Tortured From the Inside Out.
Zexion shuddered and leapt up from his seat, grabbing Namine's hand as he passed her and hauling her from her seat, the poor girl caught by surprise and squeaking with fright as the older male practically dragged her from the living room, out the front door and off in the direction of the previous explosion.
Demyx, Marluxia, Axel and Roxas ran to the door as they left, staring after them as they all thought exactly the same thing rapidly.
"Do they expect us to sit here and wait for them to come back?" Demyx asked softly, one hand curled around the door frame and the other curled against his chin innocently.
Marluxia snorted, "Probably."
"Do we obey?" Roxas chewed his lip. "I mean, we would probably only get in the way, what with no powers and all…"
Axel mimicked Marluxia's snort and hissed, "And since when have I or any of us obeyed anyone?"
Roxas gave a fair nod of his head and looked down at Demyx who smiled faintly, "Anywhere Zexy goes, I go."
Marluxia grinned, "Anywhere Nami goes, I go."
Roxas sighed in feigned annoyance, "And wherever you idiots go, we go." He gestured to Axel and himself.
The tall redhead through back his head and laughed hard, a manic sound that leapt from his stomach like it was the laugh he was really supposed to have and it frightened the three males present. Wiping his left eye slightly he grinned at them, "Seems trouble is named 'Sora'."
"Very funny." A female voice snapped. They all looked down the front garden path to the pavement where Larxene stood with Xigbar, Xaldin, Vexen and Luxord behind her. "I saw and heard the explosion at the hospital; I'm guessing Sora's there?"
Axel nodded. Xaldin sighed, "As I said before: like a plague…"
The four in the doorway raised eyebrows but Larxene waved them off as unimportant, "Come on you idiots, Sora needs us, right?" They nodded, "THEN GET YOUR ASSES MOVING!" She hollered into the well past midnight dark hour on the small island.
Axel was only mildly surprised at Larxene's sudden appearance; she always turned up when Sora was in trouble and always dragged her four friends along for the ride.
In a flash all nine of them were charging down the empty road, pavement a thing of the past as their feet pounded off the cold tarmac slashed with white paint here and there, all headed in unison to the hospital.
It began to rain.
Riku leapt to his feet and followed the retreating form of Saix down the corridor he'd gone down recently, only under slightly different circumstances. He realized that Xemnas and Saix hadn't moved Sora as he passed all the familiar signs and doors, all indicating he was getting closer to Sora.
Then he came to a slight… obstacle.
He paused at the sight, Saix had disappeared and he had come face to face with… well, nothing really…
The section of hospital that should have been there… wasn't. There was rubble everywhere, dust clinging in the air, clogging his lungs, tangling in his hair and settling on his sweat sheened face as his blank expression turned to that of horror: Sora was okay, right?
"Sora?!" Riku cried, his feet taking charge and maneuvering him down the unstable pile of rubble and entering the outside like passing through a curtain of rain to land the three feet down on the grass of the cliff, the edge only being 300 yards away. He looked around and caught a flash of pale green and silver. He looked back and saw Sora stood further away, close to the edge and tumbling waves with Xemnas watching him amusedly. "SORA!"
The brunet jumped and looked towards the sound of the voice, his clothes soaked through, his skin turned gooseflesh and his lips blue in the downpour. Sora seemed to be relieved Riku as there, his small hand pulling out for the warmth of his body to reach for Riku as Xemnas snapped his fingers.
The rain was falling hard and fast, smacking off everything it touched with an almost deafening rhythm as Sora fell to the floor, Saix suddenly appeared at Xemnas side and then dissolved into a cloud of black smoke, untouched by the rain as it consumed Sora, passing into him and making him cry out. Riku ran forwards but he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Zexion and Namine by him, their grim yet determined faces illuminated by the sudden flash of lightening, their words unheard by the thunder but comforting nonetheless.
Zexion rushed forwards to attack Xemnas when the other shifted to the left and caught Zexion's arm, twisting it back and grinning down at him. Namine shimmered and vanished from Riku's side to reappear by Xemnas, her hand slashing down to break Xemnas' hold on Zexion. Once free the lilac-haired man coiled one hand back into him then thrust it forward, intending to strike at Xemnas chest but the older man had moved.
Riku ran forwards, stopping by Zexion as they both faced Xemnas, the silver haired man's hand gripping Namine's throat tightly. They both froze as the petite girl struggled in panic.
