(I am really trying to put them all through the wringer, aren't I? I swear this is starting to border on sociopathy. I mean jeez.
DemDems, for those of you who remember his boss-fight-from-hell, can actually be quite a badass when he wants to be. I like writing that side of him; he's moeblob to the extreme, yeah, but there's a badass side to him that a lot of fanfics gloss over. And that makes me a very sad panda.
So yep, Xemnas. And you think it's cute...ish now, but don't let yourself get too lulled into a false sense of comfort. I'm being nice and warning you.
Don't own, would want to as long as I didn't have to deal with the fangirls.
Dedicated to being a big ol' hypocrite about the fangirl thing.)
Axel stormed down the hall, rage burning him and making him a human flame, weakening the stone under his feet and warming his coat. He had to go find Demyx and tell him. He needed to tell someone, anyway.
The blonde musician had been sitting in the library, looking through some sheet music and scratching out some scales on a notebook. Demyx looked up and blinked in shock the second Axel stormed in, heat shimmering around him as flames danced across his fingertips. "Hey, Axel! You look like you've seen a ghost. You okay?" He teased. Axel shuddered, and shook his head.
"No, Dem. I'm not." He whispered. Demyx sighed, and shook his head.
"Ah, I see. Come on, just tell me about it. It can't be that bad." He said cheerfully. Axel laughed darkly.
"Zexion raped Yaya." He said.
For a second, all the air left the room and Demyx stared up at him, eyes blank and uncomprehending.
Then he shook his head. "No." He said softly. "No, he loves her." Axel snorted derisively, shaking his head.
"Nah, not enough to tell our dear leader 'no' when he asks him to fuck her senseless and knock her up." He spat. Demyx gasped.
"Axel! That's what happened? That's different!" He snapped. "Xemnas ordered it?" Axel paused, shocked by Demyx's renewed reaction. He nodded slowly.
"According to Roxas, yeah." He said. Demyx shuddered, but shook his head and stood his ground.
"Then he didn't do it to hurt her. It hurt him, I know it did! Zexion's just afraid to show it! And...and, oh, poor Yaya..." He glared at Axel. "I bet she heard you screaming. I'm sure that really helped, Axel." He hissed. Axel glowered at him.
"How the fuck did this turn into my fault, Demyx? He was the one that fucked her!" He snapped. Demyx glared at him.
"Stop calling it that!" He screamed. "It's too harsh! That's not what he did!" Axel burst out laughing.
"Oh, I forgot, we can't call it what it is, because he didn't mean it!" He said mockingly, shaking his head. "What the hell do you want to call it, Demyx? Following orders? Is that the excuse you want to hide behind too?" Demyx shook his head.
"No. I want to call it what it is. He made love to her, Axel. He didn't ask Xemnas to do it, he didn't force her into it, he simply was backed into a corner. He did the best he could, and he had sex with her. It's not a good thing, but neither was the situation he was in." He said, pacing the floor. Something had sparked the musician's temper, and even Axel now watched him with trepidation.
"If you cared about Yaya, you wouldn't have stood there and screamed at him. I bet she was crying, Axel. Is that what you wanted to achieve?" He was speaking evenly, but the fury lacing his words gave Axel pause. Demyx took his silence as an affirmation and continued.
"No, I don't bet. I know. I'm sure she sat there on the bed, terrified and ashamed, because what she'd done her best to get through was now hurting the man she loved. I'm sure she started crying, and I'm sure she felt like filth, and I'm pretty damn sure that you made it worse. Way to go, Axel." He hissed.
Axel stared for a long minute. Demyx wasn't a coward or an idiot-he knew that-but to see him this enraged was so rare. He knew picking a fight right now wasn't a good idea, so he simply sighed and shook his head, turning to leave.
Demyx watched him go and then looked down at his sheet music. It took him a second to realize it, but the paper was stained with his tears.
Xigbar tensed, watching Axel storm down the hallway as heat shimmered around him. He opened his mouth, about to ask what had pissed him off so bad, but Axel had already disappeared. He sighed, and opened the door to the library.
Demyx paced the room, slamming his hands against the table, shuddering with rage as he screamed, curling up next to the chair and sobbing with anger. Xigbar's eye widened, and he bolted for his lover. "Dem? Demyx, are you okay?" He pleaded, picking Demyx up and situating him on the couch, stroking his hair worriedly as he pulled the younger boy close. Demyx shook his head.
"Xigbar...oh, Xigbar, Xemnas...Xemnas...he finally did it. He really did it..." He took a deep, shuddering breath, and nuzzled closer to Xigbar. "He ordered Zexion to, to...he..." Demyx couldn't say it, but Xigbar knew.
His eye went wide, and then narrowed. "I don't fucking believe him." He whispered. Demyx looked up, and shook his head.
"It wasn't Zexion's fault-" Xigbar cut him off, and shook his head.
"No, I know that! I mean Xemnas! That son of a bitch!" He roared. Demyx shuddered. He loved Xigbar, but when he got vicious, he became terrifying. Demyx held onto him to remind his lover he was still there for him as Xigbar screamed in frustration and hate, hands shaking as he clenched them tight.
