Chapter 20 The Organization
Roxas stands in the center of the room he had been told would be his own with a pile of black coats in his arms. He turns on the spot, taking in everything. Not that there is much to see. Like the other parts of the castle he'd seen so far, it had been designed for function leaving it mostly bare.
There is a bed, a wardrobe, and a desk all gray and the single window does little to bring color to the room with the view it gives of the dark city far below. There is one door leading off of his room and Roxas walks over to it, shifting the load of coats in his arms so he can reach one hand out to push the door open.
It's a small bathroom, simple and plain like everything else. For a moment, Roxas' eyes sweep over the shower, toilet, and vanity, but he pauses, staring at the mirror over the sink.
The reflection in the mirror is unfamiliar to him and he hesitantly raises a hand to tug a spike of blond hair, watching the reflection copy his movement. For the first time in his short existence, Roxas is able to examine his own face, wondering what the other Nobodies had found interesting or amusing about it.
His hair stands up in a fan of spikes on one side of his head and lie flat on the other. A few strands hang down in his eyes that peer curiously at him in a shocking blue color. He runs a hand over his cheek feeling his cheekbones and the sharp curve of his jaw.
He lets his hand fall back down and gives his reflection one last look over before turning around and heading back into his bedroom where he'd left the door to the hallway open. There is a knock on the door frame and he looks up to see a guy a few years older than him with a bright mane of red hair enter his room with a big smile.
"You must be the new kid," the guy says. He looks down at his hand where Roxas can see something illegible scrawled there in black ink. "Number XIII. Roxas, right?"
Roxas nods slowly. The guy is wearing a long black coat, but his eyes are green not yellow and just that alone makes Roxas think he'll be less creepy than the other members of the Organization he's met so far. He looks to be a couple years older than Roxas, maybe around 18, and most interesting about his appearance are the small purple tattoos under his eyes.
"I'm Axel. Got it memorized?" The guy says, tapping his temple with his index finger.
Roxas nods again and Axel stares at him a moment before sighing and crossing his arms. "Alright chatterbox, guess we can just cut to the chase. I'm the lucky guy who gets to take you on your very first mission." Roxas must have looked apprehensive because Axel gives him a big smile and says, "Don't worry, kid. It'll be easy. It's just so you can learn the ropes."
"What is it?" Roxas asks, still nervous, but curious.
Axel's grin widens. "Not a clue," he says, looking down at the writing on his hand again. "We're supposed to go meet Saix in the…" Axel frowns and squints. "In the Grand Anus? That doesn't seem right."
He raises an eyebrow at Roxas who just stares back blankly. "Grand Anus," Axel repeats his smile slipping a little. "You know...it's like...this is the part where you're supposed to laugh." He pauses, giving Roxas a moment, but Roxas only tilts his head in confusion.
Axel lifts his hand to read it again. "Well, look at that!" He says with fake surprise. "It's meet Saix is the Gray Area. Gray Area. That makes more sense. Can't read my own handwriting." Roxas continues to stare at him in confusion and Axel rubs the back on his head, ruffling his spikes. "Sheesh, tough crowd. Alright chuckles, follow me."
Axel turns to head back out of Roxas' room and Roxas goes to follow, but Axel stops, glancing back. "You gonna take all those coats with you?"
"Uh…" Roxas looks down at the pile of black coats cradled in his arms. "I don't…"
"Here," Axel says and snatches the pile from Roxas. He tosses the one on top back. "Put that on. We're going to be traveling through Dark Corridors and the coat makes it easier."
Roxas obeys, slipping off the white jacket he'd been wearing and pulling the black coat on. It falls to his ankles and he works on zipping it up as Axel throws open the wardrobe. He starts hanging up the other coats saying, "Now that you're part of the Organization, you're expected to wear one of these all the time. If you rip or burn one while you're fighting, you can get a replacement from the Moogles." Axel hangs the last one and turns back to Roxas. "Now, let's try this again. Follow me."
Axel walks out of Roxas' room and Roxas follows, falling in to step beside him once in the hallway. Silence falls on them as Axel leads the way through the maze of corridors with the confidence that comes with walking the gray halls for years. Roxas tries to keep track of the turns and stairs they take, but he's all turned around in less than a minute.
