I'm sorry. That's all I have to say, haha. XD Thank you to those who have been reading in my lengthy absence and adding this story to their favorites, as well as those who so graciously reviewed last chapter. THANK YOU.
Sorry for disappointing you all and taking so long. This chapter is roughly the size of a mammoth, though, so at least you know I wasn't doing nothing this whole time :D
At the pace Naminé had set, it took mere minutes to emerge from the cavern and into the sunlight of the ridge just above the Great Maw. There they stood, in a line, surveying the enormous plain stretched below them. Kairi cast a glance at Naminé.
"Speak," Naminé commanded of her quietly.
"I'm sorry, it's just… my vision."
Naminé smirked. "You can do something different… like Riku. Right?"
Kairi's gaze fell to the ground, irises completely black.
"Okay. What?" Sora demanded, clueless.
"She can use magic to see great distances ahead of us," Naminé explained softly, casting a knowing glance at Roxas, who was equally as lost, though tried not to appear so.
"So… what do you see?" Roxas asked.
Kairi looked up, and surveyed the plain. A faint glow of red was visible along the edges of the charcoal black circles as she scanned the land. "A camp of twelve Adherence members lies just at the exit of the plain, and that is all," Kairi said, bowing her head and closing her eyes as they shifted back to normal.
"Is that why you chose a bow?" Sora asked, watching her every movement with evident curiosity.
Naminé smiled as Kairi sighed. "She's a real sharp shooter," she joked. "Okay, okay, no more talking! We know none of them are around, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be careful."
Sora opened his mouth to object, and almost immediately closed it. She was right, and he knew it.
Naminé jerked her head to the right, and led the way around the edge of the cliff. She let her senses take control, completely governing all of her thoughts and movements. Gracefully, she bounded through the tall, yellowed grass, making nearly no noise at all. Kairi followed, equally as light on her feet, carrying her bow in her right hand, muscles itching to reach back to her quiver of arrows. Roxas ran swiftly, though without any of the grace and control that the girls exhibited. He and Sora both let their muscles rule their movements instead of their balance and quickness, like the girls. They both avoided making noise with a great deal of effort.
In one quick and unexpected movement, Naminé leaped over the edge of the cliff, though it had lost considerable height as they had been running along the edge. Everyone followed suit, easily landing on their feet. They hung close to the cliff, each keeping a careful watch in case their weapons were needed. Caves jutted into the wall of rock to their right, and Kairi's eyes flickered in and out of her newly re-discovered far-reaching vision as she kept a close watch on the Adherence near the exit of the plain.
Their whole day was spent traveling as quickly as they could, and when night at last fell, Naminé led them into one of the many caves that were hidden in the brown, dusty rock. The entrance of the one she chose was so completely camouflaged that it left everyone wondering how she had seen it. She allowed everyone into the cave before herself, and cast all the protective spells she knew on the doorway.
"Whew," she panted, lighting a fire in the center of the rounded space with a snap of her fingers. "Thank goodness for smoke-free magic fire. It's freezing in here!"
Sora and Roxas, who were both dripping with sweat, simultaneously began to argue.
"You're cold?"
"How can you say that?"
Naminé and Kairi both laughed. "Use your muscles less and your brain more, maybe," Kairi playfully suggested.
Sora pursed his lips. "Are you suggesting that we're not…"
"Smart?" Roxas filled in for him, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.
Naminé and Kairi's eyes met, and both burst out laughing. "Not at all!" Kairi managed to reply, though it wasn't the least bit reassuring.
Roxas and Sora both scoffed huffily, glaring at each girl intensely. Naminé and Kairi, much to their annoyance, were still giggling. Unfortunately, their light-heartedness didn't last much longer. After that, everyone was left staring silently into the fire, eyes blank with visions of home.
"I hope everything's okay at home," Roxas sighed. "I wish another of us had stayed behind to help guard Yuri…"
"Riku is more than enough," Naminé half-smiled. "The Adherence won't choose now to strike, I think. They'll find a more sneaky way."
"Maybe," Sora said doubtfully, poking at the fire with a long, thin twig. "It's not like they have much to lose in a fight, though, is it? They can't be killed."
"They have cleared out the plains," Kairi reminded Naminé. "Aerith and Leon thought this whole area would be one big Adherence camp, but there's not even evidence of campsites around here at all. I wonder what that's about…"
The fire crackled. "Hana will contact Riku before the Adherence moves," Naminé said confidently.
Sora dropped his stick. "How do you know?"
"She loved him," Naminé answered simply. "She won't abandon him so easily."
Riku and Yuri had stayed up discussing what should be done about Zexion. With the wedding the next day, Yuri wanted to be sure that what he was hiding from her wasn't serious. Riku's attitude was constantly grim, as he obviously expected, or maybe hoped for, the worst. They had sat, shoulders touching, on the sofa in Yuri's chamber for the better part of the night, speaking in hushed tones.
