Axel holds Riku's gaze for a long moment, then looks down and gives a little bit of a smile.
"You took Xion there?" he asks, his voice quiet. He's not sure why that's of any comfort, but somehow it is; part of him wishes both of them could have seen Radiant Garden the way it had been, once. Roxas would have liked the open spaces, the cobbled square, the fountain court. And Xion... she would have liked the great ocean beyond the walls. Even if there was no beach and no shells.
But Radiant Garden is gone. And so is Roxas. And so is Xion. And sometimes Axel feels like a buoy cut loose, tossed on endless waves with nothing anchoring him anywhere anymore. No heart, no home, no friends... now he doesn't even have El Nysa anymore, and while he's fairly convinced Sora would be upset if he just up and disappeared, it's not exactly the meaningful existence he's been hoping for.
He meets Riku's eye again.
"I know," he says, and shakes his head, "but... I dunno." He pulls at the back of his neck. "The other worlds that fell, the ones I visited, they... look about the same as they always did," he says, and rests his chin on his arms again. "Hollow Bastion is still Hollow Bastion. It isn't Radiant Garden anymore, and... I think it never will be again."
He's not sure if it's because it was the first world to fall, or if there's something else that has allowed the ruin to cling to it like cobwebs and oily fog, but something tells him it'll never be the same.
He makes a startled noise then as he realizes he's probably said too much, and he waves a hand.
"Er... s-sorry," he says, his eyes flicking toward the floor as he gives a helpless chuckle. "You'd think having no heart meant you couldn't get nostalgic, but I guess you'd be wrong."
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"You took Xion there?" he asks, his voice quiet. He's not sure why that's of any comfort, but somehow it is; part of him wishes both of them could have seen Radiant Garden the way it had been, once. Roxas would have liked the open spaces, the cobbled square, the fountain court. And Xion... she would have liked the great ocean beyond the walls. Even if there was no beach and no shells.
But Radiant Garden is gone. And so is Roxas. And so is Xion. And sometimes Axel feels like a buoy cut loose, tossed on endless waves with nothing anchoring him anywhere anymore. No heart, no home, no friends... now he doesn't even have El Nysa anymore, and while he's fairly convinced Sora would be upset if he just up and disappeared, it's not exactly the meaningful existence he's been hoping for.
He meets Riku's eye again.
"I know," he says, and shakes his head, "but... I dunno." He pulls at the back of his neck. "The other worlds that fell, the ones I visited, they... look about the same as they always did," he says, and rests his chin on his arms again. "Hollow Bastion is still Hollow Bastion. It isn't Radiant Garden anymore, and... I think it never will be again."
He's not sure if it's because it was the first world to fall, or if there's something else that has allowed the ruin to cling to it like cobwebs and oily fog, but something tells him it'll never be the same.
He makes a startled noise then as he realizes he's probably said too much, and he waves a hand.
"Er... s-sorry," he says, his eyes flicking toward the floor as he gives a helpless chuckle. "You'd think having no heart meant you couldn't get nostalgic, but I guess you'd be wrong."