A long time ago, I wrote this fic. After reading it again, I nearly cringed at the poor grammar and word-usage, and my sister convinced me to rewrite it and post it here. My writing's greatly improved since I wrote this crude work roughly two or three years ago and posted it on Quizilla. I hope I can make this fiction a much more enjoyabe read!
Disclaimer: Only Square Enix can claim the rights to Kingdom Hearts. I don't profit by any means when writing this, and only use it for a source of pleasure-reading.
**~Hidden Schemes: Chapter one~**
Juliet groaned as once again, Larxene moved the burning curling iron too close to her scalp. The smell of static swam in the air around the newest addition to the Organization, and she blandly wondered if she could drown out the scent in perfume.
"Quit complaining," Larxene snapped as she released the handle and another perfectly sculpted curl fell. "You're going to that dance, and I refuse to let you go with those unruly curls of yours. No, I'm going to perfect each and everyone one of them."
Juliet sighed and gazed into the mirror on Larxene's vanity. Her naturally unruly curly brown hair was now glossy and styled. Juliet's hair fell just below her shoulders, and a golden ribbon had been woven through a braid that went across the top of her head.
Why was she enduring this torture? For starters, no one, repeat, no one denied the Savage Nymph when she was in a "mood." Second, the party that Kairi was throwing down on the beach of Destiny Islands presented the perfect opportunity for Juliet to go and make an appearance on behalf of the "new and improved" Organization XIII.
Were they still bad guys? They'd negate that adamantly.
Did Larxene still hold a grudge towards Sora? She'd snicker at the person who asked.
Did Juliet really want to go? Well, she was a social Scarlet Tango, but she didn't really care to go at the moment.
Larxene, deciding she was satisfied with the outcome of her victim — ahem — friend's hair, yanked the cord out of her sleek blonde antennae (which had been supplying all the electricity she needed) and set the curler aside.
"On to make-up!" she declared with a mischievous grin and a sadistic gleam in her eye.
"No, no, no!" Juliet howled. "I let you do my hair and I even let you pick out my dress —which I'm starting to regret— but there's no way I'm putting on make-up!"
Larxene glared daggers at the young teenager. "Oh, really? Then should I let the Superior know what you wrote about him in your diary?"
Oh, the anagram. That shut Juliet up immediately, seeing as how she valued her life, and not valuing her life would entail provoking Larxene and allowing her to show Xemnas what his name was if they switched the letters around a little.
Juliet supposed she'd play along. But come time for mission assignments, she was going to have a very, very convincing talk with Saїx about giving Larxene an extra hard, extra-long, extra boring as Yen Sid recon mission with Vexen.
Moments later, otherwise known as traipsing through hell with a make-up palette, Juliet was eyeing herself in the mirror curiously. She had on a sparkly copper dress with a tight bodice and a skirt that puffed out and stopped just above her knees. Strappy sandals with a rather high gold and wood heel, gold bangles, and a wooden bead necklace completed the ensemble and added a touch of sassiness. A light copper eye shadow coated her eyelids right above her chocolate-colored eyes, which were outlined in a shade of dark-brown kohl, and a heavy coat of black mascara made her long lashes bold. Her eye make-up was thick, but Larxene had pulled it off, causing the gold flecks in Juliet's eyes to look brighter and her dark-chocolate-colored hair to look luminous.
With a slight smile, which she hid well to avoid an, 'I told you so,' from Larxene, Juliet applied a light sheen of peach-colored lip gloss to her lips.
Smirking maliciously, Larxene sneered, "Maybe it's Kairi's party, but you'll upstage her for sure!" Rolling her eyes, the brunette wondered if the blonde had made her up out of the goodness of her heart, or just to throw it back in the keybearer's face.
The latter, she supposed with a sigh.
A smirky, devilish redhead entered the room, leaning casually against the wall as he grinned his cheshire grin. Larxene perked up at his arrival and sidled up to him. Juliet took this as her cue to get the heck out of there.
Axel called from the room, "You look nice, Jule, have a good time!"
Juliet laughed and proceeded to head to her own room. On her way through Naught's Skyway, Saїx caught up to her, his gold eyes as dull as his usual personality.
"Hello, number XIV."
"Hey, Saїx!" Juliet greeted excitedly as she turned to the blue-haired second in command, who eyed her cautiously.
"Do you have your cell phone?" Oh, here we go again.
She rolled her eyes, knowing he was starting up with his fatherly act again. This happened every time she went out. She and Saїx were close; he was like a big brother to her.
