light cheerful chuckle. 'Congrats.'

Roxas scoffed, doing his best to ignore the voice just like before. If it persisted, he would find a way to deal with it. Now all that was left to end the day with his friends at the clock tower now with the new trophy he had earned. It all seemed to be getting back to normal… that was until Roxas stood up on the ledge and lost his balance.

Chapter Text

Roxas groaned before turning onto his side. He used all of his energy to push open his eyes, finding himself back in his bedroom. He sighed heavily before sitting himself up in his bed. "I'm dreaming… had to be… But which parts… were the dreams?"

'Honestly I wish I could tell you, but even this is extremely confusing to me now.'

"Argh!" Roxas shouted. He hit his head lightly. "Stop it. I'm not… I can't be going crazy."

There was a pause before the voice came back echoing through his mind. 'You're not crazy.'

Roxas bit his lip. The last thing he wanted to do was actually give into his possible insanity. If he was truly going crazy with his dreams and hearing a voice, he really didn't want to give it anymore reason to increase. But honestly he just wasn't too sure anymore what to do, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could ignore it.

"If I am not crazy, then how am I talking to myself?" Roxas asked,

'Cause you're not talking to yourself.'

"Huh?!" Roxas shouted before shaking his head vigorously. "No no. No. I am not doing this. I am not giving into whatever insanity my mind is trying to play on me!"

'But I'm telling you I'm not-'

"Not going to listen anymore!" Roxas said, trying to shut off whatever thoughts were in his mind making this voice talk to him. He just needed to get going and get on with the day. He had to get his mind off all of this or it would only get worse.

The voice didn't say anything else after that. Whether Roxas had really blocked it off or not, he wasn't too sure. He could finally have a moment to be quiet and to himself. But even with that he was left to his thoughts about everything else going on in his life lately. None of this was helpful at all to him without any proper answers.

The day actually seemed to be better than he expected. Things started to feel more normal and nothing seemed to get in his way. Or at least that's what he thought at the start. He was trying to look into the seven wonders of Twilight Town with his friends, and though it seemed odd, he was still happy to go around and look for what was there and if there was any true mystery.

But a lot of it went far too strangely. Each encounter left him with questions, but it seemed that he was the only one that saw the odd things. He just could never prove any of it to his friends and now he started to probably look even crazier than before, which did not help his mindset and thoughts from earlier.

Now he was standing outside the old mansion alongside Pence. It was just another one of the mysteries to the town, but this one he found to be most drawn to. Something about it, with the rumors of a girl in the window seemed to make a connection with him, and just as he was staring at the window everything around him faded away.

"Huh?" Roxas looked around to see he was no longer standing outside with Pence. "How did I get in here?!"

Roxas started to look around and right away he noticed something odd. This room was far from abandoned or old. It was white and pristine instead, and there were little drawings all over the walls.

Slowly and cautiously Roxas began to look around, trying to figure out what the drawings were. While he did that, thoughts started to pick up on the back of his mind. "Now I gotta be going crazy for sure… how can I actually be here?"

'Another good question… I can't even tell what happened.'

"Oh don't you start up again!"

After that a different voice spoke up, different than the one of his own that he had been hearing. "Roxas…"

"Ah! Namine?" Roxas asked, stopping his argument with supposedly himself. He looked around the room, but he didn't see anyone else there. He shook his head, thinking maybe that he was just imagining it and he went back to looking at the drawings.

There was one drawing that really seemed to catch his eye more than others. One that looked like he had been drawn in there, as well as another familiar person. "This is… me? And Axel's here too…"

"You are best friends," Namine replied out of nowhere.

"Very funny" Roxas mumbled causally before he looked around again.

'She isn't wrong though.'

Roxas grumbled to himself, trying to push away the thoughts like before. He cleared his throat while trying to find where Namine could have possibly been talking to him. "But I don't get it. Where are you?"

The room seemed to go white in his eyes and next he found himself sitting at the table that was at the center of the room. At the other end sat Namine, looking very quiet and small. She didn't look phaze at all by what was happening. "Don't you want to know the truth about who you really are?"

"What I want to know is what is going on! Besides I know myself better than anyone of course!"

"Right…"

"Can't you tell me what is going on though? Tell me if I am going crazy or not… or if I am and I am just imagining this then you'll just tell me what I hope to hear…"

Namine remained quiet, her eyes shifting around to the drawings that filled the room. Roxas started to look around as well and he landed on a picture of three people that he knew for a fact were very strangely familiar.

"You know these three, don't you?" Namine asked.

Roxas nodded. Since there was no sign of getting his answers he decided to go along with what Namine was talking about. "Yeah. Sora, Donald, and Goofy. They're from the dreams."

"About a year ago, some things happened, and I had to take apart the memories chained together in Sora's heart. But now... I'm putting them all back exactly the way they were. It's taken me a long time, but pretty soon Sora will be his old self again. The process has been affecting you, too, Roxas."

This caught Roxas off guard. He had not expected such an explanation. "You mean… the dreams?"

Namine nodded her head somely. "Yes... You and Sora are connected. And...in order for Sora to become completely whole again... He needs you."

Roxas now found himself staring at a picture that featured him and Sora. More and more questions slowly started to fill his mind more than before. "Me? What for?"

Namien did her best to give a simple enough explanation, but that still left him so unsure. He tried asking her something about herself but even then there weren't enough answers. Eventually things just seemed to topple out of nowhere with everything. Roxas had tried asked Namine one last time what she knew that he apparently didn't know about himself, but the answer wasn't what he expected.

"You… you were never supposed to exist, Roxas."

It felt like such a heavy weight. He stared at her, almost in shock at what he had heard. "What...? How could you even say such a thing… even if it were true?"

"I'm sorry. I guess some things really are better left unsaid."

'I know it's hard to believe, but she is right, even if it doesn't make sense and sounds harsh. Though honestly I am still trying to wrap my head around it myself.'

Roxas groaned before gripping his head. These were not the thoughts that he wanted to think. He didn't want to even believe Namine in the first place. All of it sounded far too crazy for him and none of it felt right.

Namine tilted her head slightly. "Roxas? Is there something-"

"No, nothing…" Roxas replied quickly before closing his eyes. He let out a sigh and then had the feeling of being shaked.

Upon opening his eyes he was standing outside the mansion again. He turned to see Pence was the one shaking him, looking a little concerned. "Roxas! Roxas!"

"You totally zoned out there. Did you see anything though?"

"I… I'm not sure… I was looking at the window and-"

He stopped himself right there. Things had been going crazy for him lately but none of his friends believed him. No matter what happened they just seemed to pass it off as nothing, so trying to explain this was probably going to go the same.

"I guess I didn't really see anything and just zoned out a bit there."

The remainder of the day went as it usually felt it would, but that night Roxas stared up at his ceiling. He knew he had to sleep soon, but his mind was wide awake. He tossed and turned, thinking over the conversation he had with Namine. No matter which way he thought about it, he couldn't make any sense of it.

'Do you want to try talking again?' the voice came softer this time.

"No I do not. Stop bugging me already."

'But you know I am not just your own voice now, right?'

"If you aren't me then just who are you!"

'Ventus.'

Something in the back of Roxas's mind tugged at that. It sounded like that was the right answer, but he had no idea why he would even be thinking that. "And just what are you doing in my head or whatever it is? What about that huh?"

'That… I don't really have the answer to that. Everything's still hard for me to grasp since I haven't really been awake for a while.'

"Haven't been… What does that mean? You're saying you've always been in my head?"

'Not really in your head… but I don't think I am the best at explaining it… to many things still confusing to even me,' Ventus replied.

"But can you answer this, why do you sound like me?"

There was a moment of silence before Ventus answered. 'I don't know if that would really help the situation. It could just make you more confused… but maybe later?'

