May the madness continue. . .
Yay-now time for some kick-ass action! I'll even add a Black Butler moment.
. . .
Chapter 8: Turth
. . .
Sleeping had started to escape me. Since Elizabeth's death, I've been having more night terrors than nightmares. Luxord said that he can sometimes hear me screaming in my sleep and can't seem to wake me up. I don't know what's going on, but it's starting to scare me. School's been harder to keep up with because of the terrors. I've talked to Ansem, and he I could just follow the class at home, which really worked out well. I could get in little spurts of sleep during the day and get doped up on caffeine and sugar so I'm up all night. But now, it's only a matter of time till a Nightmare on Elm Street incident happens. But regardless, I can't afford to sleep.
It was about nine in the morning and I was getting pretty tired. I tried everything to stay awake, coffee, tea, and just about anything we had in the house sugar. So I set and alarm and laid down on the couch and listened to the news. It only took a matter of seconds for me to get really comfy and a few more fall into a sound sleep. . .
Is it just me, or do I feel really light? Almost like I'm flying. Now how could you fly in the library?
I was on the ground then. I stretched and yawned while scratching my back. I rubbed my eyes and looked around the room. It could almost be empty except for two people on the other side of me. One of them had short flaming deep red hair with a single ponytail pulled back at the base of his head. The other was that one person with black hair and golden yellow eyes I had met in a dream before. What was his name again?
The two were playing cards at a table, not paying me any mind. So why bother them? Keeping quiet, not trying to disturb them, I walked over to the other side of the bookcase behind them. Skimming the selves for something I haven't read yet, I couldn't help but over hear the two's conversation.
"Father's growing impatient," One said. "We need him to act now!"
"We need both of them, Reno!" The second one said. "Without Riku, the little blond boy is useless!" Little blond? I played with my hair for a second.
"I know." This Reno sighed. "But I can't find him anywhere! He's better at keeping under the radar than Brother."
"It's hard tracking people who no longer have souls. Only angels have that power, but his guardian's not talking." I peeked through a gap in the bookcase and saw the one black-haired one cross his arms. "We need to do something."
"What about the priest?" The red asked. "Maybe he could tell us where to find Riku!"
"Already tried. He couldn't give me much. Apparently once Riku contacts someone and discloses his location, he moves. Last time he was heard from, he was in Paris."
"Paris, ok, so send Terra to go look for him!" The red-head said flailing his arms.
"Tried. Terra can't find him." The black-hair one said drawing a card from the deck. "So, I think the best thing to do, honestly, is let Brother have the boy. Let the word get out, then Riku would more than likely come to his rescue and we can take it from there."
"But-that would mean-Vanitus-" The red looked really concerned.
"I know. And the man upstairs wasn't happy about the proposal either, but looking at all other avenues, he agreed." The black-haired man said. "I'm not happy about it! I kinda like the kid. He had a good life till that asshole of a brother of ours screwed up!"
The red-head pinched the bridge of his nose resting his elbow on the table. He looked really stressed. He took a deep breath before speaking again. "What does father think?"
"You know." The black-haired man growled. "No matter how many lives it costs, he wants Brother home now!" The two were silent for a while, then just returned to their card game. I withdrew from the bookshelf and headed away from them out of the library.
The snow crunched under my feet as I walked. But where was I going? I stopped once I started thinking about it. Where was I going? I sat down on the near-by bench under the only oil lamp left.
Then I heard it.
*familiar creepy type music.*
Where was it coming from?
*familiar creepy type music getting a little louder*
What is that?
I looked around but didn't see anything. Well, nothing but mist anyway, and the sound just grew louder and louder and louder till-
"London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down,
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair Lady."
I knew that voice! It was him! But where was that creepy type music coming from?
"Build it up with wood and clay,
Wood and clay, wood and clay,
Build it up with wood and clay,
My fair Lady."
He stopped just feet from me, winding a box that hung on his chest. "You know being out on a night like this can be hazardous to one's health." The infamous Puppet Master. Then a thought came to me? What was the off chance that-
"Myde?" I'm not sure where it came from, but the name just rolled off my tongue. And the second it did his eyes just went wide. "Myde Makeshift?"
