Long Time, No See
On the small world of the Mysterious Tower, home of the great sorcerer Yen Sid, the newly-titled Master Riku accompanied his friend and fellow-Master Mickey to the enchanted train that led from the floating isle to Twilight Town. Both had been given assignments from Master Yen Sid, the defacto leader of the fight against Xehanort's forces, to gather the Princesses of Heart and guard them in hidden locations.
"I've heard rumors about Wonderland before," Mickey said cheerily, "I'm happy to see if the world is as crazy as they say." Riku couldn't help but chuckle at the short King's ever-present good cheer. It reminded him of Sora, in a way.
"I'm sure if anyone can find fun in that nuthouse, it's you," he agreed. After crossing the yard, the train rolled up on its rails of energy to come to a perfect stop. Mickey looked up to Riku with a wide smile, holding up his hand in their traditional goodbye. Riku knelt and gripped the king's hand with fervor.
"Good luck, Riku," Mickey said.
"You too," Riku replied. Frankly, he wondered who would need it more.
As mickey released his grip, he removed a star-shaped crystal from his pocket, one that flared with bright light before he shot into the air like a falling star. "See ya real soon!" he called, the cry echoing in the distance. Riku laughed and stepped on Yen Sid's train, the rails glowing and reconfiguring for a new location.
As the doors closed, his grin faded into a look that, on anyone else, would be nervousness. He clenched his fists and willed his nerves to settle. The new Master had voted against being sent to this place, for this purpose in particular. But Yen Sid had replied only with cryptic advice about "mending bridges" and "soothing old wounds". A bunch of baloney in Riku's opinion. The train started up and sped at a breathtaking pace.
Time to visit an old adversary - one known for his temper.
On the dark world of Beast's Castle, the titular Beast roared and lunged at a massive encroaching Heartless. According to one of Belle's books, a gift from the wizard Merlin, this was known as a Darkside. But of course, the Beast didn't care about that - all he cared about was protecting Belle.
The Beast crashed into the Darkside's chest, in the uppermost rim of the heart-shaped hole in its chest, and sent it crashing down to the paved cobblestones of the courtyard with a muted thud that shook the ground. He followed up with a roar and a volley of powerful slashes to the Darkside's unprotected head, some of its hair-like appendages flying free to dissolve into black mist.
After several long moments of attack, the Beast examined the apparently unconscious Heartless. He growled as his instincts screamed that something was not right. Heartless usually dissolved into Darkness when vanquished. Which could only mean …
The Darkside's eyes shot open and the Beast was flung into the air by a blast of energy from the monster's chest. He crashed into a wall of the castle and collapsed to the ground with a thunderous groan, rubble crumbling on top of him as if to mock his careless mistake.
The Beast growled and shook off the shattered masonry, standing to face his foe. He knew why it was here, why any Heartless attacked his home. The Heartless were after Belle, after her pure Light. And he would rather die than let these fiends take her away. Gritting his fangs against the pain of his injuries, he sank to all fours and roared in defiant challenge.
The Darkside swelled, as if taking a great breath, and pulsing energy gathered in the hole in its chest. It took hold of that vile sphere and lifted it high, ready to smash it upon the castle's lord and protector. As it brought the sphere down - the mass of power exploded in a violent confliguration, blowing the Darkside back. As it recovered its balance, a warcry echoed across the courtyard and the Heartless crumbled into shapeless Darkness.
The Beast stood stunned for a moment before he looked down upon his unexpected ally. He was a boy, barely older than Sora, with an ornate, gothic Keyblade clutched in both hands. A Keyblade that looked … familiar … Wait, he knew that blade. A memory flashed before the Beast's eyes.
I will have her back! - Take her if you can!
In a flash, the Beast swung a crushing blow against the boy who had locked Belle away.
Riku, his spell armed beforehand, erected a Dark Barrier to take the Beast's attack. The barrier fractured, nearly shattering, under the strength of his claws. Riku leapt away, just in time to avoid a follow-up lunge, and landed on the steps of the castle entrance.
