Axel; Ⅷ; The Flurry of Dancing Flames (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
got_it_memorized) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
towerofanimus2012-03-11 10:53 pm
got_it_memorized) wrote in towerofanimus2012-03-11 10:53 pm
Entry tags:
[OPEN] am i in heaven here or am i in hell?
Characters: Axel and anybody who wants to run into him.
Setting: Anywhere from top-floor dormitories to... idk, wherever we go.
Format: i default to prose but if you prefer action that's okay too.
Summary: Axel wakes up in a hideous unitard and thinks he's gone to Hell. here's a little context.
Warnings: nothing yet? dsjhfskdfl i hate intro posts i'm so bad at them halp.
His opinion of this place improved exponentially when he discovered the trunk at the foot of the bed that contained clothing he was a bit more accustomed to. After making sure he was alone in the room and peeling the ridiculous white monstrosity off, he quickly fumbled into his usual getup and found himself ten times less disconcerted. Adjusting the zipper on the front of his coat, Axel peered around the room with a frown. Dorms? Hell had dorms? Where in all the worlds was he? Well, at least whoever else was supposed to be bunking with him wasn't around to see his moment of panic. He never would have lived that down.
He took a moment to summon his chakrams, just to make sure they were still there. Thankfully, they heeded his call and he breathed a bit easier. Maybe this wouldn't be so difficult after all. Maybe this wasn't Hell--he was pretty sure Hell wouldn't do him the courtesy of providing wardrobe and weapons. Wherever he'd been sent by Saïx's last attack, if Saïx thought he'd be rid of him that easily he had another thing coming. Old friend or not, Axel was inclined to go give him a piece of his mind.
Well, maybe better to figure out where he was, first. Using portals when one didn't know where one was didn't sound like a good idea. Best to at least have a grasp of Point A before attempting to find Point B. Dismissing his weapons (he could call them back at the drop of a hat, after all), Axel turned and moved toward the door, carefully opening it to peer out into the hallway. There didn't seem to be anyone in the immediate vicinity, so he supposed it was safe to venture out. His guard up, his eyes alert, Axel stepped out into the corridor, closing the door behind him, his senses keen to all the new sights and sounds around him. First unitards, then dormitory beds... there really was no telling what sorts of things this place would throw at him next.
Setting: Anywhere from top-floor dormitories to... idk, wherever we go.
Format: i default to prose but if you prefer action that's okay too.
Summary: Axel wakes up in a hideous unitard and thinks he's gone to Hell. here's a little context.
Warnings: nothing yet? dsjhfskdfl i hate intro posts i'm so bad at them halp.
His opinion of this place improved exponentially when he discovered the trunk at the foot of the bed that contained clothing he was a bit more accustomed to. After making sure he was alone in the room and peeling the ridiculous white monstrosity off, he quickly fumbled into his usual getup and found himself ten times less disconcerted. Adjusting the zipper on the front of his coat, Axel peered around the room with a frown. Dorms? Hell had dorms? Where in all the worlds was he? Well, at least whoever else was supposed to be bunking with him wasn't around to see his moment of panic. He never would have lived that down.
He took a moment to summon his chakrams, just to make sure they were still there. Thankfully, they heeded his call and he breathed a bit easier. Maybe this wouldn't be so difficult after all. Maybe this wasn't Hell--he was pretty sure Hell wouldn't do him the courtesy of providing wardrobe and weapons. Wherever he'd been sent by Saïx's last attack, if Saïx thought he'd be rid of him that easily he had another thing coming. Old friend or not, Axel was inclined to go give him a piece of his mind.
Well, maybe better to figure out where he was, first. Using portals when one didn't know where one was didn't sound like a good idea. Best to at least have a grasp of Point A before attempting to find Point B. Dismissing his weapons (he could call them back at the drop of a hat, after all), Axel turned and moved toward the door, carefully opening it to peer out into the hallway. There didn't seem to be anyone in the immediate vicinity, so he supposed it was safe to venture out. His guard up, his eyes alert, Axel stepped out into the corridor, closing the door behind him, his senses keen to all the new sights and sounds around him. First unitards, then dormitory beds... there really was no telling what sorts of things this place would throw at him next.
