Following our battle with the Neoshadow and its Heartless, we reported back to Master Ava to inform her of our success. As the class was dismissed, I approached Master Ava.

"Master Ava, there's something extra that I wish to report regarding our mission" I confessed.

"Ok, what is on your mind, Mathias? From the sound of it, there's something bothering you," Master Ava gently told me.

"Well, it's about Vincent," I began. "When using his Command Form, I could see that some dark energy was used in his attacks. He also seemed to have almost no control over his actions, like the regular Vincent didn't exist."

Master Ava frowned, looking downward at the sand below us, her hands clasped together.

"So, then the Master's warnings were true… Wielders can tap into the darkness…" she muttered to herself, not loudly enough for me to hear.

"Mathias, we Foretellers teach of light as the only way to save the world, but not everyone sees it that way. Vincent may be losing a fight to the darkness, changing him as a person. For now, just be cautious. He may not be doing this intentionally, but if he is, it might become a problem," Master Ava related to me, her hands tightening their grip on each other.

I nodded, but not convinced that Vincent could become an ally of darkness. As I turned to leave, I looked back at Master Ava, a wishful expression on her face as she stared towards the ocean.

"To face the darkness within ourselves… But to what end? There is no light without darkness." I considered, the smell of salt and sound of an ocean world's away faded as I walked into the hallway.

Down the only part of the Academy I had not been to thus far, I found a wooden door with a sign above it reading, "Flowmotion Class". As I reached for the door handle, it swung open slowly, creaking on old hinges. Entering, I looked around the room, alight by candles on metal holdings, the walls of cobblestone creating an atmosphere of calm, but remaining mysterious at the same time. To my surprise, each student in the room was on the floor, sitting in chairs as if they were asleep.

"What is this? Did I miss the nap period?" I pondered aloud, not receiving a response from any of the sleeping students.

My Chirithy started to vibrate, causing me to take it out and look at the message on the screen.

"Have a seat, Mathias," the message read, sent to me from Master Gula, who, along with the students, was fast asleep.

Weirded out, I cautiously sat down in an empty seat, waiting for something to happen. For a few moments, nothing did. Then, I started feeling sleepy, a yawn escaping my mouth.

"Yooou know, there should be an easier way to… to…" I started, but sleep overtook me as I lost consciousness.

At the same time…

"Spiralus, come to me," the booming voice of the Dark Master commanded.

A figure materialized before them, wearing a dark cloak with a golden interior lining, a high collar up to his chin, with an orange mask with a spiral pattern on the right eye covered by a black hood.

"Ask, and you shall receive! Who's today's lucky winner?" Spiralus chuckled coldly.

"I believe it's time to help the seed of darkness sprout within Mathias. Inside the realm of dreams, anything can happen, even to the brightest of wielders," the Dark Master divulged.

"Ah, I knew I would have fun today! So, what's it going to be today? Maybe the classic, 'Give into the darkness!' line, or maybe the, 'Only I can complete your training!' line? So many choices…" Spiralus murmured as he slipped back into the dark portal in which he came from.

The Dark Master smirked, their yellow eyes shimmering from the pitch-black room.

Within the dream world…

I awoke to the florescent light of a lamppost beaming onto my face as I stood up from the floor.

"You know Master, there are better places to nap than on the ground," a voice chimed in above me.

I looked up to see Corrin, my owl Companion sitting on the lamppost, a look of confusion across his face.

"Well, I didn't choose to fall asleep here. Wait a second, where's my armor?" I commented, looking at myself to find I was back in my own body.

"In a dream, you take the form of whatever you truly look like in your heart. Such is the way to dreams, always in flux and motion," Corrin explained, fluttering down from the post to land upon my shoulder.

"Where's Scarlet? Shouldn't she be here as well?" I asked, not seeing her in my line of sight.

"Ah, well you see Master, Scarlet has a habit of being impatient, so she ran off in search of your class. Always must be doing something, that one." Corrin relayed.

"Hmm, we should go after her. Finding my class would be good as well," I nodded, standing up to being my search.

I scanned my surroundings, seeing buildings of dark brown wood, windows of yellow light dotting each building, and multiple neon signs along the doorframes of some. While staring to walk around, something flew past me at a great speed, jumping off the walls and swinging around lampposts.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the wonderful world of Traverse Town!" a boy announced as other flashes of purple light gathered in the plaza, the other students.

The boy looked to be 15 years old, with spikey black hair dashed with blue highlights, wearing a dark blue formal shirt and a black tie, dark green cargo pants, an open blue hoodie, green and red sneakers, and a red crystal tied to a cord around his neck.

"Hmm, all he's missing is the top hat, but I could definitely see him working at a circus!" I thought to myself as I joined the rest of the students.

"Ah ha! Welcome Mathias, we have been waiting for you!" the boy smiled, jumping down from the lamppost with an acrobat's expertise.

"I'm Jaden, one of your classmates. Now, do you have any idea where Master Gula is? We can't find him anywhere!" Jaden asked.

"Woah, slow down. Master Gula is missing? And why would I know where he is?" I questioned him, a bit overwhelmed at Jaden's energetic state.

