STILL DON'T OWN ANTHING
Warnings:Um... I think it's all safe...
'Roxas? What?' The little bird made a small noise, questioning the man's sanity, while said man just grinned down at him, looking as if he was very proud of himself.
"That's right; you'll be my little Roxas bird." Axel nodded his head as if the matter was completely decided.
Sora stared up at him, at the man who was possibly the weirdest human in the entire empire. The tall red head only grinned back in response.
"The name's Axel, by the way. A-X-E-L. Commit it to memory, Roxas." He grinned deviously at the bird, who tweeted softly.
'I guess it could be worse… At least he's not trying to eat me, or something.' Sora perked up and decided to get over the new name and to just be happy to have made a new friend. To show the man his improved mood, he began chirping happily from the ground, causing Axel to laugh and toss him more bread.
"Hello to you too, Roxas."
"My lord, are you shirking your responsibilities again?" An annoyed, deep voice called over, and Axel looked towards the person while the little bird, caught off guard, squawked and flew away into the trees.
The emperor watched the bird fly away before turning his head back to the new-comer, frowning. "Jeez, Xemnas, you scared him away."
Sora eyed the man, who he remembered from yesterday, when he was safely in a tree. He didn't really like this man, something about him told of hidden power, just beneath the surface. His bizarre coloring didn't help the feeling of unease.
The tall, sliver haired man stared up at the sky and appeared to be asking the gods for patience. Finally, the high priest brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose.
"Forgive me, my lord." He spoke slowly, fighting irritation, "but, instead of playing with the bird, why do you not tend to other, more important matters? Like checking in with the instrument maker? The dancer's need music to dance to, and we both know that the best instrument maker in the empire is also the best slacker. Well, almost the best." The man raised an eyebrow at Axel, who rolled his eyes and stood up.
"I get it." He turned his head and smiled at the bird who watched them almost wearily. "I guess I'll have to see you tomorrow, Roxas. Till then," he smiled and waved, before heading back inside the palace with Xemnas, who rolled his eyes, and shook his head disapprovingly.
Sora stayed in the trees and watched as the two strange humans walk away, before taking off and flying into the forest.
"Calm down, Xemnas, I deserve a break during the day. What's wrong with that?" Axel raised an eyebrow at the man.
"After this ritual is complete, and the planets and stars have moved from their perfect alignment, and another portion of our debt has been paid to the gods, then thatis the time you may relax and take your breaks." The older man all but spat.
Axel lifted his hands in surrender, "Alright, I understand. You're right. The ritual does deserve my full, undivided attention. I will go speak to Demyx immediately."
Xemnas nodded his head once, and Axel turned around and began heading into the city for the second time that day.
Unlike most merchants and craftsmen, Demyx had set up his shop away from the large hustle and bustle of the city's shopping district, and had, instead, located himself in a quieter part of the city, in an upper-class neighborhood. This was unusual, to say the least, and most would have thought it would be business suicide, as one bad review from a customer and his business would have plummeted and he would have been on the streets, or would have sold himself into slavery to keep debt off his shoulders.
Lucky for Demyx, he was amazing at what he did, and his instruments were of the highest quality. The hyper, and sometime lazy, man was also a friend of Axel's.
After quite some walking, Axel finally reached the instrument maker's place of work, and knocked on the wall besides a sitting blond man, who looked up at him with teal eyes that quickly lit up. Demyx, a tall man with an odd hair style that pointed up in all directions on top, and fell lose at the bottom, had been sitting outside his shop, working on a flute made of wood, using a knife to carve pre-marked places to get it just right.
"Emperor Axel! Long time no see, my lord!" The man said excitedly as he scrambled to stand up, causing Axel to laugh.
"Don't hurt yourself, Demyx. I have come to see how the instruments we ordered are coming along." The redhead helped the man up, grinning warmly.
"Oh, yeah!" The blond laughed and gestured for the man to follow him inside the shop. The entrance to the building was a large, square shaped hole that let in a lot of sunlight into the brightly decorated store. Instruments of all shapes and sizes were either hanging on or lined up against the walls neatly, looking more like decorations than useable tools. They were all made by Demyx and his apprentice and each was more beautiful and intricately designed than the next.
"Zexion! How are the instruments for the ritual coming along?" Demyx grinned and walked to a short man who was sitting in the back, painstakingly painting a flute, carefully painting everything perfectly.
Axel had always found Zexion a strange man. He was quiet, and resigned into himself, and always kept his odd purple bangs in front of one of his eyes, as if hiding what he knew – or protecting it. Still, despite his oddness, the emperor held no dislike for the man, and merely watched him lift his paintbrush and point to a slab of orange bricks that sat in the back corner of the shop across from them.
