Journal of Number Ten, The Gambler of Fate.

Day 67, Early Noon:
Xemnas called us for a meeting. I'm pretty sure I know what it's going to be about.

Sora and his friends have penetrated the castle and eliminated all but 4 of us...it won't be long now...

This is just great.

How has it gotten this far?

Only four of us are left. Xigbar, Saix, Xemnas, and myself.

I can understand how Xigbar and Xemnas are still here. Xemnas is number one, and Xigbar happens to be number two. They are the top two members of this Organization! I could bet that those two could beat out just about anything, and most likely win!

But Saix..?
He's not even that good! I think he's still around because Superior has taken a fancy to him, making him his second-in-command and all. I don't think Xemnas wants him to leave just yet.

No. Saix is too 'important' for that.

Xemnas is yelling now. I should go see what he wants. Luxord out.

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The leader stood calmly atop his high-leveled white chair, which resided in the clean white slate room. He didn't know why every chair was raised high up above the ground, but he did know that the height of the seats showed your height of rank.

This was why Xemnas got the tallest chair.

The Superior particularly enjoyed this room. Here the Organization would hold their meetings, mostly the important ones. The unimportant ones were held in the dining room. This was the meeting room, where hard conversation took place. Usually, there were even a few arguments. Once a strong fight had occurred between Zexion and Demyx; the same day when one of the chairs had broken and the two had been forced to share a seat.

Xemnas never made that mistake again.

On this very day, a serious meeting would take place. It was based off of the current events. Their main topic- the key bearer.

The chosen wielder of the Keyblade, Sora, had been fighting off their members since day one. As far as his records went, Larxene had been the first to go by the will of the key bearer. Then Marluxia…ruler of Castle Oblivion…he had been killed too. Vexen had also been defeated, but by one of their very own members, Axel. Lexaeus and Zexion…they had died at Riku's expense.

Riku…the true beholder of the Keyblade…he could have been such a great addition to their Organization…

"Xemnas."

The man of difficult gray hair looked up from his constant day dreams and scanned the room, trying to find the source of the voice that had called out to him. He instinctively knew who it was, he just couldn't find the diviner.

"Xemnas, sir…"

The voice was stronger now, almost as if near to him. Xemnas shifted upright in his seat and looked around desperately. Then, he looked up. To his own surprise, he spotted a scarred face glaring back down at him.

"Saix? What are you doing at the top of my chair?"
"Trying to wake you…"
"Well it worked. Now go back to your seat."
"Yes sir…"

At that command a black cloud-like form appeared above the Enigmatic man's head, forming a portal for Saix to disappear through. Blue hair faded into the dark swirl and soon the body reappeared at another seat, not far from Xemnas's own chair.

Xemnas nodded to Saix as he reappeared in his assigned seat, then he looked around the room. There were a total of four people, including him. If he had a heart, he would be saddened. Long ago, when Organization XIII was still new, they had thirteen occupied seats at every meeting. Thirteen members, thirteen full seats.

And now, they were down to four.

"I'm sure all of you can guess why I called you here." The gray-haired man stated, looking over at his three remaining comrades. Only two of them nodded, and that was Luxord and Saix. Xigbar looked a bit confused.

"No dude…why?"

Luxord began to laugh. Saix glared at the freeshooter with a stare that could kill. Xemnas just sighed and smirked. "Xigbar…look around. There are only four of us left. See what Roxas's other has done to us…? The key master has gotten so strong, he's knocked off at least 7 of our members…"

"Actually, mate, he's only destroyed four." Luxord piped up, tapping his fingers as he counted off the members. "Larxene, Marluxia, Demyx, Xaldin were his victims. Zexion and Lexaeus were beaten by Riku, Axel killed Vexen…and you know Axel died in Betwixt and Between. Then of course, Roxas…"
"That's ENOUGH, Number Ten." Saix suddenly snarled, his hands grasping the white armrests in a deadly grip. He leaned over and looked at the minor with what seemed to be disgust and an odd urge to rip him apart. When he saw the gambler flinch back in surprise, Saix smiled and leaned back in his seat, then looked over to Xemnas. "Continue, sir."

Xemnas could have died of laughter if he was capable to. "Gladly appreciated, Saix…" even the others could tell that there was a hint of amusement in his voice. "So, as I was saying…Sora is getting stronger. Having found where Kairi is being held hostage, he has more potential to try and find his friends more than ever. I fear this will soon result to the end of our reign, if we don't take immediate action."

Everyone looked up to their superior. They all knew what he was saying.

Basically…they were all going to die.

"Dude..! Don't say that..! We still got spunk!" Number two lifted his fist up in the air, pumping it back down in a quick manner as if to show his energy. "I mean, there's still four of us left! And we're all pretty good. You and I, Xemmy, we're numbers one and two! So Saix and Luxord can't fight…we make up for both of them!"

As if on cue, mentioned members leaned to the edge of their seats and angrily shouted, "HEY!!"

How Xemnas wished he had his heart. He would have fallen off of his chair laughing and would have been falling to the endless white pit below.

Erm…maybe it was good that he didn't have a heart, then.

"That's exactly why, Xigbar, you get to go first…! I'll leave you to try and defeat Sora. Please, do not fail me. The others failed on simple missions. This…" Xemnas leaned back against his chair, waving a hand as if to show motion. "This is a win/lose situation now…"

"I can't believe Roxas is doing this to us." Luxord muttered, shaking his head. "That little seadog…"

"This is going to be just great." Xigbar murmured, resting an elbow on his armrest and placing his chin atop his tilted fist. His other arm flicked around expressively as he talked. "I get to fight Sora, knowing that if I fail, I disappear into nothing and never exist again. Oh boy, am I psyched!"

