There was Pandemonium in the Castle That Never Was, and naturally, Demyx was sleeping right through it. Not that he didn't exactly deserve it, he was still injured, and it had only been what amounted to a day and a half he'd had to heal. While Nobodies did heal quickly, this wound was taking a bit longer than it normally would have.
Axel came running into the room, grabbing the Nocturne roughly and shaking him. No effect. He tried again, this time shaking harder and yelled Demyx's name. Finally, he got a response as the blonde head slowly turned to the side from where it had been buried in the pillow, and a sea colored eye slowly opened to shoot Axel an annoyed look.
"We've got a problem, Nocturne! Come on! Get up! You've gotta go get Larxene and then ship out to Twilight Town!" the red haired man said. He reached down and grabbed Demyx's arm, pulling him towards the edge of the bed. Upon hearing Larxene's name, Demyx stopped resisting and actually started going along with it. "Alright, here's the coat, there's your shoes, you gotta go now!"
"Wha... what in the world is going on?" the water elemental finally managed to ask, still very groggy.
"Roxas ran away," the redhead replied matter-of-factly. There was a strange glimmer in his eyes that Demyx would've thought was strange if he'd been more awake. "And now the Superior is about ready to turn us all into Dusks if we don't get out and start looking."
Demyx trudged towards the bathroom, ignoring the fact Axel was trying to get him to get up and leave now.
"Fine... I'll leave the Superior's note on your bed for when you get done," Axel grumbled, throwing a note card on the bed. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go track down Luxord and Xigbar."
Demyx ignored him, closing the door to the bathroom behind him.
"... Dear Twilight he's a bastard in the morning... I wonder how she puts up with it," the pyro muttered, and with that, disappeared.
Several minutes and a nice hot shower later, Demyx reemerged, wearing naught but a towel tied about his waist and looking much more awake than he had previously. With a sigh, he gingerly picked up the note card with his left hand and looked it over. He rolled his eyes at the words.
"'We're in dire straights at this hour, Roxas has left. Search out and reclaim our lost number thirteen using any means necessary. Do not fail me,'" the water elemental read flatly, before laughing. "He must be having kittens up there for such a non-wordy mission objective as this." He looked over the rest of the note. "'Number nine, go search out number twelve from the world whose description is attached, then proceed to Twilight Town to search. Leave no stone unturned on pain of death.'" A sigh. "She's not gonna be happy about being interrupted from killing things to go on a wild goose chase..."
He dressed himself before opening a portal to whatever world it was Larxene was at, stepping through with a yawn.
Of course, stepping out of the portal and into knee-deep water was something he hadn't expected upon entering this world, especially considering he was obviously standing in the middle of a street. He took stock of his surroundings; tall buildings next to other tall buildings, stores built mostly into their ground floors, narrow streets, and...
... It had just started raining. Not a cloud in sight. It was dumping water from absolutely nowhere.
Sighing and shaking his head Demyx began making his way towards where he could hear the ocean. If there was ocean, there would probably be a pretty clear expanse with which to begin searching, of course that was provided the ocean hadn't completely swallowed it.
The rain stopped, causing the Nocturne to look up into the sky quizzically. Nope, not a cloud. As his gaze descended once more, a flash of black against a white building caught his attention. A slight smile played across his lips as he opened a portal, hoping it wasn't a random Heartless he had spotted.
The building was one of the tallest in the city, and the roof's gravel crunched under Demyx's boots as he stepped out of the dark mass, releasing a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding upon discovery that his hunch was right. Without a word, he approached the figure sitting on the edge of the building.
"There better be good reason for this interruption..." Larxene stated simply, bending over backwards rather than turning around to see whoever it was behind her. She smirked. "... Lover boy."
Demyx laughed, and approached her, settling down on the graveled rooftop and leaning on the upraised lip of the building. "How are you enjoying this tropical-"
"Nightmare?" She interrupted, then shrugged. "This place makes the World That Never Was seem pleasant... at least from my standpoint. It's too wet... and the whole place feels like something is trying to kill it."
"I thought the Heartless lost that ability when the original doors to Kingdom Hearts were sealed?" he asked.
Larxene shrugged again, before pointing up to some red figure streaking through the sky. "Tell that to whatever the hell is dropping meteors on this place."
Demyx watched in fascination as the meteor disappeared just over the horizon. The building shook with the impact of the meteor into the ocean.
"Now all we have to do is wait for another tidal wave to come along and..." she shook her head. "It's been pretty regular, like once every seven hours or so. The city's starting to flood."
"I noticed," Demyx replied flatly. He was glad leather didn't readily absorb water and that his boots were water tight. "What do you think is doing it?"
"No idea. I would say it's some randomly powerful Heartless, but... it seems too methodical for one of those scatterbrained little things. The next assumption would naturally be a powerful Nobody but... I can't feel one over there, and none of us have that power. The only other thing I could say is that this world has completely crappy luck. Either that or... there's some lunatic out there with some pretty magical, glowing stone trying to exact nonspecific revenge on a nonspecific group of people," Larxene explained. "Anyway, what brings you out here to sunny... uh... this place?"
