HEARTLESS
"Sora its okay... Vanitas left," Riku murmured gently into the shivering Heartless's ear. Sora hadn't stopped shaking, even when Vanitas left with his heart. Riku had knelt down and gently moved Sora into his arms in an attempt to calm him down.
Sora tried to respond, his voice was low. "M-My chest.. still hurts..."
"Where?" Riku asked, looking him over to see where he was hurt.
Sora raised a hand up slightly to hold onto Riku's wrist, then lead it over to his Heartless emblem. "...Here..."
The older teen frowned, pressing his hand against the emblem. It was ice cold against his warm palm. Sora shuddered, squeezing his amber eyes shut. "O-Ow..."
"Sorry," Riku muttered, pulling his hand away. He leaned forward just enough to plant a small kiss over the red emblem. "Is that better?"
"...?" Sora blinked twice then smiled faintly. "Yeah... It actually feels better... But why did you... kiss it?"
Riku tried to fight the faint blush that was starting to show across his cheeks. "...Y-You told me when we were kids that whenever you got hurt... your mother had, uh, kissed it and made it feel it better..."
Blink blink. "Riku, you are a terrible liar."
...Damn. "Okay then... Want the truth?"
"Yes, please."
"I'll tell you once we get your heart back."
"What? Tell me now!"
"Nope. It'll give you something to look forward to."
Sora stuck his lower lip, showing off his pout face to Riku. "Tell me while I'm conscious like this!"
Well he did have a good point there. "...Maybe. We should find Kairi first and then look for Vanitas. Our best chance of getting you back to normal is beating him. Or taking it by force. Either way..."
The Heartless sagged his head, sighing. "I guess you won't be telling me then..."
Riku wasn't as affected by his pout face this time. "Not falling for it."
Almost instantly, Sora perked his head up. "Wha- But that always works!"
Riku chuckled, tussling Sora's white hair. "See, you're fine." He paused, messing up his hair again. His hair still feels the same.. Riku thought, absently pressing closer to him. How can he be the same even as a Heartless?
"Riku..." Sora's voice interrupted his thoughts. Riku looked down to see Sora leaning against his chest contentedly. His eyes were closed over, while his chest would rise and fall steadily. Every part of him felt relaxed. Riku bent over to listen to what sounded like... purring?
He smirked faintly at this, nudging Sora to get his attention. "Since when do you purr?"
Sora looked up tiredly, blinking his amber eyes to focus on Riku. "Heartless can purr. You didn't know that...?"
Riku bit his lip, shaking his head. "The thought of someone like Ansem purring is scary enough."
"Oh..." Sora didn't say much on that, probably since it was about 'his King'. He changed that topic quickly. "If you ever see a Shadow, don't attack it. They're actually really nice and clingy. If you can befriend one.. you'll probably hear it purring."
"I didn't know that."
Sora shrugged, leaning back against Riku's chest. "You've never been a Heartless before..."
II
Vanitas traveled around Hollow Bastion, bored. He had nothing to do. No Ventus to torture, no Aqua to screw with her mind, and no Terra to spy on for Xehanort. Yeesh, he was so different now.
Vanitas growled to himself, kicking at a small Heartless in his way. Once again his Master was more interested in someone else- not his own apprentice. Who was probably far better than Terra could ever hope to be. Or Riku. They had fought- Vanitas saw his skills. All Riku did was mimic his own fighting style! What, did his Master only keep him around to do the dirty work that he didn't want to do himself? Or was his Master just not caring about him anymore?
The dark haired teen stopped walking, looking around. He found himself in the Grand Hall with the old crystal pods lined up parallel in front of him. Vanitas eyed them before walking a little further to see the last pod. Six on the ground, and one higher up for the last Princess.
Vanitas felt a small smirk twitch thinking about that.
Pure hearts of light... So, Ventus was Princess?
Vanitas snickered, shaking his head and continuing up the small path of stairs to the Keyhole. As expected, Ansem, looking more like himself but still transparent, was standing there. Vanitas raised his voice so Ansem would hear him. "I think your plan is a load of shit."
Ansem growled, turning around to face him. "What was that?"
"I think your plan is a load of shit," Vanitas shrugged, leaning against the weird looking machine-things that surround the circular space. "Riku doesn't look like the kind of person to give up easily. And him and Sora just get closer each time one of them is hurt. This isn't gonna work."
Ansem's glare hardened on his former apprentice, his eyes seeming to glow brightly with rage, "What? Do you honestly believe that you can come up with a better plan?" He snarled, not even giving him a chance to answer, "You know nothing about Riku! He is my puppet- I know how to pull his strings. Plunge his heart into despair through Sora, and his light will waver. Then he'll be mine again." The confident smirk took over the Heartless's features, replacing the sheer anger. A cruel snicker escaped from his lips, "Besides, even if that doesn't work, I have a back-up plan.. I know he'll do anything for Sora..He'd willingly give himself over to me just to get Sora's heart back..."
Vanitas rolled his bright gold eyes, scoffing at Ansem, "Sora's heart is toast."
The Heartless's smirk tugged at his lips even more. "Then why are you even here if it was destroyed, Vanitas?" Several other Heartless, mostly consisting of Darkballs, Wyverns, Invisibles, and Defenders appeared in the space in front of the two. "Inside of his heart is yours, is it not?"
Vanitas opened his mouth to respond but he found that he didn't have any explanation, taking a step back. "What are you trying to say?" he growled, eying all the Heartless. A few of his own Unversed appeared, pushing back the Heartless.
