Marluxia had opened a portal to the first world he could think of with mermaids. There was a chance Demyx had gone somewhere more music based, but Port Royal had a vast ocean where Demyx could hide in.
"So… exactly how are we going to search for him if he's underwater?" Larxene asked, crossing her arms.
He paused, "I'm not really sure…" Marluxia just thought to find a place with mermaids, not a plan of how to find them.
Larxene looked around, "Well I guess we should start by looking for the port. Maybe we can steal a ship or something."
The two started wandering. Neither had really been assigned this world very often and when they had, the port hadn't been their destination. The buildings all looked very worn and as if at least twelve fights had happened in or around each. They were also close enough together that they obscured any view they could attempt to catch a glimpse of the water.
It took a while, but eventually they ended up in a street that wasn't crowded. At the end, the ocean was clearly seen. Larxene walked ahead of Marluxia, eager to get to the docks quickly. Marluxia was trying to think of a way they could somehow contact Demyx if he was underwater when he was slammed into the wall beside him.
They could steal a ship and dive into the water at intervals, but they'd never be able to swim far enough to actually see if Demyx was around. Then there was also the issue of if he'd even stick around if the method worked. He'd be able to swim away from them faster than they could keep up.
Larxene shouted from the helm of a ship, "Think they'll mind if we take this for a few hours?" She smirked and started to prep the ship to leave the dock, not really caring about the answer to her question.
No one saw the ship leave, or at least, no one who cared did. It was a touch difficult to get it going at first, only having two people on deck, but once it started slicing through the waves it was pretty simple.
"Got any ideas?" Marluxia shouted to Larxene as he peered over the railing.
Larxene stepped away from the wheel and joined him, hoping to catch a glimpse of a tail. "Not really… I mean, I could send lightning into the water and hope I hit him, if he's stunned he'll probably float up... "
Marluxia shook his head, "We are not electrocuting anyone."
She sighed, "I was hoping you wouldn't say that."
At one point, they saw an area with rocks jutting from the sea. Mermaids with silver tails sat on it, but once they saw the approaching ship they dove back under the water before either Marluxia or Larxene could ask about Demyx. They passed a few islands but didn't bother checking. Mermaids in this world had been confirmed so Demyx being on one of them was highly unlikely.
The ship turned back towards the town. "We aren't gonna find him this way if he even is here," Larxene huffed.
The two would contiuously glance back at the water as the ship glided back to the dock, hoping their friend would pop up and greet them. Their wishful thinking was dashed as they reached the port without even a fish coming into view.
Maybe someone in the town would know of any way to search for mermaids. If they could find one person that knew how to find one, they could use their method to search for Demyx. Larxene really hoped they could at least check the ocean a bit better before moving onto another world. There was still a chance Demyx was down there.
Marluxia was ahead of her heading towards one of the more crowded pubs when a keyblade flew at him from the right and slammed him into the building beside him.
"Marluxia!" Sora exclaimed, catching his keyblade he had thrown and charging at him.
Marluxia was too dazed to summon his scythe but he heard Larxene yell as she turned and ran to intercept Sora. He saw her lift one hand to her chest, odd as normally it was both, and swing it down to her side; the move she used to summon her knives. Instead, as her single hand reached her side, a yellow and teal keyblade formed.
It was shorter than Sora's kingdom key, but then she attacked and it was apparent why. Even though she was with a larger weapon than her knives, the keyblade was small enough to be swung much faster than Sora could adequetly keep up with. Marluxia straightened back up as his head cleared and he watched in surprise as the fact sunk in that Larxene had a keyblade. And was using it against Sora. And actually was keeping him on his toes.
He tore his eyes away from the two as he saw movement from the street intersecting the one leading to the ocean. Axel was easy to recognize from his head of bright red hair, and Riku was running behind him. Marluxia was about to summon his scythe when he heard a yell.
"Does everyone have a keyblade nowadays?" Axel shouted as he summoned his own.
Marluxia didn't summon his weapon as he saw Riku slow.
"Sora, Axel, stop!" Riku exclaimed, "I'm pretty sure they aren't Xehnort!"
Axel stopped before he could reach the fight between Larxene and Sora and let his keyblade drop to his side, "What are you talking about, Riku? We already said we'd have to fight Marluxia."
Riku ran towards the fight and grabbed Sora by the collar, yanking him back. Larxene saw Riku and Axel make no moves to continue the battle, but she held her stance and didn't let her weapon vanish.
Sora continued to struggle out of Riku's grip, barely held back by his friend. "Sora- Sora stop," Riku said to his friend, dodging the wild fist that was trying to knock Riku away. "SORA." Riku grabbed the hand flailing the keyblade and it disappeared.
"Riku LET ME GO!" Sora struggled, even as his keyblade was no longer in his hand.
Marluxia walked closer to Larxene and watched as Riku had enough and slapped Sora across the back of his head, "Do they look possessed by Xehenort to you?"
Dazed for a moment that Riku had slapped him, he turned, offended, to his friend, "They're Nobodies, Riku, I'm pretty sure they are."
Larxene stood up straight and out of the stance she had been holding, "Oh if that's the case, I'd better let you kill me. Like you have Axel. Cause, you know, he's a Nobody too."
Sora looked back at Larxene, "He's not a Nobody!"
Marluxia arched his eyebrow, "And niether are we."
It looked as if Sora was about to make a remark back, but Riku covered his mouth before he could, "And it looks like you have a keyblade. Which could make you our ally" Riku's last word was directed toward Sora, no longer trying to charge, but still looking bitter.
Larxene made a face like she had been told the sky was red, "Are you serious? I'm not sticking around when that kid's gonna be trying to kill me in my sleep."
Not even needing to word his agreement, Marluxia held out his hand behind them and summoned a portal, "Nice, um.. talking with you. We've got our own thing we need to do." Marluxia looked at Axel with an annoyed glare and said, "You ruined our plan by the way, glad it worked out for you though. Just don't be an idiot and ruin everything again."
The two stepped into the portal leaving an angry Sora, Riku who was still annoyed at Sora, and a very confused Axel.
Riku glanced at Axel who was staring at the spot where the portal had closed, "What did they mean by that? Axel?"
Axel blinked and turned back to Riku, "Oh, um… Not entirely sure…"
Sora huffed and marched back from where they came from, leaving Riku and Axel.
"So," Riku sighed, "Think we should go back to Neverland?"
Axel shook his head, "We still can't beat that Leviathan. It keeps going back under the water when we attack it. Unless we're able to breathe underwater with pixie dust, we aren't killing it any time soon."
"I sure hope those mermaids stay away from it then," Riku said as he went to follow Sora.
Axel turned back to where Marluxia and Larxene had been, "I hope we won't regret letting those two to go do whatever they're planning…"
