Chapter 8: The Savage Nymph
POUND POUND POUND
"Get up you dope!" yelled a loud voice from outside the door.
Xion gave a yelp and rolled off her bed, landing on the floor with a thud. "Oww."
"Our mission starts in five minutes, be ready or you're getting left behind," came in Larxene's voice.
"I'm up I'm up!" shouted Xion, rising to her feet and rushing to the door.
She opened it, saw Larxene was already walking away, and ran to catch up to her. "Umm, good morning!"
Larxene glanced back at her and scowled. "What's so good about it?"
Well, if THAT wasn't a phrase she was familiar with. Larxene and the Voice had a lot in common.
We do not!
"Good morning miss Voice," said Xion.
What's so good about... er...
Xion had a wide grin on her face. "You see? You both wake up grumpy, and love to yell at me for some reason."
...
Xion refocused on Larxene. "Well, it's a new day to enjoy."
"Pff, if you say so, same boring garbage as every other day," said Larxene dryly.
"Boring?" Xion inquired, "What's our mission?"
"Mission(s), plural," said Larxene, "Saix doesn't have two people on only one mission unless it's with someones whose brand new."
"I'm kind of new," said Xion.
"Which is the only reason he allowed it, or so I hear," said Larxene, "Anyway, listin up, we've got two tasks. Our first one is recon on one of the newly restored worlds, second is Heartless mop up."
"Newly restored worlds?" questioned Xion.
Larxene shrugged. "After the heartless psycho was killed, all the worlds she ate were restored along with a lot of their people. Thankfully, I wasn't restored to my original self."
Xion gave her a confused look. "Why wouldn't you want to have your heart back and be whole?"
Larxene gave her a look of disdain. "You're just a stupid kid, you wouldn't know anything about the hell, the pain, a heart can put you through. I'd rather not have it back, it's much better this way."
Xion frowned, but said nothing, not sure she really understood.
She's right that the heart can be filled with pain, but, it can be filled with so much more than just that. Hope, happiness, wonder, and more...
Xion nodded a bit to that, absorbing the information. "So... what's this world were doing recon on?"
"Eh, some dump called Halloween Town I think," said Larxene, "If it's anything like that holiday back home, I'm going to have a stroke. I don't think I can handle little kids screaming at me for candy without putting a knife in them."
Okay... someones a 'little' psycho...
Larxene aimed a hand forward and made a Dark Corridor. "Move it stupid."
Where they came out to gave Xion pause. It was dark, spooky, and had creepy pumpkins everywhere. They were in a fenced off area near an odd kind of curly looking hill. Alongside the outskirts of the stone fence were gravestones. Off in the distance were dead looking trees. The very ground beneath their feet had not an ounce of grass or green anywhere. She shivered and drew close to Larxene, clinging to her arm.
"What. Are you doing?" said Larxene, glaring down at her.
"T-this place is s-scary," stammered Xion.
Larxene shook her off. "Pff, of all the emotions to fake, you choose fear? You're all kinds of stupid, aren't you?"
Larxene started off and exited their current area. Xion scrambled to stay close to her. They came to a crossroads, one leading towards the woods, one leading towards the a spooky town.
"Try not to get us spotted," said Larxene dryly as she made for the town.
Xion nodded, skittishly looking around as she followed Larxene in. They stuck close to the walls of buildings, and hid behind fences as they came to the square. There was a glowing green fountain. A rusty looking guillotine. The town was paved with dark grayish brick. The buildings were unnatural looking, leaning this way and that, some even had oddly shaped holes that made them look like gaping maws filled with teeth. This place gave her the creeps...
"Oh, where could he be?" came a distressed voice.
Larxene and Xion froze before ducking down behind a fence. They snuck a peak above and around the fence, sighting a very weird patchwork women. She had stitches all over her body, like she was sown together. Deathly pale, brown hair, huge eyes, and clothing as patchwork as her body was, tons of different clothes sown together.
