This story focuses on a world that's been under attack by an outside force. A disease has been spreading that attacks people violently, and if they survive it they're forced to wear black cloaks to mark that they've been infected. These people cannot spread the disease, but these people are often forced to live alone and are treated like dirt.
The disease is known to live dormant in a host and infect them for years, attacking them several times in their life times. If certain conditions are met however, these cloaked figures can erase the disease from their bodies and then gain strange super human powers. Others however digress into the final stage and become like soulless shadows that attack and spread the disease through their attacks.
As Lea survives the infection and gains control over fire, and he meets Xion and Roxas, the three decide they're tired of living in a world so destroyed by disease that its falling apart. They decide to help fight with those trying to protect the people from that disease, whether they hate them or not.
Characters that appear in this story will be rather OOC, and it will also be a complete AU of Kingdom Hearts. Though characters will appear all over the place that aren't all human, the story won't exactly follow the same concept as before.
Chapter One: Diseased
The stares and hisses no longer bothered him. Axel couldn't have really cared less what everyone thought of him, considering the bundle he carried under his arm. The black cloak he wore had always marked him as one of the infected, one of those people who bore the disease that had caused so much pain in this once wonderful kingdom.
He couldn't pass the disease like the Heartless, who were just shadowy shells that had once been human, reduced to the final stages of the disease to live in perpetual darkness. Even so, people hated him for wearing the black that marked those touched by the disease.
It had no name, and people were suspecting some sort of chemical warfare by an outside force because of the way that it did infect people. It was a painful disease that attacked just about every cell in the body, forcing people to live in constant pain, unable to do much more than exist day to day. It would often lie dormant as well, infecting people to attack them, lie silently for years, then attack again. It was rare for people to survive the disease, those people now having to wear the black cloaks that marked them as the diseased.
The people however had come up with a name for it, simply calling it the Black Death. This was probably because those people who reached the final stage, the shadowy heartless that lived just to pass on the disease before the virus completely destroyed them, were black. It probably also had to do with the fact that the diseased wore black cloaks with the hoods often pulled up to hide their faces. There was no escaping that fate.
But there were some who had survived, creatures like Axel who were forced to wear the black and hide from sight as much as possible. Very few people managed to have the strength of fight off the disease, and those that did were not normal people. Instead their bodies took in the virus and killed it, alerting its own cellular structure to keep it from destroying them.
Those people then received strange powers. The cells were altered so much that these people were able to control and use magic and ways that weren't really seen before. Disney Kingdom had always been full of magic and magicians, but none that had specialized so completely in something. Pure shadow and another secondary power were used by all of these people.
Axel was a case of this. He had the ability to control fire at will and without much thought. It took no more willpower than raising and lowering his hand, something that was basically just instinct now. He could create barriers, summon weapons that could withstand his flames, set things on fire, and many other such things.
These people were feared more than others, because people couldn't understand how these creatures had survived or how they had gotten these powers. Even others in black cloaks avoided them if they could, since the people with these strange powers were marked by silver chains that hung through the hoods on their heads, creating draw strings that could be pulled to tighten the hood if needed with silver diamond shapes at the end of the rope. This set them apart from even the normal cloaked figures, and everyone would run from them and hiss at them. Not that it mattered much to Axel. His world had been small since he was a child and had first contracted the disease. People like him had no faces and no names, simply known as Nobodies.
Though people hated him, they weren't without compassion. As long as he had munny from the few jobs he was allowed to work at, then they'd let him buy what he needed to survive. Most people like him didn't dare to venture into town though, mostly because of the way children treated them, and the adults just watched on without any spark of remorse in their eyes.
Axel on the other hand had to keep working to make sure he could support the only small family he had left in this town. With his control over fire, he often worked at a small blacksmith shop here in town. His ability to control the heat of his flames made sure that the metals that were heated were well made and used with care.
The old couple who owned it always made sure to give him enough food for him and his two friends, as well as some munny so he could continue living day to day. Many of the other workers weren't too fond of him being there, but they didn't run him out either. That was probably just because he was far more powerful than them and they didn't want to make him mad. There was one girl though who was rather sweet to him. He'd never taken off his hood though, and she'd never seen his face or his hair. She didn't know what he looked like.
