1 --> Arrival

[croceamors]

Who: Saix and anyone
Where: The Plaza
When: The middle of the night
Status: Open
Style: I'll match

He'd been in the process of dying. Saix knows that much.

His mind doesn't usually fool him, not in that sort of way at the very least. Everything had been too vivid to be some sort of- dream. He had been fighting the Keyblade Wielder. He had failed. He'd been on his knees, wondering how everything had gone so wrong... And now he's here. His brain just can't understand it.

Then again, that might be because of the blood loss.

Anyone passing through at this bizarre time of night who catches sight of him should be able see the signs. Even seated on the edge of the fountain like he is, shoulders hunched, it's clear he's trembling just slightly. His skin is far too pale, and his breathing is just a bit too quick. Even if he wasn't covered in salt water, his skin would be clammy. There's also the fact that strange shadowy wisps seem to be slipping from his body. They're very faint, however, nowhere as severe as they had been before he had been brought here. A slight relief. He doesn't even seem aware of the black little SFC or the shirt it's settled on besides him.

He'd seem a lot more vulnerable if not for the enormous claymore balanced between his legs, handle leaning against his thigh and the blade against the pavement. It takes a lot of strength to wield something like that...

Approach and hope for the best, or steer clear?

Comments

[coolerthansora]

Roxas usually isn't out this late, but every now and then he has trouble sleeping. Not too long ago, he might have considered sneaking into Axel's room, but that's definitely not an option now.

When he spots the figure by the fountain, he almost doesn't believe it's real. He forgot it was getting this late in the month, and at first he thinks it has something to do with Vatheon's curses, except everyone already knows what the curse is this week, and it has nothing to do with seeing things that aren't there.

Of all the people to show up... At least it isn't Xemnas.

He just stands there for a long moment, debating whether to approach or to ignore him. He never liked Saix, and to the other, he's a traitor. But they were allies once, and finally the trembling and the other signs get him to walk closer, though he stays well out of range of the claymore.

"...you're fading."

[croceamors]

Staying out of Claymore range is quite a good idea, because something in Saix seems to be on autopilot for now. At the sound of that traitor's voice, the grip on Lunatic tightens and he suddenly swings it out around him just in case. Weak, but still enough energy in him to try to kill the first person who approaches him.

In his defense, from his point of view, that very same person in a way was just fighting against him.

Once his vision clears and he realizes that Roxas is not nearly close enough to be skewered, Saix forces his body up onto his feet. The claymore is dug into the ground to keep him steady. He doesn't want to seem weak, after all, even if it's a bit impossible not to right now.

"Yes." His eyes narrow at the other Nobody. "You should know."

[coolerthansora]

Roxas takes another few steps back at the swing, but aside from narrowing his eyes right back, he doesn't make any threatening motions.

Fading wasn't like this for him, of course, but he does know. He watched it happen to Axel.

What would Axel think of Saix being here? Back in the Organization, he didn't seem to like Saix any more than the rest of them did, and yet, didn't their Others used to be friends?

"You don't- have to, you know. Not here."

[croceamors]

What a strange statement to make. Saix isn't sure what to make of it, jaw set as he watches Roxas carefully. It's far too vague. He isn't in the mood to be guessing.

"I don't have to what."

[coolerthansora]

Saix must not be following this conversation very well since he's dying and all.

"Fade away." He shifts uncomfortably and glances towards the coral. "You can get healed."

[croceamors]

Yes, that does tend to put a damper on one's ability to think through conversations.

"I doubt you are offering." Still, he manages to follow that gaze a moment later. A little belated, but it happens. The connection sparks in his head a little after that. "What does it do?" There's also the question of 'why do you care', but he doesn't ask that just yet.

[coolerthansora]

Roxas hesitates again before answering, because does he really want to do this? But then, it's not like anyone can really die here. If he doesn't, the coral will probably just bring Saix back anyway, and they'll still have to deal with him. Maybe he'll take this for a peace offering.

"It'll heal you if you touch it. I- hear it takes a lot out of you, but you'll be all right."

