The End of Summer
DiZ has done an amazing job creating a simulated Twilight Town. Creating down to the detail of the people and their lives, copying their exact behavior from the actual residence of Twilight Town. He only tweaked small details in the simulated residence by altering their memories to include Roxas. Roxas none the wiser to the false memories implanted in him too that created the perfect lie.
His name was Roxas, the local favorite to all the store owners. He lived by himself- since creating parents would be too intricate of a lie that would have too many holes he could notice- and went to the local school. He was friends with the local kids and had a rivalry with the Disciplinary Committee in a game called Struggle. His friends and him have been hanging out together since forever and were enjoying their last days of Summer Vacation. He now had his own life in Twilight Town, his own friends, none the wiser of his previous life in Organization XIII. And as long as the simulation remained intact he will never know. For now, it was up to DiZ and Riku to keep it that way until Naminé restores Sora's memories.
But the simulation was not only meant to keep Roxas occupied until then. It was also meant to keep Roxas hidden from Organization XIII. They needed to keep the Organization out of the simulation until Naminé was done. This would take constant surveillance, but Riku would do what it takes to make sure Sora wakes up. No matter how long it takes.
The 1st Day
Roxas had woken up in his room. An unsettling slumber left in his wake.
"Another dream about him..."
It would seem that they wouldn't have to wait too long if Roxas was already starting to feel Sora in his subconscious.
Roxas tried to brush it off, getting ready for a new day and headed out to the hangout to see his friends. Hayner, the rough around the edges unsaid leader of the team; Pence, the paranormal expert of the squad; and Olette, the cool-headed logical voice of the group. Hayner, Pence, and Olette were already there discussing the situation going around town. Roxas was barely listening to the conversation as the dream from the other night still troubled him. He pulled himself out of his thoughts halfway though when they all looked at him to agree with them. He needed to stay focus, to quit worrying about the dream so much.
"I mean, it's true that stuff's been stolen around town. And we've got a score to settle with Seifer and everything. So if he wants to think we did it, I can't really blame him." Hayner reasoned before his temper started to pick up. "See, that's not what really bugs me. What really bugs me is that he's goin' around tellin' everybody we're the thieves! Now the whole town and their mothers are treating us like the Klepto Club! Have you ever been this ticked off before in your life? 'Cause I haven't. Nuh-uh, NEVER."
"..." Roxas just listened quietly until Hayner got it all out of his system. Hayner's temper was almost as spiked as his blonde, wavy hair tips.
"(Sigh) Now...what to do."
"..." Olette looked to Roxas with her silent green eyes to be the voice of reason in the group, putting some pressure on him. He had to think about it a little bit. "Uh, well... We could find the real thieves. That would set the record straight."
"Hey that sounds fun." Pence agreed along with the plan, going over to grab his camera so they could catch proof of the culprit in action. Olette silently nodding in as well.
"What about Seifer?" Pointed out Hayner.
"First, we gotta clear our names." Roxas reasoned. "Once we find the real culprit, everyone will get off out backs."
"(Grumble)," Hayner didn't really like the plan but he knew Roxas was right. So with reluctance he agreed as well.
"Oh no! They're gone! Our - are gone!" Pence said in alarm as he looked through his camera. But just as quickly touched his throat as he tried to force the word out of his mouth but nothing came out. "What?"
"All our -, gone?" Hayner was soon grabbing onto his throat too as the word wouldn't come out.
"?!" Olette tried too, but the word wouldn't budge either. "You can't say - why not?"
"But you do understand what I'm saying, right?" Pence clarified. "Our - are gone!"
"Stolen..." Roxas concluded. "And not just the -. The word -! They stole it, too!"
"What kind of thief is that?" Hayner huffed. "Seifer could never have pulled that off."
"Yeah!" Roxas nodded in agreement.
"All right, time for some recon!" The others followed after Hayner to head into town for some info, but Roxas started to faint as he followed after them.
"Huh?"
"His heart is returning." DiZ said in subtle excitement as they watch the simulation through the monitors. "Doubtless he'll awaken very soon."
"..." Roxas groaned as he got up on his feet again, confused by the strange voice he had heard during his black out. "Huh?"
"?!" Riku was slightly alarmed at the possibility that Roxas might have heard them too. He doesn't seem aware of their presence so all was still well.
"Roxas, c'mon." Olette came back to see what the hold up was, Roxas soon following out with her to catch up with the others.
DiZ and Riku watched as the four of them asked around the shop stands for clues and even help the old lady at the Candy Shop find her cat. It would seem that their leads were not getting them anywhere other then the fact that it was solid proof that the thief was stealing photos and the word.
"That's an odd thing to add into the simulation. Putting in creative story?" Riku question to DiZ why a word was taken out of the programming.
"No. This is something else..." DiZ explained as he searched through the data. "Something is interfering with the programing."
"?!" Well that's alarming. "Can you fix it?"
"First, I have to find it." DiZ continued sweeping through the data. During which Roxas and the others had headed to the sandlot to ask Seifer and his gang- Rai, Fuu, and ViVi- some questions. Seifer was the leader of his team and head of the town's disciplinary committee. Rai, the giant brute of the gang, was all bronze and no brains but had a lot of heart and followed Seifer with loyalty. Fuu shared the same kind of loyal, but was more calculative especially when it came to speaking which made her words short and to the point. Now Vivi was the youngest of the group, it was hard to tell what they looked like covered under that pointed hat and robed coat but they were a hard worker and wanted to be just like Seifer. Once you got to know them they weren't such a bad group of guys but their rivalry with Roxas and his gang was off-putting and made it hard for them to like each other. Without even meaning to their questioning turned into confrontation which was leading to humiliation towards Roxas and the others. Not taking it without a fight, Roxas got in an unofficial Struggle match with Seifer and Roxas won. Just for Pence to take a picture of the victory and a Dusk to suddenly take it. "?!"
"What was that?" Hayner asked aloud what everybody was thinking.
"The thief?" Olette concluded as everyone gave chase.
