Riku commenced his ritual march around the training castle looking for Rachel. He'd just been in the training hall with Sora practicing with powers only usable by Masters. He'd had time to practice with those skills before but Sora was still pretty new to them. Besides, there was no such thing as too much practice. And Sora was getting really good at using some of those new powers and skills. Riku would have to ask Rachel when he found her about getting some of that paste stuff that sped up the healing process for bruising for himself.
The Atrium was usually a good place to start. Between that and the potion room, that was the place Rachel favored doing most of her magic practice. But along the way, Riku heard something from behind another door. The door wasn't shut completely. Riku put an ear to it. No sense just waltzing in and find out too late you interrupted something. Grunts and hnmph! sounds? Slowly Riku pushed the door open. To say he wasn't expecting what he saw would be quite the understatement.
Near the center of the room was Aiden…somewhat in mid-air. The way his body was twisted suggested he was caught in something; only Riku couldn't make out what it was that he was suspended by. Invisible strings? A half-baked hover spell? And he seemed to be having a great deal of difficulty moving.
"Are you okay?"
Aiden's whole body went tense. He couldn't turn his head very well but Riku could see his blue eye flicker with horror and embarrassment from being caught in such an undignified state.
"What happened?"
"Just walk away!"
Riku circled him twice. Even deliberately looking for shadows and light reflections, Riku could find no sign of anything that was actually holding Aiden up. But the way he was positioned looked like he was tangled in a net or something. It looked quite uncomfortable. Aiden was glaring daggers at him the whole time.
"How did you manage to get up there?"
"It was a suicide attempt. I misread the instructions." Aiden snapped rudely. His irritable mood was rather understandable, considering.
"Can you get down?"
"Don't you think I've tried that!"
"What exactly were you trying to do?"
Aiden muttered something but Riku couldn't make it out.
"What?"
"I was trying to use new magic okay! And it…didn't work."
"I'll say."
"This was nothing like what was supposed to happen and I have no idea how to fix it." Aiden sounded like he'd rather try and swallow a thistle than admit just how stuck he was.
"What if you just-?"
"NO DON'T!"
Riku reached above Aiden and actually managed to wrap his hand around something solid even though he couldn't see it. It was just like a piece of fishing line. He gave it the tiniest tug and Aiden freaked out. Not without reason. The second Riku touched the string the whole of Aiden's upper body flailed. Riku jumped back, startled.
"Don't do that!"
"What just happened!"
"That's what happens! I don't know what it is. But everything is all twisted up. I try to stretch my leg, I nearly break my neck. I try to turn my head; I nearly put myself in a half-nelson. I don't think that's even possible but I think it could happen. And that's when I can move. I'm afraid I'll snap myself in half backwards if I move too much."
"I think we're in agreement that you're stuck."
"Your powers of observation are frightening and awe-inspiring."
"And you can't move."
"I just said that!"
"You don't know when or if it will wear off?"
"Kinda goes without saying, doesn't it, genius?"
"So…if you're in a tight spot, but not asking me to help you, then I guess I'm not sure what I'm still doing here." Riku shrugged. "Guess I'd better find something useful to do elsewhere." He started to walk away.
"Don't leave me here!"
"Oh? Why?"
"I can't get out of this by myself!"
"I'm getting that."
"Well?!"
"Well what?"
"You're really going to make me say it, aren't you?" Aiden's eyes were narrowed dangerously and his whole body trembled with fury.
"You could always wait for Rachel to find you. She's sure to be able to get you down. I'll go find her for you."
"No! It's bad enough that you found me, I don't need her to see this too!"
"I'll say."
Aiden glowered at him. "I-." He choked. "I…FINE! I need you to help me get down! THERE! I said it! Now get me down!"
"Sorry, didn't catch that."
"I need you to help me!"
"See? Not so hard once you give it a try."
"I hate you."
"So how'd that taste to say?"
"Like vinegar."
"Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. Or is it just me?"
"You already know the answer."
"What were you trying to do?"
"It was just a levitation spell! I swear! I don't know how it went so wrong."
"And every time you move or a string is touched-."
"DON'T!"
Riku absentmindedly reached out again and gently brushed the invisible strings. Instantly Aiden was snapped up into a super tight fetal position, his kneecaps smashing into his cheekbones.
"OW!"
"Sorry!"
"Oh! Ow!"
"I am so, so sorry about that."
"When I get out of this-!"
"How is the promise of injury an incentive for me to help you?"
"And what tune would you be singing if it were you?"
"Fair enough. If it helps, I know where Rachel keeps something that helps heal bruises. We can get that for you before the bruise starts showing and makes you look like a raccoon."
"If that's all the help you're going to be, I'll take my chances with it wearing off."
