This chapter is dedicated to all the people that read this story and took the time out of their day to write down a few sentences saying how much the liked this story. Because if you guys hadn't done that this story would have been gone at around chapter 19. So thank you readers, this is for you.
I own nothing.
The rain was still pounding down on the land when Sora lead the evacuation group out of the tunnel and out into the open. He allowed himself one second to take a breath before he started to wait by the entrance, encouraging the disgruntled people to move in an orderly fashion as to avoid the dangerous crowd crush scenario that could occur so easily in this situation. The people seemed to pay him no heed though as they rushed out quickly in order to breath in the fresh air that was so different than the stale air that had been cloyed with human body order that existed in the closed off tunnel.
Sora continued to orchestrate this event as his eyes combed the group for any signs of Roxas or Naminé. He knew that Cloud had to stay behind to make sure everything worked smoothly on that end but he had thought he would have seen Roxas and Naminé before now but as it was he had seen no trace of them as of yet. His eyes caught sight of the city they had been in only hours beforehand and saw the storm that was going on seemed to be focused in that area with a jubilee of lightning shooting out to hit the many of lightning rods that shot out in many a direction.
"Sora!" Riku yelled out catching Sora's attention and diverting his eyes from the city. Sora instantly had a smile on his face as he took a few steps forward before he was engulfed in a hug. "Thank god you're alright." Sora enjoyed the unusual amount of public affection Riku was sending his way but was caught off guard by how he said it with such surprise as if something could have happened to him.
"Of course I'm alright, why wouldn't I be?" He questioned squirming away from the hug trying to appear professional but failing miserably judging by the few glances he was earning from the moving crowd. Riku didn't answer right away and instead glanced back at all the newly arriving people he had brought with him that showed signs of a fight and had fear evident in their eyes that were clearly not brought on by just being in the stale tunnel. Sora, putting all this together, put his hand on Rikus shoulder and pulled him back forward, "Riku what happened?"
Though distracted by the increasingly panicked crowd Riku answered, "There was an attack on the hotel by the military." At that moment Sora could have swore his world stopped moving.
Slowly he ripped away from his loves embrace and tried to force his way into the moving crowd but was held back by Riku as he screamed out, "CLLOUDD! ROOXXAASSS!" He didn't see either in the swarm of people that were increasingly more damaged than the prior. "Let me go Riku, I have to make sure they are ok!" But Riku just held onto him all the same and didn't relent on his grip.
"Sora," Cloud yelled back appearing out of the throng of Nobodies. He rushed up Sora and Riku with a wild frenzied expression adorning his face, "Have you seen Roxas and Naminé?" His eyes were scanning the mass of people as he waited for an answer.
"No, what is going on!" Sora asked loudly trying to be heard over the yells and screams. He wasn't answered though as Clouds eyes retracted into pinpoints at the sight of something. Sora and Riku turned to see and dimly hear the giant gates on the twin bridges that lead into the city start to open slowly as giant search lights illuminated the night sky. The horrendous cry of millions of Heartless was soon picked up as across the city they saw the bright lights and were drawn forth.
Without hesitation Cloud sprung into action summoning his giant buster blade in a flash of light that caught the attention of the frenzied mob. "I know you're all scared but right now I need your cooperation if we are going to make it through this night." The panic still hung in the air but the people stopped moving and listened. "Everyone that can still fight needs to head toward the bridge now!"
There was a slight ripple of hesitation that followed this command but Squall stepped forth and with a short nod broke out into a run towards the nearest bridge. This act of bravery was the last thing that was needed to bolster the troop's uncertainty as soon more and more ran after him to the bridge to stop the impending horde. Cloud started to walk after them but was stopped by a rough calloused hand.
"What about the other bridge?" Cloud winced at this question for he was still trying to work it all out in his head.
He turned and faced his once brave leader that had fallen so hard in his eyes and said, "I'm still working on that."
"Let me go, I'll go shut the gate." Mickey retorted, his grey eyes tired and raw.
"But that's a suicide mission-" He didn't finish though as he saw something flicker in the depths of Mickey's eyes. That's when Cloud realized Mickey already knew that in order to have any chance of closing the gates he would be at the mercy of the Heartless.
Cloud felt a moment of indecisiveness but he saw that this was the Commander he had once followed so confidently once before and nodded. He gestured for Riku to come over and instructed him on what needed to be done. Riku looked like he didn't want to but held out his hand nonetheless to summon the portal necessary to get Mickey over to the bridge in time.
