Axel jumped and rushed to catch the surprised girl on the tower by the arm, stopping her from falling and preventing her would be death.
"Easy now." Axel said, helping her rebalance herself on the ledge. "How 'bout you come down from there and have some ice cream with us hm? It'll be my treat! There's no need to be so rash."
Ordix stood still just watching the situation, unsure of what had just happened. Thoughts raced through his head. Questions about the girl and what she was doing up here.
"What's your name?" Axel asked as he helped her step down into the walkway behind the ledge.
She didn't answer.
"My name's Axel," The red head smiled, "It's okay, we're friends."
"My name's Ordix!" The young boy said cheerfully to the girl.
She looked at the boy standing further back and her silver eyes widened seeing how young he was.
"I'm sorry." She said softly, tucking her hands close to her chest, "I didn't know there was anyone up here, let alone a child."
"It's okay," Axel said with a warm smile, "I'm gonna go grab another ice cream. You and Ordix can have these two while you wait for me to come back, okay?"
The girl nodded as she took one of the blue popsicles. Axel handed the other to Ordix and headed back towards the stairs.
Ordix plopped himself up on the ledge where the strange girl had been standing. She stared at him for a moment before taking a seat a few feet away from him. The boy looked at her from the corner of his eye before returning his focus to his ice cream. Things were quiet for a moment as the two enjoyed their ice creams in this strange suddenly calm quiet place.
"So why were you up here?" Ordix asked innocently.
The girl's chest tightened in fear.
"It's dangerous to stand on such high places without something to stop you from falling." He said.
"I know." She nodded.
"You could've died." He said.
"I know." She said once more.
Suddenly a chill came through Ordix as his eyes widened.
"Is... Is that what you wanted?" He asked, his voice thick with nervousness.
It was then that Axel plopped himself between the two with his own ice cream.
The girl with with blue hair looked to the ground below silently, avoiding eye contact with the two beside her on the ledge as she ate the rest of her ice cream. When she got to the end of the popsicle she glanced at the stick noticing that it had a crown emblem and the word 'Winner' written on it. Axel glanced over, surprise in his eyes as he held his half eat popsicle in his mouth.
"Oh hey," He said over the popsicle before pulling it from his mouth, "You got a winner stick! How lucky!"
"What did I win...?" The girl asked.
Ordix glanced over at the two, leaning a bit so he could see the stick.
"If you take it to the ice cream place you get a free one!" He said cheerfully.
"Oh," She said before holding it out to him with her eyes downward, "You can have it then."
"What?" Axel said, "No way, you gotta keep it. It'll be something you can look forward to!"
"Look," The girl said in a cold tone as she stood back up on the ledge, "You can drop the happy act."
Ordix pretended he wasn't listening to the girl as he teetered the end of his now empty popsicle stick between his teeth.
"I get it. You caught some girl you don't even know about to take her life and now you think you need to act all coddling so you can feel comforted with the idea I might not try again as soon as you leave. I understand believe me I do," She said, stepping down into the walkway, "But frankly I find it annoying. I don't need to be babied and handheld just because you found me in a vulnerable situation, got it?"
The young boy looked to Axel who was starting to stand up himself in front of the girl. It was intimidating to see how much taller than her he was, but somehow the girl still held herself with such a strong confidence as they stared each other deep in the eyes for the first time since the boys had found her up here.
"Excuse you?" Axel asked behind clenched teeth, "Look, I'm sorry for whatever it is you're dealing with that put you in this situation and made you feel this way but the last thing you're gonna do is accuse me of faking kindness. Especially because you think I'm trying to comfort myself. If you don't wanna be here, fine. If you want to feel the way you do and not bother trying to look at the positives in your life, fine. You can go home to wherever it is you belong and have your pity party there but you're not gonna pull this with me, princess."
Ordix trembled a bit hearing Axel getting mad. He hadn't seen this side of him yet and now he hoped he never would again. His chest tightened hearing the two argue. The feeling felt familiar in a way he didn't like. The boy slipped his hands over his ears in an attempt to muffle the sounds. Unfortunately it wasn't proving effective as the girl retorted.
"What is with people who talk to suicidal folks and assuming we have 'positives in our lives' let alone anything in our lives at all?" She laughed, "I've got nothing to lose anymore. Not friends, not family, not a home or any possessions. not even a heart. I have nothing."
Ordix blinked in shock at how she spit the words.
"Wait, what?" Axel said in a suddenly calmer tone.
"You heard me." She snapped back, "I've lost everything but my life."
"That means you're-" Axel was stopped.
"A Nobody?" The girl interrupted, "I'm aware."
Axel and Ordix both looked to her with surprise.
"She's one of us?" Ordix asked in a soft tone.
