Disclaimer: Need I say this again? I no own any people, except Celia, I own her. I also no own this idea, it's my friend's Neko and I will once again thank her for the wonderful idea.
Full Summary: Riku has always been a boy of mystery, so what happens when his true identity is slowly shown and revealed to his best friend in the whole world, to Sora? Sora has always been the thing in everyone's eye that they wanted, so what happens when the pure darkness known as Vanh has a small fancy for him? Read as the two boys struggle to keep alive and out of Vanh's clutches. Maybe this little fancy Vanh has is more than just little…
Chapter Two: Bitter Dreams of the Sweet Past
"Come here little spirit…" Vanh had beckoned to the silver spirit that floated around the room. The spirit, drawn into and floating innocently above his hand, a smile pressed upon Vanh's features. "Good news, I have found a body for you…and there is only one thing you must do in return for that body. Yes?" The little orb remained silent, not likely it could talk, even if it wanted to. However, the face, or what was thought to be the face, looked up at the creature of darkness, waiting for him to go on. It seemed…impatient with his lack of telling everything at once. "All you must do my little spirit, is lure a boy named Sora into the darkness, my realm. And you can keep the body and do with it as your own, for as long as you would like." Vanh simply waved his hand, a body on the floor. A young boy's, one so specially beautiful. Silver locks and steal blue eyes that held no pupils. Indicating towards the body, the spirit made it's way over, settling in as the boy began to breathe again. "It's still fresh, his soul has recently moved on, but he has yet to be found as dead. All you have to do my little spirit is go by the name of Riku and lure Sora to me, simple, isn't it?" Vanh asked, seeing the boy nod without failure, his eyes fierce and full of arrogance. With that, the creature of darkness had sent the boy to Earth, to where his life as the young Riku would continue. Memories flooded into him as he opened his eyes for the first time on Earth, looking around the room to see all these people, but through the narrow eyes of his, he kept a most careful lock on the young Sora, the boy smiling at him and telling him what had been going on in his life since Riku had last seen him outside the hospital. He believed this would be a very easy mission…
Riku opened his eyes, once more waking up from the fearful nightmare that he had just had. "No…" He whispered to himself, almost breaking down again, but this time, he had no idea as to where Sora was. Whether the boy was next to him, or gone. But, he felt that he wasn't here, seeing how he could hear no breathing next to him. "Get out of my head!" He screamed to himself, closing his eyes and burrowing his face into the mattress, sobbing to himself, and only to himself. Where was Sora? Where was his beautiful Sora that he could cry on? He wasn't nearby, for he wasn't in this little house they were staying in and he wasn't outside, because he would've came right away, right? Maybe he hated Riku, what if he had found out about Riku's little secret? The boy just sobbed harder now at that mere thought. He didn't want Sora to hate him, he didn't want that. He just wanted his sight back and everything to go back to normal. He hated his life, he hated Vanh. It was his fault because of this. He had it all planned out, Riku knew he had it all planned from the beginning. Well, he didn't know, just rather guessed about it. "Please…get out of my head…" He whimpered to himself, hands grabbing his head in misery and trying to get the memories from his head. To force them out of his head while he was still alive and human.
"Hey Riku! Lookie what I found!" Sora teased, holding up for the boy to see, but, he didn't look very happy to see the fish squirming around helplessly in his hands. It had been two weeks and still, Sora hadn't even budged into coming with him to the darkness. Though, the silver-haired boy had learned that he, Sora, hated the darkness, which began to toll on him, was it right to take someone so innocent to such a vile place? Yes, he had to. Vanh, his father figure as you would say, had commanded it, and in return, the spirit would get the body. "Riku…" Sora said, standing right in front of Riku, startling him to the point where he had fallen off the rock where he sat. "What was that for!" The boy whined, seeing the other blink before pouting angrily, hands on his hips like a young girl would do when disappointed. "You weren't paying attention!" He said, causing a growl from Riku in anger before he brushed the sand so casually from his yellow sweater. "It's a fish! What's so special about a fish!" He yelled back, watching the boy recoil in fear and his feelings hurt, the other seeming not to care about how his words stung him. "I was just-" "Stop bothering me about simple things Sora! It's a fish and will always be a fish! It's nothing special!" Riku had yelled, cutting off the younger boy as he had caused him to shuffle away in misery. "Fine…I'll leave you alone Riku."
