You gotta figure, Axel: And our boss's name?

everything starts someplace. Roxas: Xemnas.

Axel: Very good, Roxas! No way you're gonna forget his name,
The closest thing for me right? Now, let's get moving.
is when I was just seven days old,
and I met her. Axel: All right, let's start by talking about what we do on missions.
Axel: Ahem. Missions are...uhh... They're, you know... Hrm.
Day 7: Number XIV Roxas: ......
Axel: You know what? Talking is dumb. Let's just go ahead and get
Axel: Heya, Roxas. our hands dirty, shall we?
Roxas: ...... Axel: Follow me.
Axel: Something I can help you with there, chatterbox?
Roxas: ...... Axel: There ya go. Good job.
Axel: Ah, I remember now. We were supposed to convene in the Roxas: Thanks.
Round Room today. Blegh, meetings... Axel: But don't go thinking you can just run and jump your way
Roxas: Round...Room...? through every mission.
Axel: Yup. Apparently the boss man's got some big news. Axel: You've gotta BE AWARE.
Roxas: What...what do you mean?
After seven days Axel: You hafta look around. Sometimes what you're after is
of clinging to a number and a name, sitting right under your nose. Got it memorized?
I had trouble processing anything else. Roxas: Y...yeah, I think so.
Axel: All right, then, time for a road test.
I couldn't have told you Axel: There's a treasure chest somewhere in these passages. I
who the people in black coats were, want you to find it.
or what they wanted with me. Roxas: That's all I have to do?
Axel: I know, don't hurt yourself. Anyway, remember to look
Day 8: The Icing on the Cake around.

Saïx: Roxas, your work begins today. I will issue missions, which Roxas: Axel... What's this?
the Organization expects you to carry out. Axel: A barricade. It means you're not supposed to go this way.
Roxas: ...... Roxas: You mean there's nothing down there?
Saïx: Think of these early missions as exercises. You still have Axel: Yeah, that's the gist of it. They're set up to keep us on track.
much to learn before we put you to a real test. Axel: That, or out of trouble. I mean, hello, look at it. Big,
Roxas: ...... menacing X? I'll take the beaten path, thanks.
Saïx: Axel will be joining you your first time out. Isn't that right,
Axel? Roxas: Is this the chest?
Axel: Oh boy... What, are you making me the kid's mentor now? Axel: Sure is! Well done.
Saïx: Surely you don't mind showing Roxas here the ropes? Roxas, Roxas: ......
come see me when you're ready to go. Axel: Um, what are you waiting for?
Axel: Well, you heard the man. Starting today, I'm your babysitter. Roxas: The mission was to find the chest. Aren't I done?
Roxas: ...... Axel: Uh, Roxas... There's this thing about chests. They have stuff
Axel: Sheesh... Quit acting like a zombie, and let's get this show on in them.
the road. Roxas: So I should open the chest?
Axel: Yes, that is generally what we do.
Saïx: Teach him well, Axel.
Axel: Don't worry. I'll be sure he makes the grade. Axel: Good work! You can keep what you found. All right, time to
Axel: C'mon, Roxas. RTC.
Roxas: ...... Roxas: RTC?
Axel: Hey, what's wrong? You worried about the new kid? What Axel: Return To the Castle. Go ahead, lead the way back to the
was that name again... dark corridor that brought us here.
Saïx: Number XIV, Xion.
Axel: Right, I knew that. Axel: Bravo. So whaddaya think? Got the hang of this mission
Roxas: Xion. business?
Axel: Got it memorized, Roxas? Roxas: Uh-huh.
Roxas: ...Yeah. Axel: I'm sorry, speak up? Cooouldn't quite catch that.
Axel: You sure? How 'bout my name, then? Roxas: I said...
Roxas: It's Axel. Axel: Hmm?
Roxas: I could have done that blindfolded. Marluxia: Purebloods don't release any hearts when you defeat
Axel: Ha ha! I dunno if I want a blindfolded zombie on the loose. them.
Axel: All right, smart aleck, you did good And no successful Marluxia: In other words, don't bother with them. Your mission is
mission is complete without a little icing on the cake. C'mon. to collect hearts, after all.
Roxas: But...don't we have to RTC? Marluxia: The other variety—
Axel: Later. Don't you remember our hangout? Marluxia: Hmph... Is right over there.
Marluxia: Forget about the Shadows.
Axel: Here ya go. The icing on the cake. Marluxia: Take these out, Roxas. They are your real targets.
Roxas: ......
Axel: You remember what this ice cream is called? Marluxia: Those were what we call Emblem Heartless.
Roxas: Umm... Roxas: Why are they so special?