Axel glances over to see Roxas studying him. "Got something to say, kid?" He asks coming off more rudely than he meant to.
Roxas looks down at his shoes and Axel wonders if he scared him off, but before he can apologize, Roxas asks in a quiet voice, "Do you...remember…before you were a Nobody?"
Axel falters. It's only a second and he tries to hide it by continuing to walk normally. "Yeah. I do. Why?"
Roxas frowns. "I don't."
Now it's Axel's turn to stare at Roxas who keeps his head down. He's got a lot of sympathy for the kid. Being a brand new Nobody was like being thrown in the middle of the ocean and told to learn to swim. "At first it was really fuzzy," he says quietly and Roxas looks at him. He finds he can't tear his eyes away from Roxas' brilliant blue. "Random bits of colors and sounds, but nothing that made any sense. It came back to me over time. I can remember everything now from before…"
He trails off, lost in thought, and gets jerked back to focus by Roxas asking, "When did you become a Nobody?"
"A little over ten years ago," Axel replies with a sigh. "Actually, everyone here did. You're the first new member since."
Roxas' head tilts in confusion. "Why me?"'
"Dunno," Axel says. "You'd have to ask Xemnas. But right now," he leads Roxas around one more corner and they come to a large room with windows on the far wall going from floor to ceiling. "It's time we got started on your first mission."
Axel walks over to the man with blue hair standing by the windows and Roxas follows a few steps behind. The Gray Area looks to be a gathering space with couches grouped together, but the room is currently empty.
"Is this him?"
Roxas looks to the blue haired man to find him glaring at him with yellow eyes. He suppresses a gulp and glances at Axel who says, "Yep. This is Roxas. Roxas, meet Saix."
Saix fixes his glare on Axel for a moment before looking back to Roxas. "Number XIII, as a member of Organization XIII you will be given a mission to complete each day and as such each day you will report here for debriefing and again on your return to report success of failure. To begin with you will have a partner on these missions until you prove yourself capable of working alone. Is that clear?"
Roxas nods. Out of all the members of the Organization he's met, Axel is the only one who doesn't scare him and he is thankful Axel is the one accompanying him on his mission.
"Today you are to go to Twilight Town," Saix says. "Fight whatever heartless you find there. Number VIII, you are to assess Number XIII's abilities and report to Xemnas upon your return."
Axel nods. "Simple enough." He reaches out a hand and a dark corridor appears. "Right this way Roxas," he says, disappearing into it.
Roxas glances at Saix one last time, shifting uncomfortably under his yellow-eyed stare. He faces the dark corridor and nervously steps into, remembering the discomfort he'd felt last time. He is surprised to find the darkness to not be so overbearing this time. Axel had been right, the coat had helped. Taking a few steps forward, Roxas steps out into sunlight blinking.
The vibrant colors around him are a stark contrast to the castle. The buildings and cobblestones around him are yellows and oranges giving the place a warm appearance. At his feet are a set of tracks and looking up he spots the tram that uses them a little ways away, unmoving. Scattered around the common are small shops with signs advertising their wares, but no one is manning the counters and no one is shopping. The hair on the back of Roxas' neck stands up. The unnatural silence is unnerving.
"Welcome to Twilight Town," Axel says and Roxas turns to him.
"Does anyone live here?"
Axel pauses a moment and looks away from Roxas' questioning stare. "Nope," he says crossing his arms. "Least as long as I've known it. Full of heartless though. Huge source of them for the Organization. Xemnas told you about Kingdom Hearts, right?" He glances at Roxas who nods. "So you get what they want from you then. Send you here, kill a bunch of heartless. All their hearts get sent to our Kingdom Hearts thanks to that keyblade of yours."
Roxas frowns. "What's a keyblade?"
Axel's eyes widen. "You...don't know what a keyblade is?" He says in disbelief.
"No," Roxas replies slowly. From the way Axel is looking at him he knows its something he should know and his cheeks heat up.
Ducking his head, Roxas hears Axel say, "Well, uh, you're supposed to be a keyblade wielder. You know, 'cause your Somebody was one before you became a Nobody."
