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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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.
no subject
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.]
no subject
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.]