Alrighty, on to Chapter 16, dudes! ^^ To my reviewers, you guys are totally awesome and, though I know I've said this before, I still worship the ground you walk on for taking the time to leave a little note. To all my readers, I hope you're enjoying the story so far, you have been a most excellent audience for sticking around so long.
Special thanks to: DieChan, Ultima Phoenix, miforever29, FlurryDivider, Shinimegami7, Aindel S. Druida, XxsneakydevxX, becoafamu, CloudedMirror, Staple Queen, andhearts, the austinator, zi-ling, Sexy-Tacos-Emo-Waffles! You guys are the bestest! ^^
Ah yes, and special thanks to zi-ling! She drew a most-awesome fan art for this story. It's the first fan art I've gotten yet and man you should have seen my face when my sister pointed it out to me. Grinning like an idiot, I was. Seriously, it was really cool to get that, so, thanks. :D
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Chapter 16
As they were led up to the throne room, Riku kept a tight hold on Sora's hand. He didn't care about how it looked; he was not letting the prince out of his sight for one moment. Sora didn't protest, on the contrary, he moved closer and closer to Riku as they neared the throne room. Riku wrapped a comforting hand around Sora's shoulders as up ahead Axel wrapped one arm tightly around Roxas's waist, keeping the younger boy attached at the hip for both warmth and protection. The redhead's other hand was down by his leg, fingers clenched into a fist, ready to summon his fiery chakrams.
One of Riku's definite concerns was the fact that Saix was walking side by side with Aerith, the queen having quickly put herself between Saix and Namine who was on her other side. The blue-haired wolf's stance was apparently casual but Riku knew how quick he was; the queen was in danger and Riku knew that all three of her sons were well aware of her predicament. Cloud looked just barely in control of himself; his and Leon's weapons must have been confiscated before Riku had seen them down in the dungeon, but his fists were still clenching and unclenching at jerking intervals. It was as if his judgment was just only holding him back from attacking Saix and his pack of guards, and only because of the fact that he and Leon both had two guards each surrounding them, their spears ready to discipline any signs of fighting back.
The trip to the throne room was faster than what Riku had wanted. There had been no opportunity for an escape, no time for forming any real plan. He had been glancing every so often to Zexion in case the schemer could come up with anything, but the shorter spirit's eyes were determinedly fixed on the ground. Demyx was shuffling along beside him, the water god's face troubled and at a loss as to what to do.
When Saix stopped their march in front of a pair of massive double doors, Riku realized that they were very near the entrance to the palace complex. And he couldn't help but admire the workmanship in the door's carving. Like always, it was white, but this time the surface had been engraved with swirling abstract forms and floral designs. It really was beautiful.
As Saix pushed the door open, Riku felt Sora's fingers clench onto his shirt. Riku was about to lean down and ask him what the matter was when he looked up to see the doors open to reveal a straight shot down the throne room.
It was a vast room, the eye led to the far end by arcades of columns, their widths close to the tree trunks of Demyx's forest. Above the columns were walls broken up by stained-glass windows. It was the most color Riku had seen in the palace with exception to the brightly flowering gardens, the colored light filtering down to the main floor in patches of greens, blues, reds, and every other color imaginable. At the far end was a dais raised up on three steps. There were two thrones on the dais. A black-cloaked figure was sitting in the throne on the right. Xemnas was sitting in the king's seat.
Riku glanced back down at Sora. He had never seen the prince look angrier as Sora's grip tightened. His eyebrows were drawn together, normally carefree face twisted into a scowl as a small noise of disgust broke passed his lips.
Roxas was the one to break first though, the young teen in front of them pushing away from Axel, small hands balled with rage. "How dare you sit there?! You have no right, you bas-"
Axel dove forward, silencing the boy with a hand over his mouth, restraining him by physically picking him off of the ground so that he couldn't do anything stupid, whispering quiet words to try to calm the infuriated youth. As Roxas thrashed in Axel's grip, Riku tightened his grip on Sora's shoulder, a silent warning for the crown prince not to attempt a stunt like that.
