~*I Am Alpha, Hear Me Roar!*~

My first reaction was, I am ashamed to admit, something that went along the lines of, Huh, his hair is more of a real light tawny brown than actual pink.

Hair color is always something to consider when facing a known psychopath.

Standing face to face with Marluxia in the kitchen, however, was not the way I thought this inevitable meeting would happen. When the surprise wore off, though, that's when I started to panic.

His face was completely devoid of any other expression besides tranquility and quiet politeness. The shock of loose pink hair that draped over his shoulders only accentuated his endearing features. Nothing hinted at alarm. His body language was loose. Calm, relaxed.

It was more disconcerting than Lexaeus completely expressionless façade; Marluxia didn't even look frazzled. In fact, he looked as if he were taking a walk through the park, he was so calm

A strange and quirky feeling melted over me, something that felt very akin to sheer helplessness. I had the distinct, unidentifiable urge to drop to my knees and beg for mercy. What had I been thinking? Taking on the entire Organization...

Something stopped me, though.

Shaking off the desperate feelings, I took a closer look.

He's royally pissed off, that much was too obvious. But there was something else in there, some other hidden emotion that I couldn't decipher.

Though I didn't know just what was going on through his head, that strange glint in his eye helped to stave off my crushing desperation. It was calming at least. Clearly, he wasn't as in control as I thought he was.

That's when I knew I still had a chance of reining him in. All I needed to do was keep a level head.

"Hello, Marluxia," I said airily. Trying to shake off the imminent paralysis in my legs, I calmly strolled over to the kitchen and placed the bag of shopping goods on the counter. "When did you get here?"

When in doubt, pretend that you're not ready to keel over and throw up your stomach acids. Yes, I think Aristotle quoted that. My first instinct in the face of this bona fide sociopath, however, was to act like I was completely in control of the situation; and that meant not puking on his finely polished, slightly scuffed shoes.

"A few minutes ago, actually," he replied, equally nonchalant. His voice was as smooth as a glass of milk. It was unnerving to have to meet his piercing gaze as well, but I firmly held the eye contact. His smile was nothing less than charming. "Quite the, ah, service you provide here."

I smiled lightly. "Thank you. We do our best."

His eyes were burning, but I held his gaze, stare for stare. Was he a bit closer than before? I never saw him move.

I gulped thickly, feeling my throat start to close up. "So, M—Marluxia." Hands shaking slightly, I tucked them out of sight behind my back. "If you have any questions for me—"

"Of course I have questions," he said suddenly, his tone possessing a bit more of a bite to it. I flinched, cursing myself as I did. Clearly he could sense my rising fear as I could feel his bubbling anger. "It's not often one wakes up in a completely different location than they last remember. Or within the company of a girl they've never met, yet seems to know who they are."

I chuckled before I could stop myself. "Sounds like a night in Vegas."

Marluxia paused, and in the silence I swiftly continued, "We've been expecting you for a while now, as we are the rest of the Organization. Pardon me for not being more surprised, but I figured it best to keep my guard up, so to speak."

He was silent for a beat longer. Then he took a mighty step closer to me. He was only a little bit longer than an arm's length away now.

Or a scythe-length.

I took a shaky breath.

"Expecting me?"

I could see the rage in his eyes slowly spread, tainting the pretty effects of his face. His upper lip curled up into a gruesome smirk, and his eyes narrowed, creating a rather quite ugly effect. Slowly, ever so slowly, his whole expression became enflamed with quiet rage.

Pretty soon my whole upper body was shaking; I was slowly losing my nerves in the face of this monster. It was twelve times worse than when Larxene had had me by the throat, screaming at me about her failed dreams. The worst she could have done was zap me. Sure, my heart would've probably stopped beating, but still, I knew what she was capable of.

But that was it, wasn't it?

I didn't know anything.

Yet, at the same time, neither did he.

He knew even less than I did.

"Dianna!"

