NOTE: This is a fic for the Kingdom Hearts Big Bang event Worlds Connected. You can find every piece of art or fiction in kh-worldsconnected and #worldsconnected (tumblr). The cover has been made by ninthnocturne (tumblr).
Unlike his family, Roxas never liked living in his town. He felt like he didn't belong there.
His town was one of those little countryside towns in which nothing happens. And eventually, he became very bored of that peace and calm. He didn't look forward to follow his parent's paths either, his father worked the land, and his mother worked in a local bakery.
One day, when he was feeling really tired of looking at the trees of his father's field, he decided to talk with him.
"Hi dad," he said.
"Hi, Roxas, what's the matter?" he asked. He was under a tree, reaching the tall branches to pick up some fruit.
"I'm bored," Roxas replied.
"I can see that on your face, but I can't see anything beyond that. Unless you tell me. What is going on inside your head?" his father said.
"I don't want to work the land, I find it really boring" he replied.
His father stopped picking fruit. And he sat next to the bottom of the tree.
"Well. I can't say that I didn't expect this. You aren't really the farmer type, are you?" he replied, grinning subtly. "And what would you like to do?"
Roxas blushed and sat next to his father. He knew exactly what he would like to be doing but he thought his father would make fun of him.
"I want t-to learn magic," he said, slightly stuttering.
His father looked at him, like if he was just told a joke, and started laughing. Roxas stood up and started walking away. His father went after him.
"Wait!" He shouted. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have laughed at you".
Roxas turned back and glared at him. "Yes, you shouldn't".
Then, they remained silent, no one spoke a word. Roxas was staring at his father and crossing his arms.
"Do you have any idea of how difficult it was for me to tell you this?" he was clenching his fist. "No, you don't!" Roxas' breath was getting faster.
"I'm sorry... son," he said. "But you know, magic is not something you can learn at this point. You are almost nineteen years. It's true that magic exists and some people learn it, but in order to get to that point you need to have that magic inside of you. You have to be born with that power. And then you learn to control it. It's true that some are late bloomers, but if you are over eighteen and magic hasn't manifested yet... It's most probably that it never will".
Roxas was looking at the ground, he didn't want to see his father. He was really angry, but not at him.
"You can learn time magic, if you want to," his father replied smiling.
Roxas heart started beating really fast when he heard those words.
"Are you serious?" he asked. He could feel fireworks inside of him.
"You can totally learn how to make clocks. That's magic, isn't it?"
A cold water bucket was thrown on Roxas' shoulders. He was really disappointed.
"Don't talk to me," Roxas said with a straight face. "I will be in my room, alone".
"Roxas, you should really consider moving to the city and learning this trade. It can be exciting! You never know".
Roxas left his father and ran towards his house. His father's field was next to their home, so he get to his room really fast.
While he was on the bed he wondered if he should start a new life on the city. That town was boring, there were only trees. He had almost no friends there, and he didn't like the idea of working on his family's field. Maybe he should have left before. He was staring at a small clock he had on the nightstand.
"Is this what I should be doing? Clocks?" he thought.
"Good morning Roxas!" His father was sitting at the table on the kitchen.
"Don't talk to me," Roxas said. He didn't look at him.
"Don't be mad at me, son," his father replied. "Have you thought about what I've told you yesterday?"
Roxas stopped walking suddenly. And looked at him.
"Yes".
"Yes? Do you mean that you thought about it?" his father asked.
"I mean that I decided to go. But I can't just go to the city and start working on a random clock workshop," he added.
"Roxas, have you forgotten about your cousin?" his father replied, grinning.
"Huh?" he said, frowning his eyebrows.
"Your cousin Ventus! He lived here for a while, and then he left for the city. He joined a clock workshop. And he's doing great there. That's why I thought you could go with him. He loves you a lot".
"So that was your plan after all. But you don't know if he wants me there".
"I can send him a letter. Although I'm sure he is going to say yes. So you'd better start packing. And stop that sad face! You are not going anywhere if you keep being sad all the time," his father said.
