Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the game or any of it. Just the fic. And that part is still in the courts. Still a spoiler warning for those who haven't played CoM.
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Not That I Care
15
The Assignment
The moth don't care if the flame burns low
Cause moth believes in an afterglow
And flames are never doused completely
All you really need is a love of heat…
--Aimee Mann
Axel is pretty sure right now that if there is a God, the Big Guy must really have it in for him.
"Hollow Bastion," he says, staring at the Superior as if he can't quite believe what he heard.
"Yes."
"With Saïx."
"Yes. You do not want to make me repeat myself again, Number Eight."
"I'm sorry. It's just. Saïx?"
Xemnas sighs and drops the file he was examining onto his desk. He gets to his feet.
"He has personally requested your expertise in dealing with the Hollow Bastion situation. Hollow Bastion will therefore be your permanent world of operation, unless I decide that you are needed elsewhere. And I have nothing else to say, Number Eight."
"Sir, Your Eminence, Mr. Boss Man, you know that Saïx and I don't exactly, um, mesh," Axel says, leaning his hands on the Superior's desk. The Superior turns his hooded face toward Axel. Axel can't tell, but he's pretty sure that Xemnas is starting to get pissed.
"Why so argumentative, Number Eight? I thought you enjoyed taking on the difficult workloads lately. Don't tell me you are reverting to your original, lazy self? I've gotten used to this new side of you, Number Eight, and I would be most displeased if it were to disappear."
Axel grits his teeth and leans back from the desk, standing up straight. He closes his eyes to keep his fire under control. Of all the shitty things that Saïx could do…
He must want to keep an eye on me. Wear me down so that I'll break and say something about Castle Oblivion. Fuck that shit. Fine, Saïx, you want to challenge me? I'll step up.
Axel opens his eyes and gives the Superior a weak smile.
"Hardly," he says. "This new Axel is here to stay. Alright. Hollow Bastion it is."
The Superior just nods and heads to a file cabinet. "Dismissed."
Axel leaves the office in a hurry. When he's outside he stops and leans back against the door, glaring at the floor.
He hasn't even spoken to me since that night. I guess this had to happen sooner or later.
Eventually, Axel sighs and starts walking down the hall at a rather brisk pace.
"Break time," he mutters to himself. The assignment doesn't begin until tomorrow, and Axel needs to cool off in the worst way.
He heads first to the cafeteria, but the only person there is Xigbar.
"Xiggy."
"Axel, I have a gun, which is a long-distance weapon, which means I can shoot you from way, way over here. You catch my drift?"
"Whatever," Axel says, though he eyes the guns in Xigbar's hands. "You seen Roxas?"
"Nope," Xigbar says, and the guns disappear. "Haven't seen him in awhile. Though I know he's not on assignment today." Suddenly he smirks at Axel. "You two are quite the lovebirds, ain'tcha?"
Axel raises a hand to his forehead as if he feels faint. "Yes, Xigbar. You've caught us. Roxas and I have beautiful, beautiful mansex every night." Axel is extremely glad that Roxas isn't here to overhear him.
Xigbar wrinkles his nose. "Dude, that's nasty. Oh god, how am I supposed to get that visual out of my head?"
Axel grins. "Left yourself open for that one, Xiggy," he says, and leaves before Xigbar can shoot him.
He doesn't find Roxas in the library, or in his room. He scans the Dark City from one of the higher points in the castle but doesn't see him there.
Where the hell else could the brat be?
Finally, Axel heads for the practice rooms, the last place he can think of. He is surprised to hear Roxas's voice behind one of the doors to a practice room.
"Damn it!" Roxas is yelling. "Why isn't it working? What am I doing wrong?"
Axel pushes the door open and sees Roxas in the middle of the room, panting, his Keyblade in one hand. He whirls on the opening door, but when he sees who it is he relaxes.
"Don't startle me like that."
"What won't work?" Axel asks. "Your brain? Something further south and infinitely more important? I've got some magazines if it's the latter."
Roxas fixes his trademark glare on Axel and Axel actually shivers. He is gladder than ever that Roxas wasn't around to hear his recent comment.
"You want me to rip yours off?" Roxas snarls. "I'm trying a new technique but I'm having trouble with it."
Axel chuckles. "Would a spar help?"
