Hello, peoples. The moment I was officially finished with the last chapter, I started this, since I couldn't upload chapter 4 right away thanks to crappy internet. :D As a log, it's 10:15 PM EST, Thursday, July 26, 2007 at this moment. :3
My disclaimer still stands, guys. I do notown KH, but I do own my original characters, Eryx, Xylia, Phoenix, Maxwell, and Xanthus… and the mysterious chick. I also own this crappy plotline.
My rating still stands as well, for graphic violence and language.
Please, Read and Review, and have fun. :3
-------------------------------------------
"… Oh, shit…" Roxas spat, holding onto Axel's arms for support. The tremor had nearly knocked the two of them down, but the redhead had managed to grab onto the tree and keep them up.
At the angry words, Axel pushed off the tree and helped the younger blond to get his balance. Once Roxas was stable, he looked around, walking a few feet in every direction, before coming back to the blond. "…. We're trapped, Rox…" He muttered. "You can't see through those trees, and I doubt we'll be able to make it out our own."
Roxas didn't look surprised. "… Yeah. I figured that much," He grumbled, looking away, feeling a bit sore that he had to be stuck like this to prove a point. He knew Axel had said that he believed him, but he also knew he had his doubts, which would easily overpower his so-called 'belief' in his friend.
Well, that doubt had been blown right outta the water, hadn't it?
Axel gave him a look, slightly taken by surprise at the annoyed tone. "Hey, don't get too worked up over this. We'll get out…." He attempted to reason cautiously.
Then it hit Roxas… Try using a portal. He called on the darkness, which appeared around him, swallowing him up to take him to his room, but only managing to spit him out a couple feet away. So, they could warp within the forest… But, not anywhere out of it… Great.
"… Well, this is just fucking perfect, isn't it?" He growled, limping slightly over to a tree to lean against it, closing his eyes as his frustration simmered.
Axel tried to calm him down, sensing the mental discomfort. "… Roxas, it's okay. It just wore off last time, am I right? When I came to get you, the forest was normal… Maybe we just have to wait."
As if on cue, the ground began to shake again. Axel stumbled trying to get to Roxas, who immediately fell backwards. This time, he wasn't so lucky as to be caught. The blond boy hit the ground harshly, yelping out in pain. The quake was much worse than before… The tree Roxas had been leaning against began to tip, uproot, and fall toward the boy.
Axel gained his balance as best his could, just as the tree's shadow towered over Roxas. The younger boy's eyes were wide with shock and what looked so obviously to be fear. The redhead lunged forward, covering Roxas and letting the tree his back. He didn't let himself cry out in pain, but he was sure he heard a crack that wasn't the tree.
Luckily, the tree wasn't that big… Axel could have easily put his arms around it, but that was still big enough, at it's height, to come down hard and hurt.
Roxas breathed shakily as Axel knocked the tree off himself, wincing as he felt a wave of pain explode from his side. A rib or two had most likely been cracked. He tried to move again, to reach out and touch Roxas' cheek… However, another striking pain went through him, and he made a slight noise, along with tensing and shaking.
Wide-eyed Roxas reached out to touch Axel's shoulder. "…. A-Axel…?" He said, scared half to death. So scared, in fact, that he hadn't noticed that they were back at the edge of the forest again, the illusion trap being gone.
At the touch, Axel tried to get up, only managing to get about a foot away from Roxas before the pain became unbearable. He cried out, grabbing his side, yelping, then falling over to hit the ground. Roxas quickly made it to his side, but found that Axel had passed out from the immense pain…
-------------------------------------------
Axel awoke, to his surprise, in his bed. The covers were up most of the way, and as his slender hand pushed them away, he found that his coat was nowhere to be found, and his upper body had been treated with medical wrap. He looked at himself, dumbfounded. "… How… the hell…?" He muttered, gaining the attention of the blond on a stepladder at his wall with a hammer in his hand and a few bent nails in his mouth.
Innocent blue eyes glanced at him, seeming to suddenly brighten up from their curious state to an excited one. He jumped down, setting the tool and nails down on the side table next to Axel's bed. He seemed to want to say something, but didn't, couldn't…
The redhead smiled at him. "… Hey…" He started, being cut off by the blond throwing himself at him, latching onto him, arms around his neck and being careful not to hurt him. Axel felt his cheeks flush. "… Er, Roxas?"
