Correspondence with a Demon
Chapter 14 – Outbursts
"Ninety-three percent. Ninety. Three. Percent," Vexen repeated over and over as he paced back and forth. Naminé looked around in confusion. Sora stood in shock and took a seat, running a hand through his spiky hair, while Zexion inspected the machine. Naminé didn't turn around to look at Roxas' reaction.
The machine beeped a few times before turning off. Zexion looked down at the floor, his eyebrows scrunched up in concentration. He crossed his arms. "Ninety-three percent…it's unheard of. Practically impossible."
Sora's eyes shifted to the blue haired scientist. "Maybe the machine is faulty…?" he suggested, tilting his head. "It could be wrong. Maybe we should run that test again."
Vexen's head swirled around. "The machine is never faulty," he glared, "I tested it over and over again, and I assure you that it is very accurate. It doesn't matter if we run it again. It'll be the same result."
"Time's also not in our favor," Zexion pointed out. "It takes the machine a long time to recharge. We're just going to have to accept this result."
"Can someone explain to me what this all means? I'm very confused," Naminé spoke out. Sora glanced at her and looked as if he was about to say something, but the others continued to speak as if they didn't hear her.
"I just can't believe this. I've never seen anything like this before," Vexen thought out loud while he continued to pace. He started to mutter to himself. Some things that Naminé managed to catch were words she never heard of before.
"Do you think there could be…others with the same level?" Sora asked uneasily. Vexen stopped his pacing.
"Are you kidding?" Vexen swiveled around. "Of course not! Seventy percent was already pushing the boundaries. Ninety-three is just crazy! There's no way there could be anyone else."
"I was just wondering. I mean, I knew that she was a high level, but this high…?" Sora thought out loud.
"We all knew that she had a high level," Vexen added. "We just didn't expect this…"
"Excuse me. I'd like an explanation…?" Naminé tried to voice out, but it ended up being drowned in the sea of voices.
"Well, at least we now know why those evolved creatures have been going crazy," Zexion observed. His eyes started to droop, but he blinked a few times to get the exhaustion out of his system. He shook his head. "We also know that they're going after high levels, but what would be the lowest they'll chase after…?"
"I'm just surprised that she managed to survive this long," Vexen replied, approaching the table. He crossed his arms. "If she had this kind of level all her life, she should have been captured a long time ago."
He looked at Naminé as if he was trying to figure out what made her tick, possibly mentally dissecting her. She shuddered and looked away.
Zexion looked up, an idea passing through his head. It looked like something Vexen said had triggered something in his mind. He suddenly turned towards Naminé, picking up the clipboard that he left on the table. "How old are you?"
"I'm eighteen, but – "
"Have you ever noticed anything peculiar since you turned eighteen? Anything strange?" He wrote down her answer on his clipboard and looked back up at her expectedly.
Naminé looked back at him in confusion.
"What does this have to do with – "
"Just answer the question," Zexion said sternly. "It's very important."
Naminé was thrown off by the sudden seriousness in his voice but took a minute to recollect her thoughts. Did anything strange really happen? Then a picture flashed before her eyes: moving shadows on the walls.
"…Before all this, I think…I did notice something, but I could be mistaken. Anyhow, I'd really like it if you guys would tell me what this all – "
"What was it that you noticed exactly?"
Naminé stared at him, wondering what it was he wanted from her. All she wanted was answers, and he wanted more information from her. All of this was starting to irritate her.
But she did what she was told. She racked her memories, trying to pinpoint when it was exactly she first saw it. Then she remembered that on the day of her eighteenth birthday, she had a small party at her home with her parents and some of her friends. When they turned off the lights and lit the candles, Naminé thought she saw the shadows move and could've sworn that she saw faces on them. She blinked a few times, but when she looked back, they had turned into just regular shadows. Maybe her eyes were playing tricks on her? But it doesn't explain the other times…
Then there was the time before her first encounter with Roxas. When she turned around the first time, she thought she saw a shadow move behind the trashcan. Was that one, too? She dismissed it at that time, but maybe there was actually something there…
"Naminé?" Sora asked, breaking her away from her thoughts. She looked up to see everyone except for Roxas looking expectedly at her.
Perhaps she shouldn't have said anything, but now that she mentioned it, they were waiting for her answer. Naminé hesitated before speaking.
"I…kind of noticed some shadows moving around whenever the room was dim. Now could you please – "
"What are you getting at, Zexion?" Vexen interrupted. He looked a little annoyed that Zexion noticed something and that he didn't catch it. Meanwhile, Naminé's anger started to rise from being constantly being interrupted and ignored. She tried to contain it.
"This may be a developing theory of mine, but it may be possible that levels rise significantly when humans reach adulthood," Zexion said.
