Chapter 13
Selphie stood back for a moment, admiring her handiwork. The hall was perfect. Who knew that the interior of a hospital could be made to look so beautiful?
Well, she had known, of course, but even then she was still impressed with the results. Perfectly positioned tables lined the perfectly decorated wall; every decoration was fitted exactly where it was supposed to be. Nothing had gone wrong. Somehow no-one had forgotten anything at all; every task had been finished to a stunning degree. This defied every logical rule of party preparation that Selphie knew of, but heck, she wasn't going to question a miracle. The preparations for the masquerade ball had been a complete success.
With the waves of pride rolling over her, Selphie turned to her decorating team. They grimaced back at her, looking every bit as tired and frustrated as Selphie knew they felt. This had been draining on all of them, even her. But had it been worth it? Heck yeah!
"Ball Committee!" Selphie said excitedly. "This is amazing. We all really outdid ourselves this time." Her team replied with silence. Hayner was scratching himself, looking off to the side. Pence's head was nodding droopily. Ollete was trying to hide a yawn behind her hand. Well, a response wasn't necessary. She was tired enough herself that she could sympathise with them.
Selphie's sight caught on Irvine as he strolled into the room. Selphie waved him over.
"Where are Tidus and Wakka?" she asked.
Irvine frowned. "They're not here?"
For a moment, Selphie panicked. Then she spotted two pairs of shoes sticking out from under one of the dessert tables. They were sleeping? Again? Selphie gritted her teeth.
"Nevermind," she said, turning back to Irvine. "Is the entertainment sussed?"
He nodded, tipping his wide brimmed hat at her. "All taken care of. YRP will play until ten, then Tantalus Performing Troupe take over."
Selphie nodded, crossing another detail off her mental checklist. With relief, she knew that everything on the list was now neatly crossed off. It was time to relax.
"Well, that's everything then. Ball Committee, we're officially off duty!"
Everyone perked up at that; even Irvine, and he'd only just arrived.
"Okay people, let's go change! Booyaka!"
Her perfectly awesome catchphrase was immediately met with four frowns. Drat. "Oh, come on, please? Just once?"
There was an uncomfortable pause in which she thought they wouldn't humour her.
"Booyaka," Olette eventually murmured. The others quickly muttered it after her. It was less than satisfactory, but it would do for now. She was going to get them using that word if was the last thing she did.
Right now, however, was time for her costume. She'd just have to pop down to the ground floor and get it.
As the receptionist and her helpers left the ballroom, Xemnas stepped out of the Corridor of Darkness. He walked across the floor to the window – the large one that dominated the northern wall. He barely glanced at the decorations of the room; they were irrelevant.
Once at the window, he mused over how events would turn out tonight. Vexen's original plan had been an utter failure, and so Xemnas had been very clear in telling him that his life now rested on how well the plan for this party played out. If all went well, this would be the beginning of the end. If not, he had invited people who might give him the whereabouts of Numbers XI and X with enough... persuasion. With that knowledge in hand he could make a back up plan, but he really didn't want to. He had waited several life times for this, and he was very eager to have it over and done with. How many times had he died trying to do this? With luck, Vexen would pull through. If it didn't he'd probably kill him just out of spite. Incompetence did not deserve a place in Xemnas' world.
He regarded the moon. It had been full but five days ago, so it was already receding in size. Oh, how this moon seemed fake compared to the one of his memories. Soon the real one would be his.
Soon Kingdom Hearts would be here.
"And now for another exciting episode of Green's Anatomy. Tell me, Doctor Green, just how excited are you about tonight's-?"
"Demyx."
"Yeah?"
"Your pop culture references aren't helping me get changed any faster."
"What? Why not?"
A sound somewhat like an annoyed grunt came from the other side of the door. Demyx took that as his cue to be quiet.
He wandered back over to the other side of the staff room, pausing at the coffee machine. Zexion's giant explanation dump had left Demyx slightly more relaxed about the whole freaky-water situation. Reincarnation and elemental magic were one thing, having it come screaming into your own life was quite another. It was just reassuring to finally know that it wasn't anything dangerous, and it was more than a little bit epic to think that he'd actually get to control it.
On the note of control, though, Demyx had been wondering whether it might just have been a matter of practise. There was no way to find out without doing something stupid... and awesome. Luckily, Demyx was an expert in both of those things.
He leaned closer to the coffee machine. He tried staring at it. Maybe, if he focussed hard enough, he could make it do something. He wiggled his fingers in a mystifying manner. When that didn't work, he tried asking it nicely. Unsurprisingly, neither plan worked.
He heard the voice on the other side of the door say his name again. "Demyx."
"Yeah?"
"What are you doing? It's making my hands vibrate."
"What? That doesn't even make sense."
"Yes, it does. The memories that respond to the use of our powers react physically through the –"
"You know what, never mind. I'll just take your word for it."
"Thank you."
Demyx immediately tried it again.
He stared at the coffee pot closely, concentrating on the water inside. It was perfectly still. What had he been doing when Zexion interrupted him? Talking to it?
Demyx bowed to the coffee pot, offering his hand out to it.
"Oh, dearest coffee pot, would you like to dance?"
Unexpectedly, Demyx's hand shook. He immediately stood bolt upright, staring at the coffee in bewilderment. It had been swirling, but it quickly stopped. Demyx was half scared, half excited. Needless to say, he tried again.
"Dance, water!" He lifted his hands up. They twitched. "Dance!"
