Ok, another chapter after another long time.

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My first mission began with a rude awakening.

"Dxamanaaaaaa! Dxamanaaaaa!"

Demyx wasn't the type of person to knock on the door; instead, he just lets himself in and his voice does the rest of the announcing of his presence for you. I was still asleep when he entered, so when I jolted from bed, my head immediately started to bang with a headache.

"First mission! Get up!"

I rubbed my head. "What time is it, sir?" Even though Demyx was one of the friendlier of the bunch, I still had to call him "sir"; this odd look would cross his face when I disobeyed orders. He took what he did very seriouslym surprisingly.

"Five in the morning, actually." He grinned as he swept the covers off me with a flourish. "You get used to getting up super early in the mornings. Trust me."

Many who knew anything about Nobodies would put up a decent argument about them not needing to eat or sleep or do any of the things normal people do...but they have to. After all, they're just bodies. The only thing they lack is their sense of right and wrong and their emotions. So when Demyx shoved me toward the kitchen, ignoring my slumping figure and my complaints, I began to believe this fact was true. Although he knew what it was like to be this tired, he lacked the compassion to actually throw a few words of sympathy my way, beyond "Just stand up and force yourself to walk!"

After I had shoved a few bites of cold, bland food in my mouth, gotten dressed, straightened my hair, and put my hood up and walked myself to the door, it was only five thirty. Instead of anyone to congratulate me on getting this far, there was only Xemnas.

I winced at the sight of his strict face, a face usually reserved for when I did something wrong. However, his voice held not even a hint of anger when he spoke, only that monotone he adopted when getting ready to try and explain something.

"I want you to go to this world," he explained as a portal appeared with the flick of his wrist, "And capture as many Heartless as you can find. Fifty, at the least." Xemnas snorted at the sight of my bewildered expression. "If you've been progressing as satisfactorily as your trainers have said, that should be simple for you."

"F-fifty, then..." I managed a confident smile, which he brushed off with a narrowing of his eyes and a sideways tilt of his head. "Easy, Superior, easy. I can do that."

"It was easy for Number Thirteen. It should be easy for you." He nodded toward the portal. "You have ten seconds to step inside."

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It took me a while, but I finally recognized the world I was in.

"Wonderland?! From 'Alice In Wonderland'?!" I grinned and bounced a little as I ran towards the nearest forest. "Alright! So cool!"

Before I could prepare myself, however, ten Heartless were standing in front of me in a second. I shivered, backing up towards the entrance. Summon your weapons, stupid! I flexed my hands several times, but the familiar sheets of metal refused to return. I bit my lip and gazed back towards the yellow eyes which were staring at me hungrily.

"Need some help?"

I turned at the sound of the lilting voice, but there was no one there.

"Um...y-yeah! I do! Uh..."

In an instant, a chubby, striped cat was lounging on the rocks in front of me. He tossed his grinning head in his hands up and down for a few seconds before tossing it back on his head. "You certainly look different. Nothing as I've ever seen before."

My eyes were darting from the Cheshire Cat to the advancing Heartless and back again. "You mean...none of the others have ever been here?"

"What others? I know lots of others." The Cat's grin seemed to widen even further. "Tell me what others you mean."

"The-the-Organization XIII! Do you know them?!"

Slowly, he seemed to fade back into the leaves. "No, I haven't. Or maybe I have? Good luck on the shadows you're fighting, though."

I couldn't stare at his remaining grin for too longer, though; the Heartless pounced and I fought them off as best I could.

I had been told that I would be picked up as soon as I reached fifty captures, but I lost count at ten because they came so fast that counting wasn't worth it anymore. My arms were screaming after several hours of whacking Shadow after Shadow, Soldier after Soldier...

And then they all disappeared.

I dismissed my weapons with a groan, stumbling backwards to catch myself on an enormous flower. The special ability I had been taught that would catch Heartless rather than killing them drained almost all of my energy with every flick of my wrist it took to make it happen. This wasn't true! I was prepared for this, wasn't I? All that training I received...don't tell me I need more!

"Hey! Who're you?!"

I looked up to find myself staring in the biggest and bluest pair of eyes I had ever seen.