Endgame: This is the Way the World Ends - MACHINE ROOM

[animusmods]

Characters: open to those staying in the machine room
Setting: machine room
Format: any
Summary: The time has come to make decisions about what will happen after everything is over.
Warnings: psychological horror (eventually)

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[justabignobody]

[Now stocked up with items (and maybe also a back-up weapon just in case), there isn't much left to be done before the final fight, nothing but maybe saying what goodbyes there are to say, in theory at least. Admittedly, Riku feels a little reminded of how he's felt the last time he talked to Mickey - it feels like a lifetime ago - of the things discussed then, the fact that he had made Mickey his fail-safe then. In case Roxas killed him, in case he had to bet it all on the Darkness of Xehanort's Heartless inside him.

There are no fail-safes to make here and now.

There is only success or failure, and if they fail here there won't be a future for any of them, probably.

There are no longer any retries left.

After the last few years of knowing death to be a far less permanent fate than it's supposed to be, Riku is almost glad about the brush with the light just after their fight with Riki; it's served as a very effective reminder. He's thought he'd die then, had been so certain of it, had felt like his heart and soul would fracture beyond recovery... but he's not dead yet.

Giving up is for the dead. As long, as we aren't dead there is hope. That are the things he's told Asch and Xion, and he's meant it then just as much as he feels the certainty of those truths in the core of his heart right now.

This is why he'd rather not say any goodbyes at all. Only come-back-safes, maybe.

He pats through his coat pockets one last time before he means to turn and look for the people he's befriended here, blinking when his hand brush against something that isn't a potion or elixir. A moment later he finds Oblivion's keychain lying in his hand, gleaming dull black. It's the very first thing he's ever requested here, and the moment he had been received it, he had given it to Sora.

He had found it at his bedside the day Sora had disappeared again. He had held onto it since, but never used it himself.

Using it now though... It would be fitting, he thinks. This is the keychain that represents their bond after all, the token of their friendship. The token of something that will last beyond the destruction of worlds and loss of hearts.

A beacon of light in eternal darkness.

My friends are my power, Sora told him a lifetime ago, and Riku can only hope that right now he will be able to borrow some of that strength. It's not the some for him as it is for Sora, he knows, he's acknowledged long ago. His friends aren't his power, not like they are Sora's. Sora is unique in that.

He's made an oath though, half a year ago, when he had first summoned the true Way To The Dawn into being in front of Master Terra's grave, words spoken with an uncertainty that he can no longer effort to have now, and nothing feels more right than to repeat it with his current resolve as he allows the Keychain to rise of his hand and glimmer away into the space of his heart.]

To save what can be saved. To guard what can be guarded.

[He stretches his arm and turns his palm downwards as Oblivion bursts into being, dark, deadly and beautiful as it's ever been.]

To protect the things that matter - my friends, my home, everyone and everything.

[This is what he fights for. This is what he will die for, if it comes to that.

This is why he wields the Keyblade.

Riku takes a moment consider the weight of Oblivion in his hand, the length and balance of his current weapon. It's not too different from Way To The Dawn.

A small, satisfied sigh escapes him as he dismisses it and relaxes again, for a fraction. He is ready for the fight to come, but there are still some come-back-safes left to say.]

[keybearer]

[Ever since the light struck the ground floor, Riku's felt a deep guilt eating away inside him. It was his fault. He nearly killed his friends and allies. They lucked out before, but this time, it's all or nothing. Either they win or die trying.

It's a horrific thought. He doesn't want to die, not when there's still so much left to do, but if he frets too much over that very probable what-if, isn't that as good as admitting defeat?

It takes him a couple moments to approach his double, but when he does, he waves his hand, calling forth his Kingdom Key into his grip. Briefly, his other hand hovers over his own Oblivion key chain before he scoops up Kairi's charm instead, transforming his weapon into Oathkeeper.]

So you're going, too?

[It's hardly a surprise, but in a way, it's reassuring. With the two of them on the job, Ruana's gonna have a tough time coming out on top.]