Kingdom Hearts fic: Step Right Up - Chapter 2

[mistressofmuses]

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In chapter 2: A rescue mission gets underway.

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Months passed after the horrifying trip to the carnival.

Sora tried desperately to get someone to listen to him, to help him free the trapped merman, but it was completely in vain.

Of course.

Trying to convince anyone in a position of authority that “No really, this carnival has a real merman. Not just like their signs say, but really for real. And he’s being held captive, clearly against his will, because he’s been kidnapped…” was anything other than a prank call… Yeah, that just wasn’t a battle he could win.

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Sora retreated to the play island more and more. Kids still used it sometimes, but it was empty more often than not. That made it the ideal escape. Escape from what he wasn’t completely sure. Mostly he just wanted to be away.

Its relative isolation made it that much more surprising when he spotted a girl just off shore. She was low in the water, hair a red halo in the sunlight. She was too far away for him to see her in more detail, but he could already tell he didn’t recognize her.

“Hello there!” he called, waving to her from the shore. Greeting a stranger, even a tourist, seemed less awkward than trying to pretend she wasn’t there.

She didn’t respond. Just stared at him for a minute. Her eyes were an intense indigo, more vibrant than any gemstone in the world.

She was so far away, how could he know that?

Then he saw the flash of scales, shifting from pale pink to purple, each edged in bright gold, and he understood.

There was no chance he could catch up to her, yet he was already running. He didn’t completely comprehend the futility until the water was up past his waist and almost forced him to stop. “You should keep going!” he called. “Don’t stay too close to the islands! I’m sorry, but it isn’t a safe place for you. Please just go!”

She was already out of sight, but he hoped she’d heard him. And that she would listen.

---

Sora didn’t see the girl again the following day, or the day after, or the day after that.

Finally he relaxed, sure that meant she’d listened to his warning after all.

The play island was quiet, the only sound the sighing of the waves. He leaned back into the sand, closing his eyes against the brightness of the sun, and slipped into a doze.

“Where is he?”

The voice was oddly musical, and unfamiliar. He squinted his eyes shut more tightly, trying to chase that voice down into the dream it must have originated in.

There was pressure on his neck. That woke him the rest of the way.

He started to sit up, but whatever was pressing on his neck didn’t budge, so he stopped. The thing against his neck was… a stick. Held lengthwise against his throat, so even at an angle it was firm, but not completely choking him.

His eyes traced up the stick, to the woman holding it.

The mermaid.

Or almost. Instead of her pink-purple-gold tail she had legs. Lovely, long, naked legs, and he did his best not to stare. All she was wearing was a small woven satchel strapped diagonally across her chest, and a necklace. But her eyes were the same, the impossibly deep indigo that he’d never be able to forget.

“Where is he?” she repeated, each word clipped.

“Who do you mean?” he asked, though he supposed that was a foolish question. Who else could she mean?

“Riku! He came to these islands, and then he disappeared. Where is he?”

Sora lay back down in the sand, half surrender, half a bid to look anywhere other than her. “Is he the merman? The one with the blue tail and silver hair?”

“You’ve seen him!” She pushed the stick more firmly against his neck.

The tears that pricked his eyes had nothing to do with that. He licked dry lips. “I’ve seen him.”

“So where is he?”

“Trapped. I’m sorry.” The tears escaped. “I didn’t know it would happen. I didn’t want it to. But I can’t help him.”

Surprisingly, the pressure against his throat relaxed.

He looked back toward her, only focusing on her face. “I didn’t mean for someone to go after him.”

“You must be the one he came here for.” Her voice was far softer than before, having lost the near-accusatory edge. “A heart so bright…”

“I don’t know what you mean. But please believe me, I didn’t want him to get hurt.”

“Of course you didn’t.” She pulled the stick away and dropped it into the sand. “A heart that bright, I don’t think you could wish him ill if you’d tried.”

That didn’t really make much more sense than her previous statement, but at least she seemed to believe him. Enough to drop her ‘weapon’, at least.

“Where is he? Tell me, so I can go to him.”

Sora shook his head. “He’s locked up. I don’t know how to get him out.”

She huffed impatiently, tossing wet red hair over her shoulder. “I will get him out.”

“I’ll help you.” The words were out before he’d thought about them, but he wouldn’t take them back even if he could have.

