火の中心-Center of Fire

Disclaimer: No matter how much I may wish, I do not own any of the KH or KHII characters:(

Warnings: Contains slight swearing in future chapters, YAOI pairing (AkuRoku)(and possibly others) ;3

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From what most people could tell you, it is impossible to love without a heart. But how could anyone know what it is like? How could anyone with a heart be able to tell you and state that it is true? Those with hearts simple wander amongst people like themselves which can lead to confusion. Someone loves another, and instantly the heart takes over their body. Hearts...what's to think of them? They're nothing but a beating organ in the human body that serves as life...a life with a time. That only leads to the point that no one lasts forever. After life, well, that somebody becomes nobody, right? You're probably wondering why I know. Let's just say, I wonder that too. The truth is: I have no heart...but I remember what it was like. There's always a good point and down point to everything, hearts included. And, despite the fact that they are controlling, they provide people with something called happiness. I guess I wouldn't know much about that either...but still; it's like a faint vision in my head. There was someone, actually, a no one, that told me a lot of things I would have never stopped to think about before that no one crossed my path. Hearts...what's to think of them...? Now that I think about it, there's everything to think about them. I have no heart...I am nobody...I was and still remain a victim to my heart...a prisoner trapped in my own flames.

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Chap I

It was a world that no living being ever thought existed. All people had to worry about were their own worlds until the day they died. But, there are those that set their minds on separate courses and place themselves in worlds apart. What's it like to stand on a different world, even for a second? What's it like to interact with other hearts different than your own on that world? Would people be disappointed to not be able to experience different hearts in this world that never was?

A young boy, possibly in his teens at the time, rushed through the blinding darkness without a sense of where he was to end up. He panted heavily and turned a corner only to find a dead end. A short gasp escaped his lips when scattered splashes echoed behind him. He turned his head left then right, and then forward searching for the owner of the noises but to no avail. The darkness had blinded his sight that he could barely search the shadows for his unknown stalker.

"Get me away from here! So-- So—" He grabbed at his throat in surprise that the last of his sentence was forced silent. Something forced its way through his mind as he stood speechless in the dark. "So--" Nothing. The footsteps were closing in on him, now scratching and clawing threateningly against the pavement. He took a step backward only to be pressed against a hard wall behind him. His breathing quickened when the noises ceased all together. They, who ever they were, were still there...something told him they were.

"What...is this place...?" He whispered to himself. Complete and dead silence flooded his mind that it was almost too much for him to tolerate. "Just leave me..." He was forced silent again and froze when two, large, amber eyes emerged from the ground below him. They penetrated through the darkness and stared blankly into his deep blue ones. He forced a yell and jumped to the side only to be met with another like the first. All he could see were their eyes but even that was enough to send the sensation of fear through his body. He was surrounded in the center of emotionless yellow pupils glaring at him.

"R...K...So..." His eyes widened when his meaningless stammering ended as the strange figures began to lunge forward like wolves at their prey...him.

"You're not from around here, are you?"

The blonde had his eyes covered behind his black gloved hands that he couldn't see who the owner of the voice was. He pressed his back closer to the wall and shut himself away from this world. Why was he afraid? He had never been...he had...he...he opened his eyes and blinked in a daze. What was wrong with his mind? By the time he returned, the ominous scattering noise around him silenced and he was shut in an unspoken barrier. His body was feeling mysteriously warm, despite the cold weather, and all around him smelled of burnt matches.

"What're you so afraid of? Boy, you've got to work on your fighting skills." The voice of an older, male teen sounded in the blonde boy's ears, breaking the quiet barrier, but he refused to back away from the wall. He kept his face covered with his black sleeve and lowered his head, staring blankly at the wet pavement. He heard the teen sigh and let off a light chuckle. "Come on, I'm not like those things...well, no that's a lie...come on, I'm not gonna bite you or anything!"

He cautiously peeked over his shoulder, his back still pressed against the wall, and finally was able to lower his arm and rest it casually at his side. With his head still lowered, he shut his eyes tightly and lightly punched the wall at his right in frustration. "What is this place?" He asked himself in a tense whisper.

"My world. Well, technically, your world too." The boy's voice came again, this time lower as if attempting to calm the blonde down.

"...Your world?" With curiosity burning in his body, the teen began to raise his head to face who ever had rescued him from those strange shadows. More than anything, he hoped what the teen had told him wasn't true; that he was like whatever had attacked him. Now that the figures had gone, the darkness seemed to become less blinding. His sapphire eyes finally met with a boy noticeably taller than him. He was dressed in a long black cloak with two metal chains dangling from the front of his hood which he had pulled back to reveal his face. He wore black gloves over his hands and leather black boots that were mostly covered by his long cloak. His entire outfit was exactly identical to his own. His figure was slimmer than what the teen expected and his posture was formally straight. The only bit of skin he could see on the teen was his face and a bit of his chest that the cloak hadn't hidden. The hair atop his head was noticeably unique considering the fact that it was crimson like fire. Clutched in both of his hands was a large red, circular weapon armed with sharp, pointed edges. He assumed it was what he had used to slaughter the yellow eyed figures.

