Here's the next chapter everyone! I'll try my best to update every week :D
Like in BBS with the Xehanort reports, I'm adding Roxas's diary entries before each chapter starts so you guys know what you'll be into when reading each chapter :)
Enjoy the awesomeness!
"The past few days, the other members have been showing me how to fight and do mission stuff. They also told me more about the Organization, and about myself.
I still don't really get what a "heart" is. But apparently, it's a vital piece of who I am—so I've decided to cooperate. If I collect enough hearts, I can complete Kingdom Hearts. Then I'll be whole." Roxas's Diary Entry III
Chapter 2 – Sea-Salt Ice Cream
Missions were given one at a time from Saix, every day. Roxas never had any time to visit the prisoner he was so curious about. He was eager to see her, but never got the chance to.
On the 9th day, Roxas' mission was with Marluxia. It was at Twilight Town, same as the day before. There wasn't much sign of people. Just the setting sun, shining over the town.
It seemed like missions—or rather, training—was to continue in that town for a while yet.
"You're Roxas, aren't you? Let's re-introduce ourselves. My name is Marluxia. I'm Number XI," Marluxia said, in a gentle tone, looking at Roxas.
It was the first time he'd brushed with a keyblade wielder, even in his memories. He'd heard of them, though.
As a Nobody, he couldn't see anything special about the boy standing in front of him.
"What should I do today?" Roxas asked, his gaze shifting slightly from Marluxia.
"Today, your mission is to collect hearts. Can you bring out your keyblade?" Marluxia simply stated.
"—yeah," Roxas nodded, and made the keyblade appear in his hand.
The blade, shaped like a giant key, shone in Roxas' hand.
It was the first time Marluxia had seen a keyblade.
"So you're Number XIII, the one chosen by the keyblade," Marluxia muttered, without realizing, but Roxas didn't show any special reaction.
Just then, as if called by the keyblade, a Heartless appeared.
The black-bodied thing was a Shadow, a low level Heartless.
"So the small fry have come out—Roxas," Marluxia told his partner. "It's sudden, but please show me the power of the keyblade. Defeat that Heartless."
Whether he'd been listening or not, Roxas ran at the Heartless, keyblade in hand. There was no hesitation in his movements. Roxas swung the keyblade down at the Shadow, which faded away with a few blows. Marluxia had been hoping for strength that would bring a Shadow down in one blow, but as a yet newly-awakened Nobody, this was to be expected.
"The thing you just defeated was a Heartless called a Shadow." Marluxia told the smaller boy.
"…Heartless," muttered Roxas, still gripping the keyblade.
"The Heartless are beings of darkness that roam about, searching for hearts. There are two kinds of Heartless," Marluxia explained. "One is the Pureblood type, such as the one you just defeated. Hearts do not emerge from Pureblood Heartless, even once defeated."
"So how are hearts gathered?" Roxas asked curiously.
"Defeat Emblem Heartless. Those ones." Marluxia gestured to a group of Heartless.
Little Heartless had appeared in the air in front of them.
"Got it." Roxas nodded.
Once more, Roxas ran into the throng of Heartless.
His agility wasn't good, as expected. Just then, from a defeated Heartless, a heart floated up and vanished into the air.
It was the first time Marluxia had seen a 'heart' being collected before his very eyes.
'If those hearts could be collected… but before that, there's something that must be done,' Marluxia thought trans fixated by the hovering heart. 'Even so—the keyblade has marvelous power,' He looked at Roxas with the keyblade in his hand shining brightly in the sun. 'If that power was in my hands…' He continued to watch Roxas take down the Heartless one by one.
Roxas defeated all of the Heartless. He turned back, breathing hard.
"Is that okay?" Roxas turned to Marluxia.
The keyblade disappeared from his hand which caused Marluxia to snap out of his jarring thoughts.
"Yes—the things you defeated this time were Emblem Heartless," Marluxia said. "Unlike with those Shadows from before, after defeating them, somebody's heart emerged, didn't it? Today's mission is to collect those hearts" He told the smaller boy.
"How are those hearts collected?" Roxas asked in confusion.
Marluxia was a little surprised at Roxas' question.
'How can a keyblade wielder not know such a thing?' Marluxia wondered.
