Jessica's Point of View
I didn't feel like going on my mission the next day, so I didn't. I stayed in bed. Saix came into my room. "What are you still doing in here?" He demanded.
"I'm not going," I huffed.
"Are you sick?" Saix asked.
"No," I replied.
"Do you have permission from Lord Xemnas?" Saix checked.
"If he cares, he can come here himself. That should be really interesting. I never want to see him again," I growled.
"What is wrong with you? He's the one who cares about you the most, and all you do is spit in his face," Saix brought up.
"You ever wonder why he cares about me so much? It's 'cause he's sick in the head," I accused.
"How dare you! You know what, perhaps you're right. He is sick in the head. Want to know why? He lets your slander and disobedience go on until you are nothing more than a brat who is not worthy of being among our ranks. You are not a child anymore, Jessica. You have a job to do, and that comes with responsibility. Get up now and get to your mission!" Saix insisted.
"No! I'm done! I hate it here!" I snapped.
"You will-" Saix started.
"Enough!" Xemnas boomed. I looked at the doorway to see him standing there. "Leave her. Let it be known that no one is to bother Jessica without my permission." Saix walked past Xemnas to leave the room. "You have three days. By then, you will have your act together or else."
When Xemnas left, I screamed into my pillow. Luna cuddled up next to me. I had already told her everything that had happened. "I don't care what he says. I'm not doing this anymore."
"Are we going to go out to find the other guardians?" Luna asked hopefully.
I hated Xemnas, but the thought of me leaving was too much. I wasn't ready. "No. Not yet. Please, let me have more time," I begged.
"We could have started looking years ago, but if you insist," Luna sighed.
The three days came and went. The Dusks brought my meals to me, and I never left my room. No one bothered me. When my time was up, Xaldin came to my room. "Are you forgetting something?" He questioned.
"What is it that I would forget?" I replied.
"You're supposed to be back to missions today. I've been waiting," Xaldin explained.
I never hated Xaldin. He had been acting coldly since I got back, but I knew it was because Uncle Lexaeus, his best friend, was gone. I didn't want to start any fights with him, but I wasn't about to go on any missions. I knew I couldn't tell him the truth behind why I wasn't going, but I hoped that I could convince him to go without me if I told him some half-truths. "I can hardly think straight with my father and Zexion gone. I would be a liability. You'll be better off without me."
"You cannot stay in here any longer. We're all concerned about you, Jessica," Xaldin tried.
"I'll come around. I just need more time," I stated.
"Time is not something you have. Jessica, I have my orders and must follow them. Those orders involve getting you out of your room. You know what happens if I don't follow orders," Xaldin commented.
I needed to find a loophole. "Your orders were to get me out of my room?" I repeated.
"Yes," Xaldin answered.
"Okay," I agreed. I stepped outside my room and turned back to Xaldin. "Mission accomplished." I saw something out of the corner of my eye and turned toward it to see that Xemnas had been standing there listening to the entire conversation.
He stepped into view of the doorway and turned to Xaldin. "You may leave us." Xaldin needed no extra prompting and left quickly. Xemnas's attention turned back to me. "I told you to get your act together."
"Did you actually think I would be fine after three days after what you told me?" I snapped.
Xemnas's gaze turned away from me. "No. That was why I was here. To step in if I had to," He admitted.
"I'm not going on your stupid missions, Xemnas," I huffed.
"If you won't go on a mission, at least go get a change of scenery. This has gone on far too long," Xemnas ordered.
I walked back into my room. "If I leave, I'm not coming back," I decided.
I noticed Xemnas's hands clench into fists. "You can't just stay in here forever!" He shouted. I ignored him. "Fine! Do as you wish! Just don't expect me to contribute to this lifestyle!" He left me to be alone.
For the next two days, no meals were brought to me. I knew Xemnas expected me to come out of my room to eat, but all it accomplished was making me angrier and more irrational. After those two days, the Dusks started bringing me meals again. A week later, Xigbar came to my room. "Man, you must be really bad off this time for the boss to come to me. I'm dying to know, what is your deal?"
"Must we have this conversation?" I sighed.
"Hey, you're the one throwing a fit. If you weren't throwing yourself a pity party, there wouldn't be any need to talk," Xigbar pointed out.
"I hate him," I grumbled.
"I don't blame you, but you know you have to follow his rules so long as you're here. What changed?" Xigbar wondered.
"That's between him and me. If he wanted you to know, you would," I remarked.
"Oh, come on. Let me in the loop here," Xigbar pressed.
"I'll tell you what I told Saix. He's sick in the head," I stated.
