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"You two know what you're doing, right?"

"Not really," Demyx replied candidly, ignoring the glare that earned him from Axel. "But I daresay we have our orders down pretty well, and are going to learn how this thing actually goes as things progress. Axel and I have never been monster hunting before, so...it's not the sort of thing you can learn in the training arena. But we're gonna do the best we can," he added, trying not to fidget - he was starting to really dislike these Victorian clothes he had on under his robe.

As Axel's expression shifted from glaring to relief, Xigbar pondered that answer, and eventually nodded. "You make a good point or two. In that case -" He reached into his pocket and handed Demyx what looked very much like a period revolver. "You might need that while you're there."

Demyx took the object in his hands and looked at it - it certainly had the heft of a period revolver. "What is this?" he asked, not quite willing to believe that Xigbar had just handed him a gun.

"It's a period revolver," Xigbar answered easily. "I know I taught you how to shoot, though that might have more kickback than you're used to. I figured you might need it, since you're the one who doesn't come with a ranged weapon. It's loaded, so you be damn careful with it. Cold iron bullets, so if you need to pull it out, don't waste too many shots."

...What? Demyx checked the gun to make sure - it was fully loaded, with bullets made of a strange bluish metal. "I assume this variety of cold iron is meteoric? And...you're expecting me to carry around a fully-loaded, 120-year-old gun in my pocket?"

"Hey, that gun is new," Xigbar said, affronted. "Its only real flaw is only coming up to Victorian tech standards. And yeah, you're gonna have to carry it loaded. We might run into trouble so fast you won't have time to load before you have to either shoot or die. Remember, though, if it does attack the back of the train where you are, Axel and I will catch up to you in five minutes or less. If it doesn't, though - "

"If it doesn't, I start walking towards the middle of the train until I run into either Axel or the monster. If it's Axel, we both keep going towards the front until we run into you or the monster. If we run into the monster, well, you'd probably have gotten to it before we did, since you would have been walking towards Axel too and Axel is supposed to hold still until one of us runs into him. So hopefully we'd catch up in time to help." Biting his tongue nervously, Demyx unzipped his robe partway and slipped the gun into a vest pocket. He'd really feel more comfortable without it, but Xigbar had a point - his sitar was emphatically not a distance weapon, and whatever monster they would be hunting just might breathe water or not have blood, rendering his usual disabling attacks useless. And - or so he guessed - meteoric iron was supposed to have an effect on Things Not Affected By Normal Weaponry, which included nearly every monster big enough to attack a train that might have any business in any version of South Dakota on any world. It was no doubt easier to acquire than medicine arrows, or any of the other magical or enchanted weapons the books on monsters and monster-hunting he'd read had all talked about; he just hoped it would work as well. Apparently it had worked for Xigbar in the past, but whatever they were after today, it just might be something the old gunman had never even heard of before. "I hope I'm actually capable of shooting straight when I really need to be," he muttered under his breath.

"If I'm allowed to intrude on this conversation at all, don't we have a train to catch?" Axel said, shifting uncomfortably - the amount of clothing he was wearing under his robe probably wasn't doing him any more favors than it was Demyx. "If there's nothing else we need here, let's get this show on the road. Or the rails, or whatever."

"What's your issue, boots on fire? Or your pants?" Xigbar said sharply, giving Axel a look. "Could you at least have the decency to allow me a few last words of warning? First thing, while we may be going out to collect this fucker's heart if we can, that's a secondary goal. Our primary goal is to keep all our asses intact. One heart, no matter how powerful, ain't worth getting killed over. We can replace a big, powerful heart by knocking over a few dozen Shadows; we can't replace a casualty. Second - I'm sure you dudes have read all the newspaper clippings and shit. Always starts with the train being blocked by a rockslide, and by the time it starts moving again, there's people missing. People blinded, who go crazy and die in under a week - them and their whole family, even if the family was nowhere near the train. There's no accurate description of it, but I'm guessing some sort of ambush predator who breathes contaminating poison. Some big-ass ambush predator. So...hold your breath and keep your eyes closed if it looks at you. As a matter of fact, don't look at its eyes if you can help it, just to be on the safe side; it might have a magic gaze that lures people out of the train so it can eat them. And make your shots count. And, uh...don't fuss about using your powers if you damn well need to, no matter who's watching. I got a cover story for that all figured out. Now, en route, kids."

I thought it was going to be more exciting than this, Demyx thought as he fought to keep himself from dozing off in the back passenger car. It was expected to take four days to get from Chicago to Seattle, and a day and a half into the trip, Demyx was starting to wonder if the monster stories were just so much sensationalized moonshine. Granted, they no doubt had a lot of territory left to cover, but only a small part of it would be South Dakota. And he was pretty sure they were already in it. Into the hill country, no less, where all the attacks had happened, and the train had already been stopped for a rockslide once - which turned out to be a perfectly natural, innocuous rockslide with no resulting attacks. If they got out of South Dakota with nothing more than false alarms, the Organization would be out a fair bit of munny for no result. And since none of them could be blamed and therefore taken off this mission if that happened, they could be riding from Seattle to Chicago and back...for a very long time. Considering that his newly-invented alter ego, a self-described rising young star of the stage from Boston named Daniel Cannon, had already exhausted all topics of conversation with his rather boring compartment-mates (including what he thought was a good story to cover his missing fingers that had exactly nothing to do with the truth), this one trip was likely to be long enough. On the bright side - and Demyx was digging deep to find it - he might get the chance to know Shakespeare back-to-front by the time they actually found the monster; it had seemed like appropriate reading material for his actor persona, and now he was relying on it to keep from falling asleep. With that thought came a touch of pity for Axel, and particularly for the redhead's motion-sensitive stomach; if he knew what was good for him, he'd be sleeping as much of the trip as he could manage...

And the train ground to a sudden halt again, when they couldn't have been anywhere near a station. The other men in the compartment - most of the passengers on board were men, and there weren't all that many of those - looked around nervously, and soon started chattering to each other about how it must just be another rockslide on the tracks with voices full of forced courage. Demyx, acting a great deal braver than he felt, told them he was going out to offer what help he could clearing the track; the other men congratulated him on his helpful spirit but looked relieved that it was him and none of them. Clearly, they'd all heard rumors of monsters. Demyx had heard all the same rumors, and all the most frightening details of all the monsters he'd read about in all the books Zexion had given them were at the forefront of his mind as he stepped off the train and headed towards the baggage cars in the back, in case the monster was coming up behind the train - there seemed to be a ridiculous number of them, until he looked back and saw how many passenger cars there were; the train was much longer than he thought, and every extra foot of train he had to pass just made it more and more likely he'd be seen by the monster before he could see it. It seemed almost obscene that it was a bright, sunny day with a brilliantly blue sky, he thought as he looked around at the rocky, tree-spotted hillside.

But the sunshine on the shimmering scales of a gargantuan spotted snake - thick around as a tree trunk and apparently made of stone - just helped it stand out as it separated itself from the hillside and started sliding towards the train. Almost as soon as Demyx laid eyes on it and recognized it as something outside the order of nature, it seemed to sense his presence and swung its single-horned head towards him. A name from one of the monster books flashed through his mind briefly - Unktehi, the mica-scaled dragon with a single horn and a crystal heart and a gaze that caused blindness, then madness, then death - and while he was still standing there frozen, Unktehi's burning eyes met his -

And nothing happened.

As much of a surprise as that was for Demyx, who'd gone from "sure he was fucked" to "amazed that he wasn't" in less than a second, it was a bigger surprise to Unktehi, and a much less pleasant one. She reared back, hissing with a sound like stone grating on stone, and looked at him as if he was an ant that had somehow failed to be crushed when stepped on. As she studied him, her expression - insofar as she had one - changed, until she was looking at him as if he was an ant that, when stepped on, had suddenly turned into a tiger. Surprised still, warily respectful suddenly, happy not in the least. Another dragon, said a voice in his mind that gave off the impression of being female without really sounding like it. Why are you here? Are the hunting grounds in the Lands Beyond Sunset so poor that you came looking to take mine?