Vexen slapped his forehead. "Adulthood! Of course! It makes so much sense! I cannot believe that it slipped right through me!"
"Not only that, but I think that there was a specific way as to how she was raised that made her acquire such a level…It explains why no one else can have the same level and why she has such an abnormal level," Zexion pondered.
Sora stood, his chair screeching on the tiles.
"If it is indeed adulthood, then we must inform Xemnas at once," he said, "Then perhaps, we can – "
Naminé banged her fist on the table, startling everyone in the room. They turned their heads towards her.
She didn't know what came over her. No one was explaining anything to her, and it was frustrating. She tried to ask politely and tried to get them to calm down, but it wasn't working at all. All of this delay and all of the dodging finally got to her.
"Someone. Explain. Now," she said. Anger welled up inside of her. She was sick and tired of being kept in the dark. She deserved to know what was going on, especially since it involves her. She wanted to know, and she will get her answers if she had to tear the demons apart to get them.
She scanned the room, pausing at everyone's faces except for Roxas who still stood quietly behind her.
Sora was surprised at the anger in her voice, but he looked down guiltily when their eyes met.
Zexion was blankly staring at her and watched her with observing eyes. He raised an eyebrow at her sudden shift in attitude and looked like he wasn't going to say anything.
When she turned to Vexen, he blinked. He opened his mouth to say something, and she waited for his answer.
But Roxas got to it first.
"Basically, you're like a battery," he answered quietly. Naminé turned her head, glaring at him. He stood a few feet from her with his hands in his pockets, staring blankly at her.
"Roxas, I don't think – " Sora began.
"It's not wise to tell her – " Zexion said at the same time as Sora spoke.
"What do you mean by 'battery'?" Naminé interrupted loudly, silencing the two. She turned her head and narrowed her eyes, which told them to be quiet. Sora looked guilty but managed to send Roxas a "you better not overstep the boundaries" look. Zexion sent a glare back at her but stayed silent.
"You're a power source for those creatures, a high quality one. It's no surprise that they would do anything to get you," Roxas' eyes bore into hers.
Her eyes challenged his. "And this test tells us that I have ninety-three percent of this power?"
He looked at her as if she should already know.
"Then how do all of you fit into all this?"
"We're in charge of everything."
"In charge of…what exactly?" she pressed on.
"Everything," he replied simply. Naminé felt as if she should be used to his incomplete answers, but he just kept dodging and wasn't going to say anything more. It made her even more irritated today than the rest of the days.
Naminé seethed, "I'm really tired of your vague answers."
Roxas shrugged. "It's the only answer you will get," he said. It was the same thing he said to her the night they first spoke to each other. Naminé swore that she saw a hint of a smirk on his face.
Her anger reached its boiling point. All of a sudden every little thing about him made her anger rise.
She hated his voice.
She hated his smirk.
She hated his answers that never seem to completely answer her question.
She even hated the fact that she was stuck in that suffocating room with him.
Her vision suddenly became blurry. Her ears picked up a screeching sound, and she found herself lunging at Roxas, arms stretched towards him. Her hands were aimed at his neck. Anger started to pour out of her.
She felt strong arms around her waist and looked back. Sora's body was draped across the table and was holding her back from attacking Roxas. Even though his feet barely touched the ground, he still managed to keep her back.
Vexen was taken aback by her outburst and stood in complete shock. Zexion, on the other hand, acted fast. He rushed out the door and returned with a box and a cylindrical object.
Naminé looked back and stared at the blonde's blank stare. She really wanted to hurt the Roxas. Her hands ached to sink her nails into his neck. She wanted to beat his face into the table so that he wouldn't smirk at her like that anymore. She clawed at Sora's hands and arms, trying to break free. Sora winced but kept his grip on her waist.
She snarled.
In the back of her mind, she was frantically telling herself to stop and that something weird was going on with her. Something was wrong, definitely wrong. She didn't act like this. She wasn't like this at all. It was too out of character, almost as if she was turning into a different person.
At first, it seemed like her conscience was getting through to her, and she was beginning to calm down. But when she looked up at him and saw that he stared back with pity in his eyes, it made her even angrier. She felt her blood boil and mentally thrust her conscience to the back of her mind.
"It's not fair!" she screamed, her hands clawing the air. "It's not fair! I'm the one most involved, and yet I don't know anything!"
"I already answered your questions," Roxas replied calmly.
"I don't want those half-assed answers!" she yelled.
"Those 'half-assed answers' are more than enough for you."
"No. They're. Not," she growled, emphasizing each word. "If you don't answer me properly, I'm going to…I'm going to – "
There was a blur in front of her. Suddenly, Naminé felt a tight grip on both of her arms and was yanked roughly from Sora's grasp. Then she was thrown to the floor, her back and shoulder hitting the tiles painfully. She looked up to see glaring blue eyes stare down at her and found her arms pinned away from her body.