"I doubt it," Roxas mutters and disappears his Keyblade. "Did you want something?"
"I think we're both in need of a quick vacation. Twilight Town. Sea Salt ice cream."
"I dunno," Roxas says, not really looking at Axel. "I'd rather practice some more."
"You'd rather practice some silly battle technique than spend some time with your old pal Axel, who is leaving on permanent assignment only tomorrow? You've crushed my soul, Roxas. I'm deleting you from my friends page, or whatever it is these kids do today."
"Your friends page would be pretty empty then. Seeing as I'm, yanno, the only one."
"Oh, burn."
"Where'd you get assigned?"
Axel smirks. "I'll tell you if you come with me."
Roxas sighs heavily and stretches an arm above his head. "Alright, fine, I'll come."
"Happy day! You get a place in my top ten."
"Top one," Roxas corrects, and Axel opens a portal for them both.
-------
Sea Salt ice cream is a rather remarkable thing. It's sweet like any other ice cream, but like the name, there's a salty aftertaste. You wouldn't think salt would go well with ice cream, but somehow the combination works. Axel is quite pleased with it.
They're sitting on the roof of one of the buildings in Twilight Town, one of the ones that overlooks the rest of the town. It's late afternoon and the ice cream is melting down its stick in the heat. Roxas is seated beside Axel with his own ice cream bar.
"It's actually kinda…good," Roxas says, sounding surprised.
"Weird, but good," Axel agrees, licking up a stray drop that has landed on his hand.
"It works. I mean, usually I don't like sweets. But the salt offsets it. Or whatever." Roxas leans back and looks out over the town. "This is nice."
Axel has to smile. The kid sounds more content than he has in ages.
Axel lets Roxas bask in his contentment for awhile until he decides to speak.
"Hollow Bastion."
"Huh?"
"That's where I've been stationed."
"They're starting to call it Radiant Garden, you know. Not that anyone cares. Doesn't Saïx—?
"Yep," Axel says, biting off the last chunk of ice cream and licking the stick clean. His molars complain but he ignores it. When he looks over at Roxas he finds that the younger nobody is staring at him with that usual intense gaze.
"And you're okay with that?"
"Hell, of course I'm not okay, but orders is orders. There's plenty of ass to kick there."
"Yeah, and that's worth putting up with that son of a bitch? You could request to be sent elsewhere."
"The son of a bitch is the one who requested me."
"So he can torture you."
Axel just shrugs. "Ah well. I can put up with it. I'll just kick his ass if he gets out of line."
"Unless the moon is shining at the time," Roxas mutters, looking back out over Twilight Town.
"Your ice cream is melting."
Roxas slurps the rest of it up, cleans off the stick and then tosses it down to the street below, right into a trash can.
"Three points," Roxas says, leaning back again. "Look, just don't blow up on him. Literally or figuratively. If you kill him or anything Xemnas would be pretty pissed."
Axel is silent awhile before answering.
"Unless it was justified. Didn't you ever watch cop shows? Justifiable homicide."
"Who knows if I did or not? They might not even have had TV in my world. Most of the worlds we've been to they don't, you know. And I don't think getting really, really pissed off or even really hating them is justification for killing someone. Beating the shit out of them, yeah. I think only if they've done something unforgivable is it justified. So just don't cross the line, okay?"
Axel says nothing.
Unforgivable? Is what Vexen did unforgivable? Yeah, it is! He intentionally created a freaking Nobody! But is that really why I killed him?
Axel wonders if Saïx really will be able to pull the truth out of him. They all have their manipulative streak, all the Organization members, but Saïx is sadistically manipulative. And whereas Larxene was more one for causing physical pain, Saïx is the one who knows exactly what buttons to push. How to get under your skin without the use of sharp instruments.
"Hey," Roxas says out of the blue. Axel jerks a little and looks over at him.
"It's been really busy, and it's probably gonna get worse. We probably won't have much time later on, so…maybe we should try to go find the monkey today."
Axel grins. "Well this is a first. Roxas suggesting that we run off and be all unprofessional and totally ignore protocol or whatever in order to kill our boredom?"
"Yes," Roxas says solemnly. "And seeing as it will likely never happen again, we should make use of it." He waves his hand and opens a dark portal. "You coming or not?"