His cousin Ventus replied to the letter really fast. He used words like 'excited', 'looking forward', and 'really happy', so Roxas accepted the idea that his cousin actually liked him.
He packed for two days with the help of his parents. His mother was sad and happy at the same time. She was happy that her son was going to meet new people and new places, but she knew she was going to miss him. His father had this bittersweet feeling too. He was the one who suggested the idea of moving, but he also had this dream of Roxas becoming his successor and working the land. And he would miss his usually bitter face. He grew to like Roxas' gloomy mood.
His parents take him to the train station and waited by his side until the very last moment. After they hugged Roxas several times, he gifted them with a smile. His father was so moved that he let a tear down his face. Roxas went inside the train while waving at them.
After a long whistle the train started moving, the clouds of steam covered the town, while the train was moving towards a bright blue sky.
"My little cousin!" Ventus was shouting loudly on the train station."How was the trip? Are you tired? Do you need anything?" Ventus hugged him a couple of times. "You've grown up a lot".
"Hi, Ventus," Roxas said. He was totally different than his cousin. "It was fine, and I'm not tired. I have been sitting on the train for hours".
"Look at you! You look so mature. That makes you so cute," his cousin said. Hugging him again.
"Oh... If you say so".
"Let's go home!" Ventus exclaimed.
Roxas' eyes popped out when he left the station and saw the city. There were plenty of people, very different and diverse. But the building were more impressive. Some buldings were so tall that they could touch the sky. It was overwhelming for him.
"Is your house too far?" he asked.
"Do you mean our house, little cousin? It's your home now," Ventus replied. "And it's not really far. Some people use horse carts to move faster on the city but those are expensive. We can walk there".
Roxas walked really close to his cousin the whole time. The city was overwhelming for him. He couldn't stop looking at everything, at the people, the buildings, the horses. But he tried to not get distracted. Roxas knew he could get lost easily there.
"And why did you come to the city on the first place?" Roxas ask to Ventus.
"I didn't belong on our town," he said. "I guess it's the same for you," he winked at this cousin and smirked.
Roxas got nervous and looked away from him. He tried his best to hide that he was blushing.
After some walking they get to the building where their home was. It wasn't a tall building, it appeared to have only four apartments on it.
"Our place is in the second floor," Ventus said. "I'm glad you are only carrying one bag," he started laughing. Roxas kept quiet.
When they got to the door, his cousin was very excited, "you are about to see my palace!"
Roxas wasn't amused at all.
When Ventus opened the door Roxas finally discovered how the place he was going to stay was.
"It's small," he said. "And messy".
"Thank you, Roxas! I'm glad you like it". Ventus went inside, carrying Roxas' bag.
The apartment had a small room as a living room with a kitchen attached to it, another room for the bathroom and a single bedroom with a king size bed.
"Where's my room?" Roxas asked.
"Here!" Ventus replied pointing to his room.
"But that's yours, I guess," he replied, with a straight face. His cousin was giggling.
"This is our room, and our bed!"
"Don't talk to me," Roxas answered. He left the room and found a clean spot on the living room to sit.
Ventus looked surprised, and went after Roxas.
"What's the matter, Roxas? Why are you angry?" Ventus eyes looked as if he was going to start crying. "I'm sorry if I made something wrong".
"Why do you want me to sleep in the same bed as you?" he asked, trying not to yell.
"It's the only bed I have," he replied.
"So why do you said I could come here? Why were you so excited about me being here?" Roxas started shouting.
"Because I'm your family, and your father told me how much you needed to live somewhere else. And I'm happy to have you here! I don't care to sleep in the same bed as you. It's huge! And we are family, it's fine to sleep in the same bed. I won't do anything weird to you," he explained, quickly.
"Why is everyone so..." Roxas couldn't keep talking. He started crying, on the floor of the apartment.
"Roxas?" Ventus went to his side, to hug his cousin.
"Why is everyone so nice with me? I don't deserve all of this. And I can't give anything back. I'm just a mess. I don't deserve your kindness," he replied.
