"Well, I would have been angry too if you would've told me that." I sighed.

Becky 'hmphed'. "I was only speaking my mind."

The previous night had been unproductive: to an extent. Marluxia had returned with Becky, pissed off and ready to decapitate the next ignorant nuisance that passed his way. I had made the mistake of asking him what had happened. Bad idea. He had lashed out at me, accusing us both of being an unnecessary load for the Organization to carry. Axel, too, had looked rather frightened and bewildered. Or was that annoyance? I couldn't tell.

After Marluxia had reluctantly returned us to our rooms, I bombarded Becky with questions on what had just happened. She had refused until morning, however, to tell me anything at all.

Apparently, upon meeting Marluxia, she had reacted to his 'unique appearance' by telling him that he looked "either incredibly feminine or transsexual."

Marluxia had taken this as an insult (which, coming from Becky, probably was) and had instantly taken a dislike to her. Unfortunately for us, that probably wasn't a good thing.

I heaved a deep sigh. Oh well; after all, Becky was only being Becky. Getting angry wouldn't make anything easier. It would only make things worse.

His hair is pink; that is kind of strange…

I noticed for the first time that Becky didn't look too happy. I guessed it was because she had none of her sketchbooks or notebooks with her. She was the kind of person that might literally suffer a withdrawal if she didn't have the opportunity to doodle on something every day; that, or draw random Hiragana symbols. (Both of us knew a little Japanese.)

As I had expected, she stood and began rummaging through the drawers of the nightstand next to her bed.

"Looking for paper?" I asked nonchalantly.

"Yep."

"Lemme guess- you've gone through that thing fifteen times already."

"Sixteen."

Sometimes Becky really freaked me out. "Why would there be paper in there now?"

"Because I said there would be." She threatened, though not necessarily to me.

I had a friend that threatened in-animate objects. Strange, but not surprising. After all, you're looking at someone who talks to themselves, laughs hysterically for no reason, and spent half their life thinking they were a witch and cried on their 11th birthday when that letter from Hogwarts never came. (I still think my parents hid it from me.)

There was a knock on the door, and I rushed to answer it. Saix stood calmly outside the room with an unreadable expression on his face. Becky, ignoring common courtesy, immediately ran up to him.

"I need paper." She said demandingly. "Bring me paper."

Saix raised an eyebrow. "I beg your pardon?"

"P-A-P-E-R. I need some, now!"

He frowned and ignored her demand. "I'll get you some in a moment-but right now the Superior wishes to speak with you."

Oh shit. This wasn't about the whole Marluxia thing, was it?

We were ushered into another portal that led to an incredibly large, white room. It looked almost like the conference room at my dad's office, only fifty times larger. A neat, white table sat in the center of the room; all the chairs having been removed for some unknown reason. There were thirteen enormous black tapestries hanging on the wall behind the table; each one emblazoned with a silver colored roman numeral.

I stood in awe of the room while Becky continued to sulk. Saix disappeared without warning, leaving us in the strange place by ourselves.

But not for long.

Several seconds after Saix left, two other figures emerged from a separate portal. Xemnas and Demyx walked over to us: one of them emotionless while the other looked rather frightened. Demyx had a small bruise under his left eye. Probably from when Axel tackled him to the floor yesterday.

Xemnas stood in front of me, disregarding my sensitivity to height difference. Damn it, why am I so short? He towered above me, forcing me to look straight up to see him fully. (Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating a little He's still taller than me, though. Think Chihuahua VS and eight month old Golden Retriever puppy. Except Xemnas is potty trained. I think.)

Demyx nervously smiled at us. I had to wonder why he was even there in the first place.

"I hear you had a refreshing night," Xemnas said. I detected a hint of sarcasm in his voice, but was unsure whether or not that was my nerves talking.

"Um, sure." I improvised poorly.

"We had a fantastic night, thank you!" Becky looked as if she were about to start laughing.

I smiled innocently. There was no doubt in my mind that he had found out what had happened, but since he hadn't directly confronted us about it yet, I figured it was best to apply an angelic expression to my face.

He merely sighed and gazed at us again. "Demyx, please explain to them why they are here. I must speak with Saix." He disappeared randomly, leaving an awkward and confused looking Demyx to his assigned task.

Oh shit. We were in trouble, weren't we…

"Uh… um…" Demyx nervously looked around the room. "Just so you guys know, I really don't want to be here right now."

I gave him a sympathetic nod.

