Imaginary Chapter Six
Title: Imaginary
Author: villanelle_koi
Pairings: Zexion/Demyx (Ienzo/Myde), Kairi/Yuffie, more to come
Rating: PG-13 - R
Summary: Myde and Zexion were best friends. Trouble was, no one but Myde could see Zexion. When his best friend disappears, and a lookalike named Ienzo shows up in Twilight Town, Myde is swept up in events he can't even begin to understand.
Imaginary
Chapter Six
Darkness, swarming all around him, ripping, tearing. There had been a few moments of intense pain at first, but now Myde felt oddly numb. Some remote corner of his brain yapped at him that that was the endorphins at work. One small mercy, before he died, at least . . . .
Flames burst up all around Myde; the shadow creatures shrank away from him, trying to escape the inferno. Myde squeezed his eyes shut. He was going to die, he'd be burned alive, he -
The flames died as suddenly as they had sprung up. "Well. What have we here?" somebody said in tones of near-amusement. Boots clicked against the cobblestones as they made their way over to him, and there was the rustling of fabric as the person crouched down by him. "And just what are you doing around here, hmm?"
Myde opened his eyes tentatively, to be greeted by the sight of a strange, pale redhead with poison-green eyes smirking down at him. He opened his mouth to say something, but his voice died in his throat and no sound emerged.
"Hmph. Well, doesn't look like you're one of Hollow Bastion's, and with that reading we can't take any chances. Huh," and now the stranger casually turned Myde over so he was facing the dark sky, his gloved hands examining the extent of his wounds in a chillingly practiced manner. "You're one lucky bastard, you know that? If it weren't for . . . . well, whatever. How to get you out of here?" The redhead settled back on his haunches, folding his arms across his chest and looking up thoughtfully.
After a few moments he muttered, "Might as well call in XI and XII for this one, even if I hate to do it. Stay there for a minute, will ya?" This was obviously a joke - in his current state, Myde wasn't really fit to go anywhere. Chuckling to himself, the stranger stood up and pulled an odd semi-spherical device from his pocket. "Don't understand why I have to use this stupid thing, I can send up flares just fine on my own . . . ." He pressed two buttons on the side of the device; a hole opened in the center, and two flares of light, one deep red, one bright yellow, shot up into the air.
The stranger pocketed the device and crouched down by Myde again. "Right, then. Hey, kid, can you understand me?"
Myde opened his mouth and managed to say, "Y . . . . yeah."
"Good. Well, I need you to - hey, what's your name? Oh, never mind, ignore that, doesn't matter at the moment. I'll ask later. Anyway, I need you to try and get up; we need to get on the move, the Heartless are gonna come back pretty soon. Think you can do that?"
"S-sure . . . ." Myde slowly raised himself on his elbows, hissing in a breath. The endorphins seemed to be wearing off, now that the moment of stress had passed. Joy.
The stranger quickly pulled Myde up the rest of the way, draping one of the blond's arms around his shoulder and holding Myde to him securely. "Sorry, kid," he said as Myde yelped in pain, "but we've gotta go. Unless you'd prefer to party with the Heartless again, which I doubt." And with that he started down the street determinedly, ignoring Myde's grimaces and cries as he tried to keep up. Blood was dripping down his school uniform, a small red trail following them on the cobblestones. Funny, he thought, back home Cloud would've killed him for ruining it; it was pretty new, after all . . . .
The redhead cursed quietly as they turned a corner and were faced with several pairs of glowing yellow eyes. "Well, this doesn't look good . . . ."
A shadow leaped for them; the stranger dodged awkwardly, Myde nearly tripping over his own feet as he tried to follow the movement. A tendril of darkness curled around the stranger's wrist, followed by a burst of flame, and suddenly he was swinging a strange kind of circular blade out at the creature. It sliced through the thing easily, and the Heartless faded into a wisp and then nothing as Myde watched incredulously. Did he just pull that thing out of nowhere?
The stranger adjusted his grip on Myde a little, turning just in time to dodge a swipe from another Heartless. He spun the blade in his hand; it burst into flame as he threw it at the creature, returning to his hand immediately so he could smash it into another one. Another Heartless had come up behind them as the strange redhead fought, and as he spun from the force of his swing it sank its claws into him. With a pained grunt he brought the blade whirling down on that one as well, but there were more leaping towards them now, too many. Myde cried out in panic -
Suddenly a giant bolt of lightning arced down between them and the shadows. Immediately the creatures exploded, the wisps of darkness that remained fading away slowly. "Awwww, poor Axel's in trou-ble~ and here we thought you could play with the big boys now," a feminine voice called mockingly.
The redhead whirled with a snarl to the blonde girl who was the source of the taunt. "You try fighting while lugging around this -" here he jerked his head towards Myde, "- and see how you do, Larxene!"
The girl's face twisted into an expression of mock contrition. "Touchy, aren't we, Axel?" she replied. "Did I hit a sore spot?"
"Larxene," another voice called warningly; a cloaked figure walked out of the shadows, taking down his hood to reveal pink hair framing a pale face. "You called, Axel?" the young man asked the redhead indifferently.
"Axel" nodded, grumbling, "It took you long enough . . . ." He adjusted his grip on Myde and nodded to the blond. "That reading we got? Think it's from this kid. He's the only new thing in the area."
The pink-haired man leaned down to examine Myde closely. "Really, now . . . . he looks nothing like . . . . well, the reading implies at least contact. We can't take chances. We'll have to bring him back."
"How?" the girl cut in at this point. "Look at him, Marluxia. I'm surprised Axel managed this far, he's not in shape to really be going anywhere. He's no good to us dead. You think?"
