"Simply amazing Roxas." Axel walked around the room, his arms crossed tightly, his mouth pulled into a tight line.
"Axel." The blonde said just that, no hint of malice, no wary edge to his voice. No hint he was talking to a stranger.
"You really do remember me this time?" He turned to Roxas almost sadly, before his eyes narrowed and he frowned. "I'm SO FLATTERED." He bared his teeth, eyes widening in anger. Embers of flame rose from around him, his arms extending from his sides. He'd had enough. He'd lost all his options, he'd failed to bring back the blonde to the Organization. Judging by his face, he wasn't going to leave, not with Axel anyway. He'd return to Sora, and the redhead would lose him forever.
Flames burst from the floor, surrounding the two figures in a ring of intense fire. It flickered all the way to the ceiling, small flickers bouncing off the fire and disappearing. The blonde looked around wildly, now fully aware of how powerful Axel could be- especially when he was angry. Still, he was silent.
"But you're too late!" He extended his hand to the side, baring his teeth. The flames grew stronger; Roxas stepped backwards, flinching as small embers hit his skin. Closing his eyes, he flexed his hands, bringing out a Keyblade... and another appeared in his other hand. He brung his hands up, spinning the Keyblades, then brought them down in a snapping motion, his eyes narrowed at Axel. That, Axel wasn't expecting.
"Two?!" Sure, he wasn't that outmatched by a second Keyblade, as he had two weapons himself, but it took him by surprise. One of them was pure white, and reflected a brilliant white, while the other was pure black, and he could feel it attracted the darkness. Yin and Yang, he supposed. Kind of like them. Roxas was good; always trying to do the good thing, find his purpose, and matter. Axel, on the other hand, was the opposite. Sure, he cared for the people close to him, but he didn't care for repercussions, how his actions would affect other people. He did what he had to do.
Axel looked down, outstretching his arms, dark tendrils forming from them; it was soon replaced by fire, then the contrast of cool metal. He did what he had to do. When they had fully formed, he looked upwards, a cocky grin set on his face, eyes creased slightly as they then formed into a glare, the smile still strong.
"Come here, I'll make it all stop." Axel crooned as he swung his chakrams around, the flames still burning strong around them. Roxas had seem to forgotten about it; his expression was hard, a burning anger in those eyes that the redhead knew wasn't completely directed at him.
"Burn, baby!" A wave of fire erupted from Axel and Roxas jumped back, dodging it barely, but didn't expect the attack to spread into fire appearing under his feet. Although the flames didn't attach to him for long, it still burnt his clothes and skin, causing a grunt to escape from his mouth. Axel took the opportunity of Roxas' moment of being stunned to further his attack; with a flick of his wrists the floor was covered in a flame illusion. Roxas jumped backwards, expecting the fire to burn, but quickly composing himself when he realized it wasn't. He lunged at Axel, both Keyblade's poised and ready to attack, but the redhead caught the ends in his chakrams and spun them, causing the weapons to fall from Roxas' grasp. In seconds they were back in their owner's hands, but the surprise of the blonde gave him a small opening to fling his chakrams at Roxas, scraping his left arm and right leg.
He didn't seem affected by the attack, and if he was, he didn't show it. The blonde jumped into the air, then as he was about to connect with the weapons again, he kicked the air and spun backwards, flipping his body over Axel's and landed behind him, striking him in the back with one Keyblade, then again with another. The redhead spun, leaning sideways to avoid the weapons for a split second then raised his, blocking the feeble attempts with his own weapons.
Axel jumped into the air, chakrams ready to strike; Roxas readied his weapons, the blades hanging to the side. When the redhead came back down, the two both crossed their weapons and struck, metal colliding on metal. Axel jumped backwards, weapons at his side, while Roxas rushed forwards, flinging back his Keyblade's as he swung his arms around to hit Axel. He ran up the wall, flames coating his feet; Axel threw a flame-encrusted chakram while he used the other to block, it missing and returning within seconds. He flung himself backwards, into the centre of the room; Roxas bounced off the wall, flames still on his feet, both of them suspended in mid-air. His Keyblade radiated with light, and Roxas bought it down, hard, sending Axel to the floor, his back connecting with solid. Bursts of light swam around him, blinding them both.