Roxas grumbled before flipping to his other side. "Whatever, don't tell me. No one seems to be telling me anything anyways…" Roxas closed his eyes and tried to drift off to sleep, ignoring any faint sighs that he thought he was hearing from Ventus.

Chapter Text

Roxas woke up feeling worse than ever. Last night was the worst night of them all with so many images and scenes going around in his head. Of course now that he was awake all of that was hazy and he couldn't recall it. But it still left him feeling just completely out of it.

"Gah… I'm tired of these dreams… I can't even remember them half the time when I wake up. But I know they mean something."

'Well I can't really see into your dreams, I wish I could help though.' Ventus replied.

Roxas shook his head before going to get ready. He still was not too keen on Ventus considering that he still hardly knew anything about him. But he was tired and didn't want to bother trying to ask again, knowing he would probably get nowhere with it.

'I guess you're back to ignoring me?'

"Ugh, just be quiet please," Roxas grumbled before heading out the door.

'Sorry. I guess I can't really help it. Being awake like this wasn't what I expected. I thought I'd be sleeping until I was reunited with my body. Just staying quiet doesn't do it for me.'

Roxas furrowed his brows. "That doesn't even make any sense!"

'Like I said… it would be too confusing to explain… sorry Roxas.'

Roxas sighed again. He was trying his best to not lose his cool but with everything pilling up on him it was starting to be a bit much. He just wanted to get on with his life with no further interruptions or issues. Eventually he made it to the usual spot and saw his friends. Maybe this time he could try talking to them about it and could only hope that they could help.

"Man, I could not sleep last night…"

Roxas waited but no one responded to him. They didn't even look his way. "Guys?"

There was still nothing and the three kept on talking to one another. Roxas felt rather confused and reached towards Hayner, but instead of grabbing onto him, his hand went right through him.

Roxas staggered back slightly. "Huh?! What…"

His friends continued to laugh and talk, still not even acknowledging he was there. When they turned to walk, each one of them walked right through him, only furthering his confusion. Once they were gone, Roxas slowly looked around the usual spot.

Nearby on one of the tables he saw something that caught his eye. It was the photograph of him with his friends… except this photo didn't have him even in it. Dropped the photo to the group Roxas held a hand to his head.

"What is this... What is going on?" Roxas shook his head. "I gotta be dreaming still…"

'I'm here though so I don't think you're dreaming.'

"Well how do I know I am not just dreaming you saying that?"

'Cause… I'm me? I don't know how to answer that…'

Roxas sighed deeply. He wanted to figure this out but of course there were no close answers to grasp. So he turned around and headed outside of the usual spot and looked around for where his friends had gone. But once he tried to move forward, several of the swaying silver creatures appeared before him and then there was a sound from behind.

Right away he recognized the familiar red hair, but before he could say anything the redhead spoke first. "Look at what it's come to. I've been given these icky orders to destroy you… if you refuse to come back with me."

Roxas hummed softly. Though most of the dreams he had were gone by morning, this time some actually were lingering. Either that or they just decided to resurface in his mind, "We're… best friends, right?"

Axel started to scratch the back of his head. "Sure… but I'm not getting turned into a Dusk for...Wait a sec! You remember now!?"

"Y...eah," Roxas answered with a little hesitation.

'I think it's kind of cool that both of us were friends with him,' Ventus decided to randomly interject, which Roxas did the best to ignore.

"Great! But, you know, gotta make sure and all. So, umm... What's our boss's name?"

"Um… ah…" Roxas trailed off. Quickly he lowered his voice. "Hey you wouldn't happen to know the name would you?"

'Sorry… I think I know who Lea… or I guess Axel is talking about. But I was asleep when you were with the Organization. Most things like names and what you did I wouldn't know.'

"Great…" Just when Roxas thought he could actually see if Ventus would be of any help, it just proved to be pointless.

"I'm sorry…" Roxas then whispered to Axel. "I guess I can't remember."

Axel let out a sigh, a sadden expression slipping into his face. "Can't believe this…"

"But can't you help!" Roxas suddenly shouted. "I can't remember everything, but like… there's something I think."

Axel shook his head. "Can't work like that. They want you back fully remembering. Gotta make sure that they didn't tamper with you too much anyways. But maybe if…" Axel trailed off as he started at Roxas intently.

The creatures that surrounded Roxas started to close in, but in a flash the keyblade from before came to Roxas's hand. Quickly he defeated the creatures in record time and then faced Axel, waiting to see what he would do.

"I guess it has to come this…" Axel said before summoning his chakrams.

Roxas positioned himself into his battle stance once more, ready to continue the fight. Though just as Axel raised his arm up to attack, he froze. He remained there perfectly still, unmoving or even blinking.

"What the…"

Suddenly a voice was heard from overhead. It wasn't from within his head like Ventus… but instead someone else's voice. A voice that Roxas knew he had heard recently "Roxas, to the mansion! The time has come!"

Roxas groaned in annoyance. "Hayner! Pence! Olette!"

'I don't think that's going to help.'

"Well I don't know what else to do!" Roxas shouted. "I just wanna know what's going on!"

'Maybe do as he says, and head to the mansion? Not a lot left we can do here anyways,' Ventus replied.

"I guess I could… but I just don't get it…" Roxas said as he broke into a run towards the mansion.

'I'm with you on that.'

By the time Roxas got to the mansion, he saw that the giant lock was still on the gate. Gritting his teeth he huffed angrily. "Don't call me and then lock me out…"

'You could use the keyblade. I figure you can't remember, but it can be used to unlock pretty much anything.

"Huh?" Roxas started to ask, but then an image flashed before his eyes. The boy from his dreams had the keyblade in his hand and he was holding it out towards something. When the vision stopped Roxas mimicked as he had seen and summoned the keyblade. With that he actually watched as it shot a light forward to the lock and now the gate was open.

Racing instead Roxas started to look around the abandoned place. "Sheesh… didn't realize it would be this messy in here."

'Well it is abandoned isn't it?'

"Yeah… but now I just gotta figure out where I'm going."

Roxas started to head up the stairs, looking for whatever clues he could find. As he did, he could hear a light laugh from Ventus. 'Hey at least you're talking to me now.'

"Ah? Whatever! I guess I just forgot in the moment. I still want more answers though… um… ah… what was your-"

'It's Ventus, but call me Ven,' the identical voie to his said before he laughed.

"Sure… whatever I guess."

After that Roxas found a door that led into the white room that he had been in before. There were more drawings placed around the room this time and he looked at one that really seemed to catch his eye.

'Hey that looks like you and Axel from when-'

Before Ventus could finish, Roxas gripped his head and groaned. His breathing hitched as he proceeded to hunch over. A moment later the pain stopped and Roxas straightened up, though his breathing was still deep but at least slow.

'You okay? What happened?'

"I… I think I… I remember…something…"

'Wait really? What was it?'

Turning his head to the side he now saw that Namine standing there. " I remember something about Organization XIII... they're a bad group…"

"Bad or good, I don't know," Namine replied. "They're a group of incomplete people who wish to be whole. To that end, they're desperately searching for something."

"What?"

"Kingdom Hearts," Namine answered.

"Hmm," Roxas hummed for a moment before chuckling. "I guess I didn't remember that part yet… But there is still something I really want to ask… from what I do remember."

"What's that?"

Sighng Roxas kept looking straight at her. What's gonna happen to me now? Just tell me that. Nothing else really matters anymore."

Namine looked away for a moment before giving her own sigh. "You are…" A second later her image began to flicker out.

"Namine!"

In a flash Namine was gone and the robbed man from before appeared. "There's no knowledge that has the power to change your fate."

"Even if it doesn't, I wanna know. I have the right to know!"

"A Nobody doesn't have a right to know. Nor does it even have the right to be."

'Geez, what's this guy's problem? He doesn't have to be so rude about it.'

