We looked at each other for what seemed to be three minutes, until I took a step forward. My knee jerked, and I fell to the floor. I didn't understand why this happened; I just roamed the entire castle in search of him, and now I couldn't take one step? He walked toward me, lifting me up with ease, and allowed me to stand on my own two feet again. I held his arms for support, until I was sure I wouldn't fall again. He took a strand of my hair into his hand.

"…..Blue…?" I looked into his hand, and then realized that in my frenzy, I never looked at myself! Surely I may have changed, seeing as Lea's body morphed into a more mature form. I pulled a strand in front of my eye and realized that my hair had gone from its raven black, two a blue comparable only to the sky itself. I turned around to face the window, this time looking at it for the reflection, rather than looking through it like before.

I was taller, and I had much more of a physique. My hair, despite its drastic color change, was now much longer. I looked at my hands, and the daggers I had for fingernails. I looked down at my legs, now equitable to a track runner. And then I walked closer, I saw, on my forehead, the X scar left from my fall from the monkey bars.

"…….name…?" Lea asked. I turned around to face him again.

"…..name…?" Surely Lea hadn't forgotten me? No, he just said my name a moment ago. He pointed to his face and slowly began to speak.

"…….Number VIII….Axel…" He said. This was so painful! To have a mind that moved so fast, and a body that couldn't keep up was true torture. I knew exactly what he was asking, but all I could manage was my reply.

"……Number VII…"

"Saix." We both faced my right, and saw another cloaked figure; one we hadn't met before. He stood equal to my height, with slate blue hair covering at least half of his face. He wore the same cloak the rest of them wore; black, brooding, menacing, and somewhat reminiscent of a bad movie. He folded his arms across his chest, raising his head to look down on me and Lea. Just what the doctor ordered; another prick.

"Good evening Axel. It's a pleasure to meet you, Saix. I am your senior mentor, number VI, Zexion."

Sounded like a reject reindeer. I nodded in response.

"I've been assigned to be your guide and help you accommodate to the lifestyle of Organization VIII. We will begin with the grand tour of the castle. Follow me," he said turning around, but I stayed put; I wasn't going anywhere without Lea. Zexion turned around, realizing that I hadn't followed. "Did you not hear me Saix?" I pointed at Lea.

"With….my…..friend…" I struggled.

"Yes, well I don't care if Axel accompanies us. Now then, shall we move along?" I looked at Lea, who nodded, and walked forward. I followed them both.

The tour turned out to be very helpful. As huge as this place was, I had a feeling that I wouldn't get lost now that Zexion had shown me every nook and cranny of the place. As a matter of fact, I was wrong about Zexion. He wasn't a prick, no, nothing like Vexen. He was just extremely intelligent, and gave off that feeling. We were walking down the halls of the south wing now, which was where all of us lived. Lea showed me his room, and I nodded, committing it to memory. Zexion then pointed to his.

"This is my room. Feel free to knock any time you need me, I'll most likely be up reading anyway." He said. Then we walked a few doors down, as he listed off a few more names that I tried to make connections to. I'd met all but one of them at this point; a man named Xigbar who stayed two doors down from Zexion. Then we stopped at a door. "This is the superior's room, Lord Xemnas."

I was reminded of the frightening man from before, as I looked at the door. I thought of what could possibly be beyond the door. What on earth could accommodate someone of his presence?

"You are not, among any circumstances, allowed to go into the superior's room, without his permission. At this stage of your…well…afterlife, you probably cannot ask why, but I know you are thinking that." Finally somebody who understood. "Even I do not know why we are not allowed in his room, but I do not dare try and find out. I've witnessed the superior's power only once, but it was enough to teach me never to challenge it."

I believed him. We walked on, and arrived upon the room next to the superior's. "Saix, this is your room." I opened the door. It was exactly like my room back home. Everything was left in exactly the same place that I'd left it; the only difference was none of it was my stuff. Or if it was, I wouldn't be able to tell; everything was grey.

