For catcake, my partner in shipping crime, due to Divine Past being a crazy 358/2 Days addict and Muke sending fan art that gives me way too many ideas.
You could probably call this a rather different retelling of Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days.
While the beginning roughly follows the timeline of Days, that will change pretty soon. I'll try to keep some plot points in, as long as I can.
Xion by the way does not exist in this story for various reasons.
Aaaand I have absolutely no idea how long this story will be in the end. It's a surprise for me, too. Yay!
Summary
There was no way Roxas could be as good as the boy he resembled, unwillingly copied and tore apart bit by bit. But that didn't mean he wouldn't try.
There was no way Roxas could be as good as the boy he resembled, unwillingly copied and tore apart bit by bit. But that didn't mean he wouldn't try.
Chapters
Prologue: Purpose
Ch. 1: On Your Own
Ch. 2: None Is Yours
Ch. 3: Pieces of Home
Ch. 4: New Directions
Ch. 5: Incomplete
Ch. 6: Conflict
Prologue: Purpose
Filling a notebook with events of the day was not one of his biggest strengths. Roxas had known that from the first day on, yet Lord Xemnas insisted on him keeping it updated whenever possible. Usually, this whenever possible meant after exhausting hours of collecting hearts.
The concept of a heart was a complete mystery to Roxas, like most of the things he encountered in his life. What exactly were they, why did he have to collect them, and why him out of everyone? What made him special enough to carry out a mission he did not understand and was not interested in? Even now, after work, thinking about what he would write in his journal later, all of these questions bugged him permanently.
“Why don't you do it?†he asked Axel, who was sitting right next to him on the clock tower. They had been meeting here in the evenings quite frequently, eating ice cream together. According to the redhead, a treat after work was the icing on the cake. Roxas did not remember ever having cake, just like he didn't remember anything else, so he wouldn't know if the icing was the best part. But he did know that having ice cream with someone sure was better than fighting, so he figured that much.
“If only anything you ever said made proper sense,†Axel teased him as a response. It was true, Roxas had only asked the part of the question that came up on his mind last, so obviously it would not make sense to anyone but himself.
“Collect the hearts, I mean. You guys are all eager to get them, right? I don't understand why I have to do it then.â€
“I've told you that before: Because you're the only one who can.â€
Sighing, he gave up. It was true, they had had the same conversation twice already, and it had always ended the same way as it did right now. You're the only one who can seemed like a fitting enough explanation at first, but in the end, it just wasn't enough to him. No one had ever given him, him, a reason to fight for anything that the other members of Organization XIII wanted. It was their concern and their wish to collect hearts and complete Kingdom Hearts.
But what even was Kingdom Hearts, and what did it mean to actually have a heart? How were the people who did any different from him and the others, and why was it important?
As every time he tried to get a sense out of it all, he failed and ended up with a bad headache.
Most of the things happening in his life had started to make sense after a few days, but this definitely wasn't part of those. As for now, that didn't matter though, as he would obey and fulfill his tasks anyway. Why? Because there was not much else he could do.
He had no real memories of his past self, so seeking answers for his own existence was nonsense. He had nothing and no one to return to, and the castle had become his home before he had even known what home meant.
The only thing that made him remember anything was sitting on the clock tower with Axel, a friend, and enjoying the sun set slowly to end another day.
“Hey, Roxas?â€
“Mh?â€
Axel stared at him funnily, eyebrows raised, then asked: “Are you really sure that you don't already have a heart?â€
A frown formed on Roxas's forehead. What kind of question was that supposed to be? As he had been thinking earlier, he didn't even know what a heart really was, let alone if he had one.
“I don't know. But...if there was something here,†he pointed to his own chest, “wouldn't I...well...feel it?â€
It was not that he felt completely empty, but most of what could be considered feelings inside him rather seemed like thoughts. The thought of getting off work to sit here. Of course it was nice, but that was what his head was telling him, right? He didn't feel anything in his chest when he thought about that.
It took a while, but then Axel frowned again and nodded slowly.
“Yeah. You're probably right.â€
None of them said another world while they finished their ice cream and silently decided to go back home. It was definitely the weirdest, most uncommon talk they had had since Roxas could remember, and he was a bit confused where it had come from.
They got back to the castle in the same manner as always, heading to their rooms, each occupied with their own thoughts. This life had become a routine already.
Wake up, do missions, have ice cream with Axel, then get home and write a summary of all that in his journal and finally, go to sleep and rest for the new day.
It was dull and boring, and Roxas decided that if he could indeed feel anything, he would feel unsatisfied with this situation.
He found himself staring out of the window, looking for words to write down, then decided to just write down the first thing coming up in this mind:
I wish anything had a purpose.
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