A/N: Hi guys! I was looking at the review page for this story and I feel like I haven't responded to everyone who's reviewed and for that, I am very sorry, I like to thank people personally so if I forgot to after all this time I apologize deeply. Thank you all for your kind and inspiring reviews, they help keep me going for sure, knowing people beyond my tiny circle of friends likes this – a story with an OC romancing a canon character! The odds were stacked against me! LOL but really, we love you all and all the feedback given. Also, this AMV has got me stumped, so far the footage and music just aren't 'clicking' but I'm not giving up!
Chapter XVI: Empty Melodies
There's a drumming noise inside my head
That starts when you're around
I swear that you could hear it
It makes such an all mighty sound
"Come on guys! I swear it'll be fun!"
Demyx was practically on his knees in front of his friends, or the closest things to friends he had, begging them like a puppy staring at his master's fresh dinner. He'd dragged Axel, Rex and Xirena out of the castle and to the Commercial District of The World That Never Was, aka where they shop, aka Rex's favorite District to go to.
"I guess..." Axel was hesitant, scratching the back of his head as he stared up at the sign outside the store they stood in front of.
"Please! I swear I swear I swear!" Demyx begged yet again, more and more pathetic each time.
Axel glanced over at Rex, who looked as disinterested as he could possibly look. Then over to Xirena, who was excitedly bouncing up and down in anticipation for Demyx's hopefully 'fun' idea. Between siding with Rex or Zee, the choice was as obvious as it could be. Axel sighed deeply and hung his head with the fear that regret would settle in at any given second.
"Alright, we'll try it." Axel reluctantly said, crossing his arms.
"YES! You won't regret it Axmaster, I swear." Demyx promised, hopping back to his feet and sprinting into the store.
"I just know I'll be paying for all of this. I just know it." Axel said through gritted teeth.
With Xirena following after Demyx, Rex and Axel went on into the store as well. What was this store though, exactly? Over the doors hung a neon blinking sign that said 'NOBODY MUSIC SUPPLY' with a fancy script font subtitle of 'for all your musical wants and needs!'
"OKAY! I'll obviously be playing guitar." Demyx said, wasting no time in taking control of the situation. He'd unofficially appointed himself the leader of this project and thus had the most creative control.
"Don't you have a guitar already?" Xirena asked her friend, tilting her head and raising a pondering finger to her lips.
"No, no you silly gal." Demyx playfully sighed and plopped his hand on her shoulder, "I have a sitar. It's different."
"Oh ok. If you say so!"
"Okay yeah so like I said, I'll be on guitar." Demyx began yet again, detaching himself from Zee.
Axel and Rex finally caught up to the other pair, having dragged their feet the whole way. Now, while Axel was here because he knew Zee wanted to do it and admittedly... he thought it could be fun to form a band too, but couldn't admit that to Demyx. It'd make him even more annoying. No harm could come from learning an instrument, it'd clearly be a positive trait to have in your arsenal of hobbies.
"Axmaster. I'm thinking bass guitar for you." Demyx spoke, pointing at Axel, who shrugged indifferently, "Zee, I'm thinking as our vocalist and dancer obviously."
"NO." Rex screamed, shattering the eardrums of everyone around him. A tantrum had just begun, "I'M going to be the singer. ME. If I have to be in this band it's gonna be all about me."
"Err." Demyx started awkwardly, hoping to calm The Swift Brawler but he had a feeling his continuance would only anger him more, "I was thinking you should be in the back doing drums instead."
"Oh ABSOLUTELY NOT." Rex wagged his finger wildly and huffed, "You expect me to be that far away from the front? Nobody will be able to see me back there!"