An eerie silence fell over the grand court room after Roxas's outburst; a hushed breath having fallen over Saix, the guards, and the rest of their group. Then, a masculine chuckle rumbled through the cavernous room, turning to a low laugh as Xemnas stood up from the throne. His smile faded to a cold smirk as he threw his hood back, burning amber eyes falling on Roxas who still looked enraged. "Interesting. You still have some fight left within you. Apparently the son is more courageous than the father."
Riku had half a second to grab for Sora before the prince lurched forward. He took a cue from Axel and threw his arms around Sora's torso, pinning him to his chest as Roxas's efforts to get out of Axel's arms increased tenfold. "What right do you have to say that?!" Sora was almost screaming, his voice racked with indignant anger. "Our father was ten times the spirit you will ever be!"
Xemnas's smirk dropped from his face. He took a step down from the dais but before the situation could get out of control, Aerith moved between the man and her sons, her hands outstretched to block them further. Despite the dangerous situation, her voice was strong, every part of her echoing the queen she had once been. "Xemnas, please. Do not try to rile up my boys and do not insult Zack's memory. Isn't it enough that you've already killed him?"
"I apologize, Your Highness. I had no intentions to trouble you." Riku's eyes narrowed at Xemnas' sudden change in attitude. The Superior's cold mocking tone had turned to something almost sickly sweet, and Riku didn't like it one bit. "It is only that the tenacity of your rag-tag rebellion surprised even me. Why, you even have persuaded my librarian to go to your side. And here I thought you were supposed to be intelligent, Zexion, but you are nothing but a disappointment."
Zexion flinched at the insult, his hair falling to shade his eyes as he stood next to Demyx.
As Xemnas spoke he walked down toward them, his steps echoing through the otherwise silent room. The dark spirits' eyes raked over all of them. "And some of these faces I don't quite remember." He stopped in front of Namine. "You, of course, are hard to forget. Only a spirit of rare skill could have mastered memory spells as quickly as you did when you were young. Such a shame that you are an animal, otherwise I could have had use for you myself instead of allowing Sephiroth to whisk you away."
Standing behind Aerith and Namine, Riku couldn't see their expressions, but the queen's must have revealed some distaste because Xemnas turned back to her. "You are angry with me, wrapped up as always in the so-called rights of animal spirits. They are nothing but pawns to us stronger elementals. Even you, a flower spirit, are greater than they could ever hope to be. Elementals rule supreme, darkness the strongest of them all because its nothingness can envelop everything." A smirk touched his face again and he leaned down so that he and Aerith were face to face, just inches apart as his voice lowered to a rumble. "Or is it perhaps that you are so supportive of those animals only because of your pity for your bastard wolf offspring?"
In the blink of an eye, Cloud shot across the room, a snarl rumbling from deep in his throat as he struck out at Xemnas. Xemnas showed no emotion as he flicked his hand up, a Dark Shield rising just in time to deflect the enraged wolf. With one word to Saix, the blue-haired wolf spirit sprang into action and tackled Cloud from behind.
In that instant the room broke into chaos as Leon took out the two guards around him and ran to help Cloud, guards swarming over to the fight to break it up. Stepping back up onto the dais, Xemnas called out, "Restrain them all! I want them on their knees before me!"
Riku's eyes narrowed as the guards' attentions suddenly fell on the rest of them. To the side of them, one of the guards had grabbed for Roxas. Axel had snapped and called out his chakrams, ramming one of the pointed wheels into the guard's armored chestplate.
Riku knew how Axel felt as two of the guards advanced upon him and Sora, quickly pulling the prince behind him. There was no way in hell he was letting them touch him. His fingers itched to use his sword, but at the same time, he was terrified to summon it. If it had turned on Sora so easily before than it could easily do so a second time; especially with Xemnas and his influencing command on the dark element standing so close.
Hearing a feminine shriek, Riku turned to see Namine being grabbed up by one of the guards. He could only watch in horror as the guard drew a short sword from his belt, apparently trying to stop her resistance with bloodshed, when Namine suddenly stopped fighting and reached her hands up. As soon as her fingertips touched his forehead there was a bright flash of white light and the guard fell to the ground, awake but apparently stunned.