"If you defeat Heartless with your keyblade, they get collected." Marluxia answered Roxas's question.
"…What happens to the collected hearts?" Roxas asked again.
The continuous questions showed that Roxas didn't know a thing.
Marluxia took a breath, "They gather in the great Kingdom Hearts." He was getting slightly irritated by Roxas's constant barrage of questions.
"Kingdom Hearts?" Roxas tilted his head.
'I haven't seen the real thing, either,' Marluxia thought. 'But the name, as the 'outcome of research', was let known to me.'
"The goal of our Organization is to complete Kingdom Hearts," Marluxia said. "In order to do so, we must gather hearts."
"Gather hearts—so, everyone else in the Organization is gathering hearts too, I guess." Roxas replied.
"Only the keyblade can free hearts completely." Marluxia told him.
"Huh?" Roxas' voice rose, as if he was surprised.
"We—in other words, except for you, when those of the Organization defeat Heartless, the hearts aren't collected," Marluxia explained to the confused boy. "The released heart will, in due course, become a Heartless again. Heart collection is something special that cannot be performed with anything but the keyblade you wield."
"Something special…" Roxas murmured.
Roxas' gaze dropped to the ground, as if he were thinking.
'It appears that they really haven't let Roxas know anything,' Marluxia thought. 'Is he not being told? And, are these things that Roxas should be learning from now on? When Saix put me in charge of this mission, I did not receive any special instructions. All he said was to teach him how to gather hearts.' He continued to watch Roxas's movements.
"For the sake of our Organization, defeat Heartless, and complete the great Kingdom Hearts—we're counting on you, Roxas," He said, and Roxas nodded.
Roxas had just finished reporting to Saix, in the lobby once he and Marluxia has returned to the Organization.
"It looks like you're progressing fairly well." Saix said to him.
"…Yeah." Roxas meekly nodded.
"Go back to your room and rest," was all Saix said, and he went ahead and left the lobby. Roxas opened his mouth to speak to ask about the prisoner, but Saix had already left.
In the lobby, members who had finished their missions were talking and relaxing. Roxas watched the members, sensing a strange sort of feeling in the air.
In the lobby was—Larxene, Demyx, and Luxord.
"What are you looking at," Larxene sniped. Roxas looked away, flustered, and met Demyx's eyes this time.
"You can't play some kinda instrument, can you?" Demyx asked.
"Instrument? What's an instrument?" Roxas asked.
"Like one of these." Demyx replied cheerfully making his iconic sitar appear.
"What's that?" Roxas blinked in confusion staring at Demyx's sitar.
"It's my sitar. Will you? Listen to this." Demyx smiled brightly.
Demyx touched the weapon, and a strange sound rang out.
"Shut up with that noisy thing!" Larxene yelled, disagreeably, and Demyx shrugged his shoulders.
"Which one's noisier, anyway…?" Demyx mumbled, looking away.
"Huuuh? Did you say something, cranky-pants?" Larxene stood up from the sofa.
"…In life, such pleasures are necessary, too." Luxord's voice rang out.
Luxord had slid in to stand in front of Larxene.
"Eh, whatever. I'll be saying goodbye to that racket soon enough." Larxene scoffed.
"What do you mean?" asked Demyx, forgetting he had been yelled at.
"It's got nothing to do with peons like you. Later." Larxene sneered and walked off.
Larxene left the lobby.
Behind her, Demyx played his sitar once more.
"That woman is such a pain!" Demyx snorted.
"One of the finer points of the fairer sex, is it not?" Luxord said, stroking his beard.
"Don't really get you there, man. Right, Roxas?" Demyx said looking at the small boy next to him.
"I… don't really understand." Roxas replied.
'Women are a pain, I guess?' Roxas thought. 'I don't really understand what a woman is, anyway.'
"Ah, you'll understand someday," Luxord grinned.
Roxas looked down the hall from the lobby which led to the Organization's dungeons. He looked at the two men in front of him.
"The prisoner…." Roxas muttered.
"You haven't seen her?" Demyx asked. "She's cute, too bad we can't get her to talk."
"Cute?" Roxas repeated the new word.
"Perhaps the Superior can get her to say a few words." Luxord said dismissively.
