17 DAYS OF HELL

A Kingdom Hearts fanfiction

Kingdom Hearts is property of Square Enix and Disney.

This fanfiction is purely for entertainment – please do not get offended.

Enjoy…

-- DAY THREE –-

2–3 Years Old

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This chapter is dedicated to my Grandfather, who passed away in November.

Love you forever, Grandad :) xxx

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He was in a bad mood. He had been in a bad mood ever since he woke up this morning. Maybe there was something in the water or someone had tampered with his specially made toothpaste again. If the toothpaste was spearmint with a hint of orange then he would leave the bathroom with sparkling teeth and the hint of a smile. If the toothpaste was peppermint then he would storm out of his room and throw the tube at the first person who walked past. Usually that person was Demyx, who woke as soon his Traverse Town Sun Dial started cheeping; however, there had been the occasions where he had hit Xaldin, Zexion and even Xemnas. He knew that it was none of their faults that his breath was peppermint fresh but that horrible stuff sent him into a menacing rage. He hated peppermint ... with a passion. Peppermint was the bane of existence ... or non-existence ... it was the energy drink of every evil being that ever lived.

Luckily for him, cooking soothed his frazzled nerves, which meant none was the wiser.

"Needs more salt," Saix decided as tasted the thick stew he was in the process of making. A small pinch was all it needed before it was a fine delicacy fit for King Mickey himself. The Organisation really were privileged to have the honour of eating the food he prepared. He had always said that if he wasn't a part of the Organisation then he would open his own chain of restaurants.

Saix heard a sound and turned to see a small head peering through the door, looking cautiously around the room.

"What do you need, Zexion?" he asked in a loud voice, hoping the child would back away and close the door behind him.

However, the lucky fairy did not sprinkle her magically dust over him because Zexion pushed the door open more and walked in. He did not need this right now. King Mickey could have broken into the castle and smacked him in the face with a wet fish and it would have not have made a difference to his facial expression.

"Been punished," replied Zexion sheepishly.

Saix arched a brow. Had he heard correctly? Zexion was here purely as a form of punishment? Exactly whom was being punished though?

"You've been sent here as punishment?" he asked, stirring the stew but not turning his attention away from the small child.

Zexion nodded.

"By whom?" he inquired, adding an additional pinch of salt to the stew.

The little schemer continued to stare at Saix, merely replying, "Maru."

"For what reason?"

"Fishbowl."

Well that was very cryptic, he thought. It wasn't like he needed to know the reasons behind Zexion's so-called punishment; however, sometimes his curiosity did get the better of him. At this particular moment curiosity was gnawing away at his mind but he half assumed that this was nothing more than Marluxia's way of making himself feel better for the horrendous situation he was in. I wouldn't put it past him to do something like this, he speculated to himself. Marluxia played a game where he made up the rules as he went along and if those rule are not adhered to, he would find a cruel and sadistic way to enforce them. And this is the man who the Superior has put in charge of a small child, believing some good will come out of it...

Turning his back to Zexion, Saix continued to season the food. The only thing he needed to do was add the potatoes and leave to simmer. Well, he wasn't going to let the little cretin in the kitchen disturb his pleasant cookery downtime.

It turned out to be a task easier said than done. Wherever he turned, Zexion was stood in his way.

"You're still here?" he grumbled, not even bothering to face the child. He had no reason to as it was blatantly obvious to anyone with a brain that Zexion was the only one here who could be engaged in conversation.

"Mm," Zexion murmured, brows knitted together and tongue stuck out in concentration. When Saix refused to pay him heed, he decided to use this opportunity to catch up on his motor skills and artistic abilities. Unfortunately, his canvas and materials were reduced to a serving plate, sugar and a glass of water. It didn't stop his creative vibe from bursting through though. He poured the whole bag of sugar onto the plate and used his fingers as paintbrushes, manipulating the picture. Adding droplets of water, he realised, changed the texture of the sugar and used this to his advantage when creating his mini masterpiece. He wasn't too sure where the detailed imagery came from or these strange words that suddenly entered his mind. They were foreign, yet strangely familiar at the same time, which, his mind argued, was impossible. Nevertheless, he allowed his fingers to move of their own accord and stared down at the pictures he drew. A heart with the words 'Regnum Pectus pectoris' scrawled beneath. An open book with 'Ignes' on one page, and 'Fatui' on the other, and finally a wall with a broken word on either side – 'illu' on the left and 'sio' on the right. He couldn't stop the corners of his face from lifting as he looked down at the plate of creativity. He had the feeling that this was the greatest achievement of his life...