"That bastard! I don't fuckin' believe this shit!" He roared, slamming a fist against the wall. "We were fucking brothers! We were a goddamned family! He used Zexion, used Zexion and Senayax both! How the fuck could he forget that?" He snarled. "He betrayed Zexion. He betrayed Yaya, and he hurt them both. Whether or not he fucking knew it, we were still his family."
All the rage went out of him suddenly, and he sagged against the wall, shuddering. "Oh, god, Dem." He said softly. "Demyx, we were a family." Demyx knelt to cuddle closer to his lover as he shuddered with pain. "We loved each other, Demyx. All of us. We were a family." He repeated, buring his face into his lover's neck. Demyx nodded, saddened.
"You still are." He said softly. "He just forgot."
The two of them had stayed quiet in the library, trying to seek solitude. But the others had known. It hadn't spread around physically, but the entire castle seemed to know.
First it had been Xaldin, Luxord following right behind as always. Demyx tried to play chess with him as Xigbar and Xaldin both lost themselves in notes and journals on the Heartless.
Larxene and Marluxia had come in together, and Lexaeus followed behind. This time, it wasn't only Lexaeus that observed the knives strapped so blatantly to her hip. She was pissed, for want of a better word, and they knew it. Lexaeus had stroked her and tried to soothe her, but they knew she was going to explode soon.
Vexen had come in, and the ice queen himself had cracked. He had retreated to Marluxia's side, and the guilt was obviously wracking his body.
"Wasn't your fault, Vex." Xigbar said softly. Vexen looked up at him, bottle-green eyes wide and filled with tears. Xigbar shuddered at the pure desperation in his eyes.
"I know, Braig." He said softly. Xigbar tensed. Vexen very rarely used their names, save for when he was distressed. He nodded.
"Even, you did what you had to do. If Xeh had asked anyone else, we would've done the same." He laughed darkly. "Sometimes, bonds don't break and loyalty doesn't waver, even when you want it to."
Vexen seemed to accept this, albeit with pain still etched into the lines on his face.
Axel breezed in with Saix and Roxas. Demyx looked up, and Axel bowed his head towards him, signaling some form of understanding. Demyx nodded with relief. He didn't want to have made Axel feel bad. Axel himself seemed to be wracked with similar pain, and shook his head in disgust, sitting in between Saix and Roxas.
They all seemed to have tried to take the same sort of solace in each other that they had yesterday. But the absence of the last two members of the Organization-the ones who had been hurt most by the order-ached like a missing limb.
Senayax watched Zexion sleep. She was just grateful his face was still serene, his breathing even and peaceful. Even after everything that had just happened, he was okay. She smiled, and kissed his forehead before standing up to dress. A big blue-green tie-dye shirt and purple pants, with the ever-present yellow sneakers. She looked down at them and shuddered. "Where am I gonna go, anyway?" She whispered softly. Then she realized it.
She needed to move. Get up and walk around. Suddenly, determination pierced her nonexistent heart.
"I en't gonna live inna cage." She said quietly. "I'mma live like I always do, 'cause I be brave. I en't gonna let this drive me crazy, an' I won't hide. Not from my family, of all people!" She snapped.
She turned and stormed out of her room. "I en't hidin' anymore." She muttered darkly.
Zexion turned on his side, and smiled as he watched her leave.
Peggy's mournful tune resounded through the library, no matter how many times Demyx tried to play something happy. He looked up at the others haplessly. "I'm so sorry, guys..." He said softly. "I don't know what's gotten into her. She always listens to me!" Xigbar shrugged, and leaned against the couch.
"Dem, didn't you say she was like an extension of yourself?" He replied, sitting up straight. "Guess you're just too sad to play something happy." He murmured. Demyx nodded, and clutched Peggy to his chest.
Then a small knock resounding on the door reached their ears. Everyone froze. Axel was the first to find his voice. "Come in." He said, his voice painfully loud in the newly-made silence.
The door opened, and Senayax stood there, head held high. No one knew what to say. She stood proud, and there were no tears in her eyes. She met their eyes, and smiled. "En't hidin' anymore." She whispered. "Not from my family."
Demyx tried to play Peggy again, and this time, the strings vibrated with joy.
Zexion breezed in a short while later like nothing was wrong. He picked up Senayax, and she cuddled close to him on his lap, humming happily as she closed her eyes. Sunny Jim chittered in the corner, as Demyx tossed a paper ball for him to chase. It was quiet, peaceful, and oddly comforting to be there. Everyone was lost in their thoughts.
That was why no one noticed when Xemnas walked in.
Everyone looked up as he sat down on his couch, tilting his head back and staring at Kingdom Hearts. Saix shuddered, and would've called his name if Axel hadn't grabbed his shoulder. Vexen's eyes were tightly shut as he clung to Marluxia and tried to stifle tears. Larxene snarled, but Lexaeus gripped her hand tightly. The whole room was tense, its' breath drawn as it prepared for their next move.
Senayax got off Zexion's lap, and walked over to him. Every footfall resounded through the room like a gunshot, and for a horrible moment, they all thought the noise had deafened them before they realized it was just silence. Xemnas didn't move, didn't even breathe as she walked towards him. They all just waited.
She climbed in his lap and pressed a book in his hands. Tears filled his eyes as he read the title. "Please read this to me." She whispered. He opened the book, and tried not to cry as he read aloud.
"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful rabbit who was loved by a wonderful little girl..."
