Author's note: I could not get the idea out of my head until I put it on paper. I am sure many of you have felt the same. I am a new Fanfiction author and I am looking forward to writing with the community. Be warned, this is my first Fanfiction so some helpful comments would be appreciated. I am always looking for ways to improve my skill as a writer. But anyway, I hope you enjoy this project i have been working on. I will try and get updates as fast as i can.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Update: 12-18-16: Thank you readerdreamer5625 for editing this chapter. He puts a serious amount of work into making sure the errors are gone and the story flows a lot smoother. He did an incredible job!

A Heart in The Void

Chapter 1

Of all the existences of the worlds, there are none that are as sad as those of the Nobodies'. Born of those who have lost their hearts to the creatures of darkness, known as the Heartless, the Nobodies don't truly exist.

They don't feel.

They don't understand what it is like to have a heart.

...Or do they?

They who are shunned by both light and darkness, who dwell in the twilight, what do they have worth fighting for? For those without hearts, those that are empty, a complete void, do they have the right to exist?

These were the thoughts of one particular nobody known as Roxas as he stared at the individual in front of him. The person that was said to be his other half. His Somebody.

Sora.

Even though Nobodies were supposed to lack emotion, Roxas had mixed feelings about seeing him again.

"This could have been the other way around," Roxas said as he stared at his Other, "But it really has to be you."

Sora looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"There are so many hearts that are connected to yours. You're me, so you can feel what I have felt."

Those words penetrated through Sora's heart, making him feel sad for his Nobody. The more he learned about the Nobodies, the more he pitied them, especially Roxas. To hear him say that he and Sora were the same, that just felt wrong.

"No. Roxas, you're you. We are not the same. I wanted to tell you that. That you deserve as much as I do to be your own person."

Roxas adopted a look of surprise for a moment before he gave Sora a small smile. Trust his Other to try and give Roxas the chance he never had. But no matter, Roxas knew what he had to do.

"You see Sora, that's why it has to be you," he said as he reached forward and grasped Sora's hands. It wasn't a second later that he started to transfer the only thing left that was truly his.

His memories.

But even his memories of the time he spent in Twilight Town and with his so-called friends, Hayner, Pence, and Olette, were fake. Roxas had to wonder if anything about him was ever real.

Truthfully, even though he made the decision to join back with Sora, there was nothing he wanted more than to exist. After all, who wouldn't? Who wouldn't want to be their own person, to just enjoy their summer vacation as they laughed with friends and ate ice-cream?

That was all that Roxas wanted, but it was too much for a Nobody to ask for. That he understood now.

As the last of his memories transferred into Sora, as he started to disappear, this truth Roxas started to accept. That was his fate after all. To disappear and become nothing… it was only right.

It wasn't as if he was ever something to begin with anyway.

Roxas was floating in an endless void of white. Even since he had been absorbed back into Sora, this was his sanctuary. He could only guess that it was the light of Sora's heart, and that eventually everything that made him 'Roxas' would disappear forever.

Roxas looked at his hands with a sad smile, clenching them. "You have no idea how lucky you are Sora, to actually exist. It's only something that a Nobody like me could ever dream of."

He said to himself as he looked up into the endless void of Light. "But it truly has to be you."

Roxas didn't know how long he had been floating there in the void. It could have been days, months, or years, but he could not tell. Truthfully, it was a wonder that he still existed, for all that it mattered in this place. Wasn't he supposed to be absorbed fully into Sora by now? Wasn't it enough that he didn't get the chance to exist? Couldn't he just peacefully disappear?

My Slave somewhere out there in the universe.

Roxas snapped his head up and looked around. He didn't know just how long he was floating there, but he was sure he had heard something. How was it possible? This was inside Sora's heart. How could he hear a voice from inside of here?

My beautiful, powerful, and Divine familiar.

Roxas spun around a few times to see where the voice was coming from, but he was only greeted by the endless void. What was going on?

Heed my guidance.

