Let's pick off here we left off yet again, shall we? Also, I completely forgot that Roxas had six final days, not 7. The seventh day is when you-know-who wakes up.
Like usual, I own nothing but my OCs.
Here's chapter 3.
-o-o-o-o-
Chapter 3: Existence
As Axel and Roxas faced off a moment, before fighting. Before attacking, Axel spun his chakrams in his hands before rushing at Roxas to strike, and he blocked, causing Axel to jump back and avoid Roxas's attacks before blasting fire at Roxas. It hurt when it hit, but that wasn't even the worst part.
"Do I ring any bells yet?" Axel asked, sounding rather exasperated. It made Roxas pause in his tracks a moment, though he then had to avoid more strikes from Axel as the girl still watched, somewhat panicked.
Axel charged up an attack before yelling, "BURN!" He struck and then threw his blazing chakrams, and Roxas took the blunt of it. He was able to make a comeback though when he struck back, and the two kept clashing.
The girl began to sense another presence and got worried about what was to happen next, starting to puzzle something together, and looking away a moment. Roxas made the last strike in that time and knocked Axel back, and they stopped fighting.
In a swirl of data, a man in a red cloak and his head wrapped with red bandages appeared, and with a squeak the girl hid. Roxas looked back in surprise at the newcomer. Axel, however, narrowed his eyes. "So it was you."
He moved back and spun his chakrams, catching them aflame before throwing them at the man. However, a barrier stopped him and he appeared to be completely unaffected. As if Roxas weren't confused enough already, the man turned to him. It was like he was either trying to persuade or confuse him more with his next move once he spoke. "Roxas, this man speaks nonsense!"
Axel spoke, and then Roxas turned to face him, raising an eyebrow. "Roxas, don't let him deceive you!"
So then, as Roxas was caught in a web of perplexion, both Axel and the other man began calling his name at him, and like a confused dog, Roxas was stuck in place. Everything seemed to swirl around him as it started to become too much to take. Roxas started to then fell onto his knees, covering his ears in alarm out of weakness. "Hayner… Pence… Olette…" He grumbled.
The girl peeked up from where she was hiding as Roxas stood up, yelling angrily at the sky, "Hayner! Pence! Olette!"
"Great job, you two! You broke Roxas even more." stated the girl before there was a flash.
Roxas paused a moment as he heard all this cheering again from the tournament, and he had the struggle bat in hand. Before him, he saw Vivi fall over on his face, and nobody had any idea what just happened, though it appeared Vivi lost.
Vivi got up and looked around. "Huh…? How did I get here?" he asked himself before dropping the bat and then heading offstage. Roxas apparently won, and his friends came up to greet him as he was proclaimed the winner of the tournament.
He still had no clue what was going on, but he heard the fangirls in the crowd. And they were squealing and cheering, "Setzerrrrr!"
"Roxas, it's starting!" informed Olette, as the current Struggle champion waved to the crowd. Roxas turned to face his opponent.
As they were handed the bats and the producer left, Setzer requested for Roxas to throw the match (so he could win). But Roxas preferred to battle. And he did, despite Setzer's bragging and how he said he'd regret it and stuff. But he didn't.
In fact, Roxas wiped the floor with Setzer and won, and as Setzer was about to say something, Roxas's friends ran over. The previous Struggle champion simply left the stage as Roxas received the Champion's Belt and the trophy.
With a smile on her face, the mysterious girl vanished.
Later on, after the tournament, Roxas and his friends went up and sat on the Clocktower, with Roxas splitting the prize of the trophy with his friends. He gave them each one of the four crystals and they smiled, thanking him as they admired it in the sunlight. Roxas took the blue crystal. And then, as Olette was passing out sea salt ice cream, Roxas stood up and lost his balance, falling off the ledge.
Something weird happened while he did.
XxXxX
(Destiny Islands- Main Island)
A girl with deep red hair that went a bit past her shoulders was walking up a hill as it hit sunset, carrying her school bag in one hand. Her friend called after her as she was walking. "Kairi! Wait up!"
Kairi paused and turned around, with the other girl, being Selphie, meeting up with her. Walking side by side, the two of them went up the hill together. With a smile, Selphie proceeded to ask, "Hey, do you feel like going out to the island? Tidus and Wakka are all wrapped up in their ballgame and they won't go with me."
Kairi sadly looked at Selphie and began walking a bit faster. "Not today, sorry." She replied, leaving the other girl in the dust as she paused, somewhat shocked. Selphie was visibly disappointed.
