Aquilo Divinus [Axel]

[Slash]

A slight reprieve.
[August 3rd, 2010]

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A cloaked figure with long, black dreadlocks and scheming blue eyes stood alone on a clock tower. He was absolutely silent, and the only sound that could be heard was the breeze.

So, this was the place that Axel had spent so much time at with Roxas. Xaldin did not see the appeal at all. The sunset was just a result of the world rotating around a fixed point, and there was nothing special about the tower itself save that it was quite tall.

I should go to the Organization soon. [/color] His work was just about done, and he could return.

It would certainly be different from what he'd remembered. Xemnas had fallen, probably due to his own pretentions and percieved mysteriousness. It was almost a shame. He had been quite competent beforehand- they all had, in the beginning. But apparently the loss of a heart resulted in the decay of a mind. It was another thing to add to the list of detriments to losing his heart. The power of being a higher class of Nobody combined with a complete lack of empathy was certainly a major factor in the reason for the decay.

Could it be prevented? Maybe so. Maybe it was inevitable, and maybe he was suffering from the same decay that had claimed Xemnas's mind and eventually his life.

He mused over this as the sun set, the wind perpetually moving around him.

[Axel]

You? This place is a little too cheerful for you, isn't it?
--------

There must have been some weird nostalgia spark in his mind lately. First, he had gone back to Radiant Garden, and now he was back here. Not just in the town itself, but up on the clock tower. On their spot.

Sometimes, I still wish you could be here. But it's never gonna happen, is it?

Axel brushed off the thought quickly. He was only having it because of his current surroundings. A few people wandered the streets below, but mostly, everything was quiet beneath the sun fixed perpetually on a downward track. How many times had he sat up here with Roxas? Hardly anything had changed.

Well, except for the addition of... Xaldin? Axel immediately went on edge. What was he doing here of all places?

Rounding the corner of the tower, he leaned a shoulder against the wall, arms crossed over his chest.

"Well, look who decided to show up, and in such an odd place, too. Don't tell me you've been napping somewhere for the past couple of months."

[Slash]

Well, it's not like I went to Atlantica.

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Xaldin turned slightly, looking at Axel. He still came up here? It was probably some strange pseudo-sentimental reason. Axel's need to feel bordered on desperation, and Xaldin could almost believe that he had the delusion of being able to feel something at times.

Axel carried himself with an arrogance born of power. It was strange but oddly amusing to think that both he and Saïx had once been sniveling little kids, stupid enough to snoop around the castle and clumsy enough to be caught doing so.

"It seems as though you have mistaken me for Demyx. I was simply elsewhere. What I was doing is of little concern. I did run into the Diviner."

It had been a very informative meeting. "Did Xemnas find out about your plot prematurely, or was he ignorant to the end?"

[Axel]

Far fewer inane questions than I'm used to answering up here.
--------

If Xaldin had been busy with secret things, he didn't bother to share any details. Axel couldn't care less about the Lancer's activities. He had never been particularly fond of Xaldin, especially since he had been the one, along with Xemnas, who had pressured him into either killing Roxas or being killed himself. Outside of that important interaction, Axel had had very little to do with Xaldin.

He wasn't interested in changing that now.

"Hm? My plot? I don't plot. Premeditation is so overrated. Much better to mess with pieces as they come to you."

He smirked, then shrugged. "The way I heard it, Saïx killed dear old Xemnas. I might have been present, but I didn't finish him myself. As far as I know, Xemmy had no idea what hit him until it actually had."

[Slash]

So, why are you here, again?

[/center]

Saïx had really killed Xemnas. Well, of course he had- there was no reason for the Diviner to lie about doing so. And Xemnas had not realized a thing.

"Yes, the Diviner did mention striking the killing blow. He also mentioned that there were only...7 members left, I believe."

He looked around. How many times had Axel visited this place to remember a friendship that wasn't really a friendship? He could only guess.

"This place brings back memories? I'm sure Saïx would disapprove."

No reason to bother being pleasant. Axel was little more than annoying, certianly not worth great consideration.

[Axel]

Are we back in high school again or something?
--------

"Yeah, everybody else is either dead or gone. Or possibly on the verge of leaving." He included himself in that last category.

This was a weird track to take. Why the hell did Xaldin care about what he did or what Saïx thought of what he did? The comment had the flavor of juvenile gossip.

"I doubt Saïx really cares what I do with my spare time. We are talking about the same brick wall, aren't we? Besides, this is the first time I've been up here in a good while."

He shrugged. "Thought I'd be alone, but apparently that didn't turn out to be true."

If he couldn't spend time with Roxas up here, Saïx would have done just as well. Not the same sort of company, of course, but infinitely better than the Lancer. Any pre-Nobody relationship they had shared had been nothing but castle guard constantly throwing two teenage boys out of said castle. At least Axel and Saïx had been friends.

[Slash]

The idiot child became an idiot Nobody.

[/center]

While Axel saw it as juvenile gossip, Xaldin saw it more as poking a very stubborn slug with a stick to get it to move. He smirked.

