Disclaimer: Nope, Kingdom Hearts isn't mine.
Welcome to chapter 7 everyone! This chapter was kinda fun to write, so I hope you all enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.
"Tao isn't back yet?" Axel asked with a blend of confusion and concern. Although Lea claimed not to be troubled, Roxas knew that it was a façade, and Axel suspected it as well. They'd been married and living in the mountains for years. If Tao was often late, she wouldn't have seemed so worried. However, with Roxas incapacitated, they didn't have many options.
"I'm sure he'll be back by the morning" Lea added with a forced smile as she waved her hand casually in the air. "Let's just get some rest for now. We'll talk more in the morning boys"
"Night Lea. Sweet dreams" Axel hummed sympathetically as he rose from the floor and offered the old woman a hug.
"Night" Roxas sheepishly muttered as he smiled fondly at her, and then watched as she departed the room. Axel gathered the blankets from the corner of the room and began to set up their 'nest' as Axel had fondly dubbed it. Roxas attempted to help; however, he was too sore to rise. Luckily, Axel was very understanding and insisted that Roxas rested. Axel was even so gracious as to pull Roxas playfully toward him once it was ready.
Roxas smiled fondly as he filled the groove of Axel's body perfectly. He snuggled happily in Axel's embrace as he spoke.
"What do we do if Tao isn't back tomorrow?" Roxas asked softly before he let out a soft yawn. Roxas felt faintly anxious; however, much of that had melted away once he was in Axel's embrace.
"I think we should go look for him. But only if you're feeling okay" Axel suggested as he gently rubbed Roxas's stomach. Axel's deep, low hum was a soothing melody that relaxed him.
"'Kay" Roxas muttered as his eyelids grew heavy. "Night Ax. Love you"
"Night Rox. Love you too" Just like earlier, the exchange of verbal fondness felt like drinking a glass of water. It was refreshing and comforting.
Roxas wasn't exactly sure how long it had been before he found sleep. With an odd mixture of comfort with a light, lingering discomfort, Roxas hovered just away from deep sleep for a while. He didn't know if it was five minutes, ten minutes, half an hour, or longer, but he found one of the most comfortable sleeps he'd ever had. Roxas felt like he'd only ever slept, but never rested.
The morning had come, but Tao had not. The lingering concern had begun to take its toll upon Lea, whose initial signs of anxiety had become more discernible. The air was thick with tension in the house, and Roxas couldn't help but feel bad for Lea. The concern that was carved on her face, despite her attempts to mask it, was a sad sight.
"You okay Lea" Axel asked sympathetically as she began to prepare the morning tea.
"It's okay. I'm fine" Lea hummed absent-mindedly as she fiddled with the porcelain teapot.
A soft sigh escaped Axel before he asked, "Do you want us to do anything?"
"No, it's fine. Let's just have some tea" Lea added a bit more pleasantly as she began to fill three cups.
The room was filled with an awkward silence as Roxas and Axel shot each other glances. Roxas felt a wearying tightness in his chest as his gaze fell. Roxas grabbed his cup and took a quick sip of his tea.
"What if we go search for him?" Roxas offered meekly.
"No, no, it's fine boys, please" Lea insisted sweetly after a short pause.
"It's the least we could do. You let us stay here, we might as well help ya" Axel offered casually before he took a sip from his tea. "It's not a problem. We walked up here, so we'll be fine" Axel reminded with a cheery grin. Lea was silent for a moment.
"Alright, fine. But be careful, okay boys? It's starting to snow"
"Will do" Axel grinned widely as he rose to his feet. He offered Roxas a hand, and helped him up. Roxas didn't really need the help, since much of his soreness had vanished; however, he still found the gesture cute. Lea rose as well and walked into her room for a moment before she emerged with two fur garments in her hands.
"Tao only had one coat, but I have a couple spare shawls. Wear these so you won't be so cold" Lea insisted as she handed them both the two fur garments. The two accepted them and observed them awkwardly. They didn't know how to put them on. There were no sleeves or wholes for their arms. Lea chuckled softly before she took it from Roxas's hands, and then slipped his head through the hole.
"You let it drape over your shoulders like that" Lea instructed with a soft, humored grin. Roxas was thankful of his ignorance: it gave Lea a smile. Roxas smiled softly and nodded, and then watched Axel slip the simple fur garment on.
"Thanks. We'll be back soon" Axel said their farewell as the two waved at the elderly woman, and then strode out of the humble abode.
As they strolled out of the home and began to descend down the snaking slope, Roxas slid his hand into Axel's.
