The Sapphire Sorceress

Disclaimer: The rights to Kingdom Hearts belong to Disney and Square Enix.


Act 48: Axel and Saix

"Something at Castle Oblivion changed you. Does the past mean nothing to you now?"


The World That Never Was: Twilight's View

- Day 224 - Anomaly

Axel made his way back into the Organization's hall with no sign of Auxaq in sight, the fact was she felt ashamed of coming back with nothing to show for her initiate to continue her investigation of Castle Oblivion. Many felt that she's becoming a traitor who should be eliminated, but it was Xemnas who once again came to Auxaq's defense.

'If she would have turned against us it would have been during Marluxia's failed coup, they might have even been more successful if she did turn against the rightful direction of this group.' While many wondered if the Superior was correct in letting her stray off the path of the other nobodies he felt that if she couldn't return to some kind of success than she might as well not bother coming back at all. Only Saix and Xigbar felt that this kind of reaction wasn't the right kind of punishment she deserved for this kind of disobedience.

What they didn't know is Axel had secretly prepared a communication between both castles, so that Auxaq could remain in contact with him, Roxas, and Xion while she couldn't be there physically. It provided a way she can speak with someone besides herself, and to keep Xion and Roxas up on their keyblade training, which she was doing with the both of them right now while Axel wondered into the scaffold area of the castle. This summoning was called by his closest friend here even more than the trio he's gotten to like over the past months, Saix.

'This has to be about Auxaq...'

Waiting for his partner to show up the fire-style nobody began to wonder about the state of matters in Organization XIII. With nearly half of the group out of the picture, and since Auxaq is not coming back until she feels that she can prove her usefulness to everyone. Things were not looking well in terms of a positive atmosphere granted Axel knew that any joy they might have felt was really an illusion of their past memories. That is why the idea of getting back their hearts was so appealing to nobodies.

Looking out at the endless "night" of the world he's gotten to know over the past years Axel wondered if he will ever be able to enjoy being in the sun of a place like Twilight Town for real, the rays of light that embrace his skin didn't effect him like a somebody. What's missing from such creatures like Axel, besides the humanity they lack, and the soul necessary to truly exist in the universe a sign of proof that they were still alive.

"Axel, good you've come like I wished. As you might have guessed already, the matter of Auxaq is the subject of this private meeting." The cold, unfeeling nobody even among others in a similar position walked down from the top of the stairway where the higher section of the castle was found, the two partners in scheming behind Xemnas met each other once more.

"Let me guess what's on your mind, and that is you don't like her very much." Axel shrugged his shoulders, tone sounding rather sassy as he knew Saix was not fond of her since day one of her arrival in this organization.

"Don't mock my thoughts on her results thus far," Looking at his friend with his yellow piercing eyes he continued on with his explanation. "She continues to defy the rules of this group, and I wanted to hear from you on what should be done about this behavior." He knew Axel would likely defend this kind of stuff, but he was still loyal to Xemnas or at least he hoped was the cased with his close comrade within the ranks of other nobodies.

"That isn't a bad thing, Saix. She wishes to prove her worth by finding her friend and regaining the power of her keyblade. Perhaps the isolation will help her out in the long run-she might have wanted or even needed some time alone." Saix shook his head, the skeptical servant of his superior wasn't buying what Axel was trying to sell him.

"She needs to collect more hearts or perform tasks given out to here, and not run off for some fool's errand. She is a member of this organization; she is not a rogue agent that is working for anyone else. If she thinks that she will constantly get away with acting independently from us, then she is in for a painful lesson."

"What do you mean by that, friend..." Axel was getting a bad feeling that Saix was spelling out that his other friend was now in deep trouble.

"She must return with something to show her value to this organization, but it can't merely be that Ventus she goes on about rather the keyblade she has lost to become a secondary option."

"Secondary? What are you talking-"

"Insurance if Xion and Roxas fail to continue providing us with their strength as keyblade warriors. It would only make sense to replace one of them with a master should they end up failing in the future to perform their duty."

"We aren't fighting in some kind of war, Saix. We're only out to regain what was once ours and nothing more." He scoffed at Saix's words, the man refused to consider the idea of one of his friends being rendered useless to the organization. No matter what Saix or Xaldin believe Axel knew his friends his sources of a white light in his homeworld: the endless gray expanse of nothingness that is The World That Never Was.

"There will be those who see us as nothing more than blights in the universe, and even if we wished to keep our hearts...it is very unlikely we can remain in this state forever should we fail in regaining our hearts." Axel raised an eyebrow, the man was unsure what Saix meant by that statement.

