Nya...sorry it took me so long you guys! I have a bunch of'm written up just nearly forgot about this place...this is the second site it's on n.n;;
Enjoy :3
KH and FF (c) Square Enix
III
Chapter Three
III
The two sat in the kitchen. Demyx was drumming his fingers on the table and Roxas sat on the counter. "What do you think?" Demyx asked.
"About what?" Roxas looked up from his feet.
"Our weapons." Demyx stopped drumming the table. "Do you think this world did something to them?" He held the little sitar charm between his thumb and forefinger.
Roxas looked down at his necklace. The Oblivion and Oathkeeper charms hung limply like the littler ornaments they had come to. "Maybe…" he sighed. His eyes suddenly widened, "Wait…can't you still use yours?"
Demyx's cheeks suddenly reddened. "Yah, well, sort of, but I doubt it would've worked; I haven't done it under stress yet."
Roxas shrugged, "So? It's worth a shot. You could give it a try now. I'm sure you're still stressed out over what just happened."
Demyx smiled sheepishly. "I'll feel guilty if it works."
Roxas rolled his eyes. "C'mon! Let's see if it works. What's the point of having emotions if you don't use them? And what if he comes back?" Roxas decided to call the figure a "he." "You're not going to let that big-bad-man get me and Axel, are you?" He gave Demyx the puppy-dog look in an attempt to look innocent.
Demyx sighed. "Fine…we have nothing else to do and you never know. All right, what kind of water?"
"Hmm…the one I walked in on." Roxas said with a slight smile.
Demyx's eyes narrowed. "I hate you." He said and then closed his eyes and thought for a moment. Taking a deep breath, ""Dance, dance,"" a small puddle began to form in front of Demyx as he sang, ""we're fallin' apart to half ti—"" the puddle began to bubble but stopped after a few seconds. "Damn."
"It was floating around your head last time," Roxas frowned. "I guess you could practice again later today." He hopped off the counter and grabbed a few paper towels.
Seizing the chance to change subjects, Demyx said: "Speaking of practice, that's what you'll be doing tonight with cooking."
"What? It's my turn all ready?" Roxas looked up as he began to clean up the puddle.
"Uh-huh," Demyx nodded, smirking. "I suggest something easy and not heat-sensitive."
"Axel liked it," Roxas protested, standing up.
"Axel likes anything that's been set on fire."
"That's not true," Axel walked in, still in his suit. "I don't like my ice-cream on fire."
Demyx and Roxas looked up. "So what was that all about?"
"What was what all about?" Axel took a seat. "…All right, I'll tell you; just stop giving me those looks." He paused, "But not now."
"What? Why not?" The two demanded angrily.
"Because I don't know how to explain it," he replied. And I couldn't get much out of it, either, he added silently in his mind.
Roxas and Demyx rolled their eyes.
"Fine," Roxas tossed the paper towels into the trash.
Axel shifted in his seat slightly before switching to a different subject. "By the way, since when did we get a radio?" Axel looked from Roxas to Demyx.
Roxas did his best to stifle his laughter. He did a better job at it compared to Demyx's attempt at not blushing.
Roxas looked into the pot. "Uh…guys?"
"What?" Axel and Demyx looked up from the movie they were watching.
"I think it's ready."
"Smells safe…" Axel said, pausing the movie and getting up.
"That's an improvement." Demyx muttered, causing Axel to snort.
"Hahaha," Roxas laughed sarcastically and grabbed three bowls. "Try to guess the secret ingredient." He filled the bowls with vegetable udon and then placed the bowls on the table. "I'll give you a hint. It starts with an 'A' and there's an 'E' and it ends with—"
"I'm not poison," Axel interrupted.
Demyx nearly choked on his udon. "That was horrible and you deserved to be shot for it."
Axel smiled and was about to eat when a note floated down. His smile melted away. His hand shot out and caught the note. "Too bad Xigbar isn't here."" He read the note aloud to Demyx and Roxas as they leaned over to read the note. It was in neat and curly writing.
"Uh-oh…" the three looked up.
The hooded figure waved.
They snapped into fighting positions. Demyx looked at his sitar-less hands. "….No weapons. Again."
"Use the chopsticks, then." Axel's hand shot for his chopsticks.
The figure looked like it was laughing again. Once it finished laughing, it held a hand up and Roxas went flying towards it. "Oof!" He landed into its outstretched arm, nearly knocking the wind out of him. It wrapped that arm around his waist and brought him close to itself.
