author' s notes: Uwa! Can you believe it? An update less than a week since the last one! Mwahaha. Well, it was a bit easier to do now that I'm into game days. You'll notice that I didn't go exactly by what happened in the game, and that I did in fact add in some novel and manga scenes, especially the latter. Plus, there is my own personal flare to all of the above, and then my own wonder creativity separate from all of the above xD
I do hope you all tell me what you think of it!
I also just learned the history between Roxas and the TT Gang when I read the tenth chapter of the manga, and it's all so sad. I must make a happy ending for this quartet...er, eventually xD The ending to this will be bittersweet if anything.
The fast update is also due to me being on my Spring Break, which will end this weekend, so the updates may slow down again, though certainly not as much as five or so months like last time…hopefully.
I hope you all enjoy this chapter, which is longer than Chapter VII, if you can believe that!
disclaimer: Since I'm using some references, I'll just like to point out once again that the Kingdom Hearts games, the novels, and the manga, are not my property. Nomura, and all the writers and artists, have that right.
Chapter IX: The Stolen –—–
It was one of those rare times the group of them assembled together. Well, most of the group, anyway. The 'Whirlwind Lancer', Xaldin, was absent, off at some monster's Castle, quite literally, working on his mission. It wasn't as if the rest of them didn't have things to do, or that Lancer was particularly more work-devoted than they were. Xaldin was quite the impulsive individual, and since he didn't see what all the fuss was about over their thirteenth member, he found no real reason to sit around with the rest of them and left in quite a huff saying he had to 'do some real work'. The Superior was also not there, unsurprisingly, as he had other business to attend to. He left that particular mission to Flurry, of course, and the leader was quite certain the eighth member would not fail him. The remaining four members, as intrigued as they were during the first appearance of their youngest member, decided to keep the Flurry company.
"Hey, this must feel like old times, doesn't it, Axel?" Xigbar, the 'Freeshooter', barked with a laugh, settling deep into the comfortable white chair he sat upon to stare at the enormous computer screen that stood before the five of them in the equally white room. "The stalking, the chasing, the kidnapping…hey, if you're going to grab that girl to use as bait again, call me, will you? I missed the horrified look on her face when she woke up the first time." Another laugh escaped the senior member of the XIII Order.
Well, no one said the other four were there for moral support.
Demyx, the 'Melodious Nocturne', Saïx, the 'Luna Diviner', and Luxord, the 'Gambler of Fate', shuffled silently in their seats beside the Freeshooter, too focused on staring at the computer screen to pay much attention to Xigbar's insulting words. The old man was always running his mouth, anyway. While it didn't bug the rest of them, Axel, the 'Flurry of Dancing Flames', was just about to explode, or rather, explode someone. Such had to be the case when Xigbar's words were directed towards him alone, and when any noise coming out of the four behind him was making him lose his concentration, standing there before the keyboard of the computer.
It was three days ago that they learned the whereabouts of their Key of Destiny. In another one of their rare gatherings in the high-ceilinged pure white room of their castle, the seven of them sat in their respectful seats, which stood high above the floor, which was several stories below. It had been a long while since they were together, and in that specific room no less, and all but the Superior couldn't help but self-consciously stare at the six empty chairs around them. Numbers four to six…eleven to thirteen…all but one had been lost during the previous mission at Castle Oblivion, which was now a few months ago. It was sort of morale killer to be physically reminded of how little of them were left. Even if all of them weren't exactly buddy-buddy with each other, they were all the same beings, had the same goals…to have this happen…
"We have finally found what we seeked," Xemnas spoke, cutting into the silence and pulling their attention away from the thoughts that were growing heavy in their minds.
Xigbar was the first to snap back to reality, and he sat straighter in his chair as he moved his gaze to the Superior. "Roxas? Or the hero?"
"Both," the tan-skinned man replied simply, lazily sitting back in his seat.
At the mere mention of Roxas, Axel had already sat up, and he shrugged at the Superior's answer as if to hide the relief and happiness he felt. "Both at the same time? That's too good to be true…" he said, thinking it was all right, and less suspicious, if he voiced his speculation aloud.
"That means someone is behind this…" Saïx mused, crossing his arms and making himself more comfortable in his seat as he continued to contemplate in silence.
"…I can smell that man," Xemnas seemed to say in an afterthought, and a bitter one at that, Saïx not being the only one to be lost in thought. His words, though, were implying to the redhead that it was not too good to be true. They had found what they were looking for, and it was real because he could sense 'that' man.
"'That man'?" Demyx repeated, finding the rather vague explanation more intriguing than the actual news the Superior had just told them.
"But it can't be…" Xaldin breathed out as he leaned forward on the edge of his chair. Like Demyx, he was rather interested in the simple phrase, but unlike the youngest blonde boy amongst them, the Lancer knew whom Xemnas was referring to.
Not wanting to be kept in the dark, the blonde boy turned towards Luxord, who was on his right. "Hey, who's 'that man'?" Demyx asked, scooting over towards the side of his chair that was closer to the Gambler to hear the answer more clearly.
Unfortunately for the ninth member, he had moved closer only to hear harsh words more clearly. "Just shut up," was the answer Luxord gave him, trying to listen to what was being said.
"Tch," Demyx let out, clearly not pleased with the response he got. Scooting over towards the other side of his chair, the blonde boy leaned over the wide armrest to get a better look at the redhead on his left. "Hey, Axel…" he started, knowing the other knew what he wanted to ask. After several moments, though, Axel was still silent, seemingly lost in thought, though the Nocturne took it as a cold brush off. "You're shutting yourself up, too?" he asked desperately, knowing if anyone was going to answer him, it was Axel. And if he didn't, then no one would.
"Be quiet, Demyx," Xigbar snapped from across from him, causing the boy to sigh and sink low in his seat, now completely disinterested in the conversation taking place. What was the point of paying attention if he didn't understand what they were talking about?
Axel, meanwhile, was indeed lost in thought, having never heard a word the Nocturne had said to him. What would have happened if I had stopped Roxas? Maybe none of this would have happened if I spilled the secret to him. But I can never betray the Organization. No…I actually already did. I was the one who eliminated the other members in the Castle, and let Naminé meet Riku. But it wasn't a complete betrayal. Inside, I still had doubts. Why am I here? What do I want? I'm still having doubts. What should I have done? What should I do now? Roxas… Red eyebrows came together in confusion and frustration as Axel closed his eyes and brought a gloved hand to his forehead. None of the other members noticed Axel's silence or actions, too caught up in the continuing discussion.
That is, all but the Superior, who rested rather amused amber eyes upon the bothered redhead.
"So he's really in there, huh?" Demyx eventually commented as he leaned forward in his chair to get a closer look at the display on the large computer screen. It was now the present again, and the Nocturne's words pulled Axel back from his memories. Great, all their murmuring had driven him to reminiscing instead of focusing on the work before him.
"That's some strategy they got there," Luxord mused, unable to help but praise their enemy's plot since he was more of a strategist than anything. The Order would never think of going as far as creating a fake world, but that did require a lot of work they may not be willing to give. The Superior entrusting that particular mission to Axel alone was proof enough of that.
Saïx crossed his arms and scoffed as he sat further back in his seat, closing his eyes. "As long as it doesn't interfere with my mission with the real Town, he could create as many virtual worlds as he wants."
Gloved hands slammed against the keyboard, and fiery emerald eyes turned to glare at the four seated beings behind him. "Will you four just shut it?" Axel yelled, waving his left hand out in front of him to accentuate his point. "What is this, a movie theatre?" he continued, eyeing the chairs they sat on. Those weren't there before. He didn't even have a chair to sit on. He worked standing up. Axel was just about finished making a digital copy of himself to insert into the world and personally check up on the Nobodies he sent there, but with these four quacking away he'd never get it done.