"How are we gonna find him?" Roxas asked curiously as he gazed up at his fiery-haired lover.
"Well he's probably on the mountain somewhere, just tired or injured. We'll probably find 'em on the way down" Axel hummed confidently as he smiled down at Roxas. Roxas saw the accuracy in Axel's logic. Where else could he have been?
As Roxas traveled along the sloping path that lead down the mountain, Roxas's gaze was once again drawn to the mysterious misty valley that sat snuggly between two of the mountains. Its mystifying presence couldn't help but prod at Roxas's curiosity. Roxas couldn't' help but question if there was a river there, or land. If there were heartless there, or if there were some other entity.
Nonetheless, none of his thoughts mattered. There was only one thing they needed to find: Tao. The couple had found him too; however, they found him under different circumstances.
Although the elderly man's voice caught their attention around the corner of a crag that stretched menacingly over the edge of the mountain, there were other voices as well.
"I'm not taking you, so you might as well just kill me" Tao's voice was tired and weak.
"You're taking us old man" A dull, flat voice nonchalantly hummed, which was followed by a nervous whimper from Tao. That dull voice was one that Roxas and Axel were all-too-acquainted with. It was Marluxia.
"Leave it to me, Marluxia. You've had your fun already" A childish female voice mused teasingly, and was followed by a soft giggle. A giggle that Roxas always found unusually annoying.
"Listen up old man. I don't know why you feel the need to protect them. They're bad guys. They've killed countless people. Haven't you wondered why Mulan went missing?" Larxene challenged. Roxas suddenly felt his stomach churn. He felt as though all of the previously heinous acts he'd committed were beginning to come back to haunt him.
"Roxas was the one who kidnapped her. Did you know that? So I don't know why you feel like protecting him. He's a villain!" Larxene finished. Roxas squeezed Axel's hands a little tighter as they listened from behind the crag. He wanted to run out and save Tao, but as Axel pulled Roxas a little closer, Roxas knew it wasn't the time.
There was an agonizingly long silence that teased Roxas's thinned patience to no end. Why didn't Tao say anything? Why didn't Marluxia or Larxene say anything? The silence began to slowly tear away at Roxas's patience as his mind and heart raced. His body was tense as he grit his teeth, and prepared to walk out toward them once again. Luckily, Tao had broken the silence, and lessened Roxas's anxiety.
"The only villains I see are the ones who won't let me go and have threatened me with a scythe and daggers. You won't get my help, so you might as well kill me"
An annoying giggle escaped the childish female once again. "Marly"
"We can do that" The plain voice muttered, before a gasp came from Tao. Immediately, Axel bolted out from around the corner and pulled Roxas with him. Now was the time to reveal themselves.
"Stop!" The sudden outburst drew the attention from the two, before devious smirks slid onto the pair of faces.
"Ah, how nice of you two to join us" Larxene purred as she brushed a few of her golden locks away from her sky-blue eyes, before she playfully winked at Axel. "How're you doing Axel? Looking forward to coming back to the castle with us?"
"We aren't comin' back. You might as well leave before you get hurt" Axel hummed in a casual, yet confident tone as he released Roxas's hand. As usual, a glimmer of crimson lights flickered in his hands before his chakrams were summoned. Faint flames trailed along the bladed wheels before they dissipated at the tips of the blades.
"I think you're gonna be the one to get hurt" Larxene hummed as a dagger appeared in her hand in a yellow flash. She smirked deviously before she flicked her dagger to the side. The dagger penetrated Tao's neck, and the old man gasped for air as he squirmed on the ground.
Shocked and horrified looks flared up on Axel and Roxas' faces as they watched as the elder quickly turned red and squirm on the floor quickly, before he gradually moved slower and slower. It wasn't long before he came to a sudden stop. Larxene only let out her vexatious giggle and Marluxia simply smirked as they two watched in horror, before heinous glares and scowls appeared on their faces.
A pool of anger began to quickly culminate within Roxas and bubble furiously. He couldn't understand how they could be so cruel as to kill an innocent old man. The fury made Roxas's entire body grow tense. Roxas summoned his keyblades in a white flash before he swung the hilt of his blade against the side of the mountain to alleviate a little bit of the anger. It did little to help him.
"Aww, are you two angry? Would it help to say we were sorry?" Larxene teased childishly as several daggers appeared in a flash of topaz between her fingers.
"Shut up!" Roxas growled as he gripped his keyblade tightly.
