Hello everybody! Hope you guys are doing well what with Christmas slowly creeping up on us. At least for me, school's over, and that means I should be able to spend more time on these stories once I've finished with all my Christmas shopping. I always make it a rule to get one thing for everybody in my family, but my older brother makes it hard when he's pretty much the polar opposite of me and out of the house enough for me to not know what he would like or want. Oh well, that just means that it's time to break into his room while he's out and snoop around.
But yeah, I hope that you'll all have a great time in the days adding up to Christmas. Now I'm not sure if I want to, but I might be making a Christmas story on one of the games that I like. Again, I'm not sure whether or not I will since it might be a one-shot, and I have trouble writing one-shots because my ideas can never stop with just one chapter if it ends up good. How do you think I manage to come out with all of these different stories. Now if only I could just go back to them and finish them sometime in the future. Anyway, I'll make sure to keep you all posted about it.
Oh, and one more thing. In the last chapter, I made a mistake on one of the character's last names. The name is Foudre, and I said that the french definition was Ice. Unfortunately, I made a mess-up on that. It actually means Lightning in respect to how I best associate the character with. I was angry when I made the author note after saving it and having it not register it and erasing it all. But yeah, that's the fix-up; Foudre is french for Lightning. And yes, everybody's last name holds some connection to the characters of Kingdom Hearts, so who do you all think has something to do with Lightning and is a blond haired woman?
Now that all of that stuff is out of the way, I'll let you go ahead and start reading this new chapter that I posted. Sorry for it taking a few days, but finals took priority before everything else. Don't forget to leave me a nice review after you're done reading so I can tell how you all liked this and see what kind of suggestions you might have for it. They are always very helpful and provide me motivation to finish this. Until the next update on this or one of my other stories that I need to finish up one of these days everybody!
Chapter 9: Can Things get Any More Difficult?
For the rest of the night after coming home from the hectic time at the harbor, Sora slept like a rock without any kind of disturbances. But because of all the craziness he suffered through last night, he forced himself to wake up and call Xemnas saying that he was not going to make it to work before he got chewed out for not appearing without calling in the reason why. When asked by the man why he could not come, he simply said that he was feeling sick and did not want to spread it to the others. Being that he was practically half-asleep and did gain a sort of sore throat from being in drenched clothing for a while, it was practically no acting required for the excuse. Needless to say, the man bought it like a fish biting at bait on a fisherman's hook. He then went back to sleep and did not wake up until just past twelve.
Thankfully, his semi sore throat was something that could easily be fixed with a couple of cough drops and some cough medicine. That was a good thing because his main reason for calling in sick was so that he would be able to continue on his mission to try and get somebody to help Roxas get out of Twilight Town in one piece. And he knew just who to talk to next and kept repeating the name in his head as he took a shower so as to not forget about it.
Once he was done with the shower, he quickly dried himself off and put on a pair of blue jeans and a red long sleeved shirt in case he needed to go out later. He then made his way to the living room where he left the frying pan last night and began looking it over for the name that Hayner gave him last night, Axel Karyuu.
"If he's not on here, then I'm just going to have to find another way to talk to this Ansem guy," he murmured as he turned the pan around and began reading off the last two names on it. "Hey, looks like I'm in luck this afternoon. Axel's name is on here. All I'll have to do is call him and see if he can help me get through to Ansem. And if he doesn't work, then I'll have to call this last person called Xion Mecha. Wait a minute, they both have the same phone number," he discovered as he did a double take on both name's phone numbers. "Maybe they just happen to live together. That just makes things easier for me."
And before something else came up, he picked up the phone he had left on the desk next to the pan and began dialing the number on the pan. He was then greeted with a couple of ring tones before the sound of somebody on the other end picked up.
"Hey, Axel here," the person introduced himself in a semi light tone that sounded like a mixture of seriousness and playfulness. "Hope you got it memorized, because I'm not going to repeat it again. So who's bugging me here?"
