Author's Notes: In this chapter I mention a sort of flower called a 'Pink Lady' also known as the Naked Lady or Lady Slippers. It's a type of Lily that is really very beautiful and grows with out any leaves. Its scent is really very nice, but terribly strong. There's an old wives tale about Pink Ladies that says they can take the Oxygen out of the air, so if you were to lock yourself in a room with a bunch of them you'd die. This of course is a load of horse hockey, the strong perfume will end up giving you a terrible headache and that's it. (I recall hearing about some of this on the old Ripley's Believe it or Not series.) But I figured referring to Larxene as a Pink Lady was somehow fitting because of that little tale. Beautiful and supposedly deadly, so I put her in a Pink night gown.


Chapter 6: The Pink Lady and the Three Stooges

The lights of the castle were slowly starting to illuminate the darkness, simulating the breaking dawn in this world that was eternally cast in night. The hallway that was once alive with the loud disturbance of an enraged nymph was now silent and still. Larxene was sitting on the cold marble floor, staring blankly in the direction Axel and Roxas had escaped. A strange sort of breeze seemed to pick up from behind her, sending a chill down her back, her gaze then fell to the floor close to her; small pink petals were lightly drifting past her before they finally settled near her knee.

The gentle sound of bare feet across the cold stone floor drew closer to the woman that remained strangely calm and quiet. The steps stopped just a few feet away, suddenly replaced by a quiet male voice, "And so another falls before their vengeance… So what did you do to them?" the voice was icy, yet laced with a sick humor, "or should I ask… What haven't you done to them to deserve this?"

Larxene smiled yet never looked around, "Nothing as bad as what you did to them…" she paused, "and besides, I don't think that was aimed directly at me, I was merely the means to and end."

"And you're fine with being used like that?" the mysterious voice cooed evilly.

"Oh, you should know me better than that Marlu…" her voice caught in her throat as she turned and looked up at the other nobody, "EW! PUT SOME CLOTHES ON YOU PERV!"

"IT'S NOT LIKE I'M NAKED!!" Marluxia snapped back, unconsciously tightening up his towel.

"And it's not like you're leaving that much to the imagination…" Another deeper voice echoed from the shadows further down the hall.

"oh shut it, Saix… It's not like I had time to grab my uniform, the horrible agonizing torturous death I wanted to inflict upon Axel took a little more precedence than my clothes." Marluxia snarled as he turned and walked to the nearby window.

"We seem to have an issue on our hands that needs to be… taken care of." Saix paused glaning at Marluxia before letting his gazer fall upon the only female member of the Organization as she stood gracefully, "Would you care to come with us?"

"First we need to make sure my Sitar isn't eating anyone else…" Demyx squeaked as he stepped out from behind Saix. He stood for a moment staring at the ground before he carefully glanced up at Larxene. That was a mistake.

Larxene was standing there still wearing her pink furry slippers and a shiny red bathrobe that had lace trimming the collar and sleeves, and worse yet, it was now gapping open to reveal a pink nightgown that had a slit up the side. Demyx took one look at her and the next second a fountain of blood shot from his nose as he fell backwards and passed out.

Saix sidestepped out of the way just in time, staring down at the mess at his feet, "Perhaps that's the real reason he didn't want to come…" he muttered as he kneeled down to inspect the body.

Marluxia turned around; his nose wrinkled slightly, "Well shouldn't somebody do something about that… He's making a mess."

"Nah, that always happens, let him bleed to death." Larxene dismissed Marluxia's concern with a waive of her hand, "So we ARE going to kill them aren't we?"

"I've got dibs on Axel…" Marluxia snorted.

Saix was carefully sitting Demyx up, slapping him a bit on the cheek to bring him around, "Wake up Demyx…" he ordered as Demyx slowly started to come back to the living.

"Meeeh wha happened…" Demyx groaned; his vision was blurred for a moment as he tried to focus on his surroundings.

"You passed out… like always." Larxene snorted, half chuckling.

"Well if you wouldn't walk around like that maybe I wouldn't pass out!" Demyx's weak voice cracked beneath his hand as he messaged his aching forehead, careful not to look at her again.

"ME?!?! WHAT ABOUT TARZAN AND HIS LOINCLOTH OVER THERE!!!" Larxene's shrill voice echoed down the hall as she pointed at Marluxia, "I've got more clothes on than him, at least."

"HEY! Leave me outta this you little siren harpy…" Marluxia snarled back at her.

"Both… of… you… KNOCK. IT. OFF." Saix's voice seemed to grow a little deeper; there was a bite to it now that instantly told all three that his patience was now wearing thin.

Saix turned to face Demyx who was still sitting down on the floor yet fully alert and wary of the taller Nobody. "You… Get up." He growled before snapping his attention back on the others, "And you two… Give him your bathrobe." He nodded at Larxene.

