A/N; My friend is a font of inspiration. She gave me the basic outline of the idea for this, and I just took it and ran. This is as AU as AU ever gets, though lots of familiar faces will show up, and I'll slip in echoes of canon here and there. There's a major reference right in this chapter, in fact. I have so much fun echoing canon in new situations.
Though there will be a lot of gen here, the story will come to focus heavily on a handful of pairings. One in particular. You can probably figure out which. Mostly the chapters will be 1st person narrative, I think, with 3rd person exposition where absolutely necessary.
Also, apologies for what I do to Naminé in this chapter. I'll make it better later, I promise. Also, the king is no one in particular - I simply made him up. Hate him for now, but he might have a surprise in store for the end.
Disclaimer: I will never own Kingdom Hearts, though that would be pretty sweet.
Footsteps ring hollowly in this long hallway, the sharp sounds ricocheting off the suits of armor and bounding away to die in the high, vaulted arches of the ceiling. It's an irritating sound, severe and regular, like the incessant ticking of a clock. Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.
It's not my choice to be here. I'm bound to this dark, disgusting place, so full of the stench of all the humans who've let their souls rot. All of this pretty artifice they call "progress" -- all of it's shit. Fake. I could crumble it in an instant, but I'm too far removed from my woods. From the center of my power.
From my twin. It aches, constantly, to be apart from him, to know he's in a dark and stifling place. The king never explained why he chose which of us to jail and which of us to let "free" as a servant -- if you ask me, he couldn't tell the difference between us. No one can. They're not supposed to be able to. We're one and the same, whole only when we're together. I'd murder that bastard to get my twin back, to escape from this place and go back to our woods in peace, but if I kill him, my twin dies. All but one of the king's sorcerers will make sure of that.
So here I am, in this stupid hallway with its stupid relics of grandeur that mean absolutely nothing in the grand scale of things, when it will all be rust in a hundred years and dust in a thousand and I'll still be alive when they're all dead -- sorry, tangent there. So here I am, headed for the king's throne room.
I hate that man so much.
I shove open the doors without bothering to knock and parade in like I own the place. The bastard may have me tied down for now, but he doesn't own me, and he can barely control me. I know my twin will fend for himself. I rebel as much as I can. Even the small things feel good. I hold my chin up high and refuse to bow before his throne, as usual.
"My king," I intone, making sure my voice drips with false sincerity.
The king's lip curls, but he says nothing, merely watching me. The man's head sorcerer stands at his arm -- one of the very few in this castle I can stand, since he's an actually decent person, unlike the rest of the sorcerers on staff. I lock eyes with him and make my expression inscrutable, knowing what he'll take away from it. Roxas merely lowers his chin and stares right back. He's angry today, that look says. I give a brief roll of my eyes and turn my attention to the fat, pompous idiot before me.
The king loudly clears his throat and lifts a fat hand with rings on every finger to point at me. "I have a job for you, servant."
"I am oh so thrilled to hear it, Your Highness. Please, enlighten this unworthy one."
"You are unworthy!" Testy. I flinch without meaning to, if only because I know his rage will mean pain for my twin. I try to ignore the flash of sympathy in Roxas's eyes and stay focused on the king. "My apologies, Your Highness," I force out from between gritted teeth.
"That's better," he murmurs. "My chief Royal Sorcerer here has seen something of incredible importance in a dream. There is a girl somewhere out in the country. A normal girl, by all accounts. However, it seems that she will bring about the downfall of my empire. A show of arms and violence would not stop this terrible fate." For a moment the king seems introspective, almost thoughtful. Not that I can really give the man that much credit. He's probably just hungry. "I need to deter her from her path. She is supposed to fulfill her destiny by her twenty first birthday. From what my spymaster tells me, she is currently three months shy. I need you to go and find her. Do whatever is necessary to derail her."
I stare at him for a moment, wordless. The king glares back at me, color flaring in his plump cheeks.