"So…" he solemnly scratched the back of his head. "You guys are here because-because-um…because Superior wants to find out what your heart-thingie is."

"Huh?" Becky laughed. "You have issues with words, man."

Demyx frowned. "Um, yeah. Heart thingie-what did he call that?" He said to himself. "Room… cell… section, hollow-was that what he called it? Hollow?"

He momentarily stared up at the ceiling, his expression filled with thought.

"Chamber!" he burst randomly. "Chambers of the heart. Or something…"

"Right," I giggled. "I'll pretend I understood that."

"Well, hell, I wasn't paying attention. Do me a favor and say I tried, will you?"

Becky looked as if she was contemplating his request, whereas I nodded. He seemed nice enough-might as well help him out.

"So, why are you here?" I asked him unceremoniously.

"Uh, something about 'testing'. I really don't know. Wasn't paying attention to that, either."

"Meh." Becky shrugged. "Listening is so boring. Why would you do something you don't want to do?"

"My thoughts exactly."

Demyx seemed a lot more comfortable-apparently reassured that we weren't going to rat him out. He motioned for us to follow him to the table. We did, and soon we were all seated in the uncomfortable white chairs Demyx had pulled out of I-don't-know-where.

"Okay," he began enthusiastically. "lemme see if I can remember your guy's names. Um, you're Rebecca," He said, pointing to me, "and you're Maddie?" He looked at Becky.

"No way!" Becky rolled her eyes. "I'm Rebecca and she's Maddie."

"Damn, I thought I had it." He frowned and began to drum his fingers on the table. "Rebecca, Maddie-Maddie Rebecca…" He muttered under his breath a few times. "Okay, I think I've got it now." He leaned back in his chair, but frantically straightened when he saw Xemnas re-enter the room.

Xemnas marched over to us and shoved a pile of paper into Becky's hand. "Saix said you wanted this…" he growled.

"Awesome, man!" She greedily hugged the papers to her chest as if she were worried that one of us would try to take them from her.

Xemnas gave her a borderline pitying look. "I apologize for the brief interruption. Number IX, did you inform them on why I've called them here?"

"Um, yeah, but I think they were a bit confused." Demyx replied in a monotone.

"Yes, I expected as much. You've never really shown any proficiency in detailed descriptions."

Demyx rolled his eyes behind Xemnas's back.

"Well, do you have any questions?"

I thought carefully, piecing together a question that would get me all the answers I needed (Which happened to be a lot.)

"Well, what exactly are the chambers of the heart?"

That should do…

Xemnas looked almost excited. "Yes. Of course, straight to the point." He said, his voice concealing his emotion better than his face. "Above all things, this deserves an explanation."

Hooray, another lecture.

"In my recent studies, I discovered some very intriguing information. The human heart, as a whole, is a single unit: evolving and adapting to the nature of the individual it resides in. However, the heart can be separated into seven sub-divisions; each of which can stand on it's own without the aid of the other 'chambers'. It is from these individual sections that the power one wields is found. Each chamber has its own unique 'personality', therefore giving it an ability to correspond. In any case, only one chamber can be unlocked in a heart; and very rarely will it change. The reason I have called you here is to discover which chamber was unlocked in your heart when you arrived in our world."

I nodded to show that I understood, although I was still slightly confused.

"How, exactly, do you plan on doing that?" Becky asked.

Exactly what I wanted to know…

"It is actually a fairly simple process: far more simple than one would think. But before we begin that, I must explain a few more things."

Demyx groaned. Obviously he didn't enjoy explanations.

Xemnas ignored him and continued. "As I said before, the chambers are divided upon certain conditions. For each chamber to be an individual, each must have an individual reason for being unlocked. This is based on the nature and history of the human. As for the chambers themselves, each has been given a name parallel to the powers it can bestow. For example, the first chamber-The Chamber of Time-was given that name because the person who unlocks it will receive the ability to warp time. The others are named similarly. The second-"

"What are the other six?" I wondered aloud.

"I was getting to that." He said through gritted teeth, somewhat annoyed at the interruption. "The second chamber is the Chamber of Feeling. This one is different from the others as we do not fully understand its capabilities. You have already met someone with this power: Number XIII."

"Roxas?"

"The very same."

"Well, what is the power?"