"Aw, why not?" she complained, and Kairi paused in her tracks.
"Do you remember those boys and that girl who used to hang out with us?"
"Riku? And… um, Penelope, I think?"
Kairi nodded. Selphie then sighed, adding, "I wonder whatever happened to Riku. I sure miss him (and I guess Penelope too, but we didn't really talk all that much)."
The other girl's hair blew in the breeze a moment. "They're far away. But I know we'll see them again."
Selphie put her hands behind her back and smiled. "Sure. Of course we will."
"And that other boy?" Kairi asked, trying to recall their name. Selphie didn't seem to remember who she was talking about, looking to be in disbelief as she raised an eyebrow. "What other boy?"
"The one who was with Riku and me all the time- and we played together on that island. His voice always used to be there… but now it's gone." Kairi replied, staring at the sunset solemnly. "I can't think of his face, or his name. I feel awful about it. So I told myself- I'm not going to the island until I remember everything about him."
"Are you sure you didn't make him up?" Selphie asked, somewhat curious as she definitely didn't remember him.
Kairi nodded in response, but paused when she heard another boy's voice call her name. "Naminé?" They seemed to be talking to her in her head. Kairi put her hand on her head, somewhat confused by what she just heard.
XxXxX
As Roxas was falling to his death, he tried to communicate with Naminé somehow. "Naminé…? What's happening to me?" He tried to ask her. However, he didn't hear Naminé's voice in reply. In fact, he heard the voice of another girl.
"Who are you? And that's not my name. I'm Kairi."
"Kairi… I know you. You're that girl he likes."
"Who? Please, a name!"
"I'm Roxas."
"Okay, Roxas, but can you tell me HIS name?"
Another voice spoke through Roxas in his head all of the sudden. He could've sworn he heard it before somewhere. "You don't remember my name? Thanks a lot, Kairi!"
Roxas heard Kairi gasp. "O-kay, I guess I can give you a hint. Starts with an 'S'!"
For Roxas, it then went black.
As for Kairi, she was collapsed on the ground all of a sudden, concerning Selphie, who had no idea what just happened. When she awoke and began to rise, realizing something, Selphie put her hands on her friend's shoulders as she knelt by her. Her green eyes seemed concerned. "Are you okay?"
Kairi nodded, and quietly, Selphie stood up. Afterwards, Kairi stood up and stared at the Play Island, before looking at Selphie and grinning. Then, she hit the ground running as a revelation had just gone through her mind. She decided to head to the beach, though Selphie honestly had no idea what the heck just happened. Her friend reached after Kairi, but could do nothing as she was left in the dust, standing alone on the hill.
Then, Selphie finally caught up with Kairi, who was standing on the beach, staring out into the distance and holding a sealed bottle in hand. It contained a letter in it. "Kairi…? What's wrong?" Selphie inquired, furrowing her eyebrows together.
Kairi ran a hand through her hair and smiled, kneeling down and setting the bottle into the sea as it drifted out into the ocean. She watched it drift off as Selphie knelt down beside her.
Selphie was puzzled. "What's that?"
"A letter… I wrote it yesterday to the boy I can't remember. I said that no matter where he is… I'll find him. One day. And when I stopped writing, I remembered that we made a promise, something important. This letter is where it starts. I know it."
"Wow… I hope he gets it."
"He will." Kairi replied. A grin appeared on her face as she finally remembered his name, muttering it to herself. "Starts with an 'S'. Right, Sora?"
Kairi pronounced it a bit weird at the ending, adding emphasis onto it, but hey. At least she finally remembered his name.
XxXxX
(Old Mansion- Computer Room)
Sora was getting really close to recovering all of his memory, according the computer. "Restoration at 79%" it stated.
DiZ was especially pleased by the speed in progress. The taller cloaked man stood beside him, though the girl, who had her hood down this time, was staring at the wall. "His progress is astounding." He said.
Somehow, the cloaked man got Roxas's crystal, which he juggled in his hand a bit before stopping and turning to DiZ. "So what happened?" He asked, as he placed the crystal in the stolen munny pouch. Penelope curiously watched him as he walked over and stood closer to DiZ.
"Namine'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."
"AHEM." Penelope coughed from the back, and DiZ rolled his eyes.
The cloaked figure was curious, though. "But whose Nobody is she?"
"I could tell you…" began DiZ, who looked at the cloaked figure. "But first, perhaps you could tell me your true name?"
He took off his hood, revealing silvery-white hair and amber-orange eyes. "It's Ansem."
