A/N: Sorry that I haven't updated for a long time. Sorry that the chapter is very long. Sorry that the story is now rated 'M' because of possible chapters. Yeah. The reason I haven't updated is because I've been busy the last two weeks. My sister came up, the homework from my classes been piling up (beware of the AP classes), and I was stuck on the whole Axel-Bane fight scene. Just to let you know, I replaced Chapter 2. You know what happens but I added some "blast from the past" moments of Axel and some Alana. The same thing goes for Chapter 1 (no Alana in that one). And I might replace Chaps 3 and 4, adding in some Demyx moments since the original chapters is mostly Myde-centric. Well, anyway, here's the overdue update.
Chapter 7
:Axel and Demyx:
Alana focused on the redhead, who was looking passed the flames at Bane and Thrash. He was in the cloak she had seen many times in her dreams. It was the one that mostly Organization members wore. To her that was proof that it was truly Axel.
"Can you stand?" he asked. She nodded and he let go of her arms. With one hand, he made a portal and with the other, he held his chakram. Then he glanced back at her. She doesn't look so good, he thought as his other chakram appeared. But she's the only that can get to Myde and that girl. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she muttered.
"I see you're as stubborn as ever," Axel said. His eyes landed on his Heartless and then on Thrash, who was on the opposite side of the dying flames. Thrash's eyes were on the Heartless and Axel had a feeling it would be a target. "Find them," he told Alana.
Alana nodded and went through the portal, the Heartless right behind her.
"Bane," Thrash said simply, his golden eyes on the blue-haired girl.
"What?"
"Go."
"Why?" Bane whined and grabbed Thrash's arm. His eye twitched but she ignored it and moved his bangs aside. Thrash made eye contact wit her, revealing the frustration he was feeling.
"Just go. I'll fight him and you take care of Alana. Is that really so hard to understand?"
"I want to fight Axel," Bane said, giving her best puppy-dog eyes at Thrash. "Alana is, after all, your old student. You two should have a reunion or something. Plus I've waited months for this." She wondered if it would even work. To put it lightly, Thrash wasn't so fond of her and Bane knew that. However, she really wanted to fight Axel and she wasn't going to give up the opportunity.
Thrash sighed. "Fine," he said, pulling his arm away. "Fight him." He took off to find Alana.
Bane jumped up and down from excitement, nearly touching the ceiling. "Finally! Let's go, Number Eight!"
Axel almost said "what" but he stepped back when Bane unleashed the first attack. She's a close-range fighter, he thought. This shouldn't take long. He extended his arms out and raised another firewall. Axel smirked at the girl.
Bane returned it. "You know, we're all curious about how the great the Organization was."
"I'm sorry about this," Payge told Myde.
"It's okay," he assured her. "We'll get out somehow."
The two were tied together back-to-back. They had been in this position for awhile; Myde had been struggling the whole time. However, he couldn't get the ropes loose and the two remained on the library floor.
Payge felt Myde trying to untie the ropes again and giggled. "You're always positive, Myde. That's one of the things I . . . kinda admire about you."
She had said this quietly but the blonde had heard her. He stopped, looked back at her, and saw the faint blush on her cheeks. He looked away, blushing himself. "Thanks. You're a very considerate person and that's what I . . . kinda . . . like about you." Someone rounded the corner and he looked up. "Alana?" His eyes moved to the Heartless next to her. "Do you know that there's-"
"I know," she said, placing her hands on the ground. A circle spread out from them, the edge of it barely reaching Myde's feet. Once again, she felt that horrible drained feeling coming back to her.
"What are you doing?" Myde asked.
Should she answer or simply avoid the question? That was what went through her mind as she stared at the blonde. She sighed and shook her head, her eyes returning to the ground. "Separate."
Myde didn't understand what was happening. He felt as if his body was being torn apart by force. He heard Payge's voice but soon it was gone, replaced by the silence of the darkness.
Payge stared at the Shadow that appeared in Myde's place. She looked at Alana, who was barely standing. "What did you do?"
