Kingdom Hearts fic: All Strange Wonders - Chapter 11

[mistressofmuses]

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This time, Sora was given an escort all the way back to Riku’s shop. Her name was Yuffie, and she kept up an impressive stream of conversation the entire way. Sora was grateful that he didn’t have to do much more than make encouraging noises every so often to keep up his side.

He was still sorting through everything: his abject failure to dissuade the king from hiring Riku; the presence of the Warlock of the Wasteland in the city; the fact that the Warlock of the Wasteland had a contract similar to the one Riku had with Kairi; the revelation that maybe Sora did have some small magical talent of his own. It was a lot to process.

It wasn’t any easier when they reached ‘Sorcerous Remedies,’ and Riku was already waiting in the open door. He was holding a rolled parchment scroll, this one wrapped in frankly ridiculous quantities of red and gold ribbons.

“Thank you for returning my wayward assistant,” he said dryly.

“It was a great chance to get out for a walk around the city!” Yuffie said. “And I see the king’s messengers already delivered the good news.”

Riku tapped the scroll against his palm. “Indeed they did.”

“Well, good luck with everything! I’m sure I’ll see you around soon, now. Welcome to the team!”

Both Sora and Riku watched her go.

“Are you that difficult to get rid of? The king finally had to send a council member to get you home?”

“Yuffie is a council member?” Sora knew his eyes had to be huge. “I had no idea.”

“Yuffie, Tifa, and Cloud are the three left. I didn’t know it would be such a feat to get you out of the palace. Or did you leave me waiting on purpose? I finally came back here, and then the king’s messenger beat you anyway.”

Sora swallowed hard. The king had mentioned Tifa as the one who’d led him through the palace twice. He’d known she wasn’t a servant.

Riku cleared his throat.

“I had to see him twice,” Sora finally answered.

“Twice? Does that make it more or less impressive that I still received my official letter of appointment?” He waved the scroll again.

Sora winced. “I’m sorry. I tried, but—”

“No, no,” Riku said. “My fault. Clearly I should have gone myself. Or I misjudged what the king needed to hear. Come on.”

At least Sora was being allowed back inside the castle. That was something.

Once the door was closed he said, “I saw the Warlock of the Wasteland. He was in the city. That was why I had to see the king twice: I ran into the Warlock after I left, and I didn’t want to lead him here.”

“He was in the city?”

Sora wasn’t sure, but he thought Riku might have gone a bit paler.

“He didn’t say why. How has he been out on the Wasteland for so long? He said he was exiled there by the king’s grandfather.”

“Exile is a strong word, since he still goes anywhere he wants. And he went to the Wasteland by choice, initially, and then just… was no longer welcomed elsewhere. But a magic-user given sufficient access to power can live for quite a long time. Maybe not without side effects.”

Riku tossed the scroll onto the counter. “Well, now that I know I don’t have to go hunt you down somewhere, I have an errand to run back on the island. Some business I wasn’t quite able to finish last time.”

“You’re leaving?” Sora asked. “With everything happening?”

Riku shrugged. “Nothing is happening now that wasn’t happening this morning. Or last night, for that matter.”

Now that he really looked at Riku, instead of ducking away in shame after seeing the scroll, Sora realized he must have gone through his hours-long routine. His hair was shining and perfect, his skin flawless, and his eyes gently lined with some cosmetic. That must have been the real reason he’d given Sora two hours after leaving him at the palace.

Sora remembered how Riku had looked at Tae when they’d been in his apartment, looking for the book. Unfinished business, indeed.

If Riku was going to make himself scarce, at least that meant that Sora had a chance to talk to Kairi. So once he was gone through the black door, Sora pulled the chair close to her hearth.

“What was Radiant Garden like?” she asked. “I wish I could see it. I can just barely glimpse out the door, but all that shows me is a street.”

“The palace was nice,” he said. He described the different rooms he’d gone through, the multi-hued wooden panels, the realistic portraits, the infinite mirrors, and the indoor garden. She seemed most interested in the one that had mapped out the constellations.

“I miss the night sky,” she sighed, sending up a shower of sparks. “I used to know every detail, but now I don’t even know if I’m remembering it correctly anymore.”