DiZ went silent, frowning a moment as he looked away before he burst out into laughter. Amused, he then said, "It's an honor, Ansem!"
Penelope rolled her eyes. "Oh look. You use your power, harm Roxas, harm me, and now you're calling yourself Ansem. It's so funny that it's stupid." She huffed, before leaving the room, and allowing the progress of Sora's memory recovery to keep going.
XxXxX
The Fifth Day
Roxas had a dream where he was falling into the darkness of a void, only to suddenly wake up and find he was ok… somehow. And that he also somehow wasn't in the hospital with broken bones and stuff. "I'm dreaming… But which parts… were the dream?"
He didn't understand it. But like usual, he got ready and met up with his friends in the Usual Spot. He was quiet, pondering over somethings as Olette stood in front of Hayner and Pence with her hands on her hips. Then, she stormed over to Roxas, putting her hands on her hips before moving them and crossing her arms with a frown on her face. For some reason, she was angry about something and he didn't understand what it was or why.
"Only three days left of summer vacation—so don't even mention that assignment!" exclaimed Hayner.
Olette glared at him. "But we agreed we'd get it finished today." She retaliated, still glaring down at Roxas, who refused to look at her.
"Yesterday… I fell off the station tower, didn't I?" He asked, somewhat avoiding the topic of the assignment because he was really confused.
But… it didn't seem to happen? Or at least, according to Hayner it didn't. "You wouldn't be here if you did! But man, that was a close one!"
Olette stormed over to Hayner, still very much angry. "Stop changing the subject!"
"Okay already. You win. We'll do the homework." Hayner complained. "Stupid independent study. So, anybody got any bright ideas for a topic?"
Roxas suggested investigating the weird stuff that had been happening to him, only to find out that it was all settled already, and they were to do that tomorrow. Their focus today was researching the Seven Wonders of Twilight Town (which was Pence's idea).
Though they were just rumors, it was the idea they went with.
Olette and Hayner went to find any new rumors, while Pence and Roxas researched them.
Basically, the whole day was very long winded and treacherous as they searched—especially for Roxas, as despite that they all seemed to be disproven, Roxas witnessed all of the weird stuff that had happened according to the rumors. Pence got disappointed with each rumor that was disproven.
The sixth one was about a ghost train, which Roxas saw, though the others didn't. They appeared to be worried about him, since his friends didn't see it, even when they went to the station. They were going back to work on the paper when Roxas asked about the seventh wonder, only for Hayner to storm off. Apparently, the last one was about a girl in white who appeared in the second floor window of the abandoned mansion past the forest of Twilight Town. When Pence talked about it though, he seemed rather despondent and unenthusiastic.
So, Roxas went to the forest and to the gates of the mansion by himself to investigate the rumor. Pence showed up behind him and walked over, mentioning how they were going to investigate the mansion as it was rather suspicious.
Upon looking into the window, Roxas noticed the girl in white- Naminé- and there was a flash. He appeared in a white room with a white table that had two chairs by it, and the walls were covered with drawings.
He then heard himself talking to Naminé, though he couldn't see her anywhere.
"Roxas…"
"Naminé?" He asked, looking around. He still couldn't find her, but he focused on a drawing that appeared to have him, Axel and two other cloaked figures present in it. "Is that… me? And Axel's here too…"
"You ARE best friends…" Naminé explained.
"Very funny."
"Don't you want to know the truth about who you really are?" He heard Naminé ask him curiously. Roxas simply disagreed with her on the very notion of the subject matter.
"No one knows me better than me."
"Of course…"
Roxas approached another wall, somewhat confused as he decided to talk about the happenings that had been occurring to him. "But… I don't get what's been happening lately."
He looked at a picture and noticed the brown-haired boy, the duck and the dog. The brown-haired girl appeared to be in the back of the picture, behind the dog. "You know these four, don't you?"
"Yeah. Sora, Donald, and Goofy. And there's Penelope in the back. 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. 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?"
"You hold half of what he is…He needs you, Roxas…"
"Naminé?" It then all flashed back to white, and Roxas found himself now sitting across from Naminé at the table. The door was slightly opened, and almost like something from before was mimicked, the brunette girl watched them. But she seemed really sad.
"Naminé… who are you?' Roxas asked her from across the table.
"I'm a witch with power over Sora's memories and almost all those around him." she replied, somewhat paraphrasing words she remembered someone calling her not that long ago.
"A witch?" He asked, somewhat shocked. The girl watching looked away and closed the door a little more, only deciding to listen.
