CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

They were woken by a crash in the extremely early morning, Axel clambering achingly over Roxas, who was only just starting to stir. Their lantern had been burning on the lowest setting as they slumbered, Axel turning it up with some fumbling and clicking, before carrying it to the bedroom door and opened it to the distant sounds of chaos.

"What is it?" Roxas grumbled, still in bed.

"I don't know," Axel said tersely, the tension of his voice waking the kid up a bit. "I'm going to go check."

"No, wait, Axel, the light…"

"Wait here," Axel firmly told him, then, holding the lantern aloft with his good arm, he cautiously made his way along the hallway. It was dark this time, the lights extinguished by whomever was last to bed. Then he heard a further crash, and a scream, and now he was running, bare feet flying over the old, thin, once-plush carpeting. He almost collided with Riku as he rounded a corner, the other also stopping sharply, breathing hard, unusually messy with loose, rumpled clothes and a frantic expression.

"Sephiroth," Riku gasped.

"Oh, you're not telling me…" Axel lifted up his lantern, peering down the hallway, before being tackled, roughly by Riku as a large chunk of that super solid bed frame from earlier flew out from the darkness. It slammed along the hallway, tearing apart everything it touched, Axel and Riku curling in on each other, sheltering their heads until it had flipped past. Slowly lifting his head, Axel stared after it, embedded in the far end of the hallway, the walls ripped apart, tufts of insulation drifting through the air, as if the dust alone hadn't been bad enough. "What in the actual fu-" He was dragged around the corner by Riku, his exclamation becoming a cry of pain as his shoulder, already swollen and sore, was jerked around with the rest of him.

Severely, gripping Axel's face between his hands, Riku hissed for a second time, "Sephiroth."

"Oh, shit." Axel whispered it this time. He had dropped his lantern when Riku tackled him, so now the darkness was back to being total. All Axel could hear was their own panicked breaths, and pieces of the hallway falling to the ground. "…Guy's strong," he commented voicelessly, in a state of shock. Riku sent him a look of the deepest exasperation, before edging, on his hands and knees, back towards the corner. Then, as a series of grunts and shouts started up further along, he was back on his feet and running off in the direction of the trouble. Axel sat there for a stunned moment longer, then groaned and rolled himself to his feet, heading after him.

At the next turn in the passageway, Riku was almost at the open door to Cloud's room when suddenly Axel saw him dive through the doorway. Seconds later, Leon hit the wall right in front of Axel, expelling the breath from his body in a single, sharp blow. He dropped to the ground, hard. Hell, he practically bounced. Axel's wide eyes rose to look across the gap at where Riku stood, panting in Cloud's room. It may as well have been a mountain. The wall that Leon had hit was… crunched. Leon's body had left an impression, he'd hit so hard, He wasn't moving. Holy shit.

This… was Sephiroth?

Axel started backing up, Riku nodding and also ducking out of sight, as whomever it was that had flung Leon with such ferocity started clomping down the hallway. Axel could hear his boots, each resounding step sending a thrill of fear through his entire being. He was reversing as fast and silently as he could, aiming for the corner that had previously shielded them.

He wasn't quick enough.

Flickering like a bad television image, Cloud reached the end of the hall, and after glancing down at Leon's defeated form, he looked right at Axel. It was that red goddamn hair, he just knew it. Like a fucking glow-stick in the gloom. Cloud turned towards him, but… it wasn't Cloud. It was very clearly Sephiroth. He was like… a phantom, superimposing over Cloud, trying to assert his dominance. Sephiroth was – tall. His hair was long. It was like his shade was barely contained inside of Cloud, bright blue and green, and Axel would swear he had a single arched wing. There was someone sharp inside of Cloud, fighting to stay there. To Axel, he demanded, so guttural Axel could barely make him out: "Mako."

Oh, shit. Axel resumed backing up, slowly, carefully, while Cloud, beaten and bloody, took a single step towards him, Sephiroth moving first, seeming to drag the blond along with a second's delay in his wake. "Sorry, bro, no Mako here," he desperately mumbled, hoping to just… get to the corner and fucking make a break for it. He wouldn't even have challenged Leon to an arm-wrestle, and the guy was out cold at the end of the hallway. But he knew, Axel knew, with deep, old instincts, just regular human ones, that the instant he turned his back on Cloud, or Sephiroth, or whoever: teeth were coming.

