I can't find my jacket... It's f-f-freezing!
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(A friend colored it for me OwO)
A single ornately decorated lamp was shining brightly in the dark room, the soft glow through the stained glass shade was just enough to illuminate the paperwork and the two books spread across the desk, but nothing else. It seemed quiet here, dark and silent, a welcome retreat to all the chaos that was going on elsewhere.
At the edge of the desk a black-gloved hand slowly ran long slender fingers along the smooth wooden edge as an unseen figure walked around the corner of the desk. The dark cloaked man came to a slow stop as the hand that had been previously sliding effortlessly across the surface of the desk rested on his hips. The mysterious looking man leaned backwards until a dreadful crack broke the silence of the room; followed by a grunt of discomfort. He then sat heavily in the chair; an audible sigh of pain escaped his lips as he slowly lowered his head onto the cool surface of the desk. The gentle fingers of light were finally able to reach out and caress his tired face and the long silver locks of hair that had fallen over his closed eyes.
Xemnas sighed again as he slid one of his black gloves off, allowing it to fall to the floor between his feet. The sound this time was more like the sound of blissful happiness for someone who was in desperate need of rest. The pained look in his features softened as he slowly tapped the lamp with his finger shutting off its warm glow with a mere touch before letting his hand fall limply to the desk. Darkness surrounded him as his breathing began to slow, slipping unawares into a slumber right there on his desk.
This was a short-lived release of course.
The room suddenly flooded with light, forcing an agitated grunt from the Superior as he scrunched his eyes tighter and stiffly lifted himself back into a sitting position his lower back already telling him he was an idiot for doing such a thing. “What...” He tried to speak but couldn’t. He also tried to blink, forcing his eyes to adjust to the sudden blinding white walls of his office.
A tall Nobody stood in the doorway, his hand on the light switch, still staring at his Superior with wide horror stricken golden colored eyes. “I... I’m sorry, Sir, I didn’t know you were trying to sleep...” Saïx sounded unusually startled.
“No... I wasn’t. What is it?” Xemnas lied and then ushered the conversation along, trying to gather the shards of his dignity.
“I’m afraid we have a bit of a problem...” Saïx cleared his throat and stepped further into the room, only to be pushed forcefully the last couple of steps from behind.
“A BIT of a problem? Let’s try a disgustingly HUGE pain in my backside.” Marluxia snarled as he pushed past the much larger and stronger looking Nobody that stood in his way; marched up to Xemnas’ desk and slamming a hand down on the surface to accentuate his irritation with the whole mess, “You have to do something about that... that... IDIOT that dares to call him self part of this Organization.”
“If you are referring to Axel... I already know. Now, you may remove your hand from my desk.” Xemnas stated bluntly.
“That’s right, down boy.” Larxene grunted as she grabbed Marluxia’s bathrobe collar and pulled him away from the desk.
The tired sleep bubbles finally cleared from Xemnas’ eyes as he eyed the group that now stood before him, his eye twitched as he took note of Marluxia’s attire, “Marluxia.... why are you dressed like a woman?”
Marluxia tensed, the heat rising to his cheeks turning them the same color as the bright red bathrobe he was wearing. His lip trembled slightly for just a second before his startled face distorted to anger as he readied to start up another rant.
A small hand shot up from nowhere, clamping down on his mouth and preventing him from making anything more than a muffled grunt, “It’s a long story, Sir...” Larxene’s lip curled into a sadistic grin.
“Actually, the reason we’re here is to report that one of Vexen’s experiments has been released and that Demyx has disappeared. It may be dangerous around here until we can safely secure the problem.” Zexion’s gentle voice echoed around the room, his hair was hiding most of his down turned face, while his left hand rested just over his left eye. To someone who didn’t know better, it would have appeared that he was suffering from some sort of horrible migraine.
“I’ll alert everyone about the creature in a moment, I suppose this has finally escalated to the point that I am forced to call a meeting. Thank you, Zexion. I need to...” Xemnas was suddenly interrupted once again by the Schemer, an occurrence that rarely ever took place.
“Actually, Sir, I was referring to Demyx...” With those words, the room suddenly fell to chilly silence.
