Dooms: Time to start introducing Bad Guys. I guess. Sort of. Well, maybe not really. You'll have to decide for yourself. Don't ask me.


Chapter Three: Organization XIII
"Hey, are you alright?"

Daxtin opened his eyes, then immediately regretted doing so. It was bright, and his head hurt, a combination that didn't go down well. Wincing and shutting his eyes again, he felt sand and grit plastered to his face, as well as warm ocean waves washing over his legs, pulling at him as if trying to drag him back into the sea. Trying to move, his body ached in protest all over, and he gave a moan of pain and gave up, sliding back into the warm depths of unconsciousness.

He awoke later in a bed. He stared up at an unfamiliar ceiling, his eyes focusing on nothing in particular as he got a feel for his surroundings without moving. He was warm, comfortably so, and his body didn't hurt anymore. Notably, and a little alarmingly, he seemed to be wearing some one else's clothes.

Tilting his head, he located his own clothes hanging off a line, drying off near an open window. While those were there, he was wearing a pair of pants and a shirt, both of which fit almost perfectly. As he sat up, the door to the room opened and a girl of about the same age as him walked in.

She was tall, about the same height as Daxtin, and had deep red hair of medium short length that fell neatly around her face, just short of her shoulders, some of which partially covered one eye. Her eyes were a gentle blue, and they exuded warmth and caring. She wore an interesting long-sleeved top that seemed to be a tube-top with added loose sleeves that almost covered her hands; the shirt didn't cover any of her shoulders or collar. It was in a light aqua-green with little yellow stripes around the edges, and she had a matching mini-skirt in the same design, along with boots that went almost all the way up to where the skirt ended, completely the look. Additionally, she wore a black choker, from which hung a little golden medallion, and a lopsided belt that hung to one side with a pouch hanging from it. He could see the green straps of her thong sticking out of her skirt to wrap around her shapely hips, almost up to her exposed navel. She was, in his opinion, the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen, almost angelic, but perhaps that was because she came bearing a tray with soup and bread, and Daxtin found that he was absolutely starving.

"Oh, good, you're awake," she said pleasantly, coming over and setting the tray down on his lap. "I was worried, since you didn't wake up at all yesterday."

"What time is it?" murmured Daxtin tiredly as he ripped a chunk of bread off and dunked it into the soup.

"Just a little after 11 o'clock. I found you two on the beach yesterday afternoon."

You two? wondered Daxtin blearily. Then he remembered. "Anya! Is she okay?"

"The girl? Yeah, she's fine. A little beat up, but on the mend," smiled the girl, sitting down on the bed as he ate. The soup was good and the bread fresh. "I'm Kairi, by the way. What's your name?"

"Hmm? Mm, Daxtin," he mumbled as he ate. Having not eaten for almost a whole day along with all the fighting had left him ravenous, and he was paying more attention to the food than the girl. Stopping, he realized he was probably being pretty rude, just answering so shortly. "So, um, Kairi… that's a nice name."
"It's a family name," she said, shrugging it off. "It gets dusted off and placed on a girl every generation or two."

"Huh," murmured Daxtin as he mopped up the rest of the soup with the last of the bread. Looking down at the empty bowl, he flushed as his stomach growled loudly. "Um… I know I'm already imposing, but…" He left the question hanging.

"Sure, there's more," laughed Kairi, taking the tray and getting up. "Think you're good enough to get up and follow me to the kitchen?"
"Uh, sure." He slid out of the bed and got to his feet easily, with no sign of injury and weakness. He smiled, and Kairi flashed a grin back at him before walking out the door, her boots clicking as his bare feet padded softly across the hardwood floor behind her. "So, um… whose clothes am I wearing? Your brother's?"

"Sort of," replied Kairi as they walked down a short flight of steps. "Those two hung around here so often, they might as well have been family."

Before he could question her further, they stepped off the stairs and into the kitchen. A pot of soup was simmering on the stove, filling the room with its savory aroma, and Anya was sitting at the table, dressed in a slightly too-large T-shirt and shorts, her bare feet tapping happily on the floor as she ate a bowl of soup, her eyes half-lidded and her hair a mess, a direct contrast to the neatly combed locks of black she normally had. She still looked like a boy. The fact that the shirt had a boy shouting "I'm King of the Beach!" on it probably didn't help.

"Mm, hey," she murmured absently as they walked in.

