A/N: Hello everyone! I'm sorry for being gone so long and deleting everything. I have been growing a lot as a person and as a writer and have been working on many fictional works of my own on another website called Inkitt and I decided to come back and clean up this old fanfic of mine. Recently I came back to check on the views for old times sake (which is around 6,600 currently) and I decided to reread the beginning of the first chapter. I cringed. A lot. So, I am back with newly edited chapters in hopes that I could make reading this story a bit more enjoyable, without as many (if not, any) grammar and spelling mistakes. As always, enjoy. ("~SbD~" is for scene breaks.)
~Day 8~
A new feeling of awareness awakened my senses as I opened my eyes. The first thing I had found in my new reality was a white ceiling, blank as a slate. I rolled onto my side as I felt something thin shift under me. I quickly identified it as a sheet when I realized that I was lying on an unfamiliar bed in a small room.
"Where am I?" I was surrounded by a porcelain color in every direction I looked in. Everything was white, from the walls, to the floor, to the sheets of the bed I had been placed in. I pushed myself to sit up, my feet dangling off the edge with my toes hanging close to the tiled floor. My eyes scanned the room, noting a desk, a wardrobe, and a notebook before pausing at a mirror hanging on the wall. I saw my confused reflection staring back at me and I couldn't help wondering who I was.
My long hair was a dirty blonde color, with a portion of it covering part of my right eye and the rest cascading almost halfway down my back. My eyes, which glimmered in the light of the room, were a vicious crimson, similar to the color of blood. Freckles were spread out across my pale face and my expression remained nuetral.
"Who am I?" I scooted off of the bed and landed on my feet before looking down at my clothing. A long, black coat that appeared to be made out of leather cloaked most of my body. A long zipper traced its inner edges and the ends of the drawstrings held silver pieces with some sort of chain crossing my chest, connecting where the drawstrings met the coat's hood. With it, I wore pants, leather gloves, and boots, all of them seeming to be the same shade of black. I eyed the room around me for a moment before the nearby door opened and a familiar man stepped into the room.
The first thing I noticed about him was his flaming red hair, which had been combed back into wild spikes. The next thing I noticed was his striking emerald green eyes and the reversed teardrop shaped markings under them that seemed almost like tattoos. Like me, he wore a long, black coat with matching pants, boots, and gloves. I couldn't figure out why he seemed so familiar. It was strange, like a deja vu moment.
"So, you're awake," he started with a grin.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"The name's Axel," The redhead answered, "Got it memorized?"
"Axel," I repeated to myself. Why did his name seem so familiar? "Who am I?"
"You're Exchy," he replied, "Number XIII."
"Number XIII of what?" I asked, looking back at the redhead.
"The Organization," Axel answered, "Now, come on. We have a mission to do." He motioned for me to folow him as he walked out of the room. I followed, still confused about everything as we walked down a hallway that was empty of color. I stopped walking when we entered a room that I now know was The Grey Area of The Castle That Never Was. I looked around the room, noting two clean, white couches and two glass tables, along with a large window with a panoramic view of the darkened sky outside. That's when I met another familiar man, except this one wasn't so friendly. He had long, blue hair with yellowish orange eyes and an X-shaped scar on his face. He was wearing the same uniform as Axel and me, but he clearly wasn't as charismatic as the redhead. He glared at me in odium as he stormed over to us.
"What is that thing doing in the castle?" he hissed, pointing down at me. I glared up at the man as Axel did the same.
"Exchy is not a thing, Saix," the redhead snapped, "and you better get used to her since she's now a member of the Organization. Exchy, please excuse me for a moment." Axel stepped forward to walk past the angered man, Saix, and the bluenette followed him the corner of the room. I watched them for a moment, tilting my head in curiosity. What was that guy's problem? I removed my eyes from the duo when I heard some voices nearby. I turned my head to see a group of guys sitting on the couch to my right, some of them looking at me. I felt my face burn slightly when their chatter quieted into silence and all of their eyes were on me. One man with a long ponytail, an eyepatch over one of his eyes, and a jagged scar that reached across his cheek looked at me and grinned.
"Hey, she's finally awake!" Another man with long, black hair in a style that seemed like dreadlocks looked up at him.
"She was bound to sometime."
"What do you think, Mr. Silent?" the man with the eyepatch asked, using his elbow to nudge a guy with light brown hair. He seemed very muscular and seemed like the kind to boast about his strength to Hercules himself, but he remained silent as another male with dark, silverish blue hair looked up from a book he was reading.
"You know, she seems like a heroine in a fictional novel," he admitted. That's when the final guy, a man with long, pink hair and sparkling blue eyes decided to ask a question.
"What's a girl like that doing in the Organization?" he wondered aloud.
"She's tougher than she looks, according to Axel," the brunette finally spoke up. Everyone looked over at him with wide eyes.
"Oh my Kingdom Hearts!" the man with the eyepatch cried, "You can talk?!" All of the men, with an exception of the brunette, burst into laughter. I walked toward them, silent and curious. I was almost instantly greeted with warm smiles and introductions, the first one from the man with the eyepatch.
"Good morning," He grinned, standing up. He looked me up and down and whistled. "You know, we don't get many girls around here. Exchy, isn't it? Come take a seat." He gently took my hand and walked me over to the couch. I watched a few of the men scoot over to make room for me, a few of them standing up even. "I'm Xigbar, by the way." I sat down on the soft cushions as he sat between the man with dreadlocks and me. The man beside Xigbar looked over at me.
