Chapter 4 - Hung Over

DISCLAIMER: I don’t own the characters, blah blah blah, Tetsuya Nomura does, blah blah blah. You get the idea.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Well, this chapter got off to a silly start, but it gets pretty important toward the end. Originally, I just wanted to have a kind of ‘filler’ chapter where I could do stupid stuff and have it be funny. Then I figured “hey good opportunity for plot development-sort-of!” So here you go.

I turned my Xanga into a little journal revolving this story, my thoughts, and other things. You can find it at But please, any comments you have reguarding the story, please post here and not there. Thank you.

PART 4
'Hung Over'

The next morning, I felt like my head had been severed by a dulled knife, and put on a stick for all to poke and prod. I had no memory of the events that took place the night before, nor did I really know where I was until I sat up. Sitting up was a bad idea, and my head throbbed more with each movement. I tried to look around the dark room. It wasn’t my room; that I knew for sure. I tried to stand, but it made me nauseous, so I lay back down on the bed.

“Ughh,” I groaned. “What happened last night?” I was alone in the room, so no one answered. At least, I thought I was alone. Soon I heard groaning coming from under me.

“Ahhrgh.”

“Who’s there?” I whined. I couldn’t talk too loudly. My own voice made me sick.

“What the fu-uck…” the voice groaned. I couldn’t recognize it. I looked to see where it was coming from, but I saw no one in the shadows. Then I realized it was under me. As much as I dreaded it, I leaned over and poked my head upside down, under the bed. I saw red hair, a black coat, and a very sick Axel.

“Glad I’m not the only one hung over,” I sighed, somewhat relieved.

“Yeah, Demyx, frack you.” He said back. I sat back up on the bed. Well that solved one problem. But where was Xigbar?

As if on cue, the bathroom door opened wide. Thick, white steam came pouring out of the gap in the wall. A silhouette of a man came walking through the fog. When the steam cleared, there stood Xigbar. Naked. Well, he had a towel, but that was it. His lengthy, black and grey hair was down, and sopping. I saw all the scars and scratches all over his toned body. And I finally saw his right eye. I think I forgot to mention that Xigbar wore a black eye patch over his right eye. Like I said, not good at story-telling. I always leave out important details. Anyway, his right eye was sealed shut with a small scar running over it. I was tempted to ask, but I figured it was best to leave that for another time.

“Can I help you?” He asked me, sarcastically. I realized I was staring.

“Nngh” I groaned some more. “Why are we in your room?” As I saw him begin to smile, I began to notice a small, sharp pain in my backside. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. I started to panic.

“Oh god,” I cried. “Please tell me we didn’t!” Then he laughed. I panicked more “Oh god! We did, didn’t we?!” Horrified with myself, I crawled under the blanket.

“Demyx, kid, chill.” Xigbar smirked. He couldn’t control his laughter. “It’s not what you think!”

“Is that why you wanted me drunk last night?!”

“Dem, listen to me! You fell last night. At the bar. You and Axel tumbled down the stairs. I had to carry you BOTH back here. Both your doors were locked so I brought you all the way over here. Let me tell you though, your reaction right now; priceless. Times I wish I had a camera, dude.” I felt my aching head get hot. I was blushing bad.

“One more question,” I asked, laying back down. “Why is Axel under the bed?”

“..Wait he’s still here? He was definitely on the bed before.” We heard a groan, then we both started laughing. Xigbar laughed so hard his towel started to loosen.

“Whoops” He said, mildly embarrassed. “Gotta go get dressed. Make yourselves at home.” He hopped back into the bathroom and shut the door. I lay back down on the bed. My head was killing me, but I couldn’t help but smile. I closed my eyes and tried to drift back into sleep…

A hand grabbed my ankle. I jumped so high I almost hit the ceiling. I also happened to screech like a little girl. Of course, it was Axel. He was crawling out from under the bed.

“DON’T DO THAT!” I shouted.

“Please don’t yell,” Axel complained. He crawled onto the bed, and lay next to me.

“What happened last night?” I asked. Maybe he’d remember more than me.

“I remember loud music,” he said. “and lights. And you and Xigbar. We were dancing I think. Then all I remember is falling. We were leaving, and Xigbar went ahead to make sure no one saw us. I think we both tried to go down the stairs together and we tripped over each other. Then the next thing I knew, I was on my face, and you were on top of me.”

“Jeez, I don’t remember any of that. Did I drink more than you?”

“Christ, Demyx you were wasted! I’m surprised you remember anything at all, and you’re not huddled over the toilet! You were gone way before I was.” I wasn’t glad to hear that, although it sure explained a lot.

