Author's Note: I have writer's block regarding SoaHB (as in, I know what needs to be written, I'm just having difficulty finding the words and emotions needed to portray the scene), so I wrote this to try and help get the words back. It's the first in the "Lockea was so lazy she stole the plots from manga" series.
This was a fun writer's exercise, and a hell of a lot harder than I thought it would be, but mostly because I kept glancing at the manga every two seconds and getting distracted by the OTHER stories in that anthology. XP Also, this is not a songfic, it just contains two versus from the song where I got the title.
SoaHB is what happens when I meticulously plan ever detail—this is what happens when I decide to wing it!
Disclaimer: Riku, Leon, Aerith, Axel and Sora all belong to Square Enix. Original story by Toui Hasumi in the Fallen Moon anthology ("Garden of Thorns"). "Loss of Me" belongs to Square Enix also, from the Final Fantasy IX soundtrack. Lyrics and musical adaptation, "Rose of May" by KatetheGreat19, who owns my musical soul (youtube her and see for yourself). Bastardization of plot and characters is completely my fault.
Warnings: Self-beta'd, OOC, slash implications, het implications, bastardization of certain characters (Leon, cough cough), and vaguely disturbing and obscured references to non-con. Also, I kid you not, this plot is very hard to follow. If any of this bothers you, it is still not too late to turn back!
Summary: Leon/Riku, Caught in a downward spiral of his own destruction, a young king asks an embittered, ageless mage for help. However, what should be straightforward is tempered by the secrets both of them refuse to share.
Rose of May
War leaves its trail
in moonlight so pale
its shadows they flow
in rivers, in rivers
So put on my mask,
I'll go where they ask,
so I might once again
see the Roses of May
***
Many, many years ago there lived a magnificent king who led his country to great prosperity by conquering the wild demons of the land. He brought the race to its knees, destroying their land and burning their homes. Those few that survived were forced to flee, for the king controlled a race of magic-users who could destroy the demons in great number even where human weapons had failed. Among those most feared by demons and humans alike was the magician Riku, whose ancestors had achieved great fame in their own right. The king favored Riku, and gave him a unit of men all his own to aid him in his hunts.
One day, in the midst of the raid and destruction of one of the few remaining demon settlements in the kingdom, a powerful demon came to the aid of his people and placed a curse on the then-young magician. "I curse you," the demon told him amidst its cruel laughter, "to live untouched by death and age, until the time comes that you have lost everything else." The demon then vanished in the midst of a great fire, taking his still-living kindred with him.
When Riku woke up, he found himself alone among the ashes and charred remains of his men. How fickle such a thing of loyalty is, as the king found Riku at fault for the deaths of his men, and sentenced Riku to death himself. However, when the king learned that the youth could not die, he locked the now-immortal magician away in a tower on the far edge of the kingdom, bound by chains and warded by charms so that his pet magician would never leave.
The king passed away, and as months turned to years, and years turned to generations, the people forgot about the magic user whom the demon cursed. Before long, the magician came to believe that no one would ever come for him again, and the bitter happiness at the thought was drowned only by the nightmares and haunted whisperings of his past, his only company.
Years and years went by, until one day, an entourage of men arrived at the tower, and everything changed.
***
They came at dawn, like ants swarming on a piece of bread. From the highest window, Riku watched them assemble, feeling nothing in his heart at their appearance, not even curiosity. He had no idea how many years had passed since the old king had him chained up in here and left him to rot, nor did he particularly care. "They fly the royal banner." He spoke aloud, to himself more than anything else. It had become habit, such a strange one at that; it kept the voices of his memories at bay. "Has so long passed that I am remembered?" Humored, watched as they disembarked, and kept watching even after the men who came into the tower were out of view.
He could hear their footsteps on the stairwell, but did not bother to turn to look. Why? What difference would it make? He watched the birds, instead, higher in the sky and oh so free on the winds, as they flew past the tower.
They mocked him with their wings.
The tower door burst open, the locks on it destroyed, and in came a rather regal looking young man, who must have been somewhere in his twenties or so, looking determined even as those who followed behind appeared apprehensive. "Your majesty," Riku heard one of the men by the young man's side speak, "You must reconsider."
Riku smirked, glancing over his shoulder to look at the group, an expression that did not reach his pale green eyes. He inspected the young man—the king, as it was—taking in the confident stance and the way his brown hair fell into dark blue eyes. Across his forehead was a scar, deep red against tanned skin. A sword sheathed at his side bore the crest of the king, as did a pendant around his neck. So this was man who controlled his destiny now, was it? Had it really been so long that the old king had passed away?
