Riku's Father
Walker strolled out of his house on View Street. He was a short man, wearing an overcoat and brown pants. He gripped the piece of paper covered with red marks in his hands and tore it to shreds. Then he growled in rage. It was another report card for his now absent son. Riku. The boy had better have an excuse for being away from home for so long. Last time it had been tales about the "darkness of the heart" and two evil men named "Ansem" and "Xemnas". Walker knew this was a lie, because Xemnas was just an anagram of Ansem with an X added to it. He sighed and pulled out a carton of cigarettes. Why did he even bother to care about the brat anyways? Because he was required by law to, that was why. But oh, how he sometimes wished that he could be rid of his son…Come to think of it, Riku's best friends Sora and Kairi had been missing for a while too. Walker wondered if Riku hadn't finally done it, and run away from home, and taken his friends with him. He was a strong leader, a trait inherited from his dead mother, and he could have easily convinced his two younger friends of the happiness that awaited them beyond the horizon or some kind of fairytale crap like that. He ran his hands through his thinning silver hair. It had been a hard week. People said Walker was a researcher of the heart----which he was. It was just that he was a researcher of the physical heart, not the emotional one. The last two surgeries had gone terribly, and one of the patients at Destiny Hospital had died because of it. Now, the other doctors were accusing him of being drunk on the job! He had only come in to work like that once…and that was when his wife was suffering from the disease that had finally killed her. Walker went back into the house and sat at the kitchen table. He rarely spent his time in the house, and because of that, it was mostly Riku's domain. He and Lenne had bought this house because they had planned on having a lot of children. It was the biggest house on the Islands and it had many, many rooms. Walker slept in a small guest room on the first floor so that he could get up and out at the first emergency call. After Lenne had died, all of the other bedrooms had over time become Riku's, so he plastered their walls with posters of various bands and filled with junk. Riku's main room was located in the attic. Walker was tempted to tear down the posters before he…well, did what he was going to do tonight. Then he decided against it. He was too lazy to do it, and besides…the police could take them down later. Walker strode into the kitchen and opened one of the drawers. He took out a small revolver that he had bought when he was around Riku's age. He went to the table and poured himself a glass of wine. After chugging it, he put the gun in his mouth."Here's to a shitty week" he said. He was about to pull the trigger, when the entire house shook as if in a tornado. Pots and pans that hadn't been used since Lenne died (Riku and his father almost always ate out) (or in Riku's case at Sora's) fell to the floor. The lights flickered and then a smell of burning grass filtered in through the window. Dropping the gun, his curiosity overcoming his suicidal urges, Walker ran to the window and gasped in shock. Sitting in the middle of a huge plowed furrow in his backyard was a rocket ship type object. It was white and gold and had a symbol of a head with two ears on it. Getting out of it were Riku, Kairi…and a girl he had never seen before. She wore blue jeans and a white t shirt saying Restoration Committee. Her hair … it kept shifting from red to blond. Walker rubbed his eyes. He had to be seeing things. Whoever the girl was, she seemed to need help jumping down from the cockpit of the ship, because Riku helped her down. She almost fell, and Riku put a hand around waist to make sure she was alright. Kairi said something, and Riku glared at her.
"What the hell is all this?" Walker whispered to himself. He looked at the trio as they walked from the backyard to the front and up the walkway. Walker immediately forgot his attempted suicide in his anger. Where had Riku been all this time?! He ran through the house until he reached the front door and pulled it open.
As soon as they landed, Kairi jumped out of the ship. "We're HOME!!" she screamed.
"We'd have been home a lot sooner if you had just listened to me instead of trying to separate Namine because of some stupid argument" Riku said. He looked at the ship. "But I'm glad we stayed. What would Sora have done without us?"
"I don't know" said Tine. "Probably died horribly." She tried to jump out of the ship, but almost fell. Riku caught her. "Thanks Ricky" she said.
Riku grimaced. "Please" he said. "If you call me Ricky, I'll call you 'Fork.'"
"You wouldn't!" Tine laughed.
"Oh, I don't know" said Riku, smiling. His smile disappeared as soon as he looked at his house. "Here we are. My house." Riku's house was a large one, with a big backyard and small statues in front of the front door. It had a three car garage and a pool in the back. "My dad might not be home" he said as he walked in. "As soon as we get in, I want you to lay down, Tine. And then Kairi, call your parents…they believe you about all the darkness stuff, so just tell them the truth. Except the part about Tine…we'd have a panic." Riku went to open the front door of the house, but before he could, do anything, the door was thrown open and he was thrown to the pavement.
"Ugh!" Riku cried. He looked. A man stood in the doorway, his face red with anger, and his silver hair standing up in all different directions. "Dad?" he asked softly.
"Well, if it isn't my prodigal son" said Walker. "Well boy? What do you have to say for yourself?" he demanded.
"Please, sir" said Kairi. "We've been on a long journey, and---"
"Does this have to do with this 'Xemnas' freak Riku keeps talking about all the time?" Walker asked.
"Well, actually yes it does---"
"Then I don't want to hear it" he said. "All I want to hear is why my son disappears after he takes his friends out to dinner and then shows up weeks later with only one of his original two friends and some strange girl he's picked up."
