It had been a long time since I'd been sent to Twilight Town, and though my memory was good, the streets were tangled vines, forever twisting and overlapping until it was impossible to navigate them cleanly without familiarity. Roxas acted as if he could've moved through the city blindfolded, like he'd built it himself. It was equal parts enlightening and frustrating—it was nice to know more of him, see more of what he was when at peace, but I disliked being led about like a blind dog, and when he stopped in front of a gaping hole in the wall that led to a forest, I disliked it even more intensely. Forests were pleasant enough, after all, but only if one knew it well enough to avoid the treacherous things.
"Strange that they keep this open for anyone to wander in," I murmured, and Roxas shrugged, stepping through the hole and moving deftly over the jutting roots and the uneven ground.
"I don't think there are any animals or anything, and the biggest heartless I've ever seen here is a shadow. I guess whoever runs this place thinks it's not dangerous enough to bother closing it off." I had little choice but to take him at his word, so I hummed and kept on following him as he led me deeper into the trees. I could see the way out after barely five steps and relaxed minutely, though even the natural shadows on the ground shifted ominously as if only moments separated them from the few shadows that did actually form and attack.
Nobody or not, darkness didn't suit me. Distantly I recalled a plan formed in another life, a punishment too harsh for what wasn't really even a crime, but quickly forced the thoughts away. That man was not me, not any longer, and dwelling on his memories as the organization's higher-ups did would only hold me back. In any case, the courtyard on the other end of the forest quickly bloomed full of Dire Plants, and I expected that my mind would be better served on the fight, however simple it was.
Killing them didn't offer me the same rush that killing other Heartless did—my affinity to them was so strong that most hardly bothered to fight me. They bent to my scythe like wheat in the breeze and I could not even end them quickly because Roxas was the one who needed to deal the final blow to release the hearts within them. He did at least follow close behind me so that they didn't lay limp and dying on the ground for very long.
Given what I knew of him, the mercy wasn't unexpected, but it was welcome. Axel would have let them suffer, slowly burning, and though I knew Roxas had brought fire magic, knew he could handle it, knew I'd given him an ether in case he only had a little, he didn't use it on any of them. It was over quickly, and I had Roxas' assurance of at least a bit more time spent with me that day. He would turn to our side, to my side, and he would do it soon. I would offer him no other choice, though perhaps he would not know that for a while.
I imagined that when he was perfectly tied to my side, I could even offer him the chance to rule immediately under me, as my second, though Larxene would surely dig her little knives into my throat if she even suspected that such a thought had crossed my mind. She could be dealt with simply enough, however, when the time was right. Just like Axel.
I should not have forgotten about the Zip Slasher that had been sighted there, but its long absence had lulled me into false security. I heard it as soon as we stepped from the forest, clanking about in one of Twilight Town's countless courtyards, and Roxas frowned, body stiff.
"What's that?" he asked, faintly too-loud, and I wrapped an arm around his shoulders to pull him back into the forest. He came easily, so horribly trusting and I wanted him to trust me but it felt far too simple when hardly more than an hour before he'd been flinching away from me.
"It's the Zip Slasher Saix mentioned in his report for this mission. We'd best be quiet and try to sneak by it without notice—I'm not equipped for a fight with it and though you're certainly strong, you're not yet quite strong enough to face that." I could feel him shifting in the cage of my arm, could feel that he wanted to fight, but slowly he relaxed. Good. More people willing to listen without complaint was always a good thing, and they were generally in very short supply.
"Okay." The struggle in his voice at the words was obvious, and I felt myself smile though I didn't entirely intend to do it, given that he couldn't see my face to get anything out of the act. I supposed it did help to soften my voice, some.
"You'll be able to come back eventually with a Holo-Mission and deal with it, I assure you, and you will likely do it quite aptly. Perhaps we can even do it together if we have a bit of time to prepare and some shared time off in the coming weeks. Right now, however, I've only got two potions and I imagine you filled your bag with ethers and fire magic you never used, yes?" He squirmed. I wished I could turn him around and see his face but resisted the unusually irrational urge.
"Yeah." I was hardly able to hear him.
