HAH! Take that Finals, I can study and write at the same time. Only two more to go until I am free. I know this chapter is a bit on the short side but I liked how it ended and didn't want to ruin it by adding another scene.
Thanks again for the review, I treasure every one I receive.
"What the hell is going on?!" Roxas thought fervently as the world blurred heavily in front of him. It was like looking through the wrong end of a kaleidoscope while drunk. The effect was starting to make him feel nauseous as his feet swayed dangerously underneath him from his shortage of energy. He would have stopped and rubbed his eyes to try to alleviate some of the blurriness but the threat the people around him represented dissuaded him from this course of action. From what he could make out, he was outside and in a grassy area with two people near him in different directions. If he had to guess, he would have said they were two men but he wasn't placing any bets at the moment.
The two people hadn't moved from their spots after Roxas' attack but instead stayed stock still as if in shock to what was happening. He didn't let this fact lower his guard though and defiance held his keyblade higher in his trembling hand to let them know he meant business. Unfortunately his shoulder was starting to cramp up causing his hand that held the keyblade to shake like that but he hoped they didn't notice and take advantage that disadvantage he had. The fear of what might happen if it seized up drove his adrenaline up lessening the shaking to some degree but it was still prevalent. That short blackout had given him enough strength to stand up and attack blindly but he could tell if he didn't start doing something his legs would give out and he would be in worse shape than he had been to start with.
The person who he had hit to the ground from his attack, started to move away with loud movements causing Roxas' wings to try and open up instinctively but found that was made difficult by the coat that had been placed on him during his brief time he had been knocked out. Not taking the time to investigate the coat he watched as the green and brown splotchy person scoot away from him holding his arm. Roxas made no move to stop him; if the person wasn't going to attack him then he wasn't going to waste the precious energy he had left on someone who wasn't a threat to him.
Roxas shifted his blind gaze at the man who had not retreated and was instead starting to take small steps towards him with both of his hands upraised. He was able to make out the man had on all black clothing and had red hair but anything else he couldn't make out or wasn't certain enough to make note of. The man had begun to speak and Roxas listened haphazardly as he started to back up and look for a viable escape route, he didn't think he had enough energy to fight so retreat was his next best option.
Once he heard the man's voice though, he stopped dead in his tracks and slowly pivoted his head, his blue eyes wide with uncertainty.
"Roxas, calm down. It's me Axel, your friend." Looking back at the man, Roxas noted he did bare some similarities to Axel but it couldn't be, it just couldn't. The last thing he could remember was having Saix bore down upon him with the intent to kill and now he was here in some outside area with apparently Axel, Axel of all people. The one person he would have given anything to see again was here in front of him. This had to be some dream or he had died in that room with Saix and this was the afterlife.
The wounds on his stomach and shoulder spoke otherwise to these theories for they squeezed angrily at the rough movements Roxas was making but he still couldn't believe it. It hurt to hope but he did.
His vision was starting to get better and more and more of the man were revealed, until Roxas saw it, the eyes that haunted him in the recesses of his mind at that institute branch in the city. Brilliant sea green gazed at him with such a degree of pleading it hurt his heart. Biting his lower lip in an attempt to stop himself from crying out in pure joy, Roxas forced himself to stay calm. This could be a trap, some horrible trap they decided to do to him to break him or allow his vulnerable side to show so they could use it against him in the future. He couldn't let his hopes get up and then have them dashed, he didn't have the strength at the moment to go through that.
The red haired man continued to speak and walk forward, "Roxas listen to me! You're in a park near Watterson Street. Me and Hayner got you out of there. You're safe now!" Roxas could tell the man was trying to take it slow with him but frustration was starting to add a tone to his voice. Roxas furrowed his eyebrows as his keyblade disappeared involuntarily from his hand as the strength needed to keep it, left him. He was on lower energy than he thought. He didn't have much time left if he wanted to try and escape.