His eyes remained glued to the boy with a blank expression circling within them. The boy must have noticed and chuckled like he had before. "You really aren't from here, are you?"

He blinked and shook his head, unsure of what to say.

"Just as I thought...but you've gotta get used to this place from now on. Like I said, it's your world too." He tightened his grasp on his two weapons, which nearly caused the blonde haired boy to begin running again. His fear quickly left him when the weapons burst into flames and left their wielder without a single burn. "Name's Axel, kid." He said while saluting slightly with two fingers.

"My name's not kid!" The blonde retorted, taking his first step forward.

This only caused Axel to laugh again. "You're a fired up one, aren't ya?" He paused and crossed his arms. "You've got a name, don't you?" He asked.

"Uh, well...yeah, I do...I mean..." He stuttered and stared at the ground again. How did that just become the hardest question in the world right now? "I'm..."

"Roxas"

"Roxas!" He stared, surprised at his sudden outburst, and attempted to find words to say. "Wait, how'd that...?"

"Hah! You got that too?" Axel asked in amusement. "Wow, I thought I was the only one who went through the whole name loss..."

"But, I didn't...did you hear that voice just now?" Roxas, as he was to be called now, asked with confusion in his voice.

"No, just you. Course I've heard it before but that was for my name. It's not really mine though." Axel uncrossed his arms, the silver chains tinkling as he slid his arms out from underneath them. "Trust me, there're a lot of things like that now that you're part of this Organization."

"O-Organization?" Roxas asked, straightening himself up again.

"You'll find out later on. Since I found you first, looks like I've gotta intro you in. Great, makes my day even better." He slumped forward and sighed.

"Couldn't you just tell me now?" He was already becoming impatient.

"Sorry, ki—er—Roxas. Rules are rules. I'm not the one responsible for explaining the whole spiel to you." He looked up again and glanced casually over his shoulder into the darkened street. "That's Xemnas' job." His voice suddenly lowered and at first his expression seemed like he wanted to do nothing but kill. Roxas stared at him again for sometime before Axel turned his head back and seemingly returned to normal. "So, ready to get outta here? Roxas...'kay that's your name."

"Where?" Roxas asked, ruffling up the hair at the back of his head.

Axel stared upward for a moment at the sky above. Roxas glanced at his eyes for a bit, now noticing their light teal color, and wondered what was going through his mind. He almost seemed disappointed in something but Roxas didn't feel like he had known him long enough to ask what he was thinking so he kept quiet.

"There's a castle, just over there," Axel finally said, thrusting a gloved finger in the direction at his back. "That's where Xemnas is."

"Xemnas..." Roxas repeated to himself. Why had the name struck him as awkward? He hadn't known a Xemnas...truthfully, he hadn't known anyone except for Axel at the moment.

"Hey, you probably haven't experimented with your transportation yet, huh?" Axel asked, turning his body around toward Roxas again.

Roxas paused for a bit then shook his head. There were so many things he didn't know about this world...about himself...about everything.

Axel laughed again and shook his head lightly. "How long did you say you've been here for?"

He thought of the question for a while. Ok, so maybe the question about his name wasn't the most difficult question. He thought back to his encounter with those shadows. He brought his mind back to the time he was walking down an empty road with no one at his side. He remembered a sharp pain...a meaningless cry...then, his mind went blank. He shook his head again and sighed in disappointment at himself. "Sorry, I-I don't exactly know..."

"Sorry?" Axel asked in surprise. "That's nothing to be sorry for. See? That was a trick question. Didn't expect you t' answer that one...or the one about your name."

Roxas nodded although he wasn't even sure as to what Axel was doing.

"We'd better get outta here now. Wouldn't wanna get smacked upside the head by Xemnas, trust me." Axel rubbed the back of his head and the second he did, the ground below him warped into a black void.

Roxas took a large step forward with his arm extended toward Axel. His eyes immediately widened and he then found himself pulled out of the darkness at the back of the alleyway. He stopped right before Axel and stared at him as if he was crazy. "What're you doing?" He asked with his voice raised.

"Heh," Axel scoffed and reached forward through the black flames that were beginning to engulf his body. He grabbed Roxas' left wrist and pulled him toward his body. Roxas suddenly felt a strange sensation tingle his senses. He glanced below his feet at the black void that both he and Axel were standing in. He could feel his breathing speed again when the black flames licked at his face, leaving no wound whatsoever on him. He could feel his body being surrounded by darkness...he could feel the cold touch of the flames through his dark cloak and shuddered.

"What're you so afraid of?" Apparently Axel felt him shudder. Roxas turned to the direction of Axel's voice beside him and nervously inched closer to where he assumed he was. Everything was hidden from his sight again and it frightened him. Darkness...pure darkness. There was a light grasp still around his wrist and with that in mind he knew that Axel still had his hold on him. After all, he was the only one he knew...the only one who seemed to care about who he was.

He wasn't afraid.

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