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re_alignment2013-11-08 08:38 pm
nobody_number_8) wrote in re_alignment2013-11-08 08:38 pm
Entry tags:
Number I : The First Day [video]
[Axel wasn't sure what had surprised him more upon first opening his eyes; the fact the he wasn't looking up at Sora's sad-eyed, spikey-haired face silouetted against the backdrop of swirling colors that made up the scenery of Betwixt and Between, or the fact that he was still around to be looking at anything at all. He'd already been fading after that last attack, and he'd used the last of his energy to open the portal to The World That Never Was for Sora. He should be gone, faded back into the Nothingness that had formed him.
Instead, he was laying on something heard, looking up at a dark, metal ceiling and a... robot? What the hell?
The robot (who he noticed seemed sort of out of it, though who knew, maybe that was just how robots were) gave him a basic explanation of his situation and showed him to his room. A room that was obviously meant for robots, or at least beings, of a similar scale to the robot itself. Which left Axel in a bit of a predicament.
It took a bit of fiddling, but eventually he got the small communications device he'd been given to work. So hey there, Haven. Have an unfamiliar face bearing two small, purple, reverse-teardrop-shaped markings on it and framed by very spiky red hair.]
...There, think that's got it. Anyway, hey there. The name's Axel. Got it memorized?
Was just wondering... is there any place around here where a guy could get an actual human-sized bed? Or just a mattress? Or even just a sleeping bag or a hammock or something? Cause you know, nice as it is to get a free room, giant metal beds that I can't actually reach without teleporting or climbing really aren't my thing.
Instead, he was laying on something heard, looking up at a dark, metal ceiling and a... robot? What the hell?
The robot (who he noticed seemed sort of out of it, though who knew, maybe that was just how robots were) gave him a basic explanation of his situation and showed him to his room. A room that was obviously meant for robots, or at least beings, of a similar scale to the robot itself. Which left Axel in a bit of a predicament.
It took a bit of fiddling, but eventually he got the small communications device he'd been given to work. So hey there, Haven. Have an unfamiliar face bearing two small, purple, reverse-teardrop-shaped markings on it and framed by very spiky red hair.]
...There, think that's got it. Anyway, hey there. The name's Axel. Got it memorized?
Was just wondering... is there any place around here where a guy could get an actual human-sized bed? Or just a mattress? Or even just a sleeping bag or a hammock or something? Cause you know, nice as it is to get a free room, giant metal beds that I can't actually reach without teleporting or climbing really aren't my thing.
no subject
The Organization sounded like a poisonous place to be, but even if his friend had had a part in it, Ventus is glad that it hasn't completely changed Axel or what he knows of Lea. Still, he doesn't like this business about trying to use someone for their own gain, Nobody or not. With all those things going on, he can't say he's surprised that Roxas had left, once Axel says as much.]
Who wouldn't want answers? Even if you weren't completely aware of what was going on around you, something would tip you off. You'd be curious too, wouldn't you?
[He's almost surprised at his own words, but he realizes why they'd come out so easily. It's the same that he'd felt after he'd left the Land of Departure. Everyone kept telling him to go back home, but what good could he do there?
Shaking his head, he tries to reel the conversation back in again. Even if it hadn't been his personal experience, it doesn't make it any easier to hear Axel's story. Besides, he had said that he'd started to feel again. Wouldn't that affect him all the more, everything that was going on?
And then to be given the task of either bringing a friend back or getting rid of them?]
....and...did you find Roxas?
no subject
Yeah. It seems kinda obvious now, how much of a dumb idea it was, trying to keep him there like that. But you know what they say about hindsight being 20-20. I can't really say that it seemed like a good idea at the time, cause it didn't, but... I just didn't have any better ones.
If I'm being honest, at that point, it was still a lot more about me than him. I wanted him to be safe and with me, regardless of what he wanted, which just ended up being what drove him away in the end.
...If I'd been smarter, I'd have probly gone with him. Or done... something. I dunno. Just anything other than stand there and watch him walk away, knowing what it would mean.
[Not that Axel was really sure even now if that would have changed anything. But he couldn't help but wonder, couldn't help but replay the scenario and those that followed it in his mind. Had it already been too late at that point? Could he have changed anything, if he'd just figured things out a little sooner? Would Roxas still be around, if his actions had been different?
He'd probably never know.]
But yeah, I found him. Turns out he'd been captured by a guy named DiZ, who'd taken charge of Namine, along with Sora and his friends, who were still asleep. DiZ had stuck Roxas in a simulation of Twilight Town, and Namine had altered his memories so he'd think the town was real, and that he'd always lived there.
