CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

In the interests of not provoking or raising the suspicions of Ansem, Roxas zipped the world back together just a couple of blocks away from the tower, as per his instructions. Axel blinked around at the familiar surroundings. They had appeared right in the centre of the sidewalk, the foot traffic flowing around them like nothing was amiss. As far as anyone else was concerned, there were just two guys standing in the middle of the pavement.

As he looked around with bewilderment, Roxas, still holding his hands, gave them a soft squeeze and a smile to match. "They never notice," he said. "You could set a trash can on fire and they'd blame a tossed cigarette butt."

"Is this… an Ansem thing? Covering us up?" Axel asked, glancing uncertainly around, still trying to wrap his head around how little the general populace cared about two dudes just snapping into reality with smoky tendrils of darkness left in their shadows.

"Actually, it's a god thing," Roxas explained, digging one hand into his pocket while the other wound through Axel's arm and he started them walking. "And a messenger… oh." He hesitated slightly, before quietly amending, "Well, I guess it's just a god thing."

Axel peered down at him, catching his worried gaze. "Hey. Nothing's changed, you know that, right? You're still that punk nineteen-year-old from Destiny Island." He scrubbed Roxas's hair a little, making him whine and squirm away.

"Okay, okay! I'll stop moping about it. But, it's just..." He seemed to grasp for words, Axel nodding sagely.

"Believe me," he said, "I know exactly how you feel. Who'd have thought it'd be me coaching you, huh?" He threw his arm over Roxas's shoulders, bringing him in close. "I'm still cold. Warm me up," was his excuse, at which Roxas immediately wrapped his arms around Axel's middle, and in this manner, their steps eventually took them to Ansem's heavily tinted building. How something could look so foreboding yet so ostentatious, Axel had yet to figure out, but there was an intent to it. A purpose. The exclusive black cards, too. The one that Axel had taken had already been voided, and Roxas had been given a new one. Every part of this place – it was almost performative, how secretive it was. He supposed it was all part of keeping Xehanort from learning their location or staging an attack, but still. At a certain point you just had to admit you had an overkill obsession and move past it.

Inside the elevator, phone in his hands, card in the slot, Roxas hesitated, Axel glancing over at him, seeing an internal debate taking place. "What's up?" he asked.

With a deep frown, and a slow-moving hand, Roxas pressed the button for Ansem's office. "…I need to report, or it's going to look strange." They both recalled Riku's comment that morning – Ansem was no idiot. He'd figure it out fast if things were shifting against him.

"You texted Riku?"

"Mm-hmm. He said to do everything I would normally do."

"And that's… an Ansem report," Axel concluded. "Okay. That's fine. We can do that."

Roxas looked unconvinced, but he was going to have to learn to lie like a champion if he wanted to get through this. As the elevator car reached Ansem's sanctum, Roxas looked stiff, Axel giving him a quick rub between the shoulders to wordlessly remind him to relax. Drawing a deep breath, the blond attempted it, stepping out into the office. Ansem was over in the reception area, reading one of the heavy tomes Axel had been sure were just for show. Looking up over short reading glasses, Ansem greeted calmly, "Ah, Roxas. And… Axel." This name was said with some displeasure, Axel not trusting himself to open his mouth and so simply nodding tersely in return. Easing the large book shut, Ansem returned it to its slot on the shelves and gestured for the pair of them to sit.

They did so, not holding hands this time, Roxas no longer feeling the need to be able to whisk Axel away at a moment's notice, at least overtly. Axel could still see he was tense, but could Ansem? Axel knew Roxas inside and out. This guy… he just saw a stunted god.

Sitting across from them, Ansem didn't offer a drink this time. "How are you?" he asked, the question genial but the hidden context feeling like a threat. Axel slid Roxas a look, hoping he was up to the task, since failure would likely result in a face-full of forgetting.

"We're good," Roxas replied with such ease even Axel was nearly fooled. Well, son of a bitch; Roxas could act. "I've just spent the day giving Axel a proper introduction, so far."