Axel: It's sea-salt ice cream. C'mon, I already told you once. Get it Marluxia: Did you notice? Hearts appeared when you defeated
memorized, man. them.
Roxas: It's really salty...but sweet, too. Roxas: Right...
Axel: Ha ha. Roxas, you said the same exact thing the other day. Marluxia: Your job is to collect those hearts.
Roxas: I did? I don't remember that. Roxas: Is there any trick to it?
Axel: Hey, what has it been, a week since you showed up? Marluxia: None. So long as the Heartless are felled by your
Roxas: Maybe. weapon, the Keyblade, the hearts will be captured.
Axel: "Maybe"? C'mon, you must remember that much. Roxas: I see. And what happens to the hearts I collect?
Roxas: ...... Marluxia: They will gather as one, and create an almighty force
Axel: Well, that's okay. Today's where it all really begins anyway. known as Kingdom Hearts.
Roxas: Yeah? Roxas: Which is...good, right?
Axel: Sure! Here you are, out in the field, working for the Marluxia: Completing Kingdom Hearts is the Organization's
Organization... Today, you're one of us. primary objective.
Roxas: I guess it's a start. Marluxia: And to do that, we need all the hearts we can possibly
find.
That was my first day working for the Organization. Roxas: So that's what the Organization does? Collect hearts?
They gave me missions, and I carried them out. Marluxia: Actually, you are the first of us to accomplish it.
But if you asked me what my job was... Roxas: Wait, then—
I would've just stared at you. Marluxia: The rest of us can defeat Heartless, but we have no way
of collecting the hearts they release.
Day 9: Heartless Marluxia: Eventually, the hearts will turn right back into
Heartless.
Saïx: Roxas, today you will be working with Marluxia. Marluxia: You see, then, how special you are?
Saïx: Come see me when you are ready. Roxas: Hmm...
Marluxia: Well, there you have it. Welcome to the fold, Roxas. Marluxia: With power like yours—
Marluxia: Heh. Here come more of them. Each one is a gift, Roxas.
Marluxia: Roxas, was it? I never properly introduced myself. Squeeze every last heart out of them!
Marluxia: I am Marluxia, Number XI.
Roxas: Okay. So what do I have to do today? Marluxia: Excellent, Roxas. Your work today is done.
Marluxia: Today, your job is to collect hearts. Marluxia: I am amazed.
Roxas: Um, how do I do that? Marluxia: That Keyblade... The things that could be done with
Marluxia: Roxas, could you summon your Keyblade for me? that sort of power...
Roxas: Well...sure, all right. Roxas: Umm...
Marluxia: Lucky Number XIII... At last, a chosen wielder of the Marluxia: I have high hopes for you, Roxas—as do we all.
Keyblade amongst our ranks. Marluxia: Defeat the Heartless, and help the Organization reach
Roxas: Whoa, what are those? our noble goal.
Marluxia: Hmph. Nothing to be feared. Roxas: Um, all right...
Marluxia: So, Roxas, shall we put that power of yours to a little Marluxia: Shall we RTC, then?
test?
Marluxia: Use your Keyblade...and defeat those Heartless. And that was how I found out
the Organization's goal.
Marluxia: Good. Those Heartless are called Shadows. So they wanted me to collect these things
Roxas: But what are Heartless. called "hearts."
Marluxia: Dark creatures who roam about, searching for hearts.
They come in two larger varieties. I didn't know what a heart was,
Marluxia: The ones you just defeated are known as Purebloods. or how it even mattered.
But at least I knew what my part was.
Day 10: Incomplete
Zexion: Good morning, Roxas.
Zexion: I shall be joining you on your mission today.
Zexion: Take care of what you need to and then check in with
Saïx. I am all ready to go.
Zexion: Your mission today is to eliminate a set quantity of
Heartless.
Zexion: The Organization may call upon you to meet other
objectives—perform recon, for example.
Zexion: But regardless of the task you have been given, your
primary orders still hold.
Zexion: You and that Keyblade of yours serve us best by collecting
hearts.
Roxas: So, even if I'm given another job, I should keep taking out
Heartless while I do it?
Zexion: Correct. Today, however, the two happily coincide.
Roxas: All done. I defeated the number of Heartless you said.
Roxas: Now we get to RTC, right?
Zexion: Leave, already? I, for one, would apply myself a bit more.
Roxas: But I—
Zexion: Yes, yes, you did as you were asked. Mission
accomplished...but...
Zexion: As you can plainly see, there are still Heartless wandering
about.
Zexion: You don't have to eliminate them all. It's your choice.
Zexion: Just like I don't have to respect you for slinking back to
the castle while there's still work to be done.
