OblivionX
-8-
All Aboard
"Xaldin! Hey XALDIN. Whet the hell are you doing in there?"
Axel slammed his fist into the door, rattling the pictures loosely nailed to the walls. He cursed as there was no answer from within the drummer's room.
"You know you could die in there and we wouldn't find you for weeks, right? Xaldin! Dilan!"
Finally from inside came a mildly annoyed, unconcerned voice, "Go away, Axel."
The guitarist kicked the door.
No response.
"Come ON! You've been in there for days."
Silence, pierced by some typing.
Axel yelled hotly at there door, for there wasn't anyone in their floor of the hotel to hear them-
"This is the first week we've had off in months, Xaldin! You can't just sit in there!"
"Oh yes I can." came a muttered reply, as though Xaldin had barely been listening at all.
"Xemnas'll be here tomorrow, dumbass, and he'll kick you out of the band if you just sit in there! Have you even picked up a drumstick?!"
There was complete silence inside the room. The typing had stilled. Axel leaned closer to the door to listen. He nearly fell on top of the drummer when Xaldin suddenly pulled open the door a crack to see out into the hall.
"Finally." said Axel, pushing his was into the room before Xaldin could stop him. The drummer frowned in an irritated way and followed behind Axel, asking curiously, "Xemnas?"
Axel sat down heavily on the drummer's bed, which didn't look as though it'd been slept in. He surveyed the room, which only contained all of Xaldin's few possessions neatly in their places. Xaldin was not a neat person. Axel's scarlet eyebrows came down as he realized that Xaldin, in fact, hadn't really been doing much of anything in his room... So what was he doing?
The drummer sat down in front of his computer desk, his desktop computer on. Instant messages popped up responses as he sat before it.
If Axel squinted, he could read the names of the people messaging him. Names with x's in them. Fans? Xaldin was spending all of his time talking to fans?
"What're you doing in here?"
"Why is Xemnas coming?" countered Xaldin, "He was there at the audition, so it's not Demyx. I saw him watching in the back. He should be satisfied."
Organization XIII, their record label, was funded, founded, and run by one man- Manse Superior. Manse, since OblivionX had catapulted his small record company into the big leagues, had anagrammed his name and was known by many people in The Bizz as 'Xemnas'. When given an opportunity to bash his favorite head of the record label, Axel gladly dropped the previous subject. For the moment.
"That man is never satisfied. He's coming to supervise us himself since Dulor's gone."
"Dulor's- What? When?! What happened?"
"Jesus you're so misinformed. It'd only take one breakfast with us to know. Why do you think he hasn't been in here to drag you out since Friday?"
"I just..." Xaldin looked away, at his computer screen. Axel inched forward on the bed.
"What are you doing in here?"
Xaldin snapped around and shifted so Axel couldn't see the screen. "Get out, please."
"No, I wanna see-"
"Out, Axel."
"But Xal-"
"I'll come to the next practice, ok? Just go."
Axel's mouth twisted in distaste, but Xaldin stood up. The drummer was, in fact, bigger than the guitarist, and if he wanted to, Xaldin could just lose patience and throw Axel out by force.
The guitarist moved into the hallway reluctantly, Xaldin right behind him and preparing to slam the door. Axel hissed at him as he was shoved out, "I'll find out eventually. YOU CAN'T HIDE, XALD-"
The door nearly hit him in the face, and typing from inside the room shortly resumed.
"... Weirdo."
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"... And I know that you all like him, and if he weren't such a damned good manager I'd've fired him by this time already, but if Mr. Leblanc is gone for much longer, we're employing someone else."
Xemnas wasn't a particularly tall man- Axel was a good inch taller than him and smug about it, even if he wasn't smug about it aloud. What Xemnas lacked in hight he made up for in presence. His dark skin and amber-yellow eyes shone, His gray-silver hair fell to his shoulders in a slightly old-fashioned style. Somehow, he managed to pull it all off in a suit.
"The point is, we need to get on with it. You've been in this city too long."
"What? I thought you said we were on vacation until further notice!"
Axel was fuming. He leaned aggressively against the wall opposite Xemnas, glaring at him and the aid beside him, who gave him an icy look back. Xaldin stood beside Axel, silent and solid as stone. He had reluctantly decided to come out of his room in order not to make Dulor look worse than he already did. Zexion stood next to them, Yazoo around the corner pretending not to be listening. He wasn't officially in the band, but no one objected to him being there. His boyfriend observed Xemnas coolly, ignoring the aid.