Roxas didn't have time to think and agree with Ventus, but he was right. "But what IS a Nobody!?"

Right then a tall hooded figure appeared next to the man. "DiZ, we're out of time. Too many Nobodies!" His voice was deep and unfamiliar to both Roxas and Ventus.

'Wait who's that? I thought that Riku had been-'

Before Ventus could finish though, Namine reappeared from a portal. "Roxas. Nobodies like us are only half a person. You won't disappear. You'll be whole!"

Roxas tilted his head. "I'll...disappear...?"

'No. She said you won't disappear. Are you listening?'

DiZ grumbled angrily, turning . "No further outbursts!"

Namine shook her head quickly. No, you won't disappear! You'll-"

Diz grabbed Namine and placed his hand over her mouth. Right away Roxas moved forward to get closer, but the hooded taller figure stood in front of him, blocking his way. But Namine was actually able to pry away Diz's hand as he tried to drag her back through the portal.

"Roxas! We will meet again. And then we can talk about everything. I may not know it's you, and you may not know it's me. But we will meet again. Someday soon. I promise!"

After that the portal vanished and all three of the others were gone from the room. Roxas stood there, with his arm outstretched, as if there would be something to grab on to. "Namine…"

'There's nothing we can do now. We gotta move on.'

"Yeah I know that! But that guy! Ah! I can't stand him! Why does he think he can treat her like that!"

'I wouldn't know, but I agree. He shouldn't be so rude about it.'

"Well next time I run into him I'll tell him off!"

'If you want to, but let's just try and find whatever it is we need to find here.'

Roxas continued searching through the old mansion, and that eventually led him to the library. It took a bit of looking and thinking but soon enough a secret passage was revealed in the floor of the room. From there the passage brought Roxas down to a basement where there was a large set up of computer monitors as well as some strange looking machine.

Upon laying his eyes on it, Roxas groaned again and nearly dropped to the floor. 'Roxas! You okay?'

Roxas groaned again while still holding on to his head, but then he stopped. Once he stood back up, he gritted his teeth. Summoning the keyblade he went right up to the computer and started to smash it repeatedly.

'Hey! Roxas! What do you think you are doing!?'

Roxas didn't reply, he only continued to smash up every monitor as much as he could. Ventus swore that he could even feel the anger and energy that was coming from Roxas. But either way he didn't understand where it was coming from.

'Roxas! Stop! You've broken it enough!'

"It won't be enough!" Roxas shouted. "They did this to me! They ruined my life!"

'What are you… oh did you remember something?'

"Of course! What else would it be!" Roxas broke another screen after that. "Everything I thought my life was… it was all a lie!"

'O-Oh… that's what it is. I guess now that I realize it… it was harsh of them to just rewrite your memories. But you know you were a bit resis-'

"I don't want to hear it! You know about this then?! Did you know this entire time?!"

'I mean… not entirely. I knew that Riku needed you cause you held some of Sora's memories… But when you blacked out after confronting him and we woke here… I had no idea what had happened.'

"You should have told me something seemed wrong!"

'But you wouldn't listen to me before. Thought I was just you going crazy.'

"Ah! You… Whatever!" Roxas smacked the keyboard one last time causing a door to suddenly open.

Going through there only led further into the weird basement and once he was in a new room, Dusk Nobodies, which Roxsa could now remember, appeared. Within seconds he destroyed each and every one of them, with still so much anger burning inside of him.

"Simply amazing, Roxas," Axel said as he entered the room. The tone was not friendly though and instead rather harshly sarcastic.

"Axel."

Axel scoffed. "You really do remember me this time? I'm so flattered!" Flames erupted around the entire room, leaving no way out for Roxas even if he wanted to. "But you're too late!"

Roxas wasn't even wanting to put up with this. Even if Axel was still his friend from before, there was still too much anger still left in him. He reached his hands forward and now held two keyblades in each hand much to Axel's surprise.

"Two!?"

'Whoa! Two keyblades? I didn't know that could be a thing! But… are you really going to fight him?'

Roxas glared before charging at Axel for the fight, not paying attention to anything else Ventus said after that.

When the fight was over and Roxas had won against Axel, the flames died down and Axel slumped to the floor. "Roxas…"

Flinched another memory came into Roxas's head. After words any anger that had left over was completely gone now. He looked to his friend who was beginning to fade away. "Axel… I.. I'm…"

"Don't need to say anything," Axel said solemnly. "Let's just agree to meet in the next life, okay?"

Roxas nodded slowly. "Yeah. I'll be waiting."

Axel suddenly chuckled. "Silly. Just because you have a next life…" He fully disappeared before he could even finish.

Slowly Roxas walked over to the spot where Axel had been. He stood over it as he sighed with a deep and long exhale.

'You going to be okay?'

"I don't know… He was my friend… and I just…"

Ventus hummed as he tried to think of what he could say to help. What could he even say? He had no idea how to handle a 'I just killed my best friend in a battle and watched then vanish before my eyes' scenario. He couldn't even give Roxas a hug if he wanted to, he was still just a voice in the head in the sense.

Eventually he knew he had to try and say something. 'I'm sorry…'

"Yeah… but maybe… maybe there will be something…" Roxas muttered before he finally proceeded through the door to the next section.

Chapter Text

Roxas moved forward as he walked through the hallway, it was quiet, aside from the humming of strange machines. Up ahead there were pods and two of them held Donald and Goofy, but that wasn't even all of them.

In the next rook over, there was the largest of the pods. But before he could get very close, DiZ showed up, making Roxas's blood boil. Even with consoling words from Ventus, he still couldn't deter his frustration. 

DiZ wasn't even really there, with every slash, it only pixelated through the body. 

“I hate you!” Roxas shouted in frustration.

DiZ only hummed. “You should share some of that hatred with Sora. He's far too nice for his own good.”

“No! My heart belongs to me!” Roxas was practically screaming at this point. 

He ran once more and tried to land a hit, but it was the same as all the prior attempts. Only this time, DiZ’s image finally faded away, and the large capsule started to open. 

‘Roxas…’ Ventus whispered softly. 

“I… I don’t,” Roaxs huffed. 

He could already feel the pull towards Sora, who floated sound asleep in the couple. 

“Sora…” Roxas muttered. 

‘Are you okay?’ Ventus asked, trying to figure out how to console Roxas. 

“Don’t know… but I guess not,” Roxas said as his shoulders slumped. “Look at him… just sleeping there. He doesn’t even know. He won’t even know who I am. But he’s lucky.”

‘Why’s that?’

“My summer vacation… it’s over,” Roxas said before closing his eyes. “But not for him.”

Roxas could practically feel his body fade, returning to Sora like it was supposed to. He no longer felt any anger in him, all of it worn out from before. All he felt now was a sense of tiredness and a bit of ease. 

“Maybe it won’t be so bad. You’ll still be resting in Sora’s heart. You’re still you.”

“Huh?” Roxas said. 

Opening his eyes he found himself to be floating down within a darkened abyss, but right across from him was a mirror. A reflection of himself. Though after a few seconds he realized it wasn’t a mirror, the clothes were different and maybe the hair was a shade lighter. 

“V-Ventus?” 

Ventus’s eyes opened as well, blinking a few times for clarity. He looked around, seeming just as surprised as Roxas was. He then looked back and smiled. “Yeah, it’s me.”

“Wait! I know you sounded like me, but you actually look like me too!?”

"Yeah. I didn't get it at first, but the more I thought about it… I think it's because my heart was resting in Sora's for so long."

"Huh, so your heart was with me the entire time. It's weird to think about."

"Well, you could say it's like having a brother," Ventus laughed. 

"I guess."

"You know," Ventus said as he looked down. They were nearing what looked like a darkened platform. "This feels familiar…"

"How?"

