Ring of Fire

That same Saturday morning, Sora had gotten up early, because Riku had invited him to go to the arcade, before anyone else had really awakened. There were always fewer people in the mornings. Sora had stomped the dancer at the racecar game and Pac-Man, but had then made the foolish mistake of challenging him to Dance Dance Revolution. Riku had offered no outward signs of the impending doom awaiting the brunet, instead calmly putting his quarter in the machine. Sora selected medium, bringing up the song "Speed Over Beethoven" and waiting for Riku to choose his own difficulty.

His mouth fell open at the choice the dancer made. "Oni Mode…! Riku!" Oni Mode, the hardest mode there was on this machine, was near impossible.

Riku smirked. "Come on, Sora. Surely you underestimate me. I do dance for a living, remember?"

It was then that Sora realized exactly how far outmatched he was. But it was too late to back out. The song began, and while Sora could get through "Speed Over Beethoven" on medium without much trouble, he kept getting distracted by the sheer amount of arrows on Riku's half of the screen. The dancer was hitting almost all of them, moving so fast that to Sora's eyes his feet seemed like a blur.

When the song was over and the results appeared, Riku had scored AA rank, while Sora had only achieved A rank. He gaped at the screen, exclaiming, "But my mode was easier than yours!"

Riku shrugged. "I'm good at this. What do you think I practiced on when I first started working at Second Circle? I had to catch up to Zexion quickly, and he had about three years on me."

"I don't think my feet even can move that fast!" Sora yelped. "Seriously, Riku, you must have super-speed or something!" He stepped off the machine, adopting the perfect 'defeated' stance. "Remind me never to play DDR with you ever again!"

Riku laughed, before glancing at the clock. "I didn't realize how late it was. We need to go by my house before I go to work. Are you coming?" He saw Sora hesitate, and remembered abruptly what the brunet knew of his family. "My brothers are never home during the day. Don't worry about it. It's fine."

Sora cracked a smile, nodding. "Sorry. It still throws me to know that your family is essentially in charge of the Angels." He followed the silveret out of the arcade, beginning to follow him through the streets of Deep Dive City.

xXx

When they reached Riku's house, Sora couldn't help but stare. It was a huge house by the standards of the city. He supposed it was only normal, considering the status that the brothers held, but it was still intimidating. He watched Riku pull a key from the pocket of his jacket, opening the front door and motioning Sora in. "You can sit in the kitchen for a minute. I'm going to run to my room and get a few things. We're staying overnight tonight, so I need pajamas and stuff."

Sora nodded, heading in the direction that Riku indicated and finding a spacious kitchen. It was simple, but elegantly decorated in a monochrome black-and-white color scheme. The only color in the room was in the light fixture, a cluster of colored orbs that sent color reflecting around the rest of the room. Sora listened to Riku climbing the stairs, staring at the light, entertained by the way the colors shifted as it moved in the slight breeze from the ceiling vent.

"Who are you?"

Jumping at the voice, a deep voice that most certainly didn't belong to Riku, Sora nearly fell out of his chair. One of the brothers, not Kadaj, the only one he would have recognized, was standing in the doorway. He was tall, with short hair the same shade of silver as Riku's. Sora stammered for a second, and managed to squeak, "Sora. I'm Riku's friend."

"I didn't know Riku was home…" the older male said thoughtfully. "I'm Loz, Riku's older brother. You probably know me as Afriel, or the Angel of Youth."

Sora nodded. "I've heard the name." It was one of the names associated with the Angels that people rarely said anything bad about. "Riku came back to get some things. He said they're staying overnight at the club." He paused, then asked somewhat apprehensively, "Is everyone home right now?"

"No. Just me and Yazoo." Loz said. "Kadaj is out somewhere; I don't know what he's doing. And Sephiroth is dealing with something in Naught's Skyway, on the other side of the city."

That was a relief. Sora refused to show it, but he had been terrified of accidentally meeting the leader of the Angels. Loz seemed nice enough, and Kadaj hadn't seemed like a bad person when he had seen him a few nights ago. He glanced up as Riku reentered the kitchen, stopping dead when he saw Loz. "I didn't know anyone was home. You're usually all out."

"Yaz and I are here." Loz said, shrugging. He went to the fridge and got out a bottle of water, taking a long drink. "It's good to see that you are capable of being in the same house as us when we're all awake!"

