Title: Last Train
Author: nikki_ntm
Beta reader: Shattered Apocalypse
Chapters: 8/20
Genre: Drama/Adventure/Suspense
Rating: M for language, violence and disturbing themes such as bullying, crime and disease.
Characters: Axel, Saïx, Larxene and Marluxia amongst others (Lea, Isa, Seifer and Org. 13).
Pairings: Implied past/present/future pairings, mainly past Axel/Larxene, current Leon/Arlene, and implied one-sided Isa/Lea.
Setting: Modern Japan (yakuza-themed)

x

Chapter 8: The Buried Dog

The old wood squeaked underneath his weight as he tried to navigate down the long hallway without being noticed. This building hadn't been difficult to find – it was one of the few rundown buildings that had been under renovation for three years. The facade of the building had been covered with plastic sheets and a not so discreet sign saying "Keep out!"

The air was heavy with the smell of rotting wood and dead birds. Axel came to the end of the corridor and pulled aside the paper-door to his left gently, and he sighed when he saw that it only led to another corridor that was even darker than the one he had just walked through.

He felt the floor shake slightly as he stepped into the corridor and he gulped, looking around to see if there was anything else moving.

"That better not be an earthquake," he mumbled and stepped over some debris.

"Axel."

He froze at the sound of that serene voice, slowly reaching for a thick stick that lay on the floor. He had seen enough of her in his nightmares, he wasn't going to let her haunt him in real life as well.

"What do you want?"

Silence. Axel gripped the stick tighter and looked around, squinting to see better in the darkness that surrounded him. He continued to walk down the corridor, fumbling in search for another door.

"You're lost, Axel."

"Shut up, you wench."

He pulled aside the first door he found, but he had to use both hands since it seemed to be jammed. The door only opened halfway, enough for Axel to squeeze through. He was surprised to see a candle lit on the desk by the right corner of the room.

"Hello?"

He approached the desk slowly, looking around before roaming through the papers that lay everywhere. There had to be a map of the house somewhere, considering the maze of corridors out there. He stopped when he saw a small yellow notebook that looked very much alike the one in his pouch.

"What the hell?" The only name on the front of the notebook was the Roman number "VII". He flipped through it and saw that there was something written on every page of the book. It had been someone's diary.

Entry #12

The subject is responding well to the treatment. It's been a week since we started treatment and no side-effects have been reported. The subject is quickly adapting to its new life-situation. We will be able to start with the second phase of the treatment shortly.

Entry #15

There has been a set-back. The subject had its first signs of rejection today at 15:43. Phase two has been aborted until further notice. The subject will be put in isolation to hinder further damage.

Axel tried to find a name somewhere in the book, but there was none. He put it in his pouch and tried to find anything else that could be of importance. "C'mon, c'mon – give me something."

He nearly yelped when something fell from one of the shelves by the jammed door. He turned around quickly and realized that he had forgotten the stick outside. If anything decided to pop out now he would be defenseless. He picked up the candle and directed the light to where he had heard the drop. It was a dark VHS-tape. He hadn't seen those in years.

"Was that you, wench?"

He approached the VHS-tape and took it quickly, "You don't happen to have a VCR to go with this, do ya?"

He chuckled to himself and turned back to the desk, pulling out the drawers to see if he had missed anything. It was then he heard the sound of white noise coming from within the wall to his left. He ran his hands across the wall and knocked on it until he found a breach. He pushed on it and it popped open, revealing a small room in the back where an old television was blaring.

"Uh, I will need at least ten million yen to see this through. For emotional scarring and stuff..." Axel looked around in hopes that maybe he'd find a pile of money, randomly laying around.

"Figures, when I really need something."

Axel put the VHS in the VCR and stood back while the image settled. On screen he could see a man fiddle with the camera, coming up close as he cleansed the lens with the hem of his lab coat. He stood back, and there, by a white table in an equally white room, was a woman dressed in hospital clothing, looking out into nothing. The look in her eyes was distant and resigned.

"How are you feeling today?"