"Oh Jack, why weren't you here when I woke?" the woman said sadly, "Me and Zero have looked all over ever since we woke up from that long sleep... are you trying not to be found? Did we do something wrong? Or are you... gone?"
The woman shook her head and sighed. "At least Oogie Boogie is gone as well. If you aren't here Jack, and he was, I don't know how we could have handled him..."
She walked towards a large tower like building, heading inside. "I suppose I'll check with the professor.
Xion, for a moment, forgot about her fear of this place. "She seemed... really sad."
"That, right there, is perfectly good reason why you shouldn't want a heart," muttered Larxene.
"I dunno," said Xion, "She seemed to really care about this 'Jack' guy."
"Yeah, and now he's gone and she's hurt, some good the heart is," spat Larxene.
Larxene fished out a pad of paper and a pen from her pocket and began writing. "Kay so, new world has two missing people. 'Jack' and a 'Oogie Boogie', I'll hand the names over to the repository and have them file through the list of Nobodies when we get back."
"Repository?" asked Xion.
Larxene rolled her eyes. "Do you KNOW how many Nobodies there are in the World That Never Was? We have an entire office and a team of Nobodies dedicated to keeping track and records of all of us. Chances are these two are probably Nobodies. If you paid attention, you dope, you'd have noticed how Miss Stitches suggested that 'Jack' and 'Oogie Boogie' fight one another. Fighting means power, power means a potentially strong will, and if someone with a strong will lost their heart, they leave a Nobody."
"It also means that we can dump this world on those two to watch from now on if they are Nobodies," said Larxene dryly, "Less I have to come to this run down dusty creepy ass dump the better."
"I'll agree to that," muttered Xion, glancing fearfully at the Guillotine in the square.
It's not that bad.
"Yeah right," said Xion back to the Voice, "This place is sending chills down my spine."
Pansy.
Xion pouted a little before glancing at Larxene. "So... what exactly, or who, are we reconing on?"
Larxene rolled her eyes. "We're just doing an initial pass and taking down note on anything potentially important."
She pointed at the tower and then held up a finger. "A place like that seems important, only building like it here. Not to mention Miss Stitches said something about a Professor. It bears future investigation by whoever comes after us."
"We overheard her talking about those two people," said Larxene, holding up a second finger.
She glanced around. "Hrm... we ought to at least find some third important thing, otherwise Saix will probably bitch at us and..."
POOF!
Xion and Larxene coughed and gagged as a bag of dirt and dust was dumped on them. "Trick or Treat!"
They whirled to see three kids, one dressed as a devil, one dressed as a witch, and one dressed as a skeleton boy, sitting in a tub, all three laughing at them.
"You little shits!" yelled Larxene, drawing knives out of her coat.
"Run away!" cried out the kids with glee, their tubs bucking up like a horse and charging off.
"Get back here!" yelled Larxene, chucking a knife coated with lightning at them.
Xion dusted herself off and watched, feeling a little amused, as Larxene chased after them, pissed. "Guess we didn't do a good job of not being seen."
She started walking after them, a soft smile on her face. She caught up with Larxene at the bottom of a spooky tree house. The woman was glaring up at the three kids who were sticking their tongues out at her and making faces.
"I swear I'm going to skin you three alive!" yelled Larxene.
"That sounds like fun!" teased one of the kids.
Larxene blanked for a moment. "Okay... those kids are officially as psycho as that Heartless."
Or as 'psycho' as she is.
"Whatever, third thing is these little troublemakers live here, good enough for me, let's split," said Larxene, opening a dark corridor and slipping through.
Xion had to scramble to get through before it closed. The world she came out to next was... familiar to her for some reason. They looked to be out in the wilderness somewhere. To their south was a ruined town that looked to be in the process of being rebuilt. To the north was a pathway towards a dark and scary looking wood. To the east was a path leading to a church, she could feel light emanating from the very air in that direction.