Riku frowned. "…All of you are so involved, leading the Angels, and I can't deal with that. It's easier to not be around." He turned away. "Come on, Sora, I'm going to be late for work."

Sora hopped off of his stool to follow Riku, smiling at Loz on the way by. "Nice to meet you!" As they got outside, he said cheerfully, "Your brothers seem nice, Riku! Kadaj is fun, and Loz is kind of cool."

"You haven't met Sephiroth." Riku said dryly. "He's… intimidating, for lack of a better word. And that's when he's being nice. You don't want to see him when he's upset."

Sora laughed. "Whatever you say, Riku! You should be more positive! They're your brothers, after all."

"And I'm never allowed to forget it." Riku glanced around the street where they were walking, and saw a skinny, pale boy with white-blond hair stop dead and stare at him with wide eyes. He blinked at the boy, confused, and when the kid didn't stop staring, he called, "What? Something wrong?"

He couldn't have been older than Sora's age. He walked over, refusing to meet Riku's eyes, and asked, "You're Morningstar, right?"

Riku hesitated. "…Yes. What do you need?"

"I'm Dennis… I mean, Elijah, the Angel of Innocence. I just joined…" he said, talking quickly. "I had a question about how things worked, and I was told to go ask the high command…"

Riku blinked in surprise. He was lucky he'd caught this kid. If Sephiroth did happen to get home, he'd completely obliterate him. Rookies were not something Sephiroth wanted to waste his time with. "Who told you that asking the high command was a good idea?"

"Nisroc…" Dennis stammered.

Riku rolled his eyes. Leave it to the Angel of Freedom to throw a newbie to the wolves, probably as a joke. He smiled wryly, saying easily, "Do me a favor. Go back and find Nisroc, tell him that Morningstar gave you permission, and kick him in the shins. And don't worry about how things work. It comes to you in time."

Dennis gaped at him, wide eyed, and managed, "Yes, sir!" before running off in the opposite direction. Sora glanced over at Riku, grinning widely and poking him in the arm.

"See, you would be a good leader! You'd at least be sane, compared to how you talk about Sephiroth!"

Riku groaned. "He was your age, Sora. I just wanted to save him from having his head bitten off by our One-Winged Angel." He resumed walking, saying flatly, "Xemnas will kill me if I'm late for work again. Come on."

Sora followed him, a small frown on his face. "At least you have brothers, Riku. I'd kill to have four brothers who actually want me around."

"Sora…?" Riku wasn't sure what he was trying to ask, and settled for, "But you have Roxas and Ven and Cloud."

"Yeah." Sora laughed. "And ten years on the Destiny Islands when I only saw them maybe twice. After Mom and Dad died, they said I couldn't live with Cloud and the twins because their parents weren't home often enough to be effective legal guardians." He sighed. "No one really knows what happened, either. The car was fine the day before…"

"Well, you can have my family if you really want them, Sora." Riku said with a wry smile. "All dysfunction included."

"Uh… I'll pass on the dysfunction." After that, neither could keep a straight face, and they laughed all the way to the nightclub.

xXx

Day shift, like most days, proved extremely uneventful. Teenagers filled the club, dancing and clowning around, and the dancers really didn't have to do much work at all. Roxas had been happy to find that his cousin had been hanging out with Riku, and was then staying at the nightclub all afternoon. But unfortunately, he had to be kicked out with the rest. Leon hadn't given permission for him to spend the night with the rest of the employees. Ven couldn't come either, though Cloud had grudgingly granted Roxas permission to stay. Naminé was staying, and both of the O'Donohue siblings were sure that Larxene wouldn't mind. Because tonight was Ring of Fire night, and it was the first one that Roxas was allowed to stay for.

It was also the only special occasion where drinks were allowed in the main room. Axel lived for this night. It was called Ring of Fire night because flaming drinks were served, for one thing, and also stemmed from the concept of calling alcohol "firewater". It was one night where there were no limits. And after everyone was sent home at one, when the club closed, the employees finished off what was left. That was why they spent the night: so they could pass out drunk without worrying about going home. Vexen even relaxed his policy on the younger employees, letting them have somewhat watered-down drinks, as many as they could drink.