"Ah, yes, Riku did mention as much," Ansem recalled, Axel relieved that the cover story they had concocted over breakfast had already had its foundation laid. "He said that, ah – Axel will be cohabiting with you. Is that right?"

Fucking Riku. Axel had just started thinking he was an okay guy, but he just couldn't help himself, could he? Roxas paused for a beat, before replying, "…Yes. Considering the danger of exposure that Axel's apartment has, because of his friend," he darted Axel an apologetic look, "I felt that it was… more sensible that he stay with me. My brother and me. With us."

Ansem observed them almost as expressionlessly as Vincent had, only… with Ansem, you could see something going on in the background. Gears were turning. "I understand, after recent events, that Axel has been staying with you anyway," he answered carefully. "Therefore, I see no issue with him remaining in place. For the moment." He met Axel's gaze. "Eventually, of course, you'll be wanting your own space. I'll find you a new apartment where you can relocate, and keep it, and you, hidden from view."

"…Sure. Thanks." Axel spoke shortly, neither liking being dictated to, nor that it was Ansem talking to him. This fucker had wiped everyone's memories – Roxas's memories – over, what? His ego? And yet he had to play nice. He forced a smile that felt as pinched as it looked. "Appreciate it." Fortunately, Ansem didn't appear to consider this out of character, and simply ignored him.

"I trust this arrangement is agreeable with you, Roxas?" he asked, at which the boy nodded, keeping his eyes low. "Excellent. It is decided." Ansem clapped his hands in a way that made the pair jump, reminding Axel of the elevator last night, swallowing down his simmering anger lest it show on his face and fuck the whole thing up. Instead, as a distraction, he focused on Roxas while the kid spoke earnestly with Ansem. He was tougher than he looked. He was sharp with his wit, and his tongue when he felt like it, but he was… also soft. And cute. The idea that they had been together in other lives… it filled Axel with a deep warmth that started in his chest and radiated outward, until a loudly cleared throat interrupted him and he realised he was being stared at by Roxas, whose cheeks were pink, but that also, when he looked over, were Ansem's. Shit. He'd literally affected the temperature in the room. And the mood, judging by Roxas's wide eyes.

"Some training wouldn't go awry," Ansem commented dryly, peeling himself from the suddenly heated leather couch and going to adjust the thermostat. Both he and Roxas were looking sweaty, the blond removing his hoodie and fanning himself lightly. Standing, he followed Ansem, leaving Axel to bring up the rear.

"Um, well, that's actually why I brought him here," Roxas was saying, before Ansem sharply stopped in place.

"I smell sea-salt," he abruptly remarked, looking at the pair of them.

"…Ice cream," Roxas improvised with quiet desperation. "Sorry. We got some from a corner store before we came here." He gave a brittle laugh, wiping a trail of sweat from the back of his neck. "It must be coming out of my pores."

Ansem frowned a little, but, to their utmost relief, he accepted this and returned to his task, leaving Axel and Roxas to exchange the briefest of glances. Ansem had no reason to suspect they'd been to see Vincent, after all, so the ice cream excuse could work if the guy didn't think about it too hard. All they had to do was make sure he didn't feel the need to.

"You were saying?" Ansem prompted Roxas.

"Oh! Right, I, uh, I brought Axel here so he could meet everyone, sort of one-on-one get to know them a bit, just let him get a feel for the place." He was starting to ramble. Shit. Fuck. He'd been doing so well until the sea-salt thing. "I was thinking some time with Cloud and Leon could be good, to help with harnessing his power and fighting, but also that he could meet like, Aerith. And Yuffie, and Cid, and Tifa when she gets back, and just, you know, get to know the… gang…" Oh, god. It was just… awful to witness.

