Chapter 6 - A Matter of Pride

The first rays of dawn slid over the rampart in Port Royal, clearing the clouds and casting an ironically pure light over the motionless bodies scattered around which were left to rot in pools of their own crimson blood. Dusks and Shadows slinked around, these and the mutilated bodies the result of a brutal massacre.

Marluxia smiled.

Graceful Dahlia stood proudly beside him in one hand, her blade dripping with scarlet success; the dahlia...a symbol of dignity, elegance, good taste...and instability.

His smile grew all the wider, a flash of white teeth in the growing sunlight.

Footsteps.

"Satisfied, my goddess of death?" he murmured fondly, slowly turning his head, his eyes glowing from under his hood.

Larxene stopped, one hand on her hip as she drew the flat of a bloodied knife down her tongue; Marluxia watched, fascinated, as she did it again with the other side and then the rest of her knives. Her eyes were locked on him the entire time; finally, she dismissed her knives -Foudre- in a crackle of electricity and smirked, blood speckled over her lips.

"Very." she crooned "My, look at you - the grinning face of death, final judgement, the Grim Reaper's sexy brother. How delicious." the last two words, Larxene spoke with a practiced posh accent and then licked the blood off her lips suggestively.

Marluxia chuckled, dismissing Graceful Dahlia in a cloud of petals; he looked to the sunrise with a contemplative expression.

"Tell me, ferryman, how much drachma do I have to pay to cross the river into that dark world of yours?" Larxene asked, striding over to him and tapping his forehead, bemused "What are you thinking?"

"Oh, nothing life-changing." Marluxia replied with a casual wave of his hand, opening a dark portal "I can see the sails of Navy ships on the horizon, someone must have raised the alarm - we should leave."

"Sure thing, Flowerpot." she giggled as they disappeared through the portal.

I preferred "Ferryman"

"Tough shit."

Clouds rolled over the Twilight Realm but it had ceased raining; the air was mild, sometimes shifting between freezing and uncomfortably hot. Balance had been disrupted by the efforts of an Assassin and a Nymph; the cold lasted longer than the warm - Darkness was rising.

They reappeared in the unusual luminosity of Marluxia's garden; Larxene pulled him down to sit with her underneath one of the impressive trees. Marluxia leaned back against it, listening to the deep murmur of the tree only he could hear, his element allowed him to speak to trees and plants alike, no words aloud needed.

"Again you're in your own little world, let me in, Marluxia." Larxene complained, kneeling in front of him and knocking on his forehead none-too-gently.

"What is it that you want me to tell you?" Marluxia wondered, tilting his head to avoid her hand.

"I don't know." Larxene huffed, frowning "I can never see past your smile or the glint in your eyes, you're a puzzle I can't figure out."

Marluxia felt the ghost of surprise "Of all people, I thought you would have figured me out by now." he remarked.

He studied her expression with some amusement - her nose was wrinkled in annoyance and she was still frowning at him. He had to laugh, she was adorable, and would probably stab him for calling her that if he did.

"What's so funny?" she growled.

Marluxia laughed again "You."

Larxene grabbed him and tossed him roughly onto his back, electricity crackling in the air; she pounced on him, fists flying. She was only play-fighting, otherwise there would be a knife in his gut by now; he fought back with his own array or playful kicks and punches as they rolled across the grass.

"Bitch!" she yelled at last, but she was laughing.

She lay half on top of Marluxia, panting; Marluxia himself was breathing heavily too, feeling somewhat battered.

"God I've missed these fights..." Larxene breathed, she pulled herself up to look in his eyes "But do you know what I miss just as much, if not more?" she asked huskily.

"Hm?" Marluxia arched a pink eyebrow.

"Remember when we were first assigned to this place, and a bit before that? Before we were destroyed." she toyed with the zip of his cloak as she spoke, looking at him through her lashes "I miss the casual sex, we thought we had all the time in the world back then."