He sobbed more. Yes, he remembered how cruel he was to Sora, how much pain he put him through until he got a bit older, he was a bit nicer than. Of course, he hadn't known what Sora meant to him, what Sora meant to keep him in the light for as long as possible. Riku's sobs didn't decrease as he told himself this, the lie he had been keeping from himself for his whole life. He wasn't supposed to feel all that emotion, Vanh hadn't created him like that, he had just developed them in the process of earning his human body and staying in it for so long. "Sora! Sora! Where are you!" He cried, letting his fingers press harder against his head. He couldn't go out to find him, seeing how he could barely stand, let alone walk by himself. Riku couldn't even navigate himself, he would have to do it from memory. The only problem was that he had only glimpsed this place before going to Sora right away. Sora, finally heard the call for his name, rushing in a he saw the sobbing boy. Riku looked up at him, well, towards the door, since the noise had startled him from his sobbing. "Sora? Is that you?" He asked, biting his lower lip and waiting for the answer. "Riku…" Sora answered, rushing over to his friends side and taking him into his arms. Riku finally had someone's shoulder to cry on. The boy took it well, crying now on Sora, mumbling a few things, but they were muffled from Sora's clothes. "Don't…leave me here…" Riku said, taking his face out as he pressed the side of his face against the other boy's chest, clutching on to Sora's arm and curling himself into a small ball. Sora simply rocked him back and forth slowly, stroking his hair in hopes to calm him down. "I won't leave you behind," He answered, feeling the nod against his chest.
"Are you feeling better Riku?" Sora asked, hovering over his bed as the boy lay in it, stricken sick with a cold. Riku nodded, smiling a bit. "Don't worry about me…I'll be out of here in no time…" He had answered, looking towards the door to see the young girl known as Kairi. "She came with me Riku, she wanted to wish that you got better too!" The boy laughed, grinning as Kairi came over, shy and afraid, like all children were at first, well, those that lacked social skills. "Sorry children…you're going to have to leave. Riku needs his rest and your parents must be worried about you. I know I would if my little Riku was out this late without telling me…" His mother, Riku's mother, had forced the other two out of the room, turning off the lights in his bedroom. The boy had moved from his position, looking out the window to see his two other friends talking happily, he sighed dismally. Being sick was no fun, as he had learned now, his first cold in this body. What a shame. He was actually starting to like Sora as a friend now. The boy was nice and carefree, adding some excitement to his life. "What do you want?" Riku asked, his voice husky from the sore throat he had, turning around to see a little heartless, squirming there in the darkness. It screeched, hissing to him a message from Vanh, the boy simply frowning. "Don't worry…I'll take him there. He'll be his…" He had answered, turning to look out the window before back at the corner, the heartless, as they soon would be known as, had disappeared, giving the message back to Vanh.
Riku's sobs increased, remembering how cruel he was. How could he give up Sora now? How could he do it after he promised to himself Vanh would no longer have this precious boy? He just couldn't do it. His throat was beginning to feel coarse and his voice was becoming husky. The tears stung his eyes and his head began to throb with pain from his sobs. "Riku…you have to settle down, you'll get sick if you continue on like this!" Sora had said, feeling a nod but no ceasing in the sobs. He knew the other was going through a lot of pain and all, especially since he was now blind and very weak for some reason, but emotionally, he was weak now. Nothing more then a mere child that has heard lightning for the first time and is terrified of it. "Now Riku…" He said more sternly then before. Sora began to pull away, however, Riku had grabbed him, clutching onto him and shaking his head fiercely. "No! Don't leave me!" He shouted, holding the boy and trying to pull him close, sniffling now as the sobs began to slow down. He only did it to keep the other around, to keep Sora around and with him. The young boy sighed, settling back down as he rocked him back and forth a bit, hearing the sobs and sniffle die down into small hiccups. "Come on Riku, you need to toughen up! You're always yelling at me how weak I am, but look at yourself! You're crying over something so simple! You'll get around without your eye sight, it'll just take awhile…that's all…" He said, pulling away now, regardless of what Riku wanted. He sighed sympathetically watching the other boy rock back and forth a bit, though, that died down as well. "I know…" Riku murmured angrily, knowing all well of his blindness and such, he was the one experiencing it after all.