[croceamors]

There's a healthy dose of suspicion at how helpful Roxas is being. However, he's too numb and tired to really 'care'. How can the situation get any worse? Kingdom Hearts may as well be done for. He's in no state to fight either way, careless swings with Lunatic not withstanding.

There's nothing left to lose.

That last thought might be the one that finally gets him to drag himself over to the coral, taking a deep breath to steady his hand before he presses his palm firmly down. The feeling is bizarre, and it turns out that Roxas really is telling the truth. There's that faint feeling of being drained, but, at the same time, losing the feelings of pain that had been spread all throughout his body. As the seconds pass, the tendrils of darkness begin to fade away completely.

He's not on the verge of fading away, at least, but Saix can tell he's still not stable enough to go toe to toe with Roxas yet. Especially not after his last battle with a keyblade wielder, his 'Other'. Still, he keeps Lunatic out just in case and flexes the fingers in his other hand. His gaze is still focused on Roxas, however.

Since the boy is feeling so generous, he may as well take advantage of that. "Where am I?"

[coolerthansora]

Watching Saix recover from the brink of death, he doesn't exactly feel any relief. He's still wondering if he should have just left him, and he keeps a wary distance, in case Saix decides he's feeling up to a fight now.

"It's called Vatheon," he answers, but he's not feeling so generous as to offer up the whole spiel newcomers usually need about the place. "The Welcoming Committee can tell you all about it. But- you should know there's no Organization here. No Heartless, no Kingdom Hearts. Whatever you guys were after, you're not gonna find it here."

He wonders if Saix even knows how to do anything else that's not following that plan. It's hard to imagine him trying to lead any other kind of life.

[runbysmiles]

Strange time of night indeed. Sora should be asleep, but there's just too many thoughts spinning around in his head. He heads out for a walk, miraculously managing not to wake the many pets that are living with he and solely Kairi now.

No that wasn't a good train of thought to take.

Sora let out a sigh and raised his hands up to place behind his head as he stared up and out of the top of the bubble into the dark sea. What if it was his fault?

He sighed again and tried to ignore the thoughts spinning in his head, and as he walked by the fountain a rather unexpected surprise gave him that out.

"Y-you!" Sora cried out and lowered his arms quickly, ready to summon the keyblade in case he was attacked.

[croceamors]

That. He knows that voice.

Saix's body is in no honest condition to keep fighting, but his mind is on autopilot now and thus ignores the protests in his muscles down to his very bones. He just lurches upright, claymore screeching along the ground as he swings it about. That fact that he still has strength to swing that around might very well be intimidating.

Unfortunately, the way his body uncertainly sways nulls that little factor. Saix is nothing if not determined, however, eyes narrowed at the keyblade wielder. Nobodies are notoriously stubborn. He.. might not be able to properly start this fight, unless Sora gets within Claymore Swinging Range, but he'll certainly do his best to finish it.

...'It' being, likely, his death at this point, whoops.

[runbysmiles]

In a flash of light the Keyblade is in Sora's hands. He doesn't move to attack just yet though he does jump further out of range just to be on the safe side.

"What are you doing here!" Sora yelled out to Saix though really he should know the answer to that. The dripping clothes and the proximity to the Coral should have given him that answer. It wasn't as if anyone could decide when they would end up in Vatheon it just happened.

[croceamors]

If anything, the sight of the Keyblade just makes Saix tense up more, gripping Lunatic so tightly that it's painful. "Fighting you," he grits out, although it's technically not true. But it is the last thing he can really remember doing and in his state, it's the best answer his fuzzy mind can provide.

[runbysmiles]

"Do we really have to do this again?" Sora shouted back. "Come on! Wasn't once enough?

You look dead on your feet, can't we leave this for another time?"

Not that it was going to stop Sora if Saix attacked him. He wondered if it wasn't too late to try and call Roxas or Axel to try and help him out. He didn't doubt that he could fight Saix, but having back up would be nice.

[croceamors]

Again? Saix's mind takes the word but doesn't quite accept it, doesn't understand it. This isn't a new battle after all, is it? This is a continuation of something still happening. They're just in another place for some reason. He'll figure it out later, if he can survive.