The older two looked to the boy who had been quiet until now.
"What do you mean 'one of us'?" She asked, "You guys are Nobodies too?"
"Uh-huh." The young boy said with a nod, "We're Nobodies from the Organization."
"The what?" She inquired.
"The Organization," Axel repeated Ordix's words, "We're all Nobodies."
"Interesting..." The girl was becoming surprisingly calm, "Take me."
"What?" Axel asked.
"Take me to this 'Organization'." She said, "They might have answers I need. You may have won your way into keeping me alive after all."
Axel and Ordix both looked to each other in confusion before Axel rubbed the back of his head.
"Okay," He said, "I mean, technically I'm supposed to do this anyways so I guess uh, you can come back with us. Whatever answers you're looking for though, they may not give it up very easy."
"I have ways of making people talk." The girl said coldly.
"Heh, I'm sure you do." Axel laughed nervously as he turned around and opened a corridor with his hand.
"It's Xembar, by the way." She said.
"What?" Axel asked, "Oh, your name right?"
"Yeah. You said it's Axel and uh," Xembar stopped for a second, "Ordix. Right?"
The two nodded as Ordix stood up in the walk way to go back to the castle.
When the group emerged they were standing in the hall outside of the lab and clinic that Ordix was now relatively familiar with.
"Hey Ordix," Axel said, "You can find your way back to your room on your own, right?"
Ordix nodded.
"It was nice to meet you, Xembar." The young boy said with a tone of shyness, waving at her.
"A pleasure." She said, "I'm sorry for acting out in front of you."
"It's okay." He said, "I hope you find what you're looking for."
After that he walked off towards the familiar direction of his bedroom on the higher floors. As he approached the sitting area he was used to passing through everyday just outside of the kitchen and bedrooms he heard a type of music he'd never heard before. As he approached the square room it grew louder and louder. When he reached the room there was a boy with a strange haircut playing some kind of blue guitar-like instrument.
"What's that?" Ordix asked innocently.
"Oh," The boy said, "You must be the new member I was hearing rumors about."
"My name's Ordix." The young boy said.
"Demyx." The blond responded, "This is a sitar. I call her Arpeggio."
"Cool," Ordix said, "I like the sound it makes."
"Really?" Demyx said with surprise thick in his tone. "Everyone else complains when I play." He laughed. "I'm glad you appreciate good music."
"Can I watch you play for a little?" Ordix asked.
"Sure!" Demyx said excitedly. "Take a seat. I'll play as long as you want me to."
Ordix's eyes lit up as he sat himself on one of the couches near Demyx. The older boy continued strumming the instrument while Ordix stared happily. He sat there watching his new friend play for a long time. Even when he started to feel tired he didn't move, just leaned back into the couch and closed his eyes listening intently to the melodies that Demyx played. He wasn't sure why anyone would complain about such nice music in this generally uncomfortably quiet place when it was the most relaxed the young boy could recall feeling not just since he arrived, but in the entire existence of a life he couldn't recall much of.
After awhile Axel walked through the room, stopping just before the hall that lead to the bedrooms as he noticed the sleeping boy on the couch near the blond who was still playing his sitar.
"Did he fall asleep out here?" Axel asked.
"Yeah," Demyx nodded, "Apparently he liked my music so much it put him to sleep."
"Don't see how," Axel laughed, "Different folks, different strokes I guess. Make sure he gets to bed though." His tone turned a tad more serious, but still soft and caring. "He's got a big day tomorrow."
"I'll be sure of it," Demyx said as he continued to strum Arpeggio just a bit longer.
After only a few more melodies he dismissed the instrument and approached the couch Ordix was sleeping on, crouching down to his level.
"Hey, Ordix," He said softly, nudging the boy a bit.
"Hm?" Ordix opened his eyes slowly. "Oh, did I fall asleep? I'm sorry."
"No need to apologize," Demyx laughed, "But we should get you off to bed."
He stood up and Ordix sat forward, waking himself so he could feel comfortable standing.
"Come with me and I'll play you another song to put you to bed." The blond said as he extended his hand.
Ordix's tired eyes glew as he took the hand, following Demyx to his room. Once there he took off his overlayers and glasses leaving only a black tank top and his matching black briefs as he climbed into bed. Demyx tucked him into bed snug under the blankets and pulled out the desk chair to be right next to the bed. After taking his seat the blond summoned Arpeggio back and began playing a soft and gentle melody which he also sang along with in a way that kissed Ordix's ears as he began to once more drift off to sleep.
"The dreams that you dream of, dreams really do come true," He sang softly before dismissing Arpeggio.
"Goodnight, little kitten." Demyx said softly as he disappeared into a corridor for the night.
