King's Heart (part 2 of 31)

Secrets Written in Blood

            Quistis felt infinitely more comfortable when Xu was around. She knew that Xu would be there if she ever got into trouble and needed to talk. Of course being the Quistis that she was, she never talked about her problems but knowing that someone was there to listen was almost as good. She flopped down on the bed and sighed.

            “You feeling all right Quisty?” Xu asked as she exited the bathroom with an unflattering foamy mouth as she continued brushing her teeth. Quistis couldn’t help but let out a choked laugh.

            “Um…” Giggle. “Xu” Laugh. “You might want to look in the” Cough. “Mirror.” Xu raised a questioning eyebrow and turned back to the bathroom before erupting into laughter that sent toothpaste flying every which way. She quickly rinsed the toothpaste from her mouth and washed her face.

            “That was mean.” She said crossly flopping down on the bed beside her.

            “But funny.” Quistis pointed out. Xu shoved her off the bed. “Hey! That was mean!” Xu stuck out her tongue.

            “Payback.” She replied, smiling. She looked at her drawer and saw a picture. It was a picture of her and Quistis when they were little. She picked it up and studied it. “You were so cute back then. I wonder what happened…” Quistis glared at her angrily and snatched the picture out of her hands.

            “Same goes for you too.” She sat down on the bed again and looked around. “Balamb hasn’t quieted down. Even if Ultimecia is defeated, she’s defeated in the future. Who knows when she’ll rise in this time.” Kill…Quistis jumped, her eyes wide.

            “Quisty?” Xu said, sitting up as well.

            “Who?” Quistis stood up and opened her window and looked out. “Did you hear something?” Xu scratched her head.

            “It was a disembodied voice that reached into the depths of your mind and sucked out all the sanity, leaving you questioning what is real and what is not. I might not be real for all you know.” She whispered spookily.

            “That’s not funny.” Quistis snapped, clearly aggravated by how close her answer came. “I’m serious, I heard something.”

            “And what was that something?” Xu asked, humored by all of this. Quistis crossed her arms and stomped her foot like a child.

            “It was a voice ok?” Xu stood up and walked over to her, putting her arms on her shoulders.

            “You…need…sleep…” she said, accenting every single word. “It…is…driving…you…insane…” Quistis sighed and decided that she was right, no matter how much she didn’t want to admit it. She lay down on the bed and closed her eyes, placing her palm on her forehead.

            “Yeah…sleep.” She whispered hauntingly.

            “Either that or there’s something on your mind and the only way to cure it is by telling me exactly what’s troubling you.” Quistis frowned at her friend’s eager attempt to wrestle information out of her. “Maybe Shiva’s playing with your mind?” It wasn’t that either. Shiva definitely didn’t play around like that. She was above silly tricks like that. On top of that, Shiva sounded more comforting. Never in the years that she had Shiva junctioned did she ever sound like that. Sure, the GF sounded cold at times but not down right sinister.

            “No…never mind. It’ll go away, I’m sure of it. Maybe I’m just hearing things.” But the voice had left chills up and down her spine. She shivered. Xu climbed into bed beside her, a little worried.

            “I’m sure it will. Goodnight, Quistis.” She turned off the antique lamp on the desk beside the bed and grabbed most of the covers. Quistis yanked them back and they fought over control of the covers before the entire activity wore them out and they went to sleep without another incident. Xu lost anyway.

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            Xu woke up in the middle of the night. She groaned and stood up, going towards the kitchen for a glass of water. She searched through the darkness, finding drawers that clearly weren’t for holding glasses. She opened one drawer filled with different objects of miniscule use and was about to close it before something in the back glinted. Curiosity and drowsiness motivated her to check it out.

            It was a cutter.

            It was a cutter with dried blood on it.

            Xu froze, fully awakened by the object. She looked back at the lump on the bed and felt her heart sink painfully. What if…no…Quistis wouldn’t do that would she? She gripped the cutter, feeling the sudden urge to destroy it. Still, what if Quistis really was that depressed. She rarely said anything about her feelings. It was clearly strict SeeD behavior that pushed Quistis to hide her feelings. She crept over to Quistis. Even her sleeping form was troubled and she wanted to banish the evil thought that lurked in her mind. But since it simply wouldn’t go away, she gently removed some of the covers and peered through the darkness at her lithe arms. Xu’s eyes watered. There were scars, clean scars that could only be made by something like a cutter. They were too small to be made by a gunblade and too thin to be made by her whip or any animal’s claws.

            “Quisty…” she whispered, slumping to the ground. “It can’t be…” Xu wished that she hadn’t discovered the cutter. She opened the window and threw the cutter out as far as she could. Then, she turned back to Quistis and looked at her sadly. “Why won’t you talk? I’m always here…”