Demons
It had been over four weeks since Riku and Sora had run into the Winchesters and their angel friend. Since the two Keybearers had filled the other three in on the crucial details, the small team had been searching for the Keyhole, and they were having very little luck. At the same time, the Hunters still had their own work to do, and Riku and Sora had had the dubious honor of meeting a few of the lower class demons that Sam and Dean had to deal with on a regular basis.
Riku was kind of surprised, actually. So far, this world that the brothers lived in appeared normal on the surface; but once you got past that superficial layer, there was a whole lot of supernatural happenings going down. Riku was amazed that more people didn’t believe that the ghosts and monsters were real, but as Dean told the Islanders, people will believe what they want to believe, especially if their minds couldn’t handle the truth.
Even so, Riku and Sora were the only ones with magic that were also human.
The Impala slowly rolled to a stop outside of yet another motel, and Riku looked out the window from the backseat, eager for the chance to climb out and stretch his legs. Honestly, what was the use of being a Keyblade Master if you couldn’t conjure a good portal to get you where you wanted to go? Unfortunately for Riku, his portals, dark or light, were still on the fritz, and Sora never had been able to figure out how to do it. Couple that with the look Dean had given him when Riku had first suggested using the corridors…
Yeah, Riku’s legs were really getting tired of the back seat.
Hauling himself out of the car, Riku took a look around himself at the dusty greenery and asked, “Okay, so where are we now?”
“Kentucky, up in the mountains somewhere.” The reply was short and curt from Dean, and Riku arched a brow at how snappish the Hunter sounded. Come on, they were fighting Heartless, not demons. Even the silver haired teen could see that the demons were a lot nastier than most of the Heartless, and Riku had been fighting some really vicious Heartless over the last four years.
Then again, it might not be the bouts with the Heartless that had Dean on edge. They’d kept it pretty much to themselves, but Riku had noticed the tension growing between Sam and Dean. Sora was smart, but he had a tendency to miss the little things that Riku had a knack for picking up on. A whisper about demon blood here, a whiff of darkness there; there was no denying that
something was trying to get its hooks into Sam. Riku didn’t think it was the Heartless, or even the Darkness in particular, and he could sense that Sam wasn’t going to fall for it as easily as he had himself at the beginning, but still, Riku could understand Dean’s tension.
Riku wondered some days if he was gonna backslide into the Darkness despite promises to his friends and himself.
Riku scanned their surroundings, tuning his senses to try and pinpoint a sense of the Keyhole. On the other side of the car, Sora did the same thing, his azure eyes squinting against the glare from the afternoon sun. At the same time, both of them said, “That way,” pointing in two, slightly opposite directions.
Sora laughed, lowering his arm as he shot Riku a look laced with a grin. “Really? You trying to one up me or something, Riku?”
Riku laughed himself, trying to hide his frustration with the act. “Right. It’s more like you have a lousy sense of direction, Sora.”
Sam glanced between the two friends before he decided to venture a suggestion, “Do you think Cas could check it out really quick so we’re not chasing our own tails?”
Both of the teens were silent for a moment, thinking about the suggestion. Then, Sora shook his head as Riku said, “It’s a good idea, Sam, but I don’t think Cas can help with this one. He’s already admitted that the Heartless and the Keyholes are outside his and the other angels experience, and even though an unsealed Keyhole throws off a lot of energy, I don’t think he’ll be able to locate it like Sora or I could.”
The Winchesters took in the information, turning it over in their minds. Seeming to reach the inevitable conclusion first, Dean said, “So we have to split up, then.”
Sora nodded his head. “Yeah, exactly. I’ll go with Sam in the direction I sensed the Keyhole, and you and Riku will take the other direction.”
Dean turned a look on Sora, his green eyes lit with a sarcastic glint, before he said, “Where do you get off on calling the shots, kid?”
Sora, a little on edge himself recently, puffed up at Dean’s comment. Before Sora could say something he might regret, Riku cut in smoothly, “It’s a good plan. Sora and Sam can cover the weakness in each other’s defenses pretty well, and you complement my fighting style. It’s probably the best set up for teams. We can send up sparks or something if we find the Keyhole.”
Dean huffed a slight laugh, a note of appreciation in the sound at how quickly Riku steered that conversation. “Fine,” Dean said, walking around to the back of the Impala. “It’s as good a plan as any. Let’s load up and move out.”
Riku and Sora waited a moment while the Winchesters gathered their equipment from the trunk; once they were ready, the two teams split up, Sam and Sora heading northwest while Riku and Dean trekked northeast. Riku was quiet for a while, leaving Dean to his own thoughts as the teen kept his council while watching the path for any possible signs of danger, Heartless, demon, or otherwise.
Dean and Riku had been walking for perhaps a half hour when a low growl reverberated around the two of them, setting them both on guard. Turning ocean blue eyes toward the sound, Riku felt them grow wider as he hissed, “What’s that thing supposed to be?”
