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And before Riku could ask any questions, Sephiroth was gone. He stretched slowly and crawled off of the bed to find some clothing.

What kind of challenger could it be?

After all, he'd already smacked around more heartless than he could count - who or what could be stronger besides Sephiroth himself?

He wasn't as sore as he'd expected after the previous day's workout and training session. Of course, he was beginning to think the hours-long bouts of intercourse were more strenuous than any swordplay.

Sephiroth had a habit of pouncing on him mid-shower and taking him long before they made it out of the locker room.

A challenger?

Riku dressed in the black bodysuit he'd been given a few days back after most of his current clothing had been destroyed in various ways.

When Riku made it to the main arena, it was strangely quiet and empty. He stood there, holding his temporary weapon, a silver-colored broadsword, with his mouth open.

"Excuse me, Riku?"

Riku turned to see a young woman sitting on a nearby bleacher. He hadn't seen her before, but then again, he hadn't been looking for spectators. Her flowing robes marked her as one of Hades' bunch. Perhaps she was some sort of priestess or something. Maybe she belonged to his mystery challenger.

"What?"

She held up an odd looking fruit and smiled.

"Would you like a pomegranate?"

"A what? And who are you?" Riku asked as he walked over to the woman.

"It's not the best, but good when you're hungry. And you really should eat before you fight," the woman said, forcing the fruit into Riku's hand.

Sighing Riku sat down on the bleacher and set his sword beside him. The woman had ornate flowers decorating both her outfit and hair. He hadn't noticed them from a distance.

"And my name is Persephone. I'm Hades' wife."

Riku almost spit out his first bite. The woman hadn't looked blind.

"I'm sorry I haven't introduced myself sooner, but I only arrived back from visiting my mother yesterday," Persephone explained. "She's a little demanding with my time, but once her world starting crumbling, she let me come back here."

"Hades' wife?" Riku had finally managed to swallow his mouthful.

"He's a real sweetie after the first couple thousand years of getting used to him," the goddess said with a wave of her hand. "He comes up with some fun ideas!"

Riku just smiled and nodded, hoping either Sephiroth or his mystery challenger would arrive soon to rescue him from the woman's endless chatter. In the time it took him to eat the one pomegranate, he'd heard about how she and Hades had met, what she thought of Sephiroth based on meeting him the previous afternoon, and what sorts of flowers decorated her hair.

The air crackled with electricity as Sephiroth appeared a few feet away from the pair.

"Persephone." He bowed slightly before the goddess, who quickly stood and curtsied in return.

"You made it! I was just telling Riku all about my vacation at mother's place," Persephone said, smiling.

Riku looked at his teacher with a pained expression.

"I figure you'd have had him eating the arena floor by now," Sephiroth replied, eyes flicking back to Persephone.

"He needed a good breakfast," Persephone retorted, turning back to Riku. "You ready?"

"Ready? You mean?"

In a flash, Persephone had dropped her robes to reveal a reddish bodysuit covered in golden armor.

Sephiroth looked to the goddess for an explanation of Riku's questions.

"I didn't get to the part explaining I've studied various martial arts and sword techniques for the last five thousand years," Persephone said, shrugging. "Wait. More like four thousand. I took a millennium off to learn how to knit."

She turned back to Riku. "Maybe I could knit you a sweater before you leave. There are some cold worlds out there!"

"I'm supposed to fight you?" Riku still looked like he'd just been told that all reality was hereby revoked and from now on, Sephiroth would let him be top.

"Well, first you should see if you can actually hit me." With that, Persephone bounded across the arena, flowers trailing behind her from her hair.

"Go ahead," Sephiroth said. "Do your best."

"But..."

"Go. Now." Sephiroth didn't say another word as he turned to take a seat on the bleachers, careful of both his wing and hair as he sat.

Riku scowled as he grabbed his weapon and ran after the goddess. Who was she kidding? She moved slowly. And besides...

He fell back as he dodged a gigantic fireball, barely.

"What was that for?" he yelled as he stood.

"Motivation!" Persephone laughed as she ran over near Riku, pulling a golden sword that matched her armor from thin air.

Riku swung his own weapon and was surprised to find out he had missed. Had she moved as fast as Sephiroth could?

For the next five minutes, Riku chased randomly after the her, only hitting air as she eluded him.

"Stop." A firm hand grabbed Riku's arm. Sephiroth.

"What?" Riku snarled. He did not like being interrupted.

"I need to explain to you why you're missing with every swing."

"I can figure it out for myself," Riku shot back. He had totally lost sight of Persephone now.