Zexion: And if that doesn't matter to you, just remember the
Organization rewards those who make the extra effort.
Zexion: Much better.
Zexion: I trust you'll exhibit equal diligence in your missions going
forward.
Zexion: All right, now that the mission is over, do you have any
questions?
Roxas: Yeah, umm...
Roxas: Just what is Kingdom Hearts? Marluxia said it was some
kind of...of force.
Zexion: Yes...?
Roxas: And when I defeat the Heartless, those hearts pop out and
become part of Kingdom Hearts, right?
Roxas: But like, what's the point?
Zexion: Kingdom Hearts will complete us. That's the
Organization's goal.
Roxas: Complete us? Complete us how?
Zexion: Roxas, you and I and all the Organization's members are
what we call Nobodies.
Roxas: Well, that's not very nice.
Zexion: With a capital N. It's a name, for those of us who are
missing a vital piece of who we are: our hearts.
Roxas: I don't have a heart?
Zexion: Correct. Like all of us, you entered the world without one.
But you can help us get them.
Zexion: Kingdom Hearts is made of the very things we lack—a
multitude of hearts. It has the power to complete us.
Zexion: Are you starting to see why you're so important?
Zexion: Each of us has a vital role in the Organization.
Zexion: Yours is collecting hearts.
Roxas: Yeah, I get it.
Zexion: Well, I just hope we can count on you to "get it" done.
Roxas: ......
Zexion: Any more questions?
Roxas: No... Sorry.
Zexion: Then we should be getting back. Come on.
Day 11: Keyblade
Larxene: Nice of you to show up.
Roxas: Umm, hi.
Larxene: Ugh, this is the worst.
Larxene: Whose idea was it to send me along on your stupid baby
mission? Do I look like I run a nursery school?
Roxas: ......
Larxene: Let Demyx handle this stuff. It's not like he's good at
anything else.
Roxas: ......
Larxene: What? WHAT? You got something to say?
Roxas: No...
Larxene: Pfft, you'd be nothing without that Keyblade.
Larxene: ...Oh ho! I just got an idea.
Roxas: (Uh-oh.)
Larxene: You can do today's mission WITHOUT your Keyblade.
Roxas: What? Why!?
Larxene: Because I said so, that's why! Saïx told you to practice
magic today, didn't he?
Larxene: Well, sink or swim.
Roxas: Yeah—sink! I don't know how to use magic.
Larxene: Well, you're not gonna learn if you keep whipping
around that oversized key.
Roxas: Yeah, but...
Larxene: Ah, perfect. There's a Heartless.
Larxene: Go on, take it out—and you have to use magic!
Larxene: I'll stand here and watch.
Roxas: (Thanks...)
Larxene: Ooh ooh, here come some more. Go on, wipe 'em out!
Roxas: ......
Larxene: Ugh, at the speed you move, we'll be here all month...
Larxene: Go ahead. You can use your Keyblade this time.
Roxas: Wait, what happened to learning magic?
Larxene: Do you want to finish this awful mission or don't you?
Just get to it.
Roxas: (Well, since you asked so nicely...)
Larxene: Oh, by the way, if you need to heal...do it yourself.
Roxas: ......
Larxene: Sheesh, about time. Worst. Mission. Ever...
Roxas: ......
Larxene: If you're our big-shot Keyblade wielder, then we're in
deep doo-doo.
Roxas: ......
Larxene: Ugh, can't you even hold up your end of a conversation?
Roxas: ......
Larxene: You'd better pull it together, or we'll never finish
Kingdom Hearts.
Larxene: Unless, of course, we put somebody else on Keyblade
duty...
Roxas: What? You have somebody else?
Larxene: None of your beeswax.
Larxene: You just worry about defeating Heartless and collecting
hearts for us.
Larxene: Maybe, one day, you'll be almost mediocre at it.
Roxas: ......
Larxene: Ugh, let's go—before you kill any more of my brain cells.
Day 12: A Closed World
Vexen: Now, listen carefully. Your mission today is to perform
reconnaissance in this area.
Roxas: Reconna-what? What about fighting Heartless and
collecting hearts?
Vexen: Oh, there's far more to the Organization than that, boy.
Vexen: Our work wouldn't go half as smoothly if we didn't gather
the needed intelligence beforehand.
Vexen: Fortunately, you are in good hands. I will be by your side
today to help you stimulate that insensate mind of yours.
Vexen: First, take a look around the immediate area, and report
anything unusual you find.
Vexen: And don't go wandering too far until you've carefully
examined the clues closest at hand.
Vexen: Roxas, you are looking but not seeing.
Vexen: Here's what I see: This whole town was built along a
mountain.