"Demyx," she said, slumping against the wall. She slid down it, her slate eyes closing on her.
"Alana?" Because Myde had been replaced by a smaller being, Payge was able to get out of the ropes more easily. Immediately, she rushed over to Alana and shook her. "Alana? Come on, get up." Myde's Heartless and the other one rushed over to the unconscious girl's side. Payge looked at them, wondering who was who.
"She's not going to get up," Thrash said behind Payge.
Payge looked up in alarm and turned toward him. As much as she would have liked to show her defiance, she was nervous. "Why not?"
"The Maiden over exhausted herself," Thrash explained. "Her new body isn't like her last one."
"What do you mean?"
"The heart belongs to Kingdom Hearts but not the body. Kingdom Hearts is just struggling to keep her intact. Eventually, if she keeps doing what she's doing, her very being will be destroyed." He reached out to touch Alana's face but Payge moved in the way.
"I won't let you touch her," she warned, her voice wavering.
"Is that so?" Thrash said, his hand transforming. Payge bit her bottom lip but didn't move from her position. How badly do I need to hurt her this time till she gets the point? Break her arm? Leg? Neck? Before he could do anything, a portal opened down the aisle and a blonde in a black cloak walked out, holding a sitar.
The blonde moved toward them. "Alana, Payge, bad guy. Nice to meet you all."
"Number Nine, the Melodious Nocturne, right?" Thrash asked, his other hand already transforming.
Demyx shuddered at the sight."I am but do we really have to fight?"
Thrash replied, "We don't have to. Just let me take Alana and that'll be good enough."
Demyx scratched the back of his head. "I can't. Axel would kill me."
"Then we'll have to fight."
"Okay," he said cheerfully but then he got serious. Demyx closed his eyes and strummed his sitar, feeling the music flow throughout his body for the first time in a long time. Tons of water droplets appeared around the Melodious Nocturne and combined to form water clones. He paused in the middle of his playing and then strummed a single chord. The clones charged at Thrash.
Thrash took a few steps back, preparing for an attack. When he was ready, his claws ripped through them.
"I can keep this up all day!" Demyx said as he created more clones.
"Is that so?" Thrash said nonchalantly, his eyes glancing at each one. "How about if you had no arms?"
Demyx winced. "Oh. Then I think that would be a problem."
Thrash smirked and charged at Demyx. Demyx yelped and a clone came in front of him. Thrash ripped through that one and any others that were in his way. Number Nine quickly strummed his sitar and a clone appeared behind Thrash. Before Thrash could turn around, the clone grabbed him and swung him into a nearby bookcase. Demyx grinned and a wave of water crashed into Thrash.
The bookcase tumbled over, Thrash along with it.
Payge looked up at the Nobody that Artemis had talked about so much and Bane had praised. In ways he was like Myde; in ways he was different. He was truly the master of water and his Organization title suited him well. Demyx looked back at her and she blushed, feeling embarrassed that she had been caught staring.
"Don't worry. I'll protect you . . . And her," he added, nodding toward Alana. His blue eyes landed on the two Heartless. "And them . . . I'm not missing anyone, am I?"
She averted her gaze. "No."
Demyx grinned sheepishly. "I guess that's good. You know, back then I use to keep note of these things on a piece of paper and when I would forget. . ."
Thrash got off the floor, his suit and his snow-white hair dripping wet. His golden eyes narrowed as he cracked his claws by flexing them. The cracks were loud enough in the empty library because he had the blonde's attention. He ran fast toward Demyx. Before the Melodious Nocturne could react, he bent down low and ripped his claws across his abdomen. Demyx stumbled backward, surprised to see a trickle of blood.
He barely grazed me, Demyx thought as he glared.
Thrash cracked his claws again. "I'll rip you apart."
"Shit!" Axel said as he almost got punched in the face.
"What's wrong, Axel?!" Bane launched a kick but Axel avoided that one as well. The redhead sent his chakram after her but she jumped out of range, right into the fire wall. She yelped in pain and started to blow out the small flame on her tail. By the time the girl looked up, the chakram were whizzing toward her again. One slit her cheek, the other pierce her right shoulder.
