Disclaimer: I don't own anybody except Celia, not even the 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 Three: The Kiss of Love
The boy had stepped through the portal, seeing the castle. The ominous, black castle covered in the darkness. It looked almost like a haunted castle, except it wasn't very abandon looking. His eyes looked around, confused as he looked for the heartless that had guided him. That heartless was no where to be found. Sora sighed, trying to find Vanh or anything that would happen to him. "My, my…I do say, what a wonderful sight. Someone keeping their promise. You know, not all people can do that…" He twirled around, seeing him tilt his head to the side a bit, peering at the boy with amused eyes. This was so amusing. He didn't know why, it just was. After all, like he said, not all people kept their promises. "Where are my friends!" He yelled, seeing him nod. "Ah yes, your friends." He said, turning around as his cloak flared out a bit before it settled down. His friends, his comrades. They were all huddled together, unconscious and tied together like spinach or carrots would be. "Kairi! Donald! Goofy!" He shouted, almost running over to them, but Vanh put up his arm, preventing him from going anywhere. "Now, what do I want from you? I told you where your friends are, I've shown you they're safe, and I even promise to hand deliver them back to Earth, now, what do I want from you?" Sora looked up at him, glaring. "Whatever it is, I'll do it!" "Even give up your freedom? No, that is not what I want. What I want is you. I want you to stay here with me in my castle, in my realm of darkness. You must also never associate with Riku again…ever." Vanh said, seeing the boy look down at the dark grass before back at Vanh, about ready to strike the deal when Riku's voice rang. "Don't listen to him Sora!"
Sora, as quick as lightning turned around, seeing Riku there, the boy was all right. "R-Riku…?" He asked, seeing him run over to him, embracing him a tight squeeze. "I thought I would lose you…" He said, closing his eyes as he felt the boy's body against his. A puzzle that fit perfectly together. Vanh seemingly let his mind wander. Yes, he did take Riku's powers, yet here he was, as strong as ever. It occurred to him a high ranking member of his group must've allowed him use of their powers. But for how long? It didn't matter, no one was strong enough to allow that long of their powers being with another. "Riku, how good to see you…" He said, seeing the steal eyes glare at him, pulling Sora away from him. "I'm not handing him over! He's mine and you'll never have him" He shouted, causing Sora to tilt his head in confusion. What was going on? Did they know each other very well? Ah, poor, simple Sora. He had no idea of how well they knew each other. "I doubt you wish to use that language on me Riku. So tell me, why have you interrupted out little deal making? Surely you must have a good reason…" Vanh said, knowing all too well of why Riku was here. He just liked playing with his little boy, the one he created. "I'm not letting Sora fall to you! He won't make the same mistake as I did!" He shouted, feeling Sora's hand on his shoulder, looking at him with concerned eyes. "What mistake?" He asked, causing a smirk to spread on Vanh's features.
Vanh walked around the two, his movements so careless, as if walking around on clouds, as if walking on air and nothing supported his light weight. "He didn't tell you? Shame on you my dear, little Riku. It's not nice to keep secrets from those you care about…" Riku looked down, shamed of his words as Sora burrowed his brows in anger and thinking to himself. A tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth. However, he let his expression soften to an innocent look, almost one too pure to deny anything to. "You've been keeping something from me? Riku…I thought…I…" He stammered on words, as if he already knew the truth behind it all. He didn't, but he seemed just as shocked and angered. "Yes, I have…" Riku's voice almost as faint as a whisper. The creature slipped his arms around Sora, holding the boy close, but the boy made no move to struggle free…just yet. "He has Sora…would you tell him now? That way he may at least know the truth," Vanh smiled, seeing the one he was addressing glare at him. "I've known Vanh my whole life Sora. And it was him who made me blind…who made me weak. It was him that caused the heartless to flood around the world. But, it was me that tried to lure you into the darkness. You remember, when we were on the island and I disappeared in the darkness? I almost had you, none of this would've happened had you just come. But your heart refused to do so and you left me in search for you and Kairi…" He whispered faintly, watching the boy's eyes wide at this.
