Chapter: 1/10

Words: 3472

AN: Okay, guys. I know, I shouldn't be starting another chapter story, but I just can't help myself anymore. This song came on and my writing mood came back and suddenly, I could write nothing but this story! I don't even know if I'll continue playing with it, it's just here for me to mess with. And if people like it in return? That's just perfect for me. Remember, reviews are worth a million dollars a piece, and if I had the money, I'd give it to you all, easy. Hearts for everyone! I love reviewers, but not more than I do those who favorite or just read this story. As long as you read it, I'm happy.

WARNINGS: Ienzo POV, possible OOC, AU from Birth By Sleep, some foul language.

Day One: Ever a Surprise

I had never once imagined that I would be chosen at such a young age to go and become one of Master Ansem's apprentices. I'm currently nineteen, making me the youngest of the group and quite possibly the most intelligent. I've been an honor roll student for my entire school career and it seems that Ansem took it upon himself to have me as his final underling, and I'm so happy that it's me and not some snot-nosed brat.

Upon walking into the grandiose castle, I soon realized that this place would become confusing if I didn't work at remembering where everything was. I took a few steps into the foyer and looked around, my black hair, cropped around my face, swishing a little with the movement.

"Hey, little dude!" A gruff voice called and it took me a moment to locate it's owner. Standing at the top of a grand staircase, split into two on either side of a long, over-looking balcony, was a man with auburn hair streaked with gray in a few places. He seemed only about half a foot taller than me and wore a lab coat over a pair of colorful swim trunks and a black shirt that looked almost like a wetsuit. Looked like someone had been busy in a pool or something. Little did I know at the time that there had been a wave pool installed in one of the many basements just for this man.

"Er...my name's Ienzo." I replied, a little unsure of what to make of him. When I thought of Ansem's Apprentices, well, I really thought they'd all be more...elitist. This seemed odd, even for a 'crazy scientist'.

"Ahh, you're the new half-pint in town, then! Welcome to the Castle!" He smirked as he descended the stairs, heading up to me and clapping a hand onto my shoulder with a grin, while taking my hand and giving it a noodle-arm shake. I couldn't hide my confusion and he set to explaining, "I'm the second in command, as far as just us goes, third if you count Ansem, but like...we don't count him often. He just gives us things to do or try and we do it. Anyway, you probably want to get to your room and put your stuff down, don't you? Looks like you're ready to move in, alright." And he was right; I had brought everything I could with me, and that included clothes, books, lamps, notebooks, everything. I couldn't just leave things behind, could I? I even brought a fresh journal to catalog events and keep track of thoughts and things.

"Uh..yeah..."

"Then we'll take you in to see Ansem, don't worry. You'll get to meet the rest of the team, as well."

Well, I'd never been part of a team before. I'm used to working by myself due to the grade-mooches around my old school. Suddenly, he clapped loudly and I blinked, then he shouted for someone. "Aeleus! Need your help, man, dude's gotta shitload of baggage!"

It took a few minutes before someone with fairly orange hair came out, dressed in basketball shorts and a baggy T-shirt with RG on the front. To put it truthfully, he could have definitely been the Hulk if we painted him green and gave him ripped purple pants and dyed his hair. Especially compared to me, this new team member must be a victim of Elephantiasis. It was the only way he could be that tall, right? And no, it isn't just because I'm extremely short. I don't make excuses for myself.

Anyway, all three of us snatched up my things and made to carry them up the impressive stairs, but as we worked up them, I swear I could feel eyes on me, looking me over and checking me out. When I turned to see who it was, I noticed Braig's amber eyes turned ahead and that he was next to me. That left the blue eyed monster behind me. I turned even more to look at him and took a misstep, plummeting backwards into him. I find myself glad that Braig had all of my breakable items, before Aeleus nearly tossed all of the things of mine he carried to the stairs just so he could wrap those strong arms around me and brace himself to be sure neither of us fell down the stairs. His heart was racing; my head was right up against it. That was probably just the fact that I fell, though. After helping me up and everything, we were back to getting to my new room.