"Do you want to go with me for a walk?" Sora asked, seeing him shake his head, he was still too weak to move. Lying back down, he cursed at himself for waking the other up, now Sora would never get to sleep until he was tired again. Sora simply shrugged, grinning though. "Okay…I'll be back then, I want to see if I can find food." With that, he left Riku alone in the darkness of the cabin, or shack like home. His footprints leaving marks in the sand as he walked along the beach. It wasn't the smartest move to leave Riku alone, but if he himself didn't get food, he'd pass out from and Riku was probably having the same problems, that, or he was mildly hungry. He was usually good at hiding his emotions or what he was feeling. But lately, that has been really hard for him. For that was the third time he broke down sobbing. The boy hadn't minded the first time, he enjoyed being near Riku. Actually, you would say he loved it. Riku was so nice and soft, despite his tough look and his hair felt like silk. It almost caused Sora to have a heart attack from being so stunned by the beauty. Ah! The hunger was driving him insane, he was thinking Riku as beautiful. The hunger…it was the hungers fault for all these problems he was enduring with his simple mind. But deep down, he knew it wasn't the hunger, it was how he truly felt.
"Pull yourself together Sora! Riku needs you and you need…you…that doesn't make sense!" He shouted to himself, heading to the shore as he watched the waves lick at the beach. Maybe there was fish…? There had to be fish, unless this water was dangerous or something. He nearly ran in after a fish, once he spotted one finally. It was almost like a miracle to him. Well, he did manage to catch it, after the fish struggled for awhile. "I hope Riku likes this kind of fish, whatever kind it is…" Sora said, looking back towards the shore, barely seeing it in the darkness. Had it not been for the moon and stars, he wouldn't have been able to see it. Making his way through the water as he headed back towards the shack. Didn't take him long to get there, but when he opened the door, he dropped the fish, eyes wide at what he saw. A man, cloaked in almost complete darkness stood behind Riku, looking at the boy as he slept, or was supposedly sleeping. "Get away from Riku!" He shouted, seeing the man's head twist up and through the dark, even if Sora couldn't see it, he grinned. "Use your indoor voice Sora, Riku is sleeping…" He said softly, eyes dashing to the dozing form before back at Sora. The boy had been startled. "How do you know my name?" Sora asked, watching the figure, almost invisible in the darkness, take a few steps forward, away from Riku. "I know a lot of things about you Sora…I know that you fear the darkness, I know that you want to protect your friends, I know that you care for Riku far more than anyone else…"
Sora was simply stunned. Who was this guy? He knew that this man obviously knew him and Riku apparently, but who was he? "I know that you wander where your other friends are, I can tell you," He said, feeling the tension in the air thicken as Sora's anger bubbled. "Than tell me!" His eyes looked over at Riku, the boy shuffling in his sleep. He didn't mean to be so loud, it just happened. He was actually glad that Riku was asleep, it seemed hard for him to do now. "I never give out information for free you know. I'll give you the information, in exchange for something…" "And what would that something be?" Sora questioned, watching the shadow step ever so closer. He seemed to linger on the tormenting factor, letting the information just trickle out of him ever so slowly. "Oh, don't you worry about that something Sora. It'll pay off soon. Your other friends are with me. My realm of darkness. I can take you there…or at least show you where to go…" He saw the boy relax a bit, as if he had escaped something he wanted to. Vanh kept his grin, now changing it to a smirk as the nod from the darkness told him that Sora agreed to all this. Sora, such an innocent boy. Always wanting to help, always wanting to do the right thing. Sometimes, the right thing isn't exactly right. "Over there, where the rocks force their way out of the sea, someone will be waiting for you. It'll take you there. I'll be seeing you soon." "What's your name anyways?" "Vanh. I go by the name Vanh."
