CHAPTER 7

REJECTION

“VEXEN AND NOW LEXAEUS… WHAT’S GOING TO BECOME of the organization…?” Zexion murmured.

As if perfectly timed in response, the air in the chamber wavered. Zexion looked up, and there was Axel, who should have been somewhere aboveground.

“Naminé’s betrayed you. Sora eliminated Larxene.” Smirking, Axel stepped closer. “The question is which one of us will be next to fall.”

Zexion frowned in distaste and spoke without looking at him. “…It might be you.”

“Me? I doubt that.” Axel folded his arms. “You see, just before I got here, I pretended that Sora beat me to a pulp enough to make me disappear. So, I won’t be fighting him again, at least for a bit.”

The way Axel said the words for a bit caught somehow in Zexion’s mind, but he didn’t ask.

“Which means the next to fall will be Marluxia,” Axel went on with a faint smile at his lips.

“Sora beat you, so there’s no way he’ll lose against Marluxia—is that what you think?” said Zexion.

Even though he had been placed in charge of the castle, Marluxia was only number 11 in the organization. And while a higher-ranking number did not necessarily indicate greater strength, Axel, who ranked at number 8 and was closer to him, saw Marluxia as a lesser opponent.

“I’m saying that Marluxia tried to use Sora to take over the organization,” said Axel, as if concluding an argument. “Sora will be the one to eliminate him.”

At that, Zexion looked up to press him further. “Then…our reason for obtaining Riku is no longer valid.”

“Are you saying we’ll have to dispose of him? You want to go up against Riku after he took down Lexaeus?”

It was not likely that they could win against Riku—not if Riku had defeated Lexaeus, who had prided himself on the warrior’s strength that let him hold his own against the highest-ranking members of the organization. Certainly not Zexion himself. He never had the slightest intention of facing Riku head-on.

“I’ll do things differently,” Zexion replied, a slight smile coming to his normally expressionless face.

“I’m sorry…Riku.”

As he sank deeper and deeper into the darkness, the Replica was sure he heard that voice.

He wasn’t Riku… And yet, he was glad to hear Naminé call him that, he thought dimly.

We did make a promise, didn’t we? On the night of the meteor shower, I promised I’d protect her.

“You are my crime…and my punishment.”

Don’t say that! he wanted to scream. But he couldn’t. If he did, it would hurt Naminé.

“If only somehow my prayers could reach you…”

They are reaching me, Naminé! See, I’m already free.

Light shone on the Replica. It was the light of Naminé’s hope.

“Where…?” the Replica heard himself say, and then consciousness returned. It was the same great hall in which he’d fainted before. “Naminé…?”

It must have been Naminé who had called to him. But she wasn’t here.

“What…happened to me?”

All he knew was that he was not Riku. He was a fake, created as a copy of Riku.

But…that didn’t matter. Only one feeling filled his heart—the wish to protect Naminé.

The Replica began to run…to where Naminé must be.

“I’ll have all my friends’ memories, so I can piece my own together again!” Sora was shouting at Marluxia and Naminé.

It sure would be nice if I could do that…, the Replica thought.

Marluxia snorted derisively at Sora’s claim. “Ignorant fool. When Naminé uses her powers to erase your memory, you’ll be nothing but an empty husk! Your heart will no longer feel or care about anything! Just like that pathetic imitation of your Riku!”

As Marluxia was ranting, the Replica dashed in under his guard. My heart can still feel! And it can still care about people!

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” he said evenly and slashed up with his sword.

The unexpected blow knocked Marluxia to his knees. “It can’t be—!”

“Riku!” Sora ran toward him.

The Replica didn’t turn. “No. Only an imitation.”

And he pointed his sword at Marluxia again.

“You’re a shell—a husk who had everything taken! Everything!” Marluxia spat.

“What did I ever have to lose in the first place? Both my body and my heart are fake,” the Replica replied, sure of himself now. “But there’s one memory I’ll keep—even if it was just a lie! Whether it was a phantom promise or not…I will protect Naminé!”

She stared at him silently.

Everything else in the Replica’s mind was false. Only that was true.

“Riku…!” Sora stood beside him and likewise faced Marluxia with the Keyblade ready.

“Imbeciles…!” Marluxia got to his feet. “You would knowingly shackle your heart with a chain of memories born of lies? You would cast aside your heart’s freedom?!”

