Hour XII

…

Axel tricked me, I thought later as I sat in front of Namine. She was immersed in a drawing of something--or at least being a very good actress, since she had recently explained the finer points of Nobody-hood to me. A Nobody lacked a heart, both in the physical sense and the metaphorical one, so any emotions they had were false. I wasn't even sure that mine were all there, or if maybe I was feeling things at a reduced level, but Namine assured me that…she had no way of knowing.

Anyway. The point is, that bastard tricked me into believing for one eighth of a second that he loved me, and as a result much embarrassment and explaining ensued (in front of Namine, no less). She didn't seem surprised.

"You were in love," she said simply. "As in love as you could be, under the circumstances. Because you loved him, even though he couldn't love you back."

"But--we--but--no!" I managed finally, pointing at the ceiling (in which vicinity I assumed Axel still occupied a space). "We're both guys, Namine! It'd never work! That…that's…" I grimaced.

For a moment it looked like she might laugh, but then she shrugged. "It's not worth much to pretend around you, is it?" Setting aside the drawing pad and pencils, she stood and paced the room, clasping her left wrist with her other hand. "I'm a Nobody. Love will never happen to me, so it's not like I spend much time on it. But I have read about love, and from what I understand, it is meant to transcend all boundaries." She sighed. "And while those without hearts don't necessarily count, those with hearts have every right to pursue the one they love. It's just…it seems to me, when you can have that…when you can feel those emotions, and share them so intimately, why deny them of someone else?"

I hesitated. Namine said all this with absolutely no feeling, and no emotion. It was creepy to listen to--and yet, some of the subtlest nuances in her tone seemed to almost scream things at times.

"He leapt at the chance to go back for you, when we had to give you the pills. You were suffering without them, and we were worried that you might die, and Xemnas would be displeased. So I put those memories of a fiasco with the pictures into your mind, and the others were happy to go along with it, as long as you weren't leaving anytime soon."

"Then…then that was fake, too?"

"I'm afraid so. But I'm sorry--I digress, and we haven't much time." She crossed to her drawing pad again. "Roxas. You know you have only half a heart, right?"

"Right."

"Well, the reason why your heart has been acting up has been because the other half has been too far away. But it can also act up if it recognizes the other half. For example." She held up the pad, exposing the picture of a boy with wild brown hair, who seemed to be sleeping. The moment I saw him, white-hot needles shot through my chest again. It was gone in a second, though, and I stood up, spots flickering in front of my eyes.

"W-whoa…"

"So what do you think would happen to you if the other half of your heart were to cease to exist altogether?"

I stared at her. "I…I'd die, wouldn't I?"

"Most likely. Because, Roxas…" Namine stopped speaking then, and I knew it was hard for her to continue. "The other half of your heart belongs to Sora." The name almost made me spasm--what was so familiar about it? "And Sora is on the top floor of this castle. If you don't get to him in time…" She held up an antique-looking white watch. "The Organization will kill him."

…

It wasn't much later, and I was standing in front of the first door. Namine had already parted from me, and from what I understood, I had thirteen hours to get through the different challenges presented by the different members of the Organization. Which was all well and good, as long as they didn't try to stab me full of pins or anything.

My eyes were on the watch, waiting for the hands to start moving and signify that they were ready. It was a nice watch, but for the fact that it was kind of creepy with that same, white symbol hanging from the chain. There was also the fact that there were thirteen hours on the face, instead of twelve. If not for those details, it looked like it could've been stolen from the White Rabbit.

Time--the sliver of a third hand was moving, and the first second was ticking by. I pushed open the double doors to the first room, slipping inside and squinting in the sudden darkness. "Hello?" I called out, hesitant to do so because I knew it would only let them know my position--but then, maybe this challenge would be straightforward. It was hard to tell.

The moment I abandoned the doors, they slammed shut. I backed away from them, fully expecting whoever it was to be near them--only to collide with the stranger and cry out in alarm. "This way, kid," came the voice, and I realized it was a girl's, even though it was kind of rough and had a hint of a strange accent. "And don't worry, the others made me promise not to break their toy too much--unless he fails the first challenge, which would just be embarrassing, wouldn't it?"

"I-I guess…" I managed, since she had taken me quite firmly by the arm and was now towing me through what seemed to be a dark corridor.

"They never let me have any fun, so it's a good thing you came along. We can start with the easy stuff." We entered a larger room, which was dimly lighted, and I could see some sort of diabolical torture device in the center.

