Author's Note: Hey everyone! Sorry for the late update- I've been obnoxiously ill and a lot of stuff has been going on but hopefully we'll get back on schedule. Thanks so much for the comments- I really like some of the ideas I've gotten. Although I have to say, some of the choices were spot on and some were very far off. It will be interesting to hear what everyone thinks when more characters are revealed. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and keep it up! And I still own nothing. At all. Never have, never will. Review!
Chapter 3 - I'm a WHAT!?!?!
Uncle Sark woke everyone up before the sun even rose despite the earlier warning of six. Pete was quiet for once, probably due to lack of sleep. I know I was exhausted! Unfortunately, this didn't continue. As we drove to god knows where, a slight rumbling began. It turned into a growl, and then a roar. Pete's stomach knew it was time to eat, and Pete wasn't shy about letting us know. Uncle Sark was stuck on some imaginary pursuers, making sharp turns, speeding, going through red lights, even illegal u-turns at some points. It's a wonder we didn't get pulled over!
He drove all day, stopping only to grab gas at a rundown old station in the middle of nowhere. As Aunt Tifa came out of the restroom, the attendant came over and asked, "Is there anyone by the name of Riku here? I've got about two dozen letters addressed to a Mr. Riku in a station wagon with your license plate.
Before I could answer, Uncle Sark stuffed me in the car and said, "I'll take them!"
He was in and out in no time, frantically starting the car. Muttering to himself as he drove, he started taking bumpy back roads and detours. Pete began wailing, his stomach unsatisfied by the bag of chips Aunt Tifa had picked up in the gas station for him. It seemed like we were going to drive all night!
Finally, around eleven, we stopped. Not because we wanted to but because we had to. We had reached the ocean. Uncle Sark got out of the car and went up to a sketchy bait shop by the docks.
"Mommy," Pete whimpered, "Is Daddy crazy?"
"No Petey-weety, just a bit… distracted. It'll be all right dear," she said unconvincingly.
Just as she said this, my uncle came out of the shop carrying a set of keys.
"I've found us a place and some food. Come on," he said gruffly.
We all followed him down to the water where my aunt stared in horror at the tiny wooden rowboat my uncle gestured towards.
"Sark, I am not getting in that thing!" she protested, but her spark of anger died when she saw his face.
She climbed in quickly, pulling Pete in after her. I followed as Uncle Sark pushed off from shore. It was very foggy, so none of us could see where we were going. Uncle Sark seemed to be brightening up the farther we got from shore. He even started whistling as the docks disappeared from view. The rest of us were getting more and more nervous. Suddenly, we hit something and my aunt let out a high pitched bloodcurdling scream. Oh wait, never mind. That was Pete.
"All ashore that's going ashore!" my uncle said, cheerful in a creepy way. "Step lightly now!"
We descended onto what was essentially a rocky slab of land. There was basically two trees and a little shack. And then the rain came.
"Quick, let's get inside!" my aunt said. "Pete will catch his death of cold!"
My uncle produced the keys from earlier and we entered the tiny shack. There was a bed, a couch, and a fireplace. The whole building, if you could even call it a building, smelled like mildew and old people. Yum.
"Here we go! All set," my uncle said, pulling out some more chips and a box of snack cakes from his backpack.
We ate quickly and quietly. Uncle Sark tried to light a fire with the empty bags and the box, but it wouldn't start. He shrugged it off and muttered something about how those letters would come in handy now if we had them. He obviously thought that no one would be coming in this hideous weather to the middle of the ocean to give me my letter. And sadly, I agreed with him. As we settled in to sleep, I glanced at my watch and was shocked by the date. July 30. My birthday was in just a few short hours. Not that I expected anything great. I got tweezers for my tenth birthday. Ah well. Time to try to sleep…
I awoke with a start to a loud crash of thunder. Or maybe it was my uncle snoring… Sitting up, I let out a soft moan of distress. Let's just say I don't recommend using a dirt floor as bedding. Glancing at over at Pete's massive form on the couch, I read his digital watch. I saw it was just two minutes until midnight. Until I turn eleven. I figured might as well stay up. Wow was that thunder loud! It almost sounded as if someone was pounding at the door. Ignoring it, I watched the seconds tick by. Almost there! Just three…two…one… SMASH!
The door to the shack fell, revealing a tall figure all in black shadowed in the doorway. Uncle Sark sprang off of the bed, grabbing for his backpack. He pulled out a silver pistol that usually hung over the mantle back home.
"Whoever is there, I have a gun!" he declared.
The hooded figure let out a sarcastic laugh. "Ooh, got a gun have we? Aren't we special. I don't suppose you've got anything to eat? The portal over here took longer than it should have. Oh well. Let's get some light in here," he said, walking over and lighting the fire almost instantly. "Now where's the birthday boy?"