I thought I might commentspam but then I tl;dr-ed instead. Also 1/2(?)
It was frustrating, and now things were going strange again, from what she could see. Something about people's collars, and the colors being different. She hadn't been called down herself, but plenty of others had.
Still, she wasn't going to just sit in her room all day. So she, after resettling the sling over her shoulder, she headed out of room 1-01 into the hallway, turned to look from side to side, and-
And then I still kind of commentspammed anyway 2/3 (I lied)
Once she had that confirmation, the word was out of her mouth before she could stop and think about it.
"Axel!"
Did I forget to mention their last meeting was awkward? I think I did... 3/3
And even if he did remember, there was their last - well, second to last - encounter to consider, where they'd fought and he'd brought her back to the Organization. They hadn't really spoken since, not even when they'd sat together up on the Clock Tower right before she'd come here, and she had no idea what he'd thought or anything. It was something she'd forgotten in her month and a half of being here, but now that she was facing him again, the realization was coming back full-force.
It was too late to take back her call, but... Well. She'd have to see what happened, she supposed...
Xioooon LET ME LOVE YOU
Shaking his head quickly, he took a stumbling half-step back as the image before his eyes shifted out of and then back into focus. No, not Naminé. This girl had short, dark hair--not Naminé at all. Why had she looked like her for that first instant, though? Weird. Very weird.
But who was this girl? He didn't recognize her, but there was something about her that struck some kind of chord somewhere in the back of his head, like the lyrics to a song you thought you'd forgotten until you heard the tune again. More importantly, how did she know his name? Suspicion narrowed his eyes, but there was no malice in his voice as he asked, "... Do I know you?"
THAT'S KIND OF STRANGE IF YOU DON'T REMEMBER....
As much more prepared as she was this time, it was still a blow, and it was still enough to make her look down. Oh jeez, she wasn't even wearing her coat, just the plain black outfit she always wore underneath it. Trying to negotiate the coat and the sling had been a mess, so she'd just ditched the former, for now.
But what to tell Axel? She... she honestly had no clue how to go about this. Anymore than she did last time, and last time she'd just tried to run before Roxas had stopped her.
"Sort of... it's a long story," she said at last.
SHH JUST LET ME LOVE YOU
Her arm was in a sling--she was hurt? As he glanced down at her he couldn't help but notice she was wearing the same boots he was: Organization boots. Now where had she gotten those...? Had they inducted a new member after his defection? That didn't make much sense--and even if that were the case, how would she have known his name?
Lifting a hand to scratch at his cheek awkwardly, Axel squinted at the girl briefly, as if willing his eyes to see something familiar there to go with the strange feeling in his gut.
"Who are you?" he asked. "I have the weirdest feeling that I know you from somewhere, but... I just can't quite..."
He cleared his throat and cut himself off. He never just rambled like that. Something about her just felt safe, like he could be himself around her, but... why? He inhaled to say something more but couldn't figure out what more there was to say, and so he just clicked his jaw closed again, the befuddled look never leaving his features.
All right if you insist... >>
... she wasn't going to question it. Not right now, with a little bubble of hope forming in her chest. Where should she even start, though...? There was so much...
"My name is Xion," she began finally, "I'm... a member of the Organization... sort of." Considering she'd already deserted once. "And... you probably don't remember but... you're one of my best friends." You and Roxas. It sounds crazy probably but please believe me.
<3
The name tweaked at his brain, and there was a sudden sharp whining sound in his ear, as if someone had left a television on static. He pressed his fingertips into his temple with a faint grimace at the noise, trying to block it out.
"You... you are?" When had that happened? He scratched his head and then gave a visible start at her next statement. "I'm--?"
What. the. hell. Axel prided himself on remembering things, especially important things. There was no way he would have forgotten his best friend! ... Was there?