Dean moved forward, his eyes on the massive black dog stalking towards them. His fingers moving quickly as he loaded the gun, Dean hissed, “Dead. Sam and I took this son of a bitch down a few days before you and your friend showed up. So why the hell is the Shuck still alive?”
Riku sniffed the air, then curled his lip at the odor emanating from the beast. Gripping the hilt of Way to Dawn as it appeared in his grip, Riku said grimly, “Simple. That thing’s a Heartless. Maybe it was one before you and Sam smoked it or maybe it turned into one after. The point is, that dog’s not what you thought it was before hand, and it seems like it’s powerful enough to be calling other Heartless here. Watch yourself!”
The Shuck pounced then, a snarling bark rising from its throat. Dean leapt to the side while Riku rolled out of the way of the dog’s lunge; coming to his feet again, Riku palmed a handful of dark fire, letting the ball of flames grow in size before he threw it at the beast, hitting it square in the chest.
The Shuck slowed for a moment, but it didn’t last long before a growl rumbled in its gullet, informing Riku that he’d just seriously pissed it off. A crack sounded in the air, and the beast was jerked to the left as a heavy blow hit it in its right shoulder.
Riku chanced a quick glance over to see Dean lowering the shotgun to slide two more slugs into the chamber. Turning back to the Shuck, Riku saw the sizable injury in the beast’s shoulder, causing him to whistle softly. “What do you use for ammo, again?”
“Rock-salt. Now get your ass in gear!” Dean was snappy, but he was also focused, keeping a keen eye on the Shuck while he loaded a couple more shells into the barrel. Turning his attention back to the dog, Riku lunged at the beast, using his momentum to score a strike on its right flank.
The Shuck snarled, seriously unamused with the two of them. It spun to snap at Riku, but he managed to just twist out of the way, coming to slap the dog low on its heel.
Furious now, the dog pounced, managing to pin Riku under its massive form and knock his Keyblade out of his hand. Riku grunted, trying to get a decent breath in as the Shuck pressed against his chest with its heavy paws. It leaned in close to Riku’s face, its lips pulled back to reveal thick, sharp teeth as it growled low in its throat. Riku scrambled under the dog, trying to get his hands under its chest enough so he could hit it with one of his spells.
A sharp cry sounded to Riku’s left, and a heavy object was forced down on the Shuck’s head, cleaving its skull in two. The dog collapsed on top of Riku, driving the last of the air from his lungs. The beast gave a soft moan that faded away when it did, leaving the only sound to be a soft wheeze from Riku as he sucked an unrestricted breath in.
Finally getting his bearings, Riku was surprised to see that Dean was standing over him, Riku’s Keyblade held loosely in his right fist. The two of them just looked at each other for a moment, both breathing hard after the skirmish with the Heartless. Huffing slightly, Dean extended his left hand to Riku, asking softly, “Hey, you okay Riku?”
A smile twisted across Riku’s face as he decided to accept Dean’s assistance. Grabbing the older man’s hand, Riku hauled himself to his feet as Way to Dawn disappeared from Dean’s grip. Dusting his jeans off a little, Riku said, “A little winded, but that’s to be expected after a scuffle like that. Thanks for the help, Dean. That would’ve gone a lot harder without you being here.”
“Thanks, but I think you’re bluffing on that one,” Dean laughed, and Riku saw the tension melt from his face a little. After a moment, the two of them started walking again.
“Yeah…” Riku said quietly, his voice trailing off along with the thought. For a while, neither one of them said anything, both of them considering what had happened with the Heartless Shuck. After a while, Riku ventured a question and asked softly, “You know, Sora and I have told you a lot of what’s going on, but there’s a story to be told with you and your bother too. You two keep skirting around it, but I’ve noticed things. What’s going on with you and Sam?”
Dean gave Riku complete radio silence, and the silver haired Keybearer thought that he’d found the “Way Too Far” button and there was
no way the Hunter was going to answer him. They walked on for about ten minutes without another word said before Dean spoke in a whisper, “Sam’s been in a lot of trouble recently. He’s never cared for being a Hunter, but he’d always been a good kid before. But since the demons started coming out in full force, and they got to him, he’s begun to change. He swears he’s gotten cleaned up, but that kind of influence doesn’t leave you easy. He’s still my brother, and I’d do anything for him, but I just don’t know if I can…”
“Trust him?” Riku said at the same time that Dean finished talking. Dean turned to look at Riku, and Riku knew there was a whole gamut of emotions running across his face as his mouth twisted into an ironic smile. Man, he suddenly wished he hadn’t asked Dean about Sam; but at the same time, Riku knew Dean a whole lot better with just that little bit of info. The two of them had a lot in common.
Riku had a lot in common with Sam, too.
