Simple Movements

Chapter 12

-Scared-

"I will carry it out…"

Sora blinked a few times as he got up, finding Lilo's response a bit odd.

"What do you mean he's not a fish?"

Lilo shrugged her shoulders as she continued working on the sand castle. "I'm not supposed to tell…"

He was genuinely intrigued. "Did someone tell you to keep it a secret?"

She shook her head. "Uh-huh…he made me promise not to tell."

"But you told me he controls the weather. Don't you think that's already breaking your promise?"

Lilo fidgeted with her fingers and nipped at her bottom lip with her teeth. "I've only told a few people. Godmother knows, and now you. That's not too bad, is it?"

Sora offered her a small smile. "When you make a promise, it's always best to keep it. If you don't, the other person will think you can't be trusted. They won't be so quick to confide in you again."

She nodded slowly. "Am I a bad person?"

He couldn't stifle a laugh. "Of course not, Lilo. You made a mistake, everyone does at some point. The important thing is to learn from it and move on. Now, I promise that I won't say a word about what you told me. How does that sound?"

Lilo nodded furiously, throwing herself against Sora's legs and wrapping her arms around him. "It's a deal."

Sora was having a hard time hearing himself talk. Godmother never confided in him, never told him about her status as a Council member. But what if she had also made a promise? Was it possible Godmother couldn't tell him because someone had confided in her? Godmother was the only person in the world that had shown him any form of kindness. She would be the last person to break a promise. But Sora couldn't help but feel angry despite it all.

"Go on, I'll be around eventually."

She finished the last few touches on her sand castle before running off towards the outskirts and disappearing from view. Sora sat back down, admiring the little structure he had helped make. It wasn't perfect, the walls were lopsided and the towers never the same size. The longer he stared at it, the more he realized it was very much like he was. The sand castle was him, unbalanced, fragile, and with the coming of the tide, easily washed away.

"What do I do now?"

He didn't know what to think or what to do. His mind was a twisted mess of confusion, frustration, and absolute nothingness. Something had happened to him, yet he couldn't recall. He looked at the soft scarring on his hands, felt warmth enveloping them. For a split second he could see the long nimble fingers of someone touching them. He furrowed his brow, raising his hands up to his cheeks and pressing them together. Sora glanced at his side and found that Lilo had forgotten to take her doll Scrump with her. She loved that thing more than anything and Lilo would undoubtedly be scurrying around frantically trying to find her later. It also meant he'd have to head back to Godmother's house. Sora heaved a deep sigh and grunted in getting up.

"I don't have a choice," he muttered to himself. Sora headed back into the outskirts with Scrump secured in one hand and the morning sun continuing on its journey. He ventured towards the busy section of the market street where people were clamoring on about something he could only catch a few words to as he passed. Some sort of accident beyond the walls. Sora paid little attention to them. He turned at a corner, knowing that only a bit further away he'd find Godmother's house and his stomach began to churn. Sora tugged on his lower lip, wincing at the sudden discomfort. It only got worse the moment he walked through the front door.

"What the-"

Everything was trashed. The lopsided table was broken in half, the stove violently ripped off its hinges and its smoldering contents spilled all over the floor. Sora's eyes went tearing across the small house, his breath growing irregular at the unsettling sight. He felt the crunching sounds beneath his feet and at first thought he was stepping on glass, but as he removed his foot what he found left him even more alarmed. Sora bent down on one knee, fingers picking up the broken remnants of a purple pill.

"Maleficent's Needle?"

"What happened to me…I did it to myself. The drug you said I took, I took because I wanted to. Why would I put myself into that kind of situation unless I wanted it to happen? Was I in such a bad state that hurting myself was the only way out?"

Riku stood up from his seat and took a step towards Sora. "Are you afraid to remember why you did it?"

"Completely," Sora whispered.

Sora threw his head upwards, the entirety of the last few weeks pouring back into his mind. He clutched his head like a vice and gritted his teeth, sinking further over the floor and knees painfully digging themselves into the broken debris.

"I did it to try and forget you," he whispered, feeling the tears stinging in his eyes. "I took it because I needed you out of my head."

He released his head and brought his hands back down. Sora looked at the scar tissue on his knuckles, the realization hitting him.

"You healed them…"

In his sudden panic, Sora failed to see the message scrawled across one of the living room walls, its bright red lettering now calling for his attention.

Don't make this any more complicated than it needs to be, Sora. Turn yourself into The Council by nightfall, otherwise the innocent people that took you in will suffer the consequences for your actions.