"If she doesn't start talking, she'll be turned into a Heartless," Demyx frowned stroking the strings of his sitar. "That would be a total shame if you ask me."
Hearing this Roxas lowered his head lightly. He left the lobby heading down the hall towards the dungeons, but was stopped by Saix.
"Where do you think you're going?" Saix asked.
"To see the prisoner…" Roxas answered nervously.
"You can see her when your missions are done." Saix barked bitterly.
Roxas dropped his head in defeat. Maybe after he was done with his missions, he could see the prisoner.
Mickey wandered the Realm of Darkness. He was lucky to be alive as he fought hoards of Heartless in the darkness. These purebred Heartless were no push over like the man-made ones. He held onto his Kingdom Key D keyblade tightly searching for a way out or hoping he would run into Riku. The two of them became separated in the darkness after Sora had defeated Ansem Seeker of Darkness.
The tiny mouse caught his breath as Darkside Heartless surrounded him. 'I can't keep fighting like this,' He thought falling over in exhaustion.
A burst of light shot through the darkness penetrating through the darkness. The group of Heartless suddenly burst into dark flames who were threatening to kill the small king.
"W-Whose there?" Mickey wondered as he got up. "Riku?" He called out. "Is that you?"
"King Mickey!" A feminie voice shouted to the small king.
Mickey got up on his feet recognizing the voice. He smiled happily. "Lira!" He ran over hugging the now grown up girl he had friended years ago.
Lira's blue eyes gleamed with determination. In the years of training in Feymarch, Lira had cut her long blonde hair to make it easier to fight. She was wearing a purple over shirt and black platform pants. A red leotard could be seen from her purple shirt and her boots were hiding in her pants. Holding her outfit together, Mickey's chosen warrior had a guard belt crafted from the blacksmith. The emblem on the guard belt was in the shape of Mickey's face.
"What are you doing here in the Realm of Darkness?" Lira asked the small king.
Mickey rubbed the back of his head. "Well gosh...," He began. "It's kind of a long story," He then looked at her curiously. "How did you get here?"
"I was finishing my training." Lira told him.
"Training?" Mickey asked curiously.
Lira smiled at the tiny king as she held him. "I'll explain everything once we're out of here." She told him. Mickey watched in fascination as Lira held out her hand creating a rift between the Realm of Darkness and the real world. Her magic had grown over the years. This brought a smile to Mickey's face. There was still hope.
The next day, Roxas was in Twilight Town again, with Zexion.
Zexion, who had been the youngest member of the Organization until Roxas came, was watching Roxas' movements, unwaveringly.
'If the keyblade did not exist, our plan would not succeed.' Zexion thought. 'It's contradictory, saying that we are searching to seek what we lost ourselves,' He recalled their former research. 'I don't think our choice to research the Heartless, and their creation process, was a mistake. But, as a consequence, we lost our own hearts.'
"Was that okay?" asked Roxas, who had finished his mission.
"Very good job. I hope that you will want to complete your next mission in such a positive manner, too. Is there anything you'd like to ask?" Zexion asked, and Roxas stopped moving.
Zexion had meant for Roxas to persistently ask questions about the mission, but the words that came from Roxas' mouth were unexpected.
"What is Kingdom Hearts?" Roxas asked remembering what Marluxia had told him before.
Zexion hesitated for a moment on how he should answer.
But, Roxas continued, not noticing Zexion's manner.
"Defeating Heartless and gathering hearts makes Kingdom Hearts, right? Are we going to do something, once we've made Kingdom Hearts?" Roxas asked, in rapid succession, and Zexion was lost in thought for a while.
'How should I answer…?' Zexion thought.
Roxas' gaze was fixed right on Zexion.
"…The goal of our Organization is to fuse with the people's hearts of kingdom hearts, and become complete," Zexion explained. "All the members of the Organization are nobodies, missing hearts—that is to say, since the time we were born into this world, we've lacked hearts."
'Of course, I wonder if he can understand that explanation,' Zexion wondered. 'And then, is it necessary to make Roxas understand?'
"So, does that mean I don't have a heart, either?" Roxas asked looking strange.
