Axel sighed. He didn't want to do this. But he convinced himself he had to. He slowly raised his fist and knocked on Demyx's door. "Who is it?" "Axel." "Come on in." Axel walked in hoping he could bear this. He somehow thought Demyx would get upset. He tried to remind himself Demyx has no emotion. "Hey Axel, have you seen Muzix today?" Axel froze. "No," he finally replied. "Demyx, we need to talk." He tried to tell Demyx in the least painful way possible. "I see," Demyx said. "I guess I'm on my own now." "Not really. I'm still here." "Thanks, Axel." Then the two said goodbye and Axel left quickly. He didn't want Demyx to see the tears growing in his eyes.
"Axel!" He looked and saw his sister running toward him. "Come quick!" She pulled the redhead with her to her quarters in the basement. He hadn't been here since his first day of Nobodyhood. "Xanthe, what's up?" "I got a new one," she replied. Before Axel could ask, Xanthe picked up a pink notebook. She opened it to about the third page and skimmed the chicken scratch. "Here," she said. "Read in your head." The page was all about relief. "I guess I could be your guinea pig," Axel said. "Go for it." Xanthe nodded and took the notebook. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She placed her hand on Axel's chest and pushed. Axel didn't know whether to scoot back or push back. Then he felt it. He felt relieved. Because Xanthe was there. Expert hadn't killed her. "Well," said Axel. "It works." "Thanks, I'll get right to work on some more. Axel, we'll have hearts again." 'Yeah." And he left quickly once again.
Axel wasn't sure what would happen next. He went to talk to Zexion. Although he wanted to wear the glasses to commemerate the death of who seemed his closest friend, he couldn't wear them on missions much more. They would fall off and get broken for sure. "Axel. Come in." Curiously, Axel walked into the dark room. Zexion was staring out the window drinking tea again. He seemed to do that a lot. "Your contacts are ready." Zexion stood and went over to a table. He picked up a small case. He walked up to Axel and lifted the case. "They're in here." Axel took the case. "Thanks, Zexion." As he left to put them in, Zexion warned, "Don't wear them to sleep, whatever you do."
Axel put his contacts in and immediately noticed the strange color. His eyes were usually a lme green, but now they were more light green with a hint of blue. He shrugged off this problem when someone knocked on the door. "Come in." Demyx walked in. "Muzix is dead, but I don't care. I want to, but I can't!" "I'm sorry. But you don't want to care as much as you think you do." "What makes you say that?" About then, Numbers XI and XII were introduced into the Organization. "Two at the same time. We'll run out of space at this rate," said Axel. "Oh, Demyx. I have a secret to tell you. I trust you like I trusted your sister." Axel told Demyx about his own sister, and the emotions inside of him. "Trust me, Dem. It sucks that we lost her, but you shouldn't have to feel this pain." "I see." And Demyx left without another word. Something is wrong with him, thought Axel. Really.
Bored out of his flipping mind, Axel took a big sniff of the air around him. "Man, oh man." He stood and went into the shower. Not even a Nobody should be aloud to smell that bad. He got out and searched for a clean cloak in his closet. He finally found one and sprayed on a weak cologne. He didn't need to come on that strong. He just needed to be accepted by the emotionless shells, even though it made no sense. Still bored, he roamed out of his door.
Wonder if Xanthe's already got anything new, he thought as he walked down the hall. He passed by two new Nobodies, one a blonde and one a...pink head. The blonde took a huge whiff of Axel. "You actually smell good," she commented. "Nobody else seems to." The pink head started tapping his toe. "Are you finished, Larxene?" "If I didn't know better, I say you're jealous." The two walked away. "Larxene, huh? Name's Axel. Got it memorized?" "Whatever." Larxene was just so...ugh. Remembering his task, Axel trudged down to the basement. "You have work to do...Axel." "Shut up, Expert. I'm sick of your annoying morals." Axel walked past his brother who could kill in an instant. "You know," said Expert. "I'd kill you right now if I wasn't so busy." And he left.
