The Land of Dark and Land of Light could just as easily be called the Lands of Dreams, or the Lands of the Heart.
Desperation and pain call out to the land, which calls back for completion, trying to fill the void where there should have been a heart. Needs of all kinds call out, but never before had love called to the land. How could someone love a land before they had seen it? And those who came rarely left anyone behind who loved them enough to reach out.
But that did not have to be the case. And Sora's letter had handed Riku and Kairi the key to the lock.
Riku looked at the potion, hesitating.
It had taken a lot of searching to find him, but he and Kairi had managed to locate Yen Sid, and he had created this potion for them. When they swallowed it, it would amplify whatever emotion they were feeling at the moment. If they swallowed it when they were thinking of how much they loved Sora and wanted him, perhaps that would be enough to find the Land of Dark.
"Will this work?" Kairi said apprehensively. Yen Sid hadn't been able to offer much insight. He had read Sora's letter, but had admitted he had never heard of the Land of Dark and the Land of Light. The potion was the best try they had at replicating the state of mind Sora had described, but they had no idea if it would work.
"I don't know, but…" Riku hesitated a moment longer, looking at the pearly liquid. Then he swallowed it, and Kairi quickly followed suit.
Sora. Riku focused all his thoughts, all his feelings into remembering Sora. Remembering the way he laughed, the way he grinned, everything he felt about him. The friendship and the love, the deep connection he'd felt to his friend. Everything Sora meant to him.
For a long moment, nothing happened as he and Kairi stood there, just thinking about Sora and how much they loved him, how much they wanted him. But then a white mist seemed to seep up from the floor, floating around them.
?
Riku's breath caught in his throat and Kairi gasped as they realized they had attracted the attention of something… immense. They hadn't known what to expect, but it hadn't been this. It was like turning a corner and finding a mountain in the middle of the road.
??? That immense regard touched them, and Riku could feel it exploring him curiously. It was probably the worst comparison in the universe, but it felt like the biggest, hairiest dog in the worlds was nosing him and sniffing him. And it seemed disappointed. Riku felt an aching void in it, a void they couldn't begin to hope to fill…
Sora. Please, Sora, we want Sora. He struggled to focus on Sora's face as the immenseness seemed to reach deeply inside him. He felt flensed, completely exposed in a way he'd never been in his life. Kairi was gasping beside him, her eyes wide, and he gripped her hand tightly.
!!! The white mist swirled heavily around them, and was abruptly gone, but they were still surrounded by white… and the air suddenly bit with cold, tearing at bare skin with teeth of ice.
"What…?!?" Kairi and Riku looked around, stunned. They had expected the hot jungle Sora had described, but that was not at all what they had gotten. They were standing on the side of a mountain, knee deep in puffy snow. Below them lay a valley of evergreen trees, beautiful and spreading as far as the eye could see.
"Shit," Riku said quietly as he figured out what had gone wrong. They might just be people, like Sora said, but the people who ended up in the Dark Land weren't Princess of the Heart. Kairi didn't have any darkness in her heart, and while Riku might have gotten to the Dark Land, she had been destined for Light. And while they could travel to Sora, it was cold here… far too cold for the clothing they were wearing. They weren't even wearing boots, and he hated to think how Kairi's bare legs were feeling.
"Look, up there!" Kairi pointed into the sky, and Riku followed her gesture, his eyes widening.
They looked like birds at first, but as they got closer Riku saw that was definitely not the case. Two women and a man were spiraling down towards them. They were wearing white armor and two of them were carrying spears… but the last was carrying a bundle of furs. Riku wondered if maybe that was for them, then shook his head. That would be too lucky to be true.
"You're awake?" One of the women said, sounding faintly surprised. She was pretty, with light blue eyes and dark red lips, and peach colored skin. What little he could see of her hair, peeping out from under the helmet, looked strawberry-blond. "Welcome, newcomers. This is the Land of Light and I am Archangel Galina. This is Archangel Vandren, and that is Angel Miastra." The woman carrying the furs nodded to them with a friendly smile. Alone of the three, she wasn't wearing armor and her head was uncovered. Her red hair was so closely cropped, it was mostly a fuzz against her scalp. Her eyes were a warm brown, and she offered them to furs. "Those are for you… please, put them on. You'll eventually grow used to the cold, but not just yet." Kairi and Riku scrambled into the furs, and found heavy boots were there as well. They adjusted themselves magically to their feet, and Riku sighed as he began to feel warm again.
