Summary: Axel's an ignorantaristocratic boy from one of the Four Families of Horizon's End (Rebirth, it was later renamed), andRoxas is a poor kid out on the streets...but was he always peasant? That is the question, isn't it. Alternate Universe: AnAkuRoku fic. Basedin aVictorian Era twisted withmodern-day sort of thing.
Author's Notes: I'm hesistant about posting this now...Hopefully it's not too confusing. Most of the ideas were influenced through my History class. I'm not really good at summaries either, so forgive me for that. Don't kill me if you don't like it ; just move on with your lives... But do send some feedback. Tips would be nice too. :)
Prologue: Getting the Classes Right
Streaks of violent crimson tainted the pure, radiant blue sky hanging silently above the urban city. The smell of murder and distinct taste of blood seemed to fill the air, mercilessly driving through every wall and piercing through every nostril. Every man, woman, and child seemed driven by indecisive fear. Even those who knew nothing of what had occurred—what was occurring—that day could still sense the tension in their hearts. Everyone in that city had been connected; no matter how poor the soul, no matter how hard they worked…all hearts were connected as one sole community. Everyone had been viewed as equal even despite the difference daily wage and social status.
Greed had yet to corrupt the minds of the people… Money had yet to stray the soul from the heart friendship…and many hoped it would remain this way. Friendship was the one thing that brought peace to everyone. It was the only thing that was capable of easing the darkness concealed within every heart. Never was there a moment of chaotic revolution amongst unhappy peoples towards their superiors. Everyone was content; there was no need for significant changes. No need for revolution.
Horizon's End had been considered an ultimate haven for all creatures and peoples alike. But this city, too, could not possibly escape the daunting powers of fate forever. All good things eventually come to an end. Horizon's End—this brilliant utopian city—was no different.
The young master had been lazily dozing off by his open window that day, his pale, thin right arm dangling over the side of his two-story mansion as he gazed out into the cloudless sky. It was a beautiful, breezy day that day; the sun's rays were barely noticeable thanks to the nice draft that swept in every so often. It was a rather soothing feeling, the boy noted, allowing the wind to breath easily through the flaming red locks that drooped down to his shoulders in a sort of clean-mess. Truthfully speaking, everyday was a beautiful day. Such clear days were a normal occurrence; there was nothing particularly special about them. The boy, himself, actually found them to be particularly boring.
With legs propped up against the windowpane, Axel sat mumbling to himself, his expression rather quizzical. On a simple note, one would probably say that the red-haired, emerald green-eyed boy was as bored as hell could possibly get without fire, heat, and ultimate agony. This would be true if not for the fact that there was something other than utter boredom that seemed evident in his stunningly brilliant green orbs. What it was that bothered him, though…well, not even Axel, himself would be able to answer that question. He was only twelve years old (despite his appearance of being in his mid teens); it was no wonder he still held the air of curiosity a child had. He was only a boy after all. A very different sort of aristocratic boy at that.
With an exasperated sigh, and in hope of shaking off this desolate feeling tightening in his stomach, the redhead began to whistle a favorite tune of his. This tune, itself, earned the title of being his "Extraordinarily Damn Good Victory Theme Song" or the E.D.G.E Song for short. Why, edge? Axel just grew to like that word, and named his favorite tune after one of his favorite words. He nearly set Marluxia's hair ablaze during his brainstorming. Never disturb the young master while he's thinking—or at least, attempting to think.
The red head often hummed it whenever he succeeded in pulling a prank on Xigbar—Axel's hunting-obsessed father. To the boy, his own father (which he refused to say he had any relation to), was the hardest to pull tricks on. It would be a miracle of the redhead actually succeeded in any attempts he pulled; most of the times they worked by accident... Despite that, though, there never seemed to be a single wasted moment in ol' Xiggy's life…one merely had to look at his collection of plagued heartless heads hanging along his infamous 'Wall of Game' to see how eventful his life was. Oh…how the old man loved the rush of shooting random heartless critters. It always brought a tear to his eye.
Hn…? Being torn away from his secret fantasies, Axel caught a distinct whiff of smoke drifting in the breeze. Planting his feet firmly on the floor, he leaned himself out the window to get a better look around outside. Where there's smoke, there's bound to be fire, his mind unconsciously told him as he scanned the street. It took him merely a few seconds before he caught sight of it in his haste. Sure enough, there it was: Smoke. This wasn't just any normal barbeque grilled smoke either…this was definitely the real thing. Something, whatever it was, was burning not far from the boy's mansion on Twilight Lane.