Refusing to let him know the pain she was, she held her scream back. She leaped toward, landed, and swung her leg to trip Axel. The redhead fell over and she jumped on top of him, leaning closer to his face. Her lips curled into a smirk. "How's this, Axel?"
The Flurry of Dancing Flames threw her off and she nearly hit the wall of flames again. He stood up, his emerald eyes watching the blue-haired girl on the ground. Bane glared at him through a mass of hair that had fallen in her face, her yellow eyes full of contempt.
Axel smirked. "If you were Alana, I wouldn't have minded much."
Bane got up, examining the fire wall surrounding them. It was losing its flare as the flames slowly died out. She hoped Axel did not notice-if worse came to worse, she needed that escape route. She started to walk near the wall while she watched Axel, who, in return, followed her movements. Then Bane attacked.
Axel rolled out of the way and sent his chakram after her. Bane jumped four feet over them, surprising the redhead. She landed and kicked Axel in the stomach. Then she kicked him into the flames. "Fool," Bane muttered. At that moment, a chakram came whizzing behind and slit her cheek. Surprised, she touched it with her fingers and then looked at them, seeing blood on the tips of her fingers. The second chakram came and she moved out of the way. It disappeared into the flames, probably to meet the other one.
Damn him. Fire can't really kill this nutcase.
Bane looked around urgently before Axel showed himself. He came sliding toward her, leaving a trail of fire behind him. Bane jumped out of the way.
Axel stopped moving and looked at her. His fingers twitched in a beckoning sort of way. Bane hardly noticed it. Both chakram came out of the flames behind her. She saw them too late. The redhead saw the impact the moment the chakram collided with her shoulders and the blood before she fell on the floor.
The Flurry of Dancing Flames caught his weapons before making them disappear. Then he walked over to the girl. Her eyes were closed as her chest heaved with each breath she took. For now, she couldn't fight. Axel sighed and ran out of the room to find the others.
As he ran through the library, he knew where to go even though this was his first time being here. It was probably due to the countless times Lea had to come here for reports. He rounded a bookcase and halted.
Axel saw a barrier of geysers. Then he saw Thrash and a teenager, who was no doubt one of them, waiting for it to come down. Demyx is here, too?
Thrash was soaking wet and his body bruised all over. Thrash looked around out of boredom and saw Axel. He smirked. "I assume you took care of Bane, Axel. So, is she dead or barely clinging on to life? I believe that's how the Organization does its job."
The geysers came and Demyx appeared with Alana and Payge behind him. He was holding his stomach, trying his best to stop the blood flow. Despite his injury, Demyx grinned at the sight of his friend. "Axel!"
"Where's the Heartless?" Axel asked.
"They have them," Demyx said, pointing at Thrash and the teenager. "Thrash has some weird crystal thing."
Thrash sighed and showed Axel a blue crystal hanging from a black string. As the crystal swayed on the string, it glowed a faint hue and the black mist inside swirled more. "I made it yesterday," Thrash explained. "Looks familiar, Axel?"
"It's like the blue cube," Axel muttered.
"Wow, you're not as stupid as you look," Thrash said nonchalantly.
"Can we go now?" the teenager snapped, folding his arms. "We have more than enough test subjects and the Heartless is already taking care of Radiant Garden. There's nothing else to do. Unless," he added, "you want the Maiden as part of some sick plan." Thrash shrugged and the teenager groaned.
Shadow appeared. In his arms was Bane. "Gear has a point. Artemis probably wants a full report on the current situation now."
"Probably," Thrash said. "We'll have to do something about Bane. It could actually hurt us if she dies."
Thrash stared at the crystal before chucking it as Demyx. The blonde caught it and stared at Thrash, a questioning expression on his face. "It's for Alana," he said. "She'll know what to do with it." Thrash turned around and started to walk off with the others.
"Wait!" Payge called out and the Experimented stopped. Her voice became more quiet and controlled. "Why does Artemis need more test subjects?"
