Eyes

Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own Kingdom Hearts, otherwise we'd see lots of RikuxSora goodness!

Warning: May contain shounen ai (boy/boy love) in the chapter. Please ignore if you are offended. Thank you!

It was all so twisted and corrupted and plain messed up that he even wondered how Mizu had talked them into it. It was just plain wrong.

In order for this plan to work, the group split up into two different sides, Riku and Kokoro went to gain Sora's trust, while Axel and himself negotiated with the much more dangerous one. They would meet up again, assuming that it even worked.

This was just wrong…

The man sitting at the table was some one not to take lightly. And the way Mizu described the situation…

"You only have to convince him to work together!" Mizu grinned, sounding almost cheerful about it. "I'm sure you know the way he acts by now, so you could come up with something on whim."

"I believe with your guidance, the annoyance of that Keyblade could be terminated." Well, if it was one thing he knew, Ansem always loved power trips. Make him feel like he was the boss and everything would be…as fine as it could be.

"I'm not a complete idiot." The red clad one mused. The tone sounded playfully annoyed, but anyone would have felt the evilness that fitted the voice. The Unknown knew there were worse things than hearing his voice.

"No one must know of our plan, Ansem."

It was awfully bright for a man who hates the light. It was starting to get on his nerves too. Or maybe it was the fact that this man had, at one point in time, used him in the past. Whatever Mizu was planning had better work.

"Starting today, Raos, you will betray the Non-existent Ones and fight on the true side; the Darkness."

---

The place he was currently at somehow reminded him of a cheerier version of Hollow Bastion. Donald and Goofy were behind him, also gawking at the dark features the castle held. It didn't feel foreboding, as it should have, but it didn't seem quite welcoming either. Instead, the oddly clean baroque decoration made him feel like he slipped into the past.

"Look Cogsworth, more travelers!" A thick French voice echoed throughout the large palace. Sora looked around the dark settings, finding nothing more than a candle next to a clock on a desk.

"Not again! I swear, this is getting way out of hand. I will have no more visitors, absolutely not!"

"Now come, Cogsworth! Maybe they can help?"

"Uh…hello?" The boy rang out to whoever was there.  The noise scared Donald, making the fowl leap into the air in fright.

"Warn me when you do that!" He yelped. Sora grinned at the duck and was about to apologize, but the occupants of the castle interrupted.

"Hello! Welcome!" The accented voice greeted. Again, Sora looked everywhere, but to no avail. Suddenly, the candle moved oddly, as if it were alive, and hopped off the end table.  The clock hobbled on after it, finally running into it as the candle stopped at Sora's feet.

The key-bearer bent down, finally realizing they were alive.

"Oh! Heh, I guess I'm just not used to this yet." He chuckled, offering his hand. The two reached out their "arms" (he silently thanked the candle for blowing out his arm first) and shook graciously.

"I am Lumiere! And this," He pulled the clock towards him with his other arm, much to his accomplice's annoyance. "Is Cogsworth. May we be of any service?"

Yeah, could you kill Ansem, lock all the doors and give me back Riku? That'd be nice. Sora shook the thoughts out of his head. Geez, no need to be sarcastic about it.

"Um, where are we?" As soon as he asked the question, something came clanking down the steps at a fast pace, followed by someone human.

"Sora!" The lady cried while hugging him. He instantly recognized her as Belle, one of the seven princesses.

"Hi Belle!"

"We've been expecting you." The teapot stated. The Key-bearer glanced at her confusedly.

"You have?"

"Come inside." Belle offered, letting go. "It must be terribly cold outside."

---

It was snowing, something he found unusual from living on an island for most of his life. He had to admit, it was fun, if you weren't stuck in it, or if it weren't so cold. Maybe it would've helped if they knew where they were going. After two hours of roaming around, he doubted it.

"How can you stand this?" He pulled his coat around himself tighter. Kokoro shrugged.

"Don't ask. I'm not quite sure myself."

Being surrounded by a large forest didn't help much either. As they trudged on in the two-foot thick white stuff, Riku noticed he was getting dizzy Ugh, just great.

After a series of coughs wracked his throat, followed by another wave of haziness, Kokoro paused and turned.

"You're getting sick. I think we should be there soon. Can you hang on?" He asked. Riku nodded, not feeling up to a fight. They waded along for a few minutes before Kokoro paused again.

