Black Heart

From Ashes

Darkness.

It's unblinking yellow eyes, staring blankly.

I raise my sword, and the blade shatters.

It lunges towards me, knocking me down.

Scorching my skin, but leaving no marks.

Stealing the light, tearing my heart.

I scream, but nothing comes out of my mouth.

I grit my teeth in pain, fighting to the end.

My own crimson blood stains the ground.

A flash of blazing red and silver lacerates my assailant.

I close my eyes as black envelopes my vision once again.

Darkness.

Burning shadows.

Axel watched the surrounding area carefully, checking for heartless. He couldn't help to glance down at the young woman lying unconscious at his feet. Her clothing was torn up and bloody, same as the ground around her. She was tall, with long golden blonde hair and pale skin. A broken sword lay next to her. Axel was sure that her heart was stolen by the purebloods, but only a part of it.

Is that possible? Axel asked himself, for them to only take a fragment of a heart?

This was an interesting situation to him. He was sure that Saix would like to look further into it. Scanning around once more, he slid his arms underneath the woman's thin frame, lifting her off the ground. Her head fell against his chest, smearing a bit of blood from a gouge on her forehead on his coat. Axel opened a dark corridor to The Castle That Never Was.

Saix stood waiting at the other end. As soon as Axel stepped through the corridor, Saix asked him what he was doing and why he was bringing back a passed out woman. Axel told him what had happened.

"Intriguing…" Saix said finally after mulling it over for a minute. "I shall have to inform Xemnas of this. He will definitely be interested."

"Thank you, oh wise one," Axel's voice was thick with sarcasm, "and where do I leave her?"

"You saved her, Axel. Do what you see fit." Saix turned his back and walked away. Axel sent a light glare into the back of his blue haired head.

Axel made his way up the stairs. He could hear Demyx plucking the strings on his sitar as he came up the hallway. He walked past the younger Nobody's room. Demyx sat cross-legged on his bed, his sitar on his lap. Demyx looked up just in time to see Axel pass.

"Axel!" he called. Demyx hopped off his bed and ran to him, "What'cha got?"

Axel stopped and turned to the side slightly so Demyx could see the woman's face. Demyx looked at her with wide aqua colored eyes.

"Whoa… what happened?" Demyx asked.

"She was being attacked by shadow heartless. She was doing fine against them until her sword broke. Then I stepped in to help. When I was finished with the heartless she was already unconscious." Axel explained.

"Why'd you bring her back?"

"Because something strange happened with her heart. It looked like only half of it was stolen. Figured Saix would want to know about it."

Demyx remained quiet for the rest of the time. During which time the two had also met up with Xigbar, Zexion, Marluxia, and Larxene, who were all following to find out who this girl was. Axel opened the door to his room carefully, so he didn't drop her. The door swung open soundlessly as Axel walked in, followed by the other five members. Axel lay her down on his bed, then went to fetch a wet cloth to clean her face.

When he returned, all the other members had surrounded his bed. Demyx sat closest to her. He leaned over her head slightly.

"She's really pretty," Demyx said, looking up at Axel. Zexion moved forward slightly to get a better view.

Axel raised an eyebrow, not saying anything. He came to the bedside, studying her face. Pale, smooth skin, thin and arched eyebrows, long eyelashes, and full, ruby pink lips. Axel had never got a chance to see her eyes, but something about her face told him that they were a stunning color. With her wild gold hair out of the way, Axel could see six gold hoop earrings in each ear, five through the top rim and one through the lobe.

He shook his head, touching the cool cloth to the scratch on her forehead. She moaned softly, and her eyes opened a little. Before he knew what happened, she had grabbed hold of Axel's wrist with one hand, and landed a solid punch on his jaw with the other. He flinched back, Zexion jumped away, and Demyx immediately took cover behind Marluxia. She shot up into a sitting position, pressing her back to the headboard of the bed. Her breathing increased in pace. All the other members took a quick step back, out of range. Axel held onto his injured jaw, bent over in pain.

