Hola! This isn't the sequel to Painful Salvation, but it is a Kingdom Hearts Fanfiction! It's a short story (maybe), and I hope everyone enjoys it!

Warning: This story contains yaoi, and if you do not know what that means then you shouldn't be reading this. There are also suggestive themes, so don't flame me because I did warn you.

Disclaimer: I Don't own Kingdom Hearts, and I'm not selling this for any profit.

Caged By Hate

Chapter 1: Blue Eyes of the One Named Sky

Blue has always been my favorite color. It is a symbol of peace, and it is a symbol of freedom. Freedom I can never have. Freedom I dream of and yet at the same time I know I don't deserve it. I don't know what's worse, being trapped unjustly, like a caged butterfly waiting for freedom, or being convicted and trapped, like a murderer being condemned for his sins against humanity. To know you deserve your imprisonment does not help with the pain of living it out.

Blue is a magical color. There are so many shades. The Light blue of the morning sky and the dark blue midnight, both are beautiful, and both lie beyond the realm of my cage. I have done so many things, so many bad things to so many people, but the worst thing I have ever done is to not do anything.

And that is why I am here.

Where is here? This is hell. No, hell is a walk in the park compared to this. There is nothing more terrible than being caged to the Earth, to be caged to life. I watch as the seasons change, as people grow old and die, as the ones I care about leave me, one by one. Year by year, decade by decade, until it reaches two hundred years. Two hundred years on the edge of eternity; there is no punishment worst than not being allowed to die.

I have watch the sky evolve, watched it's sunshine blue grow darker and more gray as people grow colder and crueler. I have seen the warmth of so many great hearts, and I have washed the blood of so many lives off of my hands. I am a murderer, a thief, a horrible man, but has anyone ever sinned so badly as to be forced to live forever?

They cut me, I heal, but the pain is still there. I wash the blood away, but it still stains my mind, driving me towards the edge of my sanity's limit. I close my eyes, but I can still see the blue sky. I can see it as it was before, before we all grew cold, before we all grew cruel. And somehow, I like the world better this way. Now I don't stick out, because now I am not considered evil. In a world where everybody gets only what they get for themselves, I'm suddenly not the bad guy.

Trapped forever, exactly like I was the day I died. Damned to eternity for a crime. Nobody can defeat me. I hate it. Nobody can harm me. I despise it. Nobody can kill me. I loathe it. And yet, it's still all my fault. As long as I am still the boy I used to be I can not die. As long as I am arrogant and stubborn I heal. As long as I do not know the essence of loving someone, and having hem love me back I stay here. Bound to this life, bound to this planet, bound to suffer, for all of eternity.

So every day and night, I look up at the mysterious blue sky above us and wait. Wait for the day I don't have see it anymore, but knowing today won't be the last day I see it because I will always be alive to see it. Because all I have loved have never loved me in return, and all who love me I never love.

I can still remember who I am in this day and age. I am the young lord who owns this grand territory. It is my duty to keep the peace and feed the people. It is my duty to protect them from invaders and such. But that doesn't mean I do it. After all, everybody dies one day, so does it really matter how they die? A smirk enters my mind at that thought. Everybody dies, except me. They don't look for death, but death comes after them. I search for death, but it eludes me every time. I don't have the luxury of an afterlife, even one in hell.

My footsteps echo down the halls of my stone castle. They exude arrogance, cruelty, and strength. They are exactly who I am. I stroll outside and look at the bright blue sky, still darker yet. Maybe one day it will match the shade of my heart, black. I'll probably still be alive to see it to. Lifting my head to the sky I laugh. I outstretch my arms to embrace it, and I curse the gods who trapped me hear. I was a far better person as a human than I ever will be now. Their plan backfired. They didn't heal me, I got worse.

The sky is so beautiful. So very beautiful. And yet it makes up my cage. It is what I strive to reach and can never attain. Two hundred years of Hell on Earth. I will never reach the sky, but I can try. I can always try.

In the middle of my reverie an arrow hits me. I gasp in pain. It hit me in the chest. Right where my heart is, right where my heart pumps blood. The pain is immense as blood flows from my body, though I feel no lethargy. I cannot feel the demons of death coming to take me to hell. Nobody's had the nerve to harm my for quite a while. The pain fells good, so very good.

