Kingdom Hearts fic: All Strange Wonders - Chapter 8

[mistressofmuses]

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“Did we have so many? …every gaze, upward…” Riku was still muttering lines from the poem that he’d quoted the night before. Apparently he’d had no luck remembering any more of it, and it was clearly still bothering him.

“You could go get the book?” Sora suggested. “You said it was from a book, right?”

“As if a wander home is as easy as all that,” Riku answered, voice dripping with scorn.

“I sort of thought for a sorcerer it would be.”

Riku rolled his eyes. He went upstairs then, and stayed long enough that Sora started to wonder whether he planned to come back down at all. Either that, or he’d magically left from there this time, and had already vanished from the castle.

But no, he eventually did come downstairs, and directly into the bathroom. Today he only spent a comparatively modest twenty minutes in there.

“Very well, if a journey back home is the only hope I have, then that’s what I’ll have to do.”

He strode purposefully across the room to the door, and reached up to turn the dial. This time, he settled it on black.

Sora watched from his seat. Even Kairi looked interested, craning her neck a bit from the hearth.

Riku paused with his hand on the doorknob. He glanced over his shoulder at Sora and then sighed dramatically. “And I suppose if I leave, your curiosity will force you to follow me, won’t it?”

Sora didn’t want to admit that he’d been thinking that very thing, already considering how best to follow Riku at a distance. It probably hadn’t been a good plan, and apparently he hadn’t even hidden it well.

“All right.” Riku sounded terribly long-suffering. “Come on, then.”

“Tell me everything,” Kairi hissed.

Sora nodded to her as he got to his feet and jogged over to Riku. He really had been dying to find out what was through the door when set to black. The weird glimpse of nothingness had given him far more questions than he’d had before he’d looked.

Once Sora was a couple paces away, Riku opened the door. The open frame still had that same blankness to it, the not-dark, not-light expanse. Sora hesitated, but Riku stepped through without even seeming to register how strange it was. The nothingness closed over and behind him.

Sora glanced back to wave at Kairi, and then he squinted his eyes shut, took a deep breath, and stepped through.

He didn’t really feel much of anything from the barrier, such as it was. Maybe about as much as pressing a finger through a soap bubble. Holding his breath and closing his eyes didn’t prove to have been necessary, as he came out the other side almost immediately.

And it was warm. He opened his eyes onto bright, summery sunshine.

Riku was staring back at him, a thoughtful look on his face. “I need to fix your clothes a bit.”

“What?”

His clothes were fine. They weren’t worn out or anything. Maybe they weren’t as fancy as Riku’s suit, but…

“Don’t need someone thinking this is some weird LARP or something.”

Sora had no idea what that even meant, but then Riku made a smooth, sweeping gesture with one arm, while sketching some symbol in the air with the other.

Sora’s clothing indeed began to change. His pants grew looser around the bottoms of his legs, and the fabric felt thicker and smoother than it had before. His shirt shortened a bit, until it hit him just at the hips. The sleeves of his shirt seemed to retreat, leaving him in a shirt that didn’t even cover his shoulders. As strangely underdressed as that made him feel, he was a little glad, because it made the heat at least slightly more tolerable.

Because in addition to hot, it was also humid: miles away from the mildly warm late-spring air of the hills.

He looked back at Riku, whose clothing had similarly changed. His pants were looser, and the sleeves on his jacket had vanished entirely.

“That will have to be good enough. Now follow me. Do not wander off.”

Glancing behind, Sora saw the door they’d come in through was set in the front of a little house. It lacked any of the personal, warm touches that a place like Naminé’s cottage had, but was in good repair.

The pathway in front of them was edged in smooth, even stones, leading up a small rise to an enormous house. It was larger than the biggest house in Twilight Town. It had several large windows, some of which served as doors letting out onto wide balconies. As ostentatious as it was, it was almost as impersonal as the smaller house behind them.

As they climbed the gentle incline toward the large house, a glint of bright light reflecting off of something more distant caught Sora’s eye. “Is that the sea?”

