Portentous Phenomenon

A/N: This is my second attempt at AkuRiku, but this time, I'm actually in my right mind as I do this. Yes, I reread this outloud about twenty or so times, hoping that it sounds reasonable for you all to read. But just a warning, it's AkuRoku before it is AkuRiku, the AkuRiku will come in later one, but in order to make a good story, you'll have to wait. Enjoy!

-Dreams will never be-

Quick steps echoed through the pitch black halls, slicing each wooden plank with a creak. The sound of an indecent ambulance bellowed from the front entrance, police knocking at it harshly, voicing mad threats and warnings to open the doors.

The two were away from it, however, concentrating on running the halls to the end.

The one behind gasped in a disturbed manner. "Axel, don't tell me you're actually falling through with this…" Quickly, he caught up to his friend, walking alongside him up the creaking stair steps.

"…" There wasn't any type of coherent answer from the other for his mouth was closed tight, and the blood that ran by the side of his wrecked face didn't help that image any. The other teen shivered at this.

"Please, Axel, stop. These people just want to help, they know what happened, and everything, don't ignore them, don't do this…" He dragged on, suddenly having to run to keep up with the taller. "Axel!"

"Demyx, please, there's no turning back now, and you know that. It'll only get worse from here." He whispered the last sentence barely, choking out a cough before reaching the top of the stairs.

"Axel, Roxas wouldn't want this, he would have never wanted this for you." Cried the other, grabbing onto the man's torso and sobbing. However, the man stopped only to the mention of the small blonde boy, "I don't want this, and no one else wants this either. Your dad's stupid and what's going on is stupid. If you really need to escape, come live with me, just don't do this."

"Roxas is dead." He emphasized, almost sobbing himself, "He was my only escape, my only euphoria, without him, my dream is dead, and in common sense, you die without your dream." The lecture sent Demyx into louder bawls, only to get thrown away by the other.

The ambulance outside seemed to get louder, and it was as if the rest of the building blurred as Demyx watched the red-head climb the railing, tied rope in hand. His green eyes widened, tears ceasing as fear controlled his senses.

It was getting darker each second, and sounds that he normally wouldn't hear blocked his ears. It screamed to him, a screech that made him feel like moving over and puking. This was it, and his body knew this, and his body was responding to it.

"Axel!" He yelled out, barely fast enough to run and reach to the older before watching the red-head pull a knife out of his pocket and drop it on the wooden floor below him steadily.

Demyx tripped and stumbled, sobbing out words not even he himself could have understood. But by the time he cleared his vision of his blood-stained tears, his best friend had a rope around his neck, the other one tied to the railing. He turned and smiled a kind of smile that said "thank you" and "goodbye" in the same sense, in the sense of 'the last time'.

"N-no!" He cried out, watching as the red-head slipped his foot over the edge of the railing and fall. He slid up in the adrenaline he still held, and reached down the railing as if he could have caught Axel and saved him.

But he was too late. Throat dry, he screamed. He screamed the volume that lost his voice for almost half his life, the scream that left him helpless for the longest of time.

Because just inches above the ground of the first floor, there Axel hung, green eyes wide in death, head rolled to the side, choked to his demise. He didn't even squirm. He didn't even flinch. He was dead.

"I hope you're happy." Demyx croaked in the last of the voice he had as he stood next to his friend's corpse, "You and Roxas are in the same place now." And he fell to his knees and sobbed, not caring about the police now surrounding the area with guns and safety beds.

Axel was dead.

-Take a Bow.-

"Shit!" Riku shouted out-loud, angry as he dropped the band-aid, again, "This is so stupid." He easily told himself, rubbing the scrape on his knee and applying ice to his elbow, where a purple and red bruise had settled itself.

The T.V. ranted about the weather as he gave up and started gathering the trash around the room. He threw away most of it, not really caring whether or not it was important. It was a mess, he was sure his father would understand.

Understand and father doesn't fit in the same sentence.

Sighing, he dug under a pile of trash, pulling out his backpack with ease. Throwing away his ice-pack, along with the other random stuff he had put in the already full trashcan, he grabbed a hat and turned to the clock. It was 6:30, which gave him only thirty minutes to get to school.

Wherever it was.

"Where's that damn map." He cursed at himself as he dug through his half-ripped bag, hitting his elbow on the living room table and wincing.