"I can tell you the whole story if you would like to hear, I know now that I can't hide to truth from you anymore. But, do know that I really do care for you and when we split up, I was looking everywhere for you! It's just that…Vanh, he let Ansem control me…I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Sora. Please forgive me…" Riku whimpered towards the boy, stepping forward as the boy clutched onto Vanh's arm, trying to keep away from him. The two, Vanh and Sora, looked almost like father and daughter. Sora, being the very innocent girl with big, blue eyes, clutched onto her father's arm, Vanh, and eyes angered, as if a bully had just stolen her lunch and she was getting her father to defend her. Riku was hurt, sorrow and guilt tearing him to pieces and slicing through him like a warm knife did to cold butter. "Just listen to me Sora when I say how sorry I am…I didn't want you to ever find out, I was having too much fun being near you and I enjoyed being your friend…please, just believe me. I don't care if you never want to speak to me again, but don't trust Vanh, no good will come out of doing so!" Sora looked between the two fighting males before pulling away. He looked towards his group of friends before back at Riku. "Riku…I…" He said before gulping and looking at Vanh. "I'm sorry Riku. But I don't want to see Kairi and them hurt. So, I accept your deal Vanh!" he shouted the last part, closing his eyes so tightly that it hurt, holding back the stinging tears that wanted to come out. He had betrayed Riku, but most of all, he betrayed himself.
Riku was simply stunned at his choice while Vanh was soaking it all up. "Excellent…" Vanh said, chirping to himself happily as he wrapped his hands around the boy. "Just excellent my dear Sora…" He said, forming the second plan in his head. He already knew what to give just not what Sora could give him in return for the precious thing he wanted to give away. "No Sora! You fool!" Riku shouted, trying to hold back the tears, knowing that Sora was forever sealed within Vanh's web now of desire. "I'm sorry Riku, but Sora isn't allowed to speak to you my precious gem. Part of the deal was to never associate with you again…" The man's hand stroked Sora's hair, letting the boy just stand there, as solid as a statue whose head was bent, looking at the ground and tears of pearls flowing from the eyes. "Now, be gone with you Riku…I have no more need for you right now…" Vanh said, holding up his hand as the sleeve fell down a bit, revealing the genuinely feminine fingers and pale skin around him gave him such and eerie and beautiful look that if maybe, just maybe if he took off that cloak and put on some better clothes he would actually look beautiful.
Sora grabbed his hand, shaking his head, telling him no. "I want to see him out, one last time!" Vanh looked down at the irresistible boy before sighing, letting his arm rest back at his side. "Fine, only for you will I allow this…" He said, stepping away as Sora walked over to Riku, walking him towards the portal before stopping him, seeing the tears whelm up in both their eyes. "I'm sorry Riku, but I don't want them to get hurt…just understand that. If it was you, I'd do the same thing…" "But Sora, you don't know what you're up against! This is Vanh, he's pure darkness, and you don't-" Riku was fuming with frustration and sorrow, but he was cut off by the unbelievable. Sora pressed his lips against Riku's, startling him to the point of falling backwards. But, the boy simply took this as a last seeing gift, brushing his fingers over Sora's cheeks, feeling the hot tears pour down from his eyes. He pulled away, not giving Riku enough time to grip the fact this was the last time he would see his beautiful angel. "I love you Riku, but I love my other friends too…just see to it that they're happy, if you can do that, than I'm happy as well…" He whispered softly, not allowing the other another kiss as he had grabbed hold of him, sobbing into him. "I love you Riku! But a promise is a promise and I'll keep that promise until my death…just remember me, can you do that?" He looked up to him, eyes filled with hope, hope that he would remember him.
