Chapter 2 Promises to Keep
Riku sits on the front desk of the town's motel waiting for Marlene to return from delivering towels to one of the guests. He looks up as she comes back down the hallway in a grey skirt with a pink bow belt and a matching pink sleeveless top. Riku gives her his sweetest smile, but she only frowns at him a moment before turning away from him and busying herself behind the computer monitor on the other side of the desk.
"Aw, c'mon Marlene," Riku says leaning closer to her, but she doesn't look at him, brushing a strand of her soft brown hair behind her ear. She'd gotten tired of people telling her how similar she and her mother Aerith looked and started wearing her hair down instead of in a braided style. "I said I was sorry. I didn't want to stand you up, but I had to go on duty." She glances slightly at him and he can tell she is trying hard to still look mad at him. She turns away to go into the small back room behind the front desk, but Riku grabs her hand. She fixes him with an annoyed expression, but he still smiles at her, rubbing small circles on the back of her hand. "I tried really hard to get out of it, but Sora and Kairi refused to cover for me and let me sneak away."
Any regret he feels for throwing his friends under the bus disappears when Marlene gives up pretending to be mad and smiles at him. His grin gets bigger and he pulls her closer as he hops down off the desk on her side. "Don't think I've forgiven you yet," Marlene says as they intertwine their fingers. "That makes two dates that you've messed up this week. You have a lot to make up to me."
"Oh yeah?" Riku says moving a hand to her cheek and gently tracing her jaw bone.
"Yeah," Marlene says reaching around his neck and pulling his lips to hers as she tangles his fingers in his hair. Riku kisses her back as he moves his hands to her hips and pulls her right up against him.
Their is cut short by the soft sound of a throat clearing and they break apart to see Aerith has entered the motel. Blushing, Marlene pulls out of Riku's hands and quickly returns to working on the computer. Riku looks to Aerith who is looking at him in slight disapproval. "Riku, I'm going to have to throw you out if you keep distracting my daughter from her work."
"Yes, ma'am," Riku says. Like her daughter, Aerith finds she can't stay mad at Riku for long and eventually gives up and smiles. Secretly, she is very happy that Marlene is dating Riku as she knows he is very good to her.
Turning to Marlene, Aerith says, "There's an older man in the First District who cut himself on some carpentry tools. Would you like to take care of it?"
Marlene's eyes light up right away and she nods. Aerith is the town's healer because of her powerful magic and in the last few years she has been teaching Marlene to follow in her footsteps. While she is not as good as her mother, Marlene is already becoming very impressive with magic. Riku, Sora, and Kairi know elemental magic from lessons with Merlin, but none of them are as good of healers as Aerith and Marlene.
A guest comes to the desk, but Aerith takes care of it motioning for Marlene to go as she moves to the guest's room to deal with whatever problem has arisen. "I'll be right back," Marlene says giving Riku a light kiss on the cheek before hurrying out the door.
Riku hops back up to his original position, seated on the desk facing the door. He stares out the window in the door half lost in thought as he waits for Marlene to come back. A minute later he sees Sora enter the First District at a furious pace and Riku can tell from the look on his face that he is upset.
Riku jumps down from the desk and hurries out the door, chasing Sora as he heads down the stairs that lead to the fountain and the lower part of the Second District. "Sora! Wait up," Riku calls and Sora pauses, turning to face him in the middle of the stairs. His arms are crossed and his eyebrows are angled down angrily. "What happened?" Riku asks.
"Cloud and I had a big fight," Sora mumbles out keeping his eyes trained on a spot to the left of Riku.
"Why?"
"I asked him if Zack ever talks to him about his search for Ven," Sora says angrily. "He said he didn't and then he got mad when I said I wanted to go looking for Terra, Aqua, Ven, and Master Eraqus as well."
"What else did he say?" Riku asks.
"He said that I wasn't ready to go out in the worlds," Sora's voice started to rise in anger. "That I don't know what's out there. But I don't care if it's dangerous. I can't sit around doing nothing anymore."
Riku is worried about how he is talking and tries to calm him down. "Sora-"
"I know you're on his side," Sora says, cutting him off. "You, Cloud, and everybody else has given up on them. They're our family, Riku, and they need us. You might be too afraid to leave this town, but I'm not. I'm leaving, first chance I get."
He starts to storm off down the stairs. "Sora," Riku says following him. "Where are you going?"
