Eraqus assumed having all the kids out of the house would be a treat. Finally time to get things done that he had been putting off.
But he had neglected to factor in all the chores left behind.
He was in the throne room, mopping the marble in silence. He sighed to himself, his mind active of worry. Aqua hadn't checked in in two days. He kept telling himself it was just because they were busy, but the paternal part of his brain kept telling him that they were in danger.
"One more day, and then I'm going after them."
Turns out, he didn't have to go that far. The front door slammed open.
"Master!" Aqua called.
The mop fell to the floor with a clatter as Eraqus ran from the room.
His children were all gathered in the entryway, a young, barely clothed man in Terra's arms.
"Oh god...is that...? What happened?"
"We found and sealed the keyhole," Terra explained, wanting to get that out of the way. "But then we were attacked by a creature, it kind of looked like a heartless, but not..."
"It had long red eyes instead of yellow dots." Added Riku.
"Long red eyes? Did it hurt him?" He gestured to Sora.
"No, it just..." Aqua struggled to explain what happened. It was rather bizarre after all.
"Here, let's take him to the infirmary. You can tell me all about it then."
The infirmary was just a room with a bed, bathroom, and cabinets filled with potions, ethers, elixirs, and panacea. There was not much use for a first aid kit with those who were proficient in magic around.
Sora was lowered onto the bed, still not waking.
"He doesn't look injured. Tell me what happened," Eraqus demanded as he began his examination.
"Well, Kairi was the first to see him..."
They each took turns explaining what had occurred, each making sure there was not a single detail of the trip left out.
After Eraqus had looked him over, the story was still going, and all he could do was listen, his face screwed up in thought.
"His keyblade…ate the monster?"
"That's what it looked like...a heart wasn't released either."
"Hmm..." the Master hummed in thought, truly lost for words. "I am deeply troubled by this information, but I'm glad you told me." With nothing else to do for poor Sora, he simply covered him with a blanket and made him comfortable. "All we can do now, is wait for him to wake up. Perhaps he will allow me to study his keyblade then."
Aqua said, "Master, he's still rather hostile towards those of us he knew back then. He thinks we abandoned him there."
Eraqus sighed, "a logical conclusion. Then I suppose we will just have to regain his trust."
"And how do we do that?"
"Simple." He looked to Kairi. "We have a liaison."
"Me?" She asked.
"Of course. Aqua says he's taken a liking to you."
"Yeah but..." she hesitated, "he said he remembered me, from a time when he visited Radiant Garden as a kid. What if I don't live up to those expectations? Will he feel betrayed again?"
"Oh Kairi, you needn't worry about that. Just do your best and be a friend."
Unsure, she said nothing, only hunched her shoulders.
"Now, you've all had a very long week, why don't you get cleaned up and go to bed, hm? King Mickey has invited you to a dinner in celebration of your hard work tomorrow night, so sleep in, relax, you've all earned it."
"Dibs on the shower first!" Ventus shouted, before running out of the room. The rest soon followed, except for Kairi, who lingered, watching Sora.
"If you're feeling restless, I could use some help preparing Sora's room." Eraqus offered.
She nodded, pulling her eyes away from him, and together, they went down the hall.
The Castle of Departure was a very unique castle indeed. It's form was tied to Eraqus' keyblade, and therefore his will. Extra rooms could be created as needed, without the exterior being altered.
Eraqus stopped at the spot in the hall between Riku's and Kairi's rooms, then he summoned his keyblade, light surrounding the tip.
A door with a crown appeared in a flash, and unlocked with a click.
Each room in the castle was different. The bedrooms were paired with the owner's keyblade so that only they, and Eraqus, could unlock it. In turn, the room was made just for them, and showed a reflection of their heart. Kairi's room looked very similar to the one she had back home in Radiant Garden; large, with plush carpets and big windows with wispy curtains. Likewise, Riku's matched the one back in Destiny Islands, despite that room no longer existing.
