The Blinding Truth_
DISCLAMER: I own nothing of Kingdom Hearts. –Well that's a lie, I own all the games and basically anything you can buy KH related. What I'm trying to say here is that I do not own the characters or anything of that type.
Author's Note: I apologize for the wait. Really, I'm so sorry! I tried to make this chapter longer because of it, though it's not the juiciest. It was hard to right. I'm sorry again! I'll put my thank yous at the bottom this time!
Chapter Nine_
~Gravity Flat Out Sucks
Riku awoke with a start, and in his half awake stage he scanned the room with still sleepy eyes. It felt as if someone was watching him, which was just proof of what this castle did to your head. He moved to sit up in the bed and ran a hand over his face and then allowed it to slip into his hair to ruffle it and breathe a sigh. He groaned with morning grogginess, but had to admit to himself that he slept well. He tried to blame it on the plush pillows, silk sheets, and oversized bed, but he knew it was his own stress relieving method he used last night. He pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes to block the image out. He couldn't think of that, and he shouldn't have done it in the first place. 'Idiot.' He thought to himself in self loathing.
"At last, he wakes." A cool female voice spoke in a sarcastic tone from the corner of his room beside the door.
His attention shifted to the door wearily as he watched the women push away from the door, as she was nearly shrouded in the darkness of it. He knew he should feel violated, anger or surprise, but sadly he just expected it at this point. He knew who this woman was and it left a rather foul taste as he examined her. Though they had yet to meet, he knew all about her. Her and her fuck ups that is. She wore that awful dark cloak and had those glowing yellow eyes that were so cold and uncaring that marked her as Ansem's second. Riku bitterly thought to himself that she wouldn't be for long at the pace she was traveling before he allowed his hands to slip from his face and drop to his lap.
"Maleficent." Riku stated as simply recognition, though he realized his body tensed a bit.
He knew he was in dangerous company, and it was no small secret that the woman hated him. He wagered it was his easily ascribed status as Ansem's protégé and therefore owner of his attention and affection. He snorted at the thought, but continued it none the less. As he looked the woman up and down he realized that she wanted to be closer to Ansem, much closer; intimately closer. It was obvious that she was denied, but Riku was sure the flame still burned. This continued thought burned his cheeks as he thought of his own close encounters with the man. Maleficent seemed to grow tired of his unresponsive staring and rolled her eyes as she moved to open the door and start out.
"You have a lesson in magic today." She said over her shoulder as she let herself out.
Riku grumbled, but dressed obediently and left the room to find Maleficent waiting again in the shadows, like the creepy women she was. She started walking without saying a word or even looking back, and Riku figured it was just because she was a cold-hearted bitch who had no social skills because she was to creepy to have friends, and then he remember that she just hated him and had to repress the snort at his train of thought. Riku contemplated simply walking away and hiding out in the castle to get her in trouble for losing him and not teaching him his lessons for the day, but as he started to do just that she grabbed his arm and her claw like nails dug into his skin.
'Bitch' Riku thought as he jerked away.
"Ansem has no need for incorrigible runts like you." She hissed over her shoulder as if Riku was unaware of what she really thought of him.
"Nor screw ups like you." He retaliated before he could really think it through, but stuck to it as he did. 'What could she really do?'
The waterway mishap had been talked about a lot and through eves dropping, Riku had picked up that it was Maleficent who was supposes to have captured the Beast previous to Riku's encounter. In short, Ansem was and is not happy. The look on Maleficent's face was near deadly and he thought for a second about retracting the statement before the look faded and she slowed her pace down. It was a strange omen and Riku was suddenly sure he didn't want to go.
"Shouldn't Ansem be teaching me?" He asked trying to forestall or get out of the inevitable.
"He has his own agenda. He has more important things to do then to babysit a runt." She elaborated without the need.
Riku wanted to say that Ansem did far more then watch him because he knew the statement would hit her hard on a personal level, but he didn't want to encourage the already unwanted relationship with Ansem or the rumors, so he remained silent. He walked slowly behind, lagging just to piss her off when she would notice him drifting too far and literally glaring daggers at the women's back. It wasn't a long walk, but with this woman it seemed endless.
