There was a strange sound wafting on the stuffy air of a large white marble room. It started out as a gentle rhythmic tapping, rubber against stone. Almost timid at first, then it gathered courage to keep up with the beat of an unheard song. It wasn’t long before the hoarse sound of humming and faint lyrics accompanied the pace set by the black boot upon the floor.

All too suddenly the sounds stopped as the unheard song died, a sound of approval erupted from the black clad figure sitting at a white table. He reached out with a gloved hand and turned the volume knob on his CD player up until the tinny sound of music could be heard blasting through the headphones that were hugging his ears. He sang quietly with the song, his voice wasn’t great, but it was nice. He at least knew how to hold the tune.

As the steady electronic sounds of the music echoed around him he started to move his head slightly with the beats, the urge to actually dance becoming stronger as he tried to focus on the magazine before him instead. Turning a page, singing, tapping his foot to the beat, he never heard the creeping footsteps behind him.

Another hooded figure slowly crept up on the unsuspecting music lover. The unwary listener didn’t notice anything until the music suddenly stopped.

Emerald eyes suddenly darted from the full-page ad, to the dead CD player. A gloved finger tapped the lid, and then hit play once again, watching for the ‘battery low’ light. When the blinking signal never showed he let out a sigh of irritation as he skipped back to his favorite song.

A moment passed as he submerged himself in the magazine and the sounds of the male voice that synchronized with the electronic sounds of guitars and keyboards wove the images of spoken words in his head.

Once again all went silent.

He straitened up, eyeing the player on the table; inwardly wondering if the small device was finally starting to break down, or perhaps there was a darker force at work. An eyebrow arched; the bumfuzzled look suddenly turned to a slight smirk. He reached back and scratched the back of his head as though he were confused before running his fingers through on of his crimson spikes of hair. He reached out suddenly, hitting the play button once again with an agitated grunt, then waited.

His face turned down towards the magazine, but his eyes fixed on the player. He could feel it now, a presence behind him. It wasn’t long before a hand appeared within his vision, snaking its way toward his player; trying desperately to be stealthy in its attack. The unsuspecting intruder was just a fraction of an inch from hitting the stop button when the ‘victim’ suddenly rolled up his magazine and slapped it down hard on the invading force.

“OUCH!! Good grief, Axel, that hurt! ” The hooded figure yanked his hand back, rubbing the sore spot that was still stinging.
“That’s what you get for touching my player, got that memorized, Squirt?” Axel turned in his seat swinging the rolled up magazine at his little friend like he was scolding a bad puppy.

Roxas jumped backwards, dodging the second blow only to trip over his own clodhopper boots and land flat on his behind. Axel laughed and then tossed the magazine at his little buddy, nailing him square in the forehead before he taunted him further, “That was smooth, Grace…”

“A… ah, shuddup, Jerk.” Roxas leaned forward, rubbing his bum with one hand as he pushed his hood off with the other. He struggled to get back up to his feet, and then stared at the older Nobody with pain written across his face “that huuuurt.”

“Aw, I’m sorry... Did you crack it?” Axel asked as he drummed his fingers on the edge of his chair.

Roxas paused for a second, then snorted, “Har har… Sicko.”

“Aw, come on, I’ve been waiting for the perfect opportunity to use that one on you. Give me my moment, it was funny.” Axel chuckled as he pulled his silent headphones off and laid them next to the CD player.

“So, what were you listening to?” Roxas questioned as he pulled a chair out and sat down next to his friend.

“A group called Aquarius Nine. They’re actually really good. They’re kind of an electronica pop techno Goth… 80’s… thing… I don’t know, they’re style is all over the place; I’d swear I heard a little baroque classical in it. But one of the lead singers is really good, for a guy.” Axel paused for a moment, “I heard Xigbar listening to it, kinda weird, and he said he got one of their albums in Twilight Town.”