Suddenly, a bright light erupted in front of him. It was so bright that he had to shield his eyes, but it soon died down enough for Roxas to lower his arm. His eyes widened as he saw a green oval-shaped portal appear out of nowhere in front of him. It reminded him of the corridors of darkness he use to travel when he was in the organization, but this lacked any form of dark energy.

"What is this?" He asked himself as he floated towards the portal.

He gingerly reached up and was about to touch it, but at the last moment pulled away. What if it was something that would hurt Sora? He had no idea what this was, and if something happened to him, then Sora would be affected too, Right?

The green portal shimmered in front of him, almost beckoning him to touch it, but Roxas held firm.

"You deserve as much as I do to be your own person."

Roxas blinked a few times as Sora's words echoed through his mind. He looked down at his hands for a second before looking back at the portal, biting the inside of his cheek. No, he couldn't do this. Not to Sora, not to his Other, even if said Other was the one telling him to take this.

"Roxas, you're you. We are not the same."

Roxas took a deep breath before he looked up into the endless void.

"Do you really mean that Sora? A nobody like me, do I deserve to be my own person?" he asked before he turned back to the portal. It continued to shimmer in front of him; occasionally a small ripple would cascade across it.

"Roxas, you're you."

Roxas smiled to himself as he clenched his fists. "I am me."

He finally made his decision. Approaching the portal and with one quick movement, he came close before thrusting his hand through it. Immediately, it clamped onto him and started to drag him into the center. With one last look into the endless void, Roxas gave a last goodbye.

"I don't know what will happen, but I hope you can survive without me, Sora."

"Have everyone taken their turns?" Asked Professor Colbert. He then casually looked around his students to see if he missed anyone. The Springtime Familiar Summoning Ritual was a very sacred rite among the mages of Halkegenia, and so far, all of the students had managed to summon respectable familiars.

"Not everyone," the voluptuous Kirche spoke up as she proudly stroked the head of her Salamander. "Louise still has to grace us with her beautiful, divine, and powerful familiar. Isn't that right Zero?"

She said the derogatory nickname with a sly smile.

Louise, the short, pink-haired girl who was the target of the taunt, growled in annoyance before shooting Kirche a glare that promised death.

Colbert gave a sigh as he looked at the last student who needed to summon a familiar. He knew all too well about Louise and her extraordinary ability to cause even the smallest spell to explode. Truly, he was getting too much practice in defending people from explosions nowadays.

But even so, he cared for Louise and wouldn't want to just watch her be bullied. He turned a strict glare to Kirche, "Miss Kirche, please refrain from making fun of your classmates."

Kirche turned away at that, looking slightly sheepish. That was good; Colbert had no hopes in stopping the general treatment of the public to the girl before him, but he knew the passionate Kirche: she didn't mean harm, not really. She only had to be taught to see the fine lines before she crossed them.

Much more kindly, he then turned to his most troublesome student. "Louise, would you kindly summon your familiar now?"

Slowly, Louise walked forward with her wand in her hand, her knuckles white from gripping the handle.

"Please," she whispered quietly as her hands trembled furiously from the anxiety. Her wand rose into the air as she then tried to puff out her non-existent chest. "My Slave somewhere out there in the universe."

Professor Colbert could not suppress a sigh as he heard Louise chant her spell. He could not help but look around and notice the rest of the students were all scoffing at the way she was summoning her familiar. After all, Familiars were not a slaves, but partners to the mage. This, Louise would have to learn for herself, Colbert decided, or else she would lose whatever she would summon. That is, if she did summon anything at all.

"My beautiful, powerful, and Divine familiar," she yelled before she flicked her wand, "HEED MY GUIDANCE!"

Everyone braced themselves, expecting an explosion of disastrous proportions.

They were right.

The tip of Louise's wand erupted in a fiery blast, casting dirt, dust, and debris flying in all direction as a cloud of smoke surrounded the class. The only thing people could hear in the smoke was the coughing of students as they tried to wave the dust away. Immediately, the students began to grumble against the pink-haired mage.