Naminé sadly put a hand to her chest, explaining, "Well… 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." Roxas said back rather sadly, and Naminé only slightly tilted her head, smiling back at Roxas a moment. The golden-blonde haired boy looked out the window. "It's funny… Suddenly I feel like I don't know myself at all… I guess I would like to know. What do you know about me… that I don't?"
Naminé looked down before sadly replying, "You… you were never supposed to exist, Roxas."
"What…? How can you even say such a thing…even if it were true?"
The door was finally closed as the other girl finally left, as Naminé apologized to Roxas. "I'm sorry. I guess some things… really are better left unsaid."
The white curtains drifted in a sudden breeze as it flashed white again. Roxas was out of it for a moment as he stared at the window, now outside of the mansion. Pence nudged him on the shoulder few times as he tried to snap him out of it, and it worked. Roxas looked at Pence. "Did you see her?" He asked.
"Yeah. Watch the window- closely."
Pence and Roxas stared at the window. However, nothing happened, and the curtains drifted in the breeze. Naminé appeared in the window again, though Pence didn't seem to see her, and it seemingly disproved yet another rumor. Disappointed, Pence and Roxas decided to head to the Usual Spot to meet back up with Hayner and Olette.
Olette was waiting for them as they came back. "Hey guys, how did it go?"
"The girl in the window turned out to be a curtain flapping in the wind."
"I figured as much. The report's already done."
Roxas was looking down and thinking about what happened as Olette and Pence spoke, tuning them out until they addressed him. "You know… we only have two more days together." Olette said to Roxas.
"Huh?"
"Summer Vacation, remember?"
"Oh… right." Roxas replied to her as he looked away.
They met up with Hayner on the clock tower, as he was sitting down an eating sea salt ice-cream by himself. They momentarily discussed what they were going to do for the next two days before laughing at a comment Pence made after Hayner said something about getting an ulcer (from being reminded of the last two days). Roxas was rather despondent, still thinking about everything he had experienced and that meeting he had with Naminé.
XxXxX
(Old Mansion- Library)
In the mansion, DiZ was sitting in a chair by a broken desk as "Ansem", who was hooded, approached him. "Why did you show him the train?" "Ansem" asked, out of curiosity.
"Because he missed the trip to the beach"
"Hmph… that's almost kind of you."
"Now… what about you? Are the holes in your memory starting to fill in?"
"Yes… the haze is clearing."
"The same thing is happened to everyone who had ties to Sora," began DiZ, only for Penelope to walk in, appearing rather gloomy as she got a book. "…Except for the Guardian. I'm unsure how her memory works, though it's difficult to access them."
"I can hear you, old man. I'm not deaf!" Penelope exclaimed as she looked back at DiZ, glaring at him before lightly biting her lip a moment as she browsed through the bookshelf present.
DiZ went back to what he was saying, going back ono the topic of Sora. "Very soon, to them, he'll be like a good friend who's gone away for a year."
"Ansem" sat down in another chair across from DiZ and the broken desk. "I've waited, and now I want to know. What is it that you want?"
"Revenge." DiZ finally said. Penelope coughed a moment, finding she was right about old assumptions, and she glared back at DiZ, her eyes flashing purple.
"Revenge…"
"Now, for the finishing touches. 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." DiZ ordered. A book was chucked at DiZ, and he barely avoided.
The two men stared at the brunette girl, who was in a mix of shock, but also anger. "You… you want to kill off Naminé? Now that she has no use to you? God, you're a monster!" exclaimed she, her breathing somewhat shaky. "Sora shouldn't have needed to have two sacrificed just to awaken, and one of my friend's times is coming soon. But… three aren't needed as disposable pawns just for your ideals, DiZ!"
DiZ said nothing to Penelope in response. Deciding not to attack him, she headed towards the door. Not looking back, she stated, "I hope you end up paying for what you've done to others. Hopefully, it's with your very existence."
The Guardian of Light and Darkness opened the doors, before slamming them behind her.
"Restoration at 97%"
XxXxX
The boy and his friends, or rather- Sora, Donald, Goofy and Penelope- stood in a world of emptiness in purple, known as the End of the World. "Gawrsh, is that all that's left of the worlds taken by the Heartless?" Goofy asked.
"Those worlds will be restored if we beat Ansem, right? But, if we do beat him and all these worlds become restored and disconnected, what's going to happen to this place? And to us?" Sora asked.