It wasn't much of an existence, but he was glad for it. Axel had always been far too stubborn to just give up living, which is how he'd become a Nobody in the first place and survived the disease. Besides, he had Roxas and Xion to worry about. Though Axel was twenty years old, Roxas and Xion were only about fourteen. Those two kids needed all the help they could get, and being relatively new Nobodies, they weren't used to this kind of thing like him.
Today Axel wasn't just carrying the food with him. The girl from the shop who was always so nice to him had given him some cookies to share between him and his two friends, and he'd finally saved up enough munny for some tiny presents. They weren't much, just some little trinkets, but it was almost Christmas. Those two kids hadn't known a normal Christmas for years since they'd caught that disease, and even if their family knew they were alive they wouldn't be kind to them. Axel wanted them to at least have something this year.
That's why he was able to ignore the usual glares as he walked along, making his way through the busy streets of Twilight Town, so named because the sky seemed to be constantly trapped in the twilight hours. People looking to buy things moved out of his way as if he was going to set the whole town ablaze, and even the cloaked figures on the edge of the street huddled away from him as he passed them by down there.
He didn't bat an eye and didn't break stride. This was the kind of lonely hell he'd been living since he was thirteen when he'd first caught the disease. Back then he'd been known as Lea, but after everything that had happened in Radiant Gardens he'd begun calling himself Axel. It wasn't to forget, but he had certainly run from it. He hadn't stayed anywhere until he'd ended up here when the disease had finally struck here as well and he'd found Roxas and Xion.
Those two had been friends before all of this, and when the Heartless had attacked they'd managed to give their friends the time they had needed to reach the safety of the town, where the Heartless were being repelled. They hadn't been so lucky, and they'd quickly become some of the many diseased. They'd been walking around here for a while, their hoods shrouding their faces. Axel didn't doubt that their friends probably thought they were dead.
Axel pushed the terrible thoughts of the past out of his head. There wasn't any time for someone like him to dwell on those kinds of things. There was no returning to what he'd once been, and there was no forgiveness, even if his condition wasn't his fault. Axel quickly turned on a side street, heading out into the forest where he, Xion and Roxas called the old abandoned Mansion their home. Since the Heartless roamed the lands beyond, and the forest was full of them, no one went out there. But even though the Heartless would attack them they couldn't get sick from them again. The disease simply had no hold over them anymore. So that's where they made their home.
The winter wind blew hard, making Axel shudder only slightly. Though it was biting and harsh Axel wasn't that cold. An internal flame always seemed to be burning within his veins, keeping him warmer than he probably should have been. During the winter it often worked well, and though the cloak, pants, gloves and boots he wore (all black) were thin he wasn't too cold. It was one of the advantages of being someone who used fire everyday.
He glanced just once to the side of the road, where he noticed a child in a black cloak. She was curled up and just laying there, discarded like a piece of trash. Axel could tell that she had frozen to death some time last night, but he didn't pity her. He pitied those people who would find ways to survive the winter, knowing that it only prolonged the painful disease and their descent into the darkness that would soon consume them as Heartless, or the never ending hell that would follow them as Nobodies. At least that child wouldn't suffer anymore.
He didn't break stride, passing right by a man in a green military looking uniform. He watched Axel pass suspiciously, eying him as if he'd turn into a Heartless and begin rampaging around the city as he was looking at him. Axel knew it was the man's job though to keep an eye on those people who might become Heartless, and kill the beasts before anyone else got infected. This man was part of the Defense Force, which had been keeping to disease in check and outside of the walls of Twilight Town for many years now.
It was probably the only thing that had kept this place from spiraling into the same despair and disrepair as Radiant Gardens had, at least the last time Axel had been there. Death and betrayal had been common there, as well as lawlessness. There were rumors of course of the king and queen having gone there and straightened it out, but Axel didn't exactly feel like just leaving here and going to find out if it was true. There wasn't anything left there for him anyway.
