Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ Prince's Hope ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Chapter 4

As soon as Riku reached his world, the agrarian deity carried Sora's body all the way to the Gods' Mansion. Other gods greeted him and tried to ask about the little package in his arms (who was also mumbling and snuggling into his arms every now and then), but he barely acknowledged them. He continued to walk through the halls until he heard a soft, almost shocked gasp. He rolled his eyes, getting tired of people making a big deal out of things, and turned to see Selphie, the Goddess of Love, standing not too far away from him.

“Riku, is that…?”

“Yes, Selphie, he's a human,” Riku replied, feeling bored.

“Why the hell is he practically naked?!”

Riku raised his eyebrows and looked down at Sora. He supposed Sora was showing a lot of skin. His clothes were ruined, mostly just in tatters. It must have happened the night before as he was being tortured, but he couldn't figure out how he would miss something like that when they were in the cell. The God of Earth just shrugged and looked up at Selphie. She stood there with an incredulous look on her face.

Riku, now feeling more anxious to get Sora to safety, bowed his head to her and continued walking. He stopped once more when he felt a hand clasp his shoulder. Looking back, he saw that it was her again. She didn't say anything, only kept her eyes on the boy in his arms. She almost seemed mesmerized by him. Ever so carefully, almost as if he would otherwise crumble, she brushed away the soft brown hair from his eyes. She wasn't acting at all the way she normally would.

“Selphie?” Riku said quietly. “Are you all right?”

The goddess looked up at him and blinked. She shook her head; glanced at Sora again, this time in a strange sort of way; and then finally looked up at the silver god, her hands on her hips and a scowl on her lips.

“Of course I am!” she exclaimed, almost offended. “But… you've brought a human! How—why did you do this?”

Riku blinked. Slowly, his mind processed what it was he had been doing in the last few moments. He concluded that his actions were very strange, even for him. Though to be fair, the boy was a devoted follower of his who had been in imminent danger. And he did find the odd little human amusing. If the god were to be honest with himself, he was also still curious about the odd familiarity surrounding the boy. The brunet's personality and those eyes were just so damned… But still, why did he bring Sora all the way up to the Realm of the Gods? No mortal had ever stepped foot here before… And he could have taken the boy elsewhere. The god chuckled softly to himself: ever since he had met Sora, he had been doing things that were uncharacteristic of him.

Finally, he shrugged to the goddess and replied, “I guess I just felt like bringing him.”

“Sephiroth will not be happy when he finds out,” Selphie warned, a smile tugging away at her lips. “If he hasn't already, that is…”

“He won't mind this boy.” Riku smiled coolly, turning to walk on.

“Ooh. You're going to pull some of that charm of yours on him?” she teased.

“Of course. And anyway, it's not as though he actually hates humans.”

“Oh, that Sephy spoils you too much!”

Riku rolled his eyes and looked at her with a bored expression. Her talk was becoming irritating. The pale immortal began to walk away from her faster. He almost growled when he heard the goddess following him, scolding, “Don't you ignore me, Riku!”

The silver one sighed, “Selphie, please leave me alone. I need to get the boy to my room.” As comfortable as his arms might have been, Sora needed a better place to rest.

She was now walking next to him, watching Sora again.

“Oh, yes… the boy…” The goddess's tone was strange. It was as though she was deep in thought about something. She shook her head and asked, “So, who is he? What makes this one human so special that the magnificent Riku just had to kidnap him?”

“His name is Sora, and he is a prince from my domain,” he answered nonchalantly.

“You kidnapped a prince?!”

“Correction: I saved a prince. His own followers were about to kill him—in the presence of his own father! Last night, he was tortured, which explains the state of his clothing.”

The goddess gave a surprised expression then raised her brows, impressed. “My! How noble of you! You really know how to take care of your peons.”

“It's the least I could do after what I did to him last night…” replied Riku in a tender voice.

Selphie froze. That tone was way too soft. In all the time she had been with Riku, not once had he ever used a tone like that. What happened between these two the night before? Could it be that…? Oh, her instincts as the Goddess of Love were now firing up. She giggled and continued on after them.

They had finally reached Riku's room. Pushing the door open, the godling quickly made his way to the bed. Selphie stayed back, watching him place the boy gently on the bed. He covered the boy with a blanket and brushed away a strand of hair. Yes… Riku was being particularly tender with him. Selphie was feeling excited, especially when a smile made its way on his face as he watched the boy rest. He reached out and touched a rather unsightly bruise on Sora's right cheek before frowning and turning back to the goddess.

“I have no clue what to do now,” the Earth God replied sheepishly.

“Well, get ready to feed him and nurse him back to health, of course!”

Riku thought for a moment and sighed with despair. “But what do humans eat, then?”

“How would I know?” The goddess shrugged.

He rolled his eyes at her in slight amusement and turned toward the door. He took Selphie by the arm and brought her along.

“Wait! Where are you taking me?” the goddess cried as she tried digging her feet into the ground so that she would stay.

“To the gardens; maybe Marluxia can help us figure out what to give him.”

With a sigh, Selphie began to follow him in search of the gardens.

A few minutes later, a fairly sleepy God of Darkness was shuffling his way to Riku's room. He had felt his cousin's energy come back, so he had forced himself out of sleep to be the first to greet the little one. However, he was still groggy and barely had his eyes open, so he was only relying on his other senses to getting there without stumbling on the train of his sleeping robe.

Xemnas opened the door and smiled through half-lidded eyes as he saw his target sleeping in bed. He quickly shuffled to it and climbed in. The dark one gathered the smaller body in his arms, wrapping his left around the waist and weaving the right underneath a torn shirt until it lay just above the heart, and finally sighed. Sleep began to slowly crawl into his mind.

He gently breathed in Riku's earthly scent… and something else. Something that was definitely not Riku. Senses beginning to clear up, he noticed that the body he was holding was not of the same build, either… It was smaller and thinner… And the energy wasn't that of his beloved cousin—was Riku suffering from some strange side effects from staying in the mortal world for as long as he did?!

Worried at the thought, the god opened his eyes… and froze…

Sora had no clue what was making him feel so good and warm. He thought the entire process of being burned was supposed to be horrible and hellish. Shouldn't he be hearing the crackle of the flames? And shouldn't he also smell his own flesh burning? How strange… And now that he thought of it, it didn't feel like he was tied to the pillar, either… It felt like he was lying on a bed with someone's arms around him.

He must be dead. He must be! That was the only explanation. He had died and gone to… wherever it was that humans went to; he couldn't remember at the moment, especially with the dull ache in his head that he was only now discovering.

Suddenly, the mass behind him shifted. Sora wondered what it was. Mentally, he laughed: maybe he had actually been saved, and it was Riku holding him. The thought worried him. Did Riku really do so, or was this someone else? Of course, this could all be just a dream. Whether he was dead, dreaming, or otherwise, he really wanted to know what was going on. And curiosity was already starting to get the better of him.

He was soon aware that the hold on his torso had slightly tightened. Sora slowly opened his eyes, and looked down to be sure, but what he saw was not what he expected. Yes, there were arms about him, but whereas Riku's were pale, these were of a beautiful mocha color. They seemed powerful, too, as though they could squeeze the life out of him at any second. One arm was rested around his waist, the other on his chest with the hand opened over his heart. Suddenly, the hand clenched, and he jumped in surprise. Slowly, he twisted his neck around… and was shocked by the angry sunset-golden eyes that met his.

“What are you doing here?” the stranger growled. The words hit him with an ice-cold rage.