"We'll figure this out."
"Before I'm in pieces?"
"Maybe these threads can be cut. If they all give way at once, nothing can pull you around, right?"
"And if they can't be cut? After you've struck all of them at once? I forbid you from trying. I'd like to stay right-side out."
"Just a second, I've got an idea."
"What is it? Tell me!"
Riku called his Keyblade.
"Hey, hey! What are you doing!" Aiden couldn't look around very well but his eyes were still darting about wildly as a side-effect of fearing for his own safety.
The end of Riku's Keyblade glowed orange with Fire magic. In no time at all, the end was completely covered in a tight fireball. Little tendrils of flame licked the air.
"What are you doing!"
"Setting the strings on fire."
"Are you sure that will work?"
"If I set them all on fire at the same time they should all burn through at the same time. If they all snap at once then you should just fall."
"All those 'shoulds' are making me very nervous."
Riku was confident so he gave it a shot. Keyblade alight, he held it above his head and focused on making the fireball bigger. Sure enough, the flames caught on the invisible threads like candle wicks. Aiden held his eyes shut tight in a wince, expecting the molested strings to protest violently, making him apart of their tantrum. But the theory worked better than Riku thought it would. The fire burned for about fifteen seconds then, almost simultaneously, the threads snapped. No ill-effects befell Aiden, except for the three-foot drop.
"See?" Riku said, letting go of his Keyblade. "Still in one piece and Rachel doesn't have to know what happened."
Aiden didn't say anything. He was on the floor massaging his face where he practically gave himself a double shiner with his own knees.
"Ow."
"I know where the salve is to fix that."
"You said that."
"So?"
"So what?"
"Well after an action of a kindness or useful service, in this case, both, a few words are usually given in exchange for said action and-or service."
"Oh yeah. Where'd you say that salve was?"
Riku wasn't really surprised when Aiden refused to say thank you. He'd already had to choke on asking for help, Riku should have expected him not to have the stomach to swallow thanking him too. Still, Riku could somehow sense the hostility displayed from him was now more about stubborn pride rather than venomous spite. And if that was the way Riku could get Aiden to warm up to him, he was fine with that. A step forward, even a slow or unorthodox one was still a step forward.
"Hey, Rachel?"
"Yo. Whatcha need?"
"I…I had a question."
"Sure thing. What's on your mind?"
"I was wondering, has…has my Heart Song changed?"
"Let's see."
Aiden stood in front of her and closed his eyes. He felt her put her hands on either side of his face. A moment later she pulled her hands away.
"Heh,"
"What does that mean?"
"I can't make anything out."
"What?" Aiden's stomach dropped.
"Oh, don't worry. It's not bad. It's just…I think, I think it's changing."
"Changing? That's good, right?" He held his breath as a new hope fluttered inside.
"That all depends on you. But I can't hear anything other than a jumble of words and melodies. I think your song's transitioning. I can't make it out because even your heart doesn't know yet what it wants to say next."
Aiden left walking on air. He still had to wait to hear his new song but until then, confirmation that the song was in fact changing was more than enough.
"Hey! Qu-quit it! Stop hitting-h-he-he-hey! You're only encouraging me!"
Aiden had been trying to expand the use of magic beyond just potion making. Rachel was of course more than happy to play professor and bestow her wisdoms to another magic enthusiast. However, all newbies ran into the same problems. All spells, no matter how simple had the potential for going very wrong. The lack of focus, skill or current magical capacity was usually the culprit. Aiden was no exception. This magic mishap resulted in his voice sounding like a clown horn every time he spoke.
Riku, very unceremoniously, couldn't keep his amusement under wraps and broke down laughing. Aiden couldn't chew him out like he wanted because a flow if irate words sounded like a platoon of clowns finding alternative ways of expressing their fury. So Aiden had little choice but to get physical trying to make Riku shut up. But blows hurt a lot less when you're laughing so hard you can't breathe. Rachel tried very hard not to smile, resulting in an odd frown and lip twitch from her efforts.
"Um…I-uh…if, if it makes you feel any better," Rachel had to pause to keep herself from chuckling. "One of my first spells went about as well."
"I'll, *snort* I'll ask on h-he-he-his behalf, what happened?" Riku laughed.
Aiden punched him in the arm as punishment for his snickering.
"I got rainbow pastel colored stripes on my arms that lasted for days. HEY! You knock that off right now!"
Physical violence wasn't getting the point across to Aiden's satisfaction so he settled for a rude gesture. His face was very pink with embarrassment and rage. He gave Rachel an apologetic shrug. After that he pointed to his throat then at his wrist, miming a watch.
