Chapter Twenty-One: Prince Roxas
They had made it.
Sora had finally made it to the Destiny Islands. To his birth home, the place where his parents were born and raised. He briefly wondered if he would be able to find out their names while he was here, but didn't dwell on the thought for long.
The port was bursting with life. There were few ships tied to the docks and none as big as the one Sora was currently on. Beyond them the city was busy with people and everyday life. Shops lined the streets with venders calling out their products. Children were running around in the streets screaming and laughing. Men and woman talked easily with one another, joking and trading stories. Sora didn't see a hint of a fight anywhere or even a disgruntled person. The city was clean and shone in the bright afternoon light.
"What? No questions for us?" Jack appeared by the awe-struck Sora's side, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Beautiful, ain't it?"
"Yes," Sora agreed. "Very much so."
"Come on little Trappling," Jack laughed, placing a hand on his shoulder and steering Sora towards the ramp. Vincent was waiting for them, looking very uncomfortable. "Now ye two are gonna have'ta go right to The Lord of the Gates. Captain Duke will be with ye shortly, so wait down on the docks till then."
He waved farewell and left to continue helping unload and secure the ship. Sora was itching to explore the city, but Vincent kept a firm hold on him, preventing him from running off. The teen had to settle with trying to look at ten different things at once.
Minutes later, Sora was bouncing in place. He kept whining at Vincent that it would be okay if they walked somewhere so long as they could still see the ship. Vincent continued to ignore him and look uncomfortable. As they were waiting, a rope overhead that was lifting cargo frayed and snapped. The sailors scrambled not to drop anything and Vincent moved to help when it looked like they wouldn't be able to handle it.
Sora really hadn't planned on running off. He really was going to stay like he was told to. But out of the corner of his eye he saw movement and turned to look. He watched as a person wearing a brown cloak grabbed an apple from a stand and kept moving. Sora frowned after the thief and, without really thinking about it, chased after them.
The thief seemed to realize they were being followed and began moving quicker through the crowds, ducking and weaving between the people. Sora easily kept up with them though, used to this type of behavior. Despite the thief's best efforts, Sora followed easily.
The chase went on for a few more minutes until Sora was hopelessly lost. He figured after he caught the thief he'd find his way back. The thief abruptly turned down an ally and broke into a run, Sora right on their heals. The alley was a dead end and the thief tried to climb up an old ladder attached to the wall but Sora caught them before they could. He grabbed the person's legs and pulled them down.
"Ouch!" The thief yelled as they landed on their butt in the dirt.
"Ha!" Sora cheered. "I caught you Thief!"
"Who are you calling a thief?! I didn't steal anything!"
"Yes you did! I saw you take that apple from the stand!"
"Stupid kid, I left munny on the table to pay for it."
"Yeah right!" Sora pouted. "Why didn't you just hand the munny to the seller if you were going to pay for it?"
The thief jerked his hood down revealing a boy's face. He had blonde hair and blue eyes that were nearly identical to Sora's own. His hair was spiked everywhere just like Sora's and they even had the same body build, but the blonde boy wasn't as skinny.
"Stupid, I didn't want to be recognized," the blonde snapped.
Sora however, totally forgot what they were talking about and dropped to the ground in front of the other boy. "Wow! You look a lot like me! We could pass as brothers!"
The not-actual thief was startled by his reaction. As Sora leaned in close to study his face, the blonde realized it was true. They did look a lot alike.
"My name's Sora. What's yours?"
"Um, Roxas," Roxas gave him a funny look.
"Nice to meet you. Why didn't you want anyone to recognize you?"
"Duh, I'm the prince," Roxas exclaimed.
"Prince of what?"
"Of the Destiny Islands!"
Sora's eyes widened. "Seriously! It's my first day here and already I get to meet the prince! How cool is this?"
Roxas climbed to his feet and brushed himself off, Sora following suit. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you were new around here or something."
"I am," Sora told him. "I've never been here before. I'm a Trapped."
Now it was Roxas' turn to be shocked. "Really? A Trapped?" Sora nodded.
"I just got here an hour ago," he explained. "A Destiny Island ship found me and my friend in the water and the crew saved us. This is where we were trying to get so the captain, Duke, agreed to give us a ride."
"I'd heard rumors about two Trapped being found, but no one mentioned anything to me so I thought they were just rumors," Roxas mused.
"So you're really the prince?" Sora asked. Roxas nodded.
"Yup."
"Why don't you have an escort then since you're out in a city? All the royalty I've ever seen always goes out with escorts and lots of guards."
