Chapter 15

I am never going to employ Heartless for this kind of job again! Maleficent thought angrily as she raced through a Dark Corridor carrying a limp figure in her arms. She had ordered them to merely subdue the boy, but the damned creatures could not resist the opportunity to devour such a strong Heart. They would have killed him if she had arrived even a moment later, as it was they had nearly torn him apart.

Riku was barely recognizable under the layer of blood that covered his face and body. The boy had sustained severe injuries from the ambush, but thankfully he was still alive. Maleficent still didn't know what sort of interest Xehanort had in him, but she knew it had something to do with the upcoming war. She had been ordered along with the Heartless named Ansem to capture Riku and attempt to bring out his inner Darkness again, claiming that those two knew most about the boy and what was most likely to bring him back to their side.

The two were stationed in a different area this time, as Hollow Bastion had been reclaimed by the forces of Light. Xehanort had offered them one of the countless dwellings in the World that Never Was to complete their mission, but Maleficent felt somewhere less bleak would suit their needs better, and now they found themselves in the data copy of Twilight Town, which they discovered open and abandoned months ago.

"I warned you that using Heartless for live capture was pointless..." An annoyed Ansem said as he spied the limp and bloodied figure being lowered onto a bed. "They're brutal and brainless creatures. You're lucky they didn't kill him, or Xehanort would have your head!" He added.

"Enough with the lecture, I've figured that much out for myself!" Maleficent exclaimed bitterly, lashing out to Ansem with clawed fingers, which the Heartless nonchalantly brushed aside. "You could waste far less time using your abilities to tend to the boy!"

Self-righteous hag! Ansem thought as he turned to the injured boy lying on the bed. Riku was making a gurgling sound with each breath by this point, Ansem was certain the boy was drowning in his own blood, cutting his life shorter with each passing minute.

"Fine. Make yourself useful and get hot water and bandages, and be quick about it! Unless you'd like to present yourself as the replacement for whatever Xehanort has planned." Maleficent glared at him, then turned and walked out of the room in a huff, clearly not liking the fact that Ansem had just ordered her around like a servant.

From the initial examination alone, Ansem was able to discern that Riku's injuries were most likely caused by Lancers and Wide Bodies- two particularly vicious and hard to defeat types of Heartless. You did not want to cross paths with either unarmed, as Wide Bodies were slow but tough, capable of inflicting crushing injuries and severe burns if you were unlucky enough to cross one of it's flame-wielding brethren, and Lancers were fast and carried deadly lances- hence the name. One blow in the right area could leave a victim eviscerated, and Riku looked as though he had gotten stabbed straight through his lower body by one. The injuries would be difficult but not impossible to treat.

Maleficent returned with the supplies Ansem requested, placing them on the bedside table and returning to her usual demeanor of cold observation.

"Now leave..." Ansem said coldly. Maleficent looked at him in disbelief.

"I need to undress him to treat his injuries, how can we win him over if we won't even respect his privacy? Now leave." He said with an air of pure venom, causing the dark fairy to leave in a huff. Ansem immediately began to remove the bloodstained clothing from Riku's body, cleansing the stains from his bare skin as he did so. With the layer of dried blood gone, he was able to discern the injuries in greater detail.

The main source of the bleeding came from the gaping hole in Riku's abdomen and from a broken nose. Many of his bones were broken, suggesting he had taken a direct, crushing blow from a Wide Body. No matter, giving him a strong dose of High Potion while the broken bones were set and held in place by magic would set him right. The wound inflicted by the Lancer was a different matter. Even if he had healing magic, he knew it would not be enough to repair this, but he had no healing ability as a being of Darkness- Curaga was light magic.

"You're not going to like this..." Ansem said to the unconscious boy as he laid a hand on his hip, summoning a tendril of Darkness that began to probe directly into the wound, carefully manipulating it to seek out torn tissue and stitch it together. A simple injection of Potion would complete the procedure by speeding the healing process. As expected, Riku did not react well to the procedure- he arched his back and let out low pained moans through the entire ordeal.

Ansem had perfected the technique over the years, something he alone was capable of. He referred to it as Dark medicine, which, while more unpleasant than Curaga, was equally as effective. He'd used it to heal countless injured minions, and none had suffered complications from it as of yet. It was the first time he had performed this procedure on a Human boy though, and he didn't know if it would be as effective.

It was a good thing the place they were in was relatively deserted. The boy kept letting out loud, agonized screams as Ansem used a similar delicate procedure to set and repair the broken bones. He had woken twice during the ordeal, yet had not reacted to Ansem's presence in his usual suspicious manner. His mind was too fogged by pain most likely.

XXXXXXXX

"Water... please... so... thirsty..." Riku had began to plead for water several hours after the procedure had been completed. The boy had been asleep the whole time, and they only came in every so often to make sure there were no complications. Ansem hoped that he had not been pleading like this for too long, knowing any moment that made him unhappy could increase his suspicions, making the plan backfire. He turned to go fulfill the boy's request only to turn around and find Maleficent already standing in the doorway, holding a full glass in her hand.

"I overheard his pleading while I was on my way to the back room..." She said, smirking. "Couldn't keep the poor child waiting for too long, could we?" Now it was Ansem's turn to glare, not liking the way Maleficent was acting competitively when they were supposed to be working together to win Riku back to the Darkness. What was going through her mind?

"No, we shouldn't..." Ansem answered coldly, allowing the Dark fairy to pass.

"Please... I need... water..." Riku was tossing and turning in his sleep as he continued to plead for something to alleviate the overheated feeling he was experiencing- he had been sunburned during his patrolling at Castle Oblivion on top of the injuries he was recovering from, and the bandages and heavy blankets he was covered with did not help ease the heat generated by his burned skin.

"I have some right here, child..." Maleficent said with as much tenderness as she could muster, lifting his head and holding the glass to his lips. Riku drank it's contents greedily, letting out a sigh of relief as he drained the glass. His eyes fluttered open, the grateful look in them quickly turning to alarm when he realized it was not Sora, Kairi, or even Yen Sid he was looking at. He bolted upright, backing as far away from Maleficent as he could as he raised his hands over his face in a guarded position.

"Where am I? Why are YOU here?" Riku exclaimed in a sharp, commanding voice.

End of Chapter 15.