THE PROLOGUE IS /NOT/ THE END.
Previously:
How Sora and Riku are faring. Roxas and Organization XIII try to fit in. And Kairi gets an unexpected houseguest.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
ii: night of shadows
- - - - - - - - - - - -
"W-what?" Kairi spluttered, leaning backwards and nearly stepping on Sora's shoe. "I...what...I have..."
"Riiiikuuu!" Something black and incredibly fast suddenly collided with Riku's ribs, knocking the breath out of him. "Riku Riku Riku!"
"Yuffie," Leon's voice called over the cacophony of 'Riku's', and the ninja looked up from her deathgrip on the silver-haired teen. He resisted the urge to threaten the wiry girl, in fear of what Leon would do if he did.
"Yuffie," he choked out. "Geroff...me."
"No!" the ebony-haired girl pouted, clinging tighter to him. "Riku! So you are the silver-haired god that girl Selphie was going on and on about! Since when had you gotten so hot?"
Riku felt his cheeks flame up as he struggled to push Yuffie away; and that was no mean feat. She seemed to have an irongrip more suitable to people twice, even triple, her size. He really wanted to point out the fact that he was born that way, but judging from the look on Leon's face (as he looked up over Yuffie's head), it was not a very good thing to do right now.
Beside him, Sora was looking torn between feeling concerned for Kairi, who was now looking very pointedly at Leon, and between laughing at Riku. The brunet therefore settled for a cross between a grin and a frown that decidedly looked very neutral.
Good choice.
"Yu--ffie," he breathed out once more, panic starting to swirl at the back of his head. "Please."
"Come on," Leon suddenly said, "You heard him, Yuff. Wouldn't want to kill a Wielder, would you?"
The girl did loosen her grip, but she still refused to let go. Blinking equally black eyes at Riku, she looked over her shoulder and shot a pout at the long-haired brunet. "Squallie..."
"It's Leon."
Yuffie immediately let her arms drop to the sides and leapt back in one smooth motion.
Riku looked over his own shoulder, back into the living room where they had come from. He heard Kairi let out the tiniest of gasps, but Sora stared straight at the speaker impassively.
Rinoa raised two fingers in a mock salute as she reclined easily on the couch, the smile on her cherry-red lips never reaching her cold brown eyes. She stood up and flounced downwards on one knee, crossing her chest with one blue-ribbed arm. "Her Highness, Princess Kairi Dalmasca."
The glaring omission of the Leonhart, especially when Leon was supposed to be Kairi's sister, was something Riku took mental note of to ask about later.
The brown-haired woman straightened up and inclined her head at the two of them, him and Sora. "Wielders."
Riku blinked, but Sora was already nodding his head in reply. "Sorceress Rinoa."
He raised an eyebrow, before chancing a glance back into the kitchen. Yuffie was whispering something very fast into Leon's ear, and the brunet's grey eyes were turning steelier by the minute. However, with the way the ninja was clinging onto the front of his fur-trimmed jacket, and the way she was leaning on him on tiptoe, Riku decided that they looked quite more than friends.
He turned back to Rinoa, who had now taken to scrutinizing Sora's hair and wondering how it stayed so spiky.
Biting his lip, and memory working furiously, Riku thought about how the ebony-haired sorceress had reacted upon seeing Leon and Yuffie at the last Halloween Ball. Sure, almost a year had passed since then, but he didn't think someone, especially someone like Rinoa (who he was almost certain held the same bipolarity as Sora, and held ten times the power), would let such an issue of love slide.
Or maybe he was just being paranoid, he thought, as Yuffie came forwards and started voicing out her own opinions on Sora's hair gel. The brunet was now looking quite pale; he somehow knew that the two females were adversaries for Leon's affection.
Wait. Did Leon even show affection?
"Wait, wait, wait!" A flustered Kairi suddenly burst out, slightly stomping her foot.
The three foreigners (Riku noted the slight pause in Rinoa) immediately faced the auburn-haired Princess.