"I'm Tine sir" Tine said, stepping forward. "I'm one of Riku's friends and I'm going to be staying here and---"
"I don't want to hear it" said Walker. "Riku, what…" he stopped. "You're going to be what?!" he screamed. He rounded on Riku. "Boy, what did you tell her?! She's going to be staying with us?"
"Yes she is, Dad" said Riku. "Tine is going to be staying with us. You're out most of the time anyway, so why should I matter to you?"
Walker was speechless. Riku had never talked this way to him before. He looked at Kairi. "Young lady, go home to your parents please. I'm sure their worried sick about you."
Kairi hesitated. Walker's tone was the tone parents get when making other people leave. It was the "I want you to go so I can beat the shit out of my kid" tone. But she had no choice but to obey. Walker was Riku's dad after all. "See you, Riku!" she yelled and went off down the sidewalk. As soon as she was gone, Walker started his barrage.
"Where the hell were you?!" he screamed. "You've got the whole town thinking you were KIDNAPPED or something, and I'VE got people thinking I killed you or something, and---"
"Excuse me" said Tine. "But I'm kind of tired…so can you show me which room I'm staying in?" she asked. Her eyes were drooping and she had sat down on the patio.
"You can sleep in the street!" Walker roared in anger. "I am not a hotel! My HOUSE is not a hotel! I'm sorry if my idiot son gave you that impression, but--"
A shadow passed over Riku's face. "Dad" he said. "Tine isn't going to sleep in the street. I won't allow it."
"You're not in a position to allow anything, Riku" his father snapped. "Now get in the house and we'll discuss your punishment."
"Sure" said Riku. "Come on Tine, I'll show you which room is yours.
"Didn't you hear me?!" Walker demanded.
"I'll talk about the punishment after I get her settled. She's sick and she needs to rest. So we'll talk about it AFTER. Got it?!"
Tine suddenly realized that when Riku had said that the relationship between him and his father was strained, he meant so terrible that it defied description. She hadn't seen many father and son interactions, but she knew enough to know that Riku and his father was not an ideal relationship. Walker stormed off into the house, cursing. Riku gave Tine an apologetic look and motioned for her to follow him. Tine followed him into the hallway and up the stairs. Riku led her to a room on the second floor. It was red and had a bright pink lamp on the bedside table. A curtained bed sat in the middle of the place.
"Is it okay?" Riku asked.
"Sure it is" Tine said. "Riku…you're dad won't be too pissed off, will he?" she asked.
Riku shrugged. "Probably will be. But I'm not letting him put you out on the streets. That would be…impossible. Don't worry I'll explain everything to him."
"Explain what to me Riku?" asked Walker from the hallway, where he was putting away laundry. He walked into the room. "About why your friend is staying with us?"
"Dad" said Riku. "Please, listen to me, because this is very important. This girl is being chased by a very dangerous group of people. She's being chased by them because of a power that she has. Her name is Tine, and she…she is Kingdom Hearts, the Heart of All Worlds."
Walker threw back his silver haired head and laughed. "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Boy, you don't actually expect me to believe that, do you?" he said. "What a stupid lie! Now, tell me the real reason she's here."
"It's the truth" said Tine. "I am Kingdom Hearts. I didn't know it myself until a little while ago." She told Walker the whole story, starting with her creation, Maleficent, and then about her fight with Sora. She talked about her escape to Twilight Town, whereupon Riku almost killed her, and then her capture by Xavier's Flyers. She told them everything that had happened in Radiant Garden and about the H.R.S. "I got sick after that" she said, sitting on the bed. "So I'm staying here to recover…but I might even live on the Islands permanently." Riku smiled, glad that Tine had considered staying there forever.
"I don't believe you. You're probably some homeless girl who tricked my son into thinking that you're Kingdom Hearts! I won't---"
"Could your average homeless girl do this?" asked Tine. She concentrated and a dark aura wrapped around her. When it had faded her clothes had changed again. A red t- shirt with a Heartless insignia had replaced the Restoration Committee one, and her sneakers had become white with the Kingdom Hearts symbol. The red guitar, Riot was in her hands. Tine strummed its strings and blue, heart shaped balls of energy revolved around Walker. They vanished into drops of molten gold that dissipated as soon as they hit the ground. Riku's father fell to the floor in shock.
"Wha…what….what are you?!" he screamed. He began to back up on his hands an knees away from her. "You're a freak! A monster!"
Not so long ago, Tine would have killed him instantly for saying such a thing, but she had changed. She merely sat on the bed. "No, I'm just tired. Do you believe us now?"
"I…I believe" he said. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to let you stay. If you are what you say you are, then we have a whole set of other problems. It means that these people who are…chasing you will come to the Islands eventually."
"That may be" said Riku. "But we'll fight them off. Letting her fall into their hands is not an option."
Walker looked at his son and growled. "Fine!" he said. "I guess you're mind is made up. But don't get me involved in your stupid problems! I'm too old to be fighting off people from the Dark Realm." He walked away. "By the way" he said, looking at Tine. "Get your temperature taken. There's a bunch of thermometers in the hall closet. You don't look too sick, but rest just the same. I can tell you've been through a lot." Then he was gone down the stairs.