“Can I hear it?” Roxas opened the lid to the CD player to take a peek at the disc art. There was writing along the sloping edge, the name of the band in a beautiful script. ‘Aquarius IX’. In the middle was the artwork of a man, obviously patterned after the male lead singer, but you couldn’t see any more of his face than his nose down to his chin. His chest was positioned so that the hole in the CD hit about the spot where his heart would be. “Poetic. It fits somehow, doesn’t it?” Roxas whispered as he subconsciously poked the tip of his finger through the hole in the disc.

“What?” Axel yawned the question out as he stretched and then stood up from his seat.

“Nothing.” Roxas quickly closed the lid, looking up at his friend.

“Have at it, Man. Xemnas said he wanted to talk to me… So this is going to take a while.” Axel groaned as he turned and left his friend in peace with the music.

IOIOIOIOIOI
It was sometime later when Axel finally emerged from the Superior’s office, a glazed look still dulled his usually bright eyes as he wondered down the hallway. He didn’t emerge from his zombie like state until a voice called to him from behind.

“Hey, Pyro the Dragon, I wanna talk to you.” A feminine voice echoed as her boot heels clip clopped closer.

“Get in line…” Axel groaned as he continued his slow staggering pace down the hall.

“Lemme guess, you got chewed out AGAIN?” She chuckled as she caught up with him, slapping him on the shoulder before slowing to his pace.

“Shuddup.” Axel growled, looking away from her.

“Well that’s what you get for setting fire to Vexen’s lab.” She smiled evilly.

“What? I didn’t know, nobody ever told me that his experiment was flammable.” Axel snorted.

“Uh huh, you were just minding your own business, making little fire balls near a gaseous mixture. You had NO IDEA that it would explode and take out the entire east wing? Did you…” She stared at him for a moment, her green eyes sparkled with amusement for a moment as he glared right back at her, “Well that aside I just wanted to ask if you’d give me a copy of your CD.”

“Why don’t you go buy your own?” Axel snapped, and then sighed, “Which one?”

“Aquarius Nine, I like it Roxas was wondering around with it and looked like he enjoyed it, so I snatched it from him for a while. It has a good beat, and it’s perfect for dancing… So burn me one, or should I have a little talk with Zexion about a certain photo from a certain Christmas party?” Larxene leaned forward and cooed evilly in his ear.

Axel stared at her a while longer, his green eyes wide with horror, “You little... FINE I’ll burn you a copy. Did you give it back to Roxas?”

“Uuuuh, No, Marluxia wanted to hear it, so I gave it to him…” She turned and walked back the way they came, flicking her blonde antennae back as she did so.

“I hate you, you evil, evil woman. You know that don’t you?” Axel stood in the middle of the hall, calling back to her.

“I know, Love, I know…” She cackled before disappearing down another corridor.

“Evil, harpy, did that on purpose I know it. She knows I hate him, she’s such a…Evil Wench…” Axel shoved his hands in his coat pockets as he trudged back on his way.

IOIOIOIOIOI
The soft golden moonlight was beginning to shift its tone to a silver luminance as it sent its fingers of pale light through the large glass windows that lined the entire right wall of the vast room. There wasn’t a single inch kept hidden from its caress; just the way he liked it.

A dark figure sat alone in the middle of the large room, a small table before him with a teapot sitting peacefully upon it. He was sitting in the stillness, eyes closed as he held a cup of tea up; the sent of spices making up his favorite brew tickled his nose, yet he never took a sip. Something unusual had his full attention at the moment.

It was nice sitting in the darkness of moonlight and nothing more, listening to this new strange song. He’d never been one for the latest in music, but this was entirely too unique to pass up. The lead singer had a way with mixing so many contemporary styles with the old classical style of music. Granted he wasn’t fond of the strictly hard techno sound, or the dark lyrics of the very few Gothic pieces in the album, but the electronic classical had his full and undivided attention. That is, until the air pressure in the room shifted as someone entered through the portal doorway.

“FINALLY!! ” a familiar voice howled after standing near the entry and listening to the melody, “Man, I didn’t believe him when he said YOU had it, Saïx.”

Saïx barely cracked open one eyelid to see he intruder on his quiet time, “What is it Axel?”

