Small Note:It has been awhile since I've updated this story, and I'm deeply sorry. I didn't mean to make you wait this long! I had half of this chapter written and decided that it needed to be finished and uploaded today! Thank you for reading and reviewing. I love hearing your thoughts on the story, so please continue to review!
I don't own any of the characters, I only like to play with them.
Chapter Two: Enter Axel
"Missed me?" Sora inquired of the stranger, "Have we met?" The light that had shown in the man's aqua eyes seemed to dim in sadness, and even though Sora was quite sure he had never seen this man before he felt bad for some reason. Sora racked his brain to find something to say, something that would ignite that light again.
"We've met many times." The stranger cradled a stringed instrument in his arms like a mother would hold her child.
"I would have remembered a face like yours." Sora told him sincerely. A little bit of the light returned to the stranger's eyes and Sora couldn't help but smile upon seeing it.
"Then for your benefit, I'll introduce myself." The stranger stood up and strolled over to Sora. He stopped in front of the smaller boy and held out his hand for Sora to shake. "My name is Riku Suzuki."
"I'm Sora Tanaka," The younger boy replied. Sora took Riku's hand in his own and they shook in greeting. When Sora had informed Riku that this was their first meeting the silver haired man had seemed disappointed, but not at all surprised. Why hadn't he been surprised? It seemed like Riku had expected Sora's reaction.
Sora wasn't quite sure why he gave Riku his name. Was it because Riku seemed to have already figured it out…or someone told him…but if they did, then who?
"Err… wait a second. How did you get in here? You do know that this garden is private property, and belongs to the house over there." Sora waved his hand at the house behind him, and narrowed his eyes in suspension.
"I'm well acquainted with the owner." Riku informed him with what Sora guessed he believed to be great reassurance.
"You know Roxas?" Sora had never met any of Roxas' friends, because their grandmother had forbidden Roxas to bring them home, and Roxas didn't talk about his social life at all.
"Roxas...? No, I was referring to Marluxia." The silver haired young man acted like an adult talking to an incorrigible child. Sora fought the urge not to pout, and silently congratulated himself when he succeeded.
"I'm sorry Riku, but I think you've got the wrong house." Sora was feeling a wave of sympathy for the young man. Obviously he had gotten lost and had wandered into the garden's maze.
"You don't remember anything…" Riku whispered softly to himself, but Sora caught his words. "Come with me. I'll introduce you to your friends."
-xxx-
Axel loved to read. Not only was it a hobby, but it was his life, or at least his secret life. If asked Axel would deny any and all feelings for reading. He might even insult the act of reading, but later when he was alone in the dark corners of the library he would pray to the god of books and ask for forgiveness. He had an image to maintain, and if the truth about his bookworm habits ever broke out, his ego would crash and burn.
Axel was the perfect picture of trouble. Fiery blood red hair, an indifferent glare that could burn even the most fireproof box, a smirk that was made for mischief and a mouth that just couldn't resist saying dirty things.
To the people outside the library, Axel was the eponymy of sin, but to the rare folks that visited the library from time to time, Axel was known as the sweat faced boy who was always polite and had something nice to say to everyone who came by.
That small list of people who stepped foot into the library consisted of kindly old grandmother Fumiko, who liked to check out vividly descriptive romances and share with Axel all of their details (thanks to her, Axel could safely say that he knew all of the ways to fall in love, die for love and make love), a strange old man who checked out 'How to draw' books and had an eye that twitched when he was agitated (which was all the time), the librarian who was mostly blind and forced Axel to read poems to her and also gave Axel a part time job at the library, and a thirteen year old boy named Tidus who checked out horror, mystery books and liked to pester Axel for hours with no end.
Axel kept this life hidden from his 'friends' and his family. He had to protect his image, or he would fall victim to their never ending ridicule. No one would ever guess that when their small town bad boy disappeared that he was working in the library.
"…and then the dashing William snatched up his sword and ran out to kidnap his enemy… who will later turn out to be the love of his life." Grandmother Fumiko finished letting out a heart filled sigh, "Oh, darling, I almost forgot to tell you the news."
Although momentarily thrown off by her change of subject, Axel was able to adjust his settings. "What news?"
"You know that large old house that used to be owned by that stingy old hoot?" Fumiko asked, and once Axel nodded she continued, "Apparently her only living relatives inherited the house, an old woman and her two grandsons. At the police station, I overheard that one of the boys went missing two days ago, and that nobody has any idea where he went."
"Mrs. Fumiko, tell me everything you overheard about this mystery!" Tidus appeared out of nowhere like the detective he was growing up to be. He had a blue notepad in one hand and a mechanical pencil in the other. His eyes gleamed with an insane curiosity, and Axel felt blinded by the sheen of Tidus's eager smile.
