The Number 13
-the appearance-
He grinned.
It was a beautiful morning outside, with the puffy white clouds dancing against the blue sky, with the sun shining bright. Today was one of those days that he liked the most, and it was the period of day that he liked the best – it would be beneficial for him to sit over the edge of a clock tower during this time of day, since the sun was not too hot, and the rays would be good for him.
Roxas shoved his hands into his pockets as he traversed around the castle on his way to the tower. He felt bad for leaving Naminé some sort of clueless the day before, and he was going to make up for it for getting there early. Besides, dealing with an Axel having postpartum depression with Larxene was a task he wasn't really up for.
He looked down at his shoes as he walked down the corridor. It had been rude for him to leave Naminé clueless of what was going on in his head yesterday, with her giving him countless looks of curiosity and whatnot. It had been unfair of him, for whenever he asked something she would happily oblige and answer him. But…yesterday's affair was different. It wasn't exactly something he'd be open to share, his jealousy of a boy…er, who was drawn on paper.
Roxas frowned. He really could be stupid sometimes.
Looking up and seeing the double doors that he had come to know quite well, Roxas pasted a grin on his face. He stopped right in front of them and held each handle – he'd go in and surprise her with this very big and goofy-looking grin and scream 'good morning' so loud she'd wince. He paused for a moment – maybe that'd be too obvious, that he was hiding something…
"What the…"
He averted his blue eyes to the handles he was grasping. He tried to pull the handles towards him, but the doors didn't budge – actually, the handles didn't go all the way, either. They just clicked against their mechanisms but didn't release the doors fully.
He furrowed his eyebrows together.
The doors wouldn't open.
"Alright then," he said to himself, taking in a deep breath. He raised his hand and watched as darkness gathered at his feet. "This'd better work."
He stepped into his newly formed portal and expected to walk out to the stark white room he had come familiar with. But the room he had walked out onto was just the same as where he had come from – the corridor leading to the base of her tower.
Roxas tried again, but he ended with the same result – he kept coming back to where he came from. It was like something from inside the tower was hindering him from getting in.
"Namine?" he asked loudly, now frustrated. He knocked on her doors. "Naminé, are you in there?"
No reply.
"Naminé?"
Hearing no voice replying to his call wasn't something that quelled his worry; in fact, it sort of multiplied it. He started to pound his fist against the door.
"Naminé, are you alright?"
Still no reply.
Roxas took a step back from the door and again, took a deep breath. It had been a long time since he last handled his weapons, but now seemed to be an instance in need of it; he opened his hands and concentrated. In wisps of white and black two blades appeared in his hands, one the famous Oathkeeper, the other the infamous Oblivion.
Spinning the Oathkeeper in his right hand, he parted his feet and swung his Keyblade downward, the tip of his blade directly in line with a door's keyhole. Concentrating on the tip of the Oathkeeper, a ray of light sprung forth – it traveled in a straight, quite visible line, and after it entered the keyhole, a loud click was heard.
Immediately he ran forward and pushed the doors open.
And he was quite surprised by what he saw.
"Care to tell?"
His smile was not demeaning, not degrading, not mocking – it was a simple smile, but nonetheless, it made her unwillingly cower in her seat. It was still morning, with the sun high up in the clouds, a big bright spot against the bright blue background. He wasn't supposed to be there.
But he was. He was standing right in front of her, with an arm draped across the corner of her table, his bright orange eyes pasted on her face. And he was still smiling, with that strangely simple smile of his.
"…it's…" she tried to start, "It's n-nothing… I mean, I haven't –"
She was struck dumb, though, as she saw the Superior shake his head slightly. He still looked calm and that smile was still on his lips.
"Now, Namine," he said, "You know it's not good to deceive others."
He stopped after that, and tilted his head to one side – he was waiting for her to say it herself, to admit that she had been meeting Roxas and hear it coming from her own mouth. He stared at her imploringly, quite heavily at that, but remained calm – he apparently loved to see people squirm in their seats.
Naminé shifted her gaze and tore it away from him; his tactic wasn't making this easy in any way.
"H-he just stumbled upon this place – I m-mean, we didn't do anything wrong –" she tried to defend. But the Superior was still looking at her imploringly, now with an addition of raised eyebrows. She started to tinker with her fingers.
"Hmm…" He mused. "Didn't do anything wrong? Naminé…what did I tell you a few days ago?"
"…that…that I was not supposed to leave the room."
His imploring gaze stopped at that; the Superior put his head back in its original position and furrowed his eyebrows together, seemingly recalling what he had said. This continued on for a few seconds until he got wind of his exact words, with Naminé fidgeting in her white high chair.
"…I do remember something that I added to that before I sent Larxene off," he said. "I did say that you're not supposed to meet anyone, did I not?"
"Yes, but –
"But what?"
