We must all thoroughly thank BlueAcidRain once again for being an amazing Beta. Ready now? Repeat after me: Thank-you-Blue-A-cid-Rain.
On that note, I will also thank lucklessisme, underthedarkness and doomshuriken for replying last time around. As well as my headphones, for deciding to work once again. What a happy day indeed!
Next Life - Chapter Nine
Axel trudged down the empty city street. It was quite a dead street by his measuring, with absolutely no-one in sight. No cars, no people, nothing. Just boarded up windows and the abandoned shells of businesses left, right and center. Just ahead was the once successful casino, now a derelict shell of its former self. If Axel didn't already know better, he would not have thought it was the same place at all. In place of flashy lights and suited guards there were broken windows and a pair of hobos fighting over a piece of garbage. Not enough time had passed to make the facade believable to Axel - that much wealth did not just up and vanish in the space of a few months - yet he couldn't shake the feeling that he was staring at an empty skull.
The front entrance was thoroughly barred. Haphazardly nailed-in planks of wood covered the doorway completely, clearly intent to keep even the most enthusiastic looter at bay. The intention was clear; no-one was meant to go in, no-one at all. It was all too tempting just to leave the building alone, but quite frankly Axel was out of options. With Saïx in cahoots with someone no-doubt immensely powerful, Axel needed an ally that would actually give him a fighting chance. Hopefully the 'fighting' part of that chance would only be metaphorical, but it wouldn't matter either way if Axel couldn't get past this damned door.
With a click of his tongue Axel crossed his arms and considered his options. For now to be the time for his spontaneous fire starting habit to kick in on command would have been too much to hope for. He didn't think it really would have helped even if he had been able to control it though; Luxord was a bit too high class to support burning down a doorway. For the hundredth time since he'd woken up this afternoon Axel wondered whether he was wasting his time after all. There was absolutely no sign that Luxord was here, not even the tiniest hint, but if Axel was right...
His thoughts were interrupted as a fragment of a hobo's discussion drifted over to him.
"-doesn't look like just anyone, ya know?"
Axel twisted around and stared at the hobo. He wasn't quite sure that he'd be able to pull off his intended menace today, not in his current attire. He'd only been able to find a frayed black hoodie with a crumpled pair of jeans in the motel he'd stayed at. Not that he'd actually paid for them as such, but he wouldn't have had the money for them anyway, so he'd had to fall back on 'borrowing' them indefinitely. To his surprise, however, the hobo was indeed intimidated. He held his hands up defensively and took a step backwards.
"Heeey now, just minding my own business, ya know?"
And with that, both hobos hurried off down an alleyway. It must've been the hair. Red hair was pretty intimidating after all, especially when tied up in an oh-so-manly ponytail. He must've stricken fear right into their very souls.
With an unenthusiastic frown Axel turned back to the barred entrance. Nothing could ever be simple now could it? Out of a sheer lack of any ideas whatsoever Axel put a hand on the wooden planks and pushed. It had no effect. Axel was stumped.
Before he could think any further Axel's hand twitched violently. Axel jolted backwards in shock, clutching his hand as if stung. The planks of wood... twisted. There was no proper way to describe it. It was just as if in a single moment they melded the past with the future, turning green with moss before crumbling with age and disappearing altogether.
Axel was thoroughly freaked out. His path was no-longer barred though, so he figured he may as well keep going. He stepped through the gaping doorway, walking into complete and total darkness.
In a few seconds he could see nothing whatsoever, not even the faintest outline of his hand in front of his face. It felt eerie. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, making Axel hold a very severe debate with himself over whether running away wouldn't have been entirely cowardly at this point. Entertaining these thoughts, Axel glanced back to the entrance. His mouth dried when he realised the entrance was completely gone; there was no light, no doorway, nothing. Only darkness, all around. It was completely disturbing, and yet... why did it feel so familiar?
Colours flashed at the edges of his vision- colours he knew weren't there at all, but he saw them anyway. Flashes of red, tinted with blue, edged with yellow. Axel stood very still, trying hard not to make any sound in the darkness. He knew what was coming next, he'd seen these flashing colours before, but they really couldn't have picked a worse time to come out of nowhere. He could hear the voices now. They were quiet at first, but gathered in intensity far too quickly.
"-my friends. Remember why we have organized, all the things we hope to achieve-"
"-those who forget our true goals will be eliminated."
