Forget-me-Not

Piikkum

Disclaimers – This was established in the first chapter.

Pairings – Sora x Riku

C H A P T E R F O U R - F R U S T R A T I O N

"Riku's gone."

Squall looked up from the stack of papers he had been grading to the disheveled brunet at his doorway. "Excuse me?"

"Riku's gone," the boy repeated, calm save for the tightening grip on the doorway. "I need you to help me find him."

The man pushed the stack away, studying the other. "What are you talking about?" He arched a brow. "Was he kidnapped? Did you contact the police?"

The boy shook his head.

"The police isn't going to help. He's with the Heartless, sir, and that's why I need your help."

a n d

The pier was was unusually quiet for this time of day, soundless save for the wail of gulls across the fiery backdrop of the setting sun. He could see no one else around; no fishermen, no ferrymen, no one. It unnerved him.

With even strides, Riku made his way to the motel alongside the pier, pushing aside the dusty glass doors to a dimly lit interior.

The receptionist glanced up at him, pushing his falling spectacles further up the bridge of his nose as he set aside the small wooden doll he had been carving.

"Y-you must be Riku," said the old man, scurrying off his chair towards the key sorter. "A Mr. Ansem is waiting for you, sir." The old man placed a key on the counter, attached to a key chain with the fading number 08 printed on it. "He's in room 8, sir, which is right down this hallway here, sir. You can't miss it." He gestured to his left. "Enjoy your stay, sir. If you need anything, sir, don't hesitate to ask!" The old man beamed at Riku, hands clasped to the front of his apron.

Riku ignored the man and grabbed the keys. He could feel the receptionist's smile follow him as he made his way down the hallway.

a n d

The sleek back Mercedes pulled up soundlessly in front of an apartment complex. Sora stepped out of the car, eyes sweeping over the polished building and whistled.

"Nice."

"I spent years gathering information about the Heartless," Squall explained as he unlocked the front door, revealing, as Sora suspected, an interior to match its owner. Smooth. Immaculate.

"It was my obsession, you could say," he continued, crossing the mahogany floor to a set of closed door across the room.

"But despite all my efforts... everything…" The two doors opened with a crackling groan. "I found nothing."

Sora's eyes widened with surprise.

The study was unlike the rest of the apartment: old fashioned against the contemporary. Three oaken bookcases lined the walls of room, each filled with more books than the brunet cared to count. In the middle rested a modest desk, cluttered with loose leaf papers and charts in a scene of organized chaos.

"Hopefully these will be of more use to you than they were to me."

a n d

True to the old man's words, Riku found the room with ease. Quelling his anxiety, he unlocked the door and stepped inside.

Ansem sat waiting in a tackily upholstered chair, a glass of vodka in his hand and a predatory smile on his face.

"I certainly hope Geppetto didn't keep you too long. It's been a while since the old fool received any business."

"Is this it?"

"You're not one to dally in trivial matters, are you?" The tanned man set aside his glass and stood, slowly advancing towards Riku. "No. This isn't it. In fact, this place has nothing to do with Hollow Bastion. Oh, don't look so surprised." Ansem laid a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Think of this as part of the initiation process."

Riku flinched from the man's touch and took an involuntary step backwards, eyes narrowing. "What the hell do you mean?"

"When you join the Heartless, you will be taken in as my ward. You will belong to me; mind, body and soul."

"And I thought the Heartless were just a band of murderers," the silver-haired boy replied dryly, edging towards the door. "I figured you rape your victims, not you-"

Ansem answered with a backhanded slap across the boy's face and pinned Riku against the wall with a hand to his throat.

"Oh, you misunderstand me, Riku," the man purred, his free hand fumbling in his coat pocket. "You're quite an attractive individual, no mistake. However, you will be begging by the time I finish with you. I wouldn't quite call that rape."

"Go cop a feel from someone else," the boy croaked out, fingers clawing at the hand constricting his throat.

The man chuckled. "I didn't expect you to be willing the first night. Pity, though."

He could feel the point of a needle press into the flesh of his neck and liquid fire surge through his veins. Riku cried out; his muscles convulsed and froze as he slumped, held up by the hand around his neck. The man gathered the limp bundle in his arms. "Pity."

a n d

"You have an idea where to begin? Maybe you'll have more luck than I did."

The brunet exhaled sharply and rubbed his hands together. "Okay. You happen to know where the Heartless attacked the most? That should give us a starting point."

Squall shook his head, pointing over the boy towards the door. "Good luck."

Sora followed the man's gesture, turning to find a map of Traverse to the left of the door. "154 incidents. I marked them all down." The man shook his head. "A waste of time."

The pins protruding from the map were numerous and seemed to follow no logical pattern. Sora squinted at the map; the pins seemed to collect loosely around five points.

"Maybe... you see how these a couple of these pins seem to cluster? Maybe it's shaped like a star, and the hideout is in the middle of it. You know how cults love their pentagrams."

The man studied the map for a second, a frown cut into his features. "No. That's not likely. I can barely make out the clusters, let alone the star." Squall outlined the map lightly with a gloved hand. "No. It wouldn't make sense. There's nothing of importance in the middle of the star."

Sora frowned. The man was right. The guild was obviously conscious about masking the whereabouts of their location.

"Well then," he started cheerily. "Let's hit the books."

a n d

He just had to keep his mind painfully blank. He didn't need to think about where he was, or what was happening. Another stab of pain shot up his spine. He didn't have the energy to cry out anymore. He didn't have the energy to think; he didn't want to, yet he did. It hurt, everything hurt and he could hear Ansem, feel Ansem pound into him, matching the waves of nausea and pain that continually surged over him and he can't move and he's helpless and it hurt and-

He just had to keep his mind painfully blank.

Ansem emptied himself and pulled out with a satisfied groan. The mattress shifted as the other stepped off the bed.

"I will give you a call when you're in a more... fitting state."

Riku could vaguely recall the rustle of clothes and the slam of a door as the other man exited the room. A choking sob escaped the boy's lips.

He just had to keep his mind painfully blank.

a n d

The man set aside the seventh newspaper he'd read and sat back, a hand to his temple. "You should just ask him where he is."

"Think I haven't tried that already?" the boy muttered, tossing the book aside and reaching for an old magazine.

"You're not going to find him this way."

"What the hell do you mean, 'You're not going to find him?'" Sora snapped.

"Five years I've looked for a trail and I didn't find shit. What makes you think this time will be any different?"

"That's it? You're going to give up? On Riku?" he hissed. "Gee, Squall, what determination you have."

"You think you've got it all figured out, don't you?" the man snarled, his normally cool countenance dissolving into rage. "There's only so long you can hope before you realize that it's all fucking pointless. Did you think it was easy for me to give up on my wife!"

"Well maybe you would have found her if you didn't fucking quit!"

Squall flinched at the last remark and looked away, mouth pressed tightly into a grim line. Sora kept his gaze trained on the desk in front. Neither was willing to speak.

The shrill ring of Sora's phone shattered the thickening silence. The brunet answered it hastily.

"Hello?"

"Monstro," came the reply; the voice opposite the line sounded tired and broken. Riku.

t o b e c o n t i n u e d

A/N: This chapter was surprisingly fun to write, even though there wasn't any SoraxRiku action. Heh. It just took too bloody long for it to get fun. Oh well. I'm getting there. ;D