"Marry her if you must. But don't kill her! That will ruin everything. Just do something! Or you know what will happen."
Instantly I go down on one knee to hide the grimace that flashes across my face. "Yes, Your Highness."
"Go and see Zexion. The spymaster will tell you all the details you need to know. Now get out of my sight."
"Gladly," I hiss, flicking a look up at him before standing and turning to go without another word. I really, really hate that man. But before I leave ... I cast a cool look back over my shoulder at the sorcerer. "Roxas. Walk with me."
It's much to the king's chagrin that Roxas follows me out.
"I didn't mean for him to find out," he murmurs as we head back down the hallway. "I had a nightmare. I saw her in a dream. I just ... knew her instinctively, though I know I've never seen her in my life. Her name is Kairi." Roxas's brow creases with concern, an expression that looks almost odd on him. "She's a good person, Axel. I could just tell."
"So then how did the king find out, Rox?" The question comes out a little sharper than I meant, and the flash of guilt across his features makes me regret it, a little.
"You know he forces me to sleep in the chamber next to his. He heard me cry out in my sleep. He immediately roused the guards and had them drag me in. I was so disoriented that I told him a few pieces of it before I really realized what was going on. By then it was too late and I had to tell him the whole thing or risk your life."
"My life?" I stop immediately at that, so quickly that Roxas overshoots me by a few steps. He does not, however, turn around to look at me. Only focuses his gaze on the floor, expression troubled. A flare of anger shoots up in me at that, hotter than anything I felt while in the throne room. "My life? Why the hell would he think you care about my life, Roxas?"
I drawl out his name, stretching out the O and the A with a derisive sneer as I circle closer, fixing him with a narrow, piercing look. Something is very strange here, something I don't like. I consider Roxas a friend, true. It came as a shock to me, at first, that the king's sorcerer was honest and good instead of just a simpering lackey. But as it turns out, Roxas is here just as much as I want to be here, which is not even a little bit. He's never told me the circumstances surrounding his own forced servitude. Every time I bring it up he pulls his face into a grim mask and only shakes his head. Once I caught him murmuring the name "Naminé" in his sleep, but that's all I ever found out.
I guess we're close. As close as an immortal monster and a human sorcerer can be, anyway. We get along, we share a mutual loathing of the king and we both want to see him dead or deposed or both. Preferably both, in whatever order.
But we're not exactly bosom buddies. Not enough for my life to be bait to keep Roxas tied down here, now. Or at least...
"I cried out your name in my sleep," he suddenly murmurs, voice miserable. "I'm sorry, Axel. You're my only friend here. I guess I just ... called out to you naturally. I didn't ... I know I put us both on the line," he finishes lamely. "I couldn't stop it."
I'm silent for a long time. My impulse is to reach out and strike him, to yell and claw and punish for his stupid, awful mistake that's put both our asses in the fire. But he won't even look at me, and I know something's going on here that he's probably not telling me about. Something deeper. I do something I wouldn't have, once, and take a deep breath and let the anger go. After a second, I reach out and place a hand on his shoulder. Gently.
"It's okay, Rox. Listen, what's wrong?"
His expression tightens, darkens, and I tighten my grip on his shoulder without thinking about it.
"Muffle us," he says curtly.
I lift a brow, but comply. My magic is limited by the barriers on the castle, but I can still pull off a few things undetected - like muffling voices so no one can eavesdrop. Any use of magic by Roxas is heavily regulated by the king himself, so he couldn't levitate a pin without getting in a world of trouble. Once the world around us goes a little quieter, he turns to face me properly, closing the distance, and his expression is harried and torn. I've never seen him like this before.
