A boy appears in Twilight Town, moments after Sora becomes a Heartless. He begins to remember some things about his former self, but those memories quickly fade away as Sora becomes human again. Moments later, a black clothed figure appeared out of nothingness, and the word 'Sora' popped into the air. The letters rearranged themselves, an 'X' was added, and the word 'Roxas' came up. "Welcome to Organization XIII," the black hooded figure said, "Roxas."
Stepping into the black portal that the hooded person made, and Roxas immediately noticed the swirling colors. Going through another black portal, he came to a dark alley, with a large castle looming overhead. Heartless begin to draw near to him, and the hooded figure said, "Defend yourself." Holding up his hands in a defensive position as the Heartless began to attack, a Keyblade comes into his hands, and Roxas makes quick work of them. Applauding, the hooded figure takes off his hood. "I'm Xemnas," he started, "the Organization's leader."
Walking through the dark city, the two quickly came to the front of the castle, and walked in. Opening another portal, Xemnas motioned for Roxas to come in. Appearing in a kind of throne room, where eleven other black clothed people sat, all on assorted heights of thrones. "Everybody," Xemnas began, "we have our thirteenth member." Looking up, all began to take in the look of their new member, and quickly looked away as Roxas looked at them. Though there was one, a spiky red head, who didn't turn away. Going over to the only empty throne, Roxas took a seat, while everybody began to introduce themselves.
"I'm Vexen."
"Demyx."
"Name's Xigbar.
"Zexion."
"Saix."
"Xaldin."
"Lexaeus."
"Luxord."
"I'm Larxene!"
"Marluxia."
"And I'm Axel." It was the red headed one. Everybody else had taken their seats again, but Axel stayed there. "So… welcome to Organization XIII! Hope you feel welcome." Axel then quickly began to walk back to his seat, a nervous look on his face.
Xemnas again in the middle, he motioned over for Roxas to come over, "Here's your coat," he said, handing him a black coat, similar to the others'. Slipping it on over his street clothes, Roxas walked back over to his seat. "Now, I have to leave for a few hours to go to Hollow Bastion. I have some… business to attend to."
After Xemnas left, everybody began to get out of their seats and go to somewhere in the castle. Axel walked over to Roxas once more, and said, "I'll give you a tour of the castle, follow me." Obeying, Roxas followed Axel everywhere, as he listened to what Axel was saying. When the tour was finished, Axel directed Roxas to his bedroom, and Roxas quickly drifted off to sleep.
The next day, Roxas went back to the throne room, and once everybody was there, Xemnas said, "Ansem is dead." The room got quiet. "The Keyblade Master killed him, and he is now headed to our new base, Castle Oblivion. So I am going to ask that some of you go there to keep watch over him. The ones that I have picked are Marluxia, the leader, Larxene, and Axel on the top floors, and Vexen, Lexaeus and Zexion in the basement floors. You are to report there as soon as possible.
Axel walked over to Roxas once more, and said, "If you want, I can bring you to Castle Oblivion sometime to see how things are going."
"Umm… sure," Roxas replied, unsure why Axel was offering such a strange request.
"Great!" Axel said, walking away.
Demyx came over, and said, "I've been ordered to teach you how to battle, Roxas. Come with me to the training room." Walking with Demyx, Roxas went to the training room and trained all day. He became a skilled swordsman quickly. "You're going to need that to fight the Heartless, and we need that Keyblade to acquire them, and get our hearts back. A puzzled look on his face, Demyx realized that Roxas was a new Nobody, and didn't know what one was. He explained what a Nobody was, and the goal of the Organization.
The next day, in the throne room, Xemnas addressed the seven remaining members, as six were at Castle Oblivion. "Now, I need you to scavenge around worlds today, looking for anybody that could be a powerful ally to us. Roxas and Demyx, you go to Olympus, Xigbar, Halloween Town, and Xaldin, Beast's Castle. Saix and Luxord, you can take a break for today. Get to it!"
"Looks like we get to work together for your first mission, Roxas!" Demyx exclaimed, as the sitar-playing Organization member opened a portal to Olympus. "Maybe we can participate in a tournament too!"
Roxas, eager to get on to his first mission in the Organization, stepped through the black portal right when Demyx opened it. Two large golden warriors were on the outer sides of the Coliseum. Walking through the front doors, the two met a short goat, standing on its hind legs. "Excuse me, we'd like to sign up for the games," Roxas said, as the goat acknowledged them.