I looked over to the doorway to see Aki standing there, her eyes flitting to the both of us. Her expression was apprehensive, for once acutely aware of the swirling anxiety in the atmosphere. She looked to Marluxia, and tottered nervously. "A—ah, Marluxia, you're awake!"

I straightened, facing her. "Aki, now isn't the best—"

I paused when a bright pink light enflamed my peripheral vision.

I didn't actually see anything, but I heard the swing of something heavy and the thunk as it sliced through the counter. Aki's shocked gasp is what really clued me in that something was happening. Before I could even rationalize what had happened, I flattened myself against the curve of the counter and ducked as low as I could go.

In a mesh of colors, I suddenly found the blade of Marluxia's scythe cutting in to the juncture of my neck. I wasn't fast enough to escape entirely, but I very well might have saved my head. The snath had pinned me against the counter, encaging me, the kitchen counter jutting into my back. My mind was buzzing as I stared into his blue eyes, which were white hot with fury, trying to rationalize what the hell just happened. My ears were ringing from the sound of the weapon.

He had tried to attack me.

That…tramp.

He snarled at me, much like a rabid dog, though the comparison was frightfully accurate. His eyes were burning with a heady mixture of rage, fear, and seething mortification. It meshed and swirled together, creating a beautiful, demonic red tint in place of his usual gorgeous baby-blue.

My mouth flapped open, trying to find words.

Escape. Gotta get out of here.

"M—Marluxia, I—"

I sucked in a sharp gasp as the snath pressed deeper into my ribcage, the blade kissing my skin. I had to crouch even lower, feel the coolness of my own blood. My face was pale white with fear.

"You—"

Whatever grand evil villain's speech Marluxia had been prepared to dish out was perfectly interpreted by a disturbance over where Aki had been standing. I think she was yelling at him, crying as she did. If I had turned to look I probably would have decapitated myself. Thankfully I really didn't even notice it, outside the fact that Marluxia had looked away to see for himself.

His first and only mistake.

People had begun to shout, but I only concerned myself with getting my hands and fingers working again. The paralysis was slow to wear off. I felt my way across the counter. A trickle of blood slithered its way down my collarbone. Adrenaline shot through me when my fingertips brush the handle of a recently used cooking pan, doing well to shake off the mind-numbing panic.

Again, my mind had no say in what happened next.

The surprise of whatever distraction was apparently wearing off, as the rabid-Marluxia had just begun to redirect his attentions towards me. Before he could react, I slumped down onto the floor, ducked underneath the scythe and, my hands turning white as they clutched onto the frying pan, I swung my entire upper body and cracked the would-be weapon across his head.

He certainly wasn't expecting it.

CHRAA-ACK!

With naught but a small yelp, he slumped onto the ground.

The scythe remained stationary, embedded into the kitchen counter. I stared pale-faced down at the crumpled Nobody on the floor.

People fear nothing more than that of which they do not know.

The pan clattered woefully onto the tile floor.

And he was terrified.

~*O*~

The point where Aki appeared at the foot of the stairwell to me holding a bloody frying pan in the kitchen was slowly becoming a total blur to me, like a floating dream. Aki, the adorable little Oompa Loompa that she was, went on for at least ten minutes about it all, eyes wide with excitement as she went in to extremely acute detail of the events. As I was someone who didn't believe in violence, it was really hard for me to take in that I had been the reason why the flower child was currently on the couch holding an icepack against his head, glaring quite evilly at the ceiling.

Well, now I'll never have to wonder whether or not I could take these guys in a fight.

"Oh, don't even worry about it, he'll be fine," Larxene had said to me, smiling wickedly. "I've done worse to him with just a boot."

I glared at her sulkily as she left me alone in the kitchen.

Now, let's recap.

Apparently, while I had been at the store, Aki had thought it proper to show Vexen around the house a bit more, and both had stumbled across Number XI sprawled and barely conscious in the guest bathroom. They both performed the apparently traditional rout of nourishing the fallen Nobody with the last bit of orange juice we had left, with a little bit extra treatment from the ever so considerate Aki.

