Genre: General/humour
Paring/s: -
Line: -
A pause. Then the explosion. Zexion jumped backwards. I snuffled pathetically, rubbing my nose.
"Congratulation," he said, flicking the thermometer. "You have, what we call, the common cold."
"I never get sick," I said, looking indignant. "Can't you do something?"
"No. The cold is a bugger, and can't be fought. You'll have to wait it out."
"Potions?" I asked.
"Don't be ridiculous."
I slumped back; my head starting to complain loudly. My nose was upsetting me greatly. It was stuffed up, and I couldn't breath.
"This is what happens when you have ice cream, and go to the beach when it's snowing," Demyx scolded, handing me a tissue when I started to hack. "You can't even have time off." I groaned loudly at that.
"Your just watching Namine'," Zexion said, putting away the medical equipment. "Just pop some pills, and you should be okay."
"Won't she get sick?"
"More things for us to study."
I felt rather sorry for Namine' when they spoke of her like that.
"Afternoon, kiddo," I greeted. Namine' had been moved out of the White Room. She was back in the main castle, and her old room wasn't much different than her new one. She looked up from her bed; fingers curled round a thick pad.
She leant over her drawing when I tried to sneak a peck. "Only Xigbar calls me that," she frowned slightly, obviously she disliked that name.
I dragged over a chair, and straddled it the wrong way.
"What's wrong with your voice? You sound drunk," she started to colour again. She was using a thick brown crayon.
"How would you know that?" I sniffled again.
"Vexen told me that when people drink lots, their voice goes all funny, and slurry."
"I've got a cold."
"What's that?" Namine' looked up, interest sparkling in her eyes. I thought for a moment.
"It's a virus you can catch. It attacks your white blood cells, and weakens your immune system," I sounded like I'd swallowed a text book. Namine' started to fidget, loosing interest already. "It can cause your head to spin, or make it throb. Your nose gets all stuffy, and sometimes your ears or throat get sore."
"Hn," Namine' said, sounding bored. "Do all of you sound like scientists?"
"Not the younger members. The older members were all apprentices of Ansem, and some of us just learnt off them. When the Organisation was a little newer, we didn't do a lot of field work. We did a lot of school work. I've hung out with Zexion for to long."
"I like, Zexion. He's interesting," Namine' commented idly, flipping a fresh page over. She took up a violet crayon.
"Oh?"
"He tells me lots of stories. But sometimes he rambles on and on about the less important stuff," she pinched up her nose. "Stories are suppose to be for fun."
"Zexion likes to research things. So does Vexen."
Namine' hummed slightly, pouring over her paper. "Remember anything today?" I asked, actually starting to get bored myself. Namine' rubbed at the peeling corners of her crayons. She pinched her face.
"No. But I tried," she said, eyes fixed to her lap.
"You're lying."
"Am not!" She huffed indignantly. She deflated under my gaze. "I guess I don't have to lie to you, Axel. I don't like trying to remember. It's not my memories." I looked at her in bemusement.
"Course they are. You're whom ever you once were, and you share all their experiences."
Namine' pressed her lips tightly together, and flipped her picture to show me. "Look," she ordered. The doodle on the page was a black robed figure, with lilac hair. Next to him was a second person, in a white lab coat. His hair was long and black tied in a plait. "This is Zexion, and his Other. They are individuals."
"No. They're the same person," I jabbed at Zexion and Ienzo. "Same heart."
"But when I go back into my Other, I'll fade then," Namine' mumbled. "If me and my Other are the same, what'll happen to me?"
"You'll live through her, won't you? Namine'. I remember all my Other's memories. I experienced what he did, so we're the same person. Right?"
Namine' frowned. "I don't like that. It's like I was a thing that wasn't meant to be. I was born when my Other lost her heart. I was always apart of her, but asleep all this time."
"What a pretty way to put it," I mused.
"Did you look after that memory I gave you?"
"What memory?" I asked. I knew there was something Namine' had given me, but I couldn't remember what. Every time I tried to picture it, it hurt. She smiled slightly.
"Tell me a story, Axel," she suddenly rolled onto her back, throwing up her arms.
"Huh?" I blinked stupidly.
"A story."
"Only if you promise to tell me one."
"Okay."
"Let's see… once upon a time-"
"Axeeel."
"What?" I snapped, grudgingly putting my cheek into my palm.
"Don't start like that."
I sighed, blowing away some hair strands. "Alright, your Highness. Honestly. Okay okay. Hn… in a world, not so far away, there lived a Prince. Now this Prince would go out fishing every day, and bring back his catches to the chief in the Castle. One day, he didn't catch anything. When the sun started to set, his line finally hooked something. A small worm like creature was at the end.
The Prince threw away the worm into a well and went home. The next day the Prince set out on a pilgrimage. Meanwhile, in the well the little worm started to grow. It grew so big it coiled up the mouth of the well and climbed out. In fact it wasn't really a worm at all. It was a dragon."
I watched Namine' eyes widen slightly, clutching at her pillow.
"The dragon continued to grown, until it could wrap it's self five times round a hill. It started to devour livestock and humans. After a year had gone by, the Prince returned. Seeing what the worm had transformed into, he went to an old wise man. The man told him to wear a suit of amour with spikes. And when he killed the Dragon, he was to kill the first thing he saw once he arrived back at the palace, or he would be curse for ten generations. The Prince agreed, and told the King that when he blew his horn once he had defeated the Dragon, to release the hounds."
