Kingdom Hearts fic: Fractured Moments - Day 20 - "Tread"
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museficSummary: Kairi awakens alone in the home of a mysterious stranger.
[I like this one, but it is very much about Kairi individually rather than the trio. Set a bit after "Legend" and fairly soon before "Freeze."]
The tub was a large, metal, clawfooted thing, standing alone in the center of the room. Oil-burning lamps along the walls provided the only dim light in the room, steady, but eerie. The water steamed, and Kairi’s skin crawled with need for a bath, but it still felt strangely exposed to bathe here. She didn’t trust the mysterious man in this house, though he had been perfectly polite.
She approached the tub, leaning forward until her reflection was clear in the still water. She tried to open her mind and her heart, to let herself feel a road beyond the reflection, to reach out to the mirrors... Nothing happened. Kairi bit her lip, suppressing rising panic threatening to choke her. It wasn’t the first time she’d found a place with a ‘mirror’ that wasn’t connected to the rest. She wished desperately that she could tell Sora that she was okay. She hoped he was.
Just to be sure, she sent out an exploratory touch toward her Keyblade, and was relieved when it started to respond. She pulled away before it could actually materialize; she didn’t want to tip her hand regarding what she could do.
Finally she stripped off the enchanted clothing—a simple gown in this world, rather than anything that felt more familiar—and slid into the water. It felt wonderful, though the flakes of brown that dissolved into red when they hit the water was disturbing.
Most of the dried blood was in her hair, and she leaned back and carefully felt through the tangles and matted strands. The blood came away easily enough, but she couldn’t find any trace of a wound on her scalp. Perhaps someone had used a cure spell, but usually that would leave its own sensation behind.
And it wasn’t only in her hair. The backs of her calves, where the dress had pulled up. Down the back of her neck. The underside of her wrists, her fingers, caking in the folds of her palms and undersides of her knuckles. Like she’d lain in it. The dress likely only unscathed due to the enchantments that allowed it to repair itself as well as change.
‘Perhaps it is not your blood,’ Namine whispered in the back of her mind.
Kairi clung to her other self’s presence as something familiar, at least. ‘I’m afraid you’re right.’
A bar of soap had been left for her, and she used it to quickly scrub the rest of the way clean. The water cooled off rapidly, encouraging her to hurry, as if she hadn’t already wanted to be done as quickly as possible.
There was a towel which she used to dry off the best she could, though her hair was still damp. She redressed in the simple, long dress her clothes had transformed into, and ventured back out into the hallway. “Mr. Fox” had told her to come find him once she was done.
She stepped carefully down the stairs, as dimly lit as the rest of the house. There were lamps in all the halls and rooms, and every few steps in the stairwell, but it was never enough to beat back the darkness entirely. Even passing by the occasional windows was no help: it must have been the middle of the night, because Kairi couldn’t see anything beyond the glass.
Mr. Fox was waiting in a well-appointed sitting room at the bottom of the stairs. He stood when Kairi entered, and bowed. “Miss Kairi,” he greeted her.
“Mr. Fox,” she replied, unsure if she was supposed to curtsey or not. She settled for a sort of half-bob. At the very least, she should be polite.
He spread his arm, offering for her to sit. She sat gingerly on the edge of the ornate padded chair he’d directed her toward, watching him as he returned to his equally fine seat.
"And now, my dear visitor, it seems time for us to have our conversation.”
“Yes, thank you.” She very much needed to know how to get out of here.
“Would I be mistaken in my guess that you are something of a sorceress?”
“A sorceress?” The word tripped her up. Not that it wasn’t a word she knew, just not one she’d ever applied to herself.
“A mage, a magic-user, a witch, an enchantress, an occultist…” he attempted to explain.
She licked dry lips. “Would it be a problem if I were?”
His eyes widened a fraction, and he gave a smile much more broad than the little, furtive ones he’d given before. “Not at all, my dear. I’m a practitioner myself.”
She thought about her relatively lackluster attempts at magic, relying on the materia. It was more than she’d ever thought she’d be capable of, but she still wasn’t able to do it unaided the way Sora could. “I’m… not much of one.”
She wasn’t certain what about this man made her want to undersell herself. That wasn’t like her, but as before when she’d made sure not to reveal her Keyblade on the chance that he would somehow know, she would rather he didn’t know everything that she could do.
“‘Not much of one’ is significantly superior to most."
