So...yeah. I haven't been here in a while, and I haven't talked to my FF friends in a while either. Sorry guys :/
But back to the oneshot.
This entered my head and wouldn't leave, so I had to type it. It's a Namixas story based on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, so if you know that myth, you can kind of guess what's going to happen. This is actually one of my favorite greek myths. We may have read different versions of it, however, so if something is different than what you remember, it's probably because the versions we read weren't exactly the same.
SO glad that the uploading problem is fixed!
So now, on with the show!
At one point in my life, I honestly thought I had it all. I had enough money between Roxas and I so that we didn't have to scramble to pay the monthly bills. I was attractive, or at least I was always told so. I was a new artist, and yet I was respected in a field that not many people ever make it in. And to top it all off, I had an amazing boyfriend. He was my best friend, my confidant, my lover and my life.
But all it took was one day, one accident, for everything to turn upside-down.
~!~
It was a warm spring day in May. The birds were chirping, the leaves in the trees swayed with every breeze, and flowers that bloomed in every known color seemed content in the warm, late afternoon sun. We were in a park walking side by side until we reached a tree upon a hill.
"This is what I've been waiting to paint." I smiled to Roxas.
"Well here's your stuff." He put down the easel he had kindly asked to take for me, "So get to painting!"
He laughed and I giggled as I set up my art supplies.
"Why don't we have lunch first?" I suggested. The wicker picnic basket in my hand grew heavier by the minute.
Roxas smiled, nodded, and walked side by side with me as we traveled a few feet ahead until we were under the tree. When we arrived, I spread the blue checkered blanket out on the grass and lowered the basket down onto it.
Roxas and I shared a light lunch of fresh turkey, lettuce, and home-made salsa sandwiches, a few pieces of watermelon, and some iced tea. Throughout, we talked about what we were going to do after I finished my painting.
"My band has a gig downtown. Do you wanna come?" he asked.
"Of course! I wouldn't miss it for anything!"
Roxas was the bassist and lead singer of a band composed of old friends we both shared. The band, "The Nobodies", was actually pretty good. They weren't famous yet, but they were getting there. I was certain that they'd make it to stardom one day. It was only a gut feeling I had, but I knew they'd do it.
After the light lunch, I laid on my back and stared at the sun and cottony clouds through the breaks in the leaves of the tree above me. Next to me, Roxas rested on his side, hand supporting his head, and he watched me.
"I love you." He said simply, and a blush was growing on his face. I thought it was so cute that, even four years after we started going out, he still blushed upon saying those words.
I raised myself up on both my elbows and pecked his lips with my own. "I love you too."
He smiled, fell onto his own back, and crossed his fingers beneath his head. I collapsed back down and rested my head on his chest.
Sometime later, Roxas reminded me of the picture I still had to paint.
"Oh! I totally forgot!" I laughed.
He smiled "Well, go on then. I'll get this cleaned up."
As I got up, I toyed with the blue butterfly necklace he had gotten me. It was because it seemed like, where ever we went, we always happened to see a blue butterfly. Roxas wanted to make this special, so he bought me the jewlery. The blue butterfly ended up being our mascot in a way.
I walked back to my easel and readied my art supplies while Roxas cleared the area. When he finished, he stood beside me and I started painting.
It took me until nearly sundown, but the painting was finally finished. I still had to do a few touch-ups here and there, but the picture was just about perfect. I smiled at my hard work and wiped a blue thumb on my cheek as a kind of war mark, almost like when soldiers keep a bullet to signify each kill. I killed my canvas and conquered it; I allowed my idea to flow unto the page, personal blood that I spilled on a fallen enemy.
"Roxas!" I called out. Every moment the sun was going down and making it harder to find him. But I stopped and smiled when I saw him napping, slumped on a tree a few feet away.
I crouched down, knees bent, and smiled as I tapped his shoulder. "Roxas." I whispered and he stirred.
"Nami? Hey, you're done, right?" his voice sounded sleepy and I couldn't help but allow my smile to grow.
"Yeah, I'm done. We gotta get you to your show, right?"
"Yeah!"
We packed up my supplies and headed for the car.
It was about 2 hours after our little park excursion and, after a light dinner, we headed to the concert hall where "The Nobodies" were going to play. I kissed Roxas while we were back stage.
