Just as promised, the members of the Organization were allowed to have the entire rest of the day off, however by the next morning, Xigbar was in the room, gently shaking Larxene into waking.
"Come on," He muttered. "Superior has a mission for you."
She grumbled, but slowly sat up, only to be nearly tackled back into the bed by Demyx.
"Does she have to go so soon?" the younger man complained, his voice thick, speech almost slurred. "We just got to sleep."
Xigbar laughed. "Sorry man, but Xemnas wants her. You can go back to sleep, Twilight knows I don't need you chewing me out 'cuz you're not a morning person and I just woke you up to steal your blanket warmer." He averted his gaze quickly as Larxene escaped Demyx and fully stood up, wearing very little. "He said be in his office in half an hour, so... yeah. See ya there." He turned away and teleported out.
Larxene sighed and trudged towards the bathroom, leaving Demyx alone to his thoughts. He slung his arm over his face, shielding his eyes from the tiny amount of light leaking into the room from 'Kingdom Hearts' looming outside. He couldn't help it, something was making him feel an overwhelming sense of dread, one of the few things he'd found one didn't need a heart to feel. Everything felt too much like it was careening into a conclusion, and he himself was almost scared of what that conclusion might be.
Sighing softly, he removed himself from his bed, just as he heard the shower in his bathroom switch on. He wouldn't be able to sleep now that his mind was racing, drawing horrible conclusions to whatever fate had in store for Larxene and him. Almost silently, he padded to the bathroom, easing the door open quietly. He knew sneaking in might end with him getting a bottle of shampoo to the face- he'd learned that lesson once before- but he didn't trust himself to be able to speak. As quietly as he entered, he seated himself on the lid of the toilet, content to watch the blurry silhouette through the shower door for as long as possible, until she turned about and noticed him sitting there, bathing in the soothing steam. It was a few moments coming, and he knew she'd seen him long before she spoke, but something stopped her.
Finally, words drifted from the shower, and for a moment Demyx thought maybe it was just the water murmuring he'd heard. "Demyx?"
He blinked as though from a trance as the shower door slid open, raising his eyebrow when no personal hygiene containers came hurtling at him. Larxene's head peeked out from within the misty confines of the tub, blonde hair turned a deep gold, almost brown color by the water, plastered to her skull, but loose at the edges. For a moment he found himself wondering if Lucidia looked anything like that.
As though hearing his first unspoken question, she smirked. "You're the only one who could come strolling in here in your underwear. If you'd been wearing your coat, you might also be wearing half a liter of conditioner as well."
The Nocturne tried to force a laugh, but it wouldn't come, strangling itself to a halt against the lump in his throat. The smile, however, did manage to alight on his features.
Larxene rolled her eyes, then retreated back into the shower, leaving the door open. "Come here, Demyx."
He blinked in surprise, unsure of what she meant. Evidently, his decision took too long, for a moment she reappeared, pushing the door open all the way and leaning an arm on it, her other hand on her hip. "Get in here, water-boy."
Slowly, the water elementalist stood up, shedding the last of his clothing, and quietly stepped into the scalding spray of water. He'd never understood why she liked her showers so hot- and she'd told him he liked his too cold. But he ignored it for the moment as she slid the doors shut and stepped up to him, hands alighting softly on his jaw. He remained with his gaze averted.
"What's the matter, Demyx?"
He opened his mouth several times to answer, but no sound was forthcoming. He paused then, and sighed, his shoulders slumping. "I... don't know. I just can't help but... feeling... like..." His sea green eyes squeezed shut, biting his lip.
The hands on his jaw slid up until they had a hold on both sides of his head, the thumb on her right hand gently stroking the side of his face. Larxene's voice was sedated when she spoke, almost as if she could understand what he was trying to say without hearing it. But she wanted the full answer out of him, he could tell by the way her fingers pressed a little too hard into his scalp. "What is it?"
"I keep feeling like we're crashing into the end."
The hands' pressure released suddenly, and Larxene dropped her arms to her side. It was her turn to avoid his gaze. Finally she sighed, and stretched her arms up above her head. "Demyx, we're Nobodies. It's our fate to wander after our hearts until we either find them or we fade from what little existence we have." She returned to look at him, and finally their gazes met, forcing the lightning elemental's brows up a scant inch. She'd never seen anyone look so... lost.
