The room was intricately designed with patterns on the walls, ceilings, and pillars, but it was lost as the entire room was the same color white all around in this place called Castle Oblivion. The only thing that stood out amongst the bright whiteness was a small patch of cream and shadow—skin and hair of a sweet young girl and the towering black figure that stood next to her. The small white girl in a small white dress sat in a small white chair in front of a small white table with a small white book on top. Her hands were limp in her lap and her head dangled from her shoulders in a bored manner. Her hair was platinum blonde and her eyes, though hardly visible behind her heavy lids, were a soft blue. The man that stood beside her stuck out in the room, as he was dressed head to toe in black. His voice was cool and casual, but had some mystery to it, as he spoke vaguely and covered his hair and face with a hood. He placed a hand on the girl's shoulder which seemed huge in comparison to her small frame.

"Naminé, you are the soul keeper of that heart, which is why you must stay here. You know what would happen if you were to leave, don't you?" The girl said nothing in return. She didn't even nod.

"Good! I'm glad we got that cleared up. Just draw a little more and hang out here. Other members are always in and out to entertain you, right? So, there's no way you could possibly be bored. You like Demyx don't you? Well guess what, it's his turn to baby si—I mean, watch over you today." Naminé was hardly listening to what the man had said this time. Her mind was still on the aforementioned "heart".

"What about…his memories? Without his memories…looking after his heart is useless!" Naminé's voice was soft and it took her a while to form her words, and even as she raised her tone it still remained no higher than a broken whisper. The man gripped her shoulder hard, reminding her who was in charge. His voice took on a stern, quiet tone, which made Naminé whimper to herself.

"The superior has me working on it, so just sit tight and try not to cause any trouble, okay? Tomorrow makes just barely a week, you need to trust me. You trust me, don't you, Naminé?" He loosened his grip on the girl's shoulder and took a lock of her hair in his black gloved hand. As he twirled it around he said her name, sending shivers down her spine and causing the thin hairs on her neck to rise. Suddenly his voice was soft and gentle, but what he said was in no way kind. "You're here to look after that heart—nothing else. You exist for others, so stop being so selfish." He stood, before he could see a tear slip from Naminé's eye. "I have some work to attend to back home. Hopefully today is the day that Roxas wakes up. If he does, then we'll be one step closer to getting that heart's memories. So just be patient, alright? Oblivion knows that that's what I've been doing."

A swirling portal of darkness raised itself from the ground and the mysterious man stepped through it, disappearing along with any trace of the portal. Naminé wept, her tears staining her sketchbook. Her nose was beginning to get stuffy when she felt something soft touch her face and looked up to a tissue, handed to her by the only person she called a friend.

Xion didn't do much, but Naminé found comfort in her presence and would talk to her often. It was nice, even though she didn't talk back. Mainly she just stood in the corner and watched Naminé draw. She'd been there the whole time Axel had been bullying her, but it was just as well he didn't notice her presence, for she wore a white blanket like a hood which made her blend into the walls. Xion parted her lips to speak, though Naminé didn't expect anything to come out. Nothing did, but the thought was kind enough.

"Xion?" Naminé said. It was weird to think Xion had thoughts at all…after all she was just—

"Na…mi…né" Naminé let out a small gasp. Wiping her teas away, quickly, she took Xion's hand in hers.

"Yes, Xion. I'm Naminé."

"Nami… né"

"That's right, Xion." Xion pointed to herself.

"Xi…on." Naminé was crying again, but they were tears of happiness. She was overjoyed to hear Xion speak before her. Xion's finger didn't leave the direction of herself before she spoke again.

"Mem…or…ies." Naminé's smile quickly turned into a frown and she let go of Xion's hand who looked confused.

"I see you understand more than you let on. That's right. Once we find Sora's memories, they will be placed within you for you to hold until we can find Sora's body and merge the two. For right now we just have his heart—you…which means we're very close." Naminé bit her tongue then. She couldn't tell Xion that once Sora's heart and body met—Xion would be empty once more. She'd be nothing. Naminé and Xion shared that destiny. Naminé knew that. It hurt her. She couldn't tell Xion.

"Why…this?"

"That's good question. Why are we doing this? Sora is…someone very special to me—no, to this world…all worlds. For him to meet his fate so early was…like a glitch in the system. It's something everyone is working to recode…" Naminé closed her eyes. "Yes, I can see it. Everyone knows how important he is, some more than others. The people who keep coming in here—the ones in black coats? They're part of something called Organization XIII."

"Thirteen…"

"That's right. They're working harder than anyone to fix this, but they need…me. I'm the only one who can manipulate memories and hearts without a keyblade."

"Key…?"

"The keyblade…Is a weapon of peace, though some have not used it as such in the past. Its original purpose was to be used on children, so that the lights in their heart stayed pure but—"

The door clicked and Naminé put a hand to her lips, shutting herself up before she said something she wasn't supposed to. With her other hand, she motioned for Xion to go back to the corner but she didn't. Naminé stood and tried to push her but the moment she laid her hands on her, the door opened and Demyx walked in.

His blonde hair was spiked on the top, with both ends shaved off, while loose ends stuck out everywhere, each one placed with careful intention. He dawned the same black coat as the other man, but Demyx's was worn looser, baggier and without a hood as he was careful not to mess up his hair with such an addition. In his arms, Demyx carried a large, soft blue sitar with him.

