Xaik had woken in a shock, unsure of where she was for a moment. She looked around to her surroundings, remembering that she was in the castle that she had been brought to by Xigbar. And that she had agreed to stay to help the Organization to regain her heart. She rubbed her eyes as she looked outside, the sky still dark and illuminated by the ever-present moon. It was a strange sight, which made Xaik unsure of what time it was.

She shifted to the side, her feet now off the side of the bed, on the floor. She stood up, stretching as she then walked to the door. As she opened the door, she was met with a startling greeting; as Saïx was standing at her door. Xaik reeled back, as Saïx entered her room with not so much as a word. Draped over his arm was black coat and in his other hand was a pair of black leather boots. He held them out, as Xaik seemed confused.

"Take them," Saïx barked. "Put them on."

Xaik reluctantly grabbed the coat and boots as Saïx immediately turned to walk away. Confused, Xaik called out.

"W-wait!" Saïx stopped in his tracks as Xaik tried to formulate words. "Xemnas told me that… that you were going to give me an induction?"

Saïx turned, scowling at Xaik. She shivered at his gaze, which made her uncomfortable.

"Lord Xemnas has more pressing matters that I must attend to." Saïx snarled. "You'll have your induction by another. Go find Number Sixteen in the Hall of Empty Melodies."

Before Xaik could ask who this "Number Sixteen" was and where the Hall of Empty Melodies was, Saïx walked out of her room. Xaik stuttered, trying to get a word out, but failed. She made a silent curse to herself, as she pondered Saïx's harsh attitude towards her. What did she do to offend him? It was rather surprising to her, as well; that a Nobody like herself could express such coarseness, though he also lacked a heart. Xaik looked down to the black coat and boots as she set them on the bed and shut the door.

After changing into her new attire and leaving her clothes on her bed, Xaik looked down at herself, looking at the dark coat draping over her. She then sat down on the bed, adjusting the coat as she sat down. She looked at the boots in front of her, slipping them on one after the other. She moved her ankle around, testing the fit of the boots. They were surprisingly comfortable and fit well. She wasn't sure how they happened to know what her shoe size was. She slipped her hands into her pockets as she noticed more leather material inside. She pulled out two black gloves, which she eyed before putting them on her hands.

Now donning the full uniform of the Organization, Xaik stood up and looked at her hands. She flexed her fingers, taking in the texture of the leather and taking a deep breath as it was now time to seek out "Number Sixteen". She went for the door, as she opened it and looked down the hallway. It was empty, but the emptiness seemed to echo down the halls into an eerie atmosphere. Xaik began to walk down the hall, as she tried to find her way through the castle.

To say it was huge would be an understatement. Xaik was unsure where she was, as each hallway led somewhere that she wasn't sure of. She had no hope of understanding the layout of the castle at this point, and even in the future it seemed unlikely. Eventually, she found herself on a path that led to a large, sloped balcony. It was outside the castle, open to the air outside. Xaik looked over the side as she saw how high up she was. It was unnerving to say the least.

"You lost, kiddo?" Xaik heard as she looked to see a man approaching her.

Presumably, this man was another member of the Organization. He was tall and thin; his coat accentuated his small figure. He had long, spiked red hair and emerald eyes. Beneath those eyes were two little marks on his face. The man smiled a strange smile as Xaik quickly pulled her hood up. The man chuckled to himself as he bent down to look at her, as Xaik shrunk into herself.

"What's the matter? You shy or something?"

"...Um… I-I..." Xaik stumbled on her words.

"Aren't you just a chatterbox?"

Xaik grew more uncomfortable by the second as the man then returned to standing at normal height and looked at Xaik, pensively putting his hand to his chin.

"Alright, I get it. You don't like strangers." The man said as Xaik looked to him, her face hidden under the hood. "The name's Axel. And now we're not strangers."

