"Roxas? Axel?"
I roamed the strangely empty castle in search of my friends.
That's weird.
We never have missions this late in the day...
The sun had just set, blanketing the World That Never Was in an eerie silence.
Then I heard it.
"...S... Stop..."
I spun on my heels towards the sound, only to see a white, lackluster bookshelf.
I don't remember seeing that there before...
I tried to pull out one of the books, but It wouldn't budge.
Odd...
I pulled harder.
The entire bookshelf swung to the side, revealing a hallway.
... What?
I heard soft whimpering from inside.
The voice sounded like a young man about my physical age.
I slowly began to trek down the hall, only looking back when the door closed behind me.
After what seemed to be an eternity of walking, I came to a fork in the path.
One had bits of blood, human blood, sprinkled here and there on the walls and floor, while the other had a desk covered in papers and such alongside bits of a black, dried up residue on the walls and floors, except much more prominent than in the path adjacent to it.
I heard footsteps coming from said hallway, causing me to panic and hide under the desk, praying I wouldn't be seen.
I heard Saix click his tongue in annoyance from the other hallway.
"You are truly a disappointing creature. Even the puppet had move give to our demands than you do. Oh well." Saix drawled on.
"I don't... Care..." The voice from before grunted in pain.
I saw Saix pass the desk, only his feet visible, along with a pair of dangling legs and arms that must belong to the boy he was carrying.
A few minutes later, Saix passed the desk again, his limp cargo absent.
Then he stopped, stepping in front of the desk.
I swallowed the gasp that had formed in my throat, curling up more.
"Test three hundred and fifty eight, subject still refuses to kill any target. It's growing weak from the lack of nourishment. Minor priority." His voice was accompanied by the sound of a pencil on paper.
'He's writing a report...' I realized.
Saix dropped his pencil onto the desk with a small 'tink' and walked off again.
After I was sure he was gone, I crawled out of my hiding space.
There were a few new puddles of the black residue, assumedly from the boy Saix was carrying.
I looked at the desk more closely, seeing that most of the reports were written in the back residue.
On top of them all was a picture of a boy.
He was wearing what appeared to be a black, red, and purple body suit along with a helmet with tinted grey glass along with two red markings on the front that looked a lot like eyes.
In his hands was .
I slowly lifted the picture, eying the lettering in the corner.
'Day one. Subject No. II..' I read.
I put the picture down, trekking down the hallway Saix had emerged from.
After a bit of walking, I came to this room that appeared to be a combination of a laboratory and a prison.
One half of the room contained a large computer, and the other accommodated a jail cell.
A figure was lying on their back in the jail cell, their chest moving up and down with labored breaths.
I stepped closer, causing the figure to stiffen.
"I already told you a million times, I don't care if I starve to death, I'm not killing anyone!" He snapped at me.
He thinks I'm Saix.
I find that a little insulting.
"I'm not Saix." I spoke quietly.
He slowly sat up, a puddle of the black residue pooling under him.
He had violet hair spiked in such a way he looked a lot like Sora, piercing red eyes, and ivory skin.
His expression was one of stoic indifference, a dull, lifeless look in his eyes as he looked me over.
He looked quite thin, his ribs slightly poking through his bodysuit.
Despite that, he still was quite muscled, the tight suit outlining his four pack.
As soon as his eyes landed on my face, his eyes went wide.
"...So you're Xion..." His voice was softer now, his gently tone not fitting his abused and battered appearance at all.
"...How do you know my name...?" I asked in a timid voice.
"I know a lot of things." He smiled a small smile that was barely visible on his face.
"... Who are you and why is Saix doing this to you...?" I asked, taking another hesitant step towards the cell.
"My name is Toharis. But all of the Organization members who know of my existence call me 'Replica No. II.' As for why..." He trailed off.
He turned his entire body towards me.
"He wants me to kill his captives and eat their hearts. I keep refusing to. He keeps beating me." He ran a hand through his hair that had small patches where the black, blood-like substance seeped from his head and had dried, matting his spiky hair down.
"...Eat hearts...?" I tilted my head.
"... That's why I'm so thin. I was created to eat the hearts of others and to have a lust for blood and the screams of my victims..." He paused, moving to lie on his back.
"But that isn't the case. I have a conscious... But now I suffer for not being a brainless animal." He explained.
His blackish blood stained the floor of his cell, not one clean spot left on the floor.
I walked over, my hand resting on one of the cell bars.
I eyed the bars.
They were spaced out enough for me to shimmy through, so that's just what I did.
I set foot on the dried blood, eyeing Toharis with concern.
He looked up at me.
"Huh. Maybe I'll be small enough to fit through myself in a few months." He mused, his gaze moving to the lackluster ceiling.
I eyed over his injuries.
He had numerous cuts and bruises all over, and it was clear that he had washed his own blood off his clothing numerous times.
His face and general build reminded me of Sora's, minus his muscular, yet somewhat slender frame.
I gently put a hand above where his heart should be.
No heartbeat.
He looked at me questioningly.
"So you're a Nobody...?" I tilted my head.
He shook his head.
"I'm a replica of two different people... That is all I wish to say on the matter." He sighed.
I jumped, hearing footsteps approaching the room.
"S-Sorry, I have to go..." I eyed the hall, squeezing through the bars again.
He simply nodded, resting his head down again.
I quickly summoned a corridor of darkness and walked through it, and into my room.
It had turned nighttime while I was down there, the sky a darker black than usual.
I laid down on my bed, feeling a tinge if regret for not doing anything.
I closed my eyes, drifting off into the black void called Sleep.