FicWad

The bees were all migrating at the same time. To an outsider, this may have seemed quite odd, but to a natural born resident of this world it was an annual occurrence and, in fact, a good omen. When the bees migrated across the continent, it meant that the world would continue on for another year. If the bees failed to migrate in June, the world would end in a week. Luckily, that hadn't happened yet. The newcomers sadly didn't believe in this occurrence. How unfortunate for them. They wouldn't know when the world was going to end. As they paraded down the road they failed to notice the swarm of bees as they walked right by them. It was simply lucky for them that the bees were too focused on continuing on with the world to bother with the intruders.
"So what do you call this place?" Axel asked crossing his arms and following close behind Marluxia and Larxene down the road.
"Eterra," Larxene said. "The town we're going to is called Edea." Axel nodded, frowning slightly. At least there seemed to be a trend.
"Axel, tell me something," Marluxia cut in, glancing back at him.
"Depends on what you want to know," Axel countered, raising his eyebrows and smirking slightly.
"Who else died?" Marluxia asked, looking slightly annoyed.
"Um..." Axel thought for a moment, and then for another moment longer than he should have, just to annoy Marluxia. "Let's see... Demyx, Xaldin... and Roxas..."
"So there's only four left..." Marluxia began. Axel cleared his throat and shook his head.
"Not for long," he said. "The kid with the Keyblade was on his way into the castle."
"Oh," Marluxia frowned and glanced over at Larxene, who had a surprisingly thoughtful look on her face. "Before you arrived here, did you hear something about being the link in the chain or something like that?"
"So what if I did?" Axel asked. "You get that too?"
"Mmhm," Larxene nodded, making a face. "We figure someone wants us to fix something-like save the world and stuff."
"Whose bright idea was it to have us save the world?" Axel asked, raising an eyebrow.
"They trust us for some reason," Marluxia interjected with a shrug.
"Trust in others never won a war," Axel said wisely. "We were just killed to save another world. That should tell these people something."
"There's nothing we can do about that now," Marluxia told him, rubbing his temple as if trying to fight off a headache.
"This is stupid," Axel muttered.
"Well, we've got to be here for some reason," Larxene snapped. "So we're here to save the world in our own way." Axel made a face but became silent. As they reached the small town Axel found it difficult to distinguish it from the place he'd been the night before. The only difference was that there was a forest nearby this time. Marluxia led them into the bar and they chose a table in the corner away from the small crowd already gathered there. They ordered drinks and Axel leaned back in his chair to get comfortable.
"Now what?" he asked. Larxene and Marluxia knew more about this place than he did. They could probably figure out where to go next better than he could.
"We really should find the others if everyone is here now," Marluxia said, frowning slightly, looking concerned. "Before Zexion does."
"Oh, yeah," Larxene groaned and rolled her eyes. "That little rodent is going to be a pest all throughout whatever we're trying to do."
"So basically we're racing? Heh..." Axel sighed and shook his head. "This sucks. It's probably going to be like finding a needle in a haystack."
"We just need to find the needle before the other guys do," Larxene added, setting her glass down on the table-a bit violently.
"Great," Axel slumped back in his chair. He wanted to find Roxas. He really couldn't care less about the others, only Roxas mattered.
"Don't worry so much," Marluxia told him as though he could read his mind. He always had that uncanny air about him anyway. Maybe he could read minds... "We just need to set out today."
"We don't know where they'll be," Axel reminded him. "How big is this place?"
"You're probably right... damn..." Marluxia frowned and sipped his drink in thought. "For all we know, Zexion Lexaeus and Vexen are planning the same thing as we are. Or maybe something worse..."
And they were...
"We simply have to split up," Zexion told the other two. "It will be easier to locate them that way."
"You're absolutely right," Vexen nodded. He'd returned upon hearing that Axel had been sighted. That was news to him and certainly important news at that. More important than sauntering around the forest anyway. "But the fact stands that we need strength in numbers. If the monkey has Axel on his side we'll need to be more cautious. You of all people should know this, Zexion." The younger man frowned deeply, quite annoyed by that comment.
"Not if they split up as well," Lexaeus reminded them, preventing whatever argument may have occurred after Vexen's obvious attack on Zexion's pride.
"They can't do that," Zexion waved his hand, still looking rather annoyed. "Axel can't control his transformations yet. He needs at least one of them around and I'm sure they know that."
