A/N: Eh, this is my first Kingdom Hearts story. It's a bit AU, and it comes after KH2…I hope you enjoy…I think…
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Prologue – Meeting
The murky waters stirred as a single drop of pure water fell into its depths. It continued diving through, even as bits of it slowly melded away with the darkness. A light in the shadows. Gold eyes peered from out of the dark, just to be relinquished by a burst of fire. A single light illuminated the dark.
The moon, all alone in the darkened sky shone down on a single person walking through the water.
"Where are you…"
The only words that had came out of the pale stranger's mouth ever since he had arrived here.
Several times he had thought he had seen the faintest sign of him, a small flicker of light that quickly vanished, leaving him alone once more.
The water had soaked up quickly in his garments, but that wasn't what mattered.
His reflection was blurred, and was shadowed black in the darkness.
The flickering lights far off in the distance were warm and welcoming, even though he knew he couldn't feel the happiness welling up inside of him for reals.
He had to pretend…
As he stepped on the moist dirt, he felt a small twinge of satisfaction – or was it just his imagination? Well, whatever it was, he was getting closer to his destination… Where was it though?
A town. He didn't know what it was or where he was, but it was a town, it meant safety and comfort for some, and danger for others. It was a pity that was what the people there strived to do.
A small knife came shooting behind him, cutting off a small strand of his crimson hair. Cursing under his breath, but quickly reacting, he pulled himself into a battle stance. Moving his hands outward, black spiraling shadows curled around his arms, and sharp lethal chakrams formed in his hands.
The attacks had stopped temporarily, until suddenly thousands of arrows came spiraling down at the earth he stood on. Without hesitation, he made a deliberate movement, and thousands of flames flew up, wrapped around each arrow, and burnt them to a crisp.
He couldn't help but laugh silently to himself. The feelings returned again. Snapping his mouth shut, he quickly exterminated it. After all, it had been those that had made him lose someone dear. And himself.
And how did he survive?
Maybe he was dead…
But he was still alive.
Quickly ignoring his confusion, he vanished from the ground as more arrows came flying down. Yes, he had spotted the source.
Several kids were on the rooftops, bow and arrows in hand.
It would seem as if nobody has taught them manners… he thought. Guess it's time to teach them some.
The kids were obviously confused, wondering where their strange target had gone. Fire, summoning weapons, and teleporting…of course they'd be confused.
Several seconds later, there was a yelp from one of the kids as the stranger knocked him unconscious.
"Did mommy never tell you to play with sharp objects?" he asked mockingly, burning the bow up into ashes.
The others didn't falter one second, but aimed more arrows.
Guess they haven't learned their lesson, huh…For a second, he had the strange urge to summon up a hoard of Assassin nobodies. Then he remembered how he had perished. And plus, now in this world, he had funny doubts about the nobodies.
Was this his second chance?
Chance or no chance, these brats had gone way in the danger territory to back out now. Teleporting again, he now teleported behind a furious looking girl. She turned around in shock, and fell unconscious like the first as he simply knocked the back of her neck.
"Who do you think you are anyways?" he asked lazily before vanishing again.
"…"
All the kids fell silent, but were now mainly on their guard. For several minutes, there was only the chirping of crickets and cicadas. They descended quickly and began to run home, but without warning, all the peace shattered.
A great ring of fire burst up around them, giving no way of exit.
This reminds me of many things…
The man in the black coat reappeared inside with them.
My battle with…"So what are you going to do now?"
Roxas…Suddenly, his eyes widened. A younger kid standing all the way in the back. Blond hair. Bright blue eyes.
"Roxas?" he whispered.
But the others had already reacted, and pulled out their weapons and had shot the arrows at him. The first grazed him before he blasted the rest with fire.
He looked back again, but saw that he had left an opening in his wall of fire, where the kid had escaped.
It sealed quickly, and the others were still inside, still ready to fire.
He let down the fire.
"I'll let you off this time." Was the only thing he said as he strode off, walking past them without another glance. "Oh. The name's Axel. Got it memorized?"
The kids only stared at him.
I guess they don't have much in them like my past opponents.
"You better remember it." He added, melting into the dark.
As he walked off towards the darkness where he thought 'Roxas' had gone, the other kids shuddered before scrambling off quickly.
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The blond haired kid was now walking at a fast pace. Axel made sure to stay at a far distance. If that was Roxas, he'd know if someone was following him. Pausing for a second, the kid looked around before slipping into a rundown building.
Axel glided towards the building, and looked at the sign.
…a bar?
Without further hesitation, he opened the door and slipped in, barely anyone noticing he had come in.
It was a dark place, illuminated with only a few candles and dim lamps. Large wooden tables that looked like the trunks of trees and wooden chairs bedecked the area. A moose head was on the wall beside him. Looking at it with slight disgust, he walked silently towards the long table where the bartender sat, yawning.