"This is awesome!" Axel shouted, carrying a tray of glasses filled with baked Alaska. Vexen, after the Tiramisu incident, had made it a point to try combinations named for other desserts. This one was chocolate and strawberry liquors, and cream. High-proof ethanol was dripped on top, and lit on fire to burn away, just like a real baked Alaska.

Naminé looked up from where she was sitting in the corner of the Oblivion Bar, watching him set the tray down on one of the tables and pulling out a long lighter. Several people gathered around, clapping and cheering as the drinks went up in flames. Naminé smiled, glancing over at the bar where Marluxia and Vexen had set up a long domino line of Jägerbombs. People cheered as Marluxia tipped the first shotglass, sending all them over in a long clinking line.

Naminé smiled, continuing her drawing of an abstract colored spiral, figuring it wasn't a good idea to draw anything serious tonight. She sipped her piña colada and watched the fires flicker, mesmerizing.

Out on the dance floor, it had dissolved into what was essentially a wild mosh-pit. Demyx was cranking trance and techno music, grinning at the moshing crowd below. Roxas and Zexion were mingling, dancing with the crowd. Zexion glanced over at Roxas, smiling, and Roxas made his way closer.

"Having fun, Zex?" he yelled over the music.

Zexion nodded. "It's interesting to watch people. They show a completely different side of themselves when they're intoxicated."

Roxas laughed. "I can't believe you let Xion down here in this mess!"

"Xi's with Riku. She'll be okay." Zexion blinked in surprise as Roxas whirled around and high-kicked a man squarely in the chest. The man stumbled back, knocking over at least two others, all of them laughing about it drunkenly. Zexion raised an eyebrow. "Roxas?"

"Pervert tried to grope me." Roxas grumbled. "This isn't that kind of club, damn it."

Zexion laughed, nudging him in the shoulder. "Thank goodness Xemnas gave us permission to defend ourselves however we deem necessary. Plus, that man will be too drunk to remember you flooring him."

"Good."

Across the floor, nearer the edge of the room, Riku was dancing with Xion. The two teenagers hadn't actually had anything to drink yet, despite the amount of alcohol around the room. Xion grabbed Riku's hand, letting him spin her, and said, "Thanks for staying with me, Riku. I didn't want to be stuck upstairs." She was breathless from dancing, and Riku smiled fondly.

"It's fine, Xion. I don't mind. I like spending time with you."

The black-haired girl jumped up, throwing her arms around his neck and letting him support her weight. Riku chuckled, spinning her around the edge of the floor, ignoring the other people bumping and grinding and other things that Riku didn't really want to know. When he set Xion on her feet, he reached for her hand, suggesting cheerfully, "Let's go see if Vexen will make us some Tiramisus." Xion nodded eagerly, and they both headed off in the direction of Oblivion.

xXx

Eventually, all the non-employees were kicked out, the front doors were locked, and the remaining drinks were carted into the main room, where the employees of Second Circle proceeded to drink themselves silly. As it turned out, Roxas was a clingy, giggly drunk. He latched onto Axel's arm, laughing at absolutely nothing. Even Xemnas, Saïx, Vexen, and the two bouncers joined in, despite being the "responsible adults" of the employees.

Axel put on a show that was usually too dangerous when there were other drunken customers around. He had perfected mixing Blue Blazers, and saved the talent for special occasions or among friends. It was only whiskey punch, but when mixing, it was poured back and forth between two cups while on fire. The flames burned blue, and Axel could hold the cups amazingly far apart, creating a long ribbon of blue fire.

Someone eventually started a game of Spin the Bottle, and several embarrassing kisses followed. Marluxia had to kiss Xaldin, Xion had to kiss Roxas, Xemnas had to kiss Saïx, to his employees' great entertainment, Riku had to kiss Xion, and Axel had to kiss Zexion. But knowing the dancer's aversion to such things, he only kissed him on the cheek, to the taunting of the others and a glomp from Roxas.

Demyx was surprised by how much all of them ended up drinking. Sometime at around three in the morning, Axel and Roxas had passed out in a heap in one corner. Saïx had thrown a blanket haphazardly over them, before succumbing to alcohol himself. Lexaeus, Xaldin, and Vexen knew enough to know when to stop, and had actually legitimately decided to go to sleep. Xemnas was asleep on one of the couches, Naminé was asleep on the other, and Riku had fallen asleep cuddling Xion. Demyx was certain that Zexion would have something to say about it, were the dancer not glassy-eyed from alcohol, clinging to his arm like it was salvation.