Then a hand reached from the darkness, gripped his shoulder hard, and dragged him sideways through reality, unzipping to release him in the kitchen. Drawing a shuddering breath, Axel turned to Roxas and hugged him tightly. It fucking hurt. He didn't care.

When Roxas looked up at him, he said, very softly, "Sephiroth."

"I know, idiot." Roxas pointed past him at where Sora, Yuffie and Aerith were crouched nearby, with a lantern burning so low it was sputtering. The three of them were hiding behind the kitchen island, for as long as it would take for Cloud to get here.

"Did you see Riku?" Sora asked, quickly.

Bobbing down to join them, Axel nodded. "He's still okay, last I saw of him. But he's in Cloud's room. And Leon is down." He looked around at them. "Tifa?"

"Fighting Sephiroth," Aerith whispered.

Axel nodded. She hadn't been anywhere in sight when he'd been there, but that didn't mean she was out like Leon.

"If you hadn't run off into the darkness, you might have realised before you went in," Roxas was quietly sniping, but Axel silenced him with a hand.

"Later," he all but mouthed. Roxas frowned, but obediently fell silent. Getting everyone to come in close, listening carefully for those heavy steps, Axel breathed, "He is crazy strong, and crazy… crazy. We all need to get the fuck out of here." He looked expectantly at Roxas, who appeared alarmed.

"Wait, me?" he hissed. "I can't! I said I was worn out, didn't I? Why do you think I could only get you as far as the kitchen? I am on low. Battery."

"Besides, we aren't leaving without Cloud!" Yuffie quietly declared, with Aerith's firm nod confirming it. Axel sighed shortly, thinking fast.

"Fine. Yuffie, what've you got left from Aerith? Anything good?"

Yuffie brightened and immediately began shedding the small, coloured packages. A red one, she pointed to specifically. "That will wake Leon back up." The rest, she spread out. "One blinder. One silencer. Two cures. A remedy." She picked up the dark blue one. "And, of course – our sleeper."

"Tell me about the cures? And the – remedy?" Axel quickly questioned, unfamiliar with terms the others clearly understood.

"Cure heals you up a bit," Roxas murmured. "Remedy helps when you're… confused."

"Define 'confused'," Axel whispered, managing sarcasm even at sub-volume, "because if there was a remedy for that, I'd have appreciated it a long time ago."

Roxas glared, but then glanced away. "I don't want to tell you."

Axel's eyes bulged slightly. He look at the others, all of whom looked suddenly… uncomfortable. Except for Sora, who like Axel had no foreknowledge, and asked, "What? Why?"

"Because shh, that's why," Roxas rasped back, and for a moment they all fell silent. The mansion was large, but even so… the hush felt eerie.

Exhaling slowly, Axel closed his eyes and simply filed it away for the conversation that would take place after the crazed psychopath was back to being tied up. "…The sleeper, then," he eventually whispered, meeting Yuffie's gaze, the girl giving a sharp affirmative and slipping it into her wristband. "We take him out together. I'll draw his attention, while you… sleeper-ise him."

Gently, Aerith put in, "If it's all the same to you, Axel, I think I'll join you." He shot her an inquisitive look, and got a resolute one in return. He nodded, and she took the cures and red-packaged powders.

"Roxas and Sora stay here, then," Axel said, expecting a fight from Roxas, but not receiving it. When he glanced at Sora, he realised why. The kid looked terrified. He'd gone from 'no god shit' to 'walls being torn open by super-strong possessed dude' pretty quickly, and Axel knew pretty well what that felt like. So instead of resisting, Roxas merely nodded, and shifted closer to his twin. Axel held gaze, giving a small, tight smile. Hesitantly, Roxas returned it. It was all they could do.

Axel, Yuffie, and Aerith left the protection of the kitchen island, Aerith holding her staff firmly, so at least she was equipped. Axel was pretty sure he'd seen something glint in Yuffie's wristband when she'd put away the sleeper, too. So he was the only one walking into battle with a super-powered god going through withdrawals without a weapon. Cool. As they walked, however, he felt a tug at his shoulder, and looked down to see Aerith had opened one of the cures and had shaken it over the bare, bruised flesh beneath his shirt. It was absorbed within seconds, and then, moments later… he felt the pain clear. His shoulder wasn't back to normal, but – he didn't need the sling anymore. He darted her a grateful look as he removed it, receiving a smile in return, and the three of them disappeared into the black hallways.

