It's Sunday night (actually it's not dark yet so technically I'm early) and as promised here's the new chapter! I apologize ahead of time for the length of this chapter, it may be the shortest I've written so far and is just barely a full 7 pages, I'm like two lines away from making it onto an 8th page XP but that's not important, what is important is that you read this and enjoy! I can't say when the next chapter will be up. I've got a couple pages done so far but there's a lot I have to write in the next chapter so be patient. As for now enjoy!

Chapter 14

Sinful Interactions

"Can you explain something to me?" Luxord asked, eyeing to two who just returned and were sitting at the bar.

"Sure," Roxas said, hoping he could maybe earn some points with another sin who didn't particularly like him.

"How is it that a newbie like you comes back without so much as a scratch and Riku comes back looking like such a mess?" Luxord's question triggered some laughter but they all wanted to know the answer, including Zexion who was busy treating the pretty severe wounds.

Riku looked annoyed to say the least and it was easy to see why. Luxord had turned their return into some sort of spectator sport in which he was the fool, "Come over here and I'll show you how I got them," he threatened in a way that sounded more like a promise.

"No thank you, I don't pick on weaklings, especially crippled ones," Luxord was only making him angrier and snickers turned into laughs as he was further mocked.

"Careful now, I don't want to have to deal with another Wrath priority," Axel added to the conversation which only fuelled the laughter. Even Roxas was laughing and for a brief moment things seemed to be the way they used to be. The virtues were nowhere to be found and he was sitting around the closed club with the people who'd changed his life.

"They're back?"

And like that Roxas was back in the present, not meaning to heave a sigh when he heard Seifer's voice. He looked over and saw him and the other virtues in the VIP area upstairs, "About time. It's been three days, what took ya?" Cid asked as he leaned over the guardrail.

"Excluding travel time we only spent a day and a half on the actual mission," Roxas told him, hoping to alleviate the annoyed stares.

"That's more than enough time, you should have worked harder," Seifer said in more of a hiss than a statement.

Roxas sighed and as he was about to get up and go join them Riku grabbed his arm and pulled him back onto the barstool, "Leave him alone, he worked hard," he said, surprising them all, especially Roxas. Was he really supporting him?! Kind words directed at him and from Riku?!

Seifer quickly masked his shock, "Then why is it you're the only one with damage?"

"Maybe I'm just a little sadistic like that," Riku said with a grin. Seifer scowled and walked back down the hall, leaving the other virtues to resume their conversation upstairs and the sins downstairs.

As he was leaving though Demyx snickered and looked at Roxas with a smirk, "He wants you."

"I know," Roxas murmured, smiling though when Axel reached over from behind the bar and put his arms around him. It was quickly broken up though as Xigbar said, "I think you'd best go upstairs now." Roxas knew he was right. He was still a virtue and while conversing was fine he knew he couldn't get too comfortable, so with a short nod he got up and headed for the stairs.

"Way to kill my happiness," Axel said with an annoyed sigh, leaning back against the bar and watching Roxas leave.

"You're still under heavy observation Axel, don't push your luck if you want to stay out of solitary," Zexion reminded him as he finished treating Riku's wounds, leaving him in perfect condition, "So how did you get those anyway?" It took a lot to hurt any of them, especially someone as fast as Riku.

"One of the revolutionaries killed himself and from best I can guess was possessed by a spirit after his soul left his body," Riku summed up, not keen on going into details.

"A shinigami?" Demyx asked, clearly curious as usual.

Zexion shook his head though, "No, suicide victims don't get escorts to hell. They wander the earth or get there by luck." His knowledge on death and matters associated with it might seem to some upsetting but it was valuable information and made him a priceless source of information in this case, "If he just recently killed himself before his body was reanimated it could only have been done by a powerful spirit who was in that area.

"Could've been a poltergeist, lots of them in northern France," Luxord suggested, going behind the bar to fix up some drinks. In his opinion alcohol helped solve all sorts of problems and this one should be no different, "Besides it's easier for them to cause trouble when they've got some kind of object to embody."

Zexion shook his head again though and thought for a moment, "I don't think so. Why would a poltergeist attack Riku?"

"Did you piss anyone off before you killed them?" Axel asked. It was a rather stupid question but a few of them laughed anyway.

"Well then what do you think it was?" Riku asked, ignoring Axel's question and looking to Zexion once the laughter ceased.

He thought for a very long moment before getting up out of his seat and saying, "Well I can't be sure really. It would be helpful if we knew what happened to the body after it finished what it was trying to do, which in this case was kill you. Another interesting thing is that he didn't bother trying to attack Roxas. He's clearly the weaker of you two and it would be sensible to finish him off first."

"Sensible yes, but maybe he and Axel have the same I.Q." Luxord said as he poured a green liquor into several glasses. Axel was the only one who didn't laugh at his joke and the redhead grumbled and crossed his arms, "Yeah that's right, let's make fun of Axel today."