Roxas was now a shield.
Axel swore. If he could see its face he'd see a thin lips pulled back into a cruel grin.
"What do you want?" Demyx asked, not wanting to fight and, of course, get answers.
The figure tapped Roxas on the head.
Roxas did not appreciate that, so he slammed his head into his captor's chest.
It hadn't expected that. The simple blow gave Roxas enough time to break free. He spun around and sent a kick into the stomach of his enemy before running to Axel and Demyx. "She's got an iron grip," he said, rubbing his arm.
""She"?" Demyx and Axel looked back at the figure.
"Yes," she finally spoke, "I'm a girl. Obviously this wasn't as easy as I thought. No matter, I'm only after Roxas. You two, I have no idea how you came back. So, this probably means its okay to kill you boys." Her voice sounded like a waterfall of glass. Her expression suddenly changed, "Actually, I want Roxas to suffer first." She held her hand out again. It was Axel and Demyx who were drawn to her now at break neck speed. She stepped aside and allowed Demyx to keep going and hit the couch. Some unfriendly cracks were heard.
"Demyx!" Roxas took a step forward but a stifled grunt from Axel stopped him. "Let him go!"
She allowed her laugh to be heard this time. It reminded the three of breaking bones. "Do you honestly think I'm going to do something regretful as that?" Axel let out a yell of pain as she increased the grip on his arm and since it was twisted, the grip didn't ease much pain. "You don't have your Keyblades, so what can you do to me?"
Roxas could only glare and bare his teeth.
"So you're going to be a nice little boy and come with me or let me break his arm or worse? I wouldn't mind that actually because if I change my mind and let them live, we could play hide-n-seek and I just love that game." She paused, awaiting Roxas' response. "…Or I could just let them die and then take you. Hmm…if could also torture all three—"
"All right!" Roxas yelled, "I'll go! Let got of Axel and I'll come."
"Okay," she pushed Axel to the side right into the wall. "Hey, you never said I couldn't do further harm. Now, c'mon before I change my mind." She held out her hand.
Roxas stiffly walked over to her. He took her hand and applied as much pressure as possible.
"Been eating your spinach, huh?" She smirked as a door of darkness appeared and surrounded them, taking them to a place only she knew of.
It was just after that moment when Axel pushed himself from the ground into a sitting position. "Oh man, my head." He reached out to touch it. "Ow!" His arm was rather sore. "My arm! That—" he looked around, remembering what just happened. "Roxas?"
Axel received no response.
"Damn!" He slammed his fist onto the ground. "Ow!" It was the hand on the injured arm. "That stupid bitch kidnapped Roxas," he stood up and gently rubbed his arm. "I can't believe I lost him again," he sighed, heading for the kitchen where the first-aid kit was. "Gre—"
"Ah! Sonofa…!"
Axel jumped and looked down. He had stepped onto Demyx's arm, which looked to be in a very odd angle. Axel was in disbelief that he forgot about his friend. "Demyx, are you all right?" He knelt down.
Demyx had been thrown into the couch and managed to topple over it and land half-way on the floor. "Gahhh…what do you think? I think my arm's broken." With the way he landed, Axel did not need to prop him up against the couch. Demyx tried to lift himself up but he let out a yell of pain and his uninjured arm twitched towards his ribs. "And I think a few ribs too…"
Axel frowned. "I think that's going to need a hi-potion at the very least."
Demyx's eyes widened. "Oh, god no." He shook his head but that seemed to trigger pain.
"We'll see what we've got." Axel walked into the kitchen and opened the cupboard next to the fridge. First thing's first. Help Demyx and then worry my head-off about Roxas. Axel rummaged through the cupboard with only one hand and much difficulty. He pulled it out and returned to Demyx. "All right…" he flipped open the box and pulled out a small slip of paper. "Sorry, Demyx, but it says to take an X-potion for broken bones."
Demyx groaned. "What about Roxas? Is he all ri…" he trailed off. "That bitch!" He slammed his uninjured fist on the ground. "Ahh—! Not smooth…." The move effected his broken ribs.
Axel rolled his eyes, "Here." He handed Demyx a small, plastic vial filled with a blue liquid. "We can't do anything useful for Roxas if you don't drink it."
Demyx rolled his eyes. "I was going to drink it any way." He took the vial. "Uhh…Axel?"
