Tainted But Beautiful
Part 2: The Secrets
16. Awakening
Pairings: AkuZeku, Zemyx, AkuRoku, AxDem, minor onesided VexZex, XemSaix
Rated: M
Warnings: Vampires, vampires, vampires...uh, yaoi, AU-ish-ness, abuse, noncon, rape, graphic scenes, character death, overall weirdness.
Summary: Axel is a powerful vampire slayer who's captured Zexion, a vampire, as his pet. What Axel doesn't bargain on is Demyx, his former student, developing a strong attraction to Zexion...
Notes: Here's the last update I can promise before school starts, so savor it as best you can...even though it's rather...short. Compared to the other chapters at least. _
We return to Roxas in this chapter...which has a very strong XemSaix vibe to it as well. Overall, I'm not terribly pleased with this chapter and may (potentially) overhaul it, but I had to get it out of the way in order to write the seventeenth chapter, which is one of my favorites so far, and not in a small part because of the cliffhanger at the end...
But enough of chapter seventeen, and on to sixteen. Enjoy!
Xemnas paced back and forth in the now-vacant meeting room, perturbed.
He was thinking, very hard. About Luxord, about Kadaj, about the various unorthodox alliances he had forged and would potentially forge. But above all...
Strange, how Xemnas's thoughts contiued to turn to the little slate-haired incubus who had attempted to lie to his Superior. Not that Xemnas would ever care about an incubus. He had better amusements than incubi and succubi; other vampires might be pleased by the silly touches of their lower brethren, but never Xemnas. The bodies of incubi and succubi, their movements, were too light to him, sliding off him like water from rock. And their ridiculous prattle, too, irritated him to no end.
Saix was nothing like that. Saix was so strong, his muscles hard like steel, able to match his Superior in every movement. He didn't prattle, either, emitting no sounds during sex save his low, animalistic grunts and growls, and, whenever Xemnas pulled his partner into one of their intense, ravishing climaxes, howls that seemed to tear apart the very air, to tremble at a moon quivering high above...
How could Xemnas ever fall into bed with a succubus again, after Saix? Of course, the other vampires might give him odd looks, might whisper nasty rumors about his decision to forge an alliance with Saix's kind...but Xemnas didn't care. He was their Superior and they would all follow him to the ends of the earth itself if he willed it. That didn't stop them from complaining, though, about the "stench" they could detect all over the headquarters. Xemnas didn't know why they all complained, though. He found Saix's smell, a combination of earthy musk and light moonflowers, utterly invigorating, far more delightful than his own blood-and-darkness presence.
As if thinking about Saix was the cue, Xemnas suddenly caught a wift of a familiar musk-and-moonflower scent, and turned towards the door of his room. It clicked open on a command from his mind, inviting his partner in.
A wolf, powerfully built, all rippling muscle beneath shaggy fur the strangest color--a light, shimmering blue--padded into the room, its steps as light and soundless as moonlight on a shadowy night. The wolf slid gracefully around Xemnas, twining around the Superior's legs, and Xemnas reached down and placed his hand on the wolf's head, right above the x-shaped scar shining on the wolf's snout, his hand sinking into the soft fur. Fur as soft as the elegantly long hair that Xemnas so loved running his hands through as he lay beside the other during the nights...
The wolf turned slightly to cast Xemnas a glance, its golden eyes glimmering with an inquisitive light. Xemnas sighed and stared at the ceiling again.
"It's the incubus traitor, Saix. He is...dangerous."
The wolf turned away and emitted a grunting snort, almost derisively. Xemnas laughed and stroked the wolf's fur.
"You might not believe it, Saix. But he is. He is nothing like...an average incubus. He is intelligent, a schemer, a plotter. More than that...he has a strong will. Do you not sense it too? That little boy...he killed a slayer and half-made the slayer's student all for the sake of a single human. Who can stop that sort of determination?"
A discontent growl, thrumming from deep in the throat of the wolf. Xemnas sighed.
"Even as intelligent and willful as the incubus is...he's still naive. Too short-sighted to see what he has unleashed... Do you understand, Saix? He killed the heir of the La Monte family of vampire slayers. We will not escape this without repercussions, Saix."
