Disclaimer: I don't own KHII...
Note: There's not much to say about this one I guess… Except that I am finally having fun with it, after such a long break.
Chapter Six
Axel's profanity filled shouting could be heard echoing down the streets of Hollow Bastion, the thick walls hardly muffling it at all. Yuffie leaned miserably against the opposite wall, hands over her ears and weary eyes watching his every movement as he slammed furniture around and knocked over piles of Merlin's books. Riku didn't appear to even notice the red headed man's fury, as he sat motionless beside Yuffie in the dimly lit room.
Leon stood silently beside Aerith, who looked like she might burst into tears at any moment. As Axel stalked past them again she held out a shaky hand, then quickly pulled it back as Leon shook his head at her.
Sora was once again hiding in the corner with his head in his hands, mumbling quietly to himself.
Finally, with one last painful stream of curses, Axel slammed his fists against the wall and rested his head there for a long time.
After a few quiet minutes, Sora looked up, his eyes filled with pain and desperation.
"Why would they do that?" He whispered sadly. "Why would they just do that to her? They didn't try to use her for leverage or anything!" His voice raised a bit and as Axel spun on him angrily he jumped to his feet.
"Don't you get it?!" Axel shouted at the boy, the fury in his voice no longer having any effect on them.
"They didn't want Kairi!" He shouted, punching the wall again and ignoring it as a stream of blood dripped down to the floor. Sora's eyes were suddenly filled with confusion, and Riku sighed heavily.
"They wanted Namine." Axel sighed, letting his back hit the wall as he slid to the floor.
Riku was the only one that didn't seem surprised by this, and Sora stepped toward him quickly.
"Namine? Why?" He asked, hoping Axel was wrong somehow.
He glared up at him with piercing green eyes.
"Why do you think? She's more powerful than any Nobody they've ever come across. She's their last chance!" He spat. Riku finally glanced over at them.
"But Namine never wanted anything to do with the Organization. Do you think..?" He trailed off as Sora's questioning gaze fell on him.
"That they found a way to control her? I think that's a pretty good bet at this point." Axel said heavily. Riku closed his eyes for a long time and Aerith's eyes welled up with tears.
"That poor girl…" She whimpered, turning to bury her face in Leon's chest. He flinched noticeably, but didn't push her away as everyone's eyes fell on her. He sighed and looked over to Axel.
"So what are we going to do?" He asked quietly. Everyone was quiet until Riku finally spoke.
"Obviously, we can't just ignore this. We need a plan." He said, staring harshly at Axel.
"No, they'll be expecting a plan. They're counting on Sora doing something to get her back. We need to get close to her, but she'll be able to see whatever we do through Sora's memories." Axel said quietly.
Realization dawned in Riku's eyes, and they both looked over to Sora.
"Axel, I'd like to see you outside for a moment." Riku said slowly, not looking away from Sora's confused gaze.
x:X:x
"Are you sure about this?" Axel mumbled in an irritated voice. He glared down at Sora as they walked along.
The ruins at the bottom of the Dark Depths loomed into view, and Riku's face mirrored the worry Axel felt.
"What if something happens? What if she's still here?" Axel asked quickly.
"Then maybe we can get through to her." Sora said in determination. Axel shook his head.
"Reason with a Heartless? Have you lost your mind?" He bit back sharply. "What if something happens and we have to fight? You want to hurt her?"
"Of course not! But this is our best shot at finding the Organization!" Sora glared back up at him with such force that Axel actually stopped in his tracks in surprise.
"Don't worry, if something happens we can run. We don't have to fight her." Riku assured him. Axel wasn't convinced, but stopped pressing anyway.
They paused at the edge of the ruins and watched as Sora walked in unaffected by the heavy darkness hanging in the air around them.
Riku and Axel exchanged a glance for a moment before Riku followed his best friend, and Axel sighed and muttered a curse under his breath.
The hallways were nearly black, and Axel trailed a hand along the wall as he listened to the footsteps ahead of him. After several long minutes of wandering through the dark, a dim light began to brighten up the halls and he could see Sora and Riku stopped at the doorway up ahead. The room on the other side was illuminated by a few shreds of light filtering in through the holes in the ceiling, and as he drew up beside them Riku motioned for him to be quiet.
