Chapter: 019 - Ripped
Location: London
Characters: Larxene, Vexen, Marluxia, Axel, Zexion, Lexaeus
Rating/Warnings: PG-13 for a tad of swearing and mentioning of prostitution and violence.
Summary: Five Nobodies sharing one small room means a constant struggle to keep the peace. Meanwhile Larxene does London. Poor London.
Chapter 019 : London – Ripped.
Night had fallen over London.
The afternoon's rain had finally ceased, thick fog rising from the river taking its place.
It dampened all sound, the occasional far-off call of voices or clattering of hooves and wheels on cobblestones echoing distant and distorted.
A smaller dark figure furtively separated itself from the bulky black shape of a large house, and within seconds it had vanished into the foggy night.
It had been quite an easy thing to slip out of the hotel, the young woman concluded as she sauntered down the street.
With a whole room all to herself and very convenient social rules preventing any of the men from checking in on her at any time she suddenly had all the freedom of movement she could wish for.
Granted, the oafs still had all the money, and even if they hadn't it probably wouldn't be too smart to leave the sorry lot for good just yet. Not until they were certain any possible pursuers were off their trail once and for all, anyway.
That, however, didn't mean she couldn't enjoy the chance to spend some time on her own when it was so sweetly offered to her.
She liked this world, despite the mandatory tea, highly suspicious food and stubbornly bad weather. The dark, elaborate buildings, eerie gaslights and shrouding mists lent such a pleasant atmosphere to the place. Rich, tangible, alive; the very opposite of the deadening, unchanging expanses of Never Was or, for that matter, Castle Oblivion.
This world was dark, filthy and breathing.
Monsters, mad geniuses and ruthless killers could be lurking in every shadow - and that wasn't even counting her usual traveling companions.
A world quite civilized enough for intricate games, but just primitive enough for a touch of savagery.
Larxene rather liked savagery.
For the sake of everyone's mental, not to mention physical, health, a wary unspoken truce had been declared in the cramped hotel room. The space was small enough it would be difficult even for good friends to share it without getting in each others' way and grating on each others' nerves, and the five Nobodies currently inhabiting it weren't very friendly even under the best of circumstances.
It was thus with near clinical precision that personal borders were drawn and perhaps more surprisingly, grudgingly respected.
Nonetheless, the silence once the lights were out was anything but comfortable. The darkness was tense with suspicion and enmity, no one wanting to be the first to close their eyes surrounded by former enemies and reluctant temporary allies.
It was curious, Vexen reflected, how the tension between them was somehow greater now than in the forest, as though all energy then had been focused on survival, mistrust aimed as much at unfamiliar surroundings as the known and familiar threats.
But everything had been a blur of confusion then, everyone too much in shock at what had happened to risk actual fighting…
Can Nobodies technically feel shock?
His analytical mind stored the question away for later.
Maybe it was just the current lack of space grating at them; at least the forest had been vast enough to grant an illusion of occasional privacy. In this claustrophobic city the proximity was choking, the traitors and murderers constantly so close their presence itched under his skin; even now the faint but unmistakable scent of roses intruded on his half-sleep, slithering sweet and unwelcome into every breath he took.
Uninvited, unwished-for… How very like Marluxia.
Closing his eyes he turned and buried his face in his pillow to escape the whisper of a flowery scent that should logically have been pleasant, but these days burned on his tongue far more bitter than sweet.
Light from a rather dirty moon, neither half nor full, made the fog glow slightly and glittered tiredly in the waters of the none-too clean river. Larxene sat perched on the railing of one of the bridges, resting after a disappointingly uneventful but nonetheless quite pleasant walk through the murkier parts of the city.
She probably should head back; the distant blurred glow of the clock-tower faces told her it was very late indeed. But freedom was a rare thing to be treasured, now every bit as much as during her time in the Organization, if not more so. Everyone in the cranky little crew was watching everyone else like hawks, just waiting for the inevitable betrayal.
Paranoid sissies; you committed one lousy little bit of treason and they all reacted as though you'd stab them in he back at any given time.
Such a stupid notion; honestly, why stab anyone in the back when you could stab them in the guts and watch the look in their eyes as you did it?
Then again, aside from the arrogance of the Elders, life on the run wasn't so bad. The forest had been, well, admittedly absolutely horrible, but this place quite made up for it.