"Wow, that sounds like a pretty good way to get somebody to hang up on you," Sora responded sarcastically before letting out an amused huff of his breath. "Think you should try another greeting in case it's someone important calling? Anyway, my name's Sora, and I have something that I want to talk to you about."
"You complain about my greeting, and I'll complain about your bluntness," the other person called Axel countered in an equally playful huff of his breath. "People don't usually cut to the chase that quickly unless it's deathly important. I can't say I know who you are though, so why would I be obligated to listen to what you have to say?"
"You really ought to learn a bit more tact when talking to strangers, you know?" the teen countered back before rolling his eyes at their pointless game of trying to one- up each other. "Anyway, I was just calling you to see if you know of a person called Ansem. I want to talk to him about something important."
"And why would you think that I would know somebody by that name?" the other asked with suspicion laced in his words. "Do you even know if the guy you're looking for exists?"
"I wouldn't be calling if I thought he was a fake."
"Then in the name of the flame of disaster, tell me just exactly who this Ansem guy is. If this ends up only being a monumental waste of my time, then I'll just hang up and treat you like a crank caller if you call again."
"Well, from what I learned last night, the guy once used to be a great spy until he retired and started living a regular life here on Destiny Island. I also learned that you're one of the few people who happen to have his phone number."
"Humph, that sounds like a pretty good story you came up with. How long did it take you to rehearse that so you don't stutter from making a mistake? Do you honestly think I'd believe something as farfetched as that?"
"So you're saying that you don't believe me?" Sora asked, clearly not surprised that he was receiving this type of treatment from a spy. He was probably just protecting the other guy he was trying to talk to from nosey people or others who wanted to kill him. He was, however, curious as to why the other seemed to sound playful.
"I'm saying that you came up with an amazing story that couldn't possibly be true," Axel clarified with a chuckle of amusement that seemed to magnify his seemingly playful attitude. "I don't know anybody by the name of Ansem. And I'm as sure as the flames of hell don't know anybody who's a spy."
"If you're trying to get me to hang up and just give up, then you're not doing a very good job at it," the spiky haired teen responded as he countered back in a teasing tone. "I've heard from a reliable source that you know about Ansem being a spy and that you also have his phone number on hand."
"Sounds like you're pretty persistent in claiming this as the truth," the other on the line said with a sigh that the teen could imagine being accompanied with a shrug of his shoulders. "Then let's just say for the sake of argument that you're telling the truth. I would suppose that you can tell me just who was the person that told you I know this person you're looking for? Either that, or you're just beating around the blazing bush with me."
What is it with this guy and words that have to deal with fire? Sora thought with raised eyebrows before giving his vocal answer. "Do you know somebody by the name of Hayner Ryoshou? He's the one who told me about you."
"Hmm, the name does kind of set off some distant sparks. Do you mind telling me who he's friends with?"
"He's friends with somebody that I've heard you're good friends with. His name's Roxas Tasogare; and he's a spy just like you and Hayner."
Instead of immediately answering with another word revolving around fire, Axel was simply quiet without any signs that he was still there except for light breathing heard on the other end. It seemed like he was contemplating something.
"…And how is it that you know Roxas?" the other finally asked after a few seconds with strong venom in his words. "Are you one of the guys who killed him and are now trying to get everybody else involved with him dead?"
"Even if I were an enemy of his, I don't think that there would be any reason to kill off everybody who worked with Roxas," the teen responded with a roll of his eyes at how fast the other person jumped to irrational conclusions. "That just doesn't make any sense no matter how you look at it. Anyway, I know him because he made contact with me while I was working at the Destiny Island International Bank. He told me to get a frying pan from his home that has names of his contacts that could possibly help him get back here. I called Hayner who then led me to you saying that you knew Ansem's phone number."
"If you did talk to Hayner, then why don't you tell me where he is now and what he's doing? I'll then hang up and call him on his cell to see if you're telling the truth in where he is and that you talked to him. If it is, then I'll call you back. Otherwise, don't think about bugging me about this again, and expect to have a bunch of spies knocking at your door and taking you away for interrogation."
