Title: The Lost One
Pairing: SoraxRiku (that's it for now)
Warnings: Violence, flashbacks
AnsemMensa: You were right. I reward you with virtual cookies. (toss)
Chapter 3
Sora stared at Leon, still unbelieving.
"Understand this Sora, just about everyone has darkness inside of them. No matter how bright and good a person may seem, there lies the potential to do bad. Does this make sense?"
Sora nodded.
"There are only seven people who have no darkness in them. They are known as the 'Princesses of Heart.' Or rather they were. You see, the power that lies in a purely good heart is enormous. Whoever posses them will have the power to rule the world. A thousand years ago, a man named Sephiroth amassed an army to collect the hearts. Six of the girls were found. Their hearts were cut out and turned into crystals." Sora felt horror and sympathy rise in him. To sacrifice anyone like that...
"The last girl was named Kairi. Knowing that if they were to get her heart, Kairi cut it out and had someone hid it. You see, she had a servant who quickly became one of her best friends. She trusted him, more than anyone else." His dream came back to him, the words of the unknown girl echoing in his head.
"I trust you more than anyone."
"The servant took the heart, and hid it. But Sephiroth and his army got wind of his location. He was hunted down. Rather than risk revealing the location, he killed himself." Sora felt the hair on his neck raise up. He swallowed.
"How did he die?" But he already knew the answer.
"Jumped off of a cliff." Leon gave Sora a scrutinizing look. "You've seen this in a dream?" Sora nodded. Leon turned away. This confirmed it.
"Sora, there's more to the story. You see, Kairi was a priestess for the goddess. In order to protect her friend she had the goddess give everlasting life to us. We were the warriors in charge of guarding the hearts. But, we were charged with another duty. Her friend was in danger and made the supreme sacrifice. It was promised that he would one day be resurrected. And when he did, the fate of the world would rest upon him." Sora glanced up, blue eyes guarded. "It's you, Sora. It's no doubt now." There was silence, then,
"You're wrong." Sora stood up quickly. "I can believe everything you just said, but that is too crazy. I am just me, I'm not who you think I am." The teen walked toward the door.
"I can tell you why you have that dream, Sora. I can tell you why you feel like you really don't belong here." Sora froze, tensing. He turned around, tears in his eyes.
"Shut the fuck up. You know nothing about me." He fled, slamming the door behind him. Leon sighed, cursing himself for saying the wrong thing. Even if it was true.
Sora ended up in the garden, collapsing by some roses. He sobbed, hearing Leon's words echo in his head. It was true, he did feel alienated. It was feeling he hated, one that kept him up at night. For a stranger to identify that when his own parents couldn't was frightening. He rubbed his eyes, feeling embarrassed for crying. Then, someone's shoe came into view.
"Are you alright?" Sora took a long breath. Perfect, he thought. Now someone gets to witness my humiliation.
"No, as a matter of fact, I am not fine. I am trying to find my way out of this hell hole." Sora glanced up, and stopped dead. It was the teen who had killed the monster. The silver haired kid. What was his name again?
"The door is that way. Of course if you are desperate, you could scale the fence." Sora stared at him, making the other teen uncomfortable.
"What?" Up until this point, Sora had remained calm. But everyone has their breaking point.
"HOW CAN YOU JUST ACT SO CALM? I JUST GOT ATTACKED BY A MONSTER THAT SMELLS LIKE THE INSIDE OF A SHOE, GOT POISONED, WOKE UP NAKED, AND WAS TOLD I'M THE RESURRECTED SERVANT OF SOME CHICK WHO APPARENTLY GAVE ME A POWERFUL HEART!!" Sora stopped, forced to inhale.
"Maybe you should calm down for a moment..."
"CALM? YOU WANT ME TO BE CALM? I WILL NOT BE CALM FOR MONTHS!" The silver-haired boy sighed, feeling irritated.
"Well, how 'bout you just quiet down for a while? I'm not deaf." Sora inhaled, swelling up. The boy reached over and covered his mouth. Sora was extremely tempted to bite it. Then, all the anger left the brunet, making him deflate. The bigger boy noticed the change, and removed his hand.
"I'm sorry." The words were soft, with Sora refusing to meet the other's eyes. The teen narrowed his eyes, but smiled warmly.
"It's okay. I'm Riku by the way." He held out his hand. Sora took it, smiling. The two sat down on the grass. A comfortable silence passed between them. Sora plucked some grass, scattering it back on the ground. "So are you really that anxious to leave?" The brunet sighed, trying to find the right words. He didn't want to appear rude to the person who saved him.
"Yes. It's not that I don't appreciate what you guys have done for me." Riku shifted his body, failing to mention it was he who had taken Sora's clothes off. "I just want to go back to existing in my normal life. Even if it's not really what I was meant to do." The last part sounded unsure. Riku asked,
"What do mean by that?"
"Now that I have this knowledge, I can never go back to who I used to be. I will always look at things differently, I'll always be looking over my shoulder for stuff like that ugly...thing."
"It was a troll..." Riku interrupted, his voice trailing off.
"Whatever. Do you understand?"
"More than you know." There was another long pause. "Will you at least listen to what Leon has to say? Then, you can make a decision." Riku stared beseechingly at the younger boy. Sora wavered, then gave in.
"Alright. I'll listen to what he has to say. Only 'cause you asked so nicely." Sora missed the small smile Riku gave at those words.