"We're here looking for Sora, actually. Have you seen him?" Kairi knew it wasn't likely, but they might as well ask. All three angels looked startled.
"You meant to come here?" That was unheard of. The angels exchanged a glance as they nodded. "Well… we should take you to see the Seraphim." A note of reverence entered the angel's voice for a moment, and she smiled, vanishing her spear. "We'll carry you." There was no way they would be getting off the mountain without flying.
The flight out wasn't that pleasant. The winged angels seemed to dip with every beat of their wings, and the result was a crushing motion sickness. Fortunately, Kairi and Riku both managed to hold in their nausea… the thought of throwing up on an angel just didn't seem right. But they were very grateful when they landed.
Riku glanced around, eyes widening. He hadn't been able to see this place from the mountain… somehow it had been screened by the trees, or possibly by magic. But they were both standing in the centre of a city now. It was a city of wide avenues and flowing walkways, and they were standing nearby a frozen fountain. The statues in the fountain were angels at play, and the water had frozen into impossible, gravity defying shapes that were as beautiful as they were odd. All the stone they could see was light grey or white marble, and the city was achingly beautiful.
It was also largely empty. There were a few angels soaring or walking, but nothing like Riku would have expected in a city this size. It seemed a touch unreal. As he watched, an angel flew by on wings not of flesh and feathers, but pure light. He landed in front of them, and Kairi gasped as she caught a glimpse of his face. He was almost too handsome, with thick chestnut hair, sculpted features and eyes of exotic amber. The three angels that had brought them in knelt immediately. Riku and Kairi both hesitated then stayed standing. His eyes flicked over them, and he seemed indifferent to any disrespect.
"The Queen of Light wishes to meet you." He said, and his voice was a clear baritone, sweet and with an edge of warmth. "Please, follow me." The three angels looked up, gaping slightly as he gestured Riku and Kairi to come. "I am Seraphim Galaros. The three of you may attend your duties." He added as the angels rose to their feet.
"Yes, Seraphim." Galina bowed her head, and the three of them immediately took to the air. Galaros watched them go, then turned his head to look at them.
"You are Riku and Kairi?" His question was more of a statement, but Riku nodded anyway. "This way." He led them through the city, to a great palace of grey stone and stained glass windows. "This is the Seat of Light, where the court of angels and the Queen of Light dwell."
"It's beautiful." Kairi breathed, staring at the great glass windows. They were exquisite, showing scenes of angels, and more… scenes of birds flying, a tree filled with fruits and birds, a woman holding a child and smiling radiantly. Galaros turned to look at her, then smiled, a surprisingly shy and boyish smile.
"Thank you." He said, with a bit of pride in his voice. "I made the windows. I'm, well, a bit of an artist and I like working with glass. It means more to me, hearing you say that as newcomers." Most of the angels would just be trying to suck up. "Pride might be a sin, but I think mine is pardonable."
"I would say so," Riku said, staring at one particularly vibrant panel that almost looked ready to come to life. "How did you make them so large?" Riku didn't know a lot about glass, but he knew the larger sections he was looking at should have been impossible. Real glass of that size couldn't possibly have stood up to its own weight.
"Oh… that's magic. I make them into whatever I want, then infuse them with the power of light to make them as strong as steel and light as a feather." Galaros frowned slightly. "I suppose that's a kind of flaw in my work… but if I held to the constraints of gravity, it wouldn't be nearly as pretty." He would have had to make the individual panels much smaller, and gone for a tight mosaic effect, which would also have been beautiful… but not as beautiful as the wide panels with lots of blue sky.
As they walked through the Seat of Light, they saw more artwork. Paintings and sculptures, all exquisitely lovely and lifelike, although completely chaste. There were more glass panels, but Riku and Kairi stopped short, staring at one wall.
At one time, it had been a glass panel of surpassing beauty. Now… it had been shattered into a thousand pieces, but those pieces were suspended in the air, defying gravity. Behind it was nothing but white mist, and Riku felt a chill as he looked at it. It reminded him of the mist that had come up, when he and Kairi had come to this world.
"What happened to that?" He asked, and Galaros glanced over, his expression grim.