"I…I could never forget you Sora. Even if I tried…" Riku responded, feeling the other's grip loosen and loosen until he was standing near him. They said nothing more, they did nothing more. It was too painful to do that. The silver-haired boy just left, standing on the rocks as he looked towards the shack. He had ten minutes, ten minutes to see, ten minutes to walk around freely, yet forever to morn the loss of Sora. He sat down, staring at the sky for a moment before sobbing to himself. After all, what else could he do? He no longer had Sora, the beautiful boy that had always been there for him. Yes, he should've told him more about himself, yet was there more to say, to make the separation even more painful? "Sora…why?" He whimpered into his knees, feeling the presence of another. Eyes looking up as he saw Kairi there, her eyes full of happiness as she looked at him. "Riku! I knew I would find you!" She said, laughing to herself before looking a bit confused. "Why are you crying?" She had never known Riku to be the one to sob and cry to himself. He tore his gaze away from her, hearing the other two run over to him. "Where's Sora?" Donald asked, well, actually it was more like a demand as he crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently. Goofy, being as stupid as he was, looked around, startling himself. "Sora's not here!" He said, causing the duck to almost go into a furry at his stupidity. Sometimes he wandered how he knew Goofy.
"He's…not here and he's never coming back…" The boy responded softly, not looking at them as he said this, which, like everything else practically, caused Donald to go into a fit. "What! Why not!" He quacked angrily, seeing all their expressions. Riku of course, knowing all, was hurt. Kairi was deep in thought and Goofy was simply shocked to hear that. "He…he made a deal with Vanh. Your safety against his will to come back…" He almost choked himself and words and such, moving from his spot as he headed towards the shack, seeking the small and lonely comfort of Celia, the girl that was there, even though he didn't like her all that much, "Who's Vanh and why can't we see Sora again? Riku, stop walking away and tell me what's going on! You're not doing anything to save him!" Kairi shouted, causing the one she was yelling to stop, anger bubbling in him. "Shut up! I don't care about you right now, all I care about is Sora! And unless you can come up with any ideas how to get him back here then I suggest you don't yell at me for doing nothing because I've done more than you'll ever do!" He yelled, turning his head to glare at her, she in return saw the tears and the hurt in his eyes. He was the one suffering the most. Yes, she knew about them all being friends, but Riku and Sora had always been so close. Who was she to say anything more now? So, Kairi simply backed off, shielding herself with the other two.
He had entered the shack and much to his displeasure, glad that he saw her there, finally managing about to sit up. Her head tilted upwards, smiling. "Hiya Riku." However she paused and frowned. "Sora's not with you…" Riku stared at her, bewildered that she had mastered the blindness in less than five minutes. That was impossible. "How'd you know it was me?" He asked, seeing her shift a bit and sigh, thinking upon his question. "Your shoes make a funny sound when they hit something. And Sora's chains rattle when he moves. That girl's clothes twist and make a funny sound. That dog person breaths funny and the duck just never shuts up… It's easy to memorize sounds that tell who is who…" She said, nodding to herself, her eyes open as those dead, doll eyes peered at him, sending shivers down his spine. But, he sat down next to her and she immediately knew that something was wrong and so, having a maternal feeling even if she was about sixteen or so, grabbed him and hugged him tightly, stroking his hair. "Tell me what happened…" "He made a deal with Vanh. He's not allowed to come and see me anymore…and he now lives with that creature…and he did it in exchange for the safety of his friends…" Celia could hear the sobs begin as he sobbed into her cloak, letting his tears stain and wet it. "I won't be able to ever see if him, I won't be able to tell him that I love him…" Riku sobbed, gripping her tightly as her eyes widened for a moment, but didn't say anything for the moment. "It's all right Riku my dear…we'll think of-"