Rex looked around as he hissy-fitted and bitterly grabbed a tambourine, the first thing he saw, and threw it at Xirena, who wasn't prepared for the sudden strike. The small instrument impacted against her stomach, and she let out a yelp as it impacted and she proceeded to rub the area where it hit her, an intense and despaired frown on her face. It was a look he never liked to see on Xirena, and in this scenario it was especially troublesome to him since it resulted as a direct attack from a tangible source. The tambourine fell to the floor with a jingle and everyone fell silent. Demyx gulped loudly, looking back and forth from Axel to Zee with immense worry. Axel shot a dangerous, damn near DEADLY look at Rex, who rolled his eyes at Axel. Trying his best not to chomp down on that 'stress spot' on the inside of his cheek, he spun to Rex and grabbed his shoulder roughly.
"What the?!" Rex shouted, taken aback.
"Tit for tat." Axel responded flatly, almost sociopathic in nature.
Axel's free hand quickly formed into a fist and Rex began to panic, unable to escape Axel's one-handed grip since he was so much bigger than the Swift Brawler. Axel winded up a punch, aimed straight for Rex's gut, and he had no intention of holding back.
"AXMASTER!" Demyx shouted, tackling Axel and grabbing his arm that he was about to punch Rex with. Xirena quickly managed to help Rex by softly tugging him away, and Rex was in hysterics as anyone could have predicted. The shock of being tackled threw Axel off, even though he had a size advantage over Demyx too.
Being held back by Demyx gave Axel time to re-think what he was about to do, his rage diminishing at a slow rate, but quelling all the same. Even with his nostrils still flared and teeth gritted, he understood that if he started a fight like that he'd be transformed into a Dusk for at LEAST a week as punishment... and on top of that, it'd make such an awful impression on Xirena if he actually punched Rex. Axel recognized he was wrong to respond so viscerally, but Rex had no right to be a douchebag either, but he knew that Rex wouldn't admit to it. Not once, not ever.
"Urgh." Axel grunted, breaking free from Demyx, "Sorry. I guess."
"Yeah." Rex responded with venom and looked away, "You better be."
"O-Okay guys let's move on!" Demyx urged, making sure to get between the two men as a precaution, "Okay Rex, you win... You can be the vocalist, but I retain the right to change you to drums if we deem your singing not good enough."
"Pshaw!" Rex was appalled by Demyx's insinuation, "PUH-LEASE I can out-sing anyone here, especially Xirena."
"Like I said... we'll try it... but I think it's only fair to give Xirena a try too afterward. Like a proper audition! Yeah!"
"Alright, fine." Rex reluctantly agreed, "But I get to go first."
"Yes, that's the agreement." Demyx promised, "But this means we have nobody... heh... Nobody on drums. No offense to Zee, but I don't think she can do drums. Who else could we possibly ask...?"
Tap tap tap.
"Eh?" A collective noise from all the men.
Jingle jingle tap tap.
Being ignored after the fight up to this point, the attention was taken away from Xirena. In the time she was not being included in the conversation, she had picked up the tambourine and started playing with it, pleased by how easily it was to form a decent beat with it. She shook it at different rhythms, tapped it with her hand and smacked it against her hip – all with a smile on her face. While not as free to dance as she would be able to as the vocalist, she could still bust moves while shaking her little tambourine.
"Zee! The tambourine is right up your alley!" Demyx exclaimed.
"Really?" She asked, ceasing her musical endeavor.
"Yeah! And I mean, you could still play it even if you sing too." Demyx assured her too.
"She's getting special treatment..." Rex groaned under his breath, childish as usual.
"Knock it off, Rexvir." Axel bitterly chimed it, using his full name so you knew he was serious.
"Auditions, guys!" Demyx shouted, trying his best to be the mediator in the heated exchange. Poor Demyx never could have predicted how this was all gonna go down, "You can audition to sing too if ya want, Axmaster."
"Think I'll pass." Axel waved his hand dismissively, "I'll gladly take the bass guitar, you know more about this stuff than I do so I'll trust you to know what's best."
Rex made a face, still bitter. To think Demyx's ideas were the best to go with after his idea was to put Rex on drums? It was laughable to Rex and made a plan to never trust Demyx again on subjects related to music.
"Rex..." Demyx started softly, "If we pick Zee to sing instead of you, will you please play drums? It DOES take a lot of skill which I bet you have!" He thought adding that last bit in was a good hook.