After garnering the telltale signs of life, Vexen had gone to go inform the others about Marluxia's arrival, leaving said character within the care of my sister. Aki, however, had left a few moments later, trying to find a phone in an attempt to contact me. With no one to keep an eye on him, Marluxia had wandered off in a disjointed search for answers, and had found me instead.

Happy times.

Neither Larxene nor Lexaeus had known about Marluxia's existence in this house until they had found me pinned against the kitchen counter. Their sudden entrance into the kitchen had been his distraction and ultimately my escape.

After I put away all the groceries, dislodged the protruding scythe, and swept up the flower petals (they apparently follow him everywhere, even across the vortex of space), I walked back into the living room where the party had moved.

It took a few minutes to revive the stricken flower child. Larxene had crudely whipped together a sandwich bag full of ice, wanting to use duck tape and tape it to his head, which I objected to. I was given an embarrassing pink bandage for the nip of my neck where the blade had met. It was a shallow wound, barely a wound at all, but I wasn't prepared to ignore the fact that if the stupid blade had been an inch deeper my whole head would have been sliced off.

Shoving my wounded pacifism aside, I planted myself in the living room foyer and watched as they bandaged up the poor Nobody (from the wounds that I inflicted), all the while carrying a sick sense of satisfaction.

To save the others from pain of confusion, I decided to clarify the whole space time jump thing again. This early in the game I figured it would be best to assert myself as much as possible, and make it known that I'm head alpha and all that. Vexen didn't mind, at least, who I think was the only one who understand it enough to reiterate. He seemed pretty content with hiding in the darkness of the stairwell.

Marluxia made no comment, even when I went into detail about his gory defeat at the hands of the Keyblade brat. I knew he was still listening, I could see his jaw twitching spastically. His aura was downright fussy.

In the end, I only felt the slightest bit of sympathy for him. After all, unlike the rest of the C.O. crew, his death was his own damn fault. As I looked into his eyes again, I could see the barest etchings of his earlier rage. All signs of the charming, complaisant Marluxia were gone.

"It's my own stupid fault he got loose, D," Aki moaned, curled up in the little niche of our recliner chair. The entire household was gathered in the living room like a mock trial, with the exception of the cowering Vexen. I could feel Lexaeus' cold presence from behind me. Larxene looked delighted as she sat on the edge of the couch where Marluxia lie. "He was—I just…he was scared, D!"

Marluxia said nothing in his defense, but I did see his jaw clench. Clearly my dearest sister wasn't helping bolster his ego.

I shot my sister a look, and she glanced sheepishly at her hands.

"Does the fact that he tried to decapitate me mean nothing to you?"

Aki opened her mouth and then she faltered. Her gaze seemed drawn to the looming scythe that was propped against the wall. It took us precisely five minutes to wedge that thing out of the counter. I hated it. Her face paled even more, but she snapped back over to me. "Well, Larxene tried to punch you earlier, but you kept her here! And you hate her!"

"Hey!" Larxene yelped.

Pausing, I shifted my gaze directly to Marluxia, whom remained motionless. "Yes, that's twice now my person was threatened by you people." I paused, trying to slow down my breathing. Aki groaned in regret. "Larxene comes and has a mental breakdown and attacks me. Now this! How do I know that next time I won't end up having a knife in my gut while I'm sleeping?"

"Is that supposed to imply something?" Larxene piped up again.

I sent her a withering glare. "You didn't exactly make a good first impression."

"Oh come on, princess," Larxene bodily rolled her eyes as she lurched up to her feet. Shockingly she looped her arm around my shoulders and playfully poked my chest. "It's like little Ki-ki said, I was on total freak out mode. I didn't even punch you! We're chill now though, aren't we?" she added as she pressed me closer, a pleasant smile curving her lips.

"You…" I started slowly, shaking her encaging arm off of my shoulder, "You are a bona fide sociopath. Both of you," I hissed venomously at Marluxia. "You lied, you cheated. You tried to overthrow a freaking Organization of people just like you. What guarantee do I have of loyalty—a girl who can't even hit someone with a frying pan without squirming?" I took a deep, calming breath, suppressing the rage and fear bubbling in my chest. "Give me one damn good reason why I shouldn't throw you out onto the curb right now?"