“What I really need to know is how I got here,” she said, steering the conversation back. “I have no memory of arriving here, just of waking up on your couch.”
His eyes widened again, and he blinked a couple times, all polite confusion. “I was hoping that you could tell me. It was quite a shock to find you here. I live alone, and there’s no one else for some distance around.”
“I’m sorry for my accidental imposition,” Kairi started, but Mr. Fox cut her off.
“Well, if neither of us has any idea by what mechanism you’ve come to be here, then perhaps we will have to wait for this phenomenon to reassert itself.”
“I really can’t stay,” she protested. Sora had to be extremely worried for her after the way they’d been separated. And they couldn’t afford to lose any time pursuing Riku.
“I’m afraid you may not have much of a choice. The night is quite impassable this time of year outside my manor, and it stretches terribly long. But do not fear. I shall do all in my power to discover the method by which you were brought here. In the meantime, you say you are something of a sorceress?”
“Not much of one,” Kairi repeated.
“Would you like to learn?”
It was just on her lips to refuse, but… she did want to learn. Sora had taught her what he could, but they hadn’t had an opportunity to ask anyone else.
“Only until we discover how to return you to where you belong, of course,” he hastened to add. “Something to pass the time while you’re here.”
“I would like that,” she said, and realized she really meant that.
He offered her his hand, which she hesitantly took. He lifted her fingers up and placed a soft kiss on her knuckles, though he held his eyes on hers while he did so. “Excellent.”
Then he stood and helped her to rise. “I’m sure that you still need rest, after whatever it was that brought you here. However, one bit of advice I would like to impart.” His voice grew grave as he spoke.
“I am delighted to have the opportunity to teach you, however long that may last. However, I bid you tread lightly while you are here. There is a bit of a… personal motto, that I ask any who come here to abide by. Be bold, be bold, for I wish everyone to push themselves to their full potential. But just as vitally, be bold, but not too bold, for you must always respect limits. Do not trespass in any room locked to you. I have my own experiments and studies that must not be disturbed. But if you can do that, I believe we will have a quite pleasant time together.”
Kairi smiled and nodded. She was perfectly willing to respect the rules of her host. But she also did not like the faint hint of threat that his words carried.
[previous chapter] [next chapter]
[I like this one, but it is very much about Kairi individually rather than the trio. Set a bit after "Legend" and fairly soon before "Freeze."]
The tub was a large, metal, clawfooted thing, standing alone in the center of the room. Oil-burning lamps along the walls provided the only dim light in the room, steady, but eerie. The water steamed, and Kairi’s skin crawled with need for a bath, but it still felt strangely exposed to bathe here. She didn’t trust the mysterious man in this house, though he had been perfectly polite.
She approached the tub, leaning forward until her reflection was clear in the still water. She tried to open her mind and her heart, to let herself feel a road beyond the reflection, to reach out to the mirrors... Nothing happened. Kairi bit her lip, suppressing rising panic threatening to choke her. It wasn’t the first time she’d found a place with a ‘mirror’ that wasn’t connected to the rest. She wished desperately that she could tell Sora that she was okay. She hoped he was.
Just to be sure, she sent out an exploratory touch toward her Keyblade, and was relieved when it started to respond. She pulled away before it could actually materialize; she didn’t want to tip her hand regarding what she could do.
Finally she stripped off the enchanted clothing—a simple gown in this world, rather than anything that felt more familiar—and slid into the water. It felt wonderful, though the flakes of brown that dissolved into red when they hit the water was disturbing.
Most of the dried blood was in her hair, and she leaned back and carefully felt through the tangles and matted strands. The blood came away easily enough, but she couldn’t find any trace of a wound on her scalp. Perhaps someone had used a cure spell, but usually that would leave its own sensation behind.
And it wasn’t only in her hair. The backs of her calves, where the dress had pulled up. Down the back of her neck. The underside of her wrists, her fingers, caking in the folds of her palms and undersides of her knuckles. Like she’d lain in it. The dress likely only unscathed due to the enchantments that allowed it to repair itself as well as change.
‘Perhaps it is not your blood,’ Namine whispered in the back of her mind.
Kairi clung to her other self’s presence as something familiar, at least. ‘I’m afraid you’re right.’
A bar of soap had been left for her, and she used it to quickly scrub the rest of the way clean. The water cooled off rapidly, encouraging her to hurry, as if she hadn’t already wanted to be done as quickly as possible.
