A/N: Don't be afraid to comment!
Fourth Movement – Naraku no Hana
Third Person POV
One week earlier…
He was fine with tainted morals. As far as he was concerned, his self-righteousness had gone out the window the minute he killed his parents. He had no right to be anyone's judge and jury.
So he found it strangely funny that some of his "jobs" concerned the assassination of other people with tainted morals. Criminals that had escaped legal means of punishment. Murderers. Rapists. Corrupt politicians. Twisted businessmen. He didn't ask many questions on the targets. Just popped in, carried out the deed, and then popped out. It was these missions that were worth the most money, because the people paying him were rich and powerful.
Too much blood, he thought to himself as he surveyed the mess. Despite his weapon of choice, twin samurai swords, the slayings were usually clean. The blood would've been concentrated in one spot. But the victim this time was a resilient coward that refused to stop flailing, from the time his right eye was speared while he was screaming in his kitchen, to the end where he crawled to the shower and got stabbed in the back. The blood trailed wherever he ran and also was smeared on the walls.
The assassin didn't worry about anything else. The rational part of himself was locked away in a closet of his own making, a convenient skill he used whenever he was going to do something that he wasn't proud of. However, he did have trouble with letting it out once it was locked. He could stare at the one big blood stain on the carpet for the rest of the night, and everyone would be safer with letting him do so.
When he was in this state, only his killer instincts were active. A song drifted through his head, and his lips moved silently to accompany it.
Saa wasuremashou sono mirai ga
Mata chinurarete yuku nante
Namanurui kaze toguro wo maitara
Sore ga tabun aizu
Come now, let us forget that our future will
once again be splattered with blood.
When the mild wind coils around you,
that is surely a sign
The sound of soft footsteps and steady breathing alerted him to an intruder. The song in his head abruptly stopped. Intruders weren't allowed to witness. Without even considering who it was, the assassin threw his sword in her direction. The intruder merely gasped with surprise and stepped to the side, only getting a bloody scratch on her left cheek.
The shock died down quickly though, and she walked back to retrieve his sword. She held the blade in one hand, and wiped the blood from the rapidly healing cut with her other. "My my, you really are heartless when you carry out these missions," the woman said casually. There was even a bit of humor in her voice. "You didn't even care it was me."
It was more of an issue of not recognizing her. Anyone that stepped in attacking distance was in danger of being injured or killed, until he got back to his senses. But the woman knew that, and blew on a small whistle that she kept in her pocket. The young assassin immediately snapped his head up at her. "Larxene," he groaned.
"Nice to have you back, Roxas." She giggled and ran her hand over the drying blood on the wall, admiring the bright color in contrast to the white wall. "I see that you had a runner this time."
The blond narrowed his eyes. "You know I don't like discussing these things after they're done. I can't even remember what happened."
"That's not true. I've heard about the nightmares."
"And which of my colleagues told you that?"
"It's…a…secret," she sang slowly as she lowered herself on the plush couch. "Aww, why can't the Organization let us keep the spoils of our little wars? This condo looks so swanky!"
"You should know why. An important man is killed, and a day later someone eagerly buys the place he died in? Sounds suspicious." It could've been mistaken as light banter with a friend, but Roxas held nothing but contempt for his teammate.
"Aren't you going to ask why I'm here?" Larxene inquired.
"I don't have to. You love seeing the aftermath."
"Yes, you're as impressive as Number Eight. But that's not why I'm here." She pulled a piece of paper out of her cloak and held it out for him. "You're to finish that job."
He stiffened, taking a long time to take the paper from her. It was a picture of a medium-skinned girl with shoulder-length hair and her mother's eyes. "Nia?"
Larxene got serious for a moment. "You're not allowed another failure, unlucky Thirteen." It was her nickname for him. "You will bring her in."
"I will bring her in," he echoed dully.