"How do you know that name?" The tone of his voice didn't change much, but there seemed to be a hint of fear.
"My friend found a news article about the Makeshift boy who killed his parents." I matched his none caring tone.
Puppet Boy was silent for a moment before speaking again. "I didn't kill my parents, I sacrificed them. They were first two souls that I ever swallowed and the models for the very first dolls I made using my new found magic." He joined me sitting on the bench.
"Really?" I started swinging my feet under the bench. "What were your mommy and daddy like?"
He lowered his hat. "They were good people. They're only problem was putting too much trust in me."
"Why did you kill Elizabeth, Myde?" Why did I sound like a little kid? Why did I feel like such a little kid?
Myde stood up and started to wind his music box. "It was an order for him." Myde's clenched his fist tightly. "One of these days, I'm going make him pay, any way that I can!"
"Who is he?" I asked as if it were any question asked by any child.
"Blackheart, youngest child of Lucifer." Myde growled. "But just like me, you know him by a different name. I can't tell you what it is, but I can tell this: The one with keys can unlock the do with nothing more than his heart." He turned away from me and left me sitting on the bench while it snowed. It felt like the oddest thing, like I had a similar feeling to this sometime before.
Shortly after Myde left, someone else came to next to me. He was the red-head from the library. "It's a little late for a kid like you to sit out here at this time of night by yourself."
"I don't mind."
"I know. You've told me on countless occasions." He smiled. "I think he found out you're asleep, so it's time to wake up." Before I could ask, he pressed his lips to mine. Why did this-?
My eyes fluttered open and there were met with bright green ones. He pulled back away from me brushing his bangs out of his face. "It's been awhile, Roxas."
"Reno?" The red head with the ponytail just grinned at me. He was wearing a black suit and a pair of black goggles on his head.
"The one and only! You know you talk in your sleep." He merely stood up with grace and sat down on the coffee table. Upon seeing Reno, I was really amazed at how much he looked just like Axel. Their features matched almost perfectly. "I know. I get that a lot." My face dropped as he eyed me with a grin.
"Can you read-" I merely pointed at my head.
He nodded. "Yup. It's a gift from my father. He said using it could help me find my brother and bring him back home. The find him, not a problem, it's the bringing him home part that's the problem. " He chuckled.
"I'm sorry what?" I cocked an eyebrow. "Even more how did you even get inside my uncle's house?"
"Your front door was unlocked." Reno smirked. "The bigger question is, what can you tell me about Axel?
"Not a lot. Not much more than anyone else in this town that isn't in his clan." I sat up and yawned. "Why do you want to know?" Was I actually sitting here talking to his guy that just walked into the house without asking?
"I need to know how powerful he's become. If he's even just 100 short of goal, we're screwed." We did he 'we'? "Tell me Roxas, have you slept with him?" he picked up a picture of me and Luxord from when I was a little kid.
"I did once when I was drunk." And I still didn't remember much of what happened that night. Reno pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.
"Not good." Reno walked over to me, grabbed my wrist and started to pull me towards the attic.
"Hey, wait a second!" I tried to pull away, but his grip was tight and firm, inhumanly firm. "What the hell is going on?"
"Story time." Reno dragged me up into the attic. He sat me down in the middle of the floor. Then suddenly, six candles suddenly appeared out of nowhere forming a circle. I jumped backwards but bumped into something. The panicked look on my face must have been amusing to this guy. "It's a barrier. Don't want unwanted ears listening in."
I gulped. "What's going on?" Reno's gaze met my eyes.
"It was long ago, before Christ was born. . .
My father, Lucifer, or Mephistopheles, and his current lover, a fire siren. Like most men, he was drawn to her by her song, but it was her who fell in love with him. Sadly, it was more loyalty, than devotion that led to the birth of his last son, Blackheart. The child was a prodigy.
I was still young myself, so I didn't know much. Even though we look like young adults, time goes by differently back at home. Our bodies grew but our years, but our minds mature by human years. So counting by human years, I was ten at the time. Everyone was amazed though. Out of all my father's children, none of us looked related, but for some reason, Blackheart and I did. In response, father kept the two of us close. There were even times where it felt like we were twins.