"My name's Xaldin," he introduced himself, almost emotionlessly.
"My name is Zexion," the boy that was reading earlier said, "May I say that you look very lovely this morning?" He smiled at me from under his long bangs, which covered most of his face.
"Oh my Kingdom Hearts!" the pink haired man cried, "Zexion, did you just smile?!" The silver haired boy, Zexion, narrowed his eyes and looked back down at his book. "Anyway, I'm Marluxia," the pinkette added. He winked at me as he pulled a thornless red rose out of his sleeve and handed it to me.
"T-thank you," I stuttered shyly. "That's very nice of you." That's when Axel walked over to us. He wasn't wearing the same pleasant grin he had worn earlier. He seemed a little irritated, like Saix had gotten on his nerves.
"You guys can go play with Larxene," He growled, taking my hand and pulling me off the couch. "Come on, Exchy. I've got our mission." We turned to leave when Xigbar stopped us.
"Wait a minute," he protested, "you get to take her on her first mission?!"
"Yeah," Axel replied.
"Do we get to take her on a mission sometime too?"
"He's got a point," Zexion acknowledged.
"I guess," Axel shrugged. "Bring it up with Xemnas, not me. I'll see you guys later." He opened up a dark, whispy portal that I now know as a Dark Corridor and lead me through it, beginning our mission.
~SbD~
I rushed down a hallway and around a corner as Axel followed closely behind. My mission was to find a small chest that had been hidden in Twilight Town's underground network of tunnels. My crimson eyes scanned the halls and around corners until I spotted a small chest at the end of one of the hallways.
"There!" I shouted, pointing at the wooden box. "I found it!" I sprinted down the hallway, eager to see what was inside. I opened the small chest, only to find a healing item called a Potion inside. I turned around to look up at Axel.
All this time, he had been telling me about what missions were and things like how a Dark Corridor could be used to RTC, a term meaning to return back to the castle.
"Nice job, Exchy," the redhead spoke, grinning in approval. "Now, take us back to the Dark Corridor." I nodded and quickly spun around on my heels. I dashed down tunnel after tunnel, leading Axel back to the Dark Corridor. I jumped off a ledge, landing swiftly on my feet and running toward the dark, swirling portal that awaited us in the corner of the room. I was about to turn around when I felt a hand on my shoulder, gripping at my coat slightly. I turned my head upward to see Axel standing behind me.
"Great job. Do you understand what missions are now?" I nodded.
"Yeah."
"Come on," the redhead ordered, letting go of my shoulder.
"Don't we have to RTC?" I wondered aloud, turning to watch him walk away. He paused for a moment and looked back at me from over his shoulder.
"Later," Axel answered. "There's something I want to show you."
~SbD~
"Wow, the sunset looks beautiful from up here!" I marveled as I walked around the corner. Axel had taken me up to the top of Twilight Town's clock tower for a treat of some sort. I looked at the burning sky as I leaned against the wall. A felt a wave of nostalgia wash over me as I watched the golden and pink colored clouds float gently across the red and orange sunset. The burning sun was lowering, coming close to dipping below the horizon. The view just seemed so familiar.
"How long were we on that mission?" I asked. "It seem like very long."
"It was only half an hour," the redhead insisted. "There's a time difference between The World That Never Was and Twilight Town, but you would never notice because The World That Never Was always seems to be dark." I watched as the redhead sat down on the edge of the building, letting his feet dangle from the roof as he held two ice-creams in his hands. I froze when he glanced back at me, seeming like he had a question or two. "You can come sit down over here, you know. You don't have to stand there the whole time."
"O-okay," I stuttered, feeling my shyness return. I sat down at his left side, nervous about the height of the tower and how far of a drop it was to the ground. But, for some reason, I felt safe around him. He handed me an ice-cream and I smiled at him before looking back at the sky.
"Do you remember anything from your past?" he asked. I paused for a moment, searching my memory, but I failed to remember anything from before that morning.
"No . . ." I replied, shaking my head. "I can't remember anything."
"Oh . . ." Axel sighed. Everything was silent.
"The weird thing is that you seem familiar to me," I confessed, "and when we saw Saix, I had this feeling like I knew him too, but he didn't seem all that friendly to me. It's like I've met you guys before. Have I?"
"Maybe," Axel replied with a heartbroken smile on his face. He stared up at the sky when I looked away from his face, my gaze falling on the ice-cream I was holding. I licked my treat as Axel bit into his.
"Funny . . ." I said with a smile. "This ice-cream tastes familiar, too." Axel laughed at my comment even though he still seemed a little hurt. I didn't bother asking what was wrong. Had I met him before and just not remember?
~SbD~
For five days I was paired up with different people and knew some of the Organization's members, even the rude girl named Larxene that everyone was hoping I wouldn't be like, which I wasn't. I was completing missions with my Keyblade, learned how to use magic, and found out about the goals of the Organization.
Everyone in the Organization was a Nobody, a person who had their heart taken in some way. The Organization needed me and my Keyblade to collect hearts and destroy Heartless, creatures who stole hearts from others, to form Kingdom Hearts. That way, the Nobodies of the Organization would become whole again.
The black coats we wore were used to protect our hearts as they began to develop and keep them from becoming consumed in darkness. I even knew the two different kinds of Heartless; Symbol Heartless and Pureblood Heartless. The only thing I didn't know was who I really was . . .
A/N: There's the first chapter, newly edited! I will try my best to keep the storyline mainly untouched, but I may changed things here and there. I hope you enjoyed and I will see you soon with the next chapter!