(A/N): Something I've had a few chapters too for a while, that I haven't posted yet.
I did some doodles for it too u
Disclaimer : I do not own Kingdom Hearts
Chapter One:
Riku knew he was being creepy.
And he was trying to stop watching the boy sleep, but he couldn't tear himself away. He kept telling himself to get up and walk away - but he couldn't quite bring himself to stand up.
At first, he had thought about how cool it would be to have a witty line prepared for when the Prince woke up. Like in a book. It would make him seem cool, and mysterious.
Then he had gotten bored waiting, and genuinely went to get up. At the moment he had made the decision, Maleficent's black cat jumped into his lap and, by the laws of cat-ownership, he was trapped on the chair now.
Then he had started to notice how pretty the Prince was. How his eyelashes were long and thick and black. More like a girl's than a boy's. They were so long that they cast spidery shadows across his cheeks. His cheeks were so smooth - like porcelian. His hair had drooped across his face, looking like smeared paint in the half light of the candle - which was starting to reach the end of the wick. It was kind of sickening - how much he looked like a prince from a fairytale.
It was kind of sickening how jarring the cut on his head, still oozing thick, sticky blood, ruined the image. How it was clotting in his hair. It was too brutal too fit in with the fragility of his face.
It had to be done, Riku told himself. He had closed his eyes and taken a deep breath, trying to think of why he was doing what he was doing. What the prince had done. Why he was on Maleficent's side.
It was dark outside the small window of the cell now. Frost was creeping up like claws and he was shivering.
Finally, Maleficent's cat hopped off of Riku's lap and he could get up to re-light the candles, and leave.
He was just trying to blow the match out before it burned his fingers when he heard the voice.
"...What's going on...?"
Really? Now?!
Riku's witty comment completely left his brain. He spun and stared, his eyes wide. The boy was crouched on the floor, looking like he could barely support his own weight. He was frowning in confusion, blinking his eyes quickly to try to come back to reality.
And Riku found himself wondering how anybody's eyes could be so blue. His own eyes were blue - but this was electric blue. The kind of blue that was only described by authors. The kind of blue eyes that he didn't believe ever really existed.
He realised that he'd been staring for too long.
"Uh, you're -" Riku stopped. He cleared his throat and drew himself to his full height. "You're in Maleficent's castle."
For a moment, the Prince still looked confused. He raised a hand to his head, his fingers running over the half-congealed blood that was there.
He just stared at Riku. His frown deepened, his finger's running over the length of the cut.
"You kidnapped me." He said slowly. It wasn't accusatory - it sounded almost like a question. But it was true.
"Yes?" Riku replied. He hadn't meant for it to sound like a question. He had meant to sound a lot more dark and mysterious than he was now.
He watched the Prince sit up, and lean against the wall heavily. He seemed to be thinking hard.
"That makes sense," he said slowly. "But it probably would be more effective to kidnap Kairi."
"But you're the crown prince," Riku said. He knew of Kairi - he had been quizzed on the Royal Families for years. It was important to know, Maleficent had said, if you want to rule one day. Kairi was the King's ward. Her history was shrouded in mystery - even, apparently, to herself.
"Kairi's a much better politician than me - she's better at philosophy too."
"I don't think there will be much talk of politics," Riku said. It was like talking to a child, not someone his own age. "We're trying to start a war."
The Prince frowned. A genuine look of bewilderment came across his face.
"Why?" he asked with such a naive curiousity that Riku was left speechless.
He tried to start multiple sentences with multiple points but found he was too stunned to continue.
And this boy was just sat there, staring at him. How could he be so oblivious?!
There was a sudden loud growl in the cell and the two boys stared at each other startled.
The Prince's belly grumbled again.
"I missed dinner," he said, with a sheepish grin.
"Well, you're not going to get any from me," Riku replied. Hatred had bubble up in his stomach and he turned away.
Maleficent's cat was scratching at the heavy stone door and he followed it out. He made sure to lock at it and called the closest of the gargoyles to guard it. Not that he really saw the Prince as a challenge.
The Prince. Riku turned the thought over in his mind. The crown Prince of the Destine Isle - a homely little place with low rise buildings and rosy complexions. Prince Sora. He had expected the boy to be ignorant - most people from the Destine Isle were - but he hadn't expected to talk to a child. They were meant to be the same age...
