Hello, everybody! Sorry for the extremely long wait. I feel so bad. School just got out and so I've been hanging out with friends more often and I went out of town for a week. But here I am and I'm here to continue.
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She stared at me for a few seconds. I took a step backwards. Her hand was hanging in midair wishing I would come back to her side. I took one more step back, taking an imaginary snapshot of her face in my mind before turning around and walking down the hall. After I was very far down the hall I reached my hand up to make sure my hood was still covering my face so that, by if some chance, Kairi from her cell, could still see me, she wouldn't know what I looked like.
Saïx stood waiting a few feet from the stairs. I past him angrily and dashed up the dark stairway. He quickly followed. "So where are you off to in such a hurry?" he said.
"Gather the other members," I ordered.
"Excuse me?" he said annoyed that I had told him to do something.
"Demyx just died, Number VII! I want to have some sort of funeral for him. Now go and get the other members…NOW!!" I said after he continued to walk right behind me without obeying.
"Fine. See you in the meeting chamber in five minutes," he said.
I didn't want to have a long funeral for him. The longer I would be there, the more likely I was to fall apart. Just a simple gathering, a few nice words, and then my own private mourning for him. Nothing special. We didn't have time to make it more themed to Number IX; the fated day was coming and we all had to prepare. Or at least the others did. I was going to have to think long and hard about what I would be fighting for these last few days. My family or Sora and the others? What was more right? What did I care for more?
I dashed up staircases, two steps at a time until I reached the hallway where my room was located. I got on my knees and reached under my bed for the box with my funeral clothes in it. I quickly dressed into them and threw the box back in its place before I could see Demyx's suit sitting on top of the stack.
I teleported to the meeting chamber where two of the remaining members were waiting. Luxord gave me a look that I couldn't completely interpret. Was it of pity for my loss? Was it of anger from most likely separating him from a good game of poker? Or was it something else? Xigbar nodded to me as I retreated to an area of the room where neither of them were standing.
Saïx and Xemnas entered soon after. "Well, let's get this over with," the Superior said. "Saïx, did you prepare the room?"
Saïx nodded.
What are they talking about? I thought. Xemnas nodded to Luxord. The blonde walked behind me and opened a portal. "Please step through, Xarene," he said.
I raised my eyebrow and entered. We appeared in a room, which brought a big wave of déjà vu. The five of us all appeared in a small sectioned off area of what was obviously a much larger room. We were all in a small rectangle with white sheet as the walls. Through the walls I could see blue and red lights. On the ground was a panel shaped like a grave with a sitar engraved on it and the words "The Melodious Nocturne" next to it.
I had been here once before. It was when we had the funeral for Xaldin. White curtains were blocking off the rest of the room back then too. Was there a room in the castle that had graves or was this just coincidence? OR…had the other members built this just after those two died? I didn't have a lot of time to think since Xemnas immediately started talking.
"It is quite sad that we lost Number IX as we all know," he said. He continued to speak and I just stared at the ground where the red grave-shaped panel was. "It was a sacrifice needed to be closer to our goal," he said.
I looked up. Was he talking about Demyx being a sacrifice? I looked back down.
"Is there anything you'd like to say, Xarene?" someone asked.
"Huh?" I said looking up once more.
Xigbar was staring at me. "Do you want to say anything about Demyx?" he asked.
"Demyx…" I said. I kneeled down on the ground and placed my hand on the panel like I did at Xaldin's funeral. "I—I don't know what to say," I said.
"It's OK, Xarene. It's hard, we know. He was one of your best friends, and you just can't put what you want to say into words, right?" Xigbar said.
I was thankful that Xigbar knew what I felt. He understood. I nodded.
"Can we leave then, we have to plan," Saïx said annoyed.
I quickly looked over at him. I hate him. "Come on, Xarene," Xigbar said. I stood up. He walked over to me, opened up a portal and walked me through it. "It's better if you just go and be by yourself for a while," he spoke quietly into my ear.
"Where was that place?" I asked as we appeared in the hallway outside my room.
"No where special," he said opening my bedroom door and gesturing me to enter.
"Are there more graves in there for the other members?" I asked stopping him from pushing me any further into my room.
"No, we made that as soon as both Xaldin and Demyx passed on since they were the only two we had funerals for. Now get some rest. We'll be giving out missions in a few hours and you might have one," he said softly pushing me in my room and closing the door behind me.
I went to my bed and grabbed the boxes of drawings I still had to place on my wall. What was the point? I was gonna be gone soon and there would be no reason to a room covered with hundreds of drawings in an empty castle in the sky of a dark, mysterious town. Despite that, I quickly finished placing them, one by one, on the walls. Every single one.
I tried very hard not to look at the drawing as I placed it up with a thumbtack. I didn't want to take the risk of it bringing back sad memories.
Once they were all up I walked slowly to my bed. I didn't bother putting the boxes away or changing to my other, more comfortable clothes. I flopped, face first onto my bed. The rain started to fall from the black sky outside my window as I slowly drifted off into a well-deserved sleep.
I was awoken a few dreamless hours later by a small knocking on my door. I slowly opened my tired eyes and turned my head so I could see the door. "Come in," I tried to say but it only came out as a whisper. Somehow they heard me and came in. Xigbar was standing there with a sympathetic look on his scarred face.
He walked over to me and kneeled down by the bed. "Xemnas gave Luxord and I missions that you were supposed to go on as well but I'm just gonna let you stay home this time. You need to rest up and be prepared for the next few days," he said. His behavior and all was something completely alien to Xigbar.
"Why? Xigbar, you've never been this caring before. I thought you wouldn't have bothered to make sure whether I need rest or not; you'd just pull me on the mission anyway," I said trying to gain my voice back.
"You're so oblivious, Rae," he said shaking his head.
"What?" I said leaning up on my elbows.
"These next few days are gonna be our last. Xemnas may only care about his Kingdom Hearts—I'm not saying that I don't—it's just that you've been close to me these last nine years and I think we all need to stick together so that we go out with a bang. What do ya think of that?" he said.
I laughed. "I think our last hours should be memorable. We're the biggest threat to the worlds after all," I said.
"Right. So you need to be ready so we can show those Keyblade punks how great we Nobodies are, right to the very end," he said. I nodded. "Then see ya later, Rae," he said before standing up and leaving my room.
Go out with a bang. I like the sound of that. No, no, no! Help Sora! Help them, that's what I'd decided. Be with Axel meant being with the good guys. Doesn't mean I still can't help the Organization, right? Well at least Xigbar. He's the only one I like left. Right. Keep him alive until my time comes, help Sora, see everybody in the next life. Good plan, Raene. I like it. My inner thoughts soon tuned out and I fell asleep once more, subconsciously preparing myself for the last battle.
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Ok, so sorry that took so long to get out guys. And sorry for the lame shortness of this one too. I think I made up for it with last chapter though. My lameness at the funeral was pitiful. I could have at least said what Xemnas had said besides the things Raene heard. But I couldn't think of anything so I just made it so she tuned everything out. She probably just wanted to annoy the others by dragging them to a funeral for her friend. That's how she works. Heehee. Anyhow, I'm gonna try and get the next one up and have the one after that in progress by the end of June. Damn, not even ten chapters left guys.
Sarah
