Hey! I'm back with this! It's been ages I know, and I've had other projects pop up in between. I wanted to just get everything done in one last chapter and release it so this can be finished in one fell swoop. The persona fic I've been playing with kicked me enough to get through the last of it. Please don't kill me for this chapter, ;~; I kinda had this planned from the start, it will end happy though I promise!
The italic parts at the start here are just to show the switch to sora's pov, i couldnt figure out how to mark the transition without breaking up the flow.
Ursula's spell was more complex than they had thought. It seemed that the first day, Sora's magic had tried to form eggs like they had originally guessed, but like the Witch said was unable to do it correctly, it changed his structure enough to make room and bundle up things but attempting to form actual eggs he wasn't equipped with ended up as a mess. Ursula had sensed the change and sorted out what went wrong, then fine tuned it. The problem was while he now had them, they hadn't been growing, not until Riku brought him back there at least. They had needed a jumpstart, Riku's collar was so he could 'feed' them..
Riku spent nights with him in the tank now. Making Sora feel much calmer than before. The not-right feeling had vanished, allowing him to be as close as he wanted. He still got claustrophobic at times but Riku was nice enough to take him back to the islands once a week so he could work it out. It also let him bring home materials they found to add to the nest which he was much happier with, especially when Riku would bring him presents from his hunting trips.
That's what Riku said he was doing anyway. Routine Heartless hunts to keep the numbers down. He knew Sora wouldn't like it that he kept getting sent on tasks dealing with actual Villains. Ursula had spread the word and the lot of them had been running rampant in his absence. The rest of the Keybearers plus the Restoration Committee were pulling overtime keeping an eye out. Every time Riku would take Sora out it was only if he had at least three other people available to keep watch, well hidden from the brunette.
The tattooed spell on his neck had also finally allowed Riku to understand what Sora needed, if not vocally but through instinct. The link between their Hearts was able to translate it to his human brain even on land.
If he saw something Sora could use he'd pick it up automatically, he understood why Sora had stopped eating things that had been in the fridge more than a day and hit harbor markets daily, and though Riku could see the temptation in his eyes when Sora saw wild fish on their trips abroad there was still enough of Sora to not chase them.
They've never been strangers of where seafood comes from, growing up on the islands fishing just came natural. But since starting his adventure Sora has been more hesitant to actually make a kill. Meeting animals that could actually talk or even turning into them sometimes probably had a hand in that, Heartless and Nobodies could fight back at least, but that was pure self defense. Even after accepting his different forms had different needs, lion and vampire especially. If he could go without and wait, or find it already prepared by someone else he would, he'd only do it himself as a last resort.
As the weeks continued Sora himself was starting to slow down. He was getting fuller, rounder, but also incredibly horny. It seemed every time the brunette begged for satisfaction it would create another egg or two. They'd start out golf ball sized but grew close to grapefruit later on after more 'feeding'. Riku had tried to stop for a while, tried to keep it minimal for his sake, but after three days into one of these fits Sora's eyes and body lit up that eerie pink as he writhed and shrieked in pain. The fish features grew more prominent. As soon as Riku caved and jumped in the water he was manhandled into their half of the bed, the other half holding the waiting nest, teeth on his neck in the exact same spot as before. Ice gripped his throat as his mind clouded into a fog of instinct and want. By morning there were several new bumps in Sora's belly.
They shouldn't have had the room. Riku had panicked as soon as he woke up, both back to their new "normal" states, leaving a sopping trail of water all the way to Yin Sid's chambers. Sora was stretched out like a seahorse but the amount Master Sid detected did not match up with his size. Most had a strange aura to them as well. They still didn't know the full extent of Ursula's plan but one thing became clear. The spell would not run its course without Riku, the eggs held in a stasis unable to be layed until some sort of requirement was met. Whether it was sheer numbers or something else was yet unknown.
Sora had felt bad at first. He knew he did something bad when he woke up later and Riku was with him in the tank again. The nightmares finally made sense and his head was clearer than it had been for a while. Words were still locked in his chest but Riku shushed his keens for forgiveness, purring all the while he nuzzled away the tears.
He was sleeping more often than not now. Sora didn't have the energy for their trips out anymore, but was happy enough as long as Riku came home to him safe and bearing food. It had been almost three months since Atlantica, his stomach ached whenever he shifted wrong but at least his crazy hormones had died at last. More than content to cuddle rather than other activities. But he knew there was something wrong.
