A/N: So I am almost positive that you have figured out what Kairi's and Zexion's powers are...that is, if you haven't read The HeX Factor. I hope I am doing a better job than before and if you haven't read the previous one, don't bother. lol Eventually I will catch up and the story will continue. :)

~Enjoy

~5~

Curse

Roxas woke up freezing cold and beyond irritated about the cold. His blue eyes scanned around to find the source of the cold, only to realize that he wasn't in his room, but outside...in the snow. A feral growl escaped his lips as he wrapped his arm around himself in a pathetic attempt to keep himself warm. His brows knitted together in concentration trying to focus on his powers so he could return to the warmth of his room. He imagined being in the world of shadows where everything was the inverted image and made him feel safe. Nothing happened. He screamed as he punched the closest thing to him, a tree. The tree had done nothing to offend him, just grew in the place that his shadow powers decided to drop him off. He removed his now bruised hand as he glared at the dark shadow the tree cast onto the snow. He wanted the shadows to obey him, but they seemed to be as elusive as Peter Pan's shadow. With a heavy sigh, he trudged his way though the snow back to the institute which wasn't too far away considering his powers left him at the far end of the football field that they had played in yesterday.

By the time he reached institute he was practically icicle, shivering like a leaf in the wind and angry at the entire world. He hated the world for being so cold and creating the snow. He hated the world for giving him powers that activated whenever they wanted and didn't listen to him. He hated the world that ripped him from his comfortable ordinary life leaving him in his current bitter abnormal life. As he stormed to his room focused on getting into warm dry clothes, he ran he first into someone causing him to fall ungracefully on his rear. His blue eyes looked up to see Namine holding her head where they had collided.

"Are you ok?" Namine asked offering him her free hand.

"No!" Roxas growled refusing to take her hand as he stood up shivering despite the institute being warm.

"Why are you all wet?" the blonde girl asked taking in his soaking wet pajamas.

"None of your business!" Roxas shouted as he shoved past her proceeding to his room. He slammed the door open and then shut causing Ventus to wake up in a start.

"Roxas?" Ventus yawned as he watched his brother storm through the room to the dresser. "Are you ok?

"Do I look ok to you?" Roxas growled shooting his brother a look of pure rage as he slammed the drawer shut before proceeding to the bathroom and slamming that door shut as well.

Ventus stared at the door to the bathroom for a moment trying to figure out what had Roxas in such a foul mood so early in the morning, but he had nothing. A loud snoring interrupted his thoughts as he turned to look at Sora still sound asleep even after the loud ruckus Roxas had made. He knew that with Roxas being in such an unpleasant mood that today's wake up call wasn't going to be a pleasant one for the sleeping brunette. His attention turned back to the bathroom door as a loud string of curses erupted from inside followed by a howl of pain. Before he could even consider what to do, Roxas emerged from the bathroom. His skin was red and irritated, but his face was that of rage. Ventus noticed his brother gripping a bar of soap as both of them looked over towards the sleeping brunette, and Ventus knew nothing good was going to happen.

"Roxas!" Ventus screamed in a desperate attempt to get out of his bed to try and save Sora from his oncoming fate. However, his legs got caught in is blanket causing him to fall face first into the floor. He could only look up in horror as Roxas shoved a bar of soap into Sora's mouth. Roxas stepped away with a smug look on his face as he watched Sora spit the soap out and bolt straight for the bathroom. The sound of running water and disgusted noises made Roxas feel better about his terrible morning.

"Did you really have to do that?" Ventus asked as he untangled himself from his blankets. "Throwing water on him is one thing. Shoving a bar of soap in his mouth is an entirely different story!"

"What?" Roxas replied with a shrug as we went to the door. "Made me feel better and woke Sora up. A win-win situation." He opened the door to see Namine mid knock on the other side.

"Sorry about earlier." he apologized. "I was having some problems with my powers."

"It is ok, Roxas." Namine smiled. "Everyone has some problems at the beginning, but over time you will learn how to control it with a little help from everyone."

"Not to sound rude," he sighed. "But why are you here?"

"I am actually here because of you not being able to control your powers." Namine replied with a heavy sigh. "I come with a warning. You need to be careful at school today. You have all your classes with Zexion so he'll be able to keep your powers under control, but it is very important that you stay close to him at all times. That means in the restroom too." A small blush of embarrassment spreads across her face as she tries to keep everything from sounding too strange. "Not like you two have to be in the same stall or anything, but if you need to go, make sure to take him with you. Oh goodness this sounds so awkward. I am sorry, but I don't know how else to express how important it is to be careful."

