(pokes head out from hiding place) Am I still allowed here? Sorry I haven't updated. I have no excuse other than...well...I kind of forgot about this fic? (runs for cover) Sorry! Enjoy!
Magnix: XD, yes, I kind of like that pairing, I'm just not sure why.. it seems like it'd be a crack pairing. Oh well, thanks for reviewing!
Avacados are evil: Aww, poor you, your hope for Seifer was shattered. It was good while it lasted? For the...two chapters it did...XDD, and I had fun with that debate.. poor dirty-minded-yet-completely-naive-and-innocent Sora. Thanks for reviewing!
Katraa: Sora and Riku half naked and wet is a nice thought. XDDDDDD, and yes, actually, his full name -is- Nisemono... well, that's the only name he'll give anyway. Thanks for reviewing!
"Come on, Riku, it isn't that bad!" Sora shouted to the silver-haired boy. He had, after great difficulty, convinced Riku to change into swimming trunks. The foreign boy was suspicious of the clothing, but after Sora put his own on, he obliged. Now the brunette was in the water and his swimming partner was staring at the water in distaste.
"It's cold," Riku stated, dipping his foot in the water before retrieving it once more and shaking the droplets of liquid off.
"Well, it is the ocean, it's not going to be like a hot tub." Sighing when the green-eyed boy made no move to venture into the water, Sora waded out and joined him on the shore, "You said you wanted to learn how to swim. You can't do that without getting wet."
"Then I changed my mind." At Sora's distraught look, Riku shrugged, "I'm from Egypt, what do you expect?"
"Yeah, alright," the messy-haired boy agreed.
Seeing the down-trodden face, Riku inwardly groaned. He looked out to the ocean, back to Sora, and to the water once more. In the blink of an eye, he grabbed the tanned wrist and pulled the younger boy back toward the murky depths. "Cold...cold!" Riku thought, shivering as his body collided with the arctic chill.
Sora blinked and followed after him, sweatdropping, "Riku?"
"Yes?" He knew he was shivering, but he really couldn't help it.
"You realize you're only in to your ankles." Sure enough, the rush into the great body of water stopped moments after he submerged part of his body.
"But it's so cold," he complained, "How is this fun?"
"Maybe you just need to get used to it. Stay here for a minute, I'll go get something to help you out." With that said, Sora headed back out of the ocean and across the beach, looking around for a shop that sold kid's floaties.
"Wha...Sora!" Riku called after him, feeling very alone and very foolish, standing still in a few inches of water like it was cement. He twisted his body around to watch the boy walk off, but his legs stayed stiff as could be.
"I'll be back in a minute!"
The silver-haired boy sighed and surveyed the beach. There were plenty of people out, mostly teenagers and children in the water while the adults preferred lounging out on the beach. Everyone was clad in bathing suits or equally revealing and cool clothing. Everyone except one person. A small frown tugged at Riku's lips as a figure, dressed head to toe in robes moved lithely through the patrons of the beach. His head and face were covered by cloth, but Riku could tell that the person was from his area of Egypt. In fact, the clothes were mysteriously exactly like his.
"Sora!"
The brunette spun around, not noticing the advancing form, "I said stay there, Riku, I'll be back in a minute!" He barely got 'minute' out before the person reached him. Riku watched in horror as the robed boy (he assumed it was a boy) clamped a hand over Sora's mouth and picked the much smaller body up easily. The blue-eyed boy's shouts of surprise were muffled and he was too far away from the rest of the patrons to be noticed. Riku dashed toward the pair, but no sooner had he splashed out of the water than the mystery man and his new friend disappeared by some conveniently-placed rocks.
Riku skidded to a stop and looked around, but to no avail. The two had disappeared, "Sora!" he called, though knew that it was futile. Whoever that person had been, he had followed Riku there. "What does he want with Sora, though?" he wondered, frowning. He didn't know who to go to for help, seeing as how he knew no one on the island. Blinking, the silver-haired boy suddenly remembered something, "The first time we met... Sora was complaining that I stole his necklace... is that what the person is after?" If it was only a necklace, then perhaps Sora would return unharmed. He'd tell himself that, anyway, since otherwise he was completely useless.
---
"Roxas." The voice startled the blonde, who had assumed he was alone. He had entered his and his friend's hangout, and at seeing no one perched on a table or lounging in a seat, figured that the rest were out. It was the weekend, after all.