"Thanks for the threatening warning, Axel. He's most likely at the hospital right now unless he's already left after being patched up. He was shot in the shoulder while meeting me down at the harbor in order to discuss about Roxas. Just ask him about it. He'll probably say the same thing I just did."
And without saying another word, Sora heard the sound of the other end of the line being cut off. With a sigh, he also turned off his end of the now dead connection and sat back in his sofa while waiting to be called back.
I just hope Hayner's well enough to be talking to anybody right now, he thought as he remembered the spy nearly getting shot to death last night and escaping with only a shoulder wound. I really don't want to face the wrath of interrogators if that Axel guy was being serious. He sounded serious enough after I first mentioned Roxas' name.
Feeling that it might take a while for Hayner to explain things to Axel, Sora decided to abandon his seat and get something to eat from the kitchen. It was already lunchtime, and he did not have anything to eat since he woke up almost an hour ago. He opened the fridge and saw a box of plain white rice along with some simply steamed vegetables in another right beside it. Being that those were kind of the only two things that were in the somewhat bare fridge that could be ready in a matter of minutes, he took them out and popped them into the microwave just a couple of feet away.
Honestly, I wish I had more money for food after taking care of the rent, paying Riku back for helping me pay for the first month, and shopping for personal hygiene stuff, he thought with a dejected sigh as his mind wandered to how he was barely managing to survive with what little money he had left after all the necessary expenses for the month were taken care of. I took cooking classes in high school, but how am I supposed to make stuff to eat when all I can afford are some cheap vegetables and rice or noodles? Put that on top of the other stuff I need to buy like bars of soap, and food is almost out of the question. I hate to say it, but I'm starting to think that I was better off still at the orphanage. At least everything there was free. They really need to try harder so that people like me don't end up in bad situations like this. Then again, I guess it could've been worse if Riku weren't there to help me out.
After a couple of minutes more of inner dialogue, he heard the microwave go off, signifying that it was done heating up the rice and the veggies. He took out a bowl from a nearby drawer before opening the microwave and dumping the contents of both containers into the bowl before throwing them into a nearby sink.
At least I have the Christmas bonus to look forward for, he continued on with his train of thought with a small smile before going back to the living room with his lunch in tow. That in combination with what's going to be left of this month's check should help me get some more food than just this for a little while.
After taking a seat back on the sofa, he began mixing the stuff together before taking a bite out of it. And after a couple more minutes of enjoying his lunch in relative quiet, he heard his phone starting to ring. Figuring that it was Axel calling him back, he answered it and put the phone to his ear and swallowed the food that was still in his mouth before saying, "So what did he say? Now do you believe me in that I'm not a threat to you?"
"Sounds like it's time that I start taking you more seriously than I have been," the other simply responded without so much as a sorry for his previously borderline rude and suspicious behavior towards him. "And don't go thinking that I'll be apologizing to you anytime soon. I'm a spy, so I'm entitled to have my suspicions against people who theoretically shouldn't know anything about us."
"You didn't really strike me as the type of guy who would go apologizing for something wrong you did when we first started talking," Sora countered back in a playful tone that he emphasized with a teasing chuckle so that the other would know before stuffing his face with his lunch. He then continued on in a slightly muffled voice, "And I was kind of expecting that kind of treatment when I first called you. But yeah, now you know why I'm calling you and that you can trust me as much as Hayner does."
"Just tell me this much before we start getting into whatever it is you called me about," Axel responded as his voice seemed to be laced with concern. "Is Roxas really still alive and kicking? The last I heard, he was pronounced KIA a couple of weeks ago when all contact with him was lost in Twilight Town. And please don't talk with your mouth full. It kind of makes it hard to hear what you're saying."
"Trust me; I wouldn't be in this situation right now running around and risking my life if he didn't go and call me for help to get back here," the teen responded while ignoring the other's request and shoving more food into his mouth. "As I said earlier, he told me to get a list of contacts from somewhere inside his house. That's how I got in contact with Hayner who then directed me to you saying that you had the number for the person who would most likely be able to help Roxas get out of there."
