Hey everyone, it's the next chapter! So far you guys have voted one for Sora/RoxasxOC and one for AxelxOC. Get your votes in soon, for I plan to end the polls in five chapters at the most. Anywhose, thank you to my lovely reviewers!
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It had been a while since Yuki and Demyx's session with Xigbar, and Demyx had long since abandoned Yuki at her room when a cloaked organization member told him that he had to see Xemnas. Yuki was then forced to sit in her room, bored as ever. She stared at the plain white walls with disinterest, feeling her life drain away with the pounding silence.
'Yuki...'
Yuki's head shot up, looking around and finding no one. Not even the little heartless that liked to play hide and seek. Yuki furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head. "I must have used too much energy or something..."
'Yuki, come.'
Almost instantly after she heard those words, Yuki's eyes began to droop on her as she fell back onto her bed.
--
Yuki blinked her eyes, for the blinding floor greeted her first. Once again, Yuki found that she was in that dark place with the strange lady, Dark Vein, whatever you want to call her. The lady was standing atop the pedestal again as Yuki rubbed the tears out of her eyes.
"Hello again, Yuki. I'm glad you came."
Yuki shook her head and nodded. "Yeah, sure... Wait a minute; what's the point of brining me here if I have to leave soon anyway? Didn't you say something about not being able to suppress something or another?"
The lady smiled. "Since you were in your room, if I didn't suppress the real world, it would merely look like you were sleeping if anyone found you. You wouldn't have been able to explain yourself if they saw you fall during your battle. Now, more importantly..."
The lady stepped off the pedestal and walked towards Yuki. "You seem to be able o grasp the Dark Palm well, except you do not know how to limit the energy you output. This is dangerous, for if you used too much, you would have killed that man."
Yuki's eyes widened. She could have killed Xigbar? Impossible... The lady nodded at Yuki's response.
"I see you seem to realize the gravity of the matter. So, while you are here, I shall teach you how to limit your dark energy. I know that that one man, Luxord was it? Yes... he tried to teach you, but he could not explain it, for it varies with each person. Since we are one of the same, I shall help you. Now, first we must warm up... Are you ready?"
Yuki blinked. This lady seemed at least 20 to 30 years old, so is it really okay to fight her? Yuki shrugged the question off and nodded. "Uh, sure... I guess."
The lady nodded. "Good. Now, ready yourself..."
Yuki's eyes widened as the lady vanished. She looked around to find her, but she wasn't anywhere. "You're using the same technique as Xigbar..."
"Yes and no... We both vanish momentarily, but..."
Yuki yelled as a kick to her back threw her a couple feet. "He uses his pure speed, while I use dark magic. He is actually above my level, and his technique is not learnable, for he has trained himself long and hard to attain his power. We shall never be able to learn his technique so long as we live. I merely let the shadows bring me into their space and appear where I wish. That is the difference in power."
Yuki coughed, standing back up while pain erupted down her back. "Well, that's fun... What exactly is the point of this warm up?"
The lady smiled. "It's for you to trust your instincts, for I'm using attacks that allow your dark powers to help you. For example, location... If I were to disappear, you would have to find me. Since I'm using dark powers..."
"Then I should be able to sense you using it... Oh yeah, Xemnas was telling me something about this at the meeting. I get it."
The lady nodded once again. "Good... Now, here I go... Trust the shadows around you."
The lady vanished. Yuki sighed and closed her eyes. What good are shadows if there's a blinding light beneath you? Yuki furrowed her eyebrows as she waited for something. Anything that would let her know... And then it hit her. She suddenly felt like something was linking herself to something else. It was as if a small, unbreakable thread were leading to something... Yuki smiled slightly and opened her eyes. Unfortunately, Yuki had found the link a little too late and felt a punch collide with her stomach. Yuki coughed hard while momentarily losing her wind. Yuki staggered back and slowly took a few breaths. The woman nodded and rotated her wrist.
"Good, you found me a second before impact. You're improving, but I won't stop until you at least touch me before my attack lands on you. Now, again."
Yuki sighed. This would be quite a long warm up... Yuki once again felt the link, even though her eyes were open. She was surprised, for she wasn't even concentrating on it. Yuki stepped back as the lady dropkicked the ground where Yuki once was. Yuki threw a punch at her, but she vanished before her fist made contact with her skin.
"Keep it up, you're doing well."
Yuki nodded, feeling for the link once again. This time, Yuki could feel the link even better than the other times. Nodding to herself, Yuki spun around and kicked, the lady just barely missing the impact by ducking. The lady smirked.
"Almost, but don't count me out yet." The lady sent uppercut into Yuki's abdomen, second hit in a row to the same spot. Yuki felt herself rise from the ground as she coughed up a little blood. The metallic taste lined her mouth. Yuki landed on her back, her stomach hurting from two blows. Yuki rested on one elbow, watching the lady disappear again. Yuki's eyes widened as she saw the shadows wrap around the lady. I guess that since I was standing, I was looking straight out into the darkness, but from down here in the light... Yuki jumped up from her place on the ground, ducking while the lady kicked the air in which Yuki's head just was. Yuki smiled and grabbed the lady's leg.
