With silvery tears streaming from her pale blue eyes, Exylim ran from the stables and didn't stop until she was in her room
With silvery tears streaming from her pale blue eyes, Exylim ran from the stables and didn't stop until she was in her room. She jumped onto her bed and cried into her pillows. A while and a bucket of tears later, she heard a knock on her door.
"Who is it?" she asked.
"Roxas," he said, opening the door a bit, "may I come in?"
"Sure," Exylim replied, turning her head so her cheek rested against the pillow, her bangs covering the bruise that had formed on her left cheek.
"Are you okay?" Roxas asked, coming in and sitting down next to Exylim. Exylim sighed, feeling tears coming again. "Does it look like I'm okay?" she asked, swallowing the lump in her throat.
"Well, no. What happened?" Roxas asked with a concerned look on his face.
She sighed again, the replied, "Nothing. Zexion just said some stuff to me."
"Oh. What'd he say?"
"Stuff."
"Seriously."
"He said he was ashamed of me."
Silence. Exylim glanced up at Roxas. His eyes had widened slightly. Exylim sighed and sat up, her bangs swinging ever so slightly off of her cheek. Roxas's already wide eyes widened. He stood up and moved in front of Exylim. He gently brushed her hair out of her face with his gloved thumb.
"What happened?" he asked.
"I tripped," Exylim lied, her eyes going a pinkish color.
"What where you doing?"
"Running from Saïx."
"That makes sense but is it true?" Roxas asked, sitting back down next to Exylim. She shook her head no, fresh tears running down her face. Hesitantly, Roxas hugged Exylim. They sat like that for a few minutes until Exylim's sobs turned into sniffles.
She looked at Roxas and said in a whisper, "Thank you, Roxas."
He smiled and let go of her. "It's okay," he replied, glancing at the black alarm clock on her nightstand. "I should go," he said, standing up.
"Kay. Good night Roxas."
Roxas smiled at her again before opening a portal and leaving.
Exylim watched Roxas leave then flopped back onto her bed. She closed her eyes, waiting for sleep to come. Instead, vivid images of that night flash in her mind. Why didn't anyone tell me? Maybe then they wouldn't hate me. Why did he leave? "This is you fault!" Exylim cried opening her eyes, leaping out of her bed, and blasting the ceiling with a jet of fire. The dark blue paint (which, if you recall, represents her brother) burnt quickly. "Why didn't you tell me? You shouldn't have left our family in the first place? Maybe then I wouldn't be dead!" Exylim shouted, tears raining from her blood-red eyes. She again blasted the ceiling before turning to the red wall (Axel's wall) which like the ceiling, she blasted. Angrily, she jumped onto her bed and punched one of her red pillows until she fell asleep.
Exylim woke up the next morning still angry. She growled, flipped onto her side, and went back to sleep. She woke up again at noon and got up to take a shower then sat back down on her bed. A few seconds later she grabbed her iPod and lied down on her bed. She put the earphones in and selected a song. It came out blasting loud. Exylim sighed and pulled a pillow over her head.
A while later, she heard a knock on her door. "What do you want?" she snapped.
"Geez, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed."
Demyx. "Sorry Dem."
"It's fine. Are you alright? You weren't at breakfast."
"I'm fine."
"You sure? You haven't left your room today."
"I'm fine. Go away," Exylim snapped."
"Okay, okay. I'm going."
Exylim sighed, turned her iPod back on, and pulled the pillow over her head again.
Exylim ate in silence at the end of the table, away from Zexion and Firyx. A few of the members kept glancing at her. "What?" she growled at them. They looked away and continued eating. Exylim got up and carried her plate to the kitchen then left. She heard Roxas and Demyx call her name but she ignored them and portalled to her room.
Exylim stayed in her room until noon the next day. Demyx and Roxas had knocked on her door a few times but gave up after she ignored them. She could tell they were disappointed but she didn't care. After a while, she got up and took a shower. When she was drying her hair, she noticed that her eyes were turning from red to blue to black and then back to red and so on. "Stupid eyes," she muttered before walking out of the bathroom.
Exylim remained in her room until 11pm then decided to go eat dinner. Before she left, she reached into the draw of her nightstand and pulled out a pair of red sunglasses with dark lenses. Flames were engraved carefully into the frame of the glasses and in tiny print was her number, XV. Exylim sighed and put them on, pulled up her hood, then left her room.
Xigbar was walking on the ceiling when Exylim passed beneath him. He disappeared then reappeared next to her. "Well, well, well. The princess has come down from her tower," he said with a smirk.
