Chapter 26

"Wake up, Roxas." The whispered words broke Roxas from his slumber at once.

"Whaz goin' on?" Roxas slurred, not completely awake yet.

"It's me, Zack," a voice said. "You need to get up."

"Is something wrong?" Roxas asked, suddenly stabbed with a wave of anxiety.

"No, nothing's wrong," Zack hastily reassured him. "It's just that you're going to be transported to the High Council headquarters today and I'm one of the guards assigned to escort you there."

"You are?" Roxas asked.

"That's right," Zack answered with a slight smile. "It's standard procedure. You, Zexion, and Demyx will each be escorted by a pair of guards. I'm one of yours."

Roxas did not ask how he had magically become one of his guards; he suspected he already knew the truth.

"Who's the other one?" he asked instead.

"His name is Vance," Zack answered. "Don't worry; he's one of my allies."

"And you trust him?" Roxas asked.

"I trust him enough," Zack replied coolly. "Anyway, Vance and I will be escorting you pretty much everywhere you go. You'll be taken to the High Council headquarters and put in a holding cell where you'll wait until you appear in front of the High Council."

"How long will the trial take?" Roxas asked nervously.

Zack blew air through his teeth. "Hard to say. It depends on how many questions the High Council wants to ask and how long they take to reach a decision. Look, I know you must have a lot of questions right now and I want to answer them, I really do, but we don't have time. We're leaving pretty soon and I thought it would be a good idea if you had a decent meal before you left."

"I'm not really hungry," Roxas mumbled.

Zack sighed; he had been afraid of this. "Can you at least try to eat something? It's probably going to be a couple hours at least until you're fed again."

"All right," Roxas reluctantly agreed.

Zack had a tray with a bowl of oatmeal, two pieces of toast, and a glass of orange juice brought in and stayed while Roxas ate what he could. When the blonde was done, Zack brought the tray out and returned to the cell.

"I'm going to put these on you," he said, pulling out a pair of handcuffs.

Roxas swallowed nervously at the sight of them, but nodded. Zack tried to be as gentle as he could when applying the handcuffs.

"All right," he said softly when he had finished. "Let's go."

They walked out of the cell and met up with Vance, who was waiting nearby. Vance smiled at him in his usual friendly manner. Roxas returned the smile.

"All right. The first place we've gotta go is the Bearers' dormitory," Zack said.

Roxas looked at him blankly. "The Bearers' dormitory? Why?"

"You've gotta pack," Zack explained. "You know, clothes and stuff."

"Oh," Roxas said. "I'm allowed to do that?"

"Well sure," Zack replied. "You didn't think they wouldn't let you change at all, did you?"

Roxas frowned faintly. "I…don't know."

"Gee, that's reassuring," Zack said with a good-natured roll of his eyes. "C'mon, we'd better get going. Tight schedule, you know?"

Roxas nodded and followed the pair of guards down the hallways. The Bearers' dormitory was empty when they arrived.

"I'm gonna unlock your handcuffs," Zack told Roxas in a serious tone. "I'm trusting you to not do anything stupid, all right?"

Roxas nodded. "I understand."

"Good." Zack smiled at him. "A bag should have been brought for you to use. Pack whatever you think you'll need. And don't take too long."

"All right," Roxas replied.

As soon as Zack unlocked his handcuffs, he hurried to his bunk. As Zack had said, a small duffel bag waited for him on his bed. He quickly stuffed some clean clothes and other miscellaneous things into the bag and zipped it up.

"I'm ready to go," he told Zack quietly.

"All right," Zack replied. "Give your bag to Vance. He'll carry it for you."

Roxas nodded and handed the bag to Vance. He obediently turned around and held still as Zack put the handcuffs back on him.

"We're good," Zack said.

He and Vance led Roxas out of the Bearers' dormitory. They traveled silently through the deserted hallways until they came to a plain-looking door. Zack stepped forward and unlocked it with one of his many keys.

"After you," he told Roxas, stepping back.

Roxas crossed the threshold first and immediately stopped, blinded by the intense light. It had been over two years since he had been outside, so it was strange to be outside now. The sky was forget-me-not blue with no clouds visible for miles. Roxas inhaled deeply. The air was hot and muggy.

"Feel good?" Zack asked quietly.

Roxas turned and looked at him, surprised; he hadn't even heard Zack approach.

"Yes," he whispered. "It's so weird, you know? I haven't been outside since I arrived at The Institute and that was over two years ago."

Zack gently patted him on the shoulder. "We need to go."

He pointed to a waiting black sedan. It sat on a long driveway that stretched as far as Roxas could see. Vance opened the back door for him. He was surprised at the interior; instead of the usual seat arrangement with two rows facing forward, there was a row of seats facing forward and a row of seats facing backward. Roxas crawled across and sat in one of the forward facing seats. Zack slid into the seat next to him, while Vance sat across from them.

