Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ Prince's Hope ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

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

A/N: Ok! It's official! This fic has caught up with everything I have on fanfiction.net. From this day forth, the updates will come whenever I finish my chapters.

This chapter has been beta-ed by 13loves8loves9loves6 from fanfiction.net. Thank you so much, hon!

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~Chapter 6~

Sora was beginning to get restless. He knew something was off and that it had to do with his bedmate, Riku, who had managed to spoon himself against the ex-prince. Vaguely, he wondered how they had gotten in that position, but that wasn't what was bothering him. There was something poking him from between their bodies. He just couldn't put his finger on what it was, and his sleepy mind wasn't helping him at all.

Before he could try to figure out what it was, he heard whispers coming from a distance. They were coming closer until they stopped just outside the room. Sora decided to listen; maybe the conversation would lull him back to sleep and get him to forget about the poking thing.

“But I want to see it!” one of the voices whined.

“It's not an `it'; it's a `he',” came another, more amused voice. It was familiar… it sounded like Selphie. “And anyway, Demyx,” she continued, “he and Riku are asleep.”

Demyx, Demyx… Demyx was the Water God, wasn't he? That was someone Sora had been eager to meet ever since he found out he was in the god world. Back home, Demyx was known to be mischievous. Sora wondered if he was anything like the legends say…

Sora found himself waking up a bit, though still staying in a half-asleep state, to hear the conversation.

“Let me see him!” pleaded Demyx. “Just for a minute; I promise I'll be quiet!”

“No. You'll have your chance to meet him when Riku lets him out.” There was a pause, but then the goddess's tone became mischievous as she added, “If he lets him out.”

The Water God sounded surprised as he asked, “What do you mean?”

“Oh, Demy, you should have seen him fussing over Sora! He even fought with Xemy and bitched him out because ol' tall, Dark, and silver didn't want him around!” Her tone changed into a dreamy one. “And then the way he was being so sweet when Sora woke! Demyx, it was—it was so cute that I just wanted to give them a nudge in `that' direction!”

“Why don't you do it, then?” Demyx asked, with mischief in his voice. “It could be lots of fun.”

Sora's eyes grew wide with wonder. What did the Water God mean? Surely he wasn't trying to get the Love Goddess to play matchmaker with them. No, Selphie wouldn't do something like that… would she?

“You know, I did consider it,” Selphie mused. “I even wondered who would be more outraged at the thought of them together: dear Sephiroth or mean Xemy.” There was a dramatic sigh. “Alas, my power is not one to be toyed with, especially with matters of the gods. Not like you and your water.”

The Water God sounded innocent when he defended, “Hey, I don't toy around with water.”

Selphie scoffed, “Of course you don't.”

The half-asleep Sora was now listening to the two so intently that he almost missed the yawn that came from behind him. Then there was a very faint murmuring. It sounded like Riku was saying Sora's name. The ex-prince's brain went on full alert as his god's body fully pressed against his a little more before relaxing. Then the god murmured some more things, tightened his hold on the human, and finally settled down. And all through that, Sora still couldn't quite figure out what it was that was poking his backside. Ugh, the cloud of sleep was still ruling over his mind.

While he pondered over it some more, the talking stopped, and some sweet, flowing music that almost sounded like a lullaby filled the air, which caused the god to mumble before tossing an arm about the boy's waist and pulling him closer to his body. Sora's eyes widened when his mind sort of “clicked” as he suddenly realized what was “off”—and he hoped he was wrong about it.

He immediately opened his eyes, but before he could make absolute sure of his fears, the door slowly opened, and the music continued playing. Through eyes that quickly closed to slits, Sora was able to see Selphie come in, looking slightly peeved, with a glass in her hand. There was a strange blob that seemed to be lifting itself out of said glass swaying, almost dancingto the music. At the door stood who he assumed was Demyx. The god was approaching the bed, his head moving to the lullaby and his eyes closed in slight concentration as he supplied the sweet music from a large instrument that looked like a sitar.

As he finished playing, the Water God slowly opened his eyes. The blob stopped moving and plopped back into Selphie's glass, some of it splashing out. Selphie just looked annoyed about the whole thing.

“Was it really necessary to do that?” she ground out.

“Sorry, Selphie,” Demyx said with a shrug. “Water can't help itself when I play.”

Selphie shot him a glare. “Yes, but why did you have to play now when you know I hate it when that happens to my water?”

“Because the music helps Riku fall deeper asleep,” the Water God answered with a pout.

Selphie sighed and slapped her head. Teeth gritted, she gave the glass to Demyx, saying, “I can't drink this anymore; you made it alive.”

Demyx shrugged, drank what was left in the glass, and handed it back to her. Then he quickly made his way across the room and sat next to the side of the bed Sora was facing, holding his sitar upright beside him.

Through the slight visibility his closed eyes allowed, Sora could see a definite gleam of excitement in this eternal being's eyes. He brought a finger close to Sora's face and gently poked his nose. Sora unintentionally wrinkled his nose and tried to move back. Unfortunately, he became reacquainted with the poking thing, so he tried to squirm away from it.

Demyx squealed with delight at the boy's actions, “He's so cute!”

Selphie came up and rested the hand that wasn't occupied by the glass on the god's shoulder, smiling fondly at Sora. “I know. And his hair is so soft and fluffy-looking—makes you want to touch it.”

“Yeah…” Demyx giggled and reached out with his unoccupied hand to do just that.

Selphie slapped the hand away, a scowl forming on her lips as she shook her head in warning. She took the Water God's arm and pulled, saying, “Come on, let's leave him to rest.”

“No! I'm jealous now,” Demyx stated with a pout as he yanked his arm back. “I've brought so many things up from all the lower worlds over the last few centuries, and all of them were rejected by Sephy—even a baby fish!” He turned toward the goddess and showed her his index finger and thumb spread apart by about an inch as he continued, “A tiny, little, baby fish! He said that unless I wanted to mate with it in the future, then I had better return it. But when dear Riku brings home a human—which is even bigger and probably more troublesome than a baby fish—he gets to keep him! Riku always gets the good stuff!” The Water God turned back towards Sora, crossing his arms and pouting. “It must be great being Sephiroth's brother because it sure isn't fun being his uncle!”

“He barely even sees you as his uncle,” Selphie laughed. “You are younger than Riku, after all.”

“By only half a century,” Demyx insisted. The god shook his head with a sigh and pulled the sitar down so he could strum a few chords. He looked at Sora with jealous eyes, and he seemed to be thinking about something as he played. He leaned in closer to the boy, which caused Sora to almost want to move back again. Then he plucked a few more strings and pulled away from the human, stopping the music and mused aloud, “Let's steal him.”

The Love Goddess, who had been idly looking at the glass in her hand, looked at the Water God in confusion. “What?”

“Steal the human. I want my revenge on Riku.”

That surprised Sora. He didn't expect the god to say such a thing… but he didn't want to be stolen. To show that, he moved closer to Riku, but once again, he felt that thing… Finally fed up with the mystery behind it, he ever so slowly, so as not to draw attention, began to reach back with his hand, paying attention to the deities before him.

He saw Selphie kneel next to Demyx and cup the god's face with a hand.

“Listen to me,” she hissed. “Sephiroth has a reason for letting Sora stay here. I don't know what it is, but I can tell it's something big. It is not because he favors Riku over his little uncle.”

Sora could have laughed at the face Demyx made at being called “little uncle”. It made him look more like a child. But soon the Water God's face broke into a smile of realization.

“You want him to stay here, too,” he smirked. The smile became wider, and he began to play his instrument again. “What is it about? You're not in some scheme with Sephiroth, are you? Or maybe…“ The tempo of the music picked up a notch. “Maybe it's because you fancy this little one, as well?”

Selphie raised her unoccupied hand and thwapped the Water God over the head with it.

“Idiot,” she scoffed, “I just don't feel like bothering the poor boy right now.” She shook her head in embarrassment and stood to walk away. Then she suddenly tripped over something. She looked back and blinked a few times before looking down at whatever it was that had decided to tangle itself around her feet. She quirked a brow. “Sora's clothes?”

Sora quietly gasped. He was naked? He had no clue! How the hell hadn't he noticed?!

And that was when the prince's hand brushed against the thing that he feared was poking him: Riku's clothed erection. A light blush made its way to the boy's cheeks, and Sora slowly began to panic. Bringing his hand back, he tried to calm himself by taking comfort in the fact that the Earth God still had pants on.

Meanwhile, Demyx gasped, “No way! But it doesn't feel like they've had a romp around the room. We'd definitely be able to tell since Riku's still a virgin…” An almost maniacal grin appeared on his face. “There's only one way to be sure!”