Ventus hugged him really tight, and wiped his tears.
"I remember when I lived on our town, I usually went to your house to take care of you while your parents were working. You were a really cheerful kid. And now... You seem so hurt. Please, let me help you. Let me be kind to you. Let me share everything I have with you", he said, without stop hugging his cousin.
"But why?" Roxas yelled, while crying.
"You are my cousin, I know you since the moment you were born. And I appreciate you a lot. I want to do something nice for you. I haven't been home years ago. And you are the only family I have here. I want to be useful".
Roxas was crying.
"I'm scared to be in a new city, I don't want to be alone".
"I won't ever leave you alone".
The two cousins were in front of an old building that had some drawing of clocks on its label.
"Are you ready for this?" Ventus asked.
"I guess so. Yeah..." Roxas wasn't really confident but he wanted to make a good impression. His heart was beating quickly. And his breathing was fast.
"Can you go first? I want to check something. I will be watching through the windows," Ventus asked his cousin, he had a huge smirk on his face.
"Why?" Roxas asked.
"It will be funny, just do it!" Ventus opened the door and ran under the window, on the street. Roxas had to enter the workshop alone. The room had a counter and some clocks on shelves, clients could buy and order products there.
"Good morning, Ventus!" A blue-haired girl greet him as he entered the room. "Um... You look kind of different," she said. Staring at him.
Roxas blushed and looked at his feet.
"Ventus? You are acting so weird!" she said, surprised.
Ventus entered the room, nonchalant. "Hi guys".
His friend looked at him, confused. She stared at both of them, without blinking.
"Ventus! Do you have a twin?" the girl asked.
"No!" Ventus was laughing loudly. Roxas hid behind his cousin. "You totally thought he was me!" he keep laughing.
"Stop this," his friend said. She was glaring at Ventus.
"It was funny to see you thinking that he was me. It was worthy" he said.
"But who is him?" the girl asked.
"He's Roxas, my cousin," he looked at him,
"Nice to meet you, I'm Aqua," she said, smiling. "I'm sorry you have this cousin," she added.
Roxas was really shy, and he didn't know how to properly behave with new people.
"H-Hi, I'm f-fine," he said, stuttering.
"I want to ask Master Eraqus if Roxas can work here and be his new apprentice," Ventus said.
"Are you?" Aqua said, looking away from him.
"Sure! What's the matter?" Ventus asked.
"I'm not exactly sure he's going to be willing to do that," she added.
"I'm going to ask him anyway," Ventus replied. "Where is he?"
"He's inside, but I think he is busy right now," she replied.
"I'm totally going there," he replied. "Roxas, come with me," he took his cousin's hand and walked towards a door behind the counter.
They were on a dark corridor, at the end of it there was another room. It was bigger than the shop, and it had several tables with piles of different materials. The walls were full of tools. Master Eraqus was focused working on a clock.
"Master Eraqus," Ventus said. "Good morning!"
"Hi Ventus," he replied. He didn't look at them.
"Master..."
"I'm busy right now," he added.
"Could you look at us for a moment?" Ventus asked.
"Us?" Master Eraqus look at them, and he was as confused as Aqua.
"Have you had a son or something?" he asked, bluntly.
"No! He is my cousin and he would like to learn our trade!" Ventus replied.
"Huh, taking apprentices is not something that we do lightly. We do not take everyone as an apprentice," he replied.
"He isn't everyone! He is Roxas, my cousin. He has been living with me for a few days. And he wants to stay here and work with us!"
"And why isn't he talking?"
"I'm sorry, I should've introduced myself. I'm Roxas, I'm eighteen years old. I'm Ventus' cousin, and I would love to learn how to make... clocks".
"Yeah... You don't seem really passionate about this," Master Eraqus answered.
"He is! He's so excited to start!" Ventus exclaimed.
"I..." Master Eraqus couldn't finish his sentence. Aqua went inside the room running.
"Master Eraqus! Sir. We have a serious problem!" she said.
"What's the matter now?" he replied. He sighed slowly.