Gear looked back, his eyes reflecting the darkness he was feeling. "He wants to see what the limit is."
"The limit? Since when has he cared about that?"
Demyx frowned and exchanged looks with Axel. From the way Payge talked about it, 'the limit' couldn't have been a good thing. Then again, Demyx decided anything with Artemis could not be a good thing. He glanced at Payge before his blue eyes focused on Gear.
Gear turned around. "Asks Thrash. You know, since Artemis literally kisses the ground he walks on."
Shadow stared at Thrash and the snow-whited haired man nodded. They disappeared into the shadows.
"What's the limit?" Axel asked as he picked up Alana.
"I'll have to tell you later. Radiant Garden is still under attack."
"Of course," Demyx said, creating a portal. The crystal hung around his neck for safe keeping. He figured that when Alana woke up, it will be in her possession. At that thought, he looked at Axel. "She'll be unconscious for a while, right? Alana I mean."
"At least a good three days," Axel replied. "Or more."
Alana opened her eyes. Though it was complete darkness around her, she could still see her hands. She stood up and walked around. Her footfalls echoed and at this she frowned. "Where am I?" Alana asked out loud.
Near the dark abyss of your heart.
She looked around sharply, trying to see where the voice had come from. But there was no one. "Who are you?"
A part of you that's been sleeping for so long. Until all this darkness came into your heart and soul not too long ago.
Alana remembered the night Shadow had poured his own darkness into her. Her slate eyes narrowed. "Show yourself."
Right here. She turned around and saw a hand sticking out of the darkness. Alana approached it. Come on. Take my hand. You want to know why you feel so strongly about Axel and Lea.
"I don't."
You can't lie to me. I know what you're feeling. Confusion. Passion. Love.
Alana reached out to grab the hand but hesitated.
I'll help you remember everything.
Alana grabbed the hand. It disappeared and bright green vines snaked around Alana's wrists and ankles. Her dark brown hair grew longer and her clothes changed into a giant sweatshirt and baggy shorts. She felt emotions taking over: anger, sadness, disappointment in herself for getting caught.
"Apparently she has forgotten her place and needs to be reminded."
"Um, Saix, I think she didn't really know what she was doing."
That sounds like Demyx.
"She knew well what she was doing."
The darkness cleared and Alana found herself in a white corridor. Axel was there; so was Demyx. There were two others that she didn't know. However, their names came in an instant. Marluxia and Saix.
Saix moved in and her slate eyes glared at the blue-haired man. This wasn't her but it was. It was if she was looking in from the outside but at the same time it was impossible for she was seeing through these eyes.
"I'm going to break her spirit," Saix said and using his claymore, slashed her chest.
There was pain but Alana didn't want to cry out. So she bit down on her bottom lip.
"She'll never have a will of her own." There was another slash on her skin.
"She's pathetic.
"Worthless.
"Her very existence is meaningless."
Saix stopped attacking and grabbed her chin so she could face him. "If you ever try to escape, we will kill you. I will find your master and dispose of him myself. You are nothing but a tool to the Organization and you should know well not to refuse." He let go and walked passed her. She wanted to glare at him but he was behind her and so she couldn't see him.
Alana saw Demyx sighed a sigh of relief and Axel's eyes on her. Marluxia was smirking at her. Alana gritted her teeth and found herself yelling. "If you ever try to kill my master, I'll kill you myself! You hear me, Saix?! I'll kill you!'
There was a silence. A chill passed through her body.
You were a fool. Then again, I never once thought you were the better of the two of us.
"Damn!" Axel was suddenly running toward her but it was too late.
A/N: That's it. Hope I don't have many mistakes in there (even though I'm sure I do). I didn't mean for the chapter to get long but the last scene got me going. I realized some time ago that I'm elaborating on the scenes I didn't include but you knew they happened one way or another. Like the last one. And the one in Chapter 2. Just to let you, Alana is still unconscious and she's just reliving them in her mind. Anyway, thanks to halfdemon-kai for reviewing. Hopefully, I can update next week.