"Do I have to go to school?" Roxas groaned in annoyance. He didn't understand why she would be telling him to go to school if all he was going to do was cause chaos. There was no doubt in his mind that Zexion would be able to control his powers, despite the fact he didn't know exactly what they were, but it also didn't feel right to have to put that much pressure on someone if he could just stay at the institute where it was probably safer anyways.

"It would be worse if you stayed here." she stated seriously as if reading his thoughts. "You should be fine as long as to you stay close to Zexion, just remember that for today."

"I will." Roxas sighed as he watched her give him a nervous smile before leaving.

"What's wrong?" Sora asked as he emerged from the bathroom giving Ventus a worried look. He was still mad about the morning wake up call that Roxas had given him, but he could tell that something was wrong.

"Nothing." Roxas replied with another sigh as he shoved his hands into his sweatshirt's pocket. He walked off leaving his brothers looking at each other in confusion and concern.

Roxas looked out the window of his fourth period class at the snow slowly drifting down to Earth. A heavy sigh escaped him as he remembered Kairi lecturing him this morning about attempting to control his powers by concentrating hard when he felt like they were going to activate. He was almost positive that if she wasn't there in the dining hall for breakfast or in the car on their way to school that something bad would have happened. There was this tingling sensation that came over his body that he realized after Kairi's lecture must have been his powers activating. Of course, he wasn't positive at the time it was his powers, since Kairi's very presence seemed to stop the tingling sensation almost a quickly as it had started. However, now he was almost positive the tingling sensation that overcome his was his powers because every time it started, he would look up at Zexion and see the teen mumble something inaudibly. The moment Zexion did, the tingling sensation would disappear instantly. For the entirety of the first period Roxas didn't know if Zexion was using his powers, or just muttering things to himself, but after second period he knew that Zexion was using his powers. Now it was fourth period and the blue haired teen looked as if he hadn't slept for 24 hours with heavy bags under his red bloodshot eyes. Roxas felt terrible that Zexion had to exert himself to such an extent, but he was also frustrated that he wasn't even given the chance to try to control his powers. Kairi had even said try, but how was he supposed to concentrate on controlling his powers when they seemed to have been taken away the instant he realized they were starting to activate. With a heavy sigh, he looked up at the complex math equation on the board wishing controlling his powers were just as easy to solve. The bell ringing interrupted Roxas' thoughts as he got out of his seat and made his way to Zexion.

"I'm sorry," Roxas sighed not really knowing what else to say.

Zexion just gave him a tired nod before leading the way to the cafeteria. The moment they arrived at the table, Zexion let out a tired yawn before placing his head in his folded arm and closing his eyes. It wasn't long before the rest of the freshman group, and Demyx, arrived with their trays of lunch, all eyes on the sleeping blue haired teen. Demyx looked at him with a worried look as he sat down placing a hand on Zexion's forehead.

"He doesn't have a fever this time," Demyx sighed with relief. "It's been a long time since he has been so exhausted from using his powers."

"It's been a while since he used his powers to this extent." Kairi commented with a frown directed at Roxas. "Maybe I should accompany you the rest of the day. I can arrange for the two of us to have independent study for the last two periods. I probably should have done that the entire day if I knew this was going to happen. Nami, you didn't see this happening?"

"The future isn't always clear," Namine sighed. "At least to a certain date in the future..." She trailed off as she briefly glanced at Sora, Ventus and Roxas before looking down clutching her sketchbook.

"So this is my fault?" Roxas frowned. "I knew I shouldn't have come to school."

"I told you it would have been worse if you stayed at the institute." Namine replied setting down her sketchbook nervously so she could pick up her cup of vanilla pudding.

"I didn't have to come to school or stay at the institute." Roxas retorted as he crossed his arms in annoyance.

"It is better that you are around all of us then alone." Kairi said with a small smile. "It is never a good idea to be alone when your powers are growing stronger. Axel tried to run away once when he couldn't control his powers and almost burnt down the entire redwood forest."

"At least you haven't done anything yet." Ventus said with a small smile. "I destroyed our house and almost Huntington Beach. You have help from others that understand what it is like to go through this. All we had at the time was each other. Although, I am still not sure what Sora did to keep my powers in check." He looked over at his brunette brother, whom was currently shoving his face with food.

"Wahat?" Sora mumbled through a mouthful of food before he swallowed it. "I simply redirected your uncontrolled power into a light source that allowed me to access the realm of light for a split second which cancelled out your powers altogether." Everyone as the table went silent as they stared at Sora, baffled by not only how he seemed to have control over his powers, but also how he explained it. He looked around at all the confused looks and frowned. "What?" he asked. "I read a lot of comics. Granted they aren't completely accurate, but enough to point me in the right direction. Being able to see the future helps too."

