Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction / Soul Calibur - Series Fan Fiction / Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ Physical Darkness ❯ The Artsy Witch of Wonders ( Chapter 4 )

The four men swiftly turned to the figure at the mouth of the alley. They gasped after their eyes had adjusted to the light behind the intrusive person. His eyebrows slanted inward, for he was glowering at the three J-Pop-Rockers. Stabbing them with seafoam needles was none other than Riku.

 

“Ah, Riku…” Taki sighed casually, scratching the back of his head, “Be grateful to us; we're just getting rid of one guy for you to decide from, since he's an obvious and undesired uke—”

 

“Taki, Ma, and Ken, let me remind you that this is MY life, and that only I get to decide whether a man in my company is desirable!” Riku snapped. (A/N: “Company” is meant that Alphonse was accompanying Riku.)

 

Taki growled at the platinum-haired wonder as he zipped his pants up. “Fine,” he sneered, “Alphonse still needs to be saved from the shadows.” More Heartless piled on top of Alphonse. There were so many that he was unable to move an inch. The evil sneer of one of them triggered Riku's temper. He snapped his fingers, summoning a bat-wing sword in his right hand. He raised the sword high in the air, readying himself for battle.

 

“SANCTUARY!!”

 

The shouted word was the name of a magical spell, as was figured out by the curtain of golden light that spread out from the dark sword. The alley in which they stood (lay, for Alphonse) faded completely from sight, and the curtain continued in different angles, as if to be bouncing off of invisible boundaries. Once the two ends of the curtain reconnected in a distance from Riku, the four other men and the Heartless found themselves locked in a huge, empty room of holy light.

 

“Wh-what the HELL—?!?” Taki gasped.

 

“I may wield a sword of darkness…” Riku said, specifically to Alphonse, who was really struggling, “… but I've steered clear of such powers, as you can see by the room of light that I've created. While we are in this room, the outside world will not be harmed by this fight.” Alphonse, covered by Heartless, stared with fascination at the man whom he considered his saving grace, gradually coming to a smile. “That's it, Alphonse. Continue to smile while I save you from the Heartless.” Riku smiled, reacting to Alphonse' nod. Taki and the others stood back in watch, masticating angrily.

 

In a heartbeat after raising his dark sword up to his face, Riku was swinging. Heartless appeared at a phenomenal rate of time, but Riku wasn't about to let Alphonse' heart be taken away. Alphonse never even got his chance to OPEN his heart to anyone, and Riku was desperate to be the one to open it up and fill it with the light of love. He was surprised that he was feeling such things in his OWN heart. In his mind, he knew it: He's the one! He MUST be! I've never felt this way about ANYONE else! Alphonse, I'll protect your heart, at least until you open it up to me. I swear it! Riku raised his dark sword above his head, casting a spell of Light that erased all visible Heartless on the ground. Taki ground his teeth with fury, his fists trembling. He felt like jumping in, but he knew that would be stupid of him.

 

“SIMPLE AND CLEAN!!”

 

A loud burst of mystical light surged in a horizontal ring, spreading in all directions just above the ground. (That may have been redundant or made no sense, but I don't know how to word it. Don't flame me because of it; I AM a flame, after all.) The Heartless piled atop Alphonse were reduced to black clouds with pink hearts flying away. A few aerial Heartless appeared upon the defeat of the Shadows. Alphonse rolled a dodge away from one of the propeller-headed Heartless' attack.

 

“Alphonse, stay back!” Riku implored.

 

“I'm fighting!”

 

“No! You couldn't fight them before! I'LL do the fighting!”

 

Stubborn in a way most unusual to Riku, Alphonse minded nothing of Riku's concerns. From his pocket, he pulled out a heat-power laser pointer, which he used to burn through the luminous floor and draw some kind of pattern within a circle. Once his drawing was finished, he dropped to a crouch and placed his hand on the center of the pattern. Nothing happened, but Riku found interest in the man's action.

 

“Princess Jasmine, I summon thee!!” he called. Once a sudden puff of ice-turquoise smoke cleared, an elegant, Saudi Arabian princess with long, black hair and ice-turquoise clothing and tiara stood before all in the stance of a battle dancer, bearing five sabers. (A/N: 1 in her mouth and 2 in each hand.) Princess Jasmine kicked the ground with her right foot and began spinning rapidly. Soon, she lost her physical form, for she had become nothing but a blur. She then commenced in juggling the sabers. After an abrupt stop, Jasmine tossed the sabers into the air, controlling their movement with her mind. The swords began to dance by themselves, slashing, stabbing, spinning, and wheel-style cutting the airborne Heartless. A Large Body appeared upon the defeat of the Air Soldiers, but it had no time to stay; Jasmine called upon her pet tiger, Raja, who devoured the Heartless instantly. The battle was won.

 

Once the room of light faded upon the snapping of Riku's fingers, Taki, Ma, and Ken bolted out of the alley. Riku cared nothing of them at that moment. He walked over to a crouching Alphonse, squatted, and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “You're okay now, Alphonse,” he softly confirmed. His body instantly heated up when Alphonse placed his warm hand on Riku's.

 

“How did you know that I was in trouble?” he asked, “It's not every day when I'm rescued by a swordsman, especially in THESE times.”