She looked more flustered than ever as the full attention of the three newcomers focused on her. "I d-don't understand," she said hurriedly, bowing her head and clasping her hands together. "Sir Leon--"
"Just Leon," Rinoa suddenly said, smiling again. The smile looked more fitting on a serial killer rather than a young woman like her. "I never get tired of saying that."
The brunet referred to forced a smile.
- o -
"What...is...this...?"
Riku stared dubiously into the amber contents of his glass, before taking a tentative sip. The resulting expression was one of total confusion.
Kairi resisted the urge to throw the honey spoon at the silver-haired Wielder. "You don't have to be so melodramatic. It's just barley tea."
"But...!" he looked down forlornly, studying the drink. "...I've never had barley tea before, Kairi. I had no idea you liked these."
She blinked. She had never told any of her friends that she liked barley tea. She liked it ice-cold, served with half a teaspoon of honey, like her grandmother made it. It was like a closet obsession. She internally wondered why she hadn't told them before. While she was at Traverse Town, she remembered that she was the one who, regardless of her petite frame, almost always drank two full glasses of the amber drink.
It somehow reminded her of home...
"...barley tea! Aerith makes it quite good," Yuffie piped up. "It's like Radiant Garden's unofficial drink or something."
...but which home? The one she had grown up in, or the one Leon was now saying was hers?
Sora nodded in agreement. "Never knew you had even tasted barley tea before Traverse Town." He paused, laced his hands under his chin. and looked over his fingers at Leon. "Which brings us to the topic in mind."
"Hm," Rinoa's lips curved up into a half smile.
Leon raised an eyebrow. "You've grown up, Sora."
The brunet's sky-blue eyes turned darker, before stealing a glance at her. "A year can change everything, Leon," he said in a perfectly even voice, but his whitened knuckles betrayed his emotions. "I guess nobody has told you."
"Told me what?"
"That we're getting off topic!" Kairi said in a higher-pitched voice than she'd like it to come out, but she glared at Leon anyway. "First Sora, then me -- "
Rinoa set down her glass with a sharp clink. "Sora's lineage had nothing to do with you, Kairi," she said, ignoing the twin glares she was recieving, from what Kairi presumed, was not using the title Princess. Honestly, she preferred it that way.
Uh.
She already knew?
Riku coughed.
"Whatever," Leon cut in, waving a hand dismissively. He stirred the contents of his own glass a few times before addressing Sora. "How did my sister arrive on Destiny Islands?"
Kairi cringed at the way Leon referred to her as his sister. She winced for good measure when she realized she was hanging onto every single word of explanation that would come out of this.
"I found her washed up on the south side of the play island," the brunet said brusquely. "She was around six, wearing a white dress. Facedown, head turned to the right."
She blinked. That was over ten years ago, but Sora still remembered it?
The brunet man nodded to himself, leaning back in his chair. "Kairi..." he threw her a look, "Ansem the Wise told us to send her away."
At the sound of the name Rinoa threw a lock of hair over her shoulder nonchalantly. Kairi thought it was nothing until she noticed the violent miniature whirlpool raging inside her glass of barley tea.
Riku made a choking noise of outrage. "He what?"
"They had already known by then that she was a Princess of Heart. So Sir Ansem thought that wherever the Princess is sent off to, the supposed 'light' of her pure heart will guide her to a protector."
"Which was Sora," Aquamarine eyes flashed in the brunet's direction.
"I'm not saying anything," Holding up a hand to silence the silver-haired Wielder, Leon pressed on. "Kairi's biological parents were the real rulers of Radiant Garden; it has a castle, if you didn't notice...And that castle must've had someone to belong to, right? Ansem the Wise was only the kingdom steward after their Majesties passed on."
"Wait, wait, back up," Kairi cut in. "Ansem the Wise..." she alternated a look between Sora and Riku, "...this...he can't be the same guy Roxas and Naminé hate?"
"He is," Riku affirmed, averting his eyes in nobody's general direction. "DiZ."
"And he sent me away."
"And sent you away," the silver-haired Wielder repeated.
She crossed her arms. "I'd dearly like a word with this Ansem guy."
