Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Kingdom hearts.
"Well, at least we got that over with." Xigbar sighed after the bus dropped him, Demyx and Zexion off at their stop opposite a dark, green forest.
He would have been able to endure the half-an-hour bus journey if it wasn't for Demyx piping 'Are we there yet?' down his ear every five minutes which nearly drove him insane. He was doing it to Zexion too, so how the hell was he able to put up with it? Xigbar would have strangled him ages ago if Demyx wasn't his friend.
"Are we there yet?" Demyx bubbled again next to Xigbar, probably just to annoy him further.
"Argh!" Xigbar gritted his teeth in frustration.
Seriously, will he just stop that?
"Stop it, Demyx." Zexion sighed with disinterest, looking at the map he had in his hands.
Xigbar stared at him in disbelief.
"Now you tell him to stop? How late?" Xigbar fumed in temporary rage at the slate haired teen, who just simply shrugged.
Demyx gave a cheeky grin, like a little school girl would do after being mischievous.
"Sorry, Zexy." He smiled sweetly.
Anger signs started appearing above Zexion's head and he looked up from the map.
"Demyx, I've told you," he told him. "Don't. Call. Me. Zexy. How many times do I have to say it before it gets into your head?"
"Eeks! Zexy rage!" Demyx grinned, running behind Xigbar.
The anger signs stayed above Zexion's head as he had a pretty annoyed (to put it lightly) expression on his face but he didn't do anything. There was no point; Demyx will never learn.
Xigbar sighed. So it wasn't just him. Demyx seemed to be in a mood for annoying people today.
"How far have we got left now, Zexion?" he asked.
Zexion consulted the map once again.
"Not far, I should think. It said on the invitation to just go through the forest and across the bridge there and according to what I've calculated from the map and the location, it should be around another ten-to-fifteen minutes on foot," the teenager replied, folding it up afterwards and slipping it into his black coat pocket. "Come on, we don't want to keep them waiting."
Xigbar nodded in agreement and with that, they crossed the road and headed into the forest.
The three of them had received an invitation from a friend of theirs, Yuffie, whom they hadn't seen in about three or four years, inviting them to a reunion party at her villa and stay for the night…which happened to be in yet another isolated part of the woods in the countryside. After what happened last time at the Opera house case three months ago, they would prefer to stay away from forest areas, but since it was an old friend, it would be impolite to turn her down. Oh well, at least they would be able to see some old faces again and make the most out of the time. Nothing too bad could happen, could it?
After zig-zagging through the tall trees and keeping to the paths they could make out, they soon came upon a clearing where a long, wooden rope bridge which hung from either side a gorge, swaying slight but menacingly in the wind.
"There's a gorge in this part of a forest?" Xigbar questioned, looking down at the deep drop underneath the bridge and the thin stream of the river which ran past below them.
"Who knows? It's possible," Zexion shrugged, giving a slight smile. "We'll be there once we cross, single file, of course. Who wants to go-?"
Zexion cut himself off his own sentence when he turned to look behind him, the smile vanishing from his face when he heard the rustling sound. It could have been a small squirrel or animal running past, but there was something about that sound that he didn't like.
"…Zexion? What's wrong?" Xigbar questioned, sensing his friend's uncomfortableness.
"Shhhh." Zexion hissed, motioning for him and Demyx to stay quiet. Those sounds are definitely human…
The sound of plodding footsteps drew closer and closer as Zexion kept an intense eye on the trees and hedge behind them until there was a plunge of eerie silence. No one moved for about 30 seconds until Zexion heard a small metallic 'shing' of something being drawn out which sent shivers down his spine. It didn't take him long before he realised what was to happen.
"Look out!" he yelled to Xigbar and Demyx, just when a tall figure suddenly lunged out at them, a thin bladed knife pointed outwards.
They all managed to dodge the first strike and joined up again as the figure regained their balance, poising the knife ready as he stood blocking entrance onto the bridge. He was dressed all in pitch black and brown clothing and his face and head was covered with plain white bandages. No flesh could be seen at all, not even his eyes or hair.
"Who is he?" Demyx carefully asked Xigbar as he saw him and Zexion fixing hard, concentrated looks on the figure.
"I don't know, but he doesn't seem very welcoming." Xigbar replied with a slight smirk as he prepared himself.
