Riku was staying calm for Sora's sake. If it hadn't been for the terrified Sora clinging to his arm, he would have started swearing an hour ago.
He had no idea why Axel wanted them to evacuate, but it was enough to know that Axel thought it was serious enough to give the bail out code. That meant to drop everything and flee immediately. Riku wished he knew why… not because it made a lot of difference to their current situation, but because the information was what was important. Right now, if Axel and Roxas got killed, Riku might never know why. And that would be a frustration beyond endurance. Although the odds were much higher that he and Sora would be killed.
It had taken two long, grueling hours to get back to the embassy, and he could have killed the cab driver for taking that bridge. But who could have guessed there would be a three vehicle accident on it? Riku took a deep breath, maintaining his calm, and led Sora into the embassy. The first place he went was the workroom. If Axel had left a message, it would be there. Sure enough, when Riku searched the desk he found a tiny piece of paper in one of the secret drawers. If someone had been in here, they hadn't found it.
Xemnas is Xehanort. Probably a psychonaut since I KNOW they chopped his head off. Get the hell out –Axel. Riku closed his eyes for a moment, then passed the note to Sora as he set out for his bedroom…
And almost stumbled over wet, bloody earth, spread all over the floor of the dining room. Internal alarms screaming, he yanked Sora back just as a bolt of energy passed over their heads.
"Talumancers!" He made it into a curse word, and glanced around as Sora gasped. "More than one… come on, we have to go through the sewers. No time to get anything." There was an escape route from the embassy into the sewers. There was a decent chance Axel hadn't taken it… maybe they could make it. Although he doubted it. He only had a few crystal reservoirs on him and he was sensing multiple power signatures. He did his best to obfuscate them from power sensing as they ran into the cellars. The trapdoor was there…
"Peeew!" Sora exclaimed as they entered the tunnels, and Riku couldn't help but grin.
"You think this is bad? This tunnel has been disused for a while. It's actually an access corridor, not the sewer proper." It still reeked though. And the air tasted extremely stale. That made Riku frown, but there was no time to worry about it. "C'mon…" Riku made his way mostly by feel, since there was almost no light, and tried to ignore the squelching sounds under his feet and the way his shoes were getting soaked. Court garb wasn't meant for the sewers. They were going to stand out like sore thumbs as soon as they got out, too, but that couldn't be helped. They would just have to steal some clothing at the earliest opportunity.
For a moment, Riku thought they were going to make it. But then there was suddenly a shaking, and he sensed at least six energy signatures bearing down on them with malicious intent.
"SHIT!" He grabbed Sora, throwing him to the ground and protecting him with his body as the ground rocked and the tunnel around them shattered. Panicking, Riku did the only thing he could do… he created a hard bubble of aethalmagery, draining his reservoirs and burning his own talent with reckless abandon. Sora cried out in pain as Riku's hands clamped tightly around him, and he looked up, feeling the incredible tension in the silver hair.
"Riku?" Sora said, coughing as dust filled the air. A pain filled groan answered him. "Riku! What's wrong?"
"Tons… of rock… Sora." Riku panted, and Sora couldn't see it, but could feel the cables in his neck standing out as he fought against the intense weight. "I'm holding… it up. Sora. Earth magic. You have to… make a pocket. I can't…" Sora immediately concentrated, feeling the stone above them and following the paths of it.
It felt like it took forever, carefully adjusting the rocks around them to achieve stability, but it was actually only a few minutes before Riku was able to relax his shield and collapse, closing his eyes and gasping. Sora hugged him tightly, stroking his silver hair as tears slid down the aethalmage's cheeks.
"It's okay, Riku. We're going to be fine." He whispered in Riku's ear, and was surprised by a soft, bitter laugh. "Riku?"
"Sora." Riku opened his eyes, and hugged Sora to his chest, pressing his lips against Sora's cheek. "Sora… there's no air down here." Sora went pale as he realized Riku was right. All the tons of rock above them… he hadn't been able to make an airhole. And he couldn't think of a way to do it now.