Quickly, Riku shook off his shock, reached back for Sora, then rushed forward to her. When he reached her, Riku pulled Namine close to him as well. A guard ran to restrain them but Riku sent him reeling with a punch to his jaw, one of the few places on the guards not protected by armor or a helmet.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Leon and Cloud thrown to the ground under a pile of guards, Saix pulling himself from the melee and shaking himself off as his guards pinned the other wolf and lion to the hard tiled floor. A few of Leon's cuts had reopened; it was obvious that he couldn't have done much in his weakened state even now as he tried to throw the others off. Cloud had a whole series of cuts and bruises from the initial fight with Saix.
It was with that glance that Riku realized that they weren't going to make it out of the throne room. That didn't mean that he wasn't going to go down without a fight though.
Sensing someone behind him, Riku spun around, letting out a low cry as his striking fist was caught in a tight hand that twisted his arm back until it felt ready to break.
It was Xemnas.
Riku let out a gasp of pain as Xemnas wrenched his arm back further, hissing as the sprit leaned down over him, his voice angry as he rumbled in his ear. "Xehanort's Heartless isn't nearly as strong as he should be. I don't know how you managed to diminish his power but know that the effect will not be permanent. I will return his power and you will fall. You are a disgrace to every dark element who ever lived to have sided with the old monarchy."
He released Riku's arm only to grab his throat. Riku felt his last breath of air leave his lips as Xemnas tightened his grip. "It would be a service to all our kind if I killed you right here and now." The man's lips twitched up into a cold smirk, the hand not wrapped around Riku's throat rising to touch his chin, the intimacy repulsing as Riku felt his lungs crying out for air. "Of course it will be a shame to see you die. You had such potential."
"Xemnas! Let go of him!"
There was a flash of light between him and Xemnas. Suddenly, Xemnas let out a shout of pain and Riku gulped in a greedy breath of air as he was released from the other's death grip. He stumbled back a few steps, clutching at his throat as Sora got between him and the other dark elemental, his Keyblade clutched in his hands.
Xemnas's face had twisted into a mask of rage as he clutched his arm where Sora had struck it. "Cursed fool…" Shaking his arm out, he then stretched out his fingers. His two red blades of energy materialized into his hands and he rushed forward.
When he saw Xemnas move forward, Riku couldn't help but lurch forward, crying out a hoarse, "Dark Shield!" just as Xemnas' blades crashed down. There was a crack of dark air before the shield shattered. It had done its job though, giving Riku enough time to swing his leg out, kicking Xemnas square in the chest and knocking him back against the raised dais.
Xemnas caught himself before he fell to the ground however, the air around the spirit black with his rage as he regained a strong grip on his weapons. He stood up, but didn't attack. Panting, Riku watched as the more experienced dark elemental simply surveyed everything before him. Riku felt his whole body shaking from adrenaline; he was ready for another attack, he wasn't going to let Xemnas get to Sora.
Then, suddenly, Xemnas started to chuckle. It was a cruel sound, thoroughly confusing Riku as Xemnas sent his weapons away. "Yes, you certainly do have strong hearts. And yet how easy you fall. Truly, it wasn't simply a fallacy that darkness came to reign supreme."
Riku turned his head to see that the others: Cloud, Leon, Axel and Roxas, Zexion and Demyx, Aerith; they had all been subdued and captured. And guards were approaching him from behind. He bit his lip hard but lowered his fists. The fight was over. It would be stupid to fight now when it was clear that they were beaten; that would only risk Sora and Namine getting hurt during the last struggle.
Looking down at them, Xemnas sat back down on the king's throne, lacing his fingers together. "Saix, show them to the attached sitting room. I want them gone from my sight until I think of a suitable punishment for their treasonous actions."
Saix bowed his head. "At once, Superior."
Riku could only bite his tongue and keep silent as he and the others were hustled to the side of the throne room, passing between two of the massive columns to a modest pair of doors nestled into the back wall. They were effectively tossed into the room, the double doors locking with an audible click before they were left alone.
As Riku reorganized his thoughts, he surveyed their new holding cell. It was a decent room at least, as opposed to the dungeons. There was a white theme again, but it was warmed by a crackling fire in a tall fireplace, a series of couches and armchairs and an apparent balcony view down into one of the courtyards since Riku could see a bunch of green foliage out of the window even from where he was standing.
Beside him, Sora sighed then murmured quietly, "This used to be a waiting room for important dignitaries. My parents would have them wait here until they could arrange for a private audience."