"Awesome," he said, idly, jumping out of his seat in hopes of seeing behind the houses that obscured his view. He still couldn't glimpse any flames from where he was, but a certain spark, that had not been there seconds before, seemed to light deep within him.
Axel didn't seem to care if the fire was burning a house, or burning human flesh—well, of course he'd care, but that would only hit him if he saw that for himself. As of the moment, the red-haired pyro-maniac was only interested in the flames…how he wished to see them up close. To feel the heat pressing against his pale face would become the reminder the red head had been waiting for: A reminder that this day, July 16, 18XX was a day different from all others! To the young master, any disruption, distortion, or alteration from being a 'perfect' day became one of his favorite days. He would go as far as to mark these particular days on his calendar hanging idly on the wall opposite.
Life was just that boring, and with life this dull, the redhead needed these 'calamities' to remind him that he was still alive. It was a good life, nonetheless, but for someone like Axel…? The boy would probably appreciate being out in the Deep Jungle rather than being stuck in this boring, century old mansion as the heir in an important aristocratic line: the all-important Family of Diamonds. The Diamonds happened to be ranked second in power of the four noble families in Horizon's End. The Family of Hearts had always taken the responsibility of the city, as a whole, ranking the highest amongst everyone else—the most powerful, yet most loved family amongst the peoples.
In a swift swoop, the boy quickly strode over to his calendar; an unmistakably wide grin upon his once dazed façade. "Demyx!" he called, absentmindedly, "Demyx!"
There didn't seem to be any reply to the boy's loud calls, until another rather distant voice seemed to call out too: "Demyx—Boy!" it screamed, a voice Axel knew very well to be Xigbar's, "The Axe of Doom summons you! Are you prepared...?"
The redhead shrugged his shoulders: what…the heck. This must have been the seventh time that week his father called him that. The little nicknames annoyed him to no end.
Trying to erase Xigbar from his mind, Axel took out his usual black-ink pen and began to mark in the square of the specified date. He proceeded to scribble, fire on street in some rather small sloppy characters next to the diamond marking he made. After finishing with that, out of pure curiosity, he flipped back a few months to glimpse the last time he marked in the flimsy thing. At the first moment he recognized his own scrawled out handwriting he stopped flipping around. JANUARY was the month printed in clear, bold letters at the top of the page.
A slight smile crawled across his face as he read the uneven letters: Naminé's 10th birthday. Not that the redhead found of the girl (apparently two years younger than he was) to be particularly attractive, but she was to be his future wife. Both Xigbar, the head of the Diamonds, and Master Cloud, the head of the Hearts, had agreed it upon this at the girl's birth. A wedding between Naminé and Axel would allow a joint union between the two families. This unity would not only bring more power to both, but also intended to be good for the people. The redhead knew the little blonde haired-girl with her cute smile and kind eyes to be very pretty, indeed, but she was definitely not the type he would choose had he the choice in the matter.
At around the same time the young master began flipping the pages back to today's date, he heard some rather distinguished footsteps heading toward his door. Judging by sound of stumbling feet and random nonsense grumbling, Axel knew it to be the servant boy he had called for. It was only a matter of time until young Demyx slipped into his master's room, a frown most evident on his bored-looking face. This relatively new servant boy had only just started working under the Family of Diamonds for about two weeks.The red headknew only a few things about this mysteriously lazy, whinny, sitar-obsessed, mohawked dirty blonde kid. Aside from the fact that Demyx was five and a half years older than he was, Axel knew practically nothing about him. The sitar player could be a thief or marauder or something else for all he knew!
His father always seemed to avoid the topic whenever he attempted to bring it up.
The dirty blonde sighed, scratching the side of his head as though he were utterly annoyed with something, "…You realize, Xigbar—"
"Master Xigbar." Axel corrected, grinning widely at the other, his emerald eyes inspecting the elder boy with interest. Unlike his other servants, Demyx had his own personal wardrobe of relatively casual and decent clothes; it would be hard to determine, from a commoner's perspective, that the guy was a servant. Even the redhead would have thought him to be from an aristocratic family himself…
"Same difference!" snapped Demyx gritting his teeth, "That damn father of yours—!"
Crossing his arms, Axel's gaze darkened causing Demyx to hold his tongue. The boy's grin never seemed to falter despite his heavy stare.
