Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ Left Behind ❯ Chapter 8 ( Chapter 8 )

Chapter 8

 

“How do you always manage to get into so much trouble, Sora?” asked Merlin wryly, sitting down at the kitchen table. “You're as bad as Arthur was as a child. I remember those days as if it was yesterday.”

 

“Heh, just talent, I guess,” said Sora sheepishly.

 

“Talent? I think not. It's more like extremely bad luck,” said Riku sardonically, causing a flash of hurt to cross Sora's face. Riku immediately felt bad for hurting his friend. It wasn't Sora's fault any of this had happened, and he shouldn't take his bad mood out on the boy.

 

“Shut up, Riku. You have no room to talk,” snapped Kairi. Smirking at the flush that rose on Riku's cheeks, she turned to face Merlin. “Is there anything you can do to help Sora, Merlin?”

 

“I don't know. Come here, Sora,” he commanded. He would need to cast a few spells to ascertain the nature of the collar before he could even attempt to help.

 

Sora nervously went to Merlin. The old wizard drew out his wand and muttered several spells, causing Sora to flinch every time he saw the light burst from the end of the wand. Several moments and several spells later, Merlin sat back with a sigh.

 

“Well, can you remove it?” asked Riku impatiently.

 

“No,” said Merlin softly. He was not looking forward to the upcoming conversation. He was too old to be discussing these kids' sex lives.

 

“Why the hell not?” cried Riku. “You're supposed to be the most powerful wizard in the world, and you can't remove a simple collar?”

 

“No, I can't,” said Merlin apologetically.

 

“What about changing who the collar obeys?” asked Leon quietly. “Can you do that?”

 

“Wait,” said Yuffie abruptly. “What do you mean `who the collar obeys?' Is Sora some kind of slave or something?” This was the first she'd heard about this. As far as she had known, Cloud had saved Sora from an unknown world and had come back to Radiant Garden with Leon and King Mickey. She'd only seen Sora for a few minutes the night they'd arrived, so she hadn't gotten a chance to talk to him then. Aerith had only told her that Cloud had tossed her aside in favour of Sora, but Yuffie hadn't been so sure about that. Now, it seems there was far more to the story than she'd thought.

 

“Two weeks ago Riku, Kairi, and I went to this strange world,” said Sora softly, almost hesitantly. He was rather tired of telling this story over and over again. “It was nothing but desert except for this little oasis with a castle right in the center. When we arrived at the castle, Xanthus, the king, decided that I would make a fine trophy and tried to capture me. Well, to make a long story short, as we were trying to escape, Riku accidentally sealed the door, leaving me in the strange world. Needless to say, I was captured and spent two weeks in hell. Cloud arrived, won the tournament and me, and took my virginity so the collar would recognise him as my master. Then Leon and King Mickey showed up, and here we are.”

 

“Wow,” said Yuffie, staring at Sora in awe. “So what does that have to do with Cloud and Aerith's current problem. She wouldn't leave him just because he had sex with you once to save your life. Besides, she told me that Cloud just tossed her aside to be with you.”

 

“He did not,” said Sora indignantly. “He just told her the truth. As my master, Cloud must have sex with me at least once a day, or my collar goes ballistic and starts shooting jolts of pain through my body. The pain gradually gets worse until it ultimately kills me. Cloud didn't just toss her aside. Unless he wants to kill me, he has no choice.”

 

“Back to the original question people,” said Riku abruptly. “What about spelling the collar to see Leon as its master?” He would rather the quiet brunette be Sora's master rather than Cloud. The blonde was too stuck on that Aerith woman to take care of Sora properly while Leon obviously cared for Sora.

 

“Apparently, the collar already views Leon as one of its masters,” said Merlin calmly.

 

“One of its masters?” asked Kairi. “How did that happen? Cloud had sex with Sora, so how did Leon become his master, too?” Sora immediately blushed and ducked his head while Leon sniffed and rolled his eyes. Kairi saw this and gasped in realisation. “Oh, I see.”

 

“Give him a command, Leon,” said Cloud curtly. He refused to believe that Sora also belonged to Leon.

 

“Sora, hop on one foot,” said Leon calmly. He didn't really believe that he could command Sora, and he didn't really want to. He just wanted to get Sora away from Cloud before the blonde did something rash and hurt the teen.