"Then we'll just have to avoid them," Lexaeus said simply. "At night it shouldn't be difficult to take them, especially if Axel isn't in human form." Zexion nodded slowly, thinking.
"That is undoubtedly the ideal plan," he said. "So we split up but do our best to avoid them. Confrontation won't help us find the others any faster. It might even hold us back a day or two."
"Exactly," Lexaeus agreed, nodding his head slightly. "I'll head north toward the capital. If anyone got here before Axel that's the best place to go to find them."
"Very well. I'll go east to the shrine," Zexion stated. "If this is truly the doing of this land's gods then at least one of them should have gone there."
"I think it wise for one of us to stay in this area," Vexen said thoughtfully. "Several others seem to have appeared here, so I'll make sure to keep an eye out for them. Let's report back here in three days."
"That's reasonable enough," Zexion nodded, standing from the table. "Until then, gentlemen." He turned briskly and pushed the swinging doors open to leave the bar and start out for his destination. Lexaeus watched him go before finishing up his drink and standing as well. He said nothing but bowed his head slightly as a form of goodbye before leaving as well. Vexen stayed put for his instinct told him that this was the best place to be for the task at hand. His instinct had been correct for he didn't have to wait very long before a man entered. A man he knew well. Vexen glanced up from his mug and let a grin cross his features.
"Well," he leaned back in his chair, drawing that man's attention to him. "It's been quite a while, hasn't it?"
"Why, yes, it certainly has." The man looked quite taken aback at seeing Vexen sitting there. After all, he had died not too long ago. "I'm afraid I'm rather confused by everything that's happened. Kindly explain to me what's going on."
"All in due time, Saïx, my friend," Vexen smirked, pleased with himself at finding one of the more reliable members. If anybody could take care of business, it was Saïx. "All in due time."

----------------------

Traveling in the middle of nowhere was not Axel's idea of a good time. Even looking for his former comrades was dull. He would have very much preferred to be looking for a specific person. Marluxia and Larxene, however, seemed as though they would settle on finding anybody. They wanted to get as many people as they could before Zexion and his motley crew did. It didn't help matters that the sun was beating down on them, making each of them very irritable. Larxene was acting as though she would blow up the second either man spoke so much as a syllable to her. Thus, Marluxia and Axel stayed quite a few steps behind, giving her space and they room to talk without annoying her.
"So you don't even know how you ended up here?" Axel asked incredulously with a slight frown. It couldn't be good if Marluxia, who had been there for a year, still didn't know very much about why they were there.
"Not a clue," Marluxia sighed softly, running a hand through his hair. "I was lucky to even find Larxene, actually."
"And you guys were around that same place you found me, right?"
"That's right," Marluxia confirmed. Axel became silent for a second, adding things up in his head.
"So... we're heading to a huge city?" Axel inquired, cocking an eyebrow.
"Well, that's usually where the people are..."
"But you just told me that everyone kinda appeared around the same place where there's less people," Axel stated, shrugging his shoulders. "Of course, I don't know anything. I just thought it was funny. Never mind, though. You're the leader." Marluxia gave him an annoyed look.
"Nice to see you haven't changed," he stated sarcastically. "I have a feeling we'll find somebody there. Only so many people can show up in one spot."
"You also had the feeling that Vexen was our friend," Axel said, continuing before Marluxia could speak. "...and that we could defeat the kid with the Keyblade and that you could trust anyone who said they were your friends and..."
"Yes, Axel, I get it," he snapped, glaring at him. "I'm not always right, but I'm pretty sure that I am this time. Don't antagonize me."
"There are a lot of times when you haven't been right," Axel said under his breath. Marluxia shot him another glare, but didn't get a chance to retort for Larxene felt the severe need to intervene.
"If you guys are finished we really should get going," she said sweetly. Axel figured now would be the best time to duck and cover because a storm was blowing in fast. Her demeanor changed immediately as she started speaking again and now it looked as though she would spit fire. "You guys are holding us up and if you really wanted to find the other members before Zexion and his puppets then you should probably stop arguing and walk faster because I'm leaving you behind." She crossed her arms and tapped her foot. "Unless you'd rather let the weasel and his pet bear find everyone else first. That way the entire world can be against us too."
