Every night, like clockwork, Risa kept her promise to visit Ventis and watched him train under the supervision of Terra and Aqua. A few months had passed since she was face to face with her father again and the thought scared her. Soon would be the Mark of Mastery exams and she had hoped Ventis was ready for it. Risa watched another nightly training session from behind her usual bush, enjoying some Sea Salt Ice cream, when a figure crept up from behind her. Startled, he quickly turned around, dropping her ice cream on the ground and had her Keyblade already in hand. The figure, who turned out to be Isaac, put his hands up in defense.
"I'm sorry I startled you. I just came over to see how you were doing" Isaac explained, laughing nervously. Risa frowned and lowered her Keyblade, it soon disappearing afterwards.
"You know from our childhood what happens when you sneak up on me. Please be more careful, okay?" she said affectionately, placing a gentle hand on his arm, a small smile on her face. Isaac nodded, a small smile forming on his face as he took one of her hands in his own and lifted it to his lips, placing a gentle kiss there.
"I'm sorry, my princess. Please forgive me" he said softly. Risa's smile grew wider and she pulled her hand away and wrapped her arms around him, giving him a tight hug.
"You are so formal, Isaac. You need to lighten up a little!" she teased, pulling away as she pushed him playfully. "I'm not a princess anymore. I gave up that stupid title and all that came with it! You and I are just best friends now, okay?" Risa explained, giving him a wink before turning her attention back to the training fields.
A small blush began forming on Isaac's face at those words. He had always had a fondness for both princesses growing up, but he liked her in particular. Sometimes he feared more than friends, but would never let something like that ruin what they had. Isaac had decided he would push those feelings aside and be more like an older brother figure rather than try to be something more.
"Ventis has been training really hard" he commented, turning his attention back to where he and Terra fought, using their respective Keyblades as Aqua and the two watched on. Risa nodded in agreement and stretched her arms up over her head and yawned softly.
"Yea, I have a good feeling about him passing his Mark of Mastery exam. He's super smart and a very quick learner" she explained, glancing back to Isaac. "He kind of reminds me of you. Always studying and training. Also smart like you too" Risa added, smiling in his direction. Isaac glanced back at her, a small smile on his face.
"Not as smart and you and your sister, though" he chuckled, reaching over to ruffle her hair. Risa rolled her eyes and quickly swatted his hand away playfully. They turned their attention back to the others, noticing they were all leaving now. Risa yawned again and watched them leave, Ventis pausing to look over in their direction. He smiled, knowing they were behind the bushes watching him.
"See you guys later" he said under his breath as he turned away and followed after his friends. Risa and Isaac watched as he left, Risa moving to stand by the ledge of the high platform, staring up at the sky.
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The day of the Mark of Mastery exam had finally arrived and Risa wanted to make sure she was there when Aqua and Terra took their exams. She had found out Ventis was not old enough to take the exam, but was merely helping Terra and Aqua prepare for theirs. Regardless, she wanted to be there for her friends any way she could.
Risa hopped down from the bed and glanced over in Lea's direction. Like always, he was sound asleep and would not wake for anything. Risa rolled her eyes playfully and quickly got dressed, heading in the direction of the kitchen. She paused when she heard talking and quickly hid around the doorway to listen. Risa slowly peered around the corner and noticed a girl sitting at her usual spot, soon realizing it was her sister, Gillian who was talking to Isa as he did the usual breakfast routine.
Risa bit her lip, weighing her options. She could either go in there and finally talk to her sister, or not eat until lunch. Risa sighed and decided on the latter, she would finally talk to her sister again after almost two years of not speaking. She made her way around the doorway and acted like she had not been hiding for the past five minutes and sat down opposite of Gillian, in Isa's usual seat. Gillian glanced up, a look of shock on her face as she realized her sister was there.
"Risa, is that you?" she questioned, tilting her head slightly to the side to examine her sisters new choice of hair color. Risa rolled her eyes, a small grin forming on her face.
"Nah, I'm just the ghost of castle's past" she joked, always having chosen sarcasm as a means to cover up when she was nervous. Gillian rolled her eyes at her sister, pushing her arm playfully.
"You haven't changed, Risa. I'm glad" she said, looking at her sister affectionately. "How have you been? It's been so long" Gillian said, taking a piece of toast from the island counter and bit into it. RIsa shrugged and took an apple, biting into it to give her some time to answer the question.
"Yea, it's been a while. I'm just peachy. How are you?" she asked her sister in return, wanting to avoid talking about her encounter with their father almost two years previous. Gillian smiled and leaned her elbows on the table, putting her head in her hands as she watched Isa cook.
"I'm in love" she cooed, watching Isa who was busy cooking breakfast. Isa turned his attention to them as he gave Gillian a wink before turning back to the pan he was working on. Gillian sighed happily and glanced over at her sister. "How is your man by the way? Is he still sleeping?" she asked. Risa shrugged and tossed the apple she had finished into the trash and stretched.
"He's a growing boy" she said, moving to get up off the stool. "Tell him I love him and I'll see him later. I need to go" Risa said as she walked over to Isa, pecked him on the cheek and made her way over to Gillian and did the same. "Nice seeing you, sis. Come by for dinner later and we can talk more" she said as she rushed out the door, not giving either of them time to respond.
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When she finally got to the castle, she noticed something at the corner of her eye. Risa gasped as she realized who was there and quickly hid behind the nearest bush. She could not believe what she was seeing. Xehanort was making his way into the castle, followed by that mysterious figure she saw a few weeks ago. Risa watched carefully as they entered the castle, the doors soon closing behind them.
