Many many MANY apologies for not updating in so long, but trust me, it you knew the messy chaos I've been through over the month you wouldn't have time to write a new chappie either. Fortunately though life is settling down and tonight (after trick-or-treating…you're never too old!) I finally found some free time to sit down at the computer. I won't bore or traumatize you with my life story though, so onwards to the chappie! Rightio, this chapter is a lot of talking but has a few crucial bits. Face it, all stories need at least one talking chapter to make a sensible story. Now for the disclaimer: I do not own kingdom hearts, kingdom hearts chain of memories, kingdom hearts two, etc. The only things I do own are some of the pieces of clothing that will be mentioned throughout the story, but I'll leave that to your imagination. Thought I should bold that just to avoid any risks…ENJOY!
PS: The song 'La Vie Boheme' in this chapter is from the musical/movie RENT, I DO NOT OWN THAT EITHER!
Chapter 2
Roxas couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe that here he was, sitting in his room on a Friday night. School was officially over and his classmates were out celebrating with each other, reveling in their happiness. The clock on the wall mocked him, reading 8:01 PM and some odd seconds. It was 8:01, and that meant the show had just begun.
"…I didn't want to go to some dumb circus anyway," Roxas told himself with a slight huff as lied back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling distantly. He was lying to himself though.
Like everyone expected, Kairi's father heard about the circus and declared them as a 'sinful horde of monsters,' and warned everyone to stay away. From what he'd heard around school over the past few days, he was quite sure much of the youth had been forbidden to go but he imagined they'd all snuck away to catch the show. He however…he'd been forbidden and was now obeying his father's command quietly.
As much as he wanted to go, just to taste a bit of the excitement he could never live, he was too afraid to disobey an order. He imagined it though. He imagined jumping out the window to the ground two stories below, hopping a train to the countryside and never looking back. Gods how he wanted to…and as he looked around the large room, noticing he was alone, the desire became greater.
'…If I just lock my door and get back before anyone comes to check on me…' he pondered, sitting up anxiously and looking at the door as if he were afraid it would be opened and his plan ruined. If he was lucky nobody would consider checking in on him until tomorrow afternoon, after all they didn't have school anymore so he would be sleeping in anyway.
And with that he'd decided, quickly getting up and hurrying over to the door, locking it quietly and listening for a moment just to make sure nobody was in the hall. Once comfortable he changed into straight leg blue jeans, a black cap sleeved t-shirt, and grabbed a white jacket whose sleeves reached his elbows and were lined with a black and white checkerboard pattern. He wasn't about to go to something like this in his school uniform, in fact he planned to lock it away in the bottom of his closet now that school was over.
Taking a deep breath he looked himself over in the mirror, somewhat worried about his decision now. Now since his father was the ambassador of this world, he and his family were one of the wealthiest and most prestigious in this world. No expense was spared in restoring their manor, the old grimly looking manor just beyond the woods had been restored to its full glory both interior and exterior, making it the envy of everyone in Twilight Town. Now since he'd been given every material object he'd wanted since the day he was born, Roxas was always fascinated by others lifestyles, almost to the point of seeming sympathetic. The people of the circus had easily the most fascinating lifestyle he'd heard of yet though. Spending your life traveling from world to world, entertaining and having fun unmatched.
'I've got to see it,' he thought, washing away last minute hesitations and heading for his window. The ground was a good three stories down though and upon seeing that he felt a horrible fear in his gut. Was he seriously going to try this? With a tree branch just outside his window it was easy to get out but climbing down branch by branch would prove quite difficult. He took a moment then gathered his courage and climbed onto the windowsill.
"I can't believe this," sighed a short haired blonde female, leaning forward and staring into the bonfire.
"Seriously. I don't think I've ever been so insulted," agreed a second girl, this one with longer, berry colored hair.
