Falling into darkness…

Memories torn to pieces…

Creatures closing in…

Yellow eyes looming closer and closer…

Everything spinning around and around…

Dizziness…

Confusion…

Screaming…

Crying…

And the…emptiness…

Riku slowly opened his eyes, trying to sort out his thoughts. There was a dull pain in the back of his head and everything ached; his muscles felt like they were on fire and his joints were stiff and sore.

"Where…?" he was lying on his back, sprawled on the ground. It felt cold and hard beneath his fingers, which he could move just enough to tell that he was on cobblestones.

He tried sitting up, but a jet of pain coursed through his spine, forcing him to let his body fall back against the hard, stone ground. From the little he had glimpsed, be was in a city, somewhere. It had appeared deserted, however. There was no one around and he couldn't hear anything, aside from the occasional crying of birds or the wind's sad requiem. Even the sky, which seemed to be bleeding crimson onto the clouds, was waning in his vision.

"Sora…Mickey…" he mouthed their names, as if just speaking them would make them come to his aid.

This is the world in its true form…

Riku gently moved his head from side to side, his emerald eyes wide and frightened. He couldn't let it end like this, in some ghost town. He had to find Sora and Kairi! He had to find King Mickey! He paused, thinking about what had just crossed his mind.

Find King Mickey? Hadn't he been behind the door?

"Wait," he thought, "The door…I was there…wasn't I?"

His memories didn't seem to be where he'd thought they were, and he couldn't remember what had happened. After a number of attempts, he finally managed to pull himself into a sitting position. He was in a strange place, with large archways and walls of gray stone. It was like some kind of strange prison. He shivered, uncertain which way to go and so cold he could barely move—the aches and pains from whatever else didn't help.

"Hello?" He called, not bothering to be cautious. That was long behind him.

A reply came, but not in the way he would've liked. There was a deep rumbling from within the structure, and felt the floor trembling beneath his fingertips. Getting to his feet warily, he used the wall for support and began walking in the direction of the reverberations. They seemed awfully close, and debris was already falling in clumps from the ceiling.

"Great," he thought bitterly, "I get free from Ansem and that door, and now…I'm going to die. Just great."