[Minato is the antithesis of shy, so he meets his eyes readily, unwavering.
He raises his eyebrows a little.] So Riku [barely perceptible hesitation where he remembers to drop the -san] is impatient when he's frustrated? I've never seen that from you.
[The way Minato references him in the third person that way is cute, and he gives him a peck on the cheek just for that, looking pleased. After a moment, though, he sobers.]
Well... I don't think I've ever told you about the me of a year or so ago. Almost two years now, I guess. But I... messed up a lot of stuff because of my own impatience. Jealousy, too. I've been working on stifling those flaws, but... I don't know how well I'm doing.
[He's too lazy to force himself to speak in English all the time, so right now he's letting the translator take care of it. Said translator can be a bit literal with his wording sometimes... and in Japanese, third person is polite.
He blinks at the kiss on his cheek, but it's not like he minds it. He focuses on listening closely.]
I'd guess very well, with how things went today. [He tilts his head.] Do you want to tell me?
It's fine if it's not pleasant, or seems inconsistent. It's where you came from, so it's part of you. People are too complicated to have a smooth path.
[Riku considers, trailing his fingers through the sand quietly.]
So... when I was about five, a guy arrived on the islands where I lived. I was the only person to meet him. His name was Terra, and he was from another world. He left after only a few hours, and for the longest time I thought it was just my imagination, or a dream. But then a few months later, a girl named Kairi fell from the sky, and even though she had no memory of her home, the only place she could have come from was from another world. So I got kinda... obsessed, with the idea of leaving.
[Minato listens with the kind of patient receptiveness that doesn't impose anything upon the speaker. He hasn't formed any opinions, doesn't really feel anything about what he's hearing. He's just listening.
It's this sort of attitude that's gotten everyone from little girls to cranky old monks to open up to him.]
Why did you want to leave? [he prompts.] Curiosity? [He supposes most people would be interested if they knew other worlds existed. Minato probably wouldn't care unless it became relevant to him, but he understands it.]
I felt... trapped. You're from a bigger place than I am, so it might be hard to understand, but... Destiny Islands is tiny. It might be... maybe the size of Heropa? And that's just if you drew a circle around all the islands, so that includes a lot of water. Most people were fine with it, but as soon as I figured out that there really was somewhere out there, I was determined to go.
Reaching for something bigger... [The Star. Minato's suddenly certain where this story is going, simply through his experience with tarot and Social Links. It gives him insight he's relied upon heavily in the past, if not so much since coming here.]
Okay. You wanted to find something more, but you got lost.
[Riku nods, curling his fingers into Minato's quietly.]
So... we had this place, Sora and Kairi and I, and it was the Secret Place. It was a little cave behind a big tree on the island we used to play on. And we'd scratch pictures into the walls and play cards and whatever else, you know? And there was this door there. It didn't even have a handle, but it had hinges, so I knew it could open.
So, one night, there was a storm, and I... somehow, I knew the door could be opened. So I went to the Secret Place, and I opened it. And our world... monsters poured in from outside, and swallowed it.
[Definitely the Star, Minato affirms to himself, and feels Helel (Lucifer before the Fall) shift inside him, coming to the forefront. Saturnus is there, too, but this story... it's why Helel is the Ultimate Persona of the Star.
Free will leading to downfall. That comes first.]
Did you leave the world to the monsters? [He twines his fingers with his in return.]
It... couldn't be saved. Everyone was thrown into the darkness, even us. The three of us made it out, but I don't know whether anyone else made it.
When I woke up, I was in a place called Hollow Bastion. [He looks thoughtful then, eyes closing for a moment.]
I was alone, so I explored, and I discovered a castle. There, a witch named Maleficent lived, and she brought me to Traverse Town, where Sora had arrived. He had made two new friends there, Donald Duck and Goofy, and they wanted him to help find their king, since he had the Keyblade. And Maleficent said to me... that he'd clearly forgotten about Kairi and I already.
