Chapter Seven- Confrontations
Madame Pomfrey wanted to keep Harry longer, but Harry practically fled as soon as she admitted she couldn't help him, leaving poor Sora behind as she began to question him about his healing spells. While Harry trotted dutifully off to the Headmaster's office to tell Dumbledore about his scar, Sora was handing over a cure potion to Madame Pomfrey. With this compromise, Sora too fled the scary white wing- strange, he'd never noticed his aversion to white- and wandered off to the great hall for lunch.
Enough excitement for one day, surely.
Not quite.
--
It was late evening, and Sora was enjoying the coming night, sitting alone up in the astronomy tower, glad for the moment of peace. He smiled at the scattering of stars, wondering if any of them were worlds he knew. He propped his head on his hands, and wondered for the umpteenth time where the Keyhole was. He wondered also, what scheme Voldemort had cooked up, to cause Harry such pain. He shuddered, hating the look he'd seen on Harry's face as he writhed in torment. He hated that such dark magic had been used on his friend. He'd heard about it of course, but he hadn't expected the reality.
There was a whisper of a cloak behind him. Sora shifted casually to see who had joined him, expecting it was Harry or perhaps Hermione. Maybe even Dumbledore, who had the habit of turning up in odd places from time to time.
One glance, and Sora was flinging himself to the side, rolling away desperately. He came up in a crouch, Keyblade in hand.
A man in a black coat. An Organization member.
No attack came, and Sora stared at the person who had disturbed his peace.
"Who are you, and what are you doing here?!" For once, he got an answer, though not the one he wanted.
"I'm hurt, Sora, that you've forgotten me so soon." And smirking, eyes glittering, Axel lowered his hood and took a step towards the Keyblade Master.
"Perhaps I've been gone too long? Oh well, I'm here now…"
Sora sucked in a breath of much needed oxygen, feeling the blood drain from his face. From all the Nobodies that could have come, it had to be this one and he had to be alone.
He raised Oathkeeper a little, drawing strength from the blade.
"Axel…" He barely registered that he'd spoken, still staring and praying this was a dream, while all his senses assured him it wasn't.
"So you do remember. I'm just a memorable kind of guy I suppose, right Roxas? Sorry- Sora." Sora was tempted to just lunge for the Nobody's throat, but swallowed and tried for much needed answers.
"What are you doing here? What do you want?" Inwardly he was thinking, what is so special about this world that it warranted your presence?
"Now, Sora, is that any way to treat an old friend? I just thought I'd wander by, see how you're going…Steal a few souls. Nothing big." Sora growled at the Nobody.
"You are not my friend. And you're not hurting anyone here!"
"Oh? Why, are you going to play the hero and stop me?" A whisper of breeze disturbed Axel's crimson hair. The Nobody was smirking, his emerald eyes- marked by the distinctive tattoo's, amused.
"I'm not going to play anything. But I am going to stop you!" Axel laughed, letting his gaze wander over his smaller opponent. Just like Roxas- the same fire. Although Sora was quicker to show emotion than his Nobody had been. A quirk of having a heart, he supposed.
He wouldn't know.
Sora hated the way he could feel Axel's eyes slide over him, hated the strange, conflicting surge of emotions his mere presence caused him. He lunged forward and to the left, taking a swing at the cloaked male. Axel dodged it effortlessly, laughing.
"So impatient. Glad that hasn't changed…" And then the Nobody's smirk widened, his arms came up, stretching out as wisps of darkness surged down his arms and flickered in his eyes. Before the Keyblade Master's horrified stare, the darkness flared out in twin shapes, twisting and becoming solid weapons. A heartbeat later, fire exploded in the wake of the darkness, wrapping around the chakram's and whirling briefly around his own form.
"You ready? Cause ready or not…" The Nobody and the Keyblade Master moved at the same time, clashing in the centre of the small room with a steely ring, then swept apart.
--
Things went to hell very quickly.