'Perhaps he still doesn't understand what a 'heart' is yet,' Zexion continued to look at Roxas. 'Before, that me, who researched, and had a 'heart', thought he understood a little of what a 'heart' was. The uplifting feelings from the time I had a 'heart', engraved in my memories, cannot be felt any more. Now I can only remember, and work hard to try and taste it once again.'
"Yes, that's right. We members of the Organization do not have hearts. That is why we seek them. Complete Kingdom Hearts, an aggregation of people's hearts, and merge—in order for that to happen, Heartless must be defeated with the keyblade you wield, and hearts gathered. In order to achieve the Organization's goals, each member of the Organization is given their own role. Your role is to defeat Heartless with the keyblade, and collect hearts." Zexion told him.
'But—I've heard that Roxas has no memories.' Zexion thought remembering what the other members of the Organization had told him. 'If so, it means he doesn't have memories from the time he had a heart either, like we do. Perhaps even feeling that he has no 'heart' is difficult.'
Roxas listened to Zexion's explanation, looking as if he was thinking about something to himself.
"Is there anything else you would like to ask?" Zexion questioned.
"No…" Roxas shook his head.
'I wonder if Roxas understood about the 'heart'. Zexion thought suddenly, stepping into a dark corridor with Roxas.
Having finished his mission, Marluxia called out to Axel.
"I heard that you're coming to Castle Oblivion, too—" Marluxia sneered.
"News travels fast." Axel stopped walking, and looked back at Marluxia.
"Well, you and I have different missions. You're going on matters of the 'keyblade hero', I see." Marluxia replied.
"You're well informed, aren't you?" Axel questioned.
"The members being made to go over there know that sort of thing," Marluxia answered.
Axel shrugged as Marluxia asked again, "Aren't you interested? In the keyblade hero."
"Not especially." Axel rolled his eyes. 'That's the truth. I've got no reason to have special interest.' He thought.
"Were you not showing interest in Roxas?" Marluxia taunted.
"Can't help it, I'm sort of in charge of him," Axel answered, and turning his back on Marluxia, started walking.
But, the next words made him stop.
"So you wouldn't be interested, even if you heard that Roxas is the Nobody of that keyblade hero—?" Marluxia said smugly.
Turning around without realizing, Axel looked at Marluxia, eyes narrowed. It didn't look like he was lying.
Seeing Axel's state, Marluxia laughed. "How honest. Just like a human."
"Is that a compliment?" Axel retorted.
"Perhaps it is a compliment, for what it means to have reactions as if one had a heart." Marluxia said, a bewitching smile still pasted on his mouth.
"So? Is that all the business you have with me?" Axel asked. Marluxia gazed fixedly at Axel.
A few days later, Roxas was in Twilight Town with Axel.
"This is the second mission I've been on with you, isn't it." Axel smiled.
"Yeah—" Roxas nodded, and gripped the keyblade.
Today's mission was to gather hearts, too. It boiled down to Heartless extermination.
"C'mon let's go!" Axel said.
Roxas broke into a run at the sound of Axel's voice.
Axel watched as Roxas fought off against the Heartless. 'I thought he'd have done tons of missions by now, but I heard from Saix that this is the first real one.' He thought.
Roxas was moving with far more agility than the first day he'd gone on a mission, and behind him, Axel was acting as back-up, throwing his chakrams at Heartless.
'We Organization members, other than Roxas, can't get hearts even if we defeat Heartless,' Axel thought as he watched Roxas fight. 'In other words, when I go out on a 'heart gathering' mission with Roxas, supporting him becomes my role.'
But Roxas was running, swinging the keyblade, without even looking back at Axel. His movements were pretty admirable. When he had gathered enough hearts, Roxas finally turned back to Axel.
"That's it, isn't it?" Roxas asked the red head.
"…Yeah." Axel nodded catching his breath.
The keyblade vanished from Roxas' hand.
Beads of sweat stood out on Roxas' forehead, as he steadied his heavy breathing.
"So what do we do now?" Axel asked, in a light tone.
"What do we do…? I planned on reporting to Saïx and then sleeping in my room, like always." Roxas replied.
"You know, Roxas…" Axel began.
Just then, the town's children—the three from before—ran past Axel and Roxas.
"Hurry up, Pence!" A girl's voice chimed.
