Chapter Text
“Riku!” Sora shouted with desperation, reaching towards his best friend’s hand as Darkness enveloped the silverette. He was not going to let Riku be consumed! Well, not alone at least. For some reason Riku seemed to actually want to be overtaken by the strange darkness, which seemed to be actively blocking Sora from grabbing his hand…
“Sora!” Riku replied with urgency, stretching his arm out further.
Suddenly, a bright light flashed, and a large key-shaped weapon appeared in Sora’s hand. It seemed to be driving away the darkness—and Riku with it! No way was that going to happen. Sora tossed the strange key away and made one final lunge towards Riku, barely managing to clutch his hand before he vanished. Riku pulled Sora closer with ease, and the two were engulfed by the darkness.
The two boys simultaneously returned to consciousness in front of a decaying castle, no one else in sight.
“Ngh… Riku?” Sora muttered, sitting up. His head spun, and he felt fairly disoriented. He then realized their hands were still entwined; Sora blushed and let go before Riku could say anything. “Where are we?”
Riku sat up too. “Umm… I’m not actually sure. Last thing I remember was going to tie up the raft.”
Sora looked at Riku, eyes wide. “You don’t remember the dark storm?”
“The storm…?” Riku scrunched his brow, then his eyes lit up as he remembered. “Right! So, does that mean this is another world?!” He hopped up to his feet, looking around in excitement.
Sora stood too, the dizziness gone, but wasn’t nearly as excited. “Probably? But, Riku, is it just us here? Where’s Kairi?”
Riku frowned and his eyes went dark. “Kairi? What, is she all you care about or something?”
“What? Of course not!” Sora protested, baffled at Riku’s reaction.
“Well, you definitely care about her more than me,” Riku replied bitterly.
This only confused Sora further. “Riku, that’s not true at all.”
“You sure about that? Because it sure doesn’t seem that way.”
“Dude. You’re not making any sense,” Sora said. Was Riku jealous? Now was not the time for that! “Kairi’s my friend. So are you.”
“But if you had to choose one, you’d choose her,” Riku said confidently, as though it were fact.
“What?!” Sora exclaimed, aware he was basically yelling. How could Riku possibly think that? “Are you stupid?! I literally just did the opposite! I ran to find YOU before anyone else when I saw your boats there!” Sora felt guilty admitting it, but despite calling them both his best friends he would always put Riku before Kairi.
“Then why do you keep asking about her?!” Riku shouted back.
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because we left her in the middle of a dark storm that was literally tearing apart the island?! I can care about two people at once, you know! We’re in the middle of an emergency; this is NOT the time for jealousy!”
“Jealousy?! I’m not—” Riku stopped mid-sentence, anger dissolving as he came to a realization. “Oh,” he said quietly.
Sora scoffed. “Yeah, ‘oh’. Now, can we please try to figure out what the hell happened to Kairi? Or do you not care if she’s dead?!”
“Sora, hey, calm down,” Riku said, holding out his hands with palms facing Sora.
“I am calm,” Sora grumbled in a more normal voice as he crossed his arms. “You’re the one being all angsty.”
Riku took a deep breath. “Right. Okay. Okay, let’s try to figure out where we are.”
“And what happened to Kairi?”
Riku sighed. “Yeah, and what happened to Kairi. I'm sorry for being so… angsty. I do want her safe as much as you.”
"Really?" Sora raised an eyebrow, skeptical of that.
"Yeah." Riku sighed and hunched his shoulders, looking at the ground—shame, Sora realized, which was an emotion the silverette rarely expressed openly. "I can't believe I was jealous…"
Sora shrugged, anger finally dissipating; it looked like Riku really felt bad about that. "It happens,” Sora said casually. “I forgive you."
Riku shifted slightly. "...Even if that jealousy triggered the darkness that destroyed the islands?"
Sora blinked. That's what triggered it? No, wait, that wasn't right. "Wasn't it the door opening that caused it?"
"But I opened the door."
"Really? Well, then, I forgive you for that too," Sora decided.
Riku raised an eyebrow. "That easy?"
Sora gave Riku his signature bright smile. "Yup!"
"But why?"