"Just as we expected."

"Wasn't that explosion even bigger than usual?"

The smoke and dust remained for a while before it finally started to dissipate. Everyone was still trying to recover from that particularly enormous explosion when Kirche became the first to voice her frustration as she rose to her feet.

"Louise! This is why you are a Zero!" she shouted through the smoke, only to cough a few times as she attempted to wave the dust away from her face. "Argh, can't anybody clear the air with a wind spell? This is going to be horrible for my hair, I just know it!"

"My darling Montmorency, are you hurt?" A dainty young man known as Guiche asked as he lightly grasped his girlfriend's shoulder. Montmorency promptly ignored him as her gaze focused at the origin of the explosion where Louise was standing. She slowly pointed in that direction, causing Guiche to turn to what she was staring so raptly at. Soon enough, he also adopted the same look of shock that was on her face.

The dust was finally starting to settle before revealing Louise standing there. She was not alone though because standing in front of her was a figure. It was dressed in a black coat with a hood that obscured any view of the new stranger's face. The figure was slightly taller than Louise herself, but that was not saying much. It wore black shoes and black gloves as well, making every part of the figure completely covered.

Louise stood there, staring at the thing she had summoned. She then started trembling slightly.

"This is my beautiful and powerful familiar?" she said through gritted teeth, her eyebrow twitching uncontrollably.

Suddenly the class erupted in laughter as snide remarks began to fly.

"Is that supposed to be your familiar?"

"It looks like a commoner!"

"As expected of you Zero!"

Kirche in particular was hunched over, holding her stomach as she laughed loudly. "This is so fitting for the Zero! I wouldn't expect anything less from you!"

The student standing right next to Kirche observed the hooded figure for a few moments before she lost interest and buried her face back into a book.

"Come Sylphid," she told her Dragon familiar as they both began to walk away from the other students.

"Tabitha, where are you going? This was just getting good," Kirche said as she saw her friend leaving. Tabitha didn't say anything as she continued to walk away. Kirche just shrugged, already knowing that Tabitha was not much of a talker.

Louise faced the class, her face red from anger. That, and shame that she was barely keeping off of her face as she defaulted to the only way she had to save her pride: yell at everyone else.

"Shut up!" she screeched before she turned to Professor Colbert, "Please let me attempt the ritual again!"

Colbert stared at the unmoving familiar for the longest time before he turned to look at Louise. "I am afraid I can't. The Familiar ritual is a sacred passage. If you were to do it again, it would be considered blasphemy against the founder. I am sorry Louise, as unusual as it is, that is your familiar."

Meanwhile, Roxas had no clue what was going on. For some reason, he was standing in the middle of a field, or a courtyard. A slight breeze caressed his coat, entering his hood and gently brushing against his face. It was nice to feel the touch of fresh air again. But that didn't answer his question.

What happened?

He had already guessed that the green oval was some form of portal, but how in the world had it separated him from Sora?

Where did it take him?

Was he in a new world?

Roxas continued to stand there, observing his surroundings. He noticed that there were a lot of other people in the area. They were all laughing and pointing at him and a pink-haired girl.

Roxas didn't really care at the moment what they were talking about as he continued to look around. He noticed that there was a wide diversity of people in all shapes, sizes, and hair colors. Nothing about them really caught his attention besides their hair color. There was one woman that had flaming red hair that reminded him of Axel. The smaller girl arguing with the balding man had a hair color that was the same shade of pink as Marluxia. Then there was the girl that was walking away with a rather large dragon creature. This girl was small and had a head of blue hair that reminded him of Saïx.

The reptilian creature that was walking besides her alarmed Roxas at first, but he noticed that it wasn't mindlessly attacking everyone in sight, so it couldn't be a heartless. As he continued to look around, he was made aware that there were a lot of strange creatures that were harmlessly interacting with the people around them. He gave a sigh of relief as he came to the conclusion that none of these creatures were heartless.

