Notes from Shardy: Ah, I have finally entered the realm of Kingdom Hearts. No particular favorite pairing for this fandom, but Axel x Kairi is currently eating my soul.
So why is this Demyx x Kairi?
…I…have no idea. This little plot bunny just came to me one night and so I ended up with this. But then again, we are talking about the self-proclaimed mistress of odd and obscure pairings here.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I am no associated in the creation, development, or brainstorming of Kingdom Hearts, nor do I work for Squeenix as a employee, gopher girl, or personal pleasure slave.
Claimer: The "song" that Demyx sings in this fic is one written by me, and it's actually not really a song. It's more like freestyle poetry. But we can pretend it's a song.
The darkness remained, even after she had opened her eyes, indigo irises drinking in all the light it could find and still left far from satisfied. There was a small throbbing in her head, and she swooned slightly when she sat up, bringing a hand to her auburn hair as if that would soothe the pain.
She saw the bruise on her wrist. Her eyes narrowed and she growled in her throat.
That bastard actually hurt her! Granted, she had been struggling, biting, and kicking when he had tugged her through the dark portal, which probably did not help her delicate skin any especially when he had tightened his grip to keep her in place. But that was no excuse!
Why did all the bad guys have to be so rough?
Because that's what makes them bad guys.
She made a sound, a half-snort, half-giggle, laughing to herself in spite of the gravity of the situation. Hadn't that guy called her a Princess of Heart? While she wasn't exactly sure what that meant, it seemed a little appropriate that she would be captured and wait here in this dark cell for her handsome knight to rescue her.
This time, she did laugh out loud.
As if Sora was that handsome. Okay, he was getting there, like, give him another ten years. And awkward, goofy, and clumsy didn't exactly add up to knight-in-shining-armor material.
Riku…Riku was no romanticist. He'd just call her a dummy for getting herself locked up in the first place as his own, twisted way of showing how much he cared. She found herself smiling. We could just scratch him off the list, right now.
With a sigh, Kairi stood up when the world stopped spinning, and dusted the unseen dirt off her clothes. No one was going to rescue her. Looks like the princess was going to have to save herself this time around.
The door opened when she had barely touched it to see how secure it was. Kairi jumped back, staring at the light seeping in through the crack of freedom in absolute shock. At first, she even thought that this couldn't be right. That someone should shut the door and lock it.
Wait, what she thinking? Her captors had threw her in an unlocked cell. She could literally just walk on out of here!
Smirking, she threw open the door…and nearly ran back into the room.
It was so…bright out there.
It took a moment for Kairi to realize that the reason it was so bright wasn't so much of the lighting, but the sharp contrast to the dark room she had been in, her brain hardly having enough neurons to take in the white walls, white ceiling, white floors of endless, vast hallway without going into overload.
So, that was it. That dark room had only been part of her prison. The door had been left cruelly unlocked to show her that there was nowhere for her to go.
If she had been weak, she would've allowed her knees to collapse beneath her in despair.
Only Kairi hated thinking of herself as weak. A fact she had been trying to prove to Sora and Riku for years.
"Eternally intertwined
A pair of silent, beating hearts
I want to tell you
But the waves steal my words…"
Kairi paused, unable to believe what she was hearing.
Singing?
In a place like this?
"If I were a little more perfect
Would you still be shy around me?
I think I like you best
With the wind in your hair
And a whimsical smile on your lips
And the way your legs bend close together…"
The voice was soothing and lyrical, beyond what Kairi had ever heard before. And yet…the song was so sad. Longing. It almost made her want to cry, and, even as she pressed forward determinedly, focused on not falling for whatever tricks that guy and whoever he was working with were trying to pull on her, she couldn't stop the corners of her eyes from stinging with emotion.
"You turn to me
But it is not me you're seeing
My tears touch your skin
But all you feel is ocean…"
The voice was louder as she closed the distance between her and the sound, the lyrics clearer and this time occupied with the surreal strumming of a guitar. Amidst the lustrous white, she managed to spy a massive door, slightly cracked open which allowed the melody to escape and seduce her ears like a notorious playboy. Curious now, Kairi saw no pain in poking her head around the door.
A man sat in the room, slender fingers dancing eloquently along the neck of a blue, heart-shaped guitar. At first, due to all the white, she thought he was sitting suspended in midair. Then her eyes adjusted, retinas locating differences in depth perception, and she saw that he was actually sitting on a highly elevated section of the alabaster floor.
So there were others here!
He wore the same black jacket as the guy who had dragged her away. His hair was shorter, blonde, no less spiky, and he looked younger, perhaps a year or so older than her. His eyes were closed as he lost himself in his words, and Kairi found herself transfixed. It had never occurred to her that bad guys could sing so well.