"Because you're Riku," Sora said simply. "You could destroy a hundred islands yet I still would forgive you." That level of loyalty was probably unhealthy, Sora had to admit, but it was true. "Besides, you didn't know it would be destroyed, right?"
"True," Riku said, looking a little uncomfortable. "Anyway, let's find Kairi."
"Right," Sora said confidently, then shifted nervously. “Do you think she’s dead…?” he asked quietly, barely wanting to know the answer.
Riku took a moment to answer. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “But, we survived, right? So I’m sure she did too.”
Sora looked around at the barren decaying landscape. “Do you think she’s around here, or on a different world…?”
Riku shook his head, looking around too. “I don’t know. I hope she isn’t here, though; this doesn’t look like such a great place.”
Sora frowned and put his fists on his hips. “Is that really why you hope she isn’t here, or do you just not want her around to take my attention off you?”
Riku blushed. “What? No! I really do hope she’s somewhere else for her safety! That, before, was… again, I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me.”
Sora relaxed slightly, lowering his arms to hang at his side. “How long have you been feeling that way?” Sora wondered, knowing it probably wasn’t the proper time for this discussion but he wanted to know and would probably forget to ask later.
“What?”
“Jealous,” Sora said simply. “That level of jealousy doesn’t just come out of nowhere,” he pointed out.
Riku bit his lip as he thought. “I’m not actually sure,” he concluded. “I think it’s been slowly growing for a while? I… I didn’t realize it was jealousy until you said something. Again, I’m sorry.”
Sora blinked. He hadn’t heard Riku apologize for anything in a while, and now he’d heard it multiple times in just a few minutes! Sora walked forwards and wrapped his arms around Riku. “It’s okay,” he said. "Again, I forgive you."
Riku froze briefly, but then returned the hug. “Thanks,” he said quietly, and Sora smiled, although Riku couldn’t see it. It’d been a while since they’d hugged like this, and Sora found himself not wanting to let Riku go.
“Hey, Sora, might want to let go now,” Riku said after a while, sounding nervous.
“Why? I like hugging you,” Sora said.
Riku chuckled. “You’re such a sap… seriously though, there’s an evil witch leaving the creepy castle, so as much as I do like it, now’s not the best time for hugging.”
Sora let go of Riku and swerved around. He backed up and instinctively stood a little behind Riku, like he’d often done when they were kids. Sora felt a little embarrassed about that; he could fight just as well as Riku! Well, maybe. Sora had a feeling that the times Sora had beaten Riku in their wooden sword matches had only been due to Riku letting him win. Anyway, it hadn’t been a conscious reaction. Riku did the same in the way he put an arm out, shielding Sora in a protective gesture, just as he would do when they were kids, even though for some reason he’d stopped doing that recently. Sora didn’t mind though; in fact, he kinda liked how Riku always protected him, even if Sora could hold his own, maybe.
“Come now, children,” the witch said gently. “I may be a dark fairy, but I have no intent to harm you despite the stereotypes.”
Sora wasn’t sure what that word meant, although Riku seemed to. “Stereotypes?” the silverette asked, sounding skeptical.
“But of course. Just because someone uses the Darkness and looks a little scary doesn’t mean they can’t be kind,” the witch—fairy?—explained.
“You sure you’re a fairy?” Sora asked, a little confused. “Aren’t fairies supposed to be tiny and winged?”
The witch/fairy chuckled. “Whereas some are tiny and can fly, there are in fact many types of fae.”
“What’s your name?” Riku asked.
“My name? Why, isn’t it more polite to give your name before asking?” The witch pointed out. “Well, I suppose you are still children, after all. My name is Maleficent.”
“That kinda sounds like an evil name,” Sora pointed out. “Are you sure you’re not evil?”
“That’s a good point,” Riku concurred.
Maleficent sighed. “Again with the stereotypes… well, no matter. I’m sure you’ll come around in time.”
“In time?” Riku asked, narrowing his eyes. “Are you saying you’re going to hold us here?”
“Of course not. You may leave whenever you want; I won’t stop you. But you still need food and shelter, correct? I can offer it.”
“She has a point, Riku,” Sora said. “I don’t think we’re going to find food around here, and sleeping in a castle will be better than under a rock or something.”