As he was making his way down a side street however he paused, hearing voices just ahead. He knew who they belonged to, but he hoped he could pass by them without them noticing. He paused just a moment outside of the small area where several teenagers gathered and hung out. Axel was pretty sure he'd heard somewhere that all of their parents had died during that first attack, and that's why they had taken to hanging out together. More than that though, he knew they were Roxas and Xion's old friends, people that they couldn't help but regularly check to see if they were okay. Those two were good kids, even if they were Nobodies.
There were several children here, all around fourteen years old. From what he'd learned, they'd all used to be rivals and made themselves into self proclaimed protectors of Twilight Town. They hadn't joined the Defense Force though, and seemed content to try and help people out in smaller ways. Though even Axel knew that they were planning ways to get rid of the Heartless outside of the town to make it to where it was safer to venture around for normal people again. Axel doubted this was really something that was going to happen, but he had to admire their enthusiasm.
One young man was named Hayner, about average height with blonde hair that was spiked up over his head and green eyes. He was bundled up for the cold weather, but his pale skin was already turning pink and alerting Axel to the fact that he was cold. He seemed incapable of wearing anything other than camo pants though. Next to him was another young man with brown hair that had been shoved up under a band on his head and brown eyes. He was also bundled up and wearing a red jacket, the boy named Pence.
The girl beside him was a familiar face for Axel, the girl who'd always been working at the Blacksmith's shop, needing the munny. She had shoulder length brown hair and blue eyes, also bundled up against the cold and rubbing her hands together as her breath misted in front of her. She'd always been rather kind to him, but these three kids were some of the few that weren't always attacking Axel on the streets. This was Olette, and these three had been Roxas's friends.
The next group however had been Xion's friends, and were more rowdy than the others. They'd never downright attacked Axel, but they weren't exactly kind. He couldn't really blame them for that though, seeing how they were scared of him like everyone else. The self proclaimed leader of this group was taller than most of the others, with blonde hair under a toboggan and blue eyes. He wasn't nearly bundled up enough, as if to prove he was stronger than he looked, but he was obviously shivering in the cold air.
There was another young man here who was the tallest. He on the other hand was bundled up apparently more than the others and still too cold, though even Axel could tell, super heated though he was, that it was freezing out here. He had short black hair and dark brown eyes, and his skin was more tanned than the most. This had always rather surprised Axel considering the town was in a constant state of sunset here. His name was Rai.
Next was this group's remaining female member, a pretty little thing named Fuu. Her hair was a light frosted purple color, cut to about chin length with the bangs hanging into her eyes. Only the right eye was ever visible, which made the red color always seem to stand out more than usual. She hardly seemed to ever talk, and though she was bundled up she was watching Seifer closely.
The last member of the group was tiny and was bundled up so much you couldn't see his mouth. He wasn't a Heartless but looked strikingly like one, which is probably why he hung around with Seifer and his gang. His skin was dark black and he was shorter than even a human child with bright yellow eyes. He wasn't human, but in this kind of kingdom that wasn't that strange. His name was Vivi (if Axel remembered right). He'd never made much of an impression.
The seven of them were gathered around small fire that they'd obviously been trying to light. The sticks were wet from the recent sleet and no matter how many matches they were using they weren't going to get it to light any time soon. They'd been arranged correctly into a small pyramid shape and everything, but there wasn't going to be much warmth like that. Finally Hayner, who'd obviously been trying to light the fire sighed and dropped the box of matches.
"I give up," he said. "These sticks are too wet. They're not going to light."
"We've got to get it lit," Olette gasped. "Its going to be even colder than yesterday! This is the only place we can afford to stay. We'll die if its not."
"Yeah," Seifer sighed. "Don't remind me. We're all working out butts off and still hardly have enough munny to rent this place, if you can call it a home."
It wasn't a home. It was mostly just a small alcove sheltered from the wind mostly by the train tracks that ran overhead and had long been shut down. The "house" had been mostly boarded up in the front and the top was covered so it was protected from the elements. The only "door" that had been made was a makeshift set of boards for the night and a curtain during the day, which the wind had blasted open. There were a few items, some furniture, and some trunks that held their clothing. Even Roxas Xion and Axel had more than that.