"You're going to do what?" Roxas asked in quiet anger.
Naminé was angry that he put her in this position. She yelled and thrashed, trying to get him off. She kicked her legs, but it only hit air. She knew that he was stronger than her and that struggling was futile, but her need to seriously injure him was strong. It clouded her senses. She could still hear the incomprehensible whispers of her conscience in the back of her mind.
"Just hold her still, Roxas," Zexion said calmly. Naminé's eyes traveled to the blue-haired scientist and then to the object in his hands. He was currently filling the syringe with some sort of liquid. Her eyes saw the label on the bottle: sedative. Her eyes widened as she figured out that they were going to knock her out. She started thrashing again.
Roxas growled loudly, catching her attention. Her struggles lessened, and she felt as if he suddenly got heavier. When she tore her eyes away from the needle in Zexion's hands, she found that Roxas had turned into his other form. A mountain lion stood before her, his big heavy paws still pinning her arms down. His claws were out, and he bared his teeth, showing her that he was not happy with her attitude and that she'd better not struggle.
"Get off" she screamed. "Get off of me, you stupid animal!"
"You have to get her to stop struggling! I might injure her if she keeps this up!" Zexion yelled over her screams. Her leg come in contact with Zexion's shin, making him groan. He stooped, nursing his aching leg.
Roxas roared once, making her cringe. Her struggles stopped for a minute before picking back up again, and she glared challengingly up at him.
He raised his left paw to strike. Naminé's eyes widened. He wouldn't strike her, would he?
His paw came down, taking a swipe at her face. She felt his claws drag across her cheek, breaking open the skin. Her head turned left, leaving her shocked as warm blood trickled down towards her ear. The wound throbbed. All of the anger evaporated, and her mind became clear. All of struggling ceased, and she just lay there. She could hear her conscience again, which was now telling her to apologize for her unreasonable outburst.
But she couldn't utter a word. She shrank back into the floor, frightened. He had never injured her to this extent before, but now she was scared that he might hit her again.
Roxas was still in his mountain lion form, his paw raised to strike again if she moved. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the blue haired scientist kneel at her left side. He held up a syringe and tested it to see if it was working. She turned her head and watched as he stuck the end of the needle into the crook of her elbow. She vaguely felt the needle prick her skin and the drugs being introduced into her veins. It stung, but it felt like the scratches on her cheek hurt even more.
Her vision became blurry once again. Her head became dizzy. Her eyelids dropped, and she fell into the darkness.
In the distance, she could hear the others in the room, yelling. She then heard more footsteps and felt as if she was being lifted off the floor. Then she couldn't hear or sense anything anymore.
It seemed like hours before her ears picked up something. Her eyelids were heavy, and she found that she couldn't open them. She thought she was dreaming, but then she heard familiar voices. She strained her ears to hear them.
"Has she ever had outbursts like that?" someone asked, his voice bouncing off the walls. It sounded really familiar. Naminé felt like she should know this person. It took her a while for her brain to recognize the voice as Zexion's.
"Just once before," said another voice. "According to Olette, she tore apart my books." She instantly recognized it as the person she previously picked a fight with. Roxas.
"Oh, so that's what happened to them," someone at the far end of the room commented. This voice was deeper. It was unfamiliar.
Where was she exactly? From the feel of it, she must be lying in a bed in a spacious room. Her fingers touched the blanket.
Zexion let out an exasperated sigh. "Why didn't you say anything? This is really serious, you know."
"I'm fully aware of that," he retorted.
"Zexion's right though," interjected a third. This one was definitely Sora. Naminé could definitely hear the "leader" in his voice. "You should have said something about it so that we could've been more prepared about it. Now that she has had these outbursts, it's no doubt that you must've done something to her. Now spit it out: what did you do?"
There was silence throughout the room.
"We don't have all day, Roxas. We need to know what you did to her."
"I kissed her…" he replied quietly.
"No wonder she got all fidgety during that one question. You stole her first kiss," Sora said. It wasn't a theory; he stated it as a fact. Naminé heard footsteps pace back and forth.
"And judging by how uncontrollable her outburst was, you must've kissed her a second time before. Am I right?" Zexion asked.
His silence was taken as confirmation.
"First and second kiss…" Sora said slowly. He sighed frustratingly, "You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into."
"I know damn well what I got myself into," Roxas said, his voice raised. "I don't need your opinion on it."
"You have no idea," Sora repeated, "No idea. Roxas, this is not only risky for her. You're now risking yourself, your sanity. Every time you get closer to her, you'll end up losing yourself. If you don't keep your distance now, you'll not only end up tarnishing Naminé, you're bound to end up like – "
"Don't. Say. It," Roxas interrupted. "I told you that I already knew what I was going to get myself into when I took on that contract."