"The training room," Sora says with his back to Riku as he stalks to the doors that lead to the Back Alley and throws them open. "Alone," he adds slamming the doors behind him.
Riku takes a step forward to go after him, but stops. Sora is too angry right now to listen to anyone. It would be best to let him cool off a little before resuming this conversation. After all, it isn't like there is actually a way for him to leave Traverse Town like he had threatened to. The only person Riku knows who ever left is Zack, but nobody knows how he does it. Terra and the others had been able to do it as well, but according to Merlin they used a special kind of magic only a keyblade master could teach. Satisfied that Sora's words are only talk and nothing more, Riku heads back to the motel, hoping Marlene has returned as well.
…
Sora has come to the same understanding as Riku that, despite his intentions, he can't go looking for his friends as he has no way to travel to other worlds. Sighing, he leaves the training room where he had stabbed, sliced, and fought his anger away sparring with dummies. He goes back to the fountain in the Second District and stares at his reflection in a depressed silence.
Remembering the legend of the wish granting fountain, he digs through his pockets until he finds what he is looking for. Pulling out a small coin, he hesitates. It seems rather childish to be making wishes in an old fountain, but he has no other options. Closing his eyes, Sora flips the coin into the fountain. I want to help my friends. They've been gone for so long and I want to bring them back. But...I'm stuck here. My wish is for a way to leave this world and search for them. He starts to open his eyes, but stops. Oh, and if Kairi could like me back that would be great too. Satisfied with his wishes, he opens his eyes and looks at his coin resting on the bottom with a hundred others.
A hand on his shoulder and a gruff voice in his ear makes him start. "What're you up to, kid?"
"Nothing," Sora says turning to the older blond man. He shifts uncomfortably under Cid's gaze.
Cid raises an eyebrow at him. "Nothin'? If it was nothin' I don't think you'd be throwing coins in that fountain." Sora doesn't reply, looking down at his shoes. He could tell Cid what he'd been wishing for, but he isn't in the mood for someone else to tell him he is being stupid or delusional. "Alright," Cid says. "You don't have to tell me about this 'nothin'. I got the gist from Tifa when she came to the shop looking for ya. Said you and Cloud had a real big fight and she wanted you to come back and talk it out."
"I'm not going home," Sora says not caring if he sounded like a bratty child.
Cid studies him for a long moment. "I ain't goin' to make ya," he says and starts walking towards his house on the far side of the district. "C'mon," he calls over his shoulder. "I got some junk in the workshop I could use a hand with."
Curious, Sora runs to catch up with him. Cid is always working on some interesting invention and Sora loves when he gets asked to help him. Cid's house is under the bell at the far end of the district and he throws open the doors, ushering Sora inside. As always, the inside is spotless thanks to Cid's maid without whom the house would become a pigsty. Stomping across the hardwood floors, Cid goes to the fireplace and pulls on a candlestick that is actually a disguised lever.
Sora grins as the wall beside the fireplace slides open to reveal a hidden elevator. Standing inside, Sora shifts impatiently from one foot to the other while Cid punches in an access code. The doors close and the elevator begins its descent at a speed just short of freefall. Sora's stomach settles back into place as the elevator slows to a stop and the doors open to Cid's underground workshop.
The main room is huge with ceilings towering at least 30 feet over his head. It is brightly lit by large overhead fluorescent lights. Hangar doors line the walls, leading off to rooms holding Cid's larger inventions. Tables, chairs, and shelves litter the room with every available space is covered by greasy mechanical parts, messy hand written diagrams, and enough random junk to open a landfill.
"Alright, take a seat kid," Cid says heading over to one huge table piled high with parts for the automated threat response system. For years Leon has been pushing for a hybrid robotic and magic defense system for the town so the Defense Militia wouldn't be as needed. Despite being in the works for so long, the project is still uncompleted, but not for lack of trying on Cid and Merlin's part. Sora has lost count of the number of the prototypes Cid had built, tested, and thrown in the failure pile.
Moving a toolbox from a stool to the ground, Sora sits across from Cid as the older man mutters to himself, looking critically at the blueprint spread out on the table. "Get me a screwdriver, would ya?" Cid says and Sora quickly pulls one from the toolbox and hands it over. Cid starts taking apart the small white robot that had been the most recent failure while he says, "So tell me what's goin' on Sora? Where's all this runnin' off stuff comin' from?"
