Simple Movements
Chapter 18
-Shimmering-
"..I won't betray him."
Riku was alone. There was nothing in his line of sight but pure white emptiness. If it weren't for the very real feeling of solid ground, he'd have thought he was floating in the white void. For not knowing where he was, Riku showed little concern. It wasn't because he didn't know where he was, but because he knew exactly what this environment was: a dream.
He stood there, his chest a steady rise. For a few long minutes Riku continued looking in a direction he couldn't decipher. At first, it was a small and gentle ringing that he heard. Cupping a hand behind his ear, Riku eased into the sound. A bell, a soothing call coming from a bell could be heard traveling in the empty space. With the sound his first indicator of something else there with him, Riku began to walk towards it. His pace was calm, bare feet sliding over the pristine white of the marble floors. The reflection beneath him showed his curious expression. With every step he took forward, the enticing call of the bell only grew louder. Eventually the white emptiness began to take on the color of a soft yellow. His stride slowed upon seeing the spiraling figure in front of him.
"A…staircase?"
A twisting staircase met Riku. The yellow that saturated everything was a warm light that cascaded from atop the stairs. But Riku couldn't see the top no matter how far back he leaned. Even then, with no indication that he'd be able to reach the highest point, Riku still continued. He took a tentative first step up the metallic stairs and then another. One by one, Riku flew higher and higher. Looking over the railings that guarded him he could see that same yellow tinged whiteness, never wavering. He kept walking, exhaustion a fleeting thought as the curiosity burned hotter. The light was bathing him in thick ribbons, his silver hair reflecting it like glass. Hours went by in this manner until Riku's feet met even ground again. He had reached the top. Riku sucked in a breath and let it escape.
Upon a pedestal surrounded by yellow light, a single blue flower. A final note of a bell resonated before echoing and evaporating into the void. It was a budding blue, still not in full bloom. Riku looked at the enchanting flower, his fingers reaching out in a sudden desire to grasp it.
"Who said you could touch me?"
The voice forced his hand to recoil. Riku searched with wide eyes for the owner of the voice, but again, there was nobody besides himself.
"Honestly, what a child."
Slowly the flower began to unfold its petals. With each falling stripe of blue Riku was given the identity of what had beckoned for him. With a tiny youthful face and bright blonde hair, a winged creature wrapped in a green dress emerged from within the bloom. With a yawn and an outstretching of her arms, the small girl blinked rapidly at Riku.
"My, you're a handsome one."
This was still a dream. Riku knew that. Yet everything felt so incredibly real. The tiny girl fluttered her leathery, see-through wings as if she were shaking off a new morning's dew. With the most graceful of movements she rose into the air and a continuous trail of golden sparkles flew behind her. Riku remained tight lipped.
"So, you must be Riku."
He swallowed his breath, unsure of just what was speaking to him. With a small nod of his head, Riku acknowledged her words. "Yeah, that's me. But, I don't believe I know who you are."
"Of course not," she replied with a wave of her hand. "My name's Tinker Bell. Not many know of who I am. I'm somewhat of a secret."
She traveled in circles, flying around Riku's head a few times before finding a spot right in front of his vision. Tinker Bell had her hands on her hips and arching forward as if studying him. Her almost cherub like face contorted itself into expressions that betrayed her innocent look. There was a turn of her eye here, an arching brow there and a series of small huffs escaping her mouth. Finally, with her arms crossed, Tinker Bell reached a silent conclusion.
"Yes. You will do just perfectly."
He was being analyzed for god knows what and it would appear that he had met some criteria she had set forth. Unfortunately for Riku who was simply having a very long dream, he had no idea what she was babbling on about. "What are you talking about?"
With an air of annoyance, Tinker Bell inched towards him. Her face was very close to his and despite being just a tiny little thing, she was rather intimidating. "You will be my escort home."
Confusion twisted his face. "I don't understand a thing you're saying."