"A Dusk?!" Riku said in alarm, watching as the others lost sight of it while Roxas continued pursuit.
"Scraps, how did they get in?" DiZ growled as Roxas gave chase after it, leading him all the way through the crack in the town's wall to the woods and to the old mansion.
"..." Roxas cautiously approached the Dusk, not understanding what he was looking at.
'We have come for you, my liege.' The Dusk spoke to Roxas.
"Huh?" Roxas tried to hold it back with his Struggle bat as the mysterious enemy grabbed for him but it was doing him no good. It didn't leave a scratch on this thing at all. "It's no use..."
"He requires some assistance." DiZ silently ordered.
"I know." Riku was just about to rush into the simulator when something happened.
"Wait." DiZ halted Riku's actions as they looked to the monitors to see a Keyblade summon to Roxas's aid.
"What?" Roxas looked in confusion as his Struggle bat turned into a Keyblade. "What...what is this thing?"
But that didn't matter now, whatever that thing was is coming for him and he needed to fight. The Keyblade took out the mysterious enemy easily, and just as soon disappeared as well. All that was left behind were photos...
Roxas brought them back to the hangout so the gang could see if they were all accounted for.
"What's this?" Payner asked as they looked through the photos and noticed on photo with Roxas and the guy at the Armor Shop.
"I was his first customer after he took over the shop." Roxas explained. "So we took a picture together."
"It's a really nice photo." Olette complimented. "Oh!"
"Hey! You can said "photo"!" Pence pointed out.
"So, Roxas- tell us about the picture thief." Payner asked.
"Not much to say. The pictures were just lying there."
"Then how do we prove we weren't the ones who took 'em?" Payner pointed out making Roxas nervously laugh. They looked over the next photo, poking fun at Roxas since it was one with him and the lady at the Item Shop. "It's a GIRL..."
"You look happy, Roxas." Olette teased in as well.
"Do not."
"So, like, anybody else notice that all the stolen pictures are of Roxas?" Pence pointed out.
"Ohh." Things were starting to click for Olette. "So that's why everyone thought it was us."
"And Seifer didn't go around accusing us after all?" Hayner grumble, silently admitting he was wrong.
"Are they really all of me?" Roxas asked Pence, looking over the photos in his hand.
"Yep!" Pence nodded, showing him one by one. "See?"
"Look." Olette added in, looking over the photos as well.
"Right? Every single one." Pence pointed out. "Wouldn't it be weird if the thief wanted to steal the real Roxas or something?"
"C'mon, get serious. Why would anyone wanna steal a bonehead like Roxas?" Hayner teased.
"Oh, thanks!" Roxas laughed along with them. But the two outside the simulation found this serious.
Restoration was only at 12%
"Organization miscreants... They've found us." DiZ said in annoyance.
"But...why would the Nobodies steal photographs?" Asked Riku.
"Both are nothing but data to them. The fools could never tell the difference." DiZ answered with silent frustration about the situation. "We are running out of time. Naminé must make haste."
The 2nd Day
The dreams about Sora were becoming more concrete now, more unsettling. The progress was coming along just fine. But DiZ and Riku had to make sure that there was no more outside interference. That's why Riku found himself playing babysitter for Roxas as he was going about his day. Or more like bodyguard? He was subtly staying in the background, making sure he did not interfere with Roxas's daily life while also protecting him from outside forces trying to take him. Well, technically that still sounded like a babysitter since Roxas wasn't aware of his actions. Either way, he was keeping watch.
Turns out Roxas was still having a hard time believing what happened yesterday was real.
"A Keyblade…" Roxas knew what the weapon he used was call but he didn't know how he knew. This all seemed so strange to him. He tried picking up a stick in the alleyway to see if it would turn into a Keyblade for him again. He swung it around a little. But nothing happened. "What was that about?"
"..." He tossed the stick, only for it to hit Riku. It didn't hurt so no harm done.
"Oh." Roxas was still startled that he had hit someone by accident. He didn't see Riku there but it was an active alleyway he should have known someone could've passed by and been more careful. "Sorry...about that..."
Riku just walked away to secure Roxas's safety at a further distance. He was making sure Roxas made it to his friends with no trouble and he did. Now Riku would observe him from some space.
Turns out Roxas and his friends had wanted to go to the beach today and made plans to raise munny to buy some train tickets. They all worked pretty hard with some odd jobs around town to raise the munny. Roxas had taken some pretty creative jobs from skateboarding to deliver mail, to street performing with a ball, to helping carry cargo up a steep roadside to a Garage.
'Geez, I hope there wasn't anything fragile in that bag.' Riku thought to himself as he watch Roxas literally whack the cargo uphill with a Struggle bat. That cart took so much of a beating that it broke apart the moment Roxas got it in the Garage.
"Not bad." Complimented his Employer, paying him 30 munny.
'He probably deducted some munny for the cart.' Riku commented to himself. But Roxas seemed happy. He got enough to cover his part with the odd jobs and the munny he got from the Dusk yesterday. Roxas rush up to the Train Station to give Hayner the munny, Riku slowly following behind taking the back alleyway route. 'Well, he worked hard. He should have a good day at the beach.'
"Riku, you must stop them. They can't leave town." DiZ instructed to Riku through the simulator.
"What? Why?"
"The simulation must not go further than the immediate town. You must stop them from getting on that train, by any means necessary."
"..." Riku halted in his steps, looking down at the stick lying on the ground in front of his path. It was the same one that Roxas accidently hit him with before. He picked it up, examining it in his hands. "(Sigh) Guess I'll be the bad guy today..."
The programming won't detect Riku, but Roxas will. He made his way up to Station Plaza where the others had already gathered.
"Nice work, everyone. Added to what we started with, we now have..." Olette cheered as she counted and collected all of their munny into one cute pouch. "Tada! 5000 munny!"
"Sweet!" Hayner cheered.
"Let's get tickets!" Olette gave the pouch to Roxas for safe keeping as her and Pence ran into the Train Station.
