The Night Within My Eyes
Description: A sequel to Kingdom Hearts II. When a Gummi Ship crashes into Disney Castle, King Mickey calls on Sora and Riku to help a previously unknown world rid itself of some very familiar Heartless. Pairings: RikuxOC, plus some SoraxKairi because they're cute. Rated T because I can't see myself ever writing K.
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and its characters are the property of Square-Enix. But you knew that already.
Twenty-Five
"I can't believe you told her about those bombs! Do you even have a single brain cell in that head of yours?"
"Zell, please. You're scaring the children."
"What the heck did I do? She was helping me pack them and asked what they were. So I told her. How was I supposed to know she was going to use them to blow herself up?"
"Please, Reno, keep your voice down."
Riku fastened his belt and zipped up his jacket. Ignoring the argument raging nearby, he walked briskly to the front door. He had gripped the handle and begun to turn it when a hand on his upper arm stopped him. Turning his head, he met Cera's worried eyes.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"I'm going after her," he answered grimly.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Reno said, coming up to them. "Are you insane? Weren't you listening? If you're inside the fortress when those bombs blow - heck, if you're anywhere near it - you'll die, too."
Riku drilled his fierce gaze into the red-head's skull. "I really couldn't care less right now." Reno took a step back in shock and exchanged concerned glances with Cera.
"Riku!" Kairi called. She ran up to him with one shoe in her hand. "Sora and I are coming, too," she said, panting slightly. "Just give us a few minutes to get ready. Please."
Riku paused for a moment, then dropped his hand from the door handle. "Fine. I'll give you ten minutes. You hear that, Sora?" he called, raising his voice. "You have ten minutes!"
"I'll be done in five!" Sora called back from the other end of the room where he was rapidly getting dressed. Kairi nodded and ran back to finish dressing herself. Closing his eyes, Riku took a brief moment to thank the powers that be for such wonderful friends. Friends who would willingly hang their lives on a sliver of hope so thin that even a love-sick fool had trouble grasping it. But I have to hold on to it or risk going mad.
He opened his eyes and sought out Zell. The blond's fierce blue eyes already had Riku in their grip. "Zell, I need directions to the fortress. The fastest way there."
Zell had his arms folded across his chest, and he regarded Riku carefully. "You'll never get there in time," he said in a low voice.
Riku stood up straighter, letting his self-confidence take over. "Watch me!"
The other boy gazed at him in silence for a long moment; then he nodded and dropped his arms. "I think I will. I'll come with you."
"Awwwww, nuts!" Reno cried, shocking both of them. "How did I know you were going to say that." He sighed and threw up his hands, "Fine. I'll go, too."
Riku smirked gently at him. "I thought you said I was insane."
"You are," Reno answered with a slight smile. "And apparently so am I." He dropped down next to his supplies and pulled out a pair of small pistols. As he checked them over, he continued, "But you're going to need all the guns you can get if you want to get there as fast as possible. Plus," he looked up and grinned, "I want my bombs back, man."
Zell snorted. "Figures."
Cera reminded them all of her presence by saying softly, "I'll also go."
Reno shot to his feet, guns falling to the floor. "No. No, Cera! You can't possibly -"
She cut him off. "You just said they'll need all the guns they can get, and I'm an extra gun."
"But …" Reno's handsome young face was pinched with worry as he looked at his girlfriend. With the sadness in his clear blue eyes, the marks on his upper cheeks almost looked like tears of blood. "But what if …"
"Exactly," Cera replied with gentle strength. "What if." She took his shaking hands in hers and smiled at him. "What if something happens? What if I get hurt? Well, what if you get hurt, Reno? Do you think I could somehow stand it better than you?" She shook her dark head. "I'd much rather face 'what if' with you than without you." She kissed one of his hands, and his face cleared. In that moment, Riku could easily see that they meant far more to each other than making jokes and making out. Underneath the playfulness, a strong love tightly bound their hearts together.
