Chapter 28
Roxas was running up and down the school frantically searching for Namine. For two days, he searched and to no success. Even Denzel and Marlene were out searching. At last, they decided to meet in Roxas's dorm.
"It's no use. She's not here. And Xehanort is missing too." said Marlene.
"Not just him. So are the people he works with. They are gone too. But the office is locked. It was the first place I checked." said Roxas.
"Should we ask for help? Isn't there some people in school that we can trust?" asked Denzel.
"Riku could have been a person to turn to. But he's gone too." said Roxas.
"What do you mean gone?" asked Marlene.
"He's been missing as well. Riku is not here. He vanished around the same time Kairi went missing. I don't know all the details, but I think they are part of the resistance." said Roxas.
"If so, then he's probably going to find Namine too." said Denzel.
"We can only hope so." said Roxas.
…..
Oblivion wasn't the same as before. A lot of the students as well as some of the teachers were now careful in the halls. Xehanort and his conspirators may be gone, but Roxas could still feel that evil watching over them. Everyone felt it perhaps? He wasn't so sure.
He sat down with his friends Hayner, Pence and Olette. Sitting across from them was Xion, sadly sitting by herself, drinking a soda.
"That girl over there… don't you know her Roxas?" asked Olette.
Roxas didn't want to explain to his friends his family's history with Xion. Ventus and Vanitas fought over her and she chose Vanitas. All that, he decided to keep to himself.
"She was a friend of one of my brothers." he decided to say.
"Want to invite her over? She looks lonely." said Olette.
Hayner and Pence didn't say a word, but Roxas nodded nervously. Olette stood up from the desk and walked over to Xion.
"Hey. Want to sit with us?" asked Olette.
Xion looked up and then looked at the table. She at first hesitated, seeing Roxas there. But she nodded in agreement.
"Sure." she answered sweetly.
"Great. Please sit wherever you like." said Olette. Xion sat down and the boys simply smiled at her.
"You like Jack Skellington?" asked Hayner, looking at Xion's blouse. It was all black, except for the large print of Jack's face on it.
"Yes I do. I love his music! Have you guys heard "What's This?" said Xion.
"Yeah. It's the first one I listen to on Spotify!" cried Pence.
"Pence is a huge Jack fan. He's got all his posters." said Hayner.
"Guilty." said Pence.
"My boyfriend's into him too. But lately, I've been listening to 4 Town." said Xion.
"No way! You like 4 Town!? They are so cute!" exclaimed Olette.
Roxas relaxed a little. Xion seemed to have proper communication with these guys.
A couple of minutes later, after they all left for class, Xion caught up with Roxas in the hallway. Roxas wanted to avoid this confrontation, but it was no use.
"Do you know where Vanitas is?" she asked.
"I don't. I've been looking for him too." said Roxas.
"What's going on? Do you know something?" asked Xion.
Roxas didn't know what to do. In his dreams, he too was friends with Xion. Really good friends along with Axel.
"I will tell you everything I know. But can you keep it a secret?" asked Roxas.
He and Xion went out into the garden, outside Rafiki's Tree.
"... and after that, Namine was taken. However, from what I've heard, Vanitas is missing, along with a handful of others." said Roxas.
"Sora is gone too? I'm so sorry… I really liked him. He wasn't as insecure as Ven." said Xion.
"Excuse me, but Ven was a really good brother who loved the three of us very much. Perhaps Vanitas satanized him, but this I could tell you; Ven was our guardian angel." said Roxas.
"Ven left you all." said Xion.
"Maybe he was taken! Maybe he left to fight against Xehanort or those heartless bastards that worship darkness. I don't know, but you don't you dare say those things to me!" warned Roxas.
Xion looked like she was going to cry. "Don't do that. I don't like seeing you cry." said Roxas.
"What?" asked Xion.
"Did Vanitas ever tell you more about… Sora and me? What do we do or what we have?" asked Roxas.
"A little. Something about you guys seeing visions." said Xion, wiping off some tears.
"They are not visions. They are dreams. And Sora and I dream a lot about things. In my dreams, you are a friend of mine. It's a long story, but you and I were members of an evil organization. Axel is there too and he's our friend. The three of us are. And we talk for hours and hours…" Roxas was saying.
Xion put her arms around herself, like she was cold. "You mean to tell me that you and I were a couple?" she asked baffled.
"Oh no! Nothing of the sort! We were just good friends." said Roxas.
"Sounds weird." said Xion.
"You know what's even weirder? You and Vanitas. You two never actually meet in the dreams. You two don't even know each other." said Roxas.
"What? I don't know Vanitas? You're lying!" cried Xion.
"No, that's the truth. You don't know each other. And even if you guys did, you two would have been enemies." said Roxas.
Xion slapped Roxas across the face. "Lies! All lies!" she cried.
Roxas ignored Xion's slap. "I don't have the answers to everything. But there is something going on in Oblivion. And I know Sora went out to find those answers. My brother is brave and he won't give up." said Roxas.
"But then…. What are we going to do?" asked Xion.
"We'll help here on our end. We are in Oblivion, the heart of pretty much everything evil. The school is huge and it will take some time, but let's begin to find out who Xehanort really is." said Roxas.
"Do you think your dreams may have the answer?" asked Xion.
"Perhaps. And there's another person we can trust. One who's been close to Xehanort since day one." said Roxas.
…..
"Sorry but no." said Axel. Roxas and Xion found him walking in the halls and they cornered him.
"Axel, please. In my dreams, you are a good friend of mine. Well, you are my friend in real life too, but you might know things." said Roxas.
"Dude, you don't want to get involved in any of this. Xehanort and his cohorts don't even fill me in. Heck, I haven't see the old man in a long time!" said Axel.
"Makes sense. Perhaps he knows Axel is a good person." said Xion.
"From what I've heard, the resistance is on the move. They plan to stop the old man from world domination, or so I've heard." said Axel.
"Who are his cohorts?" asked Roxas.
"This is going to sound outrageous. The lord of the underworld, Hades. King Scar, The Horned King, Frollo, and of course the one winged angel himself, Sephiroth." said Axel.
Xion's eyes widened. "Are you serious?" she whispered.
"I saw them." said Axel.
"Where!?" cried Roxas.
"I saw them enter the office the other day. Xehanort kicked me out and told me to return a few hours later. When I did, everyone was gone." said Axel.
"Then there's nothing we can do at this point." said Roxas.
"Yes there is. They are not here. And perhaps we can form a resistance of our own." said Xion.
Roxas was surprised. "You want to form something here? A couple of minutes ago, you didn't want to get involved in any of this." said Roxas.
"Do you know where Vanitas went?" asked Xion.
"No. I haven't seen Vanitas either. Not since Braig died." said Axel.
"Braig is dead?!" cried Roxas.
"Yeah. He died trying to kidnap Sora. You didn't know?" asked Axel.
"There was so much we don't know. And what do you mean that Sora was going to be kidnapped?" asked Roxas.
Axel shook his head. "I'm sorry. It looks like we are falling into Xehanort's hands. He wants us all to lose ourselves and be confused. Look, I don't know what is going on, but the Resistance is on its way. For now, all we can do is wait." said Axel.
"Waiting isn't good enough. Xehanort took our friends away and he's using them like pawns in a chess game. It feels like that to me. And because of that old man, we can't live our lives like normal kids." said Xion.
"My thoughts exactly." said a woman's voice. Aqua appeared before everyone.
"Ms. Aqua! You were hearing us?" asked Roxas.
"I know all too well what is going on. And I will fill you all in. Come follow me to Rafiki's tree." said Aqua.