"Whoa, there! Easy, Big Guy!" he shouted with a forced smile, trying and failing to appear friendly. This was why he had not wanted this mission. His last meeting with the Beast had not been … well, he'd fought him beaten him, and left him to die on the steps of Hollow Bastion. And in his travels, he'd never taken the time to try and patch things up.
As much as he hated to admit it, some lingering resentment was not uncalled for.
Riku ducked under the Beast's claws, backtracking as he swung with unbridled fury. "I'm not … here to … hurt you …!" Riku said, pausing between dodges. He jumped, taking a second leap off of a Doubleflight platform, and landed on a nearby statue well out of harm's way.
"Beast, calm down!" He was glad Sora wasn't here, or he would have teased at how Riku's voice had grown higher with fear. As far as they had come, humans were still on some level prey animals - and the Beast was as much a predator as anything in all the worlds. "I'm here to help!"
"Liar!" Beast shouted, taking a chunk of masonry and hurling it at Riku, who fell back off the statue in his rush to avoid it. Another platform broke his fall and he rolled back to his feet, almost desperate to avoid the Beast's assault. Scratch that - he was totally desperate.
Riku actually yelped as the Beast finally grabbed him, lifting him from the ground and into his face. The Beast roared, the air from his cry ruffling Riku's hair and bringing tears to his eyes, both of fear and discomfort. The Beast reared back to smite the intruder who would dare come to his home, no doubt to take Belle away.
In their conflict, neither noticed the doors to the castle open, revealing Belle as she stepped out into the courtyard. She had seen the destruction of the Darkside from her room and rushed to congratulate the Beast, but now stood in surprise at this unexpected sight. Surprise that rapidly changed to righteous outrage.
"What is going on out here?" Belle shouted. The Beast's claws were stopped in their tracks, mere inches from Riku's eyes, as he registered Belle's question - and, more importantly, her tone. He looked toward her to find Belle approaching. He would have ordered her back inside, but her posture told him to stay quiet. She was beyond angry … she was livid!
"Put him down, Beast!" Belle demanded sternly, her index finger an inch from his nose. "Now!"
"But Belle-"
"Now!" she repeated even more forcefully.
With a gulp, the Beast released his captive, who crumbled to the ground. Riku panted as adrenaline faded from his system, droplets of sweat, from both exertion and sheer instinctual terror, running down his face.
Belle knelt and helped the boy to his feet. "It's Riku, isn't it?" she asked. He nodded shakily, throat too dry to speak. Belle smiled at him. "I'm sorry about that. I'm sure Beast was just carried away after the Heartless attack."
"Belle-" Beast growled, but was silenced a her pointed look.
"Come inside, Riku. Any friend of Sora's is welcome here." Belle led Riku into the castle by his shoulder, leaving the Beast behind to stare in shock.
'What just happened?' he thought.
After settling in an ornate chair in front of the fireplace, being rather forcefully wrapped in a soft blanket, and politely declining tea from a motherly talking teapot and her teacup son, Riku had told Belle about his mission. Belle had listened intently, occasionally asking questions about Xehanort and his goals. Riku tried to tell her what they knew, which admittedly was very little.
"Xehanort needs all of the Princesses to complete the X-blade," he finished, "which means he's after you again. If you are willing, I'm here to take you somewhere he can't find you."
"Absolutely not!" Beast shouted. He had listened to Riku's tale for Belle's sake, but those words brought his anger right back. Riku was here to take Belle away again. "Belle is perfectly safe here! If this Xehanort dares threaten her or my castle, he'll answer to me."
"You can't protect her!" Riku snapped. "This isn't like Xaldin! It took a Keyblade Master sacrificing herself just to stall his plans!" Part of the reason he was so ready to finish this mission was to begin the search for Master Aqua, to repay the debt he owed her for saving him at the Door to Darkness. "If you keep her here he'll arrive sooner rather than later and tear this castle apart!"
As the two shouted at each other, Belle gasped and held her heart at a cold feeling draping over her. Like all Princesses of Heart, she had an innate sense for the Darkness, for its presence and strength. It was how the Beast always knew when a horde or greater-than-normal Heartless was nearing the castle.
