In The Twilight Of His Journey (Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories) in Gamer's Gaming

The Road So Far…

The end is closing in for Riku, one way or another. After journeying through his memories of his home, the Destiny Islands, Riku has learned how to embrace the darkness within himself. After almost being swallowed by the light within an illusion created by Zexion, Riku embraced his darkness and saw through the illusion. One slash later, Zexion was no more. In addition to Sora’s adventures, Castle Oblivion has seen all but one of it’s Organization masters fall by the wayside. Vexen, the Chilly Academic, was the first to go, struck down at the hands of Axel. Larxene, the Savage Nymph, met her end next, felled by Sora’s Keyblade. Lexaeus, the Taciturn Stalwart, was defeated by Riku and his Soul Eater shortly after. As Riku climbed the stairs to the next level, Sora defeated Marluxia, the Graceful Assassin and master of Castle Oblivion. Finally, after being defeated in battle by Riku, Zexion was destroyed by the Riku Replica at the urging of Axel. With Sora now asleep in the pods in the castle’s upper floors, being protected by Namine and Mickey now at his side, Riku proceeded to sublevel 2, where he used the Twilight Town card given to him by King Mickey, to proceed towards the castle’s exit. Very few questions remain at this point. Will Riku be able to control the darkness inside his heart and use it to make him stronger? With Axel and the Riku Replica still in the castle, what does Axel have planned? Will Mickey be able to help Riku escape the castle? Will any of them be able to help Sora? As Riku makes his way through the doorway into Twilight Town, we hope that soon, some of these questions will be answered…

Now…

Riku walked down a rampway into a square. He looked around, seeing the town that seemed to exist in the gap between day and night for the first time. Riku wondered where exactly he was and turned to ask Mickey, but found that Mickey has disappeared. Riku, startled by the disappearance of his friend, was shaken further when a familiar dark creature appeared in front of him. Ansem! Ansem told Riku that the boy must battle he and his dark powers all alone. Riku drew his Soul Eater and prepared to attack, but stopped suddenly, realizing that something wasn’t quite right. Riku lowered his blade, much to the amusement of the figure standing in front of him. Ansem asked Riku if he was finally giving in to the darkness and surrendering. Riku shook his head and proclaimed that the figure in front of him was not the true Ansem. Ansem’s shoulders slumped as Riku continued. Riku explained that the figure standing in front of him smelled different from the Ansem in his heart. The darkness in his heart was deeper, more foul. But it wasn’t just his scent. Riku sensed that this was the person who had guided him to the castle and given him his first world card in the first place. This was the one who had made him face his darkness. The figure smiled and told him that he was correct. Suddenly, a yellow flash engulfed the figure and he transformed into a man with a billowing red cape, yellow eyes, with red bandages covering most of his head. The man identified himself as DiZ, as he was known to others. He told Riku he had been watching him all along. Riku asked what DiZ wanted from him. DiZ told Riku that he would have to make a choice. Riku was a special entity that stood in the twilight between light and dark. He would have to meet Namine and then make a choice. Riku asked who Namine was and what the choice would be, but DiZ would only say that he would find out soon enough. With that DiZ disappeared and Riku was left to explore Twilight Town with the Key of Beginnings card in his pocket. After making his way through the initial onslaught of familiar Heartless, like Air Soldiers, Soldiers, and Shadows, Riku proceeded north with a Moment’s Reprieve card. Riku collected his thoughts as he stared down the Key of Beginnings door in the northern part of the room. Instead of going in, Riku decided he wanted to prepare himself for whatever may lay ahead, so he went east by using a Sleeping Darkness card. After dispatching the stationary Heartless, Riku turned north and made Strong Initiative, Roulette Room, and Feeble Darkness rooms, in that order. Finding himself at a dead end, Riku turned back and returned to the Moment’s Reprieve room. Again, instead of using the Key of Beginnings door, Riku, this time, went west, using another Sleeping Darkness card to pave the way. From there, Riku again turned north and created Lasting Daze, Teeming Darkness, and Sleeping Darkness rooms to create a path. In the last Sleeping Darkness room, Riku discovered a Key of Guidance door. Marking it’s location, Riku turned back and returned to the Moment’s Reprieve room once more, and this time made his way to the Key of Beginnings door to face whatever may lay beyond.

