((Okay, so again, this is an AU. Totally not following game-canon, and pre-COM… ))
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The place that they had landed in was frigidly cold and dimly lit by torches of blue fire. An air of mystery lingered in the vast caverns, and Roxas' mind was constantly wary of the unknown. He could hear something scuttling in the not-so-distant darkness that blanketed the cave.
"What's that noise?"
"Heartless," Zexion explained to the boy, impassively taking in their new surroundings. "By the looks of it, around a dozen more are closing in on us."
"Wait, you knew that he was in the castle?" Naminé piped up. "How did you…"
"His scent was distinct the moment he entered, though interestingly, I can't figure out how he suddenly appeared in your chambers." The Cloaked Schemer interrupted. Intrigued, the former scientist got to his feet, looking both the younger Nobodies in the eyes.
"But talk is for another time. Right now, there's someone else controlling the Heartless. We must either fight or escape."
"Can you use the Corridors of Darkness?" Naminé suggested pensively.
"Unfortunately, they're down for maintenance currently." Zexion sighed. "It seems that someone's made a mess of themselves in the Corridors. The last time I was informed, Dusks were scraping an assortment of… digestive leavings from them."
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Meanwhile, in the Castle that Never Was, Demyx was looking worse for the weather. His face was green, and he held an open bottle of ginger ale.
"Ugh…I should –not- have entered that Sea-salt-ice-cream-eating contest…" He groaned, and took a sip of the ginger ale. A Dancer Nobody entered his chamber, carrying a tray of Tums. It patted the Melodious Nocturne on the back in sympathy for his plight, a behavior that was almost motherly of the lesser Nobody.
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"We don't have time to sit on our hands and think!" Roxas cut in. "Look!"
Soldiers and Shadows emerged from a torch-lit arch nearby, writhing in anticipation to attack. "No time to escape," Zexion summoned his weapon of choice. "So we'll fight."
His lexicon was always an underestimated weapon; only the Gambler of Fate's cards could possibly seem less harmless. Few could imagine the plethora of threats that pages could hold. The book opened as the pages fanned out and scattered, snaring the Heartless and sealing them into the tome as images of ink. Zexion's face remained in deep concentration on the pages, which sought out and trapped all of the Heartless one by one.
As his book faded back into darkness, Zexion turned to Roxas and Naminé. Curious as he was about Roxas' origins, the best place to properly converse was hardly a dark cave crawling with Heartless. Their best bet was finding an exit first.
The paths of the cave were tricky to navigate. Some paths forked and twisted, leading to dead ends. At other places the ground seemed to be solid, but it was an illusion, leading to even deeper chasms. Everywhere they wandered, white misty souls of the dead clouded into spheres, adorning the walls of the caverns.
"How did we end up in this place anyway?" Naminé asked. Every chamber they had walked past seemed identical. They could easily have been walking in circles.
"I was testing out a spell on a book of Gummispace maps." Zexion calmly explained. "Ever since a recent disturbance, previously-opened pathways to worlds are closing up spontaneously. I'm not entirely sure whether or not this world's path is connected to the Castle. Who knows if even the Corridors of Darkness will reopen it for us?"
"Everything is connected, though. The worlds' pathways are not permanently sealed," She said serenely. "I don't understand why myself, but the other side of my heart is telling me."
"Preposterous," Zexion remarked with bluntness in his voice. "You're a Nobody, and lack a heart to tell you such things."
Both his younger companions stood silently before him, pondering the validity of the Cloaked Schemer's postulate with blank stares.
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The Heartless were a continuous nuisance throughout the caverns. Roxas wondered where they were all coming from, and wished that he had some way to fight it. Zexion was getting increasingly irritable.
"If the Heartless don't take our lives, Zexion will." Naminé observed, watching the infuriated researcher tear apart two dozen Heartless with razor-sharp pages.
At last they reached an atrium within the cave. At its center was a pool of luminous green water. At the opposite end of the room were two doors: one opening into a wide hallway and the other leading to a jagged, menacing stone passage. Out of instinct, the trio headed for the wider path.
At the end of the open hall was a staircase leading to a lighter world, out of the dark depths of the Underworld. The stairs seemed to shine with a golden glow, causing the three Nobodies to shield their eyes, unaccustomed to the light after several hours in the dark caves.
"Well, you've gotten your wish." Naminé breathlessly approached the staircase. "Strange new worlds are at our feet."
"I'm not alone, though…" Roxas corrected, beginning to ascend the stairs. He held out his hand to her. "We'll search for them together."
"And I am the one who will open the door," He intoned suddenly, as if in a trance. Inklings of memory spread throughout his mind like a drop of dye in water. Countless images of keys flashed past, unlocking worlds which lay at his fingertips. Friends and foes greeted him in each world, all pointing him to his final destination. What was the place that he truly longed for at journey's end?
"Teenagers," Zexion sighed boredly, paying little attention to the wonder and curiosity that both younger Nobodies conveyed. He had already seen the worlds in their supposed splendor, which was not very impressive and had helped to mold his present cynicism for the Gummiverse.
The grand pillars that supported Olympus Coliseum's entrance towered over them as they exited the long stairway from the Underworld. The entrance was abuzz with the excitement of a market day as many a civilian wandered about, waiting for particularly interesting matches to begin.