Another flash, and the quartet were in a painful battle with the large demon known as Chernabog. Then, to where Sora and Penelope were floating in the darkness along with Donald and Goofy. Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness, spoke to them. "All worlds begin in darkness, and all so end. The heart is no different. You see, darkness is the heart's true essence."
Penelope and Sora then fought Ansem in a final showdown, recovering Donald and Goofy when they appeared to be lost. "That's not true! The heart may be weak. And sometimes, it may even give in. But I've learned deep down, there's a light that never goes out!" Sora exclaimed.
Then, Ansem's defeat as he struggled to open the door to Kingdom Hearts. "Kingdom Hearts! Fill me with the power of darkness!"
"You're wrong. I know now, without a doubt, Kingdom Hearts is light!"
"If Kingdom Hearts were only light, and if darkness came from people's hearts, and if there was only light in the world, then isn't Kingdom Hearts technically light and darkness?" asked Penelope as it slightly glitched afterwards.
Then, at the door as it seemed to be leaking out darkness. Behind the door, Mickey called out to Sora and Penelope both. "Now Sora, and you too, Guardian Penelope! Let's close this door for good!"
The four of them helped close the door of Kingdom Hearts shut. Riku, from behind the door, lastly told them, "Take care of her."
Sora and Penelope then went over to Kairi, who appeared. The boy and the red-haired girl called out each other's names, though she nearly felt over if Sora hadn't caught her. Penelope was somewhat distanced. "Kairi, remember what you said before? I'm always with you, too. I'll come back to you! I promise!"
"I know you will!" Kairi called back in response. Penelope tried to apologize to Kairi only for her to be split from Kairi as she broke away from them and the others.
Sora, Donald and Goofy were then on a path and Penelope caught up to them. A dog came over to them with a letter to find King Mickey's seal, and they read the letter before starting to hit the ground running. With one final flash, Sora saw a strange figure in black before going to a strange white castle.
In a rocky beach in darkness, two figures in black spoke to each other, though it was brief. Then, it was to a neon-lit city in the rain, where a silver-haired boy with a blindfold and a boy in a cloak were fighting. Another person watched them from above. Despite the silver-haired boy's shouting when he was knocked to the ground, it appeared that the one boy had taken him down.
This was the final dream.
XxXxX
The Sixth Day
Roxas woke up with a start and fell off of his bed this morning. He appeared to shift between the form of the brown-haired boy from his dreams (Sora; but it wasn't like he noticed this) to himself as he stood up. Looking outside the window, he saw birds flying past. Getting ready like he always did, he went to the Usual Spot to meet up with his friends.
He rubbed his head when he arrived. "Man, I could not sleep last night…" Roxas grumbled. However, unlike normal, he heard no response.
In fact, something was very much wrong. Roxas stared at his friends and reached towards Hayner.
But… much to his horror, his hand went right through Hayner.
It was like… it was like he didn't exist.
Roxas took a step back, his eyes widened as his friends laughed without him, not appearing to have any notion or acknowledgement of his existence. Hayner turned around and ran right through Roxas, with Pence and Olette following him. Roxas's breathing got shaky as he picked up that photo he and his friends took at the gates of the Old Mansion, but…
He wasn't present in the photo anymore. Just Hayner, Pence and Olette. Roxas used to be in the photo, but now…
Roxas dropped the picture and ran out of the Usual Spot, only to be cornered by the strange creatures in white. Axel appeared behind him, much to his dismay. Axel ran a hand through his fiery hair, appearing to be sad. "Look what it's come to. I've been given these icky orders to destroy you—if you refuse to come back with me."
The golden-blonde haired boy held his ground, straightening up and narrowing his eyes at Axel, deciding to clarify something as his face grew a bit more sympathetic. "We're… best friends, right?"
Axel awkwardly ran a hand through his hair again. "Sure… but I'm not getting turned into a Dusk for…" Axel suddenly realized what Roxas just said and perked up, looking somewhat astonished at first. "Wait a sec! You remember now!?"
"Y-yeah…"
"But, you know, gotta make sure and all. So, um…" Axel tried to ask Roxas a question to see if he truly remembered now. "What's our boss's name?"
Roxas was unable to respond. Axel appeared to be incredibly disappointed by this. "Can't believe this…"
With a stick in hand, Roxas was able to summon his Keyblade and he fought off all of the strange enemies that surrounded him as Axel gloomily watched. The two of them were about to engage in battle, with Axel about to throw one of his chakrams. However, the world paused and Roxas was about to engage, only to see something wrong. He stood up straight and heard a voice in his head.
