Hello my wondrous readers!
It just so happens that this is my favorite chapter so far, and I apologize it took so long to post especially with how short it is. Anyway, I wanted to give a special thanks to everyone who reviewed; Cipher-of-Will, Xian Ke, themusicalmuffin, kingdomheartslover13, and fallen angels321. Thanks to all of my loyal readers, and I hope every single one of you enjoys this chapter as well as the rest of my story!
Chapter 8
The cool night air struck me like a brick wall to the face as the two of us entered Midgar. It seemed as though Twilight Town and Midgar were synced as far as night and day were concerned.
This wouldn't have been such a big deal if it wasn't for the fact that it was easily around fifteen degrees out. Not that it bothered me much, but the little guy behind me was practically shaking out of his skin, and the sound of his teeth chattering was deafening.
"You cold?" I asked with an idiotic smirk.
Roxas gave me a glare that just about froze the air around me. It was even enough to rival one of Saix's famous soul-crushing looks.
"W-W-W-W-What d-d-d-do y-you th-th-th-think?" he forced through pale blue lips.
"Oh, well then if you're not cold I won't offer you my coat." I shrugged, still wearing that stupid grin, then turned and started walking again.
3…2…1…
"Axel, wait!" I turned gracefully on my heel just in time to meet Roxas practically sprinting up behind me. Despite his shivering, he gave a small pout as he stubbornly looked away. "C-C-Could I b-b-b-b-borrow your c-c-coat?"
Now how could I refuse something so adorable? I mussed his fluffy yellow spikes, and stripped out of my coat. He blinked a bit in confusion as I tossed it to him. "What?"
"Aren't you cold?" he asked, slipping on the much larger coat.
"No. Why?"
"You're not wearing a shirt."
Unbelieving, I glanced down to find my exposed, slightly tanned chest. "Hm, so I am. Well, the cold doesn't bother me. You can go ahead and wear that for now, but I'll probably need it back before we meet up with Cloud. Can't have 'im thinkin we're a couple of nut jobs, now can we?"
"What do you mean 'we'?" Roxas sniggered.
I gave another smirk and once again turned and began walking down the darkened streets. But when something rubbed up against my waist, I couldn't help but jump slightly at the unexpected sensation. When I glanced down, my amused smirk changed to a warm smile. Roxas had suddenly decided he wanted to become attached at the hip, leaving absolutely no space between the two of us as we walked side by side to the decaying church Cloud called his home. But, hey, I wasn't complaining.
(Roxas POV)
I knew walking so close to Axel would undoubtedly give him the wrong idea, but I didn't care. Even with that extra layer, I was FREEZING! Besides...it was kind of...nice...being so close to the redhead, especially while he's not wearing a shirt.
Suddenly, it wasn't so cold anymore. I could feel a familiar heat start to rise in a rather uncomfortable place as I tried not to imagine Axel's toned and sexy body naked and pressed against mine. The thought was littrealy making me drool.
NO, NO, NO! Pervy thoughts GET OUT OF MY HEAD! I shook my head vigorously like the action would somehow act as an etch-e-sketch and erase the image plastered in my brain.
"You okay?" I glanced up to see Axel arching a curious yet suspicious eyebrow. My cheeks were on fire, and I had to look away from fear of passing out from pure embarrassment.
"Uh, y-yeah," I stuttered nervously, then sighed in pure relief as the familiar sight of the church came into veiw, "Hey, look! There it is. Uh, m-maybe you should, um, take your coat back now." I didn't even give him a chance to protest as I slipped off his coat and handed it to him.
He gave me another questioning look, then shrugged it off, probably thinking I was going crazy from the geostigma. I wouldn't put it past him, I had already been possesd earlier from what he told me. Though I don't remember a thing from that little event.
We weren't even able to make it a hundred yards from the structure before the enormous door flung open, and a familiar blonde man stepped into view. He wasted no time rushing to his shiny, jet black motorcycle parked out front, mounting it, and practically tearing down the street. The two of us stood there in silence for a moment, watching the cloud of dust that had once been the older blonde.
"Looks like someone's in a hurry," Axel mummbled, then motioned for me to follow as he started walking once again, "Come on. Let's go see if this guy has anything worth while in that chest of his."
"Wait a minute!" I took firm hold of the redheads sleeve, causing him to stop and turn back with a rather apathetic look on his face.
"Yes?"
I crossed my arms in a huff and gave the lanky male a scolding glare. "We can't just take his stuff, Axel, much less raide his house while he's gone."
The apathy turned to a mischievous smirk, and he ruffled my already messy hair. It always annoyed me when he did that, but I could never bring myself to reprimand the redhead. "Ah, come on, Roxy. You know as well as I do I'm not a thief. We're not gonna take his stuff, he's gonna loan it to us. He just doesn't know it yet." With that, he turned back and continued along his way, leaving me standing there, speechless.
Finally, I snapped out of my trance and jogged after him, shouting, "Axel, you dirty thief! Get back here!" After a minute, he stopped outside the doors of the building and waited for me to catch up, still wearing his deviant little smirk. I held my hands on my knees and tried desperately to catch my breath. Curse that Axel and his long legs. "You're...a horrible...person...ya know that?" I panted.