"I remember, we always did find a way to make missions more...enjoyable." he recalled, his hands coming to rest on her sides, just on the swell of her hips.

She ran a slender finger along his cheek "Indulge me, Assassin." Her soft breath brushed across his lips, making them tingle in anticipation.

Marluxia brought his lips to Larxene's neck, feeling her shiver under his touch, a shiver of pleasure. He rolled them over gently, continuing his ministrations on her neck; one kiss was turned into a slight nip with his teeth, he heard her sharp intake of breath and smiled against her skin, feeling her tangle her fingers in his hair.

Chemistry rushed between them unhindered as she tugged him up, her eyes blazing; her lips curved into a delicious smirk and Marluxia couldn't resist them any longer - he closed the distance between them with a deep, almost feverish kiss.

All the time in the world does not slow passion.

~*~*~Vexen's P.O.V - Pride Lands~*~*~

Vexen's breath came in harsh, ragged gasps as the thundered through the wastelands; he'd never been to the Pride Lands before and it was taking some time to adapt to a quadrupedial body, his paws were clumsy to him and they felt heavy, making stealth a much harder task than he'd first anticipated.

However he'd soon found out, hence his current situation.

His rational mind wrestled with his new animalistic instincts, trying to form a logical plan; but his entire mind agreed on one thing - escape.

The Academic dug his claws into the rocky surface after jumping at an uneven ledge, kicking frantically until he managed to pull himself up; the wind whipped through his blonde mane as he took off at a sprint again; gradually, the path began to slope down, leading towards the jungle. Behind him, shouts could be heard.

"He's going into the jungle! Don't let him escape!"

Vexen cursed - they were getting closer; this wouldn't have happened if he had kept his cool and denied all questions.

Well, he'd done the denying part but he'd panicked.

The ground became soft and mossy beneath Vexen's paws as he bounded in between the trees in random directions, hoping to throw off his pursuers but to no avail - he flattened his ears as a round shield with a King Mickey crest and a deadly sharp edge whistled over his head, embedding into the trunk of a tree with a soft thunk.

A Keyblade was next; Vexen jumped and then barrel-rolled down a short incline to evade it, but it caught his left hind leg and he landed at the bottom in an untidy heap, his leg bent at an odd angle from the blow.

Both of his hind legs went numb with shock and he took a few shakey breaths as the Keyblade was pressed against his throat by a horribly familiar lion cub.

"Very good, Sora." Vexen drawled, though his voice was quivering.

"Who are you?" Sora demanded, holding the Keyblade with his tail "I know you! I've seen you somewhere before, I'm sure of it!"

The Academic's mind worked fast "I'm an outlander, I helped Scar kill that fool Mufasa and claim the Pride Lands for his own; you destroyed all of that, boy." he lied in a hiss.

For a moment, Sora seemed convinced and the pressure from the Keyblade reduced as he lapsed into thought. Vexen took the opportunity to lash out, swiping at Sora's head with all the strength he could muster in his injured state; the Keyblade Bearer went sprawling, crying out in pain.

At their friend's yelp, Donald and Goofy hurried down the slope with their weapons ready. Vexen pushed himself to his unsteady feet; he tried to keep the weight off his bad leg as an intense, burning pain engulfed it, threatening to destroy all sense within his mind.

Frozen Pride appeared in his jaws as he limped back, his eyes travelling over the scenery, looking for an escape through the flora. Vexen saw recognition flash in Sora's eyes at the pristine blue shield and realised his mistake - he had now completely given himself away; Marluxia and Larxene would have his head for this.

The Academic didn't wait around - he threw himself into a Dark Portal back to the airship; darkness burned against his vunerable skin through his fur, draining his strength and will to live. Eventually, he appeared by the airship, Frozen pride vanishing into snowflakes which immediately melted in the hot African sun. Vexen leaned against the warmed metal, breathing heavily; magic took effect and transformed him back into a human, well, Nobody.

He fumbled for the keys in his pocket and eventually got the cockpit open, hauling himself in with his leg dragging behind him.