Like me and Yuko. He winced. Raising his voice slightly to hide the pain, he said, "You can all come if you want, but you need to get ready fast. I won't wait."
As Reno and Cera nodded and busied themselves with preparing, Zell interjected, "Hey, wait a minute! We can't all go. Who's gonna take the kids to the camps?"
"We'll do it, Zell," one of the twins replied, appearing from nowhere to stand next to him. The other similarly popped into existence next to Riku. Riku looked from one to the other and wondered, not for the first time, how Zell could tell them apart.
"You'll do it?"
"Yeah," the first boy answered. "We know how to get to the camps, no problem."
"We know the way so well, we could do it with our eyes shut," the other added.
Zell laughed softly. "I don't doubt that one bit." He thought a moment, boring his eyes into each of the twins in turn. Finally, he said, "Okay. But I want everyone over the age of fifteen to have a gun." When the boys pouted, he added, "You two can have them as well."
"Yay!"
"All right!"
"But listen to me, Kel, Kain," Zell added seriously, looking at each as he said his name so that Riku finally knew which was which. "Once you get there, you stay there. You are not to come after us. Understand?"
They both nodded. "We understand," Kain answered. "We'll stay. On one condition."
Zell's eyebrows shot up. "What condition?"
Kel finished his brother's thought. "That you tell us all about it when you get back." Both boys smiled at him with surprising gravity and maturity. They truly did understand, but they believed in Zell far too much to admit their worry.
Zell smiled back and ruffled Kel's already messy hair. "I'll do that. Now, let's get moving. Riku looks like he might pop a blood vessel if we keep him waiting much longer." He grinned sideways at Riku as he led the boys away. Riku just shook his head and leaned against the wall next to the door.
Slightly under ten minutes later, Riku, Sora, Kairi, Zell, Reno, and Cera left the cabin together and followed Zell's long, quick strides towards the direction of the fortress. Although no one spoke, each knew perfectly well the others' thoughts. They all shared one strong fervent hope that they would make it before it was too late.
Yuko slowly opened her eyes. And shut them again when the pain hit her. Her entire head throbbed, and she felt like she had been smacked with a giant rock. As memories started to return to her, she smiled humorlessly to herself. Elaeus. A giant rock wasn't so far off the mark.
Moving more slowly this time, she tried again to open her eyes. Once she had succeeded, she realized she lay on the floor of a small cage. The bars only came down to what would be waist-height, leaving solid wall from there to the floor. She would have to stand up in order to look around. She suppressed a groan and began gathering the resolve to get to her feet.
Before she did, she heard the sound of a door opening, footsteps, and hushed voices. She tried to make out what they were saying, but the effort made her head throb even more. Giving up, she lay quietly and listened to them move about the room. She heard the rustling of paper, scratching of pencils, and the occasional comment from one voice to the other. After a few minutes, she decided they must be Even and Ienzo, come to prepare their specimen for research.
Eventually, Even walked up to the cage and looked down at her. She kept her eyes closed and pretended to sleep. If he wanted her to cooperate, he would have to offer her an aspirin first.
"Good," he replied to something Ienzo had said. "We'll start when she wakes up."
Ienzo's soft voice drifted to her, signaling that he had also moved closer. "She is awake."
Yuko cursed the young apprentice's acute perception and opened one eye to glare at him. He smiled at her, all sweet duplicity. Next to him, Even flicked his eyes impatiently over her.
"Well, stand up, girl," he ordered.
She bared her teeth at him. "I can't," she growled. "I'm lucky to still have my brains in my head after being bashed by your trained gorilla."
Ienzo looked truly offended at her insult to Elaeus, but Even only chuckled. "I thought you were a soldier," he reprimanded her. "The army's brightest star." He smirked at the irony of his chosen adjective. He continued, "You should be used to pain. Or do you expect your enemy to let you recover every time you've been hit in the head?"
