A/N:Hey everyone, Chapter Five is up! And here's Axel again, with a lot of my second favorite character ever, Zexion. I hope I got him in character, because I tried, and he's always so mysterious and stuff and I love him for it XD But who doesn't? Anyway, this'll be my last update for two weeks, because I have tons of icky school stuff to do, but I'll be updating tons after December 20th. Hope you like this chapter, thanks for reading!
EDIT: Much thanks to bipolarity for fixing my editing mistake! It's all good now, dear :D
Disclaimer: Axel, Roxas, Xigbar, Zexion, Vexen, Marluxia, Demyx and other Kingdom Hearts related characters belong to their respectful owners, Square Enix and Disney, of which I am neither.
And then, the unthinkable happened...
Chapter Five: Rules of a Liar
It was a bleached white room, four cold walls, a low ceiling, marble floor. It was unfeeling, empty of emotions, yet it was filled with the hopes of the people inside. There were six people in this room, one with a past, one with a reason, one with a plan, one with a mask, one with a vengeance, and all with a secret. The sixth person in the room, he had a dream, and he also had secrets, but his were slowly being unraveled, and with them, the other's, too, were being revealed.
. A .x . e . l.
Surprise and denial washed over me in waves, roaring in my ears as I stood over my best friend. I was gripping the bedside so hard, I was surprised that the metal bar didn't crumble under the sheer amount of force I was using. I just, couldn't believe it… I had seen him only a week ago! There was no way… but… somewhere, I knew. Like the kind of gut sense that someone was in trouble, and the accompanying steel determination that you would save them no matter what it took. If this was Roxas… then I would do everything I could, and possibly couldn't, to wake him up. My eyes were still locked on his face, as if through enough will power I could wake him up. Suffice to say, it didn't work.
"You look like you've seen a ghost," murmured a quiet voice right next to me. I jumped, my startled gaze snapping to Zexion, who was just standing at my side, looking at Roxas. I hadn't even heard him walk over.
"And now you look like a deer in headlights…hmm, and now you look like you're hiding something. Oh wait, no, you've looked like that all along."
I stared at him stupidly for a second, then carefully schooled my face blank, knowing I would have to lie my way out of this one. Everything I had learned while battling my way through high school came back to me, but I still wasn't prepared for the mystery that was Zexion.
"But then," he continued, "I suppose that we're all hiding something." I could've sworn I saw him glance briefly at Demyx on the other side of the room, but I blinked once and it was gone.
"How about a history lesson, shall we? Once upon a time there was a doctor who received the assignment to care for his wife. The man worked steadily, never sleeping, hardly eating, trying to make sure she came out alive. Then, when a moment of decision came, he cared too much for her to even think of allowing the extremely risky operation, believing that he could save her because of the love they shared. He was wrong, and the case, 691, was the basis for the law that doctors must not know their patients. She died, remember?" The brown haired doctor shifted his gaze to me, and the battle of wits began.
Rule 1 in the Liar's Handbook: Use the truth as much as possible.
"Of course. This boy just…reminded me of an old friend I used to know. Looked just like him. I thought for a second… well, you know what I mean," I said smoothly, staring calmly into his single cobalt blue eye, following rule two.
Rule 2: Act natural. Eye contact, no excessive blinking. And whatever you do, don't fidget.
"Ah. Maybe it is him, then. You never know." Zexion turned back to Roxas, but I saw him looking at me out of the corner of his eyes.
Rule 3: Get out as soon as possible. Everyone slips sometime, limit your chances.
"Oh, no. Ro-Robin is well off, and I believe in Destiny Islands these days with his family, Hollow Bastian was too cold for him. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to ask Xigbar a few questions." I bowed my head and turned to leave, but Zexion's hand stopped me.
"One last word of advice, Apprentice Axel. Watch out for Vexen. If he discovers anything…not right about your actions," I raised an eyebrow at his careful avoidance of the word 'wrong', but he ignored it and went on, "he will do everything in his power to bring them to light and get you kicked out. Then," he said in answer to my unspoken question, "he will take your apprenticeship to Xigbar, leaving you with nothing." He was the one staring this time, deadly serious.
