That meeting would change both of them forever.
That slight nudge of the arms, a brush against their sleeves. That touch that made both of them turn, catch the eyes of each other. Those emerald eyes seeing so much in the pale misty blue. He saw loneliness, worry, and fear. The shorter boy, the blue-eyed blond blinked and looked away from the taller fiery haired boy. He muttered an apology and then he turned back to shuffling after the taller man that hadn't noticed the event. The taller just stared with a confused look on his face even after the two had turned the corner. Nothing had struck him like this since he became what he was. Shaking his head, trying to rid himself of the thought, Axel continued his stroll through the halls. Whistling a tuneless song to himself, the memory of a few seconds ago kept returning to his mind. A new one... that would make thirteen. Unlucky for some.
--
Meetings were always conducted the same way. The twelve of them sat in their thrones high above the ground and discussed missions, problems and any new information towards their goal. The meetings themselves were just distractions, diversions for all the members to meet as a group, a rarity with the growing discontent. All information and mission results went straight to Xemnas whenever a member returned, and everything was quickly spread throughout the ranks.
However, everyone was silent now. All stares were directed at him, the boy sitting in the previously empty throne. It had empty ever since they had moved their base of operations to this world, but everyone knew what him sitting there meant. Xemnas spoke, his words echoing round the room, each person lapping up information about the newbie.
"Number XIII, Roxas." A simple introduction finalised by Roxas curtly nodding his head. Whispers sprang up around the room, and he looked down, a slight blush rising in his cheeks. Axel sniggered to himself, comparing this boy's reaction with his own, back when he joined. He felt a hand tapping his arm and looked over to see it was Demyx, number IX, tugging on his sleeve.
"Yay!" Demyx squealed at him, "A newbie! Perhaps we could be friends!" Axel laughed at Demyx; it seemed strange that Demyx was the same age (hypothetically speaking, of course) as him, considering his 3-year old behaviour.
Axel looked back over to Roxas, and saw that his eyes were fixed on him too. Taken a bit aback, he glanced over to Demyx and saw a sly grin.
"You know each other?" Demyx giggled, still grinning.
"I saw him on his way in, Ok?" Axel replied coolly, but feeling that it wasn't just Demyx who had noticed the newbie staring at him.
Then he smirked before whispered to Demyx,
"We could have some fun here."
--
It was only a few minutes later when they ran into each other again, in the hall that lead to each person's private room. Axel and Demyx stumbled upon a lost-looking Roxas, struggling with a piece of paper which he was turning round confused. The duo walked up and Axel plucked the sheet of paper out of the boy's hands and started looking at it. It was a map of the castle, with 'useful places' marked on. Axel crumbled the map in his hand and chucked it casually over his shoulder.
"Come on, let us show you around!" The blond looked nervous, looking from Axel to Demyx to see if either could be trusted. His fears were confirmed when Demyx took his hand and started to skip down the hall saying, "We can be trusted! Look, we'll show you all the places you need to know!" Axel walked next to them, at the same pace Roxas was being dragged at, flashing him his trademark smile. "I'm Axel. Got it memorised? And this is Demyx, and we're your new best friends."
Roxas faintly smiled, still looking for a way to escape. "Um... could you show me where my room is please?" he asked weakly, looking at the countless doors they were passing.
Both Demyx and Axel laughed.
"You don't need to know where that is! Trust me." Axel said, not really comforting the boy. As they walked, Axel and Demyx took it in turns to point out rooms, and Roxas nodded trying to take it all in.
"That's the Kitchen, you only really go in there if you're on food duty, every keeps the tasty snacks in their rooms."
"The bedroom are up there," Axel pointed up a spiral staircase. "They're in order, so Xemnas' is first, and yours will be the last one on the corridor."
They continued this until the imposing front doors of the castle rose up in front of them.
"Out there is The World That Never Was." Demyx noted, nodding towards the doors.
"What's it like?" Roxas asked almost excitedly.
Axel shrugged, before turning back to hallway.
"We don't know." Demyx shyly said, embarrassed over this lack of knowledge.
--
Roxas had finally started to work things out about his new life at dinnertime. It was always when Luxord was cooking that things got out of hand. Beef and red wine was nice, but when the wine outnumbered the beef at least 20 to 1, people get a little bit tipsy.
Everyone was talking, everyone was happy. Even Roxas was laughing along to a few jokes with the others. He was getting a lot of questions about his past, but like all of the newer member he had no recollection of it.
