Chapter 11
The Truth

"Alright, everybody." Sora said on the gummi ship. "There are two worlds we need to look in for Organization XIII's hidden base. The two worlds are The Land of Dragons and Beast's Castle."

Xion sat next to me. She hadn't written a single word other than "I remember" since she saw the picture. I stood up, and said "It's easy. We split up into our groups. Sora, Donald, and Goofy go to one world while I take Mike, Chris, and Xion to the other." I looked at the two worlds carefully. "And we'll take Beast's Castle. Looks like a better hiding spot."

Sora thought it was a great idea, so the next thing I knew, I was in a Star Trek "Beam me down" situation. We were standing outside of a magnificent castle, its stone walls towering high above us. "Cool place," Mike said," But when do we get to crack some heads?"

"We don't. We're on a search-and-destroy mission, remember?" I said. Xion fell to her knees next to me. "Why don't you two go in the castle and start looking? I'll see if Xion is alright." Chris started to object, but Mike covered his mouth and walked him inside, making sure to drop him once or twice on the steps.

I knelt down next to Xion. "Everything alright?" I asked. She nodded, and moved her mouth as if to speak. All that came out was air. "Here, tell me what's on your mind. It'll help you get it off of your chest." I handed her the pad of paper she communicated with as well as a pen. She wrote down some words. Then some more. When she handed it to me, I saw a rather large paragraph written down when I compared it to the short sentences she usually wrote. As I read it, tears formed in Xion's eyes.

"I'm Xion, number XIV of the Organization XIII. My best friends are number X, Axel, and number XIII, Roxas. I wield the Keyblade in order to accomplish the organization's goals. I don't know how I got here, but I do know that the Organization now wishes to destroy me. I don't know why I can't speak, or how the Keyblade came back to me, either. I'm sorry for lying to you, truly, I am. If you hate me for who I am, I understand. After all, the Organization was the cause of your world's destruction as much as the Heartless were."

I was shocked, and surprised. Sure, since I played the game, I knew she was part of the Organization, but the rest of it? I've never heard (or read, in this case) a more honest confession in my life. "Xion, I don't care where you're from. I don't care who you were before we met. All I care about is who you are now, and as a person. I'm not mad at you. Please, Xion, just realize that I'm on your side, no matter which one it is."

Xion looked at me, and smiled. I dried off her tears with a bandana I always keep in my pocket (seriously, with cargo shorts, I can carry a lot of stuff I haven't even mentioned yet). I got up, and helped Xion to her feet. As I turned around to lead the way to the castle, Xion prodded me with her pad. "Please don't tell anyone, Zack."

"I won't tell anyone until you want me to, Xion." She seemed happy at that, and before I knew it, I was being hugged. Getting a little embarrassed, I walked forward a little, breaking out of it. "Xion, let's go. Let's go find the Organization and figure out why they want to kill you."

We went inside the castle, to see an amusing sight. Chris and Mike were being chased around by a small clock and a candlestick, which were running around and accusing them of trespassing. A talking candlestick and clock. Wow, what kind of world is this? Xion and I walked forward, only to have the candlestick jump on my face, talking in a really fast French accent. I barely understood it.

This is going to be fun.

(A/N: Ahhhh! Another chapter done and out of the way. It's short, I know, but get over it. All the other chapters were long and hard to write due to massive story changes; give me a break! Now, since the story should roughly equal that of KH2, they should be back to normal size by next week. Oh, and as an added question, which world would you rather me go in: Agrabah or Halloween Town, since both of those are at a "Split" in the game's playable path? Please leave your answers by comment, or demand I make a poll, which I'd probably do anyway. *opens e-mail* hmm... more hate mail… *E-mail message opens automatically* a virus? I'll just run… *computer electrically shocks me, sending me crashing to the ground anime-style* Ow… see you later folks…)