CHAPTER XII
You Played the Role of Superglue
(NOTE)
Wow. I really have no plans for this chapter, so here's to winging it. It will probably be one of those relief chapters, so... please don't hurt me... :dodges flying scorpions: Whoa, scorpions? You guys are finding new torture tactics all the time, eh?
(/NOTE)
"Nobodies?!" Parker exclaimed angrily as he threw his fist against the table. Broden really should have been unnerved by his brother's rage, but he sat on the chair with his feet up on the table, staring at the ceiling nonetheless. "How in the world did she get the powers to control Nobodies?!" he asked, this time his temper rising even higher.
"Beats the hell outta me." Broden admitted, counting the number of specks on his shoes.
"Are you the least bit serious about this?" asked Parker. Broden through his hands up.
"Hey, hey. I didn't choose to go on this side, alright? I think it's random. Up for Monopoly?" he asked. Parker put his hand on his forehead and shook his head furiously.
"I don't think you understand the importance of this. The importance of retrieving Blue Hour and engulfing the worlds." Parker told him.
"You know what? I really kinda don't." Broden admitted, "What's the point? Even if so, it's August 27th. The thirtieth is in three days; and that's when they have to unseal Kingdom Hearts. You think they can make it in three days?"
"I think they can, and that's why you have to be more serious about this!" he shouted.
Broden laughed, "You think they can make it? Maybe that's why the Dark wielders are failing so miserably under your command."
Parker glared at his younger brother, "You really think you can do better?"
Shaking his head, Broden responded, "I don't want to do better. I still don't get the point in all this. What are you going to get if you cover the worlds in darkness?"
"Domination. Simple as that." Parker responded, his knuckles now white from pressure on his fists. "Domination."
"You," started Broden, now the slightest bit serious and standing up, walking towards Parker, "will not have domination. The Heartless will have domination; everything dark in the world will swallow you up. You're creating your own death."
"Liar." Parker hissed.
Broden laughed again, "Think what you want. I'm going out." he said, shutting the door behind him and walking through a portal outside. "I wonder if that Exie girl will be there."
xxxxx
Author's Note: Warning, things might get a little... suggestive. Well, sorta. I guess we'll see. Meanwhile, Charity was sleeping soundly in her bed, the moonlight serving as a night light from the darkness of the outside. Hollow Bastion had truly become her home away from home, considering Twilight Town had finally become a real home in her eyes only months into living there.
'Imagine,' Sada had said aloud, 'If you could give Nobodies a body of their own, and their Heartless a heart.'
She never remembered seeing this. But would that make much sense? Nobodies, after all, were not supposed to have hearts. At least, not the ones that pumped blood and kept you alive. But in a sense, did they truly have hearts? It surely seemed as though Roxas and Axel could feel. Exie and Nyx felt friendship, and Number II of the New Organization had felt pride for 'Xylia' when she killed him.
Wait.
How did she know that? Since when did she have all of these memories of Nessa?
Maybe it was because she was around her, a real Somebody, finally. Nessa looked more real now; like a real girl. Skin imperfect, glasses, a real looking smile. Although, even if she had known that her best friend was a Nobody, she wouldn't have stopped being friends with her. She never did.
"Who...?" asked Nessa.
Sada laughed, "It'd be great, wouldn't it?"
"Exie." came a deep voice. With a groan, Charity opened her eyes. It took her a second to adjust to the darkness that she had woken up to, her eyes blurry from the sleep that had gathered there. Surprised to see Broden on top of her on the bed, she jumped.
His eyes almost seemed fogged over, as if he had passed through a lot just to make it there. He seemed weak and was fumbling, and Charity struggled to get out.
"What the fuck?" asked Charity, trying to wrench her way out of the bed at this point, but Broden was pinning her down, and she couldn't struggle her way out.
"Broden," came Exie's voice as she slid out from Charity and appeared as a whole next to the bed.
"Exie?" asked Broden. He stood up and off of the bed. Exie quickly turned on the light, and caught Broden in a headlock where he was too weak to move out of.
"What the fuck is going on?" asked Charity, her temper rising only to remind her of Nessa at that moment.
"Realm of light, so I wouldn't dark wielders." was Broden's musty reply.
"What?" asked Exie, a bit more temperamental than Charity.
"I passed through the Realm of Light so I wouldn't be caught by Dark wielders." was his response, only to be slapped in the face by Exie.
"Are you crazy?" she asked. She was surprised at her own concern.
"We'll take him to Leon," Charity said to Exie, "He'll know what to do."
"No, no..." Broden mumbled, "I'm done, I'ma help."
"First, we have to get you something. A medication. Something addictive. Obviously you screwed up your head in that realm." Charity groaned as she went to go get some of what Cloud took when he was stressed out. He always took a lot, so she was worried about whether or not there would be much left.
"Exie, let's go away to Destiny Islands and get married and have a lot of sex, and..." this boy was obviously out of his mind. Exie, understanding, pat him on his head.