"-my show now, keyblade master-"
"-you were testing us."
"And you passed. Congratulations, Sor-"
"-I know you're in on it too, but keep it under your hood, at least until the time is righ-"
"-predictable response. Forget it. Men without hearts are so bor-"
"-when your sleeping memories awaken, you may no longer be who you are now."
The voices all sounded different, each echoing from a different place in his memory. But it wasn't his memory at all, not that he could recall. This had happened before, at a bus stop in the middle of town, baffling Axel entirely in the process. He wasn't sure why he'd be experiencing it now though. He wasn't even drunk this time.
Soon the voices died and the colours faded, leaving him in the darkness once more. Axel noticed his hands had been shaking the entire time, and hadn't quite stopped yet. He wasn't scared. Not at all. To prove it to himself he clenched his fists-
-and immediately unclenched them when he felt a sudden burst of heat in his palm. The heat died immediately. Axel was expecting to be terrified, but if anything the heat had seemed like something he should recognise. He studied his hand closely. Or, at least, he tried to, but he still couldn't see even that far in front of him. His hands still hadn't stopped shaking yet.
On a whim, Axel held his hand in front of him as far as he could manage. Then he clenched his fist.
Fire erupted into existence, surrounding his fist in a tiny ball of flame. The light stung his eyes, making Axel flinch, but the fire didn't burn him. It merely felt... warm. It felt familiar.
Axel was rather tired of things feeling familiar. Roxas, darkness, flashbacks, and now this. It was all getting too much. Just what else was planning on haunting his memory?
Before he could play around with the fire any longer Axel's hand twitched rather violently. The fire erupted and vanished, giving him the briefest glimpse of dilapidated gambling tables before the darkness rushed back. Then, he felt the unmistakable touch of something very sharp held up against his throat. Axel froze completely, hardly daring to breathe. Someone had snuck up on him without him even hearing a thing, and he was good at hearing things. Had he been forced to guess, he would have assumed they hadn't laid a single step on the floor in the process, but that was impossible.
There was an incredibly long moment where Axel wondered whether he was going to die right there in the darkness, killed by someone he never even saw. The moment passed, and Axel was still standing there with the knife to his throat. He was rather confused. Was the person waiting for him to say something?
"Um?" was his most intelligent query.
"Ah, so it is you." The voice chimed like the clink of tea cups, and Axel immediately recognised the accent.
Luxord.
"H-hey, buddy.." Axel wasn't entirely sure what he was supposed to say in this situation. How did one converse with someone who held them at knife point? "It's been so long-"
"If you don't mind, I'd rather we just skip the formalities." It sounded fair enough to Axel, especially if 'dying' was on the list of formal interactions. "Were you followed?"
"Not at all," Axel said calmly. He was rather surprised by just how relaxed his voice sounded. On the inside he was frantically willing that fire to come back and save him. Anytime now would be greaaaat. "Just who would follow me here?"
The other man hesitated for a moment– an excruciatingly long moment for Axel– but eventually the knife point on Axel's throat vanished and Luxord took a step back. It was then that Axel realised he could actually see again. He wasn't quite sure where the dim light was coming from, but appreciated it nonetheless. He turned to face Luxord as calmly as he could. The man was fanning playing cards in his hand, watching Axel's face closely. Axel wasn't quite sure what freaked him out more; Luxord himself, with his bold and intimidating presence, or the fact that he'd almost had his throat cut by playing cards. Surely not normal playing cards, but the humiliating factor was still there all the same.
After a short silence Luxord spoke softly to himself. "Not quite who I was expecting."
"Uh... what?"
Luxord clicked his tongue and waved his hand dismissively.
"Simple nonsense, no more. A loose tongue is a dangerous weakness."
Luxord's eyes were sharp, looking every bit like weapons themselves. Gone were the showy smiles of the flauntingly rich gambler, now Luxord only had serious looks for Axel. It made him look... dangerous, which was an impressive achievement for someone dressed in a dark purple suit.
But whatever he had been talking about, Axel didn't care. Well... that wasn't strictly true, but his curiosity was besides the point. Axel had priorities, and miscellaneous mumblings came far below saving his life.
"Look, I need your help."
Much to the contrary of what Axel had been expecting, Luxord's expression did not change a hair. He just stared. Axel spoke again.
"I-"
"No."
Axel was taken aback.
"What?"
