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Post by *~Nikkole~* on Oct 25, 2006 4:43:37 GMT
nikky glanced at axel, then at reno. she saw this and tackled xima wildly when she wasn't expecting it. she used the force to knock her to the ground and propel herself back into the air.she landed rather stifly, wincing. she held her hip and swayed slightly, getting rather dizy.
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Oct 25, 2006 4:55:33 GMT
Xima rose, cold fire in her glare. She stormed towards Nikky as Reno landed on a tree's side and coiled to launch himself at her again...
His eyes widened as he sensed her unmistakeable intent. Oh, G**... she's going to KILL HER!
He sprang from the tree, dreading what he knew in his heart to be true... he would not be able to stop her in time...
Axel saw the action playing out before him and knew what he had to do...
Xima brought her sword above her head and brought it swinging down at Nikky's chest...
There was a sickening thud and a fatal gush of blood...
Xima froze. Her sword still in mid-swing, she looked down at her abdomen, one of Axel's staffs sticking through it from behind her.
She spun around and chopped the end of the staff off, freeing herself from Axel's hold on her... and plunged her sword straight into his chest as he scrambled to retreat.
He gasped, blood pouring from the wound, as she twisted the sword and yanked it from him.
He sank to his knees...
Xima viewed him coldly as life began to ebb from him...
And Reno slammed into her full-force, knocking her backwards into a boulder. She lost her grip on her sword...
Reno scooped caught it as it fell and plunged it straight into the dark space where her heart would have been.
She looked down at it. She looked up at him as he glared her down.
She chuckled ironically. "Idiot. Killing a Heartless by stabbing it in the heart... not a demonstration of brilliance, I'm afraid."
She yanked her blade out of her chest and dissolved into shadows. We will meet again... Xima's ethereal voice threatened before fading into echoes.
Reno glared into the gloom. "The sooner, the better, bey***h."
Axel lay collapsed on the forest floor, only semi-coherent, fading fast. He reached towards Nikky beseechingly. "Nikky..."
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Post by matt on Oct 25, 2006 13:21:22 GMT
The demon had gathered enough information, and headed back to find Akira.
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Post by *~Nikkole~* on Oct 25, 2006 13:50:22 GMT
nikky looked over at him and walked over a few steps. she crouched down and then sat next to him. ''yes...?'' she said quietly, not being able to finish her sentence.
kamen! we need help if you... she broke off, knowing it was probably too late. she reached for his hand and tried to be comforting....
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Oct 25, 2006 17:33:53 GMT
He started to shiver. "I'm freezing."
Reno tried to intercept her. "Nikky--"
Axel looked at him and chuckled ironically. "Don't worry... It's too late for me to hurt anyone now."
He tried to breathe and found it harder and harder to do so. "I've already done my share in hurting others... this last failure is undoubtedly my worst."
He groped for Nikky's hand and found it, grasping it tightly. "You have to tell... Xima's counterpart... Amnesty..." His speech was coming in halting gasps as his lungs began to give out. "Xima... told me... she could help me... get what I wanted. She... lied. All she wants... is revenge..."
Reno got closer to his dying "twin" to make out his words. Amnesty's counterpart? I don't like the sounds of this... "Where did she come from?"
Axel swiveled his eyes to look at his double and weakly raised his head. "I was there... when the one you called Jenova... fell before you... She used her last moments... to tell me Amnesty's cells could... serve me."
He started to cough, spitting blood. Reno recoiled, but he had to know more.
"I reconstituted her... in the Netherworld... she was my puppet... but now... I am her slave... I'll die her slave."
His closed his eyes in pain, both real and imagined. "All I wanted... was a heart of my own..." He looked up at Nikky. "But... if I'd ever gotten one... it would have been yours."
He reached up to touch her face, tracing her jawline.
His hand slipped away...
He felt someone catch it as the world went white around him. "Who--?"
"Easy, friend. You've come a long way... and suddenly you find yourself in a situation similar to mine."
He looked at this figure curiously. "You're the one Xima kept talking about... her brother?"
"Xima is no sister to me. Amnesty is. And you can help me protect her... but only from this side of the divide. The mortal world is closed to you now."
Axel wasn't sure he understood. "Where are we?"
"This is what the other side of death looks like. Not quite what you were expecting, is it?"
****
His arm went limp, and he was gone.
Reno watched, not sure whether to be satisfied, or angry, or sorry... This was one messed-up guy. Here's hoping he's someplace better now.
Reno knelt and put an arm around Nikky. "Well... I guess that's that."
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Post by *~Nikkole~* on Oct 26, 2006 1:06:45 GMT
she watched him die and didn't cringe at his touch. she couldn't form the words she wanted to say... she had so many. she sent to him mentally. i would have had it.... and protected it. but now.... i wish you the best.... and my love. she closed her eyes and choked a slight sob.
nikky let his hand go and sat back, eyes closed. she let a few tears fall before nodding and leaning into him slightly. ''i.... i could have helped him reno...'' she took a deep breath. ''he wasn't a bad guy underneath it all.... all he wanted..... was a life for his own.'' she stared at axel sadly. though she did not love him like she did reno... she still would have done anything to see him happy.... to help him have what everyone should have. ''i know there could have been another way....'' he seemed like such a great guy.... why was life so cruel.....