"It was your idea to come here in the first place Kairi," Axel said as he paced an invisible line in frustration. The show was supposed to start at 8, and as an unwritten rule people were always supposed to arrive 30 or so minutes early. And yet here they were, an hour passed and nobody had arrived, not a single person.
"Well yeah but I thought maybe by now they would have changed…" Kairi trailed off. She was the daughter of the head of the church, whom had run away with the circus 3 years ago. In all honesty she was happier here with her new family than she ever would have been if she'd stayed in this world. Over the years she'd matured nicely and adopted the enthralling life of the circus open heartedly.
"Axel, stop picking on girls," Riku told him. It was always easy to tell what kind of mood Riku was in if you knew him well enough. Ignoring an unlit cigarette though tapping the end in an almost rhythm like manner, eyes locked onto one target, the bonfire, rather than following the voice of conversation, sitting a top a crate with his legs crossed Indian style and slouched against a higher stack of crates; he was highly peeved and looked like he had more to say.
"Thought you didn't care if people came," Axel mocked, he too was put off though showed it far more vividly.
"Why don't they like us?" asked a blonde male in a half sigh half whine. Demyx. He was another runaway, but unlike the others he'd come from a normal lifestyle. A peaceable family with wholesome values and well off financially. So why'd he give it up? Well in all honesty he'd stumbled upon them by accident one night after a show and found them far more alluring than what he had. He'd been with them for 5 years now at the age of 22 though he always seemed far more childish than his age. Their late ringmaster allowed him to tag along because, despite his clumsiness at times, he was very graceful when he got into character and his poise and accuracy earned him a place with Larxene. Also he was the one responsible for all music, as he had been well trained in that art and had a keen ear for unique yet fitting tunes.
"Who cares? They're loss!" scoffed another male. Xigbar, a renowned marksman. He was always one of the audience favorites, simply because he involved them in his talent. At random he would pick someone to raise something, be it a soda can or a quarter, and he would be able to pierce through it without even grazing the holder. Other than that he was incorporated in the trapeze act, firing shots in some parts and making it far more necessary for Larxene and Demyx to be precise in their movements. He actually shot Demyx in the ass one time, unintentionally ofcourse, though he laughed hysterically about it afterwards. Xigbar was difficult to describe. He was the largest in build and strength, and the oldest at the age of 45, but despite his age he was easily able to keep up with the hasty pace of circus life. His humor, though sometimes cruel, was always meant in play.
"Here, Here!" cheered Larxene, punching her fist into the air. For a woman of 24 she was easily the most childish and bratty of them all, and bragged about it proudly. In fact the only one she didn't whine to was her partner on the trapeze, Demyx, and that was simply because his feelings were hurt too easily. Her excuse for joining the circus, 4 years ago, was because she was bored and drunk but after sobering up she figured she'd tag along, "I say we break out a keg and forget all about them!"
"That's your solution to everything," Riku pointed out, not interested though as he was still quietly seething.
"Tish, tosh, if you're gonna act like that then you should go to be like Marluxia, Vexen and the fat head," Larxene scorned, the last one referring to Lexeaus. Marluxia was too self absorbed to bother himself with their little bonfire, Vexen was just reading in his room as always when there was nothing better to do, and Lexeaus the gorilla just slept all the time.
"Axel, go get a keg," Riku said, not about to be compared to them.
"That'a boy!" Larxene said in delight, watching him get up and walk over to the bonfire.
He stood up and held his cigarette out to graze the bonfire and light the tip, bringing it to his lips with a mild smirk, "Xibar's right. If they don't want to come then so be it. We've got hundreds of other worlds at our feet."
Kairi smiled and mocked groveling at his feet, "Oh great circus gods, we're not worthy!" she laughed, having no qualm in mocking her world.
"Damn right you aren't. Miserable misguided Twilight Town," he chuckled, patting her on the head and pacing around to the other side of the bonfire, humming a tune as he thought it up. Demyx heard him and accordingly reached a hand over to a crate and drummed it out as he heard, adding more much to Riku's delight and Xigbar rolled his eyes with an annoyed sigh, "Here we go." Hearing his words Riku grinned and went around to him, beginning his lyrical improv.