Xaik was confused at the man's gesture, unsure of what it meant. But from what she could tell by his tone and demeanor, he only meant well. It was difficult to guess, as knowing that Nobodies are incapable of feeling made for unpredictable behavior. Xigbar seemed to mean well enough, but he also seemed very self-oriented. Saïx was harsh, rude and belittling. Who knew how Axel might behave?

"Now it's your turn. What's your name?" Axel asked.

"...It's..." Xaik tried her best to speak up. She cleared her throat as she tried again. "Xaik… My name is Xaik."

"Well Xaik," Axel smirked at her. "Where are you going?"

"I'm trying to get to the Hall of Empty Melodies..."

"And do you know where that is?" Xaik shook her head in her hood, as Axel gave her a pensive look. "And what is someone like you doing wandering around the castle without knowing where to go?"

"I-I…" Xaik muttered. "I was just told to go there by Saïx… he left without telling me…"

Axel let out a half-hearted - though technically no-hearted - chuckle. He shook his head, thinking about Saïx's behavior.

"Yeah, that sounds like Saïx." Axel then turned towards where he came from. He pointed down the ramp as he spoke. "It's just down that way. Follow the hallway until you see a set of stairs leading down to a balcony overhead. It's a big empty room with a large platform in the center." Axel then turned to Xaik, putting a finger to his temple. "Got it memorized?"

Xaik was a bit confused at Axel's strange gesture, but nevertheless, he did assist her by giving her directions. Xaik nodded as she looked up to him.

"Y-yes. Thank you, Axel."

Axel smiled as he then walked past Xaik, heading up the way she came. Xaik watched him walk away as she sighed in relief. It was somewhat uncomfortable at first, but it seemed that Axel wasn't such a bad person. Now with proper direction, Xaik headed down the way as she made her way to her destination.

Xaik followed Axel's instructions accordingly, finding the stairs that lead down to a balcony. As Xaik approached, she could hear the sounds of struggle echoing from the room ahead. As Xaik emerged into the room, she noticed how expansive it was. The ceiling itself was made of glass, creating a dome-like atmosphere. The moon could be seen above as Xaik walked over to the railing of the balcony. The sounds she heard before were now loud as she looked down to the large platform that Axel described. And on the platform were two people, also donning the signature coat.

Xaik watched as these two men were fighting each other - clashing weapons, grunting and talking all the while. The fight seemed playful in nature, but was still quite fierce as the scraping of metal was heard. One cackled manically as Xaik looked to him. It was hard to see the little details from the balcony, but Xaik noted the manic one's appearance. He was dark skinned, and had messy, black hair that whipped around as he swung around a rather large sword. The man let out a laugh.

"Come ON, Xeros!" The manic man let out. "I'm not even giving it my ALL over here!"

The other man, Xaik noticed, was pale, with long burgundy hair that was tied up into a high ponytail. He was fighting with a lengthy, bladed staff-like weapon. He was quiet, seemingly focused. The manic man rushed in, swinging down onto the focused man, who blocked the blow. The focused man let out a chuckle.

"And here I was about to tell you that you were disappointing me with such a lackluster performance, Jexy."

The manic man's laugh and grin turned sour as he growled and pushed down harder onto the focused man's staff, bringing him down onto a knee.

"I'll show YOU who's the LACKLUSTER one!"

With those words, the manic man pushed the focused man back, as the focused man slid on the ground. He stopped as the manic man rushed at him. The manic man seemed to be a force to be reckoned with. The clanging of the metal emphasized the strength he put into each swing. However, the focused man seemed to hold his own against the barrage of his opponent. And when he saw the opportunity, he took it.

The focused man deflected one of the strikes, causing the manic man's sword to slide and hitch onto the blade end of the focused man's staff. With a swift motion, the focused man flicked his staff and disarmed the manic man. Confused, the manic man looked back to see the focused man swing the staff around his head and then slash at the manic man. Xaik reeled as it seemed that this would be the end of the fight.