"Do you have a plan then, Roxas? Because I'd love to hear it," Sora said accusingly.
Another period of silence. Naminé guessed that Roxas was giving Sora a death glare.
"Did you know?" Sora asked, quiet anger present in his voice.
"Know what?" Roxas spat back.
"Did you even know that her level was this high? You were the only one who wasn't surprised by the results. You must have known if you already prepared yourself for it," Sora said.
Another period of silence followed.
"Well?" Sora pressed on.
"It's like you said before: I knew she had a high level but didn't expect it to be that high," he replied.
"I don't believe you," Sora said. If Naminé could open her eyes, she guessed that she would've seen a glare on Sora's face. "I know you, Roxas. There's something that you're not saying, and I want to know right now. I bet you knew that her level was that high. What is it that you're hiding?"
"I'm not hiding anything," Roxas replied, possibly also returning the glare. "It's just as I told you."
"Step down from your position, Roxas," Sora said. "Break your contract with her if you have to. You're getting too deeply involved into this, and you will regret this if you continue. Even if you're not saying anything, I can tell that being around her is affecting you too much."
"That's a lie!" Roxas yelled. "I'm not being influenced by her or anything! I've kept careful distance. I don't need you to tell me what to do!"
"Hey, hey. Break it up," said the unfamiliar voice. "Sora, that was a little too much. You don't have proof for your accusations, so it's best to just stop right there."
"I also suggest that we keep our voices down if we would like our guest to rest soundly," suggested another unfamiliar voice. "Sora, I know you are worried, but you must not lash out that anger at Roxas."
There was a period of silence before Sora sighed dejectedly. "You're right, Marluxia," he said. "The meeting's also going to start soon, so we should make our way down now before Vexen tells everyone. We'll continue our discussion there."
Naminé heard them walk away.
"Roxas, let's go," Sora called out. The tone in his voice suggested that he meant now and not later.
"I'll be right there. Just give me a damn minute," Roxas replied.
The footsteps faded away, and Naminé heard the door close.
She heard him come closer to the bed and became scared. She felt like running away, but at the same time, she didn't think that she had the strength to run away. The sedative was probably still running through her veins.
Then she felt his fingertips softly brush the wound he gave her. They lightly trailed on her cheek before trailing up to her forehead. His touch was warm. It was soft, gentle, but it was also trembling. It was almost as if he was afraid of something... Unconsciously, she leaned towards his hand. He brushed her bangs to the side, tickling her face.
She felt his shadow loom over her, the heat of his body coming closer to hers. He planted a soft kiss on her forehead and quickly withdrew.
"I'm…sorry…for everything," he whispered. She heard him back away.
"It's already too late for me to break away..."
His silent footsteps made their way to the door. When the door clicked shut, Naminé found the strength to open her eyes.
She looked around the room and found herself at the bed in the far end of the infirmary. Her gaze flickered towards Olette's form nearer to the entrance. Her soft breathing suggested that she was deep asleep.
She lifted a hand to her forehead just where his lips had touched. She gingerly brushed it before holding a hand to her cheek, which she found to be treated and bandaged. She looked down at her hands on her lap over the white blanket, her nails stained with spots of blood from when she scratched Sora.
She was confused in more ways than one.
To Be Continued…
Author's Note:
So how's everyone been doing these past 2 weeks? I'm sorry I haven't been replying much. But thank you for being so patient with me. :) I promise that there won't be any more delays (unless I get lazy...Hopefully that won't happen.). So the Anime con was fun. It was a little weirder than last year's but still enjoyable. I wish I could've attended more events though...Ah well.
So a lot of things went down in this chapter. Many things were revealed, semi-revealed. Sora's acting more emotional than usual, Roxas is being weird, and Vexen is still creepy. I didn't enjoy this chapter as much, but it got kinda interesting towards the end. Maybe things will pick up in the next chapter.
Also, I'm sorry I didn't get to write much for this chapter. I was kind of struck with writer's block and was also busy writing another KH one-shot. It's not done yet, but I'll see how it turns out. :D
Before I go, I'd like to thank everyone who diligently kept up with my updates and never failed to review and encourage me. You guys are too awesome. Special thanks to: Kutlessrocker, midnight-heart, Typewrite, Tsuraya-chan, NeverGirl, Roxa-XIII, MsEvilbabe, TheDormantOne, Draco Oblivion, eion sairy, Q-A the Authoress, lizzyytx33, MemoryxKeeper, CaptainJas, Aislin Oblivion Angel AOA, Pilpols, Redeeming Endeavor, TheShadowedKissedAngel, AlyssTwilight1784, gothicgirl101, jellybeanmania, and Ms. Witch.
Thanks again for reading! See you all next week! :D