There was no way their battle was going to be contained in the tiny tower, and very quickly Sora found himself vaulting out of the window in a desperate attempt to avoid the flaming, spinning-wheels-of-doom. He tucked as he fell, then kicked off the tower's side and flipped to stand on an adjacent one. Axel leapt up onto the windowsill, and stared across at him, still grinning.
He shook his head in amusement and leapt out, flinging a chakram low and hard. Sora leapt over it easily and met him mid-jump, sending Oathkeeper singing to meet him.
--
The first sign to the people at Hogwarts that something was wrong was Fawkes. The phoenix had woken out of a deep slumber and leapt into the air, screaming.
Dumbledore hadn't known Fawkes could even make that sound. The firebird swept out the window, singing fiercely, and Dumbledore hurried to the window, trying to figure out what had alarmed the phoenix so. He glanced up, following his flight…and his mouth fell open.
--
Sora ducked, feeling a wave of incredible heat surge overhead, and felt something ruffle his hair. He dug his heels in for a moment before propelling himself upwards to avoid Axel's follow-up attack. He caught the edge of another tower, and flipped himself up, twisting as he did so, landing facing the Nobody. Or he would have been, if Axel hadn't moved. He fell into a crouch, as Axel spun in from the side, and flung Oathkeeper at him in a Strike Raid. Only fair, since the Nobody loved to throw his flaming weapons at him. He hit him, although it seemed to do little damage, and Sora leapt as he caught his returning weapon and tried to close with the Nobody. Axel laughed mockingly and sent a wave of fire at him that had him leaping nearly eight feet in the air to avoid. He used this to his advantage, however, twisting his fall so that he came down on Axel, getting in a few swipes before he had to fling himself out of the way of another fire attack. He rolled, coming to his feet, and threw several ice spells in rapid succession.
--
The fight was fairly visible from below, even in the twilight, for though the combatants seemed at times to fade into the coming darkness, the flash of weapons and the eruption of battle-magic were painfully visible.
Dumbledore had already summoned the teachers, sending them off to round up all the students and keep them safely in their dorms. He'd guessed that the attacker Sora was battling was one of the mysterious Organization members, and acted to keep his charges safe.
There was little he could do for Sora, engaged in a lightning fast duel above the castle.
--
When the alarm went out, Harry and his friends naturally ignored it, following a frantic Donald and Goofy as they raced towards the Headmaster's office to demand answers. They all clearly felt that whatever was happening had to do with their spiky haired friend. Donald was hurling abuse at himself, clearly enraged that he'd left Sora alone. Goofy was trying to calm him, but was visibly worried himself. Harry and his friends wisely stayed out of it. They all but ran into Professor McGonagall, hurrying back from Gryffindor common-room.
"Professor! What's going on? Where's Sora?" She stared at them.
"What are you doing, Potter? Didn't you hear the alarms? I-" Donald interrupted her, holding his small staff so tightly it hurt.
"We're worried about our friend! If you know where he is, tell us!" The sheer fierceness of the duck mage's normally comical speech settled her on her heels, and she opened and closed her mouth several times.
"A fight of some kind. Outside. Albus suspects it's someone from that organization."
The group spun on their heels.
"Where are you going?!"
"You said there's a fight outside, right? That's where we're going." The teacher shook her head, pale.
"Not on the grounds, Harry, but on the castle rooftops." He gaped at her. Then as one they all bolted towards the nearest window, staring up.
Every window in the common rooms was full, people pressed up against the enchanted glass as they strained for glimpses of the aerial battle that swept back and forth above them. In Dumbledore's office, a group of teachers leant out the window, trying to track them. They were trying to think of ways that they could help, but could barely keep up, let alone try to find a vantage point from which to offer assistance. Nonetheless, Albus, Remus, and Filius began to run up to the higher levels. They couldn't follow Sora, but they could get closer so that they might be able to help. On the other side of the castle, Harry and his friends were doing much the same thing. Above, the fight continued with unrelenting ferocity. High above that, a phoenix flew singing unceasingly.