"Like what?" Riku asked when the silence grew stale.
"He's in a meeting."
"Shouldn't you be there?"
The woman visibly stiffened before throwing the doors open to the practice rooms. Riku knew he'd hit a nerve and he smirked to himself about it as he followed after her into the training room. He found that he would soon pay for his little victory and wasn't so smug about it.
"The best way to learn is to experience." She stated as she spread her arms out wide, and Riku realized just how much this was going to suck, as he figured out just what was coming to him.
"Gravity." She said the spell softly as if teasing Riku with the word before he felt himself becoming unbearably heavy.
He fell to the cold stone floor and could barely lift his head to cast a glare at the witch. It hurt to face-plant with no forewarning and the floor and spell were unforgiving. The effects wore off pretty quickly though, weather it was the mercy of Maleficent or not Riku wasn't going to ask as he pushed himself up from the stone and scowled. He took a moment to brush himself off before he got better footing just in case.
"Gravity is an effective way to pin foes and manage the upper hand. It temporarily increases the force of gravity upon an enemy and renders them heavy and often times, helpless." She explained though it was all rather irrelevant seeing as how Riku had just experienced it.
"You don't say." Riku grumbled irritably, loving how his morning was off to a wonderful start.
"Now, I want you to try it on this Heartless." She explained as she summoned the small twitching shadow to her side.
"How?" He grit out and was disappointed that he wouldn't get to try the spell on her.
"Focus your energy on the spell." She explained as if it were that simple, and Riku was sure he caught her rolling her eyes, which only proved to piss him off further. "I'll show you." She finished with what looked like a damn right evil grin.
"Wait! No-" Riku started to protest, but his body became heavy again and he met the ground faster this time.
The effects were much stronger this time and he couldn't move anything though he tried to. He managed to pull his fingers in a bit, but even that act was to tiring and he was beginning to feel suffocated, until he realized he was suffocating. He was pressed so flat to the stone ground that it was becoming difficult, if not impossible to breath and he started to panic. He let out a strangled cry as he forced his arms under his body and lifted enough to get a good breath before collapsing again. The pressure was suddenly relieved and Riku let out a sigh and relaxed against the stone. He was trembling a bit and panting for breath, his body soaked in a sudden sweat.
"The more skilled the caster and practiced in the spell, the more powerful and longer lasting. This works in reverse for defense against magic. Now get up." She said coldly.
Riku stood on shaking legs and brushed himself off, refusing to look as weak as he felt. He calmed his breathing and allowed a moment for himself to be impressed by the power, before he became pissed off again that he was the dummy for this. He glanced at the smug woman and rolled his eyes. She was so happy to be throwing her experience around. He sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair.
"How do you block it?" He asked ignoring the chills that spiked down his neck and spine at his position and the sudden cold from the sweat.
Before he never had a reason to feel this way, but now that he was in a vulnerable position he was a bit more humble, not to mention Maleficent was ruthless. He tempted her and brought her to this moment, basically giving her this power and he was sure she wasn't going to easily pass it up. He took a moment to curse Ansem for putting him in this position, because the man knew damn well what sort of relationship Riku lead with his second in command.
"Learn to cast it first." She announced and made to move her staff again to cast the spell once more in punishment for procrastinating.
"Okay!" He said quickly to get her to stop and calm himself so he could focus on what the spell really felt like, though he wasn't exactly sure what he was suppose to be doing, the bitch was an awful teacher.
It took all of his concentration and focus, and he had to literally invasion the dark ball of energy that was Gravity. He imagined what it felt like to be suppressed by it and tried to focus that on Maleficent, but nothing happened. He huffed in frustration and was rewarded by Gravity being cast on him again. He hit the ground hard, unable to put up any resistance because he didn't see it coming. He curled his hand into a fist and felt the effects leaving much quicker than before.
"What the hell was that for?" He growled as he pushed himself up a bit before the resistance of the attack became too much again.