"He's not my father, and it's Sir or Mister or Master," retorted the younger one, striding over to his furnished and newly polished desk. "Got it memorized…?"
"Argh—Whatever! The point is he—that man's on something!"
The redhead chuckled at hearing this information ring in his ears. The twelve-year old needed no reminder of Xigbar's 'slight' problem…He became aware of it ever since the old geezer dropped him in their garden fountain on accident when he was only a wee lad. The head of Diamonds claimed to have mistaken the poor child for dirty clothes…He was probably drunk at the time, Axel told himself, hoping, dearly, that that was the case. He didn't want his father being entirely senile…not only because they were related, but also because he held a rather powerful position in their city. Who knows what kind of trouble a madman would do with such power…?
Waving his hand absentmindedly, Axel beckoned the mohawked teenager toward him. Reluctantly, Demyx obeyed keeping himself a relatively safe distance from the younger boy, only to find himself having to scoot in a little closer inch by inch as a result of the other's demand. The sitar player knew rather well how his young master loved to play tricks, especially on hopeless people like himself. Age never did stop the redhead from beating the crap out of his new servant at anything (except literal beatings, that was meant metaphorically).
When the reluctant teen had finally come within a foot away from where he stood, Axel gave a satisfied nod that where he stood was fine.
"Distract Xigbar for me. There's something I'm dying to check out."
The blonde returned a blank stare mouth slightly agape. So many questions seemed to build up in the teen's mind as his searched for any sign of a 'just kidding' in the redhead's features. Noticing how serious the Axel was, in panic he gasped, "Y-You can't—Why me…?"
"Simple enough, isn't it?"
"B-but…! Why?"
"Do it, or I raid your room."
"You've got the wrong guy, sir, seriously! Look't me!" Demyx had begun to spin around in circles, certainly hoping he wouldn't have to spend another minute with the psychotic hunter. "He shot holes in my pants!" At this, the teen revealed the various holes that adorned his ivory colored pants. The young master had not noticed them there until they were pointed out, "He'll kill me! Beside, the hell are you going to check out? You're not trying to sneak out again, are you?"
Axel ignored most of Demyx's loud banter, and instead, waltzed over to his open window again to make sure the smoke hadn't died down. He had a good hunch that the smoke would still be there when he looked; it had only been but a few minutes since he last glimpsed it off in the distance. Fortunately for him, the smoke had not died down…but unfortunately, for whoever lived in that area, the smoke clouds had gotten much larger. The flames, themselves, must have reached the roof of whatever house it was by now, or something, because he was able to see them without attempting to strain his neck out the window… The intense of aroma of smoke was so bad it made his eyes burn.
"Holy shit!"
It was Demyx's voice that shrieked at the sight of the blaze. The teenage blondie had given up on loud bantering at the very moment he noticed his young master was not paying any attention to him. Flustered at being ignored, he barely took a few steps toward the where Axel stood before he too smelled the scent of smoke. The dirty blonde literally pushed Axel out of the way as he stumbled over to the window to get a better look. It wasn't hard to find…especially with the huge funnels of dark, gray smoke that seemed to pierce the once perfect blue sky above. Streaks of red—the tint of blood—appeared to wound sky above…bad sign.
By this time, Axel and Demyx were no longer the only people in the neighborhood who noticed this odd disturbance to their peaceful part on the Right Side. The spectacle could probably be seen clear on the Opposite Side of the City, in the slums of Horizon's End. There seemed to be crowds of people down in the streets now, mingling and talking rapidly, with horrified looks on their paled faces. A few just rushed outside of their houses to see the smoke, while everyone else rushed, like a hurried mob, in the direction of the smoke. They all wanted to glimpse the wreckage, but more importantly, they all prayed, hoping that the gods had spared their house or even their beloved family.
Axel had just about opened his mouth to suggest something to Demyx, when the door suddenly shot open. It slammed rather hard against the wall, causing the house to shudder on impact. The two boys spun around, utterly surprised to find Xigbar at the doorway with some longhaired blonde old guy at his side. Axel didn't know their visitor personally, but he had seen him around enough times to know exact who he was…
Vexen, he growled the name to himself with great malice. The redhead just knew he would never grow to like this mad scientist of a fellow. His long locks and serious air always seemed unpleasant for the boy. Also, for some reason or another, the creep brought with him a little tip of bad news around with him. With a wounded sky and Vexen standing in his room, the boy could no longer shake off the queasy feeling he had long felt in his stomach since that morning.