He walked into it but not before giving a Cloud a quick military style salute. After he was gone Cloud saluted back and simply said, "Goodbye," before turning and running to the bridge with everyone else.
Across the open sea Mickey stepped out of the closing portal onto the bridge to see the beginnings of the horde arrive in the distance urged by the dancing lights that were splayed everywhere. Without waiting another second he burst into a cold hard sprint to make it to the console before the Heartless could reach it.
As he ran the memories of losing his family to those killing machines played over and over behind his eyes as he shot the lights out one by one but realized to late that he didn't have enough bullets to finish them all off. Throwing his now useless weapon to the ground he stared into the depths of the monsters eyes without blinking and let out a ferocious roar to strengthen his reserve to do what had to be done. His wet cloak flew into his legs as he skidded to a stop and climbed up the ladder just as the first waves of Heartless began to reach where he was at.
His hand reached out toward the top rung as he yelled out, "This is for Minnie!" but as cruel fate would have it just as he was about to reach the lever that would deploy the gates cruel claws ripped into his legs and dragged him back down. Grabbing another rung he held on for dear life as his legs ceased to exist in a matter of seconds. Slowly his hands were pulled from their grip resulting in him falling to the ground with an undignified grunt.
Despite his pride he couldn't help but scream out in anger, frustration and fear as the hopes for the world dwindled away with more and more Heartless running past him and across the bridge to try and reach the mainland.
Claws tore into his defenseless chest as his eyes continued to stare out when in his last throes of life he saw a peculiar Heartless land on the bridge with blackened wings and vivid yellow eyes that seemed to outshine any other Heartless'. It stood upright, a lone figure against the onslaught of heartless that was about to rush it when two keyblades appeared in its hands and it was engulfed in light and darkness all at once.
That was all he saw before his heart was brutally torn from his ribcage and his world went still.
"NO!" Axel screamed in such agony it made his throat go raw almost instantly as he helplessly watched the mile long bridge crash violently into the sea. The impacts were so great that when they hit the water giant waves erupted forth from both sides to spill out in different directions. The dark and light energy that had been swirling around in the air in what looked like an attempt to caress the sky pulled back into its source in an instant like a giant star imploding on itself leaving no sign of Roxas in sight.
"YOU CAN"T DO THIS!" Axel yelled as he struggled to his feet ignoring the blistering pain that exploded from his leg from the pressure he was putting on it. The pain was so intense it caused him to fall back down into the mud that was recently created due to the rain that had stopped only mere minutes ago. He smashed his fist into the ground in his pain deluded rage due to everything spinning radically out of his control. Shooting his head back up he refused to give up while Roxas was out there, he slapped his hand against the hole in his leg and applied heat to close and stop the bleeding as best as he could manually since his body was refusing to do it itself.
He grimaced slightly from the pain that shot up in the split second it took to do it but was on his feet an instant later doing his best to walk onward to the collapsing bridge.
"You CAN'T just leave me here and expect me to UNDERSTAND!" This last screech seemed to shred his heart apart even more as the fears settled in further when he saw yet another piece of rubble descend into the ocean to disappear just like Roxas most likely had. His teeth were locked tightly together as he pushed that last through away forcefully. When that didn't work he began to walk faster until he was practically running even though his leg was about to give out at any second because of the weight that was being repeatedly pushed on it. But the thought of those yellow eyes that had stared into him during the last few seconds Roxas had been with him caused him to run even faster overlooking the fact that his leg wouldn't be able to take much more of this.
Roxas, his Roxas, transformed into the creature that had tried to kill him so many times before had stared into him with those glowing eyes. It had seemed unreal at first, like it had to be some fucked up nightmare he was having but then the horrific realization that it was real and that Heartless had been Roxas. How he had turned into one and what had happened during their time apart didn't matter now, what mattered was making sure Roxas was ok.
He had to be ok.
Axel's leg unfortunately wasn't a team player in this effort and gave out just as he hit the major highway that lead to the remaining bridge. It collapsed without any warning sending him flying forward to the ground from his momentum. The pain continued to clash through his body extending out of his leg.
"Damnit…"He tried to crawl forward, his eyes still fixed on the crumbling bridge, "Damnit, Damnit, DAMNIT!" His legs now both gave out completely, the muscles slowly dying from the abuse they had been put through.
"Axel?" A voice called out that he recognized as Sora's. "Where have you been-…oh god." Was his reaction to Axel torn body on the side of the road coated in his blood and a bit of darkness that had rubbed off of Roxas onto him. "Aerith get over here quick!" His voice was filled with panic as Axel continued to try and cross the road to where he last saw Roxas before Sora's hand fell on his shoulder stopping him.
