Disclaimer : Kingdom Hearts and its characters do not belong to me.
xx—xx—xx
I think I am lucky. Yep, really lucky. Being a Healer had seemed like a curse at first but now, I feel like I was gifted with the most precious power. People count on me and I help them whenever I can. It feels good to finally be useful. No more looking down on me, no more feeling like a useless piece of crap.
I am a Healer that will save thousands of lives in the near future, though I do not expect it yet.
Chapter 8 : A Vampire's power
Roxas went to school alone the next morning. He had expected his friends to be surprised to not see his twin, so he was prepared for the interrogation that was thrown his way as soon as he had stepped on school grounds. He had slowly explained to everyone that Sora could not come due to a cold he had caught the day before. Only a few of his friends knew what it actually meant.
"He's still blind, then?" Riku asked when Roxas and he were alone in the school's corridors.
"No, he's not," the blond twin replied with a quick shake of his head. "He really is sick, but I think that's because he was worried."
"I see," the Vampire whispered, looking down at his feet. "Maybe I should pay him a visit, then? It's partly my fault he's sick now."
"You don't have to bother with that," Roxas told him. "Besides, he's not home right now. Aunt Tifa had to go to work, but she didn't want to leave him alone at home. I'm not sure about where he is, though."
"Oh, alright," the silver-haired boy muttered, disappointed.
"By the way, don't be surprised if one of us follows you around. We decided it would be better to not leave you alone since… Well, you know," Roxas said, watching around them to make sure no one was spying them. "We wouldn't want you to see Ansem when you're by yourself."
"The same goes to you," Riku made known. "Him apparently being after me doesn't mean he won't do anything to you or your brother."
"Maybe, but since I'm almost always with Axel, if that bastard tries anything funny, he'll get his neck snapped in two before he lifts a finger."
Riku laughed at that, easily picturing Axel losing it if Ansem tried to touch his lover.
x-x-x
"Abnormal status removal."
Sephiroth had been watching him closely before he said those three words Sora didn't even understand. The poor brunet had been dropped at the Vampire's house early in the morning before Tifa drove to work. It seemed that the two adults knew each other, but since Roxas and Riku were close friends, Sora thought he should have figured that.
"Excuse me?" Sora asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I meant that you removed the curse by yourself. It's still here, but it's not as strong as it must have been yesterday. You can break spells too it seems," Sephiroth explained, sitting on the edge of the bed Sora was lying on.
The brunet was embarrassed to be invading Riku's bedroom and he would have rather slept on the couch, but no one let him; not Sephiroth, and certainly not Edea.
"I guess that's why you're sick today. Your body must have been tired after it cancelled the curse."
Sora only nodded, not feeling strong enough to do anything else. He wasn't sick often, so whenever he caught a cold, he caught it good. He spent the whole day sleeping, only waking up whenever Edea came to check up on him. It felt nice when the woman put her hand on his forehead. It was soothing and he felt like he would get up soon and be fine again. It was so strange. He wasn't used to people looking after him like that. Back when we was still with his parents, when he caught a cold, all he could hear was how he was going to get everyone sick and he should take care of himself. Here, in Riku's house, it wasn't like that at all, and the brunet was sure Tifa would have acted the same way had she been able to look after him.
The next time the brunet woke up, it wasn't Edea who entered but Riku himself. The teenager had been surprised at first but soon, his expression softened, and he smiled at his friend.
"Hey," the silver-haired boy greeted him. "Is my bed comfortable enough?"
"I'm sorry," Sora apologized, looking down at the warm, deep blue comforter above the sheets.
"Don't be. I was just teasing you," the Vampire replied, sitting next to Sora. The older extended his hand, giving his friend a small plant. "I heard you usually give something to sick people when you visit them, but I didn't know what to get you. I figured you'd prefer a plant rather than flowers. I'm lucky you're here. I went to your aunt's house but it looks like she's still at work."
Sora's eyes stared at the small pant in Riku's hand, and they shone with something the older boy didn't recognize.
"It's an African violet," the Healer whispered as he took the plant from Riku's hand very slowly, as if it would break if he wasn't careful enough.
