Chapter 2 (1/2)

<яr>>

On the other side of the door was a richly coloured world.

“This is… Monstro.”

Riku moved forwards, stepping over the strange squirming floor.

I met Sora here. Sora was just as—no, he was getting stronger than before. For some reason, I was a bit angry at myself about it.

“What are you doing,” came a sudden voice, and Riku took a defensive stance. The owner of the voice popped their face out from behind cover.

“…Pinocchio!”

Pinocchio came closer to Riku, grinning widely. “How do you know my name?”

A puppet with a heart, Pinocchio. Wanting to know the secret of that heart, I kidnapped him.

“How…? I wonder.”

“Are you alone?”

“Yeah, alone.”

Pinocchio stood in front of Riku, staring at him. “Oh, just like me then!”

The moment he said this, his nose began to grow.

“Ah!”

I definitely remember… his nose is supposed to grow when he lies. Which means Pinocchio isn’t alone. There’s a huge difference between him and me, the loner.

“Pinocchio, you’re not alone, are you.”

“Uh… no. I have a father. Don’t you?”

“I don’t have anyone.”Yeah… I don’t.

“Oh, okay. You’re alone—wahah!” Pinocchio’s nose started growing again. “Don’t make me lie!” said Pinocchio, laughing as he held his nose.

You’re not alone.

Just then I felt as though I could hear the King’s voice coming from somewhere. But, no one’s here by my side. I’m always alone. I believe in the King, but—I’m so lonely.

“You’re not alone, are you,” Pinocchio laughed as he touched his nose, which had finally gone back to its normal length—and then he vanished.

“…Just like I thought, I am alone,” Riku muttered, and kept going forward.

Why am I alone, I wonder? Because my heart was stolen by the darkness? But, I won out against the darkness once. Isn’t that enough? Can’t I be forgiven? Isn’t that enough to let me see Kairi and Sora again?

I wonder how I can see them again. I wonder how the three of us can laugh together again. I don’t know. The one thing I can say for sure is that I have to move forwards. I have to make sure of the truth. If I do that, then I’m sure I’ll know what to do.

“…I’m okay on my own, aren’t I,” Riku murmured, and kicked at a soggy protuberance at his feet. The next moment the protuberance burst, and Heartless appeared.

“So you guys are here with me too, are you.”

Riku gripped the Soul Eater. A number of them came at him. Riku made a giant leap, and swung the Soul Eater down on one Heartless.

A Heartless that had once been under his control now spat out a heart, and disappeared into light.

If only there weren’t Heartless—if only there weren’t people who tried to use the Heartless—we would have left for the outside world on that small raft.

Riku began to remember what happened the night of the storm.

<яr>>

The storm came, and I went out to the little island to make sure the raft wouldn’t be washed away.

I ran through the rain, and when I was about to head to the cove, I noticed a huge door had appeared in front of the secret place. I wondered why there was a door in such a place—and just as I did, someone whispered to me.

“Don’t you want to go to the outside world?”

I turned and found a man standing there in a brown robe.

“Soon the door will open. There’s nothing to be afraid of. There’s no reason to be afraid of even the darkness. Well now, go—Riku.”

I didn’t hesitate. I couldn’t win against my desire to be able to go to the outside world.

“Riku!”

Kairi came running over to me. She must have come to the island just like me.

“….P…..cess”

“…What?”

The man’s murmured words were drowned out by the sound of the waves, and I could hardly hear. But, now I know what that man said when he saw Kairi.

He said, Princess.

“Riku! The raft’s gonna wash away!”

“Kairi—there’s a way to get to the outside world without the raft!”

“Huh?”

Kairi looked at me with a strange expression.

“What about Sora?”

That’s right—Sora would be the first think Kairi worried about, every time. But, I was the same. As long as I was with Sora, I could go anywhere. That’s what I thought. And moreover, with Kairi there, who I supposed knew about other worlds… we could go anywhere, that’s what I thought.

“Sora and Kairi can come too, right?”

The man nodded silently at my question, and disappeared, as if swallowed by the door.

“Hey, Riku… just now…”

I couldn’t see Kairi’s expression very well in the rain.

“Kairi, wait here in front of the door. I’ll go get Sora!”

“Wait, Riku!”

I broke into a run, ignoring Kairi’s voice. It was because I had to go get Sora.

Sora! Sora! Sora! We can get outside of this world!

I knew he would have come to the island, worried about the raft. I found him right away.

“Riku! Isn’t Kairi with you?!”

Sora’s very first words were about Kairi.

“…The door has opened.”

“Riku?”

Sora stopped walking, a weird expression on his face.

“The door has opened, Sora. We can go to the outside world!”

“What are you talking about! Kairi is more important than—!”

Sora was always on about Kairi. And Kairi was always on about Sora. But from now on, things would definitely be different.

“Kairi is coming too! If we go through the door, we might not be able to come back. You might not see your mum and dad again. But, if you’re scared, nothing can happen. There’s no reason to be afraid of the dark!”

I reached my hand out to Sora.

Come on, let’s go—Sora!

“Riku—”

Face looking a little uneasy, Sora tried to grab my outstretched hand.

At that moment, I didn’t even notice what was happening around me. I didn’t even look. Sora, at the end of my outstretched hand, was so much more important than everything else.

Just a little more and my hand would reach.

“—Sora,” I called, and that instant, I realised that I was surrounded by darkness. Darkness wrapped around my body—but, there was no reason to be afraid of the dark!

And then—I was wrapped up just like that—and my conscious faded into black—and the next instant, I was standing at Hollow Bastion.

<яr>>

From that moment on, I was alone, thought Riku. Why didn’t I notice the darkness surrounding me?

I couldn’t see anything else.

“Take that!”

Riku sent the Heartless in front of him flying with the Soul Eater.

What did I do wrong, I wonder—what made me have to be alone, I wonder.

Riku defeated Heartless as if trying to block his own consciousness.

<яr>>

Castle Oblivion, Floor 1.

Sora stood in the hall.

“I really did have a feeling that the people we’re looking for were here…,” Donald muttered.

“You mean the King?” Goofy added, and Sora turned to look.

“It wasn’t like they were definitely going to be. It was a hunch of mine, a hunch,” said Donald, confidently.

Goofy’s shoulders drooped. “Whaaat… But I sorta had that feeling, too.”

“You too, Goofy? So did I,” said Sora. That weird feeling I had before coming into this castle—it must have been the premonition that we would be able to meet.

“When I saw this castle, I felt it too. That our important friends… are here,” said Sora, turning to look at a door that lay at the top of a stairway.

Maybe… No, definitely. We can definitely meet. I believe it. Riku is somewhere in this castle…

<яr>>

In a gloomy dark room, Vexen was working on something. A doll lay before his eyes. As he looked at the doll, which had no face or clothes, Vexen’s mouth twisted into a smile.

“I know who it is,” came a voice from behind, and Vexen spun around. Zexion was standing there. “It’s Riku,” Zexion informed him.