Chapter Text
Demyx hadn't been a member of the Organization for very long. Still, he thought it was just as well that he had made the attempt to play the shadows to their doom rather than his sisters. He wasn't sure humans were a delicacy they would willingly give up.
Surprisingly, it hadn't taken him long at all to get used to walking. Getting away from Vexen had been a strong motivator, admittedly, and learning to control water instead of swimming through it a good excuse.
The clone-forms were a happy accident, one he never would have discovered by practising magic as Vexen had shown him. Even as a merman, instruments had been his forté, and water simply responded better when he played. Why else would his sympathetic weapon manifest as a sitar?
He'd only been fooling around, caught in a tide of music that sufficed for emotion, when he'd playfully voiced the cry, "Dance, water, dance!"
And dance the water had.
The land was a strange place. Strange enough that Demyx sometimes wondered if the other eight thought him a fool for the things he didn't know that they took for granted. But even he could see the potential inherent in the water clones, and set himself to perfecting his control.
The more they could do, the less he would have to.
It was, however, imperative that nobody discovered his little trick. He was more entertainer than he was fighter, so there was value in the persona he'd crafted: lazy, bumbling, just skilled enough to be worth his feed...
(Then again, he thought he recalled Xaldin saying that before his arrival, the World That Never Was had had no water at all. What had they drunk before then, beer?)
Still, thirst was a new concept. One he wasn't sure he liked.
With a flourish, he ended the song, and the clones splashed at once to the floor. Without his power sustaining it, the water quickly evaporated, leaving the air humid enough that, had any of the others been awake, they would likely complain.
He grinned at his success, even though he felt no real pride in the control he'd gained—
But apparently he could still be startled, for when applause reached his ears, he whirled and nearly overbalanced when the sitar threatened to keep him spinning.
"Well played," said Zexion, piercing blue eyes seeming to see straight through him. "You keep your weapon finely tuned."
Unused to compliments from any sector, let alone his new superiors, Demyx stared dumbly at him as he approached. He wasn't ever certain what to make of Zexion as it was, especially since he and Lexaeus had begun partnering up.
He was fairly confident he could approach one or the other separately, but as a pair they were too intimidating to think about.
And now Zexion was approaching him, with a thoughtful expression that Demyx didn't trust. "And the dance was well-conducted," the Schemer added. Yep, there was work in his future.
Still, the compliment had to be acknowledged — and deflected. Forcing a chuckle, Demyx dismissed the weapon he'd dubbed Basic Model. "I was just messing around," he lied. "Music sounds weird out of water."
Zexion didn't bother changing his expression to sceptical. Instead, he mused, "I wouldn't try that excuse on Saïx. He might decide you've more power than you claim, and expect more work out of you."
Despite himself, Demyx shuddered. Work. No, thank you.
The Schemer all but grinned. "I'll make a bargain with you, IX. Do one favour for me, and Saïx won't learn of your new skill — from me, anyway."
The nice thing about not having a heart was that he didn't actually feel wary about this 'favour' Zexion wanted from him. He'd never been good at controlling his face. Of course, he realised a moment later, it would be unwise to refuse.
A Founder was being friendly, or at least coming off as friendly.
So he put a lazy grin on his face, like it was no big deal, and said, "What's the favour?" He wasn't dumb enough to agree sight unseen — or whatever the auditory equivalent was — to any favour. Down that path lay nets, or his hungry sisters.
Fortunately, Zexion apparently wasn't in a mood to be coy. "It's simple enough," he said. "You wouldn't have heard yet, but there's a world known as Hollow Bastion, ruled by the fairy Maleficent. In that world is are two whole boys — Rufus and Tseng. We need Rufus."
"...why?" Demyx asked, confused.
Zexion ignored the question, instead creating an illusion of a young boy, maybe five or six years old. At least Demyx thought so; he wasn't good at human ages. "This is Rufus. It's been some years since I saw him, so he'll be older, but the basic features won't have changed." Another illusion was created, a taller boy with black hair. Something about him reminded Demyx of Xaldin. "This is Tseng. I don't doubt he's serving as Rufus' guard."
Demyx studied the illusions for a moment, then raised his gaze to Zexion's face. "You've sent others out after them," he said. "Who?"
There was a subtle alteration in Zexion's smile — almost like he was pleased by the question. "Xaldin is the only one who has attempted to bring Rufus in."
Xaldin was scary. And grumpy. How could he fail to bring in two kids? And if he'd failed, how could Demyx succeed? He was about to ask that very question when he took a second look at the illusion of Tseng.
"Okay, so what's the connection between him and that Tseng kid? Please don't say they're related."
"If you come back with them, I'll tell you," Zexion answered.
Demyx bit back the huffy noise that threatened to escape him. "What happens if I come back with Tseng but not Rufus?"
Zexion shrugged as though he didn't care. "Then it should be easy to get Rufus after that."
