"Demyx! Where are we going? Slow down!"
The mullet-haired boy ignored Olette's protests as he continued to drag her down the path. They passed the barnyard on their way, where an old, wrinkled woman with bad eyes looked up and greeted them. She smiled a crooked-toothed smile and gave a thumb up to Demyx, who returned the gesture and smirked giddily. Someone was covering for them back at the castle now, and hopefully any nearby soldiers wouldn't question their supposed shirking.
Olette still looked baffled at this, but she saw the gleam in Demyx's eye and sighed, willing herself to go along with it. She should be glad the boy was finally perking up a bit, but it wold certainly help if he told her why he was so giddy in the first place!
Finally, after what seemed like hours, Demyx turned away from the woman and motioned for them to move on, drawing a finger to his lips and nodding happily. His friend followed obediently, and the two of them walked for only minutes more before stopping just outside the crop field.
When Olette raised an eyebrow at this, Demyx chuckled and pointed to a small, wooden surface just below. It looked like an old cellar door, with a rusted handle on the top that looked about ready to fall off.
"We go in through here. Gimme a second to pull this up." And, true to his word, Demyx had the door up in no time, revealing a dark hole and cold stairs underneath.
The brunette shook her head nervously. She didn't like cold, dark places.
"Why do we have to go down there? You still haven't told me why!"
"It's because it wasn't safe at the castle," he said simply, flicking the ring a few times with his index finger. "Speaking of which, we'd better hurry before any guards come by. They might think this looks a little odd..."
Just a little? She thought humorlessly.
"What stupid little game have you come up with now, Demyx? You know I'm scared of dark places!" She eyed him harshly, looking anything but amused. "Is this some kind of a sick joke?"
"No, no, I swear! Listen, we need to get down there before the meeting starts!"
"Meeting?" she asked skeptically. "What kind of meeting?"
"Ugh, woman, will you please just get in there?" The blond whined, slapping his forehead harshly in irritation. His patience and good mood were already beginning to slip away. "It's about Roxas!"
Olette blinked, suddenly very curious.
"Roxas?"
"Yes, Roxas! Now get in the hole! We're pushing our luck here!"
His friend scowled for a minute, then reluctantly nodded, daintily stepping down onto the stairs and forcing herself underground. Demyx followed at once and shut out the rest of the light, causing Olette to scream and whip around, reaching for the wall frantically.
"Hey, relax!" he said quickly, placing his hand comfortingly on her shoulder. "I'll have a light in just a minute. Just think of yourself as a seed, you know? Seeds go underground all the time, and they don't freak out about the dark! It's nice and warm and helps them feel better!"
"R-Right..." She didn't sound too convinced. But soon, Demyx had a lantern out, and he took her hand as he stepped ahead, leading her down deeper into the old cellar. She glanced about occasionally at the cracking dirt walls and scurrying little bugs, but soon thought better of that and looked ahead.
"So...what is this place? Why would there be a meeting down here?"
The tall blond in front of her shrugged. "Probably to avoid suspicion. Vexen thinks the villages are gonna try and rally against him, but I think he expects them all to gather in one place. Luckily for us, old Cid used to use this place to hide his ale and liquor stores, so no body really remembers this is down here."
Olette frowned slightly. "But wouldn't that still be too many people gathering in one place? Wouldn't someone notice all the weird people filing into the crop fields?"
Demyx grinned back, looking over his shoulder confidently.
"That's why each village selected a representative to come and meet here. Less people, easier to get things done. Now, all we need is for Zack to get here and then we can start!"
When they finally reached the bottom of the stairs there was a wooden door at the end of a narrow corridor. Demyx walked straight up to it and tapped twice, and then a gruff voice spoke on the other side of the door.
"The hell do you want, brat? This meeting's fer adults only! Go on, git!"
"Aw, don't be like that, Cid!" Demyx whined loudly, ignoring Olette's startled look completely. "I've got important stuff to say too!"
"Too bad! Now get yer butt back up to the kitchen and do somethin useful!"
"No!" he said firmly, standing his ground and planting his feet to make a point. "Zack said I could stay! Besides, Roxas is my friend! If there's anything I can do to help him out, I'll do it!"
"That goes for me too!" chimed Olette, finally having found her voice. "We're not leaving til you let us in!"
