"Oh my, that was a rough landing!" Widened eyes one shade darker than Sora's, the metric against which Riku measured all blue, blinked dazedly. Alice remained on the floor of the golden cage that had recently housed the Queen of Hearts' croquet mallets before the card soldiers had set them free to prepare the jail, legs splayed awkwardly, rubbing at a dirt spot on her pinafore that seemingly concerned her more than the fact that she was confined to a birdcage, the silver-haired hero that had just knocked it down from where it had been hoisted in the air above the queen's throne, or the small, floating girl now hovering around the cage door trying to let her out. "I may bruise in a very unladylike place."
"I'm sorry," Riku voiced the apology with a rise at the end almost like a question, not remotely approaching remorse as he waved Yuna away from the fairy's attempts to pick the lock and gave it a few hard whacks with his sword. "We needed to act as quickly as possible. The queen may be back soon."
"I don't think so. She usually spends ages inspecting the rose garden. It's the hedge mazes, you know. I expect even she doesn't know the right way through. And those funny little creatures that have shown up recently make everything take even longer." Alice remained airy and almost distracted, impatient but without anxiety tightening her expression, as if she merely felt she had been still long enough and not because the queen and the cards could come back any moment to fulfill the threat of cutting off her head or the monsters she called funny little creatures could wink into existence and tear the teenager trying to free her to shreds in front of her eyes.
"What do you have to offer us in exchange for your freedom?" Yuna slipped through the bars and hovered in front of Alice's nose, derailing the conversation.
"Not the time, Yuna," Riku chided the fairy as he pried open the cage door. Just like it hadn't been the time when they were doing recognizance on how to get close to the little blonde girl Maleficent had sent them to retrieve and his so called assistant had gnawed off slivers of the giant acorn in the forest until she towered over him, and then went kicking rocks and jumping on stumps with the explanation that was how you got the best goodies.
"It's always the time for treasure!"
Riku had only known the fairies of Hollow Bastion for a short time, but he'd already heard this kind of sentiment enough times that the sigh he answered it with was as long suffering and weary as any he would have given Sora or Kairi and several touches less fond. He'd taken an immediate shine to the small, flying girls that nested in the room Maleficent had given Kairi as soon as they'd glided down from a cobweb in the corner of the ceiling where they'd been conversing with a spider, growing from thumbnail sized to house pet, and declared Kairi the most valuable addition to their hoard they'd ever seen, vowing to guard her for the "boss." That feeling had solidified when he'd witnessed them doting on her: Yuna telling her stories at night, Rikku trying to coax her body to eat or even swallow water, and Paine viciously attacking a shadow that snuck in under the door as Riku had closed it coming into the room on one of his first visits, shredding its antenna with her razor-edged wings before Riku even drew the sword Maleficent had given him. However, that didn't make things like Paine ready to take his hand off whenever he gave in to the impulse to hold Kairi's hand or stroke her cheek when he checked in on her in the evenings, Rikku following him around just so she wouldn't miss an opportunity to pretend she thought someone was calling her when they addressed him or vice versa, or the obsession with prizes and treasure all three of them shared any less annoying. Exacerbating this was the fact that Riku had his suspicions that Yuna was sent along with him not as support, but as a spy to make sure he stayed on mission when she couldn't even do the same.
Captain Hook had been the one that told Maleficent about Alice. The blonde girl had been a guest aboard his ship for awhile after he'd rescued her from the ancient, evil, immortal boy king that ruled over his home planet before he lost her to a dark portal. It had taken time for him to find what planet the girl had ended up on, but he'd been planning to send his crew on a recovery mission when Maleficent had volunteered Riku's services instead. Maleficent had lessened Riku's resentment at being talked about like he was a pawn to command by how swiftly she'd silkily tacked on an, "If you would agree to it, my dear boy," that at least gave the illusion that he was able to say no even if the shelter she'd provided him and Kairi, the shining weapon she said was a gift, magic lessons, and the trust in inviting him to sit in the last two nights her rather eclectic and imposing group of friends showed up, all presented an obligation that made refusal seem less simple. Riku had agreed without caveat or hesitation, but had asked Maleficent later how well she knew Hook and for how long.