"You make fun, yet I'm the one
Attempting to do some good,
We're in a neighborhood
Where people piss on our names every night
Circus clowns,
Lions and trapeze,
Not a fantasy in their head…"
Riku raised a hand and Demyx stopped, "This is Twilight Town, the circus is dead," he said, bowing his head in mock sympathy. Kairi, Demyx, and Larxane laughed a bit and shook their heads. It was quite obvious Riku was on a tangent now and it would be pointless to try and stop him. It was true and Riku took off his hat putting it over his chest in mock funeral mode, accordingly Demyx hummed out a gloomy almost organ-like accompaniment.
"Dearly beloved, we gather here to say our goodbyes…
Here she lies! No one knew her worth,
The late great daughter of mother earth,
On these nights when we celebrate the birth…
In that little town of Bethlehem, we raise our glass
You bet your ass
To…La Vie… Boheme…"
Joining in his bit of fun Kairi echoed with, "La Vie Boheme." Demxy dropped his grim hum and drummed his fingers on the crate again in a more up tempo beat, and on each eighth beat Kairi would echo with 'La Vie Boheme,' and Larxane, Demyx, and even Xigbar joined in the lyrical improv. Riku however still had front stage and continued, following the quicker tempo with a more spoken than sung vocal as he circle among the circies.
"To days of inspiration,
playing hooky, makin somethin outta nothin,
The need to express to communicate,
To going against the grain,
Going insane, going mad,
To loving tension, no pension,
To more than one dimension,
To starving for attention,
Hating convention, hating pretension,
Not to mention ofcourse,
Hating dear ol' mom and dad"
By then Axel had returned with a box of bottles and heard what was going on, another one of Riku's lyrical improvs, all of which he enjoyed and picked up the next part with delight, "To riding your bike, midday past the three-piece-suits!"
"To fruits," Riku played along easily.
"To no absolutes," Axel shouted with laughter, circling the fire opposite of Riku.
"To absolutes!"
"To choice!"
"To the Village Voice!"
"To any passing fad!"
Demyx threw in his own twist by shorting the beat and leaning into Larxane with a chorus like note, which Larxane joined in on in harmony and Riku played off by jumping onto the crate behind Xigbar, leaning over his shoulders with a grin and singing, "To being an us for once…instead of a them!"
There were cheers of agreeance and shouts of 'La Vie Boheme,' even from Xigbar himself as the song concluded and Riku took a bow. While he may not have been an trapeze artist, marksman, magician, or other sort, it was his job as ringmaster to draw in the audience and ease them into the acts with as much entertainment as possible. Though he'd never taken lessons vocals were his strength, and that combined with natural creativity and boldness made lyrical works of wonder to entice any audience.
"Hey, looks like you got us an audience kid," Xigbar noted, tapping Riku on the shoulder and nodding his head to a gap between two of the big tents nearby. Riku looked, over, bringing the cigarette to his lips and eyeing their guest, "Oh? A rebel probably."
"Don't hide, come on over!" Demyx invited, waving his arms wildly with delight at the thought of an audience. The others chorused an echo of similar shouts to their guest in hiding.
Roxas stood still for a moment, nervous now that he'd been discovered and alone none the less. If the rumors about circus folk were true he knew this would be a bad situation but after what he'd just seen and the fact he couldn't very well get away now that he'd been spotted he swallowed his nerves and came over to join them in the clearing created by the tents, bonfire, and crates.
"Hey I remember you," Axel spoke up first when he got a good look at Roxas.
"The kid from the train the other day," Riku also remembered and he sat down on one of the crates leaning against Xigbar to further annoy him. Xigbar however moved so Riku fell backwards and landed on the ground, his feet still propped up on the crate. He didn't get up though, finding this quite comfortable instead and Kairi rolled her eyes a little before toying with his hair.