"Yes," she said, bored. Just to prove her point, she began to inspect her nails.
"Is it charged?" he asked. Oh, for the love of Darkness!
"Yes," she answered simply.
With narrowed eyes, the Luna Diviner declared, "Now, should anything happen—"
"I know: Do not hesitate to call. I won't get in trouble as long as I keep safe and contact someone in a state of emergency. I've got your 'hokey' speech memorized, Sai. Take a deep breath, and walk away."
After throwing the brunette a rather gloomy look, Saïx responded, "Then be on your way, and do have a good time." He flashed her one of his rare smiles that she could have sworn up and down that no one aside from herself had ever seen in their lives. Well, excluding Axel, given their past.
"Alright, Saïx, and don't have too much fun without me!" Juliet threw her arms around the stalwart man, hugging the very life out of him before pulling back and suppressing a giggle at the redness coloring his cheeks. He shook his head, blue locks moving slightly with the movement.
A gasp escaped the lips of the fifteen-year-old Organization member as she stepped out a clammy Dark Corridor and onto the warm sands of the tropical paradise that Sora, Kairi, and Riku spent the majority of their time at. Paper lanterns hung from the thatch roofs of the scattered hut-like edifices, and more lights hung from the emerald foliage that loomed above.
With a grin, Juliet closed her portal and fluffed her hair as she spotted Seifer standing not far from her. She watched his face blanch when he caught her Larxene-like smirk. The "macho," tough guy turned and looked away, pretending like he'd never seen her in the first place.
At fourteen, Juliet had been kicked out of her second school in the last two years when she decked Seifer for… She couldn't recall the reason now, and she didn't think it'd even been that good of one, but she knew she'd enjoyed watching his nose gush blood. And then she socked Roxas in the jaw just for the heck of it.
That was when she met Xemnas. Mr. Tall, Dark, and Boring had marched himself up to the high school and thrown the door to the principle's office open, only to be confronted by the very deceiving picture of a young girl with doe-eyes and bouncy brown curls.
He recruited her, though Darkness knew why. Perhaps it was the thought that a girl like her had landed a hit on a guy like Roxas. That, and she had nowhere else to go, seeing as how she'd just gotten expelled and was turned back to visit the train station to return to Traverse Town.
Traverse Town was a pretty elaborate lie for Juliet, being as young as she was. Faking papers and her parents' signatures came naturally to the runaway, as did photoshopping herself into pictures of a couple she'd most likely illegally stolen from the internet. With a couple bats of her eyelashes, she'd explain, "Daddy is off in another world fighting off the never-ending war with the Darkness, and Mommy is a maid of Queen Minnie's, far too busy to be expected to deal with such idle things like attending school functions."
But Xemnas saw through it, tore up her train ticket, and dragged her back to the World That Never Was. For the next year, she trained in the art of hand-to-hand combat, for she'd never acquired an actual weapon or "element" such as chakrams and fire. And that was how she came to be the newest member and (she finally found the reason Xemnas bothered with her) the face of the Organization XIII, doe-eyes, bouncy brown curls, dimples, and all.
So, she attended functions such as these, her smile stretched across her face like an elastic rubber band. Darkness, it hurt to stand there and shake hands with everyone, throwing the occasional, 'Xemnas just contributed a million munny to the local baby turtles foundation,' into the mix. But, she did it, and she'd come to love the XIII members like family.
A pair of hands shielded the world from view, and Juliet momentarily felt the urge to grab the person blinding her and sling him over her shoulder. Then, said moron cried giddily, "Guess who!?" and she banished the previous thoughts from her head. She figured it'd be considered rude to fling the hostess into the sand.
"Kairi?" Juliet guessed with fake enthusiasm and a giggle. Sure, she liked the girl, but her abundance of joy grated on her nerves, especially at functions such as these.
The hands removed themselves to Juliet's delight, and Kairi stepped in front of her. Her dress was short, hot-pink, and quickly disappearing into an profusion of sparkles. Very typical of her friend.
Sora stood beside her, his smile not quite as grand as his girlfriend's, but just as sincere. He nervously tugged at a pink tie hung from his neck, and Juliet quickly wondered if Kairi had forced him into wearing it to make their outfits match. The thought brought another smirk to her face.
"Hey, Juliet," Sora greeted while wrapping his arm around Kairi. "Riku's looking for you. He's in the den."
Juliet nodded and replied, "Thanks, Sora!" She waved at the couple before rushing away, her cheeks blazing all the while. It was no secret that she and Riku had a thing for each other, but so far, neither had acted on any impulses. All of their friends teased them relentlessly, but it did nothing to brush away the anxiety and fear of rejection.
