Sorry about the delay. I had some things to deal with.

2 - An Unwelcoming Welcome

After finishing their ice cream (and Roxas cleaning some of it off his hand), Axel conjured the strange black smoke he and the "Boss" had used earlier.

"What... is that...?" asked Roxas, pointing at the black smoke before him.

"Oh, this?" replied Axel, scratching his head. "This is a portal to the Corridors of Darkness. Me and the Boss and the others use it to go from place to place. Now c'mon, we gotta get going!"

The Castle was quite plain; the walls and stairs (of which there were many) were dull grey, and it seemed disturbingly silent, despite being quite large. Outside the large mechanical door, Roxas could see an urban city, filled with skyscrapers reaching up to the moonless night sky.

"Welcome to the World That Never Was, or WTNW for short" said Axel as he put his hand on Roxas's shoulder. "And this is the Castle That Never Was, or CTNW. Got it memorized?"

"Yeah..." The two names flooded Roxas mind as he gazed at the skyscrapers. "Why... 'Never Was'...?"

"Well... Let's just say they're, uh, incomplete in some ways..."

An incomplete world. It sounded strange to Roxas.

There was a moment of silence before it was broken by Axel. "Well," he said, "Time to try on your uniform. Let's see if it fits."

From his pocket he produced a black cloak identical to his but smaller in size. After a few seconds, the cloak covered Roxas from shoulder to toe.

"Perfect fit!" exclaimed Axel. "We better get going now. They're expecting us."

They? Roxas wondered how many others in black cloaks there would be.

Axel began climbing up the stairs, signaling Roxas to follow suit.

After several flights of stairs (and Roxas tripping on his uniform), the duo reached a large grey door. On the door was a sumbol that was identical to Roxas's sweater zipper, which confused him.

"Ah, the Round Room" said Axel slightly mockingly. "Now, don't talk unless you're asked to, and listen to everything the Boss says-"

He was interrupted by something both he and Roxas saw in the shadows. A small, ink-black ant-like creature was looking intently at Roxas with its beady yellow eyes. Almost as quickly as they noticed it, the creature dashed towards Roxas.

"Roxas!" yelled Axel, his circular weapons appearing in his hand. But it was too late; the creature lunged at Roxas's face.

"Agh!" screamed Roxas in fear, holding up his arms over his face.

However, a second before the creature's would-be impact, a bright light shone from Roxas's right hand, where a large golden key materialized. Involuntarily, Roxas swung the key at the creature, swiping it away in surprise.

When the creature hit the ground, it turned into black smoke that quickly dissipitated before Roxas, who was still dumbfounded at what had happened.

"Well, well!" said Axel, clapping softly. "You can use the Keyblade!"

"Key... blade...?" Roxas stared at it for a moment, before it suddenly disappeared the same bright flash.

"The Boss'll explain. We need to enter that room now."

They stepped up to the door, Roxas slightly ahead. As they approached, the door opened, revealing the strangest room Roxas had seen in his few hours of life.

The room was still dull grey, as with all other rooms of the Castle. But it was instead circular, with thirteen high chairs of different height. On them sat ten men and one woman, all of different appearance but with the same black uniform, one of them being the Boss.

Roxas paused for a moment, twenty-two eyes glaring at him. Axel nudged him to go on until he reached the middle of the room.

The boy looked up until he met the emotionless eyes of the Boss, who had his hand under his chin.

"Let us all welcome one of the Keyblade's Chosen" he boomed. "Number Thirteen, the Key to Destiny... Roxas."

There was a short silence afterwards, followed by applauding.

As the applaud died down, the Boss once again spoke, "We welcome you to Organizaiton Thirteen, young member. Let us hope you will prove a useful asset in reaching the Goal."

Again, there was much applauding, but this time, Axel was seated on one of the chairs. Roxas guessed he used the Corridor of Darkness.

"Come now," said the Boss, "Take your throne."

He put his hand forward, causing a portal to appear before Roxas. He hesitated for a moment, then finally entered the portal and emerged sitting on the shortest throne.

The Boss then said, "Now, we've some business to discuss."

He (and occasionally a few others) began speaking of "business", though Roxas couldn't quite follow. He could only make out that there was trouble with something called a "Heartless".

After the discussion, the others left one by one, until only Roxas and his Boss remained.

The Boss looked at Roxas sternly, but calmly. "We can only expect the best out of you" he said. He held out his hand towards him. "Dismissed".

A portal appeared on Roxas, who was still looking at his Boss's grim face. In a matter of seconds, it enveloped him, and he was gone.