The blade swung in a streak of red as it went for the manic man's head. But before it could land, the blade froze mid-swing. The focused man was surprised, as he looked to see that the manic man stopped the blade by holding his hand in front of it. Strange blue and silver glowing orbs were emanating on the blade end of the staff, seemingly holding it. The manic man grinned from ear to ear as he cackled.

"SUCKER."

Then, with a flick of his wrist, the staff was thrown out of the focused man's hands, impaling into the ground behind the focused man. With the opening provided for him, the manic man punched the focused man in the face, knocking him back. The manic man turned back, holding his hand out, and another formation of orbs appeared in his hand. His sword, that was on the ground away from him, flew back into his hand. He caught it, turning and slashing at the focused man. But the focused man jumped up, doing a backflip to avoid the attack.

The way he moved in the air was graceful, almost as if he was weightless. As he moved through the air, Xaik also noticed a faint trace of a red and black glow that moved in the direction the focused man moved. Xaik admired the movement of the focused man as she continued to watch the fight. The focused man seemed to linger in the air as he landed by his staff, taking it out of the ground. The manic man pointed his sword at his foe, cackling some more.

"STILL disappointed?"

"At least you managed to land a blow." The focused man retorted.

"How about some MORE?"

The manic man then rushed in once more. The fight had grown much more intense in that moment, as the clanging continued. Xaik kept watching the fight, awestruck by the fierce battle between these two members. It was strange, as the fight seemed to be for real, yet they seemed to play around with their words as well as with their weapons. This gave Xaik a nagging sensation in the back of her mind, but she dismissed it quickly as she noticed that the tides seemed to be turning in the manic man's favor.

He had the focused man on the run, only able to defend against his barrage. Xaik watched his expression as the focused man seemed to be thinking. Then there was a switch in his eyes. The focused man blocked an overhead strike of the manic man's sword, the focused man using this to his advantage. He did another flip, using his staff to spin around and kick the manic man. Xaik was shocked that the staff seemed to be used as some sort of trapeze bar, even though it wasn't attached to anything. She noticed the same red and black glow from before, as the focused man then jumped onto the staff, pushing off of it and floating in her direction.

How he could do this, Xaik did not know. It was crazy, being around all these people who could seemingly fly and be suspended in the air. Almost like magic, accentuated by the glowing and flashing with each feat. For a moment, the focused man looked to Xaik, seeing a small hooded figure watching him. His gaze pierced through her as he stopped to seemingly stare at her. It made her uncomfortable to be stared at like that, but this would not last long as a yell could be heard from below. The focused man turned back to see the manic man looking rather frustrated at his opponent's escape.

"Get DOWN here, you COWARD!"

"Why don't you come up here and make me?" The focused man retorted as the manic man growled in anger.

In that moment, the manic man dropped his sword to the ground, letting it fall flat. But it stopped just short of the ground and began floating in the air. He stepped on top of it and used it to fly up into the air, like some sort of sword surfboard. As he flew up into the air, the focused man cracked a slight grin, as he dropped down as if gravity suddenly had turned on. The manic man was surprised, having no room to react as the focused man dropped and pulled the sword from under his feet. The manic man fell, yelling as he reached out for the railing of the balcony.

He grabbed on, letting out a terrifying yell. The focused man began floating again, as he slowly rose up to the balcony. He landed on the balcony in front of the manic man, as he seemingly made his staff disappear. He held out his hand to the manic man, as the manic man growled.

"Come now, Jexy. No need to make yourself look like more of a fool."

The manic man slapped the hand away as he pulled himself up with a grunt.

"I don't need YOUR help!" He got himself up onto the balcony, standing up as he brushed himself off.

He noticed the focused man holding his sword as he yanked it out of the focused man's hand. He gripped it tight, seeming to debate whether to re-engage in the fight they had started, but in that moment, the manic man looked to Xaik, finally noticing her. He made his sword disappear much like the other did. He turned back to the focused man.

"Consider yourself LUCKY, Xeros." The manic man said as he turned away from the man he called Xeros. "But don't THINK this is over."

"It's never over with you, Varijex."