Not only with himself, because everything had stopped and as much as his mind told him that the nest was ready and Riku would be there, the eggs themselves didn't want out yet. Riku was worrying him too. He got sent out "hunting" more often, coming back exhausted and covered in the scents of darkness, other people, and hints of blood covered up by potions, none of which helped Sora figure out who was hurting him, it's not like he knew which enemy smelled like what before this. Anti might, but Anti had been locked behind a trap he couldn't break just like his Key. Both Anti and the Mer insisted on cleansing Riku of those smells with his own. He could agree with them on that at least.
Riku also seemed to get more upset as time went on. HIs Shark would take over at points during what little sleep Riku did get, fussing over Sora tenderly, soft hands and loving purrs. If not that he would pace the tank for hours patrolling over the nest against unwelcome danger that wasn't there. But Sora knew it wasn't another curse, just magic and instinct acting out in stress. It was more like the nights where dreams turned sour, waking up to darkness on his skin and the pink glow on the back of the person holding him tight- sometimes winged, sometimes furred, always soothing- was there no matter how sleep deprived he became. Guilt from Riku's past behaviors still plagued him, determined to make up for what was already forgiven.
When the actual three month mark finally hit, something changed. Sora had been waiting far too long for Riku to come back. No one else had come in to tell him anything. No one had said anything about his checkups for a while either.. No one ever gave him details on the hunts Riku was out on. When they did come visit during his whole lockdown they would always help distract him, Kairi showing him something new she learned, Axel with embarrassing stories of Roxas' early days (who didn't appreciate it much if the mingling shame and anger in the corner of his heart was anything to go by.) Showing him tricks with fire that Sora was determined to try once he had all his magic back, updating him on his friends in other worlds who only knew he was 'sick'. There had been a few get-well gifts from that, mostly food he was sad he couldn't eat.
Secrets, always secrets.. They don't think he's capable of being trusted with anything..
As much as he tried to shake that thought away he couldn't help the hint of truth within. He knew he was impulsive and would run off at the drop of a hat if it was to protect someone, they knew how strong he was, or how strong he used to be.. But they still kept treating him like this fragile thing that had to be protected instead. Ok his kidnap rate didn't help his case, but still!
Where was Riku? He'd been gone far too long.. It was hard to tell time between his naps and no moving sun in the windows but its been long enough his scent was starting to fade from the bed..
The nightmares were getting worse. Even while awake the glass of the tank would change into endless white walls. His friends would turn into enemies, or Riku would appear only to fade away and leave him. Sora stopped coming out of hiding when they checked on him. He wouldn't eat anything they left for him.
Sora lay on his side and shuddered in pain. His tail involuntarily curled upward till the fin tip reached over his head and brushed his shoulders, hiding most of his front from view. He wasn't sure when it had started or how long he had been left alone by now. No one had come in to check on him or bring him food. Not that he was hungry either way. Too caught up in between pain and loneliness wishing Riku to come back to him.
He writhes as his stomach moves, Sora watches as a hole opens near the top of the curve. The placement is more like the pocket of a male seahorse rather than down where the slit of his other parts hid. The eggs inside were visible to him, gently bumping into each other while contractions urged them to pop out.
The first one broke free. The pocket opening was in a position where Sora could easily catch it with his hands. Any joy he had left drowning under sudden dread. The shell was a dark fragile film and sort of see-through. He could see a tiny little form wiggling inside, worm shaped and twitching with big glowing yellow eyes. Sora can recognise the stamp of a red heart on the bulbous head.
Ursula had used him! He knows this! He knows how she works! But this was a new low for the Sea Witch! Ursula has not just taken Sora out of commission with a Deal he did not consciously agree to in the first place. Ursula has manipulated Sora body and mind, into being nothing more than a breeding mare to create artificial Heartless!
Rage and grief choke him as he cradles the egg in his hands. Knowing it would cause harm to others if it hatched but unable to crush it due to the instinct to protect what he had struggled so long to create!
Where was Riku?! Where was his mate?! Had the older boy discovered what was really growing inside of him? Did Riku abandon him once he knew Sora had been turned into some monster factory?!