"Sure, just step through that door there, and three words: Good luck!"
Going through the doorway, the Roxas and Demyx easily fought through eight rounds of Heartless.
"Whoa, they're good," the goat muttered, walking into the center. "Now, you two lads get to fight: the one, the only, Hercules!" A muscle-bound man walked into the ring, a smug look on his face.
"Sora, is that you?" the hero said at first glance to Roxas. Taking the boy's face into closer examination, he realized that wasn't Sora. "Oh, never mind, sorry. Well, let's go!" Roxas and Demyx fought their hardest, but even with a two to one advantage, they still lost. "Aw well, you can try again at the next games!" Herc walked away, scratching his head, muttering, "I could've sworn that was Sora…"
Back at the Castle, Demyx and Roxas reported to Xemnas. "There was one strong enough to join our ranks, but he was too strong for us, sorry sir," Roxas said.
"No matter," Xemnas started, "At Destiny Islands today, I found another member." Silence ensued.
"That's, uh, great!" Demyx said.
"Yes, I called all the members from Castle Oblivion just to inaugurate her."
"Oh, so it's a she." Demyx winked at Roxas.
"She's a little old for you, Demyx," Xemnas said, chuckling, "but not for Roxas, they're the same age."
"Aww," Demyx complained.
Back at the throne room, all members, including Axel, were in their respective seats. Xemnas started. "Before I introduce our member, I would like to hear the report from Marluxia at Castle Oblivion."
Marluxia stood up, and started talking. "Sora has arrived, and he is currently traversing through Olympus Coliseum."
"Oh, so Herc must've finally met that Sora kid…but why is Olympus in Castle Oblivion? Did Marluxia open a portal for him to get there?" Roxas thought.
"Also, Marluxia continued," Zexion has deciphered that Riku is in the Castle, too, and is traversing the basement floors. That is all."
Marluxia went back to his seat, and Xemnas began talking again. "Wonderful, according to the plans too, I see. Now, it is time to introduce our new member, Number XIV, Xion. The new member walked into the room, her hood around her face. "I am very glad to be here," she said, "I may not have my memories, but I'm sure I'll be a valuable asset to Organization XIII-"
"Wait, why isn't it Organization XIV, now?" Demyx interrupted.
"Well," Xemnas said, "Xion is going to be our spy, kind of, so like all spies, they're not going to be known that well."
"Oh," Demyx said. "XIII sounds cooler anyway."
Xion continued, "Anyways, glad to meet you all."
Everyone introduced themselves to Xion. Afterwards, the Castle Oblivion members went back to the Castle, and everyone else went to bed.
The next day, Xemnas began the morning briefing: "Vexen is dead. He turned traitor and almost told Sora our little secret. So Marluxia ordered Axel to annihilate him while he was fighting Sora in Twilight Town." A few heads turned to Roxas. "So that gives us thirteen members again. Anyway, Xigbar and Xaldin, go to where you were yesterday. Roxas, show Xion around the castle, maybe show her a few worlds. The rest of you have the day off."
Roxas showed Xion around the castle. "You really have a good sense of direction, Roxas," Xion said.
"Thanks. So, since Xemnas said I could show you a few worlds, let's go to the place where we were born." Opening a portal, Roxas stepped through to Twilight Town. There was a mansion guarded by a gate. "This is where I was born, Xion." They heard footsteps coming from the forest. "Quick, hide!"
Hiding in a nearby tree, the two eavesdropped on the group.
"You just had to tick off Seifer again, Hayner."
"Yeah, we barely made it out alive."
"Well, I wasn't just going to sit back and watch that idiot embarrass us!"
"All he did was take out your report card, Hayner."
"Exactly!" The threesome then stood there for a few minutes, and then Hayner said, "Should be safe now," and they left.
Roxas and Xion walked out of the tree. "That was a close one," Roxas said, "They almost caught us."
"Yeah," Xion said, "Lucky us."
"Well, time to go to… where were you born again?"
"Destiny Islands… I think."
"Then to Destiny Islands!" Opening another portal, Roxas stepped onto the island off of the mainland of Destiny Islands.
"It was around here," Xion said. "Ah! Right here." She pointed to a waterfall.
