Princely Garbs 15

"There, the door’s unlocked," Roxas said standing in front of the door leading to the Magic Kingdom. He let the keyblade disappear from his hand, giving Axel a glance. He’d come to reply pretty heavily on Axel, despite how he acted. Axel was a strong support to him, had always been. If he could tell anyone anything, it’d be him.

"Good, that didn’t take long at all," Axel said smiling down at the shorter male, the smile having too much warmth to be the smile of a person affected by the darkness. Then again, maybe Roxas was just reading too much into it. "Whoa, is that your mom?" Roxas blinked looking over to see what it was Axel was looking at. There was a picture of a woman on the wall, a picture that made him wonder how he’d missed it. The woman in the picture stared back at him, smiling with bright blue eyes staring right at him, her hair a similar color to his. Yes, that had to be his mother. He would have never thought she was so beautiful.

Mom…

In the picture there were two children sitting in her lap, one that looked like a tiny version of Roxas and the other of his twin brother, Sora. Standing to the side of them was a man wearing his elaborate robe and a crown, a big boyish grin on his face, as he stared at his family from the corner of his eyes, obviously not paying attention to the camera. It was a family portrait with him, his brother, his mom and….

Dad…

Roxas felt his eyes water slightly, rubbing his arm across them as he stared around the room, seeing more pictures, pictures of both him and Sora playing together, of pictures of just him with his mother or his father or all three. It was obvious from these pictures that he’d been happy and that his family had loved him. So then…what had happened? He remembered the sadness he’d seen in that one guy’s eyes and it made him question his life as it was. He felt something trying to break through the darkness in his heart, but he couldn’t explain what the feeling was, only that he wanted to feel it. The only thing he could do now was to go see his brother and that man and get his answers from him, connect the pieces of his jumbled life.

"Axel," Roxas said turning around, pausing for a moment at the look on Axel’s face before he shook his head. "Let’s go."

"Right behind you," Axel said, not having even noticed the red blush on his own face as the two of them headed for the door. Roxas felt even more determined now to find them. He’d never really trusted Xemnas, but his constant jealously of his brother had blinded him to the possibility that maybe the Superior of Organization was even lying about this as well.

I think he would.

"You look like you’re a bit surer of yourself now," Axel said glancing over at him as he walked.

"I think just coming here taught me a lot about myself," Roxas said not bothering to glance over as he headed through the door, feeling Axel’s support beside him. As if by a second thought, he stopped and turned to the door, the keyblade appearing in his hand as he pointed it at the door, the beam of light shooting out locking the door back in place again. For now, that would be the end of seeing that world. He’d return once he was sure of what his plans were going to be.







"Wha…but…wait…what is Merlin doing here?!"

Riku was just as shocked as Sora was, though he was able to conceal his shock a lot better. Either that or he was still reeling over the hot kiss he’d gotten from the other boy. Even though he’d really enjoyed it, had wished it would never end, he still felt somewhat guilty inside. Despite what Leon had said, he had a point. He didn’t really care about being married to Namine, and didn’t have any real plans to go through with it either. But Sora…honestly, as much as he hated to admit it, Sora was better off with Kairi. Not only was she beautiful, she was a woman and she would be able to give Sora an heir. After all, Sora was pretty much a king, and being the sole survivor, there was no way he’d be able to have his kingdom go on without a kid to take over.

I’m just being selfish.

He knew it was true. He wanted Sora all to himself. He didn’t anyone else to have him, not even his own cousin. The situation was going to be harder now because he now knew that Sora, at the least, returned his feelings. The other at least liked him somewhat. Or…was their friendship the reason Sora responded? What if Sora just didn’t want him to feel bad? He hadn’t been quick to kiss him back. It had been Riku who had initiated the kiss first.
But he had to admit, it felt good to have Sora in his arms. Riku smirked slightly thinking about the kiss and the feeling of Sora’s hips when he held him close. And he had to admit, he could have sworn he felt Sora respond in a good way when he-

"Get your head out of the clouds, Riku!"

