Façade
By: Lily (Lena) Evans
Rating: PG-13 (For now. May go up.)
Summary: Alternate Universe. Death can be the symbol of rebirth. The members of what was once Organization XIII find themselves in a strange new world. This time, however, they are split down the middle with a fine line drawn between good and evil. Now, half of the Organization must save their new world from the wrath of those who were once their comrades. In the meantime, they all learn things about themselves that they never knew before. Friendships are formed and some are destroyed, lives are lost and love is found. Yaoi and Het are both included.
A/N: Woo! This is chapter 10 guys! I'm so pleased that all of you are enjoying this. I have over 35 people watching for updates and around 30 of you have this favorited. Thank you all so much! I really glad you're enjoying it. On with the show!
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Chapter 10: Searching for Answers
A ladybug flew quickly across the plains, darting between blades of grass, hoping to avoid any sort of encounter with those strange humans. Honestly, the whole race was so barbaric. The tiny ladybug never really understood any of them, scurrying about doing all of these strange things. They were so busy doing other things, it was no wonder none of them had learned to fly. Though, it would certainly be easier for them to get around that way and less of her relatives would be stepped on by their giant feet.
Her antennae perked up as she heard the humans rapidly approaching. She began to panic, not wanting to be next to be stepped on. She finally landed on a tree to rest her wings. Humans were so unobservant. They wouldn't even notice her there, probably.
"I'm tired… could we rest for just a second?" Naminé asked, almost pleadingly.
"We're almost there," Marluxia informed her, holding her arm so that she would be able to keep up with him. "No use in resting now."
"Just for a second?" she repeated, resting her free hand against a nearby tree. A ladybug took off just as she placed her hand where it was perched. It flew past Marluxia's face, but he released Naminé's arm to bat it away.
"Fine," he sighed. "Just for a second." He glanced over at Roxas, who had moved ahead of the two of them to glance into the distance.
"is that where we're going?" he asked, pointing toward a rundown shack. Marluxia followed his gaze, nodding slightly.
"Yeah," he told him. "That's it." Roxas lifted his head to acknowledge the statement, but his expression remained entirely neutral, making it impossible for Marluxia to tell what he was thinking. He remembered why he never enjoyed the boy's company, but he would endure for the time being. He needed him around for now.
They were on their way once more after a few more moments. They reached the shack far before nightfall, which was fortunate. Almost immediately after entering, Marluxia noticed Demyx's presence. A grin spread across his features as he approached him from the doorway.
"Ah, excellent," he said. "I heard something may have happened to you. Wonderful to see that those rumors are false." He glanced back at Roxas, whose expression was still stoic. Again, very frustrating. The boy wouldn't even pretend to have feelings. That was disappointing.
"Oh… uh, thanks…" Demyx said softly. "That's um… kind of a long story."
"He says Six let him go," Luxord said from the couch, not looking up from the book he was reading. Marluxia frowned. He didn't remember that book lying around…
"Oh, I guess it isn't that long…" Demyx muttered.
"He says Zexion did what?" Marluxia demanded, shaking his head. "I don't think so. Even if he did, there has to be some ulterior motive or…"
"No, it was nothing like that!" Demyx countered, flushing slightly. Marluxia was shocked into silence at Demyx's quick reaction to his accusations. Only for a moment, though. He then began to insist that Demyx had been brainwashed, which Demyx also denied rather insistently. Axel had stopped paying attention after that. He was focused on the boy that had come in with Marluxia. He pushed himself away from the wall, slowly following the younger Nobody down the hall as he made an attempt to get away from the bickering.
"Hey…" Roxas stopped dead and spun around as the voice came from behind him. His expression remained neutral, as always, but Axel had grown accustomed to it.
"Hey Axel," he said softly. "You're here too." It wasn't a question.
"We're all here," Axel reminded him, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the wall. "Were you expecting me to be any special?"
"I don't know," Roxas admitted. "I guess not." Axel fell silent and looked down at the ground. At that point, Demyx stormed between them down the hall and went into a room, slamming the door behind him. The vibrations sent quite a bit of dust flying and quite a few bugs scurrying out of sight, but the two Nobodies ignored that. Roxas made a move to leave, but Axel grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him back to face him. Roxas' expression finally changed to that of slight surprise.
"What?" he asked.
"Why the hell did you leave?" Axel demanded. "If it weren't for you, none of this would have happened."
"Yes, it would have," Roxas said flatly. Maybe it was scolding. Axel couldn't really tell. "Don't give me that shit, Axel. If I hadn't left on my own, DiZ would have found me anyway. He had that Riku guy working for him."
