New Member Special, written by Kittie Reviewer
Warnings, implied spanking in this chapter
Chapter 26
Six Days of Hell
The cheerful music was contagious, the sound of the fiddles, strings of the piano, whistle of the flute. A seven year old Colombia stood off in a corner, with an older blonde woman who was with child. The little girls small hands were laid on the bulging belly, "I kin feel 'er kickin!" she shouted with excitement.
"Now mi da'lin we dunna know tis a lassie yit," the woman corrected with a smile.
"Nae, I know tis a lassie, I kin tell," Colombia replied hugging the large belly.
The woman bent over and kissed the top of the girls blonde head, "Ye Da looks lonely ower thaur, wa dornt ye ga'in keep 'im company," she suggested.
Colombia looked over at her father, who was dancing by himself to the music. "Aye Ma," she replied and ran over to the man. Her father picked up his daughter and tossed her up in the air, making the little girl laugh with joy. Then he set her back down and they danced to the music together. That is until her best friend Jacob walked over, and awkwardly bowed to her, "Mi I 'ave dis dance?" he asked extending an arm.
The little blonde girl went off into a giggling fit. Then finally took the hand, "Aye, ye may." She said the two started dance, which more looked like a ring around the rosy game.
Day 1
The loud sound of an alarm was blaring loudly. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! The sound slowly registered in Bàli's mind, bringing her back to wakefulness. As loud as that alarm was, her body was reluctant to react to it. Finally the sound became too much for her exhausted body, and she reached over and turned it off.
The blonde rolled over, and opened her heavy eyelids. She felt a distinctive scratch in her throat, which meant that she was coming down with a cold. Waiting a few minutes to let her body wake up, she sighed and rolled out of bed.
After a quick shower, she headed down to breakfast. As usual, she was greeted by no one when she entered the kitchen and took a seat. She preferred being ignored, if someone acknowledged her is was usually a sharp insult with a glare, and if they acknowledged her physically it wasn't with anything nice. Grabbing the platter of scrambled eggs, she served a small plate of breakfast, much smaller then usual; she didn't have a very large appetite.
Over on the other side of the table, Neox and Calixa were in there own conversation. Neox listened to the red head, face filled with wonder. "You should have heard the noise that was coming from the lab." Calixa was saying.
"What did it sound like Cali?" the boy asked.
"It sounded like a monster of some sorts," she replied, and Neox started shaking with fear. The girl continued, "So I think we should go check it out."
"WHAT!"
"Come on it will be fun."
"And deadly," Neox shook his head, not likely where this conversation was going.
"Not if we're careful," Calixa reasoned.
"But we could get hurt!"
"We're just going to find out what it is, if we find it, and its something deadly then we can just teleport away."
"I dunno..." the boy hesitated, he still hadn't fully recovered from Zexion's last thrashing. "Well if we do anything, we should probably make sure we don't have a mission assignment." He secretly hoped he or she did have some mission to go on.
"Damn, forgot about that," the red head looked disappointment. "I guess your right."
The two kids finished there breakfast, and then headed toward the gray area for mission assignment handouts. Bàli was already there, curled up on the couch with her head laid against the cushion. Saïx waited until all members were in the gray area, and then started handing out assignment papers.
The blue haired man first handed one to Lexaeus, then Demyx and Zexion. Neox inwardly sighed with relief, if they did end up checking this noise out at least Zexion wouldn't be there to give it to them if they were caught. Saïx continued giving out the mission assignments, to Marluxia, Axel, Roxas, and finally Bàli, "Seventeen your mission will be with Number Twelve," the blue haired man told her.
This made the Savage Nymph groan sending a glare at the Scottish girl. "She better not be too annoying, otherwise I'll be coming back alone," she threatened.
Saïx was then finished, and it went without saying that anyone who didn't get an assignment had a day off. Calixa was grinning broadly, it worked out perfectly. She grabbed his arm, "Come on lets do it," she dragged him away.
The boy just walked, feeling unsure, "This way," Calixa announced going though a portal. They both reappeared in a hallway outside the lab. There stood a red door with a sign on it saying "Do Not Enter!"
"Caaaaliiiii!" Neox whined, terrified.
"Would you relax!" she hissed putting her hand on the door handle.
"But the sign-"
"Since when do we listen to signs," they went inside, closing the door behind them and Calixa gasped at what they saw.
Bones... Bloody bones everywhere, the room smelled almost as bad as manure. Neox paled at the sight of them, and then turned to leave, not wanting to find out why Vexen was keeping bones in his lab. Calixa didn't like the looks of it so she turned to follow. They went back to the door and Neox grabbed the door knob and tried to turn it. Though it didn't turn, they were trapped. "Neox what are you waiting for?" Calixa asked him in a whisper.
He laughed nervously, "Um… I think we're locked in."
"Ha, ha, don't even joke about that Neox," Calixa scolded sounding scared.
"No joke Cali," the red head shoved him out of the way and grabbed the door knob. She paled as it didn't turn, they really were locked in.
A sudden growl was heard making Neox cling to the older girl like a leech. Calixa was shaking so badly Neox's teeth began to clank together. They both turned around and looked. Nothing but bloody bones could be seen, though they both felt another presence in the room. The silver haired boy went into a corner and hid there with Calixa close behind him. There they waited, unsure of what to do. The only thing that could be heard was the loud beating of their hearts- there hearts? It must have been someone else's, or something…
Bàli had learned a long time ago, that when you go on a mission with Larxene, just don't say too much, and do everything she tells you to do. If you do that, then you'll survive to another day. But unfortunately today didn't seem to be working very well because Larxene had been giving a lot death threats then she normally gave. Possibly because she was slacking off a little. The teen just wasn't feeling like herself today, the scratchiness in her throat had grown into something more painfully swore, and a dull ache started to pound right behind her eyes.
"Bàli, if I have to remind you to keep up one more time, I'm going to make it so it's very painful the next time you urinate!" Larxene screeched.
"Aye!" Bàli called picking up her pace.
