12.
Lullaby
Lea stumbled as his feet met the worn floor of the water shrine. The warm, humid air rushed to cover him, and he shivered hard with the realization of just how cold he had been. Even with its heavy walls blocking the wind, the inside of the crumbling castle had been frigid.
A few feet away from him, another portal appeared, and Xehanort stepped out of it, still cradling Ventus in his arms.
"The day is yours." Xehanort told Lea. "Do whatever you want as long as you don't risk yourself, someone else, or the people's belief that I am Sole. Understood?"
Lea wrapped his arms around himself. Why did he still feel so cold? "Yes, Master." he said as he shivered again. Xehanort paused and looked at him, but Ventus shifted and mumbled something as whatever he was under began to wear off.
Xehanort hitched him higher up in his arms. "Sleep, Ventus." he said in the gentlest voice that Lea had ever heard him use. "Sleep, and do not see or hear me." Ventus went still and quiet, and Xehanort looked intently at Lea.
"Lea, if you need to speak to me about what happened back there, do not hesitate to come and find me. I will never be angry or upset with you for genuinely needing my help with such a thing. It's your first time taking a life since regaining your heart, so don't be afraid to talk to me about it. Do you understand?"
Lea nodded again; he wasn't quite sure about how he felt about it all yet, honestly. "Yes, I understand."
Xehanort smiled at him. "Remember what I said, and enjoy your day.
Lea nodded again, and Xehanort turned and walked out of the shrine with Ventus cradled in his arms.
OOOOOO
Lea found himself wandering aimlessly as the hours of the day ticked by. After a much welcomed hot bath and change of clothes, he returned to the garden that he'd been in a few days previous to write another letter to Isa, but once he'd settled on the bench and uncapped his pen, the words would not come to him. He thought of everything that had happened over the past two days: the long hike, the cold weather camping, those nasty smelling birds, Master Josef's threats, and the painful way that the man had died. He could see the images in his head, but they refused to translate into words for him. He sat there for several minutes, as his pen bled a spot onto the paper, before he gave up, closed the book, capped the pen, and clipped it back to the headband.
They had gone back into the castle once Xehanort had hefted Ventus up into his arms. They'd climbed back up to the rooms that Josef had occupied (While Lea had tried not to think about how the man would never see those rooms again.) to snoop around. They'd found nothing of interest, just letters from Beldinas warning Josef firmly not to harm Ventus without permission, and letters back in which Josef bitched about the remote location, the shitty weather, and Beldinas' refusal to grant him permission to play. One such letter had contained very graphic descriptions of what Josef considered play, and after reading it, Lea had felt his mixed feelings about killing the man settle a little.
Once that was done, they had retreated to the kitchen to wash up, using conjured water. Xehanort ended up burning his bloodied shirt, and Lea had done the same with his cloak. There was just no way of getting the stains out.
That had been a surprise, that Josef had struck him hard enough to cause heavy bleeding. His entire right arm and shoulder had been bathed in it, which explained a large part of his shakiness. Thankfully, the treated leather of his coat had prevented any stains from forming, so a quick wipe down with wet rags had been enough to take care of that. Xehanort had given his hair a thorough rinsing and drying, and then they had moved on to hiding that they had been there.
It was simple. Xehanort brought down the burned tree, dragged it using magic to the burnt circle where Josef's remains were still lying, and burned it to ash. He'd then dragged Josef inside the castle, tossed him into the cracked fireplace and summoned a heavy snowfall outside. Within minutes, the snow had buried any sign of the burnt ground, while Lea stared in amazement at the power on display. Clearing snow was one thing, but summoning a blizzard? Yeah, he'd been impressed.
"It won't melt until spring arrives." Xehanort had explained as they left the castle. Lea had noted that Xehanort had carefully kept his eyes averted from the fireplace where Josef was lying, and he wondered why. "By then, they'll have hopefully abandoned this place for good."
Xehanort had handed a still sleeping Ventus to Lea and had ordered him to retreat to the treeline. Once he was the correct distance away, Xehanort had stuck his keyblade into the narrow opening that they had used to enter and exit and cast Mega Flare before he seemingly teleported to where Lea was standing.
Lea could faintly see the small fireball through the gap, and then it had blown up.
The entire castle had shaken, from top to bottom, and then it had started to tilt as its walls began to crumble. Lea had felt his jaw fall open as they watched the old castle crash to the ground in less than 20 seconds.
"That should prevent them from ever finding out what happened to Josef." Xehanort had said with satisfaction as he took Ventus back. "Now, let's go back to Meadowseele. Portal straight into Lord Xehanort's shrine." Lea had nodded in understanding and followed Xehanort out.
Lea rubbed at his eyes as he pushed those thoughts away. He wasn't sure if he could ever put the events on Prydain in a letter. Perhaps that was for the best.
Maybe he could work some more on Santili then? Yeah, that sounded like a good idea. If he was going to spent more time here, he might as well learn the language right? He set the book aside and brought up his heart sight. Hearts lit up the surrounding area as the babble of nearby voices filled his ears.
Voices screeched, animals bayed and howled, and children shrieked loud enough to make Lea's ears ring. The glittering hearts began to blur as his eyes stung and watered, and he rubbed at them to try and clear them. As soon as he took his hand away, everything promptly became blurry again, so he sighed and let his heart sight drop. He rubbed at his face as the sounds around him seemed to screech in his ears.
He had a headache.
"Maybe I ought to just go take a nap." he mumbled to himself. "Yeah, a nap sounds good."
Decision made, Lea scooped up his book and began to slow walk back to the castle.
OOOOOO
Lea cracked his eyes open. The room was dark and blurry, and he blinked and rubbed at his eyes a few times before things came into focus. What time was it? How long had he been asleep? Had he missed dinner? He sat up in bed and groaned as his body protested the movement. Everything just ached.
He shivered as he put his feet down on the wood floor and padded his way into the bathroom. Had someone switched the world back to winter or something? He was freezing, and all the shaking and shuddering just made his aches worse as he did his business and fetched a drink of water from the sink. His stomach began to churn angrily at that, and he felt like he had a rock stuck under his rib cage or something.
He didn't feel very good.
Was he sick? Had he caught a bug? Had the cold weather on Prydain caused something?
Maybe he should go find Xehanort.
Yeah, that was probably a good idea.
He padded back into the bedroom, (Breaking out in fresh shivers every time his feet touched the floor.) and briefly thought about getting dressed before wandering the castle, but that seemed like it would take too much energy. His sleep clothes and a blanket would be enough. It's not like anyone else would be really wandering around anyway, right? Where were his socks... oh, it didn't matter.
Just go find Xehanort and tell him you feel like shit.
