A/N: So I realized that I have been so out of touch with writing fanfiction until a month ago that I haven't been putting any disclaimers on my stories. So to make up for this error, I shall put it in all caps: I DON'T OWN KINGDOM HEARTS OR POWER RANGERS. Now that this particular detail has been dealt with I shall address the fact that I do not own the House of Darkling either. People asked for planet-hopping - I give you the beginning of several chapters of planet-hopping. Enjoy
On any given day whenever Axel woke up he was always instantly aware of his surroundings. There was no slow movement from a half-sleep state - he was just instantly awake. So it was a bit of a shock for him when he had to fight just to open his eyes. He had a feeling his current state could be attributed to the warm body curled against his side. The red-head would almost say it was cute if he didn't think the blond would eviscerate him. Roxas shifted in his sleep and Axel winced at the pressure placed on his bladder, a certain pressing need (no pun intended) making itself known. Axel gently extracted himself and disappeared into the bathroom. As he re-entered the room he had to bite back a laugh at the sight that greeted him. Roxas had rolled over onto the warm spot left by Axel and had cocooned himself in the blankets. The peaceful scene was cut short as the alarm Axel had set the night before began chirping. A low groan emitted from beneath the mountain of blankets before a hand shot out, blindly groping for the alarm clock.
"Kill it!" Roxas ordered, trying to hit the snooze button without actually leaving his haven of warmth. When all the blond succeeded in doing was knocking the beeping alarm clock to the floor, Axel intervened on behalf of the poor clock.
"I bet your mother had a hell of a time trying to wake you up for school," Axel muttered, swooping down and picking the screeching alarm clock up.
"Why do you even have an alarm clock set?" The blankets demanded.
"Because it's a working holiday." Axel stated, switching the alarm clock off and replacing the clock on the nightstand. "No one said you had to get up but you do have to give me my side of the bed back."
"You can have your side back after I get coffee," the blankets retorted. Knowing not to press his luck, Axel padded his way to the kitchen. When he got back to their room, the bundle of blankets had morphed into Roxas sitting in the middle of the bed, blankets pooled around his waist and blearily rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands.
"Well, there's half of you at any rate," Axel greeted, leaning against the doorway.
"Bite me." Roxas responded and Axel grinned.
"Darling, you really should know better than to suggest something that I might consider as foreplay."
"Forgive me; I momentarily forgot who I was talking to. Now hand over the coffee before I inflict grievous bodily harm." Roxas responded dryly, rolling his eyes. Axel snorted but relinquished the coffee mug and Roxas sighed as he shifted back onto his side of the bed. "What's on the agenda today?" he asked, mouth stretching wide in a yawn.
"Well, I think between you and Kairi I've been dragged all over this island. I've already re-written the opening sequence of this book five different times so unless you absolutely object I think it's high time me move on to our next world."
"I absolutely object. In fact, I'm offended you would even suggest such a thing. You're a cruel, heartless man." Roxas stated, sipping his coffee. Axel rolled his eyes as he dug his suitcase out of the closet. He froze half-way through the act of putting it on the bed.
"Heartless…" he murmured. Roxas looked at him inquiringly but Axel paid him no mind, instead chewing thoughtfully on his bottom lip. After a few moments he shook his head and roused himself from his thoughts. "Come on, drink your coffee and get packed."
They had an early lunch with Riku and Sora before heading to the ship and Axel was pleasantly surprised to find himself included in the round of good-bye hugs and was informed that he was expected to be in attendance at Sora and Riku's wedding.
"Know where you're heading next?" Riku asked Axel. The four men were killing time before boarding the ship and Roxas and Sora were taking the opportunity to finish filling each other in on everything that had happened since they last saw each other. Riku and Axel had formed a brotherly attachment during the visit and Axel liked to joke that it was because the brothers often left them to their own devices while they caught up.
"Probably to Traverse Town," Axel stated. "Seems as good a place as any to start."
"Kairi gave me a message for you, since she was called in to work. She said, 'When you get to Traverse Town, look for the house of Darkling.' Supposedly there's something there that will make it easier to travel between worlds." Riku explained, shrugging in a way that clearly stated, 'I have no idea what goes on in that girl's head.' Axel shrugged as well and both men grinned.
"Alright, what are you two smiling about?" Sora demanded, finishing his conversation with Roxas and rejoining Axel and Riku's. Axel opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by an elbow to the ribs.