Sora cries, a strange whale song of sorrow escapes his chest as four more dark eggs are slowly added to the nest that had been built with so much love before. The start of what could be a clutch hundreds strong.
The window to their room suddenly explodes. Men flooding into the room that Sora vaguely recognized as belonging in Captain Hook's crew. They swarmed around his tank, diving in with nets and rope.
Sora's movements were hampered by his condition. Between the swollen pocket and debilitating contractions he could only lash out with his claws, lightning dancing from his body, through the water and forcing some of the pirates back. But they were quickly replaced, hauling Sora out of the water. The mer screeched, seeing his eggs gathered up and thrown carelessly into a dirty burlap sack. The fight left him far too quickly as the open air refused to act like the water needed for his gills.
Sora was just beginning to pass out when his face was tilted and a bucket was poured almost carefully into his mouth. His vision cleared just in time to see the red coat codfish himself swaggering up to him.
"Well, color me surprised boys! Seems the wench wasn't selling us snake oil after all! Ha HA!" the captain cackles, his crew joining in with rowdy cheers. "Load him into the ship me lads! And be quick about it! The rest of the brats can only be distracted for so long! Smee!"
"Yes Cap'in?" Sora tilts his gaze enough to see the short old man next to him, who had apparently been the one to pour the bucket.
"Make sure to keep the boy moist enough to stay alive. Can't have our catch giving out before we get to port! Mermaid eggs fetch a high price you know, and if they just so happen to turn into Heartless after leaving our hands? Well that's no skin off my back Ha ha!"
They were at sea now. Sora could feel the rocking of the ship, hear the waves and smell the salt. He had been placed in a pitifully shallow basin out on the main deck just enough for him to breathe, a new bucket poured in on occasion. Escape just yards away if only he wasn't trapped by his own dead weight.
The crew around him treating him like some circus act, watching as eggs would pop out one or two at a time, Sora barely getting a chance to hold the things so precious yet dangerous before they are snatched away by filthy hands, loaded into barrels of sea water and set off to the side for storage. There had to be at least thirty, each held three or four dozen eggs.
Sora shivers, exhaustion overwhelming him. There were still so many left but he could feel it coming to an end soon as the pocket started to shrink away.
The seamless steel box trapped in his Heartscape shuddered, its occupant banging loudly against the walls, hit after hit, Anti was mad..
The laughs, the stares, the prods from sword tips against his scales,-
A dent, another, the frame of a keyhole slowly being punched into shape one fist at a time, Anti wants out! The Nothing and the Sleeper have joined the assault from outside. To let free the trapped beast and take vengeance for what is being done to them!
The sight of Riku tied up, hands behind his back. Exhausted and bloodied, sealed in his own tank too small to even turn around, where that collar trapped him in his shark form. Unconscious for who knows how long, the reason why he didn't come home..
The line connects to itself, a keyhole formed and lit up in motes of light mixed with blue tinged darkness that soon turned red.
The cackle from his dreams rang out as Ursula stood in line with the pirates, pendant glowing in preparation. She was brewing a spell to program the Heartless eggs and send both Keybearers back into their feral minds, ready to produce more for their army.
The trap exploded. Anti was free, Anti was angry, Anti was RAGE!
Sora gratefully welcomed his inner Heartless back, the part that never quite left even when Roxas rejoined his heart, but he eventually made peace with. Red tinged darkness enveloped his body, the Kingdom Key finally rejoining him, a comforting weight in his hand. Rage cast Aero sweeping the pirates back towards the edges of the ship, his growls more like roars. Hand steady, aiming toward his trapped mate the Kingdom Key shot a beam of light-dark-light creating its own Keyhole by shattering the tank into dust and enveloping Riku in a soft light of heal, the water spilling away leaving the shark struggling for breath a second or two before changing forms.
Anti was only a temporary boost though, it had always been. The fact that Sora was in open air didn't help, he still had gills, he still couldn't breathe. The Darkness had eased that problem for the moment, seconds ticking by to delay the outcome…
Riku sits up, taking in the new form Sora took, and leaps into battle with his own roar.
The pirates were relentless, outnumbering the two of them. Ursula throws spells at them for good measure. Rage's power was flagging. Unable to move anywhere, relying on Riku who was already injured to attack those out of his reach. Rage's spells were the only means he had of attacking, but it was draining the coat of Darkness that much faster. His head began to swim when he could no longer avoid breathing.
