Nemesis

Nemesis Part 3/3
A Short Story by Ellipsis the Great
Summary: They say that if you go to Lethe Mansion, you either end up with amnesia…or you disappear forever…
DISCLAIMER: Kingdom Hearts and everything affiliated with it belongs to SquareEnix and Disney. All I own is the plot…
Rated: M just in case.
Theme: 2. Wedding

“This place has always given me the creeps.” Hayner said with a shiver as they approached Lethe Mansion.
“Yeah, well, let’s just go in, find Axel, and get out.” Roxas said, suppressing a shiver of his own.
Hayner nodded wordlessly, dragging the door open and letting Roxas enter first.
“Should’ve waited until later in the day.” Roxas murmured as he observed the way the morning light reflected across the decrepit insides of the mansion.
“I’ll say.” Hayner said, stepping closer to his friend.
“Sora?”
As one, they turned. Standing there was a forlorn girl in a ragged white dress, her soulful blue eyes piercing the two in a way that immediately reminded them of the thing that had taken Axel.
“You!” Roxas said, balling his hands into fists. “What did you do with Axel?”
“You came back to me, Sora.” The girl said, smiling ethereally and taking a step toward them.
“You stay away from us!” Hayner hissed, standing protectively in front of Roxas. “I don’t know who you are or who Sora is—we just came to get Axel back!”
The girl’s face fell. “You…don’t remember me?” She didn’t seem to register that there were two of them.
“Where’s Axel?” Hayner demanded.
“You don’t remember me.” She sighed. “Oh, Sora, why don’t you ever remember me?”
“Because I’m not Sora, you stupid bitch!” Hayner said.
“You never remember.” She groaned, putting her head in her hands. “You…n-never remember me…!”
The girl’s entire visage shimmered, an eerie groan sounding out in the air around her. Axel suddenly appeared beside her, dangling from the ceiling, his wrists held up by thin wires.
“Axel!” Roxas exclaimed.
“I thought that maybe, if I brought this nasty, conniving home wrecker here, you would break out of her spell and come back to me.” The girl said, reaching up and grabbing Axel’s head. “If I kill her, the spell will break.”
“No! You leave Axel alone!” Roxas said.
The girl stopped. “Will you come to me? Leave her, and be mine again? Like it was always supposed to be?” She asked, letting Axel’s head drop back to his chest.
Hayner shook his head at his best friend, but Roxas was already nodding.
“Yes, anything. Just don’t hurt him! I’ll do anything you want—!” Roxas gasped as the girl moved forward so quickly that even Hayner, standing further away, didn’t see her do it.
“Say my name.” The girl said, a manic smile crossing over her face.
“I…I…” He sputtered.
“You have to remember me, Sora.” She whimpered. “If we’re going to be together, you have to snap out of her spell and remember me!”
“I’m sorry.” He said, a sob tearing out of his throat.
“Oh, Sora.” More strings, like the wire used to control a marionette, appeared, wrapping around Axel and tightening until thin lines of blood appeared. “It looks like I will have to kill the little cunt to break the spell.”
“Please don’t.” He said.
“I’m sorry.” She said.
Roxas was frozen watching, but Hayner let out a strangled cry as the girl made a short motion with her hand and the strings went taut. Axel hung in the air for a moment, as if frozen in time. And then, slowly, Axel’s head slid from his body, which crumbled to the ground in several pieces.
“Oh, God. Oh, God, no.” Roxas choked out.
“Holy shit! Holy shit!” Hayner stammered.
“Do you remember me, now, Sora?” The girl asked.
“No, no, no.” Roxas moaned, dropping to his knees.
The girl frowned. “You…still don’t remember?”
Behind her, the wires that had cut him apart were now tearing into Axel’s skin, sewing the pieces back together.
“Axel…shit, Axel…” Roxas said.
The girl’s eyes narrowed, and she turned her gaze on Hayner.
“You!” She snarled. “You’re the one casting a spell on him! My poor Sora, forced to forget our wonderful, beautiful love because of your selfishness!”
“I don’t even know who you or that other kid are!” Hayner said.
“Kill him!” She shrieked, motioning at the newly finished Axel-doll.
Something…a voice, an instinct, a spirit…bubbled up in Roxas’ throat as the Axel-doll straightened and turned glowing green eyes on Hayner.
“Naminé, stop!” He said.
The Axel-doll looked at him and gave him a smirk that was both familiar and completely strange to him at the same time.
“Simply amazing.” The doll snickered, its voice impossibly animated, both Axel’s and the girl’s at the same time. “You really do remember this time! I’m so flattered!”
“Leave Hayner alone!” Roxas yelled as the doll turned on Hayner again.
“But you’re too late!” The Axel-doll screeched, and shot forward.
Hayner tried to dodge, but the thing easily followed his movements. Its arm thrust upward, impaling the body before it, and Naminé screamed as she realized—too late—that Roxas had thrown himself in front of the doppelganger.
Roxas and the Axel-doll stared at each other, still connected by the doll’s arm in Roxas’ chest.
“R-Roxas?” Hayner’s eyes were wide.
“Run.” Roxas whispered, reaching into the doll’s pocket and pulling out Axel’s infamous lighter.
Naminé started screaming even more as Roxas flicked the lighter on and set himself and Axel on fire.
“Burn, baby.” Roxas whispered, throwing his arms around the flaming doll and kissing him.
“Roxas!” Hayner sputtered.
Naminé turned on him, eyes wide with desperation and madness and fear. With one last look at the embracing couple, he shook his head, turned, and ran, leaving the slowly burning house and its insane ghostly resident behind.
“You were supposed to remember me, Sora, not die—!”

THE END…?