KH100 - 017. Friend

017. Friend

“Oooh, what’s this?”

“Hey!” Larxene danced back out of arms reach as Vexen whirled upon her. “Give me back my notebook.”

“Lemme see.” Axel stepped out of a portal and motioned at Larxene.

“So, what do you think?” The Savage Nymph tossed the notebook haphazardly to the fire wielder. Axel made a big show of catching it, twirling and dancing around before opening the pages. He pretended to examine the writing, making faces and adjusting imaginary glasses.

“Hhhhmmmmmmmmmmmm…..” He shrugged and threw his hands up in the air. “Just looks like trash to me.”

“Axel, give it back. Now.” Vexen glared at the shorter man and put his hand out for the notebook.

“What’re you gonna do with a piece of garbage?” Larxene mockingly crossed her arms and furrowed her brow, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Surely a genius such as yourself would never bother wasting your time on filthy trash?”

“It’s not-”

“Hey, you know what? Since I’m such a great guy and all, I’ll be a good little neophyte and clean it up for you.” A small flame flickered to life at the tip of Axel’s finger as he brought it near the edge of the notebook.

“Don’t. You. Dare.”

“Oh come now Axel, surely we can come to a much less barbaric solution?” Marluxia strode into the room and snatched the notebook from Axel and the little flame. He leaned over and ran a hand under Larxene’s chin and stroked her face. “What do you think lovely?”

Larxene pouted and pulled away from the assassin’s touch. “I think it’s not very fair that you’re stealing our fun.”

“Oh for the love of darkness! Marluxia, just give me the notebook. I don’t have time to waste on such frivolity.”

“I would never dream of taking away your fun my dear.” Larxene smiled, sideling up next to him and reached for the notebook. Marluxia held it away from her and smirked at Vexen. “But if we’re going to tease the crazy man, can’t we be a bit more civil about it?”

“Crazy! I-” Axel snickered at the fuming scientist.

“Oh? How so?”

“Well…why not make Vexen fight for it?”

“Ooohhh…I like it.” Larxene ran a hand through Marluxia’s hair as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

“What!?”

“Come now Vexen, prove to us that your research is actually worth something.” The three neophytes all flashed Vexen sadistic smiles. “Fight for your work.”

“This is ridiculous!” Larxene pulled away from Marluxia and clasped her hands together, pretending to look innocent and sad.

“Aww…is poor Vexy afraid he’ll lose?”

“Yeah, Vexy. Afraid of the big bad neophytes?”

“This is a foolish waste of time! Now give me back my notebook!”

“Or you’ll what? Lecture us to death?” Axel burst into a fit of laughter and Larxene gave him a cruel smile.

“You can have you stupid little book back whenever you want.” She crossed her arms and looked at Marluxia. “Right Marly?”

“But of course.” Marluxia held out the notebook to Vexen. “Here, take it.” Vexen took several steps forward but jumped back with a hiss as Axel threw a chakram in front of his outstretched hand.

“Yeah, if you can old man.” Larxene cackled, calling her kunai as Vexen growled and summoned his shield.

Temporarily forgotten by the trio Marluxia quietly stepped back and made himself comfortable in a throne of vines. He slowly flipped through the pages of the notebook, scanning and analyzing each page of messy handwriting and detailed diagrams. Occasionally Marluxia would glance up to glare at a stray weapon or element that ventured a bit to close, but otherwise dismissed the fighting nobodies.

Vexen jumped back as the floor beneath his feet erupted in flames, swearing as he brought his shield up to deflect Larxene’s kunai. She laughed cruelly and sent a bolt of lightning at the scientist. He dodged the blast only to run straight into Axel. The fire wielder kicked Vexen hard, catching his right arm, and flung him against the wall. Vexen stumbled back to his feet, desperately dodging a trail of kunai. He rolled hard on his shoulder away from Axel’s chakrams and sent a blast of ice in the pyro’s direction. Vexen regained his footing and smirked as Axel slipped on the icy floor. Distracted, he failed to notice the circle of kunai surrounding him until Larxene let out a shrill laugh. He screamed and collapsed as the high voltage shock rendered his muscles temporarily useless. Groaning he looked up at Larxene as she knelt down in front of him.

“What’s wrong Vexy?” The savage nymph grabbed a fistful of hair and tugged, hard. “Didn’t you say you wanted to play?”

“Heh, looks to me like he’s too old to keep up.” Axel bent down and grabbed Vexen by his hood, dragging him to his feet. He grinned like a madman as Vexen stumbled back against a pillar, fighting for the feeling in his legs to return. Axel gestured to Larxene and the two simultaneously sent a blast of fire and electricity at the struggling man. Vexen raised his shield and cringed, bracing himself for the strike.

“Dance water, dance!” A stream of water rushed past Vexen, extinguishing the fire and re-directing the electricity back at Axel. The fire wielder yelped and crumpled to the floor. Demyx turned away from them and went over to Vexen.

“You okay?” Vexen held onto the musician’s shoulder and steadied himself.

“Yes, I’m fine now.”

“Hey!” Larxene stamped her feet in the puddle of water and jerked on Axel’s arm. “Oh, get off your lazy ass you idiot!” She whirled on Vexen and Demyx, pointing and shrieking at the pair. “That’s not fair! Demyx has nothing to do with any of this!” Demyx turned and frowned at the girl.

“Oh, like it’s fair to attack somebody two on one?” Demyx gave her a smug look. “You’re just mad because I got you back.” Axel groaned and rolled over, crawling back to his feet.

“Fuck, that electricity of yours stings.” He turned and readied his chakrams. “Whatever. Vexen’s obviously too weak to do anything on his own if he has to get help.”