"I have considered." The young king snapped to his companion, an aging man who Riku guessed must be the king's advisor. He turned his attention to Riku, who had returned his eyes to the sky, no longer having any interest here. "Are you the magician Riku?"
The laugh that Riku let out was short and bitter, as he raised one of his chained wrists to push silver hair from his eyes. "I see no other here as chained as I." He told the king with a wry smile, his voice faintly condescending. "Yes, I am the one your ancestor had confined here years ago." He finally turned to face the group, unsurprised as many of the men gasped at his appearance.
"He truly is a magic user!" One of the men in the back whispered, loud enough that even Riku, his magic blocked by the charms on his physical chains, could hear him. "He looks like a child!" He refused to let his eye twitch at the word 'child.' In truth, Riku had remained the same physical age he was when he received the curse—a mere sixteen years of age. He was hardly a child, but nor could he concede that was an adult by appearance.
Instead he smirked. "How little you know!" He teased without humor. "You," He pointed a finger at the brown haired king, "are a child barely old enough to walk in comparison with my own age, for all that you might appear older. What business do you have, disturbing my solitary confinement?"
"There is a rumor," the king said, his voice still infuriatingly calm, unaffected by Riku's words, "that you have the power to divine the future."
"It's not hard." Riku returned his gaze again to the sky. Clouds covered the sun, casting shadow across the room. Riku welcomed the breeze. "It's just a matter of looking in the right direction and sorting through what you see. Any magician can do it."
The king strolled across the room and reached out with one hand to grasp Riku's chin, turning the magician to look him in the eye. The king was a good head taller than Riku, so the magician was forced to crane his neck to meet the king's eyes. A knife appeared in the king's hand, and Riku felt the pressure against his throat, where the leather collar imbued with dampening magic rested far too tightly. With one quick slice that grazed his skin lightly, the collar fell away, along with the smallest amounts of blood from his already healing wound. With the power flooding back into Riku's body—a welcome warmth after so many years of cold aloneness—Riku wasted little time in divesting himself of the shackles on his wrist and ankles, breathing in a sigh akin to happiness as they fell away easily.
"If what you say is true, then you will come to the palace with me." The king had not let go of his chin, forcing Riku to stare upwards into his intense blue eyes. "I'm rather in need of a diviner right now."
"My lord!" The advisor protested again. "This is a magician we're dealing with! You cannot simply cut his bindings and expect him to be loyal!"
Riku laughed quietly, seeing the way the king's eyes narrowed as he frowned. "It seems I'm not wanted among your group. Mayhaps I cannot help." His voice was teasing again, and still scornful of the king.
"I am king here!" The young king's voice rose in a commanding shout, so that he was not misunderstood even as he refused to relinquish his hold on Riku's chin. "I will be obeyed!"
Without hesitation, the King sheathed his sword and lifted Riku off his feet, carrying the smaller man over his shoulder even as Riku protested. "Put me down, I am not some sack to be carried!" But he was ignored. "If you do not, I shall not hesitate to place a curse on you!" He was bluffing, of course. Curses were nasty business, and took far more energy that Riku currently had at his disposal.
The king simply smirked, unaffected. "Don't worry, little magician, I'm already cursed."
Riku paused, taken aback by the king's steady admission, his thoughts twisting as he plotted and sought to comprehend his new keeper. Such a strange man.
***
Hours later, alone with the king, Leon, he'd said his name was, in a room far nicer than the tower he'd come from, Riku took the time to fully inspect the king, staring at him with the barest feelings of wonder.
"Is something the matter?" Leon asked, unperturbed by the angelic creature's gaze. Riku was truly a beauty in his own right, with silver hair that fell to his ankles, green eyes that appeared to large to belong to a human, and pale skin over a delicate, doll like bone structure that made him appear… almost feminine, in a way.
"No… nothing." Riku replied, the haughtiness had faded from his voice sometime in the last few hours, now that he knew that Leon was not a cruel man, and had not once laid his hands on Riku in any untoward manner, be it violent, sexual, or otherwise. For that, he was beginning to earn Riku's respect. "You appear so far removed from you ancestor, nothing at all like him, in fact, that I wondered how much time has passed, or if even the monarchy has been completely replaced."
"It has not been replaced." Leon answered. "My great, great, grandfather placed you in that tower, over a hundred and forty years ago. I suppose such a great distance would account for my differences?" The king smirked, and Riku was coming to realize that there was more he wasn't saying. "If you have time to be concerned, then perhaps you can divine the future for me instead. I want to conquer a neighboring country, but I ask which one I should go after."
"Conquering, is it?" Riku returned the smirk in kind, pushing down the memories that word brought up. "I see your personality is not so different from that of you forefather's."
