I was surprised to have found myself awoken, not by Saïx, ready to lecture me about how enjoying myself was a waste of time, but by the force of my own will, far earlier than usual. My bedroom seemed so much emptier and vaster than it really was — probably because I was sitting in bed alone, wide awake. Then a thought crossed my mind: I should see Roxas. Why should I see Roxas? Because I felt like it! So, I quickly got dressed and traveled through a Corridor of Darkness to his room, where I found him sitting on his bed, staring blankly, seemingly unfazed by my sudden appearance. I first waved at him, but that didn't catch his attention.
"Hey, buddy!" I announced perhaps a bit too loudly. Roxas blinked, then his eyes regained some life as they settled on mine.
"Oh. Hey, Axel," Roxas responded flatly, but politely. "What brings you here?"
"I just wanted to see you, how you're doing, that sort of thing," I said. A part of me chided myself for showing this much concern for Roxas's well-being, but another justified it, saying, Well, he is the new kid, after all.
"I've been having these weird thoughts lately," Roxas said. That was cryptic, I thought.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Well, what am I here for?" It seems like as good a day as any to start teaching all the other things I was planning on doing anyway.
"You're here because the Organization needs you," I said.
"But why do you need me?" No accusatory tone, just genuine curiosity. Patience, Axel. There's a lot of information to unpack.
"Hm, do me a small favor for me: Summon your weapon."
"What?" Roxas seemed befuddled. Hm, too direct, I thought.
"Every Organization member can summon a weapon that reflects their attribute," I began. "For example, since I'm the Flurry of Dancing Flames, I can summon fire and these bad boys."
In suitably spectacular fashion, two flaming rings appeared in each of my hands before solidifying into the spoked, red-and-silver chakrams that I've used to slay thousands of Heartless. I called them "Eternal Flames." Roxas stared at me with the wide eyes of a child who had seen a magic trick.
"Wow! You mean that I can do that?"
"Well, not exactly what I could do, but something similar, yes."
"But what are these weapons for?"
"You kill Heartless with them," I replied a bit too casually.
"Kill Heartless? What's killing? And what are Heartless?"
Oh, boy. Ethics and metaphysics. On the same day! Zexion would love this, but I'm the one here teaching the new kid, not him. Where to begin?
"The Heartless are creatures made of pure darkness," I began. "In other words, they're bad. Because they're bad, we have to kill them. To 'kill' means to end the life of something by force, and the only way to do that is with weapons. Got it memorized?" That was a lot. Way more than explaining what a prison is, now that I think about it. Surprisingly, the kid took it in remarkable stride.
"All right," Roxas said rather solemnly. "So, that's what I'm here for. But how do I summon my weapon?"
"Remember how you had to concentrate on a place to summon a Corridor of Darkness to Twilight Town?" I asked.
"Yeah?"
"The same basic principle applies with summoning a weapon, too. But you have to concentrate entirely within yourself."
"What do you mean?" Roxas was losing me.
"You're not thinking of a place to go to, which you have some idea of already. You're focusing on figuring out an attribute that is unique to you. To use myself as an example again, only I can summon fire; no one else can."
"So, I have to think only of myself until my weapon appears in my hand?"
"No, not of yourself — within yourself," I clarified, pointing at his head. "You're trying to pull something from inside of you into the real world. What was once in your head is now outside of it, too." I really hoped I was making sense.
"I see…" he said, sounding a bit despondent.
"What's the matter?" I asked, crouching down to his level.
"Nothing. It's just…" Roxas trailed off, just as Saïx arrived.
"Oh, there you are. You're up remarkably early, Axel." He sounded just a tad bit livelier than he typically was.
"Just checking up on the new kid, is all."
"I see. Well, since the two of you are in the same place, I might as well tell you both what you need to do for today. Axel, you will take Roxas to Twilight Town to kill his first Heartless. And Roxas, you will —"
"Hold on, Saïx!" I interrupted. "The kid hasn't even summoned his weapon yet. In fact, that's what we were discussing before you arrived."
"What do you mean he hasn't summoned his weapon yet?!" he asked, consternation written all over his face. "An Organization member incapable of summoning their weapons is as good as useless. Even Demyx could summon his on the first day —"
"Give the kid time, Saïx. You and Xemnas both said he's special, and here you are, not even giving him a chance. Who's wasting his potential here?"
