Hemisphere

by Classy-cat18

A new world. New people. A new life. So much to learn.

4. Third Movement

Third Movement - (I Hate) Everything About You

After floating through a thick, dark sea of unconsciousness, my mind and body started to wake. Sounds, smells…

And pain.

Immense pain.

Unbearable pain!

My body felt like it was on fire! Every joint ached! Everything that entered my ears seemed to attack me! And there was one steady sound that hammered my brain! I curled up on my side as much as possible, my hands over my ears. I wanted so much to scream for everything to SHUT UP!

But the only thing that came out of my mouth was a pathetic wheeze. My voice was gone. Shot to hell. And my neck felt like a noose was tightening around it, squeezing it every time I even opened my mouth. I tried again and again, rolling on my knees so I was hunched over. The steady banging sound wouldn't stop!

Why wouldn't it stop?

Anger and anguish filled me. I couldn't scream, so I was reduced to quiet sobbing. Fresh tears rolled down tracks of dried ones from earlier. The banging sound was now the only thing I could hear. What is it? My hand rested over my pounding chest.

My heart! That terrible sound was my own heartbeat!

"Stop it!" I mouthed as I started clawing at my bandaged chest. Maybe if I dug enough, if I could just reach it, I could make it stop!

"STOP!" A voice pierced through the sound of my heartbeat. Two…no, four hands were on me quickly. Two on my sides, trying to roll me over. There were another two trying to pry my hands away from my chest.

"Darn it, she's trying to claw out her heart!" That voice was unfamiliar.

"You can't even pull her hands away? She's drawing blood!"

I gasped. Roxas! Everything that happened that day up until I blacked out came rushing back, including my feeling of hatred.

"She's being unpredictable!" the first voice shouted, filling my head. I shifted slightly and balled up a fist to punch who I hoped was Roxas. "There, she's moving!"

WHACK!

With a speed I didn't know I was capable of, I had flipped over and let my fist fly.

Roxas was unharmed. The other guy wasn't.

The other blond, older than Roxas, rocked back and held his nose. "Aah, ah thonk eht's blehding," he said in a weird tone.

Roxas sighed and patted his shoulder. "Give it a second. It'll heal."

I was momentarily stunned by my mistake, but recovered and threw a second punch. Unfortunately, Roxas saw it coming and calmly caught it in his hand. "Don't stress yourself. You're already sick," he told me.

I can't be sick. I'm never sick! But then the adrenaline stopped flowing, and I remembered how painful it felt without the anger. What's going on? Why now?

Roxas let go of my hand. I finally noticed that he wasn't wearing his gloves or cloak. He raised one of his pale hands to touch my forehead. The moment skin touched skin, I flinched and whimpered. Even his touch was too much! It was like being poked by an exposed electrical wire.

"Please."

As if I was under a spell, I instinctively froze at the sound of his voice. Was he pleading? "Please," he continued. "Please don't panic. I promise we'll explain soon. We won't hurt you. Just please…"

"STOP SAYING THAT!" I tried to push out of my mouth, only getting a faint wheeze followed by dry coughing. The invisible noose squeezed me to the point that I almost couldn't breathe. But I still tried to form another sentence. "I…hate you."

Although my eyes were closed, I could hear him sigh and get off the bed. Now his tone was serious and stony. "In case you were wondering, you're suffering from heart sickness. It's something that Nobodies tend to get when their bonds are severed but their heart doesn't die. What you're feeling is the pain of loneliness, sorrow, anger, and hate. For you, it's the most you've ever felt in your whole life, and your once-dead heart is overwhelmed. Your first instinct was to get rid of the source of your pain."

I looked at him for a second in confusion, then down to my bloody fingers and the scars on my chest. I had even clawed a hole through the fresh T-shirt I was wearing. My heart? I tried to dig out my own heart?

"Some of your abilities as a Nobody have shut down for a while because of it," Roxas continued. "This includes your accelerated healing. As a result, you could've killed yourself."

The other guy in the room switched from foot to foot in anxiety, staying in the room when Roxas left. After an uncomfortable silence, he looked at me shyly. "Man, I hate it when he's like that. He's like an adult. Did you have to bring him down?" he asked me meekly.