Demyx had not the faintest idea what she could be talking about, or where another dragon or the Lands Beyond Sunset came from, let alone where they came into it. All he knew was that he was somehow immune to Unktehi's killer gaze, that Axel and Xigbar probably wouldn't be, and that he had to somehow either turn her into a Heartless or kill her before they caught up to him. Adding in how much longer the train was than expected, he had about ten minutes, tops, and probably less. "I'm going to destroy you," he said in as cold and deadly a tone as he could muster given the circumstances, simultaneously trying to recall everything that one book had said about Unktehi and what weak spots she might have. If he recalled correctly, all she had was the one Achilles' heel, and where it was slipped his mind completely. "I'll be doing the world at large a favor, getting rid of such a waste of space. Look at you - you're pathetic, setting ambushes for trains and picking people off one by one. All that useless bulk of yours, and you don't even have the courage to attack it directly. Are you afraid the train will jump up and bite you?" Even as he worked a cold sneer into his voice with the skill of a seasoned actor, Demyx was all too aware that Unktehi was approximately the same size as the train, which was several dozen times larger than he was. "Even if you don't have the imagination or intellect to do something useful with yourself, you could at least do something noteworthy. If that's the best you can do, you should have slithered back to your hole and died of embarrassment long ago." He would have loved to know where that supposed other dragon was right then - he was highly conscious of the fact that he stunk at this job, worse than anyone else in the Organization, and he really should not be the one trying to turn Unktehi into a Heartless. But here he was, with nothing but his own powers and a revolver with supposedly magic bullets to defend him when he managed to just piss Unktehi off instead of breaking her spirit.

It may have been his imagination - in fact, it probably was, since he couldn't imagine the stone-scaled dragon taking anything he said seriously - but Unktehi started to look a bit worried. It serves me well enough, she said defensively. And as long as you're going to stand there and insult me, answer me this: Why are you here? Because you'd like to destroy me, yes, I know that. But why? Has word of me reached as far as the Lands Beyond Sunset? Did one or two of the little Chinaman slaves who built this iron trail make their way home and tell tales?

"For the same reason a buffalo might go out of its way to crush a stinging ant," Demyx answered coldly, trying not to make it obvious he was fingering the revolver in his vest pocket and secretly being proud of his acting ability with the one part of his brain not busy maintaining his bluff. If Unktehi wanted to think he was a Chinese dragon, he didn't even want to think about why; he'd just let her. It beat being killed and eaten all hollow. "You may be an annoyance of no account, but you're still an annoyance." Where was her weak spot? The horn? It was the most obvious place, which was why he doubted that was it...

Unktehi rattled her scales, as if offended, but Demyx could still sense wariness in her manner, and maybe even a touch of fear. Either his bluff was working brilliantly or she knew something he didn't, or thought she knew something. I must be a great annoyance of no account, then, for you to come so far just to crush me like a stinging ant, she said with no little defiance in her tone, but Demyx could tell - she was bluffing too. She seemed to think that yes, he probably could kill her if he tried. He was pretty convinced otherwise himself, but he wasn't about to tell her so.

"Don't flatter yourself," Demyx responded with a short, contemptuous laugh. "I wouldn't change my train seat simply on your behalf. You inconvenienced me. If you hadn't stopped the train, I would never have wasted my time on you." Where was her weak spot? One of those spots along her sides? If it was, he could stand there and shoot at her all day and probably never find which spot it was, though she'd probably kill him before he ran out of bullets...

Unktehi seemed to be doing some thinking now, without ever taking her burning eyes off him; Demyx held her gaze and stood his ground, secretly convinced she was finally about to call his bluff and wipe him out. Her weak point was one of those spots, he was sure of it now, but which one? If he didn't remember in about five seconds, he was probably dead meat... But thankfully, when Unktehi came to whatever conclusion, she did not call him a liar and attack. If I am no more than an annoyance to you, why bother destroying me? she said in a wheedling, flattering tone, as if trying to beg him to let her live without sacrificing too much dignity. If anything, that put Demyx even more on guard, wondering if she was setting him up for something. The train will remain stopped for at least an hour. Before long, the passengers will become more curious or impatient than fearful; they can't hear any screams or see any monster. They'll start to come out on their own, and if you remain in human form when they do, you can tell them it's perfectly safe and draw even more of them out. We can share the bounty. She gave him an approximation of a smile that was probably meant to be ingratiating, but he could sense the smug calculation behind it.

Demyx's stomach turned into a lump of ice. She'd just called his bluff, he knew it, as surely as he knew he wasn't a shape-shifting man-eating dragon. As surely as she was going to know that he wasn't nearly as big a threat as she thought, or as powerful or cocksure as he pretended to be...and either he'd hesitated a bit too long or Unktehi read sudden fear on his face, because her faux-ingratiating smile suddenly turned into a cold smirk, and she reared back to lunge at him -

An image flashed in front of Demyx's eyes for a moment, letters on a printed page, as clear as if he had the book in front of him - The only way to kill Unktehi is to shoot a magic medicine arrow or other enchanted weapon through the seventh spot from her head - the seventh spot from her head...

He didn't remember jerking the gun from his pocket, or consciously counting the spots on her side. All Demyx was really conscious of was aiming at the seventh spot from her head and firing round after round into it, all the while certain that the meteoric-iron bullets would do nothing and he was about to die. But even before he'd fired the last round, Unktehi let out a horrible shriek, rearing back until it seemed like she'd stretch all the way to the sky, then suddenly came crashing down, almost directly on top of him. She rolled and writhed tortuously, smashing the mountainside and obliterating the tracks behind the train in her death throes, and as Demyx backed away and turned to run from the devastation, something hard and heavy hit him from behind -

His left arm, shoulder, and side hurt. Hurt a ton. And Demyx, having had entirely too much experience with it, knew what real pain was like. His head hurt too, enough to make him dizzy if it had been all that hurt, but that was a minor ache compared to his arm, shoulder, and side. Those were causing him real pain.

Sitting up seemed out of the question for a bit, so he tried to gauge the extent of his injuries first. When he tried to move his arm experimentally, he felt all kinds of sickening grinding and clicking sensations throughout his arm and shoulder - broken bones all the way, he guessed - and it hurt enough to breathe that he wouldn't rule out broken ribs on top of that. But - and this was a supremely important "but" - he could still feel his entire body, and his legs still moved all right. Whatever had smashed into him, whether it was Unktehi herself or some boulder knocked loose from the hillside, it hadn't broken his back. That was the important part; any other fractures, he could recover from, given time, but a broken back would have crippled him for life. As if to underscore how lucky he was, he caught a glimpse of the pistol he'd dropped a few yards away, smashed beyond all hope of repair.

Suddenly uncomfortably aware that that could have been his fate, Demyx levered himself up with his right arm, dragged himself to his feet despite the pain, and looked around. There were still rocks rolling down the hillside, kicking up dust, so if he'd been knocked out and not just down, he couldn't have been out long. He couldn't hear a thing, though; his hearing aids must have been broken on impact. Unktehi's body still lay across what had been the train tracks, in all her size and glory, blood still running from the seventh spot from her head. Thank the Gods, when it came to the crunch, he'd actually pulled it off, and landed at least one bullet where it mattered most. Xigbar would be proud of him...except he'd failed on one of their primary objectives, which was to turn her into a Heartless. Axel or Xigbar should have been at the back of the train, except then her deadly gaze might have killed them...didn't the book say she had a rock-crystal heart? Demyx wanted to see that, as long as he was here and it was handy... Pulling a folding knife out of his pocket and forcing it open one-handed - regulation demanded they all carry one, and it came in handy often enough that he could see why - he carefully carved around the bullet wound, soon exposing the gleam of a blood-red crystal within the flesh. Setting the knife aside for a moment, he reached out to touch it, but a sensation of intense cold warned him he'd better put gloves on first. Trying to get them on almost made him bite through his lip in pain, but eventually he got them both on, though his left glove was on very awkwardly - only the thumb was on properly, and the other two fingers were stuck in the first spaces he could get them into before the pain became intolerable. When he was finally able to reach in and remove the crystal heart, he could feel how cold it was even through his glove, but more than that, he could still feel it quivering rhythmically, as if it was still beating...and even more, a sensation like something flowing into him, some great magic...

So, you've found what you came for. Demyx nearly dropped the heart - that was Unktehi's voice, speaking into his mind even when he couldn't hear a thing. You have my heart and the power that goes with it. Now that you have your prize, do me the favor of not desecrating my body further. At least don't cut off my horn.

Well, that wasn't such an odd request on the face of it, but something about how the horn was pointed out specifically drew Demyx's attention. His gaze randomly settled on a twisted bit of rail that had been part of the track, and he wondered briefly how many travelers Unktehi had killed in her career - she'd spoken as if she'd been hunting the railroads since they were being constructed - and a sudden surge of anger had him kicking savagely at the horn, just because she'd told him not to, until he eventually managed to snap it off. Unktehi sighed, sounding disappointed - but she sounded disappointed because some plan hadn't worked out, not simply because he'd gone ahead and knocked her horn off. Very well, then; if that's how you're going to be. You might at least make amends for it by sticking the tip into the wound your bullets left.