--
Sora dodged a fraction too late, and Axel's attack flung him backwards against the roof of a tower, dislodging tiles with a painful crack. He hung there for a moment due to the sheer force of the blow, then gravity resumed it's hold and he began to slip. He held Oathkeeper away from his body as he regained his footing, getting the hell out of the way as Axel roasted the area he'd been in a second before. He flung Oathkeeper at him, ignoring the pain in his back, then was forced to dodge again as a chakram nearly clipped him. Sora was really hating those weapons. With two, the Nobody could keep one as a defense and use the other as an offense. What he needed was two Keyblades…but he'd only managed it once outside of a Form. He wasn't sure how he'd managed it, and didn't know how to repeat it.
His moment of reflection almost cost him as a burst of flames disturbed his footing, and he dodged again, ducking for a moment behind a battlement.
"It ain't gonna be that easy, Sora!" Axel yelled, letting his chakram's spin around him again. Sora had never thought it was going to be easy, but he'd never expected that this was how they were going to fight. He abandoned his position as Axel swooped in, booted feet landing with deceptive lightness on the battlements beside him. Sora took advantage of the flat ground for a moment, performing another Strike Raid that missed, but shot forward in a dive roll past the startled Nobody, caught the Keyblade, and attacked him from behind. An explosion of heat blasted him back, and again his back impacted roughly with something solid. Sora rolled off the battlement, leaping into the air as the firestorm Axel had created passed beneath him.
"Sora!" Sora spun, hearing his name called by a familiar, non-threatening voice. Harry and his friends stood together near an open window, staring up at him with pale faces- and the fire attack was heading straight for them. Sora didn't hesitate. He saw them performing magic, but knew whatever it was would never stop the wild flood of flames. Goofy had moved in front of them, shield held before him, and Sora knew that, too, wouldn't be enough. Forgetting about Axel, he hit the side of the tower, and dove straight down, desperate, and just before the fire would have impacted flew in front of his friends, spun his Keyblade in front of him and yelled "Force!"
As loudly as he could. The fire slammed against his spell, pushed against it- and Force held, barely, suppressing the angry flames. With one foot on the windowsill, and the other against the wall below it, Sora was so shocked by his successful block that he almost completely missed Axel diving through the disappearing flames, weapons ready. He had no where to go but down, and if he moved the attack would hit his friends. Sora processed this in a split second, and swept Oathkeeper up to block the first chakram, knowing he could never move the blade to stop the second…
"Sora!"
Oblivion met it's charge, deflecting it, and Sora dimly noted through his haze of relief that his friends- and himself- were fine. He tightened his grip on both Keyblades, feeling fresh confidence sweep through him. Time to even things up a little…Blocking Axel with Oathkeeper, and slamming Oblivion into Axel's stomach, the Keyblade Master kicked upwards, flipping to stand once more on the roof. Winded, Axel kicked a little clumsily off the tower wall and landed opposite him. Despite his slightly erratic breathing, he was grinning.
"That's more like it! I was wondering how long it would take you, Sora." Taking this chance to get his own breathing under control, Sora lowered his Keyblades slightly.
"Is that what this is? Some kind of test?" Sora's voice was clear and sharp, slicing through the chill evening air.
Before the Nobody could answer, another voice rang out.
"Whoever you are, stranger, you are not welcome here. I advise you to leave, now." Dumbledore's voice cut through the momentary calm.
Not welcome here? Sora fought a somewhat hysterical giggle.
Only Dumbledore. Axel seemed likewise amused. He twisted and stared down where a trio of teachers stood, leaning out of a window. They were all holding wands. Axel coughed over what might have been a laugh.
"Old man, I ain't got no business with you. Go back to your sweets and I won't have to kill you."
It's probably been a while since anyone talked to Albus Dumbledore like that. His last encounter with Tom, likely. McGonagall sucked in an outraged breath, but didn't shift from her defensive posture in front of Harry, Hermione and Ron.