"Which is why I am going to take the liberty in explaining. So make sure you pay attention."
But as her lips opened to begin her next sentence, the edges of Riku's vision began to grow darker. He could feel himself falling back and Tinker Bell's image becoming blurry.
"Nope, can't have that. We've got a lot to talk about, you can't be waking up on me right now."
It felt like he was being pulled forward on invisible strings. He was brought back upright and the darkness that encroached on his vision disappeared. Once again Riku stood watching Tinker Bell as she hovered around. She lifted a finger and pointed it at her neck. Without thinking, Riku did the same.
"For as long as this world has been around, I have been the power behind the wishing system. People's wishes are reincarnated through me and pass onto a new generation. Without me, everything falls apart. My rightful place is in The World That Never Was. I have been away for far too long and I need your help in returning."
Riku blinked once, a sudden pinprick of uneasiness in his stomach. "The reincarnation spell Sora talked about…that's you?"
She nodded with a sense of pride. "Yep, Tinker Bell, the final spell created by the Gods to give life to the wishing system. Sora was a very bad boy and took me away. I've been doing nothing but sleeping for these last 100 years and I'm sick of it. Now that Sora has regained his memories he can't keep me suppressed."
"But, after what The Council has done…with Pocahontas and her country..."
Tinker Bell huffed, rolling her eyes. She met his concerned face and raised a finger. "Not my problem."
Riku found that pinprick of uneasiness growing. "Not your problem? How can you say that?"
"Easy. I don't care. The Council and their matters are of no concern to me. I breathe life into the wishing system. All I want to do is my job"
The blunt response knocked him back and Riku had to regain a firm hold on the ground. "You expect me to help you? I'm not going to betray Sora, not after everything we've gone through."
"Oh silly boy," she tittered with a hand covering her mouth. "As if you had a choice in the matter."
It was a dream. It was just a dream. Riku needed to wake up. He looked around aimlessly, a clue nowhere to be found as to what could rouse him. Tinker Bell was giggling as she flew. His stare became heated as he concentrated on the glittering fairy. She flapped her transparent wings a bit closer, the smile on her lips slightly coy. Riku looked down at his feet, the tips hovering over the edge of the circular walkway. The idea dinged in his head and the minute he glanced over his shoulder to see Tinker Bell and her souring face, Riku jumped.
"Wha-no!"
Her scream echoed endlessly as he plummeted from the spiral staircase, his hair slicked back and shimmering like a silver bullet. His eyes watered, stung with the yellow tinged whiteness of his surroundings. It had felt like he walked for hours up the length of the staircase, but it was just seconds before he saw the reflective surface of the white floor. He flung his arms forward and raised them up to his face, his body waiting for the unavoidable impact. But it never came.
"Hee-hee-hee!"
He blinked furiously, the white floor but an inch from his face. Riku jerked his head upwards and was shocked to find a glittering trail of gold dust in the path he had traveled. The girly and taunting laughs of the blonde fairy grew closer until she was a few yards away. She was twirling in midair, the same shimmering dust in Riku's wake cascading from her body.
"What a surprise! It makes me wonder, had this not been a dream, would you really have had the courage to jump? I knew I wasn't wrong, you truly are the one that will take me home!"
Riku forced himself into a somersault until he was upright, his feet off the ground. "That dust of yours, is that what stopped me?"
She nodded with a grin. "Fairy dust, yes, it gives you the ability to fly."
For a split second Riku thought back to the Council office where he had gone with his parents to register his wishes. There was a boy his age who had wished for angel wings and they sprouted the minute he walked through the door. He remembered the boy's dad berating him for wasting his wish on "bird's wings" as he recalled.
"I always wondered what it'd be like to fly."
Dr. Sephiroth's words played around Riku's mind. They turned his lips upwards into a smile. Tinker Bell caught on and slowed her twirling. He looked to her, his body hunched forward slightly. "This is a dream, right?"