"...I'll think about it." Rex huffed, "I need to wind down after this mess. I'm going to the club tonight."
"B-But you don't want to help us pick out stuff?" Demyx said sadly, "Or practice?"
"I picked the stupid tambourine for Xirena, I did enough." Rex dismissed Demyx coldly, "BYE losers."
With that, Rex marched out of the store, ready to badly dance his troubles away. He absolutely couldn't WAIT to tell anyone that would listen that he was physically threatened, just for the attention. He would also tell everyone that he was gonna be a singer in a famous band too, despite that being mostly wrong. Rex can't live without being the center of attention, so he'd go to any length he can to exaggerate his life and dramatize it. However, back in the store everyone was secretly relieved that Rex left them... well, except maybe Xirena. She didn't like that he threw the tambourine at her, but that didn't mean she wanted him to leave or get punched.
"So uh, hey Zee. Why not take the tambourine up to the counter and have the Dusk hold onto it while we look around more?" Demyx suggested.
"Oh ok!" She said, gleefully and gracefully turning and skipping towards the counter. Meanwhile, Demyx elbowed Axel. He didn't want to piss him off any more than he already was so he made sure it was a gentle touch.
"So... can Rex even sing, do you know?" Demyx asked quietly. Axel let out a pained sound.
"Not even a little bit." He answered honestly, scrunching his face in pain and disgust, "But I can't vouch for Zee either."
"Eh? You think she'd be decent enough since she's all about music, kinda!"
"Well, she never actually sings along. She just hums along with the song, but I caught her lip syncing a few times. Who knows, maybe she was singing and I just couldn't hear it over the music."
"Well if she falls through too then this band idea is dead in the water..." Demyx lamented, then joked, "Unless maybe if Luxord or Zexion can sing or drum! Hehe!"
"Eh, let's just go get our instruments and try to enjoy the rest of this day." Axel said, giving Demyx a solid pat on the back, who coughed at the unexpected force.
He was getting convinced that Axel wasn't aware of his own strength, and honestly, Demyx kinda wanted to see him punch Rex. Not even just for the blatant abuse suffered by Zee just now, that just happened to be the straw that broke the camel's back. Enough time had passed since Demyx's joining that he experienced plenty of Rex's less than great attitude about... everything. In fact, quite a bit of time had passed between since Axel got back and to that point that they were at now. Demyx had been planning this band thing for a long time.
"We need a band name too." Demyx said frankly.
"Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself there?"
"I was thinking 'Icarus Burning!' Sounds cool, yeah?" Demyx totally ignored Axel's protest.
"Uhh... sure, yeah. Icarus Burning it is." Axel apathetically agreed, "Unless someone else comes up with something better."
"Ooooh! Let's make a list!" Demyx suggested, thrusting one arm into the air and jumping.
"You can handle that, buddy."
"Handle what?" That feminine voice interrupted.
Xirena had returned from the front counter, where the tambourine sat safely where it couldn't be picked up by any-Nobody else (even the lesser Nobodies liked to take part in recreational activities, they get bored too when they're not fighting with their commanders after all).
"Just band names!" Demyx explained, "We got one idea so far, but we're gonna make a list."
"You're going to make a list, Demyx, you are." Axel corrected.
"Oh ok. Maybe I can help!" Xirena said, smiling as she always did. It was as if she'd completely forgotten about being assaulted by Rex mere minutes earlier. Actually, she probably did, at least for the time being.
"Sounds good, Zee-mama!" Demyx said encouragingly, "We'll have a name before we know it!"
Just as he feared, Axel ended up footing the expensive bill for the instruments. They picked up a guitar, microphone, mic stand and a bass on top of the tambourine and the associated instrument cases – choosing to hold off on the drums for now until after singing auditions, it'd only be right for the designated drummer to pick out their own set of drums after all. They all knew Zee wouldn't be the drum player though, their group needed a dancer, and there was no way she could drum AND dance... or drum to begin with probably. For now the group, except for Rex, had returned to the castle and decided to slack around the Gray Area for a while. One of the new members was sitting in there too, Marluxia, across from Luxord who he graciously was playing cards with.