"Huh?" Riku blinked staring at the knowing look Yuffie was passing his way before he blushed remembering where he was. He definitely needed better control over his emotions. Glancing around, he took note that everyone was watching him now, no thanks to Yuffie’s outburst. Even Sora was staring at him, though there was a tale tell hint of pink in his cheeks. He apparently had an idea of what he was thinking about.

At least he knows part of what I’m thinking about anyway…

Leon happened to be there as well, though Riku avoided looking at him, that guilty feeling in his chest again. He could tell his commander was watching him too, especially when he asked, "Are you feeling ok?" Riku just nodded his head in reply, not really wanting to actually talk to him. Just because he felt some agreement with him, didn’t mean he still wasn’t mad about what he said.

"Things aren’t looking so good at Radiant Garden," Merlin said, those words being enough to draw everyone’s attention back to him.

"What do you mean?" Leon demanded, though there was a worried look in his eyes.

"I mean the dark forces are trying to move in," Merlin said. "I’ve already alerted the king to the issue so he’s taking precautions though I’m afraid they may have already invaded the palace."

"Then what are we doing standing around here?!" Sora asked, baring his teeth slightly, wanting to protect those dear to him. "We can’t just stay here, we need to help them!"

"No, you and Riku are staying here," Cloud said frowning a bit. "I really don’t like the idea of taking you back, especially now. They might be trying to trap us and lure you out."

"But-"

"Cloud and I will go with Merlin to see what’s happening," Leon said folding his arms and glaring at Sora just daring him to say otherwise. "Meanwhile, you stay here and wait for word from us."

"Don’t worry," Mickey said quickly winking at Sora as the other started to pout. "Donald, Goofy, and I will stay here and keep you and Riku safe!" Riku blinked noticing how Sora’s cheeks reddened at the wink, and narrowed his eyes glaring at Mickey. Kiss or no kiss, apparently it didn’t stop Mickey from flirting with his Sora, or at least what he saw as flirting anyway. At the suspicious look Leon gave him, Riku cleared his throat before he turned from them.

"Well, do what you want," Riku said as he started for the door. "I’m going to go take a nap."

"But Riku!" Riku didn’t stop, even though it had been Sora that called out to him. No, he needed some time alone, some time to think things through. He needed to make a decision whether he wanted to or not.

"Just make sure everyone’s safe and sound, ok?" He glanced back receiving a nod from both Leon and Cloud and a pout from Sora. Why oh why did he have to be so cute?!

Because he’s Sora….







Despite all the excitement that had happened not even days earlier, Seifer was bored. He wanted some action, something to do to get rid of this mundane motion of life and stupid guard duty. Lately, he’d been given orders to keep an eye on Kairi and the King, being that he was the only soldier that was capable of fighting well in the kingdom at the moment. He was also in control of keeping everything together and deciding what soldiers were to do what. Honestly, it was more responsibility than he wanted.

At least he didn’t have to worry much about Kairi. She pretty much stayed in her room, no doubt upset still about Sora and her cousin disappearing. Selphie was always there to keep her company, which did help things a lot too. As for Tidus, Seifer had him off doing guard duty with Wakka. He didn’t really care that Tidus didn’t like him. He didn’t like the kid either. He was too peppy, to excited about nothing, dumb, smelly, and just plain annoying. He was about as bad as that stupid Sora kid that Riku was so into. How the two of them got along, Seifer couldn’t figure it out. They were like the sun and the moon. Riku was calm, cool-headed, smart, and skilled with the sword, while Sora was a bit brain dead, easily aggravated, excitable, and sporadically clumsy when it came to sword fighting, granted he used a two-handed sword. No wonder he and Tidus got along so well.

Speaking of dumb and dumber, there was Tidus, all alone and peering into the women’s bathhouse window. The fact that he was drooling all over the place must have meant he found something he liked.

Dumbass, why doesn’t he just follow his orders? Especially when I’m the one giving the orders!

Hmm…. Seifer looked down and picked up a small rock, which he used to throw beaming Tidus right in the back of the head.

"OW!! What the hell?!"