"You were born in a waterfall?" Roxas asked.
"No, you see that bush?" Xion pointed to the bush next to the waterfall. "There's an opening there we can walk through." Walking through the opening, they came to a cave, with a door with no knob on it. "It was right in front of that door."
"Interesting place…" Roxas said, looking at all of the carvings on the wall. Suddenly, an auburn haired girl walked into the cave.
"Sora?" she asked seeing Roxas.
"No, just somebody who looks like him, apparently," Roxas said, grinning.
"Oh, okay then," the girl said, glancing at Xion, looking away, and then leaving.
"Better get back to the castle," Roxas said, opening a portal.
Back at the Castle That Never Was, Roxas told Demyx all about his day.
"Looks like you and Xion are becoming quite the couple, eh?" Demyx said, winking.
"What? No!" Roxas said, blushing.
Xemnas then walked in. "Lexaeus is dead. Riku killed him. That is all."
"Good man, Lexaeus was," Demyx said, "always got the job done right."
Roxas felt a tear drip down his eye. At least Lexaeus wasn't a traitor like Vexen was.
"Whoa, you're good at fake crying," Demyx commented at Roxas' tear.
"Oh, uh, thanks," Roxas replied, unsure of why he could cry.
The next day, Xemnas directed Roxas to go with Xaldin to Beast's Castle, to try and collect the Beast's heart.
"Don't drag me down," Xaldin said, running down the entrance hall of the castle. Catching up, when Roxas turned the corner that Xaldin had turned a few seconds before, he saw that Xaldin's spears were out, and pointed at a candle.
"Help! Your Majesty!" the candle screamed, and a roar came from above. Roxas looked up, and saw a beast, now knowing why the place was called 'Beast's Castle.'
"GET OUT!" The beast screamed, attempting to attack Roxas, but Roxas blocked with his Keyblade. Roxas opened a portal and ran inside, closing it quickly. Xaldin joined him.
"What's wrong with you?" he said, "fight back!"
"I kind of don't want to die, thank you," Roxas said.
"Ugh, guess we have to report then."
Back at the Castle That Never Was, Xemnas gave a long lecture to Xaldin and Roxas, telling them it was not acceptable to abandon a mission, and if they did it again, they would get in serious trouble.
The next day, Roxas went with Xigbar to Halloween Town. They were able to kill some Heartless, but since the residents were already dead, they couldn't be turned into Heartless, or Nobodies.
A few days later, at the morning briefing, Xemnas said, "Larxene, Marluxia and Zexion are all dead. Larxene and Marluxia were traitors, and were planning to use Sora to destroy. They were both killed by Sora. Riku killed Zexion. All of this was from Axel, the only survivor from Castle Oblivion."
"What happened to Sora, Riku and Namine?" Saix asked.
"Namine got the chance to escape when Larxene was killed, and Namine put Sora in Twilight Town to regenerate his memories. Riku was said to be reunited with the King, and now they are traveling who knows where. DiZ was also said to be seen."
That night, an anxious Axel waked Roxas up. "Roxas," he started, "I need to show you something, and it's from Castle Oblivion." He took out a blue sphere, with little images going across it. "It's a memory sphere," Axel explained, "from when Riku and Zexion fought. I thought you might find it interesting. Just open it and it'll be like you're there." He started to leave the room. "Oh, and one more thing, don't tell Xemmy that I gave you this."
Roxas opened the sphere, and his bedroom transformed into a small island that was on Destiny Islands. "Whoa," he said. "Zexion and Riku fought on Xion's birthplace?" He then watched as Riku practically killed Zexion. The scene then shifted to where Zexion transported to after the fight. There was Axel… and another Riku? No, this was a different one. This one had a Heartless emblem on their chest, and wore a skirt.
"Now go, Repliku," Axel started, "annihilate Zexion!"
Roxas gasped. A replica of Riku? So Axel technically killed Zexion, but a replica of Riku actually killed him. Before the replica struck, the scene faded out, and in moments, Roxas was back in his bedroom. "Gosh I need to get some sleep," Roxas muttered, stuffing his face in his pillow.
The next day, Xemnas told Roxas that he had to go with Axel and Xion to Twilight Town, to collect hearts. At Roxas' birthplace, the three quickly made quick work of all the Heartless, and Roxas noticed that Xion had a Keyblade, just like his. "Hey Xion, you can wield a Keyblade too?" Roxas asked.