Roxas stood in front of them all, Demyx sulking behind him, feet planted and arms crossed as though he were preparing for a fight on their behalf. Xemnas was ignoring him and instead addressing Demyx.
"Whatever happened, I don't care. Even has found us a new tour bus driver." The aid next to him lifted his chin, blond hair falling away from his glasses. He pulled the clipboard in his arms closer.
"Start packing. We're leaving tomorrow, and I'm coming with y-"
"What about Dulor?" Roxas demanded.
"We've already discussed this. You have a new driver, your vacation is over. Make sure the band is ready to leave by tomorrow."
"But-"
"Roxas," he said, already turning away to leave, Even shuffling behind him, "I said, make sure everyone's ready to leave. Since you seem so determined to lead the band, make yourself useful. No arguments."
Demyx had been unnaturally quiet since the day Dulor disappeared. No one could coax a single word out of him about what had happened. Whenever the question was brought up, he fell silent and refused to say a single word until the subject was changed.
He tried to act his old self, sometimes, but his eyes betrayed the forged faux smile. Once alive with a bright sparkle and a hint of the ocean, his eyes were now cold, dull and bitter. But he was getting better at holding his smile.
Now, though, he wasn't even making an attempt.
"He'll come back... He... He has to..." He said quietly, only half-believing it himself. "Please, we just have to... Wait for him..."
Roxas shot Demyx a painful look, and then shot a supporting glare at Xemnas, who'd half-turned to watch his lead singer. Axel, who was totally oblivious to the real core of the whole problem, put an arm around Demyx comfortingly. He said to Xemnas, "We're not leaving until Dulor gets back."
Half of the band gave him an alarmed look. Xemnas probably wouldn't be averse to kicking him out of the band and getting another guitarist.
The other half was Roxas.
"If you try and force us, we're leaving the band. All of us. Right, guys?" He turned to look back at OblivionX. Axel nodded immediately, along with Xaldin, and Zexion after a moment.
Xemnas rolled his eyes.
Roxas looked at Demyx pleadingly.
Demyx stared silently at the other members of the band, expression unreadable through flat-lined lips. His gaze fell to the floor and he shrugged.
Roxas glared at Xemnas as though it were his fault. The president ignored him, watching Demyx carefully. Zexion moved next to Demyx, putting a hand on his. He and Yazoo alone knew what was really wrong- the singer refused to talk about it no matter how much Roxas pried. The bassist looked back at Xemnas challengingly, daring him to ask what was wrong.
The president only smiled. He knew, or was already finding out. Xemnas knew everything eventually.
But then the man just shrugged, and without glancing to see if Even was following, walked out of the door.
Roxas waited to make sure he wasn't coming back, and then turned around.
"Kay, now how are we going to find Dulor?"
Xaldin said, "So we really aren't leaving without him?"
"Do you honestly expect us to survive a tour with Xemnas leading?" snapped Axel, irritated. Zexion privately thought Xemnas could lead the band fine, but he remained silent.
Xaldin suggested, "We could always ask Relena if she's seen him."
"Do you really think... She'd know anything?" Demyx said softly, a small flicker of hope in his eyes that hadn't been seen since the day Dulor had disappeared.
Xaldin looked at Demyx and said carefully, "If anyone does, she would. And someone must."
"Then... We've got to speak to her. Right away."
"Well come on then, bandies. Let's go downtown."
And with this utterly cliché and unoriginal statement, Roxas took Demyx's arm (not that he needed any urging) and pulled him out the door.
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There wasn't anyone in the cafe.
This wasn't entirely unusual, as it was ten in the morning on a Wednesday.
Inside two blonds were cleaning up in preparation for the lunch rush. The shorter one in the white outfit's name tag said 'Namine'. The other, taller blond with the electric teal eyes was Relena. She was cleaning with a passion, rubbing down the tables in a way that suggested she was irritated. She looked up as they entered, recognizing everyone in the band except Demyx.
When she saw the vocalist, she stood up straight and narrowed her eyes with venom.
"You."
Demyx took a step backward, taken aback by the malice in her tone. He glanced up at her, biting his lower lip and moving his hands to his pockets. "R-relena..." He said quietly, unable to look her in the eyes. "I'm sorry, I... I didn't mean for him to... I'm sorry..."
She took one menacing step forward, throwing the rag she was using to the table. Namine widened her eyes, looked at them for a moment, and then fled for the back rooms. Relena hissed, "What the HELL did you do?! He said you- you KISSED him- but..." The cafe owner came forward sharply, knocking over chairs. "... Surely even- how could you be so stupid?!"
The band, minus Zexion and Yazoo, paused in the act of moving forward to shield Demyx.