The manic man, by the name of Varijex, then looked to Xaik. She looked at him, as he sneered at her.

"What are YOU looking at, Squirt?!" He barked. Xaik froze in place, unsure of what to do.

Varijex then turned away, walking away in a huff. Xaik watched him leave, shaking a bit at how frightening he was to her. Xaik thought Saïx was bad, but this Varijex character seemed far more unhinged. She made a mental note to avoid him as she realized that she was still faced with another. She looked up to Xeros, who was once again staring at her. She looked away, unable to return eye contact. Xeros tilted his head, trying to take in the details of this stranger in front of him.

"I don't recognize you," Xeros spoke. "Do you need something?"

Xaik struggled to get the words out, as Xeros continued to look at her. Having his eyes on her like he did, just made Xaik far more uncomfortable than she wanted. This just perpetuated the cycle, as Xeros didn't understand why this person wasn't speaking and why they seemed to be reacting in such an odd way, one he was not used to.

"I… w-was sent here to look for 'Number Sixteen'...?"

As Xaik managed to let out the words, it seemed that Xeros perked up a bit. His gaze became less intent and it put Xaik at ease.

"That would be me. My name is Xeros, however."

"O-oh… well…" Xaik continued to stutter.

Xeros seemed to become a bit impatient as he crossed his arms and looked down to Xaik, getting a bit closer.

"And who are you?" He demanded. "Remove your hood, and speak clearly."

Xaik shrunk into herself a bit once more, as she then reluctantly adhered to his requests. She slowly removed her hood as she revealed her face to Xeros. Xeros's eyes seemed to change back to their intent gaze as he took in the details of her face. Her magenta hair, which seemed to flair out at the tips. The single curl that fell on the left side of her face, and her bright blue eyes.

"My name… is Xaik."

"Xaik?" Xeros repeated, but seemingly less for Xaik to confirm and more for himself. "Well, Xaik, who sent you to find me?"

"Saïx… told me to find you. I'm new here, so…"

"Hm." Xeros puzzled for a moment. "Saïx didn't inform me of this."

Xaik didn't quite understand what was happening. In general, she wasn't sure what she was doing with these people in the first place. They claimed to be working towards helping one another regain their lost hearts. But that was all she was told before being sent off. She was promised answers, and she followed instructions. So she was going to get them.

"I don't know why, but I was told I would get answers. That's all I'm looking for."

Xeros pondered for a moment as he looked to Xaik, before turning away to walk away. Xaik was confused as to why Xeros was leaving before he turned back to her. He looked at her, confused.

"Come on," Xeros gestured with a hand. "Let's get this sorted out, then."

Xaik jumped a bit, realizing she was being inconsiderate in not following along. They began to walk together, though Xaik was a bit behind.

As they traversed the castle halls, Xaik couldn't help but be drawn to Xeros. She watched him, looking at him from behind to see his deep, red hair. His ponytail, swaying with each step. Xeros continued looking forward the whole time they walked, not once looking back to Xaik. Xaik wondered about Xeros as he pressed on, so focused on getting to where he was going. He wasn't as talkative as the others she had met, nor was he as energetic as the others. He was rather calm, which both put Xaik at unease and gave some strange sort of comfort.

Eventually, they found themselves in a large room, which appeared to be some sort of lounge. It was rather large, adorned with windows that overlooked the outside. Inside, other people were sitting around on various couches and chairs around tables. More of these people, wearing black coats. I guess these must be other members, Xaik thought to herself. As she walked in with Xeros, he was heading straight toward what looked to be Saïx, talking to Varijex. Xaik noticed that the discussion was rather heated.

"Do I LOOK like I know where they went off to? I'm NOT his keeper, for Pete's sake!"

"Then you'd better go and-" Before Saïx could continue, he noticed Xeros approaching with Xaik in tow. His expression turned to one of apathy as they both walked up.

"We were just speaking of you, Number Sixteen. I see you found the newcomer."