"Roxas, to the mansion! The time has come!" said the voice of a familiar man.
Roxas furrowed his eyebrows together and called out his "friends'" names to the sky to see if the world unpaused. However, it didn't, meaning that there was nothing he could do about it. Roxas turned away with a sigh and left, running to the Sandlot, leaving Axel alone.
Axel seemed upset now, knowing what he had to do. "The Roxas that I know is long gone. Fine, I see how it is."
XxXxX
(Old Mansion- Gates)
After fighting through the strange white creatures many times as they attempted to get in his way (Roxas guessed they were called Dusks or something), he eventually got to the forest. He walked through the forest, still battling through them as they tried to take him out. When he got to the gates, he saw a huge lock.
However, when he turned around, he only saw more Dusks. He backed up against the gate. "Don't call me and then lock me out…" He grumbled to himself.
Suddenly, Roxas remembered how Sora unlocked or locked a Keyhole. And it was with the Keyblade. He used the Keyblade to unlock it. It did so with a beam of light, which made the lock easy work. Roxas then ran in and didn't bother looking behind him.
A man in a black cloak appeared with a strange sword in hand when the Dusks came rushing after Roxas as the gates closed.
Roxas came into the foyer of the mansion and explored around a bit, getting through any of the creatures in white that came through his way. While he was at it, he also opened up any chests that he came across.
It took a bit for him to get anywhere though, though the broken table in what seemed to be present was suspicious, but there was nothing to it. A lot of things were broken in this place. When he decided to go up into the White Room, he looked around for any sort of hint. He then examined one picture that caught his eye (where it appeared to be him inn some kind of dark city).
Unfortunately, his ears began to ring and his head began to hurt. He then recalled a time where he appeared to be leaving, and he saw Axel. He remembered something about the Organization then.
He turned to see Naminé in her chair. "Organization XIII… they're a bad group."
"Bad or good, I don't know. They're a group of incomplete people who wish to be whole. To that end, they're desperately searching for something." Naminé began to explain.
"Searching? For what?"
"Kingdom Hearts. Funny?" asked Naminé back to Roxas.
He was a bit unsure what to say for a moment, but he was able to respond. "It's just, I think—I've been running away from the question I really wanna ask: What's gonna happen to me now? Just tell me that." Roxas requested, as he approached the table and put his left hand onto it. His blue eyes stared into Naminé's with concern and curiosity.
"Nothing else really matters anymore." He finally added.
Naminé was going to tell him, but she was forcibly paused and cut off from saying a thing. Then, she vanished from the room. This was just perfect (though it really wasn't).
In a flash of data, the man in the red cloak from the other day appeared. "There's no knowledge that has the power to change your fate." He stated.
Roxas shook his head. "Even if it doesn't, I wanna know. I have the right to know."
"A Nobody doesn't have the right to know. Nor does it even have the right to be." DiZ firmly stated to Roxas.
"But what IS a Nobody?" asked Roxas. As if on cue, the one man who antagonized Roxas a few days prior appeared with a flash of darkness.
"DiZ, we're out of time! Too many Nobodies!"
It was like everyone was gathering in the room, because from a corridor that appeared to be made of darkness, Naminé appeared out of desperation. "Roxas, Nobodies like us are only half of a person! You won't disappear! You'll be whole!"
"But he will be gone! And that sucks for those who will suffer the most from the loss!" called a voice from outside the door.
Roxas, who looked upset, was taken aback. "I'll… disappear?"
DiZ turned around, and narrowed his eyes. "No further outbursts!"
When Naminé insisted Roxas wouldn't disappear, DiZ held her back and covered her mouth. The cloaked figure only blocked Roxas as he tried to help her, but when Naminé broke free, she spoke again, though DiZ kept trying to silence her. "Roxas! We will meet again. 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!"
DiZ dragged Naminé into the portal, and Roxas was unable to stop DiZ. Both the man in black and the other two vanished. There was a strange picture left behind by Naminé, which Roxas guessed to be a hint. The door then opened to reveal the one brunette girl. Despite she looked a bit older, and appeared sad, Roxas recognized her from his dreams.
"…I can't seem to protect anyone or do anything right." She grumbled under her breath before her brown eyes stared into Roxas's blue ones. "And I feel like my biggest failure was with you. I'm so sorry, Roxas."
Roxas frowned at her, raising an eyebrow. "Huh? Why are you apologizing?"
"It doesn't matter. At least, not anymore, anyway. I won't be able to save you from disappearing…" She sighed, turning away.