Sora was surprised, to say the least. He didn't know what to do or what to say. All he knew was that this was some strange dream or whatever.

His collar was quickly snatched up by the man and before he knew it, Sora found himself being thrown off the bed, which caused him to yelp because of his injuries. He stared frantically at the golden-eyed man as said person rose from the bed.

“What the hell are you doing here?” the man repeated himself.

Sora was speechless. The only thought he had was to escape. He moved to stand but soon found that he couldn't. Looking down, he was shocked to find his bum stuck in a growing puddle of oozing darkness. He tried to lift himself up, but then arms began to slowly come out of it, hands clasping around his ankles. Quickly, he brought his own hands over to rip off the appendages, but soon more came out from the great ooze and took a hold of his limbs. Then, they began to sink. Sora thrashed his body about, but it only served in tiring him out more and making them tighten their grip. When he thought things couldn't possibly get any worse, another hand shot out and wrapped its fingers around the base of his throat.

“Answer me!” the man yelled, getting out of the bed and walking toward him.

Finally, his mouth seemed to be functioning, but it was too late as the fingers around his throat were closing his windpipe in a way that made his voice come out in squeaks. He would never be able to explain himself to the man.

And just then, the doors burst open, and Riku and a girl came rushing in. Sora squinted at the silver-haired boy and wondered how it was that he always seemed to come at the right moment. Those were his last thoughts as he let himself surrender to the darkness, somehow knowing that Riku was going to get him out of this mess.

Riku was furious when he saw what Xemnas was doing to Sora. He quickly went to the unconscious boy's side and ripped away the offending appendages. Then he held the boy's waist and pulled him up and out of the puddle. When he was a fair distance away from that dark thing, he lightly tapped the boy's face but got no response. He turned his head and glared at his cousin, who was just standing by the puddle and blinking slightly in confusion.

“What the hell were you doing, Xemnas?” he demanded.

“Getting answers from this pest,” the dark male answered, almost insulted. “Is it wrong for someone to try and welcome his cousin home only to find an intruder in his bed?”

“Getting answers? You were killing him!” The earth shaper was livid.

“Serves it right for being a weakling,” Xemnas shrugged from his place, looking at his nails with mild interest and then waving his hand about to get rid of his little pool.

“But he is my guest! There was no reason for you to take it so far!”

The God of Darkness was scandalized by that last outburst. “Guest?” he uttered in disbelief.

“Of course he's a guest, Xemy,” Selphie chimed from the door. “Why else would he be here in the first place?”

Xemnas was now blinking incredulously at the goddess.

“He brought a human as a guest?” His darling cousin had done this? His Riku?!

“Yup!” she chirped. “What I don't get is why you had to attack him. He posed no threat to you—he's even injured, for Sephiroth's sake!”

“Yes, but this, this creature shouldn't have been here in the first place,” Xemnas petulantly whined.

“Neither should you, yet you are always coming in to sleep with me,” came Riku's seething voice.

Xemnas suddenly lunged and grabbed for Sora. He needed to get that thing away from his dear Riku before it caused the godling to say any more nonsense. However, just before he could touch even a hair of those brown spikes, a wall of stone shot up, knocking his hand off course. Xemnas gave the younger god a vicious look through the wall, and Selphie began to snicker.

The midnight god growled at the love goddess, turning his sunset gaze on her. The young girl only giggled harder, finding the whole situation priceless. Xemnas huffed, and turned his attention back to the silver youth. Not one to be left out of the fun, Selphie also tried to look around the wall to see what Riku was doing. The God of Darkness's eyes doubled in size when he saw that both Riku and the human were now in the bed, both under the covers. His cousin's full attention was on the thing's now oddly bluish face.

“Damnit, Xemnas, you should see him!” the Earth God growled. He pushed away a few strands of hair as he continued, “Even if he was someone who just happened to find himself in our world and then find himself in my room, you could have plainly taken him back to his world. I can't believe you were so irresponsible! I swear, if he's dead…”

“Ooh-hoo! Xemy is being bitched out!” Selphie giggled in a sing-song way.

“Be quiet!” Xemnas hissed and knocked down the wall with his arm.

The goddess jumped out of the way of the resulting rubble, only to shrug uncaringly, and skipped out of the room.

Back in the Castle

The palace was in an uproar. Rumors were spreading like wildfire. No one knew what to believe from the morning's events. Some people wondered what would happen to the prince who was spirited away by their own god. Others were frowning at those who didn't recognize Sora when he was in custody. Imagine the great Zexion and his sense of smell being completely off! And there was still the matter of the state of the kingdom—what of the union their kingdom had with the Light kingdom? Would Riku ever return Sora, or would the throne and the awaiting marriage go to Roxas?

Roxas sincerely hoped that wouldn't happen.

He had heard of the events in the temple after being rudely awakened for the second time that morning by the princess. She had ranted about what happened for several minutes until she finally grew quiet, immersed in her own thoughts. Shortly after, both of them were summoned to see the king in the throne room.

When they reached the room, Roxas was stunned to see his father slumped in his chair, face covered by a limp hand. He seemed so tired that it actually made him look older. The man was distressed. Of course he would be; his pride and joy had been taken away. Pandemonium had entered his world. Roxas hadn't seen the king like that since… four years ago…

After listening to the herald announcing them for a few seconds, the king slid his hand down to the bridge of his nose and looked solely at his other son, studying him with scrutiny. Roxas knew that look and resisted the urge to shift his weight. Soon, the king sat up and directed his attention to both of them.

“Well, I do not need to tell you what has happened this morning,” he began, getting to the point. “It's tragic, but we must move on. My main concern, other than finding a way to quell Riku's anger, is about the state of the kingdom. I do not believe Sora will be returning to us any time soon. Couple that with our alliance with the Light Kingdom being at stake and we have quite a bit of a problem.” The king's eyes briefly glanced at his son when he continued, “So, Roxas…”

Upon hearing the tone of his father's voice, Roxas knew what the man was going to suggest. With anger rising within him, he stepped forth and protested, “There is no way I am going to marry Kairi.”

The king's eyes narrowed. “Then what do you suppose we do? Sora was the one promised to her, and he is not here. You are the only one who can take his place.”

“But what if Sora comes back?” Kairi asked hopefully. She also didn't like how the situation was turning.

“What if he does not?” the king snapped. “We should be ready for the worst.”

“But Father!” Roxas protested. “You know I am with Axel. There is no way this would work out.”

“I have only allowed your relationship with the knight to continue because it seemed certain that Sora and Kairi would be together. Now, I'm not very sure; our great Riku may be punishing him because of his defiance, or even worse, he may have already killed him… We simply do not know what is going to become of us. My son, drastic times call for drastic measures. This is for the good of the kingdom.”

“But he's not even a virgin!” Kairi blurted.

The silence that followed was thick. Roxas was aghast at how Kairi would even know about his and Axel's escapades since they usually used the more abandoned areas of the palace whenever they were in the mood. It was certainly not something he had wanted his father to know. How did she find out?

“Regardless,” the king continued taking time to clear his throat, “the both of you will marry each other.” The two opened their mouths again to argue, but the king raised a hand for silence. “My order will only be passed if Sora does not return by the Terranian. If he should come back, preparations for the ceremony between him and Kairi will immediately commence, and they will be married on that glorious day.”