Instead of replying, the water elemental fished around in his pocket and pulled out the note card Axel had left him, handing it to his female companion. Curious, she took it and read it over. It didn't take long before the laughing began.
"Oh dear... ha ha! The little brat finally grew a pair and went after his heart. Took him long enough..." the Nymph chuckled, shaking her head.
"Yeah, well... the Superior's having kittens and puppies and probably elephants over this whole thing," Demyx grumbled.
Larxene rolled her eyes. "You know, Roxas could only be in one of like four million places in this universe, and that's not counting the Twilight worlds." She tossed the note card off the side of the building, watching it drift away on a light breeze, when something caught her eye. She stood up quickly, nearly tripping over Demyx on the way. "Well... that wave is certainly bigger than the others..."
The Nocturne blinked and turned towards the rising mass just off-shore. They were standing on easily a fifteen story building, and yet this wave dwarfed even that. He stood up as well, backing away from the large mass of water even though it was futile. "They get smaller as they come farther up on shore..."
"Right, tell that to the wave."
"I'm trying..."
"Twilight Town?" Larxene offered, quickly opening a portal. She didn't give Demyx time to respond before she shoved him into the portal and jumped in as well. The building was overtaken by the tsunami just as the portal closed.
-
Twilight Town was calm as it usually was, the perpetual sunset giving everything its usual soft, golden glow.
Of course, while an average visitor to the town might think it just a quaint, sleepy little place, the Nobodies that had left the town had a different perspective.
"I take it back..." Larxene grumbled, running a hand through her hair and trying to keep it slicked back. "I didn't hate that other world, I hate this one. I'd rather spend all day soaked in warm rain than be here..."
Demyx just smiled weakly. "It is somewhat disconcerting when it perpetually sounds like there's something crying in the back of your mind."
"It's even more disconcerting when you know what that something is. This place is so melancholy..."
"Only to those of us who left. None of the citizens, human or otherwise can hear it. It'll go away eventually."
"I hope so... it gives me the chills..." Larxene shook her head and began heading down the hill towards the sand lot. "Well... if we're going to look for Roxas, we should probably split up. There's quite a bit of ground to cover here."
"I don't think so," Demyx replied, keeping pace with her. "Xemnas never gave us a time limit as to when we had to be back... so what's the point in rushing it? Besides, I'd also like to ask what the probability would be of Roxas being here of all places. This is right under the Organization's noses."
"We're smelling impaired without Zexion?" the lightning elemental offered with a shrug, but she was smiling. They walked together for a few more moments in silence before Larxene stopped, nearly causing Demyx to run into her.
"Something the matter?" he asked, blinking.
"We're under a lot of scrutiny," she whispered back.
"We are wearing all black, people tend to be afraid of people dressed like us... and if this is going to be your excuse to do something like shop, please count me out," Demyx shook his head.
"Why's that?"
"You're a girl." The water elemental was rewarded by a sharp blow to his shoulder that caused him to hiss in pain and grab not his shoulder, but his chest.
Larxene raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh come on, I didn't hit you that hard."
"No, no... I got shot the other day," Demyx laughed weakly in response.
Both of the Nymph's thin blond eyebrows raised at that. "Shot?"
"Yep! Right through the heart," he proclaimed proudly, lightly tapping the air just above his chest.
Larxene smirked. "Well why aren't you dead yet?"
"I have more important things to do," the water elemental responded. He tried for a shrug, but got more of an awkward one-shouldered tilt.
Rolling her eyes once more the lightning elemental turned to face her companion, and before he could figure out why, she gently nuzzled his chest, the barest contact of her nose and lips over the wounded area through his coat. "I suppose I have to kiss it and make it feel better... you big baby..."
Demyx shivered at the feeling of her hot breath seeping through the leather, taking a moment to clear his voice and respond. "Me? No, you've got it wrong. Have I ever told you the story of Saix and the bumblebee?"
Larxene backed up, eyebrow raised, and Demyx took the opportunity to lightly place his hand in hers. When she didn't protest and in fact returned the gesture, he began walking again. "Well, see, I was out on a mission with him... my first one in fact..."
-
The next few hours were spent with the two of them doing more wandering around and talking to each other than actually searching for their missing comrade. In fact, by the time the sun had dipped low enough to make the sky a rich purplish-blue- the closest Twilight Town ever got to actual night- the two found themselves on top of the place some residents called 'Sunset Hill'.
"Feh, why doesn't this place actually have a night time?" Larxene grumbled.
"It wouldn't be Twilight Town if it did?" Demyx chuckled. He turned his head slightly so his lips could brush her neck. There was no embrace between the two of them, he had his hands crossed behind his back. Instead, he was resting his chin on her shoulder and simply letting that be the only contact between the two.
Another comfortable silence descended between them, but this time it was interrupted by Larxene laughing.
"You know... you're really going to have to remind me to rip Saix when we get back..." she said, tilting her head slightly to expose more neck to him.