"Brick wall- an apt comparison. Though if you hit a brick wall hard enough, the cracks will stay until the wall itself erodes."

When Axel had left- well, obviously he wouldn't know this seeing as how he was gone, but there had been a very short-lived, almost imperceptible change in Saïx's demeanor. It had been near unnoticeable, but Xaldin had seen it. He had an eye for that sort of thing.

It had been a slight lull in motivation, a certain slowness to his actions, followed up by a rush of activity.

The explanation was simple. It was the closest to disappointment and anger that Saïx could ever get to outside of a berserker state.

"I apologize for ruining your plans," he said with an amazing amount of insincerity. Talking to Axel was an uncomfortable and taxing experience for Xaldin, and it most likely worked the other way around as well. It was Axel who initiated the conversation, however, so the blame lied with him.

[Axel]

If you can't take a hint, I can be more obvious. Trust me.
--------

Axel almost laughed. "Saïx? Crack? I think you underestimate his powers of stoicism."

Even with a heart, Saïx would probably not be easily moved. Frustrating? Definitely. Insurmountable? Not with Axel's persistence.

"Why are you even here?" It was a public place, of course, but Axel couldn't help thinking of the clock tower as his spot.

"Don't you have somewhere, I dunno, gloomier to be? Like Beast's Castle? Sora's running around, I hear. Maybe you two could meet up there and get reacquainted."

He chuckled. It was certainly no secret that Sora had been able to take down the Organization's more powerful members, including Xaldin. At this point, maybe he could get the Lancer to leave if he touched a nerve with enough force.

[Slash]

Your disrespect is both irritating and unsurprising.

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Axel's disrespect was quite blatant and quite annoying. He did not care that Xemnas had been overthrown by his disloyal subjects. If Xemnas had possessed the slightest iota of leadership skill or insight, he would have survived and crushed the opposition.

Xaldin, however, was not going to tolerate such disrespect in his presence.

"And you can dictate where I will or will not go? If Sora is wandering around, certainly you would wish to see him before I would." He laughed slightly. "But that is foolish. You already have. Was it fruitless? Frustrating? Even I must admit, Roxas was a great deal less annoying than his Somebody."

[Axel]

Trying to bring something up, are you?
--------

Xaldin's nerves were apparently untouchable, and it didn't look like he was leaving soon. Instead, the Lancer was trying to touch Axel's nerves.

"As a matter of fact, I have seen Sora since getting resurrected. I wouldn't say one of those meetings was entirely fruitless."

Honestly, it hadn't been. Axel might not have gotten Roxas back, but at least he had adjusted his list of priorities. Heart first, looking into broken friendships later. Of course, he'd start with the one that would be easier to access. Saïx.

"What's it to you? I saved Sora's life, which basically means I don't have to worry about him coming after me. You, on the other hand, might need to watch your step."

[Slash]

A game of insult ping-pong?

[/center]

Xaldin was as unaffected by Axel's words as Axel seemed to be with his. It was an interesting game, the winner not decided by who was the better but who would give up first. Of course, it was always possible that one would throw something that could not be thrown back...but that was unlikely.

"You saved his life?" He hadn't been around for that, it seemed. If only he'd been around to see Saïx's reaction.

"Unless the King is supporting him in another endeavor, I doubt that is likely. The mouse jumped into the fray and fought as I was about to strike Sora down. He then proceeded to resurrect the Keyblader, keeping him from death."

[Axel]

Oh, you haven't heard?
--------

Man, Xaldin was really out of the loop. Might as well fill him in on a few things. It couldn't hurt.

"The King isn't going to be supporting much of anyone anymore. He's dead. Killed by some shady guy calling himself the Champion."

Axel shrugged. "I don't think we know too much about him, just that he's trying to make the darkness stronger. So far, he's doing a pretty poor job of it, except for that part where he killed Mickey."

[Slash]

Interesting.

[/center]

Xaldin nodded. Interesting. So the King was dead, and by the hands of some mysterious figure. He made a mental note that an encounter with Sora, should it happen, would lean much more in his favor.

"The Champion? Hm. If he killed the King, than he must be powerful...but ineffectual? How much so?"

[Axel]

The guy's a hack. He must be.
--------

That question was easy to answer. "For one thing, he wanted to start some huge fight in a place called the Keyblade Graveyard, but that didn't last very long. He ended up leaving almost right after he got there."

Honestly, Axel still hadn't figured out why he had done that. It had been so very anticlimactic and detrimental to his standing in the eyes of either side. Pretty dumb decision on his part.

"As for other examples, it's not so much what he's done as what he hasn't done. He seems to come and go in spurts. Most of what we've heard about him has been through rumor. And outside of killing Mickey, the only thing he's destroyed has been Radiant Garden, but that was so long ago that it doesn't seem all that important anymore."

[Slash]

I see.

[/center]

Axel was very forthcoming with the answer. So this Champion was not exactly something to worry about; powerful, but only producing an issue in between great lengths of time. And he left a fight that he himself orchestrated?

"That is strange. Was he injured before running? Or did he just...leave?"