Roxas frowned. It seemed to be a lose/lose situation: on one hand, he could end up with Kairi and thus never truly be with Axel, and on the other, Sora would be trapped…

How ironic that his father should choose the Terranian as the wedding day. It was one of the kingdom's biggest holidays. It was a day to celebrate when one of Roxas's great ancestors had an encounter with Riku. At the time, the kingdom was in turmoil—there was a drought that had been going on for years which caused famine to spread throughout the land. According to history, Riku wanted to test the king to see if he and the people were truly deserving of his aid. He disguised himself as a hungry and injured man and collapsed in front of the palace gates. The king found him and nursed him back to health. Because of this, Riku then gave him the power to help his people.

The Terranian has been celebrated every year since then, for it stood for good will and prosperity. It also symbolized the purity of the royal bloodline from when Riku gave the king that power. Roxas had often wondered how long the bloodline would stay pure once Kairi was part of it…

His thoughts were interrupted by Kairi, who gave him a sharp nudge to the ribs. He looked up to see his father looking at him expectantly.

“Did you not hear me, Roxas?” the king asked. Not waiting for the boy's reply, he repeated, “I said that your punishment to spend every day with Kairi as her servant will be increased until either Sora comes back or the Terranian is here. I imagine this situation will break the ice that has been between you two for so long.”

Roxas found himself about to argue, but he kept his mouth shut as he made a sidelong glance at Kairi. Feeling a bit mischievous, he bowed before the king and answered, “Yes, Father.”

The unexpected answer caused the king to blink, but he soon recovered, waved his hand at them and said, “Yes, well I am finished with you. You are dismissed.”

Kairi and Roxas bowed before him and left the room. As they walked, Kairi raised a skeptical brow at Roxas.

“What are you planning?” she asked.

“I'm planning out how to get Sora back to you,” was the innocent answer.

“I thought you wanted to keep Sora away from me.”

“I would, but there are some things that I can't help but sacrifice for my dear Axel.”

“What about your father's order? Why didn't you argue about that?”

“Father always gets his way, no matter what. I simply didn't feel like overexerting myself today.”

Roxas kept a straight face even though he was smiling smugly on the inside. He began to silently plot out how to help Sora and himself. He knew there just had to be a way.

Nodding in satisfaction at what he said, Kairi stepped forth to take the lead and announced, “Then the first thing we're going to do is pay a visit to Riku's temple.”

Roxas only nodded, not really paying attention anymore, and followed the girl.

Up above…

Sora was still unconscious. The Earth God was still in bed with him, quietly watching the boy rest. He was happy that Sora's face was back to its normal color. Since he knew the boy would be okay, he could take a nap, however, Xemnas was in one corner of the room, glowering at the human, which made Riku concerned that he would try to do something again.

“So…” Xemnas soughed, “is that thing going to be your… pet?”

Riku ignored the question. After some seconds, Xemnas spoke again.

“So where do you think Selphie wandered off to?” he asked.

“She probably went to the gardens to get food for Sora; we went earlier but had to race back here when we felt your aura suddenly spike in this direction,” he replied, tracing the boy's features with his fingertips.

Xemnas raised a brow. “It has a name?”

Riku finally glanced at his cousin. “Yes, he has a name.”

“How can you be sure it is a `he'?” Xemnas asked with a smirk.

“Because it's quite obvious; the human anatomy is similar to us gods',” Riku explained, rolling his eyes. “He's not one of those… things that have been roaming around your domain for the last few centuries.”

“My Heartless and Nobodies? The majority of them are male. Very few female.”

Riku shuddered. It had been quite a while since he had seen those creepy things, but he still remembered how they moved. There weren't too many things that made him squirm but… those things were just disgusting! Not to mention, they didn't even seem all that useful; last time he saw them was when he was looking into his cousin's domain. They were all attacking the humans, and for all that time, Xemnas had done nothing to stop them.

Deciding to forget those things, he turned his attention back to Sora's peaceful, sleeping face and frowned. When would he get up? It was taking so long; he was getting jittery. Maybe it had to do with that bizarre lump that was still in all that chestnut brown hair.

Riku tensed when he suddenly felt Xemnas's presence over him. Irritated, he turned around and found himself almost nose to nose with his cousin's enraptured face. He had that same look in his eyes, the look he had whenever he wanted to tell Riku of one of his “great” plans to overthrow his brother. Riku thought he seemed a little aroused but, as always, shrugged the thought away.

The other god's warm breath washed over him as Xemnas whispered, “You know, there is a reason why creatures like him and the Heartless live in a world below us.”

Riku was about to address him when Sora began to moan. He then forgot about his creepy cousin and smiled excitedly at the boy.

Once again, Sora awoke, and again, he felt strange. It was different this time, though. Both his head and throat hurt like hell, and his thoughts weren't quite connecting in a way that made sense. He opened his eyes, but his vision began to spin. He closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths, and then opened them again. He was pleased to see that silver-haired fool and gave him a lopsided grin.

“Hello,” he giggled.

Riku laughed, “How do you feel?”

“Terrible,” Sora moaned. “I can't seem to stop dreaming about strange things. I'm not even sure if I've died yet. And the pain I'm feeling is near unbearable.”

“Hmm,” Riku said thoughtfully. “I'll need to remember to get you some medicine, then…”

Sora's thoughts were slowly swimming back together, but somehow that last statement wasn't clicking very well. He also thought it odd when he felt Riku's hands parting his hair. He shook his head, and the silver boy let go.

“Maybe I'll ask either Vexen or Demyx for some ice to take care of that,” the silver boy muttered.

“Why bother?” Sora rasped. “It's not like it would help me out for long.”

Riku snickered, “Really? That's such a shame, prince. I thought it would do some good, considering the fact that I've helped you escape from danger…”

Sora was confused. But then his mind began to remember being at the temple and all the fire and being bashed over the head with wooden beams. The memory was so vivid that… no… Riku couldn't have… Sora turned and saw Riku nodding with a smile.

“Riku, I told you to let me die!” Sora yelled. He slowly reached up with a weak hand and tried to smack Riku with it, only managing to bat away a few silver locks. Riku was only pulling his head away every time that hand came close to his face. It was quite amusing to see him get a little riled up.

The God of Loam replied innocently, “I couldn't do it, Sora. You were only guilty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Can you really blame me for what I did?”

With a huff, Sora continued to flap his hand about as he groaned, “You dolt… Do you even know of the consequences we'll be facing?”

Riku continued to chuckle at the prince's feeble attempts to hit him. The brunet was wonderfully amusing, and he realized that it was a very good thing that he'd rescued such a silly boy from his domain. He was already thinking of the kinds of adventures they would share around the realms.

Soon, he became so caught up in his musings that Sora finally managed to get Riku with a light, yet still effective, smack to the cheek. Suddenly, the human found himself struck on his own cheek with a force that made him dizzy again. Then he found himself being pressed against the bed, his face being held in a bone-crushing grip. Ocean blue eyes widened at the sight of the silver-haired man from what he thought had been a dream snarling above him.

“You dare hit him? You dare touch a being that is on a higher—much higher—scale than yourself?” the man roared. His hold was becoming tighter, and he violently shook his shoulders.

Sora could only stare up at the feral golden eyes in fear. But then it seemed as though the man was being pulled away, and his eyes looked up to see Riku pulling back on the man's shoulders.

“Calm down, Xemnas; I've never told him of what I am!” he yelled.

Riku promptly let go for a second and then raised his foot to give a good kick at the man's side. Xemnas let go of Sora with a grunt and fell on the ground. Before he had a chance to get up, Riku lunged on him, and Sora could hear them scuffling around a bit.

When the fight seemed to be over, Sora began to relax. He sat up in bed, massaging his aching jaw. Then Riku came back in view. Sora was relieved to see he was fine. The man wasn't showing up, though. Did Riku knock him out?