Spinning around, the messy-haired boy scanned the small spot where they all occasionally gathered to talk and eat sea salt ice cream. However, no one seemed to be there, "Hello?" he asked, warily. The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but had a different sound about it than usual.
"Over here," Seifer said, raising a hand to signal his position on a certain table that had been unoccupied moments ago.
Roxas blinked before shrugging and plopping down in a seat across from him, "Something you want?" he asked, sounding much colder and more distant than he did with anyone else.
The older boy chuckled and hopped off the table, striding over to him, "You shouldn't be so cold, I mean.. we're as close as brothers, aren't we?"
Blue eyes stared at the grinning teenager, "No," he dead-panned, "Now leave me alone."
Seifer sighed and sat on the arm of Roxas' chair, "You know, if you'd just give him that necklace..."
"No," he stated again, firmly, "You think I don't know what will happen?"
"So what if someone dies? It'll be for the best."
"I won't do it, if we have to die, then so be it, but I won't let an innocent boy die because of it." Roxas looked up to lock his cold gaze with Seifer's.
"You know the old man won't stand for that," he said offhandedly, "He'd never let his kids die, everyone else be damned. He's always been that way."
"It's why I don't talk to him," the younger of the two explained quietly, "He's selfish."
"And you're not? You want so badly to save that brat that you'll risk killing yourself and me."
Roxas frowned, mostly because what his older brother (yes, they were indeed brothers, though you'd never be able to tell by how they acted) was saying was true. He shook his head, "It's better than having him die."
Seifer growled in the back of his throat and stood up, "Too damn bad, Nise is already after him. And once he gets the kid, it'll be all over."
The messy-haired boy looked up, alarmed, "He has Sora?"
This time, the older boy grinned and stood up, "Yup, and if you want to help him, you'll come home." With that said, Seifer turned to leave, "Later, dear baby brother."
Clear blue eyes watched after the teen as he made his exit. Finally alone, Roxas frowned to himself. He now not only had Sora to worry about, but someone else dear to him could be hurt badly by this, too. "I knew he was only keeping Hayner around to get to me and make me cooperate... but now that he has Sora..." Suddenly, the blonde stood up and strode out quickly. He wasn't sure where Hayner was, but he knew he needed to get to him before Seifer did.
---
"Where...am I?" Sora groggily opened his piercing blue eyes and looked around the darkened room. He couldn't see much other than what appeared to be a throne-like chair in the middle of a large room. A long, velvet, red carpet reached from the lone chair to a pair of what looked to be thick, heavy, wooden double doors. On the far side of the room, a large window looked out over the ocean, but there was nothing else in sight other than blue water as far as the eye could see. The fading light from the sunset was all that lit the room up, and just as the brunette thought that it would be incredibly difficult to see once it set completely, fire erupted in lanterns all around the room.
Sora jumped a little as the large doors swung open to reveal a man in his late thirties or early forties with short tan hair and golden eyes. The sun reflected off his glasses at just the right angle to make the color stand out so much that it seemed his eyes were nearly glowing. The man gave such an air of superiority and power that the young boy unconsciously shifted away from him as soon as he took in his full appearance.
After a moment of heavy silence, the elder of the two finally spoke, "Running away already?" he chuckled, "We haven't even made our introductions."
Blue eyes scanned the built stranger warily, but not wanting to be rude, Sora slowly stood up and even more slowly made his way over to the man, nodding ever so slightly, "I'm Sora."
The tan-haired stranger grasped his hand in his own when it was offered, a firm yet gentle shake as he surveyed the boy, "Kai, a pleasure to meet you, Sora-kun."
"You, too..." Sora quickly shoved his hands in his pocket, not wanting to give this so-called Kai another chance to touch him. He hadn't been rude or violent as of yet, but he looked like he had the ability to be both very well. Or perhaps it was the way he carried himself, cocky and relaxed, as if nothing posed a threat to him in his domain (which is where Sora assumed he was). Whatever it was, it put the young boy on edge.
"You seem...nervous." Kai's gaze flicked to the other one as he uttered the last word, his still-glowing eyes (maybe it wasn't from the sun) sending a chill down Sora's spine.
"Well, I was kidnaped and knocked out," the brunette offered.
An eyebrow quirked at this, "Really, now... well, I certainly didn't mean for that to happen."
"So...you're the one that told that person to come and take me?" he asked, timidly, wondering what could be so special about boring, old him.
"Something like that. Actually, I only requested an item you possess, though, I will have further use for you later on."
