Sorrow's Promise

Chapter 13

The incessant knocking on my door took a couple of minutes to fully rouse me from sleep. Moaning, I rolled over onto my stomach, burying my face in the pillow. Why did morning have to come so soon?

"Up and at 'em!" Riku called through the door with way too much energy.

"Yeah," I replied, though with my face still buried it just sounded like another groan. Yesterday had been another long, tiring day, and being in the bed felt so good on my aching muscles. I didn't want to have to move again for a very long time. Unfortunately, the need to breathe pretty quickly forced me to at least turn my head over to the side.

"Meet you out back in fifteen," Riku spoke again, his voice fading as he moved away from the door.

Curse him and his ability to thrive early in the morning. Why had I agreed to doing this to myself? And why, oh why, couldn't we have training at say, noon, or maybe three in the afternoon? I needed coffee. Somehow I had gotten through the last couple of weeks without having coffee every morning before training, but that didn't mean that I didn't still desperately want it. If only I could just pop back home and grab my coffee maker, life would be so much better.

Wait a minute. A sudden idea came to mind that was so enticing it made me actually sit up in bed, ignoring the protests from my back and abs. What if I could just pop back home and grab the coffee maker, along with several other things I wished I had? I hadn't attempted to make another portal since the first successful one, but I felt pretty confident that I could make it work again. In the few days since I had learned my first magic spell with the Keyblade, Riku had taught me two more spells that I had had no problem with. So if I could shoot fire, ice, and thunder, and create a barrier around myself, surely I could make a portal to my apartment and back.

I smirked as the absurdity of that thought struck me. What a world I had become a part of! No time to dwell on that now, though, there was coffee to find. Scooting off the bed with new energy, I got dressed, then stopped in front of the mirror and studied it for a moment. There was always the chance, of course, that none of my stuff would even be there anymore. I had better not get my hopes up too high.

Taking a deep breath, I placed my hands on the mirror, picturing the apartment in my mind. The portal appeared even quicker than it had before. Tentatively, I first tried sticking my hand through it, and was almost surprised that it actually worked. My hand vanished right into the wavering mirror. I decided then to poke my head through, just to make sure that it actually lead to my apartment, and that there weren't new tenants living there. If there were – well, there was a high possibility of finding them passed out from fright, so I certainly hoped there weren't.

Passing through felt a bit like a cool breath of air on my face. When I opened my eyes, it was definitely my apartment that I saw, and to my delight, all of my belongings were still in place. I was surprised to be coming out next to my bed, instead of from the mirror, but I supposed since the basement I had originally entered didn't even have a mirror, it made sense. Apparently you only had to have a mirror to make a portal, not to come out of one.

I stepped through with one foot, but left the other still back in the mansion for now. The apartment smelled a bit musty, like no one had been in there for a while. Other than that, though, the familiarity was welcoming. It might not have been much of an apartment, but it had still been mine for quite some time. I was still a little apprehensive about stepping all the way through and having the portal close behind me, but when I spotted my coffee maker on the kitchen counter that was enough motivation to pull me in.

Hurrying across the room, I snatched up the device and unplugged it, then opened the cabinet above it and tucked the canister of coffee grounds from inside underneath my arm. I ran back to the portal and leaned in, setting the two items on the floor of the mansion bedroom. When I straightened again, the portal fizzled and shrank until it had completely disappeared. For a few seconds, I stood in place and stared at the empty beige wall where it had been, trying not to let fear get the best of me. If I couldn't open another portal, not only would I be stuck here, but now I'd be stuck without coffee. But I could do this. I just had a few more things I wanted to grab first.