"I hate you so much." Roxas said glaring at the man known only as DiZ as he brandished his weapon, the Keyblade.
The bandaged man only laughed, "Then perhaps you should share some of that hatred with Sora, he's far too nice for his own good." He replied, his voice full of a sadistic mirth before he disappeared, leaving Roxas alone in the chamber with a Flower Bud like pod containing his other, Sora.
Roxas stared at him with jealousy, "What makes you so important that my life, my feelings, my wants are so unimportant?" He asked the sleeping boy, not expecting an answer. Roxas then sighed and approached him as he dispersed his Keyblade, "You're lucky, you know that." He said before noticing Sora had a sad expression on his face as if he could feel Roxas's own sadness.
"Are you pitying me?" He asked in annoyance before a feeling of sadness washed over him. A feeling not his own, it was Sora's sadness, his heart had connected to Roxas and he was experiencing all of Roxas's sorrow and anger and as such he felt his own sadness at it. Both feelings mixed as Roxas was slowly absorbed into him, fading away as he did.
"I guess this is it then, looks like my vacation is over." Roxas said before completely fading away,or at least that's how it seemed to anyone watching.
Roxas opened his eyes and found himself standing in nothing but darkness. Confused at why he was in such a place, he called out, "Sora" in concern only for a bright light to overtake him and his surroundings and suddenly he found himself falling rapidly.
"What the hell?!?!" He shouted as he crashed through some trees, his checkerboard pattern jacket getting torn as was getting caught on several branches on the way down. Roxas protected his face and torso as he plummeted and smashed through the trees until he eventually hit the ground, bounced, rolled, and came to a stop face down in the dirt, groaning in pain.
"That could have gone better, but I guess it could have been worse too." He thought with a groan as he picked himself up off the ground and looked around getting a good look at his surroundings. He was in a forest with tall pine and oak trees everywhere, a few small animals were darting off, and birds were flying overhead, no doubt spooked by all the noise he made as he crashed. "Where am I? I don't recognize this world at all." Roxas spoke, mainly just talking to himself.
Roxas paused, however, as he could hear the sound of fighting, metal against metal and spells being cast nearby. "Someone's either fighting or training." He muttered before hearing a loud roar and immediately ran off in the direction of the noise, his keyblade coming to his hand in the form of the Kingdom Key.
When he arrived he saw a group of grotesque monsters that seemed to be a strange cross between a zombie and a ghoul, he idly noted that Jack Skellington would like to have them for his town. They made an inhuman sound that was a cross between growling and moaning loudly while their armor and weapons were old and rusty, clearly old and looked like it was haphazardly put together. The amount of Darkness he could feel emanating from them reminded Roxas of the Heartless, only these things seemed much more savage.
Said monsters were currently surrounding a tall tan skinned man with long black hair in the shape of a ponytail, a small beard lightly covering his face, and his attire consisted of Silver armor on his chest and arms, a belt going across his armor, and a long cloth covering his legs with silver armor on the sides. In his hands was a dagger in one and a long sword in the other with the dagger being in a reverse grip.
It didn't take a genius to see that he was in trouble, and Roxas had no reason not to help him, so he quickly leapt forward throwing Kingdom Key at the nearest monster and cutting its head off before slamming into another few knocking them away before the blade returned to Roxas' hand as he stood back to back with the man.
The man was surprised to see Roxas suddenly appear and was even more surprised to see what he was wielding, "A Keyblade." He said with his voice full of awe before steeling himself to focus on the fight and joined Roxas as they battled together. They both cut down each creature that stood before them one by one with Roxas adding in magic by casting the one spell he could remember so far.
"FIRE" he shouted as a ball of flame was shot from the Keyblade striking one of the creatures in the chest burning it to ashes before he spun and cut through another while the man quickly cut down two more.
Soon all the creatures were dead and Roxas found himself covered in their blood, it was a surreal experience to say the least since he was used to fighting Heartless and Nobodies, which don't bleed as they have no blood to bleed.
He then turned as the man he helped walked over to him, "I thank you for your help, young man." The warrior said with gratitude as he began sheathing his weapons as Roxas nodded to him.
