w00t.
Next chapter.
This one isn't as good as the first chapter, but I still like it anyways. So hopefully you will too! :D
…
(Would you like some crackers and wine to go with that cheesiness?)
THISISTHESTUPIDLINETHATSEPERATESTHESTUPIDAUTHORSNOTESFROMTHESTORY
The next morning at breakfast (one of the few times in which everyone was in the same room at the same time, other than for meetings), there was a tense silence that hung over the table, broken only occasionally by the 'clink' of silverware on the glass plates and the sound of people chewing.
This silence was not unusual, but never before had it been so pronounced. This time, the atmosphere was so thick with bitterness and anxiety it couldn't have been cut with a chainsaw. Very rarely did the air ever become this heavy, and if it ever did, someone (mostly Demyx or Axel) was there to remedy the situation.
However, the water bearer was not at the table this morning, and the pyro had been extremely subdued since the incident with Demyx last night. He merely stared down at his plate and moved the food around sullenly, not eating or saying anything.
As a matter of fact, everyone seemed a little uneasy about the night before. Demyx was, hands down, the most eccentric of the organization, but never before had he seemed so… crazy. It was a little unnerving, to say the least.
Meanwhile, as everyone was suffocating at the breakfast table, the aforementioned mullet-haired man was worlds away, in a little place named "Wonderland". Joining him were two other beings: his favorite dancer nobody, and a small girl everyone called Alice.
The three were currently traveling through the Lotus Forest, having a rather pleasant conversation about nothing specific.
It was quite incredible to listen to however. The conversation shifted topics so fast that trying to keep track of them would make anyone's head spin.
The trio suddenly stopped and Demyx plopped down in the soft purple grass, sighing in relief when he was able to take his body weight off his stinging feet. The young girl sat right next to him, and the Dancer fell down next to her master on the other side in an oddly graceful yet squirmy way.
Moments passed as no one spoke, but there was nothing uncomfortable about this silence. Just three friends (as awkward and strange as their relationship was, they were still friends) hanging out with each other and having a good time.
Alice suddenly pulled out a picnic basket from thin air and set it on the ground, opening it shortly thereafter and revealing a whole array of delicious food that had everyone's mouth watering in an instant. Demyx didn't realize how hungry he was until he spotted the meal, and he remembered that he had missed breakfast at the castle.
"Hmm… I missed breakfast at the castle…" he repeated out loud, grabbing a sandwich and taking a bite as he contemplated. "Wonder how everyone's taking that…Good I suppose. No one likes me much. I think they only tolerate me because of what Superior will do to them if they don't."
Alice looked shocked, and if nobodies had hearts from which emotions were formed, the Dancer would appear the same. Unlike every other nobody, she loved her master as much as a nobody could, and the fact that no one seemed to like him had always bothered her. However, to hear it come so bluntly from his mouth was a bitter surprise.
"Oh, but why?" The blonde haired girl exclaimed. "Why, you're so kind, and such pleasant company as well! In fact, you're the only one I've ever met in this crazy place who's actually bothered to engage me in civilized conversation!"
It was now Demyx's turn to look surprised. "Really? Well I'll be. I don't know why everyone is turning away from you. You are incredibly optimistic for someone in your situation. Not to mention, a swell conversationalist to that. Why, I bet that if someone who lived here tried to talk to decently you'd become the most popular person around! Much more well-liked than that queen, anyway."
That comment sent the three into giggles, well, Demyx and Alice into giggles. The Dancer just made this weird sort of noise that somewhat resembled a snort, laugh, thing. Whatever it was, it certainly sounded amused.
There was something picture perfect about that scene. This odd trio, one human, one humanoid nobody, and one silver and pink mass of pure nobody, laughing about something so obscene as the queen of the world's attitude.
Alice, the girl, fair haired and alive in her blue and white dress. She wasn't supposed to be here, wasn't even supposed to know Wonderland even existed, but yet here she was, as if fate willed for it to be.
Demyx, the human nobody, covered in bright colors (having decided to forego the black cloak and uniform for something more fitting to his personality) and not supposed to even be alive, let alone have emotions and, god forbid, show those emotions. But IX had always been a rebel (Although he tended to take the "passive aggressive" route instead of the blunt plan), even as a Somebody.
And The Dancer, the pure nobody. Not supposed to have a heart, or emotions, or even a specific gender. To be only a mindless killing machine, only needed to do the dirty work. Yet, here she was, laughing with her master and friend, not a nobody, but a companion, a buddy. A friend.
Out of nowhere, whether because of the sudden overload of happy emotions or because the world wanted to, a sudden rise of bubbles came out from beneath them, bubbles of all different colors, shapes, sizes.
The once trickling off giggles now became gales of screaming laughter, joyful laughter one only truly experiences once or twice in a lifetime, laughter that cannot be expressed in words, only raw sound.
These bubbles were anything one wanted them to be. A friend, an enemy, a lover, a messenger, even a tasty meal if one wished. They would bend to a will, change form, color. They were true life. Anything one can dream in the form of a bubble.
Suddenly, Demyx remembered something and he snagged a bubble from mid-air, catching it gently on the tips of his fingers, fingerless gloves exposing the appendages to the crisp air.
The bubble was nothing special really. In fact, it looked exactly like a normal bubble, round and clear with the hint of the rainbow inside. However, that was why the Melodious Nocturne had picked it. If he had learned anything from his nobody life, it was that you should never assume anything. Unfortunately, he could tell that no one else in the organization had learned the same lesson.
With a smile, laughter now under control, he gave the bubble a message that was to be announced when the bubble had reached its destination. Then, with a happy laugh, he blew the bubble softly off of his finger and gave a small wave as it floated away, turning back to the large ensemble of other bubbles once it was out of sight.
"What was that?" A small, curious voice piped up from his right side and he looked down to see Alice standing there, coated from head to toe in bubbles, a questioning look on her pretty face.
"A message for my fellow organization members," he replied, swiftly snatching a bubble from her nose with a long, tan finger, causing a giggle to escape from the both of them.
"Ohh… What did it say?"
"Nothing but laughter, darling."
"Laughter? You sent them a bubble of laughter?" Alice looked a tad bit confused, so Demyx tried to clarify.
"Indeed I did. I severely doubt that any of them even remember what laughter is, so I felt the need to remind them. As much as they are not extremely friendly towards me, except for one, they need something to brighten up their dismal nobody lives. Plus, it isn't exactly fair if we get to experience this amazing phenomenon and they don't even know it happens, is it?"
"You are absolutely right. It is not. How thoughtful of you."
"Thank you."
"You are most welcome."
THISISTHESTUPIDLINETHATSEPERATESTHESTUPIDAUTHORSNOTESFROMTHESTORY
Well, I suppose it could've been worse.
Seriously.
It could've.
I swear.
…
-brick'd-