Saudade App
PLAYER
NAME: Kari
PERSONAL LJ: kawree
EMAIL: bond.of.flames[at]gmail.com
MESSENGER(S): AIM: kawreee / Plurk
TIMEZONE: Pacific
AGE (b. year): 30 (1981)
PLAYED CHARACTERS: First character!
LINK TO RESERVE: here!
CHARACTER
NAME(S): Axel
AGE: Unconfirmed--visibly: in his early to mid twenties, mentally: fluctuates between way too old for his own good and pouty seven-year-old depending on whether or not he's getting what he wants. Lots of tl;dr and citation of Nomura interviews and translated excerpts from game novels later, my final answer is technically 26-27, though he stopped physically aging at 25 when he lost his heart.
FANDOM: Kingdom Hearts
BACKGROUND HISTORY:
Very little is known about Axel's past before he joined Organization XIII. Like the other members of the organization, he remembers his past, he just has no desire to explain it to anybody, and so he keeps his nebulous history to himself. The only other person who seems to really know anything about his elusive past is Saïx, the organization's #7, with whom this history seems to collide. Of course, Saïx isn't very forthcoming with information, either. Really all we know for certain is that before his heart was lost to the darkness, Axel's name was Lea, and that he was best friends with Isa, Saïx's original human identity. The two friends hailed from Radiant Garden, and appeared to be about 16 years of age when they tried--and failed--to infiltrate the grand castle in the city to become part of the mysterious goings-on within. Lea briefly met and befriended Ventus, but any further details regarding Axel's past remain shrouded in mystery.
After joining the Organization, however, Axel quickly made a bit of a spectacle of himself. It was actually Saïx who rose to the top to become the Organization's second-in-command. Axel of course denied that his past ties with Isa--and therefore Saïx--had anything to do with how quickly he himself came into favor with the brass. The Organization favored those who got the job done, after all, and if there was one thing Axel was good at, it was his job. Despite his youth and general newness to the Organization, Axel quickly became one of its most efficient and trusted members: if Xemnas needed something done fast and right, Axel was the one he called upon. When the Nobody of the Keyblade Master was found and inducted into the ranks, his training was put into Axel's hands (though that might have been in part because everyone else in the Org was too lazy, a creeper, or a vindictive bitch), and despite a bit of a rocky beginning, Axel and Roxas became close. Unfortunately their budding friendship was put on hold when Axel was ordered to take a mission in Castle Oblivion. It seemed that the Keyblade Master was falling right into the trap they'd laid out, and Xemnas wanted to make sure nothing got in their way. There was talk of mutiny in the ranks, and Axel was charged with sniffing out the insurgents and making sure the interests of the Organization were preserved.
Castle Oblivion was the Organization's second base, as it were, where Vexen was conducting most of his research. While in the castle, Sora's memories of Kairi were replaced with memories of Naminé, who was to unravel the memories so that Xemnas could make use of them himself. Axel had a vested interest in Sora, of course, since he was Roxas's Somebody and had managed to not only survive becoming a Heartless, but managed to get his heart back, but he knew his real objectives were rooted elsewhere. After sidewinding his way into Larxene and Marluxia's little plot to overthrow Xemnas, he turned the tables and aided Sora in destroying them, fulfilling his orders to eliminate the resistance and ascertain the Organization's victory.
Unfortunately, things didn't end up going entirely in Axel's favor. The traitors were destroyed and Axel even killed one of his senior comrades with his own hands, but the prize was still lost. Naminé was spirited away into the hands of the mysterious DiZ. Naturally, Axel denied that he had anything to do with this--he didn't see her escape, after all... With Naminé gone and Sora put into a deep sleep so that his memories could be reconstructed, the Organization now had precious little time to pick up the pieces if their dream of Kingdom Hearts was to come to fruition. In the end, Axel returned the sole survivor of the fiasco at Castle Oblivion. He seemed mostly unaffected by the loss of his comrades, but of course, he doesn't have a heart to feel with anyway, right? He was just following orders!
It was after his double-edged victory in Castle Oblivion that Axel noticed that something seemed different about his old friend. Saïx had grown cold, distant, and was growing obsessed with his own goals rather than their joint plans. Axel and Saïx had originally made a pact to take the Organization from within, and it was only after Axel returned from Castle Oblivion that he began to realize that Saïx wasn't the Isa he remembered.
