Tainted But Beautiful
Part 3: The Renegades
22. Execution
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 a (rather late) update, just to show I'm not actually abandoning this story yet.
I'm not quite sure what to think on this chapter...though I do like the scene where everyone is talking to DiZ, I'm not terribly fond of the AkuRoku scene. Yes, there is an AkuRoku scene in this chapter, so yay, you get that piece of pairing goodness.
You readers can judge, though. And I should stop babbling so you can enjoy this chapter.
"Too early," groaned Demyx, burying his face in his pillow. But the insistent rapping at the bedroom door wouldn't stop. "Five more minutes, Axel..."
Honestly, Axel that douchebag, always waking him up at the crack of dawn and barely giving him time for a shower and a few bites of breakfast before beginning morning lessons. Whenever Demyx tried nodding off while Axel lectured about dismemberment techniques or coven histories, he'd snap Demyx back to attention with questions on what he'd been talking about and then Demyx would be left a fool groping for answers...
He rolled over on the bed, wondering why it felt so much softer than the hard servant's bunk he usually slept in...had he fallen asleep in Axel's room? Now, that was embarrassing...
When he flailed a hand out, he struck something--something soft. An arm. Axel? Wait--what the hell, since when had Axel crept into bed with him? They hadn't fallen asleep in the same room since he was nine! But wait wait wait, Axel couldn't be in bed beside him because Axel was rapping at the door--
"Get it," grumbled a familiar voice that most definitely wasn't Axel's.
Demyx could imagine the sound of shattering glass as his settings reassembled themselves, from Axel's manor five years ago to DiZ's manor. He clung tightly to the sheets, disoriented. It hadn't been Axel beside him, but Zexion. And the person rapping at the door...
With a groan, Demyx hauled himself to a sitting position. He'd been sleeping so well, too! But he must have been dreaming of Axel; why else would he have mistaken here for Axel's place?
The knocking grew even more insistent. Demyx fished around for something to put on when he realized he was only in his boxers. "I'm coming!" he called, throwing aside a pillowcase draped over the nearest chair. Just where had he put all his clothes?
"Hurry it up, it sounds urgent," said Zexion. Demyx cast the vampire a glance; Zexion was lying on the back, propped on one elbow, gazing at the ceiling. He was wearing a shirt several sizes too big for him--it took Demyx a moment to recognize it as his own shirt.
"Why don't you get it yourself?" he said sourly. "You're awake and kind of dressed."
Zexion rolled over with a sigh that sounded less exasperated than dramatic. "I don't feel like it."
"Don't feel like it?" sputtered Demyx. "What--what the--what the hell is that? I--I'm telling you, I'm coming!"
He strode right up to the door, swinging it wide open.
Namine unleashed a little scream and staggered back, a furious pink flush coloring her cheeks. "Oh--I--I'm sorry--I didn't mean to--"
"Huh?" Demyx blinked, confused; he was pretty sure he hadn't swung the door open that hard. A low snicker from behind him caused him to lower his eyes to himself and realize he was wearing nothing but his rubber-ducky-patterned boxers. Namine, pressing herself to the opposite wall of the hall outside the bedroom, her blue eyes bugging out, clearly had never seen so much of a man's body before.
Well, thought Demyx, resisting the urge to shoot an evil glare at Zexion, you stole my clothes!
"Umm...sorry," he said, moving to the side so that he was no longer standing framed by the door. "Umm..."
"S-sorry..." Namine was still blushing and hadn't moved any closer. "If--if I'm interrupting anything--"
Zexion snickered again; Demyx had the feeling Zexion was taking monumental enjoyment from this. Hastily, he said, "No, no, you're not interrupting anything, um, why'd you wanna see me..."
Namine straightened, looking somewhat calmer, though the pink tinge had yet to leave her face. "DiZ wants to see you...both of you. He wouldn't tell me for what..."
All sleepiness and embarrassment were banished by Namine's words. Demyx felt like he'd been doused with a dose of cold water, his every nerve shooting to perfect attention. Something was happening, whatever it was, something important.
He exchanged glances with Zexion. The incubus sat up with the easy grace Demyx had come to both love and envy, casting Namine a piercing look. She shivered slightly, but stood her ground and met his gaze.
"Didn't he say that we weren't to be disturbed until we had made our decision?" said Zexion.
"He--he didn't tell me what it was for, but he made it sound urgent," said Namine, somewhat defensively.