As Blackheart grew up and became a young adult, his senses grew sharper and his wits grew wittier. His magic became stronger, and like his mother, it was strong fire magic. Over time he took on the nickname 'Axel'. All of us offspring adapted to calling him 'Axel', but Father never approved. And when Father doesn't approve, ironically, all hell breaks loose.
Blackheart, after hearing Father's disapproval about his chosen name, he started to change. As a child, he loved Father; he worshipped the ground Father walked on and did everything he asked. So for that innocent rejection, it really hit home. Especially since it was the only thing he had ever asked for. Then he met him.
Vanitus and I were just poking at souls and stuff one day when we caught a very unusual sight. Our little brother held another being in his arms, in a loving passionate way. It was really odd and awkward. And to my dismay, that was the day I started to lose my twin-like relationship with him.
I was walking the halls of what humans know as the Inferno. Nothing seemed too out of the ordinary, but Blackheart in this part of our world was an oddity. He never wanted anything to do with the soul pool, so why had he suddenly start? I walked up to him casually. "Looking for a friend littler brother?" I was joking of course, but something in his eyes said something different.
"Pagan, did you a human body can live without a soul, but a soul can't live without a body?" His question baffled me. Why was he asking about souls? And where did he hear that from? He was raised with strict restrictions on knowledge of souls.
"Where did you learn that?" Panic started to rise in my throat as a twisted grin grew on his face that was more sinister than our father's.
"Just now. From you big brother." It was then that I learned of his true form. His wings, like his mothers. His powers, like our father's.
With a simple wave of his hand, black shadows held me down. He looked dead in a face that made me want to piss my pants. I struggled, but the binding just held tighter. He walked over to me, his wings crowned proudly on his back with his black tail swinging back and forth, and his arms crossed over his chest. I had never been that scared before, not even by my father, and my little brother just laughed at me.
"You're much weaker that I thought big brother. Tell, would Father be proud of me now?" He was angry, all because of Father. "Well I have a message for him." He reached into the soul pool and pulled out a human soul. I begged him not to do it, but he did anyway. He swallowed that soul with no regrets. Then he turned back to me. "One thousand souls, one thousand human lives. When I meet my goal, he bow down and kiss my ass." And then he was gone.
It wasn't hours later till our only sister found me there held by shadows. Father was the only one that could set me free, however, and he wasn't happy about my losing to my youngest brother, nor did he believe me about his escape. He didn't think that an inferior sibling could defeat a superior one. He forced me to hang my head in shame. But it was he who truly hung his head.
"One thousand human lives leaves you cursed to live on the planet of man. One thousand human souls give you the strength to fight off the madness bonding you to the planet of man." Those were the words she gave to Father. We all knew that warning very well, and it scared us to no end what the prodigy child of Lucifer could do with that kind of knowledge and the power gained by eating 1,000 human souls. So he decided to go after him. . .
"What happened after that?" I asked in a whisper. Reno just shook his head.
"Father took off after him, but when he came back-" Tears started in his eyes. "Blackheart needs to be stopped. Even if he reaches the maximum of souls he can eat, Zexion and his followers haven't yet. Who the hell knows what that could do to the human race?"
"Wait a sec-I thought Hell was full of demons that wanted to destroy the human race." Why was he telling me all of this?
"Not really." Reno sighed. "True, we're not the friendliest, but so far, Blackheart's truly the only pure evil one." Reno took my hand and clasped it tightly. "I know about your past. I know about all the conflicts you've been dealt, but please, we need your prayers one last time." I jerked my hand away and shook my head.
"I am not going down that path again!" I shouted standing up.
Reno followed suit. "I know, believe me, I know. But it's the only way-you heard what Vanitus said. It's not ideal, but it's the only way. . ." Was it really? The memories of that night suddenly came floating back. Back when I first realized my sexuality. I had turned in the wrong direction then, so could I really turn back now? I looked into Reno's eyes. They were green, just like his brother's but less lust and sinful.
