(Where has everyone been? D: I've missed y'all so much. Glad to see Jaie back though~! ^^
Right, so ummmm more carnage and agony and stuffs but FUCK THAT
APPRENTICE FLUFF YOU GUYS
(Oh and Vexen in a ponytail; adorablest thing ever or adorablest thing in the universe? Discuss.)
Seriously, I will never get tired of writing Apprentice friendfluff. What would that be? Fruff? Can I call it Fruff? Because that is the best portmanteau ever. No lie. Anyways, I seriously don't, and it only gets cuter later on. Point aside, hideous new Black/White fish is hideous, but Shijika is REALLY CUTE also OMFG WE HAVE A FLYING SQUIRREL AND A DEER NOW LIFE=COMPLETE.
I like Rocky and Bullwinkle. :3
Uh, so right, sorry, got off track; off to South Carolina for a few days; I'll be back on Wednesday~! No computer, sadly. Gonna be chillin' and...stuff. Mostly chillin'. Oh and the beach. And finishing my Pokedex; 20 more to go, yo! Most of them trade evos though so ffff I mean I have two DSes but the trading cutscenes are looonnngggg
Can you tell I'm tired I sure can why did no one tell me we were going to the beach it's like eight in the morning and I went to bed at two you suck mom D:
Okay so um BACK ON SUBJECT AGAIN; carnage and fluff and some other assorted stuff, Demyx is badass, and some other stuff. Man I really am just too tired to function, so all I can say is I love you all and I'll see you Wednesday~!
Don't own, leduh.
Dedicated to the ten hour car ride I'm gonna have to go through. Praying I'll sleep through it. (Oh and you guys too :3)
The sea tore itself apart as Demyx walked towards the pirate ship, waves slamming into each other on both sides as the wind tore sails clean off while Demyx climbed on their ship and took the wheel like he wasn't even aware of the storm tearing pieces off of the ships and smashing rocks into pieces. Xigbar teleported away from the water, darting across the air and screaming Demyx's name over the roaring wind, trying to make Demyx listen to him.
Demyx paid him no heed; he had abandoned the wheel and now let the waves steer the ship as he guided them from the prow of the boat, the massive swells pushing them forward as he aimed one right at Barbossa's ship. It broke over the hull, slamming both pirates and Heartless into the water. The ocean swelled and boiled; Xigbar realized that Demyx had created a whirlpool and was sucking them in.
The pirates could not die; Xigbar's fight with Barbossa had proved it. That just made their drowning so much worse. Their eyes would roll back in their head; their skin would bloat and rot, but they could not let it end. Their screams were voiceless, wordless, but their mouths were frozen in terror that was real enough.
As the pressure intensified under the waves, a few of their skulls began to collapse in on themselves; bits of bone and rotting brain matter floated to the surface, only to get swept up by the tides. Demyx watched this with a blank gaze, only snarling as he realized that even that would not fell them.
The Heartless... Xigbar had never seen a Heartless drown. He never wanted to see it again.
They bloated up like gruesomely obese parodies of themselves, skin bubbling and rippling as the darkness within them began to liquefy before they burst, spreading over the surface like oil; hideous, midnight-colored oil that still managed to seethe with the darkness. Xigbar realized that they still had eyes; malevolent yellow eyes glaring up at them through the water, even as they drowned, making inhuman chittering noises and painfully human screams of agony as they were pulled down into the depths.
Throughout all this, Demyx simply watched, eyes as apathetic as a vengeful god as he swept his gaze over it all, his only response to strengthen the storm and trap the swirling vortex of living darkness, drowning out their screams and hissing. Xigbar realized that he had to act; shaking himself out of his horrified shock, he screamed, "DEMYX!" The sound of his name barely made Demyx turn his head. Xigbar hissed with frustration. One last thing; he had left to him only one last resort.
"Demyx." He said, voice soft. "You're hurting me."
The world stopped.
The hurricane did not calm; it froze, storm looking like it had been hit with a pause button. Finally, Demyx turned to see Xigbar. The blank, inhuman eyes refocused; their normal, beautiful sapphire came back, sparkling with the same light that they always had. His body relaxed from its' rigid stance, and as he shook his head and tried to stand up properly, he started to tremble. "Xiggy?" He called back to him, realizing the gash on his arm was still bleeding.