The Vampire saw the plant's flowers bloom as soon as Sora had a hold of it, new buds even forming here and there. It looked much more beautiful than it was when he bought it at the flower shop.
"You really got an incredible gift," Riku told his friend, smiling in a fond fashion that had Sora blushing slightly. "I wish I could do that."
"D-Do what?" Sora squeaked, embarrassed.
"It'll sound sappy, but I think it'd be nice if I could make flowers bloom like you do." Riku grimaced. "That didn't sound sappy. It was down right disturbing."
Sora laughed softly, silently agreeing. He gave the African violet one last look before he placed it on the night stand.
"I'm glad you're not blind any more. I think I wouldn't have forgiven myself if you never saw again. Yeah, I'm really glad," the Vampire confined, suddenly very shy.
"Don't worry about that. I chose to stop Ansem. You didn't force me to do anything," Sora said quite firmly, as if daring the Vampire to say otherwise. "How was school? Did you see him?"
"Not at all, but it might have been because we weren't in the same part of the building. And I'm glad." There was a moment of silence before Riku continued. "Did you tell my dad?"
Sora shook his head no. "Not my place to say."
The Vampire nodded to himself, understanding. Right, it would be Riku who would let Sephiroth know Ansem was after him, not someone else. But could he really say it? It was a bit embarrassing, in a way, especially since Sora had been hurt to protect him. He felt so weak.
A knock on the door caught both boys' attention and they turned their gaze in the direction the noise had come from.
"Riku, honey, could you help me bring your plates up here? Or maybe Sora can come downstairs to eat with us?" Edea asked, leaning against the door frame slightly.
"I think I'll be okay," the brunet replied, already pushing the blankets to the side so that he could get up without risking getting his feet caught in them.
The Healer got to his feet, wobbled for a second, and then began the great task of walking down the stairs. Riku helped him of course, not wanting his friend to get downstairs too quickly. Sora felt the silver-haired teen wrap an arm around the small of his back to have a good grip on him in case something went wrong – at least, that was what the brunet thought. He missed the light shade of pink on Riku's cheeks.
Diner went by way too fast to the boys' liking, and soon, Tifa came to pick Sora up.
"Hey," Riku called, catching Sora by the wrist before he could get too far from him. "Take care of yourself," he added, quickly leaving a kiss on the back of the Healer's hand.
"Alright?" Sora mumbled. He could feel his face heating up, and he was sure it was bright red.
Riku winked at him and then went inside his house, leaving the brunet alone to get to his aunt's car.
"I totally saw that," she teased as soon as the passenger door was slammed shut.
"You saw nothing," Sora stated, looking out the window.
"But I believe I did; and that was so adorable," Tifa insisted, driving them back to her house. "Maybe you should-"
"Please, I don't want to talk about this," the brunet cut her off, pouting at the passenger door's window. Riku could have been just teasing him for all he knew. But what if he wasn't? Did it even mean anything? No, the brunet decided. This was nothing to worry about, to think about; he could forget it like all of the jokes his friends told him everyday. With that in mind, he nodded to himself and waited patiently until they got home.
x-x-x
The next day at school was interesting, to say the least. Sora's small circle of friends knew about the current situation, and they had all been really worried about him. It appeared that from now on, Riku would be the one his friends were going to follow absolutely everywhere, and Sora found himself a bit disappointed at this. It would be weird to be left alone from time to time. But when Roxas, Axel, Demyx or Maluxia – whenever he wasn't busy with Larxene, the girl he had apparently managed to hook up with – were with Riku, Zexion would stay with Sora if no one else was keeping him company. Kairi would generally join them and talk about the latest gossip in school, and even though neither of the boys cared, they were glad she was there to fill what would have been an awkward silence had there been just the two of them.
"By the way, there's this guy I like a lot-" The Mermaid was saying, searching said guy with her eyes as she chatted away, completely fine with the mute teenagers by her side.
Sora exchanged a look with Zexion, and the small smirk on the Human's lips was enough to make him chuckle as silently as he could.
"What?" Kairi asked defensively, thinking they were making fun of her.
"Nothing, Kairi. It's just really nice to have you around," Sora said to appease her.