The man stepped into the light and pulled off his hood revealing spiky red hair. Bright green eyes stared into mine as he stepped forward and lifted my chin.
"Man, have you grown! Look at that hair! Definitely your father's. But those eyes… they remind me of your mother's. Now she was a looker… Although you probably don't want to be hearing that! Happy Birthday Riku! I brought you a present… somewhere…"
As he began rummaging in his pockets, he pulled out an odd assortment of items. I stared at the shiny foreign coins, oddly shaped with bright blue and yellow coloring. He pulled out matches, what looked to be like some sort of mushy pet food, some candles, and bits of string and fluff before finally taking out a slightly dented box. He handed it to me and motioned for me to open it. I lifted the lid which revealed a small cake with white icing. A brown line with three stars was on the top next to the words "Happy Birthday Ri"
"I, um, got a bit hungry on the way. That's why your name's short, but what's the harm? Now are you going to stare at it or are you going to eat it?"
I stared at the cake, barely processing what he was saying. I've grown? I look like my parents? He knows my parents? And me? And my birthday? WTF!?!?!?
I finally can't hold it in any longer, so I blurt out, "Who ARE you?"
"The name's Axel. I'm in charge of the grounds at Hollow Bastion."
With that he leaned forward and grabbed a chunk of my untouched cake. Realizing that I was holding food, Pete started to inch towards me.
"Don't eat anything he has!" Aunt Tifa snapped at him.
"Yeah, like I would feed blubber face over there. Come on Riku, eat some cake."
I took a bite finally, savoring the sweet icing and fluffy cake before questioning this Axel character once again.
"I still don't really know who you are," I said.
"Axel. Got it memorized? Like I said I look after things at Hollow Bastion, mostly outside grounds. I, ahem, don't really do well inside the castle. But I'm sure you've heard all about Hollow Bastion…"
"Um… what?" I asked.
All of a sudden his green eyes gained a spark. "What?" He repeated in disbelief as he turned to my uncle. "You never told him about Hollow Bastion? Sark you son of a –"
He glanced at me and cut of the end of his sentence. "Stupid muggle…" He muttered. "Riku, where did you think your parents learned everything? You don't just magically know how to do things, you have to go to school!"
I began shifting uncomfortably before asking, "Learned… what?"
At this point the green in his eyes was almost entirely replaced with red. There were flames in his eyes as he turned back towards my uncle. My uncle went to meet his glare but was unable to hold his gaze when he saw those eyes.
"You're telling me that he knows nothing about anything?" His voice grew very cold, a stark contrast to his burning eyes.
"Hey, I know lots of things! I got decent grades in school!"
Still addressing my uncle, he said, "He knows nothing about Hollow Bastion or even what he is? What his parents were?"
At this point, I was completely lost. Before I could ask any more, my uncle interjected.
"We stamped it out of him. There will be none of that nonsense under our roof. You may not continue this conversation. Now get out!"
I started to smell singed plastic as Axel strode towards my uncle. He shrank back from the fiery man.
"Stay out of this, Sark. You think you can stamp it out of him? You think it's something that just goes away? We knew he hadn't been getting his letters, but we never imagined anything like this! He's been on the Hollow Bastion list since he was born! And after what he lived through… I mean, he's famous! There's no way he could lose that! You never told him anything!?!?"
"Told me WHAT?" I asked exasperated.
"You're a wizard Riku," he smirked. "And a damn good one I'd bet with some proper training."
I felt like the bottom had dropped out of my stomach. It was really too bad that this cake-bearing person turned out to be mentally unstable. I was so looking forward to something amazing being in that letter and it just turns out that whoever sent it is completely crazy.
As if reading my mind, Axel said, "I know you must think I'm crazy, but think about it. How many times has something completely unexplainable happened to you when you were scared or lonely?"
I thought back to all the little incidents, ending with the snake in the zoo. Maybe there was something different. I mean, my normally sane aunt and uncle looked as if they believed it. And no one wanted to appear more normal than they did. In the midst of this wondering, Axel handed me a bottle. Finally! I opened it quickly, half afraid that someone would stop me. The heading read, "Hollow Bastion School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Headmaster HRM King Mickey." I went to read the rest:
Dear Mr. Riku,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hollow Bastion School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Enclosed is a list of all necessary supplies. The first day of school is September first. We await your bottle no later than July the thirty-first.
Yours Sincerely,
HRM Queen Minnie, Deputy Headmistress
I stared in awe. A queen? A school for magic? This was all too much to take in. Okay Riku, breathe. Just breathe. One step at a time. What does it mean that they are awaiting my bottle?
I turned to Axel and asked aloud the question that came to mind and he said, "Oh yeah… I forgot. The boss wanted me to let him know what was what when I found you."
