IMPORTANT NOTE: I'm going to be impossibly annoying for just a few moments. Chapters are being re-organised into a more digestible amount, so just to clear any confusion for the awesome people waiting on updates for this fic, there is nothing in this chapter you haven't already read before. You're looking for the NEXT chapter. Feel free to slip the flashback at the start too, since it was previously in Chapter 3 or something, so you've seen that before, but everything else is BRAND NEW.
Of course, if you have a whopping amount of free time for some reason, do feel free to read it all again. If you are rather sparse on free time, like me, just skip to the new bits. Chapter 8 onwards will flow normally again.
The Next Life - Chapter Six
Zexion's day started innocently enough. He woke up late – a luxury not usually available to those of his career choice – and spent a good while just lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling. He was in the spare room this time. It was pretty spacious, coloured royal blue like the rest of the house, and best of all it meant he got to sleep in an actual bed. Sleeping on that couch had been awful.
Uncomfortable couches aside, Zexion had been greatly enjoying his stay at Demyx's house. It was just ... well, he believed the phrase was 'awesome'. He hadn't had even a trifle of fun in a good long while, that was for certain, but just being around Demyx made the wait seem more than worthwhile. There was always something to do, or something to talk about, or something to point and laugh at. God, how he had missed times like these. How long since he and Demyx had been at college together? Those had been good times, very good times. He had sorely missed those days while working at the hospital – where he somehow never managed to fit in, not even with the receptionist. But now, here with Demyx again, he was finally getting the fun he had long sought after.
Thus, it was to Zexion's great disappointment that he discovered a significant dearth in his clothing arrangements. Having come straight from the hospital, he hadn't stopped by his apartment to grab anything to change into. He had been wearing his work clothes for the past day and a half; and it was starting to become noticeable. The choice seemed to be between wearing them for another full day and enduring the sticky sweaty sensations they were starting to give him, or present his dilemma to Demyx. To Zexion Green, genius medical student and master of prudish cleanliness, there was no choice at all in the matter.
Upon hearing his dilemma, Demyx's face fell noticeably.
"Ah," he said, a note of caution in his voice, "Well, you know, if you were wanting to go home and all, I could see you off." The prospect of leaving gave Zexion a peculiar sinking feeling on the inside. He most certainly did not want to go home. For the first time in far too long he was having the kind of fun he had been desperately clawing after for months on end. He did not want it to be over, not just yet.
Had this been any other day in the life of Zexion Green, he would have most likely just swallowed his disappointment and gone along with the first suggestion that was offered to him, assuming in the process that this was the option his host was wanting him to take. Yet, if the past day or so with Demyx had taught him anything, it was that being modest and complacent had lead him absolutely nowhere at all in life. If he was going to finally worm his way into getting what he wanted, he was going to have to open his mouth and make it happen. It was a surprisingly new revelation to the mind of Zexion, and a thrilling one at that, not to mention slightly terrifying. Of course, he had also found that the key to this kind of dilemma was to not let himself think too much and just say the first thing that came to mind.
"Well..." Zexion said slowly. He cleared his throat, unsure of what to say next. Don't think, speak!
"Well, you know. If, uh, you didn't mind and all, I wouldn't mind staying a while longer."
Demyx's face brightened immediately. Clearly, this had been just the answer he'd been hoping for. Impulsive speech: One. Modesty: Zero.
Noting for the first time since arriving that Demyx lived by himself in a house far too big for one person, Zexion was puzzled. Just why did someone like Demyx live alone? He was bubbly and happy, and clearly seemed like the person who had no trouble at all getting along with people. It was quite an intriguing mystery, and with Demyx right here at his disposal, Zexion figured he may as well flex his impulsivity a little more.
"Demyx?"
Demyx turned to face him, smiling the absent smile that spoke of pleasant thoughts in a carefree mind.
"Mm?"
"You live alone, right?"
"Oh you bet!" Demyx stretched his arms out to either side. It was an odd gesture, but it seemed to be along the lines of a distinct spacial ownership signifier. He blinked. No, wait, this was Demyx. He was probably just stretching.
"See this space?" Demyx asked, walking through the room as he did so, "It's allll mine." Okay, so spacial ownership had been right. Even so, Zexion was unconvinced. He folded his arms.
"Doesn't it get lonely?"