"Yeah, you said something about wanting to know Ansem's phone number so you could talk to him about helping my buddy out," the other recalled, his voice clearly reflecting the annoyance at his request being completely ignored. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but you're a couple of weeks too late to be asking."
"Wh-what are you talking about, Axel? Don't tell me that you managed to lose his number two weeks ago and can't find it now. I need that if I'm ever going to have a chance at rescuing Roxas." He was surprised at how he seemed to be making this sound like a personal mission rather than just a request, but his mind was too busy wrapping around the thought on why he could not get the phone number he was seeking.
"If I were that scatterbrained, then I don't think that the agency would allow me to use pyrotechnic fighting techniques if I somehow got myself into deep trouble. No, what I meant was that me giving you Ansem's phone number is going to be as much help to you as trying to ask a wall for directions. The old man died of a heart attack just over two weeks ago before Roxas was reported to be dead."
"You-you got to be kidding me!" Sora exclaimed in surprise before putting his lunch down on the table, not wanting to admit what he just heard was Roxas' best escape route flying out the window.
"You'll have to catch me setting myself on fire before I start kidding with anybody about something important as this," Axel responded in a good-hearted fashion before changing his tone back to being somewhat serious. "I really don't like saying it, but the only person who might be willing to help Roxas get out of there after being first convinced he's still alive without first going through with the agency is way past dead. Like me, everybody would probably not believe you or choose to go through the books first. And I heard from Hayner that he told you how long that process can take."
"Well, I still have one more person I haven't had a chance to try asking for help yet," the spiky haired teen stated with a sigh as he was now down to the last resource available to him. "Maybe they'll be willing to not just believe me after a bit of convincing but also bend the rules and just get him out of there before he's found out and killed."
"You think you can tell me who the last person on his list of contacts is?" the other person asked with a curious edge to his words. "I know a few of the people Roxas worked with since he first started a few months ago, so I might be able to tell you whether or not you're just going to be wasting your time."
"He's only been a spy for a few months? Wow, he must've done a real good job on his initiation exam or something like that."
"Actually, he actually got caught up in one of my missions when he was still just a regular guy. He got caught up in the middle of a shootout between me and a couple of people I was tailing who somehow managed to figure out I was following him. Needless to say, he got caught as a hostage by one of them, but he still managed to fight his way free with techniques that I was taught in the spy training regimen. He then took the guy's gun after subduing him and ran for cover in that expert spy fashion and decided to help me out."
"Wow, that sounded pretty intense for just a then normal guy. Did his parents used to be spies themselves and taught him everything he knows?"
"That's what I thought at first. When I asked him after it was all over, though, he said that he was a video game junkie and just mimicked what he learned from all those games that had to deal with guns and espionage stuff. I thought he was kidding at first, but he invited me to his place once things cooled down, and I saw that he was more than serious.
"Anyway, we're getting way off topic here," Axel quickly changed topics with a clear of his throat. "You can ask him more about how he became a spy when you talk to him. Just tell me who's the last contact on the list he gave you."
"I wouldn't call it a list per se," Sora responded in a correcting tone before quickly adding, "but the last person on here is called Xion Mecha. According to the frying pan, you're right now living with him."
"Nice to know his list is on the back of a frying pan," the other responded with a chuckle. "And yes, I'm right now living with her as roommates. But she isn't here right now. She went with Roxas on his mission to Twilight Town and was listed as Missing In Action at the same time he was listed Killed In Action. She hasn't been heard from since then."
"Ugh, there goes his last chance at getting out of there alive," the teen said with a dejected sigh as he did a facepalm. He then stated, "But if Xion was with Roxas, then isn't it possible that she's still alive and trying to contact somebody in the same way I was? I don't think she's with him, because he never said anything about another person."