Bruised and battered as he was, Leon was the first to walk over to the balcony doors. He tested the handles and, finding them unlocked, walked out onto the balcony only to poke his head back into the room a moment later. "An escape through the courtyard's no good. Marluxia is gardening down there."
"Marluxia?"
Leon turned his head to Riku's question. "Palace groundskeeper. He's tougher than he looks."
Having been leaning against one of the walls, Cloud slammed his fist against it then stood up. Then silently, he walked toward Leon, the lion holding the door to the balcony open until he walked out with him. Then he shut it, closing their voices off. If they were even talking. Watching the two of them, Riku doubted if much conversation was going on.
Axel was the first to break the following depressed silence, the red-head releasing a long sigh as he walked over to the fireplace. "Well, we gave it our best shot." He dropped down, back literally amongst the flames in the fireplace. "At least we're out of that damned dungeon."
Roxas's eyes flashed as he turned on his Guardian. "How can you say that this situation is any better?! He has all of us now, there's no one left to come get us."
Axel frowned up at his charge then reached up to grab Roxas' wrist, in one movement tugging him down to sit in his lap and wrapping his arms around the young teen. "At least I know where you are now."
Roxas flushed a little, his expression softening as he pushed half-heartedly against Axel's shoulder. "Let me go. It's too hot this close to the fire."
"I won't let it burn you…"
Riku turned to see Sora smiling quietly at the sight, the elder prince turning to his mother. "There's not much we can do now, is there?"
Aerith shook her head. "I'm afraid not." She let out a small sigh and touched Sora's cheek gently then leaned down to tenderly kiss his forehead. "Oh, Sora…I'm so sorry, darling."
Standing at her side, Namine frowned, sympathetically resting her hand on the queen's arm. "Your Highness."
Aerith shook her head, wiping her eyes as she took Namine's hand in her own. "I'm sorry. You're just all so young. Zack and I did everything in our power to keep you all from harm, we only wanted to shape a better world for your generation. How did it come to this?"
Sora and Namine shared a look before Namine gently guided the queen to one of the couches then sat down beside her. Riku had never been more thankful that Namine was with them; he doubted if any of the rest of them could give the queen the comfort she needed right now.
With a sigh, Riku sat down on the ground where he stood, leaning his back against the wall. The other couch was being occupied by Demyx and Zexion, the two of them sitting silently together like two men on death row, any humor having been long stripped from the situation even for Demyx.
Riku glanced to the side as he heard Sora drop down beside him. Seeing Sora offer a slight smile, Riku tried to return it, offering an open hand. Sora grasped it in his own, holding it tight as he leaned against Riku's shoulder. After a moment of silence, he spoke up quietly, his murmured voice carrying just between the two of them. "Who is that girl? I think I've seen her before but I can't quite remember."
"Hm? Oh. Namine?" Riku followed Sora's gaze over to where Namine and Aerith were sitting. "She brought me back to this world. I hear she used to play with us in court."
Sora hummed thoughtfully. In the silence that followed, Riku had let his eyes close when Sora spoke up again, still in his hushed voice. "Maybe it would have been better if you hadn't come back to this world. You would have never been captured if I hadn't called out to you."
Riku's eyes flashed open and he tapped Sora's forehead rebukingly, "Hey, stop that. I would have come back for you anyway, with or without that dream. Besides, aren't you supposed to be the optimistic one between the two of us?"
Sora rubbed his forehead then let out a quiet chuckle, a small smile coming back onto his face. "Yeah, I know. But it's just a little hard to think optimistically in this situation."
"Then find something positive to think about."
Sora frowned thoughtfully then brightened, wrapping his arm around Riku's. "Well, I did get to see you again. That's good. And…I did get to see you fight. You always look so cool when you fight."
Riku had to smile at this, nudging Sora's side. "You think I'm cool when I fight?" Sora nodded. "I don't see why, I'm not any good."
"That's not true! You're really learned a lot since I first saw you again. And…I was really happy when I woke up in the dungeons and found you there with me again, it made me feel safe, like everything was going to be okay now that you were with me."
