Downfall [Saïx, Axas]

[Slash]

KILL HI...Oh.

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Saïx noticed the chakrams flying at him and knocked one aside, the other one missing him. His eyes automatically followed its trajectory for just a second- then he remembered his target and growled.

He quickly turned back towards Axel. He could kill him. Would kill him. It would only take one more strike. One more.

He was as quick as ever, right in front of his target in a second. Putting both hands on his claymore, he was about to raise it-

-and then a solitary thought broke in.

What am I doing?

He gradually answered that question as the moon's influence wore off. Well, he was about to kill his former friend, the one who he had a valuable alliance with, and presumably he had just finished killing Axas.

More than ever, it was obvious how his Berserker ability was a double-edged sword. On one hand, it was powerful, and Saïx reluctantly admitted that there was something strangely relieving in losing his ability to reason himself out of feigned emotion, if only for a little while. The moon still fascinated him, and to be able to use its power...

But then, of course, there were the awkward instances where he attacked someone he would not have attacked. Had Axas really fallen so fast? And had Axel gotten his attention somehow?

Axel was obviously in pain. Presumably, if he had been under the moon's influence longer, he would be dead. If he had only personal reasons to want to keep him alive, he probably wouldn't care much at all- but Axel's survival was a vital keystone in killing Xemnas. Saïx knew he couldn't do it by himself, and Axel was a strong fighter.

Besides, Axel had a way of being able to get people to his side that Saïx lacked. He would be the first to admit this. If Saïx had been branded a traitor, the other members would certainly be more ruthless in carrying out his death than they had been with Axel.

He wasn't really sure what to say right now. This was quite awkward. First, he straightened himself and got rid of his claymore.

"Axas died quicker than I expected he would, I presume. I thought I told you to stay back." He looked over Axel.

"How injured are you?"

[Axel]

Painkillers Would Be Nice Right Now

It was odd, staring death in the face for the second time. Actually, it was only his first time. This was different. Before, he had chosen when and where he died. This, he had not chosen at all.

The pain was almost overwhelming, but he sure as hell wasn't going to let Saïx send him to oblivion while he was just lying on the ground.

The Diviner had been distracted by the chakrams for only so long and had now closed the distance between them again. Any second now, Axel expected that claymore to bust open his head and send him back to the darkness.

The vestiges of fear clawed at his mind. Not again. Not like this. Not without his heart.

But what was this? The deadly look in Saïx's eyes faded, the moon apparently relinquishing its hold on him. Slight disorientation was on his face, but it was Saïx again. The Flame did nothing to disguise his sigh of relief, even if it burned his chest to do so.

He didn't fully relax until that claymore disappeared. As adrenaline left him, pain swept in to take its place.

"Yes. Yes, he did die faster than you expected." Even with Nobody emptiness, Axel had to make a strong effort not to be short with Saïx. "And I did stay out of the way. Until he died and you decided you still needed to kill something." He couldn't really blame his former friend for almost killing him. Under the influence of the moon, Saïx was not really himself anymore.

The second question held a hint of awkwardness. But what else did he expect Saïx to say? Oh, I'm sorry about almost killing you? Gee, I hope you're okay? I sure do feel just terrible about doing that to you?

The Flame attempted a smirk, but it probably came across as more of a grimace. "I'm fine. You didn't hit me all that--" Another wave crashed into him, and he half sat, half collapsed onto the ground. He draped one arm over a knee and rubbed his chest with his free hand.

"Okay, I think you might have left a bruise. At the very least."

[Slash]

If Only Axas Hadn't Died So Quickly

Saïx could not feel concern or regret, so there was absolutely not reassuring emotion in his stare. Nevertheless, he did have a certain unease about the situation. Axas must have died very quickly, as it seemed that he had attacked Axel long enough to do serious damage.

He's badly hurt. A few more hits would have destroyed him. Perhaps just one more would have ended him.[/color]

If Axel died, he had no allies. He knew this. He would be forced back into a subordinate position under Xemnas, forced to endure the unending monologues, forced to work for years in the vain hope of reaching a goal that the leader himself was not interested in.

Because of this simple fact, his main priority was keeping Axel alive. Saïx made a note to keep from going berserk anywhere near him.