Riku had been easily impressed by the pirate captain that seemed to have stepped directly out of his and Sora's childhood imaginings at first, excitement at meeting a live pirate warring with the heaviness in his chest and dryness in his throat when he imagined Sora unable to hold back his glee, begging to be allowed to try on the captain's hat and asking far too many embarrassing questions he should know better than to ask about his missing hand. The longer Riku spent around Hook, however, the easier it became to spot barely cloaked malice in his eyes and holes bigger than shot cannon balls in every story Captain Hook told.
The Mistress of Hollow Bastion hadn't taken offense at Riku's questioning, but rather, had smiled affectionately at him and complimented his ability to judge character. Hook, Riku discovered, was an ally almost as recently forged as Riku's own relationship with Maleficent, one of many contacts she had across worlds suffering from the Heartless invasion looking for a way to control and harness the power of the world destroying creatures for a better purpose, but not one she herself had much faith in or affection towards. "His intentions toward the girl, and, moreover, his true motives as a whole are as difficult for me to scry as a stone dropped in an ocean trench," was how Maleficent had put it, and while Riku's more cynical side supplied that he could have said the same thing about her, those were the thoughts he brushed aside. Maleficent was working on finding Sora for him and on breaking the curse over Kairi. Every day after magic lessons, there would be a different spell or catalyst tried, words spoken in lost tongues, fingers pricked with thorns from magic branches, and talismans laid on her forehead.
True love's kiss had been suggested first in a superior, indulgent tone. Riku had huffed his dismissal of the idea, but once Maleficent left the room, he'd tried on the first night. He could have sworn it worked for a moment, color coming back to her cheeks and lips slightly parting as if in exhale as the room filled with the disembodied sound of crystalline, joyful, innocent laughter in two voices, but all signs faded in the next breath, leaving the feeling that it had been a hallucination brought on by grief and lack of sleep. It was the only move he had to try on his own and, whether it had come close to magic or not, it hadn't worked in the end.
Maleficent was necessary and she was trying. Kairi was most important at the moment. Once Riku had her back, then they could reassess the situation together. Hopefully, by then, if Maleficent hadn't found Sora already, Riku would at least be able to open dark corridors on his own. He was getting closer every day. He knew there was more to Maleficent, her castle, and her friends than what he'd been told, but the counterweight remained for now.
Maleficent was the lesser of evils at the very least, and that was why Riku agreed with her true plan. She suggested he bring Alice directly to the top floor of the castle where she would arrange a safe place for the young girl where they could hide her from the queen that wanted her head they'd saw called forth in magic images even before Riku was portaled to Wonderland and met her in the flesh, the infamous feral Pan who wanted her as a tribute and eternal playmate, and Hook himself until they could ascertain what he wanted and who Alice herself wanted to go with.
"I have a bit of biscuit left in my pocket." In the present, Alice was bargaining with Yuna when Riku needed them both to move.
"Deal," Riku accepted on the fairy's behalf, tone daring Yuna to test him and try to renegotiate. "Yuna, move aside so Alice doesn't feel threatened, and open us a portal. Alice, I'm sorry I don't have time to explain, but I promise we'll take you somewhere safe, safer than Wonderland at least."
Yuna's entire body contributed to expressing her exasperation, floating feet kicking in tantrum as she glided away from Alice with balled fists and a truly put upon distress screwing up her face as she declared Riku, "Utterly hopeless," as she complied with his orders. The portal Yuna summoned was small enough Riku could maybe throw his sword through, and he took it as another test that he'd have to concentrate on the tear in reality and focus on the darkness within himself and in the world under his feet to widen it like Maleficent had taught him.
Alice climbed out of the cage, but still seemed hesitant in her own dreamy way. "You've done quite enough explaining when you jumped off the top of that hedge, hit my cage down, and told me you were Riku and here to rescue me. I feel like if a matter is explained too much, it loses all its charm and becomes only a set of facts. And is there anything more sad than a set of facts?" Riku was glad she didn't pause more than a moment and wasn't expecting an answer. "I don't want to know if it's safe. I want to know if it's fun. I was safe at home, before Neverland and Wonderland. What land do you offer?"
He didn't have time for this, but he pressed his ire down and adopted his most coaxing conspiratorial tone. "A land of secrets I haven't discovered yet we can explore together."