"He's dead," Sora said shortly, following suit and crossing his own arms over his chest. "It's over."
"Anyway!" Yuffie cut in with fake cheer. "To repeat what Leon said, Ansem was only the governor, per se, of Radiant Garden. He was the closest to the royal couple, so it was natural for him to assume authority until Kairi was eighteen."
Kairi bit her lip. "How...how did my real parents die?"
His voice faltered for a bit, but Leon shook it off. "Tron's records show they died of natural causes. The King of a stroke, the Queen of a heart attack right after." The brunet averted his eyes, at roughly the same time Rinoa closed hers. "I was sixteen around then. I remember helping Aerith drape black cloth out of the windows."
"Kairi was only three, four years old. She still didn't understand what had happened; still didn't understand that she was the rightful queen now. So we --- Yuffie, Aerith, Rinoa, Merlin, even Cloud --- treated her as if she were our own, and spread around rumors that the royal daughter had died also. We feared for her safety once people found out that she was the only heir remaining. When I turned eighteen, right before the botched Heartless experiment and Maleficent's arrival, I adopted her.
"Maleficent arrived with her Heartless, because Xehanort opened the door to darkness...they automatically went in search of Kairi. They somehow sniffed out she had a pure heart. So...instead of letting her stay and risk the Heartless taking her heart...we sent her off in a Gummi ship and hoped she'd end up okay."
- o -
"...okay, a bouquet of Farplane lilies. You do have to know that they cost a lot, considering the trouble we have to go through just to get them."
The blonde teen laughed, stud in his earlobe sparkling in the sun. He flashed her a grin, before reaching into his pocket and handing her a gold card.
Aerith raised an eyebrow as she took it. Embossed on the laminated rectangle was a serial number and the seal of Disney Kingdom, along with a barcode. Binary numbers, she presumed, spelled out initials. She recognized this card anywhere; Leon had handed her his for many a time now. "This is a Royal Treasury Account Card. You need to have express permission of the holder to use it."
"Or all I need is to tell you the PIN code."
She stepped over some buckets of chapel water gingerly, and the blonde teen followed suit. "True," she said out loud as she made her way into the main shop.
Aerith looked over her shoulder at the customer, still quite curious. He had shown up no less than ten minutes before, asking for Farplane lilies. As far as she knew, only a handful of people knew what Farplane lilies were. Still only a tenth of those people knew what the royal-purple lilies were for.
"I'm Demyx, by the way."
"Aerith Gainsborough," she offered in reply, pushing open the back door into her main flower shop. She made her way over to the link to the Town System and swiped the card.
"You're pretty famous even outside this World, you know," Demyx said airily. "They say you can get any flower, for a price."
She nodded in agreement, quite pleased that publicity was growing. "Okay, punch in the code," she instructed, moving away to write a reminder to tell Rinoa to get some of the flowers later. She had only recently announced that the said lilies were for sale; the ebony-haired sorceress had told her those things always bloomed at some place that she had come across.
Aerith shivered involuntarily. She had last seen the girl almost ten years ago, and back then, she was still quite sweet and innocent. But when she had come back, the only things that haven't changed were her age...and her appearance. Everything else...down the drain. Sure, Rinoa almost always hid behind her customary smile, but that smile was fake, and the nonchalant attitude she had shown towards Leon and Yuffie's relationship was even faker.
But Leon insisted it wasn't.
"Done," Demyx's voice rang throughout the shop, the card held securely between his fingers.
She handed him a calling card. "Pick it up the day after tomorrow."
"Yeah," the mulleted teen cheered. "Thanks, Aerith."
He pushed the glass door open and disappeared into the crowd of people in the Marketplace.
Shaking her head, she paused for a moment before remembering she still had some watering to do. She retraced her steps back into the rear of the shop, gathering some things and pulling on gloves on the way.
Aerith started humming a tune as she pushed the back door open, and froze.
"What areyou doing?"
- o -
"And she did," Leon concluded, tilting his head in Sora's general direction. "At least, I'd like to think so."