A sword slashed deep across his back making Rage roar. The sound deafening the pirates to the suddenly rattling barrels of Heartless eggs. Wood and metal explode, a tide of Darkness overtaking the deck. Black claws flying everywhere except at the two Keybearers.
Instead Rage seemed to command them. Driving the pirates overboard, the bulk swarming close to the mer. Instead of wounding, the Heartless would get absorbed. Rage's coat of Darkness strengthens and heals his wounds. His size grew. Towering over the crowd, tail nearly spilling over the rail until yellow eyes single out Ursula. A claw slamming down, trapping her from escape. Rage put every ounce of remaining power into tearing apart the Sea Witch, fading bodies of Heartless pouring through his arms ripping her to pieces and leaving nothing but ash.
Rage shrinks away as the Darkness fades, Sora falling limply to the wooden deck while his partner raced back towards him.
Riku sweeps Sora into his arms. The mer's chest is barely moving, his tan skin turning blue as he suffocates. Riku doesn't know what sea they were in, whether it was Neverland or the Space Between, or somewhere else entirely. It didn't matter right now.
Riku runs to the side of the ship. The few Heartless that remained cleared the path of any pirates that tried to stop them, almost like they wanted him to get their 'mother' to safety. He dives off the side, hitting the water and holding Sora close, tearing through the distance with the tail he was so practiced with by now. Away from the fight and into the unknown. He could deal with the little things later.
Sora doesn't want to wake up. To wake up he would have to dive back into the pain that wracks his body, he knows it's still there, it's less than before but he's still so so tired…
An arm shifts around his back, fear from his last memories ripping away sleep and thrashing his tail only to bash it against rocks and sand, hearing a pained grunt as he finally hits a body.
Sora pries his eyes open expecting another fight. Instead he finds Riku bent over where Sora knocked the wind out of him. Or water, Riku was in his shark form. Looking around, the two of them were drifting in a calm lagoon. Enclosed by a shore he didn't recognize. Off in the distance he could see a ship moored.
It wasn't Hook's ship.. But he knows he's seen it before…
Riku coughs again, catching Sora's attention. He reaches out, brushing his hands over still visible bruises and cuts that haven't been healed. Chittering in worry for him even as the shark catches his hands and kisses them softly.
"I'm alright, it's nothing a few potions won't fix." Riku smiles, though his eyes were sad, "I'm sorry I couldn't come back.. I tried.. I didn't want you to go through that alone.. I'm sorry I couldn't stop them from taking you.. Or stop what she did…"
Sora keens, his hands wrapping around his middle as Riku holds him close. Unexpected as it had started, they both had started to look forward to the event. To know now it had all been for nothing in the end, a strange sense of loss settled over them.
Riku pets his hair as he continues the story. "Some drunk with the most eyeliner I've ever seen used by a single person, yelled at me from a passing ship, kept following no matter how hard I tried to lose him. I finally jumped on board to tell him off and the guy said he knew you? Only decided to trust him cause he asked about Goofy and Donald. His ship brought us here, said he had a friend nearby. Some sort of seer that told him to go find us in the first place.."
That sounded like Jack.. Pirate Captain Jack, not skeleton Jack. Did Hook plan on selling him in Port Royal?
Sora's body clenches up again, Riku's voice close to his ear as he turns his attention back to the still fluttering opening of his egg pocket. His heart thuds as he catches sight of something still moving in there.
Riku barely stops one of Sora's hands from reaching right into the opening, the one he didn't catch rummaging around inside his own body, heedless of the contractions that pushed the final four eggs into his waiting fingers.
Sora's pocket closes once they are free, the contractions finally laying still. Leaving Sora's stomach almost back to its original size, save for the bloating left behind.
In his arms Sora cradles the eggs that had stayed with him to the end. Hope trills through his voice, the filmy shells were not Heartless black but a bright pink! No red emblems marked the tiny forms inside, save for a strange silver blue heart on the back of the one egg that was twice as big as the other three.
For some reason Sora couldn't register that one as a pup, it was an egg, it was alive, but his mind would not let him see it as his and Riku's child. Even later on, when Jack had come to the shore, bringing a dark skinned woman that felt so full of old magic that he was reminded of the Gods on Olympus. She seemed more like a vast ancient sea trapped in the tiny, too small body of a mortal.