"Excuse me?!" Both Marluxia and Larxene stared Saix with stunned horror.

"You heard me, now give it to him… I don't want to hear any more about that stupid towel tonig…" Saix was cut off suddenly before he could finish the rest of his thought.

"I am NOT going to wear that fruity looking thing; I'll keep my towel thank you very much." Marluxia snuffed, nose in the air as he then turned to leave.

Demyx chuckled lightly, "This coming from the man that likes the Bath and Body Works and sleeps with a goofy pink eye mask on…"

"Just because a lot of women shop there doesn't mean…" the realization suddenly hit the Graceful Assassin, he spun back around "How'd you know about my eye-mask? You're one of HIS little spies aren't you…"

Demyx fidgeted under the eyes of his companions, only to be saved by Larxene laughing, "Pink? You wear one of those pink masks?"

"Shut up… it's the color of cherry blossoms… I like cherry blossoms..." Marluxia pouted.

"Yeah, sure, Sakura-chan!" Larxene's light chuckle soon became louder.

Marluxia's face twisted with anger as his lip curled into a snarl; he readied to slip into a full on verbal assault with Larxene, but something cut him off abruptly.

"Mar Mar, this isn't the time to be arguing…" Demyx's voice was quiet but demanding, he glanced out of the corner of his eye up at the taller Nobody that was standing next to him. The look on the Berserker's face was less than pleased and his hair was starting to do that angry cat thing where it stood on end, thus making Demyx very uneasy.

Marluxia stared down Demyx but it wasn't really the smaller Nobody he was gauging, his lips pulled into a tight line as he thought over the consequences of continuing. Obviously Saix's nerves were being frayed to their breaking point, and Marluxia felt that he'd rather not be on the receiving end of one of those fits of rage. Yet there was one more thing he had to address, so he risked it "Very well, for the sake of continuing on and finally getting my vengeance upon Axel I will back down… But…" he paused as he ran both his hands through his slightly crusting hair and sauntered towards Demyx.

Demyx started to step back, his eyes wide as he tried to grasp what exactly Marluxia was going to pull, "Mar Mar… what…" before he could escape Marluxia had him pinned under his arm, unmercifully rubbing the extra honey into Demyx's hair as the smaller nobody made horrified squealing noises.

Saix took one step towards them, swinging his hand up and connecting his palm square in the back of Marluxia's head, "KNOCK IT OFF!" Saix snarled, shaking his hand a little, not from the sting of the connection but from the sticky feeling of touching Marluxia's hair.

Slightly dazed and now sporting some really terrible cowlicks, Marluxia released his captive from the headlock he had him in. Larxene stared at the three men, "What are you guys, The Three Stooges?" She paused looking closely at Marluxia's hair, "and that's disgusting, there is NO WAY I'm giving him my bathrobe…"

Demyx stood slightly hunched in shock, his breath shallow and erratic as he slowly reached up to his hair. When he felt the honey and the freakish way his hair was now falling limp and sticky, he let out a strangled squeal, "MY HAIR!!! It takes me hours to get it the way I want… HOURS!!! YOU JERK!!!" the look in his usually sweet blue eyes flared with anger as he readied to lunge for his tormentor.

Saix caught him under the arms mid flight and held him in place, "Calm down, Demyx… Everyone is getting irritable because it's so early and we have to deal with Axel's little pranks… Let's just pull it together for now."

"Axel?! AXEL'S NOT THE ONE! He's not the one that accused me of being a druggie, or put honey in my hair, or made me almost die from blood loss, or…" Demyx growled.

"Oh no, the only thing that's turned on you is your precious Sitar, and oh wait! How could it be that Axel is doing all this when your Sitar ATE HIM!!! Oooh… fear my evil Sitar! " Marluxia faked being terrified, taunting Demyx further.

"You're sitar, what?" Larxene chuckled, not too sure she had heard Marluxia right.

Demyx tensed bracing himself for what he thought was coming. Saix tightened his grip on the young musician, judging from the earlier confessions; he knew exactly what reaction was coming. "My Sitar… ate Axel…" Demyx hissed through clenched teeth.

Larxene blinked at him, momentarily stunned. "Is that what you meant by making sure your sitar isn't eating anyone else before you passed out in a spray of blood?" She suddenly burst into uncontrollable fits of laughter.

The giggle fit spread like a virus as Marluxia caught it and struggled to hide the chuckles that were escaping under his raised hand. That's when the inevitable escaped the woman that stood next to him, "and what have you been smoking!"

"DON'T SAY THAT!!! WHY DOESN'T ANYONE BELIEVE ME!?!" Demyx howled as he fought against Saix to get free.

"Probably because you're coming off sounding like an idiot…" Marluxia paused long enough for Larxene to add a "like usual" to his sentence before he continued, "Your sitar can't eat anyone… and Larxene just saw Axel run that way." He snickered, pointing a thumb over his shoulder.