“Hmph! As if Demyx’ll be all that much help.” Larxene pursed her lips and glared at them.

“I have to admit Dem, that was a pretty good shot. But you’re not gonna get that lucky again.” Axel lunged at Demyx who strummed his sitar and sent a blast of water at Larxene. Vexen blocked Axel with a wall of ice and pushed him back with a flurry of snow. The fire user growled and melted the snow, giving Larxene a clear shot at Demyx. She laughed and threw her kunai in the puddle of water at his feet, sending waves of electricity at him.

“Dance water boy, dance!” Demyx jumped back and forth with a squeak. Vexen quickly froze the kunai, cutting off the electrical conductors and giving Demyx a chance to get away.

“Oww…now my feet are all prickly.” He pouted and glared at Larxene.

“Demyx!” Vexen sent several ice shards shooting past him, forcing Axel to give up on his sneak attack as he dodged. “Pay attention to both of your opponents!”

“Oops. Heh, sorry.” Demyx giggled at the scientist. Vexen backed up next to Demyx and motioned to the musician.

“Perhaps it’s time to end the show.”

“Oh! Oh! Do I get to have an encore?” Vexen nodded and Demyx squeal in delight as he readied his sitar. “You guys ready for this? I’ve been practicing.” Demyx smirked as Larxene and Axel braced themselves and started to rapidly pick at the strings of his sitar. Jets of water danced about the room in time with the music, dousing the majority of the room and their opponents in water. Vexen stepped in front of the boy and slammed his shield into the ground, freezing the water around them. The ice shot towards Axel and Larxene, wrapping around them before they had a chance to fully register what was happening. With one final dramatic strum of his sitar Demyx stood back and admired their handy work.

“Wow. Ice is really pretty Vexen.” He turned to the scientist as he dismissed his shield. “No wonder you like it so much.”

“It’s even nicer when there’s a layer of snow on top of it.” He rolled his eyes as Larxene flung filthy words in his direction. “Such foul manners. Watch them for a moment won’t you?” Demyx gave him a lopsided salute and stood careful guard over the trapped neophytes. Vexen marched over to Marluxia, who sat waiting patiently in his throne.

“My notebook.” Vexen held out his hand, waiting. Marluxia slowly stood, barely concealing the venomous glare behind a polite smile as he held out the notebook.

“You think you’re clever, don’t you.” The graceful assassin spared him one final look before stalking off, the vines fading away back to darkness. Vexen flipped through the notebook quickly as he walked back to Demyx, ensuring everything was still in order.

“What was all that about? What did he mean when he called you clever?” Demyx dismissed his sitar and stared at where Marluxia had stormed off with curiosity.

“I must say, it was quite the devious scheme. Not quite as successful as one that Zexion might concoct, but promising nevertheless.” Vexen snapped the notebook closed and looked at Larxene and Axel.

“What scheme?”

“He used these two idiots to get my notebook and distract me while he rifled through it.”

“Oh.” Demyx paused and watched Larxene fume and Axel’s teeth chatter. “Why would he want your notebook?”

“Knowledge. There are certain pieces of information that are kept secret between us elders. We know things that all of you do not. But no matter, the entire little plot was in vain.”

“Huh? Why? I mean, he got your notebook didn’t he?”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean he could read it.”

“Oh…wait…what?” Demyx stared at Vexen in confusion.

“Anything of any real importance that the six of us do is recorded in a code that we created years ago.” He turned to Larxene and Axel. “Oh, and when you tell all this to Marluxia, let him know that we use several codes, all of which we have memorized. So no, no matter how much you search, you will not find the key to any of those codes written down.” Vexen smirked and gestured for Demyx to follow him out of the room.

“H-hey! Y-you’re not j-just gonna l-leave us here, are y-you?” Vexen paused to look back at them and just laughed.

“You should have thought of that before you attacked me.” He flicked his hair over his shoulder and turned into the hallway, completely dismissing them.

“You son of a bitch! Let us out of here!” Demyx just stuck out his tongue at them and followed Vexen out of the room.

“Hey Vex?” Vexen paused at the top of a set of stairs giving Demyx a chance to catch up.

“Yes Demyx?”

“We were really cool, weren’t we?” Vexen smiled at him and ruffled the laughing boy’s hair in a rare show of affection.

“Yes, we were.” Demyx followed Vexen for lack of anything better to do. They arrived quickly outside Xemnas’s door and Demyx waited quietly in the hall while Vexen made his report. With the notebook safely deposited in the Superior’s hands Vexen returned and led Demyx off to the kitchen. Vexen sat down at the table with a heavy sigh and watched the musician as he bustled about the room.

“Hey Demyx?”

“Yeah?” Demyx quickly glanced up from the pot of tea he was making for them.

“I…umm…Thank you for helping me. I probably wouldn’t have gotten that notebook back in one piece if you hadn’t stepped in to back me up.” Demyx brought over two cups of steaming hot tea and smiled at him as he sat down.

“No prob. It’s not all that fair how they pick on you and treat you as if you don’t do anything important.” He sipped his tea and grinned at the scientist. “Besides, that’s what friends do!”

“…Friends?” Vexen stared at Demyx, completely forgetting the cup in his hands.

“Yeah! Friends help friends when they’re in trouble and I’m not about to abandon my bestest friend when he needs me most!” Vexen slowly tilted his head down from the beaming boy to stare at his tea, hiding the blush that crept over his face.

“Thanks Demyx. I…I’m really lucky,” He paused and looked up, a smile creeping up on his own face. “…to have a friend like you.”