"An item I...my necklace!" It was the only thing Sora had that had ever been brought to his attention. It had been stolen once before, and the boy that took it looked suspiciously like the one that had taken him earlier that day.
Kai chuckled as the brunette clutched around his neck to find the piece of jewelry missing. He held it up, dangling by its chain, swinging it back and forth at a leisurely pace, "No worries, I'll take good care of it."
"Give it back!" the brunette demanded, a pout full and ready on his lips, "My father gave that to me."
"Your father, eh?" he asked, feigning curiosity, "Well, that proves it, he's the one."
"Yes, so give it back."
Kai looked the boy up and down before tilting his head, "Tell me, what was your father's name?"
"Wha...why do you care?" Sora regarded the man carefully. He still wasn't sure about his intentions with him, and why did he want to know about his father all of a sudden?
"He was American, correct? And your mother Japanese?"
"How do you know so much about my family?" he asked, frowning at the lack of response he was getting.
"Your father's name.. was it Jack Stanton?"
"Answer me!" Silence filled the large room after the younger one's outburst.
Kai chuckled again, and for the first time, Sora took notice that he had a southern twinge to his voice. It was faint, but still very noticeable if you were listening for it. "Perhaps I should fully introduce myself," he said, "My name is Kai Stanton, and I'm your uncle."
---
"Damn it, Hayner, where are you?" Roxas asked in his head, frowning as he ran through the town that they all knew as home. He ran past shops and buildings, houses and stands. He'd checked all the places he could think of, and even passed by their school. All to no avail. Finally, he slowed to a walk and headed back to Hayner's house once more. Perhaps he'd just gone out for a bit and was home now. Or perhaps he was with Seifer. He was sure the latter option would lead to no good, and prayed that his ex and friend would open the door when he knocked.
Knock...knock...knock...
Nothing. Roxas sighed and turned, for the fourth time that day, away from the townhouse. He blinked and looked up to see the boy he had been in pursuit for standing in front of him. A small frown tugged at his lips as he saw the distraught look on his ex's face and the tears glistening down his cheeks. He was too late. Shaking his head, Roxas walked up to him and wrapped his arms around him in a hug. Hayner stayed still for a moment, stiff as a board and staring off into space before he registered that something was happening. He slowly looked to the blonde and returned the hug, feeling numb down to the very core.
"I'm sorry." Roxas blinked again as the two words were uttered, a choked sob being held back as more tears threatened to spill from his eyes. Hayner had never been this vulnerable before, and Roxas realized then that he must have truly loved Seifer.
"It's okay, don't be sorry... it's not your fault," the younger boy muttered, resting his head on the taller boy's shoulder.
"I didn't mean to be so weak."
"You're not weak, you can't help what your heart feels, right?"
"I don't want to do this."
The last statement confused the blue-eyed boy somewhat, "Do...what? Hayner?" Roxas frowned more, if possible, when the only response he got was a shaking head and more tears.
"I'm...so sorry, Roxas..." he repeated, shifting slightly and pulling something from his waistband, "I don't want to do this...but he'll leave me if I don't... I didn't mean to be so weak..."
Blue eyes widened as he realized what was pressed against his temple. A gun. Hayner had a gun and he was aiming it right at his friend's head. "Hayner, what... what are you doing?"
"He told me to get the necklace... by any means necessary... he said he'd die if I didn't... that you both would... I cant let you both die, you two mean everything to me."
Roxas then understood everything. Seifer hadn't dumped Hayner, he'd used him yet again. Instead of just casting the boy aside, he'd given him once last chance at redemption.
Flashback
"Hayner... yo, Hayner!"
"Huh?" Said boy looked up to see his boyfriend running up to him. He tilted his head as Seifer reached him, crossing his arms and looking at him as if trying to decide what to say next. "What's up?" he asked, casually, when the elder of the couple said nothing.
"We've got a problem, a big one," the punk stated, taking a seat next to his screw.
"Is everything okay?" Hayner frowned slightly-- Seifer was never this serious about anything.
Sure enough, a beanie-clad head shook a negative, "Not at all. I need you to do something for me, you can't question it or two people very important to you are going to die."
"What do you mean?" Even when Seifer was serious, he was never this serious. It was very out of character for him, and very scary.
"I figured I'd have to explain it to you sooner or later... I'm surprised Roxas never did."
"What? Roxas? What does he have to do with anything?"
Two sets of blue eyes met, "You know that necklace he always carries around, right? That he says he got from his grandparents?"