He walked over and sat himself on one of the chairs, and pulled out a menu, before laughing quietly.
"Sea Salt Ice Cream…" he murmured, before pulling the menu down from his face.
"Are you going to order something or what?" the man asked, pulling out a cigar and lighting it. "I've got these dumb Moogles bothering me day and night for their pay here. So you better order something." He ordered. "Oh wait, this is your first time here huh?"
"…mm…" he mumbled.
"The name's Cid. I run the bar here if you haven't noticed. So are you going to order something?" he questioned, laying a hand on the counter and puffing some smoke into Axel's face.
Axel only nodded and pointed at the sea salt ice cream, unfazed by the smoke that was now rising.
"You only staying here for dessert or something?" the man asked. "Well, suit yourself."
He left for a moment, and Axel took the time to look around.
'Roxas' was sitting with his back faced to him, and was talking to another person who looked vaguely like Sora. A pale blonde haired girl was finishing her dinner, before brushing her hair aside and waving to another girl with reddish pink hair.
Namine and Kairi?Everyone he remembered was back. Except they looked much younger.
"Hey, here it is." Said Cid, now back from the kitchen.
He took the ice cream and unwrapped it from its wrapper.
Bittersweet…He sat there several moments, letting the taste melt in before interrupted in his peace by a shout from Cid.
A Moogle, a strange little white miniature bear with wings and an 'antennae' with a red ball connected to it came flying out holding a badly made sandwich.
"What is this!" Cid yelled, pulling the sandwich out from the Moogle's paw, which only made a snort of satisfaction.
"It's a SANDWICH, kupo." The Moogle said, and flew off.
"You aren't getting paid for this!" Cid roared as the Moogle turned about and vanished into the kitchen.
He turned to 'Roxas' and 'Sora'.
"I'm so sorry, these Moogles…they can't get enough of torturing me." He apologized quickly, and received nods from both boys. Not one of them had noticed Axel, who had finished with the ice cream and had disposed of the stick with a flame.
"Are you going to pay for that?" Cid questioned, now walking towards him. The bar was now mostly empty.
Axel silently pulled out a bag, and pushed it over to him.
"Ehm, this is more than enough…"
Axel only looked away. He couldn't remember where he got it. But he remembered faintly, something about Roxas, or his past adventures…if that was what he could call the…
"Just take it. I don't need it anymore." Axel sighed to a pleased Cid. "Do you mind if I stay a bit longer?"
Cid only grinned happily and bounded off. Axel took that as a yes.
He didn't notice Roxas and Sora watching him.
"Who is that man? I've never seen him here before?" Sora muttered, glaring at the red haired man who was now sitting quietly at the table.
"I don't know, but I don't think he means any good." Roxas said quietly. "You should have seen what he did to all the neighborhood kids."
Sora looked quizzically at him.
"What did he do? I thought the neighborhood kids were tough enough to take down anyone who tried to get on their turf…well then again, we are part of the group…"
Roxas looked darkly at him.
"Don't laugh, but it's true. He used fire on us."
"Why would I laugh? I mean, sending hunks of wood on fire is pretty threatening…"
"That was NOT what I meant." Roxas sighed, putting a hand to his head. "He summoned it. I'm not joking! And he teleported and knocked out two of the kids. And then, he took out these weapons…I don't know if he was going to use them or anything, but he isn't someone I want to mess with…"
The door opened again, and a pale blue haired kid walked in, saw the two, grinned, and walked over.
"Hey guys, what's going on, Sora, Roxas?"
So they are… Axel thought from where he sat. And that must be Riku.
"Hey Riku!" Sora said cheerily, trying to break from his confused manner and greet his friend. "So what's up?"
Riku looked around quickly before bending down.
"It's not good news. Namine's sick again. And this time, I think it's severe." He muttered.
"Really? We saw her a moment ago, and she was fine." Roxas pointed, but was stopped by Riku.
"I don't know, she just doubled over while walking on the streets with Kairi. It's a good thing I was there to help them back home…" Riku sighed, sounding troubled.
"We better get going then." Sora said, and began to walk out the door, just to bump into something hard. "ACH!"
Axel looked down and saw Sora rubbing his head behind him.
"Oh. Sorry." The words sounded funny coming out of his mouth.
"Eh, it's nothing." Sora grinned, not noticing he was talking to Axel. Roxas had an almost horrified expression on his face, but was relieved as the man moved out of the way for him to walk through. Riku followed, and lastly, he did.
A funny feeling ran through him as he walked past the man, who stared at him for a moment before looking away. He ran quickly to catch up with Sora and Riku.
"Dude, what gives?" Sora questioned to Roxas, who was looking funny.
