Ch. 6

Exchange

Riku turned to Sora, seemingly forgetting about our little moment. I knew it, I quietly scolded myself, nothing's changed … I'm still no more than a friend to him. I glanced back at Sora, "What are you talking about?" For a moment Sora looked frustrated, "It's dying … Radiant Gardens is dying …" I looked over at Riku, after all, even with the stories, I had no memories, no connections to Radiant Gardens. Riku's eyes were wide and his jaw dropped, "What do you mean?" Sora started heading out the door, "The king can explain it better than I can. Come on!"

"Sora," Riku called after him, glancing at me with a slightly amused expression on his face. I giggled, scratching the back of my head. I glanced back at the door, only to see Sora poking his head around the corner, "Yeah?" Riku held up his wrist, "Did you forget?" I tried to stifle a laugh as Sora stared for a moment, then gasped, "Oh! Right! Just a sec!" I sighed, already completely exhausted, "Well, that was mildly entertaining." Riku chuckled, "Yeah." He sat back down in his chair, for some reason not sitting all the way back, but on the edge of the seat. I shrugged, lifted my legs back onto the bed, and flopped back on my pillows, covering my eyes with the bend of my elbow.

I peeked out at Riku for a moment. He had his elbow on the arm of the chair with his chin resting in his palm. I sat up and looked at him more closely; he looked so deep in thought … so adorable. I smiled, "What's wrong?" At first he didn't answer so I shifted toward him a little. I shook him lightly by his shoulder, "Riku?" He jumped slightly, "W-what?" I rolled my eyes, "I said 'what's wrong?'" He shook his head, "Nothing."

"Well, she should be fine now," the king's voice came from outside the doorway, "we can't give too much of Riku's Soul Reflection to her." I looked toward the door and Riku stood up. Then, a waist height mouse with rounded ears stepped through the door. My hairs stood on end and I was ready to jump up and run if I had to. The rat's gaze shifted from Riku to me and back to Riku, "You can take the IVs out now." I jumped, scooting as far from the rodent as possible, "R-Riku … the rat just spoke." I glanced at Riku, who was unhooking the IVs as if a talking rat was nothing to him.

"Riku!" I panicked as he took the IV out of my arm. The rat moved toward us and I couldn't keep myself from grabbing Riku's arms, as though it would some how protect me from the beast. My gaze kept shifting nervously from him to the little monster with the rounded ears, until his eyes caught mine. He smiled gently, "Don't you recognize his voice?" I looked down at the thing, still keeping hold of Riku, and waited for it to say something. It grinned and giggled, "I'm not a rat … I'm a mouse."

"K-king?!" I could feel my eyes widen. The mouse nodded, still smiling, "You can call me Mickey." Only now did I actually look around to see the others' expressions. Sora was standing there trying not to laugh and Kairi was looking at me with a quirked eyebrow. I noticed that Chip and Dale were gone and breathed a sigh of relief, at least I don't have to deal with all three.

I tried to smile, though I doubt it was very convincing, "So, where are the two … uh … engineers?" Everyone turned to the king and he simply smiled, "They're landing us on Radiant Gardens." I panicked looking around the room, eyes wide, "We've got rodents piloting the ship? You're all okay with that?!" As I took in their expressions they all looked completely indifferent. I rolled my eyes and buried my face in my hands, okay, it's alright … rodents piloting the ship is no big deal … I mean, Riku doesn't care so why should I?

I felt a hand lay on my shoulder and looked up to see Kairi smiling at me, "Just go with it, you'll get used to it sooner or later." I stared at her for a second, dumbfounded, then I simply smiled and nodded. Then a screen in the corner across from my bed lit up, displaying Chip and Dale, who both saluted at the sight of the king. Chip was the one to speak, "We've landed on Radiant Gardens." King Mickey nodded and turned to us, "As soon as we get to Merlin's house we will be doing a general exchange of information. I'll try to explain things better then."