Even so, Ansem let out a deep chuckle, shaking his head. "I did say I would kill you if you failed to follow my orders... Now vanish."
III
"I have to go."
Sora's voice surprised Riku. They were still sitting on the floor of the cell; Riku had his arms wrapped around Sora gently, while Sora was sleeping happily, huddled close to his friend's chest. So when Sora suddenly looked up and spoke, it was a bit of a shock to him.
"Huh? Why? This is nice..."
"My King is calling."
"...I don't hear anyone."
"Of course you can't. You're not a Heartless, and he only asked for me."
Oh. "..."
Sora gently nudged Riku's arms past him and stood up. "Do me a favor, before I lose it again." Sora paused, stretching out his arm to create a Dark Corridor. "Kairi is through here. Tell her to go back to the islands, I don't want her hurt. I know I said I wanted her here with me but..."
"You're having second thoughts," Riku finished for him.
Sora nodded, rubbing his temples and grimacing second later. "Ow... I hear you, I hear you..." he grumbled quietly. Sora cast an apologetic glance at Riku before dissolving into darkness and leaving him.
Riku frowned for a moment, looking at the corridor. "Kairi... Going home."
He would rather be alone with Sora anyway.
IV
Sora took one look at what awaited him at the Grand Hall and almost screamed.
Vanitas's body lay on the ground, crumpled and on its side. His eyes were wide open, but lifeless and dull. His face was twisted in shock, one hand was reaching out for something just ahead of him. Worst of all, a gaping hole shot through where his heart was leaking out an inky blackness beneath him, forming a pool around him.
"Vanitas..." Sora sniffed, crouching down next to him. Even if this was the guy that stole is heart, nobody deserved that. Not even Vanitas. Sora followed his outstretched arm to what his hand was grabbing for:
Sora's heart.
Amber eyes widened, about to reach for it as well and fix all of this when Ansem appeared off to the side. No transparency, no shadows, he was complete. That could only mean one thing. That Riku was closer to danger than he thought.
"Vanitas..." Sora started, not looking his King in the eye.
"Dead," Ansem replied flatly, casting a displeased glance at the corpse laying at his feet. "I don't care what you have to do, just get rid of it."
"...what about.. his..." heart?
Ansem growled, "His what? Out with it."
Sora winced, shaking his head quickly and keeping his mouth shut. "..." Ansem was the Heartless Lord. Did he not know about Sora's heart lying right there?
Ansem rolled his eyes then turned around. "Getting rid of that thing also means that heart."
Well, that answered his question. Sora didn't care where Ansem went as long as he wasn't confronting Riku. Riku had to get Kairi home safely then they were going to beat Ansem. At least that was the plan.
This was too good to be true, right? Vanitas was out of the way and his heart was in his hands. All he had to do was somehow put it back where it belonged... But it seemed too coincidental. Or he was one step away from being saved but more steps were added to win. How could all this work...?
Sora glanced up under his white bangs, seeing Ansem was gone. Then Sora closed Vanitas' eyes over and picked up, not caring about the blackness seeping out onto him. Sora walked down the few stairs toward the six pods. He hid Vanitas in between two pods, hidden by the shadows. The heartless frowned, brushing his bangs away from his lifeless face. "We'll save you too... I promise."
Making promises you can't keep, hm?
That cold voice again.
"Shut up..." Sora muttered, stiffly walking back to retrieve his heart. Every time he heard the distorted voice speak up, Sora knew he was going to black out soon. He still had to hear from Riku about Kairi- this wasn't the time!
You should follow your own advice, the voice purred. A comforting dark feeling shrouded Sora, making him stop in his tracks. This was new.
Let me out, the voice pleaded in his raspy familiar tone. I can give you what you want. The power and strength to protect the ones you love. Its what you agreed to years ago- and now you are the Unversed King's successor. Accept your fate, Sora. Accept being a Heartless- there's nothing else you can do.
"Ugh, not this crap again," Sora growled, shaking away the feeling. He picked up his heart and held it up, almost looking for anything harmful that changed. Hearing the voice hiss in annoyance, and his insides tighten up, Sora smirked in defiance.
"Your done for."
V
"I'm not leaving!"
"Kairi, you gotta understand...!" Riku groaned, hitting his head in his hands for maybe the millionth time.
"I understand it at all perfectly! Sora doesn't want me hurt, but I'm not getting left behind again," Kairi finished with a nod and crossed her arms.
Riku sighed mentally. This argument had been going on for awhile now. Kairi was relentless on going back to the Island. And she kept finding new ways to further her point. There was one she kept using over and over and Riku was about to cave.
"If Sora's heart is injured, I can fix it!"
Yep, that one point. Riku sighed, looking at the floor in resignation. "Fine. Your staying, Kairi."
A/N: OH. MY. GOODNESS. Its been what, months? Since July? ! Holy crapfuck. Where have I been?
Dealing with high school? Yup.
Having a life? Yup.
Forgetting to work on this... yeah.
I plan on finishing it!And every other story on my profile that I gotta continue! Besides, I have everything in this story planned out, and I'm considering a sequels plan too. Now, I have a splitting headache, I apologize for this chapter being short. It was sitting on laptop for awhile now. I'll probably work on Deal With It next, since its been sitting on here since Hurricane Irene. Which I was not impressed with. Hurricane? Bah. Barely got hit at all.
Anyway... Review please. They are like fuel for me, seriously. Its motivation!