Chapter Three: Welcome to Hell

"Focus!"

I collapsed on the floor, gasping for air.

"Get up, child, and control your emotions!"

I shuddered and forced myself upright, shooting a glance to my right. Riku was leaning against the wall next to my discarded jacket, watching impassively.

"Focus!" Maleficent snapped, sending another wave of energy at me. I threw all of my attention towards the oncoming blade of light, determined to control it. It slowed fractionally, and then jerked to a stop in front of me, quivering. It stayed there for a moment, but once my elation at having controlled it hit, it scattered and dissipated. I gasped, suddenly remembering to breathe. Maleficent sighed as I doubled over, panting.

"... Fine. I will try a different approach." She strode over to me and grabbed my wrist, forcing me upright. She turned my hand palm-up, and with a flick of her wrist, she dug her fingernail into my palm. Pain flashed in my hand, and a long thin line burned red. Blood seeped out of it quickly; the cut was deep. I hissed and yanked my hand away, keeping it carefully away from my clothes - I didn't want blood stains.

"Heal yourself." She glared at me in contempt and stepped back, disappearing in a burst of flames. I groaned.

"What the hell does she mean by THAT?!" I shook some blood off my hand, spattering it on the floor. "How am I supposed to heal myself if I don't know what I'm doing?!"

Riku made his way over to me, smirking. "She already told you, Iva. Focus. Use your energy to heal yourself. Imagine your hand healing, and put all your attention on that and that alone."

I glared at him and shook some more blood from my hand. It was bleeding a little too freely for my taste. I looked down at my palm, watching the blood drip down.

'Come on, Iva. Focus.'

I took a deep breath and imagined the cut on my hand sealing shut. I envisioned the skin closing up flawlessly. My hand itched. My eyes snapped open (I hadn't realized that I had closed them), and I looked down at my palm. Blood still dripped from it. I sighed.

Riku suddenly took my wrist and covered my hand with a dark cloth, drying the blood off. He silently took the cloth away and let go of me, leaving me staring at my now scratch-free hand.

"How..." I was at a loss for words. I had actually healed myself! For once, I had control over something that happened.

"See? You just gotta focus. Here's an idea - if your magic is controlled by your emotions, try meditation. It'll help you gain control over your mind, and thus help you focus."

I sighed and dropped my hand to my side, slightly disgruntled. "Stupid witch..."

"Hey, in case you haven't realized, you're a witch now, too."

"Are you defending her?"

"Course not. I was just making sure you knew."

I scoffed and turned away with my arms crossed, starting to walk towards my jacket at the side of the room.

"Hey! We're not done yet. Catch."

I turned around just in time. With a yelp, I threw my arms up to stop the large stick flying towards me. It bounced off my arms painfully and clattered on the floor. Upon looking up, I saw that Riku held a similar stick in his hands. It was about the length of one of his arms, and roughly shaped like a sword. I glared.

"Pick it up, Iva. Let's spar."

"What the hell?"

"You heard me! Pick it up!"

I sighed and bent to pick up the stick, which I now realized was a practice sword. I held it in front of me, attempting to imitate Riku's stance.

"Place your feet a little wider apart; sword higher... higher... Back straight..." He helped me get my balance right, and showed me how to hold the sword correctly. Upon finding out I was left handed, he had me change the position of my hands and told me that I could swing with one or two hands, whichever I preferred. He stood back and took his stance again, giving me a look of strangely suppressed arrogance. "Hit me."

I rolled my eyes and swung my stick forward, recoiling when Riku flicked his wrist and not only knocked my stick out of my hands, but also when he hit my right upper arm with a swift tap.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"You should have blocked me."

"You shouldn't have hit me!"

"Then block it next time. Why haven't you picked up the sword yet? A Heartless won't wait while you pick up your weapon. Why should I?"

I scowled and picked up the stupid stick, backing up a few paces. "Heartless?"

"Beings made from the darkness in peoples' hearts. You blew up one in Traverse Town. Now, try again: hit me."