Demyx was suspicious now. If all she'd wanted was for her body not to be desecrated, she should have been furious, but she didn't sound angry at all. Instead, she'd just accepted it and given him another odd request. "I couldn't pick it up one-handed if I wanted to," he said aloud, addressing the crystal heart for some reason. "You're out of luck there."

Unktehi, or her heart, sighed again, sounding a bit frustrated. All right...then cut a chunk of flesh off and eat it. Raw or roasted, as you prefer. Do dragons do that, in the Lands Beyond Sunset? It's how we take the power of our enemies... Demyx just glared down at the heart. Dragon meat was one delicacy he'd never tasted, but he had the strong suspicion that he'd have more luck with a glass of nightshade juice than with anything cut from Unktehi's body. The nightshade juice would probably be less dangerous. At his refusal to act, the heart almost seemed to growl a little. If that has no appeal to you, maybe this will, it said, hiding its frustration. Demyx was reminded of a salesman trying out his last, best pitch on a really tough sell. You see the pool at the bottom of the hill? Demyx looked down, saw the pool in question, and nodded warily. That's where I keep my hoard. Unworked gold and silver from the hills, treasures taken from train passengers, jewelry and coins and even antique statues and carvings of precious stone. You defeated me; you're entitled to it. It's too deep for any man to retrieve, but I can tell you breathe water as readily as air - it would be no challenge to you.

At this point, Demyx wasn't willing to trust much of anything the heart told him, no matter how tempting it was. He wouldn't be surprised if there was more than treasure in that pool, if there was treasure at all, and whatever else might be there was bound to be unpleasant. Fortunately, he could do a hell of a lot more with water than just breathe it. He just stared at the pool, and focused, and the water began to evaporate so quickly it looked like someone had pulled the plug on a bathtub. No treasure was revealed, just a pair of cottonmouth vipers that were each about 13 feet long. They were apparently magically summoned by Unktehi, because as soon as the water level dropped too far, they started to writhe and shrivel and soon disappeared completely - but if Demyx had gone swimming in the murky pool as suggested, he probably would have taken at least one fatal bite.

You win, the heart said grudgingly while Demyx was still staring at where the pool and its serpentine guardians had been. You passed all four tests - who warned you? No one had warned him about any tests, let alone how many there would be, so Demyx just kept his mouth shut, not wanting to admit he passed on dumb luck and suspicion. It's true what they say, then, about dragons from the Lands Beyond Sunset being able to read minds and tell the future. How and why it was still convinced he was a Chinese dragon was beyond him, but he maintained his silence instead of disabusing it of that notion. All right. If you can read minds, you'll know the truth of this: from now on, whatever I tell you to do will be no trap, but to your benefit. If it was a trap, I suspect you'd see through it anyway. Now, take the glove off your left hand and dip it into my blood. Your hand, not the glove.

Well, that didn't seem to be to his benefit. The glove had been difficult and painful enough to get on, considering how badly broken his left arm and shoulder were; getting it off would be at least as bad. But if the blood was poisonous, and the poison was supposed to get through his skin somehow, he'd probably be able to sense it before it caused too much damage and get his hand out of it. Slipping the heart into a pocket and bracing himself, he tugged the glove off as carefully as he could, then knelt down and dipped his hand into the blood as asked, deep enough to immerse his remaining fingers completely. Intense pain shot through his arm and shoulder and down into his chest, accompanied by more of those horrible grinding and clicking sensations - but after a few moments of sheer hell in which he thought his arm was being burned off from the inside out, not only did his arm stop hurting, it stopped hurting. There was absolutely no pain at all. He moved it around experimentally, and there were none of those grinding and clicking sensations that heralded broken bones. It was completely healed. And his head didn't hurt anymore either.

All right. I guess maybe I can trust that heart as far as I can throw it uphill against a stiff wind.

As he reached to retrieve his knife, a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder, and he whirled around, pointing the knife at whoever it was. Axel held up his hands defensively, looking a little out-of-breath and more than a little alarmed by the knife. (Easy, man. I was just asking if you were okay.)

Demyx breathed a sigh of relief as he recognized him. "Sorry," he explained as he gave the knife a cursory cleaning on his pant leg - his clothes were enough of a mess, between Unktehi's blood and all the dust she'd kicked up, that they'd probably never be fit to wear again anyway. "I didn't hear you. Hearing aids broke."

Axel nodded and frowned sympathetically, then his gaze wandered over to Unktehi's body and stayed there, his eyes widening to the size of dinner plates. (That is one big-ass motherfucker,) he said with an awed expression. (Jesus Christ, what the hell is it? Or was it?) He suddenly blinked, half-turned, glanced behind him, and said something Demyx couldn't make out. Xigbar is coming, don't worry, he signed when he turned back to Demyx. I was just telling him you look like you're in one piece. He says nice job, but it was rude of you to keep all the fun to yourself.

Remind him that he said our first priority was to all come home alive, Demyx signed back, chuckling silently. If I'd waited too much longer to shoot, I'm not sure if I... He paused, noticing Axel's blank, stunned expression, which was focused not on Unktehi but on his hand. Is my hand that cool, or is my signing that good?

(Your hand,) Axel repeated, taking Demyx's left hand and holding it up for examination. (It has five fingers...)

Three hours later, Demyx was lying comfortably in bed, his robe thrown over his desk chair, his boots on the floor, and the ruined Victorian outfit in the laundry basket in the vague hope that someone could salvage it somehow. He'd changed into an old sweater and jeans, but remained barefoot - something he hadn't done in months. He'd even taken to wearing Crocs in the shower recently, just so he wouldn't have to look at his maimed feet any more than he absolutely had to; scars were one thing, but having to look at all those missing toes, or more properly the nasty puckered spots where they'd been cut off, was even worse than looking at his maimed hand. At least his hand had still looked like a hand, more or less; with just two toes apiece, his feet hadn't looked like feet. Until today, that is. "I can count to twenty again," he enthused to Connie as the little Siamese perched on his shoulder and licked his hair; he didn't mind, any more than he minded that he still couldn't hear a word he said and was probably less than completely coherent. "I'm not stuck at twelve anymore." He held up his hands for her to admire, though she seemed more interested in washing his hair cat-style. "I don't have to learn how to play guitar left-handed. I might eventually learn how to play piano. I have a full set of fingerprints again." He wiggled his toes merrily. "I have toes again! Enough toes to actually matter!" Connie hopped off his shoulder, blinking innocently at him, then bounded over and pounced on his wiggling toes. "Don't do that," Demyx protested, drawing his legs up so his feet were harder to get at. "I need those toes. I like them. I missed them."

The door opened suddenly, and Demyx started involuntarily as Connie leaped off the bed, down to the floor, and on top of his stereo in what looked like one single gravity-defying acrobatic maneuver. That was impressive, Axel signed once he was all the way in the door. Did you teach her to do that? Demyx shrugged and shook his head helplessly, and Axel flopped into his desk chair. And was I totally mishearing you because you always sound funny when you can't hear yourself talk, or were you in here making speeches about your toes to your cat?

Just wait until most of your toes go missing, Demyx signed back cheekily. You'll learn to love them too. And to wear shoes in the shower. He wiggled his toes in Axel's direction. Same with fingers. I love being able to sign properly now. As long as the stupid monster had to break my hearing aids anyway.

Oh, speaking of which... Axel ran his hands through his hair with a frustrated expression. You should be glad it did, if only because that let you sit out the debriefing. I don't envy you the grilling you'll get once they're fixed. He sighed, looking suddenly weary. As far as anyone can tell, it's a miracle you're alive; did you know that? We've figured out what that thing was, and it's got so many ways to kill you or bring itself back to life... He sighed again and threw up his hands for a moment without completing the sentence. Did you know what it was? he asked before explaining any further. Demyx nodded warily, wondering how he was going to explain his victory to Axel, or worse yet, Xemnas, especially considering it was largely due to dumb luck and some serious misapprehensions on Unktehi's part.

Do not tell them about my heart. Demyx glanced involuntarily over to the desk drawer where he'd hidden Unktehi's heart temporarily. If any of them know, they'll try to take it for themselves. And if any but you so much as see the heart, it will be destroyed instantly. And with it will go everything I can give you...you felt the power as you took the heart, did you not? Demyx gave the faintest of mute nods, in response to the heart's question. As long as you keep it safe and do as I tell you, you can have everything you ever wanted - but tell no one. Not even him. No matter how much you trust him, if he so much as sees the heart...

