Xemnas' back was sour from not only being in the stocks for six hours straight, but also from where the whip had struck multiple times. His legs had given out long ago, so the only thing holding him up was the block of wood.

He wasn't sure if he was sleeping or even conscious for that matter, but he could still hear his own screams as he was flogged for hours on end, and for one part he was upside-down. He was sure his hair had been died crimson red by the abuse.

Xemnas heard the door slam open and heavy feet practically running down the stares. The blindfold was yanked from his head and the light blinded him. Whimpering, Xemnas tried to back away, but he kept hitting the wood each time. Keys jangled and Xemnas was lifted out of the stocks, held up on both sides. He tried to pull away, but he was currently too weak to do the job. He swayed and nearly collapsed.

"Hold him steady, damn it!" cried a voice that Xemnas knew, but couldn't quite put a finger on. The first figure he saw stood in front of him and caressed his cheek. "Xemnas, Xemnas, are you okay?" The man in question could feel the blood leave his head and go straight to his back. "Xemnas look at me! That's an order!" But it was too late. He was already gone.

When Saïx had seen his newest servant in that stockade and blindfolded, his once liquid silver hair now a river of blood, he didn't know what to do. The way he stood there, it was almost as if he was dead for the amount of blood that was around.

When he was brought into better light, Saïx could see numerous cuts and scratches covering his chest.

Half an hour later, an unconscious Xemnas was supported by his upper arms while his comrades cleaned and dressed his wounds, trying hard not to reopen them.

"When you're done wrapping him, wash out his hair!" Saïx called, his eyes filled with concern. Tidus appeared at his side, head bowed.

"Excuse me, Master," he muttered, his hands fidgeting.

"What is it?" Saïx asked, looking back and forth between him and Xemnas.

"I… I don't know how-how exactly to explain this," he continued, his voice still low. This caught the lord's attention.

"What is it? What happened?"

"Please, follow me."

"I don't believe this," he whispered, looking down at his head slave. "I just don't believe this." Wakka had taken his soul and bound it to a knife. Saïx lowered his head, sighing deeply. He had lost his head slave, given to him as a whipping boy at the age of five, and they had grown to be best friends. His heart ached with the loss. A solitary tear slipped down his cheek. "This can't be happening. It just can't." More tears followed and he fell to the floor. Tidus stood there, shaking. He knelt next to his master and put his arm around him. He sobbed till he could no more.

Xemnas woke to a hand caressing his face. He winced out of reflex before opening his eyes. It was dark with a lone candle burning. A figure sat in a chair next to where he lay, and Xemnas' muscles immediately locked. The figure stopped in mid-stroke and brought the candle closer. He could now see that it was his current master, not the one from his nightmares.

"Xemnas," he asked, his eyes weary, "are you all right?" Xemnas had just realized that he was breathing heavy. He relaxed his muscles to a tense state as he eyeballed the room. Finally, he nodded. His face felt flushed. Saïx sighed. "I'm glad you're all right, but there is a rather important matter I need to bring up with you." He stopped there, not saying another word.

"What is it, Master?" Xemnas asked. The way he looked, Saïx just could not ask the appropriate question, so he asked the next one on his list.

"Who did this to you?" Xemnas was expecting this. He turned his head to the side, away from the candle to hide his discomfort. "Xemnas?"

"I… I cannot say, Master," was what he eventually choked out.

"Why can't you say?" Saïx was furious. Why couldn't he disclose this information? His tormentor now laid to rest in the family tomb beneath the building, still unknown to him. "Tell me now, Xemnas," Saïx shouted, banging his fist on Xemnas' bandaged torso, "or I swear I will have you sent back to your original master!" This caught the slave's attention. He was not going back to him, no matter what. He had enough nightmares to deal with that didn't require yet another visit to the source.

"I… I can't say anything… because I wo-would be considered a… a rat." Xemnas turned his head yet again, too ashamed to look at Saïx. He was going back for sure, now. He would be shipped off back to the capital within the hour, and his death wish would be signed. Xemnas' head was turned to face Saïx, and a pair of soft lips came into contact with his forehead.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, caressing his slave's cheek, his face within a couple of inches to the others. Sitting back up, he said, "I have another question to ask of you, if you are so inclined."

"What is it?"

"I am in need of a new head slave."