"Yes. She tells me that you told her to find me." Xeros questioned. "Am I correct in assuming that this one is going to be a new charge?"

Saïx looked to Xaik with displeased eyes. Xaik looked away, but she couldn't help but notice the sting of his glare on her.

"Indeed. I'm tasking their training to you. In fact," Saïx then looked to Varijex, who gave him a sneer. "You, and Numbers Fifteen and Seventeen will all be tasked with this."

Varijex turned to Saïx with a dumbfounded and offended expression.

"Excuse ME? Where do you get off-?!"

"This will expedite the process significantly," Saïx cut Varijex off. "Lord Xemnas wants this one to be up to speed so that they can begin working immediately."

"Oh, no you DON'T. If you think you'll dump me with more ANNOYING-!"

"No worries, Varijex," Xeros then cut him off. Varijex growled at being interrupted once more. "If it's too much for you to handle…"

"WHO said anything about it being too MUCH to handle?!" Varijex raised his hands up in a challenging manner.

"Then it will be no issue, will it, Number Fifteen?" Saïx said as he raised his chin up at Varijex.

Varijex growled as he scoffed before turning to walk away. Before he left, however, he looked to Xaik. He now looked at her face, as previously it had been hidden under her hood. Xaik saw for a moment a strange expression on Varijex's face, but it quickly returned to one of rage. He then stormed off, leaving the three of them.

"I expect you to deal with this swiftly." Saïx said as he turned to Xeros. Xeros nodded to Saïx.

"I'll make sure it's done."

"Then you are dismissed." Saïx said as he turned away from Xeros, looking out the window.

Saïx put his hands behind his back, as Xeros then turned away to leave. He looked to Xaik, making sure she would follow along. Xaik walked away with Xeros, looking back for a moment as Saïx merely continued to stare out the window, looking up to the sky. Xaik pondered to herself, Saïx seemed to have such high disdain for her, but it also seemed that he was also at odds with others, as well. Even though Xeros seemed to be obedient, Saïx spoke down to him. Xaik wondered about this for a while as they continued to walk.

Before long, Xeros was leading Xaik down the castle, as they traversed the expansive architecture. There was a long silence as they walked, which Xaik was unsure of whether to speak or not. They reached another opening walkway, as Xaik looked up to the moon once more. While looking at the moon, she stopped paying attention to where she was walking and accidentally bumped into Xeros.

Xaik was about to apologize, but noticed that Xeros had also stopped to look at the moon. She watched as Xeros's gaze lingered on the moon for a while. His expression was soft and wistful, very longing. It was a strange expression to see not only on the face of someone who supposedly has no heart, but also one as intense as his. Xeros seemed to stare quite intently at things around him as far as Xaik could tell, but the way he looked at the moon was slightly desperate.

"S-sorry…" Xaik apologized as Xeros continued to look at the moon for a bit, before looking back to her over his shoulder.

"We should get going."

"Where are we going?" Xaik asked.

Xeros turned to look forward and continue walking as he then spoke again.

"We need to catch up to Varijex. And knowing him, he's probably brooding away from the castle."

Xaik didn't like the idea of looking for Varijex, but it seemed that with Saïx's orders, he was going to be involved in Xaik's training. It put a bit of a damper on Xaik's thoughts, but she didn't have much say in the matter. And so, they continued on their way.

They left the castle; the walk was rather long. It seemed that Varijex had gone into the city where Xaik had originally found herself. They walked the streets until they managed to find themselves back in the square where Xaik had been found by Xigbar. Xaik stopped for a moment to catch her breath, as the trek had begun to wear her out. Walking through the huge castle all the way down to the city and through the streets was no easy feat. Xeros, on the other hand, didn't even seem to break a sweat.

In the middle of the square, Varijex was standing. He had his sword in his hand, before lifting it up to his side. He then swung it, seeming to practice his technique. Xaik watched, interested in his method. Especially since when she watched their fight before, he didn't seem to have much technique in the first place. His style seemed to be just an aggressive assortment of slashes. Varijex continued his slashes, before he turned swinging his blade around. His expression, intense and focused, turned to displeasure as he saw Xeros approaching him.