"True," the man - "Marluxia", apparently - replied thoughtfully. "And we aren't the type to carry him securely. We'll have to call in the others." At the girl's derisive snort, he gave her a hard glance and said coolly, "V can carry him without too much trouble. And VI is rather adept with healing, if not much else."
"Him? Calling him VI - now there's a riot." The girl shook her head with a sigh.
"Larxene. Regardless of titles, he still has his uses." Marluxia sighed, nodding to Axel, who sighed and got out the strange device that had sent out the flares before. This time the colored streaks were lavender and orange as they shot into the sky.
Marluxia leaned against the wall as Axel put the device away again. "So now we wait."
"Not an option, Marluxia," Axel replied, pointing into an alleyway, where shadows were massing and peering at them in glowing yellow. "We've got company."
"Why, Axel, you sound concerned," Marluxia replied dryly. "What, you think we can't handle a few meager Shadows?" A flick of his wrist, and thick briars sprang into existence, ripping into the Heartless.
"You just sit back and let the big kids take care of this, Axel darling," the girl - Larxene, was it? - drawled, conjuring up small knives in her hands with a flash of electricity. Axel aimed a snarl at the blonde in return, calling two of the strange circular blades into existence as he leaped into the fray.
Myde stared in disbelief; that was the second time he'd seen someone pull a weapon from thin air in this world. Could everyone do that? And why hadn't Ienzo ever told him about it? A million questions went through his pain-laced mind as the three strangers went on the offensive, thunder and fire flashing through the darkness as they cut through swathes of the shadowy creatures, fearsome thorns circling Marluxia and Myde to catch any that escaped the mayhem.
"These things are awfully persistent," Axel commented as he retreated into the ring of thorns for a small breather, a few minutes later.
"And you expected otherwise?" Marluxia replied. "What, can't handle it?"
"Yeah, right. Just making sure you aren't too overwhelmed," Axel replied with a smirk.
An electric blur of movement and Larxene was back in the circle with them as well. "Fun as this is, we should probably get moving soon. We can't keep this up forever, and if we want that -" gesturing to Myde, "- to be alive by the time we get back to headquarters, then we need to go. Now. I personally don't put much store in the other two coming galloping to our aid, and if the so-called Number VI isn't here to heal him, then . . . . well." She shrugged casually.
Marluxia nodded thoughtfully. "Point made, Larxene. If they aren't here by now, then we won't -"
A low rumbling sound interrupted him, and a wall of solid earth formed between them and the Heartless, then crumbled almost as quickly as it had risen.
"You called?" a deep voice rumbled behind them.
Marluxia turned to the one who'd spoken; Myde looked over to see a huge man with an almost ridiculously large tomahawk standing behind them. Someone else was with him, but Myde couldn't see around the veritable giant of a man. He closed his eyes; he felt dizzy, lightheaded.
"V, good of you to come at last," Marluxia was saying.
"It seems even the great Number XI needs help sometimes," a mocking, high-pitched sort of voice sneered in reply.
"No one asked you, IV. Lexaeus, did you have to bring that with you?"
"If you need backup, then we might as well all come, summoned or not," the large man replied coolly. "You required assistance? One would think a few mere Shadows would pose no threat to you."
"Normally, perhaps, but we found the source of that reading. Unfortunately, he's rather badly injured. If you could carry him . . . . and a small healing before setting off is in order, I think. It would improve his chances significantly."
"Agreed," came the rumbling reply.
A rustling of fabric, the click of boots on cobblestones, and Myde felt the warmth of another body beside him. And then he heard a soft gasp. "Wh-what are you doing here?"
Myde opened his eyes wearily, looking over, and then he, too, gasped. "Ienzo! You-"
"Shh. Play along, don't ask questions, I'll explain later," Ienzo whispered hurriedly.
"Something wrong over there, boy?" Marluxia called. "The sooner he's healed, the sooner we're on our way."
"I . . . . I know him," Ienzo replied slowly, looking over his shoulder. "He's from Twilight Town. His name is . . . . his name is Demyx."
Myde started in surprise at this, starting to protest that it wasn't, but pain seared through his injuries and he settled back with a pained groan. Ienzo's attention turned back to him immediately, his dark blue eyes sharp and yet concerned, and a gloved hand rested delicately upon his chest. A small flash of green, and Myde's wounds started tingling, then went pleasantly numb.
"This wouldn't happen if you fools would actually bother to bring a potion or two with you when you went out on missions," the slate-haired boy sighed, standing up and dusting himself off. "We should get him back to headquarters as soon as possible, that spell will only tide him over for a while."
"Well, aren't we Mr. Efficient," Larxene laughed. "Well, I suppose you have to make up for being so useless someho-"
"Larxene," Marluxia cut in warningly. "Not now."
She huffed a little at being silenced, but didn't protest. The big man, meanwhile, went over to Myde and picked him up, slinging him over a shoulder easily; Myde let out a soft whimper, but the pain was rather more bearable now. If he squeezed his eyes shut and tried not to think about it, it was pretty much okay.
"A moment, Lexaeus," Ienzo's cool voice said, and the man holding Myde stopped. "This will be much easier on him if he isn't conscious to feel it." And those gloved fingers touched to Myde's forehead, as they had before, and the sitarist slipped again into unconsciousness.
~
"Drink." A bottle was being pressed to his lips insistently.
Myde let out a small, sleepy sound of protest, but opened his mouth obediently. Half a second later and he bolted upright, wide awake now, spitting out the foul taste on his tongue; another moment and he doubled over in pain as his wounds seared.
Ienzo sighed, looking much put-upon; one hand pressed against Myde's chest, pushing him back down onto the little cot, and he pressed the bottle to the sitarist's lips again. "Drink. You'll feel better."
Myde grumbled a protest, but drank anyway, grimacing at the taste. "That stuff is horrible," he muttered when the bottle was done.
