There are three things Roxas is absolutely sure of:
1. Axel is a certified self-aware asshole.
2. Soulmates aren't a thing.
3. But if they are – which they aren't - Sora and Kairi are definitely soulmates.
He feels a hand grip the back collar his t-shirt, pulling roughly.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Roxas tries not to trip over his feet, as he gets dragged back through the sliding glass doors of the pristine Castle Oblivion. The hand turns into a heavy arm around his neck, and soon he's struggling beneath the weight of his best friend.
"You promised," Axel whined.
"Promises are for the weak," Roxas grumbles, wriggling out of his grasp. "Besides I was drunk – you know never to take what I say seriously."
"Drunk words are sober thoughts, Roxy," Axel says sagely.
"Don't call me that."
"We're already here." Axel gestures behind him.
Here being Castle Oblivion.
The last place Roxas ever thought he'd ever willing step foot into. Well, he uses the term willing loosely. He glances down at Axel's forceful hand cautiously. One wrong move and he's trapped in another headlock.
Roxas sighs, defeated, finally settling down enough to look around.
Castle Oblivion.
It's bigger than what he'd expected. Less clinical and cold. The walls are starch white, matching the bright linoleum floors, but despite this, there's still an oddly forced welcoming atmosphere. It could be the reassuring banners and holographic posters strategically placed around the lobby.
Stock images of happy couples litter the ads, branded with words of encouragement.
Find your match today!
100% guaranteed accuracy!
Your Soulmate is just a click away!
Roxas' stomach churns.
It's a circus of his worst nightmares.
"Aren't you at least a little curious?" Axel asks.
Absolutely not.
It's a dangerous question that Roxas only very rarely entertained, in the small space of his bedroom in the wee hours of the morning. He'd never given it much thought. Not really. Most people don't. It's an outdated process that led to heartbreak and severed relationships. But of course, the midnight hour was the perfect time for his brain to run on autopilot and dredge up even the deepest corners of mind.
(Apparently extremely deep, if it took alcohol for Axel to weasel it out him).
They approach the front desk – Axel buzzing with excitement, Roxas dragging his feet.
Axel was a different kind of breed of asshole, Roxas decides. The type that will drag you into whatever warped sense of fun tickles their fancy at the moment, and then, makes sure to buy you an ice cream afterwards for participation.
Thanks, I guess?
But this idea vastly outweighs every stupid, impulsive decision Axel has pulled Roxas into. And there have been a lot.
A row of various pamphlets line up the first shelf of the counter, with more bogus headliners. Roxas plucks the nearest one, and without thinking, thumbs through it.
A brief history of Castle Oblivion is described in bold Georgia print, followed by an illustration of the process. Roxas snaps the booklet shut.
He doesn't need an explanation. Everyone knows how this thing works, unfortunately.
Every baby that's born is registered.
There's no avoiding it. As soon as it pops out, the hospital draws a tiny sample of blood from the smallest toe.
It's copied into the hospital system, before being sent to Castle Oblivion to be properly stored, going through the various floors, ultimately landing on level 13.
Roxas doesn't understand the specifics. It's not like he really remembers the day his DNA was involuntarily taken and used against him.
But when the babies come of age, they're then eligible to visit Castle Oblivion to have their DNA analyzed, evaluated, and based upon a specific algorithm, they're matched with their soulmate. Or at least, what the system deems to be your potential soulmate.
The whole affair is far too archaic and controlling in his opinion. There's something about his own body betraying him that rubs him the wrong way.
Roxas knew firsthand with his own parents. They weren't soulmates. But it had been too late, Roxas was already a bun in the oven and his parents quickly got married. Several years later, his father leaves claiming he had found his actual soulmate.
Roxas doesn't bring this up to anyone. Not his friends.
But now he's here, forced into submission by his best friend and the Castle Oblivion tech who looks far too happy, as she checks them into the system.
Soon, they're both carted off through two different hallways. Axel shoots him a smirk and an irritating wave, wiggling fingers and all.
Roxas scoffs, grumbling under his breath as the tech runs through the procedure at lightning speed. He's only half paying attention, desperate for this entire thing to be over.
The process, as it turns out, is incredibly anticlimactic. Waiting 18 years for this? For a VR headset with flashy lights and elevator music?
Roxas grumbles some more until it's over. He's handed a small thank you brochure, filled with even more useless information, and a promise to receive a notification once the system matches him. An undetermined amount of time, depending on if his match has been evaluated before.
He doesn't have very high hopes.
Axel meets him outside the facility, grinning like the Cheshire cat.
"Fun, right?"
"Define, fun," Roxas mutters flatly.
"They gave me a lollipop. I took five. Do you want one?" He holds the sucker out for him to grab. Roxas curses, shoving his hands in his pockets and turns away. "Aw, come on Roxy. It's done. You didn't spontaneously combust or anything."
"It still sucked."
"It could be worse."
"How could it possibly be worse?" Roxas snaps.
His gummiphone pings loudly.
He slides it unlocked, not recognizing the four-digit number. He opens the message. His stomach immediately drops.
6:52 p.m.: Thank you for visiting Castle Oblivion. Your evaluation is ready. To view it, please go to: .kh/WzprzdV9R. This link will expire in 5 days.
No. No way. He literally just stepped out of the facility.
He glances nervously towards Axel who has gone off on a tangent of all the worst possible things Roxas could have endured, not noticing the way Roxas has frozen. The very same, oblivious asshole, who, judging from the looks of his excited ramble, has not received any kind of notification from Castle Oblivion.
Was this some kind of joke?
Roxas clicks open the link and is faced with another confounding discovery. One that sinks its deep hooks of uncertainty into every conviction he had been so sure of.
Yes. Axel was still a self-aware asshole.
But – no.
No way. He couldn't have known this –
Soulmates were still not a thing.
But his soulmate – his soulmate –
He encounters the biggest contradiction to his three certainties.
Sora and Kairi were soulmates.
But the moment he opens the results, and scrolls through all the paragraphs of information, at the very bottom of the screen, he sees her – Kairi – Sora's Kairi – with the incriminating: Congratulations You're a Match! in gaudy, bold font beneath the photo.
A/N: It's a weird prologue chapter mix. I couldn't decide. So, you guys decide I guess? I'm looking to making this a three part story. But I'm notoriously indecisive, so, we'll talk in another few months.