"Huh? Oh, sorry." He took the little vial and unscrewed the cap. "Why the heck do they make these with screw-off tops?" He asked, unscrewing a plastic vial with red-orange liquid for himself; a hi-potion.
"I guess the people here don't expect to be attacked, so it isn't a freakish emergency." Demyx sniffed it. "Guh…bottoms-up." Demyx would have pinched his nose but he only had one functional arm.
Axel and Demyx then put the vials to their lips and braced themselves for the relentless flavor of bitterness of the healing wounds from battle. Like a fall of lava, the burning tonic poured down their throats in search of damaged parts. Struggling to prevent it from coming up, the two managed to swallow the drink. "I hate this stuff." Demyx gagged and wiped his mouth.
"Same here…" Axel sighed. "Go get some rest. I'll see if I can find a way to find Roxas."
"Uh-uh," he shook his head. "You can't expect me to sleep while my friend's been kidnapped by some crazy lady, do you?"
"You have broken ribs." Axel said flatly.
Demyx knew he was beaten. "…Fine." Demyx was about to lift himself up but Axel stopped him.
"Here, let me help." With a twinge of pain, Axel managed to help Demyx up. "Need any more hel—"
"No, but thanks." Demyx stood up and then fell onto the couch. "Ow!" The hand that wasn't healing raced to his side. "I guess this works too…"
"I guess it would be smarter to rest here incase she comes back."
"Uh-huh…" Demyx nodded. He could already feel the effects of the potion kicking in. He always liked the old potions from the world of the Organization because they'd energize you for the battle; not knock you out for sleep.
"Hang on a sec; I'll get you a pillow."
"Oh, thanks…" Demyx was fine with the way he was but a pillow was always welcome. This feels weird. I know Axel considers me a friend but—wow. I've been a Nobody for so long I can't remember the feelings of friendship…That's just sad.
"Here," Axel returned. "Can you lift your head?"
"What? Oh, yah," Demyx lifted his head a little.
Axel placed the pillow under Demyx' head, "Need anything else?"
"No, but thanks." Demyx could feel his eyelids grow heavy.
Axel too felt drowsy but he had to find away to get Roxas back. If only I still had the powers of darkness. He walked out of the living room and into the kitchen to put away the box of potions and other helpful items. Leaving the kitchen for his room, Axel hastily rummaged through his dirty clothes pile and found what he wanted. Walking back into the living room, Axel saw that Demyx had already fallen asleep. Axel took a seat with his back against the wall. He opened the black book first.
It was a small book, about the size of a DVD case. The pages were yellowed from time and the ink had become gray. The feathery pages also gave off a slight smell, causing Axel to wonder just how old it was. He then opened up the other book. It wasn't an official book but a thin, red spiral notebook. He was careful to not allow the two notes to fall out of it. The notebook contained information he recorded from the book and anything related to it. Roxas and Demyx knew about the book and it was a little challenging to keep them away from it. Axel didn't know why but he felt like he had to keep the book away from them; at least, for now.
There was something familiar about the book but he wasn't too sure what it was. What had attracted Axel's attention to the book was its cover; the Organization's symbol (but it was not the symbol that brought the feeling of familiarity). Shrugging aside the usual question of "Why is this book so familiar?" he flipped through the book when something caught his attention. It was something he had not noticed before and this surprised him. That was because it was in the corner in recognizable characters, none of this secret code thing in other pages, and in a red ink and not-so neat handwriting. It read "Ill-Trina."
Axel blinked. Where have I heard that before? And why haven't I seen that before?! He looked at the page it was on to make sure he hadn't seen it before; page 26. Oh, maybe that's why I didn't notice. I haven't gotten that far into translating the thing. Axel figured that was a decent reason for not seeing it before but that didn't answer the familiarity of the term. "Whatever…" Axel shook his head, deciding to get back to translating the first page.
Translating this book was no easy task. The code kept changing and it seemed to have no exact pattern when changing. It would be one code for a page and then a different one for three pages then change to another for six pages. "This is so annoying…I've had this thing for a few weeks and I only have the first few sentences translated." But I now have those in a language everybody can read now, he thought, glancing at the notes.
Demyx muttered something in his sleep.
Axel realized he'd have to be quiet or end up waking Demyx, which would impede his progress of translating the book. Demyx was then silent, so Axel continued with translating. Hey, I've seen that one before so that means…"sea" and that letter makes "souls"…wait, that can't be right because there's no such thing as a word like "sucito." Axel frowned; he had worked so hard on those translations. "Screw it…" Axel closed the book and got up. He wasn't going to give up on the book but he felt it was a waste of time to try to continue translating if what he wanted wasn't going to give him straight answers to a way to find Roxas.
