Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to Square Enix and Disney.
Herutsu no Oukoku
Chapter 11: The Ansem Report
For the first time in nearly two weeks, the gummi ship was filled with cheerful laughter and talking. The seven travelers had left Atlantica two days before and it was in that world that Axel and Sora finally stopped arguing with and ignoring each other. And Demyx was in such a good mood that he couldn't help but summon his sitar to his hands and play music for them. Even Kairi, despite getting her hair chopped short in a bizarre accident in Halloween Town, a world they had visited right before Atlantica, was in a good mood. The only one who seemed a little depressed was Axel.
"Hey." Naminé softly greeted as she sat down beside the redhead.
Axel grunted a reply and continued to look at the floor, his green eyes dull. Across the room, Sora managed to coerce Kairi into dancing with Demyx continued to play his sitar, but Naminé and Axel ignored them for the moment.
"How are you feeling? You look… ill." She said worriedly.
"I'm fine." Axel lied, still not looking up.
Naminé frowned and reached up to lay her hand against his forehead. She quickly removed it when she felt how hot he was. "That's a lie." She almost snapped at him, but caught herself at the last moment and softened her voice. "You're burning up, your hair's gone flat, and you're not cracking any jokes about Sora's dancing. Either being in Atlantica really messed with your system or there is something else bothering you."
Axel said nothing. He wanted to tell her; to spill all of his thoughts and feelings to Naminé. But every time he tried to open his mouth and tell her he found he couldn't. His throat would close up and he'd come close to crying as all of his feeling welled up to the surface. It wasn't something he was used to feeling. He was use to being in control of his emotions and being the aloof yet hotheaded one in his group of friends. He could even stay in control when he was around Roxas, and something about that blond always made his heart beat faster and his mind swirl with crazy thoughts.
"Axel." Naminé's gentle voice slipped through his thoughts and he lifted his head to look at her. "We're all here for you if you want to talk. I know things are awkward between you and Sora right now and that things are just getting better with you and Kairi, but any one of us would listen if you want to talk. We're all in this together, okay?" She smiled and gently patted his arm in a reassuring manner.
Axel let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. "Thanks." He said quietly. "I just… I don't know where to start." His throat began to close up as the usual flood of emotions raced to the surface. He dropped his head into his hands, hoping to hide his tears and frustration with himself.
"Axel…" Naminé murmured. Her blue eyes easily showed her worry. It only took her a few seconds to decide to give Axel a one-armed hug. "Don't be afraid to cry." She told him. "It might help better than you know."
Axel held back his tears a moment longer before the damn broke. Sobs wracked his body as he leaned onto Naminé for support. Demyx, who was still playing his sitar for Kairi and Sora, looked over at them and plucked the next chord harshly before he stopped playing. Sora and Kairi followed his gaze and they too looked at Axel in astonishment.
Naminé put her finger to her lips, gesturing that they should stay quiet and just let him cry. Nearly a half hour later Axel had calmed down enough to speak and he looked around the gummi ship with puffy red eyes. Feeling awkward, Sora walked over and sat down next to him.
"Are you okay, Axel?" He asked, worried.
Axel began to open his mouth to say yes, but closed his mouth instead and shook his head. "No." His voice sounded hoarse from all of the crying he had done. "But I will be." He looked to his other side where Naminé was sitting and tried to give her a smile. "You're right. Crying does help a little."
Naminé nodded and patted is arm again before she stood up. "I'm going to go talk to Demyx. He looks like he's going to break down and start crying any second now. Water-elements are super-sensitive to people's emotions." She smoothed out some creases in her dress and then walked across the cabin to Demyx, who was blotting at his eyes with a corner of his shirt.
As Naminé walked over to Demyx, Kairi took her previous place beside Axel.
"Anything you want to talk about?" She asked.
"Come on, Kai, we're guys." Sora said. "We don't sit and talk about our feelings, it's too… girly."
"Don't forget this 'girly' can kick your ass." Kairi said in a cheerful tone. "And I'd prefer not getting blown up because Axel here suffers a stress attack and looses control. Fire-elements have to be especially careful and keep their emotions in check."
"Oh." Sora deflated a little and scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Right. I knew that. Okay, talk away, then." He dropped his hand into his lap and looked up at Axel expectantly.