The wolf just growled again, turning away from Xemnas.
"You understand, Saix," said Xemnas, never removing his gaze from the ceiling. "The incubus bore the mark of our coven. Surely, the slayer must have seen..."
A sharp intake of breath from the wolf provided Xemnas with the reaction he'd wanted. Xemnas looked down for the first time, smiling at Saix even as he continued stroking the wolf's fur.
"Don't you see...? Sooner or later, eventually...the slayer authority will track down the killer. They will come to us. After all, it's only the heir to one of the most prominent vampire slaying families in the world that was killed."
Saix growled harder, a low, perturbed sound that bared his teeth. Xemnas twisted some of Saix's fur beneath his fingers, reveling in its softness...even as he too shared the same perturbed feeling that Saix did.
"The little incubus Ienzo has released a dragon, and has not even realized it. This is...this is troublesome, Saix," said Xemnas, shaking his head slowly. "If the slayers come after us...I can deal with them, yes. But I'd rather they not be alerted to our presence until the time is right."
The Saix-wolf began pacing around Xemnas, its tail flicking discontently, its motions smooth as flowing water. Xemnas could see his own apprehension reflected in Saix's shining golden eyes, and couldn't respond to it except with another heavy sigh, a sigh that seemed to contain the weariness of the world itself. He resumed his stroking of Saix's head, but nothing could ease the rising troubled feeling deep within him.
"Disturbing, how an incubus could potentially foil all of our plans..."
When Demyx came to, sliding unwillingly out of the comforting darkness of sleep, he realized that no one was lying in the bed beside him.
He pulled himself up, rubbing his eyes, confused--he was quite sure he'd fallen asleep with his arms around Zexion, his face buried into the vampire's delicate slate-blue hair, inhaling his beautiful dark-but-sweet scent. But now...he was all alone in the bed, with only a slight indent in the sheets beside him (as well as the drying liquid from their...escapade...) reminding him that someone had been there.
"Zexy...?" he mumbled, turning to the side.
Zexion was leaning against the opposite wall, much as he had been earlier, his head lowered, arms folded. He was fully dresed again, and had even reapplied the bandages to his neck that Demyx had removed. For all means and purposes, it seemed like Zexion was acting as if...what had happened...hadn't happened.
"Demyx." Zexion actually did acknowledge Demyx, jerking his head in a curt nod.
"Um..." said Demyx, feeling his face color when he realized he had no idea what he wanted to say. "Um...about...um...what happened...or whatever..."
"Don't mention it," said Zexion, and when he looked up at Demyx he was smirking, his familiar confident--and seductive--smirk. "Thank you, Demyx."
"Huh? For what?" Demyx blinked, unaware of having done anything that he deserved to be thanked for. In fact...he should be thanking Zexion, for having come all this way just for Demyx. If Demyx had been in a particularly dreaming mood, he would've even thought this meant for sure that Zexion loved him...but no. He couldn't go there. Not when Zexion had long made his disinterest clear, had made it clear even last night (well, he couldn't tell if it was night, given how dark it always was in here...).
Zexion's little smirk just widened even more, and when he spoke, his voice was a low and excited, barely above a whisper.
"For the best night in bed I've ever had, of course."
Anything Demyx had been about to say in reply died in a sputtered choke in his throat. He could only bury his face back into the pillow, feeling his cheeks burn scarlet against the cool sheets beneath him, and realize that he'd almost...almost...been about to say the same thing to Zexion. Thank everything there was that he hadn't.
Zexion's low chuckle, delighted and light as a breeze whispering through the night, reached Demyx's ears. And Demyx found it wasn't hard to ignore everything--the vampires, his current sorry state, everything--and just laugh along with the person he loved.
Roxas was conscious of nothing but the pain.
He had no idea how long the pain had been coursing through his body, rendering him immobile. He didn't know, and he didn't care. All that mattered to him was the agony shooting through his every vein, twisting him into a tight and shivering ball, sending whimpers and gasps of pain to his lips...
It didn't even matter to him where he was. He certainly didn't know. Before, he'd been...in the North. Right...taken to a room on his own, much like this one, only the walls there were of stone and these were of concrete. But it was the same. Dark and cold...and he was alone. Alone, untilthe vampiric guards stepped in and...and...