"Found you..." Yuki coughed once again, the taste a little stronger now. The lady smiled and lowered her leg.
"Good. Now, I'll heal you and we'll move on to the next step."
Yuki nodded as the lady bent down, her hand on Yuki's stomach. Shadows enveloped her hand and a dark purple light was emitted. Yuki slowly felt the pain subsiding and blinked. Would she be able to do that later on? Shrugging, Yuki got up as the lady finished. The lady's eyes turned glassy for a moment, and then she looked at Yuki.
"Someone is at your door. I shall return you to the real world for now. Until we meet again."
Yuki blinked and jumped up. "Wait a minute, so we did all of that for nothing?!"
The lady shook her head and turned towards the pedestal. "No, it was not in vain. Now you know how to locate ones who use your powers, like the people you are with. You will also be able to locate people other than your allies who use your powers. The only thing is that it will be a little more difficult in the real world. Now, I will send you back. For now, try to restrain yourself from using the Dark Palm."
Yuki closed her eyes, not wanting the light to blind her again.
--
Yuki opened her eyes and heard knocking on her door. She slowly got up, waiting to see if she felt any pain. Nope... none at all... Yuki nodded to herself and walked to the door. Opening it, she found Demyx standing before her. Yuki blinked, a bit confused.
"Hey... why are you here?"
Demyx seemed a bit worried, for he was checking around him to make sure no one was there. He grinned and turned to Yuki. "Hey, can I come in? Thanks, I advise you close the door and lock it... tightly."
Yuki gave Demyx a strange look as he entered her room and made his way to a chair in the far right corner. "Hey, I never said you could come in..." Yuki closed the door anyway without locking it. She looked at Demyx with curiosity as he looked around the room.
"And why are you here anyway? You never answered my question."
Demyx blinked innocently at Yuki, cocking his head to the side. "What ever do you mean? I can't come by my good friend's and chat for a bit?"
Yuki huffed and crossed her arms. "Come on, we just met about three hours ago. Now tell me, what's the catch?" Yuki walked over to her bed and sat on it cross-legged. Demyx scratched the side of his face and faced the other direction.
"Well... You said not to involve you in my next little ploy, so I didn't... and this time I had fun with Axel. Yeah, he arrived about... ten minutes ago? Yeah, that should be right... Anyway, now he wants to play target practice with me for some reason. Who'd have known..."
Yuki's eye was twitching, for now she knew that he had involved her, if not by hidden means. She groaned and fell backwards onto her bed. "Great... Thanks again for involving me in battles I don't wish to partake in..."
Demyx gave Yuki a wide grin and leaned back in his chair. "No problem. I'm guessing Axel should come down this hallway in about... oh, I don't know... ten seconds? We can only hope he doesn't try to ask you if I'm in here."
Yuki blinked, the ceiling actually catching her interest as she tried to ignore the fact that she may end up dead before the day ended if Demyx kept his antics up. She had to admit, though, it was rather fun hanging around with the active guy. Yuki's stomach sank when she heard a sharp knock at her door. Demyx froze in his seat and glanced at Yuki. Yuki blinked and called out with an unconfident voice.
"Y-yes...?"
"Open up..."
Yuki looked at Demyx, who shrugged and mouthed, 'I dunno'. Axel sounded peeved. Yuki looked around the room and silently walked up to the door. She pointed to under the bed and Demyx nodded. He hurriedly scrambled onto his stomach and inched his way into the small space under the bed.
"Uh, coming..." Yuki slowly opened the door and found Axel, who immediately looked past her into the room. He then looked down at Yuki with a raised eyebrow.
"Have you seen Demyx around? I have a bone to pick with that guy..."
Yuki blinked innocently and cocked her head to the side. "Demyx...? Who's that?"
Axel gave Yuki a flat look and twirled the chakram in his right hand. Funny thing that Yuki just noticed the flaming weapon... "Are you sure you haven't met him? He's a coward who doesn't know when to stay out of others people's business? Likes to get everyone in trouble or some sort of mess? Has blonde hair? Is hiding under your bed?"
Yuki felt her heart sink and could tell that her face was flushing, for Axel was smirking at her reaction. Yuki looked back at the bed and saw that a bit of Demyx's cloak was sticking out from under the bed.
"Uh... about that..."
Axel huffed and walked past Yuki to the bed, yanking the edge of the cloak that was sticking out. To Axel and Yuki's surprise, the cloak came out without a Demyx. Yuki blinked and smiled.
"Yeah, as I was saying. A guy with blonde hair came by about a couple minutes ago and left his cloak. Dunno why, but he up and ran. Well, I hope you have good luck finding him."
Axel glared at the cloak in his hand, gripping it tightly as he twirled his chakram some more. Axel stood up and dropped the cloak on Yuki's bed, making his way to the door.
"Sorry 'bout that. Well, if you see him, tell him that I'm on his trail..."