"I could snap her neck… in an instant…" Xemnas shouted over the pounding rain and clamorous thunder, "But I could just as easily… do this…" He snapped his fingers again and it was Namine this time who dissolved and became another black cloud that, as Saix had, entered Sora. Riku and Zexion both gasped and stared at Sora as the battered teen writhed on the ground, his back arching off the ground, his lips parted in a silent scream.
Xemnas turned to face them, sadistic smirk in place, "Want to see more?" He sanpped his fingers again before either could reply and Zexion became a third dark cloud to descend over Sora.
"ZEXION!" Riku whirled around to see Demyx, followed by all of the Children of Dark, leaping from the hospital and landing cat-like on the ground, straightening with ease and racing for Xemnas, eyes narrowed and focused only on the bigger man's throat.
Xemnas sighed theatrically and snapped his fingers a fourth time as Demyx neared him. Just as Demyx had leapt from the ground to launch himself at Xemnas, his body dissolved and passed over the man like mist to collect and fall on Sora, the brunet writhing in pain as he did so. Axel made to approach but Riku blocked his path with an arm, "What do you want Xemnas?" He roared, watching Sora in pain just out the corner of his eye and it was slowly killing him, just where the hell was Xikru?!
Xemnas sniggered, "You can't stop me know, I just thought we could do this theatrically and emotionally, but apparently not. Never mind…"
Before Riku could question the man's strange words the fingers were snapped again and was all the Children of Dark, including Xemnas, who dissolved like dust to collect as one huge cloud and enter Sora as one.
The scream that tore from Sora's lips was deafening and it tore Riku's heart in two… literally.
Xikru wrapped his arms around Riku and shielded the teen from the wind as Sora was pulled upright on invisible strings, a puppet to an unseen puppeteer as he began to lift off the ground, his clothes a whirl as the rain came down harder than ever, flooding the grass they stood on instantly, the mud sucking on Riku's boots.
"Xikru! Where have you been?!" Riku screamed over the roar of the wind collecting about the cliff like a tornado, Sora at the centre.
Xikru gave a stupid grin and pressed against Riku's chest, "Where do you think?!"
The struggled a few steps and fell to their knees, clawing their way through the mud and filth, wind lashing at them, trying to pull them from the ground and throw them over the cliff as they broke through the wall of wind to stand at the eye of the storm with Sora hovering above them.
Looking up, Riku saw Sora was poised, chest out and arms pulled outwards like a doll, his mouth open, eyes wide and completely black.
"I CAN SEE YOU!" The words came from Sora's mouth but his lips didn't move and it wasn't his voice, it sounded like all of the Children of Dark speaking as one. "I THINK YOU LOOK COLD… NEED WARMING UP DON'T YOU!"
In the brief second before Sora moved, Riku realized that all of the Children of Dark's accents and habits of saying things were all mixed into one; it was oddly amusing if it hadn't been for the towers of flame that arched down at him and Xikru he would have laughed. Sparks flew and danced around them, Xikru launched himself at Riku, knocking them to the floor as one fireball threatened to decapitate Riku.
"Thanks…" Riku breathed then held his arm up high, a small wind bubble surrounding them to deflect the attacks as the fire was accompanied by lightning. The solid silveret cried out as something grazed his cheek; he looked up to see the fire and lightning arches sprinkled with ice shards and even more rain.
"Xikru!" The heart looked up at him, his face grim and set as the wind lashed around them. "You have to help me get to Sora; I can't keep this shield up much longer!" Riku yelled over the cacophony of noises, the roaring flames, crackling electricity and splintering ice.
The heart grinned up at him, "I can do it!"
Before Riku could argue the other silveret had rushed out from the bubble he'd created, arms about his face, shielding him from the heat and smoke as he ran. The attacks seemed to follow the easier target providing Riku with just enough space to move towards Sora and stand beneath him as Xikru ran, occasionally shimmering from space to space to avoid getting harmed, Riku didn't fully understand why Xikru was ghost-like but able to be hurt although it wasn't the time for details.
Lowering his arm he summoned his keyblade, the weapon pointed at the ground as he cried, "AERO!" and was propelled up into the air.