With that thought, Lea wandered out of his bedroom on legs that had developed an alarming wobble, and down the darkened corridors to Xehanort's rooms. The path seemed to take forever as his body protested contact with the cold floor by wracking him with shivers so strong that they made his back ache. His teeth rattled with them, and the chattering echoed in his ears as he finally spotted Xehanort's door up ahead of him. He ignored his stomach's warnings to find a bucket and crept up to the door.
The door was cracked open, and flickering light was falling in a narrow bar across the corridor floor. Lea stepped up to it, hand raised to knock, and paused.
Xehanort was humming.
Lea reared his head back and resisted the urge to shake his head to clear his ears. Xehanort never hummed, sang, or did anything even remotely like those things.
Yet, that's what Lea was hearing.
He stepped up to the gap between the door and its frame and was just barely able to see Xehanort sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace, with his back to the door. The firelight was the only illumination, but Lea could see it shining off of Ventus and Xehanort's hair hair and casting deep shadows on the floor behind them.
Ventus appeared to still be asleep, still cradled in Xehanort's arms, and Xehanort was looking down at him while rocking them slowly from side to side and humming what sounded like a lullaby.
He should really go back to his room, Lea thought as he stood there, watching, but he couldn't tear his gaze away from the scene in front of him. Xehanort would be furious if he caught him staring, but still. He'd heard Xehanort mention how he'd once considered Ventus his son, but to see evidence of that right in front of him...
The humming faded as Xehanort's face crumbled and his shoulders began to shake, and Lea backed away from the door and made his way back the way he had come as broken sobbing slipped out of the open door behind him.
Nope, nope, nope. He wasn't going to stand there and watch Xehanort cry. Back to bed; he could talk to him later. Much, much later.
The walk back was slower, and his shivering seemed to have worsened while he watched Xehanort and Ventus. He pulled the blanket tighter around his shoulders, but it did nothing to help. Maybe he should have grabbed his socks after all. He rubbed at his temples as he reached his room. Now his headache from earlier was coming back. Great.
By the time he made it back to his room, he was shaking hard enough that he swore he could feel even his teeth rattling in his head. He made his way back to his bed as quickly as his shivering would allow and climbed back in. He coughed a few times and curled up into a ball and pulled the blanket around him as tight as it would go. It did nothing for his shivering. He was still freezing. Maybe he should ask for another blanket... oh wait, he couldn't ask. He needed Xehanort to do the asking for him, and he sure as hell wasn't bothering him right now. He could probably get up, wait for a servant to wander by and try pointing at his blanket or something, maybe? No, that would require putting his feet back on the ice rink that was the floor. Not happening. The servants were probably all in bed anyway. He would just have to make do.
OOOOOO
The feeling of something cold touching his neck and shoulder was the next thing he was aware of. His entire body jerked, and he raised his head and opened bleary eyes to see Xehanort looking down at him.
"How long have you had a fever, Lea?" Xehanort asked as the room's only chair came clattering across the floor just in time for him to sit on it.
Lea laid his head back on his pillow and closed his eyes again. When had he fallen asleep? "Last night, I think." he mumbled.
"Why didn't you come to me?"
Lea drew his blanket tighter around himself, and his joints protested the movement quite vocally. "You were... you were with Ventus. Didn't want to bother you."
There was a sigh, and then he felt Xehanort's hand push his hair back from his face. "Tell me what you're feeling, Lea. You obviously have a fever and chills. What else?"
Lea coughed, but nothing came up. "Got a headache, everything aches, especially when I move, I feel like someone punched me in the gut, and I'm just really, really tired."
"And a dry cough as well. Do you feel sick to your stomach, and where is the feeling of being punched at, exactly?"
"Uhhh..." Lea shifted under the blanket, which caused a fresh wave of shivers, and tried to differentiate that particular discomfort from everything else. "I do feel queasy yeah, and it's... like beneath my ribs on my left side."
His eyes were still closed, so Lea couldn't see Xehanort, but he could plainly hear the change in his bearing. "I need you to roll onto your back, Lea."
Just the thought made Lea break out in shivers again. "Why?" he asked. No, he wasn't whining again, thank you very much.
He felt Xehanort grasp him by the shoulder. "Just do as I say, Lea. Now roll over."
Lea groaned. "Fiiiiiine." He moved from his right side onto his back, which made his stomach roll right along with him, and he groaned again. That groan turned into a shriek of surprise when Xehanort pulled his blanket away, yanked up his shirt, and placed his freezing cold hand down on him.
His eyes flew open just in time to see Xehanort pressing his hand down at the spot where he'd said he felt the discomfort. "Hey, what the hell! Why'd you do that for!"
"Shhhh," Xehanort said quietly. "Just relax. I know that my hands feel cold, but this has to be done." He pressed down hard on one spot, and Lea yelped.
"That hurt!"
Xehanort pulled Lea's shirt back down and pulled the blanket back over him before standing up. "Pain and discomfort are a side effect of an enlarged spleen."
Lea raised his head to better look at Xehanort, which made his neck growl in protest. "Enlarged spleen? Wha? How?"
Xehanort turned and pinned Lea in place with that look of his. "When I sent you out of Tia Dalma's cabin, did you take your coat off?"
"What has that got to do -"
"Answer the question, Lea, and do not lie to me." Xehanort's voice commanded obedience. "Did. You. Take. Your. Coat. Off."
Xehanort's voice felt like a hammer pounding against his aching skull. "Okay, yeah, I did. It was hot out there."
"Were you bitten by anything?"
He was too tired to come up with a smartass reply, so he simply answered the question instead. "Yeah, I think I was bitten by a mosquito or something like that. Why? What's so important about that?"
Xehanort closed his eyes. "I can't be certain without checking your blood under a microscope, but I'm fairly sure that you have malaria."
Lea sagged down into the mattress and pillows. His entire head was throbbing. "Oh. Is that bad?" He coughed, which made the headache worse. "And how can you know that?"
"It can be, yes, which is why I told you to leave your coat on, if you remember. I've had it myself, and I'd hoped that you would never have to deal with it." Xehanort sighed again. "I will be right back."
He walked out of the room, and Lea closed his eyes and tried to think of the diseases that Xehanort had rattled off during their boat ride to Tia Dalma's cabin. Had he mentioned malaria then? He couldn't remember, and he curled back up and pulled the blanket around him as he was wracked with more shivers. His entire body ached, and the more he tried to stop the shivering, the worse it got. He heard the door open, and heard footsteps coming up to his bed, but he didn't bother to open his eyes or raise his throbbing head. A hand came down to rest on his shoulder.
"I need you to get up."
"Doan wanna."
"I don't care if you don't want to. I need you to, so get up." His blankets were pulled away, and Lea groaned in protest as his shivering increased tenfold back. Xehanort pulled on his wrists and dragged him up into a sitting position. His head throbbed at the movement, and the room titled.
"Whyyyyy?"
"I'm taking you to my room. It'll be easier to keep the mosquitoes out there."