“Who was that?” Sora asked.

“I'm sorry, that was my cousin,” Riku sighed, embarrassed.

“Cousin?” Sora tilted his head to the side in adorable confusion.

“Yes. He can be quite the hothead if you piss him off just right. Sometimes it's hard to control him but not right now.”

Riku pointed his head toward the footboard of the bed. His aquamarine eyes also shifted in that direction. They were staring at the ground. Sora couldn't see, so he leaned forward cautiously and blinked. There was the scary silver-haired man, who was glaring at him with hatred. What was odd was that he was being held down by… well… a gigantic hand made out of dirt. It held on tight to his torso from just below his pectorals to just over his knees. The tip of the large thumb was up and pressed over the silver-haired man's lips, muffling all angered screams coming from him. It would have struck Sora as hilarious if not for the look of death in the man's eyes.

“He needs a few more seconds to cool off,” Riku piped cheerfully as he tapped the ground with his foot a few times.

With each tap, a wall of earth would rise up around his cousin, creating a sort of box. Almost instantly after said box was made, it began to crumble into pieces, and the cousin stood up from the rubble. He glared at Riku in an annoyed manner.

“Feeling better, Xemy?” Riku asked innocently as he slipped back into bed.

“You can be quite cruel sometimes,” Xemnas grumbled, patting away at some dust on his shoulder.

“You should just be glad I granted you some shade to manipulate as soon as I did,” Riku replied. “I was honestly considering keeping you in that grip for a while.” The young silver god turned to the prince in amusement and announced, “Behold, my cousin, Xemnas!”

“Xemnas?” Sora was surprised at first then glared at Riku. Really, it was a bad joke that was becoming old. “Will you please stop joking?”

Riku snorted in amusement, and Xemnas quirked a brow quizzically from his place at the foot of the bed. The younger of the gods leaned forward to explain, “It`s true, Sora; it is not a sin for us to bear the names of your gods, for we are—”

“Oh, Riku, look who I found spying at your door!” Selphie's singing voice interrupted.

The door was kicked open, and the girl from before came in, carrying a small tray full of various kinds of fruits and vegetables of different shapes and sizes, some of which Sora had never seen, which suddenly made the boy feel a bit hungry. She set the tray in Riku's hands and greeted Sora with a warm smile. Then another person walked in, this one looking a lot like Riku.

“Why, hello, dear big brother Sephiroth,” Riku greeted somewhat nervously, “what brings you here?”

The man smiled as he walked into the room, but then the little human that was in bed caught his attention, and the smile widened as he entered. To Sora, he seemed to be gliding, but that may have been because of the billowy robe he was wearing.

“Oh, not much,” he replied to Riku's question, seeming slightly annoyed. “Just some gossip that's been spreading around about a new aura that has been spreading throughout the Manor. Along with that there is also the matter of the few aggressive spurts of energy that have been passing by, and the fact that both Cloud and Leon kicked me out of bed so that I would investigate.”

“So that's why you're in your robe!” Selphie giggled.

Sephiroth made an embarrassed face before he reached the bed and sat down. He had his arms crossed as he looked at Sora with a strange, pleasant smile. Sora only blinked at him and hoped he wasn't anything like the crazed cousin who was still patting dust off himself.

“I wonder, though,” Sephiroth continued, “if anyone has noticed that since about the time this little one has arrived, there has been a bit of a balance in the air that has not been felt for several centuries. It's odd that this has been caused by none other than a human.”

Riku was the first to speak, “Look, Brother, I know he is not supposed to be here but—“He was stopped when a hand rose for his silence.

Sephiroth leaned into Sora, studying him with those piercing green eyes. However, he was too close for Sora's comfort, so the boy tried to scoot away. Sadly, his back met Riku's chest. He felt Riku's hands on his shoulders, keeping him steady, and he shook himself from their grasp. But once he looked up, he was staring back at Sephiroth's eyes. There was something about them… He decided he didn't like them too much. They seemed to be hiding some secret from him. Oh, but that was silly—they only just met.

Finally, after a moment, the man chuckled.

“All right. He may stay.”

“What?!” Xemnas squawked from his side of the room.

“He. May. Stay,” Sephiroth repeated, smiling at his cousin defiantly.

“How wonderful! You didn't even have to ask, Riku,” Selphie giggled as she began to dance around the room.

“Thank you, Sephiroth,” Riku said with a relieved sigh.

Sora, feeling very lost, looked at everyone in the room. He was getting frustrated and tired of all the confusion. Quite frankly, he didn't care about what was going on and just wanted to sleep for a while. What bothered him was why this crazy family insisted on taking the names of gods. There must have been a bet going on that he didn't know about, or maybe they were all brazen witches like Riku... Oh dear Sephiroth, he was indebted to a witch for saving his life. No, no, he couldn't think like that; he had to keep things in perspective. He was supposed to be punished for disobeying the true Riku's will, and this was all a part of the earth god's divine plan. Right, he had to keep his faith in Riku strong.

“So what is going on?” he yawned, resisting the urge to snuggle under the covers. He figured he might as well try to figure something out.

“I'd like to know the same thing,” Xemnas snapped, glaring at Sephiroth. “Why are you letting him stay? He is human! Humans don't belong!”

“I have my reasons, Xemnas,” Sephiroth stated. “The boy will stay, if he so wishes.”

“I'm not staying anywhere; I'm supposed to be burned to death!” Sora said stubbornly.

“That can be arranged,” the Dark God hissed.

“Why would you want to die, Sora?” Selphie asked thoughtfully. “You don't seem like the type to want to give up on life so easily. Life should be cherished, no matter how short or miserable it is!”

“I just need to.”

“Oh, don't be so foolish. There's really no need!” the girl continued.

“How about I just let my darkness overwhelm him? That would be a nice way for him to go. And I would have a new Heartless, to boot!” Xemnas suggested, though it didn't seem to be directed at anyone.

Selphie shook her head as though the idea was disgusting while Sora only cocked his head to the side, wondering what the man meant.

Sephiroth seemed bored as he watched the three and turned to his younger brother in a more business manner.

“So, Riku, have you successfully killed that wench?” he asked.

Riku froze. The one thing he didn't do… His face flushed with embarrassment, and he tried to look at anything but those green eyes.

“No, I haven't,” Riku mumbled sheepishly, playing around with his fingers. “I completely forgot about doing that because of all the drama that was going on in the human world. I don't see how I could have since I spent most of the day with her yesterday…”

Sephiroth raised a brow and remarked, “It's not like you to be so forgetful.”

“I know, and I would have remembered eventually, had I not come home earlier than I expected.” At this point, Riku stared at Sora, knowing full well that it was his fault he got sidetracked. He shrugged, though, since he couldn't change what happened and replied, “Don't worry; I'll go back and kill the one named Kairi.”

A hand shot out and gripped Riku's wrist. The god blinked at it then let his eyes follow it to the arm and up until he saw Sora's angry face. He wasn't hurting Riku or anything, but the young god was surprised by the amount of force being put by it. It was almost as though that hand could snap his wrist if the boy actually tried to.

“Bastard!” Sora hissed. “Don't you dare touch her! What right do you have to do something like that?”

“The girl woke me up three nights ago with her squawking,” Sephiroth cut in. “She needs to be punished.”

“What kind of reasoning is that? She was only releasing the pent-up frustration she had because I was trying to run away from our arranged marriage.”

“Oh, so you are that prince I heard so much about?” Sephiroth asked, interested.

Sora let go of Riku's wrist and put his hand on his chest with a nod. “Yes. I'm the reason you were disturbed.”