"Plan to keep doing so till you get those extra inches on your hair trimmed," Demyx said, reminding him of the fact he still looked like quite a bum after a year with no taming, Back to the mystery man though. What can we do now but dismiss him? If he was a spirit he's passed on by now, right?"

"That's true. There's a time limit on how long a spirit has per body and they don't last long in weak ones," Zexion still didn't sound satisfied though.

Xigbar took one of the glasses Luxord poured and downed it in one shot, "It's a good thing the guy was French then."

"Hey!" Demyx retorted, not liking the jab at his country but the laughter from the others made it clear they did. Zexion was the only one who wasn't laughing aside from Demyx and he stared into the glass that Luxord handed him silently, "…I'm going to France. I'm still not even convinced it was a spirit and the only way to find out more is to examine the body."

"What? Why?" Riku asked, not really seeing a point, "The guy's gone by now."

Zexion seemed to be thinking heavily as he responded, "This is the first time anything like this has happened; or at least the first time any of us has witnessed it. Don't you think it's strange that it happens now of all times?"

He was right. They'd all heard of supposed possessions and sometimes they dealt with madmen, but never before had it happened during one of their missions, "I'll come too. I know the country and can help out I bet," Demyx insisted.

"It's settled then. But let's be sure and keep this from the virtues," Riku said with a bit of a grin as he glanced up to the group still in their VIP area, "I'd rather not have them trying to change the way we do things." Everyone agreed and that was when he realized something, there were only six of them there, "Where's Sora?"

"He left on a priority mission in South America two days ago," Xigbar told him, surprised he waited until now to ask, "Venezuela to be exact."

"He doesn't know two words of Spanish, how's he going to get anything done?" Riku asked with a sigh, getting the feeling it would be a few days before he saw Sora again.

As Zexion and Demyx left to pack Axel seized the opportunity to taunt him, "Aw, poor baby doesn't get his toy."

"At least I can actually hold a conversation with mine," Riku replied, not bothered by Axel's poor attempt at getting him mad, "There's only one thing you use Roxas' mouth for." As Axel lunged to strike him Xigbar grabbed him under the arms and restrained him. He was clearly mad and Riku grinned at his temper, "Once again you prove you deserve your sin Axel."

"And I have you to thank for it," Axel hissed, jerking free of Xigbar's grip and storming off.

Xigbar heard the door leading downstairs slam and he didn't bother looking, instead sitting back down with a sigh, "You haven't even been back for a week and he's already wanting to kill you again. You've got to stop making him so mad if he's ever going to get that temper under control."

"I want to make him mad," Riku said, turning back to the bar and buttoning his shirt up since he was healed, "He knows he's still in danger of going back into that box and while that threat is there we need to use it to our advantage. He won't erupt like he used to ever again, at least for now, so he has to work on controlling himself during this time."

"That's a rather dirty trick," Luxord commented, musing it over in his head as he scratched his chin.

Riku laughed a bit though, wondering if Luxord was scolding him for his actions which would only make him a hypocrite, "Are you mad at me?"

"No," Luxord said with a smirk as he poured himself another glass, "I just wish I'd thought of it first."

"They drink like fish," Squall said disapprovingly, glancing over the railing at the three sins at the bar, "It's a shame it can't kill them."

"No kidding," Cid shook his head but he was a notorious one when it came to the amount of alcohol he consumed in a weeks time. He nudged Roxas, who sat beside him and had been silent since he came upstairs, "So? How was France?"

"Cold," was all Roxas said, the lack of details clearly somewhat of a disappointment for them.

Tidus tried to find out more by asking, "Did you see anything interesting?"

Roxas didn't say anything at first. Should he tell them about the revolutionary that seemed to be possessed? It wasn't information crucial to their existence and it happened so far away it didn't seem important, "A lot of death."

Cid laughed and patted him on the back, seeming satisfied with the answer, "Don't sound so glum, it happens."

"Roxas," Cloud spoke up and Roxas looked over at him since he rarely spoke with him if at all, "That was the first time you killed someone wasn't it?"

"Well no I didn't really kill anyone…at least not face to face. Riku did most of it, I just…" he thought about it and realized that other than helping to set explosives he didn't have any hand in killing anyone, "…I just sort of let him handle it." He wondered if Riku had done it all on purpose. Was it to show that he was better or to protect him from the brutal reality of death?

"Let him handle it? What kind of lame ass excuse is that?" Cid asked, sounding disappointed and annoyed, "You're going to have to man up Roxas if you're going to represent us." Roxas sighed and looked back to the ground, not liking the sound of that. He didn't want to represent them; he didn't want any hand in this virtue buisness. All he wanted was…

"Yo, Roxas."