I roughly pull the arrow from my chest, crushing it in my hand. The wound heals instantly, the skin reforming, without scars over my pale skin. I hear a rustle in the surrounding brush and grab an arm. I pull a small girl out from under it, the bow and arrow in her hand. She has bright green eyes and light blonde hair. She's clutching onto her sister, who is a redhead with violet eyes. Despite the difference in hair aand eye color, they look extremely similar.

"Who are you, and why do you dare to try and assassinate your king?" I ask. The girls shake before me, probably fearing for their lives. Finally, the redheaded one speaks.

"My name is Kairi, and I came to kill you, King Riku, because you are an evil man. Your people are starving, and they can't even afford enough money to buy bread. My parents are dead because of you, and we'll die if you keep doing this to us! My brother is sick because of you!" She's interesting. I wonder if she really knows the truth. Maybe I can help her find out.

"Everybody dies little girl. I could give you all the food in the world and you'd still die. Everybody dies someday." Everybody besides me. Kairi pales. She suddenly sees the blood stain on my shirt.

"I thought we missed you. If we hit you, then why are you still alive." I smirk and grab my sword from the hilt. Kairi and her sister try to struggle from my grip, but I have two hundred years of strength on them and they're weak and malnourished.

I turn the sword on myself and slice my arm open. Slight pain like this doesn't hurt anymore, but Kairi and her sister still look shocked. I can see their eyes widen in wonder and horror as the wound instantly closes itself, completely healed.

"How?" Kairi asks. My smirk becomes broader.

"When I said everybody dies, I lied. Everybody dies besides me. I doomed to a fate far worse. I'm doomed to live." I watch their disbelieving expressions.

"You're wrong," the silent girl whispers. "Living is always better than death." She really thinks so, doesn't she? I laugh.

"I like you two. How about this? I'll allow you to stay at my castle, but you must never leave without my permission." Kairi and the other girl nod, and then Kairi asks me a question.

"Can I bring my brother and his nurse?" She asks. Her voice is timid, not like the strong will she expressed just five minutes ago.

"Do as you wish." I let go of them, and the younger one embraces me, clinging on to me.

"Thank you so much." I don't get why she's thanking me. She'll die eventually, just like every one else. I'm just enabling her to live a bit longer.

"Think nothing of it. This is not an act of kindness. If you had said no I would've forced you to go." The girl smiles. She grabs my hand, something nobody has ever dared to do for two hundred years, and she drags me off towards the village. I think I've been to the village once, and that was when I took it over. It looks nothing like it did before. Before people were on the streets happily shopping, and everybody was healthy. Now the streets are desolate. The only people on the streets are bone thin and haggard in appearance. They are wearing rags much like the two girls I'm with.

The houses are run down, dilapidated structures that need major repairs. Repairs that these people can obviously not afford. Here the sky isn't even blue, it's gray, barren like the landscape. But what do I even care? Everybody dies. I just miss the blue of the sky.

Finally we come to a run down house on the edge of the village. It's in horrible shape, the wood is crumbling in on it, and a good storm would probably blow it away. They live so poorly, yet they are so full of life. How?

Kairi pushes the door open, and surprisingly the house doesn't fall down. "Selphie! Where are you?" A cheery girl walks out. She can't be older than thirteen. How could she be a nurse?

"Yes Kairi?" She asks, with an oddly happy voice. She sees me and drops into a bow.

"Your Majesty King Riku! Whatever they did, I'm so sorry! Please forgive them!" I almost laugh at her groveling.

"Get up girl." I tell her. She pops to her feet, still in an odd half bow. Peasants, why bother?

"So, where is your brother?" I ask coldly, my voice not expressing any emotion. Kairi leads me into the only other room of their 'house.'

I can see a boy, probably about 15, a year younger than I was when I died, or at least when I was supposed to die. He's scrawny and tan, though he looks feverish. He's obviously sick from the unhealthy flush of his cheeks, but with cinnamon spiky hair he looks…Cute.

"Kairi, Namine, is that you two?" He asks weakly. He opens his eyes, and I see his eyes. Eyes the color of freedom. Eyes so blue they put sapphires to shame. Wide eyes, filled with innocence and naiveté, something I lost a long time ago. Eyes filled with goodness and light beyond compare. Eyes that though much deeper, remind me of the light of the sky, two hundred years ago when this world was still pure.

