Song; Via Purifico

Game; Final Fantasy X

Axel's eyes opened.

They shouldn't have - he had given his very last to help Sora (Roxas) escape, he had felt himself die, he had felt…

With a groan he sat up, running a hand through his red spikes as he looked around. Everything was dark; even with his Nobody vision, he could see nothing, except for the pale, luminescent glow of his own skin. Wait, glow?

The redhead sprang to his feet, looking down at himself. He was still cloaked in the uniform of the Organization, but his hands, and his arms when he rolled his sleeves up, glowed faintly despite the lack of a light source in this strange room, town, city, world, whatever it was…

Hello.

Axel's head bobbed up and he looked around, expecting to see another glowing figure, but all he saw was darkness. "Who's there?" he asked cautiously, his emerald green eyes flicking here and there, searching for the source of the voice.

You are.

A low click was heard, like a heavy switch being thrown, and the floor beneath Axel's feet lit up. He whirled, surveying it with wide eyes - the ground shone like stained glass, a depiction of himself sticking his tongue out glowing faintly as though a light was shining up from below. But it wasn't him, not quite… This boy was younger than he, dressed in bright oranges and yellows which in combination with his scarlet shock of hair made him look like a human flame.

"That's not me," Axel grumbled, stepping off of his picture's face with a scowl. "You're not me, hell, I'm not me."

Not anymore. But you could be.

Axel didn't respond, instead letting out a yell of frustration. The voice didn't have a source, it was just there, mocking him. "I'm a Nobody, and a dead one at that, there's nothing anyone can do to change that now," he snapped, anger rising within him. He stopped. Anger. Why was he..?

Your heart has rejoined you, thanks to Sora's efforts, the voice said, almost as if to answer his thoughts. All you have to do is rejoin the world.

"And how do you propose that I do that?" Axel asked. He meant for the question to be biting and sarcastic, but the stunned ecstasy swelling within him instilled a note of hope into his inquiry.

Find yourself.

Axel frowned and looked down at himself. "Found me, I'm ready to go." He received no answer, though, and walked impatiently around the perimeter of the circular platform upon which he stood. What did that even mean, 'find yourself'? Stupid voice. So cryptic. Not at all helpful. It reminded him of Castle Oblivion and he shuddered. He had eliminated… no, he had murdered Vexen. Guilt crept over him and his shoulders began to shake.

A low thump at the opposite end of the platform jerked him out of his reverie - how long had he been staring at the same patch of blue on the floor - and drew his gaze. It took him a moment to refocus his eyes, as his vision was blurred from the stretch of time he had gone without blinking. When he was finally able to truly see, Axel found himself looking in a mirror, and a big one at that. It would probably stretch from floor to ceiling, were there a ceiling to stretch to.

Axel tilted his head. His reflection waved energetically at him, grinning ear to ear. A look of surprise and fascination crossed Axel's face as he took a step toward the mirror, and another, slowly approaching it. As he got closer to it, his reflection got thinner, its grin changing slowly to a frown, then curling upward in Axel's own characteristic smirk.

"It's not my fault I changed," Axel mumbled when he stopped directly in front of the mirror, placing a hand on its surface. Instead of following his lead like a good reflection, the man in the mirror raised both hands and flipped him off. He glared as the reflection continued to make rude gestures at him until he could stand it no more and, in a moment of rage, pushed the mirror backward, off the platform.

Instead of falling forever, though, it fell on its back and cracked, landing on nothingness, as a full set of colorful stairs appeared, starting at the bottom and continuing up as though someone were ascending them. Axel looked down at the first step, the cracked mirror, and saw his reflection with its eyes peacefully shut and arms folded across its chest as though he was looking down through a glass-topped coffin.

"Goodbye, Nobody," Axel mumbled, stepping on his reflection's face as he took the first step onto the floating staircase. Where it would lead, he didn't know, but he didn't want to stay here anymore. As he walked, he could have sworn he saw a figure running up the stairs, what seemed like miles ahead of him, but for all he knew it was just another incarnation of himself, eluding him as best it could.

It took what seemed like hours to reach another platform, but there was no other person there waiting for him - just a door. Axel scanned the floor, but there was no discernible pattern this time, it just looked like a jumble of colors to him. Seeing nothing else for him there, he stepped forward, toward the door.

"Where ya going?"

Axel froze. He knew that voice. He bit his lip and closed his eyes, not wanting to turn, but he couldn't help himself. The redhead turned slowly to see Roxas standing there, smiling up at him.

"You're not just going to leave me here, are you?" Roxas asked, his large blue eyes glittering as he stared Axel down. "I mean, you just got here. You should stay."

"Listen, Roxas, just… I'll see you on the other side," Axel replied hesitantly, shaking his head.

Roxas' face darkened. "No you won't," he snapped harshly. "I'm dead, just like you, remember? Sora killed me." He looked searchingly into Axel's eyes, a scowl forming on his lips.

"No he didn't, Roxas, you are Sora," Axel insisted. This wasn't Roxas; he wouldn't act like this… This was just a figment of his imagination, right? "You're Sora, Roxas, you have to accept that… I did."

"Have you?" Roxas replied curtly, beginning to circle Axel like a shark. "Well, I'm glad it's so easy for you… But what about yourself? Have you accepted that you're not you at all? You're somebody else?" Axel shifted uncomfortably, but held his head up as the blonde surveyed him. "Do you even remember who you were? Who you are?"

"No," Axel admitted quietly, his emerald eyes darting toward the door. He hadn't thought of that… Roxas was Sora, and Naminé was Kairi, but who was he..?

Sensing his doubt, the fake Roxas edged closer to Axel, a coy look on his face. "If you go back, there will be nothing for you. No family, no friends, no me. You don't even remember your old name. What's to stop Sora's little friends from attacking you and sending you back here, anyways? They don't know that you have a heart…"

"There's nothing for me here, either," Axel replied, looking away. "If I stay here, the only thing I'll know for sure is that I missed a chance to see you - the real you - again."

With that, Axel turned on his heel and approached the door, not even turning to see the pained look on the fake Roxas' face as he reached out to grab the man's arm and his fingers went right through him. Axel's gloved hand grasped the doorknob and there was a burst of light as the random colored tiles of the floor rearranged themselves into a picture of him and Sora, back to back, laughing and eating sea salt ice cream.

What is your true name?

"I'm Axel, bitch. And I'm nobody's Nobody."

Axel twisted the knob and stepped into the blinding light, feeling his dream world dissolve behind him as he entered into the unknown.