The water obediently rose up out of the coffee pot, swirling happily in mid air. It. Was. Awesome.
Demyx turned to tell Zexion about his amazing discovery. Instead, he froze completely when he realised there were half a dozen smaller swirling coffee spheres floating throughout the room. Below each one was an empty coffee cup. He hadn't meant to do that. Clearly he still had no idea how to control it the way he wanted –
The door to the hallway opened. Demyx spun around, panicking. Before he even realised the coffee had been moving, the coffee from the coffee pot had flown straight into the open doorway. A split second later a girl screamed. Then she stumbled into the staff room, frantically trying to rub the cold coffee off her face. She had her eyes closed.
Demyx hesitated. He immediately felt obliged to see if she was okay, but just how would he explain what had just happened? 'Oh, pardon me, I didn't intend to magically throw coffee into your eyes. No harm done?' No, that wouldn't do. He'd sound like a crazy person! The logical part of Demyx's mind took over.
He ran.
Axel stepped out of the limousine. He felt completely exposed by riding in something so conspicuous, but he had to keep reminding himself that he was going to be conspicuous anyway. He was wearing a costume, after all, and this one was pretty convincing. After all, he was dressed as one of the most well known elite members in all of Pleasantview's criminal gangs.
While the Pleasantview Mafia had been officially disbanded a year previous to Axel even arriving in Pleasantview, the core of the crime-based business structure had escaped untouched and fully operational. Illegally, of course, and everyone in Pleasantview over the age of six knew their names.
For they were the Turks, a name most people remembered purely because it was so utterly ridiculous. It was hard not to agree.
And Axel, against all his better judgement, was currently dressed as Reno – the only member of said crime group that he happened to possess an uncanny resemblance to. Axel had a suspicion that Luxord was trying to make some sort of statement by dressing him up as a ridiculosly flamboyant criminal, but whatever the message was it went flying over his head.
As he began walking toward the hospital the limosine's window started sliding down. He paused, looking back at Namine's worried frown.
"Be careful, Axel," she said. "I don't know what their plan is, and that's never a good thing."
"And remember," Luxord added from behind her. "Try not to expose yourself. You don't want Saix's attention tonight least of all."
"And why's that?" he asked.
"Because they're looking for their next targets. If they don't find the ones they're looking for, and you happen to be sitting calmly in their lap, I can hardly see them hesitating to seize that opportunity."
"Note taken," Axel growled. It was advice, sure, but it sounded too much like an order. Axel hated taking orders.
In an attempt to prove that he wasn't anybody's pawn – perhaps only to himself – he strolled up to the hospital entrance at a very relaxed pace. The costume was humiliating. And itchy. After this, he was strongly considering burning it.
In all his practiced dawdling Axel noticed a motorcycle parked outside the hospital entrance. It looked suspiciously familiar. As he got closer he had the sinking suspicion that it was indeed the bike he thought it was. After all, how many motorcycles were such a bright shade of yellow?
He reached the bike and checked the side. Sure enough, it had a fanciful sticker that read 'The Savage Nymph'. Great, just great.
Axel high-tailed it back to the limousine, sticking his head through the window.
"Larxene's here."
Luxord frowned. Namine looked thoughtful. They both said nothing.
"What should I do?" he asked.
"As far as I'm aware, the plan has not changed," Luxord replied smoothly.
"But –"
"Luxord," Namine interrupted. "Remember, she is their next target."
Luxord paused, considering. Namine had a worried look on her face. Axel felt quite the same. If they were after Larxene next, and she was right here waiting for them...
But then again, this was Larxene they were talking about. She could take care of herself.
Couldn't she?
"Luxord," Axel asked, "How much do you know about Larxene? From before, I mean."
"Larxene? Why, she's a knife; sharp and deadly."
Namine frowned at that. "That hardly does her justice; she's a monster," she added, looking the closest Axel had ever seen her get to angry. "A beautiful monster, perhaps, but still a monster."
"So she was like that back then too, huh?"
"Yes," Namine said. "If I remember right – and I do – she locked me up in a castle, forced me to ruin peoples' memories, and then she tried to kill me."
"Actually, I believe that was all Marluxia's plan," Luxord corrected.
Namine frowned at him, crossing her arms. "I don't care. She still did it. She's an evil –"
"Boy, I'd better get going," Axel interrupted. "Might be late." As he moved to go, however, a thought occurred to him. "You sure you don't wanna come too, Luxord?"
"I already have some people on the inside; they can help you if you need it."
"Just where else could you need to be?" Axel asked disbelievingly.
"Someone subtle needs to be keeping an eye on Marluxia," he replied, fanning his playing cards before him. "I do believe that 'subtle' describes me much more than it does you. I can blend in, after all." There was a pause. Then he spoke again, grinning madly. "They can't read my poker face." Axel frowned him, just as Namine shot him a sideways look. Luxord shrugged. Then he motioned for the driver to take them away.
Axel gave the driver a friendly wave. Raijin only scowled back.
When Axel had walked away Luxord signalled for Raijin turn off the engine and park again. Then he turned to Namine.
"It's all falling into place," he said. "Shall we begin?" Before waiting for her answer, he handed her a sketchbook. She looked at it precariously before taking it.
"I still want to know," she said. "Why this plan? It'll play right into Xemnas' hands."
"Only at first," Luxord assured her. "He still doesn't remember me, you see, and maybe not you either. We need to act while we still have the element of surprise, and we can only do that while he has no idea what we can do."
"And this will help?" she asked.
