Chapter 194: Magic
Within the next few hours, Namine had mastered a spell called Reflect, which would summon a shield of light around her to protect against all attacks.
"Reflect is nice, but it's geared more to work on yourself than others," Aerith had explained. "It only stays up for a few seconds. Of course, you can cast it immediately once you notice an attack coming towards yourself, and you'll be fine. But if you need to cast it on someone else, you have to account for how long it'll take for the spell to reach them, on top of making sure it gets there before the attack does…"
"Meaning it wouldn't exactly protect Riku from any lightning," Namine had finished.
Aerith shook her head. "Not… really, no. But it will protect you—and it's one step closer to learning Barrier."
Namine also learned the basic Cure. And—besides nearly setting the couch on fire the first time—she seemed to have a pretty good handle on the Fire spell, too. (Aerith later admitted they probably shouldn't have been trying offensive magic indoors.)
"You should learn magic, Riku!" Namine told him, not for the first time.
"I don't exactly see the point…" he sighed, yet again.
"Like you won't ever need to Cure?"
"Well, maybe Cure," he admitted, shrugging. "But, all the rest is just too much to think about. Besides, if you're learning this stuff—"
Namine grinned a little at him. "You think we'll be fighting together?"
He shrugged again. "Well… now that you know how to fight…"
"You should probably learn Cure, though," Aerith told him, sternly.
"I hardly ever need it," Riku muttered.
"What are you talking about?" Namine laughed. "You get injured all the time!"
"Well, yeah, but you're there," he said. "Or Aerith. Or someone who can Cure me."
"We can't always keep an eye on you, though," Aerith argued. "Especially not in battle."
"Well…"
"And what if you're by yourself?" Aerith continued. "Nowhere near either of us. What'll you do, then?"
Riku thought about it for a while. "The… chances of me not being able to get to either of you are pretty slim, though," he said, chuckling.
"It only needs to happen once."
Riku stopped, his smile falling. There was something about the tone of her voice. The grimness of it. The darkness in her eyes. The way she wrung her hands together.
It only needed to happen once.
And then he'd be…
"You should learn Cure," Aerith repeated, her voice firmer this time.
"I'll just… carry potions with me," he mumbled.
"Potions run out. You should learn Cure."
Riku sighed and got to his feet, joining them where they stood. He rubbed his hands together and focused his energy, just like Aerith had told Namine to do.
He felt some of the energy leave him, but that was it.
"How are we supposed to know if it works?" he asked.
"It… didn't work," Aerith said, slowly. "You can see the spell."
Riku grimaced. That's right. You could.
"Maybe try focusing on someone," Namine encouraged.
Riku took a deep breath in, rubbed his hands together again. This time he focused his attention on Namine. He let out the breath, wishing Cure as hard as he could.
Nothing happened.
"Well, obviously, I can't do it," he said, letting his hands drop to his sides.
"Don't give up so easily!" Namine told him. "It took me a couple of tries before I finally got it."
"I don't see how a third try is going to make any difference!" Riku said, exasperated. "I did everything I was supposed to do."
"Maybe try a verbal command?" Aerith suggested. "That's the only thing you haven't tried yet."
Riku rolled his eyes and groaned. He didn't say how shouting "Cure!" was going to make any difference, but they obviously weren't going to let this go.
He focused his energy again, holding his hands out, fixing his eyes on Namine. Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Wish. Hard.
"Cure!" he said.
Nothing.
"Exactly." He dropped his hands to his sides again.
"Maybe you're not focusing hard enough…" Namine said, frowning.
"Maybe I'm not!" he replied. "But I don't see how I can focus or wish any harder when there's no wound to be cured!"
Aerith sighed. "I know. But it's the only way to practice."
"Well, I'll be sure to 'practice' next time someone gets a non-fatal scrape or cut," Riku snapped.
"Riku!" Namine frowned. "Now you're just being bitter!"
"Well I—"
"Don't go… hurting yourself just to practice Cure, though," Aerith said. Her voice was so quiet that he almost didn't hear her.
Namine turned to her, eyes wide. "Are you- Riku wouldn't do that!"
"Not just to practice Cure, no," he said.
"Exactly! Wait—" Now Namine turned to him. "Are you saying you would—?"
Aerith let out a long breath. "That's right… I wanted to talk to you…"
"Well, yeah, Riku mentioned that," Namine said, turning back to Aerith. "But… why did you bring it up now? Why-?" She frowned. "What does you wanting to talk to me have anything to do with…?" She trailed off, casting another—worried—look at Riku.
He chewed his lip for a few seconds, then stopped himself, knowing he was chewing it much harder than necessary and was going to draw blood if he kept it up.
"Riku…" Namine said, slowly.
"I- I need to talk to Leon," he said, heading for the stairs.
Yuffie and Cid had left to do rounds a bit ago, and Leon was upstairs, so if Riku left the room, then Aerith and Namine would be alone to… talk. About him. He tried not to think too hard about that. He knew it was what Aerith wanted to talk about—she'd told him. That didn't make the knot in his stomach go away, though.
Riku paused outside Leon's room. He stood there for a moment, trying to remember the polite way to get someone's attention. It'd be one thing if Leon's door was closed—then he'd knock—but Leon's door was open…
"Uh… Leon?" he said, finally.
Leon looked up from his book. "Yeah?"
"Well, uhm-" Riku quickly dug the munny pouch out of his pocket. "I think- I think Aerith's gonna freak again if I try and give her this," he said. He chuckled a little. "So… here."
