"Sora Kitori."

Vampire. Male. Age of 19 human years.

A boy no taller than five foot seven shifted uncomfortably where he stood next to the plush gray chair, one hand strangling the strap of the bag hanging from his shoulder while he wiped as his dark faded jeans with the other. He was currently in the Headmaster's office, also known as Master Xehanort. He was new to the Academy, being a special acceptance a quarter of the way into the school year for those his age. Sora was only hoping that his parents were right. Hoping that this academy could solve his problems.

He watched nervously as the Headmaster reviewed his paperwork and skimmed over the information provided. Assuming that it was the same stuff he had overheard his parents talking about, or rather, he was eavesdropping, it was a brief explanation of his fits of psychosis, with the possibility of dual personalities. Sora was rather sure he didn't have another personality, but there were many points of his life left blank of memories.

"Your room will be in the east wing, ground floor. Room 27B," announced the Headmaster, causing the brunette to snap his cerulean eyes to attention.

"Do I have a roommate?" he asked.

"For precautionary reasons, there are no roommates within the Academy," Xehanort responded as he filed away Sora's papers. He barely looked at the boy, instead his golden eyes focusing on another set of papers at his left. "I will have Namine escort you to your room. She will provide a pamphlet for you to better acquaint yourself with the layout of the Academy, as well as any useful information you may find yourself needing within these walls. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask her. She is waiting for you in the hall."

Namine...? he thought. He wanted to ask aloud, but kept his mouth quiet as he grabbed the travel bag resting next to him and exited the office. He immediately caught sight of the girl waiting near the door, one leg propped on the wall as she examined the nails on one hand with intense scrutiny, a clipboard in the other. A cream colored dress adorned her body, stopping just below her knees. A few seconds went by, which turned into nearly a full minute before he cleared his throat to try and catch her attention. However, the platinum haired beauty didn't respond.

Upon closer inspection, taking one step after another, he noticed her eyes were unfocused, as if she was stuck in a daydream. Sora waved a hand in front of her face, hoping the movement would catch her. Maybe it had, or maybe her daydream had simply ended, because her eyes snapped up to meet his as she plastered a small smile on her face and dropped her hands unceremoniously.

"You must be Sora. I apologize you caught me like this," she said in a quiet, melodious voice. "I'm Namine, assistant to Master Xehanort. If you'll follow me, I'll take you on a mini tour as we get to your room. You're kind of lucky you get one on the ground floor. A lot less leg work."

Without hesitation, she turned and began walking down the hall littered with doors, Sora tailing after her. His eyes wandered the interior, from the smooth, black marble of columns to the contrasting white marble floor and ceiling, all trimmed with golden and silver. Eventually he looked at the girl leading him through a set of doors into a large open room he had been in when he had first arrived, led by another person a couple of inches taller than him, blond hair and an unusual scar across his face.

"So, are you a student here as well?" he chimed, wanting to break the eerie silence despite the large space.

A giggle came from her as she shook her head slightly.

"I'm not. I might look young, but I'm a witch. I channel energy to keep myself looking this young. I loved my life at twenty five, so I've kept the image. I'm actually a couple hundred years old."

"What kind of witch are you, then?"

"I'm a Seer. I'm supposed to be able to conjure visions, but they seem to control me instead. I've been at the Academy for nearly thirty years now. I know the basics of surviving as a witch, but being a Seer, it's a lot more difficult to pinpoint the source of power and to control it. It only came to me a couple of short years before I came here," she answered, a tinge of disappointment sounding in her voice. "Master Xehanort and this Academy have been a huge help. I couldn't even function when a vision came over me before this place. They were choppy, to say the least. Almost like a video that's been worn out beyond repair with very little to see and a lot of white noise. What about you?"

Sora hesitated as they passed under the archway leading into the east wing, a small sigh escaping his mouth. He struggled with the delusions he already had, but fully admitting that he wasn't cut out to be a vampire was another thorn in his side. Ever since he could remember, he was softer than the average vampire. A little more empathetic and remorseful about what he had to do to survive. Sometimes he wondered if this was what cost him his sanity; the hallucinations he had ever since he was younger plaguing him randomly in his moments of solitary.

"I'm a vampire. Not a very good one, at that," the brunette finally supplied, moving his feet in tandem with the girl once more.