"Knock it off both of you… The longer you all spend here acting like children, the further Axel is getting away from us. Plus I'm getting a headache…" Saix groaned as he released his grip on Demyx, dropping him to the floor.

Marluxia tightened his grip on his towel and stepped back, "Get back, and don't come any closer… you evil towel snapper…"

Demyx stood, his back rigid as he clenched his hands into fists at his side, "Forget it! I'm going to bed…" He turned without another word and proceeded back down the hallway.

"Aw, Come on Demyx… Can't you take a little teasing? Ya big baby." Larxene sighed. Her outburst caused Demyx to slow; he was just about to glance back at her…

"No! I'm not teasing him, I mean every word of it…" Marluxia snorted, ushering Demyx back on his way.

Saix waited just a moment before stopping him, "and what about your Sitar… you know it's still there waiting for you."

Demyx froze in place neither turning around nor continuing on his way. He just stood with his back to them, grinding his teeth as he tried to think of what he should do next. It wasn't very long before Saix gave him a way out, "I suggest we stay together… and find Axel before he causes any more problems within the Organization. If this reaches the Superior then we're ALL in for it." Once again the unbelievable patience of the Luna Diviner had kicked back in, it was surprising all three of them that he hadn't gone berserk and killed them all by now. Maybe smacking Marluxia was enough of an outlet for his pent up rage to get him through for now.

"Well, well, well, looks like someone's developed a little compassion in that hole in his chest…" Larxene sighed, "Fine, I'll play along with you boys… it might actually be fun. But this better end with some blood…" she slipped off her bath robe and tossed it at Marluxia, "and don't get honey on that Sakura-chan… it's silk"

Marluxia shot her a death glare as he reluctantly put on the robe, "Fine, let's just get this done before the honey crystallizes in my hair…"

Demyx still stood in the middle of the hallway with his back still to the others, seriously contemplating on which would be the lesser of two evils. His man eating sitar, or having to deal with the three of them bossing him around and insinuating that he was an idiot or worse. He started to take a step forward, his mind finally settling on going back to his loved sitar. Even if it had turned into a man-eater, he still loved it. But a voice called him back before he could escape.

"Demyx, come on…" Saix's voice was quiet, but laced with a threatening command.

"I don't want to… I've had enough of this." He turned around to face Saix but got an eye full of Larxene. Her nightgown was actually very lovely; it looked more like an evening dress than a nightgown. It just didn't really look that much like the Savage Nymph at all, more like a beautiful yet disgruntled angel in pink lace and silk standing there glaring at him. Or better yet, she was like a pink lily. She was a beautiful and deadly 'Pink Lady'.

He blinked; then the shock finally registered in his brain, releasing the defense mechanism that would rid him of his heated cheeks and swimming mind. In cases of extreme pain the brain will shut down, allowing the body to handle the pain and give it time to recoup; it was the same thing here, only this time it was to stop the sensory overload from his vision to his mind. Yet again in a spurt of blood from his nose he passed out on the floor.

"Oh good grief, we're never going to get any where with him passing out like that all the time." Marluxia sighed as he synched the tie to the bathrobe and then gracefully sauntered off in the direction Axel and Roxas had escaped to.

Larxene chuckled, "just leave him…"

Saix sighed as he followed Marluxia, "Let's go check and make sure they aren't getting into Vexen's experiments, and then we'll come back for him."

"We're coming back this way?" Larxene eyed him suspiciously as he passed her.

"I promised him I'd check on his Sitar…" Saix stated.

"You believe him, then?" Larxene chuckled, surprised that someone as serious and levelheaded as Saix would believe such a tale.

"I believe that he fully believes it." He paused, glancing down at the unconscious musician, "But I think he's starting to catch on…"

Larxene stood silently for a moment watching as Saix followed Marluxia down the hall. She reached up and pulled the falling towel she had wrapped around her hair off the rest of the way as she turned back towards Demyx. She eyed him for a moment, before she knelt down next to him, "Looks like a murder scene…" she mumbled. Then in a strange fit of sympathy she rolled the towel up and tucked it under his head to cushion him a little from the hard marble floor. "You are such an idiot…" She sighed, as she gently tucked one of his fly away strands of hair back behind his ear; then she quickly stood up to follow her comrades in vengeance. She paused when something caught her eye; she turned back to her door, running a finger over her warning note.

"THAT JERK DOODLED ON IT!! Oh he is SO DEAD!" And thus she ran off with new determination to bring about the horrible torturous pain of Axel.

End chapter 6: The Pink Lady and the Three Stooges


Demyx is out, but will the others be back before he wakes up? And what is this strange Red Elixir that Roxas and Axel are risking life and limb for… and… GREAT GOOGALIE MOOGALIE WHAT IS THAT CREATURE!?!?!? Vexen… you are one sick puppy for creating something THAT hideous…