Along came a Spider…
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts in any way, shape or form.
Random idea I just thought up…
It was a well-known fact that Demyx was not the type to undergo strenuous activity, especially when it concerned heartless or fighting. It was another known fact that a good percentage… no, almost the WHOLE organization thought that he was useless, save for a few. The rest thought of him as only being useful for menial tasks that they themselves couldn't be bothered with.
The few in question were their newest member, the Key of Destiny, Roxas, and the Flurry of Dancing Flames, Axel. They saw the Melodious Nocturne as perhaps being a bit on the lazy side, but never useless. Axel, having the room next to him, had been granted more than enough opportunities to get to know Demyx better, but had almost never taken them unless he was curious, usually preferring to avoid contact with the other members. Roxas, whose room was further away, had only been at the organization for a few weeks now and was still getting the hang of things, conversing with everyone was out of the question.
A few more did not think of Demyx as useless, but then again, it was hard to tell what they were thinking most of the time. None of this bothered Demyx though, he just simply took the words with a small nod and quick apology before dashing off to play his beloved sitar, which was always soothing to him. More than once, the Savage Nymph, Larxene had told him that a sitar was a foolish weapon that was unfit for battle, but again, he tended to ignore such things.
He knew himself that he was not cut out for fighting, he regularly makes it a habit to announce it to the others when they bring up the subject, but he often could not help feeling that the grace of their Superior was the only thing saving him from becoming target practice. Sighing, he continued to play, not noticing when Axel came into his room until Axel had tapped him on the shoulder.
Jumping, he whirled to look at Axel. "Whoa, you scared me pretty good… thought it was Saix again. What's up, Axel?"
Axel rubbed at the back of his head. "Saix wants to see you and me about a mission, figured I'd come get you." he hated having to go on recon missions, seeing as how Demyx was usually only assigned those. It was common knowledge that if you were partnered with Demyx for the day, you can bet it is a recon mission.
The only thing he hated more than recon was being right about certain things. "Eight, Nine, you two will be heading over to Agrabah for some investigations. Investigate the caves and report back once you are finished." Saix told them when they came to him. "The caves have small amounts of heartless; investigate to find out why there are so few of them in one area."
Demyx clearly looked like he wanted to say something in protest, but he shut his mouth with an audible click and followed Axel through the dark passageway, shielding himself from the heat of the sun. "Why are we in the town if we're supposed to be checking out the caves?" he mumbled, the heat already beginning to feel uncomfortable. "This heat isn't doing wonders for me."
Glancing over at Axel, Demyx could tell that the redheaded fire wielder was not even the least bit affected by the heat; he looked more like he was enjoying it. Sighing, he followed behind Axel as he led the way to the cave, already wishing that he could go home. Missions that called for spending a lot of time in one place was one thing, spending such time in a place that was unsuited to his element was another. There was hardly any water around, he would simply have to be careful with his ability to summon water, lest he begin a rainstorm in a desert.
In such a location, such an event would draw unneeded attention.
After staring at a cracked wall for some time, Demyx sighed and tried to think of something that he could do when he got home, maybe play some more and continue writing a song he wanted to play. Anything was better than being bored. Looking away from the wall, he got up and glanced over at Axel. "How many more of these spots we gotta check?"
Axel looked up from a damaged pot. "We can't just go back and fill out a report, Saix would have both our asses, so I'd say just a few more places and then we can write something decent." Axel wasn't very keen on spending too much time in the ruins of the cave either; he just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible and not have to come back for a while.
Agreeing with Axel, Demyx examined some more of the cracked walls before noticing large shapes in the ground. "Was something dragged through here recently?" he wondered as he bent down to look at the shapes. Sand was stuck in the marks, but the sand looked recent, as if someone had dragged a heavy item over this spot merely a few minutes or even hours ago. Looking up, he tried to find the object that had been dragged or pushed across the ground, finding only Axel examining a cracked wall not too far from him.
"I think something's been dragged through here," he called to Axel. "Ground's got deep marks in it. Whatever it was, must have been heavy." looking back at the ground, his breath caught when he looked at the shape. The grooves had indeed been made recently, but not by human hands. The shapes resembled claw marks more than anything, Demyx backing up far enough to where he could see that they were claw marks.
"A-axel…" he mumbled softly, not wanting to startle or alert anything that may be nearby. " We should leave soon…"
"I'm telling you, no slacking off on the job this time. Not getting my ass handed to me by Saix because my partner took a nap." Axel called from further ahead, out of sight.
Rather than wait for whatever it was to show up, Demyx took off running at a decent clip, trying to find Axel and convince him to leave, even if it meant going home to another lecture of his uselessness. Turning the corner quickly, he found Axel staring at a giant pillar that looked impossible to climb. "Axel! Axel, we should leave soon!" Demyx hissed under his breath, trying to be quiet.
Axel turned around to shout at his partner; ready to say that the sooner he stopped complaining would be the time they could go when he noticed the panicked on Demyx's face. Rather than point out that you needed a heart to feel fear, he instead looked around his surroundings immediately. If it was a small heartless, he would simply dispatch it at then nag Demyx about being a coward. If not… he'll burn that bridge when he gets to it.