"Lean forward and I'll undo your cuffs," Zack said.

Roxas did as he was told. He sighed quietly as he felt the handcuffs come off. He leaned back against the cool leather seat.

Zack grinned at him. "Better?"

"Yes, thank you," Roxas replied.

There was a slight pause.

"Sooo," Zack drawled. "I bet you've got a lot of questions you wanna ask."

"Yeah." Roxas nodded.

"Well, we've got the time," Zack said. "Ask away."

"Um…okay." Roxas thought for a few moments. "What can you tell me about the High Council?"

"Well…" Zack said slowly. "There are six members on the High Council. Not a lot is known about them aside from their names. They keep their faces concealed to keep their true identities a secret. The current members of the High Council are Daelan, Baxter, Yasmin, Luna, Carmine, and Rusty."

"Where are Zexion and Demyx right now?" Roxas asked.

"They're being transferred to the High Council headquarters separately," Zack answered. "You probably won't see them much during this ordeal."

"Oh." Roxas's face fell slightly.

"Anything else you wanna know?" Zack asked.

Roxas frowned as he thought about it. "Um, I guess not. Those were the two big questions I had."

"All right," Zack said. "Let me know if you think of anything else. In the meantime, we need to talk about exactly what you're going to say and how you're gonna act."

Roxas looked puzzled. "Is that really important?"

"Yes," Zack replied. "It's very important. You need to make a good impression on the High Council." Roxas looked worried, so Zack smiled at him. "You shouldn't really worry. It'll be easy for you to make a good impression on them. You're not hard to like, trust me."

"If you say so," Roxas murmured.

"I know so," Zack said confidently. "Regardless of this fact, we need to prepare." Roxas nodded. "The High Council will most likely question you separately from Zexion, Demyx, and Halen."

"Why?" Roxas blurted out.

"Well, because they don't want you collaborating with each other," Zack answered. This earned him a blank look from Roxas. "They don't want you to talk to each other about what happened because they think you'll try to come up with a cover sorry. They're determined to get the truth and by keeping you apart and interrogating you separately, they'll be able to get your own individual stories and piece the truth together. Plus, they think you won't feel pressured to lie if you're being questioned in front of the others. Do you understand?"

"I…guess so," Roxas said slowly. "So what happens at the interrogation?"

"You'll go in and they'll basically just ask you a bunch of questions," Zack replied.

"About what?" Roxas asked.

"Most likely about your relationship with Zexion and Demyx," Zack replied. "I don't know for sure, unfortunately. But they'll probably want to know how long you've been friends with them, what the relationship is like, and so on."

"They'll ask about the affair too, right?" Roxas asked quietly.

"Yeah," Zack answered grimly.

"What do I tell them?" Roxas asked.

Zack sighed. "You may have no choice but to just tell them everything."

"But…" Roxas bit his lip.

"I know," Zack said.

"I…I don't know if I can betray them, Zack," Roxas said, raising his voice. "They're my best friends!"

He let out a muffled sob, then turned his face away so Zack couldn't see his tears. He knew what he had to do, what the right thing to do was, but he couldn't help feeling like a traitor. Would Zexion and Demyx hate him if they found out he had ratted them out? Maybe one day, they could forgive him.

Roxas turned back to Zack at last, his eyes brimming with unshed tears. "I'll tell them everything."

"Good," Zack said softly. "I know it's difficult…"

Roxas's eyes blazed with anger. "No, you really don't."

Zack scoffed at this, but did not dare elaborate. Instead, he said, "The biggest thing to remember is that you can't lose your temper, all right? Whatever happens, no matter how mad they make you, you can't yell at them."

"Okay," Roxas whispered. "I'll try."

"Don't worry," Zack said, giving him a small smile. "Me and Vance are gonna be right there in the room with you. If you start to lose your temper, one of us will give you a gentle nudge to remind you."

Roxas looked at Vance, who had been silent up until now. Vance gave him a short nod. Roxas turned back to Zack.

"Okay," he said.

"One more thing." Vance spoke up for the first time. Roxas and Zack both looked at him. "There's a chance that Roxas will be interviewed by only one of the members of the High Council and I think we should be prepared for that." He gave Zack a significant look.

"Oh, right," Zack said, immediately catching on, though Roxas remained oblivious. "Like Vance said, there's a chance you'll have a one-on-one interview with one of the members of the High Council. If that happens, just remember whatever you say to that person may be repeated to the rest of the High Council."

"Okay," Roxas said. "I'll keep that in mind."

Zack smiled at him encouragingly. There was no doubt in his mind that Roxas would be fine when facing the High Council. Even so, he would take any step necessary to ensure that Roxas succeeded.

Author's Notes

Short, I know. The next chapter will be much longer, I promise.