A new story. None of the character wear their original clothes, but medieval-style clothes.

You imagine it.

A king and queen of kingdom lore,

Shall have a baby girl.

Her hair gold as a sun,

Spells doom to everyone.

But!

Knights equaling 13,

Are the saviors of that day.

Unpredicted trouble lies ahead,

But, in the very end,

The 13th Knights prevail, forever!

HARDMAN STUIODS PRESENTS:

A KINGDOM HEARTS TALE:

STARRING ORGANIZATION XIII:

THE 13TH KNIGHTS

The silver-haired king of the Destiny Kingdom looked onto his kingdom with a heavy sigh. His kingdom was beautiful in the fall, colorful and the gentlest wind always came in this time of the year, but he couldn't get in the mood.

Why? Maybe because of the Fall Ball, the biggest costume ball in the world, was always held here, and the stress of putting it together. Perhaps relationship issues with others. Hollow Bastion and Radiant Garden were friends, but everyone else seem to hate him, his queen, and his country.

Or maybe he had given birth to the 'Sun Girl'?

A figure approached him. She was young, black hair and blue eyes, and was his queen of 20 years. They married by force at only 8, but they had finally found love, and had a child of 14 years. They had stood by each other no matter what.

His name was Riku Reimei, King of the Destiny Kingdom.

She was Xion Reimei, Queen of the Destiny Kingdom.

Their daughter was Namine Reimei, Princess of the Destiny Kingdom.

She was the girl of the prophecy, unknown to her parents and herself.

A gypsy caravan had made its stop on top of the Pride Mountains. The leader, the head priest, and their mighty savior…

…Xemnas.

"Fear not, the children below the heavens." He proclaimed to the group of believers that had sat around him. "The coming storm is a short one, a thankful one. It will pass, and shall we pass over to our new land, given to us by kind hands of Reimei, but, as you shall know, only the great god up there watches out for us, give your thanks in public for Reimei, and your thanks in private to god…"

Yeah, it was like this.

A blue-haired man watched the storm. His name was Saix, Xemnas' right handed man, the actual force behind the caravan. Out of the poor saps in the group, he knew the real ideals of this 'god' that made the caravan move, but those intentions are to be left in the dark for now.

The storm was over a desert, but on closer inspection, it was a desert of ruins, the place where a kingdom was laid to rest. Saix knew of the fallen kingdom, but it mattered nothing to him.

The reason why he worked with Xemnas' plans was easy to understand. Saix wanted to know the identity of the 'Sun Girl', and Xemnas knew. Xemnas wanted to know more about the 'knights', Saix knew.

A messenger bird flew over head, dropping a note in Saix's hand. He read it quickly, and replied it in Xemnas' ears.

"Good tidings, followers." He boomed. "Reimei has invited all of us to join the world-famous Fall Ball. We must return to Destiny to enjoy one of God's seasonal gifts, fall."

The group turned around, and went back the way they had come from.

Another man, a fat rich man named Mr. Fatrich, was riding with his servants through the woods for the Ball.

Yeah, I know. It's a really bad name. Give me a break! REVIEW!!!

Ahem.

So, Fatrich was riding in the forest, on his way to the ball.

That was kinda of disturbing. It sounded like a fairy tail; instead we have a fat, perverted man going to a ball!

Ahem. I apologize.

When, suddenly,

Grey Hood jumped down and aimed his two cross-bows at Fatrich!

Xigbar had become Grey Hood a while back; rumor had it in honor for the birth of Princess Namine. He robbed the rich…

…and occasionally gave to the poor.

Yep. Would you have ever guessed his nickname was "Grey-Ass"?

"Howdy! You know, today I'm going to make it simple. Give me your money and anything worth of value, which with this bad economy, 500 munny is the minimum." Said Xigbar smiling his smile. Fatrich wasn't the least bit imitated.

"Fool! You get in my way? I'm Bruno Von Fatrich! One man can't kill my best bodyguards, who trained for 5 years to serve me…"

"They're dead."

"What?"

The bodyguards fell down with arrows in their necks, blood dripping out off the arrows onto the road, making Fatrich squeal like a girl and fall off his horse. Xigbar, while reloading his crossbows, walked calmly towards Fatrich, who was bawling like a baby.

"Now, again, hand anything of value over. Unless you have a fetish for dying? I've heard of your love life, and the girls wouldn't liking seeing you like a toddler…did you do the unthinkable?"

Fatrich nodded weakly, as the remaining servants backed up from the smell. Xigbar signed.