"You… you're Penelope, aren't you?" He asked. She paused, looking back at him for a moment before sighing. She motioned for Roxas to follow, and she led him to the library. She stood by the table and let Roxas in.
Roxas went over and examined the image on the table, seeing a crayon. He put the picture he found on the table and used it for reference when filling something in. Penelope quietly watched him. Upon finishing the drawing, it burst with light, and Roxas stepped back in response.
Penelope semi-expected this to happen, but she nonchalantly went up to a bookshelf and leaned up against it as Roxas ran towards the door. The light revealed a secret area, and Penelope was atop the stairs. She walked down and went to the doorway, calling to Roxas, "Enter when you're ready. I'll be in the next room."
She left Roxas to go to the other room. Roxas opened up a chest before turning around and following Penelope into what appeared to be a computer room. She was up against a wall and analyzed him as he came in. For some reason, though, the computer made this weird ringing noise that was frustrating to the ears. Roxas put a hand on his head as the noise made it start to hurt.
Penelope covered her ears. "Damn, that thing's loud! Make it stop, Roxas!" She cried as it was making Roxas cover his ears in pain. Roxas began to remember something. Upon realizing what is was, he got angry. The ringing stopped, and he straightened up, shaking before summoning his Keyblade. He then proceeded to smash the computer, impressing Penelope immensely as he made it not function. It was a glorious act of violence on technology in the finest hour of Roxas's current rage.
The both of them perked up and looked to the door when it opened. Penelope went into the next room over, and Roxas regained his composure before following her. "So, you'll need to go into the room after the next one before all is complete, but…" Penelope was cut off when Dusks suddenly appeared and attacked Roxas. She was trapped behind a wall in shock as she watched him fight.
But it wasn't the end. In fact, Penelope was taken aback when Axel strutted in, crossing his arms. His tone when he spoke at first was somewhat angry yet sarcastic (?). "Simply amazing, Roxas."
"Axel."
"Axel?! Why are you back in this place again?!" Penelope asked.
Axel glared at her, before huffing and turning to face Roxas. Something hit her when she remembered something a certain ball of light told her. "You really do remember me this time? I'm SO FLATTERED."
Penelope was backed into a corner when Axel suddenly lit most of the perimeter of the room on fire. "AXEL?! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!? WHEN DID YOU LEARN TO LIGHT THE F***ING ROOM ON FIRE?!" She screamed, feeling really uncomfortable.
"You're too late!" Axel yelled at Roxas.
"AXEL, SERIOUSLY! THIS IS A BIT OVERBOARD!"
Axel trembled a moment before yelling back at Penelope, "Stay out of this, you! This doesn't have anything to do with you!"
Roxas proceeded to summon two Keyblades, being Oblivion and Oathkeeper. Axel was surprised he could summon two Keyblades, but that wasn't even the problem here. He summoned his chakrams and grinned at Roxas.
"Come here. I'll make it all stop." Axel stated, though Roxas stayed back.
Suddenly, Axel struck the floor, yelling "BURN, BABY!" and the floor appeared to be fiery, raising the temperature even higher than it already was. Everyone but Axel began to sweat really bad from the intense heat. Then, the two of them began to clash, with the both of them in the air a moment as they exchanged blows. Penelope somewhat saw, but she was too uncomfortable from the heat to even care. Roxas managed to overpower him and strike him down, making the fiery ground vanished and Axel was stunned for a moment.
However, Axel jumped back into the fire and rushed at Roxas, who very narrowly avoided until he did it a few more times. At one point, he yelled, "GET BACK!" as he blasted fire at him while his chakrams spun and somewhat blasted out a fire spell of sorts. Axel was able to slash at Roxas before yelling, "Got it memorized!?" and then sending pillars of fire at him.
"AXEL, OH MY GOD, WILL YOU LOWER THE TEMPERATURE PLEASE? HOW ARE YOU NOT FEELING THIS?!" Penelope yelled from behind the flames.
Axel made the floor all fiery yet again and rose the temperature, and Penelope watched the two of them fly up and clash in the air again. They fought for a while longer on their last legs, though Roxas was able to take Axel down. The flames finally diminished and Penelope wiped sweat off her forehead. Axel took a breather and Roxas watched him in silence, remembering when he left the Organization.
"Axel…"
"Let's meet again in the next life." Axel said with a smile.
Roxas nodded. "Yeah. I'll be waiting."
