I didn't intend for this chapter to be that long, since there will probably be another chapter similar to this one, as it will also be a Maleficent's castle chapter, however, there will be a little more development in that which, perhaps will be interesting.
Nonetheless, I do hope you enjoy this chapter of discovery.
Disclaimer - I don't own KH.
chApter 4
Ansem. Even though Saskia only discovered about three of his reports in the library, hidden within the pages of miscellaneous books, she found his work to be terribly intriguing. The information discovered by him was most interesting although it made little sense. Saskia's mind swirled with new words: "keyblade", "Nobody" and "Heartless". She sat in the library for many long hours that week, pouring on every single piece that involved these words.
Saskia discovered that the wielder of the keyblade was a hero that could bring peace and chaos. It had been a long, confusing myth-like piece that she had read. It had pastel illistrations as well. She wondered how true all of it was. Her brain felt like it was filling to the brim with information, and she was even a little bit confused. How could all of this be possible?
She rubbed her eyes, letting out a little yawn. Looking up from her book, she saw that someone else was in the library as well. Peering into the little spaces in the book cases, she saw it was that boy... Rin? Ryuu? She couldn't remember his name. It hadn't been important to her at the time. Saskia decided it wasn't important, so she placed the book she'd just finished onto the shelf and went about looking for another. One on Heartless, perhaps. There didn't seem to be any, however. This disappointed her. It was obviously a new discovery, despite the earlier book that she had been reading speaking of the shadow creatures in a similar light.
"You're..." someone said hesitantly. Saskia looked up from the spines of the novels that she had been concentrating on and over at the strange, old-man-color-hair boy. So he had noticed her as well... Saskia waited on him to say something, as opposed to saying anything herself.
"That girl," he ended rather dumbly. Saskia made no attempt to reply. Her mind was filled with questions that lingered on the tip of her tongue, most of which involved a certain person named Sora.
"Do you know of a guy named Sora?" he asked her suddenly. Saskia was taken by surprise. She was sure that her expression reflected that, at least. She wasn't sure if she wanted to disclose any information with him. How trustworthy was he? That was an answer she would be in need of before she began to tell him anything.
"No," she responded simply, "Who is he?" The follow up question was a bit of a risky one, but Saskia hoped that he would answer it anyway.
"My best friend..." he answered with a faltering voice. Obviously something was bothering him. Saskia did not care to find out. She had gathered all the information she needed. The boy before her was somehow linked to her little brother, and he obviously no longer had contact with said brother. He was of no use in her search for him.
Saskia turned then back to her books. The books did not really hold much interest to her at that point, which was a little frustrating. Finally, Saskia turned back on the guy who still stood, staring at her with a most curious expression. She didn't particularly want to care, but she could not help herself. It was her brother he spoke so fondly of. She searched for words that she could say, thinking very carefully on what she did, in case Maleficent was listening in with one of her crows or something.
"What..." Saskia paused for a moment, her voice falling to a softer tone, "What is Sora like?" The boy appeared relatively surprised by her question. Most likely, this was due to the fact that she acted like she had no interest in Sora, when in reality, he was one of the few things that could hold her interest. Just knowing he was alive gave her such hope.
"Why do you want to know?" he asked. Saskia cringed at how loudly he was speaking. He was going to attract the crows' attention if he continued like this. Saskia rarely spoke in this castle, so whenever she did, Maleficent took great interest in what she had to say. Oftentimes, Maleficent found Saskia to not be wasting her breath.
"Shh!" Saskia hissed carefully. She motioned for him to come closer, hoping he would obey quietly and not give her any further grief. He seemed a bit confused, but as soon he was close, Saskia whispered, "Maleficent is always watching." He still appeared a bit confused. Saskia sighed softly before proceeding to answer his question.
"Sora is important. I want to know more about him," Saskia hissed quickly. Again, she glanced around, hoping there wasn't a crow watching. She was being much too suspicious, and it would surely be reported to Maleficent if she was discovered like this, whispering with Maleficent's prodigy.
"You know he's the Keyblade wielder, don't you?" he asked me. I did my best not to appear surprised as I lied in response. I knew what Keyblade wielder was, and that at least, filled me in on all the fine print. Telling from the expression of his face, he was a little upsetted by this bit of information, which obviously meant that he knew very little about the Keyblade. It was not something one should desire to be, in Saskia's opinion.
"Yes," she responded quickly. She searched his face for any signs of disbelief, it appeared that he believed her. Scrutinizing her quickly, he suddenly seemed a bit more interested in me than he had been before, to which I could only benefit from. He had information that I had been looking for.
"He's a nice guy, but a real idiot," he answered with a slight smile. I couldn't help but smile back, though mine was probably not as sincere anyway. Then he asked, with a sudden thought, "Who are you anyway?" Saskia was a bit surprised by this. It was a rare occasion when someone decided to ask her.
"Sasha, just as Maleficent told you," Saskia replied. She couldn't give him a different name. The truth was hers, and hers alone to keep. In a way, she was becoming a keeper of her own truths. They were growing smaller and smaller with all the lies that she was telling. He seemed a bit disappointed by her answer.
"Is that really your name?" It was a slow question, spoken aloud accidentally as he thought it. Saskia merely smiled.