"Well, I didn't hear much more than that, but I do have a theory as to what happened to the boy."
"Tell me, Mrs. Fumiko. You must tell me!" Tidus whispered eagerly, and Axel rolled his eyes heaven words as if to say, 'here we go again…'
"I think that that the house is under a terrible curse." Mrs. Fumiko told the boy with complete sincerity. Every word that the old woman uttered was quickly written down as an exact copy.
"How mysterious, how unexpected…" Tidus rubbed his chin in thought, and a few seconds later his eyes lit up and he performed a strange heroic pose, "This looks like a job for Detective Tidus and his loyal hunting hound, Axel."
Axel shot a glare at Tidus, who pointedly ignored it, and struck another pose. Grandmother Fumiko seemed very excited by Tidus' exclamation and while clapping her hands she asked, "Where do you plan to start detective?"
"I shall make a visit to the victim's house, and question his family, and then I shall scout the area around the house and look for clues!" Tidus's face was the picture of seriousness, and Axel wondered how anyone could say the things that boy did with such a straight face.
"Tidus, the police have must likely done that already, and if what Mrs. Fumiko says is correct, then they didn't find anything to help with the case." Axel tried to reason, but Tidus didn't look like he was paying much attention to what his 'sidekick' was saying.
"Axel, dear Axel," Tidus began while shaking his head in mock bewilderment. "You must remember: that when at first you don't succeed, you try, try again."
"…And that relates to this situation how?" Axel sighed.
Tidus choose to ignore Axel's question, "Onward! To the mystery van!"
"For some reason I don't think I'm going to be able to back out of this, and that's really sad," Axel mumbled to himself, but Mrs. Fumiko heard him and let out a girlish giggle that was extremely out of place considering her age. Tidus grabbed Axel's hand and dragged him out of the library, and to the 'mystery van' which turned out to be Tidus' bright green bike with Scooby Doo stickers littered all over it.
-xxx-
As Sora followed Riku out of the maze, he felt a little embarrassed that he didn't know his own way out. If Riku hadn't been here then it would have taken the rest of Sora's life just to find the exit. Even though he had only lived in the house for less than a day, Sora felt as if he should have known his way around the grounds better than this stranger.
And what did Riku mean by 'introduce you to your friends'. For some reason Sora highly doubted that Riku was indicating he meant meet new people. He wasn't sure why he was playing along with this confusing stranger, but he couldn't bring himself to contradict the other. Sora decided that he'd humor Riku and play along with the act for just a bit longer. At least until they were out of this ridiculous maze.
The path through the maze was a lot less overgrown now than it had been last night in the dark. The plants looked as if they had their own personal gardener, because they were so well tended. Though Sora could have sworn that last night he had tripped over an overgrown hedge; he could not identify anything large enough that would have caused the accident. He would have believed he was in another garden altogether, except he knew he could never mistake the form of the Victorian house.
"Riku, do you by chance know my grandmother?" Sora asked politely. He didn't think that his grandmother associated with the younger generation, but perhaps Riku was an exception?
"I'm not that old, Sora." Riku replied casually, he threw an incredulous look at Sora, and then seemed to have second thoughts, because he replaced it with a small smile.
"What do you mean?" Sora asked while trying to hide the blush that had risen to his cheeks upon seeing the beautiful smile.
"Your grandparents died before you were born." Riku said delicately as if he was afraid of being the bearer of bad news.
Sora was about to make an angry retort about Riku's answer, but when something crashed into him and knocked him flat on his back he had no breath to respond with.
"Sora!" screamed the high pitch, girly bundle of energy that had collided with him, "Welcome back. It's been so long since I've last seen you!"
The owner of the voice was currently straddling Sora's waist; preventing him from getting up and off the ground. She looked down at Sora with cheerful and friendly enough eyes, but for the barest second Sora thought he saw a bit of resentment trace the corners of her blue eyes. Her light brown hair was styled in an open and inviting way, and Sora couldn't help but to like her, even though she had knocked him to the ground.
"He doesn't remember you." Riku warned, and his voice was soft and delicate despite the bite of his words.
"Oh, yes…" The girl whispered to herself almost strangely. She lifted herself off of Sora and nervously brushed off her yellow jumper. "He…he wouldn't remember."
Sora felt a wave of pity wash over him, and he tried to think of something nice to say that would cheer the downhearted girl up, but he really had no idea as to what they were talking about. He bit back the frustration that was eating at his mind.
"Um…well. My name is Selphe." When she said her name Selphe seemed to light up once again in happiness. She curtsied, and caught off guard, Sora responded with a small bow. Upon seeing this act of respect, Selphe's smile widened and she twirled herself around to face Riku. "When did he get back?"
