Sea Salt Vignettes

I do not own Kingdom Hearts. It is the property of Square Enix and the Walt Disney Company. This is a creative work that I do not profit off of in any way.

Hey, everybody! Happy Sea-Salt Trio Day! What you are about to read is a series of vignettes focused on the most awesome trio in Kingdom Hearts, all told from Axel's point of view.

This series of vignettes is primarily composed of stand-alone stories. They can be read in any order you like, so feel free to skip around at your leisure.

This series is not canon to Rise Above the X, but exists in similar vein to the Rokushi 2020 stories.

This first chapter is all about Axel. Axel, Axel, and nothing but Axel!

Axel

His name was Axel. But what did that mean? It meant he was calculating, cold, unfeeling. Wielding chakrams and a prolificness for fire magic. The Flurry of Dancing Flames. A killer. He didn't need any more identity than that.

A long time ago, more years than he was willing to admit, his name had been Lea. He had snuck into the castle in Radiant Garden with his best friend Isa. They had been spying, and seen things they weren't meant to see. There was someone else there, a girl. He and Isa had sought to free her. But they'd been caught. By a man called Xehanort, but who claimed his name was Ansem.

After that…he hadn't felt anything. And he had found himself far, far from the Garden…not that there had been anything left of the Garden. And then, he had shown up…wearing a long black robe with weird little zippers. The Superior. Xemnas. The Superior had waved his hand and out of nowhere, letters appeared in front of him. L…E…A…and then…an X.

"Your new name."

At first, it had been alien. Axel had moved around almost like a zombie. He wasn't human anymore. He was a being called a Nobody. What this meant, he did not know. He just knew that nothing was the same. But he also knew that didn't bother him.

As the years rolled by, Axel took the role as the Organization's assassin. He traveled across a score of worlds. He sneaked around, spied in the shadows and if there were someone who needed to be taken out, then he was the one who'd do it. He was fast and with his fire magic, he could make it so that there would be no trace of a body. Nothing left, not even ashes. A most effective skill when it came to keeping the goings-on of the Organization a secret.

And with each kill, Axel became better. Though his fires burned hot, he became colder and colder. He struck down any who got in his way or else orchestrated the destruction of any who he couldn't take in a straight fight. He didn't feel guilt or remorse or even concern for his actions.

Then…something happened. A new Nobody joined the Organization. Roxas. Almost completely a zombie, rarely talking. Axel was stuck with baby-sitting duty, and he had to make sure Roxas didn't break on his first few missions. In spite of being a clueless zombie, Roxas was alright. And Axel had taken him to eat a bar of sea-salt ice cream. Which, for whatever reason, was the only food that Axel still liked to eat.

Things were alright for a couple of weeks. Showing Roxas the ropes of the Organization, going to missions and gathering hearts. Hearts that would potentially mean that the members of the Organization could become human again. But it couldn't last. Axel was assigned to go to the secondary base of the Organization: Castle Oblivion.

In Castle Oblivion, things were a little different. Or maybe they were back to normal. He had gone with five others: Vexen, Lexaeus, Zexion, Marluxia, Larxene. He opposed them all, Vexen with his arrogance, Lexaeus and Zexion with their devotion to the Superior, Marluxia and Larxene with their treachery. And Axel had his instructions from Saix. Take them all out. This would be how they would take over the Organization themselves…

Lo and behold, there was somebody else in Castle Oblivion. A strange little girl named Naminé. She had no physical prowess to speak of, but she had the strangest powers Axel had ever seen. Powers to manipulate the memories of a boy named Sora, and those who knew him.

Somebody must have had a sense of humor, because who would show up at Castle Oblivion but Sora? The hero of the Keyblade. The person from whom Roxas had been created. One of only two who became a Heartless and kept his sentience. And kind of a pain in the neck.

But then he cut down Vexen. Sure, Sora was the one who beat him half to death with the Keyblade, but Axel finished him off. It was for the best. Couldn't have Vexen spilling secrets, especially about Roxas's existence. One little snap of the fingers and the Chilling Academic burst into flames. There wasn't enough of the body to fade into darkness.

He didn't need to bother with Larxene. Sora destroyed her and she threw a tantrum as she faded away into nothing. Good riddance. Axel doubted anyone would miss Larxene…but they didn't have feelings, so that wasn't really an issue in the first place. You couldn't miss what you didn't care about.

Marluxia was trouble. He was an assassin as well, and he trusted Axel as much as Axel trusted him. Which was to say, not at all. But Marluxia had betrayed them, and for that he would die. Nothing, not even Marluxia pushing little Namine in front of him, was going to sway him from his quest. Until Sora came rushing in.

Sora wound up being a lot stronger than he looked, and Axel ended up taking a real pounding. Say what you will of Namine manipulating his memories, the kid could fight. And Axel was forced to retreat. And then Sora took out Marluxia, so it was a moot point.