Demyx nodded silently again and looked back up at Axel, who was now starting to look at him with a bit of concern. He'd trust Axel with his life and bank account, and was certain he wouldn't try to steal the heart under any circumstances, but if what the heart said was true about self-destructing if seen by anyone but him, he couldn't take the risk. Axel would get curious and start snooping, and destroy the heart by accident. Though that would be a good threat if the heart ever got too annoying. He seriously doubted that it could really deliver everything he ever wanted...but it had already restored his maimed feet and hand, a little voice in the back of his mind whispered. If it could do that much, why couldn't it do more...? Demyx had to force himself to redirect his train of thought onto the track it was supposed to be on so he could continue his conversation. A dragon named Unktehi, he signed to Axel, spelling out the monster's name laboriously. I recognized her when I saw the one horn. She was in one of the books I read...

Axel sighed and nodded wearily. Either you're quicker off the mark than either Xigbar or I or we didn't read that book, he signed, his hands seeming to flicker and wave through the motions like lazy flames. We didn't figure that out until we got back and started researching. Or made Zexion start researching while Xemnas picked our brains. How did you do it? he added without preamble. It had a killer gaze, one weak spot no bigger than my hand, and the ability to come back to life as long as its horn was attached. You survived the gaze, shot out the weak spot, and broke off the horn. Either you managed to memorize the exact right part of that book or you are one lucky bastard. How did you do it?

Because he was immune to Unktehi's killer gaze, and her mistaken impression that he was a dragon himself had kept them talking and her distracted long enough for him to remember her weakness. He had no idea why that was, or why she'd made such a ridiculous mistake. No idea. Not the faintest idea. He couldn't possibly have any idea - he knew for an absolute concrete fact that he was no more a dragon than he was a butterfly. Not only was he not a dragon, he didn't have anything to do with dragons; there was absolutely no trace of dragon blood, bone, or spirit anywhere in him...and as he raised his hands to start signing something, anything that might make some sense to Axel, his sleeves slid down a few inches, exposing part of a tattoo on his left arm - the tail of a Chinese dragon.

Lung Qin Xiang protected you, whispered a voice in his mind that was definitely not Unktehi's. Demyx gritted his teeth, categorically refusing to even acknowledge the voice - Lung Qin Xiang was dead, long dead, and Demyx preferred him that way. But the voice wouldn't leave him alone. Unktehi made no mistake; she was wiser than that. How else could you meet her gaze and live? How else did you somehow remember how to defeat her at the exact moment it counted most?

Demyx gritted his teeth even more firmly - all right, he couldn't explain how he resisted her killer gaze, but he had a well-known knack for surviving the unsurvivable, often through more improbable routes than just remembering what he'd read in a book three days earlier when he really, really needed that bit of information. And there was probably some excellent reason he hadn't gone blind or crazy or died when he looked into her eyes. One that didn't have anything to do with a dragon he might have been long ago depending on how you looked at it but absolutely was not now however you looked at it, because he was not a dragon, especially not Lung Qin Xiang. Right now, he really needed to come up with something to tell Axel. I read about her weak spot in that book, he signed, soon enough to satisfy Axel. And I only broke off the horn because I was angry. I didn't know about the returning to life thing.

Axel nodded, passing a hand over his forehead like he was wiping sweat off. And the eyes? Demyx had no idea what to say to that - he couldn't tell Axel that he was somehow magically immune, because he'd have to explain how and why, and he didn't know how and why except that it couldn't be because he was a dragon no matter what Unktehi thought - and in a sudden flash of inspiration, he waved a hand over his eyes, leaving a thin veil of water hovering in front of his face. Axel blinked at him, his image distorted slightly by the rippling water, then nodded slowly as comprehension dawned. I get it. You can't make direct eye contact with the water in front of your eyes, but you can still see pretty clearly. How'd you come up with that idea?

...I read it in a book once, Demyx signed, improvising his answer on the fly. Well, they didn't exactly use water. People were using things like mirrors and camera lenses to protect themselves from a basilisk. Or looking at its reflection in a puddle. Perfectly true, except he didn't exactly remember it was true until his hands were already moving on their own. At least if Axel called his bluff, he'd be able to point him to the right book. Almost as an afterthought, he dispelled the watery veil.

Axel shook his head and rolled his eyes in disbelief. You read too much. You and Roxas both.

You don't read enough, is the bigger problem, Demyx retorted. If I hadn't read those books, I'd be blind by now and working towards my inevitable doom. Instead, I'm alive, happy, and capable of counting to twenty.

Is that all the higher you can count?

I can make it to fifteen without my boots off, which puts me ahead of you there. Demyx chuckled slightly at Axel's indignant look. Don't look at me like that. You set yourself up.

Suck me, Axel replied. I'd say something wittier, but I know that once Vexen gets your hearing aids fixed and Xemnas gets his hands on you, you're going to get grilled like a hot dog at a backyard barbecue. So hard you'll come out charcoal. Trust me, I don't need to say anything bitingly witty to know you're going to get it hard.

Man up and admit it. It's not that you don't need to say anything witty, it's that you can't.

Suck me.

See? Proof. Demyx chuckled again as Axel glowered, in a wiped-out half-dead sort of way. I'd love to continue this witty conversation, but you look ready to keel over. If Xemnas was that hard on you, I might just break my hearing aids again once Vexen gives them back. Anyway, get some rest. If you're still awake by the time Roxas gets home, he may never let you sleep, because I'm sure he'll grill us as thoroughly as Xemnas. Thanks to that magic blood, compared to you, I'm fresh as a daisy.

I hate to admit you're right, but you are, Axel signed back. All right, I'll try to get some sleep. You can...I don't know. Play with your cat and enjoy having toes. See you at dinner or something. He waved lazily and went back to his own room, leaving Demyx alone in his room, except for the cat on the stereo and the heart in the drawer.

That would be so interesting to bring up at the next meeting, if only I was allowed, Demyx thought to himself, eyeing the drawer speculatively. "Oh, I have a heart already...I keep it in my top desk drawer on the right..." I wonder how Xemnas would react...probably not too well...probably would be safer overall to keep it secret, if not to protect the heart itself, then to protect myself from the inevitable clusterfuck that would be generated when everyone else found out about it...though it's not like it's embedded itself in my chest or anything...it doesn't really count...

If he's gone, and you're free to leave, I need you to get two feet of leather cord and a yard of gold wire, the heart said, seemingly out of nowhere. It will be easier to keep the heart both hidden and with you at all times on a necklace. A simple enough request, no?

Demyx just stared at the drawer where Unktehi's heart was. Well...the heart had told him he needed to do whatever it said, and it would reward him with everything he ever wanted. He still wasn't convinced of that, but...well, he had his fingers and toes back. That did count for a lot. And asking to be made into a necklace was a pretty innocuous request. Pulling his boots and robe back on, he took the heart out of the drawer and slipped it into the pocket opposite where he usually kept his munny. The last thing he wanted was to accidentally dig it out while he was trying to pay for something. As an afterthought, he dropped a notepad and pen into his other pocket. It made life around the non-hearing-impaired so much easier sometimes, as long as Xemnas wouldn't allocate any munny for a TDD. As he knew from experience, the odds that any employee at any store he might end up at knew sign language were pretty slim.

(While down at the pub, a girl caught his eye! Big as a house, just the right size! This broad was enormous - stacked to the hilt! Spicy soon noticed a bulge in his kilt!) Demyx couldn't help but watch Axel's lips as the redhead made his way down to the kitchen, gleefully enjoying the randy song he was singing - probably under his breath, but that made no difference as long as Demyx couldn't hear him anyway. (The piper delivered his best pickup line and thought to himself -)

"This beast is all mine!" Demyx chimed in, right on cue and at full volume; going by the way Axel's face turned as red as his hair, he'd been singing sotto voce. Alas that he'd caught Demyx in high enough spirits to be mischievous. "The poor little lady could stand it no more - grabbed his cojones and went for the door! They got to her house and dimmed all the lights - Spicy was in for -"

(Would you put a lid on it?!) Axel demanded, his face crimson, before he thought to switch to sign language. Did you want the entire castle to hear you?

How would I know if they did or not? Demyx signed back with a cheeky grin. I can't hear a thing. I have no volume control.

I know that. Axel glowered at him. So what's your next excuse? You didn't know how loud I was singing, and you had no idea that I wouldn't want the entire castle to hear me singing that?

The "Spicy McHaggis Jig" is a good song. How'd I do for staying in tune?

Axel seemed to deflate a little. So well you wouldn't realize you couldn't hear. But that's beside the point. Don't sing dirty songs this close to the kitchen at dinnertime, at least not out loud. Now into the kitchen. He gave Demyx a light push in that direction, to emphasize the order.

