I awoke to the steady sound of thunder in the distance.

Slowly I opened my eyes to a dark and cloudy sky above. I could hear and smell rain coming too, and I cringed when a drop of water landed on my nose. Even through all the cloud cover I could tell that it was the middle of the day.

'Wait a minute...'

That couldn't be right. The last I remembered I was still in the dark city and as its name suggests, there is no sunlight. 'I must be on another world,' I mused. 'But how did I get here when I can't use dark corridors? And why do I smell like wet dog?' my nose wrinkled up in disgust. That was all I could smell now.

I just then realized that I was soaked. 'It must have already rained.' I thought. This made me wonder just how long I had been lying here.

A cool wind swept past, and I shivered. I had to get off the ground and out of these wet clothes or I was going to catch hypothermia.

With a grunt, I did my best to sit up from my position on the ground. I felt extremely weak, like an almost dead battery. What had happened to me?

Once I was in a rough sitting position I examined my surroundings. I recognized the area almost immediately; this was the same courtyard as in my dream, only the area looked more like a warzone. In the corners of the area where patches of flowers used to be, was nothing but dirt and garbage which I could smell already. Massive chunks of stone had been gouged out of the ground, leaving boulders everywhere. On the edges of the platform above where large elegant trees used to be were charred stumps. Most of the vibrant houses enclosing the area had either been damaged or burnt to ashes. Even the path up to the castle had been destroyed, leaving a gaping hole in place of stairs. All plant life here had long since withered away, but the smell of rotting vegetation was still heavy in the air.

I sighed. Only the stone entryway behind me was left intact, save for a few small gouges. This place was so different than it was in my dream.

Suddenly the hair on the back on my neck stood up and I spun around. Seconds later, several... creatures that resembled soldier heartless appeared. They were mostly blue with silver claws and black feet. They're glowing red eyes stood out the most, and they sent shivers down my spine. I had a feeling I had seen these thing's before. Quickly getting to my feet I summoned my keyblade into a backhand style. I could fight either way now and for some reason this felt more natural.

Immediately after summoning, the trio of creatures charged strait for me with their claws outstretched. Tensing, I waited for the opportune moment then let loose with a flurry of lightning fast blows. Light purple smoke enveloped one of the creatures as it was defeated.

One down, two to go.

Leaping backwards to gain some distance, I took a deep breath to calm my erratically beating heart. The other two creatures were warily staring at me from across the court; they must have thought twice about challenging me head on again. Taking advantage of the lull in the action, I quickly cast blizzard twice. One was destroyed on contact, the other was frozen solid.

Two down, one to go.

Moving my arm backwards, I then tossed my keyblade at the remaining enemy. The spinning blade hit the target, defeating it, then spun back to me like a boomerang. I easily caught it in my right hand.

I frowned. This had seemed almost too easy. 'Something is-

My train of thought was instantly interrupted when far more creatures than before made their presence known. There were thousands of them!

-wrong.' I finished with a cringe. In my weakened state I had no chance against this many enemies. I now only had one option- run like hell.

I turned and fled, dodging stones and boulders as well as flying creatures from above. I headed straight for the stone entryway, hoping that I would be able to lose them in the tunnel.

No such luck it seemed. As soon as I entered the tunnel they disappeared, but reappeared the moment I came out on the other side. The entire hoard of them was blocking the exit, and now I was trapped with nowhere else to run.

"Have it your way then!" I snarled and got into a battle ready pose. I was going to have to fight my way out.

Charging into battle once more, I started to hack and slash at any enemy that came too close. Pure adrenaline filled me and made me feel like I could do this forever and still not get tired. One by one, they were felled by my blade.

My mind was so focused on the fight that I almost didn't feel it; a sharp, stinging pain from behind.

Spinning around, I found one of the strange creatures spiked arms sticking out from my back. Blood oozed out from around its arm, and the pain from it was rapidly spreading to the rest of my body. It had poisoned me.