Demyx's fingers twitched and he muttered something again.
Axel walked down the hall and carefully opened his door as to not wake Demyx. This time, he had the books under his mattress and placed the pencil on his pillow. "Now—"
"Axel—OW!" It was Demyx.
Axel ran to the living room. Demyx was sitting with a curve in his posture, suggesting that he had sat up suddenly. "Demyx? Are you all right?"
Demyx turned around, ignoring the ache in his side. "Yah. God…another nightmare…"
Axel decided to take a seat next to Demyx. "Another cliff one?"
Demyx shifted a little, so he was facing Axel. "No…this one was really different." He stopped. "Let's talk about it later, we need to find Roxas. Even if we can't find—not another note," he groaned as a little piece of paper floated down from the ceiling. He held his hand out to catch it. "I swear, with all these notes she's giving us you'd think the teacher's would've had it in for her."
Axel ignored the bad joke and looked over Demyx's shoulder. "That's not her handwriting."
"Huh?" They hadn't even read it and could tell it wasn't from the girl who kidnapped Roxas. For one, it wasn't curly and two it wasn't the neatest writing they had seen.
Axel read it out loud. ""Combine the opposites and speak the dead language"? What the..?"
Demyx reread the note. He flipped the paper over to see if there was anything on the other side. There was. ""Suscito"? I think that's Latin."
"Since when did you take Latin?"
"Extra credit for an English assignment."
"Ah." Axel didn't pay too much attention to their homework assignments.
"I think it's talking about Latin. That is a dead language."
"That's helpful." Axel said sarcastically, suddenly realizing something. "Do you know what it means?"
"Uh-uh." Demyx shook his head, almost getting some of his hair into Axel's eyes.
"Give me a second," Axel got all the information he needed. He darted to his room, deciding to forget about hiding the book, and returned to the couch. If he had a heart, it'd be racing, but he didn't, so it wasn't.
"Hey, isn't that—?"
"Yup." Axel flipped it to the first page. "Apparently those symbols mean "suscito.""
Demyx reached over to look at the book. Axel didn't let go of it, so they formed an 'X' with their arms and ended up shoulder-to-shoulder. "Suscito," they both said at the same time, absent-mindedly almost.
A light surrounded them.
"What the!?" Axel jumped, letting go of the book; Demyx did the same.
"What'd you do?" Demyx looked at Axel with very wide eyes.
"Me? I didn't do anything! What'd you do?"
"I didn't do anyth—"
Darkness surrounded them.
Axel's eyes burst open. He would've bolted up but he couldn't. This was due to the fact that there was a metal band wrapped around his chest and around his wrists and ankles. Looking down and seeing with what little light he had, there were two more metal bands around his thighs and small waist. "What the…?" He also noticed what looked like a glassy black-green surface beneath his chair of steel. He looked up to see the same thing a few feet above him. It was a meter across and a pair of wide eyes stared back at him. Axel realized it was his reflection. "Where's Demyx?" He couldn't help but ask the question out loud.
"I'm here."
Axel's head snapped to the left. Demyx was in the same type of restrains as Axel. "Isn't this lovely?" He sarcastically asked and rolled his eyes.
"Yah," Demyx replied with as much sarcasm. Something suddenly occurred to him. "You weren't wearing that a minute ago."
"Huh?" Axel looked down. He didn't notice he was wearing different clothes; being strapped into a metal chair can do that sometimes. Demyx was right, though; Axel had not been wearing black jeans or a black shirt. "You're wearing the same thing I am."
Demyx looked down and moved his ungloved hands. "Weird…did somebody change our clothes?"
"I—hey, you're jeans are dusty! So are mine," Axel had trouble keeping the shock out of his voice.
"Wha—?! What the hell is going on?" The room they were in was only lit by the faint glow of the glass above and below them. The two could see each other clearly, and the thick layer of dust, but they were also only a few feet away from each other, so seeing such things were a little easier.
A smirk suddenly appeared on Axel's face. "I wonder…" he closed his eyes and focused on the chakrams and warmth of fire. The familiar sensation of heat ran through him to the tips of his fingers. Another missed feeling returned; this was the metallic touch of the chakrams. "All right!" An orange light filled the room as tiny flames danced around the tips of his chakrams.