He's so young, Riku thought sadly as he felt Sora cough on the dust, then begin to quietly cry. He's only fifteen, and I'm twenty-two… we're both so young to die. They weren't too young to die. Riku knew, from bitter experience, that no one was too young to die. Riku felt his eyes burn as his own tears threatened to start, but he cuddled Sora instead, soothing him as best he could.
"It's not going to hurt, Sora. We'll just go to sleep, and we won't wake up." Riku said quietly, hoping he was telling the truth. He'd never been entombed before, but he was fairly sure that was how it went. Sora hiccupped, then hugged him so tightly it drew a gasp out of him.
"I'm just glad I'm here with you." As bad as it was, dying in a dark, collapsed tunnel, it would be a thousand times worse to be doing it alone.
"Yeah, me too." Riku murmured, and they just held each other, until they drifted off into a peaceful sleep…
Axel's lips tightened as he felt the explosion of power. Every talumancer in the city probably felt it, and he hoped that didn't mean Riku and Sora were dead. Either way, though, he wasn't going to mention it to Roxas.
Their escape was going rather well. Zexion's knowledge of the city had proved invaluable, and they'd polished off the pair of talumancers following them handily… and best of all, with minimal use of aethalmagery. Earth magic and a deliciously horrible concoction of Zexion's had made all the difference.
"You've assassinated talumancers before, I take it?" Axel asked conversationally. They were in the sewers now, beneath the slums, and the odds of anyone catching them were getting more remote. Zexion nodded.
"Plenty. I don't think that stuff works on aethalmages, though. I'll have to think of something else to use on Xemnas." Axel frowned as he thought about that.
"If I'm right, and he's really a psychonaut, killing him permanently is going to be very difficult… and a job for aethalmages and talumancers." Zexion just shrugged. Possible or not, he intended to have a go at it.
"I don't know how you can act like this when Riku and Sora are probably dead." Roxas said, bitter and resentful, and Axel closed his eyes. It was the fourth time he had said something like that, and it was grating on the aethalmage's last nerve. He didn't like leaving friends to face death, but it was simply necessary. The information they had was too crucial.
"Enough, Roxas." He ground out, but Roxas wasn't listening, his eyes flashing with rage as he responded hotly.
"It's not enough! I can't believe we left without them. I can't-oof!" Axel abruptly turned and slammed him into the wall, so hard the air was knocked out of Roxas for a moment.
"I said enough." The aethalmage growled, his green eyes flashing as he met Roxas' blue ones. "In case you haven't followed the logic, let me spell it out for you. If Xehanort gets away with this, he's going to declare war on Theradin. I guarantee it, since his last words before they chopped his head off were that he would kill us all. Thousands, tens of thousands of people stand to lose their lives if we can't do something. Do you think none of them have friends? Sisters, fathers, mothers… brothers? I have an oath to my King and country that comes before anything else. If you can't understand that, I'm sorry, but that's how it is. Now let me do my duty." He let go of Roxas abruptly, almost dropping him on the floor, and Roxas drew a deep breath.
"I hate you." He hissed, and Axel only looked at him, his green eyes full of a bitter sadness.
"You can hate me all you like. Just do as you're told." Axel turned away as Roxas fumed, his hands balling into fists. He wanted to hit the aethalmage, but he knew Axel was a lot bigger and nastier than him… which only made his anger worse. There was silence for a while as they walked, before Zexion spoke.
"I admit, I'm not sure how he would justify declaring war on Theradin?" Wars generally needed some kind of justification, and a cross-oceanic war would need more than most. Axel smiled sadly.
"This is only speculation, but… if he arranged for Aeris to die and put the blame on us, that would do it. She's loved by her people." Zexion thought about that for a moment.
"If that's the case, even if Riku and Sora have been caught, they may have been taken alive to use as convenient scapegoats." Axel blinked. He hadn't thought of that… but it sounded like something Xehanort would do.