"And treasure!" Yuna contributed. Riku reminded himself that she couldn't help it. Yuna, Riku, and Paine were closely related to pixies as Maleficent had told it, a distinction Riku didn't understand until Maleficent had clarified that they could only experience one emotion or thought at a time and it consumed them fully.
"Wonderland lived up to its name for awhile, but its ceiling is too low. I don't want to live locked in a box."
"Hollow Bastion has a big horizon. You won't be caged there."
Alice put her hand in Riku's, so she must have been satisfied by his answer or at least her self preservation had kicked in. The silver haired boy pushed at the portal. At first nothing happened, so he took a deep breath and thought of Sora alone and scared on some faraway planet and Kairi cold as the dead and unaware that they'd ever left the islands. Dark thoughts powered the rip in reality. Riku's failures and his anger at himself for not being good enough to protect his friends made the ring grow.
"Oh! How do you do that?" Alice cried delightedly as Riku pulled her through to the swirling dark tunnel. The castle at Hollow Bastion could be seen through another portal in the distance. "I wished so hard after the queen accused me of bringing monsters to her kingdom and locked me away, and I just couldn't get it to work."
"Didn't you get to Wonderland that way?" It was difficult for Riku to concentrate with unseen claws coiling around his throat and snatching at his clothes, demanding he relinquish payment for the dark corridor. Yuna landed heavily on his shoulder. causing him to let out a soft grunt, though he bit back his readied protest when she whimpered and let her sit and curl against his neck. He looked askance at Alice, who, oddly, didn't seem bothered at all by the oppressive darkness. Where his hand gripped hers was the only warm spot on his body.
"No, I just followed the dog." Alice giggled as if Riku's assertion had been silly.
Riku let a sigh of relief escape him as the pressure weighing against him dissipated as he stepped through to the green carpet of the Hollow Bastion castle chapel. He released Alice's hand when he saw she was on safe ground. Yuna pitched forward off his shoulder but caught herself before she fell much more than a foot and zoomed up toward the ceiling, turned a somersault, and then shot toward the door without so much as a goodbye or a thank you. Fairies. The portal closed with a pop, cutting off the corridor to Wonderland.
"What dog?" Riku should have known better than to ask expecting a reasonable answer but Alice did act like he should know.
"The dog that appeared in the ship's hold," Alice continued to sound scolding as she took in the stone walls and bird-beaked statues lit by the glow of green fire. "It was such a sweet orange dog. I wonder what ever happened to it. I lost it in the lotus forest. It could have turned into the rabbit, I suppose. I met him soon after." She extended both arms and whirled around in a circle, eyes trained on the ceiling, only to stop so abruptly she swayed and windmilled her arms yet more to stay upright. "Oh!" Her head snapped toward Riku, face guilty. "I believe I owe you a biscuit."
"You keep it," he urged, "Or give it to Yuna when she comes back."
"Are you sure? It's magic, you know. It could come in handy." Staying true to what Riku had seen of her thus far, Alice spoke earnestly but her attention wandered, as did her feet. She was on the far side of the room by the stone altar, gazing up at the golden gilded steel frame sculpture on the wall above it by the time she was on the third sentence. She whirled again, only a half turn to address Riku and pointed upwards, though other questions tumbled out before she referred to the deformed elongated heart emblem on the wall in a clear attempt to get as many outpourings of her curiosity settled as possible before she forgot. "Unless you have magic food and drink here as well and it's not special. Is there magic food here? Do I need to watch out for it at tea? Is it tea time soon? You do have actual tea at tea time, don't you? Because Hatter was good company and I don't begrudge Dormouse her home, but I am quite peckish. Are there any rules or riddles I need to know for tea time? I do know my recitations, but the borogoves did more than mimsy and it got more confusing the longer I stayed in Wonderland, and that was before the claws caught and the rest. And speaking of claws and jaws and those terrible little fellows that kept melting into the ground that got me blamed for ruining the queen's rose garden, they were wearing that symbol up there. Those bandersnatches weren't from here, were they?"