"I like to wander the city on my own," Roxas shrugged. "I wear the cloak so people don't recognize me."
"Aren't you worried about being attacked?"
Roxas looked at him funny. "Why would I be? If someone did see me, they wouldn't attack me, just freak out."
"Wow, this place really is peaceful. The royalty can walk around unguarded and not worry about their safety at all."
"Of course," Roxas laughed. "My people love me and I love them. Why would we fight each other?"
"Don't know," Sora shrugged. "I should probably get back to the docks though. I wasn't supposed to run off. Vincent's gonna be so mad."
"Do you know the way?"
Sora shook his head. "But I'm sure if I head towards the water and go from there I'll be fine."
Roxas sighed. "Come on, I'll walk you."
"You don't have to. What if someone sees?"
The blonde waved his hand dismissively. "As the prince I'm required to meet all Trapped or outsiders to the Islands. So it's not an inconvenience, we'd just meat each other later."
They started walking, Roxas shrugging off the cloak, glad to be rid of it's warmth on the hot day. "Why do you get to meet everyone?" Sora asked.
"Well I'm the one who decides if you get to stay or not. So does the Lord of the Gates. We usually we decided together, but I get final say."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I'm supposed to meet with Trapped or outsiders and determine if they're dangerous to my home or if they mean any harm."
"How can you tell that just by talking to them?" Sora asked.
"My ability allows me to read people," Roxas explained. "I can see auroras and, if I concentrate hard enough, feel other people's emotions as well. It helps a lot when I'm trying to solve disputes."
"That's so cool," Sora grinned. He was so excited talking to Roxas that Sora missed all the looks they were getting from passer-byes. Some people even stopped and bowed slightly in respect of their prince. "What does mine look like?"
"Um…" Roxas squinted at him. "White, with blue mixed in."
"What's it mean?"
"White is purity," Roxas explained. "Which means you have a good soul. Blue represents different things depending on the shade. You have a sky blue color, which means you're laid back and happy most of the time."
"Well I'm not so sure about the pure part, but I'm really easy going. Everyone calls me happy-go-lucky," Sora laughed.
"There's also a tint of purple around the edges," Roxas continued. "Who are worried about?"
Sora's face fell and he lost his smile. "My friend Riku. He was supposed to be here with me but we got separated. The sailors helped me ask the water to protect him, but I still wish I knew if he was alright." Sora sniffed. "He could be dead for all I know."
"Don't think like that!" Roxas exclaimed. He slung an arm around Sora's shoulders. "You'd know if he were dead. Destiny Islands is a place of hopes and dreams. Don't give up hope; I'm sure he'll find a way here, just like you."
Sora grinned at the encouraging words. "Ya, I just gotta have faith in him!"
"That's the spirit!" Roxas cheered. "Here we are!"
They arrived at the docks and Sora caught sight of a very angry Vincent (not that he looked angry, he just radiated annoyance) talking to Captain Duke. Sora stopped walking and looked at Roxas nervously. "I don't think I want to go over there."
"That guy's mad," Roxas pointed out, staring at Vincent. "Let me guess, he's supposed to be in charge of you?"
Sora nodded. "I guess, at the moment."
"Time to face the music," Roxas grinned and grabbed his new friend's arm, dragging him towards the sea captain and Vincent. "Duke! I think you lost someone!"
"Prince!" Duke exclaimed. He bowed slightly before turning a glare on Sora. "We told you to stay put little Trappling."
"It was his fault," Sora declared pointing at Roxas. "He was sneaking around."
"So you went sneaking after him?" Duke growled.
"Sora," Vincent interrupted. "Come here."
"I'd rather not," Sora shook his head.
"I think that's a smart idea," Roxas whispered into his ear.
"What's Vincent's aurora look like?" Sora whispered back.
"Red," Roxas told him. "Which means he's mad. But there's also dark purple. You scared him; he was really worried."
"Oh…now I feel bad," Sora muttered. He and Vincent stepped to the side and Vincent proceeded to lecture him about running off in a strange place, even if it was a peaceful one. Duke and Roxas stood back and allowed them their privacy.
"If I may ask, Prince Roxas," Duke began, turning to the blonde. "What are you doing out in the city?"
Roxas shrugged. "Just wandering around. I got bored in the palace."
"Where is Lord Axel?"
"I don't know! Why should I know?! I'm not his keeper!"
"Wow, calm down my Prince," Duke chuckled. "It was just a curious question." Roxas blushed and grumbled to himself. "I take it he is still courting you?"