There was silence on the other end. Cid seemed to think things over quickly, and decided against forcing them away, because mere moments later, the door creaked open, granting them entry into the new room.
The two teens stepped inside and gaped around. There was quite a crowd assembled there, for having only so many villages. There had to be at least thirty people all squeezed into the cellar! The walls were lit with old torches wedged into the dirt and stone, and people were scattered as much as possible, sitting on crates and barrels as they waited for the captain's arrival.
"Maybe he chickened out and ran off..." sang a thin, vicious-looking blond woman, glancing at a knife in her hand absently. 'Hmph...Wouldn't be the first time the guy in charge fails to follow through..."
Demyx turned to look at the woman angrily, about to open his mouth when-
"Oh really now? Well, sorry to disappoint."
Every head turned to the back of the cellar, and in stepped Zack, the man of the hour. His hair was dark and spiked up fiercely on his head, that same goofy, carefree smile gracing his lips. He was tall and muscular; not overly bulky, but broad in the chest and shoulders. Decked out in his light armor, the man strode confidently forward, coming to stand before the crowd in the center of the room.
The blond woman snorted. "About damn time..."
"Sorry to keep all you fine folks waiting," he said smoothly, shooting a casual smile to everyone within a four foot radius. "Now, what say we get down to business and talk about why we're all here?"
"You're kidding, right Zack? We're here to take down Vexen!" One man shouted. Several others behind him took up the cheer, and the captain waved his hands placatingly.
"Now, now...It's true we've all got a bit of a beef with old Vexen," He gestured up with his thumb, pointing to the castle. "But we can't just go around killing everyone who looks at us wrong..."
The room suddenly burst into arguments; everyone calling out at once in anger and protest.
"The bastard deserves to rot!"
"Down with Vexen!"
"I want my husband back!"
"Alright, alright!" Zack said loudly, finally looking a bit more serious. "Settle down, people!" Even with all his beating around the bush, though, Demyx had to admire his captain. He kept his temper in tough situations and knew exactly what he needed to do to get a reaction from the masses. He seemed young and cocky, but all the while he was thinking; reading people, analyzing what was useful and putting it aside for just the right time. He was the kingdom's best tactician.
"Before you decide to go running off and do something stupid, who's gonna be the one to take the throne once Vexen is gone?"
There was a moment as several mouths opened and closed simultaneously. People seemed ready to speak, but thought better of it and kept silent. Thus, the room became quiet as people pondered this new question. Who would rule after Vexen was gone?
Fidgeting slightly, Demyx finally spoke up. "Roxas will, of course!"
Several villagers gasped at the outburst, looking around and murmuring to each other nervously now. Zack merely sat down on one of the barrels of ale and leaned back against the wall, looking over the room with a sly smile.
"What part of 'the brat is dead' don't you understand, kid?" snapped the blond woman again. She glared angrily as a pink-haired man came up quickly beside her, taking hold of her shoulders firmly.
"He's deceased! Passed on! Gone to meet his maker! Get your story straight, ya little prick- Would you get off of me?" She tried to shake the man off, but he shook his head and held her still, looking less than amused.
Demyx strode into the middle of the circle then, addressing the whole crowd of people loudly. "I know what I said before, but Roxas isn't dead! I lied to keep him safe, so that Vexen wouldn't try to kill him again!"
More gasps followed, along with heated arguments. The blond woman finally shrugged off the man and strode right up to Demyx, matching his angry stare perfectly.
"Oh? So if that's true, then the little brat's been hiding all this time! That's even better!" she scoffed, her shrill voice full of venom. "The baby prince ran off and left us all here to die so that he could go make a cozy life for himself out-"
"SHUT UP! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!"
Everyone stopped and stared at Demyx. Even Zack looked a bit unsettled as he watched the boy's fists clench and shake, his shoulders hunching and trembling with them. The normally sweet and docile blond was furious, and those that knew him best stood in awe of his blind anger. It was a bit terrifying to see.
Before the woman could retort, Demyx cut her off.
"Roxas is alive! I know, because I was the one ordered to kill him!" He then let that sink in for a moment, completely missing Olette's sad, pained gaze as she watched him near the doorway.