"I cannot undo time," Luxord said stately. "The one you lost is beyond you now, as it would seem." At the blank look Axel gave him he shifted his gaze to his playing cards and continued. "Pardon me, has that not happened yet? I do that from time to time."
"Uh..." Quickly, something clicked inside Axel's mind. "Wait, you're talking about Roxas? But how...?"
Luxord gave him a bemused smile, which would have been a relief if his eyes hadn't retained the knife-sharp glint as before.
"From your expression, I see I may have jumped the gun just a tad. What was your request?"
"Wait." Axel was thinking furiously. Did Luxord really mean what he was implying? "Okay, I wasn't actually going to ask this, but can you change time?" Axel wavered, trying to remember the sparse snippets of conversation he'd overheard so long ago. "That's your domain, isn't it? You can control time."
"You give me too much credit. That would be like you trying to control the sun." He gave Axel a significant glance there, as if making a significant point that Axel should be able to understand. He couldn't. Luxord continued anyway. "Time is not a mere tool. It is an ocean, an endless river that never ceases. I can have my hand here and there, mere splashes in a river so vast they are of no consequence, but straddling the whole cannot be done- by me, or anyone.
He paused then, as if thinking. "Think of it like luck. I can do this," he fanned out his cards before him, and plucked one out to demonstrate. "This much control I have, but only Lady Luck herself can deal the cards." Luxord smirked. "And then there are dice. Just how much can you control the roll of a die once it has begun? No, time is not a horse to be saddled, but a ruler to be obeyed. A queen, if you will." Luxord flipped over the card he'd pulled from his hand then. It was the Queen of Hearts.
Axel wasn't very amused.
"A simple 'no' would have done just fine."
Luxord smiled– that knowing smile again, the one that looked all too devious alongside his precisely trimmed goatee. "As you wish." He bowed his head slightly. "Nevertheless, my role is defined. Now it is your own that you may want to consider. Who is your Queen?"
Axel thought that over. Was he asking who controlled him? Surely not. Nobody controlled Axel. Unless... was he referring to their last meeting? Axel had been working for someone else then, an old rival of Luxord's. That must have been it. It would've been too much to expect him to just ask it like a normal person.
"I'm not here on Marluxia's behalf, nor anyone else's for that matter."
Luxord snorted in humour. "That old girl?"
"This may surprise you, but Marluxia is actually a man."
Luxord chuckled. It sounded like chuckling at least, but seriously, those eyes were freaking Axel out.
"I suppose you came to see the actual girl then."
Axel opened his mouth, then closed it in shock. "She's here?"
"Why, of course. I could hardly let that boss of yours keep her."
"Old boss. I don't work for Marluxia anymore."
Luxord gave him a surveying glance, as if noting something. "She is a useful trinket nonetheless."
Axel flinched. "She's not a trink-"
"Oh? And you wish to see her purely for the pleasure of her company?"
Axel had no reply to that. Luxord smiled triumphantly.
"Go see her. She's in the back."
"In the-"
"Yes, there."
With that, Luxord turned away from Axel, looking out over the graveyard of poker tables and slot machines with a very serious look in his eyes. Axel left him there and headed for the back room. He vaguely wondered if this could be some kind of trap, but it seemed rather unlikely. Luxord had just had him at knife point after all; he could've ended him right there and then if he had wanted to. Axel just hoped he was right about at least some of the things he thought about Luxord. The man was about as mysterious as they came.
Axel walked down the twisting corridors at the back of the casino, watching the walls turn gradually greyer as he went on. It was an odd experience really, watching the red carpet and pristine white walls fade to the same dim grey, but it was nothing at all compared to any of the other strange things about this place.
Finally Axel found the doorway he sought, a pure grey one with a plaque so faded the name was unreadable. Inside the room was incredibly spacious, with the floor fanning out in a semi circular shape and a ceiling that rose up out of sight. There were clusters of couches on both sides of the room, crowded around very low lying tables. The doorway Axel had come through was the only exit, and the doorway rested in the only wall of the room, the rest of the wall space being devoted to incredibly large windows. As always, the windows were curtained off by thick grey sheets, allowing absolutely no view of what lay beyond. Axel had no idea of what could lie beyond those windows. They were inside, after all.
At the far end of the room, in the very center of the semi-circular curve, stood the girl Axel had come looking for. With her slim figure and her blonde hair she looked just the same as ever. She was facing away from Axel, staring blankly at the heavy sheet hanging in front of her. Axel would not have been very surprised if she could see right into whatever these sheets were hiding. She was strange like that.