Demyx didn't like it, but what other option did he have? At least Zexion was wrapping his 'request' in a veneer of pleasantry. It was a nice change from Vexen's shrill demands.
The trap was sprung, he thought sourly, but at least the bait was tasty.
Still, he didn't think Zexion was trying to get him killed. Use him, definitely — but that meant the elder Nobody thought he might succeed. Glancing down — down? — at Zexion, he suddenly realised the Schemer was younger than he was.
Zexion blinked once, and then suddenly the image of a younger boy was gone, and Demyx's eyes were aimed too low.
What in Calypso's name...?
Hastily he said, "All right, I'll do it."
Of course you will, said Zexion's smile.
Demyx could no longer feel nervous.
He gulped anyway.
~*~*~*~
It was a beautiful day in Radiant Garden, for a change. Despite Rufus' insistence on calling the world by its true name, Reno found himself thinking of it as Radiant Garden on good days and Hollow Bastion on bad ones.
Not only was it a Garden day, Maleficent has actually released Tseng from his lessons. That meant a meeting with her offworld allies, and on days like this the witch took extra care against eavesdroppers.
Rather than beat his head against magic he lacked the raw power and expertise to break, Tseng elected to lead them all on a hunt.
Heartless, they'd found, generally left nonsentient animals alone, and Rude had made sure Rufus and Tseng could ride. In turn, Tseng had taught Rude and Reno basic magic.
There'd been no sign of the man Tseng called Xaldin in months, but Reno knew better than to assume that they'd chased him off for good, that Rufus was safe. And sure enough, as they set out, Tseng said, "Don't let your guard down. The Organization's been quiet for longer than I like."
Reno glanced at the older boy sharply. Had anyone else heard the mingled pain and longing in his voice?
He'd been in Castle Town when the Heartless attacked, but Tseng and Rufus had been within the castle itself. They'd known the men who founded the Organization. And while Tseng implied he was nothing more than the son of servants, he wielded that spear of his with trained skill.
Xaldin used spears, too, and there was a weird subtext whenever he spoke to Tseng, one that worried Reno.
Well, he'd discuss it with Rude later. Right now, he wanted to get a mile or two away from the castle and the touch of Maleficent's magic.
Trouble didn't strike until they stopped for lunch. The chocobos were tethered a safe distance away — nobody wanted to deal with tracking down four spooked chocobos again — and the four of them had settled down to eat, albeit with weapons close to hand. Reno had just taken a huge bite from a succulent plum when a black portal suddenly erupted into being. A blond teenager stepped out, wearing the same cloak Xaldin wore.
Reno was on his feet in an instant, pipe in hand, the plum still between his lips. He glanced to Tseng for orders, and dropped the plum when he saw confusion on the older boy's face. Catching the fruit in his right hand, Reno pointed his pipe at the stranger. "Who're you and what d'you want?" he demanded.
Xaldin generally dealt with Reno's attitude by ignoring him. To his surprise, the blond affected offence. "Now, that's not nice at all!" he protested. "Maybe I'm lost and I'm looking for the best route to Singapore."
"And maybe chocobos fly," snapped Rufus.
The stranger's eyes flicked to Rufus, and Reno promptly sidestepped to block his line of sight, earning an unfriendly grin. "You can call me Demyx," he said, raising an arm over his head. "And I'll be leaving with Rufus."
Water condensed out of the air, surrounding Demyx in a cascade that ran up his body and formed a bubble over his empty hand. It dropped onto the hand and popped, splashing into a bright blue instrument taller than all of them — including Demyx.
Before any of them, even Tseng, could process the ridiculous thing, Demyx swung it down and struck a chord that thrummed with power. That shed Reno's temporary paralysis.
"Thunder!"
But Demyx's cry drowned Reno's out.
"Dance, water, dance!"
Lightning struck from just above Demyx's head—
But the blond was no longer there, and the bolt struck a humanlike body made of water. Superheated, it exploded into steam, but was replaced by dozens of water forms. Reno had only a second to goggle before they attacked.
The advantage was decidedly to the water forms; they took several blows from pipe, spear, and fist to defeat. Once defeated, they exploded, showering the area in water. Reno couldn't risk another spell; even he could still be hurt by lightning.
Over Tseng's snarled orders, Reno heard music playing. Turning with the battle, he saw Demyx bent over his instrument, plucking at the strings with a look of such intensity on his face Reno realised he was controlling the water.
Reno cleared a space around him, swinging his pipe until he could barely lift his arm, and yelled a warning. "Tseng! It's him! He's—"
Three of the water forms tackled him, and Reno found himself engulfed in an amorphous blob. Instinctively he held his breath, but he was already winded from the fight and so struggled to breathe. He fought panic and his captors, but his lungs hurt—
A rough hand grabbed the back of his neck, hauling him free just as he lost the struggle not to inhale. Coughing, Reno stumbled backwards and landed on his rump hard enough to knock the air back out of his lungs.
Another pair of water forms lunged at him.