Even if my voice wasn't gone, I wouldn't have answered him. I didn't care about Roxas, or myself right now. My father was gone, and I somehow knew that I was nowhere near home. There was no reason for me to even live, and it was because of Roxas. I pointed to the door, signaling that I wanted him out too.

"You're not making this easy," he complained with a childish pout. "Hadn't you ever thought that you were hurting him by fighting him like this?"

I blocked his voice out by covering my ears. I don't care! I just want everything to go back to the way it was!

He stayed where he was, until I uncovered my ears. "I'll be right back. Stay in bed!" he told me brightly, and he quickly walked out the room. However, he left the door open.

Now that the distractions had left, I could take in my surroundings. The room they had put me in was simple with subtle colors. There wasn't a bright color anywhere. I looked down at my hands while they rested on the light blue comforter. The blood on my fingertips was so red, it really stood out among the pale surroundings. My skin was also darker than I thought. Why was everything so…vivid? Had my eyes gotten sensitive? It might've been the case. There wasn't a light on in my room, just a little sunlight streaming from a nearby window. Even that wasn't very bright, so it might've been an overcast day.

I was trapped; there was no doubt about that. No idea where I was, exactly who those people were, and what they wanted from me. There was no chance of escape, and I didn't feel like trying. There was nothing to return to anyway. I was still aching all over, getting very hungry and was still tired.

So why wasn't I crying?

I was feeling calm for someone who had been kidnapped. Maybe it was because I wasn't dead yet. So far, Roxas and his friend hadn't done anything to suggest I was here for torture. Unless they wanted their victim to be in top condition before starting said torture.

Well, I'm not going to find out by staying in this bed. I slowly peeled the covers off myself, revealing a pair of light pink pajama pants. Hopefully there's a girl here that had changed me. One foot was lightly lowered onto the carpet, followed by the other. My joints still ached a little from the movement, but it hurt less the more I moved.

Normal light blue carpet, not too plush or flat. There was a little stumbling and shuffling at first, like a clumsy Frankenstein monster. I still forced my knees to work with me as I walked to the lone window and pulled back the shades. It was overcast outside, but the window was also tinted. The whole room was probably designed to help recovery from heart sickness, if sensory overload was one of the symptoms.

"I can't believe you did that!"

I jumped at the loud sound of the strange blond's voice. It had been so quiet that I thought that no one was within earshot. My feet were carrying me out the room and into the empty hall before I knew it. I paused while trying to figure out which way to go next, the sound of things being moved drawing me to a nearby open door.

"Shut up, Demyx!" I heard Roxas hiss harshly. "Don't you think I've heard enough from the boss?"

Boss?

"No!" Demyx answered, just as loud as before. "You've been so bipolar lately it scares me!"

"Demyx, everything scares you. Thunder scares you. The Twilight Zone scares you."

"I am not scared of thunder!"

"And TTZ?"

"No comment."

I rolled my eyes. That blond was a real idiot.

"But why?" I stiffened when Demyx started talking again. "Why didn't you save that man?"

My fists clenched tightly. He was talking about my dad now. This was my chance to find out.

Roxas' voice got glacial. "I couldn't bring myself to save someone that I didn't care about."

My eyes widened at his statement. It was the same as driving a dagger through my heart. Didn't care about? That's why he let him die? Is this the same Roxas who saved me? I hugged myself tightly, trying to keep myself from falling apart. Sobs ripped out my mouth. "Otou-san," I cried softly.

Roxas lied.

That bastard lied to me.

He was perfectly capable of saving my dad. He just didn't want to.

"Nia?"

I looked up at Roxas, the flaring emotions coming back full force. "Teme!" I croaked.

"Get back in—"

I didn't let him finish, pushing myself away from the wall and launching myself at him. We both crashed into the opposite wall. Roxas made no move to defend himself yet, allowing me to wrap both my hands around his neck.

"Nia!" the guy called Demyx called out, staying still although I was trying to strangle his friend.

"Your seal," Roxas said.

I had forgotten about the seal that he had put around me, that restricted the use of my powers and caused me pain every time I managed to use it. But the invisible noose around my neck had tightened even more. Was something happening to the seal? Never mind that! Roxas must pay!

