Chapter Fourteen:
The Silence Hides The Darkness in Our Souls
Raxet didn't leave her room the rest of that day. She daren't. She wanted to rebuild her composure, first. So she lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling, the lights off and the air around her still.
It seemed to her as if the entirety of the foundations of her world had been ground into dust in the space of a few hours, and she wanted to re-evaluate where she stood in the world. In this manic mess. In this castle.
"You've heard the news?" Axel was back.
"About Demyx? Yeah."
"He was a good guy."
"I liked him." She sat up with a sigh, looking at him. Her eyes were slightly puffy from crying, but she seemed calm enough. Her cheeks were dry, and her gaze was steady. "I had a question for you," she whispered.
"I heard that you were full of questions, today."
"From Naminé?"
"Yeah. Anyway, shoot."
"Naminé said you were very close to Roxas. Xigbar's interpretation was that you were gay together. Does that make you a pedophile? He's Sora's age, right? Fifteen?"
Axel made a face. "I am NOT gay. Roxas was not gay. I am also not a pedophile. Roxas…he was like my kid brother. We were friends."
Raxet gave a small laugh, then lay back on the bed. "Well, that's comforting. It'd be strange to think I'd made love to a pedophile, least of all a gay one."
"Gee, I'm so glad that we cleared that up." He grumbled, sitting on the edge of the bed, away from her.
"Are you alright?" She sat up again, scooting closer to him. "I was looking for you all day." She reached out to touch his arm and he jerked away. Her fingers came back to her damp. "You're bleeding!" She hissed.
"Spent most of today getting beat up," He muttered, allowing her to unfasten his over-cloak. She tutted, and reached for one of the decorative pillows.
"You don't—" Axel tried to stop her, but she'd already ripped the cover off, and torn it into neat strips.
"Xemnas gave them to me." She told him, binding his wounds. "So…who creamed you?" Axel just shrugged silently, hissing when she jerked a knot tight. "Don't give me that shit," She told him. "It straight up won't fly. Was it Xemnas? Xaldin? Saïx? All of the above?"
"You didn't name Sora."
"I thought you liked him?"
"I do. Doesn't stop him from occasionally pounding my face in."
"So Sora beat you up?"
Axel shook his head, "No."
"Who, then?" She finished with the bandaging, kissing the hot skin right above his last wound—the one she had first discovered.
"Saïx." He told her, laying his chin on her head and closing his eyes.
"I won't ask why." She assured him quietly. "I don't think you'd tell me."
"I wouldn't," He whispered. "Thank you."
"Axel…" She wrapped her arms around his waist, careful of his wounds. "I'm scared."
"What of?"
"I don't know what to do. I don't want to Fade. But…"
"Shh…" He bade her. "Don't talk." He rolled his head so that it was resting on her shoulder now, and his hot breath seared her neck. "You're freezing me."
"I can't help it. You're melting me."
"Shh…" he told her again. "Just…let's be quiet for a while, ok?"