"Someone's tense about their mission," Demyx observed, saying it almost in a childlike manner. Axel's eyebrow twitched, as if daring him to take over the mission instead, but the ninth member stayed obediently silent, cerulean eyes staring at the floor for a moment as if in shame before looking up at the screen.
Saïx remained quiet, knowing how important the retrieval of Roxas was to the Superior, and Xigbar laughed before sharing one final comment with the redhead. He knew more than to go against Saïx, for despite his rank, the Diviner was practically second in command to Xemnas. "I'm not kidding about the girl, eh, Axel."
Axel shook his head as he turned back around to resume his work, though now he couldn't help but wonder if Xigbar had a point. Kidnap her again, huh… It definitely wasn't original, but it did have resounding success the first time he did it. Roxas wasn't happy about it, though… Gloved hands faltered in their work before they busily tapped away on the keyboard again. Well, if worst came to worst, he'd do it again.
It was just a copy this time, anyway.
xoxoxoxox
Heavy tapping noises came from within the small computer room, resounding loudly off the four walls for it was practically empty save for the lone girl in the room, continuing work that she had started at the beginning of the week. DiZ was out on some unknown business again, taking Riku along with him. She wasn't too surprised that the Ansem-looking teen decided to go without a fight, for he had been avoiding her ever since their conversation the morning before. It affected her badly, of course, but she had learned a great deal about how Riku acted from the amount of time she spent with him the past several months, and being in close proximity to each other only added to that. He was more confused and lost than angry with her, and when the sixteen-year-old swallowed some of his pride and the haze was slightly cleared from his vision, he'll make his way back to her, and she will be waiting for him with open arms.
All she had to do was give the boy time. The bleach-blonde haired girl lost sense of it sometimes, but even Riku deserved to be human and have cracks in his otherwise flawless and strong front. "Everything he does is for Sora…and for the world," Naminé suddenly spoke aloud, the frantic tapping of fingertips upon keys coming to a stop. Riku never took time for himself, or did things only for himself…he had a purpose, and he worked relentlessly to achieve it. "…But what about me? Why am I here?" the Nobody continued mindlessly, her voice losing the emotion 'it never had'. Sure, she was there to restore Sora's memories, and as much as she did want to help him, half of the reason behind it all was because DiZ was forcing her to. The other part of her was still having doubts, for she knew she was hurting a lot of people. And, unlike Riku, she wasn't doing it for the world; she was doing it selfishly, just to make herself feel like she was righting a wrong and doing a good deed. What was the reason for her existence? What should I do…?
Cerulean eyes blinked as they finally focused on the message that had been blinking on the screen for several minutes now. 'Command to data merge 90% of file to selected entity upon termination of current program: Are you sure? Warning: selecting [YES] will not allow the action to be undone.' Naminé read the phrase once, twice, and even a third time, a single finger hovering over the 'Enter' button to select 'Yes'. She had intended to go along with this plan since she had first thought of it the first few days she had begun working under DiZ. But now she hesitated—she would be acting without fully knowing how it would affect the people involved, for her own selfish reasons again. But it will rectify all the wrong doings that have transpired these past few months. Swallowing her doubts, Naminé affirmed the blinking command. As soon as she did, another one popped up.
'Command to data merge the remaining 10% of the file to selected entity upon first access of damaged file: Are you sure? Warning: selecting [YES] will not allow the action to be undone.' Riku would be so mad with her. But she knew he'd understand, once she explained it to him. He just had to. A pale finger pressed down upon the key, affirming the message once again.
There was no going back now.
xoxoxoxox
It was a dark world, and it if wasn't for the light that shone from the low-set moon, the place would have been in complete darkness. The water that spanned out from the shoreline of the beach reflected the moonlight, brightening the world even more than if it was simply plain sand as far as the eye could see. On one side of the beach, a figure decked completely in black appeared from a portal that opened from a large vertically inclined rock, and on the opposite side of the beach, another figure in an identical trench coat, sitting upon a horizontally inclined rock, turned his head as the newly arrived individual approached.
"You have arrived," the sitting figure said, his voice deep, indicating that he was no child. "I've been to see him…" the man continued, looking ahead briefly before returning his gaze to the being beside him. "He looks a lot like you."
The standing figure was silent for a brief moment, staring back at the lower man as if sizing him up. 'Who are you?' was the person's response, completely ignoring the man's comments, or rather asking because of them, though the words went unheard by the dreamer.
"I'm what's left," the man answered easily despite his own comments being left unattended. "Or…" he went on, removing his gaze from the person beside him, "maybe I'm all there ever was."
'I meant your name,' the figure retorted, not exactly pleased with the vague and musing response.
"My name is of no importance." It didn't seem like he was willing to answer everything so easily. "But what about you?" The sound of metal clanking together was heard as the sitting man turned his head to face the standing figure once again, causing the chained metal that hung from his hood and around the neckline to hit each other. "Do you remember your true name?"
The standing figure didn't seem put off by the sudden change of roles in who was asking the questions. In fact, it seemed like the person was really trying to figure it out. 'My true name…is…'
Darkness.
"Sora." A female's voice echoed in the endless darkness.
A deep blue sky, a shining sun, wispy clouds.
Sora opened his eyes as if he was waking from a dream, sitting up to glance at the aquamarine waters and sandy beach before him. Unable to fight back a yawn, he lean back to lie down again but jumped straight back up when a redheaded girl filled his line of sight.
Static.
"Whoa!" Sora yelled, turning around and getting on his hands and knees to look at the girl who giggled behind him. "Gimme a break, Kai—!"
Fizzle, fizzle, crack.
"Giving up already?" Riku taunted as he ran, glancing at Sora who ran beside him, though the brunette boy was too focused and determined to win to reply. Behind them, the redheaded girl ran with a smile upon her face.
Static, coding, fizzle.
The sun was setting, throwing the once blue sky into a flurry of purple, orange and pink. Sora and the redheaded girl sat upon an oddly bent tree, while Riku stood against it, his arms crossed as he looked out at the seemingly endless sea. "If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one?" Sora leaned over past the girl to say something to Riku's words, but he was cut off before he could say it by another round of static.
"This world has been connected."
Startled, Sora, who had been staring at the drawing he and the redheaded girl had made of each other in the Secret Cave, turned around sharply at the unknown voice, slowly standing up.
"Wha? Who's there?" Sora called, being able to hide his fear for the most part. He couldn't see anything in the dimly lit cave but the heavy shadows on the far side opposite of him.
The voice continued as if he hadn't heard the brunette boy, though. "Tied to the darkness…"
Fizzle.
It was another sunset, though this time Sora and the girl were alone, and instead of sitting on the awkwardly bent tree, they were sitting on the docks. The girl suddenly stood up, and Sora looked up at her in mild confusion and curiosity. "Sora, don't ever change." Without answering, Sora looked back out at the startling scene before them once again.
Crack, shift, fizzle.
It was pitch black. Sora found it a wonder he could even see Riku, who stood in front of him, holding out a gloved hand. "The door…has opened…" the silver-haired teen said slowly, as if in a trance. Sora tried to move towards him, but stopped as he noticed black pools forming beneath the two of them.
"What?" Sora let out, almost in frustration but more out of confusion, struggling to grab a hold of his best friend's hand as shadows wrapped around them, pulling him down. What was Riku saying at a time like that?
Fizzle, coding, static.