"I don't remember," Roxas whispers, not looking up. He can feel that his cheeks are still warm and he hopes Axel doesn't notice.
"Oh," Axel says. There is a long pause before he says, "You should still be able to summon it even though you don't remember how. Here, watch this."
Roxas raises his head trying to force the last of the blush out of his cheeks, but Axel isn't looking at him. He is concentrating on his hands stretched out to either side and as Roxas watches, circles of flame appear around each. Roxas' eyes widen to see the fire spin faster and faster until it flashes the brightest and fades to reveal red chakrams in Axel's hands.
Holding one of them up for Roxas to inspect, Axel says, "I just kinda will them to appear. Why don't you give it a try?"
Axel had made it look easy, but Roxas it won't be that simple. He doesn't even know what he is trying to summon. Raising a hand out in front of him, Roxas glances to Axel who nods encouragingly. Focusing all his attention on his hand, Roxas concentrates. He waits, staring at his hand, but nothing happens.
A slight sound to his left and Axel swearing under his breath breaks Roxas' concentration and he lets his hand drop to his side, seeing a group of black and purple creatures have appeared. Heartless.
"Stay back, Roxas," Axel says, spinning his weapons in his hands as he falls into a battle stance. Defenseless, Roxas doesn't need to be told twice and retreats a couple steps back until he is standing against the wall of the common.
Roxas counts ten heartless surrounding Axel. Five of those little black ones that had attacked when he'd first woken up, four slightly bigger ones with blue armor that clanks when they move, and a single fat one as tall as Axel with a tiny head perched on its round body. Roxas bites his lip watching them move closer to Axel.
Axel is the one to make the first move, throwing a chakram at the nearest heartless and shouting, "Burn, baby!" Flames wrap around the chakram as it flies through the air and after blasting through one of the small heartless in continues in an arc, taking out two more before returning to Axel's hand.
The big heartless lumbers forward with it's arms outstretched and Axel turns to it. "Fire," he says, pointing a chakram at it. The fireball that appears hits the heartless and knocks it on its back.
A heartless in armor launches itself at Axel in a spinning attack, but Axel's chakram is there to block it. It falls to the ground and he slices it, killing it and makes quick work of the second one that tries the same attack. Axel sets fire to his chakrams and swings them at the remaining little heartless. His back turned, he doesn't see the fat heartless clamber back to its feet, unharmed by the fireball that had knock it down.
"Axel!" Roxas shouts in warning and Axel's head whips around to look at Roxas. He doesn't see the big heartless until its fist collides with his head.
Roxas runs forward eyes wide to see Axel pushing himself up, shaking his head. The large heartless is moving closer, it's hands balled into fists.. "Axel!" Roxas shouts again and Axel looks up.
"Roxas, no!" Axel shouts, kicking out at a little heartless trying to scratch him and looking for where he'd dropped his weapons when he'd fallen.
The fat heartless raises it's foot to stomp Axel and Roxas puts on a final burst of speed. In his hands two bright flashes of light go off. Whatever instinct that had sent him running to Axel's aid in the first place takes over again and Roxas swings both arms up, one after the other.
The swords in his hands flash, white then black, and the heartless' back arches in pain. Using the momentum of his first two strikes, Roxas stabs forward and the heartless freezes for a second before fading away to reveal a pink heart that floats away.
An armored heartless charges Roxas, but a slash and a stab later it is gone. He turns to face the next heartless, but before he can it erupts in flames. The flames die out and the heartless is gone, replaced by Axel who steps forward looking at Roxas incredulously.
"Can't say I was expecting that," Axel says, glancing down at the swords in Roxas' hands.
Roxas takes a good look at them for the first time. The black one has a hilt made of black wings and a long length with a chain like design running down the middle. At the end are black 'teeth' giving it the semblance of a key. In contrast, the white one has white wings that form the hilt and is lighter. It's shaped like a yellow and blue star at the end.
"These are keyblade? Why are there two?" Roxas asks, his brow furrowing.
"Dunno," Axel replies with a shrug. "But two's always better than one, right?"
Roxas looks down at the two keyblades again. "I guess."
