Two days had long passed since Vexen had apprehended his bothersome specimen, which was safe to say wasn't exceptionally fond of him. Either it was the unexpected kidnapping she had been forced to go under, or the fact that her limbs were currently frozen solid to the iron table to prevent her from ever eluding her captor again. If Rem didn't know any better, she would've thought Vexen was treating her rather...ungentlemen-like for lack of use of a better word. Then again, she was supposedly his hostage, so it only made sense that the kidnapper would only treat her as such to avoid acting like a normal human being.
But was Vexen really human?
"Stop your squirming you impudent girl!" The irritant chemist bellowed after snatching up the flailing wrist of his specimen and promptly shoving an abnormally large sized needle in a protruding vein plainly visible in her pale skin.
Rem subsequently screeched at the feeling of the round, pointed end of the booster invading the soft and tender areas of her flesh. It felt like nothing of that of a simple flu shot, or the occasionally booster you get when you first start your four years in high school, but this felt like nothing she had ever experienced. The pain was far surpassing that of a simple needle.
Rem quivered, and finally slumped.
"It's about time…" Vexen muttered as he effortlessly injected what was left of the green juice within the girl's limp arm. It was completely harmless, if he did say so himself. The serum was nothing more than a simple knock-out treatment that was only to be used whenever he was observing a lesser nobody. And then there was the occasional disturbances that he had weekly undergone by a certain pyro whom had found it amusing to randomly pop in on the scientist when working ironically on a flammable experiment. That was another time where he rarely had to use his non-lethal dose of serum…complaints from the superiors and lower class neophytes of VIII being absent from half his missions convinced him otherwise.
"Was knocking her unconscious necessary for the transportation?" Lexaeus whispered, almost as if in paranoia of abruptly waking the dozing female besides him.
Vexen quirked an eyebrow as he fluently glided across the floor to retrieve a stack of paperwork he had received as payment for bringing a life specimen into the organization. Of course it was necessary. He didn't want to be seen dragging a reluctant female throughout the castle that never was, that would only bring further attention to himself, and he really didn't need that.
"Of course it is, Lexaeus." Vexen seethed. "She would be screaming for hours on end if I hadn't."
A predictable answer from the chilly academic himself. Though it vaguely puzzled Lexaeus as to why he had the forceful habit of knocking all his specimens out whenever he felt compelled to transport them to the world that never was. It lacked in creativity, if nothing else.
"If it wasn't already obvious, I am forced to take drastic measures in a situation like this. I cannot experiment on my specimen without upsetting Marluxia in the process. Therefore I will move her to my laboratory in the world that never was; all neophytes know that Marluxia is strictly forbidden to leave castle oblivion."
As he spoke, Vexen raised a trembling hand over the rock solid ice and quickly diminished the girl in her frozen prison. As gracefully as a scientist at his age could do, he slid his fingers under the sleeping girl's unmoving form and gently lifted her from the wet, iron table.
"You have my most sincere apologies, Lexaeus. But I will return shortly, my duties are primarily to assist at castle oblivion."
--
Zexion's unobserved scowl was hidden deep within the barrier of his book as he gracefully flipped from page to page as an attempt to block out the neophyte sitting just inches besides him.
Axel sat diligently over the arm of his reclining chair with his elbows propped so he could stick his face into the personal space range of the schemer before him. To worsen things, he made sure to breath as obnoxiously as possible in the younger man's face.
Zexion wrinkled his nose as he inhaled the god-awful stench of the flurry's afternoon lunch, which to his misfortune happened to be something with a strong sense of garlic.
"Flurry," Zexion sneered with great displeasure. "I cannot concentrate with you breathing in my face."
"What, you don't like pizza?" Axel joked after sucking in a good amount of air and blowing it into the schemer's face. Zexion did what he could to avoid gagging up his breakfast.
'Is that what he ate?'
"You're vile." Zexion cringed. "If you have nothing better to do, then go off and irritate your colleagues."
'Colleagues?' Axel snickered. 'You are my colleague.'
"Sorry emo-boy, no can do."
Axel's face was abruptly met with the cover of Zexion's lexicon, subsequently sending him sprawling off his chair and landing smack dab on his rear.
"Do not call me emo." Zexion warned which only succeeded to further engage the red head in a fight.
Though Axel wanted nothing more than to piss off his fellow neophyte, he couldn't bring himself to come up with any other good comebacks that might've succeeded in pushing the bookworm out of line. The only thing that came to mind at that point was calling him emo again, but he'd rather keep his flawless face clear of any book cover imprints thanks to Zexion's expert throws.
Axel threw his arms up in a surrendering manner.
