Here is chapter one. I squished it with the original chapter two to make it longer and more action filled. Kay? So it's a little long.
Review if you like this fanfic. I need to know if there's an interest in this before I write 539392390 chapters for nothing. Yes, that is an exagerration. I'm not going to write that many chapters =)
I don't own Kingdom Hearts. If I did, it would not be child appropriate!
Chapter One: My Heart Drifts Away from Me.
When he first opened his sapphire blue eyes, he was unaware of his existence. He drifted in a shroud of nothingness. He was unable to feel anything except nothing. For in nothing, there is no breeze. There is no hot nor cold nor tepid. But then he saw it: a heart-his heart, glowing in front of him. His being ached for this heart that he somehow knew belonged to him. Every time he grasped for it, it floated away. He continued to stretch his arms out, desperate for what was his but soon became helpless. The boy's tears floated in the nothingness. He now knew he existed. But without that heart, he could never exist. Somehow, he knew that nothing else could fill that void.
"Please! No!" the man shouted from the buckle chair. Blood streamed down his face and was matted in his once blonde hair. He whimpered as the dagger slashed his face again.
His flame-headed executioner sneered. "You should have known that this would happen. You were the one who tried to destroy this Organization."
Prince Philip, or what was once Prince, whimpered again. His blood covered fists clenched as he tried to recover from the previous blow. All of the defiance had been struck out of him.
"Imagine what your dear princess would think of you dying like a coward." He raised his dagger to give the final strike.
"Axel!" He lowered the dagger to see Xemnas standing in the padded white doorway. "You look absolutely menacing, Axel," he joked, looking up and down the executioner's blood-stained fingers, face -bloodstained everything.
"What is your desire?" Axel gave another look towards his prey before nodding in respect to his leader.
"Nothing for now. I just have news and a new apprentice for you. I'll be gone for awhile to pick him up...however, his origins are questionable."
Axel shrugged. "Who lost their heart?"
"That's where it's interesting. It's the Keyblade welder, Sora. However, Sora gained his heart back. Roxas, his Nobody and our new member, is somehow still existent."
The executioner widened his eyes in surprise. "We are still allowing Roxas into the Organization?"
Xemnas sighed. "We don't have much of a choice. Roxas is too unpredictable to anger. Sora may be an annoying flea on all of our pelts but it is undeniable that the flea is powerful. Who knows what his Nobody is capable of?"
Axel pursed his lips. "So we need to make sure that he is not a threat."
The white-haired man nodded. "And you will be the one to make sure of that. You will need to train him."
The redhead huffed something that sounded like a laugh. "Lovely, giving little ol' me the dangerous one."
Xemnas roared in amusement, sounding like a lion. "I trust you the most, Axel. In any case, I have to go fetch Roxas from Twilight Town. You should just...finish up here." Xemnas motioned toward the wide-eyed Philip before slamming the door behind him.
Axel turned back towards the 'Prince' and smiled with menace and glee. "You heard Xemnas' orders. It's a pity that you can't stay longer."
Philip screamed in agony as the dagger finally cut through his throat. The graceful ruby liquid poured like a waterfall from the final wound as he finally became limp. The Prince's blue eyes stared at nothing as they rolled up into his head. Axel brushed a strand of his sticky red hair aside. He groaned when he realized that gooey ribbons of blood had managed to litter his coat. He glared back at the dead prince before stepping out of the Death Chamber.
The little blonde girl stood waiting with her head lowered. As soon as Axel emerged, she gulped and looked at him with her gigantic eyes.
"Namine' , clean everything up and send a message to Malificent telling her that he's been eliminated."
She nodded and scurried into the chamber without another word. When she had first arrived, she seemed so innocent and weak. She always fought when told to clean up the dead. Now, it didn't matter to her anymore. Axel turned to the clipboard of his assignments. He didn't have to carry out another execution that day. He flipped to the next page. Xemnas had taken the liberty of adding Roxas to his schedule...all day. He would even need to take Roxas to an execution-the execution of the Queen of Hearts from Wonderland to be exact...lovely. Dammit, Xemnas. What the fuck was he planning with this kid?
He woke up at the stroke of midnight on the stone street of Twilight Town. Tears were still engraved in the corners of his eyes. He looked up at the dark sky to see that the stars were all snuffed out by the light of the streetlamps. He scrambled up to his feet but his naked limbs pulled him back down to the ground; he had never stood before. The boy pulled his knees to his chest to shield himself from the cold and glanced around the alleyway which he had fallen in. No window was in sight. He was alone and always would be. He shivered feeling the wind against his bare body. He was alone…why didn't he care?
Clicking footsteps began to sound from down the alley. Click. Click. Click. Moving ever closer. The boy shoved himself into a corner and slammed his eyes shut while hoping that he couldn't be seen.
Click. Click. Click. Silence.
He pried one eyes open and squealed like a baby pig being taken to the chopping block. A man with long, silver hair kneeled in front of him, grinning like a snake.
"Don't be afraid, Roxas," the man coaxed with a whisper as if he didn't want to be heard.