Upon returning to The World That Never Was, Axel was reunited with Roxas, and the two of them got back to working missions together. During this time Organization XIII had already acquired its inexplicable fourteenth member, Xion, but Axel had never actually spoken with her prior to his departure for Castle Oblivion. He returned to find that in his absence, Roxas and Xion had become close, and though he did a decent job of hiding it he was at first visibly rankled by their friendship. Whether it was out of jealousy or remorse, however, he'll never tell.
Whatever his personal feelings on the issue may have truly been, Axel befriended Xion as well, though he knew something wasn't quite right about her. When exactly he came into the complete knowledge that she was the puppet intended to absorb Roxas's power over the Keyblade isn't specified in the game, but as Xion's actions grew more and more reckless and Roxas's energy began to wane, Axel knew it was only a matter of time before one of them wound up destroying the other. Xion had actually pulled some of the sleeping Sora's missing memories of Kair into herself, and so long as she retained those memories, Sora could never awaken (which was good for the Organization), but Roxas would continue to lose power (which was bad for the Organization). The memories of one boy could not be split between two shadows and sustain them both.
Pulled in two directions, Axel had to confront his own misgivings and make a choice: Xion, or Roxas? The puppet for whom Roxas cared, or the one genuine friendship he truly had left? Saïx had become a completely different person, after all. Gone was the brother who had once had his back, who had verbally sparred with him and shared in grand visions of what their lives would be like once they entered the castle in Radiant Garden. The Saïx that had taken Isa's place was a harsh, cold man Lea had never known, and one Axel wasn't sure he wanted to.
Ultimately, Axel knew the choice between Roxas and Xion was never really his to make--this was up to Roxas--and so when he found the boy fleeing the castle, he didn't stop him. Understanding that this was a road Roxas would have to walk on his own, he let him go to find the answers he sought, but not before admitting, mostly to himself, that his absence would hurt at least one person. Heart or not, Axel couldn't deny that watching his best friend walk away (again) was a kick in the gut.
After Roxas departed, Axel made one last trip to Twilight Town, finding Xion at the gates of the mansion in the woods where she had spoken with Naminé and learned the whole truth of her false existence. Though he claimed that Xion returning Sora's stolen memories was the best choice all along, it was clear in Axel's words and the tone of his voice that the inevitable battle between them cut him deeply. Axel defeated Xion, but only barely judging by the state he was in when he returned to the castle with her. He had already lost Roxas--he had broken the boy's trust in keeping Xion's situation a secret and now Roxas was gone--he wasn't willing to just let them both go. Unable to bring himself to destroy her, but unwilling to just give up and let her destroy herself, Axel made what seemed to him to be the best choice: he swallowed his pride and his own selfish unreachable desire for everything to just work out and returned her to the Organization in the hopes of reaching some sort of compromise. Ultimately, he had made a promise to Xion to protect Roxas no matter what, even if it meant hurting her in the process, and if there's one thing Axel doesn't do it's break a promise.
Unfortunately, that would be the last time he ever saw Xion, and he would not gain reconciliation with Roxas until his own demise much later.
PERSONALITY:
Snide, snarky, sarcastic and sly, Axel is a bit of an abrasive character and most assuredly an acquired taste in company. He's competitive to a fault and confident as the day is long, with a tendency to mouth off and an inclination toward incorrigibility; it definitely takes a little getting used to his acerbic nature before you realize that for the most part he means little harm. His incendiary demeanor and antagonistic manner are a bit of a turn-off, it's true (and mostly a defense mechanism), but in Axel's opinion, people take themselves way too seriously anyway, and sometimes it's just too tempting to poke them with a stick. As a general rule, he's a good-natured breed of troublemaker who enjoys pushing peoples' buttons just to get a rise out of them, and while at first glance it seems like he doesn't play well with others, the fact of the matter is simply that most people don't bother to get to know him well enough to learn otherwise. A tad duplicitous and an expert at manipulating his words, it takes someone with a lot of patience and a genuine desire to put forth the effort to read between his lines to get through his thick skin to the squishy nougat center fundamentally decent guy he pretends not to be.
