Chapter 1: Ghosts.
Axel leaned back against the couch and sighed. It had been a while since he moved into his new apartment, so everything was there, but somehow it felt empty.
"Come on, Axel. You can't keep moping around when there's so much to do here. I know we're not the best company, but we're all here with you." Roxas spoke as he and Sora tried to pull Axel off the couch by his feet.
"I'm not 'moping around'. It's called relaxing. You guys should try it sometime." He bit back instantly, his voice easily showing the annoyance he felt.
"Then let's go relax somewhere cool. This summer heat is horrible." Sora spoke up this time. They managed to drag him a few centimetres away from his original position.
'They're so damn persistent. They'll never leave me alone at this rate…' Axel sighed, "Fine, fine, let's go already." He stood up after they let go of his feet and they hurried to the door, smiling like idiots, suddenly full of energy.
Axel pulled on his boots and black jacket, not bothering to do it up, "Where are we going?" he asked, following the two outside and locking the door behind him.
"To go get some sea salt ice cream." Roxas answered; a large smile on his face.
"Here you go!" A large bald man smiled happily at them, "Three sea salt ice creams! They're the best in all of Sunset Vale. Enjoy!" The man let a loud laugh and went to serve the next customers.
'He looks like he should be working in a blacksmith, rather than selling ice cream…' Axel made a face at the thought but started eating his ice cream rather than saying anything.
"He looks kinda out of place." Sora tilted his head to the side as he thought about it seriously, causing Roxas to laugh.
'The kid is sharp.' Axel tried not to smile and started walking in the direction of their usual hangout spot.
"Whoa, where do you think you're going?" Roxas called out, "We're going somewhere else that Naminé found the other day."
Axel gave him a skeptical look but didn't say anything and just followed silently. Any place that Naminé finds is bound to be girly.
The large city feeling started to slowly change into a small town feeling. Axel had lost which turns and paths were taken, but trusted his friends to know where they were going. Having never been to this area, or more accurately, never knowing this part existed; he couldn't help staring at all of the old but well kept buildings.
"This heat is killing me…" Sora was quietly whining, they hadn't been walking long, but in this heat, the brown haired boy was already looking like he was going to pass out.
"We're almost there. That hill over there is the place." Roxas laughed and pointed.
"What are we waiting for then?" Sora seemed alive again and messed up Roxas' hair before running ahead.
"Gyah!" Roxas ran after Sora to get payback, his hair was 'precious', as Naminé had put it.
'Idiots.' Axel smiled. As stupid or as silly as they are, they were his friends. They accepted him despite what he'd done to them in the past.
"Let Kairi and Xion go!" A young Sora shouted at the red haired boy holding two girls in an inescapable grip from the wrists.
"Why should I? I'll give them to Uncle Vexen so he can continue his experiments." The boy smiled an evil looking smile as the girls whimpered.
"Uncle Vexen?" Roxas gasped at the name, realisation hitting him in the face, "You're his nephew?"
"Yeah, my name's Axel, got it memorised?" He looked like he was proud, showing off his name like that, then he sounded bored, "You lot are no fun. Get out of my sight." He let go of the girls' wrists and roughly pushed them towards the two boys before walking away.
'That was just our first encounter… I really wish I didn't torture them like that…' Axel sighed as he continued to walk, looking at one house that stood out. Unlike the rest, this one was two floors high, and looked really rundown. 'Why is it only that house?' He pondered as he found himself stopping and staring at it.
The window to what looked like it would be a lounge room was completely smashed except for the broken glass still around the edge. The front door was half burnt, just like the entire house. Another window on the other side was there, but had small holes in it and was completely cracked.
'I wonder what happened…' He thought to himself again as the sun started to get lower in the sky, tinting his already red hair a deeper red, making it shine and look as if it had really caught alight.
His eyes looked up towards the second floor and he could see that the room on the right hand side was completely missing the wall, the walls inside were completely black too. 'Maybe a fire started in that room?'
As his eyes swept across to the left hand window, surprise crossed his face. For a small moment, a girl a couple years younger than him was staring at him through the broken window, behind the half transparent white curtains from what was left of them.
She had black hair that went down to her shoulders, and bright purple eyes. She was small but still mature. So much so that she looked like a delicate doll. Just like that, however, she was gone as soon as she had appeared.
"What is a girl doing in a place like that?" Axel found himself whispering softly.
"What you saw is probably a ghost, mister." Axel turned to see a young boy with silver hair staring at him. He looked about six or seven years old.
"A ghost?" He couldn't hide his surprise as he looked back at the house.
"Yeah," the boy now sounded sad, "a lot of people died back when this town started to become a city. Back when the war was still going on. Mama said this house was burned to remind people not to step out of line. They say that the family was in there at the time, but a girl still survived. The girl made a vow to be around until the ends of time, so that those who caused her to suffer will also suffer. It's really sad…"
"Marcel!" A woman's voice came from a few houses down.
"Coming mama!" Marcel shouted back and bid farewell to Axel, turning and running down the street.
"Ghosts…" Axel pondered this a moment more before heading off towards the hill in which his friends were waiting.
A/N: Hope this is okay... It's my first ever story that follows a male lead xD and I apologise if Axel doesn't seem himself (though currently he's started in a grumpy/down mood, and from what's seen in the flashback, he's changed from when he was a cruel kid-though he'll still be his normal self without the evil intentions) and let me say this now... This story (like all my stories) does not and will not contain boyxboy - so Sora and Roxas are just best friends (though thinking of making them brothers...)
All rights go to Square Enix / Disney for Kingdom Hearts - OC's are mine and so is this storyline.
Please R&R :3 even a simple - d(^.^)b - will be good enough if you enjoyed :D