Looking back up from his hand, he noticed the man across from him saw this as a good sign and started to walk forward faster until Roxas felt uncomfortable enough to yell out "Stop!"
This stopped the man dead in his tracks as a look of hurt crossed his blurry face for a brief moment. Roxas was starting to pant as the effort it took to remain standing up increased. There was no way he could run, there was no way he could fly, and there was no way he could fight. It was game over. His luck had finally run out, but what if this really was Axel, then he had been freaking out over nothing but there was only one way to find out. And if it wasn't Axel, then there was always plan D.
"Prove you're Axel!" Roxas cried out as one of his legs almost gave out from under him. He caught it before he fell down but time was running short. He had to hurry this along before he was forced to do something drastic.
"Wait what? Prove I'm me?" The man was clearly growing irritated by the question. This was a good sign; Axel never was one for patience.
"You heard right." Was Roxas' only reply, as his attention was being more and more diverted to keeping his legs straight. The man didn't answer right away and seemed to take the question seriously. Roxas' vision had improved enough so only the edges of the man were blurry now which showed that the man did indeed resemble Axel in every way except for the scratches that adorned his face.
"A while ago I received a concussion from a particular flowery man named Marluxia which caused me to pass out on you on the way back to our headquarters. On the way there you told me you used to live in Ifrit and that you loved fireworks. You also told me you were going to name something to rhyme with orange; I'm still holding you to that by the way." Roxas was in shock, how could he know that even if he was Axel. During that walk he was so sure Axel had been so out of it he wouldn't have remembered anything.
"And the last thing you told me was that I was your best friend. And believe me when I say you're mine to, that's why I broke you out of that place." Axel started to walk forward again but this time Roxas didn't shy away, he couldn't have if he wanted to but that was beside the point. The red hair, the familiar smile, this was Axel, his Axel.
Roxas struggled to keep his emotions hidden under a blank face of indifference but the sheer amount happiness that was coursing through his heart wouldn't stand for that. He finally relented with a lopsided grin that revealed more to the red head then he knew. Roxas watched as Axel took the last steps forward to end up towering over him.
But instead of Axel making the last move, it was Roxas' turn. Without making a sound Roxas leaned forward and buried his head in Axel's chest. His legs quaked softly as the dry sobs wracked his body from the absolute relief he felt at the turn of events the day had taken. Long arms wrapped around him engulfing him in warmth that was appreciated as Roxas dug his head further trying to disappear from the world. He felt Axel lower his chin into his hair cuddling closer as if he was going to disappear any second. No tears fell though, Roxas wasn't one for tears but it was a close call.
"Is he ok?" A voice popped up from the side of them that he recognized as Hayners that held a tone he couldn't identify. Roxas felt Axel pull his head up but he stayed where he was content in the moment he was experiencing. He never had felt as safe as he did now and he didn't want to lose that, even to see Hayner.
"Yeah…" Axel said quietly holding Roxas closer and rocking back and forth slightly. "I think he is."
Mickey paced in his dark office furiously as the information that he had just pieced together buzzed in his brain like a hoard of bees. Turning suddenly without warning he violently knocked the papers on his desk into the air with a single sweep of his calloused hands. He breathed hard as he watched the flurry of papers gently floated to the ground despite the force they had been flung into the air with. The beams of light that slanted through the cracks in the wood covered window made the situation even tenser as it set the somber mood. A headache began to form between Mickey's eyes as the information proved to be too much for him to handle.
Pinching the bridge of his nose in an attempt to stave it off, he rotated around to face the wall behind his desk that was adorned with a multitude of articles. They held all kinds of information from over the past three months detailing the different information about the military and Nobodies they had accumulated. For months he had been trying to figure out what the greater goal the military held was and now he was scared shitless having finally figured it out. The information was all there, from the papers Axel had only delivered him a few weeks ago to the information he had acquired from the military base in the grocery store.