“It is an ocean,” Riku said. “Not one you would have seen before.”

“I’ve never seen the ocean at all before.”

Riku stopped suddenly enough that Sora almost ran into him.

“Never?”

Sora shook his head.

Riku turned away. “Well, don’t break your neck getting a view of it, now. You’ll get a better look at some point.”

Sora tried not to stare, but it was hard not to.

Riku let out a hard breath when he reached the door, firming the set of his shoulders, before reaching up to knock.

They stood in awkward silence for a moment, until Sora was beginning to doubt there was anyone home. Then the door unlatched with a click.

There was a woman standing there, pale blonde hair pulled up. She had eyes just a couple shades darker than Riku’s. The lines of her mouth looked harsh.

She stepped aside enough to let Riku and Sora both into the entryway. Sora thought this one room was bigger than the entirety of Key and Blade.

“Riku. It might have been nice if you had told us you were coming.” She glanced at Sora. “And bringing a guest.”

“Mother! Lovely to see you.” Riku gave her one of his dazzling smiles. She didn’t seem impressed.

“And this is my… research assistant. Just helping me with a few things lately. We certainly don’t mean to impose. He’ll go wait on the balcony, since we won’t be long.”

Riku gestured toward one of the wide glass doors, visible through another room that connected to the massive foyer.

Sora took the hint. He nodded his head in a small suggestion of a bow. He guessed he was meant to be polite, even if the woman wasn’t being terribly so. “Sure. I’ll wait out there.”

Riku’s mother’s eyes traced Sora’s path through the other room, as if she didn’t trust him. He tried to ignore it. It took a moment for him to figure out how the door itself worked, before he discovered it slid to the side. He closed it about halfway behind him, not willing to risk locking himself out.

The balcony had an amazing view of the ocean. What Sora had only glimpsed from the path was laid out clearly from here. The blue of the water absolutely sparkled under the sun, the waves slowly coming in. He’d never seen so much water. He could see the sand at the water’s edge, and the occasional tree. These trees were nothing like the ones he’d seen before, though. The trunks were tall and thin and smooth, with a few enormous leaves arcing down from the top.

He could still hear Riku inside. “I am so terribly sorry that I can’t stay, but I just wanted to take a quick look back in my room. I think I left a particular book here that I needed to refer back to…”

“I don’t imagine it’s there. We boxed up your things ages ago.”

“What? Why would you…?” He sounded baffled.

“Well, we certainly didn’t need it taking up space. It’s not like you’re ever here to stay. We gave you use of the guest house, so I assumed anything you’d left in your room in here was unimportant.”

Sora turned away from the stunning view and back toward the argument in progress.

“So you just got rid of it? My books?”

She sniffed. “Gave them to a student in the area. It’s not like they did you any good. Wasting all that time at school, getting some worthless degree…”

“Yes, my worthless degree, graduated top of my class, have set myself up just fine, actually…” Riku’s grumbling was devoid of heat, like he knew very well she wasn’t going to listen.

It felt like an old argument, something that this woman probably dug at Riku about over and over. And this was his family? No wonder he tended to slither away from conflict at any cost. Sora almost couldn’t blame him.

“And when you do come back, it’s unannounced, bringing who knows what kind of people with you!”

Sora was obscurely offended, but really, it bothered him far more what she was saying about Riku.

He opened the glass door again, and closed it behind him.

“I’m so sorry, Riku. I just realized that we really should be getting back. You have all of those meetings arranged for this afternoon. You wouldn’t want to keep such important people waiting. It will be weeks before your schedule is clear enough to see them again.”

Riku gave him a baffled look, while his mother just stared.

Sora may have imagined it, but he thought he saw the slight quirk of a smile on Riku’s lips. “Yes, such a terribly busy day today. I don’t suppose you happen to know the name of the student you gave my books to? Perhaps they still have the one I’m looking for.”

“His name started with a ‘T’, I think. I don’t remember. Saw us taking the box out to the curb, and offered to take the whole thing. I think he lives down in town, in one of those flats over the café.”