"They are close to finished. Most just need their last coat of paint, and they will be finished on time, long before the actual ceremony." Demyx grinned at this.
"You're getting faster, Zexy." The smaller man just rolled his eyes and went back to painting.
Grinning, Demyx led Axel to the table, and they both looked over the instruments, making sure each was perfect without touching them. Most of them were considered sacred, and one could even be sentenced to death for messing up while playing one, considering it offended the gods.
Axel smiled and nodded, "Perfect, as always. Demyx, Zexion, you are both amazing."
Zexion grunted his acknowledgment, and Demyx giggled, "Well, of course we are!"
Axel nodded in agreement, smiling happily. "And, of course, you will be paid handsomely for this."
"Oh, come on Emperor Axel. It's honor enough to have our instruments played during such holy celebrating. The pay is merely a pleasant bonus. Right Zexy?" Demyx turned to grin at the man, who only snorted.
"Yes, it is an honor, but I rather do like the idea of eating." He replied calmly, not looking up.
Axel chuckled at the blond's pout. "I'm afraid that'll be all. Thank you both for working so hard and for being such a big part of the ceremony. It could not be done without you."
Demyx smiled and happily led the emperor out. "It's no problem, really. Thanks for stopping by!"
The red head was waved off, and he happily waved back at the man before turning and walking back to his palace. The emperor's presence warranted a lot of stares and bows as he passed the wealthy and their slaves, giving a general nod to those who bothered a greeting.
Meanwhile, deeper in the forest, a familiar bird was flying through the trees, heading to see an also familiar and usually grouchy bat.
"Riku! Riku, I saw that human again!" Sora chirped excitedly as he landed on the branch his best friend was hanging from. An assorted array of mumbled curses was heard from the bat's self-made cocoon. After a long moment, Riku finally uncurled himself from his wings and flew up to land in some nearby branches to help keep the sun from his eyes. What he said next surprised the yellow bird.
"Sora… You need to stop hanging around this human." The bat spoke slowly and carefully, but still the bird did not react well.
"What do you mean? He's only been nice to me! He even gave me food! Why shouldn't I see him?" Sora snapped angrily at his friend.
Riku sighed slightly, "Sora, nothing good can come out of befriending him. You know that, or at least you should know that. Why else do you think we hunt each other? Humans hunt us, and those who eat meat will attempt to eat the human's. That's how it's always been."
Sora puffed out his chest feathers and glared. "Well, I'm sick of how things are, Riku! He's a nice human, and he won't hurt me!"
"Fine, but if he doesn't, someone else will! I'm telling you Sora, nothing good will come out of this!"
The golden bird squawked at the bat angrily, "Just be quiet Riku! You don't know them!"
With that, the angry little bird jumped off the branch and flew away.
"Sora! Where are you going?" Riku screeched after him, but the bird didn't want to listen or maybe he just didn't have an answer to give at the moment. He didn't know where he was going, but anywhere was better than there.
The sound of a wooden chair shattering against a rough orange-brown wall echoed through the small home as a man raged in his delusions.
"Axel! Why won't you see me?" He screeched at the broken chair, as if it was the entire reason for his pain.
After screaming for the hundredth time, the man stood in the middle of his small home and panted, trying to calm himself. "I know…I'll just make you see me." He grinned to himself and let out a small deranged chuckle that quickly turned into a loud, crazy filled cackle.
"Don't worry, Axel! We'll be together soon, don't worry, don't worry, my love!"
CHAPTER THREE, MOE'SUCKRA! :}D!
Review Replies:
Russiada:
LOOK! AN UPDATE :D YOUR EXCITMENT WAS NOT MISPLACED! :D I am so happy you liked it! It makes me so happy to have reviewers! Thank you!
Alphafangdemon:
Oh my god, I was in my last class of the day when my phone buzzed to tell me I had an email. Is sat there smiling as I read your review under the table! I loved your hat and monacle thing ;) I really hope you like this chapter! Thank you for reviewing!
P5hng-Me-A'Wy:
To resist sounding like a crazy fan girl, I'll just say thank you, and that I love you :)
Dolly-D-Mushroom:
I would crash any wedding if Mansex was the priest! That would be funny as heck! XD Thank you so much for reviewing and wanting to marry my baby, I know you two will be happy together :) Thank you! YOU ARE SO FULL OF AWESOME SAUCE IT SHOULD BE ILEGALL! XD
DaBunneh:
Thank you for reviewing :D and, you know, it's funny, I hadn't relized how similar the two are till you pointed it out XD this story is like the princess and the frog!