Title: Into the Mist
Rating: T , I'm just not feeling a lemon for this one xD but the rating may go up later.
Warnings: Shounen-ai, yaoi, boyxboy love (of the SoraRiku variety with a hint of AkuRoku on the side, oh, and there's a dash of SoraKairi on the side, but that's not a yaoi )
Summary: I wish I'd been there for him. I wish I'd been the shoulder he could cry on… I wish I hadn't been so stupid.
Its been two years since Sora, Riku, and Kairi returned to Destiny Islands, but it didn't take that long for Sora's friends to find out just how much he'd changed during their travels. There's something sinister haunting Sora's heart, and as Destiny calls again and the Keyblades return to their wielders, they find out just how much darkness is lurking in the shadows.
Spoilers: Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or worlds seen in this fanfiction, they belong to Disney and Square Enix, and I am just using them for my own personal pleasure D
Chapter One
It was a beautiful day, full of sun, warm, with birds lighting on branches and singing their joy to the world. Animals were out and about, and not just those of the four leg variety. As three loud chimes echoed through the air, the ground was suddenly crawling with people yelling, laughing, and trying to talk over the dull roar around them. The sun was out, twinkling out of a blue sky, not a cloud in sight, and the air was warm with the faint smell of the sea floating up the hill towards the walls of the large white building. A tree was standing near the outer wall of the school, solitary and solemn, offering some reprieve from the sun bearing down on the earth. Nestled on the ground in between two of its gnarly roots sat a pale boy, silver hair tied back loosely, bangs falling to shield aquamarine eyes from the glare of the sun. A book was propped open in his lap, and slim fingers were playing with a page, flicking it up and down absently.
It was summer, reaching the end of the school year, and it was peaceful. Those things in itself should have translated to excitement, energy, and joy to Riku, and yet he just couldn't bring himself to feel the same excitement his classmates basically oozed. Summer or not, it was just too peaceful on the islands. At first that peace had been a welcome change from how hectic their lives had been, but as soon as he became aware that he couldn't make life exciting again even if he tried, his relief at being home again faded to a dull annoyance. The first to go had been his magic. One day he could still shield Sora's various thrusts and slashes with the darkness still clinging to him, one day he could still call forth the spirits of fire to help him counter Sora's own magic, and the next he couldn't. It was as if he was suddenly snapped dry, cut off from certain awareness. He hadn't realized how much he'd come to rely on magic to enhance his senses until it was gone. His hearing dulled, he couldn't sense others coming nearer, and even his eyesight was less sharp, less accented by both the magic and the keyblade he had clung to so tightly.
A week later, he lost the keyblade. He still remembered that fight, remembered blocking Sora's fists with his own before the brunet summoned his own keyblade, already transforming with the magic of the ultima keychain attached to the end. He remembered raising his own hand in automatic retaliation, body automatically shifting to the position to raise his own keyblade in a block… but nothing happened. He remembered seeing the shock in Sora's eyes as he swung downward, and remembered knowing that the other wielder's blow was going to leave a scar. True enough, Sora couldn't stop the downward swing in time, and one of the many ledges of his keyblade caught on Riku's shoulder, ripping the clothes and the skin before his key flickered slightly before shimmering and disappearing in a shower of sparkles that were soon washed away by the waves. The only things left to even hint that keyblades had actually existed in the world were the small key chains attached to each of their belts. Over time, even more things faded from their minds to the point where the memories were foggy at best.
Names were the first thing to go, and it happened sooner for Kairi than for the boys. All of a sudden, she just couldn't hold onto the memories of Hayner, Pence, and Olette, all she had were faces and a faint sense of remembrance. She knew the stories, she knew what had happened during those years, but she couldn't remember them. Riku was next, and more often than not he welcomed the comforting fog over his memories because they blocked most of the pain and humiliation. It took Sora a while to forget, and as much as he recited all the names of his friends over and over again, even he couldn't stop the deterioration. Finally, his only vivid memories were of Donald and Goofy, because they had become a part of him over the years.
So, two years later, all that remained as a reminder of their travels were far off, foggy memories, a few silver scars, a handful of key chains, and a framed letter with a mouse-head seal, the words faded into the parchment from sun and constant fondling.
The boy sitting beneath the tree shifted slightly, flipping the page before the wind could do so for him, and slowly lifted his eyes when the crunching of gravel indicated someone's approach. Most of the people had filtered out of the main yard of the school by then, and the roar had diminished to a slight mutter from the straggling groups.
"There you are," came the voice of the owner of the legs Riku was currently faced with. Instead of glancing upward to see the stranger's face, he merely glanced downward, taking in the large, awkward shoes before making a noncommittal "hn" sound and returning to the safety of his book. The brunet flopped down next to him, leaning half against his friend's shoulder and half against the tree before stretching his legs out in front of him, yawning. "I was afraid you ditched me again Riku," he said, teasing grin on his face.