He soon picked up on the 'grouping' within the organization. Maluxia and Larxene were best friends, as were Demyx and Axel. The 'older' members (I- VII) chatting like old friends, sometimes mentioning events they had shared from before they had become nobodies, except Saïx who was pretty silent. When Luxord came out of the kitchen, he seemed to be friends with Demyx and Axel. He only hoped that one day he'd be sitting here fitting in with this crazy mess of the strangest people he could remember meeting.
--
After Larxene, Axel and Xigbar had started arguing at dinner, people started to leave and spread out to do various activities. Roxas quickly snuck off, not wanting to get involved with the argument that Axel was still passionately debating, and started to wander the hallways. He was starting to get use the way the castle worked, though he did want to learn how make portals like the other members used. Xemnas hadn't really told him much, and Demyx and Axel had only told him the things he 'needed' to know.
Too involved in his thoughts, he never noticed where he was going. The castle was extremely large with an impossible number of rooms. He suddenly realised he didn't know where he was and looked around the corridor he had led himself to. It was darker than the other rooms, and only had one door at the end. Curious, Roxas walked forward slowly towards the door. Seeing it was unlocked, he pushed on the left of the double doors and peered inside the room. It was dark, and he could barely see anything. Cautiously he took a step forward, but before he could put it down, a hand stopped him. Flinching back, he looked up into the eyes of Axel. His flaming red hair surrounded his serious-looking face, but then he blinked and smiled, signalling for him to follow. Roxas took one glance back at the room he had never seen inside, but the door had already closed.
--
"Welcome to Axel and Demyx's special room!" The respective people greeted as Axel led Roxas in. Demyx was a lot more hyper than Axel, but he was still pretty happy. Roxas gazed in wonder around the room. It was the lightest room he had seen so far in the castle, due to one wall being completely glass. The room itself was small, with a sofa pushed up against the far wall and beanbags and cushions spread-out randomly around the floor. It was messy; empty food trays and beer cans littered in between the cushions and there was a guitar leant up against the wall.
"Wow…" Roxas admitted, still stunned at yet another room in this castle. Yet this one was so different. The others had been so… organized. This one was a complete tip, fitting in well with Roxas' current view of their personalities. Axel slumped down on the sofa, taking up all of the 3-seater with his incredibly long legs. Demyx sprawled out on the largest beanbag, pointed to another for Roxas to sit on. He nervously did, still wondering why they brought him up here.
"So, how do you like the Organization so far?" Demyx asked, grinning brightly.
"It's... um…" Roxas stuttered. "It's different." Even without his memories, he was surprised by how loud they all were. Demyx and Axel sniggered at his comment.
"Don't worry, it happens to everyone when they first join. You should've seen Larxene when she first joined. At least you have friends of a similar gender... and species." All three of them shared an easy, unforced laugh. After they had stopped tittering, Demyx quickly told Roxas, "Don't think that she's mean or weird, she's a great girl. She's just a bit…." He faded out. "Harsh?" Axel filled in. Another giggle.
"I have a mission tomorrow, you know." Axel's face suddenly turned serious. Demyx sighed knowingly, but Roxas just looked confused.
"We get sent off by Xemnas to do various missions around the worlds. I'll only be gone for bit, though." Axel explained, and Demyx looked pleased again.
"I have to go to Twilight Town to follow up reports on Sora…"
Suddenly, Roxas's head started to spin. He could see Axel and Demyx's faces look worried at him, but they wouldn't stay focused in his head as he clenched at his head in pain. He started to pant heavily, and Axel and Demyx sprung off their seats to him.
"Roxas!"
Roxas closed his eyes before softly falling to the floor, completely blacked out.
--
Falling. Falling through air or falling through water, he didn't know. Was it even him? It felt similar, but not quite. Someone who was him, but not him
'I've been having these weird thoughts lately...'
Then crashing. Waves, stars. Reaching out towards someone he knew, someone he trusted. Water. Everywhere. Plunging through memories. People. People who once meant something to him. People who still did. Names, names of everyone he had fought for. Who had fought for him. Friendship, crossing worlds.
Pain. Shadows. Fear, looming over him always. It took a form. It always did. He had fought it. Winning? Losing? He couldn't tell. Then more falling. Falling out of the sky. Falling out of the sea. Falling out of his home.
--
A new fanfic! I wanted a bit of a change and this story has been running around in my head for a bit. I'll update the other stories soon, hopefully.
Big thanks to sxc-sammi-chan, who is proof-reading this for me. Thanks so much!