"If that's true, then the person she's talking to must've not figured out her password yet. She has me as a contact for situations like this, so I might be hearing from her if you're right on that. Still, it's a pretty big longshot."
"Well, he found a way to get to me so I could talk to you on his behalf, so she should be getting to you anytime soon. But anyway, what the hell am I supposed to do now? Hayner can't do anything both because of his low ranking and his now fresh shoulder injury that almost took his life. You can't do anything for me because the main reason I called you for help died over two weeks ago. And Therxia Nagrobshigou hasn't called me back when I left a message with her butler guy last night. I've used up all the things Roxas gave me to work with and still didn't get any closer to getting him help."
"If it makes you feel better, Therxia's usually a pretty busy person for even us spies to get into contact with. She's pretty high in the chain of command, so it's natural that she hasn't gotten back in touch with you. All I can suggest for you is that you should talk to Roxas again tonight and see if he has any other plans. And if it does come to a point where you need some help on this end, just call me up," Axel added in a confident tone. "Now you can't say that calling everybody in his list of contacts was a total waste of time."
"I guess that's the only thing I can do now," Sora responded with a sigh just before he heard a knock coming from his apartment door. "Sorry, but I have to go now. Somebody's at my door now. Talk to you if I need any help."
"Yeah, you just make sure that Roxas makes it back home alive and relatively unscathed, or I'll figure out where you live and make you pay for his death," the other threatened in a tone that sounded playful to an untrained ear but was really full of seriousness before he disconnected his end of the line.
Sounds like they're pretty good friends if he's that concerned about him," the teen thought as he took the threat seriously despite the slight humorous edge he caught before being rudely interrupted by the knocking again. "Alright, I'm coming! No need to break the door down or anything like that."
Within a couple of seconds and a few big steps, he made it to his door and took a deep breath to relax himself from his previous conversation before opening it to see what was gracing him with their visit.
"Hello Sora; how are you feeling today?" he heard a woman's familiarly motherly and soothing voice greeting him the moment the door was open. His eyes were also greeted with the sight of a red winter jacket keeping the smiling woman with long brown hair in it warm from the cool winter air. "I caught wind that you didn't go to the bank today and came by to see if everything was alright."
"A-Aerith!" Sora exclaimed before moving out of the doorway, clearly not expecting the now retired banker to have been paying him a visit anytime soon. He then asked with a smile of his own, "H-How did you figure out that I lived here? I don't think I ever told you about me living in this apartment."
"Well, I decided to go and pay everybody at the bank a visit today during the lunch break," the woman explained with a smile as she took the movement as an invite to enter. "I was surprised when I didn't see you there. That was when Riku asked for me to check up on you when I was done. He just wanted to make sure that nothing happened to you. He thinks of you as a brother, you know? I must admit, though, that you not going to work is kind of an unusual thing for you to do."
"Well, my throat was feeling kind of funny when I woke up this morning," the teen explained with a shrug of his shoulders before moving to the living room and relocating his lunch to the kitchen counter. "That and I kind of felt a bit strange, so I thought I might have caught a cold. I'm feeling a bit better now, but I didn't think I wanted to chance it in case I really had something."
"That does sound like a good reason, especially since everybody's working in that one big room for seven hours a day," she reasoned out with a nod of her head while subconsciously surveying the apartment. "That and this winter air doesn't help to make a cold get any better. So this is where you've been living ever since you told me you left the orphanage," she continued on as she allowed her eyes to look around the small yet humble apartment. "It's a very nice place you have here."
"Speaking of which, just how did you manage to get in here without first calling me from the outer gate? That thing doesn't open for anybody unless the visitor calls who they're planning to visit to open it up for them."
"I think your landlord is planning to replace the security system on the gate with a newer model. I saw some workers working on disconnecting the wires and all that. That's how I got in without having to go through the security."
"Oh, so Cid's decided to work on that today. It's probably going to be a chore to get out of here with all those workers. Thanks for telling me that, Aerith."
