Axel was taken aback by the sudden question. His head whipped to look at his friend, his eyes wide. “Wha-what?”
Axel was sitting on one of the white couches, simply lounging around, waiting for Demyx to show up so that they could leave on their mission.
He wondered why they needed to kill off everyone in Hollow Bastion; was it really necessary to eliminate everyone?
He looked around the room again, yet it was still void of the sitar-weilding nobody. “Where is he?” Axel thought out loud.
It’s not charms, it’s chakrams GOT IT MEMORIZED?!?!))
Roxas walked up to Axel, smiling at his best friend. “You ready to head out?” he asked.
Axel sighed. “Yeah. We’re doing recon today.” He held up his hand and summoned a portal of darkness.
He walked forward, turning around right as he reached the portal.
“Coming?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
Roxas entered the portal, and had barely taken a few steps when a sinking sensation came over him. His lungs ached and his legs felt like they were on fire. The pain was almost too much for him to handle.
As quickly as it came, the pain left. Now feeling lighter than air, Roxas opened his eyes.
Roxas gasped. His legs were gone, replaced by what looked like a dolphin’s tail. There was even a dorsal fin on his back. Roxas turned around frantically, trying to find Axel.
Axel opened his eyes and looked around. All he could see was blue. It was as if a film was put over his eyes. Squeezing his eyes shut and panicking, he gasped.
Axel’s eyes widened when he realized that, instead of air, water was rushing into his lungs. He suddenly realized why he couldn’t see anything. He was underwater.
The nobody’s hands grasped at his throat, almost willing the air to enter his lungs. He tried to hold his breath; but all too soon he felt the crushing sensation in his chest, his body telling him that it needed oxygen. Reflexively, Axel gasped and started breathing heavily.
He was like this for a moment before he realized something; why wasn’t he drowning? He was breathing in water, wasn’t he?
Curious, Axel tried to open his eyes. He blinked, his eyes starting to clear up. Hazy colors were becoming visible; blues and greens, with little spurts of reds, yellows, and violets.
Axel tried to move forward, but he couldn’t. It felt as if his legs were stuck together. Hesitantly, he looked down at his legs, or what used to be his legs. He let out a shocked gasp, his eyes transfixed on the orange and red blob of color where his legs and feet should be.
“Wha-what?”
Hearing Axel’s voice, Roxas located his friend a few feet away. He swam towards Axel, using only his arms, unaware of how to use his tail. As he approached Axel, he saw the shock on his partner’s face. He reached his hand forward and lightly touched his cheek.
“Axel?” he said, his voice shaking.
At his friend’s touch, Axel blinked, his focus torn away from his new tail. He turned his questioning gaze at the blonde nobody.
“We’re….underwater, Roxas,” he said, a hint of fear in his voice.
“Yeah, we are,” Roxas said, trying to reassure Axel. He then noticed that his hand was still against Axel’s face. Blushing, he removed his hand and looked anywhere but Axel. “Let’s look around,” he suggested.
Axel blinked. Roxas’ behavior was…strange. He decided to worry about that later and focus on the mission. Looking around, his eyesight much better, he saw that they were in an underwater canyon, tall walls of grey-violet rock surrounding them. Aquatic life was abundant; all kinds of sea plants swayed in the gentle current as technicolor waves of fish swam by. As he looked up, Axel saw the surface of the water high above them, intricate lines of light dancing upon the top of the water. His instincts told him to rush towards the light and try to reach the sky, but he fought against them and continued to survey his surroundings.
As he looked to his left, the nobody saw a break in the walls of the canyon. The water through this break was a darker blue, hinting at the vast openness of the ocean. Mentally deciding to avoid leaving the safety of the canyon, Axel turned his head. There were many crevices and almost tunnel like holes in the canyon walls; his curiosity peaked, Axel made to move towards one. However, he was unused to swimming with his newfound tail, and he clumsily thrashed around where he was.
Roxas laughed as Axel flailed around. Not that he could swim any better. Focusing, Roxas slowly moved his tail up and down until he felt ready to swim forward. It took him a couple tries, but Roxas got the hang of swimming with his tail. He smiled at Axel. “Need any help?” he asked.
Axel glared at his friend. “No I don’t help, Roxas.” He tried to follow the blonde’s example, moving his tail back and forth with the current. He then propelled forward, moving almost at ease, albeit a bit jerky. He swam towards a random tunnel in the canyon wall. There was a bright yellow trident that appeared to be almost painted on the inside of the tunnel. The trident was pointing into the tunnel.
The flame wielding nobody placed a hand on his hip, staring at the trident. He glanced over his shoulder at Roxas.
“What do’ya think of this?” he asked his friend.
Roxas followed Axel to the tunnel, peering inside before looking at the trident.
“It could be a sign?” he suggested. “Should we follow it?”
Axel shrugged his shoulders. “Probably.” He swam into the tunnel, not waiting to see if Roxas was following him.
Roxas walked up to Axel, smiling at his best friend. “You ready to head out?” he asked.
Axel sighed. “Yeah. We’re doing recon today.” He held up his hand and summoned a portal of darkness.
He walked forward, turning around right as he reached the portal.
“Coming?” he asked.
About Axel: the Flurry of Dancing Flames