Axel chuckles and follows him through the portal. They land in the jungle world, just outside of the camp by the ridge.
Roxas puts his hands on his hips and looks around.
"Sweet mercy, I forgot how freaking hot it is here," Axel says, the heat and humidity closing in around him like a wool blanket. A damp wool blanket.
"The monkeys we saw were that way, right?" Roxas says, pointing.
"Think so. I'll lead the way—wouldn't want you getting lost in the bushes or eaten by a snake or something. Seeing as, yanno, you're just so sho—"
"Har, har," Roxas growls, and starts walking ahead of Axel. Axel laughs and follows him.
They search until sundown, but neither of them finds a single monkey.
-------
Axel knows he's in for trouble when he first sees the smirk on Saïx's face.
"Ah, so glad you could finally make it, Axel," Saïx says, his weird eyes locking on Axel's. "Though your punctuality, as ever, leaves something to be desired."
"I'm like two minutes late," Axel says.
"Five minutes, Axel, and it truly bespeaks your character that you not only make a habit of being late but then proceed to argue about it."
"I'm not arg—okay. Can we just go find the Heartless and kill them now?" Axel says through gritted teeth. He turns away from Saïx to break eye contact and scans the city. He doesn't see any Heartless, but he's at the front of the city, and the Heartless rarely come up here. The city's security systems keep them away mostly. They'll likely be by the chasm further in. The place still has a lot of dark residue left over from when this world was a Heartless breeding ground.
"Good to see you're so ready to run off and kill things," Saïx says, and Axel can hear the smirk in his voice. "Very well then. The chasm below the city has been their massing point for some time now. The biggest problem, however, is that the residents of Hollow Bastion continue to interfere, trying to kill the Heartless themselves. It is imperative that they never see us or any trace of us. I truly hope that you can at least attempt a go at subtlety."
"Well if I'm this huge mass murderer like you say then I've got to at least have some talent for it, right?" Axel says, looking over his shoulder and giving Saïx his most terrifying grin. It doesn't work on the other Nobody, of course, but Axel sees his smile fall a little.
"Let's be on our way, shall we?" Saïx says, moving past him. Axel sighs and follows him down into the city toward the chasm.
They walk in silence, Axel keeping an eye on Saïx's back as well as his surroundings. For a world that's supposed to be teeming with people, Axel doesn't see anyone on the streets. Street vendors are leaning on their counters, scanning the streets for customers, and the shops all look open but unoccupied. He glances back at Saïx, who seems unconcerned about the absence of people.
"Most of them are in the chasm, fighting Heartless. The rest have shut themselves up inside to avoid them, or are hard at work in the lower parts, trying to rebuild."
"I didn't say anything," Axel growls, wondering how Saïx knew exactly what Axel was thinking.
Saïx just chuckles.
Axel suppresses a groan. Why does this shit happen to me? How did I get stuck with this creepy ass bastard?
"What did Vexen do to make you hate him so much, Axel?" Saïx asks out of nowhere as they descend a flight of stairs.
"He smelled funny," Axel fires back without hesitation.
"Always ready with a humorous comeback. It's so nice that you are able to joke about our fallen comrades. Though I suppose it's easier when you're the one who killed him."
"As if you really care. You didn't give a damn about Vexen any more than you do about any of the rest of us. Why the bullshit, Saïx? You could be doing so much better, putting me through all kinds of suffering, but you're using such obvious and cheap tactics so far. What happened to the manipulative little asshole we all know and love, huh?"
"Is that why you think I requested your presence here?" Saïx asks, for once looking back at Axel. His weird yellow eyes are genuinely curious. "Heavens no, Axel. I asked you to come because you're so very good at killing people. Or excuse me, killing things. There are many Heartless in this world, Axel. This was their home base, if you recall, and they not leaving without a fight."
Axel snorts. "Right. You wanted me here because I'm just such an awesome fighter."
"And to warn you of two things."
"See? Told you."
"As I said before, I will be watching you," Saïx tells him. He comes to a stop and turns around to look in Axel's eyes. "I wanted you here because I don't trust you around the other members of the Organization, most of who trust you at least to some degree."
"So puppy Axel takes a dump on the carpet and now he's not allowed to play with the other doggies?"
