“Of course I remem—” Sora started and broke off.
So Sora was losing some of his memories, too. That made the Replica feel just a little bit better. It’s not just me—it’s this place making our memories all foggy.
“Don’t feel bad. That’s what this castle does to you after a while,” the Replica told him, smirking. “It’s great. You forget all the useless stuff and remember for the first time what really matters. And I remembered, Sora. Now I know the one thing that’s the most important to me.”
“Useless stuff?!”
The Replica didn’t let him say any more. “I’m going to stay here and protect Naminé. Nothing else matters.”
Sora stared at him hard, and then, for some reason, smiled. “Hey, Riku… I think I’ll jog your memory.” As he spoke he raised the Keyblade.
“You can try.” The Replica readied his sword, too.
“Donald, Goofy…!” Sora called.
“Wak! Okay, we get it!” The king’s retainers ran to a corner.
“Just between us, huh?” the Replica taunted.
“That’s right. One-on-one!” Sora replied, determined, and leaped high in the air.
The Replica blocked his strike, but the strength in it made his hands tingle.
“Don’t you remember, Riku? We were always fighting like this on the beach!”
“Hmph. I remember you losing!” The Replica pushed the Keyblade away and swung his sword.
“Then you can remember…more than that!” Sora cried.
They attacked and blocked and countered over and over until they were both out of breath.
“C’mon, Riku! Remember!”
Their weapons clashed with a tremendous clang and the Replica’s sword went spinning through the air.
“Rgh…” He fell to one knee.
“Riku…”
“Too bad, Sora. I’m not remembering a thing.” Wavering, he stood up again. “But we can keep fighting if you want.”
But, seeing him like that, Sora didn’t want to. He reached out his hand to the Replica. “C’mon, Riku… Never mind fighting. Let’s go help Naminé.”
“Together…?” Riku shoved his hand aside. “Yeah, right. That’s just like you—always barging in on my heart!”
“What’s that mean?!” Sora demanded.
I’ll never forget…what you did to me that day, when you’d already forgotten about Naminé.
“Hmph. You forgot that, too? You never cared. It never mattered to you!” With that the Replica turned away and ran up the stairs through the next door.
His memories with Naminé…and the good luck charm.
But why do I hate Sora so much? …Why?
Clutching her sketchbook to her chest, Naminé gazed on the image of the boys in the great crystal ball.
Axel went to her side. “…You have my sympathies. From the heart.”
She looked up at him.
“But don’t waste your time,” he said. “We Nobodies can never hope to be somebodies.”
Naminé’s gaze dropped again. All of this is my fault… Because of what I did.
“Say, Naminé,” Axel murmured closely, as if he didn’t want to be overheard. “Isn’t there something else you can do?”
But she only stared at her lap, motionless as a doll.
CHAPTER 6
RELENT
“HEY, FAKE— ER, RIKU.”
As the Replica fled from his defeat, a red-haired man appeared in front of him—Axel.
“What do you want?” Breathing hard, the Replica glared up at him.
“That hero was pretty strong, huh?” Axel smirked and took a step closer. “Even Naminé admits she likes strong guys, y’know.”
The Replica looked down, biting his lip. What went wrong? …Why do I hate Sora so much?
He only kept getting lost in his muddled memories.
“Well?” said Axel. “You’d like to get stronger, wouldn’t you, Riku?”
“How?”
Axel tossed a card at him.
“If you use that card you’ll be able to get some more power. How’s that sound?”
“…Why are you helping me?” said the Replica, staring at the card that he let fall to the floor. It was entirely black—no pictures or anything.
“Because I wouldn’t mind seeing the hero taken down myself.”
There was something else that Axel wasn’t telling him—the Replica felt that intuitively. But the fact remained that he didn’t have the strength to beat Sora as he was now.
“So, Riku, what’re you waiting for?”
The Replica picked up the card and headed to the door.
“That’s right—just hold the card up to the door. And then you’ll have the chance to become stronger.”
The Replica did as he said.
As Axel watched, a smirk came to his face, and then he vanished.
After making his way through Traverse Town, the city of meetings, he came to a world where lotuses bloomed in profusion. Riku didn’t think he had ever seen it before.
“Whose memory is this…?” he grumbled, swinging Soul Eater at the Heartless. Whether the memories were there or not, the Heartless—and the darkness—kept coming after him. So he had to keep fighting them.
If he couldn’t defeat the darkness in himself, there wouldn’t be any future. Riku kept running with single-minded resolve.
Donald looked around in the empty marble hall. “I kinda thought Riku would be waiting for us…”
“Gawrsh, it doesn’t look like he’s here,” said Goofy. “Maybe he doesn’t feel like fightin’ with ya anymore after all?”
They were both looking anxiously at Sora. So far, Riku had been waiting to jump out at them every time they’d made it through a world, but this time he wasn’t here.
“I sure hope so,” Sora sighed as if to himself, frowning.
Three figures watched the scene in a crystal ball.
“So what’s going on, Vexen? I thought Riku was under your control—so where is he?” Larxene arched her finely shaped eyebrows and stared expectantly at Vexen.