"What do you really think he's doing?" Yuri asked, head rested on Riku's shoulder as she almost began to doze off.
He ruffled her hair. "Wake up. And I don't know."
Huffily she jerked her head upright and pouted, "But you know everything!"
He half-smiled. "I know, which is why we need to get this figured out. I can't let you down, after all."
"Fine, fine," she sighed, rubbing her eyes drowsily. Smoothing her hair quickly, she asked, "Would his world have anything against ours?"
Riku shrugged, avoiding eye contact. "Not sure. You're the history expert around here; they made you take loads of classes when you were younger. You tell me."
She bit her lip. "Maybe we ought to ask Leon or Aerith… I don't remember much about that."
"No," Riku immediately rejected her idea. "This could just be nothing. We don't need to be dragging everyone into it. Besides, the more people that know about it, the more likely it is to get back to him," he pointed out.
She gave him a hard, resentful glare. "Of course, you're right again. I really wish you were stupid sometimes."
"You like my brains, you know you do," Riku teased. "Anyways. Maybe we could sneak down to the library and have a look at some history books. If there's an ancient grudge between the two of you, he's banking that you won't know about it, and that your advisors will have forgotten."
"Now would be a convenient time to utilize one of my many secret passageways, I suppose," she relented in agreement. "We'll take the west passage behind the bookcase in my bedroom—it'll lead us right down there."
With difficulty, she pulled herself up off the couch and out of the haze of sleepiness that had descended over her, and helped Riku up. He followed her dutifully through her several apartments and into her bedroom, amazed by how simple and clean it was. Like the rest of the castle, the floor was marble, but Yuri had covered nearly all of it with beautiful, artistic rugs. The dark blue hangings on her enormous four-poster bed harmonized with the reds and indigos of the rugs, and mahogany wooden furniture was scattered around the rest of the room. A large, squishy red chair could be found directly next to the bookshelf; a small reading table placed beside it for Yuri's convenience.
She stomped roughly on a particular place on the ground in front of the bookshelf, and it creaked open. "You use the rugs to hide the switch, as well as decorate the room," Riku commented, ducking into the musty stone passageway after her. "Nice."
"I love those rugs!" she gushed, shoving cobwebs out of the way without so much as a cringe. "They're so beautiful, and they serve their purpose well."
Thankfully, the passageway was short. It, unlike the rest of the castle, hadn't been cleaned or maintained at all in their absence, and breathing normally would be like sticking your face in a feather duster and trying to inhale. He took shallow and infrequent breaths, his lungs angrily protesting with sharp burning.
As they reached the end, Riku saw a wooden wall blocking the exit, and immediately thought it was a dead end. Yuri continued forward, and gently pushed against the wall—much to Riku's surprise, it was another hinged bookcase, and opened directly into the heart of the enormous library.
"This place is just full of secrets," she commented, grinning. "C'mon, Riku, get out here and you can breathe again."
Realizing how stupid he must look, standing there awestruck, Riku hurried from the passage, deeply breathing the fresh, dust-free air. As far as libraries went, the one in the castle was the cleanest Riku had ever seen. Dust particles that normally clung all over the books and the bookshelves in ordinary libraries were completely absent from that one.
"I suppose we should check the history section," Yuri mused aloud, running her fingers through her hair to clear it of cobwebs. "If only I could remember where that is."
Riku chuckled. "I definitely don't blame you if you can't. They need to put directories around in here, this place is huge!"
"Maybe I can wake one of the librarians and ask them," Yuri suggested. "Ask them which books to look in, I mean. If we just blindly search, it could take a very, very long time." She whirled around to face Riku, bright eyed. "Well, what do you think?"
He bit his lip. "I really don't like the idea of involving others, but… I also hate the idea of weeding through massive volumes of extremely dry reading."
"We'll call Kyo, then," she half-smiled. "I agree with you."
"Careful," Riku said warily. "Don't want to wake Zexion."
Roxas poked at the fire, and stared as though dazed into the orange depths, the heat making his face feel sunburned. Sora mimicked his blank look, while Naminé and Kairi gazed back and forth between the two, keeping tabs on who would be first to actually blink since stumbling into their drowsy stupor.
"I wish we could go home," Roxas mused into the silence.
Naminé's gaze fell to the fire, hot coals on the bottom blinking bright orange. "Which home, Roxas?"
He closed his eyes, and smiled bitterly. "Oh, right. We've got two now. I meant the castle, I guess."
Sora tossed a twig into the flames. "I almost miss Earth. Sure, magic is cool, but being normal was great."
"Completely agree," Roxas said wearily, rubbing his eyes. "I'm beat."
Simultaneously, Naminé's internal magic flared, her muscles tensed up, and her senses heightened. "Damn," she murmured, suddenly standing.
