Hello again!
Disclaimer: if you say that I have ever once claimed that I own anyone that has to do with Kingdom Hearts, you're lying and will die a most painful and deserving death.
Have a nice read. :'D
.oOo.
Kingdom Hearts: Nonexistence
4: Naught's Existence
.oOo.
"What were you thinking?"
Axel raised a pinkie finger to shove into his ear to try to rub out the ringing. "I get it, I get it," he muttered, "I was a bit outta line. So sue me."
Marluxia's face was beet red and his fists clenched tight. He teeth were clenched, if possible, even tighter than his fists. Larxene was standing in front of him, between him and Axel, scratching the side of her head and chuckling nervously.
"Don't worry, Marluxia, I got him out of there in time," she said timidly.
"That doesn't mean it has been fixed!" Marluxia shouted. The three of them were standing in a large closet in the warehouse in which the Organization hid. Axel still didn't understand why they chose to hide in a warehouse; some of them, he felt, were more powerful than he was, and he was making short work of his enemies in the stronghold in the sky.
Larxene sighed and shrugged with a shake of her head. "I give up. You're on your own, Axel." She stepped to the side, allowing Marluxia a straight shot at Axel's throat, if he decided to take it.
Axel chuckled as nervously as Larxene had. "I guess you're mad, huh?" he asked with a tentative grin on his face.
In response, Marluxia merely continued to boil over in one place.
Axel leaned over and whispered to Larxene, "I don't get it. What was so important that I stay out of that place?" he asked.
Larxene rolled her eyes. "You really are clueless, aren't you? I doubt it's only your memory that's giving us problems by now." Axel's concerned face changed into hostility, but before he could act on it, Larxene nodded. "That is the enemy's stronghold, The Castle That Is."
"That..Is?" Axel repeated, confusion creeping into his mind.
Larxene nodded, then opened an eye to look over at Marluxia, who was still frozen in rage. "I give him about five minutes before he breaks free of that paralysis that his anger has put him in, then you had better not be in the same room."
Axel glanced at Marluxia and nervously chuckled his agreement. Back to Larxene, "So who, exactly, was that kid in the castle?" he asked.
Larxene's eyes shot open. "Oh, man, if you don't remember that, we need to have you examined. Go talk to Zexion to see if he can help you regain your memory. I am not getting involved with that kid," she added with a cross of her arms and a glance at a wall somewhere else in the room.
Axel huffed and straightened out his cloak. "Maybe I will," he said gruffly before turning away from Marluxia and walking out of the room.
Larxene heard the door shut and she looked behind her to see that Axel was gone. A feeling of dread came over her and she looked at Marluxia, who was beginning to twitch, a sign that he was coming out of his frozen status. She gulped and made a break for the door, but quickly felt the knob stick both ways. Axel had locked her in!
"Axel, this isn't funny!" Larxene cried, pounding on the door.
On the other side of the door, Axel chuckled. "I think it's hysterical," he said in not quite a whisper before heading down the hall towards the throne room. He entered as if he owned the room and stalked his way to the center. Vexen and the others all looked down at him in a mixture of curiosity and rage.
"Didn't think you'd be back so soon," Demyx admitted with a chuckle.
Axel shrugged. "Wouldn't have come back," he said. "Larxene brought me back."
Vexen raised an eyebrow. "Did she, now? We'll have to thank her for that later, then, won't we?" he asked the others, who all nodded.
Lexaeus gazed down at Axel. "So why have you returned to us?" he asked. "Surely Marluxia would have welcomed you back with open arms," he added with a smirk, and Axel heard Demyx cackle a few times.
Axel crossed his arms and looked up at the massive man sitting on the fifth throne. "He's actually kinda…pissed," he said with a laugh. "Anyway, Larxene told me that I should come see Zexion about seeing if we can't get my memory restored."
Vexen looked down at Zexion, whose eyes had lit up. "Are you up to it, Zexion?" the number four asked.
Zexion's eyes twinkled. "Of course," he said in nearly a whisper. "I can restore everything to the way it used to be," he added with an extra twinkle in his eye that Axel wasn't sure that he liked.
"Then begin as soon as you can," Vexen said sternly. "I feel another presence."
Zexion looked up at Vexen. "What? Another presence? Who?"
Vexen looked up the circle of thrones to rest his eyes on the second throne. Zexion and Lexaeus gasped.
"The master of space has arrived," Demyx said sullenly. "It's a sad day when we see a familiar face for the first time."
Axel was lost. Who were they talking about? He looked up at the throne and had to blink, for he had thought he'd seen a man with an eye patch sitting there. When he looked again, the man was gone.
"This is a good opportunity to fill Axel in," Vexen told Zexion. "Go find him before Larxene does."
Axel grinned. "Larxene and Marluxia are locked in a closet," he said.
Vexen raised an eyebrow. "…Why?"
"I already said that Marluxia was angry with me," Axel said with a grin.