"You're the one... who approached."

[runbysmiles]

"Yeah, because I was going for a walk!" Sora snapped a little. The world didn't revolve around Saix though the blue-haired male may have thought it did at the moment.

"You surprised me!" And Sora was no idiot. He wasn't just going to approach off his guard.

"Take a look around, you're not in the castle anymore!"

[croceamors]

"That doesn't mean anything."

After so many visits to other worlds, being in a place suddenly with no other warning isn't that strange. The why and how aren't important right now. His mind is only capable of focusing on one thing at a time, and right now, survival tops that list.

[flared]

It's not very often Axel goes out when he's having trouble sleeping, but in this case his body just won't let him stay still. He can't just read a book or stare at his ceiling tonight and expect sleep to come to him like it usually would; no, he's too restless for that for reasons he doesn't exactly want to think about. So later in the evening with his Organization coat just pulled over a pair of sweatpants, he sets out into the dome and just... wanders, though not too far from the apartment. He and Roxas might need their space lately, but he doesn't want to stray too far all the same.

Turning a corner, he heads into the plaza, hands shoved in his pockets and eyes focused downward, but then... he catches a scent. First it's Darkness--cold and like ash. It's a scent he distinctly remembers from Zexion's death, Vexen's assassination... and his own time lying in Betwixt and Between awaiting his own slow descent into nothingness. But where is it coming from and why? At first he thinks it might have something to do with the current curse, but, no. That doesn't make any sense, does it?

That's when the second scent reaches him and Axel stops dead in his tracks.

... It can't. Can it?

Staring at the ground, he's almost too petrified to look. Ok. He can still think straight, so he's probably not sleep walking or dreaming. And he can still see, feel, know where he is-- But is any of it real? Slowly Axel glances up and what he sees makes him tense.

Silent, Axel just stares, still unable to move much if only because he doesn't know what Saix might do. Judging from his appearance, he may not look strong enough for a fight, but he is as mysterious as the element he controls; Axel needs to stay on his guard.

[croceamors]

It's a testament to Axel's "not being recently dead" status that he notices something so subtle as Saix's scent right away. Saix, obviously, is not so alert as he normally would be.

Axel may as well be a ghost for all the attention Saix pays him for a good few minutes. The Berserker is still trying to get his eyesight to focus, watching the cobblestone beneath his feet swim. He's still trying to understand- everything, but the thoughts just can't connect in his mind. It's a miracle he understands that he's sitting on the edge of something, really.

The thoughts just... keep wavering and changing from one thing to another. How could everything fall apart in just little over a year? Why wasn't he strong enough to beat back one little upstart child? Had Axel felt as much regret when he was fading? Why was he so wet?

Throughout this twisted thought process, his head would occasionally nod forward and his eyes would slip shut. Suddenly, however, his hand would spasm and tighten its grip around his claymore and he would unsteadily jerk back upright, determined to stay conscious- an old habit of Isa's, back when the worst he had to focus on was doing an all nighter on homework that he hadn't done because Lea had been convincing him to do other things.

It's during one of those little actions that he catches a glimpse of something bright and red. Even as he is, there's no way he can't realize who it is. He wishes he could forget, but he can't no matter what he does. Those hazy gold eyes focus on Axel, and he seems to manage to stop swaying for a moment.

"Axel." The next words drag sluggishly through his mind, and it takes a second for him to speak his next words. "I'm dead then."

That explains it, doesn't it? Because Axel's dead. The Dusks told him that much. He hadn't thought there would be an afterlife for Nobodies, or that being dead would hurt so much, but he supposes there's always a chance to learn something.

[flared]

He looks like a mess. Aside from the sea water, there's blood and Darkness all over his body, telling Axel he's probably been in some kind of fight before arriving. Initially he thinks of Sora and what part he'd played in making sure that kid made it all the way to The World That Never Was to save Kairi. Maybe that's it. Is he from then? There's really only so many people in all the Worlds which can do this to Saix, after all; he's... too powerful.

