Haha! I crossed over 100 reviews! Awesome, dudes! You guys seriously rock. I can only hope to keep my story going good enough to have earned all of your praise. ^^ Heh. Still happy. Okay, focusing on other things. Let's see…uh…nope, I got nothing. Still just giddy over the thought that I hit 100 reviews so early with the new plotline. So while I try to think coherent thoughts, I'll take the time to thank everyone who reviewed: zi-ling, 73n5Hl, Mirror and Darkling, -xX Twilit Memories Xx-, Aindel S. Druida, CloudedMirror, Chronos Mephistopheles, Ramen-is-my-goddess, XfallenXshadowX, Sexy-Tacos-Emo-Waffles, redamiB6147, The Pregnant Chad, Chaotic Darkness, kurumaotokoiscarmen, Randomasdf, FlurryDivider! Yay. Luv you all. ;)
Chapter 8
When Riku woke from the dream he found his hand clutching at his chest, grasping at the fabric of his shirt. He sucked in a shaky breath, sitting up as once again that desperate demand to search and find his charge slammed into his body. Damn. This feeling had to at least be equal to if not exceed someone on withdrawal. His body was screaming at him to get up. To start moving. To find what he had lost. Wrapping his arms around himself, he forced the instinct back down to a level he could ignore. He was Riku Jenovan. He was not going to be controlled by some stupid yearning.
Through sheer force of will alone, he quelled the demands from his body to a level which allowed him to actually think.
That dream he had just had. Riku wracked his memory for what they had talked about. The prince…he had mentioned that he and his brother had been taken through a wall. Riku's eyes flashed open. If the princes had been taken through a wall, then they would have to search again. He wanted a better look around the infirmary.
Not knowing how long he had actually slept, Riku swung his legs out of bed then stood up. Spotting Axel across the room sprawled across the other bottom bunk, Riku quickly walked over and kicked the other's mattress. Axel awoke with a start, his hands instinctually clenching into fists before his mind caught up with him and he identified Riku. The look of wary surprise turned to annoyance. "Ugh. What is it?"
"Get up. We're heading out again."
Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, Axel propped himself up onto his elbows, staring at Riku with sleepy confusion. "What?"
"We need to go back to the infirmary. Now."
"I don't believe this." Axel leaned his head back in exasperation. "The one time I actually want to rest, you want to go out. Shouldn't have expected less, I guess." With a wince, he sat up all the way, his hand carding through his red spikes to comb out some of the worst tangles. "Fine. I'm up. Just give me a second to put my shirt on and then we can get going before you stop being cooperative."
Riku waited impatiently for Axel to stumble up and pull a shirt over his skinny torso then headed to the door.
"Hey, your hair-"
"Forget the hair, Axel. I'm finding them this time so we'll have bigger problems to worry about."
Axel shrugged, apparently still half-asleep and not really caring what sort of trouble Riku got himself into as they walked out into the hall. They had only gotten a few steps though when Leon's door swung open, the lion spirit stepping outside with an irritated frown on his face. By the mussed state of his hair and the fact that he was just pulling on his white undershirt, as well as the glower on his face, it was clear that he had been woken from the slight sound they had made. "Where do the two of you think you're going?"
Riku turned, frowning back at the older man. He felt like a kid who had got caught skipping class. "I know what to look for now, we're going out to look again."
"Not looking like that you're not."
Shrugging, Riku turned back around with a dismissing wave of his hand then continued to walk down the hall. "I'm not wasting time with dying it again."
From behind him, he heard Leon growl low, but instead of the attack he had been half-expecting, he heard a series of rustles of things being buckled and zipped up followed by a door closing. A moment later, both Leon and Cloud had caught up with him and Axel, both of them armed. "If you're going to be stubborn," Leon growled, "Then we've no choice but to go with you this time."
Riku didn't bother to reply but just continued to walk. He did however, spare a second to glance over at Leon's weapon. Like Cloud's, it was a sword, but it also looked to have a revolver of sorts built into the hilt. Weird. Riku didn't even know that they had guns in the spirit world. But he shouldn't be surprised by anything anymore. Refocusing his attention on the mission ahead, he placed his hand over his heart as they left the servant areas.
He could still feel the warmth of the prince's touch on his skin.