- - -
The warehouse was beginning to become fuzzy to Axel, despite the fact that he and Zexion had not left the city. They had both raised their hoods and were stalking quickly and quietly through the back alleys towards a strange energy signature that even Axel could feel now. Along the way, Zexion was doing his best to help Axel understand.
"Ask me a question," Zexion commanded. Axel felt that strange tug to do whatever Zexion asked him to again, but this time he relented and nodded.
"Why did Vexen call this Nonexistence?" the redhead asked.
"To answer that, Axel, I must explain what you are. Or rather, what you were." The two of them hopped over a small barricade that blocked an alleyway. They continued on. "Axel, you are dead."
"So I've heard," Axel said dryly.
"And when you were alive," Zexion continued, "you didn't exist. You had no heart."
Axel nodded. So his thought process had left him with the right idea.
"You were a Nobody, Axel. A very powerful Nobody, strong enough to be enlisted by the Organization."
"What is the Organization?" Axel asked. "What is it we're organizing for? And what's a Nobody?"
Zexion opened a manhole and motioned for Axel to head in. After they were both in the sewer, the blue-haired man continued answering Axel's questions. "A Nobody is the empty shell left behind when a man becomes a Heartless."
Heartless…the word rang in Axel's mind, but he couldn't place where he'd heard it before.
"We were powerful Nobodies that joined together," Zexion continued, "so that we could use the power of Kingdom Hearts to reclaim our hearts and exist once again."
"Kingdom Hearts," Axel whispered, stopping dead in the sewer. Zexion stopped and looked back at him, waiting patiently. "The moon. It was…"
Zexion nodded. "Yes. The moon above our homeworld was Kingdom Hearts. It was the physical form of Kingdom Hearts that could manifest the Door that would lead us to the Heart of All Worlds."
"All of us wanted hearts," Axel said hazily. "That's why we fought what's-his-name."
Zexion nodded. "We must continue. Let's go." He turned down the sewer and Axel followed closely behind.
"So who was the kid in the Castle That Is?" Axel asked.
Zexion was the one to stop this time, but this time from surprise. He looked back at Axel. "You don't remember him?" he asked.
Axel's blank stare gave Zexion all the answer he needed. Zexion quickly turned his back to Axel and hunched over in thought. Axel couldn't see it, but Zexion began to grin wildly as a thought crossed his mind. He straightened up and looked back at Axel.
"His name is Sora, Axel."
Axel nodded. "I know. I wanted to know-" Axel stopped. How could he say, "I know"?
"Guess that answers that," Axel said with a chuckle. "So why is he the lord and master around here, anyway? I thought he was low spot on the totem pole."
"It is the way of Nonexistence," Zexion answered as they began to move once more. "In life, we were stronger than Sora and his companions until he rejoined his fellow Keybearers, Riku and Mickey."
Axel thought as he moved. That made sense – Sora was powerful, but the Organization could have easily destroyed him. Riku and Mickey, however, were beyond Axel's memory.
"There are more than one Keybearer?" Axel asked.
Zexion merely made an affirming grunt. The two came to a ladder leading to the street, which Zexion went up first. Soon the two of them were standing amidst what looked to be living houses. That brought up another question.
"Here's one, Zexy," Axel said with a motion of his hand. Zexion grumbled – he'd hoped that Axel wouldn't remember what he used to call him.
"What?" Zexion asked dully.
"Why is the Organization hiding in a warehouse?"
"It is the way of Nonexistence," Zexion grumbled. "In life, we were stronger than Sora. Here, the roles have reversed. The Nobodies truly exist once more, and those with hearts are mere dreams with physical bodies. Sora is the leader of those who existed during our lives because he is the one who began the downfall of the Nobodies. As such, he enslaves all Nobodies that he sees here in Nonexistence."
"One bad kid," Axel commented.
"Quite," Zexion agreed gruffly. They were moving beyond the houses now, out of the city. Axel could feel the ground beginning to turn rough and rocky again. "In the afterlife, the Organization has changed its role, as well: we defy Sora and his lackies in the high hopes to regain freedom for all the Nobodies in Nonexistence."
"That's good, right?" Axel asked. "So, why did Larxene stop me when I was about to go toe-to-toe with our good friend in the Castle?"
"Because it is a fool's errand to run into the enemy stronghold when the enemy cannot be defeated," Zexion replied harshly. Axel turned around to look at the city, which was becoming fuzzy in the distance.
"What do you mean he can't be beat?" Axel demanded, turning back to follow Zexion.
"Unlike us, he has a counterpart that is still alive," Zexion explained crossly. "His projection here is untouchable until that counterpart dies."
"So we're basically stuck under his thumb until he kicks the bucket," Axel muttered.
Zexion nodded. "That is why we're biding our time."
"Aren't you scared he'll find the hideout sooner or later?" Axel asked.
"That warehouse is our third base of operations," Zexion replied. "Sora's forces have found us twice before, and we have had to relocate because of it."