The tidal wave of words washed over Riku, knocking his headache away as they crested instead of worsening it. Without the threat of danger looming over them, Alice's easy excitement and distraction, and her apparent propensity for rambling struck several familiar chords that wrung a genuine smile that only strained slightly in its forming from him as bittersweet feelings nested in his chest. He took a second to process and strip away the verbal detours that could be ignored, then counted off the answers in his head as he gave them, mentally crossing off questions. "Maleficent, our host, has all the magic we could need, but the food I've been served here so far is normal. Good, but no magic to it. We can have tea if you want it. Anything you want." She should have something more substantial than tea, especially since she'd admitted to being hungry, but he wasn't going to press her about it. "No riddles, just ask." He took another thought collecting pause. "The Heartless are a long story, maybe better left to Maleficent."
Alice pursed her lips and stared at him evenly for a long, silent second that had Riku expecting argument and suspicion about the heartless sigil, but ended in the pronouncement, "I want a hot air balloon. We can take a picnic on it."
This time a short laugh of surprise was Alice's reward. "I'll see what I can do." Alice needed to work on her priorities and self-preservation instincts, but the light and life that radiated from her was hard to resist. It reminded Riku of Kairi almost as much as her scatterbrained enthusiasm recalled Sora.
Riku glanced toward the door. Yuna hadn't said anything, but Riku suspected she'd gone to tell "the boss" they were back and Maleficent was on her way to meet them even as he and Alice spoke. It wasn't that he didn't feel like he could ask what was on his mind in front of her. Anything Alice told him about her circumstances or past dealings with Hook he was sure to pass on, along with how she'd really been led to Wonderland by a force beyond a simple portal, but there was an urgency he couldn't explain that made his want to establish they were still alone before he broached the topic. "Before the orange dog, on the ship. How did you get along with the captain and the crew?"
"I liked the Cheshire Cat better," Alice was all of a sudden coy, and Riku struggled to interpret it, though the way her smile faltered was a clear enough signal if taken separately. She made another sudden sprint, brushing past Riku for the open door and hall beyond it. "I'm going to go explore until you get the picnic together."
Riku had no sooner turned to follow her when Alice gasped a soft, "Hello," as she skidded short of running headlong into Maleficent and fell into a deep curtsy, dipping low and holding her skirts out wide, but keeping her back straight, deferential in every way except perhaps the way her eyes remained upraised, locked onto the greater fairy's face, performing some analysis Riku knew she'd either blurt the results of immediately or keep locked away until the end of time with no in between.
"Hello yourself, my dear," a flash of a gratified smile flickered across the Lady of Hollow Bastion's face and she even dipped slightly herself, though it wasn't even as much movement as the ripple of her billowing sleeve as she threw her arm out to the side as she returned the curtsy. "I hope Riku made your trip pleasant?" She looked to the boy as she spoke to the girl, and raised a brow at him. Riku shrugged noncommittally, and tossed his hair out of his eyes.
Alice, however, beamed and nodded vigorously, bafflingly standing on formality she'd arbitrarily decided to adopt and staying sunk in her curtsy. "I can already tell he's going to be great company. He stole me right out from under the nose of the Queen of Hearts and saved my poor head so I didn't need to chase it blindly as it rolled around the gardens."
Maleficent's gaze was soft when she looked back to Alice, and her voice was a near hum that Riku recalled from their first meeting. "My, it sounds like he cut quite a heroic figure." Riku couldn't tell whether she was doting and indulging Alice or praising him, but he felt a prickle of pride all the same. "I'm glad I sent him when I did."
Alice wobbled slightly and bit her lip, looking alarmed for a moment before collecting herself to give a response that sounded more rote than genuine. "Thank you..." She glanced at Riku as if she needed a confirmation from him, "...Mrs. Maleficent?" Riku nodded to her to indicate that, yes, she was talking to the host he'd mentioned. " Or Queen Maleficent, your majesty?"
"You may rise," Maleficent urged her gently. "Such good manners. Most children aren't taught so well these days."
"I try to remember my lessons when I can," Alice interjected so swiftly it could have been considered an interruption, but Maleficent's pleased near gloating look didn't dim in the slightest.
"You may call me Mistress Maleficent if you would like to use a title, but you may refer to me only by name if you wish. We are at an awkward advantage. I know your name and I see you've been told mine, but we haven't been properly introduced. I'm Maleficent, lady of this castle by circumstance, not birth or inheritance, one of the greater fairies of the Enchanted Dominion, sometimes called witch by those who do not understand the magic of fairies."
