Standard Disclaimer: I often draw Riku and Sora, but that doesn't mean I own them unfortunately, or any of their friends :emotear:
Dive into the Heart
Part 9: Darkness of the Unknown
I felt like an ass after my little episode that day; running away from everyone when they all needed me most. I thought I was protecting them, but really, I think I was just protecting myself. Do you know, it wasn't until the next morning that it even occurred to me that Ansem was also gone? Roxas and Naminé had lost the only father they had ever known, and all I could think of was myself. I was completely disgusted with my behavior and made it a mission to make things better in any way that I could. I did my damnedest to be there for the others as much as possible and while the ache was still there, together, it was far more manageable.
The second morning we woke to breakfast cooking and smiling familiar faces who had not made an appearance the day before…well, they were familiar to me at least.
"Aerith! Yuffie!" I cried running to pounce on the two women. It was finally sinking in that I was actually in Radian Garden with my friends! I could really touch them and be there with them. I could hardly believe it.
"It's about time you got out of bed lazy bones!," Yuffie cried returning my pounce full force. Aerith smiled and wrapped me in a warm embrace.
"It's wonderful to finally really meet you, Sora," she said placing a kiss on my cheek. "And I hope you know how sorry we all are for your loss." A knot formed in my throat at her words and I fought back the ache in my heart. It was all still so fresh, so unreal.
"Thanks," I managed after a while, offering my best attempt at a smile. I thought to say something more on the subject but finding it too difficult, decided to switch to safer grounds.
"So where are the others?" I asked. Last time I had come, Leon, Cid, and Cloud were all working on a project that was supposed to help them speed up their building projects. Merlin's house was like a home base for their group and I knew that they should be around.
"Well, the grumpy twins went out to check out something suspicious on the outskirts, and King Grouch Cid's probably over at the hanger playing with his ships," Yuffie supplied helpfully. "They'll all be here around one for the meeting."
"Meeting?" I asked not remembering anything about a meeting.
"Yep, we're supposed to make sure that all of you are up and about by 12 so that we can start planning what to do next." Yuffie said with a gleam in her eyes. From the way she was talking, it seemed like she knew a lot about what was going on which meant…
"So wait," I said trying to fully grasp the implications. "You guys have been in on this all along? All the times I've been here, all the things we've done together, and no one bother to tell me that I could world jump for a reason?" Yuffie cringed like she'd been caught in a lie and Aerith just smiled sadly.
"We were told not to tell you Sora," she said in that gentle tone of hers. "There were things happening bigger that any of us cold understand. We were told that you needed to find out on your own or we would risk making things worse than they already were."
"And it's not like that's something that comes up in casual conversation," Yuffie piped in. "'Hey, nice weather we're having, yeah? By the way, you're potentially one half of a human dooms day device.' Doesn't really work so well."
I couldn't help but laugh. I always did like Yuffie. She was so carefree and energetic and had a way with words that I really appreciated. She didn't tip toe around issue like a lot of people did, and it was refreshing to know that at least someone was willing to be blunt with me. I couldn't really bring myself to be truly annoyed by the situation either because it was true. That wasn't something you just casually dropped on someone, and if they were told not to tell, who am I to be pissed at them for following orders?
"Do I smell bacon?" a groggy voice said from the doorway of one of the rooms we were using. I looked up to see a sleep tussled Riku wandering into the kitchen yawning, Roxas dragging his feet behind him. It was weird to me how normal everyone was acting. I don't know…I guess after something like this happens you think that the world should come to screeching halt for as long as it takes for the hurt to go away, but life doesn't really work that way I guess.
With everything awake in me now, I could literally feel the emotions that Riku was keeping tightly in check, and well Roxas…I don't even have to say anything about Roxas. We practically share a psyche. That should say enough about how well I could read him. Still…here we were, chatting lightly as we all shuffled around getting things set up for breakfast.
"I'll go get Kairi and Naminé," I offered heading towards the room they were sharing. I could tell from the ripple of emotions coming from their door that they were inside talking about something serious, but I could only guess at what. These new feelings were so weird to me. It was really hard to understand all that was going on. Kairi said that I affected the emotions of the people around me, but then apparently it went both ways too. I could easily feel everything that everyone around me was feeling without even trying, but also, it was weird to me that it didn't seem to bother me much. You'd think that with everyone's emotions hammering away at me all the time I'd go nuts or something, but I seemed to be fairing ok so far.