"I guess your father's not too bad" said Tine. "He just…I don't know. He's like I was. I needs to soften up."
Riku shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I never did have the ability to read people's intentions too well."
Saix and Morgan entered Xemnas' office by way of Dark Corridor. "Lady Morgan, a pleasure to finally get to meet you after our last conversation in the Palace of Memories" said Xemnas. "How have you been during that time?"
Morgan ran a pale hand through her silver and blond hair. "I am alright. The lodgings in your Castle are quite spacious. Although the music blasting from the man with the eyepatch's section of the Castle is annoying. But a sleeping spell is a good cure for that."
"If you've had to use a sleeping spell on yourself to be able to rest with Xibar's music, then I shall---" Xemnas began.
Morgan smirked, showing those slightly pointed white teeth. "No. I mean I had to use it on him."
Xemnas took a deep breath, and prayed to whatever gods listened to Nobodies that his plan would work. If it didn't, then he was going to be blown to smithereens. "Lady Morgan, the plan I am putting into effect, requires that I relocate you to another place to observe the inhabitants of a certain town. To create another base."
"Where is that?" asked Morgan. "Hollow Bastion?"
"Yes" said Xemnas. He prayed that she did not have the ability to read minds, because if she had plucked that info right out of his mind, then she might be able to obtain…other things from him. And he didn't want that. He looked at the sorceress before him. How old was she? She had sustained her body with magical arts that were forbidden and reviled by even those mages steeped in darkness like Maleficent. Well, if his plan worked, those arts would be her undoing. Xemnas reached under his desk, and undid the latch of a hidden drawer. It was good for keeping secret documents and other materials he wanted to keep from the rest of the Organization. He took the heavy object from the drawer and rested it in his sleeve. Saix sensed what his Superior was going to do, and Xemnas saw the Luna Diviner tense his body for combat.
"What are you doing, Xemnas?" Morgan asked. The red irises of her eyes focused on him. "There is a slight roughness to your breathing."
She could tell my intentions, just by listening to my breathing?! Xemnas thought. That girl is incredible! Still, not incredible enough to withstand what I'm about to do. Xemnas raised his hand to Morgan, one of his lightsabers appearing. Morgan tensed her body. Saix readied his claymore, calling upon the moon to aid him.
Morgan smiled. "I knew you were a traitorous snake, Superior" she said. Magical energy sparkled around her hands. "Which is why I came prepared as well!" a pillar of light erupted under Xemnas, utterly annihilating his desk. The Superior flipped over the brilliant orange flash and landed right in front of Morgan. He reached out with his hand and held in front of her, not his lightsaber, but the object in his sleeve. Morgan screamed in pain and almost fell to the floor.
"Wha…what have you…what have you…" she groaned. Xemnas revealed the object he had taken from the desk. It looked like a piece of jewelry. It was white with purple and red streaks running along its mother of peal body. The object was roughly round and glowed with a soft white light. Xemnas smiled slightly.
"Behold the Dawn Shard…I know you are familiar with nethicite and its properties…isn't that right, Lady Morgan?"
Morgan's face was drenched in sweat. She was panting as if she had run a great distance. She was in agony from the magical nullifying property of the nethicite. Nethicite has the ability to cancel out magical energy. Morgan le Fay had, over the centuries, altered her body with magic, making it able to take more strain, regenerate from overwhelming blows. Her body was eighty eight percent magical energy. Xemnas tossed the Dawn Shard to Saix. "Entrust this object to Nexumair at Radiant Garden" he said. "The witch is to be imprisoned within the dungeons of the Guild Castle. Don't worry. There will be plenty of openings in the cells soon enough."
Morgan dropped to her knees. "I should have known" she spoke through the waves of nauseous pain. She tried to stand and failed. Xemnas bent down to her level and looked her in the eyes.
"Amazing" he said. "You look remarkably like Namine…and just like Namine you are going to become just another caged pet."
There was a knock on the doors of the office. "Come in" Xemnas called. Zexion entered, looking very excited.
"We have news on Tine, Superior sir" he said, stepping over Morgan.
"This just keeps getting better and better" the Superior said. "Tell me, what have you discovered?"
"We have tracked Tine's movements to a small world called 'Destiny Islands'. I was thinking of going there and collecting the girl myself, but---"
"No" said Xemnas. "I want you to travel to Radiant Garden with Saix. Larxene and Lexaeus will be going on this mission. Once again we are on the track of Kingdom Hearts."
"Yes, Superior sir. I will tell them of the mission" said the Cloaked Schemer. "What about…Lady Morgan?" he asked, looking at the girl on the ground.
"Saix" said Xemnas. The Luna Diviner gathered Morgan le Fay in his arms. Zexion took the Dawn Shard.
"Tell Nexumair that I am entrusting him with the care of this witch" said Xemnas. "And unlike Maleficent, I actually have a need for her other than a dungeon ornament." As soon as the two had teleported away, Xemnas laughed. It was fake laughter, but sometimes the pretense of the real thing could be just as good…if not better.