"I've been doing my own research through some files that I managed to uncover, and from the information that I have learned...the chances are our lifespan as nobodies might be dated."

"Dated?"

"Limited than what we anticipated would be the case, Axel. It won't be tomorrow or by next week certainly, but without our souls, these hollow shells will cease to exist over the course of time," Saix knew this would make Axel more determined to help complete their current objective, and forget for the moment about other "unimportant" matters. "We can't continue to delay our objective with irrelevant thoughts or ideas. Kingdom Hearts must be made whole..."

"What about our past, then? Are you suggesting that all of that is simply unimportant as well? Saix, what's happened to you-no-what has changed between us?"

"That isn't your concern? Do you wish to risk getting on the Superior's bad side, and unlike with your pal Auxaq he might not feel so forgiving about your behavior." This was a stark contrast from how their last conversation had gone down, which was a little less cold than this current talk with the man he was a long-term friend within the ranks of this group.

"Do you really care about what we wanted to do in the beginning anymore? To do things the way we wanted, and not letting anyone get in the way of our dreams coming true. Why they were never even supposed to know about us taking over things for ourselves..." Axel knew that selfishness he once displayed only to his partner-in-crime against Xemnas was no longer the reason he fought to get back his own heart. Now, there were other people and other reasons for fighting to become whole.

"Don't tell me you still believe we are two young kids playing around in that old world of ours. You need to grow up this is no longer a children's world we are living in, Axel." His tone was getting louder, his anger becoming more evident with Axel's mindset not going along with his way of thinking. His priorities were no longer about simply completing something that Marluxia got started with his failed rebellion against the current leadership.

"I know that you're still that stupid, mean, uncaring jerk of a friend that I still care about even after all this time!" Axel shouted out remembering the days spent with the person he grew close to back in Radiant Garden. "Isa, do you dream about those nights anymore? The nights we would look up at the sky, the worlds that were each represented by a star according to what our parents and elders told us. We wondered if one day the both of us could possibly visit such worlds, and see the many different places and people in the multiple worlds out there."

"The desires of a boy who no longer exists. You are not Lea despite what she might have told you; the person you know as Isa is long gone..." Axel refused to believe Saix really had dismissed their history together like it was merely a fantasy before Saix suggested they stay in their current persona as nobodies but now he was saying the history between them was something that he suggested never even happened.

"You-"

"Do you really think such things like friendship can truly exist without a heart? That foolish idea is what will deter you from the path to regaining your soul."

"Wait!" Axel called out to Saix as he went back up to report back to Xemnas considering his brief talk with Axel a waste of his precious time. Looking at the stoic expression, his green eyes grew sharp as he spoke to his friend about what he felt about this shift in personalities.

"I may not have a real heart at the moment," Looking down at his chest he wanted to pretend this was simply a nightmare he would wake up from eventually. That Saix was still the kid he used to tease and have fun with as they ate sea-salt ice cream together. Instead of Isa being there Xion, Roxas, and Auxaq were laughing with him on that clock tower instead now. "That doesn't mean I thought our friendship was fake by any means. I don't know what your problem is, but if you're going to act like our past is unimportant, then I guess we can't be friends anymore..."

"Good. At least you finally understand that anything we once had matters to who we are now."

Axel didn't get angry at that, his reaction was simply to look at his friend with a sad expression before disappearing through a portal of darkness unaware of what Saix said to himself while heading back to the top of the huge castle.

'Lea, please find it within yourself to forgive me. I know what was said must have hurt, but I can't let you get close to me not when I've gotten this close. All of this won't be for nothing, when the time comes I hope we can both go up onto that clocktower like before...' As his footsteps got harder to hear in the distance the hidden fly on the wall made himself known having enjoyed the "spat" between two close friends.

"Man I love being able to hang around and listen to such juicy talk like that." Xigbar was grateful doing that for an extended period of time didn't make blood rush to his head, the benefit of being a hollow being meant no blood was being pumped through his body by a heart. Stretching out his arms in a pointless exercise The Freeshooter of the organization was killing time by hanging around in different places of the castle, his ears getting to hear quite a lot of gossip from the other members of this group barely managing to avoid being caught.

"Do they really think that they're the ones running the show. As if!" He grinning at the knowledge he possessed about the "man behind the curtain" of this whole organization, and why everything was being done to create the artificial version of Kingdom Hearts. Xigbar traded his own soul and body to the man who would one day give him what he's been longing to have instead of his trademark arrow guns that could be combined into a sniper rifle. One day he would become as special as Terra, Ventus, and Aqua...