"We could have fought him off," Axel protested. "If you hadn't gone to fight alone—"
"No one would bother…"
"Shut up!" Axel snapped, slamming Roxas back against the wall. "I missed you! I would have helped you! I spent the rest of my fucking life there trying to bring you back!" Roxas had fallen silent. Even the chatter in the next room seemed to have died down to a low whisper. Axel let go of him and headed back to the sitting room. All attention was on him, as expected, though soon enough each member returned to their previous conversations, not bother to ask what exactly had happened in the hallway.
"As I said, there was this woman," He overheard Luxord saying. "She had to be a seer of some sort because she told us of this prophecy. I'm not entirely sure if I believe in such a thing."
"What did she say?" Marluxia asked, impatiently. It was suddenly clear to Axel that Luxord had been talking about this for a while, not having gotten to the point yet.
"She said that we would be tested," he finally stated.
"Of course…" Marluxia said softly, moving away from Luxord. "A test. We must be prophesized to save this world from them." He smirked, having drawn everybody's attention. Luxord lifted an eyebrow, looking confused.
"Beg pardon. Them?" he finally asked. Marluxia glanced over at him and sighed.
"Yes, them," he said. "The Superior and his faithful pets. That has to be it."
"Are you sure?" Naminé asked, curiously. Even Roxas and Demyx had rejoined them, standing at the entrance of the hallway.
"What else could it be?" he asked her. "We've been given this test and we will regain our hearts. I can lead us on this quest to…"
"Yeah, sure. Like you did last time?"
"Excuse me?" Marluxia whipped round, glaring toward the source of the voice. Larxene had just walked through the door and was shaking her head, looking almost amused by all of this.
"What we need to do is figure out what this test really is," she went on, pointedly ignoring Marluxia's glare. "The test will be easier to pass if we know what it's about and aren't taking shots in the dark on it." Marluxia rolled his eyes and sat down in a chair.
"That won't be as easy as it sounds," Axel said, frowning.
"I hope it's not a written test," Demyx said, frowning. "I don't test well… Oh! Unless it's multiple choice. I can do that!"
"What are you babbling on about?" Luxord asked. Demyx flushed and fell silent once more.
"Let's see you come up with something better," Roxas said, crossing his arms over his chest. Demyx seemed surprised and grateful that someone was defending his wish to have a multiple choice test.
"Teamwork," Luxord said, mirroring Roxas and crossing his arms. "They was us to save the world, thus they probably want to see how well we work as a team. Without teamwork, we're nothing."
"Well, we've already failed at that," Axel snapped, throwing his hands up and rolling his eyes. "It's obviously a test of strength."
"Or magic ability," Larxene threw in, though perhaps just because she wanted to frustrate everybody more than they already were.
"Maybe it's a test of character…" Naminé said softly. All eyes turned to her at that and she flushed slightly.
"Oh, great," Axel muttered. "There goes our chance at ever passing."
"Why would they do that?" Larxene snapped. "If they brought us here, they have to know what we're like. They should know by now that our character isn't up to parr here."
"I know," Naminé said, frowning a little bit. "But maybe they expect us to have changed or something. They might be using this test to see if we're worthy of being heroes. So it's more like a quiz, then the real test comes in afterwards. They want us to prove that we can do it before they entrust us with the job."
"Well this sucks," Axel groaned.
"He's right. It's pretty hopeless if that's the case," Larxene added, sitting on the couch next to Luxord and propping her feet up on the worn coffee table. Naminé sighed and looked down. Roxas watched her for a moment before looking back up at the rest of the members in the room.
"No, it's not," He stated. "Not if we think about that as we do it. We know what 'good' people are like. We've all met at least one."
"That's easy for you to say," Axel said, rolling his eyes. "You were a part of one."
"That's not what I meant," Roxas snapped. "We all met him. We know what he's like and how he handles things. Why not at least try acting like him so we can pass this test?"
"Slaughter Nobodies and Heartless with our Keyblades?" Marluxia asked sarcastically. Roxas groaned in frustration.
"Never mind!"
"…so much for that motivational speech." Roxas glared at Axel who looked away and fell silent once more.
Xaldin shut the door softly after making sure that they weren't being followed. As long as Xemnas and Saïx could keep each other occupied, the rest of them could speak in private. Xigbar remained by the door, listening for anyone coming down the hall. This was not a conversation for the other two in the house to hear. Vexen had placed himself in a corner of the room, assuming a thoughtful position. Xaldin sat on a chair next to the desk Zexion had perched himself on. Lexaeus leaned up against the wall, arms crossed over his chest.
"So now you can tell us," Xigbar said. "What did this goddess chick of yours say?" Lexaeus sighed softly and glanced over at him.