Something of a showoff, Axel is mischievous and clever, and can't for the life of him sit still (unless he's taking a nap); he's resourceful and dangerously driven, perhaps even a little bit reckless given the right circumstances--he knows what he wants, and he despises losing. He doesn't particularly enjoy work, either, though less because he's outright lazy (though if given the option he would love to just nap all day) and more because he'd just rather someone else take care of things. He prefers to pass the buck and let others deal with problems, since getting his hands dirty often leads to having to take responsibility--something Axel always endeavors not to have to do. However he has no issues handling the nastier jobs if the right person is asking or if he serves to gain significantly.
Axel is also rather childish when you get right down to it. He's a little needy, and though he is more than willing to loudly voice his own opinions he has a tendency to act rashly when he doesn't have a contingency plan. He wears his moods on his sleeves quite visibly in safe company, and despite how it takes quite a shock to break through that calm collected mask he dons most of the time Axel is definitely not as infallible as he chalks himself up to be. A little possessive, a hair melodramatic, and a smidgen ridiculous, he's entertaining company if nothing else. He's fierce and proud, rebellious and suspicious, slow to trust, but rock-solid to the end once his affinity has been earned. He'll follow orders when he knows he has to or when it's in his best interests, but he hates to be told what to do. Derisive, brash, and downright sassy at times, he seems not to think too highly of most people, and puts on a very blatant show of assuming he's better than everyone else. He may not be a scholastic genius, but he's little if not ambitious and driven to get what he wants in order to facilitate his own aims. Strategically, he's difficult to outwit, because he's almost always planned two or three steps ahead of the game.
It's difficult to tell if Axel ever actually took a side, or if he was just in the game for himself the whole time: his apathy toward Vexen as he killed him with a snap of his fingers could indicate that perhaps he hated the man, and the way he remorselessly allowed the replica of Riku devour and absorb Zexion could almost be seen as cruel, but what does a creature with no heart know of hatred and cruelty? Maybe he was just doing it because he was told, or maybe he was doing it because he enjoyed it... or maybe he just honestly feels nothing at all--'Nobody' knows for sure. He keeps his true alliances so close to his heart, as it were, that it's nigh impossible to tell who he's crossing, because he really never lets on just where his loyalties lie. He would rather straddle the fence than stand on either side of it, because that way he gets the best of both worlds and a strategic advantage to boot.
What you really don't see is that the preening and posturing is mostly to hide that Axel's a pretty nice guy. True, he is rather volatile, and he certainly has a fiery temper, but his pugnaciousness is diffused by a generally world-weary cynicism that keeps his jokes just shy of going too far and actually hurting anyone. He's got a sharp edge, but rarely presses hard enough to draw blood, and despite getting his yayas out at the expense of others, it's unusual for him to be outright cruel without a damn good reason. He's known to occasionally be too blunt with his thoughts, especially when it comes to the plight of being a Nobody, but he's not doing it to be mean, he's just calling 'em like he sees 'em. Charismatic, street-smart, and quick on his feet, Axel is definitely a good ally to have on your side. For that matter, he's a pretty good friend if you can stand him for more than ten minutes. He's actually quite loyal when he attaches himself to someone, it just takes a lot of convincing to impress him to the point where he'll stop being insufferable long enough to let someone in.
Despite supposedly not having a heart with which to do so, it's pretty easy to tell Axel loves his friends dearly, though the circle tends to remain small. He pulls out all the stops to try and make things easier for them (even if that means skipping a nap to pull double work duty, or going on an icky dangerous mission to make sure nobody gets themselves killed), and even puts them before work, which could easily get him killed in his specific occupation. He's always ready with a smart remark or a dumb joke to try and lighten the mood, and he's downright protective of the people he takes a liking to, almost to the point of possessiveness. Gosh, for a guy without a heart, he sure hates to see his friends troubled or in pain. He may not always be honest, but he's always good on his word, silver tongue notwithstanding, and if he screws something up, you can bet your last ten munny he's going to try and set things right. Axel would never have said aloud that he would die for his friends, but in the end, his actions spoke much louder.
CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS:
Despite not having a heart, Axel sure is prone to forging relationships with people, good or bad. Even well before KHII, he's already somehow tied in with most of the rest of the main cast. This list will only cover relationships and interactions demonstrated up until his canon pull-point, thus anything from KHII will not be mentioned. In something like chronological order by appearance:
• IsaFirst and foremost in Axel's history of friendship is--was, that is--Isa, his closest childhood friend. There's no confirmation of just how long Lea and Isa were friends before Radiant Garden fell, but there's no denying their closeness. They joked and teased each other mercilessly, and even made plans to infiltrate the Garden castle together. Isa was the level-headed strategist to Lea's hotheaded impulsiveness, the yin to his yang. It is uncertain what happened to Isa after the fall of Radiant Garden.