Lea tried to work out the logic of how that would work as he was pulled to his feet, but the feeling of the ice rink that seemed to have replaced the floor blew any worries about what Xehanort meant straight away. A blanket was thrown about his shoulders as he wrapped his arms around himself, and then he felt Xehanort's arm come around his back to steady him. A portal opened around them then, and they stepped out into a room that Lea hadn't seen before on the other side.
At least the bed is nicer, Lea thought as he was led over to it and sat down.
"This is your room?"
Xehanort nodded. "Yes, this the bedroom I use when I stay here. Being mistaken for a god means I get a very nice suite."
"Must be nice."
"It has its perks. Now lie down and rest while I go get what you need."
Lea flopped down and felt Xehanort pull the blankets, which were thankfully heavier than the ones on his own bed, over him. "You're leaving?" he asked without opening his eyes.
"The medicine you need can only be found on tropical worlds, and you'll need something to control that fever, which is best found on Radiant Garden."
He heard Xehanort step away from the bed, followed by the sound of a coat being put on. "Do not leave this room unless the castle's on fire or you are under attack. I don't know if the mosquitoes here can transmit malaria, and I really don't want to find out. A malaria plague in a world that's never before encountered it would be devastating. Stay there, and I will return as soon as I can."
Footsteps crossed the room, followed by the door shutting. A second later, Lea sensed a portal opening as Xehanort left the world.
OOOOOO
"Lea."
The voice calling his name sounded like it was underwater.
"Lea."
Why didn't it sound all... bubbly? Gurgly? Why did he care? And why did he feel so hot?
"Lea, I need you to wake up." The voice sounded clearer, enough that he recognized Xehanort's voice.
He cracked his eyes open. The light in the room had changed; it was dimmer, softer, must be later in the day.
Lea blinked his eyes and took a look around and spotted Xehanort was standing next to the bed, holding what looked like a glass of juice or wine.
Xehanort set the glass down on the nearby nightstand and then he put one hand behind Lea's shoulder and grasped his arm with the other before pulling him upright. Lea felt the room tilt and rock under him, like the crab's shell had before, and his stomach seemingly twisted itself into a knot.
"Are you going to be sick?"
Lea swallowed a few times and felt the nausea settle. "No, I think I'll be okay."
Xehanort picked up the glass and held it out to him. "I need you to drink this. It's going to be very bitter going down, but you have to drink all of it."
Lea reached out with one shaking hand and took the glass. It was so cold, but it felt wonderful against the heat that was rolling off of him. "Freezing one minute, sweating the next." he mumbled as he raised the glass to his lips. His face twisted into a grimace at the first sip; Xehanort hadn't been kidding about the bitterness.
"Recurrent fever is a hallmark of malaria. Fever followed by cold and chills, switching anywhere from every 36 hours to every four days."
"Right," Lea took another sip. It was fruit juice, but the sweetness of the fruit was nearly buried by the bitterness of whatever else was in the glass. His stomach twisted again. "What is this stuff?"
"Quinine." Xehanort replied. "I know it takes godawful, but it's the only malaria medication readily available."
"Maybe I should just pinch my nose shut and go for it."
"I wouldn't. Quinine ingestion can also cause nausea, and I need to you keep this down, not sick it up all over the bed."
Lea made a face; he was going to be at this a while, it seemed. "Oh joy."
It took him several minutes to empty the glass, and once that was done, water filled it to the halfway point, swirled around inside, and vanished, before reappearing and filling the glass to the top. Lea looked over at Xehanort, who smiled.
"To rinse the taste out of your mouth."
The water went down much easier than the fruit juice, and once it was gone, Xehanort took the empty glass, set it aside, and helped Lea lie down.
"How often do I have to take that?" he muttered as he began to relax into sleep.
"Every eight hours for the next seven days." Xehanort said as he fussed over the blankets. "I'll wake you later. Now get some rest. If you wake up, and you need me, just call for me. I'll be close by."
Lea yawned and closed his eyes. "You're being nice again."
Xehanort laughed quietly. "Yes, I do that every now and then."
Lea felt his hand come down to rest briefly on his shoulder, and then Xehanort quietly walked out of the room.
OOOOOO
It wasn't Xehanort that woke him later, but an intense feeling of heat. He cracked his eyes open; the room was dark, and Xehanort was crashed out on a nearby couch. There was a breeze blowing through the room, but it seemed to vanish before it could touch Lea's skin. At some point, he'd kicked the blanket away, and his sleep clothes were soaked through with sweat. Even his hands and feet felt like they were burning up. Hell, even his eyes felt hot.
He was lying on his right side, and he slowly dragged his left arm over and pressed his hand against the pillow to make it easier to sit up. His body felt weighted down, and his arms trembled as he pushed himself upright. The rock that was his spleen protested the pressure that sitting upright caused, while everything else just ached as it had been. There was a glass of water on the nightstand, but when he reached for it, his shaking hand only succeeded in knocking it over.
The noise woke Xehanort, who sat up and looked at him.
"Lea?" He stood up and came over to the bed. "How do you feel?"
"Like I'm being roasted in an oven."
Xehanort pressed a hand to his forehead. "You are burning up." He righted the glass, filled it up, and dropped something into it that dissolved as the water swirled around under Xehanort direction.
Despite how muzzy his head felt, Lea managed a grimace. "More quinine?"
"No," Xehanort replied as he held the glass up, "this is for your fever. You're a few hours away from your next quinine dose."
Lea eyed the glass. "It's not gonna taste nasty, is it?"
"It's flavorless. Now drink it if you want to feel better."
Lea reached for it, but his hand shook and wobbled. "C'n you hold it for me?" he mumbled.
Xehanort obliged, holding the glass up to Lea's lips so he could slowly drink down the contents. The empty glass was then set aside, and he heard water running nearby.
"Whass that?" he mumbled as his head began to bob.
"A bath."
"No..." he protested as Xehanort grasped him under his arms and dragged him to his feet. "I'm tired. Wanna go back to sleep."
Xehanort paused to tug on a golden cord that hung from the ceiling by the bed and then he began to walk Lea across the room, towards an open door that presumably led into the bathroom. "I know, but your fever is much higher than I would like. A bath will cool you off, and then you can go back to bed."
Lea grumbled something about being too old to be bathed, and he heard Xehanort chuckle.
"Don't worry, Lea. I've bathed Ventus and Master Limahl, so I think that I can manage you without any trouble."
"Not gonna drown me, are ya?"
"No, I won't drown you."
A wall lamp flared to life and filled the bathroom with a faint glow as Xehanort guided him over to the large, sunken tub, and sat him down on the ledge that ran down one side of it.
"Whaddaya doin?"
Xehanort tugged Lea's shirt off. "You can't bathe with your clothes on, Lea."
"So I have to be naked?"
"As we've discussed before, that is generally a requirement of bathing, yes."
"Do I have to?"
"I am not going to molest you, Lea, and your fever is too high, so yes, you do."
