Published: August 1, 2012
Edited: January 6, 2017
Dedicated to Mad_Hatter_fan. She's the first friend I made on Wattpad, the first KH fangirl I met here who likes Axel AND Riku, and a supporter of my stories from the start. You're awesome!
A/N: Is this a filler? Is this extremely late? Yes and yes. I'm so sorry for the late update everyone! Thanks for waiting so patiently :) I hope this chapter is not completely boring!
RECAP:
- Axel and Roxas told Raxmi about Nobodies, Heartless, and Organization XIII. She decided to agree to keep their secret.
- For the first time, Axel questioned the reason Xemnas started the Organization.
- Raxmi convinced Seifer, Rai, and Fuu that working for Axel would be safe.
STORY STARTS:
Axel's POV
I stretched my arms above my head as I wandered around Castle Oblivion. I had to go see Saix to receive my mission for today, but for now I was trying to avoid him. At times, it felt like the man delighted in giving me the hardest or most boring missions. So I stick with the simplest solution: wandering around aimlessly until I run into him or he inevitably hunts me down. Normally Roxas and Xion would be with me, but Vexen was doing experiments on the two of them. Poor kids.
I hoped that my mission would be for Twilight Town. Yeah, it's a boring world, but a mission would provide me with the perfect excuse to see Raxmi. I was planning on paying her a decent amount of munny once again in the hopes of convincing her to stick around. This wasn't a problem, since Xemnas actually gave us sizable amounts of munny for our work. Hopefully it would be enough. Although, who knows? Maybe she would decide not to show up. I pushed that disappointing thought out of my mind.
Hah. As if I could still feel disappointment.
Two voices drifted from around the corner ahead of me. Fantastic. It appears that I found x-face and mullet-boy. Demyx wasn't bad company, but something about him always felt a little off to me. Water is unpredictable. It looks bubbly and inviting and shallow, until you step in and realize it's actually deep and violent. But then it's too late and you're drowning slowly, or dying from hypothermia, or getting pulled out to sea by a current. It was the same with Demyx. He always behaved lazily and cowardly - which was just an act, since he doesn't have the heart to feel cowardice - and made people think he's weak. But I had seen him in the heat of a battle before and, oh, he is not to be underestimated. And the way that he talked about some of the memories was sometimes harsh enough to surprise me. His little care-free persona that disguised his slightly cruel side was enough to make me cautious, but also made him more interesting than some of the other members of the Organization.
I strolled around the corner and, right enough, saw Demyx conversing with Saix. "You're finally giving me recon!" he was exclaiming, clearly please with receiving the only work he enjoyed. "Thanks, man!"
Saix simply nodded in response, and turned around as I approached. "Hey, Saix, old buddy. I've been looking all over for you," I lied.
Saix looked at me strangely. "Axel, you don't have any missions today," he stated, ignoring my blatant lie, then turned back to Demyx.
'Say what, now?' I groaned as I realized my mistake. He had told me yesterday that I could have today off. The interaction with the girl Raxmi had preoccupied me so much that I'd forgotten. Xemnas wanted us all working ourselves to the bones, killing all the Heartless we can find. A day off was as rare as him finishing a sentence in less than twenty seconds.
"Lucky you, Axel!" Demyx said. "I have to go to Twilight Town to see if there are more Heartless in the woods, but at least it's not too difficult."
Of course this would happen. Of all the days I could get a day off, it had to be the day where I actually want a mission. Luckily, a plan sprung into my mind. "Saix, are you sure Demyx can handle such an...important mission?" I said.
"What do you mean, Axel?" Saix asked, narrowing his eyes. "I'm sure Demyx is perfectly capable of handling the situation in Twilight Town."
I leaned in closer to him and crossed my arms. "C'mon, Saix, this is Demyx we're talking about, remember? If the job turns out to be bigger than he expects, you know he'll just ditch the scene. It's best if someone goes with him, don't you think?"