"I was told to make it look like an accident; to kill him off quietly and blame it on bandits! But I couldn't do it, even when Vexen threatened to hurt my family because of it!" He spat the name with disgust. "And Roxas wasn't just afraid for himself! He was afraid for me, for my family, for all of you!" he shouted, glad to see some guilt showing on those previously disbelieving faces.
"He knew that if he returned home, Vexen would punish me and try to kill him again! I had to beg him, push him to leave and hide in the forest, just so that he could have a chance to return one day and reclaim his right! He did this more for us than himself; to keep us hopeful!"
There was silence for a moment as his words sunk in, but the pink-haired man came up beside the woman again, this time touching her shoulder comfortingly as she seethed.
"Back off, Larxene," he said simply, eyes turned to Demyx with a small look of respect. "It's not worth the fight..."
"Not worth the fight?" she snarled, turning on him and slapping his hand away viciously. "That old bastard murdered my husband in cold blood! That brat should have been here to-"
"There's nothing he could have done," snapped Demyx, looking between them now with only dull irritation. "Roxas's birthday is still two weeks away. He can't take the throne until he comes of age, and until then, he's just as powerless to stop Vexen as we are."
"You say he went into the border forest," the pink-haired man said, covering Larxene's mouth as she started to spew off more obscenities. "How do we even know that the prince is still alive?"
Just as Demyx looked down in despair and the crowds began voicing their agreement, a new person stepped into the center of the ring.
"Because I've seen him."
The man was tall with short, almost bleached-looking blond hair, wearing simple traveling clothes and a long, dark cloak over his shoulders.
"And just who are you?"
The man smirked at the rising murmurs. "My name is Luxord. I'm just a lowly miner from the border forest, and happen to know that the prince is stayin with an old friend of mine. I've visited him. As of a few days ago, he was alive and kicking."
The people didn't know what was stranger about this man's words. The fact that he'd seen the prince alive so recently, or the fact that he traveled the border forest and came out unharmed!
"Maybe the rumors are false..."
"So the prince is really alive?"
"Alright, settle down people!" Zack said loudly, getting up and moving to stand beside Luxord in the circle.
"You heard what he said! We have an heir again! Isn't that wonderful?" He said the last bit a little sarcastically, ignoring the rolling eyes of some of the villagers. "Now, maybe we should figure out how to get him back here, and then see what's to be done about the old crow up there?"
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
As the meeting progressed, a few attendants still seemed reluctant to believe all of this; Larxene specifically. She was still very bitter about the loss of the man she loved, even if she knew Marluxia and the others were probably right. But how could her cousin or any of these people really understand what it felt like? Her husband wasn't just taken away and locked in a dungeon like so many others! He was dead, not even buried properly! She'd seen it with her own two eyes!
Luxord spoke now and again about little things he'd heard. He hadn't spoken to Roxas very personally, but knew enough to say that something was off about things in the forest lately. There were strange killer creatures, ones that weren't just rumors and fairytales. One had apparently gone after Roxas and roughed him up pretty bad, but somehow the kid was still alive. Luxord said he had reason to believe that it was completely unnatural, something that was made by very strong, very old magic.
Zack looked concerned at that, turning back to the people seriously.
"I have a bad feeling that someone knows Roxas is still alive. I'll set a few of my men to keep a close eye on Vexen. The rest of you should stay on high alert. As soon as possible, I'll organize a party to go rescue the prince, and when I return, we'll formulate an appropriate plan of attack. I'll have it delivered by messenger to as many villages as I can, and once the message reaches you, you should get as many people together as you can and march with us to the castle. And don't worry about the guards in town; most of em are loyal to me," he added with a smug smirk. "We'll hit Vexen hard before he even knows what's happening!"
Several people cheered the captain on, while Larxene scoffed and walked over to the door. They shouldn't be so sure that they were guaranteed her village's help. If she saw it as what was best for her people, she'd tear up the message and never speak of it again. It'd serve them right, she thought bitterly...
But just then a couple of scouts burst through the door; one with a tall hair style similar to Demyx's, and the other with short, wavy blond hair in a loose cut. The boys waved Zack over immediately and began whispering in his ear, but Larxene was near enough to hear, not caught up in the chatter of the already celebrating villagers.
"He's what?"
"We told you, sir, " the blond boy said, looking a bit breathless. "The guards have checked everywhere. Vexen is no where to be found."