"Of course. Xemnas will think it was all his doing and will act accordingly. He'll trap all the organization members in one place and try to kill the ones he doesn't need. But then," he said, pointing out the window at two boys crossing the carpark, "He won't know that the Keyblade wielders will be right there with him. When you awaken them, they can stop him. And knowing them, they'll probably knock off his all his pawns while they're at it."
"You should really get in the habit of explaining these things in advance." Namine held a crayon in her hands, frowning down at the blank paper before her. He only just noticed that the white of her eyes was the same white of the empty page. It was curious. "I mean, I agree of course," she explained, "It makes sense for me to use my powers over Sora's memories to make everyone remember their past lives at once. But, you know, it'd be nice to know more about our plan than Axel does sometimes."
Luxord just shrugged. "Apologies. I find it incredibly difficult to recall what I have or haven't said yet." He plucked a random card from the deck before him out of idle curiosity. It was the king of hearts. "It's almost time to act. You can begin drawing whenever you're ready."
She started almost immediately. Luxord watched for the moment. Soon he would be too busy meddling with time to see anything she drew. It was curious how she managed to make figures look like people he recognised with so little discernable detail.
All of a sudden, she paused. She's just drawn a figure in a red dress, with red hair. "My sister's here," she said idly. "Of course she is."
"Shall we awaken her too?" he asked.
Namine nodded to herself, picking up a different colour. "It's about time she got to do something useful. Sora... Riku... and Kairi. Their memories will be the strongest of all."
"I don't like this, Riku."
"What? Don't tell me you're giving up already!"
"I meant this costume. It's awful."
Sora tugged the black shirt in irritation. It was too tight, and the black pants were way too loose – they practically ballooned out like some type of ridiculous clown pants. They were some weird style of clothing he'd never really seen before, which was probably intentional, but it was still annoying. To top it all off he had thick white gloves and some strange picture of a red monster stuck over his right eye. Oh, and he had fangs. Apparently Yuffie's definition of a 'fantastic costume' was completely different from his own. It would have been a lot easier to complain about it if she had actually come along with them, but no, she and Leon had gone in separately. Sora didn't even know what they were wearing.
"Stop whining, Sora," Riku said, looking up from behind the receptionist's desk. "At least your costume makes sense."
He had a good point there. Sora couldn't even make out the specifics of what Riku was supposed to look like, but it included strange white clothes with bits of fur sticking out in the oddest places. If Sora was meant to be a vampire, then Riku was likely supposed to be a werewolf, but it was incredibly hard to make out even that much just by looking. At least Riku had escaped the excess amounts of eye shadow that Yuffie had attacked him with.
After a few more moments of waiting, Sora started getting twitchy. If anyone came into the room it would be completely clear that they were looking at things that they weren't supposed to be.
"Can we go yet? I don't think they'll be hiding all their secret plans in the Main Reception, Riku."
"Do you have any better ideas?" Riku snapped.
"Anything that isn't so incredibly obvious would be fine by me." Sora folded his arms. "Couldn't we just go looking through their offices later? You know, when people have finished arriving?"
"Fine." Riku dropped the pile of papers he had been sifting through and stalked off in the direction of the elevators. After a second Sora hurried after him.
Riku pressed the button and they waited. They were soon joined by a taller guy dressed as one of the Turks. He had a ponytail of red hair sticking out in a very aloof arrangement. It was quite ...manly. Sora caught Riku's eye and tried to mouth words at him; 'I told you people were still coming'. Riku just looked away. He was so pouty sometimes.
A little while after that two more costumed people came hurrying into the hallway. One of them, in plastic armour no less, seemed to be trying to shush the other much taller one, who was wearing tights and had incredibly spikey hair. When the two noticed that they weren't alone they slowed their pace and tried to look like they hadn't been doing exactly what they had been. Sora felt like smiling at the silliness of it all. The costumes just made everything so much more amusing.
Eventually the elevator arrived and everyone piled in. The ride was uncomfortably quiet. Sora wanted to strike up a conversation with the guy dressed as what he assumed was some type of armoured garden gnome, but when he opened his mouth he received an ill-humoured glare from the man. Sora didn't try again, but he did recall why the man in tights looked so familiar. He was dressed as David Bowie! And he looked incredibly like him as well. He itched to say something to him, but the grumpy gnome stood directly between them, and that would just make it awkward. With an inward sigh he gave it up.
When the doors opened everyone hurried out, all heading for the ballroom.
"I can't believe you attacked the receptionist," Zexion muttered curtly.
"I didn't attack her. The coffee had a mind of its own!"
"She was fine, by the way, thanks for asking."
Zexion looked at Demyx just in time to see him poking his tongue in his direction. Upon being seen Demyx immediately retracted it and looked away. Then he caught sight of the ballroom up ahead. Demyx gasped.
"Woah," he said. "It's fantastic! Look at all those people."
Zexion heard echoes of the same kind of comment coming from the guy dressed as a vampire behind them. Apparently Demyx heard it too, for he turned around and, after some brief introductions, began excitedly discussing the decorations with said vampire. They both carried on like excited rabbits.
Zexion endured it for all the time it took them to reach the doorway. Then he interrupted their conversation by physically dragging Demyx away from the conversation. He didn't stop until they had reached the corner of the hall. Demyx looked bewildered, but still managed to wave goodbye at the vampire as he was dragged along.
"What was that for?" Demyx asked incredulously.