"All the clocks of the shop are broken. All of them stopped at the same time!" Aqua said, almost yelling.
Master Eraqus suddenly stood up and went to the shop to check out on the clocks. The cousins and Aqua followed him.
Eraqus took one of the clocks on the shelf and looked at its inside. "Every piece is in its place. Everything seem to be fine. So I don't understand what's happening".
"How could all the clocks break at the same time? This never happened before!" Ventus said.
"I want to go outside, to check on other people's clocks," Aqua replied. "Maybe it's not just our clocks".
Aqua ran outside and the boys stayed with Master Eraqus, who was opening all the clocks on the shelves.
"Guys!" Aqua yelled. All of them ran outside with her. She was on the middle of the street. "You have to see this!" There was a man in front of her, he wasn't moving at all. Above them, in the sky, there was a couple of birds who were stuck in their flights. Some horse carts have also stopped in the middle of the road. Everyone was stuck in time, except them.
"What is this?" Master Eraqus asked, shouting. "I've never seen something like this before".
"The time has stopped," Roxas said.
"Oh, thank you, Roxas. Without your remark I could've never noticed" Ventus replied, mocking him.
Roxas glared at him, Ventus smiled at his cousin and he stopped being angry. Ventus usually had that effect with people; he managed to make everyone laugh, or at least feel better.
Roxas was confused and scared, that was his first day on the workshop and everything was already a mess.
"So... Master Eraqus," Ventus said. "Are you accepting Roxas as an apprentice?"
"This is not the time to talk about that!" the man replied.
"Of course it's not the time, there's no time!" Ventus started laughing loudly and everyone was getting pissed at him. But, surprisingly, Roxas laughed too.
"Roxas! You are laughing!" Ventus couldn't believe his eyes.
"That was funny," the little cousin replied, blushing.
"Maybe you all should go home," Master Eraqus said. "We can't fix this right now, and I need time alone to think. Go back tomorrow morning".
"I don't want to be rude..." Ventus said. "But, when it's tomorrow?"
"Come back whenever you want! Count the seconds in your head if you will, but I need time alone right now!" he replied, frowning his eyebrows.
"But how can you need time alone if there's no..."
"Ventus, go home now."
"When are we meeting again?" Aqua asked. "How can we know that the time has passed?"
The two coworkers were thinking in silence, until Roxas spoke.
"We can use candles".
The two of them looked at him, surprised.
"Yeah, candles. We can get three candles of the same size and light them. When they are consumed we can go back again," he explained.
"You are a genius!" Ventus jumped to hug his cousin.
Aqua went into the workshop and brought back two big candles of similar size. Then, they left, promising to get back in the shop soon.
"I'm scared," Roxas said. Looking at the sky. "I didn't know living on the city could be so dangerous".
"Don't be scared. I'm here with you!" Ventus stopped walking and hugged Roxas. He didn't move. He could feel his cousin's heart beating really fast. "Everything will be fine," he smiled.
They kept walking in silence until Roxas pointed something out, "it could be magic..."
"Magic?" Ventus asked. "There's no time magic, I've never heard of that kind of magic!"
"Just because you don't know something it doesn't mean it's not real," Roxas replied.
"Well... It could be magic. Let's keep in mind that possibility."
When they got home Roxas jumped into their bed and hugged the blankets. Ventus looked for matches to light the candle. Then, he left it somewhere safe. When he went to the bed he noticed that Roxas had already fallen asleep. He sat by him and looked at Roxas. He looked really peaceful while sleeping.
"I'm so glad you are here," Ventus whispered. He stayed awake, to check on the candle.
"Roxas!"
"Huh?" he replied.
"We have to go now, the candle has consumed already," Ventus said.
Roxas covered his face with the pillow, "I don't want to. Give me five more minutes".
"I can't wait five minutes because there are no minutes".
"Oh, it's true! The time has stopped!" Roxas stood up suddenly when he remembered. "Have you slept too?"
"No, I was looking at the candle," Ventus replied.
"And what were you doing in bed?" Roxas asked.