"Start wherever you want, Axel." Kairi advised. "Pick something that's bothering you and go with it."
Axel leaned back so he was against the wall and then tilted his head up so he was staring at the ceiling. He knew if he looked at either of them he wouldn't be able to say anything. "It's just…" He sighed and paused a moment before plowing on. "It's everything. I could have stopped that heartless from chopping off Kairi's hair, but I was too busy fighting with Sora to notice it until it was too late. And I felt so useless in Atlantica because I couldn't use my fire or throw my chakrams. And in Monstro-" He hesitated, his eyes clouding over with worry. "When I thought I saw Roxas and Sora got to actually see and talk to Riku, I just… I couldn't handle it. I couldn't understand why Roxas wouldn't stop for even one minute to talk to me. He's my best friend! He- I-.." Axel forced himself to stop as his throat once again closed up and the horribly familiar ache in his chest returned. 'I love him.' He let the words go unspoken, not wanting to or ready to say them out loud.
"You were jealous?" Kairi asked.
Axel nodded and breathed in shakily, trying to calm himself down. Once he was able to breath somewhat normally, he began talking again. "And Sora… being around you when you remind me so much of him makes it even worse. Your mannerisms, your eyes, your hair," He glanced down for a moment so he could ruffle Sora's spiky hair. "All similar."
Kairi frowned. "He's not Roxas."
"I know." Axel managed to keep his tone neutral as his gaze rose back to the ceiling. "Sora could never replace Roxas and Roxas could never replace Sora. And I'm not looking for a replacement, I'm looking for my Roxas. Got it memorized?" The use of his favorite saying seemed to ignite a spark of cheer in Axel and he even managed to lower his gaze to the opposite wall. "I've got a picture. It's an old one, but maybe you'll see the similarities too." He reached into his back pocket and retrieved his wallet. He then flipped it open and removed a photo that had scorch marks around the edges. "Here." He handed it to Kairi first.
The auburn-haired girl gently took the photo and nearly gasped when she saw the cheerful blue-eyed blond who was sitting next to a younger Axel who was giving him bunny ears. She glanced over at Sora, her blue-violet eyes wide. Wordlessly, she handed the photo over to Sora, who had no qualms about gasping and yelling, "He looks like me!"
Axel chuckled. "I told you. You and Roxas could be twins."
"He looks so happy." Sora said, his voice growing soft. "You really are best friends, aren't you?"
"That was taken right before I started my freshman year." Axel said. "Back when he smiled and laughed freely." He gently took the photo back from Sora and caressed the edges of it with his long fingers.
"What happened?" Kairi asked gently.
"I don't know." Axel said honestly. "I mean, I got to high school and made a few new friends, but I called him every day after school and hung out with him on weekends when I wasn't loaded down with homework." He smiled. "He'll be a freshman this year."
"So he's fourteen like me and Sora?" Kairi asked, her brow furrowed. "That's rather odd, isn't it? That he looks like Sora and is the same age. You don't have a twin, do you, Sora?"
"'Course not." Sora said. He smiled and went one. "I have enough trouble just trying to find Riku again. Could you imagine if there was someone else I had to find?"
Kairi laughed. "I imagine you'd do fine, Sora. Anyway, how old are you, Axel? There has to be at least a year between you and Roxas."
"Two, actually." Axel said. "I turned sixteen three months ago."
Sora grinned. "You're even older than Riku!" He poked Axel in the side, making the redhead jump. "Oldie."
Axel rolled his eyes and ruffled Sora's hair for the umpteenth time. "Quiet you. Don't torment your superiors."
Kairi can't help but snort and then cover it up by laughing. "Sorry, Axel, but you're about as superior as Demyx over there." She waved her hand in the direction of the blond boy, who was crying on Naminé's shoulder. She covered her mouth to hide her smile and then looked back to Axel and Sora. "I'm going to go help Naminé before Demyx somehow manages to flood us."
"With what? Tears?" Axel scoffed.
"Quiet, you." Kairi said, prodding his side.
Axel jumped again and swatted her hand away. "Don't do that!"
A devious glean enetered Sora's eyes and he quickly prodded Axel's side, eliciting a yelp from him. Giggling, Kairi left Axel to Sora's mercy, hoping the two wouldn't start fighting again.