"We can't be together forever….so we'd better make the time we do have something to remember." Hayner said, getting philosophical with Roxas for a second.
"Huh?"
"Gotcha!" Before turning it all into a joke as he punched his shoulder and ran over to join the others.
As Roxas was walking over to join them that's when Riku striked. Throwing the same stick that Roxas had thrown at him to trip Roxas- like some poetic justice or petty grudge.
"Whoa!" Roxas went down hard and Riku was quick to his side. "Huh?"
"..." Grabbing his arm, Riku jostled Roxas back on his feet again. A little too rough, but just enough for Riku to use a Steal skill to grab the pouch without him noticing. He had that look on his face that reminded Riku of Sora. "Can you feel Sora?"
"What?"
"Roxas! Three Minutes!" Hayner called over to Roxas to remind him that the train was about to depart soon.
"Okay!" Roxas called back. It was enough of a distraction for Riku to Dash out of there before Riku could turn and see that he was gone.
It didn't take Roxas long to realize that Riku had taken the munny. Disappointed that he had let his friends down and lost the munny he was beating himself up about it as they all had sea-salt ice cream on top of the station tower instead. Riku observing them from the other corner of the Train Station clock.
"It's melting." Olette gave Roxas a heads up as he just held his ice cream in his hand instead of eating it like the others.
"Sorry." Roxas apologized for the missed chance to go to the beach more than the ice cream.
"Cheer up already!" Hayner said in silent attempt to tell Roxas that there was nothing to worry about.
"That was definitely weird, though." Pence pointed out. Roxas did have the munny before they went in to the Station but then it disappeared after he tripped.
"Strange." Olette added in comment.
"You said it." Hayner agreed with the both of them.
"Can you feel Sora?" Roxas thought aloud about what Riku had asked him...it all left a strange feeling inside him. It was unnerving...
"..." With nothing more he can do for today, Riku had exited the Simulation, taking the munny pouch with him. 'I guess your lessons payed off after all, Yuffie.'
DiZ was there by the monitors where Riku had left him, observing the data that was going through the simulation. Restoration was now at 28%. At this rate it would take at least 6 more days until Sora was completely restored and they didn't know if they could hold off the Organization for that long.
"Naminé, hurry." DiZ silently insisted to wind.
"..." Riku absentmindedly tossed the munny pouch in his hand while DiZ ran through the data, feeling a little bad at having to be the rain in the four friends' parade. "Is it really that hard to make a beach?"
"We'd be giving the enemy another entry point." DiZ explained, not taking his eye off the monitors.
"And this?" Riku gestured to the pouch in his hand.
"We can always buy some sea-salt ice cream." DiZ joked, laughing at some inside joke. But he had turned to look at Riku for a bit before turning back to the monitors. "Objects from that town must be kept out of the real world. You can delete that."
"..." Riku continued to toss it in his hand although hesitated for a second. 'But...they all worked so hard for this.'
The 3rd Day
More of Sora's memories were starting to return through Roxas at a faster rate. This was great progress, although problematic since Naminé decided to hijack herself into the simulation. Thus exposing Roxas to the real world. She even halted time in the simulation to actually meet Roxas first hand.
"Hello, Roxas." Naminé greeted him with a smile.
"Hi..." He awkwardly greeted back, still tripping out that the town and his friends had Stopped in time. Even if he ignored that, the girl was acting strange. Looking around as if to make sure they weren't noticed. "And you are...?"
She put up a hand to stop him in mid-sentence.
"I wanted to meet you at least once." She said placing her fingers together as she looked up at him.
"Me?"
"Yes, you."
"..." He was flattered that a cute girl wanted to meet him, but still weirded out that time had stopped. But the moment she crossed the corner as she left, Time had started again.
But this wasn't good, her hijacking had opened up an entry point for the Dusk to get in.
"What just happened?" Riku asked as he watched this happen in the simulation along with DiZ.
"The simulation has been Hijacked."
He had tried to follow Naminé to the Old Mansion. But the Dusk had ambushed him in the woods and tried to grab him. He ran back into town where they followed him to the sandlot where he bumped into Seifer and his gang. Time had stopped again and they were surrounded. But that's when Naminé came to the rescue from up above, telling Roxas to use the Keyblade. The Keyblade had come at Roxas's command, even opened up more of Sora's heart in the process. When things got a little out of hand and he was in trouble she pulled him out to a pocket realm inside the simulation.
"This has gone on long enough. Stop her." DiZ commanded Riku before Naminé said too much.
"..." Riku nodded, entering the simulation once again and opening a Dark Corridor to Naminé's pocket realm. Grabbing Naminé's arm and pulling her up more gently to him than he had with Roxas. Luckily the most she had let out was her name and a hint to Roxas's true name. "Say no more, Naminé."
"But if no one tells him, Roxas will..."
"It's best he doesn't know the truth."
"Hey! You're that pickpocket!" Roxas interrupted the conversation, pointing at him accusingly.
"..." Riku looked over at Roxas in annoyance. 'Oh great. Is that how he's going to know me by from now on.'
Using his free hand to summon a Dark Corridor behind Roxas. It lead back to town where he once was, but Roxas didn't know that, he backed away from it. Slowly. Having none of that, Riku walked up to him, grabbing Roxas by the back of his collar and pushed him right in.
"Whoa!"
"..." Naminé watched silently. Her eyes looking down as she cupped her arm once it was just her and Riku.
"That was a foolish stunt you pulled back there."
"I just...wanted to meet him. At least once."
"..."
"Sorry."
"(Sigh) Let's just worry about damage control." Riku had waited for Naminé to exit the pocket realm before exiting the simulation himself. Returning to DiZ to see what was the situation back at the simulated town. The Dusk had been cleared out but a strain had been put between Roxas and his friends after it looked like Roxas was hanging out with Seifer and his gang when they had planned to try to go to the beach again that day, missing their chance as they were waiting for Roxas. It was inner drama for Roxas to handle on his own. But on the bright side, Restoration had risen to 48%. Nearly double than it was yesterday. That was a promising spike. "Was that Naminé made of data?"