Xigbar finally came out of the bathroom. He hadn’t changed much except that he was wearing black pants, his eye patch, and his hair was dry. He grabbed a hair tie from his computer desk, and tied it back.

“Good morning, Axel,” he smiled. I don’t think he was hung over at all.

“Mugh,” Axel whined. “How come you’re so cheerful?”

“Because between the two of you, more alcohol was consumed than I’ve ever drank in my entire life time, and I’m a drunken idiot!” More laughter.

“Grr do you have to laugh so loud?” I complained.

“Yes, I do” he grinned big. “Today’s gonna be so much fun!”

“Go away,” Axel moaned, burying his head in the pillow.

“I would except you two are currently occupying my bed.” Axel whipped his head back, flames in his eyes.

“I am NOT moving until I FEEL BETTER!” He shouted. Xigbar sighed.

“Come on, Demyx, let’s go cure this nasty hangover.” I stood up, the world was spinning. I almost lost my balance, but Xigbar grabbed me. He walked me to the kitchen. Saïx was there, drinking coffee. He was wearing a light blue robe that matched his hair, which was messier than usual.

“Good morning, Saïx!” Xigbar beamed. “And how are you this fine morning?”

“Not as good as you, I see,” he mumbled. That was probably the most I’ve ever heard Saïx speak in my presence. He soon finished his cup and grabbed the pot, and walked out. I guessed he was bringing it to Xemnas. Saïx was like his personal servant. Although Saïx always grunted, or sighed, he always did what Xemnas told him. I sense blackmail. Or maybe Saïx WAS the Nobody of a werewolf. I really obedient werewolf.

Xigbar began to file though the cabinets tossing almost everything out of them. He grabbed a few bottles, then a giant glass and filled it with ice and water. He gave me the bottles. They read ‘multi-vitamins’, ‘dura-lax’, and ‘Xigbar’s Special Hangover Medicine’. I could understand the vitamins, and maybe his hangover stuff, but…

“What’s the Dura-Lax for?” I asked. There was no way I was about to take a laxative.

“Chill, little dude, it’s not for you.” He answered in a hushed voice. Probably going to pull another prank. I also noticed he grabbed a huge bucket and filled that with ice water too.

“Dare I ask what the bucket is for?”

“You’ll see,” He simply said. I knew that tone, though. He asked me to take the vitamins and drink the water.

“What’s in the other bottle?”

“My super secret hangover remedy! I already took it this morning, and look at me now!” I looked inside the bottle. The pills inside were humongous! And they didn’t really look safe.

“Are you sure?” I asked. Maybe there was another way.

“They work wonders. I only give them to people I like.” He winked.

“Didn’t you tell Axel you’d stop that?”

“Speaking of Axel,” he said, changing the subject. “If you want to see a good show, take the pills, then join me in my bedroom.” And he left. I was left with vitamins, laxatives, and these weird pills that I KNOW had to be illegal somewhere. Might as well give it a try.

I took two of the multi vitamins, swallowed them, then took one of Xigbar’s. Before I put it in my mouth I examined it carefully. I was scared. Even though he used to be a scientist, I still don’t trust the pill. But I took it anyway. Down it went, and I washed it down with ice water. The cold water made my head throb. As soon as the pill was down, my world began to spin. Everything in the kitchen became distorted, and I lost my balance. I’m pretty sure I fell onto the table, knocking it over. Everything began to hurt. My head, my chest, my arms, legs, everything. Things were still spinning, and then I blacked out. I don’t know how long I was out, but when I woke up, I was still on the kitchen floor. The table was knocked over, and the pill bottles had spilled. The glass of water was shattered all over the floor. What had happened was not a dream. I stood up, and surprisingly I was fine. No bruises, no cuts, no throbbing headache. Whatever he gave me did the trick. I walked toward the door, then I remembered I knocked everything over. I turned around to begin to clean up when I saw that everything was in order. No broken glass, no spilled pills, no flipped table. And my hangover was gone.

I stumbled into Xigbar’s bedroom to see him suffocating Axel under the ice water in the bucket.

“WHAT THE frack ARE YOU DOING?!” I screamed, charging at him. He lifted Axel’s head out of the water, and braced himself for my attack. I landed on top of him.

“First you try to kill me, now Axel?! You’re a sick man!”

“Demyx, calm down! I was giving Axel a hangover treatment.” I looked over to Axel who was gasping for air.

“Damn, that really works!” He shouted. I was confused. I got off of Xigbar and waited for an explanation.

“The ice water treatment.” He stated in a teacher-like voice. “A very common way to rid yourself of a hangover. You keep the alcoholic under the water until they have sense enough to jerk their head up. Plus, the cold water will tone down the headache. It hurts, but it works!”

