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DOCHIRASAMA…?

By: Warm-Ice

Who are you…?

Nobody…

I'm glad to meet you…

Chapter 4: Once Upon a Time

Namine walked into the guest room, assured that Axel would wait outside. He didn't know why though, since the only time she actually had him wait outside was when she was talking to Him. He had a suspicion that she was planning something she wasn't telling him but could not find a base to start on.

She stood at the doorway as the doors closed behind her, peering at the two boys that lie on their backs on their separate beds. No one had been their family's guest for centuries and so the room was quite dusty and the beds, floor, and walls would creak loudly when there would be movement.

But without hesitance, she walked towards their beds, her footsteps producing a soft creaking sound. It was not loud enough to wake Sora up, but it was enough to wake Riku up.

The silver haired boy blinked his vision back to clarity and he found himself staring up at a cobwebbed ceiling. He wanted to grimace but realize that someone was in the room when he heard a creaking sound again. He looked through the corner of his eyes and was surprised to see Kairi—no, someone that resembled Kairi a lot—sitting on the bed Sora was sleeping in, holding on her lap a sketchpad.

She had a small smile on her face as she watched his friend. She lifted her hand and touched his cheek, reveling on how much he looked like and felt like Roxas. It was simply amazing that Roxas as well would find someone that looked like him. Somehow, it didn't make her feel as alone anymore.

She wanted to see his smile. This boy had the most beautiful smile she had ever seen. It was bright and free, just like his spirit. She stood, finished with admiring and envying the boy. She turned to look now onto the silver haired one, the one who was uniquely him. She admired him as well. She'd never seen anyone with such a strong sense of self before. He was so confident in himself and his actions betrayed nothing of insecurities.

She smiled sadly, coming closer to him, thinking how she wished she would be as strong as him. She stood about an arms reach away and openly stared at the slumbering boy.

But her eyes widened considerably when his closed eyes opened to reveal gleaming emerald eyes and the dusty covers were thrown off of his body. His hand grabbed her arm and she was pulled down while her sketchpad had flown off somewhere. The next thing she knew, she was being straddled to the creaking bed, a sharp object which she could not see threatening her neck.

"Who are you and what have you done with Kairi?" he said, his voice steady and threatening.

When Namine's senses finally came back to her, she resumed staring at him, finding herself engulfed in his eyes. They were truly a sight to behold. Would she be able to capture that color with simple paint? She hoped so.

"Answer me."

"…"

"Dochirasama…?" he asked, confusion now shining in his eyes. Why doesn't she answer him? Was he talking to a mute? And no, she didn't resemble Kairi…She was practically Kairi herself. Only, her hair was different…her smile was dimmer…she wasn't wearing Kairi's necklace…and her eyes…were so sad…

"Nobody…" she answered softly, her voice an alarmingly gentle serenade. "Who are you?" she asked back.

"Riku…" he had answered before he knew what he was doing.

"Riku…" she repeated, her features turning into a smile. "I'm glad to meet you…"

He found himself staring at her and he quickly shook his head to snap himself back into reality. He glared at her again, knowing she had steered him away from what he was going for.

"Where's Kairi?"

"She's resting in her room."

He was confused again. Was it always so simple—getting answers from her? She didn't even bother hiding the details.

"Where are we?"

"In the guest room."

"Okay…um…" he thought for a moment, trying to remember what else he wanted to ask to this strange girl. But then he remembered, "Earlier, when that boy came…what exactly happened? Don't try to hide the details from me, I can tell when someone's lying."

Her eyes closed for a moment before she opened them again to look up at him, seemingly bracing herself. "I think it would be better if…I told you the whole story…" she turned her eyes to the sketchpad that had fallen onto the floor.

He was hesitant to let her go but he removed the sharp object from her neck—a sharp black key he had always carried around—and stood from the bed. She sat up once she was free and she picked up the sketchpad, flipping it to the very first page.

She showed it to him, letting him take it for a closer look. "Once upon a time…" she started to say.

"What are you saying?" he asked, cutting her off. He thought she was going to tell him the whole story, not a fairytale.