"No... Naminé hijacked the data herself." DiZ answered, still annoyed with the situation. Even punching one of the monitors in his frustration."Look what she's done now... She's totally beyond my control!"
"Calm down." True, Riku did not expected for Naminé to enter the simulation by herself with her own powers. He had honestly thought that was a simulated Naminé added in to complete the town, mostly meant to stay in the old mansion, that she had tampered with. Her powers were truly amazing and did catch him off guard but that was no reason for DiZ to react this way, the damage done was barely minimal.
"It doesn't matter." DiZ calmed himself. "As long as Naminé accomplishes her goal...we needn't worry about what befalls Roxas."
"..."
The 4th Day
The day started early for Riku, and with a rough start. He had to defend the mansion from an overwhelming number of Dusks trying to get in for Roxas, and for possibly Sora too. Riku was able to take them out but not without his own damage and exhaustion. He will continue to protect the mansion for Sora's and the other's sake, however, he didn't know "how much" longer he could defend the mansion on his own. Even so, he would continue fighting for as long as he could. Once the conflict was over, Riku made his way down to Sora's pod to make sure he was okay. He has been doing that almost everyday since his constant stay on Twilight Town. Visiting Sora had become more of a relaxation for him nowadays. No matter how hard the fight or how tough the day, he could always go see Sora and get a comforting feeling in his heart that everything was going to be alright.
"You're back?" Naminé called to him, not surprised to see him down here.
"Yeah..."
"(Gasp) You're injured..." She reached for the wound on his shoulder in concern but he gently moved out of her reach.
"It's just a scratch."Riku looked down at her in a silent way to ease her worries before looking back at Sora in his pod. "The sheer numbers of the invading Nobodies were overwhelming. We can't hesitate anymore."
"..." Naminé turned to look at Sora as well in silent comradery with Riku. She wasn't able to help him with the Nobodies but she could at least help him with this. "Understood. Just a little bit longer."
Today was going to be a long day for Riku. Even longer since the day's barely started. He decided to head to DiZ in the computer room to see how were things going in the simulation.
It was a big day in the simulated town of Twilight, one that was anticipated for all summer. Why? Because it was the big day of Struggle Tournament. One will win the trophy and claim the right to battle for the title against the raining champion. Everything seemed to be going normal. Roxas had competed and made up with Hayner, winning his spot in the finals. And even Seifer and Vivi's match had went okay, although oddly one sided in Riku's notice based off of Seifer's previous skill. Even Seifer had realized that something was off with Vivi.
DiZ and Riku had only truly notice it after it was too late. During the match with Roxas, Vivi had revealed themselves to be a Dusk. Halting the simulation's time in place around them...and bring along friends.
"Again!" Roxas huffed in annoyance before his Struggle bat turned into a Keyblade. "Again?"
"Impossible! How did it disguise itself with the data? He snuck into the program." DiZ huffed in surprise. "These miscreants are getting smarter than I first anticipated. Hmph, don't think you deceived me so easily."
"Should we intervene?"
"No... Roxas seems to be handling himself just fine." DiZ chuckled, watching the fight. Roxas had taken care of the Dusk just fine. If that was all then DiZ could easily cover this up in the data. But that was before a larger nuisance made a hijack into the simulation.
"(Clapping hands) Roxas. All right. Fight, fight, fight." Said a guy in a black coat. He looked different from the guy from before. Someone different...
"?" Roxas pondered him as he approached.
"You really don't remember? It's me. You know, Axel." The guy said, taking off his hood to reveal himself. Making Roxas silently wonder how he fit all that spiky red hair under his hood.
"Axel?"
"Talk about blank with a capital "B." Man oh man, even the Dusks aren't gonna crack this one."
"Wait a sec, tell me what's going on!" Roxas demanded as Axel pulled out his weapons.
"This town is his creation, right?" Axel looked around before looking back at Roxas. "Which means we don't have time for a Q & A. You're coming with me, conscious or not. Then you'll hear the story."
"?!" Roxas back up in startle. Didn't help that the space around them was starting to ripple too.
"Uh-oh."
"(Sigh in irritation)," Roxas had it up to 'here' with all this weird stuff going on. In frustration he threw his Keyblade on the ground. "What's going ON!?"
Only for the Keyblade to come right back to his hands like a summon of light.
"Huh?" Roxas startled in surprise at this.
"Number 13, Roxas. The Keyblade's chosen one."
"?" Roxas still didn't understand what was going on. But this guy was still looking for a fight. If he was leaving no other choice Roxas would oblige him. "Okay, fine! You asked for it!"
"That's more like it!" Shouted Axel as they started to clash.
"Are you going to intervene now?" Riku asked insistently with growing concern about the situation.
"Already on it," DiZ stated as he type through the data to create his own simulation copy, joining in with Axel and Roxas.
"Huh?" Roxas turned in alarm as another stranger entered the scene out of nowhere.
"So it was you." Huffed Axel, trying to strike DiZ with his weapons only for a Barrier to repel him.
"Roxas, this man speaks nonsense!" DiZ insisted over to Roxas, trying to maintain the veil of the programming over Roxas's head.
"Roxas, don't let him deceive you!" Axel shot back as well. Poor Roxas didn't know who to believe and was so confused.
"Roxas!"
"Roxas!"
"!" They just kept calling his name as the world around him began to ripple. This was all a dream... It had to be a dream. Roxas was scared. He needed his friends...he needed... "Hayner… Pence... Olette… Hayner! Pence! Olette!"
His cry was enough to unleash the power inside him and force the other two out of the simulation, starting up the town's time again. Even as his friends came up on the ring to cheer with him at his victory he was still shaken up. His match against the champion, Setzer, was almost a blur to him too. But he had come out the winner and the new raining champion of the Struggle. And now he was on top of the station tower splitting the rewards with his friends.
"How was he able to push your copy and Axel out of the Simulation?" Riku asked as they continued observing.