Sora now stepped forward, to approach this creature known as Vanh. Sadly, the one had disappeared, fading into the shadows. It made Sora actually wander if he was ever really here, or was he just a shadow that was more advanced like Ansem had been to him when they first met? He shook his head, sending all thoughts of that out of his head. He now slowly crept over to Riku's side, kneeling before the boy as he grinned. "Don't you worry Riku. I'll get Kairi, Goofy, and Donald back before you have time to worry about me ever being gone…" He said, hearing the other boy shift in his sleep, putting his back to Sora as he had reached out, most likely hoping to grasp Sora and pull him close as he once had did. Sora merely sighed, standing up as he grabbed his Keyblade and shut the door behind him, leaving Riku in his new sobs that broke out. The other trudged himself over to the rocks, having to go to one side of the beach and than drag himself against the water's strong current. "How far did this thing have to be?" He mumbled to himself, pulling his soaked body onto a rock and letting himself rest there. He sat there for about a few seconds before the heartless, his guide as he would soon find out, hissed at him, causing him to almost fling himself back into the water out of fright from being surprised. "Heartless!" He said, grabbing his blade and slashing at it, only to have it reappear with another one. The thing hissed again, squirming over as its feelers slapped the rocks a few times. Sora did hesitate, but soon followed after it. It led him to a hole, a pitch black one of swirling darkness. It disappeared into the hole and Sora had no choice but to follow it, seeing how it was his guide to where Vanh lived.
"Sora?" Riku asked, looking around at all the palm trees on the island. Where was that boy? "Looking for me!" Came his voice as he dropped in from the trees, landing next to Riku, startling him a bit before he laughed. "You moron…" He said, tackling Sora to the ground as the other tried to shove him off, all the while keeping his funny looking grin. A soft giggle came as they turned their heads around to see Kairi, her arms crossed as she smiled. "You both are weird…" She stated, seeing them both look at each other before Sora finally shoved Riku off of him. "I wouldn't be the one talking now Kairi…" Riku mentioned, shrugging as Sora let his hands go behind his head. "So…what's up Kairi?" The other boy asked, seeing the girl giggle some more before looking at her two friends. "Nothing…just came to see what you two were doing!" She now turned her back to them, for one minute. A minute was long enough for them to exchange glances and nod at each other. Both pushed her into the water. She screamed, of course, but soon laughed when she landed in the water. "No fair!" She yelled, watching them both back up on that small little island near the other one. "Should we join her?" Sore asked, tilting his head to the side as Riku nodded. "Yeah, come on…" Of course, when they got to the edge, it was Sora that went flying next. "Have a nice swim!" Riku shouted after the two, seeing the other boy fume with anger. "No fair Riku! When I get up there you'll be sorry!" He yelled, thrashing around in the water as Riku stood there proudly, grinning to himself. Just a few years ago, Riku considered Sora nothing more than something that he had to retrieve for Vanh. Now, Sora was considered his best friend, possibly more…
"Why Vanh?" Riku asked himself, sobbing as he remembered their conversation. That creature did it to him on purpose. He made him suffer, in dreams and in real life. He took Sora away. The boy was too naive and would do anything for anyone. He had to go and get Sora, but he could barely move. Seeing would be another problem. "Damn you Vanh!" He yelled, balling his fists into the blanket as he sobbed into the mattress, out of sorrow and anger. He stopped dead in his tracks though, glancing around after hearing the hissing of what he knew to be a heartless. One must've been nearby if there was a hissing sound. After all, there was no waterfall and the wind wasn't blowing that much. "Show yourself you heartless!" He shouted, looking around with his eyes closed, trying to pick up which direction the sound was coming from. He couldn't figure it out, all he knew that there was one in the room, possibly more. Yes, there was more. Different hisses came at different times, he caught them all. It appeared that his hearing became acute, ever since his blindness it sharpened up so quickly it hurt his brain. "Riku…" His head jerked towards the sound, and even if he couldn't see it, there was a girl, looking at him. Her amber eyes, crystal clear, even though the darkness as she peered at him. The black cloak hanging off her body, the hood having been fallen to reveal the beautiful locks of ginger colored hair pouring over her shoulders and down her back. She took a step forward, her movements were slow and easy, as not to startle the boy any further. "Riku, do you remember my voice?" She called out his name again.