Another sigh, and she stepped forward, pushing him back under the steaming stream of liquid. Without a word, she reached around him and twisted one of the knobs until the water became significantly cooler, before reaching up and clasping her hands around his neck.
"Don't worry about it so much, Nocturne. Feel the water surrounding you..." she slid her arms around his neck, stepping forward until they pressed against each other, resting her head lightly on his shoulder. "Hear the spark of life... and know everything will be well."
Demyx closed his eyes, the brief wonder of where such a saying had come from flickering across his mind before he finally decided to just do what she told him to. It was one of the strangest things he'd ever felt before in either of his lives, and at the same time one of the most calming, his worry washing away with the cascading water.
-
It was only twenty minutes later Larxene arrived in Xemnas' office, her hair still damp and clinging to her skull. He regarded her for a moment, his pen pausing over whatever piece of oh-so-important paperwork he'd been working on, then motioned for her to have a seat. The pen returned to the paper.
The Nymph rolled her eyes and plopped down noisily in the seat, crossing her arms and waiting for the Superior to stop acting like making her wait would lead to her being worried. She'd long since outgrown this childish game of his.
Finally, it seemed as though whatever incredibly pressing document he'd been scrawling all over was finished, and he neatly laid it on a stack of other newspaper before regarding her fully.
"Larxene," he began, and slowly stood from his desk, quietly walking towards the window and looking out of it at Kingdom Hearts. "As much as it... troubles me to say this, the Organization is in... need of some more help."
"Well obviously. We're down to six people now."
Xemnas ignored her, pausing for only a moment before continuing. "We've found a promising specimen in a world not far from Twilight Town, a beastly creature, but one I believe may have a strong enough heart to join our ranks... and maybe enough humanity."
"So, another snatch and run mission?" she asked boredly, fingers lightly stroking the two long bangs that now barely perked above her head, still weighted with water.
Xemnas shook his head. "Not quite. We believe he may have a strong enough heart. I want you to go down and test him. Stir within him the kinds of emotions that will make him a powerful Nobody." He turned back to the desk, opening one of the drawers and extracting a half sheet of paper. He offered it to the female across the desk, and she leaned forward to take it without a word. "The paper has the rest of the information you need. You are dismissed."
A grunt of confirmation, and Larxene stood up, heading for the door. Just as she reached it, Xemnas' voice interrupted her.
"One thing, strictly off the record. Tell me... why Demyx?"
Her hand froze in midair for a moment as her mind set into motion. It was a very good question, in fact, and she realized she didn't actually have a satisfactory answer for Xemnas. By her reasoning, she should probably still hate him vehemently. His time was spent split between a goofy moron and a pompous asshole, neither of which she found to be appealing character traits. He hardly argued with her, quietly and easily settling himself into the more passive role in the relationship; something that both seemed to go against his own character and should have irked her- she liked it when they fought back so much more. Not to mention their very elements were completely opposite, there were no two other elements in the world she'd found that were more evenly or violently opposed; there was no other element in the world that could make her own power turn against her. It was then the answer came to her, escaping her lips on the tail end of a soft chuckle at just how simple and obvious it had been all along: "Why not?"
Xemnas said nothing in reply, and she waited a moment to be sure he would say no more before leaving on her assignment.
-
The world was, quite appropriately, dark and dreary, a perpetual gloom settled into every tiny crevasse in the old, stone walls. Frankly, Larxene wondered why the place wasn't some paradise for Heartless, they should be crawling all over the decrepit grounds of the gothic castle.
She stepped forward, through the courtyard, eyes darting from side to side to watch for any signs of danger, but nothing was forthcoming. Everything stayed eerily quiet. A crow cawing grabbed her attention and she paused briefly to look in its direction, finding the bird perched upon one of the twisted and grotesque gargoyle statues ringing the central path. She continued watching it for a moment as it preened its deep black feathers, then as it flew off once its task was accomplished. Movement in her peripheral vision caught her attention this time, and she found herself staring at the statue. Had it just... moved?
She cocked an eyebrow and studied it harder. Ah, it probably had moved- the amount of darkness radiating from it indicated it probably wasn't a statue at all.
"I see the trick here..."