He looked over at the brunet Wielder's direction, and forced the urge to cringe down his throat. Sky-blue eyes stared back at him with a ferocity that told him Sora had picked up the subtle hints of his challenge to prove that being Kairi's guardian was his duty.
He had heard stories.
About how Sora had saved Destiny Islands, how he had turned into a Nobody, how he came back.
But mostly how he had become a Nobody. That meant his heart had already been released from his body twice. That meant he was extremely unstable.
Leon also wanted to know if Sora could balance two colossal tasks at the same time. Being a Keyblade Wielder and being a Knight at the same time. A Knight who was supposed to protect his sister.
His gaze was extremely unsettling. They didn't belong on such a youthful face; somehow, Sora's eyes looked disturbingly similar to Rinoa's, when she wasn't in Angel Wing. There was something there; a sort of innocence. A tightness behind the eyes that spoke volumes of hardship and sacrifice. There was also a sort of sharpness that said they both had witnessed bloodshed, and was not new to it.
He wondered if the stories that Sora had killed were true.
Remembering the cheerful, optimistic, and most importantly, pure boy he had met in Traverse Town before, it seemed like the Sora before him was a completely different person.
There it was again. The similarity to Rinoa was outstanding. If Rinoa's change was on the inside only, so was Sora's. It took the Wielder one year to gain that look. She took ten years to do so. Rinoa changed because of the darkness. But Sora...all he knew was that he had turned Nobody. But how...
The hairs on the back of his neck prickled uncomfortably, as the brunet Wielder's eyes never left his own.
His left eye flashed yellow, and a ghost of a smirk pulled up the edges of his lips.
And just like that, Sora had leant back and laced his fingers behind his head, yawning.
Leon followed suit, leaning back into his chair and trying to calm to pounding of his heart. The boy's eye hadn't flashed Heartless yellow, right? He was just too damn paranoid.
Wasn't he?
- o -
"What areyou doing?"
Roxas froze, unable to take his hand off the security-system failsafe installed behind the flower shop.
He was so screwed. Demyx hadn't yelled loud enough. He was supposed to let Roxas know when he was finished distracting Aerith. But no, number Nine had probably thought he had supersonic hearing or anything of that sort.
Or maybe Demyx hadn't counted on the shop being that large; while it looked small from the street, when one entered, it was like Marluxia's greenhouse. Large, stuffy, and very dangerous. Beautiful, he had to admit, because of all the flowers planted in neat rows.
But anyway, back to the situation.
Piercing jade eyes narrowed, and Roxas cowered. Man, this lady could stare. And when she stared, it was like he was paralyzed or something. She would make a truly fearsome mother someday.
"What are you doing?" she repeated, planting both latex-gloved hands on her hips.
"Uh...I was...you know..."
"No. I don't."
"I was checking out the plants for our independent study!" he blurted out, his legs starting to cramp from keeping crouched for so long.
Aerith leant forwards. "Really?"
Roxas was internally grateful that he had chosen to wear his Twilight-Town clothes rather than his Organization XIII coat. The worst thing Aerith was probably presuming he was doing, because of his nonthreatening appearance, was stealing or damaging her plants. Not stealing or damaging the town's defense system. Yeah. Not that.
He was even more grateful that it wasn't Leon or Tifa or --heaven forbid-- Yuffie who caught him.
Emerald eyes stared at him. He stared back as best as he could, but he was slowly losing the match. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled as she leant even closer.
Oh, cripes, Superior was going to kill him for this.
Maybe after Naminé killed Demyx and him for taking her RTA card without permission. Hey, it was just lying around. It wasn't their fault that it was just theirs for the taking, no, for the borrowing. Yeah. That was it.
Farplane lilies cost only a thousand money per stem, anyway.
He cringed. Naminé was going to kill him.
"Ah!" Aerith had seemed to reach a conclusion, and it seemed not to involve any violence. Roxas let out a thankful sigh.
"I know what you're doing," she said in a superior tone, and Roxas was able to stand up as she walked away. He didn't dare to portal out; who knew what weapon Aerith held? "You're checking out Radiant Garden, aren't you?"