With an enraged cry, I severed its arm from the rest of its body, and then hacked it to pieces. I pulled what was left of it out of my back with my left hand, and gasped in pain when more poison got into my bloodstream. Already I felt my limbs getting weak and my vision was getting blurry.

"Shit..." I swore weakly when the reality set in. There was no way I was going to make it out of this alive. I had been beaten.

I fell heavily to the ground, exhausted. This was the end I guess.

"Fireaga!"

In a split second, every single creature was destroyed by an inferno of blue flames, and the area was filled with heavy purple smoke. Weakly, I looked up just in time to see a spiky red- headed figure before I lost consciousness again.

-Till November-

I wasn't entirely sure when I finally came to, but the next thing I knew I was lying on something warm and comfortable. Slowly moving my hand over its surface, I guessed that I must have been lying on some sort of bed or couch. A heavy blanket had been thrown over me and it was very warm. I opened my eyes and slowly sat up. I was indeed sitting on a large couch in an 'L' shape. In front of me was a small coffee table that had a glass of water on it, and I hungrily downed it while continuing to look around. The entrance to the room was to my left, and there was another door near it on the adjacent wall that led to a small closet. That was all I could see from where I was sitting.

"Finally awake, huh?"

Spinning around, I saw a spiky red haired girl approach me from what appeared to be the kitchen. There was no mistaking her; she was the same person from my dream as well, though I rivalled her for height now. My eyes narrowed in suspicion and I summoned my keyblade. This was more than a coincidence.

"Where am I?" I questioned harshly and pointed my keyblade at her. "And who are you?"

She smirked and held up her hands. "Easy tiger, I'm not going to hurt you; I'm a friend. Although, you might get hurt if you don't put that thing away. I don't like weapons in my apartment."

"How do I know you're not just saying things?" I shot back. "How do I know you-

"Save it kid. You woke up in my apartment after I saved your ass. If I had wanted you dead I would have left you for the unversed; they would have had a better time killing you anyway." She crossed her arms and frowned. Right off the bat she struck me as somewhat of a tomboy. I had a feeling I could trust her, but I wanted to make sure first.

I lowered my arm but didn't dismiss my keyblade. "You saved me? How? There were so many..."

"You were poisoned badly by one of the unversed and i gave you an antidote. I've been fighting these things for a very long time so I know how to handle them. You however, are inexperienced and rash. You're going to need a teacher in order to learn. Here." She paused to turn around, and then tossed a bundle of clean clothes at me which I caught in my left hand. "Enough of that for now though. The bathroom is the one in the middle. Go get yourself cleaned up, and then we'll talk."

Temporarily deciding that she could be trusted, I warily dismissed my keyblade and headed for the bathroom. Once inside, I peeled off my shorts and jumped in the shower. I was surprised at how much dirt I had collected just from the fight- my face, chest and legs had been plastered with it and came off me in dirty streams. When I was finished, I put the clean clothes on; navy blue track pants, a white tank top, and a gray sweater which I chose to leave off. Before I left, I examined my back in the mirror. To my surprise, there was no mark at all from where the 'unversed' struck me- it was as if it never happened. 'Odd,' I though with a frown. 'That wound was serious enough that it should have left a mark, yet my skin is spotless. This doesn't make sense.'

Now that I thought about it, my entire body was feeling far better than it should. I felt stronger and lighter, almost weightless compared to before. My vision was sharper; every tile, every beam of light, and even every speck of dust I could see in incredible detail. Taking a deep breath I could pick up numerous different scents just from the bathroom, like flowers with a hint of bitterness- soap, something else that smelled strongly of mint- toothpaste, and multiple other things. As far as I knew, normal people didn't have these kinds of things happen to them. I guess I was either incredibly lucky or cursed for life, depending on how you looked at it.

Leaving the bathroom, I was instantly greeted by the overwhelming smell of frying bacon and eggs. My stomach roared in response and all questions were forgotten. Almost by instinct, I moved to my right and sat down at the large dining room table.