"I'm Alice Pleasance Liddell. Simply, Alice," Alice replied, looking almost as taken by Maleficent as the fairy was by her. "May I ask a question, ma'am?" It should have rankled Riku that Alice had been so suddenly tamed and showed Maleficent respect when he would have thought a few minutes ago that it was beyond her, but it all came as a relief of a worry he didn't even know he carried instead.
"Of course, Child."
"Why are you so much larger than Yuna? I thought she was a fairy too. I was quite excited to meet her. She left before I got the chance to say so and to ask if she ever made rings of mushrooms under the moonlight."
"Aren't you charming?" Maleficent's laugh was like the slide of silk. "I am older and more powerful, as well as a slightly different type of being. You'll see more of Yuna and meet some friends of hers later. They'll be seeing to your needs and helping you decorate your room however you want. You'll have to ask them about the mushroom rings. It wouldn't surprise me, though I believe they prefer unpoppable bubbles that play old happy memories."
"How fantastic!"
Alice rattled off questions about the bubbles and magic, melting into comfort with Maleficent, but Riku stopped following. He found himself distracted wondering if Yuna, Rikku, and Paine being promised to help Alice settle in meant the trio wouldn't be watching over Kairi any longer. It was a depressing thought that Kairi might be left alone just because the castle had a new guest, especially when there were three of them to split duties, but as long as it was a temporary situation to make Alice welcome and make sure she was properly hidden from Hook, Riku wouldn't hold it against anyone. This led to other wandering thoughts for Riku of whether Maleficent had gotten anywhere trying to scry for Sora while he was gone, what was taking so long, and whether he had to worry about the search being pushed to a lower priority like Kairi seemed to be if Alice needed Maleficent's help to find friends or family the Pan had stolen her from. When he tuned back in, hearing a "Come, Hero," that startled him back to the present, Maleficent had a protective and guiding hand resting between Alice's shoulder blades and the women were wandering away.
Riku caught up in a few strides, not sure where they were headed, but finding being left behind unacceptable, trying to hold onto the name of hero as a point of satisfaction not a suspicion he was being mocked in some way, if not by Maleficent directly, then by some even higher power heckling him. He was sure he'd helped Alice, but what was the point if he wasn't getting any closer to being able to help the ones that truly mattered?
Far away, Sora was feeling similarly frustrated. Cid told him he was a natural with gummi blocks, which would have seemed like transparent, empty flattery considering how his first erratic, squashed together attempt at a wing had to be disassembled after it caused the entire ship Cid had been working on to lean precariously to the left, on the verge of toppling over and crushing Sora beneath it. However, Cid Highwind had proven himself as the only party willing to be completely honest with Sora at all times to the point of being far more likely to refer to Sora as "brat with whistling wind between his ears" than "the keybearer," albeit in an affectionate tone, and calling out that conversations that pegged him as either as talking about Sora as if he wasn't in the room, something Aerith and Leon still lapsed into doing occasionally. So, it was deduced that Cid sincerely thought Sora's ability to think outside the box, enthusiasm, and how quickly he was able to catch onto new concepts when they were both broken down for him properly and he was forced by threat of a cigarette burn to the middle of his forehead to listen to instructions all made him a good assistant. Still. Sora didn't see what good being able to tell the best placement of fins and thrusters to make a ship that didn't sacrifice speed or style was if Cid kept him working on ships he had no intention of letting him borrow.
"When do we start flying lessons?" Sora tried valiantly not to let the question take on any qualities of whining as he leaned against the side of the ship in what he hoped was a casual, cool manner and not a graceless slump during a work break. Cid didn't have any time for whiners. Sora had been warned, and he respected the warning. He respected Cid as a person a lot more than the others. It made a good first impression when he'd come back from work at the accessory shop that first night, asked for someone to introduce him to Sora, and then, when they hesitated too long and Sora introduced himself, proceeded to spend the better part of a half hour laying into his friends for "not even getting the kid's gah-damn name" before "laying the weight of the mudder-licking universe on his shoulders" and moving on insulting everything from Leon's hair to Yuffie's laugh, all while keeping a long toothpick balanced in the corner of his mouth without dropping or swallowing it.
"Leon's taking you out after lunch," Cid shared carelessly, striking the top of a bottle of beer against a blade of the propeller he was standing by to pop the cap off. He waved it in Sora's direction. "So only one of these, and don't tell Leon I gave it to you."