As he continued to observe, trying to figure out what in the world had happened, he noticed that the pink-hair girl was arguing with a tall, balding man. Something about doing a familiar ritual over again, whatever that meant. Truthfully, it didn't surprise him that he understood their language. If understanding languages was a byproduct of traveling to different world, or just luck, he would never know.

"Complete the ritual now! Or I will be forced to expel you from this institute."

Roxas turned his attention to the balding man who had just spoken harshly to the girl. He watched as the pink-haired girl pointed to him with a look of disgust on her face.

Roxas merely raised an eyebrow before he lost interest and continued to look around, his mind lost in his many questions. But his attention was caught again when he saw the girl approaching him, a scowl crossing her face.

"You should be honored," the girl practically spat at him, her irritation at his presence clear for all to see, "A person of noble birth would never do something like this for a commoner."

Roxas cocked his head in confusion. What was this girl talking about? Nobles? Commoners? What kind of world was this?

The girl raised her wand before pointing it at Roxas who still hadn't moved ever since he arrived. "My name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière. Pentagon that rules the five elements, bless this individual and make him my Familiar."

Roxas was again confused as he heard her chant her spell. A familiar? What was that? And why in the world did she have such a long and complicated na…Why was she invading his space? Roxas thought as the girl lowered his hood to reveal his face to the world.

Now that everyone could see his face, the mocking from the rest of the class began to increase.

"Go for it Louise!"

"Go and make the commoner your familiar!"

"That's right Zero, at least he is handsome. You shouldn't be too disappointed."

Roxas looked around at the individuals. Why were they mocking them?

"What's going on?" Roxas asked as he turned his attention to the girl.

The girl, or Louise, turned red for a moment.

"Quiet!" she shushed as she clasped the back of Roxas's neck and brought her face closer to his.

Now, if Roxas thought his girl was invading his space before, he was sorely mistaken because she was taking it to a whole new level with particular course of action. Truth be told, he did not feel comfortable with it at all.

Right before Louise was about to kiss him, Roxas grabbed her shoulders and not-so-gently pushed her away, causing her to stumble. Immediately, Louise's eyes flew open and her face turned dark red from anger. The surrounding people were stunned for a few moments before they erupted in laughter again.

"Even a commoner doesn't want to be her Familiar."

"Leave it to Louise to be rejected by her Familiar."

"SHUT UP!" Louise yelled in a blind fury at her heckling audience. She then jumped back from Roxas and drew her wand. "How dare you reject your master!"

Roxas frowned at the girl. She was his master? Get real! That was not going to… He didn't even get to finish that train of thought as the tip of her wand exploded. The shockwave sent him flying off his feet, before crashing mercilessly to the ground on his back.

Roxas lay there for a few seconds in shock. He felt like he just got blown up by an assassin nobody. He cringed as he slowly sat up. He saw the girl approaching him again.

"What the hell was that for?" he shouted angrily.

The girl stomped over to Roxas and launched herself at him, tackling him back to the ground.

This time, Roxas was so surprised that he couldn't do anything as their lips interlocked.

It only lasted a second before the girl quickly pushed off him and stood up before stomping back to the balding man. "I have completed the Ritual."

"You had to blow up your familiar! That poor boy." Kirche taunted as she crossed her arms under her chest. "Wasn't it enough that he had to be kissed by you?"

Colbert gave her a warning glare at that, and Kirche backed down at the warning. It was for nothing though, as Louise hadn't seen the teacher's actions from behind her.

"Shut up," she barked before she glared at Roxas, "Familiar."

Roxas raised his hands to his lips before he looked at the girl with a frown.

"What was tha…?" he questioned before his body began to heat up. He clenched his teeth. It felt like he was fighting Axel when he would catch the entire area on fire. He hissed out, "What did you do to me!"

"Don't worry; it will all be over soon. Your familiar runes are being engraved into you." Louise said as she frowned at him.

