Xemnas stood on a ledge overlooking the grand hall. During his past life, this had been one of his favorite parts of the castle and it was almost exactly as he remembered. A small girl with short red hair was lying upon the floor and standing over her was a boy with white hair dressed in a black bodysuit. A boy sprinted up the stairway, lifted the girl up, and began shaking her. Xemnas recognized the boy immediately for he had begun studying him not long ago. He was named Sora and he was the wielder of a Keyblade, but not just any Keyblade. Sora's Keyblade had the power to seal the door to darkness. When Xemnas first saw this Keyblade, the name Kingdom Key came to mind.
"She has lost her heart." The white-haired boy said, in a voice that could not possibly have been his own.
Sora stared up at the older boy, he seemed shocked.
"It's…it's you…" he said, shaking.
The older boy gestured toward the large keyhole in the wall behind them, it had finally been revealed.
"The keyhole cannot be completed until the last Princess of Heart is revived."
"Princess…Kairi's a princess?" Sora asked, sounding bewildered.
"Yes." The older boy confirmed. "But without her heart, the keyhole will remain incomplete."
So all seven Princesses of Heart had been gathered.
"Let Riku go!" Sora demanded. "Get out of his heart!" Such an absent minded response, it was typical for people with hearts to lose sight of the bigger picture.
"But first, you must return the princess' heart." The older boy insisted, and he pointed some kind of dark Keyblade at Sora.
Sora clutched his heart and fell back, he looked as though he were in pain.
"The princess' heart is responding. It has been there all along!" The older boy declared.
"Kai…Kairi's inside me?" Sora breathed.
"I know all that there is to know."
"Tell me, who are you?"
"I am Ansem, Seeker of Darkness."
Ansem…that name was all too familiar to Xemnas, for he had fashioned his own name from it. He now knew what this entity was; it was the Heartless of his original self. Obviously it could not take physical form so it entered the body of this boy called Riku.
"I shall release you now, Princess." It declared. "Complete the keyhole with your power!"
The Heartless raised its dark Keyblade and prepared to run Sora through, but he summoned his own to block it and began pushing the Heartless back.
"I don't care who you are!" Sora said impudently. "You're not getting Kairi's heart!"
Xemnas stood patiently and watched as the two of them began fighting, he had no intention of interfering. His Heartless seemed too set in its own goals to be of any use to him. The Heartless proved to be a formidable opponent as it called upon the power of darkness to gain the upper hand. But just when it seemed that it would defeat Sora, he sprung to his feet and struck back with the kind of determination that only people with hearts were capable of.
When Xemnas became complete again, he would have all of the heart's strengths and none of its weaknesses, he would make certain of that. Finally, the Heartless stuck its dark Keyblade in the ground and vanished. It was not in the nature of most Heartless to retreat, but it seemed only right that this one be cleverer than the rest. Sora examined the dark Keyblade for a moment and plunged it into his heart, despite the protests that came from his companions. The dark Keyblade dissolved into a cloud of darkness and beneath it were six shining hearts; they must have belonged to the other six princesses.
The six hearts flew to reunite with their vessels and Sora's own heart emerged from his chest and sunk into a large pool of darkness along with his body. To be able to convert anything that was made of light into something so dark was unfathomable. Xemnas had underestimated his own Heartless; it was far more powerful than he had believed, he would have to be sure and stay out of its way. He continued to watch as the princess called "Kairi" awoke rushed over to the dark pool and pulled out a small Shadow that had once been Sora's heart, just as Xemnas had expected, but what of Sora's body?
Xemnas opened a dark portal beneath him and descended as quickly as he was able. It was not long until he found what he was looking for; Sora's body was sinking deeper and deeper into the darkness until a small opening appeared and it fell through. Xemnas dropped through the opening after it and they landed back in the realm of light. They were in a wooded area under a bright orange sky. Xemnas looked down at the empty vessel; its clothes had disintegrated and its hair, eyes and skin had lost their color and were now gray. After a few moments it slowly opened its eyes and stood. As soon as the sun's rays touched it, the natural color returned to its skin and eyes. Its hair turned gold like the sun's rays and curved into a different shape. A new nobody was born.
