To Absent Friends Chapter 3; Unpleasant Findings.
Disclaimer: Jeannie does not now and will likely never own the characters/situations for either Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy.
Note/italics/ indicates a flashback.
Leon scowled as Yuffie tagged along on his patrol of Radiant Garden. The heartless had dwindled greatly in the past few weeks but Leon was still wary of another attack and he found his early morning patrols a great way to clear his head,
Unfortunately for the gunblader, Yuffie had decided that Leon's patrols were a great way to do some 'bonding' or as Leon thought of it a mix of flirting and nagging. If the ninja wasn't trying to pry into his past (more specifically his love-life) she was telling him he needed to be more sociable, get out and do more than patrol or train, and lighten up. Today's subject seemed to be his conversational skills.
"Ya know, between you and Cloud, it's impossible to have a decent conversation. Unless you guys are spitting out some overblown speech, getting more than two or three words in a row from you is like pulling teeth." Yuffie chattered offhandedly as she walked along the low wall leading from the bailey. Leon just kept looking down at where Ansem's castle still lay half in ruins.
"There are people who talk less than me," Leon added offhandedly as he went to look closer at some odd looking shadows. Fortunately they turned out to be simply a pair of trees that had been planted recently. "Speaking of which, has anyone seen Cloud since is confrontation with Sephiroth?" He asked half out of concern for his ally and half to steer the conversation away from his many faults.
"Aerith has," Yuffie supplied helpfully, leaping onto Leon's back earning a grumpy 'get off' for her troubles. Leon growled and tried to dislodge the girl. "She saw he re-appear in the Dark Depths after it was over. He was really out of it though, kept saying that Sephiroth was in his head and asking questions that made no sense."
"What kind of questions?" Leon asked as he stood still. Hopefully if he was lucky Yuffie would get bored and quit using him as a ride.
"I don't know, Cloud wouldn't let her say any more. You know how he can get." Yuffie said with a hint of annoyance as she slid off of Leon's back. The raven-haired ninja then turned and leaned against the railing of the steps leading down to the borough.
"Say Leon, do you believe in past lives?" Yuffie asked offhandedly as she continued to lean on the railing one leg bent backwards.
"No, why the sudden interest?" Leon asked, used to Yuffie jumping from subject to subject without any apparent reason.
"Because since Spiky came back, I've been having weird dreams and so has Arieth. I think Cid's been having them too but he's too stubborn to admit to any of that 'oggie boogie nonsense' as he calls it." Leon went to join Yuffie in looking down at the narrow streets that led to Merlin's house and their temporary headquarters.
"Well Cid's never been one much for magic and superstition." Leon added as he pushed away from the wall and began walking down the stairs. "He's convinced science can solve everything." Silence greeted his statement and for a moment he wondered if he'd said something wrong to set Yuffie off again.
"Uggh!" Yuffie cried out and Leon turned to see the girl slump over and go completely limp. Alarmed Leon rushed back to her sign and gently laid her on her back. He franticly searched for a pulse, and was relived when he found it.
Knowing something had happened, Leon gathered Yuffie up in his arms and began carrying her to Merlin's house.
As he turned around though, he caught the fleeting glimpse of something silver and black flying from a roof not too far from the marketplace. 'Sephiroth?' Leon wondered with dread as he rushed to Merlin's house.
// "There he is." Riku heard a smooth, masculine voice say as he carefully stalked into the room, his Road to the Dawn clutched tightly in his hand ready to swing at any given moment. "You might want to be careful with that thing, we wouldn't want any grave mistakes," The voice taunted and both figures laughed harshly.
Riku saw to his alarm that his parents were lying on their bed, seemingly oblivious to the two figures the silver-haired youth could make out in the shadows on either side of the bed. Only the rise and fall of his parents' chests told Riku that they still lived.
"What do you cowards want?" Riku sneered, torn between running in there and trying to slay the two intruders and wanting to retreat in hopes of luring them away from his parents.
"Cowards, he dares call us cowards brother." A second voice growled angrily and Riku saw the much larger figure step towards him. In the moonlight, Riku was able to catch a glimpse of silver hair and pale skin until the first figure stepped towards the bed and held his hand up signaling the other to stop.
"Loz, you are too indelicate and Mother wouldn't appreciate it if we were to damage to him." Riku raised his sword and tensed his legs ready to charge the other who smiled as he produced a glowing green orb from his long dark coat. He saw the pale lips mouth a command and felt a rush of warmth about him. Suddenly, all sense of danger bled from Riku and his body and eyelids felt heavy, far to heavy to resist the sudden pull into the comforting embrace of sleep. The Way to the Dawn fell from Riku's hand and clattered on the floor before disappearing entirely. The floor began to draw ever closer to Riku's face, and only the sudden appearance of the second figure at his side prevented him from hitting the floor. //
He knew that he wasn't really on the beach, that this was all a dream, but Riku didn't really know what else he could do besides lay there and listen to the waves. In a way he was glad it wasn't the void he'd been in when he first surrendered to neither the darkness nor the abyss beyond Kingdom Hearts.
