Kingdom Hearts fic: Island Territory - Chapter 1

[mistressofmuses]

Summary: Settling into his new home on Destiny Islands isn't going quite as smoothly as Riku might have hoped. It's hard enough for a vampire to establish themselves in a new territory, even under the best of circumstances. Harder, when he discovers that apparently the islands have their own pair of monster hunters. Not to mention that the unknown creature in the shadows seems like an increasingly dangerous threat, especially as more and more humans disappear without a trace. When the disappearances turn to bodies with bite marks deliberately framing Riku for the killings, it seems like any hope of a peaceful existence in his new home is beyond his reach.

It only took a year+, but the promised continuation from the Vampire and Monster Hunter AU prompts is here! While I tried to put in enough context that this can be read alone, reading the other two fics in the series first (both relatively short oneshots) is probably beneficial.

Written in part for whatif_au Challenge #52: Supernatural AU 5.

---

The presence in the shadows, after its late-night confrontation, retreated back to that vague, uneasy background pressure. It was certainly still there, but at least it wasn’t trying to press feelings and impressions into Riku’s head anymore.

He spent the day asleep, though not as deeply as he would have liked. Whatever the heart-eating shadow-creature was, Riku didn’t trust it, and wasn’t certain he’d be safe letting his guard down too completely.

Even with the unknown creature lurking (possibly literally), it didn’t alter Riku’s plans to establish himself on Destiny Islands. If anything, it just made it that much more imperative to set himself up as an unremarkable local. His original plan had been to head to Highwind, the bar he'd chosen, a few nights out of the week, but two nights in a row wouldn’t be the worst thing. Maybe Sora and Kairi would be there again, or maybe they wouldn’t be, but either way he could get a bit more crowd-watching in, and see if the tone of the place changed from night to night.

---

Riku did not see either of the charming and friendly humans he’d spent the previous evening drinking with. He felt unaccountably disappointed, a feeling he pushed far, far down. That was a ridiculous thing to feel for far too many reasons. Getting attached already?

He ordered a vodka tonic again—becoming an unremarkable regular meant having an unremarkable regular order—and set himself up at the far end of the bar. It was out of the way of people coming up to order drinks, and gave him a good view of what passed for a dance floor. This place was definitely more bar than club, but there was music playing over a decent sound system, and a few brave (or just tipsy) souls dancing at the center of the room.

The crowd was much the same as before: locals winding down after a workday, young adults meeting up with friends for cheap drinks, and a few bored tourists that looked likely to leave in search of something more exotic.

Riku stiffened as someone slid onto the bar stool next to him. Just about anything would have felt warm compared to Riku, but this stranger was running hot for a human, like the heat of a sunbeam.

“Hey stranger,” the man said, giving Riku a sideways look.

His hair was a shocking shade of red.

“Hello,” Riku said neutrally.

The stranger flicked his fingers upward at the bartender. “Hey, one more, please.”

The bartender complied, filling a shot glass with red-gold liquor.

As he slid it toward the stranger, the smell of cinnamon hit Riku’s nose.

Scenting a little more deeply, he caught a hint of burning matchstick, which solidified the whole encounter. Inhuman warmth, blazing red hair, the scent of char and sulfur? Plus a particular type of cinnamon-flavored whisky?

Riku’s eyes followed the shot glass as the stranger tossed it back.

“Fireball?” Riku said. “A little on-the-nose for an ifrit.”

Another sideways look, this time paired with a cocky grin as the stranger slammed the shot glass back down. “So does that mean I should order you a bloody Mary?”

Riku didn’t answer, but hoped his neutral-to-disapproving expression got the point across.

The ifrit let out a single breath of laughter, and put his hands up, placating. “Tough crowd. Come on, man. I’m just trying to make friendly conversation. Name’s Axel.”

“Riku.”

“Ri-ku,” Axel emphasized both syllables. “What brings you to Destiny Islands?”

“The endless sunshine,” Riku deadpanned.

Axel laughed at that. “So you’re funny after all.”

“I’m not trying to cause issues. This is just a spot to settle down.”

“Does ‘settling down’ come with a long string of tasty, disposable tourists?”

There was a suddenly assessing tone that Riku didn’t quite like. Afarit weren’t typically man-eaters, so he doubted Axel was concerned about possible competition for prey. “Not my plan, no.”

Axel spun his shot glass around on the bar. “Probably for the best. I’m not one to judge or anything. Us cryptid types all gotta make our way in the world and all. But just in case you do feel the need to look for a snack on the beach, there’s something you should know about our island paradise.”

