Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return V2

"Castle Oblivion," Roxas said tightly, not opening his eyes as he said the name. He hated that place; it was full of torture. Axel went there, and when he tried himself, he fainted. He knew why now: it was because he was too close to Sora. But when he went to the Castle this time, he was able to go all the way to the top, where he realized some things that he wished he'd never come across.

 

Namine drew in a sharp breath at the name, lowering her gaze to her lap. Castle Oblivion? What were those two talking about? She was extremely curious now, since she had been forced to do some unpleasant things while she was there.

"Castle Oblivion," Sora said with a nod, eyebrows furrowed as he stared down at the couch. He hated that place, and it showed in his voice. The Organization had manipulated him, and they almost succeeded in making him their puppet. The memories angered Sora greatly, even if he didn't allow all that anger to surface at that moment.

 

Roxas's trained ears caught onto an intake of breath to his side, and he turned his head to look in that direction. His eyes fell on Namine, and his eyebrows furrowed a little bit more before his eyes went back to Sora. Roxas's fists tightened at what he remembered had taken place there. "That's right. You weren't the only one to gain memories back, were you Sora?" His eyes were sharp as he glared at the boy on the other couch, his anger coming through greatly now.

 

Namine lifted her head, looking from Roxas to Sora in confusion. Sora...gained his memories back? So he knew what occurred in Castle Oblivion? She kept her sky blue eyes on him, the questions forming in her mind. What did this mean?

Sora blinked at Roxas's tone, but he answered without harboring any anger against his friend in his own voice. "No, I wasn't," he responded honestly. Roxas got memories back over a longer period of time, and from what Sora could gather, they weren't good memories.

 

Roxas nodded once. "Well, seems like you and I actually have another thing in common, huh? I got my memories back from my past and you got yours. Just another connection between you and your Nobody," he said, his darker attitude coming through in his voice and expression. "I mean, that's one of the reasons I was dragged along anyway, wasn't it? Because I was your Nobody."

 

Namine looked to Roxas, concern in her eyes. Roxas had gained memories back as well? Those memories must have been from his time in Organization XIII. She didn't know much about that period of time, and she had never even thought to ask if he recalled it or not. She had never known that it was that big of a deal, until now.

Sora furrowed his eyebrows, looking down at the floor now. "Is that really such a bad thing that we're connected?" he asked softly, hearing the pure bitterness in Roxas's voice. "I know bad things came out of it recently, but what about all the good things?" They were best friends, and that natural connection had helped them bond in a lot of ways.

 

"What good things?" Roxas said, arching an eyebrow. "You mean the good things that happened before the mission? When I was still under DiZ's little spell?" He hadn't been himself ever since he joined with Sora. But the mission had changed everything; he was who he was originally supposed to be now, someone who "resides in Darkness", as DiZ put it. It was certainly showing through Roxas's personality.

 

Sora looked up, disbelief in his facial expression. "Why are you letting this affect you so much?" he asked, arching a brow. "It doesn't matter who you were when you were in the Organization; you can be whoever you want to be right now. Your past doesn't have to govern your future, Roxas!" He clenched a fist as he spoke, feeling a little hypocritical. His past was affecting him as well, though he didn't show it as much as Roxas showed his new personality.

 

"Your past shapes your future, Sora. And mine was full of darkness!" Roxas yelled, standing up from the couch. His eyes were set on Sora, his orbs a piercing blue. "Don't you get it? It's hard to recover from a lie. Just ask Kairi!" She was a perfect example, just as he was. If Sora couldn't see it through Roxas's eyes, then perhaps he could see it through Kairi's.

 

Namine looked up, seeing Roxas stand up off the couch when he yelled at Sora. She flinched at his tone, but otherwise, she stayed silent, too startled to say anything.

Sora felt his gaze turn hard at the mention of Kairi, his eyebrows furrowing more deeply. "Leave her out of this, Roxas," he said in a low tone of voice, the words almost coming out as a growl. Sora didn't want Kairi anywhere near this conversation, and he was angry that Roxas had brought her up when there was no need to involve her.

 

Roxas frowned, flexing his jaw, but otherwise he didn't say anything about the redhead. Even in his darker stage, he realized he'd crossed the line with that one. So he decided to leave her out of it directly. "...Spells cover lies, Sora," he said then, his voice quieter but still firm. "Whether it's of love or used to cover a past, it takes a toll on you. It's not easy to recover from." Roxas's eyes hardened as he looked at Sora, realizing something. "...You were put under a spell too, weren't you?"

 

Sora clenched his fists more tightly, realizing that Roxas was referring to Castle Oblivion, when he had his memories erased by Namine. "Yes, I was," he said with a nod, his voice tense. "So what?" He had recovered from that; he overcame whatever false emotions he had for Namine during that time and saw her as his friend, just like it was meant to be.

 

"So what?" Roxas repeated, arching an eyebrow. After a few seconds he turned his gaze to Namine, his eyebrows furrowing down over his eyes once more. "Is that all you can say about it?" he asked, his focus returning to Sora. "I saw it, Sora. All of it."

 

Sora glanced at Namine before he looked back at Roxas. "What you saw was me reacting to the memories I gained," he said in a low tone of voice, defensive. "I was confused and, like you said, under a spell." But he had obviously overcome that; couldn't Roxas see that he only viewed Namine as a friend?

Namine looked back and forth between the two boys, figuring out that they were talking about her. Castle Oblivion, and how Namine had been forced to give Sora misleading memories about her so that he would rescue her. That must have been the "spell" Roxas referred to a minute ago, and the one that Sora just mentioned. But what did Roxas mean when he said he "saw" everything?

 

"That was bad enough," Roxas said, his eyes closing as he shook his head. He had caught onto how Sora reacted when Namine was in danger; it was more than just rescuing a friend. "I would've liked to see how you originally reacted. I bet you were just as protective and persistent as before," he said, opening his eyes to look back at Sora.

 

"Before?" Sora repeated, arching a brow in confusion. He wasn't quite sure what Roxas meant by that. Everything else, though, was clear. Sora didn't like what Roxas was driving at, but he feared that if he said his thoughts directly about Namine at the time, it would only make things more heated.

 

"Think, Sora!" Roxas demanded harshly, getting aggravated. "The first time you found out Namine was in trouble in Castle Oblivion, how did you feel?" He ground his teeth together once he finished speaking, eyes hard as he stared at Sora. He wanted answers, and he wanted them now.

 

Namine blinked at Roxas' tone, and the harsh mention of her. She knew that it wasn't directed at her, but it was bad enough that she was being spoken about. "Roxas," she squeaked, protesting against this conversation. This wasn't something she wanted to be reminded about.

Sora, being too far away from Namine to hear her protest, answered Roxas' question. "Like I would have felt for Kairi!" he said through his teeth. "That was how it was set up, so that I would make it to the top and save Namine from the Organization. And it worked; I freed the love of your life. Happy?"

 

Roxas's fists tightened and he flexed his jaw. "Ecstatic," he answered lowly. Then he turned his head to look at the girl still sitting on the couch. "That's what you wanted, huh? Sora?" he said to her, his voice still harsh but at the same time lighter. He didn't want to yell at Namine, but Roxas knew it was past the point of his control.

 

Namine swallowed hard, seeing the harshness in Roxas' eyes as well as hearing it in his voice. "I wanted to be free," she whispered, her eyes moist at the memory of Castle Oblivion. The place had been absolutely awful to her, and she had been awful to Sora there. It wasn't fair that after so long, it had to be brought up. She had thought she put it behind her, but talking about it now made her realize she had only ignored it, not moved past it.