The following morning the Replica found his way downstairs after nearly getting lost a few times. Surprising, considering most of the doors still wouldn't open and the ones that did were usually just to a room, not hall or stairway.

Once he eventually got to the first floor, every turn he took seemed to circle right back to the same door, which turned out to lead to the kitchen. Did that Rachel do that somehow? Trapped him in a loop so he could only go to one place? Great way to start the day off: irritated. But the kitchen was empty. Food was steaming on the table but there was no one there. There was no evidence anyone had been there either. No used plates or silverware on the counter, no dirty dishes piled up in the sink. Just a breakfast setting for one and nothing else. No sense pretending this wasn't deliberately meant for him.

So he sat down and helped himself. There was never anything like this at Castle Oblivion. Everything was cozy and comfortable, nothing at all like what he had been used to. The problem was, he was enjoying it already. That bothered him. He still held fast to his suspicions about this place and Rachel and the real things motives. He liked a soft bed and rich breakfast. He could see himself getting used to it really fast. However, if this was all to make him drop his guard and become more malleable for manipulation, he was afraid he was on the fast track to letting it happen if he wasn't careful.

He froze.

He noticed something. But he couldn't name it. What was he sensing? It didn't make any sense for the food to be poisoned. Shame if it was too, it was delicious. No, it was something else. He wasn't alone. Someone was in fact in the room and had probably been there the whole time. That's what he sensed. It was the feeling when you realize someone is watching you. Immediately his senses were on alert. There was no Light or Darkness to sense at all. Odd. Who could be so powerful to be able to mask their heart so perfectly? He couldn't sense anything behind him. Of course if they could mask their heart, who knows what other stealth tricks they knew? So he did what he could do without letting on he was aware he wasn't alone; he glanced around the room as casually as he could. But there was no one. So why was he plagued with the feeling of being watched? Was he just being paranoid?

But it isn't paranoia if something is actually happening. It just took him a second to realize was it was. Ever stared at something so hard you're actually not seeing anything? You're staring at your floor looking for an item and your eyes sort of glaze over and it takes you several long seconds to realize you were looking directly at what you were after the whole time just not seeing it.

Across the room, sitting in a sunny windowsill was a large black and white long-haired cat. It sat upright with a regal air to its posture, ears turned forward, tail wrapped around its feet. And it was staring, unblinking at him with large jade-green eyes.

The Replica stared back, feeling a little stupid he got his guard up because of a cat. However, he wasn't entirely sure it was real. Could a cat really sit that still? Did somebody just have a really odd sense of decoration? He watched it for a long time. And just as he was about to conclude it was a realistic statue, it blinked. It was still amazing any being, human or animal could remain so motionless for so long.

Now he felt awkward under its stare. Had it been staring at him like that since he got there? Why would a cat be staring him down like that? Was it in fact a cat? Could that Rachel girl turn herself into an animal and had been watching him the whole time? He scowled. That wouldn't surprise him at all.

"Stop it." He said. The cat didn't move. "Stop staring." It blinked. "Will you knock it off already!" He shouted at it. "Stop staring at me!"

"Who are you talking to?"

The Replica turned to the door, Rachel was standing there, holding it open. That was his first clue she had only just arrived so the cat couldn't have been a trick. He looked between her and the cat, feeling very stupid for thinking it had been her.

"Ah, I see you've met my princess."

"Your what?"

Rachel glided to the windowsill. Only when the cat heard her voice did it show any signs of life other than blinking. It looked to her and swished its tail once like an excited dog. As Rachel came near, it stood up and met her at the edge of the windowsill, leaning her head heavily into her mistress' hand for a scratch.

"This is Tatania the Tower Cat. I accidentally summoned her to me years ago when she was just a kitten. I brought her to the castle with me for company." Rachel held her hand almost around the cats' throat, scratching behind an ear with her fingers and massaging around the jaw with her thumb.

"Why was it staring at me?"