Demyx paused. He turned back around and looked at Zexion.
"Well, yeah." He cocked his head to the side and grinned again. "But most people can't handle my snoring anyway."
"Don't you mean they run screaming from the lack of proper food?"
Demyx laughed then, poking Zexion meaningfully in the chest with a finger. "It's not like you can talk, mister I-smell-like-week-old-socks."
Zexion turned away to hide his smile.
"You know what? Fine," he said, voice ringing with humour, "I'll just wear some of your clothes."
Not giving Demyx any time to react, Zexion walked quickly down the hallway. He reached Demyx's room, slipped inside and locked the door behind him. He genuinely chuckled when Demyx tried and failed to open the door.
"Hey! That's not fair! You cheated, Zex."
Even with the door shut, Zexion could imagine Demyx's lethal pouting face.
"Thank you for the kind gesture, Demyx," Zexion called back sarcastically, "It really was a generous offer." He grinned as he looked around Demyx's room. He may as well. It's not like his clothes were getting any cleaner.
As he searched the wardrobe for something clean, he could hear Demyx laughing off his defeat in the hall way.
"Fiiine, but we're totally swinging by your place later to get some stuff."
It was under these circumstances that they arrived at Zexion's apartment an hour and a half later. Being in the middle of town as it was, the apartment was on the sixteenth floor of a ridiculously tall building, complete with a tiny balcony that looked out over the busy city streets.
Demyx strode in happily, looking around in amazement.
"Dude, do you even live here? It's so clean!"
Zexion followed him in, decked out - as he was - in clothes that were noticeably far too big for him. He hadn't noticed the height difference all that much before, but it turned out Demyx was far taller than Zexion had expected.
It felt strange being home after all that had happened. It was spotless, as it always was. Zexion couldn't handle it any other way. Looking around it now, he couldn't help but wonder how he'd managed to live here on his own for so long. In comparison with Demyx's place, it just seemed so ... lifeless. No wonder he had been so miserable. The fact that it had remained completely unchanged throughout the recent events made it seem even slightly unreal. If he had been caught, this apartment most definitely wouldn't have missed him. There was next to nothing in it to signify that it had been his apartment at all, while Demyx's house was about as characteristically Demyx as one could get. It was a mess, there were clothes everywhere, and it was fun.
Speaking of Demyx, he was at the balcony window, looking out over the city with amazement. Zexion joined him, folding his arms as he did so. The view was quite pleasant really, as far as city views went. There was a beach several miles to the north, but it was completely out of sight. The horizon here was made by high rising buildings all around. Pillars of white, black and grey rose in every direction, with thousands of shining windows reflecting the blue sky up above. The centre of town was directly before them, the place where the tallest of the tall buildings all gathered around the very oldest and by far the biggest building in all of Pleasantview. From the suburbs it was easy to be fooled into thinking that Pleasantview was a town of sorts, yet from here there was no doubting that it was a indeed very well functioning city.
"You really like your job, huh?" Demyx remarked casually, pointing out the window, "It's like... RIGHT there."
True to his word, several clumps of tall buildings away was the hospital, shining white in the vast city landscape.
Zexion thought for a moment. Did he like his job?
"Well, I suppose," he answered, not entirely sure of the answer himself any more. "I used to love it, but it's kind of ..."
"Boring?" Demyx offered.
"Lacking. It lacks all the things I was hoping it would be."
"Oh. Well, that's no good." Demyx was turning to look around the rest of the apartment now. "I don't even have to ask if you live alone. No-one else could be this manically tidy."
Zexion frowned at the echo of his own thoughts. Demyx, however, continued to smile as he wondered over to the bookshelf. He picked up an ornament, looked at it briefly, then put it back in the completely wrong spot before picking up another one. A week ago, Zexion would have simply imploded at this mass breach of his perfectly ordered system, yet now he just watched Demyx with interest, trying very hard not to smile.
"You know what you need?" Demyx said, finishing his examination of the ornaments and moving onto the coasters, "You need someone else to come in and mess up all your stuff for you. This place looks like a museum."
Zexion snorted. "Why don't I just move in with you and give that dump some order?"
He had, of course, meant it as a joke, but Demyx turned to smile at him as if it was a brilliant idea. Zexion felt a pang of sympathy for the guy. He could see it in his eyes. Demyx was lonely, jumping at the first chance to springboard his old roommate back into his house.
