Lea (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
travelsthefarthest) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
allwhowander2012-04-12 03:55 am
travelsthefarthest) wrote in allwhowander2012-04-12 03:55 am
Recovered
The street Xion was walking on may not have been silent, full of people wandering up to the Station Plaza or down to Tram Common - or else to one of the stores to do their shopping - but it might as well have been. It was only instinct that made her move out of the way of people heading her directions. It wouldn’t have made any difference if she had just stood there, let them push through. Nobody would see her. Nobody would feel her.
After everything that had happened, it was terrifying enough to wake up here, in the world they knew was too dangerous to go to, with her head still throbbing painfully from the injury she’d received there, and Roxas, struggling to even move for some reason. People passed around and even through them, ignoring any questions they asked as if they couldn’t hear...
It was like they were ghosts.
And then to top things off, Axel wasn’t there. That in and of itself was probably more terrifying than anything else. Had he even made it out okay? Xion couldn’t remember, a lot of her memories around their flight were hazy, scattered. Roxas had said Axel had been fine the last time he’d seen him - carrying her - but that didn’t mean much by itself, considering Roxas didn’t remember much after they’d landed at the rendezvous point. But Axel always knew more than they did about stuff like this. He knew how to calm them down if they were panicking, and Xion had certainly felt like panicking. Or at least she would’ve, if her head hadn’t still felt awful, and Roxas hadn’t looked much better.
They’d dragged themselves to a familiar location, a cozy nook beneath the railroad tracks, and rested there until they were able to muster up enough collective Cure magic to return themselves both to some semblance of functioning. After that, it was a matter of finding a way out before they were discovered, get back to DIsney Castle, hope that Axel was okay, find Riku and the others and see what was going on...
Only the darkness corridors hadn’t worked. It was as if there was a wall around Twilight Town, one that didn’t make sense. So next they’d gone exploring, only to discover that there wasn’t any exit, not that they could find, at least. Everything seemed to loop back in on itself. They’d tried, once, to enter the old mansion, see if there was anything inside, only to be dumped out at Station Plaza, with no preamble or explanation.
After that, still wary about what was going on, they’d fallen into a pattern more like the one they had on the run. One of them would sleep while the other watched nearby, plus search to find a way out when they were both awake. Right now was Roxas’ turn to sleep. She herself wouldn’t go much further than this, the entrance of the Back Alley, watching people as they passed, doing their shopping.
There was a flash of red and black in the corner of her eye and she turned, half-stunned. Was that... No... she was probably seeing things now. Or maybe that would be some cruel trick by this place, whatever it was. Letting her see him, but him being like everyone else, unable to see her, walking right past or even through her...
It had always been the three of them. She wanted so badly to believe it was him standing there, and yet... she didn’t want to face the hurt if she was wrong.
----------
It was quite the setup, he had to admit. And boy had it been a wild ride to get there, too; Axel hadn't even been sure it had worked at first. There had been a blinding flash of light, and then... well, it looked as though he was in exactly the same damn place. Irritated, he'd tried again. And again. And again. And every time he'd found himself right back in the same location, in the basement of the mansion, by the computer consoles. After trying one last time, he'd gotten exasperated and attempted to open a corridor to take him back to the basement in The Castle That Never Was to see if there was some sort of super secret handshake he had to do to get to the damn magical illusion world that had somehow been inexplicably built in a parallel dimension or... whatever the hell, but only when the corridor hadn't worked did Axel realize the passage into the computer world had. The illusion was so complete, down to the last detail, that he hadn't even realized the transit had successfully taken place!
So whatever this place was, it only extended as far as Twilight Town, so it seemed. The corridors worked within the confines of the town, but he couldn't get out of the town. Nothing less from DiZ, it seemed. Naminé had been able to give him the general area where she believed Roxas and Xion were, but the layout of the world seemed to be in a constant state of potential flux, making pinpointing their exact location nigh impossible. Axel had been happy to take what he could get; he really didn't care if he had to search every inch of that fake Twilight Town, he was not going home without his friends. Not again. Not this time.
It was funny--when had he started referring to Disney Castle as 'home'? Ah, it had never really been about the place, anyway; home wasn't where you hung your hat, it was where you kept your friends. So really, even if a Nobody had no place to call home, maybe he was ahead of the game so long as Roxas and Xion were around. And hell, Riku and Naminé, at that. ... When had his circle of friends expanded, anyway?
Heading out of the mansion and through the woods into town, he had tried to stop someone to ask if they'd seen anyone wearing a coat like his. At first he had thought that these program people were just really rude, until he tried to take someone's elbow and his hand had swiped right through them. With a yawp of alarm Axel had recoiled, staring at his hand like he didn't recognize it, and that was when a sinking realization hit him: Roxas and Xion had been here, in this town, for several days now... existing as ghosts. Unable to talk to anyone, to touch anyone, to be seen or heard or acknowledged by anyone... Light, it must have been terrifying. It was a frightening enough prospect, he thought, to be a Nobody in the first place: less than human, right? But to be relegated to less than existing? Nobodies didn't live, they merely existed, and to be denied even that was too cruel.
Axel would burn DiZ alive if anything had happened to Roxas and Xion. He was seriously considering burning the bastard alive anyway.
The streets were familiar, but suddenly this had become the hardest recon mission he could recall. He had never really had anything personally vested in his missions before--this time, the recon was more important than anything. He had to find them: failure was not an option. This wasn't a matter of running out of steam and RTCing because you didn't bring enough Potions. He only got one shot at this, and if he failed he might never get another opportunity. Riku and Kairi had to keep DiZ busy, keep him from preventing them from leaving. DiZ had created this world and could manipulate it as he saw fit; if he got ejected from the program, he might never be able to get back in.
Ignoring the semisubstantial silhouettes of the false people of that false Twilight Town, Axel jogged through the streets, turned down the back alleys, ducked into shops and houses and even ventured into the underground tram tunnels. How hard could it be to find a couple of kids in a city filled with ghosts, anyway, right?
Harder than he'd thought.
"Dammit, where are you guys?"
One hand on his hip, Axel dragged the back of the other across his brow and leaned forward a bit, stretching his spine. His feet hurt, his shoulders ached, and he was beginning to wonder if this wasn't all just some wild goose chase. This was so lame. They were here--they had to be. He couldn't give up! If he were the one missing, he was certain they wouldn't have rested until they found him.
Okay. One more sweep. He was sure he would find them if he just made one more sweep of the town. WIth a sigh, he turned on his heel--
--and stopped mid-stride when he spotted a familiar figure standing in the middle of the alley in front of him, not ten yards away. With a sharp, audible exhale, Axel stumbled on that missed stride and caught himself on the building to his right, mouth agape.
Oh, jeez, of course they would be in the last place he looked. Why was it the things he was looking for were always in the last place he looked?
"Xion?" For one tenuous moment he was afraid she would just turn out to be another ghost. Her big blue eyes met his--looked at him, not through him--and a relieved smile split his face as he just sagged against the building. "Man, what am I gonna do with you guys, huh? I turn my back for one second and you go gallivanting off to Magic Mystery World."
-----------
Xion had brought a hand up to rub at her eyes, wondering if he’d still be there once she brought her hand away. Wondered if what she was seeing was real or not. But when she had, he wasn’t gone.
Instead he’d turned, and was looking at her. At her, not through her or past her or anything like that. And to clinch it, he called her name, smiled, began to joke. He saw her, he knew her.
He was really there. He was okay and he was really there.