Cutting his eyes away from Dean’s face, Riku started walking again, following the ever growing sense of the Keyhole that he felt in his gut. At the same time, he was using the movement as an excuse not to look at Dean as Riku said in a low voice, “Man, I wonder where that sounds familiar from? I met this guy once, when I was little, and I had one wish. I wanted to be strong enough so I could protect what mattered most to me, and to keep those I cared for safe. It’s because of him that I can use the Keyblade, but I screwed things up, big time. I let my good intentions blind me to the fact that I’d fallen in with a bad crowd, and I used the strength I’d wanted so desperately to hurt instead of protect. Sora managed to knock my head out of my ass for me, but it’s haunted me ever since. I keep going back over my actions, trying to find where it all went wrong, to find the one thing I could do over to change everything. I wonder sometimes if my friends really do trust me, ‘cause I sure as hell don’t trust myself at times. Good intentions can screw you over, no matter what you do. Kind of makes it hard to try to be good, huh?”
Dean was looking at Riku, making him really uncomfortable. He was ridiculously happy when they finally reached the height of the Keyhole energy, a massive red oak in the center of the forest. Riku looked it up and down, trying to find where the lock for his key was, when Dean pointed higher up in the branches and said, “Right there, on the left side. Is that it?”
A faint glimmer pierced the dappled sunlight, and Riku could feel it in his heart, the energy flowing from the Keyhole and the energy of the world’s own heart just beyond it. Riku nodded his head, raising Way to Dawn into the air as he said, “Yeah, that’s it. Let’s just get Sam and Sora over here, right?”
Riku shot a burst of fire into the air, careful to make sure none of the spell caught any of the trees alight. Once that was done, all the two of them could do was wait for Sam and Sora to get there. Riku studied the Keyhole, letting the warmth emanating from it calm his nervousness after spilling all of that to Dean. Riku was a little surprised when he felt a hand drop onto his shoulder, and even more flustered when he realized that the pressure from the touch had caused him to jump slightly.
Dean laughed softly, the good natured laugh of an older brother as their younger sibling did something funny. Dean caught Riku’s eye, no mean feat considering the teen was doing his damndest not to look the Hunter in the eye; but Dean’s green eyes finally caught Riku’s blue ones as Dean said, “Like you said, sometimes it’s hard to be good. But I guess that’s part of being a brother, isn’t it? Rolling with the shit that life and your siblings throw at you and giving as good as you get.”
Riku nodded, a slight smile crawling across his face. “Yeah. And it’s not like I didn’t return the favor. Sora got into some serious trouble cause he’s too gullible, and I had to bale his ass out of it. What kind of thanks do you think I got from him?”
“Hey, it’s not my fault you got back too late for the party.”
Dean and Riku turned around, watching as Sora and Sam walked into the clearing. Sora had that big, goofy grin of his on his face, but Riku could see that the events of their Mark of Mastery were still playing around in Sora’s head too. Riku also noticed the set to Sam’s shoulders, and that the younger Winchester seemed to be slightly more at ease than he had been before they split up.
Maybe Riku and Dean hadn’t been the only ones to talk.
Riku arched a brow, giving Sora a look as he walked up closer to them. Riku waited just a moment longer before shooting back, “Right, and have to wear those stupid glasses that you had on? I think I’ll pass, thanks.”
“Aw, you’re just jealous. Is this the Keyhole?” Finishing up their banter while also getting to the matter at hand, Sora studied the oak that loomed over the four of them, craning his head back to look into its upper branches.
Riku followed Sora’s gaze, once again finding the small point of light that marked the entrance to the heart of the world. Gripping his Keyblade tight, Riku affirmed, “Yeah, this is it. So, are we gonna do this?”
Sora raised his own Keyblade in answer. Lifting his as well, Riku concentrated, shooting a beam of light from the end of the Keyblade at the same time that a similar shaft of light appeared at the tip of Sora’s blade. Both beams arched through the air, sliding effortlessly through the Keyhole. As the light faded, a soft yet audible click echoed down to them, like the turn of a door lock, signifying that the world’s heart was safe and secured from the Heartless.
Turning around to face the Winchesters, Sora raised his arm in salute to them and said, “Well, I guess this is goodbye.”
Sam cocked his head to the side, a little bit perplexed as he asked, “But, how are you guys going to get back to… wherever it is you’re going?”
Riku shrugged as he said cautiously, “Truth is, where here, but not really here. This is a dream for us, so all we really have to do is wake up, and we’ll be back in our world.”
Dean narrowed a close look at Riku as he asked, “And how can you do that?”
Sora was the one that answered this time, “Well, Riku’s been named a Master of the Keyblade, so he can do that kind of thing if he wants to. We’ve been trying to help some people out that are sleeping, cause we kinda need their help for this war we’re in the middle of, but we got dumped here somehow during one of the dives. I guess Riku probably sensed you guys needed some help here. It’s not like that’s the first time he’s done something like that.”
Dean looked over at Riku, and Riku knew that Dean had figured out what time Sora was referring to. Giving a quick nod to the silver haired boy, Dean said, “Keep your chin up, both of you. And don’t forget what we talked about, okay, Riku?”
“Kay.” Riku nodded in return to Dean, and then closed his eyes. All he had to do was will himself to, and…
~-----------~
Riku’s eyes flew open, and he found himself staring at the wall of his room in Yensid’s tower. Looking over, Riku could see that Sora was just starting to wake up himself.
They were back.
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