He was barely kept from kissing the floor, but he refused to give in and kept himself suspended and didn't allow himself rest. He was still glaring at Maleficent who was all so smug again and he hated the bitch. He promised himself he would get back her from this.
"Simply a refresher." She smirked.
"Bitch." He grumbled as he helped himself up from the ground.
It went back and forth like this until echoing of footsteps distracted the slew of curse words escaping Riku's lips. He was again picking himself up off the ground and grumbling a 'This is impossible' before the steps stopped him cold and he froze mid way picking himself up and quickly glanced up. He knew whose those steps and cursed himself for knowing them, but more importantly, for what they were sure to bring. He was almost positive he would be paying for not having learned any magic so far. He noticed from the corner of his eyes how Maleficent back up a few steps as if being caught doing something wrong. He allowed a few seconds to be smug about that before fully standing.
"The boy is a wretched student." She said as Riku worked on brushing himself off, and trying to suppress a snort of amusement.
"I blame the teacher." Riku grumbled and crossed his arms over his chest.
Riku felt his neck being gripped harshly and his body being dragged forward a step or two. Initially he resisted, but a particularly tight squeeze had him stop that. He was dragged closer to Maleficent and he saw the actual fear and rage in her eyes at this range, that was when he pulled his mind from the strong gloved hand gripping him harshly.
"My lord." She purred as if it could save her, that or she really had no idea what was going on as she dipped her head politely and Riku saw that it was to hide her expression.
"I'll be taking my student back. You're quite unfit to deal with most anything." He said calmly, as if that wasn't just a huge blow to deal his second in command.
"You believe the ungrateful brat?" She said in a flash of furry and her head shot up to meet cold and unforgiving amber eyes.
"Your methods are fruitless." He stated in that same calm and degrading tone.
"You've been watching!" Riku suddenly realized and tried to twist away from the hold for the first time, as if the words reminded him of his position.
He was ignored though and Ansem caught his wrist instead as he got free and he moved to drag him along as he turned away from Maleficent. He pulled and twisted his wrist, he even went as far as gripping Ansem's gloved hand and trying to pry the fingers away from his wrist. Ansem simply turned and set that icy stare at him and it froze him in place. Ansem really knew how to be scary when he wanted and Riku wasn't taking chances now with Ansem that pissed off, more than likely he'd walk away injured.
'Bastard.' He thought, but as Ansem turned back around he followed after him more calmly. Once outside the training room doors a dark portal was flung before the both of them. Riku knew he should walk through it, but he hesitated and was unwilling. With an irritated sigh he was dragged forward again and he struggled more this time, even as he was forced through the portal. He was expecting to walk into several different places, but his room was not on that list.
"Are you injured?" Ansem asked as he placed a hand to the small of his back instead of gripping his wrist and leading him to the attached bathroom.
"Minor things." He replied, thought he visibly stiffened and wanted to struggle again, he did not like where they were heading.
"Strip." Ansem said shortly.
"No." Riku replied irritably and even went as far as crossing his arms over his chest protectively.
Ansem who was obviously not in the mood simply backhanded the boy and Riku had to fling his arms out to catch himself on the sink. He was shocked at the treatment and more then that how pissed off Ansem was with him. Normally he took the time out to play his normal cat and mouse game with him, but there was no playing involved here and it definitely screamed power. Before he could really grasp what had just happened, Ansem was pressed behind him and the same gloved hand that struck him was gripping his jaw and forcing him to look into the mirror in front of the sink.
Riku's eyes were wide in shock and he didn't resist as his chin was forced up, he didn't want to risk getting hit again so soon. Over his shoulder he could see Ansem's dark skin contrast with his own, and those amber eyes seemed to glow with rage and something evil. It seemed that this was the first time Riku was realizing what he was really dealing with. It was grounding to be put in his place and feel the fear he should have been feeling before, but he refused to show it.
"Do you know what your little friend Sora is doing?" He growled into Riku's ear as he bent forward a bit more and gripped Riku's jaw a bit firmer in his rage, eyes narrowing as he glared at Riku through the mirror.
