No matter how hard he tried, Axel could not escape his nightmares.
Over and over, he witnessed Isa drowning in the river and young Lea being branded by the birds.
But since he had been transferred to live in Ansem's house, new nightmares surfaced.
One particular night, it began with the same dream of the river. Isa's blue head sank underneath the current once again. However, the Lea on the other side of the river disappeared into the wind without being branded this time.
Axel's skin prickled in anticipation. The setting was silent now.
Suddenly, from the river protruded a hand, grabbing Axel's ankle. He jumped back, but the hand gripped onto him.
A mottled form appeared from the river, hoisting itself out of the murky depths.
Once it had fully appeared, the form took the shape of a young man. His hair was the color of Isa's, only longer. The tips of his ears came to a point and were pierced with studs at the lobe.
The man looked up and met eyes with Axel, and his face became clearer. In an X shape across the man's nose trailed a scar, and his eyes were rich amber.
"You left me..." The man growled.
"Left you...? Who are you?" Axel demanded.
"You left me!" He insisted, gripping Axel's leg tighter. He pulled himself to his feet, grabbing hold of Axel's collar. "How could you leave me, Lea?"
"Isa...?" Axel croaked, the man's hands throttling him. "Please...let go..."
"Your prayers won't save you, traitor." Isa murmured.
Axel's windpipe collapsed, and he fell into darkness.
Axel's eyes fluttered open, but he could see nothing in the overwhelming absence of light.
He was lying on his front, his hands bound behind his back.
Dissonant voices murmured around him, but he couldn't make out significant voices or words.
Something pressed against his back, someone's shoe maybe.
"What should we do with him?" One of the voices, now clear, asked.
The room was suddenly flooded with dim torchlight, though the light floated around. Axel realized the torches were being held by people.
Pairs of feet stood around Axel, but he couldn't tell how many were standing before him.
"I say we give him what he deserves." Another voice replied.
"Who are you...?" Axel croaked, "Show yourselves!"
Another foot pressed against Axel's cheek. "Silence, prisoner."
A hand grabbed him by his hair, shining the light of a torch in Axel's face. He was met with a human face, and if he weren't on his front he would have vomited at the recognition of the face: Riku, the boy he had killed over a week ago.
"He's not worth a quick death," Riku decided, throwing Axel's head back onto the ground.
Axel now realized the people around him were the victims of bloodthirsty crowd whom had been sentenced to death in front of them. He couldn't remember many of their names since he had killed them so long ago, but he couldn't let go of Riku's face.
"I'm sorry..." Axel groaned, "please, don't hurt me."
"Why not? You didn't hear our pleas when you killed us. You're nothing, Axel, nothing but a murderer." Another voice said.
"Murderer, murderer, murderer," the voices chanted.
"Please, I'm sorry..." Axel begged.
The ghosts of the victims kicked at his body, hitting him in the back and the stomach. Axel could not curl up to protect himself, and a foot collided with his gut.
Whatever food Axel had apparently ingested was vomited up, and Axel tasted blood in the sour mix.
In the darkness, he heard the awful cracking noises of his bones being broken.
Suddenly he felt a warm liquid being doused over him. At first Axel suspected it was urine, but it didn't smell like urine.
"There's a special place in the underworld for you, Axel. We'll be waiting for you there." Riku said, throwing his torch on top of Axel's broken body.
The flames lapped up the liquid, which Axel realized was oil. The flames licked his body, stinging him.
The ghosts dissipated into the darkness as Axel's pained screams echoed through the emptiness.
Once again the scene changed, but this time Axel had never seen what was laid out before him.
He stood alone in a white room, with a mirror facing him. His scraggly reflection gazed back at him.
He felt compelled to touch the surface, and once his fingers came in contact with the glass the mirror shattered.
Some of the shards pierced his skin as they fell to the floor. Axel stepped back, seeing all the pieces reflected different images now.
He glanced up to the ceiling, which was as plain white as the rest of the room, but the shards depicted something else in them as if they had been ripped from different frescoes.
One shard, smeared in Axel's blood, depicted a mottled form lying on its back on the steps leading back out to the house's garden. The figure's neck was broken, as it was bent in an odd angle.
Another shard depicted another mottled form running away from the villa, carrying a folded up cloth filled with its belongings.
A third shard showed Axel wrestling with another figure by the dim lighting of an oil lamp, the figure's hands sliding over Axel's chest in a way he had never seen before.
Before he could reach out to pick the shards up, they melted away into the floor along with the blood Axel dripped on them.
Though the mirror was gone, Axel heard another cracking noise like the glass being broken. He looked down at his feet and saw red webs climbing up his legs.
The red webbing spread all throughout his body, and he realized the cracking noise was coming from him.
He couldn't feel them spreading across his skin, but he knew they covered his entire body. He touched his face, and suddenly shattered to pieces.
Axel woke with a start, his heartbeat thudding in his chest.
The other slaves were already up and bustling around him, though as Axel realized it was not even sunrise.
"What's going on...?" Axel asked Terra.
"Hurry up and wake Master Roxas," Terra instructed.
"Why? What's happening?" Axel insisted.
"Lady Xion will be arriving at noon." Terra replied. "Get Master Roxas ready to see his betrothed."
Translations
- Aegri Somnia - A sick man's dreams, troubled dreams