"Lay off the sarcasm, Xigbar." Saix growled, clearly upset that the others weren't respecting their elders like they should.

"Yeah, and you should stop sucking up to the superior, moon boy!" Xigbar snapped back, now completely standing upright in his chair. He did not flinch as the Lunar Diviner jumped up on his seat and began to growl viciously.

"SEVEN! TWO! Down, this instant!" it was now Xemnas who raised his voice, his deep vocals ringing endlessly inside the largely fitted room. The second his voice began to echo and bounce off of the walls, the arguing duo quickly sat in innocent positions and slunk back as far as they could in their chairs. At least, Saix did. He couldn't believe his superior had just screamed at him. Xigbar, on the other hand, was totally used to it.

"NOW." Xemnas panted relentlessly in his seat, looking at both as he spoke. "I want no further comments on this manner. Xigbar, you are to go to the Halls of Empty Melodies at once. Saix, you are to go to the Addled Impasse. Luxord…go wherever you want, man, just don't get drunk before your battle. You're next."
Luxord nodded in agreement, but in his mind, he was cursing in retaliation.

"Meeting adjourned." Xemnas finally said with a heavy sigh. He watched as Luxord exited without a word. Saix was looking up at him, not really wishing to leave the room. Xigbar was also staying. He was intently looking at Xemnas, as if waiting for the right moment to speak. Finally, he opened his mouth and the words poured out coolly.

"Xemnas-dude, can we talk?"

"Sure, Number Two. I'm listening."
"Um…but Saix is still here."

"You wish to speak alone?"
"Uh, YEAH."

"Seven, you are dismissed."
"But…sir…"
"You heard the man, moony! Now go!"
"Saix, we'll talk later. Go."

Finally, the hesitant blue-haired bezerker left the scene. A large sigh of relief had escaped Xigbar's jaws the second the last trace of Saix's presence had disappeared.

"What's bothering you, Xigbar?"

Xigbar looked up to his superior, wondering. Did he really care about what was bothering him? Of course not…they had no feelings. He felt no pity. He felt no need to care. However, Xigbar knew that he could talk to his superior about pretty much everything.

"Dude, I'm not so sure I should face up against Sora. The kid's gotten pretty tough." Xigbar kicked his feet off the edge of his seat silently, his solitary eye looking down at the pit below them. He didn't see the need of looking up to Xemnas as he spoke at that moment. "I mean…have you seen how he's handled all those heartless? He's pretty much mastered that blasted Keyblade of his! I have to say, I'm kinda shocked, dude…"

"Xigbar.." Xemnas shook his head and simply leaped off of his seat, keeping a near-perfect posture as he descended towards the ground. Finally, his feet reached the floor, and he landed in a good crouching position that dispersed the energy through his body. This way, no bones of his had been broken.
Once he was completely landed, he looked up Xigbar and flicked his head as if to motion him to come down. A small smile danced upon his lips as he watched the man go into a clear portal, then appear upside down next to him.
"You'll do fine. You're Number Two for a reason…not only because you joined the Organization second, but because of your fight status. You're amazing, you and those revolvers of yours!"

"They're just guns, dude." Xigbar coughed, his ponytail carelessly weaving behind his head as it hung upside down, defying his element of gravity.

"You made me smile there, Xig." Xemnas extended his hand and grabbed the bouncing ponytail, then tugged it gently, forcing the man onto the floor. Thankfully, Xigbar was being a ninja and totally flipped, landing on his feet.

"I try, Xem-man." The Freeshooter grinned and punched his superior gently on the shoulder, then jumped back and hovered lightly above the floor. He began to laugh as he watched Xemnas attempt to try and grab his cloak. "Gotta do better than that, Superior."

"Oh, you'll pay for that one, Freeshooter." Xemnas smirked and lunged forward as the eye patched man before him landed on the ground and began to run down the endless halls. Now all that echoed in the near-empty castle were the playful threats and shouts of the two older men. If you didn't know who they were, you'd just imagine that they were two little kids having a small game of tag.

Eventually, the two stopped. Xemnas had stopped the 'game', explaining how childish they were acting.

"Xemmy's no fun." Xigbar grinned, pointing at his superior. "Or Xemmy just doesn't want to be owned by the awesome Xigbar. That's what."
"Oh…like you say…as if!" Xemnas smirked and clasped his hands behind his back, then began to walk to the entrance to the Hall of Melodies. He stood out on the balcony of the room and looked at the large field in front of him. It was perfect for a battle field.

"Good luck out there." He said, looking back as Xigbar came to join him. Xemnas lowered his eyes and sighed. "It's not going to be easy."
"Dude..." Xigbar placed a hand on his shoulder and smirked, winking with his only visible eye and flashing a thumbs-up. "Even if he is really strong, he's no match for the Xig-man! I'll come back. And we can do random stuff together, like we used to when we were apprentices."
"We're still good comrades…" Xemnas smiled and looked to Xigbar, then stepped back as he watched Xigbar stick out his hand. The scarred man curled his fingers into a snug fist, then tilted his wrist upward. "Homies for life, eh Xemnas?"

Xemnas examined the fist, then lifted his own hand and made a fist as well. He laughed as he gently hit the other's fist above, under, then directly forward upon it. "Homies for life, Xigbar."

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Journal of Number Ten, the Gambler of Fate

Day 67, Late Evening:

Xigbar went to fight Sora today.

He didn't come back, the poor man.

Saix has been comforting Xemnas all this time. They haven't come out of his room for a long time. I'm quite intrigued. If Xigbar could be beaten…then surely I might as well. And I'm next.

If anyone finds this diar- I mean journal... tell them the brave tale of Luxord the sleazy gambler.

Luxord, out.