"Oh, yeah, it has something to do with my Somebody being able to wield one too, I think," Xion answered.
"Nice," Roxas said, thinking that his Somebody must've been able to wield a Keyblade too.
"Now, if you don't mind, I have to go… check something," Xion said, heading out towards the old mansion that she and Roxas had hid by at their last visit."
"Kay see you later."
"Roxas watch out!" Axel screamed, as he pointed behind him, where a giant Guard Armor and Opposite Armor were heading to attack him. Axel threw his chakrams at them, causing them to disappear in thin air.
"Thanks, Axel," Roxas said, as he walked over to Axel. "Those things would've killed me if you hadn't gotten them."
"Hey, no prob," the red head replied, "just protecting a friend is all."
Meanwhile, Xion had headed into the old mansion, up to the white room. In there was a blonde haired girl, with a white dress on. "Ah, so you're here," she started, "I've always, wanted to meet you, Xion."
"Me too, Namine," Xion said. "Now, I wanted to ask you a few questions. The first one, who is my Somebody, and were they able to wield a Keyblade?"
"Yes and no," Namine replied. "You see, on the night Destiny Islands got taken over by the Heartless, you were born. When Kairi, one of the seven Princesses of Heart, got taken by the Heartless, since she didn't have any darkness in her heart, she couldn't turn into a Heartless herself, so her heart made itself its own body, which got left in the secret place, where she and Sora always drew pictures. When Sora came in, her heart and his formed, tainting it, giving it a little darkness. When Sora released his heart back at Hollow Bastion, her tainted heart was released, making Sora's nobody, Roxas, Kairi's nobody, me, and Kairi's tainted part, you."
"Okay, but how did I end up back at Destiny Islands?"
"Since you would've been born there if Kairi had a tainted heart, when Destiny Islands came back into existence, you went back there, since you would've been born there anyway.
"One more question, why did Roxas end up at Twilight Town, when Sora lost his heart at Hollow Bastion?"
"All nobodies appear in Twilight Town if they were born naturally, like Roxas and I, but since you technically had two hearts with you, you were born where your Somebody lost their heart."
"Thank you, Namine," Xion said. "I'd better get back to the other two, before they start getting suspicious."
"Goodbye, Xion."
By now, Roxas and Axel were best friends, though Roxas refused to mention the sphere. When Xion came back, Axel offered to buy them Sea-Salt ice cream, the favorite of all in Twilight Town. They sat on the clock tower eating their ice cream.
"This is really good," Roxas commented.
"Yeah, thanks Axel," Xion said.
"It was nothing, really," Axel said. "Ya know, the sky turns red when the spectrum goes beneath the surface."
"Stop showing off, Axel," Roxas said. They all laughed, finished their ice cream, and went back to The World That Never Was.
In just a few weeks, Roxas had gone to Wonderland with Luxord, smacked around an annoying cat while there, Demyx to Agrabah, though they couldn't find a magic lamp anywhere, Axel to Twilight Town a few times, and he trained at the Coliseum a bit, but lost against Hercules quite a few times.
Meanwhile, Xion had to go to Beast's Castle with Xaldin. Sneaking out to the courtyard while Xaldin took care of some Heartless, Xion admired the scenery when the back gate to the castle opened.
"Kairi?" a voice said. Xion turned around and saw a tall grayish haired boy, donning an Organization cloak and a blindfold. Recognizing her Somebody's name, Xion took out her Keyblade. "Wait, you're an Organization member!" the teen said, taking out a sword of his own. The two fought, but, while Xion put up a good fight, lost.
Kneeling down to take a breath, the boy looked at her Keyblade. "That's a fake Keyblade," he said.
"No it's not!" Xion yelled, defending herself again.
"Oh really?" he said. "Then who's your Somebody?"
"She's Kai- I mean, I don't know, I don't have any recollection of my former self."
"Wait, so you're the one that DiZ was talking about?" he asked.
"Who?"
"Nevermind that, but you're the one who was made from F and Kairi, together? Wow, I thought that DiZ was wrong, or was just messing with me. Anyway, I need you to come with me. We need you to 'complete' Sora."
"No."