The man that had been fiddling with the camera was not visible, but his voice was dark and powerful. The woman didn't say anything, it didn't seem like she had heard him.

"It's important for you to tell me how you're feeling. It's not healthy for you to be all alone in that dark room all day. You need to re-connect with humans. What would you like to do today? You have hobbies, don't you? Can you tell me what those are?"

"Let me out of here!"

Axel flinched when the calm woman suddenly slammed her hands onto the table and yelled at the man in the lab coat, her eyes suddenly flared with anger and resentment.

"Calm down. It's not good for you to be agitated in your condition. You don't have to do anything today if you prefer to rest, but you can't be keeping this up for much longer. Are you hungry? You haven't eaten breakfast yet. Would you like something special?"

"Please. Stop doing this. Let me go. I can't -"

The woman's voice faltered and she took a deep breath to hide a sob. Axel clenched his fist as he saw the woman look away from the man that was holding her captive while trying to avoid looking into the camera.

"I'm not the one you think I am. I don't know you…"

"That's because you're sick. I'll make you better."

A tear ran down the woman's face as she realized that this man wasn't going to see the truth and that she might be beyond rescuing now. Or maybe, she caved under the thought of being mad.

She gave a slow and tired nod.

"I want to sleep. I'm tired."

The image started to flicker and slowly became nothing but white noise as the image changed into something else. Axel gulped when he recognized the surroundings. The camera seemed to have been set off by accident, it was on a desk judging by the angle and he could see the lower half of two men in suits standing in front of it.

"Don't do this, Master. I can save her. I know that I can! I have already gotten the funds for it; all I need is access to the laboratory."

"No! I've seen the experiments that have been going on there. You've done more than searching for ways to rescue her! Only God knows what other things have taken place in there! I'm doing this to help people, not to murder them!"

"I'm not murdering them, Master. I'm so close to finding the cure for her, you can't take that away from me!"

"It's not ethical. I won't allow it."

"It could work on your daughter."

The man in charge went silent and was clearly thinking about the offer. A moment later the image started to flicker again and Axel hurried to the television, hitting the top of it to make the flickering stop.

"No, c'mon. Give me names! Places! Who's the girl? Who was in charge? What were they doing to her, damn it!"

The last thing he could see was the two men shaking hands and then the VCR made a sound, rewinding the tape as the TV continued to blare.

"Piece of shit. What was the point of that?" Axel stood up and looked around the room, in case the so called wench was in there. He lifted his cap to run his fingers through his hair, "Useless. Absolutely useless. Now I have more questions than answers. Is that what's going to happen to us if we don't figure out what Ansem wanted? We'll be locked in some mental institution with some guy asking us how we're feeling? 'Cuz I'm okay with that. Beats going across Japan, sleeping in a car and never getting any proper meals. At least the girl could choose what to eat for break –"

The girl he had only been seeing in his nightmare appeared in the corner of the room, looking so out of place in this run-down room. She stared at him intently and suddenly flickered.

"Who's doing this?" Axel backed away from the television slowly to put more space between himself and the hologram. She remained silent and followed him with a glare. "Why did you show me that?"

"Saïx."

Axel paled and felt the palms of his hands get all sweaty as his heart skipped a beat, "What?"

She smiled and suddenly disappeared, leaving Axel alone in the room with the blaring television. He dried off his hands against the front of his shirt and took a deep, shaky breath.

"Fucking shit!" He kicked a broken stool against the wall. "Is he a part of this? Is that what you're trying to tell me? Is that why you keep showing me that nightmare? I just – I don't know. What do you want me to do?"

Axel sank to the dirty floor, holding his hands over his face as he tried to collect his thoughts to figure this out. All of this had done nothing but confuse him more. He knew he had no evidence that Saïx had been behind all of this; and yet it wouldn't surprise him if he was. If that was the case he had to make sure Saïx brought him to whatever lab that woman was being held captive to get her out of there and then torch the place to put an end to whatever crap was going on there.