Saïx smiles. "It would be far less easy for you to stab someone in the back when they refuse to turn their back on you."
"'Cept you're kind of walking in front of me."
"It's a figure of speech, you insufferable fool," Saïx says with all the patience in the world.
"So what's the second thing?"
"Oh, it's very simple," Saïx says, lowering his voice. "If you screw up, or if I find reason to, I will tell Roxas what you really did at Castle Oblivion."
Saïx then turns and continues down the stairs. Axel stays frozen for a moment, then dashes down to catch up.
"He'd never believe you," Axel growls.
"Such is the folly of youth—putting trust in people who claim to be your friends."
"He wouldn't believe you," Axel says again. "You have no evidence. And Roxas trusts me."
"Does he now?" Saïx says, as if pondering Axel's words. "I wonder if he'd still trust you if I told him just how much you've kept secret about Sora?"
Axel lets out a small snarl and then hates himself for showing weakness to the older Nobody.
"If you tell him the truth even Xemnas would kill you."
"There are many things I can tell him aside from the fact that Sora is his Other, Axel," Saïx says, in a tone that says the conversation is over.
Axel doesn't reply and grits his teeth, angry at himself for falling into this trap.
Of course he'd use Roxas against me, that's the way he works. Dammit. Maybe, I dunno, maybe I should just tell Roxas the truth? He'd probably be okay once I explained things. No, who the fuck am I kidding, he'd go all Keyblade Master on my ass. Dammit. So I guess I just have to toe the line. Just while Saïx is watching, anyway. If I just stay calm, be cool, then everything should work out.
Axel glares at Saïx's back as they enter the area with the newly constructed anti-Heartless security system.
If he tries to take this any further or fuck me over or anything, then screw it. I'm no one's fucking bitch. I don't even care if he tells Roxas then—the kid'll forgive me eventually. I'd just have to stay out of range of the Keyblade for awhile.
Suddenly Saïx raises a fist, signaling Axel to stop. Axel stops dead and peers past Saïx to see two residents of Hollow Bastion taking together as they head down to the Bailey. One has brown hair and a scar across his face, and the other is older with short blonde hair, aviator goggles and a massive hammer slung over one shoulder.
Axel and Saïx stay frozen until the two Somebodies have disappeared around a corner. Then Saïx lowers his fist.
"Come quickly, and keep an eye out," Saïx growls.
"Whatever you say, boss."
They take the long way around to avoid the other two, circumventing the Bailey altogether. It isn't long before they reach the tunnels in the lower part of the city, and Axel thinks he can already sense the Heartless. The whole place stinks of darkness, and the void in Axel's chest is aching, as if in memory.
"Hell, just how many of them are there?" Axel hisses.
"Many. Stay close. Once we reach the chasm, there's a chance we will get separated. If that happens, regroup at that crane we passed earlier. Think you remember those simple instructions, Axel?"
"Huh? What? Didn't catch that the first time. Remember what?"
"Very well," Saïx says, ignoring Axel's comments. "Follow me."
Axel follows Saïx through the pale blue tunnels, and eventually the void in Axel's chest aches even more sharply. They're close.
Without warning the tunnel opens up into a wide, black chasm. Axel blinks. No, the chasm is the same pale blue stone as the tunnels and cliffs. The black that Axel is seeing is the Heartless.
There's millions of them.
"Holy—"
"We fight now," Saïx says, and a crazed spark comes to his eye. He launches himself toward the Heartless, his massive weapon appearing in an instant. He wields the sword expertly, taking out at least twenty Heartless before they even know what's hit them.
"Damn nutcase," Axel growls and runs out after Saïx, his eyes darting around to make sure none of the Bastion folks are watching. Axel sets one of his chakrams ablaze and sends it shooting toward the writhing mass of blackness, cutting a fiery trail straight through the Heartless. Almost immediately the Shadows have spotted him and are closing in. Axel loses sight of Saïx in the surge of darkness and concentrates on fighting.
He sends a burst of fire to his right and left and then swings with both chakrams in hand to cut down the Heartless closing in from the front and back. Seconds into the fight and already he's surrounded; he might as well be in an ocean of Shadows.
Axel chuckles to himself. "Well, what better way to light up the darkness than with fire?"