"Wait~!" The boy named Pence wheezed.
"Loser treats the winner to ice cream, you know!" Another boy teased.
'Seems like Roxas and those kids are destined to run into each other or something.' Axel thought.
Roxas was watching the children's backs strangely.
He didn't seem to remember that he had seen them the first time he had been with Axel.
"That was the town's children, just now." Axel told him.
"Hmm…" Roxas looked at him.
Roxas narrowed his eyes. Axel was surprised by his reaction.
"Do they all do that?" Roxas questioned.
"That…?" Axel asked confused.
Axel didn't really understand what Roxas meant.
"Running around in a pack like that, and, making noise—" Roxas asked, and Axel thought that his expression was a little different than it had been up until then.
'Perhaps he's remembering something from his past, when he spent time like that.' Axel wondered.
"That's… something people with hearts do, I guess?" Axel shrugged.
"A heart…" Roxas replied.
Roxas hung his head, and looked at the ground. Axel scratched his head, sensing some kind of atmosphere in the silence.
And then he said, "Will we have some ice cream, too?"
"Why?" Roxas asked confused.
"Why…? Cause…" Axel began trying to think of something to say. 'I don't know what I should say,' He thought. 'I just want to eat ice cream and talk with Roxas in that place like we did the day we met, that's all, but I'm getting the feeling that I've gotta dress it up in different words or something. Roxas probably—wouldn't understand, if I didn't.'
After taking a breath, Axel said, "Because we're friends, see."
'Saying it is really freaking embarrassing,' Axel thought but he smiled at Roxas. 'But, saying it out loud gives it significance. And I couldn't think of any other excuses.'
"Friends…" Roxas repeated.
"Friends eat ice cream together, talk about stupid things and laugh, that sort of stuff. Like those guys from before, for example." Axel explained.
Roxas looked up at Axel, a strange look on his face.
"Alright, let's go."
Axel started walking towards the milk bar, as if he were fleeing from Roxas' gaze.
The children Axel and Roxas had encountered earlier were talking to each other in the open space in front of the clock tower.
Roxas watched them as he ate his ice cream.
'I can feel a greater sense of self from Roxas than he had the day we first met, or the day of his first mission.' Axel thought. 'But, it's still hollow and cold, somehow. That's something all nobodies have in common.'
"Hey, Roxas." Axel looked at him.
Roxas lifted his face.
'What was I going to say, again?' Axel thought blanking out a little.
"When we've finished a mission, let's eat ice cream here again," Axel told him. "It's boring to just go back and forth between the castle and missions, right?"
'Even I'm surprised at those lines.' The red head thought hiding a laugh. 'Just like the things I said before, even I wasn't expecting it. But, it just popped out of my mouth automatically.'
Roxas looked at the children in the open space again, with a strange look on his face.
"Yeah—friends, right…" Roxas muttered.
'It was probably just my imagination, but I thought I saw Roxas smile just a little.' Axel thought seeing Roxas smile.
"Well, I won't be able to eat ice cream here for a little while, though." Axel told him truthfully.
"Huh…?" Roxas looked at him. His eyes went wide.
"It's been decided that I'm going to Castle Oblivion for a while, starting tomorrow." Axel confessed
"Castle Oblivion…" Roxas repeated.
"You still don't know anything but Twilight Town, do you? But there are other worlds out there, and the Organization has a castle in another in-between world. That's Castle Oblivion. Got it memorized?" Axel explained.
"…So there are places like that…" Roxas looked down. "When do you come home?"
"Hm…," Axel thought out loud. "I wonder when. When I'm back, let's eat ice cream here again."
"…Okay." Roxas nodded.
Roxas' gaze followed a train, running in the distance.
"Well, I've gotta head back soon. There are a lot of stupid things to get ready." Axel said.
"Oh, then I'll also—" Roxas began to stand up.
"You relax and eat your ice cream," Axel told him See ya."
Axel stood up, opening darkness on the side of the clock tower, and his figure vanished.
Roxas was left alone.
"…It's salty…" Roxas muttered, gnawing on his ice cream.
Just then, Roxas saw that something was written on the ice cream stick, and put the rest in his mouth in one go.
"What is this…" He looked at the ice cream stick.