"Probably from the first time I came to Sora's heart. Just being here again… but something does feel different this time. I don't know what though." 

When the two of them touched the floor, it lit up beneath them. Light sparkled from it as doves fluttered away into the abyss, revealing the stain glass platforms design. 

Ventus's eyes widened as he stared at the images that filled the panel. "No way…"

"What?" Roxas asked as he looked at the panel as well. 

To him it didn’t mean all too much, at least not initially. At first he thought the panel, like any other, mainly featured Sora, but then he saw that someone else was there too. Sora was sleeping on the right side in the image, but mirroring him was another boy. It was someone that Roxas wasn't familiar with, but he was in the same sleeping position as Sora. 

The other person in question, sported pure white hair and a red scarf. The rest of his clothes were mainly whites and blacks, but the style seemed to be something much older than what Roxas was familiar with. 

Looking between them, Roxas saw that there were seven circles, and surprisingly Roxas recognized only a few of them. In the center he saw Riku at the top followed by Kairi below. He thought the third in that row was himself, but after a bit of careful thought he had to assume it was Ventus. To the right two circles were two more that he knew, thanks to Sora's memories: Donald and Goofy. 

That only left the two circles on the far left side. Those were two who Roxas had no familiarity with at all. The top was a boy with dark hair and a rather fancy fedora, and the one below it was a girl with just as dark hair and a kind smile.

"No way!" Ventus gasped again. "How did I not see it before!?"

"See what?" Roxas asked as he walked closer to Ventus. "What's with this? Who's the other boy?"

"That's… it's Ephemer," Ventus said as he pointed to the white haired boy. Then he pointed to the two unfamiliar people. "And then Brain and Skuld!" 

"But what does it mean?" Roxas pressed, hoping to get an answer. 

"It means that Sora is… that he's actually…" Ventus staggered back. 

He stumbled enough that he fell back into a sitting position. With a sigh, he ran his hand through his hair and shook his head. He still had a look of shock and disbelief on him and Roxas sat down beside him. 

"You think you can even tell me what the heck is going on?"

"Sora is Ephemer. There's no other explanation I can think of."

"Okay…? But who is Ephemer?"

Ventus looked over at Roxas, a small chuckle forming. He rubbed the back of his head before giving a big wide smile. "Kind of a long story, but to put it simply… eons ago Sora was Ephemer, and I was friends with him."

“Whoa wait a minute! Eons ago?! What, are you like 1000 years old or something,” Roxas asked.

“Not exactly,” Ventus said with a sigh. “It’s a little more complicated than that.”

Roxas tilted his head to the side. “And? Not going to tell me?”

“It would take a while to explain it all… never had anyone to talk about it before. I wasn't even awake before! So it’s just a lot to process right now… But to make it simple I knew Sora in a past life, it’s the easiest way to say it.”

“If you say so…”

Suddenly the platform around them started to glow brighter, distorting their vision. Roxas went up to cover his eyes as everything seemed to fade around him. “What’s happening?”

“I think Sora’s waking up,” Ventus replied. 

“Waking up? What does that mean for us?”

“Don’t know, I said I wasn’t exactly awake last time so this is all new for me.”

When the light around them cleared they were seeing what appeared to be the room Sora had been resting in, but now the perspective was different. It was as if they were watching a screen as someone else was moving. 

“Are we watching… Sora?” 

“I think?”

‘Are we watching… Sora?’

‘I think?’

“Huh?” Sora muttered, his mind still waking up. “Who’s there?” 

Before he could wait for an answer he heard different voices calling to him. He looked down to see Donald and Goofy looking at him. 

“Sora!” Donald called again. 

“Sora, wake up,” Goofy added. 

Sora yawned and finally jumped down from where he had been and almost topped on top of his two friends. Whatever he thought he heard must have just been his imagination. 

“Donald, Goofy!” Sora cheered happily.

Soon enough they headed out from where they had been sleeping, after some debate and discussion just what had happened and how they could have gotten there. The most confusing part was probably Jiminy’s journal saying nothing but ‘Thank Namine’. 

Eventually they exited out into town, trying to find some answers. One of them was nice enough to let them know that the King was looking for them, which led them to the train station. Once King Mickey found them, he handed them a pouch full of munny and told them to board the train. 

Just as they were heading up to the strange purple train, they heard a voice from behind them. “Wait up!” 

Turning around, Sora saw the three kids from before. Hayner finally came up closer and breathed out deeply. “Hey, Sora…” 

“What’s up?” Sora asked.

“Nothing, but…” Hayner started to say. 

“We came to see you off. It just seemed like something we oughta do,” Pence added. 

"Oh… really? Thanks!” Sora said, starting to smile a bit more. 

The sound of the bell ringing stopped the conversation short from going much further, but Sora couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness in his chest. After they got their tickets, Sora was just about to enter the train when he heard Hayner speak again. 

“Hey, Sora. You sure we haven't met before?”

Sora hummed, thinking for a moment. It was an odd question, but for some reason it made him feel that odd feeling in his chest again. Something was aching once again. 

 After a moment he shook his head. “Positive. Why do you ask?” 

Hayner shrugged. “I dunno…”

Sora smiled anyway, he did enjoy making new friends and he was happy to have met them. But suddenly that ache grew a little more and he felt something fall down his cheek. He gasped softly as he tried to wipe it away. 

“You okay?” Olette asked. 

“Y-Yeah. Don’t know where it came from,” Sora said quickly. 

‘Wait did I do that?’

‘Why do you think that?’

“They were my friends… even if it was digital. I’m going to miss them.’

There were the voices again. Sora tried his best to not act too alarmed, knowing that he had to get going, but he could already feel a bit of nervousness inside of him. He quickly said his goodbyes to the trio and boarded the train. 

He sighed as he tried to shake off what he had just heard. He hadn’t heard any voices before, but he didn’t want to think he was going crazy. “What was that… Did I really hear something?”

‘Did he hear us? Is that possible? I thought we were just going to return to Sora and that was it…’

‘I don’t know! I still have no idea how I am still awake this time.’

“I am hearing things!” Sora gasped, letting his thoughts echo. 

He saw Donald and Goofy give him a strange look, but he shook it off saying he was fine. But within his mind, that was another story. He knew he was hearing voices, and strangely enough the two voices sounded very familiar to him.

‘Wait…’ one voice said. It was the lighter sound of the two even if they were nearly identical. ‘Sora, you can actually hear us?’

"Yeah I can. Who are you two?"

'Well it's been awhile so you may not remember me, but it's good to see you again, Ephemer,'

With those simple words the memories became much clearer than they had been in years. Sora started to grin happily and widely, both inside and out. “Oh! Hi Ven!”

Chapter Text

The train left the station in Twilight Town, heading out, not further into the city, but onto a special path out of the world. As it traveled along, three people watched it until it was out of sight. From up on Sunset Hill, Namine stood near Axel, and Riku, who had his hood up for the time being.

Soon Axel stretched his arms and let out a sigh. "Guess that's that."

Riku hummed softly. "Let's go then."

"Go where?" Axel asked. It's not like we have homes to return to. We don't exist, remember?"

Namine gripped her sketchbook tightly. "Yes, it's true. We may not have homes. But there is someplace I want to go... And someone I want to see…"

Looking down at her drawings, she stared at her latest work which was of Sora and Roxas. The two were holding hands even though she knew that was a reality that could never happen.

"Same here," Axel agreed before turning to Riku. "So, you think you might let us go? I know you're here to get rid of us, but…"

Namine shuddered. "DiZ wants to get rid of me?"

Riku sighed slowly before he gave an answer. "I have no intentions of getting rid of either of you. That's not how I wish to do things. So I ask you two to go."

"Are you sure about this? I know DiZ probably wouldn't be too happy about that," Axel replied.

"I'll do what I can to explain it to him so he won't be suspicious," Riku replied.

