Preface:

This is a prequel to my AU Lines In-Between. This will not be following 358/2 Days' storyline aside from a few plot beats (such as Castle Oblivion). Xion will appear in this story, under a much different role.

Also Roxas likes wearing his hood up a lot.

Another Side Another Line

With an indifferent face you tell a lie, laughing until you feel sick.

My name is Sora.

Moments ago I had just stabbed myself with the keyblade to free hearts.

I did it for her.

And I would do it again.

An emptiness within me filled my entire body. What is this?

But I could sense it. Her light. So warm. So bright. I needed it. I needed to follow it…

How could I when I wasn't even remotely close to it.

What was happening?

I blinked.

Heavy blond bangs swayed in my face, the tips brushing against my lips.

Where was I? Why was the light walking away? Come back! I needed you.

I blinked again.

Forest surrounded me. I gasped for air for a breath I didn't know I was holding.

Her light was coming closer. Yes! Yes, I feel relieved…so warm. Her hug was calming. My shoulders relaxed.

She was my light.

It was gone.

What just happened?

I blinked.

Who was I? How did I even get here? Why did this…happen?

No feeling. No nothing.

A swirling abyss formed before me. A man in black stepped out.

"You seek answers," a deep, deep voice from the hood of the man spoke.

Indeed I did.

Why was I so empty?

"You feel nothing. You are nothing. I can give you purpose."

Purpose in what? This life?

What possible purpose could this man give me?

He put his hand in front of me. Translucent letters hovered in the air.

S o r a.

With a swish of his hand, the letter spun around me. He pressed his hand to the center, a golden X in place.

I straightened up, reading the letters through my heavy bangs. "Roxas."

"That is right, the new you." He presented a black coat to me. "Welcome to the Organization, Number XIII."

Chapter I: Key of Destiny

"Roxas, we have a meeting today," Number VII, Saïx said to me as I stared outside my window. "Axel will show you how to get to the Room Where Nothing Gathers."

Hammer it in that we feel nothing why don't you.

"Heya Roxas," Number VIII, Axel, walked into my room.

I turned around to look up at him through my bangs. Those red spikes of his must have stabbed someone in the eye at some point.

He quirked an eyebrow at me. "Something I can help you with there, chatterbox?"

I said nothing, staring down at the floor and pulling my hood tighter.

"Oh right we're supposed to convene in the Round Room today, blegh, meetings," Axel said, crossing his arms.

My throat was dry. "Round…Room?" I said.

"That's the nickname of the place," Axel explained. "'The Room Where Nothing Gathers' is obnoxiously long so everyone else sans Saïx calls it that." He looked at me as I gave no response. "Well then, we gotta introduce you to the crew so let's get moving."

He practically shoved me out of my room and down the hallway.

The Round Room was all white, with 12 tall chairs arranged in a circle.

"Good tidings friends," Number I, the Superior, spoke with his booming voice. "Let us all welcome the keyblade's chosen. Number XIII, the Key of Destiny."

Axel shoved me forward. I looked up to see the Superior sitting with his hand on his chin; a smirk of amusement on his lips.

I turned my head to observe the other members sitting in their towering chairs.

Color. Their hair was all different colors.

Our superior. His hair was silver and shined in the light.

Number II, Xigbar, who wore an eye patch. Streaks of gray painted his black hair.

Number III, Xaldin. His black hair was styled into dreadlocks.

Number IV, Vexen. Pale dirty hair framed his scowling face.

Number V, Lexaeus, as tall as a mountain. Ginger hair.

Number VI, Zexion, whose nose was always in a book. Steel blue hair fell on his right side of his face, obscuring his eye.

Number VII, Saïx. Second in command. Hair as bright blue as a harvest moon.

Number VIII, Axel, the one I would recognize from his smirk alone. Red hair, like flames.

Number IX, Demyx, who had an odd slouch. Had dirty blond hair in some sort of a mullet.

Number X, Luxord, his hand fiddling with a card. Light blond hair trimmed to perfection.

Number XI, Marluxia. Pink hair of a cherry blossom flowed in layers to his shoulders.

Number XII, Larxene, with her glare biting. Yellow hair, like lightning, was slicked back with two thick strands sitting up.

My hood obscured my hair. My impossibly spikey hair.