He couldn't remember what they'd done, only that when he had awoken, he was no longer in the cold stone room, but in a cold concrete room. Same difference, though; they were both prisons, and he still had no idea where he was. And the pain...the pain had only intensified. He could barely think anymore. He couldn't do anything but curl up tightly and tremble from the agony stabbing into his every nerve ending, hoping for it to end, to end, even if it had to end in darkness forever--
Even if it meant he could never see Axel again--
--anything was better than this pain. Roxas had never hurt so badly before, not even that--that time--when the vampire Zexion had bit him. This was a pain that seemed to be tearing him apart on all sides; a pain that seemed to be squeezing him like a metal vice, preventing him from drawing breath; a pain that flowed in his veins as if it had replaced his blood; it was pain of the worst degree and he couldn't even begin to comprehend it.
In desperation, Roxas had started seizing on something--anything--to raise him from the dark ocean of agony, and somehow he found that lifeline. In his memories, painful as they might be...
But the pain of having lost Hayner, Pence, and Olette...of having lost Axel...was nothing when compared to the agony currently tearing the fabric of his entire being apart.
Hayner, Pence, Olette. He remembered them. Remembered running in the streets with them...remembered sneaking into convenience stores and stealing food...remembered following Pence's many harebrained schemes to make money...remembered perching with Hayner on the top of the construction projects, laughing over the triumphs and tribulations of the previous day...remembered thanking Olette as she patched up his cuts and scrapes...remembered trading insults with Seifer's gang...
It seemed like a dream, almost. Like something from someone else's life. He was no longer that person, the boy whose only care had been surviving and whose only excitement had been fighting with Seifer and his crew. He was a different person, harsher and wiser and stronger--
After that night, everything had changed. Everything had changed after the snarling vampire, in one fell stroke, slew his three best friends...his only family. Everything had changed after he'd picked up that length of pipe and senselessly chased after the vampire--with only the desire to hurt in his unthinking mind. Everything had changed, after...after...
...after Axel...
No, not Axel! a part of Roxas's mind screamed, the part that had tried not to think about him ever since--ever since that had happened...but another part of Roxas welcomed the thoughts. The memories. It would be a nice reprieve, a distraction, from the pain currently racking all of Roxas's limbs.
He couldn't help but think--again--about the way Axel had died. How Axel had just lay there and smiled at Roxas with such trust in his green eyes, even as his own blood splurted from his chest and Roxas drove a knife further and further into Axel's heart...how Axel had said, with his last gurgling exhalation, "I forgive you, Roxas."
Forgive! He didn't deserve forgiveness for what he'd done. It was his fault, his fault entirely. So what if he'd been under the control of the vampire at the time (as he suspected Axel would claim if he was able to defend Roxas now...)? It was Roxas's fault for even falling for the vampire's ruse in the first place. How could he have just stood there feeling sorry for Zexion as the vampire wove his web of manipulative lies over Roxas? Feeling sorry for a vampire! He shouldn't have. He should have listened to Axel when Axel had snapped at him, "He's only a vampire! He's just manipulating you!"
Now Roxas was paying the price. Axel was gone...and Roxas was...Roxas was...something he could have never imagined being. A vampire. He almost choked on the sickening irony of it all--from slayer, to vampire. He wondered what Axel would think, if he wasn't...if he wasn't dead...
Why did Roxas's thoughts keep turning back to Axel of all people? But why shouldn't they? He wouldn't be lying if he said that Axel, now, was the most important person in his life. Axel had saved him from the vampire. Axel had given him a new life, a place to stay--a person to be. Under Axel's instruction, he had matured from Roxas the street rat to--to Roxas, the slayer-in-training.
Only to have it all taken away from him in an instant. By an insidious slate-haired vampire who appeared barely two years older than Roxas...
"Way to go, Rox, just trusting everyone you come across," whispered Axel's voice, as confident but playful as Roxas remembered. It was so shockingly familiar that it sent stinging tears to Roxas's eyes, and he wrapped his arms tighter around each other, digging into his skin into his fingernails--no, not really nails anymore, what with the way they'd sharpened and elongated...more like claws--drawing forth trickles of blood colder and darker than it once had been. The pain continued to rack his nerve endings, but there was a different pain now, too...a pain that surrounded Roxas's heart as if a frozen hand had reached deep inside his chest and squeezed.
