Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return V2

"Yeah, sounds good." Roxas nodded even if the conversation was over the phone, thinking of it as a bad habit. Another bad habit of his was ignoring his injuries, which were hurting him now that his adrenaline was gone. He didn't have time to tend to them, though.

 

"Alright," Sora said, nodding once on his side of the line. "We'll call Namine's cell if we need to get a hold of you. See you later." And good luck, he mentally added on. He was sure Namine wouldn't take this well, especially the part about Smith making her feel ill.

 

"Right. See ya," Roxas said, then pulling the phone away from his ear and ending the call. He set Namine's cell back where he found it on the coffee table before turning his gaze to her. She wasn't going to like any of this, and he had to admit that he was scared to tell her. Smith was terrible to her in the past, and even mentioning his name was sure to frighten her. Roxas didn't like this, but he had to do it.

 

Namine had shifted her gaze to the ground by the time Roxas finished the phone call, the girl not wanting to be rude and stare at him. However, when she felt him looking at her, she lifted her eyes, meeting his and seeing the stress in their blue depths.

Sora hung up the phone before heading back out to the entrance hall. He would probably say they should all go to the living room and talk, but he was sure that the talk wouldn't be too interesting. It would be nothing compared to Roxas and Namine's.

 

Roxas lifted his right arm to the back of his head, considering his left shoulder hurt and it would be too painful to do the motion with that arm. "This is...complicated," he said uneasily, really not wanting to talk about this for Namine's sake. He wasn't sure how she would handle it. He definitely wasn't taking it well.

Kairi had her gaze on Riku, but when she saw him look toward the doorway, she turned to look in that same direction. He hadn't told her anything, unfortunately.

 

Namine tilted her head slightly, but other than that, she stayed silent, hoping Roxas would give her more than that. If he didn't, then she would have to drag it out of him, which was something she really didn't want to do.

 

"Okay, um..." Roxas lowered his hand and took a seat across from Namine, on the edge of the coffee table; he wasn't worried about it breaking under his weight. "There's a reason I asked how you were feeling, and I'm afraid it ties to who I'm about to talk about." He had his elbows resting on his knees as he gazed at the girl sitting on the couch right in front of him, mentally preparing himself for the story he was about to tell her.

 

Namine looked at Roxas when he sat down in front of her, still confused. This time, though, she felt like she could ask a question, since it was directly related to what Roxas just said. "Who?" she asked, though she was nervous about the answer. She had no clue who he could be referring to, but it was obviously bad, since he hadn't said anything too deep yet.

 

Roxas lowered his eyes to his hands as he pressed his lips together, his eyebrows furrowing at the thought of the man. "Smith," he stated clearly, his sight lifting to Namine as he said the name.

 

Though Roxas lifted his eyes to meet Namine's, hers went down to the ground in surprise. She opened her mouth to question that, but then she realized that she couldn't find her voice. Smith? But, how...? After a second or two, she looked back up at Roxas, the question being shown through her eyes. What?

 

Roxas saw the look in Namine's eyes and knew he had to elaborate. "When we went to the Realm of Darkness, he was there...and so were Nathaniel and Xehanort's Heartless," he said, remembering how Riku told him who he was fighting when he asked, since he pointed out how similar he looked to Xemnas. "They were working together to release the Darkness that was threatening to come in contact with the worlds."

 

Namine was looking down at the ground, hearing Roxas's explanation but not really taking it in. Smith...was a part of this. Trying to release darkness on the worlds. "Why?" she whispered, keeping her eyes on the ground. Why were they going to release the Darkness upon the worlds?

 

"For vengeance," Roxas answered calmly, surprised at how he remained so collected at even talking about this. He was furious for what happened, but he needed to keep explaining. "Sora, Riku, and I were the reasons they couldn't walk in the Realm of Light anymore."

 

Namine nodded faintly to show that she registered Roxas's answer, though her eyes stayed on the ground. She still couldn't believe that Smith was a part of this. It had been a long time since she even allowed herself to think about him, and now that his name was brought up, she had a hard time not recalling everything he had done to her and Roxas.

 

Roxas let his eyes linger on Namine for a moment, seeing how she was reacting. For the most part, she appeared alright, even if she wouldn't look at him. He decided to keep going. "The thing is, Sora and Riku defeated Nathaniel and Xehanort's Heartless. Smith was there to go after me," he explained. His eyes lowered slightly at the words, thinking back. "We fought for a little while, and when Xehanort's Heartless was killed first, he seemed to absorb the energy from him. It made him stronger, so I struggled a little." Roxas's eyes darted to his shoulder instantly, which still hurt. But he knew this was no time to stress over it; once he was finished telling Namine everything he would check it out.

 

Namine brought a hand to the side of her head, her fingers in her hair as she looked down at the ground. She didn't like...hearing that person's name. However, she wasn't about to say it aloud; if Roxas was speaking about him, then he had a reason to say his name. She stayed silent, waiting for Roxas to continue.

 

"I didn't pay attention to it at first, but then he did it again when Sora beat Nathaniel. His power just seemed to...move to Smith automatically. It was weird," Roxas said, continuing on as he remembered what had happened not too long ago. "That was when we stopped fighting and he started telling me things... He said that he was stronger than the others, and that was why I couldn't beat him like Sora and Riku did."

 

Namine heard Roxas pause in the story, which made her lift her eyes to him again. She didn't like where this was going...wherever it was going. She had no idea what Roxas could be building up to. "...What happened then?" she asked, her voice very soft. She wanted to know, but at the same time, she didn't.

 

Roxas kept his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands as his eyebrows remained furrowed. His sight stayed lowered, even if he could feel Namine's gaze on him. "He said that his powers were more influential, that he could even reach the Realm of Light from where he was. He said he had been for a while," he continued. Roxas lifted his eyes to Namine then, a pained look in his blue orbs now. "It's him, Namine. He's the one affecting you."

 

Namine felt a wave of emotions impact her at both Roxas's words and the look in his eyes. The dominant two were shock and fear. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but no words came out. She didn't have anything to say anyway. He...was 'affecting' her, as Roxas put it. But, what did that mean? The dizziness...that was him?