Sora teased Axel about his sensitive side for a few minutes before Axel began to turn the tables and gain the upper hand.
"You know," The redhead began in a conversational tone. A smirk played on his lips and a cunning shine appeared in his eyes. "Roxas is really ticklish." His smile grew broader when he saw Sora stiffen and look at him wearily. Axel turned his body so he was facing Sora and prepared himself to quickly grab Sora before he could get away. "Shall we find out how ticklish you are?"
Sora tried his best to get up quickly, but Axel saw it coming and quickly tackled him to the floor and pinned him there with little effort. He sat down on the boy's back and carefully switched to one hand to hold Sora's hands behind his back. That left one hand free for tickling.
"Now, I've got Sora pinned to the ground and one free hand to do whatever. What ever shall I do?" He mused out loud.
Sora started to wiggle to try and get free, but found it impossible to move Axel. Kairi, Demyx, and Naminé watched them from the other side of the room, ready to step in if things get out of hand.
Axel leaned down to whisper in Sora's ear and his long, spiky hair fell over his shoulders to obscure his face. "Now, you wouldn't be trying to escape, now would you?" He asked. "I'll have to punish you now."
Sora's wiggling began again when Axel started tickling him. The redhead managed to hit every single one of his ticklish spots and soon he was laughing so hard that he was crying.
"Stop!" Sora gasped through laughter. "Axel, please!"
"Say 'Axel is the greatest'." Axel said, letting up a little.
"A-Axel's the greatest!" Sora rasped.
Axel stopped tickling him and got up. He waited for Sora to catch his breath and then he helped the smaller boy up. "Now you know not to poke me in the side unless you want to be tickled."
Sora looked up at him. "Truce?" He asked.
Still holding Sora's hand, Axel shook it with a grin. "Truce." He agreed.
Traverse Town was quiet when they arrived. It was the first time the seven had arrived at a world during the night, so the silence came as a surprise to them. Aerith came out to greet them and ushered them into the shop so they could talk. Yuffie was in there sitting on the counter, swinging her legs. Leon was over in a corner talking to Cid.
"What's going on?" Demyx asked. It was one of the few times he had seen them all in the same room and all of the other times it was because something was wrong.
"We found a report on the heartless." Aerith said. "It was written by a man named Ansem who lived in Hollow Bastion and conducted experiments on hearts. All of it was written in code and it's taken us until now to translate it. If you want to talk a look it's over there on the counter." She gestured to it and frowned at Yuffie but didn't make her get down.
"By the way, Merlin wants to see Naminé, Sora, and Donald real quick." Yuffie spoke up. "I ran into him in 3rd during patrol and he told me that when you guys get back to send you to him."
Naminé bit her lower lip. "Do you know what it's about?" She asked.
"Nope. He didn't say." Yuffie said. "Nothing too urgent, or else he would have had Cid contact you guys to ask you to come back here."
"Okay." Naminé said before looking over at Sora and Donald. "Do you guys want to go now or wait until you read the report?"
Sora looked hopefully at Kairi. "Fill me in when I get back?" He asked.
Kairi nodded. "Of course. Don't take too long."
"And be careful." Leon added. "There have been more heartless than usual. Don't let your guard down."
"No worries." Sora assured them. He gave them a smile and summoned his keyblade before he, Naminé, and Donald left the shop to walk out to Merlin's house in Third District. As they left, Demyx walked over to the counter and picked up the bundle of papers and began to read the first one aloud.
"Much of my life has been dedicated to pursuit of knowledge. That knowledge has guarded this world well. Not a soul doubts that. I am blessed with people's smiles and respect…" He continued reading the rest of the first one and then Kairi took the papers to read the second one. Axel was next and then Goofy and then they started over until they got to the last one.
"When the heart casts off the flesh, where does the body go? Heart and soul are separate, and the spirit remains in the body. But can we assume that the leftover body and soul perish? Certainly when the heart changes into a Heartless the body disappears. However, that is only this world's story; in another world, mightn't they change forms like the Heartless and exist there? If we take that to be the case, there must be a you other than yourself existing somewhere. An existence neither of darkness nor of light. An in-between existence. Cast off by the heart, a mere shell, one who begrudges both the darkness and the light. This mystery cannot be easily resolved. The relationship between the heart and the flesh is a complex one. But since we exist here, they cannot be termed as existent. Therefore I shall call them... 'The non-existent ones.'." Demyx read.