"A'ight, that one's Norty's room," Braig pointed to the first room, marked with 'Xehanort' on the door, "This one's mine." The one next to it had all sorts of odd things on it; flowers with smiley faces in the middle, trippy peace signs, a big green alien with large black eyes, and in the name slot was 'Braig', which had the 'I' scratched out. "Next one's Dilan's," He pointed to the door; it had more stickers but they had been scraped at and turned indiscernible. "Here's Even's." This door had snowflakes and odd faces scratched into it; more than likely Braig's doing. "And here's the Big Man's, number Fiiiiive." He pointed to yet another pristine door with 'Aeleus' as the only thing that marked it. "And finally, that brings us to your room, squirt." Of course, my door was nice and clean, except for the 'HALF-PINT' scratched in underneath my name.

"I'm not a squirt. h I huff indignantly, furrowing my brow.

"Whatever, Shorty, just open the door. You're the only one with hands." A sigh and I nod, opening it up and gaping at how large it is, and how it appeared to only be made for one person. There was a large picture window that looked out over a rather lush, hidden garden that almost looked like a miniature forest. It was nice to have something natural in a place meant for science. The bed was pushed up against one wall, beside the window, and even a window seat, plus a desk and chair and a huge closet, and a dresser. Everything was supplied for me, and I couldn't have been more speechless.

Braig pushed past me and began unloading the boxes in his arms, setting my lamp up for me, along with my radio. I didn't realize that Aeleus had gotten into the room until I noticed just how close I now stood to the auburn male before me. I moved to set my things down on the bed, letting Aeleus put things on the floor at the foot of the bed, and turned to look at Braig.

"Now, should I unpack or go see Ansem?"

"Mm...I 'unno. Prolly go see Ansem, coz I doubt he'll want to wait all day for you to pack all yer stuff away. You can get Blockhead here to help ya get situated later." And with that, he waved a hand at Aeleus who took his leave, a frown firmly pressed on his lips, and we took a long trek to Ansem's office. If anything, I will definitely be getting my exercise on this little excursion. We finally made it and pushed open the doors to find him bent over a report, double checking it with a nervous-looking man standing at the other side of the desk, wringing his hands. "Hey, Master Ansem! Newbie's here!"

The blond man looked up and removed his glasses, smiling warmly and welcoming us into the study.

"Welcome, welcome. I assume you are Ienzo, then?"

"Yes, sir." I smiled as he shook my hand; much less noodle-y.

"Well, I'm glad you could make it on such short notice. Braig, go round up the other boys and we'll introduce everyone." And with that, Braig left just the three of us.

"I've already met him and Aeleus," I offered with a little smile.

"And now you can meet Even." The older man gestured to the one across from him, who gave a nervous smile and offered his hand. It was probably the most passive handshake I had ever experienced in my life. I smiled just the same, though, and he gave a weak one in return.

"You called for us, Master Ansem?" A soft voice came from behind me and I turned a little to see two more men behind me. The one who evidently spoke seemed to be fairly dark-skinned with silvery hair.

"Yes, Xehanort. Our newest member has arrived, why don't you and Dilan come greet him?" Ansem suggested, and both boys moved over to me. I cringed a little when this Xehanort took my hand; there was something odd about him that I'm not sure I like. Then it became Dilan's turn; his handshake was firm and strong, nearly breaking my hand in the process. It actually really hurt. This one had short dreds, nearly purple hair, and violet eyes.

"Nice ta meetcha, Pup." He grinned, soon shoving a large hand into my hair and ruffling it. I backed up until I felt someone behind me and looked up; it was Master Ansem.

"There, now that we're all introduced, Aeleus can help you get settled in. I expect you in the library after dinner; someone will show you where that is." And with that, we all dispersed, myself heading up to my room to find that Aeleus had returned. He had worked diligently to organize my things on my desk, putting books on a cart he had pulled out from nowhere.