"Remember why we're here," Zexion said, summoning his best serious face. "This room will be filled with Xemnas' associates. We can't afford to trust anyone."
"What, you think he was one of Xemnas' flunkies? The happy vampire kid? I thought you had to be remarkably insane or incredibly boring to be one of the bad guys."
Zexion frowned at him. "Demyx, you were one of them."
Demyx paused. "Oh, yeah."
They lapsed into silence as Zexion tried to scan the room. It was exceedingly difficult to accomplish; everyone was in a costume, so he couldn't identify a single person present. He was vaguely aware of Demyx rocking backwards and forwards on his heels, but he thoroughly ignored him for the moment. What was the best plan of action? Should he go straight after Xemnas? It seemed a bit too risky. Perhaps he could find Vexen again and ask him a few more questions.
But he couldn't see Vexen at the moment either. In his corner of the room there was only a half dozen people dressed as ninjas. They were standing in a cluster, flailing their arms in an organized but ungainly manner. Of course, this meant they were 'dancing', but Zexion had no desire to replicate any such activity. It just looked silly.
"So," Demyx said slowly, clearly trying to break the silence. Zexion had never understood that. Silence was comfortable. Why would anyone want to break it?
It was at that precise moment that the band decided to play. The room fell into darkness and coloured lights sprang into life. The sudden music shattered Zexion's beloved quiet, making him want to groan while everyone else cheered.
Demyx's face lit up like a beacon. "Wanna dance?"
Zexion stared at him. Demyx merely shrugged and hurried off to the dance floor, the excitement clear on his face.
And Zexion's corner of room suddenly felt incredibly, horribly empty.
"Riku, I don't get this song. Is comparing someone to suffocation supposed to be romantic?"
"Listen closer, Sora. It's the absence of the person that feels like they have no air."
"Oh. But that's..." his trailed off. He had been about to say 'silly', but for some reason the feeling suddenly seemed very familiar. Like he'd searched the universe twice over looking for someone and found their absence unbearable. Had he broken into tears when he'd found them again? The thoughts died, and he looked over at Riku. What weird thoughts.
Dismissing them, Sora bobbed on his heels, watching the crowds dance. Swarms of costumed people swam backwards and forwards through the darkness, dancing in every which way possible under the flashing lights. Sora itched to get out there and enjoy it. He didn't though. They were here to find Kairi. It would be entirely inappropriate to go dancing while on such an important mission like this.
Still, Sora's mind sped excitedly along with the beat of the music. Soon the chorus was back again. Sora grinned.
"Riku."
"...yeah?"
"You're like suffocating."
Riku snorted with repressed laughter. Despite himself, Sora felt quite ecstatic for getting a response like that at a time like this. He supposed the atmosphere really called for it. The costumes were amazing to watch in action, even more so with the frantic lighting. Case and point; there was a lady dressed somewhat like... well, the female equivalent of a cowboy. Was that a cowgirl? Probably. Whatever the right word, the cowgirl was moving from group to group of people. Soon she approached Sora, squinting at him as if trying to see behind his mask.
"Have you seen Cloud?" she asked.
"Who?"
She was gone before Sora could think any further about who Cloud might be. It didn't sound like a real name. Was it code for something? Sora looked to Riku for help. He simply shrugged. Just then, the next song started up.
"Riku, you and I could write a bad romance."
The sideways look he received was far from what he was hoping for. But it wasn't angry, or sad. Before he could figure it out Riku looked away. He really was such a weird guy sometimes.
It didn't surprise Demyx in the slightest that Xigbar was dressed as a pirate. It was even a little disappointing. What was even more disappointing, however, was that Xigbar was still avoiding him.
Demyx supposed it made sense, Xigbar being on Xemnas' list of crazy people and all, but Demyx had expected a little more when he'd spotted him in the crowd. The man was dancing as ungainly as he always had before, but when he'd danced his way over to him Xigbar had simply stopped dancing and fled faster than Demyx could follow. It was terribly disappointing.
When the pirate hat wasn't even visible in the crowd anymore Demyx left the dance floor in a huff. To his surprise, Zexion quickly stepped up on his left. Conveniently nearby, as always.
"Did you see?" Demyx complained. "He just ran off. So anticlimatic."
"Anticlimactic, "Zexion corrected.
"Oh shh." Demyx watched the crowds bounce for a little longer before turning to face Zexion. "Question; what are we trying to find out here?"
"We know their goals," Zexion said loudly, trying to speak over the music, "but we don't know what they're going to do, or how."
"And how do we find that out?"
"I don't know."
Demyx thought for a long moment, for once completely oblivious to the musical ecstasy around him.
"Zexion," he said at normal voice level, leaning in close to Zexion's ear. "There's something I don't understand. You said the last hospital function was deathly boring. Why is this one so different?"
Zexion didn't say anything, but Demyx could see his eyes working furiously over the problem. After a moment Zexion glanced at him. He seemed to have come to the same conclusion that Demyx had. He leant over to speak in Demyx's ear.
"It's a trap."
All of a sudden a loud sound echoed throughout the room, making Demyx and Zexion both jump. It was only the music, however, changing songs. The relief Demyx felt was a little embarassing.
"What do we do?" he asked Zexion, leaning close again.
"I'll find Vexen. He's our best bet."
"And me?"
"Find Xigbar, if you can. If not, find someone. We need to figure this out."
"Alrighty." He watched as Zexion slumped off down the side of the room, avoiding the dancers like the plague. He still held the axe Demyx had found him though, so maybe there was hope for him after all. There was still time to convert him into someone who actually believed in fun.