Less than ideal company aside, this venture promised to be quite entertaining; she knew for a fact there were many more really interesting worlds out there, just waiting for her to happen to them.
Even if the Elders could be insufferably stuffy and restrictive, they really were all bark and no bite these days, without the Organization to back them up. And it should not be forgotten dear Lexie had even kindly paid for her new clothes without hassle. Maybe he really did believe in his happy all for one and one for all philosophy. It was so naïvely stupid it was really quite sweet.
She dangled her feet over the edge of the bridge and looked unseeingly into the foggy night.
It suited her purposes well enough to tag along with them all for now. Depending on how things turned she might have reason to abandon them or even dispose of them later, but right now she felt more free and alive than she had since those first blazing moments of crackling, powerful glorious heartlessness.
She hadn't lost anything she wasn't all too happy to leave behind on that day of darkness, but gained so very, very much. Power, for one thing, the delightful intoxicating power to easily take any life at will, paired with the decay of morals to do it utterly without remorse.
She smiled thinly.
Power and ageless beauty, what more could a girl wish for? What innocent eyes and a sweet smile wouldn't get her, the power to tear the very skies asunder would.
And should sweetness and powers both fail her, well. Girl's got brains. That was the part everyone, even her associates from Oblivion with the possible exception of Marluxia, tended to overlook.
Her smile widened somewhat.
It was an intriguing thing, she'd found, that the more clever a man was, the less inclined he was to recognize that same intelligence in a young woman. So far the innate arrogance of the opposite sex had worked well to her advantage, and she saw no reason to enlighten them just quite yet.
Look them in the eyes and stab them in the guts.
Possibly, when the time was right. Or then, possibly not.
The thing with power, she thought as she swung her legs over the railing to begin the walk back home, was that sometimes having it and not using it was the most intoxicating thrill of all.
Bleak moonlight filtered through the not entirely clean little window, painting a bright square on the grubby carpet but leaving all the beds in darkness.
The room was filled not with the peaceful silence of five people asleep, but the unnatural quiet of five people all stiffly trying to remain silent hoping that the other four will fall asleep first.
In the end it was broken by a disembodied hushed voice, its usual deep smoothness slightly strained.
" Vexen..?"
The scientist's linens rustled slightly as he moved, clearly awake and equally clearly reluctant to answer any call of the Assassin's. Finally he growled a short reply.
" What."
The silence gradually changed into the silence of three people listening in on a private conversation while all pretending to be asleep.
" It's… getting rather cold up here. Very cold. If you would happen to have something to do with it, could you please stop?"
By now they were all rather familiar with the sound of molars grinding in frustration and in the dark the sound seemed unnaturally loud.
" No-one is forcing you to sleep up there. Get another blanket if you're cold. It's hardly my problem."
" Yeah, Marluxia," a lazy voice interjected, " If you feel cold up there I have a nice and cozy bed free over here. I can guarantee you wouldn't be cold at all."
A rather unpleasant chuckle followed the invitation.
" Over my dead body."
The words sounded ground out between clenched teeth, frosty enough to match the temperature the Assassin had just been complaining about.
" You're welcome to him," a resentful voice muttered near inaudibly from the darkness of Vexen's bed, although to whom it was directed was unclear.
" Just trying to help," Axel said, and even in the darkness the predatory grin could somehow be heard.
An offended huff sounded from the upper bunk of the middle bed.
" How very noble of you. I'm sure that won't be necessary; if certain people could just keep their little elemental outbursts a bit more in check we could all get some much-needed sleep."
" I'm sure 'certain people' would, if certain other people would stop smelling like a cheap bordello while 'certain people' tried to sleep!"
There was a moment of utter silence.
Then simultaneously;
" And just what are you implying..?"
" Why, Vexen, I never would have thought you the type! Was it any good? And how cheap was 'cheap'..?"
" Just shut up, both of you. Just… shut up."
A rustle much like a blanket being demonstratively pulled over someone's head.
" No, no, no." Marluxia sounded thoroughly offended now. " I think we should sort this out. Are you freezing my bed because you have a problem with how I smell..?"
" And you got new underwear and everything…"
" Shut up, Axel! Well? Vexen..?"
There was a long-suffering sigh from the smaller inhabitant of one of the two beds in the remaining quiet corner.