I gripped the sword tighter and swung again, this time from the other side. He deflected it easily, this time tapping my ribs, though I kept hold of my sword. I whirled and struck at his shoulder, trying to catch him off-guard, but his sword blocked mine at the last second. He stepped back, allowing me to regain my balance, before taking the initiative to strike me. I yanked my stick up just in time, and his blow glanced away from me, sending a jolt up my arm.

We continued in this fashion for what seemed like hours. Though I hurt all over, and I could see black and purple bruises forming (the swords were sturdier than they looked), I enjoyed the physical exertion. The sweat dripping from my arms made my grip on the stick precarious; I was afraid of it slipping at any moment.

The exertion reminded me of home. I thought of the many days spent sparring with Hayner to help him practice for the Struggle tournaments. The racing of my heart and quickness of my breath brought back memories of track team - of running endless laps to train, of sweat dripping into my eyes, of my muscles burning with strain.

A loud clatter brought me back to the present; I had dropped my stick again, and Riku had the tip of his pressed to my throat. I held my shaking hands up in surrender as I panted heavily. He held his pose for a moment, then backed away and allowed his arm to fall to his side, the sword gripped loosely in his hand. I began slowly walking in circles with my hands on my hips as I tried to regulate my breathing. Riku bent over and put his hands on his knees.

"You shouldn't do that," I panted.

"What?"

"It's better if you... walk around to catch your breath. You won't be as sore." I continued to walk in circles, concentrating on slowing my breathing. I counted breaths; in for two steps, out for three, in for two, out for three... A few minutes later I halted and turned my attention back to Riku. He had righted himself and was staring at me with a curious expression on his face.

"You're not as soft as you look," he commented dryly.

"I'm - I mean, I was on my school's track team. Team captain, actually. I'm used to physical exertion." I winced inwardly at my mistake; I wasn't home anymore, and I wasn't even sure if my home still existed. I mentally slapped myself to get away from that thought.

"Well, that just means that it'll be easier to teach you how to fight. Come on, I'll lead you back to your room so you can clean up; I want to take a shower, too."

We spoke little on the way back, but Riku seemed to treat me with a newfound reluctant respect. He left me at the door to my room and vanished down the hallway; I heard a door click distantly.

I walked into my room and grabbed some new clothes, placing them on the foot of my bed, and searched for towels, which ended up being on the left wall of my closet. I snatched one up and collected my clothes, and set the bundle on the sink in the bathroom. It took me a moment to riddle out how to turn the hot water on, but in mere minutes I had stripped down and stepped into the hot water, wincing as it cascaded down my legs. The once terrible burns now felt like a simple sunburn.

I washed my hair three times, trying to coax it back to its natural health. I stayed in the shower until the water ran cold, at which point I shut it off and stepped onto the cool tile, steam obscuring my vision. The towel felt like heaven on my skin, though I was careful with the burns.

I wrapped the towel around myself and frowned at the clothes on the sink. I hadn't thought about it before, but I wished I had - I didn't want to sleep in my regular clothes, but that was all I had. I sighed and towel-dried my hair and put on underwear, flipped on the fan, and left the bathroom.

I searched the closet for something to sleep in, but found nothing. My thoughts went to the shirt that Riku lent me, which was on the floor in a corner. I bent and picked it up, and slipped it over my head; it was long enough to make me decent, but just barely.

I shuddered as I made my way back to the bathroom, locating a pair of scissors. I reluctantly brushed my hair out and took a deep breath before looking in the mirror.

I was clean - that was about the only good thing going for me. My hair was frayed and uneven for multiple inches along the bottom - it used to be so long and healthy, but once I was done, it would only brush my shoulders. With shaking hands, I brought up the scissors and set about cutting off the damage that the fire had wrought. Without quite realizing it, I began to cry, and when the scissors made their last snip, I broke. The scissors fell with a clatter into the sink, and I crumpled to the floor, sobbing for all that I had lost. Christine, who didn't deserve to die that way - the nicest girl I knew, torn apart by monsters. Kara, my poor, innocent little sister whom I was helpless to protect. My mother and father; now that I was unsure of their fate, I found myself missing them. My teachers, my classmates, Hayner, Pence, Olette, Vivi, Seifer, Fuu, Rai...

And Dylan. My Dylan.

No. No! NO!