Though he's staying put, there's a part of him which wants to do anything but. It's not the restlessness, but something else, someone else, wanting to push him forward so he can make the sight go away. Whether that means helping him or not, Axel can't decide. He shouldn't. He has... no reason to. And yet seeing him nearly blacking out, just barely conscious, reminds him too much of then. It's hard to disregard that side of him.

Axel snaps out of his train of thought when he hears his name and it's then he realizes he really can't be dreaming. That voice is too real.

It takes him a while, but with a shake of his head he responds, his voice low. "No. You're not." Is that really the right thing to say? "... Not yet." Saix still has Lunatic out, so Axel keeps a safe distance away regardless. He won't come closer. He has no reason to, he has no reason to.

[croceamors]

That's almost a shame. Saix nearly doesn't want to keep going. Kingdom Hearts failed him. All his plans amounted to nothing. What is he supposed to do now?

Keep going, he supposes.

"In the next five minutes, then." It isn't even snarky banter. That's not him. (Anymore.) It's just a simple statement of fact. Saix isn't even sure how he's alive right now, his wounds seemed so much worse not too long ago... Well, he knows where he's obviously not getting help. Axel already made his allegiances clear when he left the Organization. When he sacrificed his own existence for a child that could barely be called that 'friend' he so valued.

Saix won't expect such a traitor to help him, and he ignores the miniscule part of him which protests and says that should hurt him more.

So he forces himself up onto unsteady and tired feet, demands that his legs move for him. It's a pathetic sight, driven by stubbornness, as he starts to practically limp and drag himself in the opposite direction from Axel. Despite how much lighter he could be without it, Saix keeps Lunatic out, dragging along the ground.

[flared]

In the next– What is he talking about? Axel frowns at that and while it would be customary for them to engage in a little banter, he doesn't. Instead he watches, silent, and waits a little while longer to see what Saix might do. Their lives are different now, after all. There's no room for that. No time or reason for it to exist. Or so he's been led to believe.

He's not too lost in thought this time to not notice when Saïx suddenly moves and with his claymore dragging along on the ground he doesn't look any better than before. If anything, he looks worse, because now Axel can actually see the burden on his body, especially with the weight of Lunatic tugging him down. Axel glances off to the side. He should really just let him go. He'll pass out eventually, then maybe the coral will be nice enough to patch up his wounds. ... But can he trust it? Shocked by his own question, Axel shakes his head. No. No, he won't let himself get tangled up in this. They're done. They've changed.

They aren't who they used to be.

... So why does he still speak? "You forgot this," he calls out as he motions over to the SFC left on the fountain's edge. "... You're gonna need it while you're here."

[croceamors]

There's a pause as he debates on turning around; Axel is very good at trickery after all. Saix never thought it would be used against him, but he also never thought Axel would betray him. There's a first for everything. This might just be a way to make the gap between them larger.

But, a part of his mind not preoccupied with paranoia and blood loss pointed out, if he wanted to kill him then he could just do so. Axel's quick and fond of solving certain problems with fire. There's no need to mess around with he's already ringing death's doorbell.

So he finally turns around, eyes landing on the SFC and the little sweater it's on. "Why."

[flared]

Axel's not expecting Saïx to listen to him, let alone turn around and stop like he does, so when I happens he finds himself once again shocked, unable to say or do anything for a couple of beats. Honestly, while he could have attacked all this time, Axel hasn't just as much as Saïx hasn't. He sees no need to. Not yet. ... But with a little time–

He takes a step toward the fountain as he speaks. "Like I said. You're not dead. ... All this is stuff you get when you first arrive." As to where he is, Axel doesn't expect Saïx to understand that just yet. "This is Vatheon." It's not a World from where they're from, if that's what he's thinking, though Axel would understand if he thinks that. After all, sometime ago Axel was in this same position, moments from death, cold, wet, and thinking he'd been taken somewhere beyond the Darkness. And, really, if it hadn't been for a couple of people, Axel might have died on the spot. ... Whether that same thing will happen here remains to be seen.

[croceamors]

"...Why?" It's hard to tell what exactly he's referring to. Why is he still alive when he should have stopped existing? Why is he getting a comfy sweater and a weird starfish? Maybe it's both. Who knows.