Roxas looked up at her in anger before another wave of heat erupted from his body. It started to concentrate itself on his left hand. Immediately he pulled his glove off. There was a flash of light as strange writing began to form on the back of his hand. It took only a second before the runes were completed.

Roxas panted a few times before the heat finally began to fade away. He gave a sigh of relief before he jumped to his feet. "What was that, what did you do to me?"

The balding man approached. "You, young man, were summoned by Louise here to be her familiar."

"I was summoned?" Roxas asked as he glanced between his hand and the man.

"Yes. My name is Professor Colbert. You have very particular runes on your hand. Would you mind if I had a look?"

Roxas looked at the man skeptically, but could not feel any hostile intent from him. Slowly, he raised his hand to the professor so he could get a better look.

"That is very fascinating indeed." He said as he quickly drew the runes on his notebook before he turned to the rest of the students. "That concludes the lectures for the day. Please take the remaining time to bond with your new familiars."

"Hold on!" Roxas said as he stopped Colbert from leaving. "What is this? What are these runes?"

Professor Colbert turned to Roxas once again. "The runes signify the bond between master and familiar. As long as you have those runes, you are her familiar."

Roxas blinked a few times as he looked at the engravings on his skin. He felt his anger increase.

"Get real. There is no way…" he started, but then noticed that the Professor was already gone. Looking around, Roxas watched in amazement as the people simply began to fly away. He had been able to fly in Neverland before, but without the pixie dust he was only able to glide. These people were straight up flying away.

"HEY!"

Roxas cringed as he turned to the abnormally loud voice. It was the girl named Louise. The one that supposedly summoned him.

"Don't just stand there, follow me!" she barked.

Roxas frowned. "Why should I listen…"

Why don't you listen to your masters every command?

Roxas blinked a few times as he felt his argument die in his throat. Surprise filled him as he then replied, "Alright, I will follow you."

Louise just huffed before she stuck her nose in the air and walked toward the massive building.

Roxas paused for a moment, before he followed her. "Where did that come from?"

Roxas soon found himself sitting near a pile of straw in a very large room. Louise was sitting at a table, glaring at him. It was getting later in the afternoon, so the sun was shining brightly through the window. There was silence for a long time before Roxas cleared his throat.

"Why are you glaring at me?"

Louise erupted like a volcano. She waved her arms hysterically, shouting, "Why did I have to get a commoner for a familiar? Why couldn't I have something cool, like a dragon, or a griffin? Why this pathetic peasant? I was supposed to get something amazing to I could rub it in Kirche's face!"

Roxas raised his eyebrows as he watched Louise throw a fit. Did everyone her age act like a child around here? He hoped not, because that would be terrible for everyone.

He didn't really care at the moment as to what her problem was; instead he was still trying to understand what was happening. From what he gathered so far, he was summoned to a new world, one that he had never visited before during all his travels in the Organization. He was separated from Sora. He had no idea how that would affect Sora but he did say that Roxas deserved to be his own person.

Was this finally his chance?

Roxas was torn from his thoughts when a shirt and skirt hit him dead in the face. He peeled them off to see Louise undressing right in front of him. He looked at her curiously, not really knowing how to react because he had never been in this kind of situation before.

So he just sat there.

Louise continued to undress until she finally pulled her nightgown over her head. She turned to look at her familiar, who was just sitting there with a few articles of her clothing scattered around him. He made no move to pick them up.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Go wash those for me and have my outfit ready for the morning. It had been a long day and I am going to bed early. If you don't have those done by morning, then there will be no food for you."

Roxas took a moment to absorb what she just said, partially because he could not believe it. She was demanding that he wash her clothes and even had the gall to threaten him if he didn't.

He glared at the girl again. "Now you listen here…"

Why don't you obey her? Why don't you follow her every command?

Roxas blinked again as he, once again, felt his argument die.

"Ok, I will wash them, master," he said, once again surprising himself. He cringed and wanted to vomit after those words came out of his mouth. This wasn't him, at all. What was happening to him?

