Hello everyone! I am SO sorry that I didn't update last week. It's finals week for me in my summer college class. So I have been a bit scattered brained as of late. Also this chapter was a killer for me, no idea why, but it was. I rewrote this chapter over and over again so I hope all of you enjoy it! And as always, thank you to XxShadowDragonRoguexX for adding my story to your favorites list! You are amazing! And thank you to v.t.7 for that wonderful review, you know how much they mean to me. And just a thank you to anyone who reads this story. I love you guys. Please don't be afraid to leave a review, I love to see what you guys think about it, and just who you think is behind all of Riku's torment and pain.
Enjoy!
Sunshine illuminated the keyblade wielders room softly. Light was casted over Riku's face, but that wasn't what disturbed him from his sleep. Riku woke up to a soft knocking at his door. He looked over at his clock.
7:45 am
He wanted to do nothing more than roll over and go back to sleep. Yet the knocking persisted.
"Yes, I am awake." Riku called out.
"Breakfast will be served in fifteen minutes, sir." A butler said before going back to their other duties.
Riku sighed, he couldn't get upset with a butler. They were only doing their job. He layed in his bed a few moments longer before getting up and ready for the day.
Riku sat at the long dining table, so far he was the only one there. Relaxing back in the chair he thought about the day ahead of him. Mickey had told them before departing last night that they would be required to train daily. They had to advance their skills if they wanted to be able to stand against the new Heartless. Also they would have to assist in training Kairi to become a well trained keyblade wielder.
Yet he didn't know how much help he would be to her, she was made of pure light, and he...he wasn't. There wasn't going to be much he would be able to teach her. And how would he feel after these treatments? Would he be strong enough to teach her anything useful? Would he have enough strength to even participate in his own training?
All of these questions racing around in his brain made him wish that he was still asleep. At least in his dreams he knew what he would face, but out here, out here he knew nothing of what could happen to him.
"I see you could have used a little more sleep also." Kairi said, sitting across from him. She too wanted to sleep longer.
Riku sat up, his head in his hands.
"Yeah, it feels like I hardly slept at all last night. I don't see how people can wake up that early everyday."
"Well I think it might have to do something with those people being adults and having to wake up that early." Kairi suggested, rubbing her eye's.
"So how much do you want to bet that Sora is going to be late for breakfast?"
Riku chuckled at the thought of the butler standing outside of Sora's door, waiting for a reply from him.
"Knowing how much of a problem we have trying to wake him up, I said the chances of him being late are pretty high."
"Good morning everyone." The King said, walking into the room with the Queen by his side.
"I do hope that everyone got enough sleep." The Queen said, as Mickey pulled her chair out for her. As usual they sat at the head of the table.
Both Riku and Kairi nodded. Riku wouldn't tell them about the nightmares though, he was sure those would be addressed at his light treatments.
Donald and Goofy came in moments after them.
"Sorry to eat and run but Yuffie used her crystal and said that we need to see something." Goofy said, picking up a piece of toast.
"We will be back as soon as we can." Donald said, eating some fruit.
Mickey nodded to them.
"If it is an emergency be sure to get in contact with me as soon as you can."
Donald and Goofy saluted him before taking their leave.
Kairi gave Riku as worried look, things were getting bad fast. And they all needed to train so they could get out there and help.
Maids and chefs and butler soon brought out piles of food out. Riku didn't know how they expected them to eat all of this food.
Minnie looked down the table.
"Wait, where is Sora? We can't eat without him. It would be oh so rude of us."
Kairi grinned.
"Probably still asleep. A bomb could go off and he would sleep through it."
Riku nodded, thinking back to all of the ways Kairi and him tried to wake Sora up in the past.
"Your best bet is to just pull him out of bed. Sometimes though that wouldn't even work."
Suddenly a loud thunderclap shook the castle, followed by a shout.
"What was that?" Kairi asked.
"I think that would be the way my staff woke Sora up…" Mickey suggested.
And soon enough a slightly charred Sora walked into the dining room. He flopped down in the chair next to Riku. Who jumped on the opportunity to pick on Sora.
"So, I guess you had a quite shocking awakening this morning, Sora?"
Sora gave Riku a dirty look.
"Not. Funny."
Riku saw that Sora still had a smudge on his cheek and Riku reached over and gently rubbed it off. While the others gave Riku a questioning glance, Riku smirked.
"Missed some." He said.
Mickey cleared his throat.
"Now that everyone is here, we can eat."
Sora took a quick head count and saw that Donald and Goofy were missing.
"Hey, where are Donald and Goofy?"
"They had to leave deary, but I'm sure they will be back before you know it." Minnie said.
The others started to dig into the wonderful food.
"Where did they go?" Sora persisted.
"Yuffie wanted them to look at something. And before you ask Sora, the reason why you are still here is because you all need to train."