"Urgent." Demyx tried to think about what would register for "urgent" on DiZ's radar, and a tremor coursed through his body. He envisioned a mob of vampires surrounding the manor, or, heaven forbid, Xemnas finally finding their location, or a million other doomsday scenarios. Glancing at Zexion, he saw that the incubus's face was drawn closed as a curtained window, his expression unreadable. Was Zexion thinking the same thing? Or maybe he was thinking that Demyx was being an idiot as always, or wondering whether to have type B or type O blood for lunch. Demyx didn't know.
"Come to the sitting room as soon as you're dressed," said Namine in a quick breath, before darting away without a backwards glance. Demyx unleashed the sigh of relief that she hadn't. She clearly had been frazzled out of her nerves speaking to a guy in his boxers and, well--a vampire. He felt a bit sorry for her; living with DiZ couldn't be easy.
"Urgent," said Zexion, echoing what Demyx had said earlier. "What do you think he means by that?"
He was looking at Demyx now, but there was still no emotion to his face. Getting the uncomfortable feeling that he was addressing a mannequin, Demyx lifted his shoulders in a shrug.
"I--I dunno. I guess we'd better go see...but first of all, give me back my shirt!"
DiZ stood in the middle of the room like a blood-drenched statue, somehow managing to hold three pieces of paper in one hand and not look like a complete fool doing it. He glanced briefly as Demyx and Zexion entered the room together.
Axel and Roxas were already there, their faces identically pale and drawn as they occupied the same couch they'd been in yesterday. Yesterday. It already felt like years ago to Zexion, and being a vampire, he tended to view days as being short as hours.
"Well? What is it?" said Demyx, biting his lip and fidgeting with his collar and tapping his foot and performing all sorts of nervous tics that filled Zexion with the urge to slap him.
He didn't do anything that drastic, but did prod Demyx in the small of the back with a claw and hissed in the slayer's ear, "Sit down, you're making a fool of yourself."
"What?" squeaked Demyx. Zexion grabbed him by the wrist and led him to the same love seat they'd occupied yesterday, plunking Demyx down ungracefully and sinking sinuous as a shadow beside the startled blonde. He watched DiZ, examining the papers held in the masked man's hand--two were simply pieces of ordinary printer paper, folded into squares, but one was parchment folded into an envelope...
A faint tremor ran down Zexion's spine when he realized that the envelope looked exactly like the messages the Coven of Thirteen used to pass among themselves. How had DiZ come into possesssion of it...?
"Okay, we're all here," said Axel, looking discontent. "Now talk. Somehow I don't think those papers are tax forms."
"You are rather...impatient...Axel," said DiZ, frowning at the red-haired slayer, who merely scowled and folded his arms.
"I'm just sick as hell of fudging around. Why'd you call us?"
Zexion had to admit he had been wondering the same thing. He glanced at the parchment envelope again, and felt the chilly dread tighten in his stomach. Something to do with him...?
"I have multiple contacts everywhere, ways of infiltrating communication lines," explained DiZ. "That is how I chanced upon these."
"And what the hell are they?" demanded Axel.
DiZ, as always, didn't seem perturbed by Axel's rudeness. Calmly, he said, "These...these are execution orders."
The room erupted at that.
"Execution?" hollered Demyx, leaping to his feet like someone had lit a Tesla coil beneath his seat. "What the--for who--why?"
"Huh? Don't tell me they're--" Axel's face twisted nastily, as if he wasn't sure whether he should be scowling or glaring or suppressing nausea.
"Who--who do they want to execute? And who?" Roxas' voice issued in high-pitched, panicked bursts, his eyes wide pools of blue.
"Me," said Zexion quietly, an icy revelation settling in his veins. "That one--that one is for me."
He indicated the parchment envelope. DiZ nodded solemnly.
"But you were expecting this, were you not--Ienzo?"
Zexion hissed and recoiled as if he'd been burned by silver. "That is not my name."
"According to the execution form, it is," said DiZ, his tone flat as he unfolded the envelope. He held it out to Zexion, who took it even though he already knew what it would say. He stepped back from DiZ and smoothed out the creases in the parchment, scanning the shiny black words in the elegant, curling script which all vampiric clerks employed:
Coven of Thirteen
Execution Orders
For an incubus Ienzo (outside name: Zexion) and his servants, allegiance Northern Coven
On charges of high treason against the Superior
Bring in alive
Zexion wasn't aware that his hands had been shaking until he felt warm fingers close around his wrist; he jumped, startled, but relaxed when he felt Demyx's familiar sea-salt and ocean-breeze presence. The slayer offered him a consoling smile that didn't quite reach his sea-colored eyes, before leading Zexion back to the couch.