Saix considered this for a moment before nodding. "Fine then. Demyx, Larxene will go with you."
"What?" Demyx yelped. "Not that witch!"
"There's no reason for Larxene to come into this," I interrupted smoothly. "How about I go with him instead? I mean, I'm not doing anything today."
Saix raised an eyebrow and almost looked taken aback. "Axel, are you suggesting that you, of all people, are willing to give up your day off to accompany Demyx on a mission?"
"Why not?" I replied. "There's no harm if I tag along. And there's nothing to do here."
"Anyone but Larxene!" Demyx added.
Saix gave me a look, one that said 'I-know-you're-up-to-something-but-I-won't-ask-what-because-I-know-I-won't-like-the-answer'. "Very well, then," he agreed. "Just don't do anything irrational, Axel."
I let out a laugh. "Me? Irrational? That's not in my dictionary," I smirked. "Can I get a rain check on my day off?"
"No."
"What? But -"
"Goodbye, Axel, Demyx," he concluded the conversation firmly, summoning a portal and leaving before I could protest.
Demyx punched me in the arm. "Aw, Axel, I never knew you were so fond of me," he grinned.
"I didn't do that for you," I stated, crossing my arms.
"So then why -"
"I'm going to let you in on a little secret, okay?" I said quietly, taking him by the arm and walking down the hall, in case anyone was listening. You could never be too cautious around here - Xigbar can hide himself pretty well. "But you can't tell anybody."
He slung and arm behind his hear. "Don't you worry. I'm an expert at keeping secrets."
I decided to pretend I didn't hear that sentence. "Okay, there's this girl -"
"You've got a girlfriend?" Demyx exclaimed, then covered his mouth.
Rubbing my temples, I prayed no one had heard that. "No, I don't have a girlfriend Demyx," I replied, glancing around the deserted hallway.
"Oh, a crush then?" he laughed.
"No!" I answered, lying only slightly. I'll admit, Raxmi has been on my mind ever since she ran out of the Haunted Woods, but that doesn't mean I was attracted to her.
Right?
"Listen, I was on recon with Roxas in Twilight Town yesterday, and I didn't feel like doing the mission. We ran into a girl - her name's Raxmi - and I paid her to do the mission for me. Long story short, she saw us fighting Heartless, so we told her everything about us."
"Everything?" Demyx asked, leaning in closer. "Like how Xemnas thinks we don't have hearts?"
I sighed. "He doesn't 'think' that, Demyx - we don't have hearts, period."
"Yes, we do!" he said defensively, crossing his arms.
Rolling my eyes, I continued. "Anyway, it seemed like she really needed the munny, so I told her I'd meet her again at the Station Plaza today with another job for her to do. She probably won't show up, but I'm going anyway, just in case she does. And you are my cover, so don't go around telling this to everyone. You carry on with your mission, and I'll tell her that she has to keep me company or something while I guard the entrance to the Haunted Woods, alright?"
"Sounds good! What time do we have to meet her?"
I glanced up at the clock nearby and winced at the time. "Half an hour ago?"
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Before I could protest, he dragged me through a dark corridor to Twilight Town. For once, he actually got us to the right location, and we soon stood outside the Station Plaza, looking around for Raxmi.
"Axel! Is that her?" Demyx asked suddenly, grabbing my arm and pointing at a wall.
My eyes widened as I saw the girl with a tangle of brown hair leaning against the wall, scanning the crowd. So, she showed up after all. She was wearing a pastel green playsuit with white lace embroidered onto it, framing her slim, pale figure and showing off her long legs. When her head turned in my direction, the sun shone on her face, making her clear green eyes sparkle. "That's her," I nodded, smiling slightly. She must've not noticed us, because she pushed herself off the wall and began to walk away.
"Hey! She's leaving!" Demyx exclaimed and yelled out her name loudly. Luckily, the people around us were too preoccupied to notice. Hearing her name, Raxmi looked around in surprise, then mumbled something and started moving again.