Larxene huffed and turned on her heel, walking faster than before. Axel stole a quick glance at Marluxia and the two of them sped up to keep up with her. No use invoking her wrath yet again if they decided to wait any longer. They walked in silence for quite a while and a few questions were burning in the back of Axel's mind. Finally, he decided to ask Marluxia, though he really did hate asking so many questions of either of them.
"What about Vexen?" he asked. "He died before anybody else. Is he here too or did he just get left out?"
"Oh, no, he's here," Marluxia stated halfheartedly. "We just haven't had quite so many problems with him." He paused for a moment and glanced over at Axel suspiciously. "Why?"
"Just curious. I'd like to know if I'm up against anybody besides the Super Sniffer and bodybuilder in a fight if it comes to that," Axel shrugged, ignoring Marluxia's discomfort. "I figured he'd be here. Y'know, since he died too and all."
"He is," Larxene said needlessly. "He just isn't nearly as annoying."
"Good to know," Axel put his hands behind his head and became silent for the time being. Hopefully they'd find Roxas before anybody else. Though he hadn't said anything out loud, Marluxia was very wary of Axel's ambitions and watching him carefully.
------------------------------------------
There were a few good reasons as to why Vexen didn't usually bother those obnoxious neophytes. First and foremost he didn't particularly want to interact with them in the slightest, but that was beside the point. What he said his reasons were, for one, he preferred to go unnoticed until the opportune moment. The opportune moment had yet to present itself, thus he stayed hidden in the shadows. Second, he decided to let Lexaeus do all the fighting so he could concentrate on his experiments. Now, he had yet another good reason to stay away from them-his discoveries of other members would also go unnoticed.
"That is basically all there is, Saïx, my friend." He had just finished explaining the situation to Saïx, who took everything much better than he had originally assumed. The younger of the two nodded and leaned back in his chair, as calm and composed as he always pretended to be.
"I see..." he said quietly. "That is interesting. Have you discovered the cause of any of this yet?"
"Well, it seems that we're supposed to complete a task here," Vexen explained. "As for turning into a certain kind of animal, sadly, no, I have yet to discover the causes." He frowned deeply, not enjoying the fact that there was something he still didn't know after a year. "I've never seen anything like this before." Saïx said nothing in response for the moment. Instead, he spoke softly to himself.
"So this is death... you would think that Kingdom Hearts would have been merciful enough to give us hearts before sending us here."
"Perhaps that's exactly the reason Kingdom Hearts sent us here," Vexen suggested, a gleam in his eye. Saïx glanced at him and raised his eyebrows.
"A challenge then?" Saïx determined. "To prove that we are indeed worthy of having hearts."
"Yes," Vexen smirked. "And we shall prove that we are worthy of them." Saïx chuckled softly, the slightly savage gleam in his eyes appearing. Thus appeared another reason as to why Vexen avoided the likes of Marluxia-there were those like Saïx who were more than willing to do his dirty work for him.
----------------------------------------------------
The largest city in Eterra was not all it was cracked up to be, really. It certainly wasn't as big as it could have been. Hell, it wasn't even as big as Twilight Town, but Axel wasn't complaining. Not too much anyway. Less people made it easier to find Roxas, but it would also be easier for Zexion to find him. This put them at kind of a standstill, but Axel didn't like being on the same playing field as his enemies.
"Let's split up for now," Larxene not so much as suggested but demanded. "We'll cover more ground that way. We can meet back here a bit before it gets dark."
"That's in about an hour, Larxene..." She didn't give Marluxia's comment a though or Axel even a chance to respond before she headed into the crowd and disappeared. Marluxia glanced at Axel for a second and sighed.
"Stay out of trouble," he advised before heading in the opposite direction. Axel rolled his eyes. Well, that left him with one direction, really-to go straight ahead. As he wandered the town, Axel determined that, despite its size, the capital had everything. There was a bazaar with all kinds of produce and whatnot. There was a clothes store that a few giggling girls just entered and a weapon and armor shop right next door. Then there were street performers. Quite a few of them, in fact. There were mimes and dancers and musicians and singers and so on and so forth. Axel spotted a rather large crowd gathered around something. For a minute he thought it was a kid, but upon further inspection he discovered that it was a man at a box gambling with his customers. The best place to find Luxord. Axel shook his head and pushed his way through the crowd.
