"Here," Saïx handed Sarox a black coat, a pair of black pants, shoes, and gloves. "This is our uniform. The coat has been synthesized to protect us from the darkness when using the Dark Corridors. Change into these and keep your hood up. From there, we will introduce you to the rest of the Organization."
"Okay," Sarox nodded. "Thanks, Saïx." He retreated into the room he had been assigned- a simple gray color with a window looking out to the night sky. The only feature he could really care about was the bed, and the head board was made to look like what Saïx had called the Nobody symbol. He stripped off his clothes and pulled on the black pants and zipped up his coat, but hesitated for several moments before pulling off his crown necklace and wrapping it in his jacket. He stored his clothes under his bed and pulled on his new shoes and his hood over his spiky brown hair. After another moment, he went back out into the corridor and Saïx nodded.
"Does everything fit well?" he asked, and Sarox nodded.
"I think so," he replied.
"Very good. Follow me." Sarox did as he was told and Saïx led him to a small room with a door on one side. "I'm going to open a Corridor here, and when I do, just walk through. Once you're there, stop, don't speak, and you may remove your hood once I've introduced you. Understand?"
"Yes, sir," Sarox confirmed.
"Very good. I'll go assemble the other members." And with that, he left, leaving Sarox alone to play those last few moments in Hollow Bastion over and over in his head.
"Hey, Traxer!" a youth called Demyx barged into his room without knocking. Traxer looked up from his place lounging on his bed.
"Yes, can I help you?" Traxer replied somewhat sourly, but Demyx seemed unfazed by his tone.
"Saïx is calling a meeting," The Melodious Nocturne replied. "Apparently, we're now Organization XIII."
"Organization XIII?" Traxer echoed. "We got another member?"
"Yep," Demyx nodded. "So we're supposed to go meet him. Let's go!"
"I'll catch up," Traxer waved him off, and Demyx shrugged before leaving and closing the door behind him. With a heavy sigh, Traxer heaved himself to his feet and shook his head. "I wonder what this new guy is like," he mumbled. "One more slave for Saïx, one more worker to find Kingdom Hearts. Oh well," he rubbed the back of his head. "As long as they don't get a Keyblade…"
He meandered back through the corridors of the Castle That Never Was and ran into Luxord, another newer member of the Organization known as the Gambler of Fate.
"Hello, Luxord," he greeted. Luxord nodded.
"Seems another youth has joined our ranks, or so Larxene tells me," Luxord mused. "Will he join Vexen and Zexion in research? Or will he be out fighting with you and Axel?"
"Dunno," Traxer shrugged. "Want to ask the cards or something?" Luxord chuckled as they came across Where Nothing Gathers, the room of twelve- soon to be thirteen- thrones where the Nobodies met.
"Unnecessary," Luxord replied. "We will learn soon enough." He opened a Dark Corridor and entered it, and Traxer followed suit with his own and emerged on his throne in Where Nothing Gathers. His was of medium height, representing his contributions to the Organization. Naturally, Saïx's was the tallest, and Demyx had one of the shortest ones.
"Greetings, my friends," Saïx began from his throne once all of the members had assembled. "As you know, it has been quite some time since Larxene joined our ranks." The Savage Nymph scowled at him as she sat back against her throne. Being the only female member of the group hadn't been easy for her, and Traxer did his best to stay as far out of her way as possible, especially when she was mad- or seemed mad, anyway. "Today, we have gathered to welcome that which fate has brought us- a new brother to our ranks." On the landing below, bearing the symbol of the Nobodies, a Dark Corridor opened up and a figure in the black coat emerged with his hood up, and he stopped once he exited the Corridor. "Our thirteenth member, Sarox- the Key of Destiny." Traxer blinked, praying it was just coincidence. "Wielder of the fabled Keyblade."
"No…" Traxer breathed, and his golden gaze crept to see Xigbar grinning darkly on the throne next to his. Xigbar returned his gaze and he raised one eyebrow knowingly. Traxer returned his attention to Sarox as Saïx continued.
"I expect you will all introduce yourselves and show him our ways in due time," he finished, and Sarox pulled down his hood.
Almost at once, Traxer found himself taken back to the Keyblade Graveyard, staring at a pale face framed by spiky black bangs and a metal brace with a dangerous smile, and maniacal golden eyes gazed at him coldly.
But no.
This boy was much younger than the dark entity known as Vanitas. And besides, his spiky hair was a warm brown color, and his bright blue eyes shone with light. But Traxer couldn't chase away the rage that had surfaced within him, and he could see confusion evident on Sarox's face as he glanced around the other members and his gaze fell on the silver-haired man. Traxer sighed and dropped his gaze, trying to calm himself with deep breaths.