"Look sharp, Roxas," Axel says and Roxas jerks his head back up. A new group of heartless have appeared in the corner of the common and are headed for them. "Ready to show me what you've got?" Axel asks and Roxas nods. He may not remember, but fighting seems inborn in him and when the wave of heartless hits, he feels at ease diving into the fray.
…
Axel leans against the counter of an abandoned shop, watching Roxas battle the latest group of heartless. At first the new kid had been a little clumsy and flat footed when he fought, but after a couple rounds with the heartless he had settled into the task, moving with quickly between targets, those keyblades of his flashing with each deadly swing.
At first he had fought with Roxas, making sure to protect the kid's back, but now he let Roxas fight on his own, marvelling at his impressive abilities. It's hard to compare him to the same kid who had stared at him so blankly with his arms piled with black coats he didn't know what to do with. Summoning the keyblades and fighting seem to have really woken Roxas up.
Roxas kills the final heartless, releasing its captive heart, and Axel pushes himself away from the counter, walking towards Roxas. "Alright, that's enough for today," he says. He's lost track of exactly how many heartless Roxas destroyed but it was somewhere in the two hundred range. With a number like that, it would only take Roxas a few weeks to complete Kingdom Hearts.
Looking around one last time to make sure all the heartless are really gone, Roxas lets his keyblades disappear. "What now?" He asks.
"Now we RTC," Axel says and seeing the confusion in Roxas' face he explains as he summons a dark corridor. "RTC. Return To the Castle. Mission's complete and now we report back."
Roxas nods and steps through the dark corridor first. He emerges in the Gray Room and Axel follows a step behind.
"Where's Saix?" Roxas asks, looking around. "Don't we have to report to him?"
"Usually, yeah," Axel says. "But I'm reporting to Xemnas today about how you did and Saix will be there."
Remembering that Axel will be reporting on how he did, Roxas looks down at his shoes. "Oh."
"Chin up, kid," Axel says, ruffling Roxas' hair without thinking. Roxas looks up and Axel quickly retracts his hand, rubbing the back of his head instead. "I, uh, only got good things to say, so don't sweat it."
"Alright," Roxas says and the corners of his lips twitch up in a small smile. "Thanks Axel."
"Yeah…you know…" Axel says, fidgeting. An awkward pause falls on them that Axel breaks by clapping his hands together. "So. Think you can find your way back to your room?"
"Um…" Roxas glances towards the hallway leading away from the Gray Area.
Axel chuckles. "I'll take that as a no. Come on. It's this way."
He starts walking away and Roxas follows, running a hand slowly through his hair where Axel had messed it up. Axel glances back and Roxas catches him looking. Roxas returns the small smile he gets and hurries up so he is walking in step with Axel.
On the walk back to his room, Roxas remembers a couple of the turns they take, but he would have gotten lost on his own and is thankful Axel offered to help. All the way there Roxas sneaks glances at Axel. His first day as a Nobody had been eventful to say the least and his head is still spinning with all the unanswered questions he has about himself and the Organization, but with Axel showing him the ropes, he's not as scared as he was before.
"Here we are," Axel says when they reach Roxas' room and opens the door, letting himself in. "You're done for the day and I bet you need some rest." Roxas nods. Since returning to the castle, his exhaustion had started catching up to him.
"Well, get some shut eye," Axel says heading back out the door. He pauses in the doorway. "Head to the Gray Area in the morning and Saix will give you an assignment."
"Okay," Roxas says. "Goodnight, Axel."
"'Night," Axel says, pulling the door closed. Alone in the hallway he sighs, running a hand through his hair. "Let's get this over with," he says to himself and summons a dark corridor.
He walks through and emerges sitting in his seat in the round room. Scattered around are five other members - Xemnas, Saix, Rexick, Xigbar, and Marluxia.
Five sets of yellow eyes turn to him and Xemnas addresses him. "Well, Axel?"
Axel shrugs, not sure what they are expecting of him. "Mission was a success with a capital S. Roxas has not one but two keyblades and used 'em to slice and dice his way through over two hundred heartless."
The Yellow-Eyes, as Axel likes to affectionately call them, exchange glances. "And nothing about the little guy was off?" Xigbar asks.