"I must admit I don't know what you guys would be doing without me. I mean, you never talk."
"It's kinda hard to do so when you keep monopolizing the conversation," Zexion stated, shrugging his shoulders.
The look on Kairi's face then was priceless.
Morning flew by, and Sora realized how skipping only a day was enough to bury him under tons of homework. What the heck were the teachers thinking, giving them so much work to do? By the time lunch period ended, Sora flopped down on a chair in the nurse's office, ignoring the strange looks Cloud and Squall shot his way.
"You alright?" The Chocobo asked tentatively, standing from his chair and leaving Squall's side to stand by Sora's.
"Just a bit tired. I've only missed yesterday's classes and it's like I've been gone for a whole month."
Cloud laughed a little at that. "You bet. Luckily, there won't be that many people this afternoon, so you can do your homework."
Sora nodded and took his stuff out of his backpack to work. Squall watched him carefully, not saying a word until Cloud sat again.
"I heard you were blind all of a sudden. How come?" The werewolf asked with his cool voice.
The Healer looked up at him, blinking a few times. How was it that he knew about that? He didn't remember telling anyone, apart from his friends.
"I heard kids talking about it," Squall added when he noticed the teen's confused look.
"Oh, well, yeah. It was just a spell; but I'm fine now."
"Who did this?" Cloud then asked, frowning.
"I can't remember. It was just some kid I met," the brunet lied easily. He lifted his head up, though, when he heard the distinct sound of a fist slamming down on the desk. Sora wasn't surprised to see that it was Squall's.
"Don't lie to us," the scarred man stated not so kindly. "We're not fools. Such a spell isn't something anyone can cast. It must have been quite powerful if it lasted more than a few seconds. There's no way any of the brats in the school could have done it."
"What Squall is saying is: you can tell us who did this to you?" Cloud said, giving his boyfriend a mild glare. "It'll stay between us if you don't want this to spread."
Sora wanted to laugh. "Why should I? You won't take me seriously."
"Try us," Squall insisted, folding his arms across his chest. He wasn't going to let the subject go alright.
"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you," Sora complied, sighing. He checked the room with quick glances to make sure it was only the three of them. "Professor Wise did it."
The adults' eyes widened, and they looked at each other for a while, not saying anything. Clearly, they didn't believe him.
"Just think about it for a second," Sora insisted. "When did all of those strange things start to happen? When did Hayner and other kids start to lose their powers?"
"It might just be a coincidence," Cloud said, not wanting to admit that Sora had a point so easily.
"Well I know it's not. That guy just touched me for a second and I turned blind. I knew he was strange the moment I saw him for the first time. Do you remember what I told you about his aura? Well, Hayner's mixed with his, and so must be those of the other victims," the teen explained quickly when he saw the nurse try to interrupt him.
"Can you prove it?" Squall asked coolly, closing his eyes. "Saying this is nice, but it's just a crazy story if you can't even prove it's true."
"How can I? Apart from Roxas, I'm the only one who can feel this."
There was silence for a long while inside the infirmary.
"Alright, we'll just pretend you're right and keep an eye on him then; see if strange things tend to happen when he's around."
Cloud barely had enough time to finish his sentence before the door to his office was opened abruptly. There stood Demyx, his face pale and lips parted as if he was about to say something. But he didn't speak. Sora was the first one to understand what was going on, and he shot to his feet to join his friend.
"Oh God, Demyx, not you too," Sora whimpered painfully when he felt nothing coming from the former Chocobo.
"It's high time we do something to put an end to this," Cloud stated quite firmly as he led Demyx inside.
"But what can we do? We just can't confront him for no reason," Sora said, helping Cloud.
Squall was the one to reply. "Then we'll have to wait until he makes his next move. Hopefully, we'll catch him red-handed."
x-x-x
Doing so wasn't particularly easy, though. Firstly, none other than Demyx seemed to suffer from a sudden loss of their powers from that day on. Secondly, Ansem did nothing that could call unwanted attention. All in all, the man was acting like nothing wrong was happening around him, and it did nothing to appease Sora's anger. Ansem knew it and he wasted no occasion to let the brunet know.