He turned to his pockets again, this time pulling out some thick paper and a feather quill. He scrawled a letter that looked like it was to this King Mickey character mentioned in the heading. Something about taking me somewhere or other to get my supplies and such. Which meant I'm supposed to go with him? He pulled out a small glass bottle, similar to the one that the letters had been coming in. He placed the letter in the bottle and said aloud "to the Headmaster." He opened the door into the howling wind and out of nowhere a fish jumped out of the water and caught it. I stared in shock as he closed the door and came back to the fire.
"He's not going," my uncle growled, startling me. I had almost forgotten that he was there.
"And who's going to stop me from taking him? A muggle like you? I'd like to see you try," he smirked.
"Umm… What's a muggle," I asked.
"A muggle is a person without magic. And he's the biggest muggle I've ever seen. Except maybe fatty in the corner there," he said, indicating Pete.
"You will not take him, we swore he would never get mixed up in that awful wizard stuff!" my aunt said.
"You KNEW?!?!" I asked incredulously. "You knew I was a wizard and you didn't even bother telling me!?!?!"
"Of course we knew! My silly sister got a letter just like that and went off to that hideous place where she learned all kinds of nonsense. And our parent couldn't even see that she was a freak! And then she went and married that stupid boy and got herself blown up!"
As my aunt stood there enraged, chest heaving, something suddenly dawned on me.
"Blown up? You said they were killed in a car crash!"
"Car crash? A CAR CRASH? As if a car crash could ever take out two such people as his parents? A car crash? When everyone in our world knows his name, he doesn't even know his own past? A goddamn car crash!"
"Then what happened!" I yelled, completely outraged at being kept in the dark for so long. "And why do people know who I am?"
"Well…" Axel softened a bit. "I really shouldn't be the one to tell you, but someone has to. You can't go to Hollow Bastion not knowing your past." He inserted a dirty look towards my aunt and uncle as he said, "now some of it is known, but most of it isn't, so you're just going to have to accept that." I nodded and he continued hesitantly: "About twenty years ago, a very powerful dark wizard began gathering forces. He made terrible things happen to those that opposed him. Terrible things."
I interrupted, eager to get the facts straight. "What was his name."
Axel looked awkwardly at the floor and said, "It's uhh… well we don't really ever say it. Let me write it down." Before he even got his quill out, he stopped and said, "Actually I don't think I could spell it right. His name is… Xemnas."
"Xemnas," I repeated, letting the name roll off my tongue.
"Don't say it! Anyways, You Know Who gathered up his power and was preparing to take over the wizarding world. Those who opposed him died. Horribly. One of the only safe places left was Hollow Bastion. King Mickey is the only one You Know Who was afraid of. Anyways, your parents were just out of school at the time. Top of their classes they were, bright futures ahead with you but a few months old. He came and tried to recruit them. They refused being the good people they were, and he killed them. Just like that." His eyes burned with a silent but deadly flame as he continued: "And then, he went to kill you. No one really knows why, probably just wanted to finish the job. That's where that cut comes from," he said, indicating my neck. "It's the mark of evil sorcery. It's where he cursed you."
"But I'm still alive!" I exclaimed.
"And that's the mystery. You Know Who killed countless witches and wizards, most of them powerful, some the best of the time. But you- he tried to kill you and failed. You were an infant and you beat him. No one has seen him since. Some say he died, but that's a load of bull. Some say he's biding his time, but I don't really believe that either. If he was, then some of the people who came back to our side wouldn't have acted the way they did. As if they were in trances or something. Most of us think he's out there, but powerless."
I tried to take in everything he was saying, but it was all too much. My parents were martyrs and I was a hero? There must be some mistake here. But no, not from the way Axel was looking at me. Could it be?
"That is it! I refuse to allow him to go to some ridiculous school and have some self-proclaimed king teach him magic tricks!"
Axel eyes went completely to flames with that statement. Out of the folds of his robe, he pulled out two very pointy looking objects that definitely made everyone else take a step back,
"Never insult the King. Ever. Especially not in front of me!"
He coldly stepped towards Pete and gave him a single prod with the objects. Pete yelped and grasped his back, then his chest, then his head. He started growing coarse black hair along his entire body, and his ears pointed now. As he yelped and his parent shrieked, Axel dragged me out the door and into a rowboat that didn't look much sturdier than the one that I had arrived in.
"I really shouldn't have lost my temper there… I'm not really supposed to use my powers. I was expelled in my third year at Hollow Bastion. Why don't we keep that our little secret, eh Riku?"
"Yeah, sure!" I said, sure I would never mention the incident to anyone. Who cares if he was expelled, I did not want him turning me into anything!
He began rowing us back to shore, and I drifted to sleep as the waves rocked the boat gently. Funny how fast that storm had disappeared…