A roar shattered the thick silence pervading the world, and Larxene's attention was immediately pulled back to the castle. The lord castellan was home, and if the roar was any indication, in a foul mood.
Then again, she thought, pulling the paper from her pocket and letting her eyes graze over the disgusting visage printed there. If I looked like that, I would be pretty pissed at everything, too.
She waved her hand and a trio of Dusks appeared, forming a semi-circle behind her. She nodded at the castle, instructing them to scout the place out and discover what they could about the inhabitants. Normally, she didn't rely on the lesser Nobodies for anything, she liked to do her own dirty work, but for an instance like this she figured it would be better to send in the Dusks and figure out just how powerful the beastly master was.
While the Dusks were on assignment, Larxene took the opportunity to teleport herself to the roof of the castle, standing easily, if rather precariously on the very topmost spire of the castle. From there she observed her surroundings, noting that the world was not very large, the sharp curve of it could be seen easily, and probably not from half as high up as she was. Furthermore, beyond the castle grounds, there was almost literally nothing, just an ominous forest that stretched until it disappeared behind the edge of the planet. A light breeze started, gently rustling the lightning elemental's hair, and bringing with it just the slightest hint of rain. It was a refreshing scent in an otherwise gloomy but stale world.
Larxene felt the edges of her mouth quirk up at the memory attached to the scent, and did nothing to stop it, letting her thoughts drift about while she waited for the Dusks to complete their task. Surprisingly, the first place her mind went was how long it had been since she'd been to an actual castle. She didn't count Oblivion or the Castle That Never Was, the former of which was just a way station to nothing, and the latter being more a fortress prison.
Another roar caught her attention again, and she opened her eyes to glance around and decipher whether it was because something had seen her or it was external sources. There was no sound of something large and unpleasant trying to climb on the roof of the castle so she assumed the Dusks had found their target.
Snarl after roar after snarl emanated from the castle, until finally everything quieted entirely.
Master...
She looked up after being addressed only to see all three of the Dusks she'd sent earlier swirl into existence around her, floating and stretching in that odd way of theirs. She folded her arms about her front, lightly supporting her elbows with the tips of her fingers.
The lord of this castle is a strange beast... one began, dancing and floating, its whiny, raspy voice echoing in Larxene's mind.
... Very strange indeed, the Savage Nymph would do well to be cautious... another said, continuing the sentence. Another reason she hated working with most of the lesser Nobodies, they weren't very smart, they asked a lot of questions, they got in the way, and were generally annoying to her.
... he is not smart: easy prey to sharp minds...
... but he is strong, very strong...
... beastly strength that is not his own, he is full of rage...
... fury...
... slow. His weakness is his speed. Strong he is, ferocious...
... but stupid and slow.
... the rest of the castle is of no threat...
... beware, the cups have ears.
... the monster comes from the west. The woman the east. To the middle is the dancing arena...
... the creature's heart is strong. Not much work lies ahead for the Master.
... the woman is the problem...
...woman...
... yes, the woman...
... she is the problem. She tames his frenzy...
... the creature's weakness...
... weakness, yesss...
... The Graceful Assassin would find humor within...
... he would, he would...
Larxene's eyebrow twitched, and she sliced her hand violently through the air. "Ok, just shut up and go away if you don't have anything useful to tell me." The three Dusks disappeared. A sigh from the Nymph accompanied their leaving, they had helped her after all, that was a little-
She paused, a completely bewildered expression crossing her face. "When the hell did I turn into Demyx?" A hand met her forehead and rubbed it for a scant moment to try and soothe the impeding headache. She needed to get onto the mission. Without another word, she flipped her hood up, and teleported back in front of the doors.
Without knocking, she shoved them open, admiring how, even though the castle was old and decrepit looking, the doors moved silently and smoothly on well-oiled hinges. The Dusks made it a point to mention the east and west, and she could see why: It seemed the castle was split into two from where she stood, a staircase splitting off and going to separate doors on either side of the second floor of the entry hall. There were many doors in the hall, one slightly ajar with a soft golden light spilling from it caught her attention but she ignored it and walked towards the staircase, carefully going up it, ears and eyes alert for anything that might be trying to sneak up on her. Nothing was forthcoming even after she hit the landing, so she turned back and tried to figure out which door to take. She knew the castellan would be in the west wing, and his female companion or future prey or virgin sacrifice or whatever the 'woman' was the Dusks referred to her as would be in the east hall.