"This is an impossibly easy mission, Axel! If you're telling me the kid still needs time, then I'm afraid Xemnas will have no choice but to turn him into a —"
It was at that moment that Roxas surprised us both, in more ways than one. How he managed to summon his weapon amid such concentration-breaking chaos was beyond me, but what it was that he summoned was genuinely astounding: The Keyblade.
"So, Xemnas was right…" Saïx gasped soberly, barely above a whisper.
"Right? Right about what?" I asked.
"Don't you see, Axel? This was what the Organization has been looking for for so long! A Keyblade wielder…"
"Wait, why?" Roxas suddenly queried.
Saïx was about to answer, but I knew he would not speak at Roxas's level, so I butted in.
"You know how we just went over what our weapons are for, Roxas?"
"Yeah?" he nodded.
"Well, a Keyblade is different from all our weapons. When we strike down Heartless with our weapons, we only kill them, and they disappear from the world forever. But a Keyblade doesn't kill Heartless."
"It doesn't? Then how's it a weapon?"
"You still have to strike down Heartless just as Saïx and I have to, but instead of killing them, you 'release' them — you make them float to that heart-shaped moon. You've seen it before, right?"
Roxas furrowed his brows together as if in thought before he nodded his head.
"That is Kingdom Hearts," Saïx interrupted. "Release enough Heartless, and Xemnas can summon Kingdom Hearts, and we can all finally, truly exist."
Roxas seemed both perplexed and unnerved, as though he suddenly had a thousand more questions that he couldn't even begin to ask.
"Uh, Saïx, I don't think he understood that."
"I'm aware," he said through gritted teeth. "Anyway, Roxas, all you have to do for today is release one Heartless, and you will be rewarded accordingly."
"He means he'll pay ya!" I clarified before Saïx punched his elbow into my side. Nevertheless, I persisted, adding, "That means you can pay for your own ice cream!"
That made Roxas smile and Saïx groan obnoxiously.
"Is that all you ever think about?" Saïx asked rhetorically.
"Besides burning my enemies to ashes? Yes, yes, I do." That made him palm his face, which in turn forced a giggle out of Roxas.
I was definitely going to enjoy this.
Before we headed out to release Roxas's first Heartless, I suggested to Saïx that we first head to the Hall of Empty Melodies to shape him up a bit, to which he surprisingly agreed. Roxas needed to learn the basics of swinging that thing if he was going to stand a chance against even the easiest of Heartless. It's one thing to have a weapon, but it's quite another to actually know what you're doing with it, even if it is technically a part of you anyway.
"All right, Roxas, here you will learn the basics of fighting," Saïx explained. "Before you even think of swinging your blade, you need to adopt a stance that fits with your weapon. Since the Keyblade is rather large, two hands should suffice in keeping a strong grip on it." Roxas did as suggested and held the blade two-handed.
"Good, but that's only part of your stance. The rest —"
"The rest is all footwork, buddy," I interrupted. I was doing that a lot more of that than usual. Saïx wasn't angry, just disappointed that I stole his thunder once again.
"Yes, what Axel said," Saïx continued. "Speaking of whom, why don't you teach Roxas the finer points of footwork, Axel?"
"With pleasure," I grinned. Saïx disappeared into a Corridor of Darkness, most likely to wake the others up. It was just Roxas and me now, and I preferred it that way.
"All right, buddy," I began cheerfully, "you heard the boss. I can already tell you exactly what's wrong with your stance just by looking at you."
"What is it?" Roxas asked.
"You look stiff as a statue, and that's not gonna help you in fighting a Heartless. Relax a bit. Spread your legs a little, and plant them firmly into the ground. Show 'em who's boss, ya know?" Roxas did as told, but the way he positioned his weapon — right in front of him from the belly out — still seemed unnatural to me.
"Am I doing it right?" he asked, looking up at me.
"You're getting there, but doesn't the way you're holding your Keyblade feel a bit… uncomfortable?"
"Yeah, it kinda does." Roxas tried various ways of holding it — over his head like some action hero; one-handed, blade tip pointing at the ground; two-handed again, but slightly to his left — before settling on what felt most comfortable to him. He held the Keyblade two-handed to his right, blade facing out, his knees slightly bent, but his feet almost growing out of the ground.
"Loosen up a little. You're still too stiff."
"How?" Roxas looked on intensely, as though already calculating his next move.
"Your feet," I said.
"What about them?"
"They look like they're rooted to the floor. 'Planting our feet firmly to the ground' doesn't mean 'becoming one with the ground,' ya know!" I laughed reassuringly.
"Oh," Roxas blushed. "But what if the Heartless knocks me off my feet?"