Axel walked towards her. At the sound of the footsteps she spoke quietly.
"There is no further news. The memories haven't slowed down enough for anyone to catch them."
That hadn't been intended for him, but Axel couldn't help but be amused. "Always good to know," he joked. "Now try it without the cryptic speech."
The girl turned in surprise. She looked alarmed for a moment, but upon seeing his face she smiled with recognition.
"Axel," she said quietly. It was the 'happy' kind of quiet comment, which was an important distinction when it came down to it. Everything she said was quiet, but missing the wrong thing could be a fatal error. At the very least she seemed pleased to see him, so that was good news.
"I think Luxord's finally lost it," Axel said quite happily, dropping down on one of the couches as he did so. "He's making even less sense than usual."
Axel smiled at her and after a small hesitation she walked over and sat on the couch facing his, legs together and hands folded in her lap. She was the very image of perfect composure, which was at times hard to connect with the way she always hung her head and avoided eye contact. Right now though, she was looking straight at Axel, with the tiniest hint of a smile on her lips. It must've been hard, being her, but at the very least she seemed to be enjoying Axel's company. He felt a little smug about that.
"You know he does that on purpose right?" She was referring to Luxord, of course, but Axel was immediately sceptical. He gave her an odd look. She frowned and clicked her tongue.
"Oh come on, you're not that blind. He doesn't make mistakes. If he says something, it's for a reason. If he says something and pretends that he didn't mean to, then he does that for a reason as well. He evokes thought where he intends to."
Axel shook his head in disbelief. Why could nothing just be simple? But then again, had things ever been simple? He couldn't remember anymore. It didn't help that the things he could remember weren't actually his memories.
Strangely in tune with what he was thinking, as she always was, the girl gave Axel a thoughtful smile. "Do the memories trouble you?" Not for the first time Axel wondered if she could actually read his mind. There was no way anyone could have guessed that, no way at all, but he was hardly surprised when it came from her.
"You know about that?" he asked.
In her very meek manner she pushed a strand of her hair back behind her ear. "Of course." With her hair no longer hiding her eyes, they seemed to shine at Axel. He refused to look away or to flinch, but it was always an effort to ignore them completely. Her eyes had no irises, nor pupils. They were pure white. She had told him once before that they had not always been that way, but it was difficult to imagine her with eyes like everyone elses. It just seemed too normal a thing for her to have.
Axel smiled at her, trying to cover up any amount of staring he may have been doing. "You always seem to know so much. It surprises even me sometimes." Technically, it surprised him all the time, but that wouldn't have had the same ring to it.
She nodded in response, a thoughtful nod. "You could say I remember more than I should." She paused, fiddling with the hem of her white dress as she did so. "Others do as well. More and more each day, but never quite as straight forward as I do."
Axel leant forward with a serious look on his face, all mirth forgotten. This was the first time he'd actually heard her give any answers to how she knew anything she did, and he was not going to miss it.
"These things are memories then?" he asked. It made sense, of course, but Axel had always had the niggling suspicion that they were severe hallucinations or a clear sign of insanity. It was more than a little relieving to know that he wasn't just imagining things.
She looked at nothing in particular for a very long moment before answering. "Yes."
"Where do they come from?"
Smiling once more, she turned back to Axel. "I could hardly tell you everything at once now could I? Where would the suspense be in that?"
Axel leant back on the couch, swinging his arms over the back. "What you mean is, you don't know."
Her smile faded as she looked away. "I know where they come from. They just don't work if people don't figure them out for themselves." She thought for a moment. "It's like... a book. The ending would hardly be as important without reading the plot first."
Axel shook his head and laughed. "Again with the cryptic. There really aren't any easy answers in this are there?"
She shook her head, long blonde hair swaying as she did so, but she smiled again. "None at all. So let's talk about something we'll both understand." Axel nodded. "What made you come here?"
Axel almost cursed. He had come here to ask for Luxord's help, and had immediately been diverted into something else entirely. This always happened.
Axel growled as he got to his feet. "You may have to excuse me. I have to ask-"
"He knows."
Axel blinked.
"But I haven't asked him-"
"Oh, trust me. He knows exactly why you came. You wouldn't have gotten past the door if he hadn't been absolutely clear of your intentions. He's not exactly the most ignorant person in the world." She gestured to herself then. She had a point.