Inside the room, Riku found himself in front of a wrought iron gate that blocked the path to a lonely looking mansion. Riku wondered if perhaps Namine was in this house. A voice called out to Riku from behind and told him to hold it. Riku spun around to face his Replica, standing in battle garb behind him. The Replica walked up to Riku and the two stared each other down. The Replica noticed that Riku had changed. He owned his darkness. It no longer frightened him. Riku asked how he could tell. The Replica told him it was because he was Riku. Riku said that he was himself. The Replica said that it must be nice being real. A fake like him could never get away with saying that. The Replica yelled that he was not real, but a fake. The way he looked, the way he felt, everything he remembered! Even his newfound power. The Replica powered up and took on a dark glow. He though that by finding some new strength, he could finally be someone, someone who wasn’t completely Riku, but nothing had changed. He still was empty. Everything about him was borrowed. As long as Riku was around, he would never be anything more than a shadow. Both Riku and his Replica drew their Soul Eaters and stared each other down, circling as the fight began. The Replica attacked with slashes and leaps of his own, but Riku’s power had far surpassed anything the Replica could have countered and, using his Dragon Maleficent card to boost his power and some sleights while in Dark Mode, Riku put an end to the Riku Replica for good. The Replica said that now, it was over. A dark pool formed around the prone body of the copy. The Replica scoffed and said that death didn’t frighten him. Good riddance to a phony life. He said that his heart was never real. He was sure that even what he was feeling at that moment was probably all fake. Riku asked what he was feeling. The Replica wondered what happened when a fake died. Where would his heart go? Does it disappear? Riku said it would go somewhere. Maybe even the same place as his own. The Replica chuckled at the irony. A faithful replica until the very end. The Replica figured that would be okay. With that, the Replica dissolved into the darkness and was no more. The pool of darkness disappeared as Riku looked on. When he turned to leave, he found the Key of Guidance card in his pocket. Riku returned to the Moment’s Reprieve room and, after taking stock of himself, made his way to the Sleeping Darkness room and the Key of Guidance door.

Riku walked inside and found himself in a bright, white room with three pods standing, like sentinels. Riku looked around and spotted a blonde girl standing near one of the pods. The girl walked towards him, cautiously. Riku asked if she was Namine and the girl said that she was. Riku realized that she was the same girl that had appeared to him in the light along with Kairi. Namine asked what he was talking about, but he said to forget it. It was nothing. Namine asked Riku to follow her and, as she turned, Riku looked in the direction she was walking and saw Sora standing in one of the pods, sleeping a deep slumber. Riku ran to the pod, startled, before turning and asking what Namine had done to Sora. She told him nothing. Sora was just sleeping so that he could get his memory back. Namine recounted the tale of what had happened in the upper floors of the castle to Riku. Riku seemed to understand. Sora had chosen to forget about the castle to get his old memories back. Namine told Riku that he had a choice to make too. Riku asked why. Nobody had messed with his memories. Namine told him that it wasn’t his memories, but his darkness. In Riku’s heart, there was darkness. And in that darkness, there was Ansem. He may be at bay for now, but eventually he would awaken and would take over Riku just as he had before. Namine said, however, that she had powers Riku could use. With her powers, she could put a tight lock on Riku’s heart. That way, Ansem could never come out from inside of him. Riku asked what would happen to him if he chose to let her do that. Would he forget everything like Sora had? Riku figured he would have to. Namine nodded and said that his darkness would be sealed tight, just like his memory. Riku would stop remembering the darkness and go back to the way he was. Riku thought about what to do. He noticed that Sora didn’t even look worried. He asked Namine if he would sleep like that too. Namine said that he would. Riku said that figured. Sora had always done as he pleased. He told Namine that no matter what he and Sora did together, Sora would always find a way to slack off. Even trying to leave the islands, Riku had done all the work on the raft by himself. Hey, I gathered up all those materials buddy! Don’t think I forgot that part that easily! Ahem, sorry… Riku said that was it, jokingly, saying that when that slacker woke up, he was going to tell him off. He had told Sora to take care of Kairi and here he was, just taking a nap! But he wouldn’t be able to chew Sora out like he deserved, not if Riku himself was asleep. Riku, getting serious again, said that he didn’t need his heart locked. He was ready to fight Ansem. Namine asked what he would do if Ansem’s darkness overtook him. Riku said that, if that happened, the darkness would show him the way. Namine said that yes, that was true. Riku laughed and wondered why he felt like she knew he would say that. Namine said that she hadn’t known, she had hoped. She wanted Riku to face the darkness because Riku was the one who could. Riku realized that was the reason she had come to his rescue inside the light, in the form of Kairi. Namine asked when he had known. Riku said he had known the moment he met her. She and Kairi smelled exactly the same. Riku walked away, towards the room’s exit, and told her to look after Sora. Namine nodded and Riku found himself back in the Sleeping Darkness room. Riku made his way all the way back to the Feeble Darkness room he had created on the other side of Twilight Town. In the north of the room, Riku found a new doorway, one that led to a Conqueror’s Respite room. Resolved, Riku made his way back into Castle Oblivion itself, ready to face his inner darkness once and for all.

