towerofanimus | I have some questions...

Entry tags:

I have some questions...

Characters: AU!Sora and Riku
Setting: That eternally spring floor!
Format: Starting in action, I'll change to whichever you decide!
Summary: The fact that the Heartless invading the tower during the event didn't recognize his authority at all
Warnings: None as of yet.

[Spring isn't something Sora is used to. Nor is he familiar with the relaxing scent of flowers and the serene scenery of a field. So that's why he's here. Well, that, and he's waiting. He's not even sure Riku will show up, but that doesn't matter. What matters right at this moment is Sora is troubled. So much to think about, so many questions...

Ugh. His head is hurting from his own confusion. Great.]

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[Riku is still clutching his fingers around the note he found in his room as he approaches the spring floor, a frown set on his face. The note hadn't been signed, but given what Naminé had told him and what had happened just days earlier, it's easy to guess whom it had come from.

He lingers on the stair case for a moment, wondering if he shouldn't just ignore this... but he has questions himself, questions that need answering and there is only one way to find them. Still frowning, he enters the floor and walks up to the other Sora.]

You wanted to talk?

[Well, here he is. Talk.]

[He doesn't speak at first. Doesn't even look at Riku. But he does give a nod.]

...I've been thinking a lot lately. Ever since...

[He pauses, shaking his head.]

...I thought I knew every type of Heartless there was. But then, those strange ones... And they didn't listen. ...So I thought about everything Dad told me, and... Some of it doesn't make sense.

[So he sighs, looking to Riku. His expression is blank.]

...Tell me everything you know about the man whose form you took. ...Please.

[Riku stares down at him, taking his time as he ponders on an answer - what information does he want to give away, what does he want to keep to himself for now...

Finally, he replies.]

...The only name I know him under is 'Ansem'... but I know by now that he stole it from the original ruler of the world that Hollow Bastion once had been. After taking the title, he started to experiment with the Darkness, with the Heartless... until it consumed him and he became a Heartless himself.

[He snorts in contempt, hands tightening into fists.] 'Seeker of Darkness'; or so he called himself. He's the only Heartless I've ever seen, that didn't totally lose itself to instinct.

...So he wasn't the king of any world...?

[...It doesn't make sense. Why would he lie about something like that? Sora places a palm to his own forehead, trying to think, trying to figure it out, put the pieces together. But none of it makes any sense.]

...Why would a Heartless rescue an abandoned boy!?

[It once again takes him a moment to reply to that, because he can see where this is going right now and it's easy to just throw the truth in his face.

But in the end, what else can he do?]

He wouldn't. Not that guy. Not without some kind of ulterior motive.

But what could he get out of me!?

[Sorry, Riku. He's not mad at you this time, he's mad at trying to figure it all out. It clashes with everything he's experienced--the man who raised him, taught him everything he knows, having ulterior motives the entire time? What kind of person does that!?]

...I don't know.

[...Except that maybe he does have some idea. Because the way this Sora is right now, it wouldn't take much for Ansem to possess him.

But he's not going to throw out that particular theory just yet.]

I'm not getting anywhere.

[He takes a few deep breaths to calm himself, then looks sternly at Riku. He's not going to back down--Riku knows things, and those things can maybe help him.]

Is that all you know? And if you don't want to tell me anything else, what do I have to do to convince you to tell me?

[He can look as stern as he wants, Riku isn't going to tell him anymore than he intends to, and right now there isn't anything else. There is no way he is going to reveal his own involvement in the fall of the Islands and his past dealings with Maleficent and Ansem to him, not just yet. Maybe even never at all.]

It's all I will tell you.

[He states this flatly; leaving no doubt that he is not willing to say anything else on that topic - no matter how much other!Sora asks him to.

Besides, there is something else they should talk about.]

However, in the light of what I have told you, you may want to consider your current use of Darkness.

[Just a thought.]

...

[At first, he's not entirely sure what Riku means. But then he thinks back over everything. If Ansem lied to him about his past... Then maybe...]

...He might have lied about what he taught me, too, huh?

[...Ugh. This is a hassle.]

...I guess I've probably been reckless with it.

[Riku nods to himself; at least the other seemed to be starting to understand.]

Maybe not lied outright... but you can be sure that he twisted the truth to serve his purpose. He's rather adapt at that.

[He snorts lightly.]

That doesn't quite begin to cover it.

[Not even he had been this lanced with Darkness on his worst days; at least not until that moment when he had been stupid enough to leave himself totally open.]

Whatever purpose it was. ...Doesn't matter now, I guess.

[Though he'll sigh and sit down, staring up while thinking. Hm, so he's probably been using the darkness wrong. Oh... Best not dwell on that for too long. Hm, though... He has one more question...]

...Hey. Riku...

[And then, he'll look up at the other.]

...Do your Sora's parents... Do they love him...?

[There is not much he can add to that, except that he does kind of disagree - whatever Ansem's purpose is or had been, it still does matter. No matter how terrifying it might be, knowing or at least trying to find the truth is always better than to ignore it.

Even though he'll admit, in this place and moment there is not much they can in order to find it.

He hesitates just a second when Sora asks that question, mostly because he feels his stomach twist when he thinks about just what it might indicate.]

Yes. Of course they do.

[Sora takes this in a moment, turning it over in his head. Of course they do. Envy spikes in his heart. He'd always told himself he'd hated his parents, but of course, he hated the fact they abandoned him to the darkness. He always wanted their love.]

...He's lucky, then. I'm jealous.

[It's not hard to sense that spark of envy, that terribly familiar bitter taste that he knows only all too well. He frowns as he sits down next to him, taking a moment to carefully word a question of his own.]