Ignoring the scorn that laced Riku's words, the king turned to leave, pausing in the doorway to glance over his shoulder at Riku. "Be that as it may, this is your job now, little magician. Warriors craving blood, and aristocrats craving power are all awaiting your outcomes." With that he left, Riku staring after him.
Riku chuckled. "Still the same as ever. When did humankind cease to be unpredictable? Tell me, oh great demon, for I know you are here."
The shadows of the room shifted and wavered, and from it came a demon with hair like blood and the grin of one who thirsts for battle. "Have I become just as predictable, 'little magician'?" The demon mocked, amused.
Riku looked away. "Hardly, but with my powers back your stench lingers more strongly than ever. You are a brave one, to come so close to your oldest enemy when he is not bound in chains."
The demon shook his head. "I have nothing to fear from you. Your heart does not desire my death, if it desires anything at all."
"And who do I have to thank for that?"
The demon grinned, "Certainly not me, pet, for your heart was frozen long before I ever laid a curse on you." He smiled and vanished, the shadows reforming to their natural state even as his voice floated through the air, "That human is unpredictable. I'd be aware of him."
"Where does he gain these foolish notions?" Riku wondered, though really he hardly cared.
The door opened again, and Riku spun to glare at the young woman who had dared to intrude upon his quiet. She was thin and delicate looking, a slight bump in her stomach betraying her as a few months pregnant, with hair the same shade as Leon's, tied up in a cascading braid by a pink ribbon. "Excuse me." The young woman spoke. "I'm Aerith. Lord Leon asked me to serve you."
Riku crossed the room and took the woman by the arm, pulling her inside and shutting the chamber door behind her. The girl yelped in surprise and pulled away, effectively hiding her face in the flowing sleeve of her dress. Great, now he'd scared her. Riku hadn't meant for that to happen. "I'm sorry." He apologized, surprisingly sincere, and gently moved her arm so he could see her face. They both stood about the same height, with her being just the slightest bit taller, to his mild annoyance. "Are you alone?"
The girl nodded, and glanced away, "No, my apologies. You're so… young… and doll like. It took me by surprise."
"So I've been told before." Riku said wryly, any trace of bitterness hidden by the unchanging expression in his face. He crossed the room to take a seat on one of the chairs near the window, so he could stare out at the ending day. "I care not. What can you tell me of Leon? As one of his servants, you must know quite a bit."
Aerith smiled, relaxing now. "I've known the king since he was a small child. The old king died suddenly of illness just a few short months ago. All the kings other children have passed away due to war and disease, so even though Leon is the son of the king's concubine, he is the only heir."
"I see." An illegitimate child, then, only of half-noble blood. That would explain why he looked so little like the king that Riku had known. "I wonder what the young lion means, tearing me from that tower and demanding I divine the future for him."
Aerith hesitated, glancing to the side quickly before returning her attention to Riku. "It's not that simple. Leon's reasons are very complicated and I doubt even he has entirely has them figured out."
Riku clicked his tongue scornfully. "Sacrificing his people with no clear goal in mind? What a foolish child he is."
It caught Aerith off guard, to hear such a young-looking creature refer to the fully grown king as a child. "So it's true then, that you were cursed once, and that's why you neither die nor grow older?" She asked curiously.
Riku nodded. "Your king says it's been around a hundred and forty years since it happened, and I hardly remember the exact year…"
***
The rain was just beginning to fall on the demon town as Riku and his men were hunting down the last of the strays. Some of his men had a young demon girl surrounded, pinned against the stone wall of one of the houses, a sword held to her neck. "We found this wretch trying to hide. Should we kill her or let the other men have her?" One of his men asked him.
Riku snarled, disgusted. "Kill her." He told them, as though she were unsavory. In truth, even Riku had his soft spots, and subjecting young looking children (even if the demon girl was probably well over twice his age) to the vile habits of men was immensely distasteful to him. "There is no need to keep any alive."
The man who held the sword nodded in acknowledgement, and swiftly decapitated the demon. Riku watched it unfold dispassionately, keeping his powers ready should the group be attacked.
Laughter filled the air, inhumane and insane sounding as the shadows from the rain shifted and reformed, and a demon appeared out of the darkness, a twisted smile across a face framed by brilliant red hair. "You come to our cities and you kill our children. What a strong darkness you must have, young magic user." He dodged Riku's men, who rushed him without success, floating just out of their reach as he summoned fire to the palm of his hand. "You are more like a demon than a human. As beautiful as one of us, but with a heart that is neither cruel nor compassionate, only cold. I should give you a gift as suits one who hunts my kind."
The demon overturned his palms, dropping the flames and letting the fire catch on all that would burn, despite the rain. "Undaunted by death, unburdened by time, no fire shall burn nor sword shall pierce, no illness shall catch nor wound take root. You will live until you lose everything, just as I shall live until I see that day."
And as the fires burst up around Riku, he watched the demon vanish into thin air, unable to give chase.
***
"The king blamed me for the deaths of my men, and sentenced me to burn at the stake for my crimes. When the fire had burned all day and night, and my clothing dissolved to ash as I remained untouched, he had me tortured until I revealed the truth." Riku explained to Aerith, his words holding no sense of strong emotion, even as his mind briefly remembered the agony of the second burning and the horror of the resulting torture. "After that he locked me up in the tower."
"Where you stayed until someone came to set you free." A new voice entered the conversation, that of the king. Aerith and Riku both looked up at the sound, seeing the King reclining against the open door. Riku frowned. He hated when doors were left open like that. "Aerith, I would have you take your leave now."
"Yes Lord Leon." The young woman curtsied and hurried out, leaving Riku and Leon alone in the room again.
"You look unhappy." Riku observed, his voice faintly haughty. "Is it that you were hoping I would be grateful to you, for pulling me from that tower? To me, you are no different than the old king was. All that's changed is the name of my master."
Leon turned away. "Of course. I had expected no different." His voice was a careful mask, remaining cool and distant as he spoke. "Have you made your prediction yet?"
"Leon." Riku ignored his question and remained with his back to the young king, staring up at the darkened sky and the few stars that glittered above. "Why did you bring me here? Do you not fear I will place a curse on your kingdom, as so many of your men suspect I will? I have nothing to lose by letting your kingdom fall. In fact, I might even gain something."
Leon smirked, and from the corner of his eye, Riku saw the expression and startled. "I'm hoping you will, but I do not think you would be interested in that sort of thing."
The door clanged shut even as Riku turned around to face an empty room. He speaks as though he knows my heart. Riku wondered, holding his hand to his chest in a vaguely defensive gesture. "What secrets do you hide, little lion?"
***
Drawing a spell circle came to him naturally, even after years of having his magic held away from him. Riku could still clearly remember learning how to divine the future for the first time, as a very young child living in the temple with his brothers and sister. The focusing words of the spell were equally easy to recall, as Riku held the king's sword and knelt in the center of the circle, asking what future there lay for the sword if Leon went in that direction. "I would seek victory for my lord." Riku whispered to the threads of magic, and watched what unfolded behind his eyes.
Death, destruction, the fall of a kingdom, victory and savory treasures of both wealth and flesh. With a grimace Riku glanced away. Yes, to the East. It would bring what Leon's kingdom needed—the resources to sustain itself in the tumultuous time of the new king's transition to power.
He rose from the quiet of the temple chamber, the very same chamber where he had once divined for the old king, when the king asked it of him. At the time, Riku had gladly done whatever the king had requested, but back then he'd been a naïve child, still struggling to find ground after the horrific events of his youth. Back then, every time Riku had closed his eyes he remembered his sister's body shielding him, and the feel of hands tearing him away from her. He remembered the way his brother's bodies had been draped like sacrifices across the sanctuary. He could still remember the pain of subjugation, and the way mankind had defiled his temple when they murdered his family within it. The king had offered a rock in the storm, and Riku had clung to it, foolishly hoping the king would not betray him too.
He would not make the same mistake with this young lion of his, the king who roared like the beast from which he took his name. No, Riku would divine the future for him, but he would never trust the man not to place him back in the tower the moment he was finished using Riku.
Outside the council chambers, Riku could hear voices raised in argument. It seemed the king had some rather vocal opposition to the magician's presence. "You truly intend to trust the outcome of this kingdom on the words of that… unnatural aberration?!"
Unnatural aberration? Riku thought, amused. He'd been called a great many things, most of them unflattering, but that was a new one.
"I will not lead my men into a battle we cannot win!" Another's voice rung out.
Over the other's, the kings voice was a powerful roar. "I will decide what we do. I have no intention of leading us into a battle we cannot win."
Riku snorted softly at the lie. Still, if it was victory the young king wanted, then it was victory Riku would deliver.
***
A few months passed quietly during the time that the king went to war. Riku was left behind, but he had the servant woman Aerith to keep him company, and occasionally his demon would come to see him, though the visits had been far and few between.
Still, when the war banners came home and the troops arrived back at the palace victorious, even Riku had to smile at the festivities. From high above the dining hall, leaning over the balconies that wrapped around the outside of the room, Riku could watch the feasting with a knowing grin, and remembered the times he and his men had done just the same thing. Those had been few but happy times in their own right.
