caecitas -atis f. [blindness].
Act II, Scene Two: Caecitas: The cost of the Keybearer.
Blind.
Riku was going blind.
He waved his fingers back and forth at different distances from his face. Back…and forth…
He saw a faint irregularity in the cloudy haze. "Damn," he repeated over and over, along with a few unmentionable curses. The man fell back from his seated position, hard-flung torso cushioned in the blanket of sweet-smelling grass.
Suddenly, the once refreshing spring-like breeze felt cold and mocking.
Avarielle was at his side, legs folded and tucked under her body neatly. Her weight was resting onto one palm. "Oh, Riku…"
Riku clenched his eyelids shut and said nothing. His expression was unreadable, his mouth a straight, fine line.
"Maybe it'll pass?"
He didn't flinch.
"Did you pass out again?"
He shook his head.
Ava stood and said with determination, "Oh, I hate this stupid place! It's probably just a trap! We were so happy and now…now we're going to pay for it."
"No," he said, and Avarielle could at least be a little relieved that he had not gone mute as well. "This started before we came here. I started feeling strange when you…brought back my Keyblade." He didn't know how else to phrase it. He wasn't even sure what had transpired.
"That?" She stopped and thought. "It sure was weird." She began to pace around, her footsteps light. "I just knew that I had to unlock your Keyblade…"
"And then I felt strange. Weak and dizzy."
"And you couldn't see so well?"
"And I couldn't see so well."
"Then it was me!" she wailed in despair. "I caused this! I should be the one going blind—"
"No," he said with finality. He knew that Avarielle was a down to earth, levelheaded woman and he didn't want to be the cause of her panic. Besides, he did not wish the torment he was feeling at that moment on anyone—especially his only friend.
Ava fell back to her knees. She was trembling. She was angry and scared. "Who's playing games with us? What force guided me to unlock your heart—what gave us the Keyblades and then took yours away? Riku, I can't stand stumbling around in the dark like this…"
She gulped.
He ignored her slip of the tongue. "We're ignorant. And ignorance can be bliss."
"But it isn't safety!"
"No, no it isn't."
The breeze came up again.
There was a faint tinkling, like some sort of charms or jewelry. Riku might have been blind, but he still had a youth's adept hearing. He sat up promptly.
"What? Oh—Oh! Hello?" Ava called to someone.
The tinkling grew louder and was joined by gentle footsteps upon the earth. There was also swishing that sounded like skirts…
"Hello," said a sweet, serene voice. "Good morning to you both."
"Good morning," Avarielle replied. "Is that basket for picking flowers?"
"Yes, as well as herbs. I'm the village healer." Her smile was almost audible, and Riku accurately predicted a friendly, pretty young face to go along with it.
"You are?" Riku instantly knew what the eagerness in Ava's voice meant.
"Yes, I am. My name is Yuna. Let me know if there's anything at all I can help you with."
"All of a sudden, you say?" the healer was saying.
Riku's booted feet stumbled on the path. Ava's thin arms were there to catch him in an instant.
"I'm okay," he mumbled, regaining his balance as soon as possible. Another thorn stabbed into his quickly deflating balloon of pride.
Yuna's words swelled with sympathy. "I will do my best to treat you, but if it's connected to the Keyblade… I can't promise any results."
"You mean you can't help him?"
Riku had his Keyblade out in his left hand as he walked a little away from the two women. He gently swung the weapon back and forth in front of him in case there were any large obstacles in the way. Roots, however…
This time, the man was sprawled on his feet. His legs and arms were spread out wildly. His fingers barely scarped the handle of his weapon…
"Honestly, Riku. Can't you let me guide you?"
Riku stumbled to his feet, utterly humiliated. "Fine," he groaned. "Fine, fine."
He took up the Keyblade in one hand and let Ava curl her fingers around the other. Her grip was firm yet gentle, and she carefully directed him around any roots, logs, or even whole trees that popped up along the way.
"We're here," Yuna announced after what seemed like forever.
If Riku had not been disabled, he would have seen before him a small village with about two dozen wooden huts stretching around him. He would have seen the giant, sapphire lake glistening on the other side of the slope. He would have seen many colorful characters making there way to and fro on the dirt and rock streets of the village.