"What do you want?" she muttered.
"Oh nothing," he replied and then put his elbow on her head, using her as his arm rest then asked, "So what's with the hood?"
"None of your business."
Xigbar frowned and stopped walking. Suddenly he appeared behind Exylim and ripped her hood down. She kept walking. Xigbar jogged to catch up with her and put his elbow back on her shoulder. "And what's with the sunglasses?"
"What's with the eye patch?" came her reply.
"Touché. But really, what is it for?"
Exylim turned to face him and said sourly, "Wouldn't you like to know," then walked away. Xigbar again caught up with her. "Why are you following me?" she asked with no emotion.
"I'm not unless you're going to the living room. I'm just walking with you."
"Fine," Exylim said before walking into the kitchen. Xigbar blinked then realized they passed the living room.
Exylim got her food then walked into the dinning room only to see Firyx. Exylim immediately turned around and walked back into the kitchen. She ate standing up then portalled back to her room when she was finished.
2 days Later
"Exylim, come on! Open up!" "We know you're in there!" Demyx and Roxas shouted. Exylim groaned.
"Ok, ok, you got me! Now what do you want?"
"Get your bathing suit on."
"Huh? Why?"
"We'll explain later."
"Ok, whatever," she sighed then grabbed her bathing suit and changed into it then put her coat on over it. She opened the door and was immediately grabbed by the arms and dragged through a portal. "AH! What are you guys doing?"
"We're going to the beach!" Demyx shouted with a grin.
"Xemnas is actually letting you go?"
"Well, no. That's what we need you for," Roxas said with a sheepish grin.
"What? Why me?" Exylim cried.
"Cuz Mansex will let us go if he knows that we got you out of your room," Demyx replied. Exylim sighed. They were standing in front of the Superior's office.
"XEMNAS! We're going to the beach!" Exylim shouted then whispered to Roxas, "Open a portal!" They heard a thud and Xemnas shouting. Exylim squeaked and shoved Demyx and Roxas thru the portal.
"WHAT?!" Xemnas cried, falling out of his chair and lading on the ground with a thud.
"Calm down and let them go. They at least got number XV out of her room," Saïx said to Xemnas as he helped him up.
Xemnas sighed and said, "You're right. She needs to get fresh air," then went back to working.
Exylim, Roxas and Demyx tumbled out of the portal laughing. "That was close," Roxas said between laughs.
"Yeah, but we made it!" Demyx said ever so happily. Exylim looked around. They were in a clump of palm trees and the smell of salt was in the air. Demyx and Roxas pulled their coats off and Exylim followed their suit. Demyx was wearing blue swim trunks with little sitars scattered on then while Roxas was wearing a gray bathing suit with black stripes. Exylim was wearing a red halter top with Hawaiian flowers on it and black skirt. Roxas stared at her before blushing and looking away.
"Come on! Let's go swim off of the dock!" Demyx shouted before racing towards the dock. Exylim and Roxas grinned at each other before racing after Demyx. They had to jump over sand castles, towels, and the people who were tanning. Exylim caught up with Demyx and tried to trip him but he jumped over her leg. They reached the end of the dock and skidded to a stop. Roxas came a few seconds later panting.
"Geez Roxas, you should lay of the sea-salt ice cream once in a while," Exylim said while laughing. He glared at her and tried to push her off the dock. She squeaked and jumped away, then looked at Demyx who was staring out over the water. She glanced at Roxas then back at Demyx.
"On the count of 3," Roxas whispered. "One…Two…THREE!" he shouted then shoved Demyx. He yelped and fell of the dock with a splash. Roxas laughed and Exylim pushed him off. He teetered on the edge before grabbing Exylims hand and pulling her down with him.
Exylim bursted to the surface and yelled, "Roxas!" He grinned then was pushed under by a large wave. Exylim dove in after him and pushed him down until she was pinning him by the shoulders against the sand. He squirmed and tried to pull away but Exylim wouldn't let him. He was running out of air and tried again, this time succeeding. Exylim gave him a boast and he… flew out of the water and landed on the dock with a hard thud. Exylim's eyes widened and Demyx started laughing.
"Oww. That didn't help, you know," Roxas said, sitting up slowly.
Exylim grinned and replied, "Sorry." Demyx kept laughing. Exylim dunked him then swam over to the dock, grabbed hold of Roxas's feet, and hung off of them with her lower half still in the water. Demyx popped up next to her and tickled hr sides. She squeaked, let go of Roxas's feet, and fell back into the water. She and Demyx splashed around for a while then Roxas joined in.