She just looked at him for a long moment. Then she turned back toward the water. “Then let’s go.”

He scrambled to his feet in the loose sand. “Wait! You’ve got to at least wear something.”

She turned around, and he kept not looking.

“People don’t walk around naked,” he tried to explain. “Not human people on Destiny Islands, anyway.” He pulled his t-shirt off. It was a little big for him, so it would be better than nothing on her. He held it out toward her.

She took it, and looked from the fabric to him and back. “Humans don’t walk around naked. So now you are.” Her tone was utterly flat.

“Uh… halfway. But it’s sort of different. Some people are allowed to go around without shirts, but some people aren't supposed to. It’s a stupid thing, honestly.”

“Human taboos,” she grumbled.

At least she pulled on the shirt. The red fabric wasn’t the most flattering for her hair color, and it would have been better if it was a couple inches longer, but it was better than nothing. Settling her small bag over it at least helped to hold it down. Hopefully there wouldn’t be any ill-timed gusts of wind while someone was looking.

“We can take my boat back to the main island,” said Sora. “I’m sure you could swim faster, but you probably don’t want to draw too much attention, right?”

“All right,” she agreed.

He led the way to the small dock where his rowboat was tied up. It was big enough for two, if barely.

He helped her into the boat before untying it, then hopped in and began to row. The sun was hotter on his bare back and shoulders than it had felt before.

The mermaid sat quietly on the bench, short hem tugged down over the top of her thighs. She ran her fingers over the pendant of her necklace. It looked like a large scale, worn smooth, with rainbow iridescence flickering across the surface. She seemed lost in thought.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

After a pause she answered, “Kairi.”

“That’s a pretty name. I’m Sora.”

“Thank you for helping me, Sora.”

“Of course.”

They lapsed into silence again, the only sound the oars swooshing through the water.

“So uh… you are the mermaid I saw a few days ago, right?”

Those impossible eyes fixed directly on his for just a moment. “I did see you a few days ago,” she confirmed.

“How did you do the whole… shape-change?”

She looked back out across the water and didn’t say anything.

“I’m pretty sure the last time I saw you, you had a tail,” he prompted.

“…”

He changed the subject. “When we get back to the main island, we need to go to my apartment.”

“You’re taking me to Riku.”

“Yeah. But we’re going to have to get you something better to wear than that. Don’t want you to stand out. Then we’re going to borrow my mom’s car. Then we’re going to the place that has Riku.”

---

Kairi was amazed by the car ride. That made sense, Sora supposed. That didn’t make it any less oddly charming to see her plastering her face against the window, craning to see ahead and behind them.

He opened the window for her, and she squeaked in surprise at the rush of air. He reminded her to be careful, and to keep the seat belt fastened, but she was clearly delighted at the feeling of the breeze between her upraised fingers and whipping through her hair.

Part of him wished he could give her a whirlwind tour of the human world: car rides, ice cream, maybe a movie or something. Of course, a rescue mission wasn’t really time to plan a date.

It made a nice thought on the long drive, though. As if there’d be a chance somehow when it was all over.

It was just after dark when they started to approach the carnival’s site, the same one Sora had been to before. Apparently, this was a semi-permanent location, now.

There were bigger signs on posts alongside the road, pointing traffic toward it: a far cry from the paper ads that had been stuck to the crosswalk pole outside his apartment.

One of the new signs had an artistic drawing, deliberately old-fashioned, of a merman. He had a blue tail, and long silver hair.

“How dare they?” Kairi said, hand smacking against the inside of the car door. “Bragging that they’ve captured him. Are holding him.”

“Yeah.” Sora didn’t know what else to say.

They followed the offputting signs, and Sora pulled into the carnival lot. It still hadn’t been paved, instead having parking lanes marked off with strands of rope. He found a spot as far out of the way as he could, half-hidden by trees at the edge of the cleared area. The carnival lights were all lit up, giving it an unfairly magical glow. Sora could hear the deceptively cheery, bright music even from the edge of the mostly-full lot.

As soon as he’d parked, Kairi reached for the door handle.

“Wait.”

She looked at him quizzically.

“We should wait,” he said. “There are going to be too many people if we go in now. And, uh, if they recognize me, they’ll throw us out.”

Kairi slumped back into the seat with a frustrated humph.