Suddenly, something inside me flinched and twisted … it didn't take me long to realize that it was the side of me that I'd forgotten. I closed my eyes and tried to reach out to that side of me, and I barely heard the others shuffle out of the room. Only when Riku shook my shoulder gently did I realize that we were alone in the room. I must have had an odd look on my face because his expression was worried, "You alright?" My mind was blank, and it took a second for me to comprehend what he'd said. I shook my head, "I-I'm fine, just a little distracted." His face fell with such a bitter-sweet expression that my heart wrenched. I touched his shoulder and put on the most convincing smile I could, "It's fine, we need to catch up with the others." His expression softened as he nodded. He helped me get up and walk out of the ship.

As soon as I stepped out of the ship I could see why Riku and the others loved this place so much; it had tall, stone buildings with all sorts of roofs and windows. But, at the same time, I could see why we had to get here so quickly. There were Soul Eaters everywhere; spider like ones on the sides of buildings, giant eagle like ones in the sky, and cheetah and wolf like ones roaming the ground. Mickey led the way through the ally ways of Radiant garden, stopping to fight what ever Soul Eaters we came across.

Finally we made it to a small building that resembled the others, save for the books scattered about the front of it. A young girl, who appeared to be a ninja, with short black hair was standing out side the door, fending off the Soul Eaters. She stopped for a brief moment and waved at us, cocking an eyebrow when she saw me. The others ignored it, but I couldn't help but feel as if the look on her face meant that I didn't belong here.

When we got inside there were already people waiting for us as they sat around a complicated looking computer that took up most of the back wall, save for a bed and a few odd nick-knacks to the left side of it. There was a young man with blonde spiky hair and dressed in all black standing next to a slightly shorter man, who was also dressed in all black and about five belts around his waist, with long, messy brown hair. Sitting in a chair next to them was a hunched over man with bit of straw hanging from his mouth and blonde hair with an orange head band around it. He turned toward us in his chair, "So you're finally here." The king nodded and the blonde, spiky haired man stepped up, his facial expression barely changing, "So, let's cut to the chase … what are those things and how are they killing Radiant Gardens?"

I locked eyes with the brown haired man and flinched. His expression was one of shear anger, "Who is she? Why are her eyes the same colors as those things?" His cruel expression hit me hard and I took a step back, already feeling the tears stinging in my eyes. Suddenly, Riku stepped in front of me, putting himself between me and the man, in a protective stance, "She's here with us, Squall." The man gritted his teeth, "Leon, not Squall." The old man at the computer shook his head, "Let King Mickey speak, dang it." Leon assumed his original posture, standing between the two blonde haired men.

Mickey turned to me for a second, gesturing toward the men as he told me their names, "This is Cloud, Leon, and Cid." I nodded and tried to smile, Riku still standing in front of me protectively. Then, Mickey turned to the others, "The creatures are called Soul Eaters, and, according to Donald and Goof's recon information, they are stealing the light from within Radiant Gardens. Though, this is nothing compared to Destiny Islands. For some reason they seem to be focusing there." Leon shot another scathing glare at me and just as Riku began to relax, he tensed again. Kairi rolled her eyes, "But, why the islands?" The others shrugged and Sora piped in, "Hold on, what exactly is Soul Reflection? I've been wondering for a while."

"Soul Reflection?" Cloud muttered, furrowing his brow. The king looked around at everyone, "The shining liquid that comes from wounds created by Soul Eaters is referred to as Soul Reflection and is the most basic essence of the soul." -he gave a Riku and I a meaningful look- "The more intensely the Soul Reflection shines, the closer the person is to the one that is most precious to them." Riku and I glanced at each other and looked away simultaneously, blushing like crazy … the king couldn't possibly mean ...

The king turned to the others again and continued, "As to why they targeted the islands, I have a few theories. They might have targeted it because two keyblade bearers reside there, or they might have simply decided to start there and then spread to the other worlds." He paused, glancing at me with a sad expression on his face, "However, there is one theory that seems to be the most likely."

