OblivionX

-4-

Nocturne

There was a door in front of him. It was rimmed with silver, made of redwood. The doorknob was gold. All in all, there was nothing extraordinary about the door. It mocked him, sitting there silently in front of him. Behind that door was the ultimate test, the turning point in his life. Behind that door were people judging him, testing him. The door was nothing but a slab of wood, but it symbolized everything he'd done in his life up to this point. He had to break that door down.

Or, you know, just open it.

Medy took a deep breath, tugging nervously at the bottom of his striped arm warmers. There was the door, right there, it wasn't going anywhere. He reached out a hand and turned the knob, slowly pulling it open.

He'd taken longer than he should have getting ready. He now wore his favorite outfit. The pants were black, covered with straps and spiral designs in a metallic silver. Chains looped from strap to strap like tinsel. His shirt was black as well, sleeveless with a turtleneck. On the front was embellished a shining silver dragon, mid-roar. On his feet, clashing with the whole effect, were plain flip-flops. His feet were still sore from yesterday, and Dulor was right- there was no way he was putting those boots back on.

Medy peeked out onto the stage, wincing at the lights. Nostalgia for his eighth grade school play. Medy closed his eyes and shook his head, opening them again slowly to adjust them to the blaring lights. He forced a laugh and a smile, stepping out from stage-right to meet the group center-stage. He immediately calmed down, the stress of preparing considerably less than the stress of actually doing.

On secret orders from Roxas, who was dubbed the most sane in the group and thus the unofficial leader (and official founder), no one looked up when Medy entered. Neither did they stare at him, mock him, or otherwise judge his every footstep. Not openly, at least. There were several old people in suits in the front row (the record company) and some set workers and camera men, and a few reporters who were soon chased out of the immediate area of the stage by several large bodyguards.

OblivionX was indeed in full costume. Axel's makeup blared defiantly, his hair stood in fiery spikes, and he wore his stage cloths. He lounged against the wall, tuning his guitar in a red and black long coat, wearing sinful black pants that were cut like shorts and connected to the bottom legs with red chains. He wasn't wearing a shirt under the coat. Kohl expertly rimmed his eyes, giving him a catlike look. Eight rings, made of red or black dyed metal, shone on the fingers that held his guitar.

Zexion openly did nothing, his guitar tuned on the floor before him, watching Medy from the corner of his eyes. He wore a simple black long-sleeved short shirt that showed a good portion of his stomach, and low, baggy, frayed black pants. His light-colored eyelashes stood out against the gray-silver eyeshadow on his pale skin. Some reporters slipped past the bodyguards for a minute and took pictures of him, and he spared a moment to flash them a gorgeous smile and a wave, showing off his black fingerless gloves and silver-painted nails casually.

The other guitarist was helping Xaldin set up, his guitar also tuned next to Zexion's. He wore no makeup, (because he looked adorable that way and people told him so), a dark red sleeveless t-shirt to match Axel, and some tattered and purposely ripped gray shorts. Gray armbands with the band's symbol on them adorned his wrists. He wore bright red sneakers to clash on purpose, softening the affect with broad black shoe laces.

Xaldin appeared to like his outfit least of all. He sported tight black leather pants and a black tank top over a blue mesh long sleeved shirt. A blue belt hanging loose around his waste completed this setup.

Dulor Leblanc, on the other hand, had it easy. He lounged against the stage in a sleek gray suit, appearing nonchalant, waiting for Demyx to walk up to the microphone.

Medy had no idea how many seats were filled in the stadium ahead of him. The lights were blinding, creating a fourth wall between the band and the world beyond. He could just make out the black silhouettes of people in the front row, but beyond that... Nothing. Perhaps that was for the best.

He glanced at the members of OblivionX, studying them as he was sure they were studying him. He looked first at Roxas and Axel, then at Zexion and Xaldin in turn. Last he eyed Dulor. Cocky bastard. /He/ didn't have to get up on stage.

He stepped to the microphone, each footfall echoing eerily off a floor that was made for projecting even the slightest noise. If he made it, if they accepted him... Then this would be his life. Stages like this, lights and speakers and the band.

Medy wrapped his fingers around the microphone, lifting it out of the stand. His eyes closed, mind drifted to a far-off place, an abandoned beach at dawn. Stars dotted the sky, the sun barely peeking over the horizon in a splash of crimson glory. The sound of waves blanketing the sand and the wind dancing across the water's surface.

This was it.

The lights flicked out, leaving them in darkness, and three spotlights suddenly swung to Medy, lighting him dramatically. Dulor stared expressionlessly, now having taken a seat in front of his new singer, admiring how Medy didn't even flinch, but stood with his eyes closed in front of the microphone stand, waiting for the song to start. Only the rest of the band seemed to notice the lights, Medy was oblivious. Axel struck a ready pose, unseen from the rest of the stadium, and everyone else followed, watching Medy.

The music began.

None of the members played yet, and still the vocalist seemed calm and ready. And then, as Xaldin raised his drumsticks to start the beat, the Nocturne opened his eyes and started to sing.

"Should we yet document audacity, your last allegations we write.

With yet another man-made miracle, this borders on the spiritual.

It's time we came to fight."