He looked towards the last place he remembered Axas being in. Axas's death was far more useful than he ever could have been in life. The annoying neophyte had made enemies with every Organization member that he had come into contact with. Even Xemnas was bothered by his presence, as was apparent in Axas's title.

Besides, he could possibly be linked to Axel.

"At least it will not be difficult for you to maintain a low profile now," Saïx said. "I'm going to report Axas's death soon. I doubt that anyone would believe that he was conspiring with Number Eleven, so I'll say that he had found you and was attempting to make a deal with you. It is not far from the truth, and would surprise no one. Depending on what Zexion's plans are, I can either claim that I killed you or that you escaped."

He might come under fire if he claimed that Axel had escaped. It would be better to claim that he was killed, but he could survive any line of questioning the Superior or the Academic decided to throw at him. It would be an annoying distraction of Zexion's plans were to get in the way of his, confusing everything.

Pretending that Axel was dead would be much more advantageous. Zexion would not interfere, as it went in line with his schemes. It would be fine.

As long as Axel didn't do something stupid like come into contact with another Organization member. Which he wouldn't. Because that would be utterly insipid.

Probably.

Maybe.

...Perhaps it would be better to say that he had escaped.

[Axel]

Not Moving is a Wonderful Idea

Sitting there sounded like a great idea in the Flame's head, so he decided to stay put for the time being. And he didn't think he'd be going anywhere anytime soon. Not for at least another few hours. Perhaps by then, the pain would have receded. Oh, the effects of getting smacked by a claymore.

Ugh, let's never do this again. And I mean it this time. Never. Again.

He sprawled out completely onto the ground on his back and looked up at the sky. If Zexion had been serious about his plan, though, Axel would be forced to endure yet another beating in the near future. This one at the hands of Number Five. He wasn't sure which was worse. Claymore in the hands of berserked Saïx or Skysplitter in the hands of Lexaeus? Tough call. Both painful. Not fun.

"Yeah, just say that I escaped. Probably easier that way. Not sure if dear Xemmy would believe you if you claimed to have killed me yourself." He turned his head to look up at Saïx. True, there were no feelings of friendship between them, but the past had to be harder to ignore than orders from Xemnas.

He grimaced again and put a hand to his chest. "Think I'll just stay here for a while, if you don't mind. Go ahead and do whatever you need to do. Just keep me in the loop somehow?"

[Slash]

If You Say So.

Axel said that he would be remaining there. Very well. There was almost no chance that he would be attacked, and it would be expedient for Saïx to leave as quickly as possible. It would be interesting to see what Zexion had in mind, at the very least.

He'd do what he could to keep Axel informed, but it would become a lot harder.

"I'll do what I can," he said, opened a Corridor, and left without any fanfare.

[Fate]

What Do I Have In Mind?

Things had been somewhat interesting in the Castle for a few moments. Saïx had left to go to the Beast's Castle for a mission or something of that nature, standard procedure. However, what Zexion found truly interesting was Axas going to follow him shortly afterward. Why would he want to do that? It was not as if Saïx could not handle missions on his own; in fact, he performed rather well. Most likely, Axas wanted to spy on the member that had entered during his naming... or something else. The Schemer remained suspicious and continued walking around the castle. It would be some time before either one of them would return from the mission.

Many moments passed before he sensed Saïx's return. Zexion waited another few moments, waiting for Axas to return as well. He never came. The illusionist raised an eyebrow. Could he possibly still be in the Beast's Castle? Well, there were a couple ways of finding out, but Zexion didn't like expanding his senses beyond the current world he was in. He stopped walking through the Castle and cast a simple Corridor of Darkness in front of him. He walked through it and vanished from sight, the Corridor closing behind him.

He arrived in the courtyard, the picturesque Gothic castle yards away from him. Though, something else of interest was in the courtyard as well. Oddly enough, Axel was lying on the ground, looking to be in pain. Zexion instantly became more curious. Was Saïx perhaps communicating with him once again? Did he do this damage to him? That was doubtful, the Diviner typically not liking to leave his kill alive. That meant they might just be communicating again, which could be both good and bad for the Schemer.