"It's all right, Zexy," he said quietly. "It's okay, don't--don't panic--"
I'm not panicking, Zexion wanted to say. And he wasn't. He'd known ever since he'd first stood straight and said, "no", to the Superior. But to see it codified, spelled in neat script on paper...that was an entirely different matter. Suddenly his imminent death had become real, something he could hold in his hand. He scanned the orders again, even though there wasn't much to them. Charges of high treason... Bring in alive...
Bring in alive. He knew what that meant; Xemnas wanted to do the deed himself. Remembering his last encounter with Xemnas, Zexion shuddered; Demyx tightened his grip on Zexion's shoulder and drew him in closer, enveloping the incubus in his comfortable warmth. Zexion buried his face into Demyx's shirt, seizing on to Demyx's solidity for something to anchor him to reality. Demyx was patting him on the head now, running fingers through his hair with a gentle irregularity that comforted Zexion, somehow; perhaps because it was so Demyx.
"All right, that's not a surprise." Axel's harsh voice cut through the moment, snapping Zexion back to what they'd been discussing in the first place. He pulled away from Demyx, ignoring the slayer's reluctant whine.
"We already knew they were going to issue execution orders for the vampire," continued Axel, glaring at DiZ. "What about those? Those are orders from slayer HQ, aren't they? Who the hell do they want to see dead?"
"It--it couldn't be you, could it--" Roxas turned to Axel, wild with panic.
Axel shook his head mutely. "I didn't do anything wrong..."
DiZ spoke over them all, his rich voice commanding all of their attention. "One of these is an execution order for a vampire slayer. The other is a standard posting for a vampire, which has been up for some time already."
"Me," said Zexion in an instant. "Well, I was expecting that. Ever since I...killed...Axel."
He cast Axel a sidelong glare, which Axel returned with a slight smirk that disappeared as quickly as a fleeing bird. Zexion almost returned the smirk, but couldn't summon up even sardonic humor. As much as he was pretending to not be bothered by the execution orders...it still felt like a strange, heavy weight to know that he was wanted not just by vampires but by slayers as well. He was outcast from both worlds, with no one by his side but fellow outcasts. Reflexively, he leaned closer to Demyx, and Demyx wound his hand around Zexion's wrist, his familiarity a greater comfort than Zexion would ever admit.
"It is not simply Zexion to whom this posting is referring," DiZ was saying. "The standard procedure with slaying any pureblood vampire is to eliminate their servants as well."
Zexion kept his eyes averted as he said, "You mean...Roxas."
"Roxas? What--?" sputtered Axel.
"Why?" said Demyx, his tone almost whining. "Roxas hasn't done anything wrong."
"Yeah, if anyone deserves to die, it's him for doing that to Roxas!" yelled Axel, pointing an accusing finger at Zexion. Zexion stumbled back, startled by the vitriol shining in Axel's eyes; Demyx tightened his grip on his shoulder.
"I already have two execution orders on my head," said Zexion, trying to keep his tone as icy as possible. "What more do you want?"
"It is standard slayer procedure, as I have said," said DiZ, cold humor in his tone.
"Fuck that," said Axel heatedly. "They can't kill Roxas for something he didn't do."
"Axel...it's okay, I mean, I--I was the one who--" mumbled Roxas, staring at the carpet.
"It's not your goddamned fault," said Axel. "You hear me? It's not your fault so don't blame yourself for it, got it memorized?"
Roxas didn't say anything to that, but lowered his head further. Zexion watched their interactions with a faint sense of amusement, but the situation was too grave for the amusement to last much longer than a heartbeat. He said, his voice harsh in the silent room:
"And the third order...?"
"Is for Demyx," said DiZ as flatly as ever--but there was an edge to his voice, an undercurrent that hadn't been there before. Something dark, yet gentle at the same time. Sympathy.
"What?" Demyx squawked aloud, almost leaping off the couch; Zexion had to tighten his grip around Demyx's wrist to keep him from doing so. The slayer was convulsing so badly, trying to throw off Zexion's grip and do--what, he didn't know--that it was almost impossible to hold him back.
"What what what what!" Demyx continued screaming. "I don't geddit! Who'd wanna kill me? Why? I haven't done anything wrong!"
Even though Demyx was making a complete fool of himself, Zexion had to admit he could see the logic in Demyx's argument. All that had happened to Demyx was that he'd gotten kidnapped. That was certainly no cause for the death penalty.
"Yes, why?" he said, much more composed than Demyx. He cast a sharp glare at Axel, who he assumed would have the best answer to this question. "Demyx has committed no crime worthy of execution, as far as I am aware."
Axel glared at him but apparently couldn't think of something sufficiently immature and-slash-or vindictive to say in response, so he settled for explaining why. "Listen...Dems..." he said heavily. Pointedly ignoring Zexion. Go figure.
