Correspondence with a Demon
Chapter 25 – Borderline
"Your protection is only my responsibility," he said firmly as his eyes bore into Naminé's. His figure continued to loom over hers as he trapped her, his arms a barricade. "This contract is between us and shall remain that way.
His eyes hardened. "I won't allow anyone else to interfere."
Naminé jumped as a large boom resounded through the halls. It was close to where they were, and the tremor lasted longer than all the previous ones. She turned her head to look at the direction it came from, but she couldn't see anything other than the dust. She could hear the screams and yells of the other demons as they tried to defend their home.
But it didn't seem like Roxas heard it. He didn't even flinch. He just continued to stare at Naminé, which gave her that familiar and uncomfortable shiver down her spine. As she looked closer, she saw the specks of yellow in his eyes again. They disappeared and then reappeared. Every time the yellow flickered, it would spread, almost covering up the demon's blue eyes.
"Roxas?" Her voice was barely audible.
At once, the specks of yellow disappeared completely, leaving a clouded shade of blue. He blinked several times, shaking his head, and he took a few steps back from her until his back met the wall on the opposite side. He put his hands over his eyes. Naminé remained where she was, watching him carefully. As worried as she was about him, she wondered if she should take this chance to run away. For a while now, she has had this underlying feeling that something was wrong, and now she knew for certain that Roxas was not himself and became as frightened as she was that night when she saw his eyes for the first time. She recalled Sora's words and warnings and became afraid that Roxas was going to turn out like Xion.
As if he read her thoughts, Roxas shot her a look that rendered her paralyzed. All of a sudden, she couldn't feel her legs. His stare was so intense that it stopped all thoughts of escape. Those cloudy and murky blue eyes.
"Roxas, you're not thinking straight," Naminé began to say, "This…this thing that I have is only making you - "
Roxas shook his head, and Naminé's words died before they left her lips. It wasn't that he was disagreeing with her. It looked more like he was trying to shake off whatever was plaguing him.
As soon as Roxas broke eye contact, Naminé felt that she could move again. Unconsciously, she slowly took a step away from the wall, her eyes focused on Roxas. She took a few more steps until she stopped a few feet away from him, hesitant to put herself within an arm's reach.
"Roxas, I understand that you want to keep the contract we made," she said, her voice low. "But right now, you're not well. And I…I think it's best if you stay away from me. It's not - "
Roxas stood before her once again before she had a chance to blink. His hands shot up and encircled her wrists. Naminé tried breaking free but found his grip too tight. He kept his eyes closed as if struggling with the demon inside him.
"You don't get to decide that," he said, his voice rough. "You don't decide what I'll do."
Naminé clenched her jaw and tried to make her voice strong and clear, masking her fright. She felt her heart beat rapidly in her chest. "If this thing I have is endangering your life, then I don't want to be around you. I don't want to be the one that makes you suffer. I will not let you do this to yourself, Roxas, not after all the trouble you went through to save me."
His eyes remained closed, but his grip tightened.
"If I decide to do something, I will do it," he replied. "Even if my life depends on it. No one – and I mean no one, especially you – decides that for me."
"But then you will-"
"No one," he repeated, "decides that for me."
Naminé bit her lip. Her blood began to boil in anger. "You're so stubborn, you know that? You always get mad or annoyed at things when it doesn't go your way. Just listen to me already! I don't want to go with you, and I swear that I will go kicking and screaming until someone comes. I don't want you to do this. I don't want it to be because of me that you lose you're mind. I don't want you to end up like your sister!"
She was frustrated. With Roxas. With this kind of outcome. With this feeling of having her heart twist into knots. With everything.
Roxas looked up at her and opened his eyes.
Naminé's heart seemed to stop.
They were a clear, brilliant shade of blue. It was the color of the sky without a single cloud to hide behind. Naminé lost herself in his eyes, and her thoughts began to clear. Her frustration began to subside.
Naminé didn't know what came over her, but tears started to well up in her eyes, clouding her vision. Her body began to tremble, and her legs began to feel weak. The world began to tilt, and her head began to spin. All of a sudden, everything started to come at her all at once, and she felt like she was falling. Everything was starting to fall apart.
Roxas placed both of his hands gently on either side of her head, and Naminé was vaguely aware of his movements. He brought his face to hers. He tilted her head a bit down and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. She blinked a few times. She felt her mind gradually become stable, and she felt the dizziness subside. She didn't feel like she was falling anymore.