She took one hesitating step forward, then another, then broke into a run, crossing the gap before her mind was fully aware of what was happening. She didn’t even hear what he had said, too busy flinging her arms around his middle and clinging like her life depended on it, and burying her face there.
If anything confirmed that he was real, it was that. Being able to cling, rather than her arms falling right through. Feeling pressure against her forehead. It was enough that she couldn’t keep herself from bursting into very relieved tears, right then and there.
She’d pent a lot of it up until now, the fear and confusion and worry and panic, trying to hold it off until a better time (though she’d begun to doubt there would be such a time). But now, Axel was here, and she could believe things would be okay.
“Y-you here,” she sobbed quietly, “Y-you’re really here...”
It was going to be okay. They’d get Roxas, figure out what was going on, and get out of here. She could believe that now.
"Oi, oi, come on, none'a that."
Axel's voice was chiding, but his big hand on the crown of her head assured her it was mostly for show. He ruffled her hair fondly, like he'd done so many times before, and he didn't even pull away or act all stiff and uncomfortable with her arms around his middle. She knew Axel had never really been the touchyfeely type, but somehow the fact that he was quashing his own tendency to recoil at the prospect of physical affection just made the tears come that much more. She heard Axel chuckle helplessly, and then both of his hands were on either side of her head. He leaned back and she looked up at him.
Axel clicked his tongue and swiped a thumb beneath one of her eyes.
"Look, you got my coat damp," he scolded mildly. "Now I'm gonna have to do laundry when we get back to the castle." There was veiled apology in his eyes, something like tired regret beneath his voice, and Xion brought her hands to her face to wipe the rest of the tears away.
"S-sorry," she said with a fragile laugh. "I know you hate doing chores."
"Well, I guess I can forgive you just this once," he said with mock irritation, "but don't let it happen again." There was a beat of silence as his eyes scanned the alley, and then worry snaked across his features, a pronounced crinkle forming between his eyebrows. "... Xion, where...?" His voice failed him suddenly, the question dying in the air before he reached blindly for her shoulder, his eyes still searching. "Where's Roxas?"
She smiled wryly. It’s wasn’t hard to guess the reason behind the worry. “He’s just asleep, that’s all. We figured it’d be a good idea to keep watch. Just... just in case.” They’d had no idea what kind of dangers this world could have, if the Organization or somebody could find them... Better to be safe than sorry.
He shook his head. "You guys really have been spending too much time with me if you're napping in a situation like this," he remarked, squeezing his fingers around her shoulder briefly. The gesture was quick, discreet, like he was just making sure she was really there one last time, and Xion reached up to close her fingers around his hand.
Turning towards the alleyway, she glanced back and gave a half-wave. “It’s not too far from here. I’ll show you.”
She didn't bother to turn over her shoulder to see if he was following her; she didn't have to. He was here now, and somehow all the stress and fear and desolation of the past few days didn't matter so much anymore. Brushing the tattered curtain aside and ducking into the little ingress beyond it, she dashed to where Roxas was asleep on the old sofa.
"Pity we don't have any markers," Axel said wryly, unable to conceal the grin on his face or in his voice; "be just like old times."
And then before Xion could gently shove Roxas' shoulder to wake him up, Axel leaned over her and grabbed a hold of him by the ankle. He then proceeded to shake Roxas' leg back and forth rapidly.
"Earthquake drill!" he shouted, and Xion covered her face with her hands. She had a feeling this was going to end with Axel having a Keyblade embedded in his skull.
There was a yelp as Roxas jerked upright, thankfully no Keyblades in sight yet. “What’re you do-” And then as he turned, it hit him at that same moment, who had spoken.
“Axel!” he stared, all earlier traces of drowsiness gone. He stared from Axel to Xion and back, as if not sure whether to believe his eyes. “Wh-When did you get here?”
"Oh, you know, just now," Axel replied.
He grabbed Roxas' other ankle and swung the boy's legs off the couch, then flopped down beside him with a gusty sigh. Draping his arms across the back of the sofa, Axel let his head loll onto his shoulder with a groan.
"Man, I looked everywhere for you guys," he complained; "I'm beat! And here you are, just takin' a nap." He nudged Roxas' leg with one foot. "Slacker."
The weary smile on his face said what he was probably too proud to--he had missed them, worried for them--and Xion was warmed by how much trouble he had obviously gone to in order to find them. How had he even managed? They had tried everything to get out, how had he somehow found a way in?
... For that matter--
"Axel, you..." Xion's face crinkled with concern then. "I'm so happy you're here, but you're not trapped in here with us now, are you?" As glad as she was to be reunited, she didn't want to think that Axel had damned himself to spending the rest of his life in this ghost world for their sake.
"Psh, no," he said with a wave of one hand. "What kind of rescuer would I be if I wound up needing to be rescued too?"
"Then, there's a way out?" Roxas asked, his whole face lighting up, and Axel reached over to tousle his hair.
"Of course; what do you take me for?" he asked with affected indignation, and then rolled his neck, pulling at the back of it with a grimace. "On that note, we should prolly get going..." He started to sit forward as if to get up, then his eyes flicked from Xion to Roxas and back. "You guys are okay, right?" he asked, one hand lifted in a vague gesture. "Whatever we got hit with, back in that corridor..." He shook his head with a low, appraising whistle. "Well it knocked me flat on my ass for a good half a day, or I guarantee you I'd'a been here to get you guys sooner."
Xion looked over at Roxas. “That sounds like what got you,” she commented, before shaking her head slightly, “We’re okay, mostly. That’s what Cure spells are for.” Roxas was back to being able to move around normally, and even though the spot on the back of her head hurt if she pressed on it or shook it too quickly, she’d be fine. They needed to leave.
“Yeah, let’s get out of here,” Roxas said, pushing himself to his feet, Axel not far behind.
As they reached the curtained entrance, the fabric bulged and parted, only to reveal the three kids who hung out around the real Twilight Town, chatting animatedly. Out of habit Xion drifted out of the way, as they settled inside the place - including the kid with the headband walking over to the couch and flopping down exactly where Axel had been sitting a little while ago.
Rubbing the back of his neck, Axel commented dryly, “Well that could’ve been awkward.”
Roxas shuddered as they pushed their way out onto the street. “Try waking up with one of them sitting where your stomach is.”
Xion giggled a little, despite herself, before her smile faded and she looked questioningly at Axel. “So which way is it?”
Axel waved a hand lazily, opening up a corridor of darkness and stepping forward.
"The old mansion," he said, pausing for them to follow and then closing the portal behind them. "There's a computer room in the basement, and a terminal connects this false world to the real one."
Xion looked befuddled. "So we're... inside a computer?" she asked, and Axel shrugged one shoulder.
"Something like that, I guess," he replied, shrugging again. "I dunno; Zexion was always the well-read one. Me, I'd rather shove my nose in a trashy romance novel, you know?" A dusty chuckle and he cast a glance over his shoulder to grin at them. "Come on, why's it matter anyway?"
Roxas nodded. "I'm just glad to get out of this place," he said.
"I'd just like to make sure we don't wind up there again," Xion added, rubbing her arms as an uninvited chill crawled up her spine. It wasn't the first time she'd been treated like she wasn't worth acknowledging, but it had certainly been the most frightening.
-------
The portal opened up in the sprawling lawns outside the mansion. Axel had found he was unable to use the corridors to get around inside the mansion--strangest thing. He really didn't understand computers very intimately at all; Saïx had always been more adept with them than he was. Either way, it wasn't enough of an inconvenience for him to really feel the need to complain about it. Stepping out of the corridor and waiting for Roxas and Xion to follow, Axel dismissed the portal and stretched his arms up over his head.