The pain of remembering Axel. Axel, with his hair a spiky red halo around his head, a forever mischeivous light glinting in his brilliant green eyes... Axel, his voice so easily able to alternate between light and jesting, clipped and lecturing, and fierce with anger... Axel with his knowing smirk, and the strange marks under his eyes, Roxas had never asked what they were for... Axel, his touch light on Roxas's wrist as he guided Roxas into the proper position for impaling a vampire with a stake...
Axel. Gone. Forever.
Roxas couldn't say why that hurt so much. Of course he'd feel awful about killing the guy; Axel had been his mentor, after all. But there was a different component to the pain, a different, deeper sort of pain than just that of killing a beloved teacher. A heart-stabbing, soul-wrenching pain...pain at having killed...the person he...
The person he cared about more than anyone else. More than anything else in the entire world. Someone he'd be glad to die for, yet fate had been cruel and instead that person had died in his stead, at his hand, for no reason, save the machinations of a smirking vampire...
Somehow, when Zexion spoke of going to the lengths he did to save Demyx, Roxas felt he almost--understood. Almost.
No, don't think about--about him. About them. Axel, Axel, I'm sorry, Axel, I wish I could have seen you again Axel--
Roxas had been so wrapped up in his memories of Axel that he hadn't realized that the pain was beginning to die.
He became numb from surprise for a moment, wondering if he wasn't just deluding himself or if he'd been hurting so badly the pain had shorted out his nervous system--what the hell, it doesn't work like that!--but then, twitching his fingers experimentally, realized...the pain was starting to lessen. Before...even that simple gesture would have been enough to send spasms shooting from the nerves in his fingertips through his entire body. Now, though, while it did hurt...the pain was a duller pain, more like a steady throbbing in his veins instead of the spasming daggers it had been earlier.
Not to mention...Roxas felt different, too. More...more awake. More alert. Gone was the disorientation caused by the pain, replaced by a startling clarity of thought. He could even see clearer, too, as if the darkness had moved aside to admit a strong pale moonlight--he could make out every sharp corner in the room, every crack in the wall, every stain on the floor. Details were suddenly jumping out at him, everywhere, not overwhelming him, but making sense, making order from a chaotic world.
He'd become more attuned to sound, too. Nothing was lost on him, now. Not the sound of his own breaths, cold and lifeless in the equally cold air. Not the minute scurrying and scratching of rats in the wall. Not even, much to Roxas's surprise, the sound of other vampires in the--the warehouse, he realized now. He could hear them...hear their footsteps in the distance, hear faint strains of low conversations...
And sense them as well. He couldn't quite explain it. It wasn't...wasn't scent, exactly, though he felt he was detecting at least a part of it through his nostrils. Yet...somehow Roxas felt he was sensing the blood-and-darkness presence of the other vampires somewhere else, somewhere throbbing deep in his veins... But it didn't matter. He knew, now, where they were--where every single vampire in the warehouse was in relation to himself. And with the knowledge that he could detect them...something else floated from the air, something that forced him to wrinkle his nose in disgust and shake his head from the sheer power of it. A heavy, musky scent, like a wet dog only even more unpleasant...
It was so...strange. He'd never felt like this before. Not even after...after that had happened. Mostly he'd been disoriented, both by the light and the hunger burning in his veins, as well as his overall confusion. True, he'd felt his senses improve somewhat, and certainly had been able to see in the darkness much better...but it had never been like this. Never had his senses been sharpened to this extreme.
He began to move, once he was confident that he was in no danger of keeling over from agony any time soon. Slowly, at first, just twitching his limbs...then uncurling from the fetal positon he'd been in...crawling to his hands and knees...and finally, inhaling deeply and hoping with all the strength of his heart that he would not fall over...standing up.
It wasn't as bad as Roxas thought it would be. His legs trembled a little bit, aching in protest after having been huddled next to his chest for so long. But he didn't fall, and the pain had died down enough that Roxas, while still feeling it, wasn't bothered enough by it that he couldn't move. He took an awkward step forward, and then another, but paused--after all, just where the hell was he planning on going, anyway?