You’re wrong, the Replica thought. There are memories I don’t want to lose. That’s why I was able to wake up.

I haven’t cast aside my heart’s freedom. I only chose to have those memories. And I was able to choose because my heart is free.

Pale pink flower petals began to swirl around them.

“You turn from the truth because your heart is weak… And you will never defeat me!” The petals took the shape of an enormous scythe in Marluxia’s hands, and he swung it at Sora and the Replica.

“Ngh—!” A step ahead of Sora, the Replica managed to block it. “Sora, now!”

At his cue, Sora leaped into the air to bring the Keyblade down on Marluxia’s head. But Marluxia flung the Replica back and raised his scythe in time to ward off the blow.

“That’s not all I’ve got!” cried Sora, jumping up again as soon as he landed. “Donald, Goofy!”

As if they’d timed it all from the start, Donald hurled a spell at Marluxia. “Firaga!”

And just as he did, Goofy charged. But a storm of flower petals swirled around Marluxia and tore through the hall.

“Look out!” Without sparing time to think, the Replica picked up Naminé and jumped out of the path of the petal cyclone.

“Riku…” In his arms, Naminé was looking up at him as if she might start to cry.

“I’m not Riku,” the Replica told her, his voice low and firm, and let her down behind a pillar. In the middle of the room Sora and his friends were getting tossed around by Marluxia’s attacks.

“Thank you…Replica,” he heard Naminé say from behind him. He was already running back into the fray to swing his sword.

Marluxia knocked him aside with the giant scythe. “You’re only a replica, after all… You’ll never strike a blow against me!”

He raised his arms and pink flower petals choked the hall again. Catching his balance, the Replica ran into the lee behind a pillar, breathing hard, and waited for the storm to pass.

“How do we hit him?!” yelled Donald.

“Don’t lose your cool—there has to be a way,” the Replica replied. Then, he found a break in the storm and darted in like a needle to charge at Marluxia. “Sora, now!”

“Wha…?” said Sora, hesitating.

The Replica looked back and shouted, “Trust me! C’mon!”

“Okay!” Sora hurtled after him.

Marluxia swung the scythe as if he’d been waiting for them—but the Replica caught it with his sword. “What?!” Marluxia sputtered, taken by surprise.

They couldn’t afford to miss the opening. “Jump, Sora!” cried the Replica.

Taking the cue, Sora jumped into the air and swung the Keyblade at Marluxia’s head.

Neither of them could have stood a chance alone, but together—no, with all four of them—they just might be able to take him down.

Even if it’s just for now—we’re fighting on the same side.

“Donald! Let’s have some magic!” the Replica called.

“Right— Firaga!” Donald let loose a fireball.

Then the Replica added, “Goofy! This way!”

Goofy ran in at Marluxia. Having knocked aside the Keyblade, Marluxia raised his scythe to block the fireball—and then Goofy was there to ram him with his shield.

“Aaargh!” Marluxia wavered on his feet.

“Sora! Now!”

The Replica and Sora both launched, their weapons striking Marluxia at the same time. The moment the Replica felt an impact of a blow landing, Marluxia’s body turned to a cloud of flower petals—which whirled about and finally scattered.

“Is he…gone?” Goofy nervously peered at Sora.

“Looks like it.” Sora faced the Replica, holding up his hand, palm forward.

Somehow he felt a little silly about it, but the Replica met the high five.

Donald jumped in triumph. “We did it!”

“Now we can get our memories back!” Goofy smiled at Naminé, who came out from behind her pillar.

“No… Not yet.” She shook her head.

“She’s quite right. What you destroyed was only an illusion of me.”

In the back of the room in front of the big door, flower petals swirled together, coalescing into a humanoid shape—which became Marluxia.

“So what!” The Replica rushed at him, swinging his sword, but Marluxia only disappeared in another cloud of petals.

“Tch. Another imitation!” the Replica fumed. A single card drifted to the floor in front of him.

“…Does that mean the real Marluxia is through there?” Sora picked up the card and turned to Naminé.

“Yes,” she replied with a tiny nod.

“I knew it. I can feel his power…like it’s going to explode any minute,” Sora murmured.

“Then we gotta do something before it goes off!” said Goofy, though he sounded as cheerful as ever.

“Let’s go, Sora!” Donald waggled his wand, impatient.

“Yeah…” Sora turned back to the Replica and Naminé. “Riku… You protect Naminé.”

