Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.
A/N: I'm really having alot of trouble coming up with new fics these days...sorry...
DAY 028...in Roxas' bedroom...
It had been several days since Roxas had suddenly lost consciousness during one of his missions, and although Xion went to visit him in his bedroom every day, the blonde boy had still yet to awaken. She couldn't help but shake off her feeling of guilt over his current condition, as if she was the one at fault for why he ended up like this. No one knew when he would open his eyes, if ever. Neither Xemnas nor Saix seemed to have any knowledge on why this had happened either; at least, not any knowledge they were willing to share. It really bothered the 14th member to see her first real friend like this. She wondered if the fact that they both wielded the keyblade had anything to do with it.
'Oh, Roxas...when will you wake up?' she pondered solemnly.
"Hey, cheer up! He'll wake up eventually; don't worry about it!"
Xion, who had been standing over Roxas the time, snapped out of her inner musings to find Demyx standing beside her, his hand laid gently upon her thin shoulder. The raven-haired girl was at a loss for words as she stared up at the much taller youth; she may have opened up to Roxas, but she was still rather shy around the rest of the Organization. Demyx looked a bit unsettled as well, as if he had not thought ahead to plan out what he was supposed to do after this point. There was a small silence.
"Umm..."
"Uh..."
The two of them took three steps back from each other. They were both blushing the same bright shade of scarlet.
"Err, you're not gonna...kick my ass or anything, are you?" Demyx winced, holding up his hands in front of him in mock-defense. "I have a fragile body, ya know!"
"I'm not going to hurt you. I was just surprised, is all..." Xion replied back.
Demyx immediately relaxed upon hearing that. "Oh! Well, that IS a relief!" he proclaimed with a wide grin.
"Yeah..."
Seeing that the girl was still acting nervous around him, Demyx decided to try and strike up a conversation with her in hopes of ridding the awkward tension he had unintentionally created. "So, you've been waiting a long time for Roxas to wake up, huh?"
"Yes. I'm getting really worried for him; he and Axel are my only real friends here...maybe my only real friends in the whole universe, I think..."
"Axel? Really?"
"Yeah, but he's been gone for a while too, at Castle Oblivion...I miss him too."
Demyx furrowed his brow and began to think, which was something he did not do as often as the other members would have liked. He felt kind of bad seeing poor little Xion so upset, and he had already dug himself deep into this hole the moment he entered the room and spoke to her, plus he was already in trouble with Saix for avoiding his duties for so long, thus there was little else he could come up with except...
"Hey, how about you and I go on a mission together?"
"Whaaaa- I mean, what did you say?" Xion looked surprised, understandably enough.
"It's not going to make you feel any better if you just sit around here and mope all the time while waiting for Roxas to wake up...we should go out and kick some Heartless booty and have fun doing it!"
"But...but, Roxas-"
"I'm sure he'd rather you be doing your best to help out the Organization instead of being all weepy-eyed!"
"...Hmm..." Xion cast a forlorn glance over at Roxas, "I guess so, huh?"
"I know so! Or at least I would assume so..."
"..."
The Grey Area...
Upon entering The Grey Area a few moments later, Demyx and Xion were surprised to find only Saix present, apparently having been waiting for their arrival.
"Ah, there you are, Number 9...and you brought the 'girl' with you..."
"H-h-hey, Saix-man," Demyx waved back at the intimidating man before them, "What're you doing here...a-all by your lonesome?" He was nervous, and for a good reason.
"I've been waiting for you, Demyx. You have been shirking your duties for too much as of late; Lord Xemnas is quite displeased, and he is only going to give you one last chance now to redeem yourself." Saix's cold tone and threatening words cut through Demyx like a knife. The difference in both strength and authority between the two Nobodies was too great to measure. Even Demyx's greasy mullet seemed to wither in fear under Saix's ferocious presence. Xion seemed perfectly fine, though, but that was because she wasn't the one in trouble.
"O...O...One last chance, eh?"
"Yes. You and," Saix paused for a second as he stared at Xion, and then he looked back to Demyx, "ugh...and Xion here shall go to Agrabah, and take out the giant Heartless that has made its home within the deepest part of the Cave of Wonders. If you return here without having eliminated the menace, then it is you who shall be eliminated, instead..."
Demyx's pale face became even paler. "I...I think I'm gonna cry..."
"You can't cry, you fool; we all know you're just feigning these emotions of yours."
"...Man, Saix, you have to take the fun out of EVERYTHING, don't you?" Demyx jokingly complained, suddenly back to his "normal" self. Xion continued to stand there in both silence and confusion. "Fine, then, I'll get this oh-so-very-important mission of yours done with the help of my little friend here!"
'Friend?' pondered Xion.
Shaking his head, Saix slightly raised his right arm and created a portal of darkness out of thin air. He said nothing else as he ushered the two Nobodies inside (nearly booting Demyx in with a kick to the behind), and after closing the portal behind them, he walked away. He knew the Organization could not afford the chance of losing Xion so early, but he figured that with her by Demyx's side, the Melodious Nocturne might finally pick up the slack.
Within the dark crossroads between the two worlds...
"Hey, Demyx...can I ask you something?"
"Hmm?"
"Saix doesn't like you very much, does he?"