"Uh," Axel says raising an eyebrow. "I mean, he was a bit zombie like at first, but as a new Nobody and all I thought he did pretty good."
More exchanged glances and Axel crosses his arms knowing the others are talking circles around whatever they really want to ask.
After a moment, Rexick asks, "Did anything about him surprise you?"
"Something, perhaps, that made him seem like he wasn't a Nobody," Marluxia adds and Axel looks to him in surprise. There is only one thing that could mean. The thing they really want to know. Did Roxas act like he had emotions. Like he had a heart.
Putting on his best poker smile - the one only Luxord could see the bluff in - Axel shakes his head. "No. He seemed just as normal as any of us are. Fought hard, completed his mission, RTCed, and went to bed."
"Hmm." Xemnas studies him and Axel tries not to blink. "Good. You're a valuable asset to the Organization, Axel."
"Thank you, sir?" Axel says, his confusion at the sudden compliment making it sound like a question.
Xemnas studies Axel for another long moment and Axel taps his finger on the arm of his chair, uncomfortable with the scrutiny. "We are on the brink off everything we have worked to achieve," Xemnas says. "In these final stages of the creation of our Kingdom Hearts I need members I can trust to complete the most difficult of assignments. I would like to offer you the opportunity to collaborate on these more...sensitive...issues the Organization faces."
Axel's eyebrows raise a fraction before he forces his poker face back. Are they seriously offering for him to join their ranks? "And these missions would be…?" He asks.
"Classified at the moment," Xemnas replies evenly. His face remains as blank as ever, but Axel can see the hint of danger in his eyes warning Axel not to push the subject. "You will get an assignment soon, but for now you are to keep an eye on our newest member."
"And watch for some of that strangeness you were asking about before?" Axel guesses and Xemnas nods.
"Any abnormalities that come to your attention should be reported immediately."
Axel glances around the room. The other members are watching him intently, but Saix is outright glaring at him. "Got it," Axel says narrowing his eyes in Saix's direction before turning back to Xemnas. "Well if that's all…"
He waits a moment to see if Xemnas is going to say anything, but the silver haired Nobody is silent so taking his leave, Axel disappears through a dark corridor.
Before the corridor is even completely gone, Saix speaks out. "Is it really wise to bring Axel into our numbers? I find his loyalty questionable."
"I am not a fool," Xemnas replies, staring at spot Axel vanished. "Axel is hardly one to be trusted. However, I'd rather keep him close at hand where he can be watched for signs of treason."
Saix, however, isn't convinced and opens his mouth to argue, but Xigbar cuts him off saying, "And what about Roxas? You think he's the one?"
"I am unsure." Xemnas raises his eyes up in thought. There is a long pause before he says, "We shall continue with the original plan until we know more. Marluxia, is Castle Oblivion almost ready for our guests?"
"Namine is still making preparations," Marluxia says. "She assures me it will be done on schedule."
Xemnas nods, still deep in thought. "See to it that it is." With a wave of his hand, he summons a dark corridor for Marluxia to depart through and after he is gone, Xemnas turns to the remaining three. "And all of you," he says leaning back in his chair. "Keep an eye on Roxas." He pauses again, lifting his eyes upward once more. "He will be the key to everything."
…
Axel pounds on the door marked IX. "Dem, it's me. Open the friggin door, would you."
He knocks one last time and waits, hearing what sounds like someone falling out of bed and then a groan and footsteps. The door is flung open and Demyx stands in the doorway, his dirty blond mullet tangled and his eyes half closed.
"Were you asleep?" Axel asks as he steps around Demyx, taking in the black pajama pants and white t-shirt Demyx is wearing.
"Yeah. I got back from my mission to Atlantica early and took a nap. So sue me," Demyx mumbles as he shuts the door and walks to his bed, kicking a discarded black coat on the floor out of his way. He misses Axel's smirk as he flops down face first on the bed.
"Something keeping you up last night?" Axel asks. "Or should I say someone?" He ducks to avoid the pillow Demyx throws at him, but when he straightens back up Demyx had already thrown another one that catches Axel in the gut.
"You better have a good explanation for waking me up, Axel," Demyx says, pushing himself into a semi-upright position.