"An… accident. Unfortunately, it is not reversible. Never go in there. No one has ever come out." That was, in fact, a complete lie. But it was a white lie, since if a pair of newcomers went in, they certainly wouldn't be coming out. Galaros didn't like lies, but it was better to err on the side of safety. "This is the Hall of Light." They entered a large, long room in the centre of the Seat of Light.
It was easy to see why it was called the Hall of Light. The walls stretched up, and more beautiful stained glass was set in them, letting in the light and filling the hall with color. The scenes here were all of angels… simple angels working, Archangels fighting, and other angels Riku and Kairi couldn't recognize but looked at curiously. There were angels at work on crafts or over books, and they had little lights spinning around their heads. There were also dark angels and with wings of black, surrounded by a haze of light. They were pictured standing guard, expressions resolute. And there was a single panel behind the throne that depicted an angel like Galaros, with wings of glorious light.
The throne was empty, but as they watched light flared, coalescing into a corporeal form. It resolved itself into a blond woman, with wings similar to Galaros', but tipped with balls of pure light. A halo gleamed above her head, and they could feel the power radiating from her. She was beautiful, but it was a curiously sexless, androgynous beauty. She smiled kindly at them, and Riku and Kairi both stared, awestruck.
"Greetings." Her voice was soft, breathy, and also oddly androgynous. She could have been a girl or a young boy from her voice. "I am the Queen of Light. I sense there is something different about you, Riku and Kairi. Tell me, why have you come?"
"We're looking for our best friend, Sora." Kairi said, and Riku nodded. "He sent us a letter that he was here, and, well, we found a way to come after him."
"May I see this letter?" Kairi nodded, pulling it out and stepping forward to give it to the Queen. It never occurred to her or Riku not to. Her voice was so sweet and kind, and she radiated warmth and light. "Hm." She perused the letter with a small frown. "Oh… my. Your friend is being held by the demons."
"Held by? He said he was happy…" But the Queen shook her head.
"The demons have probably convinced him of that," she said gently. "They are masters of glamours and sexual attractions. But they are just using him for their own pleasures." Riku and Kairi exchanged a glance.
It was… plausible actually. Sora had said Axel's Heartless was in charge, and Heartless didn't have feelings for anyone. The demons could very well just be using him since he was the keyblade wielder. And why would the angels lie about it? Could angels lie at all? For some reason, Riku looked at Galaros. The angel was listening to the Queen, his eyes dark and somehow sad. When he saw Riku watching, he smiled slightly at him, but the sadness didn't leave his eyes.
"We will help you rescue him, if you wish." The Queen offered with a small smile. "We normally don't try to redeem the fallen… but this is a special case. Hopefully, your friend can be saved."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Kairi said, eyes glowing, and Riku's doubts slid away. Really, this made sense. If Sora wasn't being controlled somehow, surely he would want to go home. They would rescue him and everything would be fine.
"First, though, we'll have to make a plan… and we have some time to do it. They won't dispose of a keybearer quickly." The Queen mused, then looked over at Galaros. "Seraphim, please take them under your wing personally. Show them around, explain how the City of Light works, and see that they begin learning to control their angel abilities when they surface. I leave everything to you." Galaros bowed to her.
"Yes, my Queen." She vanished back into light, and Galaros turned to smile at them. "Since we're already in the Hall of Light, let me show you the different types of angels." He pointed to the glass behind the throne. "That is a Seraphim. We are the greatest angels below the Queen herself. Currently, there are only four Seraphim in existence." Galaros quickly went on from that… it was all truthful, but not precisely modest… and pointed to the next glass windows. "These are the Cherubim. While superficially identical to Archangels and angels, they are actually quite powerful. In battle, they assume a sphinx-like form to fight. They also wield the powers of the elements." Next, Galaros pointed out the picture with an angel bent over a book, a swirling halo of lights over her head. "That is a Virtue. They express their powers through song, and are usually our greatest musicians, artists and artisans." He pointed to the picture of the dark angel next. "This is a Power. They are powerful warriors, but there are very few of them and they're usually patrolling the borders between the Land of Light and the Land of Dark." He smiled slightly. "Last but not least, there are the Archangels and the angels. The Archangels are the foot soldiers in our battle against the darkness, and the angels are the ones who tend to the homely tasks necessary for life, such as raising crops." Catching a glimpse of their overwhelmed expressions, Galaros laughed. "Don't worry, you won't have to remember all this right away. You're not likely to meet anyone much past a Virtue in any case."