... Was there? Roxas had forgotten, and Roxas had gone the extra mile of actually writing everything down in a diary, counting days, keeping track. If Roxas had forgotten him, what was to say it was impossible for him to have forgotten this Xion girl?
He swallowed hard, then cleared his throat awkwardly. What the hell was he supposed to do with this? If he had truly forgotten her, and they were best friends, what was he supposed to do about it? Or was this a trick? So far the people he had met in this strange place had seemed just as confused as he was, but maybe this was his luck running out. Was she a test? Was this all a test?
Suspicion glinted in his gaze, and he sort of wagged a finger at her.
"How can you possibly be a member of the Organization?" he asked, frowning, then grimaced again, pressing his thumb against his temple as that squealing noise returned. It was starting to give him a headache. Brushing it aside, he shook his head. "How can Organization Thirteen have a fourteenth member?" he asked, and then pointed straight at her. "What's our boss's name?"
Hey, it was a perfectly legitimate question, given the circumstances!
Lmao I see what you did there...
Except she isn't sure she entirely trusted Xemnas, not after all she'd found out about herself, plus all things she'd learned while traveling with Riku. She isn't sure what she really trusts about the Organization anymore, and all that had really been keeping her there were her friends, back on their worlds.
Well, in the Tower, there wasn't much point in wondering. Not unless Xemnas himself turned up here, which she fervently hoped he wouldn't.
She glanced up and down the hallway. Anybody could come out at any time, and if chances were she'd have to explain all about herself and what happened... "Can we go somewhere else, maybe?" Somewhere a little less open, so to speak.
i regret nothing B|
... No, that wasn't right. Axel was pretty good at reading people, and he honestly wasn't getting any sort of dangerous vibe from this girl at all. She seemed nothing but genuine: genuinely disappointed that he didn't seem to remember her, genuinely surprised that he was still talking to her instead of brushing her off, it seemed.
"Somewhere else?" He scratched his head. "Sure, I guess so, but... where? I mean, I just got here, and now you wanna go someplace else?" Ah, levity, the universal defense mechanism when one was hurled violently out of their comfort zone.
Good, you shouldn't. XD
God she'd missed this, she'd missed this so much. When was the last time she had actually laughed, even if it was just a little one? She can't remember anything - maybe a quiet chuckle or two at something Sora or the other Riku had said, but... nothing that really stuck out in her mind.
Even... even back before she'd been brought here, she'd been traveling with Riku, who - while someone she trusted implicitly - wasn't exactly the greatest source of humor.
There weren't any really "private" places in the Tower, but there were places that would make it harder for someone to sneak up on them. It was to one of these places that she headed, down several flights of stairs, to Floor 20. The open-air floor.
Once there, she stared out a little nervously - it was sunnier, but still windy, which made her hesitant to go all the way out to the edge with only one good arm - before turning back to Axel. "...There isn't any ice cream here, but... it's the closest thing to the clock tower I've been able to find."
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They trekked down a few flights of stairs, and Axel found himself just looking at her back as she led the way. There was no way this was a trick; she was exposing her back to him without a single care! No adversary would be so foolish. Either she was very good at hiding her true feelings and intentions, or... or he really had forgotten a friend.
Light, what would he do if that were true?
They stepped out onto what seemed to be... the tower ledge. The sky was bright and open and a brisk wind brushed past them. Axel lifted a hand to shove his hair back out of his face, then sort of inched forward toward the edge, making certain to keep Xion in his peripheral vision. Shoving him off a tower into oblivion would have been a delightfully diabolical twist.
... Wow, this seemed nice and dangerous.
He glanced at her when she brought up ice cream, and once again he was stunned by the idea that anyone would have put this much effort into deceiving him. He searched Xion's eyes a moment, finding them almost inconceivably blue out here in the sunlight, and then moved back away from the ledge, though more because it was less windy near the wall than out of fear of falling or being pushed. The wind would make it hard to talk.
Folding his arms and assuming his usual posture against the wall of the tower, peering at Xion.