“I know,” Sora agreed. “The carnival is open until eleven. We wait for the lights to go down, and then we sneak in.”

Kairi fidgeted with her necklace. It didn’t exactly match the rest of her new outfit, made up of clothing he’d dug out of the back of his closet. A soft, faded grey t-shirt that fit a little better than the red one. A pair of black pants that were too small for him, but still required he punch new holes in a belt to keep them up around her hips.

He’d offered to buy her new clothes, something she could pick out, and that would fit her more properly, but she’d been completely dismissive of the idea. Unsurprising, since she still didn’t seem completely convinced that she should have to wear them in the first place. And as soon as they rescued Riku, he was sure she’d be back to the sea, where she wouldn’t even have legs anymore. However she’d managed that trick.

At least now he knew enough to plan ahead, or at least try to, and he’d tossed a spare change of clothing into the back of the car in case Riku wound up needing them.

“How long have you known Riku?” he finally asked. He’d tried not to talk much on the drive, since Kairi seemed reluctant to, but hours waiting in the parking lot with only the distant carnival music to listen to would drive him crazy.

“Forever,” she said.

He thought that was all she’d say, but then she continued:

“He was never happy, where we were. There were so many rules, so many things we were told to always do or to never do. He wanted more freedom than that. He always had a fascination with the stories about merfolk who fell in love with humans, even the ones that ended in tragedy.

“So everyone thought he must have died, when he didn’t come back. I hoped he hadn’t.”

“He’s probably had enough of humans, now.” Sora said. It was an uncomfortably bitter thought. The merman he’d seen, had been so in awe of, so beautiful and amazing… he would probably hate Sora, now. Deservedly, even.

Kairi gave him a sharp look. “Riku does not fall out of love so easily. A bright heart can do a lot to make up for the darkness in others.”

She’d mentioned ‘bright hearts’ a few times now. Sora still wasn’t completely certain what that meant.

They lapsed back into silence for a while.

Finally, Kairi reached down, rummaging for something in her bag, which she still had strapped across her chest.

“Will you hold onto something for me?” she asked after a long moment.

“Sure.”

She held out her closed hand. When he put his own hands below, she dropped something into them.

At first he thought it was her necklace, and his gaze flew to her throat. But no, she was still wearing hers; this one was just so alike as to be near identical. A shifting-rainbow scale, fitting almost perfectly into his cupped palm, it was slightly pointed on one side, and strung on some sort of woven cord. “It’s beautiful.”

“Will you keep it safe? If you get to Riku before I do, give it to him. He’ll know what to do with it.”

“What is it?”

She just shook her head.

“Is it a weapon?” He held it up. It could almost be a knife, though the point wasn’t really long enough to be anything like a blade.

“He’ll know what it’s for,” she repeated.

“All right.” He looped it over his neck and tucked it into his shirt. It didn’t feel cold against his skin, though by all rights it should have.

The cars in the parking lot began to thin out. Parents with children, the youngest being carried, the older ones dragging their feet after a long day. Teenage couples, holding hands and toting souvenirs and game prizes.

He was almost angry that they seemed so happy with their time at the carnival, despite the fact that Riku was trapped here, hurting, alone…

Well, they’d get him out soon.

Finally, the lights on the booths and hung over the pathways went out. The lights at the entrance dimmed, but didn’t shut off. Of course—they’d be a beacon to guide any last-minute lingerers out, as well as keeping it bright enough to discourage people from trying to sneak in after hours.

The last few cars slowly pulled back out onto the road. They waited a few more minutes, and then got out of the car.

They stuck to the edge of the lot. Hopefully the bushes and trees would help disguise them if any of the patrolling security looked their way.

Most of the carnival was bordered by chain link, though it didn’t have anything so unfriendly as barbed wire at the top. Wouldn’t exactly send the right fun-for-the-whole-family message.

Sora didn’t know if Kairi could climb the fence or not. She certainly seemed well-coordinated on her legs, but it had to be awkward to get used to, compared to a tail and moving through water. She seemed to understand what they were doing though, and scrambled quickly over the top when he boosted her up on his shoulders.

She landed more gracefully on the other side than he did.

