Disclaimer: All previous disclaimers still apply, and I do not own the new characters that pop up this chapter; they would be property of Disney.
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Chapter VIII
Dusk Dreams // The Good Fairy's Gifts
x
The mage Heartless lowered its arms, watching Axel and Soldier as its spell took hold. Axel clung to Soldier, sure that if he let go, she would be sucked into Gravity and never come out.
An orb of faint pearly light formed in front of the mage Heartless, whirling fast enough to howl like a tornado. Axel felt the air being sucked away from him, and clung tighter to Soldier as he began to lose footing. This wasn't low-level magic; it was a Gravira, definitely. Axel couldn't hold out against it for long.
The storm ebbed slightly, but the mage Heartless cast Gravira again. With the combined force of a new Gravira and the remains of the old, Axel and Soldier were pulled into the air and trapped in the core of the storm.
The force of the air around Axel crushed the breath out of his lungs and tried to tear Soldier out of his arms, but he couldn't let go. Axel realized that with his arms crushing Soldier so tightly under the influence of Gravira, he was doing more damage than the spell would have done on its own. If the spell didn't end soon, Soldier would die. Axel was killing his own heart.
The spell ended, and both were dropped from the air. Axel tried to gasp in some air and turned his head to look at Soldier. Her back was twisted almost completely around and bent in a V; she wasn't moving. There was nothing to keep the mage Heartless from killing her.
The mage Heartless walked over to Soldier, nudged her with its foot. Soldier didn't move. Satisfied, it lifted a hand and prepared to cast a final spell.
Soldier's eyes opened, and cast a pale yellow glow as if she wasn't really seeing. Her back muscles twisted and rammed her spine back into position and she jumped up with both claws flailing. The mage Heartless stumbled back but Soldier's body pursued it, slashing wildly in the direction of the target. The mage Heartless stumbled back, fell, and couldn't counterattack. Finally it curled up on the ground and bared the attacks as well as it could.
The mage Heartless twisted to look at Axel with utter fury in its eyes, then faded out of existence.
Axel struggled to pull a hi-potion out of his pocket. He cracked the thin glass with his thumb, as if it was a glow stick. The hi-potion rushed out of the bottle and up Axel's arm, healing him as it went. He sat up and pulled out another, cracked off the top, and sprayed the contents towards Soldier. The hi-potion reacted automatically and did its work. He saw Soldier's spine realign and snap back into place. Soldier stood up and hugged Axel.
"Let's get out of here," Axel said, "before another one of those things shows up."
He stood shakily, grabbed one of Soldier's claws, and left the realm of darkness as quickly as possible.
x"Lost him."
Dissolve slammed his fist against the keyboard, growling. "He – argh! That Nobody!"
"Please don't do that," Whisper said, her voice strained, leaning away from Dissolve. He'd hit the keyboard right beside her. Whisper's pale fingers tugged on Dissolve's wide sleeve, trying to make him move. "It took us forever to repair the damage Roxas did."
"I know. If only we could use the other computers..."
The group looked over at the pinpoint of light floating at the side of the room, ready to transport them to a parallel world, and sighed in unison.
"We'll never be able to use it," Whisper said.
"Thanks for that brilliant observation," Proxy muttered. He was sitting in his corner and fully aware of the world again.
"I'm just trying to help," Whisper said, turning slightly to glare at Proxy. He looked at her for only a moment before awkwardly turning his golden eyes away from her white eyes. "It's not like I have anything other job than to sit and stare at this screen."
"But you have the most important job," Dissolve said soothingly. "We need someone here monitoring the realm of darkness, the Nobodies' home, our world and its parallel world, and the computer signals between worlds. It's a 24/7 job, and you're the only one who can do it."
"I know," Whisper sighed.
"The surviving Nobody is number VIII," Proxy interrupted. "Axel. He has a Soldier Heartless with him, but he taught it to use a mage's staff. VIII is creative, and they're strong together."
"Too strong for you." Dissolve's smirk was half hidden in his upturned collar. Proxy narrowed his golden eyes.
"No one in this reality is too strong for me anymore," he said. "And there won't be one in VIII's reality by the time I'm finished.
Whisper sighed. "You used to be such a sweet child."
"When? We didn't 'used to be' anything and we still aren't." Proxy glanced at Dissolve's missing legs and Whisper's fading body. "Some of us are becoming less than nothing."
Dissolve and Whisper nodded sadly.
"Which is why, my allies," Dissolve started, "we need to find VIII and dispose of him before..."
For once, he trailed off without finishing his words. Instead, he cleared his throat, turned towards Whisper, and said, "Our fate rests on your shoulder, fair maiden."
Whisper decided that, coming from Dissolve, the "fair" bit wasn't a crack at her skin, and nodded. "I'll let you know," she said, turning back towards the computers and waiting for the Nobody to reappear.
xAxel and Soldier appeared on the second floor landing of the Tremaine house, well after dark. Faint, low sunlight lit the first floor through windows, but the upper floor was unlit. Axel was pretty sure that the ball Cinderella wanted to go to so badly had already started, which meant that he was free to search for Merlin's friend.
Or collapse on the floor and sleep a day or two. Soldier, who didn't care about the formalities of cultured society, had decided to use Axel's foot as a pillow and fallen asleep already.
They had to keep moving. Axel and Soldier were still fairly injured and out of potions, and so far he had found no stores on this world that sold healing items. He didn't want to go into the realm of darkness again, not if there was a chance another one of those mage Heartless could show up. He had to get outside and find some help.
Axel picked Soldier up and carried her down the stairs. He blinked repeatedly, trying to see through the dark. Usually, he had perfect night vision. He was getting tired.