"Well? You wanna?" Demyx offered with more than a tinge of excitement. His smile faltered as his eyes flicked to the window and back. "Oh, I suppose it'd be a bit too far from your work or something huh?" He scratched the back of his head, clearly assuming his suggestion had been a terrible idea. Zexion just wanted to hug the poor guy – you know, apart from the fact that he wasn't exactly the hugging type.
Zexion scratched his chin. He turned and looked out the window, trying his very best to sound like he was thinking things over in his mind. In truth, there was no way in hell he'd turn down an offer like that, not from Demyx Brine anyway.
"Well ... it's not too much of a drive from your place..."
He glanced back at Demyx - who seemed unconvinced.
"Dude, it took us an hour."
"It takes a lot less if we're not trying one of your 'shortcuts', Demyx."
Demyx smiled again at that, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Oh. Yeah."
Zexion summoned his thoughtful look again. "What's your rent like?"
"Rent?" A confused look passed over Demyx's face briefly, his green eyes narrowing. "Oh! Oh, no. I don't pay rent."
Zexion was baffled. "What?"
Demyx had picked up one of the couch cushions now and was turning it slowly in his hands.
"My parents left me the place when they passed away, you know?"
Zexion figured this was the place in normal conversation where a normal person would have offered their condolences and voiced how sorry they were that Demyx had lost his parents. Zexion, however, was not just a normal person. He stared.
"...you don't have to pay rent?"
"That's the gist of it yeah."
"But-"
Zexion stopped the sentence verbally, but it continued in his mind all the same. But how was that at all fair? Demyx, who sporadically tutored music students once a week, paid no rent whatsoever, while Zexion, the genius medical student knee deep in every kind of debt there was, paid more rent than he could even afford! Is this your sense of 'justice' universe? Well? Is it?
"But what?" Demyx asked, smiling curiously at him. Zexion changed his tactic.
"But uh ..." No, you know what? Screw it. Zexion changed his tactic back, letting his impulsive speech skills come to the surface once more.
"You suck, Demyx." Now satisfied, he folded his arms, sticking his tongue out for good measure.
Zexion did not have time to dodge the cushion before it hit him square in the face.
Demyx was laughing. Against all logical thought, Zexion laughed too. Oh, how he had missed fun like this.
"Okay, come on," Demyx said, quickly diverting attention away from any potential counterattacks, "Let's get your stuff."
Demyx made his way into Zexion's room. After a moment of thought, Zexion followed.
"So, it's alright if I move in?" he asked, unsure whether they'd actually agreed on the subject or not. A pillow to the face wasn't exactly in his normal repertoire of social interactions.
Demyx grinned at him, eyebrows drawn down in a playfully menacing way.
"Oh, you had better. Otherwise the teddy bear gets it!"
Zexion looked on in mock-horror as Demyx brandished his beloved Mister Snuggle Bunny. He raised his hands defensively.
"Alright Alright. Just put the bunny down and no-one gets hurt."
Demyx barked a laugh.
Zexion lunged. Using his long arms to great advantage, Demyx held the bunny high in the air and fled the bedroom, Zexion right on his heels. It wasn't until much later that they remembered what they had come for.
Xigbar leaned back in his chair, continuing to wait. Oh, how Xemnas loved making them wait. Xigbar wasn't opposed to the idea of waiting per se, but it sure as hell wasn't any fun when it came to the practice part. Especially in this room. It was by far the most boring room in all existence, Xigbar was sure of it. There was literally next to nothing in it; no windows, no wall hangings, no curious arrangement of pot plants, nothing. Just a table and thirteen chairs, all plain, all white, and all completely boring. With absolutely nothing of interest to look at, the only thing left to do was think. Xigbar hated thinking.
Two of the others were in the room too, but they were hardly likely candidates for conversation. To his left was Lexaeus, with his ever constant frown and broad frame. He barely ever made small talk, seeming completely content to just sit in the same place silently for hours. To his right was Xaldin, another broad man but with a series of lengthy black braids. He held his own in conversation, but it was hardly the kind of conversation Xigbar wanted to get himself into. The man seemed to delve into his mind and smirk at every detail, as if each piece of information was some tool that would be useful to use against him later. No, he did not like talking to Xaldin. He vaguely wondered if these people had a life at all outside these meetings. They didn't exactly seem the lively types.