In the basements, only Zexion and Lexaeus were left. Or, only Zexion. Lexaeus was destroyed in a fight with Riku. Zexion was the last one and he had been injured himself. Which made it easy for Axel to convince the Riku Replica to take Zexion out.

Five allies he had known for years, cut down one by one. And he hadn't cared at all. Which only made it weirder when he had finally returned to the Castle That Never Was. And he got back with Roxas and Xion, too. And he started to feel again…

xxxx

Roxas had left. Axel had to get him back, or else Xemnas would destroy him. Destroy both of them. Problem was that Roxas had had his mind tampered with. He didn't remember anything. This wasn't good.

He tried to talk to Roxas. Roxas didn't listen. It was unnerving. Roxas didn't remember anything, but Axel refused to give up.

Stubbornness was not an emotion. This wasn't truly feeling. But it was something. It gave Axel more purpose than anything else had in a long time. But he could Roxas slipping away. And that made him all the more angry.

They fought again. Bad. Really bad. Axel no longer cared. He had never really cared. None of what he felt had truly been real. Roxas summoned his Keyblades. Keyblades. He had two of them. He used to give them names, but Axel neither knew nor cared what these two Keyblades were called. It was too late. All Axel knew was hurt…or this facade of hurt. He just wanted to burn things…

Roxas beat him. He'd given him a real pounding. Just like Sora had done, so long ago.

"Let's meet again, in the next life," Axel said, as he opened a Dark Corridor. The last thing he saw of Roxas was…regret?

Roxas was gone. Re-absorbed into Sora. Axel couldn't tolerate it. He wanted his friend back. Forget Xemnas. Forget the Organization. Forget whatever it was that he couldn't remember. Nothing else mattered now, but getting Roxas back.

Kidnapping Kairi was…not his brightest move. He had been so desperate to get Roxas back. He had stolen Kairi, yanked her right through a Dark Corridor. She'd been terrified and furious. Mostly furious, and she punched and pinched and kicked him all the way through the Corridor into the World That Never Was. Kairi had managed to get away from him…only to be immediately grabbed by Saix.

Things got really bad after that. Organization XIII was using Sora to collect hearts for Xemnas's schemes. Just like they had used Roxas and…no, it was just Roxas wasn't it? But Axel had had it with the set-ups and the schemes and Xemnas being an all-around bastard. He'd put a stop to it. Once and for all.

Tracking down Kairi in the Castle's dungeon was easy. Getting her out was not easy. Especially with Saix intercepting before Axel could do anything.

"You will no longer interfere with our goals," Saix said. "Kingdom Hearts is very nearly complete. I will exist. You will not."

Pain. Sharp pain. A claymore, slamming into Axel's side. Ribs cracked. Something important went squish. Owww…

He couldn't get to Kairi…but…maybe he could help Sora. One last ride. One last mission. One last fight. Axel forced himself to move, to lift his legs. His legs didn't want to move, but Axel had never been one to be told 'No,' not even by himself, so he pushed onward.

He wasn't sure where he was, exactly. The Betwixt and Between…but what exactly that meant was anybody's guess. Sora and his two pals Donald and Goofy were surrounded by Dusks, outnumbered. Well, maybe Axel could even the odds then.

Turns out Axel sucked at evening the odds, or else the Dusks had finally learned how to breed. There were hundreds, maybe thousands. So many Dusks, he couldn't tell where one finished and another began. Oh well…

"Watch this, Roxas!"

He summed every ounce of strength he had, and then reached for more. He pushed his magic to its limits, and then past those limits. Far beyond what Roxas used to call a Limit Break would have offered. Flames shot out of every angle and consumed every last Dusk. They exploded into nothingness. And then Axel felt himself begin to fade.

There were still fights to be had. Xemnas and the last few members of Organization XIII. Xigbar, that sharpshooter snake. And Saix…Isa had been his friend once…but that was long, long in the past. There was Luxord…ugh…he hadn't been that big a jerk..Axel hoped Sora would end him quickly.

So much pain…but he had to explain. Couldn't go into the dark with this on his chest.

"I wanted to see Roxas. He was the only one I ever liked. He made me feel like I had a heart."

Sora was staring at him, his expression far more gentle than Axel deserved. What was the look in his eyes? Forgiveness? Understanding? There was a twinge of warmth in Axel's chest. Something he hadn't felt in a long time.

"You make me feel the same way."

Then…darkness. The fighting was not over. But Axel was.

xxxx

The fighting didn't end. And neither did he. Axel was re-completed. Human again. Just like that bastard Xemnas had always promised, even if it had been a lie from the start. Ironic. And of course, since Axel was re-completed, that meant Xehanort got re-completed too. And now, he was trying to take over the world again.