"King Riku, this is Sora, my twin brother." Sora… Doesn't that mean sky. It suits him. Sky. Something tells me these four little misfits are going to make things much more interesting, especially the one named sky.

He tries to get up on wobbly legs that can't possibly support his weight, and surprising even myself I catch him before he falls. Why? Why did I do that? Is it because of his eyes or his name. I push that thought to the back of my mind. It's all a coincidence. Besides, I'm beyond emotion. I can never love again. There's no reason even trying, after all, I can't love anymore. Two hundred years is a long time to be alone, and I don't think I can be together with another human again. I lift him into my arms. He's very light, probably from the brutal conditions out here, not that I care of course.

"Let's go," I say. "This place smells like peasant. I don't want to stay in this filthy place for any longer than I have to." I start to walk out, the boy in my arms, but his innocent voice stops me.

"Where are we going?" He asks,

"Hn," I reply. "For some reason, you're going to come live with me." The boy named Sky looks shocked. His innocent eyes are wide.

"In that case, can I say goodbye?" I really don't want to stay around this place any longer than necessary, but those eyes…

"Who do you want to say goodbye to?" I ask, feigning a voice that clearly states 'I don't care'.

"Nobody, just my home." I look at the run down hut they used to live in. Why would he want to say goodbye to that old thing?

"Why?" I ask. He looks up at me.

"This place holds memories. It's my home." I still don't know what he means, but I stay a second longer, allowing the boy named Sky to wave back to it. Then I carry him off, back towards my palace, the girls trailing after us like servants.

On instinct, I look up at the sky. Is it just me, or does the sky look just a little more blue than it did before?

Heaven

"Finally," one of the beings says. He has long silver hair, the exact same shade as Riku's. He looks very bored, like he's been doing this for a very long time, which is probably true.

"It took him two hundred freaking years!" Another god shouts. She has short, trimmed brown hair shaped around her face. She seems extremely hyperactive.

"Patience Sephiroth, Yuffie. We don't know if anything will happen," another voice says. His brown hair is about the same length as Yuffie's, and his blue-gray eyes hold certain gruffness to them that make him seem like a very cold man.

"Leon is right," the last god speaks. "He may have been around for two hundred years, but he is still the same sixteen year old boy we punished long ago." This one has spiky blonde hair and twinkling blue eyes, though his aren't as innocent as Sora's are. Like the rest of the gods, his hold a deep pain that is latent for the time being.

The first god, the one named Sephiroth, grins. He looks slightly lazy and uncaring. "I give it two weeks. Before the end of the month, Riku will join us, along with Sora. It is the time of urgency. If this doesn't work, then we must leave him forever and move on."

The female god, Yuffie, shudders. "I don't like the second option. That can't be our hero. He's evil!" She says this with such compassion that her statement must move anyone who hears this.

The blonde god, Cloud, speaks. "It doesn't matter what our opinion is. If it were up to me, I wouldn't have selected either of them. This is what is meant to be, so we just have to watch and see what happens. There's almost nothing we can do now. It's up to them."

Leon snorts. "So does this mean the fate of the worlds is held in the hands of five miss-fit teenagers? Somehow, I'm not comforted. And what do you mean we can do almost nothing? Name one thing we can do?"

The graceful silver-headed god, Sephiroth, answers this. "The blonde girl. She has power. We can contact her in times of need. She can be our…medium." Everybody pauses at this and there's silence in the conference room. The mirror allowing them to view Riku's world changes to a pit of darkness. Despair reeks from it in waves.

"Now," says Cloud, "to look at the second option." Yuffie shudders and Leon shifts uncomfortably. Sephiroth just smiles a mysterious smile. He seems to know something that nobody else does, but he doesn't reveal the information.

"I trust the one named sky," he says.

Sora

Everything's warm. It's not feverish warm, but it's comfortable. Strong arms carry me, and I can feel a muscular chest. I snuggle closer to whoever this person is, and look up at him slowly. He's gorgeous. Silver white hair frames his pale face, a few rebellious bangs hanging across his face. High cheekbones give him a strong yet somehow slightly feminine look, and pale pink lips are turned down in a frown.

His most amazing feature has to be his eyes, his amazing aqua eyes. They're pale and cold, but underneath them I can see pain and regret. Whoever he is, he regrets what he's done. I can't really remember anything before waking up just now, but I know that we're going to live with him. Those amazing eyes catch mine in a glare.