I swallowed what pride I had left and turned to Reno. "And if I do?"
"You might just be able to keep your soul." Could I really do it? I lowered my gaze. From what I gathered, unless I said 'yes', I wasn't getting out of here. I extended my hand and he just looked at me. "You should know by now that demons don't shake hands. Only angels do."
"Then how do you close a-" He cut me off with a soft kiss. . .
After exiting the attic, we went into my room and I knelt down by my bed. My heart felt heavy and tears started to sting my eyes as I pulled out my old books from those days. "I told myself that I would never come back to this place." I whispered.
"I know." I just gave him a strange look. "I was the one you were praying to, which is why I'm here now." That did explain a lot. I sighed-and then I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Crap-Luxord was home! I threw everything underneath the bed and just looked at Reno who was cocking an eyebrow.
"No time!" I simply pinned him down on the bed making our lips meet (which he didn't protest to) as Luxord walked into my room.
"Roxas, what would-Whoa-Um-this is awkward." He scratched his head as Reno and I pulled apart.
"Right he is." Reno smiled. I sat up and scratched my head.
"Luxord, this is Reno, Reno, my uncle, Luxord." Reno just waved as Luxord nodded. "Reno's the friend from school I went to the movies with."
"Oh-well, that's answer that. You two have fun-I'll be down stairs." A smiled lit up his face as Luxord closed my door and mozied downstairs.
"What the hell was that about?" Reno asked as he shifted his weight underneath me.
"Your brother invited me to a movie weeks ago. I didn't tell Luxord it was Axel because he doesn't like him." Reno cocked an eyebrow.
"So you want me to pose as your new boyfriend?" I shrugged. "Why not? Does this mean we can have sex?" I grabbed the nearest object and threw it at him before plopping down on my side and wrapping my arms around a pillow.
"Going back to sleep." I grumbled. "Bug me in anyway, I will break the deal." He didn't bother saying anything in protest. All he did was pull a blanket over me and put his arm over my waist. Boy was my head spinning. . .
. . .
"So let me get this straight," I mold over all last night and barely understood anything. I would have asked back at the house, but Luxord had stayed home later today to 'talk' with Reno about the rules of having dates over at the house. So I figured a nice walk in the backwoods would be better. "You are one of many offspring of Lucifer, the angle that fell in the dominion known as Hell and who has been known for over two thousand years to want to do nothing but lead man into nothing but eternal damnation."
"Right so far." Reno said following me up the snow-covered dirt road.
"Ok, and Axel, better known as Blackheart, is your youngest brother who went mad with power and is after my soul because that would be number one thousand?" Reno nodded. "So you and your brother Vanitus were sent after him to drag him home because your father was dumb enough to let him go for a hundred years, and then Axel decided he liked being in the human world and wasn't going back. One hundred souls, lives, and years later, he became too strong for any of you handle and our father didn't want to risk being struck down and Axel taking his place and let the unholy underground loose and wild."
"Right again!" The red-head cheered.
"Ok then, what about Axel's up bringing?" Reno stopped and looked at me. "He said his childhood was strict. I guess it kinda would be if everything you're saying is true."
Reno crossed his arms and let out a puff of air. "We were all brought up strictly. One more than another, but we were all treated as equals. Even though Blackheart is a prodigy child, he was given the same treatment any of us got."
"Tell that to him." I said kicking the snow beneath my feet. "Why me?" I sighed. "I gave all of this up years ago. Why am I being dragged back?"
"Because Blackheart's dragging you there. He's after you! Going back to the past you've been trying so hard to run away from is the only way to fight your demons." Reno puts his hands firmly on my shoulders. "Once he's back under Father's control and separated from Zexion, this will all be over. You can go back to living somewhat of a normal life. Your memories will be erased, along with everyone else's." I pulled his hands off my shoulders and backed away a bit. "Is something wrong?"
I merely tilled my head. "No. I just don't believe you, that's all." His eyes went wide and he was speechless. "All of this-it could just be a wild tale you made up to get me to go back to my old ways."
"Oh yeah-and what about yesterday?" Reno snapped. "That boy came to you-told you what he did and told you what he was!"