Roxas? The boy thought, still flat in the corner.
The silver-haired man seemed to read his thoughts. "Your name. Roxas."
"Rox—as…" he blew back, forming the foreign word with his tongue.
The man nodded and handed Roxas a black cloak. "I'm Xemnas and you're coming with me. Put this on. You must be shivering."
Roxas snatched the cloak and wrapped it around his naked body. The cloak devoured him in warmth. He sighed in content before looking to Xemnas with his innocent boy face full of trust. Xemnas stood and offered his hand to Roxas, who accepted the offer. His newly created knees wobbled but Xemnas caught him.
"Just find your center and stand. I'll help you."
Roxas nodded and straightened his legs and this time, he barely stumbled. He watched his feet as if they would disappear if he looked away. Xemnas pushed him forward with a gentle hand, and Roxas shrieked as his foot moved to catch him.
"Now move the other one."
He did as he was told and stepped a little more toward the path in front of him.
Axel slammed the fifth shot glass down on the table, causing the faintest crack the width of a spider's silk to appear. "FIVE!" he shouted, even though he had already downed quite a few more than five, "Beat that!"
Xaldin shook his dread-locked head. "You're a drunk son of a bitch, fire-crotch." He took another sip of his beer. "No more shots for you." He took the bottle of hard liquor away from the red-head's grasp.
"Aw. Come onnnnnn," Axel mumbled, waving his arms for the bottle.
"You have an execution tomorrow and you're training the new one," Xaldin retorted, "You are going to have a bitch-fuck of a hangover tomorrow. C'mon." He grabbed the stammering Axel from the chair and drug him down the hall. Whilst this was going on, Axel was murmuring a few undecipherable statements.
Xaldin exhaustingly pushed the drunk on his bed and turned off the light before walking out. He hated whenever he had to do this. Axel was a complete idiot when he was drunk and was completely unwilling to confess that he couldn't hold his liquor…kind of like Xaldin's father.
Xaldin was born and raised in Hollow Bastion. Back in those days, there were no Heartless but there were heartless. He lived in a cottage with his sister, Nataylee, and his parents. Nataylee…no matter how hard he tried, he could never seem to forget her name.
The house was illuminated by candlelight and he sat by his sister at the table, showing her how to read. The black haired boy looked up to his mother as Nataylee was busy sounding out a word. She was sitting by the window, waiting for their father to arrive home. Secretly, Xaldin—Dilan didn't want him to come home.
"C-c-cat!" Nataylee proclaimed with pride. Her silver eyes shined with the reflection of the candles.
Dilan nodded and pointed to another word. "Say that one."
"Naa…tay…lee. Nah. Tuh. Lee. Nataylee! That's me!"
He laughed. "Yes, it is." He looked back towards his mother with worry. "Mother, he may not come back home tonight."
"…he promised…" she whispered.
Dilan sighed. "Nataylee, we've done enough for today. It's time for sleepy."
The little girl passed him a nasty glance, which amused him, before yawning and trotting to her room. Nataylee was obedient but withheld the spirit of a firework. As Xaldin remembered her, she used to have shimmering hair that fell to her waist. Even when she cut it, it seemed like a week later, it would be long again like a carpet of night. Nataylee possessed the night sky in her hair and the stars in her eyes. If Xaldin held his heart in his chest like he did that night, he would be able to admit that he missed her.
That night…that night…was the night that he was forever doomed to be a nothing—a nobody.
He turned the handle and walked into his room. Naminé looked over at him from where she was trying to sleep. When she saw him, she clenched the multi-colored blankets tightly around her.
"What are you so afraid of, bitch?" he growled, throwing his Organization cloak to the floor.
She squeezed her eyes shut in response.
"Get up! You're a maid and a whore, not an Organization member! You don't get to choose where you sleep!"
She sat up with her arms trembling like an earthquake. Shaking, she walked from her dilapidated cot to the king-sized bed which she feared and laid down on the black comforter.
"Now, will you try to sleep without asking me again?" he asked.
"N-no…" she stammered.
Xaldin sat in his armchair and scanned her up and down. "Do we need to go through this every night, Naminé?"
She cringed and looked away.
"Nono. Keep looking at me. It makes me believe that you actually love me." He stood, crossed to her and stroked her pale cheek.
The blonde whimpered and struggled to keep her gaze on his as he ran his hand down the curve of her slender body. This had been the same routine for so many nights…but she was still as afraid as the first. She gasped as he wandered his rough hand up to the skin hidden beneath her satin nightgown. She shivered and drew in her breath, knowing what was coming next.
Xaldin pulled himself over her body, straddling her. He pulled the nightgown off of her, exposing her bruised skin to him.
"Promise me one thing. Tonight, don't scream," he hissed as he forced himself into her and pressed his hand to her mouth to insure that his demand was enforced.
Stay for chapter two! =D
I'll have Ch. 2 out in a few days...I hope. In any stance, it shouldn't be too long of a wait.
More of Xaldin's story will come out laterrrrr.
~Nimue Nightingale