Wake Me Up When You Remember

Chapter II – Voices

Zexion's eyes were opened slowly after his deep sleep. He sat on his bed for a while, remembering. The sandy blonde hair, the green-blue wondrous eyes and the honest smile. They left an unpleasant feeling in Zexion's heart. He sighed.

"Zexion!" A small voice called.

The teen gasped, quickly observing his surrounding only to find his room as quiet as ever. Whose voice was that? His heart beat faster.

"Help!"

He wasn't imagining things, wasn't he? Zexion doubted himself. It might have been just his imagination even though he wasn't exactly the most imaginative teen. He waited a couple of minutes and the mysterious voice was gone. Then he left his room quickly.

That night, Zexion had finished his college assignment, had helped his father on the store (his father fixed and sold musical instruments whether they were new or secondhand), had eaten his dinner, had brushed his teeth and basically had done everything he needed to do that day. And all he had to do was just to sleep. But he couldn't—or perhaps, didn't want to. He was afraid to see Demyx again. The boy would've forgotten about him, and truly, it would hurt Zexion. To be forgotten; maybe it wasn't just Demyx's fear, but also his.

Zexion sighed and finally, he switched the lamp off, climbed up to his bed, tucked his feet under the blanket and rested his head. Eyes still wide open, he stare into the infinite darkness. The view of a mischievous smile and ocean eyes haunted him, at least until he fully aslept without realising it.

He was awake in the dream world. Clouds of dreams floating every here and there. Zexion's bare feet stepped on the invisible floor and he started walking—it didn't feel like walking, more like flying, but he wasn't exactly flying himself, he still had to use his feet. Just like the other day, he traveled further and further. Far, far he walked, and he arrived on the familiar surroundings.

The same sky, same light air, same smell of grass field, same village and same fountain. And of course, the very same Demyx as well. He approached slowly without Demyx knowing. Hidden in the crowd, he was playing his sitar just like the other day. Weird, Demyx was having the same dream as the other day, Zexion thought. Just as the music finished, the crowd left, revealing the blonde teen Zexion had missed. Their eyes met; Zexion's icy blue and Demyx's bright teal, warm eyes. Zexion was just going to leave when Demyx called him.

"Hey!" The teen waved his free hand (while the other was holding his sitar) and then beckoned Zexion to his place.

Zexion didn't move a muscle, he just stood there. What was the point, just to talk to his new friend and then doing it all over again on the next night because he wouldn't remember a thing?

"Zexion!" Demyx called again, and then a wash of feeling reached Zexion.

How could Demyx remember him? No, no, it wasn't possible. He couldn't have remembered Zexion at all—

"Zexy, come here alright. I missed talking to you!" Demyx kept smiling and didn't realize how surprised Zexion was.

Quickly, the teen walked to where Demyx sat, almost stumbling on his feet. Zexion was still staring at Demyx, still amazed.

"What's wrong with you?" The blonde asked.

Trains of questions were filling Zexion's mouth, but only one escaped: "How can you remember me?" Again and again, Zexion made sure it was the same Demyx he had met on the other night.

"Um," Demyx doubted. "Well, I just do."

"Didn't you wake up? You should have forgotten all about me the moment you woke up. You couldn't possibly make anything out about my presence at all, let alone our conversation." Weird, weird, weird, Zexion thought.

"The thing is..." Demyx made an unsure chuckle, "I haven't woken up." The blonde teen looked confused as well, just as much as Zexion was.

Zexion frowned. "Are you saying that you're asleep for more than 24 hours?"

"Whoa, am I? I dunno, I couldn't figure out the timing here, ya know," he shrugged.

"Don't ask me back, but it's true. I've gone through the whole day and you're still sleeping, Demyx."

Demyx looked at his hands nervously. "I don't know, Zexion. Maybe I am." He lifted his chin and turned his face to Zexion. "Do you think there's something wrong with my real self?"

"You mean your sleeping body?" Zexion shook his head, bit his lips and added, "Maybe yes. Can you recall anything before your last sleep?"

The other teen crossed his hands in front of his chest and started to think. Creases formed on Demyx's forehead, his expression was clearly showing that he was concentrating. "Nah, not a thing."

How could one sleep for more than 24 hours? Moreover, how could he explain the strange voices in Demyx's dream? Something must've been up. Something wrong. Something irregular.

"Let's just ignore it, Zexy." Demyx's voice caught Zexion's attention. "I mean, I don't really care anyway. Plus, look at the bright side: I still remember you," he smiled, a very similar smile like Zexion had seen on the other night.

Knowing that there was nothing Zexion could do, the boy inhaled deeply and decided just to ignore the matter. At least for a while. Maybe he could do some researches when he was awake later. Zexion then nodded.

"So... I've told you a lot of thing about myself yesterday," Demyx started. Zexion remembered almost everything Demyx had told him. That he got his first musical instrument when he was 9 years old, he liked to swim every weekend, he usually ate his pancakes with ice cream rather than maple syrup or even how Demyx preferred to stay alone with his sitar for weeks rather than leaving it behind for 3 days.

Demyx then contined, "Now, we have plenty of time for you to tell about yourself." The blonde teen beamed, excited by the thought of knowing about Zexion more.

"I'm not that interesting, Dem." Zexion replied, definitely had no intention of talking about himself. But Demyx made the pleading look and Zexion just had to change his mind. "Okay," he huffed. "Um, I'm just like you, 18 years old. I'm currently a college student, studying physics. My family owns a store which sells musical instruments and sometimes we repair broken stuff as well."

"More," Demyx demanded.