"Riku, Persephone has been sitting on the bleachers with me for the last three minutes, threatening to knit me a sweater with a wing hole." Sephiroth let go of Riku's arm and pointed across the arena to where Persephone was waving. "You've been chasing illusions. Shadows. You need to be aware of both your opposition and your environment. Has no one taught you that?"

"They have," Riku replied. Cloud had. Cloud had always managed to get behind him, confuse him, and disorient him. But Persephone's trick was new. Still, he wouldn't fall for it again.

Later, as the day wore on and Riku finally managed to get a couple good hits in on the goddess, Sephiroth stopped watching them battle and instead turned to his own thoughts and concerns. Like whatever Riku was still hiding. And he was still hiding something.

He only half heard Persephone's announcement about Hades holding a tournament in her honor. And he only half remembered telling Riku he could compete.

The thing was, the more he watched Riku, the more he was sure he could see his young student making the same movements. Almost like... Like Cloud had shown Riku each move himself.

Hours later, Persephone bowed out of the arena after receiving a message from her mother and explaining that if she didn't respond right away, her mother would panic and launch a massive search effort.

With the goddess out of the way, Riku quickly headed to shower. He was a bit bruised and singed, but mainly unharmed. Persephone hadn't held back with her bag of tricks and he was glad of it. He'd lost, but only because he still couldn't figure out how to be fully aware of everything around him. But he'd practice. He'd learn. He'd succeed.

Or else.

Warm water ran over his body as he rinsed the sweat from himself. It felt wonderful. He closed his eyes and leaned back, letting the stream pour over his face and hair. With his eyes still shut, Riku reached for the bar of soap he'd set on the ledge nearby. Before he could even find the stone wall, he had the soap handed to him.

So much for being aware of his environment. He mentally kicked himself at letting Sephiroth sneak up on him. And it was definitely Sephiroth, based on the way already lathered hands were roaming over his body, cleaning as they groped.

Neither one so much as said a word as Sephiroth guided Riku to the stone wall, forcing him against it as Sephiroth stroked his erection.

Riku didn't even open his eyes. He was trying to be aware, even in the haze of arousal, of everything he could.

Still, he was lost as Sephiroth prepared him and pulled him up so his legs wrapped around the god's body, held between that and the wall as he was penetrated.

Riku only let out a low moan once he was sure his mouth was clear of the water. Sephiroth had never tried anything like this. But he definitely knew what he was doing.

Sometimes, when Sephiroth looked at him, he wondered who Sephiroth was truly seeing.

Still, none of that mattered as Sephiroth pace quickened and each thrust hit perfectly inside Riku so that in moments he was crying out in orgasm. Sephiroth finished soon after, gently guiding them both to the floor afterward.

"Riku, I have a question for you," Sephiroth whispered into the teen's ear a few minutes later. He'd kept Riku close to him. Hopefully his plan would work.

"Hmmm?" Riku reached up a hand to rub water away from his eyes and opened them to look up at Sephiroth.

"In your travels, have you ever met another swordsman? The one I'm looking for is a smaller man with blond hair who probably is still using something called a Buster sword."

Riku shook his head. He couldn't tell. Not yet. He wasn't good enough yet. No...

Fingers would up into Riku's wet hair, pulling his head to the god's chest. From the corner of his eye, Riku could see that bizarre black wing spread wide and barely grazing the tiled floor.

"If you ever do, you'll come back and tell me, won't you?" Sephiroth asked, his smile making him look less than sane. "While you are very, very special to me, I've come to believe that perhaps he is the only counterpart I'll truly have."

Riku nodded, not wanting to move from his position on the god's lap.

He cursed himself as he walked. The more he thought about what Sephiroth had said, the more he found himself thinking about Sora.

His counterpart. His other half. His... light.

He hadn't thought much about leaving Sephiroth. That may have had something to do with not even being close to the level he wanted to be at before moving on.

Sephiroth turned back to look at Riku. They were walking to their shared room and again Riku was lagging behind with a far away look on his face.

"Riku?"

"What now?" It came out harsher than he'd intended, but he suddenly had quite a bit on his mind.

"What thoughts are you lost in now?" Sephiroth cupped Riku's chin with one black-gloved hand, tilting his head up so their eyes met.

"Just thinking... when I leave here, to find my counterpart... And about you and Cloud too..." Riku was instantly cut off as that black-gloved hand snapped down to clutch painfully tight around his neck.

Sephiroth snarled, eyes bright and glowing in the dim hallway.

"I never told you his name."