Before she did that, though, she pushed at the door just atop the landing, wanting to know what the Dusks meant by 'dancing arena'. The room was spacious, she'd give it that, with a hard tiled floor that looked like it probably cost a fortune. An extravagant chandelier hung from the ceiling, all crystals and sparkles and lights, while angels and a host of other creatures gallivanted on the ceiling behind it. The far of the room was covered completely in huge windows, a door placed in the midst to lead to some sort of balcony.
Larxene smirked. The place reminded her of a cross between home and Demyx's room- which might as well have been home for the amount of time she spent there. Her heels softly clicked as she ventured farther into the room, eyes roaming the brightly lit space, mind immediately drawing comparisons between this ball room and the one from her original home. They were almost the same size, this room was smaller in size but taller. The ceiling at her home wasn't painted in a huge, elaborate mural, just a repetitious pattern of gold on white. Fancy, but not special. There was a balcony there too, she remembered, but this ball room lacked the stage for the orchestra and the thrones. Perhaps the owner of this castle was a duke or some other, minor lord that had no need for such commodities, though the lack of a stage for musicians confused her somewhat. She'd never seen a castle without one before.
All of her musings distracted her from the padding footsteps approaching her, and it wasn't until a snarl sounded from somewhere near her left ear she was brought forcefully back to reality, whirling around so quickly her motions became a blur.
"Who are you?" the disgusting creature growled, voice deep and rough.
Larxene crossed her arms. "Nobody."
Lips pulled back on the monster's maw, revealing an impressive set of fangs. "Get out."
The Nymph let a short, high-pitched laugh. "I'm sorry, Mister Castellan, but I can't do that."
"I said get out," he insisted, muscles on the furred forearms bulging beneath the hide.
"Or you'll what?" Larxene challenged, smirking in her coat though she knew he couldn't see it.
The answer came as a feral snarl and the flash of a bulky, clawed hand as it went to rip the lightning elemental's face clear off. Unfortunately for the Beast, she saw it coming long before and easily side-stepped the attack.
"Stop that," she commanded, voice stern. She didn't bother glaring at him, he wouldn't see her anyway.
"Then get out," he snarled, clenching his fists.
Larxene reached out and contacted a half dozen Dusks. She had a plan. A rather devious one if she did say so herself. She instructed the lesser Nobodies to their task and continued taunting the monster in front of her, dodging his clumsy if rather brutal attacks.
Finally, the Dusks returned from their assignment, a loud thud and a cry of pain immediately snagging the Beast's attention, and he turned to look at the source of the sound.
"Belle!" he bellowed, stepping forward as if to fight off the contingent of flexible white things looming over the love of his life.
"Not so fast, you stupid monster," Larxene interjected, folding her arms across her chest again. "You love her, don't you?" She shifted to look around the monster's suddenly still bulk. Too bad, the woman the Dusks had brought with them seemed to have passed out, probably on impact with the ground. Without a word, the Nymph carefully placed herself between the Beast and the woman called Belle. "Now, why don't you be a good monster and settle down and listen?"
Beast grumbled, but relaxed slightly, keeping his arms still at his sides though his fists remained clenched.
"Good boy. Now, if you don't want anything unfortunate to befall this lovely young woman, you'll be a good beast and listen to me. Everything I say."
He clenched his jaw and the muscles corded beneath the tawny hide. Larxene giggled, tapping her lower lip gently with her finger. "Do you hate me? Good. Feed that anger, Beast. That rage. Feel how wonderful it is? To just lose all control and destroy everything that's weak and in your way? Embrace it, Beast. Kindness makes you weak. Your strength... is your fury. And you don't want to be weak, do you?"
The Beast snarled and shook his head while Larxene let a wide grin split her face. Oh yes, this was going to be easier than she thought.
-
A/N: So much for once a week. I have no idea why this chapter was as hard to get out as it was.
Whatever the case, people in a shower not having sex! It's... unique. D: I think I just broke a law somewhere with that scene. And you know what? I am not remorseful.
Read and Review! I miss all of you reviewers out there! Talk to me! I still appreciate and love you all so much. I do respond to reviews, yanno, depending on what kind of questions are asked, if any at all.
And look for the next chapter soon enough.