"I was asleep! It was a dream!" I stepped forward in anger. "For all I really know-you broke into my uncle's house, found me on the couch, heard me talking in my sleep, and decided to fuck with me!"
Reno's mouth hung agap as he just stared at me. "Listen to me and listen good," I started firmly. "I may be blond, but I'm sure as hell not stupid." I marched away leaving him there alone in the cold of the winter wood. Was it a heartless thing to do, sure, but how could I trust him? How could I trust Axel? How could I trust anyone?
. . .
There was only one way to find out.
. . .
"Roxas-" Axel greeted me in a shocked but cheery manor. "This is a surprise. What brings you to our neck of the woods?"
"I have something I need to talk to you about." He eyed me cautiously before stepping aside and letting me in. "So, funniest thing happened yesterday." I faked a laugh.
"Oh really, and what would that be." Axel grinned at me. "I could use a good laugh." He led me into the sitting room to the right.
"Ok, so I met this guy who claimed to be your brother." I said sitting on the couch. Axel plopped down next to me.
"Oh really?" He grinned. "Tell me about him? Are you cheating on me with him?" He made a puppy dog face and I went a little red.
"How can I cheat on you if we're not dating?"
"Yes, Sir, how?" Axel and turned around head in the direction of Demyx. I offered him a smiled, but his cold glare caused me to frown.
"I thought I ordered you stay in your room today." I swear Axel growled. He and Demyx shared a glare.
Demyx lifted his hand to his hat. "Why not just quite the act? He's clear questioning you right now. He's wondering whether or not to believe you or to believe your brother." Axel's expression grew very angry, almost monstrous. Demyx didn't flinch. "Roxas we talked about my parents yesterday. Indeed we did talk about my parents, and I thought it'd be best to introduce you."
Axel shot up from the couch so quick I couldn't see it. "I'm warning you right now-get back to your room!" He growled but still, Demyx didn't flinch.
Then suddenly, two small bodies walked past Axel and sat over on the coffee table. A chill ran up my arm and down my spine. Every hair on my body stood up and I couldn't help but look over at Demyx. He was controlling the puppets alright, but not with a controller, it was with nothing more than his hands! He-he was-
"Yes Roxas." Demyx bowed his head. "I am the one you call 'Puppet Boy'. I am the one who haunts your dreams. I am the one that wants to kill you and turn you into a doll." This time I did listen to my senses. I did run! But I was caught the second I was off the couch by something invisible. I struggled, but whatever it was, it only cut my skin. I gulped.
Demyx strolled over and sat down next to me ignoring Axel's glares. "I am truly sorry Roxas, but like Master, I am growing impatient. Isn't that right, Master?" I met Axel's and I swear I felt my heart break. The eyes that were staring at me, they were his eyes. My heart skipped a beat. . .
. . .
When I came to, I was strapped to a table in a dungeon-like room with a fireplace on one side, and a sadistic puppet master on the other. I struggled against the restraints, but they only cut into my wrist. "What's going on here Demyx?"
In his hands were nothing more than black and white materials. "There's going to be a party later and you're the guest of honor. It is proper for the guest of honor to wear formal clothes." He undid my straps allowing me to sit up. Tears ran down my face as Demyx put his hand on my cheek. "Do be still and you won't feel any pain."
"Is this all real, or am I dreaming." I wiped my eyes as Demyx stood up on the table. Like before in one of my dreams, he effortlessly cut and stitched together clothing that hugged and honestly did compliment my body.
"I'm afraid it's all too real." He sat me down. He continued with his work in silence. He finished everything off with knee-high socks covered by shiny black knee-high boots. Demyx stepped back to admire his work. "Perfect. Just perfect. I knew you'd make the perfect doll." I only stared at him. He saw as nothing more than a doll? How the hell did I ever think of him as my friend?
"I just want to go home." I whispered. "I just want my life back. I want Hayner back, I want Elizabeth back, I just want everything back." I buried my face and pretty much sobbed. Even if my life wasn't perfect back like when I was a kid, it was still great. I had what I needed. I missed everything. . .