It was disturbing, and making it all the more necessary that they find him now. He wanted to get rid of the dreams, get rid of the feelings he had to smother every time he woke up. He had never cared so much about one person, he had never had to before. This…attachment, was new and strange, and all the worse because he had never even seen the damn person he felt so strongly for.
If the halls had been sparsely populated before, than they were completely deserted now. When he questioned Leon about it, the lion spirit could only shrug. "A system of hours had to be kept for everyone's sanity, even without the sun rising. Right now, its night-time officially. Most people are sleeping."
With the lack of people, they were able to reach the infirmary area in record time. Axel sighed with exasperation at the sight of it but Riku ignored the sound and walked up to the double doors, his hand still pressed over his chest. When he focused, he realized that the feeling wasn't necessarily leading him inside the doors. Frowning thoughtfully, he allowed his hand to slide across the stone wall next to it.
Standing behind him, Axel asked, "What are you doing?"
"Feeling."
"…for what?"
"An entrance. Now shut up so I can focus."
Not caring that three impatient and sleep-deprived warriors surrounded him, Riku continued to move down the wall, slowly circling the exterior of the infirmary block. The tension was back in his heart, that pulsing electric feel increasing with each step. He was getting closer. There was a hidden door here, and he was going to find it.
A few more steps, after having turned the corner of the hall, the hand against the wall suddenly fell through seemingly solid rock. Gasping with surprise, Riku jerked his hand back. As he pulled his hand away from the wall though, a silver-white dagger chased after it, swiping at his fingertips.
Riku found himself thrown to the side as the rest of the Dusk sprung from the wall, Leon taking his place to parry the Dusk's strike with his sword. Brow furrowed, Leon let out another shout as four more Dusks shot out behind the first. "Cloud! Axel!"
Cloud growled, running forward to meet one of the Dusks with a lightening-fast swing as Axel quickly called his chakrams to his hands, fire engulfing them as he raised them up for attack, facing two of them with narrowed eyes. Clearly, these Dusk things were far stronger than the Heartless outside the castle had been. Even Riku could see that. After all, Cloud hadn't killed it with his first attack.
And the last Dusk was heading straight toward him.
Tensing, Riku twisted to the side as it suddenly rushed him. Ducking when it swung out with its sharp arm, Riku just barely managed to anticipate a second strike and dodged just quick enough. His shirt had a cut across it, but at least his arm was still on. Hissing, he jumped back as the thing lurched forward, once again able to tell it was coming just in time to move to the side. Through his panic, he was infinitely thankful that this thing was slower than Cloud; after having spent so many hours trying to follow the wolf's attacks, anything at a normal speed seemed slow. Slow enough for him to easily dodge. Maybe the training had paid off after all-
Or not. He let out a cry of surprise as the Dusk suddenly rushed him, its strange, plastic body slamming into his and causing him to skid across the floor. Just as it jumped for him, Leon rammed into its side, knocking it off course before he buried his sword into its chest. With a grunt, Leon pulled his sword out as the creature disappeared into a cloud of dust then ran a hand through his brown hair, turning to look down at Riku. "That was unexpected…"
Frowning, Riku pushed himself back onto his feet. "Yeah, well, they were probably just guarding the room behind the wall."
"Not exactly what I was talking about it, though I did fail to smell their presence. Cloud, you've been training him?"
From Riku's other side, Cloud gave a little half-shrug.
Riku's frown deepened as he crossed his arms. "Wait. Were you saying it was surprising that I actually managed to defend myself?" When he received no response, the silence in itself served as an affirmative answer. Snorting, he moved back over to the wall, pushing Axel to the side. "It's not like I can't learn. If I had actually something to defend myself with, I could have taken it down myself."
"I'll bet." Riku didn't know if Axel was being sarcastic or not. It was safest to assume that he was. "Now," the red-head walked up next to him to face the wall, putting his own hand to it, tentatively resting it against the solid rock. "What was that thing you did just then?"
Riku smirked. "I went through the wall."
"But that's impossible."
"Maybe you're just not…confident enough." With a bold step, Riku stepped forward. Into the wall. It felt simply like a rush of cool air as he passed through to the other side and when he opened his eyes he found himself in an empty room, the only thing in it a large black door towering on the opposite wall. The pounding in his chest was stronger than ever, he could feel the electric heat traveling into his limbs now, telling him that he was so close. Nearly there. He turned around to see an empty doorway covered by a thin, shimmering film of sorts. It almost looked similar to a stone wall pattern imprinted onto tissue paper. Behind it, he could see Axel, Cloud, and Leon staring at the wall in surprise. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself, forcing himself to enjoy the moment despite the current of energy pulling at him to go through the black doors. That had just been one of the coolest things he had ever done.