"Where... are we?" whispered Xion.
"Lorda-something, I don't really know or care," said Larxene, "Last I knew this world was loaded with Heartless, let's get to killin."
Lordaeran, and it might not have as much Heartless as she think it did anymore.
"What's that mean?" asked Xion.
There... was one heck of a fight here.
For a moment, Xion grew dizzy, a bit of pain starting to form in her chest. She braced herself for another memory...
Oh no you don't!
She winced as there was a sharp pain, and then the pain and the dizziness was gone.
"What the heck are you waiting for, idiot? Let's get a move on!" ordered Larxene from a ways ahead of her.
Xion shook her head and took off after her, confused by the lack of memory following the pain. She wasn't going to complain, but... it was odd. Did... the Voice have something to do with it not happening this time? She vaguely recalled something similar happening in Twilight Town when she first saw Aqua.
"Miss Voice?" questioned Xion.
WARP
Xion looked up, startled, as Heartless began appearing ahead in puffs of dark energy.
Pay attention, and TRY not to get us killed.
Xion's eyes furrowed. "What do you mean by us?"
She had little time to think as Larxene drew her knives and charged, an almost maniacal laughter escaping her lips and a equally disturbing grin on her face. "Die you little bastards!"
Xion was momentarily taken aback by Larxene's viciousness before she summoned her Keyblade and joined the fight. She was... a bit offput, by how much hate appeared on the woman's face. For someone who preached about it being better to not have a heart, she sure showed a lot of rage towards the Heartless. Xion shook her head and refocused, swinging her Keyblade in wide arcs as more and more of lesser Heartless started to appear and swarm towards them.
I remember when it used to be swarms of empowered Neoshadows and other strong Heartless in the Eastern Shadowlands, rather than just masses of regular shadows and some emblems. It's... good to see Lordaeran's recovering.
She took the liberty this time, since she hadn't last time she had been fighting Heartless, to pick up the munny they dropped. She had to fund her ice-cream visits somehow after all. She couldn't keep mooching off of Axel forever. She paused briefly when she noticed something odd all of the sudden. Despite her anger, Larxene hadn't killed a single Heartless, she damaged them, beat them into the ground, or fried them with lightning, but didn't kill them.
"Hey! Stupid, what are you waiting for?" demanded Larxene, "Kill the leftover's already!"
"Why aren't you?" asked Xion.
"Idiot, are you just stupid or did no one tell you about the Keyblade freeing hearts for Kingdom Hearts?" rebuked Larxene, "I don't care about getting my heart back, but like hell am I having Saix yell at me for taking your kills."
Oh, right.
Xion found herself having to scramble to keep up with Larxene, tapping Heartless as she went to finish them off. For a time, nothing but Larxene's empty laughter, the slicing of blades, the sound of lightning, and the shambling of Heartless was heard. Occasionally, Larxene would yell at her to hurry it up, but, otherwise didn't speak... it was kind of offputting.
Xion tried to start up a conversation as they worked. "So... you're really good with lightning magic."
"No shit stupid," replied Larxene, "And your not even half as good as some of the Keybearer's I've watched before, put some effort into it or were going to be here all day!"
Xion's face fell. She really just wanted to have a nice conversation with her comrade, why was she so mean? The Voice was one thing, but it was starting to look like Larxene lived only to be rude.
Some people just have a stick up their butt all the time.
Xion glanced at Larxene's butt. "Umm... I don't think she does...?"
By the light... that was a phrase. She is right, you ARE a dope.
"Don't you start on that too!" whined Xion.
Dope dope dope dope dope.
Xion couldn't help but groan aloud.
"What are you bitching about?" said Larxene, "I'm the one doing all the work while you're just hanging back having a good time. Lazy little brat."
Between the Voice and Larxene, Xion was about ready to have a stroke.