"What?!" Ventus shouted then instantly turning red when most of the cafeteria went quiet to turn and look at him. "How long have you been able to see the future?"

"Right before you started causing storms," Sora replied with a smile. "When I said I knew your secret, I really meant it. Although it seems my ability to see into the future is much more limited than Nami's. It only happens the night before something big happens, and only consists of me and my brothers."

"So did you see me destroying something today?" Roxas frowned.

"Actually..." Sora chuckled. "No. I have been having the same dream over and over again, but forget it the moment I wake up. Must be your wake up calls that keep me from remembering."

"So you are telling me that you have complete control over your powers?" Kairi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nope!" Sora exclaimed with a large stupid grin. "I do better under pressure like when Ventus needed my help the night his powers went crazy. Actually, it seems that is the only time my powers really work."

"I am done listening to this nonsense." Roxas growled in annoyance as he stood up to go the bathroom.

"Where are you going?" Kairi asked.

"To the bathroom." Roxas retorted. "Or do you think that I can't go without causing chaos?"

"No, I don't." Kairi sighed. "Just be careful. Zexion is too exhausted to go with you."

Roxas rolled his eyes before storming out of the cafeteria angry at the world for the second time today. He was angry at Kairi and Zexion for looking at him like he was a nuclear bomb. He was angry at his powers for never listening. He was angry at himself for not being able to control his powers. And lastly, he was angry at being a mutant. It was nice at first, but now it was just frustrating. Slamming the door open to the bathroom he walked over to the sinks and just looked down at nothing. The wet stickiness of tears started to run down his cheeks as he let the anger build up. He was so angry that he didn't feel the warning of tingly sensation.

"Hey Roxie," a deep voice said softly. "No need to be upset. It happens to everyone." The blonde looked up to see Axel walking into the bathroom with a gentle smile. "I almost burned the entire school down when my powers chose to make me look like the human torch from the fantastic four."

"What did you do? Fly around the school lighting everything on fire?" Roxas replied sourly. He heard a low chuckle next to him now realizing the redhead had closed the gap there was a few seconds earlier.

"Not exactly," Axel grinned, "But something like that." He placed his large hand on Roxas' back trying to comfort him. That was when the blonde felt a sudden jolt of energy attack the redhead. His blue eyes widened as he watched Axel start summoning fire randomly unable to control his powers. After that, everything started to go wrong. First, Roxas leaned against the sink only to have it break along with the rest of the sinks spewing water everywhere. Second, anything that was bolted down fell down crashing into the floor. Third, the toilets started to overflow causing more water to flood the bathroom, but this water was also filled with human waste. He heard the door slam open but couldn't see who had entered because he was still in shock. A cold clammy hand was pressed to his cheek as he felt as if his powers were being forcefully ripped from him. At that moment everything stopped and repaired itself as if nothing had ever happened. Even Axel seemed to have control over his powers again, but his green eyes were glued on the blonde and the blue haired teen next to him. The redhead ran over to catch Zexion before he hit the floor when Kairi came bursting in.

"Is everyone okay?" Kairi panted from the little sprint she had just finished. Her blue eyes saw Zexion unconscious in Axel's arms and Roxas looking like he was about ready to pass out himself. She ran over to Zexion to check his temperature only to look more worried than she did before. "I'll go get Demyx." She simply stated before running out of the bathroom. Roxas winced as he placed the palm of his hand on his forehead wondering where the sudden headache came from. He couldn't tell if it was from all his anger, the shock of everything that happened or if Zexion had done something to create it. As quickly as Kairi had left, Demyx came through the door and took Zexion from Axel. The dirty blonde teen summoned some water and placed it on Zecion's forehead. Roxas tried to move, but two strong arms wrapped around him and picked him up. He had no strength to struggle so he just closed his eyes attempting to wish the headache away. His wish went ungranted as all the voices of everyone started to sound like nails on a chalkboard only making it worse. He felt the darkness of sleep start to overtake him as he drifted to unconsciousness thinking about his curse.

A/N:

Just to let you know, I am a pretty avid gamer which keeps me from posting frequently. For the most part, Mondays are when I get most of my writing done and Tuesdays are dedicated to gaming. :) Of course all other days are when I am doing everything else, but I am going to set Monday to hopefully be when I update. We'll just have to see.

Until my next installment.~Byes