"You are a danger to the people in this castle, stranger, and you are most definitely a danger to young Sora."
Twitch. The concern was nice, but Sora was sick of the child comments, already. And the old wizard was wily and powerful, but no match for the flame-wielding Nobody.
"Sure, but whatcha going to do about it? Back off, I'm busy right now. Maybe I'll come kill you once I'm finished here." Before Dumbledore could reply, and before the unblinking stares of countless eyes, Axel resumed his attack.
"Why are you crazy cloaked guys always trying to kill me?" Sora managed around blows, giving ground.
"Gotta have a hobby…" Irritated, Sora realized he was never going to get a straight answer out of the Nobody.
"Fine. Why are you trying to kill me?"
"Kill you?" Sora felt his stomach drop at the mocking reply- all the way to the ground, which was currently a long, long way away.
"Who said I was trying to kill you?" Sora leaped into an Arc Arcanum, then flipped backwards for room.
"You didn't need to say it! You've been trying to carve me up and roast me alive for nearly fifteen minutes now!" A lightning spell slammed into the Nobody as he went to answer, and Sora smiled, thinking, Donald. Another followed on the heels of the first, then another, until a veritable storm of lightning was crackling around the getting-very-very-irritated Nobody.
Finally he snapped. With a roar, Axel flung his arms out and yelled,
"Playin' hard to get, huh? Well let's see you all handle this!"
The resulting firestorm was like nothing they'd seen so far.
Fire erupted from Axel roaring like a wild beast. Pillars of fire swept around him, crackling and roaring so that Sora could barely hear himself think. He squinted against the fierce brightness, dodging wildly as he tried to avoid the fires.
Thank god for magical clothing, thank god for magical clothing…
He was kept moving by the flames, fighting to get closer to strike at the Nobody. The sheer heat felt like it was roasting him alive, and Sora was beginning to get tired. He cast an ice spell before him, which cooled him for about five seconds, then arrowed in past a flame pillar and landed on the tower Axel stood on, taking a chance and sending both Keyblades flying. Axel managed to block one, but the other shot through his defenses, slamming into his chest and knocking the Nobody off the tower. Without missing a beat, Sora ran after him, catching the Keyblades in mid-leap and running straight down the tower's wall. The screaming flames followed them.
--
The watchers gaped as Axel tumbled and Sora, impossibly, began to come after him. With a fierce cry, Sora managed to get in several hard blows before Axel summoned his chakrams again, twisting in mid-air, kicking off the wall and shooting away. Sora cursed and followed, trying to get the Nobody to stop dodging so he could strike back.
The fierce fires had abated a little, as if Axel was tiring, which Sora could only hope was true. Pin-balling off every available source, the two fighters clashed again and again as twilight faded and true night began.
--
They faced each other, ironically, on the astronomy tower, both bloodied and exhausted. It was dark now, and Sora found it hard to see anything, let alone the Nobody in the dark cloak. The flames had finally died away, and now they simply regarded each other over their weapons, as if waiting for some signal that would end things. The wind was cold and sharp, and carried bursts of drifting melody- phoenix song.
"I don't want to have to kill you, Axel," Sora's voice broke.
"I don't want to kill anybody. I really don't. But you're hurting people. I can't let you do that." Axel tilted his head, a ghost of a smirk hovering over his lips.
"You going to kill me, Roxas?" Sora felt his breathe catch for an instant. His vision blurred, then sharpened.
"You've called me that before. I'm Sora, and you've called me that too." He swallowed.
"Who's Roxas? Why do I keep hearing his name? Tell me, please. It's important." Axel was watching him very intently now. He was standing very still.
"How important, Sora? What does it mean to you?" Confusion, Sora thought. Fear. Sorrow.
"What do I mean to you, Sora?" Sora gaped at the flame-haired Nobody, guard almost faltering. What did he mean by that? The Nobody's tone, his whole body-posture, frightened him.
"Wh-what?"
"You heard me." Sora could hear his heart, hammering. He licked his lips, took a step back. The Nobody's eyes were strangely hungry, desperate. Shocked, Sora answered without thinking.