Sora sat back against his chair, that was exactly what he was going to ask.
The group ate quietly, having small conversations every once and awhile. Even if they weren't on their normal world, the teens did enjoy some form of normality. Sharing a meal together was nice, but there was a tense undertone to the tranquil mood. They all knew what was ahead of them, and the struggles that would come with it.
Yet they ate, and enjoyed the moment. No matter how short it was going to be.
After breakfast Mickey lead the trio out to the training field. It was simple, but large. It was at least two mile long and just as wide, a whole army could train in it. There were some wooden battle dummies spread out along one side of the field, some were even suspended in the air.
There were stationary and moving targets on the other side of the field. Scorch marks on the targets and the surrounding area's made it apparent that that area was used for magic target practice. An equipment shed took on up the far side of the field. The others were really starting to wonder if at one time an army did train here.
"This is where most of your training will be happening," Mickey said. "There will be some magic study involved. Yen Sid has sent me some other books that will aid you in your training."
Sora groaned, he thought he knew everything he needed to know about battle magic.
Riku smirked. "You thought you wouldn't have to study something when you came here, did you Sora?"
Sora pouted. So what if he did? He thought he knew what he needed to know already.
They walked into the center of the training field, there was a faint ring shaped impression the size of a small arena.
"And this is where you will be fighting." Mickey said, snapping his fingers. The ground below them shook slightly and soon there were rising into the air.
"This arena is where you will either be fighting each other, or one of my soldiers, in a test of your skills."
They stopped climbing and hovered. The trio looked over the side, they were high up. Way to high up for their liking at the moment. They fought to keep their breakfast down.
"So uh how high up are we?" Kairi said nervously, moving to the center of the ring.
"And why are we so high up?"
"We are about 35 feet up in the air. And why we are so high up Princess, is so there can be absolutely no interference in the fights." Mickey explained. "The height also makes you aware of your surroundings. You have to always know how much room you have in a fight if you want to survive."
Mickey snapped his fingers once more and they slowly descended.
"Sora, I want you to stay here with Kairi and begin her training. Just start with the basic's, alright."
Sora and Kairi nodded. Sora noticed how he didn't mention anything about Riku.
"I thought both Riku and I would be helping Kairi train."
They touched back on the ground soundlessly.
"You both will be, but it is time for Riku to begin his treatments." Mickey said, turning to Riku.
Suddenly Riku didn't mind the height they were previously at. Sora took a step closer to Riku.
"I wanted to be there for his first treatment. If it's painful someone should be there with him."
"Sora you are needed here with Kairi, her training must start immediately." Mickey said, "She must be ready. So you will stay here and start her training."
Riku brushed his hand against Sora's.
"Don't worry Sora, I'll be okay. And if you two get done training early, you can come up and see how I'm doing. Okay?"
Sora frowned but nodded.
"Alright," He looked at Kairi and smiled. "Well let's get to training!"
Mickey nodded to them and lead Riku through the long climb up the tower. Mickey opened the door and Riku felt like he was going to throw up. Despite his sick feeling he stepped into the room.
"When I talked to Yen Sid about your treatments, we had a hard time deciding how long and often your treatments should be."
Riku nodded as he sat on the bed, he did have a good feeling about where this was going.
"And we came to the conclusion that with the level of your imbalance, your treatments will happen everyday. For at least two to three hours." Mickey said.
Riku's face paled and his stomach dropped. He would be in this room for two to three hours, possibly in a bunch of pain. And he would have to go through this everyday, on top of his training and his magic study. He laid down on the bed, and he heard that laugh again.
The light orbs glowed into life and small light flakes the size of snowflakes, floated down and disappeared as they sank under his skin. The darkness inside him reacted instantly. Pain came in waves as the internal battle begun.
"I will come back up and get you in a few hours. You can do it Riku, I believe in you." Mickey said before leaving Riku to deal with this alone.
Sora cheered Kairi on as she performed a powerful Thundaga for the third time in a row.
"I think you have the hang of it now!"
Kairi gave him a big smile, resting her keyblade against her shoulder.
"See I told you I was a quick learner."
That was very true. In the span of two hours Kairi had learned how to summon her keyblade, some of the lower level spells and a few of the higher level spells. For someone who had only used a keyblade once, she was a natural wielder.
"You might be a quick learner, but trust me being in a fight is different than training." Sora said.
"I know that Sora, remember I have been in a fight before." Kairi said.
"Yeah but you had Riku with you. Fighting alone is a completely different thing. If you go down, there is no one else there to help you." Sora pointed out.
"Speaking of Riku, how do you think he's dealing with his treatment?" Kairi asked.
Sora looked up at the tower, he had no idea how Riku was comfortable with the idea of doing the first treatment alone.
"I don't know."