"What are you doing with my books...?" I questioned, and that has to be the first time I have ever heard him speak.

"All books go to the library." He said it in a deep, calm voice, something that would lead you to think that he was secretly a big teddy bear. I nodded a little and aided him; I brought a truckload of books due to my reading habits. I even re-read books over and over again. When he moved to put my two-in-one Through The Looking Glass and Alice in Wonderland book on the cart, though, I snagged it away and shook my head.

"Can I just keep this one, please? It's really important to me." And I always liked to have it in my room. It's the one book my mother ever actually bought me. I only wish I could say it was signed, but that would only cut off any reason at all to damage it by touching the pages with human hands. Not that I'd let much else touch it, if that had been the case. It would be inside a very nice safe, tucked somewhere secretive.

I ended up getting a long stare, those blue eyes eating the details of my face and I realized that I was blushing slightly. Stupid expanding blood vessels. There's nothing about this that would make for a blush, other than the seemingly uncontrolled scrutiny of the older man's gaze. Finally, he gave a slow nod and opened up the largest drawer of my desk, the bottom most one, and allowed me to place the book down inside it. The receptacle was consequentially shut after I packed my journals into it and once more I felt eyes on me. However, instead of blaming the Hulk beside me, I turned my attention to the door. There stood Dilan, smirking a little.

"Thought you two might need some help." He purred, leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed confidently over his chest. If there was one thing I'd noticed about both Braig and Dilan, it was that they both seemed to just ooze confidence, while Xehanort dripped something akin to foolish malice, Even drizzled anxiety all over the place and Aeleus...well, I couldn't pin him. He hadn't even touched me except that one time; I had yet to have a formal handshake.

The day wore on with Dilan and Aeleus helping me to get settled in, but about halfway through Dilan was called away to make dinner. Truth be told, I felt a little uncertain about eating his food, but I could give it a shot. Soon, Aeleus gave me some time to myself so I could go about working on my private articles of clothing and hanging things up. I still didn't know what to say about him, but I figured I would think of something soon.

At dinner, everyone sat in certain spots. Ansem held the front of the table, with Xehanort on his right, followed by Braig and Dilan. On his left sat Even, with Aeleus and then me. The table seemed much longer than was needed by only seven people, but I suppose to each his own, right?

At first, I was fairly uneasy about eating Dilan's food, but after a little bit I was able to fill my food needs. Much to my surprise, the chicken scampi tasted just as good as it looked; and it very nearly looked professional. Good cooking always inspired a competitive feeling in me; I'm a very decent cook, if I do say so, myself. My mom always had me cooking, anyway. So, being me, I decided to say something.

"Can I cook sometime?" A fork clattered to its plate and everyone but Dilan and Aeleus looked at me with wide eyes. Aeleus simply turned and looked down, his blue gaze intense. Dilan's amethyst eyes narrowed.

"Are you saying that I'm a bad cook?" He growled, his English right on target for the first time since I met him. I started to speak but Braig cut me off.

"Dil, you know you're a good cooker." he grinned, but if Kookie here thinks he can outcook you, we should use our day off tomorrow to decide who gets to make our three square, how's that? We'll all be the judges."

While I agreed with his methods, I had a feeling that, at the very least, Braig was already biased. I nodded when he turned to me to get my input and the grin that rippled onto his face could have split it in half.

"Whaddya say, Dil?" He looked rather expectant.

"A'ight, I can handle the half-pint." He seemed confident. The rest of dinner wasn't near as exciting, but when we were done, I followed Master Ansem to the library. I didn't hear any of the others out this way, but when we made our way into the gargantuan library, I found myself taken aback by the sight before me.

There sat Aeleus, the overstuffed arm chair that held him seemingly custom-tailored to his large body, reading a rather large book. Upon closer inspection, I found he was reading a book from the cart that had been full of my books: Othello by Shakespeare. To be honest, if he was both reading and understanding it, then his brains must have worked even with his brawn. It almost had me gaping, but I quickly caught myself and looked up to Ansem.

"So…what am I to do in here?"

