Okay, okay, one day late. But long! I swear it's long. :D
Thank you to all reviewers. I have such great fun reading them.
Are you ready? This is going to be EPIC.
Riku stared at Hana, unable to blink. "Are you JOKING?" he hissed furiously. "What was going through your minds when—"
Hana rolled her eyes again, as if the situation wasn't of any importance or significance. "Obviously, we didn't have a say in it. It was all the boss. But the prospect of having a mole in the impenetrable castle was obviously just a bit too tempting. What we have to do in return is totally over the top."
"Are you even aware," Riku began through gritted teeth, "how many billions of humans live on Earth?"
Hana shrugged. "No, never been there, I'm afraid. But, like I said, not my choice."
He glared at her, appalled by her ignorance and inability to comprehend the magnitude of the problem. The relaxed and completely unruffled look on her face was more than enough to set Riku off. "You need to stop that plan from happening. We'll help in any way we can, just tell us what to do."
She crossed her arms. "So I risked my neck to pass you information before, and you deserted me. I hardly think you even deserve this information, Riku."
His mouth tightened; his face grew livid. "Why did you even bother, then?"
She shrugged off-handedly again. "Thought maybe you guys would figure out how to stop it."
"Like we know how they're going to do it, or where they're going to do it from," he snapped. "I know you're here for another reason. Why?"
"Why don't you just pry into my thoughts, like you always do?" her stare was piercing and unforgiving.
"I don't want to be in there anymore," he responded flatly, unmoved by her intensity. "Besides, it's rude."
"Never stopped you before," she pointed out acidly.
"I'm different." He turned back to face Yuri, and realized with suppressed glee that he had missed the part of the ceremony that would have been the most painful, and that she and Zexion were already making their way back down the aisle as the small crowd clapped wildly. Even from where he sat, Riku could read their facial expressions perfectly—Zexion looked smug, and Yuri was unsmiling. Somehow, she still managed to look completely radiant.
"You're welcome for the distraction," Hana suddenly said softly, almost reading Riku's mind. "What are you going to do?"
"Wow, no hostility?" he asked coldly. "Well, first things first, I'm going to kill that little weasel." His eyes narrowed at the thought of being near enough to Zexion to wound him.
"The moment you touch him, the members of the Adherence that are waiting outside of the castle will attack," Hana told him, nervously brushing her blonde hair behind her ears. "I have to fight, too."
"You'll die," Riku told her bluntly, facial expression neutral and without remorse. "I'm not going to tell anybody to be wary of you. Chances are, Yuri will come for you."
Hana rolled her eyes. "As if that prissy little princess could hurt me. I'm not afraid of her."
He almost smirked. "Oh, Hana, you should be. She's the most powerful here."
Her brow furrowed in confusion. "There's no way she could be greater than Naminé."
"She is. Think about it logically—she's the Queen. She has unlimited access to Hollow Bastion's magic. It's her world, so to speak, and she can do whatever she wants. She doesn't, but she could."
"As I said," Hana began, "prissy little princess. That makes her even worse, if she has the power but doesn't use it." She folded her arms for emphasis, looking unimpressed.
"Or does that make her stronger for keeping it and herself under control?" he questioned, eyebrow raised as he leaned forward, anticipating her answer.
"Weaker," Hana answered positively. "She could use it to get us out of here."
"It would kill her to use enough magic to get rid of all of you," Riku said, "but one on one, she's deadly."
"At any rate, she'll be looking for you," Hana muttered, and disappeared abruptly.
Riku massaged his temples. Why did she keep returning? Could she still feel the way she did before? He shuddered at the thought. Yuri, Zexion, and the guests had all vanished into the ballroom. He leapt from the wall, and dashed down the corridor as quickly as his legs would carry him.
"She's married," Aerith sighed sadly to Leon. "Can you believe she went through with it?"
"I can," he said, nodding slowly, staring off into the distance as he often did. "She's committed to this place."
They waited on an enormous balcony, just off of the large chain of apartments used as their headquarters. "They'll be here soon, right?"
He nodded again. "Yuffie went to get them."
She wrung her hands nervously. "Are you sure they're coming to help?"
He sighed, aggravated. "Aerith, relax. Of course they're coming."
"And they want to fight?" she pressed.
