I awoke the next morning to the annoying sound of my alarm clock. I'd always set my alarm for two hours before necessary; mostly because I liked to snooze a little. I lay still for another half hour before I bothered to move. I went to my bathroom, and did the daily ritual; shower, teeth, hair, deodorant, etc. I slipped into my uniform, and walked down stairs to the kitchen. I really wasn't hungry again, so I only put coffee on the pot. I made it to my preference, and left a little for anyone who cared for some.

Zexion told me to meet him in the grey area, so I finished my cup, and went out to wait. I sat on the couch, patiently, wondering what I was going to have to do. Why was I even doing this? I had no real reason to be here. But, come to think of it, where else would I go? Where would Lea go? As long as Lea was here, I would be as well.

Zexion came through the hallway that led to the grey area, and I stood to greet him.

"Hello Saix."

"Hello…Zexion." I said.

"You've regained some ability to communicate. This will make today's work much easier. Now then, we will be visiting a world named Hollow Bastion." I nodded at this. He extended his hand and the black fog appeared. It seemed like it was so easy, and it just appeared out of nowhere. "After you," he said. I looked at the pit of darkness. I walked toward it, and stepped through, slightly hesitant, yet eager at the same time.

Inside of this pit of darkness, I could see nothing, but the light on the end. I turned around to see if Zexion was there. "Walk toward the light," he said. Weren't you always supposed to avoid the light? "The light will lead you to Hollow Bastion." I walked forward until the light was within my grasping range and then stepped through. When I could see again, I was on top of a cliff, far away from a small town, and a castle. I turned around to see Zexion right behind me. The smoke disappeared.

The sky here looked as if a bunch of colors were mixed together. There were traces of orange left behind from the sunset, which then faded to blue, and a unique shade of purple. It kind of made me a little sick to the stomach. Or maybe the moon was up, and it was affecting my "allergy" already. Regardless, this town made me feel a little queezy.

"Alright, I should begin by telling you that today isn't actually your first day of field work. It's more like a tutorial of what you shall be doing as a part of the Organization VIII. Your first task is to find the hidden treasure." What the hell? Did I look like a pirate? Where would I find treasure? "Move along now Saix, the sooner this is taken care of, the sooner we can return to the castle."

I walked past Zexion, looking around. I really couldn't see anything back there, so I turned around, and walked toward the ledge of the cliff. I leaned slightly over the side, enough to see what I needed to. Sure enough, there was a treasure chest tucked into one of the ledges of the cliff.

"The treasure chest…it's down there." I said.

"Good, now go and retrieve what is inside of it." He had to be kidding me.

"No…there's no way…I can't," I said. I wasn't afraid of heights, but I wasn't a fool either.

"Sure you can. Just jump down the ledges." I shook my head. "What are you afraid of, dying? Surely you've passed that little phase. It's totally possible. I will show you myself." I watched, as Zexion walked toward the edge of the cliff. He gracefully jumped off the edge and danced from ledge to ledge until he landed right where the treasure chest was. "Should I assume that you haven't tested your body's new abilities?" I had no idea what he meant, so I shook my head.

"It's actually quite an interesting theory. Lord Xemnas proposes that when one becomes a nobody, the loss of the heart also creates the loss of fear, and thus the body is capable of accomplishing many feats that the mind would normally prevent. If you don't believe me, step back a little and jump as high as you can." I stepped back and coiled down into my legs. With a push, I jumped several feet into the air. He was correct. I landed, a little astonished at my jumping height.

"You can figure out what else you can do on your own time, but for now, come down here and retrieve the item from this chest. I nodded, and looked down, taking in every ledge I could possibly land on. Then, with a deep breath, I jumped. I landed, gracefully, onto the first ledge. It didn't even hurt, like I though a jump from this height would. I at least expected an unwelcome pressure in my knees, but I didn't feel a thing. After the first jump, the rest seemed like child's play. In fact, I'm certain that my former self would've found this feeling amazing.

I landed right next to Zexion. I looked at the chest, and then took a knee. I opened the chest, and found what appeared to be a bottle with a green liquid inside of it. "That is a potion. They are vital to restore your body to health. It was actually invented by a man named Yen Sid about five hundred years ago." I handed it to Zexion. "No keep it, it's rightfully yours. Now then, let's return to the top of the cliff." Zexion turned and jumped upward. I put the potion in one of the many coat pockets I had in the inside of my cloak, and jumped up behind him.

We landed on top of the cliff again, and I followed after him slowly. We walked until we were almost to the town that appeared so far away a while ago. When we were close to entering, I saw a black and white electrical pulse shaped like an X across the entrance.

"These are called Area Blocks. Lord Xemnas finds these worlds before we do, so he does the initial scan. Then, when he coordinates our missions, he sets markers of areas that will prove unnecessary, or dangerous." It seemed like a lot of work. I only thought to question Xemnas' motives for going to such lengths. Why did he care, especially now that we were freakish monster creatures that could jump on top of roofs? Either way, I knew that I wasn't to cross these lines; they looked harmful. "Follow me," he said. We walked until we were in some sort of trench like area, surrounded by cliffs.