When he drew back, she still felt the warmth of his kiss on her skin.
It took a while for her to find her voice.
"How do I know that you're you? How would I know that you won't become insane, that you won't give into your instinct?" she whispered, her voice barely audible.
"Trust me," he said quietly. His bright and clear blue eyes told her more than his words.
It was a profound thing, that color, his eyes. They were the kind of eyes that you wouldn't doubt, that you want to believe in…that you want to trust.
She could feel her resolve wavering and then dissolving. Even after all the warnings, after she decided that it was best if he stayed away from her, she still found herself believing him, trusting him, leaning toward the warmth his hands provided. There was a warm feeling at the bottom of her heart that she couldn't explain, and she felt like she was at the verge of understanding what that feeling was.
Her concentration broke as a small groan echoed through the hallway, and she completely forgot what it was she was trying to understand.
Naminé turned her head towards the voice. Marluxia had turned back into his human form, but he was still injured, his blood pooling around him. One of his eyes was beginning to swell, but both of his yellow-green eyes carried a deep thirst for a fight, for blood. They were the eyes of a predator. His bloodied hand reached out for them as if he could claw at them from where he lay.
"Do you think that," he panted, "they'll let you escape? You're going to be chased to the ends of the earth, Roxas. You will die. You will die."
Naminé looked to Roxas, who had an unreadable expression. He merely stared at Marluxia's bloodied body without any reaction. His eyes returned to its murky blue color.
"You will die," Marluxia repeated, which made Naminé look back at him. She stared in shock as his eyes grew wilder. His expression turned manic. "I swear that I will find you, and I will kill you."
The image bore itself into Naminé's mind as she stared at him with wide eyes. This man that she barely knew looked more like a demon with his crazed expression and grotesquely widened eyes. As he lay in a pool of his blood, his expressions grew crazier and crazier. There was something in his expression that registered in Naminé's memory, but she could not remember. She was unable to think any other thought as she continued to stare into the eyes of the fox demon.
Suddenly, Roxas picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. He took a few steps and picked up the duffel bag with ease, throwing it on his other shoulder. Then he ran down the hallway, taking her away from the scene. Naminé continued to stare at Marluxia's bloody form as the distance between them increased, the image forever engraved in her memory. Even from a distance, she could still hear him yelling death threats.
She could have screamed. She could have protested more. But out of all the possibilities that Naminé could have and should have done, she chose to stay silent as she was whisked away by the mountain lion. Her rescuer.
After that period of being unable to think, it felt like her thoughts just exploded. Suddenly, there were many things going through her mind all at once. She suddenly felt queasy, and it was not because of the uncomfortable way Roxas was carrying her. She didn't know what she should do and what was right. But there was one thing that she was sure she could act upon.
Her gut feeling of trusting Roxas.
She just hoped that this feeling wouldn't put both of them in any more danger than they were already in.
Meanwhile, Roxas kept his pace, never slowing down as the corridors seem to twist and to turn. But no matter how far they ran, they could still hear the shouts and yells of the demons. They could still feel the mini tremors that shook the castle.
Roxas managed to carry both Naminé and the heavy duffel bag for a long time, never showing any sign of fatigue. She became suddenly aware of how strong he was and of the way he carried her. She fought down the blush that was creeping on her, and she forced herself to think of the present situation.
After a while, Roxas stopped and put her down, much to her relief. He moved the duffel back to his other shoulder and took a good look around. Naminé looked around, too, but she didn't see anything. Roxas stared off in the direction ahead of them and stood completely still as if he was listening for something. Then he hastily picked her and the duffel bag up without explanation. He turned the corner and headed in a different direction from the one he stared at. A few minutes later, Naminé heard an explosion close by and realized that it came from the direction Roxas stared at.
As Roxas flew through the twisting corridors, it became apparent that he was heading to a place that she never went before. She was told that the southwest gate was close to the courtyard, but she didn't see it as she looked through the windows. All she saw were trees and snow. Then her eyes caught a bridge that was built over a cliff, and she remembered being told that the bridge was more towards the east side. She realized that they were heading east and not west.
"Aren't we going to escape through the southwest gate?"
He didn't look back at her. "All sides are covered at the moment, and the southwest gate was just bombarded with more marked shadows soon after those two escaped. Risky as it is, this is our only escape option left."