Sora was alone now, seemingly stranded on some small island, and he slowly stood up to face the towering black mass with glowing yellow eyes that was behind him. Above him, lightening streaked across the dead sky, and all around him flew pieces of his world, being drawn into the vortex high above him. The same voice that spoke to him in the cave spoke once again.
"You understand nothing."
Brief static.
The redheaded girl was in front of him now, reaching a hand out towards him helplessly as the wooden door in the Secret Cave slammed open behind her, inviting a strong gust of wind in its wake. Sora brought his hands up to shield his face from the wind, but looked up in time to see the girl being pushed by the wind towards him. He opened his arms wide to catch the girl when she would collide into him, but to his horror, the girl disappeared right on impact.
"So…ra…" she breathed out before she was completely gone, and Sora stared at the empty space before him in horror before the powerful gust was blowing him right out of the cave.
xoxoxoxox
The medium-sized room had a warm glow to it, and a huge part of that had to go towards the sun that was eternally stuck in a sunset position, whose warm light easily passed through the window of the boy's room, as there was no curtains or blinds to guard it. It was a good architectural decision on the builder's part, for not only was the window placed in accurate alignment to catch the sun's rays, but he had an unobstructed view on the rest of Twilight Town—no large buildings in the way or people's hanged clothing greeted the boy in the morning. He was always able to tell how many trains passed by before he missed the last one that went to his school, as the raised train tracks were also in view. The room itself held a lot of furniture and accessories with a moon or star design, an unconscious liking of them on the boy's part, and it was all unexpectedly organized, considering his age and gender. Come school time was a different matter though, and he would rarely be able to see the surface of his desk due to all the papers that would land there and then never be touched again.
And on one side of it all was Roxas, who lay rather peacefully on his bed, his hand resting lazily upon his stomach with the covers piled uselessly at his feet. One had to wonder why he continued to sleep with a blanket when he nearly tripped over them a few days earlier, but the blonde haired boy was more lazy than anything to remove them. The silence that filled the room was soon broken as Roxas made light grunts as he awoke, and he blinked his eyes open cautiously as if he expected to see emerald orbs staring back at him. When only his plain ceiling greeted him, Roxas closed his eyes again and sighed, a mixture of relief and regret in the release of air. He was happy he wasn't in the hospital anymore, having to worry if he'd ever see those emerald eyes look back at him, but he was also a little disappointed—it was a nice feeling to have her smiling face the first thing he saw when he woke up.
Sighing at how hopeless he was, Roxas sat up in his bed and rubbed the back of his head, remnants of his dream coming back to him now that he mind was off Olette. "Another dream about him…" he whispered to himself, looking down at his bed sheets. It's been a few days since he dreamt about Sora, and the dream was so…broken. It never stayed on one scene for long, and it seemed to jump all over the place. Not only that, but those hooded people were in it again, too. Why did that one person never talk, though?
"Don't ever change." The redheaded girl's voice echoed in his head. How weird was that? Olette had said the same thing to him yesterday. "Other worlds, huh…" he added offhandedly, remembering Riku's words, and somehow Roxas wondered if that was the reason behind all his odd dreams, if such a thing as other worlds was possible. It was definitely better than thinking something bad was going to happen to him.
"Roxas!"
Blinking out of his little dream analysis, sapphire eyes moved to his window, and he got to his knees and pushed it open, looking down to see Hayner, Pence and Olette down below waving at him. He must've overslept, or something big was going on, for his friends to come over personally to wake him up. Before he could help it, a big bright smile spread across his face. "I'll be ready to go in a sec!" Roxas yelled down to them before scrambling to change out of his PJs. In record time, he was standing outside with his friends, making his mother wonder what hurricane had burst through the house while she had her back turned in the kitchen.
xoxoxoxox
"So, what's up?" Roxas asked as the four of them made their way to the Usual Spot.
Hayner, who walked on Roxas' left side, waved his hand out in front of him. "It's too important to be said out in the open," he replied, glancing around the relatively empty streets of Station Heights as they walked as if he was looking for anyone suspicious.
Raising an eyebrow at his best friend's stranger-than-usual antics, Roxas glanced over at Olette and Pence, who walked on his right, but he was met with shrugs. They didn't have a clue about what had Hayner so wound up, either. Letting out a soft sigh, Roxas moved his gaze upwards to stare at the twilight sky. "Hey…do you guys believe there are other worlds out there?" he asked when silence befell them a few moments afterward. The topic caught his friends' attention.
"Other worlds? As in...other worlds?" Hayner repeated redundantly, unable to show his shock about the question in any other way.
"Scientists always claim there are, don't they? That 'we're not alone in this world.' But they're never able to prove it, and it's not as if it's possible to travel outside of this world, or for others to come in. I mean, we've been surrounded by the same people since forever. I'll believe it when I see it," Pence replied in a much more educated answer than Hayner's, though its cynical view did little to make Roxas feel better.
"I dunno…it's a nice dream, isn't it? I bet we've all wished that we were somewhere else when we're upset, right?" Leave it to Olette to offer the optimistic outlook that instantly lifted his spirits. "I didn't know you were so interested in astronomy, though, Roxas," Olette added, tilting her head to offer him a gentle and curious smile. She knew about all the moon and star shaped accessories in the blonde boy's room, but he never really talked about it enough to make the brunette girl believe he was really into it. Though remembering yesterday, Roxas didn't exactly talk about much with them. Emerald eyes lowered slightly at the pain such a realization brought her, but she soon tried to cheer herself up and brought her gaze back up to Roxas.
Roxas found his face warming up slightly, and he scratched the side of his face lightly as he tilted his own head the other way, missing Olette's flash of pain. "Ah, no, I just…"
Before he could continue, the quartet was interrupted by a nearby shop loudly shutting its doors as they passed by, as if it was done intentionally. The four of them stopped and stared, three of them wondering what that was all about while their leader narrowed his eyes knowingly. And then before they knew it, shops and stalls were closing all around them. For some reason, the loud way they all went about it seemed amplified in Roxas' ears, and he unconsciously covered his ears and closed his eyes. Closing his eyes didn't seem to help, though, as behind his closed eyelids the image of Sora's world being sucked up into the vortex played. Cringing, Roxas didn't notice that Hayner had placed his hands upon his shoulders and was steering him, and the others, to the Usual Spot.
What is this feeling? It's like in my dreams…I don't have any will of my own. I can only watch as Sora interacts with his friends…as my own friends get hurt. I only get the 'sensation' of it, trapped in my own body. The only time I can remembering moving on my own accord was when I was facing that that large shadow and I almost got swallowed by the darkness. Why is that…?
"See, this is what I'm talking about!" Hayner said heatedly.
"What is what you're talking about? You never said anything when we were walking, Hayner," Pence pointed out.
"Wait until I get my hands on him…"
"Hayner!" Olette cried, trying to steer him back to the original topic.
"Okay, okay. You know the word on the street about stuff that's been getting stolen, right? And now we're being shunned by the whole town! I have one word for you: Seifer."
Looking between an infuriated Hayner and a thoughtful Pence, Olette watched their interaction silently before turning her head to look at Roxas. It had been a few minutes since they entered their hangout, and Roxas hadn't said anything or moved very much since Hayner had plopped him down on his seat beside her. The blonde boy looked to be very deep in thought, and Olette couldn't help but watch him worriedly. He didn't look as bad as he did when they talked yesterday on the Clock Tower, but that didn't make it any easier for her. That was one reason why she wished Roxas would open up to her…to them…to anyone. She felt like more and more distance was being put between them, and she could tell they were slowly losing him.