Three columns of fire rise up around him and start spinning, quickly becoming tornadoes of flame. Axel releases his chakrams and they hover at his sides like patient dogs; then Axel snaps his fingers and all three tornadoes explode, incinerating the Heartless and giving Axel room to move. Axel hears an inhuman roar from somewhere close by and he catches a glimpse of Saïx through the blackness, fighting with the speed and efficiency of a demon.
But then Axel is forced to focus on a second wave of Heartless, this one a combination of Shadows, Darkballs, and countless others. They come with such force that Axel is backed into a corner almost immediately. He summons his fire, but then Blue Rhapsodies appear out of nowhere like spinning blue lanterns, and they douse the fire with enough ice to put it out.
Fuck, Axel thinks, and then the Heartless smash into him. Axel is thrown backward against the chasm wall.
Axel struggles up to his knees as the Heartless threaten to bury him, his head spinning.
"Damn stupid blue bastards," Axel snarls, and he sends out wave after wave of fire. The Blue Rhapsodies shoot ice fast, but not fast enough; the lot of them are quickly incinerated. Darkballs come in from the right and Axel swings his chakrams. Too late, he senses more Heartless coming in at his left. Something like teeth pierce his side and Axel is tossed away, landing in the middle of the Heartless.
This many, it's insane! How the hell are the two of us supposed to handle this?
Axel doesn't have time to think about it, because the Heartless are coming back. He sends out his fire in a protective ring around him, and throws his chakrams out beyond the ring, where they dart back and forth to take out Heartless.
A wall, need my back to a wall…
Axel starts edging away, sending out blasts of fire. He's heading for a tunnel opening instead of a wall, but the Heartless have him blocked in every other direction. Without warning the fire users, the Red Nocturnes, burst through his ring and attack with their own fire. Axel loses his concentration and the protective ring around him vanishes into smoke and ash. He calls his chakrams back to his hands and slashes through the Red Nocturnes.
Heartless are hitting him from all sides now, and he can feel himself leaking darkness. He summons fire to his chakrams and releases them. They dart around him in a spiral, slashing and incinerating as they go. Axel keeps trying to back toward a wall, but the Heartless seem to be driving him toward a tunnel.
The hell? Am I seriously getting overpowered by Heartless? Well, granted, there's about ten billion of them, but still…
Axel slashes and sends out bursts of fire, but there are too many and they keep attacking his blind spots. Then suddenly something takes hold of his leg and yanks. Axel goes down with a yelp, and the next thing he knows he's flying through the air, straight into the tunnel. He lands, rolls, and his head hits rock, making stars burst before his eyes.
The Heartless are surging forward into the tunnel. Axel pulls himself up to a crouch, his vision wavering. His head seems to be cracking open.
They get through here…they'll overrun the city…too many…Axel thinks dimly. He looks over his surroundings as quickly as his double-vision will allow. The Heartless have slowed down as they all try to force themselves through the tunnel at the same time.
Tunnel…right…I can use this…trap 'em, make a…a bottleneck…gotta do this before I pass out.
Holding his head with one hand and his chakrams with the other, he pulls himself to his feet. He sways and almost goes down, but manages to remain standing.
"Yo, Heartless, you sorry little black…blobs," Axel calls, groaning internally at the pathetic challenge. His head must really be messed up if that's the best he can come up with. "Come on, come get the yummy Nobody!"
The Heartless flood the tunnel toward him and Axel starts backing away, toward where he knows the tunnel will spill out into the Bailey. He's having a hard time staying upright and is dragging one hand along the wall to brace himself. He backs away slowly so that the Heartless never get too far away from him. Still they are pressing into the tunnel, clogging it with darkness and tiny glowing eyes.
Finally Axel thinks he sees light at the other end of the tunnel and he starts moving faster, taunting the Heartless as he goes. When he steps out into the open area near the Bailey, he stops. The whole world is spinning now; Axel only has a few moments.
"'Kay…I call this one…Heartless Flambé. Ready the cannon, mateys…"
Axel calls up as much fire as he can muster but keeps it inside him, where it builds and gathers power.
"Aim and…boom."
The instant the Heartless reach the end of the tunnel, Axel releases his fire. A veritable wall of flame slams into them and travels all the way through the tunnel. When it reaches the open air on the opposite end, the fire explodes. Every last Heartless in the tunnel is destroyed.