I immediately knew what he was going to say, but my mind rejected it, shutting off completely. He nodded, "You know, don't you." Everyone followed the king's eyes, turning to me as he spoke, "They started to appear a few months before you did, Hikari … and as soon as you washed onto the islands is when they began to act; attacking in the islands, stirring in Radiant Gardens, and gathering in the Hall of the Cornerstone at the castle. They are more than likely after you." I looked down and bit my lip, every part of me shaking. I felt a pair of warm hands lay on my shoulders, immediately followed by Riku's voice, "Hika … it's alright." Again I heard Leon take a step forward, "Then won't she just make the Soul Eaters worse if she remains here?!" Riku turned again, taking the protective stance he'd had before, "Then what should we do?" I looked up, only to see Mickey walk between the two of them, "It's only a theory. We'll stay here for a couple days to see if the Soul Eaters notice."

"And what if they do?!" Sora shouted next to me, making me jump. Kairi joined him standing on the other side of me, "Yeah, if they are after her and we don't know how to stop them, is she supposed to just keep running from world to world for the rest of her life?!" The forgotten part of me had already shut down, but the part me that was born on the islands the day Riku rescued me from drowning was in a panic. I looked up at Riku, only now realizing that he'd turned to face me, his expression twisted with some unknown emotion. I barely heard him whisper, as though he was talking to himself, "No …"

Sora started shouting again, "So we're just waiting for those things to attack her?" Riku looked as if he were about to turn to his king and object as well, but I grabbed his elbow. He looked down at me, shocked, and I simply shook my head. I inhaled deeply, letting go of Riku, and stepped out from behind him, putting on the strongest face I could, though I was still shaking, "I will wait for them, and if they are after me and I have to run, then fine." The king nodded, "I've already arranged for Donald and Goofy to meet us in the Bailey, where you can wait for a day or so. If you're ready, then we'll go." I nodded.

The others turned back to the computer, Cid looking over his shoulder at us as we made our way to the door, "We'll monitor the Soul Eaters' movements from here." Mickey nodded and opened the door for me. He was pretty polite for a mouse, and I couldn't help but give him a smile that I knew must have looked bittersweet to him. Suddenly, I felt Riku's hand grab my wrist and the King and I turned to see him, Sora and Kairi looking at us pleadingly. Sora was the first to speak up, "Let us come with you!" Kairi nodded, "Please!" Riku, however, didn't say anything. He just gave me a look that made me feel as if he were begging.

I looked to Mickey and he nodded, "Alright, but Sora, you have to stay and help Yuffie fend off the Soul Eaters." Kairi jumped up and down, giggling, while Sora's head dropped. I glanced back up at Riku; his expression was the very definition of relief. And so we set of for the Bailey, much the same way we did to get to Merlin's house; following Mickey and stopping every now and then to fight the Soul Eaters. When we finally got a break, stopping in a large crystal fissure, I started ask the others about the man that they referred to as Merlin, "So, what's he like anyways?"

Kairi shrugged, "He's an old magician … not much else to say." I looked up at Riku, quirking an eyebrow. He smiled, "He's pretty strong." "Yeah," Kairi jumped in front of me, "but he looks a little odd. He's got a long white beard and round glasses. He also wears a blue robe, blue shoes, and a pointy blue hat." I smiled, but, with what was happening, the expression felt a little odd.

The king had been standing a little ways away, keeping watch for any more Soul Eaters. Now he turned back toward us, "We're almost there, so we might as well keep going." We nodded and started walking again. The crystal fissure eventually narrowed, forcing us to walk one behind the other.

When it opened back up it came to a small round cliff. King Mickey and the others continued walking toward two figures standing at the edge of the cliff, but I stopped. When they actually realized that I was no longer following them, they all turned to face me, including the two figures. Riku took a step toward me, "Something wrong?"

I simply stared at the two that we'd come here to meet, quirking an eyebrow, "We came here for a dog and a duck … why, exactly?"