Riku waited, but Axel didn’t say anything else. He waited until the silence grew long enough to be uncomfortable, but Axel clearly wanted Riku to ask.

Finally he caved. With a sigh he asked, “And what’s that?”

Axel grinned. “Destiny Islands has a pair of dedicated monster hunters.”

As much as he tried to hide it, he felt the tension settle into his shoulders. He took a sip of his drink. Not that alcohol actually had any real effect on him; it wasn’t like it could help settle his nerves. Not that he should have nerves, yet. He didn’t know how reliable this information was. Keeping his tone level he said, “And yet, you’re here.”

“Indeed. They’re pretty accommodating, as far as monster hunters go. As long as we don’t cause any trouble for the people here, they don’t cause any trouble for us. Sometimes they’re even downright friendly.”

“Is that so?”

“Look, I’m just trying to give you a fair warning, one cryptid to another. Up to you what you do with it.” Axel shifted as if he were about to leave.

Let’s not alienate the first friendly non-human you’ve met, maybe. “Thank you,” Riku said, turning a fraction toward Axel. “I do appreciate the warning.”

“Like I said, we all gotta make our way.”

“Are there many… cryptids around here?” Riku was used to the blunter ‘monsters’ as a descriptor.

“There’s a few of us around. Stick around long enough, and I’ll be sure to get you some introductions. Ifrit, werewolf, siren,”—he counted them off on his fingers—“witch, doppelganger, construct… A vampire could just about get us a complete set.”

“This could be a strange question, but do any of the cryptids you know have anything to do with the shadows?”

“Metaphorically? ‘We’re all clinging to the shadows of a world that isn’t made for us,’ and all that.”

“No. More… literally. Like they actively use the shadows. Or maybe are the shadows?”

Axel’s eyes narrowed, and Riku thought he was about to get an answer. Then the ifrit shrugged. “Can’t say that sounds familiar. Why? Have you seen something?”

Riku shook his head. “Not in particular. A weird feeling, maybe.” No need to tip his hand, so to speak. He took another sip of his vodka tonic.

Axel stood up. “Glad it doesn’t sound like you’re planning on doing anything that would run afoul of our pet monster hunters. They’ve taken care of several problem creatures that tried to set up here. But I’m always a little concerned that too many monstrous monsters might change their disposition toward the rest of us.”

He gave a little wave. “Have a good night, Riku.”

Riku raised his hand in return, and watched Axel cross the floor to exit the bar.

The meaning of his last statement was perfectly clear: don’t fuck this up for the rest of us.

Hadn’t been planning on it. But he’d had no idea that there was an apparently thriving monster (cryptid) community on the islands. Then again, it had been a while since any of his clanmates had lived there, so maybe it wasn’t such a shock they hadn’t known.

He finished his drink. Despite Axel’s reveal that Riku wasn’t the only creature here among humans, he still had no insight into the presence in the shadows.

---

The first headline would have been easy enough to ignore. Local girl missing, never returned home after late night with friends. Accidents and tragedies happened all the time.

The second wasn’t terribly remarkable, either. Search underway for local man, last seen along shoreline. Islands could be dangerous, and even careful people who were used to living near the ocean could be swept out to sea.

The third and fourth may have raised more suspicions, coming so soon after the others. By five and six, there were starting to be concerns about serial kidnappings or murders, even if none of the cases had been officially linked. Still, the authorities were warning people not to go out alone, to stay in groups if possible.

By the seventh—Family gives heartfelt plea, begging for return of daughter who never returned from vacation—it was clear to almost everyone that something was wrong.

Riku scrolled through the article, brief though it was. Same as the rest: no body found, nothing conclusively related to the other disappearances. The police assured the public that they were ‘investigating all possibilities.’

Unfortunately, Riku was fairly sure the authorities weren’t going to find the answer. Even as, with every completely-vanished person, Riku grew more certain he knew who (what?) was to blame. At least in vague terms.

He remembered the shadow-thing’s offer to him: You. Blood-drinker. We/I heart-eater… You drink blood, make-weak prey, no kill. We/I take weak-prey, eat heart. No more body.

Riku took a sip from his mug.

The mug was a silly novelty thing, purchased from one of the little shops on main street. “Find your destiny on Destiny Islands!” it proclaimed in bubbly font. It was decorated with a cartoony palm tree with star-shaped fruit, sticking out of a tiny island surrounded by blue water.

Most of the vampires in his clan would find it horribly tacky, and rightfully so, but Riku kind of loved it anyway. The rest of them could stick to their preferences for fine crystal wine glasses, ornate goblets, and delicate bone china. Or hell, the skulls of their enemies. He’d take the option that was microwaveable.