Zexion laughed as he smeared away what he had drawn and replaced it with a quickly scrawled dog standing on its hind paws and howling at the moon. "Saix, doggy," he squeaked loudly.

Falling prey to the insufferable 'nervous twitch', Saix's right eye began to convulse at an alarming rate. This habit was something that had developed over recent months due to certain members of the organisation being unable to hold their tongues. Why they felt the need to go to so much effort in comparing him to the canine breed was beyond him. Sometimes it was like being in charge of a group of small children with the occasional boring stiff thrown in (for good measures, of course). Surprisingly, Marluxia wasn't one of the ones who tormented him so. He assumed it was because he too was subjected to torment because of his unique abilities. However, saying that, Marluxia did manage to torment him some way or another.

"Look!" Zexion shouted, his voice demanding attention.

Sighing, Saix turned half-heartedly and arched a brow. "What do you want?" he asked, uninterested.

"Look!" he repeated.

Shading his head, Saix turned back to his cooking. He would not be ordered to do something by a mere child. It was unheard of!

"Look at my picture," Zexion whined, drawing out each syllable. "Look at my picture! Look! Picture! Picture! Look!"

"Fine!" he growled, throwing the spoon down on the work surface and storming over to Zexion. "What am I looking at then?"

Zexion smiled sweetly at the older Nobody. "Never mind," he said, quickly rubbing the picture away.

The protruding vein on Saix's forehead throbbed so much that he was certain his head would explode at any given moment, which would not look very appealing splattered across the pristine walls. It would also be a bitch to clean.

"I hate children," he muttered under his breath.

"'M gonna read, kay?" Zexion said, pushing himself off the chair.

"You stay where you are," Saix ordered in an irritated voice, pointing to the plate of sugar, "Until you have cleaned that up."

Zexion looked down at the sugar before looking at Saix and asking, "Why?" in a serious tone.

Saix stared, his eyebrows arched to match his astonishment. "Why? Because I said so, that's why."

Zexion pouted as Saix turned his back and continued his work. "That's not fair," he whined.

"It isn't, is it?" Saix replied in a strangely cheerful voice. "Oh well..."

The child looked around before he slowly picked the plate up and poured the sugar onto the floor. "Done," he beamed, wiping his hands together before he jumped off the chair and rushed out the door before Saix could shout at him.

-

The day had finally ended, much to the relief of everyone in the castle. It had been eventful and Zexion had managed to keep nearly everyone on their toes. He had also managed to make a lifelong enemy of Saix. Whether it was the incident with the sugar or refusing to eat the food, no-one knew. However, one thing was certain, Saix was not impressed when Zexion informed them that he would only have ONE spoonful of food and would eat biscuits for the rest of the meal.

Nevertheless, that was all over and everyone was fast asleep...

"Zexion, for the last time, go to sleep!" Marluxia sighed, rubbing his eyes and temples to relieve the throbbing sensation.

"Not until you read me a story," he replied, fully awake and smiling.

"I'm not reading you Lord of the Rings."

Hugging the extremely large book, Zexion complained. "But I want it. I'll go straight sleep ... promise..."

Groaning, Marluxia took the book and opened it. "'When Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton. Bilbo was very rich and very peculiar, and had been the wonder of the Shire for sixty years, ever since his remarkable disappearance and remarkable return'," he read, looking up at Zexion. When he noticed that Zexion's eyes were closed, he skipped to the end. "'He drew a breath. 'Well, I'm back,' he said.' The end."

Closing the book, Marluxia pushed himself from the bed and quickly made a rush for the door. He did not want to risk waking the child up.

"You cheated. Start again!" Zexion shouted, sitting straight in bed and pointing at Marluxia.