"You're going to think I'm crazy," he told him.
"Whatever you have to say, it's nothing compared to what Seven has said in your absence," Xaldin assured him. "What did she say?"
"The queen wants us to unite… all fourteen of us," he explained, looking between the four Nobodies in the room. "To save the world from 'disorder'."
"…I've said this before," Vexen stated after a long silence. "Goddess or otherwise, anything that wants a group of Nobodies to save the world must need a significant amount of mental therapy."
"I know it sounds crazy…"
"No, it sounds absolutely insane," Xaldin interrupted.
"That may be so," Lexaeus sighed, placing a hand to his head, "but she said that if I don't do this, she'd take something important from me." There was a very long pause before any of them even tried guessing what it could be.
"Your... tomahawk?" Xigbar asked, lifting his eyebrows. Lexaeus shrugged his shoulders. Vexen opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again. He glanced between the other four before standing to leave. Xigbar and Xaldin glanced at each other, frowning, before getting up to follow him out. This left Lexaeus and Zexion alone to wonder what had made them all leave so suddenly.
"What...?" Zexion started, but Lexaeus simply shook his head, sighing softly.
"That goddess got me thinking," he said, glancing at the smaller Nobody.
"About what?" Zexion asked, cocking his head to the side.
"The traitors." Noting Zexion's frown, Lexaeus continued with his explanation. "Perhaps this is crazy too, but I began to believe that maybe they weren't really the enemy to begin with..."
"That maybe they saw something we didn't because of our blind loyalty?" Zexion finished for him.
"So you've been thinking about it too," Lexaeus stated, seeming relieved that someone else understood his thoughts.
"I have..." he nodded. "I'm almost ashamed that I didn't consider their point of view before."
"That makes two of us." Zexion ran a hand through his hair as he thought, brushing it away from his eyes for just a moment before letting it fall back into place.
"So what now?" he asked. Lexaeus hesitated for a moment, frowning slightly.
"I think there is only one option," he admitted. "We have to unite everyone as I have been instructed to do."
"That's easier said than done," Zexion reminded him, hesitantly. "How are we supposed to convince those who don't trust us when we can't even convince those that do?"
"I don't know," Lexaeus said simply, putting a hand to his chin in thought. "We'll need to tick them... getting them into one place will be a start. It's getting along that may be impossible." Zexion looked skeptical, but sighed, defeated.
"I suppose that's the best plan we have for now..." Lexaeus nodded his head in agreement. The two sat in silence for quite some time. Lexaeus glanced out the window as the sun was sinking below the horizon. He stood up then and placed a hand on Zexion's shoulder, attempting to reassure him. It lingered for a moment before he finally left through the door.
As the sun disappeared, a dark figure stopped as the cabin came into view. A cruel grin spread across his features before he transformed and ran at full speed toward one of the dimly lit rooms.
END CHAPTER 10
Thanks for reading you guys!
Elias Dae – Yes! I am, indeed, alive. It's fortunate too. xD Glad to see you're still around. Thanks for the review!
The White Raven013 – I'm so glad you found this chapter so intriguing. The plot is definitely thickening after all of this. As for the seer, I'm sorry to say you won't see much of her because she's kind of a behind-the-scenes player, but I promise you'll see her at least once more. Glad you're enjoying it!
Broken Vows – Wow! I'm glad I left that impression on you. I had to reread everything, quite honestly, as I was writing up this chapter. I forgot what had happened in my own fic, which is kind of sad. xD I'm glad you're enjoying this!
Lightning-in-the-dark – Thank you. It's hard to say where I get my ideas for anything. This really just came to me one day. I can't even remember where it popped up, but I want to say during a math class. My creativity likes to run wild when I'm supposed to be doing something else that I don't want to, quite honestly. Anyhow, thank you for the review! I hope you keep reading!
Silver Tears 11 – Haha! No, Zexion wasn't thinking murder at this point, but he definitely had a few choice words to say to their Superior that he wasn't allowed to at this point. xD Let's see, here's the list of the animals:
Zexion – weasel
Lexaeus – bear
Vexen – tortoise
Xigbar – porcupine
Xaldin – raccoon
Saïx – wolf
Axel – fox
Marluxia – monkey
Larxene – firefly
Luxord – horse
Roxas – cat
Naminé – mouse
Demyx – rabbit
That's it thus far, but you haven't learned the Superior's animal yet. ;;; Thanks for the review!
Firewolf – I'm glad you enjoy it and I've been working on fixing that, so it's good to see that I've accomplished a little bit in that respect. Though, 30ish chapters means I'm about 1/3 done with this fic! Yay! Hope you keep reading!