Roxas found their behavior unique in a new way but tried not to show it, "Your show was—" but he didn't get to finish.
"Show?" Demyx asked, "What show?"
"What you guys just did," Roxas said, wondering if he'd offended them.
"Improv. It's all about thinking on your feet," Riku told him, "There was no show and there won't be one."
Roxas was clearly confused but Axel sat down at his feet and explained, "Nobody came kid."
"What?" Roxas couldn't believe it.
"Nobody came. Zip. Nil. Nada," Axel emphasized, "Our trip here was in waste."
Roxas actually felt sorry for them, even though none of them seemed phased by the loss, "Well…the church put out a big warning about you guys a few days ago, but a bunch of people said they were still coming."
Axel and a few other laughed, "Forget it. What people say and do are two different things."
"I still don't like your parents Kairi," Riku mumbled, flicking his cigarette into the fire.
Roxas didn't know what it was about those two but he got the feeling there was something between them. Then again personal bubbles didn't seem to exist in this circle, Axel's slouching against him verified that. "They actually convinced people that green Jell-O was unhealthy."
"Figures. Speaking of Jell-O how's Sora?" Kairi asked.
Before Roxas could answer Larxane asked, "How do you get your ex out of the topic of Jell-O?"
"It's a long story," Kairi said with a small smile.
"He's okay. Arrogant as ever and heading to college next year," Roxas explained.
"Enough chit-chat. Why'd you come if they told you not to?" Axel questioned, resting his chin on Roxas' head comfortably.
"Atheist?" Xigbar suggested.
"No I…" Roxas thought about it, though the answer was unsure even to him, "I guess I just wanted to see what everyone was so afraid of."
"Yay! Another Rebel!" Demyx cheered with glee.
"Unlikely. I remember this quiet little guy," Kairi teased with a grin.
Riku laughed a little to himself, "Ironic that he's the only one to show up," he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out another cigarette. He noticed Roxas watching him and quirked an eyebrow, "What?"
"Smoking is a bad habit you know," Roxas pointed out.
"True if you're smoking real cigarettes. No bad stuff in these, just peppermint," Riku told him, breaking the cigarette and tossing it to Roxas, "They're good for the throat." Roxas picked it up and saw that sure enough there were peppermint leaves inside and imagined this was something he'd gotten in another town; after all nothing like that was heard of here. Riku, whom had seemed reluctant about their guest until now, posed the next question, "What's your name kid?"
"I'm Roxas," he answered, feeling very much out of place even if they all seemed at ease with his being there.
"Roxas? What kind of name is that?" Axel's question only made him feel more out of place.
"I remember! It's Sora rearranged and with an X," Kairi told them.
"Weird…" Larxane spoke for all of them.
"…I don't like it. My dad chose it because he wanted me to be like my brother," Roxas told them with embarrassment.
"That sucks! What kind of jerk…" Axel spat, sitting up and looking at him, he seemed to think for a moment then nodded, "Tell you what, from now on you're Roxy."
Roxas seemed to be the only one confused, "Huh?"
"You're Roxy! It's unique and completely yours," Axel explained patting him on the head with a content grin.
"Um…Thanks…I think," Roxas said, looking to the rest of the group for advice.
Riku spoke up with a sigh, "Okay Axel, stop frightening our quest."
Roxas however didn't want him to be offended, "No it's okay! I like Roxy!" he quickly said.
Xigbar scoffed, voicing what every one of them was thinking, "Heh. Chill kiddo, we won't eat you if you loosen up."
Roxas embarrassedly cut his eyes to the ground and Axel shot Xigbar a chiding look before patting Roxas on the head. He tried to make amends for the comment by asking, "So you say you came to see what everyone was afraid of? Think they have any reason to be afraid?"
Roxas quickly looked back up, "Definitely not! I don't see why anyone would be afraid of you."
Riku laughed and sat up straight, "I'll tell you why: It's because we're different and people are afraid of what's different. Problem here is that people aren't willing to take a chance and see what we can do."
