In a bid to keep my new students from having to put up with my irritable reaction, Mickey waited for me at the base of Yen Sid's tower and told me he'd give me some time before he actually picked them up. It's probably just as well, since the first thing I did once I got to the Keyblade Graveyard was, full in the knowledge that no one except maybe Terra would hear, shout obscenities, profanities and other such things, most of which I'm fairly certain I'm not allowed to put into a story that a great many people are going to read.

It didn't accomplish much, but it made me feel a bit better and it gave Neku the time he needed to finish work on my very own tower. As I'd said, it was not ornate. I'm not a very big believer in being showy, preferring to keep things practical instead. As a result, my tower ended up being nothing more than a hollow stone tower with a staircase inside allowing access to the various floors.

Neku had helpfully added bedrooms and other such conveniences, which was useful since I had the impression I was going to be here a while.

The top of the tower was where most of the action was, and is, happening. Knowing in advance what I'd likely be doing, Neku had created what appeared to be three large magnifying glasses, each one with the name of one of my students engraved above it. At the moment they were clear, showing the stone wall they were mounted on, but once they were in the realm of sleep they'd be used to keep an eye on them.

In mute concession to the fact that I'd have complained otherwise, Neku had also transplanted my favourite chair and laptop here, and even somehow – I don't want to know how – connected it to the internet. I don't exactly get the best speeds out of it, but given that it's the first time any world in the Lanes Between has ever had internet access, I'm not actually surprised. I was more amazed Neku had got it to work actually, since he's... not exactly skilled with technology.

Beyond that there was little else there. Other chairs scattered about for the guests we'd soon have of course, and after I specifically requested it a central table that mapped all known worlds in the Lanes Between. Readers would have recognised all but a few, the unrecognised ones either falling into the category of 'also added due to me' or 'not yet appearing'.

No I'm not telling you what the ones I made appear are. They're there because I decided to visit them, but much like my own world, they shouldn't actually be there. Neku made a few arrangements to protect them from the various things other worlds have to put up with, so most can't even see them.

There were several floors in the tower that had no real use, designed more to be receptive to my magic so I could create any scenario I wanted, or just outfit them for whatever purpose I needed. One of them quickly saw some use running a few magical simulations so I could get back in practise with my own Keyblade. I couldn't have my students outstripping me now, could I?

Eventually Mickey did stop by, first because he was carrying a hefty tome from Yen Sid, and also because he'd brought along Jiminy, Axel and Demyx, and it was at this point that Mickey made it known that he wanted to chronicle this adventure too.

"It's for the completeness of it," he explained. "Neku already gave me copies of the story you wrote covering your adventures, and another for Roxas too. He said something about editing out certain details, but I've looked through, it's all there."

"The kind of details he edited out wouldn't be noticable," I told him. "I know what they are, they're not important as such."

"Well, if you're sure. Anyway, I asked Jiminy to come along to help ya write it up, keep a journal and all, like always."

"Right," Jiminy agreed, hopping from Mickey's shoulder into my outstretched hand. "But I figure if you've got three students, I'm going to need a few extra pairs of eyes, so I asked the King to bring along a few of our friends to help out."

"And that's why we're here," Axel finished. "Gotta say Liam, this place of yours wasn't what I expected. Thought you'd have something a bit more flashy."

"Next time I have Neku knock up something I'll remember to have him consult you about the design then," I chuckled. "I'm not really bothered by it myself, but I guess I have to keep up appearances."

"You're the reason we're all still around, Liam," Demyx said. "You've gotta have the look too."

"I'll sort something out later. You might as well come on up, there's nothing much on the lower floors. At least not yet. I've not really found anything to put there yet."

"I'll leave ya to it," Mickey said instead. "Now I know you've cooled off a bit, I better go pick up the boys."

"Hey, Mickey," I called to him with a grin. "Surprise 'em. Don't tell them why you need them or where you're taking them. Let me handle it."

"Whatever you say, Liam. Your call." He paused, then added. "But y'know, the twins might call foul for bias."

"Wha- bias? On what?"

Mickey gave me a sly look and just said, "I'm pretty sure I recall a certain comment you made when writing your first story about a crush you have on someone. Who was it now-"

"Yes, alright, thank you!" I interrupted, turning red. "And don't anyone make any jokes about anything going on between a teacher and student!"

"Would we do a thing like that?" Axel asked innocently. Demyx just burst out laughing.

I admit, I'm not much of a host, particularly when something's on my mind. Also particularly so when I have a book I want to read. Since Yen Sid's book neatly dealt with the issues on my mind, it was near impossible to get my attention.

I thought I had at least some idea of what had to be done, but after just a few pages of that book I started to wonder if I wasn't in over my head. It looked almost like I was going to have to approach things in a completely fresh way, and it also looked like the same would hold true for Sora, Riku and Xion as well.

Furthermore I came to realise that I was going to have to depend heavily on my on magic to prepare them for what lay ahead before I let them anywhere near the Realm of Sleep for which they were headed, and that once they were on the way there it was almost completely out of my hands – except in certain circumstances. Such as say, if one of them was in critical danger.

You see, the Mark of Mastery exam itself is not something predefined as such. Each Master has his or her own way of assessing such things, their own standards and their own choice of trials. Despite this however there are guidelines, a list of points agreed on by previous Masters lost to the depths of history, that define what is and is not permissible. If something unexpected cropped up it was up to the testing Master to decide how to proceed – Eraqus, as is well known, chose not to intervene when Xehanort influenced a part of the test Terra, Aqua and I took, but he could have chosen to call it off and reset.