What attracted Juliet to the silver-haired keybearer? She loved bad boys. Riku had that look about him, that certain aura and smooth talk that rendered her mind useless and made her mouth smile uncontrollably. It was almost pathetic the way she melted around him, but she couldn't help being a total puddle of goo when he swung his Keyblade around and tore through heartless like it was nothing.
When Juliet moved aside the thatch barrier that served as the door to a side structure, blinding lights and pounding music immediately met her. As if he'd sensed her, Riku's aquamarine eyes met her brown one's almost instantaneously.
With a wave, Juliet mouthed, "Hey, Riku!"
He nodded, sliding off a couch and jogging over to where she stood by the exit. He wrapped his hand around her arm and pulled her outside where the noise wouldn't drown out their words. Juliet blushed a little and glanced at the sunset, admiring the way the red, orange, and gold seemed to flow into the sea.
"Hey, Juliet," Riku finally spoke, his voice breaking the silence. His eyes danced over her body, taking in her dress and heels. He rubbed the back of his neck and offered, "You look really nice."
Tucking her head in a little, Juliet answered, "Thanks… So do you."
The two fell into a slightly awkward silence, in which Juliet fought down the reddening of her cheeks. She almost cried in relief when Riku motioned to the pavilion where the band was playing a slow song and asked, "Do you want to dance?"
"Love to," came her response as she took his outstretched hand and allowed him to lead her to the bridge that crossed from the shore to the cylindrical piece of island on the southeast side. When they made it to the center, Riku pulled Juliet into his arms, letting her arms link around his neck as they swayed slightly to the music, their hearts mimicking the beat.
Zexion nodded at Namine as she offered him a glass of punch. They stood with Roxas over by the start of the bridge across from Riku and Juliet. Blue eyes watched the ex-Nobody with curiosity as he gazed at the couple dancing.
With a knowing smile, Namine whispered, "Zexion, if you like her, you should go and get her before she's taken." She punctuated this remark by nudging the quiet boy with her shoulder.
Roxas scoffed, "Nami, it looks like she's kinda already taken."
Zexion took a sip of his punch in response, his blue-ish eyes still trained on his comrade and the silver-haired teen. He continued to drink from the cup, not joining in conversation, for he never cared to converse as it was. In fact, he only attended these dreaded events because (and Juliet would slaughter him if ever she found out) Saïx requested it of him. He felt she needed some form of supervision, and having any other member there would be strange since none aside from Demyx, Axel, or Larxene would be young enough to attend without it warranting suspicion or being absolutely useless — the former member due to his inability to supervise anything, the middle because Juliet would know that something was up, and the latter because she simply would not serve well as a representative for the "new and improved" Organization XIII. And that was putting it lightly.
At the moment that the silver-purple-and-bluish-mess-of-haired ex-Nobody had turned to leave the conversation, his ever observant eyes caught sight of a curious scene. Where Juliet had previously been dancing with Riku, a blonde girl stood in a particularly trashy black dress, her hand on the male's chest and her red lips against his neck.
With a raised eyebrow, Zexion made his way over to Juliet, watching as said girl scrunched her nose up in fury and shoved a finger into Riku's chest, her mouth moving a mile a minute in what the Schemer was sure were words that would have Saïx on the ground, his legs in the air like a downed opossum.
When Riku wrapped his arm around the new girl and spat something at Juliet, Zexion new all bets were off. She was a volcano, and she was three seconds from erupting emotional lava all over Riku's nice little sports jacket and the blonde's barely-there dress. He broke out into a run.
Not good for the Organization, repeat, not good for the Organization! Zexion chanted in his brain, racing toward Juliet right as she went to throw a punch.
He latched onto her arm, receiving a very indignant, "Hey, let the freak go of me!"
"Nuh-uh," he answered, dragging her away from where Riku had shoved his tongue so far down the blonde's throat that Zexion shuddered and wondered if he would lose the muscle in there.
"What are you doing!?" Juliet screeched, her brown eyes glowing in the sun. Zexion took the inopportune moment to admire her features before shaking his head to focus on the task at hand.
"I am merely preventing you from doing something the Superior would frown upon." His answer brought a sense of pride to his face, as he had expected to lose any cognizance upon gazing into her eyes.
"Oh, what," Juliet scathed sarcastically, "defending my honor?"
