Redemption Frägment

Chapter Four: On Our Way

I wake to gentle rocking and with it a fierce need to throw up. I haul my body from the hammock I lay in and make it as far the corner before up-chucking my internal organs onto the hardwood floor. Then I feel a hand place something cool on my neck and put a cup of something in my hand.

“Come on, An. Go lay back down.”

It was Riku.

Riku?

“You came back?” My voice is rough and my throat hurts from the acid. Riku helps me lay back into the hammock and covers me in a warm blanket.

“Yeah.” Riku pauses. “You had a point and they were going to kill you. I couldn’t let that happen to you.”

I nod and sip the cup’s contents. I promptly spit it out, gagging and coughing. I stare at Riku in question since I can’t seem to find my voice.

“I dunno. The captain told me to bring it to you. He said it’d make you better.”

“I think it made me worse.”

Riku lays one hand on my head and gently smiles. I stare at him, hunching a little. He backs away and grins.

“I told the captain we’re brothers, but I don’t think he believed me. He’s taking us to Therein and he says we can rest there, recuperate. But, since we don’t have any money with which to pay for our trip, I get to play cabin boy.”

“Better you than me.” I snuggle deeper under the blanket. I feel really sick. I don’t know if it’s the drugs or the ship’s own rocking. Riku pats my head again.

“Yeah. You’re more susceptible to seasickness in your state. Instead of cleaning the decks, you’d be making us dance in your barf.”

I settle for glaring at him as my stomach churns again when the ship rocks on the waves. Riku turns to clean up my mess in the corner, saying nothing of it. I close my eyes in an attempt to ward off the nausea, but it doesn’t work. I manage to lean over the side of the hammock before I throw up on myself. Riku just sighs and cleans that mess up too.

“Sorry.” I whisper, hiding in my blanket. Riku just smiles and shakes his head.

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault. You can’t help it. You’re just prone to seasickness.” Riku admonishes me. Answers that question of who’d be the older one if we really were brothers. I’m thankful that Riku gets a bucket for me to puke in instead of on the floor.

“I’ve gotta go swab the decks. I’m going to lock the door so they can’t get to you. Rest, okay?” Riku moves to the door, opening it. He looks back at me and smiles. I just nod and pull the blanket over me. Then I pull it away and puke into the bucket.


Riku pulled the mop across the wood, keeping his head down. The other sailors watched him, talking about him. No. Not about him. Ansem. They were curious about him, curious why the priests in Bedouin would want to sacrifice a boy who did nothing to harm society.

Society needed to take a hint and buy a clue.

Riku mopped angrily. Ansem was different this time around. He wasn’t acting. Riku would be able to tell if he was acting. It was as if someone had rifled through Ansem’s personality and taken out the dark evil part of him, leaving him only the innocent, evil part. Ansem wasn’t good. He just didn’t fit the profile for a good guy. Riku found himself liking Ansem. It was more a familial liking than a lover liking. Besides, he already liked someone that way. And that someone didn’t even realize how he felt.

Riku slowed his mopping, thinking back to the beginning of everything. It had been a normal, typical day on Destiny Islands. That night, though, everything changed. That whispery voice calling him toward the darkness, promising him things his heart ached for. He’d thought the changes would be for the better. He’d believed the lies Maleficent told him, he had let Ansem take over his body. This was as much his fault as it was Ansem’s. But Ansem was on a quest for redemption as a normal teenage boy, confused as hell and probably afraid. Riku sighed. Ansem. If they had met earlier, would it have turned out this way? Would they be friends or enemies? It was a frightening thought. He looked up and saw Emma staring at him. Emma, he found, had a knack for escaping from the room where Ansem was staying. He didn’t understand the fuzzy thing’s role in this quest, and he hadn’t bothered to ask Ansem about Emma either. Maybe he should do that.

“Hey lad. How’s your friend doing?”

Riku turned to face the captain of the ship, smiling weakly. “He’s still seasick.”

“Aye. I figured he’d get that, especially drugged up like he is.” The captain stood by Riku, watching him move the mop around the wooden rails. “We’ll be in Therein in about a day now. Hopefully, you two will find some place safe to stay.”

“Yeah, me too.” Riku smiled and looked down at the bucket of soapy water. He wondered if there was anywhere safe for Ansem. He doubted it, considering Ansem still had yellow eyes, and it wasn’t like he could do anything to change that. Ansem couldn’t help but be who he was, just like Riku couldn’t help being who he was. He just hoped that when they reached Therein, they could get some information on Sora’s whereabouts. Or find somebody who did.


“You’re sure?”

“Yes. Several people saw him walking with a twin. He was going to be sacrificed, but his companion saved him.” A pause. “Do we tell him?”

“No.” Hesitation. “I don’t want to get his hopes up. It’s been two years and I know he hasn’t given up, but there’s no reason to start a panicked search. Try to find out where they’re headed and their objective. If he really has come back and has that boy for a friend, then we might have problems.”

A salute. “Yes sir.”