"Yes," Roxas spat. "Jerk. He's treating me like I'm some sort of prize in a contest. My parents are eating it up too. If only they saw what he was really like. Mom would throw him in the ocean and make the water drown him."
Duke laughed again and shook his head. "I'm sure if you keep persisting he'll stop eventually. Either that or ye will fall in love with'im."
"Never," Roxas hissed.
"Never what?" Sora asked, popping back into the conversation. Vincent had made him feel thoroughly stupid for running off and he'd promised not to do it again (…without a good reason, anyways).
"Our poor Prince here is being courted by someone," Duke explained happily. Roxas just grumbled. "He's not having a good time with it."
Sora grinned. "Haha, that sucks." He turned thoughtful. "Riku never courted me. We both just kinda…fell in love."
"You're friend?" Roxas asked, glad for the distraction. "I didn't realize you two were lovers."
"Ah well we haven't actually…" Sora made some strange noises and waved his hands around.
"Oh! I get it," Roxas smirked. "You're a virgin still."
Sora stopped and looked very sad all of sudden. Roxas also noticed that though Vincent's face didn't change, his aurora darkened with an orange color that meant shame.
"Yeah," Sora answered. "I'm still a…virgin."
You didn't need a special ability to tell he was lying. Roxas looked between the subdued Sora and shameful Vincent. Could it be that this man had at one point been more then just a trusted guardian? There was definitely something going on beneath the surface.
"Hey, isn't there someone we're supposed to be meeting?" Sora piped up, desperate to change the topic.
"The Lord of the Gates," Duke supplied. "He's the one who gets to say whether or not you stay or are sent back to the outside."
"Alright!" Sora punched the air. "Then let's meet him so that I can convince him to let me stay!"
Roxas laughed at the spunky brunette. "You can stay Sora. No one's sending you away."
Sora stopped planning ways to impress the Lord of the Gates and looked curiously at Roxas with wide eyes. "But I haven't even met him yet."
"Man are you dense or what? I told you already," Roxas shook his head. "I'm the Crowned Prince Sora, if I say you stay, you stay."
Sora was so excited he jumped on Roxas and hugged him without thinking. The two nearly fell over but Jack had appeared behind them in time for the announcement and managed to catch them before they hit the ground.
"'Ay now, watch who ye tacklin' little Trapped," Jack teased. "Don' wan' ye goin' 'round and knockin' princes over."
"Sorry," Sora smiled, letting go of Roxas. "I got excited."
"That's fine," Roxas assured him. "Did you need something, Mr. Jack?"
"I was comin' to tell ye the carriage had arrived," Jack shrugged. "But since the prince is here, I guess ye ain't goin' to see Lord Gates." Roxas nodded. "Ye will be stayin' with us too, Vincent?"
"That has yet to be decided," Roxas cut in. Sora looked confused.
"Vincent's not staying?" He asked. "But…he lived here before…" Sora looked to his older friend for an explanation.
"I will go see the Lord Gates," Vincent bowed. "Though Sora shouldn't be left alone until he is used to his new surroundings."
"I'm not a baby! I can take care of myself!" Sora exclaimed.
"He can come back with me to the palace," Roxas decided.
"Then again I do get into lots of trouble," Sora amended quickly.
"Are you sure that's wise?" Duke asked.
Roxas shrugged. "Well where else would he go? We have no hotels and the orphanages are all closed down now."
"The orphanages are closed?" Vincent interrupted.
"Yes, we shut them down after all the children had been adopted," Roxas explained. "We redesigned the building and made new homes for people. Any children unfortunate enough to loose their families are taken in by the villagers."
"I see," Vincent muttered, loosing himself in thought. Sora looked rather shocked as well.
"Damn," he said. "Orphans here are lucky." The D.I.s gave him a funny look but didn't say anything.
"Anyways," Roxas continued. "Until we can find you your own home or a family to take you in, you can stay in the palace."
"A family to take me in?" Sora repeated.
"Of course," Roxas smiled. "No Islander is alone here. We'll find you a good home in no time. You can even pick your new family."
"I already have a family," Sora frowned. "I might have left them to come here, but I still love them." If felt weird to Sora to think of a family and not picture Riku, Kairi, or the others as part of it.
"Of course," Riku agreed easily. "I'm sure they're all great too. But what I meant was that here you'll find a real family. Not an outsider one."
"But they are my real–"
"Once you're finished with the Lord Gates," Roxas continued, not hearing Sora's protest, "I will speak to him and we will decide what is to be done with you. Do you agree?"