His pace slowed as they drew closer to a big archway. Naminé shivered involuntarily as she felt a cold gust blow their way. She could now hear the sounds of battle even more clearly, and she was not sure that she could face such a scene. She didn't have a choice, however, when Roxas turned and set her down. The first thing she saw was the endless splatters and pools of blood near her and farther away. She saw a few bodies on the ground, unmoving as the marked creatures passed over them as if they weren't there. As she looked at the creatures, she realized that there were different kinds just as there were different kinds of demons. Her heart pounded in her chest as she spotted the same birdlike creature that attacked her in the courtyard. There were a few others that had elongated appendages sticking out on top of their heads and had long bushy tails. There were also a few octopus-like ones as well, and Naminé was reminded of that very first night when she was rescued.
She had never seen so much blood in her life. Her eyes lingered on the bodies of both young demons and older demons, and her heart went out to them. They were fighting for their home, fighting to protect her and Kairi. Her heart was laden with guilt, and her body started to shake. She covered her mouth with both hands, feeling the bile rise from her stomach. She tried to avert her eyes, but she found that she couldn't.
Naminé silently watched as Roxas walked a little ways away from her. He walked up to the coat rack full of thick parkas and threw her one before putting one on himself. He also threw her some boots, which was thick and heavy.
With shaking hands, she put them on, but she found the zipper for the parka to be quite difficult. She became quite frustrated with it. The mountain lion demon noticed and was at her side in moments. His large hands enveloped hers, and she quickly let go as if something hot had touched her. He tugged on the zipper and then zipped it right to her chin. He pulled the hood over her head, adjusting it so that only her eyes could be seen. Because she was so focused on what he was doing, it distracted her from whatever went on in battle.
"You're going to have to carry the duffel bag," he said quietly as he quickly adjusted the straps of the bag so that it would act like a backpack. She nodded absentmindedly.
Roxas held it out for her. She put her arms through the straps and immediately felt how heavy it was. She struggled with the weight and had to have both her hands on the straps so it didn't dig into her shoulders. Then without warning, Roxas grabbed one of her arms and hauled her onto his back. He took her hands and clasped them together around his neck. She instinctively straddled his waist.
Roxas took a few steps, testing his mobility. Even though the weight was now concentrated on his back, he walked as if he didn't have it. Naminé could feel his body tense as he surveyed the situation and looked for the best opening.
With his hand still on hers, he glanced back at her. "Don't let go, and don't look back," he instructed.
She nodded.
All at once, Roxas shot forward towards the battlefield. Naminé kept her eyes forward and ignored the cries and yells of the demons as they fought to protect their home. She tried not to look as a young male demon close by took a heavy slash to the chest, his blood adding to others that stained the white snow. He stumbled and fell, no longer breathing, no longer moving. The birdlike creature passed over his body, moving onto a young female German shepherd that ran to fight with it. The scene repeated over and over again with different demons. Naminé closed her eyes to block out the scenes, but it kept replaying over and over in her mind. The demons' cries and their comrade's cries of grief filled the skies, and Naminé was forced to listen.
Naminé felt Roxas change directions and opened her eyes to see that he was heading for the space with fewer shadowed creatures. As they passed, many of them tried to follow but were soon met with the demons and their wrath. Up ahead, Naminé saw a marked creature come charging towards them. The other demons were unable to block it and lunged out of its way.
Instead of slowing down or changing directions, Roxas sped up to meet it. His left hand transformed, and his nails grew into claws. He swiped upwards at it, cleanly slashing through it. All at once, the creature's body went up in black smoke and drifted to the sky above. They ran past it onto the fray and were soon in the midst of the pack, the other demons way behind them.
Roxas' right hand also transformed, and soon he was slashing left and right at oncoming creatures. His attacks increased as they ran ahead, and the numbers didn't seem to decrease. As they got further and further from the castle and away from the other demons, Naminé looked ahead and saw that the numbers were endless. Wave after wave after wave seemed to rise from the ground. There were too many, and Naminé's heart sunk.
Roxas seemed to realize this, too, and came to a stop. They were soon surrounded, making their chance of escape more unlikely. Naminé knew that Roxas didn't have the strength to take on all of them by himself while protecting her and became frightened that this might be it for them. They were far away from the castle now, well far away from the other demons. They were now amidst the black sea of creatures, who now formed a circle around them. The creatures remained where they were, waiting for the first move, and their bodies seem to shake in excitement for the meal that was presented before them.
"Shit," Roxas cursed. He looked all around, trying to find an opening. He found none.