"Eh?" Nobody or not, Roxas was feeling total bewilderment right now.
"You're Sir Roxas Dalmasca, right?"
I'm screwed, I'm screwed, the small voice in his head kept repeating, and Roxas forced a smile. Nodded. Tried shoving a fistful of something down that small voice's throat. Anything for it to stop. "Yes, I am."
To add to his confusion, the brunette laughed pleasantly. "Don't worry. Our defenses are top-notch; the Princess Kairi will be safe here."
He stared at her, cold sweat running down his back in rivulets.
"Don't play dumb with me, Roxas," she laughed again, now picking up a glass watering can with sky-blue liquid inside it. Aerith stared watering a row of plants with white and orange flowers. "You must've come here to check if the Garden can protect Kairi, right?"
Roxas decided that the most intelligent thing to do was to play along. He feigned relief. "Well..." he stuck out his lower lip for good measure, trying to look exasperated, although he knew nothing about what he was talking about. "I told her that Radiant Garden's one of the most heavily guarded Worlds, but no..."
"Awww..." to his surprise, Aerith reached over and pinched his cheek. "You're so protective."
"Hey!" he said, annoyed. It only added to the feigned emotions, however.
"You should just watch out for Leon," the brunette continued, tossing her braid over her shoulder. "His overprotective brother complex is frightening. But..." she sighed, continuing in a manner that was more talking to herself than talking to Roxas, "...it was ten years before we found her. Leon wasn't sure when Kairi first arrived in Traverse Town, since he crown pendant was missing. But after Rinoa told me we should try to find out more about Radiant Garden's past...well...we finally found our Princess."
"Uh..." Roxas blinked warily, starting to back away. "...yeah. Uhm. I'll go off and tell Kairi then. T-thanks, Aerith."
She waved him off with a smile and a dismissive hand, and resumed humming to herself.
He sprinted off, turning into the first deserted alley he found and opening a portal. Bad point: Aerith saw him, and now knew that Roxas had visited Radiant Garden. Good point: he now knew something that would probably bring back memories for the Superior.
Another good point: He wasn't caught!
Another bad point: Leon and the others were bound to ask how he knew Kairi was Radiant Garden Princess...or whatever.
Still another good point: Roxas could now probably go back and forth from Radiant Garden with the excuse that he was 'checking it out for Kairi'.
Still another bad point, he thought, as he stepped into the portal and walked into the Corridors. He nervously adjusted his jacket, as he walked out into his room at the Castle that Never Was.
Superior had better give him compensation for this mission.
"Roxas Dalmasca! Where the hell is my RTA card?h!"
- o -
Sora watched Leon's little inner debate with amusement. People often told him that his stares were the stuff of nightmares that kept children up at night. Maybe it had gotten to Leon. He hoped it had gotten to the brunet.
Who was he to assume that he wasn't capable enough to guard Kairi? The fact that he had said that he was the auburn-haired teen's older brother didn't make it true. For all he knew this could be another plot.
Dang, you have to stop being so paranoid.
"I have a question," he spoke up, breaking the silence after Leon's explanation. "Where's your proof?"
"Where did you get that crown necklace?" the brunet man countered.
Sora narrowed his eyes. Why did Leon have to be so hostile? "I--"
"I gave it to him, for his birthday," Riku cut in, aquamarine eyes watching the both of them carefully. He was clutching the sides of his glass convulsively with pale hands, and if Sora watched closely, they were shaking minutely. Eh?
There was a familiar prickling at the back of his throat. He just couldn't place it.
"Did you buy it?" Leon pressed on.
"No," the silver-haired teen said quietly, but in a noticeably strained voice. Sora leant forward on his elbows. "I found it. On the beach. It the night after Sora found Kairi."
Steel-grey eyes flashed for a moment, and Leon allowed himself a smile. "Point taken."
"Eh?"
Reaching up to the nape of his throat, Sora undid the clasp of the crown necklace and held it in his hand, watching it under the light of the swinging kitchen fixture. It suddenly hit him, and he shut his jaw before it even dropped open. He had seen this shape repeatedly during his visits to Radiant Garden. "This..." he stood up, and fastened it around a surprised Kairi's neck, "is yours, right?" he said absently.