Suddenly, the blanket came off, and the truth was finally revealed to the two gods. The boy was naked in bed. Right behind him, a half-naked Riku was spooned against him, his erection at Sora's backside. The prince shook, but whether it was because he was embarrassed or because of the chill that he now felt, he couldn't be sure.

“Wow,” Demyx whistled. “Not too shabby for a human. My Luxord is better, though.Now let's take a look at my nephew…” [1]

“Demyx!” Selphie hissed.

The water deity leaned forward for a closer look and gasped. “Shit, Riku's not bad, either, even if he is covered up. I've never seen it like that before…” An evil grin came up on his face and he snickered, “Heh, wonder what he's dreaming about…”

“Just put the blanket over them, and let's get going!” the goddess urged behind him, panicked. She was biting her lip and looking nervously between the two in bed and the door.

Demyx snorted at her and said, “Relax, Selph, I don't think they've done anything.”

Selphie growled and placed her glass on the floor. She took the blanket and covered Sora and Riku. Demyx glared at her and pulled it back. She pulled it up. Then Demyx gently put his instrument on the ground, stood up, and pulled the blanket back. Then they began to fight over the blanket. The flapping of the blanket being jerked around caused a slight breeze to come over the bed, and Sora couldn't help but shiver even more. And then the unimaginable happened. Riku shivered as well and pulled Sora even closer to him. Then he moved his leg right over Sora's, causing his private self to slip into Sora's crevice ever so slightly. Sora couldn't help but whimper at his predicament as the Earth God nuzzled him. The human closed his eyes tightly, his cheeks turning red.

“Whoa ho! Now I know why Riku gets to keep him,” Demyx snickered.

“Demyx, let them have their privacy,” came Selphie, who was sounding quite flustered as she tried to cover the boys with the blanket.

“Hell, no!” Demyx cackled, pulling the blanket back again. “This is quite a show. Look at the human's face! I swear he must be a virgin or something! Well, if they haven't done anything before, I know they will be up to stuff soon!”

Sora couldn't take it! He was going to scream! But at the same time, he was feeling a strange, incredible urge to push his hips back into Riku. He didn't know what to do!

“Give me that damned sitar!” Selphie suddenly screeched, pulling Sora away from his predicament.

“What are you doing to my baby?!” Demyx shrieked as the goddess took hold of the instrument.

The instrument was held high in the air before it was swung in a long arc and slammed on the top of Demyx's head. The god collapsed on the ground, and the goddess quickly covered the boys up. Placing first the sitar and then her empty glass on the Water God's stomach, she dragged Demyx out of the room and gently shut the door.

Sora let out a loud cry of relief when he was sure they were far away and quickly ripped Riku's arms away from his midsection. Then he took the blanket and secured it around his waist before scramblingoff the bed. He heard Riku stirring, and he looked up to see a sleepy Earth God looking down at him with confusion.

“Did I push you off?” the god mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

Sora blinked incredulously at Riku for deciding to wake up at that moment. A second later, he remembered his nakedness. His body trembled with the effort to calm himself from the embarrassing experience he was having—and he had thought that kissing the god was bad!

“Why am I naked?!” he shouted.

Riku cringed at the loud voice. He then simply answered, “Because I took off your clothes while you were asleep.”

“But why?!”

The young god shrugged, lying back on the bed. “I was holding you in my sleep because you were warm.” He turned his head toward the remains of Sora's clothing and glared accusingly at them. “Unfortunately, my arms became tangled in those shreds that you call `clothes'.” He looked back at Sora and continued, “So I took the liberty of taking them off.”

“Are you mad?” Sora blurted, stunned by such an explanation. “Why didn't you give me new clothes?”

Riku shrugged. “I was too tired.” He then sat up and moved closer to the edge of the bed, eyes moving up and down the human's body. He curiously cocked his head to the side when Sora suddenly scowled and covered his torso, so he asked, “Sora, is it customary for humans to be embarrassed by their naked bodies? Because I've already seen yours, and you have nothing to be ashamed about.”

Sora just slapped his forehead and massaged his temples. Then he stopped the action, remembering that it was a habit of his father's, and settled for glaring at the silver haired boy on the bed. But then he found his eyes lingering on the god's body. He had never wondered about how a god's body looked, but… With that strong chest and those dusky pink nipples, Sora couldn't help but stare at him. And from what he had felt, Riku's cock was nice, too…

Blushing at his thoughts, the ex-prince hissed, “I had no clue gods could be such molesters!”

“Some are more than just that,” the silver one mused in amusement. Then he yawned and looked at the brunette's frightened eyes. “I am not one of them, though,” he quickly assured, “because I've only just come of age to…” Sora now had a wary look on his face, so the god continued, “I'm serious! And you don't have to worry about anyone else; I made sure to send out a warning to everyone not to bother you.”

Sora only scowled and murmured to himself as he fixed the blanket around his lower section more, “But who is going to warn you against me?”

“What did you say?” Riku asked.

“I was wondering where you kept your clothes,” the prince quickly substituted with a smile that was too big.

Riku didn't miss the smile, but he ignored it and pointed to the dresser next to the bed. “There are some in there, if you'd like; I don't think I have anything that would fit you, though. We can tell the moogles to make some later.”

Sora went straight to the dresser. He quickly found some clothes and put them on as quickly as he could, making sure to cover himself with the blanket as much as he could. Then he threw it at Riku. He looked over to his ripped up clothes, upset with their state.

“Wait, Sora, come here,” Riku suddenly said, sitting up in bed.

The prince eyed the god warily. “Why?”

“There's something different about you. I can't put my finger on it, though.”

Obediently, albeit reluctantly, Sora did as he was told. Riku held him still by the shoulders and looked him up and down. He brought one of the tan arms close to his face, trying to get a better view. Then the god put it down, raised one of his own fingers, and brought it to the boy's cheek, pressing firmly on it until Sora pushed it away. Riku's eyes grew wide, and he pulled Sora's head down and ran his fingers through the brown locks, massaging the scalp a bit in his search for something. Finally, he let go of the head, took hold of the boy's shirt, and bared a lightly tanned chest before him.

This made Sora yell, and the boy smacked Riku's hands away before those hands could touch his skin.

“What the hell are trying to do?” Sora yelled, fixing the shirt back down.

“You've healed quite nicely,” Riku remarked, ignoring the question. “There is not even a smudge of color from where you've been bruised, and even the bump on your head is gone. Marluxia's medicine worked better than I expected.”

Sora looked down on himself and saw that it was true. He felt no pain anywhere on his body, and his headache had been gone a long time. It must have been the remedy Riku had given him.

He smiled at the god and said, “Thank you, Riku.”

“For what?” Riku asked curiously.

Sora sat next to him. “Well, you've done so much for me over the last two days, and I have no way of repaying you.”

“Well, then, you're welcome,” Riku replied with a smile.

The prince smiled back and stared at his legs. He began moving them back and forth, trying to figure out what else to say. From under brown locks, his blue eyes peeked back at aquamarine, and he asked, “Is there something you'd like me to do in return? I feel that I should since you are a god and deserve the utmost respect…”

The agrarian god stayed quiet for a few seconds, only rubbing his chin with a hand. Then he turned his head and studied the boy. His eyes rested on the prince's lips. Then he thought back to the night before. The kiss they shared… how wonderful it was.

He felt a strong attraction to the prince, he knew. He also felt that there was something he wanted, something that he needed from him. Asking for a repeat of their dungeon performance would be the first step to figuring out what it was…

“I suppose there is one thing I'd like for you to do… or rather, what I'd like to do with you…”

A smile crept onto the god's face as he turned his body so that he was completely facing Sora. He reached forward and captured the boy's chin with his fingertips, going on instinct and what he remembered seeing his brother do with Cloud and Leon. He ran his thumb across the bottom lip, knowing that he would love to taste it once again.

Sora's eyes widened, but he didn't push those fingers away. Somehow, letting himself drown in those eyes seemed like the best thing for him to do. He was getting a strange tickly feeling in his stomach, but he liked it. He almost didn't notice that the deity's pale face was coming closer and closer to his…

Smack! Riku's pretty little face now had a bright red handprint on the left cheek. Sora was surprised he hit him; it was all a reflex. He didn't really mean to do it. He was about to apologize for it, but Riku turned to him with such an adorable pout that the apology was all but forgotten as he began to laugh at the open-mouthed god.

“What was that for?!” Riku whined, massaging his cheek. “All I wanted was a kiss!”

“You should have said something!” Sora giggled.

“I thought it was obvious!” As soon as he felt better, the god took the prince by the shoulders and pulled him up close. At Sora's tiny gasp, he smiled in a sultry way and asked, “Now, are you going to give me what I want?”