So when I found Roxas the first time, he didn't remember me at all. I knew DiZ was onto me, so there really wasn't time to try and explain. I planned to knock Roxas out, take him back with me, then explain once we had time. But knocking Roxas out is... easier said than done, and I was trying not to hurt him too much.
We fought for a bit, then DiZ himself showed up, trying to tell Roxas that I was lying, to keep him in the simulation. I think the two of us at once was too much, and Roxas kinda freaked out. The simulation glitched, and I was kicked out.
The next time I made it back in, Roxas seemed to remember me. He knew my name, and the fact that we were best friends. But no dice. He must've gotten a little bit of information from somewhere- my guess is Namine, though I could be wrong- but he didn't really remember anything. Not yet, anyway.
DiZ froze the simulation, and me along with it, just as I was about to try the direct approach again, and by the time I could move again, Roxas was gone. At that point, I knew that the Roxas I knew was long gone. And that I couldn't afford to pull my punches any more.
By the time I caught up with Roxas again, it was almost too late. See, because Roxas was Sora's Nobody, some of Sora's memories got stuck in him. That's why DiZ and Namine needed him; without Roxas, Sora would never be able to wake up. But for that to happen, it meant that he had to merge with Sora and become part of him again. He wouldn't exist as Roxas any more.
I caught up with him just outside the chamber where Sora was sleeping in the simulated Twilight Town. I knew it was my last shot. I knew that if he walked through that door, I'd never see him again. And I couldn't let that happen.
By that point he really remembered me and everything else... but he was also ready to become part of Sora again, even if I don't think he really wanted to. And I couldn't let him do that. So I fought him with everything I had. It wasn't enough, though. Somehow, he had two keyblades, and was stronger than I'd ever seen him. He handed me my ass thoroughly enough that I didn't have the energy to stay in the simulation any more.
...That's the last I saw of him. We... sort of said goodbye before I faded out of the simulation, and weirdly enough we parted on better terms then than when he'd left the Organization. But still, I never saw him again after that.
Though not for lack of trying...
no subject
He's not sure how he should feel about Roxas' fate. After all, he was a part of someone, but then he'd been given a life of his own, so to speak, only to be pulled back. Was it fair? Did it make a difference? What about all of his experiences? His friends?]
...I'm sorry.
[It's all that he can think of to say, but he looks across the table at Axel, sincerely wishing that things could have gone differently for them- although at what point would that even have to start?]
no subject
Maybe they'd been doomed from the start. Nothing lasted forever, after all. Least of all a couple Nobodies.
The story wasn't quite over yet, though...]
...So am I. About a lot of things. Though most of them lead back to me being an idiot in one form or another. The last bit.
After I lost Roxas, I was determined to get him back. The fact that that meant Sora would have to become a Heartless again didn't matter to me at the time. I wanted my friend back, and damn the consequences for anyone else.
Of course, this meant that I was doing the one thing I'd always told myself I wouldn't do and openly set myself against the Organization. With Roxas gone, their plans required Sora to be in one piece and destroying Heartless with his Keyblade. So I was on my own, and on the run, though I think part of me was banking on me retrieving Roxas to buy my safety at the end of it all.
I knew I had to lure Sora out into the open if I wanted to turn him into a Heartless again, so I kidnapped Kairi, the girl he loved. I wasn't gonna hurt her or anything; she was just bait to get Sora to come to me. But she got away from me, and Siax caught her. He locked her in the dungeon of the Castle That Never Was, and used her to drive Sora on and further the Organizations plans.
... It was a really dumb plan from the get go. Shoulda known by that point that trying to make big plans on my own would backfire one me. Once I lost track of Kairi, I wasn't entirely sure of what to do. I wound up confronting Sora, letting him in on the fact that the Organization was using him, though I didn't explain everything. I was even gonna explain about what happened with Kairi, and started to apologize, but then Siax showed up and I had to beat it.
After that Iholed up for a little while, did some serious thinking that I probably should've done long before that. And I finally figured a few things out. About Roxas, Sora, and myself.
I realized that Roxas was better off with Sora than with me, and that ultimately, that was where he belonged. And I realized that that mattered more than the fact that I missed him and wanted him back. And realizing that there was something more important than what I wanted, suddenly made a lot of other things clearer too. After that, I knew what I had to do.