"Okay, okay. You win shorty. I'll beat it."
With that being said, Axel jumped to his feet and made for the door, but only to be stopped by the cloaked schemer teleporting in front of him and unswervingly snatching the handle.
"Wha-Hey I said I was gonna leave-!
Fwak
--
Xigbar warped unwearyingly into the scientist's laboratory in hopes of finding some brief entertainment (all thanks to his death-defying missions his mood has been somewhat deprived what it used to be) Though it already occurred to him that Vexen was still at Castle Oblivion with the other neophytes, so that only served, if possible, to put him into an even more sour mood.
"Are you kidding me? Even Frankenstein's gone today?"
The scowl that instantly spread across the Freeshooter's face could've been identified as being related to either Zexion or Sai'x. The castle that never was had long since broken the 10 on the boredom scale when being rated by Xigbar, there was rarely anything to do when half the members were either out messing around in the other worlds, or drinking themselves silly in a 'Who could drink the most rum' contest. Courtesy of Luxord, of course. The only thing that really entertained him during times like these was bothering the scientist down in his personal lab, which he could easily warp into whenever he saw fit. However Vexen was gone today, as he was last night ever since their little episode at dinner time.
"Xigbar, get off my ceiling at once!" Sneered a highly recognizable voice that practically sent Xigbar tumbling to the floor if not for his control over gravity.
The Freeshooter moved his head over his shoulder just in time to see a swirling black vortex protrude from the floor letting in a severely irked scientist with specimen in hand. Well more like in his arms but that's besides the point…
"Dude, how 'bout a warning next time!" Xigbar shuddered instinctively, meeting the willow eyes of the older man below him whom offered him a glare in return.
"I don't recall giving you permission to enter my lab, Braig." Vexen seethed while allowing his eyes to dart around his laboratory in search for a table he could lay his specimen on. "And I would appreciate it if you would obey the laws of physics when in my personal quarters. They exist for a reason, mind you."
Now it was Vexen's turn to jolt. In a matter of seconds Xigbar teleported from his gravity defying seat on the ceiling only to come within inches inside the chemist's personal space bubble. A wide and mischievous smile spread across the Freeshooter's face as he studied the blank expression etched onto Vexen's face.
"Not even a flinch, huh? Man you're getting pretty boring…" The older man chuckled, twirling the tip of his pony tail around his index finger in a bored-like fashion.
Vexen frowned and side-stepped Xigbar. "Silence."
"…"
"…"
"…Dude…what're you carrying?" The Freeshooter murmured suspiciously, making a grab for the scientist's shoulder, which Vexen easily dodged.
"Nothing worth explaining to you." He answered quickly. His actions, however, only succeeded in perking the Freeshooter's interest further.
Xigbar double-took. "…Is that a…girl?"
"My specimen." Vexen quickly corrected. "She is my specimen for research I am conducting. Now if you wouldn't mind, I would like to work in peace-
"Hey, you do know I'm your superior. So technically I don't have to leave if I don't want to…"
Vexen scowled.
"Technically, you do. Lest you forget this is my laboratory."
Xigbar slapped his hands on the curves of his hips and drew his head back to let out a loud and obnoxious yawn.
"Look, I don't mean to offend you or anything, but our leader's got the whole castle running around and doing missions here and there. So that just leaves you 'n me buddy…"
During his little explanation, Xigbar had draped an arm around the scientist's shoulders and absentmindedly dragged him back a few steps. If it wasn't for the unconscious girl currently slumbering in his arms, he would've subsequently frozen Xigbar's feet to the ground and simply walked off without him.
'Curse this…'
"Release me now, Braig." Vexen sneered under the firm grasp the Freeshooter had around his throat. "Or so help me I will combine your feet to the floor…"
"Oooo, looks like somebody's got their briefs in a knot!" Xigbar teased, which only served to mildly provoke the irritated scientist.
"At once."
"Awright, awright! Yeesh…"
Xigbar reluctantly drew back his arm and returned it to his side while mumbling something too indistinguishable for the scientist to hear. His one useful eye darted from both him and back to his experiment while trying to decipher what exactly he was planning on doing to her, or for that matter with her.
"So you 'n her-
"No."
Xigbar returned a fake-hurt expression while pressing his palm to the area where his heart might have been.
"Ouch. Way to shut somebody down." He mumbled impassively, moving his head from side to side. "Kay, guess I'll beat it if that's what you're waiting for…"
Xigbar thrust his arm outwards, quickly conjuring up a swirling black portal that stood nearly two times his own height. A low rumbling sound could be heard emitting from the tiny swirls of darkness that unwillingly separated from the sides of the oval-shaped portal. Xigbar grinned and waved at the chemist in an obnoxious fashion.