IOIOIOIOIOI
A large empty space, shades of white and nothing else. No sound, no life it seemed; the only things that could be seen in the vast chamber were the tall throne-like seats of varying heights encircling the insignia of the Nobodies etched into the marble floor below. It was beautiful in it’s uniformity, and yet, this room held a sort of foreboding dread. It was a solemn place used for councils that were not usually pleasant in any sense of that word.
In the middle of the floor stood a lone figure, a large blue Sitar clutched to his chest as though he were afraid it was going to push him away suddenly and then disappear. He never made a sound, just stared down at the symbol below his feet. His gloved thumb was idly stroking the neck of the instrument as he stared on beyond the floor; submerged in his own thoughts. He wasn’t alone with his inner voice for long, though. The air in the room shifted slightly as a portal of darkness, vastly contrasting against the white stone, opened and closed behind the two Nobodies that stepped out into cold room.
Roxas was watching his own toes as he took a couple quiet steps before slowing to a stop. “You know we’re caught don’t you? Once the Superior finds out...” his voice was nearly as muted as the few steps he had taken out into the room.
“They can’t prove it was us.” Axel’s voice was considerably softer than normal.
Roxas sighed, turning back to look at his friend; he pondered his next words before actually voicing them, “Axel… Think about it, they’ve caught us! There are five of them and possibly others that can back them up. It’s their word against ours, and Zexion’s in the group… who do you think Xemnas is going to believe? And then…” Roxas’ voice trailed off as a guilt stricken expression flashed across his face, “and what about Demyx?”
Axel averted his gaze to the ground, anywhere but Roxas’ eyes, “Aw, come on… It’s Demyx. It’s not like he’d hold a grudge, we can just smooth things over.”
“You honestly think Demyx is going to be that understanding and forgiving, Axel? We made him think his Sitar was eating people, you know how touchy he is over that thing!” Roxas asked, knowing full well that he was starting to prick his companion’s conscience.
“It’s not my fault he jumped to that conclusion! He said it, I just went with it, got it…” Axel looked up, his words suddenly freezing in mid catch phrase.
Roxas glanced up into his friend’s face; normally Axel wouldn’t pass up any chance to use that line, but something had stopped him, drawing his gaze beyond Roxas. A sinking worried feeling pooled in the middle of the smallest Nobody’s stomach as he turned, afraid that the others had already caught up with them.
Roxas turned; expecting the worst but instantly recognized their friend even from the back. He found himself wondering why his hair looked damp and out of place, normally Demyx wouldn’t be caught dead looking like that. Yet right now the musician just looked so tired and so depressed, the complete opposite of what they had come to expect from his quirky personality.
There was a chilly silence that filled the room, a strange sort of suffocating tension hung in the air as Roxas took a couple of uneasy steps toward the Nobody. “Demyx… are you ok?” he was nearly startled by his own voice, it sounded so soft and quiet in this vast room, against this unnervingly odd pressure.
Demyx’s head was bent downward over the neck of his Sitar his cheek pressed against it as he embraced it. The invasion of a gentle voice interrupted his inner thoughts, making his shoulders twitch in reflex. This small movement was enough to tell the young Nobody that he had been heard.
The Melodious Nocturne turned slowly pulling his face back from the Sitar in order to glance over his shoulder at Roxas. A strange sort of emptiness seemed to dull his light blue eyes; his usually cheerful expression was absent, replaced with a vacant look of deep depression.
Axel smiled weakly and raised a hand in greeting, “Yo! Just the guy we were lookin’ for...” judging from the look on the Melodious Nocturne’s face, he had a lot of smoothing over to do.
Demyx turned slightly, still holding his beloved Sitar close to his chest with his left arm as he slowly held out his right hand, revealing the little black radio in his open palm. His strangely sad expression shifted as something truly frightening smoldered behind his light blue eyes.
“Ooooh boy.” Roxas gulped, his gaze darting from Demyx back to Axel.
“Oh! Um, about that... Look, man, I didn’t...” Axel scratched the back of his head sheepishly as he spoke, only to be cut off abruptly.