Naminé started to tear as she came to the realization that they were going to die. She buried her face in his shoulder while shaking her head, refusing to believe that this was it. That everyone's efforts were in vain. That this was the extent of what they could do.
Roxas, on the other hand, unclasped her hands and set her down on the snow. She looked at him questioningly. He glanced at her and then scanned over the waiting creatures once more. His eyebrows furrowed deeper and deeper as he continued to scan. Naminé kept her eyes on him, watching him.
He clenched his jaw. "Tch. No other choice," he muttered.
Suddenly, he threw out his right arm, palm facing outward. The wind started to pick up and gather around his hand. A dark ball began to form, taking shape from the wind. It grew bigger and bigger until it was as tall as him. Its shape gradually became a disk, its dark colors swirling towards the middle. Naminé watched in fascination as this peculiar phenomenon was happening before her eyes.
It seemed like the dark creatures shrank back in fear as the ball grew, but one of the braver ones stepped forward, testing it. It was a more muscular, more broad-shouldered type of creature with dark spikes on its back. Its wrinkled muzzle pulled back to reveal sharp teeth, and its eyes were an empty white color. On its side was a bright red mark. It looked to be a cross between a bear and a crocodile.
The others saw and followed suit. Slowly, gradually, they came closer. Finally, the spiked creature reared on its hind legs and began to charge with its companions close behind. It was getting closer to them. Very close.
Naminé was suddenly aware of Roxas' strong arms as he slid them under her knees and behind her shoulders, carrying her bridal style. He held her protectively and held her close to him, making her face press against his chest. He quickly lunged for the black disk he made, flying through it headfirst. Her body tensed, and her hand gripped his cloak. She almost screamed when she heard the creature's claws slash the air almost inches away from them.
Then it was gone. All the noise, all the sounds were gone.
Naminé felt that something was different. The air was different, and it felt much colder than where they were before.
As soon as Roxas' grip loosened, Naminé pushed against his chest so that she could see where they were. She could see neither the creature nor the rest of its pack. She couldn't see the castle, and she couldn't see any traces of battle. The only things she saw as she looked behind were the snow and the cliffs. Beyond that was an endless layer of white.
They were in a completely different area.
Almost immediately after they passed through, the disk shrank, swirling towards the middle. It was as if the plug was removed and all the water was draining into the middle.
Roxas set her down gently, and Naminé immediately fell to her knees, trying to catch her breath. She watched as her breath took form as she clenched and unclenched her hands, which became red from gripping Roxas' cloak too tight and was now becoming red because of the cold. Tears started to well up in her eyes again. She was still shaken up over the whole event, but wave after wave of relief flooded her. She tried to still her rapidly beating heart.
She felt a pressure on the underside of her left arm and turned to see Roxas forcefully lifting her.
"We have to get moving," he said, still panting. She knew he was more exhausted than her. His eyes told her so. The cautiousness in his eyes also told her that this was not a good place to rest. It was too open. She struggled to stand, her legs still shaking.
His hand continued to grip her arm as he led her through the snow. It was more like he was dragging her, but it was not like she had a choice because she did not know where they were going. She also found it very hard to walk in the boots he gave her.
The slope tilted upward, and Naminé noticed that they were following it. Soon enough, the smooth ground turned rocky, and they had to climb. Naminé tried her best not to look down, all the while wondering where it was that they were going. She didn't dare ask him for it seemed like he was in a hurry, but she gave into her curiosity and asked.
"Where are we going?" Naminé finally asked, panting. A cold gust blew against them, and she shivered.
"Up there," Roxas pointed farther up. Naminé squinted her eyes and thought she saw something a little farther ahead. It looked to be a hole, and if Roxas hadn't pointed it out, she wouldn't have noticed that it was there. She wondered how he ever found a place, but that thought flew out of her mind as she tried to concentrate on reaching the hole without collapsing from mental and physical exhaustion.
They climbed a little more, and Roxas stopped each time to let Naminé catch up. When she reached the entrance, she could see that the hole was big enough for one person at a time to crawl through. She looked at Roxas, who looked straight back at her as if saying, "Well? Get in."
Despite her fatigue, she managed to crawl through the space with some difficulty. Once inside, she found that there was actually a lot of space. There were some areas where the roof of the cave dipped, which made Naminé stoop over, but she managed to stand to her full height in other areas.
She turned around and saw Roxas push the duffel bag through and went to go help him. He followed soon after. He looked at her and then looked away, which confused her.