Slipping Riku's hands off, Sora managed to calm himself enough to say, “No.”

“What? Why not?”

Sora blushed a bit and moved to sit at the end of the bed before answering, “Since you stole my first, I am saving my second kiss for my special someone.”

“What special someone?” Riku asked, cocking his head to the side.

“My soul mate, remember?”

Riku looked up at the ceiling and tapped his chin with his finger.

“So a soul mate is someone special? Am I not someone special?”

Sora laughed out loud.

“That's not what I mean, Riku. I mean, yes, you are special, but not in the sense that I'm talking about. Having a soul mate is having a lover. And this lover is special, more special than anyone else one would ever meet. And the love between a person and their soul mate is powerful—it knows no bounds. It's the truest of loves. My father used to say that it's just a fantasy, but…” Sora looked at Riku and realized that he was beginning to ramble. He scratched his head and sighed. “I'm sorry, but do you understand what I'm trying to say?”

Riku tapped his chin again. “Maybe… Is it possible to have more than one soul mate?”

Sora blinked, not sure where the conversation was going. “I don't know. Why?”

Riku grinned. “Because I think my brother has two of them.”

“Really? How do you know they are the ones for him?”

Riku looked up at the ceiling and said thoughtfully, “Well, they have a deep relationship with one another. My brother is a lot happier now than before he came together with them…” He turned back to Sora. “Do I have a soul mate, Sora? How will I know when I've found my special someone?”

“Hmm… I don't know…” Sora cocked his head to the side in thought. “My mother used to tell me that you feel strangely different around them. There's supposed to be a tingly feeling inside when you think about them, and you're just happy knowing that they're around.”

Riku scratched his head in confusion. “Does that make you my soul mate, then? Because I feel all those things whenever I'm around you.”

Sora blushed and chuckled sheepishly. “I don't think so. You may be mistaking those feelings; I think you feel that way about me because every time we see each other, I'm in some precarious situation. And as I said, love would have to be shared between the two of us.”

“So… you don't love me?”

Sora felt himself panic at how the tone in the god's voice sounded… so sad. And it was making him feel so guilty about it. Before he knew it, he was bowing before his god and uttering out apologies. Then Riku began to laugh uncontrollably, holding on to his sides.

“You've got to stop doing that! You look like a fool!” he laughed.

“A fool?”

Riku beamed at him and reached out to ruffle Sora's brown hair.

“I'm sure you'll stop in due time,” he teased as he stood and held out a hand. “Now come on; it's time to see Marluxia.”

Sora, shaking his head, took the hand and stood. He took a last peek at the godly body and said, “All right. As soon as you cover yourself.”

Riku pouted, but he turned to his dresser to do just that.

~Over by Roxas and Axel…~

It had been some time since they shared their little moment. Since then, they had settled for some cuddling before Roxas fell asleep. Roxas was never called for anything important, and Axel wasn't needed for anything. And even though he wasn't supposed to be with his love, Axel still stayed in the room with him. He enjoyed watching the little prince curled up in a ball with a small arm around a slim hip and his head on the knight's stomach, blonde hair tickling his naked skin. What's more, he adored hearing the little one snore, though Axel would never tell him that… Although, sometimes he wondered if he should; Roxas was so cute whenever he was embarrassed.

Oh, but how he wished he could ravish the boy. Now would be the perfect time, what with all the commotion going on. But they would have to do it here instead of one of the less used rooms in the castle… The prince couldn't go missing before it was time to go. And he didn't want to be caught doing something he shouldn't. Although… this could also count as something he shouldn't do… Not that he would care too much. But Roxas might.

Axel sighed at his problem.

Still, the redhead was happy just sitting on his bed and watching his beloved while gently combing his fingers through blonde locks. He wondered what it was that the prince was dreaming of.

A soft knock sounded through the room, and Axel called for whomever it was to come in. Kairi's head poked through the door before she entered and walked toward the bed. She blushed at the knight's naked chest before she looked at the blonde prince and smiled.

“He looks so cute when he's asleep,” she cooed softly.

Letting a finger trace over his lover's face, the knight asked, “Are you sure it's Roxas you are speaking of, Princess?”

The princess blinked and then blushed in embarrassment.

“Sometimes I hate that they are identical…”

“Save for the hair, of course.” Axel smirked and smoothed out his love's spikes. “And their personalities. I love this feisty little thing.” He brought an arm under the prince's and gave a sort of hug to prove his point. He leaned over to nuzzle the spiky hair and smiled as he felt the prince snuggle up against him. With one cat-like green eye, he peeked up at the princess and playfully growled, “Mine!”

Kairi giggled at the knight's display of affection. Then her eyes glanced off to the side, as though she were in thought. She frowned slightly and twiddled her fingers about. Axel rolled his eyes, knowing what was wrong. Feigning ignorance, he asked, “So what's on your mind, your highness?”

She twiddled her fingers for a little bit longer before she seemed to come to a decision over something. Then it looked as though she lost her nerve. Finally, the girl sighed. “Well, I could only get some people to join us on our quest. Most of them were too busy, and then there are only so many that I actually know and can talk to… These knights were the best I could get.” She shook her head and looked up at him more confidently. “Anyway, we'll be leaving tonight. The sooner the better, after all.”

Axel lifted his head just a bit, his eyes looking at her all-knowingly. “Am I correct in assuming that the king did not give you permission to go, and that's why we're leaving tonight instead of, say, tomorrow morning?”

From where he sat, he could see the princess's ears turn pink. Axel smiled wryly.

“No, he was very much against it,” she sighed in despair. Then her eyes glistened with determination. “But this is something that must be done.”

“Just like Sora's leaving was something that had to be done?” The question caught the girl off guard, and she glared at him. The knight shrugged and looked down at his prince, gently running a hand down the blonde's cheek. “I think it's actually good that Riku took him.”

“How is it good?” Kairi snapped. “It's terrible—for both the kingdom and for me! He is the heir to the throne and my fiancé! I kept telling myself that his need to leave was all in his head, just a fantasy that he longed to play out, but now that…” She stopped and growled. “Nothing good can come of this, Axel!”

Axel sighed and shook his head, reclining on the bed and putting his hands behind his head. “You're wrong. It's a change of pace from regular life. Nothing this exciting has happened in a while. Besides, this is the work of a god; there isn't much we can do as mere mortals.”

“But I miss him!”

Axel shrugged and asked,“Well, if you're missing him, would you like to know what I do when I'm missing my little Roxy?”

Kairi stomped her foot angrily. “Don't change the subject, Axel! What if something bad happens to him?”

“I don't think anything will happen to him. What is the use of a god taking someone from our world just to hurt him? It would be much easier—and maybe even more amusing—to hurt an entire kingdom of people. Trust me, Riku's not the kind of god to do that; I know him in ways that you don't. Sora is perfectly safe.”

Kairi wrinkled her nose and pouted. “I still don't like that this all happened. That's why I'm going. I would rather die than stay waiting to get married to someone I do not get along with while Riku does gods know what to the one I love! No one is going to stop me—not even you.”

Axel thoughtfully brushed the back of his fingers against Roxas's cheek and looked up at the princess. “I'm not trying to stop you, Princess. On the contrary: I want to make sure you've thought things through, that you're positive you want to do this and that you know the risks.”

“I do. I've never been more certain of anything.” Her face was serious, her midnight eyes full of determination.

The knight grinned and let his hand rest on his lover's side. “Good because if you had said otherwise, I would have gone straight to the king about this.” His eyes suddenly grew wide as though something just crossed his mind. “Who else were you able to get to join us?”

The redheaded girl seemed surprised by the question but still answered, “I was able to get Lexaeus, but he said he would convince Zexion to come along, as well. Why do you ask?”

Axel was relieved. “Don't ask any more people. It's good that we have a small group. It's even better that we can bring Lex and Zex along for the ride; those two are the finest knights in the kingdom—next to me, of course.” He winked teasingly at the other redhead.

Kairi laughed, happy that her plan was coming together. “Okay. That's wonderful. Then I'll get ready for the journey.” She quietly clapped her hands together as she began to leave. Before she reached the door, she turned back and said, “Oh, and Axel, I told Lexaeus that we would meet in the wine cellar in a few hours to plan out our escape. So if you'd just let Roxas know…”

The knight nodded. “Will do, Princess.”

Kairi smiled excitedly and left. Axel shook his head at the princess before he looked down at the noble on his lap, the corner of his mouth coming up wryly.

