The four of them walked up another flight of stairs. Axel, Demyx, and Roxas expected everyone to be in the living room, so they decided to head there.
"So you can really make weapons?" Demyx asked. Xed looked over at him.
"Yeah, is it really that hard to believe?" she replied, slightly amused. Demyx seemed a little embarrassed.
"I didn't mean it like that…it's just…" he started, trying to find the right words.
"You seem sorta young to be doing that stuff." Axel finished. Xed shrugged.
"It's what I do." She said simply. Roxas looked at her.
"So do you fight?" he asked. Xed smiled at him.
That really pretty smile.
"Of course! I love to fight!" she said. Roxas smiled.
"What's your weapon?" Axel asked. Xed narrowed her eyes, as if she was thinking. She crossed her arms.
"Well, you won't believe me, but I fight with a—"
"Hello?"
She was cut off by a voice that was coming from Xemnas' office. They were all curious, so the four of them walked quietly over to the door, and listened. In the room, Xemnas was holding a phone to his ear. He looked bored. Then, he looked at the ceiling.
"Hello?" he repeated. There was silence. Suddenly Xemnas nodded.
"Hello, this is Xemnas."
There was silence. Xemnas sighed.
"Yes, I'm calling about the weapons creator you recommended me to."
More silence. Xemnas nodded.
"Yes, there happens to be a problem. A LARGE problem."
More silence. Xemnas narrowed his eyes.
"Have you ever seen Xedramon?"
More silence. Xemnas rolled his eyes.
"Then you know how young she is."
There was silence. Xemnas seemed to be ticked off.
"What's the problem??? What do you mean 'What's the problem?'??? You sent me a 13 year-old girl to make my weapons!!!"
"I'm 14!" Xed hissed quietly. There was more silence. Xemnas gritted his teeth.
"You honestly expect me to believe that she can make weapons?" he yelled. Roxas looked down at Xed. She seemed sort of hurt at what Xemnas said. But nevertheless they continued to listen.
"There's no way that girl can make weapons! I mean, she doesn't even look strong!!" he said. Xed seemed more angry than hurt now. They could hear whoever that was on the other line laughing at Xemnas' reaction. Xemnas seemed purely angry now.
"Give her a chance?? I don't have time to give her a chance!" he yelled. Xed gritted her teeth. The guy on the other line said something. Xemnas laughed.
"There's more to her than it seems?" he said, snorting. "All I see is a little kid who thinks she can—"
BAM!
Demyx, Axel, and Roxas looked down at Xed in surprise. She had just punched the wall next to the door—HARD—and left a dent. She then got to her feet and walked briskly towards the end of the hall, towards the stairs leading back to the Weapon Workshop. Roxas ran after her.
"Xed!" He yelled, trying to keep up with her. Man, she was fast. He chased her all the way back to the Workshop. She went to open the door, when he finally caught up with her and grabbed her wrist. She looked up at him. Her face showed an expression of pure anger, and her eyes shined with determination. She pulled her wrist out of his grip.
"Xed," Roxas said, slightly out of breath, "Xemnas meant tha—"
"I know exactly what Xemnas meant, Roxas." She interrupted angrily. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do." She said, before opening the door and shutting it closed. Roxas tried to open it. The door was locked. Roxas sighed.
"See you later." He said, before walking away slowly.
Roxas woke up. He looked over at his clock: 5:28. He grunted. He never really woke up this early, but he decided to today. He and Axel were going to practice fighting, and he wanted to get in some practice by himself. He sat up in bed.
I wonder if Xed's all right…He thought. Since what had happened last night, Xed was in the Workshop for the rest of the night. She didn't come out, even when he asked her to come join him for dinner. He was sort of…worried about her. He quickly got dressed and made his way towards the Workshop.
Roxas knocked lightly on the Workshop door.
"Xed?" he said softly. He didn't know why he was talking softly—everyone was asleep two floors above this one. He waited. No answer. He knocked again. There was still no response. Roxas then opened the door a little bit and looked inside.
No one was here.
He opened the door all the way and walked in. He then looked around and saw something amazing lying on the workbench.
It was Saix's Claymore.
"Woah…" he breathed, moving closer. It looked exactly like his first one, but a lot…better. The edges were narrower, and sharper. The handle had been thinned for a better grip, and it had groves in the edges. It was a light gray-blue color, with pale moon-yellow streaks on it.
It was amazing.
And Xed had built it?
Roxas walked into the kitchen, and out towards the training area outside.
"Good morning."
Roxas jumped, startled. He turned around to see Xed, sitting at the kitchen table, drawing in one of her sketchpads. She seemed happy, like what happened yesterday didn't happen. But to be safe, he decided not to bring it up. Roxas smiled.
"Good morning." He said, walking over to where Xed was sitting. He looked over her shoulder. "What are you drawing?" Xed looked up at him.
"Axel's new weapon." She said, returning to her sketchpad. Roxas cocked his head.
"How do you design a weapon?" he asked, sitting in a seat next to her. She smiled, not looking up.
"Well, I'll show you with Axel's Chakrams." She said, moving the paper so that it was between them. In order to be able to mark on it, Xed moved closer to Roxas, the sides of their faces almost touching. Roxas could feel the heat rising to his cheeks. He looked down at her paper to see a rough sketch of Axel's weapon.
"First, I start off with a sketch of the old weapon. Then, I think of ways to enhance it." She said. Roxas nodded.
"I can make the spikes on Axel's Chakrams narrower, to cut down air resistance. I can also add small grooves along the base to it to cut back the air resistance as well. I can sharpen the spikes for a more 'deadly' effect, and I can make grooves in the handles to that they are easier to grip. I can then cover the weapon with a thin layer of flammable material, and then cover it with an even thinner layer of fire resistant material. This'll make the weapon burn longer. And finally I can make the weapon's base black, so that it'll burn hotter when set on fire."
As she spoke, she sketched the plans on the paper. And Roxas watched as the weapon transformed before his eyes.
Wow. He thought. She really knows her stuff! Xemnas was so wrong to have doubted her.
"Morning lovebirds!" Axel called as he walked down the stairs into the kitchen. Xed and Roxas instantly moved away from where they were sitting, creating some distance between them.
"We're not lovebirds, Axel." Roxas said, slightly annoyed, and blushing. He looked over at Xed. Her face was just as red as his was. Axel rolled his eyes.
"Sure." He said. He then sat down at the table. "So Roxas, you ready for our fight today?" Xed looked up.
"You two are fighting today?" she asked. Roxas nodded.
"Yeah, and I'm gonna take him down!" he said, laughing. Xed smiled. Axel smiled too.
"As if!" he said.
"Hey, that's my line!" Xigbar said, walking into the kitchen. The three of them looked up at him. Roxas stood up.
"Xed, this is Xigbar. Xigbar, this is Xed." He said. Xed stood up and smiled.
"Nice to meet you." She said. Xigbar smiled, and then nudged Roxas in his arm.
"She's a keeper." He whispered, loud enough for them all to hear. Roxas blushed, along with Xed. Axel and Xigbar chuckled.
"So…umm…you want to come watch the fight?" Roxas asked, hoping to change the subject. Xed nodded quickly, wanting to change the subject too.
"Sure!" She said. Roxas, Axel, Xed, and Xigbar all walked outside to prepare themselves for the fight…