But Ansem, bless his arrogant heart, didn't even consider that any of this sounded suspicious. They'd had a normal enough conversation until Axel turned the place into a sauna, and even that had been due to affection, so his initial watchfulness had relaxed. As nervous as Roxas sounded, it could just have easily been attributed to the chaos of having a fire god for a boyfriend. Thank god the old man knew they were a couple already.

"That sounds sensible," was all Ansem said, as he fiddled with the room's thermostat. "You are free to do as you wish."

"Oh – uh, well, yeah, yes." Roxas cleared his throat. "Thank you. Sir." He turned and strode to Axel, gripping his elbow and saying between his teeth, "Let's go, shall we?"

They got into the elevator, Roxas inserting his card and closing the doors, hitting the button to the lowest sub-basement, before sagging against the handrail. He was still flushed, glaring at Axel for making the salt on his skin regain some life, but nonetheless… he reached for Axel as the man closed in on him, kissing him frantically in the time they had before the doors split back open. "Sorry about that," Axel whispered, between kisses. "Total accident."

"Moron," Roxas replied, panting, dragging his fingertips down Axel's face and throat, and then the car stopped, and they parted, and the doors opened up. The heated air of the elevator evaporated into… the coolness of an underground forest. Axel stepped out in amazement, shielding his face against what felt like real, simulated sunlight shining down from somewhere on high, passing through the leaves of the trees, illuminating… dirt, twigs, insects. Axel stomped his feet experimentally, feeling nothing but loamy earth beneath his soles. He could hear – birds in the trees.

"What the f…" He couldn't do it. Couldn't swear in such a quiet, natural atmosphere. It felt wrong to, somehow. "What is this place?" he asked Roxas, in a hushed voice.

"Aerith's sanctuary," Roxas told him. "That's what she likes to call it."

Axel reached out to touch a tree, and felt real, actual bark, He could pick at it, crumble it between his fingers. They took several steps along a deliberate dirt path tracing through the trees, like the way to Grandma's house in a fairy tale. No wolves here, though. Just… life. Roxas smiled, following a short distance behind, letting Axel experience the wonder, touching the flowers, digging a finger into the soil, going to poke a particularly vivid grouping of mushrooms at the base of a dark log before a voice startled them.

"Don't touch that!"

Axel snatched his hand back, standing and turning to see Aerith, who had apparently heard his tramping about and come to investigate. She was wearing safety goggles, a face-mask, and a thick set of black gloves that went up to her elbows, while she carried a metal box containing… god only knew what. But whatever it was, it probably came from this forest, and her protective equipment was making Axel feel nervous. To Roxas, with concern, he asked, "Uh, should we not be here unsupervised or something?"

Aerith huffed, shaking her head, then jerked her head and said, "This way, but don't touch anything." They obediently followed along behind her before coming to a large clearing, bathed in that artificial yet so realistic light, in which there stood a half-collapsed church. Axel gaped at it, rooted to the spot, Roxas forgetting him for a moment before stopping and looking back, then over at the church.

"Oh, right. Yeah, welcome to Aerith's Sanctuary," he offered. "This is one of the old temples of her godhood. It amplifies her powers."

"Roxas…" Axel was at a loss for words.

"I, uh. I brought it here," he added, the final blow to Axel's grip on reality. Roxas sounded a little proud of himself. "Not all at once, but bit by bit."

"Roxas," Aerith said, having shucked her gloves and other protective measures and safely stored the box and washed her hands at a small station she had set up outside the church, "is a treasure. But he shouldn't," she took on a scolding tone, "be bringing people here and letting them just roam about." She placed her hands on her hips like a displeased mother. "Some of the life here is extremely toxic, even just to touch." After Roxas made a show of looking suitably chastened, she became all smiles, and gave him a welcoming hug, before approaching Axel and reaching up to do the same.

"Oh! Okay." He hugged her back a little, awkwardly, not entirely sure what to do with himself. Roxas, in the background, chuckled.