Neox and Calixa were still sitting in the bloody bone filled room. Hours must have passed, they were too afraid to move from where they were hiding, and didn't even think about teleporting out like there original plan. The only thing on there minds was the hope that someone could come looking for them.
Calixa whose leg had fallen asleep by the position she was sitting, shifted but ended up making a whole bunch of noise. They both froze, holding there breath. Whatever was in there with them heard it, for rustling started to happen. The most hideous looking creature suddenly came into there vision, teeth bearing with yellow glowing eyes. "What is it?" Calixa whispered breathlessly.
"A... A heartless?" Neox suggested sounding terrified.
"D- Doesn't look l- like one I've e- e- ever seen," Neox grabbed a bone. "What are you doing, playing fetch!" Calixa asked in shock.
The boy threw it hard, and the beast's head turned to it, than ran after it. Neox took this chance, and ran as fast as he could the other way. Unfortunately though, Calixa didn't move, too petrified with fear. Neox noticed that she wasn't following him, and looked back seeing her still against the wall looking frozen in fear. "Cali!" he whispered loudly, "Come on!"
She looked at him then shook her head no, just stayed there frozen. Finally Neox realized that he needed to help her get moving. So he ran over and grabbed her arm. At that moment the monster looked back at them. It must have realized that there was no meat on the bone, and there was more meat on the two of them. With a growl it charged at them.
The two children screamed, shielding themselves. Waiting for the end of there lives, but before it happened, they heard a loud roar of pain come from the monster. Then someone grabbed their arms and roughly dragged them out of the room, throwing them into the hallway. They heard the door crash shut, and the two children looked around to see who saved them. There mouths dropped open, as they saw the last person they expected standing there. Bàli stood there, glaring, "Wat in da foder ar' ye doin?" she yelled.
"Bàli!" they both cried.
"Ys Dats mi name," she said giving them a look that could kill.
They ignored it and hugged her, Neox crying. The blonde stood there in shock, she had never been hugged by anyone in the organization before. Neox cried like he was a baby, and Calixa was saying thank you over and over again. Bàli glared, "Ar' ye goin to tell mi wat ya were doin now?" she asked.
Neox was crying so it was up to Calixa to explain, "Well, we heard a sound coming down the hallway, and went to investigate. And then we found the monster."
Bàli crossed her arms, "An ye ignored de keep out sign?" Calixa nodded sadly, "Ye know ye cooda been killed?"
"We're sorry..." Neox choked out through his sobs. Neither were having a good feeling, last time Bàli caught them doing something wrong she spanked them.
Bàli put her hands on her hips and looked at them, trying to decide what to do. She had only just gotten back from her mission that really didn't go very well. She wasn't feeling the greatest at the moment, with a pounding headache right behind her eyes and her throat feeling like she drank Windex. But even with all this, she couldn't just leave it. They would need to be punished in someway.
So she went up to Calixa, and grabbed her arm, "What are you doing?" Calixa asked nervously.
The blonde teen said nothing, and turned Calixa around, grabbing the waist of her pants. "No wait, what do you think your doing?" she screeched.
Bàli didn't give her an answer; she just bared the girl's bottom and gave her one hard swat. Calixa was at first to shocked to feel it, and once the shock wore off the sting followed. But before she could even so as much as swear at the older girl, Bàli pushed her aside and grabbed Neox. His crying had died down a bit by this time, and after seeing what she did to Calixa it didn't take him long to realize he was next. "Wait! Please! D- Don't!" he cried out.
The Scottish girl ignored him, and just pulled his pants down, giving him an equally hard smack. He fell to his knees, rubbing his behind. That hurt more than he expected. "Ye loocky dats all I'm givin ye!" Bàli told them, then her voice lowered almost to a whisper and she said more to herself then them. "Tis alot less dan he gave me."
"What?" they both asked, not hearing what she said second.
"Noten," she hissed, "Ge' oda here before I change mi mind." She watched the two trouble makers run off, and then her glare softened as exhaustion came over her. She sighed heavily, and went back to her room until dinner time.
Day 2
The next morning Bàli really didn't want to wake up when the alarm went off. She had spent most of the night coughing, making her throat get even more sore then it got yesterday. Not only that, but her eyes had started to burn and itch uncomfortably, along with sick feeling stirring in her stomach.
But even with all that she managed to drag herself out of bed and down to breakfast. She barely ate any breakfast that morning, just pored a bowl of Wheat Things, and adding a bit of honey and milk. In the gray area she was again giving another mission, luckily this time it was by herself.
Calixa scowled as she was given a mission assignment paper, "Aww man," she grumbled looking over the papers.
Neox smirked, "Sucks for you," it didn't look like he was going to be given any assignment. This earned him a smack upside the head, "Ow." He rubbed his head, "So are you paired up with anyone?"
"With Xion," the red head replied. She smiled over at the black haired girl, it could have been worse. "It seems like a short mission, we should be back pretty soon."
Now most members were leaving the room, either heading out for there intended missions or going to there rooms to enjoy there day off. Calixa left with Xion, after saying good bye to Neox first and Roxas came and sat by the boy. "Get a day off two days in a row, lucky son of a gun," Roxas shoved him playfully.
Neox giggled giving his own playful shove, "So what are you doing today?" Roxas asked him, "Just going to sit around and wait for Calixa to get back?"
"Naa," the boy replied with an evil smirk. "I was more thinking of pulling a prank on the prank master, or should I say mistress…"
Roxas laughed, "Only you two get a kick out of that stuff!"
"Like to join?"
"Won't have to worry about getting beat for playing a prank on Calixa, so heck yes I'm in."
A portal opened in the gray area, Xion and Calixa came in both sporting large grins. They had performed at mission especially well, and in record time. Xion had ended up falling in the mud, so she had to go shower before dinner. Calixa went in search for Neox.
She checked his room first, the most likely place he'd be spending his day off without her, but he wasn't there. Every once in awhile he hung out in her own room while waiting for her to get back, so she decided to try there, checking Roxas's room alone the way just in case the two were hanging out. What was very strange was the fact that the silver haired was neither in Roxas's room, nor her own. There was always the chance that he got in trouble and Zexion was spanking him, and she was just about to go look in less likely places when there was a sudden noise coming from her closet.
