Now that the Keybrat was in the castle, Naminé had to be watched at all times. Even at the times they assumed were night (because it wasn't like you could tell, here in Castle Oblivion). Tonight, Larxene had drawn the short straw and was stuck in this too-white room, watching the witchling draw. It was getting boring fast.
And then, soon enough, it was Naminé's bedtime, or at least the time at which she wanted to go to sleep, which was much the same thing. She gathered up all her crayons into a nice and neat little pile then closed her sketchbook and laid it next to the crayons. Then she spoke, a rarity as far as Larxene was concerned.
"Larxene?" the witchling said nervously, her blue eyes wide as she looked up at the Nymph. "Um… Axel… he tells me bedtime stories." She looked away as Larxene raised one eyebrow, then Naminé scurried over to the presumed safety of her little pallet in the corner.
Axel had always had a soft spot for the witchling, so it wasn't much of a surprise that he told her stories. What was sort of surprising was that she was all of a sudden confiding this to Larxene. "What of it?" she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back against a stark white wall.
"Well… um… could you tell me a story?" Naminé asked hopefully, drawing the covers up to her chin. "To help me sleep?" She did not look over at Larxene again, presumably afraid of what she would see in the other Nobody's face.
"Why would I want to do that?" Larxene replied. The girl was only still 'alive' because she was useful to them, could rearrange or destroy Sora's memories. And she could do that whether or not she was happy, simply because she was scared of what Marluxia and Larxene would do to her if she disobeyed (even though she was a Nobody, and Nobodies really weren't supposed to be able to feel). Larxene sometimes wished that the witchling would disobey, just so that she would be able to punish her.
"Never mind," Naminé murmured, rolling onto her side and closing her eyes. She looked so alone, so vulnerable curled up there like that, Larxene thought. It was almost cute in a way. Almost like Aerlen had been. Somehow this… softened something inside her.
She sighed. "Fine. But don't expect me to make a habit of this or anything, 'cause I won't." She grabbed the chair from Naminé's little desk and pulled it over to the pallet.
Naminé's head shot up in shock. She obviously hadn't expected Larxene to agree to her request (which prompted the question of why she had asked in the first place). "Oh, thank you!"
"Yeah, yeah. What's Axel generally talk about?" Xaldin had told Aerlen stories once upon a time, but that had been before she lost her heart again, and Larxene wasn't quite sure if she remembered.
"He calls them fairytales, about dragons and princesses and evil queens." Naminé was quick to answer, possibly fearing that if she took too long Larxene would change her mind.
Fairytales, huh? She remembered a short story Xaldin had told her once, about princesses and dragons. It didn't have any evil queens, but hey. "Okay, squirt, close your eyes and try to sleep." For some reason, Naminé just reminded her too much of who she had been, so quick to obey and desperate to be needed. "Now… let's see… Once upon a time, there was a world called Nell, where everyone was magic. Each person could turn into an animal, and no two animals were ever the same. The princess of that world was a girl called Mariden, and she could turn into a black dragon.
"However, one day, a wild dragon came down from the mountains. Mariden was picking flowers in the garden at that time for her sister's wedding, so she didn't notice the large flying shape until it was too late. The dragon saw her hidden dragon's form and mistook her for its mate. It swooped down and grabbed her, then flew away with her to its rocky lair."
Several minutes later, the story was over, the dragon was dead, and the princess was saved. Naminé opened one eye to peer up at Larxene. "For… for a bad guy, you're not that bad," she murmured sleepily.
Larxene frowned. "Don't tell that to the others, I've got a reputation to keep. And don't be expecting this all the time, brat." She still wasn't sure what had made her give in tonight, after all.
"Why are you the bad guys?" Naminé asked, curling herself into a little ball and shutting her eyes again. "If you're nice like this sometimes."
Pushing the chair away roughly, Larxene stood and walked away. "Because the good guys don't try to destroy the worlds."