"Home stretch, guys," he said, starting toward the door.
"I might have known there was such a reason for the interruption," a voice suddenly echoed through the air from all around them. Axel swore under his breath--he'd taken too long. Riku couldn't have distracted DiZ forever, after all.
The doorway to the mansion warped and hitched, angles and pixel blocks flickering and flashing as a figured shimmered into view. He was tall, broad, wrapped in dark auburn robes, his face hidden beneath bandages.
The man's chin lifted, as if he were impressed, and a faint smile etched its way across his face. "You're very clever," he said, "but I won't be outsmarted by a mere Nobody." He turned attention to Roxas and Xion, the smile fading. “And I’m afraid you two aren’t going anywhere.”
Both Xion and Roxas stiffened. “DiZ,” Xion said quietly.
So that was what the bastard looked like.
“He’s the one who put you two in this place,” Axel replied shortly, keeping his attention focused on the other man. From what Riku said, this guy wasn’t a fighter or anything, but he still had total control over the world itself, which was a whole different batch of problems.
“It doesn’t matter, we’re not going to let him keep us here,” Roxas said.
DiZ chuckled humorlessly, “A meaningless effort. You will not be able to leave this place until I say you can, and I do not. And you -” he turned his gaze on Axel “- are not meant to be here at all.”
“Why... why are you doing this?“ Xion said, her voice shaking, “We aren’t helping the Organization or anything...”
DiZ turned his head to eye her coldly, “Your existence is what keeps Sora and his friends trapped in slumber. I cannot allow this to continue, not with the Organization still at large.”
Axel didn't like the sound of where this was going at all. It made sense enough--Xion had been absorbing Roxas' memories, which made sense enough, considering she herself had been created from Sora's memories. And when she absorbed too much, Roxas fell asleep. It really did make sense that because of them Sora was still napping his life away...
The issue, however, was that Axel didn't really give a damn about that right now. Sora could sleep as long as he wanted; Axel wasn't giving up his friends because the Keyblade Hero was comatose. Hell, from what he knew of Sora, the kid wouldn't have wanted that in the first place.
There had to be another way--there had to be.
“We have a plan!” Roxas insisted, “Naminé said that she could fix this so we wouldn’t have to disappear!”
“A process that would take an incalculable amount of time to complete. I will not allow it.” DiZ still had his chin lifted, though his expression had shifted to one of disdain, impatience. "The Organization must be brought down," he said.
"Well that's the first intelligent thing you've said," Axel replied, rolling his eyes.
DiZ glowered. "And that will begin with the two shadows of Sora."
Axel's gaze slid away from DiZ and he turned to look at Xion standing at his right and Roxas at his left. Then he took a step forward and spread his arms to his sides as if that alone could shield them from DiZ's implications. He called his chakrams to his hands, the weapons whirling into the air, his fingers snapping closed over the crossguards, and he bared his teeth.
He had just gotten them back; Hell if he was giving them up without a fight now.
"If you wanna destroy them, you're gonna have to go through me first."
DiZ laughed through his nose. "You speak as if that's going to be a problem for me," he said. "Didn't you realize I could manipulate this world as I need to? Ejecting you from the system so I can deal with the copies accordingly won't prove challenging, I assure you."
Axel made a sibilant noise and hurled both weapons forward then. Of course they phased right through the hologram of the man in red, striking the door behind him and sticking there in the wood. Behind him, he heard the sound of Keyblades appearing, for all the good it would do. Their opponent wasn’t even there.
DiZ turned over his shoulder nonchalantly to frown at the weapons--"I don't have the patience for games."--then turned back to Axel with an unimpressed glower on his face.
"Good thing I'm not playing around, then," Axel said, setting his jaw. He closed his hands into fists, dismissing his chakrams where they were lodged in the door behind DiZ, and then he did something that probably caught Roxas and Xion completely off guard: he reached down and clamped his fingers around their near shoulders, just firmly enough to make his point. "I don't care where they go; no matter how far it is, I'll always be there to bring them back. If you're booting me out of your little illusion, DiZ, I'm taking them with me."
This time DiZ didn't bother laughing through his nose; he threw his head back and laughed with abandon, and Axel's back tensed in anger. He didn't enjoy being mocked, and he really hoped Riku would have the opportunity to punch DiZ in the head wherever they were back in the real world.
"Don't be ridiculous!" DiZ guffawed. "Whatever gave you the idea something like that would work?"
"I know a thing or two about computers," he said, though it was a bit of a fudge. The important thing wasn't to be right, it was to cast doubt. And who knew? Maybe now that he'd said it it would work. "I know you can track individual patterns within this system--that's how you kept them from finding the mansion in the first place, isn't it? You can move things around however you need, to keep them away from the places you don't want them to see, right?" His grip on their shoulders tightened a bit. "One single file isn't hard to pick out; one person's information by itself is easy to identify, but what happens if there's, say, three all in the same place?"
And with that, he tangled his fingers in the fabric of their coats and yanked Roxas and Xion toward him, hard enough that they sort of crashed into his sides with startled gasps. Axel didn't look down at them; his eyes were still fixed on DiZ, who wasn't looking quite so smug anymore. Whether or not his vague hypothesis was correct, it seemed it had done its job.
Putting a hand on each of their heads, Axel lowered his chin a bit, a gesture of challenge, and leveled forward a scowl that all but dared DiZ to test him.
"Go on," he said, "eject me. Save us the trip to the basement, old man."
For one long moment, DiZ merely glared, his eyes sharp and filled with indignation behind the bandages. Then, finally, “So be it. We’ll see if your hypothesis is as foolproof as you think.” He sounded disbelieving, even if he’d lost that look of smug assurance. The same veil of pixels and blocks that had signaled DiZ''s advent flared around him once more, until the holographic projection--or whatever that DiZ had been--faded, as if he were nothing more than a ghost himself.
Axel didn’t relax once DiZ had disappeared. He wasn't going to let his guard down now; they hadn't won yet. His hands slid from the crowns of their heads to where their hoods were draped across their backs, and he snared his fingers tightly into the fabric, leaning forward a bit like it would give him better leverage.
"Whatever you guys do," he said, his voice low and quiet, level, "don't let go. I don't care if it feels like your arms are gonna be ripped outta their sockets; wherever we wind up... we're going there together, okay?"
He felt as much as saw them nod.
“Okay.”
“Right.”
For their part, they didn’t struggle or squirm. If anything, they huddled all the closer. Xion had tucked her face against him again as if she couldn’t bear to look, while Roxas looked from the spot where DiZ had stood up to Axel himself. Axel met his eyes, something stern and a little uncertain in his gaze. They’d heard what he’d said.: for this to work--if it would even work; no, it had to work!--they had to stick together. So now it was just a waiting game, for DiZ to try to eject him... eject them.
Axel hated to wait.
All in an instant there was a great pulling sensation, and Axel inhaled audibly as it felt like great cold hands were dragging at every part of him. It was as if there was metal in his fingertips and a powerful magnet was trying to drag them away, to wrench them from Roxas and Xion, to rip them apart. Gritting his teeth, Axel closed his hands so tightly they shook--he was not leaving them behind. He had just gotten them back; he refused to lose them again.