This made the red head roll her eyes. Neox was either in there trying to scare her, or snooping for her diary. Deciding that two could play at that game, she approached the closet intending to open it up and scare the living daylights out of him. Calixa grabbed the doorknob and opened the door, "Gotcha!" she shouted to the empty closet, and then stared in confusion. What was making that noise?
Neox then came from behind her and shoved her in the closet, while Roxas pulled a rope making a bucket full of dirt fall on top of her. Then the younger boy slammed the closet door shut, and kept it closed with a chair. Inside the closet, Calixa felt her blood run cold. It took her almost a minute to figure out her situation, she was in a dark closet covered in dirt.
A loud scream came from within the closet. Roxas and Neox laughed hysterically, thinking she was having a temper tantrum. Only this was not so, Calixa was currently having a breakdown. She kicked at the blocked door as hard as she could, screaming and shaking uncontrollably. Though hearing it from the boys point of view, made it sound like she was having the biggest tantrum ever, which only fueled her laughter. It wasn't until Neox heard a distinct sound of a sob come from within the closet, that he realized she may not be having a tantrum.
"Roxas, is she crying?" Neox asked the blonde.
The older boy slowly stopped laughing and listened with a frown on his face. There was no doubt now, in-between the loud screeches was a harsh sob. In a flash, Neox ran over to the closet, removed the chair and opened the door. Calixa tumbled out of the closet in a crumpled sobbing heap, body wracking violently from fear.
The blonde boy stared, "What's wrong with her?"
Neox didn't reply, maybe they went too far. She was a hygiene freak; maybe locking her in the closet covered with dirt was too much. He knelt beside the orange haired girl, and pulled her wracking frame into a hug. Roxas followed suit, and after a few minutes her sobs calmed and her shaking ceased. "I'm sorry Cali?" Neox asked her, "It was just a small prank; I didn't think you'd take it so hard."
"I- I'm sorry," Calixa looked at the floor, "I never told you th-that I'm claustrophobic…"
"Why?" Roxas asked, "Someone with claustrophobia that bad, has to have a reason, usually a traumatic experience."
"There isn't," Calixa replied. "I've just always had it ever since I can remember."
"Well I'm sorry, I'll never lock you in a closet again," Neox said hugging her, "Or in any sort of small space."
Calixa hugged back, then stood up on shaky feet. No one needed to ask where she was going next.
Bàli was lying on her bed, in a fetal position. She had noticed, that the smaller she was the less sick she felt. Her mission didn't go any better then the one from yesterday, even by herself it still went bad. She managed to complete it and RCT, but it took twice as long as it should have and Saïx was not very happy with the results of her mission even though she did complete it. A soft tickle in her enflamed throat started a coughing fit which made her head pound horribly, and each cough felt like a rip in her esophagus bringing tears to her eyes.
Maybe tomorrow she'd get a day off, and be able to sleep all day. Its not like anyone would bother her, no one liked her. The loud speaker came on, giving the announcement for dinner. Reluctantly she dragged herself out of bed and to the kitchen…
"See Ma I tauld ye it woods be a lassie," Colombia said smugly as she and her parents were staring down at the new born baby girl.
"Aye, ye was rite," her father agreed, giving her a playful poke in the ribs.
Colombia giggled, "Mi I hold 'er?"
There was a short silence, "Awrite, jist be careful," her mother agreed, and gently picked up the little baby. Colombia held her hands out for the small child, and remained stiff when she was placed in her arms. The older girl stared at baby Carrie with wonder, she was so small.
Day 3
Bàli was at peace, dark peaceful bliss. She never wanted to leave here, it was perfect… Except for a really annoying beeping sound off in the distance, she was ignoring it. Or at least she was, it was fairly easy to ignore at first, but it kept getting louder and louder. Slowly… very slowly the blonde returned to consciousness. The loud beeping turned out to be that damned alarm clock.
She reached out an aching arm and switched off the sound. The warm darkness was gone, now she was shivering with chills. Her eyes squinted when they opened, the blinding walls burned horribly, and her throat felt like it was on fire. As she sat up slowly mild nausea fell into her stomach.
She would have paid money to go back to bed right now. But she couldn't, she may have another mission. So with a soft grown, she rolled out of bed, and got ready for the day. Maybe a long shower would help her feel better.
She ate nothing at breakfast, just drank a cup of orange juice which burned her throat. Unfortunately she was given yet another mission assignment, this time though it was at least with someone who wasn't bent on killing her, Xigbar. Though he wasn't exactly fawned of her much like everyone else; Neox and Calixa were delighted get a mission together today, it didn't happen very often. Saïx knew the two of them goofed off more on mission then actually getting anything done, he never parried them together if he didn't have to. But sometimes it couldn't be helped. Then everyone departed from there missions
Later on that day, after a fun mission of collecting hearts with Roxas and Xion who they ran into half way though the mission, Neox and Calixa returned to the castle. They returned much earlier then they needed to because with the two light wielders help it didn't take long. They were just about to head to lunch when a portal opened, and Xigbar came though followed by Bàli who was looking like she was trying not to cry.
"What are you doing here Number Two?" Saïx asked coldly, "I never authorized the RCT."
"Blame this little bitch right here," he pointed to Bàli who refused to look at any of them.
Neox and Calixa would have liked to wait there and watch the annoying Scottish girl get in trouble, but at a glare from Saïx they thought better of it and shuffled off to the kitchen.
"I except members of this organization to perform there duties to there fullest extent, am I to assume that you understand this?" Xemnas asked.
"Aye, Superiur," Bàli replied, making sure to hold her head up high, despite how she felt. Xemnas was currently giving her a verbal dress down for performing poorly on her mission today, and actually failing it.
"And if you are having any sort of mental or health problems, or for any reason can't perform out your mission properly, you are to report them to number seven or myself. Do you understand?"
"Aye Superiur."