"Hey stupid," Seifer called out, using the nickname he’d given to the annoying little cadet. "Get back to work."

"Just because King Ansem left you in charge doesn’t mean you can tell me what to do!" Tidus said, yelling and resting his hands on his hips glaring at him. A lot of good that’d do for a small midget like him.

That idiot just doesn't know what he's doing!

"Then I guess you won’t mind another rock to the head then!" Seifer yelled out, picking up another rock as he tossed it up in his hand.

"I am doing my job!" Tidus yelled again, forgetting that he was right next to the bathhouse.

"Spying on naked women isn’t a job!" Not that he didn’t mind getting an eyeful himself, but there was no way he’d be sharing that time with the stupid, not even all that good with combat, boy standing in front of him. "Now go do something useful like guarding Kairi!"

"Maybe I will!" Tidus stuck his tongue out at him as he grumbled, before a new look came across his face and he turned towards the window. "Hey! Seifer’s checking out the girls’ goodies!" After hearing a good squeal, he took off leaving Seifer staring at him with a look that could kill. That was until about fifteen towel-wrapped bodies appeared from the women’s bath heading his way.

It wasn’t until he saw the girls brandishing all types of weapons, such as soap bottles and brushes that he knew he was in trouble. "That damn idiot!" It was times like this that Seifer could compete with even Cid's foul mouth.







It’d been a few hours now since Riku had walked out on the group. Thinking about it now, it had been pretty childish of him to do that. He was supposed to be a future king, how could he do something like that? Well he was in a bad mood, of course he’d feel like that. It didn’t help any that Sora hadn’t even come by to see how he was doing. Did Sora even care about him at all?

Maybe that kiss was just to shut me up.

"They’re not giving you the appreciation you deserve."

Riku jolted up in bed from where he’d been staring at the ceiling and glanced around. That voice wasn’t a voice he’d heard before. Either way, it didn’t sit exactly right with him. "Who are you?"

"My name is Zexion," the male said appearing beside the window gaining Riku’s full attention. "I’m here to retrieve you."

Jumping from the bed, Riku backed away from him as he glared, trying to figure out when he’d shown up. "What do you want with me?" The man eyed him for a moment, giving Riku the feeling that he was reading into his mind. Maybe he was, who knows?

"You’re tired of everyone trying to control what you do, right?" The guy didn’t really sound like he cared much, but then again his words were hitting pretty close to home in his opinion. Leon, Cloud, the king…all of them except for Sora and Cid felt like they had to tell him what to do. Just because he was the prince, he had to follow codes, he had to get married, he had to bare a kid, he had to rule the country. He never asked for any of that, never wanted it…he wanted a normal life with his friends, to do what he wanted when he wanted.

"You still didn’t answer my question," Riku muttered as he pulled out his sword, the metal casting a glare on the man that didn’t even make him flinch.

"I want you to come with me," Zexion said, his voice still lacking any real excitement. "You’ll gain powers you never imagined, you’ll have the freedom to move around, to make your own decisions."

"And I ask you again," Riku said gripping the sword harder. "What do you want with me?" He started to slide closer, keeping his eyes firmly on the man. "I'm a prince, I don't need power. Nothing you say can make me want to go with you. How do I know you’re not just tricking me?"

"Because, the Superior thinks you’ll be a good addition to our little…family." Family? Just what kind of family could this be? "They don’t want you with the young keyblade master, right?" Zexion folded his arms as he leaned back against the wall by the window. "But in this case, if you were both to join, you can both be together forever. No one there will voice a complaint nor will anyone try to separate you from each other. You’d be free to do what you want with each other." Maybe it was Riku’s imagination, but he could swear he could see it all, see him and Sora together, laughing and kissing and loving each other without a worry in the world. Or maybe it was all just a dream in his mind. "It doesn’t have to stay a dream…if you’ll join us."

Riku frowned now, looking at the guy again, as if seeing him anew. "…And what you’re saying is true, right?"

"I guess you wouldn’t really know unless you went and found out for yourself." Something inside him told him not to believe the man, told him what Zexion said wasn’t how things would end up. But that image, that dream of being with Sora forever with no more problems, pushed all logic from his mind.

