A familiar place [Axel]

[Axel]

Feel the World Turn Around

He felt stupid, no doubt about it that Saix would call him a moron. Axel half expected to find the nobody sitting there, looking bored through all their old memorabilia. He would turn to him, and ignore Aqua, not really focusing on her until he realised that she wielded a keyblade. Axel didn't have to be told to know she did. The light emanating from her heart was pure enough for his darkness to detect. A tiny fragment of him wanted to scurry away, never to be within the proximity of such purity. But he ignored it, it didn't do him any harm, and he couldn't help but be attracted to it. Axel lifted his head and looked at the door, the worst case scenario's rushing through his head. Looking down at Aqua, he stared straight into her oceanic eyes, and used them as strength. Her hands wrapped around his, fuelling some unknown courage into him. His eyes did pick up that her clothes were sticking quite close to her frame, but he ignored it as best he could, though his face did turn a little red. Looking back to the door, with his hand on the knob, he twisted it, feeling the old familiar stiffness, and noticing as he pushed the door open, rust along the hinges. The fact that there was no light inside, meant that it looked like pitch black, as if darkness had swallowed the room completely.

"It’s..."

He quietly spoke to himself as he strode through the threshold, his eyes quickly becoming used to the lack of light. His hand tightened around Aqua's as he saw what was lining the walls, the floor and the table. Saix was nowhere to be seen, nor was there any writing of Traitor scrawled across the walls. Instead pictures, drawn by children lined the walls. A mixture of superheroes, villains, robots, monsters, hero's buildings, an entire gallery of drawing. Some of the pictures looked like a 6 year old drew them, others that a 12 year old had. On the table, books, most of them school ones, still laid open. They had math equations half filled as if the person doing them left moments ago. On the floor in two of the corners, a pile of old toys, and on the other side, to small mats with a two blankets on top. The room was full of life, even if those that lived in it had long since passed away. But what really choked up Axel, was the single picture frame in the centre of the table. It was new, something he didn't remember, but he knew of the picture. It was a collage of him and Saix, from when they were kids, till before they died. A message read at the bottom;

To the Sun and the Moon, You who will never be forgotten, and always be loved

Axel still holding Aqua's hand, collapsed to his knee's as he held the picture. He felt tears slowly starting to form in his eyes. Dripping from his face to the floor. His other hand, held tightly to the blanket with the sun on it. You would have thought that was Axel's but funnily enough that was Saix's duvet. In entering the room, seeing the pictures, and seeing the memorial frame, Axel felt a sudden longing for his old best friend. No matter who it was, Aqua, Larxene, Roxas or Sora, none of them could compare to Isa. He knew these tears weren't from his heart, but with Aqua so close it felt like they were. He quietly cried to himself, the memories of those happy times, rushing through his head. The idea that he had chosen Roxas over him as a friend, the pain he felt when they seemed to separate. How did it happen? Sure they had changed physically, but they were still the same person weren't they? When was it that Saix changed....no, when Isa became Saix. Axel wanted to stop all the memories but he couldn't, he wanted to end the feelings but those two wouldn't.

Even now his heart was torn between Roxas and Isa. Both betrayed him in their own, way. Both kept him close till they got tired and rid themselves of him despite their complaints. But when Axel looked around the room, he knew that deep down, where his heart should be, Isa would always be who he cared for the most. The rain heavily rattled against the roof of the small shack. Time seemed to drag on as Axel wiped his tears, and stood up, looking around the room. The tears didn't stop, they kept flowing, kept choking, kept hurting. All Axel could do was try and be as happy as possible, even though each object in the room hurt him so. Picking up a toy with his spare hand, he fiddled with it, before wiping his face and finally speaking to the blunette.

"..I..is it wrong for me...to miss someone? When I don't have a heart? When..I got us killed..."

His lips trembled as he stared at the toy. His voice always quivering as he tried to keep it clear, constantly clearing his throat.

"..When he then changed...a..after we changed? Who would you choose... I..if you had only one.."