"What? Vexen…wants my apprenticeship? But he's already a doctor! Why would he want…?" I was confused, and not the regular confused either. I'm sure that if this was an anime, I'd have three sweat drops going down my face and a huge question mark dancing above my head. It wasn't just Vexen, either. Why would Zexion help me, anyway?
Rule 4: Trust no one, not even your supposed allies.
"You should know that a scientist's education never ends," he chuckled. "And you just gained an enemy without ever doing anything, so I figured you might need some help. It's just a warning from someone who thinks he understands. Now go, you have questions to be answered, am I right?"
I stumbled away, frowning. Was there a double meaning in Zexion's words? Questions to be answered…huh.
Rule 5: Try and hold all of the cards. If you can't, pretend you do, and grab them before anyone notices.
So what could I do to ensure Zexion wouldn't spill the beans on me? I looked up, and found myself walking towards Xigbar. I had told Zexion that I needed to, so I guess I might as well. I went over to the black haired man and stood silently, watching him check the statistics and vitals of his patient.
"Hey, kid," he said, without looking at me. "Intriguin', isn't it? Never heard of anythin' like this, have ya? Amazing, really…" Xigbar spared me a glance, and went back to his work.
"How can you speak of it so lightly?" I snapped, angry at his nonchalance. I cursed myself for slipping—a normal doctor wouldn't show so much concern for someone they didn't know. They couldn't. As Roxas would've said, emotions were weakness. Xigbar turned and raised an eyebrow at my tone.
"Sorry, sir," I apologized, "but I've, er, never worked with a life or death case before." There, I thought, satisfied with the ring of truth in my words.
Xigbar raised his other eyebrow at me. I'd learned they expressed his mood really well—if you couldn't tell by his face, look to the eyebrows.
"Who said it was a life or death case?" He questioned.
"Oh, um, I suppose I just assumed it," I answered, surprised.
"Tsk, tsk, Axel. Remember, never assume anything. But you're right, anyway, so I suppose I'll let it slide just this once." He turned back to the computer screen.
I jumped, not really expecting the fact that Roxas could actually die. I'd thought it was just… a coma or something… not, well, like I said… a life or death case.
"I'm right? I-I mean, what could cause him to die?"
Xigbar started swirling in his chair, moving left to right and back again. "Well, his conscience is in a structured reality created in his mind, correct? Well, all of his life energy is being used to construct that place, because, according to him, that is all he wants and needs. The other parts of him are starting to die off from lack of the energy they need to go on. Slowly, ever so slowly, he is dying, Axel. If we don't find a way to bring him back, so to speak…" One yellow eye locked securely with mine, preventing me from looking away. "He will die, Axel."
He turned away, flexing his hands, staring at the flashing numbers on the computer with a glazed look.
"Now! I suppose you are wondering why you're here, yeah?" He smiled, but it was fake. So this was how he managed to seem so carefree all the time… he just… wasn't.
I nodded mutely, curiosity now piqued. I had kind of thought it was just a spur of the moment thing on his part.
"Well, simple really. You're fresh out of college, a new mind, still full of unique ideas that haven't been squashed out of you by time. Considering I didn't know who I'd need, I decided to have every type of doctor with me. New, old, book smart, creative. Besides, I like you, kid, remember? You're interesting, with your high school gang history, your red spikes, your tear drop tattoos, and your desire to become an important doctor. Seems like a conflict of interests to me, but hey, whatever floats your boat."
I scowled. "Shouldn't we be working?"
"Huh. I'll see if I can remedy that, then." He stood up. "Alright, ladies. Let's get to work. Vexen, get a blood sample, Axel, I need you too…"
I ran a tired hand through my hair, yawning widely as I stumbled through the doorway to room 813 at five a.m.
"Humenah." I mumbled to Xigbar and Zexion, who were the only ones there. The two doctors nodded to me, and went back to the sheet of paper they were huddled around. I staggered over, half of my brain still clinging to sleep. I went over to check on Roxas, making sure the IVs were connected securely, and the heart monitor was still going at a steady pace.