"Worry not. I've made the same mistake—all of us have. You're yet learning." I let him go, and he turned and grinned up at me like sunshine, bright and bold and lingering. I had to force myself to look him in the face and the smile I managed in response almost hurt. "Stay behind me. Keep an ear and an eye out; it'll be obvious if it means to attack us." He nodded, expression shifting to seriousness with all the ease of a breath, and I was glad for the time to school my own face as I led the way from the forest, towards the Dark Corridor that would lead us back to the castle at last.
I thought we'd make it easily when I heard the first rush of air and saw a flash of acidic green. I whipped around in time to see a blade rip across Roxas' open back, and the keyblade wielder screamed. To his credit, however, the keyblade was gripped in his hands as soon as he quieted, and I summoned my own scythe, tossing him one of my potions so he'd be able to run at full speed.
"What now?" he asked, once he'd downed the liquid and tucked the bottle in his own bag, and I jerked my head back once, sharply.
"Keep backing up, try to hold it off until we reach the Dark Corridor. Block, don't attack." He listened. It didn't matter. The Heartless had him in its sights and he was fast, yes, but not as fast as it was, and the blades caught him again and sent him reeling back. I flinched. For a moment I thought it was sympathy, but I realized quickly how silly that was.
Roxas hauled himself back to his feet without a sound and then, then he was blinding, light spilling around him like a supernova, centered about his weapon, and he fell on the Zip Slasher in a flurry of strikes. It was beautiful, in its way, bright and warm and comfortable, and the fixed determination on his face only added to the beauty. I could admit that I was mesmerized. And then it blocked. I was in front of him before I realized that I'd moved. I took the blow, felt blood spilling from my chest, felt Roxas dragging me away as best he could, into a narrow alley I barely fit inside and the Zip Slasher probably would be a little too large for.
He looked as weak and pale as I felt when he pressed the other potion bottle to my lips. It wasn't enough to fix everything, but it was enough that the wound on my chest stopped bleeding and I could stand again. Roxas was ashen and before I could stop him he peeked out of the alley and cast one of his fire spells at the approaching Zip Slasher. It didn't seem to hurt it, really, but it did knock it back and hopefully that would be enough to allow us to run. If Roxas could run, which I wasn't certain of, and why had I taken that hit and gotten myself hurt too? He wouldn't have died from it, only been knocked out, and then I could've simply hauled him up and left.
"Can you run?" he asked me, quiet, and I raised an eyebrow and stood. The alley was claustrophobic.
"I'd imagine I should be the one asking you that." He tried for a smile, but it rang a little false and that, somehow, felt deeply wrong.
"I'm okay, thanks to you," he murmured, then peaked out again to find the Zip Slasher coming towards our alley again. "Ready?" I nodded, unsure of what to say for the first time in a very long time. Strange as it seemed, my split-second decision to take the blow had obviously been a good one—he was far from astute enough to suspect my less than pure motive for doing it, after all, would think it done out of kindness or care and then he would tie the noose that bound him to me with his own two hands. He cast another fire spell and we shot out of the alley.
He stumbled. The Zip Slasher caught him in the leg and his already pale face turned paler. I picked him up, held him tight against my chest, and he went limp almost the exact moment we dived through the Dark Corridor only to land on the hard, unforgiving floor of the Gray Area. I kept him tucked against me so the fall wouldn't jostle him too much. Axel, who I imagined had been awaiting our return, leapt to his feet as soon as he saw us there, saw the blood covering our coats and matting the ends of my hair.
"What the hell did you do? What did you let happen to him?" he snarled, and his fingertips were sparking again.
"Go get some potions, Axel." I looked down at Roxas' face instead of up at his and brushed his yellow-gold hair back from his forehead. He felt clammy-cool under my hand and Axel wanted to snatch him away but he knew better than to risk it so instead he swept from the room to find potions for us. Perfect. Perhaps not precisely as planned, but most definitely perfect—with this, I was certain that the keyblade wielder would play right into my hands. I looked down and saw that I was still stroking his hair even though Axel was gone. I had to force myself to stop and felt suddenly frozen where I knelt. I'd have to bring my plan to fruition soon, obviously, else Roxas and all his warm-sunset-light would make me believe my own lies.