I finally made it. He thought as he looked up at the ancient building towering above him. He pushed the large doors and entered, expecting to find his comrades and friends waiting for him. His smile was quickly erased by fear, where could they be? He remembered that man's words… he was hunting my friends, so does that mean that he claimed them all? Am I alone? The place was dark and deserted, even the large fireplace in the center of the hall was covered with dust, showing that it had been out of use for almost….3 months! That's impossible! Their leader had contacted him almost 5 days ago, and he came here as fast as he could, it just didn't add up. He walked around the place, seeking his own room, he walked through empty corridors, everything conveyed the sense of abandonment, there were even spider webs strung all over the place. Then, he finally found it, with excitement; he opened the door and peered inside, only to be blown away by a vicious kick to the face. It smashed what remained of the glass veneer, and sent him reeling against the opposite wall. The dust covering everything was disturbed, forming a small cloud that reduced visibility to a minimum. He tried to see anything; they left one of their men behind, in case another one would follow. Those bastards! Before he could act, another well placed kick hit him across the left cheek. Impossible! Those people don't have that much strength. That kick sent him flying through the rest of the corridor, crashing on an old wooden table. He was unable to move, being caught unawares was a problem he hadn't been able to fix, and those two kicks had made short work of him. He tasted blood in his mouth, and his stomach screamed where it hit the table. He felt a hand on his shoulder, flipping him into view.

: Oh no…

he opened his eyes, but instead of finding assassins, he saw two people standing by the table. They were a man and a woman, almost of his age. They were holding keyblades, much like his own, and they were wearing the same armor and helmet he wore, however, the glass veneer was removed, which gave him view of their faces, which conveyed anger, that quickly changed into distress and happiness. He breathed a sigh of relief.

Man: what a reception for a friend!

: It's you….you're back, you're finally back.

: took you long enough.

They both helped him up; he sat on the table, holding his stomach in pain. He took off the helmet, and blood was dripping from his mouth.

Man: you roughed me up pretty bad. What's all this about? Jade? Drac?

Jade: All in due time. Now, tell me; what took you so long? The commander issued the order five days ago. Most of us made it here in three days at most. We feared that you might have been…

Man: …killed by those key bearer hunters?

Drac: so, you know about them?

Man: I ran into them on the way here. Not very nice fellows, but they wouldn't listen to my warnings.

Jade: You didn't…

Man: I didn't have another choice, Jade. It was kill or be killed, and I don't think I'd be of much help if I were dead, would I?

Drac: you're right. Anyway, we're wasting time here, let's be on our way.

Man: where to?

Jade: well, as you can see, we're not safe here anymore, those people trying to kill us, for a reason even I don't know about. The commander ordered us to clear the mansion for now. We, to be exact, what's left of us, are hiding in a secret location, and that's where we're taking you right now.

Man: alright, let's go.

Jade: hold up, iron man! Let me take care of those wounds first.

Drac: ever the sympathetic one, jade. He ought to be more careful, he's a keyblade wielder for crying out loud.

Man: You'll never get over that ruthless nature of yours, Drac. Now, let's get going, the commander and I have a lot to talk about.

And with that, they left, not knowing that they weren't the only ones in the place at that time. a shadowy figure jumped out of the window, and hurried through the darkening streets to an unknown place.