But then, he had seen Xaldin outside the hospital just yesterday, so he guessed they did actually exist elsewhere. They were dangerous people to underestimate in any case, he remembered that much. All of these people were. Of course, so was he himself – that was, if he ever remembered how to do anything. For the moment he could take comfort in the fact that no-one else seemed to be making much progress either, but even with that holding them back, these people were still remarkably risky to be around. It was precisely that reason why he avoided conversations with Xaldin for the time being. The Whirlwind Lancer was his 'official' title, but until the time came where that made any sense at all Xigbar had dubbed him The Silver-Tongued Lancier. It made far more sense for the moment. There was no way in hell Xigbar was letting that man dig into his mind anytime soon.
The man had scared him enough yesterday as it was. On his way to get some good old coffee Xaldin had been quite plainly standing on the street outside his friend's house. For a very brief and terrifying moment, Xigbar had thought he was being targeted. He'd almost made a run for it, but apparently Xaldin had been there for no such reason. The braided man had been surprisingly plain in telling him why he was there; not one, but four different traces. All too weak to follow just yet, but just the fact that there were fourof their targets all milling around in the same area was quite simply incredulous. Apparently the Pull was far stronger than they had been expecting, but there it was. Even better was the fact that one of those four had been the one they knew the appearance of. It was in all the papers now, the man could not hide forever. As for the others ...
Xigbar hated admitting his shortcomings, but they could quite simply not find these people without some sort of hint. There was the completely embarrassing admission that he had been near two of them just yesterday, but he had been unable to act on it. As it was, he'd only just made it out of sight before his 'power' had kicked in again. Only after he inexplicably found himself on the roof of the coffee shop had he felt the resonances. He had been furious. They were right there, and Xigbar was stuck on the roof, with no way to get down whatsoever. Oh how he awaited the day when he had this stuff under control.
The door to the room opened and in swept a very stately looking Vexen. As he slowly made his way towards the table a cold chill spread across the room. Xigbar stared openly, very barely resisting the temptation to drop his jaw. Speak of the frickin' devil, He could control it!
Before Vexen had even taken his seat Xigbar was leaning across the table in his direction.
"How'd you do that?"
The gaunt man smoothened out his lab coat before looking up. By the look on his face he was certainly enjoying the attention. He considered Xigbar with a smirk before speaking; his mannerisms making sure each and every syllable received its exact emphasis.
"There are ... ways of assuming control over such matters. I seem to have stumbled upon a most effective one."
Vague, as always. Xigbar knew Vexen was toying with him but he didn't care. If Vexen could help him control it, then it would be worth playing to his amusement in the end.
"Can you use these 'ways' on others?" he asked.
Vexen crossed his arms and let out a thoughtful 'hmm'. Xigbar wasn't fooled. He would have thought this through long ago.
"The results differ from subject to subject, so I cannot help you without extensive ... 'study', as it were." He was giving Xigbar that weird look, the one that spoke of scientific experiments that he would greatly be enjoying. Wait, hadn't he just seen Vexen the day before yesterday?
"You figured this all out in a day?"
"Naturally." Vexen made a self gratifying gesture. "I am a scientist, after all. Science is what I do."
"Vexen," Xaldin growled across the table, clearly unamused, "You can stop feeding your ego any time now." The flat look Xaldin was giving him clearly implied that 'any time' was most certainly 'right now'. Psh, as if Xaldin could talk. To his credit though, Vexen's smiled never lessened.
"Why yes, of course." Vexen was doing that look again, his gaze flickering between Xigbar, Xaldin and Lexaeus all in turn. "How silly of me. Why don't we all congregate at my laboratory this evening? We could run some tests, yes? I assure you, your powers will be yours again by sundown."
Xigbar blinked.
"Woah, hold your horses there. Shouldn't it take longer than that?"
Vexen made some dismissive hand gesture.
"Please, it's not like you're actually learning anything here. You are simply remembering that you can do something. You know it already, the skill is already mastered. All you need to do is use it."
The excitement in his voice was chilling. Well, it might have just been his icy crap, but in either case Xigbar wasn't going to pass this up. If he could learn to control his power then all his problems would be solved!