I had learned how to open a dark corridor. Saïx said I was to make a corridor and go to a place called the Dark Margin, where the Superior waited for me.

I stepped out of the corridor and the Superior was sitting on a rock, his hood up. "You have arrived. I've been to see him."

Him? Who?

"He looks a lot like you," he said.

"Who…are you," I croaked.

"I'm what's left. Or, maybe I am all that ever was."

I looked down. "I meant your name."

"My name is of no importance," he looked at me. His orange eyes pierced the shadow of his hood. "What about you, do you remember your true name?"

"My true name is…" I couldn't say any more.

I was in the Grey Area. It was…grey.

Other members sat on couches.

"Roxas, you will be starting your first mission today," Saïx said to me. He looked to Axel leaning against the window. "Axel will oversee your progress."

Axel rolled his eyes. "Are you making me the kid's mentor now?"

"Yes. Teach him well," Saïx conjured up a dark corridor with his hand.

Axel gestured to the portal. "Don't worry, I will make sure he makes the grade. Well now Roxas, go on in."

I stepped forward without a word. Darkness swallowed me whole.

A light at the end of the tunnel shimmered. I was in a dark bricked area now.

I swallowed, throat still dry. "Roxas," I spoke. "That's…my name."

Axel placed a hand on my shoulder. "Yeah, that's right. That's your name. How 'bout my name then?"

"Axel," I said, drawing out each syllable I could muster.

"Got it memorized?" Axel sounded almost…glad to hear that. "And our boss' name?"

Mindlessly I said my answer. "Xemnas."

"No way you're gonna forget his name right?" Axel said, taking his hand off of my shoulder. "This is where I will show you the ropes of how missions work."

I tilted my head up to look him in the eye. "What is a…mission?"

Axel lifted his finger up to explain but stopped. "Well, a mission is…Errr. They're…hmm ya' know…"

I stared blankly at him. So much for learning, I guess.

"You know what talking is dumb. Let's just get our hands dirty," Axel said. "Follow me up this ledge."

He walked over to a high ledge in the dark alley and climbed up.

I pulled myself up the ledge with my arms shaking. I tripped over my coat and fell flat on my face.

Axel held out his hand to me and pulled me back up. "Hopefully Saïx won't yell at me if you get hurt…" he muttered. "Right. You can climb things. Yay. Now your real mission is to find a chest somewhere in these passages."

"A chest? That's all?" I said.

"Yeah, don't hurt yourself," Axel leaned back on the wall. "Off you go then."

I wandered around the alley, Axel watching me as he ate an apple. Thanks for the help.

I eventually turned a corner and before me was a chest.

Axel must've noticed my pause in surprise because he walked over and spotted the chest. "Well well, you found it."

I stood there, unmoving. "Okay."

"Uhh Roxas, chests typically have stuff in them," Axel explained to me.

"So…I open it right?"

"Yes, you open it."

I placed my hands on the chest and pushed forward. It refused to budge. "It's locked."

"And you have the key to it."

"I do?"

Axel stared at me in disbelief. "Your keyblade. Summon it and it will open the chest."

I held out my hand. In a flash of light and sparkles, appeared a silver keyblade in my grip. The teeth were made of a crown. I tapped the chest and the chest magically opened.

Axel clapped. "Bravo. So whaddaya think of this whole mission business?"

I turned to Axel, keyblade still in hand. "I could have done this blindfolded," I replied, insulted by how brain dead this mission was.

He laughed. "I don't think I want a blindfolded zombie on the loose. Alright alright smart aleck, you passed. Mission complete. Time to return to the castle, or RTC for short. But first, the icing on the cake."

I tilted my head. "The…icing on the cake?"

He took me to a clock tower. The low sun was red, making everything orange and red. I sat down on the ledge and he handed me a blue ice cream on a stick.

"The icing on the cake," he said.

I took a bite of the treat. Axel's eyes widened at how I took a bite with my front teeth. "It's…salty. And sweet," I said. I ate more and more until there was none left.

Axel still had half of his uneaten. "Anything else to say about it?"

I looked forward at the sunset, shaking my head in silence.

"Okay chatterbox," Axel muttered.

For some reason or another, I was amused at his frustration.

"Roxas, your mission is with Marluxia today," Saïx told me.

Ah. The pink haired one. Marluxia stared at my right hand with fascination. "Hello, Roxas. Welcome to the fold."

