Chapter One: Blurry

Okay people! Here's my new story, which is actually the first story I started writing out of all of the one's I've posted or am going to post! Enjoy!

o.O.o

A dark figure stirred at the waters edge of an empty beach. The sky was a crimson red as if all the stars had died and painted over a blank canvas with their blood. The water reflected the sky with its life, as if taunting that the crimson is held was full of life instead of death and sorrow. The sun sat on the waters edge, as if defining the boundaries of the sky and sea. Its orange glow upon the world cast deep shadows and brilliant highlights all around. The radiance caught the figure that lay on the shoreline, being hit repediately with the foam of the breaking waves that had recently washed it ashore. As a wave broke and reached further up than the others, the face of the thing received a cold dousing of water. It groggily opened its eyes as it attempted to pull itself up. With no energy to do so, the form simply slumped back to the warm sands of the beach, feeling comforted as if someone was consoling it. Suddenly, with newfound stubbornness, it tried and tried again to gain a sitting posture. Once. Twice. Three times. Four times was the charm as it finally managed to sit up successfully. Its eyes scanned the waves, as if reading them for information about what might have just happened to it, or what might happen now. Hands slowly raised to its face that was hidden behind a dark hood, creating a dark and mysterious look about it. They lingered at the hoods lip, but then pushed it back to reveal a handsome face.

The youth looked to be in his early twenties, very early twenties. A wild mane of red hair framed a slightly tanned face. His eyes were of a pale green that was almost a mint color, but held a look of both wildness and fear. Underneath his eyes lay two identical black marks that resembled the path of two tears streaming down his face. His somewhat delicate face held an expression that lied somewhere between amusement and questioning as he turned it to see if he was alone.

No one.

He lifted a gloved hand to his face as the other supported him and clenched the sand tightly, as if afraid to let go. He ran his fingers through his hair and then brought it down to cover one eye and half his face. His thin lips parted in a grin that displayed his perfectly white teeth. The expression in his eyes turned to an amused one, but still held a lingering trace of the fear.

"Well, well, well... where the hell am I?"

He spoke aloud to himself as if waiting for the wind to answer him. Seeing he wasn't receiving an answer, he pulled himself onto his feet and stood, watching the water. He racked his mind for a clue as to how he had gotten here, but all he could come up with was the memory of another beach that resembled the one he currently stood on, and feeling the same on that one also. In frustration, he grimaced as he tried harder to remember anything at all. The dark beach. A hooded face. A key. Angrily, he brought his hands to the side of his face and let out a furious stream of curses. Then the image of two blue eyes staring down at him appeared in his minds eye. The person's eyes looked kind, but filled with worry as the hovered over him, strands of brown hair falling over his forehead. The person's mouth moved, but he couldn't remember hearing what was said. Then.

"He was the only one that made me feel like I had a heart."

Surprised at what had just came out of his mouth, he stopped and stared at the sand. He searched his mind for more memories, but his mind felt blank, like a book that has been erased just so he couldn't read it. "The hell with where am I... who am I?" He asked himself as his hands limply fell to his side and his head lifted to look at the sky. "Everything feels blurry..." Then he brought his hands abruptly to the sides of his face and then slammed them back down to his sides as he shouted at the top of his lungs,

"Who the hell am I?"

Chest heaving, he took a moment to catch his breath and tried to calm himself. His hands went limp once more as he added in a whisper, "And... why am I here?"

"You're here because you have no where else to go."

A voice spoke behind him. It was light, and delicate like a child's. As he wheeled around, he saw a small child standing in the sand, clutching a doll in one hand, and a book in the other. It was a boy, and looked about the age of six, with shaggy brown hair, and golden eyes that held a light much like the one cast by the orange sun on the horizon of this eerie place.

"Who... who are you?" said the older man as he took in the boy's appearance slowly, as if drinking it in. The boys arms laid by his sides just as bare as his feet that were almost covered in sand.

"Who am I? My name isn't important, what's important, is what you remember." said the boy with a smile as he gazed back at the man just as strongly; "Can you remember your name?"

"My name..." the man repeated slowly, as if trying to learn those words by heart, "I... don't know... can't you, can't you tell me?"

"I could, but that's the only thing I could tell you. You'd have to figure everything else out on your own. Your name is only the beginning." said the child as he smiled up at the man. The boy's smile was almost mischievous, but something held a note of sincerity.

"Tell me my name then. I want to remember who I am. I want to find out who I was." the man boldly said as he motioned with his hands.

"Sometimes it is not wise to use the past to predict the future." said the boy wisely, with a shake of his head, "Maybe you should think about this before you decide on anything."

"I want to know." said the man boldly. His eyes were fixed on the boy as if he was golden, and he could smell the fact that the little one knew his name and was desperate to find out just what it was.

"If you're sure then." the boy said with a smile. He motioned to the book he held in his right hand, "This book holds clues for you to discover the rest of your memories that you've lost. But be warned, some of them may be good, but some of them also have the chance of being things you'd rather not remember. You may even find you regret some of your past actions if you can find it in you to feel remorse at all. Now... you're name. As to that matter, I thought you would at least remember your name. After all, it had great vogue while you existed among other people."

"Just spit it out already midget." the man said hotly, he was starting to get impatient.

The boy merely chuckled a bit and said simply, "Axel. Your name is Axel."

"Axel..." the name seemed to roll off of his tongue as he repeated it, "Axel... Axel..." Then he looked at the boy and said, "That's right, my name's Axel. Got it memorized?"

The boy laughed happily, as if he was waiting for him to say that. After a few seconds, he regained his composure, but his face still held a happy grin as he said, "Well, you seem to be getting back to being yourself awfully fast. Anyway, take this. I might check on you later, but I think, now that you've remembered your name, you're ready to go to other places you have memories from."

"Does that mean I have memories here?" Axel asked suspiciously.

"You could, but for all we know, this might not be the right time to remember them. When the time comes, everything will be clear. Right?" the boy asked.

"Yeah, clear... things won't have to be so blurry anymore..." Axel said as he trailed off.

"You'll want to start walking north, which would be in that direction. You'll come upon something that will definitely jog your memory if you understand the book." The boy pointed down the beach behind Axel, then walked up to him, and then placed the book in his hands, "Take care Axel. I'll see you around."

With that, the boy hugged him around his waist as he was looking the way he pointed. As he turned to return the hug, the boy was gone, and all that was left of him were a pair of footprints in the sand that were washed away by the ebbing tides. Axel's gaze lingered for a few moments, and then he turned back to the direction he had been pointed out to. As he ran a hand through his hair, he gazed down the beach and silently wondered were it ended or began as he played with the edges of the books cover. Then with a deep breath, he began to walk ahead as he read the one word on the first page of the book.

"No where to go but forward, isn't that right... Sora?"

o.O.o

Okay, so guy, be honest with me and tell me: did you like it? This is my baby, seriously, I totally love Axel and have been neglecting this story too much, I love it dearly and have big plans for it. R&R! It's my policy to give cookies, you all know that!