"Seventeen-carat pure mythril," Rinoa said, the tips of her fingers touching together as she followed the movements of the crown necklace as the auburn-haired girl examined it. Sora was forcibly reminded of a cat watching a particularly tasty mouse. "Provides third-level spell protection, and doubles magic defence. A family heirloom. The official symbol of Radiant Garden, and proof that the bearer is of the royal family."
"Third-level?" Riku raised an eyebrow. "Third-level spell protection?" he turned to Sora. "Hey. Did you know that?"
He shook his head in the negative, settling his hands on the backrest of Kairi's seat. She looked over her shoulder up at him, her beryl eyes questioning.
"Add it to those magical clothes of Sora's," Yuffie said, eyes half-lidded, "No wonder he's near invulnerable."
"Sorry," Stroking Kairi's hair, he frowned. "I had no idea it was yours."
"It is, Sora," she replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. She undid the clasp and cradled it carefully in a palm, before handing it up to him. "You need it more. I'm giving it to you."
They stared at each other for a moment, reaching a silent understanding.
There was that prickling at the back of his throat again.
"Excuse me," Riku suddenly stood up, the legs of his chair scraping against the tiled floor. "I'll be right back."
The silver-haired Keyblade Master backed out of the kitchen and out into the living room, going to the restroom, no doubt. Sora took the necklace and replaced it around his neck, before staring worriedly at the direction Riku had gone off to. He looked quite pale, paler than usual.
"Yuffie," Leon suddenly spoke up, touching a gloved hand to the girl's shoulder. She had pillowed her head on the kitchen table, and was breathing in the evenness of sleep. At Leon's touch she twitched, but remained asleep nonetheless.
"She's been running around quite a lot," Rinoa suddenly spoke fondly, before smiling and turning to him and Kairi. "She and that girl...Selphie, was it? They were giggling and generally wreaking mischief. You should never leave them alone together, or you might not have to wait for the Heartless to destroy this World."
Sora blinked. Either Rinoa was a very good actor, or she really did have a soft spot for Yuffie. The tone of voice and the geniune smile confused him.
It, also, evidently confused Leon, who was now trying hard but miserably failing not to stare at the sorceress.
Kairi laughed, apparently finding nothing amiss. "Does Yuffie like sugar?"
"Pocky," Rinoa named the sweet, chuckling slightly. "We need to order a whole case every week."
"Same with Selphie!" she clasped her hands together, leaning forward. "She's scary when she's just finished with a box. Her tackles can seriously injure whenever she really gets into it."
"Does she really? She and Yuffie hugged it other like they were long-lost sisters...or something. I swear, the earth under them cracked with the amount of hyperness they gave off."
Sora, at this point, was confused. Really confused. Momentarily pushing aside the fact that he quite disliked Leon, he exchanged glances with the other brunet.
Leon shrugged, expression quite bewildered for somebody who rarely showed emotion.
He turned his attention back to his Princess and the sorceress, who were now giggling like they were the long-lost sisters. Judging from the ferocity that Rinoa was showing earlier, this side of her, the rather normal side, the one like the seventeen-year old that she was stuck perpetually as, was understandably questionable.
"Hey, sorry," Riku suddenly appeared at the kitchen doorframe, looking like he had splashed himself vigoriously with cold water. He hesitated for a moment, taking in the scene of Rinoa and Kairi holding in their giggles, of Yuffie sleeping soundly on the table, and of Leon and Sora exchanging awkward glances with each other.
"...uh," he managed to say coherently, before eyeing Sora. "I thought that was Kairi's," he said, motioning to the necklace.
"She gave it to me," he said shortly.
"Oh. Okay." Riku blinked a few more times for good measure. "Hey Kai, I met your dad, I mean," he shot a look at Leon, "The Mayor. He's saying that no matter who your visitors are, they can only stay until midnight. At least, until he gets to meet them himself."
"Oh, shoot," the redwine-locked teen said helplessly, before turning to Leon. "It's almost midnight. Uhm...do you have a place to stay?"