Just outside the world door, Riku looked down and spotted King Mickey standing there. Mickey figured this meant that Riku had decided not to go to sleep. Riku asked how he knew about that. Mickey said that he had heard it from DiZ. Mickey turned to the side and Riku followed his gaze to where DiZ was standing along a wall nearby. Riku asked if Mickey knew who he was. Mickey said he wasn’t sure, but he had the feeling he had met him before, somewhere. Riku walked up to DiZ and asked who he was. DiZ said that he could be nobody or anybody. Wow, way to clear that up. Thanks buddy! DiZ said that it was up to Riku to choose whether to believe in him or not. Riku said that it seemed DiZ liked to push decisions on other people. DiZ said that Riku had chosen to push away slumber and made the choice to face Ansem. Riku asked if DiZ thought he was reckless. DiZ simply said that Riku had chosen his own path. Riku asked if that meant that DiZ was supporting him or abandoning him. DiZ, true to form, said that would be Riku’s choice, as well. DiZ walked up to Riku and handed him a black cloak, just like the one the Organization members wore. Riku asked what it was. DiZ told him that the Organization members would pursue him like a pack of hunting dogs. They would sneak up on him if they sensed his presence. However, that cloak that they wore would render their eyes and noses useless. Their ears, however, not so. DiZ told Riku that they wore the cloaks as protection from being devoured by the darkness. Even the Organization could not rule the darkness. Riku said that it didn’t matter. He wouldn’t run from the darkness. DiZ grunted and drew a final world card, tossing it to Riku. He told Riku that the card would draw out his heart’s darkness. He told Riku to finish his business with Ansem. Riku turned to Mickey and told him it was time to go. The two friends walked past DiZ and towards the sublevel 1 stairway. Arriving at the floor, side by side, Riku and Mickey approached the world door. Riku looked at the card, the Castle Oblivion world card, and thought on how DiZ had said the card would draw Ansem out. Mickey told Riku not to worry. They could defeat him together. Riku said that he was sorry, but he had to face Ansem alone. Mickey asked why. Riku told him there was no point in doing this if he couldn’t do it on his own. He did need a favor, however. If Ansem won, he would enslave Riku. If that were to happen, Riku wanted Mickey to use his powers to destr- Mickey said of course, he would use his powers to save Riku! Riku said no, that wasn’t it. He wanted Mickey to destr- Mickey said there was no way. No matter what happened, he would be right there to help Riku. He promised him that. Unless, of course, Riku didn’t believe Mickey would come through for him. Riku said that he chose to believe in Mickey. Always. Mickey said he believed in Riku too. He knew Riku wouldn’t lose. Not a chance. Riku thanked him and walked up to the world door, holding the Castle Oblivion card up high as the door opened before him. Riku walked forward into the light, going to meet his dark destiny…