She leant forward then, hands still on her knees. "There is another reason you came too. There is another question you must ask."
Axel sat back down, trying to think. He hadn't specifically come for any other reason, but she was right, there was the other issue he desperately wanted explained. Now was definitely the best time to try get some answers.
"I need to know..." Axel faltered. How did one phrase this? He crossed his arms. "Can you talk to dead people?"
She sat up straight then, perfectly poised. "I can see dead people, walking around like normal people."
"...seriously?"
Her face broke into a wide grin. "Oh my no." So she had a sense of humour after all. Not a very good one by any means, but it was an improvement nonetheless. "Who are you thinking of?"
Axel paused in thought. Roxas was dead, he already knew that. But how was Axel supposed to figure out how he knew him if she couldn't ask him?
Suddenly her white eyes seemed to glow once more. She frowned.
"The one... Roxas was it? Yes, Roxas. He's not there."
Axel's jaw dropped. "What do you mean, not there? Is he somewhere else?"
"No, not like that." She shook her head, furrowing her eyebrows. "He's not there. He hasn't passed from this world yet."
"But... but how?"
"Beats me." She timidly picked a stray piece of lint from her dress, not quite looking at Axel. "You checked, didn't you? You were told he died."
"No no, he is dead. Hospital report and all."
The girl frowned in thought. It was odd, seeing her not knowing the answer to something; she knew everything. Eventually she gave her shoulders the tiniest shrug.
"I can't be sure. If he was dead, I would know. His soul..." She pursed her lips. "Well, let's just say I have connections with it. But his soul hasn't died."
"Can people's souls go missing like that?"
"Can people lose their souls? No, definitely not. They're either in their body, or... well, they're dead. If he's neither then..." Her voice trailed off. Her mouth worked silently, but she said nothing at all that Axel could hear. Suddenly she stood up, looking at the hanging sheets once more. Her eyes shone. "There is more to remember. It is not the soul that this concerns, but the heart. The heart has many ways of changing the rules, and someone is meddling with the hearts of all, as he did once before." She furrowed her brow at that one. "Did you hear that last bit? It might be important."
Axel opened his mouth to answer, but immediately clicked it shut when fit became clear she hadn't directed the question at him. Luxord was in the room, standing just to Axel's right. There was no way he had been there a moment ago, no way at all.
As the only one left sitting down, Axel quickly got to his feet as well. "What does all that mean?"
Luxord was quiet for a long moment. Axel was about to ask again when the glow of white eyes pulled his eye sight back around to the girl in the white dress. She held out her hand to Axel, a frantic look on her face. Axel took it in his, unsure of what was going on.
The glow around her eyes dimmed and eventually winked out, leaving her eyes the plain white they were usually. She breathed a sigh of relief, turning to look straight at Axel.
"You want simple answers. Here is what I can tell you. Roxas is not dead. By all means, he should be, but he is not. Someone has captured his heart. What they plan to use it for, I don't know, but it is not just Roxas he's after." Luxord's head shot up at that, but she kept talking. "You remember Roxas from before, just as you remember everything else. It will piece itself together, but you must be open to the answers."
Axel nodded. He wasn't quite sure what had made her look so scared just a moment before, but her answers were more than he could have hoped for. He knew Roxas, and he would remember the rest eventually. More importantly, Roxas was not dead, and he seemed to be in some serious trouble. Axel wasn't exactly the sentimental type, but there were too many factors here to not get involved. Everything was pointing to this.
Axel turned to speak to Luxord, but the other man interrupted immediately.
"I accept your request for help Axel. We may need all the help we can get."
For a brief moment, Axel wondered just what he was being pulled into here. If everyone was going to read his thoughts before he could even say them out loud then this was going to be a very long excursion.
Clearly having some idea of what he was thinking, the girl squeezed his hand with a faint giggle. It was odd, hearing her do that.
"You're welcome, Axel."
Axel grinned, despite himself. "Thank you, Naminé."
I am being incredibly suspicious of FFnet right now. It keeps wanting to do things wrong and miscount things. Strange robot thing, it is clearly evil. GLARE AT IT FOR ME.
Alternatively you can answer the miscellenous question of the chapter with much gusto! This time the question is this; If you were able to steal any weapon from a KH character, which would you take? In the nicest way possible of course. Let's say you have a permission slip allowing you to do so :)