"You let Otou-san die," I whimpered so quietly that I could hardly hear myself. "You didn't care at all! Doushite? Why didn't you do anything?"

"I don't care about humans," he answered seriously. "Only my own kind. And I knew the two of you wouldn't have been able to live together for long before one of you died."

"You lie!" My grip tightened slightly, despite the seal choking me.

"You know it's the truth."

"It's all a lie! I loved otou-san…"

"How could you do this to your own father?"

"And he loved me…"

"I won't die by your hands."

My protests were momentarily silenced by coughs. I wasn't trying to convince Roxas anymore, just talking to myself. And with each thing I said, my grip got looser until I let go of him altogether. My voice was gone again, but the tears wouldn't stop.

It had started to sink in. If Larxene hadn't have been there to annoy my father, he really would have killed me. Or tried to, at least. Was he capable of killing me?

Demyx, who strangely had stayed back during my attack on Roxas, now stepped in and put a hand on my shoulder. "Come on, back to bed," he told me.

The contact put me on edge again, and I stepped away from him. I don't feel like putting up with their fake kindness. I just want to…damn, what's left for me? But I was getting tired; my legs would give out at any second.

"Bring her to me, Demyx." The new voice had all of us turn our heads to the end of the hall. Another cloaked figure stood there, taller and much more muscular than all of us.

Looks like the boss to me.

"But sir—" Demyx started.

"No arguments," the brick wall quickly replied with a deep and booming voice. He didn't sound angry, but it made the blond jump.

Before Demyx could say anything to me, I had stood and started to walk towards the cloaked man. The hall emptied into a large, circular sitting room filled with plush furniture. I actually stopped to take it all in, from the luxurious Persian rug to the elegant chandelier hanging from the high ceiling.

"Come along," the stranger said patiently but still sounding intimidating. He marched to an almost hidden staircase that followed the curve of the wall as it sank through the floor, then waited for me to catch up.

It was hard to walk this much without wobbling, and my heavy breathing seemed to echo in the room. I tried to hold my breath, feeling like the man would get irritated by my weak state. "You haven't been given your medicine?" he asked me. I gave my head a shake, still unable to speak. "I see." He didn't say any more.

Strange. When I first got here, I didn't want anything to do with my captors. And now my head was starting to buzz with questions. Why do they like wearing their hoods up indoors?

The staircase led to another circular room, with clean white walls that almost blinded me had it not been for the dim lighting. Two doors and another hallway now faced us. The stranger led me to the door on the right and gently knocked on it. "I've brought her," he said.

"Let me speak to her in private," a soft male voice said on the other side.

The stranger opened the door and stepped aside, looking down at me. "Go in," he told me. I was in a position that I could look under the hood. Stony blue eyes looked back, belonging to a face with strong features. I must've been staring, because he grunted and nudged me in the room.

The new room resembled a college professor's office, only bigger. There were shelves of books lining the walls, and also on stacks in the nearest corners. A chalkboard stood nearby, blank and washed. Right in front of me, on the far side of the room, was a large oak desk. A boy about my age sat in front of it, with gray-blue hair covering one side of his face and wearing the black cloak I was getting used to seeing. This kid couldn't be the boss!

And yet, there was still a sense of authority around him. But I didn't like the way he stared at me, as if his eyes were taking me apart and studying each piece. "Has she taken her medicine, Lexaeus?" he asked the tall man behind me.

"No."

He sighed sadly. "It's bad manners to hide your face around our guest."

Lexaeus nodded and removed his hood, revealing his ginger colored spikes. "Is there anything else you need?"

"That will be all. You may return to your previous activities."

He nodded again and left, closing the door behind him. I was now left with the blue haired youth, standing awkwardly in the middle of his large study. I felt like a child that had been sent to the principal's office without knowing what he or she did wrong. The boy stood and walked around his desk. "You're trembling. I have made some tea for the two of us." He gestured to a small table with two chairs near me, a tea set already prepared for us.

At first I didn't move. This didn't help the situation, just made the boy seem like the youngest James Bond villain. All he was missing was a cat to pet while sneering at me. But the boy had moved silently while I was looking down at my feet until he was close enough to reach out and lift my chin with a finger. "I don't think you want to collapse in the middle of my study," he whispered.

