The Metropolis by night seemed like a very different place outside of the ever-bustling Earth district, and Roxas seemed to find plenty of open, natural – or at least natural looking – places in the outer areas, making an already quiet journey even quieter still. He trekked through what must have been the gardens of other estates in the area for some time before he had to start using more well-used routes.

There was no escaping having to use the subway, however. It was just too far to the part of the Life district where they'd find where Riku was working. Not only did it verge on the edge of the main Central district, Life was neighboured by Energy, which was the direct opposite of Earth, the district in which Roxas's house resided.

Only when there wasn't enough natural life around to satisfy the elven part of Roxas did he finally turn to the nearest station and board the train with Sora going ahead to keep his peace of mind. No one stood out just yet, but not far behind Roxas there was someone who did.

"You're being followed," Sora said aloud. "Host like you. No one we know, at least not yet. Their Dark Child isn't visible, but they've probably spotted me."

"That's not very encouraging, Sora," Roxas muttered. "After what happened last time a host followed me-" he broke off. "Could it be her again?"

"If she didn't learn anything last time. She certainly looked liked she wanted to get back at me for killing her host."

"If I get killed while hosting you..."

"Yeah, you'll probably become a Dark Child. I'll break you in, make sure-"

"I don't even want to be one!"

"You decided to be one when you agreed to host me," Sora said heartlessly, then quickly thought better. "Alright, I apologise for the way that sounded. I'm... I think I'm backsliding," he he admitted. "I don't know why. I'm just..."

Roxas gave him a critical look, then ignoring the sound of the train arriving said, "No colour. And you left behind those clothes I gave you. I wonder if they played a part. You've been... tamer since I gave them to you."

Sora disappeared to avoid being noticed by any Dark Children already aboard, thinking to Roxas, "I'll have to remember that for my next host. See if you're right."

"Or, y'know, wait until we get home. If I live that long," he added bitterly, picking a seat on the almost deserted carriage. Two people who were almost definitely twins were dozing, both with headbands holding back their hair from their eyes. The headbands clearly showed they had both completed their Apprentice studies. One wore all blue and even had blue highlights in his hair, his headband also blue – water magic was his speciality. Sora idly wondered if he'd dressed to match his best magic, or if he'd picked his magic to match his choice of colours.

His twin had a black band, marking him as someone who'd done Dark magic. Even dozing his expression showed he'd had his fair share of encounters with Life and Light students looking for a fight. He too wore clothes that matched this for whatever reason.

Neither of them appeared to have been disturbed by the stop. They didn't even look up when, just as the doors were about to close, a fourth passenger joined them – the host Sora had seen following Roxas just before, a tired looking businesswoman. She took a seat that suggested her Dark Child had told her about Roxas and she wanted to keep an eye on him.

"I'm going to show myself," Sora told Roxas mentally. "If it is her, there's no point in hiding. If it isn't... well, I'm just being social."

"She didn't see you though," Roxas replied. "You never showed yourself."

"She'll recognise you though, won't she? And the twins over there aren't hosts. So the only one left is you."

Roxas didn't argue, but it was clear he was afraid. Sora didn't blame him. He appeared just ahead of Roxas, not bothering to conceal himself from anyone. The twins probably weren't even aware they had company, and this was an older train that had no direct access or viewing from one carriage to the next. Sora spotted cameras that looked out of place, clearly a more recent addition, and adjusted to account for them. People on this carriage would see him, those watching from the cameras would not.

Sora made his way down the aisle, pausing at the twins to listen to the thrumming that only he could hear. He could still sense their fears, hearing them like drumbeats, but there was a distinctly different tone to the one who did Dark magic.

When he paused another Dark Child appeared. Sora head Roxas's sharp intake of breath, knowing before he'd even turned that it was the same Dark Child that had tried to kill his host before. She made his way down to meet him, not half-way but beside the twins.

Sora feigned only just noticing her and smiled. "Well, well. If it isn't my host's would be murderer," he said. "Fancy meeting you again so soon. Small city, eh?"

"Not really," she shrugged. "I've been looking for you. Your host sticks out if you know what to look for. And I remember what I saw when you killed my last host."

Out of the corner of his eyes Sora saw the Shadow magic twin open one eye, glance at them, then quickly close it again. He ignored this – for the moment. But he felt the change in his fears, and no doubt the other Dark Child did too.

"Tell me something, since you don't seem to be so murderous this time," Sora said. "Why kill hosts?"

"You've never done it yourself have you? Except for him. I'll bet you didn't even notice, did you? It feels different. You get more from it. And of course... it unleashes ever more Dark Children on the Metropolis. That's what First wants, remember? You did meet First, didn't you?"

"Of course I did. I just have one issue with it. We kill to extend our lives. So a world inhabited just by us? We'd die out. Nothing to sustain us."

"She'll have thought of that. I hardly think she can overlook it."

Sora filed away that. First apparently did not share with all Dark Children the possibility of existing purely by magic.

"So what now?" he asked aloud. "Have you tracked us down to try again?"

"Naturally," she said with infuriating calm. "Why don't we make a race of it? See if you can kill my host before I kill yours."

"There are people watching, you know. And if either of these two were awake, they'd see one – or maybe both – of our hosts get killed. They'd be implicated in whatever happened next."

"Who cares? Let them see. Let them be involved. I'll just kill whoever tries to investigate me."

"If your host is the survivor," Sora reminded her, then in an attempt to give him an edge, he thought to Roxas, "She's challenging me to try and kill her host before she kills you. You've seen how I kill. Get a hand ready to point. As soon as we start I'll take over and use it before she's ready."

Roxas definitely wasn't happy about this, and he was definitely afraid, but he didn't say anything.

"So you're taking me on then?" the Dark Child asked earnestly. "You'll make it a race? I'll make it fair – we'll walk back to our hosts and see which of them responds quicker, shall we?"

