Title(s): The One That Got Away
Author(s): IGotTooMuchLove / clockshavestoppedticking
Rating: R-15
Genre(s): Angst, Drama
Fandom(s): Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy VII
Pairing(s): None
Main Character(s): Axel, Isa/Saïx
Mentioned Character(s): Lea, Reno
Word count: 1,287
Warning(s): Semi-AU, not beta-read, trigger warning: blood, violence
DISCLAIMER: None of the characters belong to me. They are the rightful property of the original creators.
A/N: A big thank you to my aibou for beta-reading uwu
Summary: It was supposed to be a normal day. Who would have thought that it could have been my last?
The One That Got Away
-+- Prologue -+-
It was supposed to be a normal day. Home, school, homework, friends… Yeah, 'friends'…
"Well, well, well… What do we have here?" asked a silken voice.
An individual, who was wearing a gray hoody with a huge black 'ﾌ' on the front of it, emerged from the shadows of the deserted backstreet of Radiant Garden, and went directly to the person he addressed. The person's face was masked by their hood, but a strand of blue hair could be seen. Under different circumstances, most people would have said that one could trust this person with your life. Someone who has a smooth voice, looks like a gentleman, behaves well-mannered, and is well-known among the citizens couldn't be bad… right? Right… However, the nearly unconscious person, who was currently down on his now-bloody knees and was being held by two gray hooded and black masked individuals, wasn't 'most people'. The group of hooded figures around him didn't make the situation any better.
The unfortunate soul was barely breathing. Loud wheezing and gurgling sounds came with every shaky breath that he took from all the injuries that he had received to the chest. He wanted to puke from all the pain but knew that the acid from his stomach would make everything just even more painful, and tried he his best to keep it together. There was a high risk that a rib or two, if not several, were broken, and he just hoped that all the pain that he was feeling right now was from the punches and not from possible puncture injuries in his lungs. Yes, 'breathing' was a difficulty but that wasn't the biggest concern at the moment. He needed to run. Get through a group of over twenty people without being caught and run as fast as he could as long as consciousness didn't leave him.
The leader of the gray hooded individuals crouched down to the other's eye level, and took the unfortunate soul roughly by the chin for inspection.
"It seems that a cute little kitten got itself lost in the dog district," said he with delight. As if proving a point, a grin, which showed a two longer than normally incisors, grew on his face.
The said 'kitten' seemed to be not older than sixteen. He had a heart shaped face, short bright red hair, which was styled into spikes, and emerald green eyes that were barely visible through the half-opened eyelids. His eyes were out of focus, but when he got a glance at the leader's face, they became sharp as dagger. It was obvious that the teen knew the person in front of him. There were a few crimson lines coming from the teen's forehead and mouth. By some miracle the nose was left unharmed, but a few drops of blood were running from it. He was certain that the blood vessels in his nose broke during his little struggle with the members of 'Dusk' that were holding him this moment.
"What do you think, Axel? Aren't you a cute little kitten?" asked the leader as he brushed his thumb smoothly against Axel's cracked and bloody lips, smearing the crimson liquid on his finger. He licked it off and sucked the finger until there wasn't even a molecule left on it. By how the leader's pupils dilated to the point that there almost wasn't any sign of the aquamarine iris in his eyes, it was obvious that he liked blood. He loved the scent, the sight, and especially the taste of it. The other hooded members knew that it excited their leader in the sickest way, and could compare him to only one thing- a blood-thirsty wolf.
"Bite me, Isa," was the only phrase that slowly but clearly left Axel's bloody mouth. He tried to make it sound as stable as possible but the pain his thorax made his voice break at the name.
'Isa' could only raise a brow at that and if the grin could grow even wider, then it already did.
"Oh, it seems like this little kitten knows how to hiss," laughed Isa as he let go of Axel's chin and turned towards his group. The hooded people joined in. After a second their leader turned back towards his 'prize' and announced, "How about I burn you instead?"
If Axel was scared before, 'terrified' didn't even start describing how he felt now. This has to be a bluff, he thought to himself, it has to be.
Then again, Axel remembered that one particular time when Lea came back home very late with horrible bruises on his face and neck. He thought that Lea got into a fight with some of his classmates again, since he did get a lot into fights, but the look in his eyes told something completely different. 'Betrayed' was written all over his face. When Axel did ask what happened, Lea didn't say anything. Not one single thing. That day his brother didn't speak with anyone. He just locked himself in his room. Not even their older brother Reno could persuade him to come out and talk. This showed that something was very wrong here. A month later Axel would find out that Isa got Lea involved in something that his twin clearly didn't want to be a part of. That pissed him off and from that day on he knew that the guy named Isa, Lea and Axel's childhood best friend, was capital T for Trouble. What if he's serious right now?
No, he didn't even have to ask himself about it.
He knew that the person in front of him was dead-serious with his threat.
"Isa, don't," Axel begged with his mouth still full of blood. He could feel big and disgusting blood lumps form in the inner sides of his cheeks. Just how much blood was in his mouth was the last thing on Axel's mind. Panic started to rise in his heart but Axel tried to calm down.
"I never took you for a feisty one, Axel. It always seemed to me that Lea had a spark for trouble but I didn't think I could be so wrong about you. So, forgive me," teased Isa which made the group chuckle at this.
Axel saw that when Isa got up, he whispered something to the nearest four subordinates before they nodded and left. That couldn't mean anything good. After a minute he could see and hear an old, rusty barrel being rolled towards the group. Not long after that, wood, paper, some long metal bars and flammable liquid were added and lit on fire.
Axel could feel his heart in his throat.
"Too bad Lea didn't take up my offer, however, you," looked Isa straight into Axel's eyes, "you could take his place. You could join us."
"I would never say 'yes' to anything that you had to offer, Isa," muttered Axel as he spit out a lump of blood into his former friend's direction. "Never. Got it memorized?"
"Too bad, Axel. However, there's no Isa. Never was." One rod out of the barrel was taken out with a pair of metal tongs. Axel closed his eyes. He was mentally preparing himself for the fact that his face is going to be burnt beyond recognition. When he felt his right sleeve being ripped apart, he couldn't say that he wasn't surprised. What? Not the face? Is this some kind of mind-fucking tactic? When Axel did finally open his eye, he didn't meet aquamarine. All he could see was golden brown.
"There's only Saïx." That's when Axel let out a scream that would made a banshee blush from shame.
Who would have thought that it could have been my last?
A/N: I know that Saïx is always portrayed (in fanfictions and in the game) as a calm but aggressive person… but I really wanted to make him a nearly bat-shit crazy sadist. I hope that worked.