There was a shuffle from outside the room and a low growl. Axel stood back up and stood against a wall when he saw a shadow in the other room. There was someone outside, and judging by the shadow it had to be a person. He heard that growl again, but this time it came closer. Axel wrinkled his nose at the sudden stench of burnt meat and fought against the curiosity that almost had him leaning out to see what it was that was out there.

It wasn't until everything was silent again that Axel dared to move. He leaned out slowly to make sure that it was clear, but he drew a gasp at what he saw. A man stood there, looking down at the floor, bleeding heavily from his decomposing body. He turned his head at the sound of Axel's gasp and revealed his eyes in golden amber and the hole in his chest from where he was still bleeding. It was also from there that the stench of burnt meat came, and Axel stepped back as the man stumbled forward.

"What the hell happened to you, man?"

The answer was a guttural shriek that sounded anything but human.

~ooo~

Marluxia wasn't as gentle with the tying up as Axel had been, Saïx discovered. His fingers were starting to tingle from how tight his hands were tied and it seemed futile to try to get out of it. The chair squeaked when he tried to move his arms and rub his wrists together.

"Feeling uncomfortable, boss?" Marluxia tossed aside the apple core and moved away from the wall he had leaned against.

Saïx looked away with an annoyed expression on his face. Marluxia's smug smile wasn't doing much for him; he was only waiting for Xaldin to come back into the room so that he could talk him into releasing him.

"You've been causing quite a hassle. The boss has been out of himself with worry for you. Surely, that must mean something to an ignominious bastard like yourself. It awakens one question though, and I'm hoping that you can answer it for me; why would the boss care, Saïx?"

"Why shouldn't he? I'm the second in command."

Marluxia walked around Saïx with slow steps, digging his heel into the poor wooden floor with each step, and crossing his arms when he realized that Saïx wasn't going to make this easy.

"You're not second in command anymore, Saïx. You betrayed the family. There is no reason for you to deny that anymore. We have two brothers ready to testify for your desertion, which is why I can only draw the one conclusion that the boss wants to kill you himself."

"You wouldn't keep me here if that's what you believed, Marluxia. Xemnas hasn't assigned my job to anyone else, which makes me second in command, and it is driving you insane not to know why I can get away with this and still keep the spot you've been fighting for so long." Saïx watched Marluxia tense while keeping his pace. Marluxia looked away as his shoulders shook with the laughter he had held back.

"Saïx, Saïx, Saïx. You are perched so high upon your horse that you've lost all resemblance of perspective. I wouldn't talk so proudly of my rank if I had taken it the way you did." He grinned and walked up closer to Saïx. "You think that anyone buys Axel's bogus confession? Everyone in the family knows that you killed Zexion. You waited until he had the back to you to strike, didn't you? And then you made Axel take the blame and oh, the tragedy that unfolded after that – and yet, who became second in command? Who nestled his way into the boss' life after Zexion was gone?"

Marluxia seemed amused by the fact that Saïx looked away. He took a step back and sighed loudly.

"Where did you leave Axel? You told Xigbar that leaving the family had been his idea."

"He is my subordinate; neither you nor Xemnas will have any use of him."

"Oh, but that's where you're wrong, Saïx. He is of use to us, he is probably more of use to us than you are because Axel has a lot of weak spots, and he sure is fun to poke at, wouldn't you agree?"

"I'm sorry to be the one to burst your bubble. I killed Axel about a week ago; I dumped his body in a ditch alongside the Hanyô Expressway. He's probably burning in hell as we speak."

Saïx looked up at Marluxia, a small smile playing on his lips. He was rendered speechless and for a moment there was no sound but the blowing of the wind outside. Marluxia stood back as if he had to think about what to do next, he was losing his leverage and he would have to get Saïx back to Kobe soon, or so Saïx thought.

Xaldin came back through the door, but he was rolling in a big barrel that was oozing smelly slime. Saïx wasn't sure why, but his heart started to beat faster and he felt a sweat break out. The rope around his wrists seemed to grow tighter around him and his shoulders began to ache when he tried to pull out of its grip.

"Xaldin, untie me. I'll go with you willingly."