"Whoa!" Demyx jumped within his restraints.
"Hang on; let me see if I can get out." Axel had very little mobility but he could at least try. Slowly and carefully moving the chakrams so he now held them by the outer ring, he flicked his wrists upward and slammed the chakrams down at the chair.
There was a loud clang; then another, and another. Demyx cringed with every hit Axel made. Axel continued to hit the chair until he heard a different sound, a sound of metal screaming as it was torn. "Yes!" He managed to wrench his left hand out of the metal restraint and started to smack his chakrams on the right arm of the chair. "I guess it's a good thing I don't have a heart," he said to Demyx, who was clenching his teeth, after freeing his right hand. "Because this would really hurt." Axel began to do his best at hitting the metal across his chest.
"It still sounds painful," Demyx said between the sounds of metal against metal.
"It sort of is," Grunted Axel. Another five minutes and he managed to get the metal off. Glad to get that off my chest. He then moved onto the metal around his thighs; also being rather careful.
As Axel hacked away at his restraints, Demyx squinted through the gloom. "It's almost like a storage room." He muttered to himself, "and we're dusty…well, the clothes are at least." The storage room feeling and dusty clothes were far from comfort. He remembered Roxas telling him one sleepless night of Twilight Town being an illusion. This made him wonder if the world they had been in was an illusion. "Hey, Axel—"
"Demyx, hold still."
"What? Why—" the two chakrams whirled through the air and made a home at in the restraints by the chest. Demyx angrily responded: "What the f—"
"Hang on," Axel walked up to him and yanked the chakrams out, taking the metal band with it. "Sorry, what were you trying to say?"
"Axel, guess where my foot would be if I liked fighting?"
Axel laughed as he tore the now scrap metal off his weapons. "I won't do that again. Tell me what it is when I get you out."
Fifteen minutes later of hacking away at metal, Demyx was free. He shakily stood up. "Right…" he stumbled forward a little. "I think the town we were in was an illusion.
"Yah," Axel nodded in agreement. "Probably."
"Since that's out of the way," Demyx began, a little surprised that Axel wasn't absolutely shocked, "I'm surprised the noise didn't attract anybody's attention."
"Same here," Axel looked around. "Let's try to find away out."
"All right," Demyx nodded but realized that Axle probably couldn't see him clearly now that they were away from their light source. "Axel, think you could light this place up a little?"
"Sure, close your eyes."
Demyx shut his eyes. When he closed his eyes, he felt the heat of the fire surround him. "Whoa…" he had opened his eyes and could see more of the room. "I guess we were loved."
Above their seats was a sign reading: "DANGER: Handle with extreme caution." Below it was another sign. "If movement occurs, fire at will but do NOT kill."
Both looked at each other with raised eyebrows.
Demyx was about to speak but something caught Axel's attention. "What's that?" He walked over to it, fire still at hand.
Demyx followed him and looked at the giant keyboard with an equally large screen. "Looks like a computer." He reached out and pressed what seemed to be the "on" button.
Nothing happened.
"That was enlightening." Axel said sarcastically. "If the power for this thing isn't working, then that might mean the alarms aren't working. C'mon," Axel jerked his head towards something in the gloom.
"All right…" Demyx followed Axel. "Hey, I think I see a door."
Axel held his hand out and squinted. They could see what looked like an automatic door of some sort. "I can handle th—"
"I'm not a baby," Demyx snapped. He wanted to hold his sitar again. He let his mind reach out for the gentle flow of water until he felt the weight of his beloved instrument. "Yes! Now…what to do about this door." His fingers began to pluck the strings, and before he knew it, a strong wave of water was surging to the door. With a tremendous crash and sound of screeching metal, the door was destroyed and if so, so was anybody whom might have come to check on the two. "Also solves any problems with guards." He gave Axel a prideful smile.
Axel rolled his eyes, "All right, so you've proved you could open a door." He did have a smile on his face. "Now let's go find Roxas."
The two carefully stepped into the room. It too was dark but meters away they could see a thin "H" on its side; it was a set of doors. "You can open that one." Demyx said with a very small smile.
Axel rolled his eyes again, "Just don't trip over anything." They had only taken a few steps when there was a loud crashing noise. "OW!"
"Are you all right?" Demyx's head jerked to the left, which was where he last saw Axel and the fire.
"Yah…just tripped," Axel stood up. He held his hand out and allowed another flame to appear. "Take the smile off your face or I'll do it for you. Got it memorized?" Axel himself had a small smile on his face.
