Had a busy weekend, so I apologize for no updates for a few days. I am still alive!
Disclaimer.
.oOo.
Kingdom Hearts: Nonexistence
10: Real Reunions
.oOo.
Axel and the others rose early in the morning, not telling Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie what they were up to. Sora, Riku, and Kairi met Axel in his little tree house early that morning, the two boys' Keyblades glinting in the morning sunlight, causing Axel to shield his still-sensitive eyes.
"Are we ready?" Riku asked. Everyone seemed to agree that they were, so he held out an inviting hand to Axel. "Then if you would…"
Axel summoned his chakrams to his grip and grinned. He closed his eyes and thought the name Twilight Town. The squat buildings from the vision in Nonexistence seemed to bubble up from somewhere in Axel's subconscious. One wide slash from his chakrams later and Kairi had to stifle a scream as flames erupted in a large circle in front of the group.
"What is that?" Riku asked, brandishing his Keyblade at Axel. "You're not double-crossing us here, are you? I doubt you'd survive that encounter."
Axel shook his head. "No, it's a way to Twilight Town. I can't go first, or it'll close. You guys have to go first."
"Why not just open up a path into the dark realm like you always did?" Sora asked.
Axel gave him an inquiring look and he just let the subject drop. He turned to the ring of flames and nodded once before leaping through, disappearing as soon as he passed through it. Kairi gasped and Riku nodded. He made a motion for Kairi and gave Axel a distrusting look.
"Go first, Kairi. With one of us on both ends of this thing, it'll be safer," he told her. Kairi nodded and proceeded to jump through, vanishing into thin air before their eyes.
Axel was inwardly hurt by Riku's logic, but he knew that he'd done some bad things to them in his life to make them so weary of him, so he understood the silver-haired boy's hesitation to leave Kairi alone with the Organization member. Riku nodded to Axel and leapt through, vanishing as well, closely followed by the flames' conjurer himself. The ring disappeared instantly, leaving no evidence of any of them on the island.
Axel landed easily on the street on the other end of the ring of flames, Kairi, Sora, and Riku watching him as he appeared. With a look around, Axel nodded. "This is definitely Twilight Town," he said.
"Yup. Nice job," Sora said in approval. He looked around and tilted his head. "Hey, we're in the back alley. That means…" He turned around and grinned. "The Usual Spot!" he cried. He made a mad dash for a chain-link fence in a corner alley. Kairi's eyes lit up at the sight of it as well and she closely followed Sora. Slightly confused, Riku and Axel followed along.
Sora pushed a lightweight orange cloth out of the way as he entered a small room in the backend of the alley. Still grinning from ear to ear, he called out, "Anybody home?"
Three teens huddled over by a couch in the corner of the room turned around. The only girl of the three of them squealed when she saw Sora's face. The other two cheered when they saw him, and again when Kairi appeared behind him.
"Hayner! Pence! Olette!" Sora cried. He stepped forward and hugged Olette, the girl in the orange shirt, as Kairi stepped up and gave the boy in camo pants, Hayner, a hug as well. The somewhat heavier boy to the side, Pence, grinned, but it vanished as soon as Riku and Axel stepped inside.
"Hey! It's one of those guys!" he cried, pointing at Axel. Hayner and Olette jumped back as if they were willing to draw weapons against him.
"It's okay, guys! Axel's on our side," Sora said, holding up his hands.
Hayner and Olette looked doubtful, but both stood up straight again and looked over at Sora trustingly.
"Don't worry about it," Sora said with a nervous laugh. "We're, uh, looking for someone that I doubt you know."
Pence raised an eyebrow and looked thoughtful. "Uh…no one new has been around that I know of."
"Yeah, he just arrived today," Kairi explained. "Actually, two people. Their names are Roxas and Naminé."
Hayner blinked. "Roxas…I know that name…or rather, I feel like I should know that name."
"Yeah, me too," Olette agreed.
Sora nodded. "It doesn't surprise me. But we just kinda stopped by to say hi. We really need to find these two like right now." He turned for the exit and waved. "See ya!"
Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Axel exited the Usual Spot and stood in the empty alley, pondering where Roxas and Naminé might be, when Hayner's voice reached their ears. "Hey, wait up, you guys!"
The Twilight gang appeared from the Usual Spot behind the islanders. "Where are you guys looking first?" Hayner asked.
"We don't know yet," Sora admitted. "All we know is what he looks like. We have no idea where he is."
"Well what does he look like?" Olette asked. "Maybe we can help."
Sora nodded. "He looks a lot like me, but with blonde hair that spikes up in front. He wears white and baggy white pants. Naminé looks just like Kairi, but blonde with a white dress."
"Just like you guys?" Pence repeated. "They your doppelgangers or something?"
"Actually, yes," Riku said with a laugh. "It's complicated. Can you help us?"
Hayner looked doubtful now, but he and Olette nodded. Pence did as well. "Sure, we'll help look," Olette said.
"Hey, if they're real doppelgangers," Pence began in thought, "why don't you guys check out the mansion outside of town? Y'know, the one with the computer room in the basement. Lots of weird things happen there, supposedly."