He didn't know. He was still trapped here, even if he'd suddenly seemed to have become more sharp in his senses. And why had that happened in the first place...?
Well, that's easy. I was turned into a vampire, wasn't I?
The thought was still distasteful, but Roxas couldn't deny the truth of it, as much as he hated it. He had been turned (well, at least partially...), and was himself surprised by how long it had taken to really feel it--sure, he'd acquired a disliking for light and a fondness for blood, but had yet to acquire the "benefits" of vampirism, such as improved senses and stamina.
Though again, Roxas supposed he shouldn't be surprised. Axel had taught him (among so many other things) that all made vampires underwent a period where they were near useless, immobilized while their bodies changed from living to undead. Usually it only took a few days--or less--depending on the strength of the pureblood that had made them. Perhaps it'd taken longer for Roxas because he hadn't been fully made.
Now, though, he'd awakened. Awakened into the vampiric nature he still rebelled against, even though he knew it was a pointless fight. But if he didn't fight...what did he have left? It was the least he owed Axel...
Axel.
Strange, how the thought of Axel...almost invigorated Roxas. How it made his legs twitch in something near anticipation, how it made his blood sing with excitement...
...how it filled his entire being with purpose.
Now, he knew what to do. He knew, somehow. Even if it was a pointless, stupid effort...even if he was stuck in a coven filled with vampires...
But he could do anything, now that he'd awakened to the full range of his powers as a creature of the night. He could escape. He could get the hell out of here...and stalk through the city's streets...and find, in the city's upper-class district...a house...a tall and imposing villa, a familiar place, a place that Roxas had been so close to calling home...
He didn't stop to think why, or even what he was going to find there. He didn't care anymore. All that mattered to Roxas was--was Axel. He hadn't said goodbye, after all. He hadn't done anything to repent for the horrible thing he'd done, except sulk and whimper in pain. No, he had to make up for it in a more concrete way...had to return to the place where Axel had died. It would probably be crawling with slayers investigating Axel's mysterious death, but Roxas no longer cared. Hell, he would even welcome it, if they killed him--
Then he could be with Axel again...
So it was without thinking that Roxas slowly began to drift towards the door again, his every step slow and purposeful. He tried the door; it was locked. Oh well, that didn't matter to him...he just pressed his shoulder against the door, and it splintered into pieces beneath him. He had to stumble to regain his balance, but couldn't help a small smile at his handiwork--that had been much too easy. He supposed he'd gained physical strength from his awakening, as well...
The door opened into a dark hallway, but Roxas could sense his surroundings enough to know that if he took a few lefts, he'd be able to reach the outer wall of the warehouse. After that...it was only a question of breaking through the wall, and escaping. Somehow, with his heightened senses, he could tell that it was night, so he could travel freely.
He could find Axel's house again.
Roxas gave into the soaring joy that thought inspired within him, and broke into a run, not caring who or what he ran into--he could deal with it. He could deal with everything. As long as it led him to Axel again... Ahead, he could detect the presence of three vampires, but it didn't matter to him; they weren't particularly strong vampires anyhow...
Three beautiful young woman, all blonde and curvaceous, stood where the hall turned to the left, and they all gave Roxas blank stares for a moment--only to then bat their eyelashes and giggle, and try to reach out with their cold clawed hands and grab him...
"Outta my way," he snarled at them, and threw all their hands aside, even giving one a push that sent her slamming straight into the wall.
The other two just stood blankly where they were, staring at their fallen comrade, and Roxas found it all too easy to ignore them and run, run, run, ahead, not caring about anything but escaping--but finding his home--
The air whistled past his ears as he ran, faster than he'd ever run before--so fast it almost felt like he was flying. He rounded several more lefts, not encountering anyone else, save a vampire he accidentally ran into while on his way down the final hall. The vampire fell over with a loud oath, papers flying from his hands--Roxas found it all too easy to grab the vampire by the neck...and twist.