"I feel afraid. But not, at the same time. I'm confused because I keep thinking I know you, and I don't. I keep wanting to trust you, and that's ridiculous. I don't know why I feel like this and I know something's wrong and I just want it all to stop." Sora was almost sobbing, now.
"There's something inside of me that wants- and I wish-and I…" Sora was shaking with the intensity of what he was feeling, terrified by the chaos inside him, as if something was trying to fight it's way out. He was staring blankly into space, Keyblades hanging limply at his sides as he blinked back tears. He hadn't realized, until now, just how much the confusion inside had been because of this particular Nobody.
"Sora." Sora's head jerked up and he gasped, because at some point Axel had moved- or teleported- to stand directly in front of him. Instinctively he tried to bring the Keyblades up between them, but the Nobody was too fast, he'd abandoned his own weapons and he whipped his arm around the startled youth, pinning his arms uselessly to his sides and crushing his body against his own. His free hand flew up to tangle in wild hair, jerking Sora's head back as he stared into his eyes with painful intensity.
"Sora."
Sora could barely hear him over the panic in his own head. Wide blue eyes stared up at Axel with an odd mixture of defiance and fear. He was panting for breath- and control. The Nobody looked no better, his body firm against the wielder's but his hands shaking. His eyes were locked on Sora's, some odd emotion twisting his face.
Nobodies don't have hearts. Does that mean they have no emotions?
Then Axel leant down and ruthlessly crushed their mouths together, and in that hard, punishing kiss was all his wild desperation for the one he had lost- and sort of re-found. He ravished the mouth of the momentarily helpless boy in his arms, then jerked back and stared down at him for a moment, eyes burning but full of realization.
"You are Roxas." Then the Nobody stepped back, never losing eye contact, and a dark portal swallowed his bloody form. He vanished.
Sora swayed, then collapsed to his knees, shivering from the cold, from the fight, and the memory of the Nobody's desperation and desire.
He could still taste him.
--
Voices kept calling. Over and over again, and the bloody boy on the tower's roof heard them but didn't register his name. He was lying on his side, curled up, Oathkeeper sort of cuddled to his chest. He was staring up at the stars, not really seeing them. It was very cold, but he didn't really notice that either.
"Sora? Sora!"
Over and over again…The boy heard the flutter of wings, and then the clatter of claws on the roof tiles. His head drifted dreamily to the side. He felt very strange, as if he wasn't all there.
"'Lo, Fawkes." The phoenix cooed, and fluttered closer, then twisted his head down to stare into the Keyblade Master's eyes. He cooed again, flaring his wings wide as if to shelter the boy. He rubbed his head against a bloody cheek, and a flicker of life returned to blank eyes, and with an effort Sora managed to free one hand from Oathkeeper to run his fingers through the phoenix's chest feathers. A single, golden tear fell from the fire-bird's eye and splashed down Sora's face. The cut on his cheek vanished. Then the phoenix leaped into the air again, calling loudly, the backlash of his wings throwing Sora's hair into wild motion.
"Fawkes? What are you doing up there?" The young voice was very close by.
"Ow! Alright, I'm coming, just stop it already." Footsteps.
"Wow, Fawkes, this place is trashed. Ow! Alright! What are you trying to show me?" There was an irritated trill, a yelp, then a gasp.
"Sora! Sora, are you alright?" And without waiting for an answer, Harry turned and began to yell,
"I've found him! I've found Sora! Over here!" Then Harry was clambering cautiously over the roof, skittering uneasily back from the edge.
"Merlin, Sora, how'd you end up here? You- you look terrible. Are you alright? Sorry, stupid question. Help's coming, you just need to stay calm."
"Come on, say something! Anything!"
"Hi." Harry blinked.
"Uh, hi. Did you hit your head? I bet you did, that was some crazy fight. I've never seen anything like it. The roof here is seriously trashed. You, and that, that guy, you were incredible- the scariest thing I have ever seen."