"And then what? You'll just stick around and do as he says?" Axel asked.

Riku shrugged. "I'll do what I can. Mainly I want to watch out for Sora. But before you go, I do need to thank you both. I owe you."

"For what?" Namine asked.

"Yeah, I'm a bit confused. Like, maybe I understand why you would own Namine after help she has given, but me? We barely know each other," Axel replied.

"Castle Oblivion. If it wasn't for you," Riku said as he turned his head towards Axel. "Then Namine wouldn't have been able to escape."

Axel chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Heh, guess you got a point. But no need to owe me anything. I don't need to keep track of that stuff."

Axel then owned up a dark corridor and moved towards it. Namine breathed in, clutching her sketchbook tightly in her arms.

Her eyes drifted back to Riku after that. "Will you be okay?"

"I'll be fine."

"Are you sure? With your… um, memories?" Namine asked as her voice grew quiet.

Riku knew what she was referring to too. She was trying to not let Axel catch on to what hidden secrets Riku had. Ever since his old memories had awakened things were starting to get easier. He was still having moments where his opinions and thoughts clashed, but from the help of Terra/Aced he was getting better at working through it.

Still, he felt lost at times, digging back into the olden days. Everyday he seemed to remember more and more. He would wake up to more memories, feeling as fresh as when they first happened.

Aced said that was probably expected, but he couldn't be too sure as he had been trapped within that Heartless for all those years. Regardless he was still going to help guide him.

With a sigh, Riku finally gave his answer. "I'll be fine, Namine. Trust in me. If something happens, I will handle it."

"If you say so. Thank you," Namine said before she stood up.

Riku watched her leave with Axel, and once the portal closed he sighed, sitting down on one of the benches. He lowered his head and stared at the ground for the longest time until he heard the familiar voice echoing in his head.

'A bit nervous?' Terra asked.

"To be on my own?" Riku asked aloud since no one else was nearby. "No. Not that. Just dealing with this… the Ansem stuff and our other stuff. When are we going to have time to talk about it properly?"

'Don't know, but I'm sure we can figure out something once this is all done, right?'

"That's what I'm hoping for. But we need to keep an eye on Sora. Even if he was once Ephemer, he is still a clueless goof," Riku said, chuckling softly. "Someone has to keep him in check."

'So you're ready to head out?'

"As ready as I can be," Riku said.

With a flick of his wrist he summoned his own portal and stepped through it, ready to head out to watch Sora on his journey. He did his best to keep to the shadows, trying not to come too close into view for Sora. As far as he could see, Sora was doing what he normally did, going about his mission and taking care of any Heartless that he did encounter.

Eventually Riku tried to invest himself more than just watching from the sidelines. The Organization was still moving with their plans, and a lot of it was going on in the background where Sora wouldn't notice. So with that, Riku started to try and sneak around a bit closer, trying to help out as best as he could.

When he had finished informing the Emperor, he headed out back to his normal waiting within the shadows. He sighed quiet, trying to recover from moments before the visit to the Emperor when he had his encounter with Sora.

'Are you sure it was safe to do that? Don't you worry that Sora may start to wonder why you are in an Organization cloak?' Terra asked.

"He'll probably ponder it, but knowing Sora, he will focus more on the fact that I'm okay," Riku answered.

Terra hummed softly. 'Always finding the silver lining, doesn't he?'

"Even when he was Ephemer, he did the same. Always trying to be positive even when given a tough situation. It was why he was good and helping people," Riku said as he reflected on old memories.

'If we are contemplating that again," Aced started to say, "Should we consider again who else may be out there? The other Foretellers? Or union members?'

"Don't know. There's still much to consider. We already know ourselves as well as Ephemer and Lauriam. Ventus too. Though, the more I think, do you recall the faces that were on my platform? Your image was a mix of you as Aced but also as Terra. Then there was Ava…"

'Ah yes. I don't think we ever discussed that. She was the only one to also have half a revealed face,' Aced answered.

"It's Kairi's face," Riku answered. "I didn't think too hard before, but I'm sure that it's her."

'So your friend Kairi is Ava.'

Ira laughed softly. "It makes sense. Ava always was looking out for the others. One of the kindest hearts we ever knew. Kairi is the same."

'But now she is a Princess of Light in this lifetime. A rather unique change,' Aced added. 'Do you wish to talk to her? See what she may know?'

Riku shook his head. "Not now. She's safe back on the Islands. The last thing I need to do is worry her with what I've done."

'Ira..'

"No. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about what I did this time, in this life. A lot of my actions weren't favorable. I don't know if she's ready to talk to me yet."

'There is only one way you can find out.'

"After this… once we are finished with the Organization, then I'll try. Okay?"

'Okay. Let's just try and stay out of sight. Sora should be here soon,' Terra said.

"Right. Let's go."

Chapter Text

Riku kept on his mission, watching Sora from the shadows. Sora was making progress as best as Riku would have expected him to do. Along the way he even started defeating some of the remaining members of the Organization, dwindling their already cut numbers even smaller.

Eventually, Riku found himself sneaking around The Castle that Never Was. A while back he had overheard a conversation between Sora and those kids from Twilight Town. Apparently some time earlier Kairi had been kidnapped by Axel.

"I still can't figure out why Axel would do that. Unless he was being forced too by Xemnas, but I thought he was going to get away from all of that."

'Hmm, there must have been something that cause him to do it. Whether it's because of him or not, Axel must have some reason. We haven't seen him since anyway.'

Riku sighed. "Yeah I know, and it worries me what he could be doing."

'First, we should help Kairi. With Sora nearing the castle himself, things will only get harder,' Terra offered.

Riku nodded. "Right. And finally, once this is all over, maybe we can talk to her and see what she remembers."

Terra hummed in agreement. 'Yes, that would be good to see when we finally have time to breathe again.'

Riku made his way down a hallway, trying to locate where Kairi was being held. Before long, he sensed her as well as a fainter heart that was similar to her own. No doubt it was Namine, and she was helping Kairi escape from whatever prison she had been held in.

He found them moments later, stopping at a staircase with Saix, and several Berserker Nobodies, before them. Without any hesitation, he summoned the keyblade he had as Riku, and started to strike each of the Nobodies, causing them to crash to the floor and disappear.

Saix turned around and glared. "You… Didn't Roxas take are of you."

"You can take it from here, Riku," Namine said, nodding her head.

Kairi's reaction was as Riku had expected. She was shocked, completely caught off-guard by the name drop. "Riku!?"

Riku didn't have time to talk yet, he still had to try and take care of Saix. He tried to fight him, using whatever magic he could throw, but Saix managed to block it with ease. Even when he grabbed him and slammed him against the wall, he easily made a portal to step back into.

Sighing deeply, Riku was about to step in and follow him when he heard Kairi shout, "Wait!"

Riku started to back away, even as Pluto excitedly came out of nowhere, running at him.

'Don't run away, Riku.'

"But I-"

'I won't hear any of it! Don't run away from her. You're better than that.' Terra said to him before adding a quick, 'Ira.'

"Riku… You're really here…" Kairi said with relief as she reached up to the hood of the cloak.

Riku gritted his teeth, knowing now it was too late to escape and also he knew he didn't want to disappoint Terra. There wasn't much else he could do anyway as Kairi pushed the hood of the cloak off, her eyes widening as she saw just how he looked now.

"Riku… what happened? You look… that face…"

Clearing his throat, knowing how the voice would sound, Riku began to speak. "I'm sorry, Kairi. It's a long story."

"But are you okay?"

"I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me. This is… it's my own fault I'm like this."

Kairi frowned. "Oh Riku. But you're here! And Sora's here too, right? We can be together again!"

"We can," Riku said with a nod. "But first, we need to find him and help him. This way. He should be in the area soon."

Riku started walking in the direction Sora would most likely be, and soon he heard Kairi following right behind him.