Sora only hesitated a moment before taking the offered bottle. He'd refused the last time Cid had brought him a beer, citing the fact that he was fourteen, and Cid had countered that was about the time to start lightly numbing yourself to the world. He hadn't seemed to genuinely care either way, drinking both and making a dismissive comment about just asking out of politeness because if Sora was old enough to fight Heartless he was plenty old enough to drink, so it wasn't as much worrying about offending him or wanting to impress as curiosity he couldn't fight down a second time that had him accepting the drink. Maybe it was a little bit the idea of Cid seeing him as an equal, but he'd only admit that as one of many factors, and he certainly wouldn't say that Cid declaring, "There's the rebel spirit coming out," approvingly made his heart soar.
Sora took a swig of the gold-brown liquid as Cid uncapped a second bottle for himself, and immediately spit it back into the bottle on reflex, pulling a face at the sour, grainy taste that clung to his tongue even though its contact with the uncomfortably warm and flat liquid had been brief. "Urk! I think mine is spoiled!"
Cid howled and Sora flushed, silently berating himself even though he truly couldn't understand how anyone could enjoy beer if it was supposed to taste like what he'd just put in his mouth, but the older man put a stop to the spiral with a hard clap on the back. "Spit in it an extra time for good measure, and I'll give it to Leon when he shows up."
Sora found himself grinning. "That would be mean." He growled deep in his throat trying to dredge up the worst phlegm he could, and spit it into the bottle without giving it another thought. He twisted the bottle in his hands after, looking at the contents critically to make sure there was nothing suspicious looking about them. "Why is Leon taking me flying instead of you?" He didn't pout, much like he didn't whine.
"He's still trying to bond with you. That, and he has some business at the Coliseum, trying to drag shit-for-brains back to Traverse Town."
"Yuffie? I just saw her earlier today." The flaw in Sora's delivery was sounding like he was barely holding himself back from laughing before half the words left his mouth and looking far too pleased with himself after whenever he thought of a quip.
Cid let out an appreciative snort and raised his beer in a cheers motion all the same. "You're alright, kid." The older man ruffled a hand through the hair on the back of his head, messing it up rather than smoothing it down if that was the supposed intention behind the nervous tick. " Naw, there's another weirdo in our bunch of misfits that got a bug, stole our gummi ship, and took off awhile back." A long sigh, more old sadness than old embers of anger or frustration, interrupted him. "We only just got news of where he ended up. Being a naturally forgiving man, I'm only going to kick his blonde, spiky ass into next week instead of next year when Leon drags him back." There was tenderness underneath the threat that caused Sora to want to kick some blonde, spiky ass himself on Cid's account. The gummi mechanic was really more than any of the others he met in Traverse Town deserved. Sora had been able to form a better opinion of them, getting to know them a bit and see the softer hearts and brave souls behind what first seemed like only selfishness and ruthlessness, but he still thought Cid was on a different level, and he was certainly too good a friend to this unknown runaway.
"I'd go myself, but he wouldn't listen to me," Cid continued his musings. "Won't listen to Leon either, but Leon himself doesn't listen to anyone unless he wants to." An even fonder look entered his eye. "Aerith would have a chance. Aerith can win over anyone." Sora scoffed disagreement and the softness faded from Cid's face, replaced with amusement. "..Except for you of course. Blemish on her perfect record, that's for damn sure." Cid almost seemed proud of this, despite how much more it would have made sense for him to be concerned about Sora's continued lack of trust toward Aerith in particular and refusal to be drawn into any conversation with her outside of magic lessons.
"We're talking about Cloud?" Sora reoriented the subject before Cid could think better, and use the fact that he was the one Sora was most likely to listen to as an opportunity to work in some wheedling comment about lightening up, and submitting to Aerith's high fives and attempts to befriend him.
"Yeah." Cid seemed mildly surprised Sora knew the name, and Sora felt nonsensical guilt spike through him. He didn't shut out the others that much and just steal their food and Leon's bed.
Though was it stealing when he now had a clearer picture than ever that Leon and Aerith at least clearly expected him to go out and die for them? Not fight and succeed, but die. Every spell learned or sparring session was given with the attitude that at least he'd last a week not a day. Sora saw the truth. Leon wasn't as difficult to read as he seemed to think himself.
