50

By: Aviantei

Act I: 50 Minutes/Abandonment

Scene II: "Taking out your problems on other people isn't a very attractive quality."

Reah didn't want to admit it, but she definitely squeaked. The guy that had picked her up was way taller than her, and her feet dangled in the air with no chance of reaching the ground. It wasn't a position that she had ever really been in before, and panic twisted her stomach up with her other organs, making her queasy.

"Alright," the guy said, settling Reah down on the floor so that they faced each other, "it's about time you and I had a talk." Even though he had let go of her jacket, his hand was still on her shoulder. Reah looked up, her gaze meeting up with almost flashing green eyes. The guy's hair was sticking up in several directions at once, an orange-red that made Reah's eyes hurt in comparison to the rest of their surroundings. Though the thing that bothered her the most was the jacket he was wearing, black with silver adornments.

The exact same as the one she was wearing right now.

"Wait a minute, you're not Roxas."

Roxas.

Reah was even more of an idiot than usual. Roxas had said to call if she needed him, and she had spent an entire fight failing to do her job or cowering in a corner. Already, she felt like she was going to collapse, and now there was a stranger mistaking her for her partner. Sure, she had put her hood up and they were about the same height, but this was stupid.

Reah took a quick step back, shaking the redhead's hand from her shoulder. "Roxas!" she shouted, her voice echoing.

Immediately, footsteps approached, loud and pounding. The redhead turned his attention away from Reah to the corridor behind him, and the girl took the chance to step back even further. Within seconds, Roxas was in the hall, keyblade bared, and he charged forward before stopping short of colliding with the redhead's weapons, raised in a guard. Peaking around the guy's shoulders, Reah took the time to recognize them as chakrams.

"Oh, there you are," the guy remarked, sounding completely satisfied. "What's the deal? I thought you gave up on having a partner and decided to run solo from now on. Change your mind?"

"What are you doing here?" Roxas spat out, none of his tension gone whatsoever. For the first time, Reah was seeing the boy angry—genuinely angry—his face contorted with eyebrows tightened and teeth bared. Finally, his eyes landed on Reah, and she tried to give her partner a reassuring smile. "You know what, never mind. Reah, we're leaving."

"Wh-what?" Reah stammered. She could almost feel her eyes widening. Roxas only ever left the castle if he was exhausted or when they cleared a new floor. At the moment, neither were true, and even the redheaded guy seemed to be in shock. "I know I'm a little worse for wear, but I can keep going! Though I guess I could use one of your spells about now…"

Her rambling didn't do anything to stop Roxas from walking towards her, the hall behind her being the one they had walked down less than fifteen minutes ago. He was planning to leave, and Reah got the sense that he wanted to go badly enough that he would drive off without her if she wasn't in the car when he got there. Reah looked back to the redhead, unable to read his expression.

"Thank you for the save," she said, then ran off after her partner.

"So who was that?" Reah asked, idly running her finger over the armrest imbedded into the car door. Roxas hadn't said a single word the entire time it had taken to get back to the bottom of the castle, and he had fought every enemy by himself. Reah hadn't gotten the healing she had asked for, and there was a sensation that felt like bruising on her stomach where the Heartless had charged into her. She would be lucky to make it to school the next day, given that her body would most likely demand to sleep in.

"Trouble," Roxas said, staring at the road as always. With the time they had spent at the castle, the sky was darker, but not quite yet at nightfall. It was only when they had slipped back into their world that Rhea had realized just how far off from the school they had driven, and it would probably be some time before they got back.

Rhea frowned at the one word response. "Really, is that all you have to say?" she said, sitting up properly in the seat. It was hard to read Roxas's expressions in profile, so she leaned as far forward as the seatbelt would allow her to, trying to get a better look. "Come on, Roxas, I know there's a lot of things you don't wanna talk about, but this is getting ridiculous. What if that guy comes back while we're trying to clear the castle? I gotta be prepared."

She had hoped there would be some sort of understanding come onto Roxas's face. Instead, he looked as stoic as he did once they were inside the castle, and Rhea could feel her insides twisting up like a maypole.

Usually, when they left the castle for the day, he would at least smile a little.

"It's nothing to worry about," Roxas said, flicking on his turn signal. "If he comes back again, I'll take care of him."

"But what if I'm alone?" Rhea persisted. She didn't like to think about things like that, but she didn't know what else she could do. As hard as Roxas tried, there was always a chance they could get separated, especially with the way fights were increasing in difficulty. It would only take one wrong move, and then what? Rhea could have easily died earlier. If the redheaded guy was as dangerous as Roxas was making him sound, didn't she deserve to be prepared? "You don't have to carry everything by yourself, you know, Roxas. I want to help you out."

Roxas remained silent. Even with her newfound vantage point, Rhea couldn't really read his expression. It was like he was hiding something, but it was so well done that not even a trace of it showed up on his face. Rhea tried to be patient, but waiting didn't make words come out of Roxas's mouth any faster.