Sora just nodded, half-turning to keep watch on her, then at the same time they completed the turn and headed for their hosts, facing away from each other. Both hosts' fears were loud now.

"Watch out!" Roxas warned. "She just vanished!"

Sora quickly followed suit, trying to surge into control as quickly as he did so. Roxas put up no resistance, knowing what was coming. Sora started to raise the prepared hand – and realised, he was too late. She'd prepared her host too, and disappearing before reaching her had given her an advantage.

"Gotcha," she smirked, talking through her host. The sense of having a host dropped away from Sora, leaving him with only the handful of cold emotions unhosted Dark Children always had. Around him, what had until moments before been his own host settled, a new Dark Child already stood beside him. Unlike his prior self, Roxas as a Dark Child had clearly elfin features.

Before Sora had the chance to say anything to the newly risen Roxas, the new Dark Child snarled, his own hand snapping up.

"Got you," Roxas said firmly – and the other host exploded. Sora clinically noted that it was the same kind of death he'd started out causing, but then Roxas was new to this. As yet another new Dark Child rose at the other end of the carriage, Sora's mind was occupied by one other thought: Roxas remembered. Perhaps not everything, perhaps just enough to know what was going on, but he remembered.

"Again!" the other Dark Child screamed. "Stop murdering my hosts! I'll find you again you mongrel brat, and I'll kill everyone one of your hosts!" Then to the new Dark Child beside her, "Come with me and I'll explain everything."

She led her former host away simply by leaping off the train, leaving Sora and Roxas alone – except for the twins. Sora felt the opportunity shouldn't be wasted.

"Roxas. Do you..."

"I remember everything," he said hollowly. "Why haven't I disappeared yet? I don't want to be a Dark Child. But I just killed..." he trailed off, then quieter, "I can feel the difference it made, Sora. All the strength it gave me. I like it. But I should object, that's what you said. If I knew, I'd disappear. Why am I still here, Sora?"

"I don't know actually," Sora admitted, finally given the chance to say something. "But I'd hazard a guess that it's the usual thing, even now. Have a look at your reflection."

Roxas turned first to a small pool of his own blood, looking and turning his head this way and that.

"Hah. So now I finally look like my other half. I suppose it's fitting. In life I looked human, in... well, death I suppose, I look elven. So now what Sora? I don't seem to be going away, so I might as well know whatever I have to so I can survive."

"Actually you know it all already, I think. Or you'll pick it up as you go along. That's really how I find out so much. Never hurts to pretend to know something you don't though. It helps make hosts afraid."

"Don't I know it," Roxas muttered. "Suppose I need a host too now, huh? And I guess you need a new one."

"Use us." Both of them looked up to the now clearly not dozen twins.

"What're you saying!" the blue one exclaimed. "You heard 'em Kev, they kill people!"

"Yeah, so?" Kev replied even as he gave them a speculative look. "You do Death magic, I do Dark magic. Remember all them Light and Life guys giving us grief? All them threats we made?"

"Well, yeah, but – this isn't – I was never actually gonna kill them!"

"If you host one of them, you won't – they'll just use you to do it. That's how it works, isn't it?" Kev asked.

"Yes," Sora agreed. "You're being watched you know. Even if you don't host us, what are you going to tell them?"

"I'll say we were talking about what happened, and his outburst was at the suggestion of pretending not to have been here," Kev shrugged.

"It's believable, at least," his twin said. "It sounds exactly like the sorta thing we'd do. But hosting Dark Children..."

Kev sighed. "Look Keiran, if you let one of them live in you, you're not gonna have to worry about being lynched all the time. You can make threats and really mean them, and know that you won't be the one carrying them out. From what I know, when they kill their hosts don't know anything about it, so you'll have plausible deniability."

"Actually, that's not entirely true," Roxas put in. "When I was alive, if I was willing to let Sora kill, I still saw and knew everything. So all he has to do is put up a fight and resist, and he'll be knocked out cold while we do our thing, then..." he turned to Sora.

"Then he regains control and consciousness afterwards," Sora finished. "You won't know anything that happens while we're at work. I can see you're certain about this," Sora said to Kev. "And you've got my interest. Given the choice I'll make you my host. But him... I know Roxas, even if I'm surprised he's remembered. He won't force himself on Keiran."

"Speak for yourself, Sora," Roxas said. "I understand what you're saying about limited emotions while unhosted. I want to feel everything again. I want..." he paused, then appeared to give in. "I'll admit it. I want to kill again. I won't deny it, because I know how it felt, and I want that again. I know who I was would hate that, but he's dead now, and I'm what's left."

"I stand corrected," Sora laughed. "But I stand by my claim on you, Kev. You're mine. But first," Sora said quickly, laying a hand on Roxas's eager shoulder. "Where're you headed?"

"Life district," Kev answered. "Despite our choice of magic, we live there. Student accommodation, not far outside the Central district. Why?"

"That's the same stop we wanted," Roxas said, then realised. "Oh, now I see. We'll drop by and see Riku, let him know what happened. Introduce him to our hosts, make sure he knows what happened to me, he'll help smooth our way back in with Ross and Tab. Probably a smoother way in than what he's used to anyway," he added, then looked shocked at himself. "Damn, I even act different now. I'd never have said something like that before!"

"Riku would probably approve though," Sora observed. "You focus on getting used to your new li- existence," he quickly corrected. "And your host. I've done this before, so I'll direct Kev to Riku. Unless you two would rather switch it up, let Keiran host me and Kev Roxas?"

Kev snorted. "Get real! I'll take experience any time!"

"You know, I was hoping you'd say that," Keiran said. "C'mon then, lets get this over with. I suppose if anyone's gotta host you it might as well be us."