IX

At Axel's suggestion, Marluxia's eyes widened.

"Kill Xemnas?" he repeated. "I have heard wild suggestions from you, Axel, but none so severe as this. What could he possibly have done to deserve death?"

"Something has happened between him and the shadows," Axel said. "I fear his becoming one of them. We need your help, but certainly not from within the Organization."

"Well, that is fortunate," Marluxia said, smirking, "because I am no longer within the Organization."

"Right," Axel muttered. "Because you just could not stay away from the north side of town. Or your precious Larxene."

Shadows fell over Marluxia's expression. "If I remember correctly," he said, rising from his seat once again, "at some time or another you were also familiar with Larxene."

"Yes, but no longer," Axel said. "I did not enjoy her favors as much as you seem to."

"Speaking of favors," Marluxia interrupted, "why don't we stop this discussion about Larxene and speak about what you came for?"

"A valid question," Axel replied. "You are still keen in your technique, are you not?"

A smirk tugged at the edge of Marluxia's mouth. He swept his hand toward the center of the table, and at the end of its arc, it held his trademark scythe right at Axel's throat.

"Of course I am," he said.

Axel's eyes flicked from the blade of the scythe to the flower petals that fell from it to Marluxia, who sat staring at him from across the table. "Brilliant. Now if you would just direct that energy at Xemnas…"

"Will do." Marluxia nodded and dismissed the weapon. More flower petals fell down onto the table. "One question, though. Where is he?"

"He is at the Organization's headquarters on the west side of Hollow Victoria," Axel told him. "Unfortunately, you would do better to travel during the day, because at night, we are supposed to run missions."

Roxas felt his chest tighten, as though someone was squeezing it again. Every time he found himself knee-deep in Axel's work, he felt as though he was already drowning. He didn't want anything to do with the work of thieves and assassins. "If you will excuse me," he said in a low voice and stood up from his chair.

He had made it halfway to the door when he heard another chair slide back on the tile floor behind him. "I am sorry, Marluxia," Axel's voice said with a nervous laugh. "I will be right back."

Axel's footsteps caught up to him, and just as he pushed open the massive dining room's door, the redhead's hand caught his arm, stopping him.

The door swung shut behind them, and Roxas turned to face Axel. The room next door to the dining room was dead silent, with no one but the two of them standing there. Axel's concerned teal eyes burned into his. "Roxas," he whispered. "Are you all right?"

"Why are you dragging me into this?" Roxas shot back. "You could have warned me you were going to be discussing murder."

Axel rubbed the back of his neck with a hand. "Well—I am sorry," he murmured. "I did not mean to scare you. I just thought—"

"Yes, well," Roxas said, "whatever you just thought, you can stop thinking it now, because I do not wish to be a part of this."

"I did not ask you to be a part of this," Axel fired back. "Maybe I just wanted someone to come along with me. To ease the pain."

Roxas squinted at him. "What is that supposed to mean?" he demanded.

"Roxas," Axel said again. He paused, as though he wanted to say something but knew he couldn't afford to. "Roxas, we will talk later. I promise. I must finish my talk with Marluxia, and then we will leave. You may wait in here. Or outside."

"Fine," Roxas answered.

He stormed through the dining room and into the foyer, while Axel returned to his seat at the table and continued his discussion with the pink-haired man.

Roxas stood with his back to the wall and his arms crossed. He remembered forgiving Axel for kidnapping him while he should have gone home as his brother did, for getting caught by his boss, Master Xemnas Arkwright, and for accidentally revealing to him that he was an assassin. But suddenly he couldn't find it in him to forgive Axel anymore. The thought of being there while the two of them talked about killing a man—Roxas felt panic rising up in him as he imagined the consequences for being found out.

A shadow strode into the foyer. For a moment, Roxas thought it was Axel, and didn't move. But when the shadow moved into his field of vision, Roxas realized it was Larxene Leighton, whom Marluxia had just proclaimed was his mistress.

"So your name is Roxas," Larxene said, pressing one finger to her lips as though telling him a secret. "Roxas what?"

"Roxas Slater," Roxas answered. "Why? What is it to you?"

"Just curious," Larxene told him. "Axel was not quite clear on who you were to him. Who are you to Axel? A friend? An assignment? Perhaps Xemnas sold you?"

"I have nothing to do with Xemnas," Roxas snapped. "I hardly even know Axel. Apparently he is… an assassin or something. He did not even bother to tell me."