"Oh, you're up. You sure you should be walking about so soon?" asked Kairi, her voice slightly worried. "I mean…"

"I heal fast," she said shortly, barely noticing as they got their own bowls and sat down at the table with her. "Just tired. And a little hungry."

"The both of you," said Kairi, giggling as Daxtin dove into his second bowl of soup, then backed off, his tongue scalded. "It's hot," she cautioned belatedly. "So what's the story? I found the two of you washed up on the beach yesterday. Fall off a ship?"

"Not really," answered Daxtin, blowing off the next spoonful before sticking it in his mouth. "I got attacked by these black things and these white things and these paper things. Oh, and she fell out of an inter-dimensional portal and made me a fugitive from her enigmatic prophetess sister. And some kid with a keyblade wants to kill me."

"Keyblade?" asked Kairi in surprise. She looked a little distant, then said, "Nah, couldn't be. He's too nice." Shrugging, she then added, "I've seen some stuff like what you said. Where the black things like ants, sort of? All shadow and claws and glowing eyes?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?" asked Daxtin in surprise.

"They're called Heartless," explained the girl. "They're the darkness in people's hearts. When a heart leaves its body, it gets absorbed by the darkness. When that happens, a Heartless is formed. Just like…" she broke off suddenly, eyes downcast. An awkward silence filled the air, only broken by the tinkling of wind chimes and Anya sipping her soup, mainly oblivious to the conversation in her half-awake state.

"I'm sorry, Kairi," he apologized, though for what, he wasn't sure. In the quiet, he pondered what she had said, his soup forgotten. Then he remembered something. "Hey, Anya, isn't that what that kid called you? A Heartless? Why would he?"

The young girl paused, spoon halfway to her mouth. Slowly, she put it down, letting it slide into her bowl, her eyes slightly sad.

"Because. That's what I am," she said simply.

"What? What are you talking about?" asked Daxtin confused. "You don't look anything like those ant-things."

"Shadows are just one kind of Heartless, but he's right," agreed Kairi. "Heartless look like, well, Heartless. You're definitely a person."

"Only when I keep control," said Anya quietly. "Sometimes though, when I get angry, or scared… I lose it. I become a monster. The Shadow Lance is my only defense, but… the more I rely on it, the closer to the darkness I become. I don't know when, but at some point, I became lost in darkness. When I woke up, I was on my feet and running, running to escape my sister, Emeline. I don't even know why. But I can feel it. Feel it in my heart. I'm only half a person. A shadow of somebody. A shade of who I once was, whoever that was. A Heartless."

There was a stunned silence at this. Daxtin was the first to break it.

"Hey, you're not. You're you!" he said. "Anya, not some mindless dark-ant. Everyone loses it now and then, but come on, it's who you are when you mean it that matters. It's what's in here that matters," he smiled, leaning over and poking her chest, just below the collar. "What's in your heart is what really says who you are. At least, that's what my heart says."

"He's right," agreed Kairi. "Even if you did lose your way, you're here now, with friends. We'll be your light." She thought for a bit, then said, "You know, if you were lost in the darkness, maybe he can come back too."

"Who's he?" asked Daxtin curiously.

"The boy whose clothes you're wearing," answered Kairi with a little grin. "Diant."

Daxtin winced at the sound. Why did that name make his head hurt? Make his heart ache? Make him feel… empty?

"What, did I say something wrong? Do you know Diant?" asked Kairi, her voice tinged with worry.

"No… no, it's nothing," muttered Daxtin, shaking his head. "Anyway, what should we do now?"

"Well, I could show you around the island," suggested Kairi. "Your clothes should be dry by now, so you could even change into them if you don't want to wear those. I'll meet you two back down here, okay?"

Nodding, Daxtin and Anya both put their dishes in the sink before heading back upstairs to their rooms to change. In a few minutes, they came back down, Daxtin once more dressed with his sleeveless coat and Anya with her hair neatly combed and her jacket and slacks arranged nicely. They reminded Daxtin of a school uniform. A boy's school uniform. What's up with that?

"Let's go," smiled Kairi, her face lighting up as they came down stairs. With that, they went off to see Destiny Islands.


The tour went on into the afternoon, and it was just as the sun was starting to touch down on the far blue horizon that they came back full circle to the beach where Kairi had found the two of them washed up on the shore.

"What's that over there?" asked Anya quietly, pointing to a little islet.