"Would you be interested to hear about my meeting with the Yellow-Eyes?" Axel replies, throwing one of the pillows back at Demyx who catches it before it can hit him in the face.
"What?" Demyx asks, more alert now. "What'd they want with you?"
"To join them," Axel says. He grabs Demyx's desk chair and swings it under him so he'd sitting backwards on it. "Apparently I'm 'asset' to the Organization and they want me in on their little secrets or whatever shit they're up to."
Demyx scoots to the edge of the bed, running a hand through his hair. "Really? What'd they tell you about their secret little cult within a cult."
"Nothing yet," Axel admits. "But we've known those five have been up to something ever since the Organization started and haven't been able to figure out what. Maybe this is our chance. I'll be our man inside."
"Maybe you'll even get yellow eyes too," Demyx says, poking at Axel's tattoos under his eyes.
Axel shoves his hands away. "I'm being serious, Dem."
"I am too," Demyx says frowning. "You need to be careful with those guys. I don't think they'll take too kindly to finding out you're working on bringing them down from the inside."
"It'll be fine," Axel says, waving away Demyx's worries. He'd be lying if he said the Yellow-Eyes didn't give him the creeps, but he, Demyx, and Zexion had been flying under the Organization's radar for years without getting anywhere. He isn't about to pass up this opportunity because of the possibility it would go wrong.
Demyx nods, but doesn't look quite convinced. "So why the sudden interest in you? They never seemed to want you in their club before?"
"Dunno," Axel replies. "I think it has something to do with that new kid Roxas."
Demyx tilts his head. "There's a new kid named Roxas?"
"Didn't you read the memo?" Axel asks and Demyx head tilts farther.
"We get memos?"
Axel kicks him in the shins.
"Ow!" Demyx grabs his leg. "What was that for? Asshole."
There is a knock at the door and glaring at Axel, Demyx gets to his feet and goes to answer it. He opens it to see Zexion standing there and his frown turns into a smile. "Hey!"
"Hey Dem," Zexion on says, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. He gives Demyx a quick kiss on the lips and walks over to Axel with Demyx following behind.
"What's up Zexion?" Axel asks as Zexion collapses back on Demyx's bed with a groan. "Long day?"
"The longest," Zexion replies, covering his eyes with one arm. "If Saix assigns me to spend one more day dealing with that Captain Jack Sparrow I'm throwing myself overboard."
"I'll come rescue you if you do," Demyx says with a grin, sitting down beside Zexion and resting a hand on his knee. Zexion lifts his arm enough to look at Demyx and smiles. Axel fakes a coughing fit, reminding the couple he is still there.
"So what are you two up to?" Zexion asks, looking between Demyx and Axel.
Axel starts to reply, but Demyx beats him to it. "The Yellow-Eyes recruited Axel today."
"Are you serious?" Zexion asks, sitting up and facing Axel with all traces of his earlier exhaustion gone.
"Maybe," Axel says. "I have to pass initiation or something before they tell me master plan. But if I can figure out what they're keeping a secret from the rest of the Organization -"
"- maybe we can use it to take them down," Zexion says, a grin unfolding on his face. "We've never had an opportunity like this." He suddenly turns serious and says to Axel, "You better not screw this up."
"Woah," Axel says leaning forward so two legs of the chair lift off the ground. "I don't screw things up." Zexion just raises an eyebrow at him and Demyx is suddenly fascinated by the hem of his t-shirt. "Alright, maybe it happens," Axel admits, scratching the back of his head. "But not with something this important. Besides, right now there's nothing to screw up. All they want from me is to keep tabs on Roxas."
"The new member?" Zexion says, frowning. "What is their interest in him?"
Axel shrugs. "He's a keyblade wielder. Well, he has two keyblades so a double keyblade wielder? Dual keyblade wielder? Whatever. He's the one who can build the fake Kingdom Hearts," he says, thinking back to his meeting with the Yellow-Eyes. "Oh, and they said one more thing. You'll get a kick out of this, Zex. They wanted to know if he had a heart."
"Really?" Axel can almost see the scientific gears turning in Zexion's brain. "What did you tell them?"
"That he didn't have one of course," Axel replies. "He's a Nobody. We don't have hearts."