An upraised arm smacked the restraining hand away. Sora backed away and waited for Aerith to reach them, a sad look on his face as the remaining bridge in the distance stood still and stoic in the rising sun that shown down blissfully unaware at the tragedy that the night had wrought on the land. Fire burned under Axel's skin as he attempted to stand once more but all the weight he put on the leg made his try end in failure.
Aeriths shadow fell over him when she knelt down next to him, a glowing green hand already makings its way to his leg, as the sounds of cheers erupted from the nearby bridge. With the coming of day the heartless had been driven off back into the city, their taint not spreading to the mainland just yet. But Axel didn't care, he only cared about one thing and that was Roxas. The cheers instead became an agonizing sound to him as their ignorance fueled his anger.
No one knew how horribly his world was falling apart at the seams.
"What's going on Axel?" Sora sounds scared now, the hint of panic swelling up in his voice undermining any authority he had tried to hold on to through this trying time.
"Roxas was on that BRIDGE!" He said as he tore himself away from Aeriths cool hand. His muscles had knitted back together enough to hold his weigh and he couldn't wait around another minute. The leg was still sore but it was good enough. "And now that bridge is gone." Sora had gone stock still as the shock of those statements settled in. His blue eyes were wide and scared as he turned away and ran back down to the bridge where the defenders were still celebrating.
Axel didn't care though and now that the pain was gone from his leg he was thinking clearer. There was no way he could get there in time; he had to figure out a way of getting over there faster when it hit him. He ran in the direction that Sora had went, his feet hitting the ground hard, and made his way to the one person he knew could get him there fast.
"Riku!" He yelled out to get the silver haired mans attention before skidding to a stop in front of him. "I need you to get me over there now!"
All the while he was thinking over and over again, please be ok, just please hold on.
"Roxas…" A voice called out in the darkness as Roxas floated in oblivion. He remembered the deafening sound of the bridge being torn apart by the powers that had ripped through him before he fell into the salty sea and was dragged down by the current despite his thrashing. But now everything was quiet and serene except for the unusual sound of his heart beating once more and the voice that had interrupted his thoughts.
"Roxas," The voice repeated again with a little more forcefulness to it. Dogged by this voice, Roxas slowly opened his eyes to see the white room he had been in previously with Naminé. It had been covered up by a slew of darkness but now it was as white as ever. He planted his hands on the invisible floor and stood up relieved to see that like the room he was no longer covered in blackness. His eyes darted towards the voice and saw no one in sight.
Just an empty void of white met his eyes.
"It's time to go Roxas," It called out, "Your time in that world is over." Roxas' eyes widened involuntarily when he heard that last sentence. It was said with such plainness that he almost accepted it to be true until his gut wrenched backwards to declare how mistaken it truly was.
"No, you're wrong," Was all he could think to say. Taking a step back he turned around and blindly ran as fast as he could though he knew he was going nowhere. He almost felt silly and childish but the want to live covered up any feeling of stupidity he had left.
"You can run Roxas, but you must accept it in the end." It said calmly with an almost father like tone as if it was scolding a small child that had disobeyed a simple request. Roxas continued to ignore it though and kept running even as the colors started to slip away around him. His footsteps echoed loudly through the empty expanse while the lights seemed to become dim and mute.
If he died he wouldn't get to be with his brothers, he wouldn't get to grow older, and he wouldn't have Axel! The utter wrongness of this whole situation spurred him to run even faster as a new voice interrupted the whiteness.
"You still have a chance Roxas," It called out to him inspiring much needed hope in him, "Just take my hand." After that sentence was spoken, Roxas leapt into the air, his wings out as far as they would go, to grab the hand of the girl who had helped him so many times before. Her hand clasped his and drew him upwards, a small smile tracing her lips as she said one last thing. "Remember to hold your breath." That was all he had for a warning before cold water crushed down all around him as his eyes opened to glimpse the pieces of the bridge falling into the chasms of the deep.
His lungs immediately began to cry for air as his limbs began to instantly push through the water to propel himself upwards. The irony of his life hanging in the balance by the sport he hated the very most didn't elude him as memories of his many hours spent in the tank at the institute were involuntarily brought forth in his head. Those horrid hours were paying off in a strange way though now as his lean legs and arms took over and repeated the motion he had be forced to do so many times before.