"We've met you," Riku pointed out, and Galaros smiled slightly.
"True, but I'm the only Seraphim in the city. The others are busy with other duties." Galaros sighed slightly. "I almost wish the Queen had given this task to someone else. My… exalted rank makes things difficult."
"Oh?" Riku said neutrally. "You're too important to show us around?" Galaros only smiled at that comment.
"Not at all. Pardonable pride is one thing, but arrogance is a sin. If my Queen ordered me to pick rocks, I would do so." Galaros said serenely, unoffended. "However, if I try to bring you to the other youngsters they will be too intimidated to speak to you." Riku frowned, but remembered how the angels had acted when Galaros showed up, and nodded. "Hmm… ah, I know. I'll take you to the Eye of Light. Nothing intimidates them, and they can test to see what kind of angels you will be when your transformation is complete." The Seraphim seemed pleased by that solution, and started out briskly, leaving them to follow.
They went through a large part of the Seat of Light, and it was as strangely empty as the city. They passed only a few angels, who bowed to Galaros but sometimes gave him shy smiles. He nodded gravely to them, acknowledging their greetings. Riku noted that it seemed like the angels both liked and respected the Seraphim, although as he had said, they were in awe of his rank.
"So how do you get to be a Seraphim?" Riku asked as they climbed a long staircase, going up a tower. A full angel would simply have flown up the centre, but this way they could enjoy the stained glass pictures. They were set in the walls all the way up, angling with the staircase. "Do you just get it right away, or what?" Galaros laughed and shook his head.
"Oh no. The power is granted by the Creator. But the Creator hasn't granted it to any angels in some time… before I was gifted, I was a Virtue." Riku nodded… Galaros had said that Virtue's were artists and artisans as well as musicians, so that made sense. "I will always remember when I heard the Creators voice… it was amazing. So powerful, but so fragile."
"Incomplete?" Kairi asked, and Galaros looked at her curiously.
"No, I wouldn't say that. Why do you ask?"
"Well… when we first came here, we felt something… looking at us. It felt incomplete, like it was trying to find something to fulfill it." Kairi replied, remembering that indescribable regard. "It was huge and powerful but not… right."
"Ah." Galaros paused for a moment before speaking. "That wasn't the Creator. The Creator is whole, just… not entirely there. I'm not sure what that would have been." Although he did have a very good idea of what it could be… but he didn't intend to speak about it aloud. "Ah, here we are." They had reached the top of the tower.
Riku and Kairi were beginning to get used to the stunning beauty of the place, but still… the dome of curved glass above them was amazing. It was clear, but delicately tinted to keep the glare from being overwhelming. It was like standing outside, and the angels in the Eye had made use of it by planting beautiful flowers and cherry trees. The heady scent of cherry blossoms filled the air, and for the first time they saw a small crowd of angels. They were mostly Virtues, but there were some Archangels and a few simple angels. They were chatting and doing research at a few tables, or other arcane things that Riku and Kairi couldn't really understand. One Virtue was peering intently into a crystal globe, but didn't seem to be getting much out of it. She turned to look as they came in, and smiled brightly.
"Galaros!" She bounced over and gave him a sisterly, but vigorous hug. He laughed and hugged her back for a moment before letting go. "You haven't come by in so long. Oh, who are these?" Dark brown, active eyes looked them up and down, and the skin around her eyes crinkled as she grinned. "Newcomers? Oh, can we keep them?"
"Hah, you wish Daphne." He turned to Riku and Kairi with a smile. "This bundle of energy is High Virtue Daphne, the leader of the Eye of Light. They're our seers and soothsayers. I was wondering if you could find out what kind of angels they will be?" He said to her, and she nodded.
"Gladly!" She ran to a cherry tree and picked two cherries off. "Eat these and give me the pits." Mystified by the request, Riku and Kairi did so. Daphne took the seeds and quickly buried them in a tub of dirt. They grew instantly into little bushes. Riku's put out dark feathers instead of flowers, and Kairi's held little sparks of light. "He's going to be a Power and she's going to be a Virtue. What a wonderful thing!"
"Indeed." Galaros shot Riku a thoughtful look. A Virtue was nothing unusual, but Powers were rare indeed. "Well, perhaps I should show you to your rooms." That would be another long walk, but it would get them started on learning the layout of the building.
And it would give the Seraphim a bit of time to think. He felt like he needed it.