Disclaimer: KHII is not mine, for the last time Michelle! You can go harass Demyx on your own time or when he's not hiding under my bed. Now the preview for this chapter is quite misleading. Trust me, misleading. You'll like it though.
And for those that don't know, Cerberus was a GF in FFVIII. I wish I was that original.
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"I'm going to go out on a limb and say you have no idea how we're supposed to get that ship, do you?"
"Yep, no idea."
They had been hiding in the bailey for about fifteen minutes watching people walk in and out of the committee's room in the borough. From what Demyx had studied about the outside world, you needed a special keycard to get to the garage where the gummi ships were kept, and the keeper of that card was a scraggly man named Cid. Cid usually never left that house. There had to be some distraction to either get him or everyone else out of that place! And there were a lot of people in the everybody else category.
A man with a sword as big as Auron's, maybe more. A guy with a gun in his sword. This sweet looking girl that was easy on the eyes for the musician who always frolicked around in her pink and white frock. A hyper ninja girl with a gigantic throwing weapon, bigger than Axel's were. Yep, they were screwed.
"If you've been studying them all these times, how could you have not thought of any infiltration methods?" Auron grunted.
""If you haven't figured it out, I'm not the fighting sort of guy. Don't worry, I'm not scared for what's to come."
"Says the one who was crying over the Cheery Puppy of the Damned."
"You were going to kill it! Come on, we gotta concentrate!" He began to scope the area again, looking for a gleam of hope, when the past airship-aficionado had walked out of the building. And he was heading up the stairs to the bailey! He then pushed Auron against the cold brick wall, almost pushing him out the window, and watched Cid climb and climb. His sitar appeared in anxiousness, and he backed himself near the gate switch. Then he remembered something else.
They still had no plan.
The whistling of the Southerner grew louder and he made it to the bailey entrance. Demyx couldn't think of anything to do, so he let his intuition work for him. He swung his instrument smack into his face with a twang of the strings and the man fell unconscious. The two travelers gasped at what Demyx had done.
"You just knocked out an innocent bystander, you dolt! Now what are we going to do with him?"
"Don't worry, I think I've got an idea…no…wait…I just knocked out an innocent bystander!" he shouted, realizing his mistake. At least they got the key, he thought. The red mark from the sitar was now stamped all over his forehead and blood was leaking out of his nose. Demyx panicked some more. Maybe they could tie him down somewhere, he thought while looking at a pile of building supplies left by the construction crew. There was only some sandpaper, a can of yellow spray paint, and a chain.
Then he made a startling comparison. Cid had a very defined build. Muscular, but not as flaunted as Lexaeus, and his hair was the perfectly un-crew cut way. He glanced to Auron, with another one of his scheming smiles on his face. "Why are you looking at me that way?" Auron asked.
Demyx began removing the engineer's goggles and his necklace, then went to undressing the man from his white and grease-marked shirt. Auron's eyes widened.
"I am not going to dress like him you idiot. We don't even look alike."
"Sure you do!" he replied while taking off his blue baggy pants, leg by leg. "You guys have the same body structure and you can paint your hair to sneak in. It's perfect!" He threw the pile of clothing at the guardian and went to get the spray paint can.
As much as he didn't want to admit it, Auron had to say that Demyx did have some kind of gift. Even if it was meaningless to anyone's fate, it was something to be cautious about. So he removed his crimson robe and black leather pants to put on Cid's clothes. If…they…had seen him now, he would have to seriously consider committing suicide. But he was dead, so that was out of the question.
After that, Demyx had painted his shadowy black hair golden blonde. The smell was absolutely intoxicating, and it got to the point that his eyebrows would have to stay black for the time being.
"And remember, he talks funny, like in this movie I saw with this guy riding on a horse, and he said stuff like 'This town ain't big enough for the two of us, partner,' and 'Tell that there barkeep to pour me another pint!'" the summoner rambled. "It might take a while to adjust, but you'll be okay. Once you're down there, say that the coast is clear and I'll follow you, okay? Good luck."
"I swear, if I get caught, I'm bringing you back to the Underworld in a body bag."
"Erm…try your best?"
With that, Auron left the bailey and walked down to the headquarters in the uncomfortably tight shirt. Only a few men in Spira wore these kinds of clothes, and those men were identified by the polite term "entertainers." He saw a few Heartless sneaking on the other side of the fence, but had to act cool so he wouldn't look that fake. Technicians usually don't carry around swords, you know.
He was at the front door, ready to turn the handle, when he jumped back because someone had done it for him. A young man, maybe nineteen or twenty, with burnt sienna hair and draped in all leather had stared long and hard at the imposter, almost making Auron break a sweat. This must have been the guy with a gun in his sword, because the revolver was gleaming in the blinding sun. Finally he smiled.