Just because he was in that sort of mood, Demyx did a few dance steps and slid into the kitchen, still grinning like a fool. He hadn't felt so grand in a long time, and no mistake; the fact that he didn't understand why made no difference to him. Maybe it had something to do with being in such close proximity to a heart, even if it was just a rock-crystal dragon's heart and it was just hanging from a leather cord around his neck by an artfully weird assembly of twisted wire. It was even beating - thankfully, it wasn't beating so hard it could be seen under his shirt and robe, but he could feel it. If he closed his eyes and tried hard, he could almost convince himself it was actually beating inside his chest. It was frankly delightful. Honestly, he couldn't remember ever being so causelessly happy even when he still had his own heart. He flopped into his usual seat with a relentless grin still firmly in place, earning some odd looks from more than one person, but he was too happy to care. (I'm starting to think I accidentally swapped Demyxes on the train,) he saw Xigbar telling Xaldin, and couldn't help but chuck a water ball at the gunman's head from pure high spirits. He stopped it before it hit - he wasn't giddy enough to gamble with his life - but the look on Xigbar's face at near-impact was brilliant. (...I rest my case,) Xigbar said dryly once the shock wore off and the water ball disappeared.

Axel thwacked him on the shoulder as he sat down next to him. What was that about? he asked when he had Demyx's attention. Temporary insanity?

I am a happy man right now, Demyx signed back, still grinning. Don't ask me why - I'm just giddy right now. He punched the air with both fists in random exultation. I haven't felt so good in ages.

Axel kicked his ankle under the table, then jerked his chin towards the other side of the table once Demyx was paying attention to him. Larxene is staring at you, I hope you know.

Didn't know, don't care, Demyx signed back gaily. Sure she's not staring at you?

If she is, I'm not interested, Axel signed back with a sour expression. Unless she's broken up with Marluxia. And then I'd be interested mostly for the chance to spite him.

How romantic, Demyx signed dryly. Conversation gave way to eating at that point, but Demyx kept glancing up every so often, just to make sure Larxene was actually staring at him. And she was, but he couldn't interpret her expression for love nor munny. She sure as hell didn't look threatening, which was what he'd been afraid of. And she wasn't looking at him like he had a big smear of dirt on his face, or like he'd grown another head, or like his fly was open (though she wouldn't be able to tell if it was, under his robe). She wasn't looking at him like she was evaluating him as a target, either. In fact...if he'd been seeing that expression on any other woman's face, he'd have thought she was checking him out, but the idea of Larxene checking him out was enough to make a cat laugh. He glanced over at Axel, thinking to ask his opinion, to find Axel was staring at Larxene. And Axel's expression was entirely plain and readable - he was not best pleased with Larxene. Not at all. For that matter, neither was Marluxia.

...She's not plotting to use me to get back at either him or Marluxia or something, is she? She is hot, and Axel is always insisting I don't get enough, but damned if I want to get any by being used like that...but since this is Larxene, how do I turn her down without getting fried to a crisp?

Overall, it was one of the stranger dinners he'd ever experienced that didn't feature something blatantly out of the ordinary, like that time Luxord had bet Axel he wouldn't dare come to dinner in a skirt and Axel showed up in a kilt. Hell, Larxene checking him out all through dinner was even stranger than Axel in a kilt, from what he knew of both Axel and Larxene. What the hell was this about? He hadn't heard anything about her breaking up with Marluxia, and if they had broken up he was sure everyone would know, but their relationship was stormy at best...well, did it matter? Whatever was going on between them, Demyx didn't want to get involved in it. Bad enough that Larxene and Marluxia were already two corners of a love triangle, with Axel the jilted lover making the third. A love quadrangle featuring Demyx the hapless dupe as the fourth corner was not going to happen. Larxene was hot, but not nearly that hot. It was almost a relief when he was finally able to stand up and leave his dishes by the sink, and hopefully get out of the now-not-very-comfortable kitchen...except just as he was setting his dirty plate down, he yelped and nearly dropped it.

Okay, things had gone a bit too far now. Without caring about the potential consequences, short or long term, Demyx whipped around with an accusing glare in his eyes. "Larxene, did you just grab my ass?" he demanded, with exactly zero concern for how loud he was or who might hear him.

Judging from the rippling reactions around the table, and the crimson color spreading across Larxene's face, everyone had heard him, and she had, in fact, been the one to grab his ass - if it hadn't been her, she'd have come back with some wise-ass insult. As it was, she looked like she was ready to deck him, but Demyx didn't care. As long as he'd opened his mouth anyway, there was no point in only going halfway. "I don't know what the hell your game might be, but I'm not interested in being anyone's dupe, toy, or tool; get that straight right now. And unless you can convince me you want me for anything else, keep your hands to yourself." With that, he stalked out of the kitchen before Larxene could do anything worse than grab his ass. As he left, he chanced one glance back, just to gauge everyone's reaction. Almost everyone at the table was laughing to some degree, except for Xemnas, who had that "spare me this garbage" look he usually reserved for such interpersonal dramas. Well, Larxene looked like she wanted to explode, and Axel and Marluxia both looked livid, but...

Marluxia looked like he wanted to kill Demyx. Axel looked like he wanted to kill Larxene.

...What the fuck? What would he want to kill her for? Shaking his head slightly, Demyx retreated to the safety of his own room before anything bad could happen, to him or anyone.

"Demyx...you know, you look next best to dead."

Demyx looked blearily up at Axel for several seconds before answering. "Axel, I would be a lot more convinced of your sincerity if you didn't have that shit-eating grin plastered over your face."

"I did warn you that was going to happen! I so warned you!"

Demyx continued to glower at him, secretly trying to melt a hole in his forehead with his gaze alone. It would serve him right. "Yes, Axel, you did warn me. It would have been a hell of a lot nicer if you'd talked Xemnas into going easy on me. Honestly, I don't think I told him one more useful thing than you or Xigbar already did, except for explaining why I shot Unktehi instead of continuing to try to turn her into a Heartless, and that was because it was her or me at that point. If I hadn't fired, she'd have killed me."

Axel actually gave him something closer to a look of concern at that. "Did he accept that line of logic?"

"He'd have had to be a motherfucking idiot not to," Demyx growled, sinking into the handiest chair. "How fucking long was I in there?"

"Well, Vexen gave you back your hearing aids right before dinner, Xemnas collared you immediately after dinner, and it's 10:00 now," Axel said, checking his watch. "So...about three and a half hours. That's actually not as bad as I would have expected."

"Shut up," Demyx grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and directing a surly glare at his feet. "Three and a half hours was bad enough. I was starting to think he'd never let me go."

"After a grilling like that, you need to get out of the castle for a night," Axel proclaimed with enough gaiety to make Demyx want to break his teeth. "Fortunately for you, we are willing to supply that way out. We being Luxord and Xigbar and I." Demyx turned his surly glare on him instead. "Come on, man. You've been working too hard lately, and not just on hunting monsters. You're overdue for a night out, got it memorized?"

"I'm not interested," Demyx said flatly. That was technically an untruth - he was vaguely interested, just felt too worn-out. If they'd picked any other night, he might have been willing to go for the hell of it, but not tonight.

"Too bad, 'cause you're coming anyway." Before Demyx could react, Axel grabbed his arms, dragged him to his feet, and hauled him through a portal. "Trust me, you'll feel livelier once we get there. We'll even go someplace with karaoke. Hey, guys! Guess who I just had to kidnap!"

"Finally," Xigbar said emphatically, throwing his cards down on the felt-topped table. "I was afraid this guy was gonna bankrupt me before Demyx ever got cut loose and I'd have to booze it up on your tab."

"Oh, kiss my ass," Axel told him politely. "I doubt he forced you to play blackjack with him. Luxord, did you force Xigbar to play blackjack with you?"

"As I recall, it was his idea."

"You're the one who didn't want to just fast-forward until -"

"Guys!" Demyx had to raise his voice to forestall an argument. "If we're going somewhere, let's go somewhere! If we're not, then can I just go back to my room and collapse?"

"Under no circumstances," Xigbar said, standing and cheering up with almost worrying alacrity. "After that sort of grilling, you deserve a good break."

"I deserve a good sleep," Demyx growled, feeling the crystal heart under his shirt beating against his chest as if sensing his bad mood. He didn't feel like being sociable right then, especially going to a club or bar and being social. "But I get the feeling you're not going to leave me alone unless and until I come with you."