And then it stopped. His eyes popped open, revealing a pair of soft, blue orbs as if the ocean itself rippled within. "AH!" he cried out, leaning back and holding up his guitar defensively. "You could hear me!?"
Kairi was taken aback. This had been a private concert, after all? Suddenly, she felt a little guilty, as if she had violated unknown territory. "I couldn't help it," she admitted apologetically, then quickly regained her composure. It was obvious by the uniform that he was a member of this little black-robed club, and therefore would not be sympathetic to her situation, no matter how friendly she was. Her attitude was quick to become indifferent. She heard his song; big deal.
Still, he looked crestfallen. "Please don't tell Xemnas!" the boy practically begged. "He doesn't like it when I sing! Says it's…unsuitable…"
He certainly didn't seem like a bad guy. Don't get distracted, Kairi! It's all part of their game!
"Who's Xemnas?"
He looked taken aback, and then lowered his guitar to lean forward and scrutinize her further. "You're not…a member of the Organization?"
Kairi was nearly floored. Was he serious!?
"Oh!" He tapped the side of his head as if he just now realized something. "Of course! You're that girl Axel brought with him!" He grinned, apparently pleased with drawing this obvious conclusion all by himself.
Still, Kairi was more interested in the name she just heard. "What was that name?"
"Axel," he answered obediently.
"Huh." She chewed her lower lip thoughtfully. Axel. If she could not get out of here, she was definitely going to make "Axel" pay for being so rough on an innocent, defenseless girl.
"I'm Demyx, by the way."
Her head snapped up at attention. He certainly was the friendly type for a bad guy. "That's nice…" And, just so that she didn't come off as a total bitch (first impressions were important, after all, even if they wouldn't mean anything), "I'm Kairi."
"Beautiful name."
Okay, now she was uncomfortable. A thought came to her, and she poised to leave without another word. "See you later," he called with a cheery wave.
Kairi stared at him over her shoulder, incredulous at the results from that tiny test she had just given him. "You're just going to let me leave?"
"You can't escape, anyway," Demyx answered matter-of-factly.
A tiny part of her, ever defiant, wanted to retort with a snide Watch me. She kept that part of her silent and instead turned back to the door. Wherever she was, this place was enormous and if they were cocky enough not to keep a close eye on her, then maybe luck will stay on her side and show her a secret escape route. Or a way to find out more about her captors and exploit their weaknesses.
Or maybe she would be led to Alex or Laxel or whatever the hell his name was and the opportunity to pummel hedgehog-head in revenge for taking her away. A girl had her pride after all, and being kidnapped by a jerk like that had marred her pride far more than her unarmored wrist.
"Hey, wait a minute!"
Uh-oh. Maybe bad-guy-slash-musician suddenly realized the error of letting her walk out of that room. Just so a scene wouldn't be made to alert others of this "Organization", Kairi blinked up at Demyx innocently, widening her indigo eyes slightly more than natural. No, I'm not trying to escape. Not. At. All.
"Did you like my song?"
This guy was the type who would never cease to amaze her with his naïve unpredictability. Kairi wasn't exactly sure if such a thing could be played to her advantage or not, but she quickly shooed the idea away. This guy, this Demyx, was definitely not of typical bad-guy cloth, and therefore making him far more dangerous.
It took her a moment to answer. He seemed like the kind of guy who would follow her around for eternity until she replied to that single, mediocre query. And while playing with his mind might provide some amusement, she'd rather him start a scene than annoy her to death. "It was…very sad," she replied honestly without actually giving an opinion.
She was not about to admit to him that his voice alone could pull at the stiffest of heartstrings. The lyrics had only made the affect more devastating.
Demyx's oceanic eyes lowered. "Yeah. I wrote it for this girl." A slight pink blush even lit across his nose as he swung his feet shyly.
The hopeless romantic in her started jumping up and down, screaming for details. Kairi cursed herself for her girlish frivolity.
"I've never met her, I don't think, and yet I keep dreaming about her," he continued, absentmindedly stroking the guitar.
So he was in love with a girl he'd only dreamt about. And then woke up to write songs about her.
Loser.
"I hope she hears it someday," Kairi merely replied quietly and marched through the doorway without looking back. For the longest moment, only the echoes of her footfalls followed her as she walked at a steady pace down the endless hallway in no particular direction.
Then, the final notes of Demyx's song whispered, only whispered, along her ears:
"Eternity is a lie
The only heart that's intertwined
Is between you and the sea…"
That melodious voice filled with such sorrow and…emptiness…once again gripped Kairi's heartstrings and made her want to cry.
-End-