"You two be good now!" He called out jokingly, hastily disappearing within the blackness of the vortex before Vexen had the chance to retaliate with one of his well thought out comebacks.
With Xigbar being forcibly kicked out of his room, the laboratory lay as desolate and silent as he had last left it.
Finally.
"Respect is all I ask for, is that so hard to comprehend?" Vexen mumbled to himself while gently lying his specimen down onto a newly polished table he had recently acquired from one of his missions in Halloween town.
'Perhaps now I may examine her without any further interruptions…'
Vexen looked around and dragged a small stool besides his dozing specimen. He quickly outstretched a hand and entwined his fingers around her limp, skinny wrist.
'Hmm…she seems healthy…no signs of any mental illnesses that are physically visible, discluding the fact that she is blind…her skin seems slightly pale, however that it probably in response to being frozen to a table…'
Vexen abruptly snatched a random pencil rolling down his desk and began jotting down notes of his specimen's physical features.
'Breathing patterns are normal…no signs of any sicknesses whatsoever…Hm, she seems very healthy for a girl who has lived in the outskirts of Hollow Bastion…"
Rem's eyelid quivered slightly.
'A few bruises on her legs and wrists, however I believe that is from struggling against the straps holding her down at castle oblivion…oh, it seems she also has a bruise on her forehead. Perhaps that is from running into so many walls…'
Her leg twitched, followed by her fingers then lips.
'It's truly a wonder how this girl managed on her own for so long. Perhaps she has had help from another? Or maybe she-
Now wearingly conscious and suddenly snapped wide awake, Rem's quivering arm shot at an upwards angle and entwined her fingers around the first thing that brushed up against her palm.
Vexen's hair.
"Wha-where am I? What's going on-who are you?!"
In her currently panicked state the only thing she thought to do was to grab onto the scientist's hair with a much greater force and pull it towards her body. In return Vexen coughed out a surprised yelp as his head was forcibly jerked forwards in a painful fashion.
"Erk-foolish girl, release me!" He barked before attempting to pry the girl's fingers loose of his dirty blonde locks.
She wouldn't let go.
"What-what-wha-!…oh, are you…Vexen?" Rem suddenly mouthed after the scientist's familiar voice drifted past her eardrums. It was hard to mistake it for anything else, such a cold and scratchy voice could only belong to one person in this place.
Vexen cringed as he eventually removed his specimen's fingers away from his hair, which resulted in Rem accidentally ripping a few strands from the academic's head. She refused to uncurl her fingers, but Vexen persistently pried at the girl's hand until she subconsciously loosened her grip and plopped her arm down at her side.
Vexen frowned.
"I've already warned you not to refer to me by my name. It is-
"Where am I?!" She suddenly screeched, quickly coming up with the realization that she was no longer frozen to that hard and lumpy table back in the lab. That last thing she scarcely remembered was being subjected to an abnormally painful booster that possible knocked her unconscious.
"What did you do to me?-Why am I here…Where is here?"
'If possible, she could rival Demyx's ability to ask a number of questions…'
"Vexen-!"
"Stop that!" He sneered. "Do not say my name!"
"Why don't you answer any of my questions?"
"Because you ask too many!"
"…Good morning, Vexen." A small voice called out casually from within the empty doorway. "I didn't expect you to return to the castle that never was."
If there was ever a time to see Vexen in one of his 'moments', now would be one of those times for the sudden voice nearly sent the unexpected scientist skyrocketing from the spot. If he had a heart it would undoubtedly be hammering away in his chest by now.
"Zexion," Vexen started, smacking his palm over his chest. "Do not sneak up on me like that. I do not appreciate you welcoming yourself into my personal quarters without a-
"My apologies, Vexen. However the superior wants to have a word with you, that is the only reason I'm here."
"…"
"…"
"…The Superior?" Vexen slowly repeated. "But why-what have I done wrong?"
The room quickly fell silent for what seemed like hours but in reality only two minutes as Vexen's breathing patterns quickened with every passing second. Zexion blew a strand of periwinkle hair from his face and offered the scientist a long and strange look that not even he could read.
"Something the matter…?" He breathed out finally to diminish the awkward silence that seemed to have a habit of following the scientist around.
'Oh-no, how am I going to report to him with my specimen alone in the basement?…I suppose I could get somebody to watch her-but who?'
"Vexen-"
'I couldn't ask Zexion for help, he was just recently attacked by my specimen, it would be asking too much…'
"Are you listening to me?"