"So embarrassing," Lea muttered to himself as his sleep pants came off.
"If I can survive being bathed for a fever, then so can you."
Lea had no time to form an answer as he was tugged to his feet and walked up the two small steps into the tub itself. His foot touched the water, and he shrieked as his fuzzy head vanished in an instant.
"It's cold!" he howled as he tried to get out of it, but his body was heavy and tired, and Xehanort seemed so much stronger than him. "It's too cold! Let go of me!"
Xehanort settled him down into the waist deep water. "It's not cold, Lea."
"It is! It is! Let me out, you fucker!" His arms flailed, reaching for the side of the tub to pull himself out, but Xehanort grabbed a hold of his shoulder and kept him just out of reach of it. A second later, Lea felt frigid water cascade down over his head, neck, and shoulders, soaking his hair, and he shrieked again. The water was so cold that it hurt.
"Stop!" he wailed as more water poured over his head. "It's coooooooold!"
"It only feels cold because you are overheated."
Lea felt the water evaporate off of him, but he paid little attention to that as yet more water was dumped over his head. "Why are you doing that! Please stop!" The water evaporated again, and he felt Xehanort's hand lightly grasp him by the chin and turn his head to the side.
"I am not doing this to torment you." Xehanort said is a gentle voice. "Your fever is dangerously high, and I have to get you cooled down before it goes any higher. When the water evaporates off of your your skin and hair, it's taking some of the excess heat with it. It feels cold to you because you are so hot." He leaned in closer. "I promise you, Lea, I am doing this to help you, not hurt you."
Xehanort straightened up and kept his gentle yet firm grip on Lea's shoulder. "Are you ready for the next wave?"
Lea didn't answer for several seconds, and then he swallowed and nodded. "Sure," he managed in a weak voice.
"Just a few more, and then you can go back to bed."
"Okay."
"Ready?"
"Yeah."
Freezing water poured over his head, and Lea's breath fled him in a whine.
"Two more." Xehanort said. "Here's the next one."
Water poured over Lea's head again. "I hate you. Have I mentioned that lately?"
Xehanort chuckled. "No, not lately. Next wave."
"Did Master Limahl ever have to do this to you?"
"Yes, he did, but I was too delirious to remember it. Last wave."
Lea yelped as one last cascade of water poured over his head. "Lucky you..."
The water in the tub began to drain away to... somewhere, and Lea found himself being tugged to his feet again. The last of the water evaporated off of him, and Xehanort helped him climb out of the tub and began to walk him back to the bedroom.
The bed had been somehow remade, and the blanket and flat sheet had been pulled back in an invitation that Lea had every intention of accepting. He flopped down on the edge of the mattress and went to lie down, but Xehanort stopped him.
"Not yet, Lea."
"But I'm tiiiiiiired."
Xehanort picked up a bundle of cloth that had been lying across the foot of the bed and bunched it up in his hands. "Arms up."
Lea raised shaking arms just in time to realize what the bunched up cloth was as it was tossed over his head. "Hey, that's a dress."
"It's a nightgown, a man's nightgown. Both sexes wear them here." Xehanort pulled the sleeves over Lea's arms. "Sleeping in the nude when you're a guest in someone's house is considered very rude, so you'll have to deal with it." He pushed the skirt down to his waist. "Now you may lie down."
Lea flopped over onto his side, and squirmed around to get comfortable. The sheets and pillows felt cool to the touch, and he smiled faintly. He felt Xehanort tugging the skirt of the gown down to his calves before he pulled the flat sheet up and over him.
"Go back to sleep." Xehanort said. "I'll wake you in a few hours for your next quinine dose."
OOOOOO
When Lea woke next, thanks to Xehanort gently shaking him, he didn't feel quite as hot, but he still felt very warm as he dragged himself upright. It was still fully dark outside, and he rubbed at his gunky eyes as Xehanort produced another glass.
"Fruit juice and quinine again. Drink up."
The bitter drink didn't go down any easier than it had the first time. Lea's stomach rolled and twisted as he sipped it all down, and his head pulsed in time with his heartbeat. "That stuff is nasty."
"That it is, but look at it this way, you only have 19 more doses to go."
Lea eyed Xehanort over the glass. "Was that supposed to cheer me up?"
Xehanort simply smiled and set the glass aside. "Need the bathroom?"
"Yeah, actually."
"Let me help you up then."
"So embarrassing." Lea grumbled as Xehanort pulled him to his feet. "I think I can take it from here."
Xehanort let go of him and took a step back. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine." Lea took a few wobbling steps towards the bathroom door. "See?"
"Fine, but you call me if you need help in there. I don't care how embarrassing it is."
"Okay, okay."
Lea grumbled to himself as he toddled into the bathroom, and he kicked himself for needing so much help. Well, it wouldn't be a problem if he hadn't taken his coat off outside Tia Dalma's cabin, now would it? What he gets for disobeying Xehanort.
And didn't that thought just make him feel worse.
Ugh...
The walk back to bed seemed longer than the walk away from it, and he let out a grateful sigh when he was able to sit down on the edge of the bed and take the weight of his shaking legs.
"How much longer until I start feeling better?" he asked as he laid down and made himself comfortable, as comfortable as he could get anyway with that rock in his gut.
"A few days at least." Xehanort replied as he pulled the blanket over him.
"Great."
"You'll be fine, Lea, now go back to sleep."
OOOOOO
The rest of the day was more of the same. When Xehanort woke him next, Lea's arms shook as he pushed himself upright. He was still feverish, and his head throbbed worse than it had before.
"Would you like to try eating something?" Xehanort asked him once he'd finished the quinine/fruit juice cocktail. He was standing by a serving cart with covered dishes on it.
Lea felt his stomach growl and twist at the same time, but he pushed himself up and looked at the plates as Xehanort lifted the covers away. It was an eclectic spread, probably to increase the chances that he would want something on the cart. He spotted things he'd had before during previous visits: Aaloo parathas, orange sandesh, fette biscottate, cereals, fruit salad, coffee, and pastries. His stomach growled again, this time without the twisting of nausea.
"Could I try some of that sandesh?" he mumbled, and Xehanort nodded and passed over a small plate of the sweet treat. He took a nibble of it, which prompted his stomach to growl for more.
"Eat slowly." Xehanort warned him. "If you sick it up, you'll have to retake your quinine."
Lea grumbled as he nibbled further on the food. The only thing that he intended on taking was another nap after he'd finished eating.
Or maybe not.
His stomach gurgled, and Lea threw the sheet aside and bolted to his feet just in time for his stomach to twist hard.
Oh damn it.
He dropped to his hands and knees as the fruit juice, quinine, and sandesh exited the way it had entered and splattered all over the floor in front of him. His head pulsed in response, which only made him feel worse. His stomach clenched again and then a third time before it settled. Lea could see his arms shaking, and his head felt like someone had it in a vice and was trying to crush it.