“So it is you who should be punished?” The pale man smirked.

“You may as well; I am supposed to be a dead man!”

Sora was breathing heavily. It was all he could do to keep the frustration from giving him a terrible migraine. He couldn't believe how simple-minded these people were being. What didn't they understand about “I want to die”?

Sephiroth calmly watched him. He leaned into the boy again and made sure he wouldn't look away. He seemed genuinely curious, now.

“You must not pay attention to your studies, Prince, if you are speaking to me in such a fashion.”

“I am only speaking to you `in such a fashion' because I do not want my best friend to die for a stupid reason!”

“So you would prefer to take her place, then?”

“Why not? Everything is my fault!”

Sora gave an exasperated sigh. A small laugh escaped from Selphie. Riku also seemed amused, but Xemnas seemed appalled. Sephiroth, however, threw his head back with roaring laughter.

“Riku, you have brought quite the amusing creature to our home. Most humans would grovel before me and beg for my forgiveness but not this one. He is either brazen or stupid!”

“Why would I grovel before you?” Sora snapped.

“Because I am Sephiroth, ruler of the gods,” he simply stated.

“Now, I know you are lying,” Sora ground out slowly. “Both you and Riku. I'm not worthy of meeting even one god, let alone three—or are you also on, miss?”

“Yes, I am!” the goddess stated proudly. “My name is Selphie.”

Sora smacked his head and let out a groan. It was then that he heard Riku snickering. He turned to him in anger, wanting an explanation for his insolence. His nostrils flared when he saw Riku's hand trying to smother the sounds.

“I'm sorry, Sora,” Riku replied amusedly behind his hand. “It's just that you are a bit slow. Just think about all the things that happened whenever we were together.”

“You used some form of witchcraft,” Sora said stubbornly.

“Yes, but whether I was a witch or an ordinary boy, how is it that I could have set foot in the temple, freed you from a burning pillar of wood, and avoid being harmed by your knights' weapons?”

Sora took a few minutes to think. And the more he thought, the more his eyes widened at the truth. He didn't want to believe it, but… He looked first at Sephiroth, then Selphie, and then Xemnas, pleading with his eyes that none of this was true. Then he turned to Riku, his face flushed brightly.

“Riku… I—I'm, I'm so sorry!” he apologized, bowing his head low before his god.

“It's all right, Sora,” the Earth God replied.

“But I've hit you at least twice, I've slept with you, and—and we kissed! I should have known it all along! Is it because of my actions that you showed up? Oh, of course they are, and you're going to punish me!”

The silver godling groaned, “Do all humans have as unhealthy a fascination with punishment as you? I told you, you could all do as you pleased, and all we gods would ask of you is your continued prayers and faith in us! Truly, if I wanted to punish you, then why did I just rescue you?”

The room was filled with laughter from all of the gods except Xemnas. Sora was upset at the others, but the God of Darkness intrigued him. He saw that the god seemed more shocked than amused. Then he glared at the prince with such ferocity that the boy felt a little bit nervous. Sora made a mental note to stay as far away from him as possible.

Xemnas suddenly coughed loudly, causing all of the room's occupants to stare at him.

“I'd hate to interrupt our bit of fun,” he said, “but I need to steal Riku for a few minutes.”

“What for, cousin?” the Earth God asked.

“Just. Come.” Xemnas didn't sound too pleased.

Riku pouted at his cousin before giving Sora a reluctant look, setting the nearly forgotten food tray next to him, and following after the god.

Sora exhaled softly when the two gods left. He didn't know which was worse: being stared down by Xemnas or being teased and fussed over by his own god.

As he pondered this, his stomach began to growl. He blushed, thinking about what great timing this was. His eyes strayed down to the tray, where the food sat innocently. His hand stretched out and reached for something that looked normal, an apple. He brought it close and was about to take a bite when he suddenly wondered if he really should.

“Eat it,” said the Head God. “I'm sure Selphie and Marluxia made sure to bring something that originated from your world for you.”

“Of course!” piped Selphie, bouncing closer to Sora's side of the bed. “We also picked some from a few other worlds, in case you felt like trying something new.”

Sora nodded and quickly took a big bite out of the apple. It was juicy and ripe and sweet, sweet, sweet! But then he guessed that anything grown by gods would taste better than anything humans could produce. The prince wondered if the gods also ate meat because if they did, then that probably tasted better, too. But oh, his inattention to his studies would probably be the death of him here. He was lucky enough to be alive after his outburst at Sephiroth. Speaking of the head god, he caught Sephiroth watching him with interest. The boy promptly looked down, finding the sheets to be quite fascinating. Sephiroth began to chuckle.

“This one amuses me so; he is awkward,” Sephiroth mused. “He almost reminds me of that brother of yours, Selphie.”

He reminded Sephiroth of another god? What an honor! But which one was it? If only he would remember his schooling; he was regretting ever falling asleep during his classes. Wasn't there a little song or something that went with the gods to show their relations? If he remembered correctly, there was a verse that began with Selphie. And Selphie was the Goddess of Love. So then, Love paired with… Love went with… Light. Kairi's god! Of course, how could he be so stupid to forget? He'd always been interested in that god—especially since it was that very god's fault he had to marry Kairi in the first place…

The goddess lightly scoffed and trained her eyes on him. Her eyes were filled with a kind of amusement, though Sora could somehow see an underlying pain within their depths. Almost as soon as he discovered it, she shook her head with a little chuckle.

“I suppose there are some similarities,” she agreed thoughtfully. “No doubt this one's presence will cause quite a bit of commotion for a while because of that.” She turned to Sephiroth and gave him a skeptical look. “So why are you letting him stay? I was sure that Riku would have had to beg you to keep him here, only to be turned down. Surely it is not for the sake of this new balance?”

Sephiroth was unconsciously playing around with a piece of fruit. He chuckled and captured Sora in his gaze. Then he began to throw the fruit up and catch it in his hand. “It's nothing. I just think there is room for a small change is all. Who knows? It could do us all some good.”

Over by Riku and Xemnas…

“Xemnas, where are you taking me?” Riku sighed as they were going down the hall, feeling a bit annoyed to leave his room. More specifically, to leave the side of a certain blue-eyed boy from down below…

He gasped when his hand was grabbed, and he was pulled up close to his cousin's side.

“What the hell possessed you to bring such an incompetent fool into our world?!” Xemnas spat out in fury.

“I'm still trying to figure that out, myself,” Riku shrugged. “But you know, I don't believe he is an incompetent fool. He's just a little…”

“Not only that,” Xemnas continued, not even hearing what Riku said, “but he kissed you, too! He stole your first kiss! How dare he? How dare you let him?”

“It's not as though we meant it to happen,” Riku protested. “It was completely my fault. But…” Riku's lips turned up in a smile that Xemnas had never seen before. It was sweet and warm, and the thought of it turning up for that glorified monkey made Xemnas sick. He painfully bit his tongue to keep from howling out in anger when Riku lightly brushed his lips with two fingers and continued, “It was nice…”

Xemnas paused in his walking and clenched his fists. He calmly counted down from ten before growling, “There is also the matter of you sleeping with him.” He pushed the smaller god against the wall by the shoulders. “How can you allow yourself to give your innocence to—to him? You've been perfectly pure for so long and now—you've been tarnished! By something that won't even live for more than a century! I can't even believe that Sephiroth doesn't even seem to care. What do you have to say for yourself?”

“That there are plenty of others whom I've slept with throughout my life, including you and Sephiroth.”