He was smiling as he said that. As if he trusted the Replica with anything.

The Replica almost wanted to run away from it. He had to look away from Sora, and his voice was small when he said, “You don’t…mind?”

He was nobody—his memory was fake, his very existence was a sham. A being with no self. But Sora was talking to that person as if they’d always been friends. It hurt.

“Should I?” Sora only grinned mischievously.

“All right.” The Replica turned to Naminé. She gave him a tiny nod and smiled. He nodded in reply.

“Don’t forget your promise,” Naminé said to Sora.

Those words made the Replica’s chest ache.

“I know. I’ll keep it!” Sora nodded, determined.

“Sora! C’mon!” said Goofy. The trio stood in front of the door, and Sora held up the card.

He had no idea what was happening beyond the door. All he knew was that enormous forces were clashing there.

The Replica and Naminé stared at the door in silence.

“Sora will be okay, right?” she murmured, barely audible.

The Replica turned to her. “He’s your hero, isn’t he? If he made a promise to you, there’s no way he’ll lose.”

“…You’re really nice, Riku.” Naminé gave him a shy smile.

It was a smile he knew from his memories—the same as when she’d given him the good luck charm, the Replica thought sadly.

That memory and these feelings…none of them are real.

He didn’t want to look at Naminé’s smile. He turned away.

“Thanks, Riku… I mean, Replica.”

He said nothing, only staring into space.

As Riku headed for the next floor, he felt a shock wave and a rumble that went through the floor like some colossal creature roaring.

“What is that?!” he yelled. After a bit the rumble quieted, and the castle returned to its usual stillness.

But then, Riku noticed something. “One of those scents has died… A really strong one. Huh?”

Someone was there to answer him. “The keeper of this castle, Marluxia, has just fallen to the Keyblade master,” said the man who suddenly appeared, approaching Riku.

“Keyblade… You mean Sora! Sora is here?!” Riku demanded.

The man only blinked at him, distinctly unimpressed by his outburst. “Yes. Do you want to see him? Or rather…can you face him?”

“What’s that mean?” Riku shot back angrily.

“Darkness—indeed, Ansem’s shadow—still nests within your heart. Do you intend to face Sora like that? Are you not ashamed?”

Riku hung his head. He should have overcome Ansem back then. But everything around him was still reeking of darkness.

“Sora’s fate is to battle the darkness,” the man went on. “He must oppose anyone who hosts darkness in his heart—that is, you. If you refuse to believe me…well, you had best see the truth for yourself.”

Riku caught the card that the man tossed his way. The picture on it showed a little island, dotted with palm trees, in the blue sea.

“This card! This is our—”

“Yes. It is your home. Now, go and grasp the truth.” With that, Zexion left him.

Gazing at the card in his hand, Riku murmured the name of the home he still missed. “Destiny Island…”

Sora had finally defeated Marluxia. He and Naminé exchanged a smile. The Replica looked on in a daze.

“You okay, Riku?” Sora asked.

Startled, the Replica looked up. “I’m not Riku. I’m a fake. I can’t remember why I was created or where or when… All that’s inside of me is memories of you and Naminé.” He shook his head, and his gaze dropped again. “But I know they aren’t real.”

“Say, Naminé, can’t you use your magic to get Riku’s memory back to normal?” Goofy wondered.

“Well…I…,” she started, but then only hung her head miserably.

The Replica was only a copy created out of nothing. To get his memory back to “normal” would only erase everything.

“It’s all right. I’ll deal.” He turned away from them and started to leave.

He had no idea what to do. Or even what he wanted to do.

“Wait!” Sora cried.

The Replica stopped to listen.

“Who cares if someone else made you? You’re you and nobody else. You have your own heart inside of you. Those feelings and memories are yours and yours alone. They’re special!”

Sora’s words were so well-meaning. The Replica held back the tears that welled up in his eyes, but didn’t look back. “You’re a good guy, Sora. I don’t have to be the real Riku to see how real your feelings are. That’s enough for me.”

Right now, that’s all I need, the Replica thought. It’s enough that I got to meet Sora for real.

“Riku!”

When Sora called that name he began to run, as if he had to get away from it.

Finally, the Replica stopped running and stared hard at his feet.

His body was fake…and his feelings, too. And he envied the real Riku from the bottom of his heart.

Sora’s friend, Riku. The one who truly had the power of darkness.