Sora nodded. "That makes a lot of sense, since Roxas existed in the second Twilight Town…"
"And that white room looks exactly like Castle Oblivion," Axel added. He stopped himself. "Wait…Castle Oblivion? What?"
Sora looked at him, confused, but Riku smirked. "I can explain it to you later," he said. "But first we need to find Roxas and Naminé."
Axel nodded. Great. Another place he didn't remember entirely.
The four began to head for the massive wall that separated Twilight Town from the wilderness while Hayner, Olette, and Pence split up in town to search. The woods beyond the wall were dark and dreary, just like Axel remembered them. Sora nodded at them as well.
"Hasn't changed," he muttered.
Axel nodded. "Sure hasn't." He was beyond wondering how he remembered things – he was just happy he did.
The four of them trekked through the woods until they came across a creepy mansion sitting alone in the far neck of the forest. Kairi looked at it in wonder and Sora, Riku, and Axel stopped to reminisce. All three of them had been there at one point or another.
Axel looked up at the second-story window on the left side and saw a blonde girl in a white dress waving down to them with a huge grin on her face.
"Naminé's in there!" Axel cried. He started running toward the mansion, Sora and the others close behind him. They reached the front gate, opened by a Keyblade in the past (how Axel knew that, he didn't know, but he hardly cared at this point), rushing inside the courtyard.
Three steps inside the courtyard, the gate swung shut with a clang and strange mist appeared around the group. Four Dusks appeared out of the ground and jerked in their little jerky motions for a couple of seconds before Sora and Riku drew their Keyblades.
"Nobodies?" Sora blurted. "How is that possible? All of Organization XIII is gone!"
"They don't act on their own, someone must be controlling them somewhere!" Riku added. He swung his blade down and split a Dusk into mist that dissipated instantly. Kairi was near Axel, who had both chakrams in his grasp and was making sure to guard Kairi on both sides. He spun around and slashed though two Dusks who charged him, Sora taking out the last one easily. Soon the four of them stood ready for more to appear, but nothing happened.
"Only four," Sora said cautiously. "Let's get inside, quick."
The team turned on their heels and raced for the front door. It creaked heavily, but was easily opened. Sora made sure to lock the door with the Keyblade in hopes that no more Nobodies would enter.
Up the stairs and to the left went Axel, his chakrams still guarding his charging form. He burst through the door at the top of the stairs and stood in awe.
Memories rushed through Axel's mind. White floors, a massive castle, a plot, betrayal, Zexion, Marluxia, Larxene, Vexen, and Lexaeus. The Superior. The Riku Replica. Castle Oblivion.
More memories. Orange buildings and paved streets. A sky that was eternally twilight. Twilight Town. A young man with spiky red hair wondering how he'd arrived there. Axel's birth as a Nobody.
Ansem the Wise. His subordinate, Xehanort. A flash of silver as Sora appeared in Axel's mind, striking down a person that looked exactly like Xehanort. A magnificent castle and seven lovely young women. The seven Princesses of Heart.
Everything in Axel's life as a Nobody was returning to him all at once, merely from stepping into a blank, white room with a table and two chairs. Colored pictures were hanging all around the room, each one specifically geared for a memory of Sora's. Several of them had originally had Kairi in them, but now they were filled with images of Naminé. That had been part of her job in the past few years – to mess with Sora's memories…
Naminé stood at the window with her back to Axel. She turned around and she seemed to shift into Kairi, then back to herself before his eyes. "Welcome back to us, Axel," she said with a smile. "I'm glad I was able to help you remember."
"Naminé, what happened?" Axel asked. He was still a bit disoriented. He'd just remembered years' worth of memories in a single moment. It had been quite overwhelming.
Naminé smiled even kinder. "I was able to rearrange your memories to the point of being seen once again, Axel. You had a fog over them called Death. That fog had been removed. You have access to all the wonderful and terrible things you've done in two lifetimes."
Axel didn't know what to say. She was telling the truth – he could remember not only what had happened to him during his life as a Nobody, but he even remembered his first life, as a human. His name had been Lea. No, that had been his last name. He first name…
Kelos.
Axel was shocked at this memory. He remembered something from his human life! He'd lost those memories as a Nobody. No, maybe not from being a Nobody, but from the lack of use of them. He had been a regular Joe. A normal person, leading a normal life. He'd turned entirely around after becoming a Nobody. He'd disowned his original name and life in order to be a member of Organization XIII. He'd given up his entire life for Xemnas and his cause. Only now, after the liberating act of death, could Axel go back to being himself once more.
But no…
"Where's Roxas?" Axel asked.
Naminé nodded. "He's in the basement."
Axel nodded as well. "Thank you, Naminé. I owe you one."
Naminé shook her head. "No you don't. Remember Castle Oblivion? You set me free from the Organization's clutches. We're even now, Axel."
Axel turned and headed out the door, almost bowling over Sora and the others in the process. "He's in the basement," Axel cried as he dodged around them and ran on. Sora and the others saw Naminé and rushed into the white room.