"Hmmm? Is Roxas going through another emo phase? What could he be thinking? 'Nia-chan won't want to come here! We're horrible people! I murder and walk around with blood on my face!'" She cackled harshly, the tone of her laugh and words piercing Roxas' ears. It quickly drove him over the edge. Before she could continue her taunts, his other blade thrust forward and pierced her heart, cutting her laugh short. Blood squirted out and hit his already bloody face, narrowly missing his left eye. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and her body slumped.
I hate that she's right. He took one sword from her hand but kept the other one in her body. Her eyes stayed half-closed and glazed over, but he wasn't affected in the least. The normal swords that he wielded couldn't kill her. "That stopped being funny long ago, Larxene," he growled.
The body blinked and stretched out on the couch, back to her lively self. "But really, how are you going to get her here? You can't let her stay there. Not only will the Organization go after your hide, but some goody-two-shoes will go after hers. Maybe… her own father will."
He harshly yanked out the sword in her chest and wiped the blood on her black cloak. "I'll come up with something, even if I have to lie."
"But she'll hate you so much!" she exclaimed with fake horror.
"Then let her hate me. And you had better not interfere, nymph!" he lashed out at her.
She pouted. The only thing that was keeping her safe was her rank; otherwise his attack would've been serious. "You're as cruel as me, Thirteen."
"I'm only doing this under contract, and my brothers don't need to know anything about this. As soon as the job is terminated, I'll come out clean." He wiped the blood off his sword with a nearby handkerchief. "I'll clean myself…Kaori-neechan…"
Present day, Nia's POV…
Demyx turned out to be pretty strong despite his appearance. He managed to carry me upstairs quickly, while talking almost nonstop. "This is not what I was suspecting to do today. I mean, you were out for three days, Nia-chan. I didn't think that you would cause so much trouble as soon as you woke up. Now my whole schedule's blown. Not that I have much of a schedule. It's either sleep all day, practice all day, or stay out all day. Zexion says I need a job but we're loaded enough as it is."
Holy hell, will he ever shut up?
He stopped in a new hallway and looked around helplessly. "What was I supposed to be doing now?"
I was too tired to roll my eyes. His bizarre train of thought had completely derailed. If he didn't put me down now, I would get comfortable with being carried. I was already starting to feel… safer, but I didn't want to discard my anger towards them yet. "Put me down," I moaned, eager to get away from him now that a little bit of my strength had returned.
He nodded and went back to the room I had awakened in, setting me on the foot of the bed. I turned myself around so that I didn't have to face him. Even though I had slept for three days (if what Zexion said was correct), I still felt tired. My hunger wasn't as severe as it should be, but only because of my exhaustion. And it felt like my skin had three layers of dirt on it. Not to mention my fever, body aches, near inability to talk…
"Nia-chan?" Demyx gently shook my shoulder, causing me to jump in surprise. He wasn't wearing gloves either, and my shirt wasn't enough to protect me from the shock. "Sorry. I got your medicine right here. Don't worry; it acts pretty fast."
I took the little yellow capsule and glass of water from him, not realizing that he had left the room and come back without even my noticing it. He probably had talked then too. There was a slight pause as I wondered if it was poison, then decided that they could've killed me at the start. As I swallowed the pill, I allowed myself to make eye contact with him for a few seconds. Another pair of blue eyes, more childlike than Roxas. He had his forehead creased in genuine worry. A flicker of soft emotion was felt in my heart. "I'm sorry for what Zexion might have done to you," he told me gently. "He's pretty heartless, even for our kind. Everything has to be an experiment for him. What did he do to you?"
My throat closed by just the thought of it. He violated me. He invaded my personal space! And it was just an experiment to him? For what? To see how long it would take for me to break? The more I stewed over it, the more I curled into myself, sitting back and hugging my knees. My hands curled into fists.
Demyx roughly jerked my hands from me. I yelped and pulled them back, having felt skin-on-skin that time. I had dug my nails in so deep in my palms that they were drawing blood. "Didn't you feel that?" he asked me in shock. I honestly shook my head. "Shoot, that's going to take a while to heal."