"We're gonna fucking kill you! You fucking bastards!" Axel barked with great fury between deep breaths as his chakrams began to blaze in a burning inferno. The two then bolted along the icy mountain path toward the Organization members. Axel made the first move by flinging a chakram straight toward Larxene, who dodged the blow. Meanwhile, Roxas charged at Marluxia, who stood there confidently. Roxas leaped passed Larxene toward him and swung his keyblade ferociously toward the effeminate male's head.
However, Marluxia didn't need to dodge as much as Larxene did. With one powerful sweep of his scythe, Roxas was propelled ten feet back, and then slid backwards along the icy slope. However, the moment his feet touched the frozen trail, Roxas had fallen forward and slid backwards. He stopped just as his feet began to dangle over the edge.
The position hadn't fazed Roxas at all. A deep fury burned inside Roxas with tempestuous force. A force that demanded revenge. Roxas charged at Marluxia once again, and zipped between the flurry of chakrams and daggers Axel and Larxene were exchanging. However, this time he remained on the ground. He swung his blades wildly at Marluxia when he was in range, only to have them blocked. As Roxas persisted with his onslaught, he found the fury building up even more as he failed to land a blow on Marluxia. He was constantly being denied the vengeance that was called for.
Roxas's body was tense, and his mind had become tunneled. He only saw one thing: Marluxia. He hadn't even paid attention to the fighting that occurred between Axel and Larxene behind him.
That was, until a high-pitched girlish whimper broke his tunneled mentality. He quickly gazed back to see a fiery chakram return to Axel's hand after likely hitting the golden-haired woman's side. She clutched her side in pain as she panted heavily. Axel had definitely won.
However, Roxas hadn't. The moment he turned around, he saw a scythe being swung dangerously at his neck. Roxas quickly ducked beneath the blow, before he swung his keyblade viciously toward Marluxia's side and trailed it up to his left shoulder. Roxas followed through with a horizontal slash that crossed Marluxia's chest.
Marluxia grunted as he jumped back and panted.
"You idiot, that could've been my face" Marluxia scoffed indifferently before he flipped his head back a little to move a few stray locks from his face. A shadowy portal began to swirl menacingly behind him.
"This isn't over!" Larxene whined as a shadowy portal began to form at her side over the ledge. She leaped through the portal as Marluxia stepped back into his.
Once Roxas and Axel's weapons vanished, Roxas quickly ran over to Tao's body and knelt down beside him. Roxas placed his index and middle fingers along the side of Tao's neck in the desperation that there might still have been a pulse, but there wasn't. Tao was dead.
Roxas quickly yanked his fingers away from Tao and clutched his hand. The pool of anger that had welled up in him had immediately been translated into a pool of surprise, fear, and sadness. Although Roxas had killed many before, he'd never experienced it. He'd never known the feeling of losing someone close to him. And once Axel knelt down beside him, Roxas began to tremble.
"You okay Rox?" Axel asked softly as he placed a hand on Roxas's opposite shoulder. Roxas's breathing came out in quick trembles as he gazed up at Axel with glazed, oceanic eyes and a quivering frown. Roxas let out a shaky whimper before he hugged Axel tightly and buried his face into Axel's chest.
Roxas sobbed for a good fifteen minutes, before the couple had the composure to carry Tao's body back up the mountain. The trip was silent and grim, and Axel carried him most of the way. Roxas carried him occasionally for short periods of time to give Axel a break; however, the trip back wasn't what Roxas was worried about. It was telling Lea.
As they arrived at the home and entered, Roxas opened the door and held it open. Lea was initially happy to see someone.
"Hey guys, you're back! Did you find him?" Lea asked curiously; however, as Axel stepped in with Tao's pale, lifeless body, Lea's eyes were immediately glazed over as she rushed over to him.
"Tao. . ." Lea whispered as Axel laid him down on the ground. An overwhelming frown overtook her face as her eyebrows puckered. "Tao!" Lea wailed as she began to tremble and sob at the sight of her fallen love.
Roxas gazed up at Axel with burdened eyes, before he hugged him gently and rested his head on Axel's shoulder. It amazed Roxas by how quickly life could be taken away, and how quickly love could be lost. Roxas couldn't imagine losing Axel. Roxas would sooner kill himself than live without Axel. He couldn't bear to experience what Lea had to.
'I love you' Roxas thought as he hugged Axel a little tighter. He didn't want to let go of Axel. He appreciated being in Axel's arms now more than ever.
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Leave a review and let me know what you all think of the story thus far! Thanks!