“If I open the door onto the hills at night, can you see the stars then? It might be just a few, but…”

She shook her head. “Too much light in here. Even when it’s dark out there, I can’t stop making my own light. I can’t see past it. But I’d settle for seeing everything else. The towns and the plants and the flowers… they sound lovely.”

“The ones at the capital were nice, but the ones at Naminé’s cottage are better,” he said. “Hers are just a little bit wild, tangled together a bit more, with all the colors and shapes and heights happening sort of at once.”

“I’d love to see them someday.”

“I hope this isn’t asking something I’m not supposed to,” he said, “but what keeps you in the hearth?”

“I’m a fire?” she said, sounding a bit bewildered.

“Well, yeah, but is there something forcing you to stay in that hearth, specifically?”

She swept an arm of flames out in a gesture encompassing the room. “Well, I can’t exactly walk across a wood floor. That would be a recipe for disaster.”

“If the hearth were bigger, could you walk on that?”

“I guess? Maybe not for very long though. I still need something to burn.”

Sora hummed to himself. “Maybe we could build you a bigger hearth, then. Enough that you could see out the window, or out the door. You’d still be close to your logs.”

“I have been practicing at controlling my form…” she said.

Looking at her, he realized she was right. She was more solid than she’d been when he first came to the castle. Still made of fire, but with more distinctly human-like features.

“Look what I can do, now!” she said.

She reached down toward the logs that she sat on, that served as fuel for her. Between her delicate flame fingers, she held up a small branch. It was tiny, only about as big around as a pencil. But she was holding it.

“Kairi, that’s amazing!” he said. And he meant it. A fire, managing to actually hold something.

“I’ve been practicing,” she said. The flames of her face grew brighter, and he realized she was blushing.

“The next day off I have,” he promised. “Take us up toward the mountains, and I’ll find the rocks to build you a bigger hearth.”

Much as he’d love to jump up and do it today, the two trips up and down the palace stairs had exhausted him more than he liked.

After that, they lapsed into a comfortable silence.

She almost sounded reluctant to break it when she asked, “Have you learned anything about the contract? With the Warlock of the Wasteland so close…”

She didn’t finish the thought, but it was clear she was worried.

“I learned that you aren’t the only fire spirit to have made a contract like this,” he said. “And I think I know part of the terms, now. Riku gets use of your power, in exchange for something he had that you didn’t, right?”

“That’s right! How did you find that out?” The flames of her skin and hair all flared brightly.

“From the king. Apparently the Warlock of the Wasteland made a similar deal. Can you tell me what Riku gave you?”

She dimmed a little. “No. That’s part of the contract, so if you don’t know it already, I’m not allowed to tell you.”

“Kind of like my name.” He slouched in the chair. He’d been hoping that would get him close enough to the full contract terms, but apparently he still had work to do.

---

Riku got back late that night, and when he got up the next morning, he appeared to have a cold.

“How is it that every time I go back to Destiny Islands I seem to get a summer cold? It’s hardly fair. It must be the humidity, settling in my head,” he complained.

He wandered sadly through the castle, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. Through great sniffles and sneezing bouts, he explained his next plan to them.

“We have to”—sneeze—“move the castle entrances.” He blew his nose on a strange papery handkerchief that he seemed to have summoned from thin air. “The king knows where to find me in Radiant Garden”—sneeze—“and the Warlock of the Wasteland was far too close. The”—sniffle—“entrance on the hills should probably move, too. Too many people know how to tie”—two sneezes—“the moving castle in the hills to me.”

‘Too many people’ meaning Xion? Sora wondered.

“What about the Traverse Town entrance?” Kairi asked. She sounded nervous for some reason.

“That one would be the most difficult to move.” Riku blew his nose on another bit of tissue paper.

“Why is that?” Sora asked.

“It’s where Kairi really is.” Riku sneezed again. “The rest is spells and trickery, but she has to actually be somewhere, and that’s it.”

“So that’s why Traverse Town is the one you can see out the window.” He had wondered. Then something else occurred to him. He narrowed his eyes and asked, “What about the black door?”

“That one stays.” Even through a stuffy nose, Riku’s voice was completely firm.

“Where would you move to?” Sora was almost afraid to ask.

“As far away”—sneeze—“as we can get. No one who knows me should find me.”

Sora frowned. As much as he couldn’t bear the thought of seeing them, he also wasn’t sure he wanted to be impossibly far from his family. “So you’re running away from two things, then?” he asked.