Thus, Xigbar was feeling rather smug when the door finally opened once more, announcing the presence of the esteemed Xemnas. To Xigbar's surprise however, it was not just Xemnas who walked into the room. A tall man followed him in. He had – of all the ridiculous things – long blue hair with an 'x' shaped scar across his face, right between the eyes. Even more notable was the distinctly pointed shape his ears were taking, along with a familiar yellow glint in his eyes. If Xigbar's memory served him right about how he himself had gained eyes like that, then this man was formidable indeed.
Xemnas reached the head of the able and spoke without sitting down. The man just behind him remained standing too.
"Greetings, friends," Xemnas said, his deep voice still seeming far lower than his looks would have suggested. "Today we welcome another into our midst – or, should I say, another comrade has returned to us."
So, that's what this was all about. Xemnas continued his half introduction, half re-welcoming: apparently this man's name was Saïx, and he was Number Seven in their order. Even more interesting was what Xemnas said next.
"Xigbar, Xaldin. Saïx will be assisting you in your search." Xemnas smiled then. The world stood still when Xemnas smiled. "He has certain information regarding the whereabouts of another. You will go with him and offer a proposition to this man eluding our capture. Tell us his name once more, Saïx."
All eyes turned to the blue haired man as he spoke.
"Axel."
Zexion bounced his foot idly as the car swiftly approached Pleasantview Hospital. On a whim, he had figured that he might just be able to sniff something out while he was still in town. Xemnas knew the truth about what had happened on Monday night, and Zexion wanted to know what his real intentions were. He wasn't entirely sure how he was going to find anything out, but Xemnas' office was as likely a starting place as any. He had made sure he had grabbed his sleuthing shoes before they had left the apartment.
It hadn't been too hard to get Demyx to make a pit stop at the hospital - he even seemed rather excited. Apparently getting to see his workplace was a point of great interest to Demyx. Zexion had tried telling him just how boring it really was, being a workplace after all, but Demyx was having none of it. It worked for Zexion either way. It wasn't like he had to 'sneak' into the hospital, being on the staff roll as he was. He just hoped Demyx didn't blow his cover.
They made it past reception easy enough. The brown haired receptionist was taking a call at the time but she smiled and nodded at Zexion as they walked past. Zexion nodded back briefly. Demyx waved his arms in the air, grinning like an idiot and mouthing some kind of greeting. Ah, well, who needed a low profile anyway?
Zexion felt apprehensive as the elevator whirred into action. Maybe coming here hadn't been the best of ideas after all. If Xemnas was willing to keep quiet about the murder, then perhaps Zexion should just leave him to it. People were usually a lot less willing to favour someone who went snooping through their office, that was for certain. Still, he had already come this far, and the idea of leaving without having done anything just seemed wasteful. At the very least, Demyx seemed to be having a good time.
The doors dinged open as they reached the thirteenth floor.
"Wow, nice place!" Demyx said, striding into the pseudo-waiting room, "Is this where you work?"
"Not quite." Zexion folded his arms. From the waiting room the bleach white hallway stretched out straight ahead with only a few doors branching off to either side. There were no operating rooms or patients or anything else of the kind on this floor, it was merely administrative. Well, 'administrative' in the loose form of the word. This floor was basically the private workspace of Xemnas himself, his office being the only room other people ever came here to see, though there were plenty of others. No-one really questioned why Xemnas would need so much space; there were more than enough rooms on the other floors, so there was never really any need to.
"Oh! What are we doing here then?" Demyx asked as he wandered over to stare at an elaborate painting on the wall. It was of some sort of mermaid, or merman, or mersomething.
"I need to get something from my boss' office." Zexion paused. Demyx would be hard to miss in a place with no other people in it. "You might need to wait here."
"Hm? Oh, that's cool."
Demyx turned his head sideways, looking at the picture from a different angle. He seemed pretty enthralled, so Zexion figured it was safe to leave him there. He exhaled slowly. Okay, this was it.
He swiftly made his way down the corridor, stepping gently and making as little noise as he possibly could. He ducked as he passed a window looking into some kind of meeting room, not pausing to theorise over just who would be up on this floor. Soon he was at the end of the hallway, tugging the door to Xemnas' office open and quickly slipping inside.