When Hayner noticed that neither Olette nor Roxas had said anything, he crossed his arms and looked over at the pair. Olette was focused on Roxas, and Roxas looked completely zoned out. Tapping his foot upon the floor impatiently, Hayner made his way over to the fellow blonde and stood in front of him, bending down slightly to get a better look at his face. "Roxas! Are you listening?!" he yelled.
The shout had successfully gotten Roxas' attention, who suddenly sat up in his seat and leaned back when he noticed how close Hayner was. "Eh? Sorry…what?" he let out, taking a quick moment to look around. They were in the Usual Spot. When did they get there? Was he that lost in thought?
"Gaaaaaah!" Hayner screamed, his whole body shaking in the fury he had towards Seifer rather than towards Roxas' lack of attentiveness. "I'm talking about how we're going to clear our names of these false accusations! Listen up!"
"Ah…" Roxas let out, making it sound like he knew exactly what they were talking about. A brief moment later, though, Roxas blinked and sat forward as Hayner moved from his spot in front of him to pace back and forth the length of the hangout. "False…accusations?" he repeated uncertainly.
"Exactly," Hayner hissed, not catching onto the fact that Roxas had no clue what he was talking about.
Olette, who had let out a sigh of relief when Roxas came back to the living world, moved her attention towards Hayner, frowning slightly. "Honestly, Hayner, calm down a little!" she told him, knowing that his fiery reaction wouldn't be good for any of them, especially for himself and Roxas. He'll give himself a heart attack from the pressure and give Roxas one, too, out of shocking him so soon after he snapped out of it. Returning her gaze to Roxas, she smiled lightly when he turned to look at her. "Recently in town, there's been more and more fuss over thieves. You've heard about it, right?" she started, explaining the situation.
"But to say that we're the culprits!" Pence finished, looking like he was about to explode like Hayner. "It seems like Seifer's gang has been going around town spreading lies about us."
"Really…" Roxas said slowly, taking all the information in. Seifer again… Why was he not surprised that that guy had something to do with their troubles? "Ah! So is that why…" he trailed off, looking at each of his friends, who nodded in return.
"The entire shopping district closed their doors on us just now," Pence finished, crossing his arms and leaning back slightly on the crate he sat upon.
"Maybe that's why the book store closed on me yesterday…" Olette said softly, and when she felt the boys' eyes on her, she continued. "After Roxas and I left the Clock Tower, I went to buy a book to read for extra credit, but it closed right as I was approaching. I thought maybe there was some kind of emergency, so they closed down early, but this…" At the time, she didn't think anything of it—she was able to buy the popsicles just a couple hours before, after all. To think things went downhill so quickly...
"It's totally connected!" Hayner said, making a fist and angrily punching it into his open palm. "We can't forgive those guys, right? I understand that we've got a score to settle with them and everything, so if he wanted to think we did it, I couldn't really blame him. But to go around telling everyone that we did it, and without any proof! That pisses me off! I'll beat the crap out of them! Prepare yourselves, guys, prepare!" Hayner yelled, his anger taking control once again.
Olette opened her mouth to say something, anything, but she couldn't find the words. Did Seifer really say that about them? "I came here to apologize." That was what he had told her yesterday, and she didn't have the heart to believe he was apologizing beforehand for turning the entire Town against them. It wasn't as if she felt like the blonde boy owed her or anything, but she didn't want to believe Seifer would go so far and abuse his power that much. But what could she say to steer Hayner away from such a destructive path? Unconsciously, she turned towards Roxas for help, even though she knew he wanted to beat Seifer to a bloody pulp as much as their leader did...
Even though she knew he had enough problems of his own without adding Hayner to the mix.
Roxas soon turned towards Olette, wanting to know how she felt about everything considering what happened between her and Seifer, and he was slightly surprised to see her already looking at him. He automatically noticed the pleading look in her eyes, and he sighed, looking up at the ceiling. He did want to get back at Seifer, so badly that there were no words to describe it, but maybe this was the wrong way to go about doing it. What if, by some miracle, they were as wrong about Seifer spreading the rumors as Seifer was about saying it was them? I'll beat him fair and square, and show him how much better we are to him, who decided to go behind everyone's backs and do everything.
"Um…" Roxas started uncertainly. Despite coming to the conclusion that he didn't want to beat up Seifer like this, he didn't exactly know what they should do instead. Oh! "We could find out who the real culprit is instead…what do you think? Clearing our names and getting everyone off our backs should be our top priority, shouldn't it?"
It was as if someone had dumped cold water on Hayner and all of his steam slowly evaporated into the air as a result. "Mngh…well…really?" he said slowly, quietly, and uncertainly. Hayner was hoping, almost certain, that Roxas would back him up in his plan to confront and fight Seifer. And now that he wasn't, the blonde boy wasn't sure what he should be doing. Was it that wrong to go after Seifer right then and there?
"Hey, that sounds like fun!" Pence exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "Let's find the real culprit and publicly reveal them to prove that we're innocent!" Excitedly, the ebony-haired teen ran over to grab his new camera that Olette had gotten him a few days ago, ready to take incriminating photographs.
Hayner remained silent, arms crossed and head bowed down in thought. "Mm…okay, let's go!" he eventually said, coming to like Roxas' idea, especially when Pence seconded it. Uncrossing his arms, he made his way towards the exit. "Everyone, come follow me!"
Roxas and Olette slowly stood up, and Olette held onto her right arm from behind her back as she turned to face him. "Thanks, Roxas," she said genuinely, and Roxas couldn't help but smile proudly. He might not have been able to beat up Seifer that day, but it was certainly worth it to be graced with Olette's smile.
"Get moving!" Hayner yelled from where he stood near the gate.
"Aaaah! Wait!" Pence shouted, and the three of them turned their heads towards him, watching as he frantically searched through something at the back of their hideout. "Big trouble! We've been robbed, too!"
"What?" Hayner let out exasperatedly, making his way back towards the group so that he was standing by Olette's other side.
"They're gone! Our –—– are gone!" Pence said desperately, though he slowly stopped his search as a new realization came to him. "What…?" Pence breathed out, bringing a hand to his throat. When he realized no one had said anything, Pence looked at them, blank faces staring back at him. "What's with your reactions? Say something!" he said, almost hysterical—he was one second from believing he was in a real life horror movie (which, had it been any other time, would have amused him greatly).
"…What did you say, Pence?" Hayner said slowly, his eyes narrowing as he took a step towards him. Surely he must've misheard the ebony-haired teen.
Taking in a deep breath, Pence tried again. "All our –—– are…" he trailed off as he found he couldn't say the word again. Roxas' and Olette's eyes widened, and Hayner walked all the way over to him, placing a firm hand on his shoulder.
"Are you messing with us, Pence?" Hayner said in a low, and almost dangerous, tone. He was never a fan of all those supernatural phenomenon Pence usually got excited about.
"What?" Pence said, shocked, before shaking his head. He moved towards the side slightly to show that they were missing all of their photos. "No! I'm not, see! Now, you try it!"
"Our –—– really aren't here…" Olette said dismally, before gasping and reaching a hand to her throat much like Pence had earlier.
"We can't say it. The word –—–…" Roxas said, putting a hand on his hip when he realized he was also affected.
"That's nonsense! –—–! –—–!" Hayner yelled, but nothing was coming out. Frustrated, he took his hand off of Pence to grab onto his head instead. "Aaah! What's going on? I can't say it! This is too freaky."
"Do you think…it's possible that the thief stole the word –—–, too?" Roxas suggested, lowering his hand back to his side when Hayner couldn't say it, either.
"That is a fantastic idea! Could this be a supernatural phenomenon?" Pence said, serious in the fact that he really wished it was true, earning strange faces from all of his friends. Now that he realized he wasn't living a nightmare, the head-band wearing male was intrigued on how it was possible to wipe a word off the face of the planet.