"Axel," Saïx spoke once more. "I want you to act as Sarox's mentor. Both of you, meet me in the Gray Area and I will explain further." With that, two Corridors opened and both Saïx and Sarox left Where Nothing Gathers.
"Ugh," Axel groaned. "Why do I get stuck with babysitting duty?" He exited via his Corridor, and most of the other members did the same within moments of each other until only Traxer and Xigbar remained.
"A Keyblade wielder, huh?" Xigbar chuckled. "I wonder if he's got the angry look. This'll be interesting, eh, Terra?"
"Traxer," Traxer corrected.
"Sure, whatever," Xigbar shrugged. "Bet you wish ol' Saïx had put you in charge of the little guy."
"What does it matter?" Traxer replied. "You know perfectly well I don't have access to my Keyblade. Besides," he turned to face the Freeshooter with a challenging glint in his eyes. "Not like either of us can tell him anything. Nor without alerting the rest of the Organization." Xigbar frowned at him and crossed his arms.
"Whatever. Saïx'll probably put him on Heartless duty, so I guess it doesn't matter either way. Try not to lose too much sleep over this, buddy. You're gonna need the beauty sleep." With that, Xigbar left, leaving Traxer alone to ponder what had just unfolded.
"Only he and I have any real idea what a Keyblade is capable of," he mumbled. "There's no way Saïx would know. He wouldn't tell him- he couldn't. So…" he sighed. "Is there any way Saïx learned about it some other way?"
Sarox hurried back through the halls of the castle in an attempt to reach the Gray Area that Saïx had shown him previously, but it wasn't easy with his head distracted by that one silver-haired man's expression. He'd been a member of the Organization for all of a day and someone already hated him?
"What'd I do?" he wondered, but got no answer as he reached the Gray Area.
"Hey, Sarox!" a light-brown-haired youth waved at him, and Sarox approached him. "Welcome to the Organization. I'm Demyx," he introduced himself with a grin, and Sarox blinked as he wondered how a Nobody could seem so happy. "Don't expect me to be out and about with you on your missions. I'm not much of a fighter."
"Uh, okay."
"You like music?" Demyx went on, and Sarox nodded. "Cool! Then you and I'll be best buddies."
"Enough, Demyx," Saïx interrupted from where he stood next to the windows. "You can blather about what you call music later."
"Bleh," Demyx rolled his eyes and sat back against one of the couches. "Come by later, Sarox. I'll play you something!"
"All right," Sarox nodded again.
"Sarox!" Saïx summoned him, and he hurried over to the Luna Diviner. Next to him stood a tall, thin man with bright red spikes of hair he had slicked back around his shoulders, and his eyes were a bright emerald color with small marks under them.
"'Sup, new kid?" he greeted. "The name's Axel. Get it memorized."
"Uh, I'll try?" Sarox replied, confused.
"Trust me, he's hard to forget," Saïx interjected. "Now, then. I'm going to send you two to Twilight Town. From there, Axel, just show him the ropes and how we do things, understand?"
"Yeah, yeah," Axel waved him off. "I got it. We'll play nice and be home for dinner, right, Sarox?"
"…Right?" Sarox blinked. Getting used to these Nobodies would be one of the most difficult things he'd ever do.
"Just get it done," Saïx sighed and opened a Dark Corridor for them. "Get moving."
"Fine," Axel shrugged. "C'mon, Sarox." Sarox followed him through the Corridor, and they emerged in some sort of tunnels painted an orange-yellow color. Sarox glanced around, trying to get his bearings.
"This is Twilight Town?" he wondered.
"Yeah," Axel nodded. "Been here before?"
"Once, I think," Sarox replied. "When Saïx found me. Before that, I don't think so. I mean, I've been to a lot of worlds, but…"
"A seasoned traveler! Great," Axel remarked, and Sarox wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic or not. "Well, whatever." He stretched. "Guess I gotta show you the ropes and tell you how we do stuff in our great Organization XIII. I mean, the list Saïx gave me seems mostly like common sense, don't know why he needs me to actually go over it all with you… whatever. Okay, first thing: We shouldn't need to worry about it down here, but don't let anybody see you unless absolutely necessary. Gotta protect the world order and all that."
"So we don't even pretend like we're from that world?" Sarox wondered. That's how he, Donald, and Goofy always did it…
"Nope. It's just best they don't know about us period. It keeps 'em from raising questions, you know?"
"I guess. Okay, don't be seen. Shouldn't be too hard."
"Ha ha," Axel laughed. "I think I like you, Sarox. You seem like a good kid. Anyway, moving on. The Organization hid a treasure chest somewhere in these tunnels, so go find it. Unless that's too hard for you…"
"I can find a treasure chest!" Sarox insisted. "I got it. No problem."
"Then get to it!" Axel grinned. "Go for it. I'll follow." Sarox nodded and took the lead, jumping up the levels of the path and heading into the tunnels themselves. He came across what looked like an exit, but some sort of barrier blocked it.