"You can sleep on the couch, okay?" she offered, bringing him out.
As if on perfect timing, Sora had walked out to take his fifth trip to the bathroom for the night (although not even half done yet) and screamed like a little girl when he saw Broden.
"Dark wielder! Dark wielder!" and he started making noises like a siren.
"No pills left." Charity sighed.
"I think we've found our culprit." Exie pointed out Sora.
Charity sighed heavily, "Sora, again?!" she asked angrily. He was generally level-headed and the unspoken leader, but sometimes he was just too much. Charity quickly led him to his bedroom and locked him inside.
"I have to go to the bathroom!" was Sora's mugged reply.
"Maybe a bunch of Elixers will work." Exie suggested, obviously not thinking due to the lateness. She reached into Leon's pocket of his pants which were suspiciously lying on the floor of the house (with Cloud's next to his) and odd noises were coming from his room, and pulled out three elixers. She quickly threw up about all of the elixers up above his head, and they dissolved right above him.
Suddenly, without warning, Broden got up and started to dance around wildly, "I got the magic stick," he sang as he began to pull off his shirt.
"No, no, no." Exie said quickly, pulling his shirt back on him as if she was dressing a baby, "What the fuck is going on today?" she groaned.
"Besides the fact that we're holding a runaway Dark wielder in a house full of committee members, no less, who just made it through the light realm and is now drunk on elixer while Leon and Cloud are doing something questionable in another room? I dunno." Charity admitted.
Exie found herself chuckle, "So I've noticed. What do we do with him?"
"I'll show you ma-agic, WHAT, WHAT? Ma-a-gic," sang Broden loudly.
"We can't keep him here," Charity winced at the loud and off-key singing of this magic-drunk boy, "maybe we can bring him outside."
"Ready?" asked Exie, "Set? Lift!" Exie was grabbing the boy by the legs and Charity by the shoulders, and they were slowly lifting a boy off outside.
"Charity? Exie?" came a voice as the lights flashed on. They dropped Broden straight to the floor, only to hear him sing 'My Humps' to everyone in sight.
Standing by the entry way was Merlin in a tank top and short-shorts, "Are you lasses snagging some hot sex tonight?" he asked.
"What is wrong with this household?!" Exie screamed. Even Charity couldn't explain everyone's odd behavior that day. Author's Note: I can. I'm bored. :3
"Are you?" he asked, crazily wagging his left eyebrow.
"It's not that, he was just, well, we were...! Yes." Charity decided to leave it at with a sigh. Merlin joined Broden in the singing of 'My Humps' as he left back for his room and turned the light off. Charity shuddered.
"Let's get out of here." Exie said, quietly.
xxxxx
Charity woke up with a headache. The sleep was once again gluing her eyes together, and she had to struggle to open them up again. Something happened last night; what was it? She suddenly remembered as she flipped around and saw Exie sleeping on a fold-out bed on the floor;
Broden happened.
"Fuck." Charity groaned; and she thought she had refrained from cursing too often because her whole life seemed to be rated 'e' for everyone, maybe not lately anyway.
"Charity, maybe you can explain this." came Leon's voice as he entered her room. His arms were crossed and he seemed to have had a rough night, "There is a boy with some kind of a hangover sleeping in the garden."
"...Repeat that please?" asked Exie, standing up and dusting off her Organization uniform.
"Boy. In the garden. My elixers are gone." Leon clarified.
"Unh." Charity murmured, standing up.
Leon's eyes suddenly widened as he tried to draw conclusions. "Charity. What about Riku? Have you forgotten him already?"
"Of course I— wait, you think I...?" Charity let out a scream of anger, and walked out of the room in her pajamas as well as out of the house. Broden was staring half-asleep at the bright sun above him from the garden.
"Tell us now that you're not high on elixer or light," Exie told him, as she followed Charity out of the house, "Why are you here? Spy?"
"I'm here to get away from that bullshit and to see you. Simple as that." he said as if it was nothing, and snapped at a butterfly that landed on his shoulder.
"So what you mean to say... is...?" asked Charity.
"I'm gonna help you unlock Kingdom Hearts." he told them, and their eyes slowly widened, "Just to destroy the keyblades. This whole fight has gotten stupid."
Exie found that an odd choice of words as she lifted an eyebrow, "How are we supposed to believe that you switched over?"
"I gave you the piece of Blue Hour, didn't I?" he asked them, "I guess I never really was on the Dark wielders' side to begin with."
"We're going after Marluxia," Charity told him, "we'll give you one chance, and if you're okay, then you can stay with us. Just no more traveling through the Light realm. 'Kay?" she asked.
"Got it." he said, and Exie helped him up.
"We've got ourselves a problem," Cid told them as they walked in. Kairi, Sora, Quince, Nessa, and Roxas were all standing around the computer as Cid frantically clicked something they couldn't recognize.
"Whuhh?" asked Exie, trying to make sure that Broden didn't fall as he made his way through the door.