Footsteps behind Riku alerted him to Leon's presence, even before the man came within his view. "Have I satisfied your appetite for victory, hungry lion?" Riku teased, amused.
"No." Came the simple, cool reply.
Riku made a sound of disapproval in the back of his throat, "Such a greedy king you are, gorging yourself on kingdoms you do not need." Riku turned his nose up into the air. "At least you have satisfied your appetite for flesh somewhere far enough away that the stench does not linger in these halls."
"Does it bother you that my men take the beautiful ones as spoils of war, little magician?" Now it was Leon's turn to sound faintly amused by Riku's actions.
Images flashed through Riku's head—images of the light that once shined in his sister's eyes being extinguished, images of his brothers, valiantly attempting to protect him. Images of hands around his throat, the half-remembered pain they had inflicted on his too-young body—even as he spoke calmly, "What does or does not bother me matters not. I will do as you have commanded and divine victories for you. All else is yours to control."
With a few quick strides, Leon crossed the distance between them and wrapped his still battle-gloved fingers around Riku's chin, forcing the magician to look up at him. "Tell me, my obedient pet, what is it you desire most in the world? I'd like to give you a gift for our victory."
Riku resisted the urge to snort with laughter. "I desire to have this curse removed from me, so that I might join my kin in the afterlife. But you, oh powerful king of lions, cannot possibly grant me that wish." With that the magician turned left, his silver hair trailing behind him like a cape, leaving the king behind to ponder his words.
***
Later that night, Leon tossed in dreams fitfully, finally waking to the moonlight spilling across the floor of the bedchamber.
"You seek a way to grant his wish, do you not?" A voice spoke from across the room, and Leon glanced up to see a red haired figure perched on the edge of the fireplace's mantel.
"Who are you, and how did you get in here?" Leon demanded.
The figure smirked. "Such useless questions you have! They hold no sway on this conversation. But, if you must have a name, I am Axel, a demon of fire." He summoned the flames to his hand, and just as quickly extinguished them. "You want to know how you can grant that poor child's request, do you not?"
Leon reached for the knife he kept under his pillow. Even knowing that he stood no chance against Axel, he still felt a bit more confident as he nodded to the demon.
Axel's grin widened, revealing pointed teeth. "Good! I thought as much. For him, to see death is a death of itself. His heart may be frozen, but he still has the memories of his emotions."
With that, the demon vanished into the shadows, leaving Leon confused. "'To see death is a death of itself'? What is that supposed to mean?"
***
The next morning Aerith seemed even more depressed than usual as she cleaned Riku's rooms, sighing every so often and pausing to look out the window at the trees. Riku, who was brushing out the great volumes of his hair, glanced over at the woman. "What's the matter, Aerith? Did you lose someone important in the last battles?"
"I think so." She sighed and turned away from the window, continuing her chores. "No, it's not that. I was just remembering. In truth, this kingdom conquered the kingdom I was born in, many years ago. I don't know if I can be happy when another kingdom falls to it." She startled suddenly, and realizing what she'd said, placed her hands over her mouth. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to say anything that might offend you."
Riku shook his head, smiling. "No, Aerith, it's all right. My story is much the same. This kingdom conquered my homeland as well." He paused, reaching up to touch he hair. "This color is one I had not seen in this land before I was imprisoned. Where are you from?"
Aerith paused for a moment. "Radiant Garden, north of here." She conceded. "Though all that remains of it now are some of the old ruins."
Riku hummed in thought. "And your king as well?"
The woman shook her head. "No. Leon was born here within these walls. His mother was a woman of Radiant Garden, taken in battle because the king had a fancy of her. She died when Lord Leon was very young."
Riku nodded in understanding. The child of a taken woman… no wonder he claims to be cursed.
Still, something more bothered him, and he glanced over again at Aerith, his young face marred by a thoughtful frown. "Aerith," he questioned, "how soon are you expecting a child?"
Aerith blushed and looked away. "I'm pregnant from just shortly after Leon became king, so I expect the child will come in the winter." Her tone was guarded as she spoke, so Riku decided not to press any further.
***
A few days later, Riku and Leon met each other, quite by accident, in the passageways of the palace, just outside the garden near the residential wing.
"Despite all that's been said on the matter, your predictions have thus far been infallible." Leon complimented. "Though, I suppose it is as you've said before, 'nothing remarkable'?"
Riku shook his head, "I no longer need to divine the future to predict what it is that must come to be. You have me garnered as a pawn in your mad plan to destroy your own kingdom."
Leon hardly seemed surprised at Riku's revelation. He had expected the magician to notice it quickly enough. "Does this bother you?"