Yeah, I was. I didn't know where Kairi was, and Sora had left with Donald and Goofy, so... all I had was Maleficent. I didn't trust her, but she took me in when I was alone.
[He shrugs, quiet.]
Maleficent had... discovered Kairi before I had. And she was comatose. Just a doll -- her heart had fled her body. I didn't know what had happened, but Maleficent said the key to finding it was Kingdom Hearts -- another door. It would let me help Kairi. But to do it, we had to bring together seven Princesses of Heart -- girls with no darkness inside them. She already had a few, so she had me collect the others.
[There's still no judgement in his tone, but Riku had been right that some of the things he did seem inconsistent with who Minato knows now. Mostly, Minato seems speculative; he's trying to piece this story together with what he knows of Riku's character.]
... Yeah. I kidnapped them. I... from my perspective, Kairi and I had been abandoned. Sora had the Keyblade, which meant he got to go on this grand adventure, and I had nothing but what Maleficent would give me. And without Kairi, I'd... be alone. I didn't think I had a choice.
[He's quiet -- the Riku of back then is still inside him, and even though he's changed significantly, he knows that if he were pushed, he'd still take drastic measures to save his loved ones.]
[He considers -- Minato sounds like he has an idea of how the story already goes, but Riku's not sure if he's going to like that that's not exactly the way.]
I don't know. I guess. I... once the princesses were together, Maleficent forged the Keyblade of People's Hearts -- a weapon that could unlock any heart and release it from the bearer's body. By this time my powers had grown a lot, but they were all darkness-based. I could summon shadows to fight for me, call the Heartless, and I could wield dark energy fairly well. Sora arrived at Hollow Bastion, and I... took his Keyblade. It felt so easy, you know? Like I was supposed to have it, like Maleficent said I was. I left him with a wooden sword and nothing, and it felt right. Like he'd abandoned me, now I'd made it even.
[It's spending longer in the dark part of the story than Minato had really expected, but his association of Riku with the Star still isn't really challenged by it. Tarot isn't inflexible, anyway; it's a lens through which to relate to others, but people within an Arcana are frequently not at all similar.
It's what they need to learn, what their personal journey is, that their Arcana explains.]
… Do you think spending so much time with the darkness let it influence you?
[That's what Minato would assume, if it were someone he knew that spent a lot of time enveloped in Shadows. It's not the same, but so far the analogy has served him pretty well.]
Of course it did. And not just the darkness, either. See, Maleficent wasn't working alone. Besides the allies from the other worlds she had, she was being manipulated herself. This guy named Ansem had been waiting for her to make that Keyblade.
I fought Sora and he took the Keyblade back, no problem. So Maleficent let me wield the Keyblade of People's Hearts, and when I did, Ansem stole my body. He was a Heartless, though we didn't know it at the time, and his human body was gone. So when I opened myself up to the darkness that much... he was able to kick me out.
[He pauses, taking a breath. It... had been an awful experience, needless to say.]
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He raises his eyebrows a little.] So Riku [barely perceptible hesitation where he remembers to drop the -san] is impatient when he's frustrated? I've never seen that from you.
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Well... I don't think I've ever told you about the me of a year or so ago. Almost two years now, I guess. But I... messed up a lot of stuff because of my own impatience. Jealousy, too. I've been working on stifling those flaws, but... I don't know how well I'm doing.
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He blinks at the kiss on his cheek, but it's not like he minds it. He focuses on listening closely.]
I'd guess very well, with how things went today. [He tilts his head.] Do you want to tell me?
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[He considers, looking thoughtful.]
If you'll hear it. It's not all that pleasant. And some of the things I'll tell you might seem out of character for the me of the present.
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It's fine if it's not pleasant, or seems inconsistent. It's where you came from, so it's part of you. People are too complicated to have a smooth path.
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[Riku considers, trailing his fingers through the sand quietly.]
So... when I was about five, a guy arrived on the islands where I lived. I was the only person to meet him. His name was Terra, and he was from another world. He left after only a few hours, and for the longest time I thought it was just my imagination, or a dream. But then a few months later, a girl named Kairi fell from the sky, and even though she had no memory of her home, the only place she could have come from was from another world. So I got kinda... obsessed, with the idea of leaving.
