A Tilted Axys

Chapter 7

“How . . . how is this possible?” Yazoo asked, getting to his feet shakily and setting down next to Kadaj, who was also waiting for them.
“All will be explained, my son.” Jenova said, reaching for the cup of tea that set in front of her.
For the next two hours, Jenova talked. She talked of her accidental landing on the planet, and the accidental poisoning of the Cetra. She talked of a crazy scientist who, when he discovered how powerful people were when injected with her cells, thought that Jenova herself would be unstoppable, so he created a clone using some of the larger pieces of Jenova’s body.
“So you see, my sons, the cells in your bodies, even the cells inside Axys, are mine, not that . . . abomination. I do not wish the destruction of the world. Sadly, the clone was able to twist and mutate your brother’s mind, making him think that I wanted revenge against the planet. No. I wished only for revenge against the scientist that did this to me, but he has . . . disappeared from our radar.”
The green light surrounding her started to fade, as did her body.
“Oh! I’m sorry, my sons, but I must go. I will see you all again. Kadaj? Go to Wutai. What you seek is there. Loz, never be afraid of who you are. Yazoo. My son, hold on to what you’ve got. She will save us all, in the end. Tell my daughter not to despair. I will help her discover herself. Never forget where you come from.”
Her voice faded as her body disappeared, leaving three very shaken clones behind her.
“What are we going to do?” Loz asked.
“Whatever we have to.” Kadaj said.
Yazoo spoke for the first time. “We find Hojo. I know that’s who Mother was talking about. We contact ShinRa, and help them destroy that fraud. We make up for our assault on Tseng and Elena. Make sure Axys knows that she can . . . leave . . . if she wants.” That last part was more difficult for Yazoo to say than anything he had ever said before.
“I’m not going anywhere.” Axys said from the doorway. “I heard everything. I’m going to help you. I’m one of you now, and you aren’t going to talk me out of it, I don’t care how dangerous it is!” She said, holding her hand up to silence Yazoo when he started to protest.
“Good.” She said when no one offered argument. “It’s settled then.” She turned to walk away.
“Axys!” Kadaj called. She stopped and turned back to face him.
“Yes?” She asked.
You could have heard a pin drop as Kadaj stood and walked to Axys, with Loz following closely behind. Both of the men dropped to their knees on the floor and bowed before her.
“Forgive me, Axys.” Kadaj said. Loz nodded his agreement.
Axys gasped as Yazoo joined the others on the floor. She was silent for a moment, then she too, fell to the floor. She pulled the three of them onto her arms and held them there.
“It is forgotten, my brothers.” She kissed Loz and Kadaj on their foreheads, then wrapped her arms around Yazoo and pressed her lips to his. He returned the kiss, then pulled away and rested his forehead against hers.
“I love you.” He whispered, smiling when he heard Loz and Kadaj gasp.
“I love you, too, my Yazoo.” Axys answered.