"What?" This time, Demyx sounded almost sulky as he slumped against the couch.
"It's...welll..." Axel looked profoundly uncomfortable. "Well...you were kidnapped."
"So?" yelled Demyx. "Since when do kidnapping victims get the death penalty? That's--that's completely fucked up!"
Demyx had just stolen the words from Zexion's mouth. He glared at Axel as well, but the slayer continued to resolutely ignore him. "You don't understand...a vampire slayer who is captured by a pureblood vampire is a liability."
"It was standard practice in my day as well," said DiZ. His tone was flat as ever, but the undercurrent of sympathy hadn't vanished.
Axel nodded, though he looked like he was swallowing bile. "Especially a human slayer...if a human slayer is captured by a pureblood vampire and isn't heard from for seven days, slayer HQ automatically assumes the worst. A--a vampire slayer, like me, would know to kill himself before he can give anything away. But a human slayer wouldn't know to...so that's a cause for--for an execution order. To make sure the human slayer doesn't walk away knowing more than he ought to. Got it memorized?"
Demyx had finally stopped struggling--but that didn't fill Zexion with any sense of relief. He seemed to have gone stiff with shock. Zexion tightened his grip on Demyx's hand, squeezing encouragingly, but Demyx didn't even react, remaining still as a statue.
He said, in a voice so tiny that even Zexion's sharp ears could barely hear, "That...that's terrible..."
"Demyx," said Axel, his throat convulsing.
"That's terrible!" yelled Demyx, surging to his feet so quickly he almost dragged Zexion up as well. Zexion quickly released his grip on Demyx's hand. "That's--that's the worst! Listen to yourself, Axel, just fucking listen...you're talking about--about my kind of slayer like--like we're not really people, like we're dumb animals or something...that's just..."
His voice cracked at the end and he lowered his head. No one spoke for a long, long time, to the point that the silence became uncomfortable. Zexion didn't know what to say to end it, though. He'd never been bothered by the way that vampire slayers worked--it was exactly like vampiric hierarchy. A powerful pureblood upper-class controlling the mundane animals, lowly servants used for cleaning trash off the streets. Demyx had never known that world, though. All along, he'd clung to his egalitarian ideals, his dream that through hard work alone he could be a proper vampire slayer too.
Now, to have it taken from him in such a strong blow...
"I just..." said Demyx quietly. "So I really...I'm not worth anything...not even as a slayer, or a human being, I'm just an animal that's found out too much so you're gonna kill me..."
He sounded almost ready to cry--just as he had that time on the plaza. Zexion's response came without thought; he stood as well and rested his hand on Demyx's shoulder, giving the warm skin an encouraging squeeze. Demyx shuddered and exhaled a rattling breath, clenching his hands into fists so tight his knuckles turned white. When he looked back at Zexion, though, there were no tears in his sea-blue eyes, and he even managed to crack a smile though it slipped away as quickly as melting snow.
"Ha ha ha," he said shakily. "I guess I shouldn't complain...I mean, you're the one with two death orders on your head..."
"Don't be an idiot," murmured Zexion, gently guiding Demyx down to the couch again. "And you're not an animal, either. You're...Demyx."
"No," said Demyx with a low little snicker that was completely incongruous, coming from him. "I'm dead is what I am."
"No you're not!" Axel's sharp voice sliced through the air before Zexion could respond. He'd stood up and fixed Demyx with a glare--not a hateful one, but one suffused with a pained urgency that caused something strange to twist in Zexion's chest. He'd never thought Axel capable of gentleness with anyone except maybe Roxas...yet it was plain that the tender emotion was directed at Demyx.
Of course he'd feel that way for Demyx, they were teacher and student for how many years? the more rational side of the incubus snarled. And what sort of idiot was he being, anyhow--jealous of Axel?
"You're not," repeated Axel. "Don't say those things, dammit, Demyx...you're not going to die, all right? You're not. I--I'll go to HQ, I'll tell them it's just a misunderstanding or shit--"
"You cannot," said DiZ flatly. "What will they do then? They will ask...ask what has happened. They will discover me."
"They have a right to know!" Axel stepped forward, pointing an accusing finger at DiZ. "Dammit, you can't just hide this kind of shit from people forever--"
"I will reveal myself," said DiZ, giving Axel a cutting glare, "when the time is right."
"Yeah fucking right, that's just another word for never!"
As amusing as this little privacy debate was...it diverted them from their main point. Zexion coughed loudly; Axel and DiZ spun around in an instant to face him, Axel looking offended and DiZ unperturbed as ever.