Arms outstretched he reached for Sora as the attention from Xemnas and whoever the hell it was who was controlling his poor boyfriend was turned on him, fire arching close to him, so close he could feel not only the heat but the smell as it burnt the clothes of his special light armor/tracksuit until it was singeing his skin.
"SORA!" The cry left his lips unbidden but once spoken once it refused to stop, he was screaming the name as his hands found Sora's body and locked around it, lifting it up and clutching it close as they began to fall to the floor. Suddenly he felt another arm around him and Sora, holding them both tightly and then he felt a cold press around them and then they were on solid ground and he was still murmuring Sora's name.
Xikru tried to pull them apart but Riku refused to let go and Sora was screaming at him, Xikru estimated about fifteen voices, one for each person in Sora, all screaming different things. The wind had dissipated, the fires extinguished, the storm clouds had gone and the lightning was only smoldering on the ground around the ice embedded in the ground but it was still raining, the rain soaking through their already sodden clothing. Xikru stepped back as Riku suddenly released Sora to haul him to a sitting position by the front of his hospital clothing and glare angrily at him.
"You give him back to me! Hear me!" Riku demanded.
The screams stopped and it was Xemnas alone who spoke, no one else. "You honestly think it's that simple? That we would just stop and hand Sora back to you after all our careful planning?" Sora through back his head and Xemnas laughed. "Sora doesn't even want you, poor boy's so messed up he doesn't actually know what he wants!"
"That's what happens when you screw with people's heads, you dick!" Riku hissed. "GIVE HIM BACK!"
Xemnas laughed again and then sighed, "Seems Sora's body can't handle fifteen people living inside it at once… and yet it can support seven hearts? He is surprisingly weak…"
Then Sora's body fell limp in his arms. Riku stared at Sora in shock then he crumbled, clutching the wet and slack body to him as tight as he could, inhaling Sora's scent that seemed so different but underneath it… he could smell the hint of Sora. Sora was still there and he was still fighting.
Xikru skidded on his stomach out from under the table, spoon in one hand and banana clutched triumphantly in the other, "GOTCHA!" The heart cried happily as he stood to his feet, hair messed up and in his face as he went back to the bench to continue cooking.
"So… what you're saying is that all of the Children of Dark are inside of Sora?" Kairi asked, leaning back in her chair and stretching as she tried to process everything. Xikru nodded and Kairi whistled in sad awe. Mickey rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he ran his finger in a pattern over the table before him in the large kitchen on the ship.
"You did the right thing, coming to me." Mickey said. It was meant to be a compliment but he could see the hackles rise on Kairi, Xikru and Tidus who he'd learnt was Kairi's boyfriend. Apparently he had to answer to a lot of people…
"I don't think so." Kairi stated simply and bluntly as she reclined in the kitchen chair languidly, "See, you're the reason we're in this mess in the first place."
"Don't be so insolent!" A spiky blond soldier at the left hand side of Mickey snapped only to be silenced by Mickey with a raise of the mouse's hand.
"See, if you wanted us to be remotely comfortable you would be in here without the entourage, which, by the way, appear to be armed to the teeth." Tidus growled. He saw the blonds' hold on his sword, as did everyone else, and his point was pretty much proven.
Mickey sighed, "My apologies but, after what's transpired between us, I have been advised to remain under protection around you." He gave the three of them, including the innocently stood heart, a pointed look. They returned it with an expression of 'well you're not as stupid as you look then'. The mouse sighed again. The other soldier stood silently at his right side took a step forward, his hands placed purposefully at his side.
"What exactly do you know?" The soldier asked softly, his voice gruff and stiff but contained authority recognizable of one who has been a leader before.
Kairi sighed and turned to Xikru who's shoulders sagged, he ran one hand through his hair, "Okay… well, I have left something out." Kairi's eyes went wide and she leapt up from her seat.
"Not that." She snapped firmly. Turning to face the king and his bodyguards she gave them a poisoned smile, "My apologies, King. Sadly, the nature of our situation is all your fault and that of some crazed man you employ but we will not tell you anything else, whether you are trying to undo your misdeed by helping us now is academic seeing as we feel no need to include you in our problem." She strode up to him and as she passed him she hissed, "You continue to play King and march everyone around like pawns, have fun with it, but never try it on us again. You will regret it."
Tidus rested a hand on her shoulder, "Enough, Kairi."
Her lips pursed and her face fell, shaded by her hair as Tidus took hold of her hand, "If he dies…" She hissed even quieter, "I'll come after you."