And it was how she felt a dark presence nearing. A chillingly familiar one.
"Beast, Riku!" Belle scolded, drawing both of their attention. "Something's here," she said, voice trembling ever-so-slightly.
Now that she mentioned it, Riku sniffed the air, his nose for the Darkness as sharp as ever. There was something … Oh no. He knew exactly what this was. Who this was! He summoned Way to the Dawn and ran for the door to the entrance hall.
"Run, now!" he shouted. Before he could open the doors, they burst open to reveal a familiar Heartless with a bandaged mouth. It grabbed him and dragged him into the hall, hurling him across the grand space and into the far wall.
Riku collapsed to the ground with a groan, barely forcing himself to look up. He grit his teeth at the sight of a familiar figure, arms crossed and clad in a Black Coat, smirking down at him as his Guardian leered from behind.
"Good evening, Riku," Ansem - Xehanort's Heartless - smirked.
"So," Riku bit out, shakily rising and summoning his Keyblade back to his hand, "the old man's sending you on pick-up duty now?" Riku shouted in pain as Ansem's Guardian smashed him back into the wall, one hand on his dominant wrist and the other at his throat.
"Yes, he is," Ansem answered, his tone icy. "But the fact that I get the chance to destroy you more than makes up for it."
"Destroy me?" Riku asked. "Well, what about you precious X-blade? Your old man is dead-set on his battle between Light and Darkness. I don't think he'll be too happy if you remove a piece earl-" He gagged as the Guardian squeezed his neck tighter, cutting him off. The entity moved to the side, grip still secure, to let Ansem approach, almost nose-to-nose with Riku.
"Do not test me, boy," Ansem growled. "We can always search for a replacement Light." He sneered at the gleam of defiance in Riku's eyes. "And I'll enjoy tearing you apart, piece by little-"
Ansem never got to finish his threat as he was torn away and hurled across the entrance hall, much as Riku had been. He crashed through a support pillar, his Guardian dissolving into black sludge, and rolled across the ground to stop at the foot of the grand staircase.
Riku stared up at the Beast, who had simply grabbed Ansem and thrown him like he was nothing. 'Of course, to the lord of this castle,' Riku thought as he stood up, 'I guess he wouldn't be much.' Riku shook himself off, casting a quick Cure to recuperate, and summoned Way to the Dawn.
"Thanks," he said neutrally.
"You're welcome," Beast said, tone just as flat.
Both folded into combat stances as Ansem rose from the ground, gashes on his face bleeding black mist even as they closed up and his Guardian reformed. In a flash of amorphous darkness, a double-bladed halberd, like two Soul Eaters fused together, appeared in his hands.
"This is my castle," the Beast said, not shouting even as his voice carried, "and you are not welcome here!" The Beast inhaled and roared, the strength of the sound having a force all its own as it smashed against Ansem, knocking the Heartless back. Riku followed up with a Dark Firaga, but the Guardian swept in to take the destructive spell.
Ansem grimaced and lunged toward them, his halberd spinning. Riku darted forward to block the strike with Way to the Dawn, his own blade halting Ansem's. With a flick of his wrist, Riku locked their weapons together. As they settled into a battle of raw strength, the Guardian rose up behind Ansem, ready to strike Riku down. But the Beast crashed into it, pinning it down with his massive frame and lashing out in an animalistic frenzy.
With a deft twist of his arm, Riku slammed his elbow into Ansem's nose. Yen Sid had theorized that Ansem retaining his intellect as a Heartless reflected in similar anatomy, bound by Ansem's memories of being flesh-and-blood. It seemed he was right; even without a physical body, his nose shattered.
With a ferocious shout, Ansem hurled Riku away, the new Master barely landing on his feet. Strange orbs of Darkness arose around the hall, firing glittering beams of light before fading away, only to be replaced with more. A quick Dark Barrier dealt with the beams, and Riku ducked low as he rushed at his opponent.