Tinker Bell felt a sudden chill crawling up her spine. "Yeah…so what?"
"So it's safe to assume that in my dream, I can do anything, right?"
Her brows curled in a way that brought out unnatural wrinkles in her porcelain white skin. Riku let out a sigh and raised his head. "You ready?"
"I wish for angel wings!"
The pain was burning red. Riku screamed as the feathery protrusions burst from his back in falling columns. To his surprise, instead of white, they were colored the same shade of his eyes: a beautiful seafoam green. With a powerful thrust, Riku beat his wings and extended them like a proud bird of prey. Tinker Bell watched on in a mixture of fascination and utter disgust.
"You think you can out-fly me?"
"It is my dream, isn't it?"
"Enough, I'll prove you wrong this instant."
Riku crouched down as far as he could go and immediately jumped upwards. The seafoam wings flew wide, taking him into the air. It was like he had been flying his entire life the way he maneuvered and rode the now billowing gales of wind. Riku flew higher and snuck a glance over to see the tiny speck of bright light that was Tinker Bell just a few body lengths behind him. It didn't matter if she barely reached his ankle in height, Tinker Bell was a natural flying prodigy.
"Hehe, is that the best you can do?"
No sooner had she uttered those words did she meet Riku at his side. She smiled gleefully, her pace accelerating. Riku beat his wings harder and swerved in a jagged attempt to throw her off. But with her tiny body, Tinker Bell easily avoided his purposeful collision. She raised a lip at him, showing a pearly white snarl.
"You'll do anything, won't you? But the outcome of this little race was determined the moment you sprout those ugly wings."
Riku grit his teeth and forced his appendages to climb higher. He performed an arc and flew off at an angle in a different direction. There was no lag in his pursuer's sudden change of course and Tinker Bell was already lapping at his feet.
"Guess this isn't going to work," he muttered, eyes glinting.
"I wish for a shower of shooting stars!"
The bleak whiteness was peppered with an endless horizon of hot red spheres. With their long tails, the shooting stars whistled past Riku as he swerved left and right, up and down, and in every direction imaginable. It was like a perfectly orchestrated performance and Riku was the star of the show. Tinker Bell didn't seem to be enjoying herself as she too wove her way through the cascading balls of fire. But the endless barrage was proving to be of little deterrence to her.
"You've got some creativity, I'll give you that. But this is child's play."
More gold dust spilled from Tinker Bell's wings and her speed only increased. She jumped from shooting star to shooting star, stepping off with a playful twirl to her movements as she continued on. Riku huffed an unsatisfied breath and pushed his wings harder.
"I can't shake her, there's something else I need to think of…"
It ran through him like electricity and escaped his mouth the next instant.
"I wish for copies of my flying form!"
Tinker Bell's eyes shot wide open when instead of a two wings, she saw ten. Five Rikus flew before her, each one shooting in a different direction. Unsure of whom to follow, Tinker Bell slowed for a moment and collected her thoughts. Riku used this to his advantage and sped off. When he could no longer see or feel Tinker Bell, Riku allowed himself to sigh out a breath of relief. No matter how far out he looked, there was nothing but bleak white.
"If I could make all these things happen, you'd think I could just wish to wake up," he muttered to himself, shaking his head. "But that'd be too simple."
With nothing left to lose, Riku acted on his earlier notion. "I wish to wake up."
A door off in the far distance appeared. Riku smiled inwardly and threw himself into a downward spiral towards the awaiting door. It was right in front of him, he'd be able to wake up and explain what he had learned to Sora. But then, Riku's wings began to disintegrate. The feathers fell apart, disappearing in waves of seafoam colored dust.
"What? No, no, this can't be happening."
Riku toppled onto the white floor, his body a rag doll. He came to a painful stop with the door leading to his escape a few yards away. It was so close he needed to just run the rest of the way. His breath suddenly heavy, Riku urged his battered body forward.
"Just a bit more…just a bit…"
"Hee-hee-hee!"