[Aqua]

Aqua's eyes shined with sadness as she looked down at the usually cool and collected now feeble bodied man. It was disconcerting on how easily it was for someone so strong and proud to be reduced to a crying mess. But- he couldn't blame him. In retrospect she was considered dead as well... She bent down and smiled wrapping her thin arms around his shivering frame. She tried to ease his pain hoping that he would be alright. "Axel, it's not you're fault." She began "You couldn't possibly of known what was in store for you..."

She hugged him tightly her motherly instincts kicking in. And even if she felt foolish for holding a full grown man, she felt it was right to comfort him in his time of need. Pulling away slowly she gave a warm and sincere smile. "It's not wrong to miss someone. I miss my Master and my friends each and every day. Wishing I could of changed something to stop all the bad things from happening..." She looked down sadly as though lost in thoughts.

"But I know that I can't change time. And that I will live with this regret for the rest of my life..." She looked back at him eyes soft yet true. "All I can do is live and remember, I can't change the past but I can prevent it happening to another in the future." She put a comforting hand on Axel's shoulder. "It's up to you if you'll accept what has happened and live with their memory... Or you'll stay in the past and only wish of what could of been."

She tried to get him to look into her eyes. "But know this Axel. Me and you're friends will always be there for you." Rising up she outstretched her hand for him, offering it to him to stand. He could do this, she knows he can. And they would face whatever hardships together.

[Axel]

The feeling of Aqua's warm body around his was a comfort, one which only made Axel feel all the more worse. Here he was, a feared and famed member of Organization XIII, kneeling down, and bawling his eyes out. What was even stranger was the fact that he was crying. Sure he had the memories of his emotions, but this was on a whole new level. It was like, the small room, filled with memories of worlds past, had managed to rekindle some shred of Axel's heart. Bending his head lower, Axel let his head hang limp on top of Aqua's arm. The tears still streamed, but the emotions were gone. Vanished in an instant, a cruel reminder of what manner of being Axel was. He was a Nobody, something that had no heart, no matter what had happened through his life. What he 'felt' was never real, always a shadow of that past.

"Becoming...a Nobod.., kind..of.glues you to the past"

He let a small chuckle escape his lips. He was laughing at himself, not at Aqua. Since she didn't know what a Nobody was, nor did she know about the Heartless, or any of the darkness that had swamped the world of light. She was innocent, pure, something that Axel could only dream of being once more. Taking deep breaths, he listened to what Aqua had to say. She sounded like a mother, schooling her son on the loss of a pet. It was good to hear, even if it didn't really cheer him up. The effort was what counted. He lifted his head as he felt Aqua's arm slip off him, and watched her as she stood up hand outstretched. Axel looked up at her, his eyes red and puffy, but quickly returning to their original state. He didn't want to hurt her, but he knew that when Xemnas decided to show his face, his loyalties would change. Shifting, he pushed up on his knee, ignoring her hand and walked back to the door frame.

"You...haven't been told much, about what happened since we met...about where we stand."

He leant against it, crossing his arms as he let the water dripping from above fall into an open palm. It trickled through his fingers, staying separate from his leather like gloves.

"It's all well and good, keeping to the future, never letting things happen again. One friend...he changed, into what I should be. The other, was like you, was the one that made me into this emotional mess."

He turned so that his back was against the frame, his red spiked hair brushing the top. The rain heavily pattered nearby, its splashes against the ground flinging excess into the room and over Axel's feet. He looked down with a sad expression, his hand empty and dark.

"I think you need to learn why I'm forever stuck in my past"

It sounded like thunder, rumbling and roaring through the sky. But since the Messenger had come around Radiant Garden had become a barren waste. A place where the hungry could be fed. Clicking his fingers, a spark of darkness erupted from him, and flew through towards the square which they had walked through. As it landed, it started to bubble and fester, the darkness beginning to draw forms, all wanting a piece of the pure light it had recently smelt.

