"Wake up, Princess Xion."
"Go away." Xion grumbled, sinking farther into her peacock feather mattress.
"Don't make me get the motor oil. Remember what happened last time?"
She jumped out of bed so fast, she tripped and fell. "Kairi, help."
Kairi stuck out a hand and helped her up.
"Thanks."
"It's my job. Oh, your schedule says you have a date."
"I don't wanna goooooo!" Xion whined.
"Aqua will be accompanying you."
"Yes! What time?"
"Well, there's brunch at ten. Then there's a movie and roller-skating, and then there's dinner."
"I'm spending the whole day with him!"
"Afraid so."
"Crap." Xion sat on her bed, pouting.
Aqua came bounding into Xion's bedroom. "Hey, guys! What's up?"
Kairi mumbled a 'Hello' before she spaced out. She began to mumbling incoherent words.
"I've got a date with Riku."
Aqua chuckled at Xion's sour behavior. She sat down next to her. "Relax. Terra and I are come with you as bodyguards. I'm allowed to bring a friend along."
"Did you use magic?" Xion's eyes narrowed.
"Only a little." Aqua grinned sheepishly.
"But you're not allowed to use magic outside of your home town."
"And? How will they know I used family magic?"
"I don't know."
"Exactly."
"Grr..."
"Love you too, Fluffy. Now get dressed." Aqua took Kairi's arm and dragged her out of the room. By then, Kairi's had come back to reality to see Kairi glaring at her. She pushed her against the wall.
"Listen," she growled, "keep your hands off the princess. You think I didn't hear you chanting under your breath? Don't try me, child. I can kill you in less than five seconds. Watch your back, bitch. And have a nice day!" Aqua walked away with a small spring in her step. Kairi blinked.
"Jeez. Rude." Kairi muttered as she walked in the other direction, to the conference room.
"Aqua, in here." Terra beckoned her into the queen's chambers.
"What are you-?"
She cut herself off as Terra waved a red crystal over his mother's sleeping figure. It began to glow as he mumbled something Aqua couldn't hear. When the queen's eyes begin to flutter, Terra pulled Aqua closer and hid in the closet. In an awkward position, she whispered, "What did you just do?"
"I healed Mom."
Silence settled over them until Aqua's curiosity became overwhelming.
"How are we gonna get out of here?"
"Doesn't your family have a spell for that?"
"Just because I come from a family of famous spell weavers doesn't mean I know every spell in the book." She glared at him.
He kissed her nose softly. "Teach it to me."
"But the teleportation spell only works for one being. Plus you're the one with the Encante crystal. Where'd you get that anyway?"
"The mines. One of the workers forged it for me. Do you think it'll help increase the spell's magik?"
How does he have those kinds of connections? "Maybe."
Terra handed the silver chain to Aqua as she bit down on her thumb to draw blood. She drew a circle in Terra's palm, and placed the crystal and the chain in the middle. Terra looked up to see her shivering. "Aqua, is something wrong?"
"Someone else is sensing me," she said hollowly. "Someone else is in the castle and they're looking for me."
"Who is it?"
"I don't know. But we need to leave now." Aqua began to smear her blood onto the crystal. She whispered the word teleport, and instantly, they were in the courtyard of the castle. She dropped to her knees, and Terra knelt down alongside her.
"Aqua, tell me what you need."
Her face began to drain of color. "Behind you," she whispered.
He whipped around to see Xehanort lumbering towards him. He grabbed Terra by the neck.
Aqua stumbled to her feet. "Terra!" She shot her hand out at Xehanort and blue electricity snaked up his arms. He let go and writhed in pain. Terra hit the floor and crawled to Aqua. She knelt down.
"Aqua?" He croaked.
"Yes, Terra? What is it?"
"Come closer."
Aqua obeyed and sat down next to him.
"Closer." he said.
She bent down to the point where their noses were almost touching. He kissed her softly and whispered, "Gotcha."
As he sat up, she punched him in the arm and scooted away from him. "Meanie."
He grinned and pulled her by the waist into his lap. "Love you too, sweetheart. Hey, isn't he your husband?"
She nodded.
"Is he dead?" Terra kicked Xehanort's unconscious body gently.