"Raxmi, wait up!" I called out. Beside me, Demyx pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket, balled it up, and flung it straight at Raxmi before I knew what was happening. It missed by a mile, just about missing a small group of kids. "Way to go, Demyx," I groaned. At least we'd gotten Raxmi's attention now.
Raxmi's POV
I leaned against the wall outside the Central Station, drumming my fingers anxiously against my leg. Fearing that I'd miss them entirely, I'd arrived in the Station Plaza at the designated time and half an hour had passed, yet they still hadn't made an appearance.
'Maybe they forgot?' Hopefully that wasn't the case. Having been content to people-watch as a means of passing the time by, I decided to wait a little longer. Today, the station was a bit busier than usual; most likely there was a discount for tickets. People bustled back and forth, rushing to catch their train or waving outside to greet a newly-arrived friend. On occasion, some people would spot me and narrow their eyes suspiciously, pulling their kids away and holding their bags closer to their bodies. Feeling slightly hurt after the third time this happened, I ignored them and continued scanning the swarm of people for black coats and the flaming red hair.
Five more minutes ticked by. After a while, I pushed myself off the wall and prepared to leave, my mind clouded with a confusing mixture of relief and disappointment. As dangerous as Axel and Roxas had appeared to be, I had been longing to meet them again, especially Axel. The idea of earning munny had driven my desire for them to keep to their word.
"Raxmi!"
'Huh?' Frowning, I turned around. 'Did someone just say my name?' I looked around the area hopefully, but there was no one paying heed to me. "Imagination," I muttered, and continued walking away in dejection.
"Raxmi, wait up!"
A white object whizzed by my head, narrowly missing a group of small children playing near a tree. "Great going, Demyx," I heard someone groan, and my heart sped up slightly at the sound.
'That voice...'
I spun around and was greeted by the sight of the red-head himself. He was standing next to another male, whose dirty blonde hair was messily fashioned into a mullet. He was dressed in a coat like Axel, except his shoulders were more heavily padded. "Aw, come on, Axel! That was a great throw. If you hadn't moved, it totally would've been a bullseye!" the latter retaliated sulkily.
Axel gave him an unamused look. "Strange. I'd have thought that she'd freeze in place just for you, solely for the purpose of you hitting her perfectly on the head with a ball of paper." Finally, he noticed that they'd caught my attention and halted the banter, grinning at me. "Hey, Raxmi!" he greeted, bringing his hand to his forehead in a two-fingered salute. "Aren't you here early?"
"No, you're late," I corrected him. "Really late."
The sandy-haired boy next to him waved cheerfully at me. "Hiya! I'm Demyx!" he introduced himself. Without warning, he launched himself onto me, encasing me in a glomptastic hug.
The energetic greeting made me laugh brightly, and I hugged him back without reservation. "Hi Demyx!" I said, only remembering seconds later Seifer's warning about trusting new people.
With a roll of the eyes, Axel nodded knowingly. "I had a feeling you two would get along," he praised himself.
Demyx replied to Axel's self-congratulatory comment, but my attention was diverted by a woman who barged right into a little boy and rushed off without sparing a second glance. 'How can she not even apologize?' My heart broke slightly as the little boy began to cry.
"Care to repeat that, Demmy?" Axel challenged Demyx. Apparently, he wasn't pleased by whatever Demyx had declared. He shot him a rigid smile, irritation clear in his startling green eyes.
Demyx jumped nervously and sheepishly released me. "Heh...did I say something? I didn't say anything! It could've been the wind. It's windy today, isn't it? I think it must've been the wind. What do you think, Raxmi?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. It...was...the wind?" I repeated, focusing on our situation once more. I wondered momentarily was he could've said that had made Axel react negatively, but it wasn't that important to me. "So, um...what's your power?" The words felt foreign on my tongue. I mean, how often would you meet someone new and ask them, 'What's your power?'
Demyx gave me a cheeky grin. "I control water!" he answered, a tinge of proudness in his voice. In contrast, Axel scoffed and rolled his eyes again.