"Very well you may go," Xemnas dismissed.
The blonde quickly left the room, and Xemnas turned to Saïx. "Did she look somewhat ill to you Number Seven?"
"She did look a bit under the weather," Saïx agreed. "Perhaps that is why she preformed so badly."
"You may want to take her off missions assignments for the next few days."
Meanwhile Bàli had gone back to her room, feeling horrible. She had managed to keep her symptoms at bay during the mission, at least as far as coughing and making it obvious she was sick. But she still felt horrible and just couldn't get anything done, pissing the hell out of Xigbar. She went back to her room and lay down in her bed. She completely ignored dinner that night, too ill and too exhausted.
"Mammy da ye hafta go?" ten year old Colombia asked.
The girl's mother was standing by a saddled horse with three year old Carrie in her arms. The woman smiled down at her older daughter, "Aye mi darlin. I'm sorra, but grandmamma need mah 'elp." Her mother gently set Carry down onto the ground and kissed Colombia on the cheek, "I'll be back in a fortnecht."
Colombia looked down, and hugged her baby sister. "Mammy!" Carrie called out with fear as there mother mounted the horse.
There mother blue a kiss at them, "Ye tak' caur ay yer sista," she said to Colombia.
"Aye mama," the older girl replied, picking up Carrie and placing the younger child on her hip. Both girls, and there father waved at the departing horse that headed toward the woods.
Later on Colombia sat at the dinner table, with her younger sister and father She had just taken a bite of beans when the sound of a horse snorting sounded from outside. She knew that snort anywhere; it was her mother's horse. "Ma's bak!" she shouted happily and jumped up from the table.
"Colombia wait!" her father's voice called.
She ignored it though, and just ran out the door. Her father ran after her, followed by Carrie. When they exited the house, Colombia was standing there, staring at a horse with no rider. It didn't take long until it was realized that it was her mother's horse…
Day 4
Bàli was very ill, she must have been running a fairly high fever by how cold it seemed. Her nausea had reached a boiling point, in fact- The blonde sat up in a flash, grabbed her small trash can and vomited inside of it. There wasn't too much to bring up, for the girl hadn't eaten much the past few days.
Once her stomach had stopped heaving, she gasped for breath which brought on a coughing fit. When the fit finally passed she was left limp and exhausted with no energy whatsoever, except the various times her body wracked with shivers. The ill teen then dropped off into a fevered dose, until the loud speaker came on, "Breakfast in ten minutes!" She groaned softly, knowing that she'd at least need to tell Saïx that she was too sick to go on a mission.
With every ounce of energy she had left, Bàli climbed out of bed. She only took the energy to put the organization coat over her pajamas, and didn't even take the time to shower only running a brush though her air and teleporting to the kitchen.
She choked down several bites of pancakes, and a couple gulps of apple juice before teleporting to the gray area. Meanwhile Neox and Calixa were sitting with Roxas and Xion, "I have a new hobby," Calixa announced proudly.
"Wow, one that doesn't involve pranking. I think hell has frozen over," Neox said sarcastically.
"Oh bite me Neox," Calixa snapped.
"So then what's this new hobby, Cali?" Roxas asked, with some curiosity.
"It's going to cost you a piece of munny," the red head replied slyly.
This made the younger boy roll his eyes, "Gee, sorry Cal. Fresh out of munny," Neox dug into his pockets and pulled them out to show that they were empty.
"What are you talking about, you got a piece of munny right here," Calixa reached over and pulled a coin out from behind Neox's ear. They all stared, "This is my new hobby, Magic. I am now The Magnificent Calixa."
Now all three of them rolled there eyes; as the crazy girl pulled out a tacky homemade black wand with white ends. "Now for my first trick, may I borrow your hat Neox?"
The boy hesitated; this was his beloved hat that he almost never took off. Very reluctantly he handed it over. Calixa cracked two eggs into the hat, making Neox give her a look of death. "Relax," the girl reassured offhandedly. 'This is a magic trick," then waved the homemade wand over the hat saying, "Abracadabra." They all watched with mild curiosity, after Calixa said a few mumbo jumbo words, she announced. "And now, I have turned these two eggs into…" she tipped the hat upside down and two yokes spattered on the table. There was a long silence where even Calixa looked confused, "Scrambled eggs…"
Roxas and Xion put hands over there mouth to suppress giggles. Neox was glaring at the orange haired girl. "Um… yeah," Calixa laughed nervously, "There you have it, um… here's your hat Neox."
The silver haired boy accepted the now ruined hat, still glaring death. Calixa giggled worriedly, "Hehe, gotta go," with that she jumped out of her seat and went running with Neox hot her tail, keyblade drawn.
In the Gray Area Bàli waited curled up as tight as she could, in one of the arm chairs waiting for everyone else to finish breakfast and come to get there assignments. She was somewhat aware of Calixa, and Neox coming in with Neox yelling at the top of his lungs. But she was too tried to really listen to what they were saying. Luckily today, she was not handed an assignment paper, so without telling anyone she went back to her room and laid back down in her bed. In almost an instant she was asleep.
Meanwhile Roxas, Neox, Calixa, and Xion were all in Neox's room. Calixa was ecstatic by the fact that all four of them had at least the morning off, Roxas and Xion had a mission in the afternoon, and was eager to show off more of her new hobby. She was currently flipping through a book titled, "Magic for Dumb Dumbs."
"So you guys want to see another magic trick?" she asked.
Neox who was still sore about the hat incident that morning, scowled at her. "You're not touching my stuff!"
"Shut up," the girl snapped, "I don't need any of your stuff. Ahem! Prepare to be amazed…" Calixa took a rock out of her pocket and held it in the palm of her hand before putting a black handkerchief over it. "I will make this rock disappear," the red head waved the wand over the rock saying the magic words, and giving it a tap.
When she removed the handkerchief though, the rock was still there. "Wait, let me try that again," she threw the handkerchief back over the rock and waved the wand again. "Abracadabra!" This time when she removed the black cloth, it turned out that the rock had turned into little pieces of gravel which scattered all over Neox's floor. "That's not supposed to happen," Calixa complained.