"Really, Pence, you shouldn't be so happy about this," Olette scolded him.
"This isn't a fairy tale…" Hayner mumbled, feeling uncomfortable about having things out of his control, before closing his eyes and stuffing a hand in his pants pocket. "But that has to be some thief. Seifer could never have pulled this off even if he wanted to." His friends nodded in agreement, and he nodded as well, pulling his hand out of his pocket. "All right. Seifer and his gang might know something if they're investigating it. Although talking to those guys will piss me off, we better head to the Sandlot."
This time, when Hayner made his way out, Pence and Olette followed after him. Roxas moved to leave as well, but he stopped as he began to feel dizzy. "Huh?" Roxas managed to say before he fell and blacked out.
'His heart is returning. It won't be long now.'
Groaning, Roxas slowly regained consciousness. What was that? Now he was fainting and hearing voices? What won't… be long now…? Blinking before narrowing his eyes slightly, Roxas pushed himself to his feet and dusted himself off, looking around for the source of the voice.
"Roxas?"
Roxas nearly jumped at the voice, and looked to see that Olette had returned and was standing a few feet away from him. He hoped she hadn't seen him faint, for he didn't want to worry her even more.
If Olette did see anything, she never showed it. "C'mon, let's go," she said cheerfully, and Roxas nodded, walking beside her as they left the Usual Spot.
xoxoxoxox
"We've got so much reports it's overwhelming, y'know?"
Rai's words went through one ear and out the other for Seifer, who paced back and forth along the width of the room. In the back of his mind, a sarcastic remark about 'overwhelming' being the largest word he ever heard coming from Rai was made, but he was too focused on trying to sort out all the information in his head to dwell on it too much. Sure, they got a lot of people complaining about their stuff being stolen, and every one of them was saying Roxas took it, but none of them actually saw him or the rest of his gang take it. There was no proof, and all their words were hearsay. The whole town was practically thinking it, though. Should he, or rather could he, act on that alone? There'd be no one to go against him. And then there was Olette—
"Argh!" Seifer let out in frustration, hastily running his hand over the top of his beanie hat. "I can't think in this stuffy room. Let's move out to the Sandlot," he barked to the rest of his team. Fuu, Rai, and Vivi nodded, making their way over to the exit. Seifer soon followed behind them, but slowly came to a stop as he realized that the three of them had suddenly halted at the door. "Well? What is it? What are you three waiting for?" The trio looked back at him before moving off to the side to reveal the blonde girl that stood at the doorway.
"Luna…" the Committee leader muttered, bringing a hand to his forehead as he closed his eyes. He'd always figured he'd see her sooner or later, especially when he had some things he wanted to talk to her about, but he never figured it'd be that soon—or rather, he never thought she'd be the one to initiate it. "Fuu, Rai, Vivi, you guys head to the Sandlot first. I'll catch up once I'm done here," Seifer ordered, figuring he might as well deal with one problem before he got knee-deep in another.
The three heeded the order without complaint, though Fuu gave Luna a suspicious look before leaving. Luna walked in freely with the three gone and out of the way, and she stared back at Seifer as he leaned against a table and stared right back at her. "So, what brings you here? Have another brilliant plan for me? Does it involve being trapped above ground this time? The Clock Tower, perhaps? Because I really couldn't get enough of being stuck underground."
Luna had expected that kind of reaction out of Seifer, and she closed her eyes to slowly let out her breath before focusing her cerulean gaze back on the fellow blonde. "No. I came to report having a –—– stolen from me yesterday…" The girl trailed off, looking around suspiciously as if wondering what had happened to steal the word away. "What…?"
"Yeah, you and every other person in this town. Apparently the word itself is gone, too," Seifer said lazily, though it really irked him. What kind of person had the power to steal the actual word from people, too? He sure knew that Hayner couldn't, unless he took up witchcraft as an extracurricular activity. That was what made the case so difficult for him to get his head around. Shaking his head free from having to think about it while he was still in the stuffy room, he raised an eyebrow impatiently as he noticed Luna was still there. "Is there something else?" He knew that there was, but where was the fun in letting it go so easily?
Luna knew that Seifer knew that she had something else to say, and she rolled her eyes and walked deeper into the room, taking a quick glance around before stopping a few feet in front of Seifer. "I wanted to say I'm sorry…really sorry, about the other day." She wasn't able to look the boy in the face when she spoke, and felt her face heat up when she finished. The last thing she needed was to lift the ego of one of the most egotistic people she ever met. Resigning that it was her own fault that she was in such a position, though, she sighed. "I…forgot to tell you about the doors. My uncle usually locks the doors open when the Concourse officially opens, so I never thought about getting that key, too."
When she finally had the nerve to look at him, Seifer was giving her a 'you think?' look before moving his gaze away. "So, did your part go well, at least?" He looked back at her when silence answered him, and he found Luna staring at him, wondering what he meant. "Y'know, with lamer number two?"
"Oh, Roxas…" Luna said, giving Seifer a 'don't call Roxas a lamer' look. "Well, I got to spend some time alone with him, but that guy is hopeless. All he thought about was Olette."
"When someone's dying, that's bound to happen. Just a thought," Seifer offered sarcastically, now earning a 'don't remind me' look from the blonde girl. "But…no one died, thanks to you. So I guess I can't hate you. If you ever get another idea in that empty head of yours, though, don't come looking for me, got it?"
Luna frowned at him, but blinked when she realized what he said. "So…you're forgiving me?"
"Something like that," the boy replied simply.
Luna instantly brightened up at that, and she nodded and turned to leave, only to turn right back around and face Seifer. "…Do you…maybe want to have lunch with me sometime?" she asked shyly, scratching the back of her head absently.
"Huh?" was Seifer's brainless response. He raised a suspicious eyebrow at her, wondering if she was starting to like him now that Roxas virtually shunned her. He had no intention on being someone's rebound, especially when Luna didn't even go out with Roxas. Being someone's crush rebound was ten times worse than being someone's boyfriend rebound.
As if reading Seifer's mind, Luna found herself blushing again, though now for different reasons, and she shook her head in an effort to tell him otherwise. "To make it up to you, y'know? Saying I'm sorry really doesn't make it any easier knowing you could've died. It'll be free, all on me. No tip, too."
Seifer stared at her for a long moment before shrugging and getting to his feet. Well, if there were no strings attached, what did he care? No sane man refused a free meal. The saying that 'a way to a man's heart is through his stomach' wasn't completely false. "Whatever. I'll hold you to that free thing."
Another smile spread across Luna's face and she nodded before hastily taking her leave. Shaking his head, Seifer took one last look around the hideout to make sure everything was in order before leaving to meet up with the others.
xoxoxoxox
Four pairs of eyes stared around the wall, giving them a clear view of the Sandlot. Pence was on the bottom, with Hayner and Roxas above him. Olette peeked from behind Pence and Hayner. They could see Fuu, Rai and Vivi near the bulletin board, but there was no sign of Seifer. Silently looking at each other wondering where the leader was, they returned their gaze forward, too concentrated on their task to notice the being approaching them from behind. Before they knew what hit them, Hayner, Roxas and Pence were on the ground, cringing from both the impact of the ground and the hit that sent them there. Olette, spared from Seifer's wrath, gasped as she stood behind the Committee leader as the beanie-wearing boy stood tall in front of the fallen boys.
"Why are you lamers sneaking around for, eh?" Seifer demanded before walking around them and making his way to his friends. "Hey, you guys," he called at them, his voice heavy with humor, "Looks like we've rooted out some sneak-thieves."