"I believe you don't have any choice in the matter. Now come with me, or I'll have to take you by force." He got into an offensive stance, but then went back to defensive. "But wait, there was another. We need him, too, if we're going to get Sora back to himself."
Xion flinched when she heard a mention of Roxas. "Oh, so you know him? Then I could use you to get him to come with you, and then finish Sora."
"I won't listen to you. I wouldn't do that to him."
"But don't you want to be whole? If you listen, and follow my orders, you could be whole, and not be a nobody. You could be somebody. Plus, you'll be whole with that friend of yours, Sora's other."
He did have a point, every nobody did want to be whole again, and this seemed like an easy way, with not obtaining Kingdom Hearts. "Okay, I'll work with you," Xion replied. "But where do I go once I have Roxas on my side?"
"Twilight Town, where DiZ says you met with Namine. The old mansion."
"Okay. Oh, I'm Xion."
"The name's Riku. Hope to see you there."
"XION!" It was Xaldin, and he was furious that she ditched him.
"Oops, gotta go," Riku said. He started running off into the forest.
When Riku was gone, Xaldin caught up with Xion. "Xion, why did you leave? I had to fight that beast alone."
"Sorry, I just saw a big Heartless that I thought would assist us in acquiring Kingdom Hearts. Let's get back to HQ."
Xion decided that it was best that she waited a few days before talking about going to Twilight Town with Roxas, so she did just that, but it turned out to be three weeks before she plucked up the courage to ask.
It was at Destiny Islands, where Riku and Zexion fought, and she, Roxas, and Axel were sitting on the tree that was there. "Who the heck am I?" Xion started, laying back.
"Well, you're Xion, obviously," Axel stated.
"No, I mean my Somebody," Xion said, annoyed. "It keeps bugging me that I don't know."
"Yeah, me too," Roxas said, "it stinks that we both don't have any memories, huh?"
"Yup," Xion said. "At least when we get Kingdom Hearts, we'll know… right?"
"I would think so," Roxas replied to Xion.
Axel tried to contain himself from telling Roxas who his Somebody was, Sora, but he had strict orders from Xemnas not to tell him.
Out of the corner of her eye, Xion saw Riku, headed towards the waterfall by the secret place. "Excuse me," she said, "I'll be right back." Walking towards the black-cloaked teen, Xion waved to the two still sitting on the tree, socializing.
"She's probably going to her birth place," Roxas explained.
"Wait, but aren't all nobodies born at Twilight Town?" Axel asked.
"Really?" Roxas wondered. "I never knew that. Well… Xigbar did say that Xion and I were special Nobodies for not having our memories."
"Wait, isn't Xion's weapon a Keyblade?"
"Yeah… why?"
Axel started to piece together the information. He quickly deciphered that Xion was Sora's 'other' nobody. "Oh, just clearing some things up," Axel replied. "Anyway, let's just wait for her to come back."
When Xion met up with Riku behind the waterfall, Riku asked, "Has Roxas agreed to come with you yet?"
"No, I haven't gotten a chance to, the red haired one, Axel, is there, and they're best friends, so I'm guessing he wouldn't be happy if he left."
Feeling a strange kind of attraction towards the girl now, probably because she was half-Kairi, the girl he had a crush on when he lived on the islands, Riku's cheeks turned slightly pink, and said, "Wait, I'll get rid of him. Shouldn't be that big a problem for me."
Sneaking over to the tree where he, Sora, and Kairi always sat, he knelt down next to the small island, picked up a fish, and threw it at the red head.
"What the heck?" Axel said, as the fish landed in his lap. "Okay, Xion, come out, I know it's you," he looked over the side of the island, and saw Riku, whose replica he had told to kill Zexion. "You!" he exclaimed as he summoned his chakrams and threw them at the boy.
While Riku was distracting Axel, Xion told Roxas to come over to her, before Riku threw the fish. "What's wrong, Xion?" Roxas asked.
"I wanted to ask you something, Roxas," Xion replied. "I want you to come with me, to become whole."
"What? How?"
"You know how Xigbar said we were special nobodies? Well, we also have a special way of becoming whole. You see, we share a Somebody."
"Really? Who?"
"Sora, the one who killed a few of our members at Castle Oblivion. He can wield a Keyblade, too, and that's why we can, we're his Nobodies."
"But, how can we have the same Somebody?"