Second thoughts flickered through my mind, and third thoughts, and more thoughts after that. "Uh, w-wait, what exactly are you gonna be--?"

"Nothing much," she said, turning to smirk at me. She was wearing one of those same cloaks, and though I couldn't really tell if her smoothed down hair was brown or blonde, her eyes were a dark green that glinted unsettlingly in the dim light. "I'm Larxene, by the way, since you can't be trusted to remember after Namine's been messing with your head. We were never that close to begin with, so forgive me if I don't care when you die."

I bit back a sulphurous response about her being a Nobody and not having feelings, since she'd probably only make things worse for me. "No problem," I said instead. After all, I didn't have any plans to die in the near future, so it really wasn't a problem.

"Anyway. Shoes, socks, and any gloves or rings off and over there," she said, gesturing vaguely to the wall.

"Why?"

She smirked unsettlingly.

Rather than pursue an answer, I decided to just follow her instructions. This was, after all, clearly a challenge that involved her having immediate access to me, and I didn't have much choice in the matter.

The torture device--because it clearly was one--just had me lying down and strapped to it in about as many ways as a person can be strapped to something. Once I was secured, Larxene started fiddling with something above my head, and I got nervous. What if it was acid or something? Or some kind of drill? Or what if it was so horrible I couldn't even imagine--

Drip.

…Huh? I tried to look up at it, but my head was too snugly wedged into the straps to move. But something had hit my forehead, and it was definitely wet, and it wasn't burning a hole in my head, so it wasn't acid.

"Comfy?" Larxene asked simply, moving out of my line of vision. I heard her pull something out of a sheath--something that made a steely rasp as she did so--and felt a dizzying sense of nervousness. I was having second thoughts already. It had become apparent that Larxene was not only insane and a freak, but a sadist as well, and…and I was beyond the point of being scared.

Drip. What the hell was that, anyway? I glared at the ceiling as if this was all somehow its fault. "Not really," I muttered in response to her question. It was hard to move my jaw. "So what now? Do I just sit here until you run out of water or something?" At least, I was hoping it was water. It would kind of suck if it turned out to be piss or something.

"Well, you could," she said, shrugging and leaning back into view. "But then you'd go insane, and it's not as much fun when they go insane."

"Probably have too much in common," I murmured under my breath. Drip.

That seemed to charm her, since she laughed suddenly and started to pace. "Instead, I guess I'll just interrogate you for a bit. Right answers mean nothing happens to you. Wrong ones, and…" She smirked. "Try not to get wrong answers, hmmm?"

"Whatever, let's just get it over with, I'm on a schedule," I reminded her, blinking a bit of water out of my eyes as another drip landed squarely on my forehead. I tried not to think too hard about what would happen if I got a wrong answer, especially since she seemed to be caressing that knife a little too fondly.

"You'll feel your hands and feet go numb, then," she told me, tightening the bonds a little. The edge of the blade poked my palm a bit, not enough to draw blood. "Feel that?"

"Yeah."

"All right."

We waited in silence for a few moments, during which the water continued to drip on my forehead. Maybe it was my imagination, but it seemed like the drips were getting louder. Get a grip, Roxas, I thought firmly.

"Feel that?"

"…No."

"Four and two is…"

"Six." Math. This is easy.

"Five and nine…"

"Fourteen."

"Seven by eight…"

"Fifteen. I mean—no! Fifty-six!"

"Wrong answer," she said simply, shrugging. I felt her shift one of my hands, but I couldn't feel whatever she was doing to it. "Continuing—which ice cream is Hayner's favorite at the terrace?"

Drip. "S—Boysenberry," I corrected myself quickly. She didn't say whether that was right or wrong, but I didn't trust myself to ask. "How do you know about Hayner?"

"We were the ones who sent you there, remember?"

"Oh…right."

Something wet hit the floor and my stomach clenched involuntarily. "Wh-what was that?"

"Good question. Maybe I'll ask you that later." She left my hand alone and moved away, still firing questions at me. "About how long have you been in Twilight Town?"

I hesitated on the brink of saying "Fifteen years." "Wait, I—uh…I don't know, I really don't." Drip. It was so hard to concentrate… "Two years?"

"Good guess, but that's wrong, unfortunately." She let go of my foot as something else hit the floor.

I closed my eyes as another drop of water landed solidly on my forehead. I'm going insane. I'm going insane. What is she doing to me? She…she's obviously cutting something off… My stomach turned almost audibly, and I resisted the sudden urge to vomit. "I don't think I can do this," I heard myself whimper.