"He is the key bearer. I won't explain that now, however. Get him to show you." Xemnas began to pace around the table. "The third chamber is the Chamber of Portraits. This one is more varied in its abilities, but it all ties back to images or characters inscribed on paper. The Chamber of Illumination, or the fourth chamber, provides the power over mind and body: also known as hypnosis. I consider this one the most common, for it only occurs in a soul that has been reincarnated; which happens more often than you would think. Don't be surprised if this is yours. The fifth chamber is the Chamber of Power. Err; I really don't believe this would be yours. It only occurs in people who value bodily strength more than emotional stature. You aren't exactly what I would picture when I think 'physical strength'…"

Yeah, well look up jerk-ass in the dictionary and you'll see Xemnas.

(That was an incredibly sad attempt at a comeback…)

The sixth chamber, the Chamber of Binding, is usually unlocked in a person who is set on the path of revenge. It grants the person control over silence and noise, as well as the power of interrogation. And finally, the seventh chamber: the Chamber of Shadows. I would rather hope you didn't open this one. It is only unlocked in a person who has committed an unforgivable crime, willingly or not. We aren't quite sure what this chamber holds."

"Does trespassing count as an unforgivable crime?"

"Pardon?"

"Never mind. How are you going to find out what I am?"

Xemnas stopped pacing and slapped his hand down onto the table, making everyone jump. "I would tell you, but first I need to find out why the chairs have returned. DEMYX! Why are the chairs back?"

"You just noticed these? Um… I dunno where they came from."

"You're sitting on one. How do you not know?"

"I dunno."

"Really…"

"Really."

"I told you not to bring back the chairs. They were gone for a reason!"

"I did not place these chairs here; especially not because I was bored and needed to sit."

"Is that so?"

"Actually, I brought the chairs. Sorry, wasn't sure whether you wanted them here, so I thought I'd take the risk." (That was me.)

"Did you now?"

"Err; yeah. I have magical 'chair summoning powers'."

"Prove it."

"Sorry-can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Umm, I accidentally summoned white chairs. White chairs are, like, my kryptonite. They're bad."

"Kryptonite? What is that?"

"My anti-drug."

(Insert awkward turtle here…)

Xemnas slowly shook his head. "Demyx, remove these chairs that you put here."

"Fine, fine."

Xemnas turned to me. "Magical chair summoning powers? If you're going to take the blame for something, at least make it a legitimate excuse."

"He-he, sorry."

Xemnas, now in as foul a mood as ever, slumped down in a chair right as Demyx was about to take it. Demyx slightly fumed, but strived to avoid further conflict and moved on.

"Alright," Xemnas said, waving his hand lazily. Several random objects appeared on the table. "The objects you see in front of you all have simple ties to the seven chambers. As you can see, there is a cloak, a key, a nib and ink-which are connected, by the way-a candle, a sword, rope, and lastly, a small black box. They have been arranged in the order of the chambers they connect with: from first to last." He heaved an exasperated sigh, glaring angrily at the objects as if he wished they would disappear. This was weird, considering the fact that he brought them there in the first place.

I began to regret opening my mouth at all. I had to admit; sometimes I didn't know when to keep it shut. I looked apologetically at Xemnas, who only narrowed his eyes.

"You want to try summoning me another chair?" He said sarcastically. "I'd really like to put my feet up. That should be simple enough for you."

Xemnas conveniently averted his eyes just as Becky slid out of her chair and onto the floor. She was currently preoccupied with a drawing she had started, so I quickly ran over to the chair and pushed it over to Xemnas. He looked back at me disdainfully.

"Where did you get that?" He asked with a flicker of suspicion in his eye.

"I summoned it!" I lied, knowing all to well that he didn't believe a word I was saying.

He gritted his teeth and glanced at Becky. "Wasn't she just sitting in that?"

"No, no! Of course not! She likes sitting on the floor. You see, every day we stood around in the quad, but Becky was always sitting on the ground. She hates standing when she doesn't have to, so the floor's good enough for her."

"I see. Well, if you want to keep playing at this, go ahead." He growled, unsure whether or not the chair had been Becky's. He propped his feet up and continued. "What I'm going to have you do is very simple." He stated. "All you have to do is choose an object."

I raised an eyebrow. "That's all?"

"That's all."

"How is that going to prove what chamber I've unlocked? I mean-this is all decision based. Isn't my chamber already unlocked? I don't know what it is…"

"But your heart does." He looked at me intensely. "Just trust it. You should feel a connection to at least one of these objects. Unless you actually have the ability to summon chairs-not quite sure what category that falls under."

I gritted my teeth. He's not going to let this go, is he?