"Where is this place?" Naminé asked, moving over to let Roxas through.
Roxas shrugged as he brushed past her and opened the duffel bag. He rummaged through it, pulling out some things. The only light source in the cave was from the entrance, and the quickly setting sun limited the amount of light that flowed in.
"Where are we?" Naminé asked again.
This time, Roxas stopped and looked at her, annoyed. "Does it matter?" he asked.
Roxas resumed his rummaging. Naminé silently watched him as he pulled a wrapped parcel and a lantern from it. She didn't know why he was irritated all of a sudden, but she didn't say anything. He was probably too tired, and his patience was thinning. Roxas let out a frustrated sigh as he realized that the lantern was broken and tossed it to the far side of the cave. Then he drew out a wrapped square package.
From the dim lighting, she could see him unwrap the parcel with his back to her. She waited patiently, and he turned to her, holding out something. She took it from him and realized that it was a sandwich. From the smell of it, she could tell that it had some kind of meat. Her stomach growling, Naminé took it and ate it with gusto. It settled her growling stomach. She was surprised how hungry she was after everything that just happened.
"Won't they come here to look for us?" she asked.
"Who?"
"Those creatures."
He turned his head and stared at the floor. "They go where there is life. Mountains aren't exactly their kind of terrain. One or two people won't make a difference."
"I meant the marked ones."
He paused.
"It'll...be hard for them," he simply answered.
But the thing that Naminé noticed the most was that he didn't say that they wouldn't come here and attack.
"So what will we do if that happens?"
"Why do you keep asking questions?" he snapped. "If they come, they come. I will deal with it when that time comes, so just be quiet."
Naminé instinctively drew back and crawled over to the farthest side. She still had a lot more questions for him, but his attitude made her hold her tongue. When she reached the farthest corner, she leaned against the wall and stretched out her legs. Her mind wandered from here to there, and she was almost asleep when she felt something soft hit her face. She blinked a few times, finding the cave to be pitch black. She felt the thing that hit her and discovered that it was a sleeping bag. When she unzipped it and slipped in, she found it to be thick and well insulated.
"Use that to keep yourself warm," she heard his voice at the other end of the cave.
"What about you?" she asked.
He said nothing. She heard a soft growl echo through the cave and realized that he changed into his animal form. Then she heard his soft padding as he made his way over to her left, which she guessed would be the entrance of the cave. She heard him circle in place before plopping down.
Naminé squirmed inside the sleeping bag, the crinkle sound slightly echoing through the cave. It kept out most of the cold, but the main problem was finding a comfortable spot. Naminé unzipped the sleeping bag and brushed aside stray rocks and pebbles from under her. When she zipped it up again, she found it to be a little better. It wasn't uncomfortable, but the cold, hard ground would definitely make sleep difficult.
After a few minutes of tossing and turning, Naminé was finally able to clear her mind, and she fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.
To Be Continued…
Author's Note:
Thank you guys so much for waiting for so long. I wanted to finish writing this chapter, but I had massive writer's block. The hardest part about writing this chapter was not what was going to happen to them next, but how they were going to escape. Funnily enough, I was actually working on chapter 26, because I had a surge of ideas for it...
I'm so sad that I missed "Correspondence with a Demon"s first birthday. I also missed the first birthday for my other story "My Obstinate Familiar." I really wanted to do something to celebrate it, but I got really busy. :( Perhaps I'll do something now that I'm on break.
I'd like to take this time to thank all of my wonderful reviewers. It's because of your encouragement and enthusiasm that I was able to keep this story alive for a year. This was only meant to be an experiment, but it blossomed into something I didn't expect. Many thanks to: Versivalia, Q-A the Authoress, Kutlessrocker, Dennou Writer, Random Fandom, TheWitchNamine, lizzyytx33, rikku247, xXxGothicButterflySpiritxXx, Witch of Tragedies, CaptainJas, Redeeming Endeavor, Kiome-Yasha, OMG (Why, thank you!), authorgal282, TheDormantOne, sunxkissed'starr, AlyssTwilight1784, Draco Oblivion, OtakuFreak916, LoryLily, Gumi Harue (I'm glad you're enjoying it. My gosh. All those questions will be answered later on. Keep reading. ;D), and White Simplicity.
By the way, guys, if you are currently reading any of my other works, expect a massive update from me. ;D I'll also try to update Correspondence again sometime next week. Maybe either Monday or Tuesday.
Thanks for reading! See you at the next update!