"So if you're really a member of the Organization," he said, his words halting and his voice hesitant, "and we're... best friends..."--he still couldn't quite wrap his head around it--"how come I don't remember?"
It wasn't accusatory, really; he was genuinely curious. Sure, Saïx had beaten the hell out of him, last he'd checked, but head trauma didn't usually just erase one thing. This was more the sort of situation Naminé specialized in, but he couldn't even bring himself to consider her a suspect.
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She opened her mouth to speak, then at the last moment remembered something very important. "Before I start... this tower takes people from different times. You're... I think you're from my future. Roxas is too."
It seemed second-nature to mention their mutual friend, enough that she didn't realize she hadn't mentioned that she'd known him yet. And as for Axel's question... She took a deep breath.
"I'm... not really a Nobody. I'm... I'm made of memories, and... sometime in my future, I'll need... to go back to where I belong. When I do... everyone will forget I exist."
er... oh. and then sad happened. oops.
Okay, Axel, one thing at a time. Build a diagram. Not really a Nobody--built of memories. Okay, that was conceivable, Vexen had done something similar with Riku's Replica and Naminés help, it wasn't infathomable that he'd managed it again. But, when she said she would have to go back where she belonged--
"Ah--!" There was that keening noise in his ear again, and he grit his teeth, pressing a hand against his ear. It hurt! It was like someone was boring away at the inside of his skull with a tiny drill!
'I've decided that I have to go back to where I belong.' ... It's for the good of everyone--'
He shook his head again, quickly this time, as if to clear it, and the noise abated, leaving him slightly disoriented, his ears ringing. Those words... her voice... had she said those things to him? His eyes were on Xion, his brow drawn in something between melancholy and apprehension.
"So you're really...?" Dead? Did that mean he'd died, too? Was that why he was here? But--! "Wait, Roxas is here, too?"
She'd said Roxas was from her future. Meaning Roxas was here? But if they were dead... why was Roxas here? Axel had thought Roxas had returned to Sora, but that didn't mean he was dead, did it? He thought that Roxas was special! That he would still be there somehow. Oh man, he'd really screwed up, hadn't he... If Roxas was just going to die inside Sora, maybe it would have been better to have destroyed him with his own hands! At least then he'd have gone out fighting.
He realized his hands had raked back into his hair and his knees had given out from under him at some point and he was sliding down the tower wall. No, this was all wrong. He'd been trying to fix it, not make it worse...
What had he done?
... oops. o.o;
"Yeah, he's here, but... he doesn't remember anything. About you or me o-" She cut herself off though, panicking a little as she saw him react to her words. "Axel?! Axel, what's wrong?"
Had she done something wrong? Was she not supposed to tell them about what happened? Was that screwing things up, somehow, just as her mere existence had caused so many problems? Please let her not have messed everything up again...
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Light, none of this made any sense!
Axel exhaled sharply, audibly, shaking his head and lowering his eyes. "Jeez, I really blew it," he said, the bitter laugh he tried to inject into his words coming out more like a choked gasp of pain. "I was trying to fix what I'd screwed up, and I just made it worse."
He'd gotten Roxas killed, he'd apparently forgotten Xion entirely, who knew what had happened to Kairi after Saïx got a hold of her...? He didn't understand why Xion and Roxas would be here, though--they hadn't done anything wrong, had they? He... well, he couldn't remember if Xion had done anything wrong, but Roxas had never, of that he was sure. Hell, half the reason Roxas had left the Organization was because he had refused to be their mindless pawn.
Roxas was a good kid. What the hell was he doing here in a place like this?
"I wanted to save him." Axel realized he'd said it aloud, and quickly schooled his expression back into something more neutral, less broken. The mask had slipped--how had Xion done that? He scrabbled back to his feet, quashing that creeping despair with indignation. "Does everyone forget when they come here?" he demanded, perhaps a little more snappishly than was necessary. "If he's forgotten both of us, why is it I've only forgotten you?"