He heard the rustle of clothing as he stared at the mess on the floor, followed by the feel of Xehanort's hands grasping him by his arms.
"Up."
Lea let out a low moan as he was pulled to his feet. His vision wavered as the migraine seemed to double thanks to the movement. His legs shook under his weight as Xehanort let go of him and pulled the splattered gown up and over his head. It was tossed aside, and he was pushed gently to sit on the edge of the bed again. A glass of water then appeared in his sight, and he blinked and focused on it.
"Sorry," he managed to rasp through a throat that had been burned raw.
"Heal." Xehanort's magic washed over him, healing the burns to his throat and easing the migraine. "No need to apologize." Xehanort held the glass out to him. "Here, to rinse out your mouth."
Lea took the water and sipped at it, and his eyes widened when a large stream of water appeared out of nowhere and swept across the floor, picking up the vomit and carrying it off into the bathroom, where he heard it going down the drain.
"Impressive." he mumbled as he handed the empty glass back to Xehanort.
"Water magic has its uses."
"Could I learn to do that?"
"If you have the power, yes."
Xehanort stepped up to the bed with another gown, and Lea mumbled about it being a dress again as it was tossed over his head.
"I have to take the quinine again, don't I?" Lea asked as he scooted back to sit against the pillows. Doing so pulled the gown tight against his neck, which forced him to grab the back of it and yank it out from under him.
"Yes, you do."
Lea groaned but cut it off when the sound resonated in his aching head. "I hate you."
"Get in line, and join the club." One corner of Xehanort's mouth twitched, and he held out another glass. "Drink up."
"Blegh, I don't want to. I'll just sick it up again."
"Do you want to get better?"
"Yeah, but I don't want to drink that stuff."
"Fine then. Lay on your stomach, and pull your gown up."
Lea whipped his head up to stare at Xehanort with wide eyes. "What!"
Xehanort set the glass on the nightstand and started fussing with a small paper wrapped package. The quinine, Lea supposed. "You heard me. Now, on your stomach."
"But... but..." Lea stared at him with his mouth hanging open before he finally found his words. "You said you weren't going to molest me!"
Xehanort turned to look at him, holding a white pill in his hand. "And I am not. If quinine cannot be given intravenously and taking it orally causes vomiting, then it can be administered rectally. Now roll over so I can dose you."
Lea stared at Xehanort again with his mouth hanging open but no sound coming out. He then reached over, grabbed the glass on the stand, and started to drink it down.
"That's what I thought you'd do." Xehanort said as he returned the pill to the package.
Lea finished the quinine and held the glass out to be rinsed and filled with water. "I hate you."
"So you've said." Xehanort smiled at him. "Lie down and try to sleep. You can try eating again later."
Lea huffed, but finished the water and laid down. He heard Xehanort taking the cart to the other room as he nodded off.
OOOOOO
Lea groaned when Xehanort woke him next. He felt Xehanort's arm come behind his shoulders and help him sit up, which he was grateful for as he felt so heavy and shaky that he wasn't sure if he could have done it himself. His eyes and hands felt hot again, and he leaned into Xehanort when the latter sat down next to him.
"Quinine first, Lea." Xehanort said in a soft voice, and he held up the glass.
"What time is it?" Lea mumbled after the quinine was gone.
"It's just after six in the afternoon." Xehanort replied. "It's been about a day and a half since I learned you were sick."
Lea heard the glass being set down, followed several seconds later by a plop of something falling into water. Then the glass was held up to him again, filled with water that was swirling gently. "Whassthat?"
"Something for your fever."
"Gunna dunk me again?"
"Not if this makes the fever go down."
Lea drank the water down, and his eyes burned as he closed them.
"Do you need the bathroom?" Xehanort asked, and Lea hesitated before he nodded. "All right then. Let's get you up."
Xehanort stood up, and Lea felt himself sway without the support, but it was only for a second or two before Xehanort pulled the sheet back and helped him stand up.
Lea wasn't sure what made the thought cross his mind, or why he felt the need to voice it. "Am I gonna have to do this for you years from now, when you're old and wrinkly again?"
Xehanort chuckled, but even Lea's fuzzy head didn't hear any humor in it. "Better you than Ventus, I suppose. I doubt he'll ever want anything to do with me ever again, and if he did come around, I imagine he would be more likely to drown me than help me."
"Well, he has good reason t'be pissed at you."
"Yes, he does."
Lea yawned and was vaguely glad at how tired he felt. It prevented him from being embarrassed at needing help with the bathroom. It also allowed him to start falling asleep before he'd even reached his – Xehanort's - bed again. He was barely aware of being laid down, and he was asleep before his head touched the pillows.
OOOOOO
It was the feeling of being cold that woke Lea next. He cracked his eyes open to find the light in the room fading and that his shivering had returned.
"Not this again." he grumbled to himself.
Another blanket was draped over him, and he turned his head just in time to see Xehanort step back.
"I thought you said I'd start feeling better in a few days?"
Xehanort nodded. "I did say that, but it's only been a day or so since."
Lea burrowed down into the covers. "Feels like a helluva lot longer than that."
Xehanort didn't respond, and Lea nodded off not long after.
OOOOOO
"Lea," Xehanort's voice intruded on Lea's deep sleep sometime later, and he grumbled quietly. "Lea, I need you to wake up."
Lea grumbled again and tried to burrow further into the blankets, but Xehanort's hands hooked him under his arms and pulled him upright. The movement made him break out in shivers, and he blinked his eyes open.
"M'tired." he mumbled.
"I know you are." Xehanort kept one hand on Lea's shoulder, while the other hand let go. "But we have a problem, and we might need to leave in a hurry."
The blankets were pulled away from him, and he was tugged over to sit on the edge of the bed. "What problem?"
"Master Aqua is in the castle." Xehanort said as he draped a blanket around Lea's shoulders before sitting down next to him. Lea leaned into him as an arm came around his shoulders and closed his eyes and more shivers ran through him.
"Can't we just leave now?"
"No," Xehanort's voice was nearly a whisper. "She's very sensitive to the cosmic plane. No matter how we chose to leave, be it the Lanes or the Corridors, she will notice it. Dragging you through either one of those will also have a detrimental effect on your health, so we want to avoid leaving here if we can."
Lea scooted back enough that his feet weren't touching the cold floor. "What's she doing here?"
"I do not know. I'm more worried about her seeing us here."
Lea felt his heavy eyelids sink closed as he leaned against Xehanort. In the back of his mind, he knew he should be worried about Master Aqua's presence, but he was just so... tired... Xehanort's arm tightened slightly, and he began to drift. He couldn't hear anything but the pulsing of his head in time with his heartbeat, and the chattering of his teeth. For a fleeting second, he thought about bringing his heart sight up to see where Master Aqua was, but that seemed like it would take too much energy. A shudder ran through him, followed a few seconds later by another blanket coming around his shoulders.