"So, should we start practicing with our stuff before singing auditions? Or wait til after? I'm so excited, I have so many song ideas. I had Zee in mind for the vocals on them so the idea of transferring them to Rex is hard." Demyx rambled.
Axel was completely relaxed, taking up at least half the couch to himself with his arms hanging over the back and his legs spread widely in front of him, slumping down. Honestly his mind wasn't quite so relaxed, he was still angry with Rex, but he was exhausted by the day with them that all he could do was sink into the couch for now. Then, just as if they'd summoned him by merely thinking, Rex appeared in the Gray Area looking upset.
"Got rejected by a hottie." Rex whined, "I don't wanna talk about it."
"Nobody asked." Axel groaned, "We don't care."
"Whatever." Rex replied, then turning his attention to Zee, "Oh honey... No."
For some reason he actually sounded concerned, but that was quickly trampled when he grabbed Zee by the cheeks, pulling her forward to examine her.
"Your bangs are getting way too long, let me cut them." Rex offered, "Your ends are dead too so just let me trim it, please, you look a mess."
"Um..." Xirena was hesitant, and with his grip on her face it was hard to talk properly, "Oh ok, if you say so Rex."
Rex released Xirena and grabbed her wrist forcefully, pulling her up and away as they headed towards his room. Axel raised his previously resting head as they walked away, his expression souring as he saw Xirena happily walk away with that douche.
"There you go again." Demyx grinned, stretching and putting his hands behind his head, "Looking all puppy-like when she leaves."
"Pfft." Axel snorted, "I hate to steal someone else's catchphrase but... As if. I don't have a puppy-like look."
"Hah!" Demyx barked with laughter, "Sure you don't, Axmaster."
Axel let out a displeased groan for possibly the millionth time that day, his head bobbing backwards again and resting on the edge of the back of the couch – just staring at the ceiling. From the ceiling, his eyes traveled to that giant, haunting window that took up an entire wall of the Gray Area. The unending blackness of the sky was ever-unsettling, and only served to remind him of the harsh fact that he hadn't yet found a star-filled sky for Zee to see. Axel sighed, disappointed in himself for failing at what seemed to be such a simple task. He couldn't stop beating himself up over it, but he kept telling himself to be patient too – good things come to those who wait.
"Say, Axmaster..." Demyx began.
"What is it this time?" Axel asked, irritated and still staring out the window.
"You shoulda taken advantage of the hair thing. Get her a present like hair clips or something, don't let Rex steal this opportunity away from you!"
Axel abruptly sat up, nearly flinging himself forward off the couch and onto the coffee table. It was rare that Demyx had a sincerely good idea, but one that good? He'd never heard Demyx say something so helpful in his entire Nobody existence.
"Shit!" Axel exclaimed, "It's too late now! She already went with that lunatic!"
"Hey, I bet she'd appreciate the gift anyway buddy. You won't know til you try." Demyx said, offering more words of advice.
"You're right, really, you are." Axel assured him, standing up quickly, "I gotta go."
"Sooo here's what I'm thinking." Rex said with scissors in hand, pulling out a picture of Lady Gaga and handing it to Zee, "Gaga has had some pretty hip hair styles, this short one is good because it's not too crazy of a change."
It was a picture of Gaga with similar length of hair to Xirena, but unlike Zee's hair, Gaga's ends (including the bangs) were completely blunt and cut straight across. Zee's hairs had layers to it, and her bangs parted to the side and not straight across like Gaga's did. Xirena looked at the picture closely and frowned.
"I don't think I wanna do it like that, Rex." She said, standing up to Rex for a change, albeit in a small way. Rex scoffed.
"Hon, I'm the one to trust with this stuff. Believe me, it'll be better than what you have now." He said, coming at her with the scissors.