Xemnas' office was pristine. The wall to the left was covered in neatly organised and framed certificates, while the right wall was lined with all manner of medical journals and textbooks. In the middle of the room was Xemnas' desk; plain and white with precisely placed stacks of books and paper. There was also a small pot plant in the corner, though Zexion didn't recognise the size and shape of the leaves.
He was careful not to move anything as he inspected the contents of his boss' desk top. There was one book still open – in fact, the only book left open. Zexion took this as a sign that it was currently in use. Nothing else really seemed to jump out at him as suspicious evidence, so he leant over and scanned the contents of the open pages. Everything was handwritten. It seemed to be some kind of note compilation of sorts, but without a context they didn't really seem to mean much. His hand twitched. He might be signing his death warrant here, but...
He picked up the book and flipped it to the front page. Blank. He flipped to the second page and found himself looking at a short list. He read it.
I. Maximillion Xemnas: The Superior. Zexion snorted. The 'Superior'? The Superior of what? Was this a roleplay that Xemnas busied himself with in his spare time? Zexion never would have guessed it of the man. He always seemed far too serious to do anything fun like that. Zexion scanned the rest of the list.
II. Xigbar Capes: The Freeshooter. That name seemed familiar to Zexion, but he couldn't quite place where he'd know it from. The next few names he didn't recognise.
III. Xaldin Gustav: The Whirlwind Lancer.
IV. Vexen Froid: The Chilly Academic.
The next one caught Zexion's eye.
V. Lexaeus Stonewall: The Silent Hero. Presuming this was indeed the same Lexaeus Stonewall that Zexion had encountered a few days earlier, Zexion couldn't help but smile. He hadn't seemed like the type to roleplay either. The next name on the list, however, made Zexion's eyes pop.
VI. Zexion Green: The Cloaked Schemer.
Zexion's mind raced. Okay, so not a roleplay, but something completely serious. But what? His name seemed to dance in front of his eyes. He looked back to the list for some answers.
VII. Saïx Arte: The Luna Diviner. Nothing he recognised in that one. The next five numbers were blank, but the last two were filled in.
XIII. Roxas Cain: The Key of Destiny.
XIV. Xion Roberson: The Failure.
Zexion stared, not comprehending. His name was on a list, with the name of the man he had killed no more than two days before, as well as the name of his boss and a co-worker. Just what was the connection?
If there was anything in the room that was going to prove to Zexion that Xemnas was up to something devious, this was it right here. Yet, Zexion couldn't help but think he'd uncovered something far weirder than even he had been expecting.
His hand tingled. Zexion looked up, realising he had probably stayed in Xemnas' office long enough. Yet ... the names. They were still a mystery to him. Surely a minute longer wouldn't hurt.
He flicked through the pages of the journal quickly, finding all manner of odd notes on things he didn't quite know the significance of. Hearts and darkness, keyblades and nobodies, heartless and a 'kingdom hearts'. It all made no sense. Zexion stopped at the most recently written page. It read:
What the mind forgets, the heart knows.
Hearts - ever connected - resonate with each other, reminding the body of what it once knew.
Connected to all hearts and resonating with them all: Kingdom Hearts.
It seemed as vague as anything in the book, but it most definitely sounded important. He wasn't going to figure out anything else here, not unless he took the book with him. As tempting as it was, he just couldn't bring himself to do that. Clearly, Xemnas was at the heart of something far more complicated than Zexion knew at this point, and he was not going to provoke the anger of something he didn't understand. He wasn't going to puzzle any of this out if he left it behind however...
His hand tingled again. Zexion tried to calm his nerves. He snatched a blank piece of paper off the desk and quickly scrawled down that last note, adding underneath it the list of names from the front of the book. Pocketing it quickly, he placed the book ever so carefully back where he had found it and leapt to the doorway. Now more than ever before, he did not want to be caught anywhere near here. Not by Xemnas, not by any of his colleagues, not even by the janitor. Zexion wanted to be gone from here.
He was halfway down the corridor when the meeting room door opened behind him. Skidding to a halt, Zexion's head spun. There were no doors anywhere near him duck into and hide. The other end of the corridor was too far away to make it in time. He was trapped.
Someone was walking into the corridor. Zexion closed his eyes as tight as he could. In near panic, he willed them not to see him. He didn't want to be caught, he just wanted to get out. He didn't want them to see him.