Larxane sighed and hugged her knees to her chest, "It's a shame too, we're so popular everywhere else."
Roxas again found himself confused, "Everywhere else?"
"Other worlds Roxy. You don't think we stay here do you?" Axel laughed at the thought of hiding in a cave for 11 months until the one they came out to put on a show.
"Yup, it's nice being famous…until we get here," Xigbar said, with a note of annoyance.
"Ofcourse Kairi running off with us didn't help our reputation one bit," Riku chastised.
"It's not entirely my fault and you know that Riku," she replied with a hint of vehemence in her tone.
Again Roxas sensed something between them, though a strong contrast to what he'd thought earlier. Axel however quickly covered it up before it could develop into an obvious argument, "Changing topic!"
"Good idea," Riku said shortly, pulling out a cigarette. Axel reached over and tapped the tip to light it for him after seeing the bonfire was too live now to light it easily.
Roxas was impressed by the magic and his eyes followed Axel's hand then looked up to him in minor shock. Axel grinned a little, glad to see he'd impressed at least one person in this world. Roxas decided he'd help the transition off the topic of obvious tension, "I wish I could help you guys. It's not fair everyone has to fear you just because they're told lies."
"Sorry Roxy, but doesn't the church hold highest say here?" Demyx pointed out.
"Yup. Screwy isn't it…you know in some worlds they worship Hades," said Kairi.
"That's the way life is. People obey who they have to," Xigbar sighed, "Makes me glad we don't have to answer to anyone."
Roxas thought for a moment then spoke up, "I might be able to help."
"How so?" Axel asked curiously.
"Well…you see my dad is the ambassador of this world and—" but he didn't finish, the jumpy reactions of everyone else enough to make him stop, "…What?"
Axel explained for them, laughing nervously a little, "…Listen Roxy, your dad was the only person to ever deny us entry. See in order to come to a world we need permission from the ambassador and he refused to give it."
Roxas was confused again, "Wait, so how are you here?"
Riku finally joined back into the conversation, his edge seeming to be gone, "Well the first time we got in because we lied."
"This time I used my parent's bank account to pay a hacker to clear us," Kairi then explained.
"So as you can see Roxy, your dad won't be too terribly thrilled to see us," Axel summarized, "Actually I'm surprised he hasn't called the cops on us."
"He did actually," Roxas admitted, "They wouldn't do anything though. Too afraid after what they heard about you guys." They all couldn't help some laughs upon hearing that, even Roxas joined in.
When it died down he felt rather confident in himself as he said, "If you want I could see if I could set up a meeting for you. You know, so you could propose what you were all about and see if he'll give you some pro-publicity."
"I don't know about this…" Demyx said hesitantly.
Larxane however seemed hot on the thought, "Hell if it'll get us an audience it's worth a shot!"
"Hell yeah!" Xigbar even seemed keen on the idea.
Riku, after hearing what they had to say looked back to Roxas, "Think you can swing it Roxy?"
Roxas nodded, "I can try."
"Wrong answer," Riku said with a bit of a grin.
"You're supposed to say 'absotivly posolutly,'" Axel told him.
Roxas was yet again confused and Demyx explained, "Absotivly posolutly. See we aren't perfect so we can't give perfect answers."
"But I'm not—"
Axel stopped him though, "Circo or not, nobody is perfect."
Roxas looked up at him considering what he'd said for a moment before grinning and saying, "Absotivly posolutly."
Delighted with the answer Axel patted him on the head, "'Atta boy!"
Whew! My fingers are tired after typing this and my belly hurts from eating too much Halloween candy and peppermint tea(my addiction) so I am going to bed now. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed traipsing around school dressed as a pirate today . Please review! They truly help motivate me and I love hearing what people think of my work. There will be presents for reviewers! waves around bowl of cruton eating goldfish
Your loving bohemian(though today a pirate), Mad-TopHat-Ter