"Between the taste of a potion and death, I believe the potion is the better alternative," Ienzo replied, uncorking another bottle. "Stop complaining, you should be glad you're even alive. Now, open your mouth."
Myde screwed up his face, but still drank down the next bottle obediently. When it was done, he muttered, "Do I have to drink more of that stuff?"
"No, that should be sufficient. Just a moment, your wounds should be healing now," Ienzo replied, wiping Myde's mouth and putting the empty bottles away. "Feeling any better?"
Myde blinked. "Um . . . . yeah," he muttered, surprised. "Loads better, actually . . . . what was that stuff?"
"Potion. A little healing brew of our world," Ienzo replied disinterestedly. "Now, care to explain why in all the various hells and netherworlds you're here? It shouldn't even have been possible, and besides that it's unbelievably stupid. Didn't I warn you about this place?"
"I don't care," Myde muttered petulantly. "I had to find you again. Kairi and Yuffie, they helped me . . . . anyway, why are you the one asking all the questions? I've got mine too, y'know! Like what you called me back there, why -"
"There isn't time at the moment," Ienzo cut him off. "Later. And remember that while you're here you answer to 'Demyx'."
"But why-" Myde started, but at that moment the door opened, and in walked the redhead from before - Axel.
"You got him all fixed up, then, Ienzo? Good." Axel leaned against the wall with a lazy smirk. "So. Demyx, right? Ienzo here tells us that you're from Twilight Town. And considering that this world's a sealed one, that of course begs the question: who sent you?"
Myde blinked. "What d'you mean?"
"C'mon, kid. Don't even try to pull a fast one on me, it won't work. The only way you get here is with the aid of certain powers that be. So I'll ask again, nicely: who sent you?"
"I . . . . wasn't sent," Myde said slowly. "I . . . . I wanted to see Ienzo again, and my friends . . . . helped me."
"Your friends," Axel said flatly, in tones of disbelief. "Kid, if you weren't sent, that would mean that your 'friends' opened a portal to the realm of darkness and shoved you through the border. And as the technique for doing that disappeared long before you or I were even born - a century or two, even - I highly doubt that -"
"But I'm not lying, there was this old book they had, and sand with these weird symbols drawn in it, and this dark hole opened up and Kairi pushed me into it, and then everything went dark and I woke up here," Myde said earnestly.
Axel blinked, looking surprised, and then let out a low whistle. "That sounds like the realm of darkness, all right. And they managed to use it for world-to-world travel? Here, no less? Now there's a thought for you." He folded his arms, seeming to be deep in thought. "Huh. Well, how're you getting back, then?"
Myde paused, then looked down sheepishly. "'m not," he muttered. "They warned me before I left that it was a one-way trip. I went anyway."
Before Axel could say anything, Ienzo jumped up with an indignant shout. "What the hell were you thinking?! Don't you know you could have died, that you could still die? You idiot! You -"
"Ienzo, simmer down," Axel said. "Although I have to say I agree, that was a pretty stupid move. So, you're stuck here. Guess that rules out the possibility of . . . . well, whatever. Guess we'll have to take you to the Superior, then. And rest assured, he'll have a lot more questions for you. You'd better hope there's some use to you." He pushed himself away from the wall, nodding to Ienzo. "We're leaving tomorrow morning, bright and early. Got it?"
"Understood," Ienzo said quietly, his gaze fixed on the floor.
"Good. I'm turning in, then. If he runs off, it's on your head. 'Night." Axel left the room; the door closed quietly, and Ienzo and Myde were alone.
Several minutes passed in silence, and Myde started to fidget uncomfortably. At last, when it got to be too much, he started to comment, "It's very, um, white in here . . . ."
"What were you thinking?" Ienzo exploded the instant Myde began speaking. "You fool, you utter fool! Don't you understand I was trying to protect you from something like this?"
"Protect me from what, Ienzo?" Myde shot back. "I'm not a mind reader, nobody bothers to explain anything to me, but you somehow expect me to understand what you're talking about?"
Ienzo opened his mouth, then closed it and settled back into his seat by Myde's bedside with a sigh. "I . . . . shouldn't have yelled at you," he murmured. "It was . . . . a shock, seeing you turn up in the Dark City half-dead, you know. I never expected to see you again . . . . and just a few short months later, here you are."
"Short for you, maybe," Myde muttered sullenly. "Frickin' eternity for me. Kairi and Yuffie took pity on me, that's what I think."
"If that's what you think, then you're sadly mistaken," Ienzo said sharply. Then, in a softer tone, "This is no place for pity. This is where pity goes to die . . . . no friend of yours would have sent you here with no chance of return, not if they cared just a whit for you. This place is forbidden for a reason."
"Forbidden?" Myde asked curiously.
Ienzo nodded wearily. "Yes. Forbidden . . . . I won't go into politics now, there isn't much necessity anyway, but Neverwhere is . . . . very dangerous. No one in their right mind would send a friend to a place like this, a place where you will likely be dead within a month."
Myde gulped nervously, then said, "I . . . . well, you know, it was a long time before Kairi and Yuffie approached me about it . . . . and they said they'd thought about it for a long time, because there were a lot of risks involved. But you know . . . . things just, they weren't the same after you left. I think they wanted to fix that . . . ."
Ienzo let out a small sound of disbelief. "Perhaps. They must have had their own reasons as well . . . . I wonder . . . ." He stared off into space, his dark eyes clouded with thought.
"I-Ienzo?" Myde murmured.
"Hm?" The eyes cleared and darted to him.
"Even with everything that's going on . . . . I'm glad to see you," Myde said quietly. "I missed you."
"Hmph. You're a fool." Ienzo glanced away again.
Myde paused. "Oh," he mumbled at last, looking down into his lap. "Yeah. I . . . . well, yeah."