Maybe it was a trick after all! Maybe the whole point was to drive him mad with regret he shouldn't have even been able to feel. Maybe she'd put on this act, this innocent face, made up this story about best friends because she knew it was the one big chink in his armor. It wasn't like it had been a big secret--the whole damn Organization had known that the best way to hurt Axel would be to hurt Roxas. That was why they'd sent him to destroy him, wasn't it? Oh, Saïx had always known just how to get under his skin...
It seemed so real. She seemed so real! There was a part of him that honestly wanted it to be true, that they were best friends and he'd just somehow forgotten! If they were all here, even if they were all dead, they could still be together, right?
Man and here I thought he'd be spared the heartbreak...
"I-it's like he doesn't remember anything, about the Organization or us or anything. He said he's going to try, but..." She was struggling not to cry. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry..." Despite what Axel said to the contrary, it was her fault. It had to be. How else would Roxas forget so much? Was it because they both had the Keyblade?
There was so much going on, so many questions being asked and with her emotions - hah - so heated right then she just couldn't keep up with them. Couldn't answer them all, not with her mind a scattered mess trying to keep up. It also didn't escape her what he'd said about their best friend. Trying to save him?
"Axel what happens to Roxas?" Her voice was shaking, "Please... just tell me." She'd gotten past the point of not wanting to know about the future when she found out she'd gone back to Sora, and especially when the safety of one of her best friends potentially was at stake.
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And then she was apologizing, and Axel's brain shifted gears. This wasn't her fault, so getting upset with her wasn't doing anything but making the whole situation worse. He lifted his hands, sort of shook them ineffectually, then impulsively reached out and planted them on her shoulders. It felt... familiar somehow, like he'd done this before.
"Stop," he said, shaking his head. "Wait, just... don't apologize."
It was no good if they both had a meltdown--right now Xion was the first crack at any answers he'd had. He didn't know where he was, or what had happened, or what the hell was going on, but he knew that Xion wasn't his enemy, wasn't a threat, and wasn't here to make things harder. He wasn't sure how he knew, but he did, and maybe he could take a small comfort in that.
His hands lingered on her shoulders a moment before he released her and instead smeared his palms down his face. With a heavy sigh he leaned against the wall again, then dropped to a crouch.
What happens to Roxas? So she didn't know? They were best friends and she didn't know? Peering at her with curious eyes he frowned a bit.
"When you said you think he's from your future--we... are from your future--how future are we talking?" he asked. "I mean, what do you know?"
He didn't mean to sound indicting. He'd clicked back over into Business Mode. Ask questions, get answers, sort out debatable mess of emotions later. If he was to tell her about a future she wasn't present for, then so be it, but where was he supposed to start? And moreover, it was another means of verification. If she could tell him something that logically only someone present at the time could know, it would be another indication that she really was who she said she was.
It was strange--he honestly wanted to believe her. Axel rarely gave real benefit of doubt; he was gregarious enough with strangers, sure, he'd strike up a conversation with anybody, but Xion... wasn't a stranger. There was something about her presence that reminded him of... something. Something he couldn't put his finger on.
no subject
Right. She... she needed to calm down. Axel still didn't know what was going on, and everything was still probably confusing and hectic and she'd somehow made it worse though she doesn't even know how it had gotten so bad- No, no, stop that, Xion. You have to explain what's going on.
For a moment she remained silent, wracking her brain for the answer to his question. How far in the future? She didn't even kno- wait, she did have some idea, at least.
"The last thing I remember was sitting with you and Roxas at the clock tower. I'd... just been brought back to the Organization." After she'd deserted. "I think... you're at least two months ahead of me. Because... in my time, I was trying to decide whether to go back, and by then... I'd made my decision." She didn't know all the hows and whys, she just knew that she did.
"Also... I don't think coming to this Tower means you forget," she took a deep breath, "Ri- A friend of mine is here too, and he remembers me." Riku was still the Organization imposter, so far as she knew, after all. It was better to leave him out of this, for now.
no subject
He'd been gesticulating vaguely, trying to wrap his brain around the whole concept, and then just shook his head.
