Roxas walked into the Grey room as he did almost every day of his life. His eyes laid on Saïx first, knowing that he held his missions for the day.
"Roxas, I've assigned you another handful of missions. Some will be mandatory, but beyond that, our policy is that you set your own workload." Saïx informed as he looked down at his clipboard. He informed Roxas that he would be defeating heartless, however, he had a mandatory mission with Larxene. Roxas felt some dread, hearing that he was paired with her. As he carefully glanced in her direction he saw her talking to Marluxia, a pair that he did not want to approach by any means necessary. "Go out on your mission with her by the end of the week. The order of execution is also for you to decide. Start with the missions you feel most prepared for."
Roxas opened his mouth, wanting to say something, perhaps ask to be paired with someone else, literally anyone else. But he wasn't sure what to say or knew if he could even ask that of Saïx. That conundrum solved itself as Saïx walked away while Roxas as still deciding what to do, merely handing him his missions as he moved on to another Organization member.
Roxas sighed heavily as he looked down at his missions, grimacing as he saw that one of them had him being paired off with Marluxia, only adding to the stress on his shoulders. He glanced at the newest member of the Organization, wondering if he should talk to them, however, he didn't feel up to it, fearing that they would become another problem he had to endure. The Nobody tried to gather his courage as he walked over to his partner for the day, along with the man that made him feel uncomfortable. The two quieted their voices as he approached.
"Is it true you're almost semi-competent now? Maybe we should've let you in on- Nothing." Larxene sounded like she was mocking him, but then she took a more serious tone as Marluxia smiled at her, however- his expression made Roxas want to stay as far from him as possible.
"Come on brat, the sooner we get this done the sooner I can get rid of you." She remarked opening a portal and grabbing the hood of his coat, tossing him in as she followed.
Roxas was met with a bright light blinding him as he was quite literally thrown into a new world. Lifting himself up to his feet he looked around, seeing that he was standing on a cliff overlooking something vast and blue against the bright blue sky. Behind him, he saw a giant castle, smaller than in The World That Never Was, but still grand.
"Had your fill of the scenery kid?" Larxene remarked, dispersing the portal as she stepped through.
Her thorns almost didn't make him feel upset as he pointed towards the vast blue. "What's that?" He asked.
Roxas tried to ignore the look in her eyes, making him feel dumb for even asking.
"The ocean." She said bluntly, as though it should have been obvious. She then sighed heavily, "Right, you're like what- 4 days old?"
"...15." He clarified, hanging his head.
"Shouldn't you be remembering this kind of stuff by now? Are you some kind of late bloomer or something?"
"...Remembering? What's that?" Roxas asked as Laxene grimaced in annoyance.
"Yeesh, what kind of defective stray did the boss man bring back?" She muttered to herself. "Ask your babysitter."
"...Babysitter?" Roxas asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"AXEL!" Larxene snapped, now very much annoyed. "Listen up brat because I'm only going to tell you this once. Sometime in worlds like this, you're going to find worlds within worlds. However, as we are trying to be covert about our actions you'll need to change your form so you don't stick out like a sore thumb." Larxene held out her hand, forming a ball of light that she pressed into Roxas's chest.
He felt a warm sensation as he placed a hand over the spot where the magic disappeared.
"Since you're one of the only few who can actually do some decent magic, you should be able to transform yourself once you get stronger. For now, I'm supposed to train you in miscellaneous terrain combat."
Roxas stared at her in confusion. "...huh?" He said, but backed up as she started to snarl at him. Then, without notice, she grabbed his coat and held him over the ledge of the cliff they were standing on.
"Lesson one, Sink or Swim!" She yelled out, throwing him towards the ocean below them, screaming all the way until he hit the water.
Axel bit down on his ice cream, growing more annoyed as Roxas was late. Part of him wondered if the younger Nobody had forgotten about him, or if he had just worked too hard and collapsed...again. Either way, he was still going to eat Roxas's share if he didn't-
"Hm?" Axel hummed to himself, about to eat Roxas's ice cream as he sensed a portal forming nearby him. He looked at his junior stepping out, looking like he might pass out.
"...Why are you all wet?" Axel asked as he heard the sloshing of Roxas's shoes and coat as he sat down next to him, with a blank expression on his face.
Roxas didn't say a word.
Axel felt a pang of sympathy for the younger Nobody who clearly went through alot today. He held Roxas's share towards him so he could take it, but Roxas instead bit into the ice cream before him, too tired to even lift his arms. Axel froze in place while Roxas ate, feeling that he was some kind of mama bird feeding her chick.
But he would let this slide one time.