“You can stop pretending to be asleep, love,” he said. He heard the prince sigh deeply and saw a blue eye open halfway. A pout was gracing those succulent lips, and Axel had to control himself to not lean over and kiss them. Instead, he chuckled and asked, “How long have you been awake?”

“'Are you sure it's Roxas you are speaking of?'” Roxas repeated with a yawn. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. “Do we really have to go?” He tried to pout again as he asked, “Do I have to go?”

Axel reached out to ruffle the hair and answered, “Yes, you do. You're not weaseling out of it. Besides, as her temporary servant, Kairi never really gave you a choice of whether or not to go. And I have to go because I can't very well let her go on such a quest with you, Lexy, and Zexy as her escorts.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Roxas demanded, pretending to be offended.

“Well, you sometimes have homicidal thoughts towards her,” the knight explained. “With Zexion, I hear that he's gotten depressed because of what happened yesterday; he's always been proud of that nose of his, so his mistake with Sora must be devastating him. That means Lexaeus will be busy consoling him along the way.”

Roxas slapped his forehead and groaned in exasperation, “But if you come along, then Kairi might as well go all alone!”

“What do you mean?” Axel asked.

The blonde narrowed his eyes, trying to look sexy as he reached out to circle and tweak one of the redhead's nipples. “Because you know I'll be all over you and your ass out in the country.” He then snickered evilly. “And no one will be able to do anything about it!”

“Oh!” Axel gasped dramatically. He wrapped his arms around his torso and turned his body away to protect himself. He batted his eyes coyly and cried,“Then I shall abstain!”

“Not for long,” the prince said in a sinister voice. He crawled up the redhead's body, his leg carefully going over the long, sinewy legs to straddle the knight.

“You brute!” Axel cried, though he couldn't keep the smile off his face. He knew he told himself he wasn't going to do anything, but watching and feeling the prince go hard was exciting him. Well, as Roxas said: fuck the bet. Or rather, fuck the prince. Axel suddenly stopped his musings when he realized something. “Why the hell are you on top again?”

Roxas only curled his lips backin an evil smile and dove in for Axel's neck. The knight was having a difficult time trying to control his need, but it was a losing battle. Need finally won, so he grabbed the smaller hips and switched with the boy.

“Not today, little one,” he growled, and he nuzzled the soft hair. He breathed in the scent of his lover and sighed, “Now this, I like.”

Unbeknownst to Axel, Roxas was grinning triumphantly at finally getting some action. When Axel came up with lust-glazed eyes, the prince raised his body and locked lips with the redheaded knight. A breathy moan was his response.

Before their little play could go on any further, the door suddenly slammed open, and a voice yelled, “Get off him!”

The knight cursed under his breath and scrambled to the side of the bed. The prince, however, folded his arms and frowned.

“I could have sworn we had a discussion some time ago about knocking before entering my room,” he mumbled. Leave it to the king to interrupt them when he was already incredibly horny…

“Fraternizing with Sir Axel! You should be ashamed of yourself, Roxas,” the king admonished. He ran a hand down his slightly wrinkled face and muttered to himself, “I never thought Kairi's words about your virginity may be true!”

The prince turned to Axel and gave him an evilly satisfied grin. The knight, however, flushed a bright red all over and tried looking for his shirt. As soon as he found it, Axel leaned forward to pick it up and put it on. Then he quickly left the room, stopping just long enough to bow before his king. Roxas blew him a kiss and waved a hand at the closing door.

As soon as the door was shut, the king stepped closer to his son and barked, “What was that?”

Normally, Roxas would regard his father with the utmost respect, but the prince was a little cranky at having his fun interrupted, so he spitefully replied, “What was what, Father?”

The noble man glared at his son. “You know what I am referring to. What were you about to do with Sir Axel?”

Roxas broke out into an almost lecherous smile as he answered, “But I was doing nothing wrong, Father. Axel was only showing me how to…” the smile broadened as he continued, “…make a person bend to my will. He was doing it by showing me how touching people in just the right places and in just the right ways can make them utterly… helpless…”

The king didn't miss the smile. He had to breathe deeply to calm himself before growling, “How can you do this in lieu of your punishment? How can you do this to Kairi, now that the two of you are betrothed?”

Roxas sat up and put his feet on the side of the bed. Rocking them back and forth, he argued, “Father, I almost can't believe it has taken you two years to find out we were making love.”

Steely gray eyes widened at his son's words, and his fists clenched tightly. “I've always hated your `relationship' with that knight. I always hoped that you would eventually come to your senses and find a noble woman to have children with.”

“I'm sorry, Father, but I plan on being with Axel forever,” the prince stated firmly.

“Roxas…” the king growled warningly, slowly approaching his son.

Roxas threw his hands up in exasperation. “Well, why the hell do I have to marry Kairi? Just because I am Sora's twin does not mean that I am his substitute.”

“But being second-born in the family does!” his father snapped.

Roxas clenched his fists angrily and asked, “But would her family even agree to this? The news of what's been going on here will not even reach the Light Kingdom for a fortnight! Has it ever occurred to you that maybe neither Kairi nor I want this? Or that maybe Sora is better off with the gods than if he became king? That may be he has never really wanted to be king? That maybe I could be just as good of a ruler as my brother, despite the fact that I was born after him and am in love with another man?!”

A hand suddenly connected with the prince's cheek for the second time in his life. Even though there was enough force behind it to jerk his head to the side, Roxas only tipped it slightly, and he looked at his father defiantly. This only made the king angry.

“Impudent whelp!” he hissed. “How dare you speak to me so flippantly? After your mother died and I had to raise you boys myself—”

“You never knew how to raise us!” Roxas shouted. “You were too busy shaping Sora as your heir. Tell me, once Mother left the picture, when did you ever spend time with your sons for the sake of being with us?”

Roxas stopped and took a few deep breaths. The king, however, looked like he was about to blow up.

“All your mother ever did was fill your heads with silly fairy tales and encourage your relationship with that knight!” the ruler snapped. “From the day she conceived the both of you, she has done you wrong. You and your brother are lucky that I allowed you to—”

Roxas suddenly punched the bed. These things his father was saying about his mother… True, she did tell many a tall tale, but she was his and Sora's escape from the day to day duties of being a prince. Losing her was devastating for the entire kingdom. Why was he saying things like this?

“Where are you going with this, Father?” he asked, getting close to tears even as he managed to keep his voice steady. “I know you are upset about everything, but saying such things about Mother is no way to go about this. I know you've always blamed me for her death, but you shouldn't try to destroy my memory of her.”

The king was incredibly shocked. “You honestly believe that I blame you for it?”

Roxas nodded sadly. The king sat on the bed next to him and let a few seconds pass between them before turning towards him.

“Despite what you may believe, Roxas,” the noble said carefully, “I cared for your mother very much. And I care about both you and Sora, as well.”

He tried to rest a hand on his son's to show that his feelings were true, but the smaller hand pulled away as his son turned from him.

“Is there a reason you came to my room other than to stop Axel and me?” he asked, changing the subject.

The king, still shocked by what his son revealed, replied almost dumbly, “I came to tell you about Kairi. She's asked to go on a silly journey to the Dark Kingdom. I denied her request, but I know how determined she can be, especially if it has to do with Sora. I wanted to know if you knew anything.”

“Well, I don't,” Roxas quickly whispered, still upset with the man.

The king stood and sighed, “Fine. Just know that security will be raised for the time being because of this.”

Roxas nodded his response. After staring at his new heir for a few seconds, the king left the room to ponder over what the boy had told him. As soon as he was gone, Roxas let a tear slip down his face.

~Up Above…~

Riku was leading Sora through the halls of the mansion, leading him to the gardens so that the prince could finally meet the mysterious Marluxia. As they walked, Sora entertained himself by looking all around at anything and everything that struck his interest, from statues to pictures of lands and creatures he had never seen. There were even adorable little cat-like creatures—moogles, Riku had called them—passing by every so often. Sora watched those little creatures with some amusement and wondered what the puff-ball things attached to their heads were, but when he reached out to touch one of those balls, Riku was quick to advise against the action.

Every couple of doors or so, he would see people coming out—other gods, he assumed. Almost immediately upon seeing them, he would be smitten with their loveliness. It was said that the beauty of the gods surpassed any beauty seen amongst mere humans. It was even apparent in those descended from gods, such as Zexion. To actually see that it was true had the boy astonished.

He smiled and bowed his head at each one he saw, just to be polite. However, none of them reacted to it, and some of them only shut their doors on him. All of them had mixed expressions on their faces, some of the most apparent being wonder and anger. They were probably regarding him as an animal roaming around their home. That thought was making the once-prince feel discouraged.