"What would that do?" Namine' asked, leaning forwards slightly.
"Well, the Prince wouldn't have to kill any humans if the first thing he saw was a dog. So off the Prince went, wearing his suit of spikes. No matter how hard the Dragon tried to crush him, the spikes would keep on hurting him. The dragon squeezed until he died. The Prince blew his horn as he came back to the palace. The king, to over come by joy, ran out to greet him. Forgetting to release the hounds. Unable to slay his father, the Prince was curse for ten generations."
Namine' puckered her mouth slightly. "It that a happy ending or not?" She asked, titling her head.
"I suppose it varies," I shrugged, tugging on a spike of red hair.
"Tell me another," she clasped her toes, swaying.
"This is one my father used to tell me when I was small," I said, bringing back the memory. "Their once was a mean king. He ruled over his land, and made everyone's lives miserable. But he was unhappy himself. One day her ordered his guards to go out and search for the wisest man in the land-"
"What not a girl?" Namine' interrupted.
"What?"
"Why is it never a girl?"
"Er.. well," I frowned, scrunching my nose. "Okay then. The king asked for the wisest woman in the land. A whole moon passed, and they finally came back with a pretty young girl.
'Girl!' he shouted at her, as the guards pushed her to the ground. 'How can I obtain happiness?'
The wisest girl in the world frantically searched for an answer to satisfy the king. How could she answer such an intangible question? 'Good sir,' she spoke up, bowing. 'If you give me one hundred kilograms of the worlds finest silver thread, I shall give you your answer.'
The king ordered his villagers to start to weave at once. Day in and day out the villagers worked hard to make silver thread. Impossibly, before the year was up, the wisest girl in the world was presented with her one hundred kilos of fine silver thread. The little girl frowned. 'Why, good sir. I am sorry, but this will never do. To find true happiness, you must also give me one hundred pounds of human hair!'
The king ordered at his knights to gather all the villagers. The knights then cut off all the villagers' hair. They then searched the land, collecting more human hair. Impossibly again, before the second year was up, the wisest girl in the world had her one hundred kilos of human hair. 'Sir, I am very sorry once again,' the little girl bowed low. 'This will never do! You are one step away from glorious, ever lasting happiness. I must have one thousand bucketful's of tears.'
Yet again the King ordered the villagers to line up. He ordered them to cry. When they didn't, he made the guards whip them until they did. However, there weren't enough tears to even fill one hundred buckets. The King angrily turned on the wisest girl in the world. 'What is this?' he roared. 'My sire, you see. Your villagers cannot cry one thousand tears over and over, because they have already found true happiness!' Cried the little girl. 'They cannot cry!' 'You have tricked me!' He yelled, and chased her out of the castle. The next day, the villagers had left the kingdom, and the King was left alone. He never found true happiness, because of how he treated others."
Namine's face was curtained by her hair was she peered at me. "I like that story," she smiled. "Not the king. But it's got a lot of hidden meaning. And you didn't go on and on about it like Zexion."
"What does he tell you then?" I asked, curious.
"Well. He tells me lots of story when he was Ienzo. But he doesn't always use names. But I've always known he was telling me about his past life."
I chewed my lip for a second. Zexion never opened up to anyone. I wondered how good a friend he was to me if he could talk to Namine' about his Other. He'd told me once, about what Xemnas had done to them all, and I'd cocooned myself. I suppose he was expecting a fair exchange. I couldn't, wouldn't talk about what had happened to me.
"Again, Axel," Namine' graced me with a shy smile. "I like hearing you speak."
"Wait a second… you gotta tell me a story too," I reminded her. "All's fair."
Namine' screwed up her nose. "Alright. Not long ago, last week in fact, there lived a very lovely lady. She lived in a lovely house, with a lovely dog. One day, the lovely lady married a man. Unfortunately, this man abused the lovely lady, and soon left her and took all her money. Then the lovely found that she was pregnant to the man. Scared that the child born would be abusive like the father, she went to a psychiatrist. She asked the psychiatrist what to do, and he told her that ever night, rub your belly and tell the child
'Please be good'
Soon the lovely lady was well into her pregnancy. Soon, she married again. Unfortunately, this man was also abusive, and stole off with her money as well. Terrified that her unborn child would treat her the same, she started to rub her belly three times a day, saying.
"Please be good'
Soon, the lovely lady was due to give birth…. Then a week went by a still she had no baby. Shrugging it off, she still told the unborn child to
'Please be good'
Then a month went by. Still no baby. A year went by. Still no baby! But never once did the lovely lady stop telling the baby to
'Please be good'
Finally, the lovely lady died with her unborn child. Confused, a team of doctors cut her open. In the belly of the lovely lady, was two very old men. They were both saying
'No, after you'
'Please, after you'
Because they knew nothing about from 'being good'," Namine' finished, blushing a little. I shook my head, laughing.
"That was ridiculous."
"I know," Namine' smiled. "But I like it."
"Thankyou," I said, meeting her gaze. I dropped it after a while, then looked out her window. "Alright, I better get going… you have a good night, okay?"
"I will," Namine' pulled up the covers, ducking her head. "You won't forget my story, will you?"
"Nope," I grinned, tapping where my heart should have been. "Sweet dreams."
Namine murmured a reply. I switched the lights off. Then sneezed.
END
Dragon one came from Dragonology. That one my actually dad told me. And the other a comedian told our school xp
A small filler, I guess :D I'll put up a Joker tonight, cos this is pretty lame
-Ixi