I quickly turned away from him and sat at the table, feeling a blush creep across my face. He sat across from me and poured tea into the two porcelain teacups. "It's just a simple orange pekoe," he informed me. He looked up at me again and smiled slightly. "That seal must be bothering you. I would prefer that this conversation not be one-sided."

My throat was relieved the second he waved his hand in front of me. I rubbed the seal on my neck and sighed in relief. "Thank you," I said in a hoarse voice.

"It's no problem at all." He chuckled. "I am Zexion, and the gentleman that led you here is Lexaeus."

"I'm Nia Hawthorne," I returned while wondering why I was being so polite.

"You are." He dropped a few sugar cubes in each cup and gave one cup to me. "I swear you look so much like dear Kaori-chan."

The cup in my hand stopped just short of my lips. Kaori was…

"H-how do you know my mom?" I questioned shakily.

His small smile grew. "That's not for you to know right now. But my, those brown eyes of yours have been through a lot lately. They're red and puffy, but they still look like hers."

The tension in the room grew. He was using my mother as a lure, to get me interested in whatever he wanted from me. "Why are you still talking about her?"

"Just random musings, I guess. I wanted to banter a little." He took a sip out of his own cup. "She was a fascinating creature."

I sighed and finally took a sip. The tea was pretty good; a bit of honey might've been mixed in with it. Whatever it was helped soothe my throat. "So…" I said with hesitation. "What can you talk to me about?"

Zexion chuckled again and kept his eyes on his cup at first. "This is your new home, Nia-chan, so I wanted to let you know that you can make yourself comfortable here."

The idea still perturbed me although not as much as first. "I have to live here?"

"Where else would you go?"

"Back to Winter Town—"

"To who?" he interrupted sharply.

I flinched. "Someone will take me in."

His eyes snapped to mine again, and I was trapped in his gaze. "You will be arrested for murder, little songbird."

I gasped. Murder? But…well, no one else could've done it…

"Then let me get arrested! I don't see what use you have for me!"

"Neither do I plan to let you know at the moment. To be honest, we don't know ourselves. But Kaori did, and that's why we are keeping you safe."

I bit my lip and fought back the tears. I was being held here alive against my will, and I didn't even know why! "Hey, wait." I looked at the delicate teacups. There wasn't a single crack in them, even after I had yelled in anger. "My power isn't working. Is this from heart sickness?"

"No. See, some powers like your accelerated healing abilities are shut off. This is the phase where most Nobodies, not able to withstand their hearts, commit suicide. But their offensive abilities tend to go haywire because they are influenced by their emotions." He put a hand on the side of his neck. "The seal that Roxas gave you disappeared after you collapsed back in Winter Town, so I had to give you a new one to deal with your wildly fluctuating powers. But unlike the last seal, I can change its form so it's more like a filter. Your voice goes through but your power doesn't."

"Why didn't you do that earlier?"

"Using the filter is risky. If I allow you to speak freely, you have the chance to break through it. Also, I don't know the full extent of your powers. All that I've gathered is that they're based on your voice, so I restrained it."

I stayed silent. He did have the right to keep his windows and teacups safe. He took in my troubled expression and sighed. "You are safe here," he reassured me.

"I don't believe you."

"You are with your own kind," he told me calmly.

"Who are either heartless and cold or psychotic and sadistic," I said in a louder voice.

"Like your father was any different."

"My father loved me!"

BANG

I yelped in surprise as the sound of my father's gun rang through my mind again, then flung the teacup from my hand which shattered as it hit the wall. The rest of the tea splashed onto the floor. Strangely, Zexion didn't even flinch. "Tell me, Nia-chan. What did your father do after you killed your mother?"

My breath hitched. He was standing behind me with that knife—

"Shut up!" I yelled.

"Stay with us."

"I'd rather kill myself!"

"But what about Roxas?"

My fists clenched. Roxas' face flashed in my mind, looking at me with his sad blue eyes. It temporarily calmed me, but my anger flared again. "What about him?" I said coldly as I looked up.

