Wings of Avalon: Yes, def a dark chapter...might should have warned for that haha. Thanks, I will try my best to enjoy picking one out! So far it's been more stressful than fun lol. But yes, a secret passage has definitely been in the back of my mind... ;)

Jake Hallows: No, nothing missing. The only thing that happened in between was sleeping, getting up, finding a mirror, and making a portal. Didn't figure that was important enough to include.

coolmegan123: Your reaction was amazing! Ha yes, I figured everyone would think the tidbit was about Meli, since you didn't know part of this one would be from Riku's perspective. I was being sneaky about that with those sneak peeks haha. Yeah, my imagining is that we haven't truly seen what Xigbar is capable of. Now that he's got his true weapon back, he's gonna be a much bigger enemy. I mean, the guy's been around for hundreds of years, he's got plenty of experience.


I'm baaaack! Luckily for you guys, my mess up means you don't have to stay hanging on that cliffhanger for as long as usual! :)


Chapter 25

Perspective – Meli

Waking up had never been so difficult. My head felt like it was being squeezed in a vice while someone pounded on it with a mallet, and my eyelashes seemed to be glued down to my cheeks. My throat was completely dried out. Everything on my body felt weak and weighed down. But somehow I managed to pry open my eyes, and was met with an almost blindingly white room.

White. Why is it always white?

Wait.

I remember.

I remembered it all. And it wasn't a sudden influx of images, like before, the memories were just sitting there in my brain as if they had never left. All of my life, from childhood, to entering this universe, to fighting, and giving into darkness, and dying, and coming back as a Nobody, and dying again. I'm back. I'm human.

It was as if my body was waiting for my mind to catch up, because with that thought came the rest of the pain. Specifically, the pain from multiple broken ribs in the center of my chest and possibly some cracked ones in the back, all thanks to frickin' Xigbar. I had just thought that my first experience with broken ribs was bad. My jaw dropped open as if that would help me to draw in more breath without feeling like I was being stabbed all over each time, and tears gathered in my eyes. I wanted to double over myself, but something was keeping me from doing so.

I can't...move.

Why can't I move why can't I move?

My heart rate picked up, pounding against my mutilated ribs and sending even more pain shooting through them. I couldn't even stop to appreciate the fact that I actually had a heart beat, though, not when something was keeping me from moving and I could feel the beginnings of a panic attack coming on. Of course this would be my first experience after coming back.

Taking in deep breaths to calm myself was pretty much out of the question, so I tried instead to find the explanation as to why I couldn't move. Chains. Duh. I was going to blame the combination vice and mallet on my head – oh, and the fact that I had just come back from the dead – for the fact that I hadn't noticed before then that I was chained to a chair by my legs, arms, and torso. It was seemingly the only object in this otherwise empty white room, which I was starting to think was actually a sort of prison cell.

So I've been kidnapped again.

That really wasn't doing much to help me not panic.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I halfway wished that I could just pass back out and escape the pain, especially if I could somehow magically wake up not chained to a chair in a cell. I wanted to wake up in Grim's arms.

Grim. After all this time, I could finally, actually remember him, remember us and everything that we were, and we had been torn apart yet again. Suddenly the couple of times that I had snuggled in next to him in bed and the brief makeout session I had foolishly thrown at him weren't nearly enough to compensate for all of the separation before and in between.

I needed him. Right then.

I needed him to wrap me up in his impossibly strong arms and not let me go ever. The no panic attacks part of being a Nobody had been great, but there was no way I would ever choose going back to that if it meant giving Grim and me up again.

He's out there looking for me. He'll find me, just like he did last time. And when he did I was going to make sure he remembered his promise to not let me out of his sight and kiss me every minute and a half.

The sound of a dark corridor opening broke me out of my swirling thoughts, and my eyes flew open to find Xigbar entering the room. "Oh hey, little poppet is awake. Wasn't sure how long it would actually take. The process of coming back from the dead is always a little dodgy."

I shot him the best glare I could muster, despite my body still shaking all over. "Wouldn't be so bad if somebody hadn't stabbed me through the chest."