Vexen: That's why the roads the slope.
Vexen: Houses have been built along the terrace.
Vexen: And at the top is a station. The trains there are the town's
primary system of transit.
Vexen: Up there, see that clock tower? That's the station building.
Vexen: Based on its location, we know the tracks are probably
elevated.
Vexen: And this must be downtown. All these shops in one
place...
Vexen: Now, what about this path you pointed out?
Vexen: Trams must run here. See, look closer. There are marks.
Roxas: You figured all that out just now?
Vexen: But that's just it! I only stated what I saw. There was no
"figuring" involved.
Vexen: That's the next step: analyzing the data you find.
Vexen: The clothing and jewelry shops tell us how these people
live.
Vexen: This whole town is a blueprint of their lives.
Roxas: ......
Vexen: Distressing. Very distressing. Your mind wasn't made for
this, was it?
Vexen: Well, you're not off the hook yet, boy. If I let you quit with
these results, I'll be the laughingstock of the castle.
Vexen: Follow this path and investigate the remainder of the area.
Vexen: And stay on the path, if you please!
Vexen: Everything you need to know about this place lies along it
—provided you are capable of connecting the dots.
Roxas: We've been through the whole area.
Vexen: All right, then, what have you learned?
Roxas: Well, umm...let's see. The town has a lot of overpasses and
underpasses. And the tram seems to circle the plaza.
Roxas: Oh, and there was that entrance that looked like it led
underground, but it was shuttered.
Vexen: Anything else?
Roxas: Huh? Oh, umm... Err...
Vexen: Never mind. Wouldn't want you to hurt yourself.
Vexen: You're showing some improvement, at least, even if your
natural talents do fall woefully short of my own.
Roxas: ......
Vexen: You're done, boy. Go ahead and RTC.
Roxas: I could've figured it out if I had more time.
Vexen: Oh? Is that so? Then take all the time you like.
Vexen: But don't hold yourself up to my standards. Little steps for
little minds.
Vexen: Hmm, not bad. You're finally starting to see the bigger
picture.
Vexen: But while I applaud your effort, you need to be able to see
these things at first glance.
Roxas: Oh...right.
Vexen: Your goal should be to gather the maximum amount of
data in the minimum amount of time.
Vexen: Spend too much time dallying, and you risk being seen.
Vexen: Sometimes the locals will be wary. You need to be warier.
Roxas: I understand.
Vexen: Today's mission was just an exercise. I am satisfied. Let's
return.
Vexen: That concludes today's mission. Any questions or
concerns?
Roxas: Umm... How often do I have to do this?
Vexen: Whenever the Organization needs to know more about a
world, naturally.
Vexen: Every world is unique, with its own terrain, values,
Heartless population—
Vexen: any number of variables that could be turned to our
advantage in the missions ahead.
Roxas: Wait, "every world"? You mean there's more than one?
Vexen: Yes, boy. You didn't think you'd be mulling about here
forever, did you?
Vexen: You will visit many worlds for many reasons...but our
ultimate goal remains the same.
Roxas: Kingdom Hearts.
Vexen: That's right. Now come along.
Day 13: Deeds to Be Done
Lexaeus: ......
Roxas: So, um—
Lexaeus: Do you know what a Limit Break is?
Roxas: No...
Lexaeus: It is the most powerful move at your disposal--one that
only works when you are on your last legs.
Roxas: A Heartless.
Lexaeus: Time for some practical application.
Roxas: Huh?
Roxas: Oww... Mutt muzz zat for!? Nngh...
Lexaeus: There. Now you're on your last legs.
Lexaeus: Let's see you use your Limit Break and defeat that
Heartless.

Lexaeus: Well fought.

Roxas: Yeah?
Lexaeus: Organization members are often asked to conduct solo
missions.
Lexaeus: The only person you can count on out here is yourself.
Roxas: So I've noticed. Nngh...
Lexaeus: You and the Keyblade are invaluable to the Organization.
Lexaeus: With your job, however, comes risk. Each mission will pit
you against more and more Heartless.
Roxas: And I have to face them if we're gonna complete Kingdom
Hearts, right?
Lexaeus: Correct.
Roxas: So what happens when Kingdom Hearts is finished?
Roxas: What good does that do us?
Lexaeus: We will unite with it. You and I will gain hearts of our
own.
Roxas: I don't understand...
Lexaeus: When the time comes, you will.
Lexaeus: In the meantime, there are deeds to be done, and only
you can do them.
Roxas: So you need me.
Lexaeus: Yes.
Roxas: Are they good deeds?
Lexaeus: Good for the Organization.
Roxas: Right...
Lexaeus: ......
Lexaeus: We should return.