He didn't notice that Riku was carefully watching his expressions as they walked on, so he was surprised when the god said, “You shouldn't worry about them.”

The prince blushed, knowing what Riku was talking about, and said, “What are you talking about? I'm not worried about anything.”

The silver-haired one quirked a brow, watching the brunette frown dishearteningly. He wrinkled his nose at that, for it bothered him to see the human upset, so he said, “Stop that. That look does not suit you. Just ignore them; they're not used to humans or anything less than a demigod or moogle walking our halls. But don't worry about it; in time, I'm sure they'll get over it.”

Sora saw the encouraging smile his god was giving him and felt his own spirits lift.

After some time, Sora became bored with the lack of conversation, so he took a few steps ahead of his companion and turned around, walking backwards so he could face Riku.

“All right, I want you to tell me about this Marluxia,” he stated with a wide grin. “I've never heard of him, and ithas been bothering me since you first mentioned him. Who is he? What is he like?”

Riku pretended to groan. “Can't you wait a minute? We're almost there.”

A quick shake of the head. “No. Tell me about him.”

A small smirk formed on the Earth God's cool lips as he tapped his chin in thought.

“Well, he is an interesting character. He's tactful… and a bit manipulative—he loves to play with people's minds from time to time, so beware. He can be a bit of a rebel and hides that fact behind a pretty face. However, he's fairly loyal to me. I think you'd like him.”

Sora nodded, taking in the information. Then he mused aloud, “I wonder why I've never heard of him?”

Riku shrugged and asked, “Would the fact that he is a demigod have anything to do with it?”

Sora nodded as it dawned on him. After all, demigods weren't spoken ofmuch as the gods, even in his schooling (or what bit of it he actually paid attention to). Demigods were beings who were either born to a god and human or were once humans who were infused with the power of a god. Often, they shared attributes related to those of the god who sired them. All of them had long lifespans, but they could still die. It was the born demigods who were most known, though.

Feeling satisfied at knowing a little bit of what to expect, he turned around so he could walk forward again. However, he didn't turn quick enough and ended up bumping into someone's chest. Pulling away, Sora was about to apologize, but then he stopped when the person kneeled down to look at him.

“Ah, Marly, we were just looking for you,” Riku greeted from next to him.

“And I was about to look for you,” Marluxia said, and looked at Sora with a smirk. “Ah, so this is the prince you've been going on about, eh, Father?”

“Father?” Sora squeaked. What the hell? So Marluxia wasn't a turned demigod? He was Riku's son? He had no clue that Riku had… Surely, there would have been something… Sora felt his faith in his schooling shake even more than it ever had earlier in the day.

“Oh, he's so cute, panicking like that,” Marluxia teased as he ruffled the shocked prince's hair. “I can see why you took him in, Daddy-dearest.”

“Daddy?” Sora squeaked. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he took it all in. And he was feeling a sudden twinge of what he could only identify as jealousy at the thought that Riku may have coupled with someone. He couldn't figure out where the feeling came from, though.

Riku rolled his eyes at the demigod, but an amused smile managed to escape on his face as he quickly assured, “I'm not his father, Sora; he is just a human who was changed into a demigod some time ago.”

“Oh, but you still sired me,” Marluxia pointed out.

Sora was relieved at the news. Marluxia saw this and smirked again. He put an arm around the prince's shoulders and dramatically placed a hand on his own chest, saying,“You don't have to blame him for this, Sora; I just had to have some fun with you the moment I saw you.”

“Why is that?” the brunette asked.

“Have you ever tried comparing the meaning of your names?” the demigod asked, a pleasant smile appearing on his fair face. “I did when Riku told me about you and his mysterious attraction to you as I was making your medicine.” He placed a hand on Sora's head and gently fluffed up the unruly brown hair. “Sora and Riku… Sky and ground… In most worlds, the two are separated by one distinct line: the horizon. Between you two, the horizon is mortality.” He stopped his fluffing and gave Riku a wicked little smile. “I like the idea. You two would make an interesting couple.”

Sora's blue eyes widened a little as he wondered what he meant by that. He hoped it wasn't another matchmaker idea.

Riku, however, only shrugged slightly and said, “I suppose we do make an interesting pair, what with all the drama that constantly surrounds Sora and my having to save him every time.”

Marluxia snickered, “And drama is exactly what this place needs.”

He pulled Sora into an embrace, nuzzling the brown hair and throwing Riku a teasing look, but then he suddenly frowned, as though he realized something. He held Sora away from him and studied his him with light blue eyes. Then he said, “Speaking of drama, Riku, I thought you said he was hurt. From the injuries you described and the remedy I gave you, he should still have a few of those bruises. The rate that he has healed is near godly!”

Sora blinked innocently at the suspicious look Marluxia was now giving him.

“Maybe your remedy works faster on humans?” he offered.

The demigod sharply shook his head. ”No, that's ridiculous; that remedy was, for the most part, a mere painkiller. I was going to give you the proper salves after examining your body myself.”

Sora only looked at Riku as though he were the explanation for his fast recovery. Riku only shrugged.

“I have no clue what happened,” the silveret said. “I've just assumed he's a fast healer. Whatever the case, I'm happy he's all right.”

“His healing is still too fast…” Marluxia pondered, still looking unsure.

His sky blue eyes squinted at the boy, the suspicion never leaving them. Sora watched the demigod's face suddenly break out into an expression of discovery, and he could tell that Marluxia had formed an idea. Marluxia had an evil, mischievous look on his face that had Sora feeling nervous. The demigod then turned to the silver god.

“Oh, Riku,” he wheedled, “I almost forgot to tell you: Lord Sephiroth came by earlier. He was asking for you and said it was urgent.”

Riku raised a skeptical brow at Marluxia's behavior. Crossing his arms, he responded, “Oh, really? Did he say what it was about?”

“No.”

The Earth God turned an eye to Sora, who was trying to slowly edge away from the demigod. Riku, of course, knew Marluxia was probably thinking to do something to the prince and decided to play along with his game.

“All right. Then I'll take Sora with me.”

“He only wanted to see you.”

Riku quirked a brow. “Then where shall I leave him?”

“I don't mind going back to your room, Riku,” Sora piped up, already a few inches away from his original place.

Marluxia reached over and brought the prince next to him, tossing an arm around the boy's shoulders and holding him firmly in place. He grinned at Sora and said, “Nonsense; you'll get lost.” He looked at Riku with a smile that was almost reassuring. “I'll watch over him.”

“Actually, I think someone wanted to talk to Sora about something important.”

“Like Xemnas?” Marluxia snickered.

Riku glared. “More like Selphie.”

The demigod gasped dramatically. “You would choose to leave him with her over me? My, I'm hurt, dear Riku.”

Riku only snorted at Marluxia's act and quickly took Sora's arm as he tried to pass the demigod. Marluxia reached out and held onto Sora's other arm, jerking him back. Sora cried out at the force the two were using on him, and he wrenched his arms from their grasps, glaring at the two.

“I'll go back to the room; I promise I won't get lost,” he reassured. Then he respectively bowed his head at the demigod and said, “It was nice to meet you, Marluxia,” before going back the way he came.

“No!” Marluxia cried, practically throwing himself at the human.

A second later, there was a surprised yell from Riku, and once again Sora felt himself being jerked back by the arm and dragged away into a nearby door. Before the door closed, he saw a large rose bush where Riku once stood.

“Marluxia, you bastard!” he heard Riku's voice cry from the bush. A pale arm was sticking out of the bush, trying to separate it so that the god could go through. Riku's angry face showed up as he yelled, “Bring him back!”

“I will as soon as I figure something out,” Marluxia muttered as he led Sora through a magnificent garden.

It was lush and green with plants like none he had ever seen. The flowers and fruits that could be seen were of all different shapes and sizes and colors. Sora was left in awe by what he saw, but sadly, he couldn't stay and look at them because of the strange pink-haired demigod was still leading him by the arm.

“Where are you taking me?” Sora asked.

Marluxia said nothing. He just kept leading him around, raising his hands and making gestures at plants. In response to this, the plants would move in some way to cover their trail.

Sora frowned at not being spoken to and decided to ask, “Why are you doing this?”

Again, Marluxia said nothing. Sora sighed.

Suddenly, the demigod stopped, and the prince was tugged against a plant-covered wall. Marluxia stood before him, raised his arms high, and then lowered them. The greenery on the wall came to life, lifting itself up and covering them, almost like a sort of curtain. The curtain left space for its occupants to move around in.

Sora touched the plants that made up their covering with awe. He had no clue that a demigod could have such power… What else could he do? Moreover, what else could Riku do, since he also held power over plants as well as anything and everything that comes from the earth?