“I want my CD back, already. I’ve been running around for HOURS looking for it. I had to listen to Marluxia drone on about his plants and how much they liked it, then I had to track down Xaldin, who gave it to Luxord, who gave it to Lexeaus, who gave it to Vexen… Where Zexion then saved it, thank goodness! That freak was going to destroy it! Can you believe that? ”

“It would have been a crime against nature I’m sure. But one you most likely called upon yourself, what with the incident in the east wing.” Saïx stated.

“That’s no excuse I paid through the NOSE for that CD! ” Axel continued to rant, “I’m not going to pay that kind of money again.”

“That expensive, huh?” Saïx asked, a tinge of disappointment wavered his voice slightly, “But worth it, they’re quite good.”

“Well, yeah!! Otherwise I wouldn’t have bought it.” Axel sauntered the rest of the way into the room, plunking down in the free chair in front of the Berserker. “I guess they jacked up the prices after the lead singer died some time ago, he and his entire band… during a concert. I think the kid that sold this to me told me this was their last album; they were doing a tour and rumor has it that some crazed fan just…” Axel sighed, shrugging his shoulders. “Seems like all the good ones get cut short before their time.”

“Tragic… but I’m afraid these things happen.” Saïx had already stood up and was now standing in front of his stereo system, ejecting the CD. “He must have loved his art greatly.” He fingered the top of the CD, brushing away an unseen speck of dust.

Axel watched the Luna Diviner, momentarily taken aback by the nearly saddened expression on his face as he looked at the CD, despite his uncaring words at first. “I assume you want a copy too?”

“Indeed.” Saix held the CD out at arms length until Axel took it, “I think I might take a trip to Twilight Town, a group this good must have had earlier albums as well.”

“Yeah, I think there was two or three others.” Axel smiled, not making eye contact with the Berserker that seemed to be getting strangely depressed from the conversation.

“It’s worth it then, pity we couldn’t hear him live in concert.” A strange sort of evil glint flashed through his golden colored eyes, “He might have been a pretty good Nobody… with the sort of spirit he put into his music.”

“Now you’re just being creepy… What could a musician do anyway? I mean look at Demyx.” Axel snorted, waving the CD as he turned to leave. He didn’t notice the odd smile and chuckle that erupted from the Luna Diviner as he left.


Axel exited the room the way he had come; passing quickly through the ‘Proof of Existence’ and making his way back to his room. It was really late, he had nearly ten CDs to burn, and he was already getting tired. He continued down one of the hallways, listening to the sounds of his boots across the marble floors. His mind was still on Saïx and the conversation they had, something about it was unnerving but he couldn’t place his finger on what.

He continued on, lost in his thoughts as he walked along alone. He should have been more careful about his destination, two seconds later he slammed right into something. “HEY!! Watch were I’m going… Demyx?” Axel snarled but quickly lost the harsh tone when he saw who it was he had just mowed over.

The blonde musician was scrambling back to his feet; his huge blue Sitar in one hand while he dusted off his knee after falling forward. “I’m sorry, Axel… I didn’t know you were there.”

“Yeah, whatever. Just look out from now on, it’s stupid to stand out in the middle of the hall like that, got it memorized?” Axel words were harsh but his tone was not. “What where you doing anyway?”

“Larxene yelled at me…” Demyx sniffled.

“Well she’s just in the mood to be nasty. Just ignore her…” Axel snorted as he recalled the earlier blackmail.

“Well, that would have been kinda… hard… since…” Demyx’s cheeks lit up to a bright shade of crimson.

“You got lost again and fell asleep in her room thinking it was yours in the dark, didn’t you?” Axel laughed; patting the other Nobody on the shoulder as he walked past him and continued on his way.

“Y..yeah…” Demyx watched for a moment and then suddenly bolted after him, “Wait, Axel! Where are you going?”

“My room…” Axel stated bluntly, never looking around.

Demyx stumbled a long behind him, slowing to a stop when he received the harsh answer. His head tilted downward as he pulled his Sitar up from under his arm and hugged it.

“OH, COME ON!! ” Axel finally snarled, glancing behind him at the pathetic display, “Stop pulling that kicked puppy thing on me… and just come on.”