At the bottom of the stairs, a light to the side caught Axel's attention. He turned to see what it was. Faint glimmers of blue light were coming from the kitchen. Curious, Axel started towards it. It was as good a place as any to look for a potion. They seemed like a common household item you'd keep in a kitchen.
The light was still faint in the room, but it seemed to be coming from the window. Axel walked up to it and pulled the curtain aside. Light almost as bright as day burst into the room. Soldier opened one eye a slit. "Sun?"
"I don't think so," Axel said, pushing open the door. He looked up. The night sky appeared as it always did. Stars covered the black expanse, fading out along one edge that was still tinged red from sunset. This was the work of some strong magic. Merlin's friend was nearby.
Axel took a few steps into the backyard. He stopped. In front of him was Cinderella, in the process of being completely made over. Beside her, a pumpkin and some rocks grew to become a carriage and horses; the orange plant and its vines writhed and twisted as it grew, turning diamond white and supported by delicate, wire-like wheels. In the midst of it all was a smiling woman in blue, waving a slender wand. Axel reflexively flipped up his hood as he stepped back in the house.
A mage, right on the Tremaines' estate. How had Axel missed that? In any case, he couldn't approach the mage in his condition. Then again, it looked like a friendly mage. Well, if she was associated with Merlin...
After hiding inside for a few minutes, Axel noticed with a jolt that the light was starting to dim. Afraid that he'd missed the mage, he stepped out of the house and shouted, "Wait!"
The mage turned. Her wand was raised and she looked like she had been preparing to leave. "Yes? Axel, isn't it? And Soldier?"
Axel blinked, surprised. "Yeah, that's us." He pulled down his hood.
The mage nodded and smiled. "I saw what you did for my Cinderella. I'm very grateful to the both of you."
Soldier opened her eyes fully and looked at the mage, interested. No one had been grateful to her before.
"It was nothing," Axel said dismissively. Why was everyone he ran into so annoyingly polite? "But listen. We need a..."
"A favor," the mage said, and nodded. "I thought as much. I can't put the two of you together again, if that's what you were going to ask, but I can help in other ways."
"No, I don't care about that," Axel said impatiently. Did he? He was too tired to care. "Do you know where Roxas is? Or Sora."
The mage thought a moment. "I don't think I've ever heard of a Roxas before, but Sora... Sora... I'm sorry. I don't know where he is now." She shrugged apologetically. "I haven't seen him in over a year."
Axel's shoulders slumped, but Soldier perked up. The mage didn't know where Sora was now, but she did know him personally. "Can you tell me about any worlds he's been to, at least?" Axel asked.
"I know of a couple," the mage said. "One of them, Traverse Town, was abandoned when its residents returned to their home worlds. But I believe the other one is the same as when Sora visited it. They could help you there." She lifted her wand. "Now, lean a bit this way, deary, this won't hurt a bit." The mage tapped Axel's head. Knowledge of the world's location appeared in his mind. Axel looked over it quickly, making sure it was enough to get him to the world through the realm of darkness.
"Thanks," he said quickly, and pulled aside to slip into darkness. It strained his already tired body, but he wanted to get to the new world as soon as possible to find some place to rest. He didn't want to linger in the darkness if there was the chance of another mage Heartless appearing.
Half-exhausted, Axel slipped into the darkness and let the door to reality collapse behind him.
xCinderella stepped into the ballroom, her white-gloved hands clasped nervously. She wasn't sure where to go, or if she fit in at all with these beautiful ladies. She drifted towards the windows, separating her hands and raising one to her neck.
As Cinderella touched the Twilight Gem, she relaxed. Her fairy godmother had turned it into a necklace and designed the rest of her dress to match it. The gem glowed with a life of its own, and Cinderella shone like the moon in her dress. Even if the prince didn't notice her, she thought she could enjoy the night dressed like a princess.
She didn't just owe this to her godmother; Axel had helped her all the way along, too. Perhaps he was like her godmother; a beneficial spirit that appeared when he was needed and left when his work was done.
Across the room, Prince Charming looked disinterestedly around. All the girls looked the same by now. They all wore the same clothes, the same make-up, and the same blank smiles. He hadn't seen anyone special yet.
A glimmer of pure light caught his eye, and he turned to look. Through the window, the last ray of sunlight disappeared below the horizon, and the light faded, revealing a girl dressed in white. The sun had been reflecting off of her necklace. Prince Charming watched her, transfixed. She looked so melancholy, but she was even more beautiful because of it. There was his princess.
Prince Charming weaved through the crowd to the girl in white and lifted a hand. "May I have this dance?"
Cinderella's face lit up, and she moved her hand from the Twilight Gem to his hand. "You may."
xAxel stepped into the new world, and was immediately choked.
He gagged and fell to his knees, holding his throat. The sunlight shuddered, filtered by a roiling sandstorm. Dust and dirt stung Axel's face as he struggled to get a breath of fresh air.
It was no use. Axel was too tired to fight. He collapsed in a sand dune, unconscious, and Soldier blindly clung to him with her helmet shut tight. She couldn't do anything to help. She just had to wait for the storm to let up and hope Axel was fine.
Some distance away, a man with goggles and a cloth wrapped around his face to keep the sand out spotted a black speck through the yellow sandstorm. He squinted at it, but couldn't make out any details. Curious, he headed towards it. Perhaps it was someone from Agrabah who had been caught in the storm. Foolish, but still useful.
He could force Aladdin into helping him in many ways if he had a civilian hostage.
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The idea of Axel as a beneficial spirit amuses me no end. I suppose ignorance is bliss, in Cinderella's case. So! Any guesses who this new character is? (Don't worry, he'll be revealed next chapter.) Reviews, concrit, questions, flames, guesses, and all comments in general are welcome.
