Jessica's Point of View

When I woke up, a tray of food was waiting for me. I hungrily ate it all but strangely felt tired immediately after and soon fell back asleep. When I woke up once more, I felt hazy. I tried to eat once more, but with the same results. That was when I realized the food was drugged. "Why would you drug me? Do you hate me that much?" I asked, hoping Xemnas might have been there to answer my question, but only silence remained. I felt betrayed. True, I had betrayed Xemnas repeatedly, but drugging me was a new low. It seemed pointless, which was strange for Xemnas. Everything seemed to have a purpose with him. To torture me randomly wasn't his style.

I avoided the tray of food as long as I could, but eventually, I was too hungry and ate about half of it. When I went to sleep, the tray was replenished. The pattern continued day in and day out. I began to wonder if I had been in prison all along and if my whole life was a dream.

I didn't know how much time had passed when Xemnas finally came for me. "Have you learned your lesson, Little Jess?"

"Yes," I said with great desperation.

"Very well." The bars vanished.

I ran to Xemnas and hugged him tightly. I was too relieved to see and feel another physical being to care that he was the reason I was there in the first place. Tears poured from my eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I promise I'll be good. Please don't put me back there. I'll be good."

"Shh. It's all behind us now. You're alright. Let's move on from this incident."

I was a sobbing mess. Nothing could stop the water from flowing from my eyes. Xemnas tried to soothe me, but it didn't work. I kept crying for hours, but he was patient and stayed with me until I could get myself under control, and he took me back to the Gray Area. The only one there was Saix, but I ran to him and hugged him anyway. Even though Saix and I had our differences, I was relieved to see him. "What is this?" Saix demanded.

"I've never been so happy to see you."

Saix shoved me away. "Get off. It's only been just under a week."

I couldn't believe what I had just heard. "A week?" It felt so much longer. I was sure I had been there for at least a month.

I sat on a couch, waiting for the others to come home. I wanted to make sure everyone was real, and I didn't make them up in my head. I could tell Xaldin wasn't too happy with me. He glanced my way when he returned but then walked past me without saying a word. Demyx and Luxord were friendly enough. They acted like their usual selves. Xigbar took an interest in my presence. "Well, well. Looks like the rabbit's out of her cage."

"Good to see you too, Xigbar," I groaned.

"Man, you gave us quite a scare. You freaked me out so bad I had to get Xemnas involved."

"That was you?!"

"Yeah. Who did you think it was?"

"You- you- you despise me that much?!"

"As if. I don't despise you at all. I did that so you wouldn't end up in the one place where there's a bounty on your head. I'd shoot you myself before letting you go back to Sunset Kingdom."

"Xig, I didn't win the bet. It didn't matter in the end. Why did you do that? Xemnas- you know what he did this time."

"Well, maybe it was about time! If I had let it go, you would have found another way. I don't care what you do, but I'm not going to stand to the side while you try to put yourself so close to harm's way! And by the way, if your dad were alive, he would be fit to be tied. You think what Xemnas did to you was bad? If your father had his way, you would be stuck in that dungeon forever after trying to pull that stunt."

I felt anger rise in me. "Keep my father out of this!"

To my surprise, Xigbar backed down. "You're right. Sorry about that, Rabbit. I guess I lost my cool there for a second. Just use your head next time." Xigbar poked my forehead for emphasis.

"I don't think there will be a next time."

Xigbar walked away. I waited for the last three Organization members to return and was extremely happy when the moment came. "Axel, Roxas, Xion!" I ran to the trio and embraced them in a group hug. They all looked happy to see me.

"We missed you," Xion mentioned.

"Axel was worried about you. He wouldn't admit it, though," Roxas teased.

"Hey, you weren't supposed to tell her that," Axel laughed.

"I'm so excited to be back with you all. This past... week has been a tough one. Axel, do you think I could talk to you?" I requested.

"Sure. Let's go talk in my room," Axel suggested.

"I'll see you two later," I said.

"Right. See you," Roxas replied.

I followed Axel back to his room, and he closed the door behind us. He seemed to deflate before my eyes. His usual confident self became filled with worry and concern. "Jess, are you okay?"

"No."

"I figured. I know you don't handle being alone very well."

"Axel, did you know that they drugged my food?"

"Yeah. Saix told me about that. It was laced with a sleep spell. Nothing too serious. I mean, at least it's not real drugs. Xemnas didn't want to starve you, but he wanted you to be in full isolation, meaning he didn't even want the Dusks around to keep you company when they would bring you meals, so he had this idea that if you were hungry enough, you would eat it and more food would be brought to you while you were asleep."

"I've experienced quite a bit of torture at his hand recently, but never anything quite so cruel."

"Between you and me, I think Xemnas freaked out and lost his mind with worry. When he told us what happened, Xaldin nearly lost his mind. Why would you go to Sunset Kingdom, anyway? Aren't they the ones that killed your mother?"

"Yes. That's why I wanted to go there. Xemnas would have never thought to look for me."

He seemed to lighten up as he managed a smile once more and took on a more lighthearted tone. "Well, I'm pretty sure you can cross that one off the list. How about Wonderland? Or maybe Agrabah? Olympus is nice this time of year."

"What I wouldn't give to live in Castle Oblivion. It was my first true home."

"Are you serious? I mean, it couldn't have been. You lived in Radiant Gardens, and then you came here with us. Maybe you imagined it," Axel pointed out.

I looked away from Axel and sighed. "No. I didn't imagine it. I lived there with my master before. It wasn't always like that. It used to be where keyblade wielders like me trained. Those days... are a distant memory now, but I would give almost anything to relive them. Especially knowing what I know now." I lifted my head to see Axel staring at me with an intensity I hadn't seen in him before.

"Then... do you know the secrets to the castle?"

"What? No. What secrets? I was just a little girl." The way Axel was looking at me was unnerving. I didn't like it at all.

Axel's face broke out into a grin, but instead of being reassured, I felt even more uncomfortable. "You must know something. Come on, Jess. We're friends. You can tell me."

"I- I think you should go. I want to be alone."

"Jess-"

"Leave! I don't want to talk about this any longer!"

Axel wiped the eerie grin from his face into a look of concern. "I'm sorry, Jess. I pushed too hard. Hey, we don't have to talk about this anymore. I didn't mean to upset you. I guess I've just been a little obsessed over the mysteries of Castle Oblivion. I'll try to make it up to you tomorrow. How about that?"

"Sure, I guess," I sighed.

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow then." Axel left my room, and I just sat in my bed, wondering what that was all about.