Bait, Chapter 8

The replica had woken up to the sound of a horrible choking cry. Cursing himself for dozing off, he looked around the room to investigate. No threats met his gaze, only the sight of Riku thrashing on the ground. He seemed to be trapped in a nightmare. Occasionally a pleading exclamation or cry of "No!" or "Stop!" would break through the fits-he kept begging someone to leave him alone, and the replica could very well guess who he was struggling against in the nightmare.

"Riku... RIKU, you're safe, wake up!" The replica shook him gently and took note that he was burning up, he could feel the heat from inches away. "Come on, you can fight this!" He shook him harder, but the only response he managed to get was a low moan of "nooo..." from the boy's lips.

This is bad... the replica thought to himself. I can't get him to wake up! How long had I dozed off for, he can't have gotten this sick in a mere couple of hours, could he? He tried again to get Riku to wake up, but to no avail. He was clearly in the clutches of delirium. If he could just cool him down a bit he might at least calm down. He remembered the cloth he had cast aside a couple days ago. Retrieving it from beside the futon, he cleaned and dampened it with water from the bottle he always carried, then proceeded to hold it against Riku's face.

The action had the desired effect, Riku soon settled down and opened his eyes slightly.

"Hey, you looked like you were having quite a nightmare. Are you alright?" The replica asked him in concern. Riku just looked him directly in the eyes and nodded slightly. The boy's eyes were dimmed by the fever, and the replica knew he was in worse condition than he was leading on. He could see it, he was trembling from a combination of weakness and cold- even though his fever was so high, the chill of the dungeon still broke through it. He could also make out a strange rumbling sound with his every intake of breath. He was wheezing.

It was a typical early symptom, he had witnessed this same deterioration in other prisoners before. The cold air of the dungeon paired with the lack of natural light made perfect conditions for anyone who dwelled down here too long to develop pneumonia or some other sickness brought on by exposure. It was only a matter of time before the choking fits began, followed by a slow and miserable deterioration as the symptoms worsened and took their toll. He desperately wished he could get him out of this place, but doing so would only get them both killed.

Not that it mattered to Riku. Without medicine or better conditions, the sickness would eventually kill him off anyways.

He desperately hoped Riku's friends would be here for him soon.

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"So we set out tomorrow..." Lea was seated beside Sora on one of the windowsills in Yen Sid's tower. He had made a brief venture into a nearby world to purchase some sea-salt ice cream in an effort to lift the boy's spirits- it was one of the few things that would cheer Roxas up when he was like this- as Lea had never seen Sora this crestfallen before. He usually had a idiotically cheerful demeanor. Today he looked like he had borne a burden on level with Atlas.

"Hey, everything's gonna be fine, you'll see. It's like Kairi keeps telling you, Riku's a strong kid, he'll be fine, he'll probably be wondering what took us so long." Lea shot Sora an encouraging smile, which he didn't return.

"I know, I just keep getting this feeling...like you know something is going to go horribly wrong and you can't stop it. I keep telling myself to prepare for the unthinkable. Riku's been their prisoner for nearly three weeks now, who knows what they're doing to him, what they've already done to him."

"Listen to me Sora. It's a grim thought, but its one that we can hold out on. They are using him as bait to lure you to them. They are a cruel bunch, but they are not stupid. They know all too well that a deal they set would be null and void if their bargaining chip gets damaged. At least hold onto the hope that they wont kill him while you're out of their grasp. And we have it planned so that you both get out of there safe."

"Okay, I'll stick by your logic, I just hope its sound."

Lea chuckled. "If it isn't, you have my permission to beat me senseless after this is all over."

He actually managed to get a small smile from Sora in response.

"I'll hold you to it."

End of Chapter 8.