He looked up and saw exactly what he wanted, unable to keep from smiling as Axel came upstairs, "Zexion wanted me to tell you to go to bed. The time change from here to France is a pretty significant one and since you've got priorities you need to rest."

"Okay," Roxas said, getting to his feet and heading for the hall. Axel waited for him and put his arm around his shoulders before leading him towards their room, both of them stopping when Squall asked, "Where are you going Wrath."

Axel just looked back and stuck his tongue out, "Straight to hell," and with that said he turned back and continued down the hall. Roxas could feel the annoyed and disapproving stares but really didn't care right now. He hadn't seen Axel for three days and really missed him, even if it wasn't as long as their last time apart.

"This is going to be fun! Just the two of us on a nice trip to my homeland!" Demyx cheered as they loaded the last bag into the airship.

Zexion was glad he was excited but had to remind him, "Remember why we're going Demyx, according to Riku the cliff is-"

"I know, I know. I was there too when he gave us directions Zexion," he sighed, pulling a false hurt act, "I wish you'd have more faith in me."

Zexion laughed a little and shook his head before getting onto the ship, "I'll have faith in you when you earn it."

Upon hearing that Demyx hurried after him, "What does that mean?"

"It means-"

"We'll do it?"

Zexion turned around and pretended to focus on the computers, "I was kidding Demyx."

"So we can do it anyway?" Demyx asked, slipping around between him and the computers. He grinned when he saw how red his pale friend was and enjoying the fact he ruffled his feathers.

If anything could shut Demyx down it was a taste of his own medicine, a trick Zexion learned decades ago, "I suppose it could be fun," he said with a sigh, wiping the grin right off of Demyx's face, "And it is a long flight," he mused, leaning in and smiling sweetly, "We'd have plenty of time to do anything you want."

Abruptly Demyx ducked under Zexion's arm and scurried over to the other side of the room, "That's okay. I brought a dick of-I mean a deck! I brought a deck of cards," Demyx said quickly, clearly embarrassed and trying to cover it up.

Zexion thought his slip of the tongue was highly entertaining and laughed as Demyx sat down right there on the floor and took out his deck of cards, making sure Zexion saw them to prove he was right, "You're a very puzzling person."

"You're one to talk, I'm supposed to be the forward one," Demyx sighed, "Baiting me is no fun if you're not going to give me anything."

"Who said I wasn't going to give you anything?"

Demyx looked up from his cards abruptly dropping and scattering them accidentally. Zexion just laughed, "I'm kidding, you're so gullible lately," he said as the plane started to take off and the lights went off.

"…You know, I probably should have brought a game I can play in the dark," Demyx mused, wondering what inspired him to bring cards in the first place when he knew very well that there wouldn't be any lights.

"You could have brought Axel," Zexion said, "He can light the place up and you can play with him too." It was meant to be a joke but when he didn't hear Demyx laugh he realized something was wrong, "So what happened the other day?"

"Tuesdays are open," was all he said, explaining it all and sighing as he shuffled his cards blindly.

Zexion expected that and sat down in one of the chairs by the window as they shot ahead in the tunnel, hearing Demyx slide back across the floor and bump the wall, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay…he's happy," was Demyx's logic, though it was clear he wasn't happy.

"Well you know you're welcome to stay with me on your days off," Zexion reminded him, feeling bad for him and trying to lift his spirits. Demyx was the one who was always the most alive so when he was sad the universe just didn't feel right.

Demyx didn't say anything right away, taking a few minutes to think before laughing a little and shrugging off his despair, "Nah, don't want to risk ruining my Mondays." Even though it was too dark to see him Zexion could tell he wasn't smiling.

"So how awkward was it?"

"Almost as bad as it was waking up with you in bed that first time."

Axel and Roxas laughed and Axel pulled him closer, "Well I'm glad you made it back unharmed."

"Things went well for the most part. I never knew it got that cold over there though," Roxas said with a slight shiver as he remembered those freezing nights, "I tried to imagine you were there but it didn't work, and in my imagination you somehow kept setting our train on fire."

"Well I'm here now if that helps," Axel said, sounding hopeful.

Roxas smiled and nuzzled his face into his chest happily, "More than you know." A sudden thought occurred to him and he wiggled out of Axel's arms and ran over to the dresser. Axel watched him rummage through one of the drawers then turn around and hold up his prize, "Sit at the foot of the bed," he said, grinning as brightly as the scissors in his hands.

"Just get me back to normal length, no funny stuff," Axel sighed as he did as he was told, hoping he didn't end up with a haircut similar to Luxord's, "Just because I trust you with my life doesn't mean I trust you with my hair."

Roxas smiled a bit and when Axel had his back to him he ruffled a hand through the red mess and set to work, "Don't worry, I used to cut Sora's and mine all the time since money was tight," he told him, though their hair wasn't really something he could brag about, "You know I really wanted to be a hairstylist when I was little."