Hissing at him like a caged animal - an appropriate comparison - she rose to her feet and glared at him through the bars. The pain distorted the edges of her vision, but she could see those sharp eyes of ice perfectly well.
He nodded approvingly. "Good. We'll begin then." He wandered away, giving her a clear view of the dark room. A large table sat in the center with several mechanical-looking boxes on top. The walls had diagrams and other sheets of paper hanging from them, and one corner held a small computer. It didn't look like a proper laboratory - no beakers of bubbling stuff, no huge computer spitting data - so she assumed they had thrown it together just for her.
"Call that blade of yours," Even ordered as he sifted through some papers on the table.
She frowned at him. "Why?"
His annoyed eyes flicked up to hers. Apparently, he wasn't used to being questioned. "Because I told you to." He paused and frowned right back. "Didn't you say you were going to help me with my research?"
"Didn't you say you didn't need me conscious?"
Even laughed, although she doubted it was at her boldness. He held up a different set of papers. "I didn't for these tests," he replied with a smile. "But I do for this one."
Yuko blinked. He had already run tests on her? How long had she been out? What were the others doing now? What was Riku doing? Her fingers strayed on their own to the belt she usually wore and found that it was gone. Slightly panicked, she glanced around the room until she found a small table near the door that held her belt. She had hidden Reno's bombs in there along with her knives.
Even was still waiting for her. "The blade, girl."
Sighing, she did as he asked and summoned Moonlight Arrow.
He nodded. "Good. Now send it back." When she had, now thoroughly confused, he turned to the boxes and began to fiddle with them. Ienzo walked over at this point to help. After a few moments, Even said, "Do it again."
Rolling her eyes, Yuko held out a hand to do as ordered … and found she couldn't. She stared at her hand in disbelief.
"Excellent!" Even cried, smiling in happiness. He made several hurried notes on his sheets. Catching sight of her stunned face, he explained, "Light filters. We're attempting to create an artificial Realm of Darkness. Now, let's see just how little light you need to wield that." He turned back to the boxes and made some adjustments.
It didn't take Yuko very long to get completely bored with this "test". All she had to do was call and dismiss her Keyblade. Very dull. But Even and Ienzo were both extremely happy and excited, jotting down notes and making comments she didn't understand. Several times she felt like hurling the blade through the bars in an attempt to behead one of them, but she knew she had to keep control of her impatience. She couldn't do anything until she got those bombs back.
Finally, they seemed satisfied. Ienzo nodded to Even and left with a stack of notes as the older apprentice finished tuning the boxes. He turned to her and smiled. Yuko blinked. He seemed innocently happy, not at all the cunning monster she knew. "Thank you, my dear, that will be all for now. I'll send someone in with some food, and until then you should rest." He turned and picked up his own stack of papers before heading towards the door.
"Even," she stopped him. When he turned back, she pointed at the still-buzzing boxes. "You left your machines on."
He smiled again, and Yuko shrank back a bit. The evil beast had returned. "I know. Did you think I don't remember what you did to this place before? I'm not fool enough to give you that blade back."
She planted her fists on her hips and glared at him. "I said I'd stay. Why are you treating me like a prisoner?"
He bowed slightly at her in mock-respect. "Please forgive me, my lady, if I don't believe you." When he straightened, his cold eyes locked on hers. "As I said, I am not a fool." With one final smirk, he left.
Yuko slowly counted to thirty before allowing herself to laugh. Fool or not, Even didn't know everything about her. Like how she didn't need weapons or even her Keyblade to escape. Although perhaps he should have. He had armed her himself after all.
A few daggers of darkness was all it took to break one of his precious machines. Then she called her Keyblade and opened the door. After retrieving her belt and putting it back on, she let her hand slide into the pocket that held the bombs. She pulled one out and looked at it: a small, pale-green ball that glittered dimly in the half-light. Absently, she ran her other hand over its smooth surface.
No more darkness. No more death. No more tests. No more pain.
I will end it, Even. I swear it.