Riku sneezed. “What?”

“You’re running away from the king’s appointment in Radiant Garden, and you’re running away from Xion, now that you’ve moved on from her.”

“I am protecting us,” said Riku. The stern effect was spoiled a bit by the sniffling. “Protecting Kairi!”

“You’re running away!” Sora repeated. “Because you can’t handle responsibility, and you’re too selfish to do anything you don’t like! You would spend every day off courting Xion, and now you’re running away so that she can’t find you, because you want to move on. And you said it before; you don’t want the responsibility of being the Royal Wizard. Now that you are, you’re running away. You don’t want to face the Warlock of the Wasteland, you don’t want to find Leon and Aerith—”

Riku spluttered his way through several more of the tissues before snapping, “You say that like I haven’t tried!”

Sora stopped.

“Well, mister perfect, I have tried to find them. I looked as soon as Aerith disappeared. When Leon went after her, similarly never to be seen again, I looked for him, too! I have met the Warlock of the Wasteland, and have no desire to be the next one to disappear for good!”

“But if the Warlock of the Wasteland is coming after you—”

“He is! And do you know what that curse will do? To me? To Kairi? You may think that I’m a heartless monster, but she doesn’t deserve to die.” Riku’s eyes were watery and red-rimmed. Sora couldn’t tell if he was actually crying, or if it was just his cold.

Sora drew back. “I didn’t…”

Riku sneezed again. “Never mind. I’m going back to bed.” He pulled the blanket up around his shoulders like a regal cape. “It’s highly possible that I will die there.”

He threw a handful of the little crumpled paper handkerchiefs at Kairi to incinerate.

“I really didn’t mean…” Sora trailed off. Because he had meant it. Maybe not to have it all come out at once like that, though.

“He is running away,” Kairi said. “But I don’t think he knows what else to do.”

Riku going back to bed did not grant the castle any real peace or quiet. Every sneeze and sniffle was magnified until it shook the floor and rattled the window.

“Do you think he wants attention?” Sora asked, as another sneeze from upstairs made all the furniture shift a quarter inch.

“I don’t think he’s actually dying, if that’s what you mean,” Kairi said.

“Did he mean that? Not about the cold. But that if the curse catches up the rest of the way, you’ll die?”

She shifted a little where she sat. She was quiet for just a little too long. Then: “I might.”

Sora’s own voice dropped to a whisper. “I don’t want you to die. If Riku has to run away to keep you safe, then…”

She shook her head. “You can’t outrun a curse, not really. And not when it already has its claws sunk into you. Your only hope is to break it.”

“So I have to get you out of the contract.”

“If the contract is broken, it won’t stop the Warlock’s curse. But it does mean Riku and I wouldn’t be forced to live or die together.”

That was dismal.

A cough rattled the shelves hard enough that a book fell onto the floor.

Sora rolled his eyes. “I’ll go check on him.”

It was obvious that this was just another tantrum of a sort. Its own form of sulking, while still making it obvious to everyone else that was what he was doing. But just like the slime, there had to be something more behind it.

Sora got the kettle, and brought it to Kairi to heat up for tea. Maybe all there was behind it was that Sora had started a stupid argument. He winced. Yeah, that could be it.

He loaded the mug of tea with far too much honey, which meant Riku would probably complain there still wasn’t enough, and went up the stairs.

He hadn’t tried to go into Riku’s room since the first time, when Riku had very memorably told him not to do so again. But it wouldn’t be prying if Riku was in there, right?

Sora knocked.

“Yes?” Riku’s voice sounded weak.

It was painfully fake. Sora sighed and opened the door.

“I brought you tea. Since you don’t feel well.”

Riku sat up a little bit on the bed, layers of blankets falling off his shoulders. He really didn’t look well. His eyes were still red-rimmed, as was his nose. The blankets next to him and the floor next to the bed were covered in crumpled little tissues.

Sora could barely even take fair notice of that, because Riku’s room was amazing. He’d been right when he got the impression of clutter, but this was far more purposeful than anything on the main floor had been. Fine, gauzy and silken fabric draped the walls and the shelves. Cut and raw gems and crystals, some set in pendants or rings, others displayed on padded cushions, and yet more simply set wherever they would fit, all glinting in the light from the window. From the ceiling hung paper and silk kites shaped like dragons and fish. Low lamplight shone through stained glass, casting shifting colors around the walls. The shelves contained books, but also seashells, glass bottles, delicate china sculptures, an impossibly long snake’s skeleton, feathers brighter than any he’d ever seen on a bird… It was overwhelming, but beautiful.

