Chapter 74: Don't Call Me That!
It was the pain that kept him awake. His consciousness absolutely refused to shut itself down while there was so much pain bothering it. So he stayed awake. He did, however, spend a few painful moments between unconsciousness and consciousness, while his brain tried to shut itself off. Finally, though, the pain bothered it enough that it just gave up, allowing Riku to properly think.
It took him a moment to think, though. He was still rather disoriented, and the pain was… well… painful. He tried to move his fingers, and then he remembered what had happened. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, concentrating all his strength into ignoring than pain, if only just for a bit. Once the pain had been ignored, he carefully reached over and pulled the knife out. A sharper pain than the rest coursed through him for a second, but he ignored it, too.
He lay there a moment more, moving his arm experimentally. It moved. His hand… not so much…
He grimaced.
Then, very slowly, he sat up and glanced around. There were still plenty of Berserkers about. No one seemed to have noticed that he had even been down. He frowned, unsure what to think of this.
He decided he just wouldn't, and instead focused on finding his blade.
It was all the way on the other side of the room.
He sighed and summoned it to him. Or… tried to. His fingers did not perform the action quite like they usually did, so the blade didn't come. He grimaced and tried again. His fingers still didn't cooperate, but… the blade did actually obey this time. However, he ended up dropping it.
He made a face and picked it back up.
It hurt too much to hold, and he dropped it again.
He made another, more annoyed, face, and then picked it up with his left hand. It felt weird, but he figured that it was the best he was going to get. He then rose to his feet, sticking his blade in the ground so that he could use it as support as he stood up. He took care to cradle his right arm close to him, just so he wouldn't use it on accident.
There was only one thought on his mind.
I have to protect Namine, he told himself firmly, and started off.
xxx
"Relax, kiddo, I don't think it's going to hurt that much!"
Larxene, laughing…
Terror-
Why was he so scared-
It was that fragment of memory that dragged Namine into a state of semi-consciousness, where she wasn't quite awake, but not entirely asleep any more either. And it was in that state that she became aware of a sharp pain burning in her right hand. She grimaced and tried to ignore it.
It was impossible.
In a panic she woke up, her brain finally realizing what her senses were trying to tell her. She examined her hand, though was surprised to find nothing wrong with it. In fact, the pain was beginning to ebb, too.
Weird… she thought.
But then she saw it. The blood-stained hand, lying limply at his side. She gasped in shock as the image faded.
Riku, what did you do to yourself this time! she thought, exasperated, as she quickly got to her feet.
And, more importantly, PLEASE don't be doing anything stupid right now!
She formed a dark corridor and stepped through, emerging as close to the computer room as was possible (about a hallway away). Riku should be around here by now, if her concept of time was correct. There was a high chance it wasn't, though…
She was surprised to find no one guarding the computer room, and 37 was already there. The door was, however, shut and locked, so he hadn't actually gotten in. He was instead resorting to chucking icicles at the door.
"Throw all the icicles you want, 37," she could hear Vexen laugh from inside the computer room. "Don't think I'm going to let you in!"
She smiled slightly, but soon frowned.
Riku's not here yet…
But…
He should be soon, unless-
Another image came to her. Riku was on the ground, face contorted in pain. His hand was what caught her attention, though. It was soaked in blood, as it had been in the previous image, and his fingers were bent at odd angles.
The image faded.
I should go find him, Namine thought, reaching out to form a dark corridor-
"There you are!"
Namine whipped around in shock and then immediately stumbled back. Larxene L had been standing directly behind her. She quickly formed a dark corridor and stepped through-
It was blocked.
"Shoot!" she shouted.
I forgot about that… she thought, annoyed. So it's not like I would've been able to use a dark corridor to get to Riku, anyway.
I should run-
She didn't have time; Larxene L had grabbed her by the arm.
"What did you go and wake up so early for?" Larxene L taunted, her voice too sweet for Namine's liking. "You should have stayed asleep at least another few minutes!"
Namine made a face and struggled to break free, only to have a knife placed at her throat.
"I don't really want to hurt you," Larxene L hissed. "But there might be an accident, if you don't stop struggling. Now come!" She started leading Namine away, ready to open a corridor the moment they got out of the corridor-proof area.
"Why don't you just knock me out again?" Namine muttered, straining slightly so she could glance up at Larxene L without hurting herself.
"That wouldn't be any fun!" Larxene L replied, with an air of wounded dignity about her.
Namine frowned, confused. "Then why did you do it earlier?" she asked slowly.
"I was trying to capture you without Riku noticing."
"Where is Riku?" Namine demanded.
Larxene L laughed. "Not going to be here anytime soon, Princess."
Namine stepped on Larxene L's foot as hard as she possibly could. Thankfully, it was hard enough that Larxene L dropped the knife. Quickly, Namine freed herself from Larxene L's grasp while she was still distracted.
"Don't call me that!" she said, anger in her voice. "Where's Riku? What did you do to him?"
Larxene L glared. "Why are you accusing me of doing anything?"
"Probably because you did do something," Riku replied from behind her.