"What does this mean?" Kairi asked no one in particular. "The non-existent ones… How can there be two of the same person at the same time? It doesn't seem possible."
"But there could be another you if you lost your heart." Demyx pointed out. "It said earlier that those who lost their hearts disappeared, so if they disappeared and turned into a heartless then there can be another you." He blinked in confusion. "That made much better sense in my head."
Kairi shook her head. "No. It made sense." She looked over at Aerith. "What world was he from? Do you know?"
"She told us before, Kairi." Axel remarked. "Hollow Bastion, remember? Weird name for a world, if you ask me. Is there any way to get to the world or has it been destroyed?" He asked. "If we can get there, maybe we can find the answers we need. End it where it began or something."
"It's still around." Cid told them. "The heartless use it as a breeding ground."
"If that's the case then you need to be prepared." Leon spoke up. "The heartless there will be stronger than any you have ever faced. The world has grown weak and you'll have to fight your way through hoards of them to get anywhere."
Kairi easily summoned her keyblade, smiling when she felt the familiar hum of the weapon. "Then we'll have to train until we're ready. There are plenty of heartless around here that we can fight and we can always fly out to Olympus Coliseum." Her eyes flickered to Leon for a moment and she sneakily added, "And maybe Cloud will be around to give us some tips."
Leon tensed up, his eyes widening a fraction at the mention of the blond man's name. "C-Cloud?" He asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "How-?" He stopped and cleared his throat, banishing any unnecessary emotion. "How do you know Cloud?" He asked calmly.
"We met him in Olympus, right?" Goofy asked. "Sora and Donald fought him for a while before that big dog came in and snatched him up!"
Leon visibly paled.
"But then we all rushed in and fought the dog." Goofy continued, unaware of the effect his words were having on the tall brunet. "Kairi here shot some energy at the dog and we got Cloud out. And then Hercules went in and got rid of the dog while we went inside."
"Did it really have three heads?" Yuffie asked almost excitedly. She looked taken aback by the confused and curious looks she received. "What? Cerberus is the three-headed dog that guards the Underworld. I do read, you know. I'm not dumb."
"Yeah, it had three heads." Axel said. "And if the next word out of your mouth is 'cool' then all I've got to say is no, not cool. Fighting a three-headed dog that wants to eat you and can spit balls of hellfire is not cool at all. And I'm immune to most fire!"
"Is Cloud okay?" Leon couldn't help but ask.
"The last time we saw him he looked fine." Kairi assured him before she yawned and leaned back against the counter. Her keyblade disappeared in a shower of colorful sparkles.
Aerith zeroed in on Kairi's sleepiness right away and whisked the auburn-haired girl away to bed first. Then she returned to show Axel and Demyx to their beds.
Naminé, Donald, and Sora didn't return until the next morning and when they did it was to find Axel and Demyx holding a mock battle in the court square. Yuffie and Leon were standing on the sidelines shouting advice while Donald and Goofy occasionally caused interference to make sure the two were paying attention to their surroundings.
Demyx spun his humming blue energy as he ducked and dodged the fire and chakrams that Axel threw at him. The energy danced around his fingertips before growing and flowing down his arm in looping, spiraling patterns. It felt cool against his skin and helped him stay calm and focused while Axel's attacks grew wilder. Once the energy was built up enough, he directed his hand toward Axel and pushed the energy toward him.
In a matter of seconds the redhead found himself all the way across the court square laying flat on his back. Sitting up, he found himself soaked to the bone.
Demyx didn't look at all tired and was even humming as he wrapped new energy down his arm and made water bubbles float around him. He fed even more energy into one of the water bubbles and used it to form a water clone of himself. Laughing, he made it dance around the square.
"Now's not the time for playing!" Axel yelled, staggering to his feet. He wiped his wet hair from his eyes and concentrated on summoning his fire to dry himself off. In a matter of seconds, he was dry. Smirking, he summoned a chakram and threw it at Demyx's water clone, making the thing burst and fall apart. The next thing he knew, he was surrounded by ten water clones that were attacking him. "DEMYX!" He yelled, easily slicing through them. They were more annoying than anything else and they wouldn't go away!
