The Art of Persuasion [Saïx]

[Slash]

Don't lecture me.

[/center]

Saïx did not answer for a second. The light here was close enough to moonlight to be used. Something had been reached through the wall that was his mind, but it was not something Axel wanted to bring out. He had very seldom felt like this- it was as if he was entering his berserk state against his will.

"You want your friend back? Because you're very good at stopping that from ever happening. Every time, you find some way to mess everything up. Perhaps you can side with the girl just like you sided with Roxas. Then you can find some way to indirectly kill all of us again!"

He knew that his voice was rising, but he could do nothing about it. It was as if he was disconnected from his body.

"But what does it matter to you? You can't think more than 2 minutes ahead unless someone holds your hand through it. It's always been about what you wanted right in the moment, and you didn't care what the consequences were. I'm the one messing everything up? You're the one who gives it all away for some fleeting semblance of satisfaction, and speaks some nonsense about not needing Kingdom Hearts while having no basis for it. I don't need to hear your complaints! It's your fault that we don't have our hearts!"

He could kill Axel right now. It wouldn't even be hard. Then he'd kill the rest of them, and there would be nothing standing in his way.

Saïx's eyes had changed, becoming completely yellow. He was almost completely in his berserker state- but just managed to restrain himself for a few seconds before all hell broke loose.

"Idiot," he mumbled, and faded into a Corridor.

[Aerith]

Fine. I see how it is.
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Never had Axel seen Saïx so angry outside of his berserker state. The experience was almost like seeing a beached whale--horrifying and riveting all at once. The Diviner was only half in his element, and Axel knew right then and there that if Saïx were to attack him, he would have to run or die.

No attack came. Just a string of words far longer than the usual from Saïx, each individual syllable a stinging blow that struck Axel in a place deeper than that claymore could ever reach.

They only hurt so much because he knew they were the truth.

Saïx left without giving him a chance to respond at all, making sure to emphasize the already well-established fact of Axel's idiocy. Seconds stretched into minutes that stretched into hours that may have even stretched into days. He didn't know, and he didn't care.

He was gone. Saïx was gone, and he probably never wanted to see, much less speak to Axel again. Why would he want to see the person responsible for keeping his heart out of reach? Why would anyone want to even come near a Nobody so inherently bound to his element that he burned every connection he had with anyone?

Something exploded within him.

Pressure squeezed his hollow chest, the pressure of built up rage and frustration finally bursting. He screamed to the empty shoreline, and fire flew from his fingertips, haphazardly scorching the sand around him. All he did for a while was scream and burn.

Scream and burn, scream and burn.

Then, there was less burning and more screaming until finally he stopped altogether and collapsed onto his back in the sand, chest heaving. Why did it feel so close? It was close but not really there, like his fingers were just brushing the edges of his heart, vainly trying to claim it again.

For the first time since he woke here after his resurrection, Axel was lost.

Back then, he had decided to search for some purpose, something to work toward, but now he could see that everything was ultimately meaningless. He had finally decided to give up on Roxas, and still, he was stuck in the same place.

A hand strayed to his chest as he closed his eyes and let exhaustion take him away.