A/N: I know, I know. I gave Axel the best world.
Here's some proof I'm not just biased for Vanny and Zack! ;D
<♥>
"So," Axel greets, sliding a orb down his arm before he flicks his wrist, sending it soaring into the air before he snatches it in his hand. "We're heading out together, right?"
"Is that a statement, or a question?" you ask as Axel raises his free hand and creates a portal.
"Both," he replies before nudging you forward with his shoe.
You stumble forward a bit from the action, glancing over your shoulder to narrow your eyes at him before you march towards the portal and step inside. Darkness swirls around you as it closes, embracing the two of you as you're thrust into nothing.
After a few seconds and an odd tingling sensation taking over your body, you pop out in the middle of the Town Square. You glance down, sighing when you realize you're back to being a ghost floating in the air and wearing all white.
"An angel and the devil. Seems appropriate, don't it?" Axel muses.
You look over at him, stifling a laugh at the devil's horn protruding out of his forehead and the black and red cape covering his all black suit. The cherry on top is the red-horned tail protruding out of black slacks.
"I'm not an angel," you reply, deciding not to mock his horns and/or tail.
"Mm, looks that way from where I'm standing," he retorts, a surprisingly innocent look on his face as he stares over at you. Unfortunately for him, your gaze is stuck on the sky, seemingly ignoring him. "[Name]? Did you hear me?" he adds as he steps next to you.
You wordlessly point up, and Axel follows your finger to stare up in awe at the swirling beacon shooting from the sky towards the ground in the distance, just past a sloping hill.
"Shit. Let's go," Axel decides, nodding along as he starts to hurry in the direction of the beacon.
You follow after him, floating behind him like a shadow. He glances over his shoulder at you with a small smile.
"Having fun back there?" he asks.
"Beats walking," you reply with a grin.
Axel chuckles a bit, holding open a metal gate and stepping aside to let you head in first. You could just float through the metal, but you instead give him your thanks and float past him. It's eerily silent, as if the entire world is abandoned as the two of you make your way through the entrance of a large cemetery.
"This is kinda creepy," you speak up, looking up at Axel as he pauses in front of a white stone coffin. He taps on the coffin, and you jump as it slides open, revealing an empty slab of concrete. "Isn't that illegal to riffle through a grave?"
Axel rolls his eyes before pointing in.
"It's the only way to get to that," he tells you, nodding to the ever-expanding beacon in the distance.
You grumble and gripe under your breath before you head inside of the coffin. A trap door opens, and you sigh as you sink down into the darkness. Thankfully, the pale light glowing from your body brightens the narrow path as you follow it. You can hear Axel complaining and wriggling around behind you. For once you're glad you're see-through – saves you from having to crawl like a snake.
The ceiling finally cracks open, the brisk night's air pouring inside. You float up, stretching your arms out in the air once you're back outside.
"Ahhhh, much better," you groan, cracking your back as you glance at the beacon. "You're right, we're really close now."
Axel coughs loudly, almost like a hack, pounding on his chest.
"I think I swallowed something," he whines, a look of disgust on his face as he walks towards you.
"TMI."
He shoots you a glare as you start to laugh at his misery before brushing past you and heading towards a small lever jutting out of the ground at the base of an odd hill. It's thin, and curled at the end like a dying tree branch. Axel grabs hold of the lever and pulls down, stepping back towards you as the hill starts to unfurl and expand, creating almost a bridge to connect with the wall just at the end of this section of the cemetery.
"How'd you know about that?" you ask, floating next to him as he marches across the hill-bridge.
"I spent some time here. Y'know... before."
A look of guilt flashes over his face momentarily as he stares ahead at the beacon. You barely catch it, but you definitely don't miss it. You reach out to grab his hand, only for your skin to fail to make contact with his; your hand sails through his arm like a knife through hot butter.
"You're invisible, genius," Axel adds as you stare down at your hand in confusion.
"I know that," you lie, huffing a bit as you glide in front of him.
He chuckles under his breath before leaping from the hill onto the top of the wall. He looks down at the ground for a moment, studying the distance, before jumping and stumbling forward a bit as he lands on his feet.
"Are we almost there?" you ask, peering over the edge of the sloping land.
A narrow body of water lies below, running towards what looks like a sewer.
"That's not how you get there," Axel tells you.
You look over at his standing position on a drawbridge, his hands in his pockets and an amused expression on his face as he watches you. You clear your throat as you float towards him, a blush growing at the appreciative look he's adoring.