When it cleared, Axel was on his feet, groaning in pain, though still ready to fight. Roxas took the opportunity to land a few hits, and surprisingly, he didn't seem to fight back. Roxas didn't let that falter him, however. Despite the pained eyes, the groans, the pain he must be going through, he pummeled him. He couldn't hold back.
Unexpectedly, Axel disappeared. After a few confused seconds of searching, he found he'd absorbed into the wall of fire, though he was moving too fast to track, camouflaging himself almost too well. He then burst from the wall, falling to the ground and sending a shock wave of fire in all directions. It barely fazed Roxas, however. He rushed to where Axel was, his Keyblade's poised to strike.
Axel's gaze connected with Roxas' as he held his chakrams at his side, eyes narrowed. "You won't forget this."
His body coated with fire, and he sent his flame and darkness coated weapons outwards, almost too quickly for the blonde to deflect. The fire coated him, came from all directions, burning painfully into his flesh. Axel jumped up into the air, still relentlessly throwing his weapons, and summoned more fire. It burst from the floor, causing Roxas to be flown into the air, his leg throbbing painfully.
"Got it memorized?"
He angrily started absorbing into the flames again, barely materializing for two seconds before returning. Roxas resorted to frenziedly attacking at any angle, hoping it would connect with his target.
A painful grunt signaled it did; the floor returned to it's normal green, glowing state and the wall of flames began to die down. Axel stood opposite him, breathing heavily, chakrams dangling harmlessly at his sides. He was well and truly spent. He'd done everything he could.
Roxas kept his eyes on the hunched-over figure that refused to meet his gaze, taking pity in his friend. His best friend. He could empathize with him, he truly could. All he wanted was his friend back. "Axel..."
"Let's meet again in the next life." Axel looked up at Roxas, his eyes almost pleading. He was still panting heavily, slightly shaking from the aftermath of the attack.
"Yeah. I'll be waiting." Roxas assured, stance calm. Axel envied him.
A black portal appeared around the redhead; he looked down, sighing. "Silly." He looked back up, a taunting expression on his face. "Just because you have a next life."
"Guess that's that." Axel lent over the wooden fence, his hands planted firmly on the top. His coat swayed in the slight breeze as he watched Roxas- Sora, disappear from the train tracks.
"Let's go."
"Go where? It's not like we have homes to return to." Axel turned to face the mystery man, a smirk on his lips. "We don't exist, remember?" He looked down at his feet dejectedly, his voice growing rather spiteful on those last few words.
"Yes, it's true. We may not have homes..." Namine spoke softly, her gaze fixed on her sketchbook, at the two figures holding hands. "But there IS some place I want to go. And... someone I want to see."
"Same here." Axel brought down the mood as always, before turning to the hooded figure. "So, you think you might let us go? I know you're here to get rid of us, but..."
"DiZ? Wants to get rid of me?" Namine piped up, her voice full of uncertainty and surprise. Unlike Axel, she obviously hadn't expected that after she fulfilled her purpose, she'd be eradicated.
"Go." The figure gestured to the side of him, a motion to leave. Probably before it was too late.
"You sure about this?" Both of them turned to Axel, who seemed completely confused. He was completely confused. Sure, the figure in the hooded coat seemed familiar, an air to him that sat him apart from the rest of the Organization, but he didn't expect the guy would just... let them go.
"I owe you both."
"For what?" Namine raised her sketchbook, her head cocked to the side slightly.
"Castle Oblivion. You helped us."