He found himself remembering that time he'd gone to Atlantica with Demyx, when he'd managed to get caught in a strong current and couldn't get out. He wasn't a bad swimmer, but water really wasn't his element, after all. Fire was fast and furious and dangerous, but water had a power he'd never really appreciated until then, when he'd nearly been swept into the bowels of a cave system by a vein of water so strong he'd been certain it would peel his skin back. The Black Coat had given him a form that could survive beneath the water, but somehow it had still felt like he couldn't breathe. He had honestly been afraid of drowning there, like all the air his false aquatic lungs could pull from the water was just being sucked right back out. Demyx had pulled him free (and ribbed him about it for a week), but the memory was suddenly very clear in his mind again. This felt the same: he felt like he was drowning.
Just when he was sure he couldn't take it anymore, when he was certain the pressure of the drowning sensation was going to make him black out, when he was convinced his fingers were going to break and his arms were going to snap in two for holding onto those kids so tight, everything stopped. The cold hands were gone, the dragging drowning sensation was gone, there was a blinding flash of light and squares and pixels and snow and Axel squeezed his eyes closed, ducking his head into Roxas' whorl of hair--
--and then there were shadows once more.
"Impossible!"
Axel snapped his head up at the sound of DiZ's voice . The cloaked man was seated in a chair in front of the tower of computer monitors, his eyes wide in surprise. It had worked? It had really worked?
His hands still snarled in Roxas and Xion's hoods, Axel just cast DiZ a predatory grin.
"See, that's what I hate about you logical types," he said, straightening his spine and carefully untangling his hands from their hoods: "you always get pissed off when someone manages to go outside that nice neat little box of yours." He gave a triumphant scoff and flexed his aching hands, then ruffled the kids' heads for good measure.
Axel actually kind of just wanted to pass out right then and there--whatever had just happened it hadn't really hurt, but boy did he feel like he'd been dragged backwards through a hedge. He could already feel a headache blooming at the base of his skull, but there would be time to complain later. Right now there were more important things to do.
"This is an outrage," DiZ shouted, snapping to his feet, and Axel grimaced. He wasn't sure he had the energy to call up his chakrams right then. Thankfully there was the unmistakable sound of a Keyblade manifesting, and he turned in time to see Riku level his winged weapon at DiZ's head.
"Sit down, DiZ," he said coldly; "we're not through talking."
Axel made a mental note to buy Riku an ice cream later.
Kairi darted toward them in the semidarkness of the room, backlit by the green-gold light of the computers--like a firefly, Axel mused inanely--and she gave them a worried look, her eyes bright. There was a quiet gasp from Xion. That was right - in the rush to get them out, he hadn’t been able to tell them that Riku’d actually found her.
"Are you guys okay?" she asked softly, and her gaze flicked from Roxas to Xion and then lingered on Axel a moment before returning to Roxas. "We were... really worried about you."
"We're all right," Roxas assured her, exchanging a quick glance with Xion. "Thanks for your help."
Kairi smiled and shook her head. "Thank Naminé," she said. "Without her, we might never have figured out where you guys were."
Axel cleared his throat pointedly. "What am I, chopped liver?"
"... Oh, right, and Axel risked his neck to go to the Organization castle and found a map or something," she said, giving him a long-suffering smile and folding her arms.
Axel rolled his eyes. "I get no respect around here," he grumbled, and Xion reached over to catch his wrist in her small hands, squeezing it wordlessly, as if that was rebuttal enough.
... It was.
"Go home," Kairi said then. "We'll catch up with you there when we're through with DiZ."
"I'd say go easy on him, but..." Roxas hesitated.
"Don't," Axel concluded for him, and then turned without another word to open a portal.
-----
She never realized how relieved she’d actually be to see Disney Castle until she actually got there. She was tired - they all were, after the struggle to escape that fake Twilight Town. It was funny… maybe it was because there were no Heartless, maybe it was because of their friends here, but it was probably one of the first places - besides sitting on the clock tower at the real Twilight Town sometimes, back before they'd deserted - where she felt safe. She somehow had a feeling she wasn't the only one.
There was a soft thump from behind her and she and Roxas turned around quickly to see that Axel had sunk to his knees, looking even more exhausted than they felt. His head was bowed, his palms on his knees.
"Axel!" Roxas yelped, as they both hurried back and fell down next to him.
"Man," he said dryly, "I'm getting too old for this." He lifted his head and gave them a wry grin. "You two need to stop getting yourselves into so much trouble all the time."
Xion laughed, her smile a little shaky but genuine. "We will, we promise." Someday.
"Yeah," Roxas agreed.
“Hello?” a familiar voice made them all turn.
"Naminé!" Xion said, seeing the blonde Nobody walking in their direction, the relief on her face matching the expression Xion knew was on her own.
"You're all safe," she said, folding her hands and smiling faintly, "It's good to see you back."
"Glad to be back," Roxas said with a grin.
Axel made no immediate move to rise, but offered Naminé a watery grin. "Wasn't expecting a welcoming committee," he said. There was a beat of silence and then he braced one hand on his thigh and heaved himself back to his feet with a groan. "Think Riku and Kairi'll be all right with The Mummy?" he asked, casting a glance over his shoulder as if he could see through the portal as it closed.
Naminé glanced in the direction of the vanishing portal as well, smile fading in favor of something more somber.
"They should be fine," she said finally, "I don't think he'll try to hurt them. They should be back soon. I think they wanted to make sure this didn't happen again," She paused, before turning back to the three of them. "Why don't we find somewhere to sit down?"
"You won't hear me complaining," Axel sighed. Xion pushed herself to her feet, Roxas doing the same. Truth be told she wouldn't mind finding somewhere to sit either. While neither she nor Roxas looked nearly as beat as Axel did, they were worn out. Getting out, fighting to stay together… it'd taken a lot out of all of them. Not to mention rest really wasn't that restful when you were as nervous and tense as they'd been in the fake Twilight Town.
"All right," Naminé said with a nod, leading them in the direction of the library.
Once they were there, Axel flopped down on one of the couches, arms spread out across the back. Xion took one side, Roxas took the other. Naminé sat across from them.
"Are you all right?" she asked, looking from one to the other.
Xion nodded. "Yes… we're fine."
"Speak for yourself," Axel grumbled good-naturedly. "I feel like I could sleep for a month."
Naminé hid a chuckle daintily behind one hand and then waved the other at Xion. "You know he didn't nap once while we were trying to figure out where you two were?" she said, and Axel made an indignant noise.
"Oi."
"He was so grouchy," she added, and Axel shifted where he sat, as if he were looking for a pillow to throw at her. Apparently deciding that the one at the far end of the sofa was too far away to reach he just folded his arms firmly over his chest then and sulked grandly.
Xion raised a hand to her mouth to cover a snicker, and glanced over to see Roxas doing about the same thing, only without the covering it part.
Still, it didn't escape her notice what Naminé was implying. Axel giving up naps was serious business. Between that, and how he'd acted earlier, when he'd finally found them.
She owed him. They both did. And they would pay him back someday for all he'd done for them.
For now though, she just slipped her feet out of their boots as she brought her knees up to her chin, watching as Roxas gave Axel a playful dig in the ribs, and Axel ruffled his hair in retaliation, less furiously than he would've under normal circumstances, sure. But they were all tired. And now they'd get to rest. It was nice that they could just sit and joke and relax for a little while, until they'd talked to Riku and Kairi and everyone and figured out what to do next.
They talked and joked, though the volume and intensity dropped rapidly as - somewhere along the line, she couldn't tell when - Axel nodded off, his chin sort of tucked against his collarbone. Then Roxas faded, his temple listing against Axel's ribs. Then Xion herself noticed absently that she seemed to be drifting into a semiconscious daze.
