Twilight Town, Clock tower

The wind was blowing almost at what seemed a high rate of speed at the top of this building. Something didn't sit well with me as I looked around the corner to my right, seeing that there was a ball of light rising… no setting over the hills of the town I was in.

'What is that thing…?' I questioned myself as my eyes squinted upon seeing it. It was bright to my eyes, but not as bright as the white walls in The Castle That Never Was.

"You're early." The voice caught me off guard, making me jump a little since I was so focused on the ball of light in the sky. I quickly turned my head and noticed I wasn't alone on the top of the...tower. Wait! Are we on top of a tower? Where am I? My thoughts were taken from me when I took in the appearance of the voice as a member that I recognized from the Circle Room stood there to my left and… a boy?

He had on an organization cloak, but I had never seen him in the castle for the past fourteen years. He had blonde spikey hair and looked to be no older than I am. Maybe sixteen? Seventeen? I was once pulled from my thoughts as the red-haired man started walking in my direction.

I figured I was what caught his attention and he was coming to punish me, or worse let Vanitas know. Maids were not ever allowed to leave the castle; we weren't even allowed outside of the castle. My worry was pushed aside; however, when the red-haired man just sat down beside the blonde. It was like he didn't even notice I was there.

"No, you're just late." The boy's voice sounded distorted in my ears, almost like he had more than one. It shocked me out of my stupor that I had been forgotten about. How did I even get up here? Why were we on top of a tower? Who were these two? Why didn't the man notice me? I couldn't help but wonder these questions as the two boys were staring off into the ball of fire. I didn't even realize I had joined them in staring.

The scene sure did seem serene. Almost like all my worries were washed away just by staring at that ball.

"Today makes 255." My head jerked in the blonde direction. I realized I could see his face now that he didn't have his head turned to me. I wasn't able to. It was almost like the boy didn't have a face. It was just distorted and blurry. Another question I had. Why could I see this red-haired man so clearly but the boy was a mysterious figure?

"What's that about?" The red-haired man asked with a stick hanging out of his mouth. I blinked. 'WHERE DID HE GET A STICK FROM?!'

"It's been that many days since I first joined the Organization." The boy explained. I looked at the boy and smiled as one of my questions was answered. He was an Organization member… but why didn't I know him from the Circle Room like the man? "Man, time flies."

"So, you go the number memorized, do yeah?"

"Yeah. Have to hang onto something, right? It's not like I have memories from before the Organization." For some reason, I found myself sitting beside this blonde boy on his left while the red-haired man sat on his right. I don't know why… But I felt as though this boy and I had something in common. I don't remember anything but the Organization. "Don't you remember? I acted like a zombie."

My nose wrinkled up at that comment. 'A zombie?' I thought quietly as the red-haired man put his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Right, that first week, you could barely form a sentence." The man said almost like he felt bad for this boy too. Suddenly the hand that was on the boy's shoulder hit him on the back, making the boy blink in surprise as his body lurched forward. "But come on, you're still kind of a zombie."

"Oh, thanks!" The boy said as the red-head patted his shoulder. The blonde then moved to swipe at the red-heads arm, and they started laughing, which caused a smile to form on my face. This clock tower was a place to sit and think, but also keep a peaceful air about it.

"Hey -." My head snapped up from looking at my hands to the red-haired man. He clearly said the boy's name, yet I couldn't understand what he said. It seemed like the word was stolen from his mouth. "Bet you don't know why the sun sets red."

My head looked over at the two, and I noticed that the man was looking at the ball of fire. 'That's the sun?' I questioned as I looked over at it. 'So… That's what the sun looks like.' "You see, light is made of up of lots of colors. And out of all those colors, red is the one that travels the farthest."

"Like I asked! Know-it-all." I couldn't stop the small laugh that escaped my lips at the boy's comment yet; I was grateful to hear about why the sun sets red. I'm not sure if this a dream or what this little spell is, but it is something that I will remember for a long time.

"I bet Max would have wanted to know." Suddenly it was like the world stopped as they laughed. The red-head was the one who said it. I looked over to his face and noticed that his face wasn't blurred out like the boys.

"I'm sure she would have. If only she were awake." The boy replied. They know me… They know me!

'Awake… Wake up, Max!' I heard this ringing in my head as the word 'awake' was spoken. 'Max, wake up!' I was falling, falling from where? The tower was fading from my view, and I was falling into the darkness. "No!" I shouted, reaching for the tower that had the warm sun rays on my skin. "Wake up!"