"What? You got something to say?" snarled Axel, an aggressive challenge flashing in his eyes.
"Nothing," said Zexion, folding his arms and meeting Axel's glare. After all, he was no longer Axel's prisoner--nothing the slayer did to him now could hurt him. He had no reason to fear Axel. "Only that there is no point to this debate of yours."
"No point?" Axel looked flabbergasted. "Excuse me, incubus, but I think we were discussing something that you'd think important too, given that you're supposedly in love with little Dem-Dem or whatnot--"
Demyx stiffened and a tremor ran down Zexion's spine as well. When he spoke, he had to force his voice to stay even. "You are mistaken. I am not in love with Demyx, and whether I am or not is irrelevant to the point."
"You keep talking about points," groused Axel. "So? What's the point here? Do enlighten us."
Zexion shot Axel a glare of pure poison, but at the very least, the slayer was finally cutting to the chase. He said, addressing DiZ, "Why did you tell us about the death orders in the first place?"
"Huh? Oh--" Roxas sat a little straighter, his eyes widening. Clearly, he'd been wondering the same thing.
DiZ remained silent as a statue. Zexion took this as an invitation to continue speaking. "After all, you have already shown you have no problem with witholding information when you believe it necessary. It is not strictly necessary for your plans to tell us that three of us have death orders on our heads, now is it?"
No one spoke; the room heaved under the silence. At length, DiZ said, "Once again...it appears I have underestimated your intelligence, Ienzo."
Zexion grit his teeth, trying to suppress a burst of irritation. "That is not my name...and also, do not dance around my question. Why did you tell us about the death orders?"
"And don't say some shit about it being our right to know," added Axel, shooting DiZ a death glare. Zexion didn't want to admit that he appreciated Axel's help, of all people.
"Of course..." said DiZ; a rough, weary smile lanced across what was visible of his face. "Very well, then. The reason I informed you of the death orders is simple: it gives you no choice but to aid me."
"Huh? How the fuck is that?" demanded Axel.
Axel could be so damnably thick...almost like Demyx. Zexion supposed Demyx had to have gotten it from someone, though.
"The orders do not tie you down specifically, Axel," said DiZ. "But as for the rest of you...you have no other places to go. Now that you are wanted by both vampires and slayers...where will you go? Who do you have to turn to except fellow outcasts? Except me?"
DiZ's logic was sound, Zexion had to concede, though he didn't like its overtones of emotional blackmail. Roxas looked similarly resigned, even nodding in agreement to some portions of DiZ's speech. Axel, however, looked very much like he'd swallowed a whole lemon and Demyx was convulsing wildly. Zexion snaked his hand over and delivered Demyx's a firm squeeze. Demyx didn't respond except to go stiff, which Zexion supposed was an improvement.
"I'll help you." Roxas's voice cracked through the silence like a whip. Zexion whirled around to face him.
"Excuse me?" he asid, wondering if he'd heard right.
"I'll help," said Roxas, standing up, determination flashing in his eyes. "What do I have to lose, anyway? If it--if what I can do can stop Xemnas, then I'll be happy to join you."
"Roxas, you--" said Axel, wide-eyed and incredulous. "Listen, why would you--"
Roxas didn't meet Axel's gaze. "It's not like we have a choice, Axel. You're thinking the same thing, aren't you?"
Zexion blinked, trying not to show his surprise, when Roxas addressed him. He jerked his head in a nod. "Like it or not...after defying the Superior, and 'killing' him" --he didn't have to make the quote marks with his fingers; they were implied-- "what choice to I have?"
"But--" began Axel, though Zexion really didn't get why the slayer was so bothered. "But, come on, are you serious about this? In order to defeat Xemnas, we need the full force of the Slayer Society behind us. Not some--some old guy and his groupies, got it memorized?"
If DiZ was offended at being referred to as an "old guy" with "groupies", he gave no indication of it. He said, "I will not alert the Society until the time is right."
"And meanwhile, meanwhile, what am I supposed to do?" yelled Axel. The vitriol in his voice was undercut with a heavy layer of frustration. "Just--just stand here while I watch you send them to their deaths?"
He gestured wildly at Roxas and Demyx with the "them"; Zexion wasn't hurt that Axel didn't include him among the "them". After all, to Axel, he wasn't even a real person. Just an incubus, a monster, who had seduced his former student and transformed his current one. In fact, Axel had all the reason in the world to want him dead, whether at Xemnas's hands or a slayer's, it didn't matter.
DiZ gazed at Axel levelly, betraying no emotion. "You could always help them."
"Fuck that!" roared Axel back. "I'm not an idiot, I know a hopeless cause when I see one!"