"Nothing…"
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure he's not going to come and kill you or something for being a threat, after all, you were just doing your job…" Sora reassured happily.
"Job? I think that's more of 'source of entertainment'." Riku laughed. "But you're right, some of the kids take it as their responsibility to keep this area free of new adults. In fact, I think Cid and some other guys are the only adults here, and they aren't very domestic either." He chuckled.
"Well we better get going then. Before Kairi freaks." Roxas sighed, now slightly calmed.
The three quickly ran off into the dark streets of the town. Axel stared at where they had left, and began walking after.
What is this place? Why are they all so young? Axel was in a state of confusion, which was rare for him.
He paused for a moment before gliding off towards their direction.
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"This doesn't look good…" Riku growled, feeling Namine's head. "She has a severe fever…"
They had just arrived at their home, a rundown building like all of the homes here. They had grown accustomed to the life, and they slept on the floor, or on one of the two slightly comfortable mattresses. Well, the boys mainly slept on the floor and let the girls sleep on the bed. The boards were creaky, and it was two stories tall, with a slightly messy and dirty kitchen with a five-person table. A semi-dirty but usable restroom was near the stairs leading up. The lights were mostly broken, so they relied mainly on candlelight.
"Sora, get a wet towel." Riku ordered.
Without protesting, Sora scampered downstairs to the kitchen.
It was dark and dusty as usual, and the doors and windows were shut, so the whole area was completely shadowed. Striking a match, Sora lit a candle to lead his way to the counter. Pulling out a towel, he wet it, and suddenly stopped, and closed the water.
I hear something.
The creaking noise came again.
Sora turned around, and pulled the candle out in front of him to illuminate the room. There was nobody there.
Giving a sigh, he mumbled "It must have been my imagination…" before taking the towel and starting up the stairs.
Halfway upwards, he suddenly turned around and saw two green eyes staring up at him.
"Eh?" he squeaked.
A flame burst into view, illuminating the room completely.
The stranger from the bar was standing near the table, a flame flickering madly on his finger.
Sora stared silently at him, his twelve-year-old mind screaming madly inside.
"…Uh…can I get something for you?" he questioned, cocking his head to the side.
Axel stared for several seconds before reacting.
"…Don't you remember?"
"Huh?" Sora squeaked in confusion. He had no idea who the heck this stranger was, but he didn't like him.
"Me. Axel. Flurry of Dancing Flames. Ring a bell?" Axel questioned frantically. "Don't tell me you forgot."
The look of confusion on Sora's face was evident.
"…I guess not…Does Roxas remember? Did he say anything about me? Nobodies? Organization XIII?" Axel tried again.
Suddenly huge tears began welling up in Sora's eyes.
"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! WIKU! THERE'S A SCWARY MAN HWERE! AND HWE'S AWASKING MWE SCWARY AND WEIRD QWESTIONS!" he wailed, and began sobbing loudly.
"Ah! AAH!" Axel suddenly panicked. A funny jolt impacted through him.
I'm feeling?Riku came storming down the stairs.
"Alright, who's terrorizing my little brother?" he demanded, and saw Axel freaking out, and Sora wailing loudly on the ground. "YOU! WHAT DID YOU DO!"
"Riku! Don't you remember me?" Axel asked frantically.
Riku glared at him fiercely.
"I have no idea who the heck you are, but I don't like you. What gives you the right to barge in and scare my little brother?" Riku growled, bending down to help Sora up.
"I didn't mean to!" Axel shouted back.
A new feeling was welling up inside of him.
Rage…Rage? He was feeling anger?
He stopped and sucked some air in.
"Ok. Axel. Caaallllmmm. Think calm." He muttered to himself.
He had never needed to do this. He never needed to calm himself.
"What are you mumbling to yourself? Are you plotting something evil?" Riku demanded, walking up to the taller man and glaring at him in the eye.
"Uh, NO?" Axel glared back.
"I KNEW IT! YOU CAME TO KILL ROXAS! SO I WAS WRONG! WAAAAH! RIKU, I MADE A MISTAKE!" Sora burst into tears again.
"Go upstairs." Riku said quickly. "And don't come back until I tell you to."
Sora went crying upstairs, and there was a slam of the door. Riku turned around and glared at Axel again.
"What do you want from a poor family like us? We don't have any valuables you would want." He growled, carefully guarding the stairs from Axel.
"I…" Axel began. "Wait, you guys are a family? I thought…"
"You know nothing about us. Leave us be, and don't come back." Riku said quietly all of a sudden.
Axel looked quietly back.
"Actually…I do know you…well, I used to…"
Suddenly he remembered. It was something that had been embedded in the back of his mind for a long time.
Let's meet in the next life.
What he had said to Roxas…had it really come true?
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Eh…I hoped you like it…please review…uh…if you want…