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River of Darkness

“what´s going on?!” Roxas cried in disbelief, his mind tried desperately figuring out how someone they saw not long ago suddenly had yellow eyes and glared down to them with an unknown anger. Riku´s glare of anger turned into a gleeful smirk and with that, he ran off.
Xion was the first who followed; Roxas the next and Lea the last. they caught up to Riku again at the Sandlot, the older boy stopped up on the scene, turning around to them, still with the smirk on his face.
“you have been on their side from the beginning?!” Roxas asked in disbelief and anger that Sora´s best friend has all the time been on the evil side, for him it would be like knowing Lea was truly evil, the thought itself was unbearable.

“how could you do this, Riku?” Xion asked, like Roxas not believing and barley understanding this situation at all.
Riku stared silently at them for a few seconds, then he finally said very calm “I´m not who you think I am”
“what?” both kids asked shocked and Riku eyed Lea
“you know the truth, don´t you, Axel?” Riku said with a slight sneer, hidden anger of a past they both tried to forget. Lea and a handful others were the only one who could know who this really was, someone he thought was gone into the Darkness, slain by Riku´s hand.
“yeah, I know who you are” Lea replied coldly. He tried his best not looking at Xion and Roxas, both staring at him in confusions. To be honest Lea would never have thought that they would meet again, but he should have known, if Xion could come back, so could he.
“the feelings aren´t exactly warmly though” he told the silver haired boy.

“I know” Riku said, not at all surprised “why should you? I´m nothing but a fake” he snorted, turning away from the trio “why should anyone care about the fake Riku?” he turned his yellow eyes to them, burning with his own and someone else´s darkness and again the unknown anger “he gave me a second chance, to prove I´m better than the real Riku!” he took out a red orb, very closely resemble to a ruby, threw it up in and said loudly “Awaken!” the Ruby got engulfed by Darkness, it got swept away by a pair of huge wings, seconds later revealing what he has called.  

“A Keeper?!” Lea gasped, he almost mistook it for something else with all the darkness around it, but the blue eyes and mark on the back made no mistake what this creature was.
unlike the one Roxas and Lea saw in Spiritual Forest, this Keeper had the form as a Harpy eagle, having metal holding dark reddish stones on its brown body, and for each stroke with the wings, darkness came out as dark fire. This…Dark Keeper turned to Riku who pointed at it with eyes piecing into its blue eyes.
the yellow eyed boy smirked and told the trio with a boasting tone “this creature, usually will only obey its creator, but Xehanort told me that I and only I can control them, observe!”
The Keeper froze for a second in the air, before it flew over to Riku, to the others shock. Riku smiled gleeful and still with eyes on the Keeper he said; “now, creature of the old times, return this pitiful world back to the Darkness!”
the Keeper screeched, flew high up in the air and dived right to the ground. Before it hit, a huge dark portal appeared and when it came out again, a pathway to the Realm of Darkness was open. Out from this very portal crawled a horde of Shadows out, quickly surrounding the trio.  

Lea and Roxas quickly called their keyblades while Xion readied herself with magic, they took out the Heartless, but there would be no end to them, the Heartless kept on coming from the portal.
Roxas took out a Heartless, sneered turned to Riku who stood and watched them with a smile “why are you doing this?!”
“does it really matter?” Riku asked with a shrug, he eyed the portal as more Heartless crawled out “I belong to the darkness, so…” he eyed Roxas “why not drag a few worlds down with me?”
with a wave with his hand, the Keeper landed beside him. he climbed on its back and added to the trio “for if everything go as Xehanort has planned, I won´t be around when this is over” and the Keeper took to the sky.  

“wait!” Xion called, but the Keeper has already taken Riku deeper into the city, leaving them with the Heartless. She almost got attacked by several Heartless, but she quickly took them out and jumped back to her friends who tried their best keeping a safe zone, there unfortunately got smaller by the second.
“w-we have to help him see there is another way!” she cried, she of all people could relate how he might felt. How much it hurt knowing you´re not real, but unlike this Replica. Xion have learned not to really think about what she was, but who she was.

“what about we help ourselves first” Lea muttered and set several Heartless there got a bit too close for comfort on fire. He quickly scanned the area but saw no end to this horde. he cursed “dammit! it´s no use, we need to retreat” he turned to Roxas, almost giving the order “teleport us out from here”

“what?!” Roxas asked in disbelief, angry that Lea would have they should flee when they were needed right here! he blasted several Heartless with a fire ball Lea would´ve been proud of “we can´t run away now! we need to close that portal!”

“look around!" Lea told him hard" we can´t close it with all these Heartless around!” for the first time glaring at the boy “now, get us out from here!”