Riku had lost that sparkle in his eyes a long time ago. Maybe that was why his eyes were the colour of ice and not the sea. He caught a glimpse of his face in one of the gilded mirrors - Maleficent had always been narcissism - he was always narrowed eyes and drawn lips. He rarely showed expression, whereas the Prince's face was alight with it. A rounder face against Riku's prominent cheekbones.
Would he have been more like that - if Maleficent hadn't saved him? Innocent and whimsical - caring more about dinner than immanent war?
He almost shuddered. But he was coming towards the banquet hall, and shivering would be a sign of weakness. He couldn't show weakness in front of witches and warlocks and tricksters and everything inbetween when he was merely the boy Maleficent decided to take in.
He had to show them all why. Show them that he was their Prince. That he could succeed where they were all failing.
He entered the hall. The high ceiling made every clink of silver seem like a cave, and the silver embellishment on everything made the room look like it was covered in ice. The candles barely lit the room - casting grotesque shadows of it's occupants on the wall.
Riku had long since grown used to the darkness, but he still treasured what little light there was. How it left spots in his vision. How it was warm.
Because he was still human - and he still chased after warmth.
"You're late," the words dripped from Maleficent's tongue like treacle. Like she wanted to make him squirm.
He squashed that squirming as he strode into the room - the heels of his boots clicking satisfyingly on the floor.
"I was entertaining our guest," he said smoothly.
She was sat at the end of the table, and had saved the seat to her right, her skin almost glowing luminescent in the candlelight. There was something beautiful about that green-yellow colour.
"He's awake." Maleficent replied. It was not a question. She could probably see through that damned cat's eyes.
"He's hungry," Riku sat down.
Maleficent laughed at that. The other's laughed too - though partly only because she had.
"I hope you won't get too attached to your new, little pet," a silky voice said. Riku turned a half-lidded gaze deliberately to the owner - a pruny sorcerer called Jafar.
"Only as attached as you get to Agrabah's Princess," Riku replied. "Weren't you planning to kill her? How did that leap to marriage?"
For a moment, Jafar looked livid. Maleficent must have seen the outrage in his eyes, because she quickly spoke again.
"Rest assured that nothing will keep my Prince from my goal."
My goal. The words echoed around Riku's head. It was not her goal. It was his.
The conversation moved on - to news from the villains around the table. Some from their own kingdoms, some on their plans to overtake their kingdoms. This was an alliance Maleficent had formed to drench the world with her ideals. An alliance she was ideally at the head of.
Riku mostly stayed silent. His palms still had silvery scars to remind him to only speak when spoken to. He swallowed his opinions. He was just an accessory for Maelficent. He was there to look pretty.
Maleficent was gathering armies. The kidnapping of the Prince was only the first step in conquering the Destine Isles. She had her own imps, of course, but now she was looking for monsters. She was looking to completely annihilate the enemy.
Jafar was, of course, all too happy to oblige. He was desperate to be in Maleficent's good standing. To rule beside her as her second in command. And to overthrow her. That was crystal clear to Riku in the way his dark eyes gleamed.
The honour of Maleficent's second in command was, to others, Pete - but she only favoured the bumbling fool because he could never overpower her. 'There are two kinds of people,' Maleficent said to him. 'Those who rule, and those who are meant to be ruled over.' Pete was in the later category, Riku was in the first. He had been preened for the role of Maleficent's second in command his whole life. He was the one she trusted. They had the same mind.
Others had offers for her. Pete could give Maleficent monsters and in return she'd amuse him with dreams of greatness. The Queen of Hearts could offer hardy soldiers. But she wanted things in return. She was not desperate for power - she ruled her own country - but Maleficent could give her money - alliances and protection.
Not to mention, she had an heir to bargain with. A marriage with Riku was a life-long alliance. Riku knew Maleficent would use him well.
Some of them were forced to give troops. Madame Mim and Dr Facilier owed so much to Maleficent already they had no choice.
The war looked to be on Maleficent's side favourably. It made Riku smirk triumphantly.
When the meeting ended, Riku's fingers had gone completely numb. Maleficent gave him a smile as he retired that suggested she knew. She knew she was making him suffer.
'Pain makes you stronger,' she had always told him. 'No one can fight ice.'
Riku's room was at the top of one of the spindly towers. He suspected it had originally been built for prisoners - there were bars on the window and a hook for a chain on the wall, that he hung his cloak on.