 

Sora stared at Leon incredulously and refused to move. Kairi and Cloud breathed a sigh of relief at the refusal. Obviously Merlin was wrong. However, Sora suddenly started hopping on one foot as the collar sent little jolts of pain through his body.

 

“Sora, stop,” said Leon quickly. He hadn't really believed that Sora would be compelled to follow that command, but he'd seen the flash of pain that crossed Sora's face when he'd tried to disobey the order.

 

Sora immediately stopped hopping and collapsed into the chair beside him. Why did these things always happen to him? Did he have a cosmic tattoo that read `Convenient target, hit me now,' on his back? Because really, that would explain a lot.

 

“How did this happen?” Cloud demanded. “Xanthus told me that because I took Sora's virginity I became his master. Anyone else to have Sora would be at my prerogative and wouldn't affect my ownership. So how the hell did Leon become his master, too?”

 

“You bastard,” growled Kairi angrily. “Sora's not a toy. You can't just give him away or let other people play with him, so quit talking like that. God, why did Sora have the misfortune to get stuck with you?”

 

“Ahem, if I may?” Merlin interrupted. “As far as I can tell, the collar recognises Cloud and Leon both as Sora's masters because they each had sexual intercourse with him within the initial 24 hour bonding period the spell required.” At the confused look on everyone's face, Merlin explained in more detail. “The spell has a 24 hour transitional period before it becomes stable. Since sex was it's trigger, the fact that Sora had sex with both Cloud and Leon within that 24 hour transitional period, the spell bound Sora to them both.”

 

Sora just wanted to disappear. God, now Merlin was discussing his sex life, and if that wasn't just plain weird, he didn't know what was. Besides, he was feeling like the world's biggest slut at the moment for having slept with them both of them regardless of the fact that neither time was his fault. Cloud and Leon glared at each other while Riku sighed and dropped his head to the table. Kairi looked like she was about to cry, and Yuffie looked like she was going to have another nosebleed.

 

“Sora, you lucky boy,” said Yuffie cheerfully. “Only you would get the two most gorgeous men in your bed every night. Of course, Leon and Cloud are just as lucky `cause my little Leo-cub is just absolutely adorable.” She felt bad for Aerith. She really did. But these three were obviously made for each other. Leon and Cloud both cared for Sora, that much was apparent. However, Leon was open with his affection while Cloud tried to deny his feelings.

 

“So I have to obey both of them now?” asked Sora miserably. “Does that also mean I have to have sex with both of them every single day?”

 

“I'm not sure about that part,” said Merlin sheepishly. “You may just have to have intercourse with one of your masters. There's only one way to find out.”

 

“Oh, joy. More pain for Sora,” muttered Sora bitterly. He was sick and tired of this damn collar, and he was not looking forward to the next year. Leon would do his best to take care of him, but Cloud was a whole different story. He may claim to find Sora blameless in this whole mess, but his actions spoke otherwise. It had only been a day, and he'd already given Sora to someone else, accident or not. He suddenly just needed to get away. "Excuse me." Before anyone could even think of protesting, Sora had disappeared.

 

Kairi immediately jumped to her feet to follow her friend, but Riku grabbed her arm and shook his head. She reluctantly sat back down. Riku was right. Sora just needed some time alone right now.

 

*****

 

Sora hurried back to the room he shared with Cloud and threw himself on the bed. He never heard the door open and close behind him, nor did he hear the quiet snick of the lock.

 

"I'm sorry, Sora, but you are no longer welcome here," said Aerith softly, stepping closer to the bed.

 

Sora rolled over to face Aerith and was shocked at the total blankness in her eyes. "Aerith, what are you talking about?"

 

"Cloud is mine, and you are getting in the way of our love. Therefore, I will be doing us all a favour by getting rid of you," she said softly. She suddenly started chanting in a low voice, and lightning flashed in the room. Sora jumped off the bed just as a lightning bolt hit the spot he'd just vacated.

 

"Aerith, stop. You don't want to do this. What's wrong with you?" screamed Sora, summoning his keyblade. He didn't want to hurt her, but he wasn't just going to allow her to kill him.

 

"I'm sorry, Sora, but Aerith is no longer here. She's merely a puppet for me to control," said Sephiroth from behind Sora.

