A/N: Second fic for the FtH II series. Okie.
The second illusion sequence is paraphrasing from Infinite One Shots, Chapter 4(which reveals what happened to the other named characters on Destiny Islands when the Heartless attacked which… Was not pretty, I tell you)
Published: 5/14/2019
Warnings: KH III Secret Report Spoilers
Featured Character:
Axel
Supporting:
Saix
Xemnas
Antagonist:
Subject X | Experiment 13
Chapter 1
Prologue: Subject X
Of all the ways Axel had wanted to spend his day off, sitting in a chair next to broody mc broodster while waiting for the drama king was not what he'd had in mind. As such, Axel decided to act his age like any respectable adult.
And, by act his age, he was currently kicking his feet back and forth without a care, fingers tapping a beat he'd heard Demyx rocking out to the other day on the table.
Bored, bored, bored, bored.
Bored, bored, bored, bored.
Bored, bored, bor-
"Axel," Saix's hissing voice broke the silence, "If you do not cease your insistent tapping, I'm going to berserk. I'm going to go berserk and you are going to regret it and it is going to be glorious and I am going to pound you into the ground."
Axel blinked up at his old friend.
"I'm sorry, is that suppose to be a threat? 'Cause, babe, that just excites me," Axel replied with a salacious look. Then, smirk in place, looking straight into Saix's golden eyes, Axel tapped.
Saix twitched.
Not for the first time, Axel missed his friend's old eye color. These new golden eyes were nowhere near as expressive as the old aquamarine ones had been. The old eyes he could read. The old eyes had held so much emotion.
They didn't feel emotions anymore, that time was long past, but looking into these new eyes Axel only ever saw one of two things: unbridled rage or cold apathy, with nothing in between.
Axel hated these new eyes always as much as he was confused by them. He'd never gotten them himself, afterall, so why did Saix have them?
One of the mysteries of the world, Axel supposed.
"Axel," Saix hissed again, and Axel relished in the anger because anger seemed to be the only emotion he could ever get out of Saix these days, even if it was just a memory, "I-"
"Number VII and Number VIII. Good. Prompt, as ordered."
Axel spluttered and fell out of his chair. Saix huffed, crossing arms and shooting him an unimpressed look. The jackass didn't even bother trying to help Axel up.
Hmph. Jerk.
Shooting up, Axel turned to glare at their leader. The Superior, ever the stoic, hadn't even reacted to Axel's fall from grace.
"Would you stop doing that? I swear, we need to put a frickin bell on you!" Axel said before he could stop himself, then promptly had to stop from hitting himself over it.
Yikes, Xemnas might turn him into a Dusk just on principle, which, yeah, no bueno, no funo.
Instead of being offended, however, Xemnas actually looked like he was considering it, much to Axel's surprise.
"Would this 'bell' allow for better promptness from members of the Organization?" Xemnas asked, completely serious and straight faced.
Not to let an opportunity slip bye, Axel quickly nodded.
"Oh yeah, definitely. You wouldn't believe how much it would improve morale to not have half our ranks scared shirtless whenever you decide to materialize out of the shadows. You wouldn't believe what we'd save alone from not having Demyx flummoxing around in fright," Axel nodded earnestly, all the while ignoring the sound of Saix hitting his head against the table while muttering 'why me?'
"I see," Xemnas said. "I thank you for your words of wisdom, VIII. Now, other than your superb advice, there is another urgent matter I must discuss with the pair of you," Xemnas stated.
At this, Saix sat up, suddenly alert. Axel resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Such a kiss ass.
Axel, just to be an ass himself, stood up straight and gave Xemnas a military salute.
"Aye, aye, sir!" Axel said.
Beside him, Saix twitched.
As usual, Xemnas didn't even blink. Instead, the Superior turned away, arms crossed behind his back Xaldin style as he walked towards the window. Outside, the few hearts the Organization had managed to collect sans Keyblade illuminated the otherwise dark sky.
