Yay! I'm back!
26 days left in my senior year! I am sososo excited!
Anyways...thanks to Icy Sapphire1 for being my beta!
Enjoy!
Axel rubbed his green eyes and slowly rose from his bed, cursing at his headache. What the Hell did he do last night? He glanced at the clock to see it flash. 7:30.
Damn. He was late.
Axel scrambled out of bed, tripping over himself and yelping in pain. He jumped up and hopped to his closet on one foot to grab his Organization uniform. He threw it on, barely stopping to zip his cloak up before racing out the door.
Xemnas tapped the table while glaring down the hall. A door slammed behind an emerging Axel. Xemnas groaned and shook his head.
"Sorry, I overslept," the red head gasped. His gaze fell on Roxas and he instantly froze.
Blue eyes met green. Axel felt something flutter where his heart should have been. What was happening? For that one bittersweet moment, Axel remembered what it was like to feel his heart beat.
"Uh, Axel," Xemnas interrupted, "This is Roxas."
Axel sat down in the chair between Xemnas and Roxas but didn't break his stare. "Hello, Roxas."
Xemnas lifted a puzzled eyebrow. "Anyways, Roxas, I have already told you of Axel."
The boy nodded.
"You will be spending the day with him. Do whatever he asks of you. Alright?"
He nodded again.
Xemnas turned his attention to Axel. "Do you think you can handle this one, Axel?"
Every part of him shouted to say no. "Yes."
"Excellent. I'll leave you two for a while. I have business that I am late for."
Xemnas' heels clicked out of the meeting room, leaving Axel gaping at Roxas. Axel wasn't sure how to talk to this kid who had, for a single moment, made him feel like he had a heart. He drank way too much the night before…that had to be it. He would have to explain to Xaldin that he would never drink again. Surely his best friend would understand.
Roxas stared at Axel in return, which was only mildly creepy. What was going on in that blonde head? Axel finally decided that he had endured enough silence.
"Do you speak?"
The new kid's blue eyes sparkled. "Yes, I speak."
Now what? Axel didn't have the slightest inspiration of what to say next. Should he tell Roxas that he would have to attend an execution? That wasn't the greatest conversation starter. This kid could speak but what did he have to say? Axel bit his lip. "So, Roxas," he started, "How are you?" He narrowed his eyes. Yeah, that's wonderful. He was the most feared member of the Organization. The most violent. The most heartless and all he could say to a new member was "How are you"?
Roxas blinked. "I'm fine."
The executioner sighed. What else could he possibly say? It wasn't like Roxas had a story. He was still just a blank slate. "So, do you know what we're doing today?" Dear God, he sounded like a hung-over preschool teacher…
"You're training me and taking me to an execution."
Did he even know what an execution was? "Yes, that's about it. So, training…Um, what do you know so far?"
Roxas shook his head. "Nothing."
"Do you have a weapon?"
"No."
How the hell was he supposed to train this kid? Axel groaned. He couldn't give Roxas a weapon due to the strong fact that Roxas may just be a Keyblade welder. This would be interesting. "Alright, we can't really train today but we can go over regulations."
Roxas nodded.
"So here's the first rule: once in the Organization, there's no leaving. Leaving is punishable by death." He looked at Roxas to ensure that he understood. "Number two: always obey orders. That should be easy enough and lastly," Axel concluded, "No romantic affairs."
Roxas blinked. "That's all."
"That's all. All we focus on is obedience." Axel leaned back in his chair. "When one is not obedient, he or she is punished. Got it memorized?"
Roxas nodded.
"Punishments can range from execution to torture depending on the severity of the offense. We've never had the need to execute an Organization member. I'd know because I carry punishments out."
"So you're carrying out an execution today?"
"Not on an Organization member. We also execute those who try to shut us down or if we receive an execution request from Maleficent." He wondered if he should explain who she was but by the looks of it, Roxas already knew. Xemnas must have explained some things to Roxas already.