"Good morning, everyone! Lovely day, isn't?" I looked up in time to catch the sight of Demyx skipping into the room, positively beaming. My eye twitched. It was five. That sort of chipperness should be illegal this early.
"G'mornin' Xiggy, Zexy!" He sang, then looked towards me. "Good morning to you, too, Axy!" I stared at him blankly, but was too tired to be bothered to do anything. The dirty blonde grinned at the bemused expression on my face, and then waltzed over to the space beside Zexion, who smiled up at him sleepily.
"Good morning, Dem'," the slate-haired man said softly.
The trio turned their attention back to the paper in Xigbar's hands. I ambled over, craning my neck to see if I could catch a glimpse of writing.
"And that is…?" I finally asked after a few seconds with no results.
Zexion looked up. "This is the health report we created, and something we found later. See, after taking all of those tests yesterday, we compiled them into a report and then compared it to everything the central record center for this region, looking for another like it. This paper," Zexion paused, tapping one of the papers in Xigbar's hand, "is the closest match, one seventeen year old Roxas Selvoles" (1)
I eyes widened at the name. They finally figured out who he was! Now all they had to do was call his dad, or mom, and he'd be fine in no time. Things were…well, things were working out.
"That's the good news. No-name is now Roxas," Xigbar said, picking up where Zexion left off. "The bad news, however, is that these records were obtained from an orphanage, so we're still a no-go on blood relatives."
Wait…what was that last part? Rox was an… orphan? He never told me…. Huh… so what else had he been hiding?
Xigbar handed the papers to Demyx, who was still reading. "And the bad, bad news is that Master Selvoles here has an extremely rare condition called Auto Neurosynaptic Syndrome."
I blinked dumbly. "Bless you."
Xigbar gave me an annoyed glare. "Auto Neurosynaptic Syndrome, or ANS, is an extremely unusual neural state. Okay… you know that whenever a person gets stressed out, their arteries shrink in size, right?"
"Right. It's like, an ancient instinct, basically if you're scared, the most likely cause is getting cut or something. With your veins shrunken, if you get slashed by a bear or whatever, you only have minimal blood loss," I said.
"Yes. Well, for Roxas, if he gets too stressed, his arteries shrink far more than normal, almost cutting off the circulation. His nerves sense this, of course, but take it the wrong way. They sense pain. It'd be the same if his foot fell asleep or something, it'd be pain, not needles. Except…in this case, because the arteries are smaller everywhere, that's where his pain is. Every nerve that needs blood, a.k.a. all of them, would send pain signals to his brain. It'd be insanely painful, and would eventually knock him out."
"Wait," I told him. "Couldn't he just take a vasodilator (2) whenever he was feeling stressed?"
Xigbar nodded. "Yeah, and it says that he had been given a few in advance a couple times. But… all records disappear after his seventh year there, when he was nine. That's when he supposedly left, but nothing says what happened or why. He might've run away, but it's far too late to tell now."
"But…why? I don't understand…" I frowned. What'd it all mean?
"What makes you think we'd understand? It's not like any of us know him." Well that's irony for you. "Huh, this is bad. It's good that we know who he is, but it's bad that he has no family. Really bad," Xigbar said.
I shook my head, unwilling to accept failure. "Isn't there anything else we can do?"
"The only thing we can do now is to keep trying with the machine, try and wear down his defenses, or wake him up physically, but that… it could take weeks, months. Years, even. Other than that, well…. Pray for a miracle, Axel. That's all we have left." The black haired man pushed past me, heading toward Vexen, who was waiting in the hall.
A miracle… I didn't think I could wait for a miracle. I walked back over to Roxas's bedside and watched him, just watched him. He seemed…at peace, filled with a serenity he never seemed to attain while awake.
"What was so bad, Rox," I whispered. "What was so bad that it could cause you to do this to yourself? What was so bad that you couldn't even tell me, Rox? What?"