The cocky smirk remained proudly on his face even after he watched the other three in turn pass through the wall into the secret room. Leon was the last to step through and he quickly took a look around, eyeing the entrance he had just come through with slight distain. "It was an illusion spell. The gods only know how long it's been there for. We would have never gotten through unless we had known it had been there."
Axel huffed, crossing his arms, "Zexion. That bastard. He couldn't have explained himself better?"
"Zexion's not exactly known for clearly giving up information. Trust me." Leon looked over at Riku. "How did you know it was there?"
Riku shrugged nonchalantly, still smirking gleefully inside. "I figured it out after a good night's sleep." He would tell them he got the information from a dream over his cold, dead body. He needed the reputation boost after all. Now after seeing their faces, he could attend to the problem at hand and the heat in his chest. Turning to the large black door, he motioned to it curiously, "Is there anything wrong with that door? We need to get through it."
There was a quiet roar as Axel lit a fire in the palm of his hand, the light casting more detail onto the giant door. Under the glow, Riku could now see that the black door was actually decorated with raised swirls and designs, a large handle made of twisting dark metal. In the center of the ornamentation were the outlines of two keys crossed over each other.
At the sight of the designs, Axel let out a low breath, his voice sounding almost awed. "I think this is really it. I think you actually did it, Riku."
"The door reeks of Darkness, though." Leon rumbled. Walking up beside Axel, he frowned and glared up at the door. "I have no doubt that it's been spelled as well. I suppose there's only one way to find out how strong the magic is."
The lion spirit reached out for the handle. As soon as his fingers touched the metal there was a burst of black light. Leon flew back, tumbling to the ground as if he had been thrown. Immediately Cloud was at his side, helping him sit up as the lion shook his rattled head. Black sparks jumped across his skin, the aftershocks of the light burst, as he grit his teeth, one grey eye opening in a pained wince. "There's, there's definitely something there…It's not just a spell though. There's an entity in there. The shadow of a dark spirit."
Cloud frowned then straightened up, approaching the door himself. From the ground, Leon let out a growl of protest but Cloud nonetheless reached out and grabbed the handle. Again, it let out a dark blast of energy. Cloud hung on for a second longer than Leon had before he was thrown back as well, a sharp yelp escaping him before he hit the ground not one foot from Leon, black sparks also crawling over his skin. Letting out a growl, Leon grabbed Cloud's still shoulder, rolling him over. Cloud twitched then his blond eyebrows drew together in pain. "Cloud, are you okay?"
"Nn…fine. It was just a shock." Cloud struggled to lift himself up onto his elbows then opened his eyes to glare at the door, his voice a quiet growl. "I haven't felt something so strong for a while…Leon's right. It's dark. And the door itself is possessed by something sentient."
Axel crossed his arms. "I bet that Superior guy bonded a soul to it. From what I've heard he'd be twisted enough to do something like that." Glancing over to Riku and perhaps seeing some confusion, he elaborated a little. "It's possible to reduce spirits down to their souls. Kind of like killing their bodies but not their minds. It's not a fun process, and there's danger on all sides of the process of disappearing completely, but if he was able to do it, than it would be child's play after that to seal the soul to the door. The ultimate sentinel of sorts."
Riku pursed his lips. They had to get inside. He was going to go insane if they didn't. Leon and Cloud, and undoubtedly Axel, couldn't even touch the door. He took a breath, running his hands over his shirt before stepping up to the door. Seeing what he was up to, Axel frowned. "What are you doing?"
"Taking control of the situation. This might be our only chance to get to them. I'm not afraid." After a glance back at Cloud and Leon, Riku closed his eyes then grabbed the handle. For a split second, he felt nothing but the cold metal but then a chill rushed up his arm like a freezing flame, a black light exploding around him. He heard himself gasp as a chilling laugh echoed around him, the burning sensation sinking into every part of his body. It was painful, yes, but that laugh forced his dignity to keep his hold on the door.
"You're quite tenacious, little dark one, hanging on for so long. The other's let go so much faster. Of course if it was me, I would have just fired a Dark Barrage at the door to break it down."