"NO! You don't understand! Vanh has him and I know that's not all Vanh wanted! He wants more!" He shouted, her grip around him tightened as she kissed the top of his head, with almost accurate aim. "When I get my powers back, I'll go talk to Vanh, I promise…you don't need to worry. Concentrate more on getting around with your blindness and getting strong again, you'll need it…" Celia then pulled away, crawling over to a corner, sitting there as Riku sobbed into the mattress now. This was terrible. He thought his life couldn't get any worse when he was spilt up with Sora, but apparently the game of life had different ideas. They sat there, for a long time it seemed before Riku stood up, eyes red and puffy from all the crying. He had a few seconds and he wanted to make them count. He took in everything one last time, he even opened the door to look outside, in hopes of memorizing the landscape so that he would be able to get back to Vanh's home when stronger, which he would be. But, he only stood there before sitting down sighing and closing his eyes, feeling himself grow weak, weak from the rapid drainage loss of his strength and soon, the darkness clouded his vision again. The other smiled, standing up and brushing off her cloak of the dust that had collected onto it. She could see again. Well, she made a mental note to herself to never let that happen again and to take very good care of her sight. It was rather awkward in the land of the darkness. However, she headed over to the boy, kneeling down by him and whispering to him. "Get stronger Riku, I'll go talk to Vanh and try and get Sora away. You just concentrate on getting around without your sight and strength…" With that, she left him to try and figure out her words. Her feet made prints into the sand, heading over to the low murmuring group of friends huddled around the rocks. She grinned to them, but got a cold shoulder in return. That didn't set her moods down, well, it couldn't possibly seeing how she was already depressed. Celia didn't know what they felt or what their faces looked like when she disappeared, standing there in front of them and simply just leaving into thin air. Her foot steps echoed into the darkness as she headed towards Vanh's castle, walking up to the gates. ((Longest paragraph in the story probably…))
The gates were made of iron, more than towering over her, most likely about two stories high, but Vanh was just like that, he loved his privacy. The house, as described before, could relate to a haunted one. Over four feet high, lovely windows that arched high. They were made of beautiful colored glass that was decorated with pictures of angels, flowers, and other such beautiful objects. The doors were high as well, made of red maple, which just added to the beauty of the house. Letting her eyes fall off of the castle almost like home, she looked at the area surrounding it. A garden was covering the area. Made of roses, daises, forget-me-not's, baby's breathes, tulips, ferns, sunflowers, and other such exquisite flowers, not to mention a few other plants like maple trees, apple trees, and oaks. And yet, a single path way from the entrance of the gate to the entrance of the house was carved from stainless white marble, polished and shined to perfection. She didn't seem surprised, after all, she lived here. One of the many rooms was hers. She lived with Vanh and a few others, high ranking others. They all lived under the creature's rules and did what he said without hesitation. All the other's, below them, lived somewhere else in hopes that one day they could live with them.
She pushed open the gates, shutting them behind her as she headed towards the house, in hopes of finding her 'father'. But, her eyes snapped in another direction, seeing Sora. The boy was messing around with a few flowers, trying to cheer himself up, even though he still cried, but softly. Roses pricked his fingers, causing them to bleed, but he could stand the pain. He could stand anything next to losing Riku. The woman quickly looked around, knowing he was nearby, but than why was Vanh allowing the boy to go off and tear flowers from the earth? "Sora!" She shouted, seeing him look up, but dropping the flowers in the process, being shocked from hearing her. "Who…who wants me?" He stammered, seeing the girl make her way over to him as he took a step back. "I was just coming to talk to you!" She looked down at her cloak, the black fabric had been snatched onto the roses thorns and torn a bit. He tilted his head to the side a bit, as if confused by something. A hand moving up to wipe away his own tears before looking around, as if expecting to see Vanh behind, which he didn't, but secretly sort of wished he would appear so he wouldn't be with this woman. She made him very uncomfortable for some reason. The blue eyes looked back at her, defeated, weary, and melancholy before he let out a very soft, "All right.". That's all he said. He needn't need to say more because the soft smile on her face told him she had heard perfectly what he was saying. "Riku-" She had began but already his semi calm state was now torn and thrown into the rapid pool of despair once again. So, what else could she do but cut herself off?