"Sora…" Riku sighed as he looked down at Sora's face. Sora really was naïve…and beautiful. Leaning down, Riku pressed his lips against Sora's. He felt Sora gasp a little before the prince sighed and leaned into the kiss, his smaller hands clutching onto Riku's chest. Suddenly, Riku was hit with reality. Xemnas was probably going to kill them as soon as they were called out of this room. Reaching up, he buried his fingers into Sora's soft brown spikes, breaking the kiss for air only to close the gap again with a new sense of desperation.
When they broke apart a second time, Riku touched his forehead to Sora's, taking the prince's hands in his own. "I'm going to save you from this mess, okay? I promise. I'll do everything in my power to save you, and your family, even if I have to die."
Sora shook his head. "Don't, don't say that."
"I have to. It's the least I could do. My family got everyone into this mess right? That's why everyone hates me. You should hate me anyway, I almost killed you myself-"
"Riku, stop!" Sora cut him off, shaking his head as he grasped Riku's hands. "Don't say that. No one hates you. And that wasn't your fault, I've already forgiven you. I could never hate you – I love you!"
Riku blinked at the force of the hushed statement as tears began to collect in Sora's eyes as the prince repeated himself.
"I love you. I always have, even when we were kids. So don't say that you're willing to die. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you, because you're not just my Guardian."
Riku nodded if for nothing else than to try and calm Sora down, every one of the tears that slid down Sora's cheeks ripping a hole in his heart. "Hey, don't, don't cry." When Sora just shook his head, Riku sighed and pulled Sora to his chest, rubbing the prince's back tenderly. "Don't cry, Sora. I'll try to look out for myself. I love you too so it's not like I'll try to get myself killed."
Sora stiffened in his arms then lifted his chin to look up at him. "What, what did you say?"
Riku smirked and wiped away Sora's tears with the side of his thumb. He couldn't believe that he was actually in love with a person like Sora; but he had to admit that it was true. "I love you." He leaned down and pecked Sora's lips. When he pulled away, the prince's face was glowing, lighting their corner of the room. Riku's smirk widened as he ruffled Sora's hair. "I love you and I'm going to take care of you, okay?"
"O-Okay." Sora's hands clenched into fists. "Okay. We can do this, Riku. After all, it's not like we're dead yet." It was amazing how positive Sora became with just a little reinforcement. "We can still fight, we have a chance to win!"
Shushing Sora so as to not attract the others' attention with his pepped up talk too soon, Riku muttered quickly. "I don't think I'll be much help in fighting, Sora."
A frown flickered onto Sora's lips and he leaned closer to Riku, "Why not? Are you hurt?"
"No, I just…" Riku let out a quick, embarrassed huff then murmured. "I just can't use my sword anymore, not if it can be used to hurt you."
Sora frowned thoughtfully for a few moments then grinned and grabbed Riku's wrist, pulling him up onto his feet. "Then we'll just have to fix your sword! Go ahead and summon it."
From over by the fireplace, Roxas stood up after hearing Sora's now raised voice. "Sora what the hell are you doing?"
"Helping Riku so he can help us beat Xemnas and his stupid guards. Summon your sword, Riku."
Hesitant, Riku nonetheless did as he was told, unable to refuse such a cheerful Sora. He outstretched his hand, feeling the dark magic coil down to his fingers as he focused on summoning his Soul Eater. When it appeared in his hand, the weight felt strange, like regaining control of a limb that hadn't been used in a while. At this point, Axel was also standing, and Sora had everybody's attention in the room as he held his hand over the weapon. "If Xemnas was able to control this sword because it had so much dark magic, then adding a little light to the mix should make it easier to handle."
Riku was a little afraid of Sora's logic but still held Soul Eater still as Sora hovered his hands over the weapon. He figured that Zexion would say something if the situation was actually dangerous. But just to be sure…"Hey…Zexion, what do you know about this sort of thing?"
Coming out of his reverie, Zexion merely shrugged. "Very little. Mixing magic types is not my forte as Xemnas did not require me to study it. This may prove to be an interesting experiment."
Riku felt a little part inside of him quail at the thought of this being an interesting experiment but Sora went ahead with his plans. The palms of his hands began to glow with pure white light, the field of light slowly expanding and enveloping Riku's blade. The light was such that it managed to catch Cloud and Leon's attention from outside. As Leon pushed the door open, Riku felt the light washing over the hand gripping the hilt of his sword. It was soothingly warm, but at the same time, it was causing his skin to prickle with irritation. He figured that his dark magic wasn't able to handle the pure light well and he hung onto his weapon.