Silence again. Then, murmured, "Hey." A hand slipped under his chin, tilting his face up, and Ienzo pressed a soft kiss against his lips. "Don't . . . ." he said quietly, looking away. "Don't think for a second that . . . . well, I missed you. Sometimes," he finished awkwardly.
Myde smiled, slowly. "Sometimes is good," he murmured. That was as close as Ienzo would come to an apology for his words.
Ienzo let out a soft sigh, then glanced at Myde again. "You should get some sleep," he told the blond gently. "Tomorrow isn't going to be easy, not at all."
"Wh-what do you mean?" Myde asked nervously.
Ienzo smiled softly. "Don't worry about that. Sleep." He began to reach out towards Myde -
The sitarist caught his wrist, holding it a few inches from him. "Hey! Stop that!"
Ienzo blinked. "Myde - Demyx - I'm just trying to help you sleep . . . ."
"You knocked me out! Against my will! Three times! You try that sometime and see how you like it! And how d'you do that anyway?" Myde bit his lip, glaring at the other boy.
Ienzo sighed. "M . . . . Demyx . . . . later, all right? This isn't the time. And you really do need sleep . . . ."
Myde pouted.
A small, somewhat resigned smile. "My apologies for sedating you without your consent before. Though really, I was only concerned for your welfare. Now will you please let me help you get to sleep?"
Myde persisted for a few moments, then sighed and nodded, lying back on the cot. "Good night, Ienzo."
"Good night . . . . Demyx," the slate-haired boy murmured in response, leaning over him, his fingers carding through Myde's hair.
"Sweet dreams . . . . love you," Myde mumbled as sleep tugged his eyelids shut. He didn't know whether Ienzo replied or not.
~
"You didn't kill him in his sleep last night, did you, Ienzo?"
"Very funny, Axel," Ienzo's voice replied dryly. "And for your information, no, I didn't."
"He's not waking up."
"I put him to sleep, what do you expect? And I've discovered that that particular ability seems to have more of an effect on him than normal. I'm not quite sure why."
"So wake him up."
"Can't, it could imbalance him and we can't afford that if he's to go before the Superior. We'll simply have to be patient."
"What, you mean wait?"
"Yes, Axel. That is precisely what I mean."
"I hate waiting."
"Mmrph," Myde complained vaguely at this point in the conversation. He was waking up by degrees now. His eyes fluttered open, staring hazily at the unfamiliar room that greeted them.
The redhead from before - Axel - leaned over him, grinning. "Well good morning to you, sleeping beauty. Sleep well, I take it? Of course you did, it was Ienzo conking you out after all. Don't get used to it, courtesies like that hardly come by 'round here. How're you feeling?"
"Mm." Myde let out a small groan as he lifted himself up on his elbows. "Okay, I guess . . . ."
Ienzo reached out and very calmly pulled Myde's shirt off. The sitarist yelped, crossing his arms over his chest hastily - that had been a bit of a surprise, to say the least - but the slate-haired boy pulled them away, grumbling under his breath as he examined where Myde had been torn apart.
Myde glanced down to where Ienzo was so intensely observing, and noted that where there had been horrific gashes, now there was a thin white trail of scar tissue marking last night's attack. It looked like it had been years ago instead of just hours . . . .
Ienzo sat back, apparently satisfied, and held out a black coat like his own to Myde. "Put that on, it's time to go."
Myde blinked. "I don't get cold too easy, Ienzo, I'll be fine with what I was wearing before."
Axel laughed at that. "It's not the cold you should be worrying about, kid. We'll be going to the realm of darkness, that'll protect you." He nodded towards the coat. "Hurry up, we don't want you keeping us behind."
Myde jumped, startled. "The realm . . . . of darkness?" he squeaked, scooting away a little. It didn't take a genius to figure out that that was where he'd been before, and he did not want to go back there again.
"Demyx," Ienzo said quietly. "Put it on."
Myde hesitated, then slowly reached for the coat and slipped it on, zipping it up slowly. He had a bad feeling about this . . . .
Axel eyed him critically. "Well, not a perfect fit, but we can always make one for you if the Superior decides to keep you around." He sighed. "Well, we'd better be off, then. I think Larxene's getting impatient."
Almost as if on cue, a female voice yelled from somewhere outside, "Axel, get your ass out here!"
"We're coming, don't get your panties in a twist," Axel yelled back. He grabbed Myde's arm roughly and dragged him out of bed, pulling him towards the door.
"Axel, that's not -" Ienzo started.
"Oh, shut up, Ienzo," Axel replied, still dragging Myde along. "The kid's skittish, I don't want him trying to run off on us. Don't you tell me what is or isn't necessary." His green eyes were hard.
Myde threw a panicked glance towards Ienzo as he was dragged out into the hallway. The slate-haired boy didn't look at him, but his gloved hands balled into fists as he started walking after them.
"Took you long enough," Larxene muttered as they entered another white room. All of the strangers from the previous night seemed to be assembled there.
"Well, you sniping will only make it longer," Axel replied innocently. His attitude seemed totally casual, but his grip on Myde's arm didn't falter. "Shall we, then?"
Everyone nodded as Ienzo joined the others. A gesture from Marluxia and a dark hole, like the one that had brought Myde here, sprang to life.
"You first," Axel said casually.
Myde hung back, not wanting to go back to that dark place again, but Axel's hand tightened on his arm and he was towed into the darkness.
They emerged a few moments later in a hallway that was almost oppressing in its various whites and greys, in front of a rather intimidating door. Behind them, the others came through the dark portal one by one. Myde gulped nervously, turning to look at the door.
At his ear, Ienzo's voice murmured softly "Be careful" before Axel flung the door open and pushed him through.