"I'll race you to the shore!" Exylim shouted. "Ready, set, GO!" They took off swimming as fast as they could until they could stand, then tried running through the water. Roxas tripped and did a face plant. Exylim stopped to help him up and they both caught up to Demyx. The three friends stumbled out of the water and to their towels where they collapsed.
"I'm hungry," Roxas said after a while.
"Go climb a palm tree," Exylim said. "You're always hungry! It's like you have 5 stomachs."
"Well maybe I do," Roxas retorted.
Demyx sighed. "Let's go to the beach shack." They got up and walked down the beach, occasionally stopping so Exylim could pick up a seashell.
Exylim watched as the sky turned brilliant shades of pink and orange. The sun became a red ball of flames then began to sink under the horizon. Exylim sighed softly.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Roxas asked, rolling over to face her. Demyx propped himself up on one elbow with a look of concern.
"Nothing," Exylim said, facing away from them, "I'm just sad that we have to leave soon. This is the first time I've happy for days."
"Oh…" Roxas said softly.
"We should go before it gets late," Exylim said, standing up and looking down at the two blondes.
Demyx and Roxas glanced at each other before getting up silently.
2 Days Later
Exylim stormed down the hall and into the kitchen to eat. Afterwards, she walked into the living room. Everyone glanced up at her. Xigbar was leaning against the wall when he asked, "You okay, Squirt?" Suddenly, Exylim's hands were around his neck.
"Don't ask me that frickin' question. That goes for the rest of you," she growled, throwing Xigbar across the room. He skidded to a stop on his back just an inch away from the couch. Exylim stormed out and portalled to her room.
Zexion looked up, shocked at his sisters' reaction to a simple question. He looked down at Xigbar who sat up, rubbing his neck.
"Damn, she's gotten stronger," Xigbar said. Zexion stared down at him. "What?" Xigbar asked.
"Nothing," Zexion said before going back to reading his book. He had this "feeling" that something was gnawing at his stomach. He set his book down and asked Lexaeus, "How long has she been like that?"
Lexaeus looked surprise. "You mean you didn't notice until now? She's been like this ever since the day after Firyx came back."
"Oh," Zexion said softly. He was pissed off at his sister but he knew now that he shouldn't have hit her. Realization hit him and he stood up and walked out of the room.
Exylim heard a knock at her door. "Who is it?" she growled. When they didn't reply, she got up and yanked the door open. Zexion stared back at her. He opened his mouth to say something but Exylim slammed the door shut. Zexion stuck his foot in the way before it closed.
"Exylim, listen," he said. She opened the door, glared at him, and slammed the door shut as hard as she could. Zexion yelped and hopped around on one foot. Exylim stepped in front of him and jabbed him in the chest. He fell backwards and landing with a hard thud. Exylim slammed the door shut and put her iPod on play again.
Axel walked down the hall and glanced at Zexion. "Sibling problems?" he asked with amusement dancing in his eyes.
"Yeah," Zexion sighed as Axel pulled him up.
"You're not alone, my friend," Axel said as he walked away. Zexion sighed again and portalled to his room.
Exylim walked out into Marluxia's garden the next night to get fresh air and get away from everyone. Marluxia was nowhere in sight. Exylim sighed and walked between rows of red roses. The rose seemed to be wilted so Exylim ran her hand over them, running water down the leaves. Suddenly, the roses sprang out and thorned vines wrapped around her arms and ankles, leaving her trapped.
"Well, who do we have here," a voice said behind her. She craned her neck to see who it was. Marluxia appeared in front of her, smirking.
"Let me go," Exylim growled at him.
"Nah, I don't feel like it," he replied, still smirking. He walked up right in front of her.
"Let me go or-"
"You'll what? Water me? I'm so afraid."
Exylim's eyes turned red but were masked by her sunglasses. She closed her eyes, smirked and combusted into flames. The whole garden was in flames the next second. Marluxia fell to his knees as Exylim walked into the flames. She threw her clock to the floor to reveal her sleeveless red shirt with a hood, black cargo pants that were purple from her mid-thigh up. She wore three belts, two crossing in front. One was chain and the other was black. The third belt was made completely of metal and held up her pants. Two buckles separated the black from the purple, these ones whit. Her gloves were only to her wrist and two chain brackets hung from them.
Exylim pulled her hood up and opened a portal. She stepped through it without a single glance backwards.