"She left yet?"
"No," Xehanort replied. "Not yet. She and Lumaria are up in the throne room."
"Why she here anyway?"
"I imagine that it has something to do with the stories of Sole wandering around. Master Aqua is more than intelligent enough to put two and two together. The entire reason her parents let me arrange for Eraqus to take her was because they thought I was Sole, and I am certain that they mentioned that to her."
Lea had a brief thought about Xehanort using Sole's name even back then, but it slipped away before he could voice it. Eh, talking was too tiring anyway. His head throbbed, and he groaned.
"C'n I lie down?"
"No, it's easier for me to hold onto you when you're sitting up, in case we have to leave."
"Head huuuuuuurts."
He felt Xehanort shift, and his hand began to card through Lea's hair. "I know. Hopefully Master Aqua will leave soon."
Lea drifted again, in that half awake, half asleep state. He must have dozed off, because the next thing he was aware of was Xehanort standing and lying him back down.
"She gone?" he asked as the blankets were pulled over him.
"Yes, she's gone. I imagine that Lumaria will be -" A knock sounded at the door. "Ah, there he is."
Xehanort called for the knocker to come in, and it was Lumaria who appeared on the other side of the bedroom doorway, which Lea noted for the first time, was covered with some kind of mesh screening.
"I convinced her that I had never seen nor heard anyone resembling Sole." he said without preamble. "Though I'm not entirely sure that she believed me."
Xehanort sat down by Lea's feet. "Which means she might decide to come back and look again." He sighed. "Wonderful."
"We knew that this was a possibility if she ever decided to visit her homeworld." Lumaria said in a quiet voice.
"Did she try to look for my heart?"
"She said she did and did not see it. I believe that is the only reason that she left after I assured her that you were not here."
"She didn't see me at all?"
That was weird, Lea thought as he dozed. How can you miss a heart like Xehanort's?
"Did she see mine?" he mumbled. His heart had the mark of the keyblade right? So she should have been able to spot it.
"I don't know if she saw you or not." Lumaria replied. "If she did, she said nothing about it."
Xehanort said something then, but the words were lost to Lea as he went back to sleep.
OOOOOO
His bladder screeching to be emptied brought Lea from fully asleep to awake. The room was filled with moonlight that poured through the windows, and he could hear Xehanort snoring from the direction of the couch. Lea shuddered and shivered as he pushed himself upright. At least his head wasn't throbbing as bad as before. Maybe all the quinine was starting to work. He'd had two more doses since Master Aqua had come by, and Xehanort had said that he had 14 more to go.
He couldn't wait.
He pushed the blankets back and scooted over to the edge of the bed. His teeth clacked together when his feet touched the floor, and his shivering worsened as he stood. His legs shook, but not as severely as they had been, and he toddled into the bathroom without having to lean on anything.
Once he had finished up, he wandered back into the bedroom and glanced to his left to see Xehanort still sound asleep on the couch. The man apparently hadn't heard him get up at all. Huh. Oh well, why was he worried about that? He didn't need help going to the bathroom anyway, and -
Lea stopped as he turned back towards the bed.
There was someone standing by the window. He got the briefest impression of a tall figure with long, white hair and voluminous robes, before it simply disappeared when he blinked. One second there, next second gone. What the hell...?
Sole?
Lea's sigh turned into a yawn halfway through. He was more tired than he thought. He went back to bed, buried himself under the blankets, and was asleep almost immediately.
OOOOOO
"Lea, time to wake up."
Lea grumbled as Xehanort's voice dragged him out of the depths of sleep. He braced himself for the throbbing of his head to make itself known to him, but it was significantly less, more like a normal headache, instead of the migraine it had been before. He sat up and rubbed the gunk from his eyes. Then he noticed how bright it was in the room.
"What time is it?" he asked.
Xehanort held out his juice and quinine. "Around 10am. I, for some reason, slept through what was supposed to be your 2am dose, but thankfully a missed dose is not the end of the world, as long as we don't do it again."
Lea drank it down, noting that his stomach seemed less upset about it this time around. As he was doing that, Xehanort disappeared through the mesh covered doorway and came back with another serving cart. This time, Lea was happy that his stomach only growled, no twisting.
"Do you want to try the sandesh again?" Xehanort asked. Lea nodded and took the small plate that was offered to him. To his relief, his stomach did not protest, and the food stayed down this time. He ate everything that was handed to him: more sandesh, biscotti, and fruit salad, only stopping when his stomach refused to take any more.
"I didn't think I was that hungry." he said as Xehanort stacked the empty plates on the cart.
"That's your body demanding you to replenish your glucose and glycogen after a few days of living off fruit juice and water. The fruit juice was enough to prevent a sugar crash, but not much else."
"You make it sound like I'm diabetic or something."
Xehanort pushed the cart into the other room and made sure that the mesh screen was fully shut around the door frame. "You're not, but malaria primarily infects the liver, which is the organ responsible for maintaining your blood sugar. When you go too long without eating, it converts some of its glycogen stores into glucose and releases them into your bloodstream. Malaria disrupts this process and can cause even a non-diabetic to have a fatal crash."
Lea blinked. "Wow. Did not know that."
Xehanort sat down and picked up a cup of coffee that was on the small side table next to the couch. "It's a common cause of death among malaria patients, especially children. The malaria that you have is notorious for causing it." He took a sip.
"What do you mean by the 'malaria that I have?' Is there more than one type?"
Xehanort nodded. "Four types. You have the most dangerous form, and the reason I know that is that it's also the only form for which quinine works. If you'd contracted one of the other three, it would have done nothing."
Lea felt cold all of a sudden. "And...if it hadn't worked? What would you have done then?"
"Tried to keep you alive as best I could and hope it worked. As a last ditch effort, I would have taken you to Radiant Garden and hoped for the best."
"That's cheery."
"Indeed, so be thankful that things did not go that way."
What could Lea say to that?
OOOOOO
Lea slept the rest of the day away, waking only for his next quinine dose and to eat a little more. His shivering began to ease early the next morning, and putting his feet on the floor for his next bathroom trip didn't feel like a form of torture anymore. By the time his 10am dose rolled around, Lea found himself unable to go back to sleep.
"You've been sleeping for nearly three straight days." Xehanort told him. "It's not a surprise that you cannot now."
"So what I am supposed to do then?" Lea huffed as he sat in bed. "I take it you won't let me out of this room right now, am I right?"
"You are indeed correct. You're not leaving this room until I'm certain that every single parasite in your blood is dead. Though, I imagine that you don't feel like doing much of anything anyway."
Lea had to give him that; he didn't feel like really doing anything, but what did Xehanort want? For him to just sit in bed and stare at the ceiling? "So what I am supposed to do?"