At some point, Yuffie vanished. Axel looked around to check on the others, and she was just – gone. Aerith, however, calmly shook her head, wordlessly assuring him that this was normal. Taking it in stride, he continued, just the two of them now as far as he could tell, creeping along and listening hard for signs of Sephiroth. He had gone – disconcertingly silent ever since he had lost Axel, though. They slid past the bed frame jutting out from the wall and walked the long, exposed hallway to Cloud's unknowable room, all the while waiting with bated breath, even though, ultimately, it all came to… nothing. Sephiroth never jumped out. He didn't throw anything. But Leon was gone from where Axel had last seen him, and the darkness was deep.

Swallowing, able to audibly hear it, Axel started summoning his flame, and slowly stepped into the room feeling like he was threading his neck through a guillotine's embrace. He drew the fire through his limbs, hands glowing faintly so as not to startle anyone who might be present. Gradually, they came into view – Leon, Riku, and Tifa. All tied to chairs with the same shreds of rope that had been used to keep Sephiroth tied to the bed. All unconscious. All really, incredibly creepy. Ten out of ten on the Halloween scale. Zero out of a million for literally anything else.

Just as he was about to open his mouth and ask an incredibly stupid question, Cloud – Sephiroth – beat him to the punch, appearing behind him and easily picking him up with a single hand. He then brought Axel in crushingly close, clamping a flickering arm across his chest and… squeezing so hard Axel was pretty sure he could feel his ribs pop just slightly out of place. As he made strangled noises, Sephiroth looked at him from up-close. "I haven't come across anyone like you before," he curiously panted, crushing Axel's jaw between long fingers and twisting his neck, painfully, around to study his features. "We could certainly–" Whatever monologue he had planned, Axel cut right the hell off by placing his blisteringly hot hands on the dude's bare forearm. Cloud screamed as flesh sizzled, and without even thinking about it let Axel go.

"Oh, god," Cloud moaned, gripping his forearm and staring at the branded skin, "ohhhh, oh, my god, oh, god, I need water, I, I need water, I…" He swayed hard, and that was when, before Sephiroth could reassert his influence, Yuffie slapped him right in the face with the sleeper. It erupted in a rapidly vanishing puff, and the man keeled over like he'd fucking died.

"Oh, wow!" Axel was startled, pulling his hands back. "Was he supposed to do that? Should I not have done what I did?"

"No, you did extremely well," Aerith patted him on the shoulder. She quickly went to untie the unconscious trio, Yuffie poking at Cloud's cheek, prodding an eyelid open to see his rolled back, regular-coloured eyeballs. "Yep, we got him good!"

She almost went to high-five Axel, who reflexively went to respond, until Aerith took her raised wrist and helpfully advised, "That might be a bit warm for you."

They both paused, looked at Axel's glowing hands, and he rapidly… powered down. Even so, Yuffie looked nervous of him following that, and made a point of never making direct skin contact with Axel. Between the three of them, they got Riku, Leon, and Tifa out of the ropes, and Cloud back into them, as tight as they could wrap him. Aerith began administering medicine, while Axel went to the doorway, cupped his mouth, and called, "It's safe now. Sephiroth is –"

A long, thin blade appeared from the centre of his chest, stabbing right through from behind. He stared down at it, then gasped heavily when it flickered out of existence, sagging, having almost felt the apparition. Sephiroth's final act was to try and stab Axel right through the heart. He gripped the wall for support, turning and looking back at the others, who looked as shocked as he was. Cloud's body hadn't shifted, but… they'd all seen Sephiroth. "…Axel?" Aerith ventured. "Are you all right?"

He grabbed his chest, and… massaged it a little. He placed a hand out flat, feeling for the heartbeat. Still there. It's still there.

"I'm… fine," he faintly replied.

Aerith marched past him and called out, "Bring water with you." Axel chuckled hoarsely, Aerith asking, with some concern, "Axel?"

"My best friend," he muttered. "He's a god of water. He could have…" He lifted his hands, envisioning the orbs Demyx had created in Ansem's tower. He then stared at them, really thinking for a moment about what could have happened if he'd unthinkingly high-fived Yuffie. "While I just…"

"Hey." He looked over at the sound of Roxas, turning to face him, holding his still-cooling hands out in front of him. "There's nothing 'just' about you," the blond shortly told him, Axel lowering his head at the familiar words. "Can you guys handle things from here?" he asked, pointing to Yuffie and Aerith. "I'd say Axel's done for the day, yeah?"