It was a small, round room made of the same dark bricks that composed the whole castle. There were no curtains, and Riku's bed sheets were thin.
He didn't have much. A wardrobe. A hand mirror he suspected Maleficent could see through. A shelf of books she had picked. He had poured over them as a child - desperate for any knowledge. Now he had better ways. Maleficent had taught him a few tricks - how to get people to say what he wanted - how to look through a hand mirror at someone else - to make a flame - to blend into the darkness and become invisible. He revelled in these few tricks, even though he knew she had many more she was holding back from him. It gave him power. Control.
Hope. That one day he could be like her. Her equal.
He could be ferocious and powerful too. He had been lying on his bed, clicking his fingers lazily to ignite and extinguish a flame for about ten minutes when he heard it. Like a kitten mewling for it's mother's milk.
Prince Sora whining for his dinner.
His cell was under Riku's room. It was past midnight, though Riku never slept much through the night. It always made him feel more alive.
He rolled over. Tried to ignore it. Tried to trace constellations in the sky, but he knew none. He had never been taught.
The Prince continued to wail. He seemed to be singing. As loudly and off-key as he could.
For an hour, Riku bore it, before he stormed out of the room. He clattered down the stone steps, striding along the hallway. He hoped he looked impressive, with his cape billowing out behind him. He hoped he looked intimidating.
The Prince was pressed against the bars of his cell, his hands clutching a bar either side of his face. He must have been standing on tiptoes to reach. Usually, he was at least a head shorter than Riku
"Will you shut up?" Riku half-yelled. He felt almost ashamed that he had let so much emotion show.
"But I'm hungry!" the Prince pouted - actually pouted - like a child.
"So?" Riku replied. "Go without dinner."
There was a pause. The boy looked almost horrified. Riku's revelation seemed equally horrifying.
"Haven't you ever skipped a meal before?" he asked, fighting to keep his tone neutral.
"Well -" the boy paused. "I've been threatened with it - but someone always gave into me in the end. I have my ways."
So he knew how annoying that singing was. It was deliberate.
Riku wanted to laugh. This boy had always got what he wanted when he wanted. He lived a fantasy. Riku was glad he never had that - it had taught him to be sly - manipulative - to sacrifice in order to get something better.
"You'll get fed tomorrow," Riku said, he went to walk away when the boy called out again.
"Wait! What's your name?"
Riku turned back reluctantly. He fixed the Prince with his most piercing gaze, though it had little effect.
"Riku," he replied coldly. "Prince Riku."
"I'm Sora," the Prince smiled. Riku had never thought 'beaming' as a good word to describe a smile until then.
"I know," he replied.
"Oh. Yeah," for an instant, the boy's face fell.
With a roll of his eyes, Riku went to turn away again.
"Um!" Sora called after him loudly. He stopped, but did not turn. "Do you have - a light?"
"What?" Riku asked. He could feel the snide dripping from his tongue.
"Well - I'm -" his voice wavered ever so slightly. "-Scared. Of the dark."
Riku almost did chuckle then. The thought was absurd - like being scared of breathing.
He walked away from the cell slowly.
But then a memory - a memory he hadn't thought of for years - something he was sure he'd quite forgotten - sprouted in his mind. Of being five years old and hearing a sound in the night. Of being scared of leaving his room. Of calling for someone - anyone - to come to him. Of terror clutching at his heart, freezing him like eyes.
His cries faded into silence. The darkness was suddenly loud and penetrating and claustrophobic. He remembered falling asleep petrified on the stone floor.
He remembered that desperation.
So he crept downstairs instead of back upstairs. To the empty kitchens. There was the crusty end of the bread on the side - the imps were probably going to eat it. Riku slipped it into his pocket, along with a curling sliver of cheese.
Finally, he moved slowly back up the stairs. Sora's cell had gone quiet. The guard had nodded of because of it - the first moment of piece all night. That was good. It meant that Riku was able to creep right up to the bars, and push the crust of bread through.
He drew the shadows around him and hurried back down the hall.
He hadn't done the right thing. Maleficent wouldn't have done that.
But the Prince was silent. He consoled himself in that. He too, needed rest.
And comforting him seemed like a good thing. Or at least neutral. To be that hand in the darkness. He shouldn't have been. But he was.
Because he remembered the feeling all too well.
(A/N): To be continued... u