Xemnas blinked at the response. Riku pulled his arms off his shoulders and put his hands on his hips, a scowl planted firmly on his face.

“All we did was sleep,” Riku continued. “He was just embarrassed because he used my chest for a pillow.”

“So you never…”

“Of course not. I would never give myself up so easily.”

“Good,” Xemnas sighed, “because I was about to turn around and kill him—for good.”

It was Riku's turn to be angry. He summoned his ever faithful vines to creep up behind his cousin and wrap themselves around his waist. Before Xemnas knew it, he was thrown up against the wall. Then he found Riku's face close to his, looking so adorable in his anger.

“Don't even think about it,” he seethed, “touch one hair on his head, and I will—”

“Why do you defend him so?”

“Because he is mine!” Riku nearly roared. He backed away from his cousin and continued, “I'll not have you touch him without my consent.”

Xemnas was now ripping off the vines in anger. It was anger towards the human who had somehow turned his beloved Riku against him.

“Fine, enjoy your pet while you can; he won't last long!” he spat.

Riku stomped off down the hall.

“Where are you going?” Xemnas demanded, just finishing getting off the last of the green tendrils.

Riku ignored him.

Back in the Castle with Roxy…

Roxas was not quite happy. Why was this? Because Kairi had taken him to the temple, which he was now eyeing narrowly. He hated it. Hated each and every stone slab that made it up. Hated how there were monks traveling up and down it in a panic. It meant nothing but trouble in his life since that fateful day four years ago…

“So, why are we in front of the temple again, Kairi?” Roxas asked.

“We're going to pray, of course!” She swept her hand up towards the entrance, as if that answered everything. “We need Riku's forgiveness if we are to bring Sora back.”

The prince peeked out of the corner of his eye at the girl, who had a look of determination in her eyes. Determination or foolishness. Without another word, she scampered up the steps. Roxas took his sweet time following. She continued on until she reached the entrance, which was being blocked by several monks.

“Please let us in!” Kairi ordered.

“No, Princess, we cannot let you,” one monk said.

“And why not?” the princess asked, placing her hands on her hips expectantly.

The monks looked at each other nervously, as though they didn't want to do anything to anger the princess. Finally, the second monk bowed his head and replied, “Riku was very angered by our recent actions. This has never happened before, so we do not know how long it will take until he forgives us. It would be wise not to bother him for now, as it could anger him even further. You understand, don't you?”

“But I'm only going to ask if he can bring Sora back,” the princess reasoned.

“We know, Princess, but we do not want to risk losing you, as well; he was not particularly happy when you asked the first time, so we do not want anything happening to you.”

It seemed to Kairi that there was no way of convincing them. She turned around and went down the steps in a huff. Roxas, who had only gotten halfway up them, was relieved when he saw Kairi coming down them. As soon as she passed him, he followed after her.

At the bottom, she paused for a minute, as though deep in thought. Roxas looked at her curiously. Finally, she nodded her head and turned to him.

“Roxas, I want you to get packed,” she stated. “We're going on a journey.”

The prince blinked at the sudden suggestion.

“Pack? Where are we going?”

“We're going to the Dark Kingdom,” the girl simply replied as she began walking toward the castle. “Maybe bringing our case up to another god who is close to your Riku, like Xemnas, will help bring Sora back.”

Roxas blinked. “But why the Dark Kingdom? Why can't we go to your kingdom? I'm sure you would be able to explain things easier to your own god. It is because of Hikaru that our kingdoms were allied through marriage, after all.”

She waved her hand at him as though the idea was silly. “Nonsense, this kingdom is closer to the Dark Kingdom. And also, Xemnas is Riku's cousin, right? Well, I don't see why he shouldn't help us.”

Roxas thought she was crazy. The expression on her face told him as much. She didn't see why a god shouldn't help them? Those words made her seem arrogant! This obsession was starting to get unhealthy. Wouldn't it have been simpler to contact her own parents, explain what had happened, and ask for their help or advice? Although... no, his father would want to keep this quiet. But still, the Dark Kingdom?!

“I'll ask the king for permission to leave and round up a few knights,” the girl continued.

She was about to run off, but she was stopped when Roxas clasped her hand and turned her around.

“Wouldn't this cause some sort of controversy?” the prince asked. “You are the princess of the Light Kingdom going to visit the Dark Kingdom. You're not exactly on good terms these days. It's too dangerous to go there.”

“We'll be fine, Roxas. Oh, and don't forget to invite Sir Axel, too, when he gets back; we'll need all the strong knights we can gather.”

Before the prince could argue any further, Kairi ran off into the castle and toward the throne room. Roxas stood for several seconds, shaking his head at how foolish the girl was becoming. She sat through the same lessons as Sora and he, so she knew just as well as they (okay, so maybe Sora didn't know this as well as the inside of his eyelids) that Xemnas was not a kind god. He had his own interests and plans and despised light in all its forms, including Hikaru himself. The dark god would do nothing without some kind of price demand or incentive given beforehand from the beseeching party—most times he asked for both! Roxas didn't think the deity was above saving Sora only to claim Kairi's soul for his own and then crow about the balance of world order or something equally as complex and vague. The prince sighed and made his way to his room. He shuffled to his bed and stared up at the ceiling.

Was she really serious? The Dark Kingdom? Along with the fearsome Xemnas being there, many rumors had been going around of that place, like those of some strange creatures running around and taking people's hearts and such. Kairi must be crazy if she wanted to go there to ask that god for assistance. Xemnas hadn't done anything to help his people, so why did she think he would ever want to help her?

Although, truth be told, there was no real chance that Kairi would actually get permission from his father to go on such an outlandish suicide mission. But the princess wasn't going to lie to his father, right? That would be stupid and dangerous! No, something just wasn't adding up here. Something had happened to the sweet, but awkward girl that had been matched to Sora so long ago. Roxas couldn't figure out what it was at the moment. He hadn't really cared about the girl since he was a child. Actually, he couldn't even remember what it was about her he didn't like back then…

“Roxy!”

Roxy? Was it really…? Roxas sat up in bed and was greeted with the wonderful sight of his beloved, still dressed in his knightly clothes. The redhead was panting slightly, his brows knotted in worry.

“Hey, Axel, what a pleasant surprise,” he happily greeted. “What are you doing back so soon?”

Axel soon caught his breath and said, “The search was called off because of what happened at the temple. Once I came back, the king requested an audience with me and told me what might be happening. Damnit, I can't believe any of this!”

Roxas smiled warmly at his lover as the other walked toward the bed on nearly wobbly legs. He wrapped his arms around his love in a comforting embrace. However, Axel pulled back and held his face in both hands. Roxas just pouted, his arms now circled about that thin waist.

“What the hell are we going to do?” the knight continued, hiding his face in the crook of the blonde's neck. “I mean, I don't want Sora to get into something he won't be happy with, especially after all the work we did the other night, but I don't want to lose you, either!”

Roxas was beginning to feel himself get frustrated at the knight for not being in the mood. They hadn't seen each other for nearly two days! And here he was being sexy and worrisome. Oh, that blasted knight didn't know how much he was missed! Still, he needed to help him relax.

“I know, I know…” the prince answered, running a comforting hand up and down the redhead's spine.

Axel pulled back again and groaned. “And not only that, but we can't really be together until either Sora comes back or Kairi suddenly dies!”

“I know, I know. Too bad we can't make the latter happen.”

The prince was gently patting his knight's back. As soon as the redhead seemed to relax from his ministrations, Roxas allowed his hands to wander down his back until they reached his pants. Then he had his fingers tease the skin that was just under the waistband.