Beside her, Axel smirked. “He’s hiding somewhere to lure Sora deeper into the castle, right? I suppose we should just leave it at that.”
He turned to Vexen. Right about now, Riku—or rather, the Replica—should be wandering through the worlds. All his plans were in order, Axel thought smugly.
“I’m so sorry,” Larxene taunted Vexen. “It’s just hard to tell whether your research is supposed to be of any use whatsoever.”
Vexen began to tremble with rage. “Silence!”
“Aw, you hate being told the truth, don’t you? Simpleminded for a scientist!”
“As if you’re one to talk…”
The internal squabbles between those two were also entirely within the range of predictability.
And then—another major player appeared on the scene.
“Enough.” The one who stepped in to interrupt Larxene and Vexen was no other than Marluxia, who was in charge of the castle.
Axel glanced at the man and folded his arms. In the periphery of his vision he could see Naminé, staring at the floor and trembling like a cornered animal.
“Vexen, the fact is that your project was a failure,” said Marluxia. “You had better not disappoint us again.”
Color appeared in Vexen’s sallow face, making him suddenly appear closer to healthy, and he stalked up to Marluxia as if he might seize him by the throat. “Disappoint you?! You go too far! In this organization, you are number eleven! While I am number four, and I will not be ordered around by the likes of you!”
“This castle and Naminé have been entrusted to me. Defying me will be seen as treason against the organization.”
“And traitors are eliminated,” Larxene added, grinning as if she couldn’t wait to see it happen. “That’s what the rules say!”
She was right. It was organization law. Treason meant death.
“I tell you, the project failed,” Marluxia repeated.
“And I must report that failure to our leader.”
Their leader—a man who had once had another name with other memories… He was the actual fake. The one who had stolen the identity of Ansem.
“What— No, wait! Don’t tell him that!” Vexen sounded as if he might fall to his knees and beg.
Marluxia made a small cruel smirk and told him quietly, “Perhaps we can work something out.”
“How?” Vexen looked up.
“Eliminate Sora yourself.”
Axel pretended to be surprised at the order Vexen received. Without looking straight at her, he was still focused on Naminé, who cowered in the corner, her thin shoulders trembling.
Through the door he found a world bathed in a beautiful sunset.
“What is this place…?” The Replica looked around, blinking in the blaze of the lowering sun. “What’s going to happen here…to make me stronger?”
The atmosphere here was incredibly serene.
In this castle, people reclaimed their lost memories—that was what he’d been told, anyway, but he couldn’t recall ever seeing a place like this before. Against the hopeless depths of darkness that filled up his own heart, this town felt so warm.
He began walking, unhurried. There didn’t seem to be any Heartless here.
Suddenly the air wavered. “Huh?”
A blond boy on a skateboard zipped past him. The boy didn’t seem to notice the Replica at all.
“Hey, wait!” The Replica chased after the boy on the skateboard who hurtled down the town’s gently sloping streets.
He came to a place that looked like an open square. Shops stood here and there—but no people that he could see. The Replica caught his breath and walked into the square. “What was that all about…”
The blond boy was nowhere to be found—as if he’d only seen a ghost.
The Replica wandered around the town painted red with the sunset. After a bit he came to a corner on the edge of town that seemed somehow neglected—there was a big hole in the wall.
“…I wonder if there’s anything through here,” he murmured and went closer.
After Riku finally made his way through the lotus forest, he met an enormous Heartless—the Trickmaster. He never flinched, but ran straight at it and jumped high and brought Soul Eater down on its arm.
“Why do I keep…running into these giant Heartless…?” Riku grated as he landed, and the Trickmaster swiped at him. Knocked back, Riku managed to catch himself and keep his balance, then he kicked off from the wall to slash at the Trickmaster again. His nails broke against the hard ground as he landed.
Still…he had to defeat this thing. He had to keep going.
To find Sora again…and to deal with the darkness inside him.
Through the hole, the Replica found a shadowy forest. He went slowly, looking around him all the while. A dark, dismal feeling dominated the place. Almost like the inside of my own heart, the Replica thought.
Why can’t I beat Sora? …Why do I want to fight him at all?
Because Naminé hates him.
Naminé never wants to see him again. So I have to stop him from finding her.
It should have been a simple enough reason. And yet, for some reason, his heart felt so heavy…
The Replica reached in his pocket and clutched the charm from Naminé tightly in his hand.
That’s why I have to defeat Sora.
In the distance through the trees, he could see sunbeams. He ran forward, as if trying to leave his worries behind.
His path brought him to a great big mansion.
“…Sora?”
There, up ahead, Sora and Vexen were facing each other down. Neither of them appeared to notice the Replica’s presence. They were shouting about something.
“Well, well. What brings you here, Riku?”
The Replica turned at the sudden voice from behind him. Axel was standing there.
“What’s happening here?” the Replica demanded. “You said I’d get stronger if I came here…”
“Huh, is that what I said?” Axel smirked.
“Did you lie to me?”
“I wouldn’t do that… Take a look, Riku.”
The Replica looked again at the scene between Sora and Vexen—they were just beginning to fight. With the help from his friends, Sora was certainly able to deal Vexen some damage.