After a solid three minutes of nothing, Rhea deduced that Roxas was ignoring her.

"Why don't you just talk to me?" she said. Her voice came out higher than usual, but she didn't care. There was a spark of something on Roxas's face that meant he had at least heard her. Rhea kept going. "I'm really grateful for everything you've done for me, Roxas, but I can't take this anymore. We've been trying to get through the castle together for almost a year, and you still won't tell me why.

"I'm sick of having to sit around and pretend like I'm okay with you keeping secrets!" By now her voice had risen to a shout, but Rhea didn't rein it in. "It's driving me insane, Roxas. I get that I'm not any good in a fight and serve the purpose of being cannon fodder, but at least give me something. What are you so afraid of that you can't even bother to open up to me?! Well—"

Without warning, Roxas slammed on the breaks. The catch kicked in on Rhea's seatbelt, saving her from smashing her head against the dashboard. The rest of the road was empty, not a single other driver on it. Rhea sat up, expecting Roxas to keep driving, but he didn't, and the car sat in the road in a part of town she didn't recognize.

"Get out," Roxas said, not even looking at her.

"H-hold on a minute," Rhea protested, her pitch going from far above speaking volume to just below it in a few seconds. "You can't be serious. You know I don't know my way around here, Roxas. There's no way I'd make it back to the school before curfew…"

"Get out," he repeated, and the tone of his voice let Rhea knew that this was something he wasn't going to change his mind about.

She started shaking before she could think to control it, and then she just gave up. Her teeth gnashed against the inside of her cheeks, tearing up the skin. Already she felt cold, freezing, even though it was just early fall. Not wanting to see his face anymore, Rhea slammed her eyes shut, desperately forcing her breathing to stay normal and just barely succeeding.

This… This isn't fair!

Her shaking fingers failed to undo her seatbelt the first two times, then accomplished their goal on the third. Roxas had already unlocked the door, and Rhea opened it, stumbling out. She didn't even bother to grab her gear from the back, just tried not to trip on the edge of the curb and taking a few extra steps before half-lowering herself, half-falling to her knees.

You said that it wouldn't have to end like this again…!

There was the sound of her door slamming shut, probably by Roxas. A few seconds passed, and then the car sped off, without her. Rhea didn't look back. Her hands stung from their impact with the concrete, but it didn't matter. She didn't have the strength to walk anymore, and she wouldn't have been able to find her way back to the school otherwise. Her throat burned, and hot tears finally broke out of her eyes, followed by a sob.

…Why did I let myself believe you?

For the first time in the year since Roxas had brought her here, the clouds poured down their rain.

Rhea settled for curling up in a ball on a sidewalk, not caring that she was soaked. She'd probably end up sick, too, but it didn't matter. She was stuck with the same sort of result, no matter where she went. It was the same thing over and over again, so just waiting until she wasted away on the sidewalk was as good as an answer as any. She had already cried her throat raw, and she wondered when she would just pass out already.

It hadn't taken much to recognize that the area she was in wasn't very populated, even with the houses she could see a few streets away. That was the problem with the town: it was too big for its own good, and there weren't enough people to fill up its buildings. It was the complete opposite of her old town, where even people with money overflowed onto the streets.

Even a year wasn't enough to cope with it all.

Rhea had a cell phone. Roxas had convinced her to get it, for emergencies. He had said to use it if she ever needed him. Well, Rhea needed someone, and it wasn't going to be Roxas. She didn't even bother to pull out the phone. Roxas's was the only number she had in her contacts. No one else at school even talked to her, though that was her own choice.

Rhea now recognized her behavior as one thing: idiotic. She had been so afraid of getting hurt again, she had only opened up to one person. She had thought that would have made it easier if it didn't work. But it didn't. It only made it worse, because the one lifeline Rhea had had was now gone, and she was falling.

"So, it looks like he tossed you off, too."

Of all things, it had to be a joke. Rhea looked up anyway. Sure enough, the same redhead from the castle was there, standing on the street, a backpack slung over his shoulder. Rhea went to scoot away from him, but stopped. He had saved her in the castle. Even if Roxas said he was trouble, Rhea couldn't help it.

Just give me someone to talk to.

"Do you know how to get back to the school?" Rhea asked. Her voice sounded hoarse. She went to stand up, her socks and shoes squelching uncomfortably. Even Roxas's magic couldn't stop her jacket from being soaked through. All she wanted right now was to go to her dorm and take a hot shower, maybe even sleep through her classes tomorrow.

"I do," the guy said, sounding nonchalant. "But I don't think that's where you really want to go."

Rhea flinched. She didn't know where else she would go. Her optimistic trust was on the edge. Was it really that big of a deal to just go back to the school? "Where else would we go?" The guy smirked a bit, and Rhea noticed the small tattoos underneath his eye. He was looking more and more like a punk each second. "Though I guess if you're trying to hit on me, it's kind of pointless considering I don't know your name."