Louise narrowed her eyes suspiciously at hearing his first few worlds, but at his reply, she gave a nod. Turning to bed, she then commanded, "Good, now leave."

Roxas picked up the laundry basket and left the room, trying to figure out why he was saying those things, and why he was being so submissive. As he was walking down the hall, his mind was in utter confusion.

"Why did I say that? Why am I doing all of this for that girl?" he asked himself as he walked down the hallway.

"You know, I am very good at baking soufflés."

Roxas rounded to corner with his basket to see two people standing there. He recognized one of them making fun of Louise earlier, but the other one was a brown-haired girl he had never seen before.

"Well, I would be delighted to try one sometime."

"Oh, really?" the girl replied as she clasped her hands together.

"Of course Katie, don't you know I could never lie to you?"

"Oh, lord Guiche!"

Roxas watched in fascination for a second before he left them. They were so engrossed in each other's eyes that they didn't even notice him slip by. He continued to walk down the hall as he pondered at how those two talked to each other.

"This world is weird. Why were they looking at each other like that?" Roxas asked himself. He had never seen two people act that way around each other before and it was a bit confusing. It was like how Belle and the Beast treated one another, yet… felt so meaningless.

In the end, Roxas just shrugged his shoulders as he continued to walk down the hallway. He was a nobody. What did he know about it? And right now he didn't care that much because his master had ordered him to wash her clothes and he had to obey.

…Roxas stopped walking for a moment.

"Why do I have to obey her?" he asked himself before shaking his head.

Walking down to the ground level of the academy, he looked around for somewhere he could wash the clothing. He was walking around for a while until he spotted someone.

"Excuse me."

The person, a girl in a maid uniform, turned to look at him before smiling, "Yes?"

Roxas gave a sigh of relief, glad that this person seemed to be nice enough to help him.

"I was ordered to wash these clothes, but I don't know where, could you help me?"

The maid smiled.

"Of course. I will show you so please follow me," she said as she began to walk away. They walked in silence for a few moments before the maid turned to him, "What's your name?"

"I'm Roxas."

She looked him over once. "Oh, you must be the familiar that Louise summoned."

Roxas looked at her curiously. "How did you know?"

"I work with most of the servants at the academy, and I didn't recognize you. Also, no servant is allowed to wear something like that when they work," she said as she pointed to his coat.

"Well, that is true I guess. But unfortunately, yes, I am Louise's familiar."

"That is rather unfortunate. I serve Louise every so often," she said as she giggled slightly, "I don't think I could do it."

"Truthfully, I don't know if I can either," he said as his mind went back to why he was even serving her in the first place. Why didn't he just open a corridor of darkness and leave? It was like something was holding him back. Roxas shook his head as he turned to the maid, "What about you? What is your name?"

The bubbly maid perked up. Roxas narrowed his eyes; he was already starting to notice the dichotomy between the servants and the 'nobles' around here, but was it really so rare for them to be just treated cordially?

"I'm Siesta. I work as a maid here," she said before smiling at him, "I have to say, all things considering, you seem to be taking the whole familiar thing very well."

"I have been through a lot," he replied before he turned to her, "It seems that I am a long way from home. Where exactly am I?"

Siesta and Roxas eventually reached the spot where clothing was supposed to be washed, though they continued to talk long after they reached their destination. Siesta explained all about the Tristian Academy of Magic, about Nobles and their ability to use magic. She also explained the role of commoners and their usual mistreatment from the nobles.

Roxas sat there and listened to her as they both cleaned the laundry, absorbing the information like a sponge. He didn't really say anything, just asked a few questions, which Siesta was more than happy to answer for him. She also shared a lot about herself as well.

"Thank you Siesta." Roxas smiled at the maid as he put the last of the laundry in the basket.

"You're very welcome. Thank you for talking with me," she said before she paused with a confused look on her face, "Oh no. I was talking so much about myself that I didn't even learn anything about you."