"That is how you start a story, isn't it?"

"Well…yeah, but…nevermind. Just go on with the story." He said, looking back at the drawing of a witch who stood at the foot of a mountain with a house.

"Once upon a time, there was a witch that lived in the mountains."

"A story that starts with a witch? What kind of story is that?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, normally, a story would start with a princess—nevermind." If he was asking for a story, then he should not interrupt.

"Please turn to the next page." He turned to the next page, to see a wounded prince. "one night, while she was searching for herbs for her potion, she stumbled upon a wounded prince."

He turned the next page, and it was a picture of the witch, helping the prince. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. A witch, helping a prince? What kinda whack story was this?

"She took the prince to her home and helped him recover. The prince was grateful for her help and decided to visit the witch often from then on. Soon, they became good friends and the witch knew that she was falling for him."

He turned another page and saw the witch crying. It was strangely pitiful, seeing a witch cry. Really, how many witches had he seen cry. There was a shadowed man behind her, pointing at the retreating prince. He wondered who the shadow was.

"But then, the witch's dark lord found out about the prince's frequent visits and hatched an evil plan to rule the kingdom. So once the prince left, the dark lord came to the witched and ordered her to kill the prince. She was powerless against her dark lord and had to do his bidding. But she devised a plan to keep the prince alive. She asked the dark lord for some time, saying that the potion to kill the prince needed special ingredients. The dark lord believed her and went away."

He turned the next page. The witch was diligently mixing her large pot as the prince knocked on her door, bearing beautiful lilies. He raised a brow. The prince brought the witch lilies? What would that mean? Did that mean that the prince was falling in love with the witch too?

"So she conjured up a love potion that would make the prince fall in love with a princess."

A princess? Not with the witch? But why? He thought the witch loved the prince. Why was she letting him go?

"So that the prince would be married to the princess and have children. When she was assured that the prince had a child, she called him to her and tried to give him the potion of death. But she could not."

The next page held a picture of the prince kneeling in front of the witch. Ironic.

"The love potion had worn off and the prince had professed his undying love for her. Tears welled up in her eyes at the thought of somebody like a prince, loving a nobody like her."

The next page was probably the most romantic of all. Under the crescent moon, the silhouette of the prince and the witch molded as one, giving the impression that they were kissing.

"The prince kissed her and she was powerless to push him away. But then, the dark lord saw them with his evil eye. And so enraged was he that the witch did not carry on his orders, he cursed the witch and the prince. Whosoever loves the witch shall meet his doom in the hands of a knight."

He turned the next page and found a dark knight standing before the prince with their swords unsheathed.

"And so, when the prince returned to his castle with the witch, hoping they could live together, a knight stood in their way. They fought and the prince was defeated. Normally the story would end here…but the truth was that…the knight took the heartbroken witch—who cursed him as well—and imprisoned her in his castle, making her his wife and letting the prince's kingdom be ruled by the dark lord."

The next page was stranger than the rest. It was the three of them, Kairi, Sora and him. They were holding hands while lying on a grassy plane, wide smiles on their face. She turned to the girl who called herself Nobody.

"This is a drawing of us…" he said.

"Their bloodlines still exist today…Kairi's blood is of the witch. And one of you two has the blood of the knight while the other has the blood of the prince."

His eyes widened when the information processed fully in his mind and he threw the sketchpad down. "And I'm supposed to believe that crap?"

Namine smiled sadly, shaking her head softly and looking up at him with such innocent eyes. "You said it yourself, didn't you? You can tell when someone is lying…" He found he could not answer her. It's true that he couldn't sense she was lying…but how could he believe such a tall tale?

Without waiting for his answer, Namine stood up and took her sketchpad from the floor. "I will have one of the family members to guard your door, so when you are both ready to leave or one of you wants to speak to Kairi, please tell him and he will lead you." She said, as she walked to the door.

"Hey." He called. She stopped but didn't turn. "So…who are you in the story?"

"…nobody…"

With that, the door opened and closed, she already left.

Tears welled up in her eyes at the thought of somebody like a prince, loving a nobody like her.

"So…you're also the witch…"