"Ah, so you were already questioning your sexuality that early in life?" Axel taunted, unable to resist the temptation.

Roxas had the advantage though and gave his hair a tug, "Keep in mind, I'm the one with the scissors here."

"Happy Monday!"

"What's so special about Monday?"

"Well I've decided to start a sort of self run business."

"What kind of business?"

"Lie down and I'll show you!"

"GAH! OFF!"

Zexion was awoken as the train whistle rang loudly. He looked groggily out the window at the approaching town, recognizing it from Riku's description as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He glanced over at the sleeping blonde whose head was on his shoulder along with a small puddle of drool. He could sleep through anything but breakfast and Zexion smiled as he nudged him awake, "Come on, this is our stop."

Demyx protested at first but eventually sat up and looked around, "…You know, I found the homeland much more pleasant to visit back when I was on the right sleep schedule," he complained while wiping off his damp cheek.

They got off the train, the ship only a few miles back but this place was too difficult to reach by air since there really wasn't any place to hide the ship. Boats were on the water, the sun was in the sky, and a salty breeze carried a pleasant sea air across the coast. They didn't waste any time taking in sights they'd seen before, going straight to the cliff but finding something unusual which definitely wasn't in Riku's description of the area, "What does it mean?" Demyx asked uneasily as he stared at the ground.

"It means what we're dealing with is probably what Larxene warned us about," Zexion said, staring at the cross scorched into the grass where a corpse of a revolutionary who'd shot himself lay in a crucifixion pose.

Demyx could only stare in silence as Zexion took out his phone and dialed Luxord's number, sure this was information he needed to relay as quickly as possible, "Demyx, get a few pictures." Demyx didn't move though and Zexion looked back to see what was wrong, "You going to be okay?" he asked, understanding how upsetting the sight must've been for him. Demyx didn't say anything, instead shutting his eyes and putting a hand on his head as if trying to support a heavy weight. Zexion shut his phone and turned his attention to him fully, "Demyx?"

"Zexy…I don't feel good," he murmured, not sounding like his usual self at all and without another word he swayed and fell over limply. Zexion immediately swooped down on him and lifted his head, checking his vitals and surprised to find his forehead burning with an unhealthy temperature. He'd been perfectly fine only moments ago and Zexion knew the weather wasn't to blame for this mysterious fever. He scooped Demyx up with some difficulty, not used to having to carry anyone, but managed to get him back to town and to an inn. "Quel est mauvais avec lui?" the innkeeper asked, clearly surprised by the sight that just came through his door.

Fortunately Zexion knew enough French to get by and he assured him, "Il est beau. Il a bu trop." Without further question the innkeeper led him to a room and left when he had money in hand. Zexion put his fallen partner down on the bed with a tired sigh, worn out from having to carry him all the way here. He checked his temperature, relieved to know it hadn't risen any further but bothered by the fact that it hadn't broken either. After writing a quick note he put him under the covers, tucked him in tight and left the inn.

Went to find out what's going on. Feel better soon and stay in bed. –Zexy

'Stupid weather, it followed me,' Riku though with a clearly annoyed sigh as he stared out the windows across the room. The storm outside rivaled that of the one back in France and though he could usually sleep just fine despite the noise, the room was missing something that night, 'Brat goes off to Venezuela and doesn't even call before he leaves,' he thought before taking a drag of the cigarette between his fingers. A clash of thunder left him frazzled but once the noise settled he heard his cell phone from across the room.

'Ofcourse it's all the way over there,' he sighed before getting up and going over to retrieve it from his jacket. There were only a few people who would call this late at night and they were usually people worth talking to. He recognized the number and flipped the phone open, "So how's Venezuela? You know I expect a souvenir," he said with a grin.

There was no reply but in the background Riku could hear a continuous crashing sort of noise and rain which was about as bad as the storm outside his own window, "Sora?" No response and it became clear, "What's wrong?" Sora was hurt, he could tell by his breathing, "Where are you?"

"A…A-angel-" that was the last thing he heard before a gunshot rang through the air, immediately followed by a scream and thunder. The line was dead but was Sora?

There's the cliffhanger I promised and the opening page or two of the next chapter will probably make you mad (there were a couple characters I really wanted to kill…not like write their deaths in or anything, just stab through the computer) but you'll have to wait and see why. I'm working on getting replies out to all of your reviews and have about five or so left to get to! Yay for personal achievements! I hope I answered questions thoroughly enough if you had them and once again I really entreat you to review and let me know what you thought. Questions are welcome again but I'm not going to spoil anything! Until next time I thank you for reading and wish you all the best in all the world!

Your loving bohemian, Mad-TopHat-Ter

SIDENOTE: I don't know why Sora always seems to get hurt in my stories. I don't do it on purpose I swear, it just happens.