"No." Riku replied. "It has nothing to do with me, whether you destroy this land or not. You may do as you please." His face and voice betrayed no emotion to say otherwise.
"Yes, and that's exactly why I was able to win this last battle." In one hand, Leon grabbed hold of one of the magician's delicate wrists, in the other he cupped the youth's face, and pushed the smaller man up against the wall. "Your heart, as they say, holds neither love nor hatred, cruelty nor compassion. You reflect only what you are shown, and that makes you the perfect tool in my design." He leaned down and brushed his thumb across Riku's lips, before capturing them with his own in a gentle, but firm, kiss.
Riku did not react, merely remained passive as Leon kissed him. "If you are not careful," he told Leon when they broke the kiss, his breath hardly affected by the passion, "I will become more important to you than a pawn is. You wouldn't want to ruin your game because you miscalculated the actions of your men."
Leon smirked. "I trust you, Riku, not to become more important than you must. You will be nothing more than a pawn."
***
More months passed after that. Riku continued to divine the future, and Leon continued to lead his men into battle. Another kingdom fell, and then another, and then another, on and on until the fall had passed to winter, the winter into spring, and the spring into the very beginnings of another warm summer.
As she had predicted, Aerith gave birth in the winter, to a healthy baby boy with hair a sun kissed brown. When Riku went to visit the woman shortly after the birth, she found both mother and child awake and well, and was again reminded by the weight of his immortality; to know that the child's life would be fleeting compared to his own. Still, the mother smiled at him, even if her expression was just a little touched by sadness, and asked of him, "You'll watch over him too, won't you? Especially since his father will not."
Riku had nodded. He did not know who the father was, but he felt close enough to Aerith to agree with her wishes. "What is his name?"
"Sora." The mother replied, and the baby smiled up at Riku.
***
By summer's beginning, it had been a little less than a year since Riku had been pulled from his tower, and during that time Leon had taken four of the small territorial kingdoms with ease, the strength and resources of his men growing with each simple victory.
Each time the king returned to the palace, Riku would watch the festivities and ask of the king, "Have you satisfied your thirst for blood yet, hungry lion?"
Each time the king would shake his head and reply with a simple answer. "No."
He would never be happy, not until the day Riku divined the doom of his kingdom, the day when his men would not be victorious.
That day would come far sooner than anyone but Riku could have predicted, for in the South, a king who had watched King Leon gather his armies and his strength, decided to strike preemptively, before Leon could gain any more momentum. The king would strike Leon down before the king of lions had a chance to return the favor.
***
Riku knelt by the pool of water in the far garden of the palace. Even though he'd lived here a year now, this was one of the few places he had yet to explore. Here, he figured, he would be relatively isolated from the servants and nobles who regarded him with fear and thinly veiled disgust. In one hand he held the special ink he used to make his divination circles, in the other was the brush to paint the charms. Carefully, he painted the circle he would need, and set the ink and brush aside as he waited for it to dry.
It was the beginning of summer right now, and the first of the roses had begun to bloom, their petals springing up all around the garden. Riku was more interested in the thorns, however, for the flowers appeared to have wickedly sharp ones, almost as though they knew they were in danger of being plucked, such was the garden they resided in, and were compensating for it.
Almost like the king. Riku considered, amused again. Yes, the king was like a rose in these palace walls; well aware of the deceit that surrounded him and willing to grow thorns beneath his deceptively beautiful face. He could be both lovely and deadly sharp, unafraid to prick those foolish enough to try and touch him.
Riku concentrated on the image of King Leon in his head as he knelt in the center of the spell circle, whispering the focusing words in the old language to call his magic to him. This reading would be different from the other ones Riku had performed. For this, Riku was looking for a specific answer, one which Leon had never bothered to give him.
Crying… he could hear the sound of sobs throughout the garden. Rising up, Riku glanced around for the source of the sound. A small child, no older than five or six years, was sitting on the ground near the briar bushes, his hands over his face. Pale, sun-streaked brown hair, untamable and spiked, framed his face.
Curiously, Riku knelt before the child, taking the boy's hands gently in his own and pulling them away from the boy's face. "Why do you cry so, little child?" He asked, curiously. But even as he spoke he could see the blood that dripped from a wound across the child's forehead, the jagged scar that would become so emblematic.
"Mommy hurt me." The boy replied, tears leaking from his large, dark blue eyes.
Pity, such as he'd never felt before, welled within Riku at the sight of the hurt child. Carefully, he brushed away the child's tears and leaned in to kiss the wound gently, watching as his magic healed it into a thick scar across his brow. "There, child, dry your eyes. You were meant for greater things."
"This garden is off limits to all but the king."
