Tortured By Light

Series: Kingdom Hearts

Categories: AU-ish, Angst, Violence, Yaoi, Adventure, Etc.

Warnings: Dark, Violence, Riku-Torture, Gore, Ansem x Riku, Sora + Riku, Yaoi, Ansem is Dark and twisted.

Summary: Ansem has stolen or rather copied Riku's physical appearance and the two battle against each other in the dark side of Kingdom Hearts; a new dimension of worlds. Sora searches for his friend, but will he ever find Riku, and will they ever be able to seal the true doors of light?

Disclaimer: Squaresoft characters are not mine, nor are Cocoa Cola products…

Author's Note: Whoo hoo! I managed to update in less than a month. ^_^ Anyway, Kuja makes his appearance in this chapter; I couldn't resist. Anyway, expect to see a lot of final fantasy bishounen to pop up in my fic… hee hee

IMPORTANT NOTE: You need to have read my first fic "Bound by Darkness" in order for this fic to make any sense.

Chapter 2: Silver Trinity

"150 munny for peppermint tea are you daft?" spat an angry young man to the store clerk.

"Look miss, there's this thing called profit." replied the clerk sarcastically.

"Number one; I'm a guy! Number two; profit my ass! More like robbery!" The young man stomped an angry foot and pivoted on his heel while running a hand through his long, lavender-tainted silver hair.

"Look buddy, either pay up or do without! In case you haven't noticed there are a lot of things that are in short supply and high demand."

"Buddy?" quipped the androgynous young man, "You dare to mock me with such disrespect? I'm not your buddy, I'm your superior. I am a master of the arcane arts, the most powerful sorcerer in this village; you will address me as 'Lord Kuja'. And as for your price for tea; it's an insult!" That said, Kuja tossed the tea leaves at the clerk and stormed out of the shop and into a back alley of Mobi Village. Mobi Village had only just recently sprung into existence not too long ago, ever since the strange disappearance of worlds had begun. Those who had survived such disasters had all somehow gathered to this place and set up a patchwork village that served as a sort of refuge against the demons that roamed the surrounding wilderness.

"150 munny, tch! I've seen whores who cost less!" muttered Kuja angrily to himself.

"Speaking of whores…" a deep voice sounded from behind him. Kuja turned to see what fool dared to approach him.

"Hey guys check out what came prancing into our alley." said another voice.

Kuja felt a hand grab his not so well covered rear and spun around to give the offender a good slap in the face.

"Ouch! Hey the bitch's got spunk." laughed the man who was struck. Kuja could now see five men surrounding him, all were filthy, drunk, and no doubt armed. However, Kuja refused to be bullied by mere filth and began chanting a spell. Unfortunately, the spell never fired off, he had underestimated his opponents and had been doused with a potion of silence. These thugs were pretty well prepared considering their drunken states. Then again, it wasn't that uncommon for most beings to have at least some sort of magic.

"Oh just great!" thought Kuja.

"Nice outfit gorgeous, so how much do you charge?"

"How dare you assume me to be some sort of common whore! I'm a man and an unavailable one at that!"

"Whatever! Get him guys!"

Kuja tried to fight back against the larger men but without his magical powers he was helpless.

"AAAGGGHHH! The little bitch bit me!"

Okay, maybe not entirely helpless but nonetheless the odds weren't in his favor. After a brief struggle, two men on either side held Kuja's arms and hoisted him slightly off the ground. A third man went to the alley's opening to stand guard while the other two decided which one was going to have fun first. Kuja growled and cursed, if only he had a status effect remover, then he would firaga these assholes to hell and back. One man ran his hands through Kuja's beautiful hair and caused Kuja to shudder; not so much from fear but rather from disgust.

"The nerve! This barbarian dares to defile my hair with his greasy paws! And I just washed it two hours ago!" Kuja mentally screamed to himself.

The fifth man began to undo Kuja's unique outfit, granted there wasn't much to be removed in the first place but Kuja cringed at the thought of such creatures touching him.

"Whoa! Guys this guy's got a freakin tail!"