"Wait! What happened to Namine?" Kairi asked.

It was apparent that Namine had vanished. She hadn't run away during the small fight with Saix, but instead just vanished from the area entirely. Riku had a feeling what it meant, but he wasn't sure if he would be able to explain it to Kairi properly.

"I don't know, but maybe we'll find her somewhere else. She can handle herself though, she has courage," Riku replied.

"If you say so," Kairi said.

It wasn't long before they came to a balcony, seeing Sora below, fighting off Heartless. Kairi ran up to the edge of the balcony, looking down at the fight below.

"Sora!" she shouted "Sora! It's really you!"

Sora looked up after slicing through a Heartless. "Kairi!"

Before he could look back, another Heartless jumped on top of him. Kairi breathed in deeply as she started to step away from the ledge.

"You leave Sora alone!"

Before Riku could even ask what she's planning, she ran to the ledge and leaped over it. He watched, dumbfounded in the moment, as she landed on the ground near Sora. Immediately, Heartless started to swarm her, one piling on top of another.

'Did she just…?' Terra asked.

"She did," Riku muttered before jumping off the ledge.

He was about to bring out his keyblade to clear the Heartless, and a flash of light appeared near Kairi. Suddenly, the Heartless were knocked back, tumbling to the ground. Kairi now stood up, holding an old but familiar pink and yellow keyblade.

'Ava's keyblade! I wonder if her memories are awakened.' Aced exclaimed.

Kairi started at the keyblade, eyes wide with surprise. She then shook her head and held the keyblade in a better position. "I'm going to fight this time. Come on, Riku! You know Sora's completely hopeless without us!"

"I don't believe she remembers, but there are instincts there. No doubt it was some hidden instinctually muscle memory that pulled the keyblade out," Ira replied before jumping into the fray. "But maybe we can discover more after."

Once everything was cleared out from the area, Sora, Donald, and Goofy ran up to Kairi and Riku. All three of them were staring with wide eyes at the keyblade that was still in Kairi's hand.

"Kairi, you were great!" Donald shouted.

"Yeah Kairi!" Sora added. "But where did you get that keyblade? That keyblade it…it's…"

Kairi looked down at it in her hand, still looking rather perplexed. A moment later it flashed away, leaving her to blind a few times. "I don't know. It just kind of came to me when I wanted to get the Heartless off…"

Riku found Kairi looking to him for answers, but he knew now would not be the time to try and explain it. If she didn't remember now, then it wasn't the time to try and bring up reincarnation. It was clear though Sora, aka Ephemer, was a little curious about what he had seen from Kairi.

"We can talk about it later. We have other matters to discuss," Riku said, speaking in a tone that was much more like Ira's. He wasn't doing it intentionally, but as far as he knew, Sora had no idea it was him. Speaking more formally would continue to help keep that guise up, until it was time to finally drop it, whenever that would be.

"Well it has been a while," Sora offered. "Maybe we all learned something in that time! You have changed a lot, Kairi, but I'm just glad you're here!"

"You and Riku never came home, so I came looking for you," Kairi replied.

Sora looked away. "I'm sorry."

A moment later the two were hugging, and Riku decided to give them some time alone. He started to step back, when Sora pulled away from Kairi's hug and ran over to him.

"Hey wait! Ansem! I mean, Xehanort's Heartless… I never thought for a second that I'd ever see you again. Just thinking about all the things you did makes me really mad. But... But you saved Kairi, right? I have to be grateful for that... Thanks."

'I think it's about time you dropped the facade. No point in running away anymore,' Terra offered.

"But how would I even say it?"

Kairi cleared her throat, giving Riku a look. "Riku, you weren't thinking of leaving us, were you?"

Sora gasped. "Kairi, what did you say?!"

'Well, that's one way to go about it,' Terra laughed.

"Riku," Kairi repeated.

Riku sighed, closing his eyes. "I, uh… I don't…"

Rolling her eyes, she reached out for Riku's wrist. She then reached out for Sora's hand and pulled him closer. Together, she had both of their hands resting on top of Riku's.

"Now close your eyes and focus. You'll see," Kairi offered.

"Is it something a Princess of Light can do?" Riku asked as he watched Sora close his eyes.

'Perhaps, though if she is trying to have him sense by your heart, I wonder what he will see.'

"Are you trying to imply he may see something resembling me as Ira?" Riku asked.

'It's possible, but we won't know until he says something.'

"Riku… It's Riku. Riku's here…" Sora said, his voice shaking. He dropped down to his knees as he still held out to Riku's hand. "I looked for you."

"Guess he didn't see anything other than me, well Riku me," Riku replied.

He cleared his throat, knowing how his voice would sound. But he had to try to give it as much of his own tone as he could. "Come on, Sora. You've got to pull it together."

"But I looked everywhere for you!" Sora retorted.

Riku shook his head. "I didn't really want anyone to find me. Not until I felt ready."

"But it was you who was helpin' us, wasn't it?" Goofy asked. "Those clues we kept finding. That musta been you."

Riku nodded. "I knew I had to do something. I wasn't just going to stand by and watch. Besides, I was starting to worry you guys weren't ever gonna catch on. Sora never did pick the brightest friends."

Donald crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes. "What do you mean by that?!"

"So why didn't you let me know you were okay? Why did you want to keep this to yourself? I could've helped or something!"

"This was something I had to deal with on my own," Riku answered. "I fought against the darkness in me, and soon I let it overpower me, and this was the price."

"Does that mean...you can't change back? There must be some way! Your heart is still yours!" Kairi stated.

It had been something Riku wondered. He wasn't sure if it was possible, knowing how clingy darkness could be to a person. But having hope did sound nice, and he could tell that Kairi and Sora had that in them. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to have a little hope once again.

"Maybe… but not until the battle is over. As much as I'm not a fan of using the darkness like this, it may be needed."

"Then let's finish it quickly! So then we can figure out how to get you back to normal! Think we can all handle one last rumble together? The King's waiting anyway! We should hurry!"

The rest of the group nodded in agreement. Riku followed alongside the group now, knowing he couldn't run away and hide at this point. He wouldn't think of that anyways now, knowing Sora wasn't going to look at him differently. He should have expected that perpetual kindness from Sora, it had always been there. From when Sora was a young boy, to even back in the past when he had been Ephemer. He was always trusting and understanding in both lifetimes, and Riku was thankful for it.

He only hoped that they could have time to talk afterwards. About everything from now and from then.

Chapter Text

The journey trying to make their way through the rest of the castle still was no easy feat, even if they were all together. It didn't take long before they came across Luxord, who managed to play with his abilities of cards and dice to try and skew the battle towards him. But even with his love of games, it wasn't enough to win against Sora.

Before long, they found their way to where Saix was, staring out of the window that let him have a view of the giant heart shaped moon. Once again Sora had proved to be victorious, but as Riku approached him after battle, he could sense there was some annoyance in his friend.

"This is starting to get frustrating. Why won't they listen and stop calling me Roxas? Don't they know I'm not him?"

After everything that Sora had gone through, Riku figured it was probably time to finally let him know the truth. "It's because, Sora, Roxas is your Nobody."

"My Nobody… Oh yeah," Sora replied, seemingly spacing out for the moment.

Kairi waited a few moments as Sora seemed lost to his own thoughts. Then she stepped forward, coming closer to him. "It was when you came to rescue me, remember?"

"Huh? What?" Sora asked as he snapped out of his thoughts. "Oh, right! Yeah, I think I got it now!"

"You sure?" Riku asked skeptically, knowing how Sora didn't always get the bigger picture right away.

"Yeah! I get it! No worries! Now come on, we gotta keep going!"

It was a little surprising how easily Sora took the information with ease, but then on the other hand, maybe part of that had to do with his origins as Ephemer. Or maybe it was just the natural part of Sora being himself. It was hard to tell for Riku, trying to reflect on the past while also keeping his mind focused on the now.