Leon was sitting on the same chair, looking contemplative. He looked up when Sora and Riku came into the room, relief evident. Sora sat down on the arm chair he had left, glaring slightly at Leon.
"I want to apologize. I didn't mean to offend you." Sora closed his eyes and inhaled. Those words were still painful. Riku grabbed a wood-back chair and pulled it over, plunking himself down on it. "What do you want to know?"
"What happens if I stay with you?"
"We moved around often. Rather than engage in battle with Sephiroth and his men, we avoid it whenever possible. It may be a cowardly approach, but we cannot risk more lives being lost. You would come with us, of course. You'll train to fight, which shouldn't be too difficult. All your learned instincts are still ingrained on your memory. Have you ever been in a fight and been shocked at your skills, even if you haven't learned them." Sora hesitated and then nodded.
"My mom signed me up for karate class. The teacher said I was amazing, and with the proper training I could be a black belt in two years. One of the bigger kids attacked me; he was trying to prove I wasn't all that great...I broke his jaw." Riku grinned, feeling unnaturally proud. Leon nodded.
"Believe it or not, that's good. And, we will also work on unlocking your true memories. It'll be a slow process, but we can't afford to have you crack under the burden of unloading it all at once." Sora nodded.
"And If I leave?"
"You'll go back to your life. School, friends, your parents, everything. But..." The scarred man stopped, looking somber. "You'll be putting not only your life in danger, but everyone's around you. We cannot gurantee that we will be there to protect you. Sephiroth's been spotted in the area. More than likely he knows who you are. He won't hesitate to attack you, regardless of who is around, or who gets hurt." The older man hated to use Sora's care for others against him, but it would probably be the only way to get him to stay. Sora glared at him.
"How do I know you're not just saying that?" Leon sighed, moving his hair. The scar disappeared into his hair-line.
"Do you know how I got this? Sephiroth attacked me in plain sight, in a subway station. There was a woman there, and in her haste to get away, crossed into our path. I tried to save her, but he cut her down. She died as a failure of me to protect her. His sword cut my head. It's a reminder of the shame i have." Sora felt like such a dick. Leon's eyes were truthful, unwavering.
"I'm sorry." He cringed, he had been saying that phase a lot. He sighed, "I guess I don't really have much of a choice than. I'll stay." He swallowed past a lump in his throat. His parents, Tidus...would they be okay? Leon had an odd combination of relief and worry on his face.
"Good." He stood and held out his hand, pulling the teen up. "Riku? Will you show him around?" The teen nodded and stood also. The Seville mansion may have been declared an eyesore on the outside, but the inside was richly decorated. Riku showed him what had been an old ball room. It was being used for weapons practice. Axel was there, along with Roxas, a blond boy. He viewed everything with a grave, cold air. He smiled tightly when introduced to Sora. Axel was the complete opposite, he gave Sora a bone-crunching hug that left the teen gasping for air. Next was the kitchen, where a large man named Lexaeus was making something that smelled good. He observed Sora with a quiet aloofness at first, but gave a small smile when Sora declared his soup to be delicious. He gave Sora a cookie, then turned back to his cooking meal. Riku explained that Lexaeus never spoke, he had been injured in a fight that had robbed him of his inability to speak. On their way to the games room, they passed an old door.
Sora stopped to look at it. Unlike everything else, this door had dust on it. Riku hadn't noticed him stopping and continued down the hall. Reaching for the door knob Sora stopped. He swore his name was just whispered. He pulled his hand away, but took a deep breath and turned the door knob.
The room was empty, with no windows and only one door. Sora's eyes focused in on the gloom. He was mistaken, there was a black box on top of a table. He was just about to step into the room, when Riku grabbed his arm.
"What are you doing?" The other boy sounded mad, but also a bit scared. Sora frowned, confused. Why would anyone be afraid of a box?
"I just wanted to know what was in here. What is that?" He pointed to the box. Riku shook his head.
"Listen to me Sora. Don't ever come in here without being told you can. It's not being rude, it's just a rule. A strictly enforced rule. That thing is an oracle, a seer. It'll answer any question you have, but only if you have permission." Sora nodded, stepping out into the hall. Riku shut the door with a shudder. "I talked to it once. But..." He looked thoughtful, but shook his head. "I don't think it will happen."
"Why is it in a box if it is all powerful?"
"It changes, varying on our location. A rock, a fountain, a tree , it doesn't matter. It takes whatever form it chooses." His jade eyes shifted to Sora. "Please promise me you won't come back here." Sora blinked, touched by Riku's concern.
"I promise," he lied.
Sephiroth glanced toward the sky, frowning. If he didn't need these idiots...
With that thought, the man turned towards the armed soldiers.
"So what you're telling me is there is absolutely no trace of Leon and his band of merry idiots?" The man sweated, nervous.
"Um...yes?" With a swift move, Sephiroth beheaded the man. He sighed, wiping a finger down his masamune. He hated to get the blade dirty. He pointed at another man.
"You. You're promoted. Bury him." He wiped his sword on the dead man's shirt, thinking. "SAIX!" The yellow-eyed man came forward.
"Yes my lord."
"Release the hounds."
WOOP WOOP! Sora is a liar, his pants on fire. How will Riku take that? And more developments on the bad guy front. I thought it would be funny to put Saix in charge of doggies. But I can tell you, these won't ne any ordinary dogs. Oh rats, I said too much. Revies are appreciated.