"Hmm, you're quite welcome," Aerith simply answered with a friendly smile before moving into the kitchen where Sora was still at. "Anyway, I'm afraid I can't stay here for long. I just wanted to appease Riku's worries about how you were doing and see how you were faring without me watching over you."
"Well, I've been doing the best I could without you around," Sora answered as he took a clean cup from a cupboard above the sink and filled it with tap water. He then offered it to the woman before saying. "And I've been keeping out of trouble in the office ever since you left. In fact, I haven't gotten talked to by Xemnas yet."
"That's good to hear," she answered with a light-hearted chuckle while accepting the cup of water and lightly sipped from it. "If you don't mind me saying, you seem to be doing pretty well on your own despite the position the orphan system put you in. Not many eighteen-year-olds could ever hope to get an apartment right off the bat."
"Thanks for the compliment, Aerith," the spiky haired teen thanked her. "I just happen to be lucky to have such a good friend like Riku go out of his way and help me land a job at the bank. He even went so far as to help me find this place that I could call my own by paying the first month's rent for me. He really is a one-in-a-million friend."
"You know, he's been working at that bank for almost a good two years. Every time he talked about his time at the orphanage, he always started talking about you with this happy gleam in his eyes. He always worried about how you were doing on your own just as he worried about how you were feeling."
"Yeah, he's the kind of guy who would save his friends before himself in a heartbeat if it ever came to something deathly dangerous."
"I'm sure he is. Well, I think I better get going now," she quickly said as she finished the water and put the cup on the sink before moving towards the door. "I need to make sure that Zack isn't trying to drag himself into more trouble down at the flower shop. I know he means well, but I don't want to return to flowers that drowned."
"Zack's your best friend since middle school, isn't he?" Sora asked as the name rang a very distant bell in his head. "Didn't you tell me once that he was thinking about becoming a traveling journalist because he wanted to see the world? How did you manage to get him to stay home and take care of flowers?"
"Actually, he decided to stay behind when he heard that I was planning on retiring from the bank and start devoting more of my time on the flower shop my mom left for me," Aerith explained as a reminiscent smile made its way onto her face. "He was worried that I might not be able to make a good living for myself after suddenly changing careers and wanted to make sure that I was okay before leaving. And being the ever caring person he is, he decided to help me take care of the shop while putting his dream as a traveling journalist on hold. I told him it was okay, but I might as well try to ask a rock to change its mind. Once he gets something in his head, you can't stop him from doing it."
"But it sounds like he's doing it because he really cares about you," the brown spiky haired teen responded with a nod of his head, happy that the woman he looked up to as a mother had someone who loved her so much. "He sounds like a one-in-a-million prince charming. Do you ever consider him to be your boyfriend sometimes?"
"No, I'm content with just being best friends with the sometimes klutzy guy," the woman said with a loving chuckle to show that she was just teasing. "And besides, there are two reasons why he can't be my boyfriend. The first is that he doesn't aim for me or any other girls even if they were the prettiest in the world. Secondly, he already has a boyfriend. I have a strange feeling that you might know him."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because his name's Cloud Strife and he also lived in the same orphanage you were in until he was adopted seven years ago. He told me he remembered being friends with Riku. He also remembered him hanging around with you as a new friend and wanted to get to know you, but he got adopted before he had the chance and lost contact with him."
"Is he a guy with blond hair that's probably as spiky as mines who also has the kind of face that makes him look like he's serious about everything?"
"The very same one. Maybe you two can meet up sometime at my flower shop. He said he felt bad about you being alone all the time, but he had some kind of silly reputation of being a sort of anti-social guy who only accepted Riku as a friend."
"Yeah, I remember hearing of somebody like that back in the orphanage. He always did strike me as an interesting guy underneath that title. Maybe it would be nice to get to know him. That and Zack sounds like a pretty friendly guy."
"Well, you can always come to my flower shop whenever you want to meet them. They both help me around the shop to keep things in order, but I think Cloud prefers to be there when I have to go out just to keep an eye on Zack and make sure he doesn't try anything crazy with the flowers like overwatering them."