Ansem, his nose healed, lashed out with a cry, the speed of his attack forcing riku to fall back. He fired off a blast of Darkness for good measure, which Ansem dispelled with a swing of his weapon. As riku readied himself for another attack, he caught the sounds of the Beast and Ansem's guardian locked in combat, the prince keeping it occupied.
With a deep breath for focus, Riku summoned the Darkness, letting it wreath him and lift him from the ground in a technique he had ironically learned from Ansem himself. With a cry, he darted at Ansem, vanishing and reappearing to attack over and over in a blinding flurry of Dark Aura. "Vanish," he shouted, as he summoned geysers of Dark power. But through it all, Ansem had woven his way around Riku's attacks, deflecting what he could not dodge.
"You foolish child," Ansem cried, "you think you can defeat me with Darkness?! Darkness is my domain!" Ansem set his halberd ablaze with black fire and charged, his weapon spinning in a blinding wheel, the snarl on his face even more frightening than the attack.
Riku grunted as he deflected Ansem's barrage, each strike threatening to shatter his defense and leave him open to a death blow. He wondered, briefly, if Xemnas had been drilling him in swordsmanship, recovering the which he had lost to amnesia. And yet, as fast and ferocious as Ansem was, he couldn't keep up this salvo forever. But Riku …
Riku had trained his entire life with the sword, unknowingly (or perhaps, unconsciously?) preparing himself for the day he would bear a Keyblade. And beyond that, his will was far stronger than an arrogant monster like Ansem could hope to understand.
Riku ducked under a slowed attack and lashed out with a kick, the heel of his boot landing square in Ansem's kneecap. With a sickening crunch and a howl of agony, Ansem collapsed, only his halberd doubling as a cane keeping him standing. Riku spun and struck a two-handed blow, one that Ansem barely escaped, the blade slicing through the front of his coat.
With a vile crack, Ansem's knee reset itself, only for the Seeker to be blasted away by a barrage of Dark Firaga. He slid backward on the balls of his feet and stopped himself with his halberd, mind whirling.
The boy was powerful, a worthy choice for a vessel. It really was a shame he had become resistant to their efforts. Ansem's gaze flicked to the staircase to find his Guardian dissolving into darkness beneath the claws of the Beast, who roared his triumph like the animal he was.
His ego unwilling to admit defeat, especially to another child-Keybearer from that desolate Island world, Ansem prepared himself to renew his attack. But something stopped him. Literally!
Ansem lifted his hand and pushed, his glove meeting an invisible barrier. He slammed his fist against it, but it merely echoed like glass. He slashed at it with his halberd, but there was not even a scratch. What was this?! Riku's wide eyes showed that he was just as surprised.
It was only then that Ansem saw the Princess, his original target, enter the great hall. Her eyes burned with determination, reflecting the white glow in the center of her chest. As she drew nearer, the mysterious barrier moved with her, pushing him back. Ansem braced himself, his hands wreathed in dark power as he pushed against the force - but try as he might, it didn't even waver.
"This is my home," Belle said calmly. "Now, denizen of malevolence … GET OUT!" The force of her declaration and the shining Light coming from her seared at Ansem's very nature, forcing him back. He barely summoned a Corridor of Darkness to escape, the swirling gateway burning away even as he fled.
With the threat gone, Belle's eyes drooped and the glow in her heart faded, leaving her utterly drained. She would have collapsed to the stone flooring had the Beast not rushed to catch her. She was asleep before she settled in his arms, a tired smile gracing her lips.
Riku banished Way to the Dawn and stood next to the Beast, gaze roaming over the rubble of the grand entrance hall. "Well," he noted, "that happened." He flinched as he heard a sound more unsettling than any he had ever experienced.
The Beast's booming laughter.
Less than an hour later, Belle sat just as Riku had before, wrapped in a blanket before the blazing fireplace. Unlike him, she had gratefully accepted Mrs. Pott's offer of tea, even if she hadn't touched it. Her thoughts were … blurry ... as if her mind were recuperating from what had happened.
Riku stood by the parlor door, senses open for signs of anymore threats - and hoping to give Belle and the Beast a measure of privacy. The Beast sat close to Belle, as if his mere presence could soothe her. And if riku wasn't mistaken, it actually did. After nearly a half hour, Belle shook her head and smiled at them in turn, only the dark circles under her eyes showing anything wrong at all.
