Intro

[keybearer]

Characters: AU Riku and OPEN
Setting: Starting out in 1-14 and then anywhere else, really. Just specify a location!
Format: Action brackets preferred, but I can do prose. Just don't expect a lot of tl;dr from me.
Summary: Riku wakes up and finds himself in the tower with conflicted feelings.
Warnings: Nothing I can think of!



[It just didn't add up. His world was already destroyed before he woke up in this place. And all the other worlds... could they really go down that quickly? Especially places like Hollow Bastion, where he'd sealed the Keyholes.

He woke up with a bit of a fright when he first arrived. Sleep paralysis is hardly pleasant, after all. Plus, the sudden arrival in a world that was distinctly not Twilight Town didn't help. After the shock wore off, he dug through the chest and hurried right out the door.

Now he's wandering throughout the entire tower, searching through countless floors. He's got his Keyblade in hand, just in case any Heartless arrive. If this world's like any of the others he's visited, they're probably out there somewhere.

So, yes, feel free to bother the dude with the giant Key. It currently looks like this.]

Comments

Floor 20 - I tl;dr I'm sorry orz

[attheclocktower]

[Another day, another evening spent sitting on Floor 20, staring at the sunset. She still hadn't seen Roxas, something that was starting to worry her.

At the sound of footsteps behind her on the stairs, she turns, hand darting up to her hood to pull it over her head if need be. But the figure over by the stairs... she can see the silver hair, and is about to call out when she notices the lack of black coat, not to mention she sees... was that a Keyblade? The stairs were far enough away from the edge that she isn't sure.

She does call out, but, a little more cautiously.] ...Riku?

I am okay with this. No worries!

[keybearer]

[A black cloak? When Riku first spots Xion, he tightens his grip on the Keyblade. After all, black coats mean the Organization... But wait.

She sounds like...

Give him a second. Once he gets a bit closer, he'll speak up.]

Kairi?

[attheclocktower]

[Xion couldn't help but flinch in shock, confusion, and maybe the tiniest bit of hurt. But... why would he... he knew her, didn't he?

He couldn't have forgotten, could he? But how...?

She looks down at her knees, hands tightening uncomfortably. She shakes her head, unhappy.]

[keybearer]

[That's... odd. She sounds just like her, but if she isn't the same--

The way he sees it, there are two options. Either the Organization created a replica of Kairi, or something fishy's afoot.

Well, he'll act casual.]

Sorry about that. You just sound like her, that's all.

[attheclocktower]

I know.

[Because I have the memories of your best friend inside me, memories of him and Kairi. How could you forget?]

[keybearer]

[He's silent for a few moments, just trying to figure out how to approach this. It's all a little mind boggling, really.]

I hate to pry, but is there a reason for it? You've got one of the Organization's coats...

[A beat.]

You know anyone named Sora? Or some jerk that looks just like me.

This is the most awful convo

[attheclocktower]

[Xion nods again during that pause, unsure where to begin to explain. His question inturrupts her train of thought though, brings it screeching to a halt as the possible implications hits her. She turns to stare at him, wide-eyed.]

... Riku...? [You are Riku, right?

If... if there was another, somehow, that... that could explain it, right?]

If by awful you mean most beautiful :D

[keybearer]

[It still doesn't add up. This girl knows him, but he's never even met her before. She sounds just like Kairi, but she... isn't.

Maybe she knows the Replica. Maybe she's that best friend who replaced Kairi in Sora's memories.]

What is it?

Possibly. >>;a

[attheclocktower]

[She stares at him for a little while, trying to figure it out. There were... two Rikus? But how... had they made a Replica of him, too? But he would've had to have been different from her, since she was made of memories...

Finally, she looks back down.]

I know another Riku.

[Then quietly, almost a little defensively]

He isn't a jerk, though.

[keybearer]

If he's not a jerk, then why's he been going around and trashing the worlds?

[If she's a friend of his, then of course she wouldn't think he's a jerk. Especially if she fits into his fake memories somehow...]