"I'm not smiling." Demyx lied and began to walk again.
"Uh-huh…" Axel walked around what he had tripped over. He looked over his shoulder to see what it was. It was a large lead pipe. "At least it wasn't my own feet," he muttered. "Oh, since we're here now and have nothing else to talk about, what was your nightmare about?"
"Oh…that…" Demyx stopped.
"Well?" Axel looked to the right expecting to see Demyx next to him. He turned around. "What was it?"
Demyx looked up but avoided eye contact with Axel. "It was…" he tried to figure out a way to get of explaining. " I thought I was fading away again." Now that he said it, Demyx realized how easy it was to fabricate a lie. Axel had faded away, so Demyx figured it'd work, such a thing seemed nightmarish enough.
"Oh. But don't you write songs about—"
"I'm not actually feeling it as I write them and it wasn't a memory of fading away; it felt like I really was fading away and the emotions were there, too."
Axel's eyebrows rose. Fading away without the emotions was bad enough but to actually go through it with emotions, Axel chose to not think about it. "It was only a dream."
Demyx shook his head, "Forget about it. It's not a big deal and we need to figure out what's going on."
"All right…" Axel agreed that they needed to find out what was going on but he didn't agree with Demyx dismissing the dream so carelessly.
Walking in complete silence for what seemed like forever, they reached the door. "Ladies first," Axel said smirking and taking a step to the side.
Demyx's hand formed into something but Axel's fire went out and the doors suddenly slid open, blinding the two with light. After a few seconds of being blinded by light, Axel and Demyx blinked to clear out all the spots from their vision. Now we know why the Heartless fear the light… Demyx thought as he looked at Axel, "You all right?"
"Yah," he blinked again, "you?"
"Yah." Axel looked around. "Whoa…" his eyes widened.
"Huh?" Demyx turned to see what Axel was looking at. "Holy…"
They stood in a very tall and long hall. The end of the all was either a wall or door, they couldn't tell but they could see the Organization's symbol from where they stood. But that wasn't what shocked them; what shocked them was what decorated these ever going walls. There were portraits of each member of the Organization. It seemed to have started with Roxas. On the left side was a portrait of him merely standing on what looked like the Oathkeeper's keychain and Oblivion's keychain behind him; other than that, he was surrounded by light. Directly across from the Roxas portrait was another giant portrait of Roxas but he looked angry and ready for battle. Next to the Roxas portraits was a pair of Larxene portraits only lightning was splitting the blackness of her background as she sneered into nothingness.
"Either we have one serious fan or—"
"—We've been found." Axel finished the sentence for Demyx.
Demy sighed, "Been nice knowing you."
"We don't that and if we've been found, we're not going down without a fight, but first, let's see what they want." He knew that if this was where the Organization was, it was rather pointless to try to bargain with them.
Demyx let out a hollow laugh and said nothing except "whatever" before heading down the hall with Axel.
Isn't this great? Axel thought, what's probably a new member of the Organization brought back to life has been sent to kidnap Roxas. I can't wa—Demyx interrupted Axel's thoughts. "Huh?"
"Never—"
"No, what?" They passed by the Luxord portraits.
"…Have you had any other nightmares besides the cliff ones?" Demyx wasn't comfortable with asking this.
"Yah, why? Have you?"
"Did any of them involve a purple haired woman?"
"Some…" he answered slowly. "Why…did yours?"
Demyx replied slowly, "Yah…"
"Well?" They stopped at the Demyx portraits.
Demyx rubbed his back of his neck. "It's just….she seems familiar."
"Maybe she's somebody your other knew," Axel suggested with a shrug. Maybe that's it… after he woke up on the world he and the other two had lived on, the memories of their others, except for Roxas (his were fine up to the point of Destiny Islands), were pretty foggy and cluttered and with the fact that he and Demyx had been hooked up to computers, he had no idea if any of the memories of his other were real.
"I don't think so." Demyx started walking again, "Something says it was after we were Nobodies."
Axel caught up with him. "Maybe…" there was something gnawing at him in the back of his mind. He was about to question Demyx further but then figured it was a pointless. "These dreams could've been things they fed into the computer thing we were hooked up to," Axel announced after some thinking.
"Maybe…" Demyx clearly didn't want to continue the discussion of his dreams. He could feel regret wash over him; regret for lying about his dream to his friend.
Axel sighed and their walk was silent until they reached the end of the hall; a dead end.