"I was cuddling with you," he added. "But I never lost track of the candle."
Roxas blushed and walked away from his cousin. "We have to go".
They left the apartment and went outside, the streets were exactly the same. The people were still in the same places where they were before.
"How many hours do you think have passed since the time stopped?" Roxas asked.
"I may be an apprentice of Master Eraqus, but I have no clue about this issue," he replied.
"Ventus, there's someone there!" Roxas yelled, pointing at someone at the other side of the street, getting inside a shop.
"Maybe he knows something about this, we should ask," Ventus said.
"No! I don't really think we should ask. Look at what he is doing!" Roxas said. The man was taking things from a store.
"Maybe he left the money on the counter?" Ventus suggested.
"I don't really think so. Maybe he's a time wizard," Roxas said.
"So time wizards could be real…" his cousin replied.
Then, the man who was taking things from the shop raised his hand and created a grey bubble on the air. He used the bubble to carry the things he had taken.
"This looks like magic to me," Roxas said, glancing at his cousin.
"Yes, it d-" Ventus stopped talking because he noticed the man approaching them. "Pretend you are frozen," he whispered.
The man stared at them. He looked puzzled. Roxas started to worry about the possibility of him suspecting that they weren't there before.
Finally, he stopped looking and went away. When the two boys checked that he was definitely out of sight, they ran towards Eraqus' workshop.
"Aqua!" Ventus exclaimed when they got there. She was waiting in front of the door.
"We found someone!" Roxas shouted. Aqua was surprised to see him talking so loud, Roxas usually was really quiet.
"What? Everyone's frozen!" she said.
"Roxas believes that there's a thief that is using time magic to rob the entire city," Ventus explained.
"But time magic doesn't exist," she answered.
"That's what I told him! But he kept saying the same… And actually he looked like he was using magic… And you can also recognize him because he's the only person moving around except from us," Ventus added.
"Did you see where he was heading?" she asked.
"I noticed he went towards this area, maybe to a street close to this," Roxas replied. "Is there any bank or important building near?"
Aqua and Ventus looked at each other with a serious look.
"The central bank…" she said. "I'm almost sure he went there".
Then, she entered the workshop calling for Master Eraqus. When Aqua explained him what was happening they decided to go to the bank. They couldn't let that thief get what he wanted. Roxas noticed that this time Master Eraqus was carrying a sword.
When they got to the bank, the thief was already inside, taking gold into his bubble.
"Stop this!" Master Eraqus shouted.
"W-What?" the thief turned back, surprised. "How can you…" he squinted his eyes.
"If you stop this crime I will forgive you," Master Eraqus said. He drew his sword.
"Oh, so you want to fight, huh?"
Master Eraqus raise his sword and ran towards him. The thief moved his arm, and with that simple movement he threw a gust of air that made Master Eraqus fall into the ground.
"The fight is over, and excuse me, I have a city to rob".
Ventus and Aqua ran to aid Master Eraqus. Roxas was scared, but he went after them anyway.
"We will stop you!" Aqua yelled, she took Master Eraqus' sword and tried to attack him. But the thief threw a small tornado to them. Roxas wasn't hit by it because he was still far from the group.
"Guys! Are you okay?" when he got to the group all of them were on the floor. "Why can't you stand up? Are you hurt?"
"The… gravity," Ventus said. "Can't you feel it?". He had his eyes closed.
"Yes, everyone is always surprised when I use my gravitational powers," the thief said, staring at Roxas. "Time, gravity, air… Those aren't common powers. Are they?"
"Why…" Roxas said. "Why are you using your powers for evil? I always wished I had some kind of magic, and here you are wasting your powers!"
"Wasting them? I'm incredibly rich. And I only have to freeze the time to take anything I want!"
"But, don't you realize that stealing from other people causes them harm? Maybe they need the money to eat or have a place to live!" Roxas replied, shouting.
"Huh! Why am I even talking to you?" he threw another gust of wind, this time directed to Roxas.
"You can't!" Roxas yelled and in that exact time a wind wall appear in front of him.