Why did it feel so weird to be touched? I knew that he wasn't trying to hurt me like Zexion or Larxene, but even with a nice guy like Demyx I couldn't stand the feel of his skin. Why wasn't he affected like me?
The bed dipped; Demyx had sat down so that we were now side-to-side. He had gone from talkative to strangely silent. In fact, his voice startled me even though my senses were on alert. "Does it still hurt?"
I tilted my head up from my light brown feet. "What?"
"My touch. It still hurts, right?"
"What?" He knew?
"It's like an electric shock that travels straight to the heart, or a burn that slowly gets hotter until you feel like your skin will peel off. Either way, it's unbearable to touch or be touched." He leaned against me. "We're like that sometimes too. That's what the cloak and gloves we wear are for, so we don't have to worry about touching strangers."
That makes sense. The effect lessens with gloves.
His eyes and voice suddenly brightened. A big grin spread from ear to ear. "Wanna see my power?"
I instinctively jumped at the change of his mood. He was better than Zexion, but his unpredictable personality was a shock to the system every time! I was unable to respond at first, and when I did it was just a slight nod of the head.
"Cool, cool! But I can't use my weapon or I'll wreck stuff again." He laughed at my widened eyes.
What can he do that could be so destructive?
"You drank all your water so I'll just have to get more." But he stayed still and held out a hand. Water droplets started to appear in thin air around his hand, some of them absorbing others and growing. Then the same thing happened all around us. The room was quickly filled with floating drops of water.
I was speechless. The whole thing looked like a dream frozen in mid-moment. Just to confirm, I lightly touched one of the droplets and pulled back a wet finger. Is his power control over water? He didn't even need to leave the room for it; he just pulled water vapor out of the air and condensed it!
"If you haven't guessed already, I have control of water," Demyx confirmed. He slowly closed his open hand into a fist. The water droplets drew together and absorbed each other until a softball-sized globe of water was formed. "It took me a while to get this amount of control. It's easier with my weapon, but the power is so great that I can't use it in a little room like this."
I was focused on the water ball, watching Demyx bounce it from one hand to the other. It rippled and jiggled but stayed in one piece. Watching it was sort of relaxing. "Amazing," I whispered.
Demyx smirked and stopped moving his hand, then flicked all the fingers on that hand in a blooming gesture. The ball of water burst back into water droplets and disappeared, probably gone back to being water molecules in the air. "I hope you stay, Nia-chan. Then I can show you a lot more."
The request sounded friendly, maybe even affectionate. He wanted me here, just to hang out. He didn't want anything from me. It made me warm, and I hadn't felt this much warmth… ever. It started in my stomach and then traveled to my face. Oh no, could I be blushing? Not just a slight blush either.
"Nia-chan?" He started to lean in to get a closer look, but I turned my head away from him. "Are you feeling sick again?"
I shook my head. I was feeling surprisingly well but the stupid blush just wouldn't go away! He can't see this! It's too embarrassing! I need a distraction!
Then I got stupid enough to look in his eyes when he leaned in again. Those blue eyes. My heart did something…weird. I think it's getting brighter!
"Are you—"
"Water!" I interrupted roughly. "Glass of water." I faked a cough, and it was convincing enough to get him running out the room with my glass.
With a sigh of relief, I looked around for something I could use as a mirror. My legs had gained enough strength to let me walk around the room without much difficulty. Luckily I found one on the other side of the nearby closet door. The blush was finally fading along with the warmth I felt from it. What in the world made me do that? Was it the medicine? Is it my heart? I don't get it! If I'm not feeling angry or depressed, then it's this? Don't tell me I was blushing at his looks!
"Well, he was kinda cute," my lips said before my brain could think it over. Then the sudden realization of what I had said washed over me like a waterfall of doom.
WHAT THE HELL AM I TURNING INTO! The blush returned full force, but this time I just let it stay on there why I studied myself further.