"Well look at that, I made a ghost blush," Axel muses as you walk/glide together down the bridge.
"Proud of yourself?" you ask with a small smile as he pulls open a wooden door at the end of the bridge.
"Immensely," he responds dryly, shooting you a quick smirk before he dart through the doorway.
You can't help but grin as you follow him, though it's quickly wiped from your face as you stare at the sight below. An almost unnaturally tall building sits in the middle of the valley before you, bathed in the soft line of the moon. But that's not what has your heart suddenly racing; no, it's the giant crater forming in the middle of the valley, with darkness and Heartless pouring out and spreading over the land.
A violent shake brings you back to reality, a loud creaking noise echoing through the sky as the building starts to lilt to the side. If you squint, you can make out a thick crack forming on the ground below, as if it's about to open up and swallow the entire valley.
"[Name], go find the Keyhole. It'll be near the beacon," Axel tells you, pointing to the bright light shooting out of the top of the building.
"What are you going to do?" you ask, glancing up at him.
Axel smirks, his eyes locked on a tall skeleton below fighting off an ever-growing hoard of Heartless.
"Try and stop this from reaching the town. Jack can't hold them off forever."
"Jack's here?" you exclaim excitedly, glancing around the valley.
Your eyes land on his figure, and you smile with determination before looking to Axel. His bright green eyes are locked on you for a moment before he break out in a smirk and glances below.
"Good luck, [Name]. Don't take too long."
With that, his body is surrounded by bright red flames before he leaps off the cliff where you're standing, careening down towards Jack and the swirling darkness. You watch him soar through the air like a human fireball, swallowing a lump in your throat as you tear your gaze away and hurriedly glide towards the building across a rickety looking wooden bridge.
Another violent shake booms through the area as the building breaks apart further, the beacon growing in size as it swallows more of the house. You pause, staring in awe at the dilapidated and halfway destroyed building before you. Just where is this Keyhole anyway?
"Hey, miss."
Your eyes widen as you glance down and to the side, where three little kids are hiding behind a large tree trunk. The only girl is dressed as a witch, while one of the boys is a bright red devil and an adorable chubby kid looks like a skeleton.
"What are you kids doing out here?! Get back to the town, this isn't safe," you chastise them before gliding closer to the building.
"We wanna help!" the girl calls out.
"Yeah, you look lost," the devil adds as they scurry after you.
"I know where I am," you lie, floating through the door leading inside as if it didn't exist.
The door slams open behind you as they charge in like bulls in a china shop. You sigh but don't argue any further. With how strange this world is, for all you know its citizens find a beacon shooting out of the sky to be normal. Besides, you really are lost.
"Where are you heading?" the skeleton asks as he lazily pulls himself to the top of the stairs as you float up towards the ceiling.
"Well, um... I'm looking for, I guess, a lock of some sort," you say, glancing down at them as you come to a stop just outside the exit leading out.
"Hey, that's my name!" the devil exclaims.
"And I'm Shock!" the girl yells.
"Barrel!" the skeleton finishes.
"I'm [Name]," you introduce, watching as they continue to crawl and jump up towards you.
"What a stupid name," Barrel comments, panting a bit as he crawls up next to you.
"Like Barrel's much better," you mutter to yourself as you glide outside.
"So, what kind of a lock are you looking for?" the girl asks.
"Would unlocking it unleash hell?"
"Or demons?"
"Or the devil himself!"
"Ooooh, Oogie would have loved that..."
You stare down at the three kids as they chat excitedly about the possibility of the impending apocalypse with widened eyes. Just when you think this place can't get much weirder...
"Yeah, I'm summoning the devil," you respond sarcastically, looking up at the beacon as it expands even more, tearing one portion of the building off completely.
It falls to the ground, swallowed into the darkness and disappearing. You watch it fall, sighing in relief when you spot a flame below. At least Axel is okay, for now.
"Wow, the devil himself! Is he your friend?" Shock asks enthusiastically.
"Don't be stupid, why would the devil be friends with some dumb girl-ghost?" Lock retorts, smacking the girl rather harshly on the back of the head.
"Okay, are you gonna help me or not?" you snap, growing tired of their antics.
The three of them glance up at you before hmphing and making an abrupt left turn. Standing before you is a glowing green door, with a pattern on the front that looks suspiciously like Oogie's head. Sure enough, the beacon is pouring through the ceiling of the room just beyond the door.
