Disclaimer: Oh, I wish...

I just realized, after writing it about fifty-million times in this chapter, that 'The Kingdom of Square', 'The Lands of Square', 'The Square Lands'(which is especially funny due to obvious reasons) or 'The Square Kingdom' sounds stupid. -laugh- Oh well, I hope you guys can get over it. :P After all, this is kind of like 'SQUEENIX VS. DISNEY ROUND CXI' or something.

Thanks to C.P., Random (no matter how many times you change your username, you'll always be Random...it's inescapable! It's...DESTINY!), Coco, Stephen2462 and Lady Rini!

P.S. I'm such a dork I added Nomura-sensei in here. -laugh- Oh, in case you didn't know, Sora is the older brother and Roxas is the younger brother. Only by four minutes though. :O

The Black Thirteen

Stage the First: The Echo of Time

It was around this time that the gears of fate began to turn. Another seemingly ordinary day would turn sour for the older, but the younger...

Roxas, and the other squires as well, were on the battlefield a long way away from the castle. The ladies, servants, and other people who couldn't fight were in the castle, while Roxas, the other squires, and the knights they served under were out in the open field, their weapons ready and their armor shining. Even through the darkness they could see as fine as day, since torches from the castle had been lit and the light from the fire shined through the darkness.

"An unexpected attack," Spoke one of the squires Roxas had known since he was sent here, "That's terribly nasty of them!" At least the nightly watch had seen them coming.

"Them?" Roxas questioned, but there was no time for questioning as he looked forward to the chocobo-riding(which were giant yellow chickens. Why people would want to ride overgrown chickens into battle was beyond him) knights. The head of the little triangle of knights(which weren't that many; how are they supposed to be attacking the castle if they only have a handful of knights?) had a shield with a brilliant red flame on it with a phoenix over the flame. His helmet was awfully showy, having a crest of the same emblem on his shield. Roxas just rolled his eyes. The knight leader was probably attacking the castle to show off for his ladylove. Actually, being that the leader knight didn't have some kind of scarf or glove on his persona, he probably didn't have a ladylove. Roxas snorted in the amusement of it. What a loser.

The knight with the phoenix on his shield rose his sword and yelled, "Attack!!" His little squadron of soldiers rushed forward as the squires rushed to help their knights. But not Roxas. He drew a sword, one he was given by the Lady Ariel before going into battle, and charged straight for the leader, the only one who had remained stationary.

He heard his name being called amidst the cries and clangs of steel, but Roxas paid no mind. If he could get to the leader and maybe manage to injure him, then he'd finally earn the respect he deserved. Running up the knight, who was not paying attention at all, Roxas smirked and slashed at the chocobo, having no mercy even for cute over-sized chickens. Besides, even the chocobo was wearing armor. His aim was to scare it off and perhaps make the knight fall, an aim that was soon realized.

It squawked and sprinted away so fast that the leader fell off of his mount with a groan. The leader's helmet(which were hot and terribly uncomfortable; Roxas knew by experience that those things were absolutely dreadful) rolled away, revealing the leader not to be some ditzy old man but a young man only a handful of years older than himself. Roxas huffed, he knew the guy was a loser just by judging his ornate and showy armor and the fact that he didn't have a ladylove. The leader stood up, his sword ready as he looked around for who had scared his chocobo away.

"Ahem." Roxas cleared his throat loudly to get the leader's attention, his sword ready in his hand. The leader looked a bit...ditzy.

The knight looked at Roxas and rose an eyebrow. "A kid managed to catch me off guard? Maybe Larxene was right, I am losing my touch." He sighed, and placed a hand on top of his spiky red hair and glanced at Roxas again, who could only wonder as to why this knight didn't seem serious. Maybe it was because he couldn't fight, which was a possibility. After all, knights who don't fight don't really get dates easily. Yeah, this knight was definitely a ditz.

"Hey!" Roxas growled, offended by the knight calling him 'kid'(when he showed so much more maturity and seriousness than the red-headed knight) swinging the sword towards the red-haired knight, who blocked the attack with his shield easily.