There was a towel which she used to dry off the best she could, though her hair was still damp. She redressed in the simple, long dress her clothes had transformed into, and ventured back out into the hallway. “Mr. Fox” had told her to come find him once she was done.
She stepped carefully down the stairs, as dimly lit as the rest of the house. There were lamps in all the halls and rooms, and every few steps in the stairwell, but it was never enough to beat back the darkness entirely. Even passing by the occasional windows was no help: it must have been the middle of the night, because Kairi couldn’t see anything beyond the glass.
Mr. Fox was waiting in a well-appointed sitting room at the bottom of the stairs. He stood when Kairi entered, and bowed. “Miss Kairi,” he greeted her.
“Mr. Fox,” she replied, unsure if she was supposed to curtsey or not. She settled for a sort of half-bob. At the very least, she should be polite.
He spread his arm, offering for her to sit. She sat gingerly on the edge of the ornate padded chair he’d directed her toward, watching him as he returned to his equally fine seat.
"And now, my dear visitor, it seems time for us to have our conversation.”
“Yes, thank you.” She very much needed to know how to get out of here.
“Would I be mistaken in my guess that you are something of a sorceress?”
“A sorceress?” The word tripped her up. Not that it wasn’t a word she knew, just not one she’d ever applied to herself.
“A mage, a magic-user, a witch, an enchantress, an occultist…” he attempted to explain.
She licked dry lips. “Would it be a problem if I were?”
His eyes widened a fraction, and he gave a smile much more broad than the little, furtive ones he’d given before. “Not at all, my dear. I’m a practitioner myself.”
She thought about her relatively lackluster attempts at magic, relying on the materia. It was more than she’d ever thought she’d be capable of, but she still wasn’t able to do it unaided the way Sora could. “I’m… not much of one.”
She wasn’t certain what about this man made her want to undersell herself. That wasn’t like her, but as before when she’d made sure not to reveal her Keyblade on the chance that he would somehow know, she would rather he didn’t know everything that she could do.
“‘Not much of one’ is significantly superior to most."
“What I really need to know is how I got here,” she said, steering the conversation back. “I have no memory of arriving here, just of waking up on your couch.”
His eyes widened again, and he blinked a couple times, all polite confusion. “I was hoping that you could tell me. It was quite a shock to find you here. I live alone, and there’s no one else for some distance around.”
“I’m sorry for my accidental imposition,” Kairi started, but Mr. Fox cut her off.
“Well, if neither of us has any idea by what mechanism you’ve come to be here, then perhaps we will have to wait for this phenomenon to reassert itself.”
“I really can’t stay,” she protested. Sora had to be extremely worried for her after the way they’d been separated. And they couldn’t afford to lose any time pursuing Riku.
“I’m afraid you may not have much of a choice. The night is quite impassable this time of year outside my manor, and it stretches terribly long. But do not fear. I shall do all in my power to discover the method by which you were brought here. In the meantime, you say you are something of a sorceress?”
“Not much of one,” Kairi repeated.
“Would you like to learn?”
It was just on her lips to refuse, but… she did want to learn. Sora had taught her what he could, but they hadn’t had an opportunity to ask anyone else.
“Only until we discover how to return you to where you belong, of course,” he hastened to add. “Something to pass the time while you’re here.”
“I would like that,” she said, and realized she really meant that.
He offered her his hand, which she hesitantly took. He lifted her fingers up and placed a soft kiss on her knuckles, though he held his eyes on hers while he did so. “Excellent.”
Then he stood and helped her to rise. “I’m sure that you still need rest, after whatever it was that brought you here. However, one bit of advice I would like to impart.” His voice grew grave as he spoke.
“I am delighted to have the opportunity to teach you, however long that may last. However, I bid you tread lightly while you are here. There is a bit of a… personal motto, that I ask any who come here to abide by. Be bold, be bold, for I wish everyone to push themselves to their full potential. But just as vitally, be bold, but not too bold, for you must always respect limits. Do not trespass in any room locked to you. I have my own experiments and studies that must not be disturbed. But if you can do that, I believe we will have a quite pleasant time together.”
Kairi smiled and nodded. She was perfectly willing to respect the rules of her host. But she also did not like the faint hint of threat that his words carried.
[previous chapter] [next chapter]