He was startled out of his thoughts when he felt his kidnapper's hands patting his body, mumbling things as he did so.

“What are you doing?” the human yelped.

“I need to know,” Marluxia quickly said in response, though it seemed that the words were spoken more to himself than to Sora. He took Sora's chin between his thumb and index finger and moved the boy's head to the side. He studied the boy's ocean blue eyes and continued, "I need to know what it is about you that Riku is so fascinated about, what it is that's drawing him to you. And also, I want to figure out how you were able to heal so quickly. I have developed a theory about you that I must test.”

He let go of Sora and turned to the plants, mumbling something to them, or so it looked to Sora. He pulled out a wooden bowl from his clothes and sat down. The prince wanted to leave now, but seeing as there didn't seem to be any way for him to escape, he settled on asking questions from the demigod who was plucking leaves and flowers off the “curtain”.

“Who are you, Marluxia? I mean, I know your name, but I thought Riku was the only one who could control plants. I had no clue that he created a demigod.”

“Well…” the pink-haired one started, stealing a glance at him and then going back into whatever he was doing. “He sired me as his demigod a few centuries ago. I'm only good for the plants, however. I can't control stones or minerals or even the very earth like Riku can.”

He picked up a nearby rock and began to do grind it into the bowl. He stopped again and looked back at the prince, a slight pout on his lips.“So you know nothing about me? I would have thought that maybe something of my creation would be recorded or that maybe a vague rumor or legend came about. I have half a mind to go down to that kingdom of yours and make my presence known.” He sighed and shook his head in disappointment. Then he used the rock, which now was covered in bits of greenery, to point at the prince as he continued almost dramatically, “For you, the very prince of my old home, to not know about me! It's such a shame!”

Sora was surprised to know that the demigod came from his kingdom. He was about to ask Marluxia more about his history when suddenly, the said demigod froze. He swiftly came up and covered the prince's mouth with a hand and pressed their bodies against the wall. Seconds passed. Sora heard nothing except the demigod's quiet breathing. He wondered what it was they were hiding from.

When Marluxia relaxed, so did he. As soon as he had his personal space back, he tried to ask about what was going on, but that was interrupted when Marluxia scooped up whatever he had grinded up in the bowl, ordered, “Taste this,” and stuck his fingers in the prince's mouth. Almost instantly, Sora tried to spit it out because of the disgusting taste that met his tongue. Marluxia, however, seemed shocked at first but then became impressed by this reaction. He covered his mouth to hide his laugh as the prince tried to wipe the taste off his tongue by wiping it against his hands.

“What is this?!” Sora sputtered with his tongue sticking out.

It was then that the plant-curtain parted, revealing the two—Sora trying to wipe stuff out of his mouth with his hands and sleeves and Marluxia with a mixed expression of amusement and interest on his face—to an angry Earth God. His anger turned into concern upon seeing Sora, and the silver one pulled the boy away from Marluxia and into his protective embrace.

“What did you do to him?” Riku demanded, glaring at the demigod.

“Nothing. I just had him taste something,” Marluxia answered with a shrug.

“Don't even try to act innocent,” the god snapped. “What was the something? What did you do?”

An evil smile formed on the plant deity's face. “An experiment.”

Riku clenched a fist at the response. To Sora, it seemed like he was going to hit Marluxia, but instead, the silver god ran a hand down his face and sighed deeply, glaring at the demigod.

“I don't want you to experiment on him anymore,” he snapped. Marluxia only rolled his eyes in response and kept a smirk on his face. Riku was quick to add, “No kidnapping, either. I know you did this to piss me off.”

“Oh, you don't know the half of it, my lovely Riku,” Marluxia said in a sneaky tone.

Riku worriedly watched Sora, who was still wiping his tongue. The boy seemed okay, but he knew there had to be more to what Marluxia did. He glared at the demigod.

“What are you really up to, Marly?” he asked.

Marluxia smirked and walked up to his sire. “Don't fret, dear Riku, I assure you that it's nothing bad.” He passed by Riku, swaying his hips a bit, whispering, “In fact, nothing is wrong at all.” And then he began to walk away.

The silver god sighed deeply, shaking his head. He looked at Sora, who was glaring at Marluxia with his tongue hanging out, then turned back to the demigod.

“Tell me, Marluxia, was this experiment of yours a success?” he asked with another sigh.

Marluxia turned and gave an evil smile to the pair. “Yes, it was.”

Riku fumed for a few seconds at the leaving demigod before turning back to Sora. And then he laughed. The prince glared at him, but the god couldn't help it. The boy looked so silly with his tongue hanging out like that, and the little bit of a leaf from whatever Marluxia had given him that was stuck to his lip didn't help the image.

Somehow, the Earth God had managed to get out of his giggling fit and asked, “Is your tongue all right?”

“Yes,” Sora growled, “but that stuff tastes terrible!”

“I'm sorry about that,” the silver god chuckled, “but I did warn that he's fairly loyal to me. He can be quite the schemer. Now come on, Sora, I'll take you to some water so you can wash it out.”

Sora nodded in response. The boy allowed the god to lead him through the garden, all the while getting into more of a badmood because the taste was simply not leaving his mouth. He soon found himself coming up with evil plots of revenge against the demigod.

As soon as he heard running water, he slowly came out of his thoughts and found that Riku led him to a small river.

“Nice,” Sora commented.

Riku smiled fondly at it. “I know. Demyx and I created it when we were young and just learning about our abilities. It was one of our first accomplishments that didn't end up terrorizing everyone out of here.”

Sora smiled at him. He then approached the river and looked at the water. His reflection came back at him very clearly, revealing a rather scruffy-looking ex-prince. He kneeled to it and was about to dip his hand in it, but then he hesitated. It suddenly felt like a sin tosully such clean water. He almost peeked back at Riku to see if it was all right to drink, but then he stopped himself, feeling silly about it.

He cupped his hands in the liquid, took a sip, and found that it was good. He couldn't quite describe it, but it was somehow even better than the water he drank at home. And it really was getting the bad taste out.

He took in a few more drinks before simply dunking his head in the river and gulping up as much as he could. When he came back up for air, he tossed his head back and shook the water off. He was about to dunk his head again when he noticed that the Earth God was sitting next to him, watching him with amusement. Sora blushed, but Riku shook his head.

“Don't worry about what you're doing. I don't care.”

Sora smiled and sat back next to Riku, deciding that he had enough water for now.

Nothing was said between the two, though they didn't mind. Sora was content with watching the running water, while Riku was playing around with two rocks that he had rolling about on the ground in front of him. The young god flicked his fingers out, skipping first one, then the other rock in the water.

The prince broke the silence.

“So, about Demyx…” he began, leaning forward to get another handful of water. He took a little stone from his side and threw it into the stream. “Did you know that he and Selphie came into your room while we were sleeping?”

“Heh, I thought I heard my favorite lullaby,” Riku chuckled. “I also thought I heard something strange happen to his sitar… like it was slammed against something.”

“Selphie hit him over the head with it.”

The silver headed god turned to him, aquamarine eyes wide with disbelief. “Are you serious?” He began to laugh. “What happened to make her do a thing like that?”

Just the thought of what had happened caused Sora to shake with embarrassment. Instead of answering, he shook his head and said, “You wouldn't want to know.”

Riku blinked. “Tell me anyway.”

“No. It's nothing special. Demyx was doing something that made her upset.”

A silver brow was raised. “Really? Then tell me; I have to tease him about it the next time I see him.”

“No!”

Riku turned more toward the boy and sat up straighter to seem more intimidating to him.

“Tell me,” he urged.

The brunette copied what the silveretdid and leaned toward him, whispering sharply, “No.”

The Earth God smiled wryly and stood up. “Fine, then. I guess I'll have to change my tactics.”

He suddenly pointed at the ground beneath Sora. The prince felt the earth underneath him suddenly give way, until he fell into the river. Luckily, there wasn't much of a current, but the water was still deeper than he had expected. He sputtered and coughed as he got out. He walked across the ground until he was far enough away from the stream so that, if Riku decided to play the same trick on him, it wouldn't work. He sat down and looked up to see that the silver-haired god had a sweet, simple smile on his pale face.

“So, will you tell me what happened now?” Rikuaskedwith a sugary-sweet smile. “I'm sure you know I can do worse.”

Sora, displeased with his soaked state, only glared at the god as he wrung out his clothes. “Never mind about it, Riku. I'm not in the mood for childish games at the moment.”

Riku, feeling bad when he saw how upset the prince was, extended his hand in apology. Sora looked warily at the hand before stretching his own out—but as soon as their hands clasped, he used his other hand to clasp the god's wrist and spread his lips in an evil smile. The Earth God suddenly found himself being propelled into the river. But before he could be launched, he held on firmly to Sora's hand and thus pulled the boy with him. All at once, the two were wrestling in the water.