"Relax, kiddo," I said. "It's not like it'll be that tough."
"Okay, but how do I 'loosen up'?" he asked.
"You need to be able to move forward and back and side to side so that you can dodge its attacks. Try doing that with your current stance."
As I expected, Roxas was a bit clumsy and insecure with his footing, constantly tripping and catching himself.
"See what I mean?"
"Yeah," Roxas blushed again.
"You're like a plant being ripped from the ground by some big gust of wind. Fighting is a lot like… hm, dancing." Was that a bad comparison?
"Dancing? What's that?"
"Dancing is when you move along to music in a way that kinda resembles the music. You have heard of music, right?"
"I think so." I forgot — Roxas has only been around two days! But he did say he "thought" so. Ah, whatever. I'll explain it to him anyway.
"Music is what happens when you set noise to a pattern that sounds good to the ear," I explained.
"So, dancing is trying to follow that pattern along?"
"Exactly! Now you're getting it."
"But how does dancing compare to fighting?"
"When a Heartless attacks you, it's following a certain pattern. Every time it thinks it has found a weak spot — like a poor stance — it strikes, but you have to figure that out before it does so that you're the one striking. You're both 'dancing' with each other, but the goal is to stop the dance as soon as possible."
"I think I get it: The Heartless and I both seek patterns, and we try to break them."
"Yes, but you especially: You're trying to break the pattern first."
"And when I do?"
"Eventually, you'll have beaten your first Heartless."
"I have to do all that in the heat of the moment?"
"Pretty much."
"How? How do you do that?"
"Hm… Think about nothing else. Just concentrate on the movements the Heartless is making and catch them before they can attack you."
Roxas gave me a blank stare.
"I think you need a demonstration."
"I think so too."
"Okay, then. You sit down and just watch and learn."
I summoned two things: my Eternal Flames and an Assassin, a powerful Lesser Nobody under my control. I took my stance: Legs spread apart, knees slightly bent, leaning forward head-first, arms spread out as far from my body as possible. I leaped forward and started swinging, right chakram first, then left chakram, catching the Assassin entirely off guard. It tried to make a move, but I blocked it before it could reach my face. The last thing I needed was an ugly scar like Xigbar's, especially over a demonstration. I backed off and threw one of my chakrams at the Assassin, spinning with enough force to catch fire and hit it square in the head, knocking it out. The chakram returned to its rightful place soon after. The Assassin tried to get up, but I figured demonstration time was over, so I put away Eternal Flames and snapped my fingers, instantly setting the whole creature ablaze. It never stood a chance against me.
Roxas stared at me in stunned silence and got up, taking his stance, which seemed… lighter and more confident.
"Axel, I want to try something."
"What is it?"
"Fight me."
"What? Are you crazy?! You saw what I did to that thing!"
"No, I didn't mean it like that. I mean, I want to practice on you."
"You're crazy, buddy. But if you insist." I summoned my Eternal Flames once again, but before I could make a move, Roxas was already rushing toward me like a little bull. Damn, that kid is fast! I had to jump back several times to create some distance between us, at which point I threw a chakram at him. Roxas's eyes widened, and he flopped to the ground, dodging it by a hair, but he quickly got up and continued charging. I swung my other chakram, but this time, Roxas brandished his Keyblade just in time not only to block it but send it flying straight back at me, which I caught fast enough to adopt a defensive posture, legs and weapon closer together. I've got to admit: Roxas surprised me more and more by the second, and —
"KIAH!" Cling!
"Wooh, that was a close one," I told him. "You could have almost struck me down right then and there, ya know? And then who'd teach you? Saïx?" Roxas seemed a bit flustered.
"Sorry, I just really wanted to —"
"Don't apologize for that," I enjoined seriously. "That Heartless you'll release won't accept it one way or the other because you're the winner, and that's all that matters."
"Right," he nodded.
"Now, let's take down a Heartless, shall we?"
"All right!" Roxas intoned excitedly.
The kid was ready. I just knew it.
Saïx didn't tell us where exactly we'd find the Heartless, just that we had to head to Twilight Town to locate it. Typical Saïx: Always giving simple but vague orders to the underlings with the expectation that they figure out the rest. It amazed me sometimes how the Organization managed to kill as many Heartless as it did with him in charge in Xemnas's place. Regardless, I had a hunch because I could detect a faint whiff of it in the air coming from a westerly direction. We Organization members are like dogs, in a way: Just as dogs can smell something and pinpoint it without being able to appreciate the scent aesthetically, so we could smell the odor of darkness that accompanies all Heartless without being able to say what darkness smelled like. All I could say is that darkness just smells, and that fact aids us in tracking down when eyes fail us.