He might have even happened open a giant yellow bird or two…
Riku could hear many voices and the sounds of activity. It didn't sound like a big place, and it certainly lacked the gloom of Caelestis.
"This is my home," Yuna began, "but it nothing more than a crossroads for many who come here."
"Crossroads?"
"We call it Compitum—but that means 'crossroads.' It's an appropriate title."
Riku thought back to the time when he was first introduced to Caelestis.
"Crossroads of what, may I ask?" Ava wondered, taking up Riku's arm again as they made the shallow descent toward the village.
"Of the worlds," Yuna replied simply. "I will take you to see him; he'll know better how to explain this all to you. He might know what to say about the Keyblades, too."
They entered the village and began to walk along streets of pounded dirt. Riku heard all sorts of people buzzing about. They seemed to be a very animated people.
"Irvine, once I get my hands on you—!" screamed an intensely irritated female voice as a few invisible bodies rushed past.
"It was only a joke!"
"Hey, Marlene, come back here!"
"Relm, you'd best go find your grandpa…"
There were children laughing and grownups chasing, Riku could tell, and even an older boy making mischief. He wondered what their smiling faces looked like.
Avarielle jerked him away from the happy scene and down toward a quieter area. Riku knew they were following Yuna, and pondered upon their ultimate destination.
They left the main part of the village and came out on the other side before stopping. Yuna knocked on a door and they were greeted by another woman. A few hushed whisperings were conducted to explain the situation to this newcomer before Yuna announced she would be back later.
"Hello," said the woman. Her voice was a lot firmer than Yuna's and it really sounded like this lady refused to put up with any nonsense. "I'm Quistis. Come in and sit down while I fetch Vincent."
Avarielle guided Riku to a soft armchair and then took a seat close by. The room they occupied had a scent similar to cedar, but the ambiance was a mystery beyond that. He toyed with the idea of a dim room full of old tomes and worn furniture. He wondered what kind of old sage this 'Vincent' guy was.
"Hello, Keyblade masters," said a deep, slightly rasping male voice.
Riku could feel Ava tense in surprise at his side. "Oh—so you're Vincent? Good morning to you."
Riku nodded in the general direction of the man's voice.
"Welcome to Compitum." This time it was Quistis. She had moved away from the door to the opposite side of the room, giving herself away with a rhythmic click of professional heels.
Vincent didn't seem to move from the door—at least he made no sound, anyway. But somehow his voice had moved in a circle to stand over the two visitors.
"I might be able to help you," he told them. "But you'll need to explain everything that has happened."
Riku and Ava both contributed to an explanation of Caelestis and how they had met and how the Keyblades had come and what had gone on with the new Door and the Heartless.
"Caelestis? You really survived there for years?" Quistis was impressed.
"It wasn't easy," Avarielle responded quickly.
"I'm sure it wasn't," Vincent said, and Riku could feel powerful eyes upon him. "And some darkness was bound to sneak into your hearts."
"If you were brought here, you still have hearts." Quistis paused to collect her thoughts. "No evil thing dares come here. We have too many willing to fight."
"It might be different now," Riku said. "We came after the Heartless. They went through that Door before we did."
"They're probably still struggling in the Portal of Thought," Vincent said.
His companion was alarmed. "You don't mean that they could come here? Vincent, you don't mean that! What about the children?"
"The Portal of Thought?" Riku asked.
Vincent explained, "It's a road between the Doors of Darkness and Light. Only thoughts can exist there, and they often become intertwined. It's not part of the physical world."
"Yes, Riku and I did experience something like that. It was different than anything I had ever felt before."
Quistis, preoccupied, put in, "The Heartless have no hearts. How can they go into the Portal? Do they even think?"
"They must have some minor reasoning skills if they're able to fight and track targets." Vincent's voice held cold logic without emotion.
"But they're just mindless slaves of evil!"
"Quistis, they did go through the Door from the Darkness."
"Then some evil force is guiding them! I refuse to accept that the Heartless can do it on their own."
Riku doubted Quistis and Vincent's argument ending anytime soon. He rose from his seat slowly and deliberately. "The Heartless are nothing but creatures made by the fear and the doubt that exists in our own hearts. If we fear them, they only grow stronger."