The two rolled about, doing whatever they could to gain the advantage, short of scratching and biting each other. They were both just having fun trying to bring the other down, forgetting all about the reason for their fight.

It was all over when Sora had managed to get the silver boy under him, simultaneously straddling the god's torso and pinning his arms to his sides. Sora cackled triumphantly as Riku bucked and struggled, trying in vain to get himself free.

And then very suddenly, he felt something wrapping itself around his arms before he was yanked off the higher being. He was being held in mid-air by the branches of a tree. Other trees joined in, their branches coming around to wrap around both his legs. One branch managed to cover his mouth with leafy twigs. Then the trees began to pull him away, like they were trying to swallow him into the rest of the garden.

Riku watched everything unfold with interest, having never seen his faithful plants act this way in the garden. This was his security measure for a time in the future when he may be at odds with another god. Though it never happened before, since he had a very good relationship with all the others, it didn't hurt to set it up. The plants had obviously thought that Sora was out to hurt their master.

Snapping out of his thoughts, the god quickly waved his hands about at his plants. This, in turn, caused the trees to give up their captive and let him fall from quite a height. Seeing that Sora could get hurt, Riku ran until he was right below Sora, ready to catch him. However, instead of doing that, the god served as the thing that would break the human's fall. Sora collapsed on top of Riku, said silveret landing flat on his back with a grunt.

“Ugh,” the brunette groaned. “You have a hell of a way of showing how much of a sore loser you are.”

“Wasn't me,” Rikusaid. “They thought you were going to harm me.”

Sora began to get off the silver one and muttered, “You could have warned me that was going to happen.”

“I didn't know it would happen. Are you at least alright?”

“Yes,” Sora said with a roll of his eyes.

The brunette was able to use his arms to lift himself up. He tried to glare at the one below him as he tried to move back, but when he caught sight of those eyes, he just stared. Stared at those beautiful aquamarine orbs. How they held a certain depth to their owner… There was a sort of intensity to them, one that reminded Sora of when the god held him with concern when he was held in the dungeon…

The god came out from under him, and Sora couldn't help but marvel at how his silver hair, still wet from their fight, was now a shimmering gray.

Riku sat on his back, taking in deep gulps of garden air. He had fun. He hadn't done anything like that since he was a small godling.

He took a sidelong glance at the brunette and saw that he was staring at him intently. The human was causing him to have strange feelings every time he saw him… He never knew these feelings before, but he knew he liked them. If only he could figure out what it was Sora was doing to him.

Dismissing his thoughts, Riku suggested, “I think it's time we go see the others.”

The brunette came out of his own thoughts and asked, “Others?”

“The other gods.”

Sora looked down at himself and then over to Riku. “With these wet clothes?”

“I don't feel like going back to my room yet.” The silveret shrugged and suddenly gave a sinister smile, remembering the other's reluctance for taking off his clothes. “If you want, we can get naked and wait for them to dry.”

“No!” Sora howled.

After chuckling at the prince's reaction, Riku got up and left the garden, Sora following.

So, they walked on in the mansion, passing more of those moogles and decorations, until they reached a door. Riku reached for it and stopped. When Sora gave him a questioning look, he replied, “Are you ready to see the gods for who they truly are?”

Sora nodded anxiously.

“Well…” Riku pushed open the door, leaving Sora to be amazed.

Inside was a large room, filled with groups of gods who were conversing amongst one another. A few of them noticed the two of them, and suddenly Sora felt extremely nervous under their inquisitive and discriminating eyes. He felt like they were looking at him as though he were an insignificant bug.

Among those eyes, he saw the sunset ones that belonged to none other than Xemnas. He, above all others, looked particularly angry at his presence there, but Sora knew that he wasn't upset in the same way as the others. Because of how he had been acting earlier, he knew that the Dark God had a sort of attraction to Riku and was jealous of him for some reason. And for some other reason, Sora had the urge to just laugh at those hateful eyes.

He decided to hang back where he stood next to Riku, enjoying the atmosphere that came when all of the gods soon ignored him and went back to their conversations. All except the familiar Love Goddess, who was quickly approaching him with a smile.

“Hey, how are you doing, sleepyhead?” Selphie greeted cheerfully.

“I'm doing well,” the prince replied, thankful to see a friendly face.

The goddess looked him up and down. “Well, you look a whole lot better than you did before.” Then she smiled brightly and said, “Let me be the first to welcome you to the family.”

“Thank you,” Sora gratefully replied, scratching the back of his head almost sheepishly.

“And you…” The girl was now turning her attention to Riku. “You know, you were keeping him in that room of yours for a long time.” Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Some of us were wondering just exactly what it was you two were doing in there.”

“We were doing nothing,” Riku said innocently.

“Yes, we did nothing at all,” Sora came in.

That was when the once prince quickly got an idea. It was just an idea to tease the girl for coming into the room with Demyx earlier. So to execute it, he threw an arm around Riku's shoulders and pressed his body close to his god. He smirked at the girl and nuzzled a pale cheek, continuing on by saying, “We did nothing wrong in our room; all we did was succumb to a certain need that our bodies craved.” It wasn't exactly a lie. Sleep was definitely something their bodies had needed after the events from earlier that day.

Somehow knowing what Sora was trying to do, Riku looked pleasantly at the one close to him and wrapped an arm around the waist and replied, “I'm glad you think of it as `our' room now. That should make some things easier.”

Selphie didn't know that they were only playing around with her. She felt herself panic when Sora and Riku flashed her evil smiles at the same time and knew that she and Demyx were caught. She should have known that at least one of them had woken up, what with all the things Demyx was doing. A fierce red blush came across her cheeks as she watched Sora continue his tease by fondly running his hand through long, silvery hair.

“Hm… Do I want to know what exactly this need of yours was, Sora?” a deep voice asked suggestively.

The little group turned around to find that three other gods were right behind them. One of them, the one who had asked the question, was Sephiroth. The other two were Cloud and Leon, Sephiroth's lovers. Selphie and Riku noticed that Leon was standing at an odd sort of way. There was no doubt in their minds that he had a visible limp from whatever the latest escapade he just had with either or both of his lovers was. /2/ Sora, however, blushed deeply at the fact that he had been overheard by the Head God and quickly got off Riku.

“I was just talking about sleep!” he piped up in embarrassment.

The Head God gave him a skeptical look, as though he didn't believe the boy. When Sora's cheeks turned a deeper red, Sephiroth's face broke out into a small, yet amused, smile. He didn't miss seeing Selphie turn away from the group to sigh with relief.

His two companions, Cloud and Leon, were silently studying Sora in their own ways, the brunette scrutinizing with his eyes while the blonde was just looking between the human and the godling. Then Cloud next to him crossed his arms at the little brunette and grinned.

“So this is the great Sora we've heard so much about, eh?” he said. His clear blue eyes met with Sephiroth's green ones. “I think I see what you were talking about earlier, Seph.”

“I do, too, Cloud,” Leon commented. He looked at Riku and smirked. “You have good taste, Riku. I approve of him. And I think Sephiroth does, as well.”

Cloud nodded in response to that. Sephiroth scowled at his lovers but never denied what was said. Meanwhile, Riku's eyes widened in embarrassment at what Leon was talking about, and Sora hid his own red face behind a hand. Selphie's eyes were wide with shock and had a hand covering her open mouth.

“I don't believe it: Sephiroth approves of a relation ship between Riku and Sora?” she said incredulously.

“It's nothing like that!” Riku and Sora blurted at her at the same time.

“Of course it's not…” Leon teased, reaching out to pet the slightly wet brown mass that was Sora's hair.

Sephiroth rolled his eyes and said, “I said nothing about approvals. You are all being ridiculous.”

Cloud and Leon shared skeptical looks with each other.

Soon, the mood of the room changed considerably for the rest of the evening. Sora enjoyed himself amongst the company of gods, most of who were now more accepting of him after seeing that their leader had approved of his presence.

~Down below…~

It was night now. Roxas, Kairi, and the knights had already met in the wine cellar and discussed how they would escape, given the rise of security that was going to happen. They also talked about transportation and with a map that led to the Dark Kingdom—which Axel had managed to swipe somehow—they tried to figure out possible routes to get to their destination. After they finished, they went their own ways to their rooms so that they could pack up and get some rest before it was time to leave.

That time was coming soon, to the dismay of a blonde prince. Roxas was having problems getting some sleep; he had been tossing and turning, thinking about what he would be doing soon. So, because there really was nothing else he could do until it was time, he decided to go straight to his brother's room.

