Axel: Aren't you on a roll?
Mars: Well I don't have anything to really do until January...except look for audition material...
Jenny: Nothing says Christmas like a murder mystery, right?
Mars: Well I've always wanted to write something like this.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. Would I get in trouble for not putting this at the beginning of my fics?

Winter Cabin Conundrum
Part I - Chapter 1

It was Kingdom High School's annual leadership conference. That was when the school chose fifteen students to take on a three-day trip to a remote place and to get them to work together to develop leadership skills. This year, they chose me, Riku and Kairi to go this year. And that's where our problems began.

The bus ride wasn't exactly a quiet one. A lot of the people going on this trip were the popular kids, you know, Saïx, Axel, Demyx, Luxord, Larxene, Marluxia and…Roxas. They kept playing loud music and trying to talk to each other over the music. It got really annoying after a while. Our chaperones, Braig and Dilan, didn't care enough to get them to be quiet. The other people on the trip couldn't get them to be quiet either, Naminé, Xion and Ienzo were too shy to say anything, Terra and Aqua had long given up on getting them to behave and me, Riku and Kairi just didn't care enough.

To be honest, I didn't wanna hear Roxas' voice, but if I spoke up, I would've caused problems. You see, Roxas was our friend last year—freshman year—but at the beginning of this year, he left us to hang out with Axel and his friends. He was friends with Xion and Naminé too, but he left them and they were too shy to make any new friends. Riku never really forgave him for that. I can't say I completely forgive him either, but I don't want to stop being his friend either.

Over all the noise, I heard Braig and Dilan talking.

"So your friend, Xehanort owns this cabin?"

"That's right, let us rent it out for the weekend for half price! Quite a bargain for the school woudn't you say? Maybe they'll finally find money in the budget to bring back the sharpshooting team."

"I wouldn't get your hopes up."

"Come on, sharpshooting is the most popular sport the school cut last year!"

"It was also the most expensive, that's why they cut it."

"Alright, so the guns were expensive, but so what? We brought home the gold every time."

"And I don't think they liked you very much either Braig."

"What's not to like?"

"Your arrogance, your boastfulness and your all-around annoying personality."

"So then fire me, that oughta save the school a few bucks right?"

"Have you forgotten? You have tenure, they can't fire you."

"I know, I just like reminding people."

I stopped listening after that. I turned my mp3 player's volume all the way up and took a nap on the bus. Luckily, I was able to sleep through all the noise. Riku woke me up when we arrived.

When we got off the bus, we saw a huge cabin sticking out of the side of the mountain rock. It was built in a weird sort of way, the rooms stuck randomly out of the building, like they were just tacked on. But the cabin looked very fancy, at least from the outside.

"Weird rooms," Riku muttered.

"But it's supposed to a upscale ski resort," Kairi pointed out.

"That was before Xehanort bought it in the middle of construction. He took over and it ended up like…this."

"Does he use this place for anything?" I asked.

"Nope," Riku replied. "He just lives here, alone. Kinda creepy, isn't it?"

"And we're staying here…"

"It's just for three days," Kairi told me. "What could possibly happen?"

"We could get snowed in," Braig came up from behind us. "We are supposed to get a blizzard here tomorrow."

"Isn't it your job not to scare the students?" Riku snapped.

"As if. If you scare that easily, you never would've been chosen for this trip." He walked past us, "There's scarier things than getting stranded in the mountains."

So we were told to get our bags off the bus and go inside and wait in the lobby. We waited there for a half hour before Xehanort finally came around with another kid wearing dark clothes and a helmet covering his face.

"Welcome, students of Kingdom High School, to my humble abode!" He greeted us with a creepy grin. "This is the first time I've had guests, so Vanitas here has spent all week preparing your rooms. You have him to thank for it." A couple of people muttered words of thanks, while Vanitas silently bowed. "Now, I'll let your chaperones inform you of your activities for the next few days."

