Chapter Three: The Force of Darkness

I was completely out of breath. Marluxia had decided to start with physical training. Running, attacking, and guarding blows were what my training was composed of. Right now, I was punching and kicking at what looked like crash dummies that weren't too popular with Vlad the Impaler. Breathing heavily, I stopped moving for a moment.

"How come… I don't get… a weapon?" I panted out.

"Hmmm… good question." He turned and gestured for me to follow. "Shall we?"

It turned out that he was bringing me to Xaldin. Xaldin's eyes were a cloudy and secretive dark purple, and his long black hair matched the theme they created.

"What brings you here?" Xaldin asked in an irritable tone. Either he didn't like newbies like me, or he didn't like Marluxia. Or both.

"Noxe needs a weapon for training. Have anything in mind?"

"It depends… what's his power?" Xaldin brought a good point. All Nobodies had a power. Vexen's was ice, Demyx's was water, Marluxia's was plant life… what was mine?

"Well, it turns out…" Marluxia started.

"You don't know his power?" Xaldin seemed ready to eat us alive. "Go to Demyx. He should be able to help you. When you're done, come back, and I'll give you a weapon." Marluxia started to walk again, presumably toward Demyx. I followed along nervously. When Marluxia stopped walking, we were in the courtyard. There was a small stream running through it, along with several medium-sized trees around its edges. Music from Demyx's sitar was flowing softly through the air.

"Well, well, well! What have we here?" Demyx said in an egotistical tone. "Let me guess…"

"I'll spare myself the boredom. We need to know Noxe's power." Marluxia said. To him, I was probably more trouble than I was worth.

"All right. Take a seat here." He waved his finger toward a spot on the ground in front of him. I sat down as I was told.

"So… how does this work?"

"Just sit calmly. Let your mind drift away. You don't have a worry in the world…" his voice was drifting away. Softer than ever, I heard his voice. It sounded like it was a mile away.

"What do you see?"

Nothing. I saw nothing but the night sky. Around me was an eternal darkness, blacker than the darkest abyss.

"Darkness… I see darkness." I said. Before I could say anything else, I was back in the courtyard. Demyx was speaking to Marluxia.

"You might have to train him more before giving him a weapon. Darkness is probably going to be a toughy." Marluxia sighed.

We returned to the castle grounds to begin training a second time.

"All right. I want you to close your eyes and focus on your power. You got it? All right. Now, I want you to open your eyes and try to use your powers."

"How exactly do I do that?"

"You can't explain it. It… it just happens." Great. My instructor wasn't telling me how to do what I had to do. I decided to try anyway. I opened my eyes and thought. Dark. Black. Indescribable night.

When I opened my eyes, I pointed my finger at a practice dummy and kept thinking. Instantly, a pitch black surge of darkness erupted from my fingertip, blasting the dummy into oblivion. I started freaking out.

"Did you see that? I mean, did you see that? Holy shit!" Marluxia was giving me a smirk.

"Perhaps this won't be so boring after all." When training wrapped up, I went back to my room. Sitting on my bed, I couldn't fall asleep. I was able to make that happen. I had a power that nobody else had. Finally, as the clock struck four, I was able to fall asleep.