He took in a deep breath and slapped on the hat he took from the table before leaving the house with a grimace. He'd find it somehow, you can't miss it.

It was a 500 year old school, what's there to miss?

-What's luv-

Riku Crimson was linebacker number forty-two, and indeed, he was the best one that ever walked the field of Sky-Blue High School. The school surely had something to miss when he had moved in the middle of his sophomore year due to his father's new business. He never had a mother, so his dad's work was very, very important.

But, in truth, Riku had nothing to miss back about that school, maybe a bit for Sora and Kairi, but the two could probably do without him. He tried to think about it in that manner, and in a way, he could pass with that.

Either way, he was always eager for new things. Surely, he'd get new friends, it's not that hard for him. He was the most popular guy in SBHS, but that was mostly because of his football status. He ignored these people, however, because he had Sora and Kairi to deal with, which, in his opinion, were enough of friends to ever have.

Which is why, again, he self-convinced himself the two will do okay without him.

But, he stood before this school with blank turquoise eyes, looking at the way some of the wooden planks on the front of the school seemed to be peeling off. And at the way the school sign was so faded, that he could have sworn it said "get the hell out before they get you."

That matched his thoughts so well as he closely examined the front door, which was covered discreetly with superglue, probably in an attempt to keep the thing together. Riku was usually eager for new things, but this was a bit… too new.

Or… too old.

"Hey!" He heard from the right, turning to a blonde that was running towards him with a cheeky smile, "You're the new kid." He said happily, yet out of breath.

Riku nodded slightly, watching as the boy bent over and took in short breaths.

"I'm… uh…" He got up and attempted another smile, "the person who's supposed to show you around I think." He held out a strong, tanned hand, "I'm Tidus Waterbrooke."

Riku shook it reluctantly, but suddenly felt himself being pulled away by the other towards the glue-covered door. Something deep in his gut wanted him to struggle and run (because, obviously, being a good linebacker, that would be very simple but…) there was something else, something that felt very inviting about the dilapidated high school.

It felt… familiar.

-Check Yes Juliet-

"Are you sure?" White feathers fell gracefully from the everlasting blue sky. Grey-less clouds hovered about them, almost glowing in aura like everything else that surrounded them. The feathers dissolved immediately as they hit the ground, turning into dust and sprouting a beautiful lily.

"I'm more than sure, Roxas." The deep angelic voice answered, soft fingers continuing to pull apart feathers and planting them upon the fertile ground. The few lilies in the field ran out to billions as the yard extended, beautifying the area with a gleaming white glow. "However, I cannot be sure that things will still be the same, after this is all over."

"What do you mean by that, seraph?" Blinked the blonde, eyes shimmering and curiosity, as he took a feather from the pile and split it on his own. Proud of himself, he took another and did the same.

The seraph simply pointed directly to the boy's heart, poking it slightly before sitting back down on his throne. "I mean this," he said, almost in a whisper.

Dirty-blonde spikes turned downwards in pain as his mind flew through the scenarios. A sudden pang of… jealousy running through the assistant's angelic heart. However, being a trained angel, he cast the feeling away and looked up with tear filled eyes before dropping his last feather. "I'll do this for him, he needs to redeem himself." He stated proudly, trying to push any wanting thoughts away.

"That's my Roxas." The seraph said happily, patting the boy's head, "I'm very sorry. However."

"Then may I ask a favor?"

"Yes?" The voice made a slight comment of warning, something anyone would seem to wince at.

But Roxas stood his ground, or rather flew it, "May I go tell him?"

"As you wish." The seraph said with a smile, a giant tornado of lilies brushing through the air as he and his throne disappeared from sight.

-Sorry-

A red-haired male entered his mind for the fifteenth time that day, causing him to hold his head in pain. The headaches just didn't stop since he walked inside the school, and he found it was getting unnaturally annoying.

"You okay?" Asked the eager Tidus, who was still in the middle of showing him around the B hall, "You've been holding your head for the better part of the hour."

"It's probably allergies, I'll get used to it." Croaked the taller boy, weakly walking across the hall with his tour guide.