"Yes. Can you think of a time when they didn't want to fight?" The corners of his mouth twitched.
After a long moment, she finally relented, "No…"
He laughed softly. "That's what I thought. It's okay, Aerith. They'll be here any minute."
She bit her lip as he ran his hand through his hair. "Did you tell Riku?"
"I didn't want to bother him today," Leon explained, looking a bit dismayed. "I figured he'd guess that they'd come back, anyway."
"I feel so terrible for Riku," she said sadly, gaze falling to the ground. "I didn't see him at the ceremony."
"He was watching," Leon assured her. "He wouldn't miss that, I don't think, no matter how angry he is."
Suddenly, Yuffie and two others dressed in black appeared in front of them near the edge of the balcony.
"Hey!" she yelled excitedly, "I hit my mark perfectly this time! How awesome am I?"
Leon chuckled under his breath. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but, nice job, Yuffie."
"Welcome back!" Aerith said warmly, wrapping her arms around the blonde boy. "So glad to see you, Cloud, Tifa!"
"Thanks for coming," Leon smiled, giving Tifa a hug.
"No problem," she returned his smile. "You know we'd gladly help you anytime. We were due for a visit back, anyway."
Leon gave Aerith a pointed look, and she blushed. "She was concerned that you guys wouldn't come," he jabbed his thumb in Aerith's direction.
Her cheeks reddened further. "Absurd," Cloud said quietly, face as straight as ever. He turned his head slightly in Yuffie's direction, looking irked. Yuffie was still punching her fists in the air and celebrating, and it was clearly annoying him.
"What's been happening here recently?" Tifa asked. "We haven't been around for awhile…"
"The Adherence is spreading, as I'm sure you could guess" Aerith began. "Sora, Riku, and everyone have come back, but we've told you that already."
"Yuri was married to a prince from another world today," Leon added.
"Married?" Tifa repeated in surprise. "Why? Right now is such a silly time for a wedding!"
"He pledged to bring his armies here if given her hand," Leon explained. "Her advisors thought it best—"
"Or didn't think at all," Cloud suddenly spoke. "What good will simple soldiers do against their magic?"
Aerith suddenly looked quite displeased. "Nobody brought that up. The only one who unabashedly disagreed was Riku."
"He would," Cloud said softly. "That's funny. I would fully expect him to murder anyone that suggested Yuri do that."
Leon brushed his hair behind his ears as a sudden gust of wind sharply tousled it about. "He's protective, it's a good thing."
"Agreed," Tifa nodded once, "she needs some looking after."
"If this doesn't work, what will you do?" Cloud asked Leon, eyebrow raised.
The wind roared again. "I don't know," Leon said quietly.
"Just a bit further," Naminé murmured. They were climbing through a bright blue cavern, all looking positively exhausted. Both Sora and Roxas' hair was flat and straight, their pants and shirts scattered with tiny rips. Kairi's ankles and feet were cut up and beet red, and her hands were shaky as she slowly guided herself over the rocks.
Even Naminé looked a bit worse for the wear, but that didn't stop her leading everyone. The cave shimmered blue, somewhat reminiscent of icicles, though the rocks weren't nearly as cold, which made the trek considerably easier. The four of them were silent as they climbed through, eyes fixated on the portal of sunlight waiting at the end of the tunnel. They had traveled all night, and, at last, their destination was so close…
Naminé was first to break into the sunlight area of the Dark Depths. Kairi tumbled out after her, Roxas hopping out behind her, and Sora bringing up the rear. "We're here," Naminé announced quietly, staring straight ahead at a small but beautiful looking house.
It was pale blue, just like the cavern, with white shutters and trimming. It looked old, but perfectly normal—nobody would guess that a witch lived there.
"Are you sure this is right…?" Kairi questioned uncertainly, eyeing the house doubtfully.
"Just wait till we're inside before you make any judgments about the house," Naminé told her, smiling a little.
Slowly, the four of them approached the door, everyone naturally falling into a line behind Naminé. Whether they were afraid of what they might find in the house, Naminé didn't know, but without reserve, she reached up and rapped three times on the white door.
It was opened almost immediately by Akiko herself. "Naminé!" she said with delight. "How positively wonderful to see you!"
She smiled wryly. "You could have fooled me, considering the reception we got back on the mountain path."