My straight black hair had grown about four inches over only three days. First it was barely shoulder length, but now it was starting to grow down my back. I had kept it short to distinguish myself from my statuesque mother, Kaori. It probably reminded the others of that woman.
Another change was my eye color. At first glance it seemed like my normal brown, but a closer look revealed that it had taken a different shade of brown. When I tilted my head to the side and back a little, I could see that it was really red. This has happened once before, when I had killed my mother and tried to kill Otou-san. But weren't my eyes yellow then? Why are they different now? Why am I transforming anyway?
"Will I transform even more?" I asked my reflection. All those questions only succeeded in giving me a headache so I sat on the bed.
I was stuck here. It would not have been so bad if it weren't for Zexion. The sadistic bastard was also the boss and it seemed that he was going to get away with what he did. How was I supposed to be able to stay here?
A sharp knock interrupted me. "Need to come in."
I stiffened. It wasn't Demyx, but the redhead. Axel. He didn't wait for an answer, slowly opening the door and walking in the room. Although not wearing the black cloak that some of the others were wearing, he was wearing a black T-shirt and jeans, and even had black leather gloves. He stayed near the wall, and we studied each other. His serious face, piercing gaze…
That hair... I just want to touch it to see if it's real. Oh crap, I'm doing it again!
He didn't miss my blush, but at least he had the decency to not laugh at it. "You're not the only girl who's done that around me," he commented with a smirk. My mind could not put together a comeback, so I had to settle with glaring at him. "My name is Axel. I'm acting leader of this little pack of psychos, so you report to me."
My eyebrows creased in confusion. What happened to Zexion?
As if he was psychic, he answered that question. "Zexion's only here as a researcher. We had expected that he would be unable to handle this job, so he has been ordered to keep his distance whenever possible. That, and I had recently received a promotion of sorts."
We? I got the courage to ask him, "Who… what… how… why?"
Okay, so it wasn't much of a question. But I didn't know where to begin.
Axel chuckled (even his voice was cute, a tiny part of my female brain mused). "Too much information? Maybe if I spoon-fed you a little at a time then you could get it better. Then again, there's a lot to tell you."
That headache grew in intensity, and I grabbed my head and moaned in pain. I didn't even want to be there!
"I know you don't want to be here," he said seriously. I looked up at him in surprise. "You feel like crap and it just seems to get worse. But it'll get better, okay?"
Once again my mind dueled itself. Don't believe him. They just want something from you.
He kneeled in front of me so that he was looking up at me. I had to close my eyes to avoid meeting his gaze. His voice got soft. "I'll get rid of that seal for starters, okay? It doesn't work for someone with your power." When he didn't get a response, he let out a quiet sigh. "Being stubborn won't help you feel better. In fact, it's making you feel worse."
No response from me. He very carefully took my hand, ignoring my flinch, and tugged. "No answer? Okay. Warm bath, dinner, and then we'll talk."
"Forget it," I hissed as I yanked my hand back. I dared to open my eyes to give him a defiant look.
He was smirking. And that smirk was slowly growing into a wide grin that was hiding something beneath. Those green eyes almost glowed with mischief. "I'm not giving you a choice this time, Missy."
Before I could draw back, he had grabbed my left forearm and easily yanked me off the bed. The motion was so fast and sudden that all I could do was gasp harshly as I was thrown over his shoulder. My reflection clearly showed another bright blush on my face. "L-let me go," I stammered.
"Forget it. You wouldn't walk on your own, and I'm an impatient guy." He smoothly rose to his feet and walked out into the hall. Where Demyx happened to be standing.
Right then I could've given anything to turn invisible just so Demyx wouldn't get to look at my butt, which was turned to him.
And I have to stare at Axel's butt to avoid anyone seeing my blush. I tried my hardest to not dwell on that thought.
"She didn't give you any trouble?" Demyx asked Axel curiously.
"She's over my shoulder," the redhead answered. "What do you think?"