She crawled over and checked his pulse. "No, sadly."
He chuckled. "You really want him dead, don't you?"
"Yup!" she said brightly.
"Why don't you just kill him now while you have the chance?"
"Because I want to watch him suffer." She knew what she wanted.
"You're so twisted sometimes, you know that, right?"
She grinned in response.
Sora poked his head out of the palace doors. "Aqua, are you and your friend ready to leave?"
"Does it look like it, Sora?"
"I don't know, ma'am." He smirked.
"Wipe that smile of your face, boy. I'll call you when I'm ready."
Sora glared at Aqua and left.
"Where are we gonna put his body?"
"I'll carry him to my place. He won't remember anything, anyway. Plus I wanna put on my pretty dress. The white and yellow and brown one with straps." She seemed to glow at the thought of it.
He chuckled quietly. "How are you gonna carry him?"
"I'm pretty strong, Aqua. Don't underestimate me, understand?"
He smiled as he stood up. He helped Aqua up, and watched as she lugged Xehanort's heavy figure out of the courtyard.
He turned around and headed inside. "I've got a date in," he looked at the clock, "two hours. To the shower!"
Namine stretched and sat up. What is this year's symbol again? Her incredible memory seemed to be failing her. She didn't know why, but she needed to know.
'It's not the Firen Eclipse, nor the Thundrum's Storm...'
She scratched her head. What was it? Something in the back of her head began to claw at the walls of her mind. 'Tigren... It has something to do with a tigren... This is the year of Icet, maybe that has something to do with it...'
The clawing got louder. Namine needed to know why she needed this information. She got up and looked at her calendar. Riku's birthday is coming up. The festival of Cantu Verdi is close, as well.
Then it hit her.
The year of the Icet Tigren, or rather, the year of the Ice Tiger. Cantu Verdi celebrates the Tigren at the festival. And her brother's birth sign is the same animal.
Why is that of significance? It could be just coincidence.
Namine chuckled to herself. The gods purposely told her this. But why?
August 23 is Riki's birthday. She stared at the calendar again.
8/23/2083
The numbers were suspicious. She bit her tongue. She had to figure it out. Before it decided to kill her.
Namine yawned. She'll worry about it after breakfast.
Riku smiled and winked in the mirror. "The sexiest man on Earth has a date today."
"Get out the freaking bathroom, Princess Riku! How long does it take you to do your hair?" Namine banged on the door of the bathroom for the fourth time that morning.
"Alright! Five more minutes!"
She groaned. "Jeez!"
As soon as Riku stepped out, Namine slid in. "See ya, suckers!" she yelled as she locked the door behind her.
Riku stepped into his carriage and rode off to his destination.
Kairi smiled to herself as she answered the phone. "Hello?"
"Ah, my beautiful daughter! How have you been, Kairi?"
"Fine, Papa. And yourself?"
"Happy as a clam. The law enforcement is off my back, but now it turns out my brother is the King of Encante!"
Kairi's face drained of all color. "What?"
"Yup! And that means the prince is your cousin! Ain't that great?"
"Of course," she commented weakly. "I'll have to call you later, Papa. Love you."
"Love you, too. Bye."
"Bye." Kairi hung up first.
Riku's her cousin? Why the hell is she finding out now? Wait... She tried to poison Namine. What if Riku ate it instead? He hasn't talked to her since the fight. Now she was confused. She confessed her love for her cousin. But her cousin is in love with her enemy, who, by the way, hates him back. 'If I killed Xion-'
"Kairi?" Sora put a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"
"Hm?" Kairi broke out of her revelry and looked up at Sora.
"I asked if you were okay."
One look into Sora's eyes, and Kairi's emotions went crazy.
Maybe he's been waiting all along.
She bit her lip to keep her composure. "I'm fine, Sora. Thank you for your concern."
"Anytime. Are you ready to leave?"
"I'm not going."
"Yeah, but I need someone to keep me company." He smiled.
"I'll ride with you if you drop me off at my place."
"It's a deal."
Hey! So are you guys enjoying it so far? Things just got REAL damn ugly! Greeeeat! Lol. Thx for reading and reviewing!
Love Ya-
Saphira