All seven of the children looked unhappy with the situation. It was obvious that this was the only warmth they were going to have besides the few blankets and jackets, and each other. The wood burning stove wasn't going to light easily though, and they had little wood. There wasn't much to collect though without venturing into the forest. Still, Axel did feel a bit bad for them and raised his hand, waving it in the direction of the stove.
The fires he commanded sparked to life on the wood, burning hotly and brightly long enough to burn away the moisture in the wood, then returning to a comfortable temperature. The seven kids jumped in surprise as their stove flared to life with seemingly no reason as it flared to life, crackling merrily. They quickly looked for the source and found Axel standing in the door way as he let his hand fall back to his side.
Olette gasped in surprise, and Vivi screamed. Hayner and Seifer looked ready to jump on him, obviously very surprised. Axel was pretty sure they thought he'd been attacking him, or maybe his power had just scared them. Fuu and Rai were already in a fighting ready position, and Pence looked unsure what he wanted to do in this situation. Axel just turned his head away and continued to silently walk past.
"H-Hey wait," Olette called after him, ignoring Hayner's hiss for her to get back. She chased after him into the street. "Axel!"
Axel let out a quiet smile and let a small smile touch his lips as he stopped. He could hear the others gasp behind him, and he knew that they were surprised that he had responded. Maybe they were just surprised that Olette knew his name. People like her didn't often associate with people like him. He let the smile fall even though his hood was up and he knew they couldn't see his face shrouded beneath it. He turned to face her.
"That was you right?" she asked. "Who started the fire?"
"Olette how would you know?" Pence asked, just looking confused.
"And h-how do you know him?" Vivi managed to ask in terror, hiding behind Seifer's legs. Olette just continued to smile at him.
"It's okay," she told them. "He's not a bad Nobody. That's Axel, and he controls fire. He's the Nobody that works at the Blacksmith shop with me. He's really useful there."
"He works there?" Hayner asked as he raised a brow and looked up at Axel.
"He's got to work to get munny to survive too," Olette said in his defense. "Axel doesn't live alone. He lives with two other Nobodies, about our age."
"We've seen him around," Rai admitted. "Always real quiet, y'know?"
"I don't think I've ever heard him speak," Olette said sadly. "I think the only people like us who have are the old couple who owns the old shop. Not that I can blame him. Everyone must treat him like he's nothing more than dirt."
There seemed to be a sad silence at this, a nervous one. The kids were obviously unsure what to make of Axel, who just continued to watch them silently. Truly they were good kids, unkind though they had treated him in the past. It was obvious to him that they were still reminded of their old friends, and the unknown fate that had befallen them. Axel of course knew, but what was the point in letting these kids know when Roxas and Xion didn't want them to see what they had become?
There was no aggression in their stances now as they looked at him, just sadness. Eventually even Vivi began to grow curious. Slowly he made his way over to Axel, as if scared of what he would do. Another cold gust of winter wind blue past them, making them all shudder, all except Axel, who couldn't feel the cold the same way they could. Vivi instantly noticed his lack of reaction to it, and eyed him with a frown. He could tell how thin this clothing was.
"Aren't you cold?" he asked, looking terrified that he'd even spoken to him.
"I don't think so," Olette answered for him. "He's a Nobody who uses fire, remember? I think something about him just keeps him naturally warm."
"Where do you live, anyway?" Seifer asked him, as if waiting for an answer. Axel just continued to stare at him for a long moment.
"I think," Olette said quietly, fearfully. "he and his two friends live out in the forest."
There was some new terror in the air at the mention of that forbidden and forsaken place. It was like silence had just fallen as they thought of those dark trees crawling with Heartless. Axel didn't doubt he didn't have to tell them that he couldn't get sick from another Heartless attack, considering his body just metabolized the disease now and used the virus to feed his power. With something that grew cancerous in his cells, there was a never ending supply of power. Even so, they gave him a rather pitying look. It wasn't one he was accustomed to.