He felt a sudden tightness in his chest and it was getting harder to breathe. Xaldin looked at Marluxia and then at Saïx with a dark expression. He didn't seem sure what to do with the barrel, but he was sure that Marluxia would tell him about it soon.

"You always did underestimate me, Saïx. But you see, I cannot not know. I knew that you would be less than cooperative if I asked you about certain things that you might feel uneasy sharing with me, and I thought to myself; where can I possibly find the mighty Saïx's weak spots? I won't say that it was easy, but by the looks of it, it was certainly worth it. Are you feeling trapped yet? It's about to get much better if you don't decide to tell me all about Xemnas' dependence on you." Marluxia smiled widely and took in the sight of the slightest glimpse of horror in Saïx's eyes.

"I don't like being lied to," he continued, "Did you really kill Axel?"

"Would you miss him if he was gone?"

"Don't mess with me, Saïx. I'm the one with leverage here. I'll drench you in that rotten fish if that's what it takes to get answers out of you." He raised his clenched fist and Saïx waited for the punch to his face, but it never came. The sound of fingers cracking echoed in the nearly empty room, and there was a pained grunt coming from Marluxia when Saïx looked up to see that Xaldin stopped the man from punching him. Xaldin forced him to back as he walked in between them both.

"You better tell me what you're doing now, Marluxia. I already told you about Xemnas' orders, you're just a pawn in this game and I'll do you in if I have to."

"It's the only way we'll make him talk. You have to trust me, Xaldin. I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize the trust of our leader. We'll take him back to headquarters unharmed, but we'll be left with the knowledge of what's going on. It'll get you back on track with your agenda, like we agreed."

Xaldin gripped Marluxia's fist tighter, glaring at him for few seconds before deciding what to do. He stood back and let Marluxia go reluctantly.

"What are you doing, Xaldin? Don't let him manipulate you. Xemnas will reward you if you bring me back." Saïx's voice faltered when Xaldin walked back to the barrel and put it up.

"Where do you want me to put this, Marluxia?"

"There's a small room in the back – over there." Marluxia nodded in the direction of where he wanted the barrel, "I think we can make it more comfortable for our dear boss in there."

The old wooden floor squeaked as Xaldin rolled the barrel towards the room Marluxia had spoken of. The weight of the barrel was nothing for his large built, and he disappeared into the backroom fairly quickly. Saïx tried to pull on the rope as hard as he could, ignoring the burn he was causing on his wrists. He didn't even think of looking at Marluxia and give him the pleasure of seeing him in a struggle when he suddenly heard a thump.

He looked up and saw that Marluxia had fallen to the floor, seemingly unconscious.

"What are you doing here?" Saïx was surprised to see Axel walk out from the shadows and hurry up to him. He untied Saïx as fast as he could, glimpsing at the other room where he knew Marluxia's partner was.

"Who's the wing-man?" Axel asked in a whisper as he pulled on the second rope around Saïx's wrists.

"Xaldin."

"Really? Xaldin? That's great. Just my luck. Isn't Lex with them too?"

"Hey!"

Xaldin ran out of the backroom and took a quick glimpse at Marluxia on the floor, who was knocked out cold, and then at Axel and Saïx. He reached for the gun underneath his vest, his violet eyes flaring dangerously.

"No, Xaldin. C'mon. There's no need for guns. Think of all the times I've had your back, you can't just ignore that, can ya?"

Axel gulped at the wicked grin on Xaldin's face and tried to usher Saïx back when Xaldin pulled out his gun and unsecured it.

"Who are you trying to fool, Axel? You've never had anyone's back but your own."

"Yeah, well. It was worth a shot. Tell you what I'll do to not be left hanging as a liar. You might want to turn around and use those bullets more wisely right about...now!"

A loud shriek came from the monster Axel had encountered earlier. Its distorted face was enough to throw Xaldin out of loop, and no sooner had the monster taken a step into the room before Xaldin took aim and shot at it twice in the head.

"Let's get outta here."

