6H: Now it's time to continue!!!
Anaretsu: Joy.
6H: It's time to see the story of a certain blonde who's been dreaming…
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I-Twilight Town
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"You have arrived."
A full moon hung in the sky, yet the shoreline was still dark. Black waters crawled up onto shore, breaking up the silence. He had opened a portal and stepped out of the rock, and now he approached the other one, who had perched himself on a rock. He approached.
"I've been to see him. He looks just like you."
Who are you?
"I am what's left." The one on the rock replied. "Or maybe…I'm all there ever was."
I meant your name, the other one replied, bewildered.
"Is that really so important? Besides, do you even remember your true name?" The other one thought for a moment, confused.
My name…is…----
"Sora?" a girl's voice called out. A blue sky appeared overhead, as a brown haired boy woke up. He yawned, then decided to go back to sleep, but a figure appeared over head.
"Ah!" The boy cried, startled. "Give me a break, Kai-"
Two boys ran down the beach, one with silver hair, the other the brown haired boy.
"Are you giving up already?" The silver haired one asked.
"No way! I'm never giving up!" The other one said.
The sun was setting, and the four of them were all around that fallen palm tree they liked to sit on and watch the sunset from.
"If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one?" The silver haired one asked. The answer couldn't be heard.
They were walking from the docks to go back home. The girl with the black braided hair turned, but her face couldn't be made out.
"When we get back, I'll tell you all about it." He promised.
"Just don't forget me." She responded.
"Sora, don't ever change."
"This world has been connected-"
"The door has opened."
"So…ra…"
"Sora! It's a promise!!!"
----
Blankets fluttered up into the air and then flew back down with gravity's help as flailing limbs pushed them away. He had woken up so startled, but then realized there was nothing wrong. He looked down at his hands, his pure blue eyes so intense.
"Another dream about him…" he muttered. He heard a bell ringing and looked to his window. Another day was just starting, and the sun was beginning to make its way up to the sky. He got on his knees and cast open the window, letting the cool air fly in. He leaned on the wooden sill as the train went by and the bell continued to toll out the time.
'Sora…who are you?' he thought.
----
"Argh!!!!!" Hayner yelled, kicking the wall. The rest of them were caught off guard by his sudden action and stared. Well, he hadn't really noticed. He was still too occupied with his dream about Sora. Who was that girl with the red hair? What about the girl with the black braid? Or the silver haired boy? Forget them, who exactly WAS Sora, and why was he dreaming about him? Hayner began ranting about something and Pence listened intently. Olette just shook her head, and then noticed him deep in thought. She looked at him, worried.
"But doesn't it just tick you off?" Hayner said to them.
"Yeah, I mean, who goes and does that?" Pence replied, a little sheepishly at first.
"It's just wrong." Olette piped in. All of them looked over to their friend, who had been out of the conversation until that time. He noticed the silence and looked up to see three pairs of eyes waiting for response.
"Oh….uh, sure." He said hesitantly. He was still stuck in his dream from last night, and it didn't seem like he could get out of it.
"Seifer's just gone too far this time." Olette said. "Why does he always have to do this to us?"
"Well, we do have a score to settle with him and his group." Hayner said. "And a lot of stuff around town has been going missing, so if he wants to blame us, I can't really blame him. What really pisses me off is that he's been going around telling everybody that we're the thieves!"
"What is up with that?" Pence remarked. "We haven't done anything that bad to get on his bad side."
"I guess we'll never know." Olette told him while Hayner continued ranting.
"Now everyone is treating us like the Klepto Club! You know what I mean? That's why I'm just…so…pissed!!! Have you ever been so pissed off in your life, cause I haven't. Never!" He finished and looked over at the blonde. "So, Roxas, what's your great idea.?"
The boy named Roxas looked up, blue eyes filled with shyness. He was usually just a quiet kid who didn't get involved in things. He just sat on the sidelines and watched, but maybe…
"Um….well…we could find the real thieves?" His voice ascended to a higher octave as he spoke, nearly breaking.
"Yeah? Then what?" Hayner asked, crossing his arms.
"Well, if we found the real thief…" Roxas began, gaining confidence, " That would set the record straight. Then no one could blame us."
"That's a good idea, Roxas." Pence said. "That way we wouldn't be causing trouble, so Seifer can't get on our case!"
"Good thinking, Roxas." Olette added.
"But what about Seifer?" Hayner asked as Roxas stood up and brushed off the back of his pants.