"Oh, he is quite the assassin," Larxene agreed. "As is Marluxia. But I find Marluxia to be the more… graceful of the two."

Roxas shot a suspicious glance her way, unsure in what sense she was describing them—but certain that he did not want to ask. "Speaking of identities, who are you to Axel? How do you two know each other?"

"Well, it is certainly a long story," Larxene mused, "but the short version is that Xemnas assigned me to him and Marluxia, but Marluxia paid him off so that he could escape the Organization and take me with him."

Why would he do that? Roxas wanted to ask. He decided against it at the last second.

Two more shadows came into the foyer; Marluxia was in the lead, and Axel followed. "Larxene," Marluxia's voice said, "why do you stand here contaminating Roxas's head with your ideas? Please, come back with me. Axel, it was good to see you. We shall keep in touch." He took Larxene's hand and tugged her gently away from Roxas.

"We shall," Axel said with a devious smile. "See you at the Organization's headquarters."

Roxas glanced away.

As soon as they had cleared the gates at the edge of Marluxia's lawn, Axel broke into a run. "Roxas," he shouted behind him. "Come on."

Roxas had no choice but to follow Axel's pace, to continue on down the street. The sun had begun to set, to dip below the horizon and become redder in hue. The sky looked as though it had caught fire.

Closer to the center of town, Axel slowed his pace. He came to a stop in an alley and stood in the middle of it, staring up at the flame-red sky through the frame of the buildings on either side of them.

"Look at that," he said simply. "For once, it is not raining. Might as well be a miracle."

Roxas glanced back and forth, half expecting someone to launch a surprise attack from both sides of the alley. "Axel, why are we here?"

"Because," Axel began. "Well, because I need to talk to you about something, okay?"

"What is it?" Roxas asked. His eyes flicked up and met Axel's, catching the concern and the tension in his face. "Is this about what just happened earlier?"

The redhead let out a sigh. "I suppose I could not avoid this, could I?" He tipped his head back to look at the sky again. "You see, Roxas," he explained. "This is my work. I cannot get out of it, you understand."

"You cannot get out of it?" Roxas repeated. "What does that mean?"

"You saw Xemnas," Axel replied. "And you saw the brand on my back. That is the mark of the Organization—the mark of the Nobodies. By that mark, we are bound to the Organization for life."

"You cannot just run away?" Roxas asked.

"If I did," Axel continued, shrugging, "they would find me. They would see the mark on my back and know I belonged to them. And if they knew for sure I had deserted, they would probably put an end to me. You would not let that happen, would you, Roxas?"

Roxas sucked in a breath. "No."

Axel went silent for a moment. "Roxas, do you remember what you said to me at the end of our last meeting, in the prison of the Organization's building?"

"I… I told you I would not object if you returned."

"Correct," Axel confirmed. "And do you remember what I said to you when I first kidnapped you?"

Roxas shook his head.

"I told you that if you assisted me in my search for Xemnas, I would do something for you in return." He looked Roxas in the eye. "Do you remember that?"

"I am afraid I do not," Roxas murmured. "Why were you even searching for Xemnas in the first place? And why did you choose to bring me along?"

"I searched for Xemnas because on the night he broke into that house, on the night everyone thought he was a thief, he had disappeared," Axel explained. "As a member of the Organization, I was suspicious. I needed to find him and bring him back… or kill him myself." He lowered his voice. "And as for why I brought you along, I wanted your help."

Roxas didn't say anything.

"Please, Roxas," Axel continued. "I need you to accept it. It is part of what I am. And I—" He broke off, his face contorting in pain as he glanced to the side. "I must keep my promise. I can't say it any other way."

Roxas was about to ask what he meant by that, but he didn't get the chance.

Because at that moment, Axel pushed him against the wall and leaned closer.


A/N: Yes, that just happened.

Aha! I'm finally back! Sorry about the wait... I'll try not to do it again I promise... I know, I say it every time. OTL But I wanted to get this chapter out before Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD Remix comes out! I'm getting it tomorrow, hopefully... I've been freaking out about it for the past week and everyone I know probably thinks I'm crazy.

Anyway, I hope this chapter explains some things for you. I was getting a little confused myself after not having been able to write this story for so many months. And if I've confused you further, please tell me. I feel really scatterbrained with all of my many projects and schoolwork and other things.

On another note, I watched 358/2 Days for the third time yesterday... and I cried. I managed to refrain from that when I saw it the first two times, but no more. 3

So yeah... reviews are appreciated! Thanks for sticking with me after all this time.

ScreamingSatellite