Hayner was the first on his feet, and he would've launched himself at Seifer if Roxas wasn't so quick on his feet to hold the camo-wearing boy back. "What did you say?!" Hayner hissed venomously, fighting hard against Roxas' grip. He had forgotten that they weren't there to kill the man. Olette walked over to them and helped Pence up.
"Heh, nice comeback, blondie," Seifer teased, and he looked smug as Fuu, Rai and Vivi came to stand behind him, giving him unnecessarily back up. "What's wrong with calling sneak-thieves 'sneak-thieves'? Sneak-thieves."
"Robbers!" Fuu exclaimed, pointing a finger at the quartet.
"We won't forgive ya, y'know!" Rai said, holding up a fist. Vivi said nothing, merely adjusting his hat instead.
"You can't just run around calling people thieves 'cuz you feel like it!" Hayner yelled, struggling against Roxas again.
"Roxas," Seifer said simply, ignoring Hayner and focusing his attention on the other blonde. Roxas froze briefly when he was addressed before narrowing his eyes, unknowingly tightening his hold on Hayner, who was too angry to notice. Looking to his side briefly to make sure Olette was near him and safe, he returned his gaze to Seifer when he spoke again. "It was undeniable proof that we totally owned you lamers. So what did you do with it? Burn it? Not that we need some –—– to prove that you're losers. Every one can tell that by now."
Roxas suddenly let go of Hayner, who comically fell face first to the ground from the abrupt release. "Don't go treating people like thieves whenever you feel like it, either," he responded coldly, sapphire eyes locking on with cobalt ones, both narrowing at the same time.
"Replay!" Fuu interjected, successfully breaking the stiff tension that came between the two groups.
Seifer laughed, liking the idea. "Sounds good." Smirking as he felt his group get into a stance, and as Hayner pulled himself to his feet to fight, too, Seifer threw a Struggle bat at Roxas, and the item landed a couple of feet in front of him. "Pick it up. I'll make you lay face first on the ground once more," Seifer commanded, before his smirk got even more arrogant. "Or you can get on your knees and beg. Maybe I'll let it slide, then."
Roxas looked back at him evenly, silent for a moment, before he moved closer to the gang, who all began to laugh at him. Seifer crossed his arms, his eyes happily watching as Roxas slowly dropped down to his knees.
"Roxas!" Hayner yelled out disbelievingly. He let it slide that Roxas suggested a different idea aside from beating up Seifer, but to go so far as to submit to their arch nemesis? That was ludicrous. He knew without a doubt that Roxas was feeling the same way he did. Then why… Blinking as he realized what his best friend was planning, Hayner grabbed onto Olette's wrist and pulled her away, Pence soon following after the two. Before Fuu and the others knew what was going on, Roxas grabbed onto the bat and lunged at Seifer, who was able to bring his own bat up in a defensive block just in time. As the two held the position there, Fuu and the others left for safer ground as well.
"Do it, Roxas!" Hayner yelled from where he, Olette and Pence stood.
"Go for it, Seifer, y'know!" Rai shouted, seeing there was no need to hold back now that Roxas had made the first move.
"I'll never willingly kneel to you," Roxas hissed, earning him a fierce glare from Seifer, who then pushed back on Roxas' bat and sprinted forward to deal his own attack. Roxas managed to block it, remembering that it was the way Seifer had fought all those days ago, but as Seifer continued his offensive onslaught, blocking was all Roxas managed to do.
"What's wrong? Quit playin' around and fight!" Seifer yelled, wondering what happened to the boy who was able to surprise him by attacking so silently just moments before. Roxas narrowed his eyes, but as Seifer's attacks continued, he was still only able to defend. Taking a hard hit across the chest, Roxas stumbled backwards but managed to stay on his feet. Seifer smirked and brought his bat up, ready to strike the final blow, but as he brought his bat down, Roxas brought his up, aiming for Seifer's hand instead of the bat itself.
Gasping in pain and surprise, Seifer watched as his bat went flying and closed his eyes as he heard it land several feet away. Roxas stretched his arm out, his bat mere centimeters from Seifer's chest. He breathed heavily as he stood there, wondering if he was really able to defeat Seifer, and tightened his grip on his bat as he mentally slapped himself. Of course he could defeat Seifer.
He just did.
Seifer breathed heavily as well, just as shocked as Roxas was, and he fell backwards, narrowing his eyes slightly as Fuu and Rai came to stand in front of him as if guarding him.
"Se-Seifer's not feelin' so hot, y'know?" Rai stuttered.
"Tournament decides!" Fuu agreed.
"Roxas!" Pence called, and Roxas turned around as Pence took the picture.
"Haha! That's too bad, Seifer!" Hayner taunted, making faces at the beanie-wearing boy. Seifer's face was tense as Pence smiled as he watched the photo come out, but before anyone could even blink something white flashed by them, stealing the camera right out of Pence's hands with the photo still attached to it. The creature turned the corner and headed into the Tram Common.
"What was that?" Hayner exclaimed.
"Could that be the thief?" Olette wondered aloud.
"Which way did it go?" Pence asked as he and his friends entered the Tram Common, losing track of the creature.
Sapphire eyes surveyed the area before they caught the creature heading through the hole in the wall. "There!" Roxas yelled, making his way towards it. Hayner and the others turned when he shouted, but as they moved to go after him they suddenly froze. Everything, in fact, seemed to freeze—even the birds flying in the sky.
Roxas was already too deep in the Woods to notice what had happened behind him, slowing only when he ended up in front of the abandoned house. "The haunted mansion…" he said softly, staring up at it before he froze. He was no longer looking up at the house, but face to face with the creature that had stolen Pence's camera. Too afraid to even breathe, Roxas' eyes widened as words suddenly appeared in his mind.
'We have come for you, our liege.'
"Eh?" was all Roxas was able to let out before the creature before him opened its previously zippered mouth. "What the…Don't come any closer!" Roxas screamed as he backed up slightly, lashing out with the bat that was still in his hand. To his utter horror, the bat passed right through the creature. It didn't connect?
"What the hell is this guy…?" Roxas muttered, taking another step back as he took a quick glance at the forest behind him. "Hayner…Pence…why aren't you guys coming?" Roxas cried before he stopped moving backwards, noticing even more of the white creatures appearing to surround him. Backing up so that he was in the center of them, Roxas breathed heavily, able to hear the pounding of his heart in his head.
Could these guys be ghosts?
As they lunged towards him, Roxas jumped, landing a few feet away. There's too many of them! Narrowing his eyes and gripping his bat tighter as they came towards him again, Roxas swung, but once again it went right through them. "Tch…" Just as I thought. There's no resistance! "Gah! What are Hayner and Pence doing?" Roxas yelled, frustrated, eyeing the creatures in front of him. I should just run. In a blink of an eye, Roxas was sprinting for the forest. It was futile, though, as the creatures created a chain and reached out for him, securing a hold on his leg. Crashing to the ground, Roxas cringed from the pain before trying to shake his leg free. "Let go—!" Roxas started, but froze as he watched the creatures begin to create a cage around him, using themselves as the bars.
"H-hey!" Roxas yelled, aware at how much panic was settling into his voice. "Let me out, you…" He wasn't able to finish, as his sapphire eyes noticed a swirling dark portal appear behind him. "What is…?" Roxas whispered, feeling his blood run cold as his eyes lost themselves in the depths of the portal. It wasn't until he felt the creatures were moving backwards towards the portal with him in their cage that Roxas snapped out of it.