"I have no idea how long it will take to go away. And I don't want to see you making gestures like that again."
"Listen, I'm sorry I laughed. But you have to admit, if it were anyone else, we'd be waking you up with smelling salts right now because you'd've passed out from oxygen deprivation from laughing so hard. Especially if it had been me."
The wonky voice thing did get fixed after a while but Aiden was still furious at Riku for laughing the way he did. Aiden still had his wall of pride up between him and a more open friendship with Riku. At the moment, that wall prevented the amusement of his embarrassing blunder to be seen as anything less than a direct insult.
"Well it wasn't you, was it?" Aiden snapped. Maybe more actual magic wasn't quite his speed after all. Apart from the incident with Tatania there had yet to be a major potion disaster.
"It's not like you're the only one who's ever had a magic mishap."
"What would you know? You don't use magic like she does."
"Of course I do."
"What? Since when?"
"Since before you came here. I just don't use it as prolifically as she does. I know some transformation magic and other spells. I'm just more of a fighter than a magician."
"Why would you even learn any kind of magic then?"
"As a Keyblade Master I need to be versed in all areas of strengths and magicks."
Riku could see Aiden bristle at the reminder he had the honor of becoming a Keyblade Master. There was the possibility Aiden might never get a Keyblade of his own. Even if he did, there was still the hurdle to be jumped to have him trained as a key bearer without the others questioning his resemblance to Riku. And that risked someone turning over the wrong rock and finding out where Aiden came from and his story. But the comment about being a Keyblade Master was obviously a turning point of their conversation and Aiden made to leave. But not before,
"….Goose."
It took Riku a second to realize Aiden was addressing him. He turned slowly in his chair to face him. "What did you just call me?"
Aiden grinned snidely. "I was just thinking about what Rachel said about the cobra and the mongoose. So I decided I was the cobra."
Riku stared at him. "Really? You seriously gave that further thought?"
"You were the one who asked her who was what."
"I really wasn't serious."
"Anyway," Aiden said, dismissing Riku had said anything. "I already decided."
"You do realize it's the cobra that tends to lose."
"Can't be worse than being something that has 'goose' in its' name."
"There is that…"
Kairi knocked on the large wooden door before entering the room behind it. The room was made of stone with a high ceiling and several long tables. Looks like she found the potion room Riku had described. He'd mentioned that place a lot so Kairi figured it wouldn't hurt to try there first. And, luckily she was right on the first try. Only, once she opened the door and closed it behind her she was surprised by a very bizarre sound.
Rachel was sitting at a table. Nothing odd about that. But what caught the princess' attention was a very loud something in front of her friend. It was smaller than a chicken, light gray and black and making an angry series of shrieks and caws.
"Hi, Rachel. What's going on?"
"Nothing!"
Odd she answered so quickly. Kairi took a closer look at the thing squawking on the table. It was a little wingless bird with skinny legs and long beak. It looked more furry then feathery. And even thought it was obviously irate about something, somehow that just added to its adorability.
"Aww! What is that?"
"It's called a kiwi."
"Oh! I've heard of those. But aren't they usually brown?"
"Yeah, um, I just…I wasn't expecting this to happen."
"Is that why it's so upset? Because you made it tiger-striped?"
But it only had stripes on its right side. Odd. And its beady black eyes seemed to catch blue and gold in the light. The kiwi paced on the table, squawking loudly, stamping its skinny feet and turning away from Rachel while kicking like it were scratching at sand. It was a lot like when a dog turns their back on another dog and kicks up dirt as a display of who is (or who thinks they are) in charge.
"It's okay, little guy," Kairi cooed as she got closer.
"I wouldn't do th-."
Kairi tried to calm the irate bird with a friendly scratch on the head but it squarked again and tried to peck her hand. The furious avian stomped across the table away from them and came to rest atop a big book. It sat down on the book, every feather afloof with rage. It scrunched its neck up as tight to its body as it could and scowled fiercely. Otherwise it was still and silent.
"Kinda looks like one of those marshmallow Peeps but with a beak."
It must have been able to understand her and didn't appreciate the humor because it stood up and resumed cawing aggressively.
"Okay, before we get a chance to learn if this thing knows Tai kwon do," Rachel waved her hands and in a big puff of dark green smoke the kiwi vanished.
Kairi didn't think much of it and right away changed the subject. For about an hour the two talked about everything that wasn't related to training. Girl time was important after all.
Later
"WHY COULDN'T YOU HAVE DONE THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE!?"