 

"Sephiroth! Why are you doing this?" asked Sora, trying to keep Aerith and Sephiroth in sight at all times.

 

"Because you are keeping Cloud from his destiny. You are the only that has managed to make him forget about me, and that I will not tolerate. Not even this woman could keep Cloud from pursuing me, but you are a different story," said Sephiroth angrily. "I got you out of the castle because I knew Cloud would be arriving soon, but you stupidly got captured anyway. And foolish, noble Cloud dropped his chase to save you."

 

"He would have done that for anyone," said Sora. "I'm not special to him. He even blames me for losing Aerith."

 

"Then why do you fight? No one loves you. No one cares if you disappear. Did anyone follow you when you left? Of course, not. Because they simply don't care what happens to you. Why do you continue living in the face of such hate?" asked Sephiroth cuttingly. "Why not give in to death? Embrace the oblivion death provides? There's nothing left for you here."

 

"Even if they all hate me, I still love them. I will continue to love and protect them until there is no breath left in my body," said Sora fiercely. He heard muffled shouting at the door and looked back.

 

"So be it," said Sephiroth, teleporting behind Sora and grabbing the boy just as the door burst open. With a smirk aimed towards Cloud, he teleported Sora to the place they'd had their last battle, leaving Aerith to deal with the aftermath.

 

*****

 

Silence reigned in the kitchen after Sora left. Leon and Cloud took the opportunity to slip out of the kitchen unnoticed. They had no intentions of leaving Sora alone right now. Since his depression was mostly their fault, it was up to Leon and Cloud to console and comfort the distraught teen.

 

Leon and Cloud had just reached the corridor where Cloud's room was when the surge of magic sent them running. Cloud knew the feel of that magic very well. Aerith was in that room, and she was on the offensive.

 

Reaching Cloud's room, they found the door locked and sealed with magic. Cloud banged on the door and yelled for Sora while Leon kicked at the door. The door burst upon just as Sephiroth grabbed Sora and teleported away.

 

"Sephiroth!" shouted Cloud futilely. He immediately turned and ran from the room, knowing exactly where the other man was taking Sora.

 

Leon quickly checked Aerith for any injuries and saw that she was just unconscious. Placing her on Cloud's bed, Leon hurriedly ran after Cloud. It was obviously time to destroy Sephiroth for good.

 

*****

 

“Oomph,” grunted Sora as he hit the ground painfully. Scrambling to his feet, he saw Sephiroth smirking at him.

 

“It seems you were correct,” said Sephiroth smugly. “Now that I'm back, Cloud will resume his chase and forget all about you.”

 

“Yeah, congratulations,” said Sora sarcastically. “So why even bother bringing me here if you were so sure he'd follow you.”

 

“Because the darkness inside of him will grow when he fails to save you,” said Sephiroth calmly.

 

“It won't be that easy, you bastard,” snapped Sora, summoning his keyblade once again.

 

“We'll see,” said Sephiroth, lunging towards Sora.

 

Sora parried the blow and rolled behind Sephiroth, hitting him across the back. Sephiroth staggered forward and teleported into the air, slashing downwards towards Sora. Sora rolled to the side and jumped to his feet, but Sephiroth had already leapt away.

 

Sephiroth rushed forward, sword at the ready, and managed to cut Sora across his chest as the brunette tried to dodge. Fortunately, it wasn't a fatal blow. Sora leapt towards Sephiroth, keyblade hurling towards the silver-haired man while another keyblade appeared in his left hand. The keyblade plunged into Sephiroth's left shoulder before disappearing back into Sora's right hand.

 

“My goodness, you have gotten better,” said Sephiroth softly, clutching the wound on his shoulder. “But you still aren't good enough to defeat me.”

 

“But I am,” said Cloud, running into the clearing. “You have hurt my friends for the last time, Sephiroth. It ends now.”

 

“Sora, are you all right?” asked Leon, running to Sora and pulling off the teen's shirt to inspect the gash across his chest.

 

“Yeah, it's just a graze,” said Sora dismissively, looking towards Cloud. “He was controlling Aerith somehow.”

 

With a loud cry, Cloud rushed towards Sephiroth, sword raised high, and they met with a clash of steel.