"This door has been locked ever since Oogie died," Barrel tells you, with a tone of sorrow.
"He would be proud to know it's gonna summon the end of the world!" Lock exclaims.
The three of them shriek with joy as they hop around at your floating feet. You roll your eyes as you glide forward, reaching a hand out to touch the door. Unfortunately, your hand falls through, unable to make contact.
A look of panic flashes over your face.
"Damn it, how am I supposed to use the orb?!" you groan, dropping your head back.
"Orb?" Shock repeats, appearing next to you.
"Hey, yeah, reach into my pocket," you tell her, lowering yourself so your hip is next to her arm. She gives you a weird look before shrugging and digging into your body. She pulls back her hand, the glowing white orb resting in her palm. "Okay, shove it in," you add, nodding to the lock.
"Okayyyy," she hums as she does just that.
The second the orb is within a few inches of the lock it springs out of her hand, floating in the air. The key resting in the middle of the orb flies forward, embedding itself in the now-glowing lock. Your eyes are forced closed as a blinding light suddenly flows from the lock, a harsh wind blowing you back and away from the door. All you hear is a soft 'click' before the light dies down.
You slowly open one eye, then another, before releasing a loud sigh. The beacon's gone, and the building is now standing upright, as if it hadn't just been pummeled halfway to oblivion.
"Hey, where'd the darkness go?!" Barrel yells, staring down at the ground in horror.
You follow his gaze, smiling when you spot Axel and Jack standing around at the base of the building/mountain. The darkness is gone, as well as the devastating cracks in the ground.
"You tricked us!" Shock realizes, pointing an accusatory finger at you.
"Let's kill her!" Lock adds, pulling out a shiv from his pocket.
"I'm sorry... oh wait, I'm not!" you laugh, waving at them before you fly head-first towards the grounds.
You can hear their screams and protests as you hurry away from them, and you shake your head in amused disbelief. Despite them being insane, you kinda liked them.
"Hey!" you greet, pulling yourself upright and to a stop as you appear in front of a chatting Axel and Jack.
"[Name]!" Jack exclaims, spotting you first. "I did not know you were here as well. Greetings, old friend."
"Took you long enough," Axel adds with a smug smirk.
"Sorry, three little demon kids distracted me," you reply.
"Ah, you met Lock, Shock, and Barrel? They're quite rowdy, but harmless," Jack tells you. "Well, are we safe now?"
"Should be. I don't know how long that seal will hold, but this world should be safe for the time being," Axel explains, glancing up at the dark sky above.
"Wonderful. Can I entice you to stay with a snack, or must you get going?" Jack asks, looking between the two of you.
"We must," Axel replies before you can accept his offer.
"Next time!" you add with a smile.
"Looking forward to it. Until next time, friends."
Jack gives an exaggerated bow, taking a few steps back before he turns around and walks towards the cemetery leading to the town.
"How's Sally?!" you call out after him.
You hear Jack chuckle before he glances over his shoulder.
"She's very well. I'll give her your warm regards," he promises, nodding once before turning to the town in the distance once more.
"They're so adorable," you comment with a happy sigh.
Axel doesn't reply, so you glance up at him. He's staring down at you with that same smile you equally love and question – not because you dislike it, but because you can't fully read what he's thinking.
"What?" you add.
"Nothing. I just wanted to kiss you, but you're making that a little difficult," he tells you as he raises a hand and creates a portal.
"Oh, am I?" you tease, gliding through him as you head towards the portal.
He chuckles, following after you with a shake of his head. The darkness swallows both of you, and after a moment your feet fall back to the ground, signaling the spell's worn off.
"That's better," you feel Axel's warm breath hit the back of your neck.
You turn your head slightly to look back at him, only for his lips to meet yours in a light kiss. His arms wind around you, pulling you even closer as you return the kiss, one of your fingers gently running through his hair.
"Sorry. I had to," Axel mutters as he pulls back, his lips hovering over yours as he stares down at you.
"Never apologize for that," you playfully scold.
He laughs, resting a hand on the back of your head.
"As you wish," he murmurs, leaning down as he pulls your lips up to his.
It's a fire that never threatens to go out, being around him. And something tells you that fire will never go out, for you or for him.
[♥]
A/N: The fluff train is still going strong apparently.
Next up: The Brownie~