Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return V2

Riku slowly started turning around, directing Sora as well. An idea came to mind, though it should have occurred to him immediately. The last time Sora got hurt, they left Castle Oblivion and went straight to Hollow Bastion. That's where he was going now. Leon and the gang surely had something that could help Sora, if not the loopy wizard that lived there.

 

Sora felt Riku shift his grip on him slightly when he turned, making him grunt softly. He opened his eyes a crack and looked down at the ground, not daring to look up toward the ceiling or walls where the light was coming from. "Where are we going?" he managed to say, speaking through his teeth slightly because of the pain.

 

Riku kept his eyes on the still-open door just down the hall as he carefully continued forward. "To see Leon," he told Sora, voice tight with worry. "He might know what to do." Riku reached the end of the hall and stepped outside the door slowly with Sora by his side, glancing at his friend once they were walking through the snow again. "Stay with me, Sora. I don't know what's happened, but if you go unconscious, it can't possibly be good." His eyes then darted forward, the boy thankful no Heartless spawned in front of him.

 

Sora grunted in response, feeling a little better once they were in the cool air and away from the lights. He took in Riku's words, but he didn't dwell on them, unable to keep focus on one train of thought for more than a few moments. But he knew that last bit would stick with him: he had to stay conscious, or something awful could happen.

 

Once the long walk back to the ship was over, Riku took control of the Gummi ship and warped to Hollow Bastion. They docked a block away from Merlin's, and the older teen supported his friend as they walked the distance to the house. When they arrived, he managed to push the door open, entering and instantly feeling eyes on him.

 

Leon's eyes immediately went to the door when it was pushed open, the man's instincts telling him that it was serious. He gasped when he saw a familiar silver-haired teen and an even more familiar brunet. "Sora!" Wha-what happened? The teen was obviously in pain, but he didn't see any physical wounds.

Sora winced, Leon's loud voice ringing in his ears. He kept his head lowered, noticing even with his eyes on the ground that the room was fairly bright. He was surprised he was still conscious with the pain in his head, especially since it had gotten a bit more intense because of the Gummi Ship ride.

Aerith sat beside Leon at the table, as she, Leon, and Yuffie had just been discussing some issues concerning their home. Now, though, the discussion was over, due to the surprise visit of their friend. But obviously this wasn't a casual visit; something was very wrong.

 

Yuffie's eyes grew in surprise at the sight before her. "What happened?" she said, voice already full of worry. Sora looked terrible!

Riku focused on getting Sora across the room and to the bed, and once he was there, he started to explain. "We were attacked in Christmas Town," he said, his voice tight with concern for his best friend. "One of the illusion Heartless must have done something to Sora, but I'm not sure what." It was worrying him, whatever it was.

 

Sora felt Riku set him down on the bed and he leaned forward once he had both his arms available to him, his elbows on his knees. He brought his hands to his head, lightly gripping it. Well, "lightly" compared to how hard he had been holding it earlier.

Aerith looked over at Sora, her soft green eyes looking at him as he sat there with his head in his hands. What Riku said confirmed her suspicion that this wasn't a physical wound. Of course, that would have been easier to heal that whatever it was that was torturing Sora.

"Illusion Heartless," Leon repeated, frowning. He had encountered those for the first time a few years ago, but he had never seen them deal this much damage. Not even close. He turned to look at Aerith and Yuffie beside him, a question leaving his lips. "You guys know anything more about those things than I do?" And by that question, he really meant "do you know what's happening here?"

 

Yuffie frowned slightly as she shook her head, only knowing the basics of the weird species. Her eyes glanced back at Sora, the girl getting up from her spot and going to sit beside the boy. She lightly put a hand on the boy's back, tilting her head to the side to try and see how he was doing. Obviously it wasn't good, but she couldn't help herself.

 

"I know that their magic attacks heavily affect the mind if the Heartless is given time to cast all its spells," Aerith said with a slight shrug. "But that's about it." However, since she was trained in White Magic, she knew a lot of different healing techniques. And since Merlin was unavailable at the time, that left her as the most capable healer in the room.

Sora heard the conversation, but he didn't focus on it, unable to keep it as his center of attention. The pain was overwhelming him, even more so than it had been doing earlier. He recognized that if he didn't get help soon, he would definitely pass out.

 

Riku turned his attention to Aerith, recognizing that she was knowledgeable of spells. "Can you do anything?" he asked, eyes gazing at her with a mixture of worry and seriousness. He didn't want anything tragic to happen to his friend; Sora was like the brother he never had. Something happening to him was definitely not okay with Riku.