“He is pretty strong, huh?” Axel remarked.
The Replica said nothing, only watching Sora. He was strong…but…
“None of that matters! Just make Riku go back!” Sora was shouting, with the Keyblade pointed at Vexen.
“Hmm. Looks like I’d better jump in,” Axel muttered.
“Just make him go back? You really have no idea what you’re saying,” Vexen told Sora. “The Riku you speak of has but one fate—to sink into the darkness.”
What…? I’m going to sink into the darkness…? Vexen’s words struck the Replica with a deep unease.
“Hah, that wasn’t in the game plan,” Axel laughed, as if it weren’t really much of a problem.
“…What d’you mean by that?” asked the Replica.
Axel gave him a nasty smile. “You go on ahead. I’ll settle things here.”
As he said that, the Replica found himself enveloped in darkness. “What—?!”
And then, before he could get out another word, he was standing in another hall.
“What just…?”
He had no idea what was happening.
Sink into the darkness?
And what’s Axel up to?
What am I supposed to do?
His head was throbbing in pain.
“I hate Sora!” Naminé had said that.
Or…had she really?
His memories were getting more and more uncertain.
The one thing I know is…I’m going to protect Naminé from Sora.
So I have to beat him.
I have to save Naminé.
He told himself that, and a few minutes later…he sensed the presence of others.
It was Sora and his friends.
“If you go any farther, you’ll hurt Naminé,” the Replica told Sora, who had already passed by without seeing him.
The Replica said so, because with everything in him, he believed that was the truth. Nothing else could be true.
“You still want to fight?” Sora yelled, turning to face him. “But Vexen’s gone! You’re free now!”
Free from Vexen? Was he controlling me? A frown momentarily crossed the Replica’s face. But his feelings for Naminé easily drove out any doubts.
That’s right… I promised her.
“I’m protecting Naminé from you,” the Replica slowly told Sora, his sword raised. “That’s what’s in my heart.”
“We can protect her together!” cried Sora.
Protect Naminé along with Sora? That was impossible. Because Naminé couldn’t stand Sora.
“I’m the one who’s keeping her safe! I made a promise to her!” the Replica shouted.
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
That night…I made a promise to her. I did.
“There was a meteor shower one night when we were little… Naminé got scared and said, ‘What if a falling star hits the islands?’ So I told her, ‘If any falling stars come this way, I’ll protect you!’”
“But that story’s the same as Sora’s!” Goofy exclaimed almost before the Replica had finished talking.
“What are you talking about?”
“But…that was the promise I made to her that night! I said I’d protect her!” Sora insisted, as if their memories could somehow be the same.
“Stop lying! You weren’t the one there that night!” the Replica snapped.
It was just the two of us…that time. Sora wasn’t there.
“You’re the one who wasn’t there!” said Sora. “And she gave her good luck charm to me!”
“Her what…?”
“This!” Sora reached into his shirt and he
ld it up—a charm exactly the same as the one he had.
“How did you get that?! Why do you— Oh. Good try, Sora.” The Replica stepped closer, his sword still raised.
“…Huh?”
“That must be a fake. I’ve got the real one right here!” the Replica shouted and took out his own charm.
“Wha…? Two of them?!”
“Fakes should be destroyed!” The Replica leaped up and lunged for Sora.
“Whoa!” Sora barely managed to block the attack with the Keyblade. “It’s not a fake! Naminé gave this to me!”
“I’m the one who’s real!” As if in defiance of Sora’s certainty, the Replica pushed him back.
And yet…
“My pendant’s the real one!” cried Sora, swinging.
The Replica felt the impact from the Keyblade through his sword. It bowled him over. “…Ngh!” He winced, his shoulders heaving with huge breaths, as he got to his feet again.
Why…can’t I win? Why…are our memories the same? Questions were swirling thick in his head. What darkness am I going to sink into…?
“Riku!” Sora cried.
Rejecting him, the Replica turned and ran—unaware that the pendant fell from his pocket and bounced on the cold floor.
That dim chamber in the castle basement…
Lexaeus appeared in front of Zexion, looking as if he’d just been somewhere else.
“Is something wrong, Lexaeus?” Zexion asked.
Something between displeasure and grief flitted over Lexaeus’s face, but his voice, when he spoke, was perfectly calm. “Vexen is no more.”
“Yes, I could smell it happening—the scent of Vexen snuffed out of existence by Axel. Members of the organization striking one another down. I find it deplorable.”
Whether or not Zexion truly felt that way was impossible to tell from his cool expression under the feeble light in the basement.
“Our problem is Sora. Vexen proved to be no match for him—yet he’s still under Naminé’s control. Before long, the hero will be no more than a puppet for Marluxia.” Lexaeus lowered his gaze.
“What are we to do, then?” said Zexion, relentlessly questioning. “Shall we eliminate Sora before he falls into Marluxia’s clutches?”
“Eliminate Sora…” Lexaeus’s eyes went wide at those words. “There is no need for that. If Marluxia obtains the power of light, then we obtain the power of darkness.”
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories The Novel (light novel) Page 25