So opening Sora's door, Kairi expected a child's room, since that's the way it would have looked back then. However, that's not what was inside. At one time, this may have been a child's room, and a rather small one at that, but something was wrong. Immediately inside was a three wall section, that was reminiscent of these times, a small bed against the left wall, pictures on the right. Souvenirs and mementoes, various types of gear for snow, ocean, and desert, a whole pile of toys and play weapons, all in a hodge-podge of childhood excitement and wonder. But where the fourth wall, the adjacent wall should have been, there was a staircase that led down into a huge room. Only the ceiling was visible, as everything else was hidden under piles and piles of junk.
The larger section of the room was dark, despite the skylight, only the tops of the piles were visible. The further down, the darker it got, until everything was seeped in darkness. Who knew just how deep that went? A layer of dust covered everything, and cobwebs hung like curtains in the corners. Besides the neglect of ten years, the room just felt heavy.
Eraqus coughed at the dust cloud that had unsettled upon opening the door. "We may have our work cut out for us after all..."
Kairi wandered in, her eyes bounding over each corner in curiosity.
"Was it always like this?"
"No," Eraqus stated, walking over to the stairs. "There was a bay window here once, huge and let in plenty of light…It was always messy though."
"So...I didn't realize these rooms could be this big."
"They're a big as they need to be. Ventus's room, when he first came, was tiny, and completely white. But as the years went on and his heart healed, the room grew and color appeared. I suspect that this mess is a physical manifestation of the state of his heart, much like his keyblade."
"I can understand the mess and darkness then, but why is the room so big?"
"That I don't know. I surmise that Ansem the Wise could have the answer, but it is difficult to understand the heart's nature."
Kairi gave a lingering look to the hoard, then turned away, noticing the right wall. At first glance, it looked like it was covered in magazine clippings, but upon further inspection, it was plain to see they were photographs. Photos mostly of people, and Sora was with them. Many she recognized. A younger Hercules, Peter Pan, some pirates from the Caribbean. There were even more that she didn't recognize. But in each picture, Sora was beaming with excitement and hugging someone. Above it all, there was a sign written in child's handwriting. 'People I never want to forget'
Then, right smack in the middle, there was a picture of him with her, of all people. Both very young, around six years old. Arms wrapped around each other, cheek to cheek, and smiling bright as the sun.
Carefully, she pulled the picture off the wall and flipped it over. In her uncle's handwriting, 'Kairi and her Prince Charming' was written.
"We did know each other." She whispered. "Did you know?" She asked Eraqus.
He hummed in confirmation. "Most of the time, I allowed Terra and Aqua to go out and see the worlds alone, knowing that the worlds themselves could teach them infinitely more than I ever could. However, after an incident involving a dragon, I became much more cautious about what worlds Sora went to with them. On missions deemed too dangerous for him, I took him to Radiant Garden or Disney Castle. He'd continue his studies either with the Captain of the Guard, Goofy, and the Court Magician, Donald Duck, or with your uncle, learning the affairs of the heart."
Kairi continued to stare at the photo, begging the memories to return.
But alas, they were blank.
"When he disappeared, I came and told you myself what happened. You were inconsolable for days. Ansem the Wise said you hadn't cried that hard since you lost your parents. You refused food, and eventually stopped talking to people for the next two years...that's actually what prompted your Uncle's experiment on you. He worried that even as a Princess of light, you could become lost to the darkness. So he asked me to lock your heart, and in turn, you lost your memory. That wasn't the intended effect, but..."
Kairi vowed at that very moment that she was going to remember everything about him, and make a whole bunch of new memories in the process.
She turned to her master, smiling despite the heartbreak she had just endured. "We better clean up for him then!"
—
In the middle of the night, when all was silent, Sora awoke.
His immediate, very logical reaction was panic. He was in a place totally different from where he fell unconscious after all. But once he realized he was alone, he relaxed ever so slightly. He sat up, feeling the blanket that was draped on him. It was clean, and in good repair, not like the scraps of cloth he found in the jungle. And it smelled familiar.
He slid out of the bed, his bare feet touching the cold hard floor. He looked around, noting the absence of foliage. Peering out the window, he couldn't see much in the darkness, but there didn't seem to be any trees at all. A strange place. Then, he found the exit and crept into the hall.
It was eerie, being in a foreign place at night. The halls were wide, but mostly empty, so there weren't many places to hide. Instead, Sora kept to the shadows, and moved slowly.