Even the darkness that surrounded him was fake…

“Hey there, Riku.”

He looked up. “…Axel.”

“Say, don’t you want to become the real thing?” said Axel, coming toward him with a smirk.

The real thing— If that was possible, he wanted it.

The Replica silently nodded.

Riku stood on the beach, feeling the breeze coming in from the sea. This was where he and Sora would chase each other, then fall and roll around in the sand…

He hadn’t known how badly he missed it all, even the breeze.

And yet, back then he’d wanted so badly to leave this place.

The sound of the waves that had been so monotonous—now it felt so sweet and welcoming.

Riku noticed some other people and ran that way. “Hey!”

Wakka, Selphie, and Tidus were there up the beach. But when he shouted at them, no one reacted.

“What’s with you guys?” he asked. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen the three of you so quiet.”

They only stared at him.

“What, is there something on my face?” said Riku, trying to shrug it off—and then they disappeared, as if they had only been a mirage. He saw his hand reaching out to where they’d been standing and curled it into a fist, looking down at the sand.

Maleficent’s words echoed in his mind.

“Your heart is steeped in darkness. And you can only see those who exist in that same darkness—like myself.”

No. That was all a lie.

Riku ran up the beach, heading for the dock. Maybe he would find Sora or Kairi waiting for him there. That place couldn’t be steeped in darkness…

He dashed up through the little shack and out to the dock. He saw Kairi standing there, smiling…or he thought he did.

“Kairi…”

Just like the others, she only stared at him in silence.

“Hey, Kairi. Are you…?”

But as soon as he began to speak, Kairi vanished. In her place appeared the man who had given him the card—Zexion.

“Surely you knew this would happen,” he said as if to admonish Riku for something. “You’ve been to a number of worlds in your memory before this one. And in those worlds, you met only dark beings. That’s all that is left in your heart—dark memories. Your memories of home are gone.”

“That’s a lie! I remember everyone from the islands! Tidus and Selphie and Wakka! And Kairi and Sora, too! They’re my…” Riku hung his head, his fists clenched. “My…best friends…”

“And who cast aside those friends? Have you forgotten what you yourself have done? You destroyed your home!” Zexion shouted, and darkness enveloped them.

Riku felt fat raindrops pelting him. Thunder crashed in the sky…and the world itself was crumbling.

“The islands where you grew up were sundered, scattered—so many hearts lost to the darkness. And it was all your doing!”

It’s true, Riku thought in despair. If I hadn’t given in to that temptation… If I hadn’t believed what that man said…

“You hated spending your days trapped on these little islands, and so without a thought, you opened the Door of Darkness and destroyed them. It was you! You let darkness pull you in, and now, you belong to it.”

No! Riku wanted to scream, but no words came out, and he sank into a crouch. He could see the image of himself that night standing at the bridge over the inlet.

What had he been thinking then, gazing out at the blackened sea? He couldn’t remember. As if he was laughing at himself, he turned sharply with a bitter smirk.

“You should look—look upon what you truly are!” Zexion called.

Before his eyes, Riku’s past self was engulfed in a horrific swirl of darkness—and grew into something vaguely human-shaped but made of pitch-black shadow—changing into a Darkside.

“This… This can’t be what I really am!”

The shadow’s fist swept down toward him, but Riku didn’t dodge the blow. It sent him sprawling.

“This is…my true form…?”

I don’t know what I really am.

His fists balled tight, Riku looked up and saw something shining before his eyes. “Huh…?”

It was the glow of the Keyblade, and its wielder was standing there.

“Sora?!” Riku got to his feet.

But when he did, Sora attacked him.

“Stop it, Sora!” he shouted desperately, managing to block the Keyblade. “Don’t you recognize me?!”

“Yeah, I do. I can see exactly what you’ve become!”

“Augh!” Another blow from the Keyblade knocked Riku down. He couldn’t see that giant shadow anymore—did that mean it really was himself?

“How can the light hurt you? Have you really become a creature of the dark? You’re not Riku anymore—just a pawn of the darkness.” Full of regret, Sora kept the Keyblade pointed at him. “It’s time for you to face the light!”

A fierce glow radiated from Sora. Just like a shock wave of darkness, it had a terrible power that bowled Riku over and pressed in on him.

“I’m fading… Fading away…into the light…?”