In it's own way though, this place was even worse than either of them. It had been here that Riku had come back after risking everything to help restore Sora's shattered memories and it had been here that Riku had come torturously close to revealing some rather personal things to his best friend. He often came here to replay what could have been.
"It's useless to think about that." Riku told himself, not for the first time. He had already come to the decision that even if somehow Riku mustered the courage to tell Sora his feelings, there was no guarantee they would be returned. In fact, it was fear of how Sora would react to his little revelation that kept Riku from saying anything.
King Mickey's note had arrived shortly after they had arrived home. He had written that an early skimming of some of Ansem the Wise's notes had revealed some troubling aspects of the Keyblades as well as some other oddities. Mickey had also written that they shouldn't worry about it too much until he could find out more information but at the same time to keep their eyes peeled for any unusual happenings.
It was shortly after the note was found that Riku started to get the feeling he was being watched. At first he thought it was Sora and Kairi, worried that Riku would fall once again into the darkness but as time went by, the silver-haired boy began to realize that something other than his friends was watching him. Riku thought about it a little more closely and now wondered if it had been his abductors.
Riku scowled and ran his fingers through his hair. He didn't' know what those men wanted, where they were going or even if his parents were alright. Part of him wanted someone to show up and help him while part of him wondered if he was worth saving.
Demyx wished he could glare at the woman who had cheerfully cut off his head but he couldn't. For some reason, flowers weren't equipped to glare at people, even if they did insist on cutting off their heads to make a bouquet that would just wither and die eventually.
So instead Demyx had to content himself with sulking in the soil of the garden he'd found himself in after being defeated by Sora.
Not too far away, Demyx could hear the cheerful humming of the merciless flower butcher as she continued her massacre the flowerbeds. At first Demyx found her voice soothing and wonderful, but now he thought it a cruel trap to lull innocent flowers into a false sense of security. Suddenly the humming stopped and Demyx felt a shadow creep over his now headless stem.
"Cloud?" the voice asked in a worried tone. Demyx was confused, why was she talking about a cloud?
"He's here, Aerith." A male voice rasped out from above Demyx. Suddenly Demyx felt a jolt of pain as something heavy fell over him, cutting off the comforting warmth of the sun. Demyx wished he could pass out from the pain but plants didn't have that ability. So he just lay there while above him the woman shouted 'cloud' over and over again.
Goofy followed Donald to their ship half confused and half relived that they were getting away from the spooky remains of Traverse Town. Donald had been oddly sedated since their grizzly discovery (and Goofy suspected that he'd purposely disappeared for about twenty minutes afterwards to maintain his pride while emptying the contents of his stomach in some nearby bushes) even as he insisted they return to the ship immediately.
"Do you think the king will be mad we didn't finish our mission?" Goofy asked uncertainly as Donald began imputing flight codes. Donald bristled at Goofy's comment
"There's nobody there!" Donald shrieked angrily. "We looked and looked! There's no way to complete this mission!" With an angry huff, Donald then turned on the communications radio and began to fiddle with the controls.
For about twenty minutes Goofy twiddles his thumbs while Donald became more and more irritated at the controls and was on the verge of beating them with his staff.
"What's wrong Donald?" Goofy asked trying to calm his friend down.
"Dogone machine." Donald muttered darkly at the communications console. "I can't reach the castle."
"Gawsh, that's bad." Goofy thought aloud. They had always been able to contact home before. "Maybe we should try somewhere else for now." Goofy suggested before Donald could smash the radio in rage again.
"Goodness Cid, have you been on that blasted contraption all night again?" Merlin asked as he took in the site of the gruff blond passed out over is computer. Merlin scowled and went to wake the sleeping man when Cid stirred.
"…the fucking tea Sherra…" Merlin's brows furrowed at the murmured sentence. Cid was often harsh and short but he didn't curse often. As the wizard got closer, Cid remained hunched over the keyboard of his machine occasionally muttering out obscenities, technical stats and mentioned space several times.
"Cid, wake up." Merlin said shaking the mechanic none too gently. Cid didn't stir. Merlin kept shaking him roughly and even tried a small jolt of Thunder magic but still Cid kept asleep. By now, Merlin was puzzled and convinced this was no ordinary sleep.
"Merlin!" Leon shouted as he kicked open the door scaring said wizard. Merlin turned to see a distraught looking Leon carrying a sleeping Yuffie.
"Good heavens, Leon what happened to Yuffie?" Merlin asked stepping away form the unconscious Cid.
"I don't know. She passed out suddenly. Also I saw Sephiroth nearby." Leon said as he carried Yuffie over to Merlin's bed and laid her carefully on it.
"My word, and Cid in such a state too. These can't be isolated incidents. But what world Sephiroth want with them?" Merlin wondered aloud. Leon thought about this for a moment.