• Radiant Garden CrewHaving grown up in Radiant Garden, it only makes sense that Axel would have known the Garden Gang back when he was Lea. After all, the world wasn't that big. Granted, Leon (who was Squall back then) would have been about his age, and everyone else would have been at least a few years younger, with Kairi being the youngest at five, so while there's no indication he knew any of them well it would probably be safe to suggest that he could pick any of them out of a lineup. In my personal headcanon I think Lea was shunted off to Traverse Town when Radiant Garden fell, where he could have easily gotten to know the Final Fantasy group better, but I'm flexible and willing to work with whatever potential applicants would prefer on this one.
• SaïxIt bears mentioning that while Saïx may have been Isa once, he certainly bears little resemblance to the boy he used to be. Where Isa was known to give Lea a hard time when he was being an idiot (which was often), Saïx is downright berating and hyper-critical of Axel. Where Isa was willing to move mountains with Lea to get where they needed to go, Saïx preferred to let Axel to the dirty work so he could get where he wanted to go. Little by little, Axel finds himself questioning his loyalty to Saïx anymore; he's really not the person he used to be. Whatever happened to Isa after Gardenfall, it sure made a big dick out of him.
• Founding Organization MembersMembers I - VI don't really do much for Axel. They go on the list because he kind of can't avoid them, but aside from killing Vexen and Zexion, he doesn't have a whole lot of interaction with them outside of meetings. He seems to regard them all with a similar sense of diffused disdain at best, though he doesn't seem to have too much beef with Xigbar. Xemnas is his boss, but he doesn't seem to have any genuine respect for him, and he appears to regard everyone else as just sort of in the way.
• DemyxAxel's immediate subordinate, the Organization's No. IX is kind of a goofy, fun-loving dork, lack of heart notwithstanding. He's exceptionally lazy, and definitely a bit of a herp de derp, but Axel has been known to stick up for him when the mood strikes, which is more than he's prone to doing for most people. While any real personal interactions between them don't happen onscreen, as it were, it is heavily implied that they're at least casual pals.
• Neophyte Organization MembersMembers X - XII don't really do much for Axel either, but he definitely has a lot more screentime with Marluxia and Larxene. Granted, he thinks Marluxia is a self-important git and Larxene is a raging psycho bitch, but that isn't the point; the point is he manipulated them when they thought they were the ones doing the manipulating. Weaseling his way into their little traitor pool only to unravel it from within, Axel certainly sheds no tears at their untimely demise. They were little more than a means to an end for him, as Saïx had charged him with getting rid of the traitors during his time in Castle Oblivion.
• RoxasAxel had to wait a long time to find anyone else worth talking to. It wasn't until XIII showed up that he really had anything interesting to do. Placed in charge of babysitting, as it were, Axel grows close to Roxas as the boy goes from drooling zombie to competent badass. At first he finds it kind of irritating to have to play mentor to the Keyblade Master's spacey Nobody, but what starts out as an annoying job grows into a true partnership. It's not long before his friendship with Roxas completely outstrips any lingering camaraderie he might have felt for Saïx; he even comments in a private report that he's surprised that he finds it easier to talk to Roxas and Xion than his old friend these days. Their friendship lasts barely a year before everything all goes to hell, but it's powerful enough to give Axel reason to basically do a complete 180 priority shift. Whereas prior to Roxas' arrival, Axel was really only looking our for himself, when faced with losing Roxas he is forced to reconsider everything he's done. He admits that he's willing to do anything, orders be damned, to keep Roxas safe. It is because he cares so much about Roxas that he eventually finds the strength to finally tell the Organization to go screw itself and joins the winning side, because without friends, nothing else matters, not even getting his heart back.
• NaminéAxel's relationship with Naminé is a complicated one. On the surface he seems to have no real opinion about her at all, and yet he boldly puts the idea in her head that she's the only one who can save Sora. Now that's not something a villain should be doing! More than that, he pointedly turns the other way and just allows her to escape from her whitewashed prison where Marluxia and Larxene have been using her for their own needs. He doesn't actually have any onscreen interaction with her after he releases her in Castle Oblivion, but it is clear that he holds her in some sort of regard after everything, since the first thing he says to her when he next sees her (according to the novels) is that she's the only one who can save Roxas. There's that Not Being a Good Villain thing again... While he isn't nearly as close to her as he is to Roxas and Xion, he does seem to have some manner of affinity for her and doesn't hesitate to lend her a hand where she needs it.