If a student was to be found imperilled beyond their immediate capabilities and those of any they were with at the time, then again a Master could chose to call it off, or intervene in his own way, so long as the student did not perish due to the circumstances. A test could be done in real-world situations, but it was deemed imperative that such an event not come to pass. Given my friendship with all three of my prospective students, I didn't think I'd have anything to worry about there.

There was however thing I did not like. I knew Sora still held Saisha's book, and though I devoured the rules thoroughly in the hopes I'd find something to the contrary, it seemed it was completely allowed for him to take that book with him and even use it within the Realm of Sleep. I decided to have strong words with him about that – I know I tended to rely on Neku a bit more than was probably good for me, but I was determined not to let him follow that example.

"Hey – nose outta the book," Axel interrupted my reading. "They just arrived. Mickey's dropped them not far from here and left again."

"Away from the windows then everyone. I think I'm going to give them their first test. If Mickey's done what I asked, they have no idea why they're here, who they're seeing or what to expect, they've just been told to come here. I locked the tower doors earlier, and all the ones on the way up as well."

"What for?" Demyx asked me.

"Simple. They'll have to unlock the front doors to get in, of course. Now I'm going to find out how they think. Whether they'll ignore the locked doors on the way up, or if they'll unlock those too to search them. I'm also going to have illusory enemies appear on their way up – a few Heartless, a Nobody or two, maybe even some Unversed to really throw them off. It'll give me a chance to see if they've been keeping in practise, who favours magic, darkness and other such things. Gotta know what I'm dealing with, right?"

"Well make it quick," Demyx said. "They're at the doors already. It looks like the twins are arguing over something."

Sora and Xion, in case you're wondering. It had become a habit among everyone who knew them to tall them the twins, mostly because they delighted in making everyone work to figure out which of them was which.

It didn't take me all that long to create the illusions, which at first glance weren't even there. Arranged to appear just like the real things, only when one of them got close enough. Once they were in place, I locked the door at the top of the staircase, turned on the three looking-glasses for each of them and watched.

"No way, how come you always get to do it," one of the twins was saying.

"'cause I'm the one who woulda got the Keyblade if it hadn't been for Liam," the other, identified by that statement as Sora, replied.

Riku gave an exasperated sigh, called out Way to the Dawn and unlocked the front door. Sora and Xion both turned to him.

"Oh, stop that," he told them. "If I hadn't done anything you'd have argued all day. Are you coming or not?"

They shared a look, then with a Keyblade each the twins followed Riku. They had an interesting choice of Keyblades – Sora of course held Oathkeeper, as he had done ever since Kairi had turned her good luck charm into keychain. I'd used it before then, but it meant more to him.

Xion meanwhile had elected to use Sleeping Lion for his Keyblade's form. Since I'd left the two of them most – not all, but most – of the chains I'd collected along the way, it wasn't surprising to see one of them had it, but I was left intrigued by his choice.

As they ascended the tower I started to get an idea of what they were like. All three of them were a little rusty, having not really had much of a chance to keep in practise and even struggling when faced with three opponents all facing them separately.

Their own fighting styles soon emerged though. Riku, having previously been given access to a wide array of magic by me, favoured its use until he closed in on the phantom enemies, while Sora preferred to balance the two and Xion almost never bothered with it at all.

Xion also had a tendency to lag behind, showing a curiosity about the contents of every room on the way up, at least until Sora came back down and dragged him back up. Riku barely noticed except to complain slightly under his breath.

"Unversed?" Riku exclaimed at one point. "What're they doing back?"

"Aren't they the ones who appeared when Vanitas was around?" Xion asked.

"That's them," Sora agreed, batting an Archraven aside. "They showed up when Liam created a second Vanitas from the Data-Sora too. Some idiot must have copied him." Then he paused for a moment, went, "Huh?" and took out the grass-covered book of his, reading something in it. "Hey, guys! They're not real."

"What? Are you kidding me?" Riku called back down. "They certainly feel real enough when they hit you back."

"Saisha says they're just very well crafted illusions."

"Neku," I murmured.

"Already on it," his voice replied.

"That's strange," Sora went on. "She says she can't tell us anything else because another book just started to interfere."

"Another book, huh?" Riku said thoughtfully. "Anyone else want to guess who's waiting for us up top?"

"He wouldn't be here would he?" Xion replied. "I mean what reason would he have for coming all the way out here?"

"I dunno. One way to find out."

"Sorry Liam," Neku's voice told me. "Best I could do on short notice. I wasn't expecting her to intervene."

"Nah, we should have thought of it," I said. "We still get to surprise them with what they're here for," I went on, watching as they continued to handle the illusory opponents. When the glasses told us they were almost right outside I turned them off, waited and listened.

There was the muffled sound of another argument, ended by Riku's voice raised over them again, "Cut that out, will you? I'll do it again."

"Ah, boys," I greeted them from across the tower room. "Nice of you to join me at last."

"I knew it," Riku smirked.

"Axel! And Demyx too!" Xion exclaimed immediately running to join them.

"Don't forget me now," Jiminy added, pausing in his work on the journal.

"How could we forget you?" Sora asked. "If it weren't for you, we'd never remember what we'd done. But what are you all doing here? Are you here trying to figure out who put this tower here?"

"Nope. Neku put it here, at my request," I explained. "I needed someplace out of the way."

"But what for?"

"You mean you haven't figured it out yet? Riku should know – he overheard me mention it a while back."

Riku looked thoughtful again, then started back. "You? You're gonna..."

"Yep! Congratulations to the three of you. You just became my students."

The surprised looks they wore almost made up for having lost the argument with Mickey and Yen Sid.