"We--"
"They can stay with us," Riku suddenly voiced out, crossing his arms, eyea glowing aqua as he was silhouetted against the doorframe. He didn't look at Sora; instead, his gaze focused on Leon. "Right, So?"
He didn't get what Riku was trying to get across, but he shrugged a yes nonetheless. "Sure, Ri." He was even surprised by the sudden use of his nickname, but what the hell. "You three can squeeze in."
"Hey," Rinoa suddenly said, addressing Leon. "I thought we were going back right after we tell Kairi."
The brunet hesitated for a moment, clearly surprised by the rather normal way (without the normal spite that one would direct at somebody who exchanged her for another girl) Rinoa spoke to him. "I'm not leaving without my sister."
After glares in triplicate, however, he amended his terms. "Or at least, until she tells me her decision whether she goes or stays."
"It's settled then!" Kairi said happily, clasping her hands together. She stood up and motioned for Sora to come closer, tugging on his hand as she pulled him towards Riku.
"Are you okay with this?" she asked the silver-haired teen.
He shrugged. "As long as nobody gets violent. I'm sure that Leon will be finding out ways to keep tabs on you any--"
"Sshh!" she silenced him with a finger over his lips. "Not here. We'll talk about this whole royalty thing, I promise. Right now, you two should keep an eye on them."
Sora grinned. "You sound like you're planning something."
Kairi only smiled in reply, before turning around and bowing in the three foreigners' direction. "I'm sorry, but we'll have to continue this tomorrow."
He watched as Leon deftly picked up Yuffie, bouncing her on one knee to get her settled before looking pointedly at Riku. Rinoa had set to arranging the chairs once more, not appearing to be the least bothered by the brunet's affectionate gesture.
"So," the sorceress put her hands on her hips. "Where to? I hope you have hot water and good shampoo."
Sora raised an eyebrow. He had no idea how to make head or tail of the sorceress' disposition. One moment she's a cold, aloof woman, the next moment she's the warm teenage girl one would expect of her appearance. Maybe bipolarity came with the package of power, dark or not.
He suddenly realized Riku was looking at him expectantly, and he felt embarassment paint his cheeks scarlet. "Oh, right."
He rummaged in his belt-bags for the thalassa-keychain, and summoned the Keyblade. Sora changed the Keychains so that the Kingdom Key transmuted into the angelic Oathkeeper. Riku was going to use the Corridors of Darkness to get them back quickly to their home, but Sora had to temporarily disable the protective wards of light he had placed around Kairi's home.
He pointed the Oathkeeper downwards, and the whole floor shone with a rather muted light. He knew that outside the light was tracing the outline of a large heart; symbolizing that he was drawing on the power of Kingdom Hearts to keep Kairi safe.
He let the light fade, and swung the Keyblade over his shoulder. "Okay, Riku. Go."
The silver-haired teen swept out a hand and opened a portal, the ribbons of darkness twirling around them. Sora felt particularly affected as he lifted up a hand; the ribbon of black started curling around his fingers in a caress.
He remembered it doing the same thing, back when he was half--
"Hey, Sora!" Riku's voice called him as if from a very long distance. A hand waved repeatedly in front of him. "Anyone in there? Oi!"
He blinked, and stepped backwards. Rinoa, Leon, and Yuffie had already gone through the portal, and Riku was staring at him with a bemused expression on his face.
"You can walk back, right?"
Sora blinked, trying to comprehend what Riku was saying. Oh, right. He was supposed to restore the wards after the portal was closed. It meant that he was going to have to go back on his own. "Yeah. Sure. See ya."
His best friend nodded, and disappeared into the oval of darkness. The portal faded away, as did the strings of black it left in its wake.
There was that irritating prickling again.
Gritting his teeth, he pointed Oathkeeper at the floor again, and called on his protective wards. The glow from the floor was much brighter this time, meaning that Kingdom Hearts had lent its power once more.
He walked up to the front door and stepped outside, taking Kairi's small and warm hand in his as they stood together on her front porch. The thalassa-shell charm glinted as he dismissed the Keyblade, and he pocketed it.