"We can hope…" Although Axel didn't know if it was a hopeful thought or not. There were so many ways to torture a prisoner, but dead was dead. Roxas frowned, still furious but a little more hopeful. "If that's the case, as long as we can stop him we can save them." Axel quickened his pace a bit, gaining a slight lead on the other two. He had all his passive sensors ready, so he was confident nothing would get past him.
And no one could have been more surprised when a dark shape detached itself from the ceiling and landed on his back.
"AH-ow!" Axel choked as he was punched in the stomach then yanked around by hard, vicious hands. The cold metal on his throat and hand in his hair, yanking his head back, warned him not to move. "Roxas, Zex, run!" He managed, as the dagger bit into his neck a touch, beads of red sliding down his throat.
"Move and I'll kill him. And keep your hands where I can see them, assassin." The voice was female, sweet and dark like bitter honey. "Yes, I know who you are Zexion. If you try to dart me, I'll cut his throat from ear to ear."
"You assume I care." Zexion said, unruffled, but kept his hands where she could see them. Axel stayed perfectly still, wondering how the woman had gotten past his shields. He could sense she was a talumancer and he had only been using passive shields, but still. She shouldn't have been able to do this. "Who are you?"
"Larxene, personal talumancer to the Queen. She would like to know why aethalmages are murdering her talumancers." Larxene said pleasantly, and Axel swallowed, wincing as that drew a little more blood. Larxene was being none too careful with her knife.
"Funny. We were wondering the same thing… only the other way around." Roxas said bitterly, then opened his hand, showing her an egg. "This is a magic bomb. If you kill him, I'll use it." There was a brief pause as Larxene probed the egg and confirmed it was magical, but was unable to make out anything else about it. Axel had to repress the urge to giggle hysterically as he recognized the egg as his gag gift. How had Roxas gotten that?
"Interesting." Larxene allowed, shifting slightly to keep an eye on Zexion. "Stop moving, assassin. What are you talking about, child? The first deaths were two talumancers."
"Who tried to kill us." Roxas replied sharply. "And what's happened to Riku and Sora?"
"They died trying to escape through the sewers." Larxene replied indifferently, and Axel closed his eyes at the leaden silence from Roxas. The boy finally drew a deep breath.
"You can kill him if you want, I don't care. Just let us go." The words were like lead weights on Axel's heart, but he could hardly blame Roxas. He was too young to understand, and they had no way to save him anyway…
"I'll go with you as long as you let them go, and promise to deliver me directly to Queen Aeris." Axel said softly. "Xemnas is the cause of the problem." Larxene laughed.
"So self-sacrificing all of a sudden? Very well. That's-"
"Not a good idea." Larxene froze, her hand tightening in Axel's hair as he tried to glance over at the new, unfamiliar voice.
"Cloud Strife?" Larxene's voice was full of disbelief, and Axel blinked. Cloud? How could he be here? This sewer is crowded all of a sudden… wait. How CAN he be here? How would he have known where we were? "What are you doing here?" Larxene echoed his thoughts.
"We've been following them since they left the embassy." Came the startling reply. "Can you let him go Larx? And Zexion, don't hurt her. She could be very helpful." Larxene hesitated, chewing her lip as she looked at Cloud. He looked like the Cloud she had known for years, although he was in a tattered, dirty brown cloak and looked much the worse for wear. Leon was behind him, leaning against a wall, and another man in a black cloak that hid his face.
"This could be a trick. If you're really Cloud… tell me something only Cloud would know." There was a pause as Cloud thought for a moment.
"Five years ago, we all got rip roaring drunk at the Yellow Dog and I woke up in the morning with you in my bed. And my first words were, oh fuck, what have I done? Just before I ran to the toilet to puke. Does that ring any bells?" He said pleasantly, and Larxene laughed loud and long. Axel blinked as the knife vanished from his throat, her hand leaving his hair. He fell to his knees, rubbing his neck for a moment before struggling to his feet.