Roxas met my gaze, with that same sad look that I had pictured him with. I screamed and fell back into my chair hard enough to knock it backwards to the floor. "Nia?" he called out with a concerned voice.

My eyes darted wildly around the room. Where was Zexion? He was standing right where Roxas appeared! It isn't Roxas, I told myself. Remember, you're dealing with beings with powers. Zexion could have some power to transform.

Roxas (or Zexion) crouched beside me and leaned in close. My body heated up rapidly starting at the face and traveling downward. "Don't leave me," he pleaded.

I quickly rolled away from the fallen chair but still chose to sit on the floor while resting on my elbows. The same words repeated in my brain like a broken record. It's not Roxas, it's not Roxas, it's not Roxas…

"I'm sorry about the way I behaved before," he continued as he crawled toward me. "But I can be your family now. I can love you like your parents never could."

I shook my head wildly and dragged my body backwards. My body ached too much for me to get up and run away, so I was stuck on the floor with him. "It's not Roxas, it's not Roxas, it's not Roxas…" I repeated out loud.

"Your body must be in so much pain. I'll carry you upstairs and prepare a soothing bath for you, then let you sleep in my room."

"Go away, go away, go away…" I whimpered. I had backed myself into a corner while he was still getting closer.

"We can curl up close, just like two lovers."

I closed my eyes in an attempt to shut myself off from the phony. "Urusai! Urusai, urusai, urusai!"

"Open your eyes," he commanded.

Like a trained fool, I followed his command on cue, gasping at how close he was now. I could feel his breath on my face. "Why are you so afraid of me?" he innocently asked.

My mouth worked but no words came out. It was impossible! I knew he wasn't Roxas. His voice not only had a sharp edge unlike the Roxas I knew, but also sounded like another voice was with it. Zexion's voice. His eyes weren't kind, but cold and calculating. He was nothing like him, but I was still naturally reacting like he was the real deal!

"You're not Roxas!" I growled angrily.

The doppelganger slowly let his mouth stretch into a smirk. "Of course not. But that doesn't matter, does it?" He roughly grabbed my chin. "As long as I look and sound like him, you're still affected. Every look he sends your way, every word he speaks to you, every touch he gives you is enough to send a shock to your system. It's so fascinating!"

"Hanase!" I cried out.

"But I can't help it. I've been dreaming about you for years, longing to be with you." He chuckled. "Just like I heard him say two weeks ago. I wonder. Did he mean that in a platonic sense?" He leaned in even closer and whispered in my ear. "Or were his hormones out of control?"

I felt something warm clamp down on my earlobe: his teeth. A squeak escaped my lips. He tugged and sucked lightly. My eyes widened, and the female part of my brain started computing what was happening. Oh god, he has me cornered in his study. Don't tell me he wants to—

He chuckled again and let go of my ear. "I'm not going that far. Now don't give me that angry face. Some part of you must be enjoying this."

"You're using that form for your sadistic pleasures!" I pushed against his chest with both hands but he wouldn't budge. There was no heartbeat that I could detect. "He isn't…" I caught myself mid-sentence. Was I defending him?

He narrowed his eyes. "Go on."

"He isn't like this," I said slowly.

"How do you know that? Some boys can pull of an incredible innocent act until they get what they want. Some girls can do that too."

I started to tremble. No, I'm not like that! I'm not what he says!

"Put your hands down," he commanded.

My body obeyed while my mind protested. Damn! Why can't I fight him?

He gave me a cruel smirk. "The bond is stronger than I thought."

"Stop messing with me!" I tried to raise my arms again but they were too stiff to even move an inch. There was only one way to get him off, and it was going to be painful. The anger I had been feeling felt like a heat in my stomach. After some deep breathing, it rose to my lungs. Zexion said that there was a way I could force my powers through the filter. He also said that my powers were probably influenced by my emotions. If I just push it out with my loudest voice I could—

"Silence."

The invisible noose instantly tightened to the point of choking. NO!

"Trying to fight me, are you? That seal will see that attacking me with your voice is impossible, Kaori-chan."

This boy is obsessed with my mother! Something is seriously wrong with him! I froze as he leaned in even closer. My eyes zeroed in on his puckered lips. Huh?