"What I need to teach you now will require you to be under a certain level of stress. I'm going to come at you with the intent of harming you. You'd best find some way to defend yourself," He said. I looked up at him a little confused, until I saw his fist coming straight for my nose! I ducked and staggered back a little. He slammed the wall with his fist, and it cracked, with some rocks coming down at my head! I ran backward, tripping in the process. "You need to focus." Yeah, right! How do you focus when someone you thought was taking care of you, suddenly swung for your head ?! "You need to think of something that will give you the ability to fend me off." I began to think until I saw him come at me again, intending to strike me! I blocked this one, but he knocked me back with a different blow. I hit the wall this time, and grunted at the pain.

My back ached horribly, and I shook my head, to see Zexion charging at me! By now, I'd had enough. I snarled, and stood up. When he was getting too close, I felt a pull in my energy all focused into my hand. I waved, and a heavy solid object appeared into my grasp. I swung wildly at Zexion, who stopped in time to dodge my attack before I even realized that I just pulled a weapon out of thin air! "This is your own personal weapon. It appears to be a Claymore. Saix, this weapon answers only to your call. Lord Xemnas believes that our weapons are conjured from our former thoughts and insecurities. For example-"he said, and then waved his hand. In it, a book appeared. "This is my weapon, the Lexicon. I like control, and I am insecure when my fate is left in another's hand. So, my weapon allows me to alter reality to fit my own needs."

I looked at my claymore, and wondered what it was born from. But I was interrupted when a shadow appeared a few feet away from us. I jumped a little out of instinct. "Ah how fortunate, a heartless has arrived. Go ahead Saix; show it the power of your weapon." I gazed into those big souless yellow eyes and flashbacked to the night of my death. My emotions flew into a flux, but one stood out clear enough. I was blinded with rage, and I charged forward, at an unbelievable speed! I slashed the heartless once across the midsection, and watched as it obliterated into thin air. It left behind some munny, and a smile formed across my lips.

"That was impressive I must admit, although slightly brutal, and very reckless." I looked back at Zexion, my smile now gone. "But, the deed is done, and now we can return to the castle." I waved, and my claymore vanished into thin air. "Your last task is to conjure up the portal that will allow us to return. It isn't difficult, just focus on your destination, and extend your hand. The energy will form into a dark smoke. Just keep stretching this smoke until you can walk through it, and the portal will be complete."

I did as he said, and visualized the castle; I visualized Lea and the kitchen now that I was starving. Then, I extended my hand, and let the darkness flow from my body as it created a portal.

"Excellent," said Zexion as we walked through, ending up back in the grey area that we left from. As strange as today was, I felt accomplished. "You did well today Saix. I will see you tomorrow for your next lesson. You are dismissed," he said, walking off into the hallway. I for one was exhausted, so I sat on the couch, and took off my shoes. I began to rub my feet, when Lea walked into the grey area.

"Hey.." he said.

"Hey," I responded.

"How was..your first day?" He asked, walking around the couch.

"Pretty intense…" I said, now rubbing my feet through my socks. "What about you…? We can at least…try and..talk now," I said.

"Lexeaus left..a couple of bruises." He unzipped his cloak a little to show a nasty welt that formed to the right of his sternum! I snarled, and he zipped his cloak back up. "You ok…man?"

I calmed myself, and nodded. "I wasn't…growling at you…"

"Whatever…just don't bite me…Fido." I glared at him, and he smirked.

"I'm not a dog." I was proud of that one. It came out quite clear, as if a spell was breaking! Or maybe I was just better at talking when I had to stand up for myself.

"Could've fooled me…with those fangs," Lea said, and pointed at my mouth. I turned around and looked into the window, and he was right. Inside of my mouth, were four pointed fangs that seemed as if they belonged to a wolf. "Sai…look at me." I turned to notice that Lea was at my side. I gasped a little. "Your eyes…they're pink!" He said, coming closer to my face. I didn't like this at all, so I backed away. He smirked and eased closer. "Come on Sai…just let me see…we're friends…" He extended his hand to my face and a low growl escaped my mouth. I didn't know what came over me, but in this moment I felt very hostile. He withdrew his hand, and sat back. "Fine… " he said. He turned. To get up and I reached out for his sleeve.

"Sorry," I said, trying to calm myself. "Please…forgive me." I said. I was taking deep breaths now, trying to relax. Lea sat back down, this time leaving a distance between us. I decided it would be best to try and continue the conversation. "Do you…have a weapon?" I asked. Lea smirked, and stood up.

"Sure do! Watch this!" He spread both of his hands out and a flame ignited from his hands. The flame spun rapidly, until two pin wheels appeared, with the burning aftermath allowing them to glow. I was amazed…until I realized that Lea also managed to set the couch on fire. I jumped off of it, and he panicked, immediately recalling his weapon, and surprisingly the flames along with it. "Heh heh…sorry," He said, scratching the back of his head. I used to think this was cute.

"It's..fine," I said, but I really didn't feel so good. "Lea…I'm sick…I need to go..lay down..goodnight," I said. He dropped his hand and nodded.

"I'm going to..go…sleep to..." he said, and we both turned until we arrived at my door. I waved after he said "goodnight" again, and I slipped into my room, closing the door behind me. I walked into my bathroom and looked in the mirror. I looked insane! My eyes were pinkish red, my fangs were throbbing, a vein was appearing in my forehead. I felt hot, like feverish, but in an energizing way, not sickly. But I knew that this was wrong, or worse yet this was dangerous.

I ran a cold shower, to calm myself down a bit. It helped a little, but I still looked like I had rabies. Once I dried off, I went to my bed to lay down. I laid still with my eyes wide open for what seemed to be hours, until I drifted off into a very light slumber.