"Pretty obvious, isn't it, huh? Ol' X-face is just a big party-pooper, if ya ask me. Always going on and on about the rules and stuff! I don't think I've ever seen him even so much as smirk before in my entire time as a member of the Organization..."
"And was he telling the truth about you just 'feigning the emotions'?"
"Well, of course he was. We Nobodies have no hearts and are unable to express any true emotion. I just figured it wouldn't be any fun around the place if everyone was always so boring like that, so I decided to spice things up a bit! However, that doesn't mean I actually don't think and feel...even those without emotions still have wants and needs...and we all have our own desires and goals and wishes and dreams. Just because I don't have a heart doesn't mean I don't care."
"I see."
"Look, I'm probably not the best person to be talking about all of this lovey-dovey stuff, anyway, so let's forget about it. Once we reach our destination, we'll go after that big Heartless together and show Saix that he needs to put a bit more faith in the lower-ranked members of the Organization! Are ya with me?"
"Uh-huh...I gotcha..."
"C'mon, Xion, lighten up a little! I'm sorry about dragging you into this, but we were going to go and hunt down some Heartless anyway, right? I know I'm not Roxas or Axel, but...I feel like I deserve a chance to be your friend, or at least to get to know you better. Don't you think?"
"Okay...Demyx."
"Awesome. Now...how about a kiss to seal the deal?"
"What? No way!"
"Ha! I figured it wouldn't work! And it looks like we just arrived, too--"
Agrabah...
Xion was the first of the two Nobodies to pop out of the portal, landing directly into the middle of what appeared to be the old market-place. The sun's dazzling hot rays beamed down upon her head from high above, immediately making the girl wish that she didn't have to be forced to wear such heavy, all-black clothing. She turned around, expecting to see Demyx, but he had seemingly vanished.
"...Demyx?"
A pair of sword-wielding Bandit Heartless suddenly emerged in front of her, as well as an Air Soldier. Xion willed her keyblade into existence and, without any other choice available at the moment, she charged straight for them. It did not take long to dispatch of the two Bandits, and a single fireball shot out from Xion's palm burst the winged Heartless into ashes. For just a moment Xion watched as the newly-freed hearts floated away to aid the Organization in opening Kingdom Hearts, and then she got a little more worried.
"Demyx! Demyx! Where are you?"
"Err...I'm right here," Xion nearly fell flat on her face when Demyx poked his head out from behind a large wooden container only several feet away.
"W...What are you doing? Why didn't you help me fight those Heartless?"
"Well, what was I supposed to do?" the blonde retorted, "Only the keyblade can actually collect the released hearts...and...and I got the bottom of my cloak stuck on this box too!"
"...Oh..."
Pulling himself away from the wooden box, Demyx walked up to Xion's side and flashed a rather carefree grin back at her. "Let's just forget it! Now, we gotta get this show on the road!" he exclaimed with a wave of his blue sitar in the air. Xion was less than convinced about her teammate's loyalty to the mission, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything about it in case he actually meant it. After all, he just made a little mistake...right?
Her inner musings were soon cut short without warning when Demyx let out a shrill cry. "MORE HEARTLESS!"
Xion turned in the direction Demyx was pointing, and true to his word, several Large Bodies were lumbering towards them, followed by even more Bandits of various types.
"The Heartless are really determined to take us down! Okay, Demyx, get ready to-"
The youth glanced over her shoulder to see Demyx dashing off in the opposite direction. He almost looked like a scruffy rag-doll with his arms waving about as they were.
"...Huh?"
"I saw a few of 'em run off in, err, this direction! I'll take care of this...!"
"But...but Demyx," Xion called back, "What about these Heartless right in front of us? They should be taken out first! Right?"
Demyx did not reply, and even if he did, his words would have been drowned out by the approaching mob of Heartless. He ran a bit further before disappearing around a corner. Xion sighed.
'I guess I'll have to fight alone...AGAIN.'
Half an hour later...
As the final Large Body fell and crumbled into pieces, Xion brought a sleeve to her forehead and wiped away the sweat. During that grand battle she had counted at least twenty Heartless in all. They had all fought the female Nobody with such ferocity that it could have been considered unnatural for a Heartless. Even though they did not succeed in killing her, what the Heartless did accomplish was leaving Xion in a worn-out state of both mind and body, considering she was not used to fighting so many enemies at once and without any sort of support by her side. It made her wish all the more that Roxas was here to help her instead of being in a mysterious coma.
'I wonder if any of this has anything to do with the Giant Heartless that we are supposed to destroy...' Xion speculated. It was around this point that Demyx finally returned, looking just about as winded as his younger companion. A chunk of his left sleeve had been torn off, as well as a few other scratches and bruises.
"Demyx...are you...okay? Did you get...those Heartless?"
"Umm..."Demyx cast his eyes down at his own two feet, "I...uh, I lost them, and then I tripped and fell into a big pile of sharp objects, but luckily I wasn't hurt too badly!"
"Oh...at least you're alright, I guess..."
"Yeah. Let's hurry down to the Cave of Wonders now before any more baddies show up!"
"Okay..."
As the two Nobodies hurried along, Xion couldn't shake off the feeling that Demyx may have been lying just now to hide his true intentions...but she had no clue of what reasons he could have to trick her, if he really was doing so...