"The World that Never Was is all hazed over with darkness. Y'all will either have to wait a little while or split up and find Marluxia there." Cid told them.
"We'll split up," Sora suggested, "besides, we can't be sure if Marluxia's even there. Roxas, Axel, and Exie; you all go to The World that Never Was." It felt good for him to be giving orders again.
Suddenly but briefly, Naminé stepped out from Kairi, "I'm going, too. These three don't know how to use potions, so I'll heal them."
"I dunno about you getting hurt." Roxas murmured.
Naminé was either shocked at his concern or lack thereof, but shook her head, "I'm going." she argued.
"Me too," Broden said, "this could be the chance to prove myself." Exie and Charity frantically explained to the others exactly what was going on.
"And another world's back in view that hasn't been in a long time," Cid mentioned in his drawl, which was starting to get the least bit annoying, "Radiant Garden."
Cloud's breathing staggered, "I think I know why." He said this from the other side of the room, but was listening the whole time. Leon was sitting on the couch kitty-corner from him, and glanced over as well.
"Alright. Me, Kairi, Charity, Nessa, and Cloud will go." Sora said.
"I have to go alone." Cloud insisted.
"No, you don't." Sora argued, "I know who's there. We won't get in your way of that, but Marluxia might be there."
Kairi stared at Sora with astonishment; he surely was not the happy-go-lucky boy that she used to know. So why did she still care for him? Probably because she was no longer the happy-go-lucky girl that he once knew either.
"Fine." Cloud said. The four Nobodies and dark wielder set through a dark portal, and the five others set forward towards the Gummi Ship.
xxxxx
"I can't really see much of a thing." Exie admitted as they made it into the world. It was so hazy and dark that almost nothing was visible to the untrained eye, no matter how much training Exie's eyes had gotten beforehand.
"Where d'you think...?" asked Roxas.
"Marluxia is?" Axel finished. He tried not to breathe in too heavily, but looked far forward, "Forward?" he took a stab in the dark.
Because nobody could come up with a better idea, they all ran forward down the road. Surprisingly enough, no buildings or Nobodies flew at them. This was probably due to the fact that if Marluxia was there he wasn't expecting any visitors.
"Where's the Blue Hour?" came a much too familiar voice behind the group.
"Riku?" asked Exie as they flipped around. He was donning black and red clothing, and had an enigmatic look on his face that the rest of them just couldn't seem to figure out or put together to make an expression they knew.
Roxas shifted with his backpack that held the short-reach keyblade. Because he couldn't wield it himself until Nessa was back, he was asked to carry it around, even though he forgot to give it back to her.
"Whaddya mean, Sephiroth's bastard child?" asked Axel. Author's Note: I just love saying that. It fits so well. xD
"Marluxia needs the Blue Hour. Hand it over." he demanded out of Roxas.
Roxas immediately felt old feelings boil up in his gut as he was commanded by Riku. "Why the hell would I give it to you?" he asked.
"Why are you acting like this, is the better question." Exie admitted, folding her arms and waiting for an explanation.
The silver-haired boy blinked and cast his eyes so they weren't looking into any pair of eyes the group had held. "I can't tell you that."
"Yes, you can." Broden murmured.
Riku looked over at him, "Replace me already?"
"Riku, are you even out of the darkness?" asked Exie.
"If it's none of you that has it," Riku said quietly, as if he was trying to talk about something secret, "tell me where it is."
"Where's Marluxia?" asked Axel, his fiery red hair standing on end as he turned the tables on Riku. Things had certainly taken a turn for the worst.
"I guess I have no choice." Riku pulled out Way to Dawn and pointed it at the five.
"Riku..." Naminé mumbled, but found herself unable to continue. It wasn't long before she noticed something shimmering at the bottom of his left eye as he charged for the group with his powerful Keyblade.
xxxxx
"Nothing. Totally empty." Charity said angrily as she crossed her arms so hard that she cut off the circulation to them.
"Not totally. Cloud found Sephiroth." Nessa mentioned.
"I guess." She sighed heavily, "I wonder how they're doing at The World that Never Was."
"We should go back and find out, then." Cloud said. He had just come back from obviously a very brutal battle; blood was gushing from everywhere, and the whole group had instinctively given him a potion each. He immediately felt better.
"Are you alright?" asked Kairi.
"I'm fine." he lied. They took the Gummi Ship back to Merlin's house, only to receive shocking news from Cid's computer.
"There's three presences picked up from the radar," he said, "One's from Marluxia; you guys can go over there and help once the fog clears up. The other's from the Nobodies and Broden, nat'rally. The last is from Riku."
Charity's heart skipped a beat.
Author's Note: Short, I know, I'm sorry. Just a couple more chapters, though, and these next are going to be intense, AKA, not much more, if any, comic relief. Hey; I gave you guys a whole chapter! By the way, the whole suggestiveness with Leon and Cloud, totally Igor Lollipop's idea, not mine. D:
