Me: I'm baaaaack!
Riku: You never left!
Sora: Welcome back! (stupid grin) (pats Nani on back)
Riku: (slaps forehead)
Kairi: Um… who are you?
Riku and Sora: (flinch)
(you must forgive, they had a traumatizing experience in chapter one)
Me: I'm Nani! (gives card) The author!
Kairi: (stares dumbly at card)
Riku: Maybe she doesn't know how to read yet…
Sora: …ummm… Read?
Riku and Nani: (sweat drop)
Kairi: Um… ok… who's that?
All: (turn)
Me: Oh that? That's Arlyn
Riku and Sora: (flinch)
Sora: (cough)(cough)Pyro(cough)
Kairi: Why is she sitting in the corner with a flamethrower?
Me: Punishment
Kairi: huh?
Me: Just read.
Chapter Two: Only in his Mind
Previously: 'Am I blacking out?' He marveled as the bright gray eyes began to become covered by a dark cloud from inside his eyes. 'I've never blacked out before…'
"Hey!" The girl's voice sounded desperate as he slipped away.
'Sora…' Was the only thought that accompanied his mind as it slipped away to darkness.
"Riku! Riku!" When he opened his eyes, he was laying down in a huge bed with a deep, soft mattress and a goose feather pillow beneath his head. The first thing he saw were bright blue eyes. Riku jumped in surprise, and then he saw the trademark silly, grin.
"Sora!" He groaned, grabbing the nearest pillow and slamming it into Sora's face. The younger boy tumbled backwards off the bed, laughing through the fabric crushed into his mouth. Riku sat up slowly, and rubbed the aching lump on his head.
When he looked around he found himself in an unfamiliar house, crates and boxes were piled up against the walls, presumably supplies, and the wooden floor boards led to another open doorframe at the other end of the room. "Where am I?"
"You're with us, silly." He turned to see Kairi, sitting on the bed beside him, smiling gently with her beautiful blue eyes. Hers were the bluest out of all those in Destiny Islands. Riku's were a piercing aqua color, and Sora's were a friendly, bright blue. But Kairi's were by far the most beautiful. And she wasn't even from Destiny Islands in the first place.
"Kairi," he said her name gently, as if he were afraid she wasn't really there. "You're ok." He found himself staring at her soft brown hair, and the way it fell around her cream colored face.
"Yes, so are you." She laughed.
"Why?" Riku asked, confused and a little frustrated. "I stepped through the door, to darkness, to oblivion."
Kairi shook her head, her blue eyes softening. "You're too good for oblivion, Riku, too pure for darkness. The creator of the worlds, whoever he or she is, didn't think that you deserved that fate."
Riku look down at his gloved hands carefully. "Too pure for darkness…"
He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see her beautiful blue eyes, she was still smiling at him. "Riku, you don't belong there, you belong here with me and Sora… We belong together, always."
"And plus," Sora said, now standing beside Kairi and off the floor, the pillow regretfully removed from his mouth, "I thought that I should give you this." He said, pulling out the KeyBlade with a sharp, metallic rush, and held it sideways out to Riku, who took it incredulously, blinking at Sora as his friend smiled at him.
"Why?" He asked, still in disbelief. "I tried to steal this from you."
"That was when you were possessed." Sora said dismissively. "That doesn't matter anymore, it wasn't your fault." He explained. "But you are the true master of the KeyBlade right? So I figure that I was just holding onto it for you, you know? Keeping it safe until you could get it."
Riku stared at the KeyBlade in his hand. It felt so right. It felt so natural, and so good to have its weight resting in his hands. "Thanks, Sora." He smiled at his best friend, who clapped him on the shoulder.
"What are best friends for?" Sora grinned.
Suddenly, Riku found himself enveloped in a sweet smelling perfume. Thin white arms were wrapped around him, someone was holding him from behind. He turned and saw her face. "Kairi?"
"I'm so glad your safe." She whispered to him, he could smell her shampoo, he could feel her warm cheek against his. "I was so worried about you, Riku." She said, holding him a bit tighter. "I was worried that I would never be able to get to say thank you, for saving my life… thank you." She whispered. "You did everything you could to save me, even if it meant sacrificing yourself to the darkness. Thank you so much, Riku. I…" She stuttered and broke off, he thought he could feel the blush heat in her cheeks radiating off to his own.