Demyx suddenly beamed; nearly skipping as he followed Axel to the bedroom door, “So what’re you doing?” he asked as they entered the room.

“I’ve got CDs to burn… so just, occupy yourself while I do this.” Axel waved, as he looked his CD over for scratches.

“Yer a bootlegger.” A voice called from the direction of Axel’s bed.

“HEY!! Get yer cooties off my bed! ” Axel barked at the lump that was sprawled across the foot of his bed.

“Make me…” Roxas stuck his tongue out at his friend before he continued, “I came to tell you that Larxy took your CD away from me… but that was HOURS ago…”

“That’s because she passed it along to EVERYONE… and now everyone wants a copy of it.” Axel plunked down in front of a computer.

“Demyx… are you ok?” Roxas’ voice suddenly broke the tense silence that had fallen over the room.

The Melodious Nocturne was standing in the middle of the room, his sitar barely dangling from his weak grip by his side; a look of pure horror was blazing behind his wide aquamarine eyes. Axel turned in his seat, curiosity getting the best of him. Demyx finally shook his head; a few blonde strands fell from their perfect positioning as he did so, “YOU CAN’T DO THAT!! ”

“What?” Axel and Roxas both snorted in unison.

“That’s, the greatest WRONG you could ever do to a musician! You can’t just make copies of someone’s work and give it away! What about them? What about the money they could be making to further their art? ? I mean it’s one thing for personal use but if you just start giving it away to everyone that asks NOBODY will buy their albums and then… Well you just can’t do that with out their permission!! ” Demyx looked like he was standing on the edge of some sort of nervous breakdown.

“Demyx, I don’t think the artist is going to care anymore…” Axel hinted at the facts behind the band, without coming out and saying it plainly, “and stores have priced his CDs through the roof. Now ,i>THAT’S,/i> not fair… making a mint on someone’s misfortune, bunch of vultures.” Axel smiled, trying smooth things over with reason. “Now be good and do… whatever…” Axel waved again as he pulled a spindle of CDs out of a cubby.

“But…” Demyx fidgeted, then stomped over to the bed where Roxas was sprawled out and plunked down at the head of the bed, glaring at the back of Axel’s head the whole time and grumbling about piracy.

“Calm down, Demyx… It’s nothing to get all bent out of shape over.” Roxas finally sat up to a sitting position as he hugged an overly stuffed pillow.

“Yeah well, you can say that! You’re not an artist…” Demyx huffed as he pulled his sitar onto his lap and started absentmindedly tuning it.

Roxas just rolled his eyes before pulling a comic book out from under Axel’s bed.
It wasn’t long before the cordless tuning turned into a simple tune; Roxas lowered the comic book glancing over at Demyx and his Sitar. It was funny watching Demyx switch from rabidly angry and horrified, to content and blissfully unawares. The musician was now bent over the Sitar, carefully picking out a tune that was just on the edge of his memory. His eyes were closed as his lips moved every now and then, but no sound was made to tell the youngest Nobody that the other was singing just below a whisper.

Roxas watched as Demyx made the artistic movements seem so easy across the strings; it was a strange sort of lullaby. The uncontrollable weight of sleep began to overtake him as he listened to the gentle humming turn into coherent lyrics; his head was just about to slip to the pillow when something clicked in his mind. He new that song, he’d heard it just recently.

“You like them too?” Roxas’ words were more of an exclamation than a question, “Maybe Axel should burn you a copy of their music too…” Roxas yawned, forcing himself to wake back up.

“What?” Demyx’s fingers continued to dance across the stings.

“That song, it’s from Aquarius Nine, I just heard it today, right Axel?” Roxas turned to Axel who was just finishing the last CD.

“Yeah… that’s the title song for this album. ‘Summon Aquarius’.” Axel pulled the head phones out, turning up the music.
It was indeed the same song, faster paced than the lazy content notes Demyx was playing. There were more instruments, and the vocals of a young man and woman singing together. They listened for a second before Demyx finally broke the trance, “W…who?”

“Here…” Roxas reached under the bed again, fishing out the CD case.