After breakfast Rachel and Aiden made their usual trip to the potion room. After the tangled marionette and the horn voice incident, Aiden decided he'd hold back on learning new magic for a while and stick with what he knew he had a talent for. So he started a new potion while Rachel sat down the bench, holding her egg and using it as a prop for one of her journals while she wrote. They talked. He worked. She wrote. It was a nice, lazy morning. But all that was shattered when they heard a voice calling out for Rachel. And it wasn't Riku. Kairi had never come to the training castle before so her arrival was very unexpected and caught them off-guard. Explain why there's another person living at the training castle when there shouldn't be and not telling anyone? Nope. Explain how, even with unique differences, he so closely resembles Riku? That wouldn't fly at all.
Aiden had to hide. But in their sudden wave of panic, neither could think straight. There was a knock at the door. They had seconds! So Rachel acted on instinct and did the first thing that she thought of and turned him into an animal. But when you're under duress and not thinking of the specifics of a spell, the results tend to be random.
When Rachel cast the teleport spell, Aiden found himself back in his room and his human-self again. He'd dropped from about two feet onto his bed. He was grateful not to be that stupid fluffy bird anymore but equally annoyed that just making him go poof to another part of the castle wasn't Plan A. After he was certain that Rachel was alone again, he marched downstairs to give her a piece of his mind.
"I panicked! I'm sorry!"
Aiden was startled awake by voices. He hadn't been feeling too great and tried lying down for a nap to see if that would help. The nap felt great and he did feel better, only the excited voices of Rachel and Riku snapped him back to the world of awakeness. He hadn't bothered going back to his room and had just gotten comfortable on the first cushy couch he could find.
"Oops!"
Apparently neither Rachel or Riku had noticed that he was there, let alone that he'd been sleeping.
"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you."
"Where did you guys come from?"
Rachel picked up a thick hard cover book that had been lying on a table. The center cover image featured a mermaid child sitting on a rock on a riverside and reaching out her hand to pet the nose of the unicorn leaning in to say hello. In the corners were clustered all sorts of magical creatures. In the bottom left corner, a dragon crouched over a pile of jewels. In the bottom right corner, a gryphon laying on her side with her cubs. Upper right, a fairy sitting on a string of bleeding hearts. Upper left, an armored knight on one knee before a beautiful princess. Aiden had seen that book before. Rachel wrote in it all the time.
It was a very special magic book. Whatever was written on its pages created a world within the book. Rachel and Riku had been inside it since before Aiden came in for a nap. They looked to have had a lot of fun in the story.
"I have a question," Riku looked at Rachel. "This has been bugging me. Just how much in your story world carries over into the real world?"
"What do you mean?"
"Like, if I was bitten by something venomous in there, would I still be in danger once I left the story world?"
Rachel had the look of someone who had never given something much thought before but was not deeply intrigued by it. Riku continued,
"It was a full moon, if Killian hadn't been able to keep his brother in check, what could have happened if Elliot had bitten either of us? Well…me? I'm not very comfortable with that look you have."
"Well, I-."
"You have no idea, do you?"
"I never really thought about it." Rachel admitted.
"What are you two talking about?"
"We met with a few characters of hers; brothers, Elliot and Killian."
"Elliot's a werewolf and Killian is a vampire. It was a full moon so Elliot wasn't quite himself."
"Mild understatement."
"Don't interrupt. For the most part he has a good handle on his faculties when he transforms. But sometimes things get a little out of hand. That's why his brother sticks to him like a cocklebur, using his vampire strength to keep things in check if it comes to that. And my head is starting to hurt with the point Riku brought up."
"You really have no idea if the magic is strong enough to carry over from the imagined world into the real one."
"Well up until a bit ago it never came up! My biggest wonder from the beginning is whether or not there's a way to bring these characters into real world somehow. Ooh! I really, really, really want to do that! If that could happen, I would totally be giving Kairi a pink fluffle lamb for her birthday."
"Gesundheit?"
"Another of her creations." Riku explained. "They're little sheep with colored wool. The herds look like a living rainbow."
Rachel laughed. Riku knew why and told her to stop laughing. So of course Aiden wanted to know what was so funny.
"The first time I took Riku to the pastures of Amethyst Farms-."
"Don't tell him that!"
"Hampster, the llamacorn saw him as an intruder and ran him off something fierce."
"You just had to say it. Your creatures just don't like me!"
"I guess I do see the pattern. Hampster jumped to the defensive, Javelin hates you-."
"A llama-what? Please describe so I can get a clear image."
"Hampster is a super-wooly llama with a magical horn. He's in charge of keeping the fluffle herd safe and doesn't take kindly to strangers. I was so sure Riku was going to get an impromptu piercing if I hadn't been able to call Hampster off."
"Knock it off!" Riku scolded Aiden, noting that glassy-eyed look people get when they're conjuring up an image in their head.
"Too late," Aiden smirked.