What was so interesting about my hand?

He opened a corridor to Twilight Town. I stepped out into a sandlot, no one around.

"So Roxas," Marluxia said. "I never introduced myself. I am Number XI, Marluxia."

"And what, exactly, am I supposed to be doing here?" I said. I knew his name already.

Not like I had much else to do except memorizing all their names.

Marluxia smirked. "Hmph. Your job is to collect hearts."

"And how do I do that?" That was a weird job.

"Summon your keyblade for me?"

Just thinking about it made it appear in my right hand.

Marluxia's smirk grew wider. "The Chosen One of the Keyblade. The only Nobody who can use such a weapon."

The only one…The only one who can use the keyblade?

Black bug-like things popped out of the ground. "Oh look, your target," Marluxia said. "Go eliminate them with the keyblade, Roxas."

I walked over and lifted it up. The bug stared at me, before twitching to attack me. I swiped at it and it was gone in an instant. I swiped at the other two, and they were gone as well.

"Those are called shadows. The most common of Heartless," Marluxia explained. "Your job, however, is to fight emblem heartless, not pure-bloods like those."

Three more Heartless appeared before me. They were yellow with a black and red symbol on their bodies. They twitched as they floated in the air. I poised my keyblade to fight. I leaped into the air, like it was second nature to me, and eliminated the Heartless in one massive slash.

From their bodies burst forth hearts.

Marluxia eyed my keyblade with wonder. "Ah, yes, the keyblade's power, so great. You're the best hope the Organization could have ever gotten."

"And what, exactly, do these hearts do?" I asked. "Why do we need them?"

Marluxia answered, "To create Kingdom Hearts and gain hearts of our own." He put a finger on his chin. "At least that's what Xemnas says…" he muttered.

I tilted my head. "Huh?"

Marluxia waved me off. "You've collected hearts. You're free to go."

Saïx gave me a journal to keep my thoughts and recollections in.

What do I even write in this thing?

I referred to everyone by their numbers, to keep track of them.

Axel was Number VIII. Saïx was VII.

I was Number XIII.

The Key of Destiny.

I summoned my keyblade to my hand in my room. "Kingdom Key," I said to myself. That was its name.

Why did I have this in the first place? "The only Nobody who can wield one."

What's a Nobody?" I asked Number VI, Zexion.

Zexion showed me around Twilight Town, telling me no matter what my mission was, one thing was always constant.

Collect hearts.

Zexion stopped and turned to face me. "A Nobody is an incomplete being. We lack hearts. You collecting hearts will get us closer to getting hearts of our own." He shut his book closed. "They will form Kingdom Hearts, and complete us."

Kingdom Hearts…

Number XII, Larxene, had a biting tongue. "Ugh, why do I have to babysit you?"

My eye twitched. "Excuse me?"

"Do I look like I run a nursery school?" She pointed to herself. "Well, do I?"

"I don't know, you look like you run the whining school," I mumbled.

"What? What you got something to say?" She sneered.

"Maybe I do," I said, crossing my arms. "Are you gonna keep complaining or you going to teach me magic and get this over with."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever. Think of the element you want, either a memory…wait you lack those, ugh. Whatever. Think of fire, fire will happen."

I held out my hand and conjured up a fiery orb. The orb bounced off my hand and smacked right into an unsuspecting heartless. "There. Are we are done now?"

Larxene rolled her eyes. "Right. We're in deep trouble if you're the keyblade wielder carrying us through our goals. Blegh, Marluxia must be lying…"

I told myself never to run missions with Larxene again.

My silence annoyed Axel to no end.

I wondered how long I could keep this up.

Every day after missions I walked up to the clock tower with sea-salt ice cream and ate without a word to Axel.

He would try to say something to me, and I would give short replies or none at all.

"Talk about a man of few words…Lexaeus is more chatty than you are," Axel grumbled.

I had to bend my head down to hide my smirk.

Vexen had his head in his notebook the entire time we were assigned to our mission.

"I'm assuming you can read, right?" He questioned me while scribbling something down.

"Uh, yeah?" I quirked an eyebrow. This guy was weird.

"And your keyblade…Does it have a name?"

"Kingdom Key," I said without a thought.

"And do you remember anything before you became a Nobody?"

"Nope," I said, popping the p syllable.