She blinked and Naminé had stood up, was asking her if she was okay there. And Xion nodded and leaned her head back as Naminé smiled knowingly and left. And even if they weren't then, she knew that somehow by the time they all woke up they'd be in some pile together that someone would had seen and would tease them mercilessly for.
But that was okay. Because for now, everything was all right.
After everything that had happened, it was terrifying enough to wake up here, in the world they knew was too dangerous to go to, with her head still throbbing painfully from the injury she’d received there, and Roxas, struggling to even move for some reason. People passed around and even through them, ignoring any questions they asked as if they couldn’t hear...
It was like they were ghosts.
And then to top things off, Axel wasn’t there. That in and of itself was probably more terrifying than anything else. Had he even made it out okay? Xion couldn’t remember, a lot of her memories around their flight were hazy, scattered. Roxas had said Axel had been fine the last time he’d seen him - carrying her - but that didn’t mean much by itself, considering Roxas didn’t remember much after they’d landed at the rendezvous point. But Axel always knew more than they did about stuff like this. He knew how to calm them down if they were panicking, and Xion had certainly felt like panicking. Or at least she would’ve, if her head hadn’t still felt awful, and Roxas hadn’t looked much better.
They’d dragged themselves to a familiar location, a cozy nook beneath the railroad tracks, and rested there until they were able to muster up enough collective Cure magic to return themselves both to some semblance of functioning. After that, it was a matter of finding a way out before they were discovered, get back to DIsney Castle, hope that Axel was okay, find Riku and the others and see what was going on...
Only the darkness corridors hadn’t worked. It was as if there was a wall around Twilight Town, one that didn’t make sense. So next they’d gone exploring, only to discover that there wasn’t any exit, not that they could find, at least. Everything seemed to loop back in on itself. They’d tried, once, to enter the old mansion, see if there was anything inside, only to be dumped out at Station Plaza, with no preamble or explanation.
After that, still wary about what was going on, they’d fallen into a pattern more like the one they had on the run. One of them would sleep while the other watched nearby, plus search to find a way out when they were both awake. Right now was Roxas’ turn to sleep. She herself wouldn’t go much further than this, the entrance of the Back Alley, watching people as they passed, doing their shopping.
There was a flash of red and black in the corner of her eye and she turned, half-stunned. Was that... No... she was probably seeing things now. Or maybe that would be some cruel trick by this place, whatever it was. Letting her see him, but him being like everyone else, unable to see her, walking right past or even through her...
It had always been the three of them. She wanted so badly to believe it was him standing there, and yet... she didn’t want to face the hurt if she was wrong.
----------
It was quite the setup, he had to admit. And boy had it been a wild ride to get there, too; Axel hadn't even been sure it had worked at first. There had been a blinding flash of light, and then... well, it looked as though he was in exactly the same damn place. Irritated, he'd tried again. And again. And again. And every time he'd found himself right back in the same location, in the basement of the mansion, by the computer consoles. After trying one last time, he'd gotten exasperated and attempted to open a corridor to take him back to the basement in The Castle That Never Was to see if there was some sort of super secret handshake he had to do to get to the damn magical illusion world that had somehow been inexplicably built in a parallel dimension or... whatever the hell, but only when the corridor hadn't worked did Axel realize the passage into the computer world had. The illusion was so complete, down to the last detail, that he hadn't even realized the transit had successfully taken place!
So whatever this place was, it only extended as far as Twilight Town, so it seemed. The corridors worked within the confines of the town, but he couldn't get out of the town. Nothing less from DiZ, it seemed. Naminé had been able to give him the general area where she believed Roxas and Xion were, but the layout of the world seemed to be in a constant state of potential flux, making pinpointing their exact location nigh impossible. Axel had been happy to take what he could get; he really didn't care if he had to search every inch of that fake Twilight Town, he was not going home without his friends. Not again. Not this time.
It was funny--when had he started referring to Disney Castle as 'home'? Ah, it had never really been about the place, anyway; home wasn't where you hung your hat, it was where you kept your friends. So really, even if a Nobody had no place to call home, maybe he was ahead of the game so long as Roxas and Xion were around. And hell, Riku and Naminé, at that. ... When had his circle of friends expanded, anyway?
Heading out of the mansion and through the woods into town, he had tried to stop someone to ask if they'd seen anyone wearing a coat like his. At first he had thought that these program people were just really rude, until he tried to take someone's elbow and his hand had swiped right through them. With a yawp of alarm Axel had recoiled, staring at his hand like he didn't recognize it, and that was when a sinking realization hit him: Roxas and Xion had been here, in this town, for several days now... existing as ghosts. Unable to talk to anyone, to touch anyone, to be seen or heard or acknowledged by anyone... Light, it must have been terrifying. It was a frightening enough prospect, he thought, to be a Nobody in the first place: less than human, right? But to be relegated to less than existing? Nobodies didn't live, they merely existed, and to be denied even that was too cruel.
Axel would burn DiZ alive if anything had happened to Roxas and Xion. He was seriously considering burning the bastard alive anyway.
The streets were familiar, but suddenly this had become the hardest recon mission he could recall. He had never really had anything personally vested in his missions before--this time, the recon was more important than anything. He had to find them: failure was not an option. This wasn't a matter of running out of steam and RTCing because you didn't bring enough Potions. He only got one shot at this, and if he failed he might never get another opportunity. Riku and Kairi had to keep DiZ busy, keep him from preventing them from leaving. DiZ had created this world and could manipulate it as he saw fit; if he got ejected from the program, he might never be able to get back in.
Ignoring the semisubstantial silhouettes of the false people of that false Twilight Town, Axel jogged through the streets, turned down the back alleys, ducked into shops and houses and even ventured into the underground tram tunnels. How hard could it be to find a couple of kids in a city filled with ghosts, anyway, right?
Harder than he'd thought.
"Dammit, where are you guys?"
One hand on his hip, Axel dragged the back of the other across his brow and leaned forward a bit, stretching his spine. His feet hurt, his shoulders ached, and he was beginning to wonder if this wasn't all just some wild goose chase. This was so lame. They were here--they had to be. He couldn't give up! If he were the one missing, he was certain they wouldn't have rested until they found him.
Okay. One more sweep. He was sure he would find them if he just made one more sweep of the town. WIth a sigh, he turned on his heel--
--and stopped mid-stride when he spotted a familiar figure standing in the middle of the alley in front of him, not ten yards away. With a sharp, audible exhale, Axel stumbled on that missed stride and caught himself on the building to his right, mouth agape.
Oh, jeez, of course they would be in the last place he looked. Why was it the things he was looking for were always in the last place he looked?
"Xion?" For one tenuous moment he was afraid she would just turn out to be another ghost. Her big blue eyes met his--looked at him, not through him--and a relieved smile split his face as he just sagged against the building. "Man, what am I gonna do with you guys, huh? I turn my back for one second and you go gallivanting off to Magic Mystery World."
-----------
Xion had brought a hand up to rub at her eyes, wondering if he’d still be there once she brought her hand away. Wondered if what she was seeing was real or not. But when she had, he wasn’t gone.
Instead he’d turned, and was looking at her. At her, not through her or past her or anything like that. And to clinch it, he called her name, smiled, began to joke. He saw her, he knew her.
He was really there. He was okay and he was really there.
She took one hesitating step forward, then another, then broke into a run, crossing the gap before her mind was fully aware of what was happening. She didn’t even hear what he had said, too busy flinging her arms around his middle and clinging like her life depended on it, and burying her face there.