Roxas nodded, pretty startled at the anger Lea gave him. he opened a dark portal and the trio ran into it, even in there, they have to fight Heartless, but at least there weren´t as many as before. Roxas took them to the Marked Street, here there also were Heartless, but not yet as many as at the Sandlot. “what now?” Roxas asked as he closed the portal and cut off the Heartless there have been following them.

Lea did not answer right away, he had his eyes on another horde of Heartless, flying around like a snake up in the air not far away, circling around then flying up in the air in a S shape form, before attacking Sora who retaliated with Key of Hearts with no hesitating, already having help coming on its way as Donald and Goofy running towards him, determent to aid their friend. Lea turned his gaze towards the hole to the forest where the real Riku stood and fought alongside King Mickey, doing a mix of light and darkness to take out the horde of pureblood Heartless.

“Lea, we should help them” Xion said to Lea who simple stared at this way too over the head situation.
“it wouldn´t make any different” Lea muttered, eyes still on the battles around them but both kids could see it wasn´t truly that he was looking at right now. “no matter how we fight, they will keep on coming.” He has seen this before, this happen to the Garden when the witch Maleficent came.

“that´s why I wanted us to stay at the sandlot!” Roxas angry pointed out, he ran before Lea, glaring up to him.
Lea eyed him back, not looking angry anymore, yet he did look frustrated “if we have stayed, all we would have gotten is one way ticket to the darkness”

“you don´t know that” Roxas said, and yet he did have a feeling that Lea understood this situation better than him. Lea gave him one look, a look there told he did know.

“yes, I have”

the blond almost gasped of the sudden seriousness the red haired got, this melted his anger away, replaced by worry and slight fear. “…where?”

Lea turned away, watching the endless river of Heartless attacking the town “Radiant Garden”

“what…? you mean--“ Roxas gasped, almost forgotten that Lea have actually told him of how Radiant Garden fell. He scanned the area, feeling awful of haven forgotten.
“can´t we stop it?” he asked close to a whisper.

Xion did not know what her two friends talked about, but she did know this was bad. She turned to Lea “Axel, what can we do?”

"I'm not sure" Lea admitted, not at all faced by the wrong name.
Roxas turned to Xion, suggesting “we should find that other Riku and stop him controlling that Keeper”

Xion eyes found the Keeper up in the air, having no problems taking down a Darksider there have decided to attack it. “maybe I don´t know much about what a Keeper is, but anything there can take a Darksider down with a single attack is NOT something I wanna attack head on”

“she´s right” Lea said, turning seriously his eyes to them “Roxas, It was a good plan, but right now, something else needs our attention: we have to find the keyhole and seal it before the Heartless gets to it”
Roxas and Xion blinked
“keyhole?” Roxas asked and glanced to a door with a keyhole.
Lea chuckled shook his head “not that kind, this world´s keyhole, almost like the ones to open the pathways. I don´t know much about it, only it will stop the Heartless from swallow this world completely." he explained, yet have to add  while scratching his neck "Only problem though” he scanned the area again, hoping he might glance the keyhole to this world´s core “no one knows where this world´s keyhole is” he admitted, scratching his cheek in thoughts where it could be. his thoughts were cut short when another horde came after them, forcing this trio to call their weapons and retaliate.

In the heat of the battle, Sora suddenly landed beside Roxas after have electrocuted several Heartless with a thunder spell. “where does all these Heartless come from?” Sora asked and Roxas told what he and his friends have witness. Sora blinked, almost forgetting defending himself “another Riku? And he opened a portal to the Realm of Darkness?!”

Roxas nodded “yeah and it´s that portal there pour out all these Heartless” Sora turned to the pathway to the Sandlot, it was engulfed with Heartless of higher level, making it almost impossible getting through. “maybe me and Riku could get to it and close it” he muttered, well knowing he wouldn´t be able on his own. Roxas turned to him, “but it´s impossible, there is too many Heartless around” he told Sora dreadful, throwing his keyblade against a Novashadow “not to mention that Keeper would just open another portal!”

“me and Riku can handle it” Sora said smiling, he turned to Xion who remarked “Lea suggested we should find the keyhole, seal it or something”

“oh yeah, I never did close that one” Sora said sheepish, receiving a single glance from Lea who was a bit too busy torching another horde of Heartless with a firewall to make a remark on it. with the some of the threat gone, Lea turned to him “I, Xion and Roxas can find that keyhole, meanwhile you and Riku could try and seal this portal”
Sora hesitated a little, looking a little unsure of something, but he agreed “alright, you find that keyhole”

“what about that Keeper?” Xion asked “it will just make another portal. Not to mention, it will cause all of us lots of trouble if allowed roaming free”
 
“let me deal with that one!”

they looked up and saw Mickey jumping up on a building, having a look there said he meant business.
Riku- the real Riku joined them and gave Roxas and Xion an odd stare “what is with you two?” he asked, blinking slightly confused of why those two send him both hostile yet confused eyes.
“Riku, Roxas and Xion say they saw another you” Sora said, also looking quite confused. Riku however gasped “another me?” he asked, and turned his eyes up to Lea who gave him a slow nod.  