"It was no problem, I couldn't just stand by and do nothing." Roxas said as if it was the obvious thing for someone to do. "My name's Roxas by the way." Roxas introduced as he offered his hand to shake.
"Well met, Roxas, my name is Duncan, I am a member of the Grey Wardens." The now named Duncan stated as he shook Roxas' hand and noticed his confusion at being a Grey Warden. "I noticed you wield the Keyblade, a most dangerous weapon to be in the hands of someone so young." He stated making Roxas raise an eyebrow in slight surprise.
"Yeah, well, the dumb thing chose me to be its wielder, why I don't know, but how do you know about the Keyblade? Most people just think it's some weird weapon with no knowledge of it." Roxas asked since it was true.
"The Keyblade is quite infamous to those who know ancient history, my friend. One bit of history that is torn between being fact and myth states that it once belonged to a Mage of the Tevinter Imperium, he along with three others entered the Fade and using the Keyblade and powers of Darkness managed to reach the Golden City, the throne of the Maker and his wife Andraste." Duncan explained as Roxas nodded, though nothing he mentioned sounded familiar at all. "When their dark hearts reached out and touched it, the Golden City turned Black and the four Mages were casted out and were transformed into the First Darkspawn for their impudence while the city itself is said to still exist and be sealed off from ever being entered by the souls of the just again. It isn't said what happened to the Maker and Andraste." He finished his tale as Roxas nodded.
"What are Darkspawn?" He couldn't help but ask and Duncan gained a surprised expression
"The creatures we had just finished slaying, soulless monsters that thrive in the deep underground below the surface." He informed, not sure how to react to someone actually not knowing what the Darkspawn are, "Their numbers are growing by the day and I fear a Blight is upon us." He added, though quickly realized that Roxas didn't know what a Blight was.
"I'm guessing that's a bad thing." Roxas quipped as he could hear the seriousness in his tone.
"It is indeed. A Blight refers to a period when Darkspawn find and corrupt one of the Old Gods, ancient draconic creatures slumbering within the depths of the earth, which is then transformed into an Archdemon by the taint and it leads the horde to attack the surface world in an organized fashion." He explained making Roxas think to the Organization and that Fake Ansem fucker that Sora killed. "It has no purpose other than to cause countless deaths and attempt to end all life that does not serve it." Duncan said in a serious tone and Roxas again went back to the fake Ansem and others that used Darkness. "But this is why we Grey Wardens exist, to fight back the Darkspawn at all cost as we are the only ones that can truly kill an Archdemon should one arise." Duncan continued making Roxas connect the Grey Wardens to the Keyblade warriors.
Roxas sighed as he had to sit down for a minute now knowing he just got dropped into an apocalyptic situation. "That was a lot to take in." He stated wondering if he got free from sora just to have to keep fighting in a new war.
"Hehe indeed." Duncan said chuckling before helping him up since staying in the area wasn't the best plan. "Now, what about you Roxas? By your attire you clearly aren't of these lands, what's your story?" He asked out of curiosity, though based on the reaction he got, he supposed he shouldn't have asked.
Roxas frowned while clenching his hands tight, "It's complicated. Let's just say, I was going to be someone's sacrificial lamb to quote 'save the worlds from darkness because there was no other way' end quote, and the person I was being sacrificed to let me go, or at least I think he did." He said annoyed that his life was considered expendable compared to Sora's.
Duncan could see this was a sore subject for the teen and didn't press any further, while he wanted to learn more about his new young friend, he didn't want to drum up anymore pain and bad memories. "Roxas, if you don't mind, I'd like to offer you a chance to start over here, if you'd like." Duncan stated knowing that he needed recruits and having a Keyblade wielder could be what they needed to turn the tide.
"What do you mean?" Roxas asked, wondering if he was getting talked into something he wasn't going to support again.
"I'm asking you to join the Grey Wardens, we are in desperate need of more recruits to face the coming Blight. Right now, there's only about 7 of us, and I'd rather have more of us should an Archdemon appear. Also… I won't lie and say that having a Keyblade wielder on our side couldn't drastically turn the tide in our favor." Duncan stated deciding to be honest with him since from the impression he got, he'd been fed enough lies and he didn't want to lose the trust of the young man.