"So you are going to be a coward," said Zexion icily, standing up. Even though the sane part of his mind was yelling that he was being suicidal, he still began to approach the red-haired slayer, closing the distance that yawned like a canyon between them. "You are going to be a coward and turn your back on the only people you care about--and, I'm certain, the only people who care about you--simply because you believe there is a chance you might be at a disadvantage in a fight."
Axel flushed red and his face began making all sorts of nasty contortions. A tiny part of Zexion shivered; he recognized the old volatility. The rage that would lead Axel to strike out, or worse...but still he didn't step back. He moved even closer, so that there was only an arms-length separating them. If Axel wanted to hit...
Zexion tensed for the blow. Let it come. He'd suffered worse.
But Axel didn't hit. Instead, he said, roughly, "Listen to you. 'Might be at a disadvantage'. Might be? How about--how about the fact that some old guy who's supposed to be dead plus two human slayers, a little girl, and an incubus, facing off against the combined might of the Coven of fucking Thirteen? What part of completely uneven fight have you not got memorized?"
Zexion's shoulder where it met the neck--where his coven symbol was etched--twinged slightly when he heard Axel's mangling of his coven name. Not that that is my coven anymore.
Of more interest was the fact that Axel continued to refer to Roxas as a "human slayer"...as if he didn't know what the boy had become. He couldn't use this information now, though, so filed it in the back of his mind for future reference. To Axel, he said calmly, "You ought to have a listen at yourself. Look at you--a powreful vampire slayer, scion to the La Monte family--running away from the same fight that children, weaklings, a dead man and an incubus have already committed themselves to. Are you not ashamed of yourself?"
"You're doing it again," hissed Axel, his eyes narrowing. "Twisting my words around--"
"And how is that? That is what you said, is it not?"
"No! Listen, I wasn't saying that I'm afraid, just saying that we oughtta think this over a bit, got it memorized?"
"And I am saying that I do not care if you fight with us or not. I would expect such a craven action, coming from you. It isn't me who you have to face and explain your reasons to. It is--" He gestured behind him, at Demyx and Roxas "them."
Axel's throat convulsed. He didn't follow Zexion's suggestion, but snarled, still facing the incubus, "I'm doing what will keep me--and them--alive. You can go out and commit suicide if you want to--hell, the world would be better off if you did--but this fight's got nothing to do with us--"
"I beg to differ," said Zexion, ignoring how badly Axel's slight stung. Better off...would Demyx be better off without me? Had he never met me? "It has nothing to do with you, that is true. But you are not the one with execution orders on your head. What else can we do, then? What else can we do but fight back?"
"Don't speak for them," said Axel, drawing back, rage hardening on his face. "Don't. You have no idea--none--what they would think, what they would want--"
"Yeah, he does." Roxas's heated voice startled Zexion; he turned and saw that the boy had stood and begun to approach Axel. "He's got a better idea than you, at the very least. Don't stop me, Axel. I...I see now. It's him, Xemnas, it's him who's done wrong. If it weren't for him, none of this would have happened..."
Well, Zexion didn't see where that logic had come from, but if it got Roxas on his side, who was he to protest?
"Zexy's right," said Demyx acidly; he'd stood as well and even rested his hand on Zexion's shoulder. "You can do what you always do and run away from the truth if that makes you happier. But me--me and Zexy and Roxas are going to fight. Who cares if we don't stand a chance. At the very least we'll have done something."
A sort of bitter venom which Zexion had never before heard from Demyx entered his words with the last sentence. The vampire shuddered slightly, even though he knew it wasn't him the venom was directed at. But still. He'd never heard the obliviously happy Demyx speak with such harshness, nor had he ever seen Demyx glare at anyone as fiercely as he was glaring at Axel, as if he was a victim seeing his attacker being put to death. Rage and hatred--but triumph--were etched on his normally gentle features. The hand on Zexion's shoulder squeezed, almost to the point of painfulness, but Zexion was too confused to protest.
Whatever had gotten Demyx angry...it sounded like something personal.
Axel blanched, all the red leaving his face in one fell swoop. He lurched back, his throat convulsing and lips moving soundlessly as if he wanted to explain himself. Clearly, what Demyx had said had impacted him far more than anyone else's words.
"Axel..." said DiZ quietly.
Axel didn't speak for the longest time, keeping his eyes trained on the floor and his shoulders slumped like an ashamed man. Ashamed of what, Zexion couldn't say--in part because Axel had so many things to be ashamed of. Yet he'd never owned up to any character flaws...at least until now.