"Hello, Axel," Aerith greeted warmly, and she gave him an extra squeeze before letting him go, leaving him feeling… like the planet itself had just shown him fondness. Dazedly, he looked down at her, while she laughed freely up into his face. "Look at you! I can feel the heat coming off of you. Doesn't that get uncomfortable?" To Roxas, she asked, "Doesn't that get uncomfortable?"

"It, uh." Roxas's eyes darted, first to Axel, then to the ground, then to Aerith with a blush. "It's never actually bothered me."

Her smile took on a tender quality, and, taking both of them each by one of her hands, she led them into the church. It had a roof, but was so broken and incomplete that it let a pool of light into the centre of the cracked wooden boarding, where the brightest flowers of all were blooming. They had a glass-like quality to them, Aerith reaching down and brushing a hand over them, each flower turning to face her as she passed. It was like nature itself loved her. Then, selecting carefully, she reached in among them and plucked one of the flowers. She turned and handed it, almost ceremoniously, to Roxas, who just as solemnly accepted it, looking down it with a stunned expression. It was slender, delicate, with red petals.

"Take this flower home," she told him, gently closing his hands over it, "and find somewhere safe to keep it. For as long as it continues to bloom, your heart's desire will be true." Roxas's eyes immediately went to Axel, then back to the flower. He nodded silently, and now she was turning to Axel, almost too bright to look at without glancing a little to the side. "Axel, it's such a pleasure to properly meet you. I know it was said before, but I'm Aerith. I am a reincarnated god of life and growth."

"Wait, so this forest, did Roxas bring all that in as well, or…?" Axel asked, then got his mind promptly blown when she shook her head and said, "I grew the forest on this floor myself. Don't forget that the city is just over our heads!" She laughed, but Axel was… absolutely fucking reeling. What was up with all these… goddamn super-powered beings just existing this whole time alongside everybody else? Why didn't this chick have a cult?

"That's not part of the deal," Roxas told him, reading him like a book. "The gods are cycling down in order to stop existing. If they started up cults to be worshipped, the natural balance would shift and everything would be… messed up." Axel wasn't the only one who didn't feel like cursing in this hallowed-feeling space.

"Oh, who wants worship, honestly?" Aerith scoffed, and all at once, she was just a regular person. "In this day and age?" She shook her head at the very notion, Axel laughing a little at her flat rejection.

"Time to grow old and let the kids have their way?" he joked, but clearly something about his words struck a chord in Aerith, as she paused, looked at him for a long moment, then shifted her gaze to Roxas.

"…Guard that flower well, young man," she said, mock-sternly, but with a sincerity that was… uh, extremely flattering, actually. Then, to Axel, she answered, "Exactly that. You can see truth in the world, can't you?"

"Isn't – isn't that Cloud?" Axel asked, glancing at Roxas.

"No, not like that." Aerith shook her head. She seemed momentarily frustrated by her inability to word it, before Roxas volunteered, "He plays the violin."

Axel snorted self-deprecatingly. "Played. I haven't properly practiced in ages. I'm a sham musician."

"He's a violinist," Roxas told Aerith, and she closed her eyes and nodded.

"So that's how you communicate it. Your truth." She gave a crooked smile and said, "I don't know how to play any instruments, so I can't respond in kind. But yes, you can see truth in the world, and have a way to express it, and that is a wonderful quality to have. I'm so pleased to have you as one of us."

Feeling bashful, Axel scratched at his head and rocked onto his heels. "Yeah. Well, uh. Thanks. Happy to be here."

"No, you're not," Roxas helpfully corrected him, at which he frowned and realised that he'd been so swept up in Aerith's energy he'd totally forgotten their reason for being here in the first place.

"…Oh. Right. I'm not." When Aerith drew back slightly, looking hesitant, he waved his hands reassuringly. "Oh, but not about you. I'm happy to, you know, meet you properly, too. And I like your ideas about truth, that sounds like a cool conversation. But, uh, we're not actually here for me to be… introduced."

