Chapter 2!!! I'm proud that I finished it by the end of the week XP. Enjoy!

102 years later

"Roxas! Slow down, or you'll hurt yourself! Jesus, you brat; can't you hear me!?"

"Larxene, calm down. Though it would be a shame to lose the superior's favorite, it's unfair of us to ask him to value his life more than we do".

Roxas ignored his two vexes. Things tended to end better when he ignored them. After 102 years of the same thing, he should know. Instead, he revved the motorcycle beneath him, and sped up from his already deadly speed.

Larxene grumbled, "Ungrateful little prick".

Roxas leaned in as he rounded a corner, pressing himself down to hug the bike, and brought his body dangerously close to the asphalt before righting it as the road became strait again. He had been half-heartedly trying to kill himself ever since his first mission, but nerves and too much good luck prevented him from doing so; however the fact that he was in this situation in the first place suggested that it had nothing to do with luck, and more to do with the fact that God -or whoever was in charge up there- was out to get him.

"If you want me to be careful, give me something to fear," Roxas said quietly, knowing they heard him clearly.

"Ah. That part confuses me. You know the punishment for disobeying, we told you the rules almost immediately after you joined on, but you've only ever tried that method once. Why?"

Roxas glanced up at the pink-haired man, knowing he was the only person on the road who would be able to see him, and still a bit freaked out by the whole 'I can fly through the air next to you while you drive at ridiculous speeds' thing.

"I thought you knew; just because he didn't kill me doesn't mean I was never punished."

Larxene's eyes sparkled with interest now, "Oh, don't tell me. The scars on your back, are those from what Xemnas did to you?"

Roxas didn't look up at them this time, but rather focused hard on ignoring them. Xemnas had done more than just scar him back then, and he had decided it would be a fate much worse than death to repeat the experience.

"Hmm, well I suppose it does make sense that he went against his own rules and kept you alive. You are the best at what you do that he's managed to acquire in a very long time".

Once Roxas would have winced at that comment, but he had long since grown a callous towards the idea of being good at his job. He slowed down noticeably, but still had to turn sharply to make his exit.

"Hollow Bastion. Now this is a town I haven't seen in a looong time! Sure has grown, ne, Marly?"

"Oh yes, it is several times the size of the small town it was when we first came here."

Roxas made a face and glanced at Marluxia, "How old are you guys again? I don't think you've ever mentioned your age."

Larxene and Marluxia shared one of their age-old looks that should have taken practice, and probably had judging by the countless centuries they'd spent together. "We don't remember our exact age, but you are our 202nd charge, and each of those had a life with us ranging from less than a year, to over 300, the average being about 42. You do the math". Marluxia gave Roxas a look much like one a hawk would give a rodent, but he was too accustomed to it to notice.

Roxas turned, and continued to walk down the arterial road in the town. There were cars parked all over the shoulders and in every other crevice a car could fit, but too many people walked for a car to have room to drive freely, so none did.

For the most part, Larxene and Marluxia left Roxas to do as he pleased. He had been more obedient than any other charge by a long shot, and ever since his confrontation with Xemnas after he refused a mission, the superior had told them he had permission to do missions unaccompanied by them. Still, those with endless life to live also have increased problems with boredom; and like today, they sometimes followed Roxas on his missions anyway simply because they had nothing better to do.

Roxas took a left off the main road, onto a darker alley. Then a right onto another street, and another left into a dark corridor. He turned to walk up some steps leading to a door on his right, which looked like the entrance to a small townhouse. He gripped the doorknob and turned it, gently shoving the door open.

Inside a family sat at a small table. A lamp in the corner cast an eerie yellow glow on the room, causing the shadows on their faces to make them look aged and worn out; or maybe Roxas was just projecting.

They looked up, startled by the intruder, but calmed when they realized it was just a boy who was most likely harmless. Roxas noticed that there was a man and his wife, a boy, and a little girl. Neither of the kids was older than ten, but Roxas guessed the boy was older than the girl by at least a year or two.

The man walked towards Roxas, "May we help you, boy?" he asked. Judging by his tone and stature, Roxas recognized that the man was probably generous and kind, and that the family would be inclined share their meal with him if he asked, despite their obvious poverty.

"I apologize for what I'm about to do, and I don't ask you to forgive me because I can't forgive myself. I'm sorry."

The man gave him a confused look until Roxas made a gesture that summoned his key blade, a foreign weapon to the man but menacing none the less.