World That Never Was, Castle That Never Was

I quickly sat up as sweat beaded down my temple. I didn't realize I wasn't alone until a hand gently gripped my shoulder. I looked to my left and saw Prim gently squeezing my shoulder. That's when I realized that my throat was dry. Was it a nightmare? What happened? Ty was to my right as Nick walked up to Prims left, holding a glass of water. He gently passed it to me, and I took it gratefully.

"She's okay," Ty spoke to the others. It seemed I had woken everyone up. My body shook as I drank the water quietly.

"Max?" I looked up from the cup in my hand to see Julia standing at the foot of my bed. My bed? Suddenly the memories of what happened before I was taken into that dream filled my head. The now empty plastic cup in my hand crushed as I remembered what happened. I failed Vanitas…

"Hey, Max, it's okay. It was only a dream." Prim said as she gripped my left shoulder a bit tighter. "Alright, everyone give her some space," Prim said as I moved my legs to the right of my bed.

"What is she the pretty princess who needs to be pampered?" My head snapped in the direction of Naomi and Isaiah. Larxene's and Saix's maids. Naomi had been the one to speak. She had the infuriating smirk on her face. "Oh, did I say something to annoy you, princess."

I tore my glare away from the navy-blue haired girl as a small gasp filled the room. I looked over to the door of our shared room and noticed that a portal of darkness was appearing. The gasps came from Willow, Luxord's maid. Quickly we all scattered to the front of our beds standing as perfectly still as we could. The two beds that were closet to the door was Prim's and Naomi's.

The beds alternated from girl to boy, each bed lined up based on the Organization members number, however with Prim, Nick, Ty and myself, we were the first four beds. As the portal closed, my thoughts were directed towards the man who walked in. I watched as everyone, but myself stiffened at the sight of Master Xehanort. "Oh, good, you're all up." He spoke, making eye contact with all of us one by one.

"Starting as a new rule, you are all commissioned to wear a uniform." Master Xehanort said as his gaze trailed over to me. My fist clenched behind me as it did. He used me. He used me to get Vanitas to accept the darkness again. "Now that I was finally able to persuade Vanitas to agree to the idea, it will happen." I felt everyone's eyes shift towards my direction.

Vanitas liked how we each show our individuality with our clothing, but he was the only one, the other members wanted us to look alike as they did. Vanitas understood because he was the only one beside Master Xehanort not to have to wear a cloak.

"You'll see your masters right away to be dressed." Master Xehanort said as portals of darkness opened.

"Yes, sir." We all replied, turning to enter the portals behind us. However, before I entered the portal, my eyes lingered on Ryder. Ryder was the maid of the redhead from the dream. I'd have to meet up with Ryder later to ask him some questions about his master and what exactly his master has to do with me.

Much like yesterday, as I walked down the short distance to Vanitas' door, I looked around for Marluxia and noticed he wasn't around this time. He wasn't much of a creep, but I could care less about him. He was mostly upset that Damon was his maid, not an actual female.

I was a little upset as I was sure everyone was about the uniform policy. After all, I had just gotten my new change of clothes, which I was never to see again. How tragic.

Quietly I knocked on Vanitas' door. I waited for a response. A few minutes passed before I knocked on the door again and it opened. "Master?" I called softly as I walked into his room. His lights were off, causing the room to pitch black except for the moonlight shining in through the window.

"Master, it's Max… I've come for my uniform." I said softly, allowing myself into his room and gently closing the door behind me. I still didn't get a response, and it was slowly creeping me out. When the lights flickered on, I quickly turned towards the light switch in a battle stance with my right leg out behind me and my left leg bending in front of me with both my hands positioned to protect and attack.

There was a dark chuckle that came from in front of me, and I saw a boy with a mask on in Vanitas' attire. I gently relaxed my stance but kept my guard up as I stood up straight. "Very well, Max." He compliments me walking forward and examining me. "Still on guard good."

I didn't like this one bit. He was testing me. But why? Did he want to see how well I was paying attention in training now that he had more power? Was he questioning how weak I was? "Relax."

As soon the command left his mouth, I did as I was told and let my guard down standing ready for his next order. He slid a box to me and took off his helmet, showing me those amber eyes he had inherited. "Get dressed. We have a busy day ahead of us. We have a small meeting in the Circle Room." I nodded at his command and silently picked up the box and walked over to the bathroom.

I gently shut the door and looked down at the box. Once I had changed my clothes, I noticed that what we were wear was a white collared shirt that was tucked into the grey skirt with black stockings and black combat boots. I mentally groaned fighting in this would be embarrassing, especially with the flips.