"Hmm...what's this feeling? It seems like Vexen is trying to freeze me into a statue for taking a peek at his research on his computer..." The air around Xigbar shifted and changed, and despite lacking emotions, the sharp-shooter pulled out his gun ready for something to jump out to attack him. The intruder made himself know, wearing the same outfit Xigbar had on to disguise his face from the nobody's view. Until the proper moment, he would simply remain as the mysterious figure of time and space, his duty to cross through many different periods of this timeline.

"Xigbar...This must be around that certain period of time."

"Time? Are you gonna start speaking like we do to confuse ordinary people or something?"

"What do you mean by that? I believe my words aren't that hard to grasp, the nature of my conversation won't confuse your mind, but understand that we've met before and will see each other again in the future as the destiny that has been set in motion will come to fruition."

"...Yeah, that's exactly what I thought."

He couldn't help but sigh, his reaction was something the figure expected would happen considering how many times he has met people who had a difficult time understand the physics behind time-travel. It didn't really matter if anyone could fully digest what he was telling those he visits since in the end they likely would be unable to have a memory of him speaking to them. So long as he completed his objective that is what truly matters, which is why he's decided to interfere with the current period of time once again.

"Something has occurred, and I can no longer stand idle at this increase of paradoxes in the flow of destined events. Should things continue on without no method of fixing the possible outcome of the changes to this period of time everything I'm working for could be undone..."

"..." Xigbar titled his head to his side in confusion. "Mind explaining your name, buddy? Why you just showed up out of thin air like magic or time-travel shenanigans like you claim."

"My name is irrelevant for you to know. What am I about to tell you is however of the utmost important, the reason I have come here is to provide a warning to you and a message for the future." Looking around at the world around him that was now frozen for a period of time until his presence was removed from this area in the universe. Looking at Xigbar underneath his hood, his voice grew louder beyond the lifeless monotone he used when he first spoke to the nobody of the organization.

"I'm aware of who you were before joining this group of empty beings, the apprentice of Master Xehanort and one of the instrumental pieces on his attempt of creating the x-blade." The hooded figure saw Xigbar drop his bored expression, keeping in mind the fact he knew about this fact confirmed the fact that he knew an important piece of history. "Braig, the man who sought out a way to hold a keyblade in his hands. Your actions helped out your mentor in nearly opening Kingdom Hearts..."

"You better start telling me why the hell-no how the hell you know that much about me."

"As I already told you my identity will serve you no purpose. The truth is your role now is to stop these incursions from interfering with the goal of Organization XIII." Looking at the symbol etched into the wall nearby their location his yellow eyes momentarily shined in the darkness cast over his face.

"You know why we're really here too? Oh, man oh man am I glad that I'm kinda used to dealing with crazy stuff happening around me." He couldn't help laughing, his body pretending to have relief about this conversation not being heard by anyone else considering the nature behind it.

"Someone has nearly regained their heart, and if this trend continues it could be disastrous for your true agenda."

"Isn't there something missing from that like the who and why should I care about happening."

"Surely you've met with the keyblade wielder formerly known as Aqua." The one good eye of Xigbar's lit up when he realized what this man meant, but he couldn't believe it.

"Indeed, the girl Kairi has become quite a decent stand-in for Sora while he remains in stasis. She was even able to defeat a heartless empowered by a former keyblade master. If it wasn't for the artificial Kingdom Hearts Aqua likely would have returned into existence. Such is the might of the warriors of light; ever vigilant and defiant against the forces of darkness."

"Kairi? You mean that brat from Destiny Islands? I knew that she became one of the chosen but I didn't think she had gotten that good. Someone must be giving her pointers because that level of improvement is impossible to reach on her own."

"Correct, but that answer is not something you need to worry about in the present time." Looking at the dark messenger with even more questions on his mind Xigbar waited for a further explanation from the seemingly all-known traveler.

"Auxaq's soul was trapped within a special that began to harass Kairi for seemingly bizarre reasons. The possible idea could be the heart made the heartless feel compelled into attacking the girl she chose to become a new keyblade user. Why is something even I don't fully know, but nevertheless Kairi managed to destroy this heartless releasing the special heart stuck inside of the beast. Normally this would result in a nobody regaining their lost soul, the body and heart become whole once more, but that is why the artificial Kingdom Hearts was constructed."

Xigbar knew that place was designed to attract all sorts of hearts that are freed by the keyblade. It wasn't until he remembered who Kairi is before the pieces came together and he could do the math for himself.

"So... the heart of Aqua's former body didn't return to her body. Instead, it was sucked into our fake Kingdom Hearts! I can't believe that crazy old man thought this far ahead..." His former apprentice was surprised that Xehanort had the foresight to expect something like this to happen, and to place an "insurance policy" up just in case it would happen seemed like he was omnipotent.