"Celia, how good to see you again," Came Vanh's voice and when she turned around, there he was. He was the same, smiling and acting all happy like. True, she hadn't ever seen him get mad and when he did, whenever that may be, he'd probably go on a killing spree. But, the point was, he never got mad under normal circumstances which drove her insane. "Likewise sir…" She whispered, glancing back at Sora who went back to picking his flowers and hoping one beautiful flower could save him. "I see you've met the newest addition to our house…" "I have…" Celia always seemed to let her voice trail, as if she was still dangling on thought. She was just trying to respond without spilling anything, but knowing him, he already knew. "Have this one…Celia…" Sora said, forcing a violet into her hands as he move away from them, trying to escape. The girl looked at the violet. It was an ordinary flower, nothing special about it, but there must've been because Sora gave it to her and his reasons usually had actions behind them. Vanh had grabbed his thin wrist, halting the boy from proceeding wherever he wanted to go. "You should thank Sora Celia…" He said, and she did, very softly. He was about to let him go and continue his picking of random flowers when Celia had to say something. "I would like to…show him the house sir," She said, knowing that they couldn't have possibly have shown him the house this fast. As hesitate as Sora was, anything was better than here, with Vanh, alone…
She now took his wrist, causing him to drop all but one flower. She had dragged him inside, knowing they still weren't safe, but maybe just a little safer from her father. "As I was saying, we need to talk, about Riku…" Sora bit his bottom lip before nodding. As reluctant as he was, as weak as he was right now, he found some strength to want to talk about the other. "I'm guessing he told you who had caused him to be weak…" A nod. "Yes well, I want to tell you about him. He's not your normal person. Young, when you were young, I would say about…five or so, Riku was placed in the hospital for extreme care. Well, the real Riku, the one you knew up until he was placed in that hospital, died in that hospital. Vanh had been watching you for a year or two, maybe more, I don't know, but he saw this chance to take you and drag you into the darkness. Well, he didn't want to do it, but he knew who could. He took the body here for awhile, leaving something there that resembled the body. Anyways, this Riku that you know now, the one you grew up with is…" She saw him, eager to know what she's going to say. After all, anything to do with Riku and he was interested. But, seeing her face seem somber, he let his expression dip into that mood as well. "Vanh. Riku is Vanh…" "No! You can't be telling the truth! Stop lying!" He yelled, coving her ears to prevent her from lying any more. She grabbed his wrists and forced his hands off of his ears and pressed his body against hers to stop his soon-to-be thrashings. "Riku is created from Vanh's soul. True, originally Riku seemed just as heartless as Vanh is now, but his human emotions took him and thrust him in another direction and so, he's claimed to be a new person and not Vanh. The creature of darkness, the ruler of darkness didn't like this, that's when he took matters into his own hands. Which was when you were awarded the Keyblade to protect your life. And…it's landed you right here…"
She heard nothing, pulling back to look at Sora. The boy was still, soaking it all in and what this all meant to him. Pushing the pieces of the puzzle into place. When he did get it, he dropped that one flower he had been holding so tightly, a forget-me-not. "No…" He said at first, eyes wide and fixed on the floor before he feel to his knees, sobbing as the tears starting to form a puddle beneath his face. "It can't be true! It can't be true! Riku's not Vanh!" Sora gripped his head in anger, wanting to just…die right now. Couldn't he just fall asleep and die right now? "But he is Sora…" She said, cooing him into her arms once more and stroking his hair as she had once done to Riku so tenderly and lovingly. He hadn't taken to heal as long as Riku had, seeing how he jerked away from her a few seconds of being in her grasp and stared up at her, lips moving but no words forming. That is, until he finally found the right words to say to her and those words were, "Okay. So he's…Vanh. But he's changed and from what you say, I would say, he is a different person, even though he's not. But, I'm still sticking to what I truly feel for him.". He said it proudly and without hesitation. Picking up that flower, he made his way over to the door, stopping and turning to look at her. "And, just on a friendly note, I suggest you be careful where you say stuff." A grin. "You might get caught." With that, he dashed out, leaving her to turn around and nearly scream. A heartless had been there the whole time, listening and watching and the worse part; Sora had known all along.