"We gotta clear our names first." He replied firmly. It always took awhile to warm up to talking, even with his friends. He couldn't help it-he was just a quiet kid.
"Okay. Let's start investigating then." Hayner said. Pence walked over to a box, on top of which was his camera.
"If we're going to investigate, we'll need to take a record of what we see." He said. He peaked into the window. "Oh no!!!" He yelled. The other three turned to look at him. "All our … are gone!!!" He then looked confused. "What?"
"Our …, gone?" Hayner asked. He got the same confused expression and grabbed his throat. "What the-?"
"You can't say …! Why not?" Olette asked. Roxas thought for a moment.
"The thief didn't only steal the … but the word … too!" He said.
"What kind of thief could do that? Is that even possible?" Hayner asked, skeptical.
"If it's happening now, then I'd say it is." Roxas replied.
"We'd better head to the tram common and ask around about thief stolen possessions!" Olette suggested.
"Alright. Then we'd better get going." Hayner said and ran out. Pence and Olette followed behind, and Roxas was about to go with them when he felt very dizzy.
"Cedeile!!! Wake up!!!!""His heart is responding…it won't be long now."
"Whoa." Roxas said, shaking his head. He had fallen down somehow. He got up off the ground and steadied himself on his feet. A voice…he'd heard a voice in his head, calling out to someone. Who was Cedeile? Was she in trouble, and why did she need to wake up? Whose heart? What wouldn't be long?
"Roxas! Come on! This was your idea after all!" Olette said, running back in.
"Sorry. I'm coming." He said, smiling sheepishly.
"Are you okay? You look so pale…" She looked worried.
"It's okay! I just tripped, that's all." He insisted. He didn't want her to worry. Besides, now he wasn't sure if he'd heard the voice at all.
"That's so like you. You never pay attention to where you're going." She said, taking a place along side him as they walked out of their usual spot in the back alley, and up towards Market street. Pence and Hayner were there, waiting for them.
"Hurry up, you guys!" Hayner called. "I want to get going on this as soon as we can!"
"We're coming!" Olette said. "Come on, Roxas!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming!!" Roxas called. When he caught up to his friends, they were making their way down to the tram common, the center of town. They ran over the tracks just before the tram drove by, and then approached one of the shops. A man was standing behind the counter, looking rather bored, until he noticed the kids coming.
"Oh…it's you guys." He said.
"Don't look so happy to see us." Hayner spat back at him.
"Well you guys did steal the…" He replied.
"It wasn't us." Olette said. "We'd never-"
"Hey, why don't you show me some proof? Until you have proof, why don't you talk to the girl at the Accessory shop? I've got work to do, after all."
"You don't look like you're working." Pence uttered bitterly.
"Just get out of here! I've got customers to take care of." He yelled. The four sighed and headed over to the Accessory Shop, where their reception was, though less rude, just as cold.
"Hey Roxas, Pence, Olette, Hayner…" She said, while taking stuff out of boxes and putting it on the shelves behind her. "I can't believe you guys would steal … after everything everyone in town's done for you."
"We didn't steal it, whatever it is." Hayner replied.
"Yeah. It's no fun having everyone suspect us, you know." Roxas added.
"I know. I just can't believe that you would steal …"
"I didn't steal anything!!" Roxas shouted without meaning too. All of this was getting rather frustrating to him. He hoped to find that thief and break out of his usually non-violent personality to teach him a lesson.
"The lady who runs the candy shop is disappointed too." The girl said, leaning on the counter.
"I can't take this anymore." Pence said. "We're not getting anywhere on our investigation." He sighed. The others agreed silently and began to walk off.
----
"So much for your great idea, Roxas." Pence said, disheartened. The four of them had decided to get away from the main part of town and were now sitting on a bench in the sandlot, which was luckily empty.
"It's okay. It was a dumb idea anyway." Roxas mumbled, hunched over.
"No it wasn't!" Olette said. "It really was a good idea. We just couldn't make it work."
"See, a dumb idea."
"Stop it already! Why are you always dissing yourself?" Hayner exploded. He hopped off the back of the bench that he'd been balancing on and walked around to face his friends. Roxas looked up at him. "So we couldn't get any clues. So what? We just started, and I personally want to find this guy who's ruining our reps by stealing the…! Are we going to give up so easily?" No response, but Roxas smiled. That's why he and Hayner were best friends. Hayner said everything that Roxas was too afraid to say. Hayner was loud and obnoxious, and he was always coming up with ideas and motivating people to follow him. Roxas was just a quiet kid who went along with whatever he felt like, who didn't speak out or act up or make a scene.