"What—" Kairi began.
"Stay put," Naminé instructed in a low voice. "All of you, stay here unless I call for you."
Roxas jumped up from his seat. "I'm coming, there's no way you're going anywhere alone."
She glared at him a moment before finally softening. "Fine, but let's move! Be back in a few minutes." And they were gone.
The cool outside air whipped her hair into her face, and sent chills creeping down her spine. Roxas hovered close behind her as they snuck through the blackness of night. Stars twinkled dully in the sky, being mostly covered by a thick layer of fluffy, deep gray colored clouds. Naminé crept soundlessly through the grass along the ledge, approaching another small inlet further up in the rock. He followed Naminé to the small entrance, nothing visible inside it. Somehow, at the same time, the air didn't feel empty, and he could feel a strong magical presence throwing Naminé out of sync.
"Why did you come?" Naminé spoke firmly into the dark. "What use am I to you?"
Suddenly, movement inside the inlet was visible, and a mop of blonde hair appeared from seemingly nowhere. "I had a couple of questions for you."
The voice sounded so familiar, but all the information that was still raw and fresh in Roxas' mind couldn't match it with a face. Irked, he placed his hand on Naminé's shoulder, just to make sure she stayed close. Wind twisted cruelly past, another icy slap against their skin.
He could feel Naminé's discomfort. "I'm not the person you need to be talking to."
"Where's Riku?" the woman demanded, though there was sadness in her voice that made Roxas uneasy.
Naminé shrugged. "You know, I thought you'd been tailing him or something."
"I'm just making sure he's not with you," she snapped. "We really need to…"
"Chat," Naminé finished for her. "Yeah, but I'm not sure he'll want to speak to you."
Finally, Roxas' mind clicked. "Hana," he said aloud.
"I should have known you wouldn't come alone, though," Hana said, still sounding a bit miserable.
"What do you think I can do for you? Get you back into his good graces?" Naminé asked, scoffing a little at that. "You'll have to do that on your own, I'm afraid."
Roxas could see Hana's head was bowed. "I just… I have to tell him…"
"Told you, Roxas," Naminé giggled. "I knew you'd tell him before your group made any moves."
"You're like him, you know everything, so it's not a surprise," she muttered. "We're not making a move per se, but…"
Naminé cut her off. "Your hundreds and hundreds of fighters that were rumored to be here have vanished. Why?"
"They were needed somewhere else," Hana said evasively. "You're positive Riku isn't with you?"
"You sensed both Roxas and I, don't you think you'd know if someone powerful as him was around?"
"Just making sure. So he's at the castle, then?"
"You answer my question, I'll answer yours."
Roxas squeezed her shoulder. "Watch it!" he whispered. "We don't want a fight."
"She doesn't, either," Naminé reminded him, barely audible.
"I already told you, they were needed in another place!" Hana insisted fiercely.
"Now, tell me, what could be more important than keep us from our weapons?"
"Forget it," Hana said snappishly, disappearing.
Naminé turned and headed back to the cave, not making the effort to shrug Roxas' hand away. He threw his arm over her shoulders. "Well, that was useless," he joked. "Glad it wasn't an ambush. Why do you think she came?"
"Truthfully?" Naminé asked. "She really wanted to believe we were hiding Riku from her, I think. Riku wouldn't hide from her, he just probably doesn't want to talk to her."
"Did something… happen?" Roxas asked carefully, reaching over and taming Naminé's hair, which had again been violently tousled by the wind.
"Well, you know the old story," she sighed. "But since Riku has learned how to use his mind-reading again, I think he avoids her because he really doesn't want to know what she's thinking, or see how he's treated her in the past."
Roxas looked uncertain. "How did he treat her, exactly?" He was thankful for the darkness; his face probably looked silly as he tried to recollect past memories of Riku.
He could hear Naminé hesitating. "I don't think it was anything huge. Just miscommunication. He still feels guilty, though, because he's Riku, and that's the way he is. You know him."
Roxas nodded. "I hope they're okay."
"He'll get us a message, somehow, if something goes wrong," Naminé said, leading the way back into the cave. Somehow, their precious minutes of alone time had been wasted talking about Riku. Roxas mentally sighed. He really needed to get around to telling her about the diary.
His mental sigh, turns out, was audible. "What's up, Roxas?" Naminé stopped and turned around to face him. The distant glimmer of light from the fire illuminated her pale skin in the dark; her face was almost visible.
"What? Was that out loud?" he chuckled. "I'm sorry. I guess I've wanted to talk to you all day."
Her expression was still obscured by the night. "Really?" she sounded like she might be smiling. "Why?"
"Just miss talking to you is all," he ruffled her hair. "I need to tell you something kind of important."
"Okay, shoot," she said, trying to swallow a sudden wave of worry.