With a questioning look at Roxas, she asked, "Well, then?"

Roxas sighed. He had not been looking forward to this. "Is this place, you know… Ansem-free?"

Aerith raised her eyebrows, but slowly nodded. "I don't allow electronics in my Sanctuary. They upset the plants."

"And because they upset the plants, you'd also know if anything had been placed… without your knowledge?"

Her frown deepening, she asked, "What's this about, Roxas?"

"…Aerith, you know… pixie dust, right?"

"Well, of course." She nodded briefly. "But it's extremely difficult to make, and I'm opposed to it ethically."

"Yeah, we know," Axel said heavily.

Seeing now that even Axel had knowledge that she didn't, she asked Roxas, extremely seriously, "Please, explain this to me."

"We believe that for… a while now, probably… Ansem's had you making pixie dust for him, then using it on you to make you forget you made, before , uh, getting you to make it… again. And again. And… again." With every 'again', her expression grew tighter.

"…And what makes you believe this?" she asked, alert but not yet alarmed.

"Because he's also been using it on everyone else," Axel said, "and that made all of you… including Roxas… forget that he was a god."

She looked incredulous, staring first at Axel, then Roxas, covering her mouth with her hand. Troubled, she considered the possibilities they had presented. "But surely at least I…" she muttered to herself, before shaking her head, "no, no, there's no natural immunity even via exposure…" She paused, then shot them a piercing look. "What evidence do you have of your claims? This is an extremely serious accusation, Roxas."

"I know," Roxas said.

Then, from behind him, they heard, "He's correct, though." Riku respectfully entered the sacred space, waving shortly. "Hi, Aerith. Um. I've – I've done it to you." He stood a distance back, but suddenly it wasn't enough. Axel wanted more space. Miles more. "I've dusted you before, to make you forget."

She looked at him with a faraway gaze. "But… one batch of pixie dust could last months," she said, weakly.

Riku, hunched in on himself, stared at the floor and replied, "…Yeah."

There was a silence. "Ansem's been blackmailing him, for what it's worth," Roxas caustically said, apparently less ready than Sora to forgive and forget, but understanding, regardless, of his circumstances. Riku winced, but nodded affirmatively when Aerith glanced at him.

"…But, Cloud…" she softly said.

"I'm so sorry, but he's part of it," Riku told her. "Ansem has him convinced, somehow, that this is the right thing to do."

But Aerith sharply shook her head. "No. Cloud would never do that to me."

"…I've seen him," Riku said, making her flinch like he'd slapped her. "He's even done it to Leon. Anyone Ansem tells him to."

She sighed, but it wasn't a resigned sound; on the contrary, she looked more disturbed than ever. "You're telling me that Cloud has been doing whatever Ansem has been telling him to? For how long, exactly?" Riku was silent, which was all the answer that Aerith needed. "He simply couldn't," she firmly said, before looking at each of them. "…Didn't you know? That Cloud can't lie?"

It was like the oxygen had vanished from the room. Because Cloud sure as shit was a goddamn liar. And everyone but Aerith knew it.

"It's linked to his power," she said worriedly, "but he's vulnerable to corruption."

"That is the exact goddamn thing Vincent said," Axel exclaimed, then quieted himself when his voice echoed around the crumbling space.

Once the reverberations of his statement had died away, Aerith asked, "You've spoken with Vincent?"

"…He, and we all, think that Ansem has been using your pixie dust to keep everyone from remembering that Roxas was a god called Ventus," Axel said.

"I've never heard that name before in my life," Aerith said helplessly.

"You might have," Riku told her softly, and she looked at him with such horror that Axel was beginning to feel guilty. They'd really tossed her in the deep end with this one, huh. But like – how else did one broach the subject of 'guess what, you've been long-term brainwashed'? He was pretty sure this was probably the healthy response. Especially when she slapped, then hugged Riku, who looked stunned for a moment, then sank against her, gripping her like a lost child, and choked, "I'm so sorry." He gasped and gulped. "I just didn't want to lose Sora."

