Xion always had mixed feelings about missions to new worlds. Yes, it was nice to explore different locales, but there was nothing worse than having to do recon every time. Recon usually boiled down to looking at a few different places and trailing behind random people for some reason.
At least this time she was with Roxas. The last time she had been on a mission with him was when she couldn't even summon her keyblade. Thankfully, that issue was no longer a problem, then again, it was funny seeing Roxas fighting with a stick.
As they travelled through the new world, The Chocolate Factory as Saix had called it, Xion couldn't help but look at how large the building in the distance was. The titular factory, she supposed.
She heard a sneeze behind her, and couldn't stop herself turning to look at a guilty looking Roxas, who shrugged in response. It was very cold.
"You know," Roxas muttered, "you'd think these coats would give us more protection." Xion couldn't help but agree, it seemed these overlong coats only were good for warding off darkness in the corridors and not much else.
"True." Xion responded, "I also thought that a world named after a chocolate factory would be more colorful."
They had arrived in this world a few hours earlier, and frankly it wasn't much to look at. Sure the falling snow was nice, but the area itself gave off a depressing vibe. Xion wondered if it had always been this dreary.
Finally, they had exited the town and arrived at… a garbage dump. Roxas looked as disappointed as she felt.
"Knowing our luck, the chocolate probably doesn't even taste good either," Roxas said. Whatever Xion was about to retort with was cut off by a new voice.
"Are you kidding? It's the best chocolate in the entire world!" Xion ignored the urge to quip back that it wasn't much to be the best of only one of the worlds. She looked to see a young boy, possibly around 10 or so, staring at them from the dump.
Well, shit. They had been spotted. Saix was going to kill them.
The young boy ran up to them. He looked rather skinny, as if he hadn't eaten in quite some time. The boy was also carrying various odds and ends: a broken umbrella, one mitten, a book that seemed to be missing pages, and a couple of chocolate wrappers.
"Don't tell me you've never tried a Wonka bar?" The young boy asked them.
Xion and Roxas looked between each other. They had never even heard of a Wonka. The young boy's eyes widened.
"Willy Wonka's only the best, the most Amazing and Fantastical chocolatier who ever lived!" The young boy responded.
Ah, that must be who owns the factory, Xion thought before hearing a shrill whistle in the distance which caused the young boy to look up..
A whistle echoed through the sky. The boy looked up.
"Ah, I need to run home! Nice to meet you," The boy responded and with that he had run off.
Xion turned to look at Roxas as he looked at the dump.
"So we're in agreement to not mention this to Saix?" she asked as Roxas nodded.
"What's a kid his age doing at the dump?" Roxas asked as another voice responded.
"The kid fancies himself an inventor." They looked to see what appeared to be a tramp walking out of the dump. "Bad habit of daydreaming, that Charlie Bucket. Finds items people leave behind and repurposes them. A good kid though." He stared at them for a second and shifted into a defensive pose. "What do you two want with him?"
Xion and Roxas immediately responded that they didn't want anything and that they were passing through. He didn't seem to believe them.
Xion was about to say something, when she felt a dark presence - a heartless had manifested. While recon missions didn't have the quota most other missions did, they were still expected to fight at least a few along the way.
"Sir, you really should move," Xion told the strange man. He looked at her, and then at the soldiers that had appeared, and then seemed to concede the issue. He gave her a strange look and then disappeared into the night.
Xion had a feeling she would be seeing a lot more of him, and her gut feeling would be right.