"Well, I just wanted to ask since I didn't hear any sounds of pain or anything breaking from the room. She's not even struggling."
Axel chuckled, which irritated me further. "What can I say? Ladies love me."
I let myself groan at that. "Quiet, you," Axel scolded. Then he did something that he should've been killed for.
He pinched my butt.
I did this weird sound that sounded like a gasp and a squeak together. My captor waited until he had both of my legs trapped before he laughed louder. Unable to kick him, I pounded on his back with both fists. However, he was unaffected. "If you keep doing that, I'll have to bathe you myself."
That had the desired effect of getting me to stop. He sounded like he wants it! That… that…
"Pervert," I whimpered out loud.
"Oh boy," Demyx moaned. "Just leave her alone, Axel. You know you wouldn't be able to do that around Roxas."
And I need to go, I growled mentally as three days of not peeing finally came to bite me in the ass.
"Fine, fine." He walked around Demyx and through an open door, leading to a small bathroom. He finally set me on the toilet seat and pointed to a stack of cloth. "Towel, washcloth." He pointed to a set of pajamas next to it. "We were able to eyeball your size of pajamas and grab a change of clothes, but you'll have to get more clothes tomorrow." Then he pulled back the curtain in front of the bathroom. The tub was already filled with water and a small amount of bubbles. "Soap, shampoo, conditioner. I trust that you will clean yourself and not try to drown yourself. You had better be smelling like the Destiny Islands when you walk out of here."
I was taken back by his tone, serious compared to the almost lecherous tone he had a minute ago. Then he smirked and winked at me. Get out, you pervert!
He left, and I waited until I heard his fading footsteps before using the toilet, and then undressing and getting into the tub. The water was heated enough to warm without burning, and smelled so nice. That was when I noticed that, like my vision and touch, my sense of smell had sharpened in some way. It was like someone removed invisible corks from my nostrils. For the first time in forever, I felt really relaxed. Everything was quiet, even my thoughts.
I didn't want to admit it, but as annoying as Axel was, he had succeeded in getting my mind away from my current worries. It felt good to get off my circular train of thought. With my exhaustion and anxiety washing away, I could feel hunger start to sink in.
Don't trust them, my stubborn side told me.
"Shut up," I muttered in response. I wasn't going to get any answers if I didn't trust them a little.
After washing myself from head to toe, I dried myself and wrapped a towel around my hair. Axel neglected to give me anything else to dry it. The pajamas were slightly baggy but stayed on. With a held breath I walked out.
"Looking cute there. Yeah, I definitely prefer your hair up."
This time I didn't even bother trying to hide my blush, but I had to settle for looking at his chest. "Shuddup," I retorted lamely.
"Look me in the eye and I'll consider." I didn't want to risk that, considering where my mind took me when I wasn't thinking about my problems. He chuckled and slowly unwrapped the towel from my head. "Keep still."
I lowered my head, expecting him to touch me when I felt the heat from his body. He's getting warmer…
A strange heat emanated from his hand. My hair felt lighter and drier the more he moved it. When he cooled down, I ran a hair through it and gasped. He had completely dried it using the heat from his body. Now I had an idea of what his power was.
Staying quiet, he next traced a line around my neck. Something wet was smeared on my skin. When he had completed the ring, the tension I felt from the seal earlier disappeared altogether. "That takes care of that pesky seal," he told me.
I nodded, not feeling like thanking him. Instead my stomach growled loudly to remind both of us that dinner was in the plans. A moment of silence passed between us but I could still feel Axel's smirk. "Hungry, are we?"
I nodded slightly. Now I couldn't even see a good reason why to resist. He put a hand on my back and guided me down the hall. Back into the circular room, to a doorway cut into the curve of the wall. There I saw a large kitchen, with black and white everywhere, from the tiles to the counters and appliances. Axel pulled out a chair for me to sit in. "Today's dinner is a simple tomato soup with optional crackers, with a green salad on the side. Drinks include water, fruit juice, milk, and bottled soda since I'm feeling generous today."