"I'm here, Axel, because five years ago, the king captured my fiancée, Naminé. She's ... a beautiful woman, Axel. I've loved her since we were just kids growing up in the same town together. I started magic to impress her ... so she'd ... you know, want to be with me." I suddenly find I'm not looking at Roxas anymore, unable to watch the pain spark in those blue eyes. "Five years ago I finally finished my training under Merlin. I was at the top of his class at the academy ... my whole town was so proud of me. Right on the spot I ... I asked her to marry me." I look back at him, and his eyes have shut. "She said yes. The very next day I woke up to find she was gone, and an emissary from the king at my door telling me that if I ever wanted to see her again, I would come to the palace and serve as his chief Royal Sorcerer."
"Roxas..."
"I haven't seen her since, Axel. Not once." Roxas's voice is tight. "Until last night. I was finally, finally allowed to see her for the first time. She's wasted away almost to nothing, I don't think they feed her enough, but she still... she told me that she still lo--"
I place a finger over his lips. He shuts his eyes, and his tears spill over my hand. A long moment passes, and he sheds no more tears. When he opens his eyes again, they're red but dry.
"Then I had the nightmares. As you can guess, my state of mind wasn't ... in the best condition for acting under pressure."
With a wave of my hand I lift the muffle, sighing heavily as I wipe my hand off on my shirt. "Shit, Rox. You should have told me."
"Why?" It's like somebody flipped a switch in his head from sad to pissy. He snaps the word out like a challenge, as if that's going to impress me. "So you could worry about it and do nothing? No. It was my problem. Now that I know where she is, I will ... I'll ... I'll do something," he finishes curtly, looking away from me. I can't tell if he's embarrassed or just angry at himself for getting emotional. Probably both. Poor, stupid kid.
"I'll do something if I can," I tell him. Because I will. Because Roxas is my only friend in this god-forsaken place. Because I've learned that despite the human stench and the number of idiots here who amount to nothing more than filth, there's still a great number of the people in this castle are decent, hard-working, and honest, and for their sake I don't mind occasionally going out of my way. The old king was apparently a good man and a good ruler, and the older servants speak very fondly of him. The pig on the throne is his son, the servants say, and a disappointment to his father's legacy.
No kidding.
"Thanks," he mutters, wiping a hand over his face. "Come on. Let's get to Zexion before the king wonders what we're up to and whips some puppies to punish us or something."
We find Zexion in his usual haunt -- the massive castle library, where a few of the other academics on hire keep to themselves. Zexion is another decent sort. At least, I think so. Hard to tell, with that one.
"Axel," he murmurs as I approach. "Chief Royal Sorcerer," he adds with a deferential nod of his head to Roxas. Roxas cuts him off with a short gesture. "Just give us your report."
Zexion smirks faintly, but makes no other reply as he turns to his desk, gathering up a few papers. I like Zexion, but he can be a sneaky rat bastard sometimes. "As our chief sorcerer has likely already told you, the target's name is Kairi. She is twenty years, eight months, and ten days old. At some point during the course of her twenty first birthday, something will happen that causes her to journey out into the land, much to the ruin of our beloved king." His one visible eye glints, and I smirk thickly at him. Roxas ignores us both. "Here's a map of the country side and a map of her town specifically. Also, take these." He hands me a few pamphlets. I simply stare at him until his smirk dissolves into a more human smile.
"Informational pamphlets I prepared on the town. They should give you a general idea of how the local politics function, the general makeup and disposition of the populace, and most importantly, what Kairi and her family are like. Useful information, I would hope."
"You would," I remark blandly.
He shakes his head, but his smile soon fades. "If you fail in this mission, Axel ... there will be an untold price to pay." His voice is as quiet and careful as it ever is, but I feel my spine stiffen. He watches me impassively. I feel no hint of a threat from him, but he's hard to pin. "I'll do what I can to cover for you in your absence. But you must work quickly and effectively. If you do your job well, I believe I can convince the king to reward you with the release of your twin."
"What?!" The voice is Roxas's, not mine. I'm too stunned to reply. "How?!"
"The king grows weary of Axel's constant insubordination," Zexion murmurs, keeping his gaze only on me. "I believe he sees this mission as a way to kill two birds with one stone. If he becomes accustomed to Axel's presence out of the castle, it may be possible to persuade him that it would be best if Axel were gone ... permanently."
