The day started out like any other day, they got up, got dressed, fixed their hair (some taking longer than others *cough* Axel and Demyx *cough*) and went down to the common area to eat breakfast and receive their mission assignments. Axel came down last as usual and everyone was already done eating. He grabbed a protein bar and sauntered up to Saïx, "What's on the agenda for today?" "You will be sent to Halloween Town to eradicate a giant Heartless." He raised his hand to silence the protest that he knew was to come. "Do not argue that you cannot collect the heart, I am well aware of this fact but it seems to be consuming the smaller heartless and that, as you are well aware, poses a problem." Axel cocked his eyebrow at his ex-best friend but nodded anyway. "Do I get the privilege of a partner?" Saïx shook his head and chuckled once. "No. I believe that you are more than capable by yourself."
Axel stuffed the rest of the bar into his mouth and walked over to where Roxas and Xion were talking. "Hey guys. We gonna meet at the Clocktower after our missions today?" Xion giggled and Roxas rolled his eyes and said, "Don't we always?" Axel lightly punched him in the arm and retorted, "Well, smart aleck, I was just checking. I gotta get going so I'll see you guys later today." They both waved and Roxas added "My mission looks pretty easy so I should be there pretty early. Bye." Axel nodded to show that he had heard Roxas and opened a dark corridor that would lead him to Halloween Town.
Six hours later
Axel put his hands on his knees and breathed hard. "Man oh man," He said to himself, "More than capable, my ass! That was one of the hardest missions I think I've ever done. I bet Roxas and Xion gave up on waiting on me." He was barely able to complete his mission. He had used every single potion and spell he had equipped, the last potion being used right as the wretched beast fell. He took one more deep breath and teleported to the Clocktower.
He walked around the corner expecting to see either no one (because he took so long,) or Roxas and Xion sitting there waiting on him. The scene he was greeted with was neither of those things. Xion was impatiently pacing back and forth with a worried look on her face and Roxas was nowhere to be seen. "Xion," He called. "What's wrong? Where's Roxas?" She stopped pacing and turned to face him, "Axel! I don't know where he is, he should have been back hours ago. His mission looked really easy; I don't know what could be taking so long. I hoped you might know but obviously not." She wrung her hands together in nervousness. "Hey," He smiled reassuringly, "Look, it'll be alright. I'll go check on him. Don't worry, it's probably just taking longer than he expected, like mine. If we aren't back by the morning tell Saïx, but we will be." He gave her another smile. "What was his mission?" She bit her lip, trying to remember, "Umm, just to go collect hearts in Agrabah." He nodded and teleported to the main bazaar of Agrabah.
He had tried his best to not let Xion see that he was nervous, but in all actuality he was. Roxas really should have been back a long time ago, what if he had gotten hurt, or worse? No. Stop, you are not allowed to think those thoughts. He's fine, probably. He shook his head to clear it and took off to find his bestfriend.
He searched around the area for an hour and a half before deciding on another tactic. He walked up to the closest vendor and slapped his hands down on the counter. "Look," He began, "I need to know about a teenager that was here sometime today. He is short comes up to a little bit below my shoulder, blonde, blue eyed, wears a black coat identical to mine. Have you seen him?" The vendor squinted in contemplation and then smiled mischievously. "Hmm, I might have, but I'll need a reminder. I'm sure you understand." Axel ran his hand through his hair, "You have got to be kidding me," He ground out through gritted teeth, "I do not have time for this." He slammed down a pouch of munny and snarled at the greasy looking man that ran the stall. The man smiled through many missing or chipped teeth and snatched up the munny pouch. "Ah, yes I do believe I saw the boy you're talking about. He was fighting some of the strange creatures around town, heartless I believe they are called? Anyway, he was fighting, with a strange weapon might I add, when a group of bandits snuck up on him. They attempted to grab him and he fought back. The fight was short lived because the small boy was so outnumbered. The thugs dragged him away." The man smiled again, "I might be able to come up with the name of their leader and their location for the right price." The vendor held out his hand for more money. Axel, not being known for his patience, was done bargaining with him. He grabbed the man's outstretched hand and twisted it to the point of almost breaking his wrist. "I hope you'll find it in the goodness of your heart to remember anyway. What are they, Human? Heartless? Where did they take him? I need you to understand that I care very dearly for this boy and am most definitely not above doing whatever is necessary to find him." He stressed the word whatever by twisting the man's hand a fraction of an inch more. The man's eyes widened in pain and he spit out, "Ok, ok fine. They are human. They live in a cave near the entrance to the Cave of Wonders, which I'm not sure exists; they took him about six hours ago. Now, please let me go." Axel let go of the man and started walking off in the direction of the Cave of Wonders, which he knew for a fact existed.