Riku felt his breath catch and he seemed to have gone numb. He stared back at Ansem, his eyes not betraying what he felt though his body was stiff and uncomfortable, he felt a shiver run down his back at what he knew Ansem could do to him and how close and defenseless he was to this man. His thoughts filled with Sora, though he tried to block them out. He just knew that he and Sora would be enemies at one point and from the beginning he just tried to block it out. He knew that he would never be able to hurt his best friend. He almost panicked as he thought of Sora being hurt or outnumbered or unable to defend for himself.
"The insufferable brat is destroying my Heartless!" Ansem hissed in Riku's ear with unmistaken able venom.
"Good." Riku replied before he could really think about it and jerked his jaw from the man's grasp and moved to face him, but in the process he was literally backhanded to the floor where his head slammed painfully into the side of the tub.
Riku groaned in pain and moved to sit up, but fell limp and huffed the breath that he couldn't seem to catch. He was glaring up at Ansem, but it really didn't have any heat to it, based on his position and obvious state of vulnerability. Ansem stepped forward and bent down over him, straddling his legs that were out before him and he could barely move.
"Eventually you will realize that you can no longer be friends with the brat, and if you continue to be insufferable, he will destroy you, just like the Heartless." Ansem said in that cool, calm tone, that was sexy and deadly at the same time.
Riku winced at the insulation of being insolent and heartless before he tilted his chin enough to be defiant and their eyes locked.
"So you blame me for the bitch's inability to teach me magic! All she did was slam me to the ground over and over-" Riku started to defend himself, but his chin was grabbed again, gently this time and lips sealed over his own to silence him.
Riku panicked and nearly choked on the tongue that invaded his mouth. He shoved at Ansem's chest and when the man didn't budge, he flat out struggled like he was being held down. He attempted to bite at Ansem's tongue, but Ansem tightened his grip on his jaw and firmly prevented the action. His eyes were wide in horror and panic and he was making distressed sounds, but none of it seemed to help the situation. Ansem finally pulled away with a tired sigh and stroked Riku's cheek, the same one that had been abused twice already, but the action was gentle, almost as if it were an apology.
"There is no reason for this." Ansem started and he sounded irritated as he promptly backhanded the same cheek he was just stroking, and Riku couldn't hold back the cry of pain at the unexpected action. "I know you think of me, and I know what you do when you're in this room and think no one is watching." He hinted as he stood, straightened himself up and walked out of the room without a second glance.
Riku's head was still snapped to the side and he brought a cool hand to the stinging and red injury, no doubt it would mark. Ansem obviously didn't plan on healing it and Riku took it as the lesson it was. His eyes were wide in horror and it really had taken all but two seconds to piece together what Ansem meant and he thought he was going to be sick. 'Ansem know I jerked off to him…' He thought and then he knew he really was going to be sick and he leant over to empty his stomach into the conveniently placed toilet.
Author Note: I know this wasn't the best chapter, but that's why it was so hard for me to write. Now for my Thank you's! If I ever miss you PM me! I really don't mean to and I like to take the time out to thank you for all of your support and express how much it really means to me.
Yunie Tatlin: I'm glad I'm giving you ideas. I'm really not trying so I'm going to keep not trying so I don't screw anything up. Holy crap. I might use that bit about the Heartless later. Just for you.
Kitchan: Good lord. I may need to hire you to become my life coach. I'm glad you like chapter seven and not to worry there is more to come of unfluff, but I will try to add in some fluff, just to see if I like it or not. I've just always seen them as a dark couple. That won't happen till later of course. I'm also glad I happen to magically update when you need it! Of course Ansem was spying on him. God, what kind of lord of darkness would he be if not. Thank you so much for your support again. I really do look forward to your reviews. I aim to please! I'm glad you found me!
Fat-barbara: Of course I'm going to write more silly! Thank you for reviewing and I hope you'll stick around. –and no. Your incredible.
XxDarkxStarxX: I love it too. Thank you for the review.
Xendrassk: Riku is my favorite character, but yes that freaking voice is dead sexy! I love them as a pairing and frankly the lack of stories on the pairing is what inspired me. I was all like if they won't write one, I will! –and this happened. Thank you!
-and post.