"Yo, Naminé! Long time no see, what's it been…twelve days?" He spoke in a sing-sing-like way and pursed his lips, closed his eyes and hit a single note on his sitar. "You ready to rock toda—"

The moment he opened his eyes to look over to Naminé he stopped speaking. It was obvious he valued his sitar greatly by the way he carried it but when he saw who was standing with Xion, he dropped it to the ground, sour notes rising from it like the sun.

"Wh-who is this?" Demyx said, pointing a single, shaky finger at Xion. Immediately, Naminé stood in front of Xion, her arms outstretched to protect her.

"She's…under my protection…by…Lord Xemnas!" At the immediate sound of his name Demyx tensed up. Xemnas was their superior, first in command. For a moment, Demyx's face scrunched up before he realized…

"There's no way Xemnas would go behind our backs like this. Traitor! Tell me who this is or—" Demyx didn't wait. He struck Naminé to the side, as any member—nice or not—would have. Naminé cried out but that didn't stop him. Demyx grabbed Xion's hood and tugged it back. "No way…you're…" he gazed at Xion for what seemed like the longest time before striking a glare at Naminé. "Traitor! Lord Xemnas will hear about this. We should have never trusted you, witch!" With that, he ran out of the room, grabbing his sitar on the way out.

Vexen, Organization XIII's fourth in command was a scientist, but more importantly a traitor—him and six others. No one but them were supposed to know that they'd already gathered Sora's heart and were keeping it inside a puppet Vexen had created. A puppet named Xion. Naminé was one of the six.

Of the others was Axel, the cool and mysterious man who had talked to Naminé earlier. Zexion and Lexaeus were in charge of gathering information. They stayed in the sublevels of Castle Oblivion, keeping quiet and listening and reading up on prophecies and descriptions of things of dark nature. Marluxia, Organization XIII's eleventh member, was the self-proclaimed leader of the traitor organization. He kept liked to think he kept a careful eye on the others but for some reason he was never there. Larxene was the only female in Organization XIII. She was twelfth in command in Organization XIII, but second in command when it came to the traitor organization. If anyone were to find out any of the six members were traitors, then more than a single plan would be ruined.

Demyx sniffed, coughing, exhausted from running. Xemnas sniffed, something in the air was off. Naminé sniffed, her nose stuffy from crying. Sooner or later someone would come barging in, asking her question after question and she'd have no choice but to answer truthfully, after which they would stamp out her existence and she would forever exist only in oblivion. Xion handed Naminé another tissue when someone knocked on the door. This was it.

Knock.

Knock.

The third knock was more of a thud and the door swished open. It was Axel again. He came in through the door, his hood was drawn but his body read that he was in a nervous state. His breathing was heavy from quickly coming to Castle Oblivion.

"Naminé!"

Axel withdrew his hood. His hair was fiery red and thrown back in bright, crimson spikes that contrasted with his bright emerald eyes. Two tear drops were painted under each of his eyes. What they symbolized was a mystery. Axel rushed over to Naminé, putting a hand on her head. Sometimes it was too obvious he cared about her, but it was his job to intimidate her, lest she try to leave this place. If nobodies had a heart, his would break a little more each time he had to yell at her. He looked over to Xion, her face was exposed from Demyx pulling her hood back.

Xion's hair was short and dark. It framed her face, outlining her soft, perfect features. If it weren't for her eyes being an incredibly deep blue, one would almost say she looked exactly like Naminé. Naminé, like Xion, was a puppet as well, created by Vexen from mere fragments of a heart. Xion's hood was brought back down upon her face by Axel. If anyone saw her face they would know something was wrong.

"Don't say anything. I'll handle everything. Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you."

The door swung open, a man with bright blue hair past his shoulders walked in. His bangs were swept back and he wore the same black robe as every other Organization XIII member. His eyes were a lurking yellow and he had a large scar across his face shaped like an 'X' which only made his expression seem that much harsher. Saix was the Organization XIII's seventh in command, however, Xemnas liked to treat him like the second in command. He ran all of his errands, was entrusted with all information and aside from Xemnas, he always, always, had the last say.

"What is the meaning of this, Axel?" He seethed out Axel's name.

"Why, this? This is Xion, one of Vexen's creations. She's just like Naminé. You know what that means? She's very special and can only help us toward our goal." Axel grabbed Xion by the shoulders and pushed her toward Saix who grimaced and stepped back.

"Xion? Thisthing Vexen has created has a name? Why haven't The Superior or I heard about it?"

"Well, she only finished creation just a few hours—no, minutes ago, we still weren't sure if she worked or not."

"Oh? And what does it do?"

"See for yourself?"

Axel didn't have a plan, but things always worked out the way he wanted to. Gently this time, he pushed Xion, who shuffled worriedly toward Saix. His arms were crossed and he was tapping his toe impatiently. When nothing happened, Saix raised a hand to swat her away like a bug, but just then, Xion raised her hands.

"No!"

"No…way…Impossible!"

The bright room, for a moment, became even brighter, as a white light filled every corner. Axel rubbed his eyes, Naminé stayed staring, as if she'd expected this all along, yet still she sucked in her lip to bite it. Saix had a look on his face, almost of utter terror which soon melted away into his usual composure, however, this time he had a conniving look inside his eyes. What Xion held in her hands was metallic and shiny. It was warm and it sent a thrill of chills through her body. The words whispered themselves through the air.

Keyblade…