He didn't feel anything, particularly, upon hearing the crack that ensued. He'd already killed a vampire while under Axel's wing. This, he supposed darkly, was his second kill--not that the slayer authority would ever count this one.
And then, at last, he was at the wall. He knew it was the right wall--knew that this one wouldn't open into more halls or chambers, but into the outside. Knew it from the smell of sea salt, as well as other more unpleasant smells such as rotting fish and raw sewage, that sharply assaulted his newly-sensitive nostrils. Outside was the harbor...the city...
Home...
The question now was how to get out. Roxas knew he'd gained strength from his transformation, but wasn't sure if he was strong enough to punch through a concrete wall. He supposed he had no choice but to test it, though. If he dawdled too long, he was sure he'd be caught, and while no one had started chasing him yet...he knew that was just because he had the element of surprise. That'd quickly change if he didn't try anything, now--
So Roxas flung himself at the wall, hand clenched in a fist, closing his eyes and praying with all he had that this would work and he wouldn't end up breaking every bone in his hand...
Crunch.
Roxas slowly cracked his eyes open, staring incredulously at the wall--no, at the gaping hole in the wall now. His own hand was still extended in front of him, the knuckles cut and scraped somewhat from their impact with the wall--but otherwise, he was fine. Having trouble believing what he was seeing, Roxas continued staring at the ground--at the crunched-up pieces of concrete lying beneath his feet--and then at the jagged hole he'd created.
But he couldn't delay for too long. He was running out of time and he knew it; several presences, stronger-feeling now, were beginning to head in his direction. So, taking a deep breath (though he really didn't need it), Roxas climbed into the hole he'd opened, and leapt out.
He landed on his feet, even though the fall was his height at least, and before he would have probably hit the ground and rolled instead of landed upright and gracefully as a cat. Roxas didn't bother thinking about the ease of his landing, though; now that he'd escaped, his veins were pumping full of adrenaline and all rational thought had been banished, banished save the strong desire to head, like a moth towards light, like a planet following the sun--
--home.
No more conscious thought. Just turning, and running, as the salt tang of the sea rang in his nostrils and a gentle breeze stirred his hair, and the cold stars above peeked through dark storm clouds to illuminate the night as brightly as day to Roxas. He turned in a familiar direction, as a needle always returns North, and faced the dark streets spread in a labyrinth ahead of him.
He didn't know what he was going to do after he went there. It didn't matter anymore. He'd go there first, and that was that. He'd go to Axel's home, his home, and somehow make amends. Somehow.
There was no time to think about that "somehow", though, as he took off in a swift run, comfortable under the night sky, his every stride gliding like wind...
Xemnas had been curled comfortably next to Saix, running his hands through his partner's hair, hair as soft as his fur in his wolf state, allowing his mind to wander but always returning to the lithe, taut as a bowstring, body beneath him. Being with Saix was almost like a reprieve for Xemnas, a reprieve from his daily business of watching, protecting, leading, always leading, his coven...
With Saix, he didn't have to think. He didn't have to think about anything except the pleasure Saix could bring in the form of his animalistic roars and growls, in the form of violent climaxes that could make Xemnas's vision descend into a haze of thoughtless glory; he didn't have to think about anything but the comfort Saix could bring now, curled up naked beside Xemnas, fast asleep.
Xemnas didn't need to sleep, but he cherished these moments nonetheless. Lying beside Saix in the dead of night, with nothing on his mind but the delightfully warm body beneath him...it was these moments, and these moments only, when the Superior could feel almost...almost relaxed. Almost...content.
But then that content moment was rudely destroyed when a loud knock sounded from the door.
Saix stirred in his sleep, grumbling discontently. Xemnas, feeling just as discontent, pulled himself away from his lover and strode to the door, not bothering to get dressed again. He had no reason to feel embarrassed, after all, in front of all these lesser vampires.
It wasn't a lesser vampire waiting for him, though, but a bat, small and leathery and brown--the familiar of a lesser vampire. Xemnas extended his arm, and the bat took a perch on his hand, watching the Superior with its dark beady eyes before opening its jaws wide and speaking--not moving its jaws, but allowing a voice, strangely echoing and almost obscured by a din of background noise, to rise from its throat.
"Superior. The incubus traitor's servant has fully awakened and has escaped."