"You know, I do have a date tomorrow, so your money will help me score big time! And oh, hey, nice threads…"

Five minutes later, Xigbar walked off with 50, 000 munny, several trinkets (which he ditched later as he found that they were cheap beyond belief) and several clothes off Fatrich's and his servants' backs.

Thank god I can stop saying Fatrich.

Xigbar was checking out a bag he stole, and found a ticket. He read,

"Invitation to the Fall Ball! Hot dog, I'm going to score even bigger than before!" He said as he ran giddily to his hideout to change.

"Come on, Roxas! Don't you remember what I taught you?"

Roxas grunted as he blocked a charkram with his sword, and rolled as its twin followed after. Both flew back to Axel's waiting hands, and then continued to throw them at poor Roxas as he tried to get a shot in.

The knight system in the Destiny Kingdom had 4 classes. There was knight-in-training, also mocked as peasant class. Roxas was currently here. Next was low-class, such like Axel. Middle-class was here, nobody to report here or in the next class, high-class.

Roxas casted Blizzard, hoping to get Axel with his weakness, but Axel turned up the heat, melting the ice, and slipping Roxas, who was going in to attack. Axel threw a burning charkram at the fallen Roxas, who managed to push himself forward to deflect the weapon back at Axel, jumped back up and swung at Axel, who jumped back to avoid.

"Enough."

Both fighter stopped short to see a spear in mid-air, next to their throats. A lone man was holding one hand up, controlling the spears. Axel and Roxas dropped their weapons, and as well did the man.

Xaldin was the Captain of the Guard; he took no prisoners, taught at break-neck levels, and fought without holding back.

"Roxas, you should have planned ahead to know that Axel could easily turn your magic against you."

Roxas' head fell. "I understand."

Xaldin turned towards Axel. "For once, you did fine. Do this against a more changeling opponent, and you may rank up…for once."

"Can ever give a compliment, can ya?"

"Hmph. Everyone, we'll return to training two days from now. In the meantime, clean yourselves, and dress in your best clothes, tomorrow we are having the Fall Ball…"

Everyone, save for Roxas weirdly, cheered. Xaldin raised his hands to calm the crowd.

"…and we're one of the toasts of the evening, so any man who even thinks of stepping out of line…will try out my latest obstacle course."

Xaldin was famous for making courses from hell. No way was no one going to get rowdy.

"Dismissed." Everyone left the yard, but Axel noticed Roxas was just standing there.

"What's wrong, bud? Big, Bad Wolf huffing and buffing your door down?"

"No…it's just…I don't have a date for the ball."

"Hahaha!!! You don't need a date to get in! You may not be a full-fledged knight, but you're officially part of the Guard, you get in no matter what, unless of course you do something stupid. Which I have a feeling you would…"

"What's that supposed to mean? Besides, the girl I want to date is…"

"Out of your reach." Axel signed as he removed his armor. "Cliché to the max, my friend, to the very max. Come on, I treat you to sea-salt ice cream…"

"You think that's the cure for the everything."

"Maybe."

"We're going the wrong way…again." Complained a long-haired wizard.

"Over the hill, we're almost there." Replied a tall, burly knight, wearing half-armor and half-normal clothes.

Lexaeus and Zexion were traveling to the ball also. The two were traveling mercenaries, helping out whenever possible, in return, something like a meal, money, or a place to rest for the night were the payments they accepted.

Zexion was more into the money, and Lexaeus was more interested in helping people, earning him the moniker 'Silent Hero'.

Zexion jumped onto a rock, and held his head up with both of his hands.

"Tell me, why are we invited to this again?"

"We helped a month ago to save a kidnapped ambassador."

"We got paid how, again?"

"With pardons on previous crimes."

"We're honest."

"We burned down the village chasing a criminal."

"Yeah…forgot about that. Wait, that storm…"

He jumped down and watched the storm in the mountains.

"It's over the Oblivion Kingdom. The darkness of the clouds…it means something…wait…remember the prophecy?"

"Yes?"

"I think it's time."

"…Let's go. We have a long journey ahead of us."

The two friends, they are friends, made their way to the kingdom.

Another person noticed the storm, the court magician of the Destiny Kingdom, Vexen. He was mixing together several potions to discover something when he noticed the clouds. He stopped what he was doing to observe.

"Hmmm…it seems the clouds aren't following the usual patterns that they follow. That is odd…perhaps it's time for that crack-pot of a fairy tale to come true?" He resumed work.

"I wait and watch…"

Two drunk friends were walking home, completely soaked in beer and whiskey. Their wives were going to maul them of course, but in this condition, a cannonball could hit them and they would just look confused.