"What indeed?" Asked a wry voice. I didn't move. After awhile you get used to Zexion's silent approach. It was like he was a shadow, the way he walked so silently. Ha, shadow-walking. Described him perfectly.
"Zexion," I acknowledged.
"Tch. I wonder… Tell me, Apprentice Axel, have you ever seen the machine Dr. Xigbar is using to probe Master Selvoles's conscience?" The slate haired doctor watched me with guarded eyes, knowing the answer but awaiting my reaction.
"No," I said simply. He'd tell me what he wanted in time. That's the trick in talking with Zexion- never be predictable, lest you be manipulated. It was hard, too. You never knew what his intentions were, so you never knew whether it was your decision or whether he had planned it all along. You never knew whether you were being predictable by being unpredictable.
"Hn," Zexion smirked. "You're learning. Very well, to my point. Would you like to see it, then?" He turned on his heel and walked toward the exit, looking back at me over his shoulder.
"Why yes," I said. "I suppose I would."
I fell into step behind him as he led the way through pristine hallways. He took firm, specific strides, each movement measured and precise.
Left, right, left, left, straight, right again… I lost track in the epic maze, relying solely on Zexion to lead me to the end, be it a Minotaur or Mayan treasure. Finally, my guide stopped outside a door with the golden letters 'K O D'.
"KOD?" I asked, puzzled.
"Chamber of dreams." Zexion punched in a four digit password on the nine-numbered lock.
"Oh. Well. Um, last time I checked, 'chamber' started with a 'C'. C-H-A-M—"
"B-E-R," the doctor finished. "I know. The 'K' is to remind us that in here, nothing is as it seems, and everything has another meaning. And you know, to keep it under wraps until we're ready. To everyone except Xigbar, Demyx, Vexen, myself, a man you haven't met yet named Marluxia, and three hired personnel, this room is a storage place for Karyotypes Of DNA."
I started at the name Marluxia- it couldn't be the same Marluxia I knew in high school, right? Impossible… there was no way. He was long gone.
Zexion stepped back as something beeped, a red light switched to green, and the door swung open.
Blinding white light assaulted my eyes as it escaped the confines of the room, the harsh fluorescent rays spilling out into the hallway. I automatically squinted, trying to block it out. Eventually, my pupils contracted far enough and I could see.
Wires- everywhere. Carpeting the floor, decorating the walls, hanging from the ceiling—wires were everywhere. They were connecting flashing blue screens to outlets, strange liquids to others, but above all, they were streaming from a great, egg shaped pod in the very center of the room. It was a monstrosity, the Godzilla of technology, humming and whirring loudly, almost causing the room to shake with its vibrations.
"And that's..?" I left my sentence hanging and walked forward, my hand outstretched.
"Yes." Zexion caught my hand and shook his head, then went over to one of the many computers. "I thought you should see it, considering Demyx and Vexen saw it yesterday."
"Huh. I guess I should thank you then." I looked back at the machine, absorbing every detail, going closer.
"See with your eyes, not your hands," he snapped as I raised my arm again.
I wasn't listening, though. This machine, this contraption, this compilation of metal, electricity and plastic… it could allow me to see Roxas, to hear him, to… to save him. I… I could save him. And, I knew, it had to be me. It had to. No one else knew him, no one else would do it, no one else could do it. I had to be the one to save him, I knew. Perhaps I even knew it all along. I was so close… the machine, it was so close.
Zexion stood and beckoned to me with his hand, indicating we leave. "Come. We'll be here later, to observe Xigbar using it."
I shook myself out of my reverie and followed him out the door, glancing back just once as the door closed behind us.
Three hours later, after testing Roxas's reaction time, lung capacity, and brain activity, Xigbar made an announcement.
"All right, kiddies. Field trip down to the KOD. I'll show you how everything's done, let's go."
He marched out of the room, not even bothering to check if we were following. Zexion shrugged and walked out, Demyx scrambling after him, leaving me to walk with Mr. Ice Princess himself, Vexen.