Tseng's spear passed through one, a spell attached that destroyed it from within. Rude grabbed the second, his face a mask of fury.
Reno stared as the water changed shape to a music note, and the fury on Rude's face was replaced first with surprise, then a look of malicious delight disturbingly similar to some of Xaldin's smirks.
Demyx looked up from his instrument—
Five water forms converged on Rude—
And Rude swung the arm holding his captive, cutting through them in an instant. A single blow dealt from their weaponised fellow did far more damage than even Rude's fists could. What the hell, Reno wondered.
Tseng hollered something unintelligible and bolted past Rude, ducking under a backswing and bearing down on Demyx. The blond yelped like a child, striking a new chord and sending a wave of water to swamp Tseng—
Who was no longer on the ground.
When had Tseng learned to do that? Reno wondered as he landed on their opponent spear-first. That was one of Xaldin's moves! He didn't realise Rufus was spell-casting until the taste of mint filled his open mouth.
Demyx let out an inhuman shriek of pain and rage. Swinging his instrument up and around, he hit Tseng hard enough to knock him onto his back. He fell on Tseng, baring teeth that were suddenly impossibly sharp, but the spearman kicked up with both feet, catching Demyx in the gut—
And then Rude was there, soaked to the bone, putting his entire body behind a brutal punch that caught the musician right under the ribs. Demyx folded over his arm like a house of cards.
Unaccountably, Rude hesitated. He looked up, his eyes meeting Reno's, and he smiled.
Demyx bit his arm.
Rude roared, shaking the cloaked man off his arm. Demyx hit the ground, rolling away from Tseng's vicious kick, and opened another portal. In the instant before he bolted, Reno thought he saw blood staining his lips.
Silence suddenly fell, broken only by Rude's soft steady curses. The only evidence that they'd been attacked was the water still on the ground, and the remnants of their ruined meal.
"What the hell," said Rufus, hands still on Reno's shoulders. The redhead had to agree.
A sound of rage escaped the prince's throat, and he went to Rude's side. Examining the arm, he repeated, "What the hell," but now there was worry in his tone. "Rude, you're bleeding!"
"Noticed," grunted the older boy.
Reno could picture the scowl on Rufus' face as he took Rude's arm in both hands. "Cure."
Reno realised he was still holding the plum. Shrugging, he took a bite and nearly spat it back out. Damn mint-flavoured Cure spells... With a sigh, he joined the others. "Who was that?" he asked, offering Tseng a hand up.
Tseng shook his head as Reno pulled him to his feet. "I don't know," he admitted.
"I don't think he's from Radiant Garden," Rufus added, looking up from Rude's healed arm with the predicted scowl. "Nobody here has teeth like that."
"That means he's from another world," Reno protested.
"No," said Tseng quietly. "That means the Organization is going to other worlds — and expanding."
The boys exchanged looks, then started cleaning up the remains of their lunch. Only once they were mounted and heading back to the castle did they speak again.
"Are we gonna tell Maleficent?" Reno asked.
"Yes," said Rufus and Tseng together.
Tseng continued on, "If she knows already, and we don't tell her, she'll think we're hiding things from her, and get strict with Rufus' outings again. If she doesn't know, we're bringing valuable intelligence to supper — that the Organization has a new member who can control water with the skill of a master."
"And bites like a pike," Rude grumbled.
Silence fell again, to be broken by Rufus. "What if he comes back?"
"...we got lucky," Tseng said, looking back over his shoulder at Rude. "He looked surprised when you grabbed the water form — which means he didn't know about that weakness. Now he does. He'll be ready for us next time."
The rest of the ride was completed in silence.
~*~*~*~
The scent of flowers, saltwater, and blood assaulted Zexion's nose, and he looked up from his book in time to see IX stumble in, his mouth stained red. He raised one eyebrow at the Nocturne's dishevelled state. "Is something amiss?"
IX actually jumped, hurriedly wiping at the bloodstains on his mouth, but then he gave Zexion a lackadaisical grin. "Nah, not at all. Just a slight mishap with the clone forms, that's all. I should've worked on 'em more before going after those kids."
IX was lying to him. Zexion didn't like that.
"So are you abandoning our end of the bargain?" he asked. If IX was as astute as Zexion believed him to be, he would hear the warning.
Sure enough, something like panic flashed across the other man's face. "No, of course not!" he hastened to assure Zexion. "Just regrouping and replanning. Can't go in without accounting for weaknesses, right?" His laugh was hollow, fake; then again, all their laughs were.
Zexion studied him thoroughly, inhaling slowly through the nose. The burst of flowers (of home) was fading, but the blood was not. And when IX had laughed open-mouthed, his teeth briefly resembled fangs.
He pretended he hadn't seen, and revised his opinion of the Nocturne up another notch for allowing them all to believe him Atlantican. "Very well," he agreed. "One more time, then, when you feel you've accounted for... weaknesses."
And he would look into the other worlds with merfolk denizens. It wouldn't do to underestimate Demyx again.