Evidently, that was exactly the case, because an hour later, Demyx found himself being half-led, half-pushed into the bar by the other three. The loud music coming from the dance floor brightened him up a little, but not much; half of him wanted to glue himself to Axel to supposedly make sure he didn't drink alcohol and actually thwart his attempts to get laid (since very few girls paid attention to Demyx when Axel and Luxord were around, and Demyx was in an oddly spiteful mood that night), and the other half wanted to get falling-down-puking-his-guts-out drunk just to embarrass the other three. But the four of them always started out on four consecutive barstools, in the same order - Xigbar, Luxord, Axel, and Demyx, presumably so that the two of them who had the least natural luck with the ladies were in the best positions. It didn't seem to work very well - Axel and Luxord got 90 percent of the luck between them; Demyx sometimes got some of the leftovers, and Xigbar...just didn't seem to get that he was a little too old for this, or at least too old to appeal to girls Axel and Demyx's age. Privately, Demyx thought Xigbar might as well just accept that he just plain wasn't as young as he used to be, but ask the old gunman when he'd admit he was too old to go chasing girls in their 20's and he'd answer "When I actually get too old for it!"

Xigbar's inability to accept or act his age was none of Demyx's concern, however; he just waited until Axel ordered his Diet Coke and mumbled an order for straight tequila as if on cue, which he sort of was, then mentally ordered his body to just accept the alcohol without filtering it out before it could take effect. That was how it normally behaved towards alcohol, or any sort of ingested poison, which gave him a certain immunity towards ingested poisons but also made it ridiculously difficult for him to get drunk unless he willed that ability off. It turned itself back on when he got falling-down-and-puking drunk, by which time he was inevitably too far gone to do anything about it, but he wasn't completely sure he wanted to get that wasted tonight anyway. He wouldn't rule it out, but it would depend on how the night went.

"Hey, aren't you that Calvin Klein model?"

Demyx almost inhaled his tequila. He'd heard all sorts of pickup lines girls used on Axel, and this was fairly run-of-the-mill as far as the line itself went. What really set this one apart was that it was being directed at him, by a girl who hadn't first been shot down by Axel and wasn't drunk. When was the last time a reasonably sober girl had approached him without trying to approach Axel first, when Axel was around? He couldn't even remember. He swallowed his drink and turned slowly to face the girl, looking her over - her hair was a brassy artificial blonde, her teeth unnaturally white, and her bustline probably enhanced, but the rest of her figure was naturally appealing, and her face was naturally pretty. Not the best, at least in his opinion, but bearing in mind she was probably the only offer he'd get tonight without waiting for Axel's castoffs, she was certainly attractive enough for him. "No, I have to admit, I'm not," he said, leaning back slightly for a look from a different angle.

"That's too bad, 'cause I was gonna say you look even hotter in real life than you did in your picture!" the girl declared as she plunked herself down on the empty stool next to Demyx. On his other side, Demyx could hear Axel chuckling softly into his glass, and saw him give an encouraging wink out of the corner of his eye. Demyx couldn't help but grin a little self-consciously as he reached for his wallet, intending to buy the girl a drink -

"Hey, baby - boxers, briefs, or should I just see what got left on my floor tomorrow?"

Demyx looked up again - yes, that tall black girl with the wild spray of a ponytail was definitely looking at him, and had her hand on his shoulder if it wasn't clear enough. Yes, Blondie was looking at her like she wanted to strangle her. Yes, that choking, sputtering noise was probably Axel almost inhaling his Diet Coke. "Just so I'm clear on this," he asked her slowly, "you are talking to me, right?"

"Well, who else would I be -"

"Back off, bitch!" Blondie snapped, standing up and getting confrontationally close to the black girl. "I was here first!" Privately, Demyx wasn't sure how heavily to weigh that - the black girl's figure looked entirely natural, which made her the hotter of the two in his opinion - but it wasn't like he was going to say anything.

"Yeah, like talkin' to him for two minutes makes him your fuckin' boyfriend?" Privately, Demyx also wished Axel would stop snickering at him. He'd never had the experience of having two girls fighting over him, and he found it embarrassing enough.

And just in case it wasn't embarrassing enough, while the two girls were bickering, Demyx felt another hand on his shoulder, accompanied by the scent of some department-store perfume. "You wanna get away from those obnoxious bitches for a while? Go somewhere a little more private?" a third girl asked in a sultry voice, and he turned to find a green-eyed brunette with a deep tan.

Demyx was starting to wonder if he'd been set up for an elaborate joke, but Axel - the one person most likely to set up such a joke - had stopped snickering and was giving him an openmouthed stare, and Luxord, the second most likely suspect, was looking at him like he'd never seen him before. "When did I become a chick magnet without knowing it?" Demyx muttered to himself, looking at each of the three girls who'd accosted him so far. Just then, the black girl noticed the brunette, and turned to round on her as well - and to prevent an incipient bar fight, Demyx stood up, held up his hands, and said something he'd secretly always wanted to say but figured he'd never have a chance to. "Ladies, ladies...no need to fight; there's enough of me to go around..."

That choking, sputtering, coughing sound was probably Xigbar inhaling his beer. The girls all looked at each other, looked back at him, looked at each other, and sort of all shrugged at once. Well, barfight prevented, at least. "All right, what would you ladies like to drink?" Demyx asked as he reached for his wallet again, to prevent the silence from getting too uncomfortably long. Hopefully none of them had really expensive taste in drinks...and behind the three who'd accosted him already, he saw an Asian girl standing against the wall, chewing shyly on a lock of hair and never quite taking her eyes off him. She smiled nervously when she saw Demyx looking at her, and Demyx smiled back - this was going to be a hell of a night.

By the time the first three girls had finished their drinks, the shy one had worked up the nerve to approach him, and Demyx had bought drinks for her and two more girls. And the bartender - a woman, he couldn't help but note - had just replaced his tequila for free, and maybe it was his imagination, but she also seemed to be paying more attention to him than her other customers. And there were another four girls hanging around looking at him approvingly, that didn't seem to have worked up the nerve to talk to him yet. Axel, Luxord, and Xigbar were all staring at him like he had three heads.

"Demyx, what the hell cologne are you wearing?" Luxord demanded over the conversation and general noise and the talking girls. "Eau de chocolat?"

"I'm thinking essence of rockstar," Axel said distractedly - unbelievably, he was looking over some of the less attractive girls that were clustering around Demyx. He was actually hoping for a shot at some of Demyx's castoffs. When he saw that, Demyx had to pinch himself to make sure all this was actually happening and he wasn't conked out at the castle dreaming about suddenly becoming more irresistible than Axel and Luxord combined.

He might have said something in response to either of them, but the girls weren't giving him much of a chance to talk to anyone else. They wouldn't stop asking him questions - what his name was, sure, and his address and phone number, which he tactfully avoided sharing, but also things like whether he had any pets (one cat) or played any sports (swimming and nothing else) and what his favorite food was (impossible to answer) and his favorite song (ditto, only more so). Eventually, someone - he guessed the green-eyed brunette, who'd introduced herself as Nicole somewhere along the line - asked "What do you do for a living?"

"I'm a musician," Demyx answered without hesitation, because that was always the answer he gave when someone asked him that question. He couldn't exactly say "I kill Heartless for a living".
The reaction from the girls was immediate. In among all the "That's so awesome!"s and "Musicians are so sexy!"s and "What do you play?"s, someone - a natural blonde whose name he couldn't remember right then - said "Let's get him on the karaoke machine!" Three or four pairs of hands immediately hauled him off his stool and dragged him over to the karaoke machine in question; Demyx couldn't have fought if he'd wanted to. He glanced back at the other three as he was dragged off - Xigbar and Luxord were still staring at him; Axel was staring into his glass with the tense, frustrated expression that meant he was having a hard time resisting the desire for booze. Well, Xigbar and Luxord weren't nearly so drunk yet that they wouldn't kick his ass if he tried. With that reassurance, Demyx let himself be propelled over to the karaoke machine as someone stuffed the mic into his hand and someone else apparently paid for and chose the song for him. "This is my favorite song!" one of the girls gushed; he couldn't tell who. He could tell that "Wanted Dead or Alive" would not have been his first choice. He liked Bon Jovi, sure, but he didn't trust himself to sing this one. He just wasn't bad-ass enough.

Well, he had enough tequila in his system to ignore his lack of bad-assness, and not enough that he was bound to embarrass himself. He just closed his eyes for a moment, focused on the music, and started singing along. "It's all the same; only the names will change...every day, it seems we're wastin' away. Another place where the faces are so cold; I'd drive all night just to get back home. I'm a cowboy; on a steel horse I ride - I'm wanted...dead or alive. Wanted, dead or alive..."

Now there had to be at least fifteen girls clustering around him, and precious few elsewhere in the bar - and those that hadn't noticed him yet were noticing him now. This was starting to get a little overwhelming, but Demyx just kept singing. "Sometimes I sleep, sometimes it's not for days, and the people I meet always go their separate ways. Sometimes you tell the day by the bottle that you drink; sometimes when you're alone, all you do is think. I'm a cowboy; on a steel horse I ride - I'm wanted, dead or alive. Wanted, dead or alive!"