"He's right," Vincent told the two women. "We have to sit down and reason this out."
Riku was beginning to get the idea that Vincent usually didn't talk so much, and he wasn't used to handling authoritative roles. He wished he could see the man, who he envisioned to be middle-aged and formidable.
Avarielle slipped her fingers between Riku's and tugged him back to sit in the chair. Riku obliged, but only because he did not want to make a fool of himself trying to walk around. He felt for his Keyblade and relaxed once it was lying safely across the armrests, right next to him.
"The Keyblades," said Vincent, "are not as rare as once believed. Even in ancient times, there were Key masters."
"Darkness has existed since the creation of life, and people have been battling it almost as long," Quistis added next. "Both darkness and light exist in every living thing."
The woman continued. "The requirement to wield a Keyblade is simple—possess the strongest will, the most powerful heart of all those around you. The Keyblade will arise when hope is failing, and will only bestow itself upon the hopeful.
"A master must keep the light inside him burning strong. He can't give up or his weapon will fail to appear when he needs it most."
The cogs in Riku's minds began to turn, and he felt ashamed. Never would he be as pure and strong of heart as Sora. Never.
"The Keyblade will appear in the form most suited to its wielder. If the master is young and uneducated in the ways of the world—if he is ignorant of the life of an adult—he usually receives the Key in the most basic form: a simple, golden-handled Key, awkward and bulky but ready for him to shape as he grows."
Vincent cut in, rasping quietly, "But an adult who knows what it is like to be submerged in darkness may receive a weapon that looks like it belongs to the dark powers itself." Riku knew what he must have been gesturing to at that moment, and a wave of shame washed over the silver-haired man's face.
"Sometimes the Key is not a blade at all, but something that is more for unlocking hidden powers."
"Like my Keystaff?" Avarielle wanted to know.
"Exactly," Quistis replied, but then the confidence left her voice. "But I'm not clear beyond that. A lot of the old texts have been lost over time… And I know so little of the recent events."
"Myself as well," Vincent admitted. "We have researched what knowledge was left here."
"Then you're not from here?"
"No, we aren't. Everyone in this village came from very different worlds…well, a long, long time ago. Many of our friends never even made it here. I…" She paused. "I hope they're safe, in…in whatever realm has claimed them."
"I'm sure they are," Avarielle said.
"Enough of that," Quistis announced after a heavy sigh. She sounded determined to keep her mood up. "We live a happy and peaceful life here. And we are fortune to assist travelers like yourself who journey between the worlds of this universe."
"That sounds nice," the dark-skinned woman replied earnestly, and there was longing woven throughout each drawn-out syllable. "Do either of you know why Riku would…why he would go blind?"
Riku felt that some communication was being exchanged nonverbally. He felt frustrated.
"I'm not quite sure," Quistis said. "But, then again, I've never met a Keybearer before."
"I have," Vincent said. "But nothing like this ever happened to him. However…you attained the Key in the Dark Realm—in Caelestis. I'm sure the rules of our worlds don't apply there. I can only speculate that your doubts caused the Key to disappear in the first place, and you heart had to be unlocked in order for the blade to appear."
"You mean—?" The two women said at the same time.
"The Keyblade you hold is not merely a weapon of your heart: it is your heart. And taking part of yourself out…"
"The price was my eyes," Riku concluded without hearing any more. "In order to wield it, I had to make a sacrifice. Because I have lost part of my heart to the shadows, I needed to use everything light inside of me to create this weapon."
He could almost sense Vincent's subtle nod.
To everyone's great surprise, Riku began to laugh. It was a cold, bitter chuckle filled with amusement. "How ironic. I can't fight without my sight, but I can't have the Keyblade with them."
"I would not be so sure about that," Vincent said. "The mysteries of the Keyblades are infinite. You may even find—"
"Sir Vincent!" called Yuna's voice from outside. She came closer, her breathing labored from intense exercise. "There are creatures in the meadow!"
The squeak that arose was, theoretically, Quistis rising hastily from her seat. "Vincent!"
Vincent paced heavily across the floor.
"Maybe you were wrong, Quistis," Riku heard him muttering as a large swoosh of a cape cut through the stilled air. "But I wish you had been right."