I was gently tying the red bow around my neck when Vanitas knocked on the bathroom door. "Are you done yet?" He snapped, causing me to finish tying the bow sloppily. I slowly closed the box over my older outfit and carried it out silently, nodding my apology to Vanitas.

"Hmph" He sighed before taking the box from my hand and sliding it under his bed for later. "Fix your bow." He ordered before walking out of the room. I quickly fixed it in the mirror and followed after him.

World That Never Was, Maids Circle Room

"What do you think this meeting is about?" Everett asked me as I sat down in my chair. I slowly took in his uniform, knowing the boys would all wear the same thing. He had a white collared shirt that was tucked into his grey dress pants and black dress shoes. He wore a red tie around his neck and seemed miserable in the outfit. It was just the two of us in the circle room at the time.

"I'm not sure," I mumbled out quietly. "It is an emergency meeting, however… We discussed everything yesterday." I explained as Everett nodded.

"Yeah, Xigbar didn't mention anything about it, either." He said, looking over to the door as the others slowly filed in. I watched everyone climbed into their chairs before they raised to before higher off the floor.

"Roll, call," Ty called out quietly as the Circle Room projector turned on showing us the real meeting that was taking place and we were being watched for Roll Call.

"Master Young Xehanort, Prim, present," Prim said as she pulled at her bow. It seemed a little tight making me assume Young Xehanort tied it for her.

"Master Ansem, Nick, present."

"Master Vanitas, Max, present," I mumbled out as the others all turned to look at me. Some of them didn't even notice I was in the room. It was rare for me to be in the maid's circle room, mostly because the meetings were held once a week.

"Master Xemnas, Tyler, present."

"Master Xigbar, Everett, present." The shaggy dark purple haired boy spoke he reminds me of Zexion with the way his hair covered his left eye.

"Master Xaldin, Julia, present." Julia was quick to respond after Everett so she could get back to the kitchen with Xaldin who I was sure wasn't happy that this meeting was interrupting their time in the kitchen for breakfast.

"Master Vexen, Hailey, present." I glanced over at Hailey as she held her most recent book in her lap, her green eyes met brown ones as we nodded in acknowledgment of each other.

"Master Lexause," Jordan's voice jolted me out of my staring contest with Hailey. He doesn't like to speak much, and it always catches me off guard to hear his voice. "Jordan, present."

"Master Zexion, Maci, present," Maci spoke with such authority I sometimes wondered how she wasn't the leader of the maids, why she didn't give the weekly report. Then I remembered it because she didn't like the way the members would stare at her eyes. Maci had calico eyes; her left eye was a beautiful blue while her right one was an astonishing purple. In this maid outfit, her eyes popped compared to the dull colors.

"Master Saix," My eyes traveled from Maci's in understanding as I made eye contact with glared glasses of Isaiah's. He tched at me before continuing. "Isaiah, present."

My eyes quickly flickered over to the next person, not wanting to linger on the greenette much longer. However, my breath hitched when I made eye contact with Ryder. He didn't like following role call proto-call. "Ryder, present." He said as his maroon eyes made contact with mine. We sat directly across from each other, and he shot me a toothy smile. I couldn't help but notice that the golden chain he always wore was tucked away under his shirt.

When my eyes traveled back up to his, he gave me a knowing smirk and signaled for me to be quiet. 'What was with him? Does he take anything seriously?' I blinked as shook my head. Where did that thought come from?

"Master, Demyx!" My eyes glanced over to Lily as her pigtails bobbed up and down with her excitement. She tore me out of my thoughts, and for that I was grateful, I didn't want to give myself a headache with all of these unanswered questioned that swarmed through my head. "Lily, present!" I couldn't help but smile at the girl with red-rimmed glasses. Lily had this atmosphere that just made me happy. She was happy about everything, no matter what.

"Master Luxord, Willow, present." I looked over to Willow and noticed that the other purple haired maid had a confident smirk on her face as if she had just won a game of cards.

I glanced over to Willow's right and looked at Damon and gave a small nod for him. "Master Marluxia, Damon, present," I said. Damon, as we have all come to terms with, is mute. His red eyes met mine with a look of thanks as I nodded his welcome.

Finally, Naomi spoke up and just seemed to be glaring me down like she was going to respond for Damon before I spoke. "Mistress Larxene, Naomi, present." She said as she directed her gaze to Everett who smirked at her in amusement. Everett has always been an instigator in our, well mostly Naomi's arguments with me.

"Wonderful to see you all in uniform." All of our heads looked down to the projection when Master Xehanort was seated to see him resting his chin in his left hand and smirking. "Now, onto the meeting."