Axel scratched his head through his hood. "Then the throne room…"
"It was created by a combination of Vexen's and Lexaeus' elements of ice and earth."
"Oh." Axel didn't quite understand that, but let it slide. But a question did pop up in his mind. "So why are there so many thrones?" he asked.
"We are Organization XIII. There are thirteen members." Zexion paused for a moment. "Well, twelve now. One was a traitor. He doesn't even belong in Nonexistence."
"Traitor," Axel said. The word was tugging at the back of his mind. "Larxene said I was a traitor."
"Lies," Zexion said quickly. "Larxene and Marluxia are the only traitors that were allowed to live. We were able to use them even in their rebellion for our own intentions. That is why they still exist here in Nonexistence. You never left our services, but instead acted as a double-agent for us."
Axel raised an eyebrow. "Double-agent, huh? Well, Marluxia seems pretty convinced that I belong with him and Larxene."
"They still do not share our vision," Zexion replied sternly. Axel could no longer see the city at all. They were pretty far out in the middle of nowhere.
"Larxene is under the order of Marluxia to retrieve all Organization members before we have a chance to," Zexion said. Axel was surprised – he hadn't asked anything this time. "Together, they try to brainwash the recovered member into believing that they had served Marluxia during their lifetime. That is a lie. Only Larxene has ever served under Marluxia's command."
"Which is why we're out here, right?" Axel asked. "Because the Organization members who die are sent here without their memory, right?"
"Correct," Zexion said with a nod. "You recovered your memory quite rapidly, though. It is still incomplete, but we're patching things up the best we can."
Axel nodded. "And I appreciate it, to be sure," he muttered. "Thing is, there's something weird about the thirteenth throne that catches my eye."
"Ignore it," Zexion said, almost as quickly as the last time he had snapped at Axel. "That throne belongs to the traitor that is no longer allowed here. We keep it as a reminder to each other that none of us can be trusted to our word, only by the word of the Superior."
"The Superior…"
Zexion stopped, issuing Axel to stop as well. "I sense him around here," he said. The two of them looked around, but they could only see the white landscape around them.
Axel felt a small energy spike exactly where he was standing, which could mean only one thing.
Axel looked straight up and gasped as a man with black hair pulled back into a ponytail with gray streaks through it sat upside-down in the air. His ponytail was hanging straight down to the ground and he was grinning down at Axel.
"Yo."
Axel backed up, startled. Zexion noticed and looked up. "Xigbar!" he cried.
The upside-down man gave a shrug. "I guess? Is that my name?" he asked.
Zexion nodded.
"Could you explain why I can hang upside-down like this?" he asked. "I feel like I should be getting light-headed, but I'm not."
"Mind coming down here?" Axel asked. "Lookin' at you up there's hurting my neck."
"Heh. As if. You want me, you gotta come get me."
Zexion rolled his eyes. He had never had a taste for Xigbar's "adventure hero" attitude.
"And why should we do that?" Axel asked, crossing his arms.
Xigbar thought for a moment. "Hmm. I don't know. That's a good point. I'll be right down…after I figure out how."
Axel rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Axel," Zexion hissed. "I sense Larxene's presence."
Axel raised an eyebrow. "But she was locked in a closet…"
"Damn you!"
Axel turned around to see a red-faced Larxene stalking quickly up to him. She reared back an arm and lashed out, striking Axel straight across the cheek. He staggered back, holding a hand to the imprint on his face.
"What the hell was that for?" he demanded.
"How dare you betray us!" Larxene cried. "I can't believe you! After everything we've been through!"
Axel, completely at a loss for words, looked back at Zexion, who made a cut-off motion with his hand at his throat. Axel took the motion for what it was meant to be: a sign that meant that she was lying to him. He looked back at Larxene with a smug grin on his face.
"Axel plays for the Organization, Toots. Got it memorized?"
Larxene huffed and vanished into a cloud of lightning, causing Axel to back up a step.
Axel pointed at where Larxene used to be and looked at Zexion. "How can she do that?" he asked.
Zexion's answer raised both of Axel's eyebrows. "All Organization members can do that. Try it. I want to get back to the hideout quickly."
Axel blinked. "Why didn't you do that to get us here?" he demanded.
Zexion gave a demure chuckle. "I wouldn't have had the chance to fill you in on everything that way, now would I?" he asked.
Axel growled, but he knew that his blue-haired comrade was right. Axel took a deep breath, ready to give it a try. He threw out his hands and the chakram appeared in their proper places. Spinning them expertly, Axel made a silent wish to the flames that rested within his subconscious to take him back to the Organization. With but a twist of his wrists, a ring of fire appeared in the air near him, large enough for all three men to walk comfortably through.
"Not bad," Zexion said with a nod. "I'm impressed it worked so well on your first try. Now, then. Let's go."
.oOo.
Hope that clears up some stuff. Zexion sure is smart. And Xigbar promises to be fun to write for. :3
Review and everyone gets frying pan hats! In the shape of Axel's face! O.O