"Keep being annoying and I'll do it," Riku said stonily, trying his best to sound threatening. To anyone else, it would have worked, but Sora was used to his masochist attitude, so he just snorted in disbelief before waving over the girl who had finally emerged from the main building, a little out of breath and slightly frantic looking. Riku glanced up at her for a second before returning to his book, inclining his head in greeting as she stepped closer, frantic appearance slowly morphing into agitation and annoyance, probably more at the brunet than at him, so he was deeming it completely safe to just tune her out… again.
"Sora!" she scolded, glaring down at the boy with her hands on her hips. Sora winced at her tone, and bowed his head slightly, guiltily. "You said we were meeting at the library! This isn't the library!" she tossed her head slightly, a stereotypical girly motion that Sora had recently informed Riku he imitated. The other boy just replied that his bangs were long and annoying, but he wasn't cutting them because they helped keep the sun out of his eyes. "And hello Riku," she added, tone slightly less annoyed as she greeted him.
Riku just grunted dismissively before Sora rolled forward onto his knees, giving him a little more height as he addressed the girl. "But Kairi, the library's boring! And its almost summer vacation! No self respecting teenager should be caught anywhere near the library!"
As Kairi leaned forward, an ugly scowl crossing over her otherwise beautiful face, Riku merely leaned back against the tree further, raising his book and flipping a page. If they were going to argue over him, he wasn't going to tolerate them blocking his view as well.
"We have summer reports to do, Sora! Would you rather do it now and get it over with, or do you want to wait until the few days before summer ends? I for one, don't want to spend the last week of my summer studying," she said, and as Sora sputtered slightly, still attempting to argue, but not finding any arguments popping into his head. "Yeah, didn't think so," the girl said smugly, picking up the bag she had dropped to the ground and throwing it over her shoulder.
"B-but, Kairi!" Sora finally yelled out, finally finding words again, hands flailing. "Its almost summer! Summer!! You shouldn't even be thinking about working on school stuff! I-I mean," there, he whipped his head around, blue eyes searching Riku's form pleadingly, knowing full well that Riku could easily argue with Kairi and win, it had something to do with how Sora and Kairi responded to situations with yelling and getting flustered, while he just took everything in an icy stride, not caring much either way. Really, if Sora wanted to get technical about it, Riku was a bona fide sociopath. "Riku! Help!" he begged, grabbing onto the book in front of Riku's face and pulling it down, ignoring his friend's twitching eyebrow and giving his best and biggest puppy dog eyes.
"No fair!" Kairi gasped out, hitting Sora lightly on the head with a closed fist. "You always run to Riku for help," she stated before whirling on the silver haired boy, mouth in a determined line and eyes dangerous. "And you always agree," the girl accused, holding that annoyed glare of hers for only a second before throwing her hands up in the air, giving up. "Fine, fine, fine! We'll do the report at the end of summer, Sora, and we'll force Riku to help us."
The brunet jumped up, loosening his hold on his book, and punched a fist in the air, allowing a whoop of joy to escape him as he danced around. Riku sighed and closed the book, not really that annoyed at being dragged into helping his friends again. Really, it was inevitable, Sora and Kairi were a year below him, and as fun as it was whooping Tidus and Wakka's butts constantly, even that got old.
Grabbing his bag and slinging it over his shoulder as he got up, Riku put a hand on the smaller boy's head, stopping his movements as a small smile tugged at his lips. "Vacation?" he supplied, and a blinding grin appeared on Sora's face as his head frantically nodded, hands reaching up to latch onto Riku's wrist as he practically bounced up and down in badly suppressed excitement. Kairi groaned and Riku didn't need to see her to know she was rolling her eyes at them.
"Don't you guys get sick of the island? We go there every day," she said, trying to sound like she really was sick of the place. However, by Sora's light snicker and his unfaltering grin, Riku knew that Kairi was still smiling.
"Last one to the dock gets to row?" Sora asked Riku, who raised a brow at the smaller boy, smirk twisting at his lips. The brunet really did know how to get the impassive teen to actually look forward to something.
"You're on," he replied, and with two thumps of bags being dropped on the gravel, both boys were off, scrambling for an early lead before slipping into an easy sprint. Kairi blinked at the suddenly empty spots her friends had been occupying before sighing and picking up the discarded bags, slinging them around her shoulders along with her own.
"I didn't even say go!" she called halfheartedly at their retreating backs, chuckling to herself as she followed them down the street and towards the small docks.