That was the end of the message; all that the bat's tiny brain could hold. It flew off after it finished delivering its master's message, disappearing into the darkness of the hall beyond. Still, the message was enough. Enough to break Xemnas's relative calm and for him to realize that the little incubus Ienzo had unleashed more monsters than one--
"What must we do?" Saix's voice was rough, but quiet; querying. Xemnas didn't need to turn around to see the werewolf standing behind him, naked as Xemnas was, watching him expectantly.
"Isn't it obvious?" said Xemnas, slowly beginning to turn around, his silver hair swinging like a stately curtain around his face, obscuring his expression from scrutiny. "We must mobilize the coven to search for this half-made servant. And also, Saix...see to the incubus Ienzo for me. He is to join the search as well...after all, a good master takes responsibility for his servants..."
"Yes, Superior." In a flash, Saix was a wolf again, blue-furred and elegant, sliding around Xemnas's legs to exit the room. He paused halfway down the hall, to throw Xemnas a questioning look, which Xemnas returned with a sigh and a resigned shake of his head--Go on ahead, do it. I will join you shortly. He didn't need to speak to communicate his intents to Saix; something he appreciated greatly.
Xemnas sighed again, and buried his face in his hands, still shaking his head slowly. "What a headache you are, little Ienzo," he said resignedly...but had to admit there was something...interesting...about this strange but passionate incubus. Xemnas didn't think he'd ever been challenged this much before by anyone, human or werewolf or vampire...
And Xemnas, while enjoying his peace and relaxation quite a deal, enjoyed his challenges even more.
"Something's happened."
Demyx turned in Zexion's direction, surprised that Zexion was speaking again--since they'd spent the past...well, who knew how long, but it felt like an hour at least...in silence. Silence because Demyx had nothing to say, and felt that Zexion preferred his silence, anyway...he'd seemed deep in thought, his head lowered, one arm folded across his chest and the other resting on his chin. Also, Demyx had the strange thought that both were being silent in an effort to maintain self-control--Demyx trying not to pee (because even after their nice little romp, the urge had not gone away), Zexion trying not to, well, eat Demyx. But now, Zexion had jerked out of his silence, his eyes meeting Demyx's, his expression serious.
"Huh?" said Demyx, blinking blankly back, idly thinking that Zexion's eyes were quite a beautiful shade of blue, dark and fathomless as a silent lake...
"Something's happened," repeated Zexion, in as strained and serious a voice as before. He turned toward the door to the room, and jerked his head into a nod. "Out there. Something...I don't know what, but many vampires are becoming uneasy...gathering somewhere...."
"What?" Now Demyx's full attention had been caught--he could even ignore, for a moment, the overwhelming urge to go. He stood up from the bed, moving closer to Zexion--but Zexion took a step to the side, evading Demyx. Demyx was hurt, until he realized that Zexion had probably just saved his life.
I shouldn't come closer...he's a hungry vampire...and even if he controlled himself for...for that...who's to say...it'll last?
So Demyx kept his distance, even while he still longed to stand close to Zexion, with his arm around the incubus's slender waist, breathing in Zexion's beautiful scent...
"I don't know what...oh! Damn it..." And then, Zexion's stance changed--he tore himself from the wall with a motion too fast for Demyx to see, and moved in front of the door, dropping into a low, defensive postion, almost a crouch. Demyx was almost terrified by the change that had come over Zexion; he'd never seen the vampire like this before. So...so fierce, with a snarl on his face and his claws outstretched before him...almost like Zexion wasn't thinking, but reacting instinctively, becoming an animal...
"Zexy...? Zexion, uh, what's happening...?" stammered Demyx.
He got his answer when the door flew open with a bang--and Saix stepped in.
Zexion leapt so fast he was a blur--but Saix was faster, snatching Zexion by the wrist and bearing the vampire down to the floor with a single, almost bored, motion. Zexion hissed when he collided with the hard concrete, and tried yanking his arm out of Saix's grip, but Saix held tight, his face dispassionate...but judging by the sounds Zexion was making, changing from indignant snarls to pained gasps, he was clenching his hand tighter and tighter around the vampire's wrist...