“Well… Okay, but what the hell was that stuff you gave me?! I thought I was going to die!”

“Isn’t it great? I invented it! It’s a special hallucinogen drug that takes your mind off the pain. It only really works in the first few minutes. After that, not only is the hangover gone, but you’re not really trippin’ out either. I’m a genius.”

“You gave me drugs?! I could get addicted!”

“It’s not an addictive drug. I told you, I invented it.” I was very confused, and flustered. Although I ached no more, thanks to Xigbar’s drug, I still wanted to just go to my room and sleep.

“Well, I guess, thanks, Xiggy,” Axel smiled.

“No problem,” Xigbar said back.

“We’ll see you later,” I told him. And then Axel and I left. We had to get back to our side of the castle, and we weren’t entirely sure how to do that.

“Let’s go on an adventure!” Axel grinned. I smiled back, and we walked down the hall. We soon heard noises coming from Xemnas’ room. Noises I don’t even wish to describe. Sounds I thought I’d never have to hear. Axel heard it too. We soon crept up to the door and placed our ears against it. There was definitely two people in there. We heard voices, and what sounded like shuffling.

“Marluxia, do it now! Let me have it!”

“No! I’m not ready yet!”

“Then I’ll make you ready!”

“No, please-”

“Yes!”

“Ohh! Ahh!”

“I don’t think you can handle this!”

“No, I’m ready!” Then we heard Marluxia scream.

“Oh goddamn it, Marluxia. You got that shoot everywhere! It’s all over me!” I nodded at Axel, and he slowly opened the door. We weren’t too sure what we were going to find. And then as the door creaked open, there they were, stark naked, on Xemnas’ bed. Looking away in disgust, I regret ever opening that door.
---
Just kidding. That’s just what was going through my head at the time. What I was expecting to see. Good thing my imagination is wilder than real life. Really good thing. Turns out that when we opened the doors, both Axel and I had a sneezing fit, and I’ll tell you why.
---
As soon as the door opened, pink and orange pollen flew through the doors. The stuff was everywhere! We could barely see the two figures standing in the haze. Marluxia was the first one I could see clearly. He was wielding a large pink and green scythe. He was breathing pretty heavily. He looked over at us and waved, like he always did.

“Hey, Demie!!”

The next figure I saw was Xemnas. He was hunched over on one knee, also breathing heavily. The pollen finally settled, and there were little, pink flower petals everywhere, mostly surrounding Marluxia.

“Very good,” Xemnas stated. “You’re learning fast. If you keep advancing at this pace, I shall definitely have a place for you in our next project.” Marluxia bowed.

“Thank you, Master Xemnas” He said, and started to walk toward us. “Whatcha guys doin’?”

“We were trying to find a way back to the other side of the castle.” I said. “We’ve lived here only a few days. We don’t really know our way around.”

“Well, you don’t expect me to know, do you?” Marluxia snickered.

“It’s not like we were asking you,” Axel cut in.

“Aw, Axel, don’t be like that.”

“I’m out of here.” Axel left the room. Xemnas walked over to us.

“I trust you two are doing well,” He smiled at me. Xemnas always had a calming aura about him. When he was near, you just knew everything wrong would be set right, and when he spoke, it was like a confirmation.

“Yes, sir.” I smiled back. “We’re just a little lost.”

“Well, you should hopefully learn your way before your next assignment. You’ll have plenty of time. Vexen, Zexion, and I are conducting a series of experiments on Heartless. It should take some time.”

“More experiments?”

“We want to see if we can somehow alter ourselves with the help of the Heartless.”

“Alter?”

“It is hard to explain, young Demyx.”

“Oh, well, I’m sure whatever you guys do will help us. We need to get going. Have a great rest of the day!” I smiled, and waved, and left. I found Axel outside the room. We closed the door, keeping it open just a crack. We began to walk away, when Xemnas started talking again, this time to Marluxia. We couldn’t pass up this opportunity to eavesdrop again.

“You didn’t mention the Key Bearer.” Marluxia noted.

“I felt no need. Besides, he’s not hurting us, he’s greatly helping us. For every Heartless he slays, the more hearts we gain. I will explain my plans to the rest of them when the time is right. ” They had stopped talking, and were probably going to leave. We quickly raced to the end of the hall so we wouldn’t be seen.

“What do you think he meant by ‘for every Heartless he slays, the more hearts we gain.’?” Axel whispered to me.

“I don’t know. Who’s this ‘Key Bearer’ person they were talking about?” I asked back.

“No clue. Let’s get out of here.”

He took my hand and we scurried off into the depths of the corridor.

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