"The superior believes that if we recreate our lives before our transformations, we'll have a better chance of regaining ourselves in the near future, so he sent me on a recon mission to duplicate your living center. I hope you find it to your liking," He said, throwing me a key. I assumed it went to my own door. "As I said, feel free to knock on my door should you have any questions. You will begin field work in three days." He said, taking his leave.

I looked from the door, to Lea, and then at my bed. I sat on it, amazed that even the mattress and sheets themselves were the same. I knew that this wasn't my home though; very close, but not quite home. I sat there, and grabbed one of the books at my bedside table, recognizing it as my diary. The pages were copied to a T, but it wasn't in my handwriting. Great, so now that Zexion knew all of my deepest, darkest, secrets, I was going to be paranoid around him. I wondered what he thought of me working at a cemetery…

Lea came over, and sat on my bed as well. We stayed like this, for quite some time, neither of us feeling strong enough to talk, until Lea stood up again. He walked toward the door.

"Goodnight…..Sai…" He said, waving goodbye.

" Night….." I said. He left closing the door, and I collapsed onto my replica pillow. My eyes shut, and before I knew it I was asleep.

I awoke that morning to the idle grey tone of my room. There was no sunlight, only the artificial lighting that mimicked it. I doubted that normal people could survive in this world. Hell, I still didn't even know what I'd become. However, my body was still fully functional, as my stomach let its opinion ring through the empty spaces of my room; I was starving. I pushed back my sheets so I could get my legs out of bed, and stood up. I noted that I had much more control over my body from one night's sleep.

I walked into my bathroom, and turned on the lights. I had vanity mirrors, so I folded them to look at myself. I wanted to fully take in my new form, from my golden eyes, to my furious fangs. I slipped off the patients gown that I'd slept in, and stepped back to look at my body. I was never obese, but I was also never this muscular. My body…was flawless. I even spun around to look at my backside. My shoulders were broad, but not too big, and I still had hips, and an ass. The muscles in my legs fit the curve and everything. Even if I had lost something, I'd gained something else in this body.

I opened the door of my shower, and turned the shower head so I wouldn't get cold when the water first hit me. Then, once the temperature was to my liking, I stepped in and closed the door behind me. I let the water fall into my hair, as my body was soaked into the soothing bliss. I covered my hands with soap, and faded away into my own world. I remembered the sound of laughter. The jokes that Lea and I used to make. I tried to laugh, but it just came off as fake now. I had no reason to laugh, nothing to give me the joy to.

After I stepped out of the shower, I dried off, and walked into my room to put on some clothes. All of my drawers however, were empty of my own clothes. Instead, they were filled with the black cloaks that everyone wore. Thankfully though, I did still have underwear. I put them on, and then tried on the cloak. I had to admit, it did look good on me.

My stomach growled again, and I threw my hood above my head, for some unknown reason, as I walked out of the door. Remembering Zexion's tour directions, I easily made my way to the kitchen. I looked into the fridge, but what I saw wasn't a fridge, no, it was heaven. Back in my house we never had so many options. It was spaghetti, every night. But in this utopia, everything you could ever hunger for, could be found! Everything was separated into the food pyramid as well, with the grains on the bottom and the sweets on the top! I figured with 8 guys in the house, we would have to have a lot of food, but this was just too generous!

I took out the ingredients I needed to make French toast and bacon, while preparing coffee. I remembered that I used to sing while I cooked, or at least, when I knew no one was around to listen. I tried to sing again, but I just didn't feel like it. It didn't sound bad, but I stopped. I couldn't think of the freedom that singing brought me anymore.

Once my bacon was done, I pulled out a plate from one of the cabinets and put a paper towel on it, setting the bacon upon it to let the grease drip out. Once my French toast was done and my coffee complete, I moved to the grand dining room. Although grey, the setting was very elegant. So elegant, that I decided I didn't belong there. I turned around, only to almost bump into someone.

"Hello Saix."

"Superior…?"