“Didn’t think I’d catch on?” The musician finished the sentence, pausing for just a moment before he continued. “Oh, yes, of course... Demyx is too stupid to catch on.” His voice cracked with the anger that was threatening to spill over at any moment.
“Demyx, nobody ever said that!!! We don’t think you’re stupid...” Roxas started trying to calm the dark storm clouds he could see rising, but his attempts were interrupted by Axel.
“More like… highly gullible.” Axel chuckled as Roxas slapped both hands over his face and groaned in defeat.
Demyx’s eyes narrowed, his slender fingers curled in on the radio as it hissed and popped like water being poured over a heated metal plate. The casing cracked under the pressure sending sparks and steaming smoke into the air before he let the twisted box fall to the floor with a loud clank.
Without any warning a darkness portal opened beside the two dumbfounded Nobodies, Saïx stepped out just as Demyx let the small black box fall to the floor. The sound of the metal skidding to a stop just a few feet away from the enraged musician was the only noise that had been made at all, yet it was nearly deafening. Once again during this night, a startled look flashed across the Berserker’s face as he took in the scene, “Demyx?”
More portals followed as more members of the organization appeared in the middle of this tense encounter. A meeting was about to be called, judging from all the Organization members that were suddenly appearing in the chamber.
Demyx glanced at the group out of the corner of his eye, darting from Saïx to Larxene for just a brief moment before he settled his gaze back on Axel. A strange feeling of relief had washed over him at the sight of the others, but his mind quickly told him that it was a stupid thought; they were never in danger in the first place. Anger soon took its hold on his mind once again, reminding him of all the things that had happened to him during the night; all the things that had been said to him. He clenched his teeth in determination; nothing was going to stop him from saying what he had to say now. “I… I thought my sitar had turned on me! People called me an idiot, and they wouldn’t believe me. They even accused me of being a tweeker… laughed at me… ruined my hair… and all because of THAT!!!” he pointed at the little box; his voice was small and shaky, but still laced with the pent up rage that was eating away at him.
Roxas raised his hand slowly in a comforting gesture as he took a step toward his friend, “Demyx…”
“I only have three words to say about all this...” Demyx stepped back, his tone was so unusually harsh; the sound sent a chill down the other Nobodies’ spines and forced Roxas into a shocked stand still.
A distant look filled the Melodious Nocturne’s eyes as his lips tightened into a thin line, his fingers tightened around the neck of the sitar as he held its sharp point outward toward the cause of all his pain and torment during this night. The stance was familiar, though rarely seen.
“Demyx... WAIT!!” their superior started to command a halt to what he knew was about to happen but it was too late, nothing could stop something this powerful. It would be like trying to stand against a mighty tsunami.
Demyx swung around, the black leather of his uniform snapped out behind him as he pulling his beloved Sitar around with him until it was positioned like a guitar. A song, a command that sounded more like melody broke through air, but this command had never seemed as threatening as it did now,
“DANCE, WATER, DANCE!!!”
Meanwhile, some distance away, a little shadow heartless was sitting on the edge of Memory’s Skyscraper. His little yellow eyes sparkled in the darkness as he looked up at the heart shaped moon hanging peacefully in the sky behind the castle. A little sigh escaped him somehow as he took in the peaceful scene. But it was a short-lived peace, without warning a torrent of water gushed from every opening and broken window in the castle, as the screams of twelve Organization members shattered the silence of the dark morning. It fell to the ground like a raging white waterfall, filling the dark streets below and turning them into a treacherous river. The little heartless jumped up; running from one side of the roof to the other as the water rose ever higher. Other heartless and Neo Shadows were gurgling and struggling to climb higher in order to escaped the waters of pure rage. And then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the water’s from the castle slowed and began to trickle off.
The little heartless’ stolen heart pounded as he suddenly plopped to a sitting position. His little yellow eyes wide with horror as he tried to fathom what exactly had caused such a terrifying event to take place.
Within the castle, fountains of water had erupted all around the Melodious Nocturne. Water clones had danced out from their creator; laying havoc upon everything they came in contact with. The display of sheer power over his element had been like nothing any of the other members of Organization XIII had ever seen. It had been fast and precise, yet the blind torrential fury knew neither friend nor enemy. All fell before the Melodious Nocturne and his song of destruction.