Roxas gave a small laugh. "I am not that interesting."

Siesta gave a small, playful frown as she gently swatted his arm. "Don't say that. I bet you have your fair share of stories. Oh, I have to go. I still have some things I need to take care of."

"Well, I don't want to keep you. I hope to see you around," Roxas said as he watched her smile at him before leaving. He really enjoyed talking with her. At least she could hold a conversation, unlike his master.

…Why was he calling her his master?

Roxas shook his head again before he walked back to Louise's room. He gently opened the door to see her sleeping in her bed. Slowly, Roxas placed her laundry at the side of her bed before leaving the room again.

Finding himself outside, he noticed that the sun was setting. It was beautiful, no matter how many times he had seen it.

Looking around, Roxas gazed at the top of the academy, at the highest tower. He glanced around to make sure there was nobody around before he clenched his hands.

"Time to see what is still available to me," he whispered as he stretched forth his right hand.

Immediately, a black oval of wispy darkness erupted from the ground.

The Corridor of Darkness.

The dark entrance beckoned him to come forward. Roxas grinned before he entered the abyss. He was only in the darkness for a brief moment before he exited through the portal, finding himself exactly where he wanted to be.

The top of Tristian Academy's highest tower. The top of the tower had a flat surface, allowing him to walk around, but all he really wanted was just the view.

Roxas made his way to the edge of the tower before swinging his legs over the edge and sitting down to enjoy the sunset. It was still beautiful, no matter what world you were on. Memories of the times with his best friend Axel began to surface. All the laughs they shared on the Twilight Tower, all the missions, all the fights, everything.

Roxas also remembered the times he spent with Hayner, Pence, and …

Roxas raised both his eyebrows.

"Hayner, Pence, and …what was her name again?" he asked himself out loud. He could clearly see her in his mind's eye, but her name was vanishing.

"What is going on?" Roxas asked himself. "I know she was there, what was her name. There was Hayner, P… P…" Roxas adopted a look of horror as the second name began to disappear from his mind.

"What's going on! How can I be forgetting them?" he questioned. Even when he was becoming a part of Sora, he never forgot who his friends were. What was different this time? What was happening that was making him forget? Did something happen to hi…

Roxas's eye widened as he thought of the only thing that that could possibly be affecting him.

Only one thing happened to him since he got here, and it was branded on his left hand. He removed the glove from his hand and looked at the runes. They were shimmering slightly.

That was more than enough evidence.

"These runes are wiping my memory?" he asked through clenched teeth. Roxas was beyond furious. He literally had nothing that he could call his own but a name, a number, and his memories. Those were the only things that were truly his, and he was not about to lose them.

"NO!" he shouted as he jumped to his feet. What could he do? How could he rid himself of the runes? How could he break the bond between him and the person who summoned him? He couldn't think of a way to break… Break. Unbind.

Unlock.

Roxas grit his teeth as he whipped his right hand to the side. There was a flash of darkness before his iconic weapon appeared in his hand.

The Oblivion Keyblade.

"The Keyblade can unlock anything. I am not losing what little is actually mine!" Roxas said as he pointed his keyblade at the runes on his hand, praying that it would work before he lost his memories.

You don't want to destroy the bond!

Roxas's eyes widened as he looked at the runes on his hand. They were shimmering brightly. "I don't want to?"

You want Louise to be your master.

Roxas felt his anger die down as the thoughts began to penetrate his mind.

"I want her to be my master," he said, almost robotically. He was about to lower his Keyblade, but he then suddenly stopped when he found that Hayner's name was vanishing from his mind along with his best friend Axel's. Immediately, his anger returned.

"NO!" Roxas shouted, finally realizing where all of these thoughts were coming from. "This is my existence! There is no way I will let myself be enslaved again!"

The Oblivion started to radiate with light. A circle began to form at the tip.

YOU DON'T WANT TO DESTROY THE BOND!