When they made it up to the area of the castle where Ansem was, his machine was already failing. It didn't take long before the machine grew more unstable, growing with far too much power.

It was only a matter of seconds before the machine finally exploded with a brilliant light. Riku turned himself around, grabbing onto Sora as he tried to run towards Ansem. He held on for as long as he could until the force from the explosion knocked him away.

The light was bright. Completely encompassing everything around him, so much so that he could feel it nearly consume him. But it faded just as quickly as it came, and Riku let out a long sigh as he laid on the ground.

'Riku, are you okay?'

"I'm fine," he replied in thought.

"Riku?" Sora asked as he came closer.

He groaned, pushing himself up to his knees. He stopped halfway when he noticed something felt… different.

"Riku!" Sora exclaimed.

"Wow!" Donald and Goofy whispered in unison.

"Riku!" Kairi chimed in.

"Ansem did say "anything could happen…" Mickey added.

"Anything could… Wait a minute…"

'So you sensed the change too? The change in you?' Terra asked.

"I didn't think it was possible… to go back to how I was before."

"Riku, you gonna take that off?" Sora asked, snapping him away from his thought process.

It took him a few seconds before he realized what Sora was referring to. "Oh…"

He was almost hesitant to reach for the blindfold, something in him afraid of what would happen.

'It'll be okay, Ira,' Aced whispered softly.

With a deep breath, Riku pulled the blindfold off, blinking a few times as he truly let his eyes truly see for the first time in a long while. He waited however, waiting to see if anything would happen to him now that he had removed the blindfold, but as the seconds passed, nothing changed.

'See? It's alright now.'

"Doesn't change what cause it in the first place."

"What was that?" Sora asked as he came to Riku's side.

"His eyes couldn't lie," Mickey answered.

"Lie?".Sora echoed before he stared crossley at Riku. "And just who were you trying to fool? Huh? Huhhh?"

Riku knew there was no denying the truth of the matter. He had come so far and yet he didn't feel like he was far enough.

"Myself," he said as he lowered his head.

'Riku. You don't have to be so hard on yourself anymore,' Terra replied.

"Riku... C'mon, man! Why did you try to do so much on your own?" Sora asked.

Riku didn't have a chance to respond to either of them in time as he watched Sora run over to the others.

"You got friends… like us!" Sora cheerfully stated.

Seeing that warm and happy optimism was enough to shake away any of the lingering negativity. Sora was always one to help him pull through when he was the hardest on himself.

A smirk slowly curled up onto Riku's lips as he stood near Sora. "Have you forgotten? I'll tell you why. 'Cause I'm not a total sap like you."

Sora narrowed his eyes in a playful manner. "Say that again!"

Before they could break out into their old banter, hearts were floating up towards the large Kingdom Hearts in the sky. Heartless were also starting to storm the castle, following the energy that the hearts were giving off.

Fun banter and tease would have to wait. For now, Riku knew that they had to resume their mission to go and defeat Xemnas.

"And then when all of this is over we talk to Sora… to Ephemer," he thought to Terra.

'And we may find out what he knows before we try to talk to Ava, or to see if she remembers that,' Terra-Aced added

"Right. We'll have time to figure it out… or at least try to."

What Riku had hoped for to be an easy final confrontation turned out to be something a whole lot longer. But in the end, it was down to only him and Sora, and together they were able to finally end Xemnas's plans.

Now the two of them were back home, on their island alone with Kairi, Donald, Goofy, and Mickey.

Everyone spent time rejoicing, glad that the worlds were saved once more, but after some hours the sun was setting. Mickey and his friends had to go back to their world, but they all knew it wouldn't be the last time they would see one another.

But now that it was just Riku, Sora, and Kairi, it was time to figure out other things. Riku now had his chance to confront his friends, to see just what past memories they may or may not have remembered.

'Who are you going to talk to first?' Terra asked.

"Don't know, I guess I'll talk to Sora first," Riku whispered as he walked towards the smaller island where Sora was.

Sora sat down next to the paopu fruit tree, staring off at the sunset on the horizon. Clearing his voice, Riku came and sat down next to Sora.

"Hey."

"Oh! Hey Riku! What's up?"

"Just wanted to talk, you know, now that everything's over."

Sora grinned. "Okay! So what did you wanna talk about?"

"Well…" Riku rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, I guess to start, do you remember anything? Like… Stuff not from now?"

Tilting his head, Sora started, blinking slowly. "What?"

'You should summon your keyblade, Ira,' Aced advised. 'It would be easier than trying to explain it without sounding too far-fetched.'

"Right… You have a point."

"I think it's best if I just show you," Riku said before he summoned his old keyblade.

He watched as Sora's eyes widened, staring in awe at the keyblade before looking at him. "But that's… You have Master Ira's keyblade!"

Riku nodded. "Yeah, I do."

"If you have that keyblade, then…" Sora started to say before humming thoughtfully. He quieted down for a moment, looking deep in some internal thought.

"I can remember a past life. My past life as Master Ira," Riku answered.

"You do?! That's great! And, I guess if you're telling me that, I can tell you I remember a past life too."

"Ephemer, right?" Ira asked.

Sora gasped. "How did you know?"

Riku almost was going to tell him that Namine saw his memories, but then he recalled Sora wouldn't remember that. He only had a basic idea of who Namine was, so there wasn't really any point going to explain all of that.

"Long story," Riku answered instead. "But I know that much."

"Wow, Master Ira! That's amazing," Sora, or technically Ephemer stated. "I didn't know that there were any Foretellers here as well."

"It wasn't something I expected. I haven't remembered for very long, not even a year."

Sora looked shocked. "Really? I've remembered that I was Ephemer since I was… I think four or five?"

'He's remembered for so long?' Aced gasped. 'That feels far too much for a child to bear for that long, especially with what happened during those olden days.'

"Maybe so, but this still is him, whether as Sora or as Ephemer, he is strong. But since he's remembered that long, perhaps that's why he seems so well adjusted… compared to myself."

"Do you know about any others? Like Kairi, she… you saw what keyblade she summoned."

Riku nodded. "I was going to talk to her next. Don't know if she remembers, but we could ask."

Sora jumped up to his feet, holding a hand out for Riku. "Then let's go, Master Ira."

Riku chuckled softly. "You don't have to call me that."

"But you were my union leader, it feels kind of fun to say that again," Sora replied with a wide grin.

Taking Sora's hand, Riku was pulled up to his feet. "Guess if you want to, but I'm still Riku too."

"Heh, at least now it makes sense why you've always been so awesome. Come on! Let's go talk to Kairi, I think I saw her go to the secret area!"

Sora ran ahead, leaving Riku to follow slowly behind.

'When will you inform him that I'm here as well? I think it would be important.'

"Once we talk to Kairi and see if she remembers. At least then, if she does, we'll know of three Foretellers that are around."

'Right, that sounds like a plan. Though. I have been thinking. We've wondered about the others, but I hadn't considered Luxu.'

Ira hummed. "Luxu… I almost forgot. He vanished so early after The Master left… but are you trying to imply he could be here too?"

'Anything at this rate could be possible.'

"Even for The Master to be alive as well?"

He could hear Aced taking in a deep breath. 'I don't know… the way The Master used to phrase it made it seem like he would be gone for good. But on the other hand things are different from what we read in the book… I guess we will have to wait and see…'

Chapter Text

In the secret area of the island, Riku and Sora found Kairi sitting down by some of their old drawings. Those little doodles had seemed nothing but fun filled children's imagination, but now looking at it with older eyes Riku could see the hidden messages.

They had drawn things that reflected other worlds, Heartless, and even a few poorly drawn keyblades. It had always been there from the start, and yet none of them, other than Sora, had any idea of their true meaning.