"Yeah, he loves that old thing, never lets go of it." Hayner tilted his head to the side, "What about it?"
"It's part of a set." To emphasize his point, two fingers were stuck up in the air, "There's another one like it, and if put together with the right accessories, they can lift a curse."
"A...curse?" The younger boy sweatdropped, "Seifer, love? Are you... feeling alright?" He blinked as his boyfriend tugged him into his lap and wrapped his arms around him possessively.
"Hayner," he muttered in a low voice, "I'm very serious about this, it's not a joke. There's a curse on me and my brother, if it's not lifted soon, we'll both die."
"Your brother?" Hayner thought he knew the other boy fairly well, yet never heard a thing about any brother.
"Honestly," Seifer sighed, "Yes, my brother, Roxas."
"Wha...but... Roxas can't be your brother.. you have two different last names."
"Fake," the elder explained, "Both of them."
"Why? How?...Why?" This was a lot of information to take in and Seifer was feeling slightly dizzy with all that had happened so suddenly.
"Our father works in social services, so easily. And why? So Sora wouldn't figure anything out, it wasn't time for him to know yet."
"Sora? What does he have to do with it?" Did everyone he know have some part in this thing?
"He's our cousin, and also the holder of the other half of the emblem," Seifer explained, idly running a hand through dirty-blonde locks of hair.
"So... what do you need me to do?" As fascinating as all of this was, Hayner couldn't ignore that fact that Seifer had mentioned both himself and Roxas might die.
"I need you to get that necklace from Roxas."
"Or else you'll both die," the younger one concluded.
"Yes."
"...love?"
Seifer quirked an eyebrow, "Yes?"
"Why wouldn't Roxas just hand over the necklace if he knew all of this?"
Well, Seifer be damned, his boyfriend had a functioning brain. He cursed to himself before kissing his uke's temple, "Because he's afraid if we do this, someone else will die."
"So... he'd sacrifice you and himself for some other person?" Hayner knew his ex was generous, but that was a bit above and beyond.
"Basically."
"Wait...who's this other person?" Hayner didn't know how close he was to setting his love off with all these invasive questions.
"It's Sora." No use in lying now, "But he's misinformed. Our father wouldn't let any of his family die, I'm confident he'll find another way." Well, no use in lying much.
Hayner, ever the believer, nodded slightly, "So...I just have to get the necklace from him."
"Yeah," the shorter-haired boy agreed, quickly placing something in the other's hands.
The younger boy blinked and looked down at the gun, "What...?"
"By any means necessary," he answered the obvious question.
"But...I can't kill him!"
The panicked boy was calmed slightly by a kiss, "No, but if it comes down to it... if you don't kill him, you'll lose us both. Is that what you want?"
"..." Hayner bowed his head, silently shaking it 'no' and closing his eyes. This wasn't fair of Seifer to ask it of him, why did he have to do it?
"I'm only asking you because I think you'll be able to convince him without doing him any harm," he lied. He honestly didn't care what happened to the blonde brat, but this was the easiest way, and it would keep his father happy. Kai upset was never a good thing.
"Y-yeah," he managed, biting back incoming tears that threatened to spill. Even the thought of harming Roxas made him sick to his stomach.
"I think you can do this, I wouldn't have asked anyone else." Those few (false) words of confidence seemed to motivate Hayner to slide off his boyfriend's lap and stand up, nodding.
"I...I'll get it..."
"Good," Seifer stood as well, placing a quick kiss on trembling lips, "I'll be waiting near the school when you're finished." Another nod and Hayner slowly walked off, as if in a trance. Once he was gone, another figure emerged from the shadows behind Seifer. The blonde glanced back to see a robed figure join him, "Go after him," he ordered, "Make sure he gets the job done."
"I don't take orders from you, you know," the mystery boy scowled.
"You do if you want to keep father happy, and you do if you want this plan to work," the teen reminded him.
The cloaked figured sighed, "Yeah, yeah... bossy brat," he muttered before dashing off after Hayner.
Seifer simply rolled his eyes, "Well, I guess this means Sora's back with father," he thought, "Might as well see what fun's going down with them."
End Flashback
"Hayner... I know you're scared of losing us... but if I knew that Sora died instead because I wanted to live..."
"Your father will find another way," Hayner spoke up, desperately, "Seifer told me he would, he said he wouldn't let any of you die."
"Seifer's lying." Roxas shook his head, "Kai doesn't care about Sora, he doesn't even care about me."