We walked in silence for a few minutes, me shuffling along awkwardly, him strutting with his nose high in the air, pointedly ignoring me. I had the strangest feeling that I'd killed him or something in a previous life, and this was karma getting back at me.
"So, um, Doctor Vexen, uh, what do you—"
"Do not talk to me unless it is required. I do not desire to be 'friends'," I could see the quotation marks in the air around his head, "with you for the simple reason that we are partners. If you have to talk to me, you will address me as Dr. Mecadaci, not 'Vexen'. That is all, and good day." He increased his speed, leaving me gaping at his retreating figure, left in the dust. Well… that sure was heartwarming.
I arrived at the appointed room last, Xigbar and Zexion already discussing things by one of the computers while Vexen looked on arrogantly.
"Heya, Ax! Me 'n' Vexen have been here once before, but this's your first time, right? Not so for Zexion and Xigbar though, did you know? Zexion there has apparently been working on this thing for months, imagine that!" Demyx bounced over happily, eager for someone to talk to.
"Er, no," I answered truthfully. "I came here this morning. And I thought Roxas only came to this hospital yesterday, so how could he have known months before?"
Demyx laughed. "Well, first of all, he was transferred her from another hospital, where he had been staring almost a week."
I stared. A week? But a week ago was the exact day when he was at my apartment, eating breakfast with me, talking with me, laughing with me… A week ago I had begged him to stay, and a week ago he left. A week ago I could've stopped him, and I didn't.
"And then," Demyx continued, oblivious to my internal guilt trip, with his story, the first part of which I'd apparently missed, "Zex' asked if he could go through with the project, but ol' man Xaldin, that's the company owner and Xigbar's dad, but you know that, turned him down, see? Question of ethics, apparently. All that work wasted, you'd think, right? But my Zex' wasn't going to give up, so he hunted down—"
"Your Zex'?" I interrupted, smirking. I might've just found the perfect leverage against my wayward chatterbox friend.
Demyx turned redder than my hair, which is saying something, believe me. "I…I meant, uh, just Zex', er, Dr. Zexion, of course, heh, can't own a person, well, I guess you can in video games, but in real life, oh, no, uh… So anyway," he hurried on, changing the subject, "Zex'—Zexion went straight to Dr. Xigbar, told him about his idea, and bam! In come the secret plan, Operation: KOD! They had a little bit of help, of course, but you know the general gist of it already. Then along comes Sir Roxas, and it was the perfect opportunity to test what they had built! This's the one thing that can prove that their research can help, while putting Zexion back in good graces with the boss and boost his… oh, what's it called… famiety? Famousness? Fameation?"
They heard a snort behind them, and turned to see an amused Zexion. "I do believe it's 'fame', dear Demyx."
The blonde in question jumped so fast I could've sworn I heard the sound barrier break. "Zexion! How long've you—"
"Hey, all of you giggling school girls, stop acting like blinkin' five year olds and get your butts in motion. Front 'n' center!" Xigbar sent us a glare that lowered the room temperature a good ten degrees, looking at Demyx almost accusingly.
"Sir, yes sir!" I jumped to attention and marched over to my superior, successfully getting that cold glare to transition to me. What? I couldn't leave poor, defenseless Demyx to die from the invisible ice shards being shot his way.
"All right men… and woman," Xigbar added viciously, looking at me and packing enough venom in that single word to take down three full grown African elephants. I flinched. "I'm going to show you how this three million dollar apparatus works. What that means is this: unless you win the lottery or marry into royalty within the next two hours, do. Not. Touch. Dr. Zexion, fire this baby up."
So saying, he vaulted Olympic-style into the central pod, snapping some weird helmet on his head before settling down. On the other side of the room, Zexion's fingers were flying across the keyboard, fingers playing an elegant type of 'Whack-a-Mole' with the buttons. With a final flourish (it looked practiced to me), the pod's lid slid shut with all the finality of the fat lady singing. Without the fat lady, or the singing.
"Now, if you'll follow me, I'll show you how we monitor Xigbar's progress."
