The Great Magus

When Sora first laid eyes on the garden his breath was taken away. Like the other gardens, he couldn’t see where it ended at all. The stone paths were quite large and seemed to make a maze of sorts. At everything circular center, four paths came out to lead you further into the garden. Every plant was a water plant, but the majority of flowers were asleep, only two kinds remained awake. Riku explained that they both just needed water to survive and since they didn’t need to store their energy, they didn’t need to go to sleep. He told Sora that the blue flower was called the ‘Aestas Estas Aqua’, which meant Summer Water; it could only survive in constant summer waters and could do so in Validus since they never saw winter. The white flower was named ‘Luna Regina’ Moon Queen, the legend surrounding this flower was that one of the Moon Goddesses came down with a seed and gave it to a young girl. She was told to put it in a bucket of water on the new moon. The flower grew and soon the father had to make a pond for the countless flowers that sprouted up. The center of the Luna Regina was a constant swirl of colors.

Sora was led to the circular platform further into the garden, where they wouldn’t be disturbed. Riku kept his distance from the edge as the unclear memory of something frightening happening cam back to him. Sora didn’t feel afraid of the souls, there was no bad energy coming from them. They swirled around the new person with curiosity. Everything about this garden kept Sora in a constant state of wonder and joy.

Riku nearly had a panic attack when Sora grabbed his hand and pulled him near the edge, but the younger magus never let go and the prince started to relax. Riku unhooked his hand from Sora’s and slipped it around the boy’s waist. The silver haired prince smiled as he realized that Sora’s body held the slight curves of a female body and certain feature’s, like his deep blue sapphire eyes, creamy soft skin and certain facial structures. He pulled Sora closer, feeling quite content, his smile broadened when he felt Sora resting his head against his shoulder.

“I hated being this close to the water but you seemed to calm that fear in me,” Riku whispered

“Why are you scared?”

“When I was younger, I used to try and catch these spirits until I fell in one night and my father had to dive in and rescue me. I was only six…or five. I don’t remember it but my mom had told me that is the reason why I am still edgy around this garden.”

“Well if you don’t try to catch them anymore, then you shouldn’t fall in again.” Sora smiled up at the prince.

“Where do I know you from? You seem so familiar to me Sora,” Riku whispered as he gazed back at the younger boy.

“I don’t know but I can say the same to you. It feels as if I have grown up with you…like you were always beside me.”

“Sora,” Riku looked off into the garden, “where did you grow up? What village, city or town?”

“Village of Raith, close to the Evidron Sea. Why?”

Riku smiled at the answer, finally connecting how he knew Sora. “I was just curious.” Sora smiled and looked at the Luna Regina. “Tell me about yourself Sora,” Riku spoke suddenly, dragging the boy down with him to sit on the edge, being mindful to ignore the taunting spirits,” tell me about your life in Raith, please.”

“Um…ok…well I used to live with my brother, Cloud. Out mother died when I was five and out father left months later to another land. We lived in the same village as my aunt and uncle and their children, Namine and Rikku…heh that’s why you name seemed so odd to me, it is just like my older cousins name except she spells her name with two K’s,” Riku smiled and chuckled softly, “Cloud kept on our father’s business, weapon making, but he used to be a mercenary. He’s eighteen years older then I am and started his mercenary career when he was sixteen. When mother died he came back for the funeral and took up the business when father left so he could take care of me. He didn’t want me becoming a mercenary because he said I was to innocent and had another path to life. When I turned seven, Merlin came and wanted to train me. Cloud didn’t like the idea of me being taken away but he thought it might be better and he would visit whenever he could. I trained with Merlin but I have always missed Raith, my relatives and most of all, my brother.”

“Will you move back to Raith? When your training is done?” Riku asked, in the pit of his stomach a feeling of loss swept over him.

“Well maybe. So far yes, unless anything else turns up. I have learnt from my years with Merlin that you can never stay definite on future plans because many different things present themselves along the way.”

“That is true,” Riku grinned; the future had thrown Sora at him unexpectedly.

“Riku, can we go back please? I’m tired,” Sora asked through a yawn.

“Sure.”
Riku lay in his bed now, dressed only in black boxers. The blue light seeped through the windows, he hadn’t bothered closing the curtains and had left one open to the pleasant night breeze. He lay on his back, arms behind his head with his eye’s wide on and a smiled glued to his face. Oh yes, he remembered that spiky cinnamon haired magus and they had grown up together. Sora was the boy from his dreams. When Riku was ten, he started having weird dreams of being transported to a temple and in this temple of elements stood a lone boy of eight. Riku had been brought there almost every night in his sleep and they had talked until either one had to wake up.

Yes, they knew each other quite well and he knew everything about Sora’s relatives and family. He remembered the time Sora was crying as he told Riku about his parents, the feelings to raw. Even tonight Riku heard a dry sob being swallowed as the younger boy spoke about them. Sora and Riku had stopped these dream meetings two years ago when Riku was seventeen and Sora was fifteen. Now Riku had the real Sora physically before him, sleeping a few rooms away.

Now he wasn’t surprised about his mysterious feelings of love and want from Sora, some part of him had always known about him. A smirk crossed his face; tomorrow he would reveal this to Sora, after his weapons class with Leon. He closed his eyes with this new goal and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.