"Great, I leave for some peace, and YOU show up."

"I figured it would be best if we discussed our plan for the training of our newest member."

Varijex scoffed, looking to Xaik who was slowly approaching the two so she could be part of the conversation.

"You mean you thought you'd annoy me with stupid semantics. I don't CARE what Saïx says, I'm not BABYsitting the runt."

"So, you trust me to deal with her training?"

"You did fine with the last one," Varijex waved dismissively as he turned away. "Don't THINK you'll trick me into dealing with this one."

"But you're the one who says that you're the best of all of us. Are you telling me that was a lie?"

Varijex glared at Xeros with intensity that if he could manage, would punch Xeros with his gaze alone. Varijex stepped up to Xeros, posturing up to him. The two were about the same height, Varijex being slightly taller than Xeros.

"Don't YOU dare question my strength."

"Oh, Jexy," Xeros tilted his head back, giving Varijex a small smirk. "I know better than to doubt you."

"YOU'D absolutely better."

Varijex then pushed past Xeros as he walked up to Xaik, who shrunk into herself a bit as Varijex walked over to her. He towered over her, looking down to her as she tried not to look up at his face.

"So, what's your deal?" Varijex demanded. Xaik was unsure how to respond, as she looked to his face, which as she anticipated, was scary. "HELLO? Are you DEAF? ANSWER me, Squirt!"

Xaik began to stutter, failing to speak. Varijex rolled his eyes as he looked back to Xeros. He walked over to him as Xaik started to return her composure.

"I'm expected to TRAIN her? At least you were something I could WORK with."

"She'll grow into her own, I'm sure." Xeros said as he looked to Xaik, who was looking rather uncomfortable.

"She'd BETTER."

"Well then, when will you take her?" Xeros inquired. Xaik didn't like the idea of having Varijex as a teacher, but all she could do was hope that he wouldn't be the one who she dealt with primarily.

"Don't try to pawn her off on me UNTIL she's mission-ready. I'm WAY past playing in the kiddie pool."

Xeros looked to Varijex, who was giving him a glare. Xeros rubbed his chin, looking to Varijex as he nodded his head.

"I understand."

"GOOD. Now, if you'll EXCUSE me…" Varijex then pushed past Xeros once again. He walked by Xaik, staring her down as he walked by. He then turned back to the two of them, still walking to give one last statement. "I'm off to not have to LOOK at your stupid MUGS anymore."

Varijex then turned away, waving his hand and summoning a dark portal and walking through. Xeros sighed for a moment, before looking to Xaik who was giving him concerned eyes. Xeros shook his head, before opening a portal as Varijex's portal closed. He walked in as Xaik went to follow him.

As they walked out of the portal, they ended up back in the castle. They were in the hallway that led from the main part of the castle to one of its many spires. From there, there was another open walkway that lead to a circular hallway where the room she had been put into was. Xaik looked around, still trying to get used to all these strange things surrounding her. Xeros looked to Xaik as she noticed him looking at her.

"Do you remember where your room is?"

"Um… I think so…" Xaik spoke as she then walked toward the room she believed she had stayed in before.

She led Xeros down the hallway as Xeros seemed to pay close attention to where they were going, noting that she had been placed in the same area as his room. Eventually, Xaik found herself in front of the door that she believed was the one to the room she was given. She opened the door, as she recognized the set up, as well as the clothes she had been found in still spread out on the bed. It was a bit embarrassing for her, so she rushed in quickly to pick up her mess.

As she bundled up her clothes and placed them away from obvious sight, she turned back to see Xeros was still standing at the door. She cleared her throat as she waited for him to enter, but he didn't move. He just continued looking at her, once again with those piercing eyes of his. Why… isn't he coming in? She thought to herself.

"Um…" Xaik mumbled to herself. "You can… come in."