"That's the Cloud I know and love. You were a total asshole about that, by the way." Cloud shrugged and Larxene chuckled again. "Well. Tell me what's going on, lover boy. I'm all ears."
"I'm not entirely sure." Cloud admitted. "But after someone tried to assassinate me and Leon, we decided that faking our deaths was the best way out. Xigbar here was a good friend of Luxord's, and when Luxord died, he decided to join us down here."
"Even though it smells like ass. Hi Larxene." He waved at her in a desultory fashion, and she sneered at him.
"Hi Xiggy. Still playing with guns all the time, or have you actually figured out how to use a ribbon?" She asked, and he sneered right back as he pushed back his hood. Axel blinked at the scars and the eyepatch. The man looked like a pirate, but he felt like a talumancer, and a powerful one.
"Fuck you, bitch." He replied conversationally, before looking at Axel. "You forgot to update Luxord's safe list. I was on it. I've been keeping a really close eye on you guys since you got here." Axel winced, then frowned. He hadn't been told Luxord had a safe list, a list of people who could come and go out of his defenses without permission. "But I kinda burnt his papers on that, so yeah. Just make sure you check for that next time."
"Thanks for the tip." Axel said dryly, then turned to look at Larxene. "How did you get past my defenses so easily? And find us, for that matter?" Larxene lifted a bag that was hanging around her neck, then dumped the contents onto the ground. Axel blinked at the bloody dirt.
"You used your own blood to make those golums. Pretty clever, but your blood and magic were all over them. Easy to trace back if you're good with the law of contagion, and I'm the best. And just the thing to key an attack with." Larxene said with no modesty. Axel winced, running a hand through his hair. It felt absolutely terrible and, after the stuff he had put into it and jamming his hat over it, probably looked like a badger was assaulting his head.
"Great. I thought those golums were so clever, too. Another idea bites the dust." Larxene shrugged.
"They were clever. They bought you about an hour before someone shot them. They just have drawbacks." Axel nodded, but he thought the drawbacks would outweigh any possible advantages. "Now, do you nutbars know what's going on?"
"Unfortunately, we do." Zexion said quietly. "Xemnas is actually Xehanort, the traitor of Theradin." There was a brief, surprised pause before Leon whistled softly.
"I never liked him, but I never would have guessed that." He commented, and Cloud nodded, blue eyes thoughtful. Larxene's shoulders suddenly slumped, and Axel looked at her curiously.
"My poor Aeris." She said softly, and Axel winced. He wondered, suddenly… did the blond, female talumancer care for Aeris as more than her Queen? He wasn't going to ask. "That bastard. He's courted her for a year. Lying the whole damn time." She didn't seem to doubt them at all, and Axel suddenly had the feeling that while Xemnas had been charming to Aeris, his act had been a little more threadbare with everyone else. They probably hadn't mentioned it to the Queen because, well, what could you say? I don't like your fiancé? It would require more than that for someone to speak up to the Queen. "Didn't you chop off his head though? And display it on a spike outside the palace?"
"No, we buried it." Axel said dryly. "But yes, we did chop his head off. I think he might be a psychonaut, one of the ones that can make stable bodies." Larxene's lips pursed in a soundless whistle.
"Oh that's nasty. Those are a bitch." She bounced her dagger thoughtfully. "No one knows where I am. I'll go with you guys… they'll probably figure I've bought it when I don't come back. So, I'm assuming you guys have a hangout somewhere down here?"
"We do. It's a few hours away." Cloud said with a nod. "We'll take you there. We can get some sleep, something to eat and make plans." Axel nodded. They had been on the run for hours, and had been awake the whole day before that. Exhaustion was beginning to set in. He followed Cloud as the other man led the way, and tried to ignore the hot, angry looks Roxas was giving him as much as possible.
Roxas wasn't going to forgive him, and Axel didn't expect it.