"Kairi?" Sora asked as they approached.

"Oh? You two finish talking? I was wondering when you might show," she said gently, turning around to face them.

"Yeah, we talked, but we also wanted to talk to you!" Sora replied with his usual energy.

Kairi stood up, dusting the sand off of her clothes. "What did you want to talk about?"

Sora glanced at Riku, trying to see if he would speak first. Even when Sora was the go-getter, he still always looked to Riku first for advice. But, in this situation, Riku wasn't even sure where he would begin, at least not by words.

He figured he would start like he did with Sora, by summoning his keyblade.

"There's something that Sora and I need to talk to you about," he said softly.

"Yeah!" Sora said before summoning his old keyblade he had once as Ephemer. "We saw you summon a keyblade back when we were at Xemnas's castle."

Kairi gasped. "Your keyblades…" Her gaze first shifted to Riku. "Ira, is it really you?"

He nodded. "Yes, it is."

"And that would mean…" Kairi, or rather Ava, turned to look at Sora. Her eyes narrowed as she focused on him and his keyblade.

"Ephemer," Sora said with a bright grin.

"Oh! Oh that's wonderful!" Ava cheered happily.

"We all have lived to see another day, in another lifetime," Ira said softly.

"It's really wonderful, isn't it?" Ava asked. "That must mean the others are here too, right? All of us Foretellers? And…possibly the Dandelions?"

'Tell them about me, let them know that I am alright… for the most part,' Aced said.

"I know Aced's identity, though we can't reach him as of right now."

"Really? Do we know him?" Ava asked.

"In this lifetime, he's known as Terra," Ira replied.

"Ooh," Sora interjected a moment after. "Now that makes sense!"

"Makes sense?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah! Ventus knows Terra, and I think he mentioned something about him before!"

"And Ventus is still within your heart?" Kairi asked. "With Roxas too?"

Sora nodded. "Yup! And they both can hear everything that's going on."

"Ven…" Kairi started slowly. "Did he tell you much about his past? Considering you two were in the Dandelions together?"

Sora gave a shrug. "Some of it, but we didn't have a lot of time. Plus, it did start to confuse Roxas after a while."

Kairi gave a hum, thinking thoughtfully as she had done when she was Ava. After a moment, she spoke again. "Well, it's good to know that those two are in a safe place."

Riku could hear Terra let out a soft sigh. 'I guess if everyone knows where Ven is, then I think it's okay to tell them I'm here as well.'

"Are you sure?" Riku asked.

'I'm sure. It would give some relief to Ven anyways that I am nearby.'

Riku cleared his throat. "Ah, since we are talking about the hearts that Sora is protecting, I guess I should mention Terra's heart is resting within mine."

Sora and Kairi both stared, waiting to hear the answer, their eyes filled with curiosity.

"How much do you want me to explain?" Riku asked Terra.

'Whatever you feel is best. I'll leave it to you.'

Riku took a deep breath, ready to give as best of an explanation as he could. At least now he knew for sure they had three of the Foretellers back together. Whatever it meant for the other two, that was something else to think about later. He knew he would have to eventually talk to Ava about it more in depth, but for now he was going to think about all of that later.

It took a few days, but after settling into a normal life back on the islands, Riku and Kairi finally found the time to talk. They decided it would just be the two of them, three when they counted Terra.

They needed a moment for just the Foretellers to talk… to discuss what they knew and what was to come.

"So… Where do we begin?" Riku asked as he sat down next to Kairi.

"That depends," she replied in a very Ava-like tone. "Do we want to talk about what we last remember, or go further back. Back to when the Master gave us our roles?"

It was a complicated choice, not one that Ira really had given too much thought on. Though, it was more like he didn't want to think about it, not with everything else that had been at stake.

But, now it seemed like they had all the time in the world. All the worlds were safe and were at peace.

"I don't know. When did you remember?"

"When Namine reunited with me. It brought back my memories, but I really hadn't had a lot of time to let it settle in," Ava explained. "And you?"

"Not too long ago, when Namine was reconnecting Sora's memories. She found my old ones buried deep and unlocked them for me."

Riku chuckled. "So it really came down to Namine helping both of us, huh?"

Kairi gave him a smile. "And she says she is happy to have helped, even if it did cause you some initial stress. She also adds she can tell you are much more at ease with it now."

"Took me a while, but I think I've settled in better, now knowing I was Ira."

"I guess I need to wait a little longer," Kairi giggled softly.

"You'll be fine," Riku replied.

"So… about the Book of Prophecies…"

Riku nodded. "Yeah that…"

Kairi sat up straight, presenting herself more like Ava. "None of this was in the book. Not one bit."

"I had talked about it with Terra, ah, Aced. We both expressed our thoughts if the Master had planned all of this, or if this was unexpected."

'Ask her if she knows anything we don't about the Master or Luxu's wearabouts.'

"You wouldn't happen to know anything I wouldn't, would you? Or even Luxu?"

Sighing, Ava lowered her head. "No. Sadly I don't know anymore than the two of you. Though, the last I saw of Luxu was before the battle even started."

"Then I guess we may be at a bit of a standstill, at least, until we can find the other Foretellers."

She hummed, looking out into the distance. "Yes. Gula and Invi… Wherever they may be."

"Hmm, yes. But, if I remember, I never did see you or Gula on the battlefield."

"Gula," Ava sighed. "He had his own mission to attend to, as did I. Either way, we are here now."

"And we are living much easier lives,"

Riku started to smile, trying his best not to chuckle. "We just fought Heartless and Nobodies to save all worlds, I wouldn't say that's much easier."

Kairi shoved him lightly. "You know what I mean!"

"It's still a bit weird to think about, but it also makes sense."

Kairi nodded. "Yeah. Sora is cheerful and friendly just as he was as Ephemer."

"And you're just as caring as ever."

"And you are still just as wise," Kairi said before snickering and adding, "And tall."

Riku laughed finally. "I guess you have a point."

Overall, they weren't able to discuss much of the past, not without knowing all the details they lacked. But, at least they had this little time together to reminisce.

After more days of peace had passed, Riku sat on the paopu tree, staring off as he watched the skyline.

It was another peaceful day, and Riku was soaking in every last inch of it.

'This world really is a wonderful place,' Terra commented softly.

"And to think I hated it for a while, feeling like it was so small… But now I've really come to appreciate my home, even if it's small."

'You're lucky to have that.'

"Did your home fall to darkness?" Riku asked.

'I don't remember, but most likely. Master Eraqus took me in when I was young, and I lived in the Land of Departure for so long I can't remember what my old world even was.'

"Master Eraqus? He was the one who taught you the keybalde in this life, right?"

Terra hummed in agreement. 'Yes, and he was also like a father to me. I only wish I had listened to him more in the end.'

"Ah… I'm sorry."

'It's alright. I've learned since then.'

Riku was about to say something else, but Sora came running along onto the smaller island. He jumped over the base of the tree so he could lean against it, right next to Riku.

A few moments passed, with the two of them starting out into the waters, before Riku spoke up.

"Nothing's changed, huh?"

"Well, not really," Sora chuckled. "Some things changed for you."

"Right. But overall, not much given what we know."

"I guess you got a point."

"And now we can look at everything with a new view," Sora added.

Riku nodded. "Yeah, but we can still appreciate the world."

Sora smiled and agreed.

"Sora! Riku!"

Riku jumped off the tree, turning around to see Kairi running at them, holding a bottle in her hand.

"Hey, what's up?" Sora asked once she stopped to catch her breath.

"Look," she said, holding the bottle out towards the two boys.

Inside the bottle there was a paper letter, wrapped up nicely with a symbol from King Mickey.

Sora took the bottle and opened it up, taking the letter out to read. Riku peered over his shoulder, reading just what it was that the letter contained.