The figure attacked again, this time going for Xigbar, who was ready for him. He ducked underneath the attacker's arm and swung a high kick, which connected with the side of their head and knocked them off balance again though it was quickly recovered.
"Demyx! Zexion! Get across the bridge!" Xigbar ordered, seeing the opportunity for them to run and just anticipating another strike.
Zexion nodded and pushed Demyx over to the wooden bridge, hurrying behind him.
"I don't like the height!" Demyx complained, looking at how high off the ground they were only to result in Zexion pushing him again onto the bridge.
"Never mind that, keep moving!" Zexion urged. "Don't look down!"
Taking Zexion's advice, Demyx ran as fast as he could across without looking back. Zexion followed, then glanced back at Xigbar after a few steps. The older Nobody had managed to keep the bandaged man away for now and sprinted over to join Zexion, who had started running again after Xigbar had gotten onto the bridge. However, when they looked back again to make sure the man wasn't following them, they could see the figure almost scowl in a way and stalk away.
"Looks like he doesn't want to come any further." Xigbar commented as Zexion and him slowed down their pace as they watched the figure disappear from sight.
"Hmmm." Zexion replied, staring at that clearing for a bit before continuing.
Who was that, and why did they attack them? Also, why didn't they want them to cross the bridge?
Soon, after walking straight for about ten minutes, they finally reached a large, modern villa.
"Well…that was eventful." Zexion commented, looking back at the forest behind them as they approached the villa.
"I don't want to see that man again…" Demyx stammered, shivering at the thought of that creepy, bandaged man chasing after them.
"I don't think any of us want to." Xigbar agreed.
Zexion shrugged and went towards the massive front door, ringing the doorbell. Almost immediately, it was swung open and a young eighteen year old girl with short dark hair and brown eyes beamed at them when she greeted her guests.
"Zexion! Hi!" she grinned, giving him a 'hello' hug, almost knocking him over. "I'm glad you could come! And Xigbar and Demyx are here too!"
"Hey, Yuffie." Xigbar raised a hand as a 'hi'.
"Hello!" Demyx exclaimed, looking almost as excited as Yuffie was.
"Umm…Yuffie?" Zexion mumbled, still locked in her embrace with an uncomfortable look on his face.
She only had to see it to get his message.
"Oops, sorry! I forgot you weren't much of a hugging person." She apologized, letting go of him.
"It's ok." He nodded modestly.
Yuffie just gave a big, carefree smile.
"Hey, come in. We don't want to be stood here all day," She joked, ushering her guests through the door and into the villa. "The trip wasn't too hectic, was it?"
"Actually, we saw a-" Demyx started to say, but Xigbar cut him off.
"No, it was nothing. We ran into a little trouble, but apart from that, it was fine." He gabbled instead, trying to make it sound as convincing as possible.
After all, it wasn't something they wanted to bring up after seeing a friend after a long time. It was un-necessary to make her worry. That man might be long gone by now anyway.
"Guys! Zexion, Xigbar and Demyx are here!" Yuffie shouted happily, throwing open the door to the large sitting room of the villa.
The room was painted a light whitish-grey colour with the furniture neatly arranged to fit everyone in and a clear view of the forest from a not-very-far distance outside from the glass patio windows inside. As well as the four of them who had just entered, there were four others sat in the room around the small coffee table; Leon, Tifa, Xion and Cloud, the others who were also invited. They all turned round to face them when they heard Yuffie.
"Hey guys." Xion smiled sweetly in a genuine way.
"Long time no see." Leon greeted, raising his glass at them.
Tifa and Cloud just nodded their greetings.
"It's good to see you all again." Xigbar smiled at them all.
"Here, come and have a seat." Leon offered, budging over so there was room for two more people, and Xion moved over as well to fit an extra person on the settee she was on.
The three of them accepted the offer and sat down. None of them had changed that much after all but…someone seems to be missing from the group…
"Well…I'm glad everyone could make it. I know it's only been a few years, but at least we can hang out as a group again after so long." Yuffie smiled, sitting with them and beaming at her guests.
"Yeah, I guess," Leon nodded before starting up conversation. "So…what's everyone been up since we've last seen each other then?"
"Well, we all know that Zexion's still into using his deduction skills to solve mysteries," Yuffie spoke up, facing Zexion. "We weren't surprised when we heard you were the one who solved the opera house mystery a couple of months ago."