"Yeah, and? He's still our boss," Xigbar commented.
"Oh? And you would blindly follow someone who's mentally ill?" I questioned.
"As if. I'm just along for the ride," Xigbar smirked.
"Should've known. Well, it's been fun, but you have to get to your mission, and I have to get to sulking. Later," I tried.
"Not so fast. You are my mission today. Look, you can sulk as much as you want tomorrow, but I'm here to get you out of this castle for the day. It doesn't matter where we go or what we do. At this point, all Xemnas cares about is getting you out for a bit. You'll feel a lot better. There's no harm in that," Xigbar urged.
"I'm not going," I declared.
"What? Come on. Now you're talking crazy. Seriously. You would seriously miss out on the opportunity to do whatever you want for the day?" Xigbar asked.
"What I want is for you and everyone else to leave me alone," I snapped.
"Yeah, see, that's not going to work for me. Lord Xemnas is getting seriously impatient with you, and honestly, we can't have you sulking about much longer." Xigbar summoned his arrowguns and pointed one at me. "Get up, and let's go."
By that point, it was almost fascinating to see the lengths they would go to so things would start to go back to the way things were. I knew that if I so much as stepped into another world one day, I would be expected to go on missions the next. I summoned my keyblade and attacked Xigbar before he had the chance to attack me. He blocked with one of his arrowguns. "Maybe Xemnas didn't hear me the first time, so I need you to send him a message. If I leave this castle, I'm done. I won't be coming back. If he accepts these terms, then by all means. I'll leave," I remarked.
Xigbar sidestepped and unsummoned the arrowgun that was blocking me. Since I threw all my weight into my attack, I propelled forward. Before I could right myself, Xigbar took my keyblade out of my hand, threw it on my bed, grabbed me by my shoulders, and turned me to him. "You wanna talk about sick in the head? Look in the mirror. You're not well, Jessica." I flinched as he used my name. He never used my real name unless it was something extremely serious. "All of us know it. Why do you think we're trying so hard? It's not like we're gonna just let you rot in here."
"Everyone thinks I've lost my mind," I realized. I hadn't thought of it like that. I assumed Xemnas was just determined to get me back to work. That may have been true, but I thought about how nonsensical my recent actions must have seemed to the others. "You think so, too?"
Xigbar loosened his grip on my shoulders. "I didn't, but I'm seeing how bad you really are right now. You're not thinking straight, Rabbit, and the longer you stay in here, the worse you're going to get. It's time to stop being stubborn. Your dad didn't want this."
I was about to give in until he dragged my father into it. He was trying to manipulate me, and I wouldn't stand for it. "How dare you use my father to manipulate me," I snapped, pulling free from his grasp.
"As if. Whatever. If you won't accept my help, I can't help you. Good luck, Rabbit," Xigbar said before he left my room.
I was left alone for a little over a week with no company but the Dusks that brought my food. The next visit I had was the most surprising. There was a knock at my door. "Go away!" I shouted. When the knocking persisted, I gave in. "Whatever! Just come in! You're going to anyway!" I watched as the door slowly opened. "What?!" Axel was standing on the other side. I ran to embrace him and ended up knocking him over.
"Whoa!" Axel exclaimed as we collided with the floor. We both started laughing. "Hey, there. You look happy to see me."
"Axel, you're alive. What about my father? Zexion? My uncle? Are they alright," I asked hopefully, getting off of Axel but staying on the floor.
Axel's smile fell. "I'm afraid not. I was the only one who made it out of there. Marluxia was responsible for your father's death. A boy named Riku killed Zexion and Lexaeus. I'm sorry."
"And Marluxia and Larxene?" I inquired.
"Dead," Axel answered.
"Good. That's two of my nightmares gone. Oh, forget about it. I'm so happy you're alive," I smiled.
"I was going to check on you yesterday, but I heard you weren't seeing anybody," Axel mentioned.
"You were here yesterday? How long have you been back?" I wondered.
"I came back a couple days ago, but enough about me. I heard you were on strike," Axel brought up.
"Things have been weird and emotional," I sighed.
"Must be. Also heard that if anyone can get you out of the castle, they get the whole day off so long as they keep an eye on you. If I don't get some time off soon, they're going to work me until I'm actually gone. Help a friend out?" Axel requested.
I hesitated. Axel stood up and stretched out his hand to me. I knew it was time to make my decision. I could either run back to my room and cut ties with Axel or take his hand and give up on keeping to myself. I placed my hand inside Axel's, and he helped me up. We walked to the Grey Area together, still holding hands.