"It's nice to finally see you out in the real world, Cid. What got you to get off your desk chair?" he asked.
"Um...I had to get somethin' at the synthesis shop o'er there," he tried to say, with the ridiculous accent Demyx was using. "an' I have to fix that there…gummi ship with it."
"Are you okay Cid? You seem kind of…different. How did you get that scar? And why are you wearing glasses?" Well, they were able to get the big picture, but forgot the little details. How stupid could they have been to forget about his sunglasses and th scar? Perhaps he could use a bit of bullshitting for this.
"Since I ne'er leave the house, I figured I should keep myself protected from the sun…and I got… hit by a Heartless on th' way here."
"Heartless? Where were they?" Leon asked, drawing his sword and swinging his lion pendant around his neck.
"By the…" He was drawing a blank. He almost said bailey, but Demyx was there. He glanced around and saw a bright blue and pink sign in the distance. "…ice cream."
"Okay then, I'll go check it out while you fix your ship. Good luck." And then he ran off to the false alarm. Auron sighed in relief and proceeded inside the building. It was cluttered with books and papers and he barely spotted the door with the card slot in it. He fumbled through the unfamiliar pockets and found the bright violet key. He slid it and the door swooshed open and he proceeded into the garage.
There were too many ships to count, some as small as one gil and others more grand than the one his Cid owned, back in Al-Bhed.
"The coast is clear, Demyx." he said into the emptiness. A black sludgy wormhole formed in the ground and the musician popped out of it. "What did you do with the pilot?"
"Oh, I just left him there, since it wouldn't take us long to take one of these. Wow, there's so many!" he exclaimed in awe. He was drawn to a large white one with sleek wings and lasers peeking from under them. "Falcon's Peak," he read "hey, let's take this one!"
"Isn't that a little…large?"
"Nah, it's perfect! Come on, they might figure out you're a fake!"
They had been flying in the cosmos for hours now, with the coordinates to a Destiny Islands plotted on the screen. Demyx had refused to drive because of the time he borrowed a motorcycle from the living world. That motorcycle was young and didn't deserve to die so early. He was now resting in the second command chair watching meteors barely hit the gummi. He watched as the second screen beeped with locations they were passing, and by now there had been five. It seemed so useless to pass by all these, and Auron couldn't yell at him for changing the course when he was dressing himself into his regular robe again, so he pressed a few buttons.
"Now arriving at- Beast's Castle." the automated voice said.
Auron could wait to see these friends of his.
"Cid? Is that…you?"
Leon was now facing the old man, with a big smack mark on his face and his scrawny body with only underwear on. "You look…hung over. Did you get to fix the airship you wanted to? And why are your clothes missing?"
"Where are they?" he yelled. "That kid with the gee-tar and the tall guy! He hit me in the face!"
"Cid, what are you talking about? You were supposed to downstairs fixing a gummi ship and you told me a Heartless attacked you by the ice cream stand!" Leon really, really, didn't need any confusion right now.
"Doncha see what they did? The one you saw was a fake!"
"…"
"Leon! Go check on my ships while I final somethin' to cover up with!"
"You did what?"
"I just thought that if we kept passing all these worlds, we'd be missing aeons, you know? Don't get so mad at me!" So he had switched their direction. What was the big deal?
"We were going to backtrack, you idiot! We were going to Destiny Islands to get a few more experienced guardians, ones that I've had to travel with for days on end, and you get us sidetracked! How the hell am I going to be able to travel with you for even three days?" He looked out the window to see a rather ghastly and towering castle with a forest around it. They had landed right in front of the double doors and Demyx ran out of the ship to evade Auron's wrath. He was at the point where his hair would have fallen out in stress, if he wasn't dead.
"Why do we have to get more guardians? I already have you, right?"
"That's not the point. We need more than two people if we want to accomplish anything."
"Yeah, but I don't think you need any help. You're a better guardian that anyone I knew could have been. We'll be just fine!"
"You actually do think that, don't you?"
"Yep!"
This kid had determination, and maybe a little too much trust. Although he was honored, somewhat, that someone would think he could fend off anything that would hurt this stupid little musician. It's not like he had anything to lose, well, not life. Perhaps over time, he'd dislike him less and less. He was kind of like the sun in a way. Necessary for life, but will get in your eyes.
"Your hopes of intelligence are lost by now, aren't they?"