Zexion led us over to a big monitor positioned on the screen. The picture there looked… interesting, to say the least. It was as if someone had hooked up a ship's radar to a Pac man game, then had a rainbow throw up on it. Ooh, that's a pretty picture, isn't it?
There were small dots scattered across the screen in between the maze-like walls, waves of brown, orange, red and blue washing over everything in a continuous random cycle. For a brief second I thought I even saw Zexion's hair color on it—that's how many different colors there were.
"Each dot is a conscience. The black one is Xigbar, and that white one over there is Roxas. Xigbar in going to try and communicate with him, but he has to get over there first. Now, as the saying goes, watch and learn."
And that we did. We watched the interaction for over an hour, seeing Xigbar's black dot move to Roxas's white, switching to a different monitor to watch the signals sent out, sometimes fiddling with the views, but mostly just zoning out and staring at the ever-so-interesting ceiling. Wait, no, that last one was just me.
As it was, I was just itching for some buttered popcorn and way over-priced gummy bears to alleviate the horribly suppressing boredom of this ongoing movie. My eyes drifted to Xigbar, half cocooned in his metal coffin. Then, lo and behold, I was hit with The Idea.
"Hey, Zex'," I strolled over to the scientist, eyes sparkling happily. I had a plan, and if it worked, maybe, just maybe, I could fix this whole mess. All I needed was some good, quality, metaphorical duct tape…
"Might I try the machine after him? I just want to see what I can do."
To my extreme displeasure, Zexion merely snorted. "Were you not paying attention when Doctor Xigbar said that all of this equipment was worth 3 million? He doesn't trust you that much, Apprentice Axel. Seven months at least, a year at most. Then we'll see."
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the sound of one's greatest dreams shattering in the time it takes to say 'Kumquat.' Or, more specifically, 'Seven months'.
I scowled angrily, mood changing quickly like the weather in one of those cheap horror movies. If they'd just let me try, I could save Roxas, I was sure of it. No one knew him like I did, no one cared for him like I did, no one… loved him like I did. Platonically, of course. If I couldn't get in his head, literally speaking, no one could.
Well, if I told the others I knew him from before, I might have a chance… wait, that wouldn't work, either. Thanks to that stupid law Zexion ever-so-kindly reminded me of, Xigbar would have no choice but to stop me from working on the team. Besides, even if I did tell, I would probably have to wait anyway, considering I wasn't a 'blood relative' and had no proof.
Still, I could always wait. I could wait those seven months to earn Xigbar's trust, could wait as Roxas slowly withered away, could wait as things grew steadily worse, until— no. Waiting was not an option. Definitely not.
I… I could always sneak in, use The Machine, and then get out with no one the wiser. Illegal was always, faster, right? My eyes darted to Zexion, who was talking with (read: listening to) Demyx. What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Wincing, I rethought my words. Not knowing about Roxas sure hurt me…
When it came down to it, there really was only one way to fix everything, and it was a sight more difficult than duct tape.
ß----à
I waited until Friday to put The Plan (capitalization always made things seem more important) in action. I figured I might need the two extra days the weekend provided, and it always helped to be prepared. All week I'd watched Zexion, from the codes he put in the computer to the just-for-emergencies IV system, to be used on the off chance Xigbar was in La-la land for over a day.
My feet padded noiselessly across the eerily white tiles as I glided wraith-like through the building; my way lit by nothing more than the flashlight I carried. There was no one here—well, at least not in this section. The constant-maintenance areas were still filled with hustle and bustle, but no one needed to check on the KOD, it was just a storage room for old karyotypes, remember?
I punched in the password, fingers moving mechanically as I stared at the 'K O D' above me. The scant halogen light reflected off the golden letters with a life of its own, as though warning me about the perils ahead.
Finally, the door opened and I shot in, the darkness swallowing me easily. I turned back as it shut, locking it behind me.
"Safe," I sighed before flicking the lights on.
"So you might think," drawled an extremely amused Zexion from his usual seat near the computer.