The force of the explosion blows Axel out into the Bailey and he lands in a heap. But that's alright, because his head hurts so much and his vision is filling with darkness and a nice sleep right now would be…
-------
"Hey. Hey! You alright? You even alive?"
Axel comes to and finds someone giving his shoulder a shake. For the moment he can't remember where he is.
"Wasn't my fault…vicious onions…the fish were everywhere…" He manages.
"Well, at least you're talking," says a voice.
Axel's eyes crack open. His vision slowly coalesces and he sees an expanse of blue above him.
"Roxas?"
"Sorry, don't know a Roxas," the voice says, and a face appears before Axel's eyes, blocking his view of the sky. The face belongs to a young woman with delicate features. Her brown eyes are regarding Axel with a dubious look, and her inky hair is tied back in a ponytail.
"Hey look, an angel," Axel says.
The woman smirks. "Well, guess your head isn't completely damaged. You alright? What are you doing down here, it's dangerous this close to the chasm."
Axel groans as he remembers that none of the locals were supposed to see him. He pulls himself up slowly to a sitting position. His head still hurts like someone is taking a sledgehammer to his brain, but his vision is clear and he's alive, near as he can tell. There isn't a Heartless in sight.
He then looks over the woman crouching before him. She's wearing enough black that Axel would almost take her for a Nobody, except that she doesn't feel like a Nobody. She seems to notice him staring and folds her arms, drumming gloved fingers on her elbows.
Axel tries to think quickly of a cover story.
"I'm, uh, new around here. I guess I got lost. Then this black thing jumped out of nowhere and attacked me…I guess I hit my head."
"No kidding. Sounds like you got jumped by a Heartless. You're lucky it didn't kill you or worse. Think you can stand up?"
"Yeah…I'm alright," Axel says, wincing as he climbs to his feet. He sways a little as his head pounds harder and presses a hand to his forehead until the pain diminishes.
"You sure?" the woman says, standing up as well and raising an eyebrow at Axel. "You look ready to pass out again."
"No, I'm okay, just, yanno, a bump is all." Axel grins at her. "I've got a really hard head."
She smiles. "Somehow I got that feeling." She looks him up and down. "You really need to be more careful. It's not safe to be out on the streets this close to the chasm. They're still working on getting rid of the Heartless, but there's so many that it's proving difficult."
"Right, duly noted. And what about you then? Running around with those Heart-things about…"
She scoffs. "I can handle myself. Besides, I'm looking for someone."
"Aren't we all? Right, well, thanks for your help and all, but I should probably be going. Yanno, in case they come back or whatever."
"Hey, before you go," she says as Axel turns away. He looks back to see that her eyes have softened for the first time. "I don't suppose you've seen him around, have you?"
"What kind of guy?" Axel says, anxious to get out of here before Saïx catches him conversing with the locals.
"Spiky blonde hair, kind of cranky-looking…"
Axel's breath catches in his throat, but then the woman is continuing.
"…carries a sword that's really way too big for any sane creature to carry?"
Axel breathes a sigh of relief. "Nope. I know plenty of cranky types and one with spiky hair, but none with swords."
The woman shrugs to herself, looking disgruntled. "Well if you see him, could you tell him that Tifa is looking for him? And that when she finds him, she's going to tear him a new one, maybe several?"
"Memorized," Axel says, tapping his temple. "See you around, maybe."
And with that he hightails it toward the crane before Tifa can say another word.
Locals, damn. That was stupid of me, getting knocked out like that. As long as Saïx doesn't find out, it should be alright. Didn't seem like she suspected anything.
Axel hazards a glance over his shoulder, but Tifa has disappeared. He smirks to himself.
Little firecracker. He's a lucky guy, Mr. Cranky Man With a Big Sword.
Axel climbs a set of stairs toward the crane and finds himself on a bit of an overlook with a view down into the chasm. He narrows his eyes and stares down into the darkness. There are still Heartless all over the place and the sky above is still pink with the afterglow of their hearts. Axel likely got a few hundred just in the tunnel, but there are still so many?
And this is gonna be my permanent world? This is gonna be some shit. Well, it's going toward Kingdom Hearts, anyway. That many Heartless—it might even be enough…
Axel sighs to himself and smiles. He thinks of Roxas and the other Nobodies and of the woman, Tifa.
