Chapter One
"What happened at Castle Oblivion was unfortunate, but necessary." Seven of the remaining members of the Organization were sitting in the Round Room. Xemnas, towering over them, continued. "Despite their treachery, they were members of our Organization, and as such their demises must be avenged." Xemnas' yellow eyes glowed as a sickening smile crossed his lips. He turned his head to Axel. "You," Axel, slouched languidly in his chair, perked up immediately as he realized he was being looked upon. "I am making that your responsibility." Axel tried not to glower at his superior. Holding his face expressionless, he asked why. "You didn't stop Sora before he took out Larxene, Vexen or Marluxia."
"It wasn't my impression I was to act as their baby-sitter or bodyguard at Castle Oblivion. They were taken out by that pipsqueak. Just because he's a keyblade wielder doesn't make him any less of a child. Survival of the fittest." Axel said scoffing. "Besides, they were betraying you, Lord Xemnas, they deserved what they got."
"I'm not arguing that, but Sora didn't know that, did he? What he did he did at the perceived detriment to me, to the Organization, and that will not be excused." Xemnas said. "Not another word, Axel." Axel had opened his mouth, but slowly closed it at Xemnas' command, slumping back against his chair. "I have made a deal with the god Hades, the details of which are irrelevant. You will go to the Coliseum at Olympus where you will find Sora attempting to engage in a tournament that isn't real. Bring his heart to me." Axel nodded disappearing into darkness.
"Do you think he can be trusted?" One of the remaining members asked. "Like you said, he didn't stop the destruction of those traitors. Maybe he was working with them, or worse he has his own deviations."
"This is a test, Saïx. If he passes, that will prove his loyalty to me, but if he should fail," A tooth bared grin formed as Xemnas paused, "then he had better ensure Sora destroys him like the others"
Axel entered his room, a deep sigh released from his mouth. He had no interest in whatever scheme Xemnas had cooked up with the Underworld God, especially since he was not privy to it. Moreover, he was not in the mood for what was waiting for him in his room. "What are you doing here?" He snarled.
Roxas was taken aback. "So-sorry, Axel. I can go, it's just…I waited for you at the station after my mission, but you didn't show up." Roxas said. "You promised that you would meet me; I wanted to give you something." He hung his head and stuck his hands in his pocket, where he ran his fingers along the popsicle stick marked WINNER
"Oh, well I'm sorry I didn't make it for ice cream." Axel's annoyance with the mission thrusted upon him had caused him to be short with the younger nobody. "Look, I have somewhere I need to go." Axel said. He crossed the room to obtain his chakram, and rifled through a cabinet in search of a vial of elixir, to recharge his magical energy.
"How long will you be gone?" Roxas asked, still mindfully stroking the popsicle stick.
"I can't say, I don't know. Until the mission is complete, I suppose." Axel put the chakram inside his robe and quickly downed the elixir. He ignited a fire in the palm of his hand to test the effectiveness of the medicine.
"Where?"
"I don't want you following me." Axel replied.
"But I could help you." Roxas countered.
"It's a dangerous mission. Xemnas didn't even give me all the details." Axel said. "I don't want your help." His tone was pointed and Roxas sat down on the bed, hurt by Axel's behavior.
"Why are you being so short with me?" Roxas asked quietly. Axel grunted dismissively as he passed near the blond. Roxas shot out his arm to stop Axel and stood, holding Axel's forearm. "What's the mission?"
Axel pulled his arm back swiftly, which caused Roxas to recoil. "I have to go." He opened a corridor and walked into the darkness. Roxas didn't react fast enough, and was running into nothing as the way disappeared in front of him.
Roxas, dejected by Axel's behavior, decided to head to Xion's room to check on his friend who was still stuck in a catatonic state. He opened the door to exit when he stopped at the sound of voices. Luxord and Demyx were walking nearby.
"Why is Xemnas working with Hades? Isn't he on Maleficent's side?" Demyx asked the gambler.
"It's peculiar. He specifically said he wouldn't divulge his plan with Hades, which is stranger still." Luxord replied. "Maybe all we need to know is that Axel is going to retrieve Sora's heart"
Roxas gasped. He had heard murmurs from Xemnas and Saïx about Sora and their connection and now that he knew where Axel was, he had no other desire than to stop him. As he opened his own corridor, he hoped Xion didn't intend to wake soon, and he hoped that Axel hadn't already encountered Sora.
Axel emerged from the darkness just outside the bustling marketplace of Thebes. He imagined that the boy would be around here somewhere, with that duck and dog in tow. Axel didn't want to cause a scene by walking through the crowds, dressed as he was. He scoured the crowds, when he spotted brown spikes bouncing along. Hoping the thick of the people engaging in barter would be enough of a cover, he followed Sora and his party intently, stalking them like prey.