"Leon told me about him," Sora volunteered. "Not much, just that he's another of your children saved from Hollow Bastion."
"Children?" Cid sputtered and spat flecks of beer, choking mostly on air. "...Gah-damn...I don't..." He tapered off to a mutter, "If I'm their dad does that give me the right to put them over my knee for saying shit like that?"
"You rescued them from the Heartless. They'd all be dead if it weren't for you." It wasn't Sora's bias talking. Those had been Yuffie's exact words when she and Leon had switched off telling him about the fall of their homeworld and Leon had let out an agreeing grunt that meant he thought the same.
"That's a dramatic way to put it." Cid had settled into looking truly displeased, and Sora wasn't sure where he'd gone wrong. Maybe it was just painful still to think about how many people hadn't made it off his homeworld and how easily his friends could have been among them. Sora could sympathize.
"It's what they said. They said some other stuff too, but we can talk about something else." Sora looked down at his beer and wished that, as bad as he knew it tasted, he hadn't spit in it so he could drink it now and have something to do for a few minutes.
"If you have questions, you are free to ask them," Cid offered noncommittally.
"I don't know if it's questions..." Sora trailed off before finishing his thought.
"Don't waste your time with condolences, even if I do appreciate the thought. There are better things to waste time on if you're flapping your lips, and you've been through the same thing at much younger than me. So take your sorries right back, 'cause I'd say more, and then use them for some action."
"Maybe that's what I want to talk about, the action," Sora admitted. He couldn't seem to get his voice to go above half volume. He picked at the label on his beer bottle absently.
"Go ahead," Cid said after a pause with the air of a condemned man being led to be hung by a noose.
"Well," Sora took his time. " They told me about Maleficent, the witch that created the Heartless and infested your world with them. They said she'd probably been to my world too. They also told me about your world's king, Ansem the Wise, how he'd been studying the problem and he'd come up with a solution."
"The Ansem Reports," Cid confirmed, looking mildly relieved but still cautious. "I knew Ansem, as much as anyone who didn't live in the palace or serve in the guard did, anyway. He commissioned me to service his gummi ship when it needed it. I was the one who built it for him in the first place, and who figured out how to produce more of the blocks after he gave me one to study." He spoke so casually it wasn't even so much like bragging. "About a week before the world fell, he told me he'd come close to the solution for everything, and it was in the newest volume of his reports. He was a scientist at heart. He'd been collecting observations on different phenomena for years. Some he published, some he kept for himself in his library."
"Did you believe him?"
"I believed in him more than I ever believed in anyone except myself. I think he meant it when he said he'd figured out the Heartless, yes, and it was in that report. He didn't have time to publish it or put a plan into action before the world fell though, and now his research is lost."
That already didn't make sense to Sora. Why couldn't Ansem have shared his findings that moment with Cid or any other time in the days that followed? Maybe he had told someone. Maybe he really had been working on a plan, but shouldn't he have shared at least that much or more specifics with his people? And if the situation in Hollow Bastion had been bad for a long time leading up to those last days like Leon had said, long enough there was time for scientific study-which seemed a much different situation than Sora had seen on the islands-then why hadn't there been some kind of other defense or escape plan sooner? If Ansem the Wise had a gummi ship and Cid knew how to make them, why weren't they being mass produced before they lost their planet? Sora held those questions back for the moment in favor of one other though. "Have any of you looked for his research?"
Cid looked at him like he'd grown another head, and Sora pushed on, unable to keep a nervous quaver out of his voice. "Leon and Aerith have both told me that the keyblade, my keyblade, is the only effective weapon against the Heartless, and the only way to seal the hearts of the worlds. When I'm trained I'm supposed to go to every world the Heartless have spread to and..."
And it was an honor. And he'd always wanted to be a hero. And he couldn't wait another moment and leave people suffering. And it was too much responsibility. And they were planning on sending him alone, one against millions. And he was fourteen years old and he didn't want to die.
"Listen, kid..." Cid's face was troubled enough Sora knew some of his thoughts were showing through.
Sora didn't get to know what comforting or possibly empty words Cid had, because another voice cut in. Leon's.
"Are you ready to fly?"
Sora forced himself to perk up and squash his darker thoughts down. "Sure am! And I have a present for you!"