"I was born amidst the purple waterfalls.
I was weak, yet not unblessed.
Dead to the world. Alive for the journey.
One night I dreamt a white rose withering,
a newborn drowning, a lifetime loneliness.
I dreamt all my future. Relived my past.
A witnessed the beauty of the beast."

--"Bless the Child", Nightwish

Chapter I

The heart-shaped moon shone down on the vacant city streets. Skyscraper lights and flickering neon signs cast eerie shadows across the asphalt. The only sounds to be heard were the echoing voices of two cloaked men.

The shorter of the two, a blonde teenager with a mullet, gestured energetically as he talked. His companion, a lanky redhead with spiked hair, laughed now and then as he walked.

"So then Larxene starts screaming like crazy," continued the blonde, "and when Lexaeus tries to squash the roach, I say 'No, don't kill Larxene's momma!'"

The redhead folded his arms. "Demyx, man, if Lexaeus wasn't there Larxene would've beaten the snot outta you."

"What? No way, Axel! I could take her!"

"Lightning beats water."

"Whatever! Water drowns cockroach."

"Water doesn't kill roaches, idiot!"

Their laughter echoed through the night air.

"We should head back soon," commented Axel. He jabbed a thumb at the clock tower. "It's 11:30. Curfew's at midnight. Got it memo-"

"Hey look!" Demyx suddenly pointed down a narrow alleyway.

Axel rolled his eyes in annoyance-if there was one thing he hated, it was being interrupted.

Three black catlike creatures with glowing yellow eyes huddled at the end of the alley. Wisps of black and purple smoke hung over them. They sniffed at a limp figure sprawled across the ground.

"Heartless?" Axel exclaimed. "Oh, come on!"

The two darted down the alley preparing to fight the intruders. With a flick of his wrists, Axel summoned a pair of flaming Chakrams.

"Water!" Demyx cried, throwing his hand into the air. Torrents of water materialized to form a blue sitar in his hand.

"Dance, water, dance!" As Demyx plucked the sitar's strings, a wall of water shot up and hit one of the Heartless––it vanished into thin air. Axel swung a Chakram. It boomeranged and sliced through the remaining creatures, banishing them.

"Woo, burn, baby!" Axel yowled. After catching his breath, he turned his attention to Demyx. The blonde was examining the lifeless figure on the ground. It seemed to be the source of the blackish-purple smoke, even though it was clothed in white.

Axel dismissed his Chakrams and walked over to Demyx. "What is it?" he asked.

"It's…it's a girl!" Demyx gently pulled the raven hair away from her closed eyes. Her face was pale and cold. It seemed that the smoke, which Axel could identify as darkness, was seething from a wound on her left side.

"Aw, poor thing!" Demyx cooed. "What should we do with her?"

"I dunno! It's past curfew! Crap, Xemnas is gonna be so pissed. Just leave it. Or open up a portal and throw it in. "

"What? Axel, that's rude! I know! Let's take her to the Superior! That way, we'll have an excuse for being late."

"I guess that'll work." Axel groaned. "Ugh, what a pain." He scooped the girl up in his arms and threw her over his shoulder.

___

"Numbers Eight and Nine are late, Superior," growled Saïx. He scowled in disdain and crossed his arms.

"I realize that," said Xemnas, who was sitting at a large white marble desk and reading. Long blonde hair fell down into his face as he read the Sunday comics. Not that anything made Xemnas laugh-he was reading comics out of boredom. The Superior had almost resorted to reading "Little Orphan Annie" when the door to his office swung open.

"You're late for curfew!" Saïx barked at the newcomers. "Superior is very disappointed in you."

"'Superior is very disappointed in you,'" Axel mocked in a whiney tone. "Don't piss your pants, we're here."

"And we found something!" Demyx piped. He pointed to the humanoid figure slung over Axel's shoulder.

"I see that," Xemnas said calmly.

Saïx glowered at Axel. "Why did you bring it here? How dare you! It could be a danger to the Superior!"

"Can it," Axel said.

"It's a girl we rescued from some Heartless," Demyx explained.

Xemnas cocked his head in mild curiosity at the darkness misting up around the girl's body. "Bring her to my desk."

Axel set her down on the marble desk. Xemnas examined the odd formation of gashes on her left side. They oozed darkness instead of blood––a curious phenomenon. He put an ear to her bosom. In spite of the absence of a heartbeat, she was breathing. Xemnas's head snapped up in recognition.

"She's a Nobody."