He caught Vexen's eye across the room, gesturing towards the stairs to indicate that he was going to put Zexion to bed. There weren't any more couches, and the floor didn't seem very comfortable. Vexen nodded, and Demyx scooped the dancer up and carried him upstairs.

Once they reached Zexion's room, Demyx set him on his own feet and looked around. It was a huge room for one person, big enough for a set of bookshelves and a reading nook in one corner, as well as a large wardrobe and dresser. A window looked out on the street in front of the club.

He turned around to find that Zexion had taken off his shirt and was engaged in a fight with the comforter. Laughing to himself, he helped the silveret untangle the covers, and turned to return downstairs when a small voice stopped him.

"Don't leave…" Zexion was clearly wasted beyond knowing what he was saying. Demyx took a few steps back towards the silveret, and Zexion threw his arms around him, much drunker than Demyx had initially thought. "Everyone leaves, all I have is my sister, my parents are gone and I'm scared. I don't want to be alone."

"You're not alone. Everyone is right downstairs." Demyx said, uncertain. "You'll be fine."

"Please stay!" The look on Zexion's face, despite the fact that his eyes were wider than Demyx had ever seen them and that he could barely maintain the balance to stay on his feet, convinced him. He nodded slowly, and Zexion seemed satisfied, climbing into bed. Demyx hesitated. With his face flushed and his eyes so bright, Zexion was beautiful. He toed off his shoes and climbed in next to the dancer, tensing as Zexion decided to cling to his arm. This wasn't going to turn out well in the morning, but for the moment… He was just going to enjoy being this close to the object of his affections. Zexion's skin was soft where they touched, and for the first time, the ice prince that Demyx had become so familiar with was replaced by something distinctly warm and human.

He gave in to the desire to reach up and run his fingers through Zexion's hair, knowing he would likely never get another opportunity. He thanked his lucky stars that he hadn't drunk himself into unconsciousness, or he would have missed out. Pulling Zexion close, he decided not to worry about the morning, and drifted off to sleep.

xXx

Across the city, under cover of darkness, two figures stood in a narrow alley. They embraced, and the man kissed his girlfriend softly.

"I don't like this plan." Aqua whispered, her arms wrapped tightly around him. "It's dangerous. If you're caught, I'm sure they would kill you."

Terra brushed her hair away from her face and touched his lips to her forehead. "This is the only way. Xemnas wants to know what the Seekers are up to, and if I can get close to them, I'll find out everything we need to know."

"And I can't come with you."

Terra shook his head. "I need you to be my contact with the others, and to look out for Ven. I don't want any of them hurt by association. Please, Aqua."

Aqua hesitated, then sighed. "I've never been able to talk you out of anything." She hugged him tightly. "Be careful, Terra. I love you, and if anything happens to you, I won't know what to do." Letting him go, she stepped back into the shadows, silently giving him permission to go forward with his plan.

Terra turned away, stepping out into the street where he had promised to wait. This was dangerous; Aqua was right about that. But for his brother, to make sure that things didn't get too out of control… Xemnas didn't always realize how much power he had in the underground. His nightclub was something different than a simple dance palace or bar. It was a rock, a glimmer of normalcy in the chaos, and Terra knew how important it was to protect that.

He saw a figure waving, and hurried to meet them. There were three of them, on the steps of one of the buildings. The only light came from a nearby streetlamp, and Terra could barely make out the men who had come to meet him.

"Men" wasn't entirely accurate. One was only a teenager, one was possibly his age, and one was older. All three were dressed rather oddly. He raised an eyebrow. "This is the best the Seeker of Darkness can do? A teenager, a vampire, and a pirate?"

"Don't be a smart-aleck, or yeh might find yerself speared on the end of me sword!" The oldest of the three, who had on a wide-brimmed hat with a feather and an elaborate red coat, brandished a rapier at him. He took a step back, surprised. Yes, many of the city's residents preferred swords over guns, but it was still a shock to have one pointed at his face.

"Leave him alone." the teenager said. He swept Terra a theatrical bow, smiling. Now that Terra really looked at him, he looked rather like Sora, if Sora had raven hair and an unholy light in golden eyes. The teen smirked, saying, "I am Vanitas Schatten, Seeker of Completion. My companions are Hook, Seeker of Riches, and-"

He was interrupted by the final member of the three, dressed in a tattered red cloak. "The Seeker of Redemption." he intoned, deliberately leaving out his name. Crimson eyes studied Terra from beneath black hair.

