Thank you Nyx The Last Keybearer, and Kakita101! Cookies for you and one for The Winged Huntress too! Thanks for reviewing! It gives me such a thrill to see people enjoying the products of my madness. After all it's not fair to keep all this fun to myself right? I just realized that I've been forgetting the disclaimer in my AN, so again I do not own any of the KH characters, but everything else is mine. And I now have a deviantart account, where I will be posting my little doodles (I can't draw worth beans) and even some previews for my stories, along with a few dumb little photos. Same name as here so go check it out if you want to.
The first thing he saw were very angry blue eyes, and he felt as though the breath had been slammed from his lungs. He shot across the room to tackle the little blond into the bed he had been sitting on. Roxas grunted and hugged him back just as fiercely. Marly's chuckle reminded them that they weren't alone and they moved to sit together on the end of the bed, with Axel keeping one arm over his love's shoulders.
This room was arranged the same as the one Axel had woken up in. He felt one eye twitch slightly when Zexion sat in the armchair while still keeping his eye fixed on Axel. He felt Roxas shiver slightly and without thinking warmed the air around the two of them. He blinked when the pain didn't come, and felt Roxas snuggle into him.
The one with the book is a mage. He was using his power to bind yours.
Axel pressed a kiss into his lover's forehead in an attempt to hide his look of surprise.
And you can block it without him realizing it?
For a little while at least.
And this little chat is possible because our hearts are connected right?
Right.
He wrapped an arm about his love's waist and they finally gave Lex and Marly their attention. "Satisfied now?" Lex asked, and the both of them nodded. "Good, then perhaps we can get your names?" Roxas sighed softly before answering for the two of them.
"Roxas and he's Axel."
"How long have you had your dragon?" (Marluxia)
"About sixteen days." (Roxas)
Axel thought about it but could only account for thirteen himself, unless… ah it must have taken their captors a couple of days to reach this place.
Lex and Marly exchanged surprised looks, "Then how did you become enemies of Saix?" (Lexaeus)
"We were prisoners in his dungeon, waiting to be dragon food. Axel broke all of us out."
"Did you forget already Roxy? I got caught on purpose to get inside the castle."
"Wait! Who is 'us'? And why did you want to be inside the castle?" Zexion finally spoke, and Axel was slightly pleased by his surprised look. He started grinning and Roxas nudged him in the side.
"I wanted in the castle so I could steal from the big man himself. And 'us' is…"
He was stopped by panicked yelling and a rumble that caused the walls of the room to shake. The other three men ran from the room, leaving the door wide open. Roxas grinned mischievously, "Speak of the devil…" "And he shall appear." Axel matched his grin and they walked out into the hall together.
Axel wanted to laugh at the chaos that met their eyes, and draped a casual arm over Roxas' shoulders. Lex, Marly, and Zexy fought directly in front of Axel and Roxas. They had Xaldin, Xigbar and Demy trapped between themselves and Vexen. Lex seemed to be chucking stones from the floor that kept exploding from Xigbar's lightning shots. Marly and Zexion were trying to protect Zexy's book from Demy's water bubbles, and Xaldin was using a wall of wind to keep Vexen's ice at bay.
All fighting ceased when Axel put two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly. "Everybody relax! We're all on the same side here!" He heard Roxas laugh beside him and grinned. Roxas pointed at their three friends, "They would be the rest of 'us' that we mentioned."
Since all of them were staring at Axel and Roxas, Axel was the only one who noticed Vexen. He made a blade out of ice and was poised to stab Xaldin in the back. A wall of flame rose up between them, startling everyone. Axel snapped his fingers and the flame went out. "Do you always try to stab your allies in the back, Vexy?" All attention turned to Vexen, and the blond man humphed and stomped away.
Lex rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Let's go sit down and talk." Axel and Roxas agreed, and their three friends followed their example.
Xigbar sidled up to Axel while Lex led them to another room. "P'rexen told us what happened through Ar'Kbon." "I was wondering about that." "Did you tell them everything then?" "You three interrupted our conversation." Axel leaned closer to whisper directly into the man's ear. "Tell them nothing about Rox." Xigbar nodded and went to pass the message on to Xaldin and Demyx.
When they were all seated around a large square table in a larger room with dusty statues, paintings, and a tapestry on one wall, Axel made the introductions. Lex nodded at each of them, "So now all the dragons are together again. But why is Roxas with you?" Demyx grinned and Axel but in before he could say anything.
"Roxy was in the cell with us and ended up tagging along when we escaped." "Aww! And I'll bet you two fell in love during that time too. Oh it is just so romantic!" Axel blinked at the flamboyant Marly as the man swooned in delight. "And even though you know things are going to get dangerous you can't bear to be separated from your one true love!" Marly was out of his chair and dancing around the room, with his arms out wide and large heart shaped roses blooming out of his hair.