• SoraAxel knew well who Sora was long before he first met him--he was The Boy Who Lived. Sora lost his heart and managed to get it back, and that was... really interesting. More over, Sora is Roxas' other, making him all the more intriguing to Axel. Though forced to battle Sora several times in Castle Oblivion, Axel makes it obvious that he's much more interested in hanging back to see what happens. His interactions with Sora in Castle Oblivion aren't exactly positive, and he doesn't make the decision to help Sora until after his canon point for Saudade, but he definitely regards Sora as more of an interesting hurdle than an enemy or someone to be defeated.
• Riku ReplicaFor the most part Axel doesn't really have an opinion on Repliku one way or another. He'll be the first to admit that nobody should be subjected to Vexen for any reason whatsoever, but seeing as how Repliku is just a replica and doesn't really count, in his mind, as a real person, he doesn't really think twice about using him to his own advantage. It's not until later, when he realizes that Xion is also a replica, that Axel might find himself suffering from a pang of guilt or two at having treated Repliku like a tool.
• RikuWhile he never actually meets the real one in Castle Oblivion, Axel comes to know Riku well enough to later realize that he's the impostor wearing the Organization coat who made contact with Xion. He doesn't exactly trust Riku, but he can acknowledge that he's not really a bad guy, as he says to Roxas that Xion is "safe" while she's in his company.
• XionXion doesn't really become a part of Axel's life until after he returns from Castle Oblivion, and even then he only really bothers getting to know her initially because she's Roxas' friend. It's not until they have ice cream together on the clock tower a few times that he truly begins to view her as his friend as well. As time passes and he grows closer to her, only to discover just what she truly is, Axel is pulled in two directions. Xion has become as dear to him as Roxas and he can't choose between them, so it's his own promise to Xion to protect Roxas that drives him to strike her down. He admits flat out, even if only to himself, that he doesn't think he can just stand by and watch Xion be destroyed, and that he can't bring himself to end her, even knowing what she's doing to Roxas. Though it obviously hurts him deeply to attack one of his best friends, he knows that unless he does something they'll end up destroying each other anyway.
• Twilight Town KidsThis really only counts as an acquaintanceship, but Axel and Roxas do have some limited interaction with Hayner, Pence, and Olette on a couple of missions in Twilight Town, though Axel never actually gives his name.
TIMELINE SUMMARY: BAWWWW
While Axel's ultimate Crowning Moment of Awesome is definitely his final sacrifice to allow Sora into The World That Never Was, that seems to be a very common pull-point for Axel, so I wanted to do something different. I chose his final battle with Xion because it's not only a point in canon I've never tried him from, it's an unorthodox moment of strength, and arguably actually harder for him than choosing to end his own life trying to help Sora. Pushed to the end of his resources, Axel is backed into a corner and forced to choose between his two best friends. He can't keep them both because they will inevitably destroy one another, but he can't bring himself to choose knowing how much they mean to each other. So rather than take the easy way out and refuse to choose or make someone else do it for him, Axel mans up and takes the only way out he can see: bring Xion back by any means necessary and seek another option. Though he claims he has believed that her returning to Sora was the right idea all along it's obvious he's full of beans, but he made a promise that he would protect Roxas, even if it meant bringing harm to her. Using the last of his strength to drag her back to the castle, Axel collapses at Nothing's Call, hoping some sort of compromise can be reached that will spare Xion, giving Roxas a reason to return to them. Sadly, Xion is destroyed and forgotten before any such negotiations can even begin, however I will be pulling Axel from the moment of collapse, before Xion's destruction, so he will still have memories of her.
POWERS
SAMPLE - THE AWAKENING:
He was falling, falling, falling too slowly, as if someone had turned down the gravity. It was like being in Never Land again, he thought absently to himself. What had happened? His head hurt, his eyes felt heavy, his whole body ached, like he'd--
Oh. He had been in a fight. He'd been fighting Xion... He had struck down his own friend and dragged her back to HQ where she would undoubtedly be punished for her disobedience. There was still a part of him that wondered if he'd done the right thing at all. Good thing being a Nobody meant no feelings, no guilt, no conscience.