"There's not enough time to explain! Come on, we have to get to Twilight Town!" She opened a portal to the old mansion at Twilight Town, and then yelled out to Riku, who was busy fighting with Axel, "We're ready!"
Riku, hearing Xion, stopped struggling with Axel, who had heard Xion, too, and Riku started running to his gummi ship. Axel spotting Roxas going into the portal, followed by Xion, started running to the portal, but he was too late, Xion had closed the portal by the time he got there.
"Darn it!" he yelled, as Riku's gummi ship went into the air. "I need to stop them!" He opened a portal of his own to Twilight Town, and got there just as he saw Roxas going into the mansion. Xion had stood guard by the gate. "No matter how many times you leave, I'm going to bring you back!" he screamed, hoping Roxas would hear, and summoned his chakrams, ready to fight Xion. "I can't lose my two only friends I have in the Organization," he muttered. Xion had become much stronger than from her fight with Riku, and easily defeated Axel. "I'm done with getting beaten by Keyblade Wielders," he sighed.
"Xion," Roxas said, coming out of the mansion, "there's nobody in there, it's abandoned. Wait, Axel, what are you doing here? And why are you fighting Xion?"
"Xion is trying to kill you, Roxas," Axel said, "she's trying to make you form with Sora, and he'll have all the control, and you won't. You'll be Sora."
"Xion, is this true?" Roxas asked.
"I don't know," Xion replied, "Riku just said that we'll be whole, not much else."
"Hey, hey, hey, stop fighting," Riku said, teleporting down in front of the mansion.
"Riku, tell them," Xion started, "we're not going to die when we fuse with Sora, are we?"
"I can't say for sure," Riku replied, "you'd have to ask DiZ."
"No, you won't die," a voice said. A red-clothed person came out of the mansion. "I am DiZ, and I can assure you, you won't die."
"Okay, let's go," Xion said, going inside the mansion, following DiZ. Roxas followed, taking one last look at the furious Axel.
"Riku, hold him back," DiZ said, before closing the door. "You two, follow me," Walking up a flight of stairs, they went the other way from where Xion met Namine. They came into a library, with a large hole with a flight a stairs to an electricity-filled hallway. "Down this way," DiZ said, going through the door to what looked like a laboratory. Glancing at the computer, they continued on, to a room with a few pods, with a duck and a dog in one of them. They were sleeping.
"That doesn't look very comfortable," Roxas commented.
"They're just floating there, and since they're sleeping, they don't know that," DiZ said.
They went into another room, with a larger pod that occupied the middle. A computer was also there. "Namine," DiZ said, looking at the girl on the computer, "open the pod."
A scared look on her face, Namine pressed a button on the computer, and the pod opened, and what was inside, was none other than Sora himself, though his clothes were a little small on him. "Xion, you first," DiZ said, egging her on to go closer to the boy.
Smiling back at Roxas, the young girl walked up to Sora. A bright light enveloped her, and she was gone. When the light vanished, the computer started going crazy, beeping a lot and making a lot of noise. "What happened to her?" Roxas yelled, "What happened to Xion?!"
"To be truthful, I don't know," DiZ replied. "Namine?"
"I think… I think it may have something to do with Sora's memories not being fully restored yet," Namine explained. "Though, I don't think it would've affected Sora that much, but I think, to stay on the safe side, we'd better wait until he has all of his memories back to make Roxas go."
"Well, then it's decided," DiZ said, "we wait until Sora's memories are restored. Roxas, you'll just have to stay here until then."
"No!" Roxas screamed. "I don't want to end up like Xion! I won't let you take me!" He opened a portal, and closed it almost immediately.
"Oh no," DiZ said, "We have to get him back as soon as possible." He punched the wall. "And things were going so well."
Back at the Castle That Never Was, Roxas locked himself in his room, and punched his pillow endlessly. Roxas had told Xemnas that Xion had been killed in action. About a week after the incident, Axel went into Roxas' room via the window. "Have some time to talk?" he asked.
"Yeah," Roxas replied. "But why? I thought that you'd hate after running off with Xion."
"I could never hate you, Roxas," Axel said. "I was just mad that my two friends ditched me to become whole other than the way that I was, Kingdom Hearts. And that I'd be lonely until then."