The light danced in his eyes, and for a second he feared he'd fall off the stage. He'd have to chance it; standing completely still while singing generally looked horrible.

"And should be open our eyes then we'd know. That the lines we once drew in the sand turned to stone.

If we ever held back what we write… Then our message is clear, my dear: this all ends tonight."

He stared out into what he presumed were the faces of people in the first row, feigning eye contact with each one. He silently counted along to Xaldin's beats, and then smiled like a dragon as he broke into the chorus.

"Alice, Alice…

The queen is raging. The Cheshire cat with his smile fading.

A pawn. Eight Squares. Now her majesty.

We're curious to know which hole you followed the white rabbit down."

Medy sounded slightly nervous as he started into the first lyrics, which was only understandable as it was his first time. But he knew all the words, and hit all the notes perfectly, with the correct pitch and tone... His voice, Dulor noted, was very different from Marluxia's. Marluxia tended to sing deep and seductive, with a hint of anger, which endeared him to most of his fans.

Medy's voice was higher, a tenor, but it was beautiful. As soon as he smiled, and launched into the chorus, it sung out powerfully and enrapturing as the first time he'd heard it, where it had drawn people in off the streets to come and listen. He sung fully, leaning into the lyrics and making eye contact with the entire stadium, it seemed.

OblivionX played on behind him, some of them a little surprised at first, and then getting into it, playing their hardest as if to say, 'See? We're prodigies too.'

With every motion of his free hand, every expression on his face, the lyrics flowed and twisted their way into pictures. Pure emotion flowing from the sound of his voice, weaving a story in and out of the threads of the music.

"Yes, we are- We're losing some friends and we're changing the scenery. Truth, we find. Always colorful, cutting the cold.

Oh, yes, we lied. We knew you were destined for underachieving. And so, tonight Means goodbye as the story is told."

As the instrumental rolled, Medy moved forward and sat on the edge of the stage, eyes closed. He jumped to his feet suddenly for another run through the chorus. A solemn expression came to his face as he sung the last line of the song, music fading out behind him.

"So... Should we yet document audacity, your last allegations we write, oh... We write."

Axel and Roxas sung the backup harshly, Zexion strumming the base as he wove back and forth, sunk into the oblivion the band was named for. The chorus rang out, Dulor leaned forward on the edge of his seat, listening as Medy and the OblivionX, finally completed, played out the last words with drama and emotion.

In shock and awe, the sound man forgot to start playing the next song.

Silence fell.

And then, the official old people in the front row began to clap, talking excitedly to each other, and the reporters began to report, and the guards began to surround the stage and Medy as though he were now suddenly worth guarding properly, and Axel and Roxas tackled Medy from behind, yelling, "We accept!"

Dulor only smiled, and got up to talk to the record company for the last word.

Medy giggled. "Thanks guys, thanks. Not meaning to be ungrateful, but... You're crushing me."

As Axel, laughing, was hauled off of Medy by Roxas, a black and white blur shot upstage, effortlessly past the guards, and tackled Zexion as the bassist put his guitar down.

Yazoo somehow landed without harming Zexion, kissing him enthusiastically and saying, "You were great!" over and over again, pausing only to ask if he could come back with them so he could meet the new singer.

"Of course," said Zexion.

Xaldin walked slowly over to Medy, looking completely comfortable in his sparse clothing, and watched the singer as he got up. Then he quietly clapped Medy on the shoulder and said, "Good job."

Medy smiled. "Thank you, thank you... It was nothing, really. Just singing..."

"Just singing for you seems to be poetry for the rest of the world. We all played better because of you." Zexion was next to them, Yazoo standing over his shoulder as if he was made to be there, watching Medy. At closer glance, the taller man was revealed in greater detail. There weren't many press pictures of the fabled 'boyfriend' in circulation yet, but there would be now. He was thin and graceful, with long silvery hair and bright green-blue eyes. His skin was nearly as pale as his partner's, and just as gorgeous to the cameras. The reporters up against the stage looked as though they might have group strokes as they madly took pictures of the couple, shot questions, and were generally ignored. More then half of them, in fact, were addressing Medy, but Axel had moved subtly to block him from view.

"Medy, could you come here for a moment dear?"

Medy glanced around for the source of the voice, locating the manager quickly. He stood out from the crowd, somehow. He nodded and strolled over to him, tilting his head ever-so-slightly to the left. "Yeah?"

Dulor handed him a paper.

"... We'd prefer you sign it with your new name."

"I... I..." Medy took the paper without really registering what he was doing. "I... I'm in? I'm..."

Dulor smiled, gave him a pen, and waited.

"Oh my god." He shook his head, letters shuffling around and falling into position. "I'm- I'm a member of OblivionX. Oh my GOD." He pushed the paper on top the first flat surface he could find, (Zexion didn't approve,) and scribbled a signature.

Dulor took it from him, read it, grinned even more broadly, and turned to the press. On impulse, the manager put an arm around his singer's waist and pulled him up to the front of the stage next to him.

"Let me introduce you, ladies and gentlemen- to Demyx Nocturne, of OblivionX."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

I'm just some new kid

Who can't get his mind off of you

I don't know what you did

But you got me to fall for you

And I know that it's stupid