He scoffed. "Like I told your boyfriend, it doesn't really matter how you go about it. It's all gonna suck in the end."

My boyfriend...wait, Grim had been there when Xigbar killed me, and he...he was hurt. Really hurt. That realization was enough to finally send me over the edge into panic attack mode, and ow, hyperventilating with broken ribs was super painful. "Where's...where's Riku? What did you...? Is he...?"

"Relax, poppet, your boyfriend is fine, I promise." Leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed, he watched me fight for breath as if it amused him. "Don't believe me? Here."

With a wave of his hand, he created a swirl of black smoke on the other side of the room. The next thing I knew, Riku was standing there, wide-eyed.

"Meli!" he gasped, immediately starting toward me.

"Uh-uh!"

At the sharp rebuke from Xigbar, Riku flinched, his jaw tightening, then he slowly, reluctantly dragged himself back into place where he had started, his fists clenched by his sides. I was too entranced by the huge blood stain on his shirt and jacket to pay much attention to his strange behavior.

"Meli." My eyes flicked briefly up to his, then back down to his side. "It's okay. I'm here. Breathe with me, okay?"

"Grim," I choked out. "You...you..."

His gaze followed mine, and his eyebrows went up in realization. "No, it's okay, I'm okay. It's all good, all healed." He reached toward the hem of his shirt, as if he might lift it to show me, but then seemed to change his mind mid-motion and awkwardly dropped his hands again, his fingers flexing. "I promise I'm okay."

"Speaking of which." Xigbar hauled himself up off the wall and took a few steps in my direction. "Better do a little healing here, too, before you end up puncturing a lung with all this panicking. I really don't need you dying on me after we've gotten this far."

I couldn't help flinching when he reached a hand out toward me, but he merely poked a finger into my sternum, releasing a familiar green magic that spread across my torso. The pain spiked suddenly as bones snapped back into place, and I cried out. An instant later, though, everything eased to a much duller ache, feeling more like the biggest bruise of my life rather than like there was still a Keyblade through my chest. Thankfully, with the majority of the pain gone, my breathing eased up a bit, too.

Stepping back, Xigbar admired his work. "That should be enough to keep you alive, without making you too cocky."

My attention went right back to Riku, this time actually taking in his face. Man, I missed being able to understand the love in those eyes. It made my own eyes fill up and threaten to overflow. If only he wasn't so dang far away. I still really needed that hug.

A sad smile flickered across his lips. "It's...really good to see you awake."

"Aw, yes, sweet, tearful reunions and all of that. Beautiful. Unfortunately, I've got other things I've gotta do today, so let's move this along."

Gritting my teeth against the leftover aches and tremors, I glared at Xigbar again. "What do you want with us?"

"Oh, but you know the answer to that already." He planted his hands on his hips, a smirk twisting his features. "You're both an integral part of the big plan. You, poppet, have an even bigger role than most, but we'll get to all of that later. No need to explain it to you two now, then have to explain it all again when your buddies get here."

Our friends... "They'll find us, you know."

"Hm? Oh, yes, the typical 'my friends will come for me' speech." He waved his hand as if I was a bothersome child. "They'll show up, alright, right when I want them to. I need them here, too, after all. Until then, though, they think the two of you were given a mission to find Ava, so they won't be missing you."

A wave of guilt came over me at the mention of her name. I so did not miss having some of these emotions. "Where's Ava? You'd better not hurt her."

Xigbar sighed. "Listen, the whole 'hurting' thing is really up to you. Hurting people isn't exactly my goal, so the only hurting that'll happen is if any of you don't cooperate and do exactly as I say. Which is one reason, for example, why we have your boyfriend here with us."

My head swiveled to face Riku again and he stiffened, not making eye contact. I could her the grin in Xigbar's voice when he continued speaking.

"Well, kid? You wanna show her, or should I?"

Even from a distance I could see Riku's throat move as he swallowed. His eyes drifted shut, and he slowly reached for – is his hand trembling? – the hem of his shirt again. When he lifted it, all I could see was black, and I felt like the floor dropped out from underneath me.