My hands clenched into fists into my shorter hair as I tried to hold on to my sanity. Grief threatened to take me to a very bad place; I grabbed the damp towel and buried my face in it in an attempt to quiet my screams - I didn't want Riku to hear me and come asking questions. For what seemed like hours - or days, even - I succumbed to my sorrow in a heap on the floor.

Cramps in my neck, shoulders, and back woke me. I was curled up in the most uncomfortable position, with my shoulders pressed painfully against the bottom of the sink, and my head pillowed on the still-damp towel. I sat up groggily and pulled my legs closer, shivering. Goosebumps covered my skin, making my burns more sensitive. I groaned and stretched, letting out a sigh as my joints popped. I stood slowly, wincing at my sore muscles and bruises.

My face startled me when I looked in the mirror. It was bright red and puffy from crying, with towel creases on the right side. My eyes were bloodshot and watery. I quickly walked away from the bathroom, forcing back more tears.

I pulled open the glass doors on the back wall and stepped out onto a small balcony. It was late in the night, and the stars shone brightly in the clear sky. I saw no moon, which surprised me. Perhaps it was a new moon.

The sound of rushing water filled my ears, and I pinned the cacophony to what looked to be a huge waterfall facing my room. I breathed in the cool night air, beginning to relax. I liked this little balcony, surrounded by waterfalls.

Once I calmed down, I stepped back inside and shut the doors, pulling the drapes closed so that the morning sun wouldn't bother me. I then shuffled over to the bed, about to collapse on it, but stopped when I saw a small box sitting on my pillow. I picked it up and read the note pinned to the top:

Hey. Thought you might want some food. You didn't answer the door when I knocked, so I guess you were still in the bathroom doing whatever girls do. See you bright and early tomorrow. Riku.

I smiled softly and opened the box to see a sandwich and a bag of chips, along with a small bottle of water. My stomach growled; I hadn't realized how hungry I was. I quickly downed the food, eager to get to sleep. I set the empty box on my nightstand, took a few swigs of water, and laid in the plush bed. I sighed as I relaxed into the mattress, and before I could even adjust my position, I was out.

A loud knock roused me from my sleep.

"Iva? Come on, wake up. Iva, don't make me come in there." Another knock. I groaned and rolled over, gathering the sheets tighter around me.

The door clicked open, and a few moments later, light spilled into my room. I cried out in shock and pulled the sheets over my head. I heard a sigh behind me.

"Iva, get up. Maleficent won't be happy if she has to wait for you."

"Mmph."

Riku gave another exasperated sign and nudged my shoulder. "Come on, Iva."

"Leavemealone."

"Fine! I didn't want to do this, but if you insist..."

I had just begun to peek out from the sheets when Riku grabbed the edge of them and yanked, causing me to fall heavily to the floor with a yelp as I was unwrapped.

"What the hell was that for?!" I cried indignantly as I sat up. I glared at Riku from across the bed; he had a smug smirk on his face.

"I told you to get up."

"Asshat," I growled, pulling myself to my feet. Riku glanced downward and quickly looked away; I thought his ears looked a little pink. Still cheesed off at him, I stalked into the closet and dressed in there, tugging on my denim jacket to chase off the chill. I did my best to ignore the black and purple bruises scattered over my body.

Riku looked at me curiously after I emerged from the closet and moved to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Once finished, I tied the black ribbon that I had used to hold up my hair around my neck - I wanted it out of the way, and it looked nice as a choker. I looked to Riku, realizing he was still staring at me.

"What?" I asked defensively.

"You cut your hair."

I looked away and replied in a flat voice. "Yeah. It was too damaged to leave."

Riku nodded, thankfully letting the subject drop. "Come on. I'm sure that you want to eat breakfast before Maleficent starts her torture session again."

"That would be nice."

Riku led me silently through the halls, stopping in a small kitchen that smelled of breakfast foods. Pans sizzled with bacon, warm eggs sat on the counter, and browned potatoes popped on a skillet. Riku grabbed a plate for himself and took about half the food, leaving the rest for me. I took a plate from the same cabinet Riku did and piled on the rest of the food before following him to a nearby counter. He leaned against it and offered me a fork, which I took gratefully. After a few minutes of silent eating, I spoke.