"Good luck!" I called as he walked away. Before he went on stage, however, he ran back and kissed me once more. I traveled down to the front row of the venue.
And this is when things went bad.
Everything seemed to be going fine: the speakers were working, the crowd was loving the music, and the band themselves seemed lively. And yet, I could swear I tasted something…evil in the air. Unfortunately, it turned out that I was right.
Roxas was dancing around on stage and it seemed he was having fun, but suddenly his foot got tied up in one of the chords on the ground that connected the bass to the amplifier. He tripped and stumbled backwards and crashed off the stage, a good five or six feet. His instrument made a horrible screeching sound as he fell and the wire was pulled.
Suddenly, everyone screamed. The band stopped playing and the guitarist-slash-singer Axel hopped down and ran to Roxas at the same time I was. The boy's body was twisted unnaturally, and his left leg was nearly totally opposite of the direction it should be facing.
"Roxas, Roxas, oh my God, are you okay?" I yelled as I reached him.
No answer.
"Roxas! Come on, man! Get up!" Axel expressed his worry.
"Ngh." The blonde boy moaned as he tried sitting up. But, of course, things went from bad to worse.
The chord was still wrapped around his ankle, and when Roxas moved his body the amplifier itself was pulled from the stage. This upset the speakers resting on top of the machine, and they too tumbled down. Axel pushed me out of the way just in time, but Roxas was crushed underneath the items.
And then everything went silent.
Nobody in the theatre moved or made a sound besides the medical assistants running to help Axel and me as we pushed the speakers to the side. They stared, transfixed at the disastrous scene before them.
My muscles were sore and tears were obscuring my vision, but I never stopped moving the speakers until they were cleared from atop the man I loved.
"Hey Nami." There was blood streaming down the side of his mouth, and there was a pool of the red liquid around him.
I held on to his hand with both of my own as the nurses got closer and closer.
"You're going to be okay, Roxas. Trust me, everything will be fine. Totally fine." My tears were staining his shirt as they fell.
"So this is it, isn't it? I think I had a good ride. Life's been good to me." He turned to me then with all of the strength left in his body and stared straight into my eyes. There was a smile on his face. "And I had you for the last few years of my life. You made me so happy. Always remember that I loved you, please."
"I-I will. I promise you I will. I love you too, Roxas."
He beamed at me, even with the pain that was apparent on his face. Every time he took a labored breath, his chest struggled to rise and he shook with pain.
I bent my head down, moved some hair behind my right ear, and kissed him. It was the most passionate, urgent, and important kiss I'd ever experienced. And yet it was also as gentle and emotionally charged as the most intimate of kisses we shared in our bed late at night, while seeking comfort in each other's arms.
I pulled away, and he died right then.
I saw a pink, crystallized heart float from his body into the air slowly at first, and then it gained speed and raced towards the sky. The body it once belonged to stopped breathing and was no longer the person I loved. It was only a body, only a piece of dead flesh. I continued to cry as they hauled the body away, and Axel comforted me while he drove me home.
"It'll be okay, Nami. He's…he's in a better place now."
Two days afterwards, we had a funeral.
It was a small funeral and only his close friends and family attended, but it was a funeral nonetheless. At the burial on that cold, cloudy day, I was the last to throw a rose, a white one, onto his casket as it was lowered into the ground.
After everyone left, only Axel and I were standing in front of the grave. And after Axel had gone home, I was all alone. As alone as I was before I met Roxas.
Roxas and I met in our second year of college when we were 20, and we hit it off instantly. Before I had met him, however, I was always alone. I would hole myself up in my room for days, painting and sketching as much as I could. We contrasted each other greatly, but it worked for us. We fell in love after only a few dates, and the rest was history.
After I went home the night of the funeral, I laid in our bed, a bed that now felt empty and cold without his warmth. I started thinking about that crystal heart that danced out of Roxas' chest and into the sky, something that no one else seemed to have noticed. I recalled an old tale my uncle Ansem once told me, a tale about how all hearts left for "Kingdom Hearts" upon death. Kingdom Hearts was a place just as much as it was a collection of the hearts and souls of the dead. It's ruler, Xemnas, was a neutral being, an observer. And the most important part I remembered? It was possible to get to Kingdom Hearts and meet with Xemnas. For the first time since Roxas' untimely demise, I saw a speck of light in the gloomy darkness.