The foyer was dark and gloomy, with pillars lining the walkway. It would be hard not to miss the small flame on one of the velvet curtains. The went to inspect it and the flame grew larger, in the shape of a bird. It grew to an even larger size, spreading its sunshine and scarlet wings ablaze far enough to crush the walls. It reminded the guardian of the one his past summoner used to have, the pink one with the golden rings hanging off of it. He couldn't even remember its name, for Yevon's sake, because it had been so long ago. How his world has changed.
Demyx approached the phoenix and bowed to make the prayer symbol. "Oh great aeon, may I borrow your power to save this world from evil?"
"No."
Now there were two things that happened. The phoenix had gladly dissolved into a piece of parchment, like its three-headed predecessor and left music for him to play. The other thing was that a sharp object was heading straight for Demyx's heart. He didn't have enough time to move, so his guardian blocked the weapon with his sword.
"Get the music and call on someone!" he commanded. He nodded and ran through the storm to catch the music. He successfully got it and stuffed it in his pocket. Demyx then got his sitar out and began to play the beginning of Cerberus's melody, when he recognized the objects being hurled at them. They were lances, slender blue ones with the Nobody symbol crowning it. He knew those anywhere.
"Xaldin, wait! We're not trying to kill you!" Demyx went up to Auron and lowered his sword. "It's me, Demyx! You know, the Melodious Nocturne, Number IX, all that? Come on, stop hiding!"
The dragoon finally came out of hiding by turning from one of his pillar shields, his raven-haired braids, spinning with him. His cold eyes shot at them as he asked "And how did you survive that brat? Did you refuse to die like me?"
"Nah, just found a new purpose in life."
"What purpose could you have? I think if it was bothering the living hell out of every Organization XIII member, you can sit back and relax," he said with his arrogant accent. Auron even began to laugh at that.
"So even your old teammates hated you? Kid…I can't say anything now."
"So we weren't the only ones who wanted to throw him out. It's nice to know." Xaldin said to his new partner-in-hatred. "Why would someone like you be traveling with him? Lose a bet?"
"No, we're looking for aeons." Demyx said as he stuck out his tongue. "And Auron, this is Xaldin, the third in command of Organization XIII, if the rest aren't dead by now."
"I don't think I want to know what an eon is, but if it involves not hiding from a singing and dancing candlestick, I'll hear it." The two eventually explained the whole shebang on how the summoning process works, and on the Sin that probably isn't real, and Xaldin responded with what he'd call the "what have you been smoking" face.
"I think," the whirlwind said "that I'll follow you for a while, and if I can be of some service like this poor guy, I'll help. And I swear, if I must hear that damned teapot shriek 'Master! Master!' one more time, I'll drop her off the balcony." The summoner's face lit up and he wrapped his arms around his new comrade.
"Does that mean you'll be my guardian?"
"…sure, whatever."
"Yes! It's nice to have a past friend around with all of these new things coming up!" he cheered.
Demyx's expressions…they had reminded Auron of him, all the hope and kindness that was in him, even if he was one…of two…of the biggest annoyances in his life. So this new Organization fellow, he might not have been evil per say, but not trustworthy enough. They would just have to see.
Back in the Falcon Peak, Demyx was plucking away at his new music, a strong and sweet melody with trills and sixteenths, while the guardians were trying to get them out of their detour. But then again, if Demyx had been right with finding an aeon at that castle, the maybe other worlds did have them, and they were just waiting to be found. Maybe this was part of…his gift.
"Hey Demyx, come over here for a second," Auron commanded and used these words to make him feel important, or involved, either one. "There's a very important decision that needs to be made and we need your opinion."
He hopped off of his spinning chair and looked at the map up ahead. There were two paths that made a fork in the road, and a world was at each end. "Which of these paths do you think we should take?" Xaldin chimed in, hoping they weren't going to end up caught in a black hole.
"Hm…something's telling me that the right one looks nice, so I guess you could try that!"
"Alright then…thank you." He flipped the right hand switch and they zoomed to the right.
"Now arriving at- Halloween Town" the computer monotonously said while the three looked ahead and were all probably wondering the same thing.
Why am I flying into a pumpkin?
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Haha, there you have it! So what is Phoenix from? Well, a lot of FF games. Let's just say that. And now, for your preview announcement.
Chapter 3: Head Stitches and Fangs
The three horsemen are now in the frightful world of Halloween Town, where they get a new spooky wardrobe…whether they like it or not. Soon after they hear stories about the Pumpkin King, this new figure called the Princess of Fright, and a creature named Diablos! Is this devil an aeon, or is this princess really not that sweet? Find out in the fight-filled, summon-filled, mayhem-filled next installment!
And yes, there will be a fight.