Yeah, right. Tell that to the crushing sensation behind his ribs. He'd broken a rib or two before, and that was not what this was.
Forcing his eyes open, the sensation of falling quelled, and he squinted as a bright light assaulted his eyes, making the headache spike. The ground beneath him pulsed with a harsh, flickering red-orange light, like fire. The ground rose up to meet him and his knees buckled, pitching him to the strange strobing floor. The light filtered from somewhere beneath it, as if he were kneeling on stained glass. ... Well that didn't make much sense; there was nothing like that in the castle. Or Never Land, to the best of his knowledge.
"O... kay," he said softly, his voice echoing off nothing in the big empty space with the round floor. He couldn't see any walls around him, no ceiling above him, only the eerie red and gold light from below. Rapping his gloved knuckles against the floor, he furrowed his brow. It sure felt like glass (could glass hold his weight?), but what was this place? The floor was a brilliant, vibrant twisting spiral of crimson and gold and blue, like a thousand flames were erupting from the center of the room--the point on which he now knelt. Running his fingertips over the blue beneath his knees, he glanced up again.
"Ah--"
There was a pedestal before him now, vaguely minaret-shaped, rather like the doorways that led to each of their respective areas in the castle from Proof of Existence. No, exactly like those doorways.
"What the hell?"
Okay this officially made no sense now. Getting carefully to his feet, wobbling only slightly and curling an arm around his aching ribs, Axel approached the pedestal before him. He glanced to his right, spying another a third of the way around the room, and a third on his other side. Three pedestals, all identically shaped. What kind of dream was this? How hard had he hit his head when he'd collapsed before? Stepping up in front of the pedestal, Axel frowned at it. It wasn't as tall as the doorways, only rising to about chest height, and it was a dull dark red color. Impulsively he reached out to touch it, as if to make sure it was really there, and then he jumped, startled, when it flushed a bold scarlet color at his touch. Recoiling, he watched the pedestal whorl shades of red and orange, like the flickering lights from below, and an image slowly shimmered into focus amid the swirling color.
"That's..." He shook his head. Two steel wheels, red and silver, with eight spikes, razor sharp. Why was this pedestal showing him an image of his own weapons?
'Invincible courage, a blade of terrible destruction...'
His eyes winged around the empty room as a voice echoed from somewhere. No, the sound hadn't come from the room, it had reverberated within his own head. That voice... whose voice was that?
'Do you desire the path of a warrior?' it asked, and Axel's face twisted angrily.
Warrior? He was no warrior. All he had done with those chakrams was strike down someone he cared about. Courage hadn't had anything to do with it. With a sibilant noise, he swept his hand over the image in the pedestal and the chakrams vanished in a whorl of silver that faded into the red. The light within it died, the color returning to that original dark auburn, and Axel glanced at the pedestal to his right.
"Now what do you have to say, I wonder...?" he asked, stepping up to the pedestal and pressing his gloved hand against it. Like before, the dull brick red bloomed crimson beneath his hand, but this time the crimson quickly turned black, then purple, and Axel realized it was showing him a Dark Corridor. The colors folded over themselves at the edges, curling inward, as if beckoning him toward it.
'Kindness to aid friends, a shield to repel all,' the voice whispered within his head again, and he lifted a hand to press against his ear, as if it ached. The voice was so quiet, he just couldn't quite make it out. His eyes strayed back to the tiny image of the corridor again.
"A shield?" Not exactly. An escape was more like it. He was starting to wonder if Roxas and Xion hadn't had the right idea when they'd suggested just... running away. Was that kindness? Surely there was somewhere they could have gone where the Organization wouldn't have found them... But Xion would have continued to drain Roxas' power, wouldn't she? He knew she wouldn't have hurt him deliberately, but he knew he'd been right when he had written in that private report that there was really nowhere the three of them could hide, no place for all three of them in this world.
It wasn't fair. Even if she was a replica, even if she wasn't meant to exist, she did. They all did. Why didn't Xion deserve the life she'd been given?
'Would you choose the path of the guardian?' the voice asked, a little clearer in his head now. His hand still pressed to his ear, Axel felt a thin, watery smile turn his lips.