He felt it changing around his hand but the light around it was so bright that he couldn't bear to look at it. The best he could tell was that the weight had increased; his arm was starting to ache from having to hold it perfectly horizontal for as long as he was. Gritting his teeth, he finally spoke up, "Sora…"
"Almost done!"
Sweat was beginning to collect on Sora's brow but he apparently ignored it with his chipper reply. The rest of the group remained silent probably out of curiosity for a final few seconds before Sora closed his hands, letting them fall to his sides as the light around the sword slowly began to fade.
What Riku saw when the light had faded sufficiently took his breath away. Soul Eater had become a Keyblade of sorts. The demonic blade wing had straightened, the grip now surrounded by a guard formed from a smaller black and an angelic wing. The tip of the blade ended as Sora's Keyblade did, but instead of a key shape, it was instead a curved angel's wing. And though the blade was heavier, it felt so much cleaner. The darkness had been thinned out, and it lifted a weight from Riku's shoulders.
He was so surprised at how beautiful his blade had become that he was almost grateful when Roxas walked over to him and held his hand out. Riku passed the weapon to Roxas. The youth's blond eyebrows furrowed as he balanced the weapon in his hands, his blue eyes, sharper than his brothers though a few good years younger, sliding up to Sora, his expression almost accusing. "You made it a Keyblade?"
Sora shrugged, a goofy smile brightening his face as he wiped his brow. "It's the weapon I know best. Besides, he is my Guardian, now everyone can know visually that the two of us are connected. We match now!"
Roxas rolled his eyes as Axel snickered behind him then tossed the sword back to Riku. Riku caught the grip easily, testing its arc with a simple swing before he turned to Sora. Soul Eater certainly had transformed into something special. The name though didn't seem to suit the new blade. "Can it have a new name?"
"Hm? A new name?" Sora tapped his chin thoughtfully then smiled softly. "How about 'Way to the Dawn'?"
Riku looked down at his sword then back up at Sora, a slow smirk crossing his lips as he nodded. Sometimes Sora revealed his poetic intelligence in a way that simply amazed him. "I like that."
"Way to the Dawn, hm?" Leon's rumble cut through the warm silence, shattering Riku's momentary world where it was just him and Sora. "Prince Sora, you seem to have forgotten our current predicament. At the moment dawn seem rather out of reach, so matter how simple the path may appear."
Sora shook his head. "No, Riku was right in saying that we have to stay positive, otherwise Xemnas really will have won."
"Riku said that?"
Riku turned to Axel, crossing his arms when at the other's incredulous tone. "Well technically I only wanted Sora to cheer up. Personally I don't see a see a way of this."
"Riku…" Oh no, he couldn't look over at Sora now. He could hear a pout on the other's lips. But just knowing it was there was enough to make him want to cave. Damn, Sora had him wrapped around his finger.
Crossing his arms tighter across his chest, Riku shook his head. "Look, Sora. I wasn't lying when I said that I'd do my best to protect you, but I'm not sure how much of a fighting chance we'll actually have. I don't even know what's happening next, all I know is that we're stuck in here and Xemnas is outside."
"Undoubtedly, right now, the Superior is considering his options and deciding out punishment." All eyes turned to Zexion as he began to speak. "During similar situations to this where he would come across a dissenter, the Superior would often summon me for my opinion on the matter. No matter what I offered, he would often choose execution. My most accurate guess is that he will isolate us from one another then kill us. It would be the safest option for the Superior."
Sitting beside the smaller spirit on the couch, Demyx suddenly turned to Zexion, his expression troubled. "Why do you call him 'Superior' still? He's going to kill all of us, why do you keep using his title?"
Zexion's eyes narrowed, "I would not restrain from using your title of 'water god' even if you were to kill me. Like you, although not nearly so benevolent, Xemnas is to be respected and so I will continue to use his title to the last moment."
Demyx flushed, lifting his hands to pull at his hair in exasperation. "Ah, sometimes it's like I don't understand a thing you say. I am not a spirit to be respected. I'm still so thirsty, I can barely think straight."