Roxas almost laughed when Axel's body withdrew from him in surprise, and he grinned as he saw how the green eyes narrowed and that mouth turned down into a scowl. “Focus, Roxas! It's hard enough trying to figure out what to do in a panic, but to have you turn me on while I'm panicking? Hell, the only reason I made that agreement with you was because I thought I could last a week, but now—”

Axel gave a shuddering breath as Roxas suddenly used his hand to push against his chest with surprising strength until he was lying flat on his back. The prince straddled his hips and began nipping at his love's neck, hands reaching down and slowly pulling up on his shirt.

“Then fuck the agreement,” Roxas breathed into his ear. He began pressing kisses along the broad chest he bared, causing the knight's breath to hitch. Roxas smiled as he continued, “Besides, I have cooperated with Kairi quite well over the last day and a half. I should get some reward for that much.” He suckled against the sweet, protruding collarbone.

“Nngh!” groaned Axel. Things were beginning to get annoying with Roxas suddenly wanting to have a romp on the bed during such a critical moment. “But what about—a-ah!”

Roxas had given him a harsh bite on his shoulder.

“Oh, Axel, let me do this,” the prince breathed. “It may be a long time before we have another chance to fool around. You see, Kairi wants us to go to the Dark Kingdom with her. I think she may have gone crazy with everything that has happened, but she's already gone to ask for Father's permission.”

“Go to the Dark Kingdom?” Axel panted, tangling his fingers in the spiky hair. “What, is it to bring back Sora? It sounds like something she would do.”

Somehow, that comment irked the prince. As punishment, he flicked his tongue over a hardening nipple before biting down on it hard and causing the knight to cry out. He looked up from it and reasoned, “Here's how I see it, my beloved knight: there are three scenarios that I've thought of in which we can go about to solve the entire who marries whom problem.”

Before voicing the scenarios, he had his wet tongue circling the areola of that nub before enclosing his mouth over it. He laved at it slowly, tortuously with his tongue until Axel was groaning for him to stop. Roxas did so with an evil snicker and continued, “For the first one, should Sora come back, we can arrange for him to run away on the night of the marriage ceremony—right after the `I do's'. It would be elaborately planned by the both of us, of course—not like the other night when it was more of a spur of the moment type of thing. And it would be quite easy; most of the security would be drunk from all the festivities.”

Roxas leaned his head down and continued his treatment with the other nipple, making sure to suckle it extra well. When he was done with it, he raised his head.

“Secondly, should he not return and I have to marry her, then we can fake my death and hide ourselves in some far off land.”

At the sound of those words, Axel came out of the drunken euphoria he had been in and growled, “No!”

Roxas was pleased to see the protective look in the depths of those emerald eyes as he was grabbed by the shoulders in a tight embrace.

“There's no way in hell I'd go along with your fake death. I know you. You'd find a way to do it so well that I'd forget it's all a ruse. And then what should happen to you once you're put in the family crypt? I could have sworn I read some tragedy where something like this happened, and the lovers ended up killing themselves. No, I don't want to go through any unnecessary pain just so that we can be together.” [1]

Roxas reached down and caressed one of the tear-shaped tattoos under Axel's eyes. Softly, he replied, “Fine, we'll toss that one out. But now you won't like my third suggestion.”

Axel gave him a fierce kiss before saying, “As long as it doesn't involve anything stupid like that again, I won't mind.”

“Well…” Roxas looked off to the side. He didn't think the last scenario was stupid, but the knight might. Then again, he did love when Axel was upset with him.

“Well, I was thinking that maybe, during the trip we might be taking with Kairi, we could maybe `lose' her. And then maybe she could mysteriously drown or some animal can come up and…”

“Roxas, I thought I told you that I wanted to see you making up with her,” the knight scolded.

“All right, so it was a stupid plan.” Roxas shrugged. “Never mind about it, then.”

Axel sighed and massaged his temples in irritation. Really, sometimes the prince was just too much. He decided to change the subject a bit as he said, “You know, there would be some problems with these plans. One of them is Kairi's feelings. I mean, she's spent her whole life knowing she was betrothed to Sora, never once thinking of another man. Now suddenly, all of her dreams are being snatched away from her in the unlikeliest of ways.”

Roxas got off the knight and folded his arms stubbornly. “Maybe if she wasn't so annoying, none of this would have happened.”

“Roxas…” Axel scolded. “Where's the progress we were talking about? If you're not careful, you'll never be able to fuck my ass into next week.”

The blonde prince sighed with a little pout. “Then maybe she'll learn to love another.”

“But what of our kingdoms?”

Roxas tapped his chin lightly before giving an uncaring shrug and suggesting, “If they are desperate enough, then they can have her marry Father.” He couldn't help but wonder if maybe Riku didn't want their kingdoms joined, given if the god's reported reaction was any indication. If that was true, then it was one thing Roxas saw eye to eye with the god.

Axel grimaced at the image that popped into his head. He shivered and asked, “Would you really be all right with that, Roxas? She'd be your stepmother—a stepmother who is younger than you.”

“I won't have to care because I don't plan on being around for long.”

The knight covered his face with a hand at the prince's bullheadedness and stupidity. Sometimes he was just like that brother of his. Axel put his hands on his love's shoulders and turned him about so that he could stare straight into those eyes of his and said, “Think about it: Kairi would be our queen. With you and Sora gone, she would have to produce an heir for the kingdom, meaning she and the king would have to—”

Roxas's eyes widened as the implications of what the knight was saying finally reached him, and he quickly covered that mouth before the knight said it. When it seemed as though the knight wouldn't say any more, he took his hand away and sighed with relief. Axel, however, put his hand under his chin and turned his head so he would look deeply into his green eyes.

“Tell me, Roxy, how would you feel if I suddenly didn't want to be with you? What would you do if I was trying to run away?” the redhead asked softly.

“Well, there is no chance of that happening since you are so addicted to me,” the blonde laughed.

Axel scoffed and turned his body away, shaking his head. Roxas pouted, but he calmed down and began to think more rationally. And it was so sad: Roxas was no longer in the mood to molest his dear knight.

“Why do you suddenly care about what she thinks, Axel?” the prince asked. “Why do you seem to care so much more about the kingdom than about me?”

“Well, Kairi is my friend, for one thing, Roxy. No matter what, I'd always feel guilty about hurting her. And I'm just very loyal to this kingdom; if not for this place, who knows what would have become of me when I was a kid?”

Roxas's bottom lip stuck out in a pout. “So does this mean you are more loyal to the kingdom than to me?”

Axel leaned in towards that cute, round face, his teeth gently biting that lip. “Of course not, dear heart. I'm just grateful that being in this place brought me to you.”

The prince smiled sweetly at the knight. He rewarded his love by giving him a sweet kiss. Axel was more than happy to oblige.

Back in the Gods' Manor…

Sora was resting in Riku's bed, thankful to finally be alone. It hadn't been long since Sephiroth and Selphie left him. After the strange moment when he was being compared to Hikaru and being told that he would cause changes, he had been bombarded with questions by the goddess about how he met Riku and such, while the silver god sat back and enjoyed the atmosphere. He didn't speak much, only opting to study him with those green eyes. He seemed rather cheery, and it was unnerving to Sora. It was something he just wasn't expecting from the top god.

Sora decided to commence in a staring contest with him, just to see why he was doing it. Unfortunately, he lost due to the headache that suddenly began pounding away at his head. Almost as soon as it happened, Sephiroth stood and left, taking the chatty Selphie and the still nearly full food tray with him.