"Zexion!" I whirled with enough force to create my own small tornado, wide eyes searching out the calm doctor. "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same question. But if you must know, I am here to stop you." He smirked, like a cat that caught its prey. And is now toying with it.
"How'd you— never mind. What're you going to do now, then?" I asked him challengingly, belligerently. Might as well go out fighting.
Instead of answering, or calling security, Zexion merely steepled his hands together and locked his eyes with mine, completely serious. "You do know that you'd never get away with it, correct? Have you forgotten about what I told you of Vexen? He would find you almost immediately and have you kicked off the team the second you returned to your own conscience. There are rules, rules not meant to be broken. Is this boy really worth the chance of losing your internship if you get caught?"
Yes! I wanted to scream… but Zexion's logic was in my way. If I was caught, or Zexion told, I'd lose this internship, and possibly my entire medical career. But then… a picture of Roxas, lying dormant on that white bed sprang unbidden to my mind. To never see him smile again, never see his eyes twinkle, never hear his rare, throaty laugh… to have a half-living, half-dead Roxas, it would be worse, far, far, worse.
I looked up, filled with new resolve. "And what if I don't get caught?"
Zexion smirked and strolled over. "Huh. Then I suppose that would be all right, wouldn't it? But… are you sure? Once you're in, it's not like you can click you heels and say, 'There's not place like home.' Up until you enter his conscience, there's an exit option, but after, and if, he lets you in, you're there until he kicks you out." He cracked his knuckles and sat down at a keyboard, fingers flying.
I blinked. Well… convincing him to help sure was easy…almost too easy. "Isn't there isn't an emergency withdrawal system?
The top of the pod hissed as the pneumatic pump released air, forcing the cover back.
"There is, but it is solely for extreme emergencies. Forcibly removing your conscience from another place… no one knows what it could do. It would most likely kill you, quite frankly. Now get in, before I change my mind, you don't have much time at all."
There was no room for doubt in my mind. This was a one time chance, yes or no, to rescue or not to rescue, no turning back. I braced myself on the sides and swung my legs over the edge, feet hitting a foamy, almost liquid substance. I slid the rest of my body in and heard a few buttons being pressed. At once, the material started constricting, locking everything but my head in place. Zexion checked a few wires, then came over to my struggling self.
"Stop that. Keep still; I don't want you hurting yourself." The neurologist reached behind my head and pulled something forward so that it covered the top of my head snugly, like a metal cap.
"Now, focus on everything you know about Roxas, keep a firm picture of him in your mind, and hunt him down. Talk to him, think thoughts of him, get through to him. Feel your way. Now, you'll start feeling drowsy in a few seconds, and you'll be on own after that. I don't know how much time I can get you, so remember to hurry."
I tried nodding, but found I couldn't. "He's worth it, okay?" I mumbled through the blanketing haze in my mind. "What you said before… about if he was worth it… he is."
The lid above me hissed shut again, and through the glass I saw Zexion chuckle. My last coherent thought was that he had probably planned everything out from the first time he saw me look at Rox. And I didn't care. The only thing that mattered now was saving Roxas, no matter what it took.
And then, no one guessed it, but...
References:
(1)- Loveless rearranged, for reasons that'll come up later.
(2)- A drug you can take that will expand your veins. You take one in case of a heart attack, or, in Roxas's case, ANS
End Note: Ha! Things are finally getting somewhere! I think I rushed the action sequences, but this is nine pages and if I had drawn out all the internal conflict it would've gotten boring and been like eleven pages. Well, this is the longest chapter so far (by five words!), it's kind of funny, they keep getting longer each time. Anyway, for those who read these things (hi!) I won't be able to post anything for two weeks this time because of finals. I had been so proud of myself, updating every week, and then finals pop up and start waving their little "I'm going to kill everyone someday, I'll start with you!" flags. I hope you liked it, please review!
Oh, can anyone tell me what KOD reallllly stands for? Ha. And if you can match up who with what at the beginning I'll give you a virtual cookie XD !
Next: We venture into the conscience of Roxas and meet our ever so lovely antagonist and a not-so-angsty-as-the-last-one memory.