Zexion didn't say anything, just give a small smile. It wasn't really his cup of tea to be put in the limelight by his friends.
"I guess…" he mumbled quietly. "I wouldn't have been able to do it without Demyx and Xigbar's help though."
Xigbar and Demyx beamed. At least they had been acknowledged, though what they did was just helping to see if Zexion had missed anything that could have been important.
"Well, friends can turn out helpful at times," Leon shrugged, turning to Tifa. "What about you, Tifa? You've been quiet since we got here."
"…No, it's nothing," Tifa replied. "I haven't really been up to much, I guess. You know…with what happened to Aerith."
The whole room turned silent at the mention of that name.
"Oh yeah, now that I think about it, where is Aerith? I thought she'd be here as well." Xigbar realised, looking around at the rest of them.
All of a sudden, the room seemed to have got gloomier and the cheerful mood that was there had slowly disintegrated. It was Xion who spoke up.
"She…died in a hit-and-run traffic accident last year. According to a by-passer, the driver wasn't paying attention to the road and went past a red light. He didn't even bother to stop and check on the body after running it over," she explained. "See…if that hadn't have happened, Aerith would probably be here with us today as well."
The silent grew eerier as most of the guests stared down at their hands, including Zexion, Demyx and Xigbar. Aerith was such a nice girl…always there for her friends, a good listener if you had anything to talk about and she was always supportive. She didn't deserve to have that kind of fate. It was cruel…
"Hey, we're all here to hang out together after a long time, aren't we? We shouldn't be wasting time mourning about something that had already happened in the past. You can't change what had happened, even though she didn't deserve it." Leon broke the silence to remind everyone the purpose of the gathering.
"Yeah, but you were friends with her too, Leon. Wouldn't you have some sympathy of what happened?" Tifa asked in a challenging way.
"Of course I do! It's just that…we're here to enjoy each other's company, right? We shouldn't ruin a happy reunion by bringing a sad topic up, that's all," Leon protested. "After all… we could pay our respects to her tomorrow after the party, since it would have been a year since she's passed away then."
"I guess…" Tifa trailed off, staring at the floor.
After another while of quiet, Yuffie decided to boost the mood back up.
"Does anyone want to play a bit of table tennis? We've got a table in the games room," She suggested. "We used to play it at the school club, didn't we?"
"Yeah, I'll play a bit with you." Xion nodded, getting up.
"Count me in as well," Leon replied, looking over at Cloud. "Cloud, are you playing as well?"
Cloud shrugged.
"Might as well." He sighed, getting off his seat to join Leon and Xion.
"I wanna play too!" Demyx jumped up enthusiastically. "What about you, Zexy?"
Zexion sighed. He didn't even bother to correct Demyx again.
"No, I think me and Xigbar would pass." He shook his head as he turned down the offer.
What he'd really like, was a little bit of peace and quiet in his allocated room whilst he thought. For some reason, he couldn't seem to get that bandaged man who had attacked them out of his head. Was it a type of warning sign or something?
"I'll pass as well," Tifa spoke, heading to the room's exit. "I'm going to my room."
The lot of them stared after her as she left. Well…there was no blaming her. She was Aerith's best friend after all.
"Anyway, while I'm at it, shall I show you to your rooms?" Yuffie offered to Zexion and Xigbar. "If you want to, that is."
"Sure." Zexion shrugged, and Xigbar nodded as he tagged along.
They headed up after Yuffie told Xion, Leon and Demyx to start first before she would return to join them.
About two hours later…
When Zexion and Xigbar returned downstairs to the games room after spending time in their rooms, only Leon was missing from the group.
"Leon said he was getting tired about thirty minutes after we had started playing, so he went back up to his room to rest. Tifa came down about forty minutes afterwards. Seemed like she decided to join us after all." Cloud told them when they asked about Leon.
"Ah, I see." Zexion and Xigbar nodded.
"Is anyone hungry? I can start making dinner now if you like." Yuffie proposed, putting down her bat when her game against Tifa ended.
"Ok," Xion and Tifa nodded. "We'd help out with the preparations."
Yuffie gave a mischievous smirk.
"Then the boys will have to help put the table tennis things away and lay the table," she grinned. "Even though I've invited you, you have to help out."
The boys sighed. They had forgotten that was one of Yuffie's 'policies'.
