Chapter 7 Past and Present

"Roxas?"

At the third calling of his name, the Roxas looks up.

"Do you want the rest of this?" Axel asks, offering the last piece of fish meat.

On the other side of the small cooking fire, Roxas lifts his chin off his knees and scoots closer to take the food. His fingers are careful not to brush Axel's and he retreats back to his original position with his knees drawn tight to his chest.

Axel lets out a quiet sigh and stokes the fire with a stick, sending a few embers into the air. He watches Roxas swallow the last of their meager dinner and cautiously asks, "Are you still hungry?"

Roxas blue eyes shift briefly to him and then back to staring into the fire. "No."

Axel sighs again and looks up into the sky. The stars are just coming out and he takes comfort in how many there are. If the Organization is looking for them after their betrayal, the chances of them happening to search this world tucked into the back of the universe are slim.

Feeling eyes on him, Axel turns his head to catch Roxas staring at him. The blond drops his gaze, but not fast enough.

"Roxas?" Axel asks, wondering if the other boy finally wants to talk to him.

"Stop calling me that," Roxas mumbles.

Axel leans forward. "That's your name," he says softly.

"No," Roxas replies, shaking his head. "That's the name of your friend. The one you think I am. But I don't know you. I'm not Roxas."

"Yes, you are," Axel insists, raising his voice as Roxas gets to his feet. "You just don't remember." He gets to his feet as well and tries to move closer to Roxas, but Roxas moves back.

"Why?" Roxas demands. "Why wouldn't I remember?"

"You lost your heart," Axel says, hoping for some flicker of recognition in Roxas' eyes. "You're a Nobody and most Nobodies have trouble remembering who they were as Somebodies." Roxas crosses his arms and looks down, looking more vulnerable than Axel has ever seen him. "You don't remember anything?" Axel asks softly, stepping closer. "Not even little random bits?"

Roxas shakes his head and slowly looks up at him. Axel tries to read his expression, gauge if he's suspicious or scared or something else. But after a moment he realizes Roxas has no expression. Emotionless.

"What?" Roxas asks and Axel realizes he is staring.

"Nothing," Axel replies and runs his hands through his hair with a sigh. "Look, Rox. I know this is hard, but can you trust me? Just a little bit?"

Roxas looks him up and down. "Why?"

"Because...because you're name is Roxas," Axel says sadly. "And I'm your best friend. Axel. And I know you don't remember, but that used to mean something."

Roxas looks to his right, out over the ocean. "I want to remember."

"I want to help you remember," Axel says, moving closer. He wants to reach to Roxas, but he holds himself back. "So what do you say? Can I call you Roxas?"

"Roxas…" He repeats it slow. Testing it out. "I guess its as good a name as any," Roxas says, glancing at Axel.

Axel laughs a little at that. "I like it."

"Axel…" Roxas hesitates. "Can you tell me about me?"

"'Course I can, kiddo," Axel says softly and, leading Roxas back to their small fire, he sits down to tell him everything.

White tile turns to dark stone in the blink of an eye and Ven barely has the time to notice the change before a fist comes out of nowhere, connecting with his jaw.

With a grunt of pain, Ven hits the ground face first, grabbing his aching cheek. He rolls onto his back with spots in his eyes and freezes, seeing his attacker.

Keric stands over him, licking his lips as he leers at Ven. "Don't look so worried Veni," he say. "It's just me."

Panic wells up in Ven's chest and he scrambles to his feet, lunging for the door. Keric slams into him from behind, pinning him to the door.

"You know better than that, Veni," Keric growls in his ear, hands wandering down Ven's sides.

Ven throws Keric off him and spins around, looking him over properly for the first time. Keric is the teenager Ven remembers, pale hair and colorless eyes. He hasn't aged a day, but Ven has and for the first time it is Ven looking down at Keric who is now an inch before his eye level.

From somewhere far off, there is a pounding sound and Ven turns back to the door, remembering what had happened in Ansem's office. "Who's there?" Ven asks, pounding on his side of the door.

Keric grabs him by his shirt and throws him backward. Ven ends up on the ground again and Keric is on him before he can get back up. Ven might be bigger now, but Keric is still strong and with his hand around Ven's throat, he lifts Ven's head up and slams it back down with enough force to make Ven see stars.