"Sora's heart is growing strong inside of him. He must have been able to unlock it in order to defend himself in his state of panic." DiZ explained.
"I see... This is good news, right?"
"For the most part. Roxas continues to keep the veil of illusions over his eyes by his own will. As long as he holds on to this false sense of security we should be fine until Naminé completes her task."
"..." Riku left it at that and continued watching the simulation as they all looked at their piece of the trophy shine in the sunlight.
"One more treasure for us to share." Hayner grinned as they all looked at their gift in the twilight.
"I got a present, too...for all of us." Olette added in as she reached behind her for the sea-salt ice creams.
"Whoa." Roxas said in excitement, getting up to retrieve his only to slip and fall off the edge of the tower.
"!" Riku's eyes under his hood widened in alarm. "We have to catch him."
"Riku, wait!" DiZ ordered but Riku was already entering the Simulation.
Riku had entered right by the Station Plaza, running on the bottom of the Station Tower to catch Roxas as he was falling. DiZ was trying to tell him but Riku felt it first hand, in a panic Roxas's heart had reached out for Naminé for help. However, through Sora's heart, he had reached Kairi's heart instead. The stimulation of the interaction in turned catalyst the restoration process.
"!" Riku did catch Roxas before he hit the ground. And immediately put a Sleep spell on the others, carrying all of them back to their homes. Placing them in their beds for DiZ to clean up the situation, altering their memories through the data to make the whole incident seem like a dream. He had taken Olette home first, then Pence and Hayner next. Roxas was the last one.
"Riku, remove Roxas's orb from his person." DiZ ordered into the simulation to Riku.
"?!" Why? "That seems oddly petty. Can't you let Roxas have this?"
"We can't have Roxas getting too attached to the simulation. Otherwise, he won't want to leave when the time comes."
"..." With some reluctance, Riku use his Steal skill again to grab the blue orb from Roxas pocket. Leaving Roxas in his bed none the wiser to what has happened. "Sorry..."
Not looking back, he left Roxas's room and thus exited the Simulation to join DiZ by the monitors. Restoration had made a jumping improvement to 79%.
"His progress is astounding." DiZ said in awe as Riku tossed the orb he just stole in his hand.
"So what happened?" With the mind set of one day returning the stolen goods back to its owner, Riku placed the orb inside the Munny pouch along with the munny. Regardless of DiZ ordering him to delete them, Riku would return them some day, he was no thief. After that was done he came a little closer to get a better view of the data.
"Naminé's encounter with Roxas put his heart in contact with Kairi's. And that, in turn, affected Sora. You see?"
"Naminé… She's a wonder."
"She wasn't born like other Nobodies. She can interfere with the hearts and memories of Sora and those aligned with him."
"But whose Nobody is she?" Riku has always had a feeling who's she was, but wanted to have it confirmed.
"I could tell you..." DiZ countered before addressing the elephant in the room. Something that Riku had hoped that DiZ wouldn't notice yet. "But first, perhaps you could tell me your true name?"
"..." Deciding to play along, seeing as there was no point hiding it now, Riku pulled down his hood. Revealing his changed face. "It's Ansem."
"(Hysteric Laughing)," DiZ laughed at the irony of it all before calming himself to respond back. "It's an honor, Ansem!"
The 5th Day
Roxas had woke up in alarm, recalling back to the fall he had yesterday. But he was alive and safe in his bed so it couldn't possibly have been real. Right...?
"I'm dreaming... But which parts...were the dream?"
"..." Riku watched as Roxas struggled to go through a normal day. Even asking the others if what happened the other day was real. "Do you think this will be a problem?"
"As the others deny the event he will continue to doubt if it was real. However none of that will matter soon enough." DiZ announced as the four of them continued with their day's plan. Apparently they were going to investigate all the weird stuff happening around Roxas and would get Seifer's gang to help them with the search tomorrow. For now they would investigate the Seven Wonders around Twilight Town for their homework assignment, holding it off till the last few days. "For now they seem to be providing the necessary distraction for Roxas."
"!" Riku was a little surprised when DiZ allowed them to get on the train, thus expanding the simulation. 'I thought DiZ said he didn't want to create more entry ways for the Organization?'
But Riku watched on as the others pulled out their treasured orbs on the train while Roxas was awoken to disappointment when he realized his was no longer in his pocket. Making him feel like the odd man out. Riku felt bad about it, wishing that him and DiZ could have done Roxas better. This was unnecessarily cruel.
Even so, today was surprisingly out of character for DiZ's standards. He was oddly more lenient with letting Roxas and the others do whatever they wanted. Not even interfering when Dusk seemed to find their way in and assimilate with object data in the area. He seemed fine with letting Roxas handle it himself. Oddly enough, Roxas took it all in at slow strides as Pence debunked the strange wonders.
At the end of the day, what really took the cake on their little adventure on the outskirts of town was when DiZ programmed the purple train inside the simulation. The train that leads out of Twilight Town...
"Look!" Roxas watched as the purple train with a one passenger cart and a conductor cart that looked like it had a wizard hat made its way into Twilight Station. "It's really true... And there's really no one aboard! What's the catch? There's gotta be a catch, right?"
"..." The others didn't know what to say.
"Then it's real? Let's go to the station!"
"..." Riku watched as Roxas ran to the train. He saw it while the others didn't, like some sick joke.
"Let's go in!" Roxas said in excitement, but was pulled back by arm by Hayner who looked oddly concerned about him. "What?!"
"Um...you'll get hurt."
"Huh?" The train was gone and the train leading back to the center of Twilight Town was arriving right where the purple train once was. "..."
"C'mon," Hayner tried to say in comfort as it was time to go home and this was there. But Roxas did not cheer up, he knows what he saw.
"A train came from the beach. There was no driver, right?"
"Let's go." Hayner said, trying to drop the subject.
"Right!?" But Roxas persisted much to everyone's discomfort. Hayner signed as he had to lead Roxas into the train with pushes from behind.