Even if he didn't become a Warden, having him on their side against the Darkspwan could still prove invaluable.
"You would have me? You know nothing of what I am, where I'm from, or what I've done." He asked not really believing that Duncan was just offering him a place among the ranks of what were essentially this world's guardians.
Duncan smiled kindly at him, "Grey Wardens do not discriminate, all are welcome to join and we've taken people from all walks of life some join out of desperation, some out of a sense of honor, some for adventure, some for power, and still others to have a purpose in life. We welcome them all as our brothers and sisters should they succeed in the trials and initiation. The same will be for you, regardless of your past, succeed and you will be our brother and we will stand by you until death claims us." He explained, perhaps being a tad dramatic, but it was still the truth regardless of theatrics.
Roxas frowned in thought, considering the offer carefully. He thought back to the beginning of his existence and how every choice he had was made for him by someone else, be it the Organization or Diz and that Dickhead Riku. They gave him the illusion of control, but really he wasn't ever in control of his fate. He joined and served the Organization because they welcomed him and educated him and thus had nowhere to go, then Xion was forced against him, and then Riku lost and then tried again forcing him to become a fake person in a fake town, and then pushed to join Sora for answers without really having a choice.
But, this time it was his choice, he got to decide his own fate and he felt that Duncan would actually honor his choice, regardless of what it was.
But that also begged the question: Would joining the Wardens just be joining the Organization all over again? He had nowhere else to go, he had no knowledge of this world, he didn't know who to trust, or anything really. However, there was a big difference between Xemnas offering him a place and Duncan doing it: Duncan had a heart and thus had a conscience, feelings, and humanity left.
So… there was really only one choice, "I'd be honored to join you, Duncan." Roxas said, shaking his hand as Duncan smiled, both in relief and some slight happiness.
"Excellent, now come, we have a long journey ahead of us, we are headed for Ostigar, where the King Of Ferelden is waiting for us with his armies to help stop the Darkspawn. It is also where we will do the initiation for the Warden recruits." Duncan stated as he turned in a direction and began walking.
"Alright then, lead the way." Roxas said following after Duncan and to the start of his new path and life.
"We will be traveling south through the hinterlands to the Ruins of Ostagar, on the edge of the Korcari Wilds." Duncan explained to him during the beginning of their long trek, though he quickly realized he'd have to explain more to his new charge. "The Tevinter Imperium built Ostagar long ago to prevent the Wildlings from reaching the northern lowlands. It's fitting we make our stand there, even if we face a different and much more dangerous foe in the forest." He explained as they trekked to the old fortress, though they did stop at a stream to get the blood off of them.
Upon reaching Ostagar, it was quite the sight to behold, even if parts of it had long since crumbled away, the old fortress stood tall against the world like it wasn't possible to demolish it. It was made even more impressive by the army gathered and camping there.
"The King's forces have clashed with the darkspawn several times, mostly small skirmishes and fights, but here is where the bulk of the hoard will show itself and hopefully the Archdemon will show itself so we can end this." Duncan explained as they walked through some of the encampment with Roxas seeing a few people apparently suffering some sickness. "As I said before, there are only a few Grey Wardens in Ferelden at the moment, but all of us are here as we must put down the Archdemon at all costs. We've also called for aid from a branch of our group in another country in hopes that should we fall, they will be able to finish this fight quickly. This Blight must be stopped here and now before it spreads north into Ferelden and possibly beyond." Duncan said in grave tone as they entered the fortress with Roxas taking in the sights still.
"Ho there, Duncan." Said a voice drawing attention as a long haired blonde man in shining Golden Armor and armed with a golden shield and Silver Sword approached them smiling in a friendly and welcoming manner.
Duncan was shocked, "King Cailin! I didn't expect-" He started only for the now named Cailin to cut him off.
"A royal welcome? I was beginning to worry you'd miss all the fun and giving me the chance to stand beside you in combat." The king said with a cheeky smile on his face making Roxas confused on if this guy was really a king or just some guy that was just rich or had enough blood to make him be a king.
"Not if I could help it, your Majesty." Duncan said, his tone full of exhaustion, apparently not liking that the king was so eager for fighting and not taking the threat seriously.