The three were heading toward the coliseum, when suddenly a large crowd of people rushed across the square. A merchant had loudly announced a sale on his wares. The mob movement caused Donald and Goofy to fall behind without Sora's noticing. Using this to his advantage, Axel quickly made his way to Sora, knowing he would be less trouble without the king's guards to assist him. He kept only a few paces behind as to not arouse suspicion from the boy, but not to lose sight of him. When Sora had turned into an alleyway, a shortcut to the Coliseum, Axel knew he had him trapped.
Axel conjured fire in his hands when he saw Sora turn down a corner in the alleyway. He continued on in his pursuit, which ended abruptly as a figure appeared from darkness in front of him.
"Roxas?!" Axel exclaimed, startled by the intrusion. "How did you find me?" He looked past Roxas, keeping an eye on Sora. "Actually, I don't care how. Get out of here." He pushed the boy out of his way to continue on his quest. He hadn't meant to push him as hard as he did, but the force caused Roxas to fly across the alley and into a wall.
"Axel, that really hurt?" Roxas cried out. He rubbed his shoulder, the part that impacted the wall, and winced in pain.
"Don't get in my way." Axel said. "You shouldn't have followed me. I'm not going to jeopardize my mission because you show up, Roxas." Axel walked past the boy without looking at him. Roxas had moved to a sitting position, still holding his injured shoulder.
Before Axel could get farther from him, Roxas grabbed Axel's wrist and pulled. Roxas also underestimated his strength and the redhead came toppling to the ground on top of him. Axel attempted to catch himself using Roxas, specifically his shoulders. Roxas screamed in pain from the added weight pushing down on his injury.
Axel quickly regained his composure, standing over Roxas. "That was foolish. You are only hurting yourself by trying to stop me." Axel started to walk away but the cry of anguish escaping Roxas gave him pause, so he returned to the boy. He bent down and put his arms around Roxas' waist and pulled him up off the ground. He brushed the dirt off of Roxas' robe. "Roxas, please, you need to go."
"He isn't here right now." Roxas said, softly, wiping his eyes of his pained tears.
"What?" Axel asked, leaning in to hear.
"Xemnas!" Roxas yelled. Axel stumbled back, startled by the change in volume. Roxas sighed. "He's not monitoring you or me. Or…us." The last words were whispered and Roxas turned himself from Axel. "I know Xemnas would ridicule us for what we have, or worse, but I love you Axel and I can't keep it up if you only come to me out of convenience." Roxas was never very good at standing up to Axel. His voice wavered and faltered, but he wouldn't back down this time. "Why can't you care for me as much as I do for you."
"Don't speak to me of love, Roxas." Axel scoffed. "We're devoid of hearts, the idea of love is all made up in your head." Axel walked away, trying to recover his gain on Sora, but Roxas wasn't giving up that easy.
"You have to feel something for me." Roxas said.
Axel chuckled. "Of course. I feel embarrassed for you. These delusions you have, they're nothing. I feel sorry for you. I also am feeling annoyed that you keep getting in my way. I'm done playing this game with you, I have something to do." Axel disappeared into darkness. Roxas tried to reach out, but Axel was gone. He screamed out his name in hope he would return to no avail. Roxas fell to the ground. Tears fell from his eyes. His whole body shook in a pain unlike anything he felt before.
"Gawrsh, he don't look so good." Goofy said, approaching Roxas. "Do you think we should help him?"
"I don't know. Look at what he's wearing. He's not a good guy." Donald replied.
"But Donald, we are. We've gotta help him if we can." Goofy and Donald each grabbed an arm to help him up. Roxas cried in pain. Goofy had grabbed the arm connecting to his injured shoulder and his extra height wrenched his shoulder. "Sowry. Are ya okay?" Goofy helped him stand and kept him upright.
Roxas shook his head. "No. It's fine though. You don't have to do anything for me."
"Nonsense." Donald said. He waved his staff over Roxas' shoulder. "Heal!" He cried out. A green glow emanated from the tip and shone on him. Roxas moved his arm painlessly. "Better?"
"Much. Thank you." Roxas replied. "I'm Roxas, by the way."
They introduced themselves "You should come with us. We can keep you safe." Goofy said. Roxas nodded solemnly. "We are going to the coliseum. Let's hurry up so that we can catch up to Sora."
Roxas winced at the sound of the name. He didn't want to betray the one he loved, but he couldn't let Axel hurt Sora. "We have to hurry. He's in danger."
"From the tournament?" Goofy asked.