I found Sora and his friends in Betwixt and Between, halfway between the Realm of Light and the World That Never Was, on his way to rescue Kairi and bring down the Organization. They were surrounded by Dusks - low level Nobodies that made up the bulk of the Organization's forces- and the odds were against them. They might've been able to beat them back eventually, but the longer you stay in Betwixt and Between, the harder it is to find your way out again. I knew they'd never make it to the World That Never Was. At least, not without help.
Which is where I stepped in. I was planning to keep the Dusks busy while they got through. Course, given that the Organization had it in for me by then too, and the fact that I was already exhausted from being on the run, I had no illusions about how that would ultimately end for me, but... it was something I had to do.
Sora distracted me, asked me why I was doing it; I told him to just forget it and get going, but the distraction was enough that a couple Dusk were able to jump me. Sora beat them off, and asked me if I was OK. I explained what had happened with Kairi, and told him to go save her. The Dusks had other plans, though, and we wound up fighting them off together.
Or trying to, at least. But there were too many of them. We swatted one, two more popped up in its place. Sora was OK, but I was just about at the end of my rope. No matter what happened, I knew I wasn't gonna walk away from that one. But somehow, that didn't matter; I'd known, deep down, that I was a dead man walking the moment I turned on the Organization. At least this way I'd be going out on my own terms, and doing something right for a change.
I told Sora I'd handle it, and then... I put everything I had into one last attack, a huge explosion that wiped out every single Dusk, but left Sora and his friends unharmed. Even for a fire magic expert like me, an attack like that is hard to pull off at the best of times. Drained as I was already, it finished me, just like I knew it would.
Was worth it, though. Sora knelt down beside me while I was fading away, looking at me with that sad little spikey-haired face of his. I explained what was happening, and apologized for what I did to Kairi, asking Sora to pass my apology along to her. Kid actually tried to tell me that I'd get the chance to say tell her myself, but I knew better.
Then he asked me why I did it. And I told him about Roxas, and about how he'd made me feel like I had a heart. I almost told him that he made me feel the same way... but I couldn't quite do it. I told him again to go save Kairi, and used the last of my energy to open a portal for him to the World That Never Was, and was about to fade away completely...
...And then the next thing I knew, I was waking up here in Megatronus' Temple.
Whatever brought me here seems to have revived me to the point before I opted to, shall we say, go out with a bang, so needless to say, I'm a lot less dead than I expected to be. And you pretty much know the rest.
[Of course this left wide open the question of just what in the hell he was going to do now? What amounted to a suicide mission didn't leave a whole lot of room for future plans. But Axel found that he just didn't have the energy to deal with that at the moment. He'd have to figure it out eventually, but for now, sitting here with Ven was enough.]
no subject
...must have been really confusing to wake up here after all that. It was confusing enough waking up without going through that, though.
But you're here now, and that you're not dead is definitely a plus, right?
[A faint smile tries to make its way back on his face.]
no subject
Not this time.]
Yeah... Waking up on an alter is sort of creepy no matter how you slice it. And that's before you even get to the whole 'giant robots' thing.
[The corner's of Axel's mouth quirk back up slightly as well.]
Yeah. Not being dead's definitely a plus. And the company's much nicer than the last time, too.
no subject
Yeah, I'll say...
[And with those following words from Axel, it's not hard to keep that smile in place.]
no subject
Axel goes to take a bit of his soup... and realizes that while he'd been talking, it had gotten cold.]
Damn... must've been talking longer than I thought...
[He places one hand on the side off the bowel and focuses for a moment, stopping when steam begins to rise from the bowl again. He holds out a hand toward Ven.]
Here... I'll warm yours back up too. And while I'm doing that, you can maybe tell me a bit about what's been going on with you. I mean, chances are, it's not as crazy as what happened to me, but I'd still like to hear it.
no subject
Thanks. Um... Well, no, I guess things have been kind of quiet by comparison. I probably wouldn't even have been in Radiant Garden if I hadn't decided to try following my friend Terra. He and Aqua had just taken the test for the Mark of Mastery so they could become Keyblade Masters. Only Aqua passed, though...
There was this...weird boy wearing a helmet so you couldn't see his face. I don't know where he came from, but I didn't like what he told me about Terra. He didn't stay long enough for me to ask a whole lot, but I don't think he would've answered even if he had. But I got worried about Terra, so I went to find him.
[He traces the circular shape on his shoulder guard with a finger.]
He was leaving the Land of Departure, but I don't know why. I decided to follow him. It was the first time I'd ever left, the first time I'd ever gone to other worlds.
...I always ended up just missing him, or I'd get caught up with something else. I'm not going to complain too much about that, though. I got to meet and help out a lot of people. But it wasn't until I met Maleficent that I really got worried about things. She said that Terra had been the one to take Aurora's heart, but I won't believe that. He would never do such a thing!