"What are you staring at?" He asks. His voice is cold, but just like his eyes, it's hiding something.

"Fine, if you don't want to answer me, you can walk." He drops me, but the impact with the ground doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would. The ground is covered with leaves and it softens the impact. I stand. My legs feel like jelly, but I can stand on my own.

I walk beside the handsome yet cold stranger, and suddenly I wonder where Kairi, Namine, and Selphie are. "They walked up ahead of us." He says dispassionately. Can he read minds?

"No, I can't read minds. You're just really obvious." He's confusing. Suddenly my legs almost give out, but before they collapse completely, the stranger is holding me up.

"You walk to slowly, hold on." Somehow I end up on his back, and he grips my legs with his hands. I blush, this is a rather compromising situation. He starts running, a fast jog, traveling elegantly through the forest as if my weight is nothing. His pace is steady, and it's almost as if the ground is moving under us and he's not moving. He's also in great shape. He's not panting or anything. Suddenly a branch tears his skin, and I gap, it looks serious, but he doesn't stop moving. I focus on his arm. Just moments after it heals completely, without even a scar. How is that possible?

Soon we're at his palace, a bigger place than I've ever seen, a bigger place than I've ever dreamed of seeing. The turrets are well kept and give the place a very depressing yet majestic look. The place gives off a sense of pride, and it is much like it's owner. Speaking of which, the said person drops me.

"Hey!" I shout when my but hits the ground. That hurts!

He turns back to me with a glare on his face. "You will not 'hey' me. You will address me with respect. My name is Riku, and you will call me like that."

Riku, it's an odd name, but it suits him somehow. "Yes Ri-ku!" I annunciate the syllables of his name. He stiffens, but doesn't comment. He walks back towards the castle with perfect posture. He moves elegantly, almost as if he's gliding. He's very graceful, for a guy. He also has a very arrogant posture that seems to scream, 'I'm better than you are!' I hate people like that. They think they're better than other people because of social class. Somehow though, it seems different than that. He wears a black tunic over black leggings and black knee high boots. Even his sword is black, and it looks like a demon's wing. He wears a golden chain with a ruby gemstone as a pendant. The color of the pendant reminds me of blood.

Soon we're inside his castle, and I notice something. There's no one else here. "The others are bathing, and I suggest you do the same. You smell of peasant." I glare at him for that, but he looks like he doesn't really care. "The bathing areas are over there. Meet me back here in an hour, and here are some clothes." He hands me a bundle of clothes I hadn't noticed before. There's a blue tunic that will go well with my eyes, black leggings and boots. The clothing is simple, nothing like the clothes of other nobles, but it's silk and therefor very expensive. I take the clothes, muttering quick thanks before I go to the bathing areas.

The water is warm, and I sink in, allowing the warm water to relax my body before I grab scented soaps and scrub myself clean. Years of grime and filth come off, staining the bath water. Now I know what Riku was talking about when he said I smelled like a peasant. He must of thought I was disgusting, and he's probably burning his clothes right now. Such a shame too, since the clothes looked hot on him.

I climb out and dress in the elegant clothing, it's rich fabric smooth against my skin. It feels so nice. I climb out to see Riku waiting for me. He hands me some food, and I grab the meat and bread, digging in. I haven't eaten such rich food ever. Riku raises an eyebrow.

"Your sleeping chambers are beside mine. Across from you are your sisters and on your other side is the annoying nurse girl." It's Selphie.

"Selphie," I say.

"Excuse me?" He asks, a tiny bit of surprise flickering in his eyes.

"Her name is Selphie. And my sisters are Kairi and Namine." He rolls his eyes.

"Whatever." This makes me angry. How can he possibly think he's better than the rest of us because of his social class? I don't say anything though. He took us in and is harboring us. Plus, he has a very fine ass. Is this the man my sisters want to kill? He doesn't seem all to bad.

When he shows me to my room, I don't waste time oohing and awwing. I collapse into the giant bed, not even under the covers and am immediately falling asleep. I don't know if Riku stays or not, but someone tucks me in, making sure I'm warm. I want to say thank you but all that comes out is a yawn.

I think I can hear his voice. He says, "goodnight, boy named sky."