Akiko returned her smile wistfully. "Can never be too careful these days, you'll understand."
The others were silent—probably taking in everything about Akiko, for she was a sight to be seen. Her skin was extremely pale, and her long hair was a rich dark blue, which hung all the way down to her waist. She wore a white cocktail-length dress, umpire-waisted and very filled out and puffy with many layers of lace beneath the fabric. Her thin, small frame didn't look a bit threatening, but they all knew better. From her brilliant ice blue eyes down to her small feet, adorned with sandals like Kairi and Naminé's, she was a huge threat to anybody that came near this house.
Akiko looked past Naminé to see her four comrades. "We've met before, but I'm not sure you'll remember that, so for the sake of being proper, I'll introduce myself. I'm Akiko."
They all introduced themselves, even though she already knew, and she warmly invited them inside.
It became evident that the outside of the house was simply a ruse—the inside was as enormous as the castle, and from what they could tell, looked a great deal like it. The large entrance hall had one of the highest ceilings any of them had ever seen, offering a stunning view into the brilliant blue sky through the paneled glass. The floors were marble, and covered with exotic rugs.
"Welcome, welcome," Akiko said, leading them across the giant hall and to a corridor on the opposite side. "The sitting room, I think, will be best."
They followed her in silence down the corridor, taking in the magnificent paintings adorning the walls. She opened a large set of wooden double doors and gestured inside. The four trouped in, and Akiko followed, closing the door behind them.
A man with a large clump of red hair was waiting in the sitting room, looking a bit anxious. Naminé, Roxas, Kairi, and Sora all sat down warily, their eyes on the stranger. "Oh, right," Akiko smacked herself in the forehead. "How rude of me! This is my apprentice, Axel."
Riku gritted his teeth and flinched as he entered the ballroom, white decorations completely overwhelming him. Everyone was currently enjoying champagne; the feast wouldn't begin for quite sometime…
Zexion looked smugger than ever. Upon noticing Riku, he excused himself from whomever he had been speaking with and wove his way across the room. "Riku, great to see you!" he greeted, though there didn't seem to be any friendly emotion at all behind it. "Did you enjoy the ceremony?"
"Sorry?" Riku acted as though he hadn't been listening. "Oh, the ceremony—no, I'm afraid I had something very important to do, I apologize."
Zexion stared for a moment. "Certainly," he said, his eyes slightly narrowing. "So, what do you think? Yuri's married now." He chuckled a little.
"I think a bit less of her for doing exactly as her advisors said, I'll admit," Riku said quietly. "She's still one of my best friends, though, and I hope you take that into consideration," he almost growled.
"Is that a threat?" Zexion asked coolly.
"Take it for what you will," Riku muttered, finally spotting Yuri and hurrying past Zexion.
He made his way there easily, and touched Yuri lightly on the elbow. "We need to talk, it's very important—"
"Later!" she hissed, still smiling at one of her guests. "I'll come after the feast, wait in my room!"
He gave her the most disapproving look he could muster, and disappeared back into the throng of guests. Zexion had been watching the whole thing, eyes narrowed and arms crossed, looking furious.
Naminé introduced herself and her friends to Akiko's apprentice, and Kairi asked, "How did you come to get an apprentice?"
Akiko smiled a little. "I found him wandering around outside, playing with fire, as it were—his magic of choice, I mean—and it does get awfully lonely alone all the time. He seemed a good sort, so I asked him if he wanted to learn real magic."
"I've learned a lot," he said, mimicking Akiko's smile. "It's been really great, but I think I'm ready to help you guys out with the Adherence I'm dying to get my hands on 'em."
"I'm ready, as well," Akiko added, giggling at Sora's look of elation.
"First things first—release our weapons. I'm itching to hold mine again," Roxas said, peering over at Naminé to make sure his request was okay.
"Yes, please do—I have a feeling Riku will be wanting his."
"All right, all right," Akiko said, suddenly collecting a ball of white magic in her palm. After a few moments, she squeezed her fingers over it, and it unexpectedly shattered.
Naminé, Roxas, Kairi, Sora, and even Riku and Yuri all simultaneously felt a strange unlocking feeling on their magic—their weapons were released, and would come whenever they called.
"I expect you have a bit more to ask of me," Akiko sighed a little.