"..." Riku watched on as all of this went town and Roxas insisted on knowing where the last Wonder was. His freedom was right there, but his doubt didn't allow him to take it. Riku couldn't tell if DiZ was being oddly cruel or oddly generous today. But he guessed he wouldn't get to ask him now as DiZ got up to leave his station to wonder into another area of the mansion. An odd behavior since DiZ never really left his station before the day was over, ever since the simulation started.
Riku didn't like the idea of leaving things unsupervised so he decided to enter the simulation and follow Roxas first hand until he went home for the day and went to sleep. He had followed Roxas into the woods were he made his way to the old mansion, or the 'haunted mansion' as it was being called by the locals. Riku watched from behind a tree as Pence made his way to join Roxas.
"You know something..."
"Whoa!" Roxas turned around in startled at Pence's sudden arrival, relaxing when he realized it was him.
"We were gonna check the mansion out tomorrow. It IS the most suspicious place." Pence said, walking over to Roxas in front of the gate to look in on the mansion.
"Right..."
"Even Seifer's gang was gonna help."
"Seifer?" Roxas was surprised at that.
"Yeah, Hayner asked him to."
"..." Naminé had just arrived into the simulation. Riku could literally see her through the upper window of the mansion. She looked at Riku pleadingly but smiled in relief as Riku made no move to stop her. She wanted-no...she needed to tell Roxas the truth. He should have the right to know. Riku was just going to let Naminé do her thing, it was long past the point of considering the consequences. Nodding to him in thanks she turned her attention down to Roxas.
"So what are we looking for?" Roxas asked Pence.
"Well, they say there's a girl who appears at the second floor window...even though no one's lived here for years." Pence explained.
"..." As Roxas looked up into the window and spotted her a connection was made through his heart, giving Naminé a chance to enter them into a pocket realm to have a chat. Riku followed to make sure everything was okay, but more like a guardian for Naminé as he stayed out of the way and out of sight.
Naminé had taken Roxas to a pocket realm that was literally inside the mansion where her room was but separate from the rest of the simulation. Roxas looked around the room as drawings littered the walls and the table, bringing in the only color in the room. He looked at the drawing of Destiny Islands for a second before being drawn to the drawing of Kairi.
"Roxas…" Naminé called to him, drawing his attention to the table but she wasn't there.
"Naminé?" He looked around for her but was stopped in his search when he noticed the drawing of him with the red haired guy in a black coat. "This is...me? … And Axel's here too."
"You are best friends."
"Very funny."
"Don't you want to know the truth about who you really are?"
"No one knows me better than me."
"Of course..." He didn't see her but he could tell she was smiling. Looking around some more he checked out the other drawings.
"But...I don't get what's been happening lately." He stopped at a drawing of a boy holding hands with a duck and a dog.
"You know these three, don't you?"
"Yeah." He did... "Sora, Donald, and Goofy. They're from the dreams."
"About a year ago...some things happened, and I had to take apart the memories chained together in Sora's heart. But now...I'm putting them all back exactly the way they were." Naminé told Roxas the loop of what was happening around him, appearing in her seat at the table. "It's taken me a long time, but pretty soon Sora will be his old self again. The process has been affecting you, too, Roxas."
"You mean...the dreams?"
"Yes... You and Sora are connected. And...in order for Sora to become completely whole again... He needs you."
"Me? What for?" Roxas asked looking at the drawing of him and Sora standing together hand in hand.
"You hold half of what he is... He needs you, Roxas."
"Naminé?" Taking a seat on the opposite side of the table, Roxas decided to ask the question that has long since bugged him since he met her. "Naminé...who are you?"
"I'm a witch with power over Sora's memories and those around him."
"A witch?"
"That's what DiZ called me. But I don't know why I have this power...I just do. I'm not even sure there's a right way for me to use it."
"Hmm...I can't help you there." He chuckled a bit, putting a smile on her face, before turning to look at the wall of drawings again. "It's funny... Suddenly I feel like I don't know myself at all..."
"..." Naminé silently listened to his inner concerns as he turned to looked back at her.
"I guess I would like to know. What do you know about me... that I don't?"
"You...you were never supposed to exist, Roxas." It was hard for her to say. Even harder for him to hear.
"What...?" He couldn't believe what he was hearing. It hurt. "How could you even say such a thing...even if it were true?"
"I'm sorry." She genuinely apologized. "I guess some things...really are better left unsaid."
Ending the conversation there, she returned Roxas to the simulation, continuing the flow of time once more. Looking at him through the window of her pocket realm in the data as Roxas could see her but the rest of the simulated world couldn't. She could hear as Riku made his way into the room, joining her, outside the view of the window as he leaned on the wall. His arms crossed with his hood covering his face.
"Are you happy now?" Riku asked her.
"You were right, it was best if he didn't know the truth. It would have made him a lot less sad about things. But...I wanted him to be ready for when the time comes for him to go back to Sora."
"..."
"Do you...think I did the right thing?"
"You did what you thought was right, for both Sora and Roxas. And that's all that matters."
"Hmm..."
"I'm going to make sure Roxas gets home safe." Riku says before opening a Dark Corridor to follow Roxas and Pence back into town. "Don't stay in the simulation too long."
"Okay... Thank you, Riku."
"..." Riku only spare her a glance in reply before entering the Corridor. It had lead him to the roof of the building next to the gangs hangout area. They talked to Olette about the ghost in the window of the mansion being a sham before heading over to the station tower to have sea-salt ice cream with Hayner.
The gang had plans to search the town tomorrow to find out about the weird stuff happening around Roxas and then the next day was the fair. They were going to make the last two days of their Summer Vacation as memorable as possible. Too bad Riku knew that this would all be over soon. He let Roxas enjoy his possibly last stick of ice cream with his friends, the last chance they would possibly laugh together. Roxas was having a hard time enjoying it...not with all the dread plaguing him. Riku had waited for Roxas to go home and sleep for the day before exiting the simulation.