The boy didn't answer, but let him go after a moment. He took a deep breath, then went to the foot of his bed. "… Thanks… for saving me. I'm glad you're okay…." He sounded hesitant as the words left his mouth. He pretended he hadn't done or said anything, and reached down to grab something from the floor. This caught Axel's attention.
"… Yeah… Ah, hey, what's that?" He asked as Roxas mounted it on the wall. He was silent, but this turned out to be his answer as a quiet ticking was heard throughout the room. The younger teen grinned at him, and Axel tilted his head to the side, smiling a bit. "… A wall clock…" He stated, answering his own question as Roxas sat on the bed.
"Uh-huh. I remember you saying something about it bothering you that there wasn't any noise in here… So, if figured it'd be a nice thing to do to get you a wall clock. That way there'll always be a small noise in here, even when you just wake up."
Axel smirked, but didn't say anything. Instead, he glanced at the clock at his bedside, the digital one. He grasped it by the cord, yanking it out of the socket and throwing it across the room. It hit the wall, breaking, then the pieces fell into the trashcan below them. Roxas winced, but laughed a bit afterwards, understanding to an extent what this meant.
For Axel, destruction of that clock meant that the soulless silence would be gone for good, and that a new chapter of his life was starting. He could finally wake up from the darkness of his past, and look forward to the light in his future.
A light… That was a rare find in this god-forsaken place. Everyone knew that. The place was made on darkness, but that didn't mean that it was all there was, did it? Axel knew this. Roxas knew this.
Everyone seemed to be stuck in the lifeless dark, swallowed up by the pain and misery of the roles they honestly believed they were forced to play in the performance they all called their 'destiny'. However, that wasn't really what they were meant to do. They were meant to find a way to live with what they had, and without what they had lost.
Nevertheless, why was it so easy for Axel and Roxas to see this truth in the web of lies Xemnas had trapped them in, that was easy to answer, for anyone who had observed them over the time they'd known one another. They had hope. They had dreams.
They had each other.
And as they sat there, thoughts connecting and flowing as one as their eyes met, something clicked in their heads, in time with the tick of the clock as the hands aligned over the twelve to symbolize the time of noon. They were realizing this small, powerful fact for the very first time.
-------------------------------------------
For the next few days, Axel awoke to the sound of the clock perched on his wall, the round disk sending waves of comfort through him with each tick of a second. This was sound. This was energy. This was life.
Roxas came every day for about two weeks to hang out with him, his own foot being fine enough to walk on after a week. He brought him food and an update on how the training was going without him. He had a few bruises from Eryx and Xylia getting better, though Xanthus seemed to be goofing off through most of the training and Maxwell calmly defeated his targets when they weren't his teacher. Roxas hadn't even attempted to spar with Phoenix.
With this time together, the two seemed to grow even closer than they had been before. Roxas began to wonder if this was what it was like for Sora, Riku, and Kairi back on the islands, growing up together. He figured it must have been. But, Sora and Riku, from what he'd seen of them, had grown a bit… closer. He got embarrassed every time he thought about whether or not that could happen to he and Axel.
But, with the way things were going, that wasn't such a bad thing.
-------------------------------------------
Overlooking the castle, a shaded figure watched the serene darkness from the edge of the training ground, a light tune flowing from them as their lips moved to shape words to the melody.
"And we're all pawns in this game of life,
Protecting our kings, our hopes, our dreams.
We scramble to save our crumbling castles,
And watch as our minds fall into the streams.
Reach out to grasp the remains of those thoughts,
But don't hold on, let them drown.
Let go of those misguiding hopes and dreams,
Let all your defenses fall down.
Look up, my dolls, to the dark-shrouded skies,
Let it swallow you up my dears,
Release the light and surrender your hearts,
Give up your love, hate, and fears.
And now I will lead you to safety, to home,
To a place with truthful lies.
As emptied of life as your soulless shells,
Where you, my puppet… dies."
-------------------------------------------
Wtf. You guys are all lucky. XD I finished this the same night—er… well, the next morning. But, yeah. It's been two and a half hours since I finished Chapter 4, and I'm already done with this. But, with good reason. This is going to have been the easiest chapter to write… Don't get too used to the fluff. It won't last longer than it has…. BWAHAHAHAHA.
Review, please. :3
The next chapter will come soon, I PROMISE.
The Melodious Nocturne Stalker