"What happened?" asked the boy, emerald orbs narrowing as the longhaired blonde took several more steps into his room. "And why's he here?"
"Nothing that concerns you, kid," mused his father, laughing lightly, "Bit of a smoke problem, that's all." Ignoring Axel's accusing glare, the old geezer glanced over at Vexen and continued, "He's here to see Demyx. Right?"
At this remark, the fifteen-year-old servant jumped, "M-me?" he gasped, eyeing the visitor warily.
"I don't quite recall saying that," interjected a rather indifferent Vexen, furrowing his brow as he, too, eyed Demyx warily. "I didn't think I'd be seeing you again so soon, Demyx. Had I known…I'd have surely brought a well-deserved present for you, servant boy."
The youngest of the group could only glance from person to person, in hopes of getting some kind of explanation to what was going on. Despite not knowing, he seemed to dislike this blonde visitor all the more. The emphasis on Demyx's minor status in society, and the tone of voice the scientist spoke in made the redhead wish to knock him a good one on the side of the head.
Unlike his son, Xigbar only shrugged his shoulders at this, using a finger to idly scratch around the sides of his patched right eye—this injury was probably the most distinguishable feature (other than the skunk-like appearance his hair had) on the head of Diamonds. It was obvious to anyone that Vexen, advisor of the head Family of Spades, had no time to play pretend games; the man came strictly on business. There was no need for him to talk to a mere servant boy anyway.
"I, actually, came to—"
Xigbar's face seemed to twist into a wicked smile, interrupting the other man as he proceeded to speak; "Axe, go pick up Kairi. She'd be at the police station by now."
"Why's she there?"
"Kid, be a good boy and just go, alright?"
Fighting the urge to talk back, the redhead took one last glimpse around his humble room before slowly slumping toward the door. He moved sluggishly in hopes of hearing at least a little bit of what they had to talk about. Axel wasn't stupid, he knew very well that Xigbar was trying to hide the juicy details. What irked him was how his father could just barge into his own room then simply kick him out, just like that! Couldn't the old geezer talk with the old scientist some place else…some place safer…some place, any place other than his room? Other than the irk-y feeling, the boy was also rather annoyed with the fact that they hadn't dismissed Demyx either. So, the servant boy could be in on it, but not the Diamond's own heir left out…? The nerve of them!
Not a single word was uttered as he walked through the open doorway of his invaded sanctuary and into the hall. With hands shoved into the two front pockets of his long pants, he decided to linger about the hallway for a bit; he stood a bit out of sight just in case. He figured that perhaps they'd start talking if he left the room and thought he had gone for sure.
A few seconds passed…and then a few minutes passed. It was either they knew he was still their or were hesitating to bring the topic up; not knowing how to start their conversation. Axel was anxious to listen in since he wasn't quite sure whether his father had been lying about his cousin, Kairi, hanging out at the police office. If she really was there, the redhead figured the girl could wait a bit before he went to pick her up. Patience, he told himself as he leaned his back up against the decorative wallpaper.
After what seemed like more than twenty-five minutes, Demyx's voice finally rose above the stillness: "Kairi's your niece, ain't she?" The question was obviously directed to Xigbar.
"She must be traumatized by now," was Xigbar's reply, his voice slightly sour, "I could only imagine how it felt to stare death in the face like that." There appeared to be a brief pause where he must have shifted his eyes to look at Vexen, "…Details?"
"Oh, you want details?" said the scientist. Axel seemed to picture a cruel smile upon the man's face about then, "Well, for one thing, your son is without a fiancée."
"What's that s'posed to mean? I'm not good at guessing games."
Once again, another wave of silence seemed to hush over the three huddled within the room. Without a fiancée? Was the man talking about Naminé? Clearing his mind, Axel made sure to open both ears as he listened closely to whatever Vexen had to say next. Had the blonde girl, or her father, backed out on their proposal…? Or was it…? It was at that moment that something clicked in the redhead's mind. He stood there dumbstruck at the mere thought of it. The fire. Pictures of the wreckage he witnessed bled into his conscience. How he hoped these images was wrong—
"—The Hearts are no more, Xigbar; they're all dead."
"W-Wha…? N-no way!" gasped a most astonished Demyx, "The Family of Hearts? Everyone? Dead?"
"I'm sure you noticed the putrid odor of smoke from here," scathed the scientist, as he took a few steps toward the door. Noticing this, Axel quickly scooted a bit further away from the doorway. "That's their mansion. It's a horrible wreck…" a cynical chuckle seemed to leave his lips before he finished: "You probably wouldn't recognize it anymore."