"Perhaps because they are friends of Cloud?" Leon offered before going to pull Cid from his seat.
"That could be but you are also a friend of Cloud, why aren't you affected?" Merlin replied sitting down at the table in the center of the circular house.
"I don't know" Leon said wondering where the blond swordsman dwelled when he wasn't sulking around the town. Then he remembered where he'd seen Sephiroth at.
"Aerith!" Merlin exclaimed banging his hand on the table and rising to his feet. Leon looked up in confusion, dropping Cid back onto the keyboard.
"What about her?" Leon asked as he once again tried to get Cid in a more comfortable position. Cid stirred slightly and mumbled something about the planet and a sick kid.
"She's a good friend of Cloud's as well." Merlin explained looking slightly distressed. He had become fond of the honey-haired girl who often brought him flowers and herbs for his potions.
"I'd say she's more than a friend." Leon said remembering the few times he'd seen them together. Seeing them so happy together made him slightly jealous for some reason.
"Not quite yet, there seems to be something that keeps them apart." Merlin replied thoughtfully. "But that's not important now, the thing is she usually pays a visit before now. She might be in trouble." Merlin said in a worried tone.
Leon lay Cid on the floor by Merlin's bed and walked up the pacing wizard.
"I'll go look for her, you stay here incase Yuffie and Cid need protection." Leon said assuringly before rushing out the door. Merlin nodded at the open door and went to shut it.
Sephiroth had been a little surprised at how crowded Aerith's garden really was. The girl seemed unaware of how many fragments of souls were attracted to her. He could easily count a half dozen as he floated over to Cloud's side. In fact there seemed to be a particularly vocal fragment directly under the spiky-haired blonde. Sephiroth let out a harsh laugh as he listened to the fragment rant about people crushing him after he'd had his head cut off and why didn't he learn to fight better when he was a human.
The former general sneered at the sight of his sleeping rival. He looked barely older than a mere boy, and yet this child had beaten him not once but four times previously. But no matter, Sephiroth had already set into place a plan that was guaranteed to shatter the young man completely. From somewhere behind him, Sephiroth could sense another coming. It was most likely that other swordsman who had befriended Cloud's little group, Sephiroth mused before fading into Cloud's mind. It was time to begin the final phase of his revenge.
Sora looked at the burned husk of Riku's house in horror. There was almost no trace of the pristine white paint job that had once covered it. Sparkling window were now gaping holes in the blackened walls that swayed ominously in the breeze.
Carefully Sora crossed under the tape warning people to keep out and walking up to where the front door once stood. The hallway looked like a bomb had exploded in it as the wreckage of furniture was strewn towards the back walls and stairways. The floorboard creaked as Sora treaded across them, up to Riku's room.
"Ah" Sora cried out as one of the stairs gave way beneath his foot. Fortunately the next one proved to be a little stronger but only just as it began to give way. Sora quickly ran up the staircase, many of the steps breaking despite his efforts to tread lightly. Once upstairs, Sora headed quickly to his friend's room
Riku's room hadn't been burnt that badly though Sora suspected that the floor was probably not that stable. It looked much more Spartan than Sora remembered it being on previously visits.
There were no posters or decorations that Sora could see, even the maps and pictures of boats that Sora remembered Riku having up were gone. The shelves contained a few books and his desk had a cup full of pens on it but besides that there was nothing in the room. No knickknacks, no radio or cd's scattered about like before just a pair of binoculars and a pair of blank, empty envelopes on the desktop.
Sora wondered if Riku had become even more withdrawn than either he or Kairi had suspected. Despite his best efforts, Riku had fallen into a gloom after their return from the darkness. He often fell back from Kairi and Sora when the three of them went out together and was constantly looking over his shoulder. Kairi often commented on how paranoid Riku had become since they'd come back to the island.
Sora shook his head in dismay; Kari didn't know the worst of it. Riku once told Sora that he could see the looks others gave him when they thought no one was looking, that they could sense the darkness or perhaps somehow knew his role in the darkness overtaking Destiny Islands.
Sora had laughed and said that Riku needed to put the past behind him, but now the brunette was wondering if he should have been a little more careful. Sora walked up to the desk again and looked at the envelopes. They were blank and there was no sign of anything in them, so why did Riku have them out? His eyes darted to the trashcan he knew Riku kept by his desk and saw some torn pieces of paper. Sora pulled them out and saw that Riku had written something, a letter perhaps, and then torn it up.
Before he could re-assemble the paper, however, a sudden and strong gust of wind shook the house ominously and Sora decided it was better if he took this puzzle home to work on.
TBC
A/N: Hope I didn't piss off any Aerith fans, I just had an idea that wouldn't let me be.
Also any suggestions/comments (hell even flames, it's cold outside) are welcome though I pretty have most of the pairings set and am trying to avoid character bashing.