Axel turned along the railing on the second floor and headed for the other side of the mansion. His heart was pounding. He'd forgotten that feeling, but it was all too familiar once again. As he raced along the edge of the second story floor, Axel realized that he was human again, but with special powers. With a heart, a Nobody is human. He felt alive! His blood seemed to boil with energy and his grin couldn't have spread any larger. For the first time in history, a Nobody had become human again!
Axel spread his arms wide and hopped through the ring of fire that appeared in front of him, landing heavily on the steel floor in the basement two stories down. Standing in front of him with his back to Axel was a young blonde haired boy in white. Axel opened his mouth to speak, but found that all he could do was make small, insignificant squeaking sounds.
The boy turned around, flashing as if Axel was looking at Sora for a moment, then back to the blonde kid. His dazzling blue eyes were smiling as much as his face. "Hey, Axel. Long time no see," he said.
Axel's mouth was hanging open slightly, still unable to speak. The pressure built up inside of him again – he could feel the flames ready to burst through his chest. Instead, Axel let out a great laugh that seemed to shake the computer console behind Roxas. Axel rushed forward and grasped Roxas in a massive bear hug. Both of them were laughing insanely.
Axel put Roxas down and fell to the floor on his hands and knees, staring down at the steel beneath him. "Roxas, you have no idea how hard I tried to find you!" he gasped.
Roxas bent down and placed a comforting hand on Axel's shoulder. Axel looked up and found himself looking straight at Roxas' face. He was still smiling. "Yeah, I think I do. It's good to see you again, Axel."
- - -
Sora, Riku, Naminé, and Kairi entered the basement's computer room to see Axel and Roxas sitting on the floor across from each other, still laughing as they reminisced.
Naminé smiled. "He looks so happy."
"They both do," Sora agreed. "It's a shame that Roxas is here in this realm and Axel will have to go back to his own."
Naminé's eyes opened in shock as she looked over at Sora. "What? What's going on?" she asked.
Roxas noticed the group standing in the doorway and waved them over. The four of them sat down, making a circle with Roxas and Axel, but only Roxas and Axel were smiling. Axel explained with a laugh that the Dusks outside had been Roxas playing around with them. When no one else laughed, Axel grew serious as well.
"What is it, you guys?" Axel asked.
"Axel, you don't have much time left," Sora urged. "You're gonna snap back to Nonexistence soon."
Axel's heart sank. Sora was right. He didn't have much time left in the living realm. But had he used his time wisely? He had succeeded in separating Sora and Roxas again, which meant that the alternate Sora inside Nonexistence should have been split as well. Although…
"Wait," Axel said suddenly. "Nonexistence's Sora may have been split again, but Roxas is still alive here."
Kairi gasped. "You're right! That means…"
"There is no Roxas in Nonexistence," Axel concluded. "That means that the alternate Sora hasn't been affected at all."
Riku shook his head. "The only way to get Roxas into Nonexistence is to kill him in this realm. He can't exist in the living and dead realms simultaneously."
Roxas and Naminé were looking at the others with absolutely confused expressions. "What are you guys going on about?" Roxas demanded.
Axel explained the reason why he was still in the living realm, and why he had needed to separate Roxas from Sora. Naminé, on the other hand, had been a mistake, caught in the crossfire.
"I don't really like the idea of dying, you know," Roxas told Sora.
Sora shook his head, at a loss. "I don't know what to do. If Roxas dies, Sora in your realm will weaken, but I will, too. I won't be as good of a Keybearer."
Riku gave Sora a crazed look. "You're still thinking about yourself, Sora. Roxas doesn't want to die. He likes being your Nobody, it seems."
Roxas nodded. Naminé nodded too. "I like being Kairi's, too. I don't want to die, either."
Axel was surprised. "Why would you need to die?" he asked.
Naminé wrapped her arm around Roxas'. "Wherever Sora goes, Kairi goes. Wherever Roxas goes, so do I."
Axel was dumbfounded. Roxas and Naminé were…together? But Nobodies didn't have hearts! How was that possible?
Roxas seemed to have read Axel's mind. "We exist inside of Sora and Kairi, Axel. Their hearts give us true emotions. Naminé and I have the same feelings for each other that Sora and Kairi do for each other, because we're so closely connected to them."
Axel shook his head. That was just a little much for him. Nobodies who were in love with each other. Ridiculous…absolutely ridiculous! Axel started laughing, surprising everyone there.
"Don't worry about it," Axel said with a wave of his hand. "You don't have to die, Naminé. We'll think of something."
"But how?" Kairi demanded. "You only have a few hours left!"
Axel fell into thought, as did everyone else in the circle. It was true – Axel didn't have long, and the problem still hadn't been alleviated. Nonexistence's Sora was still as strong as ever, because the broken part of him had no vessel in which to transfer in the dead realm. His power may have been broken up, but he still possessed all of it.
And Axel had no time left…
- - -
It's really odd, but as I wrote the second half of this story, I listened to random Final Fantasy music, and my writing style changed according to the music. Specifically, Axel's emotions. But I still think that it worked out okay. Let me know what you think! This story is almost ready to start wrapping up, so make sure you watch out for the next few chapters!