Neox facepalmed while Roxas and Xion giggled with amusement. Blushing slightly, Calixa tossed the gravel aside and picked up an Abraham Lincoln like hat. "Now for my next trick, I'll pull a rabbet out of this hat."
"Oh brother," Neox rolled his eyes, and lay back on his bed not really caring about any of this. Calixa waved the wand over the black hat and reached inside of it, this drew Neox's attention because her arm went much lower into the hat then it should have. It reminded him of Mary Poppins. Her arm remained inside of the hat for several moments as if she was having a hard time finding the rabbit.
"Hold on, it's running around," Calixa said. "I'm having a hard time… grabbing its ears- wait I got it," she then pulled out a shadow heartless by the antenna's.
Screams!
Colombia sat by the window in her room, just staring out. She was in her nightgown, and Carrie was on the bed fast asleep. Outside in the dark woods, distant lights of lantern could be seen moving about. Every so often she heard the sound of her mother's name being called.
The sudden light coming into the room, make the little girl turn around. Mrs. Brakel, an old graying woman who was a friend of her parents stood there. "Colombia, ye shoods be asleep."
"I wants ta go fin' Ma…" Colombia replied.
"De grown ups ar' lookin. Wee lasses shoods be in bed now," Mrs. Brakel explained.
The blonde girl just shook her head, "Nae…"
Bàli was shivering violently. Why was it so cold, she was wrapped in almost every blanket she owned, yet she was still so cold. Perhaps the heater had gone out? Or maybe she was just very ill, that was probably the reason.
Neox was waiting for Calixa outside for Zexion's room. The Schemer was pretty pissed when he found out that the girl let a heartless into the castle. "You allowed a rogue heartless to come into our domain!" Neox heard him shout.
This was followed by a SWAT! SWAT! SMACK! "I'm sorry Zexion it was an accident!" Calixa wailed.
There were more smacking sounds for another few minutes. Neox was glad Zexion didn't decide that he was responsible also. It felt kinda strange to have Calixa get spanked and not him. He felt bad for her, but she did bring it on herself. This magic hobby is the stupidest thing she's ever come up with. Hopefully this would help her give it up.
Finally the spanking sounds stop, and Calixa's cries were the only thing that could be heard. The announcement for lunch came before she exited the room, and feeling hungry, the boy decided to just meet up with the girl later. Neox had barely sat down at the table and grabbed a turkey sandwich before the older girl came in rubbing her backside and still teary eyed. "Hello," he greeted as she sat down with a wince.
"Meh…" was her only reply.
Bàli entered the kitchen with her hood up over her face, and sat in a chair across from Neox and Calixa. No one commented or spoke to her, which suited her fine since she didn't really feel like talking.
She just drank a glass of water, and munched on some crackers instead of grabbing a sandwich. Her mind wondered off into her past, until she was brought back to the present by Neox. Calixa seemed to be feeling more like herself now, she was smirking at the boy while Neox stared with disbelief. "Are you saying that you're still going on with this magic thing?"
"Don't worry, I'll be more careful now," Calixa reassured.
"It's your backside," Neox took a bit of his sandwich and then took a sip of milk.
The red head rolled her eyes, "Hey I have a card trick, want to see?" she asked enthusiastically. Before Neox could even decline, she dug into her pocket and pulled out a deck of cards. This caused a dozen other cards to fly out of her sleeve and go everywhere. "Oops, I'll clean them up later," she shuffled the deck. "Ok Neox pick a card any card?"
Neox pulled out an ace of clubs from the center of the deck, and memorized it after Calixa asked him too. The girl then took the card back and placed it in the center before shuffling again. "Ok…" she waved a hand over the deck and pulled out the top which was a 4 of hearts, "It this your card?"
"No," Neox replied flatly.
Calixa looked at the card, "Right… I knew that, I was just testing you." She pulled out the next card which was a queen of diamonds, "Is this your card?"
"No."
"Is this your card?"
"No."
Bàli who had been watching this, rolled her eyes. Starting to feel somewhat dizzy she got up from the table and teleported back to her room.
"No wait, Neox!" Calixa called running after her friend with cards trailing behind her. "I found your card, here Ace of Clubs."
"Contrats, you finally found it after going through 51 cards," the boy said sarcastically.
"Hey it was 49," the girl defended. "Hold on I have another trick!" The orange haired girl pick up her pace to get in front of Neox making the boy stop. "Guess what I have up my sleeve?"
Before she waited for a reply, Calixa started to pull a long strong of different colored handkerchiefs tied together. More, and more kept coming out as she pulled continued to pull. Ten feet, twenty feet, thirty, it kept going on and on. "Wait, this isn't supposed to happen," Calixa bubbled. She now had an arm load of handkerchiefs in her arms, and after a moment she handed them of to Neox, and continued to pull.
"Keep going, you'll eventually get to your lungs," Neox joked actually laughing.
"Its supposed to end after 20 feet," Calixa explained still pulling out more and more of the long string.
Colombia tossed her long hair out of her face, as she bent down buckling her shoes. Carrie was in the bed napping, she tipped toed out of the room being careful not to wake her baby sister up. She looked around the door frame into the kitchen and saw Mrs. Brakel by the stove. The woman's back was turned, so Colombia quite easily ran passed the room and slipped out the door without being heard.
The little blonde girl ran strait for the woods, "Ma!" she called out, "Ma, Mama! …Mammy!" she called over and over again while running though the thick trees.
"Ma whaur 'ar ye!" she called not really looking where she was going, and unknowingly walking toward a rattling snake.
Colombia was too busy calling out for my mother to hear the rattling. "Mammy!" she approached the snake closer, and closer. "Mammy!" another step, "Mama!" one step closer. "Mammy!" she was just about to step on the rattler when someone grabbed her arm and yanked her away.
She yelped softly, more out of shock then from pain, "Colombia, whit de ye hink yer daein' out haur in th' woods?" asked Mr. Weslin, Jacobs father.
