The Prince and the Pauper
~Chapter Twenty Five~
The Fateful Letter
Two days later Replica woke, again, to the cell. He couldn't believe it all ended so quickly. He was now… now in a prison, possibly for the rest of his natural life. He gazed at the ceiling of the cell and he could only think of Princess Kairi, how hurt she must be… how sad she must feel… he turned to his side in rejection to the thought, this was his entire fault… he should have told the Princess something… anything she would have understood…
"Are you still blaming yourself?" Roxas sat up in his thin mattress bed, "You aren't to blame, it was my fault to even get a fake into this castle… technically Zexion was right, it was my plan… well Namine's but…"
"I know what you mean… but it's ok… I just want to get out of here… I just… something tells me that this was some sort of…"
"What?"
"Nothing…" Replica sat up in bed and lowered his head. "I just… have a feeling…"
Roxas sighed, he gazed around his cell and found himself staring at the window. It was barred and had no glass or plastic on it. Fresh air, hot or cold, was free to enter and leave but something about the bars gave Roxas an idea.
"Halt!" a guard commanded. But the sounds of heels continued through the halls, from around the corner came the red hair then the soft skin, then the dark blue eyes of Princess Kairi, the guard immediately bowed in respect and apologies.
Princess Kairi walked to Replica's cell and gazed at him, then at the guard, "Leave us," she said sternly.
The guard bowed again and left.
Replica stood quickly and grabbed the bars of the cell, "Please, forgive me! Let me explain!"
Princess Kairi remained silent and after a moment of Replica explaining she slapped, it certainly wasn't as hard as she wanted it to be but her message came across clear, "I can't believe you were so stupid to do such a thing! Ugh!" she groaned, annoyed, "And you! What were you thinking?!"
Roxas swallowed, but Replica continued, "Look, I still love you… it wasn't suppose to happen this way… but I still love you and I didn't hurt the Prince… I didn't…"
"I believe you, I just think you were stupid to take a risk," she answered after a moment. "Okay, look, I believe you but the Prince is still dead."
"I just… don't believe that…" Replica said.
"Look, I came here to tell you something, the new king is blaming Twilight Kingdom for Riku's death, they've already declared war," she said.
"My homeland? You mean…" Roxas asked.
"Yes, Roxas, and not only that but all the kingdoms have wages war against each other," she said. "Even my home… I don't know if you can help but I need you guys out of here!"
"We can't," Replica interrupted Roxas before he could speak, "We're stuck in here."
"And what do you mean new king?" Roxas asked.
Riku held Sarah's body, she was worried and obviously afraid, she figured she was going to die and she didn't care who she held on to, even if it was the man that cut her throat those years ago. She held back her tears as she talked to Riku about her son.
"I don't know where he is… they just… threw him out the cabin and let him run off…" she said.
Riku sighed, "It'll be okay, I'm sure…"
"Hey… Rick, I'm sorry I got you into this mess…"
Riku at first was confused, then he realized that she thought he was Replica, "It's okay…" he said, when he didn't even believe it himself. He didn't believe it at all.
"Can I ask you something?" she said.
"Sure…"
"I always wanted to fall in love… and a few weeks ago… I did…"
"With who?"
"Well… I mean… Prince Riku… not that you aren't a great guy Rick but… I just fell for him the second I saw him…"
"Okay…"
"Yeah… and I was… wondering… if I could…"
"What?"
"Kiss you…"
"What?!"
Sarah sighed, "I know, strange but… you look just like him… I mean, we're going to die here… eventually so we mind as well… you know… try…"
Riku bit his lip. "Um… Sarah…"
"Please? Just once, I mean… its not like we're going to hate each other after this… this probably the last thing we'll do in this world anyway."
Riku felt her turn, she shifted and he could feel her face in front of his. At first Riku didn't know what to say or do. He pulled back for a second but she didn't say anything. She inched closer and Riku felt compelled to allow her to. She "earned" it, if that was a good word to use.
Then it happened, a light of white shined from a small crack in the dark room. It stopped the two royals in their tracks. Riku's heart slowed down, he could breathe again. He stood and took Sarah's hand to help her stand. They shared a quick glance before they sheepishly turned away again. They faced the light and slowly inched their way toward it. As Riku got closer he could see that there were many rocks, ones that were small and movable were blocking the rest of the light. Riku started to pull away at the rocks. Sarah stood in the space where they once were and watched. After a few more rocks the light filled the rest of the room.
Riku and Sarah hid their eyes behind their arms as the light seemed to get brighter. Their eyes adjusted and saw that there were yellow and purple stones embedded in the stone walls. Riku gazed in wonder, "What are these…?"
He stepped in and used the hole's edge for support as he stepped in over the heap. When he got inside he realized how many of them there were. He reached his hand out to Sarah and called her over. Sarah quickly reached out and grabbed Riku's hand. "Rick what do you think these are?"
Riku ignored his impulse to confess his identity and answered her, "I'm not sure. But they look very valuable," he released her hand as he tried to pull one stone out. He noticed instantly that there were different sizes, the one he pulled out was much larger than the other ones along the ground. He examined it in his hand and narrowed his eyes in thought.
"Hey Rick look!" she said, a few yards down there was a desk, strangely it had a scale, on one side there was a chuck of gold the other side was bare. Riku walked over with the chuck he had and placed it on the other end of the scale. The chuck he had was balancing the scale.
Riku became astonished, "Sarah…"
Sarah stepped closer, "What's wrong?"
Riku gazed at her, "We found… its something we can use as currency," he said.
Sarah smiled, "That's great!" she said. "But how do you know that?"
He shrugged, "Just a guess," Riku placed his hand on the desk. As he did so he felt paper under his hand. He looked at the paper and saw his name on it. He swallowed, "It's a letter… to Riku."
"Open it," she said.
Riku swallowed, he opened the letter. He was almost pulled to tears when he saw who it was from. It read:
"Dear Riku,
I have found a new currency, I know it's sudden and un-royal to start a letter like this but when I'm done you'll understand.
Son, we have in fact, ran out of gold, but these new stones are in abundance and just as valuable as gold. I gave it the name munny. Also, I have reason to believe that Zexion is plotting to do bodily harm to me, he's been very distant the last few years, distant in way that told me to get rid of him today. Son, my darling Riku, I write this letter to you because I want you to know that no matter what I do today you might be in danger as well. Zexion isn't a force to mess with.
And Son, one last thing… When you're old enough I will share with you the knowledge of the Keyblades, they have great powers and they have the ability to heal the sick and unlock doors, or locks. But this is something I wanted to tell you right away, the Keyblades are able to stop wars and battles by using light alone; it also has the power to open doors to darkness.
Son, in a few years you'll get this letter, for reasons unclear I had a feeling to leave this letter where I wrote it… my father said if an outside force is convincing you it just might be fate. Remember that son, that some times its fate helping you along. Fate is what controls the outcome of many things and events, don't ever forget that.
Love,
Joseph, your father."
Riku lifted his eyes from the letter, he was surprised that a letter, sat here for more than a few months, just waiting for him to find it, according to what he gathered from what his father called fate. Riku let out a small chuckle and gazed away from Sarah. Riku gazed at the wall of new currency that his father found.
'Dad… I… I don't know what to think about you any more. You always had a way of amazing me…even in dark times… dark times…' he turned to Sarah, she lifted her eyes, and at that moment they came to the same conclusion.
"They're going to start a war!" the said together.
"We gotta get out of here, we have to tell someone," Sarah said.
"But first we have to find a way out."