"Oh, is that why you don't like each other? Being fire and water?"
"Not true. I like Axel!" Demyx objected, slinging his arm lazily around the fire-wielder.
Axel stared blankly at his arm. "Dude. Get off me," he said.
Demyx sulked and then smiled at me again. "Okay, Axel doesn't like me that much, but I like him."
I hummed in understanding and then looked around. "But where's Roxas?" I asked curiously.
"Vexen's doing experiments on him," Axel said, shuddering.
"Who's Vexen?"
"He is the creepiest man alive," Demyx stated dramatically. "He's number four in the Organization, and a scientist. And he'll give you nightmares for weeks once he's done with you. Even old x-face isn't as bad as him."
"'X-face'?"
"Saix," Axel interjected.
Judging by his lack of reservation in sharing information about the Organization, Demyx had probably been informed by Axel that I already knew about their situation. Either that, or he simply didn't care who knew. I decided it was a combination of the two options. "What does he want with Roxas?" I asked in concern. "If he's that bad, you shouldn't leave Roxas alone with him."
Axel chuckled at my worried reaction. "Don't worry about it, Raxmi, Roxas can take care of himself." We began walking as he explained a little more about Roxas's special weapon, the Keyblade, and how Vexen sees him as 'prime study material' because of this. Demyx had wandered ahead while we talked, and Axel groaned in annoyance when he eventually realized that he'd left. "Demyx! Don't just leave like that!" he said, catching up to him and yanking him by the hood.
"What? You guys were just talking."
He sighed and shook his head. Now we had arrived in the Sandlot, which was much more quiet than the Station Plaza. "Anyway, are you still up to earning more munny, Raxmi?"
"Sure!" I said cheerfully. I didn't really have a choice, since that was the only way I could keep an eye on him without looking like a complete stalker. But I had to admit, it was nice to spend time with him. Aside from the potential to kill me, Axel was amusing and interesting to talk to.
"Okay, it's really simple -"
"You said that last time, and I got attacked by Heartless," I pointed out.
Demyx's jaw dropped at my words. "What?! Axel! You let her get attacked by Heartless? I thought you said -"
Axel shoved Demyx away. "Don't worry, babe, I won't let you get hurt this time," he winked, earning a deadpan expression from me in response. "When Roxas and I were leaving the woods yesterday, some kids your age were about to go in there to do I dunno, whatever kids do. They chickened out and never went in, but something like that can't happen again. So this time, Demyx is going into the Haunted Woods to do some more recon, while you and I guard the hole so that no one will go in and accidentally get killed. Like I said, it's simple. I'll give you four thousand munny this time."
I pondered his description for a moment. The kids he'd mentioned were probably Hayner's gang, since Seifer's gang had no qualms about going into the woods and no one else was brave enough to try. But why would they want to go to the Haunted Woods? 'Oh, perhaps they wanted to see the Mansion,' I realized. Seifer had told me a few days ago that in Social Studies they'd studied the Seven Wonders of Twilight Town, and there was some sort of legend attached to the Mansion, the seventh wonder. Hayner's gang must've wanted to see for themselves. "If it's so simple, why do you need me?" I asked.
"That's exactly what I'd said," Demyx agreed, yawning a little.
"What can I say? It gets lonely, just sitting there by myself, waiting for people to chase away. Might as well have pleasant company to keep me occupied," Axel said, grinning at me.
Blushing, I said, "So you're going to pay me just for keeping you company? It that really all?"
He raised his hands in the air. "Hey, I'm serious. You won't have to do a thing, just entertain me. Would you rather help Demyx fight off Heartless instead?"
"Well, not really..."
"Great! C'mon, mashbrain, let's move," he addressed Demyx, whacking him upside the head.
"'Mashbrain'? What does that mean?" Demyx asked me as we started walking.
"It means...um...it means you have awesome hair!" I answered with a smile, not wanting to hurt his feelings. Axel laughed and turned it into a cough.