"No, Axel is after his heart. Xemnas commanded it." Roxas hung his head down. "We have to hurry. I don't want Axel to take his heart anymore than you want Sora to lose it."
Goofy and Donald exchanged glances. Donald nodded his head away from the blond, indicating his want to speak privately "This could be a trap." Donald said to Goofy once he thought they were out of earshot.
"You have every reason not to trust me." Roxas said, startling Donald. "But your trusting me isn't going to affect Axel. He won't wait for you two before attacking. Sora's going to need your help."
"Will you come and help too?" Goofy asked. "You said you don't want Axel to harm Sora either."
Roxas breathed in and released a sigh. If he stopped Axel, if he could, it'd be a betrayal. Axel may never forgive him, and Xemnas may order his destruction, but he couldn't let Sora be harmed. Their connection ran too deep for him to stand idly by. "Okay, yeah, I'll help too." Roxas tried to smile, but his gut was churning.
The three swiftly ran towards the Coliseum, weaving through the crowds of Grecians going about their business. Roxas had fell a bit behind, so none of the three noticed the two little kids gleefully chasing after the dark cloaked young man.
Donald was the first to arrive and summoned Aero to open the large doors of the Coliseum. In the open area before the arena, Sora and Axel were in the midst of combat. "Give it up, kid. You've got everything to lose. I've got nothing." Axel's chakrams danced in his hands as he swung himself towards Sora.
For the second time that day, Roxas put himself between Axel and Sora, but this time in immediate danger. Axel had to fling his weapons skyward and dig his heel into the ground to avoid collision. "ROXAS!" He screeched, snarling at the boy. "What are you doing?" Axel said before catching the falling chakram. "I told you to go home. I could have hurt you."
"No worse than you already have." Roxas said. The ocean spilled out past the shore of his eyes. He couldn't dam the flood. The foreign waters spilled down his cheeks. He had felt physical pain without this strangeness, but Axel had given him a greater pain that could only be ameliorated by tears.
"You mean the shoulder?" Axel scoffed. His annoyance had grown with the outward show of fake emotions from false memories. "Don't be such a child."
"You've got nothing?!" Roxas screamed. "You would risk your life to fight Sora for his heart because you have nothing. What am I? Am I really nothing to you? Axel, I love you. How can you throw me to the wayside for Xemnas?"
"You don't love me Roxas, you can't." Axel said. "No more than I can love you. We aren't capable."
"Why are you pushing me away?" Roxas asked, stepping closer. " You are my protector. You are my teacher. You are my friend. You are my lover. I need you, please don't walk away from me."
"Enough, Roxas." Axel shouted, moving back. "I have a mission, and I'm going to complete it. Nobody will get in my way."
Roxas hung his head. "Okay." He muttered. Axel walked past him, returning to his fight with Sora. "Wait." Roxas grabbed Axel's forearm and turned him so they were face-to-face. "If this is our end, I just need one thing." Roxas placed his hand on Axel's cheek and raised his head up to meet Axel's in a kiss. Their lips crashed into each other, and Axel, for a moment, forgot the world around him and forgot his mission. Roxas was everything, in that moment. When Roxas released him, Axel had felt a brief emptiness.
"This doesn't have to be our end." Axel whispered, leaning his forehead against the blond's.
"If you destroy Sora, you're destroying a part of me. I may not even exist like I do if you take his heart." Roxas said, looking into Axel's eyes. "You have to choose."
"I can't face the Organization and Xemnas again without Sora's heart." Axel said. "You need to look at the big picture. With his heart, Xemnas wants to unleash Kingdom Hearts. We can get hearts of our own. We can be real. We can be alive."
"We are real. This is real. You have to feel it. I don't care if the emotions we have to dredge up are fragments of hearts that were never ours, as long as we use them to love each other." Roxas said. He held tightly to Axel's robe. "No matter what happens, if we are together, it doesn't matter."
"They'll find us." Axel said, looking down to Roxas. "Xemnas will send people to find us. We will just be running forever."
"Forever with you is all I want. Even if it means that we are on the run. There are hundreds of worlds out there. As long as we keep moving, he can't catch us."
Donald and Goofy had made their way to Sora, followed by the little kids, who had still gone unnoticed. They watched Roxas grab at Axel to stop him from going back to Sora.
"What's going on?" Sora asked.
"We found Roxas lying hurt in an alleyway, and he told us Axel was here to steal your heart for Xemnas." Donald said. "We rushed here to stop him. I guess that's what he's doing now."
"Do you s'pose it'll work?" Goofy asked. They looked over just as Roxas kissed Axel. "Gawrsh!"
"Oh, well, let's hope Roxas is a good kisser." Sora said, scratching the back of his neck.