"Yeah, when we all arrived here, Master Gula was nowhere to be seen. I also knew you would be joining us because Master Gula said as much, but you weren't at the Second District where we came in," Jaden explained quickly.

From the crowd of students near us, a purple streak landed next to Jaden, a young girl of 12, which surprised me. Her wavy ice blue hair draped over one side of her pale face, standing at 4"2, wearing a light blue ruffled skirt and blue ankle boots and socks.

"We have yet to survey the Third District, since this numskull jumped away like a chicken with its head cut off," the girl insulted, getting a pained look from Jaden.

"Sheesh Yuki, for such a young girl, you know how to hit somebody right where it hurts! I was going to check that out but then spotted Mathias here," Jaden rushed, slightly embarrassed.

At that moment, an explosion came from the door leading to the Third District, causing all of us to be blown backwards. Out of the newly created hole in the wall came a figure, clothed in a black cloak and wearing an orange mask, his Keyblade made with a hilt of dark thorns, yellow eyes along the main blade. meeting in a saw blade at the end, its keychain that of a rippled eye as the whole blade emitted a crimson energy.

"Well well well, look what we have here. A bunch of students all in one place without a Master in sight. Talk about lucky!" the figure taunted as the group of students started to recollect themselves.

I stood up as well, readying my Keyblade in my hands to face the strange attacker.

"Who are you? Why do you people keep harassing me and my fellow classmates?" I demanded, a stern look in my eyes.

"Hey buddy, you're in no position to make any demands here. Besides, you wouldn't want your classmates to get hurt, now would we?" he threatened, pointing toward the students behind me.

Thorns were encircling the students, including Jaden and Yuki, but both jumped upward and escaped.

"Let them go stranger, or you're in for a world of hurt," Jaden warned, his tone changing dramatically from his happy-go-lucky tone just a few moments ago.

The stranger chuckled, pointing his Keyblade towards me, not Jaden.

"I will consider stopping, but me and Mathias need to have a little chat first. Tell me, have the Foretellers been wholly truthful with you about the future?" he questioned.

"What do you mean? How are they supposed to know about the future?" I asked, a confused look on Jaden and Yuki's faces as well as mine.

"Ahh. So, that's the case. Well, if you want to find out, why not ask? After all, one of them has already fallen to darkness," the stranger remarked, a gasp coming from the crowd behind us.

'Could it be true? Master Gula told me of a potential traitor within the Foretellers. Argh, I don't know what to believe!' I thought as the stranger stared at me, his head cocked to one side.

"Yes, trust nobody, not even yourself. Darkness lurks around every corner, waiting for an opportunity. Like this!" he yelled as he disappeared, reappearing on the roof behind us and spun towards the trapped students, his Keyblade and body encased in a dark aura.

Before I could move, Yuki dashed forward and blocked his attack barely with a Reflect spell, but he vanished and came from above with a Dark Firaga attack. This hurt Yuki, pushing her into the dome of thorns trapping the other students and out of sight. Using Flowmotion, I boosted off the lamppost next to me and did a swirling dive at the stranger, tackling him against the wall.

"Now the fun begins! For the glory of the Dark Master, I, Spiralus, will release your inner darkness!" Spiralus stated, using his Keyblade to spin me around, kicking me away.

Suddenly, a howl erupted from the nearby alley, and Scarlet, my wolf Companion, lunged at Spiralus, catching him off guard. Jaden, seeing the opportunity, summoned his Keyblade, blue with bright orange and red marks along its crescent blade, a circus tent dangling from the keychain, and slid under Spiralus' legs, knocking him over. He didn't stay down for long as he viciously swung at Jaden with lightning speed, Jaden trying to keep up with blocking.

"ENOUGH!" I shouted as I hurled three bursts of plasma lightning at Spiralus, two hitting him but one blasted Jaden square in the chest, sending both flying to the wall.

"No, no no no! Jaden!" I cried as I ran over to him, seeing that he was out cold, a burn mark around his upper right torso.

"N-ngh, now that's the power I love to see! Darkness hides great power, if you know how to use it," Spiralus mocked gruffly, vanishing into a dark portal that shut as soon as it had opened, also releasing Yuki and the other students.

"I-I don't know what happened, I just…" I began, but felt Yuki push me aside with impressive strength for her age, standing in front of Jaden.

I backed up, the other students staring at me until I bumped into something, falling over and landing on my face. I looked up to see Master Gula, a grim expression showing from under his mask.

"We need to talk," Master Gula told me coldly as he snapped his fingers, Twilight Town disappearing to bring us back to the Flowmotion classroom.

As the other students escorted Jaden's unconscious body out, Master Gula sat at his desk, hands folded over each other.

"Now," Master Gula began. "Start from the beginning. Leave out no detail."

A/N: Hey everyone, sorry about the late update! I have had a bit of personal affairs to deal with, nothing serious. This is probably my longest chapter to date, so please feel free to tell me how I did! Also, this may be a weird question, but does anyone have any suggestions for music I should listen to? Music helps me set the mood for my writing, so suggest away (Doesn't have to KH related!) Another thing is that I have a Tumblr if anyone wants to know ( Swordsman795). As always, have a good morning, afternoon, or night!