"Alright," Riku said earning a stare from the male’s one visible eye. "I’ll go with you."






"Riku?" Sora knocked on the door then frowned when he didn’t get an answer. "Riku, are you in there? Are you feeling ok?" He knocked again and, when he didn’t get a reply, he rested his hand on the doorknob. "Riku, I’m coming in." He tried turning the knob but the door didn’t budge, being that it was locked. "Riku, come on. Open up, will ya? Riku? Riku!"






When the whole kingdom seemed to shake from the explosion, Demyx knew it was time. He was quick to find all the kids, calling to them all with his gentle voice and telling them to stay close to him, that he’d find them a safe place to hide. The women and men didn’t seem to have a problem with this, believing the children safe in the musician’s hands as they left to help the survivors and to help the others put out the fires trying to take over a portion of the palace. If they only knew Demyx’s real intent, they wouldn’t have left the kids alone…hell they would tried to kill him. Tried, being the point.

This is almost easier than stealing candy from a kid!

Some of the littler kids clung to his legs causing him to pick up two of them as he kept going, shushing them and calming them with soothing words telling them everyone was going to be ok. It seemed to work though, the kids that were crying finally quieting down to hiccups as they followed along, staying close and holding on to his shirt so they wouldn’t get lost. There were a lot of kids, so it was going to take him a bit to get them all there. But at least then, he can have some of them transported to the palace. There, they can filter out which would be useful and which would be pointless to keep. Though he wasn’t so heartless that he’d want the kids dead, but then again between that and wandering around with no food or water, the death part sounded the more sensible solution for something someone would want in this situation.

"Come on, kids," Demyx said, "remember the Demyx song. When you’re down and you’re scared, and you’re feeling kind of bad, just call on Demyx! And he’ll come help you and save the day like a knight! So don’t feel down! Call on Demyx!" The little kids sniffled, but they sang along anyway, even though the song did suck. But it wasn’t the lyrics that were important, it was his way of knowing where the kids were. They would be calling his name looking for him, and he’d be there to help guide them to the right place. It’d be as simple as that.






"This way!" Larxene led the way, the women easily following after her, not questioning her on where she was taking them. Stupid people, they’d never understand would they? Even though she used to be a puny little human, she hoped she was never as dumb as these guys. They fell so easily into the traps set up for them.

"Ladies, come inside! Quickly!" Larxene held the door open, the girls rushing inside without hesitation. There were no questions about the kids, the women confident that Demyx was taking care of them. So far, they only thought that an explosion had went off. They didn’t know what the real issue was yet. But they were going to find out tonight, in the darkness where the frightening monsters came out to play.






"I knew we shouldn’t have trusted him!" One man yelled before he felt the blow of the pink scythe cutting across his chest. The only thing Marluxia could do was shake his head at the ignorant men. Even if they had not trusted him, they wouldn’t have survived long. It would have been good if he could have saved some of the more strong willed ones to bring back to the castle, but he had a feeling none of them would have went willingly. Besides, it was much more entertaining killing them off anyway, after all the humiliation they placed on him.
Normally, he wouldn’t have followed someone’s orders for so long, but this was one order where Marluxia willing did do. The sadistic grin that appeared on his face as he worked his way through the male crowd seemed to do a lot to work against their confidence.

"He’s a demon!" Someone yelled out making him smile more if that was possible. He knew he was a demon, he was made for killing. The darkness had to have been the best thing to ever happen to him. He didn’t mind doing the dirty work, the sight of flowing blood being beautiful in his eyes. Maybe it was the contrast with his own pink hair and scythe that made him think that. Or maybe deep down he envied the dark color that made others turn away in fear. Whatever the case, he liked the color.

"Do you like your kiss with death?" Marluxia said laughing as he swung the scythe wide taking down four men at one time. "Don’t worry, I’ve got a lot of toys for you to play with." Plants popped out of the ground behind the unsuspecting males, shooting sharp needles towards the men and dropping them instantly with their poison. "Say goodnight."

TBC...