No one's ever satisfied with what they have, are they? Ah well. Damn, getting hit in the head always makes me go all philosophical.
"You're alive," comes Saïx's voice, and Axel turns to see him step out from behind the crane. "And late, yet again. You never fail to disappoint me, Axel."
"Whatever. Let's just get the fuck out of this stupid world."
-------
"So, how was it?" Roxas is asking. They're in the cafeteria, sitting across from each other, each with a mug of tea. Axel's head hurts too much to chance coffee.
"You survived, at least," Roxas goes on.
"Well, I am Axel, and no Heartless is ever gonna do Axel in. Commit that to memory."
"Barely, survived" Roxas continues, ignoring Axel's comment. "Still, Saïx though. Everything go alright?"
"Nothing ever goes alright when Saïx is involved. But whatever. It was nothing. Too busy fighting the squillion Heartless to bother each other, which is good I guess. You shoulda seen my explosion though, it was really quite lovely."
"You knocked yourself out, though," Roxas points out, sipping his tea. "Nearly got yourself killed."
Axel hears the sharp tone in Roxas's voice.
"Yeah, but it's not like I was completely reckless. No more of that 'Axel-goes-kaplooie' stuff. So you can stop worrying. Desperate times, and all that. I didn't really have any choice but to blow the tunnel."
Roxas shrugs and grin. "Well, I suppose you'll take any excuse to blow something up."
"Oh, you know it." Axel massages his head. "Hey, Roxas. Have you ever actually talked to any of the people who actually live in the worlds?"
Roxas tilts his head. "Just the Cheshire Cat in Wonderland, I think. Why, did you talk to someone?"
"Sort of. Just don't tell Saïx." Axel swills his tea. "I dunno. It's weird, thinking about all those people in the worlds, doing their own thing, maybe fighting the Heartless, but still there, you know? Survivors and all. It's getting to the point I can't even remember what that's like, living a normal life."
Roxas is silent for a moment, then he snorts. "Join the club."
Axel stares into his tea for awhile, thinking. But eventually he sighs.
No point thinking about that stuff. None of it matters. I'll have a heart soon enough, then I can get out of this stupid Organization, go find my own world, get a job in demolitions, maybe kill Heartless if they're still around. Kingdom Hearts. 'S what it's all about. I'll do whatever it takes, I don't care.
Axel rubs his head again. I'm really getting obsessed, aren't I?
"So it goes," Axel says, taking a swig of tea.
"So it goes," Roxas agrees, and he flips open a book and starts reading.
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Yay for Final Fantasy cameos!!
Holy CRAP this chapter was long in coming! I can't apologize to you guys enough. It's been a really weird summer. I actually started this chapter hella days ago, but just couldn't get around to finishing it until now. I'm so sorry, everyone! I even said that this chapter wouldn't be too long in coming, didn't I? I feel like I've let people down. -- I just hope that at least some of you are still reading this.
Anyway, I hope this chapter floats with you guys. There wasn't as much Axel and Roxas funtimes as in some of the other chapters, but that's kind of what I'm going for. They're starting to think more about themselves first now; Roxas has his own stuff to worry about and so does Axel. And the monkeys are becoming quite the constant, aren't they? Lol. I had fun with that fight scene and with the random cameos (lol, wonder if I can somehow squeeze Sephiroth in somewhere…). And is it weird that now I'd kind of like to see some Axel/Tifa fic? Lol, if someone can make it work, go for it, I say.
So, I'd say that the next chapter won't be quite as long in coming, but you guys have probably learned not to trust me on that point, lol. I'm heading back to school in about two weeks. I will try to get another chapter written between now and then, but I can't promise anything. There'll also be awhile at the end of August where I won't have internet, at least not often, and then of course there's school to think about. And I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again—even if there are big gaps between chapters, I'm not going to abandon this right in the middle of things. I hate it when authors do that, so I won't do that to you. When I finish this fic, there will be an actual conclusion and you'll know it. So I don't want anyone to worry about this fic getting dropped—cause it's not gonna happen!
Well, now that I've stayed up till about seven in the morning to finish this, I think I'd better get some sleep before my brain goes splut Hope you guys like this one.
Feedback is candy for my soul!