“Thank you. I’d ask you to refrain from selling or throwing away anything else, but it sounds like there’s nothing left.”

“Maybe next time you’ll give us some notice if you’re going to come by. Your father hasn’t seen you in ages.”

“Much to his relief, I’m sure.”

She didn’t contradict Riku.

The two of them had both barely made it out the door before she’d closed it behind them.

“A warm welcome as always,” Riku said, brushing his hands down the front of his pants, removing imaginary dust. “You really should have stayed on the balcony. If nothing else, my parents made sure to have their house built for views worth their weight in gold.”

“I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“I wish I could see her thoughts as she tries to figure out what sort of people I could possibly have such important meetings with. I’m sure she’s thinking something at least twice as scandalous as anything I could come up with.”

Sora’s cheeks felt warm. “I wasn’t trying to cause any issues.”

Riku laughed. “Not at all! Wish I’d thought of an excuse like that years ago. Now I need to find this student who has my old books. With any luck, he hasn’t pawned them off yet.”

The walk into town was strange. It should have been mundane, but everything just looked so different.

The house Riku’s parents lived in did not seem to be typical for the town, and most of the houses they passed were much smaller. Despite that, Sora thought they seemed nicer, too. More welcoming, at least.

On one side, a mountain rose up above the town, covered in the weird trees that Sora had glimpsed before. The other direction, he could still periodically see the water, though it was mostly obscured by houses, now. He could smell the ocean though, or at least he assumed what the scent in the air was.

Riku was periodically muttering about something, but nothing he said seemed to require a response.

Before too long, they turned down a cross street, and arrived at a café. A sign outside read “Destiny Island Café and Smoothie Bar.”

“Destiny Island,” Sora read.

“That’s where we are,” Riku said. “Well, Destiny Islands—there’s more than just the one. The café is decent, too. We’ll have to come back when we have time to stop in.”

Riku led them past the entrance, to a narrow staircase that clung to the side of the building. The stairs led directly to a second-floor door.

“Hopefully this is where this ‘T-something’ lives,” Riku said, and then knocked on the door.

The man who answered the door was tall and very attractive. His hair was a dark, rich brown, swept back and tied into a short tail at the base of his neck, though bits of it had escaped the tie, sticking up at the sides and back. His eyes were a faded blue, and something about them reminded Sora of Riku’s eyes. Or maybe it was a trick of the lenses in the spectacles he wore.

“Can I help you?” His voice was deep, but fairly soft.

“My name is Riku, and this is my research assistant. I apologize for bothering you with a rather strange request, but—”

“Riku? Have we met? Your name sounds familiar.”

“Met? Oh no, I don’t think so. I wanted to ask—”

“Ah!” The man snapped his fingers. “You were the previous owner of those books I received. I seem to remember your name was written in some of them.”

“Yes. Excellent. Because that’s actually what I’m here to ask about. My mother gave those books away, but there was one in particular I was thinking about recently. If you still have them, I wondered if you might let me take a look at it.”

“Of course. Please come in.”

The stranger stepped aside, holding the door open for them both to come in. They had to edge around him, slightly. While he was dressed in a way that Sora would describe as “scholarly”, his frame was pure muscle. He glanced at Sora but barely seemed to register his presence, his gaze tracking Riku’s steps inside.

The room the door opened into was a crowded living room that looked like a study of sorts. The living space was completely surrounded by full bookshelves, and a roll-top desk overflowed with papers.

“My name is Tae,” the man said.

“Tae. It’s lovely to meet you.” Riku wasn’t even pretending to look at the shelves, instead gracing Tae with another of his so-charming smiles.

Sora felt a flare of annoyance followed by a sinking sensation in his stomach. It didn’t seem that there was any chance that Riku’s feelings for Xion had been genuine after all.

“Likewise. I was rather lucky to come upon your collection of books. It made a hefty dent in the list I had to purchase for my courses.”

Riku’s charming smile somehow grew even brighter. “Glad to be of service. Though I’m a bit surprised that assortment came in handy to anyone. What are you studying?”