"So, who makes this food?"

"No idea," Riku said through a mouthful of eggs. "But every morning, noon, and evening there's food here, and enough for however many people are eating."

"Mm." I stuffed a few more bites of bacon into my mouth.

"So," Riku said at length, "did you try meditating last night?"

I winced inwardly. "No."

"That's a shame. I really think that would have helped today. Oh, well. You done with that?" he asked, pointing at my now-empty plate. I nodded and he took it from m to put it into the sink with his. He looked at me expectantly.

"Ready for Day Two?"

"Not in the slightest."

Riku chuckled. "Come on."

He led me to the training room that Maleficent had tortured me in. Again, I was hopelessly lost by the time we reached our destination.

Maleficent was waiting in the center of the room. I approached her cautiously, pulling off my denim jacket and handing it silently to Riku. The bruises on my arms screamed for my attention, but I ignored them to focus on the witch in front of me. Maleficent turned around slowly, a look of cool contempt on her face.

"Are you prepared to try again, child?" Her voice was monotone; she had dropped the honeyed voice already. I figured my performance yesterday must have been pretty awful to warrant such a drastic change in her.

I bowed my head in a respectful gesture. "I'm really sorry about yesterday, Maleficent. I promise I'll do better today."

"I certainly hope so," she muttered disdainfully. She strode to the opposite side of the room, and without warning, flung a wave of energy at me. Surprise made me hesitate for a moment, but I quickly focused, and then the shockwave just stopped. I reeled in my joy at my success and gave a sort of mental push, and the wave dissipated. I realized my hands were elevated, raised towards where the shockwave was.

I grinned. "I did it!"

Maleficent's face bore a wry smile. "Well done, child. Now do it again."

It was harder this time to focus quickly, due to my elation at my first successful attempt; however, after a moment of fighting with the energy, I made that wave dissipate, too. Maleficent began sending stronger shockwaves at me - some got through and hit me, making me feel like I got punched in the gut, but I managed to completely counter or deflect most of them.

After what felt like days, the mental exhaustion finally got to me, and the force of the most recent wave landed me on my back on the floor. I groaned and struggled to stand as Maleficent walked towards me.

"Enough."

I looked up in surprise. Maleficent held her hand out, as if to help me up. I took it gently, and she pulled me to my feet.

"That was a big improvement. We will continue with this for a few days before we move on. You still have room to improve. Come back here tomorrow, at the same time. We are done for today." Maleficent disappeared in a flash of flames, making me flinch.

Clapping sounded from behind me, and I turned to see Riku smirking. I realized he was clapping sarcastically.

"Oh, shut up," I snapped. "I'd like to see you improve that quickly."

Riku chuckled and shook his head. "We'll see how much you've improved when I'm done with you." He took a fighting stance, his hands raised, but empty. "Today we'll work on hand-to-hand combat."

I scowled and slipped into a defensive stance. "How can I improve when I've never done something before?"

"Well, you can start by clenching your fists properly." Riku walked over and fixed my arms, then resumed his position. "I'm not going to aim for anything vital 'cause I don't want to accidentally kill you, but don't think that means I'll go easy on you. Ready?"

I nodded, and we began.

A few hours later, I collapsed on the ground and curled into a ball, groaning. I preferred getting beaten up with that stick to this torture.

"Get up."

I groaned louder. Riku kicked my leg lightly, but I was in so much pain that the simple contact made me bite my lip to keep from crying out. I noticed the taste of blood and wasn't sure if biting my lip cause it or if it was brought about by one of the many punches to the face.

"Iva, we're not done."

"Screw you."

I heard Riku move, then felt him nudge my arm. His hand was on my shoulder, trying to roll me over. Without thinking, I sent a shock up his arm. He yelped and jumped back.

"What the hell was that for?"

I slowly uncurled my body, muscles and bruises screaming in protest, and looked at him. He was cradling his hand to his chest.

"Are you okay?"

"You just electrocuted me!"

"I did not. I shocked you. There's a difference." Riku huffed. "I can't fight anymore, okay? I can hardly move. Did I hurt you?"

Riku glared and shook his hand a bit. "No, I'm fine. But that wasn't really necessary."