~*~*~End of Pride Lands Scene (back to Marluxia's P.O.V)~*~*~

"Think Frosty's dead?" Larxene wondered out loud, pulling her hood up to shield herself from the wind.

"Don't get my hopes up." Marluxia quipped, sliding his arm over her shoulders as she moved closer to him for warmth.

They were sat on top of one of the much smaller towers that branched off the top of the main Castle Oblivion tower, surveying the chaos of the realm they ruled; twisted yet colourful flowers of Marluxia's design which adorned gnarled vines, were curled around the slanted spires beneath them, anyone who touched them would get a paralysing electric shock coursing through their body. It was a collaboration of their power, a mere hint of what they could achieve together.

"How powerful d'you think Kingdom hearts is now?" Larxene asked him after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

"Since we only need two- well, three hearts if Vexen wants one, then I'd say it's nearly powerful enough. We could go check later." he offered.

"Oh goody..." she snorted sarcastically.

...I once thought things would be better without a heart too, but I'm tired of feeling empty. Trust me, Larxene, remember what it was like before? When we had hearts? That time we went after Luxord? Or rather, Ludor.

"I remember, I had no idea Xaldin was messing with your head too."

Yeah and then the Neoshadows got us; but that's not the point, I miss feeling what I felt for you then.

"Hah, lust?"

It was something, at least. We'd only known each other for three hours before we lost our hearts.

"Hey don't worry, the feeling was mutual."

A gap in the heavy clouds opened up and their sleek black airship sped out, circling the castle once before landing outside the main doors; Marluxia glanced at Larxene before he stood up, she swiftly hopped up too and climbed onto his back. The Assassin slipped off his gloves and leapt off the tower, his Nymph clinging to him and laughing as they free-fell through the air.

"Marluxia, you're crazy! And I love it!" she crowed; he felt her soft, warm lips brush against the side of his neck.

"You once said we should dance, my dear, and dance we will." Marluxia said in a manic, elated tone as vines sprang from his right hand, latching onto a lower roof.

As they descended, the vines pulled taut and swung them onto the side of a tower which stuck out parallel to the ground; Marluxia gripped the vine with one hand and used it to wall run across the main body of the castle, kicking off when he reached half way and landing skillfully on the nose of the airship.

Larxene shifted so her feet were pressing in against his hips and her arms wrapped loosely around his neck from behind as the cockpit opened, revealing Vexen looking battered, worn and with a block of ice encasing his left leg.

"Well?" prompted Marluxia harshly.

Vexen seemed to hesitate, a look of panic flashing across his face before he answered "I...encountered the boy - Sora."

"And? Did he recognise you?" the Assassin pressed.

Vexen's answer was evasive "He may have..."

Larxene let out a colourful string of curses and hopped off Marluxia's back, running her hands through her hair in exasperation. Marluxia strode up the airship and pressed his foot hard against Vexen's throat; the Academic's eyes bulged in terror and he clawed at the Assassin's foot, but Marluxia only pushed harder, narrowing his eyes.

"You had better pray -to the gods of every religion, to Kingdom Hearts, to the spirit of your departed mother- that he didn't, Vexen, or I will tear your head from your shoulders and feed it to the dripping jaws of a venus flytrap. Are we quite clear?" he threatened in a voice so menacing, so unstable, that even Larxene flinched.

Vexen made a choked noise of affirmative and Marluxia lifted his foot from the Academic's throat, where a vivid purple bruise was already rising. Vexen coughed and gasped for air, wheezing as his chest heaved.

With a sweep of his cloak, Marluxia turned around to Larxene and they both teleported away.

Every word he said - he meant.

Yet again, sorry for the wait. I'm hopeless XD

To be fair, life has been throwing me a curveball or seven and I'm having trouble staying on top of schoolwork along with everything else.

Anyway, enough of my yammerin'

Review please! Think of the kittens, those big imploring eyes, they want you to review this fanfic. How could you say no to them? :P