"Hmm? Oh, that's the little island where we used to play as kids. Heck, we hung out there for pretty much up until we got swept away on adventure," replied Kairi. She had already told them about her friends, Diant and Kir, though she didn't talk much of this "adventure" they had gone on. Daxtin had decided not to mention that it was Kir who had tried to destroy him.

"No, I mean, those dark things climbing up the beach? You got seals?"

"What?" asked Kairi, spinning about to actually look at the island. Sure enough, masses of black things were wriggling their way up the beach. "Heartless! I think they're heading to the Secret Place. Quick, we have to get over there!"

Grabbing some canoes that were beached nearby, they quickly made their way over to the island.

"Thunder!" yelled Kairi, raising her arm as they approached the dock, which was covered over with wriggling shadow Heartless. Bolts of lightning came crashing down out of the purpling sky and the shadows exploded in clouds of dark mist that dissipated in the sunset light. Tying their boats to the dock, they quickly jumped out and onto the now clear dock, then waded their way through the encroaching darkness, Kairi wielding her magic as Daxtin swung Joiner and Divider and Anya attacked with the Shadow Lance, that spear of utter darkness.

"Hurry, this way!" yelled Kairi, leading the way down a path underneath stairs to a tree house and besides a pool from a natural waterfall. Fighting their way through the masses of Heartless, they came to a shadowed opening, into which the older girl ran, the other two hot on her heels.

The small passageway opened up into a cavern of fallen boulders and tree roots. Light filtered in through several gaps in the ceiling, illuminating a number of chalk drawings on the walls. In the back was a strange wooden door, and it was this that the Heartless were swarming towards. Running into the center, they found far too many Heartless between them and the door. Turning around, they found even more flooding into the cavern through the opening.

"Trapped!" cursed Daxtin under his breath, back to back with the two girls, striking out at any shadow that strayed too close. "What are we gonna do?"

Then, suddenly, there was a flash of white that came shooting out of the opening, followed by bursting Heartless, disintegrating wherever the white blur touched. The thing shot around the room, making a full circle around the trio, annihilating Heartless wherever it went before flying back out the opening and to the rest of the island.

"What was that?" asked Daxtin in surprise.

"I don't know, but don't let it get away!" said Kiari, Anya nodding beside her in agreement. The three ran out after the thing.

As they came out of the Secret Place and stepped into the sunlight, they were surprised to find a complete lack of Heartless. The white thing, however, had slowed down, and resolved into something vaguely human shaped, though it twisted in ways impossible and seemed to float through the air almost as it moved. They pursued it down the beach, until it turned and stopped to regard them. The creature was tall, about the size of an adult human, and was shaped like a woman. It wore a peach-colored cap over most of its face, though it still revealed a jagged mouth. However, what made it recognizable other than its fluid movements was the symbol on its pants, a combination of a cross and an upside down heart, the same symbol Daxtin had seen on the white thing that had stolen his necklace and something he'd seen in a dream.

"It's one of those white things!" shouted Daxtin. "Get it!"

Nodding, the other two charged the creature. The thing wavered and danced away from their attacks, staying just out of reach of the Shadow Lance and Daxtin's aura blades.

"Blizzard!" shouted Kairi, firing a blast of frozen air and water.

The blow struck the white creature hard, and the thing bounced away, the rest of its body following the struck torso slightly delayed, as if it were made of rubber, or something stretchy. The creature flipped over then gracefully before swooping back in and knocking into Anya. Dancing away before the girl could counterattack, the creature began to glow before suddenly sliding in and right in front of Daxtin. Before he could react, the creature grabbed his arms, then went into several disorientating twists and turns before flinging him away across the beach.

"Fire!"

This time, the creature made sure to dodge, dancing lightly out of the way. Spitting out sand, Daxtin stumbled back to his feet. Not even knowing what he was doing, he reversed his grip on one of his aura blades before slamming the handles together, fusing the two blades into one long blade, the handle in the center, both orbs glowing and flaring with unnatural blue-green fire. Swinging back his arm, the blades followed, the whole thing spinning rapidly, becoming a blur of motion and light as the blades became a whirring disk, suspended from his palm by pure willpower.