My face didn't show it but I was floored by this change of personality. Serious, then caring, then perverted, then back to caring again? It was like Demyx was acting earlier. Come to think of it, Roxas was like that back at Winter Town. Roxas said that he didn't know how to act around me. Maybe they're all experimenting; girls can get pretty emotional.
"So?" Axel's voice rang out again.
I looked up at him in confusion, remembering to keep my gaze below the eyes. He had his hands on his hips and waiting on some kind of answer. "So what?"
"Crackers? No crackers? Juice? Milk?"
"Um…" Why was it so uncomfortable to answer such a casual question? "Yeah, crackers. And some of that soda."
"You look pretty depressed for someone about to be fed. Don't like tomato soup?" He set down a big bowl filled with the liquid, as well as a small packet of soup crackers and a cold glass bottle. The label said it was orange-tangerine flavored, from some unknown brand. "You might want to take it easy with this stuff. You're a newbie, so even soup will blow you away."
I drew my hand away from the spoon. "What do you mean?"
"It's your first time eating since your heart rebooted. You might have noticed looking through your new eyes, and your skin being more sensitive than usual."
I did notice that, but it's still just soup. I scooped up my first spoon and blew away the steam before sipping slowly. The taste…
The taste…
Axel looked up in amusement and mild surprise, that smirk back on his face. "How's it taste, newbie?" he asked me.
It can't be. It's just soup! The taste was explosive. I could swear I could taste every ingredient in there even if I didn't know what they were! "Wh-what is in this?" I stammered.
"Basic ingredients, although I did add in spices for extra taste. Blew you away, didn't it?" He set down another bowl with various greens and croutons. "A heart is needed to experience life. Without one, everything's gray."
I nodded in agreement. For the first time ever, having a heart gave me real pleasure. I dumped my soup crackers in the bowl before eating more. The warm feeling from the soup built up in my stomach and spread outwards.
"Slow down or you'll choke," the redhead warned as he passed me into the circular room. "Demyx! Soup's on!"
The blond barreled into the kitchen and almost crashed into Axel. "Food! Awww, salad? Where's the stuff for grilled cheese?"
"Shut up and eat the salad!" Axel growled before giving him a swift kick in the backside. "Be grateful I'm feeding your leeching ass at all!"
I paused long enough to see this change in atmosphere. Now he's acting like a parent, or at least like a bossy older sibling. It's like I'm looking at a real family.
Demyx pouted, an interesting thing to see considering how old he looked and what he was. "What are you looking at?" he demanded, looking nowhere near angry.
I silently went back to eating. Axel ruffled my hair with a gloved hand and laughed at my futile attempt to push his hand away. "At least you appreciate my cooking. That's why you're getting dessert and he's not."
He's not a little kid, you know.
Demyx shoved him and got his food, then sat across from me. "Like I care. Need salad dressing, Nii-chan?"
I gulped hard. My eyes widened in horror. Nii-chan? Is that his nickname for me or something? Does he know what it means? Judging by the clueless look on his face, the answer was obviously "no".
Oh, but Axel was fully aware of it. That Cheshire grin was back on his face, but it took him a while to explode in laughter. "Nii-chan! That's sooooo cute!" he crowed.
My cheeks burned with embarrassment but I snatched the bottle of Italian dressing from Demyx and kept eating, too hungry to do anything about it except wish for the earth to swallow me when I was done. Fortunately Demyx was just as embarrassed. "What's wrong with Nii-chan?" he helplessly asked me. "You're like my sister, you know!"
"It sounds like you're calling her your older brother. 'Sister' is nee-chan," Axel explained in between giggles.
Sister. I was a sister?
"We're siblings?" I whispered to no one in particular.