"No, Rex!" Xirena scooted back in her chair, "I don't like that hair, just cut the dead parts you mentioned."
Rex snatched the picture away from Xirena, his mouth agape in shock.
"Well FINE then, Miss Know-It-All-About-Fashion-And-Beauty-Now." Rex said angrily.
He calmed himself the best he could before standing behind Xirena and beginning to cut off the dead ends of her hair, which wasn't too much so the length of her hair came to be about the same length as it was. Rex made sure to give her his no longer "in style" hair products for her to use and keep her hair looking healthy, especially to avoid dead ends. Like it's been said many a time before, Rex won't be seen with someone who looks like a mess. So whenever he had less than half a bottle of things ranging from 'Garnier' to an 'It's a 10' product left but something better came into his possession, he'd toss the scraps off to Zee.
Xirena sat there, watching her dead hair fall to the floor around her, the violet contrasting sharply with the sterile whites and grays of the floor. Rex had the decency to throw one of those ponchos over her to keep the hair from getting all over her as he cut. As she sat, she wished she'd stayed with Axel and Demyx instead. Unpleasant emotions stirred in her as Rex continued to circle around her, Zee unable to look at him.
"Are you mad at me Rex?" Xirena asked timidly.
"Huh?"
"For not liking the hair you picked out..."
"Ugh, hon..." He said, "It's not a big deal. I'm not mad at you, okay?"
"Oh ok." Xirena responded with a relieved sigh, "I was really scared for a second."
Rex looked down at Xirena, feeling an ounce of compassion for the girl there. It was like all the bad treatment he gave her compounded onto that moment, but would Rex crack? No. He was too narcissistic to let that feeling bother him for more than a brief moment. In truth, he wasn't happy she disliked the Gaga cut, but he was mature enough to get over it and not be actually mad at Zee herself.
"I'll just do a better job convincing you next time." Rex said happily, stepping back from Zee and pulling the hair poncho off of her, "Free to go, hon."
"Thanks Rex!" Said a thankful Xirena, who ran her fingers through her freshly touched-up head of purple hair.
Rex held up his hand-mirror so Zee could admire his work, and her reflection stared back at her, just as happy as she was. Suddenly, a look crossed Zee's face – a look as if she just remembered something important; something incredibly crucial to her life. She shot up from her seat, unintentionally sending Rex stumbling backwards.
"Wha- Hey! That was RUDE!" He shouted after her as Xirena ran out of his room.
The door fell shut behind Xirena, her head quickly darting back and forth – up and down the hall. Her luck was from heaven that night, as her target presented himself for her. She saw Axel stepping out of his room, trying to look inconspicuous and sneaky. Little did he know his 'cover' was already blown – he hadn't anticipated her time with Rex being so short.
"Axel!" Xirena called out, causing Axel to flinch slightly in shock.
Xirena jogged over to her friend, who slowly turned around to greet her, and he appeared a bit... 'off.'
"Something wrong?" He asked, trying to compose himself, but before she could answer he noticed the work she had done, "Hey, you didn't let Rex mess you up, good for you. I thought he'd try to force something wacky on you no matter what."
"Yeah Rex did good but I-"
"Yeah he did do a pretty good job, huh? I'd never have trusted him with scissors near my hair, you're braver than me."
"O-Oh ok Axel, thank you but-"
"Why do we even LET Rex have scissors anyway..." Axel pondered out loud.
"Shh!"
Axel was shocked. Before him stood a flustered looking Xirena, with her index finger pressed firmly up against her pink lips. SHE was the one that shh'd him?! No way! Now Axel was the confused one, dropping his head to the side and narrowing his eyes curiously. For her to be so forward, something indeed must have been wrong.
"Sorry, Zee." He apologized, quieting down, "What's going on?"
"It's something important. Super important." She insisted, beckoning for him to lean down, since she couldn't get at his ear to whisper on just her toes alone.
Xirena rose to her toes and Axel bent down a bit, giving her prime 'whispering position access.' Zee's lips twitched, and then murmured something into Axel's curious ear...