"That's for destroying my water clone." The blond said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"What are you guys doing?" Sora asked, walking up beside Leon. He looked up at the older brunet, figuring he'd at least get an answer from him. "Why are those two fighting? Did Demyx wake Axel up by dumping water on him again?"
It was Yuffie who replied. "Nope. They're training for when you guys go to Hollow Bastion." She said cheerfully. "I didn't think Demyx was such a good fighter. I mean, I guess it's not really fair pitting water against fire, but still."
Naminé watched as Axel managed to dry up all of the water with a massive fire blast and then zero in on Demyx and launch an all-out attack on him. Ignoring Demyx's squeals of fright and then Axel's yelp of pain when Demyx formed a water whip and smacked him with it, Naminé turned to face Yuffie and asked, "Where's Kairi?"
"Inside, I think." The raven-haired girl said. "What happened to her hair, anyway? It was so pretty and long before!"
"We were in Halloween Town and this weird mummy-like heartless snuck up on her and sliced her hair off." Sora said. "We noticed it in time for Kairi to move out of the way of getting hurt, but-- WHOA!" He stared past Yuffie, his mouth agape.
Naminé and Yuffie turned around to see what Sora was looking at. It was Kairi and Aerith, although it took them a moment to realize it was Kairi. Her hair was cut even shorter and was more like Yuffie's and she was wearing a white tank top and a pretty, knee-length pink skirt that had a slit up both sides. Underneath she wore a pair of black shorts. Her old sneakers had been replaced by a pair of worn, black leather boots. She was still wearing her glasses though.
"Wow, Kairi, you look really pretty." Sora said.
Kairi blushed and self-consciously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Really?" She asked hopefully. "I don't wear skirts often. I look weird in them."
"You look fine!" Sora insisted. "Right, Naminé? Donald? She looks really pretty!"
Naminé nodded. "It suits you, Kairi. Pink is a good color on you."
Kairi looked surprised. "My friend always told me pink clashes with my hair, so I never wear it."
"I think your friend was mistaken." Goofy said. "Sora and Naminé are right, it looks good on you."
Kairi smiled. "Thanks, guys. I'll get used to it soon. It'll just take me a little while." She looked over at Demyx and Axel and stifled a laugh when she saw that Demyx was chasing Axel around screaming, "Dance to the beat!"
"Those two are still at it?" Aerith asked. "They'll be exhausted by lunch. Oh!" Her eyes widened and her hand flew to her mouth. "I forgot all about lunch! I need to get started." She hurried back into the shop, leaving the others to watch Demyx and Axel.
Kairi, Sora, Naminé, Donald, and Goofy sat down in the grass to talk and were soon joined by Yuffie. At first they just talked about how nice it was to be in a safe world where they wouldn't have to constantly worry about being attacked. Then it turned to more serious matters, namely, Ansem's report.
"It's kind of confusing to understand." Kairi admitted when Naminé asked what was in the reports. "Basically, Ansem was a scientist living in Hollow Bastion and he conducted experiments on hearts. That's how he found out about heartless. And then later he created artificial heartless, but that was after he studied them for a long time and found out they were attracted to people's hearts. He let one loose in his castle and followed it and it led him to a door he had never seen before. He called it the door to the heart's world." She explained. "He opened the door and that night there was a meteor shower."
"I remember that!" Yuffie exclaimed. "It was a long time ago, but I still remember it. Me and Leon and Aerith sat outside and watched it. It was really funny because a piece of one of them fell on Leon's head. Actually, that's how we got our first gummi block."
"Anyway, after that he made a machine so he could make artificial heartless. I think he put some kind of symbol on them. Do you remember, Goofy?" Kairi asked.
Goofy nodded. "The report said he marked the ones he created."
Kairi smiled gratefully at him and then continued. "He was visited by a king of another world who told him about gummi blocks and interworld travel and the keyblade. Ansem seemed really interested in the keyblade, like he wanted it for himself. And…" She paused for a moment. "There's a legend behind the keyblade."