Terra only half-heard them. Vanitas? He knew that name. He'd never met the boy personally, but Aqua and Ven had spoken of him briefly. He'd been another childhood friend of theirs, before something happened. Neither liked to speak of him, and now Terra saw why.

"I'm Terra." he said quietly, and Vanitas raised an eyebrow.

"Terra… what?"

"If he is allowed to not speak his name, I do not feel the need to give out my surname." Terra replied calmly, indicating the Seeker of Redemption. If they knew his last name, they could connect him with Xemnas and Second Circle, and that was the last thing that he wanted.

"Impudent brat!" Hook snarled, but the red-cloaked man put a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait. Let us see what he wants." He turned to Terra, asking quietly, "You put out word that you wished to speak to the Seekers. What is it that you are looking for?"

The man's unusual crimson eyes might have bothered Terra, were he not used to his brother's intense orange stare. He hesitated a moment, then said firmly, "I want to join the Seekers."

Vanitas laughed. "What makes you think that you have any qualities that we would want around?"

Terra frowned at the boy. "The underground is in chaos. There's fighting everywhere. I feel that if I can become part of one of the groups involved, I can understand what is going on. The Gamblers aren't particularly prominent in their control, and the Angels are lead by a man too arrogant for my taste." That part, at least, was the truth. "This seemed the best choice for aligning my allegiance."

Vanitas seemed prepared to say something scathing or rude, but the Seeker of Redemption interrupted him again. "We will speak with the Seeker of Darkness, and we will have an answer for you soon, Terra."

"Thank you…" Terra blinked as Redemption nodded to him and walked away into the darkness. Vanitas and Hook seemed unhappy with the response, but followed. When Terra was finally alone on the street, Aqua hurried out of hiding and embraced him. Terra smiled, holding her close. "See? No need to worry. I'm fine."

"There were three of them. Of course I was worried!" she objected. "I don't like you trying to do these things on your own. I wish you would let me work with you."

"Did you see who one of those three was?" Terra asked seriously. "Vanitas Schatten. He introduced himself as the Seeker of Completion. I can't think that that's a common name, so I'm assuming it's the same Vanitas that you told me about once."

"Ven's childhood friend…" Aqua murmured. "I haven't seen him in years. When he started to change and became inspired to join the Seekers, Ven stopped speaking to him."

"So it's better if you're not right there next to me. They don't know of my connection to Xemnas. We're half-brothers, so we don't look that much alike. As long as they don't find that out, I'm safe. But Vanitas will recognize you, and trace you to Ven and Ven to Roxas, who works at the nightclub."

Aqua nodded slowly. "…I suppose you're right. But you have to let me know if there is anything I can do to help you."

"Of course." Terra smiled. "Come on, let's go home for tonight." He reached for her hand, and together they left the dark streets behind.

xXx

Almost three-quarters of the way across the city, Xigbar was perched on top of the roof of a coffee shop. A cup of coffee with extra espresso sat beside him, and he stared down at the street with a melancholy expression. How hard could it be to find some kid whose parents the Seekers had offed ten years ago? The only explanation that Xigbar had was that the kid had left the city.

Waaaaait a minute… Roxas had been saying something a few days ago. Something about his cousin moving back to Deep Dive City, after his parents had died in a car wreck ten years ago. He'd been on Destiny Islands all that time, where no one would think to look for him…

Xigbar grinned. This warranted more investigation. But at least it was a lead, and that was more than he'd had in, well… ever. Tonight was definitely looking up.

I've almost caught up to my prewritten stuff. Cursed lack of computer time! Anyway, Ring of Fire night is done. If anyone out there is old enough, someone try making Tiramisu's or Baked Alaska's. Blue Blazers are a real drink, but I made those two up off the top of my head.

Hard question today! Hint, it's Final Fantasy, not Kingdom Hearts!

Li

Reader Quest: The light fixture is made of materia, and "Schatten" means shadows, but who is the Seeker of Redemption?
Song List: Speed Over Beethoven (from DDR), the first minute or so of "The 13th Anthology" from Kingdom Hearts