"Hmm yes good, now, what do you see before you, Roxas?"

I looked around. "It's a town."

He rolled his eyes. "Yes. It's a town. Tell me more."

"It's the heart of this town since there are shops and stuff," I said. "What's the point of all this anyways? Is this a mission or is this 20 questions?"

Vexen looked like he was gonna have a stroke. "You…There's tons of data to collect here, boy! Heartless population, how many people live here, our environmental obstacles. Our intelligence gathered beforehand allows us to do our missions with ease.

Somehow I highly doubt that his questions about my keyblade's name or my past had something to do with assessments of our environment.

He sighed. "Your mind wasn't cut out for this, was it? But you're not off the hook yet, boy. If I let you quit with these results I'd be a laughing stock of the castle. Analyze the data before you Roxas, lest I let you remain to be an idiot."

I looked around again, feeling insulted. "Alright old man, I will observe better."

"You insolent-"

I cut him off. "The sun is always in a perpetual state of twilight. The town was built to reflect that. The clothing shop sells loose fitting clothes, unlike our heavy black coats. The ice cream shop is frequented the most, judging the line I always see coming here; the heartless prefer dark places out of sight." I pointed to a hole in the wall. "And there's a hole leading to the woods. What are the woods? Who knows, people don't really go there so it's not a place full of people. Anything else you need me to drone on about or can I leave?"

Vexen put up his finger to retort, but couldn't do it. Bingo. "…Fine. You can leave. But, one more thing."

I tilted my head. "What?"

"Do you know how you got that keyblade?"

I shrugged as I walked towards the dark corridor. "I don't know."

Lexaeus was much taller when you stood before him in person.

"Do you know how to fight at your absolute limit?" he asked me, as we stood in the sandlot.

"Limit?" I tilted my head. "No?"

A giant shadow heartless crawled out of the ground.

"It is when you're fighting at your strongest to survive. Time for some practical application," Lexaeus said.

"Practical application?" I said, right before he decked me in the face. I was sent flying across the lot, sliding on my back on the ground.

"What the-What wazz th-that for?!" I yelled. My jaw hurt like someone dislocated it. He probably did.

"Now you're on your last legs," Lexaeus explained. "Fight the heartless."

I pushed myself back up. Weakness shook my legs and arms, and pain stabbed my face. Ow…

Keyblade in hand, I wobbled over to the giant heartless. I swung at it with a limp noodle of an arm.

It lashed its claws out at me, scratching my arm. "Ouch!" I held my arm. I huffed and puffed for air. Practical application my butt. I pushed myself forward, utilizing all my strength to press on and defeat the heartless.

I slid to the side of the heartless and stabbed it with my keyblade. It vanished.

I collapsed to my knees. "I…did it…"

Lexaeus looked me over. "Indeed you did. Think of this mission as an exercise in pushing yourself to survive on solo missions…and to watch what you say to your superiors."

Oh, so that's what this was all about? "Yeah yeah, I get it," I said, wiping my mouth. He handed me a potion and I gulped it down.

"Heya Roxas," Axel greeted me in the morning. Finally, I wasn't going to be stuck with the other weirdos of the Organization today.

I yawned. "Axel?"

"You and me are assigned on a mission today," he said. "I am to aid you in collecting more hearts."

I nodded. Just how long was it gonna be till he catches on?

After our mission, Axel and I sat on the clock tower, ice creams in hand. I ate away, but Axel glared at his treat.

"Why is it you won't speak more than 5 syllables sheesh. I have to hand in my report today on you to Saïx and I highly doubt he will be happy to read "still acts like a zombie!" He continued his rant for about 5 minutes.

I couldn't hold it in anymore. I started laughing.

He stopped and stared at me. "You've been messing with me the entire time?"

"I couldn't help myself, your face was priceless," I laughed, falling back on the ledge. "Still afraid to let a zombie loose?"

Axel glared at me, reaching over and grasping the metal beaded string of my hood. "Only if a zombie looks like this." He yanked on the chain, the thread pulling my hood too tight over my head and face. I shoved him off and opened my hood up so I could see again.

Sitting back up, I glared at Axel, who was laughing. "Touché."

We settled into silence once more. He finished his ice cream.

"So, got any questions?" he asked me. "Since you've finished a full week of missions?"

"I…What is a heart?"