With that, Axel left Yuki in her room and closed her door softly. Yuki could hear Axel's footsteps as he ran down the hallway. Yuki sighed and looked back at the bed. "Demyx?"
No response came from under the bed. Yuki looked at the bed strangely and walked up to it. She then got onto the floor and looked under the bed. She saw the wall across from her, but no sign of Demyx. Yuki blinked. "I could have sworn he would still be under there... Eep!"
Yuki jumped slightly as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked to her right and saw Demyx looking under the bed with her.
"Watcha looking for?"
Yuki could feel her heart thumping from the scare. "Don't do that! It's creepy."
Demyx looked at Yuki and grinned. "All the better to entice me to do it."
Yuki rolled her eyes and stood up while using the bed for support. "Where exactly did you go? I mean, even I didn't expect you to be gone from there."
Demyx gave Yuki a flat look and got up as well, grabbing his cloak from Yuki's bed. "Yeah, well, just because I can't fight well doesn't mean I can't think. Come on, give me some credit."
Demyx unzipped the cloak and put it on, disregarding the fact that Yuki rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah, sure... Anyways, once again, you avoid the question."
Demyx blinked and plopped down onto Yuki's bed. "Well, I took off my cloak and used a shadow portal to go outside the room. When I heard Axel coming out, I used the portal to appear right behind you when you were about to look under the bed. Simple, really."
Yuki blinked and smiled, taking a spot right next to Demyx on the bed. "I guess you are pretty smart. Good for you. Well, you heard Axel. He's hunting you down."
Just as Yuki said this, her door was opened by none other than Axel. His eyes were closed however and he had one hand behind his head. "Sorry 'bout that, Yuki. Demyx is a pain, what can we sa-..."
Axel blinked as he saw Yuki and Demyx sitting on the bed. Yuki looked from Axel to Demyx and smiled nervously. "Uh... Axel, stay calm, and don't destroy the room..."
Axel simply looked at Demyx, and then he looked at Yuki. He repeatedly did this and suppressed a smirk. Yuki cocked her head to the side and gave Axel a strange look. "What's with you all of a sudden?"
Axel let his smirk show and crossed his arms. "Well, from where I stand, it looks like you and Demyx are pretty close... I mean, Demyx's cloak is un-zipped; you're both on a bed... pretty cozy if you ask me."
Yuki blinked and looked at Demyx. It took a minute for Yuki's brain to register Axel's words but felt her cheeks heat up and jumped off the bed. She looked at Axel with a nervous expression.
"NO! No, no, no. This is not what it looks like, you pervert. I was simply sitting by him after he put his cloak back on after you left. I mean, how could you possibly think..."
Yuki stiffened as she felt arms wrap around her waist. Demyx rested his head on Yuki's shoulder and gave Axel a sly grin. "What? Mad that I was here first?"
Yuki growled and took Demyx's arms out from around her waist and backed away from the two men. "Stop encouraging his imagination! Now this sends a totally wrong message. Freaks..."
Demyx laughed as Axel scowled at him. "But it's so fun messing with his head... I bet he was jealous anyway, so no worries."
Axel raised an eyebrow at Demyx and crossed his arms. "Now tell me, oh smart one. How would I be able to be jealous with our conditions?"
Demyx blinked and rolled his eyes. "Come on, stop being such a party pooper. We can pretend..."
Axel sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he talked with Demyx. Yuki furrowed her eyebrow at what Axel said. "... Conditions?" Yuki remembered the conversation se ha with the heartless not too long ago. Axel heard what Yuki said and saw that she had a thoughtful face, if not serious at the same time. Axel sighed once again and crossed his arms. "Should we explain, Demyx?"
Demyx shrugged and took his former place on the bed. "Sure, it's not like it's a big secret or anything."
Axel sat on the bed as well and leaned on his forearms. "You see, the members of the organization are made up of a group of superior nobodies. We have a more developed thought system than the lesser nobodies that obey us. Since we're nobodies, we don't have emotions... No hearts. Do you know what it's like not feeling anything but pain from wounds?"
Yuki smirked slightly, muffling a laugh with her hand. Axel scowled at her with a serious expression. "Hey, this isn't funny... and even I can tell that."
Yuki started laughing now, pointing at the two on the bed from her spot at the door.
"Hah, I see what you saw now... Ah, Axel and Demyx... what a strange sight on a bed."
Axel narrowed his eyes and pointed at Yuki with a smile. "Hah! Now you see where the idea came from..."
Yuki wiped a tear from her eye and nodded. "Yeah, except you didn't have Demyx encouraging the idea. And, please, don't try to encourage this one, Demyx."
Demyx grinned and got up from the bed, stretching his arms out. "Don't worry. Axel can't be compared to you like that."
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Fin! Yesh, humor is goodness. I hope you all like this chapter! I tried to get some fun back in here after having Yuki do a boring session with the lady. I mean, come on... It's better than having a whole chapter on a power lesson. Anywhose, thank you for reading and please R&R. Vote for the pairing you want!