"Then I'll have the Mighty Duncan at my side in battle, after all! Glorious! The other Wardens tell me that you sent word that you may have found a very promising new recruit, is this him?" The King asked with excitement as he turned his attention to Roxas, who really wished he had stayed back and not been drawn into this.
"Umm, greetings your Majesty, my Name is Roxas." Roxas stated giving a light bow to show respect, no reason to piss off a king within moments of meeting him.
"Pleasure to meet you, my young friend, I'm sure you have plenty of stories to tell about your time traveling with Duncan." He said hopefully and Roxas was starting to wonder if this was a man or a boy that looked like a man.
"I would be happy to tell you all about our Journey your majesty, though perhaps when we don't have a possible war brewing." Roxas said wanting to deflect from having to sit and tell stories to the childlike king.
"Oh I certainly hope so, but you are correct. Right now, I must return to my tent. Loghain waits eagerly to bore me with his strategies and plans to combat our enemies." He said, though his tone was one of slightly annoyance and boredom.
"He's a bit immature for a king ain't he. It's like he just plans to charge headlong into the horde and will win just because he wants to win." Roxas thought to himself, "Though I guess, I was the same way for quite a while. Worlds knows I charged straight into the Heartless and hacked away recklessly at the start before I started paying attention to how to fight correctly." Roxas thought remembering when he would just charge into the Heartless and hack away, not paying attention to his surroundings or fighting properly.
"Your Uncle sends his greetings and reminds you that The Red Cliff forces could be here in less than a week should you wish to wait." Duncan explained with a tone indicating that he did want the king to wait and get more forces with them.
"Ha! Eamon just wants in on all the Glory! We've won three battles with those monsters and tomorrow will be no different, there's no reason to wait for more soldiers." He said confidently as Roxas raised an eyebrow not understanding why a king defending his people would turn down more men and help to ensure the death toll wasn't high.
"Forgive me, your majesty, but if this is a Blight, wouldn't it be better to have more soldiers ready to face the enemy and possibly keep the death toll on our side down?" Roxas asked and was a bit surprised as the king shrugged and looked a bit saddened.
"I'm not even sure that this is a true Blight, there are plenty of Darkspawn, but there is no sign of the Archdemon." He said with disappointment clear in his voice.
"Disappointed your Majesty?" Duncan asked with an undertone of annoyance and censure.
"I was just hoping for a battle like the stories of old: a King riding with the Grey Warden against a Tainted God with the fate of the world hanging in the balance." He answered with a sigh, "But I suppose this will have to do, not every king gets to destroy a Blight, but a massive Darkspawn horde shall do as material the first of many songs to be sung." He said dramatically, making Roxas resist the urge to facepalm. "Now, I must go before Loghain sends out a search party and drags me there. Farewell, Grey Wardens." He said as both Roxa and Duncan bowed in respect as he departed.
There was an awkward silence after he left. "So… he sounds confident, which I guess is better than him being scared out of his mind and timid." Roxas stated as Duncan sighed and nodded.
"Well, what the King said was true, they have won many battles and skirmishes here." Duncan stated though his tone conveyed that he didn't believe it was enough to warrant so lax thinking.
"Yet there's still a massive horde there and it hasn't shrunk or scattered. Meaning there could be something bigger going on." Roxas said bluntly as Duncan smirked slightly and motioned for Roxas to follow him to.the Bridge.
"Despite the victories, the horde grows day by day and by now I fear they'll soon outnumber us." Duncan said with a grim tone, "I know there's an archdemon behind this, but I cannot ask the king to act solely on my feelings." He explained as Roxas raised an eyebrow.
"Why not? He seems to regard the Grey Wardens highly and even has a bit of hero worship of you." Roxas asked and Duncan snorted.
"Yet, his regard is not enough to convince him to wait for reinforcement from the Wardens of Orlais, the neighboring country, as he believes our legends make him invulnerable." Duncan explained, "However, our numbers in Ferelden are few and we need more soldiers and fighters, so we must look to Tyrn Loghain to make up the difference and increase our chances." Duncan stated and Roxas nodded before he frowned and Duncan saw it. "What is it?" Duncan asked and Roxas sighed.