The idea hammered at Roxas. He violently shook his head as he continued to charge the beam, trying to ignore his instincts and growing desire to be Louise's slave.

YOU WANT LOUISE TO BE YOUR MASTER, YOU WANT TO BE HER FAMILIAR!

"NO! I am ME. I am NOBODY'S FAMILIAR!" Roxas shouted before he let the Keyblade eject a beam of light onto his hand. The beam penetrated the runes, completely severing all connections to the bound. Roxas grasped in agony as he raised his hand and watched as the runes began to glow with incredible brightness.

He lowered his keyblade, but the runes continuing to shine bright, but seconds later the light dimmed down. The runes flashed once before they slowly vanished from the back of his hand. Roxas fell to a knee, panting. His head felt like it had been smashed with one of Saïx's claymore's. Whatever those runes were, they did not want him to undo the bond.

What Roxas wanted more than anything was to exist and to be his own person. Now that he had the opportunity, he was not going to be enslaved. Not by Organization XIII, nor by a bratty little girl. He had enough of taking orders. Now it was his turn to live.

Slowly, Roxas got his breath back and turned to the sunset, admiring its beauty as the memories washed over him once again.

"Hayner, Pence, and Olette," he said, smiling as his memories returned to him and the voice in his head was gone. "Now all I need is some Sea Salt Ice-cream."

Roxas continued to watch the sun set without any interruption. He let his mind wander on many thoughts.

He was really here.

He didn't have to follow the destiny of all the Nobodies. He didn't have to vanish into a nonexistent oblivion. If anything else, he at least owed Louise for that. Roxas put the glove back on his left hand, making a decision to repay her by continuing to be her familiar. However, he was not going to be her slave.

As long as she treated him right, he'll stay. If not, well it would only be Louise's fault that he left.

A small gust of wind brushed up against Roxas's back. He turned to see the short, blue-haired girl from before. She was riding on top of the blue dragon.

Roxas and the girl looked at each other for a few moments before the girl sat on the ground, leaned against the dragon, and started to read her book.

Roxas stared at the duo for a few seconds before he shrugged and turned back toward the sun set. He enjoyed the comfortable silence between them. For some reason, this atmosphere was… oddly familiar. Had he sat on the edge of twilight tower with someone else besides Axel?

Little did Roxas know, Tabitha lowered her book a bit and stared at his back, wondering how in the world he had gotten on top of the tower.

A few hours passed before the sun was completely below the horizon. Night had settled and the stars shined bright. Roxas had to admit, the two moons was something new, but it just seemed to add to the majesty of the night sky.

A shift behind him signified that the girl and the dragon were moving. He turned towards them to see the girl crawling onto the dragon's back. She then turned to look at him.

"Ride?"

She was so quiet that Roxas almost didn't catch her question.

"Do I need a ride?" he asked to clarify.

The girl gave a small nod. Roxas stared at them for a second before he shook his head.

"No thanks," he said as he continued to look up at the stars. "I'll be getting down from here on my own."

Tabitha stared at him for a second before she nudged Sylphid to leave. She spared him one more glance before they flew out of sight. Roxas gave a small smile as he saw that he was alone before he stood up. He stretched forth his hand and the corridor of darkness appeared before him. He walked through only to find himself at the academy grounds once again.

He didn't really trust anyone in this world yet, so he decided to keep his powers to himself for now, or at least until he knew what these mages were capable of. This world was very interesting, and for some reason he felt himself not wanting to leave it yet, even though he had the power to do so.

Roxas took one last look at the sky before he turned and walked toward the academy. This was his new life, and he was going to make the most of it.

Authors Note: There you have it. First chapter down, and I have to say, it has been a lot of fun. Do you like it? Do you hate it? Let me know. How was my interpretation of Roxas so far? I have to be honest, he is a very difficult character to nail sometimes. But anyway, thank you for taking the time to read and look forward to the next chapter coming soon.

Again, thank you readerdreamer5625 for taking the time to edit this chapter.

Until then!