There was a white mist escaping fake Roxas' mouth. I accidentally sucked in a breath along with a bit of that mist. It had the pleasant taste of wintergreen, as well as a hint of orange pekoe. It was strange; I had never paid attention to taste before. But my tongue picked apart the delicious taste of the strange mist.

Fake Roxas blinked in confusion. "You're being peaceful."

"So hungry," I heard myself whine, my voice far away. "I need it."

"Need what?"

My head suddenly jerked forward and crashed our lips together. I was craving more of that taste; I couldn't stop myself! It satisfied my hunger and eased my pain like the best medicine! His mouth opened slightly, and I grabbed my prize. The taste flowed into my mouth like a liquid, and it was followed by a solid lump with a more explosive taste that I held in my mouth.

Fake Roxas' eyes shot wide open, and he tore away from me and went back to his desk. He panted heavily and gave me a furious look. His mouth moved as if he was yelling at me.

But nothing came out.

We looked at each other with bewilderment, neither of us saying anything. Well, I was quiet because I was holding something in my mouth, but I had no idea why he was being quiet for once.

But he looked like he was trying to talk, but was unable to.

Did I…

No way. It was impossible.

"Yo, Zexion!"

The two of us jumped and jerked our heads to the door. Someone else had come down here. Fake Roxas' body flickered and changed back to Zexion, then the blue-haired bastard walked towards me with anger in his eyes. I gulped and accidentally swallowed the lump so I could shout for help. "Help me!" I cried out, somehow able to bypass the seal.

Zexion stopped just a few inches away from me, his jaw practically on the floor.

I sounded just like him.

If that wasn't bad enough, the door flew open. The new guy burst in, definitely thinking that it was Zexion who cried for help. I yelped in his friend's voice, and his jaw dropped too. Neither of them moved, but I sprang to my feet with renewed strength.

The new guy was tall. Not as tall as Lexaeus, but still tall by my standards. He had a slender hourglass figure that was accented by his cloak. And his face…

Green eyes that almost glittered like a cat's.

Spiky hair in a fire engine red.

The redhead finally recovered and pointed at me. "Who are you?" he demanded.

I kept my mouth shut at first, and he took a step toward me. Rather than answering him, I ran for the door but was easily caught by him. He held me by the waist. The closeness made me panic even more, but the guy's surprising strength made restraining me easy. "What did you do to him?" he asked me angrily.

"Shiranai!" I replied angrily.

"You don't know? You had better figure out fast!"

"No! He deserved what he got!"

He growled and harshly lifted me off the ground, applying pressure to my stomach. I felt a wave of nausea wash over me, so I stopped struggling to get the stranger to stop. However, it didn't stop me from coughing up what came up my throat. A glowing white orb escaped and floated back to Zexion, who opened his mouth and swallowed it.

"Ew!" the redhead exclaimed as he let me go and let me drop to the floor. All the aches and pains came back, meaning I couldn't get back up. "What did she spit out?"

"My voice," Zexion replied calmly.

I groaned and forced my body to work, leaning against the wall as soon as I was on my feet. Zexion waved his hand again, switching the seal into a filter again. "You are free to go, Nia-chan," Zexion told me with a small smile.

I was too angry to think straight, but I knew better than to try to attack him. My feet only took me right outside his door before giving out. A painful wail rang out and alerted someone to my side. I couldn't see them until they picked me up and held me bridal style. It was the blond from earlier, Demyx. "You look even worse than before," he mumbled.

The redhead walked out and closed the door behind him. "Something tells me our boss went overboard," he told Demyx. "Take her upstairs, give her the medicine, and keep her cool and calm."

Demyx helplessly looked down at me. "Um…okay. Axel?"

The redhead raised his eyebrows. "Hm?"

"What about Roxas?" I flinched at the sound of that name.

"Thankfully he's out of the mansion. If he finds out about this, he'll go batshit insane."

"So keep my mouth shut?"

"You can do that right?"

Demyx blushed and chuckled weakly. "Yeah."

Axel grabbed his sleeve. "Be careful with her. I think she eats voices."

Even as he said that, I saw a white mist escape through Demyx's lips.