He was done explaining, so it was time to prepare for the execution. He looked over to Roxas. Dare Axel say it? He looked indescribably perfect…
Axel motioned for Roxas to follow him down the silver staircase lurking in the back of the kitchen. The hallway was so well lit that it appeared gloomy. All one could hear while descending the staircase was his own footsteps creaking on the metal. An iron door stood tall and looming a foot beyond the final step.
"This is the entrance to the Organization's Prison," Axel explained, pushing the door open. Beyond the door, the environment hardly changed. The walls became black but the floor still shined with steel that reflected the blinding white lights. Cold air and the scent of cleaning solution and bleach congested the wide hall. At the end, the hall split into two. One led to the cells and the other led to the death chamber—Axel's office. Axel began down the hall leading to the chamber. The floor and wall underwent a metamorphosis into harsh white tile as Axel and Roxas entered the entrance room to the chamber. A wall of weapons hung on the far side. An over shined shower head dripped in the corner over a drain that should have been rusted a long time ago but still looked new. No signs were evident of the water that captured blood and ran with it down the drain. No arrows pointed to the invisible drops the color of rubies that had once fallen from the executioner's palms. Even through the flawlessness, anyone who peered into that first room would know that Death was present.
The next door was Death. A large white window replaced wall, giving a glimpse into the final chamber beyond that door. Roxas peered into the window with a blank expression. Axel couldn't decipher what the blonde was thinking.
Axel analyzed his choice of weapons. He couldn't use the dagger from yesterday. His eyes latched onto the two red and silver wheels covered with shimmering thorns: the chakrams. He had never used them. He was saving their first kill for something important, though he had not the faintest idea of what. Without another deciding thought, he lifted the scythe from the rack. He carefully leaned it against the wall then turned back to Roxas.
"Now," he explained, "We start. Wait here. This is the dangerous part."
Axel looked to the clock on the wall. Why did he always have to look at that thing like it actually worked? The hands were forever stuck on 11:12 with the second hand only flicks away from the top.
He didn't waste another moment. Axel headed back through the hallway. This time, he walked to the left.
At the end of this corridor, the door led to the Prison.
The walls were an imperishable white just like in the Death Chamber. Only this time, silver bars protruded from the walls and clasped their iron fingers together. In the final cage on the left, a large boned woman with black hair sat with her back turned to him.
"Is it time?" she asked.
Axel stepped to the bars and began to press in the keycode. The door beeped and swished open.
The Queen stood, the chains around her wrists clinking. Her black hair once was arranged magnificently but now hung limp around her shoulders.
"Queen Isabella of Hearts," Axel started, "You have committed the crime of stealing from the Organization and knowingly having a fugitive roam in your world with failure to turn him in."
She had tried to rob all of the Organization's munny and confessed to knowing that Sora was wanted while he ran freely in Wonderland, which she ruled. She was expected to be greedy but somehow, through some magnificent "epiphany", she decided that she cared about which side she chose.
"Do you deny these accusations?"
"I do not," she hissed.
Axel forced her off of the white ground. "Then you are hereby sentenced to death."
He pushed her to walk down the long hall for the final time and with a last shove, the Queen was in the buckle chair. Axel fastened the straps as tight as he could before removing the chains form her hands. "I'll be right back. Enjoy your final moments." He opened the door to the Entrance Room to see Roxas still staring with wide eyes into the window.
"What is going to happen to her?" Roxas asked with barely a whisper.
Axel picked up his scythe. "She is going to die."
Roxas turned to him with a pasty white face of horror. "Why?"
The executioner shrugged. "I was ordered to."
"Being ordered to kill…" Roxas muttered halfway to himself.
The red-head raised an eyebrow. What was this kid talking about? He shook the question off. "Naminé', the maid, should be down in a minute. Make sure that she is prepared to clean up."
Axel turned into the chamber and looked back at the window knowing that even though he couldn't see Roxas through the blackened glass, those blue eyes were watching every move and slash Axel made.
Hopefully I'll have some form of another chapter soon.
Reviews aren't forced but they are appreciated. :)