Roxas was speechless. Never in his seven years of life had his senses been so overwhelmed then when he stepped foot into the Organization and Company's Chocolate Factory. The factory- or castle- as he saw it, was huge. You see, he had always loved sweets and though his heart belonged to sea salt ice cream, chocolate was high up on that list as well. So, for Roxas, nothing could be as wondrous as a 'castle' that's single purpose was just to create chocolate. For him, it was one big childhood dream wrapped up in a single building.
But the thing that really blew his mind was the process that went into creating the chocolate. Heck, maybe even just seeing the vast array of complicated machinery that went into making something so simple as a chocolate bar is what brought his love of chocolate to life. For a child, never had he seen such variety of machines. There were some that blew smoke and machines that packaged and machines that made loud noises and machines that squeaked. Small ones, big ones, tall ones, short ones. It was complicated but simple. Something that he couldn't wrap his mind around. And this was just the factory part of the tour that had already blew him away.
"Roxas," He felt a tugging at his sleeve, "We're falling behind." He looked down to see a pair of big blue puppy dog eyes staring at him.
"Sorry, Xion." His little sister grabbed his hand and began pulling him through the crowd. Out of all his siblings Xion was always his favorite. She was the youngest of his four siblings- yet, she was the oldest.
"If we don't keep up we will get lost, and you know Van. He isn't waiting for us." He sighed. Van. Van was the oldest and the most 'responsible'- or at least that's what he is supposed to be- of all his siblings. After their parents passed away, Van took his siblings in out of pity. Never did and never will Roxas understand why someone so cold and unloving would want to adopt the title of 'parent or guardian.'
Xion rushed Roxas through the crowd of people till they were back with their family. "Wow Roxas, you actually look like your enjoying yourself for once." Sora laughed. " I can't recall the last time I saw you smile." And Sora wasn't wrong. Roxas- even as a child- was the quiet and stoic one. He was passionate when he had to be, but overall he was the most serious of the bunch. His foil was Sora who was the definition of a middle child. He was the fun loving, loud, and most obnoxious of his siblings. He was also the most childish but he had the most heart of them all.
" Wow, Roxas smiling!?" Ven turned his head, but just as he did Roxas wiped the smile off his face. He was embarrassed. "Aww, Roxas, it's okay to smile. You should smile more." He too laughed. For being Roxas' twin brother he was more like Sora than him. He too was laid back and easygoing, but had Roxas' passionate flair.
He was now surrounded by his family, who were all staring intently at the boy. Just the action of him smiling caused a wave of brightly colored blue eyes to gravitate towards him, leaving him with a very unsettling feeling. He didn't like this kind of attention. "Thanks guys." He muttered to the ground.
Xion could tell he was uncomfortable, she tugged at his hand giving him a reassuring look. He squeezed back. Roxas vowed that for the rest of the tour he would keep his excitement to himself and would eventually seek revenge on his brothers for embarrassing him.
And though he stared blankly, the rest of the tour continued to leave him awestruck. They had wholes rooms dedicated to just the storage of chocolate bars, conference rooms that were devoted to speaking solely about chocolate, walls that were covered in pictures of chocolate, and the best part? At the end of the tour they had would even receive a free chocolate bar! His's excitement continued to grow with every step he took. He wanted nothing more than to live in the chocolate castle- or better yet- work in it. That's right, he could work in it- it's a company after all. I mean, who won't want to be enclosed by chocolate 24/7. It was then that Roxas realized his dream: to work at the chocolate factory and become a partner for the Organization and Company.
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Roxas took a deep breath and slowly let it out as a wave of nostalgia washed over him. It had been twelve long years since he first set foot inside the 'castle.' And yet, the 'castle'- to his surprise- looked exactly as he remembers it: medallion colored pews, long yellow windows, and a turquoise roof. Funny enough, this awful color scheme went well with the menacing look of the Chocolate Factory.
But todays visit to the Chocolate Factory was much different than his first. This visit was much more unpleasant. He had an internship interview. Roxas let another stressful breath out as he kept a tough face- with resume in hand- he cautiously approached the gate.
Here goes nothing. At first he knock. No reply. Then he pounded. No reply. Really?
"Bro, you don't need to break the door to come in." Shocked, Roxas whipped his head around looking for the source of the voice. "Really Bro, there's an intercom with a button on it to the left." Bro? This guy is better off catching waves than working at a corporate company.
The intercom went silent for a second, and then grew fuzzy. The voice sounded distant but he could make it out, "Hey guys, there's a kid at the door- wasn't Halloween last month?" Roxas rolled his eyes. Not only was Halloween over three months ago, but this idiot left the microphone on.
Roxas heard the voice grunt a cough. " Sorry, kid, did you hear that?"
"I'm nineteen." He stated bluntly.
"Right, right. Well sorry then, bro. I'm opening the door now, take a step back." Roxas watched as the door slowly opened.
The inside of the building was just as he remembered it: all the walls were a bright white, with huge white pillars and a contrasting dark blue tiled roof. For a castle that was built within the last twenty years it had a very greek-esque feeling to it.
Once Roxas entered he promptly walked right up to the front desk- a literal desk that was placed awkwardly in the middle of the long hall way, or at least he thought he was walking up to it. Now Roxas expected to see a person sitting at the front desk ready to greet him- but to his surprise- is all he could see where a pair of shoes? No, that wasn't right. Wary, he approached. The closer he got the more features he could see. Spikey sand blonde hair, jeans, an open buttoned shirt. How unprofessional. Then Roxas saw his face and without even looking at him, he knew the identity of the person sitting at the desk. It was speaker bro.