At hearing this, Axel quickly sped down the hallway; his mind up in a semi-panic.
Kairi wasn't merely hanging around with the policeman; she was there for a reason, and he understood this perfectly, now. Xigbar hadn't made it up…his cousin had left their house early that same morning to visit Sora—the heir to the Family of Hearts. She could be hurt, he thought to himself as he hastily jumped down the stairs to get down to the base floor. Truthfully, though, the boy was more interested in knowing what had taken place…and if it was true that they were all dead. If Kairi was at the police station, then she wasn't dead. So how'd she survive…?
Aside from that question, the redhead just couldn't imagine the fall of the Family of Hearts. To see the blank faces and splatter blood dripping along their marvelous marble floor was just something he could not see—or maybe just refused to accept. The great Cloud, his mistress Aerith, and their heirs—Naminé…and her brothers…To see their smiling faces forever dissolved in those blasted flames he, himself, had grown obsessed over. So much immaturity on his part—at least that's how he saw it. He had lost his future wife, while Kairi had lost her best friend. More importantly, the most essential component to all of Horizon's End had been depleted. The Hearts were the key to the city's unity. Even Axel, a twelve-year-old boy, could feel a new age coming soon to their peaceful city.
Frustrated, the young master sped through the ballroom and over to the large, front double doors of his mansion. With a little less than a glimpse at his idled-looking shoes, he slipped them on and ran out, leaving the door ajar as he found himself in his front yard. It was more of a front garden with the front gate some distance away. The house was too damn big! Axel was already out of breath from rushing to get out, and that said a lot about the house.
Without waiting to catch his breath, the young master sprinted down the paved walkway toward the gate in the distance. Being a relatively good runner, he arrived at its foot in less than a few minutes, and wasted no time in opening it and slipping into the bustling street of Twilight Lane. Just as he had witnessed from his window, there were still dozens people heading in the direction of the distant flames. Actually, it was so crowded; Axel would need to worm his way through the people. Thankfully, though, the police station was in the same direction as the way traffic was flowing, so he wouldn't have that much trouble getting to where he wanted to go.
"Here goes…" he muttered under his breath as he dived into the sea of people, his thin body easily allowing him to slip passed larger and taller obstructions.
What happened next went so quickly that Axel could not possibly understand what had actually taken place. All his attention was so focused on where he wanted to end up that he didn't see the other boy also rushing rapidly in the opposite direction of the way everyone else was headed. This boy walked dazed-like…his blonde locks damp with sweat and stuck to his heated skin as he continued to worm his way through the street. No one paid him any attention. Not a single person. They just walked passed him, unaware that the way he was going was the totally opposite was of where they were going. It was like he wasn't there…like he was a ghost that only one person could see.
Axel caught sight of the boy the moment he was about four meters away from him. For the briefest moment his emerald orbs locked eyes with the dilated blue eyes of this saddened boy. Unconsciously, without even realizing it, his mind memorized all of this mysterious stranger's features: from his bloodshot blue eyes, to his unkempt blonde hair, and even to his torn up ragged dress pants and shirt. It was at that very moment he laid eyes on the other when the queasy feeling in his stomach dissipated, as though it had been waiting for this boy to come along all this time. Curious, the redhead stopped abruptly, mindlessly watching this younger boy teeter passed him. His emerald eyes never stopped gazing; it wasn't until the blonde slipped out of sight did Axel regain himself…
Who was that…? A presence so familiar…He swore he had seen that child before, but where, he didn't know. He looked a bit like Sor—
"Keep movin'!" yelled an anxious spectator from behind him. Axel, too, was just as angry as the one who was taking their rage out on him. That totally shook the boy back to reality. That same pedestrian even went as far as thwacking the boy over the head with his walking stick. The boy grimaced, shooting both the infamous fierce glare and the finger at the old man waiting behind him—a double bonus. Only people who were really capable of pissing the young master off got both the glare and the finger. Without waiting for a response from the old guy, Axel dove back into the crowd of people. His mind was, once again, completely focused on reaching the police station…
…The strange encounter with the other boy…completely erased from his mind. Not a single imprint of it left in his present memory.
Uhh...Long prologue! I'll post chapter 1 soon (hopefully in two or three days). Reviews, anyone?
In the Chapter to come: Axel...gets himself a new fiancee (that he hates to death)!And Roxas is finally introduced! xD