"W-Who are you!?" he asked, trying to crawl back to the table to protect his now trembling family.

"A servant of the devil," replied Roxas quietly. He raised his blade and struck, leaving none alive in the house.

Roxas walked out into the alley and shut the door behind him after he had finished. He paused only briefly as he noticed Marluxia and Larxene leaning against the opposite wall, waiting for him with expectant smiles on their faces. He continued silently, as if he hadn't seen them, and hung his head in a practiced way that caused his bangs to cover his eyes.

He made his way inconspicuously back to his motorcycle, knowing that no one would find bodies, and no one would care that the family had gone missing. That is what his job was. Xemnas assigned him a person, or group of people, who had been cut off from society; people who wouldn't be missed if they disappeared. It was these people that he went and killed with his key blade, all for the sake of collecting hearts. He had no idea how this benefited any of them, but Xemnas was the closest thing to evil he had found in his 119 years of life, and he knew that evil people did a lot of things without reason.

Roxas shared a small apartment with his two supervisors. It wasn't really sharing, though, because they never used their own rooms. Roxas didn't know where they went at night, but he had a theory that they were distantly related to vampires and prowled on the innocent under cover of darkness. Just kidding. Anyway, they apparently didn't need as much sleep as humans, so while Roxas got some shut eye, they went out into the world to do what only God will ever know.

They had moved around a lot for the first several years of Roxas' contract. No matter where they went, or whose house they stayed at, all three would eventually get bored; or else Roxas would get older, and the neighbors would begin to ask him for the secret to his resilience against ageing.

Their current residence was a fairly new one. Traverse Town was nice; not as big as Hollow Bastion, but big enough so that he wasn't well known by all the townsfolk.

Roxas climbed the stairs to his apartment, Marluxia and Larxene having already left him, and dug his keys out of his pocket. A little old woman who lived across the hallway from him smiled as he walked past her to his door. He smiled back, and was genuinely glad to have someone to smile at him like a decent human being should. Even if he didn't deserve it.

"Roxas, honey, how are you? Have you been eating enough? Honestly, you look like a sack of bones!" she exclaimed. Roxas' smile widened. Her name was Mrs. Lockheart, and she was one of those old people that bugs you about everything until you begin to expect it. In a good way, of course.

"I'm fine, thanks. Are you going to take Squall for a walk now?"

"Why, yes. But it's getting a bit chilly out, and I fear my old bones require shorter walks now that winter's on its way."

At the mention of his name, Squall had begun to growl. Being the small spit of an animal he was, one of those fluffy white things that only really counts as a fraction of a dog, his growl was quite pitiful. Roxas let his eyes roll down to where the dog stood, rightly protecting its master, in front of Mrs. Lockheart. He hated the dog, but the dog hated him too so they were even. After finishing her comment about the weather, Mrs. Lockheart noticed her dog growling at Roxas.

"Squall! Roxas, I'm so sorry. He normally loves people; I just don't know why he does this only to you…" She made a ridiculous gesture, almost like she was swatting at the leash, as she chirped, "Stop that! Bad dog!"

Roxas had a hunch why the dog hated him, and was okay with it. They do say animals are more perceptive to dangers than people.

He said goodbye to Mrs. Lockheart who, for the thousandth time, told him 'Mrs. Lockheart' felt old and to call her Tifa. He didn't understand the importance of what name he called her, and simply shook his head as he turned to unlock his door, all the while contemplating how Squall was an idiotic name for a dog, even if he did like the old lady.

Roxas lay quietly on his bed. The groan of the ceiling fan in his room was the only noise. He didn't really enjoy listening to music, but he had a CD in his player, and headphones in his ears, despite his dislike of the noise. He turned a page of his book, A Walk in the Park- Until Zombies Attack!, to find the end of his chapter. Roxas sighed heavily and marked his place, setting the novel down on the table by his bed.

Yawning and stretching his arms over his head, Roxas turned to look out his window and see that the sun was starting to set. Suddenly, almost fatefully, he was compelled to go for a walk. He hopped off his bed, and grabbed a sweatshirt on his way out, making sure to lock the door behind him.

Most people had gone inside to eat dinner, or whatever families did in the evening these days, as Roxas began to walk through town. He took a couple of turns until he ended up beyond any existing nightlife, and took a turn that lead up a hill. He kept walking, not caring that the buildings were losing height as well as becoming more scattered, until he reached the top. There, conveniently placed on the hill, was a large willow tree with a nice wooden bench under its cover.