He and Vanitas left while Braig and Dilan told us about our workshops and everything. We also got our room assignments, me and Riku were put in a room with Axel and Roxas. I groaned when I heard this. Riku would be at their throats for the whole three days. I decided to make the best of it, what else could I do?

After we got settled in our rooms, there was still an hour before the first workshop started so I decided to take a look around the place. I started on the top floor, where our workshops would be. There were a bunch of large rooms, including a game room, complete with a pool, ping pong and foosball table. The floor itself was pretty deserted, except for Vanitas. It looked like he was looking for something so I asked him about it.

"Master Xehanort wants to see you," he told me.

"Me? What for?" I wondered.

"He didn't say."

He lead me to a locked room, he used a key and opened it. Inside was what I guessed was Xehanort's bedroom. It was just as big as the other rooms, but it had a bed, a few bookcases, a couple of armchairs, a couch and its own fireplace. Xehanort himself was sitting in one of the chairs facing the fireplace.

"Ah, Sora, good of you to come," he said without facing me or anything. "Please take a seat."

I slowly made my way to a chair facing him, "Vanitas said you wanted to see me?"

"Yes I did, would you like anything? I could ask him to make up a pot," he offered.

"N-no thanks."

He looked over at Vanitas, "That will be all."

He bowed and left the room, closing and locking the door behind him. I was a little uneasy at being in a locked room with a creepy old man.

Xehanort chuckled, probably sensing my discomfort, "Do not fret Sora, I keep the door to this room locked so you kids won't come wandering into my personal abode."

"Okay," I smiled as politely as I could, but it was hard considering how uncomfortable I felt.

"I asked to see you because you and your two friends, Riku and Kairi are the only people in this cabin I trust."

"Why's that?"

"This is our first meeting. I have met your classmates, as well as your chaperones before, none of them are all too pleased with me." He took a long pause. "I have done some unsavory things in the past, and as a result, I'm going to be murdered tonight."

My jaw dropped. I didn't think he was being serious, so I forced out a chuckle, "Very funny Mister Xehanort, murdered, come on."

"As much as I would like it to be a joke, it's not. I'm going to be killed by someone in this cabin, and I want you to find out who it is, if not to avenge me, then to protect you and your friends."

I gulped, it was hard to imagine that anyone here murdering anyone. Well, maybe some people, but not everyone. I got up, "Maybe I should tell Braig or—"

Xehanort got up too, "I'm afraid that cannot happen, if you tell anyone—besides your friends—you could be in grave danger." He walked over to the door and unlocked it, "I wish you luck Sora, if what Dilan and Braig said were true, then you and your friends should have no problem finding and subduing the murderer." He opened the door, "Goodbye."

I left without saying anything else. I decided to forget what I heard. It was ridiculous anyway, one of us murdering Xehanort.

The rest of the day was uneventful, we went to workshops, had lunch, lounged around, nothing out of the ordinary. But everything changed when dinner came around. We were told to wait in the lobby for Xehanort because he told Braig and Dilan that he wanted to make an announcement. When he didn't show up on time, I didn't think anything of it. Then we heard a scream. We all ran to the top floor, and we saw Aqua, sitting on the floor outside Xehanort's bedroom in shock.

Terra crouched down next to her, "What happened Aqua?!"

"Mister Xehanort…! He's…"

Braig opened the door, "Dead."

I ran to see if it was true, and it was. Xehanort was lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood, staring up at the ceiling with lifeless eyes. I was scared because he was right.

There was a murderer in the cabin.

It was someone I know.

I'm the only one who can find out who it is.

Axel: Okay, who's the killer?
Mars: I dunno.
Jenny: You don't know or don't wanna tell us?
Mars: I don't know, I'm going to be picking who gets picked off at completely random. Whoever's left beside Sora, Riku and Kairi is the killer.
Axel: I thought you stopped writing fics where you make up the story as you go along.
Mars: My OCD finally let up to do this project.
Jenny: Now let's see if you can finish it.