A voice startled Riku from his spell, and the illusion fell away as he spun to face the intruder in his midst. There before him stood the king, his expression carefully neutral.
"I see." Riku replied, unfazed. "It has become your sanctuary." He glanced up at the man's face. "Who healed your wounds?" He questioned, reaching up to touch the scar.
"A man dressed in black with hair like blood did. He told me I was meant for greater things, but to attain my dreams I had to free the man locked in the tower." Leon smirked, covering Riku's hand with his own. "I guess he meant you."
"Axel." Riku exhaled the name of the demon as a mix of a curse and an expression of wonderment, his voice too low for Leon to hear.
"My mother gave it to me." Leon explained, returning the topic to his scar. "At the time, I didn't know what I to do, but the man gave me a sense of direction. My mother didn't want me, because I was the product of rape, so she tried to kill me. She wanted me to disappear, and I wanted to disappear as well. The man gave me a path that day, a way to make that wish come true."
Riku shook his head, the cascades of silver hair shimmering around him. "Why tell me this now? I am already your pawn, so you have no need to speak such things to me."
"But that's what you wanted to find out, is it not? What happened to make me desire my own destruction?"
The magician turned away. "Should I feel pity for you, young king?" He felt Leon's hand tangle in the long locks but didn't bother to knock him away. "I cannot. I have only the fragmented memories of my own past left, though haunt me they may. There is nothing left within me, no hatred, no love, no misplaced pity for a destructive child in a mad downward spiral. Not when I can still remember dirty hands holding me against the ground. Not when I remember fire and whip searing away my nerves, only to heal moments afterwards." From beneath the silver locks, Riku smirked up at the king. "I've been abandoned by everyone and everything, even death. One day even you will abandon me one day, and so I hold no love lost for your story."
"But still you looked into the past. You're the only one who has ever cared enough to seek the truth." Gentle hands tugged Riku's hair to full lips, as the king kissed the locks affectionately. Riku turned to regard him with a mix of curiosity and surprise. "I'm not asking for your sympathy, Riku, only that you stay by my side until I have reached my goal." Gentle lips met Riku's in a firm but chaste kiss, one from which Riku felt the king had pulled away far too soon. "That's why I will never lock you away again. I will stay with you until the time comes that one of us should die."
As the king wrapped his arms around Riku in an embrace, a moment of weakness brought on by his revelation to Riku. The magician smiled a bit, and let Leon hold him. "So selfish." He teased, but his words held only the most trace amounts of affection.
"Yes." Leon breathed in his ear, felling the smaller body mold itself to his as Riku relaxed. "Though I want you to know that this is all your fault, that I've become so attached to you."
Riku's smile grew. "Very soon the land will near its end. What do you plan to do when that time comes?" He questioned. "Do you intend to die here alongside your palace, and break your promise mere days after it was made?"
Leon shook his head. "No. We'll leave here. I cannot grant your wish, so instead I will go with you before the enemy arrives."
"I see." Riku replied, burying himself against the older man. "In that case I will accept your terms."
Leon leaned down and stole another kiss from his magician's lips, and smiled at him. Riku smiled back, small, hopeful, and just a little bit trusting.
***
Two weeks, Riku predicted, would pass before the enemy army would finally overwhelm the capital and the palace. Riku and Leon spent that time strengthening their tentative bond to each other, and when the time grew near, they remained behind as others evacuated from the palace and capital.
One morning, as Leon walked alone on the path near the garden, he heard the raven crow its death knell and knew the walls would soon be breached. He'd have to leave soon, if he and Riku wanted to survive and make a new life. "It's sounds like a funeral bell." He mused, glancing up at the bird.
"Like a life fading." Another voice, feminine and light, agreed. Leon turned to see Aerith, her usually braided hair down in a tangle of curls around her shoulders and back.
"Aerith?" The young king questioned, surprised to see the maid still here. "Why haven't you left yet?"
"And where would I go?" Aerith questioned, moving close enough to Leon to place her head against his chest. "The enemy is at our gates. You always did intend to leave me to rot, didn't you?"
Leon gasped as he felt the sharp pierce of a knife, stumbling back to reveal that Aerith had stabbed him through the stomach with a hidden blade. The young woman's eyes remained expressionless as she watched her king stumble and fall. "I helped raise you." Aerith said. "And yet all you've given me is tears. You're a very sad person, little Leon, but even I cannot forgive you for what you've done."
Slowly, carefully, she turned to walk away.
***
From his room not far away, Riku was suddenly overwhelmed by a sense of wrongness, of death and sadness that permeated his senses. "Leon?" He questioned the air, feeling the sensations grow at the thought.
Why is this happening?