“So you see, it was all Hojo’s fault.” Axys said to Vincent.
“I see.” Vincent said, solemnly. Vincent lost himself in conversation with the triplets, leaving Yuffie free to talk to Axys.
“Oh Gods, Axys, I’m so glad you’re alright! I was afraid I’d never see you again!” Yuffie said, grabbing Axys and clutching her tightly.
“Yuffie!! Yuffie!! Must . . . have . . .oxygen!!” Axys choked out.
“Oh! Sorry!” Yuffie said, releasing Axys. The girls straightened themselves out. “So. Tell me how you managed to survive? I saw what they did to Tseng and Elena.”
“Well . . . I don’t really feel like I want to talk about it just yet. Not right now. But-“ Axys added when Yuffie began to protest, “As you can see, I’m alright. They didn't do any permanent damage.”
Yazoo was listening to Vincent talk about how to go about convincing ShinRa to allow them to help, when he heard Axys defending his brother’s and him. He turned away from Vincent abruptly and walked to Axys, placing his hand on her shoulder. He smiled down at her sadly when her questioning eyes rose to his.
“You don’t have to lie for us, Axys.” He said. His gaze fell to Vincent, who was watching Yazoo intently. Yazoo gulped and continued. “We did hurt her. The first night she was with us, Loz and I . . . we . . . raped her.” He watched as Vincent’s eyes narrowed and got just a fraction colder. “A week or so later, she tried to escape. We beat her so severely that night that I honestly thought she wouldn’t make it.” Again, Vincent’s eyes cooled a bit more. Yazoo glanced at Yuffie and found her in tears, clasping Axys’ hands and shaking with silenced sobs. Axys pleaded silently for him to stop, glancing at Vincent. He continued. “After that, we . . . continued to . . . force ourselves on her. Everyday. Yet . . . she never complained. She never pleaded, she just . . . took it, and after that, we injected her with Je-“ his words were cut off as he hit the floor.
He looked up and saw Vincent standing above him with his claw outstretched. The look in his eyes was . . . livid . . . lethal. He stood up and wiped the blood from his lip with the back of his hand, only to hit the ground again, face first. Loz and Kadaj rushed to help, but Yazoo held up his hand to stop them. “No.” He said, “I deserve it. We all do.”
The other two clones backed away and watched as Vincent beat Yazoo viciously. Loz couldn’t watch anymore and moved to intercept Vincent. Vincent just looked at him and said, his voice low and feral, “Wait your turn!”
He turned back to Yazoo and raised his gauntlet to deliver what would have been a fatal blow, when he heard Axys’ sobs.
“Stop!” She cried, dropping to her knees, “Please, Vincent! Stop!”
Vincent looked at her, his claw still poised for the kill.
“Axys, these men-“ He started
“No! You don’t understand what she did to them, Vincent! You don’t understand how powerful she is! How hard they have to fight her, even now!”
“And you understand it?” Yuffie asked, still sobbing.
“Yes, I do!”
“How, Axys?” Vincent asked.
“Because they injected me with her cells. I know how bad it is, Vincent! No!” She cried, throwing herself at Vincent when he let his claw fall to connect with Yazoo’s chest. Her unexpected weight threw him off balance and his blow landed on Yazoo’s shoulder, slicing through the flesh. Axys landed on her knees beside Yazoo. Vincent watched their exchange silently.
“You idiot,” she said, “Why did you do that?” She pulled his upper body into her lap and held him close, crying into his hair. “Can you stand?”
“I think so, but you really should have let him do it, Axys.” Yazoo said, weakly.
“After I just found you? You’re not getting away that easily-!” She made a worried sound when Yazoo tried to stand, only to let out a small pained grunt and fall back to her lap. She hugged him again and cried against his blood-covered neck. “Loz? Kadaj? *sob* Can you carry him to our room at the inn? I don’t think I can do it myself . . . “
Kadaj and Loz walked to her. Kadaj lifting Yazoo from her lap and helping him limp out the door, and Loz gently lifting Axys to her feet, embracing her and leading her after them.
“Wait!” Vincent called. Axys stopped. “Axys, I-“
“It’s alright, Vincent, I understand that you only want to protect me, but . . . you should have let him finish. I . . . wanted him, Vincent. I . . . After I tried to escape, after they tortured me, he healed me, and he . . . stayed with me. He made sure that-even when Loz and Kadaj came-I didn’t get hurt again.” She smiled a very fake smile when the look of realization dawned on Vincent’s face. “I love him. And he loves me.” Her voice cracked as she tried to hold in the sobs.
“Axys . . . “ Yuffie cut in.
Axys held her hand up, a silent signal for Yuffie to stop. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, Vincent, Yuffie. Now I need to go and make sure that Yazoo will live through his punishment.”
Vincent and Yuffie watched with mild guilt and frustration as Axys followed Loz out of their house and to the inn across the square.

“Ah! Dammit Kadaj!” Yazoo growled as Kadaj pressed the needle to his skin.
“Just hold still and it’ll be over soon.” He chuckled.
“What’s so funny?!” Yazoo snarled.
“The fact that you can dish it out but you can’t take it.”
“Stop arguing, right now!” Axys yelled, stepping into the room. She still had tears streaming down her face. “I have had enough of the violence! Move, Kadaj!” She pushed him out of the way and grabbed the bloody needle from his hand. She sat down and looked into Yazoo’s eyes. “Leave.” She said to Loz and Kadaj. They both did as they were told, each patting her softly on the shoulder and kissing her forehead as they walked past her. Once they were gone, she lowered the needle to Yazoo’s shoulder and carefully began stitching the skin together. She didn’t speak for a long time. The only sounds were the soft gasps and grunts from Yazoo as the needle pierced his flesh. So absorbed in the silence was he, that it startled him and he jumped when Axys spoke. He groaned when the needle pressed deeper than it should.
“Hold still and answer my question. “What were you trying to do? Did you want him to kill you?”
“I just . . . I don’t ever want you to cover for us, Axys. What we did to you was unforgivable, yet you forgave us. We will accept whatever comes to us.”
She slapped him across the face. “Don’t you ever, ever do something like that again. I will not lose you when I just found you!” She finished the last stitch and gently cleaned the area of the remaining blood, then wrapped his shoulder with soft, white cloth. He tried to sit up and Axys held her hand out to stop him.
“Just stay there for a little while, okay? I don’t care how strong and powerful you are, you need some rest. I’ll be back in a few minutes, I’m going to go get you something to eat.” She stepped out of the room and called for Kadaj and Loz. They stepped around the corner. “I’m going to get some food, will one of you make sure he stays in bed?” Loz nodded and walked past her into the room. “Thank you, Loz.” She said, “I’ll be back in a little while.”
She walked past Kadaj. “Axys!” he called. She stopped and turned back.
“Hm?” she said.
“I’m coming too, I’ve never actually been here before.”
“Okay, come on then.”