"You'll have to wait a few 'kay? These aren't done yet." The red headed girl called over her shoulder, and I nodded. In the meantime, I looked out the large window to my right. The apartment must have been very elevated because I could see over the huge stone wall from before. Behind it, I could see a large expanse of forest that was held back by the city gates- the apartment was very close to this gate as well. Everything was bathed in orange light- the sun was just starting to dip below the horizon. Night was coming.

Discreetly glancing behind me, I saw three doors- the one directly behind me led to what I thought must have been this girl's bedroom, the second being the bathroom that I just came out of and the third being the closet. Turning back around there was the kitchen area in front of me which had a small fridge, stove, and two sinks for washing dishes. There was a small island in front of it used for extra counter space.

"Hey," the girl caught my attention and I turned toward her. She placed a plate full of food in front of me and handed me a fork. "Eat up. You're going to need your strength for tonight."

"What for?" I asked, and picked up the fork and started eating anyway.

She just smiled and said: "you'll see." Before digging into her own meal.

We ate in awkward silence not only because I was in a strange person's house, but also because the only girl I'd ever had a decent conversation with was Xion. I didn't really know how to talk to anyone else. When we were both finished (I had finished first), she took both of our plates to the sink then led me to the couch. I sat on the opposite end from her, still being cautious.

"So," she said once she had sat down. "What's your name kid?"

"Roxas," I replied instantly, and then regretted it. I just gave out my name so easily, and to a person I had only seen once no less! "And yours?"

"Lydia. Remember that- I'm not going to repeat myself." She crossed her arms again, and I nodded. "Good. Now I think the better question is what do you remember about last night?"

"Huh?" I frowned, totally caught off guard. It was a very strange question to ask. And now that I thought of it, I didn't remember anything anyway. "I don't-

"Of course you don't. No one remembers their first shift easily." She sighed, and her eyes started to get a faraway look in them. "My first time was just as bad."

"My... first shift?" something about that made me nervous, and there was a small spark of heat from within my chest. I started to fidget in my seat.

"Yeah. Try to remember what happened. Look inside yourself."

Closing my eyes, I did what I was told. I started to remember from yesterday morning on. I could see bit's and pieces of things; brief flashes of memory that were in no chronological order. I figured that I must have been going in and out of consciousness then. Moving onwards, I remembered Xion taking me somewhere. I remembered pain; and lots of it too. It was so bad that I had been blinded and couldn't see where I was being taken. Then I remembered Xion putting me down on a tile floor- the cold was comforting but not by much. I was still in so much pain, and I was barely conscious. I remember Axel asking me if I was alright, and Xion. She was there with me the entire time, making sure that I was okay.

After that though, my memories came to an abrupt end. As in they were blank. Like there was nothing there. The feeling in my chest got stronger.

"I can't..."

"Try harder," Lydia prompted. "This is normal. I know you can do it."

I sighed quietly then tried again, focusing harder on the forgotten memories. I could almost feel them- drifting under the surface, just waiting to be recalled. Giving a mental push, I grabbed hold of the memory and pulled it to the surface.

I regretted it immediately as the hot spark in my chest grew into a raging inferno.

Everything came back in a flash; the painful transformation, following what I assumed to be Saix's scent, and the bloody fight that ensued. Bile rose in my throat as I recalled the pools of blood in my mouth.

With a grunt of pain, my eyes flew open and I found my body coated in a strange orange light. I had never seen it before, but I still knew what it meant. I was already starting to change- my fingernails lengthening into claws, my ears growing pointed, and my canines lengthening into fangs.

"I'm... im gonna-

"Not in my apartment you don't!"

Whack.

Then, for the second time that day, everything went black.

hi everyone! it's me again.~

this week i ended up having more time than expected, even with final projects and assignments looming just around the corner. i found this chapter to be somewhat satisfactory because of it.

well, i hope you guys enjoyed it all the same!

AND REVIEW. you know you want to!