"First on the list, the Heartless"

[Aqua]

"Axel..." She murmured as she looked downcast, eyes shining with sadness. She wanted to say something- desperately but knew it was pointless. For now she would wait and listen, it was a good idea to listen on what she had missed for the last ten years.... "First on the list, the Heartless" Heart-less? She questioned mentally wondering what these creatures were. Watching as the shadowy beings formed in the square Aqua gasped. They looked- so similar to the unversed! In a way of course, they were obviously different.

But still to Aqua they were a threat something that shouldn't exist... "What-!" In a flash her keyblade was summoned she took a defensive stance, unsure if these things were hostile or not- a lot she didn't know if Axel could control them. What would happen if one of these things got loose? She didn't want to risk such a thing and thus kept her eyes trained on the little ant-like shadow. "What... do these creatures do?" She questioned as she elaborated. "Unversed- a creature that seems similar to these, multiplied by feeding on negativity..." She explained as she glanced at Axel unsure of what to do at the moment and if he was going to dispel it or not.

[Diesdiesdies! Post is SO much fail! Dx]

[/blockquote]

[Axel]

Axel ignored the flash of light, and walked straight out into the rain, heading towards the square. He knew that she would probably not forgive him, probably hate him for what he was about to do. When they were locked away, in the world of darkness, everything was so much simpler. It was just them, watching the water drift towards them and back. They sat for calamity knows how long, but the words and the laughter was always there, something that Axel missed greatly. As his mind and body was taken to the darkness, he remembered hearing a set of words belonging to Namine. She said that he was searching for his heart, admits the cruel dark. When he was sitting, there with Aqua, in a childish way, Axel thought he had found it. That Aqua was what he had been searching for, all those years. If that was the truth, then why was he still a nobody, one incapable of truly feeling his emotions? He knew the answer, though up until this point he had been trying to ignore it. She wasn't of course his answer, his heart. Instead, she was something else, as to what Axel wasn't sure.

"Never heard of the Unversed...but these guys are worse"

He spoke in a sullen and quiet voice. Axel had descended the stairs to the castle, now standing in front of the square. Before him, the mass of darkness has taken shape, a mixture of shadows, neoshadows and one massive Darkside. They looked around, searching as always for hearts to feed upon. Their gaze passed over Axel, not even able to register his presence. It didn't bother the nobody; it allowed him to land the first strike with ease.

"The Heartless are just what their name implies, being without hearts. They are born in the World of Darkness, were we resided. They feed upon those with weak hearts, or like you, those completely bathed in the light. They ravage the worlds they touch, consuming everything until even the world's heart is lost."

Axel turned to look up at Aqua, his eyes searching for hers for one moment, but then quickly looking to the ground in shame. He couldn't bring himself to look at her, if their gaze met, Axel knew he would hesitate. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out, probably because he had nothing to say. Still looking down he reached his hand out to her, beckoning her to take it. He knew that the moment she would step towards him, the Heartless would start their assault.

[noo yours is fine! mine is poo >.<]

[Aqua]

She had seen these creatures before! Or at least the big one. Though she had given up hope in fighting them Ven's and Terra's Keyblades' saved her from a untimely death. The new smaller Heartless she had never seen before. Though they looked like bigger and stronger version of the small ant-like shadows Axel had shown her. Still she knew they were a threat even before Axel began explaining about them. The were beings of pure darkness.

And as such they were evil and had to be destroyed. She bit her lip thinking of her train of thought- how could she still think like this even after all she had been through? The people she had met, such as The Fairy Godmother- who told her Darkness wasn't always meant to be vanquished by the light. That everyone had darkness in them- no matter how small.... She wanted to deny this of course but deep down she knew she was right...

Watching as Axel descended the stairs she quickly followed, keyblade still out as walked down cautiously following the red head with a feeling of apprehension. What would happen the moment she descended the stairs? She would find out anyways... Walking down next to him she went to grasp his hand, only to watch as the Neoshadows began to twitch- and then they lunged...