Riku had felt an uneasiness the day he stepped into the Council office to register his wishes. There was something about the sterile white environment, despite the fact his own parents were doctors and such a place should have been the norm for him, but he was now confirming in the back of his mind that uneasiness was not unwarranted.

He was standing in the middle of Godmother's house with Pocahontas at this side, the pair having heard from the elderly woman's own mouth that she was responsible for Sora's memory loss. But the explanation that was to follow was cut short when he felt his eyelids drooping, and the last thing he saw being Godmother's surprised face. Riku awoke at some point inside a pristine white room, and it didn't take him more than a second to know he was in The Council's hands.

His attention zeroed in on the tap tap sounds of a pen being repeatedly smacked against a clipboard. A woman sat in front of him, her brown hair pulled back in a loose bun and eyes reading over the very little information Riku had divulged since they began what he liked to refer to as "an interrogation." She glanced up every so often, dabbing her glossy lips with a finger and letting out tired sighs. Had she not had "Megara" stitched on the lapel of her uniform, Riku wouldn't even know who he was talking to as she didn't even bother to give her name.

"Riku, we've been in here all day. It's quite simple actually. I don't understand why you're making this so difficult."

The tone in her voice was mocking him, and Riku was growing horribly irritated. "I don't have anything more to say."

She placed her clipboard down on the surface of the table and got up from her seat, beginning a walk around the room.

"We have information leading us to believe that the young man living in your household is responsible for the death of two our Council members. Murder alone is an atrocity, but the fact that members of such an important organization were the victims elevates the severity of this crime."

The Council member walked a few rounds, stopping behind Riku. "By withholding information, you are just as guilty as he is. Your family, Drs. Sephiroth Crescent and Aerith Gainsborough, and the former princess of The New World, Pocahontas, are all being held here for the very same reasons. You could make this all go away for their sake too."

Riku wasn't stupid. At this point, The Council could care less about the death of their Scripture Readers, the two men that came to his school and later his home poking around for information. What they wanted was Sora, all things pointed to him. They were using their death as a pretext to get Riku to hand him over. He smiled inwardly, realizing that his family and Pocahontas were being just as tight lipped as he was since this interrogation was now dragging on and on.

"Alright, how about this? You tell me what it is you like about him? Why are you protecting him?"

There was no reason other than because he wanted to. Riku had grown to care for him in the short time since they met. Sora had turned his world upside down. Riku wanted to know where his pain stemmed from, and he wanted to be the one that could make it go away. Even now, with the knowledge that Sora was immortal and a former member of the very Council holding him, Riku wasn't going to betray him.

"I have it in our records," the woman continued when Riku didn't reply to her questions, "that you recently celebrated your 18th birthday and were officially recognized as a Third Point. Congratulations on the rarity of your gift."

He sucked in a breath when he felt the sudden chill on his exposed neck. Instinct immediately forced him to smack the hand that pulled the drapery of hair and offered Megara a seething glare.

"Don't touch me," he spat out.

She grinned. "They're quite beautiful Riku. It's not very often that I have an opportunity to see a Third Point such as yourself. You'll have to forgive me for my actions."

What Riku would give to have Godmother's wand right now. Seeing the magical vines sprouting from the ground and holding The Council woman upside down would be a much more amusing scene.

"When a citizen registers their wishes, they are monitored. However, respecting the privacy of our citizens is of the utmost importance and we don't actually know what the wish actually is. The system we have in place simply monitors the intensity and anomalies that may arise during the wishing process. For the most part, nothing is of concern to The Council. But you see Riku, as I'm sure Prince Eric and Prince Phillip informed you before their untimely passing, your first wish created a significant spike in our system."

"I wish for Sora to awaken."

"Right before their passing, Prince Eric managed to send some of the information in his findings through the Lexicon to our superiors, the core Council members. It was in these findings that we learned the reason for this anomaly wasn't because of you at all. It was due to the fact that your wish was used on none other than the young man, Sora."

Riku felt his lips pulling wide, and the laughs soon spilled out. "Sounds to me like The Council is afraid."

Megara seemed to recoil slightly. He looked through the gaps in his bangs to see the irritation on her face. "The almighty Council scared of a kid. That's all I hear babbling from your mouth lady."

"Mocking The Council is frowned upon," she said with a huff to her voice. "I would suggest you refrain from further comments of that nature."

At last he'd enticed a different demeanor from his captors. But despite enjoying what he saw, he knew there was little he could do to get himself out of this situation. And he still needed to think about his parents and Pocahontas. He couldn't chance something happening to them if he let himself get carried away.

"Dully noted," he replied leaning back in his chair.