"Well, if you're so smart, where do we go from here?" Roxas replied. Hayner was about to answer when a malicious voice echoed across the sandlot.
"Hey losers! Pretty bold of you to show your face around here!"
"Ready for another beating, ya know?"
"Defeat!"
The four of them turned to look at the group heading towards them. It was the self proclaimed "Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee", headed by none other than Seifer. Fuu and Rai were on either side of him, and Vivi was hopelessly behind.
"I thought we taught you a lesson, ya know?" Rai shouted stupidly. "Sent you running home like babies, ya know?"
"Pathetic." Fuu added. Vivi and Rai laughed.
"Snatching other people's stuff?" Seifer taunted.
"Hey! You know it wasn't us, Seifer, so just lay off!" Hayner yelled.
"Be quiet, blondie. That was undeniable proof that we owned you lamers. So, what did you do with it? Burn it? Huh, it's not like we need some … to prove that you're lamers anyway."
"Knock it off, Seifer." Hayner growled. Olette and Pence jumped up to be ready, in case Hayner should decide to start something.
"Yeah, that was pretty low, ya know?" Rai dumbly added.
"Childish."
"Well, maybe I'll let it slide, if you get on your knees and beg." Seifer said. Hayner clenched his hands into fists. Roxas thought for a moment, then stood up, and walked towards Seifer.
"Roxas!" Hayner called. Roxas stopped in front of Seifer's gang, who all watched him with suspecting and hateful eyes. Without breaking his eye contact with them, he went down, first on one knee, then on both, and then on his hands. He bent his head slowly to the ground. They all began laughing in triumph, while his friends looked worried. But Roxas just smirked to himself.
"What the-!" Seifer suddenly exclaimed. Roxas had jumped up and punched Seifer in the gut. The Disciplinary Committee leader doubled over in pain.
"Dirty!!" Fuu exclaimed.
"You little…! How could you do that, ya know?" Seifer didn't waste time-he ran forward at Roxas with his fist pulled back. He released it into the side of Roxas's face, and sent the blonde flying.
"Roxas!" Olette and Pence exclaimed, flying to his side. Roxas slowly got up again.
"I'm fine." Roxas insisted.
"You can't fight Seifer, Roxas! You're above that!" Olette pleaded.
"I can take him." Roxas replied under his breath. He was taken off guard as Seifer came at him again and grabbed him by the shirt, shaking him violently.
"You think you're smart, chicken wuss?" Roxas grabbed onto Seifer's coat and began pulling on the fabric in an attempt to show that he was on an equal level as his foe. His head felt jostled from began shaken so roughly.
"Yeah, I do." Roxas responded with a dangerous tone. Seifer's eyes narrowed more as he punched Roxas across the face again. Roxas merely staggered this time, so he was able to strike back with his own fist. The two grabbed each other again, trying to force the other to the ground. Seifer clearly had an advantage- he was bigger than Roxas and had much more muscle. Roxas was just a scrawny little kid, but he was going to try his damn hardest, because his friends were watching, and because, just maybe, he didn't want to be the quiet kid anymore.
"Whoa!" Pence uttered. Roxas slammed his head into Seifer's and used the momentary distraction to throw Seifer to the ground.
"Yeah! Way to go Roxas!!" Hayner cheered, but Olette just crossed her arms and frowned. She hated fighting. Roxas was about to lunge for Seifer again as he was getting up, but Fuu and Rai blocked his way.
"Seifer's not feeling so hot, ya know?" Rai said sheepishly.
"Tournament decides!" Fuu declared.
"What? Are you guys getting scared because your leader's getting trounced on by Roxas?" Hayner asked cheekily, throwing an arm around his best friend.
"Shit, chicken wuss." Seifer said, running some dirt off his cheek. "What the f--- was that?"
"Hey, let's get a picture, Pence!" Hayner said, smiling as though he had personally beaten Seifer to the ground. Pence aimed his camera and focused the lens.
"Alright you guys. Smile!" He said, and with a click the picture was taken. He took it out of the camera and admired it, but suddenly, a gray streak darted out of nowhere, swirled around him, and the photo was gone. "Hey!"