A few weeks flew by with nothing strange happening, but that didn't make the tension inside the school less tense. Students were watching their backs and their fear was slowly turning into paranoia. Cloud wasn't counting how many kids went to his office each day any more. There were too many of them; and he realised with horror that the teachers were starting to act the same. It came to the point that the closing of the school was discussed among the teachers, but the headmaster wouldn't hear a single word.
Classes continued but no one was paying attention. It seemed that Ansem was the only one without a care in the world, and while it must have been suspicious, people were too worried to notice.
That didn't include a small circle of close friends.
"The bastard must be happy with the mess he's made," Riku muttered, walking towards his next class. "It feels like people are ready to jump at one another's throats should they give funny looks."
"I don't understand why principal Shinra didn't accept to close the school. I heard there was a sophomore that was beaten up because he glared at someone. Things are starting to get out of hand," Axel agreed, watching carefully as he walked the silver-haired teen to his classroom.
"Sora told me about the poor guy. He spent about an hour healing his injuries. He said it didn't look good at all."
"I bet it didn't," the redhead replied. "By the way, you guys seem awfully close now. Is there something you forgot to tell me?" A smirk quickly followed the question.
"What is there to say? We're just good friends now," Riku told him a little too quickly.
"Yeah, right. Roxas and I are good friends too."
"Come on, it's not like that between us and you know it," the Vampire insisted. When he got no reply, he simply heaved an exasperated sigh. "How's Demyx?"
The question calmed Axel down immediately. "Quite frankly, he's not doing so well. Zexion's keeping close to him so he's not as depressed as we thought he would be. Funny when you know it's thanks to such a boring guy."
Riku rolled his eyes. "Sometimes, I wish I were deaf so I wouldn't hear your stupid comments."
They walked in silence, passing by not so many people in the corridors. The school was getting emptier and emptier with each passing day. The kids were beginning to fear for their safety after all of the crazy events, from people losing their abilities to victims getting beaten up for absurd reasons. That didn't mean they could let their guard down, though. Only the weaker had left.
Thinking about it all made Riku just want to go home and never get out, especially since he knew who the real target was. He wondered if things would get better if he were to leave. His friends wouldn't have to be worried all day long; they would be laughing and joking like they used to. Sora wouldn't have to spend almost all his days in the nurse office helping Cloud heal injured students. The poor kid was getting thinner from using his powers so much. He had only acquired them not so long ago so it was still tiring to use them. But even then, the small brunet wouldn't complain. He'd just go when his help was needed.
Riku's train of thought took an abrupt end when he felt someone grabbing him by the arm and pulling him to the side, inside an empty classroom. A strong hand was covering his mouth to prevent him from shouting, the other keeping his arm to his back. Turning his head to the side, the silver-haired teen saw the smirking face of none other than Ansem.
x-x-x
"Thanks for your help. Again. Are you sure you don't want to take a nap? You look like you could use it," Cloud told Sora, a worried expression on his also tired face.
"I need to get back to class. I've missed too many of my classes already," the teenager replied with a shake of his head. "I'll sleep when I get home. Our teachers don't give us that much homework anyway."
"If you say so," the blond replied, shrugging his shoulders.
The teen waved then left the office, eager to get back to class. He wasn't that happy to attend them, he just didn't want to fall back. He was barely passing; he didn't need his grades to get worse. He didn't get too far though. He saw Axel searching something frantically in the corridor before he spotted Sora and ran towards him.
"What's going on?" The brunet asked, not liking the expression on the redhead's face.
"Please, tell me you've seen Riku," the Chocobo almost begged.
"I saw him this morning when we were all at our lockers but…" Sora told him, frowning.
"Well, shit. I just lost him. The guy was with me and then he disappeared when I turned around. This is not good…" Axel muttered, furious – at himself.
"Okay, we'll just go back to where you were before Riku left. Let's take the same route, okay?" The Healer offered.