"Hey wait a minute!" Roxas screamed, trying to hit the creatures with his bat but still proving unsuccessful. "Dammit…" he cursed as he was getting closer to the portal. Just as he thought he was going to die, a bright light temporarily blinded him as his bat began to glow, surrounded with swirls of data. Before he could even think, the creatures dropped him like he was a sack of potatoes, and he slowly sat up, eyes widening at the giant key that was now in his hands.
"What is this?" Roxas asked, though he knew no one would answer. It looked familiar… Where have I seen this before… He wasn't given time to think on it, though, as the giant key promptly forced him to his feet as it seemed to magnetically make its way towards one of the creatures, hitting and destroying it. It connected! Gripping the handle of the strange weapon tightly, Roxas glared at the remaining creatures and attacked them all, releasing the fury he had towards them.
When the last of them disappeared, it seemed to rain photos as they all came showering around him. Roxas glanced up before the keyblade also disappeared in another swirl of data. Staring down at his now empty hand, Roxas began to pant heavily, moving his gaze to all the pictures that were littered around him.
xoxoxoxox
"Dude, are you okay? You look horrible."
Roxas gave a half-lidded stare at Hayner, who said the comment, as he walked back into the Usual Spot, carrying all the photos that were dropped, plus Pence's camera. "Yeah, no thanks to you," Roxas muttered back as Pence and Olette got to their feet and met up with him half way. "Where were you guys?" he added, almost desperately, fighting back the tears he was never able to shed when he was fighting for his life back at the Old Mansion.
"Where were we?" Hayner repeated, upset Roxas could ask them that so accusingly. "Where were you? One second you were yelling you saw the thief and then the next you're no where in sight."
"What?" Roxas let out exasperatedly, wondering how Hayner could turn it back on him. That doesn't make sense…I know I didn't leave that fast… He blinked as he felt a cool cloth gently streak across his face, and Roxas blushed when he saw that Olette had gone and wet a towel and was helping wipe his face of the sweat that accumulated there. She smiled shyly at him as a way to say she was sorry, and Roxas smiled and nodded, accepting the silent apology.
"We're really sorry we couldn't find you, Roxas," Pence apologized, genuinely sorry as he watched Roxas being helped by Olette. "We never wanted to leave you to fight the thief on your own."
Shaking his head, Roxas smiled at Hayner and Pence, placing the photos and cameras Pence's hands. There had to be a good reason they didn't come for backup, though right then and there wasn't the time to get to the bottom of it. He knew they would've been there if they could, and in the end he came out of it all right. Though if I died, I'd definitely haunt them as a ghost. "Nah, it's all right. What matters is that we got the photos back, right?" The other three gasped, and Roxas brought a hand up to his throat. "Ah, I can say it…"
"The word is back, too!" Pence exclaimed, and soon Hayner and Pence smiled and nodded back to agree with Roxas' previously stated words. Pence moved to place the camera down and shift through the pictures to take out all the ones that belonged to them.
Finishing cleaning off Roxas' face, Olette washed the cloth out before moving over to help Pence. She placed their prized photos of them in front of the haunted house during the festival and the other of them at the beach from the year before, in their respected frames, holding it out in front of her before placing them down.
"Tada! It's been restored!" Olette stated, smiling warmly as the others came to crowd around her to take a look at their pictures. "I'm glad that we were able to return it just the way it was. After all, they're photos of our precious memories…"
Hayner reached out to flip through the remaining photos. "So, Roxas, tell us about the picture thief," he said, continuing to go through the pictures to check they were in good condition.
"Eh? You all saw, didn't you?" Roxas said, confused. "It took the camera and ran off! It wasn't human, right? I thought it was a ghost at first, and none of you came, and I…It seemed like they were trying to take me off to some weird place, and…"
"Roxas," Hayner said sternly, walking to stand toe to toe to the fellow blonde and sticking his face mere inches away from Roxas'. "You're not scaring me," he continued, though he looked and sounded rather terrified at the thought.
"No, I'm not trying to scare you, but..." Roxas said, matching Hayner's expression and tone.
"Hey, guys! If we're going to talk about scary stories…!" Pence interjected happily, though he was met with expressions that read 'no way' from Hayner, Roxas and Olette. They had had enough craziness to last several days.
Hayner waved off both Roxas' explanation and Pence's idea, returning his attention on the photos. "Oh, it's a girl," Hayner said teasingly, as if Olette wasn't one, causing his three friends to instantly surround around him. Staring back at them was the picture Luna asked someone to take for her the day Roxas worked at the diner to buy Olette's gift. Roxas instantly stiffened, and Olette looked down for a moment, and for once, Roxas caught it.
So is this why he can't like me back…? The smiling face of Roxas was like a sharp knife to the center of her heart. "You look happy, Roxas," Olette said in a similar teasing tone as Hayner's, though her's had a hint of sadness, surprising herself at how convincing she sounded.
Sapphire eyes widened for a fraction of a second. Olette… Roxas stared down at the picture. He didn't mean to smile, not that widely, that happily, as if he smiling at the company with him. He was just so happy that he was able to get enough munny to get Olette's gift… "Do not," Roxas replied almost defensively, though not for the reason his friends probably thought.
Finishing looking through the photos, Hayner piled them all together and hit them into the palm of his hand a couple of times. "This sure was a strange incident, huh?"
"The only things stolen from anyone in town were photographs," Olette agreed, glad they were off the topic of Luna.
"What a weird thief," Hayner muttered, watching as Pence took the stack of photos from his hand.
"So, like, anybody else notice that all the stolen pictures are of Roxas?" he asked.
"So that's why everyone thought we stole them," Olette exclaimed, bringing a hand to her chin.
"So Seifer really didn't go around accusing us after all?" Hayner asked, though it was rhetorical, looking as if someone had told him he could no longer consume sea salt ice cream. He sounded almost disappointed at the thought.
"...Are they really all of me?" Roxas asked uncertainly, not sure he wanted to hear the answer.
"Yep, every single one," Pence replied, fanning out the photos he took from Hayner. Indeed, they were all of him. Roxas could make out some of the more recent ones, like the one with Luna, or the one he took in front of the skateboard store with the new shopkeeper. And then there were older ones, of him sitting in class at school, or the one in front of the sea salt ice cream stand. "The culprit was a stalker wanting to steal the real Roxas!"
Silence fell upon the Usual Spot as they thought back to what Roxas had said before about the thief trying to take the blonde boy to some strange place. There was seriously some truth behind that? They thought, a chill running up their spines.
"...You didn't piss anyone off recently, have you?" Pence asked slowly, bringing a hand to wrap around his chin in thought. "Or meet any strange people or see something you shouldn't have?"
Olette shivered, wrapping her arms around herself in a tight hug. "Are you joining the Witness Protection Program?" Is that why Roxas was trying to distance himself from us?
Looking from Pence's plotting face to Olette's worried expression to Hayner's thoughtful look, Roxas began to panic. Sure, there was definitely something off about the whole situation, but there was no way it was something that intense. Right? "Guys...!" Roxas began, bending forward slightly as Hayner wrapped an arm around his neck.
"C'mon, get serious. Why would anyone wanna steal a bonehead like Roxas?" Hayner said, driving off the fear that had gripped them all with laughter. Like the others, he believed it was too big of a coincidence that Roxas seemed to be at the center of the whole mess. But before they ran to the police crying 'failed kidnapping attempt', they had to get to the bottom of it—perhaps without Olette's help at first, as he didn't want to worry her any more than necessary, as well as Roxas, as he was the subject. Until then, it was best to keep things light and out of the spotlight, thus his jokes.