Larxene was silent, a tad bit of surprise and apprehension to her expression.

Marluxia never spoke, but I could see his teeth clenching up and a vein popping out of his neck.

Something was slipping up, of that I was certain. I was a person who tried not to go back on their word, and considering that's twice now I ignored my own conditions, I soon wouldn't have the choice and would have to turn them over, if only to preserve my own self-worth. Whatever these guys said next would ultimately decide where they would be waking up tomorrow; my guest room or an insane asylum.

If it came to that, I tried to imagine that I would have the strength to actually sentence them to that fate. It wasn't too difficult, honestly.

"I will make sure they don't harm you."

I looked to the shadowy mass hiding in the niche on my living room. Lexaeus remained still, but he was looking directly at Marluxia with a fervor I had never seen before. He seemed to be standing at full height now, towering over all of us.

"I see the reason for your fear," he continued in his deep, rumbling voice. "We are criminals who have invaded upon your hospitality, and have betrayed your trust more than once. However," he looked at me, "I am under no illusion that without you and your little sister, we would have either been executed, or thrown away in to a cell a long time ago. And I thank you for not doing either of which."

He glanced towards Larxene, who wilted slightly and then back to Marluxia. His glare turned positively venomous. "I will personally make sure they shall be grateful, too. You no longer have reason to fear."

My eyes, which were slowly widening with every word, were now fully opened and saucer-like. I had never even thought Lexaeus' view about this whole mess, so the knowledge that he was actually grateful…?

It made me feel a little bit better.

But damn, who would've thought that Lexaeus of all people had the ability to monologue like that?

I could almost feel Marluxia's simmering anger now. Something told me he was having a bloody internal battle, whether or not he should preserve his pride and attack me, or preserve his dignity and accept my hospitality.

Let's just hope that he still had enough brains left to make the right decision.

Looking back to my current savior of sanity, I said awkwardly, "Thanks…Lexaeus."

He acknowledged me with naught but a nod.

"So…" Aki murmured for her little spot on the recliner. Her face was heavily clouded with shame. "So…they can stay here?"

I hesitated for a second and then said, "Fine. But three strikes you're out, guys. Got it?"

No one responded, but I felt like I got the message across. No more slip ups. I was at my wits end.

Turning, I stared at the forgotten scythe that remained propped up against the wall. While it still remained frightening, it didn't inspire abstract paralysis this time.

But it was still as sharp as hell.

Walking over, I gently touched the curve of the snath. "I'm confiscating this though."

After a half an hour of shouting, arguing, and overall nonsense, those exact words seemed to jolt Marluxia out of his coma. His head turned sharply over to me, his eyes glimmering with that earlier ire.

Slowly and carefully, I removed the weapon from the wall, holding the blade away from my body. It wasn't as heavy as I had always imagined it was, but it did require a great deal of balance to hold. I looked back towards Marluxia, the weapon swinging around with me. His eyes might as well been on fire, but he still didn't say anything.

"When a child misbehaves, he gets his toy taken away from him," I said, sweet as honey. "You can have this back after you thought about what you did."

"For you ssinssss," Aki hissed whimsically.

I shot her a look. She grinned, looking very happy. My eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Didn't you promise me you would work on your homework, like, yesterday?"

She seemed to have no trouble listening to me this time, as she instantly jumped out of the chair and headed for the stairs. "They don't need my help to try and kill each other, no siree," she mumbled as she passed me.

Deciding to get out now while Marluxia was still debating whether or not to risk Lexaeus' wrath and severely maim me, I strolled around the couch and followed after my sister. Let the Nobodies duke it out by themselves, I mentally agreed.

I passed Vexen on my way to the stairs. During the entire conversation, the academic had been squatting on the steps, tucked tight and out of sight. He clearly wasn't interested in a reunion with his previous tormentor. I gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder on my way up. He responded with a tiny smile.