Picking between the dark booths and tents was fairly easy. They weren’t alone—workers hauled full trashcans and cleaned up aisles—but it was easy to avoid the carnival employees. Clinging to the darker edges of the grounds, Sora and Kairi were able to make it all the way to the back of the property. This was where the big, burgundy tent for the Real Live Merman still stood, in pride of place, the last and greatest attraction waiting for the carnival-goers to reach.

They paused, making sure they’d have a clear shot to the tent. The entrance flap faced one of the broad walkways, and they didn’t want to risk being spotted.

Getting out, especially with Riku, when who knew what kind of shape he’d be in—possibly literally—would be a completely different battle, one that Sora wasn’t ready to worry about yet. One thing at a time. Get Riku. Get out. It didn’t matter how.

There was no one on the pathway up to the tent, and Sora and Kairi both scurried toward the tent flap. As soon as Sora’s fingers brushed it he felt the painful, keening cry of the trapped merman. Like before, it resonated in him, bringing an agonizing mix of despair and sorrow and regret and rage boiling up within him.

Kairi went still beside him. If Riku’s singing was affecting Sora so strongly, he couldn’t imagine how much more strongly it would hit a fellow mer-person. But they couldn’t risk being seen just because she was frozen in place. Sora pushed her through the tent flaps and then followed, trying for the least disturbance possible.

The entrance let them into the small, dark entryway at the front of the tent, before it opened onto the main space.

That was good, because they weren’t alone.

Even in silhouette against the dimly lit tank, Sora recognized the owner of the carnival. Something in the set of his shoulders, maybe. He didn’t turn around.

The man was leaning forward, hands braced against the tank. Riku was inside the glass, of course, and he wasn’t singing so much as he was screaming. He pounded his fists against the glass, and lashed his tail through the water. If the tank had been large enough to offer him any real chance for momentum, Sora would have been afraid he’d genuinely hurt himself.

“Haven’t tired yourself out yet?” the owner drawled, completely unmoved by Riku’s fury or distress. “Or do you really just believe one of these days something will change? That I’ll decide to let you go?”

There was something in one of his hands, dangling below his fingers. It reflected the bluish light of the thank, but Sora still saw the rainbow glint of another scale, almost identical to the one Kairi had given him in the car, and to the one she wore.

Riku shrieked, the sound high and painful.

Then there was another scream, just as loud and containing just as much rage. It took Sora a second to realize it was Kairi who’d yelled, and by then she’d already streaked past him, leaping at the carnival owner.

The man spun at the sound, barely able to get his hands up to protect himself as she swung at him. Her initial hit shoved him into the front of the tank before he slid to the floor in an attempt to get away. In vain, because she was already on top of him. It wasn’t a particularly elegant fighting technique, but she was 120 pounds of furious mermaid, and that was enough to knock him down and keep him there.

Taking advantage of the distraction, for however long they had before security came in and made this far worse, Sora rushed to the glass.

Riku had stilled and was staring at Kairi, but turned to Sora as soon as he was close. The merman’s eyes were wide, almost disbelieving.

Sora wanted to just look at him. Even here he was beautiful. But there wasn’t time for that. He started to examine the edges of the tank, trying to find the mechanism to open it.

But of course it would have to be the top. He reached up to grasp the upper edge and pulled himself up, trying to find some purchase on the glass for his feet to help boost him up. He crouched as soon as he made it to the top, the fabric of the tent barely above his head. Near the front, the top of the tank was more of the same thick glass as the sides, but the back half was a metal grate. The bars were too thick to be easily bent.

Sora tugged at them, but they were locked in place. The bars themselves seemed sunk into the reinforced glass of the tank. The very center of the grate was solid, with a big, antique-looking keyhole, almost taunting him. “It’s locked!” he called, mostly for Kairi’s benefit.

He kept pulling, but couldn’t even get the bars to give an encouraging rattle. Riku was below, his fingers reaching up above the surface of the water, barely able to brush at the bars in the confined space.

“Sora!”

He looked down at Kairi, now kneeling on the carnival owner’s back. “Here!”

She swung something toward him. Without caring what, he reached out to catch it, nearly overbalancing.

A heavy—probably iron—key.

Sora forced it into the lock. It took both hands to force it to twist in the lock, but when the key turned, the bars along one side of the grate retracted, pulled back by some complex internal mechanism.

He wrestled the grate open, somehow not sending himself toppling over the edge. Then he reached down into the water to grasp Riku’s outstretched arm.