He can still hear the pounding, but it's faint. Not even close to the way the Ansem's office had shook with the sound.

Keric's face is inches from his own. The other boy laughs. "He's not breaking you out this time," he says in a low voice. "I built these walls stronger. You're trapped in here. Just you, and me."

Ven tries to throw Keric off, summoning his keyblade. But the other boy pins his arm down, digging his sharp nails into Ven's wrist. "Pathetic," Keric says and the pounding sound slows. "No one is coming to save you."

Ven stares down Keric, glaring. The boy really doesn't look like he has aged a day. Like Zack hadn't aged and Vanitas hadn't aged. Like all the places he's been to have been just like his memories and all have faded away with no lasting trace.

The pounding stops.

"I don't need someone to save me." A smile slowly forms on Ven's lips. "Nobody needs to save me because there is nothing to save me from. This isn't real," he says and Keric freezes, eyes bulging. "You're not real."

Wrenching his arm out of Keric's slackened grip, Ven swings his keyblade around and feels a satisfying impact that make his whole arm shudder. Keric falls off him with little grace and drags himself away from Ven, mouth open in shock. Blood is leaking past Keric's hand over the wound in his side and, getting to his feet, Ven sees blood is dripping from the tip of his keyblade too.

He looks up when Keric summons a dark corridor. The disheveled boy heaves himself upright and fixes Ven with a murderous look as he retreats into the darkness. "You've only made things worse for yourself," he snarls before disappearing completely.

With him, the rest of Carinol disappears as well and Ven is back in the white castle like nothing had happened. Just like all the other floors. Or it would have been, if it hadn't been for the blood.

Unlike returning from the Keyblade Graveyard, evidence of his fight with Keric remains. The other boy's blood still covers the tip of Ven's keyblade. It drips to the floor, staining the tile, and Ven raises his keyblade up to examine it.

Had he been wrong? Had Keric been real and he had struck him down? He sure had felt real when Ven had sunk his keyblade into him. But what did that mean for the rest what has happened to him?

Ven let's his keyblade disappear wondering what parts of what his is seeing are real and which are not.

Zexion looks up from the crystal ball at the opening of the dark corridor a few steps away. Namine stumbles out, her Keric disguise fading off her in wisps like the illusion it is. She falls to her knees with one hand clasped around the wound in her side and the other keeping her from falling on her face.

"Namine." Marluxia scowls as he moves to the girl. "That was a disgrace."

Zexion steps forward as well, hesitantly reaching out to help Namine, but he retracts his hand quickly when she lifts her head to glare daggers at Marluxia. She opens her mouth to retort, but Marluxia speaks over her.

"He is growing stronger, not weaker. You're illusions no longer scare him. Drastic measures must be taken and if you are not up for the task -"

"I have it handled," Namine spits out through gritted teeth. "Curaja," she mutters and groans as the green light falls on the bloody gash in her side. After a moment, she straightens up to look Marluxia in the eye.

Her dress has a large tear in it and the red blood stain is the brightest color in the room. She stalks forward, brushing past Zexion to stand at the crystal ball.

"Ven has done well," she says, putting both hands on the orb and leaning over it. Under her fingers, Ven is making his way to the next floor undeterred. "He bested me and that in itself deserves a reward."

Zexion's eyes flicker to Marluxia who puts his hands behind his back. "What are you talking about?" Marluxia asks and Zexion looks back to Namine as the witch laughs lightly.

"I'm going to give him what he wants more than anything. I'm going to let him see his friends." Namine waves a hand over the crystal ball surface and watches the image darken. "One last time."


dun dun DUN!

LightzMusic22: Thanks! I'm glad you love Tay like I do. No Gary/Mary Stu's allowed in my fic!

micaelaann. cruz: Aw thanks! :D

Amestri: Thanks for letting me know about the name change and duuuude I love Larxene. Like, I hate her because she's evil, but I love her because she's such a bitch. She is way more interesting than the other dull losers in Org XIII. And I'm keeping my lips sealed on who is helping Ven, but we're really close to the reveal.

Ugh why do I make things so tragic for Axel and Roxas? Like I could have just let them be happy and be writing fluff right now for them, but noooooo I had to go and make Roxas amnesic.

So I beat up Keric to make myself feel better. Always a good time even if it's really Namine pretending to be Keric… so really beating up Keric and Namine at the same time…. nice