"Keep your inappropriate responses to yourself." Roxas told him, pretending like he hadn't just assaulted the taller man.
"Damn, shorty, watch where you stick those things." Axel grumbled, rubbing his side. Any further conversation was cut off by the pilot's call to board the ship. With last minute promises to visit more often their group disbanded and Axel and Roxas headed to Traverse Town.
The first thing that struck Roxas about this world was the lack of light. Roxas felt like he had stepped back in time. The streets of Traverse Town were made of cobblestone and the buildings were built in a Victorian style. The majority of the light came from lamp-posts but an occasional neon sign was thrown into the mix. It was, Roxas thought, an eclectic mix of old with new. And it worked. It was only when Axel had checked them into the hotel that Roxas learned that the town had two more districts. They decided to dump their stuff in their room and tackle District One first.
Exiting the hotel, both men cast a look around District One. They were standing in a courtyard with houses to the front and right of them. To their left were stairs leading up to another section of the district. As neat and as pristine as the place was kept, Roxas couldn't help put feel that this place was a dismal one to live in full-time.
"Who would live here?" he asked, more to himself than to Axel. The red-head shrugged.
"It's affordable housing for a lot of people. If worlds ever do get destroyed Traverse Town could very well become a safe haven for a lot of people." Axel paused as he realized what he said and he quickly scribbled down his thoughts in his battered notebook. Roxas opened his mouth to ask a question but changed his mind, trailing after the writer as he began to prowl the streets, sneaking into back alleyways in an effort to strip away the town's secrets.
"Axel, slow the fuck down! You're not batman!" the blond groused, quickly turning a corner and sprinting to catch up with his companion. Concentrating on matching Axel's longer stride, Roxas didn't notice when his companion stopped and he barreled into the taller man.
"Why, Roxas! I knew I could get you to pounce me one day," Axel teased. Roxas placed his hands on the red-head's chest and pushed himself up, glaring down at the pyromaniac from where he sat straddling Axel's lap.
"Axel, I'm in a perfect position to throttle you and I assure you, I will thoroughly enjoy it. Don't test me."
"Upsy-daisy, then," Axel responded, patting Roxas' side. "I promise I'm done stalking the streets; I just want to check out the shops." Roxas stood and moved to help the pyromaniac up but Axel rolled back onto his shoulders and pushed himself off the ground, landing on his feet. Roxas' eyes narrowed and he re-evaluated what he knew about the writer. He knew the red-head hadn't served in any type of military but the move he'd just displayed spoke of some sort of training. By the time Axel brushed off his clothes and turned back around to Roxas the blond had schooled his features back to his usual unimpressed face. "C'mon, I want to have a quick chat with the owner of the accessory shop."
The "quick chat" occupied the rest of their evening. It just so happened that the owner of the shop was a highly skilled engineer and pilot who had, amazingly enough, the patience to answer each and every question Axel posed to him. By the time Roxas had finally managed to drag a resisting Axel from the shop, night had set in and any more exploring had to be put off until tomorrow.
For as tired as he was, Roxas woke surprisingly early the next morning but Axel had still beaten him up. He took his time in the shower – letting the hot water massage away the aches in his legs from the day before. He silently swore that he'd kill Axel if he tried to run around like a crazy person again. He shut off the water and haphazardly dried himself before dressing and going in search of breakfast. He was halfway through his plate of French Toast when Axel mysteriously appeared in the chair across from him.
"Good, you're up. We need to book it through Districts Two and Three. I think I know where I can find the Darkling house Kairi was talking about." Axel stated, his hands rapping out an uneven rhythm on the table in his excitement.
"Axel, you try moving at the speed you were yesterday and my legs are going to fall off. And what about what?" Roxas scowled across the table at the red-head. He hadn't had his coffee yet and he really wanted to finish his breakfast. "Besides, I thought you were taking notes. How are you going to write things down if you're just barreling through?" Axel waved away Roxas' concerns.
"I've been out already. I took down the notes I needed and I've been talking to Cid."
"Cid?" Roxas asked, his annoyance at being left out replaced with a need to know who the hell Axel was talking about.
"The accessory shop owner. We talked to him yesterday." Axel responded, debating how much bodily injury he would sustain if he tried to steal a bite of the blond's breakfast.
"You talked to him yesterday. And he never mentioned his name."