"Ridiculous, incubus, to think that you could stop me...?" said Saix, his tone bored, injecting none of the contempt the words implied into his voice.
"Ngh...d-damn you...feral dog..." hissed Zexion, making another futile attempt to jerk his arm out of Saix's clutches. All that accomplished was getting Saix to tighten his grip, if the drawn-out cry of agony Zexion emitted seconds after his attempt was anything to go by.
"Hey! Hey!" called Demyx, windmilling his arms in a silly effort to get Saix and Zexion's attention back to him. He might not know what the hell Saix was, but still...Saix was hurting Zexion. And Demyx had to stop that, no matter what. "Hey! Cut it out! What're you here for, 'cause I really gotta--"
"But I suppose I can't fault you for your reaction," continued Saix in as dispassionate a tone as before, pretending to ignore Demyx, releasing Zexion's wrist. "You are a creature of your instincts, after all..."
"Not as much as you, mutt," hissed Zexion, clutching his wrist tightly but never removing his gaze from Saix's face--a gaze suffused with dark, near animalistic, loathing. Demyx shuddered, not quite understanding Zexion's fury. It scared him...he'd never seen Zexion so angry before...
Then, again before Demyx could see, Zexion had flown across the room from the force of Saix's blow, slamming into the opposite wall and sliding back to the ground again, his head lowered, a trickle of blood running from the corner of his mouth. Demyx ran to Zexion before he could think about what he was doing, heart feeling ready to burst from concern.
"Zexion! Hey, Zexy...you okay?" he called, taking Zexion by the shoulders and shaking him--not bothering to think that this gesture would probably just hurt him more. Not bothering to think that he'd just gotten close...
"D-Demyx...back away...now..." To Zexion's credit, he didn't try kicking Demyx as he had the first time, but there was no mistaking the dangerous intent burning in the depths of his dark eyes--and Demyx immediately followed Zexion's order, taking several reluctant steps back.
"Oh, my, isn't this sweet," cut in Saix sarcastically, dragging Demyx back into his present situation--namely that "something was happening" and Saix was here, for some unfathomable reason. "And remember, incubus, I am not as pleased to humor your disrespect as the Superior might be..."
"What's going on? What do you want?" demanded Demyx, trying to ignore how high-pitched his voice was, how panicky his demands sounded...
"Simple. I do not want much..." said Saix, and was it just Demyx's imagination or did his golden eyes narrow, dangerously, as he beheld Zexion still slumped against the wall...? "But I have come here as the bringer of bad news, unfortunately. Unless you were planning this all along, incubus...I wouldn't put it past someone like you."
"What...?" Zexion looked up, genuine confusion shining in his eyes--reflecting the confusion swirling within Demyx.
"To put it simply..." Saix took a threatening step forward, then two. "...your servant, incubus...has escaped."
Dun dun...wonder what Demyx thinks about it all, given that Zexy has yet to explain anything to him...?
Well, you'll have to wait quite some time (most probably after the Jan. 24 SAT) to get an answer. For now, though, here's the preview for the seventeenth chapter (called "Chase", and not after a House doctor). For the first time, it's more than one paragraph, but don't think I'll be changing the format of my previews for the rest of the story. Just felt you needed a long preview to tide you over for the long wait...
Saix turned, and wordlessly pointed at Zexion. Still, the gesture was enough--enough to cause Zexion's slender shoulders to stiffen and for him to take a startled step back. Demyx almost wanted to step forward and drape a protective arm around Zexion's shoulders--but had enough self-control to hold back, and just stand, and wait...wait for Xaldin to turn slowly in Zexion's direction, the sadistic glimmer even more pronounced in his purple eyes.
"What is this...? An incubus? Your name?" said Xaldin, drawing his words out with exaggerated slowness as he approached Zexion, closing the distance between them with each heavy, deliberate step.
"Ienzo, sir." Zexion's answer was quiet and strained, and he did not look up to meet Xaldin's gaze, even as Xaldin was looming directly above him. Demyx was suddenly struck by how...how small Zexion appeared, in comparison to the large and powerfully-built Xaldin...he almost wanted to warn Zexion, but of what?
Soooo...until I update, enjoy what's up so far. And remember to review!