"Argh! If only I could strangle you with it!" thought Kuja.

"Relax gorgeous, behave and me and my boys will try to go easy on you."

"You ignorant insects! If you don't release me this instant, I'll pulverize you all into unrecognizable lumps of gore!"

"Temper, temper!"

"Don't touch me!"

"What are you gonna do to stop urk…?" The man who had just been about to violate Kuja fell dead to his feet and was soon joined by his comrades as a flash of metallic light seemed to slice right through them. Kuja feel rather unceremoniously to the ground and struggled to adjust his outfit and regain his composure.

"Can't leave you alone for a month without you getting into trouble, I swear you're more high maintenance than you're worth."

"Can it Sephiroth! I've had a really bad day, or night, or whatever the hell atmosphere you call it out here." Ever since the fall of worlds, Mobi Village as well as the surrounding wilderness was in a constant state of varying shades of darkness.

Riku stood quietly by the main street and watched as Sephiroth rescued a rather scantily clad young man from a gang of thugs and then began to have an argument with him.

"Look Kuja, I went on a hunch into the wilderness the night I had that nightmare and I found a boy. He's about 15 or 16 and is suffering from serious blood loss. It's bad enough I ended up carrying him all the way here, but I'll be damned if I have to carry your 'highness'' ass as well!"

"I suppose you expect me to help this boy, am I right?"

"Considering your situation 10 seconds ago, I'd say that you owe me."

"Alright, alright… but listen; I've got a favor to ask you."

"What is it?"

"I really need some peppermint tea leaves, but I'm a bit short on munny right now…"

"Fine, how much do you need? You can go pick up some and we'll meet at your place."

"Actually, I also request that you pick it up for me as well."

"What?!"

"Well you see, the store clerk and I got into an economical debate, and well, if I go crawling back that means he wins."

"You're impossible Kuja!"

"You better hurry Sephiroth, after all, the boy you mentioned doesn't look like he has the strength to stand much longer, and he'll need my expert treatment fast."

Sephiroth gave Kuja an icy warning glare and stormed off to where the store was. Kuja smiled his usual conniving smile as he watched Sephiroth disappear around the corner and then turned to great his new guest.

"So you're my patient eh? The name's Kuja, what's yours?"

"Riku." Riku wasn't sure of what to make of the young man named Kuja. Kuja definitely had an ego the size of a behemoth and the concept of modesty was obviously foreign to him.

"Well, I suppose I should lead you to my house, after all, I wouldn't want Sephiroth getting there before us."

Riku walked towards Kuja but the anemia was taking its toll, while he was getting better, the long walk/ride had gotten to him and he stumbled to the ground.

"Shit! Why is this happening to me!" Riku beat his fist angrily at the ground to vent out his frustration.

"You really are in a bad state." said Kuja matter-of-factly.

Riku glared at him, Kuja was an odd character who apparently didn't understand subtly either.

"Gah!" Kuja exaggerated a sigh and shook his head at Riku. "I suppose I'm gonna have to help you, oh well, my house isn't far."

Riku watched Kuja as he took Riku's arm and pulled it over his shoulder allowing for Riku to lean on Kuja for support as they walked. Riku couldn't help but notice how feminine Kuja looked, his features were delicate and painted in soft lavender hues for make-up. His hair was soft and silky, an odd shade of silver mixed with lavender. His attire left little to the imagination; a front-open halter-top, with flared sleeves, a metallic thong, and a waist skirt that was fully open in the front. Due to the proximity and the unavoidable brush of skin against skin, Riku was also shocked at how soft Kuja's skin was, not to mention how curved his body was. Kuja certainly was an enigma.

"Hey!" Riku yelped when he felt something slightly furry coil around his waist.

"What's wrong?" asked Kuja innocently.

"What is that?"

"What is what?...Oh! You mean my tail."

"You have a tail?"

"Yep, but I like to keep it hidden, I'm only using it now to help hold you up."

"Why do you have a tail?"