Especially if he was going to be drinking cow’s blood. It definitely wasn’t anywhere close to perfect, body-warm human blood, but heating it up definitely made it more palatable than room temperature. Or worse, cold.

Draining the mug with a slight grimace, he pulled up his contact list. As scandalized as the clan would be at the idea of him microwaving animal blood, at least they didn’t eschew most technology.

Once upon a time, contacting a clanmate outside of one of their periodic convocations for a real-time conversation would have required a mirror and a full moon and the blood of a corvid. Praise the existence of smartphones.

He hesitated between options on his contact list. This wasn’t the kind of thing to bother Sephiroth with. Kuja wouldn’t care.

Finally, he called Xemnas.

There was silence on the line, as expected. If someone ever stole his phone, none of his clanmates would speak to a stranger.

“It’s me,” he said.

Xemnas answered, “Settled into the house? Been a long time since I’ve seen it.”

Maybe that was a slight dig, since as nice as the mansion was, the island was still considered undesirable territory as far as most of the clan was concerned.

Xemnas had never been much for small talk, and Riku would oblige him. “The house is fine. The island is fine. Has anyone else who has been here mentioned a presence in the shadows?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I don’t know what it is either. But there’s something in the shadows. It tried to make an alliance with me, and when I refused, it attacked.”

“You dealt with it, I assume.”

“No need to worry that I embarrassed the family. I won the encounter, and it retreated. But it’s still there.”

“And?”

“It’s been hunting. At least one human every couple of days. I’m concerned that it might draw additional unwanted attention.”

Concerned about more than that, really.

Xemnas made a noncommittal noise. Then, “Deal with it as you see fit.” Then he hung up.

---

“Not looking good, is it?” Sora said, pushing his phone across the counter toward Kairi.

She picked it up and read the headline. “Up to seven victims now. At least. Assuming they’re all victims of the same thing.”

“Awful as it is, I hope it’s just one thing responsible,” said Sora. “Because when we stop it, it’ll be done.”

This most recent victim fit the pattern, such as it was. Not that the victims had much in common. Some locals, some tourists. Ages from seventeen to fifty. A mix of genders. But the pattern was in what wasn’t there.

No body. No witnesses. No signs of a struggle. Nothing that would even point to a crime having been committed if it weren’t for the fact that a person had completely vanished.

“Me too,” Kairi agreed. “Even if we don’t know what it is, yet. Fairly sure we aren’t looking at a human culprit, though.”

Sora bit at his lower lip, not sure he even wanted to say what he was about to say. “Do we think it could be Riku?”

He didn’t want to think that. They’d only spent one evening chatting with him, but it had been fun. He was nice, and charming, and the kind of person both of them would have liked to get to know, even if he wasn’t a human person. But…

“The timing isn’t great,” Kairi said carefully. “The first disappearance was just a day or two after he arrived.”

Sora sighed.

“But,” she added, “We’ve dealt with vampires before. I’ve never known of a vampire that could hide their kills that well. Sure, they may coax a victim into coming quietly back to their lair, but no one saw any of these people going anywhere with a stranger. And sometimes they might ambush and abduct, but that usually leaves at least some sign of a struggle. But in these cases, there’s nothing. Plus the pace is more rapid than a vampire needs, unless he’s feeding a whole clan, or is killing for fun.”

“I hope neither of those is true.”

“We can’t rule Riku out, but I don’t think it’s him. But I hope I’m not just saying that because I don’t want it to be him.”

“What about that thing he was talking to? The thing that attacked him?”

They hadn’t spoken much about the monstrous gold-eyed shadow since the night they’d seen it. They’d dutifully written down what little they could about the encounter: the nausea it had provoked, how quickly it had disappeared after Riku struck it, the fact it had attacked him at all.

And that it had given both of them an impression of endless hunger.

Kairi shifted in her seat. “The timing lines up for that, too. But we don’t even know what it is. The description doesn’t match up to anything I can find. But considering the way it felt… it could certainly be our culprit. And that means it is extremely dangerous.”

“Maybe it’s time for us to get more serious about hunting,” he suggested.

They’d gone on patrol every night, walking the streets and peering into dark alleys, but they hadn’t seen the shadow thing again. But the disappearances continued.

“I think we need to find out more,” she said. “And maybe that means about Riku, too.”

---

A couple notes:
- Afarit is the plural of ifrit.
- I like to think that Riku's whole clan is made up of all the silver-haired Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts villains, but really that's just to amuse myself, ha.

[next chapter]