Riku coughed again, though without the magical amplification that shook the foundations.

Sora was well aware that he’d been staring, so he quickly stepped over to the bed to hand Riku the mug of tea.

Riku took a sip, then held the mug close, like he needed the warmth. “Thank you.” He took another sip, then set it on the bedside table between a feathered mask and decoratively beaded lamp. He sank back down under the blankets.

“I’m sorry,” Sora said. “I still think most of what I said is true, but I shouldn’t have been mean about it.”

“I don’t think you have a mean bone in your body.” Riku sighed. “It’s unnatural how nice you are.”

Sora wasn’t sure he could agree. “I do think you’re running away. And I don’t like that you’re running away. But you aren’t being completely selfish, so I shouldn’t have said that part.”

Riku sighed again. When he spoke, his voice sounded painfully sad. “I’m afraid I’ll always be selfish.”

Sora frowned. That hadn’t been what he was expecting.

“And it’s my own fault. I made a choice, and I can’t take that back. I wouldn’t take it back. But I didn’t understand it at the time. And now I’m this selfish, heartless thing.”

Sora had called him heartless many times, and yet… “You aren’t really.” He tried to make his voice seem soothing.

“Don’t you remember what I told you the last time you came up here? You have no idea. I am selfish, and I know it, but I just can’t do anything else. I’m terrified that I’ll end up alone, but I also don’t think I’ll ever be able to love someone, not really. That was traded away like everything else. Every time I meet someone, I think that ‘oh, this time will be different. This time maybe it’s real.’ It always feels so real, but then… I never feel the way they do in the end. And yet I keep trying anyway.”

Sora shifted where he was standing. It sounded almost like Riku was going to cry.

“Now the Warlock is going to come for me, or make me come to him. That will be the end of me, and I can’t stop it. Maybe it’s for the best that I can’t really love anyone. I hate the idea of dying alone, but at least that means no one will miss me once I’m gone.”

Sora’s voice was choked off, but not by his own curse. He knew that feeling, that horrible sideways relief that at least no one would miss him if he vanished, since no one could remember him. But that wasn’t true for Riku.

“Kairi would miss you.”

Riku ran a hand through his hair, a bitter laugh escaping, with just a hint of a cough behind it. “Would she?”

Sora stepped closer, intending to sit on the edge of the bed, just in case being close helped. Riku may have been exaggerating his cold and sulking, but he was clearly genuinely upset.

As he turned around, the window caught his eye. Sora had assumed it would look out on part of Traverse Town, like the window in the kitchen. Instead, he could see a tall, thin-trunked tree, with enormous leaves arching out from the top.

“Is that Destiny Islands?” Sora asked. He leaned up to get a better look, and yes, he could see the water in the distance. “It is. How does your window look out there?”

Riku made a small, strangled noise from the bed.

Sora sheepishly returned his attention to Riku; he shouldn’t have let something like that distract him. Sora had halfway reached for the mug of tea, thinking Riku was coughing, when he realized Riku was laughing.

“And here I’d bet myself I could keep you distracted enough that you wouldn’t even notice.”

“What?”

“I thought maybe I could keep your attention on me, and you’d never even glace at the window.”

Sora stepped away. The sympathy had withered, replaced by frustration and anger flooding back. “So all that was…?”

“All of what? I was just talking.”

As if it was somehow ridiculous for Sora to be upset by that.

“I was wrong. You really are selfish, and heartless, and all the- all the other mean things I could have said! If you really are afraid of being alone, you’ll have no one to blame but yourself for it!” Sora’s hands had balled into fists, and he was fighting back angry tears of his own.

“You sound like my parents.” Riku fell back against the pillows. “They love to remind me of how selfish I am, how unhappy I’ll be in the end, how disappointed they are. How I deserve whatever I get.”

Sora wanted to spit something back about how if Riku didn’t want people to be disappointed in them, then he should stop being disappointing. He bit down on it hard enough he tasted blood on his tongue.

In the end, he didn’t say anything at all. Just left, and closed the door behind him.

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