Xeros's eyes then stopped their intense focus as he entered the room. He stepped forward, but continued to stand.

"So, um…" Xaik tried to start more conversation. "What will happen now?"

"We'll begin training you tomorrow. My mission tomorrow is going to be far too advanced for you to accompany me, so I'll have Scyrux start you off."

"Scyrux?"

"Our seventeenth member," Xeros replied to Xaik's confusion. "Find him in the Hall of Empty Melodies tomorrow."

With those words, Xeros seemingly was turning to leave. Is he leaving? But I still have questions, Xaik thought to herself.

"I, um…" Xaik muttered, which did manage to get Xeros's attention. "I still h-had some questions…"

Xeros stood, staring expectantly at Xaik, who was trying to think of what to ask. His gaze made it hard for her once more, as she questioned to herself why he always seemed to just look at her. After a moment of pushing past those eyes peering at her, she spoke once more.

"So, I'm joining this organization…"

"I presumed so."

"...and we're all here because… we're all Nobodies who lost our hearts?"

"You seem confused." Xeros punctuated.

"It's just…" Xaik tried to think more, remember anything she could before letting her thoughts ponder. "How did this happen? How did we end up like this?"

Xeros looked to her, now sporting his own pondering face as he tried to think of what to say.

"From what I know, the heart is an important piece of a person."

Xaik looked to Xeros intently as he described to her his knowledge. Her hands were placed on her knees as she leaned forward, which was strange for someone like her to show such body language. Xeros took note before he continued.

"When the heart is lost, if the person has a strong enough will, the body can act independently of it. That is what a Nobody is."

A person with a strong will… The idea put Xaik to some ease, as she now knew that whoever she was before she became a Nobody, she was determined enough not to simply perish from losing her heart. But that begged a different question.

"And…" Xaik hesitated. "...how does one lose their heart?"

"Hearts are often lost to darkness."

Darkness…? Xaik was not sure what this darkness that Xeros was talking about.

"What do you mean…'darkness'?"

Xeros started looking a bit more puzzled, unsure of how to answer this question.

"As far as I am aware, hearts can hold darkness within them. If it is too great, the darkness will consume the heart. This in turn creates beings known as Heartless."

Heartless… Xaik tried to remember if she knew anything about what Xeros was talking about. But none of it was helping her remember. All it seemed to do was frighten her.

"What… are 'Heartless'?"

This time, Xeros seemed more sure of himself when he responded to her question.

"Heartless are creatures of darkness. They are simple-minded, driven by only one goal. To consume more hearts and spread darkness to the worlds."

The more Xeros described, the more Xaik grew uneasy. At least, whatever kind of uneasy one could be when they lacked emotion. This unsettling information still did nothing to remind Xaik of anything of her life, but she grew more concerned at the idea that whatever happened to her, it probably wasn't good. She could only guess that one of those things must have happened to her. Either she lost to the darkness in her heart, or it was stolen from her by one of the Heartless.

At this moment, Xaik was somewhat glad that she didn't remember what happened. This gave her another idea of something to ask.

"Xemnas… he said that if I get my heart back, I can get my memories back." Xeros perked up a bit at Xaik's statement. "Does losing your heart… mean losing your memories?"

Xeros looked to Xaik in a manner that was different from before. She couldn't quite place the look, but it was definitely better than the blank stare that she would normally get. His face seemed normal for once, which left Xaik wondering what was going on inside of his head.

"Only some of us. You don't remember anything from before?"

Xaik shook her head, as Xeros seemed somewhat pleased at this revelation.

"I also have no memories from before."

"You… don't?" Xaik let out, with a desperate tone laced in her words.

"No. Apparently, it's somewhat of an anomaly."

Xaik thought about how it was unfortunate for the two of them to be lacking memories. It seemed by Xemnas's reaction before, that a Nobody doesn't always lose their memory. But Xaik did, and now she knew that Xeros did, too. She took comfort in the idea of their kindred experience. And a sensation nagged at the back of her head once more, a slight scratching of some sort of wall.

