Sometimes when people are upset, they go to some place secluded, some place quiet, to be alone. Having people around would be too much of a burden and a distraction. Silence is solace. This was not the case with Riku. Trained and raised like a soldier, the only place anything truly made any sense was on the battlefield, where silence was the first thing to die. In combat, all he needed to know was his weapon, his allies, and his enemy. His key's name was Way to the Dawn. His enemy was a hanging sack of hard sand. His allies were his best friend, Kairi, and Sora, his parabatai.
Riku could still remember that day, years ago, when they swore themselves to each other in the Shadowhunter ritual. They each received identical I-shaped runes, binding them together forever as brothers in battle. Ever since, Sora and Riku were frequently aware of each other's status as a side effect of being parabatai. One would feel whenever the other would die. Earlier, when Riku left Glitter Pups, he came here, to the training room, to calm down. An hour or so later he felt his back suddenly throb in pain. He figured it was from the vigorous training. It wouldn't have been the first time he pulled a muscle. But when he heard the Institute doors bang open and all the clamor around the infirmary, Riku began to think it wasn't his back. Riku went upstairs, decked out in training gear and covered in sweat, in time to see DiZ close the apothecary's doors behind him. There was no one else around.
"What's going on, Stormguild?" he asked as a soldier reporting to an officer.
"Disregard it."
The man's tone was slightly concerned, something only a few could detect. Riku waited until he was out of sight, then checked to see the door was locked by a special rune. It'd fade over time, enough time to let whoever was inside operate without being disturbed. The glass was covered by a white sheet, cutting off any view of inside. A chill set on Riku's spine as he wondered if it was Sora being operated on. His back stopped hurting, although his chest ached like he was missing someone. Riku prayed to Raziel it wasn't foreshadowing.
It was only around 9:12 pm, way past dinner time. A pit in Riku's stomach prevented Riku from really craving anything. However, dedicated to his fitness, Riku knew skipping a meal was never wise. DiZ said there was nothing to worry about. Riku didn't totally trust him, but it was the only thing that Riku could cling to, telling him it was safe to go downstairs and grab a bite to eat, instead of staying here and waiting for Sora. Still, as he descended in the lift, a sense of wrongness intensified the pang in his chest. It only strengthened when he got to the kitchen to find it devoid of anybody.
More for me, I guess.
Riku commenced with the usual search of what wasn't stale and inedible. Usually there was some leftover pizza or something from nights before, but no one ever cooked. The extensive dining room across the hall was only used for meetings between DiZ and members of the four C's: Clave, Council, Covenant, and Consul, the four organizations that make up the Shadowhunters' government and uphold their laws. DiZ was close with Clave members, often having them over mainly for sentimental reasons, but these meetings meant nothing when the law was considered. Whenever something serious arose, DiZ and the Clave may as well be strangers, since they treated the questioned like a source of answers and not a real person.
"Sed lex, dura lex."
The law is hard, but it is the law.
A harsh laugh hissed through Riku's teeth. Before his thoughts could reach the past, another noise resonated throughout the kitchen. The noise resembled air escaping a balloon. Riku summoned Way to the Dawn and burst out the door. Where he was expecting a hoard of Shadows, he was disappointed to find an empty corridor. Again, he heard the familiar whistle of a Shadow's signature movements. Riku cautiously followed the source until he saw one, flat against the ground, slithering its way up the wall. It vanished into the ceiling through a pit of darkness. There was no time to wait for the lift. Riku took the stairs two at a time to the third floor.
This is impossible…
Riku's mind raced as fast as his feet whilst he pursuited the Shadow. All of his lessons he recited in his head. It helped him think clearer. Still in training, the most Riku new about the Institute was that it was constructed on holy grounds and enforced with Shadowhunter runes, bones, and blood, meaning it really was physically impossible for demons to enter an Institute.
Where is it?
The sound had grown louder, and a smell began wafting through the air. Riku knew that scent from dozens of encounters with lesser demons on patrol. They smelled of their world; rotting, decaying, something that'd make an untrained Nephilim's stomach flop. Shadows smelled like burnt rubber. It was pungent enough to alert Riku of their number. There had to be a least six.
Okay okay okay, here we go… Wait.
Around the corner, Riku saw it twitching, scanning its surroundings but keeping to the floor to remain invulnerable. Part of the strategy to fighting these was waiting until they became three-dimensional and then attacking. As it was now, Riku couldn't do anything but observe. It had no markings on it, nothing to signify it was being controlled.
So it's working for the big guy downstairs. No one summoned it and placed their mark.
Then it moved again. Its claws dragged it toward one of the wings with bedrooms. Riku tailed at a distance, watching with sparking eyes as it lurched off to the end of the hall. It went under the crack of a closed door. Riku went to go after it when he heard weak knocking on a nearby door. He looked to the Shadow, then to the door, gave a frustrated grunt, and attempted opening it. It was locked by a superior rune, the same one used downstairs on the infirmary's entrance. No way could Riku unlock either of them. The most he could unlock was maybe a jewelry box. With a hammer.
He relaxed Way to the Dawn and knocked back, "Hello?"
"Riku?"
"Sora?"
He'd been so engrossed in Shadowhunting he hadn't realized he was right next to his parabatai's room.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Can you get me out?"
"If you can't, I can't. Neither of us know the rune to unlock."
"Shit…"
Riku knew he only cursed when he was upset. Remembering that uncomfortable feeling earlier, he asked again, "Are you alright?"
"It's Kairi… She's dying. So is Roxas. And DiZ won't let anyone see them."
"Do you know why?"
"A Veil Lizard attacked us. It was labelled with a black and red heart. The fucking thing scratched Kairi and impaled Roxas, and I…" Sora's voice cracked, "I should've…"
"It's not your fault," Riku said in a way so soft he only used for his allies, "We haven't been taught to fight greater demons yet. There's nothing you could've done. Hey, at least Xion is still alive, right? And you. You're still here." Thank Raziel.
"Xion must hate me so much."
"Sora…"
"And Kairi," Riku felt the twist in his chest from Sora, "Scarhallow said she was fine, but… It's still my fault…"
"Sora, please. It could never be your fault. Whoever summoned the demon is to blame."
Speaking of demons…
"Wait here, okay? I'll be right back."
"Riku, wait. I know that tone. What's going on?"
No answer.
"Riku?"
The last door to the right was the only one illuminated. Riku never bothered to check the other rooms' occupants, since it never mattered to him, but when he peaked through the keyhole, he found out this was Saïx Foxway's room. Said man was seated by a fireplace that crackled with blue flame. Riku's eyes widened as the Shadow climbed out of the second dimension and stood before Saïx. Saïx gazed proudly at it, almost as a father would his son when he won a race. It's glowing eyes matched Saïx's gaze. Riku could've sworn it purred when Saïx bent down and rubbed its head.
Saïx smiled warmly, "Anything to report?"