"As you wish, Prince," Vincent bowed slightly again.
"Jack, escort him to the Lord," Roxas ordered. "Duke, is all of your cargo taken care of."
"Aye."
"Very good. Deliver your report and after that you're free to do as you please. The other ships are being sent out to catch more fish so you and your crew have some free time."
"Aye," Duke agreed. "Let's get going then." He grinned mockingly at Sora. "Can't wait to see the little Trapped's reaction to the castle."
"Isn't this…nostalgic?" Sephiroth commented, stepping up behind Cloud who was at the helm. Cloud may have agreed to take them to the Islands but he wasn't going to give directions. He would guide the ship himself and follow the pull and no one was permitted to write down their course.
"No." Cloud stated, not looking at the man.
"You once served under me," Sephiroth pointed out.
The blonde snorted bitterly. "In bed only. Not as a member of this crew. Or did you forget I was not but a lowly slave?"
"You could be more then that," Sephiroth whispered, moving towards Cloud and speaking in his ear. Cloud tried not to shrink away at the closeness. "If you came back to me."
"What would you do?" Cloud snapped, finding the strength to push Sephiroth away. "Make me your first? Vincent has that position already."
"Vincent would stay with me no matter what position he held. I could make him no more important then a cabin boy and he would not complain."
Cloud swung around and glared at his one time lover. "How can you say something like that? How can you so casually toss people aside? It's like he doesn't mean anything to you."
"You are a romantic, aren't you?" Sephiroth sneered. "I am merely stating the truth. He would follow me no matter what I did."
Cloud would have hit Sephiroth if he thought it would do any good. "Don't take us for granted." As it was, he managed to keep his temper in check and stepped away from the helm. "Keep heading North-east, don't change heading unless I tell you to."
Cloud went below decks to the rooms he shared with what was left of his own crew. Sephiroth took control of the ship and didn't try to stop him. As Cloud touched the door to his room, he stopped as he felt an overwhelming feeling worry and protection. Cloud leaned his head on the word and closed his eyes.
"Cloud?" Leon's voice floated to him as the man came out of another room. He placed a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"
"The water…" The blonde allowed a small smile and looked to Leon. "Sora's alive and the water is watching out for us."
Riku was sitting up in bed and staring at the little black thing that appeared every time he woke up. The door was locked and Riku hadn't seen any sign of Ansem in a couple hours. He could hear the ship settling but none of the noise that he would normally hear from a crew. There were no shouts or sailors singing songs or doing work. Everything was quiet. Riku figured that meant it was nighttime, but with no window he couldn't be sure.
In his boredom, Riku had kept an eye on the compass. Now that he was aware of it, the "pull" was stronger then ever. It was a comforting feeling, like a loved one calling you home. It never changed directions, just kept urging him to follow.
But now Riku was sitting on his bed and poking at the little black thing. It was a strange experience for sure. When Riku got close it seemed to loose its solidness and become nothing but swirling black fog, but it could still touch things. When Riku pulled his hand away, it solidified again and would make clicking noises at him.
"Sora would love you," Riku told it. "I should give you a name." He watched the things antenna twitch and it clicked at him. "You're like an overgrown bug. …Hmm, Bug. I'm going to call you Bug."
Bug clicked and began swaying back and forth viciously, making Riku laugh. "I guess that means you approve." He reached over and was surprised when Bug stayed solid and allowed Riku to pick it up. "Stick with me Bug. As soon as I see Sora again, I promise he'll spoil you rotten."
Bug clicked in a high pitched tone that Riku took for happy. He suddenly felt something strange overcome him and looked around. It felt as though someone –or something– was protecting him. He suddenly felt very safe. In fact if he didn't know any better, he'd swear he could feel Sora all around him. Bug began squirming in his arms and making loud noises.
"You feel that too?" Riku asked. "I wonder what it is?"
A/N: Writing this chapter was an accident. By that I mean, I was staring at HvsN and thinking about what to do when I remembered I wanted to write down something on this story to use for later. So I opened the file on my computer and before I knew it I had this chapter done and started the next. Go figure.
Well, he now is Roxas. Axel won't come in until next chapter. By now, most people have guessed the basic plot (or at least where I'm heading) and after next chapter everyone will probably be able to guess it. Still, I'm going to throw in some twists and surprises along the way. Can't be too predictable, that would be boring.
And remember, reviews with substance and opinion are almost always answered. Reviews with no substance or opinion are almost always not answered.
Until next time. Ja matte!
P.S. Bug is fun to write.