"Riku, be on your guard. There are wolves here."

"Oh yay." He rasped back sarcastically, feeling his legs starting to go numb. If it weren't for all the damn cold stuff on the ground, they would have been there by now. It was official now; snow doesn't make a good friend when you're on a mission.

After what seemed like forever, the two reached a pair of black gates. Now holding onto Kokoro for support, he sincerely hoped that this was the right place.

The gates squeaked open and they made their way up to the doors. Kokoro knocked, and the apparently large door opened a bit.

"May I help you?" A soft voice greeted, although a tad suspicious.

"Please help us, my friend is sick." Kokoro replied politely. Riku faintly heard the door open more and a gasp. He knew that voice from somewhere.

"Oh my! Come in, I'll get some water. Mrs. Potts! Come quick!"

It was the last thing he heard before he lost consciousness.

---

"This is dangerous Goofy." Donald replied, looking into one of the many mirrors in the room. The dog knight tilted his head, causing his reflections to do the same.

"What is? I think it's nice for Sora to have his friend again."

"You don't get it!" The duck spat and stomped, then sighed. He sent Goofy a slightly apologetic look through the mirror, and shook his head.

"But Riku is one of those Unknowns! He could be up to something, along with the other guy."

The knight seemed to think about it for a bit, but he only grinned.

"So? King Mickey is one of them too, don't forget! And we still like him, don't we?"

Goofy's simple logic could be lethal at times, as Donald couldn't find anything to counter the fact. He was silently furious for it too. Here, they've been searching around for their King and best friend for years, and then they discover he could be against them. It was just annoying!

"I'm just worried. Sora could get hurt from them, that's all."

"That's what we're here for!"

"But-but!"

In a rage, Donald casted Blizzaga on the mirror only to have it bounce back on the others and freeze him into a large block of ice.

Goofy shook his head.

"Maybe it's better this way."

---

Something was severely wrong. She could feel it.

Kiari stood in the secret place, gazing at the drawings on the walls. The single source of light was diminishing, and the air smelt like rain. It never fazed the girl, who stared at one thing in particular.

"His voice…it's left me." She whispered to the cave. The wind only consoled her plea for answers.

"This time…" She squeezed the handle of the wooden blade tightly, in suppressed determination and rage. Her eyes shifted from the happy image of her and her friend, to the forgotten image in the corner of the lost one.

"I'll fight."

With her sudden vow, she stalked out the secret place brimming with sheer determination. Her little partner, Kishi, waved her arms in a frantic manner and called out.

"What took you so long, Kiari?" She cried with fear etched in her eyes. Her friends she introduced before, Sabure and Kaze, glared down a familiar creature with pointed sticks in hand.

"Can we do it? Against that?" Kaze declared, backing up the slightest bit. The creature edged further, antennas perked up.

Kiari sped to the beast, and gave it a mighty blow with the sword. Black particles splattered against her legs and skirt and blackened the beach. She stood, back against the surprised children to hide her dark look. Instead, she turned to them with a neutral face, silently praying none of them would discover the emotion within her eyes.

"Would you like to hear a story?"

It began to rain.

---

Next Chapter Preview!

It was odd that Riku would stumble onto the same world as him with Kokoro. What motive brought them here? He didn't know if this was a coincidence or not, but it worked either way for him. Sora drew the rag from his forehead and wet it in the cold water. Riku moaned and tried to sit up, but his caretaker pushed him down again.

"You need your rest. What were you doing out there, Riku?"

"Sora?" He groggily muttered. His head ached horribly…

"Yeah, it's me." And the rag went back onto Riku's forehead. "You're pretty sick. Belle says that any longer, and you might not have survived."

Suddenly, Riku shot up. His eyes were wide and he stared at Sora with shock.

"Riku! What's wrong?!" He cried. Something looked different about his friend and similar at the same time. He had no time to ponder about it though.

Mostly because Riku jerked him down and kissed him.

---

A/N: Just a plot moving chapter, sorry! I think we're winding down to the end in a few chapters, so keep your fingers crossed. I'm still a little depressed about Otakon. I wanted to go so bad! But at any rate, I'll update sometime soon. And for those who notice that the preview is not in italics for a change, it's because is bugging out about it. It kinda annoys me, but I guess I'm gonna have to deal with it. Eh, Sorry! Byes!