"No. No, no no no no –"

The shirt dropped, but I could still see it, that same band that haunted my nightmares over and over again, now holding captive the one person that I loved most. No no no no no –

"Meli! Meli, stay with me. Keep breathing."

Blue hair and golden eyes.

I can't move...I can't move...

A remote waved tauntingly in my face.

Lightning crackling beneath my skin, crawling up my back and down my legs, ever nerve sizzling like my very blood was on fire –

"Meli!"

Somehow Riku's voice jolted me back to the present, and I latched onto it like a lifeline without truly understanding anything else he was saying. Grim. It wasn't me wearing the band this time, it was Grim, and that was...that was so much worse. Because I knew. I knew what kind of pain that thing could inflict, and I couldn't stand the thought of anyone else having to go through that, especially not him. Never him.

"I'm sorry," I sobbed. "I'm so sorry." Why didn't we destroy that thing when we had the chance?

"Hey, I'm okay! He hasn't –" Riku cut his eyes over to Xigbar, then back to me. "I'm okay. Nothing has happened like you're imagining."

I was glad for that, that he hadn't been straight up torturing him while I was out, but even the slightest buzz from that thing was too much, in my opinion. I never wanted Riku to have to go through that kind of pain, ever. Just the thought of him in pain made me want to destroy everything in sight.

"Well," Xigbar chuckled – chuckled, as if Riku's pain and my fear were the highlight of his afternoon – "I guess I won't need to make a demonstration, then." I caught sight of him sliding an all too familiar remote back into his pocket and nearly spiraled out of control again. It was supposed to be gone why how did he find it why does it still exist –

"Seems like you remember this old thing perfectly well. You know, I debated with myself for a while whether to put it on you or him...I think I made the right decision in the end." What I would have given to be able to wipe that smug look off of his face.

Walking over to Riku, Xigbar clasped his shoulder with one hand. "See, if you don't behave, he gets punished, and we all know you don't want that." He walked toward me next, circling behind the chair, and I could see Riku inwardly fighting with himself not to jump him right then and there.

"If he doesn't behave, then he still gets punished. It'll hurt, yeah, plus he knows what it'll do to you to see that." His hands came down on my shoulders, making me jump, and he leaned in close to my ear. "Between you and me, I don't think he'll want to risk misbehaving too many times, even if he is the one wearing the device. I mean, I do have you right here where I could do...literally anything, as long as I keep you alive."

A harsh shiver ran down my spine. I tried to keep from looking at Riku, not wanting him to see the fear on my face, but couldn't help a quick glance that told me all I needed to know. He looked positively murderous.

Xigbar straightened abruptly, his voice losing the dark tone it had taken on and going back to normal. "So, I have a feeling you'll both be good listeners." He gave my shoulders a quick pat before walking back around to where he had started, which was good because then I could join Riku in glaring daggers at him. "I kinda hope so. I mean, the whole evil torturer role is actually pretty fun to play, not gonna lie, but I've been waiting for this moment for my entire life – and trust me when I say it's been a long one – and I'd really rather everyone just cooperate so it can go off smoothly.

"Alright." He clapped his hands brightly like he was a school teacher and not a psychopathic kidnapper. "Any questions?"

"I don't know how you can possibly think this will go off smoothly," Riku growled. "Light always wins. Our friends will figure out what your plan really is, and th–"

"Uh-huh. I asked for questions, not heroic speeches. Back to your room you go, lover boy."

I lurched as Riku was lost in another swirl of darkness, as if I could dive after him, but my chair didn't even budge an inch.

"Any questions, poppet?"

Tons. I had tons of questions, but I knew better than to think he'd answer any of them satisfactorily. "I hate you."

He grinned. "Noted. Feels good to be able to hate again, doesn't it?"

He was gone then, too, leaving me staring at white walls once again. Yeah. Actually it does. Too bad hating wasn't going to get us out of this situation.


A/N: eeeee this is another one of my favorites. What do you think, love me or hate me?