"Aw, Kairi, you're such a coward. You start to say something, then you get embarrassed and leave poor Riku hanging." Sora said, sitting down on the bedside. "What the doofus here is trying to say is that she loves you." Sora smiled at Riku, and Kairi gave out a little gasp in humiliation, holding tight to Riku.
Riku turned his head around to look at her blue eyes. "Truth?"
"Y-yes." She muttered, laughing nervously. "But I mean, it's ok if you don't-"
Riku suddenly reached up, took her face in his hands and kissed her mouth gently. Kairi tensed at first, and then relaxed. She kissed him back, again and again, and then they broke off just as gently as they had started. Kairi blushed furiously and smiled sheepishly. Riku smiled back. He was so glad. He had loved her for so long.
"So, now that you two have finally admitted your feelings to one another," Sora said, standing up and feeling awkward having being about two feet away from Riku and Kairi as they had kissed, brushed his hands off on his shorts, "I'd say that we have a lot of things to do." He grinned at them. "Let's start getting ready, together, what do you say, Riku?"
"Ready?" Riku asked, puzzled, staring at his brown haired friend.
"To go explore the worlds, silly." Kairi said, jumping up from the bed. "Just the three of us."
"Together." Sora smiled. He held out his hand, palm down, and immediately Kairi put hers over his. Together, they both looked at Riku expectantly. Riku smiled, pulling the sheets away and standing up with his friends. Gently but firmly he rested his hand overtop of theirs. Together, and all with stupid grins spreading from ear to ear, they threw their hands up and jumped, giving a cry of happiness at being together again, and then slamming their feet as hard as they could back to the floor.
"Let me go get my stuff," Kairi said breathlessly, "and I'll be right back." She was practically jumping with excitement.
Riku nodded. "We'll wait for you here."
She ran out of the room into the next, slamming the door shut with her excitement. Riku turned to Sora, and suddenly a thought occurred to him. "Hey, Sora, about those friends of yours-"
Sora looked puzzled "What?"
"You know," Riku pushed gently, "the mage… and the knight?"
Sora remembered suddenly and grimaced. "Oh, those two." He said. "What about them?"
"Well, that's what I was going to ask." Riku said. "What's the deal with those two?"
Sora rolled his eyes. "They're just a bunch of stupid lugs, Donald and Goofy. They can't do anything right. They won't help me fight, they just pass out and yak at me. I can't stand them." Sora cringed. And Riku, for the first time in a long time, felt comfortable with him. The old friendship between them reformed instantly.
"But you seemed pretty friendly with them in Traverse Town."
"You mean after you found us?" Sora asked. "Duh I was friendly to them, I have to keep them happy to keep them from getting in my way." Sora said tiredly, as if he were talking about babysitting two year olds. "I'm always smiling at them and complementing them because they won't stand for anything else." Sora leaned against an old crate and linked his arms around the back of his head. "Sometimes I think I should have just killed them." He said. "They weren't any replacement for you and Kairi."
Riku smirked, "They sound like a bunch of losers."
"You couldn't imagine…" Sora started.
"Ok, I'm ready!" They turned to find Kairi, standing in the doorway, looking flushed and excited. "Let's go!"
"Alright!" Sora said, standing up straight, his blue eyes sparkling with laughter. "Let's go, everything's ready."
Riku took the KeyBlade and he held it in his hand. He looked at Kairi, as they headed out the door together to the cobblestone streets. Sora was just slightly ahead of them. "Kairi," Riku said, looking down at her. "You really want to do this with us?" He asked.
"Of course I do, silly. You're the one person… that I want always to be with."
Riku felt warm joy spread across his body, but he could see by the worried look in Kairi's face that something was wrong. "But…" He said slowly, trying to get her to spill.
She stared up at him, and then sighed, studying the street. "But what if something's out there," She asked, seemingly ashamed. "I'm afraid that we'll find something horrible, something that's ready to kill us as soon as we stumble up on it. What will we do then?" She asked, her voice soft.
"I'll protect you." Riku said simply.
Kairi looked up at him with soft, thankful eyes as she stared up at him. "You really are perfect." She said, putting her hand in his.