When she knew the coast was clear, she made her way to her usual entrance, the servants exit. Risa did her usual knock and the door opened, Leo standing there in the doorway, his usual cigarette in his hand.
"Yea, what you want?" he said , leaning against the doorway to prevent her from passing. Risa rolled her eyes and tried to push past him, but had no luck, instead getting a face full of cigarette. She coughed and moved away from her, waving her hand as if trying to disapate the smoke.
"Can I get in, please? I'm going to be late to see the exams" she said impatiently, crossing her arms over her chest and tapping her foot against the grass.
"Leo, just let her in" a voice came from somewhere behind him. Risa glanced over and saw Isaac standing there, his arms crossed over his chest. Leo shrugged and moved away, tossing his finished cigarette in the grass before wandering off. Isaac watched him leave and shook his head, motioning for Risa to come inside. "I'm sorry about him. You know how he can be" he explained as he ushered her in the closed the door.
"Yea I know all too well" Risa agreed as she followed Isaac to the room where the Mark of Mastery exam was to take place. She soon paused, remembering now what she had seen and wanted to tell Isaac. "Isaac, I saw Xehanort earlier. He was coming into the castle! Do you know anything about this?" Risa asked, a look of concern on her face. Isaac paused, as if in thought. He turned his attention to her, a frown on his face.
"Yea, I wanted to tell you, but I didn't want to upset you. Hes a guest invited by Master Eraqus. I guess he's looking for the next great Keyblade Master or someone to use as one of his new puppets" Isaac said grimly, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. "I wouldn't worry about it too much, though. Your friends will be fine. I'll have all the guards on duty there in case something happen" Isaac assured her as he led her to the audience chamber.
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Once there, Isaac ushered her into a dark corner so she could watch what was going on, but remain undetected by the others in the room. Terra and Aqua were already there, as well as Ventis, Master Eraqus and someone who she recognized as Xehanort sitting in one of the two thrones on the platform. Risa slowly moved towards one of the pillars to get a better look of what was going on, but staying well hidden. Xehanort glanced over in her direction, knowing full well she was there. He could always feel her presence, but chose to pretend like he didn't know she was there.
After a few short minutes, the exam had finally begun. Master Eraqus raised his Keyblade and balls of light appeared in front of Terra and Aqua. A few moments later, Risa watched as Xehanort raised his hand, a darkness surrounding it as some of the balls of light began shifting into a ball of darkness rather than light. Risa gasped and covered her mouth, deciding whether or not to intervene. She quickly decided against it, as she knew Terra and Aqua could handle this.
Moments later, for what seemed like forever, the exam was finally over. Aqua and Terra stood in front of Master Eraqus again. He told them they had done a great job in their exam, but only Aqua had passed because Terra could not control his "darkness" as Eraqus had put it. Terra nodded his head in respect before storming out of the room.
Risa watched him leave, waiting a few minutes before following him out, making sure not to be found him outside sitting on the bottom of the steps with his face in his hands. She frowned and quietly made her way down to him, taking a seat beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I don't care what Eraqus says, you did an amazing job" Risa said gently, trying not to startle him. Terra glanced over at her, a small smile forming on his face.
"Thanks, that means a lot coming from you" he said to her. "I'll never be as good as you or your sister, though. I have too much darkness inside of me" Terra said as he frowned. Risa rolled her eyes and pushed him playfully.
"Everyone has darkness inside them. I too was like you. I didn't pass my exam either. He said the exact same thing to me" she explained, looking down at her hands. They were soon interrupted by the doors opening, Risa choosing to quickly hide behind the stairs, making sure to be well covered. She listened as she heard Xehanort's voice.
He was talking to Terra and Terra was shouting something about how he had failed to learn something and darkness was nothing to fear. A few moments later, bells began to ring from somewhere in the castle. Risa decided in that moment she would leave, not wanting to get caught by Xehanort. She would continue her conversation with Terra later.
Risa quietly crept away, and headed home, moving as quickly as she could. Once there, she walked in and closed the door firmly behind her as she tried to catch her breath. Lea and Isa sat at the island table, but having turned their attention to her.
"Ris, are you okay?" Lea asked in concern as he jumped down from his stool and made her way over to her. Risa shook her head and slowly slid down the closed door, putting her face in her hands to stop herself from crying.
"I saw my father again. He was trying to mess with my friends. I don't know what to do anymore" she said, her voice breaking. Lea frowned and knelt down beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as Isa came to join them.
"Hey, it's going to be okay. Your friends can totally kick his butt if they have to" he assured her as he squeezed her shoulder, placing a kiss on the top of her head. Risa looked up at Lea, tears all over her face. She sniffled and wiped them away with the back of her sleeve.
"I got it memorized" she said to him, a small smile forming on her face as she knew that was his famous line. Lea grinned and wrapped his other arm around her, pulling her into a hug, Isa on the other side of them with a smile on his face. They both then helped her up once she had calmed down and brought her to the living room where Gillian was, reading a book titled 'The Art of War.' Gillian glanced up from her book, having already heard what happened in the kitchen.
"They're going to need a lot more help if they want to fight against Father" she said as she placed the book down on the table. "You and I both know how powerful he is. He will not stop until he gets what he wants, even if it means hurting people" Gillian said grimly, moving to stand up from the couch. "If you'll excuse me, I need to go for now. See you guys later" she said as she left.
Risa watched her go, a frown on her face. She knew something was up with her sister, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Risa shook her head and with Isa and Lea's help, sat down on the couch as Lea covered her with her favorite blanket. He then sat down beside her and put an arm around her shoulders, Isa choosing to sit in his favorite chair beside them.
Risa had a bad feeling something bad was going to happen soon and if she didn't prepare, it would be the end of all of them.