"Would'ja look at that," Xigbar laughed, "Guess our little friend here has quite the right hook."

She studied each person, ready to react to any hostile movement. Demyx peeked out over Marluxia's shoulder. Axel turned quickly around, his temper beginning to rise. She locked her hard gaze on him immediately. He faltered slightly as he met her eyes. A sparkling sapphire blue starburst around her pupil, then a lighter turquoise blue on the edge. She ground her teeth together, threatening him. Axel swore he saw some of her golden hair stand up a little in fury.

Demyx made himself small as possible when he approached her. "Um… hey," he said in a soft voice, "we're not going to hurt you…"

She turned her head to him, and her snarl faded when she saw how careful he was being. She made a calmer, humming noise. Zexion gave Axel a warning look, like he was telling him to back down. The red head stepped back. Demyx took the cloth from him, and she allowed the young Nobody to clean the wounds on her face and arms. While he was doing this, she would glance at Axel. She opened her mouth to speak, right when Xemnas came into the room. Her eye contact with Axel broke as she turned her attention to the silver haired man.

"Welcome, to The Castle That Never Was," his booming voice filled the room, "I have heard about you, Half-Heart."

She tilted her head, raising an eyebrow.

"Can you confirm on what happened to your heart?"

"Oh yeah, 'cuz I was just so intent on paying attention to my heart whilst being run into the ground by a frickin' pureblood." She stated with a sarcastic tone, crossing her arms.

Larxene tittered softly.

"I'll also have you know that you are talking to the superior of Organization XIII..." Xemnas bristled in annoyance.

"That's nice. Makes a big difference. Now… why am I here?"

"He brought you in," Demyx said, pointing at Axel, "he said that something strange happened to your heart when you were attacked."

The red headed Nobody came forward.

"The name's Axel…" he started.

"Got it memorized?" the two of them finished together. Axel looked at her like she was crazy. Everybody else gave her the same look. She smirked. Glowing letters appeared before her. Her expression quickly turned from a cocky smirk to WTF.

The letters were a fiery orange and yellow. Ophine.

The letters began to whip around, re-arranging into a new name. An X appeared on the end, completing the name. Phoenix.

The letters set themselves on fire, burning up into ashes. The ashes carried themselves towards her. She held out her hands, and the ashes swirled around her palms. They floated through her skin like she wasn't solid. A plume of fire lit up and danced across her fingertips. She curled her hands into fists, banishing the fire. She looked at the back of her hands. A swirled heart surrounding a Nobody insignia tinted the skin in black.

Xemnas leaned over to Saix, "Show her to Vexen's lab. Have him run a few tests, then send her with Axel to test combat skills. After that you can bring her to the room where Nothing Gathers for official confirmation of membership."

Saix nodded in agreement, "I'll see to that then, sir."

Xemnas left the room. Saix turned, but looked back over his shoulder at Phoenix. He stood for a moment. Axel glanced between the two. He noticed that the two of them had nearly the same nose, though Phoenix's was a more feminine version, and now that he looked closer, Phoenix's ears were slightly pointed. Saix's eyes were near the same golden color as her hair. Axel raised a bright red eyebrow curiously.

"Phoenix, you are to come with me for now," Saix said finally.

She slid her legs over the edge of the bed. She walked up to Saix with a slight limp from an injured leg, having to look up at the taller man. Her lips turned up into a small, genuine smile. Axel couldn't believe his eyes when Saix gave a bit of a smile back. Once the smile appeared though, it took even less time for it to disappear.

"Axel, go to the training grounds and wait for her to come back."

Axel scowled lightly at being assigned more work.

The two of them walked down the hallway. Once they were out of earshot, Marluxia put a hand on his chin.

"Strange… with half of a heart, she must be powerful…" he said quietly. With that he left the room. Larxene left soon after.