"Ah, but then he'll know who it was that told you. See, he made Zexion and I swear never to tell anyone about that... 'or else'," he responded with a short laugh. Larxene slowly turned around, smirking cattily at the musician.
"Well, then I'll just have to remind myself," she didn't give him any opportunity to protest before their lips met. The position was much the same as earlier, with only the one point of contact, even though Demyx's arms practically itched with the need to pull her close to him. No, if he did that, he'd lose the game.
"Hey."
The voice was flat, tinged with anger. The two Nobodies broke the kiss, Demyx only barely turning around and Larxene moving just enough that she could see over his shoulder, face set with a deep scowl. On the other end of the small hilltop stood three... kids.
"There'll be no necking in my town," the one standing in the center said.
"Your town?" Larxene challenged, quickly losing her short temper. She walked around Demyx "Since when has this town belonged to some shrimpy little kid?"
The kid scoffed, and all three of them laughed. "Since I've lived here, got it?"
Larxene gave them all a very, very flat look. "Excellent reason. Isn't it past your curfew little boy?"
"I could ask the same of you," he buffed. "Now stop making trouble or I'll kick you out of my town."
"I don't have a curfew... I'm an adult," the blond woman ground out. Demyx backed up until he could feel the fence behind him.
"Could've fooled me," the smart-aleck said, adjusting his beanie until it revealed more of the scar across his forehead.
"Yeah, Seifer rules this town, yanno?" the taller, bulkier of the three kids said. He didn't sound too bright.
Larxene's expression fell to flat again. "... of course he does."
"You don't believe me? Then let's go! Game on old lady!" The kid challenged, pulling some weird bat-shaped thing from behind his back.
"FIGHT!" the female of the three kids said.
The Nymph forced a grin, even as her eyebrow twitched. "Old... lad...y... my you're a charming boy, I bet the girls fawn all over you..."
Demyx backed farther into the fence. This could get very nasty, very quickly.
"And what's with the guy over there? Cowering against the fence? Hiding behind your girlfriend?" Seifer taunted, swinging his bat around.
"Uh, no. I just know she could take all three of you on by herself," Demyx replied calmly, even as he made ready to jump the fence.
"Jeesh! And what the heck's wrong with your voice? Are you sick or something?" the kid asked, scratching the side of his head.
"Wha?" was all Demyx could come up with as a response.
"You sound like you've gotta sinus infection, yanno?" the not-too-bright one of the group explained.
The Nocturne slapped a hand to his face, shaking his head.
The air sparked and electricity jumped from place to place around Larxene.
"Oh, I guess the old bag really does want to fight," Seifer grinned.
The lightning elemental twitched. "Little boy, I hope you realize I don't play games with kid gloves on."
"Good, I don't want you to!" he responded, and charged. The next thing he knew, he was laying flat on his back, watching little dots of light dance around his vision. He sat up, and was immediately assaulted with a sharp pain from his nose. He immediately clutched it and made a small noise of pain.
"I told you kid, I don't play at fighting," Larxene said as she stared down at him, arms crossed.
"I'll... get... you..." Seifer growled.
"Good! Get angry! I need to kick something's ass!" the blond woman jeered.
Seifer charged her again, and again he was laid out from a single, quick blow.
"Come on, Fuu! We need to help him, yanno?" the punk's dimwitted friend said, and the two jumped into the foray. Well, they tried to jump into the foray, and might have succeeded if Demyx hadn't taken the opportunity to step in their way.
"I'm sorry kids, but three on one is hardly fair... besides... you don't want to get fried. She's a viciously tempered master of lightning magic," the Nocturne explained.
"HELP!"
Demyx turned around, and once again his hand met his face.
Larxene had Seifer by the ankles, and was dangling him over the train tracks.
"Larxene! I think he gets the point!" the water elemental called to her. She ignored him.
"Call me old again! I dare you, little punk!" She snarled viciously, shaking him with every word. "I am going to shove that stupid bat so far up your ass you'll be puking Styrofoam until Christmas!"
"Let me up! Help me! She's freaking crazy!" Seifer called, struggling to try and get free.
Demyx sighed, walking over to the raging Nymph. He gently wrapped his fingers around her bony wrists whispering softly in her ear, "let him go, Larxene. He only says you're old because he's a little kid. You're still young and beautiful to me." She relaxed in his grip slightly. "Let's get him back over the fence and he'll go home..."
"I hate you..." Larxene grumbled back. "I'm trying to be angry here, and you're ruining it." She grunted as they both pulled the kid back over the fence, dropping him unceremoniously on the ground. "Now get out of here..."
Seifer glared at her, but led his friends away from the hill.
Demyx sighed and relaxed, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin back on her shoulder. "Now where were we?"
Larxene 'humphed' and spoke, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "I like how you can just keep your temper so well..."
"One of us has to."
The Savage Nymph was quiet for a long while afterwards.
---
A/N: It's out!
It's long!
It's got Seifer calling Larxene old because the Repliku never got a chance to! (and I like picking on her sometimes!)
Read and Review, loyal viewers!