"Axel, I want to tell you something," Roxas began. "I'm going to disappear from the world in 158 days."
"But… but why?"
"DiZ will eventually capture me and put me somewhere while Sora recovers, right? Well, since I'm the other half of Sora, I have this feeling that I have 158 days left – to be Roxas, that is."
"But if they do take you, I'll take you back. I could even get Demyx to be your bodyguard."
"What's that, Axel?" Demyx said, whose window was open and was next door to them.
"Oh, I, uh, heard that Xigbar stole your hair spray, so you'll have normal hair for once."
"I've been wondering where that went! Thanks!"
"But I don't want you, or anybody else, to get hurt because of me," Roxas said.
"I don't care if I get hurt, I just want you to stay here."
"But what if you get killed? Then all that protecting me would've been for nothing. I won't let you."
Axel knew he wasn't going to be able to win this one, so he went towards the window, and said, "Okay, but if you disappear I'll never be able to forgive myself. Anyway, see you later." He then went out the window, swinging on the windows until he hit a platform.
And so, Roxas went about his daily missions with the Organization, killing Heartless, collecting hearts, training at the Coliseum, et cetera, et cetera.
One day, on a mission with Axel in Twilight Town, Roxas decided to observe the local residents of the town, particularly the ones who he had hid from with Xion. He remembered one of their names, Hayner, as he was the one with the big mouth. Though, eavesdropping on their conversation, Roxas figured out the other boy's name was Pence, and the girl's name was Olette. "They would seem good friends, for someone with a heart, that is," Roxas muttered. As the young boy turned to go back to Axel, he heard a familiar voice.
"Roxas, you're coming with me, whether you like it or not." It was Riku, and it seemed that he was ordered to retrieve him for Sora.
"What makes you think I would even consider 'liking it' or not?" Roxas asked, stating the obvious.
"Exactly, that's why you're coming with me." He pulled out his sword, and Roxas summoned his Keyblade.
Meanwhile, while Roxas and Riku fought, a black-clothed figure appeared in the forest outside of the old mansion. It had big, round ears, and was on the short side. "This is the place," they said. Walking up to the locked gate, they summoned a gold and white Keyblade, and unlocked it. Going inside the mansion, they navigated to the library that led the basement. They then walked to the pod room where Sora slept.
"Mickey! My dear friend!" DiZ said, coming off of the computer, and shaking the mouse's hand.
"Your Majesty," Namine said, curtsying.
"I have to talk to you, DiZ," Mickey said. "It's been far too long since I've heard from you."
"Yes, Castle Oblivion was a while ago," DiZ replied, "but continue, what is it you want to talk to me about?"
"Well," Mickey started, "is Sora almost finished? And if so, do you have Roxas and Xion?"
"Xion is already within our young hero," DiZ said, "she was so eager to become whole."
"And Roxas?"
"I believe Riku is retrieving him now."
"And what will you do once you have him? I can hardly believe he won't try to escape again."
"I have made an alternate Twilight Town, with all of the residents. I am going to have Namine wipe his memory, and then put him in there."
"I see, I –" Mickey was cut off by the sound of someone panting. "Riku!" he exclaimed.
"Roxas… beat me… too strong…" Riku said, collapsing on the ground. He woke up around an hour later, with Mickey over him.
"Riku, what happened?"
"Roxas beat me," Riku said, "he's stronger than I expected."
"Then I guess there's only one option," DiZ said, "you must release your inner darkness."
"No," Mickey gasped.
"It's the only way," Riku said, sighing. Can I at least wait until I'm recovered?"
"Yes," DiZ replied, "rest for now, you'll need it." Riku then limped to his room in the mansion.
"There has to be another way," Mickey said.
"There isn't," DiZ confirmed, "Riku knew this was going to happen if he couldn't beat Roxas. I've thought of everything, and I couldn't think of a better solution."
"Okay, but would you mind if I stayed here, at least until Riku releases his darkness?"
"Of course, my friend."
Meanwhile, Roxas told Axel of his struggle with Riku, and they reported back to the World that Never Was.
"Why didn't you call me?" Axel asked. "I could've helped."
"I was a little busy fighting to think that I could get help," Roxas said. "Besides, I won, didn't I? If he attacked me again, I could probably take him down again."
"I guess… Well, see you tomorrow."
"Bye."