He had had so many different theories but the one he had concluded to be the one was far worse than he imagined anyone could be capable of. And to top it all off he had finally figured out how Roxas played in to it all. All the things the kid had been though, he had seen it all when he had sifted through the memories of those three months.
Subject Seven they had called him, so much had been placed upon this one last test subject. Each experiment had lead up to another and another all for one thing they were trying to achieve but oh how they had failed. Subject Seven had messed up their perfect plan by escaping early and botching up the careful schedule they had worked out with the dosages they had been injecting into him.
The Commander turned around slowly to open one of the many drawers that habited in his desk to pull out the dark vial that contained the dark matter which had had no formal name as of yet. The dark matter was the pure form of Heartless essence that when breathed in either transformed someone into one of them or into a Nobody. The scientists had thought that if the body was exposed to more than the change the body underwent to prepare would be drastically increased and in theory create a stronger Nobody.
Looking through the reports had revealed that yes in theory this idea was strong but in reality it proved to be more difficult than they had imagined. In result of their toying with nature they had created monstrosities that died shortly after. Roxas and one other were the only ones to survive and probably had sealed his fate that night he had broken out.
Now Roxas' body was rejecting the Heartless essence still left in his body and if he didn't receive the required amount for his body to wean off of it the results could be disastrous and dangerous to the people around him. If Roxas was still around Mickey would have been forced to take care of him but things had worked out for the best. Roxas was now gone and most likely dead leaving the Military one step behind their grand scheme for Roxas had been a vital component it seemed.
The only downside to the turn of events was Axel was now gone leaving the their base short one operative who had had the most promise when it came to sheer power but all would be well. He still had Cloud, Squall, Riku and many more to stop the military from succeeding in their plans. Rubbing a hand over his face, Mickey returned to facing his desk before opening the bottom most drawer and pulling out a old cigar. He sat down into this worn wooden chair and brought out the lighter he kept in the same drawer before lighting up. The first drag felt like heaven and calmed his nerves instantly as the other information he had uncovered swirled in his head. It took another long drag before he could even begin to think about it.
There had been one more crucial element to the Militaries plan. An imperative element that whoever controlled it controlled the outcome of the city. The plan was all linked back to one person, one little girl who had the fate of the world in her hands. A small girl named, Naminé.
Roxas bobbed up and down pleasantly as his head rested heavily on Axels shoulder for all energy needed to keep it aloft escaped him. The need to sleep was prevalent but he fought it off because even though he was with Axel, the need to keep an eye out for trouble was integrated in him to heavily for him to resist. The three of them kept up a steady pace as they walked back to the headquarters though it was only Hayner and Axel walking for he was currently hitching a ride on Axels back. Walking was a little out of his range at the moment having used up the remaining energy he had on his rude awakening.
But now he was out in the sun away from the anesthetic smell and needles with the knowledge his brothers were safe and sound. Roxas felt like he was on cloud nine, not only was he on his way back home but he was with Axel and Hayner. But soon his euphoric sensation began to wear off and the weight of the world fell back on his shoulders as he watched Hayner walk alongside him and Axel. With curiosity becoming more prevalent with each second that passed he asked the question he had been dying to know ever since that fateful date with destiny
"Hayner?" Roxas said quietly, laying his head on its side so he faced his long lost friend who seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Hayner looked at him with a mixture of emotions that was a blend of fear and anger. Seeing his friend in such turmoil at the sight of him caused Roxas to shift his gaze away momentarily but he continued on with his question nonetheless. "What happened to Ollette and Pence after the explosion, are they ok?"
This inquiry caused Hayner to flinch as if an actual blow had been directed at him. Roxas immediately felt guilty for asking but he had to know if there was any hope of finding them to. The continued to move at a stable pace but now with a blanket of silence enveloping them as Hayner contemplated on how he would answer this question. Roxas waited patiently, he had waited for over three months. He could wait a couple minutes to get his question answered.
