Roxas runs into the train station of Twilight Town, visions flashing in his head, blinding him to the sight of his friends trying to follow him.
Only a few minutes ago, he had been sitting in the usual spot, his friends, Olette, Pence, and Hayner surrounding him with happiness. But something was different today, Roxas could tell. Even though he had been surrounded by his friends, he still felt lonely, like he was missing someone or something.
It was as this realization hit Roxas that the visions began to hit him too. They almost seemed to be flashbacks or old memories, although Roxas did not know the places or people that were swimming before his eyes.
When the visions receded for a moment, Roxas found himself lying on the ground, with people looking over him worriedly. He had looked up at them, confused at the fact that strangers knew his name.
"Roxas! Roxas, are you alright?" Olette cried.
"You O.K, man?" Hayner asked, reaching to help Roxas up.
Roxas pushed him away, not recognizing his friends at all. The visions had confused Roxas to the point that he didn't seem to be able to recognize anyone anymore.
He made a run for the train station, not knowing what was happening, but knowing that he needed to find someone.
As Roxas runs into the station, he pays no mind to the man asking him for money, or the man asking for his ticket. His friends, on the other hand, get held up trying to pay for him and themselves, and end up missing the train entirely.
The trio races after the train, trying to call out to their dear friend, even though he seems to have no recollection of them at all.
….
Roxas lies back on the seat, more visions flashing through his mind. They take him to a strange world that he had never seen before, with a moon in the shape of a heart. A man with bright red hair smiles at him, and he hears his name escape his lips, "Roxas."
"Roxas! Roxas?" Axel walks through a train, pushing open doors and compartments looking for his best friend. Axel knows that Roxas won't be wearing an Organization coat, making his job a little bit more difficult.
Axel finally gets to the last car of the train and mentally crosses his fingers, hoping for nothing less than a miracle. When he opens the car door, he is sorely disappointed. Roxas isn't on this train. The chances were slim, almost impossible, but Axel still feels the disappointment eat away at him. He tries to console himself with the idea that, since he has no heart, there really is no way he can feel disappointment, but it really doesn't have much an effect on his mood.
The train finally comes to a halt at the clock tower train station, and Axel steps out hurriedly. He looks around, scanning everyone in the station- Roxas could be anywhere, and he doesn't have the luxury of searching for him for days. Axel overheard Riku saying that Roxas' memories are starting to unravel, meaning that he's remembering himself. Riku said this was happening because it is almost time for him to go back to Sora, and Axel wouldn't let that happen. He refused to lose his friend to Sora.
Looking around some more, Axel finds the three kids that Roxas used to mention when he and Roxas would sit on the clock tower together. He notices they're distraught, and decides they're as good a place to start as any.
"What're we gonna do? He just ran off!" the girl cries, tears streaming down her face. "He didn't look like he was O.K."
"Hey, are you guys alright?" Axel asks, trying not to come off as a total creep, but failing by the looks he gets from the blonde boy.
"And how is it your business?"
"Well… I think you and I may be looking for the same person." It's a long shot, but Axel feels that he might as well try.
"You know Roxas?" the other boy asks.
"Yes! Where did he go?" Axel hopes he doesn't seem overzealous, even though the idea of seeing Roxas again sends his mind reeling.
"That's the issue. He just hopped on a random train- we didn't have a chance to see where it was headed." The girl explains.
"Maybe he went to the beach to clear his head?" the black haired boy tries.
"Maybe we should split up, each of us take a different train. One of us is bound to run into him. We can meet up here every hour, since the trains run on an hourly schedule," the blonde reasons.
Axel couldn't have come up with a better plan himself. "That sounds great."
"Alright, we'll meet up in an hour."
…
Axel hops on the nearest train, which just so happens to lead him 15 minutes further into Twilight Town. Once he disembarks, he decides to wander around the area near the station, hoping that Roxas will decide to take the train again.
….
Roxas wanders aimlessly around Twilight Town, stopped frequently by piercing headaches accompanied by strange visions of a life that he doesn't understand.
"Axel…" Roxas finally has a name for the redheaded man after a particularly painful vision. With very little to go off of, Roxas decides his best course of action would be to find this redheaded man, so he heads to the nearest train to take him back to the clock tower.
Roxas boards a train, not paying attention to much of anything until he gets the idea that Axel may be in Twilight Town right now. With this idea in mind, Roxas cannot keep himself still, and meanders around the train, hoping that he'll run into the mysterious man in his mind.
….
Axel finds that almost an hour has passed, and gets back on the train to meet up with the others. Maybe one of them will have gotten lucky.
…
Roxas arrives at the clock tower station without having found Axel, and proceeds to go to the top of the clock tower, hoping that the red head will be there waiting for him. He's sorely disappointed, and now has no idea where to go.
….
Axel runs into the station, but the others are as empty handed as he. They shake their heads and shrug. Axel refuses to give up and gets on another train before they even have a chance to say anything.
…
Roxas waits a little longer to see if Axel will come to the clock tower, but he eventually gives up. The visions seem to have died down a bit, so Roxas decides to search the town for Axel more thoroughly.
Roxas makes his way to another train and beings his search again.
…..
Axel finds himself beachside, with no Roxas anywhere. Frustrated, Axel boards the train again.
…..
Roxas finds himself at the abandoned mansion at the edge of town, with more visions going along with the new scenery.
He had been here before, with a girl in white….
Roxas looks up at the mansion, and sees that same girl in the window. Without a second thought, Roxas climbs over the walls surrounding the mansion and bursts inside. If he can't find Axel to give him any answers, than this girl will do just fine.
…
Axel stops dead in his tracks, a lost look in his eyes. He has told himself a thousand times over that he doesn't have a heart, but there is no mistaking the breaking feeling that is coming from his chest. He wants nothing more than to ignore this pain, but it overwhelms him, and he knows exactly the reason behind it.
Something has happened to Roxas.
….
"You were never meant to exist, Roxas." The girl in white, named Namine, explains.
"What?"
Roxas finds that he is losing whatever grasp he had on his own identity as Sora takes him back.
"Wait! Who's Axel? I don't understand!" Roxas calls desperately.
"Nobody. Now, it's time for you to go back to where you belong." Namine explains, tears glistening in her eyes. Whoever said that nobodies couldn't cry was a liar.
"Namine, wait!" But he's gone before she can say anything else.
…..
Axel hops on the train as fast as he can, and runs off of it even faster. He has no idea where he is going, but he has to find Roxas.
It takes him hours to find the abandoned mansion in the woods. Namine has waited for him to show up, and explains what had happened as best she can. Axel tries to burn her to death, but she disappears in a portal before he has the chance. Since he has been such a failure, he doubts that it will be an issue whether or not he is detected. Axel opens his own portal and leaves the wretched computerized world behind.
"I'm sorry, Roxas. I guess it was hopeless after all."