She glanced at her wrist and gathered her few belongings. "You will be escorted to a private room in an hour for the night with dinner to follow. I would highly recommend thinking on what we talked about today and see if you change your mind by morning. There's only so much we can do in one day."

With a nod of her head, she exited the room, leaving Riku to his thoughts. He pushed his seat back, allowing his head to hang over the seat. Riku looked at the white ceiling, imagining the night sky and the twinkling stars. He closed his eyes for a few moments and listened to the sound of his own breathing.

He was escorted by a pair of green suited Council members through a series of hallways before arriving to his private room. Riku stepped inside and was immediately met with the hard click of a locking door. This was no better than being a prisoner, after all, his remaining two wishes were currently bound by a Wish Enforcer and he couldn't wish his way out if he wanted to.

The room was moderately sized with a desk, chair, and bed in the corner. A lone window was his only connection to the outside and he immediately walked up to it, peering out into the inner districts. Outside, it was like any other day. The glowing lights of the city winked at him every so often. Riku stood there for a long while, completely ignoring The Council worker that brought him his dinner.

By the time he pulled himself away from the window it had gone cold and with it his hunger. He stepped out of his shoes and sat on the edge of his bed. When he looked down at the floor, two pairs of tiny eyes stared back at him.

"That'sa him, Riki."

"No, no, no, not Riki, Riku!"

"Ah, duh, okay!"

He must have been tired because Riku was staring at a pair of talking mice.

The fear and confusion that coursed within him seemed to dissipate upon reading The Council's message. There was one last piece missing to this entire puzzle, a reason as to why Godmother's house had been ransacked and she, along with Riku no doubt, had been taken by the members in green suits. A smidgen of anger flared where nausea once churned his insides. Godmother was part of The Council and somehow, his presence harbored something much deeper to all of this. He was determined to figure out why he mattered so much to these people.

Sora ran back out into the outskirts streets, the ragdoll still clutched tightly in one hand as he worked his way north. He continued, his eyes darting every which unsure of what to expect. For all he knew there were Council members lurking at every corner just waiting for him to make a wrong move. Sora easily maneuvered his way northbound until the sight of the metal chain fence separating the outskirts from the inner districts became apparent. His breathing was slightly labored, the sweat building on his forehead, but not enough to keep him from continuing. Sora found the gap in the fence and was about to step through when the voice stopped him in mid-step.

"You do realize you're walking right into their hands."

Sora remained in place, fingers coiling through the metal loopholes and holding on tight.

"The moment you walk through that fence, you lose."

Sora carefully craned his neck to look over his shoulder, the unfamiliar voice attached to a white robed figure. It took one glimpse of the mysterious person in white to know he did not belong anywhere in the outskirts. He slowly turned around, facing the newcomer.

"Who are you?"

The robed man shook a hand at him. "Who I am doesn't matter. What is important is what your next step will be."

The mysterious figure had his head wrapped and only his eyes were peering through, meeting with Sora's and slowly closing.

"Your memories are a complete and utter mess. Then again, I'm not surprised."

This sent a shivering chill down Sora's spine. Whoever this man was knew about him, more than he should. Sora didn't remember him in the slightest, and the familiarity with which he spoke was putting him more on edge. He stayed by the chain fence, unmoving and silent. It carried like this for a few long moments before the robed man spoke again.

"I'm sure I'll get my ass chewed out later, but we don't have a choice."

He raised a hand, opening it to reveal the same purple pills he found smashed on the floor of Godmother's house.

"You're familiar with these, right?"

Sora gulped the lump in his throat. "Y-yeah, Maleficent's Needle."

"These little buggers," he began picking one up with two fingers, "were originally made by none other than Godmother."

Sora felt the air escaping his lungs. The man didn't wait for him to reply. "For the better part of the last 100 years, Godmother has been giving you these pills in order to erase your memories of your past as the 4th member of The Council."

The man waved a hand in front of his face, dissolving the fabric that hid his features. Sora stared at him with a blank stare, the words still seeping into his head.

"I think it's time you regained all your memories," the man said scratching at his white-blonde goatee, "and we continue with the plan you started ages ago, the reason why you broke away and defied The Council."

Sora could barely move his lips. "Luxord?"

The blonde man smiled at the brunette. A little girl peeked over the side of Luxord's robe, her little fingers clutching onto the white fabric. He looked down at her, giving a nod of his head.

"It's okay, we don't have to pretend anymore."

Lilo looked to Sora, beaming at him with a toothy grin. "See? I told you he wasn't a fish."

-0-