"To reach Kingdom Hearts, here's what you must do:" I remembered in my uncle's voice as I stood at the station, waiting for the train. "First, you must go to the ticket counter and request a man by the name of Xehanort."
Five minutes earlier, I did precisely that; I had gone to the ticket booth and asked for Xehanort.
"Xehanort?" The girl at the counter asked.
"Yes. I was told to ask for him."
"I don't know anyone by that name here, but-" she was cut off by an older woman at the window next to hers.
"You want Xehanort?" The woman asked.
"Yes please. It's important that I speak with him."
"Fine. Xehanort! You have a customer!"
Immediately there appeared a man with long white hair behind the older lady.
"Follow me, please." The man said, and I listened. He walked around to the side of the booth and opened a window that was sealed closed.
"Are you Xehanort?" I asked.
"Yes. And if you're here asking for me, I'm almost certain I know what you want."
"I…I want a ticket to Kingdom Hearts." I stammered, before my voice became steely. I was doing this for Roxas.
"Very well then." He handed me a ticket, produced a sad, almost disappointed smile, and disappeared almost as quickly as he came.
"Step two:" My uncle's words rang out in my head. "Head to the train that never moves and give the station man your ticket."
The station man in front of the un-moving train was elderly, with a bald head and a short, gray beard. He was hunched over, and although he looked frail, there was something in his eyes that shined with an unmatched determination.
"Um…I was told to give this to you." I produced the purple ticket from my pocket and handed it to the man.
"Ah yes, so you're going there." His voice was gravely, like a car riding over small rocks. "You're the first one in a long time. A very long time."
The old man, whose nametag read "Master", opened the door to the train car. I was fairly surprised. I mean, this was a train that I had never seen move in my entire life, and here I was, boarding it as though it was the most natural thing in the world.
I was sitting in a seat on the train when my uncle's final instructions were recalled from my memories. "Finally, just be patient. You'll get there when you get there, but no sooner."
I checked my small black purse for my paint supplies, and, upon confirming them, I stared out the window and waited. Next to me was a small-ish, un-tainted canvas.
Eventually I felt the train move and the scenery outside the window started rushing by. It was twilight and the sun was just beginning to set, casting a golden orange glow on the buildings and creating pink cotton-candy streaks out of the clouds.
On the ride to Kingdom Hearts, I sat with a clear mind. I wasn't thinking, wasn't focusing on anything in particular, and I hardly even registered what was going on around me. I didn't want to worry and so I waited patiently, absent and empty-minded.
There was no voice over the intercom when the train finally stopped. Only the pneumatic hiss of the doors opening alerted me. I swallowed down my doubts, picked up my easel, and walked out of the train.
Kingdom Hearts was an odd place. It was full of darkness, even the sky was dark, and yet, patches of gray were spread in the sky like dull stars. A light white floor was my guide, and it stretched for miles in all directions. Pink crystals on the ground glowed softly, crystals that looked to be made of the same material as the heart that escaped from Roxas' chest. The place looked open and expansive, and yet I felt an oppressive air around me. I walked in a straight line from my arrival point, and eventually I ended up at a door.
The door was large and white, with golden emblems and designs streaked through it and it was huge, magnificently so. I felt so small as I reached to open it, but I steeled my resolve and reminded myself why I was here; I was going to get Roxas back, no matter what the cost.
With new determination, I opened the doors.
At first, the light that shot out through them was blinding, and I couldn't see a thing. But eventually that searing light settled, and in I walked. Beyond the door was a room, completely white, with one man sitting on a gray throne in the middle. My only guess was that this was Xemnas, the being who ruled over Kingdom Hearts.
"Hello, child." He greeted. His voice was monotone, but in the tiny, empty room, it echoed and layered upon itself.
"Xemnas, please allow me to make a request." I bowed to him while speaking.
He was imposing, but I swallowed back the lump in my throat and spoke. "My…the love of my life was taken from me unfairly the other day. And when he died, I was the only one who saw the crystal heart rise from his chest. That has to mean something special. It has to be a sign! So please, please let me have him back!"
He considered my proposition for a while. "No." He finally said.
"What?" I felt the tears in my eyes threaten to fall.
"If I were to bring him back, I'd have to bring everyone else back. You speak about fairness, and reviving everyone else would be fair as well, correct?"