The flood levels began to fall slowly, Demyx stood in the middle of the waist deep waters unfazed by the torrents that had engulfed everything. He rather liked the feeling of being surrounded by water; it made him feel calm and delightfully content. A strange sort of blissful smile spread across his lips as he pulled his sitar up and hugged it again, rubbing his cheek against it affectionately, “I knew you couldn’t do something that evil, Baby, I’ll never doubt you again...”
There was a sudden sputtering and coughing as Axel broke the surface of the water and gasped for air. He stood hunched over, dripping wet with his bright crimson hair plastered down and sticking to his neck and across his forehead. He looked very much like a drown rat now as he stood in silence for a moment, looking down through his crimson hair at his soaked coat and then his slightly steaming gloves. His emerald eyes widened as the image of what he was about to look like flashed through his mind. Only once before had he been so completely soaked and unprepared, his hair had changed from the beautiful crimson spikes of perfection to wild and frizzy like a horrible perm gone wrong. Not to mention the crusty feeling his clothes were about to take on at any moment due to the fast drying powers he naturally possessed.
The strangely tranquil scene erupted with the sound of a strangled scream “I’M WET!!! I HATE BEING WET!!! DEMYX!!!” Axel glanced around wildly until his gaze fell on the content musician. “YOU!!! You’re going to pay for this... I’m going to...” he was interrupted by Demyx sticking his tongue out at him and then a sudden stinging pain shot through his arm as Roxas emerged from the water like some sort of commando and landed a punch to his shoulder.
“YOU DESERVED THAT!!!” Roxas’ voice cracked as he yelled; he pulled his hand back and rubbed his throbbing fist, “Now, knock it off!”
“But... but... YOU KNOW WHAT I LOOK LIKE WITHOUT A HAIR DRYER!!!” Axel cried hysterically, morning the loss of his spikes of hair.
“The honey... it’s gone...” a different voice grabbed the attention of the trio. Marluxia was running his hands through his now silky clean hair amazed at how soft and normal it now felt.
“Hey! And the little heart is gone from your nose!” Larxene pointed at Zexion’s face, then poked his nose, “Awwww... I miss it already...”
Zexion twitched and slapped her hands away, “I SAID DON’T TOUCH ME!!!!”
“Dude... that was just freaky... Where’s my surf board when I need it?” Xigbar chuckled as he trudged and splashed past Demyx, slapping him on the back as he went by.
“You woke me for this?” Yet another deep voice echoed in the room as all eyes suddenly turned from Demyx to the toughest and strongest looking of the nobodies.
Lexaeus was standing in the now knee deep water, his light green PJs dripping wet and a soggy teddy bear dangling from his grasp. He reached up and pulled the soaking nightcap off his head as he turned to leave, “I’m going…”
“woooaah waitaminute Big Boy!” Larxene sloshed up to him, reaching out and pushing him to a stop, “What’s with the bear? Don’t tell me a big tough guy like you sleeps with a teddy bear…”
Lexaeus remained silent for a quite some time, just staring at her with tired and uncaring eyes. He finally sighed, “Mr. Snuffles doesn’t like being made fun of…” He stated flatly as he hugged the bear defensively.
Luxord just sat in the water, looking around dazed and confused. He had woken up earlier that morning to run to the bathroom, noticed that more people were awake than usual and then simply went back to bed. He had no idea what was going, why a meeting had interrupted his ‘beauty’ sleep, or what in world had brought such a ferocious display from the usually docile Number Nine. His thoughts suddenly froze as frightening thought struck him; he suddenly splashed patting the pockets in his own pajamas until he hit a lump in his shirt pocket embroidered with a big ‘L’. He fumbled and quickly fished out a pack of cards out of the pocket, “PHEW! Thought I lost them!” he chuckled, “Good thing I keep these babies in a air tight package!”
Saïx stood slowly, mentally he took note of how far Demyx had thrown him. He let a small smile twist across his face briefly as he stood watching the reactions coming from all his fellow organization members. Then he suddenly did something truly frightening; he burst into laughter right in front of everyone, “Well I guess Demyx set everything that was wrong back to normal.”