"Why the hell do I get stuck with stupid missions like this?" muttered Larxene so quietly Xion almost missed it, she sounded frustrated and bored, "I can't even kill these damn things without Saix screaming at me to leave them for the idiot."
Xion found herself puzzled by her comrade. She just seemed to be bored, angry, frustrated, and tense all the time, ever since they had left for their missions. Heck, even back when she first met her in the throne room, and even a bit in Marluxia's room. She wondered what had Larxene so pent up like this. She wondered if there was a way she could make her happy instead of being angry. She mulled it over for awhile, until Larxene called the mission.
"Alright stupid, you can put away your Keyblade," said Larxene, "That's more than enough, I'm outa this dump."
Larxene aimed a hand forward and started to make a Dark Corridor.
"Hey, Larxene, wait a second," said Xion.
Larxene paused and turned to glare at her. "What is it? The faster I'm out of this dump, and away from you, the better."
Xion flinched a little at the biting words but forced them away. She didn't want things to stay like this...
"Umm... why exactly don't you want your heart back?" Xion asked.
Larxene crossed her arms, a foul look on her face. "I told you, the thing just isn't worth the effort, to much of a hassle and a pain."
Xion thought briefly, back to the Voice's words. "But... isn't there more to a Heart than just pain? Like being happy?"
Larxene scoffed. "Happy? Yeah right. I ain't had a happy day in my life since I was a brat younger than you, and even on a good day, the world just has a habit of bending you over and taking everything from you."
She pulled out a knife to play with, a wicked grin on her face. "It's so much better to make the heart of other's hurt, than have one and be hurt by it. Trust me kid, you'll 'love' it the first time you get to mess with a somebody. The heart..."
She faltered for a moment before growing bitter. "The heart only exists to give you hope and happiness, and then have it all taken away. We're all losers, especially if you have a heart."
Xion bit her lower lip at that. To her... it didn't sound like Larxene had a nice life before becoming a Nobody, and lashed out at everyone she could. Xion put a hand in her coat pocket, fingering her winner ice-cream stick. She had wanted to save it for herself on a bad day, or for Axel if he was having one... but... she hesitated for a moment longer before taking it out and offering it to Larxene.
"Well, maybe I can make you a winner for once then?" she offered meekly.
Larxene stared at her, a confused look on her face. "A stick. You're offering me. A stick?"
"It's a winner stick!" explained Xion, "You can get free ice-cream in Twilight Town with one."
Larxene stared at it for a moment, looking even more confused. "Let me get this straight. You're giving up FREE ice-cream and letting me have it?"
Xion nodded and gave her a warm smile. "I thought you could use it."
Larxene scowled at her and pocketed both her knife and the stick. "Whatever. Doesn't mean shit, but like hell am I passing up free ice-cream."
Larxene turned and opened a Dark Corridor, stepping through, and Xion followed after her, coming out in Twilight Town. "I recommend Sea Salt Ice-Cream!"
Larxene glanced back at her. "That flavor sounds stupid."
"It's really good! Me and Axel love it!" said Xion.
Larxene looked contemplative. "Axel huh?"
She shrugged. "Eh, why not. If it sucks I'm shoving it in your hair, and good luck getting ice-cream out of that mess."
Xion only grinned playfully at the teasing. "So, you know Axel?"
Larxene shrugged. "He was the one who discovered me and took me to the Organization awhile ago."
She scowled intensely. "Fricken guy, asked him how I looked in an Organization Cloak and he didn't have anything good to say."
That wasn't like the Axel she knew. "Well, I think you look pretty in the cloak."
Larxene shook her a confused look, before facing forward and crossing her arms. "Hmph, whatever."
"So, what did Axel say?" asked Xion.
"Nothing. I thought he thought I was unappealing, but he just said my presence was 'nothing'," spat Larxene, "Men."
"Well, I don't think you're nothing, your super feisty," said Xion teasingly.
There was a hint of a smirk at that. "Damn right I am."