The pair nodded, Roxas going to take his hand but Axel flinching away. "They're still… too hot," he mumbled.

"Not, they're not," Roxas corrected him, and forcibly took hold of his left hand, pulling him along. The returned to their unofficial bedroom, as dusty as they'd left it but at least, for the moment, not… ripped up by a maniac.

As soon as Roxas closed the door, Axel started yanking his shirt off, turning in an unsteady circle as he pulled it up over his head. Dropping it, he immediately started probing the middle of his chest. There were no marks. No sign that Sephiroth had ever touched him. But nothing… nothing could take away what it felt like – seeing the sword slide right through him.

He turned to Roxas, who was gesturing to his shirtlessness, asking, "What's all this?" before being scooped up and cut off by Axel, who kissed him desperately. He placed Roxas on the least dusty surface, the nightstand, and continued the kiss, pausing only to break apart as he pulled Roxas's shirt off. As he tossed it away, he placed his hands on the wall either side of Roxas's head and met his dazed gaze. He maintained that gaze, unbroken, as Roxas's fingers traced down his torso, pressing into him, stroking and massaging his chest, his waist, his hips, making him grunt and press his head gently into Roxas's. Snaking his arms around Axel, Roxas pulled him in to grind lightly against him, Axel sighing shakily. After kissing him again, Roxas, staring, asked, "So what is all this?"

"My heart," Axel said thickly, almost brokenly. He gripped Roxas's hand and placed it on his chest. "You can feel it, right? It's still there?"

After frowning at him for a long moment, Roxas's grip on him softened, and he eased himself, ear-first, onto Axel's chest. For several minutes, he remained there, slowly stroking the small of Axel's back, before Axel finally rubbed his hands over Roxas's head, tugging him away to quietly ask, "Well?"

"Your heart is still there," Roxas confirmed, and Axel slumped, so – goddamn relieved to hear it from someone else. "It made me sleepy," Roxas yawned, as Axel kissed his head, right inside his hair, and oh, that smell...

But Roxas complained slightly, "Ow." Axel immediately drew back, having forgotten the injury that… he, himself, had caused.

Looking hopelessly at the boy, all he could say was, "I'm so sorry that I hurt you."

"Don't flatter yourself," Roxas mumbled, pulling him down to nuzzle their faces together. "Only way you could beat my ass was by being Lea." Axel went still, Roxas looking tenderly into his tight expression. "…That was a joke," he informed the other, but Axel just shook his head slightly.

"Between… Lea… and Sephiroth, and Vincent with his memories, and Xemnas, and Xehanort, and… Demyx…" His voice shook, but he forced it anyway. "I'm starting to think these… downward spirals we're all doing, it's a really good thing." He regarded Roxas forlornly, cupping his face. "I don't ever want to be someone who hurts you again."

Roxas's lips met his own gently, his hands winding around Axel's neck. "No sling?" he muttered.

"Cure," Axel explained, Roxas humming his understanding against his mouth.

"Could've used some of that tonight," he murmured, Axel pausing to ask, "Why?"

Roxas raised his eyebrows slightly. "I have a concussion. That's why my powers are down."

Eyes widening, Axel demanded, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I did," he answered. "I told Aerith. She gave me first aid. She said to rest."

"But you could've got everyone out if you were healed," Axel said, with frustration. Roxas shook his head.

"They weren't going anywhere. Come to think of it, neither were me or Sora. Riku, Tifa, and Leon were still in there. Would you have left them?"

"…This isn't about that," Axel grudgingly argued, Roxas tugging at his belt, making him bump forward between his legs. Axel felt a jolt at the contact, and judging by his shiver, so did Roxas. They hovered a breath apart.

"So what's it about?" Roxas whispered.

"…I don't remember," Axel admitted, after a long moment, Roxas laughing and tilting his head into Axel's chest.

"I'll be all right," Roxas said, then lifted his gaze to Axel's. "How about you?"

Was Axel… going to be all right?

His fingers touched his chest, where Roxas assured him his heart continued to beat. He'd seen, and heard, and felt… terrible things. In such a short period of time. He kissed Roxas, the one constant through all of this. "Just… stay with me?" Axel asked, and Roxas led him by the hand back to bed. They settled with Roxas's bare back pressed to Axel's chest, and through the contact, he could feel… both their hearts beating.

And Roxas was right. It made you sleepy.