Lightly banging his head against the door, Marluxia sighed as he turned, dragging his feet across the room.

-

TO BE CONTINUED

NEXT CHAPTER: DAY FOUR: PART ONE

Author's Notes: Okay. First, I want to apologise for taking so long with this chapter. I've had a lot of problems but to cut a long story short: my grandfather passed away and I've not been in the mood to write anything remotely humorous. So hopefully you can all forgive me ... also, nothing much happened in this chapter, as you can tell. I just wanted to try my hand at Saix and didn't want to write another scene where they are all eating because it would be rather repetitive lol.

Anyway. I was going to try and get this out for Christmas time (as well as my birthday ... 25 - I'm getting OLD lol) but decided to leave it until after because the part I wanted to write just wouldn't fit in this chapter. So, the next chapter will be my belated Xmas and New Years treat to you all :) Believe me; it won't take me as long to get the next chapter out because I'm rather excited to write it :)

Lastly, please don't mention in reviews that I spell Organisation without the 'z' because it's a British spelling thing that I really cannot change. Force of habit, I'm afraid. It would be like me trying to spell 'colour' 'behaviour' or 'centre' like 'color' 'behavior' or 'center'. It baffles me lol. So, there you have it. It's a deliberate mistake :)

Right. A few review responses:

thegreatwhitewolf - Zexion is just too adorable, isn't he. It was fun to write a chapter from his POV ... a nice change. A yes, a moody Marluxia is EXTREMELY fun to write :)
jessica jawface - Yup, I destroyed England ... mainly because I, too, am from England. It gives me an excuse to flea to the Pride Lands lol.
Reno-is-a-Turk - cannot wait to see that pic you did :)
Susumi - How I love reading your reviews :) i'm so glad I'm not the only one who names things. My laptop is named Tatsumi (yes, after the character) and he strangely lives up to the name. He hates it when I play games and turns himself off after 10 minutes (not through overheating) but LOVES it when I do real work like writing and assignments. He also likes to connect to all the unsecured internet connections when my other laptop cannot lol. Anyway. I do believe it was Shakesphere with the whole 'world is your oyster' ... 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' I think but it has been over 10 years since I studied Shakespeare. And yes, getting in the mind of Zexion was fun ... trying to have him express this child-like innocence yet being himself at the same time is just a joy :)
- hehe, the pot part was classic gold, IMHO. It seems so him lol
KradsLover - return of the fishes indeed. I can inform you that the other alive fish will be making an appearance too lol.
WonderlandSyndrome - I'm glad that I'm managing to portray a child's way of thinking. I think I spend hours thinking back to all the experience I've had with kids (my own family and work/uni too) and finding ways of how I can transfer their behaviours into here.
Akarui Siren - Still loving the doujin :) I really need to get round to logging into DA and replying to you there but I got bored of it (kinda like facebook lol). Oh, if you do start selling plushes, I'm so buying one (or two) off you :) Anyway. I'm glad you managed to find another job ... I finally managed to bag myself a job too :D So happy.
Nitroglycerin - I have something in mind for Zexion using his powers but it won't be for another few years lol
Lighthawke - Have I ever said that Demyx is an idiot? Also, how is someone playing with toys an idiot? Children enjoy having others to interact with when they are playing ... it encourages them, especially if they are having difficulties. Play does happen to be a vital part of children's development. Also, people that help children through play are called 'Play Workers' just in case you think I'm talking bull. Also, for the aging thing hurting ... it might but this is humour, which means that alot of things can happen that doesn't have to make sense. The joys of the genre :)
ZackFairIsTheMan09 - I'm rather flattered that you want me to write a story based on your idea. However, the story of a random baby in the Organisation is too much like this story and I would probably end up writing the exact same things without realising it. Sorry. I think I have more chance of writing a story where Marluxia is turned into a cat than another baby story lol

Right. Thank you everyone who has reviewed but not mentioned. They really do cheer me up and give me a lot of courage in my writing abilities. No matter how many people tell me my writing is good, I just don't believe them lol.

So. Upload won't be TOO long. Hope you enjoyed the chap :)

-Bexi