"Whirlwind Raid!" he shouted, swinging his arm and releasing the spinning blades. The disk cut through the air, striking the white creature straight on, knocking it into the air. The whirling blades shot past, then doubled back, cutting into the sand and water, spraying both as it turned and flew back at the creature to strike it again. On impact, the blades separated, spinning away from each other. As they did, Daxtin leapt up into the air, catching them in his hands, his arms crossed as he did. "Storm's Divide!"

He swung his arms back out in a powerful cross-slash, and the white creature exploded in a flash of light as he landed in a crouch on the sand, blades held out at his sides dramatically. Standing slowly, he paused as Anya and Kairi ran up to him. Clapping rang through the silent twilit air, soft at first, then with growing strength.

"Very impressive," murmured a smooth, calm voice. The trio spun around to face the speaker, a man dressed entirely in black. His black cloak had the hood drawn up, covering his face almost entirely. Zipper pulls and hanging silver chains jingled as he walked towards them and stopped clapping his black gloved hands. "So you defeated one of my dancers," he observed dryly. "Silly shadow, silly princess, silly no one. Do you really think you can change anything? You, who know so little?"

"Who are you?" demanded Daxtin, brandishing his aura blades. Anya and Kairi took up similar fighting stances.

"Why should I tell you, when you're just about to die?" asked the cloaked figure. He threw up his arm, then yelled, "Water!"

Water shot out of the ground around him in a circle, forming a dome of sparkling currents that focused at his hand, coalescing into a single shape. There was a flash of light, and a large sitar, a three-stringed guitar-like instrument appeared in his hand. With a quick swing of his arms, the figure brought it before him, caressing it's blue and white length, its designs a variation of the symbol that had adorned the dancer and the white creatures from before. Chuckling, he began to play it with both hands strumming up and down its neck, balancing the nearly five-foot long instrument against one leg as he played.

"Dance, water," he crooned softly. Swirling torrents of water appeared before shifting and turning into see-through clones of the man in black, each wielding their own sitars as they slid along the ground.

Daxtin dodged and jumped away as one of the clones jumped forwards and swung out with its sitar, swinging it from the cross-piece end like a mace, before returning a two-handed grip to the instrument and jabbing forwards with it like a spear. Daxtin side-stepped the thrust, then smashed the thing's face in with a swift attack from Joiner. The clone crumpled, then burst apart into a spray of water, but there was little time to celebrate as another water clone took its place.

Meanwhile, Anya struck out with her Shadow Lance while Kairi took out the clones in groups of three or four using carefully aimed thunder spells. Despite this, the water forms were appearing faster than they could be destroyed.

Dodging an attack, a sudden inspiration struck Daxtin. Reaching over, he grabbed one of the water clones by the arm, and then swung it around with all his might. As he expected, the thing was fairly light and stretched as he swung it about.

"Time for one wild dance!" he shouted, jumping into a group of water forms. Swinging the captive form about, the watery weapon crashed into others of its kind, immediately disrupting and destroying the constructs until the one in his hand disintegrated from use. He quickly grabbed another one and repeated the process, and again, going and going until he reached the man in black. Then, he released the water clone he was wielding and summoned Joiner and Divider, attacking the musician mid-note.

"Amusing," noted the cloaked man, dodging back. Daxtin's strike missed, but the man had stopped playing, and as he did, the water clones stopped appearing. He quickly sidestepped a lightning bolt from Kairi. "Yet undeniably annoying also. Come on, feel the groove."

With this he struck a hard cord on his sitar, and a wall of water shot up in front of him, knocking Daxtin away. Taking a step forwards, he struck another cord, thrusting the sitar at them in a blast of noise and water, another geyser wall of water shooting up out of the sand. He kept walking steadily forwards, each step punctuated by a stirring riff and blast of water, repeatedly knocking Daxtin away, and eventually catching Kairi up in the swirling torrents too as Anya dodged back quickly. When he stopped, Kairi and Daxtin were soaked and bruised from being knocked about, lying on the sand.

"Bastard!" shouted Anya, eyes hardening. Charging at the hooded man, she held the Shadow Lance out, pointed out like a spear or overly long sword. Her grip tightened, and streams of black shot out from between her fingers as they slowly turned dark. But then a screeching darkness shot through her mind, and she stumbled and fell to the ground, her weapon dissipating as she clutched her head in agony.

"No, not now… I can't… can't… can't control it…" she gasped breathlessly as she lay on the ground, kneeled over her fallen head.