...What makes you think that your parents don't?

[Sora is silent a few moments before, slowly, he draws his knees up to his chest.]

...My parents abandoned me to the darkness one day. When I was finally able to go back, the house was dusty and empty. I guess they moved away so I couldn't find them...

[He'll finally look back up to Riku, somewhat distant.]

...Da-- Ansem says he found me like that and rescued me from the Heartless. I... Don't remember much, but I remember feeling very sad when I was young, just after that. I'd wander the castle, crying for my parents, insisting they'd come for me. But it doesn't seem they ever even looked.

[Oh. Oh.

It takes everything Riku is to keep his face straight, to keep the shock of realization from showing as he connects the dots (and even though he does his best to hide it, his mask still slips every now and then, displaying some of the sheer horror of the thought of what he thinks had happened in the other Sora's world).

It still takes him a while until he can even think of a reply, and even though he manages to keep his voice mostly calm, he cannot keep all emotion out of it.

He can't voice his suspicions, not just yet. There is one thing he needs to know first.]

You said... he found you? Where? Did he come to the Islands?

[Sora closes his eyes, thinking over it. He doesn't miss the changes, Riku, but he also isn't going to pry right now. Instead, he'll ponder a few moments, then sigh.]

...I don't remember. It's hazy. I remember I split up from my Riku, and we'd talked about checking out the Secret Place the next day. I was heading home, and then...

[He rolls his shoulder in a shrug, looking up at Riku again.]

...Next thing I remember, I'm waking up in a strange room with a girl sitting next to my bed.

[Riku just nods; well that gives him perhaps a timeline of things that might somewhat be the same to work with.

He does remember making that plan after all and he remembers going through with it, exploring the Secret Place with Sora and then seeing the Keyhole gleaming for the very first time (and hearing voiceless whispers of the shadows beyond, even though it would be years until he actually understood what they were saying).

His eyes widen slightly at the mention of a girl, and well that probably answers part of his questions about what happened to their(?) other best friend.]

...Kairi.

...Yeah.

[That has him smiling a bit, because there are very, very fond memories connected to Kairi. And it's probably showing in the way he's smiling.]

...She was my friend and took care of me. Told me not to cry, because the Shadows liked that. But then... She disappeared, and it was only me and Ansem. And the Heartless, of course.

[Riku smiles a little himself, because yeah... he definitely connects many fond memories to Kairi himself.]

Sure sounds like her.

[He frowns, then nods.]

He must have sent her to the Islands then.

[To find a Keybearer. At least, if this Sora's universe was anything like his.]

...I don't know. I didn't see her the last time I was there. But then, I didn't stay long...

[Still, he'll sigh and just play with one of the flowers. He probably seems so small at the moment, curled up like he is.]

...I miss her.

...The last time?

[So Sora had been back after being taken?

He just nods at that second bit, he misses Kairi - his Kairi - too.]

...I don't want to talk about it.

[And suddenly, where he had been so open before, Sora is closed off once more.]

[Riku nods again; he has never expected Other!Sora to open up to him about everything in first place. If they want to make this work, the one thing they'll need is time, he supposes.]

Fair enough.

...You're nicer than the Riku in my universe.

[This is the closest he's going to come to saying he kind of likes you, Riku.]

[...Thank you?

That actually kind of leads him to something he's been kind of curious about anyways: What exactly had happened to the other Sora's him?]

How is that?

...When I went back, he'd forgotten all about me. Even though I told him who I was and... That we were best friends.

[...Yeah, this should be making a clear picture for his hatred of his universe's Riku.]

[Oh. Well, that explains some of the accusations other!Sora had thrown at him when they had first encountered each other.]

...Maybe his memories were messed with. I'm pretty sure he didn't mean to forget.

[It's not like that kind of thing hasn't happened before. Okay, maybe not to him, but still...]

...How does that happen, though? And if he didn't mean to forget, you'd think he'd remember when I was telling him things.

[Yeah, he's more than a bit bitter. But he's been abandoned before, so imagine how he felt when his best friend didn't recognize him.]

[Riku shakes his head; though he supposes he can understand the bitterness at least partly.]

It's not that easy. I can't really explain it... but... depending on why and how the memories are lost, it takes far more than just talking to restore them.

[If it was just that simple, his Sora wouldn't have spent the last ten months sleeping.]

...I guess.

[He still doesn't believe it. ~~Little does he know, Riku remembered all about him just after they parted ways. Oops.~~ Still, he's going to stand up and stretch, then sigh a bit.]

...Thanks. I feel like I can talk to you...

[Well, Riku will keep going with the messed up memory theory since that's what makes sense the most. If Sora believes him or not is his business of course.

He keeps sitting for now, turning his head after the other, then just nods. It takes him another moment to work up the offer he knows he should make, especially now that other!Sora had realized that Ansem wasn't quite the one he had made himself out to be.]

...If you want to talk more, you know where to find me. And... if you want to learn how to control the Darkness and keep it from consuming you... I can help with that too.

...

[He's going to remain quiet. It's strange, having a remotely good relationship with a Riku after so long. But he turns the offer over and over in his head before shrugging.]

...Sure. It could come in handy.

[Riku just barely keeps himself from snorting; somehow he has a feeling that other!Sora has really no idea just how close to the edge he is, just what that means for him.

But then again, considering who had apparently raised him, that shouldn't be that much of a surprise.

Instead he just sighs and then finally gets up.]

There is someone I need to talk to before we get started, but once that's done I'll come to you out.

[So that they can settled on the details. Like when and where to do this. And stuff.]

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I have some questions...

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