Roxas rolled his eyes. The guy was laying back in his chair, eyes closed, headphones blaring, as his fingers moved wickedly fast- clearly mimicking an air guitar. And if it wasn't this guy's sheer lack of unprofessionalism that ticked Roxas off it was the guy's hair that brought his hatred for the 'bro' to a whole new level. He has a goddamn mullet.
Roxas didn't hold back, he knocked on the desk as loudly as he could. The bro jolted awake and in shock, proceeded to fall back in slow motion. Papers flew in all directions as Roxas heard a loud 'thud.' He tried not to laugh. I'm such a kid, huh?
He watched as the disheveled bro crawled on the floor for a moment- shock clear on his face- as he tried grasp what just happened. Then, he looked up and saw Roxas. He gave him a small wave. "Sorry bro," He pulled himself up, wiping off his shirt. For a second Roxas almost felt bad- maybe this guy was the receptionist because he was dumb? "I know I just saw you at the gate- but man- have you ever heard a tune that you just totally dig and feel the need to jam out to it?"
Roxas shrugged in disinterest, "I guess?" In all honestly, he could careless for jamming out or listening to tunes, but he could see the bro's eye light up with his response. This guy clearly wasn't the brightest bulb in the box.
"Then I'm glad you totally understand." The bro smiled widely, and held out his hand, "The name is Demyx," Roxas firmly shook his hand. "What did you say you were here for?"
"I have an internship interview." Demyx smiled brightly. He looked more excited for Roxas' interview than he did.
"That's awesome, bro! You're going to nail it! I already know!" He gave Roxas an encouraging pat on the back, which was something that annoyed him.
"Thanks, Demyx. "He mused a smile. "So where do I go for my interview?"
Demyx pointed down the long hallway. "Just go, through that door, and it will be the first door on the right." And just like that, he eagerly moved away from the easily excitable Demyx. But just as he was halfway down the hallway, he heard a loud, "WAIT!" Why can't I get rid of this guy?
He saw Demyx running down the hall at full speed. Once he was at Roxas, he stopped dead in his tracks and nearly keeled over. He spent more time than he should have catching his breathe. "Sor-ry..bro… Yo-u ne-ed my.. card-" He waved an identification card at Roxas, "t-o…get..in th-e room." Roxas smacked himself in the face. Though frustrated he was hopeful, if he could deal with Demyx's stupidity than everything from here on out has be a cakewalk.
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He took a deep breath as he sat down at the table and waited. He breathed in and out rhythmically. He tried to go over practice question in his head but he couldn't hear his thoughts over his heartbeat. Where his hands always so sweaty? He closed his eyes and pinched his forehead- he could barely hear Xion's voice screaming at him over his heartbeat, 'You can do this Roxas! Just remember all the questions we practiced! I believe in you.'
He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he didn't hear the chair pull away from the table. "Ah, Roxas." The voice boomed and his eyes flung open. Roxas' heart stopped as he looked up at the silver haired man. Out of all the employees they could have sent to interview him, they sent the president- the founder- the one who created this company from scratch. It was Xemnas.
"Go-od afterno-on, sir-r," He said stuttered. Now, in most circumstances Roxas was known for his cool and calm demeanor. If anything, he was outspoken but for once, he couldn't talk.
" Right," He said bluntly. A look of disinterest was evident on his face. "Nice to meet you too. So you're here for the internship, right?" Roxas' nodded. "Great, so why do you want it?" Xemnas sat back in his chair with his arms crossed.
Roxas froze. Why did he want it? Would it be weird if he said working in a chocolate factory was his childhood dream? Should he be professional or passionate? Based on Xenmas' tone- maybe he should be professional.
He took a deep breath and tried with all his might to compose himself. "Well, you see sir, this would be a great opportunity for school and for my future." Xemnas' eyebrow raised as Roxas pushed his resume towards him. Xemnas picked it up and glanced at it before putting it down quickly.
"You can have it." And in one swift motion Xemnas got up and began walking towards the door, leaving a flabbergasted Roxas in his shadow. Did he just hire me with one question?
"When do I start?" Roxas yelled just as Xemnas had his foot out the door.
"Same time tomorrow." Roxas' excitement was palpable- yet he felt cautious. Why hire him in one question? Why was this so easy? But then again, if Demyx could get hired I guess anyone could. I suppose that wasn't the most encouraging thought. Of course, he didn't want to think too much about it and he left quickly before they changed their mind.
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Once he was outside the building he pulled out his phone and to texted his sister.
"I got it."
"See? I told you that you had it! ? " She texted back immediately.
" Thanks, Xion. I knew I could count on you for support."
" No problem. But, now that you're in, do you think you could get me in too." He rolled his eyes. Xion was always his shadow.
"Copy-cat" He simply replied.
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Thank you for reading! Sorry if my third person limited/deep point of view is a little unpolished. I normally only write from first person.
I have a vague idea of where this fanfiction will be going- updating might be a little slow since this is my warm-up activity before I work on my novel. I also hope you enjoy all the easter eggs I put in.
Anyway, thank you again! Please leave a review if you like. Constructive criticism is encouraged.