"Heh. You don't have to tell me twice." Axel summoned a portal, his arm outstretched as it overlapped with the various black, blue and purple hues. Namine glanced between the two, unsure of what to do; Axel nodded, an indication that it was okay to leave. She looked down at the drawing of Sora and Roxas, her face a mixture of emotions.
"Thank you." She mumbled gratefully as she stood up, not looking back as she ran off and through the portal. The figure watched as she went, then turned to Axel. Neither of them spoke, a silence hanging between the two, before the redhead followed Namine without a word.
Axel traversed the alleys of The World That Never Was, his gaze hard, mouth pulled into a tight grimace. He'd spent the last few weeks relentlessly searching for any way to get Roxas back. Anything he could use as leverage.
A smile inched it's way onto his face when he found just that. The perfect thing. Opening a portal, he stepped through it, his mind picturing the sunny beach of Sora's home. Perfect.
What he didn't expect was a damn dog to follow him through right as it closed.
As he willed his portal to traverse him to the sandy beach, the first thing he noticed was his leverage was standing on the shore, looking into the empty sky, the water lapping against her purple shoes. She cocked her head to the side, her auburn hair brushing against her face in the gentle breeze.
"Maybe... waiting isn't good enough." She spoke to nothing, clearly not expecting anybody to be listening, as she blinked in confusion and looked around frantically when the redhead answered.
"My thoughts exactly. If you have a dream, don't wait. Act." Hmph. Maybe he should've taken his own advice while he could.
She turned to the direction of the voice as Axel let the portal show and close behind him, Kairi putting her hands to her chest in caution of the stranger.
"One of life's little rules. Got it memorized?" The black wisps of the gateway evaporated behind him. His coat billowed in the wind as the waves washed against his boots.
"Who are you?"
"Axel. I happen to be an acquaintance of Sora's." He layered on the charm, pulling the strings he knew would get her interested. Still, she stood in a defensive stance, frowning when Axel offered his hand. "Why don't we go see him?"
"...Sora?"
She looked to the sea, contemplating whether or not to join him. An excitement twinkled in her eyes; she almost looked like she was going to agree before a dog barking could be heard. Axel watched as the same dog- the King's, he thought, Pluto- ran up to her, still incessantly barking. She bent down to get closer to Pluto as he ran around in circles, his tail swishing from side to side. It's ears perked up and Kairi glanced up, fear in her eyes as Dusks began to surround them, swishing from side to side as they awaited orders.
A portal appeared behind the group of dusks, on the opposite side to where Axel was standing; Pluto bounded over to it, barking for her to join him, his tail wagging frantically. She stood, her hair blowing in the wind, most probably contemplating what to do.
"We've got something in common, Kairi." Axel waved his arm around before clenching it into a fist. "You and I both miss someone we care about."
"Hey, I feel like we're friends already." His voice couldn't have sounded more cynical if he tried. She responded with a feminine grunt of disagreement; she turned around, walking backwards towards the portal as Pluto jumped through.
"You're not acting very friendly!" She gave no room for Axel to reply as she ran off, the portal closing behind her. The Dusks stood motionless, staring at Axel, waiting for a command that would never come.
"Silly, silly girl. Don't you know I'll stop at nothing, just like you, to get what I want?"
"What took you so long, Kairi?"
He mentally hit himself for taking so long to find the girl, but he was lucky he did. Coming out of the portal, he saw the petite redhead sitting on a couch, surrounded by the same three people that were Roxas' best friends- in the virtual Twilight Town.
"Somehow I just knew you'd be here." He motioned his hand outwards; the four teens looked at him in a mixture of surprise and shock. Pluto stood in the middle, defensive, butt in the air.
"I tell ya, Kairi, you've got a lot of guts, jumping right into the darkness like that." Hayner stood up and attempted to charge at Axel, trying to protect Kairi, but it was a weak assault and he barely had to move his arm for the teen to miss and crash to the floor. Pence attempted to do the same, but stumbled and tripped. Compared to the foes he'd faced, those two were like sitting Dusks.