The minutes passed by slowly until ultimately Hayners brown eyes turned to meet sky blue. The stare had such defiance in it Roxas almost recoiled at the sight of all the blame that was being thrown at him. "They're dead Roxas; they died that day the explosion occurred." Hayner stopped walking causing Axel to halt in mid step, Roxas couldn't see but he knew Axel would be shooting Hayner his usual what the fuck face. But nothing could have prepared Roxas for what his friend said next.
"And the way I see it, maybe we would have been better off if you died that day to." Hayner said softly but with purpose. Instantly Axel retaliated with vehemence that matched a mother bear that sees someone threatening their cubs.
"What the crap Hayner! Where did that come from!?" Axel whirled around to face the stoic kid who was looking at the ground not wanting to look at the gates of fury that was Axel. Roxas felt the world stop as Hayner uttered those words, his friend thought he should have died? Hayner didn't let up either, he rose to the challenge Axel had created and continued to voice his thoughts.
"It's true and you know it, you heard what those scientists had said, I know you did! Or were you too caught up in the search to find him you didn't hear what they were saying?" Hayner said blatantly ignoring the look of horror on Roxas' face. "They created him to be the pinnacle of their depraved experiments, to be something different that can't even be defined as human."
Hayner was now looking straight at Axel, disregarding Roxas entirely. "I didn't want to believe it at first, and when I saw him broken on the floor I knew it couldn't be true but then… but then I saw him for what he really is, a monster. A monster that attacks first without question! He's no longer the Roxas I knew, hell he isn't even a person anymore." Hayner looked away once more and fixed his gaze at the ground as Axel and Roxas stood in shock at the accusations he was throwing around.
"And to think I had…" Hayner trailed off and took a step back. "Hell, I don't even know what to think anymore." Rubbing a hand vigorously through his hair he continued, "I can't stay around anymore, I won't tell them what I found out of respect for our former friendship but if we meet again I most likely won't be on your side. And I won't give a second thought if I have to kill you. Goodbye." And with that final statement, Hayner turned around and started to walk away. Roxas felt Axel heat up as the anger pulsed in his veins.
"You're wrong Hayner." Axel said surprisingly calmly, "He's more of a person than you ever could hope to be."
Hayner didn't turn around but he did stop for a second before starting up again and promptly disappeared out of sight. Axel raised his hand and did a vulgar sign before turning back towards the direction of the Headquarters and started to walk briskly to get away from the stench of betrayal in the air.
Roxas felt his heart slow as the information started to process.
His friend thought he should have died.
His friend thought they would be better off if he was dead.
His friend was gone.
Roxas had been through so much and defied so many people but those fallacies had ripped him his chest wide open to expose his defenseless heart and rip into it without pity. He bit down on his tongue to stop himself from crying out in frustration. He hadn't had a choice when it came to what happened to him yet here someone was yelling at him like he had.
He felt ashamed and more vulnerable than he ever had before and that scared him. His wings retracted in further as he laid his head against Axels back and tried to disappear from the world and its depravities. Trying to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat he remembered those papers he had found in Vexens office and the one he hadn't gotten to read, what had they tried to achieve with him? What had they done to him!?
"Roxas that was complete and utter bullshit, you know that right?" Axel said turning his head slightly trying to see Roxas' face. The blond could tell Axel was worried about him, which made him feel guiltier. The man had gone and rescued him and what had he done for him in return? A big fat load of nothing.
"Yeah, I'm fine. No worries." Roxas said reluctantly after a small pause to compose himself enough so his voice wouldn't crack mid sentence. Axel didn't seem convinced but let it drop probably knowing pushing it wouldn't help things in Roxas case. Instead he simply gave the blonds legs a small squeeze to let him know he was there and kept on walking down the deserted road.
And the sun kept shining.
Yep, thats it. No cliff hanger this time that doesn't mean you're safe from them.
Finally some Akuroku is showing through, I didn't mean for it to happen so late into the game but they had only just met eachother and they needed to bond damnit! I hate the fanfictions that just rush into thing so i decided mine it would be different.
Again please review!