"Hold up there, kid, I'm trying to remember how the Queen knighted me. I think it was... 'In the name of Square I now dub thee a knight' or something. Huh." The leader crossed his arms and looked at Roxas, "Do you happen to know?" He tapped his finger on his chin and looked around.

Roxas sighed, a bit frustrated. Some leader this guy was. This was his first real battle, and he was fighting someone--no, not even fighting. He was idly chatting with this knight like they were best friends. "Look, I'd love to have tea and sit down and chat with you, but you attacked my castle and--"

"Well, in case you're not familiar with the code of chivalry, little squire, it states clearly that a knight cannot attack someone of lower social status. Which would happen to be you. So, in order to fight you, I need to knight you. Got it memorized?" The leader asked, pointing a finger to his head.

"It's 'By the name of Saint Nomura, I dub thee Sir Roxas de Luz of Disney...'" Roxas said, adding in his name, though he doubted this airhead would remember it.

"Oh, you're a de Luz? It's an honor to be fighting one," The leader said mockingly, smirking, then his expression softened considerably and added, "Oh, that means you have a brother, right?"

"Twin brother." Roxas corrected him, wondering if all battles were really like this or if it was just the knight leader. He surveyed the battlefield and realized that the grassy plains were now littered with blood, chocobos, and fallen knights.

"You know, I knew I liked you, kid. We're a lot alike." The leader said, then touched his sword to Roxas' shoulder, "In the name of Saint Nomura, I dub thee Sir Roxas de Luz of Disney. You know," The knight grinned wickedly as the sword that had been touching Roxas' shoulder was now at his neck('He tricked me!' Roxas thought angrily, clenching his fists, 'The 'loser' act was all just a farce!'), "I really like you, kid. It's too bad you're a naive boy, but that can't be helped."

Roxas just glared at him in reply, not even bothering to argue. Instead, the redheaded knight asked the fatal question Roxas truly wasn't prepared to answer, "Will you yield, rescue or no rescue?"

Roxas bit his lip. The clever knight was basically asking him if he wanted mercy or if he wanted to die. He was only fourteen, how was he supposed to know? He only became a squire a couple of months ago, and now he was a full-fledged knight, stuck in this position. Roxas squeezed his eyes shut, thinking about both answers. To die or not to die, that is the question...Sighing heavily, he opened his azure eyes, seemingly lit aflame with determination, "I will not yield."

Sora hummed a happy tune, not really to any song, just a tune he was making up, as he shined Sir Donald and Sir Goofy's, and even His Majesty the King's armor. For, Sora just had to note, the tenth time that week. Just as he shined it(really, with all the shining Sora did, he half-expected for it to rust one day) so that each piece of armor shined to perfection, Sora decided that he was finished with shining the armor for today. While not the most exciting thing to do in the universe, it was certainly better than having to stay outside in hot or cold days without eating for the purpose of the one thing that brought dread to all squires' minds: Endurance training.

Just thinking about it sent shivers up Sora's spine. Well, it was just one step towards his goal of becoming a famous knight who saved beautiful damsels in distress from horrifying dragons! (He had heard stories that there actually were dragons in the world! He heard all kinds of stories about magical creatures and it just sounded...exciting!) Sora already had his mind set: He'd be a knight who would be told in all of the stories depicting his bravery and dashing good looks. Not that Sora thought this; he didn't. But some of the female servants and the maids would always pass by him giggling, fantasizing about how they'd someday be rescued by him. Who could blame them? Sporting chocolate locks that spiked up in every direction and absolutely gorgeous sky-bearing azure eyes was definitely a plus. Which was one feature the de Luz twins were particularly noted for.

Sora stood up and stretched; sitting on the floor shining armor certainly caused his joints to ache with misuse. He exited the armory and walked towards Sir Donald's room, going to ask if he wanted anything of him, which was often the cause. Though he may be a duck, the knight had a bottomless lake for a digestive system. Every time he even knocked on the door, Donald would always be quacking commands at him such as 'Get me some food, and not too salty either! Make sure that conspirator Chef doesn't poison it!'