He smiled down at her, lacing their fingers together. "Kairi…" He said slowly, "I… I love you."
Gray-blue eyes blinked. And suddenly he was lying down on a bed again, only this one was smaller and less comfortable, and instead of Kairi being there, he saw another girl with her misty gray-blue eyes staring down at him, her eyebrows were raised in surprise. "Not really what I expected you to say to me when you first woke up," a girl's voice said with half a laugh hidden inside her tone "but I'll take what I can get when it comes to compliments."
Riku blinked at her. "Who are you?"
"Arlyn." She answered. "Warrior of castle Rwivern. Who are you?"
"Riku." He answered automatically. Realization hit him. A dream. It had only been a dream. Of course it had been. He thought scornfully to himself. Those things could have only happened in his mind. There was no way Sora would have ever handed over the KeyBlade to him, even if he had been originally destined to wield it.
Riku had chosen darkness over light to save Kairi, and so the KeyBlade that should have been his, rejected him for Sora, his best friend, and arch rival. And as for Kairi… he smiled bitterly to himself. He knew she didn't love him. Not like that. He knew that she felt so much more deeply about Sora than she could have ever felt about him. She was the Princess of Heart, and so she would love a creature of the light. Riku stared down at his black, gloved hands, and clenched the sheets into knots at his knees. He was definitely not too pure for darkness.
The girl beside him shifted uncomfortably and he was pulled back to reality. He was in a strange place, with a strange girl, and he was still alive. He couldn't make any sense out of that last part. He had watched the door close, and expected to die a horrible death, murdered by the heartless. But instead he had fallen through the floor the instant they had come at him. He thought for sure that the fall would kill him, and yet, here he was, alive and with a beating heart.
He turned to the girl who was sitting in a small, makeshift wooden stool beside his bed. He glared at her with his piercing aqua eyes. "What is this place?" He asked. "Is this your world?"
She blinked. "My world?" She said. "I don't know. I know it isn't the world that I come from… but I must have been sent here for a reason. I mean…" She appeared to now be talking to herself. "There has to be some reason why I'm still alive."
"What?" Riku was too tired to try to figure out what she was saying. His mind was a bit dazed and scrambled both from the fall and from the dream.
"I was supposed to be killed." She said more slowly, and louder to Riku's annoyance. He was begging to get a headache and louder wasn't very helpful. "I should have died, but instead I ended up here… somehow." She seemed troubled, but Riku didn't notice, his headache was getting worse and worse. She looked up at him and smiled. "But I'm glad I'm not alone anymore."
That last part got Riku's attention. "Wait, you mean there's no one else here?"
"Not that I know of," She shrugged somewhat sadly, "And I've been here for a while. I also can't seem to find a way out." She said, dismayed. "I've tried so many different things." She sighed, "But it looks like I've come here and now I'm stuck, maybe for good."
Riku cringed. "Don't say that." He said.
"Don't say what?" She asked.
"That."
"What?"
"Anything."
"I never said, 'anything'."
"No! Don't speak at all, ok? Just shut up for a few seconds!" Riku burst out, his head cradled in his hands. He had such a headache.
"What's wrong with you?" Arlyn asked, annoyed. "You got a hangover or something?"
"What?" Riku was getting very frustrated.
The girl got up in his face. "DO" she said very slowly, "YOU HAVE A HANGOVER?"
Now he was pissed. That had hurt a lot. "Shut up!" He yelled, causing his head to pound. "I think I knocked open a blood vessel or something." He muttered.
Suddenly, cool soft hands were resting gingerly over his temples and his forehead. The coldness of her hands helped to numb the pain, and he welcomed them, closing his eyes against her touch. "I don't feel anything." She said.
Riku's started head pounded once more as she spoke again. "Don't feel any what?"
"Broken vessels." She replied. "You probably have a slight concussion."
"What are you? My Doctor?" Riku snapped rudely, her soft cool hands were removed from his head instantly, and he regretted it.
Riku cracked his eyes open and looked at her. "Whatever." He muttered. And then she slapped him. Right across the side of the head. His brain exploded in pain, throbbing as if she had hit him over the head with her stool.