There was something familiar about this place, though he couldn't quite place it at the moment.
Then he passed the doorway to a large throne room, and it hit him. His old home. When he had fallen in battle, they brought him back instead of leaving him behind like he expected.
Perhaps...they really did care for him.
But that's not what he said.
He followed the familiar path to his old room. Though, his door was flanked by new doors on either side.
He pressed against the door, it opening with a creak.
The inside had been vacuumed and dusted, and a large sheet covered the far wall.
Eraqus looked up when he heard the door open.
"Sora," he said simply. "I wondered when you'd awake."
The response was a hiss, as the boy backed into the hall.
"So you are feral, just as Aqua said."
Sora quit hissing, but kept his distance.
"Have I ever given you a reason to distrust me? Did I not care for you and love you like my own son? You were always so smart, Little One. Why would I purposefully leave my prodigy in the jungle all alone? Would I abandon him?"
Sora whimpered at the softness of his tone. It wasn't accusatory, or demanding, just casual.
Eraqus beckoned him forward with a flick of the wrist. "Come here, Little One. Let me see your keyblade."
Little One. Little, but mighty. Small in size, but big in heart. That what he used to be called. That was his title. He hated it at first, but grew to see it as an honor. Those who heard it would underestimate him.
Though, he wasn't sure if he deserved that name anymore.
Shyly, Sora crawled over to his master on his knuckles. Eraqus sat on the bed and patted the mattress next to him, but Sora just knelt at his feet.
Master Eraqus held his hands out. "Come on, it's alright."
With great hesitation, Sora summoned his keyblade and rested it in his hands, ashamed.
Eraqus was silent as he studied the blade. "What have you been doing all these years?"
He didn't answer, only stared at the ground in shame.
"This is...unheard of, as far as I know. Perhaps Ansem will have some answers in due time."
Sora still didn't respond, only clenched his fists.
"But that's a problem for another day. Come, let's get you cleaned up. King Mickey has invited you to Disney Castle for a dinner tomorrow. You remember Mickey, don't you?"
Sora sat back, staring at him thoughtfully.
"Maybe Donald? Or Goofy?"
His eyes widened slightly as he declared, "A-hyuck!"
Eraqus smiled. Not all was lost. "They've missed you, you know? It was very hard on them." He stood, and gestured Sora to follow.
Curiously, Sora followed obediently, walking on his knuckles and toes.
Eraqus led him to a bathroom at the end of the hall. Sora watched as he flicked on the light, and turned the water on in the tub.
"You haven't had a proper bath in some time. You'll have to get cleaned up for the party."
Sora crept to the tub, testing the water with his hand.
"Warm enough?"
Sora gave a little nod.
"Alright, just wait here. I'll be right back."
Once he was alone again, he explored the room, faintly remembering how things worked. The sink, the toilet, and even the shower caddies filled with soaps. There was a red bottle, and he pulled off the cap, taking a whiff. It smelled like fruit, so he gave a little taste.
Bad idea.
Eraqus returned to find Sora rubbing his tongue on a towel.
"Um, that's not—here, let's get you washed up." He picked up the open bottle of soap and brought it over.
He had raided the laundry room and found some suitable pajamas. A shirt from Riku, some pants from Ventus. Enough to give the boy something to wear that was more than the loin cloth.
Sora climbed in the tub hesitantly, feeling weird about it. But Eraqus was unfazed as he dumped a bucket of water on him to wet his hair.
"You're lucky your hair wasn't matted. We won't have to cut it…though a trim might do you well." He squeezed some shampoo into his hair and started to massage it in, but Sora smacked his hands away to do it himself.
"Of course, I don't need to do this for you anymore." Eraqus said with a hum. "Think you can handle the rest on your own? I'll make you something to eat." As he stood, he could faintly hear Sora speak.
"T-thank you…Master."
With a soft smile, he left the room.
Alone, Sora continued to lather the shampoo in his hair, his mind wandering.
This was…completely different than he expected. Different than what he said would happen. He was met with kindness and understanding. He was wanted, and maybe…even loved.
Well, he couldn't go back to the jungle. So he was stuck here, no matter what. And Kairi and Riku seemed to be on his side.
Kairi.
Perhaps she would be worth staying for.