The sound of water running came from the bathroom. "How about a bath then?" Xehanort suggested in such a way that hinted that it really wasn't a suggestion at all. "A bath, clean clothes, and clean sheets were certainly make you feel better." Xehanort looked at him, with one corner of his mouth twitching. "It will certainly make you smell better."
Lea gave him a half hearted glare before he kicked the blanket back and swung his legs off the bed. "Yeah, yeah, yeah."
He heard Xehanort laughing to himself as he wandered into the bathroom.
At least the bath was warm this time.
OOOOOO
"Feel better?" Xehanort asked later, once Lea was back in bed, with clean sheets and a clean sleeping gown.
Lea scratched at his hair, freshly washed and already dry thanks to Xehanort's magic. "Yeah, actually, but like I asked earlier: what am I supposed to do now?"
Xehanort reclined on the couch. "Rest. Take it easy on yourself. You still have malaria coursing through your blood and living in your liver, and your immune system has taken a beating. You do not want to push yourself now."
"That's going to get really boring."
"I shall endeavor to keep you entertained then."
Lea folded his arms over his chest. "And how are you going to do that? Going to tell me scary stories or something?"
"I do have a few of those, yes. I lived on the road for decades, so I have enough stories to fill a few books."
"Like what?"
"What kind of story would you like to hear?"
Lea leaned back against the pillows and thought for a second. "How about... the story of that god you're named after?"
"Lord Xehanort."
"Yeah, him. Is 'Lord Xehanort' really his formal name? Just doesn't sound right for some reason."
Xehanort took another drink of his coffee before answering. "That is because that is a translation of his title into English. I don't remember my native language, so I cannot tell you what his title is back on the Islands, but 'Lord Xehanort' is as close as English can get to it."
"But Xehanort is actually his name?"
"It is, as close as humans can get to it at least. I imagine that the voices of gods are a great deal more capable with sound than humans are."
"So anyway, what's his story?"
Xehanort drained his cup and set it aside, and he leaned back in the couch and let his eyes drift. "To hear Lord Xehanort's story, you must hear the Islands' creation myth, as the two are heavily intertwined."
Lea twisted around so he was on his side, facing Xehanort, and sat up straighter to easily sit against the pillows.
Xehanort paid no attention to him. His eyes were pointed towards the wall beside the bathroom door, but he didn't appear to be really seeing it. That's because he wasn't, Lea realized. He was seeing something else, something far away and long ago.
"In the beginning, there was the sun and moon, floating opposite each other in the endless void," Xehanort began.
"Lord Asoth?" Lea asked.
Xehanort nodded. "And Lady Lassierra. Anyway, they watched each other, and in time, they began to love each other, and they conceived a set of twin boys. The firstborn son had white hair that mirrored his mother's light, and eyes like his father's fiery glow. He laughed, and in the void between his parents, a small world of water was born, ocean without beginning or end. The second son was the opposite, with golden hair and skin like his father, and eyes dark as his mother's shadow. He cried, and islands rose from the sea in the world the elder brother had created. The second son was favored by the sun, and was named Xehas. The moon favored her firstborn, and he was named Xehanort.
"The brothers were inseparable as they grew. They played on the small world that they had created, and in time they populated the world with plants and animals to join their games. Xehanort had dominion of the water, and created all the fish and sea mammals within it, while Xehas held dominion of the land, and created the trees and plants that now grew across the chain of islands. The ocean obeyed Xehanort's every whim, as the earth did Xehas'.
"As they grew from boys to adolescents, their love and friendship grew into something more, and they became one another's lover and partner. From their union, they created two new things together, the Paopu Tree, and the Thalassa shell." Xehanort paused, and Lea thought about the Wayfinders that he had seen, as well as the one that he had found on that crab's shell. Hadn't those been Thalassa shells?
"In time the brothers grew bored and together created people, humans in their image, to populate the islands with them." Xehanort continued, which broke Lea out of his thoughts. "They included them in their games and enjoyed watching them explore and take pleasure in this new life they had been given by their gods' grace. Even as the humans were like the two brothers, there was still something that held them apart. One group was created by the other. That could not be fully ignored. The brothers remained devoted to one another.
"But as they grew into adults, something changed.
"They were strong and beautiful, and the human women admired them greatly. And while Xehas felt that his heart and body belonged to his brother, Xehanort found himself drawn to one of these women in particular, a woman with hair like the moon's shadow and skin pale as its light. Her name was Sasha, and despite his care for his brother, Xehanort could not stop himself from being unfaithful to him and taking Sasha to his bed. He did not intend to return to her, but he found himself drawn back to her time and time again. For two years, they were together, Xehanort splitting his time carefully between Sasha and Xehas, ensuring that his brother never noticed, and that he never met her under the sun where his father's eyes would see them. Only the moon knew, and his mother would never tell his secrets.
"Xehanort came to find that his love for Sasha began to outpace that for his brother, though he still loved Xehas fiercely. He felt guilty to be betraying his brother by loving Sasha, but he couldn't keep himself away. And it came to pass that Sasha became pregnant with Xehanort's child. Xehanort was worried, because a child was something rather more difficult to keep a secret than a woman alone, but at the same time, his joy could not be outmatched.
"But Xehanort had miscalculated. The brothers had been together their entire lives, and knew each other better than anyone else ever could. Xehanort's behavior had changed, and it made Xehas suspicious. One night he followed Xehanort, and saw him with his human lover, and he saw also that she was heavily pregnant. Xehanort seemed so very happy, and it broke Xehas' heart. He could not imagine how Xehanort could betray him so, and after Xehanort left just before dawn, Xehas stormed into the woman's house, filled with rage. He beat her terribly, and in the end he killed her. In his crazed state, he looked at the woman's belly and thought to himself that there was one more life to take. He cut the child out, and dropped it into the nearby well to let it drown alone.
Lea stared at Xehanort. "Well, that escalated quickly."
Xehanort blinked and seemed to finally see his surroundings then, instead of whatever he'd been remembering. "Indeed, and things do not get any better from here."
"Oh boy."
"Well, you asked to hear it."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."
Xehanort smiled faintly, but it quickly faded from his face as he continued the story.
"But Xehas too had miscalculated." he said. "Xehanort had dominion over the sea, but his affinity was for all water. The moment his child landed into the water of the well, Xehanort knew of it, and flew to the spot. He rescued his child, and immediately thereafter found the body of the woman he loved. He wandered the beach in a daze, his crying son in his arms. When the moon rose again, she helped him, guiding him to a family that had just lost their baby. He knew he could not care for his son, and so he left his child in their hands, with only his talisman of thalassa shells to speak of his heritage."
"Xehanort came across his twin, waiting for him on the beach, and he lost his battle with grief, collapsing against his twin as he wept. But to his surprise, his twin did nothing to comfort him, did not even ask what was wrong. Xehanort looked up and saw his brother smirking down at him, and Xehanort knew. He knew that it was his brother that had brutally murdered Sasha and tried to drown his son.