On his walk, scratch that, run to the Cave of Wonders he began to worry. Six hours? They've had him for six hours? What if I'm too late? What if I can't save him? Man oh man he's fine, he has to be. I just- I just don't know what I'd do without him. His thoughts continued in a similar manner until he arrived and began searching for this other cave the bandits inhabited. It didn't take too long most likely because he was so determined to save Roxas; usually he couldn't find anything and was pretty awful at recon missions. He decided not to waste any time on trying to sneak around and to just barge in and save him.
He was walking semi-cautiously through the cave when he heard a scream that would have made his heart stop if he had one. It sounded like Roxas, but it couldn't be. A sound that horrible could not come from Roxas. His Roxas; sweet, innocent Roxas could not be capable of emitting a sound that heart-wrenching. But, he knew in his gut that it was him.
He ran around the corner to a cavern and stopped in his tracks at the sight he was confronted with. He only stood for a few seconds to take in the sight around him before he sprung into action. Roxas was hanging from the ceiling by his wrists and saying he wasn't looking so good was the biggest understatement that had been made this decade. This was about all Axel could comprehend before he ran into the room summoning his chacrkrams and that fire which he relied on so heavily. There were four bandits in the room and Axel went after the one closest to Roxas first. This man was burly and hairy and was holding a menacing looking whip in hand. Axel threw one of his chacrkrams at the thug and continued running towards him. He made short work of the bandit and turned to face the next. He was moving very quickly and recklessly; he was about as close to berserk as you could get without being Saïx because of what they had been doing to Roxas.
He made short work of the remaining bandits in the room and headed over to Roxas still in defense mode. "Are there any more?" He demanded. Roxas moaned in pain and then weakly replied, "Yeah, two more and their leader, so three." Axel nodded in understanding and then turned to the front of the cavern and began yelling at the remaining three cowards to show themselves. It didn't take long for a slightly more dignified man flanked by two of the bandits to walk into the open area. Axel was about to make an attack when the leader held up his hand to stop him. Axel snarled and spat out, "What? Why shouldn't I kill you where you stand?" The man smiled and calmly replied, "Because I'm sure you don't want to die. Or even more importantly I'm sure you don't want your friend over there to die." Axel grimaced and launched himself at the group in front of him and savagely attacked the two henchmen that had stepped in front of their leader. He was able to take these two down but not without a cost, the one on his right managed a pretty deep gash with his scimitar on his right bicep. Axel barely noticed and advanced towards the head bastard who had been in charge of what happened to Roxas. The fight went on for almost a minute before Axel managed to pin the man and hold his chackram above his throat. "One question," He ground out. "Why?" The man laughed and shrugged, "I wanted information. It probably wasn't worth dying for but, that's the price you pay in my line of work." Stone-faced, Axel slit the man's throat and ran the few steps to Roxas.
"Roxas!" He choked out running over and trying to figure out how to unchain his petit friend. After some frantic searching he found the key hanging on a nearby wall. He unlocked the cuffs on his wrists and gently lowered him to the ground, cradling his head in his lap. By this time he had managed to take in all of Roxas' injuries; which were extensive. He had been stripped of his coat, undershirt, and boots leaving him in just his black pants. His back and shoulders had been shredded by the whip one of the bandits had been holding, his wrists were raw and bloody from supporting his weight for upwards of six hours, his right foot looked as if it had been crushed, (to prevent his escape most likely) His nose looked broken, and to top it all off he had what looked like several burn marks on his chest.
A tear slipped from Axel's eye. How could he let this happen? "Roxas," He began, "I'm…so sorry. I-I let this happen" "Shh," Roxas interrupted him, "This isn't," He winced in pain, "This is not your fault. Do not blame yourself." Roxas looked up at him and smiled weakly. "I'm glad you saved me, they probably would have killed me." "No!" Axel interjected with a bit too much emotion for someone who supposedly couldn't feel. "You're fine. You'll be fine. It's ok. You're alright. Safe." He sounded like he was convincing himself, not Roxas. Axel bit his lip and closed his eyes for a second before looking down at Roxas. He bent down and gently pressed his lips to Roxas's. "I'm glad you're alright." He whispered, still very close to his face. "I'm glad you came to get me." Roxas whispered back and leaned up to kiss Axel back.