If he was a creature of darkness—if he couldn’t fight the darkness with his own strength—then there was no other way but for Sora to destroy him, Riku thought hazily.

And if someone had to destroy him…he would much rather that Sora do it than anyone else.

“You won’t fade,” a girl’s voice rang out into the stillness of his sinking consciousness. “You can’t fade. There’s no power that can defeat you.”

“…What?”

Someone was there holding his hand. But everything was so bright that he couldn’t see who it was.

“The light won’t defeat you, and the dark won’t, either. So don’t run from the light…and don’t fear the darkness. Because together they will make you stronger.”

Surrounded by light, the girl pulled Riku to his feet.

“Make me stronger…,” he murmured. “The darkness, too?”

“Yeah. Strength that’s yours. The darkness inside your heart—it’s vast and deep…but if you can truly gaze into it and never try to look away, you won’t be afraid of anything.”

The brightness began to subside, and he could almost see the girl—she looked like Kairi, but she also looked like someone else.

“Just remember to be brave. Know that the darkness is there, but don’t give in. If you can do that, you’ll find your strength—a kind that’s unlike any other. You’ll be able to escape the deepest darkness, and you’ll be able to see through the brightest blinding light. Darkness will show you the way. Follow it and you’ll find your friends.”

Riku nodded firmly. His dearest friends…Sora and Kairi and all the others. “…But can I face them?” he wondered.

“Don’t you want to?” she said with a hint of a smile.

“You know I do. And I will! With my own strength—my dark strength!” Riku lifted Soul Eater high. “Darkness!”

Soul Eater gave off a dark glow. It cut through the surrounding brightness…and then he could see Zexion standing there. He slashed out at the silhouette.

“Im-impossible! How did you find me, trapped in the light…?” Zexion sank to his knees.

“You reek of darkness… Even the light can’t block that smell,” said Riku. “I guess you could say I followed the darkness right to you.”

Zexion weakly pulled himself upright. “Hm… After all your protests, you’re still like us—on the side of darkness.”

“I know who I am.” Riku held the point of Soul Eater to Zexion’s throat.

Even if darkness does live inside my heart, I’m still me. It doesn’t change who I am. If the stench of it won’t go away no matter what I do, then I might as well use the strength it gives me.

“When did that happen?” Zexion taunted. “You were always terrified of the dark…”

“Not anymore!” Riku brought Soul Eater down on him once again.

“Rgh… You fool!” Zexion put up the hood of his cloak, hiding his face, and vanished.

“Running away…?” Riku muttered.

Overhead, the ominous black clouds parted and light shone down. It was the warm, mild sunlight of Destiny Island.

Riku stepped forward…to face the darkness in himself.

Zexion made it back to that chamber where his colleagues once had gathered, hunched over and breathing harshly.

“What is he?! No one’s ever taken in the darkness the way that he can! It’s absurd…!” Collapsing to hands and knees, Zexion pounded his fists on the floor. He rarely let himself show any emotion. He didn’t know someone else was there to see it—but then he saw the watching figure. “Wh… Riku?!”

He shrank back. Riku—if it really was Riku—looked down on him impassively. And behind that figure stood Axel.

“Oh… Oh yes. Vexen’s replica, of course,” Zexion remembered, as if clinging to the idea. “Perhaps we can use this Riku to defeat the real one… Axel?”

The Replica only stared down at him, showing nothing.

“Say, Riku…,” Axel began. “It must be rough, knowing you’re a fake. Wouldn’t you like to be real?”

The Replica slowly turned to face Axel and nodded. “Yes.”

That’s right… He wants to be real—to become Riku.

“Simple. All you need is the kind of power that the real Riku doesn’t have,” Axel told him with a smirk. “If you get that, you can be a new person—not Riku or anybody else. You won’t just be a copy of someone. You’ll be your own self.”

Crouched on the floor, Zexion scurried back. “Axel! What are you telling him?!”

“You know, he’s as good a place to start as any.” Axel tossed his head, gesturing toward Zexion with his chin.

“You can’t do this!” Zexion cried, not bothering to try to hide his panic.

Axel didn’t even seem to hear. He put an arm around the Replica’s shoulders and smiled brightly. “So sorry, Zexion. I could help you, but…watching Sora and Riku have it out is just so much fun.”

“No… Stay back!” Zexion tried to back away farther, but the Replica swung his sword. “NO!”

His scream faded into nothing, swallowed up by the darkness.