" If you are uncomfortable in your bed, Marluxia, you can always sleep on the floor."
Lexaeus' unmistakable hoarse whisper of a voice put a very definite end to the argument.
Suddenly unsure of whether the filthy carpet might hide a stone floor, and not at all wanting to find out the hard way, Marluxia grudgingly decided cold was the lesser of three evils and burrowed deeper into his blanket.
The moon-lit square on the floor had moved quite a long way before the Nobodies in the dark room finally settled down enough to yield to sleep.
She was almost halfway back to the hotel when she realized she was being followed.
Even though the thick fog made it impossible to see more than a few yards in any direction, there was an odd echo to her footsteps, slightly out of sync.
Interesting.
Walking through the rather dark and narrow streets, often unlit by the usual gaslights, had confirmed her inkling that this was a rather saucy area; for a place named after a color of chastity and a place of worship, it certainly seemed to deal with quite a lot of sin.
But then, of course, any other sort of place would be boring.
She grinned.
So someone had spotted a young woman out and about on her own and come to certain conclusions, had they? The poor misguided soul was soon to realize the Savage Nymph's definition of fun differed vastly from that of most nymphs of the more local and negotiable variety.
She slowed down and halted, striking a demurely suggestive pose, patiently waiting for her pursuer to catch up. For a few moments the gloomy street laid silent, then the sound of footsteps resumed and the mists swirled aside to reveal an imposing dark figure, the dark cloak-like coat billowing most dramatically.
Once the man was close enough for her to discern his features more clearly she gave him a critical assessment.
Middle-aged, stylish dark cloak and hat, a trace of classy cologne… Quite a gentleman from the look of it. Guy didn't look half bad, she conceded, quite a bit cleaner and more well-dressed than most thugs she'd seen around these streets so far.
Maybe a bit of good old fashioned fun wouldn't hurt after all; gods knew her current travelling companions didn't exactly go out of their way to keep a woman satisfied. She smiled shyly and widened her eyes for that perfected look of utter innocence.
" Gosh, you frightened me, mister!" she breathed, possibly heaving her bosom just a little bit as she spoke. " I didn't hear you coming!"
" Now what could a young girl like yourself be doing out alone at this late hour?" the man inquired, his voice quite pleasant and refined, and suddenly she felt the hairs on her neck stand up in warning. Even though there was a slight smile on his lips the look in his eyes was much too clinical, not at all the bleary one-tracked gaze of a man aroused. It was cold, detached, scrutinizing, as though she was a curious but inferior specimen to be studied; it reminded her of Vexen in his most enthusiastic experimenting mood and that in itself was reason enough for instant dislike.
She upped the stakes by widening her eyes even further, laughing breathlessly.
" I'm just looking for my way home, good sir. Oh, you really mustn't think I'm… that kind of girl!"
She leaned forward a bit to grant a good view of her cleavage. Sure enough, for all his refined detachment his eyes flickered downwards for a moment. Ah, men, so delightfully predictable.
" Perhaps then I could have the pleasure of… escorting you? Where do you live?"
She made a vague gesture which incidentally made parts of her anatomy shift in interesting ways.
" I'm not sure which way it is. I don't know my way around the city all that well yet, I only came here a little while ago. Oh, it would be ever so kind of you to make me company…"
He nodded absently, giving her that infuriating scrutinizing bug-in-a-jar look again.
" A newcomer in London should be careful walking these streets, young miss. This is a wicked part of town. Perhaps you had better come with me for tonight, and I will help you look for your accommodations in daylight come morning?"
Sure you will.
Somehow it was always even more fun playing with the kind of people who really had it coming. Breaking naïve little porcelain dolls like Naminé or Sora could be fun enough, but beating an obvious real conniving bastard at their own game was so much more satisfying. Some people just gave villains a bad name. Amateurs.
She fired him her most brilliant smile.
" I would like that very much, kind sir! Oh, you're ever so kind."
Clinging sweetly to his proffered arm she absently wondered if there was really a house down the line or if he'd just find a somewhat more secluded area before trying to ravage or kill her, or both.
Trying being the operative word.
The night was certainly looking up.
In the dark room wariness had finally given way to sleep, soft even breathing the only sound to be heard.
Pale as a ghost in the bleak moonlight one man dreamed of fire, pain and terror, tossing restlessly, tousled colorless hair spilling over the pillows.