"That'd be nice," he said quietly, "but I don't deserve any title like that." He had lied to Roxas, let him walk away... he had attacked Xion, taken her down... He was no guardian, either, much as he wished he could have managed. His fingers brushed the pedestal, tracing the outlines of the corridor, and they melted away at his touch.
Turning toward the last pedestal, he supposed he might as well finish what he started. What was this dream trying to tell him, anyway? Pressing his hand against the smooth face of the pedestal, he watched it burst bright orange between his fingers, and as he pulled his hand away he felt a smile rise, unbidden, to his expression as a single tiny flame flickered in the shadows of the pedestal.
'Inner strength,' said the voice, and he closed his eyes, 'a blaze of wonder and ruin.'
It was Xion's voice. He could hear it plain as day now. He still didn't really understand what was going on, but he took a deep breath and opened his eyes again, watching the little flame flicker. He had more in common with that flame than anything else, really. Utilized with the proper care and caution, fire nurtured life, created warmth, safety, a place for people to gather. Those sunsets on the clock tower... had he been a flame then? But used carelessly, fire could destroy, burn whole forests to the ground, leaving the ground barren and useless for years. That dark alley, watching Roxas' back grow smaller and smaller as he had walked away... had he been a flame then?
Maybe it was both. Even earth that had been scorched and blackened could grow once more, and grow greater than before. Maybe it wasn't too late. Maybe that was what Xion was trying to say. Maybe this was what he'd been uncertain of all along.
'Will you wield this flame?' Xion's voice asked, and he could almost see that sad, hopeful look in her eyes, that same look she had given him when she'd begged him not to hold back.
"Yes," he said, not even realizing he'd spoken until he felt the pedestal give way under his hand, his fingers sliding through the smooth face to brush the flame. Turning his wrist, he cupped the fire in his palm and withdrew it from the pedestal, watching it lick his gloves, twist in the air, dancing. Closing his fingers around it, the flame whispered away in a puff of white smoke.
He gasped sharply when the ground beneath him shuddered then, and as he watched, the pedestals crumbled and broke apart one by one. They toppled to the ground in pieces, like the broken headstones of the fallen Organization members in Proof of Existence. What had he done? Had he made the wrong choice? ... Maybe he should have chosen the corridor after all!
Extending a hand to try and call one up as the quaking beneath his feet intensified, he watched in horror as nothing but a cough of purple darkness came to his fingertips. He tried again, but the warped, twisting maw of a corridor wouldn't come. There was a deafening noise, like the shattering of a thousand windows, and Axel turned in time to see the center of the round glass floor fall away.
"... Aw, hell."
He swept his hand through the air again, watching nothing but indigo smoke trail from his fingers. Looked like there was no escaping this time; no running away. As the sound of shattered glass drowned out even his own thoughts, Axel lifted his arms to shield his eyes, the floor collapsing beneath him, and once more he was falling, falling, falling into the Darkness.
With a gasp he snapped his eyes open again to find himself lying on his back staring up into a swirling black and purple... nothing. Out of one nightmare and into another; such was the life of a Nobody, he supposed.
SPECIAL ABILITIES:
Having chosen the flame--the Path of the Mystic--Axel will keep all of his canon abilities, since he's mostly a mage in canon, using fire for the majority of his attacks. His weapons are summoned, so he'll have those as well, and he's already got a coat, so the fact that he'd get one for his choices... makes no difference. His abilities as dictated in canon are as follows:
[MINIONS]
All of the Organization members have lesser Nobodies that they can summon to do their bidding. Axel has command of the Assassin Nobodies, and these guys are about as much of a pain in the ass as Axel himself is. They're infuriatingly difficult to fight, as they have the ability to hide in the ground/floor as well as float using their wide 'arms' as wings. Apparently they have spines made of rubber, since they can also curl themselves into disks leaving them almost impenetrable. When engaged, they have several attacks including a dangerous barrage of strikes from their spiked limbs. The only means of landing a hit on these bastards is to successfully parry them, rendering them temporarily vulnerable.
Axel can also summon Dusks, another lesser Nobody form. Dusks are not powerful, but tend to travel in droves and can easily overcome a single combatant if they swarm (see: Sora's battle in Betwixt and Between). They are more commonly used for courier or reconnaissance missions, however, as they seem to actually have the ability to communicate, unlike most of the lesser Nobodies. While he has been known to use them to his advantage, Axel seems to have a disdain for the Dusks and throughout the games has a genuine fear of becoming one should he fail in his missions (as it is implied that his superiors have the ability to reduce their fellow Organization members to Dusks, though this process is never really elaborated upon).