There was a second's pause. Riku took the chance to try to open the door but it wouldn't budge.
"Oh, but you don't know how to use Dark Barrage. You don't even know a single spell."
The damn freak was reading his mind!
"Your so-called friends haven't taught you to use your powers. They haven't even given you a weapon. Left you weak and easy to control. After all, none of them could manage a full-fledged dark elemental. They're nothing but weak animals."
Clearly this thing hadn't seen Cloud or the others fight.
"If you think those creatures are strong, then you have no idea what potential you have. What power all dark elementals have. They've kept you from proper education because they're afraid of what you will be capable of."
Riku could barely think clearly anymore. This man's voice was ripping through his min, his words seeping past his barriers. It wasn't as if they hadn't taught him anything. Cloud had taught him to defend himself, how to fight. It was true that they hadn't given him a weapon yet, but they hadn't really had the time-
"They're never going to give you a weapon. Not if they have it their way. You'll always remain weaker than them if you do nothing but follow along with their orders. They'll make sure of it. They'll always keep you under their heels." The freezing air around him seemed to whip around him."I can give you power. Set me free from this immobile prison and I'll teach you all you need to know about the darkness. I will make you something stronger than what they could ever hope to be."
All he wanted to do was to get the damn door open. He'd deal with the problem of being "weak" later on when he really had time to talk to Axel. He wasn't going to lose his head thinking about it now.
"Ah. I'll put this another way then. Release me and I'll not only make you stronger, but once I leave this door, you will be freely able to open it. Either way, you win."
Riku's brows furrowed. He couldn't think straight anymore. He felt as if he was being burned alive in the freezing darkness, he couldn't even defend himself against this man's attacks. The words were being drilled straight into his mind. Damn it. He just wanted to get this thing over with. And secretly, he was getting angry at the words being said. If it was true that Cloud and Axel weren't telling him how to use his power because they were afraid…that just pissed him off.
"There's nothing for you to lose. There's no risk. You have too much willpower so I can't do more than advise you. If you decide to release me, simply say, 'Xehanort's Heartless, I release you from your prison and agree to be your host.' Then you will have no more worries."
Riku pursed his lips. This didn't sound right, but they had to get through the door. And he wanted more power. He wasn't going to be the one who could only dodge blows again. He wanted to be stronger than Cloud, Axel, and Leon combined. Letting out a breath, he steeled himself then called out. "Xehanort's Heartless, I release you from your prison…and agree to be your host!"
"Fool."
As soon as the words left his lips, the burning in his body increased tenfold. He could feel them warping as something flowed down his arm, a heavy presence. Xehanort's Heartless, whatever the thing was, Riku could feel it sinking into him. He let out a shout, wrenching his stiff hand off of the handle, panic welling up inside him when he realized that his shout had been much lower than his voice usually was. Shit, what was happening to him?!
"You're my new host. Let us see what one of us really has the stronger will. I was right about one thing. This body of yours does have great potential, such a great store of dark magic waiting to be put to use."
He felt as if he wasn't even in control of his body any more. Letting out a gasp of pain, he fell back half a step from the door then forced himself back to it. Ignoring the pain, the sensation of his body changing, the heaviness of his breath, he grabbed the door of the handle again and pushed with all of the energy he had left.
The large door cracked open an inch underneath his weight before his legs gave out from underneath him and he fell to his knees, his hands flying against the door to soften the fall.
The only thing he could hear was the sound of his own strange breathing, the low noise rattling past his lips his hands, splayed in front of him, were turning tan before his very eyes. Then a hand fell on his shoulder, roughly twisting him around to come face to face with Axel, the redhead's image swimming in front of his eyes.
"What did you do?!"
"Go ahead, tell him what you've done."
The voice wasn't getting out of his head. Riku looked up at Axel with desperation. He couldn't think straight with the new voice in his head. "Axel…!"
Then Leon pushed Axel to the side, the lion grabbing Riku's arms, his scarred face grave. "Riku. Listen to me. Take a deep breath and get control over yourself. You, Riku Jenovan, you're in charge of this body. You're not going to let that thing win, are you?"
"It is an excellent question. Are you?"