Axel grabbed Saïx's by the arm and pulled him out the same way he had gotten in. They ran down a long porch that was nearly taken over by the tall grass on the overgrown garden. The shrieks of the monster and Xaldin's gunshots became more distant as Axel pulled aside a paper-door and forced Saïx in after him. He reached for a thick board that was just long enough to be put between the closed door and the wall.

"That'll keep 'em busy for a few seconds," Axel said and started to move down the corridor, grabbing Saïx by the arm again. He stopped when he realized that Saïx was pulling back, finally pulling free when Axel turned around.

"Where are we going?"

"What do you mean? We have to get out of here. Did you miss the freak with a hole through his chest and decaying face? Oh, and the psychopath is here with the bulky giant, who now wants me more dead than before much thanks to the aforementioned monster."

"We can't leave. We have to find the answer that was supposed to be here."

"Saïx, there are no answers. Just mindfuck by the dozen."

"There's a door that leads to the basement. We have to find a way to get downstairs first, there should be at least four ways down so we don't have to go back. There has to be one around here somewhere."

"How do you know that?"

"I just do."

Saïx was going to walk past Axel to find a room or a door that could lead downstairs when Axel stopped him and pushed him back.

"That's not good enough. Tell me how you know all of this. I can't go on thinking that you're screwing me over. I can fight off our brothers, I can break a couple of laws, and I can even try to outrun a zombie if I have to, but I can't be dealing with thoughts of you betraying me, Saïx."

"Stop thinking that I will then."

He tried to push through but Axel kept him back and frowned, "You make it very difficult not to. I found this notebook. It has your signature number on it, and if I'm not entirely mistaken this is your handwriting as well."

Axel held the little yellow notebook against Saïx chest and tried to find a trace of emotion on his friend's face, but he just took the notebook and flipped through it calmly.

"I haven't seen this before." He reached it back to Axel, "It doesn't seem to make much sense either. There are no mentions of who did what to whom. It's useless."

Axel was still not satisfied. He looked into Saïx's eyes with determination, hoping to see the slightest proof of honesty in them or anything that could suffocate this uneasy feeling he got each time Saïx said something he knew was a lie.

They both tensed up when they heard shuffling from the other side of the corridor. It couldn't be the monster that was keeping Xaldin busy, and Axel didn't want to think that there were more of them out there.

They could see the shadow of it through the paper-door and it stopped suddenly, crouching over the floor while it made broken noises at the back of its throat. Saïx quickly held his hand over his nose as that burning stench of rotting meat made it through the thin paper-door.

"Follow me."

Saïx hurried down the corridor before Axel barely had the time to react, which left him with no other choice but to follow Saïx into the small room he disappeared into.

"What are you -?"

"Help me with this." Saïx knelt down and started to pull on one of the tatami squares.

They could hear the monster grunt on the other side; it hadn't moved. It was like it was trying to figure out how to get the door open, and that almost human care for the old building was only disturbing.

The tatami square was really heavy. Both Axel and Saïx struggled to put it onto the floor as quietly as possible to not provoke the monster outside. In the tatami square's stead was a dark hole, and Axel couldn't help feeling that sense of betrayal again when Saïx fumbled around with his legs down into the darkness until he found the inbuilt ladder.

Once on solid ground again, Axel had expected some kind of cave with humid walls, burning torches and the insistent sound of droplets falling into small pools of water, but there was none of that. It was only darkness all around. He tried to get his eyes used to it by blinking a couple of times and straining his sight. He heard Saïx walk ahead, the sound of his sneakers against the floor made it obvious that it was tiled and nothing like the cave Axel had imagined it to be.

"How are we going to see -?"

The fluorescent lights on the ceiling started to quiver above Axel, flickering down the corridor as Saïx walked further in. He had reached his arms out and ran his hands across the clinically white walls, making it seem like the corridor was responding to his presence by the touch.

Axel followed slowly, looking around to see if there were any doors or windows to look out of, but the corridor ended soon and revealed a small room, everything just as white as the corridor. That sick feeling Axel had been fighting back returned and made his gut flip.

In the room there was a white table with two chairs across from each other and by that table stood a tripod for a camera, just like the one Axel had seen in that video.