"Yup. This really is the new place." Demyx looked up to see the giant symbol tower above them. "Now, how do we get in to face our certain doom?"
A door slid open in front of them.
"That's how," Axel stepped towards the door. "Well see what they want first and then pull out our weapons."
"Yay, fighting," Demyx muttered sarcastically, following Axel. "Hey this place doesn't look so bad…"
The two Nobodies stopped a few feet into the room. The ivory tiles seemed to stretch on forever if it wasn't for some minor details proving this room was not eternal. Tapestries of the Organization's symbol hung all around the walls along with thirteen rugs set up in a circle. "They seem to have chosen something more comfortable this time," commented Axel. In the center of each rug was a chair with Roman numerals on the back. Axel frowned, this was very odd. It seemed like the two, Axel and Demyx, might not be wanted dead after all. He walked over to the chair with his number and hesitantly placed a hand on it to be sure it was real.
Demyx's eyebrows rose and then narrowed. "I don't trust it."
"Good, neither do I." Axel removed his hand from the chair.
"I almost feel sorry for Marluxia." Demyx said when his eyes fell onto the pink chair and recalled the portrait of Marluxia and the thousands of petals painted around him.
"I don't. C'mon, let's see if we can find another door."
"Or three." Demyx said, noticing a silvery spot on the wall in front of them and on the walls to their left and right.
Axel did not know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. "Okay…which way? I choose the middle one."
"I say left."
"Then we go right."
Demyx shrugged. "That works too."
Axel headed for the door, "I hope we find something this time. I'm kind of tired of the pointless rooms."
Demyx smiled slightly. "As long as there isn't a bunch of Heartless in them, I'm fine."
"Only one way to find out," Axel replied once they reached the door. He grabbed the knob and twisted it. It was another hallway; a much shorter one but a hallway none-the-less. "You've got to be kidding me."
"What's with the chicks?" Demyx looked at the portraits; there were seven pairs.
"They're the Seven Princess."
Demyx gave a short nod. "Ah," he couldn't help but feel a little stupid about forgetting them.
"I can actually see the ceiling," Axel said this as they began to walk down the hallway. He didn't need to look directly up in order to see an ivory ceiling. All those poor elephants… Axel mused cruelly. "I don't think we'll have enough energy to fight them if we ever find them with all these halls."
"Don't you just love the word "if"," asked Demyx in false cheer.
Axel didn't answer. They had already reached the door. "All right, this better lead to somewhere worth while."
Before either touched the knob, the door swung open on its own, causing Axel and Demyx to jump back. They both looked at the door then each other and then at the door again. A velvety black curtain hung before them limply. "Who puts a curtain in front of a door?" Demyx looked at Axel.
Axel shrugged. "Let's just go and see what's behind it." He pushed through the thick fabric and disappeared behind it, filled with determination to find Roxas.
"Wait for me," hissed Demyx. He stumbled after Axel and crashed into him. "Oof! Sor—"
"Shh!" Axel hissed. He returned his attention to what was around the corner.
Demyx nodded and quietly looked around the corner via under Axel's elbow, wondering why Axel looked surprised. The room they were looking into was a range of blues. What looked like circles of ice had been stacked on one another forming stairs that lead up to a translucent, dark blue throne-like seat and atop of that seat was a woman with purple hair. Demyx gasped and ducked behind the corner. "Axel," he hissed and tugged at his sleeve.
"What? Is she from your dreams?" Axel asked, guessing that's what Demyx was about to say. He had to admit, he, too, was shocked.
"Yes," he whispered back with wide eyes.
Axel quickly looked around the corner again; she was writing something down and completely oblivious to the intruders. He ducked back behind the corner and whispered: "All right, here's the plan: You send your water clones in to distract her and while she's fighting them, we move in. Got it memorized?" Regardless of the situation, he had to say his trade-mark term and hiding the smile was impossible.
A tiny smile crept onto Demyx's face. "Got it." His hand wrapped around the sitar charm and he spoke the words he missed. "Dance water, dance."
A shriek of surprise told them it worked. Axel's face displayed cruel enjoyment. The chakrams were held tightly in his hands as he leapt out from behind the corner. He found her halfway down the stairs fighting three Demyx clones. This is perfect, he thought. With a mighty swing of his arm, Axel threw the chakram from his right hand towards her.