Looking up, his breath caught in his throat when he saw a giant pair of eyes near the ceiling. The eyes stared back at him before a giant Heartless spider landed on Demyx, a large web in its claws ensnaring him and holding him still while he screamed. Before Axel had a chance to react by summoning his chakrams, the heartless dug its fangs into Demyx's shoulder, a loud scream emitting from the Nocturne's lips.
Not missing a beat after that, Axel summoned his chakrams in that instant, igniting them and throwing them into the spider's face, forcing it to drop Demyx onto the ground. The webbing that had been around Demyx's body burned off with Axel's help, the Flurry pulling him to his feet quickly. No wonder this spider Heartless had evaded the other recon missions, it was on the ceiling and hidden by the darkened areas. Pulling Demyx along, Axel ran out of the range of the spider heartless, keeping an eye on his surroundings to make sure it wasn't following them.
Once he was sure that the spider wasn't following them, Axel sat Demyx on a destroyed pillar and examined his shoulder. The organization's coat had provided some defense, but the fangs had still pierced his skin, leaving the Melodious Nocturne pale and unresponsive. "Demyx! Demyx, you had better not have fainted on me!" Axel snapped, trying to wake him.
Demyx had only fainted from fright, Axel sighing and getting to his feet. "Saix is gonna love this one." letting Demyx rest against the broken pillar again, he summoned a dark portal and pulled him through it. "And Vexen had better not be busy."
"Eight, unless you have a very plausible reason to disturb me, then I suggest you not-" the Chilly Academic, Vexen, began before being rudely cut off by Axel.
"Not the time, Vexen! Just look at Demyx's shoulder before Saix chews off anymore of my ass." Axel snapped, feeling his anger rise. "He got bit by a large heartless spider-thing."
"Your posterior is of no concern to me." Vexen replied coldly. "And why, may I ask, were you not paying attention to your immediate surroundings? Surely you should have seen such a creature had you been paying attention."
"My attention was focused on doing RECON… not Heartless spotting!" Axel retorted.
"Cool it man, it didn't eat me, so we're fine. Saix is gonna chew us both out though." Demyx called from where he was sitting. Vexen silenced him with a cold stare before examining his shoulder, running through some basic medical procedures.
"Does your injury burn, sting, ache, or in anyway feel uncomfortable?" Vexen began, turning his cold gaze to Demyx.
"I think my insides just froze." Demyx thought to himself. "It feels a bit uncomfortable, but only when I try to use it." he replied quickly, trying to avoid Vexen's gaze.
"A minor case of paralysis, induced from the heartless's apparent venom. Easily remedied. Eight, the next time this happens, I suggest you not bother me. The paralysis will wear off in due time. Nine, try to avoid strenuous activity with that limb until the paralysis wears off." Vexen droned, his monotone voice making everyone shiver from the sound.
"Can I still play my sitar?" Demyx suddenly asked with a hint of fear. He was terrified that Vexen would tell him that he wouldn't be allowed to play music, the thought of having to go without music for more than a few hours would drive him insane.
"It's not recommended, or wanted, but it is allowable." Vexen told him. Demyx's face lit up and he grinned widely, thinking of all the free time he would have for the next few days, his smile fading when the Luna Diviner stepped into the room.
Saix had a way of draining the room of all light, emotion, humor, everything pleasant in the world, both Axel and Demyx looking up at Saix with pale faces. Vexen decided that this matter was not of his concern and left the two to their fate, the claymore-wielding Nobody glancing between them.
"By what I've heard, the mission was halted due to an unforeseen accident?" he began, shivers going down Demyx's spine. "What was the unforeseen incident?"
"A large heartless ambushed us and attacked Demyx." Axel tried to sound as professional as he could, but was failing miserably. "It bit him on the shoulder."
Saix merely glanced at Demyx and his injured shoulder before turning and leaving the room, stopping at the door long enough to state that the recon mission would continue when Demyx could freely move his arm.
Once Saix had left the room, both Demyx and Axel breathed huge sighs of relief. "I swear if we weren't in Vexen's room, where there are breakable things, I'm sure he would have done something." Demyx groaned, rubbing his injured shoulder.
"Saix may be a little… I take that back, IS on the dangerous side, but he won't attack or kill someone without the Superior's orders. It's just the way he is." Axel remarked, rubbing his head. "To have Saix mad at you is one thing, to have the Superior mad at you is life threatening. Got it memorized?"
"Burned into my brain." Demyx replied swiftly, getting up off the medical table.
"Good. Now I'm going to go to my room before Saix finds another reason to chew me out or report me. Plus, there is a pillow with my name on it. "Axel started to walk off to his room, briefly pausing in the door. " You should rest too, Demyx. Saix is bent on making us finish that recon mission, so we're both gonna hear about it if we don't finish it soon."
Nodding, Demyx wandered towards his room, the intent to play music for a little while clearly showing on his face. Once he reached his room however, he felt too tired to do much else than sleep, collapsing on his bed and letting the darkness claim him.