You know, after he managed to find Xigbar and somehow forced him to spill his secrets.
"Oh well, never mind. Vivi, was it? Nice costume."
"Um, thanks."
After a few seconds of awkward silence the kid straightened his hat and walked off. Sora didn't mind overly much. Striking up conversations with random passersby was getting him nowhere. He was no close to finding Kairi than he had been when he got here.
He looked around, trying to find someone else to ambush into talking to him. His eyes lingered on the grumpy man in the armoured gnome costume, who was trying to squeeze past a crowd of people without actually touching any of them. He seemed oddly familiar now. Sora couldn't put his finger on why.
He turned to speak to Riku, but something else caught his eye.
"Oh my god! It's Eyepatchman!"
Riku gave him a perplexed look from behind his fluffy wolf mask.
"Eyepatchwho?"
"Eyepatchman! You know, the werewolf!"
"Oh. Where?"
" Right there!"
"Where? I don't see anything."
"The man with the eyepatch!"
Without waiting for a reply, Sora plunged into the dancing crowd, going after the distinctive pirate costume. The man was leaving the dance floor. Sora followed.
He caught up to him just as the man leant against the wall. He caught sight of Sora and, strangely, looked over him briefly.
"Hey, kid." He seemed quite distracted.
"Are you a werewolf?" Sora asked. It was a silly question, of course. A werewolf would just deny it. But Sora was out of leads, and he was getting desperate.
"As if!" was the man's response. He plucked his costume. "I'm a pirate."
"So where did you get those scars?"
"Ah, long story," Eyepatchman said dismissively. "Kids with keys and darkness, you know." He was looking out over the crowd. He was going to leave any second now, but Sora's mind was reeling with what he'd just said. Eyepatchman probably meant it as a way to put off conversation, by saying random words, but it just happened that they made total sense to Sora. Keyblades. Darkness. This man was totally onto it.
"Do you know Kairi?" he asked.
Eyepatchman's head spun around to stare at him. Then, perhaps realising his mistake, he suddenly looked back over the crowd.
"Uh, who? Sorry kid, don't know any Kairi, don't know where she went, don't know where they're keeping her."
"Oh, okay," Sora said sadly.
A moment passed. Hey, wait a minute...
Sora's eyes nearly popped when he realised the sheer brilliance of Eyepatchman's mistake. Then, a second later, Eyepatchman froze. He swivelled, staring at Sora incredulously. His hand twitched. Apparently he'd realised too.
It was time to run.
Sora dashed to the side, but Eyepatchman's hand darted out and grabbed the back of his collar, keeping him firmly in place.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
Before Sora could even think up a lie Eyepatchman's hand flew off his collar. Then he fell against the wall with a thud, grunting heavily. Riku grabbed Sora's hand, pulling him away through the crowd before the man could get back on his feet. The relief Sora felt at being saved washed over him like... well, like the feeling he was getting from having Riku hold his hand. The music wasn't half bad either. Sora felt like humming along with it. It made everything feel so simple. And clean.
Once they were safely on the other side of the room Riku turned back to Sora.
"Do you have any idea what could have happened to you just then?"
Sora was taken aback. He had been feeling triumphant, but then again he had just been manhandled by one of their enemies. The anger in Riku's expression was extreme. Sora's mood plummeted.
"I'm sorry," he said miserably. "Riku, I didn't mean to –"
His apology was cut off short as Riku hugged him fiercely. Sora was too shocked to even hug back. He wasn't too shocked to note how nice it felt, though. Even through the costume, Riku was warm. He was warm everywhere.
Riku pulled back. "Just don't do that again." He was looking incredibly embarrassed all of a sudden. Sora couldn't think why he might be.
Either way, Sora had news.
"Riku, Eyepatchman is one of them! He knows they're hiding Kairi somewhere."
Axel leaned against the wall in irritation. He hadn't found Larxene. He found seen Xemnas or Saix. He hadn't even found Luxord's other agents, whoever they were. Not a single whiff of anything useful whatsoever. It was utterly infuriating.
As much as he usually enjoyed a club-like atmosphere, tonight it was just painful. The room was dark, the coloured lighting was unpredictable, the music was loud, the crowd of people made it impossible to cross the room freely, and the sheer number of costumes made it impossible to find anyone. In short, it was about as perfect a hiding place as there could be. It was making his night impossible.
Axel didn't know what to do in such a situation. What could he possibly do? For the last hour he'd been reduced to simply examining anyone who came near him, trying to guess the identity beneath the costume. A girl walked past him wearing a white hooded robe. It had a red triangular pattern along the hem and sleeves, but it was otherwise unremarkable. He couldn't picture Larxene being so modest.
A man by one of the tables was wearing an odd black jacket. His silver hair was incredibly long, reaching almost the floor, and he had a very long sword, but he definitely wasn't Xemnas. The face was all wrong.
Another woman in the corner had stunning silver hair too, arching out like horns with red tips. She was wearing a long red gown, with a black scarf down her back that looked like wings, and black paint on her feet to make them look like wolf paws. Again, she was completely irrelevant.
Axel was on the verge of giving up completely when his eye caught on the dessert table. He quickly made his way over to it, pushing past a few people dressed in blue coats and hats to get there. He picked up the food he'd seen and tried it. Yes, it was definitely Sea Salt Ice Cream. Axel wasn't nearly happy enough to smile, but he did feel somewhat nostalgic. It was a refreshing change from all the frustration and anger.