"I'm fine."
"Sure. You're just covered in blood and can't seem to move."
"Sora! Sorrraaaaaa!" Two very familiar voices rang out. With a little more life, Sora managed to roll himself over, moaning in protest. He'd been lying still, in the cold, for quite some time after Axel's departure. Harry, looking like he wanted to protest, helped him sit up. Sora leant on Oathkeeper, drawing strength from it. He couldn't really remember, but he'd let Oblivion fade away.
The world spun crazily, and he moaned again, feeling ill. Damn, but he hoped the Nobody was feeling this bloody pathetic. Sora blinked the world back into focus, drawing a tight breath as Donald and Goofy climbed up to meet him.
Sora, Roxas. Roxas, Sora.
He didn't want to think of that right now. He heard his friend's intake of breath at the sight of him, and managed a half smile. He must look terrible, then.
"You've found him! Oh thank Merlin!" Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore had arrived, peering cautiously up at them from the window.
"Albus, can you float Sora down here?" Before Sora could protest, he felt a fierce energy wrap around him, lifting him up. It faltered for a moment before whisking him down and depositing him in the tower. Dumbledore lowered his wand, perturbed at the amount of power a simple wingardium leviosa needed to even touch the boy. Professor McGonagall was too busy panicking about Sora's condition, hesitating to even touch him lest she disturb some injury.
Now that he was thinking again, Sora was feeling much better.
"I'm fine," he snapped a little irritably. Donald fell awkwardly back in through the window, twitching.
"What are you doing, floating him around when I was just about to heal him?" The duck didn't let anybody answer before he raised his staff and cried "Curaga!"
Sora welcomed and relaxed back into the familiar gold-green light as the powerful healing spell wrapped around him. Wounds shrank, burns faded. His clothes managed a half-hearted dry-clean. Still battered and hurt, Sora was none-the-less going to need plenty of rest before another healing took away the remainder of his half-healed injuries.
"Thanks, Donald," Sora croaked, coughing. He had suddenly realized how cold it was, and shivering, he slumped back against the ground, lacking the energy or will to stand right now. Goofy, who had almost toppled straight off the tower, now moved to Sora's side, supporting him in a sitting position as Harry re-entered the room with much more grace.
"Albus, can you float him to the hospital wing?" Minerva felt her eyes being pulled back to the battered figure of the young Keyblade Master, heart twisting at the evidence of his injuries.
The wizard shook his head mournfully.
"Sora is highly resistant to our magic. I only managed to bring him down here by expending a large amount of energy- and because he himself is so exhausted."
Harry meanwhile was glancing around uneasily.
"What about that guy? Is he…Sora, did you- kill him?" His voice dropped at the end, but Sora still heard him clearly. The teachers stopped their discussion and listened intently.
"No. But I hurt him about as much as he hurt me. It'll be awhile before he heals up to return." Thank god. Sora just hoped he was suffering as much as he himself was. Sleep was looking very attractive now.
"Um, sorry about the mess. But I didn't exactly get to choose the battleground, so, uh, yeah." Yeah, asking Axel if he would mind moving the fight to avoid damage would so not have worked. And as uneven and dangerous as the 'ground' had been, it had also provided lots of opportunities- for one, allowing Sora to indulge in his favorite style of combat. In the air, for as long as possible.
"Ridiculous child. We can repair everything up as good as new. All that matters is that you are safe. Now, do you think you can walk? We should get you down to the hospital wing so you can rest." Sora didn't want to move. At all. But he'd forced himself to move before- in battles where he'd been so exhausted he could hardly breathe. He had the added kick of a strong healing under him now. He could make it.
"Of course I can. Just point the way." And possibly supply mattresses at the foot of any long flights of stairs. Using Oathkeeper once more as a crutch, the Keyblade Master got his feet under him, wincing as his battered body complained at full voice. Goofy and Harry were on either side of him, supporting him, and together the little group began to descend the stairs- far, far too many stairs.