Zexion gets to his feet and from the vague nod he gives, Axel can tell he isn't really listening. Axel rolls his eyes, instantly regretting bringing up the subject of hearts. Everytime they start talking about hearts and emotions and all the things Nobodies do not have it always ends up the same. Zexion will start spouting out his theories on how strong emotions can be present without a heart, Axel will tell him just how much of a nut he is, and Demyx will stay out of it, letting their argument run its course.
"You're wrong, Axel. We may not have a physical heart, but that doesn't mean we can't experience genuine emotions." Zexion paces the small room as he speaks. "And as we experience these emotions, we can reform the heart we've lost -"
"Can we not talk about this?" Axel says, interrupting Zexion. "We're Nobodies. We're empty."
Zexion stops pacing to face Axel. "You really believe we don't have hearts?"
"I do," Axel replies, crossing his arms.
"And feelings?"
"Don't got 'em."
Zexion is silent for a moment before asking, "If Xemnas came in right now and told you to kill Demyx, would you?"
Axel stares at him in surprise. "Of course not," he says.
"Why?" Zexion asks, waving his arms as he gets more riled up by the debate. "If you don't have any emotions what would stop you from killing him?"
"Why am I the one being murdered here?" Demyx demands, but Axel and Zexion ignore him.
Axel looks away, his jaw clenched, but Zexion isn't about to let it go. "Why wouldn't you do it, Axel?"
Standing, Axel rounds on Zexion who stands half a foot shorter than Axel, but not at all intimidated. "Because…," Axel says, knowing what Zexion is getting at, but refusing to entertain the possibility. "Just because I don't have emotions doesn't make me a mindless soldier that would follow Xemnas' every command."
"And because Demyx is your friend," Zexion says and Axel groans, wishing he would stop pushing this subject. "You wouldn't hurt him because you care about him. Even thinking about hurting him makes you feel -"
"Shut up, Zexion," Axel all but shouts. "I had a heart once. I know what it feels like. In this…existence, I don't have one."
"Axel, if you would just think about it for a min-"
"No." Axel cuts Zexion off and starts heading for the door. "I. Don't. Have. A. Heart. Got it memorized?" He fumbles with the doorknob for a moment and jerks the door open. He goes to walk out, but his guilt for yelling at his friends makes him pause with a hand gripping the door frame.
Turning his head, he sees Demyx had stood and is beside Zexion, holding his hand. "Axel," Demyx says in a quiet voice. "It's okay to be scared. Accepting emotions isn't always easy."
Axel turns his back on them again, his shoulders slumping. "I'm not saying I believe your hearts theory, but maybe you should talk to Roxas," he says in a flat voice. "There was something about the way he shouted my name during the fight...I don't know...It seemed like a lot of emotion for a new Nobody to fake."
"I'll make sure to look into it," Zexion says from behind him and Axel nods. Without a word, he steps out of Demyx's room, pulling the door closed behind him and stands alone in the empty hallway.
He starts to walk away, headed for his room, but pauses. All the things Zexion had said are running through his mind. Turning him around until he is no longer sure which way is up. Without really thinking about it, his hand travels to the zipper on his coat. He pulls it down just enough and slips his hand in, resting it against his chest.
It's cold and still.
No heart to feel beating under his skin. No reason he should care. With a jerk, he zips his coat up once more and hurries away.
CatLoverx33: I don't want to give away too much, but yeah Zack and Roxas are going to meet. My lips are sealed on what that will be like, but it's something to look forward to.
LightzMusic22: "DAMNIT THAT MOTHERFUCKA CAME BACK!" I think is the perfect way to sum up Rexick's appearance last chapter :) He's definitely got the hots for Roxas (that perv), but whether or not Roxas will fall under his creepy spell remains to be seen.
LOTS of stuff happening in this chapter. (Holy shit is it long) Hopefully it all made sense, but if you have any questions please please please let me know and I'll make sure to explain what's going on.
One thing to point out:
Twilight Town - Remember I put Hayner and the others on Destiny Islands? That was because Twilight Town is uninhabited. Why it's uninhabited will be explained later.
I just wrote you a 6,000 word chapter. Show a little love and drop a review. :)