"You seem a little stressed, Roxas," she said almost fondly. "Let's just make conversation, shall we? What did Namine tell you about Nobodies?"

"They…they don't have hearts," I managed. "So they can't feel, and they don't have a heartbeat. I don't know how they can even live." Drip. Would it stop, would it stop?

She laughed at that. "You make it sound like we're so distant. I'm right here," she added, leaning into my face. My eyes flickered automatically to the knife in her hand, which was clearly speckled with blood…

Bile rose in the back of my throat. "Oh…"

"This Olette girl," Larxene continued, as I felt my hands shift and more wet things hit the floor--probably owing to other missed questions--"what's your angle on her? Do you like her?"

Drip. Drip, drip, drip! In a minute it'll happen again! "Uh…n-no…" I said. I was blushing for some reason, even though I guess I'd never really thought about whether or not I looked at Olette that way.

"Wrong," Larxene said in a way that told me I couldn't have answered in any other way to please her more. "Let's see, where haven't we been…" As she mulled over me, I struggled to focus.

Calm down, it's going to be all right…somehow… Drip. Goddammit!

Tension built up as I waited for the next drop to find its way to my forehead, although I don't know why I was waiting for it--there were other, more important things to think about. Namely, Larxene, who was humming merrily to herself down by my feet. Drip. Relief washed over me briefly, but then I was tense again, waiting for the next one--and when this one hit, I could hear something wet hit the floor in unison.

This has to stop, I realized. "Is it…is this almost over?" I asked her. The only thing that kept me from bowing out of this now was the fact that I knew I would die if I did--but at the same time, losing my sanity was an only slightly brighter prospect.

"I suppose so," she said, shrugging. "It's been almost half an hour anyway, and I didn't want to keep you here as long as the others plan to. So. Last question." She approached, wiping off the knife as she went, and drew it back in front of my face. The water tilted slightly, so that the drips came faster and it was almost impossible to keep my eyes open--but it was equally impossible to look away as I stared at her in horror. "How many fingers do you have left, Roxas?"

I screamed, mainly because there wasn't enough restraint left in me to keep from doing it. Then I closed my eyes and tried to think. "Wait," I said quickly, "wait, give me a second."

"We've got time, no rush," she said simply.

Frightening as it was to think about, I tried to count the times I had heard something against the floor, the times she had grabbed my hand--but I hadn't always felt it. No, no, don't think that--I have to remember. Drip, drip, drip, drip. One, two, three, four, five--five left. No! That's the water, don't pay attention to the water. I'm going insane. "I don't know, I don't know!"

"Roxas…"

In a minute she'll cut my face open and I'll lose it completely--I have to know, I have to know! My fists clenched, fingernails digging into my palms as sweat broke out on my forehead.

Wait.

My hands…my hands aren't numb. Neither are my feet--it…it isn't real! I opened my eyes, and I could see Larxene's spirits fall when she saw the glimmer of realization in my eyes. "All of them," I said. "It was…all of this was an illusion, a mental trick," I told her, relieved.

She dropped the knife and drew back, pouting. "Exactly. Now I don't get to mutilate you," she muttered in disappointment.

I blinked again as my eyes flooded with water, both from the drops above me and tears of relief. "Get me out of this thing, then. I beat your challenge."

With palpable discontent, she grudgingly loosened the straps until I could wriggle free. I did a head count of fingers and toes, just in case, and then slipped on a small, wet, rolled up tissue on the floor on the way to my things. There were a few others around, heavy enough to simulate actual extremities, so that explained one nerve-wracking simulation. "But the blood," I said later when I was pulling on my rings and starting out. "Where did that come from?" I asked, checking my arms in case she'd made a cut somewhere.

"Pig's blood," she said, shrugging. "Blood is blood—it all looks the same. Now go on, you've ruined my fun for the day; it's high time you were gone."

I agreed heartily with that, and pulled out the watch on my way out. "Just a half hour," I murmured. It didn't seem that bad, in retrospect. As opposed to dying, anyway. I just hope the others aren't as…violent, I added, glancing back once before vanishing through the double doors.

…

A/N: Bumped the rating up for this one, but I'm not sure if that was too much or not, so let me know. I mean, for me, it's not so bad, since I know the trick behind it the whole time, so I can't really get the sense from it that you guys will. Of course, it made me kinda squeamish, so I figured it was best to be safe…