Axel wasn't gonna stand for it. He was gonna fight and he was gonna get his friends back. Sora was his friend now, even if he was still a pain in the neck. Axel opened a Dark Corridor, putting his newly formed body in grave danger, but it was worth it if it meant helping his friends. He tracked down Sora's Keyblade Master, Yen Sid. Who told him that he could assist, if he became a wielder as well. So that meant learning how to wield a Keyblade. Which, it turned out, was really stinking hard.

Stuck in a weirdo forest where time didn't exist, Axel wasn't sure how long he spent trying to get the stupid Keyblade to show up. A hundred days? Two hundred? And it turned out to just be a few days outside, in the normal world? Whatever. Timey-wimey stuff was above Axel's pay grade.

Teleporting in at the last second to save Sora's butt from Xehanort, who turned out to be a wrinkled old geezer? Back-sassing the old geezer and Xigbar too? And all without a Keyblade? Haha, that was most certainly not above Axel's pay grade. He got Sora out of a really icky situation and that was a good thing. And he finally learned how to summon his Keyblade, and given nearly everyone a heart attack, which was a great bonus.

But there was still training to do. Which meant going back to the weirdo forest where time didn't exist. And this time, he had a training partner. Kairi, the Princess of Heart…the girl he kidnapped to try to turn Sora back into a Heartless and get Roxas back. She'd been uneasy about working with him, not that he'd blamed her.

Kairi was a fighter though, and way stronger than she looked (which wasn't saying much by itself. What was it with Keybearers being teeny-tiny?). And she had such kindness—which, given that she was a Princess of Heart, wasn't surprising in itself. She wanted to help others, so much. Help Roxas and help Namine…and…was there someone else? It was the strangest thing, but Axel was convinced he was forgetting someone. Someone important. And not the girl that he and Isa had first tried to save all those years ago either.

Kairi teamed up with him during the battle in the Keyblade Graveyard and they fought Saix—Isa had gone back over to Xehanort…and one other person. Someone small. Axel thought it was Roxas, but when the small person charged at them, Kairi blocked the attack and realized the small person was a girl. Axel didn't know who she was, but that didn't matter. He had to fight. To get Roxas back. To protect Kairi.

Fighting was hard. He still wasn't entirely used to a Keyblade. But he had to fight. He couldn't let Xehanort get Kingdom Hearts and that X-blade. No way. But even with Kairi, their trump card, and even with Sora…it wasn't enough. Not when that bastard Xemnas cut in. The small Seeker was told to take his life. But…she couldn't. She started crying, and when Sora told her to put down her Keyblade, she tried to attack him…really, really badly. And then…Sora said her name: "Xion."

Memories came rushing back. Memories he hadn't even realized he had forgotten. Memories of a little teenager with black hair and blue eyes and the sweetest, softest little voice. Xion…the girl he had vowed to always bring back. And Xemnas…he was going to cut her down with his ethereal blade. Axel grabbed at Xemnas's stupid ankle but it wasn't enough…

"You can wait your turn, also-ran."

But then, a shiny ball of light flew out of Sora's heart chest and then a big blast of lightning fell from the sky. And the next thing Axel knew, Roxas was standing there. And he had…two Keyblades and…oh, it was on!

They fought. It was pretty icky all things considered. Sora and Kairi were caught in one of Xemans's awful curses that zapped your energy and turned you into nothing. They fought him off and broke the spell, but Xemnas grabbed a weakened Kairi and fled. Axel was too sore to continue the fight, but Roxas and Xion were roaring for a fight. Saix didn't stand a chance. The three half-pints destroyed him.

"Guess I…should have brought some ice cream."

Okay, that was probably the dumbest thing he could have said. But it made Xion stop crying. Roxas and Xion were here. They were here. He had his friends back…he had them back. His eyes began burning.

The next thing he knew, Roxas and Xion were pressed tight against his chest. Or his stomach. Yeesh, they were small. So, so small. And they were crying and he was crying and oh…

He had them back. The fighting wasn't over, but it could take a little break.

xxxx

Now…the fighting was over. Or at least most of it—Aqua was adamant that they should train regularly, to be ready for the next threat. Fair enough, luck favored the prepared. But he wasn't sure what else there was to do know? Go back to the Garden? No…there was nothing for him there anymore. Not really. And the Land of Departure…it was a training grounds. Not that it was bad, but he had no attachment to it. He didn't want to live there.

"Axel, are you coming?"

Roxas and Xion wanted him. He stared at their eager faces. Bright blue eyes—a little purple-y in Xion's case—and round cheeks and wide smiles. There was hope in their eyes. Hope for the future. Man, what a concept.

His name was Axel. And what did that mean? It meant he was cheerful, had friends, told lame jokes. He wielded a Keyblade…which he could turn into his chakrams, and when he didn't it was made of fire. Which made it the coolest Keyblade ever. He still had his fire magic too. And he had Roxas and Xion. So long as he had those two little half-pints, he didn't need any more than that. They could figure the rest out later.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed, my dear, dear readers! Leave a comment if you're so inclined! I appreciate each and every one of you!