The Rabbit Hole
Naminé was drawing.
Of course, she was nearly always drawing - her surroundings, her "feelings" (it was supposed that, being a "special" Nobody, she did have some), memories that weren't hers - but nonetheless, she was drawing. A box of old, worn down crayons was before her on the little white table, and she was hunched over her sketchbook, as if trying to make herself as small as possible. That was her pose in most cases; being visible was one among many downfalls of being her own person. Though, in all technicality, she would never be her own person, and this body belonged to Kairi anyways.
She let out a sigh, pushing her sketchbook away. Too much was troubling her - it was hard to concentrate on such petty things as drawings. For instance, the most troubling question…
…why was she here?
It wasn't supposed to be possible. She had to be with Kairi. She had to. Ever since Xemnas had been defeated those few months ago, she'd merged with Kairi and Roxas with Sora. That was the way it was. The way it was supposed to be, even; it's unnatural for half a person to be walking and talking, isn't it? So…why was she here?
The thought lingered with her was like a fly that wouldn't buzz away. And it was the sort of fly that always comes back, like on hot summer nights when you're lying in bed and all you can hear is the buzzing, and no matter how much you swat at it, moments after the buzzing recedes, it returns. Not only was this fly of a thought the slightest bit annoying at its recurrences, but it was worrying. She wasn't with Kairi. One half cannot exist without the other. That meant Kairi had to be incapacitated somehow…
Naminé had actually taken the time to portal to Destiny Islands in the last few days (though it did take quite an effort on her part - the ability to create dark portals was not beyond her, but it was one way to decrease her stamina effectively.) She'd taken the time to scout around without being seen, and had deducted as much from conversations that three people were missing from the Islands. Sora, Riku, and Kairi.
That was not good, not good at all.
She wondered where their hearts could be. After all, it was impossible for her to come out of Kairi's heart directly; the Princess' heart had not a shard of darkness in it. Sora was the most likely candidate for where Kairi's heart went, and if he'd let it free again, it'd create her, as well as going back to Kairi…so then, she wouldn't be entirely incapacitated, just captured or missing somewhere. So then…was Sora a Heartless?
Yet, in her recent recollections of Sora's memory, he wasn't a Heartless. So…he was whole…? That was quite possible, for sure…
Another thought struck Naminé. If Kairi's heart had lodged in Sora's body and he had released it (causing Naminé's existence), then he had also inevitably released his own heart, which could mean one thing…
…was Roxas also existing?
It was quite possible, Naminé reasoned. After, she was there, wasn't she? Roxas being there, too, wouldn't be that surprising. The question was, where was he? Where were Sora, Riku, and Kairi? And why?
It was entirely probable that the porcelain blonde would have sat there in silence for a very long time, wrapped up in the company of her mere thoughts and internal inquiries, searching inside herself for an answer which either she was reluctant to admit or which didn't exist in the first place and she had to find it elsewhere, if she hadn't suddenly heard the sound of something clicking.
The click was definitely mechanical. It was repetitive, as well, something forever trapped in one rhythm, not unlike a metronome, forever clicking on, telling you exactly the speed of your singing. But it didn't sound as much of a click as it did a 'tick, tock, tick, tock' of a watch. The sound was muffled enough to make her believe it was coming from something as small as a pocket watch, but distinct enough to not pass by as perhaps a natural sound from the exterior of the Mansion (where she was currently residing).
Naminé sat up in chair and glanced around her for the source of the noise. An object glinted from the center of the table - something sleek and dark silver with tiny intricate black designs that greatly resembled a spiral version of the Nobody symbol and Heartless symbol combined. It gleamed in the white light of the White Room, almost eerily, having a strange ethereal feel to it. And she saw, reflected in the light, the definite face of a watch. A very fine silver chain hung on one end.
A pocket watch.
As she sat there, gazing at the strange object, she began to wonder why she hadn't noticed it earlier. It didn't fit into the air of the room, nor did it fit into the lighting. In fact, if it had been there the whole time, it had also taken her a very long time to hear the ticking of the second hand. Which led to the idea that it had only very recently entered the room, but…how, without her knowing about it? How could it merely have materialized there?
"Curious," Naminé murmured, making a decisive reach for it.
Then, suddenly, halfway through the reach, her pale hand froze in place as a gloved one inches from her swiped it up. She couldn't move for a few moments, so utterly taken by surprise, before she jerked her head up to stare at a man with brunette hair and dancing blue eyes, so much like water, along with a playful yet nervous countenance…
"Demyx!?" Naminé questioned incredulously as soon as she had found her voice.
The man before her flashed a quick, mischievous smile before consulting the pocket watch. His smooth, young face creased into a worried frown, however, at whatever it said on the watch and shoved it into the pocket of his trousers. He announced in a whiny voice (the usual Demyx tone), "Aw, dang, I'm late!"
Naminé didn't move. She didn't speak. She was too amazed yet mortified at the sight in front of her to do much else but stare. And stare she did, until she finally took in what she was seeing. Not only was it Demyx, but he was dressed in the strangest articles of clothing - a brown tailcoat, a crisp white button-down shirt with an ocean-blue bowtie, and sleek silver-and-black trousers that matched the pocket watch (though they had blue swirl patterns on them, too). Also, for some ludicrous reason, he was wearing white rabbit ears (the costume sort, though they looked near authentic) and black makeup lines on his face that Naminé realized was supposed to represent whiskers.
A feeling rose up in the back of her throat. A premonition. A bad one. And a feeling of remembrance - she knew this, somehow, as sure as she knew Demyx.
(Also, as she observed him walk over to the other side of the room, she saw a fluffy rabbit tale poking out of the back of his pants.)
He heaved a great sigh and Naminé, too entranced to move, watched him with wide blue eyes. He stuck out his right arm and, without much gusto, created a dark portal. And if things weren't already odd enough, he created it on the floor, so it much resembled a hole.
And, without further ado and holdup (except a slight grumble about being late again), the Melodious Nocturne stepped into the hole and vanished.
Finally able to control her limbs again, Naminé slowly, shakily pushed back her chair and walked - nearly staggered - over to the portal on the floor. She got on her hands and knees and peered, swallowing, over the edge. It looked like a hole, all right. A long one; she couldn't see the bottom, it was far too stepped in darkness. The edges were wispy tendrils of the darkness, reminding her this was a dark portal, though where to she hadn't the slightest inkling.
Trembling, Naminé pushed herself closer to the edge. If she had a heart, it would've been pounding by now. As it was, adrenaline was rushing through her veins. And suddenly, in a rush, she got a feeling that whatever down there was dangerous, mysterious, and volatile, but also key to unlocking the most recent mysteries: where were Sora, Riku, and Kairi, and why were the Organization back (or at least Demyx, anyways, but she felt that if one of them was back, more of them probably were.)
Closer…closer…closer still, until…
She slipped, her hands no longer grasping the edge, and felt them stick into the darkness. For one precarious moment, everything shifted, and she sucked in a breath, striving to maintain her balance, but suddenly, she was falling, and then everything was a rush of darkness and wind and sound and suddenly…
…she was facedown on something soft.
It felt good to lie there after the horrific fall down the "rabbit hole". She breathed slowly, deeply, attempting to calm the blood pulsing through her body, taking deep, shuddering breaths. The experience itself was enough to make anyone's head spin. She could only imagine what it'd be like had she had real emotions.
She would have been quite content to lay there for a good long while had a slim finger not tapped her on the top of her head and informed her in a very knowledgeable tone,
"Don't dawdle, Nami, we're very late indeed."