Demyx narrowed his eyes, seeing through my cover-up, but then grinned mischievously. "Really? Thanks, Axel, you're a mashbrain too!"
* * *
Demyx had gone into the Haunted woods a few minutes ago, looking happy to do recon. Axel explained that it was the only work he was good at, and thus the only work he enjoyed. Now the two of us were seated on the ground in the woods at the entrance, with me on the left side of the hole and him on the right. I still had my suspicions about this particular job. I mean, he doesn't really need my company, does he? Or maybe he just wants to spend time with me. 'Don't be silly, Raxmi,' I thought, 'Why would he want to spend time with you? There must be some other rational explanation.'
"Hey, how old are you, Raxmi? Sixteen?" Axel asked me.
I shook my head. "Seventeen. How old are you?"
"Twenty-one," he said casually, putting his hands behind his head and leaning back. That confirmed my initial guess of early twenties when we first met. "So that means you're still in high school, right?"
"I don't go to school..."
"Why not?"
"Can't afford it," I mumbled, blushing in embarrassment.
"Oh..." he trailed off, seeming unsure of how to respond.
"But Seifer usually lets me help with his homework and explains stuff to me, so I'm still learning most subjects. Do you know who he is?"
He thought for a moment and then his eyes widened in surprise. "You mean that show-off who thinks he runs the town?" he said. "I never thought that kid would help someone out like that!"
My eyes narrowed at his assumption. "He's my best friend," I replied.
Axel raised an eyebrow. "Really, now? You should hang out with a better crowd then," he commented. "He seems like bad news."
How could he say that? He didn't even know Seifer well enough to make a conclusion about his friendship with me. I was beginning to like Axel, but there's no way he could say that about my best friend. "He might seem like that to you, but we've been friends for years!" I said, crossing my arms. "He's been like a brother to me and he's protected me from everyone who's tried to hurt me. You've got no right to say that he's bad news."
He raised his hands in the air, surprised at my sudden fierceness. "Okay, I'm sorry," he said hastily. "I shouldn't have judged him like that, I guess. I've heard he helps with keeping g the town safe or something, so I suppose he's not that bad. Still seems like a bit of an asshole, though."
I calmed down, feeling guilty about lashing out at him like that. "Sorry, I shouldn't have yelled at you," I sighed. I didn't bother with his last comment about Seifer - there was no denying that he could be a dick.
"Nah, don't apologize," he brushed it off. "I didn't realize he meant that much to you." An awkward silence followed. "Is he...your boyfriend?" he asked eventually.
"Ugh! No!" I made a face. "I could never like Seifer that way!"
He chuckled at my reaction and was about to say something else, but a commotion on the other side of the entrance interrupted the conversation. I poked my head through the wall to see what was going on. Hayner, Pence, and Olette were outside, conversing loudly, making their way to the entrance.
'Oh, not them again,' I thought with dread.
Third Person POV
"And that is all he said?" Xemnas asked. Xigbar and Saix were seating in their thrones, having raised them close to his level, in the Round Room. They were sharing some startling information about their eighth member's plans for the day.
"That's everything," Xigbar confirmed, then let out a brazen laugh. "Man, I thought Axel would know by now not to blather away straight out in the open! He should've guessed I'd be listening in."
Saix nodded in agreement and drummed his fingers on the arm of his throne. "I knew he wouldn't have voluntarily offered to go on a mission with Demyx, especially on his day off," he added.
Xemnas exhaled slowly, pondering the matter. "This could indeed be very troublesome. From what you have overhead, Xigbar, Axel has not only exposed a civilian to Heartless but also shared with her knowledge of us Nobodies."
"The what shall we do, Superior?" Saix questioned.
"I say we kick Axel's ass," Xigbar grinned sadistically.
Ignoring, his right-hand man's suggestion, Xemnas answered Saix's question. "This is a delicate matter. Come back later, and we will discuss it then."