"Celia? Celia, that's your name, correct?" He asked, trying to toughen up his voice as she whispered a faint "yes" to let him know she was the girl known as Celia to him. The silence fell around them draping them both in a vile of despair and loneliness for a moment before Riku dared to speak again. "What are you doing here?" He asked sternly, letting his voice take a hated tone, no matter how glad he really was for her presence and being with him. He just wished it was Sora. "I came to help you…Vanh's plan is getting way out of hand. You do know about Sora, correct?" She said, seeing him nod before continuing. ""This boy, I do know is very precious to both sides, dark and light. He is the Keyblade wielder. The light needs him and the darkness wants to destroy him, or so we are meant to believe. Vanh, he is the ruler of darkness, you do know this, right?" Again, another nod. "Yes, well, Vanh, my father, your father, he isn't interested in the Keyblade, King Mickey did know this, you should know too. You were the one that helped King Mickey attempt to lock the door to darkness after Sora faced Ansem. You attempted to betray him, and Vanh didn't very much like this as you could guess. He has planned this for awhile now, after you betrayed him this idea came to him. Now, if I could tell you why he wanted Sora so badly, I would, I truly would because I know you and him are now the bestest of friends. But, I can't, I haven't figured that out. Riku, my point is, Vanh is up to something and with you out of the way to protect Sora, the boy is most vulnerable. And the way I see it, unless you act quickly, Sora is now Vanh's, like he planned from the beginning."
Riku sat quietly, listening to what she had to say before sniffling to himself. He didn't want to cry, especially in front of her. Crying was being proven to be weak. He was not weak, not at all. "I know that! Don't you think I don't know! I was the one that was told the plan, it was my mission to hand Sora over to Vanh at the beginning! I've failed and now he's taken everything I've held so dear! My sight, my strength, and my Sora!" He yelled at her, finally breaking down and sobbing miserably to himself. He gripped his head in misery, trying to force his awful memories from his head. This was a bad night, a bad night indeed. It would always be night in his world, always, no matter what. The girl sat beside him, stroking his hair softly as he cried to himself. "Riku, my dear, my darling…you need to calm down. You still have time to save him, you do know that. Vanh hasn't bothered to seal his fate just yet. I would say…you have about…a few minutes to get to Sora before Vanh gets to him. You best hurry…" "But I can't even stand up, let alone walk by myself! And what if I have to fight! I can't defeat Vanh, I couldn't even fight back and win when I had my sight and strength.." He yelled once more at her, but she merely gave him a comforting hug, no matter how much he hated being this close to her. He wanted only Sora, not her, the girl he knew as Celia. "I'll help you…I have the power to lend you my powers for 15 minutes…if you can get Sora back in that period of time, than you won't lose."
He looked up at her, for once, revealing those eyes that he hid behind his eye lids. Steal blue eyes, clear and pure, no other color but that blue and white, the black pupils having disappeared when he went blind. "15 minutes? I can do that…" Riku muttered, seeing her smile as she stood up. "I'll give it to you, but after 15 minutes are up, my strength, life force, and eyesight will return to me and you'll be left with what you are now. And in Vanh's territory, that's not a good thing," Celia than bent over, kissing his cheek as both felt the tingling sensation travel through their bodies. Celia gasped, setting herself down as she looked around. Nothing, she was exactly how Riku was and would forever be. Lying down on the mattress as she focused most of her energy on trying to breathe. She knew he was weak, but not this weak. How did he manage to move around? He must've been getting stronger at using his weak muscles. Riku grinned, seeing the world around him. He had his eyes for at least a few minutes more. More than he thought was possible. Saying nothing to the girl, he dashed over to the rocks and dashing into the portal. He was just in time to see Sora and Vanh, just beginning their conversation. "Don't listen to him Sora!"
((A/N: Thank you for my one reviewer! I love you Darkblade Weilder! Anyways, just wanted to thank her/him because she/he was my first and most likely only reviewer on this story. Also, sorry for taking so long. I sort of lost interest in this story for two weeks or so. So, yeah, sorry again.))