Ah, damn it. There he went again, making Axel totally identify with him. He'd been ready to join Xemnas just to help Demyx – if he had to go to the very depths of hell to keep Roxas, he would do so. He sure wasn't mad at the guy for his deception, and could see that even Roxas was softening, as Riku wept in Aerith's arms and begged for forgiveness in a hoarse whisper. He looked so tormented that Axel couldn't help but feel sympathy. Each day must have been such a struggle. You'd almost have to – shut off. If not for the strength of his love for Sora, Riku could have easily become an automaton of Ansem's, and that was so damn ominous.

Roxas nudged him, asking, "What?" because apparently Axel had started scowling intensely

"Why would Ansem do this to someone?" He nodded towards Riku, at his obvious distress and regret. "I can see why he wants you forgotten, and all, but why bring Riku into it, to do this to him?" He frowned down at Roxas. "Like, he didn't even give Riku a choice. He just straight-up told him he'd take Sora from him. He didn't fuck around. He went right for the jugular."

Now, Roxas was scowling, too. "I get Cloud," he agreed, "because Cloud can see the truth, but you're… you're right. Why Riku?"

"I am telling you," Aerith insisted, while holding the repentant Riku, "Cloud wouldn't do this. And he can't lie."

"Then who is he?" Roxas asked, with some dread, everyone turning to him. "If he's not Cloud… then who is wearing Cloud?"

"…No," Aerith said it so softly, but with such pain that Axel knew she'd accepted the worst-case scenario already; but Axel wasn't quite there yet.

"Wait, wait, back up – what the fuck are you exactly trying to say?" he demanded of Roxas, before glancing at Riku, whose face looked like it had turned to stone. "You're saying he's Xehanort? Xehanort's here?"

It was at that moment that all the lights were abruptly cut, pure darkness engulfing them instantly. Then, there came a crackling over a loudspeaker situated somewhere high above the foliage. "Is – is this thing on? Yeah? Okay."

Axel's blood ran cold. That was Demyx. Roxas, also recognising the voice, clutched him even harder than he already had been.

"Okay, so, Axel? Buddy? You're here, right? I'm coming for you. It's going to be okay. I'll see ya… real soon."

There was a loud click as he stopped broadcasting. "They've gained access to the building?" Aerith asked, sounding afraid.

Riku firmly took charge, his voice an anchor in the pitch black. "Aerith, I am extremely sorry, but I have faith in you. Axel – can you set something on fire?"

"Can I do what now?" he demanded, as Aerith gasped lightly.

"Xehanort has gained access to the building. We need to be able to see." He paused, then advised, "Just… think about where you want it to go, and…. let loose, man."

Axel drew a breath. Let loose?

…Let loose.

Gently, he pressed Roxas over in the direction of Aerith's and Riku's voices, and backed away from the group. He released a low, steady breath, and felt his heart beating. That was where it was. Not in his belly, like a dragon, but in his heart. The same heart the Roxas had woken – it pulsed with wildfire.

Flames.

Aerith screamed involuntarily when, somewhere nearby, a tree erupted into fire. "Quickly, while it's burning," Roxas urged them, managing to hustle them out of the church and hurrying down the dirt path before the ferocity of the burn had turned the tree to ashes. It hadn't even caught anything around it. It had burned alone, and become nothing. With the light failed, and, with encouragement from Riku, Axel tried summoning it again, this time… with control. He brought it to pool in his hands, which glowed like hot pokers in the absolute darkness. The heat forced them all to step further back from Axel, who willed his hands to burn.

Light seared to life in the gloom, Axel staring deep into the twin fires that burned at the ends of his arms, gasping for air like he'd just run a marathon, but also… exhilarated. He turned to face the others, who were no longer as affected by the temperature of his presence now that he had it stabilised and well-formed.

His irises flickering red and orange, Axel said, "Let's go."