They both walked back to the corridor where Axel saw Riku for the last time and stopped for a brief second when they heard ruckus coming from one of the classrooms. The teens sprang to action without hesitating. They headed straight for the room where the noise was coming from and slammed the door open. Inside were Ansem and Riku, the two in the middle of a fight none was clearly taking the advantage of. Sora took no time to think and simply jumped in battle, Axel following close behind. With a wide move of his arm, Ansem pushed Riku and made the teen's back collide with a desk nearby. The Vampire fell to the floor with a barely contained cry, standing up as soon as he regained his balance. He saw the brunet trying to hit the man in the face, but his blow was stopped by a strong hand that sent him falling to the floor. Axel tried his chance but failed miserably. As soon as his hand met Ansem's, the redhead felt his strength leaving him quickly; too quickly.
"Now, will it make me even stronger than before?" Ansem wondered out loud, a mischievous smile on his lips as he searched for someone to try his new power on.
His gaze landed on Riku and he stepped towards him, only to stop when Sora stood between the two enemies.
"I won't let you hurt him!" The Healer shouted. His legs were shaking like crazy but he stood his ground. Even as the silver-haired man approached him, the teen didn't move an inch.
"My, my, you really remind me of her," Ansem said, his hand easily wrapping around the teen's neck. Sora had tried to dodge but to no avail. "Your grandmother had that same look the last time I saw her. She was looking at me like I was some kind of monster."
"That's exactly what you are," Sora replied with a weak voice, trying desperately to free himself from the man's grip. Riku tried to help him but stopped when Ansem's grip on Sora tightened.
"Do you really think that? After all the great things that we shared, the kids we took care of for most of our lives, she dared look at me with disgust. She should have been honoured."
"Honoured by what?" Riku spat, trying to figure out a way to save his friend, whose lips were slowly turning bluer and bluer.
"I had chosen her. I gave her everything she wanted but in the end, she couldn't even give me what I wanted the most." Ansem took a good look at Sora, his unfocused eyes, his parted lips that couldn't get enough air in. "All I wanted were her powers. I wasn't asking for too much."
"What kind of power could you possibly get from a Vampire?" Riku asked, confused. "There is nothing to gain!"
Ansem watched him with an unreadable expression before he suddenly burst into laughter. Axel and Riku exchanged curious glances, wondering what could have been so funny.
"You kids are so clueless I feel sorry for you," the man eventually said once he had calmed down. "How can you be one of them and not even know about your most powerful ability?"
Meanwhile, Sora was still struggling to breathe but it was becoming harder and harder. Understanding there wasn't much he could do, he started scratching at the silver-haired Ghoul's wrists, hoping it would distract the man enough to let go of the Healer. Unfortunately, it didn't have any effect and the grip on his neck remained strong.
"Vampires do not age like Human and other Species do. I hope you knew that, at least," Ansem began, openly making fun of Riku, who grit his teeth. "Really, that woman only interested me because she was a Vampire. I had hoped that giving her everything she wanted would grant me my greatest wish: drinking her blood."
"Blood? That's what you're after?" Axel asked, dumbfounded. He couldn't even begin to imagine why someone would want to drink it – except for Vampires, of course.
"Vampire blood to be precise. Drinking it will make anyone live longer. It is said that Vampires give their life to other people through their blood. This is how your father could live for so long, kid. He drank that woman's blood and by doing this, he was granted another life; a life that should have been mine."
Sora yelped when the grip tightened a bit more and this time, he just grabbed Ansem's wrists tight. As soon as he did it, the man's hold loosened quickly until the brunet could finally breathe again. As if afraid, Ansem let go of the teen and took several steps back, holding his hand like it had been burned.
"What did you just do?" The silver-haired man growled, clearly angry by whatever it was that just happened.
Sora lifted his eyes up to look at the Ghoul, and he was surprised when he realized he couldn't feel Axel's aura around anymore. It had left Ansem. The brunet thought for a moment, trying hard to understand what he had done and why him touching Riku's nemesis had had such an effect.
Abnormal status removal.
Sephiroth's words echoed in his head as if he were in front of him and saying them; and then the teen understood. Getting powers from others, stealing them; it was nothing anyone was supposed to be able to do or that was done naturally. This could be the only reason why Sora could have taken Axel's power from Ansem.
It seemed like the man understood this too. He growled lowly, his eyes never leaving Sora's form and his lips forming a thin line now.
