"Do you have any skills?" Xemnas asked.
They had ended up inside a castle. Xemnas called it Castle Oblivion, where you can tamper with reality and distort the true nature of the heart.
"What do you mean?" Xrnay asked. Xemnas had given Xrnay a black robe just like the one he was wearing.
Xemnas also removed his hood off. His hair was light silver and his eyes were a cold yellow.
"What can you do?" Xemnas asked, he kept his gaze strait forward and didn't even glance and Xrnay. "Can you wield any weapons like swords or guns?"
Xrnay shook his head. A waterfall of red rushed to block his view. His new long hair was annoying Xrnay.
Xrnay put his hand in his pocket, immediately the crystal heart he had place within gave him a jolting pulse. He quickly got what he was looking for a long black string.
Xrnay carefully pulled his hair back and tied a knot.
"I've never held a sword before and I am not a very good shot," Xrnay said to Xemnas.
"Well, it can't be helped." Xemnas didn't seem to care if he could hold a spoon or not, but then again Ryan didn't have any emotions to care if he cared.
The long corridor ended with a great white door. Xemnas waved his hand before it and it opened silently.
Ryan waited until Xemnas started to walk through, though he had lost his feelings, he didn't lose common sense. Ryan silently walked behind Xemnas.
It was like a common room, there were chairs and couches scattered in small groups through out the white-walled room.
Many people accompanied the chairs and talked amongst themselves. They all wore the same black robe that Xrnay wore.
The room went silent as Xemnas entered. Xrnay stopped just behind him and bowed his head, not making eye contact.
Xemnas walked through the room; no one dared to make a sound. Xrnay marveled at the way Xemnas was treated.
Xemnas opened the door that was on the other side of the room and stepped through. Xrnay followed quietly, as soon as he was through the people started to talk again.
The door slide shut silently behind them, leaving them in an endless hallway.
Xrnay swallowed hard and grabbed the crystal heart that had made its home in his black pocket. The tingle seemed to calm him.
The hallway was white and lined with doors on each side. Each one had a plaque with a name or two on it.
Xemnas lead him through the hallway. He stopped at the fourteenth door. The nameplate read 'Lynxad'.
Xemnas opened the white door with out a knock or hesitation.
A foul odor escaped the room, but Xrnay held back the urge to hold his nose. Xemnas walked through the doorway, unaffected by the smell.
Xrnay followed slowly, only breathing through his mouth. The air was musty and hard to see through.
"Lynxad," Xemnas said his eyes cold and hard.
A young boy looked up from a huge book he was reading. He wore round glasses that seemed to big for his freckled face. His hair was light brown, but it was covered with ash and some was bleached from various chemicals in the room.
"Boss!" he said in amazement. He started to push books, papers, and test tubes away so Xemnas could sit in a chair.
Xemnas looked at it with disgust and turned to Xrnay.
"This is Xrnay," Xemnas said coldly. "He will be staying with you."
"But boss…" Lynxad cried out in confusion.
Xemnas turned and his yellow eyes flashed, Lynxad closed his mouth and lowered his head.
"Xrnay, welcome to the Black Rose," Xemnas said without emotion and turned to leave.
Xemnas stopped just as he was exiting the room. "He needs to learn swordplay, download it." He disappeared from sight.
"I am Lynxad, and that is all you need to know," Lynxad said coldly returning the stuff he pushed away to their cluttered place.
"Um… I am Xrnay," Xrnay said uncomfortable with the situation he was in.
"Don't care," Lynxad said sourly. He returned to the book he was reading.
"Oh," Xrnay said sadly, though he didn't feel it.
Lynxad sighed and turned to Xrnay.
"Sorry…" Lynxad said sadly. "Xemnas has put a lot of pressure on me to finish this machine."
"Machine?" Xrnay asked intrigued.
Lynxad's face brightened, it was like Xrnay was the only one who was interested in his brilliant work.
"Come," Lynxad said. He quickly walked to a door on the opposite end of the white walled room.
Lynxad opened it enthusiastically. This room was also white, but larger. In it held a huge machine that almost touched the high ceiling.
Silver tubes and electrical wires ran out the device and disappeared through the walls.
"Wow," Xrnay said amazed. "What is that?"
Lynxad looked pleased with himself. "This my friend, is a heartless generator. It can generate heartless without using an actual person."
"Wow," Xrnay gasped still amazed.
"I made it all by myself," Lynxad boasted.
"All by yourself!" Xrnay exclaimed. "You must be very smart."
Lynxad pushed up his glassed to hide his embarrassment. He cleared his throat and walked towards the generator.
"Now I am trying to change it and its functions."
"Change its functions?" Xrnay said, he had this weird feeling about this machine, but he didn't take notice.
"If this machine can create heartless then maybe, just maybe I can change it so it makes hearts instead of heartless," Lynxad said.
"Wow, then what?" Xrnay asked inspecting the machine.
Lynxad laughed hollowly. "Then everyone can become whole again, anyone who has lost their heart can have a second chance.
If Xrnay had a heart, it would have been swelling with pride for his new friend. Lynxad was trying to make a difference and help a lot of people.
"What's that?" Lynxad said pointing at Xrnay's pocket.
"Huh?" Xrnay pulled out the crystal heart. It was glowing a radiant green with a soft hue of pink.
Lynxad bent down and examined it. His eyes got wide and he gasped.
"You have a heart!" Lynxad exclaimed. He tried to grab it, but it stung his hand.
"Heart?" Xrnay said confused.
"Where did you get if from? How come it is solid? How can you touch it and I can't?" Lynxad rambled.
Xrnay's head spun. "To…many…questions!"
Lynxad stopped. "Oh, sorry."
"That's O.K." Xrnay sighed. He looked into the facets of the heart. They shimmered and danced with a rainbow of colors.
"So, where did you get that?" Lynxad asked slowly, he didn't want to scare Xrnay with all those questions. Xrnay might run away and leave Lynxad guessing.
"I found it," Xrnay said. He pocketed the heart, fearing Lynxad might take it.
"Where!"
"In the…" Xrnay paused, trying to remember the name that Xemnas had told him. "Oh yeah, the In-between."
Lynxad looked doubtful. "No heart can survive the In-between Realm."
Xrnay looked at Lynxad, confused. "But that is where I found."
"It must be a strong heart to survive exposure to the In-between," Lynxad mumbled, he was in deep thought and a serious expression played across his face.
"So, Xemnas said something about downloading something?" Xrnay said, he really wanted to get off the subject of the heart.
"Oh, another one of my inventions," Lynxad said leading Xrnay out of the heartless generator room.
They were back in the messy lab.
"Sit here," Lynxad ordered. Xrnay sat in the chair, but not before he had to remove a book or two.
Lynxad brought out a pair of sunglasses with small wires coming out of them.
"I will download how to use a sword with this," Lynxad said, holding the device up so Xrnay could see better.
"Seriously?" Xrnay looked skeptical.
"Of course," Lynxad said, and before Xrnay could protest any further, Lynxad placed the machine on Xrnay's head.
Xrnay watched Lynxad type quickly on the keyboard of his computer. Xrnay suddenly felt nervous, or thought it was how he should have felt. The heart in his pocket let off a murky green light. Xrnay quickly placed his hand over it so Lynxad couldn't see it.
"All right, ready?" Lynxad said.
"Um…"
"Go!" Lynxad pressed the 'enter' key on the keyboard.
Something buzzed in the back of Xrnay's skull, then the sunglasses darkened until there was nothing but darkness.