They walked into the ice-cream shop and got their ice-cream. Xion was a bit sad to see the winner stick go, but, that hint of a smile on Larxene's face was worth it. She bought her own with the munny she got from the Heartless, and left with Larxene afterwords.
"Alright, back to my room, and ice-cream time," said Larxene.
"Nope! Ice-cream goes best with a view," said Xion, grabbing Larxene's arm and tugging her along.
"H-hey! Watch it stupid, you almost made me drop my ice-cream!" scolded Larxene.
Xion only grinned back at her and dragged her along. She led her up to the clock tower and sat down.
"Let me get this straight. You buy ice-cream, and come eat at the top of a clock tower with it?" asked Larxene, baffled.
"Ahuh, after every mission, I come up here and look out over the town at the sun, it's a pretty view," said Xion.
Larxene sat down. "I guess..."
She opened her ice-cream and glanced at it. "Alright, I got your stupid Sea Salt Ice-Cream. This BETTER be as good as chocolate fudge or I'm shoving you off the clock-tower."
Xion leaned forward and watched the woman take a bite of it. "Well?"
Larxene stared down at it silently for a moment. "It's not bad, I guess."
Xion giggled when Larxene started chowing down. "Not bad she says."
"Oh shove it and eat your own," said Larxene between bites.
"Tee hee," said Xion before unwrapping her own.
She took quick glances at Larxene as she ate. The woman had already finished, and was staring out at the sunset city silently. The boredom and anger usually on her face was gone. There wasn't happiness or a smile unfortunately, she just seemed... passive, contemplative.
Larxene caught her looking. "What are you looking at?"
"Oh, um... just seeing if you've relaxed," said Xion.
Larxene's eyebrows furrowed. "Relaxed?"
"Yeah, you seemed stressed out and angry, I thought you could use some relaxation and ice-cream to make you happy," said Xion.
Larxene looked lost for a moment before scowling. "Kid, we can't GET happy. We're Nobodies, we can't feel. Why do you even pretend to care?"
"Do I need a reason to care about a comrade?" Xion defended.
"YES!" Larxene shouted at her, frustration showing again.
"You have to have some angle for doing this. Nobodies DON'T care about one another. We use one another for our own goals, that's it," said Larxene bitingly.
She ground her teeth. "I'm not dumb. I know Marluxia is using me for his own ends with his stupid rebellion thing, he wouldn't bat an eyelash if I dropped dead in front of him."
She looked down. "No one would."
"I would," said Xion, "Even with how mean you've been to me."
Larxene stared at her. "I... don't get you. Why are you doing this? What's your real reason? It's starting to bug the hell out of me, what's your angle?"
"You just seem so angry all the time, I just want you to be happy," said Xion, a bit of sadness showing on her face, "I'd like you to be my friend."
Larxene went silent and looked out over the town, muttering to herself, "Stupid kid..."
Kind of agree, being a Nobody aside, if that how she was before then she's a lost cause.
Xion looked down and clenched her fists. "No, she's not. I could walk away, and let her go on being so mean and angry, or, I could try to take the time to get to know her and make her happy. I wanna put a real smile on that seriously grouchy face of hers."
I... don't get you...
"Apparently that's another thing you and Larxene have in common then," said Xion.
"Well, whatever, ice-creams done," said Larxene quietly, standing up.
The woman opened a corridor and took two steps towards it before pausing, a conflicted frown on her face. "Kid..."
She hesitated briefly before glancing back. "You ain't to bad, I guess..."
Before Xion could say anything the woman walked through the Dark Corridor and was gone. Xion smiled a little to herself and glanced down at her ice-cream stick. It wasn't a winner, but...
"Giving mine up was still worth it," said Xion happily, staring out over Twilight Town...
Author's Notes:
The Axel/Larxene thing was something from the KH Novels that I chose to carry over to this. I'm going a bit of a 'different' route with Larxene in this. :D