"The issue is not the fact her heart was released from the darkness, but the idea of such knowledge about other methods being available to regain one's, heart. This is why the traitors needed to be eliminated, so that they couldn't uncover the truth and spread it to the other candidates for this operation."

The being from a period in the past knew this information was vital to unveil to help ensure the future remains stable according to his last travel into time, as the objective Xehanort had tasked him with counted on preventing such an anomaly like this one.

"You DO know that changing time might have some consequences whoever you are mysterious, man? I mean it is like a huge ball of timey-wimey stuff, and well umm..."

"I am well aware of what the possible outcome of my actions by speaking with you at this moment. What is necessary is you ensuring that none of the other nobodies begins to question their lack of hearts any further like Xion." Hearing the name of the Replica made Xigbar sigh in annoyance.

"Why did I get the feeling you would bring up the little poppet," He knew she along with Aqua were the ones who caused the most trouble in the hierarchy of the group he knows works under. "She has been nothing but trouble ever since Vexen made her up. No, she at least can still use a keyblade, unlike that bothersome hand-picked keyblade master..."

"The bond that has formed between them likely has snowballed into other nobodies beginning to believe they can unknowingly gain back their hearts on their own. This must be corrected soon less the problem grows out of control."

The sharp-shooter was wondering about what this guy meant, the wording made it seem like he was ordering Xigbar to eliminate the both of them. Of course, that would mean two more empty slots which are the last things the mastermind of this plan needed was an even less pool of possible vessels for Xehanort's scheme.

"Their mindsets have to be refocused on following Xemnas and his leadership; the nobodies all must contain the same mindset in order for everything to come to fruition." The man spoke in his flat, emotionless tone despite actually have a heart inside of his chest.

"Okay, so how am I supposed to pull that off then? Just have a chat with the girls and say hey you both need to forget about thinking for yourselves, and simply accept being a Xehanort with yellows eyes and seeking out darkness as your future!" The figure began to flicker, his shape beginning to disappear from existence signaling that his time in this period was almost up.

"The faith between Axel and his friends is the key. Should either of them continue to become an issue then aggressive action must be taken again them. For now, however, take advantage of Xion and Auxaq to unravel the relationship that is ruining the plan, but if nothing else remembers one thing. Kairi must not-" The younger incarnation of Xehanort could not say anything else, and despite wanting to explain further the laws of time would wipe out most of Xigbar's memory about their conversation except for a few small things that were implanted into his memories, the words buried deep within his subconscious that could only be remembered with enough suggestion.

"I wonder if I've done enough to ensure the timeline can be saved from Kairi's actions..." At the moment the younger Xehanort went back into the time stream he wondered if he would ever get to see those waves on the islands like before his life was changed by his own self. Looking at the next destination he must trek he walked down the path destined for him...

Castle Oblivion: Vexen's Lab ( Aqua's POV )

- Day 225 - Quietude

"I really, really, REALLY, hate computers..."

Seeing the data files stuck at a certain percentage was driving me up a wall, and since it was stalled at 70% I could not fully get all the information out of them. This was after the damn CPU crashed twice after getting power back on in this area of the abandoned castle. Without the full details, I could not really do much besides speaking with my pals back home, and thanks to Axel putting up that communication device from this castle I was able to keep in contact with my friends. Perhaps I should pass time along by doing that now...

Thankfully the heartless activity has gone down again since that meant I didn't need to worry about defending myself from more random attacks. That said I knew that without my weapon I was a sitting duck with only my abilities to save me since the Oracle nobodies likely wouldn't come here due to why I needed to take a "vacation" from the organization. Hopefully, if I could find the strength to regain my keyblade, then my luck will change into good fortune not just for myself. Walking through the empty halls of the basement I looked around at the walls feeling reminded of the Land of Departure.

"This place was once the training grounds for those future wielders of the keyblade like my friends..." That was then when Xehanort was trying to manipulate everyone into creating a whole new keyblade war, the result of which could mean a whole new keyblade graveyard being made out of the many sacrificed warriors that would be involved in such a conflict. From what Master Eraqus told me about that war it was nothing but a nightmare, and apparently, that is the usual nature of wars that are waged in the multiple words that exist...

'Even the winners of such conflicts won't be without their own casualties on their side of the battlefield...' Despite what my former mentor wanted, in the end, he along with my friend lost everything because of me...

None of that matters now I have people that care about me, and I can't let them think I've given up on them. That is why I gave a bright smile when Xion appeared on the screen after I made contact with help from one of my nobodies at the castle where she was still living in. Looking at her face I could tell that something was not right with her.