"Unfortunately," Naminé grimaced. "What would I have to do to get you to lift the curse you put on the Adherence?"
Akiko shrugged. "Not much, I suppose. You can't really kill them if I have that cast on them, can you?"
"No, it's a bit problematic," Sora put in, fingers impatient and ready to call for his keyblade.
"All right, then," she nodded once, and repeated the same process she had to break the protective charm on the weapons. When the ball of magic shattered again, she held a thumbs-up for all of them to see. "Weapons available, Adherence mortal," she said. "Anything else?"
"Help us?" Naminé requested meekly.
Akiko full out laughed. "Oh, Naminé, what do you think I've planned on doing? I was simply waiting for your words."
"So you will?" she asked excitedly.
"Of course! Both you and Yuri are close friends, and I want to help!"
Naminé squealed, and the others looked quite pleased. "Come with us back to the castle, and—"
"Axel will teleport you back," Akiko interrupted. "I have a few more things I need to get in order before I leave. I'll be coming tomorrow, probably."
"Excellent!" Naminé smiled. "All right, then, let's get ready to teleport back!"
Riku paced across Yuri's main chamber for what felt like an eternity. What could she possibly be doing that was taking this long?
She suddenly burst into her room, huge dress still trailing behind her. "Ugh!" she shouted, "This SUCKS!" She magicked away her wedding dress, substituting it for a much simpler, violet colored one. Her cheeks were pink and eyes were wild with rage. "I hate him!"
Riku couldn't hide his smile easily. "What did he do?"
"We're just not even going to talk about it," she insisted, still quite obviously angry. "What's more important is whatever you wanted to talk to me about."
"Promise you won't be mad?" he asked as she plopped down with a loud sigh onto her bed, long blonde hair spread out beneath her.
"Why would I be mad?"
"Hana came to speak with me today," Riku told her softly.
She sat up so fast Riku almost missed it. "What?"
"During the wedding," Riku quickly began the explanation. "She offered some helpful information—don't worry, she was as unpleasant as ever," he added for Yuri's benefit. "Not that it really matters—I mean, you are married now…"
"Shut up," Yuri spat. "Keep going."
"Which would you like me to do?" Riku asked, smothering a smile.
Yuri sighed again. "Keep going."
"She told me that Zexion is in cahoots with the Adherence—at his word, they'll blow up the Earth if he gets rid of us."
Yuri's eyes welled up with tears, and she let out a scream of frustration. She fell back into lying down on her bed, still shrieking. Riku moved across the room in two fast strides, and placed himself seated next to her. He gently pulled Yuri into his arms. "Listen," he murmured into her ear. "We'll get this taken care of. I'll kill him before he can do anything he says he will."
Yuri couldn't speak. She looked up at Riku sorrowfully, and he knew instinctively, without a listen into her thoughts, that the mistake she had made was tearing her apart inside. She had put her own world in danger, and the decision was taking its toll. As she stared into his eyes, Riku saw the tears suddenly disappearing…
Yuri slowly sat up, breaking the cradle of Riku's arms. She hadn't broken her gaze for a moment. To his surprise, she was leaning toward him—he held his breath as she placed her hands behind his neck—
The door burst open, and in walked Zexion. Yuri and Riku's compromising position—inches apart—set him off. "What's going on here, Yuri?" he demanded immediately, enraged.
Riku was out of her grip and against the wall before Zexion could blink. "Nothing," he insisted. "She asked me a question," he invented wildly.
"Like hell," Zexion muttered acidly. "Riku, if you'll please leave the room, I'd like to have a talk with my wife."
"In your dreams," Riku said angrily. "You'll have to kill me first."
"That can be arranged," Zexion spat back, his sword appearing from nowhere.
Riku suddenly felt an unlocking in his magic, and mentally thanked his comrades for their impeccable timing. He summoned it, and it came eagerly. Zexion looked surprised to see it, but lunged at Riku anyway. Yuri grew white-faced as Riku and Zexion's weapons clanged together.
Okay, okay. Fighting, yay! That's going to be an insane one! Yes, I know, Zexion doesn't fight with a sword per se, but... in my opinion, it makes more sense if he uses one. I mean, in here, he's pretty much just a psycho prince. XD
Anyways. Thoughts? Review!
As always, thank you so very much,
Lulala