"It was totally necessary! That's revenge for beating the shit out of me."

And he had beaten the shit out of me. My head was throbbing, it hurt to breathe, my arms were dead at my sides, and my legs were in so much pain that I was afraid I wouldn't be able to walk. I was pissed that he had hurt me this much - I only managed to land a few hits on him, and no bruising was visible. I knew that the majority of my body would be purple or black tomorrow, if not already turning colors.

Riku sat down in front of me, his legs crossed. "You know, it's not fair to use magic against me like that. I'm awful with magic."

"It's not fair to beat the shit out of me like that, " I retorted, then paused. "Wait, you can use magic?"

"Not really," he admitted. "Maleficent tried to teach me basic spells for combat - you know, Fire, Blizzard, Thunder - but I just couldn't get them to work. It's like... I can feel it there, somewhere, but it's almost like something's blocking me. It's weird." He looked at me curiously. "Maybe you should practice magic on your own."

I coughed a laugh. "I can't even stand and you expect me to practice on my own?"

"Well, you'd get better faster. Plus, Maleficent would be impressed, and I've found that it's best to stay on her good side."

"You must have been here a while to know that," I said carefully.

"Yeah." Riku looked down at his hands.

I waited a moment before speaking. "So... how long have you been here?"

Riku smiled wryly and stood, holding his hand out to help me up. "Maybe I'll tell you another day."

I reached up and let Riku pull me to my feet. I groaned again.

Riku smirked. "You should stretch some tonight. And maybe take a hot bath."

"The bath sounds nice." I forced myself to walk over to my jacket at the edge of the room, my knees almost giving out along the way. I slowly picked it up, and then made my way back to Riku.

"How long do you think it'll take me to learn how to navigate this castle?" I asked as Riku led the way out of the room and into the hallway.

"You'd learn faster on your own, but I don't want to keep Maleficent waiting every morning. You need a day to learn the ins and outs of this place." He looked thoughtful. "Maybe I'll see if Maleficent can give you a break for a day."

Hope flooded through me, then dread. "That sounds great, but... I really don't think we should ask that. I don't think she'd be too happy about it. I'd love a break, though. I'm exhausted. Even with as much as I hate getting beaten up by you, it's actually less taxing than magic."

Riku grinned. "What, getting tired already? It's only been two days!"

"Well, I've never used magic voluntarily. It's harder than I thought. I've always tried to repress it, not use it."

"How long have you had it?"

I shrugged as we stepped onto the first Lift Stop. "I guess it started when I was about eight. I was late coming home from school because I went to a friend's house first. When I finally got home, my mom yelled at me for a while, and I was so upset, and suddenly a vase behind her just exploded. It scared us both so much, it made me stop crying. We tried to forget about it, but then things like that started to happen more often. Dishes would shatter and things would fly across the room, all whenever I was upset. Mom started to blame me for it, and..." I stopped myself from continuing. I wasn't ready to talk about my little sister who might be dead, especially to someone who was practically a stranger. Riku seemed to catch on, though, as he didn't press for details.

"I'm sorry. That must have been confusing."

"It was." We stopped in front of my door. I hadn't realized that we had already made it back. "Well, I guess I'll see you later, then," I said to Riku.

"Yeah. Want me to come get you for dinner tonight? You haven't eaten since this morning, and you've worked a lot." My stomach growled, making Riku laugh. "Think you can wait a few hours? I think I want to shower first."

I nodded. "I'd like to take a bath, too. So I guess I'll see you in a few hours."

Riku gave me a mock salute and turned to walk down the hallway. His room wasn't far from mine. I liked that he was close by; it comforted me that my guide was so easily accessible.

I went into my room and did exactly what I said I was going to do: I took a hot bath to relax my muscles. I was right in the assumption that I was covered in bruises; my torso looked and felt so bad that I was afraid that a few ribs may have cracked. I carefully slipped into the hot water, sighing as the heat leeched away my pain. I soaked for a while, then cleaned myself. By the time I was don, the water was getting chilled, so I pulled the plug and stepped out, and then dried myself off carefully. I walked to my closet in my towel, got dressed, and tossed my dirty clothes in a corner.