He slowly walked over to Kairi, pushing the doubt to the back of his mind at her fearful expression. Axel grabbed her arm, forcing her towards the portal; she tried to struggle, forcing her feet into the ground and tugging against his arm, but to no avail. It was pure stupidity to try to resist him; she was weak, having lived on an island her whole life, been left behind by her best friends.
"Let go of me." Her pleading was pointless. He had what he came for. "Let go!" They disappeared into the portal, the stupid dog following them behind yet again as it dissipated.
"Way to fall right into their trap." Axel smirked. He lent against the rock behind him, his arms crossed. The three turned to him; Sora rushed over, swinging his Keyblade, glaring at Axel.
"C'mon, it's a set-up by Organization XIII." Surely he wasn't that dense. All he'd come to do was check up on Roxas- not giving them advice. Yet he couldn't help himself. "Xemnas is using you to destory the Heartless- that's his big master plan."
"Xemnas?" The horribly nasally-sounding duck croaked out, a glare on his face as he held a magical staff that was almost his height.
"The guy you just saw." Axel pointed to where Xemnas originally was, a smirk playing on his features. "He's their leader." Not his anymore. "Got it memorized? X-E-M, N-A-S."
Sora looked at him in mild surprise. His other companion, the stupid dog, spoke up. "Organization XIII wants to get rid of the Heartless?"
"Man, you're slow." Axel chuckled, pointing to the Keyblade in Sora's hand. "Every Heartless slain with that Keyblade releases a captive heart. That is what the Organization is after."
"So what are those guys gonna do with those hearts?" Damn, almost every word that came out of the duck's mouth irritated him more and more. He had no idea how Roxas wasn't going insane inside Sora, having to hear that.
"I'm not telling." Axel scoffed.
"Tell us!"
"You... you're the one who kidnapped Kairi!" Sora slumped desperately, finally realizing the fact. He would have thought Sora would be smarter, as Roxas was half of him. Clearly not.
"Bingo. The name's Axel. Got it memorized?" He pointed to his head, his green eyes glowing with amusement.
"Where is Kairi?" Sora far from begged. Axel looked down, scratching his head. "Please. Just tell me!"
"Look, about Kairi..." He put his head backwards, closing his eyes as he looked at the sky. Sighing, he bought it back down, his expression showing clear irritation. "I'm sorry."
"Axel!"
The redhead flinched at the sound of his name, which came from neither Sora nor his animal friends. A portal appeared, his former best friend- Saix- stepped through.
"Uh-oh." Axel bared his teeth, a portal forming behind him. Unwilling to get caught, not just yet, he stepped through it, though lingering long enough to hear the next few words that came out of Saix's mouth.
"We'll ensure he receives the maximum punishment."
What was he fighting for anymore?
That question nagged at him as he opened a portal and saw Sora fighting against a bunch of Dusks in a void. He'd lost Kairi, but even if he hadn't...
Would he really be able to get Roxas back? Or was he chasing a pointless dream? Roxas was long gone, a part of his Somebody again. No longer a Nobody. The person he was chasing, didn't really exist anymore. Roxas was there, inside Sora. But that's where he'd stay.
"It's no use!" Sora groaned, looking around at the circle of Dusks surrounding him. Axel stepped through, joining Sora as he struggled against the onslaught of enemies.
"Don't stop moving, or the darkness will overtake you!" He jumped in the air, spinning his chakrams around as they collided with a few Dusks, causing them to be flung into the air and evaporate. He span his chakram from his grasp, causing a few of them to dissipate, before he turned to Sora.
"Get goin'!"
"Why?"
"Don't ask. Just do it!" Axel didn't notice the Dusk creep up to him as he spoke to the Keyblade wielder; it pounced, sending him to the floor. Sora wasted no time in rushing to his aid, eradicating the few that had surrounded his body.