Axel knocked on Xanthe's door. "Yeah," she answered. He opened the door and saw her writing in her notebook. "How goes it, sis?" "Oh, Axel. What a nice surprise." She smiled. Axel closed the door behind him. "You see," Xanthe said. "I've been in here all morning working on a really important emotion." She wrote a few words and said, "Love." "Oh, really? That's neat." Axel layed down on his sister's bed and looked at her, writing away at her little desk. "Hey, Xanthe?" "Hm?" "What do you think it's like...love, I mean." "Well," she started. "It's kind of embarrassing...I was in love once, when we lived in Chicago, but...oh, I can't tell you!" Axel sat up in anticipation. "You have to! The suspense is killing me! Who was it?" Xanthe sighed. "Promise you won't tell?" "Cross my...er...whatever and hope to die." Xanthe giggled. "Ienzo." "Oh, that's rich!" "Axel!" She punched her brother in the arm. "Anyway," he said. "How close are you?" "I just need to find a few more answers. But they're tough equations that are almost impossible for me to solve. Love is the strongest emotion. Hey, Axel. You just woke up, right?" As he nodded, she asked, "Did you do your mission this morning?" Axel gave a mock apology as he ran to the wide room.
"I thought you'd never arrive." Saïx was once again irritated with Axel's behavior. "Hey, what's up, Saïx?" "Just get going." Axel was pushed through another portal. "Well, I don't see anything around here yet." He took out his notebook and added some questions.
7. What do I keep getting pushed through?
8. What is the "wide room" even called?
9. What is this town called?
Then a giant monster appeared, forcing Axel to put away his notebook. He summoned his chakrams the way he'd learned from Muzix. Then the battle began. Axel hit the monster between the eyes, got hit with its spiked tail. Attacked the tail, got hit by its sharp claws. There was not a way for Axel to attack without getting hit back harder. He started to lose all his strength, falling to a kneeling position. "I can't...give up...Muzix wouldn't let me!" He jumped up in the air. "Don't say I didn't warn you!" He shouted. He spun his chakrams around, generating a fire. Then he shot disks of fire at the monster. That did the trick, because the monster collapsed. It glowed white and evaporated. Out of the middle rose a heart-shaped crystal. Axel asked his notebook what it was.
"So you're back." Expert was leaning against the wall when Axel returned. "Good. I think we should talk." "What do you want?" "Not here. Come on." Expert went out of the wide room and down the hallway. "Are you coming?" Axel rolled his eyes and went after his brother.
"Ok, we're in the most remote place possible. What do you want?" "Axel, I just wanted to say sorry." "What? You're joking." Xanthe popped her head out of her room and winked at Axel. Now he understood. "Oh," said Axel. "You're in on the deal, too." Expert nodded. "I'm not sure if I can kill another man now. Thanks for that." "What do you mean? We don't have guilt yet." "He does," said Xanthe. "I made sure of it." Expert blew his hair as many people do when angry or embarrassed. Axel laughed. "Shhh! You might get in trouble!" whispered Xanthe. "Trouble?" "Well, I haven't exactly been passing these things on to everyone. They'll be upset." Axel silenced himself. "Hey, guys," he said. "Do you think...we could pass 'em on to Demyx? Not sadness. Just everything else." "Why?" "It's our fault his sister is..." Axel couldn't finish the painful sentence. Xanthe nodded. "Yes. That will be arranged."
Axel was happy for Demyx. Literally. He went to his room to sit and look at Kingdom Hearts. He dozed off at his white desk and dreamt. About Muzix. She was smiling her toothy smile. And running toward him. But she never reached him. She was getting further away with each step. She was..."Axel! Wake up!" "Wha...?" Axel woke up with drool all over his shoulder. "That's just great." "Axel, something wierd is going on!" shouted Demyx. "I...feel!" Axel laughed. "Let's just say you know the brother of an emotionist." "Oh, thank you!" Demyx smiled for the first time since Axel had seen him. Demyx looked at his watch identical to Muzix's. "Oh, I gotta go! See ya, Axel!" Axel cinched at the familar good-bye, minus the 'chan.' But Demyx didn't see. He was gone.
As time rolled on, Axel was still staring into the nothingness outside his window. Thinking about Muzix. Until he couldn't keep his eyes open any more and retreated to his painful bed.