Tidus forcibly pulled her away from Mickey and, more importantly, the soldiers who were reaching fro their weapons at every threatening word that escaped her lips. Xikru gripped a bowl firmly from the worktop and made after them with a fake smile on his lips, anyone who knew Riku could tell that whatever it was who looked like him was faking. Mickey didn't know much except that all the Children of Dark had somehow been put inside of Sora and Saix and Xemnas were back.
Mickey sighed as the transparent version of Riku passed them and left the room. He had so much to atone for he didn't know where to begin.
Riku sat down at the glass door to Sora's cell. It was the highest strength and most security protected prison onboard the ship and Sora was inside, strapped down by chains, heavy wires constricting around his body to keep him still and Riku had been told their was something they had pumped into the cell to keep him from using dark powers.
He felt arms around his shoulders and turned his head slightly to see a head full of purple-red hair squeezing against him and wetness on his shoulders.
"Kairi…" He whispered softly. She squeezed harder and began to cry louder, her sobs the only noise in otherwise deathly silent prison hold. He put a hand on hers and squeezed it back reassuringly. "Please stop crying, Sora won't die… I won't let him."
She let out a wail and then let go to crawl around and sit before him, tears streaking down her face and ruining her mascara, "I-I al-al-alread-d-d-dy l-l-lost y-you a-and h-h-h-him onc-ce… I-I-I c-c-c-can't-t d-d-do it ag-ag-again!" She collapsed into tears as Tidus came and pulled her into his arms. Riku was at a loss for what to do as Xikru came and sat beside him with a huge bowl of banana spilt. Or splits… there had to be more than one banana in that mess of ice cream, chocolate sauce, sprinkles and whipped cream.
Riku sighed and leant back a bit as Tidus moved Kairi away a little so they could talk privately, "How do you do that?" He asked to Xikru who froze, spoon hanging out of his mouth, cream on his nose with a deer-caught-in-headlights look as he made a questioning squeak, Riku gave a soft laugh, "Every time I'm practically on the verge of giving up on everything or slipping into depression you turn up and somehow make everything better, just the way Sora would…" His words tailed off until he was staring forlornly at the figure in the cell again. Xikru sighed and pulled the spoon out from his mouth.
"It's like this… I am your heart… but you gave me to Sora. For years… do you not think I would have picked stuff up, literally?" Xikru twisted his face, "Okay, here's a better example. If you and Sora had a kid-" Riku choked and began to cough, Xikru grinned, "Hypothetically of course, and he was the perfect mix of both of you he would act like me. Appearance aside because I fear Sora's spiky hair will run in the family…"
"Will?" Riku span to face Xikru on his knees, "Will?! In case you haven't noticed, WE ARE BOTH GUYS!"
Xikru stared into the face of rage for a moment and then laughed, "Okay… would."
Riku sat back contently, "Thank you…" he froze, "YOU JUST DID IT AGAIN! YOU MADE ME FEEL BETTER!"
"Don't say it like it's a bad thing…" Xikru grumbled.
Running a hand through his tangled hair and over his filthy face Riku let his gaze fall on Sora again, "Heh… when I first fell for Sora, we were just kids. I was about thirteen actually, not too many years ago… Anyway, he was eleven and I was thirteen but I used to dream about living with him and we had a family. A family!" Riku said it with such passion and longing Xikru smiled wistfully, "Sora would smile at me all the time and he would come to me in the library of our house, a toddler on his hip with the most beautiful eyes, darkest blue like his own, silver hair that stuck out just like Sora's and tanned skin just like Sora's… he was the perfect mix of both of us." Riku's gaze lingered on Sora's prone form and he sighed, tears creeping their way to his eyes, "Anyway, that was a long time ago and that was just a dream." He laughed with forced cheer as he turned to Xikru, "Would you believe I believed it could happen until Sora's mother explained to me how it all worked… I was so upset."
Xikru did know. He knew all about the heartache Riku had undergone when he realized he and Sora could never truly have a family of their own. He also knew how much he was suffering being forced to watch his boyfriend in chains, tortured from the inside out.
This one was short cos i needed a change of scenery, that hospital was getting boring. if you're wondering how Sora's hospital room exploded Xemnas lost his temper... o.O
Hope you lot are still interested, Akaiba. xxx