Even if she was suffering from rebound syndrome at the moment, she wasn't going to let herself be taken advantage for it.

The guy snorted, leaning forward a bit with his laughter. The rain somewhat weighed his hair down, but it persisted pretty well in sticking up. There must be some powerful product to pull that off. Even his jeans were freaking tattered, now that she looked at them. Fucking combat boots, too. "Well, I guess you're not as outwardly willing to show that you're down, but I can tell," he commented. Rhea gritted her teeth. "Taking out your problems on other people isn't a very attractive quality. Got it memorized?"

For a moment, Rhea considered punching him. Then she remembered that this guy had cleared thirty floors of the castle on his own. "You're not very good at listening, now are you?" she settled for retorting. Just because he was right about her state of mind didn't mean that she had to show it. "You didn't answer either of the things I wanted to know."

It hurt. Everything hurt inside of her, like claws raking at her lungs. She didn't care too much, but she pursued an answer anyways, because it was better than doing nothing.

"Though, for starters, I guess I'll bite," he allowed. "My name's Axel. Got it—"

"Rhea," she interrupted. In addition to monologuing in fights, he even had a catch phrase. Rhea didn't have the patience to deal with either. If he tried again, she would try and find a way back to the school on her own, even though she probably would get even more lost in the process. And if she passed out on the side of the road, then that was what she got.

Axel didn't look impressed, but he had an odd expression on his face. "Alright then," he said, something akin to slight annoyance in his tone. Rhea ignored it. "I guess we'll move on to your question then. Have you ever heard of the Fifty-Minute Room?"

She didn't even think before shaking her head. Rumors had never been her thing in the first place. When Roxas had invited her to the school and helped her settle down, Rhea had done everything she could to keep away from them. If there was some weird nonsense floating around the school, she wasn't even aware of its implied existence.

Axel's eyes widened slightly in surprise, and then it was gone. He scratched at the back of his neck, not quite making eye contact. Rhea just glared in response. "Well, I guess that makes this sound crazy then. But I'll just get to the point. If you want a place to go and recover where no one can really bother you, then I can help with that."

"You've being annoyingly vague."

"Gah, just wait a goddamn minute!" Axel protested. Rhea folded her arms back across her chest, hoping to make herself feel warmer. Water just got wrung out of her jacket and trickled down her stomach instead. "Okay, fine, nothing I say is going to convince you, I got it. So just get out your cell phone and I can show you."

Rhea wondered if her cell phone would still work. Even if it did, this sounded like some cheap scam for Axel to give her his number. She pulled the phone out of her pocket, pressing the power button, then waited for it to start up. Despite her worries, the screen flashed to light, covered in rain drops. If this was a stupid scam, it would at least make her contacts a little less lonely.

"Whoa, that's a pretty retro model you got there," Axel said, leaning over to look at it. Rhea let an angry exhale out her nostrils, then pulled the phone back to her chest. So what if it was an old model? It didn't need a touch screen or twenty different apps when all she was gonna do was call for help. "Easy there, Princess. It's just been a while since I've seen something like this."

"My name is Rhea," she grumbled. "Why don't you memorize that?" Not even waiting for a response, she looked back to her phone. It had fully powered up in the time for their short exchange, and the battery was still full.

Because she had never really had a need to turn it on before.

Axel plucked the phone out of her grasp. "Hey!" Ignoring her shouts, the redhead proceeded to press buttons. He was tall enough that Rhea couldn't see what he was doing, either. "Give it back! You could have just told me what to do, you know!" What if he broke it? It was still a gift from Roxas, so she needed to keep it in good shape.

"Yeah, yeah, here," Axel drawled, dropping the phone into Rhea's waiting hands. She scrambled a bit, then wiped the gathered raindrops off the glass. Axel had pulled up the call screen and inputted a number. "Just go ahead and call that. You'll have all the time in the world to think things over then."

"What the hell's with this area code?" Rhea protested. In fact, the whole number was strange. It even had more than ten digits. There was no way it would process properly.

Axel only smirked, pulling his own phone out of his pocket. "Why don't you call it and find out?"

Practicality told Rhea not to, but curiosity and sheer exhaustion won out.

She pressed the call button and raised the phone to her ear.

Alright, here we go, one new chapter. And it's not even lunchtime yet!

Thanks to Shiranai Atsune and Savage Kill for their favorites, follows, and reviews! I come up with so many indulgent projects I'm glad people seem to like them...Hopefully I can hear from you guys again!

In any event, that's the introduction taken care of! Now we get into the parts where this seriously derived from a dream and the title should make some sense (maybe). Even I'm not sure the title makes sense to be honest.

Looking at my handy dandy update schedule, it might be some time before we see an update on this. Though I'll definitely be working on it on the side. It's a really comforting piece to mess around with.

And don't forget: if 's your thing, you can find the link to mine on my profile. Any bit helps, and I think I have some decent rewards set up...

Next time:

Act I: 50 Minutes/Abandonment
Scene III: "Well, I guess that makes me nobody then."

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