In the shadows above another dreamed of all-important goals burning bright, then fading to nothingness just beyond his reach, of power and precious things lost, and of vain sacrifices, but never remorse, never that. And then the very earth beneath him shuddered and opened up to devour him whole, but that was a different dream entirely and one he did not much want to dream.
A third man dreamed of living shadows dancing to their own tune, not his, of illusions faltering and fading, uncomfortable truths laid mercilessly bare.
One man slept silently, dreaming silent, solemn dreams of failure where it had mattered the most, of having been forced to leave someone important unprotected behind, and of the cold and utterly unexpected pain of death. And, because even he was not immune to the irony of certain things, that small sting of annoyance at the indignity of it all.
In the final bed a man slept and dreamed of warm sunlight, delicious salt-sweetness on his lips and of blue eyes speckled gold by a forever setting sun. And even though the memory was a happy one, there was an ache inside even in sleep, a hollow emptiness where at least something, if not a heart had once been.
" You have a rather peculiar accent," her dark and mysterious companion said as they walked down a convenient dark, narrow alley. " Where might you be from, originally?"
Ah, now what was the name of that place Vexen kept referring to, the one everyone seemed ready to believe they were from? A… something.
" Oh. Uhm. Very far away, I don't think you've heard of it."
" Oh, don't be too sure, little miss, I am quite well versed in geography."
Well, crap.
" With your fair hair and complexion, I would guess perhaps Scandinavia? I once knew a woman from there, Liz, very charming. Our time together was… much too brief. Alas."
" Oh? Oh. Right. From there, yes. That's right. So, where are we going?"
" It's not far now. So are you here in London on your own? Or will someone worry that you… spend the night away?"
Any time now.
" Oh no, " she chirped, " They won't be looking for me until morning."
" In that case," he said, stopping and turning to face her, " perhaps we can end this act right here and now."
She smiled beatifically.
" I think you're absolutely right. Time for business, yes?"
He raised his eyebrows slightly at her eagerness, shadowed features suddenly frozen hard and ruthless.
" Indeed. Always so eager to haggle over pennies, you diseased harlots."
His voice had gone cold, dripping of disgust and scorn.
" Even losing your skirts now, walking the streets without shame, showing your legs like some French dancing Jezebel? Your kind is a filth, a sickness to this city."
He advanced on her, looming, dark, eyes cold and burning at the same time.
She chuckled and began unbuttoning her new jacket. It wouldn't do to get it stained, after all.
" Oh my, is that a whiff of sour grapes I detect? I think someone hasn't had a decent fuck in a long time."
He paused, then narrowed his eyes.
" Foul-mouthed whore. You will be screaming for mercy as I carve your rotting heart out."
She laughed out loud, she couldn't help it, he was making it so easy, and she hadn't had any proper fun in such a long time.
" Sorry, you're out of luck there. Will a kidney do? A spleen, perhaps?"
He was confused now, she could see the slightly panicked bewilderment in his eyes. Hers was not at all proper victim-behavior, and it seemed to throw him completely off balance. Amateur indeed.
He snarled and pulled out a small scalpel-like knife, holding it stiff-wristedly like a surgeon.
" You call that a knife?" she giggled and easily danced out of the way as he slashed at her throat.
" This," she said, calling upon her lovely power, shooting forth a fan of razor sharp kunai between her fingers, picking one a random for the first throw," is a knife."
Look 'em in the eyes, stab 'em in the guts.
And having learned to humbly treasure the value of a human life, she indeed did spent quite a lot of time on the torture-bit before the killing-bit, to make sure she would not have to regret any lost chances.
The fog was thinning and the sky brightening slightly when Larxene finally climbed back through her window, but even lack of sleep aside she felt rather enlivened.
She had a feeling there wouldn't be any more of those grisly murders reported in the newspapers for some time to come. Why, that made her virtually a hero!
She grinned at the thought and undressed to get ready for bed, then dutifully washed her face and hands. When she was done she pursed her lips slightly, hesitated and finally poured the suspiciously pink water through the window to avoid annoying questions; the cleaning ladies at this place were far too nosey as it was.
Crawling into the blissfully comfortable bed, fair and sweet as any little angel, she closed her eyes and had the loveliest of dreams until morning.