 

Aerith looked away from Sora to Riku, who was still hovering nervously by his best friend. "I'll try," she assured him. "I haven't seen this before, but knowing how their attacks work should help me find a cure." She hadn't encountered the rare Heartless before, only hearing rumors and piecing together information based off of what others experienced. But her magic would cure this; it had to. She looked back at Sora as she rose out of her seat, heading toward the brunet.

Leon followed Aerith with his eyes, seeing her pull up a chair and sit right in front of Sora. If she couldn't help him, then nobody could, for Aerith was the most powerful healer he had ever seen.

 

Riku glanced back at his best friend when he noticed Aerith heading over in that direction, the boy furrowing his eyebrows. What could he do? He understood that there was nothing, not anymore. Hopefully Aerith could cure whatever was happening. He didn't know what else could be done if that didn't work.

 

Aerith sat down in a chair right in front of Sora, tilting her head slightly in an attempt to see his face. "Sora," she called softly, gentleness in her bright green eyes. She needed him to look at her, or at least take his hands away from his head.

Sora opened his eyes fully when Aerith called to him, the teen wincing at the brightness of the room. He saw the look in her eyes, and he knew that she was trying to help him here. A heavy breath left his lips as he lowered his hands to his sides, leaving them clenched as fists.

"Close your eyes," Aerith requested softly, seeing the pain in Sora's bright blue orbs. She had a feeling the light was making the pain worse than it already was, and she didn't have reason for him to keep his eyes open. When the boy obeyed wordlessly, she lifted a hand and set her palm against Sora's forehead.

 

Yuffie kept a comforting hand on Sora's back, just as she had been the last few minutes of conversation. Aerith was very good with healing magic; the raven-haired girl believed Sora would find some relief, if not all, from Aerith's powers.

Riku watched wordlessly. Underneath all of his worry and exhaustion, he had faith in the brunette. She seemed soft-spoken but very powerful. At least, that was the vibe he was getting.

 

Aerith shut her eyes in concentration, using her powers to look into Sora's mind. What she saw was a bit surprising: darkness. And lots of it. It covered up almost everything, but behind the darkness, she could see the chains of spells that had been put on Sora. After a few moments, she mentally withdrew herself, opening her eyes as a look of disbelief crossed her face. How in the world did Sora survive taking this much damage in such a short amount of time?

Sora kept his eyes shut, only aware of three things: the pain, Aerith's hand on his forehead, and Yuffie's hand on his back. He hadn't been aware that Aerith had already seen some of what the problem was, the teen unaffected by that simple magic.

"Aerith," Leon started from his spot at the table. "How bad is it?" He knew from past experience that she always looked to see how bad the damage was before she did any healing magic, and though he could only see part of her face from his position, he knew that she hadn't started healing Sora just yet.

 

Yuffie looked from gazing at the side of Sora's face up to Aerith's eyes. She instantly saw the expression in them and bit her lip. If Aerith was wearing that expression, whatever happened must have been dangerous or unheard of.

Riku waited for Aerith to speak, not sure what exactly was going on. It was obvious when she put her hand on Sora's forehead that she was doing some kind of magic, but other than that, he was clueless. His eyes darted from Leon to Yuffie, and his hands tightened into fists automatically.

 

Aerith glanced at Leon for a moment before she looked over at Yuffie and then Sora, her eyes softening. "It's bad," she reported softly. "...I don't know how he managed to stay conscious all the magic they put on him. Or survive at all, really." Obviously, Sora was strong, but this just proved how strong he really was.

Sora heard the spoken words, and he furrowed his eyebrows. Yeah, yeah, it was bad. He already knew that. He didn't care how he had survived; he wasn't out of the woods yet. He opened his eyes and looked to Aerith, silently pleading that they stop talking and take action.

 

Yuffie rubbed her hand once over Sora's back at the news. The poor guy. He was only fifteen. He shouldn't have had to go through such a terrible thing.

Riku crossed his arms over his chest, lowering his head to stare at the floor. Somehow, he had been expecting that kind of news. Fortunately he had brought Sora to Leon, and more importantly Aerith. She seemed capable of doing something to tame whatever was going on.

 

Aerith saw the look in Sora's eyes and her own gaze softened further. "Breathe," she instructed him softly. "I'm going to get rid of the spells they put on you. Okay, Sora?" She would do whatever it took to heal Sora from this; he was a dear friend to her, and she wasn't going to allow any more hurt to come to him from this.

Sora nodded slightly, Aerith's hand staying against his head because the movement was so small. He shut his eyes and opened his mouth a little bit, taking in a breath and then slowly exhaling it. If Aerith said she was going to heal him, then he believed her. Simple as that.