Riku looked around to find that DiZ was still not there. He had searched the mansion for a bit, seeing no need to use his Sense to track DiZ's heart since he knew that DiZ wouldn't go far. He eventually found him in the dinning hall with the broken table, sitting in a chair. While DiZ was there he decided to ask him a question that was plaguing him all day.
"Why did you show him the train?"
"Because he missed the trip to the beach."
"Hmph...that's almost kind of you."
"Now...what about you?" DiZ countered changing the subject. "Are the wholes in your memory starting to fill in?"
"Yes...the haze is clearing." It wasn't a total lie. Riku's Cetra bloodline kept his memories of Sora from being hampered with, but he could feel the haze around others starting to clear up. Soon all the memories of Sora will come back to the others. They were almost done.
"The same thing is happening to everyone who had ties to Sora. Very soon, to them, he'll be like a good friend who's gone away for a year."
"..." Riku walked over to take the other good chair in the room, getting comfortable. "I've waited, and now I want to know. What is it that you want?"
"Revenge." His answer was immediate.
"Revenge..." Riku clinched his fists into the chair's arms. He has gone down this road before, it didn't lead anywhere good.
"Now, for the finishing touches." DiZ began to instruct their next course of action. "First, we must dispose of Naminé. She did a splendid job with Sora, but it's high time she disappeared. Roxas isn't the only one who was never meant to exist. Take care of it, Ansem."
"..."
Restoration was at 97%. Roxas's time will be up soon...and Naminé's was in trouble too...
The 6th Day
Riku had come in to Naminé's room through a Dark Corridor to check in on her task. She was sitting at the table where she normal was, drawing. She put her pastels down when she saw him come in.
"Are the preparations for Sora completed?" Riku asked her which she nodded in compliance.
"Yeah. We'll be able to meet again soon."
"..." Riku couldn't help but notice what she was drawing. "That picture?"
"It's Roxas and...his friends from that world. Even though it will be nice to live like this forever..."
"..."
"I know. You came to erase me, right?" Naminé stated, already knowing this was bound to happened the moment her job was done. She had accepted it. "DiZ said, when my job is over I am "no longer necessary." But, I have a favor to ask."
"?"
"Let me see Roxas just once more." Naminé requested, the determination burning in her eyes. "There's something I want to tell him no matter what."
"..." Riku said nothing, lifting up a hand to summon a Dark Corridor.
"!?"
"You better hurry. DiZ is summoning Roxas to the mansion today." Was the only heads up Riku gave her before entering the Corridor to take care of his part. Making sure Roxas made it to the mansion. He had arrived just when Roxas had made it to the hangout and realized that none of his friends could see him or even remembered him. He was hurt to the point he was hardly concerned when Axel made his appearance with a hoard of Dusks.
Axel tried one last time to make Roxas remember who he was before the Organization forced him to erase Roxas. At one point he had almost believed that Roxas remembered him, but it was only a false hope. Roxas fought off the Dusks coming at him and made a run for the mansion in the woods when DiZ halted time in the simulation. DiZ had called him to the mansion, he had hoped to finally get some answers.
Roxas had rushed to the mansion with the Dusks hot on his tail, only to be stopped by a lock on the gate.
"Don't call me then lock me out..." Roxas said to the voice that called to him, DiZ, before a memory of Sora reminded him of the Power of the Keyblade. Summoning it to his hand he turned its blade to the keyhole.
The Keyblade instantly went to his aid by unlocking the gate for him. No time to question it, Roxas ran inside the mansion. Riku covered his back as he made his appearance to stop the Dusks from getting passed the gate. He fought hard with Soul Eater but the number of Dusks kept growing and growing. They just kept coming to the point he had to retreat further into the mansion. He thought he had bought them enough time but Roxas was still on the upper Floors. What was taking them so long?
Opening a Dark Corridor right where Roxas was, he found them all inside Naminé's room. It seems that Naminé had hijacked her simulation copy. He had figured she would, she had things that she wanted to say to Roxas. But he was surprised to see DiZ actually there. He usually left the first-hand interaction in the simulation to Riku. But it would seem that he too was invested in Roxas hurrying along with this.
"DiZ, we're out of time. Too many Nobodies!" Riku warned DiZ to the situation. They would have to leave the simulation soon. But all parties were startled when another Dark Corridor made its entrance into the room, only to reveal the real Naminé. Guess they were all actually in the simulation now. "!"
"Roxas. Nobodies like us are only half a person." Naminé said, rushing to get what she had to say out before she was stopped. "You won't disappear. You'll be whole!"
"I'll...disappear...?" Roxas was silently alarmed by this but still confused to the whole process.
"No further outbursts!" DiZ commanded, rushing over to Naminé to drag her back through the Corridor.
"No, you WON'T disappear! You'll-" Naminé quickly tried to explain before DiZ grabbed her and put a hand over her mouth before she could give away any more.
"Wait!" Roxas demanded, charging at DiZ to make him let Naminé go before Riku blocked his path.
"Roxas! We will meet again." Naminé insisted to him in assurance, breaking loose of DiZ's hand over her mouth but not out off his grip. DiZ surprisingly tried to silence her as gently as possibly while she was determined to say what she had to say to Roxas. "And then we can talk about everything. I may not know it's you, and you may not know it's me. But we will meet again. Someday soon. I promise!"
"Let her go!" Roxas demanded as DiZ and Naminé faded into the Corridor again and Riku retreated into his own Dark Corridor out of the simulation with them. "Naminé!"
Back in the monitor room, DiZ had dragged Naminé to the Janitor's closet- where the 'tools for cleaning' were. Tossing her inside so she could no longer interfere.
"Stay in here." DiZ commanded as he locked the door behind him. Riku came in as he saw DiZ do this.
"DiZ!"
"..." DiZ looked at Riku in accusing. "I thought I told you to finish off Naminé."
"I have no intention of going that far. If you want it done, do it yourself." Riku said, calling his bluff. As cold as DiZ tried to make himself out to be, he knew that deep in DiZ's heart that he was a soft guy that didn't want to dirty his hands but was still hurting. He knew that DiZ couldn't do it so that's why he wanted Riku to do it, just like when he would make Riku take those things away from Roxas. Riku knew that deep down DiZ didn't like the idea of doing things this way but knew it had to be done to reach his goal, so he steeled himself. Putting up a cold wall around himself and hardening his heart to do what needed to be done.