"Yeah, this place is a lot more moist than your last school, right? A lot of allergies lurk around here, you might want to take some medication next time." Tidus advised, walking out of the hall, and making sure Riku was still following him. All the class doors were closed, and it was almost as if each were sound proof. It was too quiet for a school, and Riku noted that with a grimace. It got scarier the closer they got to the stairs, and for some reason, his headache joined with the growth of fear, getting worse with each step he took.

Tidus turned around again, "Look, Riku, are you sure you're okay? You're pale as a ghost, and you look like you're gonna collapse at any given time."

Riku blinked, confused, and in shock, "I… do…?"

"Yeah, I should just take you to the nurse now before…" But the rest of what the blonde had to say was completely blocked out when his turquoise eyes peered over the broad shoulder and to the ground near the stairs.

It had a deep, small dent in it, one that could have only been made by a knife.

But it was then, the sound of metal crushing against rock took over his brain, and his vision blurred until it went black.

And in the pitch black, he clearly saw the man, the red-haired man. He floated in his vision, unconscious in peace.

"Who… are you?" He muttered out, watching as the body twitched and green eyes were revealed from heavily eyelined eyes.

"Who are you?" He answered, staring straight back.

But before either could answer, the scene faded steadily into nothingness, and Riku knew he was unconscious.

-Leavin'-

It was pitch black.

Even with his eyes open, the red-head couldn't see anything. Not even an outline of anything, and it was almost as if the only thing that existed for him at that point was his eyes. He desperately wanted to move his hand up to his face, to at least give him a bit of an idea of how dark the area was, but to no avail.

His nerve signals were dead.

His mind created mental twitching as he continued to attempt regaining feeling in his body, painfully failing. He rest his mind for a little and let himself be chained by an unknown force to the ground.

Slowly, but surely, his eyes drooped closed. He wanted to inhale and exhale a steady, long breath, but he was afraid that his body no longer had the ability, or need at that, to do so.

So instead, he forced his mind to the back of his head, a giant wave of cool air rushing about him, causing a calming ring to emit into his ear.

The ringing went from a loud screech, and slowly dropped into a voice that he knew well, a voice that made his heart jump millions of feet above the ground. Wherever the ground was.

"Axel?" Called the voice, snapping his eyes back open.

But as he opened them, the room was suddenly blank white, the only sign of color was the boy across the white area in front of him.

Beautiful, white wings extended from his shoulder blades, complimenting his spiked, dirty-blonde hair, and pale-peach skin. Even his sapphire eyes seemed to shimmer brightly like an aura.

"Roxas." He choked out, finding he was suddenly able to talk. "Roxas!" He cried out, running towards the boy, however, he was abruptly stopped and was suddenly floating. "Roxas…" he croaked hysterically, kicking in the air.

"Axel, you've made a big mistake, have you realized that?!" Yelled the blonde in the scolding manner he used to use on the red-head all the time. For once, Axel had felt his heart return and sink to the corners of his ribs.

"I…"

"You didn't listen to Demyx when you should have." Muttered the boy, letting Axel go from the bonds that held him in the air. He walked towards him and pulled a soft, angelic hand across the older's face. "I know you missed me, I missed you too, but, you acted too soon on this, Axel. We can't…"

"Don't say it, don't say we can't be together, I already know this." Screamed the taller in tears, shaking off the hand, "I know what I did was wrong, and I know that it was stupid and on impulse, and…"

"Shh." The angel sighed, a bright smile on his face, "Are you ready to redeem yourself?"

"Redeem myself?" He asked disbelievingly, "I get a second chance?"

"Not… really." Muttered the younger, who sat next to him with a sigh, "But, if you can finish some unfinished business that was left in the real world, they will accept you into heaven."

"And?" Axel said, gesturing for him to continue. It was obvious there was some sort of catch.

"If you fail, you'll return to where you were, and lose your existence." Roxas himself seemed hurt at that point, eyes averting away from his former lover.

"I'll do it." Axel said, grabbing the blonde's hand softly, a cheerful smile on his face.

"If you insist." Smiled the other, getting up and casting a spell.

Axel felt his entire being getting warped, and when he landed, he was set back in darkness.

--

A/N: Thanks for reading, and I'm hoping to make this my first ever finished epic fanfiction. Please review and/or flame and/or leave constructive criticism, I'm appreciate anything, as long as it'll be feedback. I really need this. Heehee

-Miyuki