The sun was setting outside, and the colors in the sky drew me onto my balcony. I watched the waterfalls, calmed by their cacophony. Something seemed off about their appearance, but before I could dwell on it, a knock sounded on my door. I turned to see Riku slowly let himself in. He noticed me on the balcony and walked over to join me. He leaned on the railing and stared pensively at the waterfalls.

"I didn't know this room had a view of the Rising Falls."

"The Rising Falls?"

Riku looked at me. "Yeah. Didn't you notice? The water flows up, not down."

"So THAT'S why it looks weird!"

He laughed. "Yeah. Anyway, are you ready to get food?"

I nodded. Riku led the way out of the room and stopped at the end of the hallway. He turned to me, grinning. "Lead the way, Iva."

I looked at him incredulously. "You're kidding, right?"

"Nope. Go on, lead the way." I grimaced, but turned and started walking. "Don't worry," Riku said. "I won't let us get too lost."

I managed to make three correct turns before messing up, making Riku laugh at me. I smacked his arm lightly, but sighed. "Man, I AM gonna have to spend a day or two to figure this out."

"You'll get the hang of it. My offer to talk to Maleficent still stands."

"Uh, no thanks. I'll just wait 'til she leaves on her own."

"If you say so."

The rest of the trip was silent, and when we arrived at the dining hall, I inhaled the amazing smell of dinner. I wished there was someone to thank, but like Riku had already said, the food just appeared.

We ate our fill, washed our dishes, and headed back up to our rooms. I noticed Riku giving me a strange look while on one of the lifts.

"What?"

"Nothing." He looked away for a moment, then back at me. "Are you ticklish?"

"The hell? N-no!" I shrunk away from him. He grinned mischievously.

"That's good to know."

I took another step back, reaching the edge of the lift. "If you tickle me, I will rip your arms off. How are you gonna train me then, huh?"

Riku said nothing, but laughed to himself. When the lift stopped, I hopped off, still looking at him warily.

"Do you remember the way back?" he asked.

"Ummm..." I took a few steps forward and looked around. "... I think so?"

Riku motioned me forward, and I managed to find my way back to my room. Upon arrival, I grinned at him triumphantly.

He smirked. "Don't get cocky. You still have the rest of the castle to explore."

I stuck my tongue out at him, making him laugh. He had a nice laugh.

"Y'know, I still think you should try meditating," he said when he finished. "I really think it would help."

I shrugged. "I'll see what I can do. I've never meditated before."

"You'll figure it out." Riku gave me another strange look, his bright aquamarine eyes - I hadn't noticed how intense they were before - holding an emotion I didn't recognize. "Well, good night," he said after a moment. "We have another early start tomorrow."

I groaned before opening my door. "G'night, then." I entered my room as he walked away, shutting the door behind me. I realized I was smiling. What was I smiling for? I shook my head to clear it, then grabbed a pillow off my bed and strode to the balcony. I had left the doors open, and the sound of the Rising Falls filled the air. I figured if I was going to try meditating, my balcony would be the place to do it.

I set my pillow down and sat cross-legged on it. I rested my wrists on my knees and closed my eyes, trying not to feel silly. I thought that counting my breaths would be a good way to start, so that's what I did.

In for three, out for four... In for four, out for five...

I didn't know how long I sat there. I focused only on my breathing and the sound of rushing water. Not a single thought lingered in my head. I could feel my heartbeat had slowed, and I was immensely calm.

After a bit longer, I decided I should stop, and I opened my eyes. My view surprised me - I was looking over the balcony railing, not at it like when I started. I looked down, shocked to see that I was no longer sitting on my pillow, but now hovering a few feet above it. I yelped, and with my calm demeanor shattered, I fell to the floor. The impact hurt my tailbone, even through the pillow.

'The hell...?' I could levitate? I tried doing it again, to no avail. 'I guess I don't have enough control... Maybe Riku was right. I should meditate more.'

I sighed and stood, thinking about the smug look on his stupid face if I told him he was right. I grabbed the pillow and tossed it back on the bed on my way to the closet to change into the baggy shirt. Once changed, I slid into the bed, sighing as my sore muscles sank into the mattress. I fell asleep quickly, but not before I prayed that I wouldn't dream.