"Belle, how did you do that?" The Beast asked gently. Despite his fearsome appearance, he was almost like a child at heart, his curiosity like a burning torch when properly roused. Belle, who was well-aware of this, decided to indulge him.
"I'm not sure. Riku mentioned that the Princesses of Heart keep Darkness at bay by simply existing. And I remember the others fighting to keep the Great Darkness at bay back at Hollow Bastion. I suppose I just …" she trailed off, as if thinking over her words, "... took that to its logical conclusion." The Beast smiled and wrapped her in a gentle hug, one she happily returned.
Riku smiled at the scene, his thoughts turning to Sora and Kairi. Given time (assuming they ever realized how they felt about each other) he expected to see them in these sorts of positions. And for each and every one, he would be there to tease them and hide his joy. But for now …
Riku coughed into his glove, drawing the Prince and Princess's attention. The Beast glared at him for interrupting, but Belle was more accepting. "When do we leave?" she asked, rising from her chair. The Beast looked to her with fear, real fear, in his eyes.
"Belle-" She held up a hand to silence him, understanding in her eyes.
"This isn't about us, Beast. It's about everyone else. Ansem's attack only proved Riku's point. Xehanort will not stop until he has me. You both forced his minion back tonight, bit what about next time?" Her eyes hardened, even as they began to shine with unshed tears. "I have to go." It was a statement of fact, not a request.
"Then I will go, too," he said.
"No, you have to stay here and protect the others," she replied. She smiled and placed her hand against the fur of his cheek. "I'll be back before you know it. And we can put all of this behind us."
Riku approached them, his eyes burning. "I swear to you, Beast. As soon as Xehanort is gone for good, I will bring her back to you." He grinned. "And even if I can't, do you honestly think anything in all the worlds will stop Sora from doing it?"
The Beast didn't smile at the jest, only sigh and nod.
After packing everything she would need and saying her goodbyes to the castle servants, Belle stood with Riku and the Beast at the bridge before the castle. After a few minutes, Yen Sid's train emerged from the night on its glowing tracks, slowing to a halt mere inches from the trio.
The doors opened, but Riku took a moment before stepping on. "Beast," he said, "I never apologized for what happened at Hollow Bastion." He squared his shoulders and bowed his head. "I'm sorry. I was in a bad place, but it doesn't excuse what I did. All I can do is ask for forgiveness." He glanced at Belle. "From both of you."
Belle smiled. "Of course, Riku. We've all done things we regret." She glanced at her companion. "Right, Beast?" she prompted.
The Beast sighed, a growl in the sound, but nodded. "Water under the bridge," he answered, just a little grudgingly. Frankly, Riku thought that was the best he would get. He nodded and stepped onto the train, followed by Belle. She turned and smiled at the Beast, assurance in the simple action.
The doors slid closed and the train gathered speed. The Beast followed it with his eyes, until far after the glow of the train had faded away. He knew, somehow without a doubt, that Belle would return. Even so …
He roared into the night, sorrow heavy in the mournful noise.
As the train rose through the depths of Interspace, Riku remained silent, his thoughts whirling. A stop at the Mysterious Tower to drop off Belle, wait for mickey to return from his own mission, and then on to his true goal.
He looked through the windows into the lights of the Lanes Between.
Then it was time to find Master Aqua.
Just a thought that got in my head and refused to leave until I wrote it out. It occurred to me that Riku and the Beast have not encountered each other since KH1, and then I thought over how they (meaning Beast) would react. This is the result of that line of reasoning, wrapped up in a semi-plausible plot. [I checked if someone else has done something like this; I couldn't find squat!]
Ansem wasn't supposed to be in this, but the idea was too awesome to pass up. All of them have history with him in some way (though the Beast only in that he was responsible for Belle's predicament). And I've wanted to write the Seeker fighting (without the use of his Guardian) for quite some time. I think I did pretty good.
What do y'all think? Leave a review!