"She." Rachel corrected. "Observation probably. Tatania is more aware of herself and her surroundings than most cats. You're new to her. She was probably just observing before forming an opinion."

For some reason the Replica found the correction of the cats identity from 'it' to 'she' to be irritating. It was an animal. Despite how people feel about their pets, the life of an animal is inferior to a human. There was no way it could have a true heart, soul, hopes, dreams and yet Rachel insisted it be addressed as a 'she' and it had the intelligence and comprehension to form an opinion.

What did that say about him then? What did that say about how that Rachel would treat him? She called an animal by name and explained its behavior like she were describing a human. If she felt her pet was worthy of that kind of recognition, could it be she really would, or did regard him as an equal? Despite knowing what he was?

"I'm off to one of the potion labs. You can come and watch if you like." Rachel picked up Tatania from the windowsill, who curled her up in her arms, and went to the door.

Not sure what else he could do, he followed.

The potion lab was a room made entirely of stone. No doubt made that way in the event of an explosion or spill or something. Rock doesn't burn or liquefy that well. No doubt everything was magically reinforced against accidents too. Rachel dropped Tatania. The sassy cat trotted across the floor until she came to a counter she deemed worthy to be her throne. Rachel set to the work of preparing a potion. Ok, now what was he supposed to do? Stay back? Sit down?

"So, given any thought to what you're going to call yourself?"

"What?"

"Well, you never said whether you even had a name. If you don't, that means you get to choose. I'll help if you'd like. I create characters all the time so coming up with names is easy."

He didn't answer. He hadn't given it any thought at all. He wasn't exactly sure how serious she'd been when she spoke of it earlier. But why hadn't he? The only true constant he had was trying to prove he was better than the real Riku. Better, and worthy of being 'real'; but also accepting and acquiring powers the real thing never dare touch. That would make him stronger, better and different. He hated looking like, sounding like and having similar powers to someone else. But…had he been ok with accepting that name?

"I could get you started if you like." She spoke as she gathered potion ingredients on the table surrounding a small cauldron. "Let's see, what's good? Adrian? Aiden? Belsario. Bjorn. Chayton. Cyrus. Cysero."

"Um,"

"Just sayin' the first thing that comes to my head. Dryden. Drake. Davis. Elias. Ezra…nope. That one won't work, he's one of mine already. Sarcastic little word-I-don't-use but oh boy, can he sing!"

"Can you stop?"

"No help?"

"Yes! No help."

"Neh. Fine."

And the conversation ended. Seriously? Just like that? He made a note right there to figure her out and fast. She seemed to live completely off-script from what a person might expect and it was making his head reel.

"So what are you making?" He asked, changing the subject.

"It's a sleeping draught. Says in the book it quickly brings you into the deepest pits of slumber for the most refreshing nights' sleep you'll ever have. Only problem is it also says it's supposed to taste terrible. Of course, terrible could be relative. I think cherry flavored cough syrup tastes terrible but I can swallow it if I have to."

He wasn't sure how to respond. Add on to the conversation or try and bring up something else? Obviously his social interactive skills were a bit lacking. And nobody likes to feel awkward so he said nothing. But the silence also felt awkward.

"You said you'd answer any questions I had. Are you going to stick by that?"

"Of course, what'd you like to know?"

Where to start? "How did you meet the real Riku?"

"It was a while ago. Master Yen Sid told us of a world where other key bearers live. So that was the first time my brother and I went to the Destiny Islands."

"Brother?"

"Yeah. Not all of us can be an only child."

"You care about him, don't you."

"My brother? Of course."

"No! I mean the real Riku."

"Well he is my boyfriend."

Somehow that answer felt like getting kicked in the stomach. It also made his skin itch with anger and frustration that, once again, the real thing had something that he felt he never could.

"Mind if I ask you one?"

"Uh, I guess so."

"You want to feel more like your own person, right? So what's the plan?"

He didn't answer. He really didn't have one. It was the one thing he longed for but struggled to get.

"Seriously? It's what you desire above all else and you haven't given any thought to how to start?"