I still hadn't found him though, but I ran into Aqua, and she wanted me to go back home. I guess Master Eraqus sent her to find me...
no subject
Most of it is news to him, unsurprising really, given that he'd been just a kid at the time, but if Ven's friends had been in Radiant Garden too, it's possible he could have run into them without knowing it.
Malificent, though, that's a name he knows...]
Malificent, huh? Even odds as to whether or not she was lying about your friend. And even if she wasn't, she's definitely the type to leave out any extenuating circumstances if it meant causing trouble. She's good at twisting the truth to manipulate people; I know she played Sora's friend Riku like a harp.
...She wound up taking over Radiant Garden not long after Isa and I lost our Hearts, too. She had enough power to control the Heartless, which meant that the original Organization members' experiments came back to bite them in the ass. They basically handed her a ready-made army, and she used it to overrun the place and turn it into her HQ. The survivors made it to a place called Traverse Town which is a... really odd world in the Realm Between.
Somewhere along the line Radiant Garden got renamed as Hollow Bastion too, though nobody knows exactly when. Kinda fit the place's new look.
[Damn, he was gonna try and stop being so depressing, wasn't he? Quick, change the subject!
... What do your friends Terra and Aqua look like anyway? Even if I didn't actually meet them while they were in Radiant Garden, it's possible I might've seen them around.
no subject
...she did what? Oh no...
[Would it have turned out differently if they'd done something then? Thinking about it, the boy isn't sure what happened with Maleficent after he'd... He left. He'd run off, and left Aqua with her. Should he have done that? He'd been upset at the time, but...
Ventus shakes his head.]
We weren't really sure what she was capable of. I fought her after I'd released Aurora's heart from where she was keeping it, but then that was it. I don't even know what happened with Aqua, but she seemed all right when I saw her back in Radiant Garden.
[He falls silent for a moment to try concentrating on his soup before it goes cold again.]
Well, Terra's a little taller than you, and his hair's brown and goes up to here- a little spiky on the top, kinda swept back.
[Ventus gestures as he speaks, thinking about his two friends.]
And Aqua, she's got blue hair, and she's about this much taller than me.
no subject
Well, that and... Xemnas would go there alone sometimes, and go into another, smaller hidden room there; it was usually locked tight, and nobody else knew how to open it. A couple times people followed him, and lurked around outside the door, and it sounded like he was talking to somebody he called a friend, even though we were all sure there wasn't anybody else in the room. Was kinda creepy, to be honest. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if Xemnas was a little crazy, but still...
[The description of Terra doesn't really ring a bell. Aqua's however, stirs a faint memory...]
Hmmm... Did Aqua have short hair and an outfit that included armored boots, a black corset, and detached sleeves?
no subject
[Just how powerful was that fairy anyway? It makes Ventus wonder why he'd been able to just leave her castle as he had.
His soup is finally disappearing little by little, but the boy's still all ears as Axel continues. He arches his brow a bit, wondering what this Xemnas could have been hiding, but he supposes they'll never know, especially now that he and Axel were here.
When his friend does give a matching description to Aqua, Ventus lifts his head.]
Yeah! That's her- have you met her, then?
no subject
Among other things, yeah. Though she recruited some help from other worlds for her later exploits, so later on it wasn't all her. Still, I wouldn't underestimate her if you ever run into her again.
[As for Aqua, though, Axel shakes his head.]
Nah, not really. That is, I didn't talk to her or anything. I did see her though, going into Merlin's place. She caught our eye 'cause of how unusual her outfit was, but Merlin tended to get some weird visitors sometimes, so we didn't think too much of it. That was oh... about an hour, maybe, before we ran into you.
[Axel shrugs.]
Not sure if that's helpful at all, though.
no subject
[He nods, wondering if he'd ever see the Black Fairy again, especially considering their current circumstances. Of course, there's always the possibility that she could be brought here, he thinks. Hopefully that never occurs...]
-oh. I see. I guess it wasn't long before I finally met up with her and Terra. We found a giant Unversed and managed to defeat it together. ...but then after that was when we parted ways again.
no subject
You happen to run into Merlin while you were there?
no subject
[It's not too difficult to think back to his time in Radiant Garden, considerably less of a gap to cross than Axel, at any rate.
He absently stirs the remaining bit of his soup as he goes on about his experience with the odd old wizard, but just talking about familiar things like this with someone he knows... It's a warming feeling.]