He followed his gaze and could see two dark forms on the other side of the room talking quietly.
It didn't take long before a deep chuckle reached their ears and Sora's name could be heard across the room. A portal opened and the larger figure stepped back into it as the other turned and put their hands on their hips.
"You've got to be kidding…" A female voice reached them, and Axel glanced over as the keyblade appeared in Sora's hands.
Sora launched himself at the figure as an entertained and rather malicious giggle cut through the air, and Axel turned to look over at Riku.
"Well. That was pretty easy."
"Is that Larxene?" Riku asked. Axel nodded.
"Yea, this must be a pretty important place if they left her here to watch it." Axel replied with the distaste evident in his voice.
They watched as Larxene matched every strike of the keyblade, dancing gracefully out of the way and occasionally lashing out when he got too close. It was clear that she was enjoying herself, and after a few moments Sora began to slow down as thin lines of blood appeared on his skin. Riku sighed.
"I thought he was getting better, I guess he's just distracted. Time to step in I guess." He muttered to Axel, his own keyblade appearing as he began to walked forward.
He stopped abruptly in surprise as Axel loomed in front of him. A thin metal pipe was clutched in one hand and he stared down at Riku seriously.
"I'm sorry, but I can't let you interfere."
Riku stared up at him in shock.
"What?" He asked flatly. Axel just shook his head.
"I've gone through too much because of Sora, did you really think I could just forget about it?" His voice was filled with venom and Riku just stared at him.
"You want the Organization to win? All this time, you just wanted to find a way to beat Sora, knowing you couldn't do it on your own?" Riku's voice was low, and he struggled to hold back the hysterical laugh building up in his chest.
Axel didn't respond, but took up a fighting stance when Riku tried to take another step forward.
"You're out of your mind." Riku spat, pushing past the older man as he hurried to help his best friend.
Sora and Larxene both stopped in surprise as the cry of pain reached their ears, looking over to see Riku sprawled on the ground clutching the side of his head in pain. Blood trickled down through his fingers and dripped onto the floor, and Sora's eyes widened in horror.
"Riku!" He dashed to his friend's side, and Axel jumped back as he swung the keyblade at him dangerously.
Axel watched with emotionless eyes as Sora tried to haul his friend to his feet, not even moving when Larxene's hand fell on his shoulder.
Her gut-wrenching laughter murmured in his ear and she sighed.
"Oh Axel, that was too good. I'd love to stay and play some more, but I think Marluxia is going to want to talk to you."
Sora shouted after him as he let Larxene lead him through the portal, and he missed the amused grin that crossed Riku's face.
x:X:x
Larxene was dancing. Axel watched in slight disgust as she pranced through the portal and came to a stop a few feet away, hands on her hips and a smug grin across her face. The room she stood in was dimly lit, the only source of light seemed to come in through the wide window that made up the left wall. It was nearly empty, except for a desk to the right and a low bookshelf. It was hard to miss the dark outline against the window that turned to gaze heavily at them.
"Look who I found!" She said in a low voice, turning to look back again as Axel stepped cautiously into the room.
Marluxia turned slowly, his eyes slightly doubtful as he looked Axel up and down. After a few tense moments he sighed and gave Larxene a sharp look.
"He has his heart, Larxene. You should have retreated and called Saix." He said flatly before turning back to the window.
Larxene looked shocked for a moment, then anger began to bubble up to the surface.
"Axel was one of the strongest of us, we need him." She said quietly. Marluxia turned to look at her again and a sneer crossed his face.
"And did you stop to think at all that maybe bringing him here would be a mistake? Look at him, he's powerless! The only use we have for him now is if he has any new information on Sora that Namine missed." He spat at her. Larxene's face fell and electricity crackled around her knuckles.
"Yes, actually, I did think about it. Would it really be so difficult to make him into a Nobody again?" She asked quietly.
Axel's eyes widened slightly and he fought to keep his breathing even. Marluxia snorted in amusement.
End of Chapter Six
Note: I'm sorry this chapter was so ridiculously short! It just seemed awkward to run right into what's going on next chapter so I ended it here. But don't worry, the next chapter is almost done already so it's not going to be another horrible long wait…