"I don't know what else to tell." The blue-steel haired teen frowned.

"Tell me about your liking. Your hobby, what you do every day and such." Demyx moved his body closer to Zexion, seemed to be very interested in Zexion's personal life.

"I like physics, that's why I'm studying it." Zexion thought it was pretty boring for most people he had met (and introduced himself to), but Demyx didn't appear to be that way. His face told that he would've liked everything Zexion told him. So, he continued. "I also like calculating stuff, writing data, making tables, graphics. Things which need full concentration and high accuracy."

Demyx nodded, absorbing the new facts about Zexion. If there was a book of 100 facts about Zexion, Zexion was sure that Demyx would've bought it in a heartbeat and even asked him to sign it.

"Tell me about what you do on your free time."

It kinda bothered him, to be honest. Zexion wasn't used being asked a lot about himself, and he hardly found anything to say. Funny, he just realised that he knew so little about himself.

"Um... I read sometimes. I think books about psychological disorders are cool." The moment he finished the sentence, Zexion realised he might've sounded like a nerd.

Demyx's eyes were still stuck on Zexion's face. Like he would've rested his eyes on it forever. "So, what book is your favorite?"

"'The Minds of Billy Milligan' is my favorite. You should read it," Zexion made a faint smile, subconsciously pleased to talk about himself (even though it felt weird at first). Awkwardly, he added, "Of course, right after you wake up."

The blonde teen laughed, and his laugh made Zexion felt a little bit uneasy. He knew that Demyx wasn't laughing at him, but Zexion felt bad about the fact Demyx not being able to wake up for unknown reason.

"Yeah, I'll definitely buy the book right after I wake up. I promise," Demyx managed to talk after his laugh had stopped.

Just like the other night, the strange voices reappeared.

'How—are—Dem—ning—hello?'

'All—th—same—not—bett—bad'

"The voices again," Zexion snapped. Demyx, however, seemed to be used with them. He didn't look at the sky, where the voices echoed, like Zexion did.

'Yes—myx—come—come'

'Please—help!"

A familiar feeling came to Zexion's mind. "Dem," he called. Demyx hummed, and directed his attention to Zexion after fiddling with his sitar. "This morning, I think I heard a voice too."

Demyx sat straight and blinked a few times. "Really? Huh, that's weird."

"Yeah, and it happened after I woke up. Not in my dream." Zexion shook his head. He wanted to believe that it was only his imagination, but he simply couldn't. It felt way too real. Just like the voices inside Demyx's dream.

"Did it sound like the voices in my dream?"

Zexion mused for a while. "No, it was clear, not chopped off like that. And it was coming from a female."

"What did it say?"

"It called my name and asked for help."

Demyx seemed to be surprised. "Whoa, now that's weird. Why did it need help from you?"

"I don't know," Zexion said, "I have no idea."

"Help," the voice called, "please help Demyx!" It sounded familiar. In fact, Zexion was sure it was the very same voice he had heard this morning.

Full of sweats, Zexion was awakened by the voice. It was clear, vivid as if it was right beside his ear. In reflect, Zexion turned his face to the voice's direction but all he saw was nothing. Literally nothing.

Not even his room.

Where was he? Where was Demyx? What happened to him?

It was a complete dark, yet he was still able to see things clearly even though it was nothing more than void other than his hands and feet (he could see them alright). Abruptly, a spark of light appeared about a foot away from him, shaped like a bird, flying. Zexion tried to reach it but it flew away while glowing dimly, eventually leading Zexion to somewhere. The teen followed it, not too fast but not too slow. Was he still dreaming? He wasn't exactly terrified by the experience, but he was utterly confused. He had never experienced such event. And all strange things only happened after he met...

Demyx.

It must have something to do with him.

Pondering, he didn't realise the bird-like light had stopped. The place (room?) suddenly lightened up and thing were starting to make shapes. Zexion now saw a beach. Pretty much a beach like how you would've imagined them, not the dirty and filled with human ocean rather than real ocean, but the one with clean sand, blue blue ocean with sparkling waves and neverending sky. There was a bridge leading to an island, a small one, with a weird looking tree. And a figure was standing there.

Zexion ran towards the bridge and the figure didn't seem to acknowledge his presence. After he was close enough, Zexion took a good look at the figure—at her. She has a long brown hair, curly in the end, tied up with a red ribbon into a pony tail. She was wearing a pink colored dress that suits her pale white skin perfectly. She then turned her face and saw Zexion.

"You must be Zexion," She started, also smiling. A genuine smile, Zexion marked.

"Who are you? And why am I here?" The boy didn't bother to confirm his name. His questions were far more important.

"I'm Aerith. And you're still in your dream." Her voice was small and soft, but loud enough to be heard. It was comforting.

"Then where's Demyx? I was just in his dream a while ago," Zexion doubted.

"You're in a different phase of your sleep, Zexion." She pointed at two chairs behind us (since when there were chairs?) and said, "Please sit down." Zexion did as she asked. "Zexion, I'm sorry I can't say really much even though I know you're dying to know more about the dream world as you're going to wake up soon." She was talking rather quickly. "But I'm here to tell you that Demyx is in a really dangerous situation." Her expression changed, into a worried one.

"What do you mean?"

"If he can't wake up soon, he will be stuck in his dream forever."

"And how do I wake him?" Zexion frowned. It didn't sound good.

Aerith looked unsure on a split second, but finally said: "You have to kill him."

A/N: Hello again :) I hope you enjoyed reading this one. School is done! And gee, the government just blocked this site so I had to use a fake VPN just to access this site.