With a well hidden eye roll, Zexion responded, "He could not have damaged your honor that bad, could he?" He doubted Riku would still have certain — ahem — pieces still intact if that were the case.
Oddly, the brunette's face fell a little and she lost all of her previous swagger. She fiddled with her fingers before replying with as much disinclination as possible, "Zexion, I really liked him… I thought, you know, that he liked me, too… But then, this chick walks up, and it's like he's under some spell or something. He just pushed me aside and started making out with her, and that's not like him! At least, I thought it wasn't…" She barked a dry laugh and then added, "I guess it is though. He humiliated me in front of everyone."
A frown crossed Zexion's face, and he crossed his arms. No, he did not appreciate Riku treating Juliet in such a manner, nor did he appreciate his over-bearing laughter as the two continued to taunt the brunette from their spot on the pavilion.
Juliet sobered up, flicking a curl over her shoulder and stating, "Well, I guess appearances are useless now. I'm going to head back." She'd recovered quickly from the incident, as Zexion knew she would. It made him smile a little at how she rolled her shoulders back and half-smirked as she strutted past him.
When she'd sashayed by Riku and his new toy without a backwards glance, the blonde watched her with a sneer and then yanked out of the keybearer's arms. She called out to Juliet, her voice rather melodic in nature though it carried a distasteful undertone.
The brunette turned to look at her, a bored expression on her face. Before Zexion could even decipher what was occurring, the girl had shoved Juliet backwards, sending her straight into the refreshments table and sending an assortment of cake, fruit, and punch all over her.
"Oops," chimed the blonde, her hip cocked. "My mistake! I guess you're so ugly that I couldn't see you when you were standing right in front of me. No wonder Riku dropped you like an old sock."
Zexion's blood ran cold, and his lips pulled back in a bullydog-like scowl. Riku was cackling like a hyena, watching as Juliet stood and smoothed her hands over her spoiled dress, sending chunks of food to the ground. The Cloaked Schemer could detect just the slightest tremble of her lip as she gathered whatever modicum of dignity that remained and disappeared into a Dark Corridor.
In seconds, Namine and Roxas had joined Zexion's side, the former shouting at Riku in fury and the latter snarling. Zexion was deaf to anything but his own rage, however, and he shoved the sleeves of his black dress shirt up.
Thundering up to the laughing teen, Zexion fisted his hands and shouted, "You will not treat a lady that way, Riku!"
The heated lip lock between Riku and the blonde immediately ceased as the Cloaked Schemer yanked the keybearer towards him and sent his fist into his nose. There was a rather satisfying crunch before the silver-haired teen collapsed onto the ground, cupping his bleeding nose and hissing. Using his elbows to push off the ground, Riku glared at Zexion, and the ex-Nobody was pleased to find a dark bruise appearing around Riku's eyes.
With a very cold tone, Zexion spat, "You played Juliet and then laughed in her face. I hope that broken nose serves as a reminder should you opt to mess with another girl."
Growling, Riku jumped up from the ground, shouting, "You wanna fight? Let's fight!" He flew at Zexion, slamming him into a tree and knocking the air from his lungs. Not wanting to resort to dirty fighting, Zexion declined using his illusions and chose to slam his elbow into the hollow of the keybearer's throat. He took a few steps back, rubbing at the red spot and gasping for air while Zexion pushed off of the tree and responded with a powerful counterattack to his sternum.
Both boys crashed to the ground, Zexion on top as he sent a barrage of punches into Riku before the teen regained his bearings and surged forward, slamming Zexion's head into the ground.
The fight continued in a spray of attacks and blood, catching the attention of almost everyone. Sora had come running up, a very peeved look on his face as Namine pulled him aside and pointed to the brawlers.
Growing weary of the battle, Zexion pulled his knee up and slammed it into Riku's groin. It wasn't the best of finishing moves, and it was a rather dirty trick, but he was too tired and too angry to care about anything other than avenging Juliet. Stumbling to his feet, Zexion smirked as Sora high-fived him.
With a regretful half-smile, Zexion gasped, "I've got to go now… The party was… interesting, to say the least." And with that, he summoned a portal and vanished into the depths of purple and black.
Thank you to all of those who first read this, and to those who are new! I appreciate the patience, and would very much appreciate any reviews! :D
This is shorter than the original chapter one, but I do not encourage going and reading the already posted fic. Just wait until I post every rewritten chapter, lest you subject yourself to a pretty awful story.
Should I wait to post this as a complete fic, or update little by little?
*Sorry that Riku is slightly OOC, you will discover just what's going on later ;) It's a part of the plot!