Her power and skill far outmatched Ursulas. Offering to break the curse over them both. She did need payment, every magic favor does. But it was as easy as bottling Sora's already flowing tears and scraping a handful of scales from them both. Very potent and very rare ingredients in this world.
The only thing remaining of the curse, as Sora rests in the warm dry sand with Riku, clothes borrowed from Jack's crew, his eggs stored safely in a special jar until they can get them home. Is that neither of their teeth completely lost their edge. Fangs are now a permanent part of both of them. Sora's ears also ended in a point, and small spots of blue glitter across his legs.
It's not like the form itself is gone for good. Sora knows how to change his body to the other forms he gets from traveling to different worlds; it would return if he ever went back to Atlantica too. But probably closer to the original look. He can teach Riku how to do the same.
Sora can sort of feel the mer in his heart now, stronger than the lion or vampire, but still weaker than Anti. The Heartless however, had been lingering close to him since he broke his cage. Weary of being locked away again, afraid of danger coming back. It would probably take a while for both of them to settle back into calm.
Still it felt like there was something else missing.. His eyes trail back to the jar in his lap, holding the miracle that survived untainted by this entire disaster. Three small round orbs nestled in seaweed at the bottom. The fourth set just a smidge apart, its size threatening to squish the oth- the actual pups..
Why was this not a pup? Why was it not his?
Sora feels more than hears, the trapped God approaching them. Her cheery chuckle fills the air as she steps through the sand to stand by them.
"Curios abot dat one are we?" Her grin was easy, joyful at his curiosity without a hint of ill intent for them. "Feels difernt to ya don't it? Not a child, but not unrelated to ya eider?"
Sora hums in response, his voice should be back to normal. But the words were taking their time to come back.
The Sea God crouches, sitting with them in the sand. Ignoring Riku's only half aborted reflex to shield Sora from the stranger. The former shark tenses as she rests a finger on the glass, but Sora was allowing it for some reason, so he stays. She seems to trace along the strange emblem on the guppy's back chuckling again before looking at Sora.
"Yeh, dats not a child. Someone dat's been livin in yer soul took advantage of all deh free vessels yeh was makin'. Tore da Darkness outta one so dey could get a body of der own. Is why dey is growin so fast, catchin up to what dey supposed ta be."
Sora gapes at her, turning back to the jar. In the few days they stayed here after the eggs were laid, the time needed to break Ursula's spell and let Sora get used to having legs again, the odd egg had already visibly grown.
His eyes examined the form closer, the tail had started turning black and white, closer to an orca rather than a dolphin. Little stubs of arms budding from the main body. Sora can just barely see the tiniest hint of gold trying to grow out of their head.
"Rosis..?" Sora whispers in disbelief, Happiness flooding through him while Riku needed a second to translate the slurred question. His partner's teal eyes blown wide as Sora clutches the jar closer. Laughter escapes from his heart, finally understanding what was missing.
His Nobody, his brother, his twin! Had stolen what was basically an empty shell that would have likely been destroyed otherwise. And took it for himself with the purpose to exist again! Now that he understood why there was a difference, Sora can finally feel that missing piece from inside him inside the jar instead. There was still a bond between them, it was dim right now, sleepy. But it made sense with how Roxas was literally regrowing himself from the embryo up.
Sora had no doubt that when Roxas was ready to be 'born' the bond will come back stronger than ever. He can already feel a faint, dreamy amusement as his excitement was surely flooding over to the blonde unrestrained.
They hadn't come out of this empty handed, his brother has a chance to live again! He and Riku had been blessed with triplets that survived a sea of darkness. Sora doesn't know what they look like yet, growing at a much slower normal pace compared to Roxas. But the Sea God knows that when they get old enough they won't be trapped as merfolk forever. They might lean slightly more towards the sea than land, considering how they were born. But like their fathers they aren't bound by the chains of a single world. Destined to travel the stars and keep experiencing wonders, while keeping peace for all they befriend.
The End.
Done! Done at last! The reason only Roxas escaped, is cause Ven's body was still out there waiting for him. Xion's connection was already frail, and she had already started getting 'downloaded' into the new body via Vexen/Even by this point.