Axel dropped his stick. "Errr, it's what allows us to feel emotions. Like happiness, sadness, anger, all those."

"What is it like, having emotions?" I looked down at the bottom of the clock tower. "Vexen asked me a slew of questions and I couldn't even answer half of them…"

Axel pointed to his temple. "Most Nobodies can fake our emotions because we remember what it was like. And believe me, remembering what it was like, it's something worth getting. That's why the Organization wants Kingdom Hearts. Complete us. Gain new hearts of our own. Xemnas leads us to the goal, and he is lucky to have found you, the only one who can unlock hearts from the heartless."

"I guess…I don't remember what it was like. So far," I said, almost mumbling my words. "It seems like such a big deal…But I don't understand it at all."

"Maybe one day you'll understand, when you regain your memories or gain a heart of your own."

Xemnas was lucky to have found me. Me. The only Nobody who can collect hearts and complete Kingdom Hearts.

Yet, even as I stared at my keyblade in my room, something bothered me.

What Marluxia said about our goals. Xemnas was our leader, the Superior. Surely he had control and knew what he was doing, right?

I would have to ask Number XI himself.

"Roxas," Saïx didn't even bother with the greetings whenever I entered the Grey Area. "Your assignment today is with Marluxia. Find this heartless and exterminate it." He presented a photo of a pink-petal plant heartless.

"Alright," I took the photo and put it in my coat pocket.

Marluxia followed after me through the dark corridor into Twilight Town, his pink scythe in hand.

"Well then, shall we?" Marluxia said, gesturing to the hole in the wall. "Plant heartless like foliage."

I nodded, ducking down into the hole in the wall. Trees covered the perpetual sunlight, streaks of its rays struggling to get in.

Before me was a giant plant heartless, bigger than any of the others. Its petals were pink.

"Found our target," Marluxia said.

I cast fire out of the tip of my keyblade right at the plant. Marluxia sliced at the seeds it fired at us. I leapt over Marluxia's head and set fire to the heartless once more. Bashing my keyblade into it, a giant heart burst forth from the roots and faded into the air.

I put my keyblade away. "Done," I said.

Marluxia nodded. "Well done. You've become proficient with your keyblade already, almost as if it's second nature to you."

I shrugged. "I guess."

Marluxia turned to return to the castle.

"Wait," I stopped him. "I have one question."

He turned back around, his pink hair swaying. "What is it?"

"What did you mean by 'that's what Xemnas says?'" I asked.

His lips curled up into a smirk. "Aren't you the perceptive one. You're smart, you'll eventually figure it out in due time, Roxas, Chosen of the Keyblade." He walked away, leaving me even more confused.

I climbed to the top of the clock tower, where Axel already finished his mission and his ice cream.

"Hey slowpoke," he teased, handing me an ice cream. "I gotta leave early today so my treat."

"Where are you going?" I asked, then taking a bite out of my ice cream.

"Eh, gotta prepare to leave for Castle Oblivion. A bunch of members are being sent there and I am one of them.

"Oh." I took another bite. "When will you be back?"

He shrugged. "Not sure. Got some important top secret stuff to do there. You just keep on keeping on."

I looked down at my frozen treat. "Right."

You're smart, you'll figure it out.

"Roxas?" Axel asked me in concern. "Don't go all silent on me again."

I shook my head. "No, nothing is wrong. Long day."

Axel sighed and sat back against the wall. "Tell me about it." He stood up. "See ya later Roxas."

I finished my ice cream to find the stick said "WINNER" on it. What did this mean?

The sunset was extra red today. I would ask Axel before he left.

Secret Report I

Axel's report on Number XIII proved my hypothesis correct. He was, in fact, able to unlock any lock with his keyblade, which meant he could unleash the hearts inside the emblem heartless. Just like Sora.

Ah, Sora. The boy took back his memories, leaving Roxas with none if any reports by Vexen are to go by. Saïx has already set the boy to work, though he certainly is a moody teenager.

Reminds me of…No. I don't remember at all.

Once Number XI and XII are disposed of, it's only a matter of time before Roxas completes Kingdom Hearts.

It's all according to plan.

Hello! Thank you for reading the first chapter of my short side fanfiction companion piece to Lines In-Between. Each secret report will not be written by the same person each time, and none will be written by Roxas.

Feel free to review! :D