"Kai, Namine," I called lightly knocking on the door. "Breakfast is ready. We're about to eat."
"We'll be out in a second Sora," Kairi called back to me, and I returned to the other room to sit at the table while we waited. No one was saying anything…
"So, have you guys been introduced yet?" I asked to the group at large attempting to break the awkward silence..
"Merlin told us to stay out of dodge yesterday, so this is our first time seeing these guys," Yuffie piped in as usual. I did my best not to show it, but Roxas looked at me. We both had caught that. Merlin had probably been expecting things to be pretty rough around here yesterday had told the others to stay back. Maybe I hadn't been completely off base in distancing myself after all.
"Well, allow me," I offered with the best smile I could muster. "Yuffie, Aerith, meet Roxas my…uh…other, Riku…I guess he's sort of like my brother?" the girls chose that point to make their appearance. "And then Kairi's the redhead and I guess she's like a sister, and then Naminé who is Roxas' sister…sort of and then probably my sister by association since she's his sister and also the other half of Kairi who is also sort of like my sister…sheesh…I never realized how confusing all of our relationships are before!"
"Allow me to simplify," Riku spoke up, "Kairi and I are the guardian's assigned to Sora. Kairi was split, and her other half Naminé was assigned as a guardian to Roxas. Easy." He folded his hands behind his head. A familiar smug smirk tugging at his lips. "You always did over complicate things Sora."
"Well, fine, if you want to be all technical about it," I pouted, happily falling into the familiar banter, "but my way lets them know that we're family. I like it better that way."
"You would," he said smiling, and I could feel his warmth radiating to me. It filled me with a peace I can't really describe and I returned the smile full blast.
"Alright, you two," Naminé broke in. "I think you've demonstrated your affection well enough, the rest of us are starving."
"Sorry, sis," I teased, and Naminé beamed brightly at that.
"Watch it," she said, "I could get use to hearing that from you."
"Hey!" Roxas called from her side. "Are you saying you prefer him over me?!"
"How can I?" she countered. "You're the same person."
"And with that, I'm digging in," Kairi said diving for the bowl of scrambled eggs that were on the table. Aerith and Yuffie just sat back and watched us and I could feel a kind of contented warmth coming from them both, but it was tempered by a sense of sadness. I could only wonder at what specifically could be the source; the tragedy that we had all already faced, the knowledge that moments like this wouldn't be able to last, or the fact that the future held only darker times than those which had already come. I chose to ignore that question in favor of biscuits as they were passes around.
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Merlin literally appeared out of thin air in the house about 20 minutes before the clock would chime 1pm. The group had taken the time they had during the day to get to know each other better as they soon figured out that they would likely be spending a great deal of time together over the next unforeseeable future. No one else had come to the house since they had awakened—a fact that had Sora a bit confused and upset—but Aerith explained that they were investigating something relating to the problems that their world was having due to the darkness. This caught everyone's attention immediately.
Aerith declined elaborating on the topic further until the others had arrived, so the group had busied themselves getting to know the town a bit and trying to get back on their feet after the events of the previous day.
When Merlin arrived however, everything else was dropped and faces that were maybe laughing or joking before fell suddenly serious.
"Well now," the old wizard huffed upon seeing the reaction to his arrival, "if this is the kind of greeting I can expect for the duration of your stay perhaps we need to reconsider this arrangement." The gathered teens had the decency to look a bit chagrined but the moment was broken when the front door burst open admitting a stocky blond man who looked to be about in his mid forties. He was covered in streaks of grease and oil and had an unlit cigar stub clutched between his teeth.
"Cid!" Sora exclaimed launching himself at the man without a second thought. Cid was caught completely off guard as the flying ball of boy landed on him and he looked down at the brown spikes that were attached to his shirt.
"Sora? That you?!" he barked out with a small glower. Sora stepped back with a winning smile.
"In the flesh,"
"Well shit," he grumbled gruffly, a smile pulling at his lips. "They told me it was true but I didn't believe it until now. How the hell are you kid?!"
"We've all be better," he admitted with a sad smile, but allowed it fall away almost immediately. "But hey! Come meet everyone!" he said excitedly, indicating his group of friends where they were standing and watching the scene. Sora was about to launch into explanations again but was halted by Aerith.
"Maybe we should wait until everyone is here," she suggested. "That way you can just introduce everyone at once."