He gestured to the table, wordlessly urging me to make my choice. I stared at the objects, waiting for some sort of feeling for any of them; but none came. I shifted uneasily. Why wasn't this working? The nervous pit in my stomach grew larger with every second that went by. They had made a mistake, hadn't they…?

Becky stood and walked over to my side. "You stumped?" She asked incredulously. "You always were indecisive." Shaking her head, she walked over to the table and snatched up the nib and ink.

"Wh-what do you think you're doing?" Xemnas snapped.

"I need to ink my drawing." She shoved the pile of paper into my hands and stormed over to Xemnas, pulling her chair out from under his feet and pushing it back toward the table.

A wave of emotion swept over me. I glanced down at my hands. The paper? No, it couldn't be.

Becky took the pile back from me, seated herself at the table, and began to trace over her drawing with the nib. As soon as the paper left my hands, the connection between it and me faded.

"Hey Becky, can I have a sheet of paper?" I asked her.

She wordlessly took a piece from the bottom of the stack and handed it to me. As soon as my fingertips grazed the paper the feeling returned. But paper wasn't one of the objects. Was that possible?

I grinned. If this was what I thought it was, I could send this entire organization into confused hysterics.

Oh yeah, this'll be fun…

I looked up at Xemnas, who was attempting to grab the nib and ink back from Becky (with little success.) "Err…" I cleared my throat, making both of them pause. "I… think I found it."

"Found what?" Xemnas snapped. One of his hands was awkwardly grasping the bottle of ink while the other looked ready to fend off another one of Becky's secret ninja moves. (AKA a slap in the face.)

I raised the paper and gave it a shake.

"I'm… very happy for you." He said, giving his head a confused shake. He and Becky both returned to their epic struggle for the stolen objects.

I sighed. If this was really the object that represented my heart, then I should probably do something with it. Now let me think; what can I do with a piece of paper? Well, I could draw on it, of course, but that seemed a bit obvious. Anyways, wasn't that what the nib was for? I could always try folding it. After all, Origami was a respected form of artistic culture. What did I know how to do? Not much, actually. Paper cranes were about the only things I could do. Hmm, might as well give it a shot.

After fixing the paper so it was a square, I began folding. (Yes, folding paper is really fun.) Fold diagonally, flip over, fold in half... Xemnas and Becky, unfortunately, wouldn't stop arguing. I tried to focus on what I was doing. Book fold on both sides, (he he, it looks like a fox,) fold up, book fold again… Eventually, I had finished it. As always with my paper cranes, I had to give it a name. "I'll call you-Admiral Edward St. Barnaby!" (Don't ask, seriously.) As soon as the words escaped my lips, the crane flitted to life. I gasped in awe (and a sort of hysterics) as I watched it hover in front of me.

"Oh shit, what is that?" Demyx yelped from behind me. What was it with the people here sneaking up behind me?

Xemnas immediately dropped the nib and rushed over to me, leaving Becky looking triumphant and proud. "Wh-what is this?"

"It's a paper crane." I replied nonchalantly.

For a moment, Xemnas appeared to completely lose his mind. He began to mutter things like, "but this goes against the research" and "Zexion is never wrong; this can't be possible!" After a minute or so he collected himself and looked at me sternly.

"Do you realize how urgent this is?" he said dramatically.

"Um…no…" I replied.

He covered his face with his hand and looked out at the fluttering paper crane from behind his fingers.

The crane zipped around as if it had a mind of its own. I watched as well, fascinated by what I had created. It was pretty sweet, I had to admit, but what could one paper crane do? I'd probably need a lot more to make this work for me. After all, paper was still just… paper: alive or not. Also, they didn't have to be just paper cranes. There was a bunch of things I could make!

Suddenly, Demyx let out a pained yelp. Xemnas and I, startled by the noise, looked over at him. I was surprised to see a miniature Gaara (Yes, from Naruto,) attacking Demyx's foot menacingly. The strange thing about it, though, (besides the fact that it was, you know, there,) was the fact that it was only a drawing. I instantly looked over at Becky, who was grinning uncontrollably.

Did she just…

Xemnas stared open mouthed at the two of us, the shock apparent on his face.

Still squealing, Demyx attempted to shake off the Mini-Gaara. I silently thanked him. He made this a whole lot less awkward.

Xemnas, Becky, and I all stood awkwardly around the table, none of us willing to speak.

Well, this was going to be interesting.