"Auxaq. It has been a while since we've last spoken with each other like this." Her eyes were directed at me with a gleam of happiness, but they had the illusion of a girl who's heart was saddened about something.

"Do you think you can tell me how you have been, Xion? You don't have to tell me if you've been keeping up with your training since Roxas believes even with the rest you've gotten that you are still improving your skills and talents." She was surprised by that compliment, but Roxas and even Axel felt she was coming a long way since the first day we each met her in person. Not just in terms of her keyblade abilities, her personality has also improved, the girl was capable of even speaking to the other members of this group without as much difficulty now.

"I am only taking in the information you've been giving me along with Roxas and Axel's help, but thank you for that compliment." She gave a smile that seemed to brighten up her mood, so that made me feel a little better as we continued speaking with one another. Putting my hand through my hair which looked a little out of place, the conversation went on another subject to help ease her into saying anything she was trying to keep quiet about at the moment.

"Have any kind of words about Axel or Roxas? I'm sure they have been treating you well in my absence with the usual sea-salt ice cream and trips on Twilight Town's clock tower." She nodded while speaking about how she's been enjoying the time spent with them, and hoping that I would come back to join them up there. Yes, the four of us hanging out like people with real souls now that would be nice. We came from different backgrounds after all each nobody was once a normal person who was in a different world with different ideas but this group for better or worse brought us all together.

"There has been something I've been meaning to ask you since we last spoke," Xion turned around looking to see if anyone was spying on here which made me confused since she wasn't this secretive when we got the chance to chat. "What did you find in Vexen's files?" So that is what she is after...

"Not much just details about Marluxia's failed coup against Xemnas, a lot of information on Riku, but the most strange subject involved the Replica Riku."

"R-Replica?"

'Why did she seem surprised about this?'

"Yeah, a second Riku that was created in this castle by Vexen. It originally was different in personality to the current Riku, but then a girl called Namine messed with his memories. I'm not sure if you know about everything that happened over here..." It was a long, painful, and hard story to tell her considering she only heard the bullet points about what happened with the traitors. Only later on did Roxas and Xion became aware of why the traitors had to be wiped out-Axel had a hard time explaining his part in the trap set up by Xemnas.

"Do you regret not joining up with them? You might not have been able to help Marluxia take over if the Superior already knew, but I know you cared about Larxene so perhaps you could have-"

"Yes, I might have been able to save her from being destroyed. Perhaps Marluxia was sincere in his words about Xemnas not having the best intentions for us in mind, but the way he treated Namine was something I could not tolerate by any means. Still, I do regret not being able to convince the others to simply live on instead of falling here, but at the end of the day most of them seemed to accept their fate well except for Zexion..." I knew that being absorbed into that replica was quite a horrible end despite what he might have done to the real Riku.

"We can't change the past only think about what we can do for the future. That is something you will need to remember if you ever feel like I do with regrets about things that might happen to you." I didn't mean to seem cold with that response, however, she would have to learn that lesson in case future misfortune befalls any of us.

"That is why I've been wondering...do you mind if I come to Castle Oblivion?" I went back in the chair I was lounging in while speaking to my friend with this huge globe in the middle of the room. Why did she feel like coming over here all of a sudden, leaving Roxas and Axel all by themselves at The World That Never Was?

"There is something I need to know about, the answers are in the castle like you said while you've been seeking them out yourself." Has she even told Roxas or Axel about this? I did it because I didn't want to get them involved, which is something I sort of regret not saying in advance. I moved in closer to the globe, hands grasping a hold on the chair to continue listening to her explanation.

"I have to learn about the possible truth behind my life before this state of nothingness. I refuse to let the knowledge elude me anymore, so I ask you Auxa-no Aqua. Will you help me?"

I-I don't know what to say. This is a huge decision that she is about to make, and I am not sure if agreeing would be the best decision. She might want to reconsider this as well, so for now...

"Can we think about this for a while? If you come here, the chances you will be back with Axel and Roxas likely won't be for a while. You need to be absolutely certain about this...okay?"

"...I'll think about it." Watching her turn off the feed to her room I sighed, leaning back in my chair to considering what this could mean for all of us. Were things about to change again?


[ I hope the explanation for Aqua's heart not coming back to her shell isn't that hard to fathom. I would imagine the artificial Kingdom Hearts works like a magnet drawing away the hearts plucked out of the heartless explaining why Xemnas wants Sora or any other keyblade user to keep fighting them. Anyway, there will be more coverage of Aqua's feelings on what Xion wants to do next time thank you for sticking around readers. ]