"I dunno," Sora says fidgeting with a small cracked propeller he found. "I've always thought about it, I just never said anything. Everytime Zack would disappear I'd wish he took me with him."
"You've seen Tifa and Cloud when he does that," Cid says pointing at a bolt lying on the table. Sora picks it up and hands it to him. "Ya really want them to go through all that worry for you too?"
Sora frowns. "No." He gets to his feet and starts to walk around the room, peering at the broken inventions scattered around. "I just...I'm a keyblade wielder," he says turning back to Cid who puts down his tools and gets to his feet. "I'm supposed to be a hero," Sora says staring angrily down at his shoes. "I'm supposed to save people. How can I claim any of that if I leave my friends lost wherever they are?"
"Sora." He looks up as Cid puts a hand on his shoulder. "You don't need to be takin' on so much responsibility," Cid says. "I'm sure Eraqus and the others wouldn't want you-"
The shrill ringing of the phone on Cid's workbench cuts him off. Cursing, he turns away from Sora and picks it up. "Yeah?" He listens for a moment and his expression darkens. "What?" He listens again. "Fuck." He grabs the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, yeah. I'll be right there." He slams the phone back down on the receiver. "Idiots."
"What's that all about?" Sora asks.
"The ass I hired to look after the shop had the bright idea of giving all the Moogles coffee and now they're terrorizing the store on a goddamn caffeine high," Cid says and Sora can't help but laugh. He muffles it behind his hand as Cid glares at him. "I gotta take care of this," Cid says stomping towards the elevator. "Don't move. You're not getting off that easy. I'll be back as soon as I get this shit straightened out." He punches the button and the doors open. Stepping inside, he sticks his head back out. "And don't break anything."
"I won't," Sora says. The elevator doors close and Cid is whisked upwards leaving Sora alone. He wanders around the room occasionally picking up parts or broken prototypes to examine them, but none can hold his attention. All he can think about are his friends. Images flash before his eyes of them in dark cold places unable to get home. He blinks away such thoughts and something red catches his eye through one of the hangar doors left open just a crack.
Curious, he makes his way over and pulls them open. "Woah…" He stands, stunned, staring mouth opened at the large red rocket ship sitting in the center of the room. He'd seen most of Cid's inventions, but this one is brand new to him. He walks over to it slowly and, still gaping, runs a hand along its sleek and shiny side. He stops next to one of the white wings and tilts his head slightly to read the name painted on the side.
HIGHWIND - GUMMI SHIP #1
Turning away from the ship, Sora goes to the large whiteboard with Cid's messy scrawl all over it. "The Gummi Ship," he reads. "First of its kind. Designed for interworld travel in ultimate comfort." He scans over the rest of the information until his eyes rest on large block letters written in red. "Remains untested."
Walking back to the ship, he makes his way around it to the far side where the door is open and steps lead up to it. Looking over his shoulder and praying the problems at the store would keep Cid occupied for a few minutes more, he runs up the steps and enters the cockpit. He slowly spins on the spot taking in everything. There is one captain's chair at the front with two co-captains' chairs on either side. On the back and side walls are built in chairs equipped with seat belts, enough for eight passengers. Moving to the captain's chair, Sora sits gingerly and looks at the controls in front of him in confusion. There are gauges that say things like armor strength and fuel. Buttons of every color, and mostly unlabeled, blink randomly at him. To the right of the steering wheel is a screen that comes to life when Sora touches it. It reads, "Connected to Traverse Town Home Terminal. Would you like to depart?"
Sora sits back in the chair, running a hand through his hair, slowly coming out of the state of shock he has been in since first opening the hangar doors. Here it is, just waiting for him. It is his way to leave Traverse Town and travel to other worlds. Sora reaches out to press the Yes button on the screen, but hesitates, suddenly nervous. Is he really ready to leave Traverse Town? Cloud is right, he doesn't know what's out there. It is dangerous, it is stupid, but as he sits there with his finger hovering over the button a promise he had made a long time ago echoes in his ears.
"Well, if they can't find their way back to us, than I'll just have to go find them."
He presses the button.
Outside the ship alarm bells start to ring in the hangar and red lights begin to flash. Sora glances behind him to see the door of the ship shut automatically as the whole ship starts to shake. Gripping the arms of his chair, Sora can't help but gasp as the floor under the ship starts to rise, taking it towards a tunnel in the ceiling that had opened when the alarms had started. Soon the ship is plunged into the total darkness of the tunnel with the alarms wailing faintly below. The light of the moon in the sky hits the ship as the platform lifts it out into the center of the Second District where a secret hatch had opened to let it up.