"Fine!" When he spoke, the sound was as jarringly sharp as if someone had turned the radio dial too far. "Fine! Fine, fine, fine fucking fine! If you all wanna get yourselves killed be my fucking guests! It's nothing to do with me. Got it fucking memorized?"
With a final dark glare directed at all in the room, Axel whirled around and stormed out of the room, muttering expletives under his breath. Everyone watched him go, DiZ impassively as always but Roxas with a look of utter pain on his pale face.
And Demyx...Demyx stood rigid as a dead tree, his mouth set in a firm line of conviction. Zexion blinked at Demyx, startled. He'd never seen Demyx so convicted about anything, not even stepping in Xemnas's way to protect Zexion.
"Demyx.." he said, brushing his hand against Demyx. The slayer didn't follow through on the gesture and accept his hand, worrying him slightly. "Demyx...what...what could have happened..."
"It's nothing that has to do with you," said Demyx, his tone flat but layered with ice. "If that doesn't get him to help then nothing will. Come on, Zexion, let's go."
Without a word, he seized Zexion by the hand and led him out of the room.
Roxas found Axel in his room, head down, pacing back and forth and muttering expletives under his breath. He paused in the doorway, nervous--after Axel's fit in the parlor, he didn't know whether it'd be such a good idea to disturb the older slayer. After all, Axel might take it out on him...
But when Axel looked up, meeting Roxas's eyes, he didn't shout. Instead, he said, his shoulders tense, "What do you want."
"I just..." Roxas cleared his throat, feeling uncomfortable. Truthfully, even he didn't know. "Just...wanted to talk, I guess..."
"Well, talk away," growled Axel.
"Axel..." said Roxas helplessly. "You're not going to help us...?"
"No," said Axel. "I'm not going to help you all commit suicide."
"It's not suicide, Axel," protested Roxas. "Listen, you want to fight Xemnas too--"
"Roxas, stop it," said Axel, his voice suddenly firm. "I know why you're really saying these things."
"Do you now?" said Roxas, a little more sharply than he usually would have with Axel. But still--he was frustrated. Frustrated by how stubborn Axel was, and worse, by how Axel kept treating Roxas's resolve as a game. He'd always had the feeling that Axel didn't take him seriously, and now the feeling had been augmented.
It isn't a game or anything. I really do want to defeat Xemnas. What he did--what he's doing--is wrong. And he could hurt you too, Axel...
"It's him," said Axel, his mouth twitching as if he'd smelled something unpleasant. "The fucking little vampire. He's making you say those things, isn't he--"
"He isn't doing anything!" yelled Roxas. "You don't get it. I really do want to fight Xemnas. All I'm asking is for your help, Axel."
"Help! Help in what, letting you die? I'm telling you, Roxas, the best thing to do is to get the hell away from here, fast as possible, and forget all this happened! All of this!"
"Forget?" Roxas clenched his hand into a fist, driving his claws into the pale skin and ignoring the pinpricks of pain as cold blood began to trickle out. "Axel, I can't forget. I'm--I'm a vampire now, I--"
It was the first time he'd ever admitted it. Strangely, it only hurt a little bit, a tiny pain like a hard knot in the pit of his stomach. Otherwise, he felt nothing but an icy sense of resolve. So he was a vampire now. It didn't matter. That didn't change the fact that he was Roxas--Hayner, Pence, and Olette's Roxas, Axel's Roxas, Zexion's Roxas, all in one. And that didn't change the fact that he wanted to keep Xemnas from hurting any more of his friends.
"No! You're not a vampire, goddammit--" Axel stepped closer to him, anger twisting his face. But it wasn't anger at Roxas; it was anger to cover up pain. "Don't say that kind of shit!"
"Yes I am!" shouted Roxas, tightening his fist to the point of painfulness. "You don't get it, Axel. I'm a vampire now. So what? At least--at least I can fight for myself! I've already made my decision. Now make yours."
He glared at Axel, his chin up and arms folded. Waiting defiantly for Axel's response. He didn't expect much--maybe for Axel to start cursing and shouting again, he didn't know.
Instead, Axel said, his voice heavy, "Listen...Roxas...I think you should know why I don't want you to fight."
Roxas almost said, Because you're a coward? He held his tongue, though, and waited silently for Axel to continue speaking.
"It's because...because I...ah, hell..." Roxas was sure he'd never seen Axel so hesitant--not even that time when he'd "killed" the older slayer. Except that time, Axel hadn't really been hesitant. Maybe strangely quiet and subdued, but there'd been such certaintly glimmering in his eyes that time. This time, though, he kept his gaze averted, his hands trembling like he didn't know what to do with them.
"Because--because--listen, I--it's because I think--I am--I don't--I mean--" Axel cleared his throat loudly and looked up.