Her visible eye, the left one, spotted the chakram just in time. She allowed herself to fall back and let the chakram sail over her. "Ah! You bastard," her hair was long and the duck allowed it to become free game. "It took me forever to get my hair that long!" Her voice was drenched with anger.
"Cry me a river," Demyx snapped, appearing next to Axel with his sitar in hand. The clones suddenly fused together into a giant wave. The wave towered over her and crashed down on her fragile figure. She tumbled down the staircase and was violently pushed an extra twenty feet to Axel and Demyx.
Axel held his hand out and caught his chakram. He then swung his arm down and held a point an inch above her throat. "This was too easy." Axel then side stepped incase she wanted to kick him it wouldn't connect anywhere that could severely disable him.
As she lay on the floor, the two quickly looked her over. She wore the Organization cloak and its thick cloth clung to her beanpole shape; the plum colored hair had spilled over the wet floor and looked like a nest of snakes. They then noticed an interesting style she had done with her bangs. Over the left side of her face, the ragged and uneven hair barely surpassed the eyebrows, but the right side of her face was almost covered completely by bangs that almost surpassed the nose.
"I think she's the one who took Roxas," Demyx said. He noticed the fast rise and fall of her chest, "And she's still alive.
Thin lips formed a smile, "I sure am." Her gloved hand shot up and pulled back her bangs. A pure black eye stared up at them.
"AH!" Axel and Demyx felt their bodies suddenly go rigid and suddenly relax. The woman rolled to the side and ripped Axel's chakram from his hand as a terrible heat washed over him. This wave was instantly followed by a wave if ice. A small cry of pain escaped their lips as the pain of thousands of needles pierced their skin. Then the relief of darkness and unconsciousness came.
"Axel?"
"Hnn?" Axel forced his heavy lids open. "Wh-what—Roxas?!" Happiness and relief flooded him. Axel tried to get up but he realized his body was too heavy.
"Don't," Roxas placed a hand on Axel's shoulder, "If you keep forcing yourself you'll hurt yourself." His eyes drifted to a corner. "Demyx hasn't woken up yet." Roxas looked back at Axel. "You looked into her right eye, didn't you?"
"Uh-huh," Axel managed to give a slight nod. "You?"
"Yah," Roxas nodded as well.
Axel sighed. "Where are we?"
"Some prison cell. It looks like the ones we used when we were in the Organization."
Axel moved his eyes around to see they were in a pure-white cell. With his peripheral vision, he saw thick, white bars as the only view of the outside world. "Ah." He tried sitting up again. He managed to prop himself up on his elbows and it had taken much energy. "Jeez…how long have I been out?" He wanted to look over his shoulder to see if Demyx was all right but couldn't.
Roxas sat down, "A few hours. I think. Did you guys attack her? She was wet and had a cut on her cheek."
Axel smirked, "Yah that was us."
Roxas smiled back but then frowned. "She seemed really angry." He looked at Demyx again. "I hope she doesn't come back any time soon. It's going to take hours before you can move normally."
"Great," Axel said sarcastically. He sluggishly shook his head. "That doesn't matter now. What about you, are you all right?" He looked Roxas in the eye.
"Yah," he nodded. "You?"
"I will be in a couple of hours." Axel gave his friend a weak smile. "At least we can talk," he made an attempt to shrug.
Roxas smiled again. "If you had woken up five minutes ago, you would have heard Demyx singing."
Axel snorted and lifted his eyebrows slightly. "Really?
"Yah, it was pretty funny."
"Too bad I missed it." Axel tried sitting up completely but almost ended up on his back. "Ow…"
Roxas had Axel. He carefully pulled him back up into a sitting position, "Are you all right?"
"Of course he's all right," A familiar voice cut in. "Hello, boys." The purple haired woman smiled and waved with her free hand, the other was behind her back. "I thought you might be hungry." Her only visible eye sparkled cruelly and her smile reminded Axel and Roxas of a hungry beast. "Here," she tossed in three small bundles of cloth. "The colors go with your elemental powers." Her voice oozed with boredom. She was about to walk off but stopped. "The Melodious Nocturne hasn't woken up yet?"
"Huh? Oh, no." Axel answered with little politeness once he realized she was referring to Demyx.
"Oh. Well, at least make him drink what's in there." She turned around and began to walk off again but Axel called out to her.
"Hey, you know who we are, mind telling us who you are?" Axel asked, wanting at least one answer.
She didn't turn around and continued to walk but there was an answer. "You can call me Maltrina."
III
End of Chapter Three
III