"Is he for real?" (Axel)
"Wait that's a guy?" (Demyx)
"Can I shoot him please?" (Xigbar)
"Unfortunately yes he is Axel. Yes Marluxia is a guy Demyx. No you can't shoot him Xigbar. He's giving me a headache Zexion." Zexion opened his book and mumbled something. Marly froze in the middle of his currant 'lovey-dovey' dance and fell over snoring. "You should take him to his room Zexion." Demyx jumped up, "I'll help!" Lex nodded and the two dragged the snorer out of the room.
Xigbar sighed in relief, "So can we ask some questions now?" Lex nodded and Xaldin leaned forward. "Why did you kidnap Axel and Roxas?" Lex folded his hands in front of his face. "One of our patrols found them outside the valley and brought them here when they found P'rexen's mark on Axel's arm." "Why did they attack us in the first place anyway? We were just talking to each other." Lex sighed and rubbed his nose again before giving Roxas an answer.
"They shouldn't have, but we have all been rather paranoid of late. Far too many of Saix's soldiers have been roaming the mountains." Xigbar nodded at Axel, "We had a little run in with them too." Axel ignored the looks Xaldin and Xigbar were giving him. "So what is this place?"
Lex stood up and walked over to the wall where the dusty tapestry hung. "This castle was once the home of the most powerful mage in history. We found it and decided it was the best place to build a resistance against Saix."
"I've been through these mountains countless times and never found this place, how did you?" Xaldin asked and Lex turned back to face them. "Zexion led us here with his magic. This castle is surrounded by a powerful barrier that makes it nearly impossible to find." "And perfect as a place to hide from Saix. But what are you going to do now? You can't just hide in here forever." They all jumped slightly when a voice behind them answered Xigbar's question.
"We are planning, preparing, and training to take Saix down." Zexion walked back into the room and sat at the table again. Demyx walked in behind him and waved happily at them before sitting down next to Zexion, which Axel noticed with amusement. "So what are these plans then?" Roxas asked and Lex gestured for Zexion to answer.
"We had three goals to accomplish to secure our power. First was to find the other four dragon's contractors." He nodded at all of them and Lex interrupted. "Before we tell you anything more than that though, we need to know if you will join us." Axel wrapped an arm around Roxas' shoulders, "We're in." Xaldin and Xigbar nodded solemnly, and Demyx practically bounced out his seat with his enthusiastic nodding.
Lex smiled and Zexion continued, "Our second goal is to retrieve the Bearer of Light from Saix's clutches." Axel felt Roxas stiffen slightly. "What's a 'Bearer of Light'?" Xigbar asked giving Roxas only a tiny glance. Zexion didn't seem to notice, but Lex gave them a weird look. "The Bearer is a supposed to be a pure hearted individual who possess a magical item of immense power, called the Crystal of Light. This person is able to use the power of the crystal and can't be killed. We have learned that Saix holds this person in captivity. Using torture to force his will upon them. Since you five have escaped his castle you will be essential in aiding us in this retrieval."
Axel growled softly and ignored the worried glances both Xigbar and Demyx shot him. "And what do you plan to do with this person when you have them in your clutches." Lex and Zexion looked surprised at his question. "We hope the Bearer will agree to fight with us, but we will protect them here if they choose not to. Or they can go elsewhere if they like." It was quiet for a few moments and Lex sighed softly. "Are any of you willing to help us break in to the castle? Perhaps the way you escaped?" Demyx shifted nervously, "Uh… we kinda found a passage under the castle, but it was flooded a little. Then we fell off a waterfall into a lake with a really big monster." "That was a kraken Dem, and I think its dead now." Xigbar looked at Axel who ignored him. Lex grunted, "We'll have to send someone to check on that."
Axel nodded slowly, "Good idea, it could be a perfect way to sneak into the castle if Saix doesn't know the thing is dead. So what was the third goal?" Zexion blinked. "To find a survivor from one of the old royal lines to place on the throne when Saix is dead." Roxas jumped up making his chair topple over and startling everyone. "Impossible! Saix slaughtered all the royals and their families when he took power!"
And that's a good place to leave it for now. Gah I hate moving. You have to cram all your stuff into boxes, most of which are too heavy to carry by yourself but you have to anyway. Then when you get into your new place you can't find anything and you freak out thinking you forgot stuff. And if the new place is smaller than the old one you feel like you have too much stuff, and when the place is bigger you feel like you don't have enough. Plus all the animals panic about new smells and crap. Like I said I hate moving and all the stress that goes with it. But I was finally able to get another chapter over and done. (Once I found my computer) Heh who thinks they the outcome of this new big reveal coming up? Come on give your guesses, get it right and you get a special prize!