Still, performing menial tasks for his lord was better than endurance training. Anything was. As he passed by the throne room, something interesting caught his ear. Sora reprimanded himself for eavesdropping, but it sounded like the King and Queen were talking about something important. However, Sora could only hear parts and pieces of the sentences.

"...casualties...Atlantica?" He could hear the Queen say with worry, "Sora...there, right?"

"...unfortunately...discovered..." The King was the speaker this time, and Sora couldn't help but wonder what they were talking about. He frowned, hearing the knob turn. He jolted away from the door, quietly and stealthily sneaking into one of the next rooms over.

While hiding away in the uncomfortable, and small room he was in which was stuffed with mops and brooms of all kinds, he could hear Their Majesties' footsteps pass by him, yet again catching pieces of sentences, since they were talking in hushed whispers.

"...tell...fate...?" Sora heard the Queen ask.

"Yes...circumstances..." The King replied, and that was all Sora could hear. He heard more whispers, but couldn't make the words out. Frustrated, Sora pressed his ear into the door even more to see if he could hear anything. Still, no dice.

However, Sora's involuntary pushing on the door, and since he had not thought of locking the door, caused the door to open with considerable force. The poor brunette tumbled out of the closet with an 'oomph!', a mop landing right on top of his head, which would have been quite comical if he had not been eavesdropping on Their Royal Majesties. Through the mop, Sora saw the King and Queen staring at him, the latter chuckling.

Sora stood up, put the mop away, closed the door, and bowed to the King and Queen. He had to bow very low, too, for he had heard it was impolite to bow and not be reaching the King and Queen. Since they were mice, it was a hard feat, but one he had gotten used to. Then, when Sora was standing straight again, he cleared his throat and said in a forced, yet composed, voice, "Your Majesties, I would just like to let you both know that Ye Olde Closet is safe from any Square traps and safe from any attacks."

The King and Queen laughed at Sora's attempt to hide the obvious fact he was eavesdropping. It was a good attempt, but one that didn't persuade the King nor the Queen. "Tell me, Sora, what did you hear?" King Mickey asked, looking up at Sora. It was kind of embarrassing, actually, to have the King and Queen be two or three feet shorter than you, and having them be such regal figures while you were nothing more than a boy who was going, hopefully, to become something great.

"H-Hear?" Sora laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head, "I was checking the closet out, that's all! Ahahaha..." He looked from the King to the Queen, and neither were buying it. It was better to tell the truth to them than to lie to them, Sora knew. Honesty gave you brownie points. Especially in a trial. Sora gulped. He wasn't going to be tried, was he?! He didn't commit a serious offense, right?! "Oh, King Mickey, Queen Minnie! I didn't know it was a crime to eavesdrop! I didn't hear that much, I swear! Only some thing about me and Atlantica, that's all! Honest!"

"Please calm down." The Queen said in a soothing voice, placing a hand on Sora's arm, "It won't do you any good to get yourself upset when we haven't even told you what was wrong yet!"

"But..." Sora blinked, registering her words in his brain, "That means that there is something wrong, right?"

The King seemed to sigh. "Yes. Now, follow us, Sora." The King commanded, he and his wife turning around and walked away. Sora nodded and followed them slowly, panic sinking in.

He didn't like this feeling that something was terribly, terribly wrong, but he couldn't shake off the bad vibes he was receiving. From where were they coming from?

EL FIN

Of the Stage('chapter'), of course. Now, I want to tell you guys why this chapter is so short. Originally, I planned for this to be one BIG chapter, but I separated it into two because I was like, 'Nah, I like cliffhangers'. See, Roxas' fate was in this chapter...but now it'll be in the next.

Teehee, I'm so evil. Next chapter will be short too...

Anyway, don't expect this A/N's often. I have up to Stage the Thirteenth (originally it was the twelfth...but now it's not) written, and I feel too lazy to write them out...anyway, um, yeah.

Also, for terminology, 'Will you yield, rescue or no rescue' basically, like I said, means if you want your life to be saved or not. A knight would ask this because it's chivalrous to be merciful. If a knight answers 'I will yield', then he will normally be taken hostage. If a knight answers 'I will not yield', then he well...um, dies.