The platform grinds to a halt and for a moment there is silence before the engines on either side of the ship come to life. The screen blinks and changes. "Hold on tight. Launching in 10."
Sora quickly buckles himself in and grips the steering wheel hard enough to make his knuckles turn white.
The screen blinks. "9….8..."
The ship shudders again as the platform turns and the front side lifts slightly to a 45 degree angle.
"7…..6…."
"Sora!" Riku's shout is muffled by the roar of the engine, but Sora looks out the window to see Riku and Marlene standing in the doorway of the hotel, staring at him with dumbfounded expressions.
"5….4…."
Cid bursts back into the Second District and takes in Sora in the cockpit of the gummi ship in a half a second before he starts to run towards him.
"3…..2…."
"Stop Sora!" Cid shouts waving his arms.
Sora gives him an apologetic smile before turning his eyes back to the stars. "I have to do this."
"1."
The engines roar and the lights in the cockpit dim. A scream of fear and excitement is ripped from Sora as the ship blasts off into the sky. He is pressed back into the seat by the force of the speed it flies at.
In seconds, he is far away from Traverse Town, flying through space as the ship slows down. The engines become quieter and Sora uncurls his fingers slightly from their vice grip on the steering wheel. He leans forward eagerly taking in with amazement the view of the worlds before him. He stares spellbound for a moment before realizing the ship has slowed to a crawl. It takes him a minute to find the thruster and once he does he experiments until he finds a good speed.
As he settles comfortably into flying the ship, a beeping sound fills the cockpit. He frowns, seeing a green button next to the screen start to blink excitedly. He presses it and a video call opens on the screen. He jumps, finding himself under Cid's angry glare.
"Damn it Sora," Cid says."What the hell are you thinking?"
There is a commotion behind Cid and then Cloud is coming into the image with Riku, Kairi, and Tifa following him. "Turn that thing around right now, Sora," Cloud growls.
"Sora, please," Tifa says looking desperately at him. "Don't do this. It's not safe."
Sora feels a twinge of guilt at the worry in her voice, but still he says, "I'm sorry" and hits the red button next to the screen making it go black for a moment before coming up again now showing a radar sweep of the area around the ship. He sighs, leaning back in the chair. He tells himself again that he is doing to right thing, but however much he loathes to admit it, he's scared.
The beeping of another video call starts up and he hits the red button, ignoring the call. After a quick search of the menus on the screen, he disables the video call feature so he doesn't have to hear that beeping and feel the guilt. A different beeping sound starts, this one coming from the radar, and Sora looks up to see a world in the distance.
He angles the ship towards it and gapes in wonder as he gets close enough to see trees covering the whole world on one large jungle. Fascinated by it, he doesn't realize how close he is to the world until a warning bell starts to wail in the ship. The altitude gauges start to spin around and more alarms start to ring. Clutching the steering wheel, Sora tries to pull the nose of the ship up, but it is still heading towards the ground.
Sora scans the buttons frantically, but doesn't know what any do. "Where the hell is the landing gear!" He shouts out loud as he slams his hand down on random buttons. The ship starts to spin out of control and he clutches the wheel again bringing it back straight, but straight is headed right for a tree and with a final cry he covers his head the ship slams into the trees. Glass breaks and metal screeches as he is sent lurching forward, feeling the seatbelt digging into his torso. He is slammed back in the seat by an airbag exploding from the steering wheel and all the breath is knocked out of him. Stars explode in his eyes and for a moment everything is out of focus before the blackness on the edges of his vision creeps in as he falls unconscious.
So Sora isn't off to that great of a start on this adventure of his...
Attention all you fans of the Zactus pairing. LightzMusic22 wrote a one shot called Hopeless Miracles about them that is fluffing awesome. I meant to mention it before, but I forgot so I'm saying it now. GO CHECK IT OUT!
Thank you TopazDragon98, AquaTitaniaMiyuki, CatLoverx33, LightzMusic22, and Dream For Tonight for your reviews of the first chapter. I'm so glad you're all excited for this story because I'm super excited!
Yay! First cliffhanger of the sequel! :) Review to find out what happens next!