Riku turned and fled the room, following the thread of the feeling that would lead him to where Leon was. He found the man in the garden, resting against the wall as blood dripped down his side. "Leon?" For once, Riku felt something stronger than a faint twinge of emotion in his heart. He was worried for the king. "What happened? Hold still and I'll try to heal it for you!" He whispered the words frantically, even as Leon shook his head.
"It's… too late." Leon managed to say. "Riku? Did you not foresee this?" He asked, a bitter smile crossing his face, as he reached out his bloody hand to caress Riku's silver hair. "Why… are you crying? Surely I am but another insignificant loss to you?"
Riku reached up his own hand, surprised to feel how wet his cheeks had become. He hadn't cried since he was a teenager. "You're not."
"Then… maybe I can do one last favor for you. 'To see death, is death itself.' Isn't that what the demon said?"
"No." Riku whispered. "No, don't." He embraced the man, not caring if he clothes became bloody in the process. He could feel the life as it drained from the king, and he clung helplessly to what remained, but finally even Riku could no longer feel anything left in the body he held close.
"Demon!" Riku raised his voice in a shout, a death knell of his own. "Come from the shadows, I know you are here!"
Sure enough, the shadows shaped and reformed themselves as Axel stepped out, his expression blank even as he watched Riku's face crumple with grief.
"Have I not satisfied the curse yet?" Riku asked, again oblivious to the tears that leaked from the corners of his eyes. "Can I not yet join my brothers and sisters in death?"
Axel shook his head silently, and pointed towards the center of the garden, where just then a keening wail went up, the cry of a babe. "You have not lost everything." Axel told him.
Riku stood and followed the sound of the cries to its source. There, near the fountain, was the infant Sora, wrapped in blankets and crying for his missing mother. "Aerith's child." He breathed, leaning down to lift the squalling babe and sooth his cries.
"And Leon's." Axel added, having followed him.
Riku glanced at him sharply. "What?"
"Surely you did not think your precious Leon was acting in truth, did you? You, who has suffered rape at the hands of many, must know the expression of one who has borne it as silently as yourself. You are far too old to believe that such a destructive child could ever hope to love you."
The magician frowned and turned away. "What cruelty you continue to show, demon. Have you not punished me enough?"
Again, Axel shook his head. "My heart is as yours, little magician. Though I cursed you with a fit of rage, such time has passed that I no longer hold any such emotions towards you. Not love nor hatred, cruelty nor compassion. I had thought that, maybe this time, you would finally die."
"Why did you tell Leon to set me free from my tower?"
Axel shrugged. "It was a horrible act, on the humans part, to chain you so. I simply set to undo it for you. Nothing was changing, within those frigid walls. Perhaps I did it out of misplaced compassion. Perhaps I did it for amusement."
Behind them, the shouts of the enemy troops rose up through the palace. Riku's time had run out. He held the child against his chest and turned away, prepared to vanish as he and Leon had once planned.
He walked back to where Leon's body lay and, after setting the infant down, pulled the dagger from Leon's wound, using it to severe the ankle length silver hair from his head. The weight of the years came loose in his hand, what remained of his hair falling in the barest of curls around his shoulders in much the same style that Leon had worn his own hair. Gently, Riku placed both severed locks and bloodied dagger over Leon's heart, then picked up Sora and turned to walk away.
Behind him, Axel set the garden with its roses and its king of lions on fire, burning away what remained for Riku here.
"To see death is not death." Riku told the demon over his shoulder, his last words as the demon laughed at him and returned to the shadows.
***
Staining my soul and stinging my eyes
the red on my hands
won't wash away, wash away
Nowhere to run from what I have done
I'm no longer, no longer
a Rose of May
Finé
AN: SoaHB readers, please accept this as appeasement for not updating for two weeks. I needed to write something that 1) required very little thought and 2) had all the undertones of angst that I love and crave. I know it drives some people crazy, but I can't seem to write anything BUT angst. :D
I didn't follow the plot of the original story exactly, as those of you who've read the story will probably be able to tell. This ending is just as "WTF?" as Garden's ending was, but in a different way. Even I cannot escape the urge to write symbolism into everything I do. Though, this title is more a nod to Kate's symbolism that anything else, as "Roses of May" is a metaphor for innocence and, in this story, all the characters are victims of war's darkened blade in some way or another.
There's a part of me that wants to spoof this story so bad, just because my writing's so awful in it that I'm almost afraid it will end up getting sporked. The pretentious language! The use of unusual euphemisms for hair and eyes! The out of characterness! It burns. (Okay, I'm done being dramatic now)
But this was fun to write, so I guess it's all right in the end.
Reviews are still very much welcome and appreciated, though. :-)
~Lockea