The had headed back out into the field of flowers, making sure to watch out for Vanh. He was picking flowers so that when he returned to see Riku again, he could surprised him with something sweet smelling and beautiful looking, the boy thinking that he had gotten his sight back permanently, even though it truly was temporary. He was completely oblivious to the fact that the creature was watching with interested eyes. The boy didn't know how much he meant to this creature. Every single gesture was breathtaking and every single smile could get rid of any blues and replace them with happiness. This boy was… "I wander what Riku will think…" He murmured to himself, Vanh's ears catching it, a small frown across his lips. It was obvious to all that paid attention that both boys loved each other and Vanh, being the person he was, was a bit jealous and envious of Riku for winning the affection of the boy. True, Riku was him. The silver-haired boy, his soul, was made from the same soul as Vanh's. He had thought that if he had just sent a part of him and created a 'new person' as some would call it, than it wouldn't be so violent dragging the boy to the dark side. But he was terribly wrong, sadly. The other soul adapted too well to the body and grew it own feelings, own thoughts, it grew into something that wasn't him. Simply smiling now, Vanh stepped from the darkness heading over to the boy now, the second part of his plan weaving inside his head now into a full loom.
He wrapped his pale finger around the boy's shoulder, pulling him close enough to let his hot breath caress the sensitive flesh that was Sora's ear. "I have an exchange that might intrigue you Sora dear…" He whispered, causing Sora to go into a soft blush, eyes looking in the opposite direction from the shoulder that Vanh rested his chin on. "And what would that be?" He asked, trying to not sound disgusted that he was practically being held here against his wishes because of a deal Vanh had made up himself. There was most likely no choice left open for argument or another option. He lingered for a moment before a smirk graced Vanh's lips now. "An exchange. As you know Riku is weak, blind…" He began, startling Sora. He thought the sight had been back forever. "Well, what if I gave Riku all this back to him, that he sold to me in exchange for your life a few hours earlier." So, he had been dead. Sora knew it, that was why he was so weak and blind! Why hadn't he seen it before? It was all his fault that they were in this mess. It was his fault that he died, his fault that Riku went blind and weak, and his own fault that he ended up here where Vanh wanted him at. He stopped himself from thinking. He wanted, no needed, to hear what the other had to say. "A exchange to giving Riku all this back for your life here permanently, to never leave this world of darkness and to become my pet. Your freedom of everything in exchange for his strength and sight back. A good deal I say…" The creature allowed him to think a moment before he nodded. "I…agree…"
((A/N: Haha...this is fun. Well, as you can tell, I'm making up things as I go. I didn't really know that Celia was going to be the one who told Sora, I hadn't planned out for Sora to pick flowers, or for Riku to be such a crybaby in this story, but... shrugs things happen. Time for the reviews and such. shouts out of happiness
Swordstuff - Yay! I thankith thee for such a nice compliment. You might not know it, but you saying that gives me the strength to continue... smiles
DieChan - Is that a threat! Ahhh! I'm tellin' if you're threatnin' me. My mommy will do something about it! But ummm...be careful. Wouldn't want you to fall off your seat... places cushions around the chair
And yes, I'm a very slow person when it comes to typing. Even though I'm in the seventh grade, very young, and shouldn't have that much to worry about, I do. Exams...projects...reports. Stuff. And I'm very busy. Seven hours for school, nine for sleeping, and eight for leisure activities, at the least four hours is deticated to the computer and I try to write at least, a minimum of two paragraphs a day. Yeah so, you should except anothe rupdate in about...two weeks or so...))