"A thought occurred to me as we talked about the battles and skirmishes that happened." Roxas stated and Duncan motioned for him to speak. "What if those weren't attacks? What if they were sacrificial moves by the enemy to test our defenses, the number of our forces, and our strength? If they truly have a horde and it is increasing by the day, they have numbers to sacrifice to gather intelligence on us to properly attack." Roxas stated as Duncan froze mid-step as the implications and ramifications of what Roxas just suggested hit him like a ton of bricks.
"If that is the case, our enemy could be preparing to route our forces and counter any strategies and placements we've set up." Duncan stated feeling a cold chill go down his spine.
"There's also the fact that if the Darkspawn can come up from under the ground, they could in theory plan an ambush by pulling the ground from under us in an ambush." He stated and Duncan placed his hand on his face while releasing a shuddering breath.
"By the Maker, I've been a fool and too lax in anticipating the enemy." Duncan stated as he looked at Roxas, "Not even a Warden yet, and you're already proving yourself. I will bring these matters up when I see the king later for strategy planning. However, we need to get you as a true Warden since if they are using tactics and planning against us, then there is no denying that an Archdemon is present. To that end we must proceed with the Joining ritual without delay." Duncan stated as Roxas raised an eyebrow at him.
"What Ritual?" Roxas asked remembering him mentioning trials and an initiation, but no ritual.
"Every Recruit must go through a secret ritual that we call the Joining in order to become a Grey Warden. It is brief, but also dangerous and some preparation is required, thus we must begin soon." He said making Roxas a bit antsy as he felt that something VERY important wasn't being mentioned, but guessed Duncan had a reason, he just hoped it was a good one.
"Why is this ritual so secret?" Roxas had to ask since he needed something to calm his nerves.
"The Joining is dangerous and I cannot speak more about it, but you will know more all in good time, until then, you must trust that what is done is necessary, for your own safety as well as the Wardens." Duncan stated as Roxas frowned before finally nodding his head.
"You've not given me a reason to distrust you, so I'll go along, but afterwards I want no more secrets. If I'm risking my life, then I want to know what I am facing and risking it for." Roxas stated as Duncan smiled a bit and nodded.
"That is fair, my friend." Duncan stated knowing that what was at risk was dangerous, but for one so young to possibly risk his entire life for a country not his own, he could be honest with him about the risks and threats.
Roxas nodded, "So, am I the only recruit you have?" He asked in curiosity and Duncan shook his head.
"There are 2 other recruits here as well, they've been waiting for us to arrive as well as one of my Wardens who will be guiding you on the preparations for the ritual." Duncan stated as Roxas nodded.
"Well, then let's get this over with." Roxas said since there was no reason to delay it if they had such a huge threat against them.
"I must get some things prepared on my end first. Feel free to explore the camp if you wish, meet some of the people you will be fighting beside and here." Duncan stated before handing him a small sack with some gold. "Feel free to see if there are any weapons, supplies, or armor you feel you need. You can never be too prepared. All I ask is that you don't leave the area for the time being alone. There is another Grey Warden in the camp by the name of Alistair, speak to.him when you are ready to proceed with your part of the preparations." Duncan ordered and Roxas nodded since he had no intention of leaving the camp alone as he didn't want to get lost.
"Alright then, I'll see you soon." Roxas said as Duncan nodded.
"The Grey Warden tent is on the other side of the bridge should you wish to meet the other recruits before finding Alistair." He said before walking off leaving Roxas alone with his thoughts.
"Well, I guess this is the start of something new." He said to himself before summoning forth Kingdom Key and frowning at the sight of it. "This isn't mine." He said feeling as if he had a stranger's weapon. "I need something that better suits me." He stated as he closed his eyes and focused.
Roxas thought back to his time in the Organization and remembered one of his old Keyblades that always felt a bit… right when he held it. Focusing on the image and feel of the blade in question, Roxas willed the keyblade to change shape before a brief flash occurred. Opening his eyes, he saw that now in his hand was the Keyblade known as Total Eclipse.
Swinging it a few times, he nodded to himself, "Much better." He said before walking off into camp and dismissing his Keyblade.
A new adventure awaited him, now he just needed to make sure that he was ready for it.