With a shake of his head, Axel looked around the room. Riku scanned the area again as well; there was no trace of water. Sighing, Axel scratched the back of his head. "That's why it sucks to be a god, I guess. I was good with just a little boost of fire, but you're going to need a whole lot more of your element to get back to feeling like yourself again. Sorry, Dem, looks like you're going to have to hold out for a while longer."
Groaning, Demyx raked his fingers through his styled hair then ran his hands down his pale face. "Man, and I don't even have my sitar to distract me…"
Zexion pursed his lips then reached into his cloak. He pulled a scrap of paper from his sleeve and set it into his palm. Cupping his other hand over the paper, he closed his eyes, a moment later pulling the top hand away to reveal the paper unfolding passed its capacity; another illusion. Demyx's posture brightened, a spark coming back into his eyes as he watched the paper continued to twist into a larger form into the shape of a sitar.
"This is about what yours looked like, am I correct?"
"Its exactly right, except its paper colored instead of blue." Despite the color, it was obvious that Demyx was happy as he gently took the paper instrument. "But there aren't any strings…"
"Draw your hand over it like you normally would, it should make sound."
Demyx did as he was told, a grin stretching across his face when he brushed his fingers over the front of the instrument to hear a quiet chord resound from the paper sitar. Even Riku had to smile when he saw Sora walk over curiously to perch on the arm of the couch next to Demyx; the crown prince just as entranced with the music as Demyx. They really did have compatible personalities. At least the two of them could distract the rest of the group for a while. Well, the others could pretend to be distracted.
Looking around the room, Riku could easily see that Leon and Cloud were still somber, leaning against the wall close beside each other. Zexion, despite his efforts to cheer Demyx was himself staring out at the floor, his lips pressed together tightly. Aerith had moved over to sit in the armchair next to Sora, Roxas having curled up next to her on the ground, his small body looking younger than ever sitting on the ground.
Sharing a glance over the royals' heads, Riku found the same concern in Axel's eyes. As Guardians, they weren't going to be able to do much to help their charges if they were pulled apart.
Suddenly, an echo rang through the room, immediately halting all pretenses of diversion. Straight shouldered, Leon, the closest to the door, pulled himself away from the wall. The door opened but instead of one of the guards, or Saix, a great burly shoulder appeared from behind the door. It was Lexaus, carrying an armful of food and a tray full of pitchers and cups. Zexion had stood up when the giant spirit had entered the room, new life clear in his visible eye, the other hidden behind that veil of violet hair. "Lexaeus."
"I came as soon as I heard you had been taken here. It did take me a while to convince the Superior to give you a last meal."
"If he let you in here, then he either already suspects your stance in this rebellion or he believes in your loyalty."
Lexeaus frowned slightly, glancing once to the door before his voice turned cold. "You know very well that I am no traitor like you, Zexion. I cannot believe you would do something so foolish and then get caught."
Zexion frowned, crossing his arms, waiting for Lexeaus to close the door before he spoke up again. "What do you have for us?"
"At the moment, nothing but food and water. And it was a good decision, Saix came to check the dishes before I reached the door. You really got yourself in deep, Zexion."
Both of them all business, Zexion quickly took the water pitcher and walked it over to Demyx. The water god eagerly took it, drinking it down as Zexion turned back to Lexeus. "Can you get us out?"
"No. Not right now." Lexaeus handed Riku the covered tray. It was heavier than the burly man had made it look, and Riku quickly set the silver cover down on the floor, revealing several plates of well-prepared food. As he distributed it amongst the others, Lexaeus began to talk again. "But Xigbar was the one who alerted me to what had happened to you, and if anyone can help you right now, it will be him."
One of Zexion's eyebrows lifted. "If you could talk to Xigbar, then we need a plan. Since you cannot get us out without someone noticing from the throne room, then you should focus on retrieving what weapons were confiscated, in particular those of Cloud and Leon's since those of the others can simply be summoned. If Xigbar focuses on getting us out of this room, then the two of you can agree upon a time to meet."
As the two of them continued to speak to each other, Riku moved over to where Sora was sitting with his family. When he saw him approaching, Sora smiled and reached out his hand. "See? We still have people who can help us. We will get out of here, and we can fight and win."
Smiling, Riku shook his head but grasped Sora's hand, crouching down next to him. "Yeah, we might have a chance."
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