A hooded figure in a black cloak stood in the middle of a large room holding a book open and skimming through its contents. Lining three out of the four walls, and before the figure, were bookshelves which were crammed with more books than they were made to hold. Papers stuck out from between the books, crumpled and disordered. The fourth wall contained the door and a desk in the corner. All flat surfaces were cluttered with piles of books and papers. A slightly smaller figure in a matching hood sat in the rolling chair that went with the desk facing the other person in the room. The second figure had a definite female shape. She sat cross-legged with her right leg over her left knee leaning back and watching the other person with crossed arms.
The taller figure closed the book and turned to face the girl it the chair. "Are you aware of Organization XIII?" The voice betrayed that the owner was male.
"That was random," the girl said. "Why bring them up?"
"Why not?" the man asked.
"Weren't they all taken out by the keyblade master?" Her voice took on a mocking tone as she referenced the known hero of the past few years.
"All but one," the man said.
"Sora's nobody doesn't count," the girl said, turning away. Her tone almost betrayed her smug and annoyed face that the hood hid. "The existence of each member was still ended by him. And don't say he still exists inside Sora," she pointed accusingly at the other cloaked figure without turning to look at him again, "I don't care."
"Fair enough," the man said.
"But again, why bring them up?" the girl turned back to face him.
"My answer's the same, why not?" the man replied. "They were destroyed almost as soon as they emerged and they took with them all the secrets they held."
"You really think they knew anything useful?" the girl asked.
"Do you not believe that knowledge is power?" the man asked.
"Knowledge is powerful," the girl said, "if you know how to use what you know in the right situation. Thing is, I don't think they knew anything relevant. If they did, they could've used it to keep themselves alive."
"Could they really?" the man asked. "Knowledge may be powerful, but it's not all-powerful. One may have the knowledge needed, but does not use it to their advantage. This could have been their case."
"Still, what's it matter to us?" the girl asked, "or anyone for that matter. I doubt they knew anything worthwhile."
"The worth of the knowledge can be determined once it is obtained," the man said."
"Not like there's any way to get that info," the girl said. "So why bother?"
"What makes you so sure the information is lost?" the man asked.
"They're dead," the girl said, uncrossing her legs and leaning forward. "They took their secrets to their graves. The only one still around was a low-ranking kid, he knows nothing. Just drop it."
The man turned away and chuckled slightly. "You know of dark corridors, yes?" He held his right hand straight out and a large black and purple portal appeared on the ground, reaching up to just above his height.
"Of course," the girl said. "The Organization used and abused them. That and these robes are about their only contributions to the Nobody society."
"But what a contribution," the man said. "With them, the barriers between worlds are no more."
"Are you going somewhere with this?" the girl asked, returning to her leaned back position.
"Don't you know already?" the man asked.
"I'm going through the formalities of asking," the girl replied, "plus I'm lazy."
Again the man chuckled.
"And it's not a waste, alright?" the girl snapped.
"Well, as I was saying, with these portals, one can even visit the land of the dead," the man went on.
"Don't stop," the girl groaned, "hurry up and get on with it."
"So impatient," the man said. "As you well know, I've been to almost all known worlds-"
"As have I, what's the point?" the girl asked.
"I've been to the land of the dead," the man went on, "and Hades, as well as my own eyes, have confirmed that not a single member of Organization XIII resides there."
"Hm," the girl said nothing but seemed unwilling to admit that this was an interesting fact.
"So, they're not in the land of the dead," the man said, turning around to face her once more.
"Well they sure aren't in the land of the living," the girl snapped.
"Can you be so sure?" the man asked. "What happens when a heartless is defeated?"
"Emblem or pureblood?" the girl asked.
"Whichever you know the answer to," the man answered.
"Well," the girl began, "when an emblem heartless is destroyed by the keyblade, their hearts can be collected in Kingdom Hearts. When a pureblood is defeated, as well as when an emblem heartless is defeated without the keyblade, the heart, or hearts, float off and reform into another heartless."
"You're right in the case of the emblem heartless," the man said, "but purebloods are more organized."
"So they appear in a certain spot?" the girl asked. "Beside the point. We're talking about Nobodies. They're about as far from heartless as you can get. How can you even think that they follow the same rules? And also, there's an infinite amount of space and new worlds. Even if you could get there with dark corridors, you expect to go off searching for where they reformed if they did?! It would take a lifetime! And for what?!"
"I've developed a theory," the man said, "and you, the one in charge of field research, will be the one testing it. I assume you don't know where pureblood heartless reform, but that is where you're going."
"What makes you think they'd do what purebloods do?" the girl asked.
"The location they reform at," the man said, "Kingdom Hearts."