I suppose this story should be dedicated to my 'editor'. The person who 'convinced' me to write it cough forced cough. Please review and let me know what you think. Please don't just say it sucks, I already know that much. Tell me what I need to fix and how to fix it. Thanks.
Cookies and milk will be served at the end of the show for those of you that survive long enough.
There was nothing unusual about the child. A young boy, five or six years old, a little on the scruffy side, dirt smudged face, sandy brown hair in need of a cut. But his most defining feature were the streams of tears running down his cheeks.
"There's no where left for you to run. If you have a god, I suggest you make your peace with him now."
Just then he turned to face me and I was able to drink in the terror on his face. Those feelings that a being undergoes when they are cornered and arrive at the realization their existence is about to come to an abrupt end is simply intoxicating. That magical concoction of adrenaline, fear, terror, panic, dread and a myriad of other emotional responses is what keeps me going. It is my drug of choice and right then I was as high as the stars themselves.
But something was wrong. Something about this very average boy was special. Almost familiar.
"D.. Den.. Denzel?"
Something in my head clicked. It was like the sound the hammer of a gun striking a cartridge of gunpowder makes. And that is what it felt like inside my cranium, something exploded. Click. BOOM! I blacked out, unable to sustain consciousness with the millions of pounds of pressure built up inside my head with no release.
I woke to find myself in my bed back at Castle Oblivion. My head still felt like it was splitting open. My eyes felt like there were iron weights tied to them and cemented shut. I forced my eyes open and I was immediately blinded by the light of the room and the image of Demyx hovering dangerously close, studying my distraught face as if he'd just seen a miracle occur.
"Get the hell away from me before I rip your chest open and really find out what fills that void where your heart should be."
"Why good morning Sleeping Beauty." He was happy. I hate it when he is happy. I can deal with it when almost anyone else is happy, but not him.
"Don't you ever compare me to that narcoleptic slut!" I spat out as I lunged for his throat, but I fell short when the pain wracked my throbbing head again and I collapsed back to the mattress.
"Now, now, is that any way to treat your bed nurse?" voiced the only female presence in the castle. Larxene had been watching the entire spectacle. "Demyx, why don't you go get your patient something to eat before he passes out again?"
"..nurse Demyx. I like that, just call me 'Demyx Nitinggale'." and he skipped out the door toward the kitchen.
"I'd say you have about half an hour before he finishes another one of his ridiculously extravagant meals."
I just grunted my acknowledgement as I closed my eyes and began to rub my temples.
"You know, I think taking care of you might be the only thing he enjoys more than cooking." She moved the only other chair in the room closer to the bed and took a seat, just out of reach and she knew it.
"I hate you…"
With that the sweetly sarcastic tone of her voice changed to deadly serious. "So, what happened out there? How is it that a child bested you? I mean, I knew you were a total wuss, but that's just giving the rest of us a bad name. It was supposed to be a simple mission. Harvest hearts for Xemnas to experiment on."
"He didn't beat me. At least I don't think he did. There was something familiar about that boy. Something I recognized." I began to trail off, trying to recall exactly what could have occurred.
"Wait, that's not possible. We're dead, we're nobodies and we don't have memories. That's what makes us what we are." She rolled her eyes at me as if I was an idiot and I wanted to strangle her, again.
"I don't understand how, but he reminded me of someone I used to know." It was driving me mad knowing that this child reminded me of someone from my past. Someone that was very important to me but I didn't know who or even why they were so important. It was driving me insane and I was going to take as many people with me as possible.
"But it's still not possible, you must have imagined it. That weak little mind of yours is playing tricks on you." The look on her face had changed to one of complete skepticism and rage. As if I had suggested some notion that was sacrilege and went against everything she believed in.
"I don't understand it myself…" It seemed the more I thought about it the more pressure built up inside my already too cramped head. I decided then that I needed to stop thinking about this before I passed out again. "If we talk about this anymore I think my head is going to explode and that means you will have to clean up the mess."
"Awww. Poor baby. I'm getting hungry and you're full of shit so I'm leaving." With those final jabs to my already bruised ego she got up and walked away.
As she was about to exit the room she turned and asked, "Are you coming? Or should I send Demyx up with a tray to spoon feed you?" There was that sarcasm again. She always had to have the last word and everyone hated her for it.
"Remind me to kill you later. When my head stops pounding." With that I decided to force myself out of my bed. Dealing with the pain that was now beginning to subside was a much more inviting notion than experiencing another unsupervised visit from Demyx. If he wanted to play nurse again he was going to have to locate someone else.
"I'm coming, I'm coming." My stomach was beginning to sound like something out of the pride lands anyway.
"Awww, that's too bad. Demyx Nitinggale will be so disappointed."
I threw my pillow in the general direction of the ensuing laughter, but she had already ducked out of the room.
I began to slowly make my way to the kitchen when I realized how hungry I really was. How long was I unconscious? The pangs coming from my stomach were at last beginning to overshadow the throbbing in my head. I quickened my pace and was almost at a run when I finally reached the kitchen. I needed sustenance now!
"Slow down Saix." said Demyx with a smile. "Don't worry, I saved you a plate. I can't let my patient go hungry, now can I?"
If I hadn't been so famished I would have just walked away, hot-wired his pink and blue phallic symbol of a gummi ship and gotten some take out. But I had one thing on my mind, and that was getting as much palatable food into my grumbling stomach as possible. I took my usual seat between the two pretty boys Axel and Zexion and proceeded to stuff my face.
Like usual Roxas was the first one to finish his meal. He threw his napkin on his plate in a feeble attempt to hide his untouched vegetables.
Demyx, having not missed this detail scolded Roxas saying, "Finish your vegies or you don't get any desert."
And without even thinking I chimed in, "Yeah Denzel. Sit down and finish your broccoli before you make your mom angry."
Axel, Zexion and Lexaeus instantly burst into laughter. "Yeah Roxas, listen to mommy Demyx."
Roxas just sat back down with a puzzled look on his face. "Before I make who angry?"
Larxene, as sharp as Xaldin's lances, didn't miss a thing. "Saix, who is Denzel?"
"Denzel's my son." I said between bites, pointing my dinner knife in the direction of a very confused Roxas.
Axel, Zexion and Lexaeus started laughing even harder.
My pangs of hunger were finally satiated and my stomach satisfied. "I'm going to bed." With that I left the table and headed for my room. The uproar of Axel, Zexion and Lexaeus's laughter could be heard throughout most of castle oblivion, but I still didn't get the joke.