The merman used the extra leverage of Sora’s arm to help him through the grate. His tail bent almost like hips would, letting him perch on the top of the tank, the flukes at the end of his beautiful tail still trailing in the water below.

There was a moment of tension as they looked at each other. Sora hoped Riku wasn’t about to attack him, even though he’d probably deserve it.

“You came for me.”

When not keening out a wordless song of despair, Riku actually had a wonderful voice. Really, even that song had been beautiful, in a heartbreaking way. But his speaking voice was rich and warm.

“We’re getting you out of here,” Sora said, maybe unnecessarily.

“I never thought I’d see you again. That day you came here… they dragged you away.”

Riku remembered that?

“It’s my fault you were here.” Sora didn’t want to say it, but had to. Riku deserved to know. “I saw you in the sea one day, and I was stupid and I told him. I didn’t think he’d believe me, and never thought he’d go after you. I’m so sorry.”

But Riku didn’t look angry. He was still looking at Sora. “You are why I was here,” he said. But not upset, or surprised… more calm. He reached a hand out, stopping just short of his fingers brushing Sora’s face. “I saw you from the water. You were so bright, I had to come closer.”

Sora didn’t know what to say. Finally, he kicked his brain back into gear. “Kairi gave me this!” He pulled the cord over his neck and offered the scale to Riku. “She said you’d know what to do with it.”

“One of Nachre’s scales…”

That didn’t mean anything to Sora, but Riku said it with reverence.

“I didn’t think I’d see Kairi again, either.” Riku swung the cord over his own head.

Then Kairi yelped, and Sora jerked his head around to look at her. She’d been thrown off the carnival owner’s back as he staggered to his feet.

“We have to go!” Sora turned back to Riku. He didn’t know how he’d carry a merman bigger than he was, but if he had to, he would.

But Riku’s tail was gone, replaced with long, human legs. Just as naked as Kairi’s had been, when she’d come ashore on the play island.

“Let’s go,” Riku agreed.

The carnival owner was holding the side of his head, bellowing something. He was probably calling for help, though the words weren’t terribly distinct. That didn’t mean no one would come, and Sora definitely remembered the strongmen-slash-security guards who’d bounced him before.

Sora landed in a crouch and then was back to his feet. Behind him, Riku landed poorly, shaky on new legs, though he turned the momentum into an awkward, overbalanced run while he regained his equilibrium.

All three of them darted out of the tent, the yelling from inside pursuing them into the night. There was no chance to try and sneak this time. The best they could hope for was avoiding running directly into whatever backup was coming. They ran for the fence, the sounds elsewhere growing fainter at first, then louder again.

The security, or whatever they were, had gone first to the tent, where they were given the order and sent in pursuit. It bought them a little time. Probably only a few seconds, but it was something.

Hitting the chain link, Kairi scrambled over first, as Sora helped to push Riku up and over, very carefully not thinking about where his hands were touching, because not the time. Riku tumbled rather gracelessly onto the parking lot side, but Kairi was there to catch him and pull him back into a run toward the car. Then Sora was up and over, the metal biting into his hands as he pushed himself off to jump, to gain just a bit more distance.

He deeply regretted the at-the-time-excellent idea of parking in the farthest corner. Then he spared a wince for how awful the rough dirt lot—covered in sharp rocks, sticks, and probably broken glass—had to feel on Riku’s bare feet.

He heard the first of the carnival men hit the fence behind them. From their shouts, it sounded like they’d split up, some heading back to the gates and some attempting to climb over.

A glance over his shoulder confirmed the guess, and fortunately also made it clear that none of these men were great at climbing fences. So they didn’t send the acrobats, then.

The first man made it over, but landed wrong, cursing and spitting that he’d broken something. By then, the trio was almost to the car.

As soon as they reached it, Sora tore the back door open, letting Kairi help Riku in while he got in and started the car. By the time Kairi got the door slammed shut, Sora was already pulling away from the spot, tires spinning a bit in the dirt.

A glance in the rearview showed more of the security guards spilling out of the reopened gates. With any luck, it would take them some time to get to their own vehicles, and by then, Sora, Riku, and Kairi would be far away.

With a thunk they hit the pavement of the road, and then they were speeding back toward the coast.

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