"Aam lookin' fer ma," the girl replied.
"Th' woods ur radge. Ye know better 'en ta come in by yerself!" SWAT! SWAT! SWAT! Mr. Weslin landed three well aimed stinging swats to her small bottom.
Colombia gasped softly, tears stung at her eyes but didn't fall. "W-Where's Mama?" she asked reaching back to rub her backside.
The man pulled at her arm making the little girl walk forward, "She has nae come back yit. Come aloyn, lets gie ye back."
"Nae!" Colombia pulled her arm out of his grasp. "I need ta fin' Ma!"
She turned and was about to start running, but Mr. Weslin grabbed the back of her dress. The next thing she knew, she was up under his arm and being carried out of the woods. The blonde wailed out, "Nae, lit me go! Mama, mama! MAMA!"
Bàli shot up in bed with a gasp, nausea hit her stomach hard. In a flash her head was in the waste basket, and she was throwing up everything she had eaten for lunch. By the time she stomached stopped spasiming, tears were running down her cheeks with her body trembling. Taking gulps of deep breaths, the blonde shakily slipped out of bed. Her legs trembled dangerously under her weight, but she managed to stay up. Once Bàli was sure that she could walk without passing out she left the room with the trash can, to empty it in the bathroom.
"I don't know about this Cali," Neox said uncertainly. The boy was lying on a box with holes in the sides for the arms, legs, and head.
Calixa didn't reply, she was flipping through her "Magic for Dumb, Dumbs," book while holding a saw. Roxas and Xion had left for there mission, and would be back the next day. Neox didn't like being ignored, especially when he was waiting to be sawed in half. "CALIXA!" he screeched with fear.
"Oh relax, and stop being a baby," Calixa replied offhandedly. "This is magic, so you won't feel a thing."
"Are you sure you know how to do this?"
"Of course, I've don't this a many times before."
"Really?" the boy relaxed some.
"Yeah, last time I did it, it finally worked."
Neox's eyes widened, "HELP! HELP she's trying to murder me!"
The red head rolled her eyes, "Ok, ok fine. Big baby, I'll let you out." She opened the box and Neox jumped out as fast as if someone had lit a fire under his backside. He backed away holding two fingers up in the shape of a cross. "Stay away from me, you… you-"
"Oh come on," she tossed the saw aside. "I have another trick, there's nothing sharp I promise."
It didn't really hold much promises when she pulled out a pare of handcuffs. Neox eyed them wearily, but didn't protest when she put one cuff on his wrist, and the other cuff on her own. Then she put a red handkerchief over both there wrist and pulled out her wand. "Abracadabra!" she waved the wand over the red cloth then pulled it off. Nothing had changed, the handcuffs were still ceiled tight over their writs.
"Um… Cali is this supposed to happen?" Neox asked worriedly.
Calixa for the first time looked uncomfortable, "No…" was all that she said.
The silver haired child tried to keep his temper in check, "Where's the key?"
"I don't know…"
"HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW WHERE THE KEY IS!"
Calixa winched, "There trick handcuffs there is no key."
"The only reason I'm not killing you right now, is because I don't want to be dragging around your body!"
"Well what about you!" Calixa shot. "You got a key that can open any lock, why don't you open it?"
Neox held up his left hand, which was cuffed to Calixa's right. "I can only summon my keyblade with my left hand, unfortunately it's kinda tied up and the other two keyblade wielders are on a mission right now!"
"Woops…"
The younger nobody grabbed the "Magic for Dumb, Dumbs" book and ripped it to pieces, before throwing the shreds at her. "You suck at magic, find a new hobby!"
Bàli opened her heavy eyelids, and looked around. How long had it been, it felt like weeks had gone by, though it was probably just a few hours. "Emergency meeting in the round room, five minutes," the loud speaker announced.
After seriously considering just skipping out on the meeting, Bàli rolled out of bed, slipped on her organization coat over her pajamas and teleported to the meeting room. She was the first one there, but not for long, soon Saïx and Zexion came.
Neox and Calixa came in a few minutes later; they had teleported in at the same time into the same chair. The strange thing was that they were both handcuffed together, which meant they had to share a seat. She was too tired to ask though, and many of the other members gave them questioning looks none actually asked the question. It wasn't until Demyx teleported in and started laughing that Neox provided an answer. "Blame Calixa!"
Finally after everyone was seated, Xemnas started. "Members of the Organization, a new member had been detected."
This brought out an interesting murmur throughout the room, "Since Thirteen and Fourteen are out on a mission I've decided to send Three, six, and eight to go and find him."
Day 5
Bàli did not even go to breakfast this morning. She didn't care, almost hoping that she'll have a mission because if she did, then someone would come and look for her. She had never felt so sick in both of her lives. There was a sudden tickle in her throat, and dread passed over her. She didn't have the energy to cough, every time a coughing fit attacked her body, it felt like she was dying.
The girl desperately tried to hold it in, but just like always the cough broke out. It hurt so badly, her throat was being slashed; her breath was choked out of her wind pipes, searing pain inside her skull traveled from right behind her eyes to the back of her head. By the time it was over, her stomach was doing summersaults protesting against it all. Slowly she lowered the hand that covered her mouth as she coughed, and saw little flakes of blood attached to her skin. Then she passed out…
It was in the evening. Colombia was in her bed, not feeling the least bit tired. The sound of someone coming into the house caught her attention. Could it be her Ma, did they find her? Quietly rolling the soft sheets off her, the little blonde girl slipped out of bed and headed toward the kitchen where the voices were heard. The hope that it was her mother, vanished after a moment when she only heard Mr. Weslins voice.
"'M sorra mista Crombail, but dare was naethin' we coods do," he said. "She was awreddy lang gain when we foond 'er. We figured th' horse musta gotten spooked by somethin' an-"
"I wan dat horse pit doon!" Colombia's father interrupted he sounded drunk and angry.
"But sir…"
Colombia didn't hear any more of the conversation, for at that moment Mrs. Brakel appeared shutting the kitchen door. There voices were muffled too low to hear, and she old woman grabbed her arm gently, "Gie bak ta bed Colombia," she ordered firmly but gently.