He continued to search.
"-and then he threw a cup of coffee at me, right at my face!"
"No way, really?"
"I wish I was kidding! I still can't get the smell out of my hair."
Sora took a sip of his drink, trying to figure out just why this girl was talking to him. She seemed nice.
She paused, looking at him through her mask. It was a pretty cool mask, really, but it didn't really seem to match the way her hair curled out to either side. Ah, but she'd explained that, didn't she? After the coffee incident she didn't get time to do her hair.
Now she was tapping her chin.
"I didn't ask your name, did I?"
Sora grinned guiltily. He hadn't intended on giving one. For the good of a stealth operation, he decided he should adopt an alias. Luckily for him, he had memorised it moments before.
"I'm Selphie," she said first.
"My name's Tom."
"Tom?" she asked.
"Tom Ato." Sora grinned to himself. The other girl didn't.
"Oh, I'm sorry. That was mean of your parents." Sora's grin slipped. Wait, what? That was an awesome name! She was watching him now, a calculating expression on her face. Sora figured he should probably change the subject.
"So where do you work?"
"Oh, I work here," she said, smiling again. "I'm the receptionist."
Bells went off in Sora's head. Was that perfect or what?
"Do you know Xemnas?"
"Maximillion Xemnas? Well yeah, of course. He's my boss."
"What's he like as a boss?"
"Oh, you know, he's fine. Strict and a little overbearing, but he doesn't meet with his staff all too often, so it works."
"You don't think he'd try take over the world?"
Selphie laughed. "Oh, you really are too much, you know that?"
"Hmm, yes. Too much." Sora took another drink. Well, there goes that plan. "What are you dressed as?" he tried, attempting to divert the conversation once again.
"A moogle," she said. Sora wasn't sure he knew what she meant. "You know, a moogle?" She pointed at her white fur, then at the pompom hanging above her head. "Like Yuna?" Sora just shook her head. She visibly deflated.
But only for a second.
"That reminds me!" she chirped suddenly, completely throwing Sora off guard. He could see the way she was setting herself up, though. She was going to tell him a story, and he would be forced to listen to it. He immediately browsed the room for his escape route, his one and only escape route; Riku. "I got the catering to find this one fruit for tonight, but I don't think I ordered enough of them. Have you heard of Paupu fruit?"
Sora's head whipped around. "What?"
"Paupu fruit," Selphie repeated with a smile. "They're quite special. They say if you share it with someone you really care for, it binds you together forever. It's so romantic! I just gotta try it sometime."
Why did that sound so familiar? And... oh god, was she hinting at something? He looked at her smile, the way she was batting her eyelashes at him. Oh god, she was. He couldn't handle this. Where was Riku?
"Oh? Hm, yeah," he found himself saying, focussed entirely on looking through the crowds. "The way the yeah thing. Um, right?" Finally, he spotted Riku through the crowd, standing up against the wall just a few feet away. He smiled automatically. Escape route found.
Then he noticed that Selphie was looking at him too. At first she looked just plain disappointed, on the verge of sulking. Then, she quickly looked back at Riku, then at Sora, who promptly blushed.
"Oh," she said. "Maybe you should try it too." She winked.
Sora could feel his face go hot. Share one... with Riku?
"I think you've made a mistake," he said in a hurry, "I'm not-"
"Oh, Of course not," Selphie said, grinning even wider. "Not even a little."
She winked at him again and walked over to talk to someone else. Sora suddenly felt incredibly foolish.
He walked to the nearest table to grab a drink. As he got there he tripped over something sticking out from underneath it. He managed to catch himself just before he fell, but his arms still jarred at the force of it all. With a muttered curse he looked under the tablecloth. There were two guys sleeping rather casually under the table, neither one in costume. It was so unexpectedly weird that Sora didn't even pause. He just left them there and walked away, trying not to let his mind expand on what they might have been doing under there.
He returned a few seconds later for that drink he'd forgotten to get, but then he was gone again.
Demyx took a few steps closer. He wasn't entirely sure what he was expecting, but he was getting too close to back down now. They hadn't looked at him yet. Just a little closer-
"Demyx."
Demyx jumped in fright. He spun around to face Zexion.
"What was that for?"
"What are you doing?" Zexion was looking over Demyx's shoulder at the people he was sneaking up on. The band was taking a break. Surely they woulnd't mind.
"Um... I kind of wanted their autograph?"
Zexion blinked at him. "What?"
"They're the Friendly Neighbourhood Gullwings!"
"Those three? The ones in the costumes?"
"Yeah!"
"Isn't that one on the left a moogle?"
"Yup."
"And the other one is a cat?"
"Shhhh, don't question the logic behind the magic."
Zexion was giving him a disbelieving look. Demyx shifted his feet uncomfortably. "In my defence, they're pretty awesome."
"I suppose I'll have to take your word for it." Zexion glanced at them again. "They've been playing all the music so far?"
"Yeah! Neat right? I didn't even notice at first, not until I got real close."
At this point Demyx didn't know which was more amazing; that all of the Gullwings were in the same room as him, or that Zexion was genuinely interested in discussing it with him. He was currently scratching his chin, watching them closely. On anyone else, Demyx would almost call that look jealous.
That was the precise time when Demyx managed to catch the attention of one of them. He couldn't help it, he beamed ecstatically. For a wonder, she actually came up to him, Cait Sith costume and all.