Bubbles passed by him as he swam from the large amounts of debris that was still constantly sinking around him to end up on the sandy bottom not to be discovered by anyone else for a long time. This didn't distract him for long though for sharp pain had started to build up further in his chest from the lack of oxygen. It didn't help that his wings and what was left of his clothes were weighing him down in a rather annoying way but if he stopped to strip them off there would be no way he would make it in time.
But as he saw how far away the surface still was and how little energy he seemed to be working with, the dim realization that he wasn't going to make it fell over him slowly as the glimmering surface seemed farther away than ever. Muscles still straining against the heavy water to push his body upward, he felt the last bit of air he had left in his lungs escape between his lips to float up as bubbles that rose to the surface faster than he could ever hope to go.
His hand reached out in front of him in his last bid for the surface before his straining lungs forced his mouth open to take in a struggling breath. Water rushed in filling his chest as an intense pain arose within him to shout out the obvious of this was not ok. There was nothing he could do though for slowly unconsciousness began to overtake him. His brain fought with all the ferocity it could muster in its oxygen deprived state but it was like facing a caterpillar off against a dinosaur for the fight to the death. It was no contest to who was going to win out in the end no matter how many people were cheering for the underdog.
His blue eyes never left the surface even as blackness started to merge into his vision. But as his thoughts started to slow down and the surface of the sea became more distant he thought sadly, "I'm so sorry Axel, I tried. I tried so hard." He closed his eyes as the last few bubbles of air escaped him, "I'm just so tired."
Slowly his body began to relax and stopped fighting against the water as the voice in his head became stronger once more, "Roxas…it's time to go." Dimly he felt himself start to rise up as a hand grasped his arm. "Come to me Roxas." He rose further, "You've lasted long enough." It was finally over, he could finally let go and maybe, just maybe, he would get to see his mom and dad again.
That was until his head was forced brutally out of the water and into the air. Straight away his body was wracked with rough coughs as the wretched salt water was ejected from his lungs in a violent matter from his nose and mouth.
This was not how he imagined death to be like.
"You FUCKING IDIOT," Was roared into his face as he sputtered around in the water trying to stay afloat as his big dumb wings continued to weigh him down. His head ducked under the water again as he fought to stay afloat and not die but luckily the hand holding his arm brought him back up again. His eyes finally opened to see a very angry Axel treading water behind him while currently hold him up. He seemed to be only wearing pants but seemed unaffected probably due to the fact he was running at a higher temperature.
"Didn't you think at all before acting so stupidly!" Roxas said nothing in reply though because for one he didn't know how to respond and second all his energy had now been redirected into the very important thing called staying alive. Axel looked like he want to yell more but just turned his back and started to tow Roxas back to the shore.
During the journey back to the coast Roxas continued to hack up water and struggled to swim while Axel dragged him along. But even then he didn't care, Axel could be as mad as he wanted to be for Roxas hadn't felt this happy in a long time. He wasn't dead, and Axel was with him.
It wasn't long until Roxas finally felt sand under his feet. It was the queerest sensation of feeling the sand with one foot while the other was still adorned with a shoe. He didn't feel it for long though as Axel continued to drag him out of the water.
But as Roxas started to actually use his legs for walking out of the water his body rebelled instantaneously. The wounds he had received during his fight with Saïx and Xigbar apparently still were around and now that his life wasn't in jeopardy from drowning his body had decided now was the best time to let him know he was still in trouble. He stumbled to his knees, half out of the water, and slowly brought up a hand to one of the many spear jabs he had accumulated.
They had clotted up thankfully due to his accelerated healing being jacked up during his little time spent as a heartless but they still hurt like no other. Axel turned around hearing the splash and the feeling the arm he held fall down. His face held fear as he knelt down beside Roxas and looked at the wounds with heavy eyes before scooping up his fallen friend and started to carry him back to the road that held everyone else.
The heat radiating off Axels skin felt glorious to Roxas as his body had been soaked thoroughly through and as it was still spring the water had been icy cold. As Axel walked he hugged Roxas close burying his head in his damp hair and was whispering incoherent sentences that Roxas couldn't make out. He thought he heard "Don't ever do that again."
Roxas felt guilt stab him none to gently in his heart causing him to rest his head on Axels chest and whisper, "I'll try not to." Axel couldn't help but let out a weak laugh at this pathetic excuse that Roxas threw at him.
"Try huh?" He asked looking at Roxas with some of the usual cockiness returned to his gaze. "You better do more than just try and I don't care what your brother says, from now on you and I do all our missions together."