'Xigbar had just finished telling me half the entire organization is out on missions today, so that would leave just me, him, Zexion, and possibly Axel who followed us here. Kingdom Hearts are those really my choices?'
"Vexen!"
'I cannot just simply leave her here, the last time she was strapped to a table, and she even managed to struggle free of that. She's not even strapped down to anything this time, I could scarcely imagine what she could possibly get herself into…'
"Vexen!" Zexion growled while childishly taking hold of Vexen's shoulders and shaking him from side to side. If it wasn't for the schemer's undying persistence, Vexen just might've succeeded in completely losing himself in his own thoughts.
"-Oh, my apologies, Zexion. I will take my leave now." He responded quickly while spinning around and taking hold of his specimen's wrist, jerking her off the table causing her to land unsteadily to her feet.
"Where are we going-let go!" She screamed, digging her heels into the floor and leaning backwards to prevent her captor from taking her anywhere. Of course this only succeeded in sending the scientist into a similar mood Xigbar had previously put him in.
"Stop your squirming." Vexen growled. "I cannot trust you alone."
Vexen threw out his arm and quickly conjured a black vortex that would safely transport him and the girl directly to Xemnas' office, however he knew it wouldn't be easy seeing as his specimen was reluctant to leave her comfortable table.
--
Xemnas moved his head back and forth, examining the two underlings before him, slightly puzzled as to why Vexen had chosen to drag his experiment with him instead of leaving it in the laboratory. However he quickly dismissed the strange thought and offered the scientist a small but brief grin to gain his attention.
"I understand you are in the middle of your research," Xemnas started, clicking his fingers against the table. "However it is important for you to report to Wonderland for a mission. I do not believe it will take away any time with your experiment, correct?"
If Vexen was in Halloween town at that very moment, he would've heard a soft click of his disembodied jaw hitting the ground in response to his leader's command. How could he send him on a mission when he is clearly in the middle of his research? What does he expect him to do, leave her here alone?
"Uh, Superior…" Vexen addressed with his best voice in mild discomfort, looking at both him and his specimen while trying to gather up an idea. "I'm afraid I cannot just leave her alone in the castle. You see she is very…unpredictable when by herself."
Vexen went on to say, "I'm afraid I must decline…"
If Xemnas was offended by his underling giving him such a response in return for his mission, he didn't show it. Instead he folded his arms over his chest and dipped his head just slightly so a few strands of silver hair fell into his abnormally colored orange eyes.
Vexen awaited his response, praying to kingdom hearts is was a good one.
"…Vexen,"
"Yes?"
Please, please please please…
"…"
"…"
"If your specimen is as unpredictable as you say, then why not have one of our own keep watch of her while you are away?"
Curse him.
"That's impossible, I'm afraid. Our choices lie with both the Freeshooter and Flurry. As you have already noticed I am not very fond of either of them…"
To his relief, the tan skinned man seemed to have an understanding of the disapproval of having either of the men baby sit a simple female. He slowly nodded in response, he honestly found nothing absolutely trustworthy about the older men anyway.
"Very well then." Xemnas agreed. "Then why not have Zexion do it? I trust he made it back some time ago."
Curse him!
"I cannot do that either!" He blurted out absentmindedly
The silver haired man tilted his head to one side, repeating his actions when both underlings had first arrived in his office.
"Oh?" Xemnas mused. "And why not?"
"Because-" Vexen struggled to come up with a good excuse, discluding the fact that his specimen whacked him over the head with a collapsible chair back at castle oblivion. If he told him that then he'd surely receive some sort of immense punishment for failing to keep track of his own experiment.
"-Because he is already looking after a second experiment I have been conducting in the basement. Surely I cannot ask him to watch both!"
"I see…" Xemnas nodded again, contemplating the fact that one of his own was conjuring up a number of excuses that would've been identified as being similar to the melodious nocturne. To be honest with himself, Vexen was the last person he'd expect to decline a simple mission that would take him only but a couple of hours. Perhaps it couldn't be helped…
"Very well then, Vexen." Xemnas confirmed while pushing himself off his chair to gaze at the scientist.
'Finally I may return to my research…'
The tan skinned man rounded the corner of his desk and effortlessly flicked a few strands of silver hair away from his cheeks.
"If she is of that much importance," He sighed before shifting his gaze to the reluctant female standing sourly next to her captor.
"Then you will take her with you."
--
Bam! Didn't see that coming did you? :D My sis was convinced Xemy was gonna look after her, gotta keep people in character here! *well at least I hope I did* Next chapter, Vexen is forced to take Rem to Wonderland! What could possibly happen when you mix a mad scientist with a blind girl? R&R please!