If anything confirmed that he was real, it was that. Being able to cling, rather than her arms falling right through. Feeling pressure against her forehead. It was enough that she couldn’t keep herself from bursting into very relieved tears, right then and there.
She’d pent a lot of it up until now, the fear and confusion and worry and panic, trying to hold it off until a better time (though she’d begun to doubt there would be such a time). But now, Axel was here, and she could believe things would be okay.
“Y-you here,” she sobbed quietly, “Y-you’re really here...”
It was going to be okay. They’d get Roxas, figure out what was going on, and get out of here. She could believe that now.
"Oi, oi, come on, none'a that."
Axel's voice was chiding, but his big hand on the crown of her head assured her it was mostly for show. He ruffled her hair fondly, like he'd done so many times before, and he didn't even pull away or act all stiff and uncomfortable with her arms around his middle. She knew Axel had never really been the touchyfeely type, but somehow the fact that he was quashing his own tendency to recoil at the prospect of physical affection just made the tears come that much more. She heard Axel chuckle helplessly, and then both of his hands were on either side of her head. He leaned back and she looked up at him.
Axel clicked his tongue and swiped a thumb beneath one of her eyes.
"Look, you got my coat damp," he scolded mildly. "Now I'm gonna have to do laundry when we get back to the castle." There was veiled apology in his eyes, something like tired regret beneath his voice, and Xion brought her hands to her face to wipe the rest of the tears away.
"S-sorry," she said with a fragile laugh. "I know you hate doing chores."
"Well, I guess I can forgive you just this once," he said with mock irritation, "but don't let it happen again." There was a beat of silence as his eyes scanned the alley, and then worry snaked across his features, a pronounced crinkle forming between his eyebrows. "... Xion, where...?" His voice failed him suddenly, the question dying in the air before he reached blindly for her shoulder, his eyes still searching. "Where's Roxas?"
She smiled wryly. It’s wasn’t hard to guess the reason behind the worry. “He’s just asleep, that’s all. We figured it’d be a good idea to keep watch. Just... just in case.” They’d had no idea what kind of dangers this world could have, if the Organization or somebody could find them... Better to be safe than sorry.
He shook his head. "You guys really have been spending too much time with me if you're napping in a situation like this," he remarked, squeezing his fingers around her shoulder briefly. The gesture was quick, discreet, like he was just making sure she was really there one last time, and Xion reached up to close her fingers around his hand.
Turning towards the alleyway, she glanced back and gave a half-wave. “It’s not too far from here. I’ll show you.”
She didn't bother to turn over her shoulder to see if he was following her; she didn't have to. He was here now, and somehow all the stress and fear and desolation of the past few days didn't matter so much anymore. Brushing the tattered curtain aside and ducking into the little ingress beyond it, she dashed to where Roxas was asleep on the old sofa.
"Pity we don't have any markers," Axel said wryly, unable to conceal the grin on his face or in his voice; "be just like old times."
And then before Xion could gently shove Roxas' shoulder to wake him up, Axel leaned over her and grabbed a hold of him by the ankle. He then proceeded to shake Roxas' leg back and forth rapidly.
"Earthquake drill!" he shouted, and Xion covered her face with her hands. She had a feeling this was going to end with Axel having a Keyblade embedded in his skull.
There was a yelp as Roxas jerked upright, thankfully no Keyblades in sight yet. “What’re you do-” And then as he turned, it hit him at that same moment, who had spoken.
“Axel!” he stared, all earlier traces of drowsiness gone. He stared from Axel to Xion and back, as if not sure whether to believe his eyes. “Wh-When did you get here?”
"Oh, you know, just now," Axel replied.
He grabbed Roxas' other ankle and swung the boy's legs off the couch, then flopped down beside him with a gusty sigh. Draping his arms across the back of the sofa, Axel let his head loll onto his shoulder with a groan.
"Man, I looked everywhere for you guys," he complained; "I'm beat! And here you are, just takin' a nap." He nudged Roxas' leg with one foot. "Slacker."
The weary smile on his face said what he was probably too proud to--he had missed them, worried for them--and Xion was warmed by how much trouble he had obviously gone to in order to find them. How had he even managed? They had tried everything to get out, how had he somehow found a way in?
... For that matter--
"Axel, you..." Xion's face crinkled with concern then. "I'm so happy you're here, but you're not trapped in here with us now, are you?" As glad as she was to be reunited, she didn't want to think that Axel had damned himself to spending the rest of his life in this ghost world for their sake.
"Psh, no," he said with a wave of one hand. "What kind of rescuer would I be if I wound up needing to be rescued too?"
"Then, there's a way out?" Roxas asked, his whole face lighting up, and Axel reached over to tousle his hair.
"Of course; what do you take me for?" he asked with affected indignation, and then rolled his neck, pulling at the back of it with a grimace. "On that note, we should prolly get going..." He started to sit forward as if to get up, then his eyes flicked from Xion to Roxas and back. "You guys are okay, right?" he asked, one hand lifted in a vague gesture. "Whatever we got hit with, back in that corridor..." He shook his head with a low, appraising whistle. "Well it knocked me flat on my ass for a good half a day, or I guarantee you I'd'a been here to get you guys sooner."
Xion looked over at Roxas. “That sounds like what got you,” she commented, before shaking her head slightly, “We’re okay, mostly. That’s what Cure spells are for.” Roxas was back to being able to move around normally, and even though the spot on the back of her head hurt if she pressed on it or shook it too quickly, she’d be fine. They needed to leave.
“Yeah, let’s get out of here,” Roxas said, pushing himself to his feet, Axel not far behind.
As they reached the curtained entrance, the fabric bulged and parted, only to reveal the three kids who hung out around the real Twilight Town, chatting animatedly. Out of habit Xion drifted out of the way, as they settled inside the place - including the kid with the headband walking over to the couch and flopping down exactly where Axel had been sitting a little while ago.
Rubbing the back of his neck, Axel commented dryly, “Well that could’ve been awkward.”
Roxas shuddered as they pushed their way out onto the street. “Try waking up with one of them sitting where your stomach is.”
Xion giggled a little, despite herself, before her smile faded and she looked questioningly at Axel. “So which way is it?”
Axel waved a hand lazily, opening up a corridor of darkness and stepping forward.
"The old mansion," he said, pausing for them to follow and then closing the portal behind them. "There's a computer room in the basement, and a terminal connects this false world to the real one."
Xion looked befuddled. "So we're... inside a computer?" she asked, and Axel shrugged one shoulder.
"Something like that, I guess," he replied, shrugging again. "I dunno; Zexion was always the well-read one. Me, I'd rather shove my nose in a trashy romance novel, you know?" A dusty chuckle and he cast a glance over his shoulder to grin at them. "Come on, why's it matter anyway?"
Roxas nodded. "I'm just glad to get out of this place," he said.
"I'd just like to make sure we don't wind up there again," Xion added, rubbing her arms as an uninvited chill crawled up her spine. It wasn't the first time she'd been treated like she wasn't worth acknowledging, but it had certainly been the most frightening.
-------
The portal opened up in the sprawling lawns outside the mansion. Axel had found he was unable to use the corridors to get around inside the mansion--strangest thing. He really didn't understand computers very intimately at all; Saïx had always been more adept with them than he was. Either way, it wasn't enough of an inconvenience for him to really feel the need to complain about it. Stepping out of the corridor and waiting for Roxas and Xion to follow, Axel dismissed the portal and stretched his arms up over his head.
"Home stretch, guys," he said, starting toward the door.
"I might have known there was such a reason for the interruption," a voice suddenly echoed through the air from all around them. Axel swore under his breath--he'd taken too long. Riku couldn't have distracted DiZ forever, after all.