In response Roxas just held himself closer to Axel and said, "Thanks Axel." His hand gripped Axels arm tightly when he noticed dimly he no longer had a sleeve on that arm, "Thanks for everything."
At this Axel only smiled, "You're not getting away from me that easily." Though he was curious about the fact that Roxas was no longer covered in blackness and seemed for the most part normal, wings and all, but he was just so happy that he hadn't lost him that he decided he didn't really need to know just yet. Later he would ask though.
Axel walked with Roxas in his arms in comfortable silence as they slowly made their way back to the road that held all the citizens that had lived in the hotel milling around, the last bridge having been finally destroyed by the efforts of multiple talents Nobodies and not just one this time. As Roxas forced his way out of Axels arms reluctantly, there was no way he was going to show weakness in front of anyone besides Axel, he dimly wondered about all the gangs that were still in there but in the end the thoughts of Hayner caused him to not focus on it for long.
Sora ran up to him once his eyes caught sight of the two of them and hugged him with all the strength he had. His eyes wanted to ask so many questions but he held them back when he saw Cloud sidle by him to hug Roxas as well but when he pulled back his eyes were heavy. "Where is Naminé?" Axel looked like he wanted to kill Cloud for asking such a question like Roxas didn't matter but Roxas paid Axels sudden body change no heed.
"She was killed by Sephiroth." Roxas said numbly, the painful memory resurfacing. Cloud withdrew, a downcast shadow eclipsing his face hiding his feelings, as he took a step back. He then pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath.
"At least you're ok; this will all work out somehow." This really made Axel want to throttle the crazy blond in front of him but he was held back by the simple hand Roxas put on his arm leaving him to only watch Cloud walk away. Roxas knew that Cloud cared about him but was just overwhelmed by all that was happening; they just needed to make it through this day and then everything work itself out.
Eventually Aerith made her way over to him to heal the remaining wounds left on his body allowing him to stand on his own without pain.
Over the course of this day Axel and Roxas mainly stayed on the side lines as everyone packed up and got everything in place in order to move out to go tell the world what had happened in Normandy City. When it was finally time to leave Axel had to shake Roxas awake as to let him know it was time to go and even then Roxas slightly dozed as they meandered forward. They all walked in a compact group on the road as if they were some makeshift parade but Roxas only felt hope envelope his chest.
They had survived, somehow they had survived. But yet something felt wrong.
"Hey I got a radio to work! I actually have a radio working!" In the city all radio tower signals and every other kind of device had been cancelled out by the military so having a radio working was a luxury many hadn't got to enjoy for a while. People crowded around to hear the wonderful technology but nothing could've prepared them for what they heard.
"I repeat…the virus is rampant and most…all people are receptive to it! Only…shot to the chest…will kill them! God save us all" A cold hush fell over the crowd as everyone stopped in their tracks to widen their eyes. Axel held Roxas instinctively closer to him as his body heated up involuntarily.
Slowly someone said with hopelessness, "It was all for nothing."
They looked out down the road and knew that now, more than ever; they would have to rely on one another if they were to survive this new nightmare.
If they had had the ability to see across the country they would have seen that the virus had already been released weeks prior to their escape and nothing had stood in its way as it made its way across North America and branched out towards the other helpless continents.
I can still remember that look that crossed Axels face as he realized that the real nightmare had only just begun. As for me I had been prepared for this the day ever since I knew that such a virus had existed though I had prayed to anyone that would listen that it would never be so. But I now know that you can't run from fate and that no matter what all you can do it face it head on and fight with all you got….because that's all you have in the end.
You can't deny or wish it away; you just have to deal with it no matter how much you wish it wasn't so.
I can't believe it...it's over. Since January I have been writing this thing and now it's done.
I know, ending is kind of crappy but this is how I planned it to end no matter what even during all the major rewrites this story went through, I wanted this to stay the same no matter what. And you guys have no idea just how many times this story changed.
Because of the way this story ended many of you are probably asking yourselves, "Is there going to be a sequel?" And the truth is I don't know. I can kind of see myself writing one if there is enough people asking for it but in the end I truly don't know.
All I know is this story was way longer than I anticipated it to be but I got to say I love that it ends on a prime number for some reason.
Oh also for kicks and giggles I decided to post the original story plan in my profile for kicks and giggles so if you want to see it in all its horrible unedited glory go check it out.
So as this comes to an end I salute you dear readers that read and followed this story until the end, it was all for you guys.
And for the last time I shall ask you to review and let me know what you thought of the story as a whole as I go to the edit page and change the "In progress" button to "Complete."