Axel nervously glanced around the room, everyone was in such a good mood despite the damage, but he knew it wouldn’t last long. He cleared his throat and then slowly started to back away towards the door, “Aw… happy, happy all is well… and on that note, I think I’ll be going now...”
“Not so fast, Flurry...” A deep voice whispered close to his ear as Axel tried to make his escape.
Axel turned, coming eye to eye with the Superior. Axel Squeaked falling backwards into the water again and scuttling backwards to put some distance between himself and the source of his impending doom. “But... but... I didn’t... They can’t...” He stuttered and then fell silent when he backed against something.
Axel felt under the water, he was definitely sitting on someone’s feet now. He nervously glanced up; Light blue eyes sparkled mischievously back down at him as a twisted little smirk worked it’s way across Demyx’s face.
Roxas inched closer to Demyx, “Kick him... “ Roxas leaned to the side and whispered at him.
Axel shot Roxas a death glare, opening his mouth to pop off with something really harsh, only to be interrupted by the Superior.
Xemnas rubbed his forehead and then pushed his damp silver hair back out of his face, “Demyx... are you perfectly sane now?”
“Yup...” Demyx answered as he hugged his Sitar tighter, smiling as he considered doing just what Roxas had suggested a moment ago.
“Good... Due to the fact that Demyx was driven to this madness by your silly little ‘game’ I will pardon all damage that was done. And since it seems to have set most of the other issues you all have with Axel right, we will consider this fair punishment.” Xemnas glanced around the room, stopping on Zexion for a second.
A strange irritated look had flashed across the Cloaked Schemer’s face, but it faded as quickly as it had appeared. “Does anyone have a problem with this?” Xemnas asked, eyes on the Schemer.
Zexion never made a sound, he never argued with the Superior so he just looked away as all the others nodded in agreement.
“Well then, there is only one thing left.” Xemnas’ expression suddenly shifted from the stern almost unconcerned look to a considerably more irritated one. “I do not care about anything but this...” his voice suddenly had more bite to it now as he reached into his coat and pulled out a small object, an empty sticky Honey Bear rested in his palm. “Who... Is... Responsible... For... This?
All eyes fell on the little bear; bewilderment on all faces but one. Roxas’ eyes widened with shock, his lip started to tremble as the memory suddenly came back to him.
“It must have come from Axel...” Marluxia finally broke the silence that had fallen, drawing Xemnas’ frightening gaze upon himself.
“ME? Hey, I’ve been pardoned buddy so don’t go trying to stir things up again!” Axel snarled as he jumped up, water dripping from his coat once again.
“Well you’re the one that put HONEY in my shampoo! Obviously that little demonic thing is YOURS...” Marluxia snapped as he twirled around to face his ‘enemy’.
“What’s the problem? It’s just a plastic bear?” Larxene’s expression twisted into confusion, ignoring the fight that was on the edge of breaking out.
“Aw, Dude, it was SO funny! It was like something out of the three stooges, I kid you not!” Xigbar started laughing, barely able to continue the story, “We were at the Altar of Naught and this bear came flying out the window… BAM!! Hit Xemnas square in the middle of the forehead, knocked him backwards, and then he STEPPED on it and fell down, like, every flight of stairs in the castle.” he paused, still chuckling as he glanced at Xemnas, “Dude, you so scream like a girl.”
“I will shove this bear up your nose blunt end first if you do not shut up right now...” Xemnas stated through clenched teeth squeezing the bear around the neck until it’s head expanded from the built up pressure.
Xigbar let out one last snort and then suddenly fell quiet, “Yessir…”
“I want to know who is responsible for this… this... flying bear… RIGHT NOW!” Xemnas eye twitched with anger.
Roxas breathing suddenly became erratic, his lip still trembling, as the silence all around him became deafening in his ears. He glanced nervously around at all the confused and silent Nobodies, inwardly wishing he could calm his nerves and act cool, but the heat in his cheeks refused to die down.
*More next post... stupid 25,600 characters rule...