"He has been here for less than thirty minutes." Riku answered, and he motioned for the two brunets to follow him. Selphe followed immediately, but Sora hesitated before continuing.
He could come to terms with one crazy person, but two?
-xxx-
"Axel, hurry up!" Tidus called, he uncrossed his arms and looked down as if reading the time, and then he tapped his naked wrist.
"I'll get there when I get there," Axel responded while slowing his pace down a considerable bit.
"Well, if you don't hurry up, I'll have grown a beard down to here!" Tidus scratched his chin and then with a grand sweep grew an invisible beard down to his knees.
"You?" Axel smirked, not bothering to choke down a laugh, "You wish you could grow a beard that long."
Axel took forever (or at least it seemed that way to Tidus) to reach the end of the driveway where Tidus stood waiting for him.
"This house is kind of creepy," Axel remarked, giving another smirk to Tidus.
"Don't worry, Axel," Tidus shook his head and began the trek up the long and winding driveway, "You've got me."
"You're right; the ghosts will catch the slowest one first."
"Then it's good that I got my bike!" Tidus hummed, and Axel scowled at being bested by a kid in middle school.
"Now, Tidus. You do know that you shouldn't be a nuisance to these people, no matter how scary their house is," Axel caught up to Tidus and laid a hand on the handle bar of Tidus's bike.
"What are you talking about, Axel?"
"The missing kid's family is probably worried, and they don't need your nose to be poking into any painful thoughts right now," Axel's hand dropped from the bike and he gave Tidus a considering look.
Tidus refused the look, dismissing Axel's warning, "Axel, a boy is missing. They are going to want all the help that they can get!"
"And what help do you think you can be for these people?"
"Didn't we already have this conversation?" Tidus huffed.
"Tidus."
"Alright, alright, I'll watch what I say," Tidus relented with great exasperation, "but I'm still going up there to talk to them."
"Good….wait! What? Did you listen to a word I just said?"
"I'm not going to pester them, I'm going to spy," before Axel could get in another word edgewise, Tidus continued, "That's what people do, they get to know their neighbors."
Their conversation had carried them to the front door of the spooky house, and Axel knew that there was no way he could make Tidus give up his mission. He could only hope for the best.
"Here, I go!" Tidus sprinted up the steps of the front porch and with a grand flourish he pressed the door bell.
And nothing happened.
Undeterred, Tidus pushed the button again, and waited a breath of second before letting out a crazed howl and attacking the doorbell with his finger.
"Tidus, the doorbell is broken," Axel hissed. He was extremely embarrassed to be witness to the younger boy's most current act of idiocy.
If Tidus had a reply it was cut off by the click of a latch and the opening of the front door.
-xxx-
Sora and the others made a final turn and were greeted by the garden's exit. Letting out a sigh, Sora smiled, 'finally.'
Even though he was still upset with both his brother and his grandmother he was glad to see the end of this garden.
Selphe, noticing Sora's relief smiled and inclined her head towards the old Victorian house, "Do you remember this place?"
Sora, tired and quite through with humoring both Selphe and Riku, decided to quit playing along with their game, "Of course, I remember. I live here with my grandmother and my brother. Thank you, Riku for leading me out of that maze, but I'm tired of playing 'let's confuse Sora'."
Selphe's smile slipped with Sora's words, and she opened her mouth as if to voice her hurt when Riku cut her off, "Sora, there is so much I want to tell you, and I can see be the way you're acting that you think we're crazy, and I know that whatever I tell you may sound just as strange, but…"
"But?" Sora prompted.
"But, it must be said," Selphe finished.
The three had stopped, standing on the threshold between the dream of the garden and the reality of the rest of the world.
Sora looked up at the house, his supposed sanctuary and did a double take. Just yesterday the paint on both the shutters and the house itself had been cracked and peeling. Now it looked as if they had received if a not new coat of paint, then at least a touch up. The grass surrounding the house was cut short and the all the windows gleamed from the brush of the sun's light. Most importantly though both his grandmother's and his brother's cars were missing.
"What?" the word slipped out of Sora's mouth. There was absolutely no way that all of this yard work and home repair could have been completed in one night!
Sora looked at Riku, then at Selphe, then back to Riku, "H-how did you do this?"
Riku visibly perplexed, seemed to not have expected Sora's reaction to be like this, "Do what?"
"The house and the yard! Why do they look so kept up?"
"Marluxa wouldn't stand for anything less," Selphe said, when it was clear that Riku was at a loss for words.
"Who's Marluxa?"
"I'm Marluxa."
Sora started, and turned to face the owner of the deep voice who had spoken, this Marluxa person.
Up Next Is Chapter Three: Unbroken Mirror- there is no set date, but I hope to update soon!