A wind tickled the sides of the rocky mountains. Not a soul stood anywhere along the terrain except for one person. Aeules scaled the sides of the mountain in complete serenity. He had decided that he needed to be alone for a while. Xeonhort talk of the darkness was starting to freak out the copper-haired male.
Aeules extended his hand forward and felt the ledge he was trying to reach. A ghost of a smile graced his lips as he pulled himself upwards.
"Finally." he whispered to himself. Aeules sat on the cold ground and started to sift through his pack. He needed water. It had been a few hours since his last break, and the damn sun wasn't helping things. His hand grasped something, and when he pulled it out, his face went solemn. It was a picture of his colleagues: Xeonhort, Braig, Dilan, Even and Ienzo. Aeules wondered what they were doing. The last he had heard, while Xeonhort and Ienzo were still studying the affects of the heart's shadows, he and the others decided to get away for a while. A small smile curled his lips. Being lost in remembrance, he didn't notice that three mysterious pots were now perched along the rocky wall behind him. The copper-haired man went searching in his bag, this time coming upon the water bottle he was originally searching for. He took a long sip, still not noticing the pots behind him. Eyes were visable underneath the crimson lid...yellow eyes shining from the darkness.
Suddenly, mechanical legs popped out from the sides and startled Aeules.
"What the hell?" he asked himself as the strange creatures drew closer. "Heartless." he said. He didn't know why he said that, but for some strange reason, the word just came to him. A stinging pain erupted in Aeules's side. The strange pot creature had stabbed him in the side, and his body felt like it was going numb. It was almost as if a cold fire had started to lick the side of his body. Everything was going dark...Aeules was losing consciousness. Soon, everything was gone and lost in darkness.
Aeules woke up leaning against a rock. His body felt oddly cool. He placed a hand to his heart and felt nothing.
"It's a strange feeling," someone said, and Aeules jerked his head to the side to see his company. "not being able to feel your heart that is." The man looked so familiar.
"Ienzo?" Aeules asked softly, and a smirk curled his old colleague's lips.
"My name is Zexion...not Ienzo." he said. "Over the past few days, I have been studying what has happened to me...Xemnas and I both."
"Who is Xemnas?" Aeules asked and Zexion chuckled a bit.
"You should know him. He used to be Xeonhort."
"What do you mean used to be?" Again, Zexion chuckled as a smirk curled his lips.
"The darkness has changed us my friend. We are now void of emotions and a heart. You may think that what you are 'feeling' right now is real, but trust me, you are just relying on your knowledge of what emotions feel like. Even I don't have the emotions of the heart anymore." Silence passed between the two. Aeules didn't understand what was going on. It felt as if he didn't exist anymore. Finally, he decided to speak up.
"So then, who am I now?"
"You are Lexeaus, the Silent Hero. The name suits you. You hardly ever talked to anyone in the castle." 'Lexeaus' got to his feet and dusted himself off. He noticed the black cloak he now had. It was definitely an interesting choice of apparel considering he wasn't used to it. Lexeaus looked over to the smirking Zexion.
"What now?" he asked, and Zexion's smirk grew.
"Welcome to the organization."