The Mask
"Put
off that mask of burning gold
With
emerald eyes."
"O
no, my dear, you make so bold
To find if
hearts be wild and wise,
And yet
not cold."
"I
would but find what's there to find,
Love or
deceit."
"It
was the mask engaged your mind,
And after
set your heart to beat,
Not what's
behind."
"But
lest you are my enemy,
I must
enquire."
"O
no, my dear, let all that be;
What
matter, so there is but fire
In you, in
me?"
W. B. Yeats
Riku's heart was wild. It pumped pure adrenaline, coursing through his veins and carrying him
dancing through the long, endless corridors of the castle. Boots trailed over worn white marble,
and he smiled through the mask, safe in the knowledge that he was unrecognizable.
The music
swelled as he neared the ballroom, and figures whirled madly through
the hall,
locked in each others' embrace. He joined the waltz,
fingers lacing gracefully with a
stranger's. The hours passed and
midnight chimed three times over (why is that?) before he
finally
came to a breathless stop by the window. The stars glittered
crystalline outside (one by
one blinking out but he does not notice).
And
turning, his gaze met and locked with another, and he found himself
facing a heart as
wild and wise as his own. She stared at him, and he
remembered Kairi, recognized her lips
and her smile and how she
spoke.
She spoke,
commanding, and he shook his head in reply, refusing to remove the
mask.
Emerald eyes glittered. His heart was not cold; no, on the
contrary, it was warm and rampant,
hot emotion running through his
mind (he remembered love).
And it seemed she did, too.
But he did
not remember how to express it and he knew that it was the Heartless
symbol that
drew her to him, the spiked black lines across a
golden-and-red mask. He felt the mark on his
face, felt the stigma
attached to it and yet knew that he could not remove it (why is
that?).
But lest you are my enemy...
He is not
her enemy. He does not think he ever was. Once upon a time, he almost
hurt her,
but that was just the heartless king hiding behind a mask
of Riku. He would never hurt her. He
would fight back for his heart
and his heart, wild and wise, would never be used to hurt Kairi.
There is
fire, and there will always be fire, coursing through his veins. But
he does not name
himself, and he does not want to (or does he?). He
must wait and bide his time until she can
forgive him, until
everything is back to normal.
As long as there is fire.
(but what is this castle? he asks, groggily, and over time realizes...)
that it is
only a dream, and it is time to wake up. shrouded in black and eyes
bandaged and
trapped in the endless halls of Hollow Bastion. there is
no ball and there is no Kairi.
but there is, however, fire. his heart burns.