Riku frowned. “Okay, we’ll take you up on that,” Riku told the fairy. “But we’re not going to trust you so easily.”
“But of course; I’d expect nothing less,” Maleficent said. “It is a good instinct to not trust a stranger so easily. Now, I believe I still have yet to learn your names?”
“Oh, right,” Riku said. “I’m Riku, and this is Sora.” Sora didn’t mind that Riku had introduced him too; truthfully Sora was still rather nervous of the witch—er, fairy. He’d rather let Riku talk to her.
“Well then, Riku, Sora. Let us go inside; there are plenty of rooms.
As Sora and Riku began following her, Riku asked, “Do you know if there’s a girl around here? Our friend Kairi was also thrown from the Island.”
“Kairi, you say?” Maleficent sounded curious upon hearing the name. “Hmm. No, I don’t think I’ve heard of any Kairis. She certainly is not on this world; I would know if she were, as I can feel it with my magic.”
“Then do you know where she might be?”
“Alas, I would not. If she is not on this world, she would have been thrown to a different one. However, I can help you look for her, if you wish.”
“So she’s okay?” Sora asked excitedly. “She’s not dead?”
“Of course she is not dead,” said the fairy. “When a world falls to Darkness, it merely becomes displaced, with the residents becoming scattered.”
Riku narrowed his eyes. “How do you know our world fell to Darkness?” he asked sharply.
“Why, there is merely no other explanation for why you two would appear here and your friend would not,” Maleficent said, unperturbed by Riku’s tone of voice.
Riku relaxed. “Right, sorry. This is all new to us; we grew up on a small island.”
“We always wanted to visit other worlds though!” Sora told the fairy excitedly, but then the excitement almost immediately faded. “Although this wasn’t the way we expected that to happen…”
“I’m sure it wasn’t,” Maleficent said gently as she pushed open the doors to the castle.
Sora looked around in awe. He’d never been in a castle before! The entranceway was huge, with blue carpeted floors and staircases and even a fountain!
Then, Sora noticed something that wasn’t exciting: off to the side was a shadowy creature. Sora yelped and hid behind Riku.
“Sora?” Riku asked in concern.
“It’s one of those things from the islands!”
Riku looked towards where Sora was pointing, then turned to Maleficent, who seemed unconcerned. “Are those things your minions? Did you send them there?” Riku demanded, glaring with visible vehemence.
“Oh, my, of course not!” the dark fairy claimed, then explained further, “Those creatures exist across all worlds. Just like regular animals, the heartless can be either wild or domesticated. I control the ones here, but the ones that have been destroying worlds are feral.”
Riku and Sora both relaxed, and Sora noticed that the thing—heartless, the fairy had called it—was carrying a basket of laundry.
“You make them do chores?” Riku asked.
“But of course. I cannot keep this castle in order alone, even with magic.”
“You can do magic?!” Sora asked in awe, forgetting his earlier trepidation at the fairy’s Darkness. He’d never seen actual magic before!
“Well, I am a fairy, after all. If you wish, I could teach you.”
“Would you?!” Sora said. Yes, he wanted to learn magic!
“However, there is one caveat: it is mostly dark magic. I know many have aversions to that, even if the fear of it is unfounded, a reflection of society’s views rather than the truth.”
Sora wasn’t sure what all those words meant, but he got the gist of it. He himself was well aware through personal experience of how people could think bad things of things that weren’t bad; he had created a small scandal a few years prior when, in their first sex ed class, Sora had asked why they were only talking about boy-girl relationships and not boy-boy or girl-girl ones. He’d been teased for it, and some parents had gotten angry that the teacher didn’t outright condemn it (he just said ‘this class doesn’t cover that’). Sora’s mom had then talked to him about how some people find things wrong that aren’t actually wrong. So, maybe dark magic was like that, too.
“Remember, Sora, we need to find Kairi,” Riku reminded him.
“Oh, right,” Sora said, slightly disappointed. He wanted to find Kairi, but… magic…
Riku, noticing Sora’s expression, turned to the fairy. “Will learning that help us find her?”
“It is possible,” Maleficent said. “It will certainly help protect you from the wild heartless and other dangerous creatures among the other worlds, as well as will allow you to travel to them without the use of a ship.”