He was now raising one eyebrow toward her, and his smile was cleanly wiped off his face – his mouth formed a thin line, and his orange eyes were unfeeling as ever. There was no trace of emotion in his eyes, they just looked blank – it was the very blankness of it actually, that made shivers run down her spine. His voice was now absent of the fondness it had held before; it was cold and uncaring, no matter how many times she tried to look at it and listen to it in any other way. She had no choice but to quiet herself.
Her bright blue eyes strayed over to her desk, and placed themselves on the yellow crayon that she had been playing with a while ago.
It was the crayon Roxas last used.
"Now…you know that disobedience is something that I don't really advocate here in this Castle." The Superior started, straightening himself up. He started to pace along the long length of Namine's table, running his fingers down the surface; his fingertips brushed against the loose sheets that were scattered on the tabletop, as well as the crayons that were scattered with them. A smile of amusement started to creep onto his face as he continued his tirade.
"Just because you tend to get special treatment, Naminé, doesn't mean that you're exempted from the rules in my Castle." He continued. "What you have done is certainly something I will not let pass by unnoticed – compensation is the key here, and you have to pay for your wrongdoing. Maybe that boy too, for trespassing –
Her eyes flashed towards the yellow crayon.
She clenched her fist.
"…please don't do anything to him."
Xemnas stopped his pacing.
"…pardon?"
"You…you didn't tell him to not meet anyone." She said, voice small and quaint. But her voice was shaking, and her clenched fist was, too; she felt the Superior inch towards her, but refused to meet his eyes.
She took a deep breath.
"I…I was the one who did something wrong."
"So now you're protecting him…?"
"But it's just right, isn't it!" Naminé found herself exclaiming, snapping her head up to meet his orange gaze. "He didn't do anything wrong – he just stumbled into my room! You didn't give him orders not to wander around the Castle! Therefore you shouldn't do anything to him – if –
But her courage ran short. The gaze of the man who rescued her from eternal wandering sapped it all away, just with a single look; she bowed her head low and fumbled with the hem of her dress.
Answering him in such a way was something she had never done, and was something she had never planned to do.
"If what, Naminé?"
She bit her lip before answering.
"…if anyone has to be punished," she whispered, "…it should be me."
For a reason she didn't know of, tears started to brim her eyes. Her fingers were now fumbling incessantly with her dress, and a sob started to swell up in her throat. It had been a long time since she cried…she didn't think the next time would be in front of the Superior.
She didn't know how the Superior would react. Was he going to laugh at her face and lecture her on how stupid she was for reasoning out to him like that? Was he going to scold her for daring to answer him in a way that no Organization member answered? Was he, in a rare occasion, going to actually consider her argument and let Roxas go scot-free?
Naminé tried to fight back the sob that was threatening to escape her throat.
"It should be you, then?" she heard him say. Strangely enough, wonder was etched in his voice.
"Yes."
"Why do you think so, Naminé?"
She didn't know what to say. Why did she defend Roxas…? She could've used Roxas as a scapegoat and let herself go scot-free.
Xemnas eyed her.
"Is it because you care?" he asked, this time his voice getting a bit incredulous. He sounded like he was near the edge of laughter. "You must be delusional."
"I am not –
"Naminé," Xemnas started, as calmly as he could, "By now, you should now of what we really are – Nobodies, mere shells of cowards who succumbed to the dark side, but having hearts strong enough to make us exist. We have no heart, we only have our mind and body – we're not even supposed to exist, at all." He feigned a sigh. "But yet here we are, inviolable existences, roaming the earth with no purpose at all. We're not supposed to care, Naminé, for you have no heart to – those feelings you feel are nothing but pitiful shadows of what they are supposed to be. You'd best ignore them, Naminé, for they are nothing but trash –"
Xemnas removed his hand from the table's surface. Loud banging started to come from the double doors of the tower; apparently, someone was trying to get in.
There was a muffled yell of "Naminé!" from the other side of the doors.
"He's here, isn't he?"
"Naminé, are you alright! Open the door!"
Her fingers stopped fumbling.
"Roxas…"
The Superior raised an eyebrow and took a step back from the table's edge. He raised his hand and a pool of darkness started to gather at his feet, with strings of dark matter rising up to engulf him. The blonde girl, meanwhile, snapped her head from the vanishing figure and the door.
"This will continue sometime," the Superior said, smiling at her again, ignoring the tears that started to run down her cheeks. His orange eyes disappeared as the darkness pulled him in – there was a flash of light, and the doors banged open; as she tried to blink the tears away, she could see someone standing by the doorway.
And then, she heard his voice.
"Naminé! What's wrong?"
Author's notes: I am so, so, sorry for the late update. You see, for the past two weeks (or so) I have started college (…freshman…o.o), so it's been pretty hectic lately. I'm really sorry if it's short, too.
Anyway, thank you all so much for your kind reviews and favors by putting them in your faves and C2's! I hope to see you in the next chapters, and hopefully next chapter will not be that boring.
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