No. He wasn't. Taking a few deep breaths, Riku clenched his eyes shut. He was Riku Jenovan. He was better than Xehanort's Heartless. He could feel the other's presence inside his body and he fought to smother it with the same willpower which he smothered his instincts to find the prince. The initial panic was settling to anger at himself and at Xehanort's Heartless for having caused him to lose his cool in the first place. He wasn't going to tolerate that voice in his head any more. He wasn't some crazy schizophrenic, he wasn't going to allow it.
It took a few minutes, but when he finally opened his eyes again, he could hear that his breathing has returned to its normal level, though it was now coming out in trembling bursts. The rolling sensation across his skin had stopped, and lifting his hands, he could see that his skin was back to its normal pale complexion. And the voices had stopped.
In front of him, he could now see Leon clearly. The lion was staring down at him with an intense expression, a mixture of concern and possibly something akin to alarm. When Riku met his gaze though, he let out a quiet sigh. "Good…" he murmured, "Back to blue."
Riku swallowed; his throat felt raw but he croaked out anyway. "What, what do you mean?"
Crouching down next to Leon, Axel frowned. "You looked like a whole other person a second ago. Big, with tan skin and gold eyes, kind of ugly." He smirked weakly when Riku started. "Don't worry, you're back to your normal pretty-boy self. What happened?"
"I…" Riku paused. If he told them about Xehonort's Heartless, about how the man could talk to him in his head, he'd have surely be bombarded with questions and lectures and warnings. It was possibly better to avoid that topic for a while until he understood things better. His body was still aching from the momentary transformation and his head was still reeling. He didn't want to deal with anything else right now. "I opened the door. The thing inside it wouldn't get out until I said a few things."
"You agreed to be its host. You're possessed right now, Riku."
Riku frowned and, finally noticing that a sliver of light was pouring over his shoulder from the cracked door, shook his head, the movement causing him to wince. "We'll worry about that later. Right now, we have some princes to find." With a shaky hand, he swatted Leon's grip away then twisted around and tottered to his feet.
He could already tell, from the thin sliver of light, that the next room would be bright. But as he pushed the door open, he had no idea how blinding that had meant it would be. Instantly, he caught sight of the white walls and floor from his dream, but in the middle of the room were two flower pods, tall enough to nearly touch the ceiling. Blinking with surprise, Riku took a step inside the room, the other three following close behind him. His heart was hammering in his chest, exhaustion over everything that had just taken place settling over his body like a heavy cloak.
Though the two were side by side, Riku instinctually approached the one on the right. As soon as he was within five feet of it though, both pods started to move. They were opening up. Riku let out a breath as the unfurling petals revealed two clear bubbles of sorts, each holding a body in suspension. Riku couldn't help but avoid looking at the one he was approaching; his nerves were shot along with his strength. For some reason he felt suddenly…shy.
The left pod, the one Axel was tentatively stepping up to, had a blond boy inside it. He couldn't have been any older than thirteen or so. There was a definite resemblance to Cloud, the hair was less spiky but still impressively defying gravity. Their faces too, were similarly delicate, almost feminine. He looked to be relatively small as well, almost appearing frail, though that might just be because of the state he was in.
Finally, Riku turned his head to look at what the pod had approached held. He felt his eyes widen. There was a brown-haired boy, no a teenager, older than the blond, with spiky brown hair that rivaled Cloud's. Riku's eyes traveled down the boy's tan face to his arms, and his hands. He recognized those hands. And the pounding in his heart had finally stopped, though it was now emitting warmth he had never felt before. With what strength he had left in his quickly deteriorating state of mind, he closed the distance between himself and the pod with a few broad steps then reached out and laid his hand over the clear shell of the bubble.
Inside, the boy twitched then slowly, his eyes opened, revealing a blue gaze as bright as the skies over Destiny Islands.
Riku let out a sigh for some reason at the sight, an immense relief welling inside of him as the other boy blinked. The smaller hand, the one that had held onto him in his dreams, raised up to press against the side of the pod over his as the prince's lips moved, saying something Riku couldn't hear from outside. Riku couldn't help but smile slightly, the relief inside him was just too strong; it was as if his mind had just been settled after some gut-wrenching worry. He could even feel a weight lift from his shoulders he didn't even know had been there. The relief however, opened his body up to finally feeling the exhaustion, and before he knew it, his vision went black as he fainted.
At least he'd kept his promise. He'd found the prince. He had found Sora.
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