"You okay?" What, now he was concerned?
"I kidnapped Kairi, but she got away from me. After that, Saix caught her." Axel closed his eyes in regret. He'd royally created a mess trying to get Roxas back. "He's a member of Organization XIII. Saix. Got it memorized?" He looked down, not bothering to check if the Dusks were coming closer. "Now go save her!"
A Dusk came into being above Sora; it lunged for him and he shot it away, sending it back to darkness. He didn't seem to have any plans to leave Axel, and in that moment, with the stubborn look on his face, he saw Roxas shine through. They really were two halves of a whole.
"Leave us alone!" Sora warned as Axel got to his feet, willing his chakrams into existence. They split apart, relentlessly sending their weapons flying into the empty vessels attacking them. The Dusks kept regenerating, adding and multiplying into swarms. It wasn't long until they fell into a position, back to back, and realized their assault wasn't working, that there was too many.
"I think I liked it better when they were on my side." Axel commented, spinning his weapons around. Sora turned his back slightly to face the redhead; he smirked.
"Feeling a little... regret?"
Axel moved to give Sora a grin. "Nah... I can handle these punks. Watch this!"
He leaped into the air rather gracefully; when he landed, he let his weapons drop to his side and they began spinning in midair, tendrils of darkness and patches of fire floating around his whole body. The chakrams began to spin, twisting faster and faster around his being as the intensity of the fire increased. He groaned, curling up into a ball, before letting out a wail as he released the attack. The whole area filled with fire and light; when it cleared, the brunette looked down to see Axel lying on the floor, unmoving.
The Dusks were gone. Axel chuckled. At least he'd solved that problem. He could hear Sora marvel at that fact. Hell, he didn't even realize he had that power.
"You're... fading away..."
He had his eyes closed, preferably from the pain, so he couldn't see what Sora was seeing, yet he guessed it had something to do with black. And his body fading.
"Well," Axel opened his eyes, looking at Sora. "that's what happens when you put your whole being into an attack. You know what I mean?" He scoffed. "Not that Nobodies actually HAVE beings... right?"
"Anyway, I digress. Go, find Kairi. Oh, almost forgot... Sorry for what I did to her."
"When we find her, you can tell her that yourself." Sora seemed more than certain that he actually could. Axel was more of a pessimistic. He knew that the attack would kill him. He didn't expect to last much longer. He frowned, turning onto his back fully, staring up at the void.
"Think I'll pass. My heart just wouldn't be in it, you know? Haven't got one." Someone else fully took what little I had. He chuckled.
"Axel, what were you trying to do?"
"I wanted to see Roxas. He... was the only one I liked... He made me feel... like I had a heart." As much as a Nobody could. "It's kind of... funny..." Axel turned to Sora, the light in his eyes slowly dimming. "You make me feel... the same..."
His expression hardened. "Kairi's in the castle dungeon. Now go." With the last of his strength, he held out his hand, creating a portal to Kairi.
"Axel..."
He burst into black flames.
"Look who's finally awake."
Axel didn't turn his head towards the blonde, yet he sensed his gaze at his words. He stared out at the sunset, savoring the calamity. He wanted to question how it was possible, yet he already knew. Roxas was fading fully into Sora, willingly. Axel was willingly fading from existence. This was... goodbye.
"Axel..."
"Or... maybe I have it wrong. Might be time to sleep. Soon, we won't be able to talk like this anymore."
"Does that mean... it's time for me to go back to where I belong?" Roxas held no hint of anger or resentment in his voice. Merging with Sora must have taken some of his stubbornness and pure anger away. Axel wasn't sure if he liked that or not.
"You know, I've been thinking about something Namine said." Axel contemplated, sitting down next to the blonde. "Roxas, are you really sure that you don't have a heart?"
It was something he asked himself a lot. If he wasn't supposed to have feelings, how did he feel to strongly towards Roxas? If he didn't have a heart, how could he love?