Back at the mansion, Riku was getting ready to release his inner darkness. "Promise me one thing, Mickey," Riku said, "Don't tell Sora when he awakes that I did this. I don't want him wanting to rescue me."
Though he normally didn't like lying to people, Mickey had to agree to Riku's terms.
"Okay, now to do this." Riku started releasing his dark power, and soon enough, his attire had changed to his Heartless costume, when Maleficent had given him the power to control Heartless, and when Ansem was controlling him. Releasing even more power, a silhouette of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, had appeared in front of him. It quickly disappeared, and a blinding light appeared around Riku. When it slowly went away, what stood in Riku's place was Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, with an Organization cloak on.
"Riku?" Mickey said. "Is that you?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," Riku replied. "Well, did it work?"
"I suspected as much," DiZ said. "Riku, you have the appearance of Ansem now."
"R-really?" Riku said, looking at his new body. Stammering, he said, "W-well, I'm still Riku on the inside, right?"
"Yes, you will always be Riku, no matter what appearance," Mickey said. "Now, I'll train you in your new darkness abilities, until you will be able to control them, to make Sora come back."
"Okay, let's go."
And, Riku and Mickey trained until he was confident he could take Roxas down.
"So, how many days left?" Axel asked Roxas, referring to the 158 days that he had mentioned far too long ago.
"Just seven," Roxas replied. "And, I'm going to desert the Organization today. I'm going to look for Xion, and see if she's still alive."
"W-wait, Roxas, let's think about this. Xion is gone, she's inside Sora now."
"You don't know that for sure. I'm going to look for her." Climbing out the window, Roxas swung down the castle, until he finally hit the city below.
"Roxas!" Axel yelled, teleporting down to where Roxas landed. "You can't go."
"It's not like I wasn't going to disappear in seven days, anyway. What's seven days? Besides, nobody would miss me."
"I would," Axel muttered.
"Axel, I want you to grant just one last request," Roxas said. "I want you to tell Xemnas that I'm a deserter. They'll chase me down, but I could probably outrun them."
"Okay, but just remember, I'll always be there." He then teleported back to the castle.
Turning the corner, Roxas saw somebody in a black cloak. "Doesn't look like an Organization member…" Roxas muttered. "Who are you?" he said to the man.
"Don't you recognize me, Roxas?" the man said. "But wait, I've taken on a new appearance since our last meeting. I am Riku." He proved it by taking out Riku's sword.
"It is Riku," Roxas muttered. "Is he stronger in this new appearance?"
Nevertheless, the two started fighting. Riku was much stronger than their last encounter, being able to use many dark powers, and left Roxas wanting the battle to be over quickly.
While they were fighting, Axel told Xemnas that Roxas had left the Organization.
"Find him," Xemnas said, "you know how valuable he is to our plans. And if he resists, fight him. You should be more than enough than to take him down."
"Yes, Xemnas," Axel replied, sighing and going to traverse the worlds in search of his friend.
Back at the fight, it seemed that Roxas was going to lose, barely blocking any of Riku's attacks, and not getting in many hits in, either. Very quickly, Roxas fell on the ground, unconscious. "Finally," Riku muttered. "I won." He then picked up the limp boy, opened a portal to the pod room, and gently laid Roxas in front of DiZ.
"Wonderful, Riku," he said. Turning to Namine, he asked, "Namine, is Sora ready?"
"No," the girl replied. "He should be ready in about a week."
"Okay, then I guess that virtual Twilight Town that I made will come in handy. Namine, wipe Roxas' memory."
Taking out her notepad, Namine jotted down a few things, and in a matter of moments, Roxas' memory was replaced with one of a boy living in Twilight Town, with three friends, Hayner, Pence, and Olette. Though, the witch kept a small part of the boy's memory, and that was a very small portion of Axel. She made it that he would not remember him until Axel had come to take him back to the Organization, which she knew he would do. "It is done," she said.
"Wonderful," DiZ replied, "now, Riku, place our captive in the Twilight Town I made. The entrance is over there." He pointed to a purple beam.
Walking over to the beam, Riku turned around. This was going to be his appearance for the rest of his life. And just to get Sora back. "The things I do for that boy," he chuckled. And then he was transported to the alternate Twilight Town, where Roxas would continue his new life for the next seven days.
~To be continued in Kingdom Hearts II~