To be continued . . . .
Author: villanelle_koi
Pairings: Zexion/Demyx (Ienzo/Myde), Kairi/Yuffie, more to come
Rating: PG-13 - R
Summary: Myde and Zexion were best friends. Trouble was, no one but Myde could see Zexion. When his best friend disappears, and a lookalike named Ienzo shows up in Twilight Town, Myde is swept up in events he can't even begin to understand.
Imaginary
Chapter Six
Darkness, swarming all around him, ripping, tearing. There had been a few moments of intense pain at first, but now Myde felt oddly numb. Some remote corner of his brain yapped at him that that was the endorphins at work. One small mercy, before he died, at least . . . .
Flames burst up all around Myde; the shadow creatures shrank away from him, trying to escape the inferno. Myde squeezed his eyes shut. He was going to die, he'd be burned alive, he -
The flames died as suddenly as they had sprung up. "Well. What have we here?" somebody said in tones of near-amusement. Boots clicked against the cobblestones as they made their way over to him, and there was the rustling of fabric as the person crouched down by him. "And just what are you doing around here, hmm?"
Myde opened his eyes tentatively, to be greeted by the sight of a strange, pale redhead with poison-green eyes smirking down at him. He opened his mouth to say something, but his voice died in his throat and no sound emerged.
"Hmph. Well, doesn't look like you're one of Hollow Bastion's, and with that reading we can't take any chances. Huh," and now the stranger casually turned Myde over so he was facing the dark sky, his gloved hands examining the extent of his wounds in a chillingly practiced manner. "You're one lucky bastard, you know that? If it weren't for . . . . well, whatever. How to get you out of here?" The redhead settled back on his haunches, folding his arms across his chest and looking up thoughtfully.
After a few moments he muttered, "Might as well call in XI and XII for this one, even if I hate to do it. Stay there for a minute, will ya?" This was obviously a joke - in his current state, Myde wasn't really fit to go anywhere. Chuckling to himself, the stranger stood up and pulled an odd semi-spherical device from his pocket. "Don't understand why I have to use this stupid thing, I can send up flares just fine on my own . . . ." He pressed two buttons on the side of the device; a hole opened in the center, and two flares of light, one deep red, one bright yellow, shot up into the air.
The stranger pocketed the device and crouched down by Myde again. "Right, then. Hey, kid, can you understand me?"
Myde opened his mouth and managed to say, "Y . . . . yeah."
"Good. Well, I need you to - hey, what's your name? Oh, never mind, ignore that, doesn't matter at the moment. I'll ask later. Anyway, I need you to try and get up; we need to get on the move, the Heartless are gonna come back pretty soon. Think you can do that?"
"S-sure . . . ." Myde slowly raised himself on his elbows, hissing in a breath. The endorphins seemed to be wearing off, now that the moment of stress had passed. Joy.
The stranger quickly pulled Myde up the rest of the way, draping one of the blond's arms around his shoulder and holding Myde to him securely. "Sorry, kid," he said as Myde yelped in pain, "but we've gotta go. Unless you'd prefer to party with the Heartless again, which I doubt." And with that he started down the street determinedly, ignoring Myde's grimaces and cries as he tried to keep up. Blood was dripping down his school uniform, a small red trail following them on the cobblestones. Funny, he thought, back home Cloud would've killed him for ruining it; it was pretty new, after all . . . .
The redhead cursed quietly as they turned a corner and were faced with several pairs of glowing yellow eyes. "Well, this doesn't look good . . . ."
A shadow leaped for them; the stranger dodged awkwardly, Myde nearly tripping over his own feet as he tried to follow the movement. A tendril of darkness curled around the stranger's wrist, followed by a burst of flame, and suddenly he was swinging a strange kind of circular blade out at the creature. It sliced through the thing easily, and the Heartless faded into a wisp and then nothing as Myde watched incredulously. Did he just pull that thing out of nowhere?
The stranger adjusted his grip on Myde a little, turning just in time to dodge a swipe from another Heartless. He spun the blade in his hand; it burst into flame as he threw it at the creature, returning to his hand immediately so he could smash it into another one. Another Heartless had come up behind them as the strange redhead fought, and as he spun from the force of his swing it sank its claws into him. With a pained grunt he brought the blade whirling down on that one as well, but there were more leaping towards them now, too many. Myde cried out in panic -
Suddenly a giant bolt of lightning arced down between them and the shadows. Immediately the creatures exploded, the wisps of darkness that remained fading away slowly. "Awwww, poor Axel's in trou-ble~ and here we thought you could play with the big boys now," a feminine voice called mockingly.
The redhead whirled with a snarl to the blonde girl who was the source of the taunt. "You try fighting while lugging around this -" here he jerked his head towards Myde, "- and see how you do, Larxene!"
The girl's face twisted into an expression of mock contrition. "Touchy, aren't we, Axel?" she replied. "Did I hit a sore spot?"
"Larxene," another voice called warningly; a cloaked figure walked out of the shadows, taking down his hood to reveal pink hair framing a pale face. "You called, Axel?" the young man asked the redhead indifferently.
"Axel" nodded, grumbling, "It took you long enough . . . ." He adjusted his grip on Myde and nodded to the blond. "That reading we got? Think it's from this kid. He's the only new thing in the area."
The pink-haired man leaned down to examine Myde closely. "Really, now . . . . he looks nothing like . . . . well, the reading implies at least contact. We can't take chances. We'll have to bring him back."
"How?" the girl cut in at this point. "Look at him, Marluxia. I'm surprised Axel managed this far, he's not in shape to really be going anywhere. He's no good to us dead. You think?"