"Di they fin' Ma?" Colombia asked as she was led back to her room.
"Nae… not yit…"
Unfortunately she had heard enough of that conversation to not really believe that. A horrible feeling in her stomach said that she would never see her mother again. Though she still had small hope, it wasn't true until the grown ups said it was.
Neox was sitting in the bathroom, on a stool that was right next to the shower. There was a blindfold over his eyes, and his left arm was inside the shower curtain. A sigh escaped his lips, "Cali are you almost done?" He had been sitting there waiting for his crazy hygiene fanatic friend to get out of the shower for over an hour.
"Nearly," Calixa replied vaguely though the shower curtain.
The boy sighed again. After another half hour, he was relived to hear the shower turn off. "Ok I'm done," Calixa announced. "Do you still have the blindfold on?"
"Yes…"
The red head put her head over the curtains to check to make sure he actually couldn't see her, before opening the curtain and grabbing a towel. "You dare touch that blindfold, and I'll cut something off that you're going to want when you're older," she threatened.
Neox shivered, and patiently waited for her to get dressed. Finally when she at least had clothes on, Calixa allowed the boy to take the cloth off his eyes. But he had to endure another hour of the orange haired girl, blow drying, and styling her hair. He coughed vigorously when she put body spray all over herself. Finally, much to the relief of Neox they headed down to breakfast together almost an hour late.
"So have you heard anything about the new member?" Calixa asked casually after a long tense silence.
Neox glared. "Nothing you haven't heard, considering that we're locked together I think we'd both hear something new…"
Calixa tried to smile but it turned more into a grimace, "Come on, at least I'm trying to make the best of things." When the boy didn't reply she continued, "Xion and Roxas will be back later today, and then they'll unlock us."
The only response she got was a growl. When they entered the kitchen, everyone was almost finished with there meals. The handcuffed kids immediately noticed the new face. He looked about the age of Roxas, possibly older with light orange hair. Not quite as orange as Calixa's, but still orange colored. He was chatting with Axel and Demyx, looking like he was the life of the party.
Axel seeing them, pointed. "And those two over there are, Calixa and Neox."
The new member turned around with a cocky smile that could have run against Axel's, and extended a hand to them. "Hello there?" He greeted with a strong Australian accent. "I'm Xero."
Neox and Calixa both extended there hands awkwardly, for there normal shaking hands where currently cuffed. Xero noted this with a smirk, "Having a little problem there?"
Neox glared at Calixa, "It's all her fault!"
This made Axel and Demyx laugh, the new member just continued to smirk. "Want me to get them off of ya?" he asked.
"You can do that?" Calixa asked with wide eyes.
"Yes of course, those are trick handcuffs. I'd know them anywhere," Xero grabbed a napkin and put them over the chain, then did something with both hands under the napkin. A second later he removed the napkin and the handcuffs were off. "Viola."
Both kids stared in awe for a moment, "Gosh, thanks Xero," Neox said greatly rubbing his left hand.
"No worries mate."
This new member was instantly, put with the cool people on both of there lists. Before anything else was said, all the attention went to Xion and Roxas who just got back from there mission. After the two light wielders introduced themselves to the new member, Xero turned back to Neox. "Well, I've met a total of sixteen members. Since I'm eighteen that must mean there still one I haven't met."
After a short silence Axel said, "That's probably Bàli."
"Forget about her, she's kind of a loner," Neox said nodded.
Calixa nodded in agreement, "Yeah, she's a big stick in the mud that's no fun at all."
Xero looked somewhat taken aback by these comments. Roxas just smiled, "Don't worry; she'll sometimes disappears for awhile. But will show herself eventually, then you can meet her."
Colombia headed toward the kitchen. She needed to know why everyone had stopped looking for her mother. Maybe she was back but so ill that she wasn't allowed visitors. She could heard Mrs. Brackel's voice, "When ur ye gonna teel them? Dey nee' ta know?"
No answer was received. Colombia didn't wait though, she entered the kitchen. Mrs. Brakel was over by the stove, and her father was sitting in a chair in the corner, bottle of liquor in hand. The old woman looked at her when she came in, but didn't shoo her out like normal. Her father didn't react at all. The little blonde carefully approached her father as he took another swig of his beer. "…Da?" she started softly. "Tis mama bak yit?"
His eyes shot at her, flaming with anger. In a flash he was on his feet, towering over his daughter. This frightened Colombia, her father was never like this. Mrs. Brakel instantly came to her rescue, grabbing her arm gently and leading her out of the room.
Once they were in the hallway, the woman went down to the girls height. "Colombia swiet'art…" she started trying to find the right works. "Ye mutha…" the blonde girl had a sinking feeling in her stomach. "She nae gunna come bak…" at that moment Colombia felt something die inside of her…
Bàli vomited violently into her trashcan. She was so miserable; she didn't want to live anymore. She wanted it all to end, to die. Then she would be back with her mother, and her baby sister. Just the thought of the fact she was unable to save Carrie made her throw up more stomach acid. Why did no one notice that she was so ill, or maybe they did and just didn't care…?
Day 6
Xero walked through the many hallways. He had met every member except for this mysterious seventeenth member. From what Neox and Calixa told him she was an annoying loner who never socialized with anyone. Neox pointed out that she usual came to meals, but it wasn't unusual for her to skip them either. Even though his curiosity was piked he deiced to just wait until she showed her face, and his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by hearing the worst cough he'd ever heard.
It was coming from inside a nearby room, possibly the seventeenth member's room. If that was true, it explained why he hadn't seen her yet. Perhaps she was ill, but if she was then why didn't any just tell him that… unless they didn't know.
Xero walked over to the door he heard it from and knocked. No answer was received, he tried knocking again, "Hello! Is someone in there?" he called.