"He's doing all of this for you."
"He's doing it for himself!" Roxas snapped. Both were stunned by the outburst, and the one who had caused it sighed, "He hated my grandfather and he hated Sora's father, he wouldn't care what happened to Sora at all, and is readily willing to sacrifice him in order to make this work."
"Why does anyone have to be sacrificed?" Of course, that answer was obvious, but still, Hayner had yet to find out the exact details.
"It's all part of a ritual to break the curse. One of us, either Sora or I, have to be sacrificed in order to completely return the emblem to its original state. If the curse isn't broken by midnight tomorrow, then the curse will take full effect and..."
"And you and Seifer will die," Hayner finished for him.
"Our whole bloodline will die," Roxas corrected.
"Your whole...so... Sora, you, Seifer..."
"And Kai." The elder boy now understood what Roxas had meant when he said Kai was doing this for himself. He didn't want to die, everyone else be damned. "He might care about Seifer, but other than that, he's the only one he's concerned with saving."
"I don't understand, though... if Sora will die either way, why are you so against this? Wouldn't it be better for only one of you to have to die instead of all of you?"
"No, no one has to die." The way the messy-haired boy stated it, there was no doubt in his mind that it was absolutely true.
"How?"
"Kai's a stubborn bastard, I'm sure he's got some little trick up his sleeve to break this curse incase things don't pan out how he wants."
"Then why wouldn't he-"
"Just do that to being with?" Hayner nodded, confirming that was indeed his question. "He wants Sora gone. He despised his brother more than anything and this way, he can justify getting rid of him and come out as the good guy who had to make such a hard decision." Roxas nearly sneered at this last part, as if the thought of Kai being good in any sense of the world was absolutely ridiculous.
"And so he wants to get rid of his kid," Hayner shook his head, "That's so messed up... why does he hate his brother so much?"
"I don't know for sure, all I know is it has something to do with our grandfather. I'm sure Seifer would know more about it."
Hayner sighed as the gun clattered to the ground, "I can't do it...I knew I couldn't... I could never hurt Roxas, not for something like this." A sharp yelp cut through the night air as a bang went off. For a moment, Hayner panicked and thought his gun had gone off when he dropped it. He looked down to see it lying there, cold and still as ever. That, however, didn't explain the now-bleeding hole in his shoulder.
"Hayner!" Roxas shouted, alarmed and looking around for the shooter.
He didn't have to look far as the tracker Seifer had sent emerged from his hiding place in the shadows, making a tsking sound, "You should have listened," he chided, "Kai-sama needs that necklace, and I'm not letting a Chicken Shit like you get in my way."
"Chicken Shit?" Hayner thought, sweatdropping, "You've been around Seifer too long."
The cloaked boy shrugged, "I like mine better, Chicken Wuss is too... PG."
"Who are you?" Roxas demanded, frowning as Hayner clutched at the wound.
"I go by many names, which one would you like?"
"Your real one," the messy-haired boy suggested.
"Well, I don't feel like you giving you my real name. So just call me Nise."
"Nise?" Roxas repeated. He vaguely remembered Sora mentioning that name from one of his dreams. "You're working for my father, aren't you?"
"Not quite," Nise chuckled, slipping back into the shadows, "I'm more of a..." he emerged again, this time directly behind the necklace-clad blonde. Hayner screaming Roxas' name nearly blocked out Nise's quiet whisper of 'lone wolf' before everything went dark.
And the plot thickens. So now Sora has an uncle that's after him and his necklace. And if you were paying attention, Seifer and Roxas are brothers, and both Kai's sons, so that would make them and Sora.. (gasp) cousins! Well, I'm...fairly satisfied with this chapter, and it's long enough so I think it'll suffice for at least a couple of the months that I missed. And what will happen now? (dramatic music) This fic...really picked up into full swing in this chapter, didn't it? Hope that wasn't too much of an information overload, and I also hope it doesn't seem too rushed. Things...well, they won't exactly slow down next chapter, but we'll finally find out about this Nise character and how he plays into things. Also... (wait for it...wait for it...there it is!) he has a connection to Riku! Yes, it all ties in! So we'll see how all that plays out. And, be prepared, this fic may end soon. I know, it's still only 5 chapters, but...wow, it's really short x-x. Either I didn't develop something properly or the plot isn't as involved as I made it out to be. Or I rushed things horribly. Holy crap I'm ranting. Shut me up... please review, my fingers will love you if they know these hours of typing weren't in vain!