"Why do you have legs? Stupid question, I was obviously born with it, anyway, let's just say that there were a lot of things about my world that would probably shock you. In any case I'll go ahead and warn you now, never pull the tail! Unless you have a wish to die painfully. Anyway, looks like we're here, and thank goodness, you're rather heavy."

"Whatever."

Kuja led Riku into a small house towards the edge of town. On the outside it looked no differently than the rest of the macramé village, but on the inside it was clean, scented with incense, and adorned with tapestries depicting both angels and demons.

"Why don't you lay down on the couch there. I'll get started in the kitchen to prepare a blood potion for you, but in the meantime you need to rest." Riku went to the nearby couch and made himself comfortable, he was grateful that Sephiroth and even this Kuja guy were willing to help him but he was completely overwhelmed with the conflict he faced now with Ansem. Just then, Sephiroth walked in and banged the door rather loudly as he stormed into the kitchen.

"Kuja! Your damn tea costs 150 munny! I demand some reimbursement!"

"Calm down you'll get it! After all, I am being a good host and preparing a blood potion for your new friend."

"Kuja! Don't you dare antagonize me or else I'll throw your pretty ass out on the streets and whore you out to get the money you owe me back!"

"Hmph! Such vulgarity! You'd do no such thing!"

"Wanna try me?"

"Some other time perhaps. But for now I'm going upstairs to cleanse myself while this blood potion boils. How about you fix us all some tea and see about Riku. I'm eager to see if your dream was right."

"You arrogant, cheeky bastard! Go on and take your bath and just pray that I don't slip poison into your precious tea."

Riku listened to the bantering between the tall graceful swordsman and the shorter androgynous sorcerer.

"Such an odd couple, you'd think they were married, maybe he's the one that Sephiroth mentioned as being his lover." Riku thought to himself.

At that time Sephiroth strode into the room and sat down in an easy chair next to Riku.

"Feeling any better?"

"A little, uh… nevermind."

"What is it?"

"Why did you save me?"

"You looked like you needed help."

"But how did you find me?"

"I had a dream not too long ago, it was strange. I saw my lover and he was looking for me, then a saw what seemed to be an odd pair of twins fighting each other with key like weapons and then a door suddenly opened and my lover as well as some faces I did not know were there waiting for me. But then there was fire and blood, I heard a boy scream and a silver star fell from the sky. When I woke up, I watched as a silver star fell not too far in the distance and so I woke up Kuja to tell him about it. Once he got over the trauma of having his beauty sleep interrupted he used his magic to watch the dream replay in my head. He said it was an omen before going back to sleep. Therefore I left that morning and headed in the direction that I saw the star fall. By the time I got there, you just seemed to materialize in front of me and then you passed out."

"What do you want from me?" Riku asked, he wasn't sure what to make of Sephiroth's explanation but he knew he would have to leave soon before Ansem caught up with him.

"Nothing really, but Kuja and I might be able to help you. You're looking for the door of light right?"

"How do you know about it?"

"I've got connections, so does Kuja, neither one of us wants to just sit here and wait for those heartless demons to come back and destroy everything. Things are changing; the demons aren't like they were anymore. Originally they were very tactful in their systematic destruction of worlds. But they've all gone feral, like there's no leadership, no unity. They are more aggressive and random now and unless something is done soon, I hate to think of the consequences."

"So you want to join me?"

"Actually, we want you to join us."

"I'll consider it." Riku gave Sephiroth a mild taunting smirk and Sephiroth merely shook his head. You and Kuja are both going to drive my crazy.

"Speaking of which, is Kuja your lover?"

"By the blood of Shiva No! Good God kid, Kuja's the most irritating cocky brat I've ever known, and way too girly for my taste. My lover is currently on the other side of this dimension and he's searching for me."

"How do you know that?"

"The same way that you know Sora is looking for you."

"How do you know about Sora?"

"You talk in your sleep. Anyway, am I wrong?"

Riku lowered his gaze for a moment to consider, yes, he did know Sora was searching for him, although he wasn't sure how. It was like he could feel Sora's presence inside of him, like their souls were silently calling out to one another.