"Man, forget it; I'll leave time paradox shenanigans to Luxord," he said, rubbing the crown of his head like he'd knocked it against something. He met her eyes. "So about when was that, anyhow?" he asked. "Gimme a timestamp--a chronological landmark to go by." Just how much time was missing, here? "Sitting on the tower eating ice cream together could span a whole year's time, after all."
And then he snorted a laugh.
"Yeah, we don't need any more towers that make you forget."
Castle Oblivion had been plenty.
"Other friend? How many are you keeping in your pocket, kiddo?" he asked with a chuckle and then gave a low, appraising whistle. "Making up for the rest of us being surly, antisocial bastards, eh?"
What is Organization timekeeping idek
She knew Axel probably had a lot of questions besides the ones he was asking, just as she knew she probably wasn't doing the best job explaining what had happened.
But what else was she supposed to do? It's not like there was anybody else who could explain besides Riku, and she had no idea how Riku and Axel would react to her - she suspected it wouldn't be good though, given how Roxas had tried to attack her, thinking she was the Organization imposter.
So far as time goes, she frowns, "I'm not sure," She didn't keep track of the days the way Roxas had, "I think... I think it's been nearly a year since Roxas and I joined the Organization." A year since she was made, though she didn't say that.
She glanced away. "The Tower just... does strange things. They say our worlds are destroyed, and you can't leave, not even by the darkness corridors. I've tried," she shook her head, "I don't believe them though, that the worlds are gone or that they saved us. This isn't a great place to be." Certainly not the home of someone who saved others out of the goodness of their heart.
they really needed a bookkeeper
He shook his head then.
"Yeah, no, I saw the letter," he said. "'Let's be happy here'? Really? Come on..." He scoffed, then snapped his fingers. "And it can't be true, then, that our worlds were destroyed, can it? If it was destroyed when you came here, then there wouldn't have been a future for me and Roxas to come from, right?"
On that note, if she'd been around for that whole year...
"So... when you..."--he waved his hands vaguely again, gesturing at nothing in particular--"disappeared." Yeah, he'd go with that for now. "The memories that made you up went back to where they came from, but what about the rest?" He shook his head. "If you were me an' Roxas' best friend for a whole year, what about those memories?"
... and then I typed this tag up to Dearly Beloved...
"I don't know..." She was still sketchy on some details of her future, but... for this, she thought she might have an idea. "But... I think they'll go back to him too. The person whose memories I'm made from." Sora.
She wasn't not sure. She was acting on instinct here, the same instinct that had told her that Riku's offer to give back the memories inside of her was a one-way ticket.
no subject
Who? he wanted to ask. Whose memories? The replica of Riku had been fed memories of Destiny Islands, but hadn't he had some sort of latent personality even before that? Ergh, Axel wasn't even sure; he had honestly done his best to avoid Vexen and his creepy experiments at all costs.
And then something clicked somewhere in the back of his head. If Xion was not a normal Nobody, was made up of someone else's memories, then--
"Are you--?" His expression swam from realization to shock and then settled on something like surprise. "So that's what you meant."
She was a replica, wasn't she? ... But of who? She resembled Kairi a lot, but if her memories were of a boy, then...?
no subject
She did glance up at his statement though. Judging by his face, he seemed to have realized something. She... didn't know what to make of it. Roxas had drawn a total blank over her presence. Yet Axel... there was something different. She was familiar to him, and he was figuring things out fast. What did that even mean?
"There's something else you should probably know," she said, frowning down at the sling. Carefully, she worked at it until she was able to slip her arm out of it for now. She rolled the shoulder around a tiny bit - not too bad, it didn't hurt nearly as bad as it had even when it had first been fixed - then held her arm out, closing her eyes as she focused.
There was a flash of light and a soft -shing- and then in her hand was her Keyblade.
If she wanted to help explain things about herself and her role in the grand scheme of things... well, this was probably a good place to start.
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