"Going blind wasn't enough, was it?" The Ghoul asked in such a threatening voice that the teenagers in the room almost expected Sora to drop dead at any moment. Fortunately, this couldn't be done until Ansem actually tried to cast a spell, which would take some time. The three boys didn't waste any time and acted before their enemy did. Axel and Riku ran towards Ansem and grabbed him firmly, preventing him from escaping. Both took great care to avoid the Ghoul's hands and kept them as far from them as they could. Sora sprang into action soon after, placing a hand over Ansem's heart and pressing hard. The silver-haired man thrashed around, trying to break free, but it was to no avail. It only resulted in his captors tightening their grip on his arms.
"Why do you do this to me?!" Ansem shouted, murder in his eyes as they bore into Sora's. "It's not my fault I was born a Ghoul! I'm only doing what my instincts tell me to do!"
The brunet stared at the pitiful man in front of him, who was steadily losing all of the powers he had stolen. He looked nothing like the proud, menacing man he had been. He was now as vulnerable as any other human being; Sora shook his head at the sight.
"Mine tells me to stop you," he replied as the last of Ansem's powers were removed from him.
x-x-x
Soon after, the teachers were called and Ansem was arrested after he had told everything. Once back to a weak Ghoul, the man had fallen into despair and hadn't felt the need to hide the truth. The three teenagers had watched as the police men took the culprit to the car and left the school grounds. Cloud had joined them soon after to make sure no one was hurt, and it was with great relief that he found them with not so much as a scratch. They had bruises, but nothing too serious.
"So you were telling the truth since the very beginning," the blonde Chocobo admitted, looking guilty. "I'm so sorry I didn't believe you."
"It's okay. Everything turned out alright in the end," Sora replied, smiling softly at the nurse, who smiled back, even though it was hard to see he did.
"Riku got lucky," Axel declared, putting an arm around the Vampire's shoulders. Riku made a face when he felt – and mostly heard – his shoulder giving a loud snap. "Oops, sorry 'bout that."
"Hey, you got your powers back!" Sora exclaimed, smiling from ear to ear. "That's so awesome!"
"You're the awesome one, kid. You did it," the Chocobo told his friend, winking. He even made to hug the brunet but he took a few steps back.
"Thanks but I don't want you to crush me," Sora explained when his reaction made Axel pout. "Then, that means the others are back to normal too."
As if to prove his point right, Demyx, Hayner and the last victim of Ansem showed up, looking happier than they did in the past weeks. Everything was finally back to normal.
"Hey," came a soft voice next to Sora. The brunet turned his head to the side, only to start from surprise when he felt strong arms wrapping around his shoulders and holding him close to a firm chest that smelled like Riku. "Thanks a lot."
The Healer's body went rigid and his face turned a bright shade of pink. It was the second time that the Vampire hugged him and just like the last time, Sora was embarrassed like he had never been before.
"Alright, I get it. No need to make such a big deal out of it," the younger protested, struggling to get the silver-haired teen to let go of him. It didn't work.
"I don't think so. You probably saved my life here."
"Okay, okay! No need to try to smother me!"
"I think you're embarrassing him, Riku," Axel eventually said so the Vampire understood why the brunet was so adamant about getting his personal space back.
The silver-haired teen let go of Sora and apologized several times, even though he was congratulating himself in the back of his head for managing to get a reaction out of his friend. It wasn't the one he was looking for, but it was still something. Besides, with Ansem out of the picture now, Riku could concentrate on his main task and, maybe, succeed.
--xx--xx--
A/N : Alright, one more to go! \o/ I still want to talk a bit about Riku and Sora since there is about nothing to say about their relationship. XD (the plot wasn't focused on it but it won't hurt to add some Soriku in there.) I have to admit I made this story way too long. I feel a oneshot would have been enough. A really long one. Oh well, I still got eight chapters out of this plot, so maybe it was better to go for a story with multiple chapters. Anyway, I'm sorry I've made you wait so long for this *lame* update. Thank you for being so patient! (and don't forget to thank Flammula who kept reminding me Change hadn't had an update in a while) See you soon and take care. =)