Roxas turned dumbfounded eyes to Demyx, unable to speak. Axel found his voice first.
"You mean Dulor gone because- it's all Demyx's fault?"
Demyx flinched and closed his eyes, unable to take the looks the other members were shooting him. "Its... Its true." He said to Axel, eyes still closed. "I'm sorry... I'm s-s-so s-sorry... I d-didn't mean... I'm sorry..." He fell to his knees, collapsing into tears.
For a moment, no one made a move to help him. Relena looked down at him with disgust bordering on hatred, but she wasn't quite nasty enough to kick him while he was down. Roxas was still getting over shock, Xaldin wasn't good at comforting people in the first place, and Axel was busy sputtering out incoherences. Yazoo was still slightly embarrassed by his performance the night of the incident and did nothing, but Zexion moved forward and knelt down to hug Demyx. He looked accusingly up at Relena, who knew him well enough to be shocked by his behavior.
"Being in love with someone is nothing to be ashamed of."
"Hes g-gone, Zexion... He's gone and its all my fault..."
Zexion hugged his shaking form tighter, saying, "I'm not saying your methods weren't stupid-"
"Zexion!" Roxas finally spoke.
"-I'm just saying they weren't wrong. It's not all your fault, Demyx."
"The fuck it isn't!"
Everyone looked up at Relena.
"I come in Sunday morning to find my brother standing outside, looking more or a basket-cased wreck than usual, and looking dead enough inside to be a vampire. I spent two hours trying to get him to make enough sense to admit what happened, and as far as I'm concerned, it looks a hell of a lot like it's all your fault. Why the hell did you come here? Do you want me to beat you to death with your own limbs? I'd be happy to do it."
Demyx looked up at Relena, eyes filled with tears. "...Go ahead. I deserve it."
Rell stepped forward to slap him in the face, but Axel leapt up and tackled her to the ground.
At this point in time, a customer happened to walk into the cafe, saw what was happening, and turned around to go right back out.
Axel and Relena rolled around kicking and punching each other for a few moments until Zexion nudged Xaldin, who moved forward to separate them. Axel stopped fighting when Xaldin pulled them apart, but Rell gave the drummer a vicious elbow in the stomach and moved away to stand on her own.
Roxas planted his feet and said, "Look, we just want to know where Dulor is. Surely you know."
She sneered. "Yeah, and I'd tell you. Get the hell out of my cafe."
"Please, Relena... I want to fix things." Demyx said, staring up at her with pleading eyes.
"No," she spat.
"Come on, Rell. Xemnas is taking us on tour and he's willing to leave without Dulor," said Roxas.
"Dulor's the best manager in the Bizz. He can find another job."
Xaldin started, "Rell-"
"No, dammit! I'm not letting you hurt him any more! He needs a girlfriend, not a fag stalker-"
Demyx rose to his feet, a dangerous glow in his eyes. It was like a tsunami approaching. The ocean may look a peaceful, gentle thing. The waves roll in and out, teasing the shore. And then it comes, with enough strength to rip a whole world apart. Demyx raised a hand and slapped her across the face. Hard.
"You have no idea what you're talking about!" He snapped.
"If you're not going to be useful, just shut up! I'm going to find him, with or without your help. And I'm going to fix things, because I love him. You're just a heartless monster, if you can't understand that!"
Relena raised a hand blankly to her stinging face, tasting blood. She turned to hurt him, to pay him back for hurting her more that he had already. But then she looked at him, really looked at him. He was trembling with anger... exhaustion... and, she saw, desperation.
"No. I can't. But..."
She looked around, avoiding his eyes, finding that the eyes of the band that were just as cold. They had, without speaking, forgiven Demyx already, and taken his side. They were his family, after all.
"Look," she said, "... if I EVER get word of you upsetting my brother, or-or, kissing him without his permission again, or hurting one hair on his head, I'll... I have some knives in the back. They'd look nice with your brains on them, see."
She gave him a mock-glare.
In her way, it was an apology.
"Do...Do you have any idea where he might be?" The energy seemed to drain from him, as the fury that fueled his fire faded away. "Please... Anything?"
"I know where he was last time I talked to him, if that's what you mean."
"Can you tell me?"
"Well..."
She was destroying her pride in doing this, not to mention breaking her brother's trust. He'd made her promise to keep his whereabouts a secret. She hadn't told Xemnas yesterday, and here she was telling the source of the problem instead.
But when it all came down to it, Dulor needed help. He had for a long time.
The entire band held it's breath, waiting to hear as she said-
"... The ocean."
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