"Eww that's gross." One of the little kids said. "Icky." Said the other.
"Where did you two come from?" Donald asked.
"We just followed you guys since you were running." One said. "Wanted to see what was so important."
"You kids should get out of here, it's too dangerous." Sora said.
"Nuh uh. It's just getting good." The two kids bounded over to the two who had just broken their kiss.
"He can't catch us."
"Ho ho, look at the two lovebirds." One of the boys said, clasping his hands together and batting his eyes. "How adowable!"
"Guess Xemnas was right about you." The other said. Roxas and Axel were both taken aback by the utterance. "He asked Hades to keep an eye on you, and naturally he chose his best lackeys." The two boys' bodies contorted in smoke and fire and assumed their true form, Pain and Panic.
"What does Hades have to do with anything?" Axel asked brandishing his weapons.
"Well you're on his turf." Panic said. "Xemnas wanted you to complete your mission, but looks like blondie here is making that hard for you."
"So we came to help, just in case." Pain said. The two demons grabbed a hold of Roxas' hands and pulled him away from Axel. "No more distractions. You're welcome."
In a puff of smoke, the three had disappeared. Axel tried to grab them, but they were gone. He fell to his knees. "Roxas, no." He touched his face, shocked a single tear trickled down.
Sora, Donald, and Goofy had tried to react to Pain and Panic, but they were too late. With hesitation, they approached Axel. They each had their weapons drawn, just in case Axel went on the attack.
Axel raised his head quickly and looked at the reluctantly approaching trio. His face was contorted in pain and anger as the forest in his eyes were set ablaze in fury. The three recoiled and readied an attack when he let out a breath. In an instant, his face dulled and the fiery passion in his eyes was extinguished. "Help me." He pleaded, shocking everyone, above all himself. "Please, I need to save him."
Sora let his weapon down. "You're serious? You're part of the Organization. You're the enemy. Why should we help you?"
"Because we're the good guys." Donald echoed Goofy.
"Roxas protected you, Sora. Maybe you would have bested Axel alone, but he warned us of the danger." Goofy added.
"Why? Axel, why did he protect me?" Sora asked.
"Because he's your Nobody." The declaration stunned the group. "When you were turned into a heartless, Roxas was created. Your heart may be the single most strongest heart that exists. It's strength made a Nobody that really deeply feels. If Roxas doesn't have a heart of his own, he clearly has large fragments of yours. You came back from being a heartless. That doesn't happen. It shouldn't. Your heart is as much a key to Kingdom Hearts as the Seven Princesses. That's why Xemnas wanted me to take it from you. Roxas' bond with you is unbreakable. He won't let anyone hurt you."
Sora had to process. There was a lot of information being given to him he hadn't considered. It never occurred to him he had a Nobody let alone one so well formed. He got into a huddle with Goofy and Donald, but refused to keep an eye off Axel. "Can he be trusted, what if this is all some elaborate ruse?"
"We can't be certain of anything, Sora." Donald said. "But I don't think he's lying."
"Me either." Goofy said. "There's too much coincidence for this to have been a staged plan, and Axel and Roxas both seemed surprised by Pain and Panic's showing up."
"I don't mean to intrude," Axel's appearance startled the three as they yelled and jumped away, "But I feel as though time is of the essence, and staying here to chat seems really productive and all, but I'd rather just squash those little demons and steal Roxas back from Hades."
"Alright then. Let's head to the Underworld." Sora said. "The River Styx is just outside of Thebes, and once we get there it's just a short boat ride to the gates of Hell."
"That sounds like a lot of time that we don't have." Axel complained. He opened up a dark corridor. "This way will be faster." He urged them to follow him.
"I don't know. This doesn't seem right." Sora said. Axel frowned and waved them off, entering the darkness. Moments later, Axel was flung out of the portal, over Sora's head and landing roughly on the ground behind them. "Are you okay? What happened?"
"I don't know. Hades must have amped up security down there." Axel got to his feet and brushed the dirt off his robe. "Guess we have to do it your way, Sora."
"C'mon! Roxas is waiting." Goofy said. The others looked at him with surprise to his eager attitude. "Gawrsh, anyone who's a part of Sora is important to me, and he's being trapped by Hades on Xemnas' wishes. The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Donald nodded and sprang to Goofy's side. Sora and Axel exchanged looks, distrust from Sora and hope from Axel, which caused Sora to briefly smile. They nodded to each other as they ran with the others toward the river.
A/N: As with most everything else I post, this story has been bouncing around my head for awhile, and I've written some of it so far, but still need to figure out where I'm going with it. At any rate, let me know what you think, or follow and fave. The next chapter will be up within a week.