Organization members also have the ability to summon Shadow and Neoshadow Heartless, but their control over the Heartless seems to be a bit flimsy. It is said that the Heartless simply obey whoever is the strongest, so it's not necessarily a good idea to call on these guys' help against a powerful opponent.
This ability will likely be stunted in Penrose, as there aren't any lesser Nobodies or Heartless around, but may manifest during off-world missions where these creatures could logically be present.
[MAGIC]
It is unclear whether or not the elemental powers of the Organization Nobodies are the same as the elemental spells available to all mages, but for the sake of Saudade it really makes no difference. Axel's ability to wield fire is far more advanced and versatile than the usual Fire spells, either way. While his chakrams are usually present when he's setting stuff on fire, there's no direct indication that the fire is incumbent on the weapons or vice versa. Axel usually uses fire along with his chakrams, however, lighting them before throwing them, and he also has the ability to light them up remotely after having thrown them. When you fight Axel as a boss, he displays the ability to create great circles and walls of flame while in the manga he is also shown summoning a small tongue of fire to dispose of a photograph, illustrating the wide range of control he has over his element.
As a playable character in Mission Mode of 358/2 Days, Axel has the ability to use the full range of spells available in the game's arsenal. This includes three levels of Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, Aero, and Cure. It is my personal belief that while he is capable of using these spells, his skill with most magic other than fire-based is mediocre.
[SHOW ME YOUR MOVES]
Well, they don't call him the Flurry of Dancing Flames for nothing, but we're not talking DDR here. There's a range of evasive maneuvers Axel wields in battle along with his weapons and magic, including various rolls, feints, dodges, and blocks. I could list these, but in an RP setting it always feels kind of weird to mention these by name, since we're doing a little more than just button-mashing, so this just kind of sums up to Catch Me If You Can. His reflexes are phenomenal, allowing him to dodge very well and sprint at incredible speeds. He can zap in and out of space faster than the eye can see, throwing his weapons and then just appearing on the other side of the arena to catch them and throw them again.
[DARKNESS]
As a Nobody, Axel is also able to manipulate the corridors of darkness to move between and within worlds. These corridors are able to bridge any distance, utilizing the flux space between dimensions known as Betwixt and Between to close the gaps between planes and worlds. Obviously he would no longer be able to teleport to other worlds, but he would logically keep this ability and use it to portal around Penrose.
[MANIPULATION]
No, you can't read his poker face. He's an incredible bluffer, and despite the fact that he got his ass beat at cards by Luxord, well... Luxord cheats. A real smooth operator, Axel has quite a silver tongue and a way of talking himself out of (or into) just about anything. He's an accomplished double-agent and has charisma points to spare. He tends to be very even-tempered, even under pressure, and though he has shown real anger a few times, he's usually very good about keeping his cool and not letting things get to him. This makes his tendency to pull from both pots all the easier.
Weapons: Axel's weapons of choice are a pair of red-and-silver spiked chakrams that actually more closely resemble Chinese wind-and-fire-wheels than traditional chakrams. They can be conjured at will from his Hyperspace Arsenal and serve as melee as well as ranged weapons, as they can be both used for slashing/stabbing and be thrown. Axel is a playable character in Mission Mode of 358/2 Days, and his chakrams can be customized the way the Keyblades can, so theoretically this implies that he can summon several different types depending on the needs of the operation. His default chakrams are shown here, and a list of all customized forms is at the bottom.
He can also use a Limit Break called Explosion, during which he hurls his chakrams aflame at an enemy, creating an explosion afterward.
Incidentally, Axel also has a knack for throwing darts.
NOTES/ASPIRATIONS
TROLL ALL THE THINGS. Since Axel's canon point yanks him from a pretty uncomfortable period in his relationship with both Roxas and Xion, his first and foremost aspiration will likely be to fix that, provided they are present in the setting. His loyalties to the Organization have already been shaken, so not necessarily having to answer to Xemnas will be a nice change for him, but he's kind of a creature of habit and since not getting a job won't be an option if he wants to have a nice couch to nap on, he'll probably end up running missions a lot. Stick to what you know, right?