"Nearly a decade ago, the pair of you came to me, insistent on becoming my followers. The reason did not elude me." Xemnas announced casually, as if they weren't discussing possibly treasonous actions.
Axel and Saix both froze. Saix's fingers even twitched for a moment, a spark of blue flickering in and out of existence in the blink of an eye.
Axel gave the other a curt nod.
If it came down to it…
Together, till the end.
Xemnas turned back to face them.
"The pair of you were interested in a girl. Subject X. Experiment Number Thirteen. A teenage girl, afflicted with amnesia, that we kept locked away deep within the bowels of the castle," Xemnas continued on.
"I wasn't aware of any such experiments before we became your students." Saix frowned, and if Axel hadn't known better himself he'd have believed it. There was a reason even Luxord was reluctant to play poker with Saix.
"The pair of you were tossed out repeatedly after many attempts to see her. Did you think such a thing would escape my notice?" Xemnas didn't sound angry. Didn't sound annoyed at the perpetual slite against his intelligence by pretending to be ignorant.
If anything, Xemnas sounded bored.
Classic, classic Xemnas.
"I did not care then, and I do not care now," Xemnas continued on, and Axel hand to resist the urge to fling a fireball at the man, because no one deserved to be used as a human experiment, "There is but one reason I bring this up: You were lead to believe my… Predecessor let the girl go." Xemnas said.
Axel couldn't stop his eyes widening at the implication.
"You're to say he didn't?" Saix said, not missing a single beat.
"I'm to say that we found her again," Xemnas corrected. "She was vital to my research. She, like me, experienced similar symptoms of memory loss, and was to invaluable an asset to risk losing. As such, I had a tracker implanted in her."
He had a…
Axel actually wanted to throw up a bit at the revelation.
Xemnas frowned.
"I do not understand your discomfort, VIII. Surely you knew she was not the only test subject? You had no issue with the other test subjects."
Yeah, well, the other test subjects had been the lowest of the low, people pulled off death row that society wouldn't even blink at their disappearances, so Axel hadn't much cared for them. It's not like he was about to just state that, however.
"Forgive him, Superior. Axel was… Infatuated with the subject when she was alive. It is of no consequence now, as such former chains have been cut away along with our hearts." Saix said.
"First you claim not to have known her, now you claim your partner was emotionally compromised in relation to the subject," Xemnas pointed out, and at last an amused smile splayed across The Superior's lips at having caught Saix in a slip up.
"Forgive me, Superior. I had forgotten, but your words have jogged my memories," Saix replied earnestly.
"But of course," Xemnas simpered right back, mirth lacing his words. "Regardless, the reason I bring her up is this: when we took her and placed her with the rest of the test subjects, one of our primary goals was to awaken the memories that laid dormant in her heart. I, too, went under many of the same procedures in an attempt to ascertain my own origins as well."
Axel didn't need to know Xemnas' origins. Sans memory, the man was a complete and utter monster, and that was who he was at his core. That was his nature. Axel knew that as easily as he knew breathing.
"Attempts that led to failure," Saix said.
Xemnas paused.
"Partially," the Superior revealed, much to their surprise. "In my case, I received glimpses of the past. Enough to know, to realize, what the girl was. Perhaps then- yes. Once I realized what she was, I should have killed her then and there, but the arrogance in my human heart pervade me from doing so."
Axel's foot slid back of its own accord as he barely managed to resist the urge to fling himself and wring Xemnas' rather muscular neck. Saix shot him a rather sharp look before taking a step forward, putting himself between Axel and Xemnas.
Xemnas didn't seem bothered at all by the aggression. Frankly, Axel wasn't surprised. Xemnas could probably take him and Saix both with a hand tied behind his back if it really came down to it.
"You let her live. Why was that a mistake? And, why are you telling us this now?" Saix got right down to business, not even bothering to beat around the bush anymore, all pretenses forgotten.
"Far away from here, there is a land, a world, hidden away from all. A world at the very edge of creation, at its epicenter. It's location is lost to me now, in this state, but some of the things I learned there… Those remain with me still," Xemnas revealed.