“Then it will help find her!” Sora declared, then turned to his friend with stars in his eyes. “Riku! We’re going to learn magic!”
Riku chuckled. “Alright then. Let’s learn magic,” he said as he gave Sora a fond look that made Sora’s heart skip a beat for some reason.
***
Sora lay awake in the large bed in the spare room Maleficent had given him, thinking about everything that had happened. Barely six hours ago he’d been getting ready to have dinner with his mom. Instead, he’d gotten flung into another world via a dark storm and met a dark fairy who he’d become apprenticed to along with Riku. They would be learning dark magic, which would help them look for Kairi, who was currently MIA. It was all so much!
Sora figured he should sleep instead of thinking about all this stuff, but he just couldn’t sleep. Whenever he closed his eyes he got images of the dark storm, causing him to open his eyes in a panic… but what could he do? He was tired physically.
Oh! Duh. Riku! Riku could help him. True, they hadn’t slept in the same bed for years, but it’d always been comforting when they were kids. Maybe it could still be.
Sora scurried out of bed, tripping slightly over the covers as he did so, then made his way to the room next door. He silently slipped in, finding Riku under the covers, curled up facing away from him. Sora padded over and stood there; was Riku asleep?
“Do you need something, Sora?” Riku asked without moving. Not asleep then.
“How’d you know it was me?” Sora wondered.
“I know how your footsteps sound,” Riku explained, still not turning. “Why are you here? I’m trying to sleep. You should be too.”
“I can’t,” Sora said simply.
Riku finally rolled over to look at Sora. “And that’s my problem how?”
“Um.” Sora blushed. This had seemed like a good idea five minutes ago.
“Sora?” Riku prodded.
“I was hoping maybe it would help if I… if I slept with you?” Sora said quietly. “Like when we were kids… If you’re okay with that?”
Riku was quiet for a bit, and Sora began to think that maybe this was a bad idea after all. Then, Riku lifted an arm to hold up the blanket. “Okay, get in,” he decided, looking like he was trying to hide a smile, although it was difficult to tell in the dark.
Sora grinned; his stomach did a little flip and he wanted to squeal for some reason (but he didn’t). Sora quickly scrambled under the covers before Riku changed his mind and curled up against Riku’s chest. Riku seemed hesitant for a moment before dropping the blanket over them and draping his arm over Sora’s waist.
“Better?” Riku asked quietly once they both were settled.
“Much,” Sora murmured as he drifted to sleep, comfortable in Riku’s arms.
***
Sora woke with a yawn and stretched out, forgetting who was next to him and subsequently whacking Riku in the face with his arm.
Riku grunted. “What the fuck, Sora.”
“Sorry,” Sora said sheepishly, with a blush.
Riku sighed. “It’s fine. I was awake anyway. I want to talk to you about something.”
Sora frowned. “Is it about sleeping together? I like it but if you’re not comfortable—”
“No, it’s not that,” Riku cut Sora off, blushing slightly. “It’s about our situation. Are you sure we can trust Maleficent? Something feels off.”
“Well, that’s just because we’ve always been told that Darkness is bad, right?” Sora reasoned. “What was that word she used for it? Pre-diced?”
“Prejudiced,” Riku corrected. “I guess that’s true. Still, be careful. She could be lying.”
Sora shrugged and put his hands behind his head, nearly elbowing RIku in the face in the process. “I mean, we don’t really have much of a choice but to be here,” he pointed out. “She seems nice enough. I think we can trust her.”
“Yeah, but just because someone’s nice doesn’t make them trustworthy.”
“It doesn’t make them not trustworthy either,” Sora retorted. “Come on, she’s going to teach us magic!”
“Dark magic.”
“Again, that’s pre-juiced talking.”
“Prejudice,” Riku again corrected.
Sora rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Let’s go get something to eat; I’m hungry.”
Riku agreed with that plan, and once two boys got out of bed Sora grabbed Riku’s hand to drag him out of the room. Sora decided he liked holding Riku’s hand; also, there might have been some fear of losing Riku in the inner recesses of his mind, after the near-loss the previous day and losing Kairi. Sora was going to keep Riku by his side for the foreseeable future, he decided.