"You are to be the attendant for this library. Put books back, get books down for the others and myself, check them out, and crack down on those who keep the books over the allotted time period you give them. I shall leave you in charge of the time, but I want you to do one thing for me: make sure that you do not give Braig and Dilan 'bogus' times. They tend to check things out and take their time, but around three, four weeks should be adequate."

"F-four weeks?" I didn't think I had the patience for that. Chewing my lip a little, I turned and hooked my thumb at the reading man behind me. "And for him and the others?"

"Aeleus tends to do most of his reading in here, but if he must check out a book…give him around a week. Even can have books out as long as he needs, so no time limit is necessary. As for Xehanort…he's usually fairly good at abiding by any time limit, just try not to give him a day or two. Around a week is fine for him, as well."

"Alright…and am I safe to presume that your books have no time limit?"

"Why, yes, Ienzo. I believe that is a correct presumption. So, prattle off to me what you know."

"Well," I started, thinking over the past information carefully for just a moment before going on, "Braig and Dilan get three to four weeks, Xehanort about a week, and Even and yourself get as long as you need." He smiled, "Aeleus doesn't generally take his reading out of the library, but when he does, he gets a week, like Xehanort."

"Very good. I knew there was a reason that I had chosen you as my next apprentice. Now, you may go ahead and shelve your books and then feel free to spend your evening how you wish, be it reading or practicing for your contest tomorrow. However, I do plan on keeping one of you as my chef, so do not feel threatened. If a tie is reached, I will definitely split the duties between the two of you, that way he will have a week to impress us with his cooking, and you will take the next week."

"Ah, that's very fair of you, Master Ansem." I smiled a little, "but I would prefer to start the month off, if I could."

"Ahh, yes, well…we can work something out between the three of us. But this is only if a tie is achieved between the two of you. I expect someone of your caliber to beat him, don't let me down, Ienzo. I have 2000 munny on you." And with that, he walked off, his cloaks rippling and dragging behind him.

"They're really betting on this?" I questioned, one eyebrow raised. It was at that point that, once more, I felt eyes boring holes into my back. I turned completely in order to catch him, but when I looked at him, Aeleus was completely immersed in his book and did not appear to have looked up since we came in. It felt weird to admit it, but I didn't think I would be able to catch him looking at me. Now, I sat about working on my shelving duties, searching for where each book would go and climbing the ladder to put it there. I should say, now, that the ceilings in the castle were incredibly high, and that the ladder was most likely taller than Braig and I standing on Aeleus' shoulders. It's almost too obnoxious to catalog, but I was not about to back down.

Aeleus didn't leave until I was ready to lock up for the night, and he ended up checking out the book to finish it. He looked very close to being done, though, and it made me feel a little more connected to him, somehow.

We walked the halls back to our rooms, side by side, in total and complete silence. It would have been creepy, what with the passageways paved in darkness, the only light being that of the torches set up to keep the light low, but something about walking with such a large, able man made me feel much better about the situation. Sure, I knew I couldn't possibly ever be his size, but having him around could definitely be useful. After getting to our side-by-side rooms, he gave me a small, acknowledging nod and a slight wave before heading into his room. I returned the gesture and entered my own, going straight for my lamp and turning it on. I brought out the first journal, a hard-back leather bound book no larger than a half-sheet of paper.

Dear Diary –

You are the only one allowed to know that you are a diary. Everyone must think that you are my journal, because men do not keep diaries. I moved in today; I still have some clothes-hanging to do, but for the most part I feel pretty good about this. I think this is going to be a good thing.

Tomorrow I have a food battle with Dilan, one of the men I'm to work with. It's also our day off, and I expect to spend some of it reading and spending time in MY library. Because, yes, it is now mine.

Anyway, it's about time to get to that hanging, so I'll be writing more in you tomorrow. I hope you don't mind. Goodnight!

AN: Alright, I hope that was okay! First chapter, yay! I'll definitely be working on more of this as I go. I'll be seeing you all next chapter!