Riku sucked air in through his teeth, making a hissing noise. "THAT HURT!" He roared, turning to glare at her through the foggy mist that had filmed over his eyes because of the migraine. He found that she was glaring right back at him.
"If you weren't so rude, I wouldn't have slapped you!"
Riku cringed; all the noise was making his headache even worse. The pain was indescribably intense. He felt as if his head might crack open any second and spill out a raging war. The girl watched him for a while, although he wasn't aware of it, the pain was too distracting. "You want to go to sleep?" She asked him.
He only heard the pounding in his head. The girl sighed and brought up a chair to the bed, sighing with guilt. She knew she should have contained her temper, but at least she could atone for it. She sat down and out of a small leather backpack under the bed she tugged loose a drawstring, and pulled out an ebony flute, engraved with curling silver vines and tiny, acrylic blue berries. She held the black wood up to her delicate mouth, closed her misty gray eyes and began to play.
As Riku held his head in his hands, he suddenly became aware of a calmness being instilled inside him, and the pain began to subside. He stopped and listened as the lazy, yet strangely beautiful melody played in his mind. Something about the flute made everything inside him settle. Even the raging red ocean inside his head. He released the death grip on his head and turned to look around the room to find the source of it. Then he saw the girl, sitting there, playing the small, black flute.
He stared at her in wonder as a thick drowsiness came over him. What was she doing to him? He had never felt this peaceful in his life. It was as if the music was coming from her mouth and into his body, and coating over everything inside him, settling it into stillness. Was she killing him? Riku found that strangely, he didn't care if she was… he was too tired to care.
Instead, with the pain gone, he lay back down on the pillow. It seemed so soft and comforting, and he stared at the girl as she played. Her soft gray-blue eyes opening slightly just enough to watch him with a strange gentleness. His eyelids became heavy, and they fluttered once or twice, allowing him brief stuttering looks at Arlyn, and then they fell closed with a firmness that declared that this time the would remain closed. Riku could still hear it as he dreamed. The music seemed to take his hand, and lead him deep inside himself, into thick, peaceful slumber.
Me: Whew! That was a long one.
Sora turns to Arlyn: So… who are you?
Arlyn: (grumble) (grumble) I'm not allowed to say
Sora: Did you kill Riku?
Arlyn: (evil smile) Maaaaaybe
Kairi: Poor Riku!
Riku: Hey, yeah, poor me… (sarcastic)
Sora: Hey, wait, if you're still here, how are you dead?
Riku: I'm not dead you idiot.
Sora: You mean you didn't really kill him?
Arlyn: (sigh) I wish…
Sora: Why not?
Riku: Hey!
Arlyn: I dunno. Don't look at me. Look at her. (points)
Sora: (glare)
Me: (gives a girly shriek) (dives behind sofa) (pens and paper fly)
Arlyn: psycho…
Kairi: Um, Arlyn what are you doing?
All turn to se Arlyn who's applying tons of pink sparkly lipstick in front of mirror
Arlyn: Practicing for the next chapter… MOOWAH!
Riku: What are you turned into a cow or something?
Arlyn: (slams lipstick down on table) THAT'S IT!
Nani: (pokes head out from around the couch) (gulp) Uh… Arlyn… remember our little talk about feelings?
Arlyn: (lunges at Riku) DIE JACKASS!
Nani: … guess not…
Kairi: Sora! Aren't you going to do something?
Sora: (munching on popcorn) Uh… I'm actually rooting for Riku. That girl's crazy. It's about time someone put her in her place.
Kairi: (twitch)
Arlyn: (pounding on Riku) YOU'RE SUCH A JERK! I CANT BELIVE THAT IN THE NEXT CHAPTER YOU KIS-!
Nani: (dives out from behind the cough) NO!
Arlyn: MPH!
Nani: (holding up handy dandy roll of silver duck tape): Ah Ah Ah, Arlyn! No telling!
Riku: Telling what exactly?
Me: (gulp) Uh… nothing…
Riku: (realization hits) Oh Gross! You mean I have to kis-MPH!
Me with ducktape: NO TELLING!
Kairi: (gasp) –MPH!
Sora: (thinks… thinks… thinks…) EW! He-MPH!
Me: (pant) (pant) read and review or you too shall be duck taped at the mouth until lipless.
All: MPH!