The thief looked at the wall, really surprised. Roxas couldn't believe what happened.
"Are you a… wizard?" the thief stopped taking money and looked directly at Roxas.
"I'm not!"
"But you just created a wall of wind," he said.
"It was you. Maybe you got confused or something!" Roxas shouted.
"How you dare? I would never get confused while attacking," he threw another gust.
Roxas shouted, he was scared. And then, another wall of wind stopped the attack.
"You are a dimensional wizard like me," the thief approached Roxas, slowly. "There are not so many people who have dimensional magic," he explained. "That's why you and your friends didn't get frozen in time, you protected them". He started laughing, his eyes weren't focused in anything, and he put his hands on his head.
"You are scaring me," Roxas replied.
"You can come with me. I would teach you! We could have so much power together. You could learn to control time, space, gravity, air!" the thief started yelling really loudly.
"No!" Roxas yelled and he created several bubbles on the air.
"See? Now that you are aware of your powers you are showing them. Dimension magic is really difficult to control, but it's even more difficult to discover. You may live your entire life without even noticing it. It's… hidden."
"I don't want this!" Roxas said.
"Yes! You want it," the man took Roxas' hands. His eyes were wide open and he was smiling. "Feel the power running inside you!"
"Stop this!"
The thief grabbed Roxas' shoulders and shook him. "You are coming with me! I will teach you everything, and I'll be kind with you."
"No! Stop right now," Roxas shouted with his eyes closed. And when he opened them he found out that the thief wizard was frozen in time. Roxas fell into the ground. He was scared. He was confused. He needed his cousin.
"Ventus…"
He went next to the group, they couldn't move.
"How can I help you? What should I do?" They moved their lips but no sound came from them.
Roxas tried to focus on them, he tried really hard to visualize them walking and standing up. He didn't know anything about how that magic worked, but he wished for them to start moving again. He created several bubbles on the air around him, he couldn't control his powers. Then, they seemed relaxed, and they could move again.
"Roxas?" Ventus said, he looked confused. "What just happened?"
"I did magic…" he was looking at his hands. "I… did… magic!"
"It was impressive!" Aqua said. "I didn't know you could use magic".
"I can't," Roxas said. "I mean, I couldn't?"
"We have no time to lose," Master Eraqus said, standing up.
"Actually there's no…" Ventus starting talking, but stopped mid-sentence when Master Eraqus glared quickly at him.
"Roxas. Could you stop the spell on the thief? He's the only one who can end the spell he did," Master Eraqus added.
"I'm not sure, but I can try," Roxas said. He stood up next to the wizard thief and put his hands on his shoulders. "I don't know if I need to touch him…"
The group was looking at him, waiting for something to happen. Then, the thief started moving again, but as soon as he got out of the spell Master Eraqus pushed him into the floor. He couldn't escape or use magic in that position.
"No one will ever teach you dimensional magic," he said to Roxas. "I'm the only one who can control it…"
"I would never join you," he replied.
"You've heard him," Master Eraqus said. "Now, stop your spell, or I will end you here. And if you try to escape, Roxas here will freeze you again."
The wizard stopped the spell. Once again, the birds were flying freely on the sky, the people were walking on the streets running errands, and the clocks of Master Eraqus' shop were working again.
"Go outside and find the police, Aqua," Master Eraqus said.
"You're going to regret this, Roxas," the thief said. "You will never be able to control your magic".
"I will practice, and I will learn by myself. If you could learn alone I'm sure it's not so difficult," he replied. His cousin Ventus started laughing.
"That's a good one, Roxas!" Ventus said.
"And it would be an honor to have you as an apprentice on the workshop… If you're still interested, of course," Master Eraqus offered.
"Yes, I am!" Roxas replied smiling.
The police, who were prepared to deal with magic, took the thief and made sure that all the gold was returned to the bank. Then, Roxas went to his apartment with Ventus, promising that he would come again to the workshop. He would learn how to make clocks at the same time he would practice dimensional magic.
After all, he was a late bloomer.