Roxas turned to Riku, quickly understanding that both Riku and Lea seems to know more than anyone else “hang on, did you know this-“

“Replica” Riku interrupted “this “other Riku” he´s a replica”

Xion gasped “is there… more than the two of us?” she asked, not sure how to feel about this.
“no” Lea admitted, but before Xion, Roxas and even Sora could put him and Riku into a Q and A he interrupted them “instead of chatting, shouldn´t we stop the Heartless first?”

“s-sure” Sora nodded, taken aback a bit of the sudden change of topic, still Lea was right. He turned to Riku who nodded back, Sora nodded too and both ran into the wall of Heartless.

Lea turned to his two younger friends “let´s go!”

“right” Roxas and Xion nodded and ran the other direction.
“any idea where a secret keyhole could be?” Lea asked as they ran through the city and horde of Heartless.
“what about those Wonders Pence once told us about?” Roxas suggested, thinking the wonder might be different from the fake ones he discovered in the fake Twilight Town “one of them might be the keyhole”
“might as well check them out” Lea shrugged and they ran to the Unusually Spot.

Roxas walked in first, closely followed by Xion, to their luck they found the gang in here, hiding from the Heartless. luckily none of them were hurt or seems to be in danger. the gang turned to the new comers and Hayner asking with his tough guy attitude “what do you want? Can´t you see this… hey, don´t we know you?” he asked, now really looking at Roxas. Pence and Olette turned to them as well and Pence recognized the blond, he smile “hey long time no see… eh forgot your name” he admitted embarrassed.
“Roxas” Roxas said and turned to Hayner again who still stared at him oddly “something wrong?”
Hayner shrugged “don´t know, just getting the weird feeling I know you from somewhere else”

“don´t say you forgot” Olette laughed “he´s the one who beat your Grandstander record”

“when did you do that?” Xion asked Roxas, trying to remember when he could have met the gang. Roxas smiled “at the vacation”
“oh” Xion nodded and winched slightly when she notice that everyone’s eyes were on her, she wasn´t shy, but not used to that everyone in the same room was looking at her either.
“who´s your friend?” Olette asked friendly. Making Xion a bit more confident and answered with a faint smile “I´m Xion”

“nice to meet you Xion, I´m Olette”

“I´m Pence and this is Hayner.“

Hayner turned to Roxas again “here to hide from those freaks of nature outside?”

Roxas shook his head “no, me, Xion and Lea are trying to get rid of them”

“so you´re with Sora and his friend Riku?”

“you could say that”

Hayner nodded, then blinked crossed his arms “so… why coming here?”

“we thought you might help us finding something” Xion said “something there can help us against the Heartless”

Roxas nodded and turned to Pence “we thought that maybe those Wonders hid this… something”
“maybe” Pence shrugged and took out a map he has been working on, placing it before Roxas and Xion “but it would help if you knew what this something is”

“it´s a magic keyhole” Lea replied and walked inside as well, however he did get the quite hostile greeting from the gang.

“you!”

“you were the one who kidnapped Kairi!”

“wait!” Roxas quickly stopped Hayner in doing a attack although it would probably have ended up in Hayner´s own embarrassment for Lea wasn´t a weak fighter and could easily take a kid out like him. “he´s a friend of mine”

“you´re kidding” Hayner turned to Roxas in disbelief “he´s one of the bad guys”

“hey, I´m not all that bad” Lea smirked and Roxas explained before someone got hurt “Lea only did it because he wished to see me again”
“see it as a horrible trade” Xion said, Roxas gave he a odd stare, not really getting what she meant, but it made the gang relax, so he wasn´t complaining. With the tension more or less gone, Lea explained to the gang or mostly to Pence about the mysterious keyhole they were searching for it. with the explanation over, Pence was forced to admit “sorry, but none of the Wonders have anything of a mysterious keyhole in them”

“that´s too bad…” Xion lowered her head, however she looked up again when Olette suggested “what about that old mansion?”
“what about it?” Hayner asked, not getting what she meant. Olette crossed her arms with a annoyed frown “don´t tell me you forgot about that secret basement too”
“oh right, that mansion has more mysterious than anything” Pence said with a smile, suggesting to the group “maybe this keyhole is there”
Roxas and Xion looked up to Lea, he scratched his neck with “be worth the try, thanks” he added to the gang. Hayner, Pence and Olette nodded to him and Lea left. With him gone Hayner admitted to Roxas “guess he´s not such a bad guy after all”
“he´s not” Roxas smiled and left with Xion beside him, the joined Lea and together went to the old mansion.