"I wonder," Seifer said quietly in a stroke of genius Axel wasn't aware he could hit. "do you live out there because people hate you, or because you hate people? I don't think anyone could blame you for hating anyone."
"I don't think Axel hates anyone," Olette said quietly. "I mean, he helps people a lot. I just get the feeling he's very sad."
There was no response from the cloaked figure in front of them, who just continued to watch them for a long moment more. He was pretty sure he could see shame in their eyes as they just all turned and made their way back inside the makeshift home that they had. Fuu was the only one left standing outside, who just continued to stare at him for a long moment. She was never one to say much. As she turned to go back inside though, she paused and looked at him for one more moment, offering him a sad, but one of the few smiles he'd ever seen her give anyone.
"Thanks for the fire," she said quietly.
With that she returned with her friends to the inside of their abode, leaving Axel standing silently in the little side street. He said nothing and just readjusted his grip on the packages under his arms, turning and making his way towards the final district where a blockade waited. Though it was manned by a man and a woman who were part of the Defense Force, they saw him everyday and let him by without a single question asked. He slipped out of the gate which they pushed open just a tiny bit, a large and thick oak door constructed into a new stone wall.
That was the line between safety and death for humans, the only thing keeping the Heartless away. As it was however, the Heartless had learned the hard way to avoid the wall, especially because they could not break that door and there were traps and soldiers waiting above to repel them. The signs of previous attacks could be seen scratched into the wood and stone. This settlement wasn't in any danger, at least not until that wall or door fell.
That meant that Axel was left alone as he stepped onto a familiar path where he could easily reach the mansion. Within a few moments he'd reached it, slipping into the gate and closing it tightly for the day. Then with that done, he turned and made his way silently inside. It had once been well used, but it had been abandoned a long time ago by the people who had owned it, even before the disease had begun to spread. The walls, windows, doors and roof was still in tact though, and no one bothered them out here. Axel stepped in the front door and closed it, glad to be out of the wind.
Axel finally pushed his hood back, letting it fall over his shoulders. He was a very handsome man, tall and thin, but definitely good looking. His skin was pale, which seemed to make his bright green eyes even more striking than they already were. His hair on the other hand was like the sunset that seemed to constantly hang over this town, whether that was caused my something in the atmosphere or not. It was mostly red, though it was tipped in orange and the roots of it were a dark purple color, and it was slicked back in spikes over his head and hung down to about his shoulders. Two rebellious strands on the right side of his head poked up, shorter than the rest.
Over all it gave him a handsome appearance however, and a mischevious one. On his face however were two small tattoos, one under each eye. They were purple tear drops that faced upside down, put there as a silent reminder of his old home in Radiant Gardens, something only he knew. Xion and Roxas knew not to bring it up.
"Xion," Axel called, his clear voice carrying across much of the mansion. "Roxas. I'm back."
It was a large mansion, but they had made an unspoken rule not to venture too far from the main entrance. The room they mostly lived in was one of the main living rooms at the front of the house, where a large fireplace gave them the warmth that they needed in the winter months. Being so near the forest, there was always wood, and the strange weapons their powers could summon helped them cut down branches for the fire.
Though the entire mansion was mostly furnished here, there was a thick layer of dust that covered most of it, as most of it was unused. The paths that they did regularly venture down were clean though, and the halls were left dark. That being said though, Xion and Roxas were never far, and as soon as they'd heard him call they came running towards him with huge smiles on their faces. If there was one thing that they enjoyed, it was the company of those friends they did have. Every day where they could all be together was a blessing. That's just the kind of life they had left.
Xion and Roxas were about the same height, both around fourteen. Xion's chest wasn't big yet, but she hadn't quite grown completely into her body yet either. Her hair was short and black, hanging down into her face and framing it nicely, only about chin length. Her eyes were a dark sky blue, and her skin was darker than Axel's was. She practically tackled Axel when she saw him, grinning from ear to ear. Axel had managed to put the packets down before she did, so none of them were broken. Roxas on the other hand just chuckled when he saw it.