 

Riku smiled and honestly answered, “Actually, I was heading home, but I realized that I was walking in the wrong direction. When I turned back, I saw them picking a fight with you. I didn't want you to get hurt. After all, we're still on for that date tomorrow.” He winked at Alphonse as he helped him up, then turned to walk away.

 

“Wait, Riku!” Riku stopped to Alphonse' plea. Stiff to the body, Alphonse repeatedly tapped the side of his fist against his leg as a nervous habit. Something, a strange force, made him feel obligated to thank Riku with more than a “Thank you.” Riku turned around and gave the man his eyes. “I may not have a home as nice as yours might be, but I want you… to stay over for the night.” Alphonse smiled angelically after making his request.

 

Riku was surprised with what was requested of him. Still, he laughed and asked, “Are you concerned that the Heartless might attack me?”

 

Alphonse crossed his arms and stared at the ground before him. “No,” he replied, “You look strong enough to fight them on your own.” He looked back up at Riku with his arms behind him, giving him a shy appearance. “I only want to thank you… because I think that I can open up to you without getting hurt, despite my slight doubt. I want to… know more about you, especially those powers of yours—” He defensively waved his shield hands out at Riku. “I mean, not saying that I'm interested in your powers, but I'd like to know!”

 

Riku laughed heavily as he walked back up to Alphonse, bringing his arm around the man's nape with a hand to his shoulder. “I'll take you up on your offer, handsome!” he energetically responded, “I'll even promise not to seduce you.”

 

It's too late for THAT… Alphonse thought, turning to guide Riku to his home.

 

~~~

 

Along the way, the two men conversed and laughed, pretty much enjoying the other's company. Eventually, Riku learned that Alphonse' little laser thing was his attempt at drawing a transmutation circle for Alchemy. In exchange, Riku explained his story about the Seven Princesses of Heart and Cosmos Hearts, better known as the Fifth Dimension.

 

“Hey, Alphonse!” a cute angelic-blonde greeted near the door of the apartment complex as the men approached. She was sitting on a stool before an easel. In her right hand was a long, thin paintbrush, which had—some multi-million times—been dipped into the colors of her left hand's palette. A black, color-stained smock shielded her pearl-white skirt. Her feet, poorly shielded by only sandals, were sprinkled by a too insignificant number of paint spots for her to care. Next to her, on the sidewalk, sat a cumbersome, black duffel bag. The girl looked about a few years younger than the men were, maybe 20 or 21. Then again, Riku WAS 2-3 years older than Alphonse was, and they both looked to be at the same level in youth. Likewise, it was quite possible that the girl shared one of their ages, or fell somewhere in between.

 

“Hey, Namine'. Takin' another crack at painting Twilight Avenue's sunrise?” Alphonse asked, holding the front door open for Riku, who split the door to wait for Alphonse. (A/N: “…Split the door…” means that Riku was halfway in and halfway out.)

 

Namine' nodded. “I slept too late this morning, so I didn't get to see the sunrise, but I'm PREPARED for tonight!” She put the paintbrush between her teeth to free her hand. She unzipped her duffel bag and extracted three bottles of Coca-Cola. “Caffeine!” she squealed, grinning widely. Riku and Alphonse laughed at Namine''s cute behavior. “As a plus,” she added, “I've already sketched the scene and painted in the dark buildings—the easy-to-paint basics. At sunrise, I'll work on the shadows, toning, and coloring.”

 

“Well, good luck with that,” the Alchemist bid as he slipped into the lobby. He waved Namine' a good night, then she reflected. “Let me see it in the morning!” he wished to the girl. She replied with a thumb-up.

 

When the men got to Alphonse' apartment, Riku learned that Alphonse' calmness was a suppression of his fear and disgust after the attack. He had suspected it since then, but didn't want to say anything about it, lest he trigger the victim's emotions. A swipe of the keycard opened the high-technological FMA-AE lock. Once inside, Alphonse tossed the card onto the coffee table and ran to the bedroom. Riku felt an unusual need to comfort Alphonse. He wondered why he was feeling the things that he was when he wasn't even sure if Alphonse was “the one,” but he couldn't help feeling sympathetic when he heard the snivels coming from the farthest room from the door. After hanging his leather jacket in the closet and closing the apartment door, he walked over to and into the bedroom. In the darkness of the room, he found Alphonse tightly gripping the pillow, crying his eyes nearly out. Riku walked over slowly and took a seat on the bed, next to the crying man. Gently, he stroked the hair of the man who was now embracing him, begging for comfort. Riku wanted to, in Alphonse' stead, bear all of the sadness.

 

“Riku?” the older man wept, “It may not make much sense… but I want for you to heal me after all that's happened. Will you… please… make love to me?”

 

“Alphonse, you are delirious after that attack,” Riku explained with a calming voice, “Go to sleep now; we'll talk once you've regained your senses.” He didn't want to ruin his chances of being with the mysterious Alchemist, so he simply left the explanation to end there. After a fulfilling beef tenderloin dinner (?), as well as their doing about their nightly rituals, Alphonse and Riku climbed into bed, snuggling into each other's warmth. Riku felt obligated to comfort Alphonse until he had cried himself to sleep.