==Day 16==
Roxas sluggishly stepped into the Grey room, still feeling the exhaustion from the previous mission. However, he was met with another hurdle as Marluxia was waiting for him with a smile on his face.
He wanted to go back to bed as soon as possible.
"Caution. A powerful enemy is near." Marluxia said looking over his shoulder as he and Roxas walked out of the forest together, after defeating heartless.
"W-what is that?!" Roxas exclaimed as he summoned his Keyblade, as a heatless, more powerful than he had ever seen before attacked.
"A Zip Slasher." Marluxia remarked as he blocked an attack from it. He then lowered his weapon, seemingly pondering to himself. "This is a rare opportunity. Seeing as you will soon take on opponents stronger than this one before you. Perhaps you could show me the fruits of your labor." Marluxia said, walking away."
"...HUH?!" Roxas exclaimed in disbelief, watching the man disappear before his eyes just as the Zip slasher sliced through him, sending him flying back against a wall. He dropped his Keyblade trying to catch his breath just as the heartless circled him slowly, waiting for his next move.
"Ha-okay." Roxas rasped, as he picked up his weapon."You asked for it!" He exclaimed, activating his limit breaker and charging at the enemy.
Marluxia clapped his hands as he walked up to Roxas passed out on the ground having defeated the powerful heartless. He knelt down before the Keyblade's chosen, brushing aside his bangs to reveal a familiar face.
"If only we'd met sooner, Roxas... You would have made a fine addition." Marluxia remarked as he picked up Roxas in his arms, talking him back to the castle.
==Day 17==
Roxas gripped his key in hand, exhausted as the Dusks walked towards him threateningly within the castle. It was a mission meant to test his endurance, however, it was easier said than done.
"If you complete this mission, I'll allow you the rest of the day off."
Saïx had said.
Giving him the incentive to push forward. He thought that this mission would be easy, however, he found himself being knocked to his back over and over again, unable to land a single hit on the Dusks who were far too fast for him to catch. But then, he thought about the ice cream and spending time with Axel, giving him some resolve as he charged at the Dusks once more.
Waiting at the bell tower, Axel had Roxas's ice cream prepared beforehand, a special treat as he already knew how tired his friend would be. He perked up as Roxas appeared from the portal, sitting down next to him. At least he was getting stronger due to all of the training he was underdoing, Axel thought to himself as he handed Roxas his ice cream. "How's work? Goin' okay?
"Yeah, can't complain." He murmured, repeating the phrase as he hung his head. He heard some of the other Organization members saying it as well. He wasn't entirely sure what it meant, simply saying it out of reflex. His eyes grew lidded as he tried to stay awake, wanting to talk to Axel more, however, he couldn't hold back any longer.
"That's good-WOAH WOAH HEY!" Axel exclaimed just as he took a bite of his ice cream, he watched it fall to the ground as Roxas fell over. Luckily he had the reflexes to catch him, teleporting to safety, but the ice cream couldn't be saved. "Seriously?!" Axel asked, catching his breath after that adrenaline rush, now holding a sleeping Nobody in his arms.
He really wanted to yell at his junior, but in this situation, if he was this tired, then there really was no point. Instead, he gave Roxas a piggyback ride, opening up a portal back to the castle.
As Axel walked down the halls, he couldn't avoid the annoyance that bubbled up as he spotted Saïx walking nearby.
"Hey!" He called out while his superior only glanced at him. "Stop pushing the kid on missions that made him end up like this." He said jerking his head towards Roxas who was still sleeping.
Saïx looked between the two with a composed expression. "You're not always going to be around to baby him."
"Baby-" Axel repeated, started to get offended at the number of times he was referred to as a babysitter. "The kid is the only one who can swing a key around, break him now and our plans are going to go off the rails."
"That is not for you to be concerned about." Saïx said, walking away.
"Wha- easy for you to say! You're not the one carrying him around!" Axel shot back, grumbling to himself as he walked Roxas back to his room.
-Roxas's Diary Entry: Day 15-
The other members have been teaching me more about how to fight and stuff...
It's going, I guess...
Every day after work, I've been meeting Axel at the clock tower to have sea-salt ice cream. It is salty! But still sweet, too. How come it tastes so familiar?
-Secret Report: Larxene-
Ugh! How DARE they shut me out of monitoring the Keyblade master! And then to send me off to teach that half-baked Nobody basic magic!? I should've had him light ME on fire. It won't be long now, though. Once I'm over at C.O., our plan goes into action. No more playing nanny. Ever.
Notes:
-HOLY FUCK I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN ALMOST A YEAR-