"Well, would you looky here," Axel grinned. "Earning lots of money, hm?" Luxord glanced up. Immediately his eyes went wide and he stood quickly, knocking the box over, sending the cards flying in every direction.
"You!" he exclaimed. The crowed had stopped chattering and it went rather quiet. Some had even backed away in fear that a fight would break out.
"Yep. Me. Axel. A-X-E-L, got it memorized?" He grinned slightly at his former comrade. "It's sure been a while, hasn't it?" He leaned an arm on the older man's shoulder, but Luxord quickly moved away from him, keeping his eyes on the redhead at all times.
"Don't touch me you traitorous wretch," he snapped.
"Ooh, ouch. That one hurts," Axel put a hand to his chest, a smirk crossing his features. "Gets me right here."
"What do you want?" Luxord demanded over Axel's soft snickering, crossing his arms.
"Just a little chat. There's a couple others who'd love to see you too. Almost as much as I wanted to. Y'know, unless you'd rather give this crowd a real show and duke it out right here." Axel glanced around. "Can't promise it won't get out of hand, though." Luxord considered for a moment, weighing the odds before resigning to the fact that there was no escaping it.
"Very well," he said, sounding rather annoyed by this entire situation. "Lead the way."
"I knew you'd see things my way," Axel grinned and took his arm, dragging him away from the crowd. He weaved his way through the people and managed to get to a secluded area where Larxene had demanded they meet later. Luxord pulled his arm out of Axel's grip when they stopped, frowning deeply.
"Would you be so kind as to explain to me what's going on?" he demanded, seemingly getting more irritated by the second.
"Well, I've got this funny feeling that we died," Axel told him. He smirked when Luxord raised a doubtful eyebrow. "What? You don't believe me?"
"It is rather difficult, you realize," Luxord crossed his arms over his chest, rather skeptical.
"Trust me, gramps. I've got evidence." Luxord's eye visibly twitched at the nickname, but knew that correcting Axel was useless at the moment.
"And what exactly is this evidence that you speak of?" he asked, though it seemingly peaked his curiosity. As if on cue, Marluxia could be seen through the crowd, making his way toward them.
"Him," Axel said, pointing. Luxord followed his gaze and frowned deeply, looking suddenly very unnerved.
"I see..." He was very clearly discontented with this information. "How..."
"Excellent," Marluxia said as he approached, cutting off Luxord's question. "It's been a while."
"Yes," Luxord agreed, coldly. "It has. Well, I certainly see your point, Number Eight. Now, if you'll excuse me..." As he attempted to leave, both Axel and Marluxia reached their hands out to push the older man back against the wall.
"Now, now. Let's not be too hasty here," Marluxia said, almost as if he were speaking to an unruly child. "It would do you well to hear me out before scurrying off to your card games. Now, you can stay with us and be safe, or you could run into Zexion, Vexen, and Lexaeus, who may or may not kill you."
"Basically saying, old time," Axel cut in. "It's your little gamble. You can hang with us and live or try your luck on a one in a thousand chance slot machine." Luxord studied both of his former comrades for a moment, debating with himself.
"What makes you think they'll kill me?" he asked. "I was faithful to the Organization, unlike you two."
"Yeah, but without our old buddy Xemnas around they can do whatever they want," Axel told him. "Including fulfill their desire to kill all of us newcomers." Luxord was silent for another moment, weighing his odds.
"Very well," he agreed reluctantly. "I trust that if you wanted to kill me, you would have already done so."
"Smart guy," Axel said, grinning. Larxene approached them, looking actually pleased to see Luxord.
"Good," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "Glad we got him before the other guys did."
"Larxene!" Luxord exclaimed. She smirked slightly.
"Luxord," she stated, bowing mockingly. "Ever so smashing to see you again, old chap." Axel smirked, glad that all the time they'd spent together was paying off for her. Luxord, however, was clearly not amused.
"Lovely..." he muttered, sighing softly. "Perhaps I should have gambled on Zexion."

END CHAPTER 2

Thank you to all who reviewed my last chapter! I hope you enjoyed this one! The next one will be out as soon as I type it up. As always, please give me feedback, I'd greatly appreciate it. I love constructive criticism because it makes me a better writer. Tell me a few things you'd like to see me do in future chapters. More descriptions? More dialogue? Etc. I'm open to suggestions. Thank you!

Always,
Lily