Dualganization XIII

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything but my OCs. Kingdom Hearts belongs to Disney and Square Enix.

AU where Axel has a sister and the Organization rules Hollow Bastion

A scattered dream that's like a far off memory. I want to line up the pieces. Yours and mine.

Lea POV, Two Years Ago

Lea grasped the wrist of his younger sister. "Get of your butt. We're gonna be late, and you know what happens when you keep the Organization waiting."

Armina glared at him with half-closed brown eyes for a few seconds. Then they widened when she came into full consciousness. "I know. But what if you don't go? Then they can't pick you or me. I still can't forgive them for taking Isa last year."

He felt a pain in his heart when she said his name. The three of them had been of friends. There wasn't another trio in Radiant Garden—he refused to call it Hollow Bastion, the tasteless name the Organization gave his home—that were closer than the three of them. But those monsters tore them apart.

"I can't. Remember how they put trackers all over the city. They'd know if we just stayed home."

"Fine. But I still hate them." She grabbed a shirt from her closet and showed it over her nightclothes. "Good enough."

The siblings wove through the massive crowd of people ranging from age fourteen to thirty-five. The air was stifling with the thousands of bodies filling the streets. Some coughed by them, and Armina ducked to avoid the foul molecules from touching her.

One in twenty thousand. That was how likely either of them would be chosen to join the ranks of the Organization.

Lea swallowed the bile in his throat as his eyes caught on the clock tower. 12:47. They had thirteen minutes to get to the other side of town. Otherwise they'd get turned into dusks. That meant that your consciousness would exist in a beast with no pretense of rebellion. A creature that was only useful to be a temporary shield to protect Radiant Garden from outsiders.

An idea came to mind. "Hey, Mina."

She looked his way incredulously. "What."

"You could use your power to get us to the middle of town faster, right? Then we won't have to worry about becoming dusks."

She looked surprised at first, but agreed. "'Kay." She took off her scarf, revealing a hidden pendant. "Take us to Central!"

Particles gathered from the air, forming around them until they solidified themselves at their feet.

Lea shivered as he felt the the strange darkness coat his body. He hated the feeling intensely.

Their bodies became ice sculptures which then broke down into water molecules. Those molecules floated along the wind until they traced their destination.

12:59. They made it.

The clock struck thirteen times.

He couldn't help but feel squished again by the mass of people. His grasp on his sister's hand tightened. She squeezed back.

Xemnas, the creator of this cruel organization, began to speak. His booming baritone voice rung in Lea's ears. "On the thirteenth hour of the final day of the year, we gather here in Central to find two eligible candidates for our ranks, one male and the other female. These two are put through strenuous training to find if they are worthy to become members. Usually, one dies in their training. However, last year both survived. We have decided to place her in a new group. Thus, we will be picking twenty candidates to accompany her. Only thirteen will join her. Now, Saïx, if you will."

The hooded figure behind Xemnas removes his hood. Shoulder-length blue hair spilled out, neatly framing the eighteen-year-old's face. A jagged x-shaped scar cut right between his eyes. His golden eyes swooped over the crowd.

No. It can't be.

That would make sense, though. Mix up the name Isa and add an X. You get Saïx.

Armina shook Lea. "Is that…"

He nodded, still in disbelief. "He's got a new scar, but I would recognize that telltale face from anywhere."

His voice was just as he remembered save for the complete lack of emotion. "The candidates are these. Lea Flamedancer."

Lea stared open-mouthed at this ex-Isa. For a few seconds no thoughts crossed his head. Luckily his sister shook him out of it.

She gave him a fearful look. "They're going to make you just like him, aren't they. Some brainless dog."

Isa—no—Saïx continued to drone on. But his voice sounded like an unfamiliar echo to him, nothing more than a mush of a bunch of random words. Well, that was until…

"Armina Flamedancer."

Lea had almost recovered from the shock of his own name when all his hard work was pulled right out of him. He'd heard how strenuous this "training" was. It had killed multiple people. On top of worrying about her being all alone, he'd be dealing with wondering if she was alive.

"If your name was called, please walk to the center of the stage."

Hideous pictures flashed in his mind when he remembered last four years. For the first trial, they always made a big spectacle about it. He'd watched his best friend's body get torn at by Heartless. He'd seen children laying on the ground dead and broken after failing to teleport.

Armina, usually the braver of the two, grabbed Lea's arm fearfully.

"This year, we will have you battle one giant Heartless. This single one will be ten times as strong as a normal one, and it will take great physical, mental, and magical strength to defeat. Good luck."

The siblings each took a deep breath. They could do this. They weren't going to die today.

Two other hooded figures dressed in the same cloaks that Saïx and Xemnas wore pulled a ginormous snarling humanoid beast with six chains in each hands. Chains that restrained this monster from killing everyone in the arena.

It had a mess of tentacles covering most of its face. Claws that seemed to big for its body dragged behind it. But the most menacing part was the gaping hole where its heart should be.

Wait.

They were using the candidates to take out the Heartless.

Pragmatic, yes, but cruel. Everyone knew the Organization had taken over Radiant Garden in the first place with their immense power.

He shivered at the unsettling sound of rattling chains.

"Meet the Darkside! Twenty feet and one thousand pounds of pure menace!"

The candidates took a visible deep breath.

The Darkside took its first swipe. Its claw ran right through a fear-stricken blonde.

"And in the first minute, we've already lost someone!"

He bit his tongue.

Dead already.

No matter what, he couldn't end up like her.