For the guitar solo, he just shut his eyes and let his body do what the music told him. He knew the song well enough to pick up his cue without having to see the words, and he totally missed the looks the other three Nobodies were sharing or the conversation they were having. "Uhhhh...I'm a cowboy - on a steel horse I ride! I'm wanted - dead or alive...And I walk these streets, a loaded six-string on my back! I play for keeps, 'cause I might not make it back! I've been everywhere; still I'm standin' tall! I've seen a million faces, and I've rocked 'em all! 'Cause I'm a cowboy - on a steel horse I ride! I'm wanted - dead or alive!"

He opened his eyes, and all he could see was a crowd of eager, adoring girls gathered around him, as if he was a real rockstar. All of a sudden, he felt like a real rockstar, and it was the greatest feeling in the worlds. The crystal heart pounded against his chest as he sang the final chorus. "I'm a cowboy - I got the night on my side! I'm wanted - dead or alive!"

He had a wild, fierce grin pasted across his face as the song came to a close, and every female in the bar clustered around him, clapping and cheering and demanding more - and he was only too happy to give them more, as someone else paid up for him to sing her favorite song. He barely even noticed Luxord dragging Axel and Xigbar out the door by their sleeves.

"So...how many girls did you end up leaving the bar with last night?"

Demyx glowered ferociously at the traffic light, wishing it would change already so he wouldn't have to answer that question. When it didn't change, he growled something tangentially relevant instead. "Axel talks too damn much, doesn't he?"

"Yes he does," Roxas answered easily, with a smug smile. "But that doesn't answer my question. How many girls did you end up leaving the bar with last night?"

"No comment."

"At least one?"

"Yes."

"More than one?"

"Yes."

"More than two?"

"Yes."

"More than three?"

"No comment."

"Three, then."

"...Five."

Roxas's smug look at getting the answer he wanted battled disbelief to a standstill. "Demyx...how in Kingdom Hearts's name do you take on five girls at once?"

"You just have to be this awesome," Demyx growled, hiding his face in his collar - it wasn't fair that this world seemed to be three months ahead of the World that Never Was, putting what should have been a cool fall day squarely in the middle of a cold winter.

Roxas just shook his head, jamming his hands in his pockets for warmth. "And I thought Axel could be insatiable."

"First of all, I'm not insatiable. It just so happened that every girl in the bar wanted a piece of me last night, and they all wanted the same piece; I had to oblige some of them. Second, what do you know about Axel's sex life besides what he tells you? You're still at least two years too young to go out drinking with us."

"Why would I want to go out drinking anyway? I've seen you and Axel drunk often enough to turn me off it."

"You make an excellent point, but that doesn't answer my question. What do you know about Axel's sex life besides what he tells you?" Demyx continued to glare at the traffic light - damn, was it ever going to change, or were they going to spend the entire mission waiting on the corner?

"What you tell me," Roxas retorted cheerfully. "Which may not be very complete or very accurate, but you have no obligation to make him look good, at least. By the way, the light just changed." Roxas was already sauntering across the intersection by the time Demyx even fully comprehended those words and started to follow him.

Flash of blue -

A car flashing brightly in the winter sun, red as roses, red as flame, red as blood -

The squeal of brakes, followed by a wet, meaty thud -

A body lying shattered in the street, and bright blood on the dirty snow, on the filthy pavement, on the red car's shiny clean bumper - blood and ice melting into red water and shadow -

Flash of blue -

There was no time. Demyx grabbed the back of Roxas's hood and pulled hard, hard enough that the younger Nobody's only protest was a faint squeaking noise as he was unceremoniously yanked back to the curb -

Just as a bright red car, clean enough to sparkle despite the mud and the dirty snow, came flying around the corner, its brakes squealing as it battled the ice for traction.

The two of them stared after it for a very long time after it disappeared down the street, clinging silently to each other with wide eyes. "...That could have hit me," Roxas said finally, his voice unusually high with fear. "If you hadn't dragged me back at the last second..."

Demyx couldn't keep himself from shuddering violently. He had seen the car hit Roxas, seen it as vividly as a nightmare - but he'd seen it before it became reality, seen it in time to prevent the nightmare from coming true. He replayed those critical few seconds over and over in his mind, just to make sure he had them down straight - there'd been a flash of blue, then he'd seen Roxas get hit by a car; another flash, and Roxas was just casually crossing the street, and he'd yanked him back to safety just as a car identical to the one he'd seen hit him went tearing around the corner with squealing brakes.

He'd seen Roxas die. But Roxas was right here. But he knew for a fact he'd seen it happen - seen it happen, and then stopped it from happening. The conclusion he was starting to form was impossible to believe, but even more impossible to deny.

Not even Saix can see the future just like that. He has to go out and watch the stars for hours, and even then what he sees is subject to interpretation. But there was no other way to explain what had just happened.

Very slowly, Demyx forced himself to pry his hands off of Roxas's hood, trying to ignore how badly they were shaking. They'd attracted a small crowd, but the crowd was starting to dissipate now that it was obvious Roxas was unhurt; some of the women lingered to look Demyx over appraisingly, but he ignored them - he was anything but in the mood for flirting. Instead, he and Roxas just waited silently until the light changed back to green and crossed the street, both of them watching nervously for cars. Demyx was still trying to wrap his head about what had just happened - he'd seen the future. Seen the future. Well, maybe not the future, but one that would have happened if he hadn't acted to prevent it - one he wouldn't have acted to prevent if he hadn't seen it coming. Was this going to be a one-time event? He wished he could foresee that, or what kind of trouble this newfound power might cause, or what impact it might have in the long run. He wished he so much as knew where it came from.

But that was a closed book to him. He was forced to predict his best course of action without any supernatural help.

"I'm glad I saw that coming," he muttered, freely allowing Roxas to assume he'd seen the car coming around the corner, and not anything mere mortals should not have been able to see. For now, he'd keep it to himself. Maybe it would never happen again, and if it didn't, and he'd already gone and told everyone he'd had a psychic vision, he'd look pretty damn stupid at best. Honestly, that was what he wanted - the idea of being able to see the future frightened him more than a little. Even if all he ever saw was imminent disasters that he could prevent, what if he saw one that he didn't know how to prevent? Or one could only prevent by doing something horrible, like killing one of his friends? What if he saw one of his friends die, and couldn't act in time to save them? And the responsibility of preventing all those disasters...no, he probably really didn't want to be able to see the future.

It might have been his imagination, but he thought he heard Unktehi's heart snickering at him. Is this your doing? he demanded silently, and received no answer.

"Are you still mad at me for telling Roxas what happened at the bar last week?"

"Yes, Axel, I am." Demyx kicked idly at a rock, sending it skittering down the hillside. "For one thing, it wasn't his Godsdamned business what I do in my spare time, besides play sitar and cook. For another, I don't appreciate being gossiped about. For a third, our resulting conversation distracted him so much he almost got hit by a car."

"Oh, you're blaming me for that now?" Axel scoffed aloud and kicked another rock in Demyx's direction; gravity took over before it reached him, sending the second rock down the hillside as well. "Stupid rock. Anyway, it wasn't my fault. It was his. And the driver's. And current weather conditions."

Demyx kicked another rock down the hillside, watching it send up little puffs of dust on its way down just so Axel couldn't see his expression. He still hadn't told anyone the whole truth about the near-accident, nor had he seen any similar visions of imminent disaster. He was starting to hope he'd never have another one - honestly, if that was the only one he ever had, it was welcome when it came, but not much missed. And since basically every day and every mission brought the possibility of disaster for every member on active duty, he'd kind of expected to have seen at least one more by now. The ability to see the future was a rare and greatly sought-after gift, but also a very dangerous one, and one Demyx emphatically did not want. The present was enough to deal with, thank you kindly the door's over there. "What would you be saying if he had been hit?" he asked Axel instead of voicing any of his dangerous thoughts.

Axel took a very long time to answer, which Demyx thought he probably should have expected. "I'd probably be too big a wreck to be allowed on-duty," he mumbled finally. "And I bet so would you be."

"You have no idea," Demyx said succinctly. As he spoke, a vision - a regular old vision, not one prefaced with flashes of blue - of seeing the warning and not heeding it or understanding it until it was an instant too late flashed through his mind, and he shuddered violently. "That could have been awful" didn't even begin to cover it. Even "horrible" didn't seem nearly strong enough.

There was a long silence, as the two of them tried to work out what they could possibly say that wouldn't be tactless. "There are a hell of a lot of big hills in this world, aren't there?" Axel said finally, progressing down the steep hillside at a sort of sideways walk. "Hills but no damn Heartless. I thought the world was supposed to be crawling with them."

