Hey guys, sorry it's been so long. I'm writing this during first period in between projects, so the going's been a little choppy. But it's finally done!
Only one more chapter until the end… Enjoy.
"Where are we?" Axel asked.
"The Eternal Kingdom," Bruixe told him. "I grew up here… this is where I met you, remember?"
"Vaguely," he replied.
Together they staggered to the hidden cave, Bruixe leading, Axel using her as a crutch again.
"Cool," he said as Bruixe helped him sit on the ground and pulled the bushes back over the mouth. "How'd you find this place?"
"Long story." She wondered where Namine was, if the witch had ever come back here. Evidently not, she thought.
Bruixe glanced at Axel's mutilated hands and grimaced. "Look, I'm gonna go get something for that," she decided. "Stay here. I'll be back soon."
"Yeah, soon like 'tomorrow' soon, I bet," he muttered, and she flipped him off as she left.
Two hours later she was sneaking back through the valley, avoiding the watchful eyes of the Citadel, laden down with bandages, medicines, and a large jug of water stolen from an apothecary in Kingdom City. Just like old times, Bruixe thought. It probably hadn't been the most honest thing to do, but people tended to notice strangers, especially black-cloaked ominous-looking strangers. The last thing she wanted now was to be noticed, what with the Organization probably hunting for them and the Council of Nine likely still pissed off at her.
Axel had fallen asleep, dozing against the cave wall. He woke as she sat down next to him, unloading her prizes on the ground.
"Cloak off," she told him.
"Why, Bruixe, this is so sudden," he joked, but shrugged it off anyway, baring his maimed back.
She ignored him and went to work, cleaning crusted blood off of what was left of his skin, trying to be gentle. Axel groaned.
"Talk," she ordered.
"What?" he complained.
"Helps with the pain," Bruixe told him. "It's distracting. Now talk."
"Okay… um, how'd you get in the dungeons?"
"Demyx made a distraction," she replied.
"What kind of distraction?" he asked warily.
"Dunno," Bruixe shrugged. "He didn't say. But it must have been pretty awesome."
"That guy never ceases to amaze me," Axel said, shaking his head.
"Keep talking," she reminded him, using her short sword to cut bandages.
Axel shrugged again, then winced when it stretched his poorly healed scabs. "Um… I'm glad you beat up Saix?"
Bruixe chuckled.
"Seriously, though," Axel said. "I mean, besides the whole torturing-me thing…"
"Sorry about that," she whispered.
"Don't be," he told her. "But besides that… he's a jackass. Really. Talking trash about you and Roxas… you know, he was the first one I met when I joined the Organization. Xigbar used to joke around, said we were polar opposites, that I had to join to balance him out."
"Wouldn't you be Vexen's polar opposite, though?" she pointed out.
"Maybe," he agreed. "But Vexen I can tolerate… could tolerate, I guess. Saix is just a jerk."
"I know," Bruixe told him.
"Anyway, being in the Organization pretty much sucked until Roxas and you joined," he went on. "Well, I guess Demyx isn't bad, but you know how it is… Roxas was, is, like my best friend. Well, you are too."
Bruixe bandaged the last welt and moved to sit in front of her friend, carefully taking one mangled hand in her own, fighting a shudder. Saix had taken his time here, methodically slicing crescents of flesh from Axel's fingers and palms. She began wrapping his hand as one might wrap a boxer's hand, each finger separate.
"I know this will hurt, but it has to be firm so you can use your hands without feeling the pain," she told him. "Keep talking."
He grimaced. "Sure… so, while I was in Castle Oblivion, Vexie and I kinda went at it. It was funny… he ordered me to do something and I told him, 'Don't tell me I don't respect my elders.' And then later, when I killed him –"
"I thought Sora killed him," Bruixe said.
"Well, that's the official story," Axel admitted. "Sora did fight him… but I finished him off. And I said, 'Now you can tell me I don't respect my elders.'"
Bruixe laughed despite herself. "Nice."
"You shoulda seen his face," he reminisced. Then he blinked. "Hey, you're bleeding."
Suddenly Bruixe remembered the long cut on her face. She reached up to touch it; the side of her face was crusty with dried blood. She shrugged. "I'll patch it later. Here, give me your other hand."
Axel obeyed, shaking his head. "Do you ever think about yourself?"
"Of course," she replied automatically.
He raised an eyebrow. "I beg to differ. Everything you do is to protect someone. You protected me and Roxas, even though the Organization hated you for it. Demyx had it right when he called you the Avenger."
The mention of Demyx made her face fall. "You know, he's gonna be in trouble because of us," she said softly.
"You mean, because of you," Axel smirked.
"That's not helping," she told him.
Axel flexed his fingers experimentally as she finished wrapping his second hand. "It'll work," he shrugged.
Suddenly voices drifted in from outside. Bruixe stiffened.
"Is it them?" Axel whispered.
Bruixe held a finger to her lips and sprang up, pointing to the ground in a gesture that clearly said, "Stay." She crept to the front of the cave, crouching in the brush.
"…likely to be here somewhere," a deep voice was saying. Xaldin, she thought.
"Of course," replied another – Saix. Bruixe stiffened. "After all, this is her home world."
"But according to the locals, she wasn't very well liked," Xaldin pointed out. "She was a political prisoner, remember? The locals would turn her in if they saw her. They haven't seen her."
"She's here," Saix maintained. "Can't you feel it? And if she wasn't liked, wouldn't it make sense that she'd have a hidey-hole out here somewhere?"
"It's a big world," Xaldin said dismissively. "Full of mountains and valleys. We may never find her here."
Got that right, Bruixe thought.
"And what about the mission in Hollow Bastion?" Xaldin continued. "Aren't you the one in charge? And yet here you are, like a dog sniffing out a kill."
"The mission…" Saix began, but they had moved out of Bruixe's earshot.
"Where are you going?" Axel whispered when she started to follow them.
"To eavesdrop," she replied.
"Are you nuts?" he hissed. "What if they see you?"
"Don't worry," Bruixe assured him. "I'm like, James Bond or something."
She kept low to the ground, crouching in the tall grass like a hunting tiger, stealing ever closer to the two men. A patrol of Dragoons swarmed overhead, scanning from the skies, but Bruixe was confident they wouldn't see her; lesser Nobodies weren't known for their brains. It was the circle of Berserkers surrounding the pair that Bruixe was worried about. The trick would be getting close enough to hear.
But Saix and Xaldin made no effort to lower their voices. "What if Sora arrives early?" Xaldin was asking. "Bruixe was supposed to have stalled him. Now that she's gone…"
"The Superior already has an idea to that regard," the Diviner replied. "After all… we still have one traitor among us."
"That weakling?" Xaldin scoffed. "Demyx wouldn't last five seconds against the Keybearer."
"Don't underestimate him," Saix said smoothly. "Of course, he's no match for us… but he may slow Sora down enough to make a difference."
No, Bruixe thought. Not Demyx. Anyone but him. No…
She turned and ran as fast as she could without making noise back to the cave.
"What's wrong?" Axel demanded as she practically fell into the hideaway.
Bruixe looked up with steel in her eyes. "I'm going back for Demyx."