"Regardless, you'll be working with us so we can all get our hearts back. And… our memories."

Xaik looked to Xeros as he then turned his eyes to her again. They shared a glance, before Xaik was made uncomfortable by his deep, green eyes. This was the first time Xaik had noticed them, as every other time, she tried her best to look away when Xeros would keep his eyes on her. Xeros noticed Xaik's strange behavior, but it was not important right then. He wanted to know if Xaik had more questions, so he pressed on.

"Is there anything else you want to know?"

Xaik looked to Xeros for a quick second before thinking some more.

"Well… how exactly are we going to get our hearts back?"

"You'll need to be trained to carry out missions that the Organization assigns. There are various things that we'll need to cover before you are mission-ready, however." That is rather… vague. Xaik thought to herself.

"What will these missions accomplish?"

"I wouldn't concern yourself too much about that right now. Scyrux will help get you started, but for now, perhaps rest."

Xeros then turned away, leaving Xaik's room. He stopped just outside the door, as he looked back to Xaik.

"You have a long day ahead of you."

With those words, Xeros shut the door behind him as Xaik was left sitting in her bed.

A long day… Xaik thought. She didn't know what to expect for tomorrow. She had only just begun to scratch the surface of everything that was to come. But Xeros had a point; starting tomorrow, Xaik would need to start working towards the goal that she now had. And not only for her, but for everyone else that was part of this. They all lost their hearts, they all need them back. I know this won't be easy… but I hope we can solve this soon.

Xaik then looked around her room, thinking of how empty it was, as she was. There was something quite depressing about having nothing in her room, as she considered going to find Xeros to ask about amenities.

"It might be nice if I had something to do for the rest of the night…" Xaik thought aloud, not really thinking about it.

Then, as if to answer her, she heard a knocking at her door. The knocking was soft, as if the person hitting the door had been using an empty sleeve. When she went to open it, there was a bit of a frightening sight; one of the strange creatures in white she'd met when she arrived was standing at the door. She vaguely remembered Xigbar calling it a "Dusk". It held a book in its arms, Xaik noted that the Dusk didn't really have hands. It held it out, as Xaik reluctantly reached for it. After taking it and looking, she saw the Dusk stand there, almost expectantly. Why… is it doing this?

Xaik wasn't sure what to make of this, but she supposed it was waiting for some sort of response. She had a bit of trouble understanding at first, but she did think of a simple thing to do for it.

"Th-thank you…?"

With those words, the Dusk sprung up and flew off into the distance, off to do whatever else it needed to do. Xaik was confused and a bit disturbed, but there was not much else to do. She closed the door, holding the book in her hand as she then decided to look at it.

Something was nagging at her again, as she inspected the book. She held it in her hand, taking in the details of the cover; the book was cold in her hand, hardcover but with some texture. Something about this spoke to Xaik.

She went back to the bed, laying down as she flipped open the book to the first page. She passed the index as she landed on the first chapter. The beginning of the story. So much more was to come from this book, like how there was much more to come from her journey with the Organization. Xaik read for the day, until eventually she fell asleep in her bed, the book still in hand.

A lone boy sitting in the back of a train car. I notice him as I am looking for a place to sit. I ask why he's sitting by himself.

"I just like sitting in the back, is all. No big deal. I'm used to being alone."

I ask to keep him company. He reluctantly agrees.

The train shakes. I fall over.

"Are you alright?"

I fell on him. I look at his face…

…that's not right…

…he has no face. No matter how hard I try to see it, it's not there.

I apologize to him. I sit across from him. That was a bit awkward. He is looking at me…

…is he?

His face is trying to be assuring.

…at least...I think it is.

"My name's *****, by the way."

The name… also not there.

"What's yours?"

My… name?

"*****." My mouth moves, no noise.

…why…?

"My name is *****." Again, mouth moves. Still silent.

…can't I…?

"Well, it's nice to meet you, *****."

…hear my name?