"I tried to tell Xigbar the back country was a stupid place to look, ghost towns or no ghost towns," Demyx grunted, kicking yet another rock down the hill. "I don't care why they were abandoned. They've been abandoned for so long any Heartless that were ever there would have probably all either wandered off or starved."

"Well, we haven't found any of these ghost towns yet," Axel countered reasonably, though not twenty seconds ago he'd been complaining about the same thing Demyx had. "Maybe it's just the ghost towns that are all crawling with Heartless." He stumbled over a particularly large rock and nearly went somersaulting the rest of the way down the hill. "Jesus fuck, I'm gonna break my damn neck..."

"Maybe you should pay more attention to where you're going and not just running your mouth off. Knowing you, I doubt you're paying any attention at all to what you're saying."

"Kiss my ass."

"Can I bite you instead?"

"Get in reach!"

"You'll hit me if I do, won't you."

"You know, Demyx...it's tempting. Oh, Jesus fuck...!" By the time those last few words had made it out of his mouth, Axel had already triggered a small rockslide and begun an ignominious slide down the hill on his rear, pelted by rocks the whole way as he tried to protect his head. Demyx had to stuff a hand in his mouth to keep from laughing and thereby losing his own footing. "Fucking ow," Axel declared when he finally reached the bottom and was able to determine what all was injured besides his pride. "Demyx, get your ass down here and do something useful. Like help me back up."

"Why would you want to come back up here?" Demyx said, trying to speed up as much as he could without risking his own neck. "You just made a hundred feet worth of progress in excellent time compared to how we've been doing most of the time today. If I were you, I'd just sit and wait until I caught up with me, or make the most of my head start."

"Douchebag," Axel muttered as he pulled himself to his feet. "I should just walk off and leave you there, got it memorized?"

"Go ahead," Demyx said cheerfully, gesturing in the direction they were headed. "It's right up and over that hill there."

Axel turned and stared at the hill in question - easily a good fifty percent taller than the one he'd just slid down, though it had the meager benefit of not being quite as steep. From what Demyx could see of his posture, he looked like he might burst into tears. "Oh, Jesus fuck," he said finally, then started climbing. "You're sure this is what the map said?"

"Well, I don't fancy my odds with the ravines, if that's what you mean," Demyx called back as he made his way down the first hillside. "At least the hills have a nice big slide instead of a long drop and a sudden stop."

Axel paused in his climb to slap his forehead. "Remind me...what the fuck are we doing in the middle of fucking nowhere even for the Badlands again?"

"Hunting Heartless, same as ever. Supposedly."

"Ah, fuck..." Axel shook his head and redoubled his climbing efforts, presumably to get to the ghost town on the other side as soon as possible so they could get the mission over with already. Demyx continued down the first hill at his own careful pace, pausing for a moment to rest at the bottom before tackling the next. Axel was getting close to the top now; he'd be feeling it when he reached the top, and he'd be an idiot not to rest when he got there.

Flash of blue -

A man on the other side of the hill, about twenty feet down from the top, wearing an Organization robe, it had to be Axel - sitting down on a convenient flat rock, pulling his hood over his head and closing his eyes, just trying to rest for a second - a fatal mistake -

The ruined remains of a town at the base of a hill, nothing but a collection of buildings that were steadily falling apart and buildings that already had fallen apart - buildings that were now bleeding Heartless -

Massive streams of Heartless - Shadows and Neoshadows and something like an overgrown Neoshadow and a few things like deformed purple horses with skull heads and wolflike fangs - all rushing up the hill - 

Axel opening his eyes to discover it was already too late to run, but trying to run anyway, only to lose his footing and slide right into the Heartless' grip - one scream melting into shadow with the rest of him as the Heartless discover too late there's nothing for them to steal -

Flash of blue -

"Axel, stop!"

Axel paused some twenty feet from the top of the hill - on this side of the hill, thank all the gods - and stared at Demyx incredulously as Demyx tried to scramble up the hillside as fast as humanly possible. "What, first you tell me to make good use of my head start and now you want me to wait up for you all of a sudden? What gives?"

"Heartless," Demyx panted as he climbed the hill on hands and knees, the heart pounding against his chest as if it was connected to him. "The ghost town - sick with 'em -"

"The hell do you know -"

"Don't ask. Just trust me..." Demyx all but collapsed as he drew level with Axel's feet, and Axel had to help him up; Demyx was shaking so much he couldn't stand by himself. "Don't - don't go over there - not alone - they'll fucking rip you apart..." He gagged and vomited from the memory of watching the Heartless do just that in his vision, and straightened up to see Axel looking at him with concern.

"Demyx...man, are you all right?" Axel said worriedly, putting one hand to his forehead as if checking to see if he had a fever. "I mean...you're not making any sense. And you're sick. You sure you don't have heatstroke?"

"Heatstroke is dehydration, you jackass," Demyx snapped - fear and anxiety were driving him to the brink and Axel's unwillingness to take him seriously was giving him just the wrong push. "I can't fucking get dehydrated if I wanted to." He blinked fiercely - there was no distinctive flash of blue this time, but like a blue pencil sketch over the real world, he could see the far side of the hill, and the ghost town at the bottom - and the Heartless, boiling out of the abandoned buildings - streaming up the hillside, even though there was no Axel to tear to shreds on the way - they weren't actually coming for Axel -

"They're coming! Ohfuckmove!"

Seemingly conjuring the strength of a linebacker along with a portal, Demyx shoved Axel through the portal and closed it behind them, leaving Axel blinking in confusion and staring at where they were. "Um, Demyx...we already climbed this hill once. And then back down. You can still see where I sort of slid halfway down...but that's irrelevant. Why are we here?"

"The advantage of height, and you can pick some of them off as they come down the other hill," Demyx said tersely, summoning his sitar as his eyes locked on the opposing hilltop. The blue-sketch Heartless were within ten feet of the top now - they'd appear any moment - 

"Pick off what, the Heartless you're convinced are...holy Lord, what the fuck are they?! Don't say Heartless!" 

Axel's doubt turned to raw shock in an instant, and his eyes nearly bulged out of his head as the first of the horse-Heartless came galloping over the hilltop, followed by the giant Neoshadow, a few regular Neoshadows, and a swarm of Shadows. The only thing Demyx could think of to say as he saw them charging down the hill was "Now do you believe me?"

"Hell, I believe you," Axel said, summoning his chakrams with a look of fear in his eyes. "But what the hell do we do now?"

"You think of something! What the hell are those chakrams for?" Axel took the hint in a hurry and threw one into the crowd of Heartless, taking the head off a Neoshadow and wiping out four or five Shadows that had been a little too close behind. "I thought so! Set it on fire next time!"

"Don't you have anything better to do than critique me?"

"Not until they get closer..." Every muscle and nerve in his body tensed for action, Demyx waited and watched as the Heartless streamed down the hillside, closer and closer. Axel's now-flaming chakrams were cutting swaths through the Shadows, and through a few of the Neoshadows, but the giant Neoshadow and the horse-Heartless were still apparently undamaged and coming steadily closer. The horse-Heartless seemed to be moving as fast as real horses, which probably shouldn't have been a surprise but did make them, well...very fast...they were almost at the bottom of the hill already, and he did not want to have to close with them...

All it took was one flash of inspiration and a few select notes. As the first horse-Heartless reached the bottom of the hill, the space between the two hills suddenly turned into a raging river, sweeping it away and down into the nearest downstream ravine, along with a dozen-odd Shadows. Four more horse-Heartless, unable to stop themselves in time, slid in after it and were also washed away, but the sixth paused, its glowing yellow eyes glaring balefully at Demyx as if blaming him for the death of its comrades, then gathered itself and jumped the full width of the river. It might have succeeded, if a massive jet of water hadn't slammed into its chest and knocked it back into the river before its front "hooves" touched ground. "Slick," was Axel's only comment as he flung both chakrams at the giant Neoshadow - apparently, it wasn't as tough as its size suggested; it didn't hold up to too much of that treatment before collapsing into goo and disappearing. Funny, when they were armed and prepared for it, it hadn't been all that tough of a battle...

But if I hadn't seen them coming...Axel would be dead. And probably, I would be too.

After Axel cleaned up the last of the Shadows and Neoshadows, which had been stranded on the far side of the impromptu river and unable to reach them, he turned to face Demyx with an unreadable expression. "All right...now that that's over and done with, I think you owe me an explanation," he said flatly. "How did you know they were coming?"

Demyx took a few deep breaths and sat down hard on the hillside, dispelling the river. The heart was beating only slowly against his chest now, but he thought it should have been pounding like it had earlier. It wasn't like he was going to betray its existence. "First things first...promise me that when I tell you, you'll believe me..."