The girly laugh stopped him in his tracks. The ever twirling, graceful fairy descended from the skies. She batted her eyes in a bashful way, teasing the silver haired man.
"You really tried your best. I have to say, you are most creative and gave me a good run back there. But then I thought to myself, and really, how could I be such an idiot?"
Riku was backing away slowly, his hands clenched tightly. "What did you do?"
She brought out a single seafoam green feather almost as big as she was. He looked at it, then her, unsure of what she meant. Tinker Bell caressed it and puffed her cheeks up with air. She opened her mouth and the breath wafted over the feather. Immediately, it began to disintegrate. Riku stood stunned. Tinker Bell could only smile devilishly.
"You get it now? I am the essence of the wishing system. Wishes are reincarnated through me. I took a gamble. This may be your dream, Riku. But what if, just what if, I could undo your wishes?"
His stomach was churning. "No way, you canceled out my wishes?"
"Hee-hee-hee! Isn't it lovely? Just because this is your dream doesn't mean that I couldn't take advantage of it either. If you could go so far as to make an unlimited amount of wishes a reality in this space, then my power could exist in some manner. But wow, this was such a cool surprise!"
Riku was so close to the door he literally needed but five seconds to reach it. With Tinker Bell capable of canceling out his ability to wish endlessly in his dream, Riku couldn't attempt another escape by flight. His mind was numb, the tips of his fingers tingling. Tinker Bell flew, her see-through wings sparkling. Riku mouthed off a final wish.
"I wish for your wings."
The wings ripped from her back, sending Tinker Bell plummeting towards the ground. Her face was a sketch of pure rage. "You bastard!"
They erupted from his back and Riku took a single stride aided by their flight to reach the knob of the door. With a twist and creak, it opened for Riku. "I won't betray him."
He stepped through the door and into a void of black. Slowly, the black began to churn into a blurry image.
"Riku! Riku!"
"Riku, wake up! Please, open your eyes!"
"Please, you can't leave me now!"
Riku blinked a few times, the blurry images beginning to take a more solid shape. He was looking up at several faces, all eyes on him. But the one he noticed with the most worried expression was Sora. The brunette was on the verge of tears, his lips now a tiny smile. "Riku…you're back."
He mimicked his smile and reached out to touch Sora's face. "It's okay, it was just a long dream."
Riku sat up to meet the sizable group, his parents at his side and hands resting against his arm. Dr. Aerith was sniffling, her jade green gaze checking him from head to toe like the doctor she was. Pocahontas flung herself from behind the couch and wrapped both arms around his neck.
"God, Riku, you scared us there for a second," she blurted out, "you were tossing around so much. It looked like you were in pain at times. What were you dreaming about?"
Before he could get another word out, Lilo interrupted the group with a cough. He glanced at her and noticed a plate towering lopsidedly with a stack of pancakes. "Looks like you could use some breakfast."
He laughed a bit, finding himself feeling a bit weak and being supported this time around by Sora's careful embrace. "Thanks Lilo, those look good. Give me a minute, okay?"
Lilo forked an entire pancake and took a bite out of it. She turned her head slightly, ebony eyes looking at something that had not yet been noticed by anyone else. Riku noticed her odd stare. "Is something wrong?"
She stuffed the rest of the pancake into her mouth and through a muffled gibberish of words, spoke. "Whpft wfpth ths wns?"
"Huh?" he shot back with an arched brow. "Lilo, I can't understand you."
The young girl walked up to him and with the prongs of her fork dribbling maple syrup, pointed at his back. "I said, what's with those wings?"
Riku had to slap himself to realize he wasn't dreaming.
-0-
A/N:
The end is near everyone. Just two chapters to go. Please leave a review if you haven't yet. I want to thank YouJustWatch & tellurium52 for leaving thoughtful words on the last several chapters, you guys are awesome! Hopefully I can wrap this up in an appropriate manner, so wish me the best. Thanks!