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The one good thing about the small island was that it was completely and utterly theirs. It was an undeveloped stretch of land with only hand built shacks and tree houses lining the shores and tucked into the small forest. No one owned the beach, and the town didn't even enforce laws on it. Really, it would be the ideal spot for a hazing, a drunk party, or for someone to sneak away to do some sort of illegal act, but no one ever did. It was as if that spit of land was sacred, almost. Whoever came to that island did so to have fun, to explore, and to revisit childhood long after they outgrew it.
So, as soon as Riku tied the boat to the dock (still smirking smugly as Sora rotated his slightly sore arms and pouted, his fault for loosing the bet) a new excitement seemed to come over the three teens, melting away the years and experiences until they were just three young kids coming to play soldier on the beach, whacking at each other with sticks tied together to resemble swords. Riku glanced over to where Sora was currently running down the shore towards the small island with the paopu tree, whooping at the top of his lungs, and laughed, shaking his head at the boy's actions.
Anyone who knew the three would think that they would avoid this place because of what happened… because it was where Riku's decent into darkness began, where Sora was ripped away from his friends and thrown into a harsh destiny, where Kairi slipped into darkness and lost her heart, but for the small group, they just couldn't stay away from the islands seductive pull. There were too many good memories of the place to abandon it due to that one night.
Riku followed Sora and Kairi to the shack leading up to the island, grabbing his practice sword from where it lay next to the healing circle someone had placed inside the shack, as if they had predicted that boys would beat each other senseless on the small island in the name of fun. Pushing open the door and walking across the short bridge, Riku felt some adrenaline laced excitement flood through his body, straightening his normally slumped over back and putting a bounce in his usual lack luster step. He pulled a band off from his wrist and reinforced the loose tie already keeping his long hair off of his face as he faced Sora, who was tossing the sword from hand to hand, grinning wickedly. Kairi was perched on the tree, legs hanging over the side and a warm smile on her face.
As Riku gripped his sword lightly, falling into an easy fighting stance, one hand hovering near his waist as the other waved the sword in front of him, the girl raised her hand, clearing her throat.
"Okay guys, stop at the first broken bone," she said sternly before her grin spread even more. "First one to force the other to his knees five times wins. Ready? Go!" Kairi dropped her hand, and as soon as her lips formed the syllable of the 'o' the air seemed to change.
Sora's aura was electric, full of fighting excitement and an almost deadly intent to win. Even without his magic enhanced senses, Riku could sense it, and knew his own was blazing just as fiercely. Sora raised his sword as he jumped into the air, using the weight of his body to intensify the downward strike, and Riku raised his own wooden sword above his head, countering Sora's move with his sword as he let the brunet's momentum take him, twisting his body to the side in order to roll around the brunet, taking his back and hitting out with a swipe of his own, aiming at the small of Sora's back.
The brunet, predicting this attack, allowed himself to drop to a crouch, letting Riku's swipe hit the ends of his hair before pushing upward, flipping in the air to land on his feet, raising his sword instinctively to meet Riku's thrust as the boy suddenly appeared in front of him.
They parried each other's blows until their hands felt numb and their shoulders burned from the effort. Twice Riku forced Sora to his knees, and once Soar returned the favor. Sweat was soaking into their uniforms, and their lungs were heaving for air. Both boys were tired, and hated themselves for it, because no matter how many memories faded over the years, they both still remembered how easy fighting had been before, how they could battle heartless and nobodies for hours without getting tired, how their bodies had been reinforced by the very power of the keyblades they wielded years ago.
Riku grit his teeth in annoyance, forced backwards by a sudden energy surge in Sora's attack, and felt even his legs screaming in protest as he met each blow, determined not to let even one land on his skin. He already had at least five bruises emerging on his pale skin, and knew Sora was suffering the same. Annoyance overtook his mind, and he cursed at his weakness, at his muscles, telling them to get over it and push onward, reminding himself of days where such exercises had barely served as a warm up. From the muttered curses he heard falling from Sora's lips, and the slightly stiff way the boy wielded the sword, he wasn't the only one doing so.
Suddenly, the air shifted, and Riku was suddenly forced backwards even faster, eyes widening as he frantically moved to avoid Sora's suddenly vigorous attack. From the way he saw Kairi suddenly straighten from her seated position, he wasn't the only one who noticed it. Before the air had been electric with battle, energy and tension tight in the air. It had a clear feeling, but was intense at the same time. Now, the air was basically humming, and felt hot and heavy. All at once Riku was reminded of fire, and as Sora jumped backward, hand raised and an almost animalistic glint in his eyes, instinct took over, and something within Riku just… snapped.
It was kind of like there had been a stick holding a drawbridge up, and over time, as more and more pressure bore down on it, it just had enough and snapped, letting the bridge slam down and whatever was inside the hold, whatever had been applying that pressure, just poured out in waves upon waves, almost drowning him. Actually, almost drowning both him and Sora.