"Alright…" they agreed.
"Shouldn't we wake Leon up and let him know we're getting dinner prepared?" Zexion asked Cloud as they packed the set away and headed to the dining room.
"No, you know what Leon is like if you wake him up. He'll get grumpy at us." Cloud replied.
"He wouldn't be if we go as a group. We'll get him together after the girls have finished cooking." Xigbar suggested.
Zexion and Cloud agreed. Before at a sleepover, they didn't exactly get an impression of gratitude when they woke Leon up and even though Leon's mood didn't stay foul for very long, they didn't really want to experience it again.
Whilst they were setting the table, Zexion turned to Cloud.
"Hey, Cloud? When you were coming here, did you see anything strange?" he asked.
He had to know if anyone else had seen that mysterious man. It bothered him, and he couldn't forget it.
"Well…aside from a weird man with his face in bandages who was stood by the bridge, no, not really." He answered.
Zexion stopped.
"Wait, you saw him too? Did he attack you as well?" Xigbar questioned, putting placing plates on the table on halt.
"Yeah. I didn't say anything about it to the other guys though as I thought it was someone local messing about trying to scare visitors." Cloud told them before they continued with their jobs.
So it may have been a local kid or someone messing about, but to Zexion, why does something feel…uneasy?
About forty-five minutes later…
When the girls had finished making a dinner of lasagna and chips with fresh green salad, the remaining of the group went up to Leon's room together.
"Leon! Dinner's ready! Are you coming down?" Yuffie called, banging on the door as the rest of them stood behind her.
No reply.
They waited for about a minute before trying again.
"Leon?" Yuffie called again.
"Perhaps he's still sleeping. We should just let him be." Xion suggested, looking uncertainly at the wooden door.
"I suppose…" Yuffie sighed when there was still no answer. "Let's just go and eat first, then we'll call him again afterwards."
The others agreed and started to head back to the stairs, but Zexion stayed where he was in his thinking pose. Something didn't seem right…
"Xigbar?" he spoke before Xigbar passed him.
"Yes, Zexion?"
"Can you smell that?"
"What, the lasagna? It does have quite a strong aroma if you can smell it from here."
"No, not that. Something else…"
The older Nobody stopped to study Zexion. Looks like something was bothering him.
"Wait, what's that?" Cloud spoke up just when he started to descend the stairs, and everyone else looked over at where he was pointing as he was holding them all up.
Just round the corner of the corridor, what looked like a skin colored object peeking out, but the shape of it looked familiar. Almost as if-
Zexion's eyes widened at the sight of the 'object' and rushed towards it. Is that what he could smell when he entered the second floor? However, when he saw it clearly for himself, he froze to the spot.
"Wait, Zexion!" Xigbar called, running to keep up with him, but Zexion put a hand out to stop him.
"Don't come any closer!" he demanded, staring down at the 'thing', now more visible to the two of them.
The five fingers sprawled out in a blood stained puddle on the wooden floorboards and the shape of a hand on an arm, disjointed from the body. It was a loose, human limb.
"What…the hell…" Xigbar gasped, just as shocked at the sight.
Zexion nodded grimly, then looked back over to the other five members of the group.
"I think we better check Leon's room." He said.
"But…" Yuffie protested but was cut off.
"Just do it! It's urgent!" Zexion yelled, and it wasn't often Zexion got mad.
Yuffie didn't question him again and went to the room Leon was in.
"Leon? I'm opening the door." She informed before pushing the door open, Demyx, Cloud, Tifa and Xion behind her.
It was only a matter of moments until the villa was filled with three, shrill, piercing screams which sent Zexion and Xigbar bolting over. Even Cloud and Demyx had a look of disbelief and horror on their face.
"What's wrong?" Zexion questioned, until he saw the contents of the room.
The lights were on so the furniture inside were clearly visible, but so was the window that was thrown wide open with the wind howling through it, and the floor of the room was covered in crimson red, but that wasn't the most terrible feature, and it sent shivers down Zexion and Xigbar's spine like seeing the loose arm had. For on the pillows of the white, blood-stained bed was a recognizable, severed human head. Leon's head.
Yay! I've finally managed to get this chapter up :D! Sorry for the lateness of this chapter, I was caught up in exam revision and coursework for the past few months after debating which plotline I was going to use for this story. Anyway, hope it was ok :).