Roxas was just as glad to see Axel as Xion was, but he wasn't going to tackle him for a hug either. He had blonde hair that was spiked up at the top and sides, with some shorter spikes hanging into his face and framing it, also chin length. Like Xion, he had sky blue eyes, which seemed to sparkle whenever he looked at his two friends. Axel had always loved the two kids, and they'd reminded him what it was like to smile and act like he wasn't some dead man walking.
He laughed as Xion squeezed his chest tighter. She'd always seemed to worry whenever he or Roxas was away, since she mostly stayed here and insisted on keeping everything as clean as she could. Maybe it was because she had already lost so much, that she was scared of letting go what she did have. Axel ruffled her hair, which seemed to calm and remind her that everything was going to be okay for another day.
Axel then reached over and playfully ruffled Roxas's hair, making the already spiked mess of hair on his head even more ruffled than usual. Roxas just smiled and swatted his hand away just as playfully. Axel knew though that he wouldn't have traded anything for his two friends here. They'd all lost so much, including their friends and families. What they could still hold onto was absolutely precious, and Axel knew he never wanted to lose these two.
"All right," he laughed, prying Xion off his chest. "all right. I didn't disappear into thin air. Look, the old couple who owns the Blacksmith shop sent us some more food today, and Olette baked some cookies she insisted on giving me, which is in that package." As he pointed out the packages however, Roxas picked up the third one.
"What's this one?" he asked, his brows knitting together
"I had some extra munny," Axel replied almost sheepishly. "So I picked something else up. It is almost Christmas you know."
"Axel," Xion gasped, looking happy but also like she wanted to scold him. "I told you not to waste munny on things we don't need! We didn't need presents!"
"I know," Axel laughed. "Just thought it would be a nice change. Open it up."
Roxas and Xion gave Axel a hard glare that told him they weren't happy with him spending his munny on trinkets. Not that they had much say in it. They still knew that Axel had always been like a big brother to them after they'd become Nobodies. He was their best friend, and he'd always been the one to try and make them smile. As much as they loved him for that, they knew that times were tough, especially on people like them, and it wasn't a good idea to do things like this.
They both grabbed the small box and ripped the brown paper off of it, pulling off the lid. Inside the box were three small silver chains with small crowns on them. Slowly Xion picked them up out of the box as she and Roxas looked at them. It wasn't anything fancy, certainly nothing like the jewelry that Xion had once had before all of this had happened, but her anger had been replaced by tearful gratitude at the pretty little pieces.
Neither of the younger Nobodies missed the significance of three of them in there. It was as plain as day that it was for all three of them, matching pieces that showed their close bond. Xion smiled as she reached up on her tip toes and slid one over Axel's head, then slid the second over Roxas's head. The third she let fall onto her own chest. All three of them smiled as they placed their hands on it, and Axel chuckled.
"I know it sounds cheesy," he said. "but whenever we have these on, we'll always remember that we're best friends. No matter what happens."
"Yeah," Roxas agreed, a huge smile plastered on his face. "Best friends forever!"
"Thank you Axel," Xion cried, tackling him into yet another hug. He laughed.
"Are you going to stop hugging me?" he asked. "Or are you hitting on me now. Come on you two, lets go get something to eat."
The two younger Nobodies grabbed the remaining packages and ran off smiling down the hallway, their necklaces clanking gently against their chests as they ran. Axel unzipped just the top of the zipper enough to drop it into his cloak, then zipped it back up, following them into their main room, where a fire was still merrily blazing and Xion and Roxas were already grabbing everything to cook their meal for the night.
It had been a long time since Axel had last smiled like this for so long.
There's the end of the first chapter. The whole story won't be so easy or happy as this one, and there will come a point where destiny will separate our three friends. What happens after that will start moving the story in the right direction, as well as reveal what's really going on in "Disney Kingdom".
If you enjoyed the story so far, feel free to give it a review and tell me what you think I need to improve on, or how you liked it. Constructive criticism is always welcome, as always. Thanks for reading this story.