"Yeah, but you love me anyway. Now come on, before someone sees us."
I growled to myself and grudgingly followed after as he pushed the large doors open. It was basically the exact same as when I had last seen it, though there was one slight difference. Sitting atop the silver chest was a bandage with a black stain running all the way down the center.
Wait. No. It couldn't be, could it? Does he...
"What's this thing?" Axel asked, curiously picking it up and successfully cutting off my train of thought, "It looks like a bandage, but what's this black stuff? That's pretty nasty."
I turned my gaze to the floor and walked over to the garden. "I-I don't know...but I don't think it really matters. Why exactly did you want to come in here again?" I was hoping he wouldn't figure out I was trying to change the subject and turn his attention away from the bandage.
Thankfully, he took the bait and set it back onto the chest. "Oh yeah, we were gonna see if this guy had anything that might give us some info on geostigma. All I found in his chest though was a bunch a colorful glowing balls. You find anything?"
"Nuh uh," I shook my head, "What do we do now; wait for him to come back?" Truthfully, I was hoping he'd say yes. The mark on my chest was starting to hurt again, and I really wanted to just sit down for a few minutes.
"No way. We came here to get some info, and dammit, that's what we're gonna do! Come on, Roxy! There's gotta be someone in this city who knows somethin."
I would have protested, but he sounded so pumped and ready for action; I couldn't just rip him out of that state of mind, that would just be cruel. "Alright Axel, lead the way." He all too willingly obliged, and practically cantered out the door like some show horse, leaving me to trail behind.
oOxoxOo
By the time an hour went by, I was freezing, in pain, and exhausted beyond belief. Screw Axel's mood, I wanted to go home!
"Axel," I whimpered, meaning to yell at him.
"Yeah?"
"Let's go home."
The lanky redhead stopped and turned to face me. I gave him my best pitiful puppy dog eyes and shivered slightly just to prove my point. There was no way he'd be able to say no to this.
His mood instantly dropped, and he looked as though he was debating on whether or not to give up his search and turn for home. "Alright," he finally huffed, defeated, "You look like you're gonna pass out any minute. What kinda boyfriend would I be if I forced you to stay out in the cold?" I smiled cheerfully and practically glomped the older male, and not just because I was freezing and he was basically a walking furnace. He chuckled and pressed his warm lips to my forehead. "We'll just come back tomorrow when it's a bit warmer and we're less tired."
Suddenly, a gunshot rang through the quiet streets, then another. Axel tightened his grip around me protectively, and I instinctively clung to him. "What was that?" I asked after the shooting stopped.
Axel's emerald eyes were hard and focused as they darted around the darkness. "I guess this place isn't exactly as friendly as I first thought," he grumbled, "Come on, let's get out of here."
"Aw, you're leaving? But the party hasn't even started yet!"
We both jumped at the sound of the unfamiliar voice and whipped around to see a young, silver haired male perched on the roof of one of the buildings. His short, almost shoulder length hair glistened in the dim white light of the moon, and his strange, animalistic aquamarine eyes seemed to glow as they stared down at us. He was clad from head to toe in a skin tight leather outfit, and had a sword attached to his hip with two pieces of fabric protruding from the hilt. With a rather feline sense of grace, he leapt from the roof and landed a few feet away, grinning as if we amused him somehow.
Axel tensed and subtly positioned himself so he was slightly shielding me. The silverette seemed to notice this, and only made his smirk all the more malevolent as he began stalking toward us like some sort of large cat.
"It's rude to leave a party before the guest of honor has arrived," the stranger purred, "We even went through the trouble of giving you a special invitation."
"Who the HELL are YOU!" Axel snarled, stopping the strange man in his tracks as he summoned his chakrams in a burst of fire. I followed suit, unsheathing my keyblade from the light and positioning it defensively.
He stared at us for a moment, then chuckled heartedly. "I don't owe an explanation to the likes of you. All I want is him." I swallowed hard he pointed directly at me, and couldn't help myself as my feet took a step back of their own accord.
"Why do you need me?" I growled, thankfully gaining some of my confidence back.
"Because, little brother, you're are one of the chosen few hand picked by Mother herself. Without you, the reunion cannot proceed."
I didn't understand a single word coming out of that guy's mouth. It was like he was trying to speak to me, I know it! But everything he said became complete gibberish in my head. This guy was a total fruit loop; completely psycho.
"Look, I don't know who you are, and I'm sure as hell not going with you to any 'reunion', so you can forget it."
"Yeah buddy," Axel chimed in, "If you think you're takin Roxas, you got another thing comin. No one touches him while I'm around, and anyone who has ain't around to tell about it. Hell will freeze over before I let someone like 'you' take him from me."
Without a second thought, Axel flung his weapons at the crazed silverette, who didn't even have time to comprehend the motion. The attack was dead on, and was certain to hit. Suddenly, right as the steel spiked weapons were about to make contact, the man leapt into the air, successfully dodging the attack. In the blink of an eye, he was on top of us. I couldn't even see as he drew his sword and slashed an enormous gash clean through my chest and part of my waist. Almost instantly, my body went completely numb, and I could feel it collapse beneath me as the world went dark.
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