"Hiya," she said, with all the perky gusto she always did. Demyx had to hold himself from throwing a complete fangirl spaz. It was a serious issue; he'd done it before.
Less than a minute later he walked back to Zexion, who still didn't look very pleased with the situation.
"How'd you get her to talk to you like that? Which one was it?"
"That was Rikku," Demyx explained. "She's the best!"
Zexion was giving him a sceptical look at that.
"Riku? Isn't that a boy's name?"
"What?" Demyx asked incredulously. "And how many boys do you know named Rikku?"
"Just the one." Zexion fell into one of his deep thoughts for a minute, which gave Demyx the chance to wave back at Rikku as she stepped up to the microphone. She saw him, and waved back cheerfully. Demyx felt euphoria dance through him as she announced the next song.
"What'd she just say?" Zexion asked suddenly. He couldn't help but frown at him. Secret fan or what?
"She just said that they were going to play a song by The Darkness."
"Oh," Zexion mumbled. He was tapping his forehead with a finger. "But then, Riku... and darkness..."
The only thing that Demyx knew at this point was that Zexion was thinking far too much. Luckily, as his best friend, it was his self-assigned job to stop him whenever this happened, for the sake of his mental health. And he knew just the thing.
He grabbed his hand. Zexion looked up, incredibly confused. Demyx figured he'd just run with it. "Come on, it's time to dance."
Zexion tried to say something, but he didn't give him the chance. Holding his hand fast, Demyx pulled him onto the dance floor just as the song started. Zexion looked mortified.
This was going to be awesome.
Zexion was terrified, powerless and trapped on the dance floor. In some ways, this was straight out of his nightmares, being in a room full of people and dancing in front of them. But Demyx had him by the hand, and something in Zexion's mental facilities was preventing him from pulling away. Instead, he was sucked further and further into the crowds of doom. Zexion didn't want to be there. The very thought of doing this at all scared him out of his wits. Bloody Demyx and his bloody ability to destroy Zexion's comfort zone.
Much too soon Demyx had found a space amongst the thriving bodies in the darkness.
"Come on," he urged.
Zexion felt frozen. He lamely lifted his arms up a little. His feet refused to move. Zexion shut his eyes, blocking out the situation all around him in pure embarassment.
"Don't think about it, Zex," Demyx encouraged. "I won't even look, I promise." When Zexion remained motionless he spoke again. "It's gonna be okay, just dance!"
A small war exploded in Zexion's subconscious. On one side was the conservative comfort zone that was his entire life, on the other side was the thought of Demyx, the thought of fun, and the realisation that just a few hours ago he had been trying to find a way to act a bit more like Demyx. More than that, Demyx was right there, wanting him to dance, and all the power in the world would not have been able to make him want to disappoint Demyx.
So he closed his eyes and, in an anomaly that even Zexion himself could not explain, he danced.
When seconds passed and the world had not imploded, Zexion kept dancing. He tried opening his eyes again. No-one was looking at him, no-one at all. Not even Demyx who, true to his word, had shut his eyes as well. Life was still going on.
So Zexion kept dancing.
Axel finally thought he was onto something. There were a bunch of doors along one of the walls of the room. That in itself wasn't unusual – they could be anything from kitchens to broom cupboards for all he cared – but every time he got too close to a certain doorway he would feel it; a certain tingling feeling in his hands.
Luxord had explained that already. Apparently it happened whenever someone nearby was using one of their powers. He distinctly remembered the sensation from when he tried to break into Luxord's casino. Luxord's powers had been involved there, so whose powers were being used on the other side of this door?
Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long to find out. During one of his periodic walks past the door in question, it opened. Two men walked out. One had a very bizarre swan costume on, but had very distinctive long pink hair. It was definitely Marluxia. It couldn't have been him using his power though, not unless he was making the randomly placed pot plants grow. No, the power had been coming from the other man, the taller one with black braids. Axel didn't remember him precisely, but he remembered the descriptions Luxord had given him. This was Xaldin. His reputation made him immediately intimidating, even when dressed as batman like he was.
Axel tried to tail them, but the crowd made this impossible. He settled for peeking over the top of the dancing people, watching them make their way to the furthest wall of the room. In front of the giant window was a small stage, set up with podium and a microphone. It was a mirror of the one at the other end of the room, where the band was playing, but at this other end of the room the podium was empty. As the two men approached it, Axel suddenly noticed who else was walking up on the stage. The man was unmistakable; Xemnas, complete in some sort of bi-coloured robe that somehow mixed black and white into some clothing designer's nightmare.
Saix was following him, wearing a lion skin hood with a black mane of some sort. Despite their odd choices of wardrobe, they both looked exquisitely calm.
Xemnas stepped up to the podium and gestured at the band at the other end of the hall. The song skipped to the ending few lines, giving everyone a last few seconds of fun before the music faded out and died. The crowd stopped dancing, cheering and clapping for the band as they left the stage.
When they had left the other stage, Xemnas tapped his microphone with a finger. Everyone quickly fell quiet, turning to look at him attentively. Axel squinted through the crowd. He noticed a lot of costumes he'd been observing throughout the night. To a person, everyone was watching Xemnas. Every. Single. One.
The lights hadn't come back on. It was still dark.
A voice sounded from behind Axel.
"Such a pity it came to this, don't you think?"
Axel looked behind him only to see something completely unexpected. A woman was leaning casually against the wall, a glass of wine in one hand, a knife twirling in the other. She was dressed as none other than another one of the Turks; Elena, if Axel had the name right. The face was unmistakable, however. It was Larxene. It felt like he'd been cheated, to look for her for so long only to have her ambush him like that.