"Perhaps," she quipped mysteriously, "It is as long as someone calls me it." Then she walked past him, and out of the library. Saskia had forgotten to ask his name, but she assumed she would hear it again, if merely in passing. She knew, at the very least, she would recognise it. That night, like many others before it, she dreamt of her younger brother.
.
"Look out there, Sora," Saskia whispered, pointing at the sky. It was a quiet night, and their parents were already asleep. Sora followed her finger, but couldn't pin-point exactly where she was pointing. There were a lot of stars out there.
"At the sky?" he asked with a slight pout on his face. Saskia giggled softly in response.
"No, at the stars," Saskia said carefully, "Do you want to know why they're so bright?" Sora nodded quickly, and Saskia thought for a moment. She wanted to say something so fantastical it would be a little funny if he believed her.
"Every single one of them has a great big heart in 'em, and it makes them shine for miles!" Saskia gestured with her arms, bouncing up onto her toes for a moment. Sora looked at her in amazement. Saskia couldn't help but giggle a little.
"Then why don't I glow?" he asked. Saskia bit back a surprised laugh, and put her hands on her brother's shoulders, looking him in the eyes.
"That's 'cause you don't have a big enough heart." Sora pouted a bit after that, but Saskia merely smiled to herself. It was just because he couldn't see the golden light that swirled around him like she did. Saskia could tell that her brother was going to be something amazing one day, and she hoped that she could be there for him when it happened.
.
Saskia awoke with dried tears on her face. Thinking of her brother was hard on her, she had suffered so much when he had disappeared, both physically and emotionally. Yet she couldn't hate him for it. Instead, she hated herself for it. Carefully, Saskia tied her hair back, saying a spell that calmed the spikes of her hair enough for her to tie it back. She wondered if Sora even remembered her.
Saskia walked out of her room. There was something that felt strange about the day to Saskia. Slowly, she wandered down the hall, looking around carefully. Rather suddenly, Maleficent appeared before her.
"Sasha, I want you to teach Riku some magic... I have some more important matters to attend to at the moment. He is waiting in the ballroom," Maleficent told her before disappearing in a swirl of green and black once more. Saskia thought this over for a moment. She didn't believe herself to be an expert on magic, but perhaps she could teach him a little. She quietly recanted a teleportation spell and apparated suddenly and a little messily into the ballroom. Saskia took a moment to regain her balance.
"Riku, right?" she said, when she turned to face him. He seemed a little bit unsure as to whether or not she would actually be able to teach him a thing about magic. This, of course, got on Saskia's nerves. At the same time, she could tell that something had changed about him. He wasn't as boy-like as before. Riku nodded. This time, Saskia was careful to dedicate his name to memory.
"Although I am not the most magically inclined, I will tell you one thing," Saskia began, a bit of a spitfire at this point since Riku was giving her a cold shoulder of sorts, "I know more magic than you most likely ever will." Riku seemed a bit bothered by this assumption, but for Saskia, magic was becoming a way of life. Saskia set about teaching him simple spells, and found Riku to be an annoyingly quick learner.
He was stumped, however, when they came to the teleportation spell. Saskia found herself becoming more frustrated by his inability to actually get it right. She sighed softly and walked over to him.
"Just imagine yourself over there as opposed to right here," she said pointedly. Saskia then walked over to the spot where she wanted him to teleport to and said, "It's kind of like walking. Say the spell and imagine yourself being right here." This time, he did manage disappearing into a swirl of colours, but the landing was not at all graceful. He actually ran right into Saskia, knocking himself and her onto the ground. Saskia glared slightly at Riku, since her butt now hurt because him, although, she sighed. He did manage to teleport properly to some degree.
"Good job," she said, though her voice lacked the traditional intonation of praise. She was probably rather similar to Maleficent in that sense. Standing and brushing herself off, Saskia considered a thought, "Would you like to try something harder?" Riku looked at her in confusion. He probably wasn't entirely sure what she meant by "harder".
"I want you to teleport into the hall," Saskia said. He seemed to be able to teleport at least five feet, but the difference was if he was actually able to teleport to any place he had seen before or not. Saskia made a quick motion toward him, telling him to "get a move on with it". Riku seemed rather hesitant, and Saskia assumed he was a little afraid of transporting himself through the aether, but there was really nothing she could do about that. If he didn't master this, Maleficent would most likely consider Saskia a failed teacher and perhaps end Saskia. That was not on Saskia's to-do list, so Riku was going to have to master this whether he wanted to or not. Once he disappeared, Saskia followed after. She found him standing in the hall in one piece. It didn't appear that he had had any trouble at all.
"You can probably teleport just about anywhere now," Saskia said with a slight smile. Weirdly enough, she felt a little bit proud of him. He had done a surprisingly well for a newbie to magical things. When Saskia said this, Riku smiled. It surprised her a little. She wasn't sure how she felt about that smile of his. Perhaps he was just proud of himself. If that was so, it was most likely for the best. It was then that Maleficent made her appearance.
"You are dismissed, Sasha," she said with a mere wave of her hand. One of her crows sat on her shoulder, whispering whatever information it had gathered in Maleficent's ear. Saskia simply teleported to the library. She felt the need to learn more magic. Simple spells, complex spells. She would dedicate every single one to memory.
Slight relationship with Riku is now formed. They'll have a very complex relationship, I hope. I'm trying really hard with all of this! Who knew writing this could be so hard.
Please take the time to let me know what you think.
~Minatu-chan