After a quick scan of the room, he walked toward a fancy shelf on the wall next to Sora's bed. The case held several weapons, most of which were just for show. But there was only one weapon that Roxas was interested in: the Keyblade.

The prince took the weapon from the shelf and walked to his brother's bed, sitting on it while holding the blade across his open palms. To the average person, it was just a big silver key. In truth, it was a great weapon, a gift from the Light God, Hikaru.

The midwives had said it first appeared right after Sora was delivered, simply appeared right next to him in a bright flash of light. It took the women by surprise, of course. They had tried to take the Keyblade away from him, but the queen had screamed—because she was still trying to give birth to Roxas—for them to leave the blade and her son alone. Shortly after the princes were born, there was a debate over what the appearance of the Keyblade could possibly mean. Because the Light God, Hikaru, was the only being to have such a thing, people took it as a sign that the prince was to be married to a later-born Kairi.

The blade had stayed with Sora since then.He learned how to use the Keyblade as he would any other weapon. Whenever Sora was in trouble, he was able to summon it, and it would appear in his hand, always in its brilliant light. And not only was it a weapon, but it was also magic: it had the power to lock and unlock things.

Roxas chuckled, fondly looking back on his and Sora's years as little boys. They used to torture the palace staff by locking and unlocking doors and chests and anything else that had a lock on it. They stopped doing it when they managed to trap their parents into the throne room for a few hours. Those were good times…

The prince sighed. He had been sort of hoping that the Keyblade wouldn't be there; if Sora got into any major danger up in the god world, it would have disappeared from its place in the shelf and ended up with him, and Roxas would know that he was all right. The fact that it was still here meant that either Sora was dead or it simply wasn't called on… Then again, Sora did promise on the day he left that he would never use it again. Roxas never thought he would keep to his word.

He sighed. So much trouble had happened because of some oversized key.

The blonde prince gripped the hilt with one hand and thought. He was the only other person to be able to use the Keyblade… It was the greatest weapon ever to grace the kingdom. If Roxas was to go to the Dark Kingdom, he would need nothing less than the best of weapons to face its horrors… And since Sora was not going to use it…

Roxas raised his hand and massaged his temples. He found himself wishing the blasted thing had never existed. So many things had happened to Sora because of it; it had already twisted his destiny so cruelly—who's to say that it wouldn't happen to his twin? Roxas didn't want it, but he knew it would be needed.

The prince raised the blade and looked it over, turning it about so that the moonlight shined across the silver shaft. He supposed that this is what his brother would want him to do. He would have to assume his beloved brother was safe and sound in the God World. And Roxas would use the Keyblade to keep his companions—or at least most of them—safe. He would let neither the blade nor anyone else—be they god, human, or whatever—decide what his destiny should be.

With a flick of his wrist and some new-found confidence, Roxas watched his brother's birthright disappear in a flash of light.

A few minutes passed. It was now time to leave. Roxas closed his eyes and took one deep breath to steel himself, sparing just one last thought to wonder how he had gotten himself into this mess. He quickly went back to his room to get his things. He then carefully tip-toed through the halls of the palace, somehow managing to dodge all the guards that came near him as he made his way back to the wine cellar.

The first person he saw when he entered was Zexion, who was leaning against a wall. He seemed to be in deep thought. In another part of the room, Axel and Lexaeus were having a conversation with each other. Kairi was nowhere in sight.

“Where is she?” Roxas asked, putting down his things.

“She hasn't come yet,” Zexion answered, a blue eye peeking through his silvery hair to acknowledge his presence.

The blonde raised his eyebrows in surprise. “I thought she would be the first one here.”

Zexion shrugged and went back to his thinking. Axel reached behind his hair and scratched his head.

“I guess we'll give her a few minutes to get here; maybe she got held back by the guards,” he suggested.

They all waited in silence, trying to listen for any sign of the girl. She never came.

“They must be keeping her in her room,” Lexaeus sighed. “Well, we anticipated that this would happen…”

“Any volunteers on who wants to get her?” the redheaded knight asked with a wry smile.

“Roxas and I will do it,” Zexion volunteered. Roxas was about to object, but one look from the knight's eyes quickly changed his mind.

“Fine,” his counterpart agreed. “Then Axel and I shall get our mounts ready and packed. We'll wait at the stables.”

Roxas and Zexion shared a nod of agreement. They quickly left the cellar and reached the hallway to Kairi's room with few obstacles, but they soon found why the princess was delayed: there were several guards in front of her door.

Roxas stepped forth, quickly thinking of an impromptu way he could distract said guards, but Zexion stopped him by holding his hand up. The blonde gave the knight a questioning look, but it turned into one of understanding when he saw the knight leafing through the pages of a black book.

He grinned mischievously, knowing exactly what the book was, and he made sure to get behind Zexion so he wouldn't get caught in what was going to happen next. The blue-haired knight found the page he was looking for and uttered some words in an ancient language.

The guards took a step back, as though they were surprised by some unknown enemy. They quickly drew their weapons, but then they all stiffened up and began to panic. A few of them looked like they were having difficulty breathing. Then they began to close their eyes. The whole time this was happening, Roxas couldn't hear a sound.

When the guards passed out on the ground, Roxas walked up to them and tapped one of them with his foot to make sure they were down for the count. He grinned at Zexion and asked, “Now, what did you need me for?”

“Just in case,” Zexion smirked as he went past the blonde and opened the door.

Inside, they found the princess pacing from one side of her room to the other. She glared at them when they first entered, but then she blinked in surprise. She brushed past them and looked out into the hall, spotting the guards on the ground.

“Oh, my…” she gasped. “How did you do this? I didn't even know there was a fight!”

“I'll tell you later,” the knight quickly said. “Now, where did you hide your things?”

So, getting Kairi's things, they made their way to the stables, hiding themselves whenever guards came close. When they got there, they were greeted by their fellow knights, as well as three horses and two chocobos. Lexaeus took Kairi's things to fix them to one of the chocobos while Axel handed Roxas the reins to the other. Soon, the whole group left the stables, the knights riding up front while the royals took the rear.

On they went through the sleepy city, approaching the kingdom's main gate as quickly as possible.

As they advanced, they discovered an unexpected obstacle. There was a small blockade of knights riding on chocobos. It seemed that the king had learned his lesson from the first escape attempt.

“What are we going to do?” Kairi cried as they got closer and closer to the blockade.

That was when Lexaeus's horse rode on ahead. From behind his back, the knight pulled out an oversized tomahawk. With one hand on the reins of his horse, he raised the tomahawk with the other and brought it crashing down to the ground, causing the earth to crack deeply. The ground continued to split and crack and was soon causing a sort of earthquake in the area surrounding it. The direction it was going went straight to the blockade. Almost instantly, the people began to scatter, knowing full well that there was no way they could stop it and that if they fell in, it would most likely lead to their deaths. The escaping group, however, rode on.

The crack continued on its course and went underneath the gate. The earthquake that followed caused the giant wall to shudder and groan until it finally collapsed. A little ways away from the rubble, the split had finally stopped.

With the damage done, the knights and the nobles all sped past the ruined gate and went out into the country. Some of the knights from the blockade followed them, but it was only for so long because Lexaeus continued to strike the ground with his hammer whenever they got close. Even when they managed to shake them off their trail, the group never stopped riding until they reached some woods. Then they slowed their rides. They were all quiet for a few seconds until without warning, they all burst into relieved laughter.

“Oh, shit, that was awesome!” Axel whooped.

“Can't believe we actually did it,” Roxas agreed.

“The king will be very cross with us when we return,” Zexion chuckled with amusement.

“We can worry about that later,” the princess dismissed, “after we bring Sora back with us.”

“So we are really going to try to defy a god's will?” Lexaeus mused.

“Of course,” Kairi simply said.

“Well, then, who's got that map?” Axel asked. “Let's get this quest started!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

/1/: That's right. I'm gonna have Demyx with Luxord in this fic. Don't like it? Tough bananas.

/2/: This is the result of what happened after chapter 5 ended. The revenge of Cloud. That'll teach Leon not to steal a turn. XD!! How Cloud brought on his revenge, I will leave to your imaginations.

A/N: To anyone who's wondering about what happened to the guards in this last section… well, it's really up to your imagination. In my mind, they thought they were being crushed by giant snakes. 13loves8loves9loves6 thought they drowned. It's not really important about what they saw, really; I just needed an excuse to knock them out.

If there are some things that don't make sense or if there are any contradictions or whatever, don't worry! I'll try to explain them in future chapters.

Hope you liked the chapter! Please review if you did!