Though, something else was tugging at his mind as he walked closer to Axel, ignoring the fact that Axas's scent was not in this world. Why did this image of Axel being injured ring a bell with him? Didn't he recently meet with him somewhere and they had talked about something involving this? His memory was slightly foggy still, but he was beginning to put the pieces together. He stopped in front of Axel, his arms crossed.

"Good evening..." he said, polite as always, "May I ask why you're lying on the ground? And... did I meet with you recently?"

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[Axel]

From One Side to Another

Without any further ado, Saïx was gone. And it was very quiet.

Being a Nobody did come with a few benefits, despite the great cost. One of them was the ability to recover from injury much faster than humans could. But even with that boon, the pain was taking its sweet time to recede.

He needed to move soon. There was always that chance an Organization member would--

Speak of the devil...

The sound of a Corridor opening was unmistakable, and Axel turned his head in that direction. Zexion. Wonderful. Well, at least it wasn't one of the others. Like Marluxia. That would have been unfortunate.

The Schemer asked him about meeting recently, and Axel chuckled, despite the fire in his lungs. "Don't have it memorized, do you? Yes, I believe we did meet recently."

To tell Zexion about Saïx or not? This was a dilemma. He wasn't sure if Saïx wanted Zexion to know about their alliance, but he would guess not. On the one hand, he was beginning to think that, in a way, Zexion, Saïx, and himself were all working toward the same thing. None of them wanted Xemnas around anymore, and all of them wanted their hearts back.

The issues came in trying to figure out who would take the Superior's chair after the deed was done. Axel certainly didn't want it. But he would once again find himself caught between two sides. Because both Saïx and Zexion would want that chair. He might have to figure out who he would rather stab in the back less. He'd cross that bridge when he came to it. For now, he wouldn't divulge any information he didn't think it necessary for Zexion to know.

He looked back up at the sky. "As for why I'm here... just thought this would be a nice place for stargazing, y'know?"

[Fate]

Risky Thinking
Desmond Miles from the Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood OST.

"I see..." Well, that was certainly quite odd. Zexion was naturally suspicious about why Axel would choose a random world to stargaze from, especially since it was the same from almost every world. He also looked like he had gotten into a fight with something or someone, but the Schemer wasn't going to interrogate him on that. He merely wanted to know what they talked about when they met recently and why he could only remember snippets of a conversation. It was something about Axel and Lexaeus, though he wasn't sure what the two had to do with each other.

"The last time we met, it had something to do with you and Lexaeus," he said, pacing a bit, "Though I wish I could remember why..." He trailed off again, thinking. Why would he have a conversation about Lexaeus and Axel? The two had never conversed with each other at all and had almost nothing in common. However, one thing they did have in common was their strength, though in different ways. Lexaeus was incredibly stalwart and was one of the strongest Organization members they had outside of Superior; it took Xehanort's Heartless to defeat him, not Riku himself. Axel was hard to take down easily, fast and wild like the element he used.

This still didn't answer Zexion's question. Why did their strength matter? Axel was hard to defeat in battle, yes. Lexaeus was most likely the only one that could defeat him legitimately; even Saïx would have a difficult time, though he would most likely not try to kill Axel. The Silent Hero was the only one that Superior would believe if he said he killed Axel because of his record of loyalty and physical prowess. Though, Zexion sort of needed Axel alive if he wanted to get any further with his plans; while it would be good for the Superior think he was dead, it would not be good if Lexaeus actually killed him.

And then it hit him.

"Ah yes, of course," he muttered, turning quickly to Axel, "I remember exactly now. We made a plan for your death to be faked in order for you to be able to sneak into the castle. I was going to have Lexaeus come and fight you and then form the illusion of you fading. Yes..." Axel was probably already aware of all of this and remembered everything, but Zexion needed to go over this again, or at least in his head.

"There is but one problem in this plan," he continued, "Lexaeus would need a legitimate reason to be sent after you. I cannot simply send him without a good reason since we are currently not focusing on the traitors. You need to make yourself a legitimate threat to the Organization." That was a dangerous move all by itself. It would put Axel at a significant risk if he were to do that, depending on how he did it. Zexion thought for a minute and then summoned his Lexicon, flipping through it.