Finally, he had caught a break. Roxas walked up and sat down with a satisfied smile on his face, knowing that he was lucky to find a place with such a great view; one that was unoccupied none the less.

There's something therapeutic about sunsets. A sunset is one of those few things that, when watching it, one may be inclined to start thinking mushy thoughts and getting all deep. It just made Roxas feel depressed; but he was okay with that. He embraced his depression unlike anything else he had embraced before. He watched the night sky light up with fire, and wished he could burn with the day.

"Too bad I'm a coward, and won't make that wish come true…" grumbled Roxas to himself.

"If you keep talking to yourself like that, I might have to leave".

"AH!" shrieked Roxas. He shoved himself as far as he could to the opposite side of the bench. When did this kid get here!? He thought to himself.

"Well, no offense, but if you were one of those mentally ill bums, I'd be a bit intimidated of sitting next to you".

Roxas opened his mouth, failed to speak, shut it, opened again, and shook his head with frustration. Who the hell was this redhead? Just sitting down next to people and not saying anything first… What the hell!?

"Hey, I asked you if it was alright to sit here, and you didn't respond. No answer at all is always defaulted to, 'sure Axel, do whatever you want!'". The redhead was frowning, and Roxas gave him the most perplexed look he had given someone in a long time. Then, of all things, he started to laugh.

"Umm, excuse me? I'm sorry if I offended you by calling you a bum… umm, are you okay?"

Roxas ignored the stranger as tears began to stream down his face. He was having one of those uncontrollable giggle fits that your body forces out of you after not laughing for too long. He was only about 102 years too long.

"Geeze, you're a strange guy aren't you?" asked the blonde, running his hand through his hair as he tried to take deep breaths.

The ginger gave him a skeptical look, "You start talking to yourself, then laugh when I compare you to the mentally ill, and you say I'M the strange one?" The redhead smiled, "honestly. But anyway, sorry to intrude on your meditation there. You were so deep in thought I guess you didn't notice me sit down. What's your name?"

For the first time since he had signed his name on that damned contract, Roxas gave a sincere, boyish smile. "I'm Roxas, you?"

The redhead smirked and leaned back against the bench, "Axel. The one and only ginger with sex appeal, or so they tell me". Axel waggled his eyebrows, and Roxas rolled his eyes playfully. It was like a screen had been lifted that had covered him for so many years, he had forgotten it was there.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Roxas sighed, stretching his arms above his head. "This is what I've needed".

"What exactly is that, Roxas?"

"A vacation. A god damned vacation".

Axel scratched his head, eying the sunset that was beginning to fade as night took over. "If you don't mind me asking, a vacation from what? There's no way you're older than me, and I'm eighteen, so do you work part-time or something? What school do you go to anyway?"

Roxas looked out at the sunset as well, and smiled sadly as he replied, "Actually, I'm a lot older than I look. And my job is a 24 hour thing, so it gets… tiring," Roxas let his words sink in. He had never talked to anyone this much about anything, let alone his job. Not since he was recruited. The blonde chuckled, but it was more sad than happy, "Actually, I don't think I've ever had a vacation".

Axel glanced at the smaller blonde. He was kidding, right? Judging from the way he talked, he could pass for 16 or 17, but he looked so much like jailbait that Axel couldn't think of him as much older. He raised an eyebrow at the guy sitting next to him on the bench. "Well then, Roxas, just how old are you?"

Roxas smirked, "119 years."

Axel chuckled and looked away, "funny kid, real funny. But you seriously look like jailbait, how old are you?"

His blue eyes, which had just been bright, faded back to their usual dull grey. He sighed and looked up at the redhead, trying to get his eyes to convey the seriousness he felt. Axel swallowed, not sure this guy was entirely well after all.

"Axel, I've never told anyone my story. After the life I've lived I'm in need of one hell of a confession, but I'm not religious or anything. So do you think you could do that for me? I know we just met, but I need someone to listen to me just once".

Axel stared wordlessly. What the hell was this guy talking about? He shrugged his shoulders, pretending not to think anything strange of the request, and replied, "Sure kid, anything you say".

Ah yes. They meet. And I kind of left it at a cliffhanger. Sorry if you don't like that stuff :)... Review plz.