Roxas staggered back, shocked by the intent blazing in Axel's eyes like fire beyond smoked glass. Suddenly all the hesitancy had left the slayer's face, to be replaced by a thin-lipped resolve. Axel approached him, his eyes cutting through Roxas's soul like twin daggers.
Roxas was painfully aware of a sudden heaviness in the air, of a change in Axel's scent--a strange cleanness that came from a lessening of the usual smoke smell that clung so persistently to the slayer. He didn't know what to make of it. Above all, he was aware of a sensation that was lacking: his heart should have been pounding a mile a minute, instead of remaining frozen, undead, deep in his chest.
"Roxas, it's because...because..." To his surprise, Axel wrapped his hands around Roxas's, drawing him closer. Axel's grip was surprisingly strong and warm, and it took all of Roxas's self-control to keep himself from pulling away. "Because...I love you."
I love you.
The words rang senselessly in Roxas's ears. He felt as if the ground had been torn away from under him and only Axel's grip was keeping him aloft. He stared into Axel's face, studying the lean, impish features with which he'd become so familiar. Studying the green eyes sparkling with such seriousness, the dark markings beneath those eyes, the strange pallor that had fallen over Axel's face; it didn't suit him at all.
But of course Axel would be afraid--afraid of rejection. It was only natural...
"I love you, Roxas," repeated Axel, tightening his grip on Roxas's hands as if he feared Roxas would pull away. "That's why--that's why I don't want you to fight. To just throw your life away like that. Don't you understand? I've already--already lost so much. Demyx...my mother and father...I don't want to lose anyone else to a vampire..."
"Axel..." said Roxas when he managed to unstick his throat. His words escaped in a whistling whisper. "You don't understand. If--if we beat Xemnas, then we'll have crippled a good thirteen covens, won't we have? Then--then there won't be as many vampires left to hurt people."
Like how they took Hayner, Pence, and Olette from me...
Axel just gave a sad laugh and shook his head. "Maybe that's so, Roxas...but look, just think about the chances...and oh, fuck, why am I even talking about this? That's...that's not what's important."
He lifted a hand and rested it on the side of Roxas's face; Roxas shivered, startled by how warm Axel's touch was. Axel smiled sadly at him as he spoke. "What's important is that...that you're here. You're here right now and you're with me and that's all that matters."
"You don't...you don't...I mean..." stammered Roxas, disbelief welling in his stomach--but mingled with something else, an emotion he couldn't identify for an instant. "It doesn't matter to you...that I'm a vampire?"
Axel laughed again, with even less humor than before. "Of course not. Vampire or no--you're still just Roxas to me."
Only when Axel bent down to plant a kiss on his forehead, drawing Roxas close to him so that all Roxas felt was Axel's warm and peppery presence, comforting him in a strange way because it was so familiar, did he realize what that undentifiable emotion was:
Joy.
Emboldened, he threw his arms around Axel's neck, and pulled himself even closer to the man he loved.
Gross...now that I think on it, the reason the scene doesn't work out that well is because I don't like AkuRoku. All right, I accept that it's pretty much canon, but I dislike both parties involved. Axel's a jerkass and Roxas is an idiot (sorry Axel and Roxas fans...). Thankfully, the story is nearing its end so there won't be that many AkuRoku scenes left...whew.
The next chapter, "Immortal", is one of my absolute favorites and a definite high note when compared to this rather slow chapter. In it, we not only get a Demyx and Zexion lover's spat (always fun...), but we finally get Zexion's entire backstory, which I have been hinting at obliquely throughout the story. In particular, take a look at chapter ten for hints...since it will probably take me a while (as usual) to get the chapter actually up.
Here's a longer-than-usual preview to whet your interest:
It was small, metal, and rectangular--a locket. Made of gold that gleamed dully in the dying light.. Demyx flipped open the delicately-engraved cover with an easy motion, to see that the locket held a picture inside. A small black-and-white photograph that was rather blurry with age; still, Demyx could make out the person depicted in the picture. He stared in the solemn dark eyes of a young man--no, a boy, not even as old as he was--with medium-toned hair that framed an angelically-delicate pale face. The boy wore a hat pulled low, and his starched collar and bow tie, and curve of his lapels were barely visible in the image. From the apparent age of the photograph and the way the boy was dressed, Demyx supposed that the picture had been taken around the turn of the last century. Yet there was something strangely familiar about the boy, something that niggled in the back of his mind...
"Immortal" will also contain the last major revelation in the story, so you can all breathe easy now.
Meanwhile, while waiting for me to update, be sure to send reviews. Every review lights up my heart just a little more.