"T-true." I stuttered.
"And changing people's memories is a risky procedure, but necessary if I were to give you back Roxas, Namine."
It was true. Everything he said was absolutely true. But I didn't care.
With all of the determination I could muster, I set up my easel and got to work painting a picture of my feelings. Time passed, but in Kingdom Hearts, it might as well not have. Nothing changed and nothing happened; I painted, and Xemnas watched.
The picture was that of a simple white sailboat on a lake with gray clouds overhead. I poured my feelings into the picture, and everything In it was a representation of my own emotional state. The blues were my sadness, the white and the boat were Roxas, pure and lifesaving. And the gray clouds were my mind since he died. Gray. Boring. Listless. Hopeless.
When I finished, I handed him the canvas. "Please, the last thing I have to change your mind is my art."
For a long time, everything was silent. Xemnas looked over my entire picture more times than I could count, until he suddenly spoke up.
"This picture has touched what remains of my own heart. So I will grant you your request, but under one condition: until you are both completely out of Kingdom Hearts, do not look back at him. This is extremely important. You'll know when he's out because you'll hear the click as his chain breaks. If you look back Roxas will disappear and you will never have another chance to bring him back to the world of the living again." A black smoke started forming next to Xemnas, and I looked straight ahead to where I'd leave, certain not to look at Roxas' form.
"Thank you, Master Xemnas."
"Just remember what I said. Do not look back until you're both completely out of Kingdom Hearts."
I started walking forward towards where the train was parked, and I heard the metallic sound of metal hitting a floor. That must've been Roxas' chain, I thought. Aside from that, there was absolute silence.
It took a while, but I eventually found the train again. I walked on and sat on one of the seats, and I assumed that Roxas sat beside me. I didn't turn around, though, for fear of what Xemnas said.
"I can't believe I'm getting you back!" I said happily. There was no answer.
"So, how are you?" Again, no answer.
The train was moving faster now than it had been before, and the scenery passed by the windows in a blur. The clinking of Roxas' chain was the only constant sound in the train car.
After what seemed like forever, I saw the train station in the distance.
"We're almost there, Roxas!" I resisted the urge to turn towards him.
There still wasn't an answer.
When the train stopped, I was the first to get off, and I was waiting at the bottom with my back turned. I heard Roxas' chain as he walked out of the train car, but something felt wrong; the chain didn't click and snap to signify Roxas' freedom.
So I did the unthinkable and turned around.
Immediately, the boy's body disappeared into transparent black smoke, and the heart floated upwards once more. I didn't even have time to see his face again. He vanished into thin air, and I lost the only chance I had to get him back.
"No. No! NOOOOO! ROXAS!" I yelled, but it was no use. I had failed, plain and simple, and nothing was ever going to change that.
I collapsed to my knees in the station and cried until Axel came and picked me up.
I wept for the rest of that night, and I knew I'd never be the same.
~!~
It was a year after I failed to save Roxas and I was visiting his grave, just like I did every day.
"Hey Roxas. How's it been?" I asked. After a few minutes, I added "It's good here too."
The rain was beginning to soak my black cardigan and white dress, and so I told Roxas I'd have to leave early that day.
"Roxas, if you can hear me, please wait for me. When I die, we can be together forever, I promise."
Just then, a blue butterfly fluttered by my face, landed on my outstretched hand, and turned to look at me before flying away. It was definitely a sign from Roxas; any gift he ever gave me had a blue butterfly on it somewhere. Despite the circumstances, I smiled.
"Thanks Roxas. I love you too."
With a mixture of love and sorrow ingrained in my heart, I walked away from the grave.
So...how was it?
Also, before anyone types this in their review, I'd like to address some things:
1) Yes, I'm aware that Hades is actually apart of the KH universe, and that the Underworld is too. I just see Disney!Hades as more of a comical character, and so I didn't think he'd be appropriate for this oneshot.
2) The version of this myth that I remember reading had Eurydice have very long hair. Orpheus thought that they were both all the way out of the Underworld, but her hair was still in there, and so she disappeared when he looked at her. I used a chain instead of hair in this story.
and
3) This was kind of inspired by Persona 3. The first persona you actually get is Orpheus, and when I went and started playing Persona 3 again the other day, this just kind of popped into my head.
Reviews are greatly appreciated!