Axel then fell onto his knees, looking at Roxas as he appeared to "vanish" in a portal. "Silly…Just because you have a next life…"
As Roxas was walking down the next hallway to meet his fate, Penelope stayed in the previous room as Roxas saw Donald and Goofy in the Pods. She rolled her eyes and huffed. "…I know you're still kinda here Axel. I need to talk to you for a sec, so come back out now."
With another portal of darkness, Axel reappeared, still somewhat pained from the fight. He was trying to leave, but he didn't get why she of all people would be calling him back. But, he noticed she seemed sad.
"Someone I know told me that I wouldn't be the only one who suffered when Roxas would finally be gone. She told me that two would be affected the most by this. I was the first to suffer directly- since I failed to protect Roxas." She explained, as Roxas was beginning to head into Sora's Pod Room rather hesitantly.
Axel only listened, and Penelope weakly smiled and looked back. "Roxas… he's going to meet Sora soon. And now… I guess we'll have to suffer because of it. We'll both lose a friend, I suppose."
Penelope sighed, finally being able to open a full corridor of darkness. She walked near it. "I… I'm not going to meet him when he wakes up. I don't think my body will be able to take it, knowing that now, he's gone too. I guess out of the three of you, you're the last one, Axel."
A tear rolled down Penelope's cheek. "So… stay safe, alright? I don't wanna lose you too."
"Goodbye for now, Axel. Until we meet again." Penelope dismissed.
"Until we meet again." Axel replied back. The two were silent a moment for solemnly making their parting ways, all too aware of what would happen next.
XxXxX
As Penelope was talking to Axel, as said, he was passing through the next hallway, he saw Donald and Goofy in the pods furthest from the room. Roxas didn't understand why, but he supposed the next door would lead to some answers.
Opening one last chest with his Keyblade, Roxas went into the next room. It was far different from any other one he had seen in the mansion, and it was large and circular and the walls were a radiant white that appeared almost misty. A central pod was present, and that one man from earlier in the red cloak was there in front of the pod. "At last, the Keyblade's chosen one."
"Who are you talking to? Me, or Sora?" Roxas asked, keeping his distance.
"To half of Sora, of course. You reside in darkness. What I need is someone who can move about in the realm of light and destroy Organization XIII. He seems more fitting than relying on the Guardian to do it."
"Why? Who are you?"
"I am a servant of the world. And, if I'm a servant, then you should consider yourself a tool, at best."
Roxas narrowed his eyes. "Was that… was that supposed to be a joke?"
Since now, Roxas was mad. He summoned his Keyblade, shouting, "Because I'm not laughing!"
He charged at the man, trying to attack him, but Roxas just went through him. He was incredibly displeased by the end result. "My apologies. This is only a data-based projection."
Roxas screamed in rage as a response and violently struck and slashed at the data-based projection. He managed to actually destroy the projection with his Keyblade, but it didn't end his suffering. Roxas took a deep breath as he was faced away from the pod, trying to recover from that.
To spite Roxas, the man in red reappeared with a flash of data behind him. "Come, over here."
Roxas looked back at the man and the pod. He rose the arm where he carried his Keyblade somewhat back. He was still very much angered. "I hate you so much…"
"You should share some of that hatred with Sora. He's far too nice for his own good."
"No! My heart belongs to me!" exclaimed Roxas, as he got in a fighting stance once more. He charged and struck through the projection again, though it vanished. Roxas then found it was inevitable as the pod opened up, revealing another boy with lighter spiky brown hair. They appeared to be asleep.
"Sora…" Roxas sighed, acknowledging what was about to happen next, and a saddened yet happy-ish expression appeared on his face. "You're lucky. Looks like my summer vacation is… over."
Then, Roxas joined with Sora, as he was supposed to. With the final requirement, Sora was able to finally awaken from nearly a year's sleep.
-o-o-o-o-
Ok, so this is the end of fairly long chapters for now I think. I would've split the sixth day into the next chapter, but I decided against it.
As for Penelope… well, she will be appearing in the beginning of the next chapter, or the next chapter may focus on her, depending on its length. We won't be focusing on Sora right away.
Two other characters will also be making their debut in this story as of the next chapter (though we already know who they are if you were also here during Re: 358/2 Days at the end). Mickey will also be showing up, but not only to Sora.
Once Penelope's part is done in the next chapter, she won't be appearing for a bit. She has to put herself back together.
But now, with this, our somewhat-but-not-really prologue is finished.
Please review if you'd like, please try to refrain from flaming and please tell me how I can improve.
I will see you all in the next chapter.
Ciao!