“Nominally it’s a literature program, though with an emphasis on folk tradition and how it’s adapted through the years. Terribly uninteresting to most people, I’m afraid.”

“Folk tradition factored very heavily in my thesis on the support for spells and charms and their use through history,” Riku said.

“That sounds fascinating.”

“Please, feel free to ask me anything.” The charming smile didn’t waver.

“What book did you say you were looking for?”

“Hm?” Riku asked. Then: “Oh! Yes. I’m afraid I can’t remember the title. But it was a book of poetry, I think.”

“That narrows it down slightly,” said Tae.

“I want to find one of the poems in particular. Something about falling stars.”

“Well, please feel free to take a look at the shelves. Maybe you’ll recognize it?”

Riku turned toward one of the shelves and began casually looking over the books. Tae went to another, occasionally taking down a volume and flipping through it before reshelving it.

Sora felt awkward and out of place. There were enough books that he could have looked, too, but he wouldn’t recognize whatever it was Riku was looking for.

The other two searched the shelves in silence for some time, while Sora leaned against the front of the desk, careful not to disturb any of the papers.

Tae pulled another book from the shelf and paged through it.

“I saw a star slide down the sky,
Blinding the north as it went by.”

Tae read the words aloud, and Riku stopped and turned toward him.

“Too burning and too quick to hold,
Too lovely to be bought or sold.”

Riku opened his mouth as if to say something.

“Good only to make wishes on,
And then forever to be gone.”

Riku’s face drained of blood.

Tae seemed oblivious, closing the book. “‘The Falling Star’ by Sara Teasdale. Is that the poem you were looking for?”

“N-no, I don’t think so. It might have been the same book, but…” Riku’s voice sounded thin.

That Tae noticed, and turned toward him. He frowned, brow creasing. “Are you feeling alright? Do you need to lie down?”

“No, I’m fine. Sorry. Just… felt a bit faint for a moment.” He flashed a smile, but Sora could see it was as weak as his voice had been.

“I’m sorry to hear that. You can take the book with you, if you would like.”

“Yes, thank you.” Riku held out a hand, and took the book in weak fingers. “I appreciate it. I’ll stop by again.”

“I hope you do.”

Sora couldn’t tell if he meant it as simple pleasantry, or if there was a layer of innuendo below the words. If Riku noticed a hint of anything, he didn’t respond to it. Riku missing the chance to flirt would have confirmed there was something wrong with him, had it not already been obvious.

Tae opened the door for them again. He waved at them politely from the doorway.

Sora was afraid Riku would fall face-first down the stairs, but somehow he made it down without injury.

“Riku, what is it?”

“The Warlock of the Wasteland set a curse on me, and it’s caught up.”

“What?”

“I told you before, didn’t I? That he was a brilliant magic-user in some regards, and if he had his way, he’d force me to meet him again? He set a curse to ensure it, and it’s finally caught up. I should have known better than to do anything on a significant date.”

“A significant date?”

“May Day. Often a day of celebrating change. ‘Mayday’ indeed. I need to get back to Kairi.”

The rest of the walk back up the cobblestone street toward Riku’s parents’ house was nearly silent. Riku didn’t even look at the mansion, aiming straight for the guest house, and the door back to the castle.

He waved Sora through first. Sora noticed the transition even less this time, worried as he was about what it meant for Riku to have been cursed by the Warlock of the Wasteland, too. The warmth of the summery air fell away, but that was all that marked the difference between it and the castle.

Though his clothing also changed back to what it had been before.

Riku was right behind him, and closed the door. He spun the dial, landing it on green.

“He caught us,” he said to Kairi.

She looked uncharacteristically grim, sitting cross-legged and hunched over on the heart. “I know. I felt it happen. What now?”

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[It's mentioned in the text, but the poem that Tae quotes at Riku is "The Falling Star" by Sara Teasdale.

It's also very notable in this chapter that the Howl's Moving Castle influence is much more strongly from the book than the movie! One of the main points of divergence between the two is where the mysterious black setting on the door leads.]

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