"Besides," Cid said walking off towards the bathroom, "I need to wash some of this shit off first." Sora looked down at himself, realizing finally that hugging at Cid might not have been the best idea in the world. His white shirt and blue shorts were now covered in splotches and he noticed more than a few on his skin, too.
"Great, now I have to take another shower," he grumbled to himself.
"Unfortunately," Merlin piped in, "that will have to wait until after the meeting." As he said this, Two tall figures entered the house, one with spiky blond hair who was several inches shorter that the scar-faced brunet.
"Cloud! Leon!" Sora was pouncing again, this time finding it a bit more difficulty as he was attempting to tackle two targets at once. He was however greeted warmly by both men who each offered a rare, soft smile to their friend.
"We're glad you're safe Sora," Cloud told him with and affectionate tussle to his hair.
"Hey, I told you guys I'd find you one day, didn't I?" Sora said, boastfully crossing his arms.
"And we never doubted it for a moment," Leon offered as he guided Sora to the rest of the group where Merlin had caused the small kitchen table to grow a couple of sized in order to accommodate all of them.
"Yes, yes. All of this is very good indeed. Everyone is here now so we should be able to get things started."
"Could you wait a fuckin' minute!" Cid's voice called from the bathroom. Merlin spared only a slightly irritated glance in the general direction before continuing.
"Now, as I'm sure you have all figure out by now, this will be the first of several meetings we will be holding to plan the best course of action for the future in order to assure the highest protection for Sora and Roxas while still allowing them to continue in their quest for answers."
"Really?" Yuffie interrupted, "I actually had no clue that's what was up. I just though you wanted to make sure that everyone knew everyone else." The other teens in the circle nodded their heads in agreement, blank looks on their faces, and Cid chose that moment to storm out of the bathroom, splashing and dripping water all over.
"I thought I asked you to wait a fuckin' minute!" he growled, glaring at Merlin. The wizard released a long-suffering sigh as he slowly massaged his temples.
"Well now that you are here, Cid," he said exercising a fair amount of patience and control, "please have a seat and join the rest of us." Cid grumbled, gnawing viciously on his cigar stub as he plopped himself onto a stool next to Leon.
"Now, as I was saying, this will be the first of a series of planning meetings. We won't all be present all of the time, but for this first meeting, I thought it best that we all become acquainted with each other as we will be trusting our lives to the hands of the people in this room." The words had the desired effect of re-enforcing in everyone's mind just how serious the situation was.
"Now, beginning with introductions. You will all be working very closely together over the next several weeks to ensure that this location remains secured. Riku, Kairi and Naminé are the guardians assigned to protect Sora and Roxas now." Merlin said, indicating the group of five teens who were sitting together on a couch. "Do not discount them for their age. Each has a unique gift that makes them invaluable in their positions and have been training in the arts for their entire lives." The older individuals present looked to the group of teenagers with new respect and Merlin nodded his approval as he noticed this.
"Cloud, Leon and Cid along with Yuffie and Aerith who you have already met, are the primary guardians of this world," he said calling attention to the older males in the room. "they will be major parts of your training boys," Merlin said sternly to Roxas and Sora.
"And don't think we'll go easy on you just because we like you," Cloud put in. "the time for fun and games is over."
"We've pretty much figured that out I think," Riku said, cold steel coating his voice. "So if the pleasantries are over, I think that we all deserve some answers." All eyes were on the silver-haired boy whose aquamarine eyes were burning with a fury that was almost painful to those who could sense it beyond his barriers.
"What it is that you would like to know?" Merlin asked. His voice held an air of sad resignation, as if he already knew what question Riku was going to ask—as if he had been expecting and dreading it all this time.
"What was that…thing?" Riku spat out, voice shaking with barely contained emotion. Memories of their battle were flooding back to him, and while the images invoked were difficult to relive, the feeling of wrongness that was brought on by the coming of that creature who looked far too much like Riku was enough to make him feel ill again. "Why does it affect me the way that it did? Why does it feel so much like me?"
Merlin looked over at the boy with sad eyes, face looking somehow older than it had a few moments before. It was clear that this was not news he relished sharing.
"The reason that creature looks and feels and affects you so, Riku," he said, speaking directly to and only to the silver-haired teen, "is because he is you."
-:- -:- -:-
A/N:
So the big mystery about Seph and Riku's connection is revealed! Wow…who saw that coming? Anyway, it'll be explained next chapter. Show some love, drop a review.