'Winner' was written on the finished ice cream stick.
Levina hugged her knees together as she sat on the cold stone floor. The room was completely dark. The only small source of light that filled her cell came from her wayfinder, which was dimly glowing in the darkness. The girl smiled lightly at the yellow star-shaped trinket in her hand. This was the only thing that gave her some kind of hope. She looked up at her cell door noticing Xigbar guarding her door. She also saw someone else walking towards the cell.
The Organization's leader, Xemnas.
"Don't bother with her," Xigbar told the Superior. "She hasn't said a word in a day," He snorted. "Like she's gonna talk now, as if."
Levina lightly trembled with fear as the Organization's superior approached the cell tightly holding her wayfinder in her hand.
Xemnas leered down at the frightened girl through the bars.
"Who are you?" Xemnas demanded, his voice
Levina looked up at the Organization's leader. There was something vaguely familiar about him. "L-Levina…" She squeaked out.
"What were you doing in Castle Oblivion? Only those amongst my rank know of Castle Oblivion." Xemnas stared down at the girl hard. His intimidating nature terrified the girl.
"I-I don't know…," Levina stammered. She bowed her head in defeat. "I don't even know how I got there…" Her wayfinder in her hand suddenly started to glow brightly.
Xemnas shielded his eyes with his gloved hand as the light intensified. 'That cursed light…' The superior thought backing away causing the wayfinder to stop glowing.
Levina looked down at her star-shaped good luck charm. 'How did it do that?' She thought.
Xemnas turned to Xigbar. "Keep an eye on her!" He ordered stalking off.
Roxas had returned from his mission and reported back to Saix.
"Are you resting properly?" Saix asked.
"Resting?" Roxas asked.
"Whether you're sleeping properly or not," Saix began. "It's a rule to make sure you can perform on missions." Saix told him.
"Probably…" Roxas mumbled.
Saix wasn't very satisfied with Roxas' answer. He left the boy to be by himself. It was at that moment Roxas remembered about the prisoner. Since he had finished his first real mission he wondered if he could see the prisoner. He rushed down the steps. He glanced over seeing his leader leave the dungeons.
"Where do you think you're going, tiger?" Xigbar asked Roxas as he approached the cell.
"I want to see the prisoner," Roxas said. "Everyone else has seen her." The boy retorted.
Xigbar carelessly shrugged. "Fine, whatever," He replied. "Just be quick about it." The sharp shooter left his post.
Roxas peered through the bars of Levina's cell. His blue eyes shined as he looked at her.
Levina looked up at him. "W-What do you want?" She asked him. As she looked at Roxas fragments of memories began to return to her. Memories of her friends, of people she cared about.
Roxas saw the girl in the cell hold her head in frustration. "Are you ok?" He asked concerned.
Levina held her head. "F-Fine…" She told him as the pain subsided.
Roxas smiled a little at her. "I'm Roxas." He said to her.
'It's not him,' Levina thought. 'But…he looks so much like him.' She smiled lightly at Roxas. She felt like she could trust him.
"My name is Levina." Levina told him.
Roxas continued smiling at her. 'Demyx was right,' He thought. 'She is cute…if cute means she's easy to look at.' He then saw how fatigued she looked. She remembered Saix saying something about getting enough rest and eating right. "Are you hungry?" He asked.
It was then that Levina realized she hadn't eaten anything in days. "Yeah…," She told him.
Roxas looked over seeing Xigbar coming back. 'How am I supposed to sneak her food without anyone knowing?' He then smiled as an idea struck him. 'I'll bet Axel will know.' He then looked at her. "I promise when I'm on a mission, I'll bring back something for you to eat."
Levina looked at him curiously. "Why are you being so nice to me?" She asked him.
Roxas thought about the word 'nice.' He never heard that word before either. 'Were the other members of the Organization not being …nice to her?' He thought and smiled gently. "Because we're friends now, right? Friends are nice to each other."
Levina lightly smiled. "Friends…," She repeated as Roxas left. Levina laid her head against the wall. 'Wonder what it's like to have friends…' She thought closing her eyes and falling asleep.
What do you guys think of the second chapter? :D Lira has made an appearance, hopefully it can help!
Until next time guys, review!