"True," the man - "Marluxia", apparently - replied thoughtfully. "And we aren't the type to carry him securely. We'll have to call in the others." At the girl's derisive snort, he gave her a hard glance and said coolly, "V can carry him without too much trouble. And VI is rather adept with healing, if not much else."
"Him? Calling him VI - now there's a riot." The girl shook her head with a sigh.
"Larxene. Regardless of titles, he still has his uses." Marluxia sighed, nodding to Axel, who sighed and got out the strange device that had sent out the flares before. This time the colored streaks were lavender and orange as they shot into the sky.
Marluxia leaned against the wall as Axel put the device away again. "So now we wait."
"Not an option, Marluxia," Axel replied, pointing into an alleyway, where shadows were massing and peering at them in glowing yellow. "We've got company."
"Why, Axel, you sound concerned," Marluxia replied dryly. "What, you think we can't handle a few meager Shadows?" A flick of his wrist, and thick briars sprang into existence, ripping into the Heartless.
"You just sit back and let the big kids take care of this, Axel darling," the girl - Larxene, was it? - drawled, conjuring up small knives in her hands with a flash of electricity. Axel aimed a snarl at the blonde in return, calling two of the strange circular blades into existence as he leaped into the fray.
Myde stared in disbelief; that was the second time he'd seen someone pull a weapon from thin air in this world. Could everyone do that? And why hadn't Ienzo ever told him about it? A million questions went through his pain-laced mind as the three strangers went on the offensive, thunder and fire flashing through the darkness as they cut through swathes of the shadowy creatures, fearsome thorns circling Marluxia and Myde to catch any that escaped the mayhem.
"These things are awfully persistent," Axel commented as he retreated into the ring of thorns for a small breather, a few minutes later.
"And you expected otherwise?" Marluxia replied. "What, can't handle it?"
"Yeah, right. Just making sure you aren't too overwhelmed," Axel replied with a smirk.
An electric blur of movement and Larxene was back in the circle with them as well. "Fun as this is, we should probably get moving soon. We can't keep this up forever, and if we want that -" gesturing to Myde, "- to be alive by the time we get back to headquarters, then we need to go. Now. I personally don't put much store in the other two coming galloping to our aid, and if the so-called Number VI isn't here to heal him, then . . . . well." She shrugged casually.
Marluxia nodded thoughtfully. "Point made, Larxene. If they aren't here by now, then we won't -"
A low rumbling sound interrupted him, and a wall of solid earth formed between them and the Heartless, then crumbled almost as quickly as it had risen.
"You called?" a deep voice rumbled behind them.
Marluxia turned to the one who'd spoken; Myde looked over to see a huge man with an almost ridiculously large tomahawk standing behind them. Someone else was with him, but Myde couldn't see around the veritable giant of a man. He closed his eyes; he felt dizzy, lightheaded.
"V, good of you to come at last," Marluxia was saying.
"It seems even the great Number XI needs help sometimes," a mocking, high-pitched sort of voice sneered in reply.
"No one asked you, IV. Lexaeus, did you have to bring that with you?"
"If you need backup, then we might as well all come, summoned or not," the large man replied coolly. "You required assistance? One would think a few mere Shadows would pose no threat to you."
"Normally, perhaps, but we found the source of that reading. Unfortunately, he's rather badly injured. If you could carry him . . . . and a small healing before setting off is in order, I think. It would improve his chances significantly."
"Agreed," came the rumbling reply.
A rustling of fabric, the click of boots on cobblestones, and Myde felt the warmth of another body beside him. And then he heard a soft gasp. "Wh-what are you doing here?"
Myde opened his eyes wearily, looking over, and then he, too, gasped. "Ienzo! You-"
"Shh. Play along, don't ask questions, I'll explain later," Ienzo whispered hurriedly.
"Something wrong over there, boy?" Marluxia called. "The sooner he's healed, the sooner we're on our way."
"I . . . . I know him," Ienzo replied slowly, looking over his shoulder. "He's from Twilight Town. His name is . . . . his name is Demyx."
Myde started in surprise at this, starting to protest that it wasn't, but pain seared through his injuries and he settled back with a pained groan. Ienzo's attention turned back to him immediately, his dark blue eyes sharp and yet concerned, and a gloved hand rested delicately upon his chest. A small flash of green, and Myde's wounds started tingling, then went pleasantly numb.
"This wouldn't happen if you fools would actually bother to bring a potion or two with you when you went out on missions," the slate-haired boy sighed, standing up and dusting himself off. "We should get him back to headquarters as soon as possible, that spell will only tide him over for a while."
"Well, aren't we Mr. Efficient," Larxene laughed. "Well, I suppose you have to make up for being so useless someho-"
"Larxene," Marluxia cut in warningly. "Not now."
She huffed a little at being silenced, but didn't protest. The big man, meanwhile, went over to Myde and picked him up, slinging him over a shoulder easily; Myde let out a soft whimper, but the pain was rather more bearable now. If he squeezed his eyes shut and tried not to think about it, it was pretty much okay.
"A moment, Lexaeus," Ienzo's cool voice said, and the man holding Myde stopped. "This will be much easier on him if he isn't conscious to feel it." And those gloved fingers touched to Myde's forehead, as they had before, and the sitarist slipped again into unconsciousness.
~
"Drink." A bottle was being pressed to his lips insistently.
Myde let out a small, sleepy sound of protest, but opened his mouth obediently. Half a second later and he bolted upright, wide awake now, spitting out the foul taste on his tongue; another moment and he doubled over in pain as his wounds seared.
Ienzo sighed, looking much put-upon; one hand pressed against Myde's chest, pushing him back down onto the little cot, and he pressed the bottle to the sitarist's lips again. "Drink. You'll feel better."
Myde grumbled a protest, but drank anyway, grimacing at the taste. "That stuff is horrible," he muttered when the bottle was done.