"Well, I-uh. This isn't exactly-why? Have you?"

"It's a curse. I have the same problem with creative projects or stories. An idea works its way in and tortures me until I see it through."

His stomach lurched, but in a good way. This might be something. "You've got an idea?" He asked as casually as he could.

"You want to hear all the steps to my thought?"

"Yes." He said impatiently.

"First step would be to decide on a name. Once you pick a name, it will be your name. The first mark of identity."

"You said that already."

"Doesn't mean I'm less right."

"What else?"

"What about appearance?"

"What?" He asked nervously.

"Have you seen yourself? Don't get me wrong, you're still quite dashing, but you look exactly as Riku did at sixteen."

"So what do you suggest?" He was still a bit nervous about what she might say.

"Do something with your hair."

"Excuse me?"

"You'd be amazed how much hairstyle can affect appearance."

"I don't know…" He wasn't sure why he was feeling that twinge of reluctance. He looked like Riku and he hated it. Still, there is that sliver of vanity within everybody.

"Here, I'll prove it."

Rachel stepped back from her little cauldron, reached up to her ponytail and pulled the tie out. She shook her head and her hair cascaded around her shoulders. Wow. Seeing is believing. The whole dynamic of her appearance changed with her hair down. She looked nice. No! Why was he thinking that? Even if it was just the result of false memories, the only girl he'd cared for was Naminé. So it wasn't like he thought girls were the enemy…well, he just thought everyone was.

"So…who would do it? You?"

"I could."

"Have you ever done it before?"

"I've trimmed my brothers hair a few times. How hard can it be?"

"What else." He said, changing the subject.

"Find out what you like."

"How do I do that?"

"Same way everyone else does, you try things. If you like it, you do it again."

That one had a bit of a duh ring to it. But that didn't get him any closer to figuring out where to begin. "Where am I supposed to start?" He asked impatiently. Best still make it obvious he wasn't trusting all of this completely in case she thought she was getting closer to manipulating him.

Rachel was combing her hair with her fingers then braided it. When her reach couldn't go any further behind her, she brought the braid around over her shoulder and finished it. She read the next step for her potion before answering. Interesting how her fingers flew around her hair without even looking at it.

"I got an idea where to begin."

Then she did something that took him completely by surprise. She flew! Really flew! She just lifted her legs, floated in midair then took off to the large book cabinet behind her! The shelf she was looking at was completely within her reach if she were to stand, but she just kinda hovered. Rachel pulled out a book, double-checked the cover and flew right to him, handing him the book. He looked at what she'd given him. It was a leather-bound book. It looked very old but still in good condition. Brewing for Beginners was embellished on the front.

"What is this? A potion book?"

"Yep. These are some of the simplest potions you could find anywhere. Really easy to make but no less useful. Something quick and easy for you to try. Test if you like it. Ingredients are organized here really well so it shouldn't be too hard finding what you need. Feel free to ask if you need help."

And she went back to her own potion.

If he had any inklings at all as to how to the conversation would have gone, the reality took an entirely different direction. He looked down at the book again. Not at all what he was expecting but at least it was a step forward.

The distinct smell of old parchment and ink wafted from the pages as the book was opened. The table of contents was broken into three categories: Sleep, Transformations and Cure-Alls. Beneath each were several subheadings with brief descriptions of what the potion did. Under Sleep were a few different spells to induce sleep. Others were focused on dreams. One said it made good dreams, another made nightmares, another just insured you would have a dream and could remember it. The Transformation category was short with only a few ways to slightly change appearance. Cure-Alls were the longest with remedies for all sorts of things from headaches to toothaches. None of these potions were exceptionally potent or with long-lasting results. For example, the potion for bone growth was more for aiding and speeding up the healing process than to immediately fix. No doubt there were other, more powerful brews that did the same thing but with more lasting results. But this was of course just a beginners guide.

He shrugged. No start was a bad start at this point. So he prepared a spot on the long counter and gave it a try.