"Maybe he's done! Let's see if we can go and see him!" Kairi suggested. "I mean we've been training for about two hours now, I think that is a good start."
Sora nodded.
"Yeah, I mean we can't over do things on the first day! We have to save our strength!"
Kairi's and Sora's keyblades twinkled out of existence as they walked back to the castle and began the long climb up the tower.
Riku was laying on his side, arms wrapped around himself. These last two hours have been nothing but pain. He wanted it to stop, he wanted everything to stop. He couldn't stop shaking as the light continued to sink into him. Everything hurt, breathing hurt, moving hurt, and just laying down on the bed was hurting him. A trashcan was beside the bed. He had already thrown up twice.
Riku was covered in sweat, his jacket and jeans had been removed, he had sweat through them.
The room was too bright, everything was too bright. His eye's felt like they were burning every time he opened them. The light was too much for him, he was going to be consumed by his darkness. His body jerked against his will, sending shockwaves of pain through his body. He let out a pained hiss.
"End it."
That voice again.
"You know what to do. End it."
Riku couldn't listen to that voice, it was asking the impossible. He could never do that.
"That keyblade of yours would make it quick and painless."
He knew what keyblade that voice was talking about. The Keyblade of Hearts. He remember how Sora used it, his stomach flipped once again and he rolled over and threw up in the trash can. His shaking had gotten even worse, throwing up only caused him more pain.
Riku didn't hear the knock on the door, or did he hear Sora and Kairi asking if they could come in. Only a buzzing sound could be heard in his head.
Sora gave Kairi a concerned look as he thought he heard someone throwing up. He opened the door a crack and was assaulted by the smell of vomit. He opened the door farther and saw Riku hunched over the bed, throwing up.
"Riku!"
Sora dashed into the room and knelt by Riku's side. Kairi quickly followed behind Sora.
Riku spit into the trash can once more before looking at Sora. He groaned at the pain of the light hitting his eye's and shut them again as another wave of nausea took hold. Riku layed back down on the bed, trying to take deep breaths, but he could only take short shallow breaths. Those didn't hurt as bad.
Sora touched Riku's arm and frowned at how cold and clammy he was. His heart was aching for Riku. He didn't know how to help, or if there was any way to help.
Holding her breath, Kairi took the trash can and emptied it. She put in a new bag before putting back in it's spot. She had no idea Riku would be in this sort of pain. Why was he even in here this long?
"I think we should go and get the King." Kairi suggested. "It can not be safe for him to be like this for this long."
Sora nodded and moved to stand, but was held back by Riku. Riku didn't want to be alone any longer. Not when he was going through this.
"Don't worry, stay. I'll get the King. Someone should be with him in case he gets worse." Kairi said, her hand brushed over Sora's shoulder before she left.
Riku glared at Kairi as she left. Just in the short time she had been here he was already sick of her. If she hadn't been here Sora would have been able to be with him during his treatment, yet he was busy training her. Riku's stomach turned sour once again. He didn't know what was left in his stomach to throw up but he kept throwing up.
Sora grimaced as Riku threw up once again, he made sure that Riku's hair was up and out of the way. It freaked him out when he saw him glaring at Kairi, why was Riku so mad at Kairi? He couldn't recall any arguments the two had had in the short time they were here. Kairi hadn't mentioned anything to him about any arguments.
Riku let out a shuddered breath as his stomach started to settle, he sagged into the bed. He had no idea how he was going to be able to get through this everyday.
Sora rubbed Riku's arm, trying to comfort him. He moved the trash can so he could sit in front of Riku.
"The on and off switch is by the door." Riku said softly. Sora nodded and hurried over to the switch and flicked off the light orbs. Riku visibly relaxed as the lights disappeared.
"I wish you didn't have to go through this Riku." Sora said, kneeling in front of Riku.
Riku nodded.
"It's not your fault Sora. I was the one that let it get this bad."
Sora rested his head beside Riku's. He really wished there was another way Riku could get better and not have to go through all of this pain.
They sat in a comfortable silence until there was a soft knock.
"Sora, Riku, I have the king. Is it okay if we come in?" Kairi asked.
Sora glanced at Riku who looked like he needed some sleep. Riku gave him a small nod.
"Yeah come in."
Kairi opened the door and she and Mickey walked in. Mickey looked Riku over as he walked over to him. He, like the others, didn't except Riku to have this bad of a reaction.
Sora moved out of the Kings way so he could take a closer look at Riku. Kairi spared him a concerned glance before looking at Riku. None of them could lie about how bad Riku looked. His complexion was extremely pale. He was still shaking, and his eye's were once again, gold.
Sora picked up the trash can to empty it. He glanced into the trash can. Instead of normal vomit he saw a black ooze. Sora glance back at Riku. He would have to talk to the King about this and what it meant. But he knew that it wasn't a good sign.