"Well, his name's Cid," Axel cheekily responded, snagging the last half-piece of Roxas' breakfast. The blond swatted his hand away, but let the taller man keep the piece of French Toast.
"So you decided to go back and bug him again today. That's nice of you."
"I needed to find out what he knew about the house of Darkling."
"The hell is that?" Roxas asked, procuring himself a cup of coffee before following Axel out of the hotel.
"It's the house Kairi told me about." Axel explained, sprinting up the stairs and taking the path to the left of Cid's accessory shop.
"You and Kairi seem to talk about an awful lot," Roxas muttered, a bit more loudly than he had intended to. Luckily, Axel was too busy talking himself.
"It's supposedly an in-between world, kind of like the World that Never Was. But the interesting thing about Darkling House is that it acts like a gateway to other worlds. It'll save us a hell of a lot of travel time if we can just use this place to move around instead of having to fly from world to world," Axel explained. Roxas just nodded his head. He wasn't really listening – instead he was trying to take in the sights he had apparently missed this morning.
They had passed through the gates into the District Two. This district was larger than District One, though the building style was still the same. The shops and houses were raised above street level and were all connected. The street itself was "L"-shaped, and Roxas almost felt tempted to walk down and investigate himself. He noted a boots and shoes store right next to a dress and suit shop with a giant head covered by an enormous green hat nailed above it. In front of them was a large white building with a clock tower which Roxas could only assume was the City Hall. Instead, he trailed into the alley after Axel. Noticing that he was falling behind, Roxas sped up and caught up to Axel right as he pushed opened the gates to District Three.
Roxas stood in the middle of District Three and watched as Axel began examining the area. Roxas himself had cast a cursory glance around, but aside from a ledge he couldn't get to there was nothing that really caught his attention. Axel was poking around some broken electrical conduit until he moved across the way. Roxas focused his attention on the red-head when Axel began preparations for a fire.
"What are you doing?!" the blond demanded, grabbing the writer's lighter.
"Relax, blondie," Axel drawled, plucking the lighter out of Roxas' hand with his index and middle finger. "It's not going to hurt anything. It's just a different way to unlock a door." He knelt down flicked the lighter, letting a small flame erupt. He held the lighter at the base of the door, only moving once the wood began to crackle. With a large burst of smoke, red streaks erupted throughout the door and it swung open with a loud 'click'.
"How did you know to do that?"
"I used to live here." Axel told him, pocketing his lighter without looking at the blond. He quickly walked through the door before Roxas could ask any questions and the blond had no choice but to follow him.
There was a majestic ancient oak tree, it's roots creating a massive cage. What was held within that cage was obscured by a massive patch of fog. Though it had been mid-day when Axel had unlocked the fire door, as the two men walked into the mist, the moon now hung low in the sky. Roxas felt oppressed by the forest and even Axel, who was leading the way, began casting furtive glances around. Roxas would have liked to ask the red-head if he knew where he was going, but he was afraid of the answer that he might receive. Just as Roxas was going to suggest turning back, the trees began to thin and they stepped into a small orchard though the type of fruit they were growing was unknown to the blond. He stepped forward and picked a low-hanging piece of fruit about the size and shape of a grapefruit, bringing it closer to examine. Before he could get a good look the fruit quivered and twisted, arms, legs and head wrenching themselves free. Roxas gave a shout of disgust and dropped the thing on the ground. As the blond backed away the thing flipped itself onto its stomach, shuffling itself around like a turtle on speed. Roxas eyed it warily; it smiled at him, showing thin, sharp teeth. The young man took a step back but before he could do anything else Axel appeared and grabbed his wrist, pulling the smaller man around the creature and toward the house. They passed through a formidable, ornate iron gate which was twined with ivy and Roxas tugged himself free – both to catch his breath and to take in the sight.
A circular driveway framed a fountain unlike anything either man had ever seen. Metal rods protruded out of a dark hole in the earth, all of them different heights, while pale blue swaths of liquid light bounced from one pole to another, cascading back into the black pit in a shower of electric sparks. Beyond the fountain were the massive double-doors which would allow them entrance to the House of Darkling.
"We're going in there?" Roxas asked, unenthused.
"Come on, Roxas, where's your sense of adventure?" Axel asked, not moving himself.
"I think I left it with my sense of self-preservation." Roxas retorted but he grabbed Axel's hand and allowed himself to be led into house.
~Review~