"Interesting choice of costume, Axel," she said. Her teeth were bared in a dangerous smile. Her voice was just as high and musical as it always was – playful, with a hint of menace. The effect was somewhat magnified by the fact by the hall was completely silent. Why hadn't Xemnas started talking yet?
"Larxene," Axel hurriedly whispered, "You should get –"
"Sorry, can't hear you." Larxene was watching Xemnas now, still smiling dangerously. Axel wasn't dismissed so easily.
"They're going to try –"
"Kill me? I know." Axel gritted his teeth. Interrupting him was one thing, but dismissing what he was trying to say completely? It was infuriating! The way she spoke like she was completely entertained just made it all the more worse. This was some type of karmic punishment, wasn't it? Try to save Larxene's life and she just pisses the hell out of you.
It was then that Xemnas finally spoke. Apparently no-one else had noticed his long pause. Then again, Axel may have just imagined it. Larxene had a habit of making a few silent seconds seem like an excruciating hour.
"Welcome, honoured guests," Xemnas began. "Each one of you does this hospital a great service by attending our function tonight. It is a great pleasure to celebrate how close we are to achieving our marvellous goal. I assure you, this will be a hospital like no other."
Various people in the crowd started clapping at that. Axel simply frowned. He was just toying with the audience, saying things that they thought they understood while he meant something completely different. Was he so melodramatic that he would resort to such a tragic use of irony?
But then again, this was Xemnas. Of course he was.
"As our long awaited legacy draws near, we have further cause to celebrate." Xemnas looked to Xaldin then, who nodded in an all-too-pleased manner. "We have... persuaded a certain Pleasantview celebrity to join the staff roster. I introduce the man that surely needs no introduction; Marluxia Clavelle."
Many more people applauded this time. Several people cheered.
"I regret to announce my departure from the festivities, but my new associate and I have several business deals to discuss. Enjoy the rest of the evening to your hearts' desires," Xemnas said, finishing up. "But first, a brief word from someone far less important."
A few scattered people in the crowd laughed at that. Axel wasn't even sure if it had been a joke. While Xemnas was getting down from the stage, Axel made to look back at Larxene, but found her standing just at his side instead.
"You should probably know," she said over the applause, "this was our plan all along. Don't come before they do, if you don't mind. We have an oh so perfect trap just sitting there with their name on it. It simply wouldn't do if you tripped it instead." Axel simply grunted. Marluxia and Larxene were planning to trap Xemnas in his own scheme? Apparently their goal of overthrowing the Organization hadn't lessened in the slightest from one life to the next. Still, something didn't add up. Something tugged at his memory. For once, it seemed to come to his mind without any resistance. That was unusual, but hey, he wasn't complaining.
"You've missed something," he said. Larxene gave him a disbelieving look.
"As if," she dismissed confidently. "What could possibly go wrong?"
Axel pointed. "You remember our tall friend? The one right next to Marluxia, hand on his shoulder."
"Batman?"
"This might surprise you, but it's only a disguise." She gave him a humourless look. "Don't tell anyone," he added.
"Insufferable as ever."
"Try remember what you know about Xaldin," he said. "It just might throw your plans a little."
Larxene searched his face, eyebrow raised. Axel winked at her, making her grunt in annoyance. Still, she pulled out her cellphone and walked off a few paces to make a call. He hadn't been lying, after all. If he knew Xaldin, and... well he didn't really, but what he did remember about Xaldin was that he was a compulsive liar in the most literal sense. His lies worked like compulsion. He poisoned the mind effortlessly, and from the look of the wacked out smile on Marluxia's face, he had definitely been given an epic dose of Xaldin's tongue. In the, erm, non-sexual sense.
Before Axel could try eavesdropping on Larxene's conversation a man who could only have been Vexen walked up at the podium. He was, for some reason, dressed as a baker.
The scientist cleared his throat, leaned into the microphone, and paused. His eyes seemed to shine.
A frosty light suddenly erupted into sight around Vexen. Axel flinched, instinctively recognising what could only be his powers over ice. He expected panic from the crowd of people, or at least a few murmurs, but they were silent. They must not be able to see it, he realised. So what was the purpose of a light that most people were completely oblivious to?
And then he felt it. The very air around him seemed to shake, trembling violently, making him stumble. It was very much the air around him in particular that was shaking – everyone else was still looking at Vexen quietly. That was, except for Larxene. She had gasped, eyes going wide as she looked around her.
Then the icy mist around Vexen flowed out from him across the crowd, spreading out like a ripple in a bucket of water. It moved too fast for Axel even to think about dodging. The cold ripped through Axel, chilling him to the core. For a moment, he thought it hadn't done anything. Then a light bloomed around him; a brilliant red light.
It had been mere seconds, and the other party goers hadn't noticed a thing yet, but Vexen looked straight at Axel with a devilish grin. He'd been exposed!
When Vexen's gaze wandered elsewhere Axel noted that Larxene was glowing too, a brilliant yellow.
More than that, there were half a dozen other blazing glows scattered throughout the hall, not to mention a few among Xemnas' posse behind the podium. It was those people in particular that tipped him off. There was a light around Xaldin, Lexaeus, Larxene and himself... all organization members. For once, his chats with Luxord had paid off; the lights were shining around everyone that they had known in the past tife.
Vexen looked ecstatic. Axel felt sick. Whatever he had done, he had exposed them all.