Seek the Stars

XXI

Axel led the teenagers through a part of the Dark Corridor only he and the Watchers could access, and made sure they kept up and kept close. It wasn’t silent, and they could hear fighting taking place in the dark void that stretched on forever. Axel didn’t tell them that the fighting they heard was from the Doors to other worlds, and that they were going to the central hub of all the Corridors to fight. Axel didn’t tell them they probably wouldn’t make it. Axel didn’t tell them anything. He brought them to the courtyard between the Sun and Moon Gates and the Door to Light and Dark and looked at the teenagers.

“Here’s where we part.” He said softly, as if conveying a great secret.

“What do you mean?” Naminé looked at Kairi and then back to Axel. “Axel?”

“I mean that you’re fighting here. I have to go back.” At the looks of fear on their faces, Axel tried not to let guilt consume him. “You won’t be alone.”

“Why does it feel like we’re being condemned?” Kaoru asked softly.

Because you kinda are. Axel wanted to say. Instead he said, “Because this is where your powers will be needed most.”

“We’ll be all right.” Roxas said. His blue eyes pinned Axel like a lion’s stare. “When we get back, he’ll buy us all sea salt ice cream.”

“I hate sea salt ice cream.” Kaoru muttered.

“Then I get yours.”

“Fine.”

Axel smiled but sighed. “Just do what you think is right.”

“You’d better survive.” Naminé said.

“Yeah.” Tenkuu added. “I want that ice cream.”

Axel laughed. “Promise. I’ll see you guys back in Sunrise.”

With that, he left them in the courtyard, fighting the need to look back. If he looked back, he’d end up staying and he couldn’t. What was going to happen here wasn’t his fight. He had to fight back home.

Axel emerged from the Corridor in Terminal, the central part of Sunrise and immediately flung one of his chakram into an Enigma’s spine to drive it away from Demyx. He didn’t question the odd exit point and just leaped out into the fray, calling a torrent of flame to meet Demyx’s water. The two met in the fountain, behind a water shield.

“Where’s your backup?” Axel demanded of the younger man.

Demyx gave a short groan. “I don’t have any! Xemnas suddenly decides he has to go somewhere and up and leaves! So I go after him. When we get here, he goes in the same portal you come out of and these things show up!”

Axel stared at the brunette for a long while. “You lost him?”

“Christ, I lost him! He’s probably with our friends by now!”

“Does anyone else know?” Axel shot a fire-encrusted chakram through an opening in the shield, knocking out several Enigmas’ teeth.

“Everyone knows.” Demyx hissed. “He made a fucking announcement!”

Axel snarled a snarl that would have made Saïx proud and the moment Demyx dropped the shield, the pair were fighting in tandem with all the viciousness granted them when they could still call themselves Organization XIII.

Axel came down hard on one Enigma, creating a rather impressive fireball with the Enigma as its focal point, and Demyx used the fountain’s waters to drown another. An eerie howl went up a moment later, and Axel caught hold of Demyx, pulling him out of combat and up toward the Palace. Not a minute later, the sirens sounding a retreat went off, and the remote traps began to explode, blocking the paths so the fighters had an actual chance to escape to safety. Axel and Demyx stood within the Palace’s gate, their last ditch effort at defense.

The brunette young man heaved a dry breath and looked at Axel. “They’ll be okay, right? They’ll come back?”

“Of course they will.” Axel replied, watching the mass of Enigma begin to surge up the terras. “We have to believe in them.”


Kairi strode around the huge door set on the grassy hill in the center of the courtyard, trying to figure out what its purpose was. The others had spread out a bit, sitting or standing, not really knowing their purpose. Finally, the brunette girl came to stand beside Riku and Sora, looking out on the violet hued courtyard. Even here, they could hear sounds of fighting, but they had yet to see any action. Not like they wanted to fight but it sort of came with the occupation.

“How long are we going to wait?” Tenkuu asked. “We shouldn’t be here. We should be out there, fighting with our friends.”

“Axel brought us here for a reason.” Kaoru said. He opened one golden eye to look at Tenkuu from where he lay on the grassy hill. “We have to wait for that reason to reveal itself.”

“Why does it feel like you know so much?” Kairi asked the silver-haired boy.

“Because I’m assuming.” Kaoru sat up abruptly and got to his feet.

A moment later, they all felt it, that ancient and dangerous presence. The eight circled around each other, weapons in hand. A soft laugh bubbled up from the darkness that was slowly creeping inward and when it stopped, two Nobodies emerged from the black. One was shorter than the other, but both seemed to be the same size in power. The smaller stepped forward little by little, followed by the taller and soon the two stood before the teenagers, looking down at them.

“Well, what are you standing there for?” the taller snapped. “Don’t you know what you’re supposed to do?”

The smaller Nobody looked at his companion and slowly let out a sigh. “No. They don’t.”

“Who are you?” Sora asked, half demanding, half afraid.

“We are the Watchers.” The smaller replied with a hint of a smile. “Our names are unimportant. We asked Axel to bring you here for we have great need of you.”

“For what?”

The smaller Watcher’s head tilted. “You’ve seen the two Gates, yes? They are the Moon and Sun Gates, through which hearts travel to reach Kingdom Hearts, this Door here.”

“We can’t defend all three, so we called you.” The taller Watcher said. “Kairi, Sora, and Kaoru will go to defend the Sun Gate, while Naminé, Roxas, and Tenkuu will defend the Moon Gate.”

Riku swallowed. “What about me?”

The smaller Watcher turned to point at the Door they stood beside. “The Creator will defend the Door with the Heart-maker.”

Riku glanced at Sora and then back at the Watchers. “Who?”

“You will know him when he arrives. Go now and prepare. Our enemies will be upon us very soon.”

“Wait!” Sora cried. “What are you guys gonna do?”

The smaller Watcher smiled. A terrible shiver went down Sora’s spine. “We have our own battle. We will draw most of the attention to us, so you will only face what you have fought before. When you see the lightning, retreat to the Door from the Gates.”

“And then what?” Roxas looked at his friends, then back at the pair of Watchers. “What happens?”

“If all goes well, then you’ll be taken home.” The taller Watcher said. “Go now. The time draws near and this war waits for no one.”

The teens looked at one another and slowly nodded. They didn’t bother with hugs or words or other forms of affection. They simply split into their groups and headed down their roads. Riku shuddered when he saw his friends waver and vanish and looked toward the Watchers. Only, Riku was alone now, standing beside the Door.

He tried to tell himself he wasn’t afraid, but then that would be lying. Riku shuddered and hoped his parents were doing better than he was.