The doorway to the mansion warped and hitched, angles and pixel blocks flickering and flashing as a figured shimmered into view. He was tall, broad, wrapped in dark auburn robes, his face hidden beneath bandages.
The man's chin lifted, as if he were impressed, and a faint smile etched its way across his face. "You're very clever," he said, "but I won't be outsmarted by a mere Nobody." He turned attention to Roxas and Xion, the smile fading. “And I’m afraid you two aren’t going anywhere.”
Both Xion and Roxas stiffened. “DiZ,” Xion said quietly.
So that was what the bastard looked like.
“He’s the one who put you two in this place,” Axel replied shortly, keeping his attention focused on the other man. From what Riku said, this guy wasn’t a fighter or anything, but he still had total control over the world itself, which was a whole different batch of problems.
“It doesn’t matter, we’re not going to let him keep us here,” Roxas said.
DiZ chuckled humorlessly, “A meaningless effort. You will not be able to leave this place until I say you can, and I do not. And you -” he turned his gaze on Axel “- are not meant to be here at all.”
“Why... why are you doing this?“ Xion said, her voice shaking, “We aren’t helping the Organization or anything...”
DiZ turned his head to eye her coldly, “Your existence is what keeps Sora and his friends trapped in slumber. I cannot allow this to continue, not with the Organization still at large.”
Axel didn't like the sound of where this was going at all. It made sense enough--Xion had been absorbing Roxas' memories, which made sense enough, considering she herself had been created from Sora's memories. And when she absorbed too much, Roxas fell asleep. It really did make sense that because of them Sora was still napping his life away...
The issue, however, was that Axel didn't really give a damn about that right now. Sora could sleep as long as he wanted; Axel wasn't giving up his friends because the Keyblade Hero was comatose. Hell, from what he knew of Sora, the kid wouldn't have wanted that in the first place.
There had to be another way--there had to be.
“We have a plan!” Roxas insisted, “Naminé said that she could fix this so we wouldn’t have to disappear!”
“A process that would take an incalculable amount of time to complete. I will not allow it.” DiZ still had his chin lifted, though his expression had shifted to one of disdain, impatience. "The Organization must be brought down," he said.
"Well that's the first intelligent thing you've said," Axel replied, rolling his eyes.
DiZ glowered. "And that will begin with the two shadows of Sora."
Axel's gaze slid away from DiZ and he turned to look at Xion standing at his right and Roxas at his left. Then he took a step forward and spread his arms to his sides as if that alone could shield them from DiZ's implications. He called his chakrams to his hands, the weapons whirling into the air, his fingers snapping closed over the crossguards, and he bared his teeth.
He had just gotten them back; Hell if he was giving them up without a fight now.
"If you wanna destroy them, you're gonna have to go through me first."
DiZ laughed through his nose. "You speak as if that's going to be a problem for me," he said. "Didn't you realize I could manipulate this world as I need to? Ejecting you from the system so I can deal with the copies accordingly won't prove challenging, I assure you."
Axel made a sibilant noise and hurled both weapons forward then. Of course they phased right through the hologram of the man in red, striking the door behind him and sticking there in the wood. Behind him, he heard the sound of Keyblades appearing, for all the good it would do. Their opponent wasn’t even there.
DiZ turned over his shoulder nonchalantly to frown at the weapons--"I don't have the patience for games."--then turned back to Axel with an unimpressed glower on his face.
"Good thing I'm not playing around, then," Axel said, setting his jaw. He closed his hands into fists, dismissing his chakrams where they were lodged in the door behind DiZ, and then he did something that probably caught Roxas and Xion completely off guard: he reached down and clamped his fingers around their near shoulders, just firmly enough to make his point. "I don't care where they go; no matter how far it is, I'll always be there to bring them back. If you're booting me out of your little illusion, DiZ, I'm taking them with me."
This time DiZ didn't bother laughing through his nose; he threw his head back and laughed with abandon, and Axel's back tensed in anger. He didn't enjoy being mocked, and he really hoped Riku would have the opportunity to punch DiZ in the head wherever they were back in the real world.
"Don't be ridiculous!" DiZ guffawed. "Whatever gave you the idea something like that would work?"
"I know a thing or two about computers," he said, though it was a bit of a fudge. The important thing wasn't to be right, it was to cast doubt. And who knew? Maybe now that he'd said it it would work. "I know you can track individual patterns within this system--that's how you kept them from finding the mansion in the first place, isn't it? You can move things around however you need, to keep them away from the places you don't want them to see, right?" His grip on their shoulders tightened a bit. "One single file isn't hard to pick out; one person's information by itself is easy to identify, but what happens if there's, say, three all in the same place?"
And with that, he tangled his fingers in the fabric of their coats and yanked Roxas and Xion toward him, hard enough that they sort of crashed into his sides with startled gasps. Axel didn't look down at them; his eyes were still fixed on DiZ, who wasn't looking quite so smug anymore. Whether or not his vague hypothesis was correct, it seemed it had done its job.
Putting a hand on each of their heads, Axel lowered his chin a bit, a gesture of challenge, and leveled forward a scowl that all but dared DiZ to test him.
"Go on," he said, "eject me. Save us the trip to the basement, old man."
For one long moment, DiZ merely glared, his eyes sharp and filled with indignation behind the bandages. Then, finally, “So be it. We’ll see if your hypothesis is as foolproof as you think.” He sounded disbelieving, even if he’d lost that look of smug assurance. The same veil of pixels and blocks that had signaled DiZ''s advent flared around him once more, until the holographic projection--or whatever that DiZ had been--faded, as if he were nothing more than a ghost himself.
Axel didn’t relax once DiZ had disappeared. He wasn't going to let his guard down now; they hadn't won yet. His hands slid from the crowns of their heads to where their hoods were draped across their backs, and he snared his fingers tightly into the fabric, leaning forward a bit like it would give him better leverage.
"Whatever you guys do," he said, his voice low and quiet, level, "don't let go. I don't care if it feels like your arms are gonna be ripped outta their sockets; wherever we wind up... we're going there together, okay?"
He felt as much as saw them nod.
“Okay.”
“Right.”
For their part, they didn’t struggle or squirm. If anything, they huddled all the closer. Xion had tucked her face against him again as if she couldn’t bear to look, while Roxas looked from the spot where DiZ had stood up to Axel himself. Axel met his eyes, something stern and a little uncertain in his gaze. They’d heard what he’d said.: for this to work--if it would even work; no, it had to work!--they had to stick together. So now it was just a waiting game, for DiZ to try to eject him... eject them.
Axel hated to wait.
All in an instant there was a great pulling sensation, and Axel inhaled audibly as it felt like great cold hands were dragging at every part of him. It was as if there was metal in his fingertips and a powerful magnet was trying to drag them away, to wrench them from Roxas and Xion, to rip them apart. Gritting his teeth, Axel closed his hands so tightly they shook--he was not leaving them behind. He had just gotten them back; he refused to lose them again.
He found himself remembering that time he'd gone to Atlantica with Demyx, when he'd managed to get caught in a strong current and couldn't get out. He wasn't a bad swimmer, but water really wasn't his element, after all. Fire was fast and furious and dangerous, but water had a power he'd never really appreciated until then, when he'd nearly been swept into the bowels of a cave system by a vein of water so strong he'd been certain it would peel his skin back. The Black Coat had given him a form that could survive beneath the water, but somehow it had still felt like he couldn't breathe. He had honestly been afraid of drowning there, like all the air his false aquatic lungs could pull from the water was just being sucked right back out. Demyx had pulled him free (and ribbed him about it for a week), but the memory was suddenly very clear in his mind again. This felt the same: he felt like he was drowning.