"Roxas, see the sunset?" I asked.
"Yeah."
"We'll head in that direction. Also, can you smell something is… off?"
"A little. Why do you ask?"
"Because Heartless have a smell to them."
"Really? They sure are strange creatures, aren't they? What makes them smell?"
"The darkness they're made of."
"Woah. That's just…"
"Weird? I know, but you'll get used to it. Now, come on. Let's get to it. We wouldn't wanna keep the boss waiting."
"So, no ice cream for today?" Roxas asked suddenly.
"After we report back to Saïx, we can return to Twilight Town for some ice cream. I wouldn't wanna miss out on that either!" I smiled.
"Okay," he smiled back.
We made it to the outskirts of Twilight Town, just on the edge of the woods that encircled it. The smell grew a lot stronger, and Roxas noticed too, scrunching up his nose like he smelled something rotten. Strong reaction — the effect was weaker on me, as I only noted earthy tones in the air. Our quarry was close. Then, I could spot two dim yellow orbs in the distance.
"See that?" I noted to Roxas.
"Yeah. That what we're looking for?"
"I'm sure of it."
I ordered Roxas to crouch low to the ground and begin walking toward the Heartless slowly. I stood by to act as a reserve in case he needed my help.
Several minutes passed by, and I was getting a little impatient — more because I wanted ice cream and less because I was eager to please Saïx. Perhaps, Roxas was the type, but I wasn't. I —
Suddenly, a tremendous shriek let out from the depths of the earth, and I realized this was no ordinary Heartless. Saïx, what are you putting this kid through?
"Roxas?" I saw he had already taken up his battle stance, a defiant look on his face from what I could tell. Internally, he must've been screaming, but he didn't show that. Smart move. Show no mercy.
The rest of the creature grew from out of the ground, revealing a huge, tall body, tree trunk-like arms, a tiny head with long feelers, and short, stout legs. Nothing I couldn't just burn to death with a snap of my fingers, but this was Saïx's idea of Roxas's first Heartless: A Darkside. "Impossibly easy," he said. Easy for him to say. But I suppose the Organization couldn't afford to waste the kid's potential by sending him to kill one of those swarmers, so I could see why they decided this lumbering beast would do for him. I just didn't want to see him get hurt; Roxas was tiny compared to the Heartless, and —
"KIAH!" he yelled as he charged forward. Well, the kid had guts, I'll give him that.
The Darkside took notice and swung one of its mighty arms to strike at Roxas, but he dodged to his right and kept running. Roxas was aiming for its leg when it took a well-aimed kick to the kid's stomach, knocking him off his feet.
"ROXAS!" I yelled out, conveniently capturing the Darkside's attention. "You want a piece of me, Darkside?! Come and get it!" I summoned my Eternal Flames and ejected my right chakram, aiming for the creature's face, but it only managed to stun it because it hit one of its feelers.
Nevertheless, that gave enough time for Roxas to get up again and deal some real damage, cutting off the Darkside's left leg, then his right, instantly immobilizing the creature. The Darkside was not happy with that at all, as it gave out a mighty roar and lifted itself just by its arms, turning to face his original attacker. As it raised its left arm to smack away the kid like a fly, Roxas exclaimed something, and suddenly, the whole place lit up with the brightness of the sun, blinding both the Darkside and me. It screamed in agony as it began burning from the intense light, a good chunk of its attacking arm and parts of its torso gone.
"Take this!" Roxas yelled, striking down the Darkside's other arm.
"And this!" Roxas cut off its feelers.
"And this!" At that last remark, the kid stabbed it straight in the chest, twisting the Keyblade as he did so, causing the Darkside to collapse to the ground with a low, rumbling whimper. As Roxas watched over it, the remains began to rise into the air, where they started to dissipate and fade away.
Roxas did it; he released a Heartless.
"That… was… AWESOME!" I congratulated him at the top of my lungs.
"I really did it!" he yelled back.
"You sure did, buddy. Let's report back to Saïx. I can't wait to see the look on his face!" I had this huge, stupid grin on my face that made Roxas laugh so hard that I had to catch him. He looked so content in my arms, and he had every right to be.
"Oh, Saïx!" I called out in a singsong voice. "Guess what Roxas just did?!"