He could almost see that same snapping happen within his friend, and from the slightly shocked look in those blue eyes, Riku knew that Sora was just as surprised as he was. He could almost see the energy gathering in Sora's palm before fire sprang forth, hot and wild, flying through the air to hit against what seemed to be a wall. Riku's own hand was outstretched, a shiny black sphere of magic curling around him, directing the inferno behind him until it burnt out over the sea. Both boys stared at their hands for a bit, shocked and puzzled by the sudden appearance of things they had thought they had lost, and then Sora eeped and cut off the flow of magic from his chest to his hand, and the fire was choked off, a few licks lifting upward in something akin to denial.
Riku blinked, letting the aura shield flicker out around him, and closed his mouth with a sharp snap as soon as he realized his jaw had dropped a little. Sora was just staring at him with wide eyes, rubbing his slightly black hand as his lips made a small 'o'. A slight thump came from their right, but neither of the boys broke their eye contact to acknowledge the other's presence. Kairi stopped her approach some five feet from them, looking between her two friends warily before stepping forward to rest a hand lightly on Sora's arm, calling the boy back into reality. With a weak grin at Riku, Sora turned his head to face Kairi, and as soon as their gaze broke, Riku felt himself slammed back into reality and shuddered, closing his eyes as he suddenly felt himself slammed into something cold. It seemed to just cover him, seeping into his skin and clinging to his bones. He knew the feeling well enough, and he knew how to deal with it, but after so long of living in the light… he had forgotten how the darkness felt. Sure, it wasn't concentrated as it had been back inside Kingdom Hearts and at Hollow Bastion, but it was a residue from that darkness, and that was enough to throw him off balance again, to taint his thoughts and what small amount of innocence he had managed to regain.
"I thought your magic was gone," Kairi finally said, voice soft and quiet. Riku opened his eyes to see that Sora had also closed his, but where his face had probably been contorted in a slight pain, his face was peaceful and happy, and when he opened his eyes they were slightly unfocused, but filled with excitement. His hand reached up to grasp Kairi's giving it a slight squeeze.
"So did I," he said, voice breathy and filled with joy. His eyes wandered back to Riku, and he tried his best to mask the discomfort he was feeling. The return of Riku's magic had unfogged some of his memories… mainly the worst ones of the darkness, of being alone inside it, of wanting not only to fight Sora, but to kill him, to actually kill him. It was best to let Sora think it was all Xehanort's heartless, let him think that Riku was fighting against him as hard as he could, it made him happy to think that… but the older boy knew the truth. Riku had been Ansem as much as Ansem was him for those few, horrible moments. "Riku, its back, our magic's back. Isn't it great?" he asked, and the silver haired teen couldn't help but wince and scowl darkly. Of course, that meant Sora would instantly become concerned, brow furrowing slightly as a frown tugged at his lips. "Riku?" he ventured, taking a step forward.
The other teen held up a hand, stopping Sora in his tracks as he ran a shaky hand through his hair, frowning as he realized it had come loose during their fight. Finally, he felt the overwhelming feeling of the darkness subside, settling into its place within his body, changing from a deafening roar to a dull throb, not enough to distract, but just enough to let Riku know that it was always there. The teen let out a small breath of air, shaking his head slightly, and turned his stony, somewhat harsh eyes on the two cautiously watching him.
"Yeah, great," he muttered, resisting the urge to rub at his arms as goose bumps broke out on his flesh. Almost instantly he turned around, jumping off the island without a second thought, almost sighing with relief that he had the ability to land with barely a splash of water back. "I just need to go home, sleep it off. But yeah, great," he said over his shoulder, hating himself for how harsh his words sounded, and how tight his voice was from the shock his body was currently fighting off.
It only took a few moments for Riku to pull the spare boat out of the small shed, and by the time Sora and Kairi had gathered their wits about them again, he was already a speck in the distance, using every bit of his recovered magic to get to the main island and the safety of his own room as fast as possible.
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AN: I don't like this chapter… but, it wrote itself XD so that's a good thing, right? I've always wanted to read a good actiony Kingdom Hearts fanfic that involves the actual use of magic and keyblades, but it seems there aren't that many of them out there. (If you know of one, please tell) So, I decided that I was going to get their powers back ASAP so I can ship them off to different worlds sooner, and get into the juicy part of the plot. I'd also like to ask for some suggestions for worlds to visit. I have a few general ideas as far as the plot goes, but I don't really have any specific worlds in mind at the time.
I'm also experimenting with style right now. I think that every other chapter are going to be first person reflections on the previous chapters, like how the Prologue was in Riku's POV and set the stage… kinda… I hope… Anyway, those chapters will be shorter, ideally about half as long as the chapter before them, but they'll probably be shorter.
Remember: Reviews help feed the author:D