When he was sure he was all alone, Sora made himself more comfortable on the bed and closed his eyes. The silky feel of the sheets felt strange on bare skin, and he remembered that his clothes weren't in very good shape. He knew he should ask for some new ones but decided that he could do it later, when they were actually needed. He was almost into dreamland when he thought he heard the door opening. He didn't care about it, though. That is, until he heard his name being called out.

He felt a gentle tapping on his cheek that was becoming annoying, so he opened one blue eye. He saw only a green eye staring directly into his and almost thought it was Sephiroth until he saw the tint of blue swimming in it. He opened his other eye and just stared at Riku's concerned face.

“Are you in pain?” Riku asked worriedly.

“A bit,” whispered Sora. “It's nothing serious.”

A smile tugged itself onto Riku's face as he offered the boy a cup, saying, “Take this; it's a remedy I had Marluxia make for you.”

Marluxia? That name didn't ring a bell. Not a one. That was the oddest thing. Sora knew he didn't pay attention when he was in school, but he would know if he had heard of that name. Was it possible that the all the kingdoms had forgotten a god? No, that couldn't be… could it?

Now feeling guilty, Sora took the cup and swirled it about. He looked at its contents and wrinkled his nose. It was a dark, murky liquid. It was very thick and viscous, too. It didn't look good at all, and Sora had to convince himself that he should be grateful for it.

He slowly sat himself up with Riku's help. He took a small sip of the cup and grimaced over its bitter flavor before somehow managing to swallow the whole thing.

When Sora was finished, Riku asked, “Did Sephiroth and Selphie behave while I was away?”

“Yes, they were just fine,” Sora yawned.

Yes, those two were as fine as two gods could be. Sora actually had a good time with them, despite all the staring and all the questions. He was surprised at how comfortable they were making him feel. But he still didn't understand how he got himself into all of this…

“Is there something on your mind, Sora?” Riku asked.

Sora looked at him from the corner of his eye then looked down at his sheets.

“Why?” he asked, relieved that he could ask. “Why did you bring me here? I don't belong…”

“This again? Sora, just be grateful you are here and not back down below, where you would be a pile of ashes by now.”

“But I'm in the Gods' Manor, where no human has ever set foot! Not only that, I'm inside the room of the very god I worship! It just boggles the mind, I guess.”

“Well, how about I tell you this: you belong to me, now, so you don't have to worry about belonging.”

Sora blinked a few times, as if he couldn't understand. Riku, however, just smiled. He took the cup from the boy's hand and set it on the adjacent dresser.

“You were technically being offered to me by your people,” Riku explained, lightly patting his head.

Sora swatted Riku's hand away with a blush and looked away. “I find it hard to believe that you are my god.”

“Why is that?”

There was a small pause. Sora closed his eyes.

“The picture I used to have in my mind of you was of an adult. You were tall, proud, and great—ever commanding. In fact, I imagined you to be something like my father.” At this, Riku wrinkled his nose. Soon, the prince turned more toward him. “But now… you seem like an ordinary boy. And you are too… I don't know, playful! All the things you've done since I've met you are not what people think of when they think of gods! It's infuriating to have my image shattered like this!”

Riku raised his eyebrows for a second and smiled.

“So you don't want me this way? All right, I'll be the way you've pictured me and never be playful again. I won't even smile at you. I can't fulfill the adult part, though; that role will not come out for a few more millennia.”

“That's not what I meant!” Sora yelled with a punch to the mattress. “I'm just having a little trouble getting used to the idea of… of you.”

“That's interesting. I suppose it is troubling. Your current situation doesn't help, either. You, a prince who has lived his entire life above others, have tried to leave your home to escape a marriage. You tried to be a commoner but soon found yourself in trouble and then found yourself whisked away to a land where few beings will hardly know you exist. Now you have no choice but to play the commoner while I, the one you have worshipped all your life, play your previous role of the prince. My, I can only imagine how you are feeling.”

“No, no, I don't care that you are the new prince!” the boy yelled, throwing his arms up to emphasize his point. “It's just that you were always something that was around and yet not. Most of the time when I ever thought about you was while I was in the temple, where there is a big old statue of a great old man. I bowed before it, prayed for good things before it, and participated in every one of the festivities and ceremonies that we celebrated in its honor, only to find out that it has all been a lie.”

Sora couldn't stop from feeling frustrated as he glared at the silver haired boy and was fighting the urge to do something foolish—like hitting him with all his might. He then began to feel suddenly woozy as everything he saw began to spin around. He laid a hand on his head to stop, but the feeling wouldn't go away. Luckily, Riku realized what was happening, gathered him in a hug, and helped him lay back down.

“Look, no one has asked you to act any differently than you normally do,” Riku murmured, pulling the covers over the boy's body. “And you should be grateful that I am playful and don't look like whatever image you've grown up with. I might not have acted so impulsively at the temple if I was.”

Sora let a few quiet minutes go by before whispering softly, “Why didn't you tell me you were a god?”

Riku grinned. “I wanted to have some fun. Is there anything wrong with that?”

“Riku…” he said, just barely audibly, ashamed at everything he had done to him. “I thought you were joking when you told me what your name was. You were strange, and I thought so many things about you because of your abilities… It explained why you were being so…”

He was silenced by a finger placed on his lips. Riku had on a wide smile. Sora blushed and looked to the side. Riku laughed at him.

“Sora, you're cute when you're upset!”

The brunet didn't know what to do. What could he do or say to someone like him? It was a very uncomfortable situation.

He blinked when he felt something odd happening in his hair. It was Riku, who was parting the bushy mass to see the hidden bump. Then the bump was gently prodded upon with a finger. Sora suddenly felt embarrassed by the situation.

Riku smiled when he saw that flush spread on the boy's cheeks. He leaned closer to him so that his breath was gently fanning against an ear. A shiver passed through the boy's body.

“Just know that I want to keep you here, Sora,” he whispered against that ear. “There is just something about you. I've seen only a few humans in my lifetime, but you are the one who has caught my eye the most. I want you to stay.”

“But I—” Sora stopped speaking once again as Riku quieted him by placing his finger on his lips again.

“I don't want to hear any more of this. You'll stay, and that's that. And later on, you'll meet the rest of the gods your people below worship and see them for who they really are, not by the way statues in temples depict them.”

Sora was speechless. What could he say? A god—his own god—had just told him to stay. In the Realm of the Gods! This was not what he expected when he had fought with his father about the whole marriage thing. It did put a damper on some things like his wish to find his soul mate, but he supposed that could wait for a while. How could he resist this once in a lifetime chance, anyway?

He squeaked when he felt the bed dip a bit. He stayed completely still when an arm wrapped around his waist. He squirmed to get it off him, but it stayed firm. What the hell was Riku doing?

“Relax…” Riku breathed out sleepily right next to him.

“Riku? What are you doing?” He was blushing horribly at the sudden intimacy of the moment.

A chuckle reached his ears. “Well, my dear boy, because of you, I did not sleep well last night. I want to take a nap. You should, too, what with your injuries and all. Later, if you're feeling better, I will take you to see Marluxia.”

Sora wanted to argue, but a wave of sleepiness came over him. He snuggled into the covers, keeping in mind to leave a little space between his body and the god's. He spent his last thoughts trying to figure out who the hell Marluxia might be.

/1/: Okay, I thought it was obvious, but apparently, someone I know was wondering. I was talking about “Romeo and Juliet” at this part. I guess I just put it there because I need to read “A Midsummer Night's Dream” for homework and had Shakespeare on the brain.

Please review! ^_^