"Between the taste of a potion and death, I believe the potion is the better alternative," Ienzo replied, uncorking another bottle. "Stop complaining, you should be glad you're even alive. Now, open your mouth."
Myde screwed up his face, but still drank down the next bottle obediently. When it was done, he muttered, "Do I have to drink more of that stuff?"
"No, that should be sufficient. Just a moment, your wounds should be healing now," Ienzo replied, wiping Myde's mouth and putting the empty bottles away. "Feeling any better?"
Myde blinked. "Um . . . . yeah," he muttered, surprised. "Loads better, actually . . . . what was that stuff?"
"Potion. A little healing brew of our world," Ienzo replied disinterestedly. "Now, care to explain why in all the various hells and netherworlds you're here? It shouldn't even have been possible, and besides that it's unbelievably stupid. Didn't I warn you about this place?"
"I don't care," Myde muttered petulantly. "I had to find you again. Kairi and Yuffie, they helped me . . . . anyway, why are you the one asking all the questions? I've got mine too, y'know! Like what you called me back there, why -"
"There isn't time at the moment," Ienzo cut him off. "Later. And remember that while you're here you answer to 'Demyx'."
"But why-" Myde started, but at that moment the door opened, and in walked the redhead from before - Axel.
"You got him all fixed up, then, Ienzo? Good." Axel leaned against the wall with a lazy smirk. "So. Demyx, right? Ienzo here tells us that you're from Twilight Town. And considering that this world's a sealed one, that of course begs the question: who sent you?"
Myde blinked. "What d'you mean?"
"C'mon, kid. Don't even try to pull a fast one on me, it won't work. The only way you get here is with the aid of certain powers that be. So I'll ask again, nicely: who sent you?"
"I . . . . wasn't sent," Myde said slowly. "I . . . . I wanted to see Ienzo again, and my friends . . . . helped me."
"Your friends," Axel said flatly, in tones of disbelief. "Kid, if you weren't sent, that would mean that your 'friends' opened a portal to the realm of darkness and shoved you through the border. And as the technique for doing that disappeared long before you or I were even born - a century or two, even - I highly doubt that -"
"But I'm not lying, there was this old book they had, and sand with these weird symbols drawn in it, and this dark hole opened up and Kairi pushed me into it, and then everything went dark and I woke up here," Myde said earnestly.
Axel blinked, looking surprised, and then let out a low whistle. "That sounds like the realm of darkness, all right. And they managed to use it for world-to-world travel? Here, no less? Now there's a thought for you." He folded his arms, seeming to be deep in thought. "Huh. Well, how're you getting back, then?"
Myde paused, then looked down sheepishly. "'m not," he muttered. "They warned me before I left that it was a one-way trip. I went anyway."
Before Axel could say anything, Ienzo jumped up with an indignant shout. "What the hell were you thinking?! Don't you know you could have died, that you could still die? You idiot! You -"
"Ienzo, simmer down," Axel said. "Although I have to say I agree, that was a pretty stupid move. So, you're stuck here. Guess that rules out the possibility of . . . . well, whatever. Guess we'll have to take you to the Superior, then. And rest assured, he'll have a lot more questions for you. You'd better hope there's some use to you." He pushed himself away from the wall, nodding to Ienzo. "We're leaving tomorrow morning, bright and early. Got it?"
"Understood," Ienzo said quietly, his gaze fixed on the floor.
"Good. I'm turning in, then. If he runs off, it's on your head. 'Night." Axel left the room; the door closed quietly, and Ienzo and Myde were alone.
Several minutes passed in silence, and Myde started to fidget uncomfortably. At last, when it got to be too much, he started to comment, "It's very, um, white in here . . . ."
"What were you thinking?" Ienzo exploded the instant Myde began speaking. "You fool, you utter fool! Don't you understand I was trying to protect you from something like this?"
"Protect me from what, Ienzo?" Myde shot back. "I'm not a mind reader, nobody bothers to explain anything to me, but you somehow expect me to understand what you're talking about?"
Ienzo opened his mouth, then closed it and settled back into his seat by Myde's bedside with a sigh. "I . . . . shouldn't have yelled at you," he murmured. "It was . . . . a shock, seeing you turn up in the Dark City half-dead, you know. I never expected to see you again . . . . and just a few short months later, here you are."
"Short for you, maybe," Myde muttered sullenly. "Frickin' eternity for me. Kairi and Yuffie took pity on me, that's what I think."
"If that's what you think, then you're sadly mistaken," Ienzo said sharply. Then, in a softer tone, "This is no place for pity. This is where pity goes to die . . . . no friend of yours would have sent you here with no chance of return, not if they cared just a whit for you. This place is forbidden for a reason."
"Forbidden?" Myde asked curiously.
Ienzo nodded wearily. "Yes. Forbidden . . . . I won't go into politics now, there isn't much necessity anyway, but Neverwhere is . . . . very dangerous. No one in their right mind would send a friend to a place like this, a place where you will likely be dead within a month."
Myde gulped nervously, then said, "I . . . . well, you know, it was a long time before Kairi and Yuffie approached me about it . . . . and they said they'd thought about it for a long time, because there were a lot of risks involved. But you know . . . . things just, they weren't the same after you left. I think they wanted to fix that . . . ."
Ienzo let out a small sound of disbelief. "Perhaps. They must have had their own reasons as well . . . . I wonder . . . ." He stared off into space, his dark eyes clouded with thought.
"I-Ienzo?" Myde murmured.
"Hm?" The eyes cleared and darted to him.
"Even with everything that's going on . . . . I'm glad to see you," Myde said quietly. "I missed you."
"Hmph. You're a fool." Ienzo glanced away again.
Myde paused. "Oh," he mumbled at last, looking down into his lap. "Yeah. I . . . . well, yeah."