"What, like a giant library?" Axel scoffed.
Saix kicked him.
"In a way, I suppose that is an accurate description of Scala as Caelum," Xemnas accepted. "There is knowledge hidden away on that world that can be found nowhere else. Knowledge on the origin of the universe, of all creation, of hearts and souls, was hidden there."
Axel's eyes widened. If that was true… Finding a world like that could be the answer to all their problems. Their hearts were gone, ripped away and taken from them. Such a world like that could provide the answer to getting them back, once and for all.
"And what would such a world have to do with the girl?" Saix asked, voice cool and collected.
Uh oh. Axel knew that voice. It was Saix's 'you better give me a good answer or I'm beating you into the ground' voice.
"One of the manuscripts hidden on there told the tale of war, from ancient times. A war that had initially fractured the Universe into what we know it today in a conflict known as the 'Keyblade War'," Xemnas answered. "And, as for the girl? It's simple, really: she was one of the survivors."
A stunned silence filled the room at Xemnas' declaration.
"Wha- how would that even be possible if the war happened in 'ancient times'!" Axel snapped, unable to hold it in. Ignoring the way Saix was looking at him, Axel pushed past him, towards Xemnas. "That girl we were trying to save definitely wasn't 'ancient', not by any definition of the word!" Axel yelled, then froze as a burning red Ethereal Blade was leveled at his face.
Behind him, the sound of Saix summoning one of his Claymores was unmistakable.
"You forget your place, Number VIII. Do well to remember it, and do not believe you may raise your voice at me," Xemnas stated cooly, the red light illuminating his features. Eyes darting away from Axel to behind him, Xemnas continued. "And you would do well to remember that as well, Number VII."
"But of course, Superior." Saix simpered, claymore vanishing as he reached out and pulled Axel behind him again. This time, Axel didn't fight it. He was on thin ice enough as it was.
"Good, as long as we have an understanding," Xemnas nodded. "Now, as I was saying: the girl. She was a survivor of the ancient Keyblade War. How she came to be in this era is unknown to me, although I do have my theories, ranging from a temporal vortex that flung her forward in time to reincarnation."
Xemnas admitted his own ignorance with so much grace Axel couldn't even get any satisfaction from it.
"Regardless… While the experiments were partially effective with me, they were fully effective with her."
Another silence hung about them.
"You awoke her memories successfully," Saix summarized.
"Success? I suppose that is one way of putting it," Xemnas stated before lifting his hand, moving it to the side. Around them, an illusion began to form, a familiar laboratory forming itself around them.
Axel's breath hitched. There she was, tied to a chair, locked in the center of the room. That nameless girl, from all those years ago, golden eyed and pale skinned, dark haired and beautiful.
And there stood Xemnas, back when he'd been human. Back when they'd all been human, writing notes on a clipboard with cynical coldness.
"Subject is recalling more and more. Just the other day, the Subject did reveal that she remembered her name, and told me to call her 'Skuld'. Subject is reacting positively to-" Xemnas dictated as he wrote. Of course Mr. Perfect could write as quickly as he could speak, because heaven forbid Xemnas be bad at something.
Said dictation was interrupted as a hollow screech ripped past Skuld's lips. Looking up, the past Xemnas looked annoyed.
"Experiment Thirteen," Xemnas demanded, "Cease your screeching. This will all be for the better, once the both of us regain our memor-"
Skuld's head shot up, eyes now glowing. With a grit of her teeth, a clench of her hands, and another scream, magical energy ripped from her body, tearing the bonds that had shackled her to pieces and blasting the past Xemnas clear across the room.
With a growl that was more animal than human, Skuld landed on her feet before turning, sprinting out the door without another word. The illusion paused, fading away as quickly as it had come.
Xemnas let them absorb that particular truth before continuing on.
"As you can see… She escaped."
Axel had to bite his lip to keep himself from saying 'no shit, sherlock'.
"At first, I believed this of be of no concern. Recent… Revelations have led me to amend that belief," Xemnas stated.