"Darkness swept into his heart, and Xehanort's heartbreak twisted into rage and a need for vengeance. The sea rose into a massive hurricane, crashing into his brother. His strength and advantage of surprise was such that though Xehas fought, he could not break free of the storm, and the water crushed him to death. Xehanort came back to himself as he watched his brother die, and horror filled him. He picked the body of his brother up and brought it before his parents to confess to them what he had done.
"His mother cried and grieved, but his father... The sun stared at his favored child for a moment, and then attacked his firstborn. His fury was unparalleled, and he burned the skin from his body, tore his hair from his scalp, withdrew much of the water from his body, and lastly sent his fire through every orifice of Xehanort's body to burn him from the inside as well."
Lea stared at Xehanort with wide eyes. "Holy... holy fuck! And people worship this guy?"
Xehanort nodded. "They do. After all, 'tis better to to keep the god flattered and happy with you so his wrath doesn't fall upon you instead. I should also point out that only the Islands have that as part of his myth. Every other world just has Lord Xehanort worship quietly fade away over the span of about a century or so, with no explanation given."
"So do you think that part didn't actually happen maybe?"
"Oh, it did. I know it did, but that is not what you asked to hear, so let's continue."
"Oh, c'mon, you can't leave me hanging. How do you know that happened?"
"I will explain some other time. Now do you want to hear the rest of the story or not?"
Lea huffed. "Fine, carry on."
Xehanort glared at him. "Or I could just stop here and leave you to your boredom."
"Yeah, please don't do that. Um, sorry?" He gave Xehanort a meek smile.
Xehanort sighed and shook his head. "You're going to be the death of me, I swear." He refilled his cup from the ceramic carafe that was nearby and took a sip. He then settled back into the couch and continued the story.
"The moon screamed for the sun to stop, to not kill their only remaining child, and the sun at last released Xehanort to drop at his mother's feet. The sun cursed him then to wander forever in darkness, never to feel his father's light and warmth again lest he rekindle the sun's rage and lose his life the next time. He turned his back on Xehanort and left him to his mother's care."
"Wait," Lea said as something occurred to him then. "That is what you meant when you said back on Radiant Garden that the Darkness had always welcomed you?"
Xehanort smiled, but it was not a happy one. "Indeed. I did tell you that my ancestor had been cursed to forever wander in Darkness."
"Yeah, that's fucked up." Lea shivered.
Xehanort laughed, but there was no humor in it, and picked up where he had left off. "The moon cradled her son, but nothing she could do would heal his wounds, so her son was left blind and deaf and in unimaginable pain. All she could do now was protect him, so she placed Xehanort into a deep sleep and set him on her back in the darkness of her shadow, safe from his father's sight."
He took another drink of his coffee. "It is said that Lord Xehanort sleeps on his mother's back still, and that is why she never shows her back to the world or to the sun. Some say that when he is healed, Lord Xehanort will awaken from his sleep, and once he awakes, he will fight his father for vengeance over the suffering he endured. Some say that he will simply return to the islands to live out his life while some say he will seek out his descendants. To do what, no one can definitively say. Some say it is the son that Xehanort left behind that is the source of the white hair that appears among the islanders, and even rarer, some with tanned skin and eyes with a gold shade to them."
Lea found his gaze drawn to Xehanort's bright white hair, his golden eyes, and then the skin that still had a light tan to it, even if it was lighter than it had been after his adoption by Ansem.
"So... that's it?" he asked.
Xehanort nodded and drank more of his coffee.
"So is Lord Xehanort really your ancestor, or is him having a son all just part of the story?"
"Oh, his son was real. There are records of him, and from what little about him I was able to find, he was a dark haired version of his father, and he had very powerful magic and could fly according to some accounts."
"But that doesn't prove..."
"Lea, I can almost pass for Lord Xehanort's identical twin, and I have a powerful affinity for water and fire magic. As Lord Ansem taught me, the simplest solution is often the correct one, so what would the simplest solution be here?"
Lea let his shoulders droop. "That you're related to him in some way."
"Which implies?"
"That one of them had a child with a human at some point."
"Why are you having an issue with the idea of a god fathering a half human child, Lea? Apollo, whom you've met, was born to a human mother, as were many of his siblings."
Lea frowned in thought. "I guess... I dunno. I met Apollo, but your gods just seem... not real to me, I guess?"
Xehanort smiled and stood up. He gathered up his cup and the carafe and headed for the doorway. "How do you know that you haven't met any of them?" he asked just before he walked though. Lea stared after him. Wait, what? He hadn't met any of Xehanort's gods, he was sure of it. The only god-like person he could remember meeting, other than Apollo, was that weird dude in the golden... robe...
Who had had Xehanort thoroughly cowed.
Who wore a robe like the one Sole had in his portrait in the shrine.
Who felt more powerful and dangerous than Apollo.
Who had made Apollo back off.
But Golden Robe Guy had blond hair to Sole's white flames. But he was a god, so surely he could shapeshift, right?
Lea shivered. Had he been in the presence of Sole back there on that world? But Xehanort had said that Sole was the god's name only on Meadowseele, right; he had other names on the other worlds. Lea's head whipped around to stare out the window at the sunlight outside, as it all clicked home. He had been in the presence of Asoth.
Asoth, the sun god who had nearly burned his own child to death. Who also apparently had a fiery temper.
Oooh, hell
"That was Asoth that you talked to after that deal with Apollo, wasn't it?" he asked when Xehanort came back into the room.
"Yes," Xehanort replied as he sat back down on the couch, "that was him."
"Hol-lee shit. He's like, not gonna fry you or something, is he?"
Xehanort opened the book and didn't look up at Lea. "Not unless I fall again."
You mus not let him fall again. If he does, He will burn him where he stand. Tia Dalma's words echoed inside Lea's head. Well damn, so that's what she had meant. "You really are related to him?"
Xehanort's eyes didn't move from the page in front of him. "Yes, he's where my fire affinity comes from."
"I mean, seriously though, how do you know for sure? How do you know that you're just not a powerful human that happens to look like him or something?"
Xehanort finally looked up from his book. "Because Lord Xehanort always referred to me as 'my child' and 'my little one'." he said with amusement coloring his tone. "I'd say that settles it, wouldn't you?"
Lea felt his jaw fell open. "You've spoken to Lord Xehanort?"
"Not since I was a boy." Xehanort turned his attention back to his book. "But yes, he did speak to me on a handful of occasions."
But not since, Lea thought, remembering what Xehanort had said in the crumbling shrine days ago.
The room fell silent then, save for the birds outside and the occasional turn of a page in Xehanort's book. Lea thought about asking for another story, but his face flushed at the mere thought. How old was he? Five? Maybe he should just go back to sleep? Yeah, that sounded like a good idea. He shimmied his way back under the blanket, repositioned the pillows to his liking, and closed his eyes. To his surprise and relief, sleep stole over him quickly.