"He succeeded in his mission? I should expect no less from the Key of Destiny."
"You talk as though killing Darksides is the easiest thing in the world," I said, more than a little miffed at his lack of surprise.
"It is," Saïx said.
"Not if you're a new recruit to the Organization."
"Not anymore. You only say that because you were weak once."
"I am not!" I yelped.
"Still the hothead you always were," Saïx said icily. "Anyway, I suppose I owe you a reward, Roxas. Here: 250 munny."
"250?! That's more than I got when I killed my first Darkside!"
"It took you seven times before you managed finally to take it down."
"Oh, don't tell me it took you just one try, same as Roxas, because we both know that's just bull—"
"You are dismissed, Axel. Now, go. Run along and eat that — what's it called again?"
"Sea-salt ice cream," I answered flatly with a bored look on my face.
"Yeah, I don't care. Just be back at a reasonable time."
"Certainly," I said, rolling my eyes. "Come on, Roxas, let's go get some ice cream.
"Okay," he replied cheerfully.
"I'm still amazed at how you managed to beat that Darkside on your first try," I said.
"Yeah. Honestly, I'm surprised, too," Roxas said sheepishly, hand behind his head.
"Say, what happened just before you took it down?" I asked.
"What? Oh, that. I called out, 'Light,' and then I shot light at it. That managed to blind it."
"And burn it," I added. "So, that's your attribute, huh?"
"I suppose so," he shrugged. "What's the deal with attributes anyway?"
"They're an aspect of our personalities, I suppose. I'm excitable and spontaneous — and unpredictable, just like fire. You never know if I'm the flame at the top end of a candle or a whole forest fire blazing for miles in every direction. But I can't say what light as an attribute means for you, though." I bit into my ice cream bar as I began mulling it over. Light was a strange attribute to have, especially for a member of a group of black coat-wearing Heartless killers.
"Yeah, me neither," Roxas interrupted my train of thought. "Well, I have other questions."
"Such as?"
"I want to learn more about music," he said.
"As much as I like listening to music, I couldn't explain it to you nearly as well as Demyx could."
"Who's Demyx?" Has he still not met the rest of us? Or are they not talking to him?
"He's the guy with the sitar for a weapon," I said, outlining an elongated, pear-shaped figure in the air to jog his memory. "He has long, spiky hair, kind of like yours, but longer toward the back."
"Ah, I see. But you explained it so well to me. I've been listening to a lot more of it lately."
"You have, have you?"
"Yeah. This town is full of music. One time, I heard a guy play this long, thin tube with holes at the top while the lady next to him plucked at this big stringed… thing that she placed between her legs." A flute and a harp, I figured.
"And how did it go?"
"What? Oh, you mean the pattern, right?"
"Yeah."
To my surprise, Roxas began whistling — quite tunefully too.
It was a melancholy tune. The flute led, and the harp followed (Roxas motioned with his hands to signify the harp section as he whistled). Something about it had an air of… longing to it.
"That sounds… beautiful. You should take me to hear the two play one day."
"We could go right now!" he said excitedly.
I shrugged my shoulders and said, "Why not?"
Roxas oddly took me by the hand as he led us to a little place called "Le Grand Bistrot," a restaurant a little ways away from the Clock Tower. To his disappointment and my confusion, the pair of players he spoke about was nowhere to be seen or heard.
"Aw, man! They already left," Roxas pouted, which, I've got to admit, looked cute on him, which made me blush. Cute? Where did that come from? Ugh, at this rate, I will have no choice but to ask Zexion to study me (and haven't I called him "cute" before, too? And Marluxia, a "pretty boy"?).
"Oh, well, better luck next time, huh, kiddo?"
"Yeah, I guess," Roxas said, not entirely convinced by my reassurance.
"Don't look so glum," I chided him. "They probably play here every day. This town is pretty predictable, which is why I like coming here so much."
"Yeah, we can hear them tomorrow."
"How about I show you some of the things I listen to when we return to the Castle?"
"Sure!" Roxas always beamed when he said that, which never ceased to make me smile.
If Roxas's attribute was light, then he was undoubtedly a bright spot in my day. Cheesy, I know, but honestly, where has such a person been in my life? I don't think Lea and Isa ever had it this… good.
Lea and Isa never had it this good… But enough about them. They're asleep now. Forever. All of our Somebodies are, including Roxas's. Roxas's Somebody… I wonder who that could be?
"Axel?" Roxas looked up at me inquisitively.
"It's nothing," I told him. "Let's go home."