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Roxas leans back in his chair.
“Do you guys know what we should do now?” he asks, turning to Axel and his friends from Twilight Town.
“I know, we should head to the skateboard park.”
“That sounds like fun,” Axel agrees.
“You guys should do that. I hurt my ankle a few days ago, so I won’t be going with you,” Roxas says.
“We can wait,” Olette says.
“No, it’s really ok. You guys go. I’ll find something to do by myself. We can meet back up here in two hours, ok?” Roxas says, standing up.
“Are you sure?” Pence asks.
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
“Alright, let’s go,” Axel says, putting a hand on Roxas’ head.
Roxas smiles, batting his hand away. They leave and Roxas immediately sits back down.
“I am so tired. The most I’m gonna do is go for a short walk to stretch my legs while they’re gone,” he mumbles, putting his head back.
The hideout is exactly the way he remembered it. Now, he knows that it’s not the same place, and he’s not hanging out with the same people he was back then. All of his memories with them are his alone, but he takes heart knowing that they can be friends in any world. That they can make new memories, and that he can introduce Axel to such wonderful people. He lets himself drift off, thinking about how much his life has improved since Xehanort was defeated. He wakes up to someone shouting outside of the hideout. He yawns, stretching. He steps outside. A woman is arguing with her husband outside, which is the cause of the noise. Roxas sighs.
Well, I guess now is as good of a time for a walk as any.
He follows the familiar road down towards the forest. Something moves in the corner of his eye. He glances over, spotting a bunny.
“Aw, that’s so cute.”
He keeps walking, noting all of the small differences between this forest and the one in the other Twilight Town. He starts feeling dizzy, causing him to lean against one of the trees. It doesn’t help, and his vision fails a few seconds later. He wakes up pressed against something cold. It’s tile, once his vision clears completely he immediately knows where he is. He’s in the mansion outside of Twilight Town.
“Is this the one?” someone behind him asks.
“Yes.”
Roxas tries to turn, but he’s tied so tightly that he can barely move.
“I think he woke up.”
“What’s your name?” someone asks.
The figure passes in front of Roxas’ vision. It’s a shadow creature, but it doesn’t look like a heartless.
“We need information from you,” the one that’s still behind him says.
“What?” he asks, his brain racing to catch up with the conversation.
“What is your name? You don’t have to tell us.”
Roxas tries to pull away from the shadowy figure, but he still can’t move.
“It’s fine, we’ll just have to use you for the spell. We have to find our master. He’s in trouble, but we can’t find him. We can always find him. Even if he doesn’t want us to.”
The shadowy figure from behind him offers an object that Roxas can’t see to the one in front of him. He takes it, showing it to Roxas. Blood drips off of the knife onto Roxas’ face, but it isn’t his blood.
“We already tried with one person, but their magic wasn’t good enough. We need a keyblade wielder.”
Roxas flinches as another drop hits his face.
“Get that thing away from me,” he demands, squeezing his eyes shut so none of the blood lands in his eyes.
“Well, I can’t do that. Either you give us the information we want so we can find our master, or I have to use you for the sacrifice. The spell only works with blood sacrifices. If you survive the sacrifice, we’ll let you go. That’s the only silver lining. So, do you wanna talk yet?”
“About what?”
“What’s your name?”
“Roxas.”
“That’s not even a real word. Did we grab the wrong one?”
“No, it must be lying to us.”
“He must be lying to us. Those are the pronouns.”
“The pronouns? What are you guys going on about? My name is Roxas, and who are you even looking for?”
“Our master, did I not already say this?”
“You did,” the shadow behind him says.
“You did,” Roxas confirms.
“But I was asking you to be more specific. What’s your master’s name? Where did you last see him?”
“In the pit of darkness. Also, his name is irrelevant, he is just our master.”
“Yeah, I don’t know how to help you then.”
“Fine, we will continue with the blood sacrifice.”
“You know those don’t actually work as a way of tracking someone, right? That’s why it didn’t work before.”
“Liar. We must find our master, and you’re not going to stop us.”
“Fine, don’t listen to me. Just get a move on. I have things to do.”
The man rips Roxas’ shirt, exposing his chest. He places the tip of the knife over Roxas’ heart. Roxas doesn’t recognize the ruins and symbols that they carve all over his body, but it doesn’t take long for his vision to start blurring anyway. He holds tightly to his consciousness, not letting himself fall asleep. He knows that with how much blood he’s lost, he might not wake up. So, he makes himself endure the burning pain of his flesh being cut apart. The shadows are getting more and more frustrated with every cut. Roxas still can’t move, but he’s trying not to laugh at this point.
Look at that, it didn’t work.
Something red covers the room and it gets incredibly hot really fast. Roxas blinks, the blurriness not abating. Someone touches his face, but he can’t tell who it is. Then his arms are free, and he can move again.
“Roxas, are you ok?” Axel asks, shaking Roxas.
“Ugh, don’t shake me,” Roxas whines, unable to move away though.
“I’m sorry. We need to get you to a healer. Then you’re gonna explain to me how you got into this situation, ok?”
Roxas nods slightly, shuddering.
“Where are they?”
“I’m not sure. They disappeared when I lit the room on fire. Maybe they don’t like fire. Maybe it killed them.”
Roxas shrugs before putting one arm over his nose to try to block out the smell of his own blood. Axel picks him up. He stands up, then heads over to the exit.
“You’ll be alright. If anyone wants to hurt you again, they’re gonna have to go through me.”
Roxas smiles.
“Thanks, Axel.”
“No problem, buddy.”