"Revelations that are relevant to the pair of us?" Saix demanded.
Xemnas nodded.
"Yes. Because the pair of you knew her. Because she is now active once more… And, because it is my firm belief that the memories we awoke in Subject X have driven her mad."
"What clued you in? The incoherent screeching, or the random bursts of magical energy?" Axel, unable to hold it in any longer, snarked at Xemnas.
Xemnas tilted her head.
"At first, we were unsure what she was doing. Then a world fell. One became two. Recently, there was a third and… It is surprising, truly, the memories that can be pulled even from the dead."
Memories… Wha?
Xemnas waived his hand once more, and Skuld appeared again… Except, she wasn't alone.
She was in a room, surrounded by children. A blond girl, a little boy, and a teenager. Skuld was clutching onto the skull of the blond girl, who froze entirely, encased in ice before being tossed aside, shattering to pieces.
Axel stared in horror as the girl burst into bloody frozen chunks.
The teen in the room screamed, rushing forth in what Axel knew was a suicidal run at Skuld.
"YOU MONSTER! Luneth, LUNETH RUN!"
Skuld dispatched him just as efficiently as she had the girl, lighting stopping his heart cold.
Others rushed into the rooms and moved, trying to stop her, but they fell just a easily.
The knight died muttering his daughter's name, the gunman died criticizing his killer, of all the ballsy things, and the rest of the teens…
Axel turned and heaved.
The illusions ceased.
"As you can see," Xemnas tsked, as if they were discussing office misconduct and not mass murder, "she's gone insane. We have no idea what her goals are, only that this is not the first world she's hit- or the first world she's left in ruin. What we do know, alarmingly, is where she is striking from."
"And that would be?" Saix narrowed his eyes, voice still cool and collected. Axel didn't get it. He honestly didn't. How could Saix always be so goddamn calm?
"Hollow Bastion." Xemnas revealed, and that surprised the both of them. "As you recall, when we lost our bodies, my heart remained behind, had a consciousness of its own. A rather unique thing, even if I could no longer reclaim it. My Heartless, though formless, looked over Hollow Bastion. For this to happen without our knowing… I fear one of two things has occurred."
"Which are?"
"One, he has fallen, although this is unlikely as I would have felt it."
"Or?"
"He has been compromised."
That… That was downright terrifying, really.
"I can only assume such a fact means all of Experiment 13's memories have been restored. We do not know her goals. We do not know her reasons. We do not know what drives her. What we do know is that she is a chaotic, uncontrollable factor in our grand design, and her elimination has become top priority."
Axel's blood ran cold.
"You… You want us to do it, because we knew her."
Xemnas actually snorted at that one.
"You didn't know her at all, nor did she know you," Xemnas dismissed, "you knew an empty puppet, devoid of memories. What we face is a Keyblade Master of old. No. There is not a single weapon within this Universe that we can level against her that she would not be intimately familiar with and know how to react to."
Axel frowned.
"Then what in the hell kinda weapon are you going out to collect?" Axel asked the obvious question.
Xemnas actually smiled, which was terrifying all in its own right.
"An Extra-Universal one, of course. Rare as it, the Universal plane has been breached before, and I know of the location of one such breach: I have already located a weapon there capable of eliminating Skuld, and will depart soon to procure it for the coming battle." Xemnas revealed.
Axel and Saix exchanged looks. Extra-Universal armory aside, Xemnas' pure dismissal of them put a whole 'nother spin on this entire conversation.
"Then… What was the purpose of showing us this?" Saix demanded.
"As you stated, you knew her," Xemnas said simply. "I am not in the business of allowing the members of my Organization to be taken by surprise. Skuld is a threat we must deal with together, and you cannot win a war when half your pieces are ignorant to the true battle that lies ahead."
Then, Xemnas turned, stalking away from them as if he hadn't just flipped their worlds, their conceptions, and their goals right on their heads.
"Do with this information what you will, but remember this: all who stand against the ultimate goals of the Organization shall fall, and an ancient crazed Keyblade Master is no different."