"Pathetic," said the hooded figure with a sneer as he walked up to the trembling form of the young girl. "Can't even control your own darkness." Looking around, he jumped back as Daxtin lunged at him. "Slow. I should finish you off where you stand."

"You'll have to catch me first," grinned the boy. Raising his blades, he divided a hole in reality, then joined it to the first world he could find. A corridor of darkness shot open in front of him. Grabbing Kairi and Anya, he dragged them into the portal, which closed up behind him. The hooded man stared at the empty beach.

"Nobody gets away from Organization XIII," hissed the hooded man before opening his own dark portal and leaving.


Bright colors and indecipherable symbols spun about them as they walked on nothing. Once more, they had returned to Betwixt and Between.

"Are you alright?" asked Daxtin, looking to Kairi, then Anya.

"Yeah, just a little shaken," replied the younger girl.

"I'm fine," said Kairi. "I don't think he was trying that hard."

"I think your ability to make portals surprised him," said Anya.

"Yeah, well it surprised me too," said Daxtin wryly. "Didn't know I could do that. Somehow… as soon as I needed to, I knew it was what I had to do." He turned then to Kairi. "I'm really sorry to drag you into this."

"No, it's okay," said the girl, shaking her head. "At least now… now I have the chance to look for my friends, instead of just waiting for them, doing nothing. I guess, for that, I should thank you." She smiled at him, and Daxtin looked away a little embarrassed. He had just brought a whole mess of trouble to her, and she was thanking him? Sighing, he shook his head.

"Look out!"

The two older teens jumped into alertness at Anya's warning. All around them, swirls of thorny white became shifting, almost formless white shapes, each identical to the creature that had stolen Daxtin's necklace.

"Dusks!" shouted Kairi in alarm.

"You've seen these things before?" asked Daxtin in surprise. Then did she know what the hooded man and the dancer were too?

"We saw a few of them before," she explained. "Just these kind. I don't know how they're related to that man we met. They aren't Heartless though. I don't know what they are."

"Whatever they are, I don't think they're about to let us through," pointed out Daxtin. "We'll have to fight."

Rather than wait to be attacked, he charged into the fray, aura blades swinging. With each foe he struck down, the orbs set in the blades glowed brighter.

"There's too many!" shouted Kairi. "We're gonna get swarmed under!"

"Then I'll have to…augh!"

Anya fell to her knees, clutching her head, jerking convulsively. Sensing her weakness, the dusks began to close in on her.

"Get away from her!" yelled Daxtin, leaping over the heads of the white enemies and landing before the fallen girl. Striking away the dusks, the orbs of his aura blade burst into fiery light. "Spira Arcanus!"

Letting go of his weapons, the blades spun around him in a circle, orbiting his body and the prone form of Anya. They increased in speed until they were nothing but a whirling blur of a streak around the two of them, sucking in dusks like a vortex. Gradually the blades rose with Daxtin's arms until they formed a spiral vacuum held above his head by his outstretched arms, sucking in every enemy that came near.

"Sephiros Magna!" he shouted. The spinning abruptly stopped, leaving nothing but a floating, glowing mass of dusks imprisoned in a slowly whirling sphere of power above his hands. Leaping into the air, enormous orb of energy held above him, Daxtin centered above the remaining dusks as the power he held gradually blackened into a shining mass of darkness. "Astralis Nigror!"

Throwing it down, the huge crushing ball impacted into the surface of nothing, instantly annihilating many of the dusks under its crushing mass.

"Finis!" cried the warrior, Joiner and Divider appearing in hand. He dove down into the mass of energy and it exploded like a small supernova. When the light faded away, he was left in the center, every enemy destroyed.

"That was amazing!" shouted Kairi as she ran up to him, Anya trailing close behind. "You are so cool!"

"It was nothing," muttered Daxtin embarrassedly, flushing at the compliments.

"Um… thanks. For saving me," said Anya, her face downcast in shame.

"Hey, no biggie. You've saved me too," grinned Daxtin. "Cheer up, we'll get a handle on this darkness thing. I mean, even if you're half a person, you've got two whole friends, right here!"

And somehow, in the back of his mind, that struck Daxtin as false.


They stepped out of the corridor of darkness and into the shining light.

"What is this place?" asked Daxtin.

"It's beautiful," murmured Anya quietly.

"This is…" trailed off Kairi, staring out across the cityscape. Then she spun around and showered them with one of her brilliant, candid smiles. "This is Radiant Garden!"