Roxas took a deep breath, and produced the diary from his pocket. "I found this, back on Earth," he said quietly, handing it to her.
At first, she seemed elated to have it back. "You found it? That's awesome! But why didn't you—"
"I'm sorry," Roxas immediately said. "I'm sorry, I should have given it back…"
"You read it," she muttered accusingly.
"I had to… it started to find out who it belonged to… but I couldn't stop…" his confession left his face burning red. Again, the darkness was a blessing.
He imagined her eyes piercing through him with a blank stare. Naminé was rarely angry, but Roxas assumed he was about to bear a whole lot of strong feelings of resentment coming from one of his favorite people in the whole universe. "You didn't stop after you knew it was me, did you?"
He stared at the black, invisible ground. "No, I couldn't. Your writing and artwork just interested me, and I learned so much I never knew about you…"
"Most of that stuff was intended for people to never learn," she said, trying to mask her anger.
"I've been carrying it with me for a few hours now, it was in my pack but I knew that I had to tell you…"
"Don't expect my trust again," she snapped.
He clenched his eyes shut as though in pain. "I had a feeling you'd say that, but I had to do what was right."
Her laser glare sparked at Roxas despite the dark. "Oh yeah? Not reading it was the right thing to do, Roxas, and you completely disregarded that."
"But…" he couldn't explain how reading it had made him feel about her. He couldn't tell her that…
"Unless you have a seriously good explanation for all of this…" Naminé started.
"I don't have an excuse, if that's what you're asking," he sighed wearily. "I read it to see whose it was, and ended up really liking the girl that had written it. I wanted to find out who she was, because the two of us have a lot in common."
"You knew that," Naminé pointed out dismissively.
"Not until I read this," Roxas shook his head. "I didn't mean to learn about your secrets, but I really didn't know a lot about you. You were always quiet, and in the time you've started talking to me more and I started reading the diary, you've become on of my closest friends. I don't want to lose that…"
Her arms were suddenly around him. "I'm sorry, Roxas. I'm sorry I'm angry… but I need some time to think about this. We'll talk tomorrow." She moved swiftly back into the cave, Roxas following shortly behind her.
His piece of Naminé was gone, and the real Naminé had deserted him.
Kyo, a middle aged man that had taken the better part of his adult life to learn every nook and cranny of the castle library, was delighted to be stirred by the Queen in the middle of the night. He led Riku and Yuri up and down countless aisles of jam-packed shelves, excitedly jabbering about how both Riku and Yuri looked exactly the way he remembered them.
"You've met Zexion, right, Kyo?" Yuri asked. "I mean, I hope he introduced himself around a bit on his tour today…"
Kyo nodded profusely. "I did meet him! He seems like quite a respectable fellow. I heard about where he's from, as well. Fascinating world, with a fascinating history," he rambled.
"That's actually why we're here," Riku said, sizing up the ancient shelves on either side of them. "We were wondering specifically about the history of our world and his, as well."
Kyo pondered for a moment. "Well, I don't believe we've had much prior interaction with them, other than that for a long while, the rulers of that world and this one were related, which helped avoid conflict. Zexion is, fortunately, simply a member of a wealthy family that took over when the family with blood ties to her Majesty's family died out several generations ago," he rattled off easily.
Yuri and Riku exchanged a defeated glance. "Nothing between us? Are you certain? There's no reason they would want revenge on us?"
Kyo made a sharp left, which neither Yuri nor Riku were expecting. "I'm positive," he affirmed. "No conflicts that I can remember. His world does hold grudges, though."
"Against who?" Riku immediately demanded. Yuri peered up at him curiously, and poked him in the arm to get his attention. He waved her off. "Who do they hold grudges against?"
Kyo sighed. "Earth. Those poor humans."
"Earth?" Yuri almost shouted, grabbing Riku's arm. "Earth!"
He half-smiled. "Well, at least this is starting to make sense."
Yuri clapped her hands over her eyes. "Ugh, what do you mean? It may make perfect sense to you, but remember, you're basically a genius compared to me."
"You're plenty smart," he pointed out. "What I meant was, we came from Earth. He's getting married to you because he thinks we'll help him destroy the Earth as repayment for helping us drive the Adherence off. At least, that would be my guess."
"But if we came from Earth, doesn't that mean he hates us, too?" Yuri asked, uncovering her eyes and looking up at Riku. "You look concerned…"
"I am," he said simply. "I don't know what he'll do to make us help him. He may even kill us."
"Oh no," Yuri moaned, grasping a bookshelf white-knuckled to brace herself.
Haha. Do you think Riku is right? What does Hana want to talk to him about? Keep reading, and guessing! I'm always delighted when people try to guess where this is going. It's about to get even more complicated, if you can believe that. Chapter 16 will be posted SOON! Review, everyone!
Thanks for reading!!!
Lulala