"..." DiZ knew somewhere Riku had figured him out but he would not admit to Riku that he was right, only smirked. "Hm, I see."
"More importantly, the number of Nobodies is too high. Do something." Riku said, looking at the monitors. The Dusks had literally taken over the simulation town.
"The final struggle?" DiZ contemplated aloud to the Organization as he went to the monitors, typing in some things and entered the last commands to the simulation. "But, it's too late."
The command acted as a Virus Ware, purging the foreign entities from the system. The Dusks deleted in masses from the town in one foul wave at the click of a button.
"Heh heh heh," DiZ chuckled to himself. "Oh how magnificent is the prelude of my revenge."
"..." Riku just watched, silently worried for DiZ. He knew that a good man was still there from the Sense of his heart. But...even good men could fall to darkness if they let their past pains rule over them. He truly hoped that...DiZ wouldn't lose himself in the pursuit of his revenge.
For now, he would just sit back. Things were finally coming to an end. Roxas was fighting through the only remaining Dusks in the simulation- which survived merely because they were inside the mansion during the system purging- and making his way to the library and the hidden entrance to the basement lab it hid.
As Roxas came to the computer room and looked at the monitors the memories of his capture started to flood his head. He remembered what he was...
A Nobody.
A being born in the space between light and dark. An existence that isn't suppose to exist. He was born into existence with no meaning or emotions, entering the Organization that gave him a name and a coat. He defeated Heartless for them with no reasons or answers as to why and would continue to do so forever it seemed. He began to watch people with hearts as they interacted with each other...and he envied them. Roxas wanted to be like one of them. And for a time...he thought he could be like one of them...but...it was all a dream.
In a rage he destroyed the monitors with his Keyblade, lashing out as the sparks flied. They toyed with his memories, placed beautiful lies in his head, just to use him for their own gain. The idea that the memories that felt like he held for a lifetime were a fabricated lie was...overwhelming. Hurt, he moved on from the computer room to the pod area through the basement hall. Fighting through the Dusks...
"Simply amazing, Roxas." Axel complimented as he entered the fray.
"Axel." This time actually putting meaning behind his name.
"You really do remember me this time? I'm SO FLATTERED."
"!" Roxas grew alarmed for a second as Axel circled them off from the exits with fire.
"But you're too late!"
"..." In his pain and will not to be erased he had summoned two Keyblades...just like he did during his fight with Riku.
"Two!?" Summoning his weapons Axel entered the fight blazing. "Come here. I'll make it all stop."
"!" Roxas had to spend most of the fight staying in the air as Axel set the floor on fire, running along the wall to dodge Axel's attacks. But eventually after a long struggle Roxas came out the winner. "Got'cha!"
"Rox..as..." Axel grunted in pain, leaning over as he tried to regain his strength.
"..." Roxas watched remembering his last memory of Axel and him. The one person he truly would miss when he left the Organization. The only person he would consider his best friend. "Axel..."
"Let's meet again in the next life."
"Yeah. I'll be waiting."
"Silly." Axel sadly said as he was forced to make his retreat through a Dark Corridor out of the simulation. "Just because you have a next life..."
"..." Watching Axel till the last moment before pressing on. Roxas walked through the door to the basement corridor where he saw multiple pods aligning the wall. He recognized the occupants inside them from the dreams... "Donald...Goofy?"
If they were here then Sora must be...in the other room. Still frightened of what's to come, Roxas steadied himself and pressed on through the next door. To make sure all went smoothly to plan, DiZ had sent a copy of himself to meet Roxas there.
"At last, the Keyblade's chosen one."
"Who are you talking to? Me? Or Sora?" Roxas asked him.
"To half of Sora, of course." DiZ answered. "You reside in darkness. What I need is someone who can move about the realm of light and destroy Organization XIII."
"Why? Who are you?"
"I am a servant of the world." DiZ laughed at the notion. "And, if I'm a servant, then you should consider yourself a tool, at best."
"Was that... Was that supposed to be a joke?" Roxas said in rage, summoning his Keyblade. "'Cause I'm not laughing!"
He charged at DiZ, striking at him with his Keyblade. Alarmed when it went right through him. Only for that surprise to immediately turn to rage.
"My apologies. This is only a data-based projection."
"Ahhh!" Roxas cried out in rage, continuing to swing at DiZ's hologram in frustration. DiZ had just stood there and allowed it to happen until Roxas tired himself out. Transporting his hologram behind Roxas and closer to the pod in the center of the room.
"Come, over here."
"!" Roxas turned to DiZ with a jolt, a tear escaping his eye and bitterness in his voice. "I hate you so much..."
"You should share some of that hatred with Sora." DiZ absentmindedly suggested as if waving off his declaration. "He's far too nice for his own good."
"No! My heart belongs to me!" Roxas clarified one last time in defiance as he charged at DiZ again. But before he could strike DiZ left entirely. Just in time for Sora's pod to open as his restoration hit 100%. Roxas had turned to him ready to fight. But in that moment when he finally met Sora face to face a sense of home and wholeness had hit him hard and calmed his rage. The memories came in that made him want to align the pieces up. Sora's...and his... "Sora."
It was strange how a boy that slept so peacefully could cause him so much torment. But then...he was as much a victim in all this as Roxas was. Even so, Roxas felt cheated...he still had one more day of vacation left.
"You're lucky." Roxas said, smiling as he took a step closer, accepting his fate to return to his other half. "Looks like my summer vacation is...over."
In a simple and clean ray of light the boy that was fading returned to his other half and became whole again.
*** Author's Notes ***
KH2 storyline might take 6-8 chapters to go through, we'll see how it goes. I'm really hoping that its 6, but again it'll depend on the flow. Either way, that's one chapter down. Yay!