"Oh, thanks," Roxas muttered teasingly as he tried to free himself from the fellow blonde's grasp, bringing about another wave of laughs out of all of them. The Clock Tower bell suddenly rang, and the train passed overhead, causing the four of them to look up, knowing what time it was from those two actions alone.
"It's getting late. We better return these photos and then go home," Hayner said as he released Roxas, and the three of them nodded. Splitting up the number of photos, they all headed out together, returning the photos to their respected owners. There was a flood of 'thank you' and 'I'm sorry I blamed you' going around as they handed them back, and they all accepted it graciously. Near the end of it, there were only three photos left to return—Seifer's, Luna's, and the owner of the ice cream stand. The latter was purposefully left towards the end, and the four of them all ordered some sea salt popsicles as they handed the photo back, earning them free ice cream.
As if on cue, Seifer's gang was approaching, on their way for their own ice cream. As they neared, the group stopped, and both groups stared back at each other for a moment. Reluctantly, Roxas gripped the photo that belonged to them and took a couple steps forward, holding the picture out towards Seifer. "We found it, though I doubt you'll believe we didn't take them. I hope you accept our apologizes," Roxas said through gritted teeth, taking steps backward to rejoin his group as Seifer reclaimed his property.
Seifer surprisingly didn't look as pleased as they thought he would. The committee leader could feel several pairs of eyes on him—the townspeople held no grudge against Roxas or the others, especially when he returned their photos to them so nicely despite the treatment they had received. To top it off, they returned the photo that so clearly showed their defeat. Seifer would look like the terrible one if he still planned on prosecuting them. "Don't be silly," Seifer replied in equally forced words, surprised he didn't stutter in saying it. "And, don't worry—you guys won't be charged for anything. There's no case against you."
The Tram Common seemed to erupt in cheers, and the four of them smiled as everything was right in the world again. Waving at everyone who patted them on the back, the group weaved through the crowds on their way to the diner, their last stop. Hayner and Pence stopped several feet away, not wanting to get in the way of 'whatever was going on' between him and Luna, though they really just wanted to attend to their ice cream more. Olette ended up walking with Roxas up to the doors, where she hesitated and stopped.
"I…I think you should go in on your own, Roxas," Olette said softly, stealing a glance inside before resting her gaze on Roxas, who looked at her almost worriedly. "I'll be…we'll be…out here waiting for you, okay? And…try to go easy on her, will you?" she added quietly. Olette knew that Luna liked Roxas, if her plan to separate her and Roxas wasn't proof enough of that, and though she wasn't sure how Roxas felt about Luna, she knew it was never easy to see the one you liked being mad at you.
Roxas stared at her for a moment longer before smiling gently and nodding. Opening the door of the diner and stepping in, sapphire eyes scanned the moderately busy establishment before he came to a stop at the counter.
"Ah, welcome! I'll be right with…you…" Luna started enthusiastically when her back facing him, slowly losing the strength in her voice as she realized who she was speaking to. "Roxas…" Luna whispered, looking around nervously before blinking as Roxas held out her photo. "Oh, you found it…thank you," she said, taking the picture and holding it to her heart.
Roxas shifted uncomfortably where he stood from Luna's action, looking away for a moment. He knew that returning the photo wasn't the only reason he was there, and why Olette made him come in alone. But how was he supposed to bring it up?
"I…"
"I…"
Both of them stopped when the found they were speaking at the same time, both of them blushing out of embarrassment. Roxas looked back at her and nodded, figuring he should let the lady speak first, as Olette did yesterday.
Swallowing, Luna nodded, understanding that she had the floor. "Um…I wanted to apologize to Olette first…" she trailed off as she found Olette and the others standing outside the diner. "But I guess since I can't…I can trust you to relay the message, right?" Roxas closed his eyes and nodded, wondering if he should explain that Olette didn't come in out of hatred towards her, but decided that Luna had to realize that on her own, or approach Olette personally, and stayed silent.
"There's no way I can say I'm sorry to you enough times, for what I did was…really horrible," Luna choked out, bringing a hand to her mouth as her eyes began to water against her wishes. "Olette could've…" she stopped herself from continuing as she saw Roxas tense at her words and turned her head away slightly. "I don't expect you to automatically forgive me. I just hope that someday you'll be able to, even if just a fraction of a bit, and that we might become acquaintances, at least, though I have no right to hope for even that."
There was a lengthy silence that came between them, in which Luna was wringing the washcloth she held in her hand from just finishing cleaning the countertops when Roxas came in. Slowly, Roxas opened his eyes again, and a small, sad, smile came to his lips.
"I am angry…my close friend could've died because of your and Seifer's selfish plans. And I'm still not even sure what the purpose of all of it was," he admitted bitterly, the tiny smile disappearing for a moment before returning again. "And then I realized…that as much as I'm angry at you, and at Seifer, I'm really…angry at myself the most. I hurt Olette first that day…me. I never want to hurt her…yet I did. I allowed us to be separated, allowed your plot to have a chance to succeed. And if it wasn't for you…if you didn't find them and save her…" Roxas made a fist with his hand, unable to keep it from shaking from the bottled emotions he kept within him. "I would have never had the chance to tell her how sorry I was…" For everything…
"Roxas…" Luna whispered again as the boy bent over the counter, his other hand forming into a fist, too.
"I guess…I want to thank you for that, at least, Luna…" Roxas continued, his voice slightly muffled as he was talking to the counter now. Eventually, he did lift his head to look up at her. "Let's work slowly at becoming acquaintances, okay?"
Luna's face lit up and she nodded, and Roxas smiled more happily as the two shook hands with each other. Standing up, Roxas made his way outside, where Olette handed him his now dripping popsicle. She smiled at him, giving him a 'don't worry about it' look when he noticed the mess it made in her hands, laughing as she licked it off instead, and the four them began to walk home. Olette, nor any of the others, asked him how it went in there, knowing it was something private, and Roxas was happy they had that unspoken feeling between them.
"Okay, we'll meet again tomorrow!" Hayner said when they reached the crossroads where they went their separate ways home, though it was a waste of breath as such a thing was obvious to them all. Still, they replied just as uselessly.
"You got it!" Pence said as he waved Hayner off, who went in one direction.
"See you!" Olette called happily, waving at Roxas as she and Pence went another way.
Roxas silently waved back to all of them, soon lifting the hand up to block the rays of the sun, which seemed unusually bright all of a sudden.
'Where...am I?' a voice suddenly spoke out in his head, and Roxas blinked, trying to see where it had come from through the glare of the sun.
"Who's there?" Roxas asked uncertainly, though he knew he heard that voice somewhere before.
'Who are you?'
Restoration at 12%.
Five more days until complete memory restoration.
author' s notes: Axel and Naminé are insanely angst-y and emo in the novel. I hope I did all the characters all right from the Organization… I wonder if any of you can tell what Naminé's up to, or if any pieces are starting to come together concerning the Order (and specifically Axel) and the TT Gang, especially in regards to one of Roxas's dreams.
I'm not sure how I like the way I'm doing to dreams from the game. They only last a couple pages in the manga compared to a couple of minutes in the game, but some of it I may reference or something, so…if you guys like the way it is, I guess I'll continue as it is. Or maybe I should just pick certain scenes and describe it more lengthy like all the dreams in the previous chapters… -rattles her brains-
I really love the way the manga deals with the photo thief day. It was nice to learn that Hayner and the others were actually frozen, which is why they didn't help with the thief, and that Roxas was waiting for them, and that Roxas actually told them about almost being kidnapped.
I haven't said it in a while, but I hope you all review! –points towards the button at the corner of the page- Especially concerning the matters I addressed earlier. Thanks to all who continue to review as well You guys keep me on track.