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Oct 26, 2006 1:28:28 GMT
Axel watched her grieve for him from this strange new place, and was amazed. "She... misses me. She's CRYING for me."
Kadaj stood back and nodded slowly. "I said almost exactly the same thing, once." When Ami found out I'd died.
He heard her last message to him. "She... actually would have loved me. I... I was never loved before." Axel seemed unable to decide how to react to this.
Kadaj sighed. This is not going to be an easy assignment, I can tell that much right now. "Exactly. Her love for you may just be your salvation... but for that to be possible, you must listen to me and do as I ask. Considering how you died, I'll be willing to understand if that comes hard to you." His eyes hardened into a glare as Xima crossed his mind. "Just trust what I tell you... and Xima will never hurt another again."
Axel mulled this over, watching Nikky cling to his double. "This is the most horribly unfair thing that has ever happened to me," he observed darkly. He shook his head. "If I can repay Xima for what she took from me... I'll do anything you say."
Kadaj grinned. Bingo.
"What do I need to do?" Axel prodded.
****
Reno held her gently, stroking her hair, trying to soothe her. "I know... it's all right," he murmured softly.
He kept staring at Axel's face, contorted by the pain of his last breath... My G**. That could have just as easily been me... A jarring notion hit him. In a way, it WAS me.
He looked down at his weeping love. In a weird kind of way... she's crying for me. He tightened his arms around her. "It's going to be OK..." He stiffened in anger. "We're going to get the b***h who did this to him."
What do we do with him? I mean... we can't just leave him out here to rot... that would be so disturbing to my mental balance in so many ways.
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Post by *~Nikkole~* on Oct 26, 2006 1:55:27 GMT
nikky clung to him and buried her face in his chest. she heard his words and nodded. ''but first we have to bury him.... we can't just leave him here....'' she looked back at his body, saddened. ''we can't....''
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Oct 26, 2006 3:13:20 GMT
"What you have to do FIRST is meet the welcoming committee," Kadaj insisted with a bit of a smirk. He stood aside to reveal two other figures behind him.
"Who are THEY?"
"They are my other siblings... a great deal more agreeable than the young lady you met."
Loz grinned as the third figure joined them, looking across at Axel. "Ooh, a new friend," he said happily.
Kadaj nodded with a longsuffering expression. "Yes, Loz, new friend. Right." He stood aside to introduce one more player to the scene. "And this is the Martyress. But she calls herself something else..."
She smiled at him. "Since you seem to be acclimating so quickly... I think it's time you were complete."
****
Reno nodded grimly. "You're right, but..." He sighed. "You're right."
He found Ami's short sword leaned against the footlocker and prepared to begin scratching a hole in the ground with it...
A gentle rain began to fall. He blinked as the drops fell in his face. Great. Just what we needed. At least it should loosen up the dirt...
A faint green glow faded in from behind him. Reno turned to see Axel's final remains, coated in the healing rain, dissolve into a cloud of green particles and fade away into the Lifestream.
Reno gazed upward. Sheez... this is some heavy stuff... He felt a familiar presence. "Hey, I remember you..."
And I you. Reno... remember one thing. Don't be afraid of who you are.
The rain slowly ceased, and Reno put Ami's sword away, unsure of whether to be filled with wonder or sadness. He went to Nikky, thus ambiguous, and embraced her. He threatened to kill you... but in the end, he saved your life. I'm going to to pay him back for that, somehow.
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Post by *~Nikkole~* on Oct 26, 2006 3:15:54 GMT
she hugged him back and smiled slightly, glad to still have him. ''we should head back i guess.....''
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Oct 26, 2006 3:30:21 GMT
He nodded and pulled back. "One problem, though... I still don't know how the h**l I got here." He looked around, scratching his head. "I think it was that Lifestream stuff Ami was talking about..." He shook his head. "I can't believe that I'm starting to BELIEVE in this stuff." He took a few steps. "But..." He paused. "I do."
****
Axel's cells joined the Lifestream, filtering back into his consciousness in an altered state. He looked down at himself. "I still look like me. I thought you lost your conscious self when you entered the Lifestream."
"That depends on your point of view. From the outside, everything happening here would appear as chaotic and shapeless," Kadaj explained. "But when your mind itself learns a new language... something outside the eletric impulses that translated into your reality before... that's when it will all start making sense. Until then, we have to use this sort of netherworld medium to communicate."
The girl stood back, waiting to speak. "Feel any different?"
Axel considered that... "Yes, I do..." He gazed at her. "Is this what... having a heart feels like?"
"How do you like it?"
He looked around at the others watching him. "It feels... wonderful."
Kadaj nodded, suddenly all business. "That's great. But now it seems we have the fate of the world on our plate... AGAIN. Time to confer..."
"Hold on," the girl interruped. "It seems our red-headed friend needs a bit of a pick-me-up."
Kadaj waited. "Do what you do."
****
Reno looked at the soles of his shoes... glowing green again...
He took Nikky's hand. "You'll want to hold on..." He smiled at her and put an arm around her. "This is going to blow your mind."
They became a streak of green energy, flashing across the sky, going back to Sunset's Village...
((Beam me up, Scotty!))
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