"Anyway, I really need to get back before some customers come by asking for a flower arrangement that neither of them know how to create yet," Aerith responded from her position by the doorway where she had been standing ever since they got sidetracked from her earlier attempt at leaving. "It was nice seeing you again, Sora. I hope you get better soon, and make sure you behave at work."
"I will; and thanks for visiting me today, Aerith," Sora answered before waving her goodbye as she exited out to the hallway and to the flower shop that she now owned and was taking care of with the help of her best friend Zack and his boyfriend Cloud.
Well, I hope that you all liked that chapter. I wanted to find a way to separate the serious atmosphere of suddenly using everything Roxas gave Sora to work with and yielding nothing with a nice surprise visit by Aerith. I always pictured her to be the kind of woman who could easily be a mother figure to anybody because of how sweet she is. And I just couldn't help but put a small tidbit about Zack and Cloud. They're just a couple of my most favorite Final Fantasy characters of all time! And yes, I like yaoi for those of you wondering about all of these boy couples I'm putting in here and there. So sue me!
But seriously, now what are Sora and Roxas supposed to do with nobody able to help them and figuring out whatever help they can score has already died off? Things are never easy, especially escaping from enemy territory with your life. At least Axel said that he would lend Sora help if he eve needed it. But then what's going on with Xion? Why ask to call her if she's your partner for the mission gone bad in terms of escape route?
I hope you also liked a bit more of the back story on how Roxas ended up landing a job as a spy. I've noticed when I was writing this that I haven't given a lot of back story to his character, so I figured that this would be a good place to add some more since he and Axel were quick friends. It is kind of hard, though, to create a character without really showing them off to the reader because all I have to go on is literally words and descriptions from others to have you all see how Roxas is in real life. Oh well, that's just a challenge that I really like, so I'll keep doing it as much as I can. Now here's a character bio for some of the new characters.
Roxas Tasogare: 18 (A young spy who only received the job over half a year ago after getting caught in a shootout and aiding Axel with the criminal apprehension)
Axel Karyuu: ? (A spy who became friends with Roxas after a mission gone bad and promised to help Sora bring the trapped spy back home in any way he can)
Xion Mecha: ? (A woman who is a spy and is roommates with Axel, but she is reportedly supposed to be with Roxas on his current mission)
Ansem: ? (An old retired spy who taught Roxas how to be a be one and apparently passed away a couple of weeks ago)
Aerith Gainsborough: 25 (A young woman who has retired from bank life in order to care for a flower shop she now has ownership over)
Cloud Strife: 22 (An old friend of Riku's who was adopted out of the orphanage Sora and Riku were in over seven years ago)
Zack Fair: ? (A very good friend of Aerith since middle school who is helping out at her shop and, according to her, is Cloud's boyfriend)
Well, that's the end of the long character bio. I decided to put a repeat of some of the other characters because there were updates to their story that I thought you all might like to know so as to not get too badly confused in future chapters about what they're really doing. And I didn't bother giving a last name for Ansem because I already knew he was going to be dead. And besides, even if he weren't dead, what business does Axel have to give both his phone number and last name at the same time? And all those question marks on the ages means that in Sora's point of view, he has no idea how old they could be.
Anyway, here's the definitions of the new last names on here. Karyuu is Japanese for Fire Dragon. I figured that would fit for Axel since he loved to fight with fire, and I made it that he proclaimed that he liked to fight with pyrotechnic skills. And I just happen to love dragons, so I decided to put it in his name and it ended up making it sound better. And Mecha is also Japanese for, you guessed it, machine. For those of you who played KH:365/2 Days, then you'll know what I mean. She was a creation of Vexen, so Mecha sounded like a perfect last name for her.
That's all for this long after-story note. I hope that you all liked this new chapter and will continue to read on when I post new ones. And please don't forget to leave a review telling me how you think of this new chapter and if there's anything that you think I could improve or clarify on. Until the next update on this or any of my other stories everybody!