"That's what the Organization is about," Axel explained once his laughter had died down. "It's not as sinister as we make it out to be. Our main purpose is to gather our fellow Nobodies and give them the important things they need. A safe home, with people who understand them. Understanding of what they are. And something to live for. It's a brotherhood."
Brotherhood, huh? That actually sounds good. My bowls were empty before I knew it. I was pretty hungry. The soda was saved for last, and it was enjoyed as much as the rest of the meal.
BA-BUMP
The sudden hard thudding in my chest was painful enough to make me choke on my last swallow. I quickly got up from my seat and clutched my heart in pain. Wh-what's going on? As if that wasn't enough, my left middle finger started to feel like something was restricting painfully around it.
"Nia!" Axel and Demyx shouted together. Axel caught me before I could fall to the ground.
Am I having a heart attack? Is my finger supposed to feel like this? I looked down at it and gasped.
Red string
"A red string?" I mouthed. Something was on the other end of it too, and every time it tugged, I felt another pang of pain. There was some kind of energy traveling down the string, a dark mist that hurt my finger even more. And it was threatening to consume my whole arm.
Somehow I knew. It's not my pain I'm feeling.
"Nia, what's wrong? What are you looking at?" Axel asked me.
"Y-you don't see it?" I asked him. "You don't see the red string around my finger? Or this energy?"
"No, I don't see it!" But he was looking pretty panicked. "Demyx!"
The other Nobody looked really freaked out. "Dude, I feel something. You don't think—"
Axel's face contorted into a mix of anger and fear. His hold on me tightened. "Roxas… he didn't!"
Meanwhile the cold feeling of the darkness was crawling up my arm, and I was weakly swatting at it. "Go away! Go away!" I panted.
The sound of the front door slamming alarmed us. Footsteps thundered into the circular room. "ZEXION!" Roxas' voice roared.
"Dude, he found out!" Demyx told Axel shakily. The fiery Nobody let go of me and walked out the kitchen. I instinctively clutched Demyx's shirt for safety. "I was hoping he wouldn't do this again! It's like he's psychic or something!"
I gathered the courage to let go of the lifeline. Why are they so afraid of him finding out?
Something else traveled down the string: feelings of anger. Fear. Desperation.
"What did he do?" I heard Roxas yell from the circular room. "What did that bastard do to her?"
There were grunts and shouts, signs that they were scuffling. "Lemme see her!" Roxas cried out. "NIA!"
The red string tightened even more around my finger. Tears fell effortlessly from my eyes, more evidence of the pain. It was like I was crying for him. I have to end this pain, for me as well as him. Against all mental warnings, I carefully left Demyx's side and went to the doorway. There stood a wide-eyed, panting Nobody, eyes still searching for my attacker. His black robes looked slightly torn from something.
Nukedashitette nukedashitette
Kanashi sugiru unmei kara
Anata wa naraku no hana ja nai
Sonna basho de
Sakanaide sakanaide
Karame torarete ikanaide
Otomo naku tobikau toki no kakera
Saying run away, saying run away
From your far too tragic destiny
You are not a flower from Hell
In a place like that
Do not bloom, do not bloom
Don't get seized and taken away
The silently fluttering shards of time
"Nia—" Roxas started. He took one step toward me.
"I'm fine," I interjected. "He didn't hurt me."
He rushed forward and pulled me into a tight hug. I tried to manage a small smile. "It's nothing."
"What do you mean?" he asked me angrily. The hug started to get unbearable. "He touched you!"
Roxas couldn't see Axel walk up and give him a swift punch to the side of the head. The blond grunted and sagged in my arms. Axel picked him up by the collar of his cloak. "Demyx, stay with Nia for a while. I gotta talk to our little brother," the redhead instructed the older blond.
The pain was gone, but now I had to deal with the confusion. Hardly any of my questions had been answered, and I had more questions building up.
And the red string of fate was still there, no longer painful but still pulsing with some kind of feeling. In the back of my mind, I could hear Roxas' voice. I think it's calling me.
"Don't let me get taken… by the darkness."