They stopped to watch a clown, who had no crowd, and was just prat-falling. Being drunk, the two giggled and bellowed, drawing more attention to them than the clown. A blond gentleman, as his clothes were clean and stylish, walked up to the drunkies.

"The clown sure is doing a fine act." He said. One of the drunkies giggled.

"Yar! I bechta he can do anything! Even…fly upa to da moon!" The two laughed again.

"How about a bet? I have 10,000 munny in my pocket, and willing to give it all away, on one small bet."

The two stopped laughing and starting fishing. They managed to put together 2,500 munny, but the gentleman accepted it anyway.

"The bet is simple. I try to guess the clown's next act. I wager he start to sing "Claudia" the poem by Sir Auron."

The two drunkies giggled. It was an easy win for them, and they're cheating this idiot of all of his money! Boy, this couldn't get any easier!

The clown stopped. He opened his mouth,

I remember this lass,

She was my pretty, little girl,

We went up the river one day,

And shared a glass,

Of a great wi-ne,

Called '1962 On Ice'

The two were baffled as the gentleman pocketed his winnings.

"Hey! You cheated! Ya dirty, rotten cheater!" bellowed one of them, causing the crowd to turn away from the clown.

Claudia,

Oh, Claudia,

Thar gentleman you ran off with,

His face spells trouble at every turn.

Claudia,

Oh, please come home, dear Claudia.

"No, I've won, fair and square. You accepted my wager, and you lost. That's all." He turned around to leave.

The drunks grabbed some nearby wood plank and snuck behind the gentleman.

I wish to be that man,

The one who love so dear-ly.

I would love you,

From dawn to dusk,

Just you and me,

Claudia.

The gentleman disappeared. The drunks were confused.

Two hard taps to their necks was all they needed.

The gentleman left them lying there, and walked towards a carriage, got in and sat, waiting.

Just five seconds of waiting was needed for the clown to get in. The carriage moved forward.

"You may take the costume off, Demyx." Said Luxord, a infamous gambler who, along side his partner Demyx, planned scams to get money. Luxord also ran a casino and Demyx was a bard, but most of their incomes came through the scams.

Demyx removed the multi-colored wig. "Was it really worth it just to scam two dumb-asses out?"

"That's not all I won. They had this in their pockets."

He pulled out two stolen tickets.

"It's…"

"We're going to the ball, Demyx."

Rose falls into Oblivion.

The kingdom that was once the Rose Kingdom is now the Oblivion Kingdom, home of the lost souls and those who are exiled.

And the lost king, Marluxia.

He sits there, on the throne, just sitting, like nothing has happened, they weren't destroyed, nobody left, just the illusions of dancing girls and ambassadors giving gifts were all the sits through his mind.

He never left the palace, or the remains of his palace. His food was carried in by the remaining servants, the ones he forced to stay. Food was scare, but he got the most. He didn't talk much, just only about the fond memories of his garden.

But one day…

He left without a word, during a storm, dragging his scythe behind him.

No one knew what he had become.

Namine couldn't sleep. Tomorrow, she was going to host the Fall Ball, and start her training to become queen. She was wrecked beyond belief. Nervous to her toes. Not even drawing could calm her down.

"Hey, drama queen, got to bed!" shouted Princess Larxene. (I'm getting there.)

"I-i-i-i can't! I just can't! I'm so-so-so-so-so-so…" She was slapped hard, knocking down to the ground.

"Hey! Shut up and go to bed!" Larxene walked off with a huff. "And you I can't accept the throne, I'm adopted!"

Namine was crying. Larxene did enjoy messing around with her mind, but she was the big sister, and at least try to make her happy. She knelt down by her.

"Hey, listen. I can understand that being a queen isn't what all peasants dream of, that's one of the reasons I'm orphan, my parents abused their powers. Don't worry, you have me, and your friends in the Guard."

Namine looked up. "You know?..."

"Axel asked me to the ball, and it would look silly if I didn't have a date. Besides, he's the most popular knight in the kingdom, so there an added bonus! Now, about you and that trainee, Roxas…"

"He's just a one-time friend, he met once, and played…"

Larxene smiled. "Maybe one day HE become king, and you queen! I like to see that shrimp get somewhere!"

"Hey!"

"Come on. We talk in the morning. Good night…Queen Namine." Said exiting, and bowing.

Namine smiled that at least her sadtisic sister had least a good side of her. Putting out the candle, she went to sleep.

I: Before We Met, A Day Before

No yoai here, stupid fangirl!

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