Stupid prickling. Even more stupd was the fact that he couldn't place where he had felt it before.
Trying to bite back the feeling, Sora grinned as he turned around to face Kairi. Her blue-violet eyes glowed in the moonlight as she stepped up to him, and placed her arms around his waist, resting her head on his shoulder.
"You okay?" he asked, knowing full well that it was a question that nobody answered truthfully.
"Yeah..." her voice sounded muffled. "It's just...too much, you know? One moment you're the crown prince, another, I'm the crown princess. I'm wishing it's our very own fairytale, but it's not..."
"Don't worry, Kai," Sora comforted her, tucking her head under his chin as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"
You could get killed.
"I know I shouldn't worry, but still," she looked up, and pressed a kiss to his lips. "I can't help it."
He returned the favor, but took a tad bit longer. When he pulled back his cheeks felt warm, and a blush was playing across the bridge of the auburn-haired teen's nose. He grinned bashfully, and took both her hands in his. "Told ya. Don't worry. Now get some sleep."
She nodded. "Goodnight. Love you."
"Love you too."
He watched as Kairi smiled at him once more and turned on her heels, pushing the front door open and locking it with a audible click.
Sora sighed as he hopped down the porch and onto the paved walkway. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he started to walk, the evening breeze ruffling his spikes. The moon cast his shadow on the road, and he could see his hair swaying in time to the breeze. He chuckled to himself.
The prickling was getting worse. Frowning, he stopped under a lamppost and furrowed his eyebrows, wondering what it was and why it felt so--
He had two shadows.
And the other one had its arm slung around the original one's shoulders, making a victory sign with its other hand.
His blood ran cold, and he froze in his tracks, eyes wide. He realized what the prickling was, and why it had felt so familiar. Why Riku had to rush out of the room. He probably couldn't take the stress of holding him back.
No wonder his throat prickled everytime he looked at Kairi, Leon, Yuffie, or even Riku.
Mmmm. Hearts.
"Hell, no."
Buddy-boy...Antiform's voice echoed slyly in his head, and the other shadow jumped free, slinking back into the other shadows of the night.
"Oh Creator, no."
Pssh, even if you name them all supernatural things, it won't change anything. Ahahah. Buddyboy...
The prickling at the back of his throat was his familiar craving for blood.
...I'm baaack.
Antiform giggled.
The bloodlust hit him like a truck, and Sora whirled around in desperation, trying to call on the Keyblade; the Kingdom Key. It came with a terrible familiarity: the Reverse Keyblade appeared in his white-knuckled fist. Fighting back a yell he dismissed the Keyblade and fell to his knees, trying to blur out the craving for blood.
Oooh, I've missed you, buddyboy.
"Shut it, Dar--" his breath hitched, he had almost used that term of endearment for Antiform.
Darkie. Call me Darkie, buddyboy. Just like the old times, yeah?
He clutched an arm around his stomach, and used the other to steady himself on the concrete. He didn't wan't to lose control here, not when the nearest house was Kairi's -oh God no-, he needed a blood pack and he needed it now.
Whoosh.
He looked up at the sudden sound, and was horrified to see a portal to the Corridors right there in front of him. The tendrils of black were starting to reach out to him once more.
In his desperation, he realized, he had summoned a portal. Of darkness. When he was supposed to be of the light.
You can't teach an old dog new tricks, yanno. Or in your case, you can't teach a dark Wielder tricks of the light. Or whatever the hell applies to you.
"Darkie, shut up," the words slipped out of his lips so easily he frightened himself.
See? See? Just like old friends.
Letting out a muted roar of anguish, Sora managed to get to his feet and he stumbled into the portal, knowing that it would lead him into his room. He had never bothered to put up the wards in his room again, thinking that he'd never need it.
Or because...Antiform gave him the mental picture of tapping his chin thoughtfully, ...you knew that someday, you yourself would need to portal back. Darkness will never let you go, Sora-poo...
And the most unsettling thing was, Antiform was right.
- o -