Silence again. Then, murmured, "Hey." A hand slipped under his chin, tilting his face up, and Ienzo pressed a soft kiss against his lips. "Don't . . . ." he said quietly, looking away. "Don't think for a second that . . . . well, I missed you. Sometimes," he finished awkwardly.
Myde smiled, slowly. "Sometimes is good," he murmured. That was as close as Ienzo would come to an apology for his words.
Ienzo let out a soft sigh, then glanced at Myde again. "You should get some sleep," he told the blond gently. "Tomorrow isn't going to be easy, not at all."
"Wh-what do you mean?" Myde asked nervously.
Ienzo smiled softly. "Don't worry about that. Sleep." He began to reach out towards Myde -
The sitarist caught his wrist, holding it a few inches from him. "Hey! Stop that!"
Ienzo blinked. "Myde - Demyx - I'm just trying to help you sleep . . . ."
"You knocked me out! Against my will! Three times! You try that sometime and see how you like it! And how d'you do that anyway?" Myde bit his lip, glaring at the other boy.
Ienzo sighed. "M . . . . Demyx . . . . later, all right? This isn't the time. And you really do need sleep . . . ."
Myde pouted.
A small, somewhat resigned smile. "My apologies for sedating you without your consent before. Though really, I was only concerned for your welfare. Now will you please let me help you get to sleep?"
Myde persisted for a few moments, then sighed and nodded, lying back on the cot. "Good night, Ienzo."
"Good night . . . . Demyx," the slate-haired boy murmured in response, leaning over him, his fingers carding through Myde's hair.
"Sweet dreams . . . . love you," Myde mumbled as sleep tugged his eyelids shut. He didn't know whether Ienzo replied or not.
~
"You didn't kill him in his sleep last night, did you, Ienzo?"
"Very funny, Axel," Ienzo's voice replied dryly. "And for your information, no, I didn't."
"He's not waking up."
"I put him to sleep, what do you expect? And I've discovered that that particular ability seems to have more of an effect on him than normal. I'm not quite sure why."
"So wake him up."
"Can't, it could imbalance him and we can't afford that if he's to go before the Superior. We'll simply have to be patient."
"What, you mean wait?"
"Yes, Axel. That is precisely what I mean."
"I hate waiting."
"Mmrph," Myde complained vaguely at this point in the conversation. He was waking up by degrees now. His eyes fluttered open, staring hazily at the unfamiliar room that greeted them.
The redhead from before - Axel - leaned over him, grinning. "Well good morning to you, sleeping beauty. Sleep well, I take it? Of course you did, it was Ienzo conking you out after all. Don't get used to it, courtesies like that hardly come by 'round here. How're you feeling?"
"Mm." Myde let out a small groan as he lifted himself up on his elbows. "Okay, I guess . . . ."
Ienzo reached out and very calmly pulled Myde's shirt off. The sitarist yelped, crossing his arms over his chest hastily - that had been a bit of a surprise, to say the least - but the slate-haired boy pulled them away, grumbling under his breath as he examined where Myde had been torn apart.
Myde glanced down to where Ienzo was so intensely observing, and noted that where there had been horrific gashes, now there was a thin white trail of scar tissue marking last night's attack. It looked like it had been years ago instead of just hours . . . .
Ienzo sat back, apparently satisfied, and held out a black coat like his own to Myde. "Put that on, it's time to go."
Myde blinked. "I don't get cold too easy, Ienzo, I'll be fine with what I was wearing before."
Axel laughed at that. "It's not the cold you should be worrying about, kid. We'll be going to the realm of darkness, that'll protect you." He nodded towards the coat. "Hurry up, we don't want you keeping us behind."
Myde jumped, startled. "The realm . . . . of darkness?" he squeaked, scooting away a little. It didn't take a genius to figure out that that was where he'd been before, and he did not want to go back there again.
"Demyx," Ienzo said quietly. "Put it on."
Myde hesitated, then slowly reached for the coat and slipped it on, zipping it up slowly. He had a bad feeling about this . . . .
Axel eyed him critically. "Well, not a perfect fit, but we can always make one for you if the Superior decides to keep you around." He sighed. "Well, we'd better be off, then. I think Larxene's getting impatient."
Almost as if on cue, a female voice yelled from somewhere outside, "Axel, get your ass out here!"
"We're coming, don't get your panties in a twist," Axel yelled back. He grabbed Myde's arm roughly and dragged him out of bed, pulling him towards the door.
"Axel, that's not -" Ienzo started.
"Oh, shut up, Ienzo," Axel replied, still dragging Myde along. "The kid's skittish, I don't want him trying to run off on us. Don't you tell me what is or isn't necessary." His green eyes were hard.
Myde threw a panicked glance towards Ienzo as he was dragged out into the hallway. The slate-haired boy didn't look at him, but his gloved hands balled into fists as he started walking after them.
"Took you long enough," Larxene muttered as they entered another white room. All of the strangers from the previous night seemed to be assembled there.
"Well, you sniping will only make it longer," Axel replied innocently. His attitude seemed totally casual, but his grip on Myde's arm didn't falter. "Shall we, then?"
Everyone nodded as Ienzo joined the others. A gesture from Marluxia and a dark hole, like the one that had brought Myde here, sprang to life.
"You first," Axel said casually.
Myde hung back, not wanting to go back to that dark place again, but Axel's hand tightened on his arm and he was towed into the darkness.
They emerged a few moments later in a hallway that was almost oppressing in its various whites and greys, in front of a rather intimidating door. Behind them, the others came through the dark portal one by one. Myde gulped nervously, turning to look at the door.
At his ear, Ienzo's voice murmured softly "Be careful" before Axel flung the door open and pushed him through.
To be continued . . . .