"Is it possible that we ALL have one? You, me, her... Or is that just wishful thinking?"
"I dunno. I can't... just look inside."
"Yeah, I guess not." Or did he just think he loved Roxas? How did he know if it was genuine or not?
"But I figure, if there is something in there- inside of us- then we'd feel it, wouldn't we?" Roxas paused, choosing his words carefully. "And if so... No, never mind."
"C'mon, don't leave me hanging." Every inch of him hoped that Roxas felt the same way for him. Maybe that was just wishful thinking too.
"...Sora will find the answer we're looking for. I know he will. Because he's me."
"True enough."
It felt peaceful, calm. The first time in a long while they'd talked without any anger, resentment or lies. They were completely open and free. He didn't need Roxas' love. Axel would be more than happy to spend his last few moments like this. He handed the blonde a sea-salt ice cream; the look on his face clearly showed he wasn't expecting the beverage to be there. Their last sea-salt ice cream- together, anyway.
"Thanks."
"Man, I miss the old times. Still got it memorized? The day we met, when you got your new name, you and I sat right here and watched the sun set."
"Yeah. This place is home. Me, Hayner, Pence, Olette... We've shared a lot of adventures." Roxas nibbled his ice cream, looking dejected.
"You'll see them again. I know you will." Axel offered Roxas a smile. Even if it wasn't as himself, he knew he would.
"Yeah, you're right. Well, I should go, Sora's waiting for me."
Axel looked away from Roxas and cast his gaze downwards. "Yeah, I suppose he is." He stared at the other side of the clock tower, taking a bite from his ice cream. He was going to miss this. "Man, this is some good ice cream, huh?"
They sat in silence for some time, both of the clinging onto the last moments they had together.
Roxas broke that, as always. White light began to appear from his body; spots and swirls traversed over his skin, his own becoming transparent.
"Take care, okay?"
White light appeared over Axel too; he didn't fight it as it traveled over his skin, causing his body to be enveloped in a inviting warmth, light spilling from his every pore. No black flames. No pain. Just light.
"Right back at ya," Axel stared into those brilliant blue eyes for the last time; took in that beautiful porcelain skin, the plump lips he'd always ached to kiss. The sandy blonde hair that he'd wondered how it would feel grasped between his fingers. He took in, for the last time, the boy he loved. Without a doubt. Every single inch of him. A single tear spilled from his face as he faded away.
"Buddy."
He sat on nothing. He was in nothing; he wasn't sure if it was death, but he couldn't think of anything worse. Purgatory, maybe. Hey, at least he wasn't being tortured.
There was no concept of time. Two hours could have passed as two seconds, and five minutes could have passed as a year. He didn't know. He couldn't estimate how long he'd been in there because he truly didn't know. He just knew it was a long time. Alone. Contemplating everything he'd done, good or bad. Was any of it worth it, when it just left him sitting there alone with only memories to cling onto?
"Axel."
He looked up, right into the face of DiZ. Or, rather, Ansem the Wise. Not the bad guy everyone thought he was. Even fooled Axel.
"What are you doing here? Don't tell me you're dead too." He smirked, though it dropped as soon as he saw the man's non moving expression. "Oh."
"There's too much pain. Too much suffering. You've had your fare share of that, haven't you, boy?"
Axel scoffed, waving his arm in dismissal. "You could say that."
"What... What if I told you you could be given another chance?"
Axel whisked around, his hands grasping at nothing as he stumbled. "What are you talking about? That's not possible."
Ansem smiled, a unusual feat that chilled him. "We could all be reborn. Into a new world. Without Keyblade wielders, without heartless or nobodies. You could exist. What do you say to that?"
The void shone as a single white feather dropped into Axel's lap.
Please please tell me if you want me to continue this or not. I have a few ideas, but I'm not sure if I should leave it as a two-shot or expand it longer.