Author's Notes: (Running out of things to say) So... today we (Erica, Izzy, and I) went to a craft store to get some stuff for our cosplay. (We're going as the Twilight Gang - minus Roxas, plus Namine. Shocker there.) And it occured to us to buy several yards of multi-colored, glittery, and otherwise gay fabrics and make "Kingdom Hearts on Ice" costumes. I think it'd be a winner. Can anyone else see Hayner with a pink glittery dress and unmatching purple boa?

(Yuri's POV)

Since the night of the chase in Dark City, Roxas had taken to wearing shorts that displayed the grotesque, purple bruise that covered his left shin. He thought it made him look tough, or like he played sports at the very least. Axel, on the other hand, thought it made him look pretty pathetic, particularly since the bruise was given to him by a ten-year-old girl.

Both Nobodies were waiting. Roxas was curled up in a chair, drifting in and out of sleep, while Axel stared intently at a group of blankets gently rising and falling in the rhythm of breathing. Underneath the blankets, Yuri was asleep, dreaming without a care in the world. Somehow, she had managed to pull all the covers over her head unconsciously.

At the moment, Roxas was awake. He pulled his feet up on to the chair, and drew his legs to his chest.

"You awake?" Axel asked him.

"Yeah," he answered.

Axel nodded and turned his eyes back to the rising and falling heap of blankets. It was different to see a Nobody so young, he thought. Like visiting a sick kid in a hospital. The sight of her filled Axel with a tiredness he could not explain.

"How long is she gonna be asleep?" Roxas asked suddenly.

"I can't say; she was pretty scraped up when we brought her here."

"We didn't do that to her, did we?"

"No," Axel said, "Her Other was hurt when she became a Heartless, so Yuri was hurt when she was born. I guess that chase just took it all out of her."

"Is she gonna be okay?"

Axel couldn't help but smile. "Look at your shin. I think she'll be just fine. She just needs to rest."

Roxas grimaced. "She sure kicks hard for such a little girl."

xXx

I peered out over the edge of the blanket. Sitting in two chairs were my captors, but somehow they looked less intimidating without their hoods on. Both appeared to be asleep. The older man was a redhead, with strange markings under each of his eyes. The younger, who, I assumed from the bright purple bruise on his shin, must have been the one I kicked, was blonde.

I sat up, leaning back against the mound of pillows behind my head. There was a bandage wrapped tightly around my upper arm. As I pulled back the covers, I noticed that there was also a bandage on my right knee, visible through the hole I had worn in my jeans. I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and placed my feet on the floor. I tested my legs; they seemed strong enough.

I tried standing, but my legs weren't quite stable enough, and I fell to the floor, hitting my head on the edge of the bed in the process. This resulted in a large crash that woke the two boys. I snapped up, clutching my head, and sitting Indian-style on the white marble floor.

"Ow…" I said, rubbing my head.

"Hey! She's awake!" shouted the younger boy.

The redhead sighed. "You really think so?" he asked sarcastically.

"What's going on? Where am I? Who are you?" I asked.

"This is The Castle That Never Was," answered the redhead. "I'm Axel, and this bonehead is Roxas."

"Why does everyone call me that?" Roxas wondered aloud.

"Because it's your name."

"I meant 'bonehead'."

"Because you are one," continued Axel. "Any more questions?"

"Yeah," answered the blonde.

"I meant Yuri," said Axel, shaking his head.

I considered this for a moment. "No, I think that's everything I wanted to ask."

"Good, let's go, then," Axel said, standing.

"Go where?" Roxas asked.

"To see the Superior."

"Who's that?" I asked.

"The leader of the Organization. I'm not supposed to say anything else," Axel said.

I followed Axel and Roxas out of the room, out into a large, white corridor. From there, we started walking.

xXx

"Here it is, The Room of Sleep," Roxas said, indicating a door.

"That's a funny name for a room," I commented, pushing open the door, leaving Axel and Roxas behind.

Behind the door was a vast, white room, in the center of which sat a throne. I thought it might be empty at first, but as I closed the door softly behind me, something stirred. I turned back around, trapped in the stare of a copper-colored pair of eyes. I froze.

There was a man standing next to the throne; he had probably been sitting in it when I first entered the room, I realized. He also was dressed in a black cloak, with the hood pulled over his head so that all I could see of his face where those awful orange eyes.

"Yuri, Number XIV," said the man.

"Yes?" I asked uncertainly.

"Welcome to the Organization."

"What exactly is the Organization?"

"A group of Nobodies dedicated to researching the heart and its secrets. We are collecting hearts and gathering them to create a door, Kingdom Hearts, in the hope that we might be reunited with what we lost…" he answered longwindedly.

"Well, what's a Nobody?" I persisted.

"Nothing. A Nobody is the shadow of a heart that has left its body. We do not truly exist, nor can we fully exist without our hearts."

I remained silent.

"Do you know what your power is, Number XIV?" he asked.

"The Clow Cards," I mumbled.

"That's right…" he began.

"But," I interrupted, "They weren't exactly working earlier."

"Let me finish," the man snapped. "The cards were not working because I commanded them not to. This world is my domain, which I have total control over. I ordered the Clow Cards not to work because you would have escaped."

I was starting to see the big picture. Whoever this Superior was, he was no friend of mine.

"You will stay here, in The Castle That Never Was, to learn about the elements from the other members of my Organization," he continued.

"And if I refuse?" I said defiantly.

"You're a Nobody." He laughed coldly. "Who else would have you?"