“HEY!! Snoopy, how’d you find that?” Axel turned in his chair as Roxas pulled the case out and tossed it at Demyx.

“Obvious… you throw EVERTHING under your bed, you’re such a pig.” Roxas snorted.

Demyx held the case in his hands as though it were the most fragile little bird, staring at the photo of the band posed on the front cover. There were seven people in back; one man had black hair cut in an Emo sort of style, while there was also a woman with wild multi-toned hair. But the two lead singers closest to the front were the ones that drew the most attention. There was a young woman, one of the leads, that looked like a little fairy; her make up and clothes looked as though she had just stepped out of a child’s storybook. And then there was lead male singer, with his shaggy blonde hair and rip-knee jeans and more studded belts than he could have possibly known what to do with. They looked as broadly styled in their looks as they were in their music.

“So that’s them… You probably have one of their CDs.” Roxas said as he watched Demyx slowly run his thumb across the plastic of the case. “She’s cute… reminds me of...” Roxas suddenly turned beet red, “Never mind.”

“No, I’ve… never bought any of their CDs…” Demyx whispered.

“HA!! You and you’re little speech can take a flying leap then! You must have bootlegs then.” Axel laughed in triumph as he wrote across the CDs with a sharpie.

“And…” Demyx paused as he looked up at Axel, completely ignoring the slap, “E…everyone… liked this?”

“Larxene threatened me over it, Zexion rescued it from the clutches of Vexen, Saïx was like meditating or something to it, and Lexaeus… was dancing…” Axel’s eyes widened at the memory, “That’s something I don’t recommend ever seeing… I think I’m scared for life.”

“They like it…” Demyx smiled, his eyes almost sparkling.

Roxas stared at Demyx; the strange behavior coming from their friend was starting to worry him. He started to voice his concern when Axel suddenly interrupted his thoughts, “It’s kinda sad though… I guess they were only able to put out about three or four albums.” He paused looking up from his writing to glance at Demyx, “That’s why I don’t think they’d mind. They’re gone. The kid at the store said one of the fans went all psycho at a concert and well… it wasn’t good.”

Demyx’s smile faded, “No… It wasn’t a fan… the fans, the people in the audience actually tried to protect them. No one made it out of that… everyone lost their hearts. People just assumed… I suppose…” His voice cracked, his hand shot up suddenly rubbing his eye. “I’m getting tired, I think I’m going to go to bed now…” Demyx suddenly stood up, laying the case back down on the blanket.

“Demyx?” Roxas worried look told the Musician that he was as transparent as a clear glass window.

“G’night…” Demyx quickly walked for the door, never turning back around. He paused as he placed a hand on the door handle, “You now, if everyone loves it so… perhaps the artists would be happy with just that… so maybe some bootlegging is ok this one time.” He said as he pulled the door closed behind him.

Axel leaned back in his chair, watching the now vacant area in front of the door, “Was it just me? Or did it seem like Demyx just have a mental breakdown? You’re the one always telling me he’s gonna have one if I don’t let up on him…”

“Nah I don’t think so… He’s just… remembering something…” Roxas sighed, “and maybe he’s tired, I know I am. I’m going to bed…”

Axel watched as his friend stumbled from the bed, still groggy from the short catnap he’d been taking during the song. “Do you know something I don’t?”

Roxas stopped before pulling up one of his socks, “No… Not that I know of…” He confessed as he grabbed one of the boots he had kicked off before either of the other two had ever gotten there. “What’s the name of the lead singer in Aquarius IX?”

“Dyme...” Axel paused for a second, and then laughed; a saddened tone to a sound that normally should spread happiness. “I should have known that… I thought his voice sounded familiar.”

Roxas smiled, “It’s probably why everyone likes it so much. It’s familiar, and even dear despite our lack of hearts.”

IOIOIOIOIO

The dark hallway was completely silent; a small shaft of silver moonlight was illuminating the figure that had leaned back against the doorway after exiting the room. His head was tilted backwards; his aquamarine eyes barely lidded as a tear slipped down his cheek past his smile. “Our music still touches hearts, guys… even ones that don’t exist anymore.”


~Aquarius IX End~ Dragonnova