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It's this sort of attitude that's gotten everyone from little girls to cranky old monks to open up to him.]
Why did you want to leave? [he prompts.] Curiosity? [He supposes most people would be interested if they knew other worlds existed. Minato probably wouldn't care unless it became relevant to him, but he understands it.]
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Okay. You wanted to find something more, but you got lost.
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[Riku nods, curling his fingers into Minato's quietly.]
So... we had this place, Sora and Kairi and I, and it was the Secret Place. It was a little cave behind a big tree on the island we used to play on. And we'd scratch pictures into the walls and play cards and whatever else, you know? And there was this door there. It didn't even have a handle, but it had hinges, so I knew it could open.
So, one night, there was a storm, and I... somehow, I knew the door could be opened. So I went to the Secret Place, and I opened it. And our world... monsters poured in from outside, and swallowed it.
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Free will leading to downfall. That comes first.]
Did you leave the world to the monsters? [He twines his fingers with his in return.]
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When I woke up, I was in a place called Hollow Bastion. [He looks thoughtful then, eyes closing for a moment.]
I was alone, so I explored, and I discovered a castle. There, a witch named Maleficent lived, and she brought me to Traverse Town, where Sora had arrived. He had made two new friends there, Donald Duck and Goofy, and they wanted him to help find their king, since he had the Keyblade. And Maleficent said to me... that he'd clearly forgotten about Kairi and I already.
[He opens his eyes again, looks back at Minato.]
I believed her.
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You were scared.
[He vaguely remembers Riku saying something to that effect before, in an isolated, contextless comment. But he also just thinks it might be true.]
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[He shrugs, quiet.]
Maleficent had... discovered Kairi before I had. And she was comatose. Just a doll -- her heart had fled her body. I didn't know what had happened, but Maleficent said the key to finding it was Kingdom Hearts -- another door. It would let me help Kairi. But to do it, we had to bring together seven Princesses of Heart -- girls with no darkness inside them. She already had a few, so she had me collect the others.
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[There's still no judgement in his tone, but Riku had been right that some of the things he did seem inconsistent with who Minato knows now. Mostly, Minato seems speculative; he's trying to piece this story together with what he knows of Riku's character.]
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[He's quiet -- the Riku of back then is still inside him, and even though he's changed significantly, he knows that if he were pushed, he'd still take drastic measures to save his loved ones.]
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[He nods.]
Sometimes it's easy to get consumed by our Shadows, the parts of ourselves that doubt. But you must have found... hope, eventually. Right?
[He's the Star Arcana. That's how that works.]
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[He considers -- Minato sounds like he has an idea of how the story already goes, but Riku's not sure if he's going to like that that's not exactly the way.]
I don't know. I guess. I... once the princesses were together, Maleficent forged the Keyblade of People's Hearts -- a weapon that could unlock any heart and release it from the bearer's body. By this time my powers had grown a lot, but they were all darkness-based. I could summon shadows to fight for me, call the Heartless, and I could wield dark energy fairly well. Sora arrived at Hollow Bastion, and I... took his Keyblade. It felt so easy, you know? Like I was supposed to have it, like Maleficent said I was. I left him with a wooden sword and nothing, and it felt right. Like he'd abandoned me, now I'd made it even.
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It's what they need to learn, what their personal journey is, that their Arcana explains.]
… Do you think spending so much time with the darkness let it influence you?
[That's what Minato would assume, if it were someone he knew that spent a lot of time enveloped in Shadows. It's not the same, but so far the analogy has served him pretty well.]
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I fought Sora and he took the Keyblade back, no problem. So Maleficent let me wield the Keyblade of People's Hearts, and when I did, Ansem stole my body. He was a Heartless, though we didn't know it at the time, and his human body was gone. So when I opened myself up to the darkness that much... he was able to kick me out.
[He pauses, taking a breath. It... had been an awful experience, needless to say.]