"Hey, Axel, what's this?" He wondered. "How do we get through?"
"We don't," Axel said simply. "The Organization puts these up to keep us on track for our missions. If one of these are up, then you don't need to go this way. Got it memorized?"
"Sure," Sarox shrugged. "Are you going to ask me that every time you tell me something?"
"Just gotta make sure you get it," Axel laughed. Sarox smiled and shook his head as he continued in another direction, taking several turns until he came across a lone treasure chest.
"Found it!" He hurried over to it.
"Great, now open it," Axel instructed. Sarox summoned his Keyblade and tapped the top of the chest, and it opened to give him a Potion.
"Is that it?" he wondered, and Axel nodded.
"Yep. That was your mission, so you're done. I mean, it'll get harder, but that's the gist. Saïx tells me you'll be on a lot of missions fighting the Heartless, so you need to be ready."
"I can handle a few Heartless," Sarox said confidently. "I've lost count of how many of 'em I've beaten. Everything from a little Shadow to that stupid Parasite Cage. As long as I've got the Keyblade, I can handle anything they throw at me."
"Then I guess we've got nothing to worry about," Axel chuckled. "Guess it's time to RTC."
"RTC?" Sarox echoed as he dismissed his Keyblade.
"Return To the Castle," Axel elaborated as he turned back toward the direction they came. "The official end of the mission. You coming?" Sarox nodded and picked up his pace to catch up to his companion, and they went back to the inactive Dark Corridor waiting for them.
"Congratulations, your first mission was a success," Axel grinned. "Come on. Let's go celebrate."
"But don't we need to RTC or whatever?" Sarox wondered.
"Don't worry, we will. We just gotta put the icing on the cake."
"Cake?" Sarox perked up, and Axel shook his head in amusement.
"Just follow me."
A short time later, Axel brought the newest Nobody up to the top of the Clock Tower overlooking a train station and the rest of Twilight Town.
"What a view," Sarox marveled. "Riku, Kairi, and I liked to watch the sunset back home…"
"Yeah, it's something I like to do too," Axel agreed and held out an ice cream bar. "Here."
"What's this?" Sarox wondered as he took it.
"The icing on the cake," Axel grinned and sat down on the edge of the Clock Tower. "Sea-salt ice cream. Don't knock it 'til you try it." Sarox sat down next to him as Axel took a bite of his ice cream, and he did the same. Though he wasn't sure what to expect, it certainly wasn't what he got.
"Wow," he smiled. "It's salty, but sweet too."
"You like it?" Axel wondered.
"Yeah," Sarox nodded. "Thanks, Axel." Axel shrugged and turned back toward the sunset.
"We ought to do this more often after our missions," he mused. "Gotta have something to do after work, right? Just get a chance to hang out and be friends."
"Yeah," Sarox nodded. "You think we'll be friends, Axel?"
"I already told you- I like you, Sarox. You've got a sense of humor- or had one, anyway. When we get our hearts back, we'll need to make some time to goof off. No more of this acting like we really feel stuff…"
"But… how do we get our hearts back?" Sarox frowned. Axel was silent for several moments.
"Something called Kingdom Hearts," Axel replied. "Apparently, if we get to Kingdom Hearts, then we can get hearts for ourselves. Or so Saïx says. I guess he and Vexen did a bunch of research- never thought I'd see those two agree about anything. It's the only real lead we've got."
"Vexen?" Sarox blinked.
"Blond-haired guy, kinda skinny. Green eyes, looks like he hasn't slept in weeks. Usually hanging around Zexion, this kid with steely gray hair hanging in his face. He's actually probably only three or four years older than you, from the look of it- Zexion, not Vexen. Get it memorized- it'll make your life a lot easier."
"So, all the Organization members have Xs in their names?" Sarox realized.
"Yep," Axel nodded. "Saïx, Xigbar, Xaldin, Traxer, Vexen, Lexaeus, Zexion, Demyx, Marluxia, Larxene, Luxord, me and you. I guess the X is supposed to show our brotherhood or whatever. You'll meet 'em as you get the hang of things, and I'll help you out."
"Why don't they- we- use our real names?" Again, Axel remained quiet for several moments.
"I guess we see it that our real names belong to our hearts. I mean, the heart is apparently what makes us who we are. Us Nobodies only have our memories to go on."
"Hrm…" Sarox mumbled. "What was your name, Axel? Before you joined the Organization."
"Lea," Axel recalled. "What about you?"
"Sora," Sarox replied.
"Huh. Well, let's hope we can get you to be called 'Sora' again," Axel chuckled.
"Yeah, and you can go back to being Lea, right?"
"I hope so, Sarox. Believe me. Now," his tone shifted from being serious to humorous. "Finish up your ice cream before it melts!"