::20:: Xion::The Organization::

"…A set-up?" I echoed.

"All this fighting—all the kidnappings…" Riku's eyes darkened. "It's a trap, and there's no way we can hide it anymore." He stopped, getting back onto his feet with the weapon still in tact. "Roxas, you and Xion are the Hidden chosens."

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "There's no way! The two of us were rejected from the Gifted class the moment we set foot on this campus!"

"What's going on, Riku?" Roxas cut in, with frustration. "Explain…everything—just as we explained Namine's story to you."

From up ahead, I heard Axel's heavy sigh, and before Riku could speak, the red-head simply whipped around with a solemn attitude—the sparks gone out of his eyes.

"This is getting annoying." Axel said.

I stared hard at the older boy, quietly.

"Riku, just drop it." He continued. "I'll take it from here." Axel looked over at me—then, flickered his attention at Roxas for a split second. "Way back in the Old Days, there were two best friends—King Mickey from the Disney World and Ansem the Wise from this World. There were wars—being fought with magic, and so, the two decided to create a new land, a new World where children can be taught white magic to defend all Worlds from greedy good-for-nothings."

"It was supposed to be a sanctuary from those who resided in the Darkness, those who had wicked means and craves for power—and for a while, it was… But Ansem the Wise had a student, a man named Xehanort, who wanted to use the new World for his own selfish purposes—so, he broke ties with his teacher and created a group called Organization XIII."

"Now, Organization XIII's goals were to infiltrate the new World and its people. They wanted to use the people for their magic purposes and for their hearts. They do it by kidnapping young Keyblade wielders and convince them that they need power—and once the kids are brainwashed, their hearts succumb to the Darkness that eats it. Once they succumb to Darkness for good, Organization XIII lets them go loose until they reach their limit and die at the hands of the noble Keyblade wielders—thus, becoming shadow critters (the one we fought earlier) called Heartless. When they become Heartless, they no longer have hearts—because their hearts had been harvested by the opponents and automatically sacrificed…to Kingdom Hearts—the source of infinite power, the source of Life of all Worlds."

My eyes trailed over the looming white heart-shaped moon, which floated ever so silently above us.

"Anyway," Axel continued, "…when Xehanort created Organization XIII—rumor had it that he just suddenly got up and left his lead position—and disappeared without a trace. When the Organization members began to fight for power, a new man appeared out of nowhere and beat them to the seat…a new man who also decided to take over the Academy after Ansem the Wise left in search of Xehnort." A dark shadow casted over Axel's grave face. "…That man…was Xemnas."

! I felt my heart dropped.

"Xehnort…" Ventus croaked out. "No…Xemnas…is trying to capture all of the Academy's strongest Keyblade wielders for his ultimate plan, the World Banquet…" He paused. "And you…must stay here to keep his Last goal from happening."

"The new Headmaster…" I uttered. "Namine…Ven…Aqua, Terra…Sora…"

"It all makes sense now." Roxas spoke. "But where do we Three stand in the plan?"

"That's for us to find out." Axel answered, roughly. "For now, let's head back to the Twilight dorm and rest up…" he stopped. "We'll have to infiltrate the Academy's Headmaster quarters tomorrow for clues."

"…Why isn't anyone reporting the corrupted Headmaster then?" I asked. "Where is this King Mickey? Where is Ansem the Wise now?" My voice cracked. "If this is supposed to be some kind of sanctuary or Haven for children with magic—why are we getting attacked by the same people who were supposed to protect us?"

Silence.

Riku sighed to himself and withdrew his Keyblade in a flash. "Kairi's waiting by the Twilight dormitory, protected by the Defense spell I've casted over her." He met my eye for a split moment before walking up ahead. "She's scared enough as she is—and if we don't hurry up, something might happen to her."

I didn't move.

Axel strayed for a bit, waiting for me to catch up with him and Riku—but after seeing my state, he went on—without another word. Roxas, however, stood before me, quietly—and with patience as always.

"We have to go, Xion." He said to me.

"This is completely stupid." I growled. "How can we sleep, knowing that your own brother and Namine and countless people had been kidnapped?" I stopped, willing him to meet my eyes. "Tell me, Roxas… Aren't you worried about Ven?"

The blonde's eyes eventually glazed over. "…Yeah—probably more than you and Axel would've thought." I saw that his hands were curled up into tight trembling fists by his sides. "In fact, makes me feel like a total jerk—just thinking about it. Two twin brothers both jealous as heck of each other. Never thought it'd be like this…"

I swallowed. "…Yeah."

Talking to Roxas…somehow calmed me down.

"It seems silly to sleep this whole night off, Xion." continued the boy. "But a great Keyblade wielder must have sleep to be able to function properly."

"…Did Ven tell you that?"

"Once." He paused. "…Twice."

With reluctance, I trailed after him—walking up the dirt path and back to the Academy dormitories.