And here is chapter two for your entertainment. I'm already on a roll with this. It'll be updated at least once a day, which is far more than can be said for Unforgettable. :P Enjoy the chapter! :)
0=0=0=0=0=0
The Longest Night
Chapter II
Welcome to Castle Oblivion
0=0=0=0=0=0
"To enter the place, you must lose what you love most. What do you love most?"
My friends.
"Then you will lose your friends."
I'm not going to enter, then.
"But my puppet, you are already inside…"
0=0=0=0=0=0
The next day, Xion was woken up early by Roxas. She still felt terrible. She had a headache that hurt just enough to be constant and annoying, and it took three huge glasses of water for her to stop feeling like all the fluid in her body had been sucked out.
All in all, she was definitely not in the mood to go to the Bad Place (as she had taken to calling that stupid castle). But she didn't have a choice. Really, it felt like the old days of loneliness and being called an 'it'.
She looked up from her bowl of cereal—she was eating breakfast in the Grey Area. "Roxas?"
Roxas pulled his spoon out of his mouth and swallowed. "Yeah?"
"Are you getting a bad feeling, too?"
Roxas considered the question for a second. "…Sort of. I'm not getting a horrible feeling, like getting sick from the name…actually, what are you feeling, do you think?"
Xion held her chest. "When I hear the name, I get this really panicky feeling inside. Like…I know I'm not supposed to go there, no matter what, that the one place I am not supposed to go to is that place. I feel like someone came up to me one day and told me, 'don't go here, if you go here, something horrible will happen to you.'"
Roxas scratched his arm. "That's…sort of how I feel. Not as strong. More like I was told that if I went there, I would get in trouble."
"Maybe we really were told that, but it was early on, so we don't remember it?"
Roxas shrugged. "That's possible. We should ask…" He was silent for a long moment. "…No. We shouldn't."
Xion held Roxas' shoulder. "Are you mad at him?"
Roxas suddenly became very interested in his bowl of cereal. "Mad at who?"
"You know who. Don't pretend that you don't."
Roxas took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Yes. I am very, very mad at him."
"Please don't be mad at him."
"Friends don't lie."
Xion gave Roxas a tight squeeze. "Friends also don't hold grudges. Friends forgive each other."
"If there's been an apology."
"You'd feel better if he apologized?"
Roxas sighed and looked Xion in the eye. "He's not going to. Whatever he's trying to hide, it's something important enough to him that he won't give up on the lie unless he absolutely has to."
Xion looked down. "He's our best friend."
Roxas opened his mouth like he was about to say something, but after a moment of hesitation, he closed it again. "…I don't want him to hurt you," he said finally.
"Hurt me?" Xion stared straight at Roxas. "He would never hurt me."
"…Can I be honest for a second?"
"Be honest always."
Roxas bit his lip. "…I think you trust him too much."
0=0=0=0=0=0
The girl loved to draw. She had scoured this whole castle for things to draw. Admittedly, most of the white halls were poor subjects for a drawing, but she still faithfully put everything down because it was something to draw, and she loved drawing. When she was drawing, she felt content. She didn't need anything else.
But she remembered every single thing she drew, and it came to her attention that she had run out of things to draw.
She had attempted writing a few times, but she always found that it wasn't nearly as satisfying. Words were meant to create images, not copy them down. Plus, the prose wasn't exactly inspired—Long hallway. Big, white vase with white flowers in it. Really big doors.
So, the girl sat around, trying to figure out what to do. She looked around the room and decided that there was no particular reason she couldn't just start over. She looked around her room, trying to decide where she should start. The big table in the center was too easy, but the rest of the room was boring. Maybe she could draw that big, black portal behind her…
Wait. That had never been there before.
As she watched the portal, something—no, someone—stepped out of it, and she jumped. The portal vanished, and there stood what seemed to be a man in a black cloak. It occurred to her that she had never actually seen a man before…or a woman, or indeed, anyone other than herself. She hadn't even known there were other people, not that she had given that subject too much thought.
The man walked forward in huge strides, like he owned everything his feet touched. That irked the girl a bit—this was her home, her room. What right did this guy have to just waltz in and start acting like everything was his?
Soon enough, the man had reached her position. He laid a heavy hand on her shoulder and squeezed…like he owned her, too. "Do you have a name?"
The girl thought about it. "…What's a name?" she asked. Have I ever talked before? No…
The man laughed a bit, a small yet chilling laugh. "That's what you call yourself. I call myself Marluxia. What do you call yourself?"
The girl looked down. "…I don't call myself anything…"
"It's time you started then. I suggest you call yourself…" Marluxia hummed in thought. "…Namine. Do you like that name?"
"…Yes. It's very pretty."
"Good. Now, do you remember how you got here?"
Namine took a second to access her memories. "Yes…I woke up in this room, and…actually, I'll draw it, watch…"
She grabbed her sketchbook, flipped it to an empty page and drew herself waking up in the same chair she was sitting in. This was her best drawing yet, far more satisfying than any she had drawn in the past. She loved every second of it.
When she was done, she held the drawing up to Marluxia. "See?"
Marluxia took the sketchbook and looked at the drawing. "…Did you enjoy this?"
Namine nodded vigorously. "Uh-huh."
"Do you want to draw more memories? Perhaps…all of them?"
Namine could feel herself bouncing. "I'd love to!"
To Namine's naïve, socially deprived brain, Marluxia's sinister scheming grin registered as a sign that he was happy for her…
0=0=0=0=0=0
Roxas had no idea why Marluxia had bothered with a scouting mission. This place was the most boring place in existence. All he knew was that he didn't like being stuffed in this dark, slightly dank basement with Zexion, Lexaeus and Vexen. At least Xion was there with him and Axel wasn't.
After a quick tour and a promise that the place would be much more interesting once Sora came along—not him again crossed Roxas' mind every time the name was mentioned—they had been shown their rooms. He and Xion were to share a room, which he was perfectly fine with. The lighting was orange, not unlike the Twilight Town sunset. The furniture consisted of a wooden desk with two chairs, situated in the back of the room, along with a bunk bed. It looked like it was made for little kids—it had a staircase instead of a ladder.
Roxas watched as Xion ripped the blanket off of the top bunk and put one of the long edges under the mattress, making a screen. Clearly, one of the bunks was not going to be used. She crawled inside the 'tent', and Roxas followed her in. It felt nice inside, like sitting in a closet.
He held Xion on the shoulder. "How do you feel now?"
Xion coughed a few times. "Sorry," she said, her voice raspy. "My voice gave out when I stepped in, it just came back…the bad feeling is worse than it was before, but not as bad as when we were higher up."
Roxas sighed. "I saw you get really pale when we went up to the third floor."
"I was getting a serious headache…I'm glad we didn't go any farther…" Xion reached into her pocket and pulled out two seashells, handing one to Roxas. "Can you keep this with you, please?"
Roxas nodded, sticking the seashell in his own pocket. "Of course. Why do you ask?"
Xion rubbed her forehead. "Because I want us to remember each other…sorry, I still have a headache…"
Roxas pulled her closer. "I'd never forget you."
"I know, but…" Xion sighed. "I hate this place. I feel like it's trying to snatch all my memories away…"
"Are you forgetting things?"
"No, but I feel like I will if I'm not careful…"
Roxas hugged Xion as tightly as he could. "I won't forget you. And you won't forget me. I promise."
Xion gave him a quick peck on the forehead and smiled. "Thank you. This will be easier with you."
"I'll make sure of that. I'm always here for you. Always."
0=0=0=0=0=0
Another day, another cute RokuShi moment. :)
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for chapter three!