"Oh, I should have known. You're too cute and flawless to have been anything else." This sent a wave of heat to creep across Sora's face. Namine glanced back, and seeing him nearly stammer in his footsteps, giggled once more. "Your skin is something most people would die for. For a vampire, you're unusually tan, but you have a perfect complexion. And you're hair is extremely healthy for the lengths you go for it to look like that."

"I don't do anything with my hair. It's natura-hng, h-hey!"

Sora was cut off abruptly when he felt a weight crash into him. He lost his footing as he fell over his travel bag, cracking his elbow on the floor as he attempted to break his fall. A hiss escaped between his teeth as he jerked his head up to look at the cause of his pain. A few feet away from him was another boy, one with shoulder length silver hair, lean muscles and... fur?

"Watch where the hell you're going," the boy snapped as he jumped easily to his feet, aquamarine eyes pinned on Sora.

"You're the one who ran into me!" The brunette was on his feet in seconds as well, Namine and his bags forgotten as he stepped toward the silverette. Anger coursed through his body, fangs descending in his mouth, his hands shaking with the effort to hold it in as a familiar darkness probed as his mind.

"You wanna go, fucking bloodsucker?"

"God damn mutt."

"Enough!" A force separated the two boys, who were merely inches apart, away from each other despite their efforts to get at each other's throats. Namine stepped between them, one hand on Sora's shoulder as she faced the other boy. "Riku, hurry to your dorm room before your episode takes a turn for the worst. Neither of us want to have another intervention, do we?"

She spoke with even and calculated tones, seemingly reaching through rage that was wracking the boy's system. Riku emitted a low growl within his throat, but he stopped fighting the barrier the witch had put up and took a few paces backward before continuing on his way down the hallway. Sora watched with narrowed eyes as he disappeared into a door a few rooms down, snatching his bags from the floor.

"I'm sorry you had to be involved in that. Riku..." Namine started, clutching the clipboard in both of her hands. Her eyes were on the marble flooring, as if contemplating her next words. "He's sort of like me. What he is, it controls him more than he can control...it. He's a wolf shifter."

"I could tell as much. Werewolves tend to smell like wet dog," Sora grunted, fixing the red button down he wore. The smell of canine still stuck in the air. However, instead of the scent he had commented about, it smelled more of a mixture between mint and berries. He grumbled under his breath as he adjusted the strap on his shoulder. "Though, his smell was pretty tame, I'll admit."

"He isn't like a regular werewolf. There is no partial changing for a shifter. From my understanding, the changes are pretty painful, as their whole body is undergoing a complete change from man to animal, instead of the humanoid figure a were-being usually has." Namine didn't skip a beat as she turned and continued the way Riku had been coming from, heading for a room two doors down. "He struggles with his wolf's personality. It isn't really my place to talk about the problems of the other's attending here, but hopefully it will shed some light as to why he's so sensitive and angry. I'm sure you two will be running into each other again soon."

As they stopped at 27B, Namine produced a single key from a small pocket on her dress. Along with the key, she handed Sora a pamphlet and a small packet of papers, her cerulean eyes matching the brightness of her small smile.

"This should have the basic information you need. As Master Xehanort probably told you, it has a basic layout of campus to familiarize yourself with. On this one," she trailed off, her fingers deftly moving to slip out a paper within the stack without hesitation. "Is a list of people you can find or contact should you need any specific help. Majority of the people you meet here will be fighting with their troubles. About two dozen of us are stable, or nearly there, to help and teach beings like you the remainder of your studies aside from the help with your trouble. Unless you're told otherwise, you might want to address them as Elder. Oh! And there's also another paper in there with a list of events that we do. Mostly for morale, to attempt the feeling of normalcy. I hope we can help you overcome this, Sora."

Sora nodded his head as she departed and quickly entered his room. Locking the door and tossing his bags near the bed, he felt a weight appear in his chest. Once alone, he felt every bit of the dark pressure from the encounter with the wolf shifter. Immediately, he crossed through the bare and basic room to the bathroom, flipping the lights on and running the water cold. Sora soaked his face with the freezing liquid, mustering his thoughts and conviction against the feeling threatening to consume him.

But once he raised his eyes to the mirror, he gritted his teeth. Sora glared into the gilded eyes staring back him.

"Hello, Sora."