Just when he was sure he couldn't take it anymore, when he was certain the pressure of the drowning sensation was going to make him black out, when he was convinced his fingers were going to break and his arms were going to snap in two for holding onto those kids so tight, everything stopped. The cold hands were gone, the dragging drowning sensation was gone, there was a blinding flash of light and squares and pixels and snow and Axel squeezed his eyes closed, ducking his head into Roxas' whorl of hair--
--and then there were shadows once more.
"Impossible!"
Axel snapped his head up at the sound of DiZ's voice . The cloaked man was seated in a chair in front of the tower of computer monitors, his eyes wide in surprise. It had worked? It had really worked?
His hands still snarled in Roxas and Xion's hoods, Axel just cast DiZ a predatory grin.
"See, that's what I hate about you logical types," he said, straightening his spine and carefully untangling his hands from their hoods: "you always get pissed off when someone manages to go outside that nice neat little box of yours." He gave a triumphant scoff and flexed his aching hands, then ruffled the kids' heads for good measure.
Axel actually kind of just wanted to pass out right then and there--whatever had just happened it hadn't really hurt, but boy did he feel like he'd been dragged backwards through a hedge. He could already feel a headache blooming at the base of his skull, but there would be time to complain later. Right now there were more important things to do.
"This is an outrage," DiZ shouted, snapping to his feet, and Axel grimaced. He wasn't sure he had the energy to call up his chakrams right then. Thankfully there was the unmistakable sound of a Keyblade manifesting, and he turned in time to see Riku level his winged weapon at DiZ's head.
"Sit down, DiZ," he said coldly; "we're not through talking."
Axel made a mental note to buy Riku an ice cream later.
Kairi darted toward them in the semidarkness of the room, backlit by the green-gold light of the computers--like a firefly, Axel mused inanely--and she gave them a worried look, her eyes bright. There was a quiet gasp from Xion. That was right - in the rush to get them out, he hadn’t been able to tell them that Riku’d actually found her.
"Are you guys okay?" she asked softly, and her gaze flicked from Roxas to Xion and then lingered on Axel a moment before returning to Roxas. "We were... really worried about you."
"We're all right," Roxas assured her, exchanging a quick glance with Xion. "Thanks for your help."
Kairi smiled and shook her head. "Thank Naminé," she said. "Without her, we might never have figured out where you guys were."
Axel cleared his throat pointedly. "What am I, chopped liver?"
"... Oh, right, and Axel risked his neck to go to the Organization castle and found a map or something," she said, giving him a long-suffering smile and folding her arms.
Axel rolled his eyes. "I get no respect around here," he grumbled, and Xion reached over to catch his wrist in her small hands, squeezing it wordlessly, as if that was rebuttal enough.
... It was.
"Go home," Kairi said then. "We'll catch up with you there when we're through with DiZ."
"I'd say go easy on him, but..." Roxas hesitated.
"Don't," Axel concluded for him, and then turned without another word to open a portal.
-----
She never realized how relieved she’d actually be to see Disney Castle until she actually got there. She was tired - they all were, after the struggle to escape that fake Twilight Town. It was funny… maybe it was because there were no Heartless, maybe it was because of their friends here, but it was probably one of the first places - besides sitting on the clock tower at the real Twilight Town sometimes, back before they'd deserted - where she felt safe. She somehow had a feeling she wasn't the only one.
There was a soft thump from behind her and she and Roxas turned around quickly to see that Axel had sunk to his knees, looking even more exhausted than they felt. His head was bowed, his palms on his knees.
"Axel!" Roxas yelped, as they both hurried back and fell down next to him.
"Man," he said dryly, "I'm getting too old for this." He lifted his head and gave them a wry grin. "You two need to stop getting yourselves into so much trouble all the time."
Xion laughed, her smile a little shaky but genuine. "We will, we promise." Someday.
"Yeah," Roxas agreed.
“Hello?” a familiar voice made them all turn.
"Naminé!" Xion said, seeing the blonde Nobody walking in their direction, the relief on her face matching the expression Xion knew was on her own.
"You're all safe," she said, folding her hands and smiling faintly, "It's good to see you back."
"Glad to be back," Roxas said with a grin.
Axel made no immediate move to rise, but offered Naminé a watery grin. "Wasn't expecting a welcoming committee," he said. There was a beat of silence and then he braced one hand on his thigh and heaved himself back to his feet with a groan. "Think Riku and Kairi'll be all right with The Mummy?" he asked, casting a glance over his shoulder as if he could see through the portal as it closed.
Naminé glanced in the direction of the vanishing portal as well, smile fading in favor of something more somber.
"They should be fine," she said finally, "I don't think he'll try to hurt them. They should be back soon. I think they wanted to make sure this didn't happen again," She paused, before turning back to the three of them. "Why don't we find somewhere to sit down?"
"You won't hear me complaining," Axel sighed. Xion pushed herself to her feet, Roxas doing the same. Truth be told she wouldn't mind finding somewhere to sit either. While neither she nor Roxas looked nearly as beat as Axel did, they were worn out. Getting out, fighting to stay together… it'd taken a lot out of all of them. Not to mention rest really wasn't that restful when you were as nervous and tense as they'd been in the fake Twilight Town.
"All right," Naminé said with a nod, leading them in the direction of the library.
Once they were there, Axel flopped down on one of the couches, arms spread out across the back. Xion took one side, Roxas took the other. Naminé sat across from them.
"Are you all right?" she asked, looking from one to the other.
Xion nodded. "Yes… we're fine."
"Speak for yourself," Axel grumbled good-naturedly. "I feel like I could sleep for a month."
Naminé hid a chuckle daintily behind one hand and then waved the other at Xion. "You know he didn't nap once while we were trying to figure out where you two were?" she said, and Axel made an indignant noise.
"Oi."
"He was so grouchy," she added, and Axel shifted where he sat, as if he were looking for a pillow to throw at her. Apparently deciding that the one at the far end of the sofa was too far away to reach he just folded his arms firmly over his chest then and sulked grandly.
Xion raised a hand to her mouth to cover a snicker, and glanced over to see Roxas doing about the same thing, only without the covering it part.
Still, it didn't escape her notice what Naminé was implying. Axel giving up naps was serious business. Between that, and how he'd acted earlier, when he'd finally found them.
She owed him. They both did. And they would pay him back someday for all he'd done for them.
For now though, she just slipped her feet out of their boots as she brought her knees up to her chin, watching as Roxas gave Axel a playful dig in the ribs, and Axel ruffled his hair in retaliation, less furiously than he would've under normal circumstances, sure. But they were all tired. And now they'd get to rest. It was nice that they could just sit and joke and relax for a little while, until they'd talked to Riku and Kairi and everyone and figured out what to do next.
They talked and joked, though the volume and intensity dropped rapidly as - somewhere along the line, she couldn't tell when - Axel nodded off, his chin sort of tucked against his collarbone. Then Roxas faded, his temple listing against Axel's ribs. Then Xion herself noticed absently that she seemed to be drifting into a semiconscious daze.
She blinked and Naminé had stood up, was asking her if she was okay there. And Xion nodded and leaned her head back as Naminé smiled knowingly and left. And even if they weren't then, she knew that somehow by the time they all woke up they'd be in some pile together that someone would had seen and would tease them mercilessly for.
But that was okay. Because for now, everything was all right.