He made to toss the pouch at Leon, but paused, waiting until Leon was prepared to catch it. Then he tossed the pouch. Leon caught it, looking a little skeptical.
"What's this?" he asked.
"Munny," Riku answered. Though that was probably obvious. He cleared his throat. "I guess you could use some of it to replace that glass I broke. Or for. Groceries or something" He shrugged. "But there… should be enough in there to help pay to fix up the town, too."
Leon opened the pouch, looking into it. "How… much is in here?"
"50 thousand."
Leon about dropped the pouch.
"I- uh-" he stammered. "That's- that's very kind of you. But- but I don't think I can-"
Riku laughed. He had a feeling this might happen, too. "It's really no problem," he said. "I've- I've still got twice that sitting 'round and gathering dust. I'll take it back if- if you really want me to, but I'm not gonna really spend it…"
"I-" Leon swallowed. "You sure?"
"Positive."
"Okay." Leon closed the pouch. "Thank you."
Riku shrugged. "Like I said, I really wasn't going to do anything with it…"
He started for the stairs. But, wait… They'd need more time than that. Riku let out a long breath, then headed for his room. Or. The room he usually stayed in.
He was surprised to find the book he hadn't finished sitting on the bed. Like it'd been left there. For him? He sat down on the bed and picked it up—he only had a few chapters left. Might as well finish it now…
xxx
"I- I need to talk to Leon," Riku said. He headed for the stairs, very pointedly not looking at Namine.
She frowned, then turned to Aerith. "What…?" she began, but wasn't sure what to ask. Or. She didn't like any of the questions she could potentially ask… "Okay," she said. "You want to talk." It was best to focus on what she did know. "Should we… sit down?"
Aerith shrugged. "You might… want to, yeah," she said.
Namine slowly made her way to one of the couches. Aerith sat down in front of her, on the other couch.
"So what… did you want to talk about?" Namine asked.
"Well-" Aerith's voice caught a little. She paused. Sighed. "I suppose I should start with, well, did Riku mention he dislocated his shoulder?"
"I- no."
Namine made a face. That felt like one of those things she was supposed to know—or have just magically found out about. But she had been so busy forcing meltdowns during that week…
"I didn't think he would." Aerith let out a frustrated breath. "But he did. Dislocate his shoulder."
"Not surprised," Namine admitted, laughing a little. "Neither that he injured it, nor that he didn't bother to tell me."
"He… shouldn't be fighting…" Aerith said.
Namine snorted.
Aerith nodded. "He has been, then. Of course. No surprise there, either."
"Should I yell at him if he's fighting?" Namine laughed.
"Just… remind him to be careful," Aerith said. "The worst he's going to do at this point is dislocate it again. Besides, it's not like I can tell him not to fight, not with everything that's going on with the… Rebellion and all…"
"Right…"
Namine took a long breath, absentmindedly reaching for her sketchbook, which was still sitting on the couch next to her. It wasn't that she wanted to draw. She just… wanted to be holding it.
"As for… the other thing, you wanted to tell me?" she asked.
"Well…" Aerith stopped there, and was silent for a while. Her eyes were fixed on her hands, which were clenched together in her lap. "The week he was here was really rough on him…"
"I know."
That, at least, she did know. It was never hard to tell when Riku was in a bad mood, even if they weren't on the same world.
"And I noticed… after a few days that…" Aerith paused again. Sighed again. "That- that when he got upset. He'd. Hit his shoulder. The bad one."
Namine bit her lip. It felt like something had squeezed her heart.
"It- he says the pain helps anchor him," Aerith continued, a little quickly. "Which I understand. Not that that makes it… healthy."
Namine nodded, letting the information sink in. Now that she was hearing it, though, she couldn't say she was too surprised. Riku'd done this before. He'd always done it. Because he—
But I… never noticed… Namine thought, horror twisting her insides.
She could recount a time or two specifically that she'd caught him doing it, but besides that… nothing stuck out to her. She knew he did it—has always done it—but she'd never thought anything of it. Because for some reason it'd seemed normal.
"I know it's a lot to take in," Aerith said. "I just wanted someone else looking out for him because it's not—"
"I never noticed," Namine whispered, her words finally catching up with her brain. She raked her fingers through her hair. "I never. I should've noticed. He's just… been doing it for so long that…"
That it seemed natural. Just one of the things Riku did.
Aerith sighed and leaned back, looking exhausted.
Namine buried her face in her hands. "Oh I'm so stupid!"
"Don't beat yourself over it," Aerith told her, firmly. "Sometimes, with people you love, you just… overlook some things."
"But to have not noticed something like that?"
"You can't change the past by fretting over it."
Namine slowly pulled her hands away from her face. Aerith had a point there… Then she chuckled. "Have you told Riku that?"
"I… no." Aerith chuckled, too. "I should, though, shouldn't I?"
"Someone should."
Namine gripped the edges of her sketchbook.
"What should… I do?" she asked, staring at the coffee table. "If I ever… catch him… y'know…"
"Just… stop him," Aerith replied. "And tell him that he doesn't deserve it. I know he says the pain is an anchor but I think, sometimes, he does it because he thinks he deserves it. Which he doesn't. No one does."
"Right."
Namine didn't need to ask why he'd think he deserved it.
"There are less destructive anchors, too," Aerith added. "You should probably help him find one."
"He counts," Namine said, without hesitation. "Sometimes. When he's frustrated. He'll count."
"Well… then he should get in the habit of doing that. Instead of. Hitting himself.
"Yeah."
Aerith gave her a long, thoughtful look.
"Maybe I should… teach you Stop…"