"Do you know who you are?" Xemnas asked the newly born Nobody.
The Nobody turned his head to face Xemnas but did not respond.
"Do you know where you came from?" Xemnas asked.
The Nobody slowly shook his head.
"I can give you a purpose." Xemnas professed. He waved his hand and lucid, silver letters appeared before him, they were the letters of Sora's name. He rearranged the letters and added an X forming the name "Roxas." He then reversed the letters so the Nobody could read.
"Roxas." The Nobody muttered.
"Yes." Said Xemnas. "The new you."
Darkness began swirling around the Nobody now named Roxas and formed into a uniform identical to Xemnas'. He opened a dark portal and bid Roxas to enter. Roxas obeyed without giving it any thought and Xemnas followed. They walked through blackness and emerged in one of the many corridors of Xemnas' castle. Xemnas lead Roxas down the corridor and into the lounge where Axel was sitting.
"Hey, boss." Axel said lazily. "Who's the zombie?"
"Roxas." Xemnas replied. "Our newest and final member."
"You finally gonna give this organization a name, then?" Axel inquired.
"Yes." Xemnas confirmed. "From this moment forth, we shall be known as THIRTEEN."
Axel shrugged at the name and leaned back in his chair.
"I have business elsewhere." Xemnas stated. "Attend to Roxas while I'm away."
Axel sighed and got to his feet as Xemnas strode out of the room.
"So I'm a babysitter today." He said, mostly to himself. "When am I gonna get a real mission?"
He got up to stretch and groaned.
"I could go for some hot wings right now." Axel said. "Maybe an ice cream."
He turned to Roxas
"How 'bout you, Roxas? Wanna get some eats?"
Roxas did not respond but only stared.
"I'll take that as a yes." Axel decided "C'mon, follow me."
As Axel lead Roxas out of the castle he got a feeling he had seen Roxas somewhere before, but he dismissed it.
Some time had passed and the man called Axel brought Roxas to a round white room. He was soon surrounded by people in black cloaks just like his; they were all seated high above him, looking down at him, though he did not know why. The silver haired one seated highest above him was the one who brought him here, but he did not know who he was or why he brought him here.
"Number Thirteen, Roxas." The silver haired one announced. "At last, a wielder of the Keyblade among our ranks. I, Xemnas found you. I gave you a home and a purpose, and so you are indebted to me. You will be given assignments and you will be expected to carry them out."
As Roxas listened to the one who called himself "Xemnas," he understood that he was going to remain here and that he had been given some sort of purpose, though he did not know what it was.
"If you are unwilling or unable to do what is asked of you," Xemnas went on, "you will lose the mind and body you now possess and be reduced to a Dusk. You will also be punished if you attempt to leave this castle without permission from one of us."
From what Roxas could understand, if he did not do as these people wanted, he would be punished in some way; as he thought about this, he realized that he did want that.
Xemnas pointed to a seat behind Roxas with "XIII" etched into it and commanded him to sit in it. Without thinking, Roxas climbed into the seat.
"We finally have the means to collect the hearts we need, Kingdom Hearts will one day be complete." Xemnas said. He then rose and said "The rest of you will assemble outside the briefing room to receive your assignments for today. Meeting adjourned."
Everyone got up and left the room without a word, leaving only Roxas and Xemnas. Xemnas gestured for Roxas to follow him. Roxas obeyed and Xemnas lead him into a plain grey room with one window and a simple bed.
"These are your quarters. You will remain here until you are summoned." Xemnas instructed. Once Xemnas left, Roxas walked over to the window and stared out into the darkness. His name was Roxas, he was number thirteen, he lived in this castle with these people in black cloaks, he had to do what they asked of him or something bad would happen to him. That was all he knew.