Roxas is suspicious, I can tell, but all I can feel is a heady euphoria buzzing at the back of my skull. A wide, dreamy smile crosses my face, and I clap both my hands on Zexion's shoulders.
"You're a good man, Spymaster Zexion," I inform him magnanimously. He gives me a thin smile of his own in return and dislodges my grip.
"I do try," he demurs, shooting Roxas a knowing look, the significance of which I don't feel like puzzling out. I'm too happy to care. "Now go get your supplies. Lexaeus will be awaiting your arrival in the stables." With that, Zexion turns and sweeps out of the room.
Conniving, cunning little rat fink of a beautiful man, that one.
Lexaeus is as tall and silent as ever when we meet him down at the stable. "Axel," he murmurs tonelessly.
"Lexy," I return with a warm and cheery grin, "how are ya, buddy?"
Lexaeus looks at me for a moment, then looks to Roxas with an arched brow. My poor, harried friend just gives a helpless shrug. I make up for both their reticence by literally bouncing on my toes in excitement. "Well, Lexy? Where's my stuff? I wanna get going!"
"I'm sure you do," he rumbles archly, turning to finish saddling my horse. He slips the bridle into the creature's mouth as he gestures to a corner of the stable with a nod of his head. "There are your things. Look through them and make sure you have whatever supplies you need. I surmise you will not be back."
"Nope," I reply brightly, dropping down into a squat to paw through my bags. Some wax-sealed cheeses, an assortment of fruit wrapped up in a few cloths, a single loaf of bread, skins of wine and water, a few suits of clothes, two small hunting knives, a journal with pens and ink ... I dig through the bags while humming tunelessly under my breath, pleased with the preparations. They sure know how to get rid of a guy. The horse is beautiful, too, tall and black and stately. She'll be a fun one to break in.
Roxas hovers in the background, and I can practically hear him vibrating with nerves. With a sigh I stand, pulling my travel sacks over my shoulder as I go to stand in front of him and clap a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be alright, Roxas. I'll write to you, okay?" I don't even bother to lower my voice, knowing Lexaeus is loyal to Zexion first and everyone else second. "I have ways to send letters that the king won't be able to find and intercept."
Roxas says nothing, only looks up with me with those big blue eyes of his. Without warning, he throws his arms around my middle in the tightest hug anyone has ever given me, even burying his face in my chest. Now I can hear his heart beating humming bird fast. The kid is scared, maybe to death, over whatever is going to happen.
What the hell am I supposed to do? I'm not human. I shouldn't even care. But I can't help just ... dropping my things and wrapping my arms around him in return. Tight. The guy needs a hug right now. His nerves, his fear ... I can feel it, from this close. His ... pain at my leaving. Pain? I guess I really am his only friend here. That's ... strange to know, and it weighs like a burden across my shoulders as he finally pulls back, expression stoic, even though his eyes and the memory of his rapid pulse give everything away.
"Write soon," he says, stooping down to pick up my bags and hand them to me. "Be safe. I'll do what I can to help from here. Assist Zexion in trying to convince the king. Whatever it takes." He steps back, leaving me the room to move aside and allow Lexaeus to lead the horse out of her stall. He pats her flank, glances at Roxas and I, then turns away, moving further down the line of stalls and finally to the big door at the end. As he removes the padlock and pulls it open, Roxas captures my eye one last time.
"Even if I can't save her ... maybe you can save him."
A few minutes later I'm riding out at a brisk pace, even though I know I should be walking the horse before I trot her, even though I know I'll tire the girl out. My heart feels heavy with things that should not be.
Humans are dangerous to get involved with. They weigh you down with emotional attachments, make you like and care about them. Make you want to be with them. I'll make this affair with Kairi quick and clean. I have to.
After all, all that country girl is ... is a barrier between me and my twin's freedom. That's all. That's all she ever will be.