"There is a good way to do this," he said, pulling out a certain page. It looked somewhat like a page of a weekly calendar. "It seems Vexen has scheduled himself for a reconnaissance mission in Traverse Town two days from now. If you could manage to find yourself there that day, I think you would know where to go from there." He grinned to this. Axel and Vexen were never ones that got along; the two meeting would be perfect.

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[Axel]

I've Always Liked Turkey on a Silver Platter

Axel let Zexion talk himself through those particular details of their last meeting. He remembered the idea involving Lexaeus, and Axel couldn't suppress another very pronounced grimace. Could they at least wait a few days between beatings? He'd like to see how well Zexion went from getting smacked around by Saïx to getting hammered in the face by Lexaeus.

The suggestion that he make himself a legitimate threat to the Organization was an intriguing one. Ever since he had been resurrected, Axel had not been interested in directly sabotaging the Organization, at least not until all these plans to kill Xemnas had cropped up. Even those plans were not plans to utterly destroy the Organization. At its core, the Organization should be about getting back the Nobodies' hearts. That was not a bad goal in and of itself. With Xemmy gone, maybe those left standing could finally return to that goal.

Vexen. In Traverse Town. In two days. Should be much better in two days.

He almost said something to that effect to Zexion. Rather than draw more attention to the fact that he was in more than a little pain, the Flame sat up, albeit slowly. "Oh? Are you giving me permission to rough him up a little?" A grin spread across his face. "If by rough him up a little, you mean kill or at least severely maim him, then the answer is yes. I'll do it."

Visiting some hurt upon Vexen would be quite rewarding. Considering that he had to keep himself from pulling out all the stops when Saïx attacked him, being able to just let loose against the Academic would be an excellent release. And if he ended up killing Vexen, so much the better.

"So, let me get this straight. You're serious about this? You are offering me Vexen on a silver platter to do with as I please? Just so you can have an excuse to send Lexaeus after me? I didn't think you had such ideas in you, Schemer."

[Fate]

I'll Bring the Cranberry Sauce

The initial grimace wasn't a surprise; Zexion would be suspicious of Axel's mental state if he actually looked forward to getting into a fight with Lexaeus. Though, he knew that mention of Vexen would get him to come around. He nodded his head to the Flame's question, keeping his grin. "I cannot have you kill him," he said in a matter-of-fact tone, "Otherwise, no one will be able to confirm that you were the one that killed him. You need to let him at least make it back to the Castle so I can be the one to confirm that you are a danger to the Organization."

He paced around a little more, slower this time. He always did like this world, though he was uncertain why. Gothic architecture did have its beauty he supposed. He then turned back to Axel. Yes, he was serious and of course he had ideas like this in his head. Though, admittedly, it was a bit different for him to offer up others to be used as bait, or something of the sort. It was not the first time he talked casually about the death of other members though; Axel remembered that well most likely.

"I'm quite serious Axel. I want this plan to work and I need everything to be as authentic as possible for it to be able to. You should know by now that I will do just about anything to make my schemes successful." It was true too. Zexion was not beyond ideas such as this, though there was one part of this he was a bit uneasy about. The trust that Lexaeus had in him might fall because of this. He was doing this for good reasons, but still... Lexaeus was one of the only ones Zexion happened to trust himself.

"We'll be in touch then," he said. With that, he created a Corridor of Darkness and vanished. Finally, they had some sort of schedule to go off of.

[/size]

[Axel]

Balancing Act

There was initial disappointment when Zexion said he couldn't kill Vexen outright. He had to allow the Academic to escape back to the Castle to prove that he was a threat. But what if he followed Vexen? The idea was insane. Putting himself right in the middle of the Castle would be just about the dumbest thing he could do. That was just asking for second-death. Then again, the Schemer was right about one thing. It would look extremely authentic.

Besides, Zexion hadn't said anything to prevent him from killing Vexen once they had reached the Castle. He doubted the Schemer had any inkling that the Flame was even considering such a move. If Axel was going to make himself a threat, he needed to go all out.

Moments later, Zexion had left, leaving Axel alone once again. Even in such a short amount of time, the pain had dulled tremendously. He finally stood up, casting a wary glance around the courtyard. But everything was quiet and still.

"So much to juggle." He sighed and opened his own Corridor. Next stop: Traverse Town.