"The real thief?" Olette questioned. Roxas and his friend looked over to see a gray figure flying away. Roxas dashed after it.
"Roxas! Wait!" Hayner yelled, but the blonde was already focused on catching the thief.
----
He followed the figure through the back alley, and picked up his skateboard on the way. Hopping on, he began to pursue the creature faster than before. He couldn't tell what this thing was- it was unlike anything he had seen before.
As he headed down Market Street and entered the tram plaza, he began to go faster, the rolling of the wheels and the pounding of his head were the only things he could hear. He was solely focused on the figure that was just slipping ahead of him. He was sure people were yelling at him to slow down or to watch where he was going, but he didn't care. He followed the tram tracks over the bridge and down till he saw him slip into a crack in the wall. Roxas skated over to the wall and brought his board to a halt. He peered in the hole-it lead out to the woods. No way he could ride his skateboard in there. He stepped off it and grabbed it off the ground so that he could carry it with him.
Slowly, Roxas walked through the crack and entered the woods. It was very dense, and an aura of mysteriousness hung everywhere. The gray figure was now swirling above the trees, almost as though he had been waiting for Roxas to come find him.
'Does this thing want me to catch it?' Roxas thought. The figure began to move ahead, and Roxas ran after it, against his better judgment. He followed it, and it flew up a steep slope, where it seemed as though the woods cleared out.
The clearing was the site of the mysterious old mansion in Twilight Town. No one was sure where it had come from, how had built it, and even if it had ever been lived in, but yet it was still here, rotting away for the world to see. Roxas looked around-for some reason, this place always made him uneasy. But he couldn't think of that now-where was that thief? He had not long to wait, for the creature snaked around on the ground under him, and then suddenly lurched up at him and sent him flying. He cried out and hit the ground, his skateboard landing a few inches away. The creature came back at him, but he thought quickly, grabbed his skateboard, and hit the creature over the head with it as hard as he could.
"Take that!!!!" He yelled." The creature staggered about a bit and collapsed, but he was sure it would come back for him. Without thinking he dropped his board and ran to the mansion gates, even though they were locked tight. He heard the creature get up and turned back, petrified. Perhaps, chasing the creature himself was a bad idea. What was he to do without the help of Hayner and his other friends? As if things couldn't get any worse, he began to feel very dizzy all of the sudden. The creature moving towards him began to slide in and out of focus as he dropped to one knee.
'Damn it!' He thought angrily, not being one to curse often. 'What's happening-?'
"We have come for you, my liege…" "I'm not really sure. It could've been that attack, but…""What?" He asked out loud. Was he going crazy, hearing these bizarre voices in his head? But then he felt something tug at his hand. He looked down and saw a long metal shaft materialize in his hand in the shape of a key. Roxas stood and looked at the strange object. "What is this thing?" He would've examined it further, but the object, as if it had a will of its own, began pulling him towards the creature.
----
Two cloaked figures stood before computer screens, the only source of light in the darkness. One was significantly taller than the other. The shorter one spoke first.
"I don't like what you're doing." He said. The taller one turned his attention from the screens and looked to his counterpart.
"Well, you don't have to join us. We just thought we'd…let you in on what's going on." The taller one replied, shrugging. "Besides, you're different from us. You can only maneuver in the place between. You're lucky that you can get through to here."
"I took the risk."
"Have you over-extended yourself?"
"Maybe a little. But I won't change my mind. I don't think this is the way to help Sora, and I really don't think this is fair to Roxas."
"What does it matter?"
"Just because he hates Nobodies-"
"Aren't you a Nobody too? Yet he hails you as being the perfect Nobody. He just loves you, because you're so unique." The taller one retorted, sneering. The shorter one turned, as if to leave, but then spoke.
"What about him? That new one you found?"
"Well, we haven't actually found him yet. We simply confirmed his existence, but we have yet to get an exact location for him. Truly odd that he's her nobody. But he'll be the one to wake her up-not Namine, like we originally thought." The shorter one smirked.
"Namine, nor this one, can wake her up. Only I know who can." The shorter one said, he began to walk to the back of the room, and then a portal opened in the way of his path. "I won't help you two. I'm sorry, but I have a better way of doing things."