"Registration for the Theseus Cup is now open!" A short man with the hindquarters and horns of a goat announced from a nearby booth. Many older youths who had moments before been standing idly around the entrance to the Coliseum now eagerly approached the satyr, confidently eyeing the gleaming maze-shaped trophy.
"A tournament?" Roxas found himself approaching the table. The possible thrill of entering tempted him, as his mind considered the excitement of competition.
"I'd like to sign up, please." He asked as his turn came.
"You? Forget about it." Phil snorted, turning back to his registration papers. "Wait a minute." He suddenly averted his gaze to Roxas' face. "You look kinda' familiar…"
He suddenly shook his head, as if waking up from a nap. "Never mind, kid… But seriously, this tournament ain't some kid's game."
"Why can't I sign up?" Roxas looked disappointed.
"Three words," Phil held up fingers to count. "You. Ain't. A. Hero."
"But that was four words…" He weakly retorted. "Forget it… This is too much of a hassle." The boy's crestfallen blue eyes looked similar to that of another young man who recently was in a similar situation.
"I'm goin' soft…" mumbled Phil. "Fine, kid, you can enter the tournament."
"It's not 'kid'." The Nobody's expression brightened as his eyes shone with determination. "My name is Roxas."
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"The main problem is, you don't have a weapon." Zexion frowned. "I'm not sure what you were thinking, just rushing to sign up for that tournament… It's no good rushing into combat completely unarmed… Like someone did once…"
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It was approximately three in the morning in the Castle that Never Was, and Vexen was bent over a desk, observing a bubbling test tube of gray liquid. His eyes were already red from exhaustion, but the Chilly Academic kept focused on the crucial compound that would mutate a Dusk Nobody to a shorter stature…
Since the Castle was very near the Realm of Darkness, Heartless had a habit of regularly sneaking into the castle. Usually the lesser Nobodies would take care of the intruders, but occasionally one or two would get past the sentries that guarded Naught's Skyway, the Brink of Disaster, and other possible entrances to the fortress.
On the quiet early morning, a Shadow slipped inside Vexen's lab through an open window, gliding along the cold floor. The Academic paid no mind to it, still crouching over the desk, his eyes staring intently at the test tube. Suddenly he felt the weight of a cold, sharp claw on his shoulder. The Heartless clung to him, as he flailed about in vain trying to get it off. In his exhaustion he couldn't summon his shield or freeze the annoying small creature to death… In his feverous rage Vexen picked up a large heavy notebook nearby, and swung it at the Shadow.
With a thwack the Heartless saw stars, and plunked onto the floor, unconscious. In its place, around three dozen more squirmed into the lab, pinning the distraught scientist to the floor. By the time Zexion noticed the commotion and banished the Heartless, Vexen was covered in bruises.
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"That's…interesting…" Roxas raised an eyebrow, perplexed at the story. "I guess I'll need something to fight with…at least, better than a notebook…" Mentally, Roxas berated himself for being foolish to rush into things. What good was he in battle without a weapon?
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Gradually, the sky of Olympus Coliseum turned to a dusky orange, as the sun crept down into the horizon. Shadows fell from the architecture, bathing the scenery in browns and reds. For a second, Roxas felt nostalgic, watching the Coliseum from a distance. He, Zexion, and Naminé had wandered out onto a grassy hill outside for some fresh air. The place suddenly seemed familiar to him, shifting to a town forever trapped between day and night. Goldenrod-colored buildings framed the setting sun, as the sound of a train could be heard in the distance. He reached out to the new place, which called to him. A second later, it had disappeared. The town was gone. Once again he stood at the entrance to the Coliseum, as lost and confused as he ever was.
"You look like you're somewhere else," commented Naminé, taking a seat next to the confused boy. "I can see it..."
"Somehow, I don't feel like I understand anything at all…" Roxas mused, sitting down and staring into his lap. "Just the fact that I need to keep going, that's all that I'm given…" Roxas glanced at Naminé, who was still looking up at the setting sun.
"That's just it, though," she smiled, as if he understood something. "Following the path of the other side of your heart will lead you… But where will it lead?" Naminé took her eyes off the sun to look at Roxas, and their gazes connected. For a moment she saw something…a familiar spark of indomitable courage in his eyes. It all seemed, again, familiar. She felt…home again.
Roxas blinked and broke the long silence. "We'll only know when we get there, I guess."
Both Nobodies reclined on the grass and looked up at the darkening sky as the first stars blinked into view. The warm wind blew across the soft grass, the stars illuminating the navy-colored sky. Naminé contemplated their journey silently, the worries in her mind endless.
"Roxas?" She turned to face him. However, the Nobody was asleep, fatigued by the day's nonstop travel. He was curled up comfortably in the grass, like a large cat. He had already changed from the muse, the soul and fire of her painting. He wasn't pristine, nor the prince on a white horse that Naminé had imagined, but…
She could trust him.
Gently, Naminé tucked a few strands of Roxas' hair that had fallen in his face back. In a precise and delicate manner, she settled herself into the grass and looked towards the endless valley of stars that adorned the midnight sky.
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((There it is, my first attempt at…er..'fluff'… I'm going to prepare to get internet bricks thrown at me now. As always, constructive criticism is really appreciated…))