He gasped, darting over the water's surface to kneel beside him. "Oh my gosh, Xiggy! You're bleeding really bad!" He wailed, trying to wash off the blood frantically. Xigbar stared at him in horrified amazement before he burst out in hysterical laughter, trying to hold in the screams but failing as he looked up at Demyx, shocked beyond belief. Demyx tugged him up to stand, seeming to ignore the drowning Heartless and the newly-restarted storm. "Oh, Xigbar..." He turned around to finally see the carnage. His eyes widened; Peggy trembled against him. "Xiggy?" He whispered, voice soft and scared. "Did I do that?"
Xigbar pulled him close. "Yeah, Dem." He murmured back. "C'mon." Demyx stared at him, barely comprehending what he'd said until his eyes rolled back in his head and he fainted. Xigbar picked him up carefully, cradling him close and strapping Peggy to his back as he summoned a Corridor and they were gone.
Lexaeus sighed, running a hand through his hair as he walked down to the Hall of Empty Melodies, deep in thought. Xigbar had not arrived home from the simple recon mission with Demyx; was Demyx still ill? Had the musician been hurt? He shook his head. He'd told Zexion and Vexen to prepare for casualties and mix some Hi-Potions and synthesize a few Cura, but he was unsure whether they would be enough to deal with the possible fallout.
He knew it was most likely that Xigbar would arrive back in the castle through the Hall of Empty Melodies, which is why he had chosen that part of the castle as the best place to stand vigil. He sat on one of the balconies and waited, keeping a careful eye on the floor of the hall.
He took out his smallest chain puzzle and redid the links, frowning in annoyance at the repetitive puzzles. He'd have to go out and get some more, although he might just ask Zexion to do it, considering most people were rather off-put by a man his size...however, Zexion wasn't exactly the most socially gifted of people, and might just traumatize a poor shopkeeper for life...Vexen, maybe?
...Wait, scratch that, that would be even worse. He winced. He might just go himself and hope no one was scared off; no one else seemed sane enough for the task.
In his musings, he had yet to realize that a Corridor had opened. It was only when Xigbar roared with pain that Lexaeus started, chain puzzle clattering to the ground as he jumped from the balcony and rushed to where Xigbar knelt, holding Demyx in his arms.
"Xigbar, what happened? My god, is Demyx all right?" He asked, helping Xigbar stand and sharing Demyx's weight. Xigbar laughed, but the laughter sounded forced and dry as he looked up at Lexaeus.
"Yeah, if you can call summoning a fucking hurricane and attempting to drown immortal pirate zombies and succeeding at drowning a bunch of goddamned giant Heartless fine." He hissed. Lexaeus' eyes widened in shock as he looked down at Demyx, who had gone from fainting to asleep, peaceful as could be. Xigbar stroked a few soaked strands of hair away from his face. "Yeah."
He displayed the gash on his arm, which had become soaked with sea-water and now stung like hell. "See this? Got this from one of those pirates. Demyx, who, having no fighting skill whatsoever, had been hiding, immediately went absolutely fucking insane, hijacked a goddamn pirate ship, and did his damndest to destroy a bunch of literal immortals. All because I got what amounts to a goddamn papercut, considering all the other wounds I've acquired." He said, voice flat and level. Lexaeus stared at him for a minute, stunned. Xigbar snorted.
"So, while I go try to deal with the fallout from this, you can tell Even that whatever this placebo thing is, it's fucking dangerous. We're gonna have to find out way more if we want to prevent another storm like this." Lexaeus nodded, still in shock as Xigbar disappeared into the darkness.
Xigbar walked down the hallway, cradling Demyx in his arms. He was deep in thought as he looked down at the smaller boy; he looked so gentle and peaceful that it was almost impossible for him to believe Demyx had done all that, and he'd been there. Xigbar shook his head, holding him close. He was going to deal with the fallout when Demyx woke up, and he'd do his best, but he couldn't lie; it scared him.
How much would Demyx break? He wasn't a fighter. This...murderous streak; it wasn't Demyx. It couldn't be. Demyx was...was nothing like him. He wasn't a murderer, a fucking monster. He hadn't experimented on living humans. He hadn't toyed with the darkness on a whim. Xigbar didn't want Demyx to be like him.
Xigbar realized tears were dripping down his cheeks; a simple reflex. Tear ducts were stimulated on occasion, regardless of emotion. Yet...crying felt good. It felt like he needed it right now.