[attheclocktower]

[What?!]

He wouldn't do something like that!

[There's a note of slight offense, and surprise, even. She's never heard of anybody trashing the worlds, let alone Riku.]

[keybearer]

But he did. He and... Sora framed me, all because they think I'm a replica that DiZ created.

[His eyes narrow, and he looks away.]

It's bad enough that the Organization messed with Sora's memories.

[attheclocktower]

[She opens her mouth to protest further, since none of what he's saying makes sense, until he reaches the word "replica". Then, she outright flinches when he mentions the Organization messing with Sora's memories. Since they did, through her.

She turns away, staring down again. Finally, she manages to say quietly.]

But... I thought Sora was asleep. To fix his memories...

[keybearer]

Asleep?

[...But that doesn't make sense. Asleep to fix his memories? He's a Nobody now. A Nobody with a trainwreck's worth of memories that make him think...

He shakes his head.]

Sora's a Nobody now. A Nobody who hangs around with a copy of me.

[attheclocktower]

But he can't be. [I would know, wouldn't I?

Back in her own time, Xion hadn't figured it out yet. Hadn't seen the resemblance between Roxas and Sora in her memories.

So to her... utterly none of this adds up at all. Not to mention if the Riku she knows is the Riku this one's talking about... Riku'd helped her so much since he'd saved her at Destiny Islands, and she hadn't seen Sora at all.]

This doesn't make sense.

[And it's beginning to get frustrating.]

[keybearer]

[Sora being asleep instead of being a Nobody. This girl... whoever she is, knowing a double of him who didn't trash the worlds? Wouldn't do it?

Oh, it's frustrating him as well. None of this is adding up.]

You can say that again.

[attheclocktower]

There has to be some reason for it...

[She isn't sure she likes where this train of thought is going. Either something is wrong with one of their memories, or... she doesn't know what else.]

[keybearer]

I just don't know what it could mean. Maybe if DiZ was around, he'd be able to get to the bottom of it.

[He sighs. DiZ, while an enigma, definitely knew about the Organization and their motives.]

But he's not, is he? Donald, Goofy, and Kairi... they're probably not here, either.

[If they were, he would've found them by now.]

[attheclocktower]

[DiZ... that's a name she's unfamiliar with, and it piques her curiosity a bit. She knows about Kairi, and Donald and Goofy are also semi-familiar from bits and pieces of Sora's memories.]

I don't know anybody named DiZ, but... No, I don't think Kairi and Donald and Goofy are here.

[Not that she knows about, anyway. There are plenty of people in the Tower she hasn't met yet, though, and even more coming in all the time.]

[keybearer]

... Heh. Figures we'd get separated.

[He doesn't sound particularly happy about that. What if something happened to them?

Those letters couldn't be right. They just couldn't.]

[attheclocktower]

[As apprehensive and unsure as she is about this Riku, that at least is something she can understand - being worried about her friends that aren't there. Axel was gone, she still hadn't found Roxas...]

...I'll look for them, in case they ever get here. Not everyone gets here all at once, I think. [...] Or from the same time.

[keybearer]

Wait, so people come here from different times?

[That's a little alarming. So does that mean he could see Sora, before he... changed? Or run into people from his future...

The very idea's more than a little alarming.]

[attheclocktower]

[Xion nods.]

Riku - the one I know - he said he's from almost two months after me.

[Two months that she won't admit she's a little uneasy about. There are others too, ones that are probably from their worlds, but she doesn't know when they're from, let alone when it is in relation to herself.]

[keybearer]

Two months... Man, that has to be tough on you both.

[Because two months can make a pretty huge difference, and time discrepancies are just awkward.]

[attheclocktower]

[Her head bows a little at that. It was a little hard, wondering what happened. If something had gone wrong - more wrong than being recaptured by the Organization like she just had been. All the same...]

I don't really know. I haven't asked what happens.

[And Riku - the one she knows - does. Who knew how bad things could be?]