At least I never have to worry about him being on the other end of the knife. He's too much of a wimp.

Now, to survey the damage. My wall unit was cracked and now there are holes in my kitchen counter. Marluxia's frontal attack had cut straight through the wood and into the cabinet bellow, tearing open a sad jar of pretzels. It was going to be difficult to explain those to the carpenter.

Oh, and we can't forget about my grievous battle wound, I thought, fingering the Hello Kitty bandage on my neck.

Good start.

Figuring I wouldn't feel any better with the scythe's menacing presence clouding over me, I tucked it away into the very back of my walk-in closet, flipping off the lights as I slammed the door behind me. Feeling the weight of five hours of sleep crashing down on me, I dived onto my cozy mattress, very much interested in sinking in to the covers and disappearing forever.

Didn't you promise me you would work on your homework, like, yesterday?

I groaned miserably as my own words came back to me. Yes, the dreaded summer homework assignments. Three books to read and pages and pages of essays to write. It was only the second day of summer (it hasn't even been forty eight hours yet?), however I got the feeling that down time like this was going to be hard to come by due to recent events.

It can't be helped.

Reluctantly crawling to the edge of my bed, I reached and grabbed the depressingly thick book resting on my nightstand. A People's History of the United States.

Fun.

Getting comfortable in my pillow, I cracked open to the first page.

Now, I know what you might be thinking. Marluxia nearly chopped off your head and you're just going to sit there and read a book? The ringleader of the whole Castle Oblivion disaster was down there with his cronies, probably scheming away as we speak, and you're just going to hibernate in your room and write essays?

Well, while I would much rather battle the forces of evil than write a three page essay on the Atlantic Slave Trade I honestly didn't have any more energy to expend to our parasitic guests. Running on maybe four, five hours of sleep does that to a girl.

Yet at the same time, I didn't want to completely neglect my own life due to the influence of the Nobodies. If I had an essay to work on, then by Joe, I was going to work on that essay, with or without the annoying presence of the heartless wretches.

It doesn't even matter I would have procrastinated the hell out of the assignment anyway, right?

I grimaced, but continued to read.

As time slowly passed by, I became aware of the disturbances below. At first it just sounded like random shrieking, but eventually I could begin to hear them shouting. I could easily identify the higher pitched screaming as Larxene, and I could only guess the deeper voice was Marluxia. I think I could hear Lexaeus from time to time, but it was rare. Vexen was never heard.

Again, you ask, how could I just sit there and read this horrifically boring book as trouble was definitely brewing down below? How could I calmly read about the Colombian Exchange as the threat of severe violence was imminent?

Well, I did confiscate Marluxia's weapon. That had to count for something.

Actually, it was because of Lexaeus.

He never was a part of the C.O. fiasco, instead staying loyal to his own men, unlike some I won't even bother to mention. No backstabbing, no lying, just being a good ol' henchman. Besides, he said he would keep those other hooligans under control. I had to believe him.

Should I really take his word for it? Just like that? Well, if he really did mean to harm me, than what did it matter if I was down there performing crowd control duties or hiding up in my room? A door wouldn't mean anything to him, I thought, thinking about the monsters in the game Amnesia, who would tear down doors in order to kill you.

If I were to even slightly trust anyone here, it would be him. Even if his intentions might not strictly be because he likes me.

You'll be hard pressed to garner any more loyalty from him when his little master gets here.

Trying not to think about it, I refocused on the tiny text of the book and tried to block out the troubles of the outside world.

~*O*~

While I was honest in saying I've been entertaining thoughts of writing this story for four long years, I was never very thorough when it came to writing drafts. I've only ever got as far as Lexaeus. This is completely unchartered territory, and I seriously need your support in order to continue on! You know what that means, my precious ducklings!

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Comment Question of the Day:

If not for Saix's interference, do you think Marluxia could have successfully taken over the Organization?

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Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go out and beg for money in order to buy me a 3DS. Dream Drop Distance, here I come! :D

~DM-sama