"The wielder saved the worlds or brought ruin and chaos down upon them." Naminé recited. "Is that the one?"
Kairi nodded. "Yeah. And after the visit from the king, he became obsessed with the idea of the keyblade and traveling to different worlds. That's when he… he cast aside his body and went into the darkness."
"He gave up his heart." Naminé murmured. "That makes sense. Much better sense than what I thought before." She got up and paced a little, ignoring the confused looks from her friends. "He didn't disappear and the world didn't fall. He gave up his heart and became a heartless and the heartless are using Hollow Bastion as a breeding ground of sorts. They see it as home." She paused and looked at Kairi. "What did it say about the princesses?"
Kairi looked taken aback and had to think a moment about the last three reports. "Umm… he said that the princesses were tied closely together with the keyblades and that they probably resonate with each other." Her brow furrowed. "I think he picked a girl in Hollow Bastion and sent her to another world as an experiment, hoping she had the same qualities as the princesses and would automatically go to the keyblade wielder."
The six were silent for a moment.
"So… do either of you remember anyone just appearing in your worlds when you were younger?" Yuffie asked. "'Cause if you do, then that girl is the princess of Hollow Bastion."
Sora shook his head. "Nope. And I would have heard about it too. Destiny Islands is pretty small. News travels fast. What about you, Kai?"
Kairi shook her head. "No. And I would have noticed too. I lived in an orphanage until I was seven."
"Hey, imagine if Kairi were the princess." Yuffie said, giggling.
Kairi rolled her eyes. "Yeah, because that would make so much sense." She said sarcastically. "I don't like skirts and dresses. Do I even look like a princess to you?"
"Well…" Yuffie leaned closer to Kairi, as if wanted a better look. "I don't know. I've never met any other princess." She sat back with a grin. "But I bet you'd make a great princess! Who cares if you don't like skirts and dresses. You can be a unique princess who doesn't play the part of the damsel in distress. What do you think, Sora?"
Sora nodded. "Yeah! That'd be neat!"
"Don't we have other things to worry about?" Kairi asked, trying to change the subject. "Like training? If we're going to Hollow Bastion we need to be ready. Leon said that the place will be overrun with heartless." She got up and looked at Yuffie. "Train with me?" She asked.
Overjoyed, Yuffie agreed and soon the girls were heading off to second district to fight heartless. While those two fought heartless, Leon broke apart Demyx and Axel and paired Axel up with Sora and Demyx up with Naminé. Donald and Goofy went off to the side to train on their own.
After a while Aerith called them in for lunch and they discussed what to do next. Axel and Sora wanted to leave for Hollow Bastion right away, but Kairi wanted to spend a little more time resting and getting some training done. They reached a compromise when Naminé told them it would take at least two days to gather all of the supplies they would need.
For the next two days the seven rested and trained as much as they could and enjoyed their time together. Their trip to Hollow Bastion could end up being the place where they find out all of the answers to their questions and show the pathway home and to their friends. Naminé in particular seemed determined to spend as much time with her friends as possible.
The two days passed quickly and all too soon they were crowded up in the gummi ship again and flying out to Hollow Bastion using the warp drive. It wouldn't take them long to reach their destination.
End Chapter
I think seven pages is a good length for a chapter, don't you? Man, I had fun with this one. Between Axel having a stress attack and me getting to write the Demyx vs. Axel "fight" scene, I don't know which was my favorite part to write. Maybe the whole Axel tickling Sora scene.
This one feels more like a filler chapter, but it's got lots of important things in it too. And I got to work with Demyx a little more. (huggles Demyx) He's so much fun!
Anyway, next chapter they arrive at Hollow Bastion and more fun stuff happens. I actually meant to get to Hollow Bastion in this chapter, but I like the way this turned out more. The next chapter should be another long one. Unless I suffer massive writers block and find myself unable to write fight scenes. I think I'm getting better at it. A little.
In completely non-story related news: I'm going to a convention later this month! (dances in place) I'm so happy! I just hope I can get a costume together. At this point I'm probably going to go as KH2 Rikku unless I miraculously manage to find stretchy polyester-nylon white fabric to do a Naminé dress. The convention is SheVaCon. Anyone else going? Or even heard of it?