"I suppose you're right again." replied Riku.

"Of course I am, listen, I've been around much longer than you and the girly wizard upstairs, I know what I'm talking about."

Riku gave out a sigh and was a bit startled when Sephiroth's strong yet delicate hand came to rest firmly on his shoulder. Riku looked up into Sephiroth's slightly glowing green eyes and received a light squeeze on his shoulder and what seemed to be a subtle smile grace Sephiroth's features.

"Don't give up kid, I'm not as bad as I look and Kuja may be the most eccentric basket case to ever wave a wand but he's not that bad either."

Riku smiled back at Sephiroth, his heart felt at ease for once and he couldn't help but smile at the man who seemed to genuinely want to help him.

"So what have I missed? A rather touching display of male bonding?" Kuja trotted down the stairs wearing only a towel around his waist and his hair fell heavy and wet down his alabaster back.

"Kuja! How many times do I have to tell you?

Pants!"

"Oh come of it, It's my house and I'll prance around bare ass naked if I damn well please!"

"Well why don't you prance your fairy-brained self into the kitchen and get Riku that blood potion."

"You dare to give me orders?"

Sephiroth shot out of the chair and pulled out Masamune and had it aimed towards Kuja's throat.

"Now Kuja!"

"Tch, well aren't we in a sour mood? Fine, fine, just get your damnable sword away from my neck and I'll be on my way."

Riku was still puzzled by the seemingly dysfunctional relationship shared by the two men who he was now indebted to.

Kuja came back from the kitchen carrying an ornate goblet and handed it to Riku.

"Drink this and try to keep it down."

Riku did as he was told and drank the potion, however, it tasted awful, whatever Kuja had put in it had to have been decomposing.

"Gross!"

"Well aren't we finicky?"

"What was in that?"

"You're probably better off not knowing, but don't worry, it won't kill you."

Somehow Riku was a little less than reassured.

"On to a new topic! So Sephiroth is this kid the one in your dream?"

"Seems to be."

"Great, that means that with his help we might find the door of light and be free of this dark dimension."

"Perhaps."

Riku ignored the others as he tried not to throw up from the sour aftertaste.

"It's settled then!" declared Kuja, "Riku, you, and I will leave as soon as Riku is recovered fully and then we'll be off to search for the door of light."

"But you'll need a key." remarked Sephiroth while arching an eyebrow at Riku.

"Key?" asked Kuja.

"It's called a keyblade, and yes I've got one, but it can only unlock doors, my friend Sora has the sword for locking doors."

"So it seems that if we find the door, we'll need yours to open it and Sora's to seal it again right?" asked Sephiroth although it came out more as a statement than a question.

"I suppose that would make sense, I can't say that I really know much about the keyblades other than I've got one, Sora has one, and Ansem has two."

"Ansem? Who's he?" asked Kuja.

Riku's gaze hardened at the name as memories of violence, torture, and anguish filled his head, and finally, a vision so clear it was almost a hallucination, Ansem's eyes boring into him but from his very own face.

"Perhaps, we've talked enough for one evening, Riku needs his rest and Kuja, you need to go occupy yourself with something quietly while I too try to get some rest."

Relief washed over Riku at Sephiroth's sudden intervention and allowed himself to dose off peacefully asleep on the couch. Kuja starred at Riku's sleeping form a moment longer, but with a slight look of sadness.

"What's wrong?" asked Sephiroth; he knew that when Kuja got serious he was quite the expert mage that he claimed to be.

"This boy is cursed and hunted, we'll be in for one heck of an adventure for sure. However, I hope, it all ends well."

Sephiroth felt a cold chill run up his spine at Kuja's words. He too sensed what Kuja knew but it didn't matter, this was obviously some sort of destiny as well as his only chance to ever find Cloud again.

To be continued…

Author's Note: Yeah I sorta put Riku in the back seat of that chzpter, sorry, but Kuja and Sephiroth needed the attention ^_^ Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy my ideal party of silver haired bishounen ^_^ tee hee… I just couldn't resist.