His hands tingled.
The sound of shoes echoed loudly in the corridor, the group of people were heading right this way. Ah, well, Game over. Zexion peeked his eyes open ever so slightly.
The people of the meeting room were sweeping down the corridor, looking straight past Zexion as they headed towards the elevator. They didn't seem like they were going to notice him at all. Zexion felt a wave of relief rush over him. Not caught, not yet. His eyes narrowed as he watched the one in front walk ever closer to him. He still hadn't seen him yet, but he was walking straight towards him.
With a silent yelp, Zexion dodged to the side. The group of four walked straight past him, not even acknowledging his existence. Some nerve they had! Somehow, the air seemed to lose a certain chill as they walked further away. Zexion's eye caught on one of the two taller ones. With broad shoulders and short brown curled hair, the man was unmistakable. Lexaeus Stonewall. He hadn't even looked at him! How utterly rude!
Looking back at the open meeting door, Zexion's breath caught. Xemnas was closing the door behind him, engrossed in some idle conversation with a blue haired man next to him. For a long moment, Zexion didn't move, expecting Xemnas' eyes to look directly at him and exclaim in surprise.
The moment passed. Nothing happened.
Zexion was momentarily puzzled. Then he looked down. It was at that moment that Zexion Green was struck utterly speechless. The floor beneath him shone white. Between the floor and his eyes there was nothing to be seen. Nothing at all. No shoes, no legs, no hands, nothing.
Visible or not, Zexion's eyebrows rose dangerously high. Surely this was not possible. This was madness!
As if in response, Zexion felt his hands tingle once more. Before his eyes he saw a slight shimmer, a slightly ... hand shaped shimmer. His hand was becoming slightly visible again.
Immediately, the man next to Xemnas turned on the spot. He was staring straight at Zexion, yellow eyes unblinking.
Stop thinking, Zexion thought furiously. It's possible, of course it's possible! I'm invisible, nothing out of the ordinary here, nooo, nothing at all.
The faint shimmering stopped, hand invisible once more. Zexion mentally breathed a sigh of relief. He looked back up. Xemnas seemed to be searching for his companion's distraction.
"Ah," his immensely deep voice said, "You must forgive Vexen. He has a habit of... showing off, as it were."
After the other man gave a particularly slow nod both men walked off in the other direction. Zexion waited until they were completely out of sight before allowing himself to move at all. He spun, quickly hurrying in the opposite direction.
Demyx was still waiting for him in the elevator room, looking to the elevator thoughtfully. His mind still racing, Zexion tapped Demyx on the shoulder.
Demyx spun around, eyes wide as he looked left and right.
"Who's there?" he called out.
Before Zexion had time to think Demyx's head spun to stare directly at Zexion. He squeeled.
"Wha- er, Zexion? How'd you DO that?"
Wordlessly, Zexion grabbed his arm and pulled him into the opening elevator door. He hit the button for the ground floor, letting out a breath of great relief as the doors finally slid closed.
"Oi." Demyx had his arms folded, his face for once completely humourless. "Tell me what's going on."
Zexion faltered.
"I ..." I what? "I can't."
"What do you mean 'I can't'? Tell me!"
Zexion's shoulders slumped. His mind was in turmoil. Just what had happened? For once, his mind offered no explanation, and he was left looking at Demyx with a feeling of complete helplessness.
"I don't know," he said slowly, "I would tell you if I knew, Demyx, trust me. But I have absolutely no idea what just happened."
Demyx's face softened. He unfolded his arms. He opened his mouth to comment but just then the door dinged to announce their arrival at the ground floor. They walked silently out onto the ground floor. As they passed the now empty reception, Demyx offered him a sympathetic smile.
"Okay, but you tell me the minute you figure it out, alright?"
Zexion blinked a few times. Had Demyx just accepted that he, Zexion Green, had just turned invisible? As unlikely as it seemed –not that any of this situation was likely - it appeared that Demyx had done just that. Wasn't this the part where he panicked and ran away screaming? Zexion sure felt like doing so. But no, here Demyx was, smiling at Zexion and accepting it all as fact. How on earth had he managed to wind up with the most carefree and trusting friend there was?
In a similar vein of thought, just what the hell was going on?