Still no answer, going against his better judgment Xero opened the door and went inside. Almost instantly he detected the smell of vomit, over on the bed was a shivering form under the covers, the only part of her that could be seen was a large mass of blonde hair. This was obviously Bàli, the one member he hadn't met yet. Very cautiously the orange haired teen walked over to the bed, to he could get a better look at her.
Surprisingly, his first thought was how beautiful she was. Even after the fact, that her already pasty white skin had gone pale, with a fevered flush in her cheeks, and being drenched in sweat that made her long hair stick to her face. She was gorgeous. Glazed blue eyes opened and looked at him, "Os coelhinho..." she mumbled deliriously in a language he didn't understand, "Precisan ser gardados…" She then closed her eyes, shivering violently
Xero placed a hand on her forehead, and almost gasp at how hot it felt. Could she have got this sick overnight? Somehow the Aussie doubted it, but how could no one have notice her rotting away in here. He'd have to go tell someone.
Quickly leaving the room, Xero ran down the hallway until he came upon Roxas who had just gotten back from a mission. "Hey," the blonde greeted with a tired smile, "Xero right?"
"Yeah, um…" Xero trailed off not sure what his name was.
"Roxas."
"Yeah Roxas, there's something wrong with the seventeenth member," the newest member explained. "I just want into her room, and she's really ill."
Worry crossed Roxas's features, "Oh no, let me see."
She hurt so much… so much… It hurt to move, it hurt to breath. Why did it hurt so much, she didn't know. Bàli was vaguely aware that someone came in, she did not recognize him. But she didn't waist much time thinking about it, it hurt too much to think. She ached all over, her throat was on fire. She was very careful not to breath too deeply, because if she did then it would make her cough. She did not have the energy to cough…
A shiver ran though her body, taking even more of her limited energy. How could she feel so cold, when her head felt like it was on fire? It was great relief when she felt something cool get laid against her forehead, but in a second it was gone.
The Scottish girl went back into a fevered delirium, where she actually felt happy. There was no pain where she was, she was free and felt wonderful. It was only short lived though the next time Bàli became aware of her surroundings, she was surprised to see several people standing in her room. She recognized, Vexen, Lexaeus, Xemnas, and Roxas, but there was also that one guy who came in the first time, "Seventeen can you here us?" Vexen who was standing closest to her bed asked.
She opened her mouth, "A-aye-" wow that really hurt.
"She needs to go to the medical center," Xemnas announced.
Vexen nodded, "Seventeen we're going to transfer you to the-"
"NAE!" Bàli screeched out, the very thought of having to move was hell. This was a mistake though, the sudden vocalization felt like a rip in her throat, and brought on a coughing fit.
She coughed up more blood, staining her hands, and making everyone else in the room looking grave. "Enough of this," Lexaeus announced and gently lifted the blonde up bridal style.
"Nae, nae, nae," Bàli protested weakly. Tears fell from her dehydrated eyes as it felt like fire rip though ever limb in her body. It passed after several torturous moments, which left the girl lying limply in the larger Nobody's arms.
Bàli was transferred to the treatment center, and examined by Vexen. She had an off the charts fever of 105, and a dire repertory infection. The blonde girl was immediately put on an IV and given high dosages of antibiotics. Xero there newest member was marveled, "How could no one have noticed that she was so ill?"
Neox shrugged and Calixa replied, "No one really likes her."
Roxas on the other hand looked away shamefully, he almost blamed himself that this happened. "I should have noticed, I don't hate her like everyone else does. I was just too busy to notice…" Xion patted his back but remained silent.
After a couple days, Bàli condition started to improve some. Though she still went in and out of consciousness, barely noticing what was happening. Xero and Roxas were the only ones that came to see how she was doing. When a week passed, she woke up feeling better then she had in days, and aware of her surroundings. She barely remembered the last couple of weeks, only the parts of how horrible she felt. Not long after she had awoken did Vexen come in, "Ah, I see you've come around."
Without ceremony, a thermometer was shoved in her mouth, and a blood pressure cuff wrapped around her arm. Once her blood pressure was taken, the Chilly Academic pulled out a pen lighted and shinned it in both of her eyes. Once that was done he checked the thermometer, "You still have a fever, though it's gone down tremendously."
Xero came into the room just as Vexen was finishing up, "G-day there, Shela, I'm Xero?" the orange haired Nobody greeted with a Australian accent, extending a hand warmly.
The blonde teen shook his hand, smiling weakly. "Aye, I'm Bàli."
"I see we're both the foreign members," Xero joked noting her thick Scottish accent.
"Aye."
His visit was shorted by Neox running by calling for Xero, and the girl was once again left alone. Roxas came by later on, and told her that it was Xero how found her. His visit was cut short also by the announcement of dinner. Bàli was able to transfer back to her room the next day, where she remained there on bed rest for the rest of the week. She had no visitors at all, not even from Xero.
This had made her upset because she wanted the chance to thank him. Finally at the end of the week, Vexen gave her permission to go back on regular duty. She walked into the kitchen what morning, and no one acknowledged her presence except Roxas and Axel who just said, "Glad to see you're back on your feet." She didn't see Xero at all, and figured that she could just catch him while mission assignments were being given out. She finally found the Aussie in the gray area, but what she saw she didn't expect.
Xero was lying on the couch with his arm in a cast and head wrapped in a bandage. More then half the organization was over by him asking how he was doing. From the brief parts of what she heard, this must have happened on a mission. Bàli frowned at this. She had been with this organization for months and not a single member liked her, except for maybe Axel and Roxas. Then Xero comes and he's here for two weeks and everyone loves him. She had gone though six days of hell, with no one giving a damn to notice how sick she was until she was practically on deaths doorstep. And here's Xero, got a broken arm, with some bruises on a mission and at once everyone fawning over him.
Jealous rage filled her being, and Bàli suddenly hated everything about this new member. From his ugly orange hair, all the way to his horrible accent. Her face twitched a bit in anger, without even waiting to see if she had a mission, the girl turned her heels and stalked out of the room.
Wow this was a long chapter. I guess it will make up for next chapter because its short. Yes we have another member joining, wow now at 18 XD
Xero is pronounced - Zero (0)