"Then go ahead." The taller one said as the shorter one disappeared. "Do what you want…"
----
Roxas tried to get the bizarre object under his control, and was finally able to grab it with both hands. He figured that this thing, whatever it was, was meant to fight the strange creature that was before him. He gripped it tighter and got into a fighting position. Yes, this felt right now. He lunged forward and struck at the creature. It actually seemed to have some affect, because the creature screamed out and remained still for a few moments. Roxas didn't let the chance go to waste-he struck twice more before the creature struck out and flew across the clearing. Even though his shoulder hurt, he ignored it and went after the creature again. It noticed him and was about to strike at him again, but he slid around behind it and attacked from behind. He did this again and again, the fight waging on for a while, until, finally, the creature disappeared in a burst of light, and down from above came the objects it had stolen. Roxas watched as they fluttered down at him, his attention taken from this when the key in his hand disappeared.
"What? Where'd it go?" He said, looking at both of his hands. He sighed and bent down to see what the stolen objects were…
----
"You mean to tell me the thief took these?" Hayner asked in disbelief.
"Yeah." Roxas answered. He had made his way back to the usual spot in the back alley, thought Hayner and Pence had to half drag, half carry him there because he was so beat up. Olette put a band-aid on one of his cuts, and then hit him over the head. "What was that for? I'm beat up enough already."
"For fighting Seifer, then running off by yourself! What do you think we're here for?" She scolded. "We all look out for each other, right?"
"Of course." Hayner said. Pence flipped through the pictures.
"Hey guys, look at these!" He said. Roxas got himself off the couch, ignoring the soreness and stinging pain in his body. Olette and Hayner also gathered round and the looked on.
"What's this?" Olette asked, pointing.
"I was his first customer when he took over the shop, so we took a picture." Roxas explained.
"It's a nice photo." Olette commented, and then gasped.
"You can say it again! The word 'photo!'" Pence exclaimed.
"I guess so. How weird." She said.
"Well, at least we've cleared our names and everything's back to normal." Hayner said.
"Hey guys. Did you notice that all these pictures are of Roxas?" Pence asked. They all turned their attention back to the pictures. Pence went through them, one by one.
"Heh, it's a girl." Hayner remarked when Pence got to one of Roxas and the girl who worked at the Accessory Shop in town.
"You look happy, Roxas." Olette teased. Roxas blushed.
"Do not."
"And this one too." Pence said, getting to one of Seifer with his foot on top of Roxas, after he had beaten him in a fight one day. Then there was one of Roxas with a little girl from town, and one of him skateboarding, and then one of the four of them in front of the mansion. "Kind of creepy if you ask me."
"What? The mansion or your face?" Hayner teased. Pence glared at him.
"No! The fact that someone was stealing pictures of Roxas!"
"I wonder why?" Olette thought out loud. Roxas stay silent. He mentally agreed that it was bizarre. Sure everyone in town knew him, but that was mostly because he caused so much trouble with his skateboarding, and with Hayner.
"Hey, wouldn't it be something if someone want to steal the real Roxas?" Pence asked. Roxas raised an eyebrow.
"What are you talking about?" He replied. Hayner came up next to him and jokingly shoved him in the shoulder.
"That's ridiculous. Who'd want to steal a bonehead like Roxas? This kid is so quiet, and he hardly ever talks!" They all laughed.
"Thanks a lot, Hayner." Roxas said.
"Always thinking of you, pal!"
"Ah well, it's getting kind of late. Do you think we should head home?" Olette said.
"Hey, we're not little kids! We've got plenty of time to do something. But what…?" Hayner got that dangerous look that signaled he was thinking of something. "Hey, you guys ever heard of that abandoned restaurant on Station Heights?" he asked.
"Uh-oh." Pence said.
"More of these ridiculous ghost stories, Hayner?" Olette asked.
"No! This one's for real! I've been talking with some friends from school, and they said that they've heard something in there."
"What?" Roxas gasped.
"I don't know! But wouldn't it be cool to check it out?"
"No, Hayner. We're going home." Olette said.
"You can go if you want, but the three of us are going, right guys?"
" Three of us?" Pence asked, looking terrified.
"Hayner-"
"Great! Let's go!" And he ran out of the usual spot. The three of them looked at each other, sighed, and agreed that they had better go and catch up to him.
----
6H: That's the end of this chapter. Sorry it was so long, but I want to expand a little on the story, and study the relationship between Roxas and his friends a little more.
Anaretsu: Wonderful.
6H: The beginning was hard, because I want to give the sense that the replying voice was different. To me, it would seem awkward it was just regular speech, since it isn't like that in the game. Ah well. Next chapter-original content!