He remembered his teacher telling Ienzo once, after he'd messed up an experiment and been reduced to tears, that crying was nothing to be ashamed of. It was a release. You always felt better once you'd cried, after all.
Taking his teacher's advice to heart, Xigbar brought Demyx to his room, laid him down on the bed, sat down, and just let himself cry.
Lexaeus walked down the hallway, trying to gather his thoughts. Demyx? Demyx, of all people? Lexaeus didn't know him as well as Xigbar, considering Xigbar had spent most of his time for the past week or two with him, but he was a gentle soul, and he always looked Lexaeus in the eye while he was talking. He smirked. Too many people had cast their eyes downward from fear for so long...it had been a relief to see someone unafraid of him. He hoped Demyx would be all right...in any case, he did indeed have to go see Vexen; this was a pressing matter, and he needed to know what had transpired.
Lexaeus opened the door and headed down the steps, his feet quiet upon the stone floor. He could hear Zexion's muted whispers and a hissed curse from Vexen as he reached the door that led from the main room into the workroom. He opened the door and entered the room, surveying the scene with interest.
Vexen's notes were scattered across the room, some now spattered with a coagulated crimson substance. It pulsed when Lexaeus got near it, and he fought down a shudder as he stared at it uneasily. "Tell me, Even," he murmured, "what is this?" Vexen snorted in disgust, scraping it off the notes.
"It is, believe it or not, what you might call...artificial organs." He groaned. "Well, sort-of. You see, we took some organ tissue we had left over and began to attempt at reproducing the cells through mitosis. Trouble is, when it got too big...it burst." Vexen huffed. "We'll keep trying, but...I'm not sure how we'll be able to control the replication of cells enough to form a real, working heart."
He looked up at Lexaeus with interest, gesturing for him to sit. "So, any news from Braig?" He asked, letting Zexion sink down on the couch next to Lexaeus as he pulled up a stool, hooking his feet on the rungs and giving Lexaeus his undivided attention. Lexaeus swallowed, unsure of what to say.
"...Well...there is some. In his own words, I believe Demyx summoned a hurricane, drowned about one hundred Heartless alive, hijacked a pirate ship, and attempted to drown a bunch of pirate-zombie immortal creatures. All because Xigbar was injured. At the risk of repeating him word-for-word, the injury he sustained from his battle was nothing more than a nick from a kitchen knife compared to his usual wounds; at least, that's the information I got from what I'd observed." Lexaeus said. Zexion stared up at him in amazement. Vexen paled, fumbling for a pen and scribbling notes as he managed to keep his eyes on Lexaeus.
"...How in the name of Shiva did he do it?" Vexen murmured, both shocked and awed by the description. "I believe the general consensus amongst us all is that Demyx is a kind, cheerful, and an altogether good person; he's not a fighter at all. Hell's fire, I don't think any one of us could muster up the strength for an entire hurricane on that sort of scale!" He paused, chewing a pen as he sunk deep into thought.
"...Unless...this has to do with that placebo. Lexaeus, when either of them are in a state to discuss what happened, you have to ask them about a 'tugging sensation' in their chest, and how and when it intensified. This could be crucial towards understanding how our 'emotions,' or whatever you wish to call them, have chosen to remanifest themselves."
Lexaeus nodded, standing up and taking Vexen's wrists in one hand, holding them steady to keep him from bolting as he brushed Vexen's hair behind his ears and tied it into a ponytail for him. Vexen stared at him in amazement as Lexaeus smiled.
"I haven't forgotten, Even." He murmured. "You're in your reclusive, absent-minded scientist mode, and if you're not careful with that hair, you'll burn it clean off in an experiment. I figured you'd rather have someone do it for you." Vexen watched him, unsure of what to say as he felt Lexaeus' fingers brush his cheek. "Don't lose those little habits, Even. We can't lose who we were. It's what has made us who we are." He turned to Zexion and managed another smile. "Please make sure he eats; and for the